Anniversary

One year ago today, I was pedaling to a Fringe show when I experienced an unexpected change of plans. The short version of the story is that I crashed my borrowed bike (it was fine!), split open my chin and broke a tooth (I was lucky!), and got my first stitches (seven!).

Today, in honor of that anniversary, I've posted a gallery of the pictures I took in the following few days, as well as a few of my chin today. You do not have to look at those pictures! Most of them aren't bad... but I was kind of fascinated by the stitches in my chin, so consider yourselves warned.

So far, this year's Fringe Festival has been far superior. Despite the fact that I'm taking my exams, a friend and I have made it to four shows so far, and plan to see another one or two on Sunday. Given last year's experience (I didn't even make it to the show, but it was apparently so awful that the friends who did claim they would rather have been in the ER...), I might not even have gone this year, had I not met one of the actresses on my way home from the airport last week.

We were attempting to buy light rail tickets from the kiosks as the airport, and sort of chatting as we tried different things. When I had my ticket, I finally actually looked up at her, and realized we had the same hair. "We have the same hair!" I said. She laughed and agreed, and we chatted as we took the elevator down to the platform (both of us rolling massive suitcases); as we stood waiting for the train; and on the train until my stop. It was kind of a surreal experience, actually: not only did we have the same hair, we were almost exactly the same age, had traveled widely, were in graduate school (she was just about to start), were physically active and quite slim, and were adventurers. Talking to her, with her big blue eyes and beautiful skin, was like talking to a prettier, alternate-universe me.

Anyway, she was doing a one-woman show at Fringe, and she gave me a few of her cards, which I offered to put up in the art history department. A friend and I went Saturday night, and loved it! It was funny and engaging and not nearly as weird as some of the one-woman shows I've attended (at the last one I went to, the performer [a classmate, though not in my department!] got naked). My friend and I liked "Leaving Normal" so much that we were inspired to go to a dance show* Sunday (fantastic) and two shows yesterday, one a non-stop laugh fest performed by grown men dressed as squirrels, and one a brilliantly awkward and exquisitely strange show by a guy we'd met at the festival.

Fringe is just one more reason to love Minneapolis.

*There's a video on this page; if you're pressed for time, start at 1:44. I watched it again just now, and I totally want to go see the show again. Last night as I was entering the building to see "An Inconvenient Squirrel," I saw the male performer behind me. "You're the dancer!" I exclaimed, shaking his hand. "We loved your show!" He graciously thanked me, and I said, "Thank you!" That's how much I liked it! Enough to go inappropriately friendly on a complete stranger! Oh, wait...