Last weekend was a busy, but fun, little weekend. On Saturday, Mer and I headed up early to Cleveland, to the Idea Center next to Playhouse Square, for the regional National Shakespeare Competition. Regional schools are encouraged to hold school-wide competitions, and then compete for the regional title and a chance to go on to the national stage in New York. We were there to support CVCA’s entrant, a talented young woman who was doing the “unsex me here” Lady Macbeth speech from Macbeth.

There were about twenty-five or thirty schools competing, so we were split into two groups. Three finalists were to be selected from each of the two rooms, and then those six would compete for the regional title. Each contestant had to do a monologue from a play and a sonnet as well. Our student was going pretty late in the competition, so we got to see what she was up against.

The level of acting and reciting was quite good, as one would expect from school champions. In our room, Mer and I felt that about five or six of the competitors, including our young lady, all had a good shot at the three finalist slots from our room. When the results came in, we were disappointed. Two of the three slots were understandable – they were quite good, and I could see where the judges were coming from. The third slot was the one that made me and Mer confused and a little angry. The third slot went to a contestant who did an adequate job, but was not in the top six of either of our lists, let alone the top three. In fact, we were questioning whether the performance was even worthy of the top ten in our room of thirteen or fourteen. It was not a bad performance; it was just really bland, with little movement or inflection. So, for the second year in a row, we left the competition confused as to what the judges saw (last year we could not see what the judges saw for the second-place finisher, who was pretty clearly not as good as the third through fifth finishers). I hope this does not come across as petty; Mer and I wanted our girl to win, of course, but we thought she could lose out to four or five others. Where we got upset was when one of the slots went to someone neither or us had even considered as a contender. Very strange.

We left before the finals, since we were supposed to be heading to Ellen’s in Michigan. I did not see putting off spending time with a good friend to see Shakespeare monologues when we had already seen three of the six. Happily, Mer agreed, so we headed out earlier than we had expected. We stopped at Steak ‘n Shake for lunch, but we still got to Ellen’s place in Hillsdale around 3:00 or so, about two hours earlier than we had hoped. I think we caught Ellen still wrapping up getting supper going, but she was gracious and happy to see us. Ellen is the standard-bearer for hospitality for people roughly our age, and she took our visit as an opportunity to organize a small dinner party of her own.

We got installed in Ellen’s guest room, and she surprised us with a couple of CDs as belated birthday presents. One was an English Christian band called Mumford and Sons that has an eclectic and interesting sound. The other was a Norwegian folk singer with a crystal-clear voice. Both CDs were thoughtful gifts, and we have already gotten much profitable listening out of them. To return the favor (in a less giving way), I introduced Ellen to The Anonymous 4, a group of women singers who do arrangements of hymns and folks songs. Ellen took a liking to them and ordered a CD the same day. That was gratifying.

As was the dinner. Ellen had invited her pastor and his wife, and her headmaster and his wife, and so we had a party of seven. Ellen made some spectacular food (a great soup and make-your-own burritos), and the evening was lighthearted, with quite a bit of laughter. We talked until about 10:00, when the others had to go. I headed to bed directly, but Mer and Ellen stayed up for a bit to chat.

On Sunday, we went to Ellen’s church, which is a Presbyterian church that meets on the campus of Hillsdale College. They are in the process of buying a property to renovate as a church, but for now, they still meet on the campus. It was a good service, and it was pleasant to have a personal connection with the pastor from the dinner the night before. They had a brief congregational meeting after the service to discuss the new property, so Mer and I took that opportunity to take a short (and cold) walk about Hillsdale College to check out the campus. We wandered the main square before retreating back to the student center for warmth.

Back at Ellen’s, I made brownies while Ellen ran over to school. We all had leftovers for lunch, which was fine by us. A good meal called for a nap for me, but Mer stayed up to grade. In the evening (post-nap), I ran out for dessert supplies, and we spent the evening eating and visiting (a common occurrence when we come over).

Monday was the reason for our visit. Ellen teaches English at Hillsdale Academy, and for the third year in a row she had invited me to speak on the play Rosecrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Mer used to teach the play, and when she did, I came up with a talk on the relationship between some of the odd things in the story and some of the odd things that happen in the world of quantum mechanics in physics. It has been over twenty years since I have studied quantum mechanics, so my theory is rusty, but the ideas behind the equations are still pretty fresh and interesting to me. We are also both happy to see Ellen in action – she is a very good teacher, and teaches some pretty interesting works (Dante’s Purgatory and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby on this particular day).

I gave my presentation, which was received quite well after a slightly rocky start (I had forgotten what some symbols in an equation meant for a moment, on the first slide. Ooops.). The students were very well behaved, and several of them seemed to be quite engaged. That is always gratifying. After the class, Mer and Ellen went off to a writing class, but I had the good opportunity to chat with a senior from the college who was sitting in on Ellen’s class. He was a social studies major, and wants to teach; we had a great conversation about the modern period, C. S. Lewis, historical methods, and more. He is a bright young man, and I hope he does well.

Ellen took us to a local deli for lunch, and we finished up the afternoon with Gatsby. Sadly, Mer and I then had to head home and back to our usual jobs (and, as it turns out, to both of us getting sick for the following week). Still, I look forward to speaking in class again next year if Ellen keeps the play on her class list.

Last Friday was a great day – Mer and I got to go over to Nate and Rachel Gurnish’s house for a dinner party. I love Nate and Rachel and their family, and it had been about eight or nine months since I had really had a chance to visit with them. Nate worked at CVCA for four years and was a very good running partner of mine, but I had not seen him since he left CVCA last June. As an added bonus, Rachel (and Nate, for that matter) can really cook!

Nate and Rachel have been living with their boys in a large camper that they have used to see parts of the United States. They set up their party at Nate’s parents’ house since Nate’s folks were out of town. It was a small gathering – just me and Mer, Nate and Rachel, a friend of Rachel’s, and another couple (Ben and Amanda) that are friends of the Gurnishes, and who happen to go to the same small church that Mer and I attend. Having seven people made the evening feel festive without being crowded.

The food was fantastic, and Rachel, in a humorous nod to Mer’s and my loving dessert, made three different kinds of dessert, as well as a “take-home” portion. She is gracious that way. The evening consisted of various conversations, which included my getting caught up on Nate’s life, and we ate a ton of good food. I hope it will not be another eight months before I catch up with Nate and Rachel again.

Tuesday was another wonderful “Educators’ Evening” at Playhouse Square. Several times a year, the playhouse invites teachers to come up to see a presentation on a play, then hear a talk about the play, and then see a play, all for free (and they even feed you). Meredith gets to go because she teaches English, and they let me come along because I coach an improv theater group. It is a pretty fantastic program.

Last Tuesday was a play called The Devils’ Music, based on the blues singer Bessie Smith. All of the things that were discussed in the play were factual, although the dialogue was created by the playwright. The Educators’ Evening discussion was based on how perspective is important to any story. We had some good discussions on the importance of perspective in both English classes and history classes, and as educators we were encouraged to think about how to represent multiple perspectives in our classes.

The pre-show talk was focused mostly on the events that led up to the blues as an art form, and some of the founding figures of the blues who were an early influence on Bessie Smith. We also got the background on Bessie’s early life and how she started into show business at a fairly early age.

The actual show was set entirely in an empty speakeasy-type saloon. Bessie and her band had just walked out on a show since the theater management was asking her to use the back door since she was a black singer. She refused and left. The play takes up from that moment, and we see much of Bessie’s life as told from her perspective in snippets. There were three musicians on stage with the actress playing Bessie – a sax player, a piano player, and an upright bass player. All three were amazing musicians.

The woman playing Bessie is a professional singer, and she raised the roof on the place. Man, that woman could sing. She was a very engaging actress as well – she got the audience on her side right away, and kept me engaged for much of the play. Her voice and stage presence were both huge.

I liked the play on the whole. I did start to “drift” from Bessie as she kept telling more and more stories of a hard partying lifestyle that seemed to be a near-endless stream of alcohol and sex and fighting. She did not seem to have any stable relationships in her life, at least as presented in the play. She was a huge talent and a huge monetary success, but by the end of the two hours, it felt hollow to me. I felt sorry for Bessie, and sorry that her life seemed so tragic to me.

The play was well done, and the music was grand, and given that it was all for free, it is hard to complain. Even when a play leaves me with questions, it still makes me think, and that is good theater.

Sunday morning was the marathon, and so Mer and I were up early (around 4:30, I think). Since the race started at the oddly specific time of 7:03, I wanted to get there a little before 6:00, which meant leaving around 5:00. We made it out the door on time, and we got to Birmingham a little before 6:00. To my great delight, we quickly found on-street parking that was only two or three blocks from the starting line. That is an advantage to a smaller marathon (there were about 5500 total runners for Birmingham, counting the half-marathon).

We walked to the starting area, and took advantage of the port-o-johns (several times, with my usual pre-race jitters). It was quite cold – only twenty-eight degrees, and I while I was smart enough to leave my sweatshirt on, I had taken my sweatpants off in the car, leaving my shorts-clad legs to deal with the cold. I did not care about my sweatshirt, so I was not concerned if it got lost at the start of the race, but I did want to keep my sweatpants. It turned out that Mer and I were able to maintain contact up to the beginning of the race, so I could have kept my sweatpants on. Ah, well. It meant some pre-race shivering.

I’m not sure if it was an indication of laid-back southern habits, but in the northern marathons I have run, runners are in the starting chute forty-five to sixty minutes before the race starts. I got into the nearly-empty chute about thirty minutes before 7:00, and there was almost no one in the chute. It was disconcerting. With about fifteen minutes to go, the chute began to fill, and with ten minutes to go, the chute was crammed with walkers and slower runners trying to make their way to the back of the line against a sea of unyielding bodies. I have to admit that this annoyed me somewhat, especially when I spent the first two to three miles dodging these slower runners who lined up way too close to the front (race etiquette says you should line up according to your anticipated race pace, which is handily posted along the chute; sadly, many people ignore these things).

The wheelchair racers started at 6:53, to an abrupt-sounding command of “go” over the PA system. We had a similar blunt command at 7:03 that was odd to me. Usually, in all the races I have run as an adult, we start them with a playing of the national anthem. The lack of music made the start seem rushed. Mer gave me a kiss and wished me well and headed off to a vantage point at about mile two on the course.

I won’t go into great detail about the whole race. It is a 13.1-mile loop, done twice by those running the full marathon. The course is quite spectator-friendly in the downtown area, where runners can be easily seen two or three times on each loop. Once the race leaves downtown, spectators get a bit sparser, although I was pleased that there were some spectators along much of the race. The race goes up a slight, but long, series of hills from miles 18 through 24. I did not notice them at all on the first lap, but they finally forced me to walk at mile 22 on the second lap. I ended up walking about 1.5 miles of the last four miles of the race, which was too bad. I was on track for a personal best time (of 3:28) up through mile 22, and that slipped away as my legs gave in to fatigue. I ended up with my third-fastest (out of ten) marathon time, just edging 3:36 at an official time of 3:35:54.

Mer was a great sport, as she stood around and cheered me along. She saw me start, and then saw me twice more on the first loop. She saw me at the end of the loop, and then again on the course, and finally a few hundred yards from the finish. It is remarkable that anyone would get up at 4:30 on a weekend to go and stand in the cold for four hours.

After the race, I met up with Meredith, and she walked and I hobbled back to the car. We drove back to Kelly and Paul’s house, stopping for some candy bars along the way so I could get a little food back into my system. Kelly and Paul and family were going to a dinner party at a friend’s house at 2:00. Mer decided to go along, but I passed, as I did not feel up to it. Instead, I slept for a few hours before limping downtown to eat at a Waffle House and then a Coldstone Creamery. I met everyone back at home, and I made a quick peanut butter dessert for my sister, who loves peanut butter. I got to read a story to WCNep before he went to sleep, and I got to wind up WCN before her mother told her she had to calm down and go to sleep. Mer and I passed the short remainder of the evening chatting with Kelly.

In the morning, I caught Paul just before he left for work. Mer and I went along with Kelly and the kids as she took them to school. We got to see the schools and classrooms of the kids, and said goodbye to them. Kelly then took us to Another Broken Egg, a breakfast place right on the river. It had a pretty view and great food, and the only slight downside was that we had to leave at 9:30 to make our flight in Atlanta; that meant we had to rush breakfast a bit more than we would have cared for.

The drive back to Atlanta was less tedious than the drive in the dark on Friday had been, but it was still less than riveting. We returned the rental car with happy efficiency, and we were at out gate a little over an hour before the plane was supposed to take off. That gave me time to get a crepe for Mer as a dessert treat. I found the crepe-making process fascinating to watch, to the extent that I bought a crepe-maker when I got home. I’m looking forward to trying it out.

Our flight to the Akron-Canton Airport was smooth and on time, and we were able to walk to our car in the “remote” lot (one of the great joys of the small regional airport). Since we were south of home, we decided to swing through Hartville to go to the Hartville Kitchen, an excellent Mennonite restaurant, where we both ended up eating too much.

It was certainly a whirlwind tour, but it had been a great trip to Alabama. I wish Kelly and her family lived closer, but I am grateful we have been able to see them twice in the last twelve months.

A few months ago, my sister sent me an e-mail asking me if I’d like to run with my niece. Alabama schools have joined up with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, as well as Mercedes (who has a plant in Alabama), to create a kids’ marathon. The program is for grades K-5, and the children run 25.2 miles on their own, in stages of 1/4 mile to 1 mile. If the complete their 25.2 miles, they then run the last mile of their run on the actual Birmingham Mercedes Marathon course on the Saturday before the full adult marathon. I love to run, and I adore my niece, so it was a no-thought process to say that I’d love to come down and run with WCN (World’s Cutest Niece).

Last weekend was race weekend, so Meredith and I flew from Akron/Canton to Atlanta, which was a pretty cheap (and direct) flight. It still left a three-hour drive, which was not helped by a thirty-minute wait in line to get our car, but we were underway in time to get to Kelly and Paul’s place around midnight Alabama time (1:00 am EST). Since Mer and I had worked a full day, it was a long drive to end the day, coming in at around three hours. Happily, the drive was uneventful, if also not terribly interesting in the dark.

On Saturday, Mer and Kelly and WCN and I all piled into Kelly’s van to take the hour-long drive to Birmingham. I was grateful that the race was late morning, so Mer and I still got around seven hours of sleep. I was in the way-back of the van with WCN, while Kelly and Mer were in the front seats. WCN and I played a game where we took turns hiding coins in one of our fists, and then the other had to guess the correct hand. We hammed it up by opening the “wrong” hand or by clenching our fists, and we had a good time.

Kelly and Mer dropped us about a block from the main square where the race was to start, and they went on a quest to find parking. WCN and I walked to the park and planted ourselves by a pretty fountain, which is where Kelly said WCN’s classmates were going to meet for a class picture. The place was mobbed, and since WCN is short and I do not know her classmates, we did not find them. Happily, Kelly found us and then located the class for me, so that worked out fine.

I was impressed at how well-run the race was. The race officials had the kids line up behind signs that had their grade levels printed on them. When the time came, they called the grade level out, and the runners walked through a chute to a staging area. A set of volunteers would raise a rope stretched across the street, the runners would advance to the next rope, and so on until they got to the starting line. It worked well. Since the runners were timed by chips on their running bibs, there was no mad crush to get to the front.

While the kids are still in kindergarten or in first grade, an adult (usually a parent) can run with the child. After that, adults are not allowed. WCN is in first grade, so this would be my only time to run with her, unless and until she gets into road races later on. WCN and I got called to the first grade maker, so we said goodbye to Kelly and Mer, and we lined up. We then were allowed into the chutes, and up to the corral system, and finally to the starting line.

WCN is adorable, and she held my hand for over three quarters of the mile race. We kept up a good pace, especially for her little legs, and she had a great attitude. She smiled a lot, and she finally asked politely if we could walk some after we hit the half-mile turnaround point. She did not walk long, however, and we started running again. I learned a happily injury-free lesson – I took my eyes off the road to say something to another adult, and promptly ran into the back of a little girl, whom I was able to catch so she did not fall over. Never take your eyes off the road when there are short runners around! The rest of the race was without incident.

There were a ton of spectators along the course, and the whole thing was supervised by enthusiastic National Guard members, who were giving out a ton of high-fives to the kids, including to WCN. It was a good experience. We crossed the finish line, where we were greeted by Batman and the Green Arrow, since the race weekend also has a “Superhero 5k” on the Saturday before the marathon. Later, in the marathon expo, where I was picking up my race things for Sunday, we also saw Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, and The Phantom. It was much fun.

After the race and the marathon expo, we walked the several blocks to the car. Kelly offered to take us out to lunch, and we agreed that this would be welcome. She said she had an idea for dessert, and along the was she decided some real food might be good, so we swung into a mom-and-pop BBQ place. The place was busy, but we found a seat, and we ordered. The food was quite good. After lunch, Kelly took us to her treat place she had in mind – Steel City Pops, a gourmet popsicle store. I have to be honest – I was not too thrilled. I’m not a huge popsicle fan; they are cold and hurt my teeth, and they taste like fruit, which I would rather eat or drink. I held my peace, though, and it was a good thing. Steel City Pops had a line out the door, and I found out why. The did have fruit-variety popsicles, but they also had cream-based ones. I was suddenly quite interested, especially when I saw that they could dip the popsicle in chocolate. I happily ordered a creamy peanut butter popsicle dipped in chocolate (Mer got the same), and happily munched on that. It still hurt my teeth a little, but it was worth it. Steel City Pops really seems to be onto something – they have a super-fast-turnover, quality product for which people line up, even in the out-of-the-way spot where the store is located.

We got home in the late afternoon to discover that Paul and World’s Cutest Nephew (WCNep) were home. WCNep had been to a Star-Wars-themed birthday party, and was touting a newly bought light sabre that made motion-sensitive noises. It was very cool. Paul announced that he was going to show WCNep Star Wars for the first time, so I joined them both in the master bedroom, where we watched the movie. WCN joined us partway through the movie, snuggled up next to me, and pretty quickly fell asleep. It was a grand way to spend time with the extended family. After the movie, Kelly made the adults a lasagna (the kids had hot dogs), and we chatted around the table until it was time to put the kids to bed. I went to sleep soon after that myself, since I had to be up early the next day for the marathon.

Last Tuesday (the 5th) Mer and I had dinner over at Cardinal Village with Dale and Carlene. We have the goal of eating with them once a week or more, and Tuesday seems to be the day that works well. We had a very pleasant dinner. We could not linger long after supper, though, because we had another outing.

We headed over to a local coffee shop called The Nervous Dog, where we were attending Jonny Capps’s “Celebration of Life” party. Jonny had invited us and some of his friends over, and he bought pizza and wanted people to hang out and visit. Many years ago, Jonny had walked in front of a moving car, and he was fortunate to survive. So he threw a drop-in celebration on the anniversary of that event.

It was a small but fun gathering. Jonny really seems to know 1.5 million people, and the people he knows are interesting and fun. While we were there, one of our “daughters,” Katie, was there too, and there were three other people we did not know, along with Jonny. I got a hot chocolate (which was quite good), and we all sat and talked for about an hour. It was a grand time, and I am very happy Jonny had the opportunity to celebrate.

Last Saturday, we slept in, and then got ready. Sadly, Vicki, one of Mer’s good high school friends, had lost her father a couple of weeks ago when he had a heart attack while living in Florida. There was a local, Akron-area memorial service at 11:00, and we had the flexibility to go.

I had never met Vicki’s father, but he sounded like a warm and generous man. Mer says I would have really liked him. The service was quite moving, and there was a dinner held afterward, for which we stayed. We got to sit and visit with another of Mer’s old classmates, who was really funny and personable. We also got to chat with Vicki and then her older sister for a few minutes. It was a sad reason to get together, but it was good to see these old friends of Meredith’s.

In the evening, we had yet another play to see. Since it was a play about golf, I had invited my co-worker Phil and his wife to come see it with us. Phil loves golf, and I thought it would be much fun to get together outside of work. Happily for Phil and Laurie, their first grandchild was being born this weekend in Chicago, so they took off Saturday morning, which was quite understandable. Mer and I thought about whom we could bring instead, and it worked out we could get together with another English teacher, Lesa, and her husband Jay.

Lesa and Jay met us at our house, and Jay drove. We headed up to Chagrin Falls, to the Chagrin Valley Little Theater. I was very excited for the evening. The Fox and the Fairway was written by a playwright who had written a fantastically funny play called Lend Me a Tenor. Tenor is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen, and I thought that golf would lend itself to good-natured mocking.

It turned out to be simply entertaining with a few laughs along the way. The acting was fine, and the staging was fine; the play was just not in the same league as Tenor. It was still a fun reason to get together, and it was a solid enough play, but it still left me slightly disappointed, since I’d had such high hopes of it being hysterically funny. My best take on the play, after my thinking about it, was that it did not have enough high-energy moments (the classic “door slamming” elements of farce).

We did have a great chance on the drive back to hear about Jay and Lesa’s mission trip to India back in November. They were helping to train teachers who teach the members of India’s lowest caste, and it sounds as if the conference and teaching went really well for everyone.

On Friday, Mer and I invited two colleagues to join us for the evening. Maggie, CVCA’s French teacher, and Liz, an English teacher, met us at our house, and the four of us drove down to Akron together. We were having an evening out, with dinner and a show.

Maggie had suggested we eat at Lockview, a tavern known for having gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and other comfort food. We were all pretty enthusiastic about that. We got there and got the last free booth before there started being a wait, and we had an excellent dinner. The only slight hitch in the evening was that for some reason I had difficulty hearing Maggie – I do not know if it is her tone of voice or her volume, but in the crowded restaurant, I could not always hear her. We did not have time for dessert, but I promised everyone we would make it up after the play.

We then made the very short trek to Actors’ Summit Theater, where we were to see the evening’s production of Fiction. None of us had ever heard of Fiction before, and I only knew what I had read from the online blurb on Actors’ Summit’s website. I was delighted to find out that Sally Groth, one of the company’s finest actors, was playing the female lead in the three-person play.

Fiction turned out to be excellent. It is the story of two authors who end up reading each other’s journals, and although we see more and more of their lives laid out through the flashbacks, it is not always clear what is fictionalized and what is real. The playwright kept the tension of the play going all the way to the end, and it was a pretty amazing evening of theater. What a great show, and it was really well acted and staged.

After the play, we headed toward home, but swung by Friday’s to get dessert, as promised. We got to chat about the play and other things, as well as munching on some pretty fine food. It was a very happy evening with good company.

Yesterday (Thursday), after school, Mer held her second annual Shakespeare Showdown at CVCA. The Showdown involves students acting out short speeches from any of Shakespeare’s plays. They are not allowed to use any costumes or props. This year, Mer had twelve students participating, and had a crowd of about twenty-five people on hand to watch. The winner of the competition goes on to the regional competition in Cleveland in a few weeks.

The sponsors of the program send a judge, and then the school provides two judges, which, in this case, turned out to be me and our friend and colleague Dubbs. The judge from Great Lakes Theater was a very friendly young man who was very enthusiastic about the evening.

The competition was quite good this year. No one “tanked,” although several students needed to be prompted for a line here and there, and several were visibly nervous. They all had reasonable interpretations of the text. In the end, all three of us judges independently came to the conclusion that four of the twelve were the best. We could only have one winner and one runner-up, and we hashed that out quite quickly because once we stated what we thought, we more or less agreed on the placement. The winner of the competition was a young lady who played Lady Macbeth, and the runner-up was a young man who played Shylock. I was pleased for Meredith, though, in that the second annual Shakespeare Showdown was a tremendous success, at least from my perspective, and I’m looking forward to seeing the regional competition.