laramie

The middle-school production of Little Shop of Horrors, in which my niece, Gaby, played 'Blink Winkleson' was surprisingly good. There were technical difficulties, of course, the sets were sketchy at best, and I'd been spoiled by the special effects of the movie version. But there was some exemplary singing (particularly the voice of Audrey Two), and dancing, and the staging was imaginative.

It was amusing to see the da-doo girls played by six little Nordic blondes. It was poignant to watch the large cast of middle-schoolers involved in performing the 'Skid Row' number. I could all too easily picture them, twenty or thirty years from now, living lives of toil and desperation such as they were singing about. Hopefully their families will see this as well, and be moved to work for social justice before things come to such a pass.

It's kind of heart-warming, in a way, that so many people are placing so much importance on one anothers' opinions.

I got all the way to the doors of DreamPark before it occurred to me that everyone might be at MarsCon.

I, of course, couldn't afford to attend this year.