Extravaganza

When I was growing up, there was an annual festival at the Vichy Airport called Extravaganza.
It was run by George Carney and usually was held over a 4 day period in September. Many people set up stalls and sold arts and crafts and antiques and random stuff. There was tons of food and pagents and competitions and entertainment. There was a small town at the airport...had a blacksmith shop, jail, movie house, and the White House Hotel. The Hotel was a stage for a group of players who provided entertainment throughout the whole venue. They did western themed shows there, and also did gangster cops and robbers routines driving in old black period cars.

The troup was one big family - mother, grown up kids and their spouses and eventual children. I remember the stage shows, they always did a lip sync to "Baby Face" and one called the Buzz Saw to Ray Steven's "Along Came Jones".

My father took me every year and patiently watched the shows with me as many times as we could while there. That acting troup watched me grow up from a toddler to a 15 year old - and they always recognized my dad, the man with the beard. I have no idea who that family is or what they are doing these days, but they made a big impact on me growing up. If anyone knows who they are or if they have a website, I would love to know. I can't seem to find much info on the internet at all about the event, which is sad. I hope it gets archived and not forgotten.

I thought of this because my husband has been working in an amusement park show, "Spooktacular" for the past 12 years...doing the same type of work I loved watching so much as a child. This show has kids just like me who come every year to see it and enjoy the consistency. This type of structure is so important to show children how things can be the same and still change from year to year....a fun lesson in a performance show.

October

So, my life has been full of ups and downs lately. Illness in my extended family, my father and brother's dog coming to stay for a few weeks with us, Paul working in a very frustrating and stressful job, several big deadlines at work, several friends having babies and getting married (none doing both that I know of, though). I am tired and looking forward to having a night of relaxation tonight cuddling with Paul and watching a movie.

The last few services I have listened to (at different churches) have all had a common theme to them. They all deal with developing a relationship with God and functioning as the Body of Christ. It is not enough to say "Save me, God, I am a sinner" and then just go on living life as usual. We are called and compelled to communicate with God, read the Bible (his living word), and to live in communion with his people as one Body. I realize these sermons were for me - I have been on autopilot lately and wondering why I feel distant from God.

So, I started a devotional book last night and reading my Bible at home. I hope I can keep reading on a daily basis as a first step towards recentering my life on God. I realize I don't have a problem with God running my life, my problem is giving Paul and his life to God instead of me worrying about it. So, that is what I will strive for. I will have faith and seek God and strive to connect with a church family. And I will pray that God directs my path and also touches Paul's heart.

Communication is Key

So, I've decided that not all modern communication has brought about positive change. I don't like how having cell phones makes people expect instant communication. Paul and I went on vacation over the weekend and spent Saturday at the Chicago Six Flags. We left our cell phones in the car because we didn't want to carry them around or be bothered during the day - just have a day to ourselves. Well, at the end of the day (about 9:30) we went to the car and after settling in, checked messages. We had missed 7 calls from the same person & 3 messages all about the same issue. The person could not get a hold of us so called Paul's mom who took it upon herself to call and leave messages saying call that person back.

Really, we are not phone challenged - if we are not answering the phone, it is for a reason. Just call once and leave a message and we will get back to you at our convenience. Calling 7 times won't get us to check messages faster.

And then today Paul and I were IMing back and forth throughout the morning. Then one of my messages asking Paul something aparently didn't get to him and the rest of our conversation was snippy and misinformed. It took 15 minutes to get to where we understood what each other was saying, just because 1 little line of text was not read by him first. It made us both frustrated and grumpy just because one little thing didn't happen right.

Hermit Crabs

This is Sylvester, the hermit crab of a co-worker that I am pet-sitting while his family is on vacation. He's pretty low key. He stays inside his cave most of the afternoon, chillin'. I found him this morning digging holes by his food dish and getting sand in his water. And I'm told he likes carrots, so I put some in his dish....we'll see if he nibbles them.

I think I will find some other shells to put in his enclosure - I hear crabs like to have a few choices about what shell to wear. Must be one of the few fashion-conscious pets out there....well, that fashion is not thrust upon like dressing up your dog or cat.

Wine and the Spirit

So, I listened to Beth Moore on "Life Today" this morning. She was talking about Ephesians 5:18 "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

I had always heard this verse as a warning about alcohol consumption, but she was using it as a parable. Beth surmised that the author was using something people knew (the feeling of drunkenness from wine) to compare to something they didn't know (the feeling of being filled with the Holy Spirit). When people consume large quantities of alcohol, it changes how they feel things, their focus, and their boldness. The Holy Spirit does this too, but not in an "intoxicating" manner, it is by "infusion". The Holy Spirit is not toxic, but filling. I love being told things I had not thought of before - like this.

There is still warning against drunkenness in the Bible, though....this doesn't get you off the hook of being responsible. =) 1 Corinthians 10:23 "'Everything is permissible'—but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible'—but not everything is constructive."

Mothers

Paul & I have been watching the first three seasons of the new "Doctor Who". For Seasons 1 & 2, his side kick is Rose, and in season 3 he gets a new girl, Martha. I was struck after the last few episodes how much they emphasize the roles of the girls' mothers in their lives. I thought, "hmm, must be a British thing."

Then I thought about my life. When I was in college, I emailed my mother almost on a daily basis...sometimes 5 or 6 times a day. That coorespondence has slowed down a bit, but even now we IM at least once a week. Just this week, when I felt in crisis and was overwhelmed by a particular situation, the first thing I did was IM her, and we talked and I felt better.

I don't know what makes that bond so strong, but I'm glad it is there. I can count on my mother whenever I need her - I trust her opinions and advise, I know she loves me unconditionally. I hope I will have just as special a bond with my own children some day.

Offenses

My co-worker sent me this article today about a retirement home that when viewed from above, looks like a swastika. A Jewish activist complained, and now they are trying to figure out how to fix the building.

This just bugs me. Really, do you have nothing better to do than go find things that resemble symbols that happened to be used by a widely recognized bad organization and pester them? This symbol is not the sole property of the Nazi party, many world groups and religions have used it. Check out Wikipedia, they have lots of good info.

I would be outraged if this retirement home publicized their building shape, had planned it specifically, and only allowed Aryans to stay there. But really, it is a geometric shape that worked well for the architect. Quit reading stuff into every little detail. Find something more constructive to do with your time than finding bad things where they were not intended.

I like the quote by Abraham Lincoln: "When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will."

Believe the Impossible

Well, we lived through "Believe the Impossible: An Evening of Magic and Illusion" at the Topeka Performing Arts Center. It had its ups and downs, like all shows, but at the end of the night, I felt ok. The biggest problem was that we could not get Topeka's Light Board to recognize the moving lights we brought, so the show had no moving lights. The biggest success was that we had over 850 people in the audience....a great crowd for the show. Lots of families and children...lots of energy.

Getting this show started was probably the hardest thing Paul and I have ever done. There were a lot of problems we hadn't forseen, extra expenditures, and even though we tried to give ourselves plenty of time, we ran out too fast. But it amazes me how one day can change your focus....by the end of the show, I felt like we could do this again and do it better. We got past the starting hump, everything after should be at least somewhat easier. It is not the complete unknown anymore. So I never thought I'd say it, but I actually look forward to booking and producing the next show - after we get our promo material together and sent out.

I want to thank everyone who helped us get our feet on the ground with this and gave us their unfailing support. We didn't get a program insert this go around, so here are our thanks:

Brittany Coughlin, Crissy Young, John Bundy Productions (John Bundy), Amazing Productions (Terry Magelssen), Cashmark Media, Inc. (Daryn Cashmark), Visual FX, Inc. (Larry Sprang), Nancy & Jerry Ebeling, Princess Coughlin, Just Off Broadway Theatre, Thin Air Theatrics (Daniel Doss), Brent Jones Productions (Brent Jones), Blair Adams, Barbara Wiggins, Nick Woods, Teresa Collins, Misty Adkins, Brian Nance, Mike Perry, All Aboard Embroidery (Carrie Worth), & the TPAC crew (Cole, Lonnie, Eric, Jason, Travis, Dan, Daniel)

Long Term Mood

I have been so busy lately, blogging is low on the list of priorities. I am on lunch break right now from a training class, so I have a few minutes. I think it is probably ok that I haven't blogged because it would mostly be sad, frustrated ramblings.

If anyone has been consistently watching my facebook status reports for the past week, they've been very bleak, especially for me. I don't like feeling bad and often make conscious efforts to be happy or content. Honestly, I'd rather forget something that upsets me & that I can't change and move on than hold on to that hurt for a long time. I don't like feeling that way, so I decide not to - thus I get over disappoints and stuff very quickly.

Paul is very different, though. He needs time to feel things and work through them - and we often bicker because I've moved on and he has not yet. So we are learning how to deal with each other emotionally over time. But this week....it has just been bad for both of us. We are both sleep deprived, feeling very behind in our work, and feeling fairly futile in most projects we try. I hope it will all end this weekend...or at least start to get better. This is just exausting!

Factory vs. Warehouse

So, Nick told me the other day that the goal of blogging is to be a factory, not a warehouse. To constantly churn out new thoughts, not store them up and dole out.

I thought about the analogy...I thought, "What's wrong with the warehouse? Stuff comes in, sits a bit, then goes out." Then I realized, it is not changed by the warehouse - I would be taking in info and then just regurgitating it unanalyzed and unaffected.

The factory...stuff comes in, it is assembled, and then shipped out. Better, but my problem with it is that factories are usually specialized so the same stuff always comes in and the same stuff always goes out.

I decided I want to be a design or marketing firm. People come to me with their stuff, I analyze it, and give it back to them in a new way that they can use. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they don't, sometimes you get lots of repeat business, sometimes not. I like that analogy for my blogging. Many different things enter my life, I think about them and blog them out, and sometimes those blogs are helpful (sometimes not) to others.

Digital Photo-Realist Art

Well, I took a class at JCCC to learn a little more about Adobe Illustrator. The instructor showed us the work of several "Illustrator" artists to show us what is possible. One is Yukio Miyamoto and another is Bert Monroy . I've included just one example....this stuff is amazing! That is not a photograph, it is a constructed piece of art.

I learned a lot in the class, I think. Not enought to do what these artists have done, but maybe enough to do simple logos and artwork. I'll try my hand at it when I have some free time and maybe show you the results. Here's my first go at a balloon for the Ronald McDonald House Auction.

Turn the other cheek

So, I think I tend to get more emotional over rude things online than I do in person. if someone insults me to my face, most times it doesn't phase me - I really couldn't care less. But there have been several instances of people writing things online that jab at me or a friend that really got me riled up.

A while back my friend Brian had a roommate with a girlfriend who lived in CO who had never met Brian. She wrote some very derogatory remarks about Brian on her blog...and that upset me. And recently, a self-proclaimed pedant chided me for a typo I wrote in a comment to a friend....and that upset me, too. Both times I wanted to write back with some biting remarks - give the person a dose of her own medicine. I did write back the first time, I did not the second.

I think I need to learn to let these things go as easily as I do in real life. Maybe it is because I feel more articulate with the written word and have more time to stew on it than in real life. But I realized that if I sting back at the person who stings me, I am no better. I don't feel so guilty for stinging back for my friend, I wanted to stick up for him. But I'm trying to discipline myself to turn the other cheek - there is a time to speak and a time to be silent, and I am trying to discern the difference.

You watch what?

So, I mentioned in my last blog that I was watching a Christian TV Show in the morning. To be specific, it is "Life Today" and has a couple different hosts and they interview people and have short Bible studies and such. It is not something I would normally watch because I feel most such programs are preachy and closed-minded. And honestly, I'm still not sure if I like the regular hosts - a couple - a small quiet woman and a talkative large southern man.

But, I find I get tired of watching the news while eating my breakfast. Just the same old news, weather, shootings and crap. And I flipped to this channel one day because it was better than the kids' programming on KCPT and the informercials on the non-news channels. It actually interests me, not that I neccisarily aggree with everything they say, but it always makes me think about subjects I like to think about.

One woman did a study on the power of the spoken word. How much more powerful a spoken word is than just a thought word or even written word. One day they interviewed the author of "Bad Girls in the Bible," Liz Higgs. She was an extrodinarily charizmatic woman and very interesting to listen too. I never thought to read the book before because it sounded so trendy cliche...but, she was so engaging and ensightful.

Sometimes, in this culture, it is hard for me to admit that I am a Christian and participate in "Christian activities." Christians have a bad name as being shallow, narrow-minded, and hypocrits. But I don't want to be ashamed, because I am not like that. And so I admit, I watch a Christian tv show in the mornings, and enjoy it (so far =).

Cultural Warrior?

So I saw Bill O'Reily being interviewed this morning on a Christian TV Show and he talked about his book and the "cultural war" being fought in the United States. There are "traditional warriors" and "secular-progressives" battling out for control of the country and the basis of our law. He basically says the "s-p"s are trying to shift the basis of our laws from the judeo-christian roots they currently have to completely secular ones and that, in turn, will ruin the nation.

I'm a little unsure what I think of this point. I am a strong Christian and believe myself to be a moral individual. And I tend to lean towards conservative Replubican ideas. But I believe the role of the government is to facilitate communal living - not impose morals on others or to micro-manage our lives. I think drugs should not be illegal, I think abortion is a woman's choice, I think the state should not give Marriage Licenses but Civil Unions to all couples (gay or straight) and churches should decide on marriages. I believe it is the Church's duty to take care of the old and poor, not the government. Personally, I would never do drugs, have an abortion, or live a gay lifestyle - and I would council any friends against these things, but in the end - it is their decision and something that they are only accountable to God for, not the government.

I took a little poll on O'Reily's website to see if I was a warrior or "s-p"....I lean towards being a warrior. But I don't know if I feel the government needs to have a Christian base or if we Christians just need to step up and do our jobs like we are commissioned by God to do in the Bible. Love our neighbors, do good to those who hate us, take care of the poor, the elderly, the prisoners. Will that example and leadership (if we were all to do it) not be enough to keep our country great without the law stating it to be? People need guideance - look at our current housing loan situation - did the banks really think it good business to give out crazy loans and that the innevitable horrible outcomes didn't concern them?

I just don't know. I guess I feel educated and enlightened and like I know what is right to do and others should know that too. But, I realize people don't just "know" that - they need to be taught. I'm just not sure what the best method to do so is. Ideally, it would be the church teaching, but if they don't step up - maybe I need to support the government doing it. Maybe I need to focus my energy more on encouraging my church to teach and reach out and make a difference.

Starting the Blog

My first post for my friend, Nick. He has inspired me to blog - I don't know if I consider it a social obligation as he put it, but I always like doing things for posterity.

So, my husband and I are three weeks out from putting on a show that we produced, designed, and will present. It is scary being responsible for a professional show that people pay to come see - you are expected to be professional and good and entertaining. There are so many aspects to keep a handle on - people working for you, design elements, organization and movement of props, etc.

And it is fulfulling a dream of my husband's. I think that is what's hardest...bringing a dream to life that you want to keep its magic. Dreams are great in your mind and you want them to be great in life, too. So, we are giving it all of our effort. The journey has been filled with many challenges, I hope the product will be filled with joy.