four and a half

Well today April 22nd is the four and a half year mark for my blog... it started out very slowly... and took a bit for me to learn how to do things... so I think it would really be fair to say that I really didn't begin until right around the time my mom died (December 22, 2010) which was two months after I started the blog.  My sister's death in June of 2010 was really what pushed me to start it... I had thought about it for quite some time and the timing of her death coincided with the date I went to part time practice, so the space opened up in my life as well as the need - I felt time was moving so fast and that one way to hold on to my memories was to record them (being kinesthetic) so things fell into place.

here is the text of my first entry - in its entirety:

Friday, October 22, 2010
a first try
well - i have threatened for years to do this and now - living a semi free life  i can give it a try

here is a photo that i took a couple of weeks back that i think really sums it up-

anyway this will be my learning experience - maybe a dummies book will be called for since this is really beyond my current knowledge base

Well things have changed since then... I no longer have those sunglasses and we no longer have that striped awning... and the fence in our backyard has been replaced in two rounds... you think- oh four and a half years isn't so long until you think about all you have done in that time...

Alix- shown below with her mom- wasn't even born when I started the blog- she was just at the stage where we were beginning to call her "Baby Chambolle" - LOL - and next week she will be FOUR!

and of course the very first day of the blog- was also my cats' birthday! back then they were turning five -

Friday, October 22, 2010
kitties birthday
my cats are celebrating their fifth birthday today

they are such cute girls I just know everyone will want to see their photos

lucy jane - she wears her hair kind of punked out

penny jane is a more proper lady

I thought this was enough to be a post back on day one- LOL  - but it didn't take long to get into the swing of things- by about mid November I had begun to find my voice- and...

As luck would have it- we were about to embark on a trip with CBGB to Argentina... and it was then that the focus of the blog was honed into travel/theater/culture/social and an occasional rant...LOL

here is my favorite photo of CBGB from the first month of my blogging-

and I swear this is absolutely true- Georgia has gotten even more beautiful with age- I was just with her on Saturday night/Sunday morning (three days ago) and she must have some secret formula... I am going to study her closely!!!! (below another trip with CBGB - this one to France in May 2014) so three and a half years later...hmmmmmm.... an aging portrait in the attic perhaps? LOL

Anyway- back to the four and a half years---

In that time I have been blessed to visit the following places - and each has been recorded with numerous photos on the blog... Tunisia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Jasper & Banff Canada, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Cuba, Greece, Turkey, Bolivia, Colombia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Sydney, Paris, Peru, Ecuador, Galapagos, China, Morocco, Burgundy France, Canada's Maritime Provinces, and Italy.... and while I would like to go back and post one single photo from each - LOL- I could never pick just one and it will give you and excuse to go back in the blog and catch up with the places you want to visit (revisit)... so I will leave it at that!

Happy 4.5 years and 51,430 post views ---  and truth is- I would do it even it the number of post views was 514... so on we go--- heading into full social swing in Chicago after a May trip to NYC and Europe... so follow along... you will know where we are and what we are eating- LOL....

good dog!

The Northlight theater production of the play Chapatti took place between March 7, 2014 and April 19, 2014.  And we missed it- Phil was back in Chicago by 4/2 but I didn't return until 4/22 - so no way to see the "animal lovers" play...LOL until....

It turned out that they were performing the same play - Chapatti in Sarasota this spring at the Florida Studio Theater (which we had never been to) and there was a ticket available for me in the afternoon of the day after the film festival... so I went.

Here is what I have to say about the play- not even 50% believable- actors did a fine job but the premise was just to far out to really make you feel like these were real people rather than cartoonish characters...

and here is a nice thing they were doing during the run of the play- promoting the cat and dog shelters in the area... and doing a food drive for them as well...

the theater was intimate and well appointed and depending up on what they were performing I would definitely consider returning- a positive experience despite the fact that the play wasn't fabulous...

life goes on...

Last night GA and I went to the closing film of the Sarasota Film Festival - "I'll See You in My Dreams" - a wonderful film (written by a 30 year old) about aging and love and risk and losing.  It was excellent and a perfect way to end the festival- just the right note.  Surprising things happen in the film that were very true to life... shit happens - good and bad - just like in life. And life goes on. Both for Blythe in the film and for us after being immersed for a week in alternative perspectives and visions brought to us in the vast variety of films in the festival.

so a very clear thumbs up for Blythe and the film - watch for it... funny, touching, a sensitive view of the aging process and widowhood....

After the film we grabbed a bite to eat and then crashed because we were up early this morning for breakfast before the museum opened to finally see RE-PURPOSED and FAN-tastic two exhibitions I had been meaning to see at the Ringling for months!

my personal favorites were this "mirror" which mirrored the movements of the viewers in front of it-
the set of three "dolls" (one shown below) and the incredibly evocative "tent/gathering place" shown in the third photo below-

we had to walk through the museum to see the exhibits and so a few things caught my eye along the way-

here are just a couple of photos from the FAN exhibit- which we both loved!

then in between RE-PURPOSED and the FAN exhibit was this totally weird exhibit that neither GA nor I could begin to understand about an alternative world with two kinds of creatures- and these guys were one kind...LOL I think these were the good ones- LOL

so then we headed quickly back to the parking lot so GA could head south for lunch with her friend and a couple more films at the SFF and I could head home for an hour or so before leaving for my play - at the (new to me) Forida Studio Theater. Today's performance is Chapatti-

so I will report back on that later- but the SFF is over and done for 2015 and life goes on... now a week of work around the house and then the journey north for the summer months!