Cool old town

This is an old (looking!) shot of Leland, Michigan. Cool huh? If you haven't spent any time in northern Michigan you really are missing some extraordinary, beautiful countryside scenes.

I am trying (!!) to divest myself of stuff tonight. I have pulled out a laundry basket full of clothes to give away, donate, whatever and I am still short of my 50% goal. I really want to cut my life way, way down. Ever look around and wonder....where did all this stuff come from?

Ahhh, the simple joys of yesteryear! Lord, save me from my STUFF!

My child's letter to Santa this year

Dear Santa,

I know you have a hard time so I won't make a long list. I want Felicity and Felicity clothes, mittens, a toy bat and a book at my reading level. I hope you make it. Will you pray for Christmas for me? You are a nice person I bet.

Love, M.

P.S. I have been good. I want to thank you for making peoples' spirits rise when people hear about you. My stepdad's birthday is December 3rd.

Amy, the cat

This is our cat, Amy. She is a love cat and I do not know many like her. She could go for long stretches with minimal food but there is one thing she HAS to have.

Love and attention.

Yup. She actually licks the fur right off when left for a few days. She's done better this holiday. She only took off some fur on her forearms. (Do cats have forearms...?)

She could also be called a Papoose Kitty as she would do well to be carried on your back all day long.

A love kitty, that's for sure. Know any?

Family Tradition

This is another shot of my daughter in the home of my in-laws. They live in a charming old home in a charming city and this was taken when we visited last Christmas. We are here now for Thanksgiving and it's a lovely snowy day. We are staying out at the lake in a cute house that looks out over water and shimmery snowy trees. It's kinda like being in a tree house. It was the home of my husband's grandparents and still houses a Steinway. My honey has enjoyed practicing and helping my daughter master "Happy Birthday". We've been there, at the lake, the last couple of mornings, drinking coffee and looking out at the water and admiring the inches of snow covering railing and branches. The sunrise over the lake was amazing this morning. We saw three deer out the back windows a couple days back. This kitchen is on the second floor and the whole back wall of the kitchen are windows looking off into woods. A great place to wash dishes!

Here's hoping you are enjoying "down time" with family and friends. See you soon!

That's My Baby!

Wanted to post a shot of the show - my baby is second from the left in front in one of the blue costumes. We had a super time!

The other shot is of my lovely husband - he is on the left of the trio. He is my other "baby". I am blessed. I have alot to be very grateful for. You?

And, of course, I want to wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving.

Enjoy and hug everybody for me!

Being a Mom

Here we are, the Traveling Yahoos, on our way to Chicago.


We closed our run of "Joseph" last night and can I just say what a pleasure it is to do a project like this with your child? Seeing her take a bow on stage was so much fun! I never thought, way back when I was pregnant, that this little person would be so much fun to hang out with. She's a gem and I love her.


'Nuff said.

Unlikely Pals

The theatre group I work with is a mixture of so many different people from all over. I can't even say a love of theatre is a bonding element because some of our kids are so little they barely know what's happening! Our current cast is made of of 6 to 60 year olds!

Working on a common goal seems to be the deal. Presenting a show brings so many different talents together. Some I have never really appreciated until I got involved. I have usually been the person on stage and so have never really looked at what the costumer does or what the producer has to do or how crazy it is to run a sound board until the last 4 years. Now I get it!! Wow! I now realize how relatively easy it is to "just" get up on stage and do the gig. We have a super bunch of folks who work on our shows and many do it on a volunteer basis. That is so cool!

So THANK YOU Tech Folk. You ROCK!!

Opening Nights

Opening Night for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"! We are finally here!

I have been privileged to be a part of many Opening Nights and all are exciting. Sometimes they are exciting because you are so ready and wanting to jump on the stage. Sometimes they are "exciting" because you are just a hair off and you know you have be to ON your game to pull it off! I had one opening night, with this group, when I was sicker than a dawg! (That's me in my curly days!)

The Fifth Avenue Floy Floy was opening in a (now defunct) supper club in Windsor for a week long engagement. I woke up, the previous morning, with a nasty bout of stomach flu. The next day - still so sick - I called the head of the group to tell him I was sick and had been for 18 hours. His reply? "So you're telling me you need a ride to the gig?"


THE SHOW MUST GO ON! And on it did go. A neighbor came over to help me dress and my boss helped me down the stairs and into the car. I traveled with a silver bowl that night, just in case. He said..."No problem, we'll just pull all your solos and lead work. Piece of cake!"

I walked on that stage and we started the show. During a scat solo from our tenor, Vince, our fearless leader Terry leaned over and said.."How ya feeling?" "Crappy!" I replied with a big smile on my face. Next thing I know ALL the songs I sang lead on were put back in and my solo stuff too! I just kept smiling, dancing and singing...all the while plotting how best to torture Terry for maximum pain and discomfort after the show.

We headed off stage and I immediately sat down hard, all the flu symptoms resuming. "Terry!" I snarled, "Why did you do that? Why did you go with the original show order???" He replied, "When I asked how you were feeling you said 'Happy' so I figured you were okay. You looked good!"


"I WAS ACTING!"

One thing that is interesting to note. Those 40 minutes on stage were the best I had felt in two days. I was IN the moment and I had no time to feel lousy. My mind suspended the goings on in my nether regions and I sang - albeit with sore tummy muscles!

Now tonight I anticipate no such problems. Upset tummies will be the result of the click, click, click of nerves. Once on the stage, the music, colors and sensations will overwhelm us and we will LIVE in the moment for an hour...or two.

So ride the coaster and ENJOY!! See you at the show!

IN the moment

Yahooo! When was the last time you did something like this? It's been a year for me. We don't seem to have as many leaves on the ground this year.

Time seems at a bit of a premium, right now. Busy, busy with our new show opening this week and all the hustle bustle of dress rehearsals and school outreach shows. Whew!

One of the kids was complaining yesterday about their costume being itchy and feeling sweaty. My reply was WELCOME TO SHOW BUSINESS! The kid said something about the glamour and when does that start? I replied, nope. It's mostly itchy and sweaty. The things that look so good to us like being on stage and having fun comes down to this. It's hard work. It's long hours. You'll spend most of your time itchy and sweaty!

I always explain a performance is like a ride on a roller coaster. There's that long line to wait in. Maybe you are waiting with a friend and they are complaining about it being hot or how they are thirsty. They are being pains in the neck right about the time you see the sign that says.... FROM THIS POINT 30 MINUTE WAIT.

Finally you arrive at the front of the line and get into a seat. Then the click, click, click up the ramp (the worst part for me!!) and you start to yell at your friend THIS WAS YOUR IDEA!! I HATE ROLLER COASTERS! GET ME OFF!!!

And then WHOOSH!!! You fly, you scream, you laugh!! And, just as suddenly, you are at the end of the ride and climb, on shaky legs, out of the car....

And right back into the line to ride again! You are pumped with adrenaline with the notion that YOU MADE IT! YOU LIVED!!! It's enough to want to endure another long line. More, please!!!

Interpretation: The long wait in line is the process of rehearsals, lessons, memorization, etc. Long and boring but completely necessary. The click, click, click of the ride is equal to the ghastly stage fright you get before you go on stage. The feeling that you really don't want to do this after all! Then WHOOSH! The thrill of preforming and being truly in the moment. Followed by the applause and the knowledge that you did not crash and burn but triumphed!! It's enough to make you forget all the work and makes you want to go back into the long process again.

So you see the WHOOSH is about a blink of an eye in the whole operation. That's why performers are really crazy! We live for the WHOOSH and we will work our bums off to make sure the WHOOSH gets better and better.

How often are you really IN the moment?

Ahhh..the Theatre!

This is me in "My Fair Lady" many moons ago. I drop this in because I am running out the door in 10 minutes to a rehearsal of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at which I will act as Vocal Director and Stage Left Manager. Theatre is in my blood, like it or not. I love that my daughter is in the show too. Yup, we are a family of hams! Have a great Sunday, ya'll!

My Fair Lady

This was my car in my senior year of high school - and the boyfriend too. And yes, me with long hair. That hair was a major deal when it got cut off in 1985. No "Locks of Love" back then. And now even giving your discarded hair has become political. Someone told me that that organization makes you pay for a wig instead of giving them to you. Wigs are expensive, I do know. My mother lost all her hair when her first chemo run made hers all fall out. ALL her hair, mind you. Something you don't think about. There are other companies out there with some major funding and they are able to give their wigs away - especially to kids. Something to research of you are considering taking the plunge. When I cut all my hair off I could not donate it because it was color treated. Crap.

Anyway, back to my jalopy. This car was super fast and had the biggest interior ever. Don't even remember it's make and model. Sad, isn't it?

Much cooler than the cars I see kids drive today. It had character and it built character. Too much too soon these days, if you ask me.

I am reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls and it is amazing! I highly recommend it because it shows what the human spirit can endure - at the hands of this woman's parents no less - and still go on to better things. It's like a car crash, this book. It is revolting and yet you really can't look away. What some people do with their kids and their ideas of how to raise them, wow! These parents weren't abusive, per se. However, their life and life style was abusive. Does that make sense? Along the lines of Frank McCourt's books of growing up in Ireland with messed up parents.

Read the book. And enjoy the weekend!

Referring back...

This is the gorgeous old lady that I was salivating over in the previous post. Isn't she a knockout?? Directly below, that is....

This is a dream of mine to live in one of these magnificent houses. Or, barring that, to make friends with someone who will let me stay there!

These two handsome gentlemen became friends of mine through slightly crazy circumstances. This is another in a series of "Listening to that small voice in my head and trusting my gut" episodes. These Italian men will forever be etched in my mind as "Bimbo" and "Blondi". "Bimbo" is on the right and I met him at Heathrow Airport on a long layover. My flight to Roma had been delayed because of a strike - so what else is new in Roma??? I had several hours to contemplate my fate so I did what everyone else was doing...I had a cup of tea.

I need to go back in this story to fill in some info first. I had fallen for a Lebanese man who was in the Navy stationed in Naples, Italy. He had invited me to visit and so I did. However, after booking cheap, unrefundable tickets he got cold feet. After polling my friends I decide to go anyway and see Roma. I had a friend who wanted to see the U.K. but was dicey on going alone. So we hatched a plan that I would go to Rome and spend a week then she would join me. We would train it to London and spent my remaining week travelling via rented car that she would pay for and I would drive. My flight was from Rome to Heathrow so I would just get on the plane at Heathrow and fly home. All was back on track and I was excited. Melancholy but excited.

It was October - Columbus Day actually! - when I left for Italy. I got off the plane and waited around until I heard the flight had been delayed. I had not booked a room in Rome as ALL the tour books said SLOW SEASON = NO WORRIES on getting a room. I was sitting having tea when this nice, older English gent started a conversation. I reminded him of his daughter. Nothing weird here he was just a good guy. We ended up talking on the plane - now delayed some 4 hours!! When we arrived in Rome is was dark and I was a bit frazzled. His good friend Blondi" would be picking us up and could they give a lift? Sure! We get in the car and this quiet gentleman drives like a MADMAN!!! In retrospect he drove like a typical Roman. It was the most harrowing car ride of my life and I have been in a NYC cab. (I realize that cabs in S.E. Asia may rival this. I have not had the pleasure.)

These gentlemen had a series of long Italian names and so went by these nicknames. Easier for a young American gal to remember.

Anyway, we arrive at my choice of pensione and "Bimbo" inquires for me. Turns out he is ITALIAN! As most upper crust Italians learn English English I was totally blown away when he greeted his friend in rapid fire Italian!! Turns out there is no room at the inn - or any inn on the street for that matter. These lovely gentlemen drive me around till we find a place that does have rooms and he books me there. A great location too! I am only a couple of blocks from the central train station. After making sure I am settled they insist on taking me out for dinner the next night.

That's where this photo comes from. They picked me up and drove me around the city at night - breathtaking! They showed me homes (palaces really) where their families had lived until Mussolini decided he wanted to live in them and turned the families out. We went to a great restaurant where I never saw a menu. These men ordered everything. Then off to the gelato shop for exquisite dessert. At the Spanish Steps we ran into a very handsome couple who I later found out where Mr. and Mrs. Ambassador to some country - really mucky mucks. They all talked about their servant problems and their house in Nice. I began to realize that these men were in the upper class of Italians and why I never inquired into sons I'll never know. Too broken hearted about Assaad I guess. Anyway, it was a wild week and I will tell more about that in upcoming posts.

The bottom line of this long ramble is to say if you feel that things and people are okay you are probably right. I have only been proven wrong - traveling - once. These men helped me and made me feel at home in the Eternal City. I highly recommend you see Rome before you die.

Way before you die.

Smart Ass - Part Deux

I love when people comment on this blog. (Thanks Karen!!) It really is great that someone is taking a moment to walk in my head with me ....! That's what this is. I am taking to heart what I have been reading - a great book called "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. She writes about all the things that have been floating in my head...."composting" is what she calls it. The idea that we sometimes have to "study awhile" about a subject before we jump in. (That was a phrase my southern grandmother always used and it fits here.)

I have wanted to write for awhile and Ms. Goldberg says so go ahead and WRITE THEN! So here I am. I use photos to jump start my juices and that's why I named the last entry SMART ASS. The picture of me pointing to that advertising icon - the Rice o Roni sign. Total smart ass. If someone could hear the voice(s) in my head their first comment would be "What a smart ass"...

This photo is of me, again in SF some 20 years ago, having an orgasm on the steps of my favorite house on Haight Street. It is a really lovely old girl, I have to say. I had the chance to peek in the doors and I wish I had had the balls I have now to have asked to come in for the full tour. NOTE TO SELF: Always ask for the full tour. What are they going to say? No? SO????

I have to tell you about two films that are MUST SEES for the Smart Asses out there. One I just finished watching and I am still so high from it. "LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE"!! Must see this and I think Version Three should have been the ending, for the record. Check out the extras on the dvd and you'll understand. (Don't you love all the outtake/deleted scene/interview/making of crap they put on dvds these days??) I am so glad I missed this in the theater because they would have asked me to leave. I hooted and howled all through this piece. Flippin' brilliant.

Second MUST SEE film. "KNOCKED UP". Again, glad I never saw it in the theatre. Brilliant performances because they play real people. I mean, that's what's so funny about this film. I know these people. Watch it and see if you don't agree. SOOOOO good. And if you have had children then double bonus. The delivery scenes will make you weep from laughter.

I have to say....in the same vein....you have to see "FORTY YEAR OLD VIRGIN". These are three films that will stand the test of time because they all come from a place of reality. That's what makes them so incredibly insightful and hilarious.

Why I may just have to add them to my Top Ten list of movies.

Smart Ass

This is a shot of me from some time back. (My Roger Daltry look!) My best friend, Michele, was living in Berkley, CA. at the time and I visited her. It was my first trip to California and we had a super fun time. It was important for me to do some dumb things like get a shot of the Rice O Roni sign......The San Francisco treat! Remember the commercial?

We really ran around San Francisco and did it all. What a blast. Now, some 20 years later, my friend Michele is back in SF and I hope to visit again. Funny how life comes full circle every now and then!

Love the weather!

It's a windy, rainy day and I love it. It's my English blood I guess. I could go for a little less wind but I love the rain. Whew, it's really howling out there! This photo is another one looking over Lake Michigan at Empire Beach. Lovely, isn't it?

I have many memories of this beach in this sleepy town. It always seemed like we were the only ones on the beach. I know that the waters of the lake can be a bit chilling however the sand was always warm. The lack of people made the beach seem remote and magical. We vacationed for YEARS on Lake Michigan in a little cottage in Good Harbor Bay - right on the Lake. We would see the occasional walker but that was it. It was our Lake and we could enjoy it privately, it seemed. It greeted us mornings with a stillness that was so serene. We splashed in the afternoon waves and collected it's Petosky stones offered up. In the evening we watched the sunlight shine across and highlight the color changes until the lighthouse between the islands switched on. Then it was time to watch the sun disappear behind it's edge. We always waved good night and saluted the sun with our after dinner coffee from a picnic table on the bluff. Sometimes we'd have a fire and listen to it's lulling sounds. It was always a treat to open the windows of the cottage so we could go to bed with caressing sounds as we slid into dream filled sleep. It was our Lake.
I'm very lucky that my husband grew up with this same familiarity with Lake Michigan. "It" really feels like an old friend. I have told "it" numerous secrets, hope and fears. "It" has helped me think through problems and forgive and forget. "It" helped me get through those tumultuous early teen years when no one understood me. "It" was always there to listen and never judge. "It" was so beautiful, to boot. I love it and fear it at the same time. I know it holds alot of secrets I will never understand. I know it has claimed lives too. It's magical, that's all. Do you feel that way about a place? I know I'm a bit of a romantic but what about you????

Where I wish I was

This is a photo of my daughter on the beach of my childhood. In fact, this could be a photo of me! I've spent alot of time on this beach looking out over Lake Michigan. We Great Lakes folks are a breed apart. I understand those ocean lovers out there but my heart remains here in the fresh water waves of the North.

Luckily, I married a man who loves this area as well. We share a geographical love...sigh. This area of the world really speaks to us and we feel so "at home" here.

I am so glad it "speaks" to my daughter as well. Where do you let out a sigh of relief? Where do you feel at peace? Where does your mind wander when you catch a scent on the wind or a sound triggers a thought...?

Right here. To the beach I land.

Happy wanderings!

Paddle your own canoe

Sigh. It's a perfect Fall morning. Last night, we sat by the fire, listened to music and read. A lovely, quiet family evening. My daughter is old enough now to enjoy that kind of time together. And this morning we fired up the woodstove to keep the good feelings flowing. I do love this time of year. It's kinda like holding your breath....before the whoosh of winter and the hustle bustle to stay warm and moving to keep on top of the holidays. This time between Halloween and Thanksgiving is ...well....the quiet before the storm, ya know?

Enjoy!

Today, I'd have to say "Not so good 'cause you're not here."

This is a photo of my dad. He died over a year and a half ago and today he is really in my thoughts. Don't know why. I just miss him. When I think of him I don't remember him as an 83 year old. Maybe more like in his 50's. Isn't it funny how some people are stuck in your mind at different ages in their lives? My friend Michele is in my mind as a 25 year old. My old boyfriend, Daryl, is stuck back in 1981. How do you see yourself? Every surprised when you see a recent photo?

Today I learned that a woman passed away of breast cancer. My friend George helped her in her last year and was there when she breathed her last. F##K Breast cancer! Glad she left so many people who will remember her. Sorry I never met her. She was 54.

Kiss those you love today. One day you'll only have memories and no face to kiss. Good thing we can make those we love live forever in our heads and hearts. My fondest memories of my dad will always be what he would say when I'd stop by to see him. I'd say "How are you?" and his reply was always "Better now that you're here."

Love you, Daddy-o

Another Halloween Gone

Thanksgiving decorations up yet???