Life Of The City

This evening we head back to the quiet, predictable town of Muncie. I look forward to doing some laundry (I've managed to cycle three outfits over the course of five days...which is a feat for me!), making food from scratch again, and getting Lucas back in school. Being home will be nice.

With that being said, I know I'm going to miss the life of this city. It's been a wonderful and surprisingly enjoyable trip for us. I'm just so grateful Matt brought us along.

I took various pics of this town, and like I stated before... there is something here that wasn't before. There is a life in this area and a heart that seems to be beating again. There are still flaws in the system and the gentrification of this neighborhood has it's drawbacks (many), but the heart of this city seems to be beating again.

That, and we have some pretty awesome friends here too.

At the City Library Downtown

Breakfast with our friend Rob. Love this guy so much.

Cincinnati: Through A New Lens

We're staying in Cincinnati for a couple days. Matt's here working on "Around The World In 80 Days" at Ensemble Theater Cincinnati (ETC), so Lucas and I came along for the ride.

I've got to admit, it sure is nice to be out of Muncie for a bit. I didn't realize how much I missed the city; the noise, the lights, the bustle... the people fighting outside of the downtown library. I'm serious. Solid entertainment from the eleventh floor. I mean, there is so much to see, watch and hear in the city. I've truly missed it.

Cincinnati is especially alive. There is an honesty here... and roughness. We're staying downtown in an area that was really harsh when we lived here six years ago, and yet now when we walk down the main drag it doesn't even look like the same neighborhood. I have my feelings regarding gentrification, but to be honest the mix of art, culture, education, and real honest people who are just trying to "live life" is refreshing. In this neighborhood you can't look away from the drugs, the alcoholism, the poor, and the unfortunate... they're all around. It forces the heart to feel and see (literally see) the people in need. We say hello as we walk by, make eye contact as we cross the street and introduce ourselves as we offer quarters in an effort to keep a soul warm at night. There is an inability to forget or ignore the real need all around us.

There are parts of Cincinnati I don't miss. But for now, I'm enjoying the lovely music resounding from the library across the street. I'm choosing to appreciate this really, really old city for it's charm and diversity. This city has some awesome history which has shaped it for better and worse. Honestly, I see Cincinnati growing into a city that has gained some self-worth and really pulled herself together over the past couple years.

If I'm being very honest, I'd also admit we've done a little bit of growing up ourselves... since living here in the Queen City. Matt and I have traveled, lived and visited many cities and towns over the course of nine years and while on the journey I've come to realize there is good in almost every city. There are good people, good restaurants, good parks, good coffee shops and good neighborhoods... but you have to be willing to seek them out. Cincinnati has a lot of good and though it seemed a little rough (though it still may be) when we were younger, some age and experience makes it seem all the more exciting now.

Tonight, Lucas will go to bed early and I will crack the window in our suit so I can hear the traffic below on the street. The library will play music till about ten, and it will sound lovely as a backdrop to the city's noise. The irony of the classical music and the people yelling down on the street will make me smile, because that type of thing doesn't happen in Muncie, where it's quiet, predictable and spacious with farmland. I can appreciate the time we have to get away and be thankful that Cincinnati is familiar and yet, not. After nine years, it feels like an old friend who has lived a little bit of life and is slightly better for the wear.

Cincinnati

We're in Cincinnati for a few days, and after being gone for five years it seems as if nothing has changed. It's still a tad crusty, muggy, and the roads are terrible.

The great thing? Our friends are still great too!

Matt has been eager to check out all our favorite spots...Zips, Graeter's...but I am just thrilled to have an opportunity to be with the people we love. Can't say I've missed Cincinnati all that much, but I sure have missed our lovelies.

It's hard not to miss it...

... Cincinnati, that is.  Last week, I mentioned to a couple coworkers of mine how much I miss Cincinnati in the Fall.  Being native West Coasters, they of course, could not understand.

My reason for missing Ohio in the fall is for the foliage.  Oh how beautiful MLK is when the trees that line this hostile road begin to turn flaming shades of red and orange.  The only time Cincinnati was beautiful to me, was during this time of year.Above: Eden Park, which is located in the suberb and is one of the largest parks in the area. Above: Mariemont Park, which is near the Old Church and downtown Mariemont. Very quaint. Above: Mariemont Park

Full Monty Review

'Monty' slick, not quite full Theater review BY JACKIE DEMALINE JDEMALINE@ENQUIRER.COM Every once in a great while we're reminded that University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's stellar musical theater program is a training ground, not simply a machine that astonishingly churns out stage gem after stage gem. "The Full Monty," all about laid-off factory workers in Buffalo deciding to take it all off to pay the bills, is very much a show that's about training. While there's some star quality glittering here and there, when you stand "Full Monty" against the high bar that CCM musical theater has set for itself, as one of the best programs in the nation, the show misses, for a variety of reasons. "Full Monty" isn't a big enough show to impress you; it gets by on charm. This is a musical that wins you with sentiment as a bunch of regular lugs try to achieve self-worth, but this production comes off as slick. You've gotta care about this motley crew of guys, which includes divorced and bitter hero Jerry (Colt Prattes), his chubby sidekick Dave (Mitchell Walker), a buttoned-up efficiency expert (Sean Montgomery), Malcolm, a depressed gay guy who lives with his critical mom (Danny Visconti), flamboyant Ethan (Pearce Wegener) and old black guy "Horse" (Josh Breckenridge). You have to cringe for them as they build up the courage to take off their clothes and put on a show, but guess what? These shirts come off and you see the well-sculpted torsos of guys who spend plenty of time in the dance studio. Which isn't hard on the eyes, I'll grant you, but doesn't touch the heart. A handful of student performers stand out: Montgomery, looking like Clark Kent, is just right as the efficiency expert who efficiently eliminates his own job but who's afraid to tell his spendthrift wife. Jen Temen brightens the stage as his wife, who's a good person after all. Sara Sheperd is dandy as the blue collar gal married to Dave. Age is a real issue in "Full Monty," but, again, the priority at CCM is education. Breckenridge makes a fair run at playing a character decades older than he is and decrepit to boot. Jerry has a young son, and freshman Jake Bridges gives a good performance as the kid, without being remotely believable. There's no way he passes for the age he has to be for some more heart-tugging. The show's one ringer is alum Pam Myers, brought in to play the been-there-done-that showbiz vet,, a broad to her bones, who plays piano for the guys. Myers isn't old enough for the role but what she does have is the spark that you need to make it on stage. I hope most of the kids in the company are taking notes. Prattes isn't mature enough to act Jerry, and he doesn't have the vocal range for the role either. He wasn't helped by a poor sound balance that had the orchestra drowning out the singers for most of the show. Student costumer Jessica Arthur does a fine job of telling us who these people are, from union meetings to girls' night out. This is the first set design I've seen by Brian Ruggaber, relatively new to the faculty. Four-storied with a dirty tenement look, it didn't work at all for me. As a child of the Rust Belt, this is not where these folks would live. Obviously Ruggaber looking for a solution for many, many scene changes without moving set pieces on and off stage. A line-up of scenes at floor level work well, not only is it not Buffalo, it doesn't serve the story. The set doesn't reflect the situation of the upwardly mobile characters and there's an added problem of splitting focus occasionally as too many things go on in places too far from each other. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/ENT/702270303/-1/all

Been awhile....

It has been awhile since either of us have posted anything (Matt is officially "too busy"), so here is a little recap: Matt's thesis show is finally over! A friend accompanied us to see opening night and it was a really fun show. Granted, the boys do go fully nude in the final scene and much to my amazement, I closed my eyes! You would think I am a kid or something.... still... 8 weiners on stage... not something that I really want burned into my eye balls forever. So I missed the big hurrah at the end... but still liked the show. :) Matt is starting to look for jobs, even though he has tons of stuff on his plate still. He mentioned moving back to Salem (which made my heart skip a beat) and contracting himself out... but that would take a lot of work initially. He's still looking into interactive media (video gaming) design and various teaching positions at different Universities in the US. We figure... keep our options open... and everything will fall into place. Work for me... overwhelming. I'm tired. Overall, things are great. I will post another blog with a paper review of "The Full Monty." I agree with what the author has to say... but must interject that the show had a lot of heart and I felt it was one of the most fun shows we've seen in this program. Toodles.