If I was a rich girl

I often wish I was independently wealthy. If money were truly no object, and you could do absolutely anything with your life, and you had oodles of cash to spare, what would you do? If it were me, I think I would probably buy up a huge piece of land in suburban Texas and build a huge museum dedicated to the history of Imperial China, complete with a 1/3 scale replica of 6000 terra cotta soldiers, a miniature Forbidden City, and examples of the weird food they ate, like bear paws and baby penguins. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Wait, what's that you say? That already exists? Damn, why do we eccentric millionaires all think alike? Seriously, folks, next time you have a spare weekend day, I can highly recommend a trip to the Forbidden Gardens, if only to clarify for yourself that there are people out there who are crazier than you are. You can't just wander through the exhibitions; you have to take a guided tour. At no time during the tour does the guide discuss the museum and why/how it was built. She only talks about the history of Imperial China, as if that's where we were. Kind of creepy. Also, the whole thing is in a sad state of disrepair, probably because of delinquents like me who are still using their long-expired student I.D.s to get cheap tickets. And because they only charge 50 cents to feed the fish and giant turtles (the highlight of the trip, in my opinion). Go there. You'll be bored and weirded out, but you won't regret it, I promise.

In other news, opening night was fantastic! The show went so well, the party lived up to all its schmanciness hype, and I spent much of the time during intermission and after the show taking pictures. Here are a few of my favorites (Little Ms. Bossy's version of Page Six):

OperaDaddy, HotMama, and The Wise Soprano

CameraMan and Me

The New Oregonian (my date) and the incredible Ms. Wilson (who kicked some serious a** in the show)