Moving Moments in Theatre

I've decided to compile a list of my most compelling experiences in Theatre. I'm starting it very short so that it is really special. So here is a list of the most compelling or moving shows I've seen:

1.) Cats (I really only include this because it was the first show I ever saw, at 4 years old and I still remember it fairly well)

2.) Romeo & Juliet at Oregon Shakes

3.) The Blue Man Group in Chicago

4.) Macbeth in, I think, a BBC audio recording from many years ago that my 11th grade English teacher played for us. I fell in love with Shakespeare that day.

What are yours?

Third Sunday in Lent

The past few years since I started practicing Lent I've given up chocolate. After last year I knew it was time to move on because it started to get easy. So this year I gave up all desserts/sweets. It has been a good experience so far. The trickiest thing is deciding what should and should not be included in my fast. For example, I am an avid tea drinker. I drink a few cups a day. But I always sweeten my tea with honey, an indulgence which I have allowed myself during Lent. Once when we ordered breakfast at a restaurant, the meal came with a muffin. Andy said I could have it, I wasn't sure. But in the end I went ahead and allowed myself the muffin. I'm still doubting myself about that one. I think making a blanket statement that I'm giving up all sweets allows for a lot of gray areas that I'm going to have to keep making judgement calls on. But the main thing is that I don't "treat" myself or allow myself any desserts.

Today I went for the first time to St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in Downey. It is really nice to attend a church service during Lent at a church that actually celebrates it. My church always just ignores it-- it's not a part of the Baptist tradition. One of the prayers we said at St. Mark's this morning asked God to, as we observe Lent, remind us of "the folly of this world and its worth." That rung true to me. Lent can be an opportunity to learn what in life is worth clinging to and what isn't.

Another reason I enjoy Lent is this: throughout my background growing up in the church, I've heard many a Christian comment & complain about how "commercial" Christmas has become and how the most important holiday to Christians should be Easter, as it celebrates the moment of our salvation. Evangelicals celebrate the month-long season of Advent preparing us for Christmas, but neglect the 40-day period of Lent, which prepares us for Easter. Easter can be a bigger holiday, a more important holiday for more Christians if they would participate in this ancient tradition of the church-- practicing Lent before Easter. It really does help prepare the soul for the marvelous celebration on Easter Morn.

Elizabeth R

Explaining the reasons would be a long story, but for the past couple months we have been getting 3 Netflix movies at a time instead of our usual 1 at a time. This has given me the opportunity to watch some crazy stuff that Andy rolls his eyes at. For me it has been feeding my latest obsession which is Tudor history. I've been watching this 4-disk series called Elizabeth R produced by the BBC. I was a little put off when I first started watching it because it's shot really, really badly. It looks like a soap opera-- so you have people in very authentic Elizabethan dress, but all the camera work is very cheesy. It's an odd combo. Makes you want to shut it off, if it weren't for two really important factors: (A) The acting is flat-out fantastic. Especially the woman playing Elizabeth, and (B) the whole show is really factual and really authentic. It's very cool for the history buff.

...by the way, I read on the Philippa Gregory message board that she is definitely working on another book in the series! YEA! It will be about Jane Parker, sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn and the only lady-in-waiting that served 4 queens and she gave evidence against 2 of them (both members of her own family-- Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard)

Down for the Count

Sunday I was in bed all day with the flu. I've only really had a 24-hour thing in the past, so I went ahead and went to work Monday. Monday was a really easy day, so even though I didn't feel well, it wasn't a big deal. Well today was a different story... I subbed in a third grade class today, somewhat difficult class, no lesson plans, etc. and by the time the kids went out to P.E., I was leaning over the trash can. I actually did end up using that trash can and went home early. That was a first. I was supposed to go to an audition tonight... so much for that. I cancelled my job tomorrow, too. Three days and no end in sight... When will I be well???

Write More, Philippa!

So for Christmas, Andy bought my a copy of The Other Boleyn Girl, the first in a series of Tudor dramas by Philippa Gregory. It was so good! It told the story of Anne Boleyn through the eyes of her sister, Mary Boleyn, who was Henry VIII's mistress before Anne and bore him 1-2 children (the paternity of her first daughter is debatable). I read the nearly 600-page novel in week (I could have read it a lot faster, but I felt so guilty being done with my Christmas present before New Year's, so I paced myself) it was such a page-turner.

And then I immediately borrowed the next two in the series from the library before the New Year's holiday came and the libraries closed down. I spent another week on The Queen's Fool (chronicaling the story of Mary I a.k.a "Bloody Mary") and The Virgin's Lover (which told the story of Queen Elizabeth I's early reign and her love affair with Robert Dudley) and then read The Queen's Fool again before having to return them. At that point the only one left was The Constant Princess (which goes back in time to the very beginning and tells the story of Katherine of Aragon) which, as it turns out, is very recent and hard to come by. I got on the list at a couple of libraries where it was on order, and then, out of pure luck, I happened to be at another library and it was there! No one claiming it, all for me, for the taking! It was a fabulous novel. I tried to take it slow, but it was done in a few days. Then I read The Other Boleyn Girl again, which brings me to today.

So... now what? What am I to do without my friends Mary Boleyn, Hannah Verde, Amy Dudley and Princess Elizabeth? I mean, honestly, Philippa Gregory, why leave us hanging? When is the next one coming?

Country Line Dancing

Saturday night I went out with girls. We went country line dancing and it was tons of fun. We went to Montana's in San Dimas. I don't know very many dances by heart (really only the tush-push and the electric slide), but I learned a lot of new ones and my friends said I caught on quick. It's something I really enjoy doing, even if I'm still learning. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again.

A Good Scare

I talked to my mom yesterday and she told me she just got a call from a classmate of my sister's. She was at school when she almost fainted and started feeling nauseous and they were calling the ambulance. They took her to the hospital and we were there for several hours. Not a whole lot wrong, thank God, but it did look like she had had a cyst on her ovary that had ruptured. A little scary, but the doctor said not to worry-- that cysts are very common. She said some women get them every month. Jenn was working out at the time of the incident and had also not eaten in several hours. She also doesn't drink enough water. So she is doing much better now, doped up on vicodin and trying to take better care of herself! I love my sissy!