Well, it has been quite a weekend. The sad news first, I guess - we had to have our dog put to sleep this weekend. It has been a long time coming, and she was nearly 18, but it's still one of the hardest things we've ever done. Tara was the best dog we could have hoped for growing up - I'm only 22, so I barely remember a time when she wasn't part of the family. And she was as much a part of the family as I am. She will be missed, and fondly remembered for the rest of my life. Goodbye, my puppy.
On a happier note, I got to spend some time with Stacy, and my Aunt Cheryl and grandmother, in Ottawa this weekend before Stacy left for New York (which is where she is right now, damn her! :-). Not that I'm jealous or anything, but Stacy will spend the next two months helping with the workshop of a new musical in New York, and after that she'll be working in the PR department for Livent, helping them get ready for the Tonys!!! I may never be able to speak to her again! :-)
And speaking of the Tonys - yay Parade!!! Nine nominations! Including Best New Musical, Best Actor (Brent Carver), Best Actress (Carolee Carmello), Best Director (Hal Prince), and more. Very exciting. Now if the Tony voters can just remember that just because the show is closed doesn't mean it wasn't an incredible show!!! I will be *very* upset if Parade doesn't win some major awards!!!
I saw TWO fantastic movies in the last week - I haven't been to a movie theatre in months, and in the last few days I've seen two very different movies, and loved both of them. I'm finally only going to see movies in the theatre that are worth the price I paid to see them, and I'm having a much better time! :-) First, last week Tara and I went to see Life is Beautiful, which is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. I might even venture to say that it should have won Best Picture, and regular visitors to this page will know how much I loved Shakespeare in Love, so that's a big statement for me! But it was a *wonderful* movie - I haven't laughed *and* wept that hard at a movie in years. Get up off your butt and go see this movie RIGHT NOW! And then this weekend Stacy and I went to see Never Been Kissed. I was expecting a pleasant way to pass a couple of hours while my mom shopped, and we ended up having the time of our lives! What a hoot this movie is! I laughed myself to death. (Sorry, obscure Little Shop of Horrors reference there!) And Michael Vartan is TO DIE FOR!!! What a cutie!
I did have a very interesting (and rather sobering) experience last week as well (it's just been a jam packed week for me, now hasn't it?). The band I play in played at a dinner the other night for retired army officers, and we played several World War Two era pieces. And every single man in that room sang along at the top of their voices, and several even cried at one point. And it got me thinking. In fifty years, what is my generation going to gather around the piano and sing? We don't have that link through music anymore. We don't have the songs that everyone knows, regardless of social or economic background, or even musical tastes. Now, of course, thank God my generation hasn't had a war or some terrible event where we needed something like music to pull us together, but we don't have any link anymore. For a few minutes, I really envied these men and the songs they had to pull them all together and make them forget all their differences.
And my dad wants the computer, so I'm going to have to sign off for now. I've done entirely too much thinking for one week, especially the week after I finished school! :-)
