I'm late to the party, but I've caught up to the zeitgeist and discovered the musicalHamiltonthat was just awarded the Pulitzer prize in drama. And by discovered, I mean waking up to it on loop in my brain, watching all related Charlie Rose interviews and having my kids bop along in the car as I turn it down on those tricky PG-13 parts.
It is amazing.
It's the story of the American Revolution, centered on the character of Alexander Hamilton, and never has a founding father seemed so real and relevant. It has all the big themes-- love, loyalty, legacy, jealousy, betrayal and forgiveness. It's told through the language of hip hop and I LOVE IT. It's not my lane of music typically, but it's weirdly perfect to re-imagine the founding of our country.
If you are curious, dial up Amazon or Apple streaming music and listen to "My Shot", "Ten Duel Commandments" and "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" and I promise you'll want to listen to all 44 songs. And if you feel the need to deep dive into the story further (I did), here's a link with lots of related video clips.
Secondly, the AMC seriesTurn (Mondays at 10 PM) began its third season last night. We've been invested in the series from the start. It is based on the book Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy ring.What I like most about the series is that it shows there are people of integrity and of dishonor on both sides of the fight. I actually feel pretty ambivalent about main character, Abe Woodhall, because his personal life seems like a soap opera and he can't make his up about to whom he will be devoted. I admire the British leaders John Andre and Major Hewlett as they are honest in their dealings and respectful of women and servants under their command. I appreciate how it shows that there is good and bad on any two sides of a debate, and only winning casts one side as righteous.
Okay, class, that's your viewing and listening assignment for the week. Let me know what you think!
The only thing new and noteworthy going on right now for me is that I've started a new eating plan, and I've resisted documenting it here because it feels like, so done, that I'm rolling my eyes right now at how cliche it is.
However, I'm on day 15 of a clean eating plan called The Whole 30 that calls for a complete elimination of dairy, grain, legumes, any added sugars (real or artificial), alcohol and tobacco.
So in my terms, no mac n' cheese, no heavenly bread basket, no whipped, creamy goodness of any sort, no crackers (pause for solemn regret), or chips or pretzels or CHOCOLATE AT ALL. No holy shiitake mushroom pizza at Mellow Mushroom. No Sonic drinks. No post bedtime carb gorge. Nope, none, NADA.
I'm completely serious.
I decided to do this wacky thing called nutrition after being gently asked one too many times if perhaps I had reason to be congratulated-- albeit while wearing Spanx underneath my leggings and dress. It was the last moment in a line of gentle humiliations that broke the camel's (middle-aged mama's) back. And when I wore a sweater that tied at my midsection and a kindly great-grandmother asked if I knew if I was having a boy or girl.
All the bless-my-hearts.
I gamely enthused, "It'll be a surprise!" and kept on my way.
(My other go-to response for phantom baby inquiries is, "No! But I'd be glad to receive a word of prophesy!" Big smile and keep on goin'.)
So, I'm eating well.
I went home a few weeks ago after the Spanx incident (an undergarment can only do so much) and bought the first of the Whole 30 books, It Starts With Food, and made my grocery list to start working in Paleo-style dinner meals.
Two weeks later, I ripped off the band-aid, made some clarified butter and homemade mayo, and started the eating plan.
The funny thing about the plan is that it's pretty strict and tough-lovey. Fighting cancer is hard, the authors declare, and drinking your coffee black is just not. Though for the record, I'm putting unsweetened coconut or cashew milk in mine and it's a little mind-game I'm happy to play.
In terms of changes, I've noticed that just intellectually telling myself all junk food is off limits (and even some fairly good foods like quinoa and beans) was enough. In the last two weeks, I haven't cried myself to sleep over my lack of comfort foods (the book calls these SWYPO-- Sex With Your Pants On-- which is hilarious and true).
My main meals are bananas with almond or cashew butter (surprisingly delicious), eggs and sausage, homemade curried chicken salad over lettuce, roasted vegetables (asparagus, brussel sprouts, potatoes with Italian spices--excellent) and simple skillet chicken and ground beef dishes with a variety of spices and vegetables. I'll snack on dates with nut butter or a Lara bar (still high in natural sugars-- but c'mon-- you know what they say about how long it took to build Rome). Today I ate leftover vegetable beef soup with sweet potatoes and butter lettuce with tomatoes and homemade avacado dressing.
It sounds a smidge prideful, but once I stocked up on sea salt, cracked peppper, nut butters, a few natural treats and pulled out my magic bullet, I've gotten the basics down. I still make my kids spaghetti every week, and just eat in leftovers or a substitute for myself.
I ate my salad without the dressing the first time I went to a restaurant. I only smelled the fresh bread. I bought doughnuts for my Sunday School class with nary a care. I resisted pizza. I ate the ham off the Publix sub at a picnic and left the rest uneaten.
In summary, I am a bit tickled with myself.
I still very much enjoy all those vices, and may decide to extend my total elimination phase to 60 days to give me a bit more practice with true nutrition. The plan does not expect for you to never eat these foods again, but to understand how they affect your body and which ones should and should not be reintroduced to your diet,
And obviously, I'm hoping to start shedding a few pounds. I appreciate that this plan does not require calorie counting on top of all the food restrictions or I'd never have tried it. It extols healthy fats at each meal, with lots of animal protein and vegetables.
I can do that.
The only negative effects I've had were on the first night, where I woke up very sick to my stomach and afraid I had a stomach bug. I think my system was just shocked and freaking out.
The average amount of weight lost on Whole30 is said to be around 6-15 pounds for most people, and I have a feeling I'll probably only lose a few, but I'm pleased with myself for making the effort.
I didn't get around to taking a "before" picture to chart my progress, but I notice that I'm sleeping extremely well. I have terrible allergies and am struggling through the pollen, but I'd love to think that eating better might help if I keep at it.
I'll report back in a few weeks.
If you didn't check out at "stomach bug", here's some non-diet items of interest:
Dave Barnes has new music out and it reminds me of the Eagles.
There is now a West Wing Weekly Podcast, so those power Netflix binges this winter will pay off. One of the hosts is Joshua Malina, who joined the cast in the fourth season.
Check out the Jamie Ivey Podcast episode with Sally Lloyd Jones, author of the Jesus Storybook Bible. She talks about excellence in the arts and not giving our leftover efforts to children. Really enjoyed it.
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Old Navy has some really cute spring clothes right now, especially the Pixie cut pant that tapers at the ankle and is just very flattering. They also have 5 inch inseams for Maude (that's me) and I feel appropriate and summery. And these great camisoles with wide straps that won't get shredded in my dryer. I highly endorse the Spring '16 offerings of Old Navy. The End.
I "taught" a wreath tutorial for a Moms group this week after throwing caution to the wind this Christmas and making 8 teacher wreaths for my kids' teachers, helpers, and therapists. Me teaching a craft class is just hilarious. All the ladies successfully made a wreath and fun was had by all. Here's the tutorial I used. It's very user-friendly for those who don't see themselves as crafty.
The Grease Live Musical was so good I'm still happy about it 2 days later. I really think the local gyms should create a "Musical Theater for Moms" (With Unfulfilled Drama Dreams) exercise class because I will happily sweat to those oldies. Things I Loved About Grease Live: 1. The excitement of a live production 2. Ana Gasteyer as the principal. So much goodness. 3. Praise Hands for Aaron Tveit who played Danny. I now know he also played Enjolras in the recent Les Miserables movie and I want to personally congratulate him on being both incredibly talented, artistic and masculine. The storyline of Grease is pretty formulaic and a less-than-ideal roadmap for our daughters and their romantic aspirations, but at the end of the day, GIVE ME A MAN WITH TENDER FEELINGS AND A LEATHER JACKET. Mercy. 4. Julianne Hough totally rose the the vocal challenge of the role. She is so beautiful. Again, blah, blah, blah. beauty comes from within, but really, can you imagine being as blindingly beautiful as the actors who played the lead roles? I think that would be fun for a day. I don't think I'd mind someone overlooking my beautiful soul for awhile.
5. Boyz II Men doing "Beauty School Dropout". That was so perfect. I'll be singing it for awhile. 6. Fox made a very savvy move and cleaned up all the cringe-worthy innuendos in "Greased Lighting" as they rightly knew their audience (women who grew up on Grease) would be watching with their own kids. Upon hearing the family-friendly lyrics, said demographic would download the album and the broadcast and have maybe already listened to the soundtrack on loop and re-watched the musical. 7. The whole "Greased Lighting" dance number. The physicality of that number (look at me using that groovy showbiz lingo) was astounding. 8. The joy of the actors performing at their very best. You could hear the actors whoop a bit in sheer excitement on certain songs. 9. Ending with a live carnival for the final song. I almost thought they'd be able to get Danny and Sandy to fly away in their car. 10. The little sly updates to dialogue, like when Frenchy tells Sandy that "We (women) have to be our own people... like they teach us in Home Ec." Do I like TV too much? Does it consume a bit too much of my mental energy? Yes and yes. But Grease Live was a shot-in-the-arm of infectious musical joy and I'll take it. Did you watch? What did you like about the production?
I was in the mood for some feel good 70s music today as I was spring cleaning and I discovered something. Two of my favorite power ballads from the 90s are actually 70s originals. I knew they were remakes, but didn't know the belonged to that wild and wacky decade. Thus, I feel the need to tally:
MELISSA'S BEST OVER-EMOTING, HAND-GESTURE MAKING POWER BALLADS
You're The Inspiration (When You Love Somebody) by Chicago: This is nothing more than a feel- good-about-life kind of song. No unrequited love, no heartbreak. Just--You. You're it. It can be applied to any kind of love and its the kind of song that means more the older you get. I like to do the drum riffs and echo back ("when you love some-bo-DAY!")
Without You by Mariah Carey
"No, I. Can't forget this evenin'...." You know a song brings the drama when it begins with a sigh. I have a feeling any little girl who got a karoke machine for Christmas 1992 (not to get too specific or anything) may have this one in her repertoire of "Love Gone Wrong."
All By Myself by Celine Dion
Like many other teenaged girls of the mid-90s, I discovered this song from Clueless as Cher walks down the stairs to her pool and realizes, duh, she loves Josh. I love the theatrics of the song, especially when it gets whispery as sung by Celine. You just gotta give yourself a chest bump and bring the magic in honor Ms. Dion.
Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me by Gladys Knight
This song, now, makes me think of my kids. It may or may not be the line I'll inscribe in the forward of my (almost) imaginary memoir. It's soulful and honest: "If anyone/should ever write/my life story/for whatever reason there might be/you'll be there/ in each line of pain and glory/'cause your the best thing that ever happened to me."
I Dreamed a Dream-- Glee Cast Featuring Lea Michele and Idina Menzel
This song struck a chord with me before I'd seen the musical and knew the larger context of the story. In this version, the actresses are telling the narrative of the story from the perspective of a mother who has given up her daughter and the daughter who wants to be a part of her life, but it's too late. Idina Menzel sings the part of heartbreak, and Lea Michele sings the hopeful lines. It's soaring ballad that makes you feel as though you too have been abandoned in revolutionary France. Definitely one to belt out in the shower.
One Day More & Bring Him Home-- From Les Miserables Live 2010 Cast Album
Basically, I wish I could sing every part in this musical. One Day More has to be (if I had to choose) my stand-alone favorite song. Everything is in the song: separating lovers, duty to a cause, choosing one's destiny; it's all there. "One More Dawn, One More Day, One Day More." It's almost a life philosophy. I love it and like to imagine it's playing somewhere in heaven.
Bring Him Home is about a father's love and the raw emotion and truth in it will bring the hardest cynic to tears. The song starts out gently, as a prayer and builds to a plea to exchange one life for another. If this is not downloaded to your device of choice, I implore you. Give it a listen and rectify the situation. Humanity demands it of you.
What have I forgotten? I know I've left off Whitney, and she's one of the best for power ballads. Let me hear from you!
(Sorry if this gif is giving you a seizure. Celine's brilliance is overpowering.)
I've managed to find the will to blog even though DA is finished for the year. Here are a few things that are making me happy lately:
1. Scrap booking: I don't do many of the traditional womanly arts well, but I can slap a few pictures on pretty paper and write down everything I remember about the captured moments. I have my feet in both the digital and tactile world of memory preservation, and I think both are important. I just discovered chatbooks, a subscription based company that takes your Instagram pictures into a 4 x 4 bound book for only $6 a book. Each time you reach 60 pictures, you receive a book. Shipping is included and there's practically no work involved. You pick the cover picture, delete any pictures you'd don't want printed, and that's it. I'm uploading any impromptu pictures I take from my phone to Instragram now so I can keep a running record of our day to today. Making anything with your hands is therapeutic for the mind and body and there is a sense of completion in the product. I started scrapbooking after college as a hobby (when I wasn't at church, teaching or the library) because I was a social butterfly and well, a bit of a premature Memaw. So be it. I opened up that scrapbook and giggled at the subject matter: a page on my sister, my Mom, and weekend trips I made down the GA-SC coast. Clearly, I was sweater-set wearing, bible-study-going, non-dating wild child at the time. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. At all.) Anyhoo. That's my early twenties and it makes me thankful that I kept to the straight and narrow, even though it makes for sedate reminiscences. I made a scrapbook for each child and every so often add a page. Since I don't do it on a regular basis, I'm just trying to get each year of their life documented with some major life event represented. I've got most our Christmases and birthdays present and accounted for so that one day when I'm gone, maybe they'll be glad their old Mama took the time to preserve their childhood. I can hope.
2. Dave Barnes: I recently found this singer-songwriter through some (wait for it) blogs I follow--shocker! He has a new EP out called Hymns for Her and it sounds like a perfect soundtrack for springtime in the South. It's upbeat and has a toe-tappin' love song ("Good Day for Marryin' You) and a beautiful instrumental ("Mississippi"). You can find him on Spotify or Pandora or just plunk down $6.99 for the EP. Worth the listen.
3. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont: I've heard this author's name several times and I checked out her book on writing. She's a novelist and memoirist and this book is very approachable. I'm about a third of the way through the book and the best nugget I'm picked out is that with any discipline, in this case writing, you commit to practicing the discipline daily and the greatest reward will and has to be the discipline itself. Writers write to write. Painters paint to paint. Publication or recognition may come in time, but this is not the ultimate goal or satisfaction of the process. It is self-expression. It's doing the work consistently over time that reaps benefits. This is kinda a "no duh" sentiment but as my husband always is quick to remind me, most things in life aren't HARD to understand, but hard to carry out.
I'm so happy it's warm this week that I pulled out a short-sleeved shirt and skirt and it's heavenly not to be bundled in jeans and a hoodie. I'm feelin' all kinds of sassy that I dressed like a human that functions in the world even if it was to run to the grocery store. That's all I got. Hope you're enjoying the early signs of Spring!
