Scenes from an exhibition

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-D416-32045.

I’m not just famous, I’m IN-famous!

Last Thursday, as you may remember, I posted something about the marriage of a nationally famous blogger and her less-prolifically-blogging, linking to both posts in which they referenced their marriage. I don’t do a lot of linking to other sites in this blog, and certainly less than I used to in my previous blogs, but I thought that I should in this case because not everyone is familiar with both of them.

I got online some hours after originally posting, and looked at the little stats graph at the top of my page (WordPress users will know what I’m talking about.) This graph is a small, 48-column graph that shows you the number of visitors to your site over the last 48 hours. If you mouse over it, a number comes up telling you the height of the tallest column, basically giving you a scale. Usually, in my case, that number will be 4 or 5, and sometimes double that. Mousing over it now, the number was 27, and there were a lot of columns of approximately that height. Something, as they say, was “up.”

It turns out that my post was the first remote reaction on the husband’s blog, and so people naturally clicked to my post. I was lucky in that I hadn’t said anything defamatory or negative, just that I was sad that it was happening. Not knowing them, and not having gone through that situation, I didn’t feel comfortable holding forth on “what they should do.” In fact, I’m sort of stunned by people who do. Because of that stance, needless to say, I didn’t provoke any strong reactions in those who clicked over here for the first time, and so none of them felt the need to comment. Now my trackback post has fallen off of the front page of the husband’s blog, and traffic has resumed to its normal ebb and flow. A similar, though less dramatic thing also happened recently when a post of my was featured in a “good writing” site.

It’s fun to think yourself influential, even for a day or so.

The mad blood is stirring

Yesterday, Daughter #1 and her class put on selected scenes from Romeo and Juliet, which they had been studying all this term. Most of the kids were in one scene, and D#1 was Tybalt in Act 3, scene 1. Her favorite line was, “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford/No better term than this: thou art a villain.” She got to play with swords, even though her teacher kept saying that she fought like a girl. Having to record the scene through the auspices of my Flip camera, I didn’t really get to see most of the scene. No matter, since most of the words were mumbled anyway. Next term is Lord of the Flies, and I asked if they were going to act that out as well.

She was very happy that I came, and I saw the mother of a kid who had left after fourth grade to live in Germany. I had worked with her at a previous job, and she was the one who recruited me to go to the kids’ present school. Now they were back, and her boy seemed none the worse for wear. Actually, I hadn’t seen a lot of the parents since the end of the volleyball campaign. We’re all back to our usual non-excited, non-cheering selves. Which is too bad, I suppose.

Those good and crazy people, my married friends

Preparations continue apace for the Cabaret. I secured a spotlight for the evening, and will meet about the meal service tomorrow. The Wife is knitting a blanket for the silent auction. I still haven’t been given my final marching orders on what song I’m going to be singing, but I should be able to ask the guy who’s putting the acts together tonight. Since I didn’t link to it last time, and since it is his birthday today, I’ll share with you the song that I really want to sing. The filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker was asked to make a film of the original cast recording of “Company” as the first of a projected series. The series was ditched after the first one, but Pennebaker’s film remains, not only as a fascinating musical piece, but also as a window into 1970′s New York: the fashions, the looks, the interconnectedness of these artists. Jones’ “Being Alive” is notable for both his performance, and for the fact that he left the show not long afterwards to have a mental breakdown, brought on primarily by his failing marriage. You may also notice Elaine Stritch, looking much the worse for wear. I read somewhere that she doesn’t remember these recording sessions, so far was she into her cups. Regardless, the whole documentary is on the Tube of You.

Some may also remember Dean Jones from the Disney film, “The Love Bug.” From the sublime to the ridiculous.

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