“Dreams are illusions from the book your soul is writing about you.”
-Marsha Norman
What You Should Be Watching
Growing up, music was big in my house. Whether it was listening to oldies from the ‘60s and ‘70s, the newer rock music, or playing classical music with my father on the keyboard (he taught me how to play before I could even read sheet music), it was always with me. Often times, my father would break out his guitar and start playing and singing; of which I have had mixed feelings about over the years. At first I loved it, then I hated it, and now, since I don’t live with him anymore, I have a feeling of nostalgia towards it on the rare occasion that I’m around when he does it.
Another thing that was big in my house was musicals. All of us loved musicals. We would sit in the living room and watch them together, singing along to the music that blared out of our television set. When I got older, I participated in my school’s drama club and learned the songs with ease. I loved being on the stage (even though it was only the chorus), but never thought twice about doing it for a living.
Enter the new NBC hit show SMASH. I had heard about it before the premiere, but hadn’t bothered to check out the schedule. One night, as I was going to bed, I happened upon it and was hooked immediately. Suffice to say that I didn’t end up in bed until much later that night. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a show sort of in the style of Glee (which I don’t watch), set around the workings/competition of how a Broadway show is made. There is a lot of singing and dancing in it, as well as an believable plot and real issues…but most of all it is just fun!
For those who love musicals as I do, it is a MUST see. And don’t worry about having to catch up. There has only been a handful of episodes, and if Time Warner is your cable provider (as it is mine), I recently discovered this awesome channel called Primetime On Demand, where you can access all of the episodes for free, and many shows from ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX: channel 1010 🙂
“We should not write so that it is possible for the reader to understand us, but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.”
-Quintilian
“I love words. I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them.”
–Anne Rice
My Evening with Freud
For about a year and a half, I had been dying to see Freud’s Last Session, an Off Broadway production that is set only a few weeks before Sigmund Freud takes his own life. It is based on a conversation that Freud supposedly had with a young C.S. Lewis: a comedy! Now, I’ve studied a little about Freud and, although found some of his theories to be a little out there, I grew to really like and appreciate him for the genius that he was, but I had never heard the words “Freud” and “comedy” in the same sentence, let alone in a work of fiction. I just had to see it. There was only one problem…finding someone to go with me.
You would think that, seeing how it was a play, there would be no issue in getting someone to go with me; I would go to see most plays if asked to accompany someone…but with this particular one, I was wrong. It appears that many people have very negative views on Freud. I don’t know why; I think he’s fascinating. The main argument against Freud is that all of his theories stemmed back to one thing: sex. In my opinion, people are forgetting one very important thing, or rather; they do not have the knowledge of one very important thing: Freud was not as stuck to his ideas as we have been trained to think. In fact, he was constantly revising his theories whenever he would be presented with information that would make him start to question them; pretty much up until the end. I think that’s why I respect Freud, because he was not afraid to be wrong and, to change and grow.
That being said, you’d think that anyone would jump at the chance to attend Freud’s Last Session with me, but sadly, that was not the case. I was out shopping with a friend of mine, Jen, who loves to see shows, and just mentioned the play in passing. Even though I know she is up to seeing pretty much anything on Broadway, I had no idea that she would actually want to see this play with me. Luckily for me, she did :). We bought the tickets that day for the following Friday, and I was so excited. Finally!
The day of the show, Jen met me by my place and we took the LIRR into the city and then subway’d uptown on the C; after all, the play was on the west side. We decided to eat before the show, and stumbled into this quaint restaurant Sosa Borella, which specializes in Italian and Argentine cuisine. The staff was friendly and accommodating, and the food was amazing. I had spinach agnolotti in a lamb Bolognese, which was to die for (I’d never had a lamb Bolognese before) and Jen had the same, but in a delicious cream sauce…each paired with a glass of wine of course; who am I to have pasta without wine.
We were in and out in under an hour, and leisurely walked across 8th Avenue and down West 50th to our destination. I was so excited! I was finally going to see Freud! The play is being held at New World Stages, which has an interesting set-up. You enter into this little building and immediately walk down stairs; this is where the ticket booths are, and the attendants who direct you down yet another flight of stairs. Then the area opens up and there are a bunch of tiny theatres; amongst the plays are Rent and Avenue Q, both of which I have seen.
Our seats were second row Orchestra: amazing seats. I could not have asked for better. We were told that there was no photography allowed due to the fact that it was a quiet stage. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but I sneakily took a quick picture of the set before the lights went down; no way was I going to leave the play I had been dying to see for so long without a picture J. The lights went down, the play started to unfold, and I soon realized what a “quiet stage” meant. The play consisted entirely of two actors (without intermission; don’t worry, it’s only an hour and a half!), and there were times where there were breaks in the dialogue.
Freud’s Last Session, was everything that I expected it to be; it was an evening of dry academic humor with discussions on religion, suicide, and of course, sex. The best part: I got my Playbill signed by both of the actors after the performance!
I won’t spoil the show for anyone who may want to attend, but this is a must see. And who knows, I might just be there :).
Yoga for Two
Over the weekend, I got a txt from Melissa telling me that I should find a yoga studio by me, for us to start going to. Now, I had taken yoga in college about seven years ago, had found it to be boring and vowed never to do it again, but Melissa always has a way of persuading me to do things. Okay, not really persuading as much as, we always have fun together no matter what we do, so why wouldn’t we have fun at yoga too? The only thing that I was worried about was that we would end up laughing the whole time and be asked to leave. The latter of which did not happen, but only because we got there late and were not seated next to each other; who knew that so many people take yoga!
I did not do a lot of research as to different studios…rather, I just picked one of the ones that popped up on my google search. The studio was quaint. Melissa and I got there early so that we could fill out paperwork (since it was our first time there), but still managed to be one of the last ones in the studio itself. There wasn’t room for us to sit next to each other, so I ended up sitting directly in front of Melissa; in the front row. I don’t know why, but any time I have ever taken a class that I was not completely confident in, I end up sitting in the front. I don’t actually choose this…it just always seems to happen.
As we waited for the class to begin, I kept looking back at Melissa and we would start silently laughing: it was probably a good thing that we were not next to each other. The instructor came in and started the class with breathing; I remembered exactly why I had disliked yoga in the past: it’s slow. Not only is it slow, but the movement from pose to pose is slow. I’m the type of person that likes to get things done fast, not take my time. For me, the most challenging part of yoga is making myself do things in a slow, methodical pace. I hadn’t been able to master this back then, but maybe now that I’m older it will be different.
At one point, I felt like I was going to faint, and after discussing the class afterwards with Melissa over Red Mango, I found out that she had felt the same. Only, it wasn’t the end…it was only the halfway mark. I thought to myself that I was not going to make it. This of course, made me refocus myself. It had been a long time since I’d taken any kind of exercise class. The last time was when I was dating my most recent boyfriend, and had taken up kick boxing and Thai boxing for a year. I hadn’t actually been interested in it at first, but his step-father owned a Martial Arts School. I had originally started it as a way to spend more time with my guy, but I actually grew to love it. I found Thai boxing very challenging, and that was why I loved it so much, just as I now found the yoga to be challenging.
After the class was over, we left the studio and headed to Red Mango for a treat. It was kind of cold for it, especially because we were dressed for yoga and not the outside elements, but we didn’t care: our hands froze all the way back to the car, which is where we consumed the deliciousness; we had a time limit on our parking. It was in the car that we decided to go back tomorrow (today) for a candle-lit meditation and relaxation class. Hopefully it won’t be as demanding as the yoga, and we will be yoga-ing next week as well.
We both woke up this morning in serious pain. If we decide to stick with this yoga thing, I am considering freezing my gym membership and just doing this for a while: every once in a while, it’s good to completely change up your exercise routine in order to get the most optimum benefits 🙂
Quote from a Friend
My friend Melissa sent me a quote last night; we frequently send quotes to each other. I don’t exactly know when that started, but we both love quotes, and we love sharing them. This quote was particularly helpful towards me, especially since I have been hanging onto something that I should not be…but c’est la vie, right? I mean, we all do it; it’s just that sometimes, it is harder to let go of things than other times. The quote is as follows:
“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re reading the last one.”
-Anonymous
It’s almost spring, and therefore, time to give up all the ghosts that have haunted us this past winter. New beginnings are coming! 🙂
Spring is In the Air!
Although winter is still in our midst for the next month at least (and my office is an ice box), the temperatures outside almost boast the air of spring, if you ignore the chill in the wind that is, which shows us that winter is not relenting yet. And for that matter, this weekend is looking like the temperatures will once again be dropping a few degrees. I, for one, will be glad when it is finally over.
I never could figure out which season I liked best, although, winter is definitely my least favorite…but there is nothing like the encroachment of spring to put you in a good mood. With spring, nature comes alive again, people stop hibernating in their cozy homes, and new adventures and opportunities are plentiful and boundless. I think what I love the most about spring is, when I get off the bus on my way home from working in the city, I step foot onto my block and am engulfed with the wonderful fragrance of grass and trees: earth. There really is nothing as beautiful.
It’s hard to figure out how to dress for this weather. I see many women walking around in teeny jackets, no scarves and bare legs. In the past I have done the same, but I have realized something in my old age: that is the way that you get sick. Everyone in my office is walking around sneezing, and I don’t want that to be me…and did I not mention that although it’s warmish outside, my office is frigid?! I have been drinking tea all day because it is the only thing that is warming me up, although I never actually need an excuse to drink tea.
That reminds me, on a completely different note, I was texting with a friend of mine about a week or two ago, and I asked him a random question. He of course answered it, but then wondered what had brought it to mind. As with drinking tea, I never need a reason to ask a question. I’m not sure if I’ve been this way forever or not, but for as long as I can remember, I have. Without questions, from where does one learn things? And, if one does not learn things, how does one grow? I would rather ask too many questions and have an abundance of knowledge, than keep my mouth closed and know nothing.
Back to the weather, which is a favorite subject of mine. I think it sort of goes hand-in-hand with fashion. I mean, what you wear a lot of the time, reflects the weather outside. You wouldn’t walk aroundManhattanin the summer with a heavy wool coat would you? Or lay out on aLong Islandbeach in a bikini in the middle of winter? Of course not! I am dying to break out my spring dresses, but I have to be good. Instead, today I opted for a veryNew Yorklook: a black/grey wool dress, opaque stockings, my Tory flats…and most importantly, my warmest wool coat (and scarf!).
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart”
-Confucius
My Favorite Love…
Since Today is Valentine’s Day, I thought that I would share my favorite love song of all time…and my favorite poem about love. First the song. Funny thing about it, the song was on an old mix that my high school boyfriend had made for me…he made me a lot of mixes; it was the thing to do back in high school, or at least when I was in high school. I don’t think teenagers do that anymore these days, and that’s kind of sad. I didn’t love every song that was given to me, but it takes a certain amount of effort to sit down and put thought into choosing songs for someone.
It wasn’t until years later that I discovered this song. I had been going through all of my cds one day, for no reason in particular, when this song came on: Lifehouse’s “Everything.” The word love does not actually make an appearance, but the song doesn’t need it; it’s perfect (in my opinion). It’s the way that love should be.
You are the strength that keeps my walking
You are the hope that keeps me trusting
You are the light to my soul
You are my purpose, you’re everything.
My favorite poem about love is a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee?” I would not be shocked if not everyone knows the Lifehouse song (which, if you don’t, you must listen to it immediately), but everyone should know this poem. I am including it below. I just think that it’s so beautiful.
How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Brown
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love the purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs and with my childhood’s faith
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
elizabethsara 