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September, 2003
September 30, 2003
Fall chill in the air...
It finally feels like fall. I don't know how I'll feel about it when I'm on the open football field with the breeze blowing through my sweatshirt at 3:30 this afternoon but it feels just about right now. I'm getting the urge to make a pot of soup, an apple pie, you know the drill. I always think of the appropriate foods when the weather changes.
I began teaching a beginning American Sign Language class last night at the local tech school. I have a class of five women, four of whom were there last night. It seems like a very nice group with varied reasons for wanting to learn the language. It's a short course, only a month and a half, and I'm not sure how much vocabulary and grammar I can get through in that period of time but I'll do my best to give them a good beginning. I wasn't terrified, although I was apprehensive, but it went well.
I guess I'm growing accustomed to this new schedule. I still wish I could finish my day earlier. It's quite an adjustment with working out dinner and all but the family pitches in and we're doing fine. I must admit, I'm getting a lot more sleep than I did before. I never set an alarm anymore. I just wake up whenever and have been sleeping about eight hours a night. I can't remember when I could do that during the week, anytime other than summer, that is! So, I suppose it will be alright. Once again, there's a lot to be said for having a job, you know?
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September 27, 2003
Corrections
It looks like Newsday heard from theatre fans and corrected the oversight in the article posted yesterday. Don't you just love the internet? In other news, Kelly is no longer an understudy in the Smithtown production of Amadeus. She'll be on stage every night, a townsperson. How that will work out with wardrobe duties remains to be seen!
Hoorah for Saturday!
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September 26, 2003
This Day in History
On September 26, 1957, West Side Story opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Although not in the opening night cast, the role of Gee-Tar was eventually taken over by Harvey Hohnecker, who soon changed his name to Harvey Evans! Here's a link for the official West Side Story website.
I added a link to a Newsday article about Little Shop of Horrors to the Little Shop page. The fact-checkers must have been asleep because in this article, Audrey is played by "Penny Pringle". Hmm. Let's hope they fix that before Sunday's newspaper (the article is on the website but dated September 28, 2003). Other than that, it's an interesting article.
Kelly will be working at Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts again as they present Amadeus. Not only will she be handling wardrobe, she'll be understudying a non-speaking role on stage. The theatre is at 2 East Main Street in Smithtown, NY. I've tried to find a website but they don't seem to have one. I'll keep searching for some listing, though.
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September 23, 2003
Happy
First Day of Fall!
It's blustery, which is a Pooh kind of day.
I just saw A Beautiful Mind for the first time a few days ago. What a fascinating story and Russell Crowe was just amazing. After seeing this movie, I read Dear Abby yesterday. There was a letter from a woman whose fiancé, although seemingly well-adjusted and successful in his career, believes he is from another planet. I wonder if that's more common than we know, that a brilliant person has delusions. I'm amazed that Nash is able to control his delusions and lead a fairly normal life, as it seems he's able to do.
Off to work...
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September 21, 2003
BC/EFA Flea Market, 2003
photo courtesy BC/EFA
Kelly, Kim and I visited the BC/EFA annual flea market in Shubert Alley this afternoon. The weather was perfect and we had a lovely time wandering around, looking at the tables. It was impossible to see anyone who was at the celebrity table, it was absolutely mobbed. We managed to glimpse Joel Grey at the photo booth. It was quite crowded but we still managed to run into friends, including T.J., a friend we haven't seen in years, who came running up to us calling, "I know you!!" It was funny and great to see him and catch up on the last few years.
The crowd in Shubert Alley from the Marriott Marquis across the street:
We had lunch at Say Cheese, a small storefront that sells nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches, with all different kinds of cheese. I, of course, had the basic grilled american cheese, on sourdough bread (from Amy's Bread), along with tomato eggplant soup, which was really good. After lunch, we wandered over to the Hell's Kitchen flea market, which is held in the neighborhood every Saturday and Sunday. While there, we saw this little booth, called "Lizzie Tish", which is a nickname my mother gave me as a child. They sold vintage clothing:
We went back to Shubert Alley and looked at a few other things. As usual, Beauty and the Beast's table had great food, including different kinds of chili. Kim got herself a piece of cornbread while Kelly and I went for the peanut butter chocolate bar, which was like a brownie and delicious!
No trip to the Hell's Kitchen area is complete without a trip to Amy's Bread. Here, we bought a loaf of sourdough bread, a biscuit for Kelly and a few cookies for Kim and me. Yum! Then, it was time to head home.
A beautiful day!
P.S. Northport JV football team beat Half Hollow Hills 20-10 on Friday, Sept. 19!
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September 18, 2003
Thar she blows!
Pretty amazing, right? It was an interesting football practice this afternoon. Wow. The wind was wild, gusting to 25mph according to weather.com. But, as long as it wasn't raining, I was happy. It looks like we'll have a windy, rainy night and early morning, with weather improving by afternoon. That's good news since there's a game tomorrow afternoon. I'd rather get that over with and have Saturday off.
I hope all is well where you are.
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September 16, 2003
Isabel approacheth!
If you live on the east coast, you've heard of Isabel, the hurricane we've been watching for about a week or so. It appears, from the latest news, that it is headed for the Carolinas and, possibly, Virginia. I was starting to worry and probably will be a little uneasy until it makes landfall. Still, we will feel the effects of the hurricane with heavy rains and strong winds, probably Thursday or Friday. There is a football game scheduled for Friday afternoon at 4pm. Let's hope we don't get blown off the field! Follow Isabel here: weather.com
Take care and stay safe, if you're in the path of this thing.
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September 14, 2003
Take Two
As I was browsing the web, searching for anything interesting about Little Shop of Horrors, I found this (website) about a production of Little Shop in Port Chester, NY. This picture (below) just made me laugh out loud and I wonder if the Virginia Theatre could borrow it. Well, maybe not!
Priceless, wouldn't you say? Incidentally, the picture was HUGE so I resized it and in the process, lost the lines at the top and right sides. Ah, whatever!
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September 14, 2003
1776
Kelly has been working at a small theatre, Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts. They are winding up their first season with 1776 and we saw it this past Friday evening. I love this play, saw it twice when Roundabout revived it recently, so I was happy to see it again, especially after reading the very good review the production received from Newsday (Newsday.com - 1776). I enjoyed it very much, especially the performances of the actors playing John Adams (Is Anybody There? was great), Abigail (amazing voice!) and Rutledge (Molasses to Rum - Wow!). I highly recommend it if you're in the NY area. It ends Sept. 28, I believe. Also, since this particular play was chosen to close their season because of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the cast led the audience in a sing-along of God Bless America, which was very moving. On top of all that, this renovated theatre is an absolutely beautiful building and I look forward to seeing more productions there.
TTFN!
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September 10, 2003
Little Shop!
(rehearsal picture courtesy playbill.com)
We saw Little Shop of Horrors last night. That is, Bill, Kelly, Jan, Eric, Lori and me! We had a blast. It's still in previews (hence the lovely discount) but it's looking great. It's a very funny show and the many versions of the plant are amazing! I don't want to give anything away but, although the basic design is similar to the original from the off-Broadway production (see photos here), the new plant is quite impressive, especially at the very end. Whoa! Douglas does indeed play "everyone else" and looks like he's having a great time with his many characters! Performances are really terrific and I so enjoyed Kerry Butler, particularly since I disliked Ellen Greene in the movie. Ugh, she just grates on me something awful. Hunter Foster is a very sweet Seymour. They make such a cute couple! The "urchins" are a treat!
Mexican dinner was fun and tasty and we even had time for a little dessert after the show, to extend the excitement! Yes, good times were had by all.
Here's a nice review of The Thing About Men.
And here's a picture of Ron and Marc from
the official
website.
Lovely weather today. Dare I ask how long this will last??
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September 8, 2003
I added a reading list,
starting with what I read over the summer. Hopefully, some of you might
find these interesting and want to give them a try. It's linked to the
family table of contents. Look for Pooh reading to Tigger. To see
the page now, click on Pooh reading:
I also added a couple of links to the Big River page. Deb sent me one link and I found the other on the same site.
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September 7, 2003
Counter hits 100!
I'm impressed! You mean people actually read this stuff? Still only nine actual entries in the guestbook, though. The other two are from me and Brad and Dave from Bravenet (where the guestbook is located). Gotta love Brad and Dave. I can't thank them enough! I sure hope the 100 hits are not from the same nine people, although if that's true, I also can't thank them/you enough. It's just that it would be nice to know the readership is a bit more diverse.
I've started adding a recipe page to the family section. The first group are recipes that I either learned from my Mom or have been making so long, they're family favorites. It will take me awhile to get it started. I only have a few recipes added so far. I should also link to some sites I use to find recipes. I've found lots of great recipes on the internet, the favorite being turkey meatloaf. Excellent! So, stay tuned for more recipes, as they are added.
I
finished reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham today. Kelly and I
enjoyed the movie so much and the book was really good. Since I'd seen the
movie, I was already familiar with the twist at the end. Well, maybe it's
not really a twist but I'm referring to the way the story comes together at the
end. Also, it's rare when a movie follows a book so closely. I kept
thinking of the scenes as I read the chapters. I highly recommend both the
book and the movie. I started reading Shakespeare's The Taming of the
Shrew today. I've decided to read some of the comedies. I prefer
them over the tragedies and the histories. Before reading The Hours, I
read Alice Walker's The Color Purple. I love the movie and had always
wanted to read the book and was not disappointed. It's such a beautiful
story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you, weatherman, for nice weather. Again, I'm impressed. I think we're due, dang it!
Toodles
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September 3, 2003
Back to School
Today was the first day of school, although I've been working at football practice since Aug. 25. This schedule will take awhile to get used to. I'm only in two academic classes, the last two periods of the day, so most of my day is at football practice. As the months progress, it will be cold and I won't be a happy camper. I hate the cold. Even if it's not that cold, standing out there for two and a half hours will be uncomfortable. Well, what are you gonna do? That's life.
Geez, this is a downer. Sorry! I'll get used to it, I always do. There are, of course, some advantages. I get to sleep late. I can't remember when I could do that. If I need a day off, it won't be so difficult to cover my hours. The hour and 45 minutes (two periods) I'm working at the high school are really a gift. Someone else could cover it, they're just trying to keep us all working. Also, I can get dinner started and leave it in the refrigerator and the family can get dinner ready so I come home to dinner already cooked. That's unusual for me! Also, the student I'm working with in the academic classes is a pleasure. We get along very well. Likewise with the student in football. So, it's ok. I just feel the need to whine a little!
I added some links from playbill.com to Big River and Little Shop. I hope Big River gets a transfer to another theatre. It deserves a longer life, as Michael McElroy said.
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September 1, 2003
Happy Labor Day
I usually forget these holidays, especially when I'm not yet into the work routine, since we don't do anything different than usual. Fourth of July and Labor Day are generally the same as other days. Bill doesn't have a day off, although he will get time and a half for working. Kelly also has to work at Pier 1 today. So, I'll just make dinner as usual. I guess that's another reason I can get used to any schedule.
Hard to believe it's September. The weather felt like fall yesterday. It was really nice and cool. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the inevitable heat wave that always hits just after school starts. How annoying is that? With the lovely weather we've been enjoying in the past year and a half or so (I hope you know that's sarcasm), I'm waiting for a plague of locusts or something. It's almost to the point where I'm surprised when the weather is nice. Ah, I don't want to be cynical about the weather. If I'm going to be cynical, I should choose a better topic, like my job!
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