she keeps her love away

My nook is here!!!!! :)



I named her ripley the nook. :) She registered without a problem, she's all charged up, and I've got...well, should have 7 books and one sample on it. One book is missing, but I just shut her down to see if the new purchase shows up. It didn't, but I can always transfer it manually.

The books are:
Three Cups of Tea
Learning to Breathe
The Girl Wit The Dragon Tattoo
Dracula
Little Women
Pride and Prejudice

The seventh just showed up... The Girl Who Played With Fire

And I've got a sample of Under The Dome on it too. I'm not sure how many samples I can have at a time. My have to play with that.

EVEN BONUS!!!! I got an email today that ebooks were 15% off if you used a MasterCard. Well, I had money already in my eBook account thanks to gift cards, and it uses that amount first before going to the default card. My default card happens to be a MasterCard. AND IT GAVE ME THE 15% DISCOUNT EVEN THOUGH THE BOOKS WERE BOUGHT WITH THE MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT ALREADY! That let me get the extra book. (The three classics came free when I downloaded the B&N reader onto my computer.

I am so happy with my little nook!!!!! There's one little thing I can't get to work, but it's not a big deal at the moment - and nothing that can't wait until I can go into a store and talk with someone.

It's nice to be happy after yesterday. I already talked (literally) about The Marvelous Wonderettes. SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!! After that, I went over to Aaron's last performance in next to normal. They all did such a good job. Some of the (I can only guess as it wasn't this bad his first back) Gossip Girl groupies were a little screamier than they should have been during "Just Another Day", but overall it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

No stage door. The winds had been really up earlier in the day, and security canceled it. :( I know it's not a huge deal, but it is in a way. I almost wish they'd put an exit (that could be used regularly) on 45th Street for times like this. The alley is a wind tunnel in the best of circumstances, but when there's strong winds, it's really a mess. Oh well.

School was...school. We survived. LOL. 9 school days to go and we get a three-day weekend. w00t!!!

But yeah... Big news of the day is my nook is here!!!!!

Two days. I just have to get through two days.

We have snow on the ground. Where it isn't piled up against the curb it's pretty still. Where it is aganst the curb it's dirty and nasty...and making big old puddles at the corners because the drainage ditches are full or not taking the melt as quickly as they should. That's just gross. Luckily I've learned how to spot the puddles so I hopefully won't have to deal with getting soaked up to my knee almost again. You do that once with freezing cold nasty water and you don't forget what it looks like any time soon.

Plans for the week...
* Tuesday, just get through the day.
* Wednesday night, lottery next to normal with Susan. I'll probably do the lotto loser dealie thing if we don't win.
* Thursday morning, go to MoMA to see a special exhibit. Get my sister's present. Finish packing - carry on-able only! Not paying $30RT to check a bag. Check into my flight. Look at weather and decide if I'm going to camp at the airport after the Christmas Eve service. Go to Christmas Eve service.
*Friday, head to the airport at some point in the day (depending on weather and stuff). Fly home - should be at 3:30, home 5:30ish.

Right now my flight back on the 30th is completely full. Should I get the message we got when we checked Mom and Daddy in - that the flight is overbooked and if I would like to volunteer to take a later flight for compensation - I am totally volunteering. AS LONG AS THEY GUARANTEE ME I WILL BE BACK BY THE END OF THE DAY ON THE 2ND!! I've always wanted to be able to do that and never have been. But I've confirmed with the 'rents that it would be ok if I did, so. Yay! (Although now that I've got a plan, that obviously won't happen.)

Have I mentioned on here how over Thanksgiving Daddy said out of nowhere that he wanted to see Hair?!?!? I mean... I know he was in the whole Vietnam era - only didn't get sent because of his childhood asthma (the other guy who got pulled off the bus was told he wasn't going because he had cancer...all the others on the physical bus went straight to basic training) - but... I don't know. I just didn't think it would be his type of show. I guess if it's still running when he's up here next I'll get us tickets... I'm just sort of dreading one particular song... I mean, really... Would YOU want to be sitting next to your parental unit while someone is singing "Sodomy. Fellatio. Cunnilingus. Pederasty."????? REALLY????? I think I'd even be ok with the last scene in Act 1 - the nudity. But that song... I'm just not sure I can do it. I'm taking the cast recording home with me for Christmas...that may squelch the whole thing when he hears the music. We shall see.

Ok... So I figure now's as good a time as any to do my top 5 lists for the year. There might be more movie viewing (I only counted things I've seen in the theater) before the end of the year, and if that changes I'll let you know. But for now... My top 5 of the year in...

Theatre
1.next to normal
Really, is anyone surprised by this. THE most moving experience I've ever had in a theater. Over and over every time!
2. Max Understood
Such a beautiful, honest, heartfelt portrait of one family's struggle with autism. I wish everyone could have seen this!!!
3. God of Carnage
Seeing this play the first time - and then again - just inspired me as a playwright. I can't wait to see it with the new cast!!
4. Hair
I know! Back in May, who'd have thunk this show would end up on my top 5??? But this is proof that you CAN revisit things and have a different experience the second (and third and fourth) time you see it. (For the opposite where there's no change, see my experience at Ragtime.)
5. Dirty Blonde at Signature in Shirlington, VA
I had no idea how this play would play out when I went to see it knowing only the barest of details about it and was utterly charmed by this whole play. Another on my inspiration shelf.

Books
1. Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles
Just a beautiful telling of one woman's journey to faith and action. LOVE IT AND HER!!!
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Picked this up on the recommendation of a tweet from Jennifer Weiner. LOVE THIS BOOK!!!
3. Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
Beautiful, haunting, transcendent. Just gorgeous. And not as predictable as I thought it was going to be.
4. At Least In The City Someone Would Hear Me Scream by Wade Rouse
Hysterical! I laughed out loud several times reading this! Which isn't always the best thing to do on the subway. (Though with a book in your hands you're slightly less batshit for doing that as when you're listening to, oh, say Emily and Alice's CDs with the hidden tracks...and the hidden tracks specifically. Then you just have things in your ears and yeah...you look batshit!)
5. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Something about this book just touched me. I guess it's how I feel like in a way some of what happens there could actually happen to me.

Movies
1. A Single Man
HANDS DOWN THE BEST MOVIE I'VE SEEN IN A WHILE, NOT JUST THIS YEAR!!
2. Julie and Julia
Before seeing A Single Man this was my number one movie. I do still think it's great. But it pales in comparison to the beauty and perfection that is A Single Man.
3. Whip It
I didn't expect to like this movie, and I actually did. Would I like to see Ellen Page act in another style? Sure. Her broodiness or whatever you want to call it gets old really quickly, but the movie was quirky and fun.
4. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Another surprise package. While not as spectacular as the first one, it's charming and really well done. How to have a movie as close to the book as possible? Let the author write the screenplay AND direct.
5. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
I'm not sure it's my favorites of the adaptations, but I did find it well done, if a little heavy on the weepy teen angst.
(This category is largely the reason I only did 5...I only left off a couple of movies because they were so...ew. I just didn't see a lot in the theater this year.)

Um... I think I'm going to get a hot shower before Hoarders. Yes...ironic. You'd think I'd do the shower AFTER.

And that was in two days!

Friday night I went to the first preview of Coraline, a musical adaptation of Gaiman's book that was in process long before the movie. I was pretty skeptical about it...after all, the woman playing Coraline is older than me, and I had initially heard that a lot would be done with puppets. Well, I can safely say that Jane Houdyshell is completely charming in the role and really takes on so many childlike qualities. And there was really only one section where any kind of puppets were used. It didn't feel first preview-ish. It's definitely a show that as staged needs a small setting...in other words, without a lot of revisioning (and probably losing a lot of the charm) I don't think it would work ON Broadway, but some kind of an open-ended off-Broadway run I'd think would be possible.

Yesterday was a two-show day.

First, I rushed Mary Stuart. Revival and transfer from London. It is amazing. Janet McTeer, who plays Mary Queen of Scots, is without a doubt my pick for the Tony Lead Actress in a Play. Harriet Walter is excellent as Elizabeth I, but McTeer is absolutely spellbinding. I was in Row Q, which wasn't ideal, but at least the Broadhurst will sell other available seats as rush when the front row is sold out.

Then in the evening I rushed Blithe Spirit. I was second in line and first solo ticket buyer. And I ended up front row center. AMAZING! I was unfamiliar with the show itself, but I ended up loving it. Angela Lansbury was amazing as Madame Arcati. Seeing her up that close was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The rest of the cast was amazing as well.

Today I just took a break from shows. Hee! I'm entitled once in a while.

And either later tonight or tomorrow I'll expand on the last entry I posted. I've had more thoughts on that.

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2008-2009 theatre season in NYC just got a little more interesting. Perhaps Billy Elliot's assumed position could have a legitimate challenger?

next to normal opened last night at the Booth Theatre to mostly RAVE reviews!

Exhibit A: Ben Brantley's review in The New York Times.

For the first time in my life I would love to give Brantley a huge hug and a kiss. Reviews don't come any better than that!

I was there at the performance last night, and it was a dream come true. Literally.

I can remember sitting towards the back and on the side of 2econd Stage theatre in New York, knowing the vaguest of details about the story, and being captivated from the first moments of the show. I am not one who gives standing ovations easily. I have even been known to be the only one to not stand, even if I'm in the front row, if I don't feel a show deserves it. While I will applaud the efforts made, you have to do something special to make me stand. You have to touch me, to move me, to captivate me. For the first time in possibly my entire theatre-going life, I did not even hesitate. I was on my feet as soon as the stage lights went down. That was a Friday night. I went back on Sunday. And many more times. I was at closing of the off-Broadway run, and no one knew what was coming next.

Then a run at Arena Stage in DC was announced. As were two cast member changes. The role of Dan would be played by J. Robert Spencer as Brian d'Arcy James had signed on for the role of Shrek. Louis Hobson replaced Asa Somers in the dual roles of Diana's doctors. I'll admit, I had my reservations at first, but within moments of seeing them on stage in Crystal City, VA they had won me over. Changes were made to the book and score ~ changes that were for the better and that transformed what in a lot of people's eyes was an "average" musical into something that had the potential to be great ~ groundbreaking in the style of Rent or Spring Awakening if given the chance. Several trips to DC and lots of performances later, I was in the front row at the closing of the Arena Stage run. We knew that a cast recording was happening, but no one knew for sure what else the future held for this little musical.

And then came February 17 and the announcement that yes, this little show was in fact coming to Broadway. The first preview came on March 27. A few tweaks to the book and score that only tightened tings more and that brought us to last night.

April 15, 2009.

I'll admit it. When we heard the opening strings, my heart skipped a beat. And when we heard the drumbeat that signaled the black out, I was crying with happiness and pride. Even from the last row of the mezzanine, you could feel the magic in the Booth. I can't speak for the orchestra, but the entire mezzanine was on their feet before the last chords ended, and I was full-out sobbing by then.

I know the phrase gets tossed around a LOT, but it literally was a dream come true. And then to come home and find Brantley's love letter of a review... It just topped it all. I am so proud of all the cast and creative. They totally deserve this recognition!

Get your tickets now folks! This little show just got a little bigger and brighter.