I had many plans for the evening. Since last Friday, I\u2019ve been waiting for tonight, because I was going to GO TO KARAOKE with my friend John. This was going to be my reward for making it through THREE WHOLE DAYS OF THE WEEK already, the chance to watch some karaoke and escape life as I know it, and have fun and hear John sing. Unbiased bystanders have told me that John has a very good voice, and so that was going to be a bonus. Plus he\u2019s fun to talk to, and a very nice fellow. ESCAPE FROM MY REALITY FOR A WHILE, that\u2019s all I was looking for.<\/p>\n
So, then, why is it now 10:11 p.m. and I\u2019m sitting here all by myself up in my bedroom?<\/p>\n
Because I\u2019m very very lame. I had a somewhat busy day today, but not too taxing. Gave a few massages, then worked out for a while. I didn\u2019t do as much working out as I could have done, mind you, just a fairly easy half hour on the treadmill. Taking it easy, that\u2019s what I thought I was doing.<\/p>\n
But then I got home and showered and ate dinner and slipped into my favorite very soft black sweats and I thought\u2026I\u2019m not going anywhere. It\u2019s too cold outside, I\u2019m tired, I can\u2019t get up out of my chair, much less drive all the way across town.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m bitterly disappointed in myself, but at least it isn\u2019t the first time, so it\u2019s not a big shock. But I feel bad that I let John down, too, although I\u2019m sure he didn\u2019t have as much hope and promise of FLEEING REALITY pinned on the evening as I did. But still, I said I was going, and then I didn\u2019t. Bad, bad me.<\/p>\n
So this is kind of, um\u2026not payback, not retribution \u2013 atonement? That\u2019s a fine, sort of religious-type word. Atoning for my sin of standing John up? But instead of making it up to John (WHICH I PROMISE I WILL DO VERY SOON), I\u2019m making it up by doing this for Kate.<\/p>\n
Tonight I\u2019ve writing a little, nothing that has involved too much thought, and I was ready to settle into my book \u201ca walk across france,\u201d which I\u2019m reading for the second time. It\u2019s an OK book, not fabulous. I bought it in LA a while ago, I guess because the idea of a Big Walk has always appealed to me. And now I\u2019ve been seriously contemplating a Big Walk of my own, with my friend Erica, maybe this summer. She mentioned walking across England, and I\u2019m all for it, except there are plenty of things to get in the way, mostly financial pitfalls for me, personally.<\/p>\n
But the book is kind of entertaining and I know that at some point in my life, maybe in the not-too-distant future, I WILL take some Big Walk somewhere. If not this summer, then next. And in the meantime, I can read about somebody else\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n
That was my plan anyway, to read my book and go to bed very early, maybe by 10:30. Because I\u2019m VERY TIRED.<\/p>\n
But I got an e-mail from my friend Kate tonight, who said she\u2019s become ADDICTED to reading my site, and then she said, \u201cWrite, damn you, write!!!\u201d That was a very nice thing to hear, but also slightly burdensome, the pressure is on. <\/p>\n
And, as I mentioned, because I was so very very slovenly and lazy and too tired to go see John sing karaoke, I thought that the least I could do was write something.<\/p>\n
For Kate.<\/p>\n
Whew, that was a long explanation, wasn\u2019t it? Ah, now I remember what I wanted to tell you about \u2013 other things I did over the weekend, besides the church fiasco (Kate said she\u2019d take me to her Catholic church anytime if I want, but I feel I need a little rest from churching). <\/p>\n
Friday night, I had a most excellent time. I went to see a high school production of \u201cYou Can\u2019t Take it With You,\u201d the play I was just in (with Kate, directed by John). She and John and Steve and I piled into her nice big van and headed for Pawnee. I\u2019ve ridden in Kate\u2019s nice big van before, but clearly, she was going all out Friday night, because it had been recently cleaned. My car is usually littered with things that are vital to life as I know it (mostly many empty water bottles and pens that don\u2019t write), and Kate\u2019s van was kind of like that. <\/p>\n
But for a special night in Pawnee, she had it cleaned. Very impressive.<\/p>\n
The ride to Pawnee was breathtaking, as you might imagine. Right down I-55 we went, chatting about how we\u2019d ever find the high school in Pawnee. I suddenly remembered that I had a friend who lived in Pawnee, Mike. I\u2019d been to his house a few times, so I figured the trip would be a breeze.<\/p>\n
It was, until we got into Pawnee and then didn\u2019t know where to go. We could have driven around for a while, since it\u2019s not a very big town, but we didn\u2019t have a lot of time till the curtain rose. So we pulled into the Casey\u2019s gas station, which was bustling with activity, and asked for directions. The very friendly gentleman who Kate asked was very friendly, but also not used to giving such complicated directions. \u201cYou go down this street\u2026here?\u201d He waved at the street in front of us, in case we couldn\u2019t see it. \u201c And you keep going, and you go past a bunch of\u2026roads? And then you keep going till you get to, ah, a sign\u2026for a school? And then you, ah\u2026make a left turn, and\u2026there you are.\u201d But it took him a lot longer to say it than that, and he made it seem incredibly complicated, when it was just a matter of driving down the street and turning left.<\/p>\n
Somehow we found it. When we got there, some of the students milling around asked us if we\u2019d been in the show in Springfield \u2013 many of them had gone to see our production. Kate and I felt like celebrities, naturally.<\/p>\n
I purchased a ticket for five dollars, and asked for my ticket, but the girl who sold it to me was also the one who collected the tickets, so she just showed me what it looked like and then took it back. Not a problem, except for what transpired after that.<\/p>\n
We all had our tickets, I stopped in the bathroom and joined my friends a few minutes later. We settled in our seats. The place was PACKED and we all wished we\u2019d had as many people at our show. But then again, it was mostly packed with Pawnee students.<\/p>\n
After a few minutes, at least three people hurried up to us. \u201cDid you give your ticket to the usher?\u201d one of them asked me. \u201cNo, the girl who sold it to me wouldn\u2019t let me actually take it,\u201d I replied. There was a bit of conferring amongst the group, and then they let me be. For a moment there, I thought they were going to arrest me, or throw me out. Clearly, they thought I\u2019d tried to SNEAK INTO THE PLAY! Me, one of the STARS of the BIG-CITY version of the play! <\/p>\n
Not a good start to the evening, but I understand that us city folk can be kind of intimidating to Pawnee-ites. And clearly, I look like a criminal.<\/p>\n
The set was very nice. And some of the students were pretty good, like the guy who played Mr. Kirby. His real name is Matt, and Matt\u2019s dad came up to us before the play and talked to me for quite a while. I couldn\u2019t remember his name to save my life, and I felt very rude not introducing him to my friends. I think his name is Steve, but I couldn\u2019t be sure. I finally said, \u201cthis is my friend Kate,\u201d hoping he say, \u201cHi, my name is\u2026.\u201d But he didn\u2019t. But I\u2019m pretty sure his name is Steve, and I liked what his son wrote in the program \u2013 they all wrote what they\u2019d do if they had a hundred dollars, and Matt wrote that the best way to spend $100 was to go pick shopping at the Guitar Center. I bet you could get a lot of picks for $100. Matt\u2019s dad plays in a jazz band, so he\u2019s obviously a good-n-positive influence on Matt.<\/p>\n
The oddest action in the play was acted by the guy who played Kholenkov, the Russian dancing teacher. I guess that in the script somewhere it says that Kholenkov smokes. Our Kholenkov (played by the very talented and nice Gil O.) didn\u2019t smoke, and it certainly didn\u2019t seem important that the character do so.<\/p>\n
But the Pawnee high school Kholenkov was all about the smoking. He had a cigarette in his hand, and tried to light it. It wouldn\u2019t light. He kept trying and trying, still saying his lines, but he couldn\u2019t get it lit. It was fascinating, in a train-wreck kind of way.<\/p>\n
He gave up, but then later he started in again, and finally got it lit. He proceeded to puff on it throughout the rest of his lines, sometimes nervously flicking the ashes into a big urn. The thing is, I don\u2019t smoke, and I know I could do a more convincing job of looking like I did. He kept taking short little puffs, watching the ashes, and like I said, his part was all about the smoking. <\/p>\n
Besides the fact that he clearly didn\u2019t know what he was doing, we wondered what, exactly, the people in charge were thinking, letting this high school kid smoke on stage. Smoking for no reason at all. Hmm. <\/p>\n
The kid who played Donald, the maid\u2019s boyfriend, in the show was good-looking. That\u2019s actually an understatement; he was QUITE good looking. And clearly, he was very popular. Every time he came onstage, an excited murmur rippled through the audience. Every time he opened his mouth and uttered one of his (inconsequential and usually not meant to be funny) lines, the audience HOWLED with laughter. Clearly, a very popular boy. I leaned over to Kate and asked if maybe he wasn\u2019t really a high school kid, maybe he was an international calendar model from somewhere who just happened to be in Pawnee for the evening? Hence the swooning from the girls in the audience?<\/p>\n
After the show, we stayed up late. Nobody was arrested, no fights ensued, and we ended up at the Lime Street Caf\u00e9 in time to hear the very last note that the band played, and a good time was had by all. <\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s the key \u2013 in order to stay up for karaoke next week, I need to be already out and about, so I\u2019ll have no excuse for lolling around in my sweats.<\/p>\n
And now it\u2019s 10:58, too late to go to bed early, but early enough to read a little before falling asleep.<\/p>\n
For you, Kate.<\/p>\n
ok then,BOY I\u2019M TIRED,<\/p>\n
grace<\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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