Snow Day... Eventually

The call for a delayed start came at 5:40.  I wasn't surprised - it had snowed most of the night, as forecasted and wasn't letting up.  I was annoyed, though.  I had already showered and was mid-hairdrying so instead of an extra hour of sweet, sweet sleep; I read for a while, expecting a call to cancel school to happen at any moment.

No such luck, though.  I met up with my carpool buddies at 7, and we started up the mountain.

The roads were awful.  About 15 miles in, we got stuck at one of the steep points and spent 10 minutes watching busses, semis, and passenger cars slide left and right in front of us:

The cars in front of us finally slide far enough to the sides that we could pass.  We found out later that about 3 minutes after we got through, they shut down that part of the highway completely.

After about 80 minutes of driving, our phones began ringing - school was cancelled.  We were 3/4 of the way there.

John pulled over at the next intersection, cleared off the ice buildup, and we began our slow descent down the mountain.

Just over two hours after we left for work we bade each other safe drives home and parted ways.  I headed to the gym (yay for working out when I'm not exhausted!), then home for a quick second-shower, and then met Fara for lunch.

She recommended a French cafe in Highlands Ranch that was absolutely delicious and had more than generous portions:

...which takes care of lunch (and breakfast!) tomorrow as well.  Naturellement, we had to sample their pastries as well.  I went with one with an unusual combination (pear, banana, and Nutella) that was overwhelmingly rich:

but Fara's blackberry puff pastry was delicious:

After Fara dropped me off home, I thought about all of the things I should do with the rest of my day - cleaning, essay-writing, student travel planning, lesson planning.  Then I thought of what I could do.  And I made the right choice.

I made myself a cup of hot chocolate, curled up under a fluffy blanket, pulled Natasha onto my lap, and read.  My outstanding decision-making continued when I woke up suddenly with one of those neck-snapping sleepy head drops and realized that I had drifted off.  I put the book down and took a nap.

A nap!  Me!  In the middle of a Thursday!

And that, my friends, is how you do a snow day.

The Shows

In addition to crafting, housekeeping, and generally Getting Things Done; I got to see three movies and a ballet during my spring break.

On Tuesday Lisa and I went to see Divergent, mostly because we wanted to see a movie.  I've read the series, and the movie lived up to my expectations.  It's fine, and many of my students saw it over the break as well, but I can't say I'd recommend it.

I would, however, gladly recommend The Lego Movie.  Lisa took her grandkids to see it Thursday and invited me to join her.  I promptly called up Rachel and invited Jack to join me so I could play the aunt for a morning.  Jack had seen it twice at this point and was quick to tell me all about which parts he was going to laugh at this time.  I had heard good things about the movie, and was pleased to find they were true - witty script, fun story, great animation.  It actually made my excited to go to LegoLand this summer, and I'm getting closer every day to getting "Everything is Awesome!" out of my head.

Friday night Fara, Dave, and I went to the Alamo to see The Grand Budapest Hotel.  It's everything I love about Wes Anderson movies with a charming Ralph Finnes to boot.  The Alamo had a photo booth display set up in their lobby:

and I hear rumors from Rachel that a bakery in town is recreating the Courtesan au Chocolate.  I may have to hunt them down this weekend.

Finally, Lisa invited me to take her spare ticket for Colorado Ballet's "Director's Choice" spring concert Saturday night.  She has season tickets with some fellow teachers from her school.  We had dinner at John Holly's Asian Bistro before heading to the Newman Center for the show.  The program involved three modern ballet pieces.  There were moments of loveliness in the execution and in the dancing, but the choreography as a whole was unremarkable.  The company was fun; and I was thrilled that I not only had the time this week to enjoy so much socializing, but I even had time to create purple curls for an evening out!

Soldering

Ah, Spring Break.  What a glorious thing you are.

Normally I run far, far away for the entire break.  I did flee the state for a few days to visit the aforementioned Rainbow Jesus with Fara.  But we returned to Colorado on Monday and I had almost a week of unplanned days stretched out in front of me.

As you may suspect, the "unplanned" part only lasted a few minutes.

Happily, as a fellow teacher, Lisa was also freed from most responsibilities that week.  We immediately made plans to play virtually every day.  Top on the agenda:  a craft.

Lisa offered to teach me how to solder.  We picked up lunch from Tommy's Subs, pulled out all of her supplies from her soldered past, and started melting metal.

There's something almost magical about the way liquid metal moves.  It was fascinating to manipulate and I loved watching it slink its way across the copper foil until I tried to attach the damn jump rings and then I burned myself, dropped my project on the floor, broke one of the pendants, and cursed the person who claimed that all you need to do is "melt a dab of silver then quickly tap the jump ring into place."

But by golly I finished it!

I went with a literary-themed set of pendants with green-and-coral paper on the back.  The long pendant is a quote from Jane Eyre, the larger square a passage from Little Women, and the smaller square is a tiny-font version of one of my favorite poems ("Westward wind, when wilt thou blow/the small rain down can rain/Christ, if my love were in my arms/And I in my bed again") which I learned from a Madeleine L'Engle novel.

Lisa's tutoring came in handy when I tackled my next craft project for the week.  My parents kindly brought me back a set of lamp covers from Morocco (since my own attempts at bargaining for such things were thwarted).  I went to a few hardware stores looking for the necessary wiring to hang them but couldn't find any that fit the lamps or that were long enough to run down the wall and across the floor.  An employee at Home Depot suggested I make my own lamp wires.  Done and done!

I bought plugs, 60' of white lamp wire, and three sockets; then set out to find and purchase my own set of soldering equipment.  Soon I was stripping wires and soldering them into place:

Success!  They're not even sparking!

The best chain I could find was a bright brassy-gold, so I bought some hammered-metal bronze-colored spray paint and matched the chain to the lamp shades before hooking them all together.  Here's the final results:

I love them.  It was definitely time to change out my former bedroom lamp (a set of paper cube lamps from Ikea), and I am a fan of the Moroccan look.  Now I'm ready to tackle a new project this summer:  curtains!

A Visitor

Guess who came to town for a quick weekend trip?

This guy!

(Insert picture of Jason here.)

I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking that a savvy blogger such as myself surely would have remembered to take a picture or two of an event such as this.  And you'd be correct.  I did, after all, document all of our meals:

Orange French Toast at Bang!

Ham and Swiss Melt at Bang!

Buffalo Burger at Ted's

Not Pictured:

- The peach cobbler a la mode at the Alamo 

- Jason

But that's okay.  You all know what he looks like by now, right?

It truly was a quick trip - we spent a Saturday afternoon seeing the sights of Denver and its surrounding neighborhoods, then met up with my friends.  Rachel, Fara, and Lisa joined us to see "Monuments Men" at the Alamo.  (Tammy came to dinner with us but had to skip the movie to chaperone a youth dance.)  As always, I enjoyed closing a gap between some of my circles of friends; and the consensus all around seems to be that Jason needs to come back for another visit soon.

Run Away!

Spring Break started today, so I imagine you won't be too surprised when I tell you I'm out of town.

Illinois to be exact.

It's flat here.

More precisely, I'm at a Mormon women's feminists' conference outside of Rockford in a Catholic retreat center in a cell-like room sitting on a bed underneath Rainbow Jesus.

There are times when I really like my life.

A Purple Explanation

It began when the Outdoor Education class announced that if they raised a certain amount in their fundraiser, our principal and vice principal would dye their hair green for St. Patrick's Day.

While discussing this with my TA's, I mentioned that I once dyed my hair purple on a bet with my students at my old school.  Naturally, they immediately proposed a similar deal for their own show.  "Why not?" I figured.

The original deal was that they had to sell out all three nights of the musical.  Thursday evening was a great turnout for a weeknight opening night, but it was not a full house.  The cast was disappointed, despite a terrific performance.  "What if we sell out tomorrow?" they ask.  "Will you dye it then?"

"Nope," replied cold-hearted me.  "The deal was all three nights."

Then the snow came.

When I finally had a chance to talk to the cast in person again at our pre-show pow-wow on Saturday, they were still upset and angry over the rescheduling.  I needed to do something to cheer them up, so I offered a new bargain - sell out the rescheduled performance, and I'll do it.

Not an easy task, since the rescheduling meant a loss of momentum and advertising.  When the houselights dimmed on the new closing night, there were still 20-30 seats left empty.  I was a little sad for the kids and a little glad for myself.

But then came the latecomers.

There was a fairly steady stream of them, and when I left my seat for the eighth time to process a late ticket sale I saw where this was going.

My stylist was surprised to say the least tonight when I announced that I was going purple this time.  No wash-out-the-next-day dye for me!  She chuckled at my explanation and sent me on my way afterwards with the admonition that "Your students better appreciate you!"

Oh, I'm sure they do.  I just don't know how the women I'm meeting at the Midwest Pilgrim's Conference this weekend are going to take it.

P.S.  Three conclusions so far:
1) I need way more/darker eyemakeup
2) I've just voided 2/3 of my wardrobe.  Orange shirt + purple hair?  Not so much.
3) Suddenly I feel a need to watch Scott Pilgrim again.

...Hello, Purple!

Good-Bye Brown Hair...

These Kids!

These darn kids went and put on a terrific show and then went and made me get all teary-eyed in front of everyone.  Look at what they did:

They made me a shield, you guys.  They made me a shield.  Solid wood and straps and everything.

(Sniff.)  Dang kids.  I think I got something in my eye again.

Faen Du, Ullr!

"What did you do to offend the gods?" my first period class asked when the snow started to fall yesterday morning.

My second period class concluded that "It must be because you get to have such an interesting life!  You get to have all kinds of adventures, but in exchange your shows get snowed out."

Yet again I spent the days leading up to a show earnestly tracking a storm.  I honestly thought this one would be doable.  Thursday and Saturday were both forecasted in the low 50's, and we've had a long streak of sunny days.

Nope.

By 2:00 the snow was thickly falling and my administration called me mid-class.  "We're going to have to call it off."

In fact, they had to extend the school day - all students and faculty were kept in the building for an extra hour while we waited for the busses to arrive and for the sheriff to declare it safe enough to drive.  The highway was filled with accidents and the storm was just picking up steam.

I kept my students entertained with YouTube videos and fielded question after question about the musical.  I sent out a survey to the cast, orchestra, and crew to figure out which of two possible reschedule dates would work best for everyone.  The results came back - 13 for either, 15 for a Saturday matinee, and 15 for next Thursday night (the students don't have school on Friday).  Cast members came to my room in tears, in a fury, in rigidly calm voices to tell me that if we did the show on ____ day, they would quit the show.

Once we were released from the building, I headed to the main office to call Jesse.  He had stayed home with his kids, missing the excitement.  We discussed the two options and decided to go with next Thursday so we could have time to advertise the change.  I reported our decision to my administration, asked them to make a district all-call so the students and (hopefully) most of the audience would hear of the change, and then headed out to the parking lot.

Oddly, the snow was even sticking to the underside of the handrails:

The snow was thick and wet, so it took me a while to clear off my car.  Once I managed to turn left out of the parking lot, I found myself in a situation I've never encountered in Mountain Town:  a traffic jam.

I never found out what caused this particular stoppage, but my normal 7-minute commute to the condo required 30 and my pulling out the trusty chains:

My parents dropped by the night before.  They're off on an adventure of their own for the next few weeks - a week in Morocco, a medical conference in Germany, and a few days visiting friends in Leipzig.  We only had a little bit of time to chat after the show last night before I crashed, but they woke up in time to see me off to school.  I also found this ironic note left on the fridge upon my return from the blizzard:

"It was god to see you here.
 Hope the snow doesn't cancel your show!
See you a la blog!  Love, Daddums & Mom"

And so instead of hosting a successful second night performance, I spent the evening managing phone calls, emails, and text messages while trying to get word out that the performance was moved.  When a student contacted me saying that rumors were flying all over Facebook, I finally sent her this photo to post:

It's Saturday afternoon now.  The snow is melting, the roads are clear, and I'm off to another performance.  I'll keep the cat in the condo up here and just run home after the show tonight so I can do church and laundry tomorrow since it looks like I'll be hanging around up in Mountain Town for a couple more evenings next week.

Another Opening, Another Show!

Aw...  Aren't they cute?  This is the cast and crew shot post-middle school matinee.

And here they are at the end of the photo shoot.

 

And this is how they actually feel.

I hear ya, kids!  I'm wiped out too.

Three performances to go!

Creative Injuries

Maybe I should get more sleep before I use a hot glue gun again...

Know Your Audience

Me:  Okay, Knights, at this point in the song I want a protective stance, so let's have you guys form a circle back-to-back.

The knights make a U-shape.

Me:  No, a circle.

The knights make a horseshoe shape.

Me:  A circle, guys.  An actual circle.  Make a circle.  I make circle shapes with my hands.

The knights scooch in closer to each other.

Me:  No, just close the back part.

They do.

Me:  Now face out...

Three of them turn to face in.

Me:  No, out.  Away from each other.

Those three turn to face out.  At the same time, the two in the back step out of the circle to face the audience instead.

Me:  Face away from each other, but still in a circle.

They scooch closer together. 

Me: Inspiration strikes.  Weathertop.  Stand like you're on Weathertop.

Knights:  Ohhhh!

They immediately form a circle back to back.

Knights:  Why didn't you just say that to begin with?

"Hamlet" and "Black Odyssey"

The week of "Little Prince" turned out to be a theater- heavy week.  On Tuesday I took my students to DCTC to see "Hamlet".

We spent most of January studying that play, and I was really hoping for a good production to cap the unit.  Like Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, when a production of "Hamlet" is anything less than great, it's unbearable to watch, if only because they last so very long.

Happily, this was a good production.  It's really, really good.  Unfortunately though, there was a mentally and physically handicapped student in the audience who choked and coughed and yelped and wheezed and made so much noise that people sitting sections away we're turning around and craning their heads to see who was making so much noise.  To my dismay, his caretaker refused to remove him from the theater.  I could be more forgiving of this choice if I thought he was getting anything from being there, but it was clear that he could neither see not hear the show.  I had to work hard to follow the lines, so I can only imagine how hard it was for my students to pay attention to what was for most of them their first Shakespeare production.  Fara and Tammy took some of my extra tickets, and the incident did prompt an interesting discussion for us at intermission about inclusion, but at the end of the day it was a play about the kid making Gollum-noises, and that's really too bad.

A few days later, Fara and I were back at DCTC to see "black odyssey", a new play that sets Homer's poem in the modern era in African-American cultures.  It's a clever play (particularly with the name play- Pa Sidon, Athena becomes Auntie T, Odysseus's wife is called Nella P., and Telemachus becomes Malachi) but the script is heavy-handed (they brought up Treyvon Martin at least four seperate times, which made it feel more like an immediate guttural reaction to the event that must have happened as the author was writing the play, rather than a measured reaction tempered by time) and lacks the grace of good story-telling.  Fara studied West African mythologies, and she pointed out some of the similarities between that belief system and that of the Ancient Greeks.  I am curious to read more about them myself.

Sorry, Can't Blog Now...

... Too busy turning giant stuffed lions into cows:

And sewing costumes out of all of this fabric:

And making Holy Hand Grenades of Antioch:

Two weeks until curtain!

"The Little Prince" at Lookingglass Theatre

I saw a production of "The Little Prince" at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival a few years ago.  I was not especially impressed, and I ascribed most of the fault to the source material.  Like "Alice in Wonderland", it's a story without much of a story - an episodic travel tale.

But Lookingglass pulled off a version of "Alice" that is certainly my favorite version of the story, so I had every faith that if anyone could make a play out of "Prince", they could.

And it was a good production.  What I particularly love about Lookingglass is their ability to create spectacle through simplicity - a flock of birds from four people in open white button-down shirts moving in harmony, a universe of stars from a curtain made of dangling small square mirrors, a simple snake puppet dashing across the stage on the end of a puppeteer's stick, a galaxy of planets suggested by bubbles and brightly-colored balls.  You know how good dancers make routines look effortless, easy?  That's the pleasure (and to some degree the danger) of Lookingglass - I walk away from every production thinking, "I can do that!"

Their use of acrobatics worked well as the Prince traveled to different planets.  Each new planet used the idea of an actor and a globe in a different way - the king on his throne in his large robe hung from the ceiling; the accountant likewise descended on the fly system, but he  precariously held himself inside a skeletal sphere made of metal hoops, constantly shifting in his cage to assume new positions to type; the lamplighter was lowered above the audience on a globe set on an axis that kept him perpetually running in place above our heads.  One of the best moments in the show was a silent planet-dweller who crossed the stage balancing on a large ball while soap bubbles filled the stage, the constantly shifting and adjusting movements required to balance on a loose ball giving her the intended appearance of a drunk stumbling by.

Like the story itself, I find my memories of this production consist of moments and characters.  The choice to have the Aviator draw on the set itself (a large curving white plane that worked as both dunes and paper) worked, and the actress playing the fox did an outstanding job with the character despite her using a terrible (and unnecessary) French accent.  The scene where the Prince tamed the fox was simple and lovely and much more interesting than the requisite Christ-figure ending of the story.  It was the best version of "The Little Prince" I can imagine, and I'm glad I had the chance to see it.

Chicago - Sunday

Thanks to a kerfuffle from American Airlines, my parents wound up switching to a flight leaving at almost the same time as Jason's.  While I was glad they found a way home, it meant that I wound up with a morning to myself in Chicago.

We had breakfast together, said our good-byes, and I leisurely got myself ready for the day.  Once I was bundled up, I headed out in search of shopping and second breakfast.

The store I had in mind didn't open until 11, so I wandered around until I suddenly came upon a building I recognized:

Eataly.  I saw an article about this indoor Italian marketplace/eatery last fall when it first opened.  I had time to kill and freezing cold cheeks, so I headed inside.

They had fresh produce, kitchenware, a coffee shop, and the noises of a restaurant upstairs; but I found myself drawn to a counter on the right:

A Nutella bar!  I almost passed it up, but then I recalled that I am my father's daughter and that I am out of town and therefore allowed to eat hazelnut-chocolate gooey bread.  So I did.

About two bites in, I realized that I lacked milk.  Fortunately:

they were all too eager to supply me with "the best American milk."  In cute little pints, nonetheless:

I managed to eat just one slice before the sweetness overpowered me, so I tossed the other, licked off my gooey fingers, and headed out to a nearby French-styled miscellany shop.

My intentions were to browse, but then I remembered that I lacked a proper egg cup.  I have never cooked a soft-boiled egg in my life, but I want a proper egg cup, you see, because I dream of having a leisurely breakfast of dipping toast into a soft-boiled egg while reading a long novel in a cottage in France.

I usually dream of such things while I'm scarfing down a banana between classes.

And so I needed a proper egg cup, and I suspected this may be a good place to find one.  So it was!  I picked out a charming ceramic one painted with brown and yellow designs.  Definitely something I could get home in my carry-on.

And then I saw the bowls.

Knowing that ceramics make packing a bit trickier, I tried to talk myself out of them.  I did a terrible job.  After all,
a) I really liked the designs,
b) new dishware makes me excited to eat at home,
c) since they are Especially For Me bowls, I can get away with only one in each size, and
d) I had already decided exactly what each one was for, which is practically like naming them; and therefore I was getting them, bag restrictions be damned.

For soup, for salad, for dreamy breakfast eggs,
and for yogurt with dark chocolate almonds and blueberries.

I had just enough time for some traditional vacation grocery shopping at:

Trader Joe's

I picked up a few cartons of my favorite almonds and a chicken wrap for lunch:

I also bought a reusable bag, since I figured it would hold more than my travel purse and yet still count as only a "personal item."  After swinging back by the hotel to pick up my suitcase and squeeze the almonds in amongst my clothes, I tied the Trader Joe's bag to my suitcase and headed out to the train station.

After a few blocks I came upon this memorial.  It looked so much more appropriate covered in snow than how I usually see it, I stopped to take a photo:

An older gentleman with white hair, an enormous furry hat, and wire spectacles came up to me as I pulled out my cell phone.  In a perfect German accent he said, "You know if you tie the bag the other way, it will not drag on the ground and cause you problems."

I realized he thought I had stopped out of luggage frustration.  I tried to explain that the bag actually keeps slipping around when I position them the way he was suggesting and that my method was working just fine, but he brushed off my explanations, "You see, the way you do it may make it rub on the ground and wear out."

I gave up trying to explain and just thanked him.  He nodded, smiled at me, and turned to go.  I took the picture and as I lowered my phone, I realized he was at my side again.  "I am an engineer you see," he said.  "I can't help but think about these things."  And then he walked away a second time.

"Of course you are an engineer," I thought as I resumed my walk without changing my bag tying system.  With that look and accent, he could have stepped right out of this movie:

It was a cold walk, but the skies were clear and I paused to admire the effect of the snowstorm on river, a city made of glass and ice:

Then it was back on the train, back on a plane, and back to an airport filled with orange and blue fans who would soon be severely disappointed.

P.S.  I know I skipped the show review.  I only had time tonight for one entry, and I picked the easier one to write.  Hopefully tomorrow I can wrap up the trip.