Day 3709: Memorable Theatrical Experiences/“Goodbye Stress“

I couldn’t decide whether to title this blog “Memorable Theatrical Experiences” or “Goodbye Stress” and because I’m trying to escape either/or thinking and embrace the AND, why not use both?

Last night, my husband Michael and I went to see Frankenstein by Manual Cinema, who always deliver memorable theatrical experiences. From now on, I resolve to say “Goodbye stress” to decisions about tickets, food choices, the weather, traffic, parking, other people’s behaviors (e.g., showing up after the production has started), and anything else that might interfere with my enjoying and being totally present for memorable theatrical experiences.

Do you see memorable theatrical experiences and/or “goodbye stress” in my images for today?

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I don’t know if this counts as a memorable theatrical experience, but I seized the day on Carpe Diem Day and used the tub in the upstairs bathroom for the very first time (with Goodbye Stress aromatherapy bubble bath).

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “memorable theatrical experiences” …

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… and here’s what I find when I search for “goodbye stress.”

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Thanks to all who have helped me create memorable theatrical experiences and to say “goodbye stress,” including YOU!

Day 3684: Cool

My COVID fever has come down, which is cool.

Also, I resolved the ticket problem I described in yesterday’s post, which is cool, and it’s VERY cool that my cool husband, Michael, is going to see the cool production of Frankenstein by the extraordinarily cool Manual Cinema with me in February, which is a really cool month in New England for several reasons.

I’m turning 70 tomorrow on what I think is a very cool birthday to have, Groundhog Day. Today is my last day to be in my 60s and I’m completely cool with that.

Do you see anything cool in today’s images?

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On National Baked Alaska Day, I think it’s cool to share that Baked Alaska was my favorite dessert when I was a kid and I had that for the first time in decades this past weekend.

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I thought it would be cool to compare the two versions of “Cool” from the 1961 and 2021 West Side Story films.

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What are your thoughts and feelings about this “Cool” post?

Thanks to all who help me keep my cool every day, including YOU!

Day 3683: Stupid shit

When I try to do things when I’m running a high fever, I inevitably do some stupid shit. For example, last night I noticed that the incredible Manual Cinema, whose breath-taking productions I’ve seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was coming to Boston soon with a short run of Frankenstein (which I missed when I was last in Edinburgh in 2019) and when I tried to buy a ticket in the middle of the night, I did this stupid shit: I bought it for the wrong performance. Rather than beat myself up about that (which is REALLY some stupid shit), I got another ticket for the performance I wanted and let go of any judgment about my mistake.

I assume I’ll be able to get rid of the other ticket and that I’m be over COVID by then because, yes, I have that stupid shit again and during my birthday week, no less, which is really some stupid shit.

Do you see any stupid shit in my images for today?

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This is what I find on YouTube when I search for “stupid shit.”

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Thanks to all who are reading this “stupid shit” post, here and now, including YOU.

Day 2421: Together again for the first time

Here are most of my photos from yesterday, together again for the first time:

Five years ago (but who’s counting?), Joshua Ladgrove a/k/a Neal Portenza invited my then 16-year-old son Aaron up on the stage with him during his brilliant Fringe show. Last night, they were together again for the first time.

Tomorrow, I’ll be together again for the first time with ?? people (perhaps including some of the people in my photos above)  in my first Fringe show ever.

Because it’s a one-time only show, I have only one chance to get it right.   Will it be a catastrophe, like a boat hitting an iceberg?

Will I lose my head?

Will I maintain my balance?

Will the audience like my music?

Will they use my mindfulness exercise to be in the here and now?

Will anybody mispronounce my name or be a dickhead?

Will people want to see a show from a “new employee” of the Edinburgh Free Fringe?

Here and here are two songs that are “Together Again For the First Time.”

Which reminds me, I want to see Manual Cinema again.

All your comments on this post will be together again for the first time, below.

And today’s expressions of gratitude are together again for the first time!

Day 1697: Merrily we roll along

Merrily we roll along to yet another blog post from the Merry Festival Fringe in Merry Olde Edinburgh, Scotland.

Merrily We Roll Along is a Stephen Sondheim musical I’ve been wanting to see for along, long time.  Every time we roll merrily along to Edinburgh for our yearly visit, I become less merry, momentarily, when I discover that Merrily We Roll Along has been at the Fringe but has rolled along out of there before we arrive. This year, I rolled along to a different strategy and booked tickets to see Merrily We Roll Along  in Boston when I merrily roll along home in September.

Yesterday, as I was merrily rolling along the Royal Mile, I saw this:

I was so merry to see this that it took Paul …

…   several tries to merrily roll me along to an understanding that this was NOT the Sondheim musical but rather the play that musical was based on.  Paul, who is the director of the first revival of  Kaufman and Hart’s Merrily We Roll Along  to roll along in many decades, merrily urged me to roll along to see the play.  I merrily agreed, since I’ve been a merry fan of  George Kaufman and Moss Hart as the years have rolled along. Indeed, one of my favorite books when I was merrily young was the biography of George S. Kaufman by Howard Teichmann.  (If you wish, you can merrily roll along to this description of that book.) Kaufman was not exactly merry but some of the wittiest words I’ve ever merrily read rolled off his tongue.  When I was at my first job, I merrily used his line “Forgotten but not gone” about somebody who had quit but hadn’t yet rolled along out of there.  That line was merrily received by some.

Shall we merrily roll along to my other photos from yesterday?

 

Before I merrily roll along to breakfast and then to Merrily We Roll Along, I merrily recommend N.E.A.L. P.O.R.T.E.N.Z.A., LAID, JAYDED, The Durham Revue, and Manual Cinema’s Lula Del Ray. Later this week, we’ll merrily be rolling along to dinner with Neal Portenza (a/k/a Joshua Ladgrove),  who is merrily doing a card trick above.

But first, let’s merrily roll along to this YouTube video.

Comments from you help me merrily roll along, so please roll along to the comment section, below.

Merrily, I thank all who helped me roll along to the end of another daily post and — of course! — YOU.