Jenn and I saw Phantom of the Opera last night and it was wonderful. Honestly, it was all I hoped it would be. The costumes were perfect, the sets were perfect, everything was great. Only two things I think were issues…

First, the way I imagined it was slightly different than how it played out on stage. Yeah, not an issue really, but sort of an interesting turn. Most of it was right, mainly just the end was different than how I expected it. Second, the lady who played Christine was just a tad sharp on everything she sang in the first half of the show. I was okay with it and decided to ignore it, but leave it to my mom to break me from my Suspension of Disbelief and remind me repeatedly about how sharp she was.

Overall, though, brilliance. I’d definitely see it again if it comes back. I’m starting to think about getting a Portland Opera subscription because there are lots of other shows I want to see as well. It’s expensive, though. I dunno.

Speaking of expensive, we ate dinner at this place downtown called “Veritable Quandary.” It was sort of… well, “preppy,” in a Pottery Barn sense. People wearing black shirts and tortoise-shell glasses. Waaaay too many wines on the wine list and even more people that thought they could actually tell the difference between them all. Very good food - Jenn and I both had the “Black Angus NY steak” - but slightly on the spendy side. It’s actually got a restaurant and a bar; the restaurant is in the back, the bar’s up front. The bar sounded like it had some tasty normal-people food, so we may have to go back and check that out.

I pulled a nice, cold drink out of my new birthday refrigerator this morning and it’s just right. It took about 24 hours for the fridge to get up to full speed, but now it’s ready to chill.

My boss/friend, Greg, just came over and told me he’s going to the coast for the day, taking some friends from New Mexico who haven’t been to the Oregon Coast yet.

I have a problem with the Oregon Coast - that it’s a coast and not a beach. What’s the difference? If you go to the beach, you expect sand-colored sand, nice blue water you can wade in, sun… you see where I’m going with this. Hawaii has beaches. California and Florida have beaches.

Oregon has a coast. You can’t wade, really, because if you spend too long in the water you’re going to get frostbite. You can’t sit on the sand for too long because the wind will sandblast your face and any other exposed body parts. You can’t wear glasses because it’s always misty there (and you know about the magnetic properties of water and glasses). The sand is a dingy brown-gray. The water is… dingy brown-gray.

I love beaches. I hate the Oregon Coast.

Man, I sure go off on little rants at the drop of a hat, don’t I? Here, I was expecting to write a nice review of my Phantom show, and then I get sidetracked by my hatred for the Oregon Coast. Welcome to my world. Now do you see how I could go out without combing my hair?