For those of you who are not from Lynnwood, Washington, the guy on the left is Randy Couture...he is sort of a pioneer of UF, Ultimate Fighting, and evidently, he is fighting this Gonzaga guy in the Championship on August 25. Randy is a legend at Lynnwood High School, and "Gonzaga" obviously knows nothing about the toughness of northern Seattle suburbanites.
But wait, there is more. Right next to this billboard is the Millenium Hotel, and guess who is staying there for the next four days...Kristy McCaslin, another LHS graduate. I'm telling you, LHS is representing. What was our mascot? The Chimera? (I just discovered that we all pronounced it wrong the entire four years). I would like all LHS graduates to comment on this posting, showing some Chimera pride. Bill Kumma, Jaci, Kristy (even though you're here), Jodi, Angie, Bill Gillam, Brian, the "L(iy)ndas," Crystal, Patti Bourgault, Glenn, Casey- you taught there...come on and represent in spirit with Randy, Kristy and me in Times Square. (Karyn, I know you may be the only one commenting, so can you pretend to represent from LHS?)
But wait, there is more. Look at the advertisement below the UF one...it's a rat! You know what? I am very aware that every night is Black Hefty garbage bag night somewhere in Manhattan.
So, back to Magical Thinking. Imagine this: you lose someone suddenly within the past year and you go to this play, which is basically a stage adaptation of a book written by one of the best writers alive and it's about the sudden losses she experiences - of both her husband and daughter - over a very short period of time. Not only that, but the person performing this book is Vanessa Redgrave. So you have Vanessa Redgrave describing the exact grief you experienced over the past year, basically acting out your life on stage, and you are sitting in the fourth row. This is how the girl next to me experienced this play - she is from my program - and because I knew this, it's how I experienced it, too. Vanessa was dressed in a white blouse and gray skirt with her hair pulled back with a scrunchy. I'm convinced that she is the only human being who can make a scrunchy look classy post 1990. She appeared on stage in complete darkness, except for her face, after a huge white sheet dropped. Her first words: "You don't think it will ever happen to you," (longest pause in the world) "But it will happen to you" (no, wait, this was the longest pause in the world) "only the details will be different."
I kind of hate to tell you what was going on in my mind during this powerful beginning. I was thinking about my cell phone. Was it off? I knew it was off. But I felt horror just thinking about the mere possibility of my cell phone ruining this moment.
It didn't go off, and I got past that and was pulled in to magical thinking. No intermission, one hour and forty minutes' worth. That is a lot to memorize. I am so glad I saw it.
By the way, guess what Kristy and I are going to see this Friday night? Wait for it, Karyn.....
Spring Awakening! I just couldn't let you down, you know? (Remember, the heavy burdens I am carrying...).
Let's see, what else did I do today? Well, I heard an excellent lecture about Mongols and Manchus by a professor named Morris from Columbia. Then I saw the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, filled with, um, really cool designs. While I was there, I took a few renegade photos (I didn't know better until reprimanded) so here's one for Brian, my brother who has always had a thing for flashlights:
And here is one that was just fun to figure out. Sorry it's not better, but it is contraband, and if you click on it, it should get bigger. The bottom middle picture is Cheney, and the bottom right picture is a gesture.
My favorite part of the museum was outside in the garden, and I will let the pictures explain it, but we saw water purifiers, water carrying devices, shelters, cooking devices, etc, designed for those living in poverty. It made me want to look up all of the websites and support these designers.
I have no proper conclusion for tonight, so I will just say "Go Royals!"
7 comments:
Jaci LeGore, former president of the LHS class of '85, said:
OK-how great and serendipitous (is this even close to be correct usage of this great word?) is your life! I LOVE IT! THANKS FOR SHARING IT ALL AND LOVED HEARING YOUR VOICE TONIGHT! ROCK ON SISTER! LOVE JACI
Ok... first let me say great post! I loved it.
Now. Hello - Randy Couture! He is the BEST fighter in the UFC bar none! Rick just mentioned him last night. We buy the pay-per-view fights JUST to see him... pure genius!
Next - while I am not an LHS great, I will still give props for LHS putting out Randy Couture (oh, and Brian and Marjie Bowker)!
Ok... I am SO thrilled you saw YofMT . I didn't know anything about it until Tonys in June, but now I want to see it. I LOVE no intermission plays. They are the best - keep the momentum going. It feels like you are living in their world. It breaks the magic of that with intermissions. And, OMGoodness... I can't WAIT to check my blog Friday night! Can't you please call me on your cell phone and just let me listen for the whole show?!
Ahhh... I feel better now. I can sleep peacefully. Hopefully you get to sleep soon too!
Of course you'd see Year of M. T. because that production is haunting me. My little life does not offer a foray into even thinking of Broadway (or even many novels at this point; remember the fifteen closed libraries?), but I've read of and heard so much about that book and play that it had to come back into my life. Here it is, visiting my Path Not Taken Self aka Marjie.
I curse anonymous! It took me this long to just get posted. I'll figure out the rest later. Path Not Taken is Amy T.
Yes - As the former president of the class of 1991 - I can attest to the greatness of LHS. What school, or city for that matter, would not be proud to have raised up and sent out into the world a man whose primary talent is beating other men to a pulp? VIVA LA VIOLENCIA!
[A note to Rick Norris: Next time you think you can bully me around, just remember what school I grew up in!]
Loved the flashlight pic! Thanks for thinking of me!
Now, Randy who?
Okay, from a former LHS cheerleader who actually went to LHS at the same time as Mr. Couture:
I just looked my old yearbooks from the now famous LHS last Sunday at Mom and Dad's. (Mostly to show Megan the big hair. Brian, your class won!)
We are off to the lake for a week, so I'll miss your posts Marj. When you get back, Nolan, Megan and I will be at our church's kid's camp. I'm sure I'll have some stories for you since I'm the camp nurse!
I am so jealous of "A Year of Magical Thinking' AND 'Spring Awakening". I want to be in New York. However, while here in boring old Seattle, I did see Ratatouille which is a lovely juxtaposition of your most beloved thing (food and cooking) and your most hated (rats, at times, lots and lots of rats).
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