ArtBeat, Timing, Books

[magid]

This was a rather packed weekend. The weather cooperated, sort of: it didn't rain until Sunday night. But the rest of the time it seemed to be just a bit too bright, or too humid, to be really perfect. However, when that's the only thing I can complain about, it's an excellent weekend. *grin*

Friday I managed to make it up to Davis before Shabbat to buy a dog tag for ArtBeat. In the past, I've meandered over Shabbat afternoon, and have felt badly I didn't support the event. So, this year I finally managed it (though I still wish there were someone selling the tags from, say, noon on Friday, or even a couple of hours before the event started. Not going to happen, but I can wish.). Especially pleasing this year, because the theme was "play", so there were cards on one side, and kites flying on the other (I still regret missing "food for thought"; how often are vegetables lauded, after all?).

[Side note: for all you playing along at home, I stopped at the bank earlier, and found out I'd not needed to send along tax statements to the mortgage company, as they deal with the city directly. So, taxes are not in arrears after all. Huzzah.]

Shabbat afternoon featured meandering around ArtBeat, looking at lovely things I wouldn't be buying, smelling food I wouldn't be eating, seeing games played in the square, seeing a Somerville-centric game show. And talking with lots of friends, many of whom I haven't seen in far too long (most of which is my own fault. Phooey.). Too many people to list, so *waves* to everyone. Oh, and my first game of Volcano in ages.

After ArtBeat, I went to Theatre@First's production of All in the Timing (David Ives), which gave me my first chance to see Scholargipsy act. It's a wonderful group of six playlets, each one dependent on careful timing, in a variety of ways.

• "Sure Thing" was the meeting of two women in a coffeehouse, following through all the wrong conversational turns, a la speeded up Groundhog Day (Do you know how hard it was not to type "peanut butter sandwiches" after la?). Ding. Ding. Ding. And the conversation finally led somewhere. Excellently done.
  
• "Words, Words, Words" has three chimps randomly typing at their typewriters, trying (or not) to write Hamlet. I liked this, but it didn't have quite the punch of the first piece. Though some of that is likely that I didn't catch quite all the references. Still, I wonder whether it would've been better placed somewhere else in the line-up.
  
• "The Universal Language" is a con that turns out not to be, perhaps, as a woman who stutters in English doesn't in this new language. I was impressed with such an understandable piece being mostly gibberish, with lots of fun word play (linguini!) worked in. Wonderful!
  
• "The Philadelphia" has people having very different sorts of day, as defined geographically. Some days, you're just stuck in a Philadelphia, but I think it's better than Columbus, any day, especially once you get used to asking for what you don't want. (Of course, it left me wondering what being in a Boston would be like.)
  
• "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread" is a very black and white piece, with interesting choreography and words counterpointing each other. Rather bizarre, but entertaining.
  
• "Variations on the Death of Trotsky"

had, in fact, a variety of approaches, all of which featured Trotsky on the last day of his life with a hiking axe sticking out of his head. For some reason, this one seemed to drag more than the others, perhaps because the differences didn't seem to change the narrative, really. Most of them could've been aspects of the same truth. Or perhaps I was just tired and hungry after a long day with too much sun.
Kudos to everyone involved in the production.

Sunday I walked to Pinkfish and FJ's, for the great book giveaway. I think this is the first time I've walked down the Fenway; it's very pretty. I shall have to explore more. I also got to admire all the cool things they've done with their apartment, and meet the huge hairy furballs of catness.

The loot (not the warrant!):

• The Man Who Was Thursday (G.K. Chesterton)
  
• Audrey Hepburn's Neck (Alan Brown)
  
• The Blessing, The Pursuit of Love, and Don't Tell Alfred (Nancy Mitford)
  
• another copy of Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
  
• a hardcover copy of The Thread (Philip Davis) (which has some illustrations not in the paperback copy; great excitement!)
  
• The Illustrated Lewis Carroll (how could I resist?)
  
• Uncle Tungsten (Oliver Sacks)
  
• A Random Walk in Science (an anthology)