Swan Lake

So, I saw the second ballet of my life tonight. I didn't fall asleep! (As I am notorious for when I am in the nosebleeds of the Koger center...) As I said to a friend tonight, "I'm not sure how I feel about ballets."

First, let me make it clear that it was beautiful, and the people who were performing were amazingly trained in their art.

But, there was no live orchestra, so already the ballet started out missing a dimension.

Here's my dilemma: you're working with classical music (of which the beauty can be appreciated by moderns and post-moderns, but it does not affect any of us the way in which that style used to affect people), and that classical style music is the background for a style of dance which is no longer popular. It made me think of a museum - artifacts on display. It was educational - infact, I wish I knew more about ballet so that I could have appreciated it more, but I don't think that people can still expect ballet to be inspirational the way it once was. Is it a dying art? (my question partially stemming from the fact that the Koger was less than half full; the smallest amount of people I have ever seen at a major performance in that room) Will it become like Latin? Studied but no longer spoken?

Please don't hate me if you're a ballet dancer.

Oh, and I also found out tonight on Wikipedia that the correct term for a male ballet dancer is "male ballet dancer". Check it out...

Also, the people that live in the country of Andorra have the longest average lifespan of anyone in the world, and some of the lowest taxes of anyone in the world.

Webb/McCracken Concert

Well, when Ian left I hit the road running hard. I haven't been this busy in who knows how long. It's almost twelve, and I'm still awake making pecan bars - yummm...

Just got home from a Derek Webb/Sandra McCracken concert at the Watershed bookstore in Lexington. It was a bit crowded, but the music was well worth it. I have two observations about the crowd though...

1. I wonder if people my age are really trying to find the truth that Derek Webb sings about, or if they just use his songs to feed the rebel spirit they are already cultivating. I think Derek's truth-speaking comes from maturity. I may be cynical, but I hear a lot of people passing these ideas around, but not living like the ideas are truth. Who do you know who actually cares about the land? Or who lives in a house with two other couples and four single guys so they can be free to use their money in other ways? Or who really questions the church and its new laws?

2. For some people in the room, I wonder if Derek was just too much for them. I could almost hear it in their heads: strike 1, Derek saying that he doesn't like Christian radio because it's only half the truth; strike 2, including the infamous word "damn" in song lyrics; strike 3, "I am a whore, I do confess..."; and possibly a strike 4, daring to sing a song about protesting war. I myself do not consider any of these things strikes. If anything, for me they show that Derek is not afraid to question anything, and therefore is not afraid of the truth when he finds it.

Hubby is leaving for Italy!

Well, the day is almost here. Ian's about to head off to Italy...without me :( He's leaving on Thursday for 12 days. He's going to have a blast. Between Venice and the Uffizi and the Vatican and Tuscan countryside, I think he'll be all right. I get to taste what it is like to be single again. My first time in over a year. Can't say I miss it much...well, I don't miss being single, but I am looking forward to seeing my girlz.