Happy Birthday, Mama!!

This is a very belated post. But the birthday was right on time!

On June 30th, Alex and I helped Mama McLynn celebrate her birthday. (I won't tell you which birthday, not because she is in any way resistant to people knowing her age, but because she looks young enough to be my sister, which means I can get away with telling people that I am in my 20's. Late 20's. Veeeeeeery late 20's.) Mama had never before been to Las Vegas, but after seeing a mailer that I received offering some free tix to see Celine Dion in Sin City on her birthay, Mama felt it was about time she ventured to the desert to party.

And boy, does that woman know how to party!! She was there for less than 48 hours, and we covered the town. Walked all over the Strip, headed downtown to see a little seediness (and witness rock bands, both rad and sad), ate at a couple of NYC restaurants that are tough to get into in NYC (Rao's and The Homestead), hung out with Caesar and Cleopatra in the Diamond Lounge, saw Celine from KILLER SEATS (thank you, Alex, for working your magic), ate coconut gelato and chocolate-covered strawberries while sipping champagne, rode the roller coaster at New York New York (as soon as she saw it, she said "I have to ride it!" though it had been decades since her last ride on a coaster--she challenged the quivering 40-something in line behind us who wondered if he was too old to ride by telling him her age and saying "If I can do it..."), had photos with a questionable Elmo, imbibed at the sports book at Wynn, lounged in jacuzzi tubs. Phew! And the cherry on top was watching the Bellagio water show as June 30th turned to July 1st (which meant Mama had only hours left till hopping her plane back to Jersey to party with the rest of the family and BOTH GRANDDAUGHTERS). What a way to celebrate!

I have learned much from my mom over the years, and the newest lesson: LIVE!!! Enjoy every second of every day, and don't ever let your age determine what you can and cannot do. Hell, my grandmother was 80 when she went to Vegas for the first time. And she loved it!! I've got good genes.

Backin' Up Bobby D

Last night, I decided I have a new career path to pursue: backup singer. Why, you might ask, would someone who so clearly loves a spotlight want to give focus to someone else? Why would I want to hang in the background, adding one of many colors to a soundscape being provided for some other singer? I can give you two reasons: 1) There's very little pressure put on a backup singer. After all, I'm just background noise (albeit BEAUTIFUL background noise), and if I get a little lost or hit a wrong note, chances are good that no one in the audience will know something is off (and if they do, chances are good they won't know WHO is off). And 2) It's so much fun!! I was asked by David Duvall (who is the best thing to happen to my career in Seattle since, well, since I came here) if I would sing backup for a one night event, "Singin' and Swingin' with Bobby D". It was a tribute concert showcasing the work of Bobby Darin, performed by the fabulous Seattle actor and singer, Bob De Dea (that's 2 Bobby D's for the price of one). I had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Bob last December in "Pinocchio", though in truth, our characters never interacted. In fact, this is the only photo I could find with both of us in it: I'm the blue one, and Bob is standing just behind me wearing the big blonde wig. (He might be in the background in this pic, but in reality, Bob was pretty much the focal point when he was onstage, with his larger-than-life costumes and larger-than-life Gepetta.) And so when David invited me into this project, I was thrilled to have a chance to actually work with Bob. And it was nothing less than thrilling! I knew little about Bobby Darin going into this. I could have named one song, "Beyond the Sea", and I knew that there was a Kevin Spacey biopic some years ago, which I never saw. Bobby Darin wrote dozens of songs (his first hit was "Splish Splash", which he wrote in 12 minutes) and made the works of other writers his own. He sang in a variety of styles, had pop hits and country hits and folk hits and R&B hits (he did a whole album of Ray Charles covers which helped bring Mr Charles into the consciousness of white America in 1962). And last night, we got to sing them all! Well, Bob sang 40 songs, and we backed up about half of them (we being myself, Kim Maguire, and Cheryl Massey-Peters, two top-notch singers that I was humbled to share a rickety little platform with). David played keys and did all the arrangements for a 9-piece band, and man oh man, did he put together a show! The spotlight, of course, was on Bobby D, and the crowd adored him, as they should have. All in all, it was a fabulous evening of music, and I can only hope that we get to do it again. If you'd like a little taste of the event, here's Bob and David performing "Mack the Knife" (I haven't figured out how to add a clickable link to this blog, so you'll actually have to cut-and-paste the following address, then click PLAY on the video--technology is so wonderful, when I know how to use it): http://www.king5.com/new-day-northwest/Bob--159725155.html And while I had a great time being in the background last night, I am incredibly excited to be in the spotlight again for a one night concert event on September 8: little ol' me singing Patsy Cline!! I have David to thank for this (thank you!!), and we're calling it "Foolin' Around with Patsy Cline". We'll have a 4- or 5-piece country band, and I don't expect to have any backup singers (or "angels" as I like to refer to them, having seen Leonard Cohen in concert where he referred to his backups as such). That spotlight will be white hot, and it will feel just like home.

Ahhhh-laska!

It took him 4 years, but Alex finally caught up to me last week by stepping foot in his 50th state: Alaska! We took a cruise through Alaska's Inside Passage, and while this was my 6th trip to the state, the first 5 visits were to Anchorage in the darkest days of winter, so this trip offered up a very different experience for me. For one thing, DAYLIGHT!! The Alaska I'd previously visited was covered in ice and saw sunlight from about 10am til 3pm. Last week, we saw spring in full bloom under sunny skies at 3am! Sunset technically happened around 10pm, but nearing midnight, we could still make out the edges of the mountains we were sailing past, and a few hours later the sun was back for another day. Awesome!! And while this was certainly no tropical vacation, at least I didn't spend my time outdoors thinking I might freeze to death (I have very little tolerance for cold, and those Anchorage winter winds whipping off of the water made my tears freeze on my cheeks more times than I'd like to admit). Alaska in the summer is the way to go! Here are some highlights from our trip: 1)We could walk to the cruise ship from our home! That's West Seattle behind us, as we took a pic off of our balcony (which was another highlight: our only other time cruising, we had a windowless room, which was rather dark and uninteresting, but having a full view of the world going by made our room on this ship the best place to be). Not having to spend money on plane tickets and hotel rooms in another port city dramatically reduced our expenses and travel-hassles. Where else can we cruise from Seattle, I wonder? 2)Wildlife! Okay, I didn't actually take any wildlife photos (I decided it was better to SEE the wildlife, rather than try to frame a shot of it), but we saw black bears, mountain goats, bald eagles, otters, seals, humpback whales, and even baby orca whales!! 3)The State Capitol! There's Speaker of the House Alex sitting in his chambers. We took an impromptu tour of the Capitol building in Juneau, which was pretty cool. We learned some things about how government runs in a state with a land mass equal to a third of the continental US but a population equal to a large town in New Jersey. Turns out, the state government is in session only 90 days a year, during the winter months when much of Alaska is too frozen over for much else to be done. Congresspersons make about $50,000 for those 3 months (most of them have jobs throughout the rest of the year), and it is required that all of them be present during voting sessions (to the extent that if a congressperson is NOT present, they will send state troopers out to get them--no joke!) and they must all take a definitive vote (AYE or NAY)--no voting PRESENT. Which sounds smart to me!! We also learned that every citizen of the state of Alaska gets paid every year for the oil that is drilled there (they get paid somewhere between $1200--2000 each year), which seems a bit socialist to me, but that's a dirty word up there. 4)The Railroad! We took a trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railway, on tracks that were built over a hundred years ago as a result of the gold rush. We had a tour guide giving us some history on the area, mostly centered around the gold rush of the 1890's. I used to teach a bit of this history when I was touring with Living Voices, but to put myself in the place where it happened...zowee! The scenery was stunning, but more impressive was the thought of what it took to build these tracks, with 30 feet of snow on the ground and granite hills to wind through and grizzly bears to contend with. Anyone who has a chance to get to Skagway should take a ride on this train!! 5)The Yukon! Before we boarded the train, we took a 2.5 hour bus ride from Skagway into the Yukon Territory. We travelled from sea level, where the snows had melted and spring flowers were everywhere, up 3000 feet to mountain lakes and treeless tundra. A magnificent change of terrain, with a brief stop at the world's smallest desert: 6)Caribou Crossing! Okay, any place that I walk into and have a 2-week-old goat thrust into my arms is gonna be a winner in my book! Caribou Crossing is a museum/native arts store/petting zoo/sled-dog training facility just outside of the town of Carcross (a shortened form of it's original name, Caribou Crossing) where we stopped for lunch on our way to the train. As soon as we got off the bus, we were handed plates of BBQ chicken and homemade donuts: awesome! Then Alex and I made our way towards the sled dogs, only to be stopped by a baby goat chewing on my hair: double awesome! And then, there were husky puppies: my head almost exploded from all the awesomeness!! There were puppies as young as 3 weeks old, curled up with each other and their mama behind a fence. But the 3-month-olds were out and about and looking for love, which I was happy to give. Now, I've never been sure what to think about sled dogs. On one of those trips to Anchorage a decade ago, I was staying at the same motel as a number of Iditarod teams (this being the week before the annual 1000-mile race), and I couldn't help but worry about those dogs being chained up on a frozen parking lot night after night. Supposedly, these dogs are made for frigid conditions and love to run. But...really? Well, we had a chance to ride a sled pulled by a team of huskies (most of whom had run the race several times), and as huskies are Alex's favorite dogs, how could we say no? There were dozens of dogs, and they all were barking and pulling on their chains as some were being hitched to the sled. It became clear in watching them that they were all pulling because they wanted to be on the team! And once our team was hitched and we were on our way, their barks were silenced and they just ran. It was fun! Alex and I were on the back of the sled, so we were able to talk to the woman in charge (I'm sure there is a title for her position, but since I didn't think to ask it, I'll call her The Musher). The Musher had run 3 Iditarods with many of the dogs on our team, and she clearly loved what she did. She said she considered the dogs her best friends, and they clearly loved her. Somehow, I managed to get back on the bus without slipping a puppy under my coat. 7)Glacier Bay! Wow. I don't have many more words to describe it. We spent a day slowly making our way through inlets in Glacier Bay, and this is where we saw otters and whales swimming alongside the ship. Glacier Bay National Park is huge, we saw only a small section of it, but it was nothing short of stunning. We witnessed huge chunks of glaciers splitting off and thundering into the bay below, and it was impossible to know just how large these glaciers were, except for an understanding that they were so much further away than they seemed, as was evidenced by a solid 2-second delay in when we were seeing the ice bursting into the bay and when we were hearing the resulting BOOM! This was an excellent time for us to appreciate our balcony room, as it was cold and rainy on the deck, but we could just open our balcony door and enjoy the view while curled under a blanket. Put this on your bucket list! 8)Ketchikan! This might have been my favorite port town. It actually felt like a town, rather than an outdoor mall for cruise ships. The history of the place was evident everywhere. And, we took a tour of Dolly's House, a brothel from back in the day, and I swear, Dolly was serving meals on the same dishes that my grandmother used (tell me if I'm right, Mom): All of the ports were cute and had some unique charm to them, but this one made me want to see more. 9)Traveling to new places with my best friend in the world! We've now completed the 50 states (plus Puerto Rico--and why is that not a state yet???) so now it's time to start checking off countries. There's no one else I'd rather be with as I take my first steps into the unknown. How lucky are we?? And finally... 10)Coming home!! We loved every moment of our trip, from the towel animals left by our superstar room steward Nelson and the "Happy happy washy washy" song which greeted us every time we hit the buffet (ask me later)--the staff on Norwegian Cruise Lines is seriously stellar!!--to the wonders of the 49th of these United States (which is SOOOOOOO much bigger than Texas, and yet I didn't once hear of anything referred to as being "Alaska-sized"), to the joys of just sitting and watching the world drift by as I hold the hand of the man I love...it was all wonderful. And yet, we were so very happy to come home. Home, to a city we love. Home, to an apartment we love. Home, to the friends we love. Home, to the kitten-horses we love (and oh, how we missed them, and they missed us too, as they let us know by not leaving our sides last night). Home. The perfect ending to a perfect trip. I've got hundreds of pictures to share, but I'll leave that for another post. It's time for me to get my land-legs back in action!

Tommy, can you hear me?

I closed a run of "The Who's TOMMY" last weekend. While I was sad to say goodbye, it was such a joy to be a part of this show! There were a lot of people involved, from the cast and the crew to the band and the production staff, and somehow, everyone was a pleasure to work with. I didn't know much about the show when I was cast (other than a vague sense of who was who in the movie, and a familiarity with "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me") but as soon as I started listening to the music, I was in love. I played Tommy's mother, Mrs Walker, who spends much of the show trying to fix her deaf, mute & blind son. Lots of tears, let me tell you. I got to sing some beautiful songs with some beautiful voices, and it just made it that much clearer to me that I WANT TO DO MUSICAL THEATRE! Who woulda thunk? Anyway, since most of you weren't able to make it to the show, here's some pics (mostly focusing on me, me, me, since I'm the one who's writing this blog, a-hem)... My mother always wanted to see me as a bride (preferably with Alex as my groom, but...)

"It's a boy, Missus Walker, it's a boy..."

"You didn't hear it, you didn't see it, you won't say nothing to no one, ever in your life..."

"How can he be saved from the eternal grave?"

The Acid Queen and her minions:

"That deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball..."

"When we look at each other, we believe our own eyes..."

"Do you hear or fear, or do I smash the mirror?"

"I'm free!!"

"Come to this house, be one of this families' people..."

Wish you all could have come to my house for this show, 'twas a good one!

Kitten-horses

I'm not sure what marks the official transition from Kitten to Cat, whether it's measured by months or years or stages of growth. In my mind, a Kitten becomes a Cat after a year of living on Planet Earth. (I'm talking a people-year, not a cat-year, which I expect is similar to the length of a dog-year, 7 dog-years for every 1 people-year, though I'm thinking the cat-year:human-year ratio is a little narrower, like 5 cat-years for every 1 people-year, since cats tend to live longer than dogs, but since I'm talking people-years...) And so, in my mind, the pair of four-footed beasts that gallop noisily through my home are kittens. Fuzzy wuzzy kittens. Little baby kittens. See photo of little baby kittens taken on September 3rd, when they were 2 months old, 2 pounds each:

And now, see photo of little baby kittens taken in February, when they were 8 months old:

At 8 months old, Smokey & The Bandit weighed in at 9 and 11 pounds. At her heaviest, She-ra weighed 8 pounds. Ay yay yay. See photo of Smokey taken this week:

As you can see, the cat-bed that once sufficed for 2 brothers is no longer big enough for one. And these boys are still growing! I don't know how much they weigh now, but I wouldn't be surprised if The Bandit's carrying 15 pounds on his frame. And his feet are HUGE!! As are his whiskers and his tail. Oh, let's not forget the ears:

And, Bandit Got Back (to be appreciated by those familiar with the Sir Mix-A-Lot hit):

We've got about 6 weeks left til these Kittens become Cats. I can only imagine how large they will be once they've fully grown (they'll always be kittens to me). And I can tell you for certain, they will only grow more adorable in their mama's eyes!

Tu-lovely

Try as I may, I do not seem able to keep plants alive. When Alex and I moved into our current rental, the landlord/owner offered to leave behind some potted plants on the balcony, if we were interested in keeping them. I gladly accepted. A year+ later, our balcony is a plant cemetery. In addition to the 3 potted plants that have turned a golden-brown, I've added a rosemary tree, another herb garden, and a cactus. All dead. I should not be allowed to take on the responsibility of plant care. It's a losing proposition for all parties. The thing is, I really like plants. I love flowers and flowering trees and shrubbery. I am not afflicted by seasonal allergies, so to me, spring is a perfect season of growth and color. Rarely a day goes by when I am not wowed by some house-dweller's perfect gardens and blooms. And since my birthday happens in the spring (in fact, it happens to be happening on this very day), and since I grew up in a house with a beautiful cherry tree which would burst into cotton-candy color each year in celebration of my birthday, I cannot help but connect a love of spring blooms with the day of my birth. And since I happen to live in a part of the world that has the perfect climate for certain kinds of blooms, that is how I chose to celebrate myself this year. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival occurs each April, about an hour's drive north of Seattle. Each year, people flock from all over the country, all over the world, to come check out the fields. Alex and I went up last week, and this is what we saw:

Seriously, endless fields of color!

Acres and acres of color!

There are dozens of fields scattered about, but two bulb producers are the main attractions. You can walk through the fields or take a tractor ride alongside them. We were there on a weekday, and the crowds were pretty manageable, though weekend traffic is said to be a nightmare. I can imagine! Even mid-week, there was still a need for traffic control in the parking lots, and they had us squeezed in tight to make room for all the cars and tour busses. (In fact, they had us squeezed in a little too tightly--we returned from one tulip tour to find our Sexy Beast Camaro had been scratched up by the vehicle exiting along our passenger side. Grumble grumble.) In addition to the fields, there were incredible gardens, combining hundreds of varieties of tulips, daffodils, irises, and more:

It was a lovely day of tulip-ing. A lovely way to celebrate spring and to honor the parents who brought me into this world. Thanks Mom, thanks Dad! Happy birthday to all of us!