Go see show. Yay show!
So I have these talented people that I love. I'd like to think they are talented because I love them, as if my love bestows them the ability to excel at what they do, but still...
Tonight, I will be discussing one of these people in particular: Heather. (Referred to for the remainder of this entry as "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay")
So, "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay" has a weekly column in a newspaper on the seacoast. And I think she's swell; I've thought so for no small time.
Well apparently other people think she's really quite swell too, and someone suggested that her columns would make a wonderful performance piece. Someone else agreed, and boom: The Unbearable Lightness of Dating by Heather MacKenzie was born. (By the way, there's one show left. Sunday, July 31st. 9:30 pm in Portsmouth, NH. Follow the above link.)
Nine of her columns, performed as monologues by three different actresses over the course of an hour.
Quite frankly, I didn't buy it.
I mean, Shit, I love "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay" and I am a frequent reader of her weekly column... but mostly because I love her to death, usually miss her terribly and when reading her columns I can hear her talking. She writes how she speaks, and she speaks how she thinks; and it's nice that even though I probably spend the equivalent of 6 nights a year with her (God, that's depressing) I can read something she's written and be happy and content.
So there, I admit it. I don't read "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay"'s column for advice, or tips on how to navigate the hectic world of the singles scene on the New Hampshire seacoast. I never have. I read it to feel warm fuzzies because I love her... and to see if she mentions me, of course.
Therefore, the concept of seeing her columns performed just didn't sit well with me. My thought process went like this: "Let me get this straight: Some random person is going to be standing on a stage pretending to be "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay"? Bullshit! There is no way that this impostor going to make feel the warm fuzzies I get from reading her columns. Let alone be able to super-impose those warm fuzzies on a room full of strangers who don't know her like I do. This is going to be a train wreck"
But as the dutiful, loving friend; I went as a show of support. Because that's what you do for friends, if they are going to fall on their face you make sure you are there to help them up.
It was amazing.
It was insightful. It was funny. It was passionate.
And I realized I never really read her columns. Don't get me wrong, I knew what she was saying, but I've never paid attention to the actual writing. But hearing other people saying her words, to see how these strangers made her thoughts their own... It was startling. "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay" is an excellent writer, which I knew -- but I didn't know. And that's why people read her column regularly, not because they miss her; but because she's good.
And I'm embarrassed. I should have realized it sooner.
There's a reason it was amazing: She is amazing.
She is insightful. She is funny. She is passionate. And she's an excellent writer, because she's an excellent thinker, and an excellent person.
And I'm amazingly blessed to be able to call her my friend.
Tonight, I will be discussing one of these people in particular: Heather. (Referred to for the remainder of this entry as "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay")
So, "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay" has a weekly column in a newspaper on the seacoast. And I think she's swell; I've thought so for no small time.
Well apparently other people think she's really quite swell too, and someone suggested that her columns would make a wonderful performance piece. Someone else agreed, and boom: The Unbearable Lightness of Dating by Heather MacKenzie was born. (By the way, there's one show left. Sunday, July 31st. 9:30 pm in Portsmouth, NH. Follow the above link.)
Nine of her columns, performed as monologues by three different actresses over the course of an hour.
Quite frankly, I didn't buy it.
I mean, Shit, I love "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay" and I am a frequent reader of her weekly column... but mostly because I love her to death, usually miss her terribly and when reading her columns I can hear her talking. She writes how she speaks, and she speaks how she thinks; and it's nice that even though I probably spend the equivalent of 6 nights a year with her (God, that's depressing) I can read something she's written and be happy and content.
So there, I admit it. I don't read "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay"'s column for advice, or tips on how to navigate the hectic world of the singles scene on the New Hampshire seacoast. I never have. I read it to feel warm fuzzies because I love her... and to see if she mentions me, of course.
Therefore, the concept of seeing her columns performed just didn't sit well with me. My thought process went like this: "Let me get this straight: Some random person is going to be standing on a stage pretending to be "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay"? Bullshit! There is no way that this impostor going to make feel the warm fuzzies I get from reading her columns. Let alone be able to super-impose those warm fuzzies on a room full of strangers who don't know her like I do. This is going to be a train wreck"
But as the dutiful, loving friend; I went as a show of support. Because that's what you do for friends, if they are going to fall on their face you make sure you are there to help them up.
It was amazing.
It was insightful. It was funny. It was passionate.
And I realized I never really read her columns. Don't get me wrong, I knew what she was saying, but I've never paid attention to the actual writing. But hearing other people saying her words, to see how these strangers made her thoughts their own... It was startling. "my amazing heather fairy of linguistic wonderment and super-duper fabulousness, yay" is an excellent writer, which I knew -- but I didn't know. And that's why people read her column regularly, not because they miss her; but because she's good.
And I'm embarrassed. I should have realized it sooner.
There's a reason it was amazing: She is amazing.
She is insightful. She is funny. She is passionate. And she's an excellent writer, because she's an excellent thinker, and an excellent person.
And I'm amazingly blessed to be able to call her my friend.