Cramming and Fasting for Hamilton

In less than two weeks, I will be in the room where it happens. Jack is running the NY Marathon and the family will tag along. Part of Jack's bribe to bring us along were tickets to Hamilton.

Squee!

I am so excited I can't stand it. The Boy brought home the music home in seventh grade, and he and I became hooked. "You'll be Back" was the first song I heard. The first time I listened to the entire soundtrack in one stretch, I cried so hard I had snot bubbles coming out of my nose. I would listen to the soundtrack as did my physical therapy for my knee.

I have told very few people that we are going because I don't want anything to jinx it. We bought the tickets almost a year ago, and I am afraid to mention that we are going in case something terrible happens and we miss it. I am hoping there won't be a hurricane, flooding, windstorm, nuclear war, or other epic disaster that prevent us from getting to NYC.

While the Boy and I have almost memorized all of the music, I have one more thing to finish before I see the show: Ron Chernow's biography of Hamiton. As I friend of mine once said describing my reading of Les Miserables, I have a long-term relationship with Alexander Hamilton. I started reading it more than a year ago, but put it down to read other stuff. I am on page 266 out of 818. Thankfully, the last ~100 pages are footnotes.

I picked up where I left off, in the middle of a discussion about the Federalist papers. John Jay wrote five, James Madison wrote twenty-nine, and Hamilton wrote...the other fifty-one. In one of my next posts, I will quote all of Hamilton's brilliant ideas about executive power and how if he met President Trump he would verbally eviscerate the man. But not now.

In contrast to trying to read as much of the book before I see the show, I am trying to avoid listening to the soundtrack. I want it to be as fresh as possible when I see it in less than two weeks, so I am "fasting" from the music. I slipped today and listened to "Wait for It" and "Best of Wives and Best of Women" at work on my headphones. The Boy and I have talked that the hardest part of watching the show will be trying not to sing along. Awhile ago, there was a meme about "Mirandize" where it means not being able to think about anything other than the lyrics to Hamilton. Been there. I had the lyrics of the second song running through my mind this morning when I woke up: "Well I'm going back to sleep."