i gave my last talk yesterday~! it's such a relief, i notified my lab that i'm now going into retirement and will not give a talk for a year. thanks to bt for coming!! you really made my day.

in order to celebrate, i decided to treat myself to a trip to the city. it's so nice i have weekends free to do this. it's crazy, but decided to rush for the jersey boys show in SF. i saw it once already, but it was in previews and wanted to see it really up close. ah. i've been pretty good about keeping my obsessions with broadway lately, but i feel the obsession coming on again. i stood in the crazy rush line - i updated my ipod and was prepared to read for a few hours, but met this fun girl who was just as obsessed with broadway as i was. :) talking to her about it also reminded me of how exciting broadway is. during the show, it was fun when one of the four main characters smiled and winked at me while singing to me. hehe. I guess that's what happens when you're in the front row. I met him briefly afterwards, who thanked me for allowing him to flirt with me. so cute. ok i'm gushing again.

i also got to meet up with friend whom i haven't seen in a while. she is my idea of superwoman. she's a supersmart ucsf opthalmology resident, we got to catch up on our personal lives. dating is not always easy, but i really admire how she stands up to what she knows she needs, and is honest about her feelings as well. a perfect balance of head and heart. she is my heroine. it was fun sharing jersey boys with her as well - we watched wicked together last year.

the jersey boys in SF

I *finally* got to see jersey boys! i knew that the last time I went to NY, since I went right after the Tony awards, there would be NO way to get tickets to see the Best Musical of the Year. So I've been waiting to see it on tour, even at the expense of missing out on the Tony award winning Broadway cast. Anyways, finally got to see it. The show is still in previews in San Francisco.

This show is, by definition, a hit in every sense of the word. Meticulously and smartly written to a tee, it transcends time and circumstance (in contrast to A Chorus Line), no matter if you grew up watching the Four Seasons (which I suspect, most of the audience has b/c I was the youngest one I think in the audience by about 40 years) or not. The setting and subject matter is so unique that if someone described it to me, there would be no way that I would be interested in seeing it (Frankie who?). Yet somehow the show takes a singing group that's long past their prime, and makes their story relevant to touch and tickle every audience member. You know that the fact that this musical won a Tony for Best Musical, that its influence extends past the baby boomers who grew up in the Four Seasons era. To me, that is what makes this such a great musical. So many laugh out loud moments, and so many moving moments as well.

"I remember thinking at the time there's something a little off about this guy. I mean, this was the sixties. People thought Liberace was just, y'know .. theatrical."

I think Jen told me this next story - A story that remains with me about JB is that an elderly gentleman was watching Jersey Boys with tears streaming down his cheeks almost the entire show.

"Our fans didn’t have flowers in their hair [like the Beatles' fans]; they didn’t try to levitate the Pentagon. They were the ones working at the diner, pumping gas; they were the ones who understood our music."