Freaky Friday Birthday !!!!!

Today is my best friend Nicole's birthday. She is turning that horrid age of 29 today.
Nicole and I met our freshman year in high school. We had dance class together and my smart ass wise cracks made her laugh. We went on to have several classes together, and there was a great deal of laughter. By our junior year we were pretty close, even though we shared a different core group of friends. We attended Winter Formal together that year and spent the time hiding and crying in the bathroom. My blind date was a huge geek with hands that had no manners and her date was dumping her for another girl.
Our Senior year is when our friendship really developed. By the middle of the year we were as thick as thieves, along with our other dear dear friend Candace. We attended an awful concert in Sacramento together, got lost, laughed until it hurt, and were inseparable from then on. We spent many a night dancing in Chico, CA. And as always there was plenty of laughter.
Since then we have grown up, she married, we had children, we moved (she moved ALL the way ACROSS the COUNTRY) and started our own separate lives. But through it all there had been dancing and laughter.
Nicole is a very intelligent, motivated, driven, talented, kind, funny, and supportive woman. She amazes me. She is a wonderful mom. She can do anything she sets her mind to. (even bake a cake!!!!!!) But she is also one of the silliest, craziest people I know. (Yes, Nicole, here it comes...)
She once blew her nose on my favorite shirt.
She once choked on her seatbelt trying to escape an imaginary rapist in the back seat of my car. ( I kind of set her up to think there was one back there... hehehehe)
She once began to kick in a door because we thought our friend was being held hostage on the other side.
TWICE she got us in a car chase because she flipped some weirdos off. TWICE!
She once licked my face just to annoy me.
She sits under the kitchen table when she is drunk.
She has gotten into wrestling matches over board games.
She once convinced my son to hide a fake spider in my bed in the middle of the night.
She threatend to kiss my brother if he did not get out on the dance floor (this was only three years ago folks)
She sings like a cat.
She has Fred Flinstone Toes.
Yep, that is just a few, if you want the rest you will have to read the book one day. (There will be one Nic, just so you know)
Nicole and I may live across the country, leading different lives, but we we always be CIN and NIC (she that kawinkydink there people? CIN NIC ... HA!)
So, to my best friend, I wish you a very wonderful birthday today, on Friday the 13th. And I hope that your year of turning 30 goes quickly. With lots of dancing and as always, laughter.

All I want is a room some where ....

Last night I attended the theater with my mother, grandmother, and two aunts. We saw My Fair Lady. It was quite good actually. And that is an honest opinion from a thespian.
I have to say that the although the sets and props were of B quality (my high school drama department offered more in this area, but we had unbelievable talent in that field) the stage crew who worked the set were very smooth. Like a well oiled machine. And the set design itself was impressive.
The music was great. Just top of the line. Not a horn out of tune, or a drum out of place.
The chorus was impressive, although small. Some of the "blokes" really stole the scene a couple of times. One in particular was built like a wrestler, but moved with impressive grace and obvious training. Although the girls were not as impressive, one girl had the snooty race track scene nailed. I mean she was perfect.
The main characters were great. Mr. Doolittle was perfect for his part and very funny. Pickering was fun and the Head Mistress of Mr. Higgins house was a wonderful fit. Mrs. Higgins showed great potential, but felt as if she was reading lines rather than flowing with the scene.
Eliza Doolittle was great. She nailed the songs. She perfected the whining cockney accent. An absolute delight to watch.
Mr. Henry Higgins was bar far the most impressive. He was spell binding. The man was the character. He never missed a beat. He nailed every line. His songs were very difficult, but perfectly executed every time. I was extremely impressed.
On a more critical note, the sound tech must have been asleep, because even though several of the cast were wearing face mics (like Brittany Spears and other pop stars) they were often very difficult to hear.
First of all, I find it appalling that they used the bloody things to begin with. It completely distracted from the performance. If you must use wireless mics, please, for the love of God, hide them. It can be done and done well. Second of all, it encourages less projection from the performers. So often times they were holding back and breathy. Not at all what the theater is really about. Regardless of mic placement, an actor should be able to reach the back of the house with out technical assistance. YES it is very difficult and takes a great deal of effort, but that is the point. Would you settle for the major leagues using pitching machines or basketball players using spring boards for dunking? Hell no! And thirdly, if you are going to use mics, then freaking use them ... Correctly! They had a sound board as big as my son's bed and still it was difficult to hear Mr. Doolittle. Which was very frustrating as he was really nailing his part.
The other disappointment was the fact that the costumes (while glorious) and the performance of Eliza was exactly like the movie. I mean duplicates. Mr. Higgins made the part his own, but much of the play was toooooo much like the movie.
All in all it was delightful. I missed the theater so very much. It makes me long to go back and do it again. But for now I will have to settle on buying a ticket and posting my review!
(Thanks Mom ... It was great!)

30 ! 30! 30 ! 30 ! 30 ! 30 ! 30 ! 30 ! 30 !

Today my OLDER brother turns 30 !
THHHHHIIIIIIRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !
Joe Bob is 30 !
I would tease him about his gray hair, only, he doesn't have any hair! DOH!
Joe and I have always been close. We share the same smart ass sense of humor. We love to watch movies and listen to music. We both appreciate quiet time and would rather hang out with a few good friends than a large group of strangers.
Joe is a funny guy. He never fails to make me laugh. Joe is funniest when his inhibitions are low (alcohol usually helps this) and he can just say what he wants when he wants to.
Joe does a great impersonation of Conholio (Freaky Bevis) when he is playing air hockey. Joe can stick his tongue up his nose. Joe can play the blues like you wouldn't believe. Joe pretends to hate animals, but is always the first to care for and defend them.
I call him Joe Bob. He is my big brother and I torture him the way a little sister should. I once pasted his baby picture all over the high school. Even in the bathrooms. If you stood at a urinal or squatted in the stall, you saw my brother's face.
Joe has babysat my son. Joe (and his friends Steve and Chuck) taught my son how to cuss. Joe and my son are a lot a like. My son adores him. I love that.
Joe Bob is 30! And regardless of how close in age we are, he is older than me and he is now 30!
Happy Birthday Joe! I luv Ya !
ED-LA