The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Right up there, anyway.

Here's Lucy in the red monster costume she made with Sharon.

And Rose, appearing "as herself" but enjoying the festivities all the same.

...and Lucy, here in the midst of trick or treating with friend Harper, who is really into Elvis right now.

From our family to yours - Happiest of Halloweens!

Big-Time

As in, "We hit the..."

My theatre company hit City Pages' coveted "A-List" for our show that opens this Friday. We continue to incrementally improve both our production value and our visibility, show by show. Let's hope that trend continues.

It definitely helps (and is quite rewarding) to have a personal endeavor that is supported by the immediate community. Warm winds to the sails of motivation in a way I never came close to, in my musical pursuits.

The Great Test: Or, Turning Shit into Shinola

Well - it would appeat that God, or the fates, or some weird karma -is endeavoring to test my efforts at "The Great Relax," as I have been facing a relentless string of challenges to my time & sanity over the past three weeks.

My family, which had been relatively sickness-free for the past two years, got hit in spades over the past month. Lucy, then Rose (both with croup - which led to some seriously long and arduous nights), then Sharon, then me, and then Rose again (though Rose has a couple of teeth about to come in, and some of her current condition might have something to do with that). Then, the computer goes out. A good chance to take a step back from technology, of course; but also more than a bit of an inconvenience, about a week out from the opening of my theatre company's fall show - and a ton of stuff that I simply cannot do to help prepare and follow up on; not to mention a $380 repair bill. We're in the midst of the "Rose again" phase of sickness, and neither Sharon nor I has had a great night's sleep in some time. Add to that two weeks of extra workload (one day of which resulted in me coming in at about 4 am yesterday), and no relief over the weekend, as Sharon worked. I'm running on about two weeks of little sleep and zero time to myself (sans kids) prior to 9 pm, save one night over this past weekend when I went out to see a play.

Nearly the last straw was on my drive home, yesterday, at just after 1 pm. I was heading north on I-94 a few miles south of my neck of the woods, when I heard a tremendous grating sound of something large and metallic dragging along underneath my car. I immediately took the next exit and pulled into the first parking lot I saw, at about 18th street North on Washington Ave. Not the place you want to have car troubles. Getting out, I saw what I feared: the brace holding up the muffler had broken loose and the exhaust system was just resting right on the ground. Fuck me. The parking lot was that of some nonprofit, and they were kind enough to let me use the phone to call my auto club, who told me they could have someone out within the hour. Hanging up, I realized "What are they going to do?" A tow would not really avail me, as my problem was the at the back end of the car. I wasn't sure they'd be able to affect even a rudimentary fix on the tailpipe, and I knew I didn't want to hang around that area for even an hour.

That's when they whole ship of my life may have righted itself. That's when I leapt into such action as I could take. The parking lot was right across the street from a gas station with a logo of bees buzzing around, called "The Colony." I can only imagine at the origin of the name, but the place is most truly a rotten hive of scum & villany. Nevertheless, I marched right in, bought two bungee cords (thank GOD they had bungee cords), and got back to my car, unaccosted. I did some crazy-ass shit with the cords that resulted in the exhaust system being held somewhat tenuously in place -enough for a slow, non-freeway route home. At home, I changed into running clothes, then drove the car (slowly) up to PepBoys to find out about the repair. I ran home (it was a beautiful, crisp and sunny fall day), and got a call not long after telling me the muffler was fine and that they just needed to get a new brace & install: total cost about $100, and I could have it back by the end of the day. (in the world of my financial disasters, $100 is good, good news)

I ended up having a relatively nice afternoon & night, and awoke to find some pretty cool news that may follow in an upcoming post.

Beer & Apples

Fresh red apples, bursting with all the juice and sweetness Summer's sun has managed to pack in; and frothy, bitter Harvest ale, flushing your cheeks with the crisp bite of noble hops and the smooth, hearty taste of roasted malts.

And so, my friend, the question is Put To You. What have you to say for yourself? Only if your statement should suffice (and only then!), shall I deem you worthy of a taste of my beer & apples.

Still Alive, Still Off the Grid, and the More Alive For It

Much less posting, of late. I've been particularly busy at work, as we are in the midst of transitioning into a GIS environment that should be very beneficial to my career in the future, but is putting a tremendous strain on my workload at present.

It's been weird to be without a computer at home for the past five days or so. Without a doubt, I have some pretty strong indications of computer addiction; and I say that in a clinical sense, not a slang one. Beyond a fairly substantial amount of work that I put into working on theatre-related stuff, and home finance (which I attend to almost exclusively on my computer), I spend far more time obsessively checking various email accounts, RSS feeds, and late-night, open-ended cruising about that I think arises from some sort of false hope it will relax a mind that is wound up from day after day full of operating at a high level, both at work and home. I think the reality, though, is that a computer (much like a TV) has some sort of stasis effect on your brain; it emerges from a period of time devoted to the activity in the exact condition in which it entered; and none the more rested. As I stated to PMix on Friday, I aspire to approach my computer activity at home with the same method that so successfully governs my TV watching: I will turn on the device if I have some very specific purpose in mind, and turn it off as soon as that purpose is done.

So - sans-computer this past weekend, I went with my family out to an apple orchard for some annual pickin'; and sweet, fresh apples were feasted upon for the remainder of the weekend, along with Goose Island Autumn Ale and Bell's Two Hearted IPA. I also had the opportunity to see live theatre performance, directed by the guy who will be directing my company's winter show, plus hang out with my two girls yesterday afternoon while Sharon did one of her intermittant naturalist programming events (she works about one day a month). One of the hilights from the afternoon (and there were many): finally getting some glow-in-the-dark stars stuck up on Lucy's ceiling. I elected to represent the Winter Sky, since it'll be a sky she is more familiar with, growing up (dark will always occur before her bedtime). So far, we've got The Big Dipper, The Little Dipper, and Casseopia represented, all directionally consistant with the actual sky outside. Then we ran out of the white, tacky stuff. When our supply is replenished, we'll start in again. You have to pick and choose, since there's only so much ceiling space, but I know I need to get Orion in there, and then probably as many of the Zodiac characters as appear in a Winter sky.

Off the Grid

What I am about to say has been a far, far, far more complicated, painful, and frustrating incident than it sounds: I will be without a computer or email access at home for at least a week.

Great News on the School Front

The probable solution to our "no-good-schools-in-our-neck-of-the-woods" dilemma has suddenly emerged. Lucy's school, as a result of a ton of behind the scenes work & lobbying the state legislature, has been approved to me a Minnesota charter school. As in, for Fall 2007 they will open their doors for K-6 Montessori classes, funded wholly by Minneapolis Public Schools.

On the surface, this is a sublime, miraculous sudden circumstance; particularly as Lucy enters kindergarten next fall. Not only would she continue in Montessori education, which we truly want for her; it would be through a school we already know, love, and trust that lies within our neighborhood. And it would be free.

The only part that scares me is: what happens when the doors are opened to the general public? I fear the influx of high needs kids and or kids from "transitional" families could potentially overwhelm the capacity of the school to maintain its structure and ideal environment. How, exactly, will enrollment work? Will parents have to seek out and show, in some way, they understand the commitment they are making by choosing Montessori for their kids? Or will this school be forced to near-bursting-at-the-seams during the next rash of Minneapolis school closings, and eventually go the way of all other North Minneapolis schools? (and - selfishly - if the latter, can we squeak our kids through before that comes to pass?)

There's definitely some room to be involved with this transition; and much to understand about how this is all going to work. More on this in the future, undoubtedly.