And now, for something completely different!

I'm directing "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan for our local symphony this year. As I've been working my way through the various scenes and looking at what the history books say a few interesting things have occurred to me:

1. Gilbert is pretty funny. (Seeing as it is a comedy it should be an obvious conclusion, but have any of you seen an actual production?)
2.Late Victorians were modern day Hippies ... without the head bands.
3. Monty Python's "Brave Sir Robin" and "When the Foreman Bears His Steel (Tarantara, Tarantara)" are essentially the same song. Different words of course. But the same. I'm not sure even I can follow that.

Interesting. I never expected that I would reach those conclusions (especially the hippie part, given the corsets that was a real shocker), but now that I have they really fit. We like to think of the Victorians as terribly repressed and horribly backward but a lot of what we currently hold dear, our love of technology, our reverence for science, our championing of the underdog, equality for all, and even our concepts of love, rebellion and peace all come from that period. Talk about weird. Now I'll have to rethink everything I thought I knew about everything I thought I knew before.

Thanks a lot. "I say Nee! In your general direction", Gilbert. I know you'd appreciate it.

Attack of the Lucious Linens

Where are those people who get all their moving boxes unpacked in a week? You know who I’m talking about. You’ve probably heard of them too. I want their number. I’m even willing to pay commission.

It has been six years since we moved in, and while we have unpacked most of our boxes I am still putting pictures up on the wall and moving clumps of linen, nicknacks and “things I can’t let go” around the house. Sad, I know, but true. It’s like a grand scavenger hunt every time someone comes to visit. Oh, I’ve read all those articles on home organization. I’ve heard about deep storage. I’ve even clipped a story about a family who moved into their new home bearing one box of personal items each. That’s right. One box, folks. Call it a personal goal, if you will. Or a far of dream if you are more of a realist.

How on earth did all the nick nacks and linen get out of control? Why am I having so much trouble? They likely spend far too much time unsupervised. You know what I mean.

I would give up but I am afraid the whole mess will take over. It is only a matter of time before the linen and nicknacks team up with the take home school papers and then they will rule the world! I just can’t let that happen. True, it’s a small sacrifice but I like to do my part for human kind.

So, if you happen to run into any expert unpackers, super organizers or just someone with a lot of free time, feel free to send them my way. You never know, the safety of the world could be at stake.