This week, my mom and I visited Stratford Ontario for the annual Shakespeare Festival. We saw Ever Yours, Oscar and Cyrano de Bergerac. They were both stellar performances and I'll discuss them a bit more below.

Besides seeing the plays, we did a bit of shopping (including a kickass bracelet at Art in the Park), looked at the gossies and ducks on the river, ate a TON of really delicious and overpriced food (we found a Mennonite pie store out in the countryside and I had a small cherry pie for dinner last night, LOL), and relaxed.

Ever Yours, Oscar
This one-man production featured actor Brian Bedford reading from some of Oscar Wilde's letters. He also provided background information for context. We all know Oscar Wilde wrote some hilarious bon mots. But he was no fool- perhaps the most memorable of the letters was one he wrote after he was released from an English prison (he was there for "indecency"; i.e. being gay). The letter wasn't complaining of his own treatment; rather it was an appeal for leniency for the children who were regularly imprisoned with adults and suffered abuse, starvation, and torment by the guards. His description of what he witnessed was probably the saddest part of a tragic play that demonstrated how the hate and vitriol of an intolerant society can not only destroy a man's life, but also deprive the world of untold talent and brilliance.
Brian Bedford fun-fact: he voiced Robin Hood in the Disney movie of the same name.

Cyrano de Bergerac
This play really broke my heart. I can't say enough good things about it. Colm Feore was magnificent. He has excellent comic timing and the play was very funny at times, but he also made the audience fall in love with Cyrano, nose and all. The play is a fictionalized account of a man who is extremely brave in battle and in politics (he routinely satirizes corrupt politicians and church leaders with witty poems) but is afraid to confess his love for the woman to whom he's been devoted since childhood, Roxane. Then Roxane enlists Cyrano's help in wooing a fellow soldier, who then enlists Cyrano's help in wooing Roxane. Hilarity ensues. Then they go to war. I agree with Canada's National Post that this production "taps directly into everybody's store of erotic self-pity, and achieves a kind of greatness in doing so."
Colm can also be seen in movies like Chicago and Changling and in 24.


You don't have to put on the red light

OMG you guyz... the paparazzi got a photo of me and Chris outside the play, and it's posted on a couple celebrity blogs!
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/07/22/chris-pine-carriers-stills/
http://pacificcoastnewsonline.celebuzz.com/2009/07/chris-pine-also-loves-his-fans.html


idk, my bff Chris Pine?

I just got back from LA but I'm super tired (red eye flight!) so I'm just going to update about part of the vacation right now. Which isn't to say it was the best part, but it was the most exciting part for me.

( I met Captain Fine, Chekov, and Cameron/Mama Kirk! )

Heather liked my half-baked travel idea so much, she's coming too! We both got tickets to fly to LA and see Farragut North along with Gary in July! Yay! AND we're considering spending a couple nights at a beachfront resort whilst Gary's at work. andkidnappingChrisPine

I have to go be poor now b/c between parking, airfare, hotel, and the cost of checking a bag (ppffft) I'm broke.

The other weekend I went to Stratford, Ontario. We stayed at a bed and breakfast we've never stayed before, and it was really nice. It's called the "Amadeus House" (I called it the "Rock Me Amadeus House"), and I highly recommend it if you head that way. The house itself is beautiful and the people who run it (and their dog) are really friendly and nice.
In Stratford, we saw two plays, An Ideal Husband and Comedy of Errors. They were both really good and well done. My favorite (unexpectedly) was Comedy of Errors because it was such a clever production! They put in modern details while leaving the setting and lines (at least most of the lines) in the original form. We were sitting in the front row, so we saw a lot of little details we may have otherwise missed (like how hot the lead actor was *ahem*). At one point, the two lead actors broke- they started laughing at eachother! They were standing perfectly still and obviously trying to recover and go on with their lines. Pretty soon, the whole theater realized that's what was going on, and it just erupted into applause.
Unfortunately our trip didn't end well- the line at the border was backed up 4 kilometers, and we had to wait 3 hours just in the line. It took us 4 hours to get to Stratford, but 7 hours to get home. I have no idea why the line was that long, but I'm not going to be crossing the border again for a long time... I'm not sure if we'll go to Stratford next year or not.

Yesterday, I watched an episode of Battlestar Gallactica (the new series) and realized that Commander Adama is played by the same guy who played Mr. Escalante in cinematic gem Stand and Deliver. AND he was in Blade Runner. AND I'm a huge nerd.

Well here I am in beautiful Bellaire Michigan. Our hotel is pretty; it's on a river. I have wireless internet here so I brought my laptop. Oddly enough, I remembered my cell phone charger but forgot my cell phone. Yesterday, it rained all afternoon. We had to drive through some really heavy showers, where the traffic all slowed down a lot. But that's why I was watching TV last night- it was thunder storming outside. Today is sunny and 76ºF (hotter in the sun), so we're going to go to Torch Lake. Supposedly it's one of the most beautiful lakes in the U.S. Then my brother is best man in his best friend's wedding today at 5. It should be sunny for the wedding, according to the news, which is good because it is outdoors.

This morning after breakfast, my mom and I walked over to the County Courthouse. Bellaire happens to be the county seat (their courthouse is nice, but not as impressive as the Corunna courthouse- booyah), Anyway, my mom wanted to see if she could find the death record for her great-uncle. We were looking through these huge books from the early 1900s, and we're looking for a man named Earl Smith,so you know there were about 200 Smiths- and yet I found our Earl in just a few minutes! I knew it was him right away because cause of death was "shot in the head." Family legend has it that he was accidently shot by his brother when the two were going up some stairs after having gone hunting. His brother later went insane and moved to Alberta.
Later we're going to find Earl's grave. There is a fine line between being interested in geneology and just being morbid.

Last week, Julie and I took our trip to Stratford, Ontario. We saw "As You Like It." The Stratford Festival always finds new ways to make theater interesting, and for this play, they had the Barenaked Ladies write several songs. There was some choreographed dancing (just enough to be funny) and it was really good. Graham Abby was in it, but I thought he was out-performed by the dude playing Touchstone and the dude playing Orlando.

Gary has once again left us :( He went to Cornwall and Wales to study Welsh for a research project (those Ivy-League types are always pulling shit like that). Before he left, we watched "Clue" (a movie I never tire of watching) and had a nice cookout here at my house with Leisa and Julie. First, we had to assemble the grill. This was a fun exercise in teamwork (TEAM!)

Sunday night I am going up to Petosky with two other librarians for a 3 day conference. The days start at 7 a.m. This is going to be TOOOOR-TURE. But hey, Petosky's pretty, right?

I just got back from ( my trip to Seattle )

Today was my first day of class at the beautiful (and by beautiful I mean ghetto) Mott Community College in beautiful (see above parenthesis) Flint. No, actually it wasn't that bad. But it's like being in high school again only maybe on a day on which all the kids with GPAs over 2.5 got to go on a field trip and all that's left is the academically-struggling. I felt like the geeky smart girl and all of the ethnic people and hoed-out white girls were staring at me.
My prof seems cool. She could be Farah Fawcett's slightly younger sister. And she officially became my smartest professor ever when someone asked if she deducted points for attendence and she said "no. If you know the material without coming to class, why should I care?" I wanted to stand up and throw my hands in the air and say "THANK YOU!"

Today I got a call from the Shiawasee District Library and I got the job I applied for there! It's a part time position as branch librarian at the Byron District Library. It's not a ton of money or hours, but at least it's something. I start Tuesday.

The guy who interveiwed me at the library said they would probably fill it by the end of August, so I was beginning to think I didn't get it, and I sent out two resumes this week. I'm glad I got this one though.

Yesterday I was at Jason's during the day. It was really sunny and hot so I went out by the pool and read. I've been getting pretty tan this trip. Last night John and I ate at a little restaurant which is practically across the street from where he lives. It's called Mars, and it's kind of trendy, great ambiance. Tonight we'll probably eat somewhere really normal and low-key. I think I let him talk me into going out tonight.He said he won't stay out too late. It should be fun since I can celebrate my new job. :)