The Sketch Newtonian

I saw Demitri Martin's standup routine the other night.  He was telling a joke about how he has a problem, because he likes rainbows, but he is not gay.  I empathize.

I like ABBA, and I love musicals.  You can only imagine my excitement at seeing cheap tickets for good seats to "Mamma Mia!" a musical based on the songs of, and I am DEAD serious, ABBA.  This was quite frankly one of the best shows I have seen in a while.  When the bridal party started singing "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!" I thought I was going to lose it.  Amazing, incredible, mind-blowing, etc.  None of these words describe the coolness of this show.  Which once again leads to the question perhaps as old as the stage itself:

Why can't real life be more like a musical?

Could you imagine if we all settled our disputes by dancing?  I would probably spend a good deal of time in the loser's circle, but that's OK.  It would be worth it to look forward to seeing the couple who are horrible yet simultaneously perfect for each other settle their disputes every day with a duet over lunch. 

Simply walking down the street with something on your mind would be enough to warrant a chorus number.

Love would be more lovely, and everyone would be happy by the end of the day, or at least gotten what was deserved.

Even something as sad as a homeless man on the street asking for your spare change could start up a tap dance!

The point is, this show was made with songs that I already knew.  I have always wondered what my soundtrack would be like if my life was a movie, and whether or not I would know the songs.  If life were a musical, however, I would definitely know the songs, as I would be the one singing them!

If you have the means, go see "Mamma Mia!"  You don't really need to know any ABBA songs, though if you pretend you have never heard "Dancing Queen" I am calling your bluff right now.

Posted by Sketch Newton at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2064)

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New Year's was great.  We didn't have a big party, debauchery was kept to a minimum, but nonetheless, it was fantastic.  It was just nice to have an excuse to spend time with good people and get a little crazy.

I should mention up front that Nintendo Wii is the greatest game system EVER made and contributed a great deal to the fun that was had that fateful night.

I should also say that I have never given much credence to any beliefs that entering a new year changes anything about us.  In that sense, New Year's Eve is just another day, when primetime television happens to continue until it is midnight in California.  Even so, something about this year has allowed me to turn a corner in my life.

Those close to me know that the holidays have not been easy this year because I have been hurting a great deal from reasons inappropriate to broadcast in a public forum available worldwide.  It is enough to know that recent events have put me in a position where I feel a great deal of pain, and I could not figure out for the life of me why God would want me to hurt this much.  Driving home on January 1st, I figured it out.  He doesn't.  I wasn't reading anything, there was no song on the radio that told me this, it just hit me.

God wants less than anything for us to feel pain.  He hates it even.  Still, if we are in a place and we need be somewhere else, something has to happen, and as change is a part of life, so is pain.

It was at that point that I realized that no one was trying to hurt me.  No one had forgotten me.  This is all simply part of life and I have to be OK with that fact.  Once I am OK with that, I can finally be where I am supposed to be.  Balance is then restored to the universe (or at least to mine), and happiness is once again an available option.

The funny thing is that I have no idea what the reason for the change is, or where I am supposed to end up.  I think that keeps a lot of us from accepting change, and, consequently, causes more pain.  While it is never comfortable, confusion and ignorance are also part of life. 

There are plenty of things in our life which we can actively affect.  Worrying about those we cannot affect is as useless as pounding sand.  I think that Alcoholics Anonymous has a prayer saying something to that effect.

I am pretty sure I have avoided putting song lyrics in my blog up to this point.  Today, however, I will break tradition and leave you with some poignant (sp?) words from Relient K.

You said, "I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart, things will just get worse.  If the burden seems too much to bear remember the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

I love you all.

Posted by Sketch Newton at 01:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2512)

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