

So, many of those who know me, know of my fascination with astrology. I have been playing with it for a couple of years now. I think that it is cool to see if there are things that indeed do happen when a planet goes "retrograde" (sort of like moving backwards) or if the moon is in Virgo which might make one feel like completely organizing their sock drawer. For me, though, it is when Mercury is in retrograde that I find things most interesting. When the planet Mercury goes retrograde, things like communication get a little confused, traveling might get delayed, contracts should be really read carefully because it is easy to miss something pivotal and computers or technology go wacky. I find it interesting that whenever the place that I work tries to implement any changes during a Mercury in retrograde period, it just doesnapos;t happen. Or, if it does, it is really confusing, things break down and is mostly delayed for a few days (or weeks.) Which is essentially what was happening at work the past couple of weeks. Mercuryapos;s retrograde ended yesterday.
One of the other and more subtle things about a Mercury retrograde period, is the re-evaluating of what one really wants and re-investigating certain ideas and concepts and seeing if they do fit. People and ideas and things that were sort of set in place in the past, return and one is stuck marveling at the intricacies of how things might just work in some universal fashion. Or not. But, definitely things returned during the past month. I bumped into a person I knew from grade school at the subway station. I received an email from someone who I met at the Lucy Maud Montgomery conference but the email wasnapos;t to me but was on a mailing list that I happened to be on. I bumped into someone at another lecture who decided to come to Toronto at a lecture that I also met at the LMM conference in June. (Now, granted if I continue to attend LMM things, I will bump into more people, but still.)
Here is one thing I could not have foreseen even if I had tried. When I went to P.E.I. In June, for some reason, I HAD to get to the Anne and Gilbert:the Musical. I had no idea as to why I had to see it. Considering my lack of love for the Anne of Green Gables: The Musical, my expectations of this one was pretty awful. But, like most things Anne and Montgomery related, I cannot resist. And so I got an earlier flight, rented a car and (as some might recall) had to buy a new outfit while the plane people searched for my luggage and drove my way to Summerside to see the show.
As I was "working" I made sure that I blogged about the show at work. I think my review was fun and honest and I enjoyed writing it. I also enjoyed the show and have since listened to the soundtrack more times then I would probably like to admit. There is something so endearing about it and, although, it isnapos;t perfect, I am inspired by some of the playapos;s themes and music as well. So, when I discovered that it was coming to Guelph, I thought that it would be great to go again. I also thought that I would take my mom as it would be a nice thing that we could do together. And, thus we drove two weeks ago to see the traveling show of Anne and Gilbert: the Musical. They had some technical difficulties, but overall, I enjoyed it. It is always interesting to see different interpretations of a show (but that is not part of the story here.)
What I soon learned was that this was a touring show and was hitting places closer to home Hilarious, that my mom and I drove over an hour or so out of our way to see the show. But it was good too as I am going out there in a couple of weeks for a conference,so now I at least sort of know my way around. The next day, I thought about the music. I remembered suddenly that I play piano.
Now one might wonder how I could possibly forget that I have been playing piano since I was 11. But that is me. Because I tend to think of myself as "not as talented" in most things because I am not a "professional" or "teacher" like some good friends of mine, then I donapos;t think that I am all that "good" or that I actually do play. But, there is a piano in my living room which I do play and had tuned and moved so that I can play it more often and work on pieces that I like and the musical has pieces that I like. So, I went on a search. And I found that there was no sheet music to be had. Instead, there was a myspace page. And, if one was a myspace member, one could email the writers of the show.
Well, I decided that I had nothing to lose except my pride, so I wrote the writers of the show and asked them where I could possibly buy some of the sheet music. I was a pianist but it would be for personal use only. The next day, I received an email from one of the composers who told me to email her at her regular address. Unfortunately, there was no place to buy the sheet music in a store, but if I wanted it, for a fee, she would print them out for me and mail it.
What started was a lovely exchange for about a week. She told me a couple of interesting tidbits about the show. What also turned out was that the composer lived twenty minutes away so an exchange could be made at my house (which it was on Monday afternoon.) Five pieces of sheet music for a cheque. She also handed me a magazine from Brampton (one of the cities that the touring show was playing at.) The theatre has a magazine to advertise some of its shows. One of the articles was on the Anne and Gilbert Musical. The writer tends to use a lot of reviews from a variety of entertainment sources. When the composer handed me the magazine, she wrote on the front, "you are quoted on page 9."
It would seem that the writer of the article found the review that I wrote at work and used some of it to promote the show in Brampton. I have never been quoted for anything. (That I know of, who knows what is floating around out there.) How funny that just that morning, the composer was reading the magazine and there I was (in bold for some reason) next to a review from the Toronto Star. It really was a "Mercury in retrograde moment" where something from four months ago comes back in a way that could not have been foreseen.
It is another thing for me too. I have been wondering as to why I have been so focused on Montgomery. Yes, it is the 100th anniversary of Anne of Green Gables and I work with books, but somehow, I cannot think that it is all. Yesterday, I was sitting next to a girl on the subway and what tattered old book was she reading? The Golden Road by Montgomery. Perhaps it is a guide of some kind? Perhaps, there is something about her work that will help me find my own path of telling stories that will hopefully, someday, speak.
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