Last night, Kathy and I went to see the Pulitzer-winning play The Gin Game at The Gaslight Theater, our favorite nearby playhouse. The show itself was great, but was enhanced immeasurably by the fact that it was Senior Citizen Night.

There were a flock of retirees sitting in the section off to our right, who would whisper to their neighbors during the course of the show. Due apparently to their hearing loss, however, what they had intended for their neighbors was broadcast loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the theater. (I came to think of this as the Senior sotto voce.)

While the on-stage action already had us in stitches, hearing a particularly dramatic scene capped with “She’s really worked up!” and the between-scene darkness punctuated with “They’re moving the chairs around now!” was a wonderful, rich cream cheese icing on the cake. I had to stop looking at Kathy at one point because I was trying hard not to laugh, and the pent-up pressure was such that, given the slightest additional impetus, my lungs would have been expelled through my nose. (I’m trying, on doctor’s advice, to avoid that.)

Doggone, that was a great experience.

My friend Jonathan has started keeping an online journal, rather remarkable in its openness and honesty.

Kathy and I went to Half-Price Books for a while last night. One of the more interesting things I stumbled across was a book on the architect, I.M. Pei. One of my favorite buildings in Dallas is a huge, shiny green glass obelisk of his design that has a beautiful water garden beneath (which we got chased out of by a security guard one weekend). I was surprised, however, to find out how much of his other work I was already familiar with, including Dallas City Hall, an example of his earlier work, and the Meyerson Symphony Center, which is a wholly remarkable piece of design. Ever wonder why the glass pyramid at the Louvre and the geometric glass juttings at the National Gallery are so similar? Same guy. Quite interesting to read about the man and see so much of his work.

Electronic Arts, my employer, today announced Ultima X: Odyssey, the next online Ultima game world. It’s using the Unreal engine, and is a dramatic departure technologically from Ultima Online. The demos I’ve seen look really sweet, and the team has some really good ideas for improving the online gaming experience over what’s out there already. Of course, I can’t say much beyond what’s in the press release (both because EA wouldn’t want me to, and because I don’t know much else), but it’s nice to be able to acknowledge the project’s existence.

Abigail is just getting over mono, which turned out to be the cause of the fever that so nearly disrupted her birthday party. (The recovery comes none to soon, as yesterday was the first day of school for her.) She’s on the upswing now, though the doctor says no contact sports for another several weeks, as mono can cause one’s spleen to swell and potentially burst if it gets a good, solid whack. Fortunately, Abby’s not too prone to contact sports, so this restriction should sit fine with her.

Margaret has a rotten case of swimmer’s ear, which has come on rather abruptly after her learning to swim. She’ll be out of the pool for a while.

Emily, who we’re home schooling this year, and Liam who isn’t yet old enough for school, are of course completely healthy.

Last week was a busy one. A few highlights:

• A Day with Liam: On Tuesday, Liam and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean, which we both quite liked, though Liam hid his eyes at a few strategic moments. We then moved on to Chuck E. Cheese’s for an overpriced but tasty lunch, followed by a trip to Mazak Music, our local musician’s emporium, and a good long swim in the river to work the pizza off. I got hit with a migraine, so wrapped things up a bit early, but we had a great time anyway.
• Blue Man Group: My friend David Barnard won a couple of tickets to see Blue Man Group on their tour for their new album, The Complex. David had never seen the Boys in Blue before, so it was lots of fun to get to introduce him to one of my favorite acts. While I enjoyed the show a great deal, I’d have to say that I actually dug their stage show in Vegas more. While I like their music, the most characteristic thing about the group is their on-stage techno-shenanigans, which the rock show format leaves less room for. That said, there were some delightful visual tricks in this show too, which made the “How did they do that?!?!” game as much fun as ever.
• Camelot: Kathy and I went down to see my cousin Tanya in a production of Camelot on Friday night. Though it’s a musical theater staple, I’d never seen it before, and was excited to get to fill that gap in my cultural education. The show launches from T.H. White’s version of the Arthurian legend, with much of the whimsy in that telling making the transition to stage intact. We quite enjoyed the show, as well as a bite afterward at the Liberty Bar (another worthwhile discovery!) with Tanya and the lawyer-by-day/thespian-by-night who played Sir Pellinore. It was a super evening out!

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m moving from programming our account management system at work to programming on the game server team. As a result, I’m having to cram a lot of C++ into my brain in a short time. It’s engaging but exhausting work. I couldn’t, however, ask for a better guide than Accelerated C++, the book that was recommended me by Tim Keating, our team lead. I had expected C++ to be largely a matter of learning another syntax for object-oriented programming, but there’s quite a lot more to it than that, as it turns out. Anyway, I’m having fun fleshing out my resume and learning something new, not to mention tackling a job I would certainly have been rejected for had I applied through the usual channels!

• I took Maggie to the San Antonio Zoo, for a ride on the Brackenridge Eagle, to the office of Mom McMains, and to see Spy Kids 3D (which didn’t make a lick of sense) for her day with Daddy.
• Emily’s home from her four-week New York trip. We’re glad she’s back! It’s great to have the full family again.
• Abigail’s birthday party was yesterday. In spite of sporadic illness on her part and looming thunderstorms, all the portents cleared and we had a spectacularly good time. Thanks to all who attended and helped make it a wonderful occasion!
• As a token of thanks for helping to set up her website, Celeste gave us a beautifully done print of Vanity and another of Dragon. We’re looking forward to finding a good spot in the house for them. She and Adam are off to Arizona for Harley Davidson mechanic school in a couple of weeks.