I am the Audience

Labyrinths I have walked

March 3, 2010

a day in this life, Labyrinths

The first labyrinth I ever walked was a 3/4 size Chartres replica on canvas.

It has eleven circuits.

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The second was a Cretan labyrinth at a women’s retreat center outside of Asheville, NC

It has seven circuits.

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I walked a Santa Rosa labyrinth at a nursery in Michigan after I had nearly decided that was the design I wanted to use for the labyrinth I wanted to put in my yard. It was made of 586 lavender plants and cinched the deal. I bought a gazing ball from them to put in the heart space of labyrinth that I was planning.

I like the heart space and that you approach it twice when you go in and twice when you go out. I like the number 7 because it is 4 plus 3 and those are significant numbers in different mythologies. I like that it is symmetrical.
My discovery of labyrinths

March 3, 2010

a day in this life, Labyrinths

I used to be Episcopalian. And when I was, one of the churches I went to was the Church of the Holy Comforter in Burlington, NC. And I got suckered into being a member of the Adult Christian Education Committee. I’ve forgotten how that happened. But one of the things that was coming up was a labyrinth.

They (we) borrowed it from Holy Trinity in Greensboro. And the committee was responsible for tending to it.

I volunteered to take a day of personal leave from work to be there during the day on Friday. I had the time available and I was moved to do it. It was very similar to being moved to speak in Meeting with I was Quaker. It was the right thing to do at that time and I couldn’t choose any other way.

There were candles to keep lit and fountains to keep watered and CDs to keep playing. We had a blank book for people to write thoughts in as they finished with colored pencils and markers, should they need them. There was a bowl of stones for worrying as one walked. There were benches inside the door for taking off shoes, or meditating before or after starting.

People came and went all day as I sat at the entrance and tended to the bits and pieces.

Sometimes, they would walk alone. Sometimes, they found themselves walking together, stepping aside to let others pass. One man brought a book that he read at each turn.

I walked it by myself at the end of the day.

The Sunday after that weekend, we had a Sunday school class devoted to talking about the experience of walking the labyrinth. I was astounded to learn that some people got absolutely nothing from it. I had been moved, both by walking it and by tending it as others walked it. I recognize(d) that other people have different responses to things, but it amazed me that something that affected me so profoundly had not inspired a similar response in the Senior Warden.
from Under the Dome by Stephen King

February 25, 2010

dancing in the field of dreams

I have no hand. I have no body. Bodies aren’t real. Bodies are dreams.
Nevermore 2010

February 21, 2010

film, Nevermore Film Festival
I got the 10-pack of tickets for $60. I used 5; I have given 5 to Christopher. Chuck is totally not into critter movies, but my friend, Trey, thinks this festival is GREAT and he went with me. We liked all 3 of the feature length films we saw. Some of the shorts were less impressive, but, as Trey said, they were short, so, over soon and on to the next thing without taking up too much our time.

Friday night, we saw Strigoi and Four Minutes Until Sunrise, a collection of 4 shorts.

Strigoi is Romanian for “vampire” and the film is in moderately accented English. This thing is funny. Our hero went to medical school but never passed his boards to actually become a doctor. EVERYONE calls him a pussy. It becomes a running gag. He is, however, the only one who persists in trying to understand what is happening in the town where an old man is mysteriously murdered and no one seems to be interested in who did it. His friend, the cop, looks disconcertingly like Paul Rubens’ character in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

Four Minutes Until Sunrise was:
- Dead Bones bad Western zombies, which may be redundant,
- Road to Moloch, a demon encounter in Iraq, not bad, good SFX, obvious story,
- The Familiar, about a modern vampire’s human assistant. Very funny, no real surprises.
- Crooked Lane, a ghost story, with an unsatisfactory ending (we never understoond WHY the ghosts were doing what they were doing).
  Saturday, we saw They’re Coming to Get You, Barbara(another collection of shorts), Bonnie and Clyde vs Dracula, and Evil Angel.
  
  They’re Coming to Get You, Barbara was:
- Dead Walkers, more old West zombies.
- Shapes, well done monster-in-the-closet. No surprises, but good critter.
- Pigeon: Impossible, hilarious animation about a pigeon, a bagel and a spy. I had seen it in the theater beforeUp! and it’s still funny.
- The Ugly File was well made but the story was very obvious.
- Hector Corp. was excellent. Animation about corporate cut backs a la Office Space.
- Monstrous Nature was OK. Actors were stiff, but the ending wasn’t telegraphed. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of monster he was or who would survive until it happened.
- Snuggle Time doesn’t have any web presence except listings at film festivals all over the country, which is a shame because it is cute. The animation is good and the story has a nice twist.
- Dead Creek was well made, but obvious.
  Bonnie and Clyde vs Dracula was hilarious. Lots of splatter, interesting characters, vintage cars, a one legged whore and Annabelle.
  
  Evil Angel, written, directed and produced by Richard Dutcher is about Lilith, body hopping to commit murder and mayhem because of her longstanding hatred of mankind. Ving Rhames is excellent as the private investigator who is trying to figure out what’s going on. This one had the most money spent and it shows. The story and performances are excellent.
  
  I love this festival.
Valentine’s Day, in spite of our intentions

February 15, 2010

family, food & drink

Usually, we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. We both enjoy doing “romantic” stuff to and for each other, but haven’t been inclined to get into the hurly burly of the holiday. Flowers that cost 3X the normal rate is just wasteful and crowded restaurants aren’t really fun either.

But this year, Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday, which meant the celebrants would most likely be spreading out their festivities. And a restaurant that we particularly like is open on Sunday and it hadn’t gotten a visit for a while. So, we made a reservation, kind of in spite of the fact it was V Day.

And when I sent an email that said “Buy me this” I was told “I already have your Valentine’s present.” That put my in a little bit of a panic because I hadn’t had any inspirations of concrete things that would tickle my honey, lately. Chitra suggested an IOU for a massage or some other activity he particularly likes. Which wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Then, Friday, a conversation at work reminded me that he likes Scotch. And I had just gotten my tax refund so my bank account was particularly set for extravagance.

I got him a bottle of Laphroaig and another of Glenfiddich. I smuggled them into the house and set them on the chest of drawers in our bedroom. He saw me being stealthy in the bedroom and accused me of trying to hide his present. I declared that nothing was hidden. So, he came in to see. And was tickled to pieces.

He pulled out 2 little jewelry sized boxes. One held earrings and the other held a bracelet that matched.

We went to Weaver Street Market in Hillsborough for supper, tasted the wines they were showing but didn’t buy any of them. (They have a little wine tasting there every Friday from 5-7 so, we frequently go there for supper because that’s fun and we’re not in the mood to cook on Friday night.) We came home and watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and Chuck sampled his presents.

Saturday, I went to yoga with Amy and then went by Whole Foods. I have already posted about how self-indulgent that shopping trip was.

I painted my nails red while we watched the Olympics. (Painted fingernails is a festive thing for me.)

Yesterday, we decided that we hadn’t been to WSM for brunch in a while and I was in the mood for eggs so, we got dressed for the day and headed to Carrboro. I wore a new dress and my new jewelry. After having breakfast, we picked up a pecan bar from WSM and went to Open Eye for coffee, where bumper into a very tired Chrissie and Jeff. They had just gotten back from Ymir and were happy-tired.

We killed some time at Nice Price books, where Chuck found 2 movies and a book, and then moved on to the Chelsea Theater for a double feature of Crazy Heart and The Last Station. Both were very good and we had nearly 30 minutes to get to Vespa to make our 6:30 reservation.

At Vespa, we each had a glass of the Pinot Noir. I had the Vespa salad, which has roasted red peppers and mushrooms, shaved Parmesan and a balsamic vinaigrette, and the special tilapia on black fettuccine with a cilantro/ginger cream sauce. Chuck had the roasted asparagus and the Risotto de mare. We shared the chocolate mousse with figs and port. Couldn’t taste the port but the figs added a nice texture to the mousse. The hostess gave me a pink rose on the way out the door, which is now adorning the kitchen table.

I picked up an Andy’s cheeseburger for Wild Child/Christopher/Loki on the way home and he was delighted.

We watched more Olympics and went to bed feeling like it had been a weekend well played. 🙂

Labyrinths I have walked

My discovery of labyrinths

from Under the Dome by Stephen King

Nevermore 2010

Valentine’s Day, in spite of our intentions