Year 2!
Daisypath Ticker

Monday, April 23, 2007
I Was Here
My dear friend Rony celebrated a milestone recently, and chose to spend his big day among family and friends back home in Manila. I suppose I could describe the evening as musical, but it was really more magical than that. Theater music filled the air, and the voices of theatre angels took centerstage right alongside the music-maker himself. Nothing was rehearsed, as there was really no need. Anyone who has ever sung with Rony on the piano will know what I mean.

Taking my turn on the microphone brought back a flood of memories. Glittery evenings in hotel ballrooms, open air stages, nerve-wracking auditions, hilarious lounge gigs, intricately arranged melodies, forgotten lyrics, made-up new ones, voices soaring, voices blending in not one, not two, not three--but 5-part harmonies! Without a doubt, those moments made up some of the best years of my life. And Rony figured prominently in most of them.

Opening the show with a song he wrote himself, entitled "How Do You Open A Show?", Rony graciously gave the floor to his singing guests before ending the evening with a simple, but very touching rendition of a Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty showstopper called "I Was Here", from the musical The Glorious Ones. Check out Patti Lupone's version!

Take in the lyrics and see why theater people--who, in my opinion, are the greatest, most fabulous people on earth--do what they do. Why I do what I do.

I Was Here
by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty

I've gone without bread. I've slept in the mud
I've given my best while they've screamed for my blood
I've begged and I've bullied for any small chance to perform
At nights I've awakened, my guts in a knot
Remembering how much I gave up and for what
Some paints and some costumes, a pitiful tent in a storm
A handful of coins, a trunk always packed
No family, no home, just this madness to act
Still I have a theory about this disease we contract
That most men are equally crazy as actors in fact

Why does a boy carve his name on a tree
Or the firstborn inherit the throne
What is a sculptor aspiring to be
When he spends half his life carving stone
Kings build their tombs for the ages
Poets and fools fill up their pages
What are we hoping for, what do we fear
I say we yearn to leave something that lasts
To be known for what little we've done
Men tell their children the tales of their pasts
And each man gives his name to his son
Something in song or in story
Something in blood, something of glory
Something that won't fade away in a year

Well, I will not flicker and die like an ember
Too many men flicker and die
I will leave something behind to remember
Somehow I must, don't ask me why
I have no wealth, at least none I can claim
And no patience for carving in stone
All that I have are my skill and my name
And this chance to make both of them known
This is my key to the portal
How I can leave something immortal
Something that time cannot make disappear
Something to say I was here!


Way to go, Rony! May I just congratulate Angel, Joshua, and all those who put the evening together for a spectacular job done, well. . . spectacularly! Here's to your 31st!
 
posted by The White Rabbit at 9:21 PM | Permalink | 0 Speak Up!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Sailing


Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.


- Mark Twain

 
posted by The White Rabbit at 8:48 AM | Permalink | 1 Speak Up!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Summer

Summertime is. . .when we hit the sunny beaches and occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.

-Erma Bombeck paraphrased

 
posted by The White Rabbit at 8:37 AM | Permalink | 0 Speak Up!
Monday, April 02, 2007
A New Friend
Photo courtesy of Keira's mom

Rein made a new friend today. Stopping by to pick me up after work, he found himself "hi-jacked" by this little charmer, Unicorn Child's 6-month old baby girl and my goddaughter, Keira. Look closely and you'll see who (or what) Keira would rather befriend! Like the cuddly magpie that she is, Rein's shiny silver watch is all she cares about for the moment.

As a staple of my daily My Left Hand diet (I see her everyday at work), Keira occupies a considerable chunk of my dinnertable conversations with Rein. He hears all about every new event in her life--her latest word-sounds, her sweet little outfits, her ongoing battle with solid food, her mood swings, and even the amount of muscle power it takes to carry her for more than 5 minutes! Today, he happily experienced some of that for himself. . .with the aching muscles to prove it! Today also marks a milestone of sorts as it is the first time Rein has agreed to hold Keira -- or any baby this small, for that matter -- in his arms. Like many uninitiated males, he always felt like he would drop them if he tried. But as this photo shows, Rein looks like he could ably take on fatherhood himself one of these days.

I can't wait.
 
posted by The White Rabbit at 9:37 PM | Permalink | 1 Speak Up!