Shopping in Provincetown

M. and I just returned from a week in Provincetown where we attended the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival. This was our 7th TW Festival and the 5th year in a row. We may take a break next year.

The festival organizers are looking for new ways to present TW's plays. Having organized plenty of conferences, I understand this completely. 2016 marks 100 years since Eugene O'Neill's first play was performed in Provincetown and half of the plays were his. The theme was "Beyond Success" because after both Williams and O'Neill were big hits, they tried experimenting, not always to great acclaim. These plays were the ones written later in their careers.

Next year's theme is "Shakespeare" so perhaps I don't want to skip that.

One of the things I like the best about going to Provincetown at this time of year is the shopping. It's post "season" when there are far fewer tourists and many store are winding down, some closing for the winter. There are LOTS OF SALES. As I look through my wardrobe, much of my clothing is from Provincetown.

This year's purchases include: Rubber sandals, a white tunic top with floral design, a white blouse with white embroidery, 4 pairs of earrings (M. bought 2 of them in the Turkish store that he likes so much), water shoes, a bandana (which I donated to the Hatfield Senior Center to use for stretching during exercise class), postcards, and a box of note cards.

M. bought another mermaid statue. He's beginning to develop a collection of them. He didn't buy any clothes for himself, though he has in the past.

I've just finished my morning tea and bagel and it's time to get dressed for exercise and work. I'm looking forward to wearing my new tunic. But which earrings to choose?

Back to the Real World

I spent 4 days in Provincetown and caught the last day of the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival. Saw 2 plays on Sunday plus a talk by John Lahr who has just written a biography of Tennessee Williams.

Then we spend a couple of beautiful days walking around, taking advantage of "end of season" sales and sampling clam chowder (though the second day was cloudy and sometimes drizzling). The day we left was raining, which made packing the car a challenge - especially with all our packages of sale stuff.

Now it's back to work and I'm having a hard time facing regular day-to-day stuff after my biggest worry was having to move the car in the early a.m. to a non-street-cleaning portion of Commercial Street.

Today, I'm leading the Senior Exercise Class. I'm hoping lifting weights will be a conduit to my regular life - which isn't so bad.

Conflicts

I've been re-hired to teach LIS415 in the fall. I just signed the contract and it will be in tomorrow's mail. I'm psyched. I'm looking forward to implementing revisions and trying some new things (nothing too radical).

However, I also realize I've just committed every Saturday afternoon from September 10 through December 10 to Simmons College and Organization of Information and there are other things I also would like to do but teaching takes priority right now.

I read recently about a Leadership Institute offered by the Women's Fund of Western Mass. I went to the website and was just about ready to apply for 2011-2012 when I saw that the group meets Saturdays from 9:30 to 4:30. Too bad. It looks like a great opportunity and I'm at a point in my life where I think I could really benefit from participating in an institute like this.

Toward the end of September, Provincetown, Mass. hosts the annual Tennessee Williams Festival. I stumbled upon it a few years ago and loved the variety of plays, movies, and other events all focusing on Tennessee Williams. My partner and I returned two years ago and were treated once again to many creative events held throughout the town. I received an email not long ago encouraging me to buy tickets. The dates: September 22-25. We could attend the first 2 days, but I'd need to be back in western Mass. on the 24th.

And then there're the Friends of UMass/Amherst Library and I'm the President. The board only meets twice a year: a Saturday in the spring and a Sunday in the fall. I regretfully missed the spring meeting because I didn't want to skip teaching a class during my first semester. I was looking forward to the Sunday meeting in the fall - only to find out it's been switched to a Saturday to take advantage of some other campus events happening on Saturday. I haven't yet decided what to do. I could find a substitute instructor or I could record my lecture via Camtasia or similar software or I could miss the Friends board meeting once again.

What I really need is a TiVo for my life.