Doors Close, Doors Open

What's buzzin cousin? Have you been good?

Me? What have I been up to? I've been alternately sloshing about in both awe and angst, which of course, is somewhat time consuming. It also tires a dilly mightily and so I've needed a lie-down here and there during this last two weeks.

Deciding to stop producing Sweet Willa's Review was knotty. This door, once closed, is the last piece of The Ladies' Tea Guild in my life. It's the end of an era. The sands of time have shifted, the universe has tilted yet again and the world is painted in shades of bittersweet.

Give me a just moment while I gently dab at the silent tears rolling down my cheek...alrighty, that passed. It's time to leave off with this Gothic heroine malarkey! I've got work to do.

Literally within days of closing this door a number of doors opened. But the most exciting leads me back to my plays, which I had put on the back burner due to the economy.

But, it now looks as if both Tea-A-Ria and A Teatime Travesty are to be performed in Naples this summer at Fred's Diner, which by the way, is a far cry from being a diner.

And it looks as if I'll be directing! OMG! We've already formed The Paradise Players.

So back to what I've been doing exactly this past week. I've been completely immersing myself in the 1940's, the era in which Tea-A-Ria - likely to begin after Mother's Day - is set.

I can now toss out 40's slang with ease - Hi sugar, are you rationed? (Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?) I once again have a slinky in my possession (invented in the 40's), and, if needed, I can create a Victory Roll hairstyle and line my lips in maroon lip liner before the kettle comes to a boil.

For your reading pleasure, here are the opening lines from Tea-A-Ria:

LEONIE
  Good afternoon ladies. I am Leonie Palazzotto and I want to welcome you to Tea-A Ria, a tearoom where you can relax, enjoy a fine cup of tea, and a bit of old world ambiance. 

NONA LENA calls out LEONIE’S name off stage before

entering left. She is brandishing a large kitchen knife.

NONA LENA
  Leonie Palazzotto! I’ma not a cuttin the crusts offa the bread! Whoever hearda such a thing! It don’ta maka no sense!

LEONIE smiles at her guests before walking to NONA LENA. She begins indulgently but quickly falls into her Italian accent, talking louder and waving her hands for emphasis.

LEONIE
  Excuse me, ladies. Nona Lena, we’ve already discussed this. You-cut-the-crusts-off-the-bread-at-teatime! It’s just the way it’s done!

NONA LENA
  First everything has to be “bite sized”! Now this! I don’ta see how you’re gonna fill these people up!

LEONIE
(speaks indulgently as she gently nudges NONA LENA towards the kitchen)
  Nona Lena, please.  Just cut the crusts off the bread.

NONA LENA
  (to a guest)  

  Does this maka any sense to you. It’s pazzo!

 NONA LENA exits left.

LEONIE
  Pardon me, ladies. Italian don’t quite understand teatime. My Nona Lena wants to put garlic in everything. I tell her, over and over, you can’t have that much garlic at teatime!  And oh...

 

(puts her hands to her head) 

  

...the battle we had over the vincisgrassi! I say, “Nona Lena, nobody eats cinnamon scented chicken gizzards at teatime. It don’t matter if it’s in béchamel sauce!"

(smiles and shakes her head)

  

 That woman! But what are you are going to do when your Nona Lena loves you so much and only wants to help? 

(sighs) 

 Now where was I…ah, yes, tea! Today we are serving a marvelous _________. We’ll be bringing out the pots in just a moment. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be sure they're warming...

xxx

Keep your fingers crossed my friends and pray Tea-A-Ria's tag line is true...Teatime goes Italian and it might never be the same! 

It's quite amazing what the universe throws at you if you keep your head up rather than trying to duck, don't you think?

If you'd like to check out Fred's Diner, click on this link:

www.fredsdiner.com

What Darcie Suggests

Apparently I'll do anything my sister, Darcie, suggests. This likely began when she wanted to ride on the handle bars of my bike as I cruised down a hill too steep for a passenger so precariously balanced. Or, it might have been when she suggested we host an impromptu party since our parents were out. 

Neither time went well for her by the way. I crashed the bike and she ended up with stitches in her chin. Our parents crashed our party but my one guest, Tom Boenig, was easily lost in the sea of her guests scaling our back fence in hasty retreat. The lone, remaining friend hiding in the closet didn't help her case either. 

But I digress. It was Darcie who suggested I begin a blog.

The funny thing is, I'd been casually researching blogs for about a year and had decided against it. My Sweet Willa's Review at GLily.com, with its devotion to the often oddball bits of tea and history, was serving me well.

There are also more tea blogs than you'd care to count, many requiring a strong cuppa to sustain you through endless descriptions of individual teas and their nuances. It makes you wonder if some teas come with a thesaurus or perhaps a booklet entitled "Metaphors for Teatime". 

"What on earth would I write about?"

"Write about your life."

"Why would anyone read that?" 

Her answer was something along the lines of, "Write it and they will come."

People have come to No Cobwebs Here. According to StatCounter.com over 1500 of you since June. I've no idea if that's good for a blog and as some of you have become precious regulars, real numbers are hard to figure.

What I do know is that posting three times weekly with the intent of wooing at least a smile from my readers has opened up my writing in unexpected ways.

Yet, I've the sense that No Cobwebs Here is preparing me for something. That could be wishful thinking but it's recently occurred to me that this might only be a 1-year project. I might just make my last post on the anniversary of my first - June 16ths It's Not Household Management.

I will, of course, have to see what Darcie suggests.

But tell me, would you call me a humorist? 

It's Darcie you see above.