It's seems only natural, OR, In which I attempt to return to blogging

Exclamation and Colon Musicals, Part Two

Gutenberg! The Musical! was written and composed by Scott Brown and

Anthony King, who also wrote this:

This has been one of my favorite things for almost three years. 

Improv Everywhere always brings me much happiness.

And of course, the (most recent) newest thing in colon musicals:

Freaknik -- For The Win. Thank you, T-Pain.

multifarious beauties

This is hand-cut from cardboard, if you can believe it. I really want one.

I've been drowning myself in tea this weekend, but not chamomile - apparently daisies and ragweed are related, so I'm allergic. But doesn't it look soothing?

A 1999 production of Un ballo in maschera on Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria.

a flutterby of theatrical spoonerisms:

Slips of the tongue are often made on the stage, even by the most prominent actors and actresses. Mrs. Langtry at one performance said to her stage lover, ‘Let us retire and seek a nosey cook.’

An actor at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester, turned ‘Stand back, my lord, and let the coffin pass’ into, ‘Stand back, my lord, and let the parson cough.’ …

A well-known actor who has often been applauded by New York theater-goers, in one of his speeches intended to say, ‘Royal bold Caesar,’ but forgot himself in his excitement and said, ‘Boiled rolled Caesar, I present thee with my sword.’

– John De Morgan, In Lighter Vein, 1907

The best case for vampires *I've* ever heard:

I realize that this post is a blatant contradiction to one of the ground rules I set in my very first blog post: NO vampires. Oh well. Lent is for rule-breaking, yes?

An excerpt from Margot Adler's NPR article (referring to America's on-again, on-again relationship with vampires):

"Maybe it gets back to that very American notion that we have laws and constitutions to keep our baser instincts in check. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote recently: "We are beasts with self-consciousness, predators with ethics, mortal creatures who yearn for immortality."

Exactly. Maybe that's why vampires aren't really a fad. Because — except for that all-but-immortal thing — they really are us."

I think this makes perfect sense. For some reason, I've been thinking a lot about human instincts vis-à-vis appetite recently: appetite for food (mainly in relation to carnivorism) and appetite for pleasure (mainly in relation to sex). I think that we human beings, at least in more technologically developed countries, have become such cerebral creatures that we rarely remember that humans were once subject to a vastly different, much more physical, lifestyle, and it is only when we find ourselves giving into or being held captive by our baser ("base" in the sense of being "a basic or underlying element"), more carnal, instincts, that we harken back to our beastly, predatory history...and fall in love with vampires?

Lento

So, I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I'm in the habit of giving something up for Lent, and while I can't pretend that I always give things up with the purest of intentions (it's probably more a test of my self-will than a testament of my faith), I'm a big fan of conscientious efforts toward self-improvement via sacrifice.

However, since I'm currently in a committed relationship with gluten and caffeine-free living and also flirting with life sans dairy, yeast, and refined sugar, I feel as though further dietary restrictions might lead to starvation, or at the very least, intense boredom. And even though I have plenty of other bad habits that should probably be given up, at least for a little while (digital distractions, excessive decapitalization, trashy TV), I realize that I tend to lean maybe a little too much toward the self-deprivating side, and that giving up something else, even for 40 days, might not be the best choice (at least this year).

So. I'm breaking with tradition. (Probably not an acceptable thing to do with traditions that have religious undertones, but roll with me. Besides, people add good things into their life for Lent all the time - exercising, spiritual "me" time, etc. This is just a little more...secular.) Instead of deleting something from my life, I'm going to add an important ingredient that I've been sorely lacking: knowledge of generation-defining, pop culture-reference-making, movies.

I grew up on Disney movies, musicals from the '50s and '60s and the occasional current blockbuster. Still,  I didn't see Titanic until 1999, and I only saw Twister in the theaters because they filmed in my driveway and my aunt's cornfield. Somewhere along the way, I missed out on seeing these movies (as well as Star Wars, The Princess Bride, A Fish Called Wanda, and Jurassic Park - [I just saw these movies for the first time this year!]):

**Men in Black**Pretty Woman**Best in Show**

**The Sting**Ghostbusters**Pretty in Pink**

**Sixteen Candles**Wet Hot American Summer**

**Philadelphia Story**Big**The Godfather**

**Back to the Future(s)**Sister Act I**

**Breaking Away**Chariots of Fire**Moonstruck**

**The Shawshank Redemption**12 Angry Men**

**The Usual Suspects**Terminator(s) 1&2**

**Indiana Jones(es)**Batman Begins**Die Hard**

**Manhattan**In Bruges**Good Will Hunting**

**Ghost**Boys Don't Cry**Weekend at Bernie's**

**The Matrix**Dancing with Wolves**

**This is Spinal Tap**The Graduate**Field of Dreams**

**Almost Famous**Edward Scissorhands**Blues Brothers**

Now, obviously this is only a partial list (compiled with the help of Beth and Jeni), and our individual prejudices and preferences have to be taken into account, but I think this will be more than enough to get me started. There are 37 movies on this list - my goal is to have watched at least 20 of them by Easter. Because after my recital is over, what else am I going to have to do with my life?(!)

Happy Valentine's Day.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day.

Happy Ferris Wheel Day.

Happy 3rd Day of the Olympics.

Happy 14th Day of February.

Happy 2nd Sunday of February.

Today, I am celebrating all of the blessings in my life, which include the fact that I am still dancing in fields of infinite possibilities. I hope that you can say the same.