The Lovely Bones

This book is so morbidly fascinating that I had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep last night. But not before I had read more than half it. And that’s not really normal for me in any way at all. It’s really nice to be reading a good book.

Telling

I cut this out of yesterday’s Post-Dispatch. Very interesting. I am surprised by Israel, as I don’t really agree with Bush’s policy there. There’s obviously more I don’t know. Still, the graph certainly affirms what I otherwise knew.

A Forwarded E-mail Thought

Thought for Today:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ~ WOOHOO what a ride!”

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away. Have an amazing day!

What The Hell Is Going On?

A little over a week ago, I blogged about nuclear materials that disappeared from Iraq.

Now, a “huge cache of explosives” also has disappeared. And this time even the interim Iraqi government is expressing their concern.

So I previously asked how, when we have occupied and taken over a country and its government, that nuclear materials that could be used to make a nuclear bomb just disappear without us knowing anything? And now these explosives are gone…

I really want a discussion on this. What the hell is going on?

Disappointed by the Man

While the Cardinals were clinching their trip to the World Series last Thursday, I was watching The Man of La Mancha down at the ArtLoft on Washington. I already had the tickets and well, as much as I hope the Cardinals win, I am not personally vested in it at all.

Still, I wish I had missed the game for a better show. The Newline is undoubtedly my favorite theatre company in the area. They do strictly musicals, have a talented director and like to do shows that push the envelope- or that others in the area simply won’t do.

So it was a little odd that they were doing the slightly more traditional Man of La Mancha in the first place. But being the connoisseur that I am, I looked forward to the opportunity to see a well-known show done in one of my favorite spaces with some of my favorite actors. Plus, the Newline’s website offered all sorts of current ties between the play’s plot and today’s political climate. But I just didn’t get the connections, and neither did my companion. I am not sure why they wanted to do the show, but what was published on the website seems to be a huge stretch.

The black-box theatre was set up in the round. The troop of prisoners turned actors was dressed in rags and crawling around, under and over a two-foot platform stage. The use of space was interesting. Todd Schaefer played Don Quixote/Cervantes and did an excellent job of physically altering his appearance from young to old man. As Don Quixote, he excellently upheld his trembling old body through long periods of acting and song. I know how much energy, talent and focus that takes- having performed just a short scene in college that required similar physical control.

However, in the end, I was not fulfilled by the show. The rest of the acting and singing was serviceable, but I didn’t really enjoy the script, score and even the basic plot of the show. It wasn’t as bad as the Nervous Set, but I was disappointed.

And as we walked out of the ArtLoft down to Rue 13 to visit Khan, I heard whoops and screams and honks. Onto the World Series, as I had correctly predicted at the beginning of the post-season. But will we manage?

Return of the Max

… as written to my friend Jeremy…

So last year when my friends were running around our favorite used clothing store trying to come up with something good- I found this super hideous used wig and fell in love. It was the beginning. I put together a random outfit and came up with a character for myself. (I was a theatre minor and I am a little over the bend in the head.) Maxi Padwell was a 1970s supermodel wannabe cleptomaniac stalker. She had a huge purse filled with pads and tampons that she would ask people to hold and spread all over the table whenever she needed to dig into her purse. Her white underwear with black cats on it could be seen through her skin tight pink pants and her shirt was tucked into them in the back. She followed around Candi (Janice) all night picking up her boa’s feathers and pinning them to her purse. She had also snagged a pair of pink underwear from Candi that “accidentally” was also hanging out of her purse.

Maxi was popular.

This year, Maxi was invited to a masquerade. She’s very excited about getting dressed up. She bought herself a pretty pink tafetta prom dress, accessorized with long black gloves, new jewelry, pink polish and lipstick and black hose. Oh, and because it’s a masquerade, she bought a black half-mask that is tight enough that she will be able to wear her glasses over it. She can’t wait to hang out with the girls.