entombed in the shrine of zeroes and ones

[Scene opens.  HUSBAND and WIFE are sitting in front of their computers.]

HUSBAND (to WIFE): It's almost midnight. Let's go to bed.

[They do not move.]

F  I  N

I sent Charlotte Jones a "thank you" fan note for Humble Boy via her agent's e-mail.  She responded this morning:

Dear Ron,
Thank you so much for your more than kind words about my play "Humble Boy". It means an awful lot to me that you took the time and trouble to track me down and send me your thoughts- it's quite rare for a playwright to get such personal feedback. I am so pleased that the play continues to speak to people. It obviously benefitted from a wonderful production in Oregan. I hope I can write more plays for the Festival in the future.
With all best wishes,
Charlotte Jones

Back during the first week of September, Kim, The Boy, and i went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where we saw three Shakespeare plays and three non-Shakespeare plays, none of which i've ever read or seen before. Of the former, King Lear was sad, especially because the tragic events are propelled by an act of virtue (Cordelia's refusal to descend to a duplicitous, exaggerated show of love); the blinding of Gloucester was harrowing. Much Ado About Nothing was lavishly costumed but fell flat at key points due to a really terrible Claudio (who did a better job as Edmund in Lear). The Comedy of Errors was a short and shallow farce centered around mistaken identity that was set in a Rat Pack-era Las Vegas; i thought it worked great, but opinions in the group were mixed on that. It had a couple of fourth-wall-breaking moments which were very well timed.

The latter plays were Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun, a story of a `50s black family in South-side Chicago, trying to decide what to do with an unexpected windfall. It was a wonderful performance. The Royal Family was a sort of parody/pastiche of the Barrymore family of actors; it was funny, but not especially deep.

Finally, the best of the lot was Humble Boy, a play written only 3 years ago by Charlotte Jones. It is a play that involves astrophysics and the pursuit of the Grand Unified Theory, familial and carnal love, gardening and beekeeping. All of the characters are fully formed (except one, perhaps?), and their interactions are all deeply striking and vivid. I can't recommend this play highly enough.

This is my last week of work before i go on my 6-week sabbatical.  On Saturday, Kim and i'll fly to Kansas City.  On Thursday, we'll drive to Chicago.  On Monday, we'll drive back to Kansas City and fly back on Tuesday.

The following Wednesday, we'll head out to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with The Boy, and we'll return on Sunday.

Then, on Tuesday, she and i will pick up again, get into the car, and drive to Vancouver, BC, stopping by Seattle and see rimrunner and whomever else hasn't gone to Burning Man, as well as Portland to see Alan Scott, and Eugene to see Kim's friend Judy.  We'll be back in town no later than the 17th of September.

That will leave me with one whole week of lazing around, i mean, cleaning out the garage, before i have to return to the salt mines (AKA "getting paid for lazing around").

If you are somewhere on or near our itinerary and wish to hook up with us, or know someone else with whom we should hook up, please let me know.

So perhaps you were sad or put out because you missed the Blue Man Group during their tour... but no! The next leg starts in July, and includes many more locations, as well as swinging again by the Bay Area. Oh boy!

Squonk Opera is coming to play at Stanford's Memorial Auditorium on January 17. I'll be buying $30 tickets for me and Kim. I've never seen their show, but their music is very cool, and the clips i've seen on their Web site lead me to believe this is going to be a great show.