Little Mermaid Review

My friend Nanette and I recently spent a delightful evening among hundreds of well-dressed, excited little girls and their parents at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, where we saw the Broadway rendition of the Disney movie, "The Little Mermaid." I didn't know what to expect from Disney on stage. Frankly, I expected some fun music and a lot of cheese. Instead, we were both pleasantly surprised by a fantastic show full of gorgeous, operetic singing voices, vibrant and often funny songs, and colorful, unique, and exhuberant costumes.

The lead character, Ariel, played by 25-year-old Colorado native, Sierra Boggess, successfully portrayed the innocence and impetuousness of the rebellious mermaid teen, and Prince Eric, played by Sean Palmer, actually sang quite wonderfully on stage (he doesn't sing in the movie). Our favorite character by far, however, was the ultra-bad Queen Ursula, played by Sherie Rene Scott. Her voice reverberated through the theater as powerfully as her outrageous, giant, purple octopus costume dominated the stage, and what a voice it was! It rolled across the audience like a tsunami, devastating, impressive, and evilly heart rending.

We really enjoyed the show. It was on par with our favorites: "Dracula," the ballet, and "Wicked," the musical.

Swimming, Job Search, & Volunteering in Nepal

Today I stayed for what seemed like hours in the warm waters of Lake of the Woods, Virginia, where my mother has a summer home. I swam around the cove, flipped and stretched, and drifted on my back watching the clouds amass and drift. The sun peeked out occasionally, but the day felt as shady and cool as a creek in the forest.

I'm still in shock about losing my job, but as my mum says, it's only been a week. I'm actively looking for a job already (there's a lot out there in PR and in the nonprofit world abroad). I just found out that I may have the chance to do some volunteer work in Nepal, which would be exciting. I would be teaching Nepali women in Pokora how to climb and working at The Mountain Fund office in Kathmandu, helping set trekking agencies up with some excellent new software that will help them get online payments easier and sign customers up more easily.

Going on the Road

After being laid off last week, it took me all of one afternoon to decide to go on the road for six months or until I find another good job. Unemployment doesn't come close to covering my bills and mortgage, and so I'm renting my casita out and will stay in the shed when I am in Colorado. But I don't plan on being here much. It's been a long time since I've been on the road--years in fact. I've been a professional for 8 years now and in a cube for 2.5 years.

The entire time i was trapped in that 30,000-square-foot building, with its flourescent lights and blinking computers, I pined away for travel, especially when all my friends would write me from far away places. I placed plants throughout my cube in an effort to bring some fresh air and energy to my space, but it still always felt stale, wrong. Despite my amazing and wonderful coworkers, my super awesome boss, and the very nice owner of the company, I just never really felt like I fit into that environment.

A few days ago I was camping in Rocky Mountain National Park (actually, staying in a rustic ranger's cabin drinking wine, using the propane for cooking, and wood burning stove for heat) by Thunder Lake. I spent my long Saturday afternoon sitting by the Lake, reading, and lying in the grass. Sitting on a granite boulder by the sun-rippled water, I reflected on my life. "I belong here," I thought, running my hands along the rough, white surface of the rock. I belong in the sunshine, the rain, under the clouds, where the wind blows grit in my eyes; I belong outside.

So, though I was laid off, and it is definitely rough for me to have to move out of my sweet little house on the open space, I am confident that this layoff is the best thing for me. It will give me an opportunity to work on the book I've been threatening to write for years, to work on getting a pr/marketing business going, to write for magazines, and to explore other job opportunities. I have no idea what I'll end up doing, but at least I get to explore the possibilities!