Scene It!

For the past year and a half, I have been helping out here and there on the paints crew for shows by Staples Players in Westport.

Shows include "Guys and Dolls," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Rent," and "Curtains."

This time the show is "Brighton Beach Memoirs," written by Neil Simon. The image above is me wallpapering. I've never done it before, so this was certainly a learning experience. The below image shows the type of wallpaper we used - anaglypta, a very cool textured kind of paper.

 

It's going to get painted another color. Below is some other parts of the set. It looks a hot mess right now, but it's going to be pretty cool once the set is done. The dummy on the couch was used in the production of "Curtains", and the students have named him Harold. 

 It's so funny how much in theater is faked - the "hardwood flooring" you see above is actually luan strips painted with two kinds of brown and then sealed. It's a very different kind of painting (and often uses many different mediums) than your traditional fine art painting, but it's fun to see how all the pieces fit together.

Boom! Bridgeport Beautifies

I want to share something that is very near and dear to my heart.

I and nine other Public Allies in the Bridgeport area have created a team service project that is just amazing. We created a blog today to help inform would-be volunteers and collaborators about further details, and how they can be a part of the movement even when we have reached full capacity on what we can manage.

It's bare bones right now, but it will get updated soon with info on seed bombing, moss graffiti, and street clean up.

Even if you don't live in Bridgeport, you can have your own beautification project in your neighborhood. Coordinate a clean up, or get involved in a local community garden. There are even funds and organizations out there that can help you design and create a neighborhood mural. Get creative, start networking, and tap into whatever resources you can - it will be well worth it in the end.

Spring is On Her Way

I'm back at ESCAPE to the Arts one afternoon a week to teach Sparks! I'm so glad to reconnect with old students, and meet new ones. (Sparks is a curriculum for middle school students that involves learning about significant events in American history, and then taking a week long trip in the summer to travel to these places and actually see them. Past years have included Boston, Newport, Amish country, Washington D.C., and New Bedford. This year we'll be going to San Francisco and Los Angeles!)

The students at one point began begging that I tell them a Greek myth. I often retold these old stories while we worked to entertain the kids. They asked for me to tell them about Spring, and how it came to be that the seasons would change. I recounted the myth of the grain goddess Demeter losing her daughter Persephone to Hades, King of the Underworld. Since Persephone ate of the food of the dead, it was agreed that she would stay on the earth with her mother for part of the year, and remain in the Underworld for the rest of the year. Each time Persephone makes her journey to the Underworld, Demeter begins to grieve, and the trees lose their leaves and the frost kills the grass. In due time, the goddess Spring retrieves Persephone from her underground dwelling, and reunites mother and daughter. Demeter's happiness results in new growth and warmer, longer days.

While it is still February, and only a couple days ago we were treated to a gentle snowfall, there are signs of spring going on inside my house.

The amaryllis has bloomed. It was once an ugly little bulb sitting forgotten in a pot at Stop 'n' Shop. I immediately loved it, and though it wasn't in their inventory and we had no idea what it was, we purchased it anyway. Lover dubbed it "Lord Stubbingtons." In time, long green leaves emerged, and I soon recognized it as Amaryllis belladonna.

Also:

A weeping pussy willow, in bloom, and a male, as you can see by the plethora of yellow stamens. Once the ground is warm again, I plan to plant the little tree into the backyard by the forsythia.

I mentioned in my last post that we had a new addition:

Peekaboo! Otter, or Quadrapus as we call her. A beautiful tortoiseshell Munchkin.

A Munchkin cat is a cat with shortened legs. The gene is similar to the gene in dogs that produces dachshunds and corgis. It doesn't interfere with her ability to jump or run as cats with longer legs do, and there are no spine-related issues despite the short legs. Munchkins are very lovable, trainable, and precocious!

This morning, I found my gorgeous amaryllis on the floor among dirt and shards of porcelain, roots exposed. Otter had gotten a little too excited about the fishtank that the flower was placed next to, and this mess was the result. Lover helped me to clean up, "Lord Stubbingtons" was repotted, and I have since forgiven the little pest. She's too cute!

Coming soon... painting theater scenery, beautifying Bridgeport, ordering from seed catalogs, and finishing art projects!

February Greetings!

I have been so busy this February! We had the Public Allies mid-year retreat where we frolicked in snow with team-building games and a scavenger hunt. Also, the AmeriCorps team service project is picking up speed and we're hurtling into March!  First up, a pocket park clean up!

Lover and I have several new additions to the family - first and foremost, our new kitty, Otter, who we have nicknamed "Quadrapus." She's super affectionate and a big time purr-er. Also, we have a new tank of fish - Ponyo, Chihiro, San, and Valve. Ponyo, Chihiro and San are Glofish (all named for Hayao Miyazaki characters), and Valve is an albino pleco, or as we like to call him, a "sucker fish."

I'll be ordering seeds from the catalogs soon - I can't wait!!! And, I've got a few new projects going on - painting an end table with a really cool motif, a new kitchen apron, and designing an invitation for the local chapter of Soroptimist. All pictures will be posted here!