Sal Returns to the Film Festival and Meets Awesome People

It's a bit of a pain lugging Sal around at the Film Festival, so she doesn't get to go every day.  I did decide, however, to take her there on days when people are coming down to meet me for a film.  Yesterday my sister was coming, so Sal got to go, too.  Anne and I saw an absolutely wonderful film together --  Life Inside Out.  It was a story with much relevance to both of us -- for different reasons -- but we were both greatly moved by it.  In the movie, lives are transformed through the power of music, and Sal -- who is, of course, a musical instrument -- is part of my transformation.  I'm changing from "afraid to approach new people" librarian to "not-too-shy person who fearlessly approaches people with a silly request to pose with a tiny ukulele."  The resulting interactions are always interesting -- and sometimes quite wonderful.

Travels with Sal is just part of my transformation.  I don't want to spend my life working, cleaning the house, weeding the garden, and eventually dying of boredom.  I want my life to be fulfilling -- and to be a part of making the world a better place!  Of course there are times at work when I make a difference, and that's wonderful, but most of the time I don't feel like my contribution is very important to anyone.  And who cares if my house is clean?  Who cares if my laundry is folded?  Nobody!  

So I suppose picking up my first ukulele a couple of years ago was a bigger step than I thought it was at the time.  I just wanted an instrument to play in storytime, and I ended up falling in love with this amazing four-stringed life-changer.  I have done so many things I never would have considered doing before.  I'm not changing anybody's life but my own at this point, but I feel like I'm moving in a direction that could lead to helping others in the future.

Enough about my inner monologue!  Back to the Film Festival!   Anne and I were thrilled to hear that the stars of the film -- Maggie Baird and Finneas O'Connell -- were at the showing for an apres-film Q&A.  Of course I immediately thought of Sal!  Would they agree to pose for a photo with her?  After the Q&A I left Anne holding all of my stuff -- except for Sal and the camera -- and waited for Maggie and Finneas to finish speaking with other people who had enjoyed the film.  I asked my question, and they were very kind and agreed to have their picture taken with Sal. (I always wonder what I should call celebrities in the blog.  Should I call them Ms. and Mr., like the New York Times does?  Or should I use their first names, which seems overly familiar?  In this case, I'm going with first names, because of the friendly personalities of these multi-talented people.)

Mother and son in real life -- and on screen!

Something interesting happens whenever I hand Sal to musicians.  They start tuning her!  Unfortunately, Sal is devilishly hard to tune.  Her strings are so short that as soon as a string approaches being in tune, it's already past the in-tune spot.  Oh well, she's small and cute, so who cares if she sounds good?

Sal is hard to tune!

Or maybe impossible...

Anne and I ended up having a really great conversation with Maggie and Finneas.  What truly nice people they are!  A while later they performed at the fountain in the center of Tower City, but I could only stay for one song, as I had to rush off to my next film.  I left Anne there -- listening and enjoying the music. 

Later in the day, I was in line to see Ride With Larry -- a truly inspiring story about a man with Parkinson's who rides a bike across North Dakota.  One of the directors of the film came by and took a picture of all of us in the line, so I whipped out Sal and asked him to pose with her.

Ride with Larry director, Ricardo Villarreal.

I ended my Film Festival day with another wonderful film -- The Ballad of Shovels and Rope.  It was great seeing two fantastic music-themed movies in one day!

Just for Film Fest fans!  Here is what I posted on Facebook after each of the films I've seen since the last Travels with Sal post:

Paris or Perish = Enjoyable light comedy + a fun start to Sunday at the Film Fest.
The Missing Picture = Hated it + walked out.
It's Only Make Believe = Getting into a life of crime is a lot easier than getting out + tension-filled gripping story.
Le Weekend = Great acting + difficult to watch people inflicting emotional pain on those they love.
Life Inside Out = Touching film about life and music + beautiful songs that made me cry in a very good way! <3
The Rugby Player = OK doc.
Ride With Larry = Inspiring + I don't think I would have such courage and determination if I received such a diagnosis, but one can hope.
The Ballad of Shovels and Rope = An absolute delight! <3