Cat in my Lap

I'm house- and cat-sitting for Avye while she's in Texas visiting Virginia, and though I have to admit to being largely reserved in my affections towards cats in general, there is something really nice about having one curled up in your lap, purring. Makes you want to write a blog entry.

It's been a good day. Actually, scratch that. It's been a day that's gotten better as its progressed. It's always difficult to get psyched up to work on a Sunday, and today was no exception, so that was a bit rough. But my bike maintenance class (second one ever) was super great because I learned how to adjust my brakes and derailleur, and a changed out one of my brake housing and cables so now it works a lot better. It always takes forever to clean my hands after that class, but there's something so great about having gotten them dirty in the first place. I haven't been biking a whole lot lately (an unfortunate side-effect to having a lot of access to other people's cars in the past two weeks), but the weather was beautiful today, and it always feels so good to ride after I've worked on the bike. Like I've really earned the experience of flying down the road on tight tires and a newly oiled chain. It's going to be so depressing when winter comes...

We thought winter had come about two weeks ago, in fact. We had sticking snow, and things were *very* chilly for awhile there. But now we're getting a taste of the autumn we thought we'd missed, and it is good. I even had Pumpkin ice cream at Izzy's with Sarah yesterday to celebrate, and Morgan and Jennifer hosted an Apple Party last night that was also very autumnal.

It's good to be feeling good again. September was a really rough month. I was dealing with a lot of Big Questions (What do I want my life to look like? Where do i want to be? How do I create the art I want to create? Where do I create it? With whom? What IS that art? What am I willing to sacrifice for my art? What am I willing to sacrifice for my relationship? What is important to me?), and, understandably, it felt really overwhelming. It still feels overwhelming, at times, because I'm still struggling with those questions. But I knew that one thing I wanted, and would love, would be to work with Jon Ferguson, and now that's going to happen. In one of the most beautiful venues in the Twin Cities. I am So. Effing. Psyched.

It's also really convenient, because I've always been really drawn to folktales (and have been thinking about them recently as a fertile source for any work I might try to create in the near future), and this show seems to be structured, or posed, as a folk tale. Magical, fantastical, full of wonder, archetypal in many ways, without disavowing the dark underbelly. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. More will be made clear once we start rehearsals in several weeks.

In the meantime, I'm keeping myself busy with a lot of work, a smattering of play, and some volunteering. I'll start my weekly engagement with these guys this week, and will also be sitting in on a rehearsal of BBerlowitz and RRosen's. There's also a possibility of doing the Barebones Halloween show this year, which I've never even seen, and now might be performing in. (! A classic example of volunteering myself before realising how crazy it would make me. Oh well. It's only seven days' commitment.)

I still feel melancholy a lot, and I tire myself out too often and too easily, but the ground is more solid beneath my feet nowadays, even if I'm still not quite sure which planet I'm on. And when things start to feel a bit crazy again, there's nothing like a purring cat in your lap to keep you grounded.