Just A Peck 0041 // Kaylee, Middlemarch, Theater

Just A Peck
Welcome to the latest issue of Just A Peck. I'm glad you're here!

JOURNAL

Kaylee turned a quarter century old this week! We're so proud of the adult she has become—kind, joyful, and hardworking. She's in rehearsal for Seussical (stage managing), so we weren't able to celebrate on her birthday or for several days afterwards, so we hung birthday signs in her car and snuck a small gift or two each morning somewhere she would run across it as she dashed off to work. (We finally celebrated Sunday night with a birthday dinner and a game of Planet X.)
Kaylee as a baby
Kaylee as a toddler
Kaylee as a young girl in 4-H
Kaylee as a teenager
Justin and Kaylee at the theater
Justin, Kaylee, and Jody after a show
Jody and I have been slowly making our way through Middlemarch together since last June, reading a chapter every couple of days and discussing it, and we finally finished this week. This has got to be one of the best novels ever written. It was a first-time read for both of us and we loved it. George Eliot rendered her large tapestry of small town lives with such love that you can't help but care for all of these recognizable, flawed characters too. Nuanced, insightful, hilarious at times, heartbreaking at others, and brilliant from start to finish.
Two copies of Middlemarch by George Eliot
So much theater this week! We saw Beautiful Thing at Zeitgeist, Godspell at UWS, and The Odd Couple at the Boat Club, and we have at least two more shows to see in the upcoming week! An embarrassment of riches, produced by so many talented friends. I will never cease to be amazed at the amount of art sustained by a town as small as Duluth.
Beautiful Thing program at Zeitgeist
Godspell program at UW-Superior Theatre
The Odd Couple program at the Boat Club

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK

Finished:

Middlemarch, by George Eliot. As mentioned above, Jody and I have been reading this together for almost a year and finally finished this week. A brilliant masterpiece.
Mrs. Orwell by Andrea Chalupa and Brahm Revel
Mrs. Orwell, by Andrea Chalupa and Brahm Revel. Did you know that George Orwell was married to a kickass poet named Eileen Blair who was one of the first female literature graduates from Oxford, who studied under Tolkien, fought alongside Orwell in the Spanish civil war, was an outspoken anti-fascist political activist, who co-created and edited Animal Farm and inspired 1984? No? Me either! This unforgivable bit of erasure is addressed in small measure in this graphic novel by Andrea Chalupa, another kickass writer who is also an awesome anti-fascist political activist, and illustrated by the equally talented Brahm Revel.

In Progress:

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT

Seussical Jr. at Duluth Playhouse
Seussical opens at the Playhouse this week! The set looks amazing, the kids are fantastic, it's directed and choreographed by the Playhouse's multi-talented Director of Education, and Kaylee is stage managing! Don't miss it!
The Singing Statesmen 60th Anniversary
The Singing Statesmen 60th Anniversary Concert. Alex was a member of the Singing Statesmen during his undergraduate years almost fifteen years ago. Those performances were always incredible, and the experience of performing with that group had a huge impact on him. The Statesmen are celebrating their 60th Anniversary this year, and many alumni from past decades, including Alex, will be performing in Eau Claire. We can't wait to hear them again!

MY FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"..for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."

-- George Eliot

That's it for this week. Stay safe, friends. Thanks for reading!

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