"Portrait of a girl, painted illusion. She plays her part, she sees that she's a work of art. Paint her in, watching one color end and one begin. Brush away what's stray, there's disguise in her eyes. Add shadows that dance across her skin, hide the doubt that cries out within her. Stripped bare beneath all the layers would you recognize the girl?" ~hartmere and intrabartolo (bare: a pop opera)


I had a lovely weekend hanging out with one of my favorite families. I stayed with my friends Amy and Bill upstate. They're surrounded by wilderness; there are no other houses visible from theirs. They live off of the Appalachian Trail. It's nice to get out of the city every once in a while and be in a completely different environment. I love their kids, so I was happy to spend time with them. Here's Claire and I (yes, we're both named Claire, which sometimes gets very confusing) hanging out at JFK (I was there sending her off to France). We had fun entertaining ourselves for a few hours, and we enjoyed the giant, festive Christmas tree in the terminal.

 Random TV musings: 

Survivor Finale! I've had crazy good luck in the last three seasons; in each of the last three seasons, the person I was rooting for at the beginning of the season ended up winning. Seriously. In this blog post at the beginning of this season, I said that I wanted to see Denise win. Guess who won? I'm pretty darn happy.

How on earth can I wait almost a year for the next season of Homeland to start? (It returns in the fall of 2013). The finale? Oh. My. Gosh. There are no words. It was heartbreaking and thrilling and I loved every moment of it. Here are some of my favorite lines from the finale (don't worry, no spoilers). I loved Saul saying to Estes, "Well, if it isn't Javert." That Les Mis reference is made even cooler by the fact that it was delivered by Mandy Patinkin, a Tony Award winner best known for his musical theatre career (I want to hear him sing on the show). And Quinn's line to Estes, "I'm a guy that kills bad guys," was amazing. I wanted to hug him. Finally, the last line (last word, actually), that final moment, broke my heart. Claire Danes and Damian Lewis have already won Emmys for their role in this show (and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they win more), but Mandy Patinkin really deserves one for supporting actor. In the last scene, he didn't have to say anything; his expression was so full of emotion that it said so much more than words ever could. I felt like I could see inside his head and could feel every conflicting emotion with with he was struggling as he tried to put together his thoughts.

And finally, some Les Mis/Flash Mob Love (just because).
Oh, how I wish I had been at this wedding:


Zach Braff is awesome. And so is Lauren Molina. I met her after a performance of Sweeney Todd and she is so, so sweet. (And I got to stand next to Zach Braff while watching his play, which was pretty cool.)