Easter Sunday and some other stuff
Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those who celebrate.
I still managed to pull together Easter baskets for the kids (although I accidentally switched the baskets, giving MiniPlu Two's green one, and he got her purple one, oops), with a few items bought before everything went sideways, and some candy cobbled together from the grocery store, buy-online-pick-up-in-store for Walmart, and Amazon. Eh, at least it was something. I also got up semi-early and made this streusel coffee cake for breakfast as I had some leftover buttermilk to use up. V tasty.
Watched the rest of Jesus Christ Superstar on YouTube (Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Shows Must Go On" free offering, which starts every Fri night and runs 48 hours). The version ALW posted was a live stage show from 2012 - look for Laurence Conner (the director)'s version if you want to see what I'm referring to. Anyway, it was set as if on the public steps of a town square, very urban, with the cast all dressed as if they were modern-day liberals ready for a Berkeley-esque protest. Judas had dreds, as did Mary Magdalene (who - as it turned out, was one of the former Spice Girls). It took a little getting used to, but it was interesting. What really worked was to have the pharisees dressed as uptight dudes in suits and ties, as a sharp contrast to the laid-back look of The People. Pilate was a judge in robes for the "Dream" song, although at the point that he first questions Jesus he's dressed for a workout, and is doing chair pushups on the step behind him - it somehow really worked with the cadence of his questioning. Jesus was a millenial with chin-length wavy hair - I couldn't quite place his race other than "not 100% white". For the first part, he seemed kind of bland, but in the second half, which is more, well, passionate (pun not intended, but it works), he did a nice job. And, honestly, having him look like Everyman really pushed the point that he WAS an ordinary man, not set apart in special robes or anything. Once he'd been arrested, he wore an orange prison jumpsuit.
The highlight: Herod was a game show host in a flamboyant suit, with women in sparkly short dresses, like the show models you'd see on The Price is Right or something - dancing around behind him during his song.
Anyway, although it's not necessarily my favorite adaptation, it was very creative and interesting. The performers still did a good job overall, and there were some very powerful moments. And I also tuned in to my parish's Easter service live stream, although I admit I was occasionally distracted and not giving it my full attention. :P
Otherwise, it's been an ordinary, quiet day. MiniPlu and I went for a run, I've got laundry going as I usually do on Sun. We'll have a nice ham dinner at home tonight, and I made cake for dessert.
Yesterday the kids and I took apart the broom cupboard and completely redid it, throwing out a billion scented candles that a) had gone rancid b) had burned so low they would no longer light or c) had been gifts but were scents nobody liked. Also moved a bunch of stuff to other locations (no need for all our cookie tins to be hogging space in there), reorganized items that were stuffed into different shelves, and threw out or gave away a bunch of other crap, including stuff that had probably been there since they moved in nearly 20 years ago. Please note we did this while my SIL was running errands because she would have tried to save pretty much everything. :P We're eyeing some other drawers and cupboards that maybe can be rearranged or cleaned out, as well.
Last week PA made the call that all schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year; so far it looks like 17 states have made that decision. We're still crossing all our fingers and toes that kids might get to go back for a week or two in June; the likelihood is dwindling by the day, but we're still hoping, because MiniPlu will be beyond devastated if she never gets to go back. This was all thrust on everyone so rapidly, there was no way to prepare to say goodbye forever, back on March 13. NYC just called it for the year, and although the NY governor has not, he did say he'd like NY/CT/NJ to all coordinate, since the tri-state region has so much crossover, and if he decides to match up with NYC's mayor, then it's all over for us, too. My heart hurts just thinking about all the seniors (college seniors, too) who have lost out on their last experiences, and the opportunity to say goodbye.
Continuing on with comfort, brain-candy reading, I just finished Jordan L. Hawk's Restless Spirits, the first in a (so far) trilogy featuring a medium who can channel spirits and a scientist who is working on non-medium-using ways to de-ghost homes. I would say I liked the first book less than the first W&G book but more than the first Hex- book, and will probably get the second one at some point. There was a warning when purchasing the book that it contained some transphobia (which, given the late-19th-century setting is not surprising) but it took me awhile to figure out who was trans. I finally realized it the moment one character insists on sleeping on her own while all the others agree to bunk together for one night in self-protection. As for the main characters - they were likeable, with flaws and virtues, as all Jordan L Hawks characters have. I knew right away that, despite Vincent's wearing an amulet for almost the entire book so he couldn't possibly channel any spirits, that he would end up taking it off and making a big sacrifice in the end - which he did. I also suspected the human (non-spirit) culprit fairly early, too. So, in that sense, it was a little predictable, more so than books usually are for me, but it was still enjoyable. However, I felt like there could have been a little more draw and magnetism between Henry and Vincent, a little more chemistry - I liked them together but didn't really feel the passion and emotion as strongly as I do for W&G. But maybe that's just me. On the other hand, the first SPECTR book didn't bowl me over, either, and I came to like the series and the characters quite well. Anyway, decent enough story, will probably continue on at some point.
And I guess that's it for now?
I still managed to pull together Easter baskets for the kids (although I accidentally switched the baskets, giving MiniPlu Two's green one, and he got her purple one, oops), with a few items bought before everything went sideways, and some candy cobbled together from the grocery store, buy-online-pick-up-in-store for Walmart, and Amazon. Eh, at least it was something. I also got up semi-early and made this streusel coffee cake for breakfast as I had some leftover buttermilk to use up. V tasty.
Watched the rest of Jesus Christ Superstar on YouTube (Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Shows Must Go On" free offering, which starts every Fri night and runs 48 hours). The version ALW posted was a live stage show from 2012 - look for Laurence Conner (the director)'s version if you want to see what I'm referring to. Anyway, it was set as if on the public steps of a town square, very urban, with the cast all dressed as if they were modern-day liberals ready for a Berkeley-esque protest. Judas had dreds, as did Mary Magdalene (who - as it turned out, was one of the former Spice Girls). It took a little getting used to, but it was interesting. What really worked was to have the pharisees dressed as uptight dudes in suits and ties, as a sharp contrast to the laid-back look of The People. Pilate was a judge in robes for the "Dream" song, although at the point that he first questions Jesus he's dressed for a workout, and is doing chair pushups on the step behind him - it somehow really worked with the cadence of his questioning. Jesus was a millenial with chin-length wavy hair - I couldn't quite place his race other than "not 100% white". For the first part, he seemed kind of bland, but in the second half, which is more, well, passionate (pun not intended, but it works), he did a nice job. And, honestly, having him look like Everyman really pushed the point that he WAS an ordinary man, not set apart in special robes or anything. Once he'd been arrested, he wore an orange prison jumpsuit.
The highlight: Herod was a game show host in a flamboyant suit, with women in sparkly short dresses, like the show models you'd see on The Price is Right or something - dancing around behind him during his song.
Anyway, although it's not necessarily my favorite adaptation, it was very creative and interesting. The performers still did a good job overall, and there were some very powerful moments. And I also tuned in to my parish's Easter service live stream, although I admit I was occasionally distracted and not giving it my full attention. :P
Otherwise, it's been an ordinary, quiet day. MiniPlu and I went for a run, I've got laundry going as I usually do on Sun. We'll have a nice ham dinner at home tonight, and I made cake for dessert.
Yesterday the kids and I took apart the broom cupboard and completely redid it, throwing out a billion scented candles that a) had gone rancid b) had burned so low they would no longer light or c) had been gifts but were scents nobody liked. Also moved a bunch of stuff to other locations (no need for all our cookie tins to be hogging space in there), reorganized items that were stuffed into different shelves, and threw out or gave away a bunch of other crap, including stuff that had probably been there since they moved in nearly 20 years ago. Please note we did this while my SIL was running errands because she would have tried to save pretty much everything. :P We're eyeing some other drawers and cupboards that maybe can be rearranged or cleaned out, as well.
Last week PA made the call that all schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year; so far it looks like 17 states have made that decision. We're still crossing all our fingers and toes that kids might get to go back for a week or two in June; the likelihood is dwindling by the day, but we're still hoping, because MiniPlu will be beyond devastated if she never gets to go back. This was all thrust on everyone so rapidly, there was no way to prepare to say goodbye forever, back on March 13. NYC just called it for the year, and although the NY governor has not, he did say he'd like NY/CT/NJ to all coordinate, since the tri-state region has so much crossover, and if he decides to match up with NYC's mayor, then it's all over for us, too. My heart hurts just thinking about all the seniors (college seniors, too) who have lost out on their last experiences, and the opportunity to say goodbye.
Continuing on with comfort, brain-candy reading, I just finished Jordan L. Hawk's Restless Spirits, the first in a (so far) trilogy featuring a medium who can channel spirits and a scientist who is working on non-medium-using ways to de-ghost homes. I would say I liked the first book less than the first W&G book but more than the first Hex- book, and will probably get the second one at some point. There was a warning when purchasing the book that it contained some transphobia (which, given the late-19th-century setting is not surprising) but it took me awhile to figure out who was trans. I finally realized it the moment one character insists on sleeping on her own while all the others agree to bunk together for one night in self-protection. As for the main characters - they were likeable, with flaws and virtues, as all Jordan L Hawks characters have. I knew right away that, despite Vincent's wearing an amulet for almost the entire book so he couldn't possibly channel any spirits, that he would end up taking it off and making a big sacrifice in the end - which he did. I also suspected the human (non-spirit) culprit fairly early, too. So, in that sense, it was a little predictable, more so than books usually are for me, but it was still enjoyable. However, I felt like there could have been a little more draw and magnetism between Henry and Vincent, a little more chemistry - I liked them together but didn't really feel the passion and emotion as strongly as I do for W&G. But maybe that's just me. On the other hand, the first SPECTR book didn't bowl me over, either, and I came to like the series and the characters quite well. Anyway, decent enough story, will probably continue on at some point.
And I guess that's it for now?