Free at Last... Free at Last

Yes, I can take a little breather now.

The San Diego Performing Arts League STAR Awards happened last night



... and apart from a couple of very minor glitches, everything went off as planned.

I had 4 artistic directors speaking as part of the program and they all spoke wonderfully. Thank you Delicia, Jung-Ho, Scott and Seema for giving us the right blend of integrity and levity.

I had dancers from 4 different dance companies dancing. Thank you Abby, Andrea, Bernadette, Danica, Greg, Kirsten, Kristy, Meghan, Michael, Rachel and Sadie. And thank you John and Jean for greasing the wheels to make it happen.

And another thank you to Andrea Feier and the San Diego Civic Dance Company for being "living art" at the opening of the show and for the gentlemen of the organization who performed the bottle dance from Fiddler on the Roof.

Thanks to Lindsey, Nick, Rebecca and Steve for coming on down to the show and singing our send-off.

Thank you to Dr. Annjenette McFarlain of Black Storytellers and Uma Suresh for your wonderful performance of the poem to honor Gold Star honoree Dolly Woo.

A special thanks to Frank and Donna for making the event happen as smoothly as it did.

Thank you Ferdie, Joey, Eve, Dawn, and everyone else who gave so much time and effort.

Oh and thank you Jung - Ho and Beverly for the delightful conversation after the show with our view of "Fantasy Island."

And last. but not least, a big thanks to Dea for service above and beyond the call of duty.

So today, allthough I am free... I still have to go do a site visit at East County Performing Arts Center for a perfomance that we will be doing there in October. Then I have a meeting with Steve Gunderson regarding a production of The Buddy Holly Story that we are co-directing at the end of June. And then there is a board meeting tonight for the ballet company.

So I am really only free of the having to be responsible for the "production" end of life. The other stuff never really goes away.

Well, except for the balloon, its still inflated, but it is kind of rolling around on the floor now.



The Little Prince.



Written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
It is a very easy read. But it shouldn't be read fast. Take your time and ponder the pictures for a moment. Make sure you get an edition with the original drawings. And don't read the book if you are all tense and agitated. Calm down, get relaxed, find a cozy corner and settle in. It's better to read it at night as well.



It is in the children's section at bookstores, and it is a great book to read to children, but it really doesn't resonate with you until you are an adult.

If you are going to read it to your kids, I suggest that you read it yourself beforehand. There are many important issues, like love, loss, friendship and death, that are touched upon. Your kids WILL have lots of questions (even as you are reading) so you should be prepared as to how you will answer them.



I hope you read the book, so that then you can look into the starlit sky and ask yourself the question that the narrator does at the end of the book.

And for those of you who have, here is a little thing that will make a huge difference in how you see the world.

Ready?
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