caerula's Diaryland Diary

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oh canada

Ok, everyone who remembers the CBC tv program "Forever Knight" raise your hands. It was on Canadian tv in the early 90s, and I think it's on the Sci Fi channel now. It was really bad, featuring an ancient vampire making up for his past crimes against humanity by working as a police officer in Toronto (don't ask), in the meantime trying to figure out how to become human again.

Why do I bring this up? Because I, dork that I am, was hooked on this show when we used to get CBC. And because I saw the yummy actor who starred as the tortured vampire in My Fair Lady in Stratford this past weekend. It took a few minutes to adjust my head from shouting "yummy tortured vampire guy" to thinking "Professor Higgins," but after that it was great. Seriously, the tv show sucked, but this guy is talented. And adorable as a misogynist grammar-bound stickler afraid of his mother. Geraint Wyn Davies. And he's Welsh, so he's got the whole accent thing going on, too. Except that because, of course, he's Professor Higgins, he's overenunciating everything very properly, and we were close enough that we could see his spit flying, especially during "I'm an Ordinary Man."

The actress playing Eliza is Cynthia Dale, just a gorgeous all around person, the same woman we saw last year in "Sound of Music". You'd swear she's channeling a young Julie Andrews, but with a little more bitch-goddess in her; you aren't so surprised when she suddenly breaks into "Without You" near the end. (For Canadian tv fans, Dale was in "Street Legal". Is that still on?) The play was beautifully staged, with the actors generating this sexual tension that Rex Harrison, nifty as he was, just never had with Julie Andrews or Audrey Hepburn. "The Rain in Spain" was never so sexy. Awesome choreography, too. And the way they handled the end was the best I've seen "My Fair Lady" done. And I've seen it several times. Awesome.

So, anyway, that was my weekend. Drove up to Stratford on Friday with Mom, Minnie, and Kitty, all of whom were amazed that I managed to pack for a weekend trip with one duffel bag and a backpack; Mom and Minnie both had huge suitcases and hanging clothes, and Kitty had two big bags. I think they all brought one or two extra outfits for each day, and three or for pairs of shoes. I honestly don't know how I ended up so low-maintenance. Thank goodness I did, I'd hate having to haul all that stuff around all the time.

We found a faster route to get to Stratford, but it involved several secondary roads, and damnit, where do Canadians pee when they are traveling? That's what I would like to know. Went through these dinky little towns, very cute, but without gas stations or convenience stores that might actually have toilet facilities. Fully supplied with Coke (Kitty), Dr Pepper (Mom) and Mountain Dew (Minnie and me), as well as Pringles (a car trip tradition) and trashy magazines, we didn't have a bad trip, although the noise in the van was excessive and at times I tried to pretend to be asleep so that I didn't have to pretend to try and understand Minnie and Kitty talking at once. This made me feel pretty old and grumpy, actually � now I understand how my dad must have felt on our old family vacations! Poor guy.

Shopped most of the day on Saturday. I could have done with a little less shopping and a little more sitting � it was a gorgeous day, and there's a river running right through the middle of town with swans and paddleboats and picnic tables, which we never even walked down to � but at least I had a little bit of spending money, unlike last year. And Stratford is full of nifty little shops; I found three little bookshops and picked up at least 4 paperbacks to add to my collection of Canadian children's lit. And drooled over an annotated Anne of Green Gables which, at $65 Canadian, was a little rich for me. Kitty and Minnie spent relentlessly, of course, but it didn't bother me as much as it did last year; mostly, I think, because the more I hear about their husbands and in-laws, the happier I am to be where I am, without having to check in with my husband every few hours, or calling him to ask if I can buy something, or being forced into going to icky family functions by my revolting mother-in-law. Really, money is nice, but I would trade Blue and his family for either of my sister's situations. Even with the Dementors � we don't have to pretend to like them, and we don't have to spend holidays with them, either.

Back very late Sunday night, after the show, dinner, and the drive back. This was when I really was starting to want to strangle Kitty; when she is tired she gets whiny, and when I'm tired I get crabby and snappish, and the two are not a good combination. As anyone who has ever traveled with us well know. I was driving and Kitty kept whining (are you sure this is the right road, I really have to go to the bathroom, are you sure you aren't too tired too drive, I really have to call CF or he'll be worried), and I'd snap at her, and she'd tell me to stop being condescending, and I'd feel bad and try to tell her that wasn't what I meant, and then she'd go into her rote speech about how I just think she's stupid and don't give her any credit, blah blah. It's very familiar to Mom and Minnie, and I'm sure they get just as annoyed with me about it as I do with Kitty. We just feed off each other. Blah. This is one reason it's a good thing that Kitty and CF live 5 hours north; I like her much better when visits are short term.

Still very tired. Can't remember when I haven'tbeen tired, it seems. Meant to work a full day yesterday but it ended up being more like 5 hours; I didn't get in until around noon. And today I'm leaving at 3:30 to go to the dentist, oh joy. I am, however, almost done with the new Jennifer Crusie book, Faking It, which is awesome as usual. It resonates with me on several levels, and I love that Crusie doesn't automatically make all the sex between the hero and heroine fantastic. It gets unrealistically fantastic, of course � who would want to read romance without great sex? � but sometimes it's not instant. And that's cool. Because when is sex instantly fantastic?

More cool news: I think I'm going to go do this. Columbus is about three hours' drive from here, and it would be something I could do just for me. Which I haven't done in ages. I heard Jenny Crusie speak at a COFW event a couple of years ago, and she was just as witty, hilarious, and though-provoking as her books, which, geez, what a relief. I mean, Jayne Ann Krentz was there too � I was at her table for lunch � and I was so not impressed. Blah, blah, blah. And interestingly, afterwards, Jenny's signing table was swamped, while Ms. Krentz sat at her table with her hardcovers stacked in front of her, and almost no one approached her. She looked unapproachable � all dressed up and slick in a killer red suit and heels, while Jenny looked comfy and chatty, like somebody's mom, chatty and smiling. There you go.

So anyway, I think I'm going to do this. I'll probably stay overnight � there's a Crusie event Sunday, a writer's workshop, lunch and charity auction � which would be nifty. Doesn't even require time off work, and would cost me maybe $150, between registration and a cheap hotel room.

Jesus pete, who am I trying to convince, me or you? I am going to do this, because I want to. Why do I feel like I have to justify it? Blue has been calling me on that lately � I overexplain things, he says, because I feel like I have to convince myself that it's ok for me to do something that I want to do. He's probably right.

Just in case you missed it, the MeMeMe quiz is still up at the friendtest site (I know, it's annoying, what with all those pop-ups, but I'm not posting answers until more than 8 people take the test; c'mon, guys, I know you're out there. Tell your friends to make random guesses, or something). And besides, no one has gotten 100 yet. Heh. Although yes, Swwoop and Natalieee both got 90, which deeply shames me since I tanked on both their quizzes. But theirs were harder! Really!

Off to the dentist. Blah.

3:07 p.m. - August 14, 2002

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