Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to let you know that I am in another show. I actually broke my foot during our rehersal period, so I'm not too mobile in the show, but I still get to sing. The show is really funny and I'd love to see you there!
"The Rose of Persia" is a wonderful musical set into the background of the Tales of the Arabian Nights. It's got a fun story and beautiful music - it's a wonder that it has been MIA for so long!
What it doesn't yet have, however, is an audience to come see it. I encourage you to come see this show! It runs from October 4 to October 12 at the Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose.
Order tickets via http://www.lyrictheatre.org/. The cast discount code is 'hassan''
If you come to the show, say hi to me afterwards in the courtyard and let me know what you thought. Oh yes, and pass the word, bring friends and family, share! The best part of a show is having a lively audience to share the fun with. Hope to see you there!!!
Friday, October 03, 2008
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Transitions
It's been a while since we've written anything here I know. We moved back to California on April 1st, and both of us have been in a constant state of "just making it." The transition has been difficult for us. Dave has faired better than me because he has his work to focus on and that stabilizes him. My time has been taken searching for a new home to move into, and handling all the little things that need handling during a huge transition like moving and settling down in another country. For me it has felt a bit like thankless work and so I have often fallen into a nostalgic sadness, wishing I could be back in beautiful Lyon.
But good things have happened and I am starting to see the fruits of my labor. Dave told me today that on a scale from 1-10 these days life is feeling like a 9 again, "thanks to all your hard work, Monica." I'm so glad he is feeling so happy, and that made me feel really good. I've also noticed how much I am melting back into the things I love about living in California. I love the sunshine. I love my morning coffees with my wonderful friends. And I love the fact that two people I care very much about threw me a birthday party, so that I didn't need to arrange that myself while I am going through this transition. I felt so taken care of. And oh yes, I absolutlely love being with family again. How I missed that!!! All that wonderful love :)
A friend of mine recently asked me if I miss Lyon. My answer was definitively yes, but I also explained that the truth is I just wish we had had a chance to stay until I felt "done." I don't think I would have wanted to live there forever. France has it's positives and negatives, just like the US does. But I wish the dream hadn't been taken away from me. If we had been able to stay a few years, I probably would have been ready to come home, and probably would have rejoiced at returning to my home. Since it didn't happen that way, I feel incomplete, and long for that feeling of completion.
And so I have moved full swing into reintegrating into life in the US, realizing that there will be many times when I ache to be back in France. But those relapses are happening less frequently these days, and I find that I am loving California more and more. Yeah!!! :)
Life is fascinating, isn't it? The adventures we have in our lives, teach us so much about who we are. Even though this transition has been hard for me, I am loving watching myself deal with it all. Sometimes I feel like a fly on the wall watching my own life. Dave and I have grown so much together through all of this. I am looking forward with excitement to what the next days, weeks, and months will bring.
But good things have happened and I am starting to see the fruits of my labor. Dave told me today that on a scale from 1-10 these days life is feeling like a 9 again, "thanks to all your hard work, Monica." I'm so glad he is feeling so happy, and that made me feel really good. I've also noticed how much I am melting back into the things I love about living in California. I love the sunshine. I love my morning coffees with my wonderful friends. And I love the fact that two people I care very much about threw me a birthday party, so that I didn't need to arrange that myself while I am going through this transition. I felt so taken care of. And oh yes, I absolutlely love being with family again. How I missed that!!! All that wonderful love :)
A friend of mine recently asked me if I miss Lyon. My answer was definitively yes, but I also explained that the truth is I just wish we had had a chance to stay until I felt "done." I don't think I would have wanted to live there forever. France has it's positives and negatives, just like the US does. But I wish the dream hadn't been taken away from me. If we had been able to stay a few years, I probably would have been ready to come home, and probably would have rejoiced at returning to my home. Since it didn't happen that way, I feel incomplete, and long for that feeling of completion.
And so I have moved full swing into reintegrating into life in the US, realizing that there will be many times when I ache to be back in France. But those relapses are happening less frequently these days, and I find that I am loving California more and more. Yeah!!! :)
Life is fascinating, isn't it? The adventures we have in our lives, teach us so much about who we are. Even though this transition has been hard for me, I am loving watching myself deal with it all. Sometimes I feel like a fly on the wall watching my own life. Dave and I have grown so much together through all of this. I am looking forward with excitement to what the next days, weeks, and months will bring.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Urban Birding
Lyon, like a lot of older European cities has a lot of pavement and not a lot of wildlife outside of parks. We actually haven't seen any spiders (Monica hates spiders) or ants or a lot of the typical natural pests we got back in California. So, what kind of birding can you do in Lyon? Well, there are plenty of pigeons... But one particularly unique bird we noticed was indigenous to Lyon. This is the googly-eyed graffiti bird.
Graffiti in Europe is something we just don't get. Rather than fight the problem, Europeans in general seem to have given up. There's simply too much flat concrete around. Sometimes, the best way to fight 'em is to join them. See if you can read the word scrawled on this graffiti - and notice the fries?
Well we had noticed a particular bird painted on train electrical boxes around the Lyon area. This became the way we knew we were almost home from a long train trip. We'd see the birds long before we saw signs for Lyon.
So, rather than get annoyed at graffiti, we adopted the googly-eyed graffiti bird as our home turf symbol. We even wanted to get a good picture of one for our scrapbook, but it is hard because normally when you see one, you are zooming by on a train.
To really get some good pictures would require a day of birding - urban style. Our friend Mark was game, so he and I went out on a sunny day to see if we could capture any shots of the elusive bird. The trouble was, the best way to see the bird was from a train. Finding a place to spot the bird on foot was not so easy. We eventually found a way on to the tracks and walked along a service path. We weren't sure if this was strictly legal... but we hadn't seen any signs saying it wasn't allowed. We trudged for quite some time with no luck when suddenly we hit paydirt!
We were suddenly up close with the Googly-eyed bird! I noticed the attention to detail! The vandal had even carefully painted the lock on the box in two colors so as to preserve the look of the bird. If you zoom in you can see the lock in the center.
At this point we knew that if we found no more birds, we still could call the day a success. But, we found more! Even a brown cubist-version!
The birds range quite far from Lyon and we've even seen them on the highway heading to and from the airport (but not other highways). So we think they are there for the travelers. Strange to think how we've gotten used to them saying hello and goodbye when we travel. See you later birds! We'll miss you too.
Graffiti in Europe is something we just don't get. Rather than fight the problem, Europeans in general seem to have given up. There's simply too much flat concrete around. Sometimes, the best way to fight 'em is to join them. See if you can read the word scrawled on this graffiti - and notice the fries?
Well we had noticed a particular bird painted on train electrical boxes around the Lyon area. This became the way we knew we were almost home from a long train trip. We'd see the birds long before we saw signs for Lyon.
So, rather than get annoyed at graffiti, we adopted the googly-eyed graffiti bird as our home turf symbol. We even wanted to get a good picture of one for our scrapbook, but it is hard because normally when you see one, you are zooming by on a train.
To really get some good pictures would require a day of birding - urban style. Our friend Mark was game, so he and I went out on a sunny day to see if we could capture any shots of the elusive bird. The trouble was, the best way to see the bird was from a train. Finding a place to spot the bird on foot was not so easy. We eventually found a way on to the tracks and walked along a service path. We weren't sure if this was strictly legal... but we hadn't seen any signs saying it wasn't allowed. We trudged for quite some time with no luck when suddenly we hit paydirt!
We were suddenly up close with the Googly-eyed bird! I noticed the attention to detail! The vandal had even carefully painted the lock on the box in two colors so as to preserve the look of the bird. If you zoom in you can see the lock in the center.
At this point we knew that if we found no more birds, we still could call the day a success. But, we found more! Even a brown cubist-version!
The birds range quite far from Lyon and we've even seen them on the highway heading to and from the airport (but not other highways). So we think they are there for the travelers. Strange to think how we've gotten used to them saying hello and goodbye when we travel. See you later birds! We'll miss you too.
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