Montessori Othello

Friday: Up just after 6 AM. Shower. Down basement for morning practices part one. Upstairs, packed the car with our gear, and a quick cup of tea and a bowl of cereal before getting on the road, with MB, at 7:30. Traffic was not bad heading down 93. Made one wrong turn, but otherwise no problems in the directions. Arrived at the Montessori school around 8:05 AM.

Martin, Victor and the sound man were already there. We brought our gear in and got set up. Still no sign of the others. We were to go on at 9. Dev and Méli arrived shortly before 9, followed by David (David had gotten lost. Dev gave Méli a ride.) We tuned as the wee ones were lead in and arranged on the floor of the gymnasium. Don't have the exact set list, but it was something like: Circulation, Asturias, Invention 10, Eye of the Needle, Homage, (Q&A), Growing Circle, Third Relation, Circulation, Moving Force, Aspiration. While we played, B was interacting with Victor in a pretty hilarious and un-self-conscious way. He fed Victor a carrot during Eye of the Needle. The Q&A section was funny, because the kids were very enthusiastic in putting up their hands, but few of them actually had questions. One said something like "I had a hamster named Victor." and another "When I was at church, I ate candy that came from an egg." One fellow asked how many strings were on our guitars. Invention 10 bass section almost came unglued. After the performance (the kids were starting to wriggle even before Aspiration got underway) many expressions of thanks and appreciation. MB and I left as soon as we could. Back home by 10:30.

Down basement for morning practices part two. Packed a lunch and, in to work. Nice weather out. Brief day at work, reaching 'first code' on my new project. Mostly header jockeying, but code, nonetheless. Cleaned my desk. Back home a bit after 4 PM.

Packed the car, and on the road just after 4:30, heading down to Hartford. Cut across town and over to Newton, picking up i90 West. Lots of traffic, clearing out, farther away from Boston. Arrived in Hartford at 7 PM. Parked, picked up our tickets, and found a little brew pub. Lovely old building, with multi level seating and large semi-circular windows (probably was a factory at some point). We got root-beers and some food. MB said the women's restroom was strange, with very low toilets. Back to the theater a little before 8.

Othello. Quite a good production we both thought. The music for cello by Tony Geballe, that introduced the acts, and worked as an occasional backdrop, was lovely. This drama is so... dramatic! Several times, among all the treachery, jealousy and murder, I wanted to yell "OK you all, just calm down!" We stood in the back for the second act, sipping coffee. A very enjoyable evening. Many thanks to TG!

Drove in the rain down to my mom's house, arriving a little before 1 AM. Good to see her. Can't believe that Christmas was that last time we saw each other in person. Soon bed.