Last Friday, Mer and I got to go to our second former-student wedding. As an added bonus, they were both founding members of my improv group, The Royal Fools, back in 2005. Josh and Kristen had been dating since high school, so I think they have been dating six or seven years now. They finally got married, and it was great getting to see a lot of former students, some of whom I had not seen in two or three years.

Josh and Kristen got married at a modern but pretty church north of Akron. Mer and I knew most of the groomsmen – three of the five were former CVCA graduates, and one other was Matt, Clarice’s fiance. We also got to sit with Clarice and Michelle in the church, and they sat with us at the reception too, so we got in a pretty good visit.

The wedding was nice, but fairly brief, perhaps because it was on a Friday evening. It was made up of the lighting of the unity candle, one song, the exchange of vows and rings, and the kiss. Short and to the point. While Kristen marched in to Bach, she and Josh marched out to “The Imperial March” from the Star Wars trilogies. That was a lot of fun.

The newlywed couple greeted all the guests, row by row, and then we got to blow bubbles at the bride and groom as they got in their car. Since we did bubbles at our own wedding, I am always happy to repeat the experience.

The reception was at an Eastern Orthodox church, in one of their two halls. We grabbed a table near the front so we could see the bridal party. On the plus side, we could see, and we got to eat pretty quickly. On the down side, we were near a speaker for the DJ. He was playing tons of cool music from the big band era and the Rat Pack era, but it was often too loud for us to carry on long conversations (although not always).

As part of the appetizers, Josh and Kristen had provided a “candy bar” where there was a large variety of candies. They also had crackers and cheeses. It was a fun idea, and kept me and Mer happy while we munched and chatted. Our tablemates were Clarice and Michelle, our colleagues Dale and Linda, and a former student, Jessica, and her husband. It was a fun group.

After the bridal party arrived, there was much food and then the cutting of the cake. After cake, they twenty-somethings started dancing, and it was fun to see them on the dance floor. Mer and I hope to be able to do more of that at future weddings, but we want to take some swing lessons first. We left the wilder folks dancing sometime around ten o’clock. As far as we know, Matt and Clarice are up next, with their wedding in the spring.

Last Thursday, Mer and I headed southeast about forty-five minutes to Mount Union University in Alliance. The college has a speaker series for which they bring in famous people to speak. This Thursday, we were there to hear Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

For those not familiar with Hosseini, he was born in Afghanistan to a father who was a diplomat. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in the late seventies, Hosseini and his mother were in Paris with his father, who was assigned there. They sought asylum in the United States, and they moved to California when Hosseini was in high school.

Hosseini trained as a doctor, and wrote his first novel, The Kite Runner, while he was in residency. During his talk, he said he wrote the book for himself, and had not expected much from it. The book tells the story of a boy who grows up in Afghanistan, but leaves the country after the invasion. It is a compelling story, and the book was a best-seller. That allowed Hosseini to quit being a doctor and become a full-time writer.

The talk session lasted about ninety minutes, and was in Mount Union’s gym. I’m guessing there were about two thousand people in attendance. Hosseini was very engaging and affable, and seems like someone who would be fun to know. He has also started a foundation to help children in Afghanistan, which is quite commendable.

I found the entire evening interesting, and since Mer teaches The Kite Runner, I was happy she could get to go. She said it was very helpful to her.

Saturday was “my” day, and I decided I wanted to get Mer and Ellen out into the very fine weather. Mer and I had just recently joined the Holden Arboretum as members, and they have reciprocal admission rights with dozens of gardens all around the country. That means we can get in free in those gardens. I thought it would be fun to see another garden, and so I found one down near Amish country – an older estate called Kingwood Center. As a bonus, a local mountain dulcimer group was having a free show there in the early afternoon, so that made it an easy decision to go there.

Kingwood Center is in Mansfield, Ohio, about an hour and twenty minutes away. We got a bit of a late start, and it was my plan to eat lunch down in or near Mansfield, but there were not any appealing eateries that we saw, and we got there too close to the start of the free dulcimer concert to do any real exploring for food. We were able to explore the grounds, though, and they were quite lovely. The gardens surround the main house, which is closed most days, sadly. The grounds are fairly formal, with paths and shrubs and benches laid out in a pleasing manner. There was a greenhouse that we poked around in, and they were having a plant sale. We did not buy anything, but did enjoy the large variety of plants.

The dulcimer concert was held in the former coach house, and there were about ten dulcimer players, with one hammered dulcimer player, and two people playing instruments that looked like huge thumb pianos – they provided the bass notes. There were about fifteen or so people in attendance, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. The group played tune after tune, with just a few introductory remarks between songs. It was very pleasant. They group also had “limberjacks” – little figures that had hinged legs and arms that were designed as percussion instruments for children, to teach children rhythm. Several members of the group used them for a song or two, and then they handed them out to the audience to try. Both Ellen and Mer got one, and seemed to do pretty well with them.

We left the concert at intermission, as we were all quite hungry. Since we were down near Amish county, we decided to eat at an Amish restaurant. We saw signs for one, but kept not finding the town it was in until I remembered that we could try the GPS. We then found the place (Der Dutch Essenhaus) without any trouble. Unfortunately, it was about 4:00, so we must have hit a shift change; although the restaurant was fairly empty, the  service was really slow, which is not what you want when you are really hungry. We finally got our order in, and then the food took a long time coming. When it did come, it was excellent, but fairly normal-sized – the plate was about what we would have had at home. Usually, Amish plates are pretty generous. Again, the food was very good indeed, but I think we would have all wished for more. I even had trouble paying for the food – there was no one at the cash register, and I had to wait several minutes before anyone noticed. Too bad, because it was a nice restaurant.

We then drove out to the studio where Mer and I had bought our dinner bell. We wanted Ellen to see at least one studio, and this one was very close by. We chatted with the very down-to-earth artist, and felt quite welcome. I think we were there for about thirty minutes or so before moving on to a nearby town, Berlin.

We poked around in a large gift shop complex in Berlin, and most of the stuff was a bit kitschy for my taste, but it was good to get out and walk around. We also stopped at a bakery before leaving, where I got some cookie sandwiches and Ellen got some whoopie pies. That got us situated for the drive home, which was still over an hour. I’m afraid my touring day ended up spending about as much time in the car as out of it, which is one of the risks when I get whimsical. I hope I did not bore Ellen too much with all the driving, although it was a nice day in very pretty country.

Sunday, we slept in some, because Mer and I wanted to go to a local Lutheran church that started later than our usual church. We got up and puttered around and saw Ellen off. Even though Saturday was a bit car-heavy, I still hope the Heather Dale concert, the Hopkins poetry study, My Fair Lady, and a nice day in Amish country made for a satisfying weekend for all concerned. I know I loved it.

Last Thursday was a great day. Heather Dale, a singer of whom I am very fond, came back to our place to give her third house concert in two years. Her partner, Ben Deschamps, was along as usual, and he is a pretty fantastic musician, playing guitar and cittern (a large, ten-stringed instrument kind of like a mandolin). Heather plays Irish drum, piano, and various whistles, and she gives a great concert. She always tries to remember people’s names, and largely succeeds. She has a vibrant stage personality, and is engaging, and encourages lots of singing from the audience. But I get ahead of myself.

Heather and Ben came to our place right from their home in Canada, and had some backup at the border. So, they got here a little before six, with the concert starting at seven. They unpacked their instruments and various wares, and then ate a quick supper. I had made supper for me, Mer, Heather, Ben, and even for Ellen, who was coming in for the weekend, starting with the concert. Sadly, Ellen got off late, so she did not show up until about eight, during intermission.

I had been worried about the audience – I had had trouble getting people to commit to coming, so I was afraid there might only be ten people or so. We ended up with about twenty, which is a solid turnout for a house concert. We had several colleagues come, including Nate and his wife Rachel – this was a happy surprise, as they had just had their second child a few weeks ago. He slept most of the concert. We had several former students come, which is happy – I like to get caught up. We even had five or six current students come, which was very kind of them. We also had one young woman who came as a result of seeing the concert advertised on Heather’s website.

The concert involved about an hour and a half of actual singing, with one intermission. I had spent the entire evening on Wednesday and a good amount of Thursday baking, so there was a ton of food. People seemed to enjoy themselves, and I know I had a great time. Good food, good music, good friends.

Ben and Heather had a big gig in Columbus on Friday and Saturday, so they left Thursday evening instead of spending the night at our place. They took their time packing up, and Mer got to sing a couple of songs with Heather after most people had left. I took back the chairs and keyboard that I had borrowed from CVCA, and we saw Ben and Heather off. We helped Ellen get settled in her room, and then called it a night. For some reason, I never took any pictures of the concert – it did not “feel” right.

Friday was a special in-service day at CVCA. So, the kids had no school. Ellen slept in, and Mer and I went to work as normal. This was a great in-service day – teachers were given a couple of hours in their rooms, there were short department meetings, there was a worship time, and then teachers and most of the staff were allowed to leave at noon as long as they did something social with at least three other teachers. CVCA even gave us all $100 each to help the process. Some people went shopping together; some went running or biking. Mer and I picked up Ellen, and met Zach, Matt Akers, and Lesa DiPaolo at Eddy’s Deli for lunch. We had a great time chatting while we ate, and then all of us but Zach (he had a conflict) went back to out house to study and discuss three Gerard Manley Hopkins poems.

Hopkins was a Catholic Jesuit priest, and he wrote wonderful poems about God and nature and some other things. His poetry was radically modern at the time (late 19th century), and it can be very difficult, but very rewarding, to study. Mer and I were introduced to him by Ellen, who is a huge fan. In fact, as much as I would love to think that Ellen came out to see me and Mer, I suspect that a chance to have a group discussion on Hopkins was the deciding factor in her coming out to visit.

The study went well – we had a good discussion. Sadly, I had to bow out of the last poem of the three we looked at. I had felt a migraine coming on since just before lunch, and it had gotten to a point where it was making me sick to my stomach. I asked everyone’s understanding and retreated to my bed. It sounded as if the study finished up quite well.

I had planned on taking Mer and Ellen to see My Fair Lady at EJ Thomas Hall in Akron that evening, but I was still ill. Mer and Ellen went, and were able to give my ticket to a former CVCA student whom they encountered in the lobby. Mer said the musical was quite good, with strong leading characters, although she had misgivings about Mrs. Higgins, the mother of the main character; Mer thought she was neither aloof enough nor warm enough to pull off that role. However, she said the rest of the play was quite good, and she enjoyed it.

As for me, I tried to get some sleep, as that is the only thing that clears up migraines when I get them. I did get some sleep, to the point where I was feeling much better by the time Mer and Ellen got home, and by Saturday morning, I was fine again. I was sad that I could not go to the play. Next time, I guess.

Last Tuesday, our college friend Gen came through town with her husband Dan and their two very cute daughters. They were coming back from a vacation in Pennsylvania, where Gen had run in the Hershey half-marathon. I had signed up for the race, but decided to not go because I estimated it would cost about $250 in gas, food, and hotel costs. Anyway, they were coming through NE Ohio, and we invited them to spend the night.

Gen called Tuesday afternoon to ask about urgent-care facilities. Their youngest daughter was having some respiratory problems that they wanted to check out, so Dan went to the urgent care place and we met Gen and her older (three years old) daughter at a local Italian restaurant. Gen and Dan are both doctors, so they figured the illness was not too serious, and it eventually turned out to be an ear infection.

Supper with Gen and her daughter was great. The food was good, and we got to catch up with Gen. Her daughter does not yet like boys, so she would not talk to me. She asked Gen, “Mommy, is Matt a boy?” When she was told that I was indeed a boy, she asked why. Gen answered that God made me a boy. Her daughter replied with, “Can we ask God to make him a girl?” It was pretty amusing. She was a fun little girl all evening.

After supper, we checked in with Dan via cell phone, and he was about to get to see the doctor. So, we headed off to the nearby Handel’s ice cream for dessert. Gen ended up sharing her ice cream with the comment that you no longer have “your” food when you have kids. Dan and the younger daughter showed up after about twenty minutes, and we all headed back to the house.

Dan ate his supper and chatted with Meredith while I got the bedrooms ready. Dan and Gen got the girls to bed, and we then visited for a short time before I decided I should get to sleep too (after all, it was a school night). It was great to see Gen and Dan and family; it was too short a visit.

Last weekend, on Saturday, it was Mer’s day. She started it off well by taking me out to lunch down in the Valley, at Pub Bricco. They are well known for their unusual burgers; Mer got an unusual one, I got a standard one. The meal was excellent.

Since we were down in the Valley, after lunch, Mer decided we should go walk the jogging trail at Sand Run park. It was a nice day, so we had a pleasant walk of about two miles, and then we headed home. Mer let me take a much-needed nap, so that I could be awake for the evening outing.

In the evening, Mer took me up to Cleveland, to Cleveland State University, to a small theater on campus. The students were putting on Sartre’s No Exit, a play which is rarely performed. It is an existentialist play, depicting three people trapped in Hell, which turns out to be a single room shared by three people who almost immediately get on each other’s nerves. The play follows the evolution of the various relationships of the three people.

The production did an excellent job with the material. The play is almost all talking and almost no action, and yet the director managed to keep my attention for all but a brief spell early in the second act. The stage in the theater was small, so there was not even much room for the actors to move around, so the entire production did a good job of conveying the feeling of being trapped. The set was a simple room, but the walls were over fifteen feet high, which also added to the claustrophobia of the production. It was a well-done and thought-provoking production, and I am glad I got to see it.

We stuck around afterwards for a talk-back meant for the actors and crew. An independent theater reviewer gave the cast and crew constructive feedback, and that seemed to go over well. He was largely positive, but still had helpful things to say to the individual actors. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the process of theater from a professional point of view. After the talk-back, we headed home – we did indeed have an exit, and the theater department at CSU will too – they are moving into a new space in a few months, so they only have one more production (The Tempest) in the smaller space.

Last Friday, Mer and I took part in CVCA’s open house for prospective students and families. I usually hang out in the cafeteria to represent the Royal Fools improv club, and Mer hangs out in the library to represent the English department. This year, I got a bit of a break in that a couple of students were able to cover for me for the first hour of the two-hour event. Then, I took over and got to catch up with another student who popped in and decided to stay. Since the student is a new-to-Fools guy, it was good to get to chat with him. The evening was well attended, with about seventy-five families coming through the school, although the Fools table was a bit slow, with only two families to chat with during the last hour. Mer said the groups in the library were very busy, so that was all good.

After the open house, Mer and I headed home, which took a surprising fifteen minutes in the car – Walsh, the high school across the street from our house, had a well-attended home football game, so the three-minute commute took much longer. We pulled into our driveway to pick up our former student, Sarah, who was waiting. We were all headed over to Kent to see James Keelaghan, a Canadian folk singer whom Mer and I like.

Sarah recently came back from a semester abroad in Jordan, where she was studying Arabic, so it was great to get to talk to her. She had also been in Great Britain, including Wales, last winter, and we had not had a chance to see her since then. So, we had plenty to talk about during the car ride. Sarah had also kindly brought back gifts from the Middle East:  she gave me a head scarf, which is very well made, and she gave Mer a belly-dancing sash that jingles as she walks. Mer wore it to the concert, so I could hear her when she was coming back from the bathroom. It is a fun gift.

The concert was quite good, if a little sparsely attended. I think there were about a hundred people there. James sang two sets, and was pretty amusing during his patter between songs. It was just James and his guitar, and it was a good way to end the week.

Last Wednesday, Mer and I went back to join Dubbs to see The Return of the Jedi on Blu-Ray. Since we had seen Empire the week before, it seemed like a good chance to finish up the series. I made burritos and brownies again, and I picked up cookies and cream ice cream from Handel’s to go along with the brownies, and it was another fine movie evening.

Jedi was not so bad as I had remembered. The fight against Jabba the Hutt takes up over thirty minutes, and then the rest of the film moves along well. The Ewoks figured into the plot less than I had remembered, so that was good. Also, the film had fewer additions to the original film than Empire, and since they drive me (and most other old-school fans) crazy, it was good to see a mostly untouched film.

It was strange, but happy, to get Mer out of the house two Wednesdays in a row!

Last Saturday was my day, so after the morning run with Jim Gaul, Mer and I got ready in a leisurely fashion. We headed out at about 12:00 and headed north to the Holden Arboretum. We like parks and gardens, so it seemed like a great time to join a garden. I got really lucky – this weekend was a special, and membership was only $40, which gets us sun-up-to-sundown access to the park, and the membership has reciprocal membership rights with many gardens around the country. It seemed as if we would get $40 worth of use out the membership.

It was a gorgeous day – sunny and in the high 70s, so the temperature in the shade was perfect. What was a bit odd was how crowded the place was – there were cars everywhere, and people directing traffic. In costume. We had managed to come up during the “Goblins in the Garden” weekend. The place was packed, and there were kids in costume everywhere. We managed to find our way to the membership desk, and then we explored the garden behind the main building. It was very pretty. We then forged our way through the madding crowds of candy-seeking children, and got onto one of the many woods trails on the property. The crowds were left behind pretty much immediately.

We had a lovely walk in the woods, including going down a long set of stairs to a swampy boardwalk area that had a small stream running through it. We found a bench and sat on it and enjoyed the sound of the water. We then headed back toward the stairs and up to the center. We never did see anyone in the woods, although we heard one couple at some point. It does not seem as if many people stray too far from the Arboretum center.

The entire walk was about an hour or so, but we headed back home. I had further plans, and we could come back to the Holden Arboretum any time we wished now. After getting home, we wandered over to CVCA to the soccer field to hook up with Dubbs and Liz, two colleagues. We watched the last ten minutes of the game, in which our guys lost after being up 2-1, which is rare for them – they usually can protect a lead. The game was not the main get-together, though. We got into two cars and headed south to Canton, to Taggart’s Ice Cream, where we had a great supper and dessert. Dubbs and Liz are both funny people, especially together, so it was a grand time.

After supper, Dubbs, Mer, and I headed over to the cheap theater to see Captain America. I am a superhero fan from long ago, so I had been looking forward to the film. It did not disappoint. It was clean, funny at parts, well written, and, for a comic book film, well-acted. I liked all the main characters, and thought the movie kept the spirit of the comic book going throughout. It was one of the better comic book adaptations I have seen.

Last Friday was the opening of the 2011-2012 season for Actors’ Summit Theater in Akron. Once again, Mer and I got season tickets, and as an added bonus, Actors’ Summit threw in two vouchers to bring guests to see the first show, Woody Guthrie’s American Song. As the name implies, the show was about the life of Woody Guthrie as told through his songs. We were delighted that we could offer the free tickets to friends, and Brandon and Jen were able to come along for free. I’m always happy to share theater with Brandon since that is his passion, and then we get to talk about it later, which is much fun.

The show featured seven actors: three women and four men. Most of the actors played an instrument (including the twelve-year-old girl who played fiddle). The play was largely a review of Woody’s music, but it was held together by the narrative of his life – how he grew up in Oklahoma and experienced the dust bowl, how he went to California and saw lots of workers idle, and how he got to New York and helped out with the union movement. In between, he rambled around a lot. The acting was fine, although it is a little hard to judge acting in a musical review since there is little dramatic opportunity. The singing was excellent, and the various instruments (guitar, fiddles, bass, mandolin) were fun to watch, although someone was slightly out of tune during the first act, which detracted slightly from the music.

The set was simple – mostly made up of a stylized boxcar at the back of the stage. Most of the play happened at the front of the stage, but the train songs and scenes happened in the very-cool train car. It worked well.

As an added bonus, since it was opening night, Actors’ Summit provided finger-food desserts after the play and encouraged people to stay. We did, and so we ate and chatted with Brandon and Jen, and that saved us time and money on going out for dessert.

I was very happy to get to hear some new-to-me Woody Guthrie songs, and I got riled up about workers being mistreated, which connects me to my upbringing (Dad is a very pro-union man). It was a good play and a good time.