hawaii & i: returns (quick version)

After what essentially amounts to 24 hours spent in airports and airplanes and other forms of transit, we’re home. We’re also sunburned, exhausted, and loaded down with souvenirs, but we had an absolutely amazing time. Photos and recap to come.

(I start my fall semester class tomorrow – so apologies for any delays and pauses in posts in the next few weeks. Back to real life.)

hawaii & i: bring on the wonder

“All my bags are packed-I’m ready to go.

I’m standing here outside your door-

I hate to wake you up to say Good-BYEEEEEEEEEE!”

Fortunately, my husband is a loving and understanding guy who doesn’t mind when I serenade our cats with songs ranging from showtunes to Britney Spears. Tonight’s selection was a little classic called Leavin’ on a Jet Plane, and – indeed, my bags are packed. After months leading up to this vacation, it’s finally here and after a shower, a pedicure, and a nights sleep, we’re rising with the dawn to head off to another part of the world. (After ten hours in a plane.)

My ipod is loaded with podcasts (This American Life, Slate’s Audio Book Club,) episodes of “No Reservations,” and some movies.

I’ve got books in my carry-on.

I’ve got a travel journal to write in and a new script to read.

I’ve done the online check-in thing.

Here Goes.

I’m so over the moon excited.

So, friends, consider this a mini-blog hiatus. I’ll see you on the other side.

missing patches

Though I’m over the moon excited to head off to Hawaii in a few days, there’s also a part of my heart that is worried/sad.

Long before I lived happily in Chicago with Eric, Magellan, and Oz, I was growing up in Alpena, Michigan and my Mom had a farm. On that farm, she had some animals – most notably, the terrific trio: Holly (the horse), Buddi (my beloved dog) and Patches (the princess cat.)   All three were adored, and adorable.  As the years passed, and they grew older, we bid tearful farewells to Holly, and then Buddi. Patches is the youngest – and perhaps the scrappiest.

I use “is” because truly, we don’t know where she is.

An outdoor cat who prefers the barn to anywhere else, quite simply – she’s vanished. It’s scary, because she’s small and it’s a dangerous world out there for a cat. Also, she’s seventeen years old.  Though she’s still in fine form, she’s not as quick as she used to be, and – admittedly – a few years of not being constantly pestered by Buddi may have let her game slack a bit.

However – I maintain she’s around.  This cat is phenomenal. Once upon a time (true story) a mobile home was being moved off some land, and Patches had managed to crawl up into the underneath of the trailer, which was hauled off down the road.  She was gone for a month, and we were frantic and sad. We passed out flyers and visited the neighbors and called for her for hours. Then, one day, we heard a “meow” and out she came from the alfalfa fields,  skinnier than before, but still groovin’.

My Mom is heartsick – After Holly, Patches was her baby-cat.

We city-dwellers with housecats probably won’t ever have to worry about things like this. I mean, if Oz vanishes from the apartment, we probably have several serious problems to worry about. But, this whole thing has made me hug Oz and Magellan a little bit tighter.

Pets are amazing things, and truly do become part of the family.

Anyway –

Somewhere up in Northern Michigan, there’s a black and white cat.

And I hope she comes home.

*Fingers Crossed*

hawaii & i: the approach…

The days are ticking by, and the excitement grows increasingly palpable. Every time I look at an item in the apartment, I think “Do I need to pack that?” We’ve got our cat-sitters lined up, they’ve got their keys, my laundry is done, and a fair amount of  our work responsibilities are squared away.

I’m almost nearly done with the book I’ve been reading in preparation.  James A. Michener’s “Hawaii,” was a grand, sweeping epic of historical fiction, charting the history of the islands from the first tribes to arrive to the 1940s. Personally,  I most enjoyed the book once the missionaries arrived to “civilize” the native people.  Michener creates interesting characters and is amazingly adept at keeping family trees growing and intertwining.  Michener wrote a bunch of other books along the same lines, and I’ll probably pick up one or two more in my lifetime as a reader. (Particularly “Alaska.” What’s not interesting about that?)

Also, I’m working hard to gather in-flight entertainment. Admittedly, I’m not a great traveller, so I’m making sure to pack enough stuff to distract me from the fact that at one point, I have a 9.5 hour flight. I’ve got new music, podcasts, some movies to watch, and a book I’m going to be reviewing for this very blog to keep me entertained. I also have a husband with a Nintendo DS, so.. I should be set.

Wheeeee!

So excited.

where i spends me days

Any office worker will tell you that their desk is their home away from home. Like the job, or hate it, you’re stuck within your little walls for a great deal of your life.  People adapt to this in many ways, from decoration to simply ignoring it altogether.

As one who spends forty plus hours of each week in a cubicle, I wanted to share my little world with the world.  So I decided to take some photos of my desk.

First, this is my computer – wide-screen and generally awesome, though of late it’s running like a slow old man and I vaguely want to shove it off a cliff. Starting up in the morning takes approximately ten minutes.

On the shelf above it, you’ll see some of the toys I brought to keep me company. In addition to Dunnys, I have a mini Transformer and a mini GI Joe heroine.   The race number on the wall is from this years Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile race, which I ran, and the photo beside the monitor is of my wedding party.

Also on the wall is a green flower, which was given to me by my lovely boss, who is on a two-week vacation and whom I won’t see until I return from my own vacation.

Next to my desk, keeping me happy, is a framed photo of Eric and myself (taken with Bob’s iphone before last November’s Hot Chocolate 5k.) Also, there’s a ceramic balloon from our Valentines Day trip to Las Vegas, a Rose Tyler (from “Doctor Who”) action figure, and a flower pot that once contained a living plant. Now, however, it contains pens, hairties, and gum. All of which are essentials.

(Oh and – underneath Rose are my wedding and engagement ring. Because I can NOT type with them on.)

Please note: I did not include pictures of my other two walls. One of which contains only a phone list, and the other has a crapton of papers scattered around – as well as a ridiculous 201o kitten calendar. My cubemates look forward to the turning of the calendar page each month.

Fellow bloggers – share your workspaces! (Bob, Dan, Morgan, Liz… I’m calling on YOU.)

muahahahahahaha.

Eat, Pray, Love… Watch?

My morbid curiosity about the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love is nagging at me.

Part of me thinks that I’ll spend the film rolling my eyes at how Hollywood sees women – as brainless beings that will only open their wallets for pretty things (travel to pretty places, pretty clothes, pretty Javier Bardiem) and will sit through absolute crap (Sex and the City 2) if such things are present. Oh, and that we all like Oprah and lust after shoes above and beyond all other things – but that’s probably a feminist rant I shouldn’t get into.

(Also,  a bit of me cringes at at the casting of Julia Roberts as the film’s heroine. While I admire Ms. Roberts, I’m just not seeing it. But I’m willing to be proven wrong.)

I adored this book when I first read it. As a woman who has the travel bug, Gilbert hit all my buttons.  Reading the book, I was there – in Italy, in India – alongside our searching heroine.  However, I’m starting to feel like the thing I loved is now watered-down and secondary.  Admittedly, all the hype has made me a wee bit bitter about the whole sensation it’s become. I mean really, did there need to be a perfume collection?  Did World Market really need to launch as a clothing and accessories line?

Regardless, I’m sure I’ll wind up seeing this film.  I guess the question is whether I’ll shell out the bucks to see it in a theater (it’s currently playing all over the place) or whether I’ll wait until it hits the glory of Netflix.

theater for book nerds!

Adaptation is an art all in itself.

As a book nerd, one of the great joys of theater for me is when I get the chance to see a story/book I’ve read and admired adapted to the stage.

Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending Idle Muse Theatre Company’s well-directed, well-acted, Jeff-recommended production of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, and this piece got me curious about what other book-y theater events are coming up in Chicago in the coming months.

Here’s what I found – all of which are exciting to me:

#1 – Lifeline Theatre‘s 2010-2011 season is called “Unforgettable books brought to life,” which set my heart a-patter as soon as I saw the flyer. The three shows in their mainstage season are three books I revere – Wuthering Heights, The Moonstone, and Watership Down. Seriously, I’m so in love with this season I debated subscribing – and I never do that.  If you bring me Bronte, I will follow you anywhere, seriously.

#2 – Livewire Theatre will be presenting Emily Dendinger’s Hideous Progeny beginning in late August at the Storefront Theater downtown.  The piece is apparently supposed to be about the infamous weekend when Mary and Percy Shelley joined Lord Byron in a ghost story competition – which is where Frankenstein was created.  The show is right up my alley, and I’m looking forward to seeing it. (Also, I happen to know two of the cast members – and they’re terrifically talented performers.)

#3 – The Goodman Theatre is in rehearsals for a new take on Candide.  Apparently using Bernstein’s score, but a whole new book, Mary Zimmerman is directing a cast that includes Chicago favorite Hollis Resnick, as well as Lauren Molina (who was so ethereal in the John Doyle Sweeney Todd revival.)

#4 – Chekhov-wise (there’s always some Chekhov in Chicago)  Strawdog will be tackling Uncle Vanya this year, while Raven Theatre does The Cherry Orchard. (Interestingly, last time I saw the Cherry Orchard done was at Strawdog, directed by Kimberly Senior, who is helming Uncle Vanya. Small World, right?)

#5 – Steppenwolf Theatre’s Young Audiences program will open To Kill a Mockingbird in October. July 11, 2010 was the 50th anniversary of the publication of the perennial novel, and theater is a great way to bring Scout, Atticus, Boo, and the other classic characters to young audiences.

#6 – TimeLine Theatre will be presenting Mastering the Art, beginning in October.  The show is about Julia Child and her life in France.  As Julia Child fever is a thing right now, this show should find a sizable audience.

#7 – If I didn’t include CityLit Theatre, something would be wrong with me. The Company’s 2010-2011 season includes a Sherlock Holmes pieces, as well as a production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow just in time for Halloween.

#8 – First Folio Theatre is producing The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe in October/November.  People who present Poe around Halloween are always in my good graces.

Also — in the pipeline are four projects that sound promising.

*Babes with Blades is going to be doing an all-female production of Romeo & Juliet.  As this group often features incredible Chicago female performers and impeccable stage fights, this show is most likely going to rock. (Apparently Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and at least two other groups are currently performing or planning to perform R&J in the coming months, so if you’re a fan of the show, you should have plenty of opportunities to catch a production – but my money’s on The Babes.)

*It seems that the good people at Idle Muse (whose Sherlock spawned this blog post) are going to be tackling Steven Dietz’s Dracula adaptation as their next project. Dietz’s script for Dracula is widely acclaimed, and it’ll be neat to see this clever young company take their turn at it.

*Last season, Redtwist Theatre had announced that they were bringing Stephen King’s Misery to their stage. That, however, was before their knock-out production of The Pillowman ran for a hundred years (and might still be running, I’m really not sure?) so at present it appears Misery may have gotten shoved to the back-burner. However, with as great as that group is, whenever they decide to bring on the Misery, my a$$ is there.

*Last but definitely not least, my friends at GreyZelda Theatre Co are adapting Denise Giardina’s fantastic novel Storming Heaven for the stage in their 2011/2012 season. It’s a far way off, but I’ve a feeling it’ll be incredibly worth it.

Whew!

I’m truly excited to see as many of these pieces as possible.  If I’ve missed something particularly book-y, please let me know! I’m just one little person and there’s a whole boatload of theater in Chicago to follow, so I admittedly miss stuff.