Also while in New York

My brother, a very talented actor/dancing/singer is currently in a play, so I also went to see him. The play was great and he was fantastic, course I'm a bit biased. :)

On my last night there I attended an advanced screening of CNN's amazing documentary Planet In Peril. More on this series later, but the screening was great. Anderson Cooper was on hand to tell us a bit about his experiences and to answer some questions. He was funny as he usually is and I have to admit I'm right there with him in regards to the whole bug thing. I don't get the sheer joy Jeff gets from seeing them, but more power to him... I'll be inside. :) I asked Anderson what surprised him most. He said that it was actually seeing it for himself. For our entire lives, or so it seems, both Anderson and I have heard about the destruction of the Amazon and the melting of the ice sheets. Even so, he said it was surprising to actually see it. I definitely get that, seeing for yourself makes it real. Hmm, sounds like a mantra of Anderson's.

All in all it was another great weekend in New York!

JK Rowling Book Reading

I went to New York again last weekend. The main reason I was there was to attend the book reading/signing JK Rowling was doing at Carnegie Hall. I can't possibly describe how wonerful this event was! Jo is an amazing author and is a very kind and gracious person. It was a real honor to meet her. Since the release of the 7th book it has been a lot of fun to see her do readings and interviews. She seem's to be having such a great time! Finally able to relish the freedom of being able to fully talk about the books, now that the pressure of keeping things secret has lifted.

She started things off by reading what she said was her favorite part of book 7, and I have to say it's one of mine too. It's the part in the book where Ron comes back (I won't say any more, since I don't want to spoil it). She was very funny and read it wonderfully, I loved her voices.

She then answered several questions from the audience. The most memorable one of course was about Dumbledore. She was asked if Dumbledore had ever fallen in love and been married. She paused for a bit and then said that she had always seen Dumbledore as gay. At first the audience was quiet, a bit surprised, but then everyone broke out in applause and laughter, followed quickly by a lot of text messages going out. Seeing our reaction she laughed and said that if she knew we would react that way, she'd have said something long ago. :)

Then finally she did the book signing... keep in mind that there were 2,000 people in attendance. She signed a book for each person there, that's truly amazing to me. My friend and I were about half-way through. Scholastic definitely did a good job at herding people through, but I still got a chance to thank her for such a great series.

A big thanks to Jo and Scholastic for such a fun evening!

Seeing Maroon

About a week ago, I saw Maroon 5 at the Verizon Center in DC. It was a great show! The guys are amazing and Adam Levine is an incredibly talented vocalist!

They performed all of my favorites, save one. They started with Should I Never See Your Face Again and Makes Me Wonder two of my favorites from the new CD. They also did Sunday Morning, Secret and She Must Be Loved my faves from the first.

I definitely would love to see them again and will be keeping an eye out for them to come back around.

Baltimore at Night

I spent Saturday night at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD. A really nice place to take pictures, especially at night. I'm currently taking a Night Photography class so this was a perfect place to go. Here are a couple of shots.