all that's past is prologue...

We went to a potluck dinner tonight to say goodbye to our wonderful neighbors, who are moving after 13 years. I love where we live.

(with apologies to MPR's Art Hounds)... These are things I am so excited about in the arts community right now... Open Eye Figure Theatre opens Elijah's Wake this Friday. It's a beautiful "visual poem," with a haunting score by Anthony Gatto. We'll be there for opening night on Friday, come join us! (if you are feeling flush, their gala fundraiser is November 6...) The House Can't Stand , by former Jeune Lune artistic directors Dominique Serrand and Steve Epp plays this weekend only at the Southern Theatre. I can hardly wait to see what these guys are doing with this. The next Nautilus ROUGH CUTS is November 9 and 10. We've been selling out lately, so don't miss this! The folks behind the St. Paul Art Crawl are beginning "First Friday" events in lowertown, starting November 6, from 6-9. Be in the know and catch this event while it's still young! Speaking of getting in on a hip thing while it's new, my good friend Kelly is

Today, when I took a writing break, we took Beatrix to Java Train for lunch. She's been there many times with Clara and Alex (her daycare family), but never with us. She sure knew what to do as soon as we got there! As we sat pondering the menu, she immediately ran into the caboose play area and up the stairs, peeking through the windows at us as she went. She brought us toys, played happily on the floor with the farm set, "read" a book, inspected the ice cream flavors, and met new friends Gavin and Maggie. After we ate, we went outside to play a little. Truth be told, the food was a little meh , but we'll certainly be back just because it was SO NICE to be able to eat and know that she was ok and having a good time playing. Now if only they served wine...

So I'm feeling a little bad that this blog doesn't have a theme. It's not house-based, telling you about all the cool decorating things we are doing (like anything via Apartment Therapy). It doesn't focus on our garden. It's not crafty, detailing how I designed a funky wardrobe for Beatrix out of old sweaters and funky handbags. It's not a "mommy blog." Not does it tell you much about other family, friends, pets, etc. It's not foodie, finding great restaurants and dining experiences or detailing wonderful cooking. It doesn't catalog wine. It doesn't track down bargains and share them. It doesn't inform the art world. It's not literary. It doesn't generally review things. It's not philosophically/aesthetically designed, like Patrick's blogs. It's not particularly politically active. It doesn't say much about historic preservation. It kinds of flits around between all these topics, everything and nothing at th