Workholic Lady of Leisure: Oh, What Would Mom Say?

The Lady of Leisure when she was twentysomething and a
Lady of Work at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

  To celebrate Women's History Month, the Philly Inquirer, my hometown newspaper, gave over the Style & Soul section to some style & soul. Ten women wrote essays about the type of stuff women debate endlessly with that inner voice echoing in their head. I was one of the chosen. Here's the link. I wrote about my decision to retire -- and how that's going now that I've done it for nearly one year. It starts like this:


  The question always leaves me stammering through a long-winded response.

Do you work?

For nearly 25 years, the answer was a cinch. I was a reporter for this newspaper. It always left folks surprised, sometimes impressed, and often a bit curious.

Last year at 48, I altered my career path - actually, I veered completely off the road and into the meadows of early retirement. That's what I called it, anyway. Now, the question of work and what I do with my time - really, who am I? - is much more complicated.

After all, work is so much a part of identity, and the choice to work or not to work - particularly for women - carries more baggage than a 747.

I watched my own mother juggle scientific research and motherhood. The lesson was clear: Women who are smart work.

And that makes my own choice fraught with layers of complexity that Sigmund Freud himself could not unravel. But, heck, I'll give it a try.

  The rest is at the this link. I'll post about the reaction shortly. And while you're at the www.philly.com site, check out the other rockin' essays.

  The coolest part was the chance to say I blog. Got 15 visitors that day, which is about what I get in the whole month. Though my numbers are going up, thanks to all of you. So keep reading. And start following.

Spiderman Spins a Web of Delights

  Theater critics have taken to trashing Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark as it continues its endless previews to  opening day, next week on March 15 -- assuming it isn't again postponed. My family went with relatives a couple of weekends ago. In a word, I thought it was FABULOUS!
   It had everything I want out of an expensive Broadway show: over-the-top sets and theatrics with wonderful music and not a bad story line at all. After all, good does triumph evil.
 The show was a combination of the circus, theater and rock concert -- all rolled into one. The acrobatics were literally over the top, as in over our heads. That alone was incredible and worth the ticket price. The show has become as well know for its tricks can go wrong as much as its tricks. Everything went right on our night, though there was that moment when Spiderman seemed to miss his footing as he landed on a second-story balcony platform. But he quickly scrambled to safety like a true spider-human.
   It was like the circus in that way. No one wishes for an accident to happen, of course. But the fact that it is a possibility -- and one you just might witness up close -- makes all those acts of teetering on high wires, tangling with tigers, racing on horses all the more exciting. Same here. And unlike the circus, all the action was done without any safety net, just cables. And cables wouldn't protect the stuntmen if they hit the balconies. We joked about wearing helmets.
  The show did a particularly wonderful job on sets, recreating the feel of the Big Apple and the battle between good and evil high above the skyscrapers. It also captured the comic book feel with it's pow! wham! splat! word bubbles, bright colors and spider walk up the walls.
  At the same time, it was a complex take on the Spiderman story with its base in Greek mythology and Greek tragedy, down to the comic chorus of teens who kept the dimmer among us apprised of the story line and balanced Spiderman's angst with silly jokes. I loved the little touches, like the girlfriend who acts in The Fly, another tale of metamorphosis. Or her self-doubt that she'd ever make it to Broadway. It wasn't perfect. It dragged in the second act, in part because of a sidebar of song and dance about a series of villains thought vanquished that reappear. But all in all, it was a wonderful evening of entertainment. And it has set a new standard for the Broadway spectacular. Go see it!