burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness

Last night, Carrie Cheron was the Featured Performer at Jam'n Java's Open Mic (in Arlington).

I'd never been there and GoogleMapped a bicycle route from work. ( Read more... )

Learner's Service was supposed to start at 9:30 this morning (moving the Torah study to the middle of the service).  I got there about 9:40, because apparently I overestimate how quickly I walk when in heels, but there weren't very many people there (apparently it had gotten announced two different ways, so there was some confusion and misunderstanding) and we didn't actually start until 10:00.

The service was abbreviated some (so that it would still end at noon even with all the explanatory bits and the Torah study), and I still dislike how quickly all the stuff is said.  (The rabbi said you shouldn't try to think about every single word that's said but just let things pop out at you; I still dislike that I feel like it's being rushed through rather than actually being worshipful.)  I asked some questions during the service, and a whole slew after (like what the deal was with the metal plate hanging over the Torah -- because I could understand practical/theological reasons for everything else; he said all the coverings/decorations mimic the priestly garments).  I felt a little bad 'cause here I am this outsider (from the dominant culture, to boot) coming in and being all criticizing (for example, I said I thought the, "Although we do not actually make petitions because it is the Sabbath, we lift up the names of those in need of healing ... and hope for healing for them," was a cheat), but when I said he must want me to quit asking all these questions or whatever, he was all, "No, asking questions is good."

Purim is Monday, March 9.  I am seriously considering going to the 6:30pm thing at the temple.  In part because hamentaschen is delicious.

***

I got crepes with hedy, and she asked, "Are you going to see Spring Awakening when it comes here?"
me: "I've never heard of it, so no, it wasn't part of my plans."
hedy: "It's about teenagers having sex."
me: "I am clearly going to have to look that up so I can go."

Also, reminder to myself -- 2/27/09 metro "Must watch": "Blackbird." The Speakeasy Stage puts on this Olivier Award-winning play starring Marianna Bassham and Bates Wilder. With its twisted "Lolita" themes, two May-December main characters look back on their illicit affair.  It's at the BCA (539 Tremont St., Boston) through March 31.

***

I had done MBTA TripPlanner to find out how to get from Davis Square to the Chevalier Theater in Medford by 5pm for Stacie's gospel concert (this year's title: "Precious In His Sight").  I wrote down when the bus left Davis, when it was scheduled to arrive at my stop, and what the intersection was that I wanted; the walking directions said the street I wanted was one block from the street I'd be getting off at, so I didn't look at the map or print out a map.  It occurred to me later that I should have looked into how to get home -- since I was going to a part of Medford I'd never been to before.

I took the 94.  It turns left on Boston Ave. from Davis, same as the 96, but whereas the 96 then goes up Curtis/Winthrop, it keeps going down Boston forever.  I didn't have a really strong sense of where Medford Square is, but I knew from my glance at the map that Medford Square was over by my part of Medford so eventually it would have to turn around.  It did, and when we crossed Winthrop St. again I recognized the intersection from my travels to Temple Shalom.  The bus system announced my stop, and I noticed a street sign for the street I wanted and pressed the Stop Request and got out and went right there.

I was there about a half an hour early, but as soon as I walked in, Owen (SCBC) greeted me with a strong cheerful greeting (calling me by name) and a program.  I seated myself and ended up getting to take a nap because the program didn't get started until about 5:20.

I actually wasn't all that impressed by the program.  Stacie's amazing, of course, and there were some other good voices (though Ron Murphy's solo of "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," he was about 2/3 of the way through before the mic-ing actually sounded right to me -- he kept either seeming too close so it was sort of muffled or distorted or something, or he was too far away and so it wasn't loud enough), but mostly it was kinda meh (I'm sure my tiredness contributed to my feeling).

The chorus was dressed all in black with like stoles, usually orange, in like "traditional African" patterns.  (And the singers were almost all black -- which was of course unsurprising.)  They had youth/children's choirs for part of it, and a lot of the kids had very clear distinct personalities; there was this one little blonde boy maybe 3 or 4 years old, who was cracking up the audience 'cause he was like marching and crouching and it almost wasn't even like he was hamming it up, it was like he was just like that all the time.

I did really like the performance of "We Fall Down" -- nice choreography and everything (though even that I would have tweaked a bit).

I felt I had a good enough sense of where I wanted to go that I could head down this street at the intersection and be close -- and would end up somewhere familiar at some point.  It turned out to be Main Street and I quickly realized that I was approaching the street I live off of from the opposite direction than I normally do.  It took about 15 minutes for the bus to take me from Davis Square to where I was going.  It took me a little over 10 minutes to walk home.  Yeah, I kinda thought it was silly for Voltaire to wait for the bus to Medford Square from Tufts Engineering rather than just walking, and yeah, I feel validated in that now.

***

"Joy Sadhana is a daily practice in the observation of joy."
-mylittleredgirl [more info]

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Five good things about today:
1. Our recycling bin reappeared.  (Or housemate procured a new one, I dunno -- though I kind of doubt that.  *shrugs*  Am just glad to have a recycling bin again.)
2. While I would have included a lot more explanatory in a "Learner's Service," I enjoyed my morning at temple.
3. Bits of the gospel concert were really lovely.
4. I'm really pleased to (a) have successfully walked home without a map from somewhere I've never been, (b) have a better sense of Medford geography generally, (c) be within easy walking distance to Medford Square.
5. I get to go to bed before 1:30am!  omg, I am looking at like 10 hours of sleep.  (Which will probably not get me fully caught up after <12hrs/2days, but is definitely good.)
Bonus: My feet not hurting particularly after all that walking in heels.

Three things I did well today:
1. I went to an ATM.  (When I went to pay for the pizza last night, I realized I was down to only one twenty -- plus a few ones.)
2. I successfully got to the Chevalier Theater -- and home again.
3. I remembered my Lenten discipline to read one Psalm/day.  [Hee, the Psalm I read tonight is also the one in tonight's Daily Office.]

Two things I am looking forward to (doing [better]) tomorrow:
["anything that you're looking forward to, that means you're facing tomorrow with joy, not trepidation," as Ari says]
1. Church.
2. Being less tired.

***

Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other's toil
-from tonight's Daily Office

Hai, 12 hours of sleep!  I went to bed at like 8:20pm.  I woke up at 6:13 (about when I normally get up during the week) and opted to not get up just yet.  My alarm was set for 8, and I ultimately got up a little before 8:30.

It was still flurrying out, and weather.com said 13F, feels like -3F (8:25am).  (Predicted high for today: 23F.)  That seemed a bit cold even for me.  My concessions to the cold were: a sweatshirt instead of a knit top, thick socks inside my boots, and gloves in the pockets.  I was expecting to feel underdressed, but I was actually mostly fine (I left my house around 10am).  I was a little dizzy leaving my house intitially because the snow on our porch/steps was mostly untouched, but my walk to Davis T is mostly past Tufts campus, so the sidewalks were mostly reasonably cleared, which, yay.

***

I called Terry when I got in to Norwood and said, "I'm at Norwood Central T Station and I would like you to come pick me up and take me to lunch.  Does that work for you?" and he said, "Uh, I'll be there in five minutes," in a tone which suggested it would not be a quick five minutes -- but after 15 minutes of walking in place and singing doxologies and "Abide With Me" and "Amazing Grace" to myself, I called him and said, "Should I just meet you at the restaurant?  Would that be easier for you?"  He said, "No, no, I'm almost there; I'm at the post office."  He was taken aback when he picked me up, asked "Is that all you're wearing?"  I said I was fine, that I had dressed appropriately for what I had expected, but that 15 minutes outside I was getting kinda cold and bored and I had to pee.  He thought the little building by the train station was still open to the public (it hasn't been for years).

We always go to lunch at the same place, and one of the staff members, José, knows Terry from when they both used to work at the Ground Round.  Last time we were there, when José came over to say hi to Terry, Terry introduced us.  Today when he came over to say hi, Terry introduced us and José was like, "We've already met," and I was like, "Yeah."  After José left, Terry said that the last time he was in here by himself, José had asked, "Where's your girlfriend?" and Terry said, "She's not my girlfriend," and José asked, "Are you sure?" and Terry said, "Yeah I'm sure."  He also told me that he had "fibbed" and told him that I was married.  To his credit, he immediately said something like, "Of course, I'm married..."  I was like, "Yeah..."

At one point, he asked what I was doing after lunch and I said I was gonna help my grandma wrap Christmas presents and he asked where she lives and I said the housing complex by Norwood Depot and he said, "Hill Street?" and I said yeah and he said, "I lived there [crashing with a friend for a few months] when I first moved to Norwood ... 23 years ago."  I said, "Wow, doing the math is weird; I was 2 then."  (He was 18.)  He looked horrified and told me to never say (things like) that again.

He said he could take extra time for lunch 'cause he got overtime for coming in early today to help clear the snow (they closed at 3:30 yesterday) except he couldn't today because it was still snowing (albeit only flurrying) so he was obliged to stay on-site and "keep an eye on the walkways."  I said I wanted to have lunch some time while I was off for winter break anyway (he's working days Christmas Eve through the day after New Year's) so we agreed that we'd make lunch plans for some day that it's not snowing :)

***

I wrapped Christmas presents for my grandma and listened to her talk incessantly and played three rounds of Upwords and did not die (nor kill).

I got the 5:07 (which was about ten minutes late, maybe more) train back into South Station.  I was a wimp and T-ed it to Govt. Ctr.  As I was walking through City Hall Plaza, a woman said my full name and I stopped and turned -- and didn't recognize her at all.  It was Alaina.  She said to tell my parents she says hi :)

***

The Back Bay Chorale's "An 18th-Century Christmas."

The Great Hall at Fanueil Hall is small enough that I don't think there are really particularly bad seats, and I didn't really need to have sprung for Premium seats, but whatever -- my gift to the arts or whatever.  (I think the chairs are uncomfortable, though.)

The conductor (Scott Allen Jarrett) said, "If you know of any Baroque Christmas music that we're not doing, let me know and I'll be sure to include it in a future program."

In the "Rejoice greatly" [Messiah], the Soprano sings a like 10-measure "Rejoice" (twice).  Wow!  (There's a long "Jauchzet" in Bach's "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen," too, but the "Rejoice" was far more impressive to me.)  I actually wish that that section ended with the "He shall speak peace" where the orchestra fades out and the soprano sings the word "peace" unaccompanied.

Before the last piece of the first segment, the conductor said, "And as the angels said... we will end the first portion of our program with 'Dona nobis pacem' from Bach's Mass in B Minor, one of the greatest pieces ever written."  I was like, "Wow, way to set a high bar for your performers."

After the sing-along (for which we all stood) was the closing piece, the "Hallelujah" from Messiah, and I was expecting to stay standing (yes, I've been to the Handel and Haydn Society's performance of Messiah for what, three years in a row?), but it seemed like everyone was sitting down, so I did, but some people stayed standing, so I stood back up.

[Addendum: I neglected to mention that the sing-along included three verses of "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and when we hit the refrain the second time, I was really struck by the "O come let us adore him" -- in part because of the shift to softer and sort of more intimate from more energetic, and also because it's this really evocative idea, this deep desire to adore/worship.]

( full program list )

***

Walking back from Fanueil Hall, there was a guy playing trumpet really pretty.  I had no bills smaller than a twenty, so I just gave him all the change I had (which unfortunately was like 57 cents).

When I was walking home past Powder House Park a little before 10:30, people were sledding.

My housemate renewed her Hollywood Video membership (and added my name -- yay) today and rented Ocean's Eleven and Goodfellas -- "Now I wanna go to Vegas and shoot people," she said.

When we were planning this outing, traces said, "Anyway, this sounds divine!  I'd love to celebrate spring w/swan boats & art shows!!"

I met her at South Station around 11am and we walked to Boston Common and the Public Gardens, wandering around and chatting up a storm and taking pictures (I hadn't actually expected the Public Gardens to be all beautiful yet, which is silly).  When we ended up at the entrance to the Swan Boats, we got in line and this guy came up to me and said, "Elizabeth, right?"  I recognized him but really couldn't place him.  He mentioned he had just recently had lunch with a student in Northampton and I realized he was Peter, the pastor at the church I went to for three years in college.  He and his wife (Jenny! I couldn't remember her name and just now as I was typing this up I remembered) were bringing their grandkid to the Swan Boats.  They were significantly ahead of us in line, so I only spoke briefly with Peter.

Afterward we walked to Copley -- I had a brief moment of, "I do remember how to do this, right?" but we exited right at Newbury Street so that was easy.  We cut over at Trinity Church and I hadn't noticed before the Boston Marathon map thing in the sidewalk.  A unicorn?
We were gonna just get food somewhere on the way to the MFA, but I was getting hungry so I suggested we just to the California Pizza Kitchen at the Pru ... and then I decided that since I couldn't remember really where that was in the Pru that we could just stop at the Chicago Uno we were walking past (on Boylston).  Tracy got a sangria which I had a sip of.

We only had time to spend about an hour at the MFA (since Tracy had to get a 4:30 train back, and it didn't go by Ruggles) but we saw a fair amount of Art in Bloom.  We mostly walked through stuff I'd seen before, but we also saw some of the Antonio López García exhibit.

[You can read her brief writeup of the day here.]

After I dropped Tracy at her train I had an unsuccessful quest for summer shoes at the Downtown Crossing Payless and then headed out to meet Katie for dinner at Brown Sugar Cafe (Thai food) on Comm. Ave. (Babcock St. stop), which I'd heard good things about but had never been to (as I'm so rarely out in that area, especially with time to eat dinner).  I got the Vegetable Pad Thai and was unimpressed, but I ordered fried banana with coconut ice cream for dessert and that was very tasty.

She walked with me to Marsh Chapel (BU Central stop) where I was going to see Carolyn in Handel's "Solomon."  I was too tired to enjoy it properly, but they definitely did a good job.

I hadn't realized BU is on the water until we were walking back to Theology House after the concert.  I was like, "Water!  And the Hyatt I see from the Red Line."  I also hadn't realized just how close so much of the different Green Lines are to each other (apparently having looked at the MBTA GoogleHack before hadn't really stuck) -- even though on Friday Nicki was talking about taking the 66 and I was realizing that it takes you from Harvard Square (Red Line) to literally each of the four Green Lines.

Afterward was STH bar night at Beacon Street Tavern (St. Mary's St. stop on the C line), which for a variety of factors ended up just being Carolyn, her mom, me, and Carolyn's friend Rhoda.
I got an 'Effen' Roy Rogers.  Yeah, I should not get Coke-based drinks, as I'm not a big fan of the taste; I want straight up fruity (or occasionally not fruity, like a martini or something).

Rhoda, who lives in Malden, drove us home, which I appreciated, since we ended up staying at the bar until almost 1am (I'd resigned myself to taking a cab home fairly early on).

Tonight I went to the Girlyman concert (with adrianne opening) with hedy.  I obviously didn't know the opener and had heard of Girlyman but really didn't know their music (I turned out to have one mp3, which I quite liked) but I figured why not.

Both acts I felt somewhat like the New Pornographers/Immaculate Machine concert I'd gone to with trijinx -- that the songs sounded pretty though I didn't really understand what was going on in the lyrics.

I particularly liked these Girlyman songs:
- "Easy Pearls"
- "St. Peter's Bones"
- "Reva Thereafter"

For their encore they did two covers, one of which was a queering of Loretta Lynn's "Fist City."  Hee.

***

During one of the anecdotes they were telling, Nate mentioned the Muppet on Sesame Street who played the piano and would say in exasperation, "I'll never get it," and bang his head against the keys.  He asked if anyone in the audience (besides his parents) knew the name of said Muppet, and I thought, "Amy would know this!"  (No one in the audience seemed to know it, so he told us.)  He also said that apparently that Muppet got pulled because kids were banging their heads against piano keys in imitation -- and that upon learning this his immediate reaction was, "I did that;" the other band members did that as children as well.

Obviously this is cause for polling.

[Poll #953215]

Nicole: "I have a weird question for you.  Do you ever go to church?"
She was asking about UU churches, which I haven't been to any of, but she comes from Lutheran and Catholic background and isn't quite comfortable in the Quaker "speak as you are moved to" setting; the last UU church/service she went to was like "And now someone will read a poem" and she said she wants a good speaker, plus of course a good community (young people, GLBT-friendly).

I mentioned Cambridge Welcoming, Clarendon Hill Presby, and Somerville UCC, not really selling any of them.

It occurred to me later, that Layna I don't know much of anything about where you go to church.  (I don't think I know anyone else who goes to a Christian church in the city.)

We like Nicole.

On Friday while I was waiting at South Station for the free Jewel concert we happened to see each other.

Nicole: "What train are you waiting for?"
me: "I'm not waiting for a train, actually."
Nicole: "Some people hang out in airports.  Some people like train stations.  I'm not judging."
I explained about the concert and she was really excited for me, having been to a Jewel concert herself once and loving it.

We talked about our plans for the weekend and I mentioned Smith Tea at UpStairs.
Nicole: "So are they charging you an arm and a leg?"
me: [shrugs] "35 dollars."
Nicole: "Okay, so really only an arm then."

Magic 106.7 sponsored the concert, and the woman doing the introduction was just gushing.  I was standing next to a couple cynical people and joked that Jewel should come in in a Glinda bubble.

I wasn't all that impressed with the performance.  I couldn't hear her that well when she was speaking and wasn't all that taken with her singing.  Plus she mostly did stuff from her first album, and while I've always liked her first album, I was hoping for more from her most recent album.
She opened with "Hands," played "Little Sister" by request as well as "You Were Meant For Me", and closed with "Who Will Save Your Soul" (the first song she wrote -- at age 16 -- and her first single; she said she heard herself on the radio and realized she sounded like Kermit the Frog and then said the title line in a pretty good Kermit voice).  She also played "Standing Still" and, by request, "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland" (she said, "this is the most autobiographical song I've ever written, and I hate performing it, what else can I say?").

Medieval Church

I was awake for the whole thing tonight, which is an improvement over the last two sessions (and somewhat impressive since I was feeling tired from Friday mid-afternoon to Sunday late afternoon).

I thought Shakespeare had made up "Illyria," but no, it really existed.

Tonight's "Please kill me now" question from the floor was (in a discussion of the Pentarchy: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria, Constantinople), "Do you know if Jesus meant to end up in Jerusalem?  Because it wasn't that big of a city."

Prof. on St. Sebastian: "last graduating class of pre-legalization martyrs."
I know about the homoerotic connections with him from a presentation I did for my Lorca class, so when the prof said that St. Sebastian was actually left for dead, nursed back to health, and then stoned to death I of course perked up at the idea of who nursed him back to health.  I'll have to e-mail the prof for citations.  I already need to e-mail him about recommended writings on why Christians were persecuted under Rome since he gave the simplistic answer that they refused to participate in civic paganism but then problematized that by pointing out that neither did the Jews, and people mentioned the conversion thing, but he said it's unclear how honest the Romans were in the argument that aggressive conversion undermined the state.

Jesus' divinity was The Issue for the Councils, largely because Arius was around when Constantine converted; the prof likened it to a whole bunch of conversations going on in a room and then someone opens the door.

There was some point during class tonight, I forget what about specifically, that made me sad that the prof really isn't that theologically knowledgeable.  During the break, the guy next to me (named Greg) mentioned to me that this course is usually taught by a div school professor who's on sabbatical so they asked this prof to do it.  Interesting.

Prof on St. Jerome (the first to do a full translation of the Bible into Latin): "patron saint of all people who slave over obscenely large projects [...] not a martyr except in the sense that all academics would understand."

Prof on the Caravaggio painting of St. Jerome: "a man and his muse ... not a particularly talkative muse"

During the section on Constantine, the prof mentioned "in this sign you will conquer," which of course I was familiar with (plus I had in fact done the reading on Constantine's conversion) but it hadn't quite clicked before like it did tonight -- in terms of my really registering how that was so contrary to what I understand the message of Jesus to be.  I thought of how last night in discussion on the section about Jesus and Family in The Man Jesus Loved, Kirk said, "Even before we get to the end of Scripture, the church sold out" -- talking about how the pseudo-Pauline letters backtrack the radicalism of the Pauline letters.

Of course whatever I'm reading, everything suddenly becomes About that, but on Friday I was thinking about how rich the book is and how as much as I want to focus on a single issue and master it (e.g. what "the Bible" says about same-sex erotic relationships) I love this interconnectedness (what embodiment implies, what exactly the Bible says about Jesus' message of love, etc.).

More prof quotes:

On how easy it is to get 4-5 pages (the length of our essay due in two weeks): "You dash off an intemperate and vociferous e-mail to a friend..."

"Coins are great, 'cause they're durable and the visual equivalent of a soundbyte."

When asked how Julian(?) died, "He was campaigning, it was probably dysentery.  You can't say 'such-and-such a leader died of diarrhea,' but that's usually how they went."

I went to the local UCC church this morning.  I wasn't impressed, though I had a good Coffee Hour experience.  ( Read more... )

***

I went to Handel's Messiah at Symphony Hall this afternoon.  I forgot how high second balcony is.  (I've been to Symphony Hall twice, both at ground level, and haven't been anywhere that has a second balcony in a while.)  I was on the righthandside which turned out to mean my view was of the violinists (as opposed to the cellists).  Yay.  (I love cellists, but having been a violinist, that's always the part that pings me.)

I don't like the repetition of sentence fragments, especially drawn out, so that it sounds more like sounds than words, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped to.  (I've also not been sleeping, so I definitely wasn't awake for all of it.)  Hallelujah Chorus, though...  Just before we got to it, there was a palpable shift in the audience, and I thought people were just kinda sitting to attention, but a dozen or so people literally stood up.  If I had done so, I would have been even more tempted to sing along.

Some of the passages I only recognized from that evening at Clarendon Hill Presby (e.g. Malachi 3:2-3) and others still didn't feel familiar, but the traditional Isaiah and Luke... really resonated, like involuntarily.  I have been enculturated.  Though I think that part of it is also that I so love the idea of this story: of light in the darkness on so many levels.  ( Read more... )

***

I kept having to retype bits of this because my computer kept freaking out, but snow is predicted for tonight into tomorrow, so life is good.

Edit: I would love the Hallelujah chorus on mp3, but I can at least sate myself with wiki's play-in-browser.

Wednesday

I dreamed that I talked with Joe about Mardi Gras and Lent.  And that pardalis05 called.  Gee, do we think I miss people?

Then on the Red Line that morning a girl asked me if I'd gone to Smith.  I didn't recognize her, but we probably had class or something together at one point. She was a Skarda advisee but not a groupie. Now working in the Kendall area.

Florian gave Amanda and I Lindor chocolates.  And the orange wrapped one turned out to be peanut butter.  Yum!

On the Red Line home I saw a woman with an HBS Exec Ed bag and a dark ash smudge on her forehead.  She was the only ashed person I saw all day.

Going back and tagging entries, December 2002 I was watching Ice Wars.  Who knew?  I remember seeing ads for ice skating events in TVGuide when I was in high school or whatever and not watching them 'cause I didn't have time, so I just assumed I'd stopped watching all together.

My mom was watching these performance feedback videos for work and zomg, make my brain bleed.
The employee gets difficult-to-read information from sales reps and so she guesses as to the numbers for the purchase orders because she doesn't wanna bother the sales reps (plus it slows down her process since she often gets their voicemail).  And when she gets their voicemail she just leaves her name and number.  That was the killer for me.  Who doesn't know to leave a detailed message with the reason for your call?  [I know it's a scripted scenario, but you only include things you think might actually happen.]  Even when I called friends when I was in high school or whatever I would say why I was calling (just to say hi, question about homework, whatever).

Midday ABCNews: 1 in 5 could name all 5 members of the Simpsons.  Only 1 in 1000 could name all 5 freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
My reaction: Come on, who remembers freedom to petition?  Press and peaceable assembly maybe.  But basically everyone knows speech and religion, and everything else kinda comes under that umbrella anyway.
Later my dad told me about Dale Carpenter further problematizing it.

Assorted Millionaire questions for you:

Before Alaska and Hawaii in 1959, the last state to join the Union was:
+ Montana
+ Arizona
+ New Mexico
+ Utah
( Answer )

First baseball game broadcast on tv was:
+ Syracuse-Ithaca
+ Ohio-Penn State
+ Harvard-Yale
+ Princeton-Columbia
( Answer )
I enjoyed that Mary Alice and I both had the same random guess before they listed the answers -- Red Sox-Yankees :)

Oprah premiered in 1986 (!) with the following topic:
+ celebrating teachers
+ finding the right person to marry
+ loving your body
+ moms who do it all
( Answer )


Thursday

Amanda called a theatre in Arlington and its automated menu had showtimes "through Feb. 30" (theatres do Thursday-Thursday schedules).

Searching for contact info [name, title, address, phone, e-mail] for profs was way more difficult than it should have been. Boo on unhelpful university faculty pages.

Prof.D: "Do I really have to reformat my whole CV?"
Prof.B: "No.  You get your assistant to do it."
Me, who supports both of them: [something like, "Gee, thanks."]
Prof.B: "Yeah, I knew you'd love that."

carpdeus and I on the Monty Python's Flying Circus "Spam" sketch.

Friday

Reformatting Prof.D's CV I decided I needed background music to sustain me, so I did Yahoo!LaunchCast.  Apparently the majority of my musical taste is "Adult Alternative," which I suppose isn't all that surprising.

'Twas amusing seeing why it played certain songs.

+ "Flake" by Jack Johnson [Reason: Recommended by fans of Coldplay]
+ "Insensitive" by Jann Arden [Reason played: Recommended by fans of Matchbox Twenty // Genres: Soft Pop, Adult Alternative ]
+ "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton [Reason played: Recommended by fans of Evanescence ]

I've heard "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child a lot before, but listening to the words this time I couldn't help thinking of "Don't Ever Call Your Sweetheart By His Name" by Christine Lavin.


I had a Huntington mailing waiting for me when I got home. 
+ Breaking Ground Festival of New Play Readings: April 6-9 [That's a Thurs-Sun.] at the Calderwood

The flyer had blurbs about 4 of them.
+ Kind Hearts and Coronets, which movie I swear Emma has mentioned to me a million times. (This version is a musical; book by Robert L. Friedman, music by Steven Lutvak, lyrics by Robert L. Friedman and Stevenm Lutvak)
+ Persephone (Noah Haidle) "Guiseppe is trying to carve an image of the Greek goddess Demeter from an unyielding block of marble --- she's the love of his life. But relationships are always hard, especially when stretched over centuries."
+ Property -- based on the Valerie Martin author also of Mary Reilly, for you Skarda Telling & Retelling folk novel I read in UMass Brave New Worlds class.  I'm undecided as to whether I actually wanna see this play.
+ Voyeurs de Venus (Huntington Playwrighting Fellow, Lydia Diamond) -- "Sara, a black scholar specializing in pop culture, is writing a book (or, trying to) about Saartjie Bartmaan, known derogatorily as the Hottentot Venus. Sara's own issues of racial identity emerge as she struggles to recount Saartjie's life for a largely white audience. All the while, Sara navigates a minefield of personal intimacies between her husband and lover. Past and present merge as their stories collide in this piercing drama."

Saturday

Went grocery shopping with my mom and picking up a box of Always cleanweave my mom initially thought it said cleavage *g*

On a whim we purchased this.

Stacie Clayton performs at Singspiration a lot, and tonight they sponsored a concert by the Community Gospel Choir (which she directs).  There were five little girls -- three in black with dashiki print sashes and two in gypsy/pirate type white blouses.  The adult performers were all in black, women in dashiki print stoles and men in orange ties.

(It felt a little bit odd to schedule a "We Shall Come Rejoicing" concert for the first Saturday in Lent. My mom wondered if perhaps they could take the giant, brightly colored, "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords" banners down from the front of the church for Lent. Did we mention I come from a church that really isn't very liturgical calendar oriented? :) )

They opened with a reading of Revelation 7:9-17 and JoeF read it I don't know where from but not the front of the sanctuary though they had the sound wired so that's where it came out. Very nice.

I actually wasn't all that taken with most of the concert. The spiritual "Hold on," with its line "Keep your hand on the plow" was very powerful, though. And I really liked "Le Lo le lo lay lo" (William Loperana, Puerto Rico) -- text from the Sanctus (Heaven and earth are full of your glory ... Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord ... etc.) Also ♥ the male soloist on that one. He reminded me of Chris Dalton.

Saw JoeF briefly afterward. He asked me "what world [I was] going to conquer next." I literally threw my head back and laughed (okay, that was partly because my mouth was full). He knows I'm a writer (he is, too) but it's not like I wrote much of substance for the Times, and my writing for the Bulletin was Letter(s) to the Editor articulating views I'm fairly certain he disagrees with. And yet he thinks very highly of me. About the world conquering he said something like "I have no doubt that you will." So hey, I'll take it.

Smith's performance of the Verdi Requiem was the night of the day the Pope died.
Requiem=rest, and yet it contains so many "dies irae" (day of judgment, lots of wrath). Most beautiful part of the whole thing, lots of percussion and all, but still weird.
I really liked the Sanctus&Benedictus. And the Responsory, though when it ended [i was following along in the program] and then there was more i was confused.

I had forgotten that because this is the Sunday after Easter, First Churches' service focused a lot on the Resurrection etc.

Besides the Pope and Terri Schiavo, Frank Perdue and Fred Korematsu also died this week.

The Bible-Art-Culture symposium was largely underwhelming (to my mind) but Amy-Jill Levine was amazing (as akronohten had said she is).

A lot of the talk about Donfried talked about him doing a lot for ecumenical relations, which came as a total surprise to me. I mean, he's Mr. "Paul the Jew," but who knew he was Lutheran? I distinctly remember him making some remark about Lutherans, because i remember thinking "What is it with the religion department and Lutherans?" because he and Joel both said something within the space of a week about "Catholics and Lutherans," as if Lutheran=Protestant. Not that people don't make cracks about the groups they belong to, i just totally thought he [Donfried] was Catholic.

( 5 panels )

I did a large alcohol run Saturday night. It occurred to me that i get approximately 20% - like a waitress; you pay for your food and you also pay the person who brings it to you.

Ruhi proved that she gives good hickeys. ("Joygasm" was Alana's word.) I heart my friends who don't need to get drunk (not that my friends who do drink aren't entertaining when drunk).

I went to the "Confessions of a Sex-Crazed Mind" lecture on Saturday and the "Sexology 101" workshop and "Intimate Q&A" on Sunday, though i didn't go to the Sunday night Best Lesbian Erotica (10th edition) reading.

Tristan reminded me of Ms. Fisher, though less pale and skeletal, and her hair's highlighted. (She also reminded me of Tammy Bruce.) She was dressed so conservatively, which was also disconcerting. Dark stiletto pumps, dark slacks, reddish purple lacy velour tank, dark blazer, choker and pendant necklace, hair past shoulder length, oval glasses. Second day she had a pinstriped blouse.

( notes and highlights )

Stuff i forgot to mention from Friday:
-Emma and Cat tied Felicia up with duct tape. That was possibly the best part of the day. (Though multiple hours with Cate was pretty hot.)
-Laura came to tea and the first words out of my mouth were "What the fuck did you do to your hair?" because she'd gotten it cut very short. I actually liked it better when she was all femmed up for the mocktail that night, which i don't understand. I'm pretty much fine with it now, though. (I actually wanna get my hair cut pretty short, but in a femmey way. In that copious free time i have, right? And i'm thinking of going bra&camisole shopping as well. Maybe this coming Friday.)
-Music to have sex by was also a topic of conversation during the mocktail.

was lovely, though it was the second weekend in a row of getting little homework done, which is badness.

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