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Dearest Mama,
I had meant to start this earlier today, but certainly didn't, did I? Still, I didn't want the day to end without touching base. It feels like forever that you've been gone, though it's not quite been nine years. That sounds like forever right there.
I wanted to talk to you about last Saturday, in particular, and maybe the whole weekend and the days leading up to it. But last Saturday, in particular. You know, that would have been the 17th anniversary for Jeff and I. And, in keeping with our custom of taking vacation around the anniversary, that's what I'd continued to do. This time, I wanted to do something different. Wanted, hell - I had a NEED to do something out of the routine for this time of year. Instead of running off and waking up somewhere else, I decided to stay here in town. But I also needed to make sure I didn't bolt out of here at the last minute, I needed to be invested in staying put.
I found my answer in the First City Network newsletter: the First Annual LGBT Film Festival. THAT would be different AND it would offer movies and shorts that I would most likely never get to see. Count me in! The tickets went on sale to the public that first Friday in October and I raced from work to the ticket venue to make sure I was able to get my tickets. I finally decided to buy the Festival Pass, as it would be a neat memento AND was the best deal. Good call! I then taped it to my kitchen cabinet to remind myself of this change in my regular fall schedule and waited for the 24th to arrive.
And you know what? Even knowing I had the weekend "booked", I STILL found myself thinking about plans to get outta town for that time frame. Can you believe it?? I know, old habits die hard, and I've had a lot of time invested in that particular habit. Heck, I'd like to think I did pretty well at planning little mini-holidays for this special time in October, especially as time went by. I would like to think Jeff would agree with me on that. (He had a trip out of town last weekend. Old habits die hard, as I said.) So, I figured the best way to keep myself in town was to overcommit my time for the entire weekend. That's exactly what I did, too.
Friday, I got off work, came home and ate, then headed to the Jepson Center for the first two films of the festival. "Boy Meets Boy" was a sweet short that took place in Korea and featured a fairy godmother that admonished her charges to "be careful who they met on the street." Adorably stuck in the '60's, as the culture over there is today. As I said, it was very cute and sweet. Then came the feature, the one I'd been looking forward to: "Fruit Fly", a musical (you recall how I just LOVE musicals!!!) starring a straight Phillipina actress who is in the States to put on her latest show. I just LOVED it!!! Honestly, I do think that would work for a mainstream audience, especially given the popularity of "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Fame". Very upbeat, catchy tunes, too. Then over to Club One for the reception and TWO shows, with one of the festival's guests serving as the intermission talent for both shows. You would have loved the old jazzy songs he had in his repertoire!
The next morning, I got up at weekday time (ugh) so I could make it out to visit Dood for his birthday. I had told him in a couple of letters that I would be coming out there, so that promise to him also locked me into staying in Savannah. Good! He and I had about a forty-minute visit (twice the allowed time!) that went very well and left both of us happy and reassured. Very good!
Then off to the festival's first matinee at 11am! The first was a kicky little all-girl rap video called "U-Haul Rap" and was a humorous take on the baggage, of all kinds, that we bring into new relationships. HAHAHA! The feature film, called "Drool", was a tale of old love gone bad and the healing power of new love. That was pretty good, but more of a dark comedy.
Then I was off! Back to midtown for the 1pm birthday party for my five-year-old "nephew" Aaron. Monkey Joe's is a BRIGHT place!!! I do believe those inflatables in that place glow in the dark! I wish I could have been there for the cake, made by his grandmom, but I had a 2pm matinee to get back to. Hmm, maybe I overbooked myself??
But back to the Little Theatre I flew on that drizzly afternoon, getting there just in time for the festival trailer. Close call! This was the part of the festival that was my favorite: shorts!!! The longest of the eight films was just over 20 minutes and there were TWO music videos, both of them featuring Joshua Kipp, the entertainer from the previous evening at the Club. Yes! Films from Iceland, Ireland, Canada, and even Australia, interspersed with festival winners from the USA. I tell you, Deb did amazingly well at selecting the films for this festival!
The Icelandic film, "Mother Knows Best", is quite entertaining, would work great at a P-FLAG film festival, and has a FINE ending! The Irish film, "James", charts a young man's journey toward adulthood; it was pretty good until the ending. Then again, the film had only 18 minutes to tell its tale, so perhaps I just needed to know a bit more than it offered. The two Canadian films, "Falling For Caroline" and "Tranzploitation", were quite humorous, with the former having several physical comedic touches (because "falling in love brings out the klutz in all of us" - I can SO relate!) and the latter including a hilarious lament about discrimination against trans(gendered) in the chip aisle of grocery stores. What a hoot!
The Australian film, "Evelyn Everyone", was a trip into the world of e-dating for a woman looking for change. The US short, "Kristy", on the other hand, is about a young girl NOT wanting change: her favorite shirt is being worn to tatters and so is her mom's patience. Both good, but I was waiting for the music videos, and at last they came! In "L1fe", pronounced One Life, the singer pledges "in your memory, I'll do the very best I can." Then, in "Tell Me", a jilted lover is trying to urge is estranged partner to say if they're "alive or dead, just tell me." On the surface, it's a classic boy-and-girl soul number, but there are fabulous undertones here! So, there you have it: eight films showcasing straights, gays, lesbians, trans, parents, kids. Something truly for everyone!
Whew! Not done just yet! The final films, which began at 5pm, were "Frequent Traveler", a fun Portuguese tale of a guy just craving touch and willing to go to extreme measures to attain his goal. The showcased feature film, "Watercolors", was a tale of first love and was a brilliantly told story. The only downside? Well, it was the night of October 24th and I was going home alone. I cried and ate sushi and felt better... but i sure wish I could have called you so you could tell me everything would be alright.
One last note about the LGBT Film Festival. I do wish someone had invited Robert Redford (in town, filming a movie about Abraham Lincoln) and Ron Howard (in town for the upcoming Savannah Film Festival) to attend these showings. For all I know, maybe the two gentlemen were invited and couldn't fit it into their schedules. These films should be playing to a much larger, and more diverse, audience than that held by the tiny Little Theatre space. Truly.
Well... (YAAAWWWNNN) I better get my silly self to bed. It's 2:16am on a Thursday morning and I have to get up at 7!
with much love forever!