Amadeus and the Evil Blue Ballerina

As I left the theatre this evening after a stirring dance performance of Amadeus by the Atlantic Ballet, I overheard a man explaining the dramatic closing scene to a small child, a scene in which the body of Mozart is placed into a harpsichord symbolizing a coffin. As the music swelled with feeling, the symbolic sands of time rain down upon the closed lid and the curtains close.

"You see", the man was saying to the little girl (not more than four years old), "even though Mozart died his music is still with us and loved by people today".

The curly-haired poppet nodded seriously. "Yes, I know that. But...did they REALLY put him in a piano?!"

You could tell she really needed to know.

Ah, art appreciation can start young. :)

Colour me impressed that all the bow-tied, neatly-combed little children in the audience sat through a two-hour performance in perfect silence considering the medium of ballet is not big on comic relief or explanation--I'm assuming here that the program explaining the symbolism of various props and the tortured lives of Salieri and Mozart was lost on the preschool set.

This evening at the ballet was an unexpected gift to me. My mother-in-law bought the ticket before she realized she'd be sunning herself on a Mexican beach on the date involved. Voila! A wonderful night out for me!

Gorgeous music. Pretty ballerinas. Standing ovations.

Distractingly sculptured male dancers. (You know, I tried to pay attention to the dancing, but physiques that are that comic-book hero perfect are hard to look away from! Thank goodness they put on frilly shirts by the next scene!)

There was one ballerina I particularly liked. She was tall, fey and elegant and played the character of the fickle Muse, the drive behind the two composers' inspiration. She generally toyed with their emotions, bestowing her favour and affection first on one and then withdrawing it from the other to their distress.

Capricious ballerina dressed in blue!

You knew she was evil when she lounged atop the harpsichord and began to blow smoke-rings from a long slim cigarette-holder. I've never seen a ballet dancer smoking on stage before (albeit in a stylistic fashion). Maybe I should get out more!

Zombie Dreams and Dinosaur Comics

(You can click on the comics to make them bigger. You don't want to miss out on comics with dinosaurs and zombies, right?))

I was starting to think that maybe this last week and a half with me running from one job to the next was why I'm dreaming about zombies and the like so much. You know, maybe it was my subconscious telling me that:

"This lurching horror symbolizes the drudgery of daily habits and routine. For every little death you die while waiting in lines and stuck in traffic, a supernatural ghoul returns from your imagination to extract angry vengeance. On the bright side, you can always outrun these zombies if you wish, and by taking care to add variety and spontaneity to your life, you can ensure they will stop appearing in your dreams."

Heh, so said a rather fluffy Dream Dictionary I found online anyway.

Naw, it's probably something more like how it's portrayed through the fine medium of Dinosaur Comics (you know I love 'em!)

Zombie Dream #1: I come home to find Jeff and his friend frantically stuffing moldering body parts into little round covered baskets and taping the lids on tightly. His friend claims to be a Wizard and tells me that pretty soon all these disgusting pits and pieces are going to come to life and have a little Zombie Party. (I'm paraphrasing, by the way, I'm sure he said it in a more sinister way).

Sure enough, the baskets start shaking and the things inside are trying to get out and we're having a deal of a time preventing all the Zombie Bits from reassembling. They're oozing out of the baskets literally looking like month-old hamburger. (The wizard shouts: "Don't eat any!" I give him a withering look that says "As if!")

Anyway, in the midst of all this chaos and zombie-wrangling I suddenly remember I need to start an early shift at work tomorrow and will need to call in a sub for the preschool if I'm going to stay and help save the world from zombies. I start to make a phone call, wondering how I'm going to explain why I can't make it in. I'm worried because I know it's difficult to find a substitute teacher at the best of times.....

I related a less gory and edited version of this dream to my boss at work. Really, finding subs IS a huge problem, even if zombies generally aren't....

Zombie Dream #2: Dreamed that Jeff was bitten by a zombie, but he didn't tell me right away. In fact, he didn't tell me for weeks. He seemed just fine though, no symptoms of shambling around or wanting live brains. I was torn between being relieved at his continued good health, annoyed that he hadn't told me, and suspicious that he was just really good at pretending that he wasn't the Living Dead. One of those really paranoid dreams.

Zombie Dream #3: The world is full of zombies. There's just me and a small group of survivors, all holed up for safety in my house. We go out foraging for food and are SUPER-careful to make sure no zombies get into the house.

Theoretically......

Oh, for goodness sakes! Did you just leave the front door unlocked? Again? Fer cryin' out loud! Now we have to kill more zombies. Sheesh.

The people who are with me are really lax at keeping the zombies out. I'm a little fed up with their carelessness actually. *sighs* I guess it's up to me and my broom-handle to take care of herding the zombies out the door again....

My Grandma Baby-sat Lily Munster

"Speaking of degrees of separation", my mother remarked casually during conversation this evening, "Did you know that your grandma Isabelle used to baby-sit Yvonne De Carlo?"

My grandma took care of Lily Munster as a preschooler?!!

*Spider Girl's eyebrows shoot up*

Indeed, no. I did not know that!

Apparently the actress Yvonne De Carlo, who was everybody's favourite vampire mom back in the sixties, (and who just passed away recently) was a Canadian born in Vancouver.

I love that Six Degrees of Separation theory. I really do. We are all connected.....

To the Munsters!

* the gothy teenaged part of myself giggles in glee*

My Grandma Baby-sat Lily Munster

"Speaking of degrees of separation", my mother remarked casually during conversation this evening, "Did you know that your grandma Isabelle used to baby-sit Yvonne De Carlo?"

My grandma took care of Lily Munster as a preschooler?

Indeed, no. I did not know that!

Apparently the actress Yvonne De Carlo, who was everybody's favourite vampire mom back in the sixties, (and who just passed away recently) was a Canadian born in Vancouver.

I love that Six Degrees of Separation theory. I really do. We are all connected.

To the Munsters! * the gothy teenaged part of myself giggles in glee*

Celebrity Lookalikes?

After Hours at the Dentist

So it seems I have landed an evening job to supplement my outrageous annual Euro-Vacation spending habits.

Yes, I am now moonlighting some nights now as the Girl Who Cleans Up After the Dentist.

Lots and lots of dangerously-poky instruments to sterilize first in the Mysterious Blue Ultra-Sonic Chemical Bath...then I seal them up neatly in little baggies....and then load them all up for a ride in Mr. Autoclave which is sort of like an ancient and finicky pressure cooker that must be gently coaxed into doing its job by fiddling with the little knobs.

'Tis an art, but not exactly rocket surgery I was assured by my friend Sherry who is training me this week and next.

And yes, I'm keeping my day job at the childcare centre.

But after seven hours of shrill little voices and soggy mittens, a few quiet hours at the dentist office after-hours may well be something to look forward to.

Best Gift Reaction Ever

This is a picture of one of my family's newest members.

His name is Benson. He's a ten month old Neapolitan mastiff belonging to Jeff's sister. He really doesn't look that enormous in this photo, but trust me, he's a hundred pounds of unbridled puppy love (he'll probably double his weight before he's full-grown), and BOY OH BOY was he excited (and eventually exhausted) this past weekend when eleven of Jeff's clan gathered together in Victoria for one last holiday celebration.

(Yes, Christmas is a flexible date--we count ourselves lucky if it's all done by the end of January, and my brother's still in Nicaragua so my side of the family will probably call still another dinner Christmas before Valentine's Day).

With all this socializin' and celebratin' the grownups would probably be bankrupt from all the gift-exchanges, so we mostly exchanged hugs and food and scratch-n-win tickets.

But we still give presents to the children and this year we sent our ten-year-old nephew Riley over the moon with the recycled gift of our old laptop computer. You should have seen the kid's eyes--big as saucers!

Did he appreciate it? Well...after the frenzied cries of joy and elation...

He puts one hand to his chest, looked deep into Auntie Spider Girl's eyes and said: "This is the BEST PRESENT I have EVER received...except for love..."

His mom pats him bemusedly on the shoulder. "Yes, Riley, love is the most important thing."

"Oh man", my nephew continued, "This weekend has just taken a most UNEXPECTED and amazing turn!"

Heh, is that appreciation or what? :)

Happy First Full Moon of the Year!

The ferry workers can almost set their calendars by us. Three or four of us cross over from town to the smaller island by ferry once a month to meet together with our island friends when the moon is full and bright.

One of the crewman cheerily called down to us from above last night: "The full moon's TOMORROW night, ladies! "

"Yes, we know! ", we called back sweetly. "Thank you!"

Happy New Year everyone!

I just wanted to share with you a little part from yesterday evening.

I was standing outside in the wintry air in my friend's backyard. My head was tilted back, I was just looking up at the sky and feeling the moonlight on my face. All day long it had squalled with rain, but now the air was curiously balmy for January and the stars peeped out of a beautiful black sky lit by an amazing ripe moon.

This is my resolution, my intention, for 2007:

Life rushes by too fast sometimes and I have a habit of always looking forward to the next thing, sometimes forgetting to live in the present.

I would like to just STOP, like I did last night, more often in my life and just look around myself unhurriedly, and feel what comes to my senses.

We were very near the ocean and I could hear soft waves from the beach. There was a full creek rushing with water somewhere in the woods nearby. The grass beneath my feet squished with moisture. A farm gate creaked in the occasional gusts of wind that lifted our hair and played with it. The welcoming smell of woodsmoke from my friend's stove drifted by me...

For maybe twenty minutes, we all just stood without words and enjoyed the beauty of being alive and in nature.

I wish my friends and readers lots of that good feeling in 2007!