The Scarlet Pimpernel...

Ah, sink me! "They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere...Is he in heaven? Or is he in (shh!) hell? That damned, elusive, Pimpernel..."

This evening I had the wonderful opportunity to be reintroduced to one of my favorite stories--The Scarlet Pimpernel. A favorite local theater, the Glendale Centre Theatre, has an ongoing production running through April. It was so good!

I first became acquainted with the story of The Scarlet Pimpernel back in college, when, in my junior year, a roommate rented it from the local video store. I fell in love with the story and that particular film version immediately. Shortly after, it was on TV and I taped it, later showed it to my family, who also loved it. It quickly became a family favorite and still is.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is based on a book by Baroness Orczy, and it tells of a seemingly foppish British Lord named Sir Percival Blakeney. In public he plays the fool, but he is also, secretly, the heroic Scarlet Pimpernel who, with his small band of trusted friends, sneak back and forth to France during the revolution, rescuing imprisoned aristocrats and saving them from "Madam Guillotine." Percy and his friends use everything at their disposal: tricks, make-up, disguises, and a lot of humor.

When Percy falls in love with the French actress, Margarite St. Just, his life seems as charmed as ever. However, at his wedding, he learns that Margarite may be responsible for the deaths of an entire aristocrat family. What he doesn't know, is that the Chief Agent of National Security--Paul Chauvlin--has named her as informer, and also plans to use her again to discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

The whole story is full of wit, intrigue, and the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between Sir Percy and Chauvlin. The very best film version, in my opinion, is the one with Anthony Andrews as Percy, Jane Seymour as Margarite, and Ian McKellan as Chauvlin. I could watch that movie again and again, and I have!

The musical is also very good. I had the good fortune to see it at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles 2 times around 10 years ago. Douglas Sills was wonderful as Percy. And tonight's less extravagant show at the GCT was also excellent. Tonight, though, the scene-stealer was definitely Kelby Thwaits, who played Chauvlin. Oh my gosh--that guy has the most amazing voice, and quite a presence too. I've seen him in other productions there and he is always excellent, but I think he's outdone himself there.

And that is my "ode" to the Scarlet Pimpernel. Love it! And the book is great too.

Here are some great videos I found, thanks to You Tube:

A great song, Into the Fire, from the National cast. Douglas Sills is so awesome!


A great scene from the movie, that shows when Percy and Margarite meet. It doesn't give away "too much" of the story--which I would recommend to anyone.

I haven't been a very good blogger lately!

What can I say? Things have been busy.

At school I'm just trying to get through each day and not think about impending layoffs. It's all I can do until the district decides how they're going to deal with their huge budget cuts. I go to work, try to stay positive and do my job.

On the home front, my late grandma's only surviving sister had a stroke about 2 weeks ago. It is very similar to my grandma's first stroke and, although, she seems to be recovering, the progress is slow. We're all hoping that it isn't the precursor to something more serious in the future. Again--trying to stay positive!

And, back to school news, tomorrow is an event that many of the teachers, including myself, don't like too much. It is a patriotic parade aimed at linking to the community. All with good intentions, of course, but I operate under the policy that anything that takes me and the kids out of the classroom is...well...annoying! Plus it is LOUD, CROWDED, and BUSY--3 of my least favorite things. We have to do a banner. Most teachers reuse the same banner year to year. I don't know why I haven't done that. This year's theme is "Yes We Can!" I had my kids print up pictures of famous people who have accomplished a lot, they colored them nice and bright, we glued them onto construction paper and taped them onto their rulers. On the banner I wrote "Yes, They Did!" in big red letters.

The kids like the parade, but it is one of those big hulabaloos that I'll be grateful when it's over!

That's the news!

But 2 recent songs I recorded. Have a listen. Click on the song titles to hear them:

I KNOW WHO HOLDS TOMORROW

YOU AND I

Bye, Bye Socks

Socks, the Clinton's cat, has gone to kitty heaven. Rest in Peace, Socks! She reminds me of my first cat.

Paintings, Singing, and Facebooking...

It has been an eventful last few days...

Things are looking more positive on the job front and I'm really hoping and praying that everything works out OK. There is a very good possibility that my job will be secure. Thank goodness. There are so many people out of work right now.

It's also been raining cats and dogs in So. CA lately! We're in the middle of our second storm system, and I think another is headed in our direction by the end of the week. Rainy days at school--fun! At least it should be dry by this Friday when I've got tickets for Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages. Can't wait!

And we're still working on cleaning out the grandparents' house. It's a slow process, but we're all getting better at it. The main thing is to be fair, methodical, and respectful, and my family. An ongoing thing has been to pick paintings done by my grandma. There are about 31. We decided to take pictures of them, post the link on Photobucket, and take turns--by age--down the line of kids and grandkids. I'm the oldest grandkid and #5 in line and yesterday I got to take my turn. This is the one I picked:

Isn't it pretty? I've always liked this one a lot, and even more so now that we found my grandma's sketch book and she had labeled the 3 girls as my 2 cousins and me. Very special. It is now hanging in my bedroom.

And can I just say how much fun I've been having on Facebook lately? What a great place to keep in touch with people! My "friends list" now includes, family, friends, co-workers, college roommates, high school/middle school/elementary school friends, and a couple of close friends that I've met online. 99% are people from 3-dimensional world, many of whom are scattered around the country. It is a really fun site to pop into and chat or leave little messages.

Speaking of roommates, I'm very excited that a reunion is really in the works for this summer. Everyone has been tracked down and everyone wants to go--7 of us total. And, because it will be in Utah, there are at least 4 other friends to visit along the way. I am really, reall looking forward to it.

And, of course, I've been adding more song recordings, which anyone reading this is welcome to visit. I'm very happy with the Celine Dion song I did yesterday (after 2 hours laboring through take after take after take...)

Here's a sample of some recent ones. Click on the song titles to go to the site and refresh as necessary.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE (Lots of work!)

BROKEN VOW

PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN YOUR HEART

There are a couple of others, but, you know...it is all in fun!

At that's the news (and weather) for what's going on around here. I'm still fighting a cold and sore throat (currently on Day 8,) but I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been taking great care of myself. Word of advice? Sleep is important in getting rid of a cold. :-)

Everyone's sick...my laptop, me, my nephew, and my district...

Believe me when I tell you that my laptop has already shown signs that it needs to be repaired again. An update on Sunday required that I restart the computer and, when I did, the same old thing happened again, where the screen display was all stretched out. Of course, I knew this would happen eventually since the Geek Squad admitted that they had only run tests but had not done repairs.

My first instinct was to pack it up, get in my car, and go bowling for Geek Squadders, but cooler thoughts prevailed and I decided that, as long as the recent "work" is still under warranty and restarting the computer again solves the problem, I'm going to hang onto the laptop for a little while longer before I take it back in for another look.

The rest of the weekend was restful, if uneventful. I've been having a lot of fun reconnecting with more people on Facebook and making use of their live chat feature. The only thing I wish is that you could see who was online and be "offline" at the same time. Sometimes it is helpful to be incognito, if you know what I mean...

And my family is continuing to systematically empty out my grandparents' house. Everything has been divided up very fairly, but now, noticeable pieces of furniture have been taken, and it is kind of depressing. To think that when you die, your stuff just becomes "stuff." If that doesn't make one less materialistic, nothing will. I'm thrilled to have a couple of my grandma's pretty decorative tables in my house now, but it still feels kind of strange and wrong.

Yesterday was spent fighting an aggressive sore throat. It began on Sunday night and traces of it are still lingering today. Fortunately (if you could call it that,) it has been raining so much that yesterday the weather made me not want to go anywhere. On the plus side, my nephew was at my mom's house for several hours, but on the minus side, the little guy is experiencing his first cold. I guess not all firsts can be happy ones.

In other news, I found out today that my district is holding a meeting tomorrow for people who may be laid off. A friend who works on the district newsletter told me. But the administration didn't tell me and my union reps didn't tell me. I'm beginning to wonder if they even know. There are clearly some communication problems here. Still, I don't think I'm going to go even if I hear more about it. I'm still trying to stay optimistic that my hiring year won't be included, and the more I hear about the lay offs, the more stressed I get. And the truth is...no one knows what's going to happen yet, but I have to survive each day and not let my stress affect me in the classroom. So I'm operating under the "Ignorance is Bliss" policy. For now, that's working.

Scaling Some Musical Everests...

Have I mentioned today how ecstatic I am to have my laptop back? I don't think I have...

What a difference.

So, I don't know if it the enthusiasm from having my laptop back, or knowing that this is a 3-day weekend, or reconnecting with a few of my best friends from childhood all in one week, but I gained the confidence to attempt to record some extremely difficult songs.

Last night I stayed up until 2:30am: singing, emailing, writing, chatting with friends online, uploading pictures...doing all of the things that I've been denied for the past 2 weeks while my computer was in the hospital.

But I have really made up for lost time in the singing department. Since last night I've recorded 15 songs! Only 2 are videos--which is fine with me. I think I sing better when I'm not making a video. But of those 15, 4 of them are special triumphs, because they are songs I've tried in the past and could not do. 1 Celine Dion song, 2 Michael Bolton songs, and 1 by Kelly Clarkson.

So here they are. Click on the titles to hear them. I think I'm most proud of A Moment Like This, by Kelly Clarkson. I don't know where I got the breath to survive these, but it happened!

A MOMENT LIKE THIS

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU?

WHEN I'M BACK ON MY FEET AGAIN

IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW

Kristie and Her Laptop are in the Same Room Again!

Time for the Dance of Joy!! (busting a move, busting a move...)

After 12 days, 24 back and forths with the school computer, 2 irate but controlled phone calls, and 1 land-speed record-breaking drive to Best Buy this afternoon...

I FINALLY have my laptop back. Yes, it's sad that we, OK, I, am so dependent on my laptop, but I don't care about pride today. I'm just happy to have it back.

The frustrating thing? The Best Buy Geeks Squad and their Service Center Geeks couldn't find the source of the problem. (The display on the screen was all stretched out and no amount of restarting was fixing the problem...)

The good news is that (1) it didn't cost me a penny and (2) my warranty starts again today. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be back over there if the problem happens again. And next time...Geeky heads are going to roll....

But for now, I'm just glad to have it back. I don't have to reinstall anything. I just have to be hopeful (and maybe find a new place for possible future problems. Suggestions are welcome.)

Still, I'm trying to be grateful for small things.

Movie Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Am I the only one who feels left out when watching some the awards shows? They announce all of these movies and I'll be lucky if I've seen one of them. Sad, too, because I think I have pretty good taste in films.

So a couple of days ago I added Vicky Cristina Barcelona to my Netflix queue. And, despite the fact that it said "long wait" next to the title, it arrived fairly quickly.

The title and the movie poster are a little misleading. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johanson) go to Barcelona and meet a charming painter named Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem.) So this is not about a girl named "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." But the fact that their lives and relationships become intertwined is a possible explanation of why Woody Allen came up with that title.

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge Woody Allen fan. I findly him strangely overrated. I know that when I watch a Woody Allen film I'm going to see a movie with a lot of dialogue, and this film was no different. The only thing I found refreshing was Juan Antonio's honesty. Yes, he's a Spanish guy who is attracted to pretty much any decent-looking woman, but he makes no secret of it. Although the practical-minded Vicky gets thrown by his forthrightness.

Penelope Cruz plays Juan Antonio's dramatic ex-wife, who is part sage and part Tasmanian devil. I have to say that she really is an excellent, excellent actress. I can see why she was nominated for an Academy Award for this role.

My review feels kind of like this movie. There really isn't much of a point to it. No one really learns anything. No one really ends up happy. No one ends up with who you want them to end up with. There's no real depth to it. Yes, those are spoilers, I guess you could say, but I'm just letting you know what you're in for if you decide to watch it.

It kind of reminds me of that show 30 Rock, which leaves me thinking, "What is the point?"

It does have some redeeming qualities. For one thing, the "Narrator." Imagine listening to a book on tape of 2 young women going to Barcelona while watching it at the same time, and that is this movie. And, I'll admit, some of the dialogue was entertaining and I can't say I was bored. It had a very "slice of life" feeling about it. You don't know anything about these characters previous to the film and you have no idea what is going to happen to them once it is over. But the thing is, you don't really care, and that may be this film's problem. I

I would give it and 8 out of 10. If you see it, you'll be entertained, but it won't knock your socks off.