Day 150: Starry starry night...and the Big Apple

Magical first night at the Gäddede International Lindy Hop Festival. It got off to a rocky start with a long delay in the opening show due to a blown main circuit breaker that had to be replaced. To appease the extremely patient audience who spent the time mingling in the lobby, the band and a few of the performers came out and did some impromptu entertaining. When the doors finally opened and the show went on, all was forgotten as a couple of dozen of some of the best Lindy hoppers dancing today took the stage and wowed us with their moves.


Particularly poignant for me was their rendition of the Big Apple, a circle dance that reached the height of popularity in the late 1930s. Our hero and mentor, Frankie Manning, often taught and choreographed the dance and his legacy lives on in performances such as these. Frankie was also a close personal friend and as I stood there watching, I was flooded with memories of our many chats, dances and meals together. I thought about how happy and proud he would be with the dancing, and this event in general; about how many lives he touched; about how much I miss him; about how lucky I am to have known him at all. Bittersweet...mostly sweet though.

On my way back to my room in the wee hours of the morning, enveloped in the amazing night sky, I was reminded of how rarely these days we city dwellers get to experience the magnificent display of dazzling star light that you can only see out in the country. Looking forward to more fun today!

Take a look at this video clip to get a sense of the Big Apple in action.

Day 149: Sounds of silence

These are the views I woke up to in Gäddede today. And to the sounds of silence...no cars, no background noise, no talking, no music...except the music of nature. So peaceful. So beautiful. Makes me happy just to be here...and the fun has yet to start!

Day 148: Stunned by nature

Spent the day traveling. Began at 07:28 in Stockholm Central Station. Ten hours, one train and two buses later, I arrived in Gäddede, a tiny town in northwestern Sweden quite close to the Norwegian border.

The landscape around here, and especially the final hour of the second bus trip, is just magnificent. One two occasions during the bus ride, my mouth literally dropped open as we rounded a curve and I was confronted by water, sky, trees and lovely red houses in configurations that were simply postcard perfect. The one disadvantage of traveling by bus is that you are moving all the time and cannot ask the driver to make a stop for photo opportunities. A shame really because I would love to have been able to share some of the sights with you. As it is, you'll have to make do with just one.

Day 147: At long last!

Our ticket site is up and running...YAY! You can now advance purchase tickets to Assassins before we open sales to the general public on Monday via this presale link: http://www.sodrateatern.com/aspresale

Think what a great holiday gift a couple of tickets to a great musical would make. And if you really want to splurge, why not treat yourself and a loved one to the VIP package? :-))

Am I sounding like a marketing person? Is it working?

Oh, and if you want to meet up with me at the theater, be sure to buy tickets for one of the performances before January 12 because I leave town shortly thereafter.

Spread the word!

Day 146: Long gone loves

"Everybody's got someone that they never forget
A turn in the road with no regrets
A long gone love that never lost its shine..."

After lunch, coffee and Helen's delicious cake at my place. 

So go the lyrics to Calaisa's You Are Mine. Well, one of mine invited me out to lunch today and we had a fine time catching up on what's been happening in our respective lives. It's odd to sit across the table from someone with whom you've had a relationship that went south, especially when the end was traumatic or painful, and feel no animosity or regret...simply curiosity and warmth.

I remember when a previous relationship ended (not the one with my lunch "date" today) how devastated I felt and how it seemed the pain would never diminish. Months later I could still work myself up into a frenzy or down into a black hole. And maintaining perspective was wholly impossible. Now, years later, I very rarely even think about him...he who occupied my thoughts ceaselessly then. It's like when you finally get rid of that awful cold and are so happy simply to feel normal again.

I'm happy in my singlehood these days. And happy to maintain contact with the men who were part of my life...and still are.

Day 145: Frozen chocolate

I have a new addiction, and I'm lovin' it. Milk chocolate with hazelnuts. I store several bars in the freezer and get a certain satisfaction in banging the frozen bar against the kitchen counter to crack the chocolate into bits and pieces. Then I rip open the package and bite into that amazing flavor and texture of frozen solid chocolate with the hazelnuts crunching away.

My saving grace is that the chocolate warms up quite quickly and I have to return it to the freezer to get it back to its ideal state. Otherwise, several bars would not last very long. YUM!

Day 144: Chilly day hang

Chilly day hang today. Lingering in bed. Playing Scrabble and Rummikub. A fresh hot cup of coffee (ooo, I can make decaf now...thank you L) and Rummikub...my morning ritual.

Eating some delicious cake left over from yesterday's fika and reflecting over the comings and goings in life. Having diplomat friends means facing that quite squarely. The thing you most fear really in relationships: that it will be over. And raises the age old question is really better to have loved and lost?

I don't pretend to have an answer for that one. Although I will say that I am working hard at accepting and moving forward. In any event, at least for this evening, I am filled with gratitude for the life I've been given, the friends that I've met. The path that I'm on is the one path for me. My job is to stray just enough to keep hitting adventure.

And now, that decaf! Namaste.

Day 143: Lovey and Honey

It's Farewell Fika for Helen and Nick today and I feel grounded. Coffee's bought, and milk. Plenty of teas in the house. Pastries of course. Lunch for honey, lovey and me: check.

I'm so looking forward to spending the day hanging out and talking, contemplating the good times we've had together, planning for the future. And laughing. Because when they're around, there's always lots of laughter.

Sure will miss these guys when they've moved. Sure am happy to have met them and be able to count them among my friends.

Day 142: Feeling lovey

Today a great peace descended on me. Our logo is done. What do you think?

I am stoked. There is something in the air about this musical. Our director asked the other day, "What is it about this musical that makes everyone so willing?" For me it's the music. So complex. So stunning. It's  about bringing to it to life, discovering its beauty. Being part of that process. An amazing journey that I feel so privileged to be a part of. And it's Sondheim of course, so what could be a better match?

And wait till you read the program! :-)

Day 141: The Wonders of Modern Technology

Every once in a while, I marvel at the wonders of modern technology and tonight was just such an occasion. When people ask me if I miss New York, I answer that there are things I miss about New York. At the top of the list is always theater. Theater also accounts for one of only two things I actually like about London (the other is afternoon tea :-)) It's not so much seeing theater in English, although that too is a joy. It's the variety of plays around and the quality of the acting.

Watching The Last of the Haussmans broadcast live from London's The National Theater at BioRio this evening, I reflected on how much technology had contributed to the fact that I attended this performance at all. I first heard about BioRio in a post a friend had uploaded to Facebook. We made arrangements via e-mail to go see this performance. I bought my ticket online and was able to select a seat right next to her. This afternoon, I downloaded the ticket from BioRio's Web site and printed it. And tonight, I got to see an excellent play, very well performed and directed, right in the comfort of my own city!

What exquisite use of technology...more technology to the people!

Day 140: The day after

It was a blustery fall day today in Stockholm. The winds blew, trees became barer and temperatures were lower than they've been in a while. I woke up this morning with that wiped-out-and-happy feeling permeating my body. You know the feeling...your joints ache and muscles feel heavy. You're sleepy and tired and your mind works just a bit slower than usual.

Found myself humming bits and pieces from yesterday's musical run through, puttering and working, but mostly anchored in that fantastic morning after feeling. Like when you've spent the night with the one you love and off he goes to work or wherever and you are left with the afterglow, that tingling sensation throughout your body and a perpetual smile on your face.

Yes my friends, life is good.

Day 139: Exceeding expectations

Had the privilege of watching a true craftsman at work all day today as one by one she transformed people  she worked with. With a great deal of encouragement, humor and expertise she managed to elicit the very best from each individual in the room. More than once, I was moved to tears both by the performances I witnessed and by the grace with which this fantastic voice coach worked.

My first encounter with Monica Einarsson was in 2002 in a Swedish reality series called Fame Factory. The premise was quite similar to SYTYCD but instead of dancers, it featured singers who had been selected by audition and whom we got to follow over the course of a season as they competed to stay in the show. Like SYTYCD, each week a singer was eliminated. Fame Factory played for four seasons and was aired daily which meant that you got to follow the budding singers and the Fame Factory personnel quite closely. Einarsson stood out among the staff for the extraordinary work she did and for her generous and sympathetic style. Although I do not have great aspirations to perform, deep down I always harbored the fantasy that someday, maybe, I would get to work with her.

That day was today. And the title of this blog says it all.

Day 138: Bathing in song

So filled with the sounds of the day, not really sure how I'll ever get to sleep. Eighteen people and two pianos. A script. A score. And voices, so many wonderful voices, that brought our musical to life. With us, one of Sweden's foremost voice coaches...exquisite and generous and compassionate, and so very very good.

Then a great meal followed by, you guessed it, singing. This time a competition to see which team can name the song, its composer and lyricist, the musical it came from and which year it had its premier, with bonus points for singing all or part of the song. Heaven.

And tomorrow...master class with said voice coach. I can't wait!

Day 137: Happy kind of tired

Today, I was up early to prepare the place for board games afternoon. A cup of coffee and some straightening up later, it was time for the co-op's semi-annual cleaning day. My task (self-selected) was scrubbing down the walls and floor of our garbage room. Rubber gloves and elbow grease. The room shined when I was done with it.

Next, an extra meeting of the shareholders to ratify our new bylaws, followed by communal lunch. Then shower, change of clothing and solving a bit of an internet crisis before the games began at 2 PM. A fun four hours, spent playing a variety of board games, was capped off with delicious snacks that people brought to share.

Promptly at 6 PM, I kindly but firmly showed everyone out the door in time to catch the 6:14 bus to a singing rehearsal. Then home again, dinner, some organizational work for the language exchange meeting tomorrow, and here I am, at close to midnight, looking forward to a good night's sleep.

My kind of day!

Day 136: Small pleasures

A day that begins with sleeping late is bound to be a good day. It was well past 10 AM when the craving for coffee finally got me to swing my legs off the bed and bounce into the kitchen. While the coffee was brewing, I puttered with this and that until, quite unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. Still in my nightgown, I was a bit put off and assumed it was someone in the building on a board of directors errand. Not really intending to open the door, I peeked through the peep hole only to discover that the mystery intruder was none other than a friend visiting from Australia.

We'd made plans for her to stop by for a cup of tea and a chat, plans that I'd managed to completely forget about! Naturally, because I did not write them in my calendar. Nothing to it but to open the door and welcome her in. What a lovely couple of hours we spent catching up on what's been happening in our respective lives over a hot drink and pastries she brought along. Put a smile on my face for the rest of the day :-)

Day 135: Daytime escape

There is something delicious about catching an afternoon movie, especially on a weekday. It's like a mini holiday right in the middle of the week. And when it's a good movie like the one I saw today, it makes the experience all the more wonderful.

And now, back to the warmth of my bed from which I sprang when I realized I'd forgotten to blog! LOL! Good night y'all!

Day 134: From the belly kind of laughter

I haven't been to see a stand-up comedian in ages so when I saw the event posted on MeetUp, I though, "Why not?" Let me tell you friends, there is nothing like spending a couple of hours laughing so much that your belly shakes. Al Pitcher is funny, in a Robin Williams kind of way: quick mind, quirky way of seeing the world and an hilarious take on Swedish (the language, the being, the lot).

An extra delight is that he appeared at Södrateatern where our production of Assassins will play in January. And I managed to get in a plug, if not for the production per se then at least for Sondheim. Pitcher asked if anyone in the audience had ever met anyone famous and I answered "Stephen Sondheim." (You'll understand the caliber of this comedian when I tell you that he spot-on knows who Stephen Sondheim is! And this in Sweden.) As he was signing autographs in the lobby after the show, I whispered in his ear, "I have have to run but I leave you with these parting words: Sondheim to the Masses!" He laughed at that one and I knew that he knew exactly who I was. Put a smile on my lips for the remainder of the evening.

Day 133: Happy is in the doing

Not our sukkah but wanted to give you an idea of what one looks like

It's Sukkot and for the first time since I was a child, I spent time in a sukkah. To my great surprise, today's shiur (lesson, in the biblical sense of the word) was all about the pursuit of happiness. Apparently, on Sukkot we are commanded in the bible not once, not twice but thrice to be happy. There were interesting discussions in the sukkah this evening about why that might be and how one might go about it.

In one of the associated readings by a biblical scholar, a long list of ways in which the writer tried to find happiness concludes with (and I paraphrase) "and I found the most rejoice in my labors." This resonated with me and I shared with the group the story of finding happy in 365 days. How I am finding that a sure-fire happy every day is the act of writing the blog. The doing in itself makes me happy.

As a bonus, a number of the people there became quite intrigued by the idea, perhaps even inspired to start one themselves. That, too, made me happy.

Day 132: Variety is the spice of life...på svenska

Hatching Heart
av Kali Franciska Von Koch

En sådan här dag gör mig glad. En dag då jag inte har planer utan bara gör. Och så hittar jag på saker. T ex, att anmäla mig till ett dansläger i Gäddede den 18 okt. Nu försöker jag att lära mig uttala Gäddede. Det går mindre bra ;-))

Idag är jag glad för tak över huvud, bra mat på bordet och det engagerande liv som jag lever. Har funderat en bit över min sinnestämning som på sistone har varit så himla positiv och som ger så mycket energi. Relationen mellan hur mycket energi jag har för att göra saker och hur mycket energi jag får av de saker jag gör. Känslan känns skör...jag skulle kunna vänja mig dock. Tänk att leva resten av livet i den här sinnestämningen?

Day 131: Surprise!

My finding happy mentor, Grace Ann, celebrated the three-quarter mark of her journey today with a Happy Giveaway, a tradition she started on her blog to commemorate milestones along the journey. She randomly picks among the people who commented on her blog on the milestone day and the lucky person receives a Happy Package.

Guess who won this time?
:-))