Another week!

So, last Saturday we went down to Greenfield Community College again to a production of Tony Kushner's play Angels in America, which is set in the 1980's and is a powerful portrayal of the way the AIDS epidemic ravaged the homosexual community. I do not think of GCC having a top-drawer Theater Department, and so was blown away by the excellence of this production. Brendon was singing in the GCC Community Chorus, which served as a kind of Greek chorus in the play, and that is what brought us down there - but, Wow! - this was worth seeing on its own terms. It was very well cast, and the characters were vividly portrayed. It was a "theater-in-the-round" production and the audience was really drawn in as part of the play. It was long - we had to leave early so that Ellen didn't have to stay up until 2a.m. baking. And that was only Part I - Part II will be performed next April, and I think they will repeat Part I as well. Quite an ambitious production! Katie and Tye were also there, plus Dusty and Dorothy. Angels in America was on TV and also made into a movie, as I recall. You can find it on YouTube, or somewhere, I'm sure. I wish they had recorded this production for YouTube.

Brendon's chorus at the Angels in America play.************************** Saturday morning I went to the Men's Breakfast at the Guilford Church an took Jerome. There were 18 men there - quite a turnout. I had two pancakes, scrambled eggs, link sausage, pineapple, and a big bowl of oatmeal. A hearty breakfast! I started a Men's Breakfast back in 1991, and it ran for several years until it sort of petered out - I think the moving of the church interrupted it, and then I retired. But now Dwayne Johnson has picked up on it and is promoting it with enthusiasm, and it is working. Of course, in today's world, having a group of just one gender meeting together has a whole new resonance compared with the 1990's, so we talked about that. A week ago, there was a Women's Retreat - also single-gender, also very well-attended. So I guess there is still a desire by people to be just with others of the same gender. We haven't yet faced the transgendered issue. Maybe we will.

Two views of the Men's Breakfast.******************************* SundaY, we went to church in Guilford and sang in the choir - Perrin Scott led the service, and her sermon was based on a parable - the parable of the Ten Virgins. Very interesting! She had done quite a bit of research online. After church, there was an Annual Meeting of the church to vote on officers and budget. We learned that an anonymous member has donated $10.000 this year, and will give another $10,000 next year! The church will not need to dip into its endowment again as it has done the past few years. That was exciting news. We are without a regular pastor right now, and there seems to be a good energy percolating through everything. So that is good.******************************* Sunday evening, Ellen went to a birthday party for a group of women with November birthdays - including herself. There were 8-9 women there - it was held at Patrice's house in Brattleboro. They did a lot of sharing of stories about their lives and families. So that was great. And sometime - Sunday? - I went to John and Cynthia's and had suppet with them and spent the evening. Ah yes, it was Sunday, because we had a River Singers make-up rehearsal at 4:00 p.m. at Westminster-West Church, then Ellen took me to J&Cs, which is near the church, and she went on to her party. There. was some talk of coming back to the church for their Sunday-evening movie, which this week was Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story,, but we ended up staying at the house and just visiting, which was very nice. Then J&C took me home, and we arrived at our house at just the moment Ellen returned from her party. Good timing!

Ellen's cake for the women's birthday party.