A Holiday Project

A dear friend of mine asked me if I knew of anyone who could make a custom holiday stocking for his new niece to hang upon the mantle at Christmas.  I'm sure my friend is quite proud of himself for being so clever as to not ask me directly, but, being so full of myself, I, of course, volunteered myself for the project.  An offer that he gladly accepted.  The games people who love one another play...

To be fair, I have not sewn anything of consequence for some years...maybe 5 to 7.  Since my quilting partner retired, I have just turned my energies in other directions.  But this project came at a good time, and it's reasonable in it's scope.  Also I greatly appreciate the freedom of creativity that he entrusted me with.  The recipient in just over one year old.  She hardly has any set preferences with it comes to design.  My friend also described the finished product as a keepsake that she would cherish throughout the years.  I agree.

Off the table were any "cutsie" little patterns or designs.  Equally nixed were any religious
images.  Also the child's name is Violet.  That was important to know.  So I began with an extensive search of Holiday fabrics both online and at local fabric shops.  My sense was to create a stocking that featured animals.  I love animals.  Kids love animals.  Little kids love to look at and imagine about animals.  And I wanted something traditional, too.

Imagine my joy when I discovered just such a print?  I immediately purchased it online and awaited it's arrival!  Imagine my initial disappointment when it arrived as seemed too large for the task at hand...  I look more.  I looked high.  I looked low.  I found nothing that inspired me like this print.  Ergo, it was time to get serious.  I considered the dimensions of the pattern and the area of the images on the print and devised a plan to reconfigure the image using appliqué techniques.

I completed the bulk of the front of the stocking today.  The images that follow trace the progress.

This is the print that I settle on and purchased online.  I love the blue motif and the choice of arctic animals that are also being critically threatened by global warming.

Here I centered the stocking pattern around St. Nicholas and added both toe and heal pads using an unrelated fabric featuring violets.  Additionally I cut out the Snow Owl, one of the Polar Bears and one of the Arctic Foxes from the original fabric and basted them to appliqué on the portion with Santa.  Further complicating the project, I also cut out around the bunny and basted it in preparation for a multi-layered collage of images from the original.

 PHASE 1: Appliqué in the Snow Owl and the then the bunny.

 PHASE 2: Appliqué in the Polar Bear with an extra layer of cotton banting to give it an elevated form.

 PHASE 3: Appliqué in the Arctic Fox with a layer of cotton banting for the same reason.

More to come!

My Door for 2017...Is Dressed

I have to say that the majority of traditions that mark my holidays come from Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory". The roots of placing the cards I receive on my front door for the coming year can be found in this passage, I've no doubt.

"The black stove, stoked with coal and firewood, glows like a lighted pumpkin. Eggbeaters whirl, spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it; melting, nose-tingling odors saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke. In four days our work is done. Thirty-one cakes, dampened with whiskey, bask on windowsills and shelves.

"Who are they for?

"Friends. Not necessarily neighbor friends: indeed, the larger share is intended for persons we've met maybe once, perhaps not at all. People who've struck our fancy. Like President Roosevelt. Like the Reverend and Mrs. J. C. Lucey, Baptist missionaries to Borneo who lectured here last winter. Or the little knife grinder who comes through town twice a year. Or Abner Packer, the driver of the six o'clock bus from Mobile, who exchanges waves with us every day as he passes in a dust-cloud whoosh. Or the young Wistons, a California couple whose car one afternoon broke down outside the house and who spent a pleasant hour chatting with us on the porch (young Mr. Wiston snapped our picture, the only one we've ever had taken). Is it because my friend is shy with everyone except strangers that these strangers, and merest acquaintances, seem to us our truest friends? I think yes. Also, the scrapbooks we keep of thank-you's on White House stationery, time-to-time communications from California and Borneo, the knife grinder's penny post cards, make us feel connected to eventful worlds beyond the kitchen with its view of a sky that stops."

It used to be for many years I would host a gathering at this time of the year with a dinner proper, and then I would read to whole of the story to my guests.  If you're looking for a tradition to share with friends, this might just be the one to start!

An Irish Carol @ Keegan Theater

Way back when I first envisioned doing a lot of local theater this fall, I wanted to go to as many different theaters and productions as possible.  I was aware of this theater on Church Street in the Dupont neighborhood.  It opened its doors two years after I moved to Takoma Park and it was just half a block from historic St. Thomas Episcopal Church were Integrity, DC met and with whom I was a board member from about 1995 to 2000.  Back then it was called fittingly enough "The Church Street Theater" and it began the reinvention of this wonderful building that was originally built as the gymnasium for a local private school.  Over the years the Church Street Players waned and a new group took the place over and renamed it the Andrew Keegan Theater in 2009.  This group bought the building outright and then renovated, revealing it's present form in 2013. 

And I have to say, it's absolutely an amazing performance space which creates rapport with the actors by it's shear warmth and proximity.  My seat was in the second row dead center--actor eye level.

This production was conceived of by me as my Christmas Break show.  (And then came along "Into The Woods" at the Kennedy Center Dec 25!...and "Titanic" at Signature Theater tomorrow evening, DEC 29)  Oh well.  If you're going to be up-staged, you certainly could do a lot worse!  So, how small is Keegan?  Well, they don't bother to print tickets.  You arrive and a handsome young man at a laptop looks up your will call and then uses a sharpy to write your seat on you program.  Well, except after he named my seat, he asked, "Do you want me to write that down for you?"  And my look caused him to quickly add, "No.  I bet you've already memorized it..."  Bingo, chico!  

So what is "An Irish Carol?"  It is a play that Keegan has done now for the past 6 years.  It was written by one of their own company members--the theater does outreach to Ireland, I'm not completely clear on that relationship.  It takes place in a pub, and features a pub owner not unlike Scrooge, who experiences a wee epiphany over the eve of Christmas.  No ghosts.  Just customers.  It's sincere as the day is long...and gratefully 90 minutes in length.  The actors were good and they milked the script for all they could get out of it.  Not a bad script, but one that proves once again just how hard it is to write a play.  What it lacked: energy, subtlety, passion.  What it had: sincerity, sweet characters, lousy Irish accents!  But at it's price range I can forgive it's warts. 

Kevin Adams as David "Scrooge" and Mike Kozemchak as his little brother, Michael

Pub regular, Frank, played by Timothy Hayes Lynch, and Polish bartender "Bob Cratchet", Bartek, played by Josh Adams 

The Cast: (L to R) Mike Kozamchak - Michael, Mick Tinder - Richard, Matthew Hirsch - Simon, Caroline Dubberly - Anna, Timothy Hayes Lynch - Frank, Kevin Adams - David, Josh Adams - Bartek, and Mark A. Rhea - Jim (and director)

Time To Go "Into The Woods" Again!

Just in from attending the Fiasco Theater Company's touring ensemble of their Off-Broadway revival of Sondheim's "Into The Woods" at the Kennedy Center. WOW! I was the first personal to jump to my feet at the end, but I was not the last. Such a wonderful, high energy reimagining of the original with a pared down cast of 10 actors plus the piano player. Everyone but the Baker assumed two or more rolls. The vocal quality was outstanding across the board and the actors delivered the well-healed lines with a freshness and clarity that made so much of the production feel new and better.

I love this show so much that I was waiting for each song with great anticipation, and highlights included: "Hello Little Girl" performed by Anthony Chatmon II as the Wolf and Lisa Helmi Johanson as Little Red Ridinghood, "There Are Giants In The Sky" performed by Philippe Arroyo as Jack, and "No More" performed by Fred Rose as the Baker's Father and Evan Harrington as the Baker. The later being a surprise as it's not really one of the traditional show stoppers. The most consistently compelling cast members were Philippe Arroyo as Jack, Lisa Helmi Johanson at Little Red Ridinghood/Repunzel and Darick Pead who's Milky White politely stole every scene, and who's Repunzel's Prince and step-sister Florinda also gave you your money's worth. And honestly, everyone was amazing--these folks just had exceptionally good performances tonight.

My Box Seat view of the stage

You can see the sets were a collection of odd backstage objects became everything from a seamstress' dress form transformed to a magical tree where Cinderella's mother was buried to a stage ladder turning into Repunzel's tower. The music was primarily maintained by an onstage piano player who had an occasional narrator's line, but the actors themselves were suddenly playing the cello, or a trumpets, or a banjo or a bassoon! etc. And no one left the stage...they simply faded into the edges and when necessary made seamless costume changes. I have to say, no better way to spend Christmas evening in my book, and I splurged at purchased a box seat so that I would have my own comfortable chair to sit it, too.

As fate would have it, a rather eccentric slightly inebriated women had the chair next to mine... She arrived just before the show started and the gin on her breath sat down four steps before she did. She proceeded to retrieve items from her bag to keep a cocktail of her own concocting going throughout the show, but she was otherwise unobnoxious. I can appreciate a quiet alcoholic.

Christmas Day Sligo Creek

Christmas Day was quiet around here.  Romeo and I walked down in the park along the creek.  It's nakedness a thing of beauty in and of itself.

Santa Brought Me A New Mug!

Breakfast just got a whole lot classier!

Holiday Meals!

 For Brunch/lunch I made Ham Salad and then finger sandwiches to munch on as I got hungry throughout the day.

 Dinner featured Stuffed thick-cut Pork Chops, Potatoes au Gratin, and Carrots & Green Beans cooked in Lemon-Butter and Chives.

Dessert: Dutch Sour Cream Apple Pie!

Holiday Wreath

A package arrived with a Holiday Present from friends yesterday--excellent timing!

What A Good Sport, My Romeo!

 I'd like to think that he thinks this is a fun and funny as I do...

But his true sentiment is probably closer to offering me the Ppppppfffffthtt of the proffered tongue!

Holiday Traditions

[From my Facebook page--but a good message in any event!}

I've shared this story before, but it feels like something I ought to share again in memory of my dear mother. I had great parents--not perfect parents, but real parents who in spite of their human flaws and limitations never gave me a single reason to doubt their love.

My mother was born a year before women got the right to vote in these United States in a small town in far western Oklahoma. She was the second child of nine. Her mother was a homemaker who taught her how to make the most amazing meringue topped pies on the planet. Her father was a stone mason who supervised the building of the foundation of the courthouse in Hobart, Oklahoma among a life time of other civic and private works. And just like me, my mother loved her family and her friends.

Every year at Christmas time, she would set up her prized sewing table and instead of removing the trap door in which to insert her Singer sewing machine (perhaps you've seen one of the these mid-twentieth century wonders), or spread out a jigsaw puzzle for us to work on during the long cold winter months and rare Michigan school snow days, or even for the occasional, random Canasta marathons with my sisters and I; she would lay out her Christmas cards along with the sheets of holiday stamps and address book and blank note pad and cup with a dozen ink pens--and go to work. Starting in early November and continuing until the year's events were completely retold and sent, she would sit at that table and write out her love to dozens of family members and friends. Remember this was before the days of the ubiquitous Holiday "Letter"--that one-pager, mimeographed, then xeroxed, then printed and/or now just emailed generic description of the events of one's life from the previous year. I often wonder what my mom would think of this evolution from a labor of love to a convenience of technology!

By now, you've come to realize that I am but a shadow of her greatness in this respect. And yet, I want you to know that in my feeble attempt in sending out Holiday cards, I am among other things honoring her memory first and foremost. It is her example of a Diaspora "community" that I cherish and am such a benefactor of with the love and grace I know with each and every one of you.

So you see--there is so much more happening behind the fact that you might get a little card from me each Christmas. Here are the places that I sent cards to this year--perhaps yours is among them.  Each goes to a friend or relative with the same sincere appreciation and desire for community that my mother first taught me to cherish.

A Gift For Gifts!

So my friend asked if anyone wanted a stack of old road maps that she was discarding, and I jumped at the offer. She then asked me what I was going to do with them. Use them for wrapping paper, of course! They already come with a grid--very helpful in wrapping anything. The are visually attractive and completely non-event specific--i.e. good for any occasion. So dear hearts who will be receiving holiday gifts this season, expect something different to place under your holiday tree from me!

The X-mas Tree Is Up

Silly little X-mas tree is up and glowing again. This year only with the ornaments that I have made myself over the years--an homage to Truman Capote's "Christmas Memory" (the finest American short story ever written IMHO), because remember "and plenty of fish, because they're easy to make". Mine are fish, and starfish, seahorses, sea turtles, and crabs--and then some regular old 6-sided stars. (The 5-sided are the starfish, of course!) No actual purple trees were harmed in the creation of this fantasy tradition, in case anyone was wondering.

"Silver Belles" #10 in a Autumn of Living Theatrically!

Just home from the first of two Theater Experiences on tap for this weekend. Tonight it was to Signature Threater in Arlington, VA were I've recently seen absolutely astounding productions of "West Side Story" and "La Cage Au Faux." This evening is a new work that they are premiering called "Silver Belles". Yes, it has a decidedly Holiday theme. In this case, it's the story of the Matriarch (Oralene) of the Silver Ridge, Tennessee Silver Belles who is struck by lightning while asking God to strike her with inspiration (every one's a critic), and leaves the annual Christmas pageant at the county home for orphaned children in jeopardy--oh no! Can the remaining three members of the ensemble along with the stage manager pull their shit together and create a show? Will her husband snap out of his grief long enough to write another show stopper now that both the music and lyrics are in his hands? And can the Ghost of Oralene find a way to communicate from the great beyond with each of the afore mentioned characters to coax and inspire another successful Holiday show for the benefit of the little orphans? Hmmmm...

As new works in the theater go, I understand that there are a lot hurdles to cross to see an idea to fruition (Ut Oh, he's giving the ol' "It Ain't Easy to Write a Play" speech...) Before my recent experience with Round House Theater's productions of both parts of "Angels In America," I read an amazing account of the journey that iconic work took from inception to production and beyond. I have the good fortune of knowing Maggie (Margaret) Edson and talking with her about the process that took her play "Wit" from an idea to the stage...amazing doesn't begin to describe the process. I have a very strong feeling that "Silver Belles" found an abbreviated version of this road to realization. 

It's cute. Some of the lyrics are clever. As a cross between a Prairie Home Companion and the Tuna, Texas trilogy of Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, it's frankly neither! I laughed spontaneously twice and both times cuss words were involved. The cover of the program suggests more humor than the production provides. So what has it got? Sincerity. Uneven, bumpy, at times smaltzy and at others almost endearing sincerity. And from what I can tell, this was only its 4th presentation before an audience, perhaps it will age well and quickly.

What would it have taken for me to have liked it more? The price. It was also too damned expensive. I did not get $79.00 worth of entertainment tonight. And how and why it was extended, before it even opened is a mystery to me, too.  And I got no beef with the actors...

Donna Migliaccio as Oralene ricing from the dead to "take charge" of the untimely situation.

Entire ensemble: Peggy Yates (Ruth Ann), Nova Y. Payton (Gloria), Dan Manning (Earl), Donna Migliaccio (Oralene), Ilona Dulaski (Berneice) and Naomi Jacobson (Bo Jack).

Naomi Jacobson (Bo Jack) performing her radio show commercial.

Nova Y. Payton as Gloria.

Ilona Dulaski as Berneice with her taxidermy menagerie...shades of Tuna, Texas.

More Holiday Gifts

Arrived today!

 From James, school year photos and a bag of Dinosaurs!  And they formed a Chorus Dinosaurus as soon as they were free!

 And his mom and dad sent such a lovely cookbook!

Then later some of the Dino crew performed in my Wildlife in the Park photo shoot!

"The Gift Of The Magi"

Today's Holiday Children's Book is actually a tale written for adults. "The Gift of the Magi" by O'Henry. It's a tale doubtless we all know and there is nothing diverted from or enhanced in the text of this version. It is the illustrations that set it apart! Elisabeth Zwerger is on that pantheon of top ten illustrators for me. She creates sparse, ethereal, dreamlike images that both highlight the starkness of the story and elevate it to a place of sublime wonderment. You must consider owning this one at any price. Happy Holidays!