Thursday, November 6, 2008

rambling about rambling.

I know it's Thursday and I'm still recovering from last weekend. On Halloween we saw the 1925 Lon Cheney "Phantom of the Opera", shown on a screen over the stage while Dennis James, the SF Symphony organist, played the score underneath. I'd never actually seen the film before - Dennis told stories of when it was first released, when it was one of the scariest things anyone had ever seen, and how nurses were hired as part of the studio's publicity package to wait in the aisles for people who fainted or had heart problems. It WAS scary in parts, and campy in parts, and lots of the audience was in costume. At the very end somehow Dennis had managed to put a scary mask over his ENTIRE head WHILE he was playing, and when the lights came up he whirled around and startled everyone. Then he threw the bouquet of roses into the audience, and I caught the first one.

The next morning we left before dawn to fly to Boise to see Drew's grandmother, Frances. We'd heard that she was failing and we should get up there quickly, so we did. And she was terrific - laughing at our jokes, interested in the upcoming election, very alert and positive. We took her to her country club for dinner; while we're sad that our favorite restaurant in Boise has closed, we're happy that the chef moved to Frances' club - the food was fantastic.

Primary mode of mobility for her is a wheelchair now, which is a change from our last visit. But she seems fine with it - Sunday we pushed her around the park for a couple of hours, collecting fall leaves and watching the flocks of geese and ducks. I baked her a cherry pie that afternoon before we left, and we promised to see her again in December.

Then Monday we saw She and Him at Bimbo's 365 in San Francisco (the fun never stops). I LOVE Matt Ward, and pretty much anything he touches is golden. They've only got one CD out, so it was a pretty short set, but Zooey Deschanel has a really strong voice for being so tiny and cute, and it was a fun show.

Tuesday was, well, Tuesday. I have to say that at this moment I'm proud to be from North Carolina, and I'm not as proud to be a Californian. It's an exciting time for the country - for the whole world - but Prop 8 is putting a distinct pall over my happiness. This is a civil rights issue, plain and simple. Remember when women didn't have the right to vote? When interracial marriage was a crime? No, of course you don't, because these things have been recognized as basic rights. And our basic rights as Americans should extend to all of our citizens - that's why our forefathers LEFT their homes and founded this country of freedom.

Anyway. We'll see what happens. Another fun week of adventure and travel ahead.