Current mood:	touched
Entry tags:	quotes, theater

January 2nd
"The burden is equal to the horse's strength." -- The Talmud

"We acquire the strength we have overcome." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson



The year has already started out being painfully uncomfortable but it isn't without its mercies and reward for those who invest in hope. I'm ridiculously stressed out by the latest gauntlet we have to run. At the same time I am touched by the magic of human divinity that offered itself to me if I was willing (and wise enough) to embrace it. It's that delightfully terrible dichotomy circumstances pair off in.

As some of you know, yesterday was my birthday. I was prepared to skip the celebrating this year after a depressingly dismal Xmas and my vast disappointment in human beings after a series of events. And that's how the day started out - with me ignoring the hell out of the entire affair (as well as people) right down to having my cell phone shut off.

For some reason I still cannot fathom, I decided to turn my phone on around 3pm. It exploded with the expected activity of text messages and voice mails. One of those messages was dirtnap13 offering tickets to see Smokey Joe's Cafe over at the El Portal Theater as they could not be otherwise used.

Serendipity.

I had a bunch of standing invitations to various club nights and lounges with some swanky perks. They did nothing for me. I wasn't in the mood to be in a room full of Los Angeles games. I had quite enough of that at Aqua the other night. But the idea of getting to go on a musical journey through some of the greatest song writing in American History? That was something special.

__wolverine__ and I walked to the El Portal Theater in the crisp winter night air presided over by a thick layer of fog and had an incredible evening full of our two major passions - theater and music. We had stunningly perfect seats with a great view of the stage. The cast of the revival was simply delightful. I was particularly taken by Dionne Figgins who was one part Eartha Kitt and one part Cyd Charisse. She was a smoldering vixen with an impish personality and all the grace of a prima ballerina. She inspired me and reminded me why I was an artist. Equally dreamy was the sultry bass John Woodard III who could hit notes so low the center of the earth vibrated. Not coincidentally, the two were paired on stage making for intense chemistry.

As an addendum, fioretti made me a gorgeous vintage-inspired wrist purse and theoldone sent me a card, sparing 2009 from making the ranks of worst birthdays ever.

I'm not sure why the people who reach out when you could use a personal angel are always unexpected. But I'm not going to spend too much time on it. I get the message loud and clear. I have no clue how the hell we are going to navigate this month save one step at a time. But I don't feel as empty as I did for the last three weeks.

Thank you.