GREASE, the musical, has come to town with American Idol 5 star Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel. Mr. Wonderful and I caught the action last night, which included a ’50′s sing-a-long before the curtain rose, a packed audience that sometimes sang along during the show, and a special performance by Hicks of his latest hit single after the last bow. Grease has everything you need for a hit musical – sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll, great stick-in-your-head tunes, fun dance moves, costumes that I’d like to own – but it always leaves me conflicted.

Grease is the word, but peer pressure is the theme.

Plot:

Goodie-two-shoes Sandy and Bad-boy Danny meet over high school summer vacation at the beach. They hold hands. They pledge undying love. They return to school in the fall and–surprise!–Sandy is at Danny’s school Rydell High. Danny is caught between wanting to be with Sandy and to impress his friends. (Liking a girl who doesn’t put out is not de mode.) Sandy doesn’t understand why her beau is suddenly too cool to talk to her. She gets taken in, and made fun of, by a group of girls called the Pink Ladies, who hang out with Danny’s T-Birds. Danny makes an attempt to be more like Sandy by joining the track team, but quits because the coach wants him to cut his hair (ie change who he is–a greaser). After Rizzo has a pregnancy scare, Sandy realizes that she doesn’t want to be a goodie-two-shoes anymore. She wants to have pregnancy scares too! So she changes, becoming a tight leather pant wearing, smoking, drinking, bundle of fun. She is now cool enough for Danny’s friends. They kiss. They dance. They live happily ever after.

Discussion:

What happens when Sandy decides she’s tired of pretending to be someone she’s not? Just like Danny when he finally quit the track team. Rather than meeting in the middle, Sandy changes everything about herself to be with the man she loves. Gee, what a model of a healthy relationship!

The music/costumes/choreography make this a great musical, but the ending disappoints me every time. I saw a high school production once where they changed the ending. Is that cheating? Should musicals be updated for modern sensibilities, or should they be preserved as originally envisioned? The nature of theater is constant change. Every new performer and director lends their own artistic bent to a piece.

What do you think about Grease? Love it? Hate it? Is it really timeless as proponents claim?

The sun is shining. The mountain is out. Seattleites are strolling the neighborhoods en masse. Life is good.

This morning hundreds gathered at Husky Stadium to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The three mile walk along the Burke Gilman Trail was packed with strollers and team members walking for friends and family. My group, Team Flamingo, had 20 members and much flair. An middle-aged-guy garage band serenaded walkers at Gas Works Park, the half-way point. We munched bananas and shot photos of the beautiful views of downtown Seattle.

I love the camaraderie of races. Community gathered together to raise money for a good cause and celebrate good health is an uplifting experience. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of people from around Puget Sound drag themselves out of bed for an early morning of exercise, usually in the pouring rain. The cheerful atmosphere is palpable. Whether a 5K, triathlon or costumed relay race, you will no longer think Seattleites an unfriendly people after participating in one of these events.

Ryan leaves tomorrow morning for almost a month of travel: Michigan, New Zealand, Australia, New York. I’m lucky he has enough frequent flier points for me to see him on the New Zealand leg. It’s a funny existence – traveling the world only to spend a few moment with my husband. It doesn’t matter the exotic location, as long as Ryan is with me I am happy. I feel like Claire: forever waiting for Henry.

Writing has been slow. I keep thinking “when things settle down” I’ll start doing it regularly, but it’s been four months. How did April arrive so quickly?

I’m not going to the RWA National Conference this year, because I’ll be in Wyoming at a family wedding. I’ll miss seeing my favorite authors and connecting with blogging friends, but next year I’ll try to make it to Nashville. I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Ol’ Opry!

Inspiration comes from all places. Shadow and light. Dreams and literature. Sights, sounds, tastes, touches. Smells. For a Gothic perfumery in California, Neil Gaiman has inspired an entire line of scents. Characters from American Gods, Stardust, Anansi Boys and Good Omens are invoked in their own special perfumes. All proceeds go to supporting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

When I think of the Danse Macabre and Gaiman’s gothic persona, I think of grave dirt, burial shrouds and cemetery tea parties. Or maybe that’s because I just listened to him read The GRAVEYARD BOOK. Fellow book-lover Shannon, who turned me onto the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, has only good things to say about their scents. She owns and recommends Mama Ji.

MAMA-JI
Shadow saw the old woman, her dark face pinched with age and disapproval, but behind her he saw something huge, a naked woman with skin as black as a new leather jacket, and lips and tongue the bright red of arterial blood. Around her neck were skulls, and her many hands held knives, and swords, and severed heads.

Spices, cardamom, nutmeg, and flowers.

I am also quite intrigued by the company’s other lines, including Phoenix Steamworks, Dragon, and Alice in Wonderland. Just reading the descriptions of the perfumes makes my brain begin to weave and plot.

PHOENIX STEAMWORKS
Glowing liquid passes through the fogged retorts of ancient alembics, sparks fly from behind a massive workbench, and a cloud of thick incense smoke hangs low, all casting strange and surreal flashes of light and shadow on tall bolted-steel walls. The chug and hum of gargantuan machines echo through the chamber.

Burnished gold and oiled bronze notes with Abramelin incense and sage.

Where do you go for inspiration? What senses do you rely on most when writing? Do you dream about the books you read? Do your characters scurry into your brain at night, clutching at your soul, crying “write me! write me! write me!”?

What’s your favorite Neil Gaiman book/movie?