Welcome to a World of Spiritual Harmony

A rollicking romp of a romantic comedy? A biting social commentary? A look at the shifting culture mores of the nobles and the guildhalls in 15th century Germany, looking a lot like the shifting sands we stand on today… Who knew Die Meistersinger was all that?

Very funny, very fun, Hans Sachs is the man to watch. And incredible singing. With a sweet love story woven throughout. Plus, through meeting a friend who was actually leaving at the end of the second act (a big mistake, by the way - I would never have wanted to miss that third act) - we had seats in the balcony for the finish. And much more comfy they were, too - much appreciated at this five hour opera.

Great operatic characters. My impression of Richard Wagner and his body of work certainly didn’t include the idea that it would be real entertainment. Now I’m going to have to find a way to see at least some of the Ring Cycle, and whatever other work he created. ‘

But as an operatic experience - Saturday night was over the top!

And thanks to Cincinnati Opera for being so smart about intermissions, and vegetarian and other sandwiches being available - and Bavarian cream puffs - which just fit right in. Every one was yawning at various times as midnight arrived and went - but this was a great, great evening.

So it got a little hot! It was still a perfect day. We could have used a bit more breeze, but all the great conversations more than made up for that. And I loved the way all my friends (from all the different pieces and eras of my life) spaced themselves out so nicely from 3 to 7 p m.

There was always just the right number of folk, lots of interesting food (thanks so especially to
Carolyn!), interesting gifts - Shirlene’s granddaughters gave me a dragon - and then put it together for me - and constant serendipities. Lots of folk who hadn’t seen each other for a while showing up at pretty much the same time.

And one new friend brought a feast of cupcakes. An entire plate of spaghetti and meatballs - all cupcakes! And tiny popcorn cupcakes, cupcake ears of corn. Food appearing as needed, one bowl emptying, to be replaced by another.

Several friends brought contributions for the Friends of Patricia fund at the CDC Association, Just one great happy-ning after another. Exactly the fabulous day I wanted to have.

Thanks, Everyone! xoxox

The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has done it again. What a hoot! We laughed ourselves silly - not once, not twice, but a bunch of times!

All 37 of Shakespeare’s plays mentioned and quoted - and made fun of. With Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet performed in full - more or less. Including a wild-eyed and very busy puppet, and Matt Johnson at his sexiest in most of the female roles - who knew?

And the audience got deeply, deeply involved. One woman drafted to scream ala Ophelia. Another to play her inner panic-stricken self - running up and down in front of the stage flapping her arms, while different sections of the audience played her id, ego, superego at pretty much the top of our lungs, while waving our arms. Truly an insane tear-inducing performance.

The timing, the eye-rolling - this is not your grandmother’s Shakespeare Company. These folk have got it down. To perfection.

Could any two productions be any more different? That’s one of the things that makes the Fringe so good - so many ways to make great theater.

Medea is the classic Greek tale. Which, of course, I don’t like. This is clearly a tale written shortly after the patriarchy solidified its hold on that culture. Here was a powerful woman, made powerless by following her man from her home to Corinth, where the rules all favor him. So she goes to the Dark Goddess for help, and wreaks havoc on everyone she comes in contact with. Ugh.

I very much liked the staging, the creative costumes, the use of a Greek chorus which turns out to contain Creon, his daughter and other characters, the re-thinking and re-presentation of this old play. Doesn’t make me like the story - but it was effective. And the murder was shocking, even though we all knew it was coming.

The other play, in the same space, a bit less than two hours later, was Harold - essentially a ghost story, set in the mountains, where two brothers are goatherding over the summer. They create a garden, so as not to eat just beans, and then make a scarecrow - Harold. They talk to him, first having fun, then becoming cruel. In between, there are ghost stories from previous summers, old brotherly problems cropping up. The staging is well done - simple, clear, direct - and believable. Odd things happen every now and then, all sort of explainable - until the day Harold stands up.

A very scary story, great touches, extremely well done. Wouldn’t be surprised if it wins one of the Pick of the Fringe Awards - Critics, Producers, Audience. We’ll know soon - the awards will be out later on tonite.

p s - my Pick was Sophie’s Dream - the second show on my first night of Fringe. It followed the Global Lovers, and I’m sure glad it did. Otherwise, we might all have fallen into permanent total despair.

Last night, in between 2 Fringe shows, I finally managed to get to Mayberry - up on Vine near Scotti’s and Hamburger Mary’s.

There are several Mayberry incarnations. First came the World Food Bar at Findlay Market, with lots of vegetarian choices, and recipes with variations on the tofu theme. Then came Mystery Dinners - which still happen every now and then, not the least bit like much of the food at World Food Bar. Chef and Owner Josh Campbell, before he had Mayberry’s, occasionally had a hankering to do full meals for folk. So he’d give out a date, folk would make reservations - and the day before or the day of, they’d get a call with the location, somewhere in the vicinity of downtown. Those dinners still go on - but now he also has the restaurant downtown, open for lunch and dinner.

I loved the menu - 2 definitely vegetarian options, and all three side dishes vegetarian as well. The notion is small plates, so you don’t leave feeling like an overstuffed American, waddling out. Except, of course, since I wanted to try everything - I got two small plates. Took most of the roaster pepper home - phenomenal. Had a great ricotta tart, too, with greens. And the roasted olives (novel and terrific idea) and potato side dishes. What a comfy and excellent place. Good, expeditious service, since we had to get back to see our last Fringe play of the season.

And I saw the kitchen - tiny, tiny. How do they manage all those variations and choices? Suffice it to say, they do - and they are all great. I am really glad I finally got there - and, no doubt, I’ll be back frequently.

I know, I know. Everyone is all alarmed and upset about the coming mid-term elections. Republicans are figuring it’s their big chance, and some Democrats are becoming overwrought.

Me - I just can’t get too exercised about it all. My brain keeps feeling that November 2 is just another day. My arm says, and my pendulum says, that the Democrats may lose a few seats, but not many. Certainly not a debacle’s worth. And the Republicans don’t walk away big winners.

So all of me is feeling pretty calm about it, which I trust.

We are living in the midst of incredible, powerful, systemic and physical and energetic change. We need to do our best to support these changes - especially in putting our money into the new world and not the old (no coal, oil or tobacco stocks), and in our lives each day, recycle, re-use, be mindful of this beautiful planet.

As of this moment, it is all going to work out for us. As long as our energy goes toward the good, toward love and not fear.

I got an email the other day with pictures, all about what a mess Mexican illegal immigrants have made of a particular wash (mostly dry all the time creek bed) that is used as a camping spot as folk are making their way across the harsh desert.

The point of the email was what an environmental mess these awful people had made. And I agree - junk, food wrappers, backpacks, human egestions. And when the rains come, a lot of it will likely end up in the ocean / Gulf of Mexico. Which is already so stressed right now.

But - these humans would not have been making this journey if they could have stayed home and been able to provide for their children. These are not middle class folk on a vacation. These are desperate humans who don’t see any other way to feed and house their kids. A lot are women, leaving those children in the care of their grandmothers. And risking rape and murder to help those kids get an education.

Why do so many people not get this? Compassion would move us to finding a way to meet the needs of these people in a way that did not support so much crime and danger. We might decide to build schools in Mexico, or legalize and tax the heck out of marijuana, or provide visas for folk to come and work and then return home. Lots of potential solutions.

Many of us seem to be very hate-full about this. Surely love can find a way.

There was a woman in my class last night who could not even bear mention of the spill. She feels acutely powerless. And is also, I think, feeling the pain of Nature/Gaia/the Sacred Ocean, as Mother Earth sways with pain so acute it almost cannot be borne. I think a lot of people, especially women, are feeling very close to the brink, and are afraid they’ll tip over with fear and pain.

What my problem solving mind wants to do is find a solution. I keep picturing the huge spill as calming way down, just a little oozing out, everything else stopped. That’s the picture I get, so I’m holding it. Others are starting group meditations, one email going around talks about meditating on healing the spill every Thursday, whenever we think of it. No psychic / intuitive / empath I know has yet been given a way to move the situation. As one says - this is a lesson for us on caring for the earth, and it won’t change until we learn that lesson.

At Dream Group last week - which I did not manage to attend - all the dreams were about collective responsibility - that we all have to take responsibility in our neighborhoods, and finally, for the planet, to change this situation. Waiting for ‘them’ to do it just won’t work this time.

I have not even been able to write about it. And can feel physically ill when it’s on my mind. Right now, I feel like begging The Goddess - or even God - to fix this for us. To stop those awful plumes and to stop that oil, never meant to be mixed with water, gushing from that pipe. It’s good that more and more of it is being captured and sent to a ship. But I just want it to stop. Now.

So this blue bottle of nasal spray has been sitting on the counter at Clifton Natural Foods for probably a couple of years. I always think it looks right, but haven’t bought it. But with Cincinnati sinuses and with son Brian’s cats living downstairs until just recently, I was thinking about a neti pot and other nose solutions. But I knew using a neti pot, while great, was going to be, at least initially, more work just to learn than I was likely to put in.

So, finally, I bought a spray bottle of Xlear, which says ’soothing and moisturizing saline nasal spray with Xylitol.’ Which is a natural sugar.

The stuff is great, as I knew it would be the first time I looked at it. Should have picked one up two years ago. Might have been a case of overthinking,general busy-ness, my usual aversion to anything that looks like medicine - even though this is pretty natural (water, saline, xylitol and grapefruit seed extract). Whatever.

I’m certainly glad I managed to get over whatever it was, and buy the stuff. Sure works for me.

I love teaching, and I love teaching Tarot! Just finished the first class with a brand-new group of learners. Four women of various ages and inclinations agreeing to work together to absorb the principles of this ancient art. What could be more beautiful? More important? More fun?

The class is in three 2-hour sessions. This first session is about Tarot in general, answering questions, sharing concepts and information, working with the Minor Arcana - and playing with lots of my decks, and with the decks each learner brings. So we had a terrific time.

It’s especially fun to watch people picking different numbers of cards from different decks with different questions - and ending up with consistent answers over and over again. One of my favorite things about Tarot. The card of the evening - which showed up in almost everyone’s readings at least once - was The Hierophant. Religion / spirituality, rules and structure, rigidity. It has represented the pope since Tarot was created, in France, in the 13th-14th century. A good reminder of how stuck we can get with the ‘good’ old days, and why guidelines work better than fixed and stagnant beliefs.

What a wonderful evening! Thanks, Universe!