An odd weekend of cultural contrasts

I went to a press screening of Star Trek (it ROCKS, by the way. It was immensely clever and I can't wait to talk about it once the movie truly releases, because they set the whole Star Trek world on its EAR).

I digress.

My husband and I also went to see "Grey Garden", the play. Why? Because we have season tickets and it was part of the package. After the play, we went to a bullhead fry at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars, Lynne -- a spot in many American towns where folks go to drink, play bingo, and hang out with cronies, rather like a local pub in England). The fish was mainly inedible but it was a hoot to watch the Derby with a bunch of drunks.

Anyway, I digress.

I can't stop thinking about Grey Gardens, which was a profoundly sad play. I can't remember the last time I went to a musical that was sad. Most musicals are light-hearted and happy ("Singing in the Rain", which we'll see in June, or "Legally Blonde" which we'll see in a week). GG was about a supremely dysfunctional family that slipped under the radar and lived in squalor. The fact that they were related to Jackie Kennedy was their claim to fame.

Do you remember sad people like this from your life? Was there someone in town growing up that was a bit 'odd'? Somebody you teased as a child and later felt ashamed about that teasing? I'm curious if it's a universal thing -- no matter where we grew up, were "shadow" people around us?

Thoughtfully yours .... J

P.S. I'm on the road again tomorrow but now have a Blackberry so I can follow our exploits remotely. So post away!