Tuesday, December 18, 2007

More Kindness of More Strangers

I love the internet.

A fan of Anna Netrebko read my review of her fabulous performance last Wednesday and commented on my blog. We began emailing back and forth. He has a subscription to Sirius Radio and has recordings of the 12/12 and 12/15 broadcasts. He uploaded them to a file sharing site and explained how to download them. So I know have the full operas from both days! Denise sure was surprised when I handed her a copy on CD the other day. I've offered to send him my copy of Opera News with Anna on the cover but haven't heard back.

I love the internet.

In the comments section of a Juan Diego Florez video on YouTube people were writing that they were going to see him in Fille Du Regiment at the Met. I chimed in and it turns out I'm going the same day as someone else who posted. We began corresponding and it turns out we have a LOT in common - it's sort of scary. First off, not only are we going to the same performance, we're sitting 10 seats away from each other in the same row. We both used to teach ESL and now do something else. She taught a TOEFL prep course and I work at ETS writing, reviewing and editing portions of the TOEFL. We have the same favorite authors, books and movies. She's a little younger than me. It's like we fit some demographic for the young opera fan.

I corresponded a little with another YouTuber after reading her comments for a Nathan Gunn video. I've also corresponded a little bit with other Juan Diego Florez fans.

The internet has made the world smaller. I love it. Husband and I each just got an iPhone, which includes a cell phone, internet access, weather, email, YouTube, iTunes, traffic reports, maps, an iPod and many other features. My son will grow up in a completely different world than I did. It's like the people who grew up before TV... we can't imagine life without it, even when we don't have one in the house. He won't be able to imagine life without the internet.

One more tidbit. I have a tracker on my Myspace page. On Dec 12, the day I went to the Met, someone at the Metropolitan Opera viewed my Myspace page:
Location Access Organization


New York, US
207.237.181.16
12/12 10:22:26 AM
Metropolitan Opera Private Private

At first I didn't see that it was AM because it was on the next line, and I thought, holy ***! who at the Met looked at my MySpace page during INTERMISSION????? Then I saw it was the morning... so someone was probably at NG's page and clicked onto mine. Oh well, there goes that random thought that I won't even put here. Ok, so I'll concede... he probably didn't actually make eye contact with me during the curtain call, although he did scan the balcony.

No comments: