As a rule, I don’t watch musicals. I hold fairly firmly to this rule: exceptions really only include animated disney movies , or live performances. So, by definition, this would exclude movies such as “Mama Mia!” but I have made an exception.
my friend Jessica’s dad, Jim, loves Mama Mia. Like, LOVES mama mia, and all of the music in it. He’s been telling me so since April. And, when it came to light that I had not seen it, he said “That’s it… we’re having a movie night!” So… months later, after much preparation time on my part, we had a movie night, and I watched a musical.
It’s not really that big of a deal that I watched a musical, what was rare was that I did actually enjoy it. It was fun with the friends and food that was there, and with my running commentary of how it’s ridiculous. But really, it was fun. and it was set in greece, which is always a nice setting for things.
So, on saturday, watching mama mia was my new thing.
On Sunday I went to the artwalk on the bay and it was incredible. I expected to have to walk past several tents before getting to “the good stuff” and finding anything that impressed me. instead, I walked up to the event, and the first tent caught my attention right away. all the paintings were amazing in there, and she used so many layers of paint that it was seeping with texture. I loved it. The next rows and rows of tents were just as good. At the end of the walk, I found one my favorites though: the Pecoffs. My old apartment mate, marissa, raved about their work and had their books on display in our apartment last semester, and now she’s actually interning in their gallery. Their booth was incredible. they use so much color and expression and I love the perspective they use in the paintings! I actually even got inspired enough that I went home and re-created one of their newer paintings. I’m really happy with how it turned out. The image below is my re-created rendition:
On Monday I quit a job for the first time. It was not a fun experience. but it was an experience that i suppose was bound to happen at some point. Every other job I’ve had was set from the beginning as either being hired for the summer, or the semester, or the year. Or else I graduated and moved away from the job. understandable. this was the first time where I had to straight out just say “I can’t do this anymore. I’m so sorry.” And I am sorry. It was just too much. I was stressed, not sleeping enough, and had begun to miss classes in order to get some sleep in. so in the end, it was being counterproductive to be making money in a job that makes me miss the education I need which costs money. And even though I was relieved, and I had peace that quitting was what I needed to do, I still actually shed some tears as I drove away that morning. I hate not being able to be reliable for what they need me for. But, what’s done is done now. and it’s for the better for me. and now, i’ve had that experience.
On tuesday I watched a premier of a new documentary called “Little Town of Bethlehem.” It’s about three men’s lives in the holy land, each from a different background religiously and ethnically, and about how they’ve decided to face the issues of their land and community with non-violence. It was really eye-opening. I was having a really hard time keeping focused on it because I missed the first 15 minutes of it because of a class, but I would definitely like to watch it again. I think it could be a great tool to open up conversations of how we can all participate in lives on peace when dealing with these tough issues.
Wednesday I did yoga for the first time. I have been reading “Eat, Pray, Love” and I had just gotten to the second section of the book where she’s in India the day before. She talks all about the practice of yoga and all it’s different elements (some of which I agree with, some of which I don’t). So, it was semi-serendipitous that in my aerobics class on wednesday we came in and that’s what we were doing for the day. I must say… yoga is harder than it looks. I thought it was difficult because of the amount of stretching it requires, but it really did work my muscles. I woke up this morning definitely feeling the after-effects. However, at the end of the work-out, I was way more relaxed and loose then any type of work out I’ve done before, even though I was just as worn-out and dead-tired. I really like it and I want to try to do it again. Also, my favorite positions were the “dead bug” and the “happy baby”. I could not stop laughing while doing them because we were a gym full of people looking absolutely ridiculous. It was great.