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February 28, 2009
Friday Night
Has gone down in my personal history as one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
Bobby McFerrin's set was over 90 minutes and included some of the most amazing music I've ever heard. Not only did he solo, he played with the audience, did vocal duets with three random audience members, a duet with Bob Stoloff who does body percussion (I took his workshop today, I am clearly not cut out to be a drummer, but he's incredible), a duet with John Clayton and a couple of numbers with John Clayton and Monty Alexander. THEN, he sang with a group of people who'd been selected from his clinic earlier in the day. And after that, he did one more solo piece. It was, as I said to Dave later, truly one of the best pieces of theatre I've ever seen. He's not only an unbelievably gifted performer, he's a tremendously generous one as well.
And he was so clearly having fun on that stage that we couldn't help but go along with him and have fun too.
His music set everyone smiling in joy and rapture and silliness and disbelief. So many wonderful emotions connected with his songs. At one point I noticed that except for him, it was utterly quiet in the dome. There was no coughing, no shuffling, no rustling. Dead, rapt silence and Bobby McFerrin. I've never heard it so quiet in there. Last night was such a gift for me and the other 4000+ people who got to hear it. How lucky are we?
If you ever have a chance to see him perform, DO IT. You will not regret it, you will only regret not going.
But before Bobby McFerrin's set, there was a set with Benny Green, Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton, followed by a couple of bass duets with John Clayton and Paul Keller and then Monty Alexander played with John and Jeff (I think. I remember it was wonderful, but I don't recall exactly who was in it besides Monty because, well, many things are foggy at this point.)
And after Bobby McFerrin, there was the after party, which, as my friend Heather said, made the night even MORE amazing when Monty Alexander joined the group of Russian musicians who were playing (with a female drummer from WSU and Benny Green on piano) ON THE BASS. Did you know he played bass? Because I didn't, and neither did most of the people I've talked to. He clearly knew what he was doing, however, and it was just fun. Then, Clayton Cameron picked up the drums, a couple of saxes from the Lionel Hampton big band joined in, and the next thing I knew, Monty and Benny were playing the same piano and trading ends of the keyboard. That duet was stunning, and pure fun.
It has become, all around, one of my favorite evenings of music ever. EVER. Almost everyone I've talked to who saw it felt the same way. I may have to figure out how to come back here again next year, because I just don't want to miss anything.
Posted by sally at 05:38 PM | Comments (2)
February 26, 2009
Snapshots from Wednesday Night
I don't want to forget these, so while I'm doing the glass of wine to help me sleep thing:
Ambrose Akinmusire, Jon Faddis, Byron Stripling, Claudio Roditi and James Moody, backed up by Benny Green, Graham Dechter, Paul Keller and Clayton Cameron playing a Night in Tunisia to remember. Damn. Espeicially when Ambrose segued so beautifully from Byron's solo into his own. Also, Faddis' money notes sliding down the scale by octaves. That song was the best moment of the night, I think.
James Moody's solo vocal performance including the rap bit.
Graham Dechter's guitar licks.
Jose Rizo's Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars burning down the house, especially their vocalist, Adonis Puentes, who--along with having an awesome name--has one of the sweetest voices I've ever heard.
You should have been there. It was a helluva night.
Posted by sally at 02:35 AM
February 23, 2009
I Just Don't Know
Jazz Festival activities start today, and I'm not quite sure how my schedule will play out. So I can't guarantee I'll be posting much this week. And after it's all over, I have a hundred billion projects or so to grade. Which means that you most likely won't hear from me until March.
Posted by sally at 10:06 AM
February 19, 2009
Filler
In order to move the self-weighing post down the page a bit, I bring you....
... (drum roll)...
Quickly!
Basking in a February sunbeam.
On the floor of my horrifically messy office.
Dave think she looks sweet in this picture. I think she looks like she's about to unleash all the furies of hell. But that's why I love her. Because there's so much cat in that small, fat, screaming package.
I wish I had time to say something more, I have so many thoughts on what I love best about teaching, about the pain of viewing an incompletely realized theatrical production, about the disaster that is my house, but I have to go teach now and then I'm doing some more at the Jazz Festival Office and then I'll probably be sleeping because I am EXHAUSTED.
Posted by sally at 09:18 AM | Comments (1)
February 16, 2009
Shaping Reality
I have found a new use for my bathroom scale. Not as a paperweight or a garden ornament, but--oddly enough--as a scale. For once in my life, I'm not using it as a tool for self-flagellation. It's not the thing I step onto when I want to know how much I suck. Our scale has become, instead, a way for me to see what's really happening.
It all started with my most recent physical exam. I was sure, SURE, I had gained at least 10 lbs over the break. SURE of it. But I was only about five lbs heavier than I had been the last time they weighed me. What? But my pants don't fit. The hell?
Turns out my pants don't fit because I shrank them. Because when I got a couple of new pair in the same size recently, by the same brand, they were too big. Too. Big. Again, the hell?
Then came the day when my new pants started hanging on me. Yay! I thought, I've lost a whole bunch of weight. Yay! Yay! According to the bathroom scale? Up two lbs since the week before. The new pants, it turns out, stretch a lot in the wearing. It's them more than it is me.
This morning, I felt like a cow. I ate pretty badly all last week. I was running from one thing to another and stuffing my face with whatever was handiest, not necessarily whatever was best for me, and I also ate a LOT. So much that I'm pretty sure all the walking I was doing didn't offset it. Plus, I just felt enormous. I felt like I must be getting fatter. Lots fatter. To torment myself into feeling bad about being such a pig--i.e. punish myself with the scale--I stepped on it. I am down a pound and a half since last week.
My sense of reality is clearly not to be trusted when it comes to body image. Hopefully, my scale can be.
Posted by sally at 01:09 PM | Comments (3)
February 15, 2009
Valentine
I spent yesterday morning updating my traveling laptop so I could take it to the Jazz Festival office with me. I can work twice as fast on it as I can on the loaner machine, so it just makes sense for me to use it instead. I spent the afternoon at the office, where I finished up the clinic and soundcheck drive schedule and sorted the travel itineraries so I can start the airport drive schedule. We also divvied up the VIPs and artists so that each has one person who will be their main contact during their stay here. It was a lovely afternoon, and I remembered how much I enjoy putting schedules together.
What? Don't judge, be thankful there are people like me around who can do that stuff and who enjoy it. I like working out logistics. Not as much as I like doing art or acting or teaching or working with the artists themselves, but it's work I find deeply satisfying. It relieves me of the need to be too anal in the rest of my life. (Though anyone looking around my living room at the moment might argue that a little precision and anal fixation might be of some use there.)
After that, I went home, and then Dave and I had a nice Valentine's dinner at one of the local nicey-nice restaurants. We had a very late reservation (8:45pm), so shortly after we got home, I fell asleep on the couch. Dave woke me up to send me to bed and to give me this gift:
He'd also written a sweet little poem which he gave me in a card yesterday morning. You know what I got/gave him? Nothing. Because I'm overworked and lame and forgetful. I'll have to come up with something cool in March, when life settles down again.
Meanwhile, I spent this morning pulling my new toys out of their packages and running my hands gleefully over full tubes of paint and flipping bristles and enjoying the heft of the oilbars and giggling in a faintly mad way. Because he just gave me so much possibility.
I've already asked him to extend my apologies to the Tartuffe cast. How can I go to today's rehearsal when I could be playing with all this stuff instead?
Posted by sally at 11:42 AM | Comments (6)
February 14, 2009
I Have Two Words for You
James Moody
Also these two words:
Latin Jazz
The Wednesday night lineup for the Jazz Festival focuses on Latin Jazz, and features James Moody (on sax), Jon Faddis, Byron Stripling, Claudio Roditi and Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpets, vocalist Jackie Ryan and Jose Rizo´s "Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars." Despite this killer lineup, they've sold hardly any tickets for the Wednesday night performance, so good seats are still available.
And the house band this year? Benny Green, Clayton Cameron, Graham Dechter and Paul Keller.
Should be hoppin'.
Posted by sally at 11:10 AM | Comments (2)
February 12, 2009
Surfacing
But only for a moment.
We've been in tech all week, and I've also been teaching and trying to keep up my exercise schedule. I've been sprinting my way through 19 hour days, so I haven't been posting here.
The end is in sight, however, our preliminary before-we-rock-the-house-at-the-Festival performance is tonight, and then I have three days that will be much less crazy before the Monday night performance. So you can expect to hear from me again sometime after midnight tonight. (And by "sometime after" I mean maybe Sunday.)
I just wanted to let you all know.
Posted by sally at 09:22 AM | Comments (1)
February 08, 2009
Saved
Have you ever had one of those moments when things are suddenly clear? When all of the stuff you've been strugging with suddenly falls away and you see Truth? When some silly little mundane thing slaps you into awareness and you remember who you are?
A song did that for me tonight.
I had no choice but to hear you
You stated your case time and again
I thought about it
Jagged Little Pill is the album of my life. It has been ever since it came out. So many of the songs seemed to be written as the soundtrack to my experiences. You Oughta Know came at exactly the right time in my life, when all of the men I'd been involved with (including the one I was seeing at the time) had just treated me badly in a variety of ways. (I do know I was partly at fault for constantly dating that type of guy, don't think I don't know that.)
You treat me like I'm a princess
I'm not used to liking that
You ask how my day was
And then this man came back into my life. This man I'd loved since the very first moment I saw him. This man who didn't want me to change who I was, who liked me for me, who felt that being with me made him the luckiest man alive. This very kind man, generous, loving, sensitive, patient. Who wanted to be with me. Who put up with so much from me as I tried to keep him at arm's length because men had not been very good to me. Who waited until I was ready to see what we had together.
You've already won me over in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
Funny that I never really heard this song until after David came back into my life. Head over Feet could have been written for us. Because it's exactly how things happened.
Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service
Things have been difficult in our house for a while now. Mostly because I'm an insecure, lonely, naggy demandy-pants who expects to be carried around on a little pillow. And this morning, on the walk to breakfast, I started in on poor David again. Dave, who is doing his best and really doesn't deserve all of my "but what about meeeeeee?"-ing, but who has been bearing the brunt of that for the past several years anyway, got another earful of my unhappiness on what was supposed to be a pleasant walk together.
You've already won me over in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
We reached detente somewhere before rehearsal started. I eventually apologized. But still I was dissatisfied, unhappy, frustrated.
We put things aside for the cue-to cue, went to lunch together, went back for a dress rehearsal. I was still discontented, wanting to apologize again and again, but still wanting something to be different, still wanting to hear, "You're right. It is all my fault. I will change immediately."
You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath and the door for me
Thanks for your patience
You're the best listener that I've ever met
You're my best friend
Best friend with benefits
What took me so long
We stopped at the grocery store so I could get some fruit for my breakfast smoothies because we were out. We got some other stuff too. And as we stood at the register, Head over Feet began playing on the Co-op sound system. It hit me right between the eyes. I'd forgotten it existed. Just like I'd forgotten how lucky I really am.
I've never felt this healthy before
I've never wanted something rational
I am aware now
I am aware now
At least I waited until we were in the parking lot to start crying.
You've already won me over in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
David, I am so, so sorry that I have been taking you for granted. That I have been bitching about things you cannot help or change. That I have made you responsible for my own personal happiness rather than womanning up and doing my part. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am beyond lucky we ended up in the same city when we were finally ready to be together. Thank you for putting up with all the annoying whiny stupid that is me and still thinking it's worth your while. I love you. More than I have words for.
Posted by sally at 09:05 PM | Comments (6)
February 07, 2009
I Don't Live in California, but...
...some of my readers may.
If you do live in California, and you believe that love can't and shouldn't be legislated, if you believe that people should be allowed to love who they love, regardless of their sexual preference, if you believe that two consenting adults should be allowed make a public promise to be together for the rest of their lives without the government saying, "No, not you," please get involved in the Courage Campaign.
And even if you don't live in California, watch the video. It's extraordinary. And help us find a way to assure that any two people who love each other can make that promise, just like everybody else.
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
Posted by sally at 11:19 AM | Comments (2)
February 05, 2009
Decisions
This is something I've been trying to figure out how to put into words for a while. I've also hesitated about posting it because I wasn't sure it was going to happen, and I didn't want to jump the gun. And while I don't know the exact timeline, I do know for sure that David and I are moving to Chicago sometime this summer. Or next fall. It's all a bit fuzzy right now.
Give us a break. We're in the middle of rehearsals for Tartuffe and we just made the decision on Sunday. We don't have to know everything right this minute.
At this point, I can't tell you how much of my vastly improved mood is knowing that we have a place to go where I can begin to pursue my dreams and how much of it is the 2K units of Vitamin D3 I'm taking daily. The decision to move and the diagnosis of my Vitamin D deficiency happened at roughly the same time. All I know is that I feel lifted and strong and capable again. There's a foreseeable end to my time here, finally. I'm not going to be stuck in this teenytiny town for the rest of my life.
It doesn't hurt that these two lovely women also live in that windy city. And that they have both expressed interest in vastly different but still highly fabulous standing dates.
I'm going to be with friends who "get" me again. How lovely and wonderful is that?
(By the way, thank you to all of the wonderful women I only know electronically who also get me. I would not have lasted this long in this place without you. I want you with me wherever it is I go.)
Posted by sally at 09:58 PM | Comments (10)
February 04, 2009
Here It Comes
So I wandered into the Jazz Festival Office today, to see if I could be of some help as they gear up for it this year. And I walked out of it having been fed lunch and with an Artist Relations gig. It's only volunteer work--they cautioned me about not having much money this year (who does?)--but I pointed out that I just wanted the tickets and the passes, so it's all to the good. And as a member of the Artist Relations crew, I get backstage access. Yeee!!!
I love doing Artist Relations. It's a hoot and a half. Yes, it's a LOT of work, I won't sleep much at all for the five-six days everybody's in town for the festival, but I'll get to meet the coolest people. Plus, it's all about taking care of people and making them happy, which I like doing. And frankly, I'm quite good at it, which is why when I said to one of the Festival staff, "I want to volunteer, but I don't want to do the jobs you give to the students," she sent me right back to Artist Relations. They know. I've worked with them before.
The thing is, all you have to do in order to do this job well is to know what you'd like to have happen if you were the artist or VIP and then make it work. It's what made me such a good Executive Secretary as well. A little imagination and a lot of figuring out how to make stuff happen. Also, killer organizational skills.
So I'm very excited and a little apprehensive about just exactly what I've let myself in for. Given that I'll be doing a bunch of work for the Festival even before that week, and I do have two classes to teach and a performance on the 12th and another on--I think--the 16th. But, damn, I wanted to figure out how to get myself backstage and I've done it yet again.
Posted by sally at 04:33 PM
February 02, 2009
Unexpected Yet Somehow Fitting
Vicki of Havenwood had this quiz up today. It's the sort of thing that appeals to me, so I took it. And found out that I am the Hermit. I was expecting something a bit more gregarious, but lately, hermithood has been my watchword, when I actually think about my behavior.
Makes me think of Robertson Davies.
You are The Hermit
Prudence, Caution, Deliberation.
The Hermit points to all things hidden, such as knowledge and inspiration,hidden enemies. The illumination is from within, and retirement from participation in current events.
The Hermit is a card of introspection, analysis and, well, virginity. You do not desire to socialize; the card indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. You prefer to take the time to think, organize, ruminate, take stock. There may be feelings of frustration and discontent but these feelings eventually lead to enlightenment, illumination, clarity.
The Hermit represents a wise, inspirational person, friend, teacher, therapist. This a person who can shine a light on things that were previously mysterious and confusing.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Posted by sally at 12:22 AM | Comments (2)
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