www.debbierigaud.com

Does this really work? I found out (after reading Andrew Karre’s July 24th post over at Flux) that I could use Windows Live Writer’s simple program to create a blog post right here. The tools are much easier to use. Besides, I’ve been getting complaints that visitors have had trouble opening photos I’ve posted here. Well, folks– try this on for size.

This is a statue of Bermuda’s greeter Johnny Barnes. I adore this man. He’s an elderly, retired Bermudian who stands at a busy "round-about" each early morning to greet passers by on their way to work. And he does this simply because he believes in the good of all people and wants to remind everyone that they’re loved. [Hand over heart and sighing deeply.]

So, for the past 40 years, rain or shine, from around 6am - 10am, Johnny Barnes has been enthusiastically waving at people in scooters and cars, blowing kisses to them and shouting, "I love you!" and "God bless you!" I mean [another deep sigh]–does Oprah know about this? How extraordinary!

The hubby goes for early AM jogs and he jogged by Johnny Barnes–who was already at his greeting post–at 5:30am! (Sidebar: The hubby knows I sweat Johnny Barnes so he joked, saying that as he jogged by, Johnny gave him a thugged-out "Yo, ’sup?" greeting.) I’m so pleased that Bermuda has erected a statue of Johnny in his honor and while he is still living. The statue is located near Johnny’s  round-about and is in his  likeness–down to his scraggly beard, island hat and loving, outstretched arms. Loves it!

Okay, folks. Hope you enjoyed my post using Windows Live. I have to say–I am so excited that it’s much easier to use than my old way of posting. And you can finally see larger-sized photos. Yay! I’ll keep toying with it and will maybe post up some videos soon. Until next post…

Monday night was the opening night of my play, and boy, am I glad I made it through that. Talk about nail-biting! My poor hubby had to put up with my anxiety-inducing “what if” moments. Like, I imagined that nothing but crickets would be heard at the end of each punchline during the performance. The hubby was under strict orders to laugh at anything and everything. He’s got a loud laugh–that hearty, unbridled laughter that I love. My hope was that his laugh might convince the audience that the play is much cooler than it really is. More on that later.
When we got to the theatre, I was happy to see my friends in attendance. We hung out at the theatre bar before the play. There was just enough time to snap these quick photos for my “Scene & Heard” portion of this post.
Meet Maud (right) and Vicky.

We became fast friends because we all moved to the island around the same time. We’ve learned the ropes around here together (with Vicky leading the way). Vicky hails from England and Maud is from France. (And get this kismet connection–I used to live in England and, as a child, French was my first language. Everything happens for a reason, huh?)
And here’s the only photo we were able to get of our friend Laura (right). She and Vicky are pretty in pink.

Laura is a long-time member of the theatre and she had thought-provoking feedback for me the following day.
And here I am standing next to a fellow writer and her husband in the background. These are friends of Karen, the mother of the houseboat dwellers who inspired my play.

At the start of the show, the crowd was warmed up by a playful host with some interesting info. He informed the crowd about this grand event and called all of the playwright “winners.” The judge who will choose the one winning script, he told us, is professional theatre director/writer from the UK, Jane McCulloch–who incidentally “rubs shoulders” with the dame Judi Dench (whom I love). By the way, the six final plays were selected by theatre professionals from New York—Clifford Lee Johnson, director of musical theatre at Manhattan Theatre Club; actor/writer and executive producer of ModernEyes Theatre Company, Jacqueline Raposo; and playwright/director Tom Coash, one of the Founders of “Famous for 15 Minutes.” What an honor to be read by such accomplished artists!
The six plays were fun to watch. Mine was the first play in the second half, so you can imagine how drawn-out my anxiety was. When the time finally came, I held tightly to my honey’s hand and managed to enjoy the show. The four actors in my play had a nice camaraderie on stage. They seemed like old friends as they fell into character and tickled the crowd with a few jokes. All in all, a good play, but with an unexpectedly abrupt ending. So abrupt that the crowd applauded with hesitation when the lights faded out. But I was happy that the director Nicole and the actors rocked it and brought everything to life so well. Congrats to them!
After that, I could finally exhale like Angela Bassett. I was less tense watching the following two plays before the night’s end. Of course, the hubby started laughing the loudest ever at a play that wasn’t mine. I looked at him like, Et tu, Brutus! Then eventually, I had to laugh, too.
Congratulations to all the playwrights, actors and directors of the evening.

This week, we experienced our first major storm as islanders. Bertha passed close by and caused a scene. But, as my honey says, she huffed and puffed but didn’t blow any houses down. Speaking of the hubby, he headed to the beach the day before Bertha hit to snap these photos of the ocean surge Bermuda was experiencing as a result of the impending storm.

Bertha did manage to knock out our power–which meant no electricity, Internet, phone (we use Vonage) or water (an electric pump takes the water from our tank to the tap)! I felt like Laura Ingalls for a minute there. The power fully came back on after about six hours or so.
But all in all, we were happy for the buckets of rain Bertha dumped on us. The island was in desperate need of water. And isn’t a storm just plain ole good for environmental cleansing? Personally, it feels like the unsettled-newcomer feelings I’ve had since moving here have been washed away. I’ve got a better rhythm about life here now. It’s a new era for me.
Yesterday I spent the morning with another Jersey girl newcomer to the island. She has some of the same concerns I had when moving here. Like me, she’s also a newly-married making the move because of her husband’s job location. There’s lots to adjust to–like taking British-style driving lessons and driver’s test; going from working full-time to not working (or, as in my case, working from home); mold issues and flying cockroaches. But the good news is that that’s the worse of it. Living on a beautiful island with pleasant folk is a great consolation prize for any hiccups and discomforts.
But yes, I still always look forward to my next visit back to the States. That’s where all the great shopping deals are!

Only two weeks away until curtain call! I can hardly believe that my very first play, “All in the Same Boat” will be hitting the stage from July 21 - 26th. The Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society is getting lots of press for this, their annual playwright contest. The playwright finalists (there are seven of us) were featured in the daily newspaper yesterday (check out the link here). I remember how horrible I looked the first time my photo was printed in the paper (no way I’m linking y’all to that one) so I made sure to fix up.
Nicole, the fabulous “All in the Same Boat” director, invited me to sit in on rehearsals today. And let me tell you, I almost choked up watching the four vibin’ actors on stage. The play isn’t a tear-jerker or anything, but I was just so pleased with how well they interpreted the script. My camera didn’t adjust well to the stage lighting, but here are a few shots of them in character as houseboat mates.

And here’s a shot of la Lady Director Nicole…flippin’ the script. (Only fans of ’90s hip-hop will get that one.)

Now all that’s left for me to do is pick out an opening-night outfit, and practice my so-happy-you-won-and-I-lost face for the night they select the winning playwright. I cannot wait!

I may be out of the US, but my July 4th holiday weekend in Bermuda was as festive as I’ve experienced it back home. The festivities actually kicked off the last weekend in June, when my honey and I attended what’s considered to be the biggest July 4th event in the world, outside of the US. Thrown by the American Society of Bermuda (an organization of ex-pats and friends), it’s a day of family fun, food and fireworks. By the way, the ocean-side fireworks were spectacular.
On the actual 4th, my honey was off from work (although it’s not a public holiday here, his company observed the day), so we headed to the beach. I was nervous about jumping into the ocean because of the jellyfish advisory. Earlier that week, an email went around warning folks that a high number of jellyfish (the fearsome Portuguese man-of-war!) had washed up ashore. Chile, that was all I needed to hear. I’ve been shook about jellyfish ever since last year, when my husband and I vacationed in Mexico. There we met a guy who encountered a nasty jelly sting and he showed us his ghastly skin reaction to back up his story. Nevertheless, my husband convinced me to go in the water with him on the 4th. He acted so c’est-la-vie about it, I felt encouraged. But that didn’t stop me from jumping every time a sea plant grazed my skin. When I finally relaxed and got into a conversation with African-American tourists we met in the water, it happened. Unbeknownst to us (cue Jaws theme music), a jellyfish made contact and stung none other than my husband! He didn’t lose his cool for a second because he was anticipating my spastic reaction. He just walked out of the water holding out his arm (he was stung under his upper arm and on his side). I cannot front–my first instinct was to high-tail it out of that water solo, Scooby-doo-and-Shaggy-too style. But I fought against that urge, waited for my hubby (who was in deeper water than I was), took his hand, and accompanied him to the lifeguard post where he got first aid (a squirt of vinegar to the sting). He was in pain, but it all subsided within the hour. You’d think homeboy would stay out of the water for the rest of the weekend, but he was back in the ocean the very next day. Not I.
Then on the evening of the 4th, we headed to the local beach for the annual fireworks display. It was cool being on the beach at night. There were bonfires and paper lanterns set up so we could find our way to a prime spot to lay down on towels and take in the fireworks.
All in all, a great weekend.
I leave you with a photo I took of the fireworks at the American Society’s big bash. I think it’s appropriate for this post since it kinda looks like a jellyfish with floating tentacles. Zoinks!