I am lucky that so many people really like to entertain me. And by that, I mostly mean Julie Taymor, the director of Titus and Frida and others, but most recently The Tempest, which arrives in my neighborhood on December 10th. Titus is my favorite of her movies, and probably my favorite movie all around. I saw some still photos of The Tempest and she's at her beautiful stark colors once again. The cast is incredible too...
Then, the New York Times entertained me with a crossword and an article on Lisa Kron's play, In the Wake, which is now on my read list. They also wrote a much deserved article on Tony Kushner's many achievements with Angels in America, which is one of the best plays I have ever read (and seen).
It's amazing what a night with my son sleeping at Nana and Poppy's house will do for the soul. I obviously got caught up some and now he's back and crankier than ever. He fell asleep on my lap with his head against my chest while I beat my man at scrabble. He smelled like McDonald's chicken and his hair had a 'need washing' sheen to it that would shame most shampoo commercials.
That leads us to the saving graces of bath time. He is playing while I write, coming up from blowing bubbles in the water to yell something like "Up!" or to make unintelligible sounds and then yell "Down!" and make a jet noise.
I have to say it makes me feel a little grateful for having such a ridiculous seeming ritual. I get to laugh hard at least twice and then go back to my writing.
I listened to a podcast of This American Life today on love, with two stories on children with intense illnesses who made crankiness, though annoying, hardly worth griping about. The story of Ben, an autistic boy whose parents were incredibly honest and who made me absolutely fall in love with their family despite it's troubles, was so hilarious and moving. As most of what Ira Glass entertains me with is. So a shout out to Ira and his ability to connect humor, a crackling kind of honesty and pain into one beautiful show.
That's all I've got. I'm off to be entertained with some homemade tofu stir fry and some love. Which is always exciting one way or the other.