- friday i found out i won tickets to the incredible burt wonderstone through a friend's website. (if you don't know drew, and are a fan of magic and/or theatricality, go here.) this meant i got to get out of my house (for free!) and catch up with some old friends. the movie was actually much better than i expected, i met some cool new people, and i may have made a tutoring connection. excellent all-around evening.
- saturday morning i worked, as usual. but because one of my students cancelled, i got out an hour early and had time to take a nap. i picked up c around 6 and we headed out to melbourne for a st. patrick's day street party. we scored rock star parking (for only $5 - which is seriously impressive if you're used to living in orlando) and headed over. it was a typical small-town street party: not terribly exciting, but rife with outstanding people-watching opportunities. and people with monumental mustaches.
- the whole point of traveling to melbourne, of course, was to see cowboy mouth. if you don't know my love for this band, well, clearly we've not met. and you don't read this blog. they put on one of the best live shows you'll ever see. and they delivered, as usual. which is extra amazing when you consider that they just played d.c. 10 hours earlier to kick off the rock and roll marathon. so they were clearly tired and road-weary and all the rest, and still kicked ass. i wasn't sure what to expect crowd-wise, but there were several fans there, so that was cool. also, because the stage was tiny and we were up front (because where else would i be?), we were thisclose to the band - which made for even more interaction than usual. so much awesome. cm shows are such a catharsis, and since the past month or so has been one big ball of stress, i was overdue for a good release.
- sometime saturday i learned via twitter that neil gaiman and amanda palmer were trying to do a ninja gig somewhere in sarasota on sunday. this is just over 2 hours away from me, and i waffled back and forth for hours sunday morning. do i go? can i really justify two road trips in one weekend? i mean, my little car is the most awesome piece of vehicular machinery ever (no hyperbole; just truth), but it is getting older and i hate adding to its stress. finally, i decided that if i didn't go, i'd probably regret it. and i was right. the show was at 2 at ringling college, and i figured i should probably leave at 11. after all the back-and-forthing with myself, i ended up leaving around 11:30. traffic was going well and i was feeling confident i'd arrive with enough time to figure out where on the campus i was going, when i4 came to a dead stop. absolute parking lot. for about 45 minutes. eventually it cleared, and i hurried on, afraid i'd miss the show. i arrived about 35 minutes late, just as neil began reading a selection. there's something innately magical about listening to an author read his own work to a spell-bound crowd. i'm sure the fact that it was neil gaiman reading only intensified the effect. afterward, he and amanda took questions from the crowd, which ranged from, "can you help me repair a friendship i messed up?" to "do you guys have to deal with carpel tunnel?" the conversation between them and the crowd went from inspirational to silly to philosophical and was lovely. i was interested (and pleased) to note that when amanda asked the audience, "who feels like they are doing what they are meant to do?", i found my self raising my hand and (more importantly) believing it. i may barely be making ends meet, and i may not be doing ALL of what i'm meant to, but i'm certainly doing some good. q & a ended, amanda sang a fantastic song about the power of the ukulele and, much too soon, it was all over. afterward, there was a group photo - with ukuleles, clearly - and i even got a selfie with neil. i totally had a (mostly internal) fangirl-like moment, which is SO not me, but it happened. his works have had a great impact on my life, from the first Death comic a friend gave me when i was a teenager, to his novels that make me think and question, to the short stories i once taught my 9th graders at CHS. and so i squee'd inside for a good hour afterward (and out loud in my car once for good measure).
- one of the most unexpected and excellent things that came of this gig happened at the book table. amanda encouraged a book swap, so i found 6 books - mostly from my old classroom library - to go on to better lives. one of these books was dealing with dragons by patricia c. wrede. as the books tumbled out of my bag to join the others on the table, the girl next to me let out a gasp and touched dealing with dragons reverently. "i haven't read this since i was a kid! oh, cimorene..." "it's yours," i said. "done. take it." i could tell by the look on her face that she had just been reunited with a childhood best friend. it was heartwarming to see her reaction, to know that others are just as deeply affected by a stranger's words as i am. i loved seeing someone react to a book the way i would react to seeing a ramona quimby, age 8 or so you want to be a wizard. and i'm so glad i was able to give that reunion to her, because i know what it would've meant to me. (and now i've got to go find another copy of that book; truth be told, i don't think i'd ever actually read it, and seeing the reaction it garnered? definitely deserves a perusal.)
- after all that, i decided to head to a beach. i was right on the coast, after all, and shorelines are my grounding places. so i went and i walked and i breathed; and then i shook the sand off my feet and put my chucks back on and went home.
so that was my weekend. random and joyous and unexpected, and so very much what i needed. i did end up with a narrow - but very angry - strip of sunburn on my neck from the i4 incident. it's not pretty, and i'm just hoping it doesn't blister. but that's insignificant. (at least to the weekend, if not to my skin.) my pile of good stuff far outweighed my pile of bad stuff, and i am very, very grateful for it.
1 comment:
You are simply the most amazing creature! Namaste, my sweet girl!
Miss Mickey
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