today, i was with king george

"I seriously doubt that, my dear girl. He's been dead for centuries. Or did you get to see "Hamilton" again?"

It was the next best thing! The song, "You'll Be Back", from that show was performed by one of the members of SING at today's concert. Mason Byrd, the teen who sang it as a solo, even dressed the part! He was magnificent!!! He even had us all sing along with him at the end! La di dah di dah, la la la la da di dah! (smile!)

"Most excellent! That must have been great fun for you!"

Oh, it most def was!!! And he didn't enter the stage from the back. Oh, no! He strode down the center aisle to reach the stage, head high! What a grand entrance befitting a monarch!

And that's his dad, Richard Byrd, standing there in the chef's hat at the head of the banquet table. He made all the food for our Italian feast after the concert!!! Pork loin, Penne Vodka with chicken, Caesar salad, green beans with pimiento, mashed potatoes, and plates of pizza with red onion as well as antipasto that included Salad Nicoise!

"Wow, what a feast! Was this the "That's Amore" dinner for the fundraiser?"

You got it! We  had been promised singing with our meal and we got that, too! Each singer gave us an aria from "The Marriage of Figaro", then they whipped out kazoos for everyone there so we could accompany them for "That's Amore"!!! Hahahaha! They even gave us kazoo-playing lessons, as some in the audience had never used those instruments. 

"Hahahaha! That must have sounded both awful and hilarious!"

Oh, it was! I'm glad we'd had the sweet singing from the children to start this bit of fun. The matinee concert featured the Spark Choir, the Kindle Choir, and the Illuminate Choir, each individually. Those would be the seventeen kindergarten to 2nd graders, the twenty-three 3rd through 5th graders, and the fourteen 6th through 12th graders. Plus, they started off with all three groups together, then finished the same.

"What a huge number of singers!!! Wow, that program has grown so much!" 

You betcha. Their inaugural concert, back in January of last year, was done with about thirty-five singers. The one from last April had about that same number. Today, there would have been 54 children singing, if all had been present!!! I'm so glad the City of Savannah has given the program a grant to allow even more involvement of the next generation!

"That's a great accomplishment for SING!"

I even granted them more of my money tonight, in addition to those for the dinner fundraiser. The Asbury choir rehearsal area was filled with Silent Auction items, which I perused before, and during, the dinner. Kathy and Preston Hodges, also at my table, had items they were keeping watch over, too!

"And did you win anything?"

Surprisingly, I did!!! I was the only bidder for a $30 gift card, Kids Meal coupon, Appetizer coupon, and game ("Family Dinner") from Texas Roadhouse... and I 'won' the whole package for just $10. Wow!!! Then, I was the third bidder for a $50 gift card to B&D Burgers in Pooler, and I 'won' that, too!!! My bid had only been twenty bucks!

"Goodness, girl! What great deals you got!!!"

Right? I am so blessed to be part of Asbury Memorial. So many good events and opportunities at this church!

today, i went to a 1st-ever play festival

Have I even been out to Savannah Country Day School this year?

I have not, for one reason or another, be it related to weather conditions or a preponderance of American Legion meetings.

 

Time to rectify that situation, and what better event than the inauguration of their very own festival of short plays?

"Spring Shorts" is what that 10-minute play festival has been dubbed!

Doesn't that title encourage one to get out of the house and partake?

Yes, yes, it does, and I must declare it a rousing success!

They put out a call to professional playwrights to submit their works, hoping that a few might actually do so.

James Venhaus, the teacher/director/producer for theatrical shows at this school, told us that they were overwhelmed by the response: 350 plays were submitted for the festival!!!

Wow!!!

Of that gracious plenty, six were chosen, and those were directed by various students in the theatre program.

The festival also showcased five plays written by various students, with those all directed by James Venhaus.

So, there were eleven plays total, some longer than ten minutes, some shorter, with a brief intermission during the two-hour program.

Wow!!!

These were all performed as theatre in the round, with both actors and audience sharing space on the stage.

That made for a more intimate setting, which really helped with the message in these short stories.

The actors would cart onto the stage whatever props were needed, including furniture, for their piece, then cart it off after.

What types of things were used?

Well, this manual typewriter on the desk, as well as several chairs and a table.

The typewriter actually worked, too, and the whole tone brought to mind the play set in the Vietnam era.

As this short play began, a man is sitting and typing, reading aloud his words.

"I regret to inform you that you son has died."

Letters to parents of soldiers lost in the war.

Wow.

After a day of typing such letters, he goes home and needs to recover, but he has a teen daughter waiting and he is her only living parent.

She suggests they listen to some music to ease the mood...

but when she turns on the radio, she gets Don McLean...

carrying on about "the day the music died"...

and her dad gets up and turns it off.

Here's the thing: after he leaves the room, she turns the radio back on...

and "American Pie" is still playing.

That's because it's almost nine minutes long.

Of course it would still be on!

Bravo to Kharis Ott for writing "Bad News On The Doorstep"!!!

[That's a line from the song, too - nice that others listen to lyrics.] 

By the way, not only did she write that play, but she directed another one ("Surprise", a comedy about a 2-minute psychic going through yet another breakup), and acted in two others.

Wow!!!

She wasn't the only one to do such a feat.

Hannah Smith wrote "Walls" [about the drama unfolding in three neighboring apartments], directed "Kung Foolery" [comedic physical fighting between husband and his mother-in-law], and acted in two others.

Kensie Glass acted in one and wrote "Cast Party", which reminded me of all the fun and drama of those I've been to over the years!

(Shout-out to the 'Hugh Mongus D' that crashed the party!)  

Samantha Hendrix acted in three plays and directed two plays, a comedy ("Party Princess" who wore wrong-colored dress for 4-year-old's birthday party, to mother's chagrin) and a more serious piece ("Blocked", about a 26-year-old who is missing her birthday because she is trying to write).

Anna Sapere wrote "Love At First Sight" (a failing romance after girl has memory loss) and acted in two plays, one of which was "Blocked".

Her costar in "Blocked", Suri Desai, also directed a play called "Finding Time" (a sweet romance of two friends who keep running into each other in scavenger hunts).

Jack Lerch was the only male student to act and direct.

He acted in two plays (featured as "Hugh Mongus D" - that's got to be a pun!) and directed "Baby Charging Station". a comedy about a guy who takes care of a robotic baby in a Child Development class in order to meet a girl.

That brings me to Caroline Bergmann, who acted in two plays and wrote "Voices In The Hall", my other favorite tonight.

'Maeve', a freshman is waiting for her sister to get stitches in the hospital and chats up the guy sitting in the same bank of chairs. 

His name is 'Callum' and he's waiting for his friend to get out of surgery.

He and 'Jonathan' are senior football players and were in a car wreck.

He goes off to find a doctor to ask about his friend.

That's when 'Elise' comes out, bandaged head, and 'Maeve' starts telling her about 'Callum' and 'Jonathan' and 'Elise' thinks her sister is playing a prank.

After all, the family knows that 'Elise' says she can see ghosts and that's how she ended up bumping her head!

But 'Maeve' insists 'Callum' is real... 

'Maeve' doesn't believe in ghosts...

right?

Only she has to now, as 'Elise' tells her that car wreck was real a year ago and both of the football players died.

Really good!

And guess who played 'Callum'?

Jack Lerch.

Very nice... and a very nice evening out for me!

today, i walked on a research vessel!

In fact, I did a lot more walking than I'd planned, as I parked at the research building rather than near the dock.

I'll see how my right leg feels about that tomorrow.

For now, I'm pretty elated about the experience!

 

This was an 'Open Ship Night' at the SkIO and I was one of the first to arrive for the first tour!

The ship is the R/V Savannah and it's been out to sea for 110 days so far this year, so it took some planning on the part of Jackson Schroeder, the Public Relations Coordinator to make sure it would be in port.

Dr. Mark Frischer, one of the researchers that I met last year, kept the group entertained as each set of 8 awaited their turn.

He was telling us about the gear off to his right.

I was in the second group to board the research vessel.

That's his graduate student, Alyssa Fritz, on the left; beside her is Claire Eilers, a graduate student of Dr. Nicholas Foukal.

They were in charge of our herd of cats.

(smile!) 

They first talked of the equipment on the newly-extended stern.

That work was done in 2024, to lengthen the ship by 11 feet to make more room for NOAA gear on their missions.

That's nice extra income for the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography!

That's good, since the refitting cost 4.6 million dollars - which is a million more than the ship cost in 2001 when it was brand new!

The two young women didn't tell us that; nope, that came from a old Brit in our group who was well-read on such matters.

Very interesting!

After we'd looked at all on the stern, we were led in to the Wet Lab, aptly named as it was the first room in.

The Dry Lab was next, before we turned another corner into the dining area and the galley, which was quite well equipped.

It would need to be, as some of the trips were month-long ventures!

Then we went upstairs to one of the bunk rooms.

It was pretty petite - only half our party could enter the space!

We went up yet another set of narrow, steep, stairs - more of a ladder, really - to the bridge, where Morgan talked to us about the missions.

What a marvelous view!

And did I say "missions"?

Yes, this ship serves not only the researchers here at SkIO, but also marine researchers at other universities, as well as weather missions for NOAA.

Busy as bees they are!

Like I said, that's a good thing, given the cost of the recent overhaul.

We climbed down from that lofty perch on a twisty set of narrow, steep, stairs back to the stern.

That's Claire, pointing out some of the controls in the conning tower. 

The view is toward the A-frame at the back, capable of holding more than two tons of gear and research equipment.

Someone asked her if anyone ever got seasick on the voyages.

Most definitely!

The ship is tall and narrow, with a wide bottom, so it rocks like a child's toy in choppy waters.

She said someone always gets seasick, but you just deal with it.

I remember getting so sick on that little, fast, hydrofoil that ferried us from Naples to the Isle of Capri - that was rough!

I feel for those who sailed on R/V Savannah!

The end of the tour was down in the engine room.

We were advised those steps were even steeper and more twisty than the ones that came down from the bridge.

I told Claire and Alyssa that I would abstain from that trek!

So, I stayed on the stern and talked to Jackson for a while.

When he was called away, I was joined by Terrell Scarboro, the ship's engineer, and we spoke for probably 15 minutes!

I'd been talking with him about the water testing tubes on the deck, telling him that I recalled doing such years ago...

when I was with a high school science group called STERI...

and his eyes lit up...

he had been with that group, too!

I told him there had been two of us from Jenkins High, at least four from BC, and two from Johnson High...

and Johnson was his school!

He'd graduated in 1976, same as me!

But neither of us remembered the other from our time with Charles Schuberth and the Student-Teacher Environmental Research Initiative.

Hey, it's been just over 50 years ago, as that program was for high school juniors, so it's understandable that we wouldn't recognize each other.

Plus, I was busy dating two of the Benedictine Cadets, so, there's that.

Still, it was really nice to run into someone who shared that bit of history with me and was also a Savannah native.

That's really rare for me.

And he gave me a parting gift: a sighting of a dolphin chasing a fish dinner almost into the water's edge as I was headed to the pier!

Wow... what a great shot that would have been! 

today, i was proud of my students

"Your students? You haven't taught for nearly eight years, ya know."

Yes, I was reminded of that yesterday while talking to Cathy of California. She'd called to check in and made sure I knew she was retiring on June 29! I told her I keep thinking it's been 7 years, but... I retired in May of 2018... so next month will make 8 years.

"Yes, indeed. You need to plan something to commemorate that occasion. So, what brought that up tonight?"

Well, you know that crazy TV show I like? "The Game With Balls"? Tonight was the second show of their second season and it had male firefighters - complete with them partially clad in calendar shots!!! - versus male and female nurses. I liked that diversity, as some of my students had been men, too. Anyway, it gets down to one lone firefighter playing three rounds all by himself. All of the others - all five on the nurses' team, as well as his two brothers and the other two from their fire house - had all missed answers and fallen into the pool. Splash!!!

"Oh, wow!"

So, he manages to win them $31,000, theirs to keep. Then he gets to go up against the Golden Balls for $100,000 of prize money. All he has to do is answer five questions correctly, that's all.

"Easier said than done, I'm sure!"

Get this: he chooses "Chemistry" over "Girl Groups". "Chemistry"!!! He says that's the topic he goes for when playing "Trivia Crack", whatever that is. The other four guys applauded like crazy!!! Apparently, he does pretty well with that. And so I was excited to see what would happen in this duel between Nate and those Golden Balls.

"And..."

And he did impressively well! The question that stumped him would have gotten me, too. But the others? He really did know his science! The first question had been a soft pitch. "Which element forms table salt when combined with chlorine?" He knew immediately that was "Sodium"! Take that, you Golden Ball!

"Hahahaha! That was an easy choice, though. Given that the other possibilities were 'Lead', 'Nickel', 'Nitrogen', 'Boron', and 'Hydrogen'."

Very true. The next question was a little harder. "Legume plants are known for fixing which element into the soil?" Well, he ran right onto the space for 'Nitrogen', knowing that element to be good for dirt... and he was right, of course!

"Oh, nice, you caught that in the photo!"

You bet I did! The third question was a bit harder. "Deuterium is an isotope of which element?" My students would have known 'isotope' means 'type of atom of same element' and that 'Hydrogen' has two isotopes, Deuterium and Tritium. Somewhere in his mind, he know that, too!

"Very good! Three questions down, two to go!"

The fourth one asked: "Galena is the primary ore of which element?" He recognized that to be a metal and chose 'Lead'. Bravo! I feel like my students would have gotten that, too. But the fifth, and final, question? That was tough. "Which element has a Curie point?'

"Yikes! What's a Curie point???"

Well, as Jay told us afterward, a Curie point is "the temperature at which a metal loses its magnetism". That's not anything I ever recall talking about, ever. I would have thought it had something to do with its radioactivity, given Marie Curie's work. However, it's named for her husband, Pierre Curie, not her. Oh, well!

"So, what was the answer? 'Nickel' or 'Boron'?"

'Nickel'. I bet he'll never forget that! I know I won't. Nice to learn something new, especially when it's from an unexpected source like a game show.

assorted sneakers in row of dryers

"What's that, dearie?"

That's part of what it sounded like. I had an MRI of my brain this afternoon, over at the Savannah VA Center. Part of the testing reminded me of the banging noise that sneakers make. Only thing is, the sound was much, much, much louder. I'm glad they gave me ear plugs, as I don't think I could have stood the din!

"Sneakers in a dryer... that's an interesting correlation."

I actually have Michael Kavanaugh to thank for that. He posted the above cartoon on fb and I happened to spot it. WASH 'n' DRY 'n' MRI, it says, in a laundromat with a twist!

"Oh, my. That's a pretty narrow channel for your body!"

Yes, it was. I was scrunched down onto this gurney, arms tight against my side and partly on my chest and abdomen, shoulders jabbed against these plastic knobs that held my head in place, and a sheet draped over my body to keep it all in place. They had what seemed like a catcher's mask over my face. Then they gave me a 'panic ball' to hold, telling me to keep my eyes closed and try not to breathe deeply during the the twenty-minute procedure. That was absolutely the longest twenty minutes of my life. The noisiest, too.

"A 'panic ball'! So you could have stopped the test at any time?"

Sure. However, I stayed the course. I've been waiting for almost two years for this MRI. Remember when I started having ophthalmogic migraines, back in 2019?  They began without any pain or headache, just psychedelic sunshower auras radiating out from my central vision, making it impossible to truly see anything and causing vertigo. The trip to the ER at Memorial Hospital involved a CT scan of my head, as well as other tests to rule out stroke or heart issues. The upshot was I needed to see an ophthalmologist. Ah, but first I must go to Charleston so the veteran hospital could rule for themselves what I needed. (It would be another few years before I would learn that the VA MISSION Act of 2018 gave me the right to have refused that and to insist on local community care instead.) 

"Does this story ever get to a current point?"

Well, last year, my ophthalmologist at the Savannah VA Center, Dr. Urban, asked if I was still having those ophthalmogic migraines or any blurriness in my vision. I told him I was! Very little of the sunshower stuff, but sudden blurriness for no reason several times a year. He said that originated from within my brain, not from my eyes, and he called them acephalgic migraines. He recommended that I see a neurologist and get an MRI. I passed that along to my PCP, Susan Barker, and she concurred. Finally, last December, I got that neurology appointment, with Dr. Diaz at the Savannah VA Center. He agreed that an MRI was warranted and today that came to pass. What an ordeal this has been!

"I'm glad you stayed with the process. You know how it works in the medical field, when you have to see a specialist. It just takes time, lots of time. So, when do you get to discuss the results with Dr. Diaz?"

That will be on May 5th. Becky and Maureen, the technicians, told me the results would be posted within 48 hours, so I may look at them before I see him. Right now, I just want to take a quiet break. As well as the din from the tumbling sneakers, there were periodic bursts that can only be likened to the shrill tornado alert drills that we get every month. Only these were very much louder, too. So loud!

"Fortunately, that's all done now. Just take a little down time and mellow out. Don't forget you have an American Legion meeting tonight, though. That's at 5:30 for the Two First Posts."

Got it. I hope that will be the last one!

today, i went to a muse-ical in rincon!

And guess what?

Orpheus was there, singing "Time In A Bottle"!!!

He dedicated it to the long-gone Eurydice. 

That guy has gotten around, hasn't he?

First he was in the play last week, and now he's in Rincon at the Hive Repertory Theater's event!

Not that he was the focus of this jukebox musical.

Not hardly.

In "The Olympians", the spotlight is on the three goddesses having a grudge match about who was best.

To settle it, they each choose a human to set on a quest, with the winning goddess being the one whose choice reaches Mount Olympus first.

Here's warrior Zoey, to whom Artemis sings "You Make My Dreams" come true!

Wooo hooo, woohoo!

Aphrodite found Lexi as her champion!

The girl was singing about the "goddess on the mountain top... had what no one else had!"

Hey, "Venus" is just another name for the love goddess!

As for Athena, a goatherd named Sofia was the one she beseeched to "Breakaway" from her grandma and go on a quest to find the lost girdle of Hippolyta.

And what looks odd here?

Sofia is reading from a script!

Get this: she was tagged just two hours before the play to be on stage for someone who was sick - what a valiant trouper!

Aphrodite was another trouper, stepping in only a week ago for someone who had to leave - amazing!!!

So, here we are: three goddesses, three humans, with each expected to run their own quest.

Instead, the trio of girls mystify the goddesses by working together!

Here they are on the streets of Athens, trying to stay ahead of the police.

Why are they being chased?

Lone females aren't allowed to wander about!

That's what the gate guards told them and those mustache-wearing guys are serious!

Back and forth across the stage ran the guard!

"One Way Or Another", they sang, "we're gonna find ya, we're gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha!"

Fortunately for our plucky trio of humans...

and Lexi's younger brother, Zander...

the guards never even come close to getting them.

Whew!

Next stop: the Oracle, to receive clues to the girdle's location.

They didn't realize that the three goddesses hit that location first, to give the Oracle (actually the Narrator in disguise!) the scroll.

The goddesses lingered too long and had to pose as statues - lol!

But Zoey, Lexi, and Sofia finally arrive at the right place, receive their marching orders, and set off on their quest!

They're barely on it when Artemis' twin brother, Apollo, throws a monkey wrench into the mix, having all but Zoey "Walking On Sunshine" as a shortcut, kinda sorta.

End of Act One!

I sure did enjoy this very much!!!

Plus, the crew at HiveRepTh did me a solid, granting me a seat that was front and center of the stage - y'all know what I like!!!

Oh, and there was even a joke from Orpheus!

Zander picked up the other instrument, calling it a lyre.

Orpheus corrected him, saying "No, my lyre was stolen by luters [looters]... and they didn't even know how to play it!"

Hahahahaha!!!!

Yes, this was well worth the ride to Rincon and the $20 ticket!!!

today, i went to the library and a concert!

"That makes you a busy, vibrant woman again! Good for you!"

Almost. (smile!) Those two adventures had me crossing from midtown to southside to lower midtown before coming back home. Not that I'm done this weekend. I have a musical out in Rincon tomorrow! None of these places today had a spot for me to use my handicapped parking permit, so I got a little walking in, too.

"Good for you again, I say! Any amount of walking is what you need to get those leg muscles built back up. Anyway, what was up at Southwest Chatham Library on a Saturday afternoon?"

A documentary and discussion. Remember that banned books talk earlier this year? The movie I saw today, "The Librarians", was also shown around that time, but I missed it. I'm glad to have finally caught it! Apparently, the post-pandemic paranoia started a big push against books having topics of homosexuality, race, and discrimination. The ban even applied to books written by LGBTQ, black, or brown authors, and started in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Louisiana. I'm glad they had New Jersey in the mix, so it didn't look like a Southern thing!

"I wonder why they chose today?"

I have to believe it's because Right To Read Day is coming up on Monday. That isn't a national holiday, but something Danielle told me about on fb. It's being promoted by the American Library Association, in honor of their 150th anniversary. 

"Okay, that makes sense."

Heidi and Jennifer and a couple of other Asbury folks were there, too. Nice! We all stayed for the discussion afterward between Lola Dewitt - the Executive Director of Live Oak Public Library in this area - as well as Nate Coulter, the Executive Director of Central Arkansas Library System. He had a very amusing anecdote for us!

"Oh, do tell!"

One of the patrons came in and checked out 53 - yes, fifty-three!!! - children's books, leaving a note in the book return that she would not be returning them as they dealt with banned topics. Coulter was notified and suspended her library card. A few days later, the woman was back to pick up two James Patterson books she'd wanted, only to find out she could not because her account was suspended! When she spoke with Coulter, she claimed that she had taken the children's books as an act of civil disobedience. He informed her that as long as she kept the children's books, her account would be suspended, as the library had the right to protect its assets. The woman thought for a moment, then agreed to return the books she'd taken! Guess she really wanted those Patterson books!

"Hahahaha! More likely that she was fine with being 'disobedient' as long as it didn't negatively impact what she wanted. Good for Coulter for standing up to her bully tactics!"

Amen to that! I drove from there to the First Presbyterian Church, over on Washington Avenue. I missed most of the introduction about the fundraising group, but not any of the music. See, this concert was part of their 'Music With A Mission" series, with proceeds to benefit Hope Arbor. There were Asburians there, too! Tom Lewis was present with Karen Townsend, as well as her parents, Mickey and Bob. I ran into them after the concert, as I was looking to see if anyone left their program behind. They had run out when I arrived late. Luckily, Tom found one for me!

"Most excellent! I'm glad Tom is getting out and about. What a year he had, losing his partner, his brother, and then his father, all within months of each other. I'm glad you'll be seeing him next weekend for the Asbury Theatre group outing."

Yes, I'm looking forward to that! I'm glad I found out about this concert! Kathy Mayin told me about it and I had expected to see her here. Titled "Center Stage: A Night Of Broadway featuring Savannah Voices", it was almost two hours of songs!!! My favorite of the eighteen performed was a huge surprise, which made it even more special. Suade Anderson and Tegan Miller sang "Suddenly Seymour"!!! I felt like it must have been just for me!!! I even gave them a standing ovation after they finished!!!

"G'friend, you are just too much sometimes!!! LOL!"

Hey, we both know I adore that song, and have for years. I'll even sing the duet all by myself if I can't find someone who knows it!

"Yes, I well recall you startling the folks at Post 36 one karaoke night. They never knew what to expect from you."

Songs I want to hear, that's what! These were songs I wanted to hear, too. Songs like "Some Enchanted Evening", "I Could Have Danced All Night", "Man Of La Mancha", "You'll Never Walk Alone", and "Moon River". That last one wasn't even on the program! The director, Danny Cohen - that's him on the far left on stage - just threw it on there so we'd have a little Johnny Mercer. Very nice!

"How very appropriate, too, as Savannah was Mercer's home. Are those the other singers from this concert?"

Indeed they are! From the left, that's Danny Cohen, Suade Anderson, Rebecca Flaherty, Tegan Miller, and Jillian Durant. All so very talented! I have to wonder if any of them are part of the Savannah VOICE program. There were two songs - "Lily's Eyes" and "Sing For Your Supper" - that I've only ever heard from them. Nice to have heard them again!

"I'm so glad you had such a nice day and evening! Hope you have fun at the play in Rincon tomorrow, too!"

Thanks, I'm sure I will. Now, time to catch up with the Buckets! Lol!