ASMR for relaxing

There's this concept called "autonomous sensory meridian response," or ASMR, which describes kind of a pleasant tingling sensation that accompanies deep relaxation. Not everybody seems to experience it, but many people find it's triggered by whispering and other forms of white noise. A lot of people on Youtube have made videos where they roleplay some low-key activity, using guided imagery in a whisper to induce the reaction in the listener.

I only occasionally have the tingling response, but I do find the videos to be good for relaxing, particularly when I can't sleep. Sleep has been a bit funny for me recently-- I have a harder time falling asleep and a harder time waking up, which seems to have started around when my mother died. The videos I like and work best for me are usually have the maker roleplaying giving the listener a massage or facial and describe the process as they go through it. If I had the money I would get those things on a regular basis, but even just the idea of them is relaxing for me. It's a bit silly when you think about it, listening to some random person on the Internet whisper about pretending to give you a skin treatment, but it works for me. And it's a damn sight better than pills or drink or something.

The Watch City Players present genderqueer Importance of Being Earnest!

As you may or may not know, the Watch City Players have a summer show going up, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. It's going up Saturday, July 26th at 7pm in an outdoor performance at the North entrance of Prospect Hill Park, at 314 Totten Pond Road in Waltham, MA.

This show is fun and funny, but what really makes it special is that it's all about gender and gender variation. Some characters are gender-flipped, some are reinterpreted as trans or nonbinary; even the whole idea of Earnest is based around the lead characters exploring their own gender identities outside of the ones assigned to them. It's an interesting and fun queering of the text. The cast is as follows:

Jaclyn Worthing / Ernest Worthing: Frances Kimpel
Algernon Moncrieff: Charlotte Oswald
Gwen Bracknell: Matt Kamm
Cecil Cardew: Eboracum Richter-Dahl
Lady Bracknell: April Farmer
Miss Prism: Jonathan Kindness
Dr. Chasuble: Sparrow Rubin
Lane/Merriman: Stephanie Karol

Directed by Lenny Somervell

It's free and in the park, so I wanted to organize a big potluck dinner before the show. I'd like to meet up in the park around 5:30 and hang out and have a picnic until the performance. Feel free to bring anyone you think might enjoy it! I'm planning on bringing chicken marbella. :-)

Let me know if you can make it! Also tell me what you'd like to bring, or I can suggest something if you need an idea.

This should be a lot of fun, so I hope to see you there!