Oliver!

John was in a production of Oliver! last night and he surprised us all with his stage presence and deep singing voice. The dancing was a given, but he did an impressive job with the acting and singing parts. This is a music and drama program for kids in grades 3-8, so he was the oldest one, but he had fun with it and is just the heartthrob of all the little elementary girls. He played Fagan in the show and his big number was Got to Pick a Pocket or Two. He was also in Food, Glorious Food as an orphan and sang off stage with his wireless mic in the numbers he wasn't in. It was quite a thrill for us to watch. There were several talented kids with great singing voices. John was very comfortable and cool on stage. At one point Bill Sikes didn't enter on cue, so he was left making small talk with Nancy while we all waited. I'd love to see him do more drama.

It's too bad the Pioneer Valley School of Performing Arts' waiting list was so long in grade 7. We might not have had to move so far to find a good school for John. Now that we've settled, though, it's going to be hard to get us back.                

In other news, on regular Sunday evening walk down by the beach a couple weeks ago, Widi and I stumbled upon the International Sivananda Yoga Center which is based in Montreal. We signed up for a beginning yoga course and are headed into our third week of four 90-minute classes a week in the evening. Wow, it's pretty intense, but we both love it. There is an Ayruvedic "Kendra" attached to it, meaning a medical center with massage and other herbal cures. We went for our first massages there this morning.

For about $9, we got 50 minutes of massage and 10 minutes of a steam treatment. It was amazing. Not at all the calm pleasurable massage you might get in Bali or at Elizabeth Grady. This was all business, very spartan, full of hot aromatic oils and getting roughed up a bit. There was the long firm massaging of muscles but also a fair amount of slapping and chopping and niggling of sensitive acupressure points. She went back to the feet about four times. On Friday night I had a little sore throat and was taking vitamin C to try to ward of a cold. After this treatment this morning, I'm feeling fantastic. And think of it, all right here in our neighborhood.

John was hoping his friends wouldn't find out about the play. A couple of them did but Ji Won was the only one who made it to see him perform; she brought him red roses! But Ji Won is not to be confused with Ji Woon, John's "girlfriend." He bought her an engagement ring in Singapore and just thinks she's the coolest. I haven't met her yet, and it's all very light hearted, but I will post a photo as soon as I get one. The last shot is of the Oliver cast with Ms. Becky, the director, a wonderful Malaysian woman whom I work closely with in the elementary school.

See you soon!