Crazy November

I will start with a Happy Wedding Anniversary wish to my favorite young folks. I know they will both enjoy this photo of their favorite cat and Dadzmo.Miles completely relaxed.

Nights have been quite chilly but days like today are warm enough to take advantage of airing out the down comforter and drying some laundry on the line. Not every day is sunny, warm or long enough to dry clothes fully but I got an early start today.

Fresh scents infused by nature!

Brava Amy Chen!

A very nice review here.

December Dancin' (part 2)

Bringing Ravenboy and Asrai into our home for a week was a great part of our holiday break. We all decorated the Yule Tree that took up a large portion of our living room. It was special this year sharing stories of some of the ornaments with Asrai as we put them on the tree.

Although most of the holiday music we have is specifically Christmas music, we have fond memories of it from over the years. One album by the Ray Charles Singers is our favorite and is all songs about Winter. We listened to good old songs like "Button up your Overcoat", "June in January", and our all time favorite "When Winter Comes a Calling."

The tree was completely decorated by the time RGBisMe pulled out the brand new CD with my special song on it. As I wrote in December Dancin' (part 1), I had altered the digital recording by singing over the part of the song where I am expected to dance. The quality of the recording of the beginning of the CD was very poor because the 6 minutes leading up to my dance were also recorded with Audacity but were supposed to sound like the original album. Ravenboy picked up on it right away.

"What was that noise?" he asked when there was a big thud in the middle of the recording. RGBisMe was a little shocked too but he attributed it to perhaps being one of the cats bumping the turn table as he had made the recording. Unfortunately it was not the only noise and as I prepared to dance all three spectators became increasingly curious and confused as to what was going on. Ravenboy picked out every little additional noise and even skipped back on the CD to listen to the noises again and again. I assured them this I was pretty sure that this was the song even though RGBisMe thought that he remembered my dance at the beginning of the song. It is curious what we remember and forget from year to year and my noisy recording was making us all confused.

Finally, the music that was right before my entrance assured me that I better get to my place in the wing. I am not in as good shape these past couple of years and had tried to warm up just a little to prepare. I braced myself for the change in song and switch over to my bizarre singing version.

My dance was the same as every other year (with the usual tiny variations in style and energy level) but the music was replaced with my "lalalas", "dododos", and "rumpa-pum-papums". Pops, raspberries, grunts and squeals took the place of the well know holiday song; my voice tried to singularly take on the whole orchestra. The clever orchestration of "Jingle Bells" would have been pretty much unrecognized if it hadn't been heard by us many times before.

My family received this year's variation first with scepticism then with pleasure to see the dance was intact and finally they joined in the singing where my limited vocal version needed gaps filled in. From my goofy bouree entrance to my final breathless fall to the floor, my good audience was all smiles and cheers.

There was even an encore performance because, it was rationalized, I hadn't really done it to the real song at all this year. Even with the smaller stage and twisted ankle, it too was well received.

There is a inverse correlation between the technology to record this annual display and the quality of the performance itself. Thus, I will direct you to The true indigo Trust to remind all that no bootleg movies should make it on to Youtube this year.

Entr'acte

A lot happened in the short time between my burning the bogus CD and the point where I was confronted with dancing my Holiday Shindy. RGBisMe and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary first (the evening before) with Angrist & feralgyrl with a lovely evening catching up, being abundantly gifted and a nice meal at a local restaurant.

We then spent the next day with Asrai and Ravenboy. Asrai and Ravenboy opened their home to us. They showered us with love, gifts and an amazing meal. They made an amazing Shepherd's Pie (vegetarian of course) and a British Pudding. Both were so amazing and yummy. It was a perfect visit on a day that was very special to us.

One of the most exciting gifts they shared with us was a package of Miracle Fruit Tablets. The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, produces berries that, when eaten, cause sour foods (such as lemons and limes) to taste uncharacteristically sweet.

We put a whole feast of sour and bitter foods together to try out these crazy tablets. We prepped lemons, grapefruit, cranberries, and limes. We poured a very tart wine to go with our mustard, sauerkraut, pickled beets, pickled dill beans, pickled hot cauliflower and pickled garlic.

The effect that dissolving these little tablets on your tongue has to be experienced to be believed. Having a spread of very sour things to sample was a great idea. I think each person might have their own personal favorites but the four of us all agreed that the limes were incredible! I also loved cranberries dipped in mustard.

Our anniversary and winter solstice celebrations were so much fun and I am glad to share them.

December Dancin' (part 1)

The end of our holiday vacation is winding down. I realize that I don't post as much detail as I used. I was thinking that anybody who has cared to read about my personal life has pretty much been directly involved in what has been going on. Conversely, I see that this blog still gets hits from outside of my family. If you comment that you enjoy a certain topic I have touched on, I can certainly elaborate.

Seeing that my annual shenanigans of trying to avoid performing my holiday shindy has been a popular mid-workday reading, I will share my demi-success this year. RGBisMe was able to make some awesome gifts for our family this year by taking the old holiday LPs and making digital recordings of them. This complicated exactly how I was going to avoid my dance.

The song itself is the last song in a medley of holiday songs. It is an 8 minute track that, when it was on a tape, I could easily tape over. I have not mastered the application of Garage Band yet and found myself with less that 4 hours to come up with something. I Googled something like how to cut into part of an MP3 and someone had thrown out the idea of the application of Audacity.

I was familiar with Audacity, I had used it to make a little recording of some Morse Code for a one of the From Where I Stand letterboxes if I am remembering correctly. I then got the idea to not just cut off the end of the song but to plug the headphones in and sing over it.

I was resigned to the fact that I would end up doing my dance but knew it would be delayed. Not only would it not matter what tape the song was on (there are not tapes any longer) but I had a good feeling that only RGBisMe knew what actual album it was on. I was counting on this distraction to make them believe that nothing else would get in the way.

The most humorous aspect was that while I was recording the medley that preceded my frenetic snippet of Jingle Bells our one cat decided that something particularly interesting was outside the window near the computer. His ramming around, up and down off of the desk was being picked up on the recording. There was little I could do. I had taken advantage of RGBisMe running out for a frozen pizza and was hoping it might take him about the 10 minutes I would need to get the altered recording. It was the only window of time I had and the cat jumps and bumps would have to stay.

As I got to the moment when I plugged the earphones in, cutting off the music that was being recorded, I had an odd thought. What if RGBisMe can home as I was singing my goofy, Spike Jones inspired, new version of the song? I had but a second to just inhale and go with it. If I was caught in the act, I would just have to explain.

I made it to the end, clicked the button to stop the recording and checked to see if RGBisMe had pulled in. All was clear. I gave a quick listen to the recording and exported it as an MP3 before he got home. I knew I had to make a full playlist of the album and burn it to a CD but he came home before I had the chance.

Angrist & feralgyrl came over to help us celebrate our anniversary and the holidays. It got dark so early that the four of us said our goodbyes just as many night loving folks were probably just getting started. I was glad RGBisMe went straight to bed and I told him that I would join him very shortly.

I quickly burnt a replacement CD and swapped it with the one everyone would be expecting to find. I was excited for how the rest of the plan might unfold but first we had a trip to New York City and back.

The Reception

No garters thrown, one random nosegay toss and a cake with a Steampunk flare made this reception a unique and memorable one.

Held in the upstairs dining area of The Waterfront Tavern along the choppy wind blown waters of Lewistown's Juniata River, guests arrived at 1PM. Light appetizers were the menu with the thought that the day after Thanksgiving might be best suited to nibbling rather than a sit down meal served in a static fashion.

I owe my dear sis'er, Tracdc, and her hubzband, Satan, a huge debt of gratitude for putting some final beautiful touches on the day. Tracdc did all of the amazing silk floral decorations, including the ones on the two tiered dark chocolate fondant cake. Satan took photos of every moment and captured the day in images. Thanks to them I can know look back and see moments of the day I missed.

The upper floor of The Waterfront Tavern was just the right size for our party. They said it was suitable for 45 but the 30 folks that came made it just right. I think 45 would have been too many. We broke apart the banquet type seating into groups of tables. This made it much more inviting to move around some.

It was great to see everyone come and share their love with the newly weds. There were people we hadn't seen in years and we all got along fine. The couple of hours of visiting and nibbling with a cd of a piano jazz trio led up to the toast and cake cutting. We then switched to a digitally remastered cd of an old family favorite winter holiday album of music.

The cake was made by Nicole who works out of the Original Italian Pizza in downtown Lewistown. The chocolate fondant hid layers of vanilla cake and butter cream frosting that were flavored and textured just right. Not too sweet nor too rich, one big slice of this cake went down very nicely even the day after Thanksgiving.

The couple did NOT smash cake into each others' faces, it had been agreed in advance. It did keep the groom from wiping a delicate little smudge of frosting onto his wife's nose. The effect was absolutely charming. I didn't get to see the cake sharing but these photos from Satan and Toolman Luke let me enjoy what I missed from across the room.

Important people that made this event possible include Maga11 and Toolman Luke. The provided emotional, physical and financial support. Their last duties included picking up the cake and driving the newly weds to the reception. This allowed me to focus on setting up and final coordinating with the folks at the Waterfront. Thank you for being more than just happy grandparents on the exciting day.

A shout out of love goes to my hubby RGBisMe for petting my back and listening to me every time I irrationally started to worry about things that were out of my control during the weeks leading up to the big date(s). Standing by my side, we were able to create a perfect little party to the two most important people in our lives.

Ravenboy & Asrai were great sports, graciously social and glowing with real happiness all week during our time with them. I miss them both very much and wish them some peace now that the big day is over. I can't wait until we see them over the winter holidays.

Morning in the City

Some photos from Monday morning as we wandered around New York City.The new Apple Store Upper West Side is a temple...

...at which RGBisMe worships.

A break in Central Park.

Strawberry Fields.

Imagine.

Flash Mob Wedding!

November 22, 2009 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We are to meet in Astor Court at 11:11 AM and the ceromy should be completed at 11:22 AM.

Groom and Bride bought the group rate and handed out passes before we casually made our way to Astor Court.

We trickle into Astor Court from different angles.

The ceremony begins.

Note the guard in the back. He was more concerned that no flash photography was being used. We were all very careful to keep our flashes off.

Vows and rings quietly and reverently exchanged.

A quick but emotional kiss.

We retired to another room for the witnesses to sign the papers and for some group photos.

A successful flash mob wedding! Congratulations Arron & Amy!!

All at Once

The leaves have changed all at once this year and the strong winds that visited the area have blown many of them off the trees before we have had a chance to enjoy them. Luckily we had a reason to drive through the Poconos the last couple of days to enjoy some of them. Photos never catch the exact glory of the colors but I always have to try.

After 6 grueling hours (3 stuck in traffic in NJ) we made it into NYC on Friday. It was just dark when we walked into the plaza at Lincoln Center and enjoyed the new fountain that was finally up and running. It was odd not going into the Met Opera House for the performance. We were to enjoy seeing the theater at Avery Fisher Hall for the first time.

Prior to the show, just hanging at the fountain with Asrai was on the the best times that evening. She knew how long we had been stuck in the car and was kind enough to walk to Whole Foods to get us some food. We sat on the marble edge of the fountain, slurped some of the best carrot ginger soup and caught up with what had been going on with her that week. It was so much more gratifying to hug her, talk to her and see her than our daily typing to each other online.

After the obligatory bag inspection, we took our seats in the back of the orchestra section to watch American Ballet Theatre's fall performances. First was a new work, Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas. I was immediately aware that the seats in this auditorium were terribly uncomfortable, set up one directly on back of the other and the man in front of me had a huge head. Asrai offered to switch with me a few times but there was no way I was going to let her be tortured with the head that covered the whole stage. I twisted to see the dancers and decided the piece just wasn't worth my time; I would save my energy for the last work in which Ravenboy had a solo.

It's hard to sit through three ballets without seeing much but a giant head. It's even more difficult when you have spent most of the day sitting in the car. I decided I was pretty much uninterested in ballet forever. The second and third pieces did grab more of my interest. Other Dances and Some Assembly Required had some entertaining movements that were far enough stage right that I could see them.

I could tell I needed a plan to see the final piece of the evening, Ben Millipied's Everything Doesn't Happen at Once. There were only a couple rows behind me and no one had been sitting in them. My plan was to sit on my feet and try to look over the giant head. After the intermission I got into place but almost instantly my feet started to lose circulation. It was a faulty plan because I still couldn't see over the giant head.

A couple of people had decided to sit behind me and I felt badly for them because I was not going to miss seeing my son in this performance. I bobbed and weaved and jumped around in my seat following his every move. I was no longer sitting still and was getting a workout to watch my son dart in and out of two dozen other dancers for most of the first movement.

I love seeing Ravenboy blend perfectly with the corp of dancers and thrill at actually losing him in the mix on stage. For so many years, as a talented boy dancer he was almost always featured or at least stood out as the only boy on stage. It was easy to find him and follow his every move. Now he is with the best of the best dancers in the world, men and women, and I have a hard time picking him out — it's glorious!

The piece progressed and the big head must have settled into a place where I could let some blood flow back into my feet for a brief moment. Ravenboy was not onstage for a one movement that was a duet so I prepared for the next. Ballets, even new modern works, have a formula and I could sense that after the slow duet would be the dynamic solo. Ravenboy would be next and I jockeyed for position in my seat.

The role was not made for Ravenboy but he made it his own. A curious highlight was when a large portion of the corp came onstage with some under current of the music and positioned themselves to catch him in mid flight out of the air! There he was, suspended feet off of the stage in a perfect split, caught in time like a photograph before they released him to dance freely again. Like the beauty of Autumnal colors, Ravenboy's performance made us thrill and gasp.

The final movement brought the entire cast to fill the small stage. As is typical for a coda, he duet couple recreated a few of their moments and the other movements were briefly remembered. Ravenboy took center stage one last time on a ramrod straight leg turned in pirouette one, two, three, four... All at once the lights were killed but in that brief moment when those tungsten filaments went from hot white to warm yellow to barley amber, Ravenboy turned on and on. No dropping curtain prepared or warned the audience; applause erupted and the house rose to its feet in cheers.

The rest of our evening was spent with Ravenboy and Asrai. Directly after the performance Ravenboy politely dodged autograph hounds, fans and donors. We got to the car and drove back to their place to remain happily holed up for hours of happy catching up.

It was late afternoon on Saturday when we found ourselves driving back through the Poconos. Our visit had been wonderful and brief; Autumn's splendor may be past peak but the memory of it's beauty will stay with me all winter.

Up in the Air

Our weekend was mostly spent in NYC visiting Asrai & Ravenboy. Ravenboy was able to get us a couple of tickets to his performance of "Airs" in which he had received such a wonderful review earlier in the week. Asrai invited us to watch her trapeze class before we had to change for the performance.

I had no idea what to expect watching her trapeze class at Trapeze School New York. She was learning some flying trapeze at their tented location on 30th St. When we got to watch, she was perfecting a trick and then translating it into being caught. At the very end of the class she was even being coached for the return.

Asrai did great and you could tell by the way everyone around her reacted that they had a lot of respect for her. This school is one that accommodates people just trying one class through people who are trying to perfect certain techniques. The staff seemed very in tune with what each student wanted to accomplish and I saw them going one on one with them to make sure they were focused on coming away with something.

We watched as each student in the rotation used their failed moments as learning experiences. At the end of the class the instructors all made sure to touch base with the students and put into perspective all they had accomplished. It seems like a pretty neat school.

After her class we went down town to check out the newly opened The High Line park. We had known about the High Line for years and were thrilled to learn it was finally going to open in June. This trip we were glad to finally set foot on the old elevated rail way that cut through the meat packing district. Currently, the only section that is open is from just south of 14th St. (Ganesvoort St. to be exact) up to 20th St.

It was a beautiful day to explore this new park and many people were enjoying it. The park's structure echoed the existing rail lines and the pieces of art reflected the surroundings. The most stunning display was a piece whose name was based on the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck. "The River that Flows Both Ways" by Spencer Finch transforms Chelsea Market Passage's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a period of 700 minutes on a single day. To create the project, Finch photographed a floating object as it moved through the landscape of the Hudson River, beginning upriver and following it as it flowed down to New York City. The artist then carefully matched each unique image to a pane of glass. I was not able to capture it's magical presence on film so am taking an image from the web page.


We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with Asrai and finally went to the performance at the Met Opera House. We had a chance to meet some patrons who regularly post their ballet reviews on Ballet Talk and had a wonderful conversation before we had to find our way to our seats.

Ravenboy was in the first piece performed that evening and had some very dynamic solos that were well received by the audience. The cast of 7 in Airs did a great job performing the breathtaking Paul Taylor's "Airs." As we drove back to Ravenboy's apartment the whole day felt as if our heads had been in the clouds, walking on sunshine and buoyed by the crisp Spring air.

Asrai

photo by Dave Black

I am looking forward to August when Asrai (formerly dubbed UDAS) comes to visit. August is usually pretty warm here in Happy Valley but I have a feeling the heat is going to get kicked up a notch with such talent visiting the area. I cant wait!