This weather is for the dogs...

Is everyone else enjoying great spring weather? I hope so. Kurt and I are thrilled to be able to go walking nearly every night. Everybody and their dog is also out walking (and I mean that quite literally). The other day we stopped and sat on a park bench for awhile and watched a large congregation of dog's and their owners, each socializing in their own way. Schiller Park, which is just down the road from us is a 'dog park' which means there are designated areas where dogs can be unleashed (or at least permitted to be off of their leashes).

David Sedaris: Live

I find it remarkable that anybody could fill a 2800-seat theater (at an average cost of $30 a ticket), and provide no more of a 'show' than to read a few essays and stories that they've written from a podium. Yet that is exactly what David Sedaris is able to do. He visited Columbus, OH this weekend as part of a tour that includes an astounding 36 cities in 37 days. He is a humor writer, frequently heard on NPR, and not a comedian, but we had to purchase tickets nearly a year in advance in order to secure good seats.

The great thing about the show was that he read mostly yet-to-be-published stories as opposed to just reading out of one of his published books. He started with a humorous piece of fiction involving a conversation between a crow and a sheep, then read two really great essays that will be published in the New Yorker sometime in the near future, and finished it off with "Town and Country" a hilarous, if profanity-filled, look at how we judge people based on how they dress or talk or because they happen to drive a taxi-cab. After that, there was a short Q&A.

I really enjoy David Sedaris' storytelling style which is often based on events from his own life and tends to be somewhat stream-of-consciousness and usually speaks to larger truths about the human condition.

One thing that baffles me was to observe the young man seated to my left during the show. He was clearly there with his girlfriend, and was clearly there because it was something she wanted to do, and he was clearly not going to let her see him get any enjoyment out of it. I kept glancing over at him, and I never once saw him crack even the smallest of smiles, while most of the audience was laughing throughout the show. It seems like it would have taken a great deal of effort not to accidentally find something funny during the show.

Speaking of Cats...

Yesterday I went to an early matinee of the CATCO production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams. The last time I went to a matinee at CATCO I tried to call ahead to reserve tickets and they told me not to bother and just show up. Sure enough the house was only about half full. This time was different however, probably because it is a better-known play and just the sort of thing for high school teachers to bring groups of students to see. The show was sold out and I was put on a waiting list with about eight people ahead of me, so I was all prepared not to get in. Fortune smiled upon me, however, and I got the very last ticket that was released at the last minute. My seat was in the balcony and about as far away from the stage as was possible in the theater, but fortunately it is a smallish studio theater and I didn't get stuck behind a building support pole like some people did.

This was the first production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" that I have seen (live or on film) and I thought that they did a very admirable job. Most of the actors were quite good, except for the one who played Brick, who is on stage most of the play with a cast on his foot, and didn't convince me for one moment that he actually needed his crutch. My favorite character was Big Mama who was played by an actress named Linda Dorff, who was in CATCO's 2004 production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" and was brilliant in both shows.

Just call me The Cat Whisperer

Some of you may recall that the last time we lived in German Village we were adopted by the neighbor's cat. There were no screens on the kitchen window when we moved in, and if we left the window open we would be visited by Belle.

We wondered how Belle would react to our moving back to German Village (and only one unit away from our previous address). On moving day, I came over first with a carload of stuff and on my second trip out to the car, there was Belle waiting on the doorstep as if we had never left.

We've become great friends with the neighbor (Sarah) who 'owns' Belle (and really, if you know anything about cats you know that they are never 'owned'), and recently she took a new job that involves extended travel to Florida. We were a natural choice for house/kitty care while she is gone, and this has allowed me to get better acquainted with her other cat, Lulu.

It was a lot more work to get Lulu to warm up to me. Despite the fact that Sarah says the Lulu is the affectionate one, and Belle is the more aloof kitty, my experience with these cats has been entirely the opposite. Belle will come over and if you let her fall asleep in your lap. The one time that Lulu came in the front door she freaked out completely.

When I first started going over to Sarah's apartment to feed the cats, Lulu was nowhere to be seen or found. Of course, Sarah leaves one window propped partially open so that the cats can come and go as they please, so there was always the possibility that she just happened to be out when I arrived.

One day I decided to rush upstairs to that window when I first came in the front door, and sure enough Lulu was making her escape out onto the roof. I've been patient, and that patience has paid off. For a couple of days, Lulu would sit in the window and look at me at the bottom of the steps, but if I started up the stairs then she would run off. Then she started letting me come up the stairs, and before too long, she let me pet her a little bit. Now when I come to check on the cats, Lulu actually comes down the stairs to greet me.

Spring Forward

I really hate losing an hour. Why can’t they work it so we GAIN an hour twice a year instead…