A coolish Saturday, thank goodness. The weather broke yesterday and the apartment is a much more tolerable place to live. No, the A/C hasn’t been fixed yet, but someone did come by and a new compressor has been ordered. It’s a heat and A/C unit, so I, knowing nothing about these things, wonder if the compressor is needed for the heat as well? If so, I feel that all my nudging on getting this unit fixed will benefit the next occupant of the apartment, most likely someone in the cast of A Christmas Carol.
We’re officially into preview performances now. La Dispute has had two previews with audiences. Tonight, Macbeth begins previews. Previews are performances with an audience that occur before the official opening. I think that each of these plays will get a total of eight previews. While a play is in previews, rehearsals still go on in the afternoons – tweaking of the staging or the lighting or the sound happens, sometimes things are reblocked, actors get notes from the director and me and everything is finely tuned so that by the time the plays officially open, everything is about as perfect as it will ever be considering theater is a live, never-the-same-way-twice, medium.
The Red Sox are playing the Yankees this weekend, and somehow their schedule fits into mine. I caught the beginning of last night’s game and got home in time to see the last three innings. (We won.) Today’s game is in the afternoon. Perfect. Sunday’s game is at 8:00 and since there are two performances of Macbeth tomorrow, I will take notes on the matinee and will be able to see the game. The actors don’t need notes from me twice in one day, believe me. That would be annoying.
I just finished A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny. I’ve started the next book in the series, The Brutal Telling. I know I have written about these books before on this blog, but I am simply blown away by Penny’s writing. What makes her mysteries different, what sets them apart from many other books in this genre, is her examination of the human heart. The characters in the town of Three Pines are featured in some way or other in every book. They have flaws. Sometimes those flaws are exasperating. But Penny, with true compassion and understanding, takes us on a journey of discovery. She knows that we are all damaged in some way; she uncovers the fears and pain and petty jealousies that we all have deep within us, brings them to the light and by doing so, sets both the characters and us, the readers, free.
Penny slowly and patiently weaves her stories; with intricate plots, with some things revealed and others yet to be revealed in another book. Not only is there the arc of an individual book, but there is an overall arc in the series. She does this so skillfully that I feel like a resident of Three Pines, that little town in Quebec. I care for those characters. I get angry at them. And, because of her key protagonist, Inspector Gamache, I learn to see them with compassion. To stop judging. To understand.
When I finished the book yesterday, I had tears in my eyes. I learned more about myself. I vowed to be a better person.
That’s powerful writing, my friends.
Happy Saturday.
Good morning dear Claudia. It has finally cooled off a little here and the cool. Crisp morning air feels good. Things are about the same here. 20 down and 25 to go!
Have a great day.
Judy
You’re almost half-way through, my friend. Thinking of you and sending my love. xo
Figures that the A/C would break down in a heatwave…why do they always do that? I have taken Louise Penny books out, but didn’t have time to read them before. I will start at the beginning of the series soon, because I love your book reviews, and always find great books to read when you do.
Muddy Boot Dreams has moved to a new spot, and there was some difficulties with the redirection, if you could update your links to http://www.muddybootdreams.com that would be great.
Jen
I will. Did you move to WordPress or to another platform?
Oh, I see. You had a domain name redirect. So sorry there were problems. I will update my links, Jen.
It is so much cooler here today also Claudia..58 degrees right now at 11:58 am..unbelievable! I think I will be working outside today..Enjoy your baseball games..
I will, Nancy.
Much cooler in Rochester too. I guess fall is in previews here… :>) Question – do critics attend the previews or do they generally wait until opening night? Also, what is blocking? I’ve heard the term before but somehow always get distracted before I make it to the dictionary. Now I can ask a professional. Thanks for your patience with all my [new-to-the-world-of-theater] questions and have a wonderful weekend! Sounds like the weather will be perfect for baseball. Personally I like it even better in the fall than in the summer – is that weird?
Critics used to wait until opening night but now they come sometime during previews. Blocking is the movement of the actors on the stage. The director blocks the basic action and movements of al the actors in each scene. It’s also called staging. xo
HI…CBC has a movie Sunday evening featuring Three Pines…….do you receive Canadian channels?
No, unfortunately! But that may be for the best because I have all those characters in my head now and I don’t think I’d want to see them on film until I’m finished with the series.
It sounds like all that your are reading is so interesting.
It seems like I just don’t have the time to read like I’d like to… I guess we have time for the things we make time for. (also, I’m awful at time management!) LOL…
Our teams are playing at the same time today… well, you’re 1 hour ahead…but the game starts here @1:05 … the Rangers have lost 10 of the last 13 games!!!!! had a rally last night and still lost by 1 point.
1 pt is all it takes. :/
glad the temps have cooled somewhat. Hope you stay cool.
Wouldn’t it be great if you had to don a sweater….?! just think cool, cool, cool.
Pat
Oh, sorry about the Rangers, Pat. I like the Rangers. I hope they rally and start to win. I did don a sweater today, but just a very lightweight cotton one!
I am so happy that the weather has broken for you…it is gloriously cooler here! Sounds like a fascinating series…ah, more to read! Enjoy your ball game! ;)
I will, Donna. Have a wonderful weekend.
We’ve finally cooled off today after record breaking temps.. 100 in Oregon in Sept? Unheard of! I’m reading “The Knitting Circle” right now. Kinda sad. Hope it has a happy ending. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
You guys had some very high temps for quite a while there! Glad to know it’s cooled off!
Glad you are having some cooler weather. I think you sound like you are having a good weekend!
So far, but I’m worried and waiting to hear what the arborist has to say about our maple tree. Don hasn’t called me yet and I’m nervous.
I’m glad it’s more comfortable for you in your apartment. I remember the days when we were kids and didn’t have AC in our home. And I hope everything goes well with the plays. When will you get to go home?
Lovely and cool in Pa. now..glad you no longer need your AC…Quiet weekend and I actually read half of a James Patterson novel yesterday..May finish it today..Patterson and football..It’s been a couple of years since I’ve read a book..Love Patterson but have a couple of other authors on my Kindle..
Happy Sunday..
I’m about three quarters of the way through A RULE AGAINST MURDER (Can one use html symbols to italicize in the blog comments?) and accidentally read THE BRUTAL TELLING ahead of A RULE AGAINST. I agree with your assessment of Penny’s skill. I have to say that I had more trouble getting into THE BRUTAL TELLING because of a story-telling device Penny uses to keep the reader guessing about who is speaking in the first scene. I always assume it’s my fault that I can’t figure out such things, and I’m left feeling dumb and confused. I’ve always felt that’s a dangerous thing for a writer to do with readers, but it certainly didn’t stop Faulkner from becoming an important writer, did it? It stopped me from loving his work, however. I appreciated what he did and why, yes, but I never sank in the scene myself. However, I love Penny’s work for the reasons you’ve mentioned, so I was of course willing to hang in there with THE BRUTAL TELLING through the initial confusion.