About a year ago, I wrote a blog entry on the importance of learning things, even after school. A year later, let’s see how I did.

I tried to learn two major things over the last year: to speak some Italian and to play the dobro.

On the Italian front, I did great in December and January. When I had time, I would do 5-7 lessons/week, and I plowed through three sections. It was great. Then I got back from vacation, and work came back. Suddenly I had a LOT less time, and my studies petered off to nothing. I’m still basically where I was in late January – about 25% done. A 25% is an F.

On the dobro front, I did very well with practicing it until the end-of-school crunch/France vacation/moving fun all happened. I have not touched the dobro (except to move it) in months. Since the busy time makes sense, I’m going to be lenient on myself and pass myself with a D.

I am hoping that my wonderful new proximity to school will allow me to correct this disappointing track record. Once the start-of-school crunch gets done (mid to late September), I’m hoping to dedicate one hour/day to learning new stuff. We’ll see how that goes – I’ll let you know next year.

“…just as bad as indulging joy, or seeking to fulfill it in wild ways, is the opposite extreme of rejecting all desire as moonshine: being some old man from, I don’t know, from Maine or something, saying, ‘Uuugh, what do I need this joy for? All those fancy romantics…’: being stubborn. Lewis wants you to know that that’s just as bad.”

– Dr. Louis Markos in The Teaching Company lectures Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis, lecture 2, “Argument by Desire.”

Last Saturday Mer and I got to go see Porthouse Theater’s production of a musical I knew almost nothing about: Sweet Charity. The only thing I knew going into the play was that it had the song “Hey, Big Spender,” which Meredith likes to sing to me from time to time (based on the fact that I have a spendthrift tendency). We got free tickets to go see the show when our aunt’s coworker had tickets he could not use. Granted, the tickets were in the second-to-last row, and were extreme stage-left, but we still could see 97% of the play and we could hear everything. AND, they were free, which is one of the only ways we can afford to still go out while we still have two houses.

The play was fun – it was mostly funny (it had a few poignant moments), and it was very modern in that the ending was not a typical musical ending. The music was great, and the dancing was very good as well. For me, the best part of the show was the actress playing the lead, Charity; she was a high-energy actress named MaryAnn Black. She had a small-part Hollywood life in the 70s and 80s, but whatever Hollywood thought of her, she was fantastic as Charity. She had lots of enthusiasm, lots of energy, her singing was great, her dancing was fine, and her sense of comedy was perfect. I was really enthralled by her role.

It turns out that I did know one other song, “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” I did not know anything else about the production – the plot was new to me (although it is based on a Neil Simon book).

The only part of the play that I was disappointed in was a musical moment (something musicals do from time to time). I think (my opinion) that sometimes the authors have “such a great song” or “such a great dance” that they shove in scenes that make no sense and are actually distracting or confusing. It *may* be that Neil Simon wrote the episode into his book, but I thought “The Rhythm of Life” song and dance scene was tied to the rest of the play by non-existent ties (and this is from someone who buys anything a musical throws my way).

Porthouse Theater is similar to Ravinia (for my Chicago readers); it is always nice to see theater in an “auditorium” that is open to the outside air, especially when the evening is a pleasant one like we had last Saturday.
That made three weekends in a row for theater that was either free or where someone generously bought/gave us tickets (500 Clown, Richard III, and then Sweet Charity). We are being blessed with much good theater!

Last weekend, Mer and I got invited by our friends Matt and Liz to go see ***free*** Shakespeare  by the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. They offer Shakespeare for free, and they perform outdoors, which is nice during pleasant weather like we had last weekend. They do take donations to help offset costs, but you can still see the play even if you do not donate (Mer and I have the double mortgage issue, so we passed on donating this year; we’ll get them next year if we sell the house). This year, the company was doing Taming of the Shrew and Richard III. The night we went (Saturday) was the closing night for Richard III. Matt and Liz brought another friend with them, and we all sat about 25 feet from the stage. The company does use microphones, so hearing the lines was mostly not a problem. My biggest issue of the production was they added background music to the play to help set mood. That worked for one or two scenes, but I thought the music was too loud at the start of the actors’ speeches – I tended to miss the first line or two of speeches while the music was faded away. They also cut some lines from the play, which is understandable since Richard III is the longest play Shakespeare wrote other than Hamlet. There were a few lines that Our Hero Prof. Saccio (of the Teaching Company) brings up that I wanted to see on the stage, but the lines were omitted.

Still, the production was very good. The actor playing Richard did a very nice job of staying in character – he held his “withered” hand at a strange angle during the whole play, and he always dragged his “deformed” foot behind him, even when he was in a hurry. Very nicely done. This production added the ghost scene back into the play, where Richard dreams of the people he has murdered. The movie version we have of Richard III omits the ghosts, and that is too bad – they are pretty effective in cursing Richard. I had never seen the play done live, and I really enjoyed the experience (in as much as you enjoy a play full of murder and plotting).

It was very good to see Matt and Liz again. We had not seen them in a few months, and I always have a good time with them. They have an excellent sense of humor, and their friend, who is from the D.C. area, seemed to be having a good time as well. We made plans to go back to the farm for pumpkins in October, and hopefully can get together again sooner than that.

The weather was very fine for an outdoor event, and it rained hard in the areas around us, but we stayed dry. It was a good time, and I am happy to add the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival to my list of good theater to see – I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next summer.

“Play something in E flat, Sam…”

Two weeks ago (darn blogging back-log!), Mer and I went out to Chicago to visit Sononmu and OrangeJoJo.  JoJo had bought us theater tickets months ago, long before we went on the double-mortgage social diet. Since the tickets were already bought, we took the trip, and made it into a three-day weekend to boot.

The trip to Chicago was without incident, except we made pretty good time because we did not stop to eat (we ate before we left home). We got to Chicago around 9:00 (Chicago time), and we chatted until 11:00 or so and went to bed. Mer and I had to close the door since one of Sonotmu’s cats (Aethelred) kept being really friendly. Normally, I love cats being friendly, but this was a smaller bed than I was used to, and Aethelred weights a lot. He was kicked out of the bedroom. The other cat, Bodica, tended to sleep on her own bed (or with JoJo).

Saturday I introduced Sonotmu and JoJo to the Wii, which made the trip with us. JoJo wins for the most disturbing Mii character (a Mii is like an avatar – a visual representation of yourself in the game). I wish I could take a picture of JoJo’s Mii, but it might frighten my readers. Sonotmu already had a Mii since I made it for him, since he, well, looks like me. Sonotmu and JoJo were pretty good at tennis (the main game we played), and they seemed to enjoy it.

Saturday afternoon we took the El downtown to 1650 N. Halsted to the Steppenwolf Theater to see the theater group 500 Clown. 500 Clown is a group of three actors/clowns that present plays interpreted by them through the use of sketch comedy, improv, clowning, and amazing physical stunts that are jaw-dropping. We went to see the 5:00 production of Macbeth. The amazing thing about 500 Clown is that they manage to tell the story they are performing despite using hardly any lines from the play. In an hour-long version of Macbeth, I would guess that about 10 minutes of the performance used lines from the original play. In the case of Macbeth, the crown that Macbeth wants descends from the ceiling and gets stuck about 15 feet off of the floor. Much of the rest of the play is made up of the three clowns trying to get the crown down. It is high energy and zany, and about 3/4 of the way through the performance, you realize they are still telling the story of Macbeth. There is still the struggle for the crown, and the killing of a trusting friend (clown). The stage falls apart just as Scotland does in the play. It was pretty amazing, and I recommend 500 Clown to anyone who gets a chance to see them.

After the play, JoJo offered to take us to see the 8:00 showing of 500 Clown Frankenstein.We happily accepted, and went across the street to a very nice Italian restaurant. We got the time wrong for Frankenstein, so we had a happy hour to spend where we walked to a chocolate cafe and had hot chocolate and chocolates. We made it back to the theater for Frankenstein with a few minutes to spare, so we were not rushed.

Frankenstein was much like Macbeth – the clowns managed to tell the story without using many of the lines from the book. Probably most thought provoking was when they took the fully healthy clown and accused him of being a monster. They “unleashed” him on us, the audience, and told us to shout “Monster!” and “Kill him!” and “Burn him!” Meanwhile, the clown kept protesting that he was a nice guy. I happily yelled along with the crowd – my improv training told me to “yes, and” the actors, so I supported what they were doing. Mer pointed out after the play that the audience was basically a mob, and the clown was a nice intelligent man who was being yelled at. Yes, it was a play, and there was no “mob,” but it was an effective way to get the mob part of Frankenstein across.

Both productions are worthwhile, but if you can only see one, I give the nod to Macbeth. I am prejudiced, in that I know Macbeth much better than I know Frankenstein, but I also thought the stunts and acrobatics in Macbeth were more exciting. Very much fun!

But the fun does not stop there! JoJo was kind enough to put together an Improvapalooza where their improv group (the Flying Buttresses) got together with another group and they invited me and Mer along to the practice. I got to be on the learning end of improv for the first time in six years, and it was a little intimidating. JoJo made us do an on-stage exercise where we had to instantly change character every time she wanted us to. That sounds easy, but after about the fifth change in thirty seconds, you start having to reach to find a character. Very interesting. JoJo did not get off entirely – Sonotmu directed a few exercises, and I introduced the group to one of my favorite games, Political Debate, where two people square off against each other in a debate where key words and ideas are supplied by the “ideas-men” on stage. It works very well. They did a nice job.

We left Sunday afternoon, and for some unknown reason there was an hour backup at the Indiana line (on a Sunday afternoon!). We passed the time by continuing to listen to Professor Weinstein tell us about American Literature in The Teaching Company lectures we have (we have been listening to the American Lit series for over a year – almost done!). We went to Mom’s place in Michigan, where we had a wonderful supper with Mom and Marc, and had a nice time visiting. We left Monday morning after sleeping in. We had a great time

Sonotmu is looking forward to our next visit!

Nine years and counting! Happy anniversary, Meredith!

I love my wife – she is pretty and smart and fun to be with. We share the same sense of humor, and we don’t share the same set of things that irritate us. She has introduced me to international travel, and has greatly deepened my appreciation for Shakespeare and other plays. Mer loves the music that I love, and she loves going to see live music. She sings beautifully. She is a competitive game player, so when I do manage to beat her, I know I’ve earned it. She loves words and delights in the clever use of them. She works hard and cares deeply about her students. She loves God and helps me to be a better person because of it.

And, she loves me. What a great wife!

Many apologies for not blogging of late. Mer and I have been in the midst of moving, which takes a surprising amount of time to do. Additionally, I did not have internet access at the new house until yesterday.

The moving process went smoothly. I took a load of stuff in my hatchback everyday that I went to work. That took care of most of the smaller stuff (but still took many loads!). A week ago Saturday (the 14th), we rented the CVCA box truck and moved all of the big furniture. Sonotmu and OrangeJoJo drove all the way from Chicago to help (which was kind of them). Sonotmu and I started moving heavier stuff early (about 7:00), and we kept moving stuff until about 3:30. We got everything up in two trips, and we had help from several CVCA folk, for which Mer and I are very grateful. OrangeJoJo, Mer, and a CVCA friend dusted everything before it came in to the new house.

After the move-fest was done, we headed up to Aladdin’s restaurant in Hudson, where Sonotmu and I had all three meals in one sitting. We were all dirty and nasty, so we sat outside. I was particularly resplendent in a “shirt” that was more holes than fabric.

So, we have been at the new house for a little over a week. We are still making frequent trips to the old house, which we listed for sale on Saturday. We still have some minor cleaning to finish up, and we still have one storage area and the garage to clean up. It should be done by the end of the week.

I love living within walking distance of CVCA. I have been able to run home to see Mer at lunch twice, and walking home from work instead of a 45-minute commute is really great.

Our staging area for moving things in the new house was the basement. We decided to put our library on the top level of the house, which is three small stairways away from the basement. Not a big deal, but it is surprising how far away the library is when you have to haul THIRTY boxes of books up the stairs. Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be English teachers….

Oh – I’ll continue the France travel narrative as soon as I unearth my notes.

-or- Gettin’ there, gettin’ round, gettin’ home

We really did have the experience of planes, trains, and automobiles on our France trip. To start the journey, we were meeting Mer’s parents in Orlando (where they live). We flew from Sonotmu’s favorite airport, CAK (Akron-Canton), to Atlanta via Airtran airlines. We then had about a four-hour layover, and then we took the fairly short flight to Orlando, also on Airtran.

The Airtran flights had something new to me – all of their planes now offer XM radio. XM radio is satellite radio, meaning you can pick any of (for Airtran) 30 or 40 stations to listen to, including stations specializing in folk, broadway tunes, 60s, 70s, etc. The Rev will have to make this his official airline, since they were also broadcasting ML Baseball games. Since I was trying to read, I chose to listen to the 80s station. For some reason, folk music (my first choice) demanded too much of my brain for me to read, something that 80s music does not need to do. I could happily listen to cheesy music from my high school years and still make progress on my books. So the flights passed very agreeably.

Fun fact I learned from the 80s station: they played the B-52s’ “Love Shack.” This is not surprising, since the B-52s were fairly big (hair) in the 80s. What WAS surprising was my learning from Meredith that the song was “Love Shack.” Since I was a teenager in Maine,and I had an accent, and everyone around me had an accent, I was sure (and still think of it this way) that the song was “Love Shark.” Those of you familiar with the Maine accent, try saying “Love Shark” a few times, and see if it does not come out as “Love Shack.” In as much as the lyrics make sense at all, Love Shack makes more sense than Love Shark, but I still think of it fondly as Love Shark. “Love shark, love-love-love shark! Love shark, love-love-love shark! Love shark, bayyy-aaa-beeee!”

We met up with Meredith’s parents with no trouble, and went back to their house, where we had a very nice dinner of sloppy joes. I was so hungry, I had three. After supper, I was very delighted to discover that Dale had upgraded his modem to a DSL line. I took advantage of this by checking e-mail, blogs, and Facebook. It was a great relief to have high-speed internet. I also took advantage of it the next morning to find a store (Kohl’s) that Mer wanted to go to to get some last-minute supplies. Since our flight was taking off in the early afternoon, we had time. We borrowed the car, and ran the errands. While we were out, Mer let me go to Target and pick up a new 8-megapixel camera for the trip. My old camera had broken a few weeks ago, and we figured taking pictures of France was worth getting a new camera. I picked up a Canon PowerShot A630, and I am very pleased with it.

We were picked up by a limo service and taken to Orlando’s airport, again with no problems. We got on a US Air flight to Philadelphia, but we only had a 90-minute layover, so I could not dash into the city to get whoopie pies at the market. We actually made our connecting flight in a different terminal with no difficulty (Mer and I were not sure that 90 minutes was going to be sufficient to get another flight). We did board a little late (the flight was overbooked, so the boarding process took about an hour). Then, we had to sit for about an hour while mechanics tried to fix the toilets on the right side of the plane. They got them to work as long as the pane was above 16,000 feet, so that was okay. Then we waited another 30-45 minutes while they unloaded some cargo off of the plane because now we were over weight. The passengers took this with welcome good humor, and we took off about two hours late.

Because the plane was full, none of our traveling party were able to sit together. While that was less than ideal, it was okay. This fight also had something new for me on a plane – individual 7-inch LCD TVs in the seat in front of you, in coach! I was able to pick from a number of movies to watch. While I did read quite a bit, I also managed to watch a movie I had been meaning to see, Stranger Than Fiction, a movie about a real man’s life being controlled by a fiction writer. It was not a great movie, but it was well done, and I enjoyed it, especially for “free” on a plane. I read some more, and finished the last part of the flight up with The Lion King. The food on the plane was fine – I had a nice pasta-and-cheese dish; breakfast was a donut-like thing that must have horrified any French on the plane. The flight was smooth – only about 5 minutes of turbulence at one point. I did not get any sleep on the plane (I can rarely sleep on a plane), and I could always see a thin line of sunlight on the northern horizon when I looked out the window on occasion.

In the actual airport, customs was a breeze (we actually never even saw a customs agent for some strange reason), although since we were being picked up by a limo service, we did not have time to change money. This turned out to be fine, since ATMs turned out to be plentiful and as cheap or cheaper than currency exchanges. We never did change any money at all.

The limo driver spoke almost no English, so Mer and her mom did most of the talking. The drive through Paris would have been more interesting and memorable if I had not been up for 22 or 23 hours. We got to our hotel just fine, only to discover the rooms would not be ready until 1:00 (it was currently 11:30). So began the process of exploring France; more soon….

Here is the map of our vacation. Each different color is what we traveled each day (we started and ended in Paris, and traveled counter-clockwise). I’m guessing we logged about 1,700 miles in 11 days, but that is just an estimate.

(The map is from Lonely Planet – I could not find a good open-source map).