Isn't she just beautiful?

DustGolders
Originally uploaded by LuvDusty.

I just had to post this beautiful pic of Dusty Springfield! Doesn't she look great? I love how she looks so happy and relaxed.

Throughout her life, Dusty had a horror of having her picture taken, mostly because she was such a perfectionist and knew she couldn't control what the image would look like once it was snapped.

But this shot is rare, because she looks relaxed and unposed. And the photo is obviously un-retouched.

It's great to see her so relaxed.

It just made my day!

1 Week Later

Ok...things are getting off-kilter. When I first started this blog I was writing in it almost every day, and now, less than 1 month later, I am already letting it slide and am down to what? 1 entry per week? Ack!

I guess Journaling (on-line or off) has never really been my thing. I think so much all the time as it is, that I guess I never really needed to write something down to make it clear to me. Although somewhere inside of me I still think I should be writing in this every day, like a catharsis, to sort of rid myself of any thoughts clogging up my brain.

Let's see..what to report? Rehearsals for JCS are going well, but it hasn't been easy. It's definitely a difficult thing, collaboration...and while I'm used to choreographing shows, I haven't had a co-choreographer in a long time...it's a challenge. Luckily, Fred is such a wonderful guy, that while we may disagree we never fight. That's a good thing. The cast seems a bit lost though...not totally, just still adjusting to the idea of 2 choreographers. It's not easy--but they are all making a noble effort.

The Olympics has been interesting. The Men's Gymnastics team competition was pretty cool with Paul Hamm falling on his keester, and then totally making up for it with some of the best gymnastics I think we've seen in Athens this year. I wish this whole medal controversy would just go away. I mean, judging is subjective people! It happens! Get over it, Koreans! You LOST! If we go back and re-evaluate one score, then we have to re-eval all of them, and if we did, it would all change again anyway, so why bother?

Besides, if nothing else, Hamm deserves it for his sheer tenacity and calm under pressure. Amazing how he kept it together after that disastrous fall on the vault--not even sure he would medal and he just kept on chuggin' right along...Good for him!

The economy is still down the crapper, and Dubya has been doing nothing but making a god-damned fool of himself. So basically, nothing new in the Politics arena. I'm intrigued to see what the Republicans will do next week in NYC. It's gonna be pathetic I'm sure, whatever it is.

So, now down to what matters...DUSTY SPRINGFIELD. In re-listening (for like the gajillionth time of course) to a lot of Dusty's wonderful catalog, I've discovered that despite her own claims of not really being more than a pop singer, she had throughout her 40 year career, covered many jazz standards, and incredibly well too! I'm thinking of burning a CD (how 20th century of me!) of just Dusty's more jazz-inflected tracks and calling it Jazzy Dusty....It's amazing what this woman could do with jazz music...it's evident from her work that Peggy Lee was one of her idols. The phrasing is impeccable and the attack is spot on! From "Earthbound Gypsy" to "Since I fell For You" and a stunning cover of "The Second Time Around", Dusty could swing with the best of them. More proof that the woman could sing ANYTHING, not just pop music. Those who don't think so, just haven't been listening carefully enough. Like Jane County once said:


If you don't get what Dusty was all about, you're either dead or too retarded to recognize true talent.

Ha! Go Jane!

Everything's Alright, Yes...Everything's Fine...

Well, last night was the first rehearsal for a new production of Jesus Christ Superstar I am choreographing for Open Circle Theatre in D.C. Actually, I am co-choreographer with a wonderful guy named Fred Beam. Fred is hearing-impaired, and about 6 feet tall, African-American with amazing braids. He's also one of the nicest guys I've ever met. We really hit it off at last night's rehearsal (the first time we have met) and I am now completely calm about working with him.

Co-choreographing is always a tricky thing, and considering that Fred is hearing-impaired, and I don't sign, it's going to definitely be challenging. But we compliment each other so much stylistically, I can see it now. He is more hip-hop and I'm more musical theatre, and I think the combination will work perfectly for exactly what Suzanne Richard, the director, will want.

A sidenote on Susie (as we call her), she is a powerhouse! What a great gal, and despite her disability (Osteogenesis) and being only about 3 and 1/2 feet tall and walking with 2 canes, she is a little spitfire...and I love her! She has so much chutzpah and is really a great leader and I know she will pull this show together and be a fantastic director. I was chatting with her about lots of her ideas for the show, and it's really going to be unlike anything anyone has ever seen.

The cast is a wonderful mix of experienced Helen Hayes award winning/nominated DC actors, college students, actors who are sight-impaired, hearing impaired of all colors, races, ages and backgrounds. It's gonna be a trip!

The title of today's entry comes from a song the character of Mary Magdalene sings to Jesus in Act I of the show...it's also sort of a great indicator for how I feel today.

It hasn't been an easy week (and it's only Tuesday!), but funny enough, I feel pretty positive about the future and what's ahead for me. I don't know why, but some sort of peace has fallen over me. I feel as if Mary Magdalene herself is singing to me, soothing me with her hot ointment and telling me everything will be alright. Not that I think I am Jesus or anything like that...far from it, I'd hate to have that responsibility anyway!! : )

But just a feeling of calm, of acceptance...has washed over me. I've always been such a fighter, such a wave-maker, always fighting against the tide, trying to get what I want, even if it doesn't seem like it's possible. But I've changed, yes really changed....not sure why, but I just have this "let it be" attitude, that I never really was able to have before.

Maybe it's because in 1 month I will be 32. 32! My god! I'm an adult! And maybe part of being an adult and "growing up" is learning to accept some things, especially those over which you have absolutely no control...and I think after 32 years, I am finally letting go and doing just that.

It's very peaceful. I love it.

Try not to get worried
Try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you
Ah,
Don't you know
Everything's alright yes
Everything's fine...

Friday, the 13th! Weathering the Storm...

Okay, my dear LuvDusty readers...I'm sorry I've been away so long. It's been one of those crazy, crazy, crazy weeks.

Mostly-I was sick as a dog from Friday through yesterday, with a virus I don't wish on my worst enemy-which then turned into a sinus infection! It was not pretty I tell you...not at all.

Anyway, I will spare you the gorey details-suffice to say I was unable to even raise a hand towards a keyboard for a good 6 days.

But I'm back now...and on Friday the 13th to boot! As always, I have perfect timing...

So, what is on LuvDusty's mind today, you might ask? Or heck, even if you don't ask, I'm gonna tell you.

Well, mostly I am just trying to get through the week, one day at a time. The weather has not been good at all...mostly rainy and windy...and this really doesn't feel like summer.

I believe we are incurring God's Wrath. Yes....we are. Have you noticed that since December 2000 when a certain moron from Texas (actually, he was born in Maine to a filthy rich family, as much a New England snob as his current opponent is accused of being, but we aren't supposed to remember that), was chosen to be the leader of our now saddened country by the Supreme Court. It rained a lot on that day...it rained cats and dogs and buckets or whatever expression suits your fancy. Suffice to say....God was angry.

And She is still angry, because since 2000 we've seen nothing but weird ass weather! We've seen extensive periods of nothing but clouds and rain...in June and July!!!!??? Earlier, we saw 80 degree temperatures...in February!!!??? I can't recall a more fucked up 4 years of weather in my entire life.

And yes, I blame the Moron. I blame Dubya. Why? Why not? He's to blame for everything else that's happened to our country since he was granted power. Has our economy improved...nope..worse...much worse. Is the budget balanced? Balanced? HA! We have the huggest deficit in the history of our nation! Did we all get tax breaks! Wow..I got $300 back about 3 years ago. I can barely buy an I-P0d with that! Hmmm..I wonder how much the BILLIONAIRES got? Hmm? Like Dubya himself? Or his Daddy and Mommy? Or his friends at ENRON? Or Tom De Lay or Dick "I'm Really a Robot" Cheney?

Oh but wait, there's the terrorists...and the war against terror, ya gotta give Dubya credit for doing a good job on that right?

Um..have you read the paper lately? Iraq is a royal mess and U.S. soldiers are lost there, coming back in body bags and after almost a year and 1/2 of this shit the administration still hasn't bothered to tell us what their long term goals are there. Hmmm....

Basically, if after all this you are still going to vote for the little shithead this November, you are a lost cause...nothing can be done with you. Hate to tell you but you deserve whatever you get.
Unfortunately, the rest of us will have to "get it" to...and that pisses me off.

To top it all off...yesterday was probably the worst day for gay people in the U.S. in a while. First, the California Supreme Court voids over 4,000 Gay Marriages and then Gov. McGreevey of New Jersey Resigns Cause He's a Big Ol' Closeted Homo Who Was Caught With His Pants Down.

Nice people...very very nice. At least now this is going to have to go to the Supreme Court, which has ruled in Gay people's favors before (thank God SOMEONE in the government is on our side!), and let's see what Sandra Day O'Connor has to say about all this!
As for McGreevey...eh. The fact that he's gay is not the issue. The issue is he was IN THE CLOSET and LIED and CHEATED on his wife...and HIRED HIS FUCKBUDDY as "Head of Homeland Security" for the state with a nice $110,000 a year pay check. SO SO SO WRONG MY FRIEND! SO WRONG!

But this has nothing to do with his being gay per se. But it does show how the closet is a terrible thing and our society's innability to be mature and progressive about sexuality, has caused gay men and women who want to run for office to pretend they are something they are not, to repress their sexuality. And we all know that repression never leads to anything good, especially in politics. If Gov. McGreevey had felt comfortable being gay and in politics, he could have avoided this whole mess.

And then again, maybe he would have done it anyway.

Now I understand how black people feel when they pick the most uneducated, ignoramous to speak on the news concerning some issue relating to civil rights or some event...I hate it that one of us spoils it for the rest.

Conservative wack-jobs around the country will now use McGreevey as a poster boy for how "corrupt" and "sinful" gay people are and how we shouldn't be allowed to serve our communities as leaders.

Ugh.

So, let's hope Saturday the 14th comes along quick, and puts me in a better mood and the weather in less disarray. Fat chance though, since all the major forecasts are calling for hurricanes Bonnie and Charley to punish us at least until Sunday night.

Alright...bring it on God...bring it on. Hopefully we can improve our conditions after November!

But I dunno, if we ever want to see normal weather again, we better make HER happy...and real soon!

Climate of Fear

Well, here I am...actually sitting in a building in Washington, D.C...trying to get work done, when in the back of my mind, I can't help but feel fear. The building I work in is one of several buildings in Washington, D.C. and New York City that have been supposedly targeted by Al Qaeda for terrorists attacks. At least that's what our newly minted "Department of Homeland Security" is reporting.

Honestly, they should rename the place. How about.."Department of You Are So Fucked!". I mean really! All they do is freak us out on a daily basis. I really don't want to know unless a threat is eminent, what they are planning. I mean, all it does is increase the fear levels.

I happened to go to see the new M. Night Shyamalan film The Village yesterday and I couldn't help but be struck by how much the film is an allegory for our current climate of fear. I've ready many reviews, and none of the reviewers seems to have picked up on this, instead, wasting time judging the "scare factor" of the film instead of trying to stand back and understand the greater message behind it. Shyamalan has created this amazing story that in many ways echoes and comments on what is going on in the U.S. today. His work reminds me of Miller's work in The Crucible, although instead of paranoia and injustice, the theme in this one is how a community can isolate itself to the extreme when it is overcome with a painful experience and the intense fear that experience can cause.

We have become slaves to our own fear. In the words of one of our greatest leaders, Franklin D. Roosevelt.."we have nothing to fear, but fear itself". I can't help but think, that while a lot of the caution and preparation makes sense and is understandable, a lot of it is just irrational and so stressful that it's better to try to temper it with a dose of reality.

Is this really all worth it? Or is it all a ploy to get a certain moron re-elected to public office? I can't help but think each time the terror alert is moved up a notch, that it's just this administration's way of saying: "You are all our bitches! Don't move!"

I really don't know anymore who to trust. This can't be normal, can it?