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OH MAN. I have to tell you. Lots of times I wonder what a lip reader would think if he or she saw me in my car. Others would see my lips moving, but maybe they would think I had a Bluetooth headset. But a lip reader would know: cheesy love songs.

Today I was sitting in a café, in my usual sunny window, and I’d had a great writing session all morning but now my brain was fried. And I looked right out the window—the same window I sit in every day--right into people’s cars.

Lots of people were singing! Driving by; stopped at the light; heads bobbing—no lip reading necessary. Singing and car dancing.

I am so happy.

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Just saw the musical Wicked tonight. After the emotional highs and lows of this week, the release of immersing myself in 3+ hours of feel-great fantasy (both the show and its afterglow) seemed immeasurable. My dear friend Irvin knows how I can get at musicals, with all those people singing their hearts out—their hopes and dreams—onstage. (The last one I saw was Sweeney Todd with him in 2001! And it made me spontaneously ask him to be in my wedding! During intermission!) It really clears out the soul's pores. It's like detoxing for the heart.

Back to reality tonight. But Wicked is fantastic.

P.S.
And they know how to use it, too. At the end, while we were still applauding, they announced their twice-annual, Broadway charity-donation drive, for children with AIDS and women with cancer. We just opened our wallets and gave.

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This made me smile huge:


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Learn more about how this came about here: http://wherethehellismatt.com

(I went to this last link and, after learning the video was actually the third in a series, watched the first two as well. They are also great.)

Dancing, traveling around the world, and the execution of a simple idea on a grand scale . . . what's not to love?

:)
r

(Both links provided tonight by Julie!)

NOTE added on 7/11: The quality of the video is better if you click the link and watch it there. Also, Matt (we're on a first-name basis now, apparently) has begun adding other videos that supplement. These also leave me grinning!

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[This post is from June 6th, due to technical issues. More entries to follow!]

 

Tonight we went to an awesome show at the House of Blues: Sacha Sacket!!!!!!!!! I am now a fan!!!

I can't stop listening to the CD. After the show, I was all, "Whatever you're selling, I'm buying!!" He had Shadowed, the album previous to the upcoming. We took two. =)

To Damon I was like, "Look! You just changed jobs, and already our lives are cooler!"

Damon and I had never been to the House of Blues before (scandalous, I know), even though it's totally close to where we live. We were so excited. We're connected to the band, and this was an industry showcase, and we were excited by every aspect of this night. Supposedly we're getting dinner with Sacha soon, too.

(I knew Sacha wasn't aware of this when he sold us the CDs, so I tried to play it cool—for me, anyway.)

It was killing me I hadn't brought my camera. Other people were totally taking pictures.

The show was pretty short. We were exhilarated, and I couldn't believe how little time we'd been out of the apartment. We couldn't wait to listen to the CD as soon as we got to the car. 

Somehow or other, Damon confessed he'd felt nervous before entering the club. I didn't understand why, as we'd heard plenty of bands play before, and here we were linked to them to boot. But I decided to give him a pep talk.

"You just have to think about The Circle!" I told him. "You're someone who goes outside The Circle regularly. Just remember that."

Damon had no idea what I was talking about, so then I had to remind him. Back when we were planning our wedding, at one point I'd used a very thin, dumbed down circle metaphor on my mom, regarding our guest list. "Imagine a circle, Mom," I'd said. "Some friends and family are in the circle; and some people fell out of touch with us years ago."

"But a wedding is a way to bring them back into the circle," my mom had rebutted immediately.

I was stunned.

It's not that I disagreed with her. That's why I was stunned. I wanted to include everyone, and here was my mom, suddenly the beneficent one between us, reaching out to all those who had fallen out. Saying what I would say!

More stunning, however, was that my mom had just responded to something I'd said using the same metaphor.

I couldn't believe it. It was like, for one moment, we actually spoke the same language. (We speak two "same" languages, but cf. here my reading from Karen and Ben's wedding, in which I delineate my belief that love is sharing a mutual language you've "invented," out of codes, experiences, and metaphors. [I said it better at the wedding.])

So then, at my mom's birthday dinner recently, I gave a toast that mentioned a certain career switch she'd made years ago. Only as an adult did I "get" what a huge leap it was to go from accounting to computer programming. At the time, my mom had talked about it like it was a promotion.

My mom nodded and totally responded.

"My coworker at that time told me something that really helped me," she said. She drew on her palm with her finger. "He told me, 'Imagine there is a circle. Some people never go outside the circle—their whole lives! You have to ask yourself if you are someone who can go out of the circle.'"

WOW! Circles again! This memory was right there for my mom, too, close at hand, all these years. My mom relates to circles!!

Thus, I think about my mom and "the circle" often.

Damon was all, "You're someone who goes outside the circle all the time."

I could not agree with this. I stay within my sphere of existence pretty consistently, even if trying new things and traveling is part of that.

To which Damon replied, "Some people never go in the circle." Teasing me.

"That's not true," I protested. "I had a job at [Company Name redacted]. I've seen what that world looks like."

"Some people peer inside the circle," he amended, "and they don't like how it looks." 

I laughed. I could have kept protesting, but at this point we reached our car and realized we still needed parking validation.

"Let's go in Virgin for a second," I said.

The moment we set foot inside Virgin Records, Damon and I saw this new Tiffany CD on display everywhere. We stopped, picked up a copy each, and studied it diligently. "Huh! Tiffany has a new album!"

I'd already walked away when Damon hurried over. "Hey. Tiffany's in the store."

What?

I looked at D's face and the conflict there, looked across the store, and looked at his face again. "Let's buy a CD and get it signed!" I said. "Come on! Let's do it!!"

I am such an easy sell.

The store was shutting down, and we were last in the autograph line. A couple guys asked Tiffany to do a personal message on their fancy video phone, and she was hilarious, so we decided it was okay to get D's camera phone out, too.

  
Another reason to carry a camera at all times. Ayyy! 
Apparently, I am terrible at using camera phones. (Sorry, Damon!!)


Did you know? Tiffany is one of only six solo female artists to have pulled two or more Hit 100 No. 1 singles from a debut album in the last 20 years?
I did not know. 

As soon as we exited the store, Damon shouted, "This night is crazy!"

"The things that happen when you go outside the circle," I said, shaking my head. According to the clock in the car, we had only been outside the apartment for an hour and forty minutes.

"Put in the CD!" Damon said. "What do you think she sounds like now?"

I had just picked up Sacha Sacket when I realized he meant Tiffany.

"AWW! LOOK WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!" I shouted as Damon busted up and also started shouting. "One minute we're all, 'Yeah!! We love you so much, Sacha Sacket!! You guys rock!! We can't wait to tell everyone in the world about you!' Fifteen minutes later, we walk into Virgin, and 'OhmiGod, everyone, TIFFANY'S SIGNING CDs!!!' Now you've forgotten all about him!!!!"

I had to shout, because D was sputtering and laughing, trying to interrupt. "No! That's not what happened! I'm totally excited about the Sacha CD! I just meant, because this one was already opened!"

"Fame is so fickle," I mourned. 

I immediately wondered if I should change this to fans. I decided no.


I have even more amazing news to share regarding the music scene (What? Even more amazing than a new favorite singer and a Tiffany sighting, all in one night?) but I have to save that for its own, super special post. It is too cool, and you can't wait.

Love,
rita

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Here is a CD everyone would like:

Lily Allen: Alright, Still [Import]

Damon and I have not been able to stop listening to this since we got it a few days ago. We carry it from car to apartment and back again. Wherever we go, it comes with.

:D
rita

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