I've given in.

Well here I am - in the world of the blog.
I swore I would never do this because I am really divided about the whole concept of blogging. It seems a bit self indulgent really. The world seems to me to be filling with this weird concept that the highest aspiration in life is to be famous- or at least to heard by millions of people. It's kind of self aggrandizing to think that the world is dying to watch you in your bedroom (webcams) or to hear every thought you have.
And yet...here I am. I decided it would be easier for friends, relatives and people I haven't seen in years to see what I am up to rather than my writing in a holiday letter (eek!) or individually on each card (even worse).
And I'll announce right now after having gone back on that measly little paragraph and correcting things-that I am the world's worst typist. Even if I am looking at my fingers. I predict I will still have typos even after I check it. So don't say I didn't warn you.

So now to the meat of the matter (I thought I'd start with some Shakespeare since that is pretty much what I live and breathe)...
2007
I have discovered www.freerice.org. It's a website that purports to donate rice to poor countries if you guess correctly at the meaning of a word. And they may very well actually do that. However I am addicted because I am a word junkie. The highest level you can attain is 50. I've hit it a couple of times. I feel a little bad saying that - but the surprise (sham) would be if I didn't. Words are my life (as Emily Dickinson said)- They are my food. So I damn well SHOULD get 50 (apologies to Emma, if you read this).
Let's see also in this year-
Richmond Shakespeare won the Pollak Award for theater- a pretty prestigious award for various disciplines in the arts.
Books- The biggest influence on my life is "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I'm on my fourth (fifth?) time.
Practices- I'm way into yoga and meditation now. Yoga was exercise for a long time. I knew the spiritual side was coming- and I've flipped into it. Part of it was the 3 days I spent at Yogaville (yes it's a funny name) an ashram down i Buckingham County. It was my detox coming out of the Will Power to Youth program and without knowing it I crossed some sort of divide there.
Housemates- I have 2 cats- Jean Luc and Isabel (I melded both my francophile and Star Trek addictions). They (the cats) eat almost everything. By that I mean watermelon, yogurt, granola, roasted beets, green beans and probably the funniest of all- fried tofu. Isabel particularly grabs a hunk and runs away protectively, growling as if protecting a newborn. They do say one's animals start to reflect their owners. I will not comment.
Movies- I am SO looking forward to Sweeney Todd being the Sondheim junkie (and I won't comment about Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman) that I am. However right now I am addicted to Love Actually. It's high on my Christmas movies now.
Songwriters/singers- Dan Fogelberg- rest in peace.
Just to catch up - I got a tattoo at 51 and ran my first (and at this moment only) half marathon. My thought is that I don't believe in aging - hence my identification with Tinkerbell. (I also believe in spreading magic) My strategy is that I want to do more as I get older. Not in stressful way - though God knows helping to run a small theater company provides plenty of that- but physically and mentally. I like seeing how far I can go.
Anyway - that's enough for now. Have to get to a -meeting. Theatre is not always glamorous. In fact it rarely is.
You'll notice that I've not talked more about Will Power. That's brought such a monumental change to both me and the company that I will devote an entire post to that.
See you all in the blogosphere!
Cynde