Fantasy Land

Last night, Dr. T, Miranda and her nanny and I went to see the Nutcracker performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. I was pretty excited, as I haven't been to see it before, and a little nervous that we were going to be late. I got off work at 6 and the show started at 7:30. We had to stop for some food first--I am pretty sure that my grumbly tummy had something to do with my mood. We made it just fine, of course. I have had the experience where you have to sit out the first act because you are late to the theater. I didn't want to do that again. I always seem to get antsy when things turn out fine, and am more nonchalant when things turn out badly.

The ballet itself was beautiful, I liked the Maurice Sendak staging quite a bit--I wished I could take a picture during a couple of the scenes, but that was a no no. The first act was as I was expecting and lived up to the praise that I'd heard for this year's performance. The second act was hard to follow though and the medly of dances put on by the "pasha's" servants felt more like a cry for attention. The dancing was beautiful, as I said, but after each bit, they would stop and bow to the audience and everyone would clap. These were not that long and the clapping would sometimes run through an entire piece. I stopped clapping after the first one and felt a little annoyed as it went on and on. Then, the ending. It was really disappointing. I understand that the Nutcracker has been interpreted in many different ways, but I haven't heard of any others where the Nutcracker prince abandons Clara to the foreign ruler in a strange land. He just rides off in a boat, waving to her cheerily as she looks after him in sadness and disbelief. She then wakes up to find that it is all a dream, but I still had a hard time swallowing the ending. The moral of the story seemed to be that a woman should never hesitate in her path or her man will abandon her. Weird.



Libraryland has been a little busy lately. I feel like I don't stop from when I get there till I leave. I have a to-do list the length of my arm and I know there are things that aren't on it that should be. I know that it will be more laid back in a week or two and I am certainly looking forward to the slower pace.

Pictures didn't happen on Wednesday, but everything went well. I had a large group of teens at the beginning and then a whole bunch of toddler/preschoolers came. It said "school aged children"... and teens of course. Recurring theme.