Strangeness and glory--yup, the usual....

Ah, my vacation is winding down, and I am sad to see it go even if it entailed a lot of hard work.

But we did finish the deck and it looks fabulous, if I do say so myself (the paint, she runs in my veins!).

On other fronts, had a very odd night at the PACE, in no small way due to the fact that the fabulous Ms. M was nowhere to be found. No criticism of the sub suggested--Boney (aka Kim Light, bless 'er heart) did great with what the night wrought--but be that as it may, the open mic is just not the same without Jennifer.

But the night was off in other ways as well--or maybe it was the same as it ever was, but I was given a fresh look at what The Comedy can be about in the Pioneer Valley. We had some friends from out of town along with us for the evening, and they had a unique perspective on the comedy goings-on.

Happily, I warned them that the open mic can be a very uneven affair, but I don't think that was enough of a disclaimer, looking back. It seemed that many comics pulled out their mean material for the night--and by mean, I mean sexist, homophobic, racist.....

Our friends, sophisticates from NYC both, were incredulous. Afterwards, they said to me something to the effect of, "I had no idea this is what you had to contend with to do comedy around here. We are both in awe of your nerve."

They left with a new appreciation of what it takes to do comedy away from the civilizing influence of the Big City, but I was left thinking, am I really that "nervy"?

Nah. As I think I have made plain, I am a wuss.

But what I am is a person committed to The Comedy come what may, and I am grateful that I don't let a little (or a lotta) homophobia, sexism, and the like keep me from my work/art/mania/whatever the heck it is.

Maybe all that Catholic denial is finally coming in handy!

Speaking of denial, I am soooooooo grateful that the fabulous Amelie Mauresmo won Wimbledon, even though the NBC commentators virtually ignored her throughout the match. If one were listening to them on the radio, one might be excused if they thought that Justine Henin-Hardenne was playing alone.

It was infuriating--so infuriating, Linda hit the "Mute" button about one-third of the way through the match.

But the good news is that Amelie won--and no, we won't be talking about her "nerves" ever again! WOOOOOOWEEEEEEEE!