A farewell to an American Girl

I have become a Scrooge to the American Girl corporation. 

Living in Chicago, as an adult, it is easy to get annoyed by the whole store thing.  The little girls who run around downtown, holding their beloved dolls in one hand while their parents lug big bags with the logo on it probably containing thousands of dollars of associated merchandise while their – often – yuppie and shallow seeming parents chat on their cell phones and carry their Starbucks around ignore their often bratty behavior can drive anyone crazy. In a day and age when every child is deemed special and, as such, placated and pampered to believe they are all princesses, it can get to be too much. You don’t want to be in the American Girl store anytime near Christmas, or you will hear screaming and tantrums and otherwise obnoxious things. And when we live in a world where people are struggling to get by, it’s hard to imagine spending hundreds of dollars on toys.

I think I got my ass “Christmas Caroled” by the Ghost of Christmas toys past….

Word broke this weekend that the American Girls company has decided to retire Samantha, one of the original three historical-based dolls that launched the company, as well as my first (and favorite) American Girl doll, and it felt I needed to say some things.

I saw my first American Girl catalogue when I was eight years old.  It was known as the Pleasant Company back then, and I believe it was just a wee store in Minnesota. There were only three dolls at that time, and they were all set in a specific historical period to help little girls learn history while exploring their imaginations.

The dolls were Kirsten (a blonde pioneer immigrant girl who came to America from Sweden, I think), Molly (a plucky redhead who lived during World War 2) and Samantha (a spunky brunette from the turn of the century.) I was little and brunette, and from the moment I laid eyes on Samantha Parkington and all her pretty accessories – the birthday set, the summer set, the winter gear, the nightgown, the pretty brass bed – I wanted her.

 

Even then, an American Girl doll was expensive. Back then, the doll itself in it’s original set – which came with one outfit and a book, was $80. Lots of money for a kid.

According to my Mom (the only version of the story I trust) I brought the fact that I wanted this doll to her attention, but never asked for it. I busted out my pink pencil box, put it under my bed, and started saving money. I saved my allowance and any additional cash I could get my eight year old hands on into that box for almost a year, and a few weeks before Christmas handed the $80 to my mom and asked her to order it for me. Touched by the gesture and my childhood determination, my Mom took the money and then ordered the doll for me as her present to me.  Or rather, as she remembers it, had to have it rush-ordered and then had to divery my attention the day we got home and the box was on the front porch so I wouldn’t see it ahead of time. 

BUT, details aside, on Christmas morning, I opened a box to find my Samantha, resplendent in all her Victorian glory.    I also got back my $80, and  I’m sure I promptly spent it on dumb plastic things. I was eight, people.

The photos show my joy on that morning, and for the last 16 years, Samantha has been a key part of Alpena for me.

She no longer looks as gorgeous as she did when she came out of the box – her hair is massively matted and she’s missing eyelashes (and we had to send her back to the Pleasant Company toy hospital – yes, they have it – after one particularly nasty fall from the barn damaged her original head) but she’s been loved like no other toy from my childhood.

She’s ridden on both my dearly departed dog and horse.  She’s climbed trees and been on swings. She’s been in forts. She’s been on trips.  She sat at the dinner table for a few years with us.  My mom found a pattern for “Sam-sized” clothes and proceeded to make her pretty dresses as well as overalls and jumpers for those days when a party dress isn’t going to cut it. She has a spa robe and slippers, an apron for helping in the kitchen, and – bonus of bonuses – once I realized she fit in my Cabbage Patch Doll clothes, a whole new world opened up. The Harrisville Art show, which takes place once a year in Harrisville, MI, features a woman who makes near-exact replicas of the doll clothes from American Girl and sells them for a fraction of the cost, and I remember many treks to that art show with the one-track mind of getting Sam a new outfit. 

[SIDE NOTE: My mom, seeing my love for Samantha, decided to strike while the iron was hot and buy me a Kirsten doll to accompany Sam. I couldn't do it. Kirsten spent a few years locked up in a collectors cabinet, untouched by childhood hands, until one day - burdened by the guilt of seeing her under glass and lock and key and not being loved - I asked Mom if we could give her to someone else. My Mom listed her on ebay, and a grandmother bought Kirsten for her granddaughter, since they couldn't afford the retail cost of the doll. I'm sure she went to a good home, and I hope she's as loved and destroyed as my Samantha is.]

Now – in what I refer to as her retirement – she resides at home in Alpena on my bed, in a nightgown, robe, and slippers like the grand dame she is.  Her matted hair has been twisted into a bun and is held there with a hairclip I totally stole from Mom. (Sorry!) In the back of my head, I’m fairly sure that, since no one goes into my loft bedroom room during the months I’m away from home, Samantha rules the roost like Woody from Toy Story.

The American Girl company has grown so much since I was eight. There are a bunch of other historical dolls now, of different ethnicities, and they have other branches as well – Bitty Babies, and the whole “make a doll that looks like you” thing going on. Their stores have theatres with live musicals and places you can have tea parties with your dolls.  They’re making millions upon millions of dollars as a major part of a culture that now caters to young children, especially girls.

The reason for the retirement is being explained as due to the lack of “real estate” available in the American Girl catalogue anymore. Literally, they’re so full of products they can’t introduce new ones, so some classics are going to have to be retired – and Sam is the first. I expect Kirsten and Molly, and maybe Felicity to follow, and go to the land of memories.

I should really make more of an effort to remember myself at eight when I see little girls trotting around downtown, holding onto their parents with one hand and their beloved doll in the other.

I was them once.

Hell, I’m still them. It’s just that, at 26, you can’t really carry a doll around all the time with you anymore. Because, seriously, if I could get away with it….

I would say farewell to Samantha, but when I go home next month I’ll be saying hello all over again.

The Dark Knight

Last night, I journeyed up to the Century in Evanston (in my mind, THE only place in town to see HUGE movies, thanks to it’s amazing sound system, bar in the movie theatre, and general all-around awesomeness) and became apparently the last person on earth to see “The Dark Knight.”

Seriously, the ticket vendor even told me I was the last person, and that most people are on their second or third times by now.

I’d heard all the hype, seen all the ads, read all the reviews, barely avoided things getting spoiled, and went into this latest Batman movie hoping it would live up to the hype, but (deep down) not really thinking it could.

It surpassed the hype.

It’s phenomenal.

It’s big and loud and full of explosions and amazing characters (heroes and villians) and one-liners and awesome shots, and it’s seriously… phenomenal.

Christopher Nolan might be a genius when it comes to a lot of things – but I think his strongest point in reinventing the tired Batman franchise was taking away some of the more cartoony aspects and making it, despite all the bells and whistles, a human story. These characters are all people – no aliens, no monsters, no ghosts – they are simply human beings playing a dark game in the darkest of cities. The original Batman movies, though anchored by the brilliance of Michael Keaton, too often descended into cartoon non-realism when it came to their villians and the portrayal of Gotham City. Jack Nicholson’s Joker, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, and Danny DeVito’s Penguin – despite all being wonderful and astonishing performances – were highly stylized and almost artsy (probably due to the directorship of Tim Burton, who loves all things dark and artsy.)

I enjoyed the Michael Keaton Batman and Batman Returns, but I’m in love with the Nolan reinvention of the franchise.

Nolan’s first good move was to get Christian Bale to be his Bruce Wayne/Batman. At turns charismatic, moody, bratty, funny, and always hot, Bale anchors “The Dark Knight” and is absolutely the best Batman ever, because he’s human and imperfect. Bruce Wayne can be an absolute shit, and Bale relishes those flawed moments as much – if not more – than his heroic moments. Bale is a powerful actor and a completely believable Batman. Replacing Katie Holmes for this film as Rachel Dawes is Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I have to say – Nothing against Holmes, but Gyllenhaal is a huge upgrade. She’s feisty, she’s witty, she’s strong, and you like Rachel a million times more in this movie than in “Batman Begins.” Also returning to the film are Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Michael Caine (Alfred), and Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon) – who should seriously just form their own League of Awesomeness. These three screen legends pretty much walk away with their moments onscreen without breaking a sweat – particularly Oldman, who gets the most play of any of the three in “The Dark Knight.” I love the reinvention of the Batman series, because it stays true to Batman canon, and the rise of Jim Gordon is a fascinating part of an already fascinating series. (And I smile every time they reference Gordon’s family, or when we see his young daughter – knowing that in about 15 years, my favorite superhero ever, Batgirl, will emerge from young Barbara Gordon.)

I’d heard both good and bad things about Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, but all of those melted away the second he stepped onscreen. Harvey Dent is a good guy forced to go bad, and Eckhart rocked it out. He also has the look of a Ken doll, all blonde hair and bright smile, which makes him perfect in the role of the White Knight of Gotham City.

Meanwhile, Chicago is all over Gotham City. The filmmakers don’t even try to hide it half the time. If you live in Chicago, you saw at least five things you recognized in the movie – most notably are LaSalle Street, the River, Lower Wacker Drive (once again, the setting for an awesome chase scene) and the Wrigley Building (which is sitting right outside the window of several shots.)

But you can’t talk about “The Dark Knight” without mentioning the sensation that is Heath Ledger as The Joker. Ledger was already a young actor on the verge of greatness when he died tragically before the movie was complete, and buzz spread that his was the performance of a lifetime. It is. It absolutely is, and not just in a “Wow, he’s good – It’s so sad he’s dead, Let’s give him a posthumus Oscar,” kind of way. Dead or alive, he deserves an Oscar for his Joker. Though he doesn’t have as much screen time as one would like, he’s mesmerizing. It’s a completely vanity-free, disgusting, funny, tortured portrayal – but Ledger’s greatest talent was creating characters that were people. And his Joker slips the bonds of being a cartoony figure and becomes simply, a complicated and twisted man. It’s genius. I can’t remember ever being as glued to a character in a movie before.

If you like superhero movies, see it.

If you like any of the aforementioned actors, see it.

If you like Chicago, see it.

If you like Batman, see it.

If you like great acting and good writing, see it.

If you like explosions, see it.

If you like movies… see it.

You won’t regret it.

Keep it comin’

Lindsey told me that after I ran my first 5k I’d want to run more.

Lindsey is almost always right.

So yeah, I signed up for another race – BUT this one is Halloween themed (which I adore) and Bob will be running it with me (which I adore even more.)

In Bob’s words – “Let’s run this motha UP!”

Adventure: Cubs vs. Marlins – 7/26/08

I live in Wrigleyville. Literally, I can hear the roar of Cubs fans from my apartment on game days. Yet, until last weekend I had never been in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Until my dear friend Chris came to town.

The outside view:

It rapidly became a game we like to call “Things I ate at Wrigley Field.”

Then the Umpire took a ball to the throat! Gah! There was much delaying and hovering.Here’s a pic of some guy.
What a lovely day and aperfect view!
Post-game.Yay Cubs! Even though they lost!

theatre & beer

“7 plays in 7 days” went fantastically – I’m so proud of Dennis, Jake, and Mary. I have a few photos, but forgot my card reader (like a genius) and will post them later. I had a completely lovely time working with the n.u.f.a.n. ensemble and the show was great.

After that, there was a party/gathering at The Gingerman, which is a Wrigleyville bar I had never been to. Loved it. Come on – they have Dead Guy on tap and Salvador Dali and Paul Newman on the walls.

Oh, and I may not have gone to bed until 4:15am last night.

And I’m perfectly fine with that.

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Bullen.

so much better than before…

I woke up bright and early this morning – after a super fun night out with Brent, Chris and the Baisdens that included the awesome “God on Broadway” cabaret at Davenports and a near-midnight dinner at Bad Dog – and got into my running gear, even though I really wasn’t feeling it.

“When you don’t want to run,” they say, “just put on your running shoes anyway.”

So I did, and out I went. I took a beautiful early morning (like 6am) walk to Montrose Harbor where I met up with Lindsey, registered for the Fleet Feet Sports Womens 5k/10k festival, got my bag o’ tricks, and prepared to run my first 5k. It was a neat pre-race event, with tons of women of various ages and sizes all ready to run.

I didn’t think I could do it — and then we were off.

Somewhere along the next 3.1 miles, accompanied by 5ive, Britney Spears, White Tie Affair, Pink, and Michael Jackson, I got caught up in running along Chicago’s gorgeous lakefront.

It was quite an experience.

And when I crossed the finish line, “So Much Better” from Legally Blonde was blasting in my ears. Lindsey had told me about the exhiliration, but I’d figured she’s an actual runner, as in one who likes to run, and it wouldn’t hold true for me. Oh, but it did.

I ran my first 5k today. In 34:04.

And then came home and watched “27 dresses.”

Then I went down to the Park Grill and had lunch with Molly Jones, Brent, and Chris.

And now I’m off to 7 in 7 rehearsal. Tech is tonight.

Woot.

Sometimes I smile.

you make me so crazy, baby…

The ridiculousness of my life at present is entertaining even me.

Rehearsed with Jake and Dennis for 7 in 7 last night — these guys are fabulous and work SO well together, someone should give them a sit-com. Seriously. I think we’re making the play even darker than originally intended, but it’s exciting.

From that rehearsal, I darted over to TrapDoor Theatre for a talk-back.

Talk-backs are a hugely interesting part of working on a newer play. The chance for actors and designers and company members to sit down and interface with the person who created the play and is, in essence, the reason they’re all in the room, is fascinating. POC was delighted to have Vanda, the playwright of STILL PHOTOS (now playing at the TrapDoor Theatre through July 27th – www.pointofcontention.org for tickets and information!) in town for last night’s performance and for a talk-back following. Vanda was lovely and interesting and gave us all sorts of tidbits to ponder further. All in all, a lovely evening.

From THERE, I joined Annie, Danielle (leading lady of STILL PHOTOS) and lovely Phil and Shannon for a night out at The Long Room (Ashland & Irving Park) , where I drank too much, as tends to happen when Annie gets her hands on me, ….but c’est la vie.

It happens sometimes.

It has to happen sometimes.

Come Rain or Come Pride

I’m a bad Chicago resident.

I’ve lived here for three go-rounds of Pride –

and until yesterday hadn’t managed to make it to the Parade yet.

This weekend, I changed all that.

A. I love the gays.

B. POC is doing a show with gay content – so we decided to promote.

C. I like glitter.

Here goes.

SATURDAY: Pride Fest on Halsted.

Twirling brigade!
Passanisi with a P!
Cirque du Soliel clown wars!
Frenchie Davis, from American Idol – who sounded great and LAID into some protesters.

SUNDAY – The Parade.

I met up with Mal and the POC street team,

then headed to join Bob and Gator and the gang for some parade madness.

“Gird your loins and grab your wine – Here comes the parade.”

And then some ominous clouds rolled in….

and it rained.

But the parade is like the postal service – Through rain, through hail…

Meanwhile, I bet YOUR friends don’t get to be the drag Frankie Vali on the Broadway in Chicago float? Oh, Annie Passanisi. Your life.

Mal and I briefly ducked away for some Thai, and wound up befriending a tinsel-haired stranger? Yeah, his name was Mark and he was drunk, but friendly.

Then it rained again – and we decided “screw it.”

All in a hard gays work.

STILL PHOTOS opens June 27th

(Isn’t this the hottest poster you’ve ever seen for a show? Seriously. Kudos to POC’s graphic designer Brent Walker – for being the hotness. Also hotness are the cast of this show. Seriously, they’re awesome. Check it out! )

STILL PHOTOS

by Vanda

Directed by Lavina Jadhwani

June 27th through July 27th

Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland

http://www.pointofcontention.org/stillphotos.htm

True Colors – videos!

“True Colors” – Cyndi Lauper, Rosie O’Donnell, The Cliks, Tegan and Sarah, White Tie Affair, The B52′s and other band members.