Cartwheeling through Life: 2023

Still squeezing in reading

"A shiver ran through my booted feet, cold in the snow, and felt - that curious rapture..." p. 42 Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe by Dawn Tripp

"Believe. Believe Believe." p. 54 Toothiana, Part 2: A Queen Takes Flight by William Joyce

Call forth an unseen spirit- to draw out what is..."

"Dawn feels soft and kind." p. 31 "Don't assume you can bend the world to be what you know it should be. You won't win. Just come home." p. 56 Georgia

"Each (tear) was bright with light and seemed to take the burden from his anxious heart...

"Fear and sorrow triumphed over make a powerful weapon." p. 55 Toothiana, Part 2: A Queen Takes Flight

"Holy - that moment. I've felt it in me since, everything turning into what it was meant to." p. 56 Georgia by Dawn Tripp

"Keep yourself open to that - that raw inspiration, that madness, that passion; you must let yourself be driven by that need." p. 116 Georgia by Dawn Tripp

Listen here to All Things Considered December 25, 2008 source

Matchless by Gregory Maguire

"Not everyone can feel what you feel, or feel to the end of themselves as you do." p. 56 Georgia

The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie by William Joyce

Pumpkin pie:

"Quizzical, silent, wary, strong." p. 66 Georgia by Dawn Tripp

"Rein in the chaos and fear to transmute an untenable form of beauty even as that world fell away." p. 29 Georgia by Dawn Tripp

"Something happened in that kiss, didn't it?" p. 20 "Silent point of reference that held everything tethered..." p. 28 ~ Georgia

"This is not a love story. If it were, we would have the same story. But he has his, and I have mine." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

"Unqualified nakedness of statement." p. 114 "Unmitigated praise" p. 115 "Unformed electric nature of things" p117 "Vapor round her person" p. 114 Georgia by Dawn Tripp

William Joyce: The Guardians of Childhood books:

and this gem!

"eXasperating, really, that I have to explain myself at all. And knowing at the same time this is my chance to do it." p. 129 Georgia by Dawn Tripp

"You have the chance to say something about what life is, and what it means to you." p. 25 Georgia

ABCs of November 2023

As November closed, Another full day of

"Busy" But!

Came home to find

Dinner outside our Door

Enough from two, but I ate most of itand will...

Finish it For Lunch on Friday

Gregory Maguire's Matchless: A Christmas Story is my next read

source

"I'd Rather Ride Around With You" by Reba McEntire

John helped get Logan home, and Janet helps us stay grounded at the office

Ken and Pat's fabulous family on Thanksgiving

Loving time with Lynette and the kiddos

Mom's Magnificent smile the advent box reveal reaction

11/24/23

New Hampsire with Mom 11/12/23

Stunning Sunrises

Thankful for Thanksgiving gatherings

what a fun read!

Vibrant Violet

Wispy moonset

Xmas memories

Yummy coffee made with just a touch of pumkin pie "left overs" in mug from

LiZ Yaro<-- worth the stretch ;)

What-The-Dickens by Gregory Maguire

"Antiphons: musical style. A short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain.

"Butterfly in a torando: p. 180

"Coincidence arms me, but I do the work." p. 210

"Dinah is huddled by candlelight with her brother, sister, and cousin Gage, who is telling a very unusual tale. It's the story of What-the-Dickens, a newly hatched orphan creature who finds he has an attraction to teeth, a crush on a cat named McCavity, and a penchant for getting into trouble." source

"Everything -- was flattened, Equalized in the gloom of half-light. Like the subjects in a browning photograph in some antique photo album, only these times weren’t antique. They were now."

"For Pepper, he told himself, and dove to the task." p. 210

"Ghostly Galleon tossed upon cloudy seas." p. 181

"How much energy he'd spent flundering, pumping those fragile wings like a butterfly in a tornade." p. 180

"I might not hear you, but I'll try!" p. 235

"Just call out my name and you know, I might not hear you, but I'll try!" p. 235

"Kith [friends] is Kin [family]... Keep in touch." p. 235

Lintel : a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item.

"Moon throbbed like candleglow behind very thin clouds - it kept its shape as a heavenly coin, but the light melted out in skirts all around it."

"Next upon a time..." p. 269

"Our only serious natural enemy is ourselves." p. 174

Paperback cover

source "Pepper...

"Quivered, like a drying seedpod ...

"Rasping along the dirt in a stiff wind." p. 216

"So she listened hard. And she began to evolve, because stories work their magic that way...

"They build convictionand erode conviction in equal measure." p. 115

Unusual tale

Very unusual tale

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire

eXperiment of living by gospel standards, and they hoped to be surer of their faith tomorrow than they’d been yesterday." [the Ormsby Family]

"...Youngest, who celebrates her second birthday, needs the wish the story promises. Comic scenes, elaborate tableaux and suspenseful sequences will entertain readers who prefer more straightforward fiction, but those readers may be frustrated by the unresolved ending. Ages 10-13" < this made me smile. I really liked it and had to look up a bunch of words :) review is from Publishers Weekly Oct 2007

"Zest for living" [vs] "farrago of gloom" p. 211 [farrago is a confused mixture : hodgepodge.

Theater UP: La Cage aux Folles

"Albin, his romantic partner and star Attraction"

Based on the 1973 French play of the same name, the show tells the story of a gay couple..." Wikipedia

“Community Theatre: an essential part of life in our region... And our relationships with every one of you are essential to that vision. We appreciate you, all you do for us, and all you do for our community."

Directed by Jonathan Verge

Exciting!!

"Farcical adventures ensue when household dynamics intersect with an ultra-conservative politician..." "Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment..."

Harvey Fierstein, author

"I Am What I Am"

Jerry Herman, composer

Kennedy Center Honors 2010 Angela Lansbury, Carol Channing, Chita Rivera, Sutton Foster see "Y" below

La Cage aux Folles, a fun-filled, Broadway classic with a timeless message about the power of love to open hearts and minds and to heal wounds. Let's fill the Opera House with that love and let it shine brighter than anything else.

"Musical Set to Deliver Timely Message" Headline in local paper included this photo.

Newpaper publicity photo

On our way up to Littleton, NH Opera House :)

Pretty darn happy with our seats :)

Quite the cast of characters!! :)

Rave Reviews! See TheaterUP Facebook page here

"So hold this moment fast / And live and love as hard as you know how / And make this moment last / Because the best of times is now / Is now, is now!"

Thank YOU, Theatre UP!

"Unity and celebration..."

"Vibrations of joyful love..."

"We have the choice and the power to make this world a loving and accepting place. Let your voice be heard, and let's fill the hall with the highest vibrations of joyful love." ~ from the program

"Creating eXceptional Theater in the Community Setting!" eXperience the Magic!

YouTube video of Kennedy Center Honors for Jerry Herman, composer

ZaZa's headdress

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

"And so Despereaux was free."

"Back to the world of light." p. 164 Botticelli

Chiroscuro: Italian term "arrangement of light and dark, darkness and light together. "

Desperaux wept with joy and with pain and with gratitude. He wept with exhaustion and despair and hope..." p. 181

Egregious acts (p. 52) : conspicuous;

Flagrant. An act that is obviously wrong.

"Gregory, for instance, dreams of a world where soup is legal." p. 164

"Hope, like love ... a ridiculous, wonderful, powerful thing." p. 13r

"I honor you!" shouted Despereaux... He was, alas, a mouse deeply in love." pp. 40-1

Jig of Joy; in the light of the one candle p. 163

"Love is ridiculous... powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous." p. 32

"Make some light. Once Upon a time..." p. 81

"No one to do the really disagreeable jobs except oneself..." p. 217

"Once upon a time..."

Perfidy: deceitfulness; untrustworthiness.

Quest. Say it reader. Say the word "quest" out loud. It's an extraordinary word." p. 221

"Revenge is at hand" Roscuro p. 165

"Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell ... a story. Make some light." ~ Gregory p. 82

"Topsy-tuvy, wrong-headed world." p. 40 "They say he was born with his eyes open." p. 51

"Unbelievable! Unthinable!" p. 35

Vicious cycles p. 128

"Wept with all the emotions a young mouse who has been sent to his death and the delivered from it in time to save his beloved can feel." p. 181

eXtraordinary word [quest] p. 221

"You must know that an interesting fate ...awaits almost everyone ... who does not conform." p. 25

"You have lovely ears... they are like ... velvet." p. 37

"Zip. Zero. Nada. Goose eggs." p. 223

Imperfect Apprehension of Cause and Effect

"A day like this nourishes one." ~ Miss Happy Happiness!! p. 51

"Buttery sunlight and a vivid wind." p.51

Crepuscular (of, resembling, or relating to twilight) tunnel p. 26

"Dreams ride with us, frictionless, dark reflections in bright water... we can fly in dreams... Dreams play havoc with sequence... rewriting history. Sequence, and consequence." p. 47

Elevenses (89) : a short break for light refreshments, usually with tea or coffee, taken about eleven o'clock in the morning.

Farrago (a confused mixture) of comedy p. 27

"Floriology [the language of flowers] had an actually tongue." p. 50

"Hidden places wink into being... History takes a long time to Happen." p. 103

"I have only one life. I need to take care of it." ~ Ada p. 74

"Kitted out with treacherous tree roots and crumbling banks." p. 7 "Keeping out of the fray." p. 7

Langourously: suggests a dreamy boredom and delicacy that avoids unnecessary, like cats in the sun

Mesmerism. an obscure form of what in a few decades will come to be known as aestheticism." p. 29 "Maybe it wasn't actually Hell, just hellish." p. 50

New York Times Review Oct 28, 2015

Outlandish and Outrageous p. 50

Perdition (22) a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death.

"Quirkish worlds of Andersen and Hoffmann and the unexpurgated Chaucer." p. 30

Quotidian:ordinary or everyday, especially when mundane

"Rubicund health" p. 91 ruddy

Spectral cat

"There is no back story in a dream. Time slips all handcuffs." p. 29 "Time may eddy and distort, but even when it traffics in the past, it does so in the guise of the present moment." p. 46

"Up until ten minutes ago, Ada had not had much experience in the practice of immagination. She'd never been alone long enough to imagine what being lonely might be like. Perhaps she'd have the chance to try. She might even like it." p. 25-6

"Very well. I can wait. May I give you a bit of advice? Don't take the advice of anyone you meet here...

"We're all mad." p. 75 "When does a fall take time,

eXcept for the drift of a leaf or a snowflake, or perhaps a lapse in perdition?" p.22

Yielding to that paradox: that the least powerful among us are privileged with the greatest exposure to feeling. " p. 193 "You'll find children the greatest comfort you can imagine." p. 233

Inspired by words: in songs and in books

Abby Anderson's "Heart On Fire in Mexico" listen here

"Bigger Houses" by Dan + Shay listen here

Colbie Caillat feat. Sheryl Crow: I'll Be Here" listen here

Evil was predictable; it cloaked itself in righteousness, convinced its enemies must be punished." p. 235

Fernseed: the dustlike asexual spores of ferns formerly thought to be seeds and believed to make the possessor invisible.

Grateful for all the Gifts

"I will hold you close /You won't be alone anymore" ~ "I'll Be There"

Jack Straw Tavern, Salem, Massachusetts : " Just a warning," Robert said. "Love can be dangerous." p. 232

Kissed him recklessly, as if the world was about to end, but it wasn't. It was only the story that was over." p. 240

"Love was cruel and unpredictable, and yet he wanted it more than words, more than anything." p. 190

"Laugh, I will make you laugh / If you еver feel like cryin'" ~ "I'll Be There"

Magic by the Lake by ?? P.204 Mia couldn't leave well enough alone p. 210

"Nothing was written in stone..." p. 206 "Nathaniel's birthplace was modest by comparison... "p. 208

"Once a girl walked into a library she could never be controlled again." p. 226

PJ Playing soccer

Quoting Thoreau p. 205 "Time hides no treasures; we want not its then, but its now."

Reading:

"Single kiss lasts longer than a lifetime..." p. 228 "Sometimes walking away is the bravest thing you can do. When you get there, you'll know where you are."

"This is your now. A Treasure is a Treasure if you think it is. The book is your Treasure, and Joel thinks you have his treasure as well." p. 205

Until that time, I must ask you to leave." p. 226

"Violet-colored dawn would lead to a glorious late summer day, and the air was not yet suffused with heat." p. 191

"Words were magic. That was all he knew. Words were all he had. And if that were true, then anything was possible." p. 193 "West of the Moon was where you journeyed to meet the person you loved, the one you would never forget..." p. 251

EXtraordinary arbor of twisting wisteria of a variety introduced to Massachusetts during the nineteenth-century China trade." p. 208

"You're gonna be okay / You're, you're gonna be okay / Oh, the sun will keep on risin' in that old familiar way / And every little thing is gonna be okay ... " by Lauren Daigle 🎶 listen here

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