Rent!

I had a fabulous weekend as I got to visit my cousin Jenny in Maryland so we could see RENT at a The Wolf Trap Theater near where she lives, along with her, as she puts it, hopefully someday sister-in-law. This all started last summer when Jenny, her sister Pam and I went to see Wicked at the Miriam Theater in Philly which was amazing and I'd highly recommend that show to anyone. We had so much fun we decided we needed to plan to do it at least once a year. Unfortunately, Pam couldn't join us again, and Megan wasn't able to for the second time either. But I love Rent, it's my favorite show, and Jen had seen the movie and knew how much I loved it, so we just had to see it while it was in town. I am so glad we did.
The Wolf Trap Theater is a non profit, open air theater which allows you to bring outside food and beverages with you and eat on the lawn. I was completely enamored with this concept since at any venue I've been to in Philadelphia, they completely gouge their captive audience with food and beer prices. I felt like I was getting away with something as we carried our cooler full of beer and sandwiches right through the front gates. Jenny even remembered to pack pickles. We sat on the lawn, with lots of other picnickers before the show and ate our dinner, enjoying the laid back atmosphere, and the breeze that made the summer weather slightly less sticky.
Months ago when Jenny first mentioned the show, she had told me that her brother-in-law works at the theater, so we could probably get good tickets, and when we arrived he got us tickets in row F with a senior discount! So naturally, we were thrilled to have cheap seats so close to the stage. Then, not long after we had sat down and started eating, he came over, handed us new tickets and receipts for a refund for the old tickets. We were now sitting in row B, dead center, and it didn't cost a thing!!! This, of course, prompted giggly, faux-snotty remarks of how far away row F was, and how that just wouldn't have been acceptable.
The show itself was fantastic, as usual, and while the performers weren't quite as good as the cast I saw in Philly several years ago, their energy made up for what they may have lacked in talent, which still wasn't much. I soaked it all in, trying hard not to sing along to all the songs, and informed Chris on Sunday when I got home, that I have to get the soundtrack.
While I fought with the inevitable feelings of these actors not being exactly the same as the ones I remember, Collin's voice should be deeper, Angel should have more rhythm, Maureen needs to be a little more leather then denim... I was particularly impressed with the guy cast as Roger who, unlike the original Roger, sort of a grunge rocker al la Kurt Cobane, looked a little like Billy Joe from Green Day sporting guy-liner and bleached blond spiky hair. I liked the image change very much as I had never particularly found Roger attractive as the male lead, but it was this guy's voice that really blew me away. He sang with such emotion and had such vocal control I think I could have listened to him sing the entire show by himself.
Here's a you tube video here of him singing "One Song, Glory" from the show for you guys to enjoy too. And as a fun side note, we read in the program later that he won South African Idol. We thought it was funny, but unfortunately his music is a little boy band-ish, but he did do a pretty good job of keeping his accent in check during the show.
Also, the link to the Wolf Trap theater for anyone who wants to check it out, if you happen to live down there or are planning on visiting. http://www.wolf-trap.org/

Words to live by

For the past few years I've been meeting with two of my closest friends to share our lives and study God's word together, and while "bible study" is a good, common term for our meetings, over the years it's turned into more than just a bible study to me. A few weeks ago on my way to Kim's house there was a huge rainbow in the sky that I couldn't take my eyes off the whole time I was driving; all the while I was praying that it'd stay till I got to Kim's and fumbling with my camera phone at red lights just in case it didn't. It stretched from one end of the sky to the other and even had a shadow rainbow that shimmered in and out of view next to it. I wasn't far from her house, and the three of us did get to enjoy it together, standing on Kim's porch taking pictures, making the neighbors wonder. What a blessing it was to start our night together with a reminder of God's promises, and such a beautiful one at that!

So we have been meeting for a while and we've studied all sorts of things, different study books, the Proverbs 31 woman, going through various books of the bible. Currently we're in the book of 1 Peter since we started in James and enjoyed it too much to stop there. Last night we were reading the fourth chapter and after reading it and discussing it for a few minutes I realized that I really needed to commit verses 7 - 11 to memory.

"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen."

(Words in bold are mine, because those are the things I need to remember every day.)

It's really eye opening to consider the fact that if it's God's will, I may not have tomorrow. Today could be my legacy, the footprints that remain for those I left behind to remember me by. So what do people see? Did I love others despite their attitudes, serve them without grumbling, and go about my day with a grace that transcends my own flesh? Or did I leave a cloud of frustration, stubbornness, and complaint in my wake?

Unfortunately the days I let the little things get to me are not few and far between, but I'm going to be working on that.

NeoCon

I just got back, last night at 11pm, from a trip to Chicago my office sent me on. Every year the city hosts a huge trade show called NeoCon for anyone in the industry at their merchandise mart which is a huge building on the canal that houses showroom after showroom of furniture, fabrics, carpets, wallcoverings, kitchen & bath fixtures, you name it and there's probably a showroom for it somewhere. It was a great, whirlwind trip, and beyond the merchandise mart I just want to recommend Chicago for anyone looking for a cool city to visit because I can't wait to go back with Chris to do a little more exploring.

I'll give you as much of a condensed version as I can. Our plane landed around 9am, we caught a cab and went straight to the mart where we checked our bags and tried to figure out where the heck to go. The building was huge and pretty difficult to navigate, especially with so many people there. Every time I turned around there was another line for a different set of elevators, it was crazy! I'd like to say we eventually figured it out, but it was just not possible to get the map in your head in less then 2 days. We signed up for a seminar, which was very informative, about the evolution of the open work space and how that will continue to change as the baby boomers retire since we'll have only one new worker coming in for every two leaving. If you're interested in seeing how it's evolving, google "google Zurich office" and check out their office in Zurich, it's pretty cool. We collected as much of the free stuff the showrooms were giving out as we could which was a lot of bags, some notebooks and pens, food & drink, and even teddy bears and my personal fav, soccer balls! That stuff plus all the product literature we picked up and my shoulders are still sore! After a Herman Miller showroom tour and my first ever red bull we finally found our hotel, checked in, and got to relax for a little while & shower before meeting back up with the Herman Miller people for dinner.

Being taken to dinner by furniture reps is always an experience because the company is picking up the tab. They ordered way more food then the 5 of us would ever eat and we drank two bottles of wine which were over $100 each! It was a very nice, relaxing way to end the evening as everyone was very friendly and the conversation flowed well for the almost three hours that we sat in the restaurant. Good stuff. Then I got to watch the last 2 minutes of the Celtics game "which Chris" before bed.

Yesterday I was up way too early which I'm blaming on the combination of not being in my own bed, and the red bull. So I lounged around a little, took my time getting all the junk I'd acquired the day before packed and ready for the plane ride home. We checked out around 8:30, grabbed a quick breakfast and lugged all of our stuff back to the mart so we could hit a couple more showrooms before our time was up. Then we took a cab to Navy Pier and took an architectural ferry ride/tour along the canal which was a great way to end the trip. Still work-related but we got out in the sun, it was a beautiful day, and got to sit down and enjoy the city a little bit.

And now, for any of you interested in seeing Chicago, here are the few tips I have to offer.
1. Try to fly out of Midway airport instead of O'Hare. O'Hare was crowded, had really long lines, both checking in and security, and a lot of connector flights go through there so for a fairly small airport it's full to the brim with people.
2. Take the train! We spent almost $40 on a cab ride from the airport to the mart on Tuesday morning and $2 a person to take the train back Wednesday afternoon. Trains go to downtown from both airports, orange line from Midway and blue line from O'Hare.
3. Check out Navy Port! This is where we took the Architectural ferry tour from, but they had so much more I wish we had had a little time to walk around. There are at least a half dozen different boat tours to chose from, shopping and even some carnival rides, and that's just what I did see.
4. As some of you may know, Chicago was where Frank Lloyd Wright began his career as an architect where among other things, he popularized the prairie style home in the 1900's. I don't want to get into an architecture lesson but there are many different tours you could take to see some of the really cool buildings he designed. I was a little sad I didn't get to see the Robie House which I had done a project on in Design 2.
5. And I would be remiss not to mention the fact that Chicago has two baseball teams to watch, the Cubs at Wrigley Staduim and the White Sox at the much lesser known U.S. Cellular Field (I had to look it up). FYI, Red Sox play the White Sox in August. :)