Dead or Alive Isn't An Option

O.K. so it's been three days since we last danced together, sang together, and it might have shown tonight. I really prefer to think the crowd was a dead as nails. Word is that the Friday and Saturday performances are sold out! So let us practice on the unenthused bores and throw to those willing to pay and clap and shout praise our voices and smiles, our best.

I do promise to write something more about real life when this musical ends. Because we all know that performing in a musical isn't at all real.

P.S. I would really appreciate a cold beer right about now....

Without A Hitch, But A Needed Stitch

Sorry for the lack of writing. I have been busy with the show. Opening night was terrific. Well, expect for one small thing.

For those of you not familiar with Oliver!, go rent it, and then come back and read. Now, the rest of you, over here: During the group dance for "Consider Yourself" one of my two petticoats began to slip down. To keep it from falling to the floor, I grabbed the skirts in both hands at the thighs and took a small step right. My back is to the audience in this 45 seconds of the chorus, and a side step to the right and left are part of the dance, so I knew that once I had secured the skirt, I could get right into step. However, my dance partner thought my step right was his cue to step left. When he realized no one else was doing the sidestep, he looked at me confused. Through smiling teeth, I tried to communicate that my skirt was falling. Didn't need to make the thought stick because what felt like an eternity of wondering if my undergarments were going to be shown the world and tripped over by me, the cue came for the side-steps, and away we went swept up by the magic of the Artful Dodger.

I did; however, let the costume crew know that the skirt needed to be taken in a bit, and that in the mean time I needed a safety pin.

Field of Dreams

I found this page when searching for the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat the other day. I love Eugene Field.

My Two Left Feet

Updated: Six blisters and one humbled woman later, we have returned. The director's enthusiam and watching all the college students made it so much so enjoyable, so no matter if the phone rings tomorrow or not, it was fun.

So, E and I got a callback for Oliver!. Tonight, we have to demonstrate that we can pick-up quickly on dance rountines, a "dance element" it is called. The word stressed here is quickly.

Ummmm, yeah. I am sure that watching me attempt to count, keep step, smile and look wonderful* all while singing will at least give them something to point to and say "Don't do that." I am positive, however, I will be watching my daughter on stage sometime in April.

Dancing with the Sun

One of the things that I looked forward to in moving to UT was going to the Sundance Film Festival. So, tomorrow between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. MST I am calling to get the info. The possibility of getting to attend this year is really exciting.

Top Ten

List making is so limiting. I avoid it whenever possible. For some reason, I feel bound to the list and to deviate means a betrayal of some sort. However, due to Zboy's prompting, I will make a list of movies that I enjoyed this year.

1) Garden State. I have absolutely no idea why this film moves me so deeply, but it does. I have never heard a better matched soundtrack.

2)Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Eliminating the things that you think you can't live with ultimately takes away the person without whom you can't live.

3)Man on Fire. Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning create such a connection on screen that makes this film compelling and completely believable. I wish I had had a Creasy when I was growing-up.

4)Maria Full of Grace. A wrenching and fascinating film.

5)Osama. I think every woman complaining that the United States is opressive be required to view this film. It made my heart hurt.

6)The Bourne Supremacy. The second of three, this film held my full attention the entire time. The further development of Jason's character stuck and didn't seem out of place. My favorite scene is when Bourne is fighting the operative in Germany in whose home he was waiting. The guy has zip ties on and it was such a tense and well-matched fight....I can't wait to see the third installment.

7)Napoleon Dynamite. Stupid films rarely appeal to me, but this one was silly and funny. And any girl would be impressed with a guy building her a cake.

8)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.. When I read that a new director, the Columbus guy who did Y tu Mamá También was directing, I new that he would lend an artistic interpretation to the screenplay. I am typically a purist, but I really did enjoy the few liberties he took. It produced a more mature, creative film that even my purist offspring found acceptable.

9)Kill Bill, Vol.2 This the ultimate female revenge movie. Cathartic films are sometimes necessary to keep us from doing what shouldn't be done or what doing would undo us.

10)A Series of Unfortunate Events. A small piece in Newsweek last spring announced the film version of Lemony Snicket's smash hit books to the girls and me. We couldn't wait to see the movie and we weren't disappointed. It presented as completely fantastical reality, something all kids already enjoy, but in which more adults should indulge.

My hopes for a year in which you grow stronger, laugh harder, and look longer.

Blog with a View

I have viewed other films in the last month that I think are worthy of discussing and will do so sometime this week. If time offers more of itself to you, consider these foreign films:

Nowhere in Africa- Winner of the 2002 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Divided We Fall- A Czech film nominated for Best Foreign Picture at the 2001 Academy Awards.

More

Accoustic guitar is one of my favorite instruments. The simplicity of the strumming combined with throaty vocals makes for a very reflective song. And my personal preference is toward pensive and contemplative.

Check out the lyrics of these songs:
Iron and Wine, "Such Great Heights"
Nick Drake, "One of These Things First"
Cary Brothers, "Blue Eyes"
Colin Hay, "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You"

It is rare that I so enjoy a film and the soundtrack.

The Girl in this Room....

really likes this song.

Narrow daylight entered my room
Shining hours were brief
Winter is over
Summer is near
Are we stonger than we believe?

Narrow Daylight entered my room
Shining hours were brief
Winter is over
Summer is near
Are we stronger than we believe?

The Girl in the Other Room

The music of Diana Krall was introduced to me by my mother. Of course, my mother introduced me to almost every genre of music there is. Except country. Thank goodness (sorry, Patrick).

I have been ad ardent follower of her music since I received her first CD burned and sent to me by my mom. She has a voice of liquid. It goes so smoothly into my soul that I am utterly inebriated by it before I can even recognize the buzz.

New to Me

"Shalom", the handprinted lithography produced by IMAGE Journal, is now available via Corridor Press. Please direct all purchase inquiries to Tim Sheesley. A portion of the sales will be be donated to support IMAGE journal.

" 'Quince' was inspired by the Medieval Garden at the Cloisters in Upper Manhattan. Above is 'Three-Fruit,' measuring 89 x 132 inches. Painted on handmade Japanese paper stretched over canvas, these works further explore Makoto's mineral pigments such as malachite, azurite, silver and gold. It was originally displayed in the Millenium celebration at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1999-2000. Makoto wrote "when St. John the Divine requested for me to prepare a series of painting for a historic Millenium Christmas, I thought of the quince trees at the Cloisters right away. They serve as a reminder and a symbol of the abundance of life, of fruit of the Spirit that the Incarnation points to.' "(from the site of Makoto Fujimura)

Both pieces by Makoto Fujimura.

This man's art is soothing and fluid. I found him via Gideon Strauss.

Gideon also mentions Objects of Grace: Conversations on Creativity and Faith by James Romaine. A quote from the site: "Objects of Grace promises to enrich our understanding of the artistic process and works of art as they offer insights into the creator God." I hope to soon add this book to my own personal collection.