A New Friend

     What a boost to an old lady's ego to meet a young seventeen year old who is full of talent and intelligence, make a connection, and then bond.
After 24 hours we were in love! She is Jessica Miller, the granddaughter of my friend, Molly Catron. 


     This all came about because my friend Linda Poland invited me to her home in the country last evening to hear Elizabeth Ellis, Master Storyteller, try out some new stories. About 40 people (maybe 50?) gathered in a half-circle on the lawn under old trees sipping wine and ice tea and listened to Elizabeth tell new stories none of us had ever heard before.

Linda Poland, Hostess                     

             Elizabeth Ellis, Master Storyteller


     Because the night sky grew dark by the time we finished snacking, imbibing more tea (ahem!) and chatting with EE in Linda's house, it was too late for me to drive back to Bristol, so at Molly's invitation, I stayed at her house for the night. Her granddaughter, Jessica, had expressed an interest in hearing Elizabeth, and Molly had brought her along. She was the youngest person there.


     Jessica and I connected during a story break chatting socially, but we really connected on the 45-minute drive to Molly's home when Jessica mentioned she recently joined the high school band playing the snare drums. To keep the conversation going, I mentioned my grandson is touring the U.S. this summer with the International Drum and Bugle Corps. Jessica let out a squeal because she knew all about the drum and bugle corps and has great admiration for the discipline and precision the members must demonstrate. She expressed surprise that someone my age (this was implied, not frankly shared) would know about band life and music.  We talked drums and trumpets all the way to Molly's home.


     Then at the house, Jessica entertained us with some melodies on the electric guitar, many of which she has composed herself. She demonstrated today how she learns a composition "by ear," or as she calls it, her "listening ear." I was amazed at her talent and her passion for music. I am still dumbfounded that I should know two budding musicians with so much talent and potential as Jessica and my grandson, Christopher, and they are the same age, one in Kingsport, TN and one in Lynchburg, VA.  They talk the same language although they've involved with different instruments.


     Today, I visited with Molly. She kept me well fed with a frittata from her fresh eggs and garden tomatoes for breakfast, and a tomato tart with a tomato/cucumber salad for an early dinner before I left to drive home.
We sat on her porch in wicker chairs drinking iced tea to escape the heat, then toured her grounds looking at veggie garden, amazing deep red zinnias and other flowers, her chickens and rooster, greenhouse, and two Great Pyranees dogs, a golden retriever mix, and a Pomeranian Molly inherited from her mother. I saw everything but the goats who were grazing on the other side of a hill. That means I have to go back for another visit!


     But Jessica and I had more opportunity today to listen to her iPod that she connected to a laptop so she could play for me different electric guitar artists who play with major orchestras their versions of classical and jazz compositions. The theme for me was that music can bring the generations together. My experience with this young talented musician gives me optimism for a culturally-enriched future.         Mimi


    

Playful Self-Portraits

     I love to play with the computer. I get in a lot of trouble sometimes because I say, "Hmmm, wonder what will happen if I click this."

I had never played with Mac's Photo Booth before. This is where you take pictures of yourself. Since I had been to the hairdresser in the afternoon, I decided to have some fun. I had seen the funny results that my Grandkids got when they came and visited my Mac. 

So, above is my normal look. I'm turned slightly away because for someone my age to look dead on (pardon the pun) at the camera is too much for my heart!

I left Photo Booth and then went to citrify.com which is a Photo Editing site. It is limited if compared to PhotoShop, but still a lot of fun, especially since it's free.

The above photo uses the Watercolor Special Effect.

This is still from citrify.com and is the Obamafied Special Effect. 

Back to Mac's PhotoBooth and this is one special effect you can use. I had not cropped the photo as much as the other ones and I'm not even sure it's the same photo. But it's close.

Well, let's see what I can click on tonight. 

Mimi

Precious: A Movie

      Last night I watched the acclaimed movie, "Precious" starring Gabourey Sidibe who was able to play a glamour girl role as well as the unappealing character ironically named "Precious." Precious was not the value placed on her, however, by her abusive mother played by the actress, Mo'Nique nor by her father, her mother's boyfriend.  
     
     Mariah Carey also plays a role in this movie, not a glamour role but that of a social worker in a welfare office. I have been annoyed for years that social workers are almost always portrayed as cold, heartless control freaks and it was refreshing to see a more realistic picture, right down to the little make-up that the Director insisted Mariah Carey use to make her look more natural.

       The glamorous fantasies of Precious are embedded creatively in scenes of abuse that needed to be brief because they were so abhorrent. The abuse, both sexual and physical, is not far-fetched; I often heard similar tales as a clinical therapist. Nor are the fantasies which are known as a dissociative process so the abused can survive the attacks without a mental break. 

      As unappealing as the main character looks, she is likeable because one senses that she has "will." She survives by going right back into her responsibilities and demands of her homelife. Her and her child's survival become paramount when she survives a fall down the stairs pushed by her mother. Then I found myself gasping as the mother throws a television set after her and I was sure the baby Precious was carrying in her arms had been struck and killed. Precious picks herself up and with her baby in a bloody blanket leaves her mother's household and the viewer knows she has the will to leave it forever.

     Precious now has resources. She is learning at an alternative school and is befriended by all the other students who are misfits in their own right. Her welfare worker is helping her live independently with both her children, the older of the two with Downs Syndrome. She tells her mother that she will not return because she is making good grades, reading at the 8th grade level, and next year will go to high school, "and then college." As she walks down the street in the last scene, carrying both babies, I could only think of what a "push" it was going to take, but that she had the will to make it.  Good movie!  Mimi

Another Pleasurable Matinee at The Barter

      Today Molly and I met for lunch at Allison's, a casual restaurant in Abingdon with very good food, and then went to the Barter matinee of "Violet." 


     You can read the Barter website's review of this unusual play by following the link listed above. Or you can read my take on it.


     Almost the entire play was sung by the actors with a piano accompaniment that unfortunately occasionally drowned out the voices. Scenery was creative but at a minimum with almost all the action taking place on a bus between North Carolina and Oklahoma.


     Violet is traveling from her isolated home in the Appalachian mountains with the hope of ridding herself of the facial scar she suffered in an accident. Her destination is Oklahoma where she plans to attend the service of a faith-healer evangelist she has watched on television. The playwright chooses to tell the story of Violet's relationship with her father and the accident and its consequences by spotlighting another younger actress and the father in moments interspersed with the present-day bus trip. The songs emphasize the shame and anger of the young Violet and the guilt and distress of the father. The playwright also chooses to present Violet without any facial scarring and the actress must communicate this flaw by touching her face and through song.


     At the same time, the present Violet rides along on the bus meeting various people who react to her scarred face. There are two soldiers, one white and one African American, who are reporting for assignment to Viet Nam. By Memphis, Violet is involved in a complicated relationship with each fellow. Remember, only a little of this is spoken dialogue. The lyrics of the songs caused me to listen closely to keep up with the action as well as to appreciate the wit and the character development. 


     In Oklahoma, Violet believes a miracle has happened even though her encounter with the tv evangelist is an emotionally wrenching disappointment. But  reinforced by a Gospel choir she does undergo some kind of inner healing. The audience members must decide whether her scar is still there or whether it is gone. Certainly a change has taken place and the evolving relationships with the soldiers illustrate this change.


     It seems to me that the playwright is saying that Violet's low self-esteem due to the scar is no longer controlling her decisions at the end, but I question whether fully entering into a love match is the desired denouement. Perhaps her increased self-esteem could be better established by Violet engaging with the world with or without a scarred face without depending on a man caring for her so she can think better of herself.


Mimi


     

A Visit With Storytelling Friends

     What a pleasure it was today to see and hear Gay Ducey tell stories at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough.


     I've known Gay since sometime in the early 1990's when she was a Featured Teller at the Poplarville Blueberry Festival which was produced by my good friend, Hattie Gentry. She was such a hit that the Poplarville Guild had Gay come back a number of times to tell, lead workshops, and teach Master Classes. I think I attended all of these.


     Rocky included Gay as one of the Barter Storytellers and she conducted a workshop for the Beaver Creek Storytellers Guild while in town. Both she and her husband, Patrick, stayed at our house several times.


     Today, when she saw me we hugged and she whispered in my ear, "I just wasn't ready to let him go yet," meaning Rocky, of course. She loved Rocky's humor and was very helpful to him in one of the Poplarville workshops when he introduced his signature story which we referred to as "Chicken Beebees." 


     After the program today at the ISC, Gay, her husband, and I went to The Bistro to have ice tea and peach cobbler and a good catch-up visit. They have two granddaughters now who live near them in Berkeley that they are very involved with. Gay is a very wise woman who was once a social worker and now is a Children's Librarian. The Bay Area of California gives her the opportunity to hear many ethnic stories of a multitude of cultures.


     She told several Asian folktales today and her animated facial expressions and her voice set her style that is so pleasing. I for one hang onto every word and the stories are never boring because I get caught up in the telling. The last story she told was a wonderful woman's story about a lifetime prosaic existence in which a woman lived as she was expected. However, she discovered an artistic way, using a prosaic medium, to express her yearnings. I've heard several stories from Gay through the years that have been memorable and have stayed with me, and this one will be one of those, I'm sure.




     Gay is a special friend to me and many of us who were involved in the Poplarville Storytelling Festival have a special place in our hearts for her. I wish her contentment and hope that she receives the kind of pleasure that she has been giving her audiences for many years.  Mimi

The Weekend to Celebrate Independence

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

2010

Details After A Death

     Thursday afternoon I received a call that the death certificate for Rocky had finally arrived at the Sullivan County Health Dept. It had been two weeks since the Tetrick Funeral Home in Johnson City had called and apologized for filing the paperwork instead of taking action on it and the secretary had just discovered it in the cabinet. 


     I was told that the paperwork would still have to go to the Medical Examiner (who was coincidentally the doctor at the Hospice House) and then to the County Coroner's office before I could pick it up. So considering it has been six weeks since Rocky's death, I decided to drive down to Blountville where the Vital Records Dept. is located and pick up the certificate immediately.


     I have discovered that I can't cancel or change certain services if they are in Rocky's name or both our names without supplying a death certificate. I can't have his name removed from checks or bank accounts or cancel credit cards in his name. I reported that he had died to Social Security so they would stop depositing his social security checks, but was then told I have other papers to sign to get other benefits and when I return them, I must submit a death certificate. I'm sure the IRS is going to want one, too.


     In normal circumstances, the funeral home takes care of these details. But since Rocky donated his body to medical science, the only thing the funeral home does is whatever is necessary to preserve and transfer the body so it meets the requirements of the university. There are no services to the family.


     This means I get to make these phone calls and run these errands. The only problem I had at Vital Records was having to wait in line and having to explain why a funeral home had not already done this and experiencing the scowl on the clerk's face. 


     I was in for another surprise today when I received a letter from the University which said it would be one to three years before Rocky's ashes would be returned to me. I've known of two other situations with two other universities and in one case, returning the ashes took two years and in the other case it took only two weeks!  The possibility of waiting for three years just seems too long, but there isn't anything I can do about it.


     I write of this primarily to let my followers know the consequences of this choice should one of their loved ones make it in the future. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not sorry Rocky made this choice, but it is a learning process for me that surprises me at times.

Blue Sky Boys At the Barter

     My friend, Molly Catron, and I met for lunch yesterday in Abingdon and then went to the Barter Theatre to see and hear "Blue Sky Boys." I didn't know what to expect as I'd never heard of this play and didn't see it during the Abingdon Highlands Festival when it auditioned last summer. I thought maybe it was about the man from Big Stone Gap who wrote the book about his adolescent activities of building rockets years ago.


     I was delighted to discover that it was about the first NASA project of putting a man on the moon before the end of the 1960's. I was a teensy, teensy part of that project in that my ex-husband, when we were still married, worked for a sub-contractor of NASA's and actually had an office on the Houston space center grounds. One of our neighbors was a Flight Controller for the lunar landing and was one of the oft-televised cheering men applauding and passing out cigars. Another connection is that my ex did analysis of the first photos that were sent back from the moon and wrote a paper that he presented at a conference in York, England in 1973 which garnered a trip to Europe for us.


     Now some stories involving a lot of science can be very dull. However, the playwright, Deborah Brevoort, handled that by including ten roles for imaginary characters, i.e. Buck Rogers, Icarus, Apollo, Galileo, the Red Baron, and even Snoopy.
The total number of 14 characters are played by seven actors, all male. The interaction of the real with the imagined leads to a good many laughs, and the play is fast-moving and highly entertaining.


     We here in Southwest Virginia are so lucky to have the Barter, a professional theatre and the State Theatre of Virginia, so handy. One thing I wish for is that ticket prices would not be so high. The matinee ticket I bought yesterday cost $29 which included a $2 discount because I'm a Triple A member. In the past I've bought six or twelve tickets called a "Passbook" for the season which brings the price down to a little less than $20 for a matinee. The opportunity to buy passbooks ends in April and this April I had other things on my mind and the opportunity passed by. So I will be selective about what I see. I passed up "Annie" because I've seen it before and will not go to see anything with Elvis or rock and roll, because I'm just not a fan. 


     But Molly and I plan to see "Violet" next Thursday--it looks really good!