#50

They say he wandered very far....very far....over land and sea....



I ran into someone tonight whom I had kind of planned to never see again.

You know.... that dreadful moment when you're walking down the stairs to the platform and...like a movie...the crowd parts...and there they are....and you see them as if through a haze...or maybe that's the film of the subway on your unwashed glasses. Or maybe it's your brain trying to get the fog machine started for one of those sequences where you see everything that happened in retrospect.

You remember under what circumstances you last saw this person....you remember how you kind of planned on never seeing them again....not really that you didn't want to, but that it's be terribly awkward if you did. And there it is. And there you are. There they are. And in flows the awkward.

You pictured what they would look like if you saw them again, you had imagined their reaction to seeing you and, of course, what you've imagined...and reality....they don't match up. Synch is incomplete. You have unplugged your mass storage device too quickly and some data may be damaged as a result. You find that hellos are sufficiently awkward and the goodbyes 10 times so...since you want nothing more than to walk to the other end of the platform....


aye yay yay yay yayy. aye.

#49

I wore my long sweater today, hoping i might need it. It was cool enough this morning with the coming autumn that it made sense, but the day warmed up rapidly. It was cold enough in the office what with the arctic AC blowing on me all day, but now that I'm back on the train going home, i'm filled with regrets. Somehow I always manage in the car that has no AC. It always happens. Fortunately, it can also function as a traveling sauna. Good for your pores, etc. It can be nice... especially since I'm guaranteed a seat.

I finished another book today. Finally a book that felt like I had written it. I feel like I grew as a person with it, page by page. Sure, the book is 40 years old or so, but it's full of timeless/timelesseque themes and scenes and dialogue. It made sense to me. I feel like if my grandmother read it she would get it, but my mother wouldn't. Like it skips a generation. Like balding. My father would hate it.

But it's a book for women, anyway, really. The men who venture into it may feel as if they're suddenly confronted with too much information. Like that little instructions booklet that comes in your box of tampons. The prize in the cereal box. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to take from the novel and leave behind in the ink. I wish I could take all of it. But I am not Isadora née Erica. I am not as desperate as she, nor as well-travelled. But there's enough of me in it to take away. Like a new skin. Reversal of shedding. The adding on of a layer. Appropriate for the coming autumn.

Summer 2008 Day 85...I'm lazy, I know!

In case you haven't noticed, I've skipped over two weeks of entries....whoops. My excuses are as follows: I've been stressed, sick, poor, angry, sad, confused, bored, re-decorating, Olympic-ing, working, and sleeping. Not much of note has happened in the past....19 days....so we're just going to ignore them. I don't even know why I'm writing this entry today except to say HELLO I'M ALIVE (since my parents seem to have been extra "are you okay?" recently). I did make some delicious burgers the other day...and I rearranged my room yesterday. Other than that...nothing worth reporting. I'm heading into work for a few hours today, and then coming home and resting or reading or more cleaning...SOMEthing. Ali's coming in to visit tomorrow so hopefully that'll produce something more interesting :)

Summer 2008 Day Sixty Six: Boredom

I actually woke up on time this morning (shocker) and actually got to work a little early. Unfortunately, neither show that's onsale is selling well, and we have nothing to do. I literally dragged my one seating folder across 2 hours (only about 50 accounts worth), and then had nothing to do. I started reading my book and promptly started snoring in my seat while the rest of the room played card games. Since I almost toppled backwards in my chair during said snoring episode, I decided to go take a nap in the nappy chairs. I slept about 15 minutes before I realized it wasn't gonna do anything. I drank some gatorade, made some coffee and even went down to the Hot & Crusty to get some pizza to wake me up...nothing. I'm exhausted. Boo.

Summer 2008 Day Sixty Five: Maspeth

Finished work at 1pm and headed out to Maspeth with my buddy Thom. He lives there with his two sisters, and we're both off at 1 on Fridays. We thought we'd be going out, but instead we stayed in. We watched some MTV in the AC, then BBQ'd some burgers, some sausage, and made some tortelloni for dinner. Mmn. Watered the plants, then went upstairs and watched Scream. I have not watched that movie in...11 or 12 years...so...I was a little freaked out. Enough that I was hitting Tommy with pillows everytime he tried to scare me. Which is easy. Then I was gonna be heading back into the city and our friend Dylan was still in town (he was supposed to be heading back to IA already, but postponed a few days for his health) so I went to meet him at Ottos for a little bit. Shoulda seen Nell's face when I told her I was poor and would be drinking Stella instead of my regular. She was like Ummmmmmm wHAT? haha funny times. now sleepy.

Summer 2008 Day Sixty Four: Sharks, Sewing, and a Fortune Cookie

Took my well-deserved day off today. I had already cleaned my room last night, so I thought maybe I wouldn't have much to do today. oh no. Did laundry (well, dropped it off...and the guy accidentally gave me a 100 won piece instead of a quarter. you short changed me by 15 cents! ass. )...did some minor shopping (we needed toilet paper) and then came home to start watching my shark week stuff. I love shark week so much. I love watching great whites jump out of the water. it cracks me up to no end.

While I was watching all this crap I decided to finally work on the curtains for the west side of my bedroom. Up to this point I just had this giant piece of black fabric I'd purchased on sale about a year ago...just kind of draped over the window. So I pulled it down, cut it up, sewed it up...now I have two panels on that window. One's about 2.5 inches longer than the other...but...no one said I was a TALENTED seamstress... anyway. Then I started watching Jaws III...oh joy of joys. During this I started to recover a pillow that I keep on my bed...it's a pillow that we used in the FTC production of The Imaginary Invalid...it's green...kind of shiny...and doesn't match the room. I have a sheet that I bought at the department store (as a separate...not part of a set or anything) that had stains on it (from some kind of plant or something) that I couldn't get out...so I cut it up and made a new cover for this pillow. So now the pillow matches the room.

But wait, there's more. I also had this ribbon sitting around that came with some washcloths I bought...it's pink and brown...also matches the room. I decorated said pillow. It actually looks fantastic. If I'd thought of the ribbon beforehand it would look better, but it's still nice. Almost like it jumped out of a Crate & Barrel magazine. Once I have batteries I'll actually post a picture. I'm very proud of it. Then I watched Jaws: The Revenge...which is an...interesting piece of cinema in which Michael Caine is the ONLY name....and all he's really doing is...being Michael Caine. And, okay, he DOES narrowly avoid getting eaten by a vengeful, murderous, plotting shark. Woohoo. I then put on The Fortune Cookie (since I had it saved). I don't know how I'd never seen this movie. I love Lemmon & Matthau and assumed I'd seen most of their joint films but, apparently, I can't count to 11. Anyway. Hilarious. If it weren't so hot in the apartment, I might have loved it more, but it was still pretty darn funny.

So then I went to pick up my laundry. I was successful in this, except that my laundry bag has started to come apart. It's from bed bath & beyond and is mostly nylon-esque materials...but the nylon on the top had started to rip off with the constant weight. So when I got the bag home, I emptied it, put the clothes away, and took the top part of the bag off (with the pull ties and everything). I took another piece of the stained sheet and cut a long portion of it where the elastic ran (it's a fitted sheet...was a fitted sheet). I sewed it into a loop and attached it at the top of the bag. Then I cut holes in the material and ran the pull tie through it. I also reattached one of the shoulder straps that had come off. Again, it's beautiful and pictures will arrive...ish...shortly.

Then, feeling REALLY productive, I grabbed this ugly red dress my aunt gave me (it's red and tent-like and has African people on it. its not really...me. and it's more of a house dress anyway seeing as the skirt of it is pretty transparent. Anyway. It's boat-necked and has sleeves...I took care of it. Totally took off the top portion, relocated the waistline, took in the waist, and reattached some of the material to make it a halter dress. It works for while I'm laying here, typing to you people. But I wouldn't leave the house in it haha.

Summer 2008 Day Sixty Three: Shark Week, etc.

Wednesday is supposed to be my day off, but A) I rarely take it, and B) I was covering for Tova. So I left for work at about 8:25. I walked up to the 135th street stop and got out my metro card. A woman goes through the turnstile in front of me...as I reach out and swipe my card, the world goes black. The woman in front of me...her perfume was so strong and so...potent...that it made me faint. I remember swiping the card and I remember it telling me to swipe again, but then it's black. Fortunately, as I crumpled backwards towards the ground, the guy behind me caught me under the arms...when he grabbed me, I came to almost immediately (fortunately) and helped myself up. I don't think I've ever fainted in my LIFE until today. That was rough.
Worked about 9 hours and despite talk of strapping keyboards and computer mice to Dylan so that he could knock over a Duane Reade in nicotine desperation...it was pretty much same-old, same-old. Went home and put on the tv...began by watching some Shark week nonsense that I'd recorded...not interesting. Started cleaning. Put on Trouble with Angels. Cleaned. Put on Project Runway. Cleaned. Put on a shark week special on Sharks in the Mediterranean which was actually pretty interesting. Blue sharks are pretty. Basking sharks = awesome. And....that's pretty much it. more cleaning. now, bed. woohoo. tomorrow: day off. yes.

Summer 2008 Day Sixty Two: The French Lieutenant's Woman

It's funny, the things that Netflix will "recommend" for you to see once you've rented enough period pieces and literary dramas. A few months ago, it recommended this film which I'd A) never heard of, B) never read the book, and C)...never realized that Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep were in a film together! What could be better? I mean...Jeremy Irons at age 33 and Meryl Streep with a crazy wig. Ahh! So I finally get it from Netflix. Good choice, Flix known as Net. Good Choice.

It's not a brilliant picture, it's not even spectacular, but it's beautiful and it's pretty in-tune with the films I do like. Period piece - check. Duality of plot - check. It's everything that Possession strove to be, but in a different way in that Possession is more of a flashback while TFLW is more film ACTING as flashback. And Meryl Streep is much better than Gwyneth Paltrow when it comes down to it. I don't know why I'm bothering to compare since they're two stories that have nothing to do with one another, but it made sense in my head.

I've decided to get the book from the library and, once I'm able to return other certain books and finish reading other ones, I'll pick it up and hopefully love it, just not enough move to Lyme Regis and have a torrid affair with the author...who is dead, so that would be out anyway. I also wouldn't be the first one. Dammit.

Summer 2008 Day Sixty One: Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Staten Island Yankees

I'm not sure what the score was. I know the Cyclones won, but I'm not sure by how much. Certainly by enough since, with the exception of Addison, everyone on the Yankees minor league team is both ugly and untalented. Oh well. My friend Phil had these comps to this game out in Staten Island (right off the ferry) and invited me to join. We had no idea that our seats would be in a SUITE. Yes. a Suite. huge room with 10 seats outside, separated by thick windows and a door. Two leather couches, two chairs, coffee table, lamp, tv, closet, sink, fridge, carpeting, AC, stools....holy crap it was wonderful. I ran around the suite like a moron. And yet. So wonderful. Nothing's better than getting comps to a baseball game, riding the free ferry out to it, getting to sit in the AC while watching it, and only have to pay for the food. Which, by the way, food...ugh. amazing.

Summer 2008 Day Sixty: Travel Drama II

I spent the day at work. Not where Rory spent it. Rory's original flight was set to leave for Orlando at 6:55. At 5:15 she called me. Her flight's been delayed until 8:30. Fine. Oh, and Jet Blue has cancelled every flight today up to this point. Even better. Calls me again at 5:35. The flight's been cancelled. She's getting on a cancellation line. Oh great. She gets on the line. She's on the line until 9:19 at which point they decide to put her on a plane that leaves the gate at 9:25. Unfortunately it was also in a separate terminal. Not a chance. Missed that flight. They immediately rebooked her onto another flight that was supposed to leave at 9:30 and instead was now scheduled to leave at 12 midnight. Then it was pushed to 12:15. Then 12:35. When I went to sleep at 10 it was scheduled to leave at 1:05am. I woke up at 12:40am and there was still no update. So I stayed awake until 1am. At 1 they updated the status to say the flight was boarding. Finally. I passed the hell out.

Summer 2008 Day Fifty Nine: Work and Rest

Worked til 4 when I went and met Jess and Rory outside of the Palace theatre. Rory and I accidentally wore matching colors. Way to go, genes. Way to go. headed to gramma's where we ate deliciousness. Went to La Salle and got delicious gelato. mmmm. Gelato. Went back to gramma's and watched Cinderella III (actually not a terrible movie) and then headed home. Joy of joys. Went right to sleep.

Summer 2008 Day Fifty Eight: Columbus Circle Vanity

Got an email this morning from the New York Public Library:
Please return the following long overdue item(s) or your account may be
turned over to a collection agency.

uh...whoops. ayep. grabbed that book. Went to work for 4 hours and then directed Rory and Jess to meet me at the library so I could return it and then we could go explore. They had tickets for a show at 8 so I had about 6 hours to hang out with them. We walked to the Manhattan Mall where we wandered into Lush (mmm lush) and then headed to Strawberry to try on clothes we weren't going to buy. we were going to eat there, as well, but they're currently GUTTING the mall...apparently July's a good time to do that!...so we had to go elsewhere for sustenance.

Took the train up to Columbus Circle and headed to Whole Foods. Mmm. Whole Foods. Got our food, got our Jamba juice. Sat and ate and talked and digested and started the picture taking. Oh the picture taking. We left Whole Foods and went to sit by the fountain at Columbus Circle. And we're vain. So we sat and took pictures. Of ourselves. Hilarity and blueberries. That is all. Once they had to leave for the show I walked up to 62nd and waited for the M7 to go home. Ridiculously crowded, as usual. Got home and watched tv....as usual.

Summer 2008 Day Fifty Seven: Travel Drama

My sister was making a simple trip to New York to see some shows, hang out with our cousin Jess, and stay with my gramma. Well...the airlines suck and Rory's initial flight (for, like, 7am) got cancelled. She was put on a later flight, which left my cousin to wander the city, and my grandmother to go half insane with worry. It was a mess. Rory eventually landed around 4:30 and finally got to the city around 5:45. Wonderful. Except at this point, my cousin was lost somewhere on the upper east side and they had a performance to be at, at 7. Uh...whoops. Jess finally made it to my grandmother's at 6:35. We threw them in a cab and they got to the theatre AT 7. Perfect. I spent the evening with gramma, chillin' in front of the tv and just kicking back...something I don't get to do with her often....so it was lovely. Until I had to take 3 trains to get home. boo.

Summer 2008 Day Fifty Four thru Fifty Six

Nothing to see here. Just work. Stupid work.

Summer 2008 Day Fifty One-Fifty Three: Hilarious

Let's just say it was a fun, stupid, hilarious weekend that involved very little boredom. And a cat. Cat-faced killer, to be specific. It also involved Dinosaur BBQ tonight...which was very very tasty, though I missed the Texas-ness of Hill Country.

Summer 2008 Day Fifty: Alice, Dark Knight

The plan for today WAS: Work from whenever I want to until Ali gets into the city, then hang out with Ali for a few hours, then go see WALL-E with Dylan, then see Dark Knight with Jess & Co. Problems arose very early in the day--I was on my way to work around 11 when Ali called me: her bunny, Alice, who is 5 years old and her mother's surrogate baby, died this morning. That magazine-eating-pig-noise-making-3x-the-size-of-a-real-dwarf-bunny-bunny died after some kind of sickness that the vet couldn't do anything about. She was a beautiful rabbit....needless to say, Ali and her mother are distraught.

So. Part 1 of the post-work plan began to fall through. Ali DID end up coming in, but not until 4:30 so I only had an hour with her before she had to head downtown for her class. At 5, I get a text from Dylan that there's been some form of chaos at work and there will be no Wall-E today. Boo. Boo chaos. So I went back to work and sat at reception with Dee for an hour and a half or so and ate my dinner there. Then I walked around a bit, sat at Port Authority, finished my Ian McEwan book.

At 10 I headed over to the movie theatre on 42nd Street to meet Jess and Hannah and Bree for Dark Knight. The line was already beginning to wind past the Times building. Fortunately, Jess and Hannah had gotten on the line at 9 and were sitting on the corner playing UNO.

Dark Knight was great. Fantastic, even. The script, the framing, the sound editing, the cast, the special effects,t he score...everything was superb. I only had one qualm with it, and it was a simple character choice made mid-film that didn't seem justified for Christian Bale to be making, but I got over it. I had not one single problem with the cast. Heath Ledger and Christian Bale and Michael Caine and GARY FUCKING OLDMAN and Aaron Eckhardt and Maggie Gyllenhall and Nestor Carbonell and Morgan Freeman...superb.

Summer 2008 Day Forty Nine: Nothing to see, here

No, really. Nothing. Nada. Niet.

Summer 2008 Days Forty Six-Forty Eight: Pathetic Reigns

Yeah, it's been pretty dead the past few days and, somehow, I've still managed to do absolutely nothing but watch movies. Well, I mean, we watch them at work...then I come home and watch something I've never seen...it's..oh so thrilling. Saturday later on I watched Indecent Proposal (had never seen). On Sunday we watched Hairspray, followed by 3 other movies, one of which was Postcards from the Edge (which I'd never seen). We also started on Order of the Phoenix. When I went home on Sunday I watched Thelma and Louise (had somehow never seen it).

Monday we finished OOTP and also watched Nightmare Before Christmas. Last night when I got home I started watching New York, New York (never seen it) but I have to take my Liza in doses. So I turned it off. Today we watched Monsters, Inc (Love!) and Hook (most of it...long movie!)....and then I came home and did some rewriting of cover letters and submitting of resumes stuff. Boring stuff.

All was good and right with the world until about 11:30 when the restaurant downstairs started playing music so loud it could have been coming FROM my ears. I called 311 on their asses around 12:05. By 12:30 the noise was gone. :) If it hadn't stopped I was going to go down there and go all white girl in Harlem on their asses. And, as fun as that sounds, you'd probably be attending a funeral in the next 72 hours so just be thankful the cops came :)

Summer 2008 Day Forty Five: Oh Sweet Jeebus

Today was truly pathetic. 10 reps and a manager, paid to sit around and do absolutely nothing for the company other than answer MAYBE 7 calls apiece. Seriously. I answered 2 calls then then started watching The Sting. Took 4 more calls during hte course of the film. During all of this I was reading my book, as well. Then I watched 6 hours straight (8 episodes) of Chuck...I got a total of 2 calls during that. Then I sat and blogged for the last 15 minutes. I could have been at the gym, at the park, cleaning my room, at home watching The Goonies, at a bar, out with friends...ANYTHING but sitting at work for 10 hours. What a waste.

Summer 2008 Day Number Forty-Eight

7/9/08
I try very hard not to put a book down once I’ve begun it. At least, not if it’s a book that I’m reading for pleasure. In school, textbooks got put down for weeks. There have been a few exceptions—the first in recent memory was a book by A.S. Byatt—I think it was Angels & Insects. I very much enjoy A.S. Byatt’s poetical writing, but did not enjoy that one. I got through the first 30 pages or so and gave up. The only other one I can remember not reading to the end was a Dumas novel—again, I love Dumas’ writing, but wasn’t enjoying that novel…maybe because it was about the Netherlands and not about France, perhaps it was the translation….I just couldn’t finish it.

Now I’ve hit another one. I wanted so much to love this book. E. Nesbit seems like a very colorful, inventive, and intelligent writer. But I can’t get into Five Children and It at all. I’ve read all the way to page 31 of the illustrated version (large print) and can’t get through another page and a half without desiring to be doing something else. The vocabulary is lacking any interesting facets. The language has no musicality to it, and the plot is static. Usually, it’s fairly easy for me to get into books designed for 4th graders—I usually love them. But this novel doesn’t give the reader any credit…does not assume that the reader is intelligent at all. Instead, it assumes that the reader has only the basest of knowledge with no intention of growth.

Maybe I was just an intelligent 3rd/4th grader, but this book would have insulted me a little at that age. Even if I wanted to love it, I simply can’t get through it. It makes me sad because I also borrowed the same author’s The Enchanted Castle from the library and don’t think I’m going to get through it. I think I’ll just return the two of them and hope for the best with another author. I think I need to get out of Children’s fantasy and move onto History, or something gritty…I have two history books sitting at home—One is about Vienna, the other is about Hungary. Not knowing much about either, I hope I’ll be able to embrace them as vessels for learning rather than be focused on the writing itself.

I have some Auel books at home, too, from the library, but I think I’ve got to cleanse my palate for a good long time before I can turn to Auel. Perhaps after the next influx of new books I’ll return to Redwall and use that as an appetizer to Auel. I also have T.H. White’s The Book of Merlin at home, but I need to put off fantasy for a little bit. Give me some history, give me some Brontë…something.

7/12/08
Made the happy mistake of going to Borders yesterday…on the way home I started reading my McEwan novel, even though I’m starting to chug through Fin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture…so now I’m kind of in the middle of two very different books, but I’m more comfortable in this situation than I was TRYING to make it through Five Children and It so….success! ☺

Summer 2008 Day Forty Four: Working Girl, Breakfast Club, What's Up Tiger Lily?, DJ's, Borders, Sabrina

It was a long day. As you can tell by the title. Once again we were some form of NOT swamped at work, so Tom and I put on Working Girl which is a kind of perfection. Once that was over, we switched to The Breakfast Club which is BETTER than perfection. Gotta love Judd Nelson. You just gotta. It was my once-a-week day, so I left work at 1, going home and hoping to settle my stomach a little more before venturing out into the world again.

Sat at home and watched What's Up Tiger Lily? (Woody Allen....No Name Cast....Egg Salad?) which Ben had saved on the DVR. Stopped the film about half an hour from the end so that I could clean...the apartment was a shambles and needed to be cleaned...so I cleaned it. Color yourself amazed, yes I cleaned. After cleaning I showered and then napped for about 45 minutes before heading out to meet Brianna.

I beat Bree to DJs so I sat at the bar and ordered a Ginger Ale. Right before she showed up I finally had let that settle and ordered a drink. Right at that time, the owner of DJ's (Dennis) walked in and ordered a round of shots for everybody (which is always lovely). Then Bree came in--Bree and I haven't seen each other in....probably about 8 months. It's been a long while and we live and work so close to one another...it's kind of unacceptable. So we caught up...discovered a lot had happened to the two of us both good and mediocre....interesting stuff, really. One day I'm sure one of us will write a book about stasis. Anyway.

Bree ordered up a Bass while I finished my drink. I had two more drinks and Bree had another Bass. My card was at the register where Brian (the bartender) had put it when I sat down. But the bartender shift changed somewhere around my 2nd or 3rd drink and somehow those last 2 drinks didn't make it onto my tab. When PJ came by to close me out my bill was a whopping $10. Brian had already left...who was I to complain? Besides, PJ would have probably waved it off because he's an amazing eternally-tanked old man. So yeah. $10 and I drank 3 malibus, a gingerale, and got a free shot.

I was amazed with myself for having spent so little....so I went to Borders and spent $70. I'm silly, I know. I wouldn't have spent so much except they had things I really wanted. I bought the 1995 version of Sabrina-- Harrison Ford (ehhhhh), Julia Ormond (too old for the role), Greg Kinnear (perfect for the role)....it was $7.99 and I kind of had to...never seen it, love the original... anyway. Also bought a new notebook since my old one is more than exhausted, bought A Tale of Two Cities since I've managed to never read it, and the fact that Jim Barbour is going to be in the production kind of requires me to see it...I'd like to know it first; also bought "In Between the Sheets" by Ian McEwan...it was the cheapest McEwan book they had and I love his writing and was craving it....and then they had two items I'd never seen before: published, bound, foreworded versions of Charlotte Brontë's Juvenilia..."The Secret", and "The Spell"....and since I already own everything else by Charlotte Brontë that Borders has on its shelves...it was kind of a requirement. I had never seen these two items on the shelves before and I didn't want them disappearing between tonight and the next time I swung by Borders. So there ya go.

Came home and ate some Whole Foods dinner....and then came to my room and watched Sabrina. It's not the original. It's...not a HUGE dash from it, but the expanse is fairly large. I mean, for one, Harrison Ford is no Humphrey Bogart (Bogart is no Ford, either, but that's a separate issue). Bogart was 55 when he played Linus Larrabee and Ford was 53...and yet Ford managed to seem older in the role. Meanwhile, Audrey Hepburn was 25 when she played Sabrina...Julia Ormond was 30...and looked it. Unfortunately. I mean, she's beautiful but when she smiles she's got those lines around her jaw that give away the whole NOT A YOUNG'N thing. I did enjoy the update of the film's backstory, if you will...modernization of it, really. It made sense...but at the same time kind of....took away the heightened tragedy of Sabrina's love for David. I don't know. I'm tired.

Summer 2008 Day Forty Three: Food Poisoning is WAY fun

Whatever I ate for lunch...not a good call. Made me muy sick. Going back to bed now.

Summer 2008 Day Forty Two: WALL-E

Words...text...cannot really express my love for this film. I love this film the same way that I loved Tarzan when it was first released. The beautiful thing about Tarzan, as a Disney film, is that it relied heavily on the viewer's ability to understand body language and signs and gestures. There is an absence (yes, absence, not lack) of dialogue that allows the beauty of the story, imagery, and message to really shine through. I loved every second of this film.

Everyone told me I would cry...I'm sure they had no idea I would start crying in the first 10 minutes or so. Literally. WALL-E opens the door to his garage/home and I started tearing up. And by the end? Forget it. It's pretty brilliant for a Disney film, pretty brilliant for a Pixar film...it's pretty high when it comes to animated films in general, as well. Though, in recent years, animated films have begun to tackle social commentary and intelligent subject matter more often. The Triplets of Belleville is a good example of this.

Do yourself a huge favor: Go see it. Just....go. Go now. Turn the computer off and go. But before you go, you should know: there's a trailer before the film for another Disney film coming out this fall (I think)...it's called Beverly Hills Chihuahua and, trust me, you don't want to be in the theatre for that trailer. It's an abomination...a tragic mess...beware. Beware.

Summer 2008 Day Forty One: Plans 'a changin'

Plan A: Go see the Marriage of Bette and Boo on comps....
*gave away to Kate*
Plan B: Go see WALL-E...
*asked everyone, no one wanted to come with, Dylan finally said he might, then decided to go tomorrow instead, decided to wait*
Plan C: Meet Ali downtown for a quick coffee before she ran to class.
*check*
What's nice about where Ali has class (on Barclay) is that it's right by a Starbucks AND right by the 2 train. Highly convenient. After meeting up with Ali, I ran to the train and took the 1 up to 59th where I got out and went to Best Buy and FINALLY bought our TV for the living room. With the 4-year-coverage it was really pricey, but in the long run, it'll be worth it! Took the TV home, finally set it up with cable, watched half an episode of something and then went to bed. Too darn hot to do anything else.

Summer 2008 Day Forty: No life, tra la

It's not even worth a blog post really, but there it is. Did absolutely nothing today. Whoopee.

Summer 2008 Day Thirty Nine: So much time, so little to do, so much we could do

For the first time in a long while we had almost nothing to do at work all day. Les Liaisons Dangereuses is in its final performance as I type this and, since there was next to nothing to sell, most of us didn't have any reports to file at the end of the day. We literally spent all day answering the odd call and watching movies. We started with A League of their Own (always a classic...anything is, that shows Geena Davis before the facelift). Next up was Bullets Over Broadway which, surprisingly, I'd never seen...I was pleasantly surprised and grew fond of it quickly. We finished up the work day with The Devil Wears Prada which is always hilarious...even if Anne Hathaway is totally the new Andie MacDowell.

When I got home this evening, I attempted to watch Casablanca all the way through for the first time...Netflix is kind of awesome sometimes and has a feature where you can watch some of the films in your queue online. The bad thing about this...or one bad thing, at least...is that you can't do it on a Mac, and since my PC is slower than a dead dinosaur...that makes it suck. That, and my internet is not always... consistent... so. yeah. Got through about 20 minutes before I had to give up. That sucks. Boo, Netflix. Work on Macs, please, thanks.

Summer 2008 Day Thirty Eight: Bed, Bath & Beyond

This morning I woke up hung over as hell. And by hell, I mean the devil after a helluva bender. Yup. Got through the work day..which was pretty boring...attempted to correct mistakes I'd made in the past 24 hours...always pleasant...decided that Bed, Bath & Beyond was on the menu for the evening. There are a few things that the apartment has been lacking and, being not completely poor this weekend, I decided to go ahead and buy them. A curtain rod for my room (I've had a curtain hanging by thumb tacks for the past 2.5 months), an over-the-door hook contraption for the back of our front door, a window fan for the kitchen, a screen for the window in the living room, batteries (my camera's been dead for 2 weeks now), a hanging shower caddy, and new washcloths. Yes, I know, you really wanted to know all about my shopping habits. Get over it. The best part was that, when I got to the register, the cashier tied bags together and made little shoulder bags for me so that trudging through the subway would be a little easier. I was such a bag lady heehee.

Summer 2008 Day Thirty Seven: A Catered Fourth of July on the LES

Working at Roundabout, we tend to get comps to all kinds of things: previews, shows that aren't selling well, shows that are closing, etc. This time it was A Catered Affair at the Walter Kerr theatre which closes this month. If I actually liked it, I might have more to say about it...but alas. The only really memorable thing for me was how much I actually did enjoy Harvey Fierstein. And I never enjoy Harvey Fierstein. That's what I remember about the show. There WAS a woman sitting in front of Dee and I (mind you, we were in the 5th row orchestra center) who had a dog with her. Yes, a dog. In the theatre. In the 4th row of the orchestra. Yeah, I don't get it either.

Other than A Catered Affair (which is neither catered, nor an affair: discuss), my 4th of July plans consisted of drinking the night away downtown. We managed to hit both Ottos and Manitoba's...we were going to go get sandwiches across the street from Manitoba's at this bodega...but somehow (my fault-ish) Dylan and I managed to knock over a tower of cups and straws and piss the owner off so...no sandwich for us. Think the soup man, only Asian and slightly more upsetting.

Summer 2008 Day Thirty Six: Lagrangeville, or "Too Much TV Makes Lauren Go Blind"

Woke up around 5AM because of how poorly my tonsils were reacting to the air conditioning. Wonderful. Checked my bank account, made sure everything was cool with paychecks and such, then passed out for another 4.5 hours, which was when pretty much everyone else was waking up. First order of the day was to watch countless hours of "Burn Notice" which is a show I've avoided because its premise just doesn't seem that interesting. It's actually not TERRIBLE and Gabrielle Anwar does kind of save it for me, but it's not wonderful either. Over it. Fast.

After we finished up several hours of that, Jessica tried to get me to play with the Wii. I've never touched the Wii before, nor am I completely invested in it now. I made a Mii and we attempted classic Mario Brothers....it was...interesting. But now I'm over it. We paused the Wii business to help unload round one of groceries from the car. Then we discovered that the 4th of July Twilight Zone marathon had already begun on the SciFi Channel...this, of course, meant that all other TV was forgotten. I mean, come on, the Twilight Zone is only really on twice a year. Let me get my fix, dammit. This lasted a few hours and then I discovered that we'd be able to hook up the Nintendo 64 and I got really excited. Excited enough to play two rounds of Mario Kart and a whole game of Mario Party. Ayayayayay. Dinner happened which led to watching Back to the Future III. And now we're onto Spaceballs.

I'm not complaining, since once 2pm rolled around I was in charge of what we were watching...I just wish we were, you know, doing something that didn't involve the television. My eyes are actually starting to twitch from too much TV. Can't do it. Ugh. I'm just happy that we do, in fact, now have wifi in this house. That makes me muy muy happy :)

Summer 2008 Day Thirty Five: Mahopac to Lagrangeville

My plan for this little mini-vacation was to start in Mahopac with my mom's sister and end up in Lagrangeville with my dad's brother. So I spent last night with the first family and had a good time with the kids. Woke up this morning and Ben had already left, Stacey (my aunt) was feeling pretty gross, so I was left to entertain the kiddies...which is pretty easy with these kids because, for some reason, they seem to love away at first after I dunked him into the water...he's kind of emotional and whiney so...it was to be expected, I guess...He eventually warmed up to the idea of getting into the water. We played a bit and then I organized my stuff. Around 7, my uncle Jeff and cousin Matt came to pick me up and we headed out to Poughkeepsie. We made a quick stop at Lowes and I got to pass all of Ali's stomping grounds (haha yes even Giggles heehee).

We passed through Potown and headed up the hill to Lagrangeville, where my Uncle Jeff lives. Jeff is married to Tricia, they also have a son: Matthew (18) and Jessica (20). Matthew just graduated high school and is getting ready for college. His party is on Saturday...I can't make it because of work, but because of my vacation I'm able to spend a few days with them. So here I am. of course, I get here and Jessica's already watching Buffy episodes. I stopped caring about Buffy about 7 years ago, but everyone seems to forget. Whatever. We watched like 4 or 5 episodes. Oy.

Summer 2008 Day Thirty Four: Mahopac & National Treasure II

Roundabout was good enough to give our department the day off for the Fourth of July, so I was able to take my summer half-day earlier in the week. Since I had plans to leave town later on today, I opted to leave work at 1 and head upstate early. I know what you're going to say, Mahopac isn't really upstate yadda yadda yadda. Sorry, but anywhere north of Yonkers feels like Upstate to me. When I left work at 1, I still had a few errands to run and pretty much assumed that I would have to take the 2:48 train. But even with those errands and waiting for the shuttle and taking my time getting through Grand Central, I still got to the train at 1:32, 16 minutes before the 1:48 train. Woohoo early train. The ride up to Mahopac takes about an hour and fifteen minutes, during which I managed to do nothing interesting.

Arrived in Mahopac at about 3 o'clock and headed to my aunt's house. This would be my mom's sister. She's married to Ben and they have 2 kids: Gabriella (9) and Michael (7). They have a big house on a big old lot and everytime I'm there I'm so happily situated in terms of space...happiness :) Tonight consisted of us sitting down, watching Roman Holiday, and then wishing we could find National Treasure II. Which we finally did. Ben picked up pizza for dinner, and after that we sat and watched the film. I'd watched most of it while on the cruise back in May, but we'd had to leave because of the rain...it was an outdoor movie... So this was the first time I got to see the whole thing through....I have to say: didn't love it as much as the first. Definitely did not enjoy Ed Harris' performance at ALL. Did love Helen Mirren, though. Kind of a lot. And I'm a little excited about the anticipation of the third one. Just a little :)

Summer 2008 Days Thirty One thru Thirty Three: Pretty much nothing

No, really. Nothing. Blah dee blah and no life. Yay. One of those evenings I DID manage to go to sleep nice and early which was lovely. Actually...for the most part...the most exciting part of these days was the fact that our door started acting up and, once again, I got to write a nice little email to our management company, thanks to our super proving unavailable yet again. Joy to the world. It got fixed though, thank GOODness. ugh.

Summer 2008 Day Thirty: Otto's & Hill Country

So...the plan was this: Thom and I get off from work at 1, we each go home and do our thing. Dylan finishes at work around 4:30, I'll meet him after work. Dylan and I would then find a bar near Hill Country at which to partake in Happy Hour, and wait for Thom to join us. The rest of the kids coming to dinner were going to get off from work at 8. So the first part works out. Up until the finding a bar part. Dylan and I canvassed a good portion of Chelsea trying to find a bar where a) we could get cheap drinks, b) we could be close to the restaurant, c) we'd all be comfortable with the surroundings. This proved difficult when the bar closest to the joint looked more like a seafood restaurant, and the only other close by bar had IRONS for door handles. Seriously. Irons.

So we decided to head down to Otto's Shrunken Head which is, apparently, the only good Tiki bar left in this fair city. I have to say...it IS pretty darn awesome. The saga continues: Thom is still in Queens...he'd gone home to paint and had, by the time we actually reached him, managed to dump a bucket of primer onto his older sister's head. Yep. And he was still waiting for her to get out of the shower when he reached him. So Dylan and I spent a few hours at Otto's sans Thom, but we did meet a friend which is always nice.

At about 7:30 we decided to head back uptown to Hill Country where we met everyone else (including the now-freshly-showered Thom). We were 6 altogether, which made for a fun group for BBQ. My suspicions of Hill Country being a great Texas BBQ place were confirmed when Dylan (...Texan) declared that it was so. We attempted to keep the party going by inviting everyone back to Otto's, but it seems everyone else was too tired.

So Dylan and I headed BACK to Otto's where, at this point, there was now a band playing, and a LOT more people. We had to give up the idea of sitting at the bar and opt for a booth right by the pinball machine, which was great WHILE Dylan was playing pinball. Once we both sat down and there was someone else playing, the pinball machine got annoying. Or, rather, the ass of the guy PLAYING pinball got annoying. Ick. Altogether, the evening was great. Hill Country was just as amazing as last time. But, we DID bookend the Hill Country trip with Otto's, making Otto's the highlight of the evening for sure. Especially when someone dropped their $10 Tiki glass. Boo on you.

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Nine: My Fair Lady

Yes, the musical. Yes, the film. Yes, I netflixed it. I totally had it LOWER on the list than the Goonies and it STILL arrived first. BULLSHIIIIIT.

Um. Anyway. Love My Fair Lady. Mostly for Rex Harrison. Who is kind of the bomb. And Marni Nixon. Because I met her and she's way cooler than Audrey Hepburn.

The End.

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Eight: A day in the city with Molly, Mom & Dee

My friend, Molly, and her mom (whom I call...Mom) are in town this week, and today was my day to spend the earlier hours with them. We'd gone to Chevy's for dinner yesterday, and now was the time for us to do....SHOPPING. Now...I'm not really a big shopper. I'll shop when I have money...and I'll shop when I need something. But when I don't really have much money and there's not much I need, you'll rarely find me shopping. I guess today was the exception. We headed to Build-A-Bear which is really more my sister's thing than mine, but we went....and I fell in love with a Panda. I wanted that Panda. I also wanted the assless motorcycle chaps that they sell for the bears...but that'll be another purchase for another day. I bought the Panda...his name is Henri Athos Cartelli. Because I'm a crazy dork like that. I know, it's not a Chinese name, but I've decided he's from French Indo-China. So there. heehee. We also went to the store next door...I don't remember what it's called but some of the dolls look like cheap cabbage patch knock-offs, and if I wanted one of THOSE I'd go to Toys R' Us where they still almost look like Cabbage Patch dolls.

After that little jaunt we headed uptown to the Disney store. Here's what you have to understand about me: I don't love Disney. In fact, at the tender age of 10 or 11 I learned what it meant to hate someone, and that someone was Michael Eisner. He made me disappointed in Disney's inability to catch up with the world's progression toward hotel-hospitals for terminal children. That's right. Age 10. Woohoo. Anyway, growing up in Orlando made me recognize how ridiculous it is to love a place for its tourist traps. I worked at Universal: I know. But, now, living back in New York for 5 years and being here year round for the past 3 years has made me...you know....realize that Disney is novel. It's a novelty. It's...a treat...on occasion. I can't really hate it anymore, so much as I can recognize its trap and avoid it but still have fun. Getting back to the point, Disney Store. Yay. Bought a few shirts on sale for 50% off. Bought some other little impulse buys. It was nice. We had fun and that's what matters.

Then we cabbed it down to Times Square and went to Sbarro's for lunch followed by some Carvel. I never eat Carvel. I don't really do ice cream. BUT it's summer and it was hot and it was delicious. Molly & Mom headed to the Richard Rodgers to see In the Heights, and I wandered down to the office to wait for Dee's lunch to start. Once she finally got on lunch we headed over to Bryant park and laid in the sun for a good 20 minutes before she had to start heading back. It's all for the best, though, because there was not a cloud in the sky and it was HOT in the park. I think I re-ignited the tan in my face. I would have taken pictures to share here, but I spent my money on a panda.

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Seven: Get Smart

I have to say, I had a really fantastic time of seeing this film. No, it's not an exact replica of the TV show, and no it's certainly not Oscar-winning material. But Steve Carell made me forget that he was Steve Carell and that's really all I can ask for. I was actually somewhat impressed by the talent in this film--I fucking love Alan Arkin so anything where he gets to fly a plane is OK by me.

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Six: Spice on the East Side

So after a pretty wretched day at work, followed by an afternoon of sheer napping wonderfulness, I headed down/across town to meet up with some friends. We made our way up to 73rd and 2nd, to this little restaurant called Spice Thai Hot & Cool. I'm not really one to go for Thai food, but I was among friends and, as usual, willing to try something as long as there was liquid encouragement.

Olivia and I ordered the Siamese Fried Rice (delicious, but whoa filling and WHOA portions), and Dylan ordered the pork chop which certainly seemed to be delicious from across the table. Again, portions! I left half of my rice (after claiming it for Spain and trees, declaring it an island with forks on the reef, and letting it set sail) and Olivia left with the other half of hers. Damn good, just a LOT. I have to agree with most of the reviews online: fantastic food, very slow service.

The drinks were, from what I could tell, quite nice, and you do get your bang for your buck. Dylan and I both had Pomegranate Sake Margaritas. You definitely have to like pomegranate to like it, but it was muy delicioso. And it's a nice little place...the help is VERY nice, it's just....slowish. Fortunately, it's also cheap. The three of us had very filling dinners AND a drink a piece, and it came to about $46. So....YAY!

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Five: Dude, where's my wallet?

One might wonder about the title. Well, it's pretty appropriate. I'd pretty much resigned myself to cleaning my room for the evening when, at about 9:45, I get a text from one, Adam (friend from college) who is alone in the city and could use a drink. I say, okay...let's go to DJ's...see you there, etc. Now, it's a Sunday night. I'm expecting Liam to be there and I'm expecting to do a little drinking (though, not much since you know, work tomorrow AM and stuff...plus Adam tends to spend more time making fun of my drinking than actually drinking with me so...why spoil it?)

Well...fate had it in for me...get to DJs and there's a different bartender...I don't know this guy...he's young...he...well...he wants to see ID. Okay. Adam, Mr a lot younger than me, get out your ID...oh...Mr. Bartender, you're carding me? I don't GET carded! EVer! Never ever! *Look for ID* Oh. Wallet is home. of course the wallet is home. Who knew I was gonna get fucking carded. This is almost, but not really, as good as that time they carded Dylan for cigarettes at Duane Reade. Okay, not nearly as good as then, but similar in that I NEVER get carded. Especially sitting next to Adam, I mean come ON.

Needless to say...I spent the rest of the evening drinking a LOT of diet coke. With limes. When the tab was rung up he tried to charge me for a Miller...I was like HELLO? No ID! If you're gonna charge me for a fucking Miller, you'd better be GETTING me a freaking Miller. Ugh. I mean, Adam and I had fun...but...seriously? Ugh.

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Four: Spaghetti & Matzo Balls Round 3

Last August, I was recommended, by a fellow stage manager, to Rena Strober....a vibrant, talented, special young woman working on her one-woman show, titled Spaghetti & Matzo Balls. The title is somewhat deceiving. She's all Jewish. Two sets of dishes, and all. It's just that much of her coming of age and rediscovering of herself happened under the auspices of an Italian performance background. It's funny the way life works out, and all of those twists and turns that you THINK your life has: Rena's got 'em. I think my favorite story that represents this is from this past December--we'd just finished up the run of the show and Rena had been contacted by a man named Mort Berkowitz. Mort runs the San Gennaro festival. I swear. I'm not making this up. Check the contacts page for the San Gennaro Festival. A nice Jewish man runs the festival. ANYway. Calls Rena up. Says Rena...I saw the show, you're brilliant!. Listen, I'm producing the very first annual Italian-Chinese Christmas Parade this year, and we want you to have a float. A nice Jewish girl singing "Time to Say Goodbye"....on a float...at the Italian-Chinese Christmas Parade. This is what I mean by twists and turns. Amazing.

Anyway. Back in August. Recommended. Alix couldn't do the show, so she suggested me, among others. Rena emailed me, I was on board. I wasn't doing anything else at the moment although I had my prospects (and then disappointments...though it defiinitely worked out for the best!) The show ran at the Triad theatre from October 6 or 7 through I think November 11th. It was a great run-mostly pretty full houses...we had our moments....there were some tense moments among the small group of us...but we worked them out and had a really fantastic time! At that time, the show consisted of Rena, Bill (Musical Director on piano and claves), Joe (on violin, mandolin, guitar and banjo), Mark (on Bass), myself on video projections, and then the house TD on lights and sound. The latter could not make it to the final show which left us scrambling a bit and there were some delays, some reworking of scripts, some...mess....but it was a really really great final show and FINALLY I got to call the show which was fantastic because that's what I love most about what I do. Stage Managing...in general is a pain in the ass. The rehearsals, the coordination of persons, the working with directors, the issues with dancer schedules....it's a pain. But calling a show....calling a show is the closest that I will ever get to conducting, since my musical talent (especially when it comes to reading music) can fit inside a miniature dollhouse-version-size tuna can. Calling a show is like a mantra. It brings peace. I love it.

After the run in November, we scheduled a gig at the National Arts Club which is somewhere south of Gramercy Park and hoity toity and, for the most part, anti-Semitic. Which is pretty interesting considering it's a show about and starring a young Jewish woman exploring her roots. I mean, literally, there were people in the audience PASSING NOTES about how disgusting Jews are and why the fuck would she be performing at the NAC. Not gonna lie, the people who ran the place were nice enough to us. They gave us everything we needed, they fed us well (wow, the French Onion soup was delicious), and the reception was okay. But this place had ugly carpeting, ugly paintings on the walls, and downstairs (down the marble hallway where the restrooms were), there was posterboard up, advertising an upcoming seminar (remember I don't make this shit up) titled: "Trophy Wives: A Career Choice, A Tribute To Women Working Just As Hard As Working Women."
Photographic Proof:


It was just...not the nicest place to be, you can imagine. But there WAS free alcohol afterwards, and they didn't kick us RIGHT out, so...hey. Can't complain. After the NAC, which was just myself (on the soundboard), Bill (on piano/claves), Rena, and Dean (our director/Rena's brother) on projections, we took a break, but knew that we'd have another gig shortly.

The third gig came tonight, at the Brae Burn Country Club, a members-only club in Purchase, NY that brought the show up to perform for their cabaret evening. Again, the reception was very nice--they fed us well, they took care of us, the guy who was taking care of us KNEW how things WORKED. THAT was pretty awesome. AND He speaks Spanish so he can communicate with the staff under him and is very impressive. I really liked that guy. This time around, Rena was already in Westchester with Daniel, so Mark drove up with his bass, Bill and I took the train to White Plains where Rena & Daniel met us, and then our new strings player also drove up.



I say new strings player because, this time, we decided to go with a really rad guy named Stephen Benson who played Italian Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, and Electric Guitar...and he's awesome...we uh...dropped Joe. Joe....was the source of some issues back in November, some of which concerned the way that he and I communicated. Even in these little productions, there's a level of professionalism that HAS to exist in order to keep a show functioning. Joe just doesn't have it. He confirmed the date for this gig (June 21) back in February. Now, only a few weeks before the gig, he tells us that he's too busy. Well fuck you. Stephen worked on the CD that Rena and Bill just cut, they pulled him in, he learned the music, he adapted incredibly well to our pace, and the show was awesome. The response during the show was not the most enthusiastic but it was certainly not the worst we've had. And what was really nice, for me at least, was that while I wasn't CALLING the show, I was still running sound from my laptop and from their soundboard....and it allowed me a semblance of stage-managerial-peace. Sweet.



But the place was nice--really nice--the staff was great, as I said, they had a swimming pool (but I don't think they let Gentiles swim there :( ) and Daniel was able to sneak us awesome snackies from the appetizer bar once everyone moved to the Dining Room. AND the room we were in (the card room) was stocked with a bowl of candy (probably for the diabetics) so we had a crazy pre-show sugar buzz going. My favorite moment, I think, was when I decided that I wasn't going to change my pants, instead I threw my black pants on OVER my jeans...and looked AWESOME. We finished the show, packed up...Mark lives on the upper west side, so he offered to drive me home which was sweet because we didn't get lost, it's a fairly short ride to the city, and I only had to take the train from 96th street straight home instead of waiting and waiting for the Manhattan-bound Metro North train, getting off at 125th, hoofing it to Lenox and then limping up to the apartment. Car=way better. Although, we did see a potential drug dealer with his purple headlights pulling out of a non-street onto the exit from the West Side Highway....PURPLE. HEADLIGHTS. Not a cop. guys. Not a cop.

Summer 2008 Day Twenty Three: Stephen Lynch at Summerstage

We didn't actually get to see Stephen Lynch but we did get to hear him. Originally, Dee and I planned to go do Rooftop Films. But between impending doomy rain and her being sick, it didn't sound like a good idea. We opted for Stephen Lynch at Summerstage but, again, impending doomy rain. So we sat at the fountain at Lincoln Center trying to check movie times on my phone and trying to figure out what the best course of action would be. The sky seemed to be starting to clear so we headed down to Whole Foods to get some snackies and then took the escalator back up to ground level...and the sky was blue. No clouds. Holla! So we figured we wouldn't get to the concert by 8 at this point (it's 7:40...and we're not exactly sure where we're going) so we wandered along some paths in Central Park, attempting to stay north and east. Eventually we hit the mall which meant we were in the right place. Fantastic. And it's not even 8. Unfortunately, the arena is PACKED. So after some brief deliberations we decide to park it on some grass just sound west of the arena so we can hear, and not sit in a cemetary (apparently there is one...right behind the arena.....with a big rock...and possibly a small mausoleum. Kind of weird.) We had a great time--the two guys leading up to Stephen Lynch were not spectacular, but that's because Stephen sings so....he's funnier. But Dee was loopy on cold meds and we had a good time anyway. There were a LOT of fireflies which was awesome, and a lot of loud people from Jersey. I should have thrown my bottle at them. But I didn't. Very fortunately, it did not rain until I was on the bus going home. Then it downpoured. I stepped off of the bus at 129th street, opened my umbrella, took my flip flops off, and ran home. Amazing.

Summer 2008 Days Twenty thru Twenty-two: The Edison Cafe, TV, nothing

This is a lackluster entry, sorry. Actually most of this week is pretty empty. So...lumping together Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Tuesday I had dinner with Rena at the Edison Cafe. We talked about the show, talked about life, etc. We've got a gig this Saturday in White Plains so we just met to chat. It was lovely and not nearly as entertaining as Indiana Jones. What can I say? I just can't fit a giant crystal alien skull around, even in my Whole Foods bag. Wednesday and Thursday I worked for Jessica in subs until 8pm which pretty much tied up my evenings. Wednesday Ben and I watched some Simpsons episodes. Thursday I did get to go to PetCo after work so I could finally get a fish. I named him Murky. He was very happy grey gold fish. Unfortunately by the time I got home from work on Friday, he had died. I'm not sure why...whether it was PetCo's fault or my fault (this, I doubt)...I really don't know...but I was very sad...and now I have an empty fishbowl....gotta find some non-petco fish I guess....

Summer 2008 Day Nineteen: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I don't get it. I really don't. I do not understand why producers who make millions on a certain franchise decide, 20 to 30 years later, to expand that franchise with really crappy additions to said franchise. The first example would be, of course, Star Wars. I love Star Wars. But I love Episodes IV, V and VI. Episodes I, II and III should, in my opinion, have never been made. The technology was not as revolutionary, the plot was dug up from the bottom of cracker jack boxes, and the acting was minimal, if present at all outside of Liam Neeson, who is pretty hot. Oh and cool, Yoda is.
The most recent example is Lucasfilm and Spielberg's attempt to expand on the Indiana Jones franchise. I'm not gonna lie. I had a good time. Ali and I sat there with a jumbo-size bowl of popcorn and laughed our asses off. But it was just not...good. I'll hand it to Shia LaBeouf. He's managed to become a better actor every time I see him. And that's wonderful for him. Fantastic for him. Harrison Ford thinks he's still got it, but he doesn't. All of the other little side characters...the Marcus replacement, the Dean...both of them were...eh. And poor Karen Allen--looks like she must have been hungry and sold her talent for a cheeseburger or two. That's kind of mean, but she's just not a good actress anymore. It's depressing. Cate Blanchett was also...fairly disappointing. The whole film just felt contrived and was upsetting from the viewpoint of someone who wanted to be surprised...nope! no surprises! it's about aliens. Yep. Whoopdeedoo.
What bothered me the most, I think, was that the previous installments all focused on some kind of religious iconography based in humanism, but focused on the unknown (or known) supreme being. Great. Fantastic. You wanna talk about The holy grail and the Arc of the Covenant...these are all man made things. The reason Temple of Doom was not as good, was that it tried to focus on something that had been "bestowed" upon man (those rocks with the diamonds in them). Now, in this new installment, we're focusing on no man made objects at all, but on an alien skull that just happens to be crystalline and therefore worth an archeologists' time. I don't get it. I don't get how this fits into the Indy theme. I get that the peoples they focus on (Mayans? Peruvians? They don't really clarify...) saw their faith in the alien beings as a religious faith. But...I mean....OKAY. I get WHY 20 years later, aliens would be the topic of conversation. I get why it was interesting at that point in time as compared to the whole christian artifact search for the Nazis....great. But it seems like such a cop-out to drag a bunch of Russians through the Peruvian jungle to check out some alien stuff. It's just WEIRD.

The ending was weird too. Expected, but weird. But still okay. I liked the whole last 5 minutes more than I liked the rest of the film. The rest of the film was....amusing.

Summer 2008 Day Eighteen: Tony Night

The day started off fairly low-key. Shower. Put on dress. Go to work. Put on fancy shoes at work...
it was the evening that made today special. When work was over, Kayrose, Jess, Hannah and I headed up to Toys R' Us (after an absolutely necessary stop at the bank) to ride the Ferris wheel. We'd kind of planned this last week...why? I'm not sure. But it was worth it. We had a grand time. We got to ride in the red and yellow car...you know...with the roof....everyone who was a child between 1983 and 1990 had one, i'm pretty sure.



After the ferris wheel, we wandered over to candyland...you know, like the game? but....in a store...special, I know.




Tony night was, in general, a bust for Roundabout. Sure, we had a great party at Planet Hollywood, and sure we had 20 nominations, but we got 3 awards. George got none. How, I'm not sure, but it happened. BUT we had a great time at the party. It's kind of hard to explain. I think the pictures'll do it :)

Summer 2008 Day Seventeen: The Roosevelt Hotel; Connolly's

I stayed out far far too late Friday evening after watching my film. I got a text at 9:30 that led to my leaving my apartment and heading back to D.J.'s down on 57th. Brilliance. So Saturday I finally took advantage of my comp day from work and stayed home until about 2:30pm. I hopped on the M7 and took it down to midtown to meet Ali and Jay. When we got to 55th street, it started pouring. When I say pouring, I mean there were flash floods on 42nd street. I had to get off the bus at 42nd, swim to the M42, take that across to Madison and then Swim up to The Roosevelt Hotel which is a very very swanky little hotel tucked into the corner of 45th and Madison. Ali and Jay were staying there--so I met Ali in the bar/lounge and we helped ourselves to a lovely frozen strawberry margarita and a free lemon something. They literally plopped this lemon drop drink onto our table...so we drank it.

Jay joined us about 45 minutes later and we headed over to Connolly's on 45th between 6th and 7th (if I'd have known it was there, I'd have drank more before Pels shows in the past...note to self, find day to see Bette & Boo. So we head to Connolly's...I got a quesadilla (go figure...at an Irish pub). Ali and I tried to order some frozen strawberry margaritas, figuring if they've got quesadillas in this joint, they must have frozen strawberry margaritas! The waitress took the order and walked away. Then she comes back 2 minutes later and says they have no strawberry margaritas...so we say okay, give us regular frozen ones. Great. She goes away. 3 minutes later she's back...they don't have frozen margaritas....at this point I'm wondering how long this girl has worked here...? SO I order a Stella and have done with it. Too much stress for a fucking beverage. The food was great, though. The onion rings were superb. That's right. Quesadillas and Onion Rings. I'm awesome.

Summer 2008 Day Sixteen: I Was a Male War Bride

Like Cary Grant? Check.
Like Ann Sheridan? Check.
Like random war movies about romance and cross-dressing? Double check.



If you've never seen this film, just do it. Give in to your cravings for Cary Grant in a horse wig and skirt, and see this film. Granted, Grant isn't exactly convincing as a French officer (Captain Henri Rochard) and, yes, the plot is a bit....silly....but it's totally worth it. A comedic gem, really.

Summer 2008 Day Fifteen: The Framer (BWTC)

The Framer
by Edward Allan Baker
directed by Kevin Confoy

Playing now through Sunday, June 22nd at the Michael Weller Theatre
Buy Tickets

I'm going to tell you a story. About 2 years ago, I became acquainted with an actor named Drew Sarich (you can look him up) who had been in Lestat earlier in 2006, and was, almost about this time, going into Jacques Brel Off-Broadway. Through Drew, a few months later, I met a friend of his from college (also Drew, Drew DeCorleto) who was (and is, still) the Artistic Director and co-founder of a small-but-vibrant theatre company called Broken Watch Theatre Company. Broken Watch resides at the Michael Weller Theatre at 311 West 43rd Street, a building with many many many theatre companies and rehearsal rooms and theatre-friendly spaces.

Over the course of many months, I visited Broken Watch from time to time, chatting with Drew and his wife, Teresa Goding, helping out with set up for an event, and I also got to see a few performances there. It's a great space and a fantastic company with a lot of energy and love going for them. But now, the trend being to squeeze off-off-Broadway theatres out of midtown, the Michael Weller is being forced to close its Doors. It's both a tragedy, and a travesty. The company has no intention of going down with the theatre, though, and is hoping to continue its wonderful work elsewhere. If you can, donate. Donate donate donate. I'm very proud, with my measly funds, to be a donor to this company, and you should as well. See how you can help at www.brokenwatch.org

Currently, Broken Watch is producing its final production at the Michael Weller, titled The Framer. It runs about 2 hours, and the 50-seat theatre is just comfortable enough that you can really envelop yourself in Edward Allan Baker's world of death, familial mayhem, corrupted officials and people who abuse children sexually. Yes. Just what you were looking for. The show only runs through June 22nd so, if you have $20 (regular ticket) or $30 (donor ticket) and a free afternoon or evening, go see this delicious cast fight it out onstage amid scarily familiar frozen faces on the walls. AND there's a good chance you'll get to see little Tripp (Teresa & Drew's infant) who is just the cutest little thing that ever chewed on my necklace...and glasses....

Summer 2008 Day Fourteen: Otis Clay & Ryan Shaw

There's something absolutely beautiful about reclining on a bench, staring into the sunset, facing Jersey, listening to Ryan Shaw singing Bob Marley's Redemption Song. Oh and his bassist is pretty awesome too :) But only AS a bassist. They've also got him on backup vocals...and his mic is too high...so...........it's kind of stupid gross. But his playing is brilliant.
Ryan went on first, I guess because Otis is the bigger name. Between the two I really enjoyed Ryan more. He's got a sweet, smooth voice and was really working the crowd--interacting, actually using anecdotes to transition between songs... Otis Clay on the other hand was like *shouts title* SONG *shouts next title* SONG...etc. etc. The music was great, I just....wanted more interaction.

The concert was in Rockefeller Park which is, I think, the northernmost of the Battery Park segments. Just take a train to Chambers and walk west on Chambers til you hit the water. You'll find it. It's beautiful. I'm in love.

Summer 2008 Day Thirteen: Category 3 Hurricane

It was very much in my plans to just kick back tonight. Relax. Watch the Netflix movie that's been sitting here for over a week...but no. Instead, we get a heat-wave-breaking-category-3-hurricane-like-madness outside. It didn't last nearly long enough, but it caused me to turn off my computer, put up my window fan in a storm-facing window, and pass out. It was the best sleep I've had in a week. Amazing.

Summer 2008 Day Twelve: Too hot to do the things we do

Seriously, the heat wave destroyed all hope of doing anything interesting. I had to walk across town with my dad and sister (instead of enjoying the comfort of an AC'd bus) and then sit in my gramma's NON-AC apartment....I don't mind family time, I mind the heat. We started watching Bend it Like Beckham, which is a movie that I enjoy a great deal, but I had to go home and try to sleep...which isn't easy in this heat anyway, but...yeah. Too darn hot.

Summer 2008 Day Eleven: Too hot to do anything cool

Seriously though. Worked 10-6. Even people who don't work on Sunday came in today.
I DID get to go to D.J. Reynolds tonight, though. D.J. Reynolds is the bar where I took care of my college drinking, for the most part. School's out so, for a Sunday night, it was mad quiet. But if there'd been more people there, it would have made being inside even more disgusting than it was outside so....small blessings, I guess.

Summer 2008 Day Ten: Surprise Party!

My mother had plan for my father's 50th birthday (tomorrow). Send my father and sister to a Yankees game today, order up a lotta family, and surprise dad when he got back to my uncle's house. It actually worked. I won't bore you with familial details, nor the insanity that is my grandmother after a little heat, a little fun, and a whiff of alcohol. I love her, she's just hilarious.
But I WILL share pictures :)

PARTY!!


Awaiting birthday-boy's arrival


Happiness


My aunt Carol


My dad's cousin, Donna's, little daughter Casey (who looks just like my dad) and my cousin Jess


Proof of fun


Gramma Ronnie...with stars on her head...


The cake that Carol outdid herself on. Essentially, I may have contracted diabetes from eating it. It's like a giant Funny Bone (you know, the food? yeah)...chocolate, peanut butter, amazingness. UGh. Death. Couldn't even finish my little piece.


Stacey must have been peeved about something, but mostly it just makes an amusing picture. My aunt Stacey with my cousin Gabriella.


This picture is my favorite. There are 4 branches of my family in it, side by side. To the left (on the floor), my cousin Harry (the son of my mother's brother's fiancé); on the couch in blue, my cousin, Jessica (the daughter of my dad's brother); in red on the couch, Gabriella (the daughter of my mother's sister); standing, my sister Rory. Insanity.

Summer 2008 Day Nine: Girls' Night Out

Tonight, Kayrose and Jessica and I had plans. Our plans consisted of taking in a good deal of BBQ at Hill Country (located on 26th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenues), and then crashing the PR Day Banquet. Unfortunately, said banquet was invite only this year, and they're being scrupulous about who they let in. So, Kayrose MAYBE could have squeezed in, but the italian-complected Pollack and the Scottish red-head were NOT going to do so. So, instead, the three of us (along with Kayrose's aunt) headed down to Hill Country (which, by the way is incredible) and then concluded Girls' Night Out at the Pig n' Whistle.

Now, Hill Country is....for lack of a better word, Splendidious (it's an obsolete word, but "splendid" was not gonna do it). You walk into this place and immediately forget that New York is outside. It's a Texas-style honky-tonk den of amazing. The critic for New York Magazine only gave it one star. I disagree like WHOA. I never say "like whoa" but here, I do. If you like market-style BBQ, Big Red soda, moist brisket, and all the sides you could ever imagine, I recommend saving up about $35 and treating yourself to a fantastic dinner.

After HC, we headed uptown to the Pig n' Whistle on 3rd. We took some ridiculous pictures, downed a beer each, and had a fantastic time. The crowd was a little noisy and I was, actually, in danger of having a huge speaker dropped on my head as we sat in our booth, but all around a good place.

Summer 2008 Day Eight: Sunday in the Park with George

Sunday in the Park with George is running at Studio 54 through June 29th. If you haven't gotten to go see it, do so. There are tickets available, you can get them pretty dirt cheap at this point with the ride codes, and um...it's amazing. This was actually my 4th time seeing it, the first was with the beautiful Ms. Ali Honeybear Goldsmith who provided ample company in the wake of SJP and Cynthia Nixon sitting in front of us. Of course, the only reason we sat there was that our seating was General Admission and Sam Mendes & Kate Winslet didn't show. Fantastic. Second time was Opening Night, when I sat with the amazing Tammy. Third time, I saw it with Rory, and this time I managed comps for Rory and I (right in the nick of time, too), and I purchased tickets for my parents as their mothers' and fathers' day gifts.

I'm happy to say that everyone loved it -- it's rough when it's a musical that my mother doesn't know. I expect she COULD fall asleep. And everyone was tired, anyway, so I almost anticipated it, but they all stayed awake through the whole thing. Once again, it was brilliant.

Summer 2008 Day Seven: It's a Boy!

I had a Doctor's appointment today because of my foot. I've been trying to get in to see this guy, but he's been on vacation. Finally went to see him this afternoon. They X-rayed my foot (in case you missed it, I feel like I dislocated part of my foot) and then sat me down to wait. Dr. Lashley comes in with the X-rays and an assistant. He's a pretty cool guy. Wears a bright green shirt that says Dr. Lashley, and matching socks. He was amused by the fact that I worked at RTC and wanted to know if I'd been the one calling his house over and over. I was like noooo wrong department... ANYWAY we take a look at the Xrays and he feels my feet and does all kinds of weird...podiatric...things. Podiatrists are weird, I'll just put that out there. The last time I went to a podiatrist was about 6 years ago when I managed to get a needle broken off in my left foot...I'm amazing, obviously.

ANYWAY he tells me that what I've got is not actually a dislocation or anything, but some kind of a spur on one of the cuneiforms. Essentially, I have really high arches (my arches are beautiful) and the steady pressure on the heel and the ball of my right foot has caused the bone at the mid point of my foot to naturally grow a bump (for lack of a better word). It would appear (though we didn't x-ray the left foot) that I have this on both of my feet, but the right foot is the one that hurts. Now, I can pull a few instances of my....klutz...ness....out of my past that could have caused more trauma to this foot, but nothing EXTREMELY recent. I mean, I rolled my ankle about a month and a half ago and Dr. L says that it's possible that it caused a redistribution of the lateral nerve in my foot, causing me to feel pain in the right foot, but not the left. This is possible, but if I was gonna redistribute nerves, I'd think it would have happened in November when I stepped off of a set of stairs without realizing I was 2 feet off the ground....But I guess not.

Dr. L also did an ultrasound on my foot, which was kind of awesome. I got to see the tendons and the joint and the swelling. I even got to keep one of the ultrasound print outs. I've decided it's a boy. If it was less painful it'd be a girl, but no. I stopped by at work after the appointment to show off my bundle of joy. I'm still looking for the father, though. If anyone knows who could have knocked my foot up, let me know okay? The baby spur does have a name. Apparently. And, though I don't wholly approve of the name, I suppose Dylan's right--it's not like he has to go to school with this name. Fonzarelli Aloysius Cartelli. yeah. I know. amazing.

Summer 2008 Day Six: Museum Mile Festival

I don't know that I would actually CALL the MMF a "Festival." It's kind of on the dull end of the Festival spectrum...alongside "Lecture Series" and "Book Club" but it was a cute way to spend the evening. What's actually fantastic about it is that admission to the museums along Museum Mile becomes free at 6PM. The Met, the Guggenheim, et al...Free. I had no plans whatsoever to visit any museum other than the Met, but it was nice to know I could have.

The reason for my visit to the Met was an exhibit I'd heard about a few weeks ago and was actually really excited about it. It's called Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. I was hoping that this, too, would live up to the hype. Unfortunately....not really. It was definitely interesting, but an exhibit without Shalom Man is simply...lacking! It was actually fairly dull on its own, but very pretty to look at. This isn't MY video but it pretty much captures the experience though, perhaps, a little faster than I went.



So, yes, it was over before I knew it, and I headed out through another gallery. The Met seems much harder to navigate than AMNH. Perhaps because one wing of modern art has the potential to look just like the next and, if you're not paying attention, Greek and Roman sculpture can look identical.

Once I finally made it out of the Met, I headed uptown along 5th Avenue which had been so wonderfully cut off from traffic. There were kids playing in the streets, drawing on the street with chalk, people dancing, clowns, etc. etc. It was kind of fantastic, but not as fantastic as your everyday street fair. All in all, it was not a complete failure, but once I got to 97th I hopped on the crosstown so I could catch the 2 lest I be stranded along Lexington waiting for a rogue 5 train.