I had lots of reasons to smile last night. All of the reasons had to do with the evening, a fund-raiser for R.A.E. Tess Harper was the featured reader. The evening consisted of:
- Two short stories of Daniel Woodrell's, one read by Kurt Heinlein, a wonderful, young MSU theatre professor and CEC member. The stories were so visual, so creepy, even funny (but I felt guilty laughing at the cruelty...wierd stuff, very Woodrell). Tess Harper enacted the last Woodrell story and concluded the evening with a lively reading.
- An excellent story by Woodrell's wife, Katie Estill, the story read by three women, one of whom is Donna Bloodworth, wife of Terry Bloodworth, the glass blower. Donna is an actress in her own right. Sarah Wiggin and Maggie Marlin of R.A.E, rounded out the performance.
- And the fine feeling of, oh, we're doing something cool, something different, something worthwhile (know the feeling?)
I was feeling like hot stuff, with my bright orange, pleated, short Loft skirt, orange tights, blue-pinned striped shirt from H&M, and my uber-cool navy, orange, red, russet printed cardigan from Target. I was turning heads, dude. When I walked in, Tess Harper herself complimented me on my outfit. I was hot stuff. As I sat down and took off my coat, my hand brushed across the back of my skirt. Which was tucked inside my tights.
Humble. Pie. Thank you very much.
I had to laugh. It was a great evening.
Tess Harper was completely real and down-to-earth. The readings were excellent.
And I'm wearing pants today.
