all that's past is prologue...

You have two more weeks to see the world premiere of THE RUINS at the Guthrie 9th floor studio...and believe me when I tell you that you should not miss it. We are biased because this two-hander features the exceptionally brilliant Sydney Shepherd, who we know and love. But the other half of the pair, George Abud (also the playwright), is equally exceptional. It's 100 minutes of deep thought, beautiful music, and exquisite performances. It's a meditation on death and on the life that gets you there. It's amazing. It was especially powerful on the day when I went to a memorial service for someone I've known for over 30 years, someone who, as I said in my remarks was an incredibly complicated person and who has two of the most amazing, caring, talented daughters you would ever know. But even if you're not in that kind of reflective mood, I think THE RUINS will challenge you to think in whole new ways, and to be all the better for doing so. Very highly recommended. Plu...

Happy National Daughter's Day to this one! As described in my post yesterday, you have my whole heart. But also, to this awesome one, because she's the most amazing stepdaughter ever! And to this one, our amazing bonus daughter! I'm pretty damn lucky...

Having a high school senior is quite a ride. They tell you about the importance of college, and all there is to get ready for it and to apply. They tell you to appreciate all the "lasts" — like the last first day of school, the last Homecoming, the last circus registration, etc. They even warn you that you might now know it's a last, like the last time, years ago, that you read your kid a bedtime story before they just decided they would read the book themselves. Ostensibly, you know how that it's great to see your kid grow up and be a person. And to be honest, I am kind of in awe of the person that Beatrix is growing to be. But holy cow, what they DON'T tell you is that navigating all of this at once is almost impossible. That one minute you are stressing about colleges, and then you are proudly attending a school event, and then you are harshly reminding her that "An event DOES NOT exist if you don't put it on the calendar!" You are (well, your hus...

  It's been a hard week with a lot of Big Bad Things happening , but  have spent the last three days at a conference and it was great! The statewide preservation conference was a lot of fun, and I gained a ton of appreciation for New Ulm. My friend Chrissy and I stayed in a cute AirBnB right downtown, which made everything super-walkable. My presentation, on Pill Hill in Rochester (with the community leaders and city staff who really made it happen) went swimmingly. I learned a ton in the various presentations (sometimes even when it was least expected) — my fellow preservationists are smart and doing so much! I got to experience Schell's taproom. I went out with tons of fun people to the Kaiserhoff Restaurant and the Grand Arts Center and the Black Frost Distillery. I got tons of time to spend casual but valuable time with folks talking about preservation issues and that was really important, and a lot of fun too. I got to go on a residential historic district tour by horse ...

Last year I painted the base of the garage pretty much on my own. This year, we tackled the peaks — it started out a together project, but Patrick finished it up on his own, including an ingenious way to attach the scaffolding to the garage so it would not go missing. Well, he did get some help: Some more progress pictures: Today, we got to the final step, which was taking the scaffolding down: And installing the (purely decorative) hardware that we had gotten on clearance at the hardware store about a decade ago. It's dweeby, but I really love how it looks:

When I told Andrew I was going to go to Hamilton last night, he was like "you mean on your TV?" And I was like "No, in the movie theater!" But really, why go? Maybe you have already seen it on Broadway or on tour (there's my photo from seeing the original cast in March, 2016 above). Or very likely on Disney+. You've performed epic, one-person singalongs in your car. Why go to a theater and see it, ten years later? Because, it turns out, we might need this now more than ever. To be in a room of other people, believing in the power of theater, of innovation, of immigrants, of our country. You don't get that very much right now. I't's been a long time since I've thought "look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now."  I needed a rekindling of that. To remember a much younger me. To have some hope. I think you might too. You should go. Attend.

One of the big reasons to have a couple of homes is that you can host people! We started the summer by hosting Sydney, Adrian, and Regina (plus their tour partners Christopher and Siena) from Bandits on the Run when they came through town on tour . It was incredibly enervating to have them here, and they even composed a little ditty about Ernie (and Winston). Their concert was great and we were so happy to have them! Beatrix had some sleepovers, but our next guest was when my old friend Fran came through town and was able to come to The Indigo Girls/Melissa Etheridge (and thus the State Fair) with us. I'm not sure Fran knows how important her friendship is to me! At the same time, we had an intern at The Playwright's Center , and his cat Big Man, staying at Ashland while he had a gap between leases. And, in the best move of all, our bonus daughter X moved back in. It's been amazing to have her here!

  Our bonus daughter moved back in with us several weeks ago, and so far it's been the best thing ever. Having someone to commiserate with the teen, to hang with us, to provide an extra set of hands around the house, and an all-around amazing person to be with has added a lot to our lives. Yesterday she cleaned out the refrigerator and decided we had better use up the various cocktail mixers there. So tonight she made these cocktails — hers  is with a smoky tequila, Patrick's with a tequila reposado, and mine with blood orange gin, along with a rhubarb mixer on all three. After  along day where we bought plants for Hague in the rain, did a light resurface on the living room floor, tried to fix a fountain (fail — anyone getting rid of a fountain?), and brought the cats back over the Ashland...well, this particular cocktail is entirely necessary.