Birthday Kitsch

Chris’ Birthday
Chorus Free Day

It’s rainy today. Maybe that means I shouldn’t write something. (My sister, yesterday, after having read my blog, said that I should only write about happy things and that some of it sounded like it had been written on a rainy day.)

Today is Chris’ birthday. He will be 30. He is having a party with what he likes to call a “50’s Buffet.” This means most of the stuff on the buffet is either made from boiled eggs, mayonnaise, or combinations of things from a can. I guess, after the 40’s, and the war, the 50’s were considered a time of plenty here, and people thought that the most decadent kind of party would be one featuring all kinds of fat and processed food. They, after having had to eat only things from the ground for so long, were attracted to things in cans and bottles made in big factories. Ok.... Sharp contrast to today, I guess. In any case, the food featured on our table today is stuff like hollowed out eggs with tomato slices on top, in the shape of mushrooms, meat salad from a container, in a hollowed out cucumber, and a big punch made of white wine, raspberries and champagne. Something tells me that Chris, a graphic designer by trade, picked which pictures in his little book looked the best, not really considering whether they taste good or not. Not my styles, but, hey, not my party (but I’ll cry if I want to?)

Yesterday, a colleague, goofing around on stage, pulled the back of my suspenders while we were on stage, causing the buttons to pop off and fly into the pit. Because, though, I have lost about 25 pounds since the opening of the production, my pants were several inches too big, and the suspenders were the only thing holding them up. So, I had to discreetly, unbutton the front of the suspenders, and throw them off stage. The problem was that we were are on stage for the whole second act of Mahagonny, and we dance a good bit of the time (requiring both of my hands.) Let’s just say, I was extremely annoyed at having to always have a hand on my waist in order to not “drop trow” in front of the entire audience.