i don't know if that's a good title for this post, but i am tired of just writing "update".
So, i live half my life in ann arbor with this show. the dancing is fun, but it doesn't seem like nearly as much dancing as when i started. the moves don't seem that difficult anymore (maybe because i've been sort of watching ice-skating, which looks sooo much harder than swinging.) because it's a new show, the playwright keeps adding lines so the other day i got three more pages of dialogue for the last scene. this is good but a little nerve-wracking. the show is coming together. we're moving into the theater tonight. i'm excited about that because the rehearsal room isn't big enough and i'm always afraid that i'm going to dance all over (and kick) the director and stage manager.
I'm still staying with Bethany a lot, but this week I stayed with Alec (from Inherit the Wind) as well and stayed up till 4am jamming with him. We may have written a song. I'd written the words earlier that day (while Ella and Olivia watched their daily Dora the Explorer marathon.) So we put my words to a chord pattern Alec had. That was a blast though we may have blasted the neighbors out of sleep. it was a fiday night, come on. I haven't been taking guitar lessons though, because a) no money and b) no time. I would like to get back into that.
I've been pretty upset lately because my theater addiction has been preventing me from meeting people's requests to sing at weddings and funerals. Well, one wedding and one funeral. Twice, I had to turn people down this week because I can't be let out of crucial rehearsals. This makes me question how much I should be doing theater. In a way, I'm doing it for the money (can you believe that?), but I was really bummed out about having to tell those people no. I guess it's because I like to feel like I'm using my singing to serve the community and I just can't. I wonder if all artists face this fear of selfishness, or if any other business is as rigid.
please excuse the typos. i didn't have time to proofread... i'll fix em later
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
George MacDonald quote of the week:
"For he regards men not as they are merely, but as they shall be; not as they shall be merely, but as they are now growing, or capable of growing, toward that image after which He made them that they might grow to it. Therefore, a thousand stages, each in itself all but valueless, are of inestimable worth as the necessary and connected gradations of an infinite process."
a silly poem and a more serious one
Bethany Goad and I started a braided poetry exchage (like I do has Meg, like Joel has with Rob, like they got the idea from Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser). She wrote a poem about tuna fish. I write one about
AN IMPRESSION OF CHILDHOOD
In my early childhood,
Chicken of the sea was all I'd eat.
The name disguised the fins in feathers,
That's probably why.
A cartoon mermaid graced the can
Another, the silver screen,
To my horror: Her face matched
The fins she'd sacrificed, when
Served palace seafood.
She had a nice voice.
I wanted that voice,
Those breasts, that face.
My tolerance for seafood
Washed away with the seafoam
Mr. Anderson originally wrote
As the mermaid's doom.
When Disney dumbed down the ending
For family audiences.
In my early adulthood, I find
The voice shrill, the breasts fake,
The face cliche for the company,
And seafood delicious.
---
The other poem I wrote was based on her wonderful line, "All ideas plagarized somehow." :
ORIGINAL THOUGHT
tell me an orginal
thought I'd tell you
about surprise: wit and
poetry: words
sewn and strung,
pulled, dunked and
hung out to dry on
the tip of my lips.
my lips are thin
my tongue, burnt
on boiled thoughts,
seeped and brewed
chewed to mush,
pulp: an unborn child
shall remain hushed in
search of an original soul.
in the beginning there was
the word and the word
was original and the rest
is xeroxed. I'll take the xerox
if it's a copy of the Original.
AN IMPRESSION OF CHILDHOOD
In my early childhood,
Chicken of the sea was all I'd eat.
The name disguised the fins in feathers,
That's probably why.
A cartoon mermaid graced the can
Another, the silver screen,
To my horror: Her face matched
The fins she'd sacrificed, when
Served palace seafood.
She had a nice voice.
I wanted that voice,
Those breasts, that face.
My tolerance for seafood
Washed away with the seafoam
Mr. Anderson originally wrote
As the mermaid's doom.
When Disney dumbed down the ending
For family audiences.
In my early adulthood, I find
The voice shrill, the breasts fake,
The face cliche for the company,
And seafood delicious.
---
The other poem I wrote was based on her wonderful line, "All ideas plagarized somehow." :
ORIGINAL THOUGHT
tell me an orginal
thought I'd tell you
about surprise: wit and
poetry: words
sewn and strung,
pulled, dunked and
hung out to dry on
the tip of my lips.
my lips are thin
my tongue, burnt
on boiled thoughts,
seeped and brewed
chewed to mush,
pulp: an unborn child
shall remain hushed in
search of an original soul.
in the beginning there was
the word and the word
was original and the rest
is xeroxed. I'll take the xerox
if it's a copy of the Original.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
updatin
the theater thing continues. after the audition marathon the other day, when i had callbacks for both brooklyn boy at the jet and moonglow at the perf. network in ann arbor, i got cast in moonglow, replacing my dear friend shannon because she needed superbowl sunday off and they wouldn't get an understudy (so i heard). it has about a six week run, starting the first week in february. it's about dementia and nursing homes and swing dancing. i play "the girl" version of the protagonist, maxine, who has flashbacks to her days as a swing dancing gal. so i will be dancing a lot, which my grandmothers will like, but the rest of it might freak them out beyond sleep that evening or the evenings to follow.
in april i will spend three weeks at the boershead in lansing with this play. my my, what a commute.
christmas was busy as hell. is hell a busy place? busy as walmart. i had a party, my parents had three, the florkowski's had one, and rob had one. they were all nice and they were all a blur. i saw lots of good people all weekend, ate food that was just as good (though good in a different way) received some good ways to occupy my time as gifts, and ate lots of dessert. also good.
highlight of the week:
when i went to the gas station yesterday, i got a special discount from the guy behind the counter because he thought i was his middle-eastern cousin! and the name nora strikes again!
One more note: if you are in ann arbor, let me know! i need places to crash, esp. on saturday nights because i have to do sunday matinees.
in april i will spend three weeks at the boershead in lansing with this play. my my, what a commute.
christmas was busy as hell. is hell a busy place? busy as walmart. i had a party, my parents had three, the florkowski's had one, and rob had one. they were all nice and they were all a blur. i saw lots of good people all weekend, ate food that was just as good (though good in a different way) received some good ways to occupy my time as gifts, and ate lots of dessert. also good.
highlight of the week:
when i went to the gas station yesterday, i got a special discount from the guy behind the counter because he thought i was his middle-eastern cousin! and the name nora strikes again!
One more note: if you are in ann arbor, let me know! i need places to crash, esp. on saturday nights because i have to do sunday matinees.
discovery
my parents are in ny visiting jeff wilkinson and i am raiding their computer and their fridge and i found, from one of the christmas parties, someone left toffee/chocolate brittle in the freezer!
and some people think there's no God...
and some people think there's no God...
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Tom Waits on Poetry
"Poetry is a dangerous word. It's very misused. Most people when they hear the word "Poetry" think of being chained to a school desk, memorizing "Ode to the Grecian Urn." When someone tells me they're going to read me a poem, I can think of any number of things I'd rather be doing. I don't like the stigma that comes from being called a poet--So I call what I'm doing an improvisational adventure or an inebriational travelogue, and all the sudden it takes on a while new form and meaning.
If I'm tied down to call myself something, I prefer "storyteller." Everyone has their own definition of what poetry is, and of who's a poet. I think Charles Bukowski is a poet--and I think most will agree to that."
If I'm tied down to call myself something, I prefer "storyteller." Everyone has their own definition of what poetry is, and of who's a poet. I think Charles Bukowski is a poet--and I think most will agree to that."
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Radio Heaven
On the way home from the Audition-Marathon, This Over the Rhine quote slapped me pretty hard.
i guess i never told you
'bout this life i'm livin'
it's heaven versus hell
in a split decision
this secret religion is
the best that i've found
i radio heaven
when no one's around
~I Radio Heaven
i guess i never told you
'bout this life i'm livin'
it's heaven versus hell
in a split decision
this secret religion is
the best that i've found
i radio heaven
when no one's around
~I Radio Heaven
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Thinking about Poetry
Okay, so I've been using a supposed Auden quote for nearly half a decade now... I shared it with Rob who, in a little less toned-down way, said Auden's philosophy was "self indulgent" (ha ha ha, Robby Z!). So, I'm going to retell the story that my poetry professor told me about the fellow and then discuss it.
I've often quoted the poet man as saying that poetry is playing with words. That is a rough summery of this story:
When Auden was teaching at some university (he taught at several including that big Blue one), a student showed up in his office and said, "I want to write poetry."
To which Auden replied, "How come?" and the student said,
"Because I have something to say."
And Auden said, "Then go ahead and say it."
Another student comes into his office and said the same thing. "I want to be a poet.
Auden says, "How come?"
The student says: "I like to play with words."
And Auden says, "Sit down."
Or maybe it was told to me that the student said, "I like words."
So, that's the idea that was put in my head by my poetry-as-lit-professor, Professor Powers while I was simultaneously taking my first poetry/fiction CW class. I liked this idea a lot--that poetry was separate from other writing forms because the author pays more attention to the words, their form, the way they sound--and not just the idea he's trying to convey.
(I don't think this story actually happened. It may have, but has the structure of a joke. I just enjoy the idea)
Rob's argument was that all writing is supposed to communicate, if not, it's masturbating. I agree with him on this--but i think both ideas are correct. I think Auden's poetry is a fine sample of wordplay and profound communication of ideas. I guess what I want to be, as a poet, is someone who can communicate and play at the same time. I think Shakespeare is one of the best at this, that I know anyway, at choosing words that convey ideas in their meaning and their sound. For example, in the Henry V prologue:
"Can this Cockpit hold the vasty fields of France?"
(meaning, can this theater hold the french fields we're trying to portray. Look guys! A reference to cockfighting! Where's the Cadieux?)
Can-This-Cockpit is abrupt sounding, limited sounding, if you will. And "Vasty Feilds of France" sounds huge--especially if you're trying to say it out loud, and the rhythm slows down.
So do you get what I'm saying? Anyway, I love discussing this stuff, and as many of you are poets, I'd like to know your thoughts.
I've often quoted the poet man as saying that poetry is playing with words. That is a rough summery of this story:
When Auden was teaching at some university (he taught at several including that big Blue one), a student showed up in his office and said, "I want to write poetry."
To which Auden replied, "How come?" and the student said,
"Because I have something to say."
And Auden said, "Then go ahead and say it."
Another student comes into his office and said the same thing. "I want to be a poet.
Auden says, "How come?"
The student says: "I like to play with words."
And Auden says, "Sit down."
Or maybe it was told to me that the student said, "I like words."
So, that's the idea that was put in my head by my poetry-as-lit-professor, Professor Powers while I was simultaneously taking my first poetry/fiction CW class. I liked this idea a lot--that poetry was separate from other writing forms because the author pays more attention to the words, their form, the way they sound--and not just the idea he's trying to convey.
(I don't think this story actually happened. It may have, but has the structure of a joke. I just enjoy the idea)
Rob's argument was that all writing is supposed to communicate, if not, it's masturbating. I agree with him on this--but i think both ideas are correct. I think Auden's poetry is a fine sample of wordplay and profound communication of ideas. I guess what I want to be, as a poet, is someone who can communicate and play at the same time. I think Shakespeare is one of the best at this, that I know anyway, at choosing words that convey ideas in their meaning and their sound. For example, in the Henry V prologue:
"Can this Cockpit hold the vasty fields of France?"
(meaning, can this theater hold the french fields we're trying to portray. Look guys! A reference to cockfighting! Where's the Cadieux?)
Can-This-Cockpit is abrupt sounding, limited sounding, if you will. And "Vasty Feilds of France" sounds huge--especially if you're trying to say it out loud, and the rhythm slows down.
So do you get what I'm saying? Anyway, I love discussing this stuff, and as many of you are poets, I'd like to know your thoughts.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
seeing a lot and spending too much money
I apologize in advance for the typos. i've been making them like crazy today.
Hi folks. I have more movie reviews, but I'm going to give you my life in chronological order:
Friday, Dec 2nd: Over the Rhine at the Ark.
Lovely concert. Accompanied by Joel, Hawk, and what Joel calls my "Army of Blondes": Meg, Lisa, Bethany Patterson, Bose (Bethany Goad). Though the music was wonderful, my favorite part was when Karin referred to Linford as her, "Bohwa" (Boy). I liked "Little Did I Know" the best out of all of the songs they performed. It's very impressive to me, how a couple of people from 2005 can write a song that sounds like 1935. I guess I liked the concert so much that I jumped at the opportunity to see them again, on the 18th, in Lisa and my Roadtrip Reprise down to Ohio to see them forst in Cincinatti and then go up to Clevelend to check out the R&R Hall of Fame because they are showing an exhibit about Tommy: The Amazing Journey. I hope OTR performs Blue and Jesus in New Orleans there. And what's that other one: Who will guard the door when I am sleeping. I love that song and wanted to hear it.
After the concert, Hawk, Joel, Meg, Bose and I went over to the Hiedleberg (someone help me with the spelling)and enjoyed the German downstairs. The bartender was cool, but not as cool as listening to Bose order in German!
SATURDAY, Dec 3rd: Saw Nickel and Dimed. Why did someone turn a book of essays into a play? As a result, the play had no climax, no structure. But the actors did a nice job and it looked good.
SUNDAY, Dec 4th: Saw Handel's Messiah at the DSO. That was a fine experience. It was fun to dress up with Joel. The singers, the leads, were amazing. And MSU's choir did a fine job as well. After that show I got a fantastic squash-paste pasta dish at the Traffic Jam. YUM.
TUESDAY, Dec 6th: Saw a wings game for free! God bless Joel's hook-ups. Shanahan scored twice, Yzerman scored once. Had a nice time, despite the fact that my friends got yelled at by some fans sitting in front of us for being rowdy during a hockey game!!
WEDNESDAY: Started guitar lessons with Thornetta Davis' guitar player, Brett Lucas. It went well, but it's a lot of work to practice every day. I think it will be good for me. It's just hard to imagine keeping it up, once I get a busy schedule.
THURSDAY: Went to Uncle Tom's Bible Study after auditioning for the JET porduction of Brooklyn Boy. Saw a lot of old favorites there. I had a good time at the audition, though the part isn't really right for me. I mean, I hope it's not, since it's a valley girl. The Bible Study was nice. We're studying Corinthians. I'd just heard Dale teach this, not too long ago, so his stuff was still fresh. But man, are those teachers different,
FRIDAY: What did I do on Friday? Oh, I babysat and then met Joel and Annie at a bar in corktown called the Lager House. I was so beat that I can't remember the band very much. What was their name, Annie? Something and the Holy Ghost Church? I liked their sound. The girl was supposed to have a violin but it got stole. OH! That's what the song that Kelly from Destiny's Child sings: Life is Stole (oh oh, now we'll never know... Benny was in that video.) Sorry! Like I said, I was beat...
YESTERDAY: I went to my Grandma's B-day dinner at Paesanos in Ann Arbor, then I went home and watched three movies back to back (one in the theater)
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS: I enjoyed this, disturbing as it was. It had good characters and a clever twist. But it was a hard one. So sad!
HOTEL RWANDA: Saw it before but wanted to show it to Joel. It made Dirty Pretty Things seem like a Disney Flick.
THE CHRONICALS OF NARNIA: A disney flick! I tried not to be too critical. It was nice to look at but I like my imagination better. The kids looked good. Do you think it's a coincidence that Peter looks just like Prince William? My favorite part was when Aslan walked across the beach below Cair Paravel, right after he was resurrected, and I said aloud, "Footprints!"
And the winner is... Hotel Rwanda. Life is a competition.
Hi folks. I have more movie reviews, but I'm going to give you my life in chronological order:
Friday, Dec 2nd: Over the Rhine at the Ark.
Lovely concert. Accompanied by Joel, Hawk, and what Joel calls my "Army of Blondes": Meg, Lisa, Bethany Patterson, Bose (Bethany Goad). Though the music was wonderful, my favorite part was when Karin referred to Linford as her, "Bohwa" (Boy). I liked "Little Did I Know" the best out of all of the songs they performed. It's very impressive to me, how a couple of people from 2005 can write a song that sounds like 1935. I guess I liked the concert so much that I jumped at the opportunity to see them again, on the 18th, in Lisa and my Roadtrip Reprise down to Ohio to see them forst in Cincinatti and then go up to Clevelend to check out the R&R Hall of Fame because they are showing an exhibit about Tommy: The Amazing Journey. I hope OTR performs Blue and Jesus in New Orleans there. And what's that other one: Who will guard the door when I am sleeping. I love that song and wanted to hear it.
After the concert, Hawk, Joel, Meg, Bose and I went over to the Hiedleberg (someone help me with the spelling)and enjoyed the German downstairs. The bartender was cool, but not as cool as listening to Bose order in German!
SATURDAY, Dec 3rd: Saw Nickel and Dimed. Why did someone turn a book of essays into a play? As a result, the play had no climax, no structure. But the actors did a nice job and it looked good.
SUNDAY, Dec 4th: Saw Handel's Messiah at the DSO. That was a fine experience. It was fun to dress up with Joel. The singers, the leads, were amazing. And MSU's choir did a fine job as well. After that show I got a fantastic squash-paste pasta dish at the Traffic Jam. YUM.
TUESDAY, Dec 6th: Saw a wings game for free! God bless Joel's hook-ups. Shanahan scored twice, Yzerman scored once. Had a nice time, despite the fact that my friends got yelled at by some fans sitting in front of us for being rowdy during a hockey game!!
WEDNESDAY: Started guitar lessons with Thornetta Davis' guitar player, Brett Lucas. It went well, but it's a lot of work to practice every day. I think it will be good for me. It's just hard to imagine keeping it up, once I get a busy schedule.
THURSDAY: Went to Uncle Tom's Bible Study after auditioning for the JET porduction of Brooklyn Boy. Saw a lot of old favorites there. I had a good time at the audition, though the part isn't really right for me. I mean, I hope it's not, since it's a valley girl. The Bible Study was nice. We're studying Corinthians. I'd just heard Dale teach this, not too long ago, so his stuff was still fresh. But man, are those teachers different,
FRIDAY: What did I do on Friday? Oh, I babysat and then met Joel and Annie at a bar in corktown called the Lager House. I was so beat that I can't remember the band very much. What was their name, Annie? Something and the Holy Ghost Church? I liked their sound. The girl was supposed to have a violin but it got stole. OH! That's what the song that Kelly from Destiny's Child sings: Life is Stole (oh oh, now we'll never know... Benny was in that video.) Sorry! Like I said, I was beat...
YESTERDAY: I went to my Grandma's B-day dinner at Paesanos in Ann Arbor, then I went home and watched three movies back to back (one in the theater)
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS: I enjoyed this, disturbing as it was. It had good characters and a clever twist. But it was a hard one. So sad!
HOTEL RWANDA: Saw it before but wanted to show it to Joel. It made Dirty Pretty Things seem like a Disney Flick.
THE CHRONICALS OF NARNIA: A disney flick! I tried not to be too critical. It was nice to look at but I like my imagination better. The kids looked good. Do you think it's a coincidence that Peter looks just like Prince William? My favorite part was when Aslan walked across the beach below Cair Paravel, right after he was resurrected, and I said aloud, "Footprints!"
And the winner is... Hotel Rwanda. Life is a competition.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Mooovies.
well, with thanksgiving out of the way, we're on our way to christmas now. I wouldn't know, i'm not in retail or anything... i had a lovely holiday week. let me tell you about it.
on sunday i went to see savion glover tap dance to classical musica and it was fantastic. he's amazing, there ain't anything else to say about him. oh, and i saw otis there, which was a real treat for me. i gotta get some more tap lessons quick! though watching savion makes me never want to ATTEMPT to tap dance again...
i rented a whole load of movies. let me tell you about all the movies i've seen lately:
1) The Virgin Suicides. Already told you about it.
2) Harold and Maude. I saw this for the first time. What a trip! A trip up the old staircase, as I used to say. I agree with lisa, that the best one is when he takes out that meat cleaver and chops off his hand. if you don't know what i'm talking about, rent it yourself!
3) Closer. This movie just made me mad. Good performances, but trashy writing! Do people actually ever talk like that? Eww. Gross. Come on people... Where's the love, black eyed peas?
4) A Very Long Engagement. Description: Amelie with more sex and waaaay more blood. It was heart wrenching but i really like that director's style. There's something beautiful and quirky about his movies with all those adorable anecdotes (which, in this movie, included horrific ways of killing people in WWI. Yuck!) Maybe it's just that he's French? I wouldn't mind looking exactly like Audrey Tatou. I've tried her hair a couple times. It suits me. She was great. The movie had a disappointing ending though, i thought. Not that I know of a better way to end it. But can you beat Amelie's ending?
IN the theater: Walk the Line. I enjoyed this one. I didn't think it was dull (as did my brother). I thought reese was fantastic and the singing was cool. In hindsight, would have liked to see a bit more about Jesus. But it was about June and Johnny, that was the plot, not really his conversion, I'd say. It was a tight film to me, and Dan Miller from Blanche was cool to see on screen.
Okay, enough with the movies. Friday night was fun. Had a big crowd (the faces i saw that night were: ian my bro, lisa, rebecca r, rachel my cousin, and then briefly marty. also saw uncle matthew) at the bar after seeing two shows. The first was ACTION at the Abreact. It was nice to see Rollo Rollin rollin' around the stage in a big old chair, and Mr. Maher gut a fish. YUM. And the next was a drama developed through improv down at the ANT late-night. Got to see my friend Katie Thomas on stage. She was in my acting class at UM. I half expected John Neville Andrews to stop the performance with a "hold please!" and then give some anecdote of his own about some whore somewhere. And then hear Kevin Bradley Jr. giggle. Is anyone getting any of this? my point was to say i felt like i was in my acting class again because we had to watch each other act so gosh darn much. I enjoyed her performance though.
After that we all went to the "O Brothers" and danced around to Dan Kahn on the juke box.
On Sunday I bought a new battery for that van. i'd call it cursed, but that would be rude. Looks like I'll be driving it for a while, anyway. And that's it folks. That's what I have been up to. This week is packed with activities... i'll tell you about them after they occur.
Oh for the record, musie knows about joel now. so i guess everyone else will, soon. her reaction: "How old is he again?"
on sunday i went to see savion glover tap dance to classical musica and it was fantastic. he's amazing, there ain't anything else to say about him. oh, and i saw otis there, which was a real treat for me. i gotta get some more tap lessons quick! though watching savion makes me never want to ATTEMPT to tap dance again...
i rented a whole load of movies. let me tell you about all the movies i've seen lately:
1) The Virgin Suicides. Already told you about it.
2) Harold and Maude. I saw this for the first time. What a trip! A trip up the old staircase, as I used to say. I agree with lisa, that the best one is when he takes out that meat cleaver and chops off his hand. if you don't know what i'm talking about, rent it yourself!
3) Closer. This movie just made me mad. Good performances, but trashy writing! Do people actually ever talk like that? Eww. Gross. Come on people... Where's the love, black eyed peas?
4) A Very Long Engagement. Description: Amelie with more sex and waaaay more blood. It was heart wrenching but i really like that director's style. There's something beautiful and quirky about his movies with all those adorable anecdotes (which, in this movie, included horrific ways of killing people in WWI. Yuck!) Maybe it's just that he's French? I wouldn't mind looking exactly like Audrey Tatou. I've tried her hair a couple times. It suits me. She was great. The movie had a disappointing ending though, i thought. Not that I know of a better way to end it. But can you beat Amelie's ending?
IN the theater: Walk the Line. I enjoyed this one. I didn't think it was dull (as did my brother). I thought reese was fantastic and the singing was cool. In hindsight, would have liked to see a bit more about Jesus. But it was about June and Johnny, that was the plot, not really his conversion, I'd say. It was a tight film to me, and Dan Miller from Blanche was cool to see on screen.
Okay, enough with the movies. Friday night was fun. Had a big crowd (the faces i saw that night were: ian my bro, lisa, rebecca r, rachel my cousin, and then briefly marty. also saw uncle matthew) at the bar after seeing two shows. The first was ACTION at the Abreact. It was nice to see Rollo Rollin rollin' around the stage in a big old chair, and Mr. Maher gut a fish. YUM. And the next was a drama developed through improv down at the ANT late-night. Got to see my friend Katie Thomas on stage. She was in my acting class at UM. I half expected John Neville Andrews to stop the performance with a "hold please!" and then give some anecdote of his own about some whore somewhere. And then hear Kevin Bradley Jr. giggle. Is anyone getting any of this? my point was to say i felt like i was in my acting class again because we had to watch each other act so gosh darn much. I enjoyed her performance though.
After that we all went to the "O Brothers" and danced around to Dan Kahn on the juke box.
On Sunday I bought a new battery for that van. i'd call it cursed, but that would be rude. Looks like I'll be driving it for a while, anyway. And that's it folks. That's what I have been up to. This week is packed with activities... i'll tell you about them after they occur.
Oh for the record, musie knows about joel now. so i guess everyone else will, soon. her reaction: "How old is he again?"
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
bringing in the snacks
Well, Inherit the Wind is so over. I'm glad, though I did have a good time with my foursome--Alec, Ian, Carly and I--who spent the last week writing the afterglow skit. Many hours in my living room. We kept my roomate up too much, I feel bad about that, but the skit was a success. (The afterglow is when the stagehands put on a show to spoof the original.) The theme was about bringing in snacks at rehearsal, since the Park Players have made issues out of that. You have to sign up, etc. And you get in big trouble if you bring in snacks and don't clean up.
I would tell you highlights, but as you can imagine, it's mostly inside jokes for the cast. We did quote one of the finest directorial spewings ever noted by a director in community theater history:
"No guys! It's supposed to be more like sex! More like Sex! The best sex you ever had... except for you kids, for you it's like Christmas."
Also, we had a little girl selling "Hot dogs! lemonade! eskimo pie! birth control!" which was appalling and shamefully hilarious. I shake my head and crack up everytime i think of it.
The actual show ended up being s success critic-wise, i think. I had a darn good time but will not miss saying some of those lines: "A thought is like a child, it has to come out!"
Backstage I read "The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffery Eugenides during my 20 min break during act two (except for those times i chatted away with lisa instead). It was great. I saw the movie last night which I enjoyed as well. But the book was better, of course. It was, I interpretted it as, a commentary on life in Grosse Pte. during the Detroit riot years. It was beautifully written. In the movie, Kirsten Dunst played a real slut. Who knew she could be such a slut?
--Slut is such an ugly word, isn't it?
Also to note, I went to Cleveland last week to tour with I WAS JUST KIDDING. It was uneventful. except one of the schools had a book mobile. It reminded me of when I played Popeye Jackson and had a monologue about a traveling book mobile. There were also little books for the Narnia Movie coming out. It looks like it's going to be pretty and add a lot of unnecessary stuff. Mr. Joel will probably drag me to see it. But I won't say I won't be kicking! At the same time, I get annoyed when people don't like the LOTR movies, because as movies they are great. As books they are better but if the books were taken verbatim and thrown on screen, they would make terrible movies. So, I KNOW they are different avenues of creative expression, but I kind of like the way the characters look in my own head....
Anything else? Happy Thanksgiving, I guess, considering the fact that I probably won't update before then.
I would tell you highlights, but as you can imagine, it's mostly inside jokes for the cast. We did quote one of the finest directorial spewings ever noted by a director in community theater history:
"No guys! It's supposed to be more like sex! More like Sex! The best sex you ever had... except for you kids, for you it's like Christmas."
Also, we had a little girl selling "Hot dogs! lemonade! eskimo pie! birth control!" which was appalling and shamefully hilarious. I shake my head and crack up everytime i think of it.
The actual show ended up being s success critic-wise, i think. I had a darn good time but will not miss saying some of those lines: "A thought is like a child, it has to come out!"
Backstage I read "The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffery Eugenides during my 20 min break during act two (except for those times i chatted away with lisa instead). It was great. I saw the movie last night which I enjoyed as well. But the book was better, of course. It was, I interpretted it as, a commentary on life in Grosse Pte. during the Detroit riot years. It was beautifully written. In the movie, Kirsten Dunst played a real slut. Who knew she could be such a slut?
--Slut is such an ugly word, isn't it?
Also to note, I went to Cleveland last week to tour with I WAS JUST KIDDING. It was uneventful. except one of the schools had a book mobile. It reminded me of when I played Popeye Jackson and had a monologue about a traveling book mobile. There were also little books for the Narnia Movie coming out. It looks like it's going to be pretty and add a lot of unnecessary stuff. Mr. Joel will probably drag me to see it. But I won't say I won't be kicking! At the same time, I get annoyed when people don't like the LOTR movies, because as movies they are great. As books they are better but if the books were taken verbatim and thrown on screen, they would make terrible movies. So, I KNOW they are different avenues of creative expression, but I kind of like the way the characters look in my own head....
Anything else? Happy Thanksgiving, I guess, considering the fact that I probably won't update before then.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Inherit the Wind thoughts
I just got home from Troy, where I accompanied Mary Davis to do an "I was Just Kidding" show for some people/kids in a Jewish Congregation. After the show, which went fine though the audience was too quiet for the play to really work, Mary and I talked about the message in our show, what we were trying to convey to the kids. That was interesting, but not as interesting as the conversation that followed my beckoning to change the subject to Inherit the Wind, as I have the Sunday matinee to execute in two hours and ten minutes from now...
I asked that we talk about Inherit the Wind so I could get my mind on it. We talked about my character, Rachel, for a bit--how she's at a turning point in her life where she realizes that it's okay to ask questions and she questions some of the things that had been instilled in her by her (psycho, he's actually psycho) Christian Fundamentalist father, the town reverend. That's how Mary got to talking about the spiritual themes of our play. (Mary is the producer, btw).
She brought up a line that comes from the agnostic defense attorney, Drummond, about the religious figure/prosecuting attorney, Brady. Drummond criticizes Brady for believing in a God "Too high up and too far away." After Mary repeated this line, my brain started ticking. Drummond, at the last scene, reveals in this line that he's more spiritual than we are led to believe. I love the fact that he says this line, because I think it's really one of the major themes of the play. It's a theme in my spiritual life, anyhow:
Why do we have a tendency to shove God back into that special room of the temple, where only the highest priest can interract with Him, when, through Jesus, God has made himself accessable to us? Dale Batten always brings up what a wonderful thing it is to know that now WE are the temple of God, that God created us to hold his very spirit; that no longer do we have to prepare ourselves, outwardly, to enter the Holy of Holys, (Holies? haha) to interract with our God. Jesus came to us, died for us, and now lives in us... some of us believe this, so why do we have a tendency to try and send Jesus back to his room while we wait outside and try to make ourselves worthy of Him? His resurrection has made us worthy of God, worthy enough to have God reside in us.
Which brings us back to Inherit the Wind. At one point, Drummond asks Brady where Cain's wife came from, and Brady says "I don't think about the things I don't think about." Here, Drummond drills Brady because he wants him to think about the things he believes. I get this Brady answer sometimes, from some people. "He's God," is their answer to my questions, "He can do whatever He wants." But do we not believe that God wants to think about the things that He does? It seems that our faith would call us to question, because, in faith, we believe that God has the right answer. To me, my relationship with Jesus always goes back to the fact that Jesus is real, He's alive, he has a personality (He's a person) for me to get to know, and he wants to have Fellowship with me. He wants me to communicate with Him. A huge part of communicating, of most deep conversations, is asking questions. I want to know Jesus more so I ask Him questions.
I think bad communication with God is when we ask Him questions and wait for Him to give us the answers we already know (I do this constantly...) First of all, that's not having faith that God is a very interesting Being, and second of all, it's not having faith in the sovereignity of God. If I could only keep in mind, when I ask my questions, that God is the Lord, the Creator, and He's sovereign, then I might find clearer answers to these things that frustrate me about my faith. If I could only figure out how to trust God for His answers when I ask my questions...
So, I guess that's why I think Inherit the Wind is a good play. It does not try to answer the question of how we came about (or, it shouldn't, anyway), but urges people to think things through. And as a Faith-based person, I should not be offended by Inherit the Wind's recommendation that we take advantage of our right to think, but be grateful for it. Because, through Jesus, I have been granted a right to ask God questions and to trust His answers.
And I had to skip church today to do the I Was Just Kidding Show...
I asked that we talk about Inherit the Wind so I could get my mind on it. We talked about my character, Rachel, for a bit--how she's at a turning point in her life where she realizes that it's okay to ask questions and she questions some of the things that had been instilled in her by her (psycho, he's actually psycho) Christian Fundamentalist father, the town reverend. That's how Mary got to talking about the spiritual themes of our play. (Mary is the producer, btw).
She brought up a line that comes from the agnostic defense attorney, Drummond, about the religious figure/prosecuting attorney, Brady. Drummond criticizes Brady for believing in a God "Too high up and too far away." After Mary repeated this line, my brain started ticking. Drummond, at the last scene, reveals in this line that he's more spiritual than we are led to believe. I love the fact that he says this line, because I think it's really one of the major themes of the play. It's a theme in my spiritual life, anyhow:
Why do we have a tendency to shove God back into that special room of the temple, where only the highest priest can interract with Him, when, through Jesus, God has made himself accessable to us? Dale Batten always brings up what a wonderful thing it is to know that now WE are the temple of God, that God created us to hold his very spirit; that no longer do we have to prepare ourselves, outwardly, to enter the Holy of Holys, (Holies? haha) to interract with our God. Jesus came to us, died for us, and now lives in us... some of us believe this, so why do we have a tendency to try and send Jesus back to his room while we wait outside and try to make ourselves worthy of Him? His resurrection has made us worthy of God, worthy enough to have God reside in us.
Which brings us back to Inherit the Wind. At one point, Drummond asks Brady where Cain's wife came from, and Brady says "I don't think about the things I don't think about." Here, Drummond drills Brady because he wants him to think about the things he believes. I get this Brady answer sometimes, from some people. "He's God," is their answer to my questions, "He can do whatever He wants." But do we not believe that God wants to think about the things that He does? It seems that our faith would call us to question, because, in faith, we believe that God has the right answer. To me, my relationship with Jesus always goes back to the fact that Jesus is real, He's alive, he has a personality (He's a person) for me to get to know, and he wants to have Fellowship with me. He wants me to communicate with Him. A huge part of communicating, of most deep conversations, is asking questions. I want to know Jesus more so I ask Him questions.
I think bad communication with God is when we ask Him questions and wait for Him to give us the answers we already know (I do this constantly...) First of all, that's not having faith that God is a very interesting Being, and second of all, it's not having faith in the sovereignity of God. If I could only keep in mind, when I ask my questions, that God is the Lord, the Creator, and He's sovereign, then I might find clearer answers to these things that frustrate me about my faith. If I could only figure out how to trust God for His answers when I ask my questions...
So, I guess that's why I think Inherit the Wind is a good play. It does not try to answer the question of how we came about (or, it shouldn't, anyway), but urges people to think things through. And as a Faith-based person, I should not be offended by Inherit the Wind's recommendation that we take advantage of our right to think, but be grateful for it. Because, through Jesus, I have been granted a right to ask God questions and to trust His answers.
And I had to skip church today to do the I Was Just Kidding Show...
Thursday, November 10, 2005
goings on
So, we open Inherit the Wind tomorrow. There's enough people in it to have a big time musical number. It was looking good at yesterday's rehearsal. Meanwhile, I have been on the "committee" of people my age in the cast who are all writing the afterglow skit that makes fun of the production. This is a frightfully easy task.
I had election day off from rehearsal, even though we're in the middle of tech week, and saw Mr. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco-fame pour his soul out into an acoustic guitar. It was cool! Souls are neat-looking... Okay whatever. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Jeff was great. I think he played mostly stuff from Being There. He played tha "Turn your eyes to the Lord of the Skies" Woody-Guthrie-Aeroplane-song. Beautiful song. The drummer from Wilco opened for him and he was great. As my bro predicted, Jeff talked alot to us. He was a little quiet at first and then got rolling. He just seems like a nice guy. Someone yelled at him "You're fucking beautiful, man!" to which Tweedy replied something along the lines of "I always have strived to be fucking beautiful." What did he say? I think he was funnier than that... Oh well. I want to see that documentary now.
I have done another round of kid shows this week. Oh, I didn't mention that yet. I got pulled into a touring JET show called "I was Just Kidding." It's, as co-actor Eli called it, a "Morality Play" about some kids that learn to play nice instead of backstabbing each other and talking about each other. It's fun but I have had to miss church twice for it, miss some of my babysitting opportunities, etc. But I don't mind too much. We have a talk-back after with the kids, but they just aren't fun without Joel.
On Tuesday night I went to bed to see who the Mayor was. It was Freman Hendricks. When I woke up, it was Kwame A. River. Do they have these problems in Canada? They must, because Margaret Atwood is about the angriest author I know of.
Lisa had someone comment on her blog under the name of "It's 1am and I can't think but I'm commenting anyway". How random is that? And then they lectured her! I almost peed my pants. Come on now, if you are going to give your sermon, show yourself! Haha. I wonder if that person, it's definitely a gal, reads my blog.
So today we went on tour with the kids show to Holly, Michigan. And guess what folks, there were black kids there! I was pleased and delightfully surprised. Next week we're going to Cleveland. I hope to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not that the visit would bring me any closer to Bono than I've already been. Now I'm wondering if the anon. commenter was a gal... I should stop talking about that.
I had a dream the other day that I was in Hazel's house in Kwazulu Natal and I stepped outside and Arifani was there (one of my best South Africans) and he gave me a big hug and told me I he wasn't going to let me go back to America. I woke up just then! That was so heart-wrenching.
I feel pretty shameless in this blog entry. Lets see, I sweared, I mean, swore, I ripped on someone's comment, I said "peed my pants." You may blame it on the Theater whilst I sigh.
I had election day off from rehearsal, even though we're in the middle of tech week, and saw Mr. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco-fame pour his soul out into an acoustic guitar. It was cool! Souls are neat-looking... Okay whatever. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Jeff was great. I think he played mostly stuff from Being There. He played tha "Turn your eyes to the Lord of the Skies" Woody-Guthrie-Aeroplane-song. Beautiful song. The drummer from Wilco opened for him and he was great. As my bro predicted, Jeff talked alot to us. He was a little quiet at first and then got rolling. He just seems like a nice guy. Someone yelled at him "You're fucking beautiful, man!" to which Tweedy replied something along the lines of "I always have strived to be fucking beautiful." What did he say? I think he was funnier than that... Oh well. I want to see that documentary now.
I have done another round of kid shows this week. Oh, I didn't mention that yet. I got pulled into a touring JET show called "I was Just Kidding." It's, as co-actor Eli called it, a "Morality Play" about some kids that learn to play nice instead of backstabbing each other and talking about each other. It's fun but I have had to miss church twice for it, miss some of my babysitting opportunities, etc. But I don't mind too much. We have a talk-back after with the kids, but they just aren't fun without Joel.
On Tuesday night I went to bed to see who the Mayor was. It was Freman Hendricks. When I woke up, it was Kwame A. River. Do they have these problems in Canada? They must, because Margaret Atwood is about the angriest author I know of.
Lisa had someone comment on her blog under the name of "It's 1am and I can't think but I'm commenting anyway". How random is that? And then they lectured her! I almost peed my pants. Come on now, if you are going to give your sermon, show yourself! Haha. I wonder if that person, it's definitely a gal, reads my blog.
So today we went on tour with the kids show to Holly, Michigan. And guess what folks, there were black kids there! I was pleased and delightfully surprised. Next week we're going to Cleveland. I hope to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not that the visit would bring me any closer to Bono than I've already been. Now I'm wondering if the anon. commenter was a gal... I should stop talking about that.
I had a dream the other day that I was in Hazel's house in Kwazulu Natal and I stepped outside and Arifani was there (one of my best South Africans) and he gave me a big hug and told me I he wasn't going to let me go back to America. I woke up just then! That was so heart-wrenching.
I feel pretty shameless in this blog entry. Lets see, I sweared, I mean, swore, I ripped on someone's comment, I said "peed my pants." You may blame it on the Theater whilst I sigh.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
No Failure Here, Sweetheart
Hello again. I'm finally caught up on sleep from the three day trip to see U2 in Auburn Hills. No, it didn't really take 3 days, just 26 hours because I went with Ian and Marty, aka, Diehard U2 Fans. We were also joined by two of Marty's sisters, Connie and Angela. So it was a family affair. We slept in the parking lot of the Post Bar across the street (Opdyke?). I once went to the Post with Nate and Xander to see a band play. Around this time of year, I think. Anyway, the Marty/Ian clan couldn't sleep in the parkinglot of the Palace because the security there was pretty stiff. We drove around for about 4 hours looking for U2 fans and then finally found them at about 1am. There was one girl organizing the line. We gave her several names, including, our ring leader, "Good Stuff", Numero Uno, One, etc. She was even more diehard because she saw the vertigo tour about seven times or something and last time she was pulled up on stage with Bono, so that somehow gave her seniority. Good Stuff. (we gave her that name because Marty said something to her, and that was her response.)
Angela has a son and couldn't find a babysitter (her mom stood her up or something) so she kept going back and forth to Novi, once she appeared with her child, and then finally she went and picked up the youngest Shea sister from school to babysit. It was crazy but kind of amusing. Marty did not stop scheming the whole time. He came up with about seventy five master plans for this and that. I can't remember any of these.
Well, we had about 70 or so people in the parkinglot when we all ventured over to the Palace around 2pm. There were 15 people already standing in line to get in, so Good Stuff ended up being more like 16 instead of one. We couldn't get those in front of us to join our numbering system because the Palace announced on the radio that the numbering starts at the door or something. But the rest of us kept our number system.
When we finally got in the place, all five of us won the lottery to stand in teh "elipse" of the Vertigo stage, which meant that we were five of the 300 that could stand nearest to the main stage. Ian, Marty, Connie, and I stood so we leaned on the stage. We were close enough for Bono to spit on us. Whether he did or not, I can't remember.
Gavin Rossdale's new band opened. They are called Institution. He is a good-lookin' man. Had no idea.
My favorite part of the concert was when I heard Bono sing,
There's no failure here sweetheart,
Only when you quit."
That sounded like the Kingdom of God to me. It blew me away because I've been dipping in doubts lately. The line took me by surprise. I have listened to the new album alot, but those are lyrics from the Miracle Drug song and I don't really like it very much; I usually skip it. But I did like it live. Other highlights were Where the Streets Have No Name, with bright heaven lights. I also enjoyed that he closed with Forty. And he played Walk On, which, those who know me know that that song is pretty significant to me. The disappointing thing to me was that he didn't play Original of the Species. Which would have been fun because, A) I'm in Inherit the Wind so I would have enjoyed the Darwiny reference, and B) because that song would have been good live. My favorite U2 song right now is "One Step Closer" off of the new album. It is so simple but it rips me up every time. I guess my favorite U2 songs, One Step Closer, When You Look at the World, Playboy Mansion, these are all Album songs, rather than show songs.
Well, that's it about U2 for now. Looking forward to seeing them on their next tour.
Next time: I need to update you all on how my Grandma and I both got Mugged at gunpoint when I took her to the doctor. Maybe I Can just tell you right now. I was stupid and talking to my dad on the cellphone while I climbed in the car, and when I looked up to close the door (after I hung up the phone) there was a gun in my face. I had about 10 dollars in my pocket from babysitting earlier that day. I gave him that. My grandma didn't know he had a gun and was yelling at him.SHe siad "We just came from the doctor! How do you expect us to have money on us?" I started to close the door on him and he went away. the spookiest part was that he was about 15 or 16 years old.. Later on, I talked to my grandma about it and she said she wished she hadn't yelled at him. I told her, "No Grandma, that's the best part of the story," and she laughed. I feel pretty bad-ass because people move out of the city for things like that. I'm not going anywhere. Yet.
Angela has a son and couldn't find a babysitter (her mom stood her up or something) so she kept going back and forth to Novi, once she appeared with her child, and then finally she went and picked up the youngest Shea sister from school to babysit. It was crazy but kind of amusing. Marty did not stop scheming the whole time. He came up with about seventy five master plans for this and that. I can't remember any of these.
Well, we had about 70 or so people in the parkinglot when we all ventured over to the Palace around 2pm. There were 15 people already standing in line to get in, so Good Stuff ended up being more like 16 instead of one. We couldn't get those in front of us to join our numbering system because the Palace announced on the radio that the numbering starts at the door or something. But the rest of us kept our number system.
When we finally got in the place, all five of us won the lottery to stand in teh "elipse" of the Vertigo stage, which meant that we were five of the 300 that could stand nearest to the main stage. Ian, Marty, Connie, and I stood so we leaned on the stage. We were close enough for Bono to spit on us. Whether he did or not, I can't remember.
Gavin Rossdale's new band opened. They are called Institution. He is a good-lookin' man. Had no idea.
My favorite part of the concert was when I heard Bono sing,
There's no failure here sweetheart,
Only when you quit."
That sounded like the Kingdom of God to me. It blew me away because I've been dipping in doubts lately. The line took me by surprise. I have listened to the new album alot, but those are lyrics from the Miracle Drug song and I don't really like it very much; I usually skip it. But I did like it live. Other highlights were Where the Streets Have No Name, with bright heaven lights. I also enjoyed that he closed with Forty. And he played Walk On, which, those who know me know that that song is pretty significant to me. The disappointing thing to me was that he didn't play Original of the Species. Which would have been fun because, A) I'm in Inherit the Wind so I would have enjoyed the Darwiny reference, and B) because that song would have been good live. My favorite U2 song right now is "One Step Closer" off of the new album. It is so simple but it rips me up every time. I guess my favorite U2 songs, One Step Closer, When You Look at the World, Playboy Mansion, these are all Album songs, rather than show songs.
Well, that's it about U2 for now. Looking forward to seeing them on their next tour.
Next time: I need to update you all on how my Grandma and I both got Mugged at gunpoint when I took her to the doctor. Maybe I Can just tell you right now. I was stupid and talking to my dad on the cellphone while I climbed in the car, and when I looked up to close the door (after I hung up the phone) there was a gun in my face. I had about 10 dollars in my pocket from babysitting earlier that day. I gave him that. My grandma didn't know he had a gun and was yelling at him.SHe siad "We just came from the doctor! How do you expect us to have money on us?" I started to close the door on him and he went away. the spookiest part was that he was about 15 or 16 years old.. Later on, I talked to my grandma about it and she said she wished she hadn't yelled at him. I told her, "No Grandma, that's the best part of the story," and she laughed. I feel pretty bad-ass because people move out of the city for things like that. I'm not going anywhere. Yet.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
a small dabble to keep the blog moving
I just realized that it's been weeks since I added to this thing. Part of this is due to the fact that I don't get to the internet much anymore. The JET show is done and now I spend most of my time in rehearal for Inherit the Wind or The Wizard of Oz at the Ant.
I sang last night at a benefit concert for the Convenant Community Care, which is a health center that treats people without insurance. I sang back up for Chris Martin's band--my uncle Paul and Aunt Donna and Frank Oakley. It was a good time. It made me want to get back into my own music, which I'm a little annoyed that I don't have much time for.
I seem to be seeing a lot of music lately. I don't know how I have time for it. I saw Blanche at the Magic Stick a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow night I'll have had the U2 experience. On the 8th I'm going to see Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) in Ann Arbor. And on the 2nd I'll get to see Over the Rhine at the Ark in Ann Arbor.
I have 6 mins before I have to get to rehearsal. I have stories to tell, I guess they will have to wait.
I sang last night at a benefit concert for the Convenant Community Care, which is a health center that treats people without insurance. I sang back up for Chris Martin's band--my uncle Paul and Aunt Donna and Frank Oakley. It was a good time. It made me want to get back into my own music, which I'm a little annoyed that I don't have much time for.
I seem to be seeing a lot of music lately. I don't know how I have time for it. I saw Blanche at the Magic Stick a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow night I'll have had the U2 experience. On the 8th I'm going to see Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) in Ann Arbor. And on the 2nd I'll get to see Over the Rhine at the Ark in Ann Arbor.
I have 6 mins before I have to get to rehearsal. I have stories to tell, I guess they will have to wait.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Stolen Clip, Update
I got this from my cousin Rachel's site. It made me laugh.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/shining.html
I'm sitting at the JET, "putzing around"* the internet. I don't have a car yet, but, fingers crossed, I'll have one tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I've been pretty successful at borrowing a car when I need one, mostly from my mother. The only thing is, her car is the same color as the asphalt, so I get a little nervous driving it.
Other than that, I started sitting for the Garretts again, now on Wednesdays. I had to cart the four kids all over town. The highlight was a game of Mad-Libs on the way to dropping Elizabeth off at Mosaic (W Grand Blvd and 3rd, around) that even John, who is three, participated in. The best part was when Tommy Garrett had to name a liquid and chose "Poison." That worked very well, as you can imagine, especially when the entry was about a kitchen inspection.
On Monday I taught the three year old girl I sat for how to play Monopoly. We didn't get very far into the game, but she got the idea. She must have been so bored.
Rehearsals for Inherit the Wind have gotten to be kind of stressful. The part I have, Rachel, flips out in just about all her scenes. It takes a lot of emotional investing, and that seems to be harder for me to do ever since I dropped being depressed, say seven months ago. I'll take being stable, thank you.
Oh, and I'm hoping to go see Jeff Tweedy play a solo concert in Ann Arbor sometime soon... does anyone remember when that is? I need to make sure I have it off.
*I stole this phrase from Lisa, but it seems more appropirate since I am around more Jews than she is. BTW, I wonder if she knows what that word means... Uncle Matthew just explained.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/shining.html
I'm sitting at the JET, "putzing around"* the internet. I don't have a car yet, but, fingers crossed, I'll have one tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I've been pretty successful at borrowing a car when I need one, mostly from my mother. The only thing is, her car is the same color as the asphalt, so I get a little nervous driving it.
Other than that, I started sitting for the Garretts again, now on Wednesdays. I had to cart the four kids all over town. The highlight was a game of Mad-Libs on the way to dropping Elizabeth off at Mosaic (W Grand Blvd and 3rd, around) that even John, who is three, participated in. The best part was when Tommy Garrett had to name a liquid and chose "Poison." That worked very well, as you can imagine, especially when the entry was about a kitchen inspection.
On Monday I taught the three year old girl I sat for how to play Monopoly. We didn't get very far into the game, but she got the idea. She must have been so bored.
Rehearsals for Inherit the Wind have gotten to be kind of stressful. The part I have, Rachel, flips out in just about all her scenes. It takes a lot of emotional investing, and that seems to be harder for me to do ever since I dropped being depressed, say seven months ago. I'll take being stable, thank you.
Oh, and I'm hoping to go see Jeff Tweedy play a solo concert in Ann Arbor sometime soon... does anyone remember when that is? I need to make sure I have it off.
*I stole this phrase from Lisa, but it seems more appropirate since I am around more Jews than she is. BTW, I wonder if she knows what that word means... Uncle Matthew just explained.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Hurray for Hawk
Joel's friend John Hawkinson (Okay, he's my friend too) got us tickets to see the White Stripes o Sunday night. We went to the Masonic Temple, which reminded me of my rebel days sneaking around that haunted place (if I wake up dead tomorrow, you'll know it's because a mason reads this blog). The duo was fantastic. I really want the new album now. I was so ignorant about them--I thought that there was more people in the band! That's because all I knew about them were a) what I heard off an album I stole from Nate for a couple of months and b) the three disk on a tape compilation my brother left in my house that I listened to driving around last summer, c) that jack white used to date renee z. and d) he just got married to a super model and e) he kissed my Aunt Faith when she was five. I didn't know he could get all that sound out of one guitar.
Hawk claimed to know Marty and Ian. So did this accompaniment--Julie somethingorother who recognized me from my old talent agency. Weird!
Hawk claimed to know Marty and Ian. So did this accompaniment--Julie somethingorother who recognized me from my old talent agency. Weird!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Dylan
My mom wrote a poem after watching the Scorsese (sp?) Dylan Doc on PBS. She wrote this at 2am:
About Bobbie D
He is a character
has character
and the content of his character
is content to be
What it is
I said
What it is
About Bobbie D
He is a character
has character
and the content of his character
is content to be
What it is
I said
What it is
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
JET-Play Boredom (again, skip if you like)
I stole this from Palmer's online journal. Time filler I decided to publish (because it's much more fun to fill out with an imagined audience)
THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Nora Jean
2. Nojay
3. Sho'ty
THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. NJtheLB
2. Uyulala14
3. Chicken3 (Freenet! Remember Freenet?)
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. the little scar by my right eye
2. hair
3. eyelashes
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. sinuses
2. hearing loss
3. wish my hands were a little bigger (so i could play the guitar easier)
THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. English
2. Irish
3. Welsh
THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. driving
2. my next door neighbor
3. "the duldrums of a once-place destiny"
THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. laughing
2. reading (or writing)
3. playing the guitar
THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. contact lenses
2. earrings
3. hiking boots
THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS:
1. America (P. Simon)
2. Think About Your Troubles (H. Nilsson)
3. Mama You've Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan)
THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. a sense of humor
2. faithfulness
3. surprises
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order, try and guess which is which):
1. Chaleshisdick means nauseating or sickening in Yiddish
2. Farblondget means lost or dysfuctional in Yiddish
3. Farputst means perplexed in Yiddish
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. wit
2. honesty
3. not materialistic
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Learn how to play the guitar really well
2. Write a steller story to send to MFA programs
3. buy a car
THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING/YOU'VE CONSIDERED:
1. Undergraduate Writing Instructor/Writer
2. Urban Planner
3. Egyptologist
THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Buenos Aires
2. Greece
3. Prince Edward Island in the Autumn
THREE KID'S NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Ella
2. Eva
3. Henry
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Learn Spanish
2. See a Wilco concert
3. Live somewhere else
THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I use my cute to get what I want
2. I blushed when I was putting away baby shoes at JCP
3. I wear make-up
THREE CELEB CRUSHES:
1. Edward Norton
2. Savion Glover
3. Toby McGuire
THREE PEOPLE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
1. Jesus (I'm curious about what parts of his body he doesn't like. Besides, I'd bet he'd have really interesting, faith stretching, mind-boggling, rebel answers)
2. Tom Waits
3. Joe Colosi's Parents
THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Nora Jean
2. Nojay
3. Sho'ty
THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. NJtheLB
2. Uyulala14
3. Chicken3 (Freenet! Remember Freenet?)
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. the little scar by my right eye
2. hair
3. eyelashes
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. sinuses
2. hearing loss
3. wish my hands were a little bigger (so i could play the guitar easier)
THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. English
2. Irish
3. Welsh
THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. driving
2. my next door neighbor
3. "the duldrums of a once-place destiny"
THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. laughing
2. reading (or writing)
3. playing the guitar
THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. contact lenses
2. earrings
3. hiking boots
THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS:
1. America (P. Simon)
2. Think About Your Troubles (H. Nilsson)
3. Mama You've Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan)
THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. a sense of humor
2. faithfulness
3. surprises
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order, try and guess which is which):
1. Chaleshisdick means nauseating or sickening in Yiddish
2. Farblondget means lost or dysfuctional in Yiddish
3. Farputst means perplexed in Yiddish
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. wit
2. honesty
3. not materialistic
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Learn how to play the guitar really well
2. Write a steller story to send to MFA programs
3. buy a car
THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING/YOU'VE CONSIDERED:
1. Undergraduate Writing Instructor/Writer
2. Urban Planner
3. Egyptologist
THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Buenos Aires
2. Greece
3. Prince Edward Island in the Autumn
THREE KID'S NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Ella
2. Eva
3. Henry
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Learn Spanish
2. See a Wilco concert
3. Live somewhere else
THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I use my cute to get what I want
2. I blushed when I was putting away baby shoes at JCP
3. I wear make-up
THREE CELEB CRUSHES:
1. Edward Norton
2. Savion Glover
3. Toby McGuire
THREE PEOPLE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
1. Jesus (I'm curious about what parts of his body he doesn't like. Besides, I'd bet he'd have really interesting, faith stretching, mind-boggling, rebel answers)
2. Tom Waits
3. Joe Colosi's Parents
