I was there. I witnessed it. I sat next to Mary and she witnessed it, too. She even snapped some pictures of it. I'm talking about the historic event that happened in a small Episcopal church Saturday afternoon.

I applauded along with everyone else as the minister commented on the couple's choice of scripture readings. ("To everything there is a season" from Ecclesiastes). "Now it is time," he said, "after eighteen years, for Thomas to marry Nannette!"

Congratulations, Tom and Nan!

Applause is the only payment given to the cast of a community theatre such as Trinity Players. For those of us who have been bitten by the "theatre bug" that is enough. (Link via Gordon)

We had the opportunity to applaude some more highly paid performers on Thursday evening. It was the first concert of our subscription series to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and because it coincided with our friend Don's birthday, we took Don and Cor with us. We traded our two seats in the nosebleed section for four seats on the "terrace". This is the area directly behind and about six feet above the orchestra, facing the conductor and most of the rest of the audience. Quite a unique perspective. Daniel Barenboim was conducting a program of Falla and Ravel. The last piece on the program was Ravel's Boléro, which was obviously a treat for the orchestra as well as the audience. After starting them out, I was surprised to see Mr. Barenboim park his baton on the nearest violist's music stand, lean back against the rail on his podium, cross his legs at the ankle, and just let the orchestra go with it. Just a raised eyebrow or an occasional nod of his head provided the only direction until the cymbal crash near the end. I think I may investigate changing our subscription to terrace seating for next year

My new driveway and sidewalks were poured on Monday. The whole thing looks really nice except for the squirrel footprints. (I have this picture in my mind of this poor squirrel mired in my sidewalk as though it were quicksand, struggling to get free.) I called the construction company, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to do anything about it. Oh, well, I guess it gives the project personality. Anyway, maybe now there is less chance of someone tripping over a square of cement pushed up by a sycamore tree root, breaking their leg and then suing us for damages.

Speaking of broken legs, Floyd saw the orthopedic surgeon on Monday, and was told that he’s “not ready yet” for (physical) therapy. Several of the fifteen screws in his leg have broken off. This is normal, according to the doctor, and the screws and the two titanium plates will just stay in his leg as new bone grows around them. I didn’t see his actual x-rays, but from his description, the photos here probably look a lot like his x-rays. He’s still experiencing a lot of swelling and pain, so the doctor prescribed more pain medication. I don’t know what he’s taking, but I have heard that some pain medications may actually interfere with the healing of broken bones.

Attention: All Chicago readers! The Trinity Players production of Finian's Rainbow has only two more performances. Don't miss it!

"Shine on, shine on Harvest Moon up in the sky." Tonight will be a Harvest Moon. I found out via the Farmers Almanac that the full moon closest to the autumn equinox is not the only full moon with a name.

Dance Report: I’m still a klutz. Miss Geri was very kind, and said I did really well for the first time. Each step, as it is broken down, doesn’t seem difficult. But I have trouble remembering what is supposed to come next when it’s done up to speed with the music, and “he who hesitates is lost”. I was lost a good deal of the time.

I used my new digital voice recorder at Wednesday night’s church Cabinet Meeting, and I just love it! No more spending precious time searching for the correct spot on the tape. The recordings load into the computer via the USB port. At the beginning of each report in the meeting, I clicked it off and back on to make a separate message for each report. This is going to make writing the minutes lots easier. It doesn't come with a handstrap, but it has a notch at the bottom where one can be attached. I went to Radio Shack to try to buy one, and they didn't have anything. But I must have asked in a very charming way, because the salesman went in the back and removed the handstrap from a phone and gave it to me for nothing!

Summer is over.

There are only three more performances of Finian’s Rainbow. Those six performances go by so quickly, and I’m always a bit sad when I take that last curtain call. But it’s not as though I won’t have plenty to keep me busy.

Lutheran Choir of Chicago rehearsals began last Monday, so we missed the first one due to the final week of play rehearsals. We went last night, and it was really great to see a number of old members who sat out last season returning this year. There were a lot of new faces, too, including Laura, who is the lead in Finian’s Rainbow. She has a beautiful first soprano voice, and I know she’ll fit right in.

I start a tap and jazz class this evening at Miss Geri’s School of Dance. I’m hoping it will help me to feel like less of a klutz the next time I have to do some simple dance steps in a musical. My sister-in-law Janis signed up for the class, too. It’s the same one that Joanie has been going to for about seven years, and she says it’s lots of fun. I took dance lessons for a few weeks when I was five years old, and for some reason I really hated it. I don’t remember why I hated it, and I’m hoping I won’t remember.

I tried getting my dance shoes yesterday on my lunch hour, but couldn’t because the shop is closed on Mondays. I was successful today, however, and even had enough time to duck into Barbara’s Kitchen for a quick soup & half sandwich. In the small world department, a little girl was in the shop getting ballet slippers when I arrived, and her mother said that HER mother was in the same class I’m taking!

I’ll miss Wednesday’s “pick-up” rehearsal for the play because my duties as Church Clerk require me to attend the Cabinet Meeting. The meeting would have been last week, but it was moved to this week, not to accommodate my schedule, but to avoid having it on 9/11.

I'm #1! Just do a Google search on the terms "flakey personality" and Much of Something will be at the top of the list.

If I didn't believe in miracles before last night, I do now. In spite of all the technical problems, lack of people to fill some roles, people who were chronically absent from rehearsals, etc., etc, opening night was GREAT! We had a full house, very unusual for a Friday evening, and they were responsive and loving it! There is something so special about performing for an audience, as opposed to simply rehearsing. The energy surge is difficult to describe or quantify, but it is definitely there!

Here are a few gems from Floyd's pre-show pep-talks: Be LARGER than life onstage.......Help each other.....Don't use tunnel vision when you're performing onstage......The word "ensemble" is everything, as is timing...."ensemble" is the process where you act as one body, an organic or-gan-i-sm......that means you must react to everything at all times onstage.......Help each other.

That Old Devil Moon or space junk? What is J002E3?

09/11/01

With silence only as their benediction,
God's angels come
Where, in the shadow of a great affliction,
The soul sits dumb!
----------John Greenleaf Whitier

Playing for the Fighting 69th

It was hot last night. Clothes sticking to you, sweat dripping off of you hot. The stagelights made it hotter. I'm surprised nobody passed out. How do you have a tech rehearsal without someone to run the follow spot? I hope the sound system feedback problem gets solved before Friday (opening night). The "Begat" quartet is a trio with one member who had been hospitalized for pneumonia, so they didn't even rehearse that number until after the regular rehearsal. And the chorus was supposed to know they didn't have that extra time. And we always start singing at the wrong time in the "Woody's getting betrothed" scene. I thought David would have a stroke. I can hardly wait to read Floyd's notes. They're always so funny, even when they're critical.

"It is not my desire that my personal life or the physically and emotionally abusive relationship of which I was once a part should be used to bring any degree of reproach upon a program that I truly admire."

Those are the words Rebekah Revels used in resigning her title of Miss North Carolina in the aftermath of a threat from a former boyfriend to publish photographs he took without her consent while she was changing clothes.

I applaud Judge Narley L. Cashwell's decision to restore her title. After all, she was a victim of a person who was at the very least, in the judge's words, "not a Southern gentleman."

This poses a problem for the Miss America Pageant, however, which has two Miss North Carolinas until this is all sorted out by the Federal Court.

Answering machine messages you'd like to use. Here's one of my favorites:

"Hello, you are talking to a machine. I am capable of receiving messages. My owners do not need siding, windows, or a hot tub, and their carpets are clean. They give to charity through their office and do not need their picture taken. If you're still with me, leave your name and number and they will get back to you."

I did my bit for the environment today. My Cavalier passed the vehicle emissions test. Now I don't have to test again until 2005.

I've been reading and enjoying Rebecca Blood's book The Weblog Handbook. It has given me, as a real novice, the reassurance that I'm on the right track here. I really am having fun with this weblog, and this is the longest period of time I have ever maintained any sort of personal journal. One peice of advice I found in the book, which I have just implemented, is to include a link to the weblog in a signature block on personal email. That way I don't have to continually hit my friends over the head with it. (Please, please read my weblog!) Not that I do anymore. I think I've gotten past that stage. I'm really doing this for myself anyway.

A Haiku for Yesterday

Men in grubby jeans
Dirty water on the floor
The drain is still clogged.

A Haiku for Today

More time off from work
Clanks, whirrs and then some glug-glugs
Laundry tubs empty.

I went to Target with Diana and Becca on Sunday, shopping for school supplies for David and Becca. Becca started kindergarten yesterday, and David is in first grade this year. The list given out by the Chicago Public Schools is VERY specific, right down to the brands. I wonder if they get a kickback or something? I don't really have to describe what the shopping trip was like, because Michele gives a great description in her Sept. 2 post.

I've been culturally deprived!

For years I thought that Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf was the only introduction to the orchestra for children. How did I ever miss hearing Tubby the Tuba? It was created by Paul Tripp, who died last week at the age of 91, and the music was written by George Kleinsinger. I was almost late for work this morning because I had never heard it before, and I was listening to it in my car on WFMT. I'll make sure my grandchildren are properly educated!

See what the well-dressed geek is wearing these days.

In spite of what my Weather Pixie said, it was a rainy Labor Day morning, a perfect day for a museum visit. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Titanic exhibit.

On entering the exhibit, I was given a boarding pass with the name of a passenger and other pertinent information on it. I was Miss Jessie Wills Leitch of Denmark Hill, Surrey, England, traveling in second class with my cousins, Nina Harper and her father, Rev. John Harper. Our final destination was Chicago, Illinois. The boarding pass also stated, “A well known photograph of the second class promenade, in which a young girl is seen holding her father’s hand, is believed by many to show young Nina Harper and her father.”

After walking down a white paneled hallway lit by electric sconces, we came to a replica of the grand staircase with its sweeping, intricately carved railings, leaded glass-domed ceiling, the famous clock, and a torch-bearing bronze cherub at the bottom of the center railing. We walked through rooms representing the verandah café and main dining areas, with displays of the dishes and flatware used in each. We saw examples of first-class staterooms, 2nd and 3rd class cabins. We walked out onto a promenade deck, a carpet of stars illuminating the inky sky and reflecting off the silky-smooth water below. The air temperature in this area was maintained at the temperature that it would have been on April 15, 1912.

There are many personal possessions on display, as well as various relics of the décor and mechanical workings of the ship. There is also a very large piece of the hull. One room has a huge piece of ice, which visitors are invited to hold their hands against for as long as they are able. Not very long in my case.

At the end of the exhibit, I discovered that my cousin and I were among those saved, but Rev. Harper was lost.

What should occupy the space where the World Trade Center was? Here are five weeks of responses to that question from readers of CNN. Vote for your favorite in each group or submit your own plan. Here are two of my favorites: