I know, it’s 2008 already and I should be looking forward, not back to 2007. However, I just wanted to share some of the good, great and gorgeous things that I was fortunate enough to experience during the year just past. So, here are (some of) 2007′s best bits in vaguely chronological order:
My birthday and our anniversary weekend (February)
This was a really enjoyable weekend, including the first time I went to see a performance in the West End – Avenue Q, which was great.
Gardening (March onwards)
This was a new activity for me and I loved it and continue to do so. I’ve taken a great deal of pleasure in the garden and growing things in general and been amazed that I’ve actually managed to grow things successfully and even eat the resulting produce!
Holiday to Norway (June)
This was possibly the best holiday I’ve ever been on. I was quite peturbed by the thought of spending ten days in a foreign country with my in-laws, but in the event it was really enjoyable. Norway is so beautiful I think it would be quite difficult to not enjoy being there. The holiday was also a good opportunity to get to know Mr C’s immediate family a bit better and they turned out to not be quite as scary as I thought they were. Brother-in-law did an excellent job of planning visits to various parts of the country, lots of photos were taken and I realised just how competitive my mother-in-law is, which was quite entertaining, if a little worrying.
Friends’ wedding (August)
I think this was, for me, possibly the best day of 2007 and definitely ranks as one of the best days of my life so far. It was just such a happy day. I’ve written about it at some length elsewhere, so I won’t do so again now.
National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) (November)
I really enjoyed participating in NaBloPoMo. Well, I say that now, but at the time it had its tricky moments! I think it did me good in terms of self-discipline in a general sense and with regards to my blogging life. I was really glad that I managed to post something for each day of the month, even though some of the posts weren’t of a particularly high standard. As I mentioned before, I’m hoping to write more blog posts this year. I will aim for one a day, but I’m not promising anything, partly because I’m afraid that more of my ramblings might be too much drivel for the blogosphere to cope with! We shall see.
Parade (November)
I went to see Parade, a musical by Jason Robert Brown, during its run at the Donmar Warehouse in London. It was extremely good, but as I’m not very good at reviewing things I would suggest that you read the Singing Librarian’s review of it instead. Unfortunately, Parade’s run in London has now come to an end, but if you ever have a chance to see it in London or anywhere else, I would recommend that you do so.
The staff Christmas carol service (December)
In the event, this was the only carol service that I managed to attend this past Christmas. I joined the staff ‘scratch’ choir and attended a few rehearsals in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Being in the staff choir is interesting as you never rehearse with the same people twice until the day of the carol service, which makes for slight difficulties with getting used to how everyone sounds together. However, rehearsals were fun and we managed to learn the two pieces we sang just in time for the carol service.
It was odd to come out of work in the library, go to the chapel and sit through a service and then go back into the library and work on the desk. In his sermon the chaplain talked about the juxtaposition of the spiritual and temporal worlds and, for me, being at the carol service illustrated this perfectly. The coming of Jesus brought the spiritual and temporal worlds together – God intervened in the world to bring hope, joy and peace. I know that it might be a simplistic point to make, but the juxtaposition of the carol service and my otherwise quite ordinary working day made me think about how God sent Jesus into the every-day ordinariness of human life and made something special, beautiful and wonderful happen.
Meeting my parents’ six-week-old godson (December)
My mum’s friend’s son and his wife have recently had a baby boy. He is extremely cute and lovely and I got to hold him for a few minutes last week.
The above are just some of the good things that happened in 2007. Although bits of 2007 were not so great, it was a year during which I enjoyed many things, experienced new places, made new friends and learnt a bit more about myself, other people and the world in general. I hope that I can use the experiences of 2007, good and bad, to go foward into 2008 and make the most of the time ahead of me.
I saw “Parade” in Boston last spring. Jason Robert Brown’s score is really beautiful and haunting. But I knew a lot about the Leo Frank case before I saw the musical, so I think it didn’t have as great an impact on me as it might have otherwise. But it’s an intriguing example of a subject that you’d never think could be turned into a musical. I have the original Broadway cast album, now I’m thinking maybe I should get the London cast CD.
I would recommend the London cast CD. As you might already know, they made some changes from the Broadway production, so it might be interesting to listen to from that point of view, apart from anything else. JRB wrote a bit about the changes on his website. If you haven’t already read about it, you can do so
http://www.jasonrobertbrown.com/weblog/2007/10/revival.php
and there is a bit about the London cast recording at
http://www.jasonrobertbrown.com/weblog/2007/12/a_new_parade_recording.php
I’m sure I’m telling you things you already know – sorry if so!