Halloween and Other Events

Quote of the Day:  Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble. William Shakespeare

Witch sister is which?

Joy and I had fun handing out treats at the Primo Art Spa. You can go over there to see more pics and read about it. It was a hoppin' Halloween in North Brainerd.

Tonight, Krista and I are attending the fundraiser event for the Heartland Symphony Orchestra. Music paired with menu items from around the world. I'm so pumped! I'll post a review and pics tomorrow.

Coming up in Pequot Lakes, Nov. 15-17 and 22-24, Oliver! You can get more information at their website Greater Lakes Area Performing Arts. You'll see Joy in the show as "Strawberry Seller." 

So much wonderful art and connections are happening. I hope that wherever you are, that you are enjoying the season and exploring the arts.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  How was your Halloween? Did you dress up? What was your favorite costume as a kid?

Review of Pride and Prejudice at The Guthrie Theater

Quote of the Day:  I think Jane Austen would love this production of her novel, (Pride and Prejudice). Reflection on watching the show from Pat, one of the ladies who accompanied me to The Guthrie Theater. She is a long time fan of Jane Austin.

Christine Weber (Jane Bennet), Juan Rivera Lebron, Aeysha Kinnunen (Lydia Bennet) and Emanuel Ardeleanu in the Guthrie Theater's production of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, adapted by Simon Reade. Directed by Joe Dowling, set design by Alexander Dodge, costume design by Mathew J. LeFebvre and lighting design by Philip S. Rosenberg. July 12, 2013 - August 31, 2013 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Ivy Beech (Kitty Bennet), Ashley Rose Montondo (Elizabeth Bennet), Christine Weber (Jane Bennet), Suzanne Warmanen (Mrs. Bennet) and Aeysha Kinnunen (Lydia Bennet) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, adapted by Simon Reade. Directed by Joe Dowling, set design by Alexander Dodge, costume design by Mathew J. LeFebvre and lighting design by Philip S. Rosenberg. July 12, 2013 - August 31, 2013 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

 

Oh, to be able to write the kind of classic novel that lives on through the centuries, made into plays and movies, remakes, copycats, and modern adaptions! That is what happened to Jane Austen's most popular novel Pride and Prejudice. Audience members who are lifelong fans, like Pat in the above quote, come expecting their beloved characters to come to life. They hope to see them embodied in the actors and their story played out the way they saw it in their heads while reading the book. The creative genius of the Guthrie Theater does just that. The audience was riveted to the stage, laughing often, sighing occasionally, and completely taken in by the performance.

 

If you are expecting stuffy shirts and straight lines, you will get it only in the costumes and décor. Then, you will get the delightful contrast of high humor, sassy characters, and endearing relationships. You feel like you are part of that sisterly bond, friendship mixed with annoyance, and utter loyalty to one another. We want to be strong like Elizabeth and turn our backs on ridiculous social norms and expectations. We want to know that our fathers love us more than money and status and would say, like Elizabeth's father says to her, "I could not have parted with you for anyone less worthy."

 

My friends have already been asking me, "How was the show?" I think they want to know that Mr. Darcy is both arrogant and handsome. They want to hear that Sister Bingley is snooty and mean, and that Lady Catherine is just as awful as they imagine. (The actress and her costume reminded me of Malificent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty.) They need to hear that Mother Bennet is as hysterical as anyone they've ever met (loved Suzanne Warmanen's portrayal of Mrs. Bennet). And, above all, they need to know that Elizabeth is both beautiful and strong, someone we admire. She is!

 

The set was amazing. The inner circle spun, and an outer circle created movement that gave us a sense of moving from place to place or time passing. We had perspective from within and without. The music, the dancing, the colors, the costumes, all were a delight. The show is full of humor and fun, not at all stuffy or boring, and it offers a few surprises, even for the actors (wink).

 

Six of us women from the Brainerd lakes area rode together to the show. We all give it two thumbs up. We had a wonderful time and will be dreaming about it and talking about it for a long time.

 

Pride and Prejudice is playing at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, July 6 - August 31, 2013. Sunday's performance was sold out, so don't wait to call for tickets! This is the show to see this summer!

 

Trivia question: Do you know what Jane Austen's original title was for Pride and Prejudice? Which title do you prefer?

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  What favorite story would you like to see played out on stage or in the movies? What books/stories do you keep going back to over and over?

Primo Art Spa

Quote of the Day: 

• May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.--Neil Gaiman

I think I used that one last year, but it's worth repeating, especially as my sister Joy and I are embarking on a new adventure. We've formed the Primo Art Spa to support artists in the area. For our first event, we'll be offering a class at the local pottery place, Glaze 2 Amaze.  Here's the blurb.


Paint to Music at Glaze 2 Amaze, Thursday, January 24 from 6:30-8:00 pm. Joy Ciaffoni and Mary Aalgaard, who have started the Primo Art Spa to assist artists in the area, will be performing live music while you paint a plate and find out what kind of music brings out your red, blue, lemon, or your spice. Using a plate as a palate, you will create art that serves up memory, emotion, and delicious inspiration. You can use it as a plate for special occasions, a gift, or a memory piece for someone you love. Glaze 2 Amaze is located at 706 Laurel Street in Brainerd. Email primoartspa@gmail.com for reservations for this special event. Cost is $25.

 
If you're in the area, I hope you can join us! Joy and I make a good team. A couple years ago, we did a show called "Sisters." Here's one of my favorite photos from that event.

We were singing the song "Sisters."

 

Join us for an inspirational class if you can, or take a class wherever you live, or start your own...and

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt: Have you ever taught an art or writing class, or started something new?

 

 

Old-fashioned Girls

Quote of the Day:  Creative Clutter is better than idle neatness. from Pinterest

Creativity takes Courage. Henri Matisse

Creativity is intelligence having fun. Albert Einstein

Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm. Earl Nightingale

I enjoyed finding those quotes on Pinterest this morning!

My first crochet snowflake

 

Since my sister has arrived, we've been to the fabric/craft store about five times. She taught me how to crochet the above snowflake this weekend. I like to knit, but haven't done any crocheting, so it was fun to learn a new way to play with yarn. As we were sitting side by side on the couch, pouring over a pattern we found on 21 Crochet Snowflake Patterns, we were like our aunts and great-aunts who spent their evenings knitting, sewing, and creating things back in the times before tv and computers, facebook and other distractions. It always feels good to make something. It's good therapy, too, time to sit a moment, think, and let your thoughts unravel with the yarn and reform into a new creation.

 

We'll get to the cleaning, furniture rearranging and holiday decorating later this week!

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Have you tried a new craft or hobby lately?

J is for Joy

The Quote of the Day that inspired my A to Z Challenge theme -
A Word for the Day that takes on many meanings.


Quote of the Day: A writer lives in awe of words for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator. John Steinbeck


Word of the Day: Joy

Joy is such a beautiful word. The word itself does not have a wide variety of meanings. It's usage can change, and as for comparisons, it is not the same as happiness.  Here's what freedictionary.com has:

n

1. a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment

2. something causing such a feeling; a source of happiness

3. an outward show of pleasure or delight; rejoicing

4. Brit informal success; satisfaction I went to the bank for a loan, but got no joy.

vb

1. (intr) to feel joy

2. (tr) Obsolete to make joyful; gladden

Our cousin Angie described the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is on the surface, like the waves. It has peaks and valleys and is determined by outside forces. Joy is what lies underneath, the steady calm. You can be at a valley in life, yet still feel the deeper contentment of knowing that joy dwells within you and it will soon surface again.

Joy is also the name of my younger sister. When she's performing or teaching, she is a joy to others. She just started blogging this year, and said YES! to the A to Z Blog Challenge. Click on over to her blog, It's a Joy! and say hello. It's a cheerful and inspiration blog.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Where does your joy come from?

N is for Name

Letter of the Day:  N

N is for name and Nancy, my older sister.  I also like calling her my big sister.  She is the closest in age of my siblings.  I'm number four out of six.  She's number three, but tried to call herself number one at Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary celebration. Our oldest brother Nathan quickly claimed the title.  Here's a picture from our teen years.  We've been arguing since its development who it is.  I say it's me.  Clearly, you can see my eye, the wisp of dark hair that I always had curled.  Plus, that's MY shirt.

This next one is of Nancy.  I know, because I took it just this past September, and she's wearing her own darn shirt!

As you can see, we have a complicated, yet loving relationship.  When I went to Germany in college, Nancy said to her friends, "Your friends come and go, but you always wait for your sister to come home from Germany."  And, when I talked to her about this guest post she said she liked this challenge because she could read my blog every morning while drinking her coffee.  I told that to Joy, the little sister, and she said she felt the same way.  When I wasn't posting very often, she'd keep checking.  Well, enough about me. Here's Nancy...

After reading Mary’s first blog post in her A-Z challenge, I was the one who suggested she write about names. A few days ago she asked if I would be a guest writer on the Day of N (I decided to capitalize it to make it more significant). So in keeping with the spirit of the challenge, I decided to write about my name, Nancy.



My name is Nancy Caroline Aalgaard Hanson, but I think if I had been named by description, my name would likely be Nancy Dead Horse or Nancy Working Horse, neither of which I would appreciate very much. There’s a story in our family about how dismayed my grandmother was to find out I was named Nancy. As the story goes, when my dad was just a boy, his mother had an old work horse named Nancy. I imagine her to be a sad old mare, hump-backed, broken with the weight of work. Back in those days, they didn't keep horses as pets, or even just as a means of transportation. The Nancy horse was surely a working animal, and I imagine her life wasn't a terribly happy existence. So when Grandma found out I was to be called Nancy, I guess she wasn't very pleased about my unfortunate name. She reminded my dad of the used-to-be horse she had, but it didn't make any difference. My parents liked Nancy, and so Nancy it was, even over my paternal grandmother’s objections.


I didn’t hear the story about the dead horse until I was ten or eleven years old, and at that time, I was toying with calling myself Jean anyway, and dreaming my real father was Howard Hughes, and one day he would reclaim me as his own and make me fabulously rich. I never did extend this fantasy to its logical conclusion, never did wonder how it happened that a small grain farmer and his wife could end up with the lost child of one of the richest men in the world. Billionaire. Two times over. The word didn’t mean a thing to me, other than it would mean I could do pretty much whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to do it. There’s no coincidence, really, that my Howard-Hughes-is-my-real-father-and-is-someday-going-to-make-me-fabulously-rich-scenario coincided exactly with feeling like I had landed in the wrong family. I mean really, who on earth would name a beloved daughter after someone’s dead horse?

(I'd like to interject here, again, to point out that Nancy used to tell me that I was the one adopted.  I used to fantasize that my real dad was Captain Kirk from the Starship Enterprise.)


I spent a lot of time thinking about that horse and asking questions, but no one could remember anything specific about it. Figures. I doubt very much the Nancy horse was a beautiful thing, and apparently not a favorite. Life on the prairie was pretty tough, and my namesake, like my own family, probably had to scrounge for food, and probably made do with very little. There might be a picture of my namesake, however, no one could confirm that the horse depicted in it was the actual Nancy horse—it could have been anyone, really. This picture shows my grandma, back in 1936, standing next to a single chisel plow that was hooked up to what can only be described as a reluctant beast of burden. I suppose that sad horse was my namesake: Nancy of the endless work, Nancy of the dirt and mud, Nancy of the sad existence.

(Grandma, Dad, and Nancy's backside)

It didn’t take me long to figure out that my name singled me out from my siblings. There were six of us in all, three boys and three girls—like the Brady Bunch. My brothers’ names are Nathan, Philip, and James. Nathan, after the Old Testament prophet who rebuked the mighty King David for his bad behavior with Bathsheba; Philip and James, after two apostles to Christ. My sisters are Mary and Joy. If you haven’t picked up on the theme yet, you probably haven’t been paying attention. By the time you get to Mary, you should be associating something about these names with other words, like “holy” and “Bible” and “religious.” Even Joy, who isn’t a character in the good book will probably make you think of something Christian-related—the result of Grace, for instance, or Faith. Those are my siblings. And then there’s me—Nancy. I wonder now why my parents didn’t consider naming me Naomi, or Rachel, or even Miriam, I would have liked that name. Instead they settled on honoring my great-grandma with my middle name, Caroline, and my grandma’s dead horse with my first.

Journaling Prompt:  Write the story of your name.

A New Look

Quote of the Day:  Philippians 4:8 (The Message)

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

The Rose Gardens in Portland, OR give pleasure to all the senses.
 

They inspire creativity and offer moments of rest and peace, a place to breathe in beauty.

In the Shakespeare Garden, the woman in the background has her easel set up and is capturing this sight.

 
Walk slowly, breathe deeply, inhale the beauty all around you. It is our glimpse of Heaven.

Journaling Prompt: Describe something (or someone) beautiful in your life.

Tripping the Light Fantastic

Quote of the Day:  I could have danced all night! And still have begged for more.  I could have spread my wings, and done a thousand things I've never done before. - from I Could Have Danced All Night from the musical My Fair Lady

This past week I was in Portland, OR visiting my little sister, Joy.  There she is cuttin' a rug with her friend.  Our cousin Angie and I traveled together from Minnesota to see Joy and have a West Coast experience.  She took us out dancing where we were stretched out of our comfort zone learning dance steps and being led around the dance floor with new partners.  We were taught the East Coast Swing at the lesson, so when the guy asked me to dance the Rumba, I said, "I don't know that one."  That didn't stop him.  He said, "I'll teach you," and off I went whirling and twirling, slow-slow-fast, or something like that. (I did not step on his foot.)

The first thing she did was make us eat with our hands off the same plate at a Moroccan restaurant.  It was delicious and messy, but they wash your hands.

We sang show tunes together, like I Could have Danced all Night and The Music of the Night where Joy hit that amazing B.  I still have goosebumps.

I found myself noticing feet.  These red suede shoes belong to a waiter at a lovely French bistro where we had lunch.

Nordlys dancers at the Midsummer Festival - Scandinavian festival to celebrate the longest day of the year, and our heritage.

Our toes in the sand on the Oregon coast at Lincoln City.  Beautiful, but cool, and full of shadow and light.

These feet have taken me out of Minnesota, out of my comfort zone, and into a new light.  This is just the first glimpse, folks.  Look for more of this fantastic trip, the food, the journey - inward and outward, the books, and the fun.

Journaling Prompt: Where have your feet taken you lately?  Where would you like them to go?

Beautiful Savior

Quote of the Day:  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (The Message)

9-11God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.

(A little finger flair as I accompany my little sister's beautiful voice at a concert, summer 2009.  Music of the '40s, like Change Partners and Dance, Moon River, and Sisters)

Last summer my little sister, Joy, traveled from her home in Portland, OR to Minnesota to visit and do a concert.  She asked me to accompany her.  At first, I was excited to do it, but the closer it came, the worse I felt.  I had lost my self-confidence and didn't know where to find it.  (Sort of like Little Bo Peep and her sheep.)  I've been playing the piano since I was seven years old.  I started playing for the early morning church service at my little country church when I was in the 7th grade.  I accompanied my school choir, countless soloists in voice and band, and yet, I'd lost it.  I continued to play even when I didn't have anything to practice for, while I was having babies, plunking out a few tunes in between feedings and diaper changes.  I could always play the piano, no matter what my mood or situation.  It's what saved me from the pit.

Then, I had a few set-backs.  My ex-husband used to say that my playing gave him a headache.  After I divorced that negative voice, I put myself back out there on the piano bench at my church.  I did not get the support there that I needed.  In fact, I was literally told that I was not good enough.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Do you know what awful damage those words do?  Do you hear them in your own head?  Do people in your life say them to you?

They're wrong.  They're mean.  They're coming from their own damaged souls.

I told my little sister that I couldn't do it.  "Maybe your old accompanist is available," I said.

"No, Mary," she said, "You're the one.  I want you to accompany me.  You are good enough.  You need to be the rock."  The accompanist is the support for the singer.  In this case, the singer was the support for the accompanist.  My eyes mist up even as I type this.

I'll be playing piano for Palm Sunday service at a new church where I'm honored, appreciated and told, "Of course, you'll play."  I was a little nervous about playing.  I suggested that someone else might be better equipped.  I mean, Palm Sunday is about the most important worship service.  It tells the whole story of the One who walked the broken road before us.  Who carried our burdens on His shoulders, and who came back from the darkness to reclaim life and give us hope.  Who am I to play out that message?

But then, I heard it, the voice that says, "Of course you can."

Journaling Prompt:  Can you be that voice, the rock, that supports another person? Have you heard it?  Listen for it.  It's for you, too.