Lordy what a day. Me and twenty or so of my sisters (including my pals Sue, Carol, Deb and Holly) all got hitched to our cousins yesterday. Sadly, not a single groom lived to see his wedding night: "there's been a slaughter here". Blood all over the field. Now i know what it must've been like to be a maenad.
No, no, sade hasn't finally gone off the deep end and lived up to my namesake. This was all in the spirit of fun. And Theater. Acting. Thank You. Big Love (no relation to the show) opens in two weeks. Even if we *wanted* to have fifty brides and grooms onstage, as implied in the script, the Liminis just isn't that big - so we added a virtual cast of extras.
And what a hoot! We had around two dozen couples, guys in suits and girls in everything from full wedding gowns to bridal nightgowns to white cocktail gowns to oh hell, any old white dress will do! We got hitched - against *our* feminine wills, i might add - by a priest of indeterminate denomination. We had a big fat (authentic) Greek wedding dance. A few lucky couples got to cut the lovely cake, which was gaily trimmed with blood-red roses. A few more couples got in on it for a full-on food fight. We all drank (faux) shots and danced again, which turned into a mosh pit; and then a ridiculously fun pile-up, everyone on top of everyone else.
Alas after that those poor brave fellows were butchered. We had so much blood flying around that field, our cameraman had to stop and wipe his lens coz he couldn't see what he was shooting! Every bride had a different weapon - a couple grooms were just knifed but the rest fell to any tool we could find. Crowbar, hack- and handsaw (both weilded by the same vengeful bride), ax, etc. i chopped mine up with a machete. Mark got screwed to death with a big old shoulder-brace drill. Big Daddy had his hand lopped off by a kitana, and Shawn had both his arm and foot sawed off. There were body parts strewn everywhere, and gore-spattered brides laughing and carrying on despite the carnage.
When it was all over, we had cake for everyone and hosed sticky, bloody participants down on the sidewalk. Several of the blood-soaked brides and their reanimated corpse husbands went down to the Tap House for Bloody Marys. i had to pass on that as i was helping finish cleaning up - amazingly, the dummy cake parts all survived; tho they're a little worse for wear. Haven't quite figured out how i'm going to clean those for our gracious cake baker Dee - maybe she knows some trade secrets?
It was tiring being out in the sun all afternoon, and then i went and jumped in my friend's pool and lazed around for an hour after; so by nighttime i was preeeetty well worn out. Was supposed to spin at the Duck but i didn't really consider how much this would take out of me - well, it wasn't clear that i was even going to BE a bride until the last minute. Originally the shoot was going to be Saturday, but it stormed Sat morning and we were concerned about the cameras in the rain - not to mention that even once it stopped, it would have been MUDDY, and slippery, and really humid on top of hot. This way worked out better, but some people (like Sarah, who had a matinee show at Bang and Clatter) had conflicts and couldn't make it Sunday. Fortunately she and i apparently wear the same size in wedding dresses, so it all worked out.
Curiously enough, by Sunday evening several of our unfortunate intended seem to have gotten the Frankenstein jolt, so there were a few zombie grooms spotted wandering around Tremont. i ran into a couple undead at Corissa's CD release, which seems to have drawn at least half the population of Tremont down to Lucky's. It was a beautiful evening for that too - nights have been balmy, warm enough to be outside but not *hot*, and everyone was enjoying the lovely night on their patio. Only after writing this did i realize this was our midsummer gather, or perhaps the last one in a week or so of festivity. Not Last One Evar sort of thing, more like a peak that brought everyone out like an old-time church supper.
i love being able to be part of what is functionally a small town where everyone knows everyone else - but its not like oh, there's old drunk Otis from down the block, and here comes Charlie, we all know he's a little nuts, and don't let Zeke catch you talkin to his old lady or he'll bust your face. Instead its all artists and musicians and creative people; and when we all get together like we did tonight, the energie generated is, well, really positive. Not trying to say there's never any drama - in a small town, everybody knows everybody else's business. But on the whole people are really open and supportive of each other, even if any one person's thing may not be your particular cup of kombucha. i'm honored to be counted a part of that, a village elder.
And that, my good people, is how i spent this lovely Sunday in July. i hope you all got to or will get to do something equally as uplifting with one of your summer Sundays. This has been one of those days i'll happily look back on the rest of my life.
13 July 2009
06 July 2009
Half a Horrible Holiday
i have my Issues w/the Fourth of July. There are reasons for that, but also reasons not to - i *have* enjoyed it in the past; i need to connect with those associations and not more recent, ugly ones. It came up in conversation Sat. night that it can be one of those dates, like New Years Eve, when one might pause and reflect back on where they were in previous years and take stock. i suppose one could make a case for those two being our secular equivalents to the solstices.
i wasn't particularly thinking about it one way or the other coming in to it, other than to not really be paying much attention. Which may have a lot to do with why the early part of the day was really good for me. We had a theater party out east, at the home of the folks i was house-sitting for. It was a nice, relaxed gather, with FAR too much good food , yummy martinis, entertainment, and a pool. Fun, but not ~quite~ warm enough to be relaxing. It was good exercise, but i got a chill which took a while to shake. i also shot a black powder gun, something i've never done, and wouldn't have CONSIDERED four years ago. i had fun and wasn't at all bothered by the noise or explosions, at least that i could tell then.
i gave a couple folks a ride back to town; we were heading downtown as the city display was going off, and that was fine too. This is probably the first year i've been able to watch fireworks and not be bothered by them since i don't know when. Dropped one of them off and then went on to the big Tremont/Ohio City bash where Mr. & Ms. Everyone were going. i knew going in that this was a rooftop party, but thought nothing of it. Why should i?
Various factors: When i arrived, a cranky toddler was at the top.. i thought he was scared to come down, but it turned out he wanted to do it HIMSELF, and did - so i'm watching this very small boy come down a rather unsafe climb. Other people up there were also suffering vertigo, and/or stress over going back down the scary ladder. i was already a bit physically worn out, and a bit psychically open. And we were three stories up, slightly higher than nearby buildings. The view of downtown was gorgeous, actually, but i couldn't appreciate it. The retaining walls really weren't, merely crenelations. The roof was grey, soft, slightly pitched, and it was just past twilight. All of which added up to one major panic attack for me.
i got down before it really hit, but then i was at a fairly large party, with very few people i knew. It turned out that this was actually a *neighbor's* party being held in tandem, and the folks i knew better had moved to the other one - only i didn't know where that was. From there on, it just didn't get any better. What i needed was to get the hell out of there, go somewhere i felt Safe and could ground; but i couldn't easily do that. People are used to me being someone who keeps it all together, blah blah blah, and i had Responsibilities.
Parts of the party were alright too tho.. Being there didn't *suck*, but it was too much of a fête for me to be able to relax and get grounded again. Oh, and my eye - i'd managed to get ground clove on my contact lens (don't ask) so my eye was already irritated, and the later it got, the more i needed to get the irritation out of there like, yesterday. Alas i had agreed to play taxi. With an eye that was by then so gummed up my vision was *badly* blurred. Through one of the more urban parts of town. On the night of a big party holiday when cops are everywhere.
Are we surprised that by the time i finally, finally got home, i was a total wreck? This is already long enough so i won't detail all the various stress factors that are lurking and will soon have to be Dealt With, but suffice to say every single one of them came crashing in on me. At some point i guess exhaustion finally won out. i know i managed to fall asleep, because a *very* late night text woke me up. And once awake, i realized that i smelled something burning.. not food or paper, but Large Wooden Something, like, a house. My whole apartment smelled like Starwood on a Saturday night. There was a fairly catastrophic explosion & house fire in Tremont just a couple weeks ago, so one more thing for my over-over-stressed and freaked out system to worry about. i never did figure out where it was, only that it wasn't *here* or close enuf to affect me, so somehow exhaustion managed to shut me down enuf to sleep.
All of which means i was generally pretty useless at set build. Fortunately we'd had a good turnout, so me being 98% useless today wasn't too much of an issue. i was gifted a massage and some energy work, and finally did make it over to my good friends' yard & pool, and a relaxing afternoon in the sunshine.
All in all, i'm on my way back to alright now, and of course i'm from the What Doesn't Kill Me school so - this too shall pass. Maybe next year the 4th will be just happy and relaxing like it is for other people. i almost got there this year; it was a good beginning and a good end. But that middle part went way too heavy on the suck for me.
i wasn't particularly thinking about it one way or the other coming in to it, other than to not really be paying much attention. Which may have a lot to do with why the early part of the day was really good for me. We had a theater party out east, at the home of the folks i was house-sitting for. It was a nice, relaxed gather, with FAR too much good food , yummy martinis, entertainment, and a pool. Fun, but not ~quite~ warm enough to be relaxing. It was good exercise, but i got a chill which took a while to shake. i also shot a black powder gun, something i've never done, and wouldn't have CONSIDERED four years ago. i had fun and wasn't at all bothered by the noise or explosions, at least that i could tell then.
i gave a couple folks a ride back to town; we were heading downtown as the city display was going off, and that was fine too. This is probably the first year i've been able to watch fireworks and not be bothered by them since i don't know when. Dropped one of them off and then went on to the big Tremont/Ohio City bash where Mr. & Ms. Everyone were going. i knew going in that this was a rooftop party, but thought nothing of it. Why should i?
Various factors: When i arrived, a cranky toddler was at the top.. i thought he was scared to come down, but it turned out he wanted to do it HIMSELF, and did - so i'm watching this very small boy come down a rather unsafe climb. Other people up there were also suffering vertigo, and/or stress over going back down the scary ladder. i was already a bit physically worn out, and a bit psychically open. And we were three stories up, slightly higher than nearby buildings. The view of downtown was gorgeous, actually, but i couldn't appreciate it. The retaining walls really weren't, merely crenelations. The roof was grey, soft, slightly pitched, and it was just past twilight. All of which added up to one major panic attack for me.
i got down before it really hit, but then i was at a fairly large party, with very few people i knew. It turned out that this was actually a *neighbor's* party being held in tandem, and the folks i knew better had moved to the other one - only i didn't know where that was. From there on, it just didn't get any better. What i needed was to get the hell out of there, go somewhere i felt Safe and could ground; but i couldn't easily do that. People are used to me being someone who keeps it all together, blah blah blah, and i had Responsibilities.
Parts of the party were alright too tho.. Being there didn't *suck*, but it was too much of a fête for me to be able to relax and get grounded again. Oh, and my eye - i'd managed to get ground clove on my contact lens (don't ask) so my eye was already irritated, and the later it got, the more i needed to get the irritation out of there like, yesterday. Alas i had agreed to play taxi. With an eye that was by then so gummed up my vision was *badly* blurred. Through one of the more urban parts of town. On the night of a big party holiday when cops are everywhere.
Are we surprised that by the time i finally, finally got home, i was a total wreck? This is already long enough so i won't detail all the various stress factors that are lurking and will soon have to be Dealt With, but suffice to say every single one of them came crashing in on me. At some point i guess exhaustion finally won out. i know i managed to fall asleep, because a *very* late night text woke me up. And once awake, i realized that i smelled something burning.. not food or paper, but Large Wooden Something, like, a house. My whole apartment smelled like Starwood on a Saturday night. There was a fairly catastrophic explosion & house fire in Tremont just a couple weeks ago, so one more thing for my over-over-stressed and freaked out system to worry about. i never did figure out where it was, only that it wasn't *here* or close enuf to affect me, so somehow exhaustion managed to shut me down enuf to sleep.
All of which means i was generally pretty useless at set build. Fortunately we'd had a good turnout, so me being 98% useless today wasn't too much of an issue. i was gifted a massage and some energy work, and finally did make it over to my good friends' yard & pool, and a relaxing afternoon in the sunshine.
All in all, i'm on my way back to alright now, and of course i'm from the What Doesn't Kill Me school so - this too shall pass. Maybe next year the 4th will be just happy and relaxing like it is for other people. i almost got there this year; it was a good beginning and a good end. But that middle part went way too heavy on the suck for me.
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