Saturday night Bob and I had one of those experiences of art that it would be wrong not to note in a post - one of those highs where art illuminates human experience and suffering - just pours through like white light and purifies, and also keeps one thinking for days. We saw Austin Lyric Opera's production of Dialogues of the Carmelites - , a 1953 opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. Set during Reign of Terror France, this opera explores courage, fear, sensitivity, faith, doubt, suffering, martyrdom, loyalty, freedom - so many of the big themes. Blanche, the main character is a highly sensitive young woman of noble birth who takes refuge during frightening times by joining the Carmellite Order of nuns - only to find it is not a refuge at all but a sisterhood which tests her to the point of martyrdom. I loved the complexity of the characters, and the music just sang through me, down to my very bones.