The Washington Post has only a single arts critic left - everyone else got fired today, along with all three arts editors. (There are still a couple of excellent arts reporters.) I was so upset I dusted off my blog to have my say: annemidgette.com/blog/f/a-req...

Quote of the day (from an article in the @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social) #thewriterslife

It's like they knew I was going to ask… #winterstorm2026 #catlitterisnotagoodsubstitute #askmehowiknow

I was intensely annoyed by this sentence in a book review. One woman produced brilliant work in a tiny room; therefore we shouldn't complain that women's lives have historically been circumscribed? Wow. (The book is "One Aladdin Two Lamps" and he does like it, but jeez.) @hamiltoncain.bsky.social

Wrapping presents is going fine, thanks for asking. Happy Christmas to all who celebrate, and peace and love to everyone in this holiday season. #catsofbluesky #christmascat #christmaspresent #happyholidays

The cat actually smiled for the photo. #catsofbluesky

I was looking for images of 18th-century silver online as reference for my book-in-progress, and now there's an excited eBay seller out there who thinks I'm about to make an offer on a mustard-pot.

Well, Game 5 is off to a brisk start. #worldseries #ohcanada

Turns out I was right about the Kennedy Center trees (see last Skeet). It was the last administration that decided to take them down, because they were old and the root systems were affecting the structural integrity of the building. Let's see what the current administration does to replace them.

When I heard the @kennedycenter.bsky.social had cut down half the trees on the terrace, I was prepared to be upset - until I looked for myself after a concert on Saturday and saw how sickly the remaining trees are looking. 54 is old for a willow. Maybe it was just their time.

I raised a windowblind that we usually keep closed, and the cat thinks I got him a new streaming service. #catsofbluesky #cats #easilyamused

Tonight: check out this webinar Greg Sandow and I are leading about singing actors, acting singers, and the myth that today's opera performances are better acted than those of the past. Register here: jussibjorlingsociety.org/events/midge...

Following up on the Met Opera and the Saudis - @voiceteachernyc.bsky.social wrote a great essay with plenty of outrage to spare. blog.liberatedvoice.studio/bondage/

Doug McLennan once said criticism should be like a watering-hole, where people with different opinions can gather. I quote that all the time. It's not about thumbs up/down, but sparking discussion. We know there's not one "right" opinion about art; why pretend that's what criticism should offer?

So the Metropolitan Opera can castigate Anna Netrebko and get on its high horse about Ukraine -- and then get in bed with the Saudis? And at this point it seems everyone is too punch-drunk even to be outraged. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/a...

Peak August, unlocked. (No, I didn't bake it, but I bought it at the local orchard, which has its own virtues.)

Possibly my favorite AI mis-call ever.

My 13-year-old just told me he found a great way for a kid to earn money: you can get paid to write reviews about things on Netflix. I pointed out that he was sitting at the table with two parents who had supported themselves for years by writing reviews. He was unimpressed. 🤣🤣🤣

Wordle 1,434 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I don't usually share Wordle results, but this one made me cackle.

"What have you done with the sun?!"

I fly a lot, and I've learned the drill: take off shoes, computer out of bag. So this morning I took off a shoe - and noticed no one else was. Then the TSA lady yelled at me - "Did you hear anyone tell you to take off your shoes?" as if, where would I have gotten such an odd idea. 🤣 #timeschange

TFW you are searching online for a cheap household item you once bought at IKEA, and you find it listed as "Vintage IKEA item from the second half of the 20th century" for $60 #ifeelold #notselling 🤣🤣

Is anyone else finding that various GPS apps are having more trouble locating their house? I live directly on a fairly main street in DC, and increasingly people are being directed to the alley behind my house, or spots a block or more up or down the street. Just me?

Today, March 24, at 1:30 AM, silent film star Don Lockwood and his friends Kathy Selden and Cosmo Brown realize they can save flop film The Duelling Cavalier by turning it into a musical (🎥 Singin’ in the Rain, 1952)

It’s worth it to read the whole thing but here’s how it begins, and for something so connected to the time Chaplin made it, boy it also seems prophetical

story is here: www.cbsnews.com/news/concert...

For all you German speakers: I talked to NDR (North German Radio) this morning about Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center www.ndr.de/kultur/musik...

Channeling the movie FLOW

Resolution: put on workout clothes when you get up so you'll be all ready to work out, no excuses! Reality: put on workout clothes when you get up so you can be very comfortable and energized when sitting at your desk all day.

Good morning from the windowcats.

My father was an artist who died in 1978 at 40, and whenever I've posted a picture of his and people ask where they can see more of his work, I've been sad he didn't have an online presence. At last, I've made him a website (more images to come). Tell me what you think! www.willardfmidgette.com

If you want to take a stand about art at the Kennedy Center, buy tickets for this significant and socially relevant work. Staying away hurts the artists more than the administration, and if new work like this sells poorly, it gives them an excuse to say it's unpopular, and stop programming it.

The indomitable opera singer and my dear friend Conchita de Antuñano has died. I posted a tribute on FB which I'll link in a reply to this, but she would most want me to share her compilation of her early Verdi soprano recordings (she later became a mezzo). youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Really enjoyed this documentary about the amazing Hazel Scott - well worth a look (and free on demand for the next two weeks). www.pbs.org/video/the-di...

Thanks to my former Washington Post colleague, theater critic @petermarksdrama.bsky.social , and @evincentelli.bsky.social for inviting me on their podcast for a great discussion on the Kennedy Center under Trump. (You have to subscribe to hear it.) open.substack.com/pub/marksvin...

Some thoughts on the Trump takeover of the Kennedy Center, for @vanmusicmag.bsky.social (may be paywalled. Subscribe to VAN!) van-magazine.com/mag/trump-ke...

If I were still a critic, I would be at this (free!) concert to check in with the National Symphony Orchestra's morale and vibe in the midst of the Kennedy Center upheaval. Sadly, I'm traveling today, but I hope someone checks in, and that the concert is packed.

We are officially living in crazy land. (h/t @joshuafoust.com)

A devastating piece of #MeToo journalism -- by a college student, no less. Brava to her. Read it and weep. thebarbedwire.com/2025/02/05/h...

Google spent billions of dollars on this shit.

Don't know who you are, but I love your first post.

Our yin/yang cats.

In which AI states that a 9x12 pan is bigger than 2 8x8 pans, and then shows its work and proves that 2 8x8 pans are, in fact, bigger. C'mon, AI, this should be easy for you. (For the record, I didn't ask AI; it just helpfully put in its two cents, not even answering the question I DID ask.)

"SNOW! SNOW! Snowsnowsnowsnow -- shoes? Shoes! SHOES!" Or, learning impulse control at 13: a short story in one picture.

I got the perfect mother-son selfie with the 13-year-old.

The Platonic ideal of the catnap.

My husband and I both talk a lot -- as evidenced in Part One of this joint appearance on the long-running podcast of Anthony Plog, who is always a delightful host. (NB: marrying someone in the same field doesn't work for everyone, but it sure did for us.) www.anthonyplog.com/podcasts/ann...

Speaking of holiday music: there's something special about going to a concert with low expectations and loving it - a reminder that we critics really do love music after all. Here's how the National Philharmonic's Messiah won my Grinch-like heart. Happy Merry, y'all. annemidgette.com/blog/f/a-hol...

I was struck that in the midst of last-minute Christmas shopping at Target and Safeway there was no piped-in music, at all. When I noticed it, it was such a relief. Have retailers finally decided it's more annoying than stimulating?

OMG This is an instant classic PRODUCER 1: Is this some kind of Producers thing, where you’re trying to create a flop? PRODUCER 2: Millions of people pay unreasonable money to see this every December. PRODUCER 1: But they hate it… PRODUCER 2: Very much so. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-p...