all that's past is prologue...

In general, I often feel so very lucky about our lives. But lately, we've been in a bit of a rut, overwhelmed and exhausted and generally just worn out. So this weekend, it was nice to regain some of the magic. Friday night, we attended the Festival of Lights Gala for the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Though religion is not exactly my strong suit, I strongly support the building and its beautiful architecture, and the gala was lovely; plus afterwards, we got to meet friends for drinks at Saint Dinette to cap off the night perfectly! Yesterday, we got quite a few things done around the house before heading over to the Southern to see one of the last performances of Four Humors "Lolita." (Beatrix did not join us for this one…) I swear, my face *still* hurts from laughing. An amazingly timed comic-tragic-commentary. We spent the night at "Lakansyel: The Music and Dance of Haiti" — which my client the Minnesota Global Arts Institute produced at Sundin Hall — anoth

As usual, our activities last weekend were remarkably varied. That's kind of the story of my life, which I realized last week when I spent a couple of hours strategizing marketing for Skewed Visions  (buy a membership, won't you?), and then reserved my tickets for the Cathedral's Festival of Lights Gala . But I digress…. Much of Saturday was spent at the Renaissance Festival (pics here ). Beatrix loves the Renn Fest, and after we hit all of her favorite spots in quick succession (Mermaid Garden, Fairy Forest, Cinderella, and Princess Pavilion) we could wander around and just enjoy ourselves. We ran into our friend Alexis, bought feathers, jumped on the trampoline, pet reptiles and farm animals, saw performances, ate soup in a bread bowl and turkey legs and cream puffs, marveled at sharks in a puddle, saw Twig, shopped, and watched wonderful shows — the best of which, was, of course, the Wacky Chickens. I've gone to Festival scores of times over the years — as a yo

This week, it was revealed that, beginning sometime in 2016, Minnesota drivers' licenses will not be compliant for identification on US flights (along with those from New York, New Hampshire, Louisiana, and, oddly enough, American Samoa.) http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/drivers-licenses-new-york-domestic-flight-real-id Apparently, we are one of the states who does not have strong enough residency checks when we renew driver's licenses, thanks to the 2009 legislature/Pawlenty administration voting to prohibit the Real ID Act. There is now apparently a way to purchase an "enhanced license" that does meet these requirements. but when I renewed my driver's license last month I was not given that option. What really raises my blood pressure about this is that, as you see above, last month I renewed my DRIVER'S LICENSE. That regulates, cleverly enough, my ability to drive . In order to receive said license, I had to be of age, receive a permit, pass

Because I can take a silks class, and even though I suck at it and hurt all the next day, it's super-fun. Because I can go to a great show (The Little Pilot, by Sandbox, at the Southern), and tell our friend who came with us that there are over 100 theatre companies in the Twin Cities, which makes me feel less bad that I don't see as much as I should. Because today I could see Mixed Precipitation's wonderful picnic operetta Escape from Alcina's Island in a part that I did not even know existed.And because my daughter loves to dress up in costume when we go out to things.

As you may or may not know, for the past several years, we hold Friday Night Pool Parties. Pretty much every Friday, we open up the pool and the hot tub and put some condiments and other food on the table. People bring things to share, things to drink, things to grill. Patrick mans the grill and cooks up pounds and pounds of meat products. The fridge gets filled with beer. Kids jump in the pool and everyone keeps an eye on them. Adults sometime jump in too, or just hang out and talk. People reconnect, or meet for the first time, or meet people in real life that they have only meet online. It's all ages, all stratas of life, all kinds of people. Sometimes people come once in a summer. Sometimes they come every week. Sometimes they don't make it at all but beg us not to take them off the invite list (as if we would). Everyone seems to need these pool parties (ourselves included). Last night someone told me that they had been talking to someone who said "I've h