Saturday, October 19, 2013

Fickle Friday and a Full Moon

View From Edge of My Front Yard This Morning



Yesterday's events were such a mixed bag that it wasn't until this morning, when I took Tsunami for a 7 a.m. stroll in front of my house, that I realized why. The remnants of last night's Hunter's Moon hovered in front of me...and for a befuddled moment I wondered why the sun was rising in the west. Excuse my lapse...I hadn't yet had time for a cup of tea or coffee, because Nami was so demanding. As she has been, alas, for the past week, plagued by incontinence and diarrhea and general malaise, poor old thing. I think she's on the mend now...at least she's eating a little better.

I'm another case. I'm eating all right, and am still potty trained. Nonetheless, yesterday turned out to be one of those "if it can go wrong, it will" Murphy's Law kind of day. Why should I have expected it to be different...after all, a full moon is when you can expect the unexpected up to and including bad luck, bizarre behavior and even baying werewolves, as my first husband, a policeman, used to claim. Fortunately no oddly-furred critters prowled around my yard, other than a stray doe or two. No, the gremlins were inside the house.

Nami's accidents weren't the only thing I had to contend with yesterday morning. My Internet had crashed. I called my satellite service, and scraped and bruised myself crawling under the computer desk and fishing for all the wires they insisted I unhook. After waiting an obligatory two minutes, I scraped and bruised my arms and legs some more, plugging everything back together. Still it didn't work too well, and my Internet is still flickering. But at least it's working some of the time, rather than not at all.

It worked well enough for me to get an email with a permission request from one of the anthology series I contribute to. The request, though, was for a story that's been languishing in their database for four years, not for one of the newer ones I'd written for this particular volume. And my story has already seen print in a lesser venue, which might zilch the deal. Just my luck on fickle Friday.

Then last night, arguably the best pitcher in organized baseball, and strong contender for another Cy Young award, Clayton Kershaw, suffered the worst defeat in his career in that crucial National League playoff game at Busch Stadium...and my comeback Dodgers had to hang up their cleats for the season. The St. Louis Cardinals will be heading for the World Series. It could be worse. At least it's not the Giants,

Yes, it had to be the full moon. But to give Friday its due credit, a few good things emerged. I ran into the realtor I'd been hoping would try to sell my house for me next summer, and she agreed to take the listing. And my friend, Jane, had a few guests over to her hilltop home to admire her autumn decorations and have a drink or two. She surprised me with two sparkly blouses in my size that she'd plucked from a "free" bin at one of the yard sales she frequents.

I closed out the evening with an episode from the Doc Martin series I've been watching on Netflix. I don't know if there was a full moon in Port Wenn, but pitiable Doctor Ellingham suffered through a series of catastrophes that made my day seem tame and sane.

It's all good here today as the moon wanes. Nami's gone outside to do her business. I've been savoring homemade chicken soup. Best of all, I'm still firmly planted on Terra Firma...which is more than I can say for the characters played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in Gravity. I'll see that movie tomorrow. I've been warned that movie will put it all into perspective!











http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cih0btgJw8s

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Almost Anything Goes



In my late teens I fell in love with Cole Porter. I'd had a lot of loves before, sure...Rodgers and Hammerstein topped the list with Carousel. Jerome Kern whispered down their necks with Show Boat. I'd not needed anybody else, I'd decided. These would be loves for life. Then along came Kiss Me Kate, with the haunting melody, "So In Love," along with "Wunderbar," "Why Can't You Behave," and the hilarious "I Hate Men." I was sold. Porter had eclipsed them all.

Just a week ago at the Woodland Theatre in Kettle Falls I delighted in seeing Nancy Morrison-Christopher sing Porter's song that celebrates why men can be despicable. No, it was an all-star talent show, not a revival of Kiss Me Kate, even though Nancy wore Kate's gown that she'd donned years ago when Woodland did present this Porter classic. I believe Nancy said that was nineteen years ago...so I say it's time for a revival.

(Whoops...Nancy tells me it's the upcoming Nunsense at Woodland that she did years ago...here's what she says: "Nancy Morrison-Christopher Uh Terri.... I read the wonderful comment on your blog but....the show we did nineteen years ago was Nunsense not Kiss Me Kate ...Sister Robert Anne is the role I am reprising.  We didn't perform our Nunsense number at the variety show due to illness. We have never performed Kiss Me Kate though I would love to! Did it in HS. Thanks for the plug!" So, I say, Woodland Theatre...as much as I'm looking forward to Nunsense and next spring's Secret Garden, please, please, please do some Cole Porter!)

The blonde in the center is Nancy, as man-hating Kate!
In the meantime, I got my Porter fix last month when I attended theSegerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa with my son, where Rachel York as Reno Sweeney tap danced her way across the sea, and, as usual in a Cole musical comedy....anything goes. I was so ready for the Anything Goes, with its tap dancing, the slapstick,and even the silly gigolos!


When I was 19 my husband, Bob Elders, gave me an Ella Fitzgerald Verve-label album for Christmas...The Cole Porter Songbook. Though I long ago lost my LPs, I still listen to "All Through the Night." Ella still sings it on You Tube. When I heard it in the current production last month, I fell in love with Porter all over again. Can lyrics get any better than these? Listen to the internal rhyme in "the monotone of the evening's drone!"

The day is my enemy, the night my friend,
For I'm always so alone till the day draws to an end,
But when the sun goes down and the moon comes through,
To the monotone of the evening's drone I'm all alone with you.

All through the night,
I delight in your love,
All through the night you're so close to me!
All through the night,
From a height far above,
You and your love brings me ecstasy!

When dawn comes to waken me,
You're never there at all!
I know you've forsaken me
Till the shadows fall,
But then once again I can dream, I've the right
To be close to you all through the night.


Here's Ella singing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMdwuoXv0u4
The incomparable Ella Fitzgerald

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