Sold Out! Goodbye, Tootsie...and the Seeing of Little Chicky

Sorry for infrequency of my posting. Things have continued to be a whirwind, but the pace of life has continued on, unabated.

Sellout:
Of course, foremost in my mind over the past few weeks has been the play. Rather than try to describe in detail in my last post, I just linked to The Good Doctor Blog, which thoroughly discussed the success of opening weekend. We were completely unprepared for the response from our neighborhood and beyond, as the first two nights of the show were completely sold out. That, combined with the audience's enthusiastic response to pre-show remarks our Artistic Director made about bringing live theatre back to Camden was enough to bring tears to my eyes. The love-hate relationship I have with my neighborhood definitely continues. As much as it is in the heart of one of the top cultural cities in US, my greater neighborhood has simply lacked the vibrancy & pulse of a good chunk of the city, for as long as I have lived there. It's always been a "chicken or the egg" situation, but from mediocre support for the neighborhood's short-lived chic neighborhood grocer to utter lack of support for live music at the coffee shop, I was really starting to believe that a pulse and heart was not even there for the reviving.

After all the hours of planning, work, sweat, and emotional investment-the über-success of this inagural production gave me a satisfaction unlike anything I have felt since I finished the Twin Cities marathon. And it probably surpassed that, since the goal was a little more selfless. Can Camden Civic Theatre revitalize Camden single-handedly? Certainly not. But we're not alone. The right people are out there, and I believe we're giving them an opportunity for solidarity, and a chance to come out and prove that they're not the only people around who think there's more to life than to retire into your home every night, pull the shutters down, and curse the boom cars.

So, unbelievably: by Monday we were sold out for both (final) shows this coming weekend. Had we known...had we the slightest inkling that support was going to be this great, we would have scheduled a six or eight show run, or booked an actual theatre space with the knowledge that we'd make enough in tickets to cover the cost. Ah-well...this is the first of many productions, eh? Next step...Is There such a ready made theatre space in the neighborhood? Much scouting to be done this summer.

Goodbye, Tootsie:
Our African Giant Black Millipede (archispirostreptus gigas), Tootsie, has passed. As a member of the largest variety of millipede in the world (about seven inches long), Tootsie had an appearance that would freak out some folks that aren't into such kinds of critters, but she was gentle soul. We aquired her from one of Sharon's co-workers nearly a year ago, when she was already quite advanced in age, and are assuming (and hoping) that it was age, rather than care, that ultimately led her to stop eating and eventually die. She will be missed by all in the immediate family. Boy, we've had to explain death a lot to Lucy in the past year...






The Seeing of Little Chicky:
Our first ultrasound appointment! We got some really good images, one or two of which I might post in the coming days. At 17 weeks old, Little Chicky is about nine inches long and amazingly active. Where fetal Lucy was just reclining and occasionally extending, in a languid manner, an arm or leg, L.C. flips about, flailing, and fights back against the ultrasound instrument that pushes in on the uterus. We could be in for a little spitfire.