No. 2 Texas 45, Oklahoma 12

Finally. After 5 years of frustration (years that included my entire tenure at the University of Texas at Austin as a graduate student), Texas beat the University of Oklahoma, and in resounding fashion.

How do I feel? Honestly, relieved. Texas is having a possibly national championship-caliber year, while OU has struggled after the departures of most of its offensive talent from previous years. (Yes, they still have Adrian Peterson, but one player an offense does not make).

Of course, now comes the part of the year that we worry about not dropping a game to Colorado, Baylor, Texas Tech or Texas A&M. One game at a time.

But in the meantime, it sure is good not to have any of my Sooner friends calling me to harass me (I did not stoop to returning the favor).

A Wicked Evening

Last night, we were invited by a couple at church to join them for dinner and attend the Dallas Summer Musical performance of Wicked.

Here’s the synopsis from the Dallas Summer Musical Web site:

Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One - born with emerald green skin - is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.

WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething"), and is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. With musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed...), WICKED is directed by 2003 and 2004 Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Assassins, Take Me Out, Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune).

We had been dying to see this show ever since one of my friends returned from New York and sung its praises. And this praise was not undeserved. The wonderful performances and witty script combined for an enjoyable evening (and one I will not ruin with spoilers. Do see it if you get a chance).

FYI, the show will be playing through October 23, and tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.

The First Birthday Card of the Day

Today is Bethany’s birthday. Despite both of our busy schedules and a lot of activity, I have planned and put together a fabulous evening full of good food, surprises and general birthday cheer.

But the first surprise of the day was delivered by Bethany. As she was leaving to go to her art class, she dropped a white envelope on my desk. It contained a special “un-birthday card.”

And I contained the card pictured to the right. It's a reproduction of St. George in Armour Being Kissed by Una, 1914 by Phoebe Anna Traquair. The painting was one of a set of three embroidered panels depicting the Red Cross Knight from Edmund Spenser's The Fairie Queen.

The card is significant for several reasons: first, that it portrays a woman blessing her knight with her affection (and not the other way around), second, that the Knight of the Red Cross was receiving the offered kiss as a reward for his selfless acts.

And the inscription was precious as well, but that’s private. :-)

So, now the stakes are raised …