Friday activities

Last Thursday evening, I participated in day one of a nine-day workshop entitled “Reading Shakespeare Aloud.” The leader of the workshop is Justin McKean, who has been doing this kind of thing for quite a while. I met Justin at the Atheist Meetup a few months ago. He had a one-man show titled “Born Again Yesterday,” which played in Tulsa a while back.

Somehow I heard that he was putting on the Shakespeare workshop, and I signed up for it. The first night of the nine-week workshop was last Thursday. I read somewhere that the workshop started at 6:30 pm, but it turns out that it started at 7:00 pm. There were 27 people who signed up for the workshop, of which about half that number actually showed up for the first session. Justin talked about what we would be doing, which could range from reading a play on stage aloud to smaller groups reading various scenes from the plays. He also said we might read some sonnets. So it seems wide open as to what we will be doing. He wants to get a feel for the group before making any suggestions.

Justin gave us some history of the Globe Theater in the 1580s and 1590s. Then we took a close look at a passage from Romeo and Juliet after we broke out in small groups of three and four. We each read the passage (“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks.”) to our small group. Justin had to leave early since he was performing at The Nightingale Theater at 8 pm. So we broke for the evening around 7:45.

This morning we went to the annual Greek Holiday at the Greek Orthodox Church at 13th and Guthrie Ave. We got in line for the food, a la carte style. I had Greek potatoes and a chicken stick. Jan had a gyro. We went in to the sanctuary and heard the priest, Bill Christ (rhymes with grist), talk about the building we were in. The ceiling is circular and represents the heavens. The lower portion (with earth-tone carpet) represents the earth. He pointed out various icons on the walls. He said where he stands when he gives his sermons is between the icons of the birth of Christ and the resurrected Christ. On the ceiling was a drawing of Jesus. Around Jesus were the four “gospel writers” of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The room was filled with iconography.

We returned home after spending about two hours at the Festival. We then went to Riddle’s Plant Farm. Jan bought some mums and a rose bush. Jan next sent me to K-Mart where I bought six 40-pound sacks of topsoil. As I was returning home I heard the car start making a noise which sounded just as if I had a flat. I pulled over and got out to take a look. All the tires were inflated so I got back on the road. The faster I went, the worse was the noise. Fortunately, I was within a mile of my house when all this developed. I crept home going about 5 miles per hour. As I drove past Jordan Willis, about a block from my house, Jordan yelled out “You’ve got a flat.” I stopped once again but all the tires were inflated. Jordan took a closer look at my right rear tire and saw where the tread had separated from the rest of the tire. At every rotation of the tire the loose tread would hit the wheel well, causing the noise.

I made it home and called AAA to change the tire. AAA came out and put on the spare. I drove over to Wal-Mart to get two new tires, but was told they were booked up for the reminder of the day.

I have a busy day planned for tomorrow. I guess it will be Sunday morning before I can get the new tires I need.