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Jul. 15th, 2006 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mojosmomAbout three years ago, a very generous Bookcrosser, Karoda, lent me her copy of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, by A'lelia Bundles (Madam Walker's great-great-granddaughter). Now Regina Taylor has written a play about Madam Walker, The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, which I've just seen at Goodman Theatre.
While I liked the play, I really wanted to be able to rave about it, and I can't. Rather than focusing on the things that made Madam Walker unique and inspiring, Taylor chooses to concentrate on Walker's dysfunctional family life. I don't normally approve of criticism that smacks of "I wanted a different play", but in this case I think the criticism is justified. Contrary to Tolstoy's famous first line, unhappy families are often unhappy in the same way, and after awhile cheating husbands, mother-daughter conflicts, etc., become old hat. The real story here is how Sarah Breedlove, washerwoman and daughter of slaves, transformed herself into Madam C.J. Walker, entrepreneur, millionaire philathropist, social and political activist. Taylor's treatment of those parts of her life is cursory at best, and I missed it.
That said, the acting was excellent, as was the costume design (I kept whispering to my friend, "I want that coat", "I want those shoes", "oooh, that gown is excellent!". In fact, the costume design was cleverly used to show Madam Walker's ascension, as each coat got a bit more fur, each dress a bit more glittery.
Lilith needed a couple of teeth pulled so she spent yesterday at the vet. The poor thing is now missing several teeth and my wallet is substantially lighter. On a "per tooth" basis, though, it wasn't really that bad, not nearly as bad as I expect my dental bills to be (I'm having a couple of crowns done in September). She was a bit groggy yesterday evening from the anesthetic, and is on soft food for the next couple of days, but she's taking it in stride and is not fighting me too much when I give her the antibiotic pills.
I went to DSW (major shoe emporium) and didn't buy anything! Typically, because I was looking for something specific, I couldn't find it. I have a floaty summery dress that I'm planning on wearing to a wedding in September and wanted shoes to go with it. It has a brown background, and polka dots in several different colors - mustard, cinnamon, mauve, olive green, soft blue, beige. I have shoes in the blue and the cinnamon, but they are suède and so don't look good with a summer dress. I really want high-heeled sandals, but they didn't have any in the colors I wanted. There were a couple of greens and lavenders but just a shade off, enough that it would have annoyed me. The one pair I did like, they didn't have in my size. So I'll keep looking.
I went upstairs to Marshall's to see if they had anything, and they didn't. However, as long as I was there, I couldn't look just at shoes, could I? I found a very useful suit, a sort of tweedy brown/beige mix, skirt, jacket and trousers, all fully lined, for $60. Of course, I have to add onto that the cost of having the skirt taken in, the trousers shortened and the jacket sleeves shortened, but it's still a heckuva buy. It will be excellent for work.
I had my usual Bastille Day observance yesterday: escargots bourguignon, crusty French bread for mopping up the parsley butter, a green salad and a nice red with which to wash it all down, a Napoleon for dessert, and the ritual viewing of Casablanca.
The Gay Games start here this weekend. Most of the events are free, and some are being held in my neighborhood, so I had been planning to go to a softball game and release a book or two (Almost Like Being In Love and Changing Pitches), but, gosh, the weather is not really conducive to me wanting to spend time standing around outside. It's going to be in the mid-90s for the next several days, with high humidity as well. Not pleasant. Definitely "stay inside with the air-conditioning on" weather. But we'll see. These themed releases are hard to resist! And there is tennis all week at the courts a block away from my apartment. I might finally release my least favorite book by Rita Mae Brown.
My Italian class is going to meet on Tuesdays in the fall, which means I can't take Letterpress II which also will be on Tuesdays. It's probably just as well because two classes every week after work might be a bit too much. Maybe another time.
While I liked the play, I really wanted to be able to rave about it, and I can't. Rather than focusing on the things that made Madam Walker unique and inspiring, Taylor chooses to concentrate on Walker's dysfunctional family life. I don't normally approve of criticism that smacks of "I wanted a different play", but in this case I think the criticism is justified. Contrary to Tolstoy's famous first line, unhappy families are often unhappy in the same way, and after awhile cheating husbands, mother-daughter conflicts, etc., become old hat. The real story here is how Sarah Breedlove, washerwoman and daughter of slaves, transformed herself into Madam C.J. Walker, entrepreneur, millionaire philathropist, social and political activist. Taylor's treatment of those parts of her life is cursory at best, and I missed it.
That said, the acting was excellent, as was the costume design (I kept whispering to my friend, "I want that coat", "I want those shoes", "oooh, that gown is excellent!". In fact, the costume design was cleverly used to show Madam Walker's ascension, as each coat got a bit more fur, each dress a bit more glittery.
Lilith needed a couple of teeth pulled so she spent yesterday at the vet. The poor thing is now missing several teeth and my wallet is substantially lighter. On a "per tooth" basis, though, it wasn't really that bad, not nearly as bad as I expect my dental bills to be (I'm having a couple of crowns done in September). She was a bit groggy yesterday evening from the anesthetic, and is on soft food for the next couple of days, but she's taking it in stride and is not fighting me too much when I give her the antibiotic pills.
I went to DSW (major shoe emporium) and didn't buy anything! Typically, because I was looking for something specific, I couldn't find it. I have a floaty summery dress that I'm planning on wearing to a wedding in September and wanted shoes to go with it. It has a brown background, and polka dots in several different colors - mustard, cinnamon, mauve, olive green, soft blue, beige. I have shoes in the blue and the cinnamon, but they are suède and so don't look good with a summer dress. I really want high-heeled sandals, but they didn't have any in the colors I wanted. There were a couple of greens and lavenders but just a shade off, enough that it would have annoyed me. The one pair I did like, they didn't have in my size. So I'll keep looking.
I went upstairs to Marshall's to see if they had anything, and they didn't. However, as long as I was there, I couldn't look just at shoes, could I? I found a very useful suit, a sort of tweedy brown/beige mix, skirt, jacket and trousers, all fully lined, for $60. Of course, I have to add onto that the cost of having the skirt taken in, the trousers shortened and the jacket sleeves shortened, but it's still a heckuva buy. It will be excellent for work.
I had my usual Bastille Day observance yesterday: escargots bourguignon, crusty French bread for mopping up the parsley butter, a green salad and a nice red with which to wash it all down, a Napoleon for dessert, and the ritual viewing of Casablanca.
The Gay Games start here this weekend. Most of the events are free, and some are being held in my neighborhood, so I had been planning to go to a softball game and release a book or two (Almost Like Being In Love and Changing Pitches), but, gosh, the weather is not really conducive to me wanting to spend time standing around outside. It's going to be in the mid-90s for the next several days, with high humidity as well. Not pleasant. Definitely "stay inside with the air-conditioning on" weather. But we'll see. These themed releases are hard to resist! And there is tennis all week at the courts a block away from my apartment. I might finally release my least favorite book by Rita Mae Brown.
My Italian class is going to meet on Tuesdays in the fall, which means I can't take Letterpress II which also will be on Tuesdays. It's probably just as well because two classes every week after work might be a bit too much. Maybe another time.
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Date: 2006-07-15 11:23 pm (UTC)SHOES
Date: 2006-07-16 12:45 am (UTC)http://www.zappos.com/welcome.zhtml?0527
(They don't pay me a commission, but they should! I tell everyone about them)
Re: SHOES
Date: 2006-07-16 12:47 am (UTC)http://www.zappos.com/n/es/d/722000525/show_all/1/page/1/bar/1.html
Re: SHOES
Date: 2006-07-16 01:28 am (UTC)I limited myself to one pair. It's a new Reebok style (for me), and I want to see how they fit and how I like them before I order another pair. (My feet/shoes frequently are wet, so a second pair of shoes is nice since it allows me to let a wet pair dry for an extra day.)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-17 04:50 pm (UTC)