It's in politics that I think the differences between the U.S. and Australia are most apparent. There's so much more rhetoric here about ideology. People's political opinions seem so much more to be based on symbol and philosophies and tenets of faith than on what actually happens day-to-day. I think that's why "socialism" is such a dirty word here; improved access to healthcare and education would be excellent but people dislike what that represents ideologically.
I suspect that the difference between people's attitudes to politics in Australia and the U.S. are the legacies of the different histories of each country. The U.S. as a nation was founded upon ideals (the Founding Fathers get brought up a bit), and they fought for those ideals. Then that history about fighting for ideals continued in the Civil War. Australia, on the other hand....just kind of evolved. I've heard it said more than once that it's a good thing that voting is mandatory in Australia because otherwise not many people would care enough to vote. I personally follow politics more here than I ever did back home...I think because it's more interesting here!
It's a quiet Sunday morning in the Buchanan house, mostly because Lucas is still in bed. Also, the house is clean, because we finally paid someone else to come and clean it. I can feel that this is going to be a long blog post (just FYI, in case you had other plans). It's been a great weekend so far.
Yesterday morning I had my last Shakespeare class of this session (you sign up for sessions of four classes). I've been working on a Mercutio monologue from Romeo & Juliet and it's in pretty good shape. Going to class is excellent, because I just don't have the skills and the experience and the objective perspective to get out of my head and do this level of work on my own. Plus it's fun to watch everyone else create their performances too, and learn from what they're doing. Everyone in this class is preparing for the upcoming Classical Theatre Company general auditions. We've just started the slew of summer auditions, where most companies begin to cast what they're doing in the next year, so that's exciting. Keep checking out my auditions page to see what I'm up to!
After class yesterday Lucas and I cycled to see the 25th annual Houston Art Car Parade. It's a wonderful weird tradition that we missed out on last year because we didn't arrive in Houston until the day of the parade. People either decorate or paint existing cars (and there are some beautiful, intricate paintings on these cars!), or trick up gorgeous old classic cars, or completely make from scratch a work of art that moves by the use of wheels and an engine. Houston is a very diverse city (not at all what people think of in caricatures of Texas) and this was reflected in the diversity of "statement" cars: no animal cruelty, support our troops, anti-war, pro-environment, anti-oil, yay America, yay Texas, awareness of breast and ovarian cancers, and an interesting and very complex car, owned by a Hope Stoner named Kirk, which makes some statement about Christianity that I haven't quite figured out. This was accompanied by a guy on a scooter dressed up as Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and an ape mask.
Later in the day I dropped off a cheque for our lease application fees to a realtor. We have to move out by the end of June because the landlords are selling our current house, but we're in the process of securing a very quirky bungalow off 4th St (so still in the Heights). On the way back I went grocery shopping in Whole Foods and it was very reminiscent of our early days here where I could rarely go shopping without homesickness and stress and tears overwhelming me. I was on a mission to buy items I had never heard of before such as chuck beef and Polish sausage, and still completely exhausted from our first week of Pink rehearsals. But the day finished nicely with a spontaneous invitation from James and Aria to have dinner with them at their favourite Italian restaurant in Montrose.
Today we are going to see Richard III at Main Street, directed by and starring the guy who played Bakunin in the Coast of Utopia trilogy. He's doing a talkback after the show about the artistic process, so that should be awesome. This production also has my Shakespeare teacher's recommendation, and I'm keen to see what Main Street do with Shakespeare.
Tomorrow it's back to work, and I should really try and figure out how to manage my energy levels.
Happy Mother's Day to all mamas, whether your child is a person or a project or a community. Especially grateful to my own mum right now for booking her plane tickets to come and see me in Pink, and for always being my biggest fan. (Well, until Lucas came along, and now they fight over that honour. I am too blessed!)
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| Lucas and Mum and I on the NASA tour when she came to visit us last year |
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