Something new

Gail has always been a person in my life who pushes me to explore new things and to eagerly embrace things I would normally shun.

We spent some time together this past weekend; we normally don't get the chance to spend a lot of time together. We went to see a dance show called Anna and the Anadroids: The Robots' Dream Tour performed by Anatomical Scenario. Their program says that Anatomical Scenario is "a dance company based on the instinctual expression of human exaggeration". I'm not sure what that means.

From what I can tell, the performance was sort of a mix of experiemental theater, performance art, modern dance, and ballet - from what I can tell. But I can't say for sure.

Gail is sure the show had a deeply-rooted message about social consciousness and consumerism. I didn't really get that. Not even just a little bit. Heck, I was pretty much lost the entire show. But, it was enjoyable, and I suppose one can enjoy something without really "getting" it.

Anyway, we had a great time and we came out of the theater profoundly moved by the same things: how skinny those dancer's thighs were and how they could wear those itty-bitty costumes all night long without ever reaching up to pull their undies/leotards/tutus down over their butt cheeks.

Here, I'm returning your fork.

“We have no more right to put our discordant states of mind into the lives of those around us and rob them of their sunshine and brightness than we have to enter their houses and steal their silverware.” --Julia Moss Stern*

Today my friend Lisa (the lovely and charming Nurse Flinn from Cuckoo's Nest) sent me an email to ask if I was okay. She'd read my blog. It suddenly occurred to me that my past few postings have been just a skosh negative.

Huh.

See, I can be what some people consider sarcastic. What I think is sorta funny isn't always so hilarious to the next guy.

Like the Thermos bottle thing: I was in Goodwill for the gazillionth time (those damn victorian costumes!) and I saw a thermos just like the one I had in first grade. Except get this: the inside was plastic. I stood there in the middle of the Goodwill store on Indianola Avenue, marveling at the idea that the inside of Thermos bottles used to be glass.

I mean, I wasn't sad, or angry, or bitter about my horrifying Thermos accident. After all, I'm not one to go on about things. I'm not.

So, I'm sorry if I've been a bit of a downer. I just want you all (all two of you) to know that I'm actually singing sunshine and butterflies these days. Really, I am. It's just that I'm usually not one to go on about things. You know I'm not. Really.

How about this? The next time I steal your silverware, I promise to return it in a timely
manner and as shiny as the inside of a Thermos botttle. (As shiny as the inside of a Thermos bottle used to be. You know, back when the inside of a Thermos bottle was glass.)

*I have no idea who Julia Moss Stern is. Neither does Wikipedia.

Stuff

Stuff that's on my mind (in no particular order):

• Thermos bottles don't have glass/metal insides anymore; the inside of Thermos bottles is now plastic. I bet that nowadays a six year old could drop a thermos bottle (on the way to her first day in a new school after moving to a new town) and then at lunch time, when she opened the thermos, the tomato soup inside would still be okay and not filled with little pieces of glass. I bet.
• I need to get back on some sort of diet that does not include chocolate. That's going to be difficult.
• I probably need to delete my last post because almost every day I think about it and feel guilty. I log in with intentions of deleting, but I re-read it and convince myself that since it's all true it's really not that bad. After all, it's just what I'm feeling. Naturally, after not doing anything about it, I feel more guilt, which in turn, leads to chocolate.
• When your next-door-neighbors (whom you love) experience the worst tragedy one could ever imagine, there really is nothing you can say or do to help ease their heartache or to quell your own grief, quiet your sick stomach, or stop the nightmares from creeping in soon after you fall asleep. Rest in peace, Therese; may you rest peacefully in God's loving arms.
• I don't like it when people honk their horn at me when I'm in my car (for insignificant matters, such as not flooring my gas pedal the nanosecond after the light turns green). There is way too much horn honking going on these days. Cut it out.
• I want to audition for a show coming up, but after reading a Theatre Roundtable review left on the desk at ECP, I've convinced myself that everyone was right: I sucked in Cuckoo's Nest and my acting probably just sucks in general. Naturally, this leads to chocolate, so I'm too fat to audition anyway. End of story.
• I can't post photos to Blogger anymore.
• Everyone knows that you will impress your friends with your grammar skills if you can distinguish between "lie" and "lay". Confession: I have a Master of Science in English from a distinguished and reputable university, and I can't do it. My solution to this problem is to simply avoid any sentence that requires me to select either "lie" or "lay". This makes me feel like a fraud. I also have trouble with "further" vs. "farther", but alot of people do - so that one doesn't make me feel as bad.

I'm tired and cranky and I did 7th grade homework all night (I helped my son do 7th grade homework, but it's a fine line). You see, since I already went through 7th grade (thirty years or so ago); I'm not real hip to doing it over.

So you'll forgive this post's annoying self-indulgence?

It was either write all this stuff in my blog or open the one-pound bag of M&Ms hidden in the very back of my freezer.