Wednesday, September 30, 2009

NOAH AND THE WHALE PART TROIS? I CAN'T REMEMBER.

My favorite little British boys have a new album out.

First Days of Spring is coming just in time for, um, the winter. The second time I saw them in concert was, well, depressing. This album is all about break-ups and I was ready to become an alcoholic after that particular show. But now, listening to the entire album, I am realizing they just chose to play all the ridiculously depressing ones at that concert. Ok, the album is still pretty mellow, but in a good way.

It is worth a listen. Very different from their previous musical creation, but different is good. I'm down with diffs. I have a feeling this album is going to be one that grows on me...I love albums like that.

I will keep you posted on the growth factor. And thanks to Sanchez for forwarding me the free album listening link.


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

FINGER NIPPIN GOOD.

So I've been working in my friend's office for a few weeks now, and I deal with a lot of paper. Paper can be a very dangerous thing and it can also be a total mother frakking pain in the rumpus. Paper slides all over the place and that sh*t can cut you like a rumbler from West Side Story.

OUCH.

To help with the dangers of paper, someone somewhere in office supply land created these:

FINGER NIPPLES.

Ok, they are not officially called "Finger Nipples." According to the office supply binder, they are called "Rubber Finger Tips" but, let's get real here folks. Those things look like bumpy nips and every time I stick one on my finger in the office, I can't help but feel a little silly and giggle to myself.

THEY LOOK ABSURD!

And, the worst thing is if you forget you have one on and you go to talk to someone and suddenly you're waving your finger nip all over the place like a wacko.

Yet another reason why offices are absurd.

Also, I have a confession to make. I just listened to a Christmas carol. Right now, while I was blogging. I only listened to it once, but I did it. And, it's not like I am someone who is obsessed with the Christ of Mas. I think it should be illegal to put up Christmas decorations and play carols until after Thanksgiving. But, it was cold, it was dark out, and I just wanted to hear a little Bing Crosby.

Please don't hate me.

BROADWAY HILARITY.


I stumbled upon this website and I must say, as an actor living in New York, I find it wildly entertaining. Insane, but entertaining.



Monday, September 28, 2009

A CHUCKLE FROM THE BRITS.

An English university creative writing class was asked to write a concise essay containing the following elements:

(1) Religion

(2) Royalty

(3) Sex

(4) Mystery



The prize-winner wrote:



'My God,' said the Queen, 'I'm pregnant. I wonder who the father is.'

Sunday, September 27, 2009

HOW NOT TO DO THEIR WORK AT WORK AND DO YOUR OWN WORK AT WORK.

As some of you may know, I am temporarily filling in (um, I guess they call that temping?) at my friend's office through the end of October while she is off doing a play. Like many offices, they have blocked access to any kind of non-work email and basically anything in all the land that is any fun to read or do online.

Although, for some reason, the various "gentlemen" in my office find ways to look at scantily clad women on their computers and apparently THAT is not blocked. I can't access my blog, which is a source of serious information for thousands of people around the world, but they can look at boobies and booties?

Thatta makka no sensa.

Anyhoozle, I often finish my work for the day a few hours ahead of schedule, because that's how I roll, and then I'm left with a significant amount of time to kill. Normally, I would use these few hours to catch up on emails and get some of MY work done, but, I can't do that.

Well, guess what? I have figured out a sort of solution.

I can read my emails on my blackberry, so I open up a handy dandy word doc, type out all my responses to various folks, attach that word doc to a work email, and send it to myself when I'm done. Once I'm home, I just cut and paste my responses into real emails and BAM! Done!

A simple miracle, I know. You could call that a simpacle.


SUNDAY FUNDAY FOTO.


Rainy Sunday = Tea + Jammies

Friday, September 25, 2009

TIME FOR A SPRITZER.

It is the end of the week and I am home. Time for a Pomegranate Spritzer.

Delicious!

I may or may not have eaten too many peanut butter cookies at work that were left over from the lunch meeting.

I may or may not have listened to this song 12+ times to and from the office.


I may or may not have totally forgotten how weird and hilarious this music video is.

I may or may not have gone to bed at 9:00pm last night like an old lady and loved it.

I may or may be totally jazzed about my weekend that includes a photo shoot and a trio of birthdays.

WHAT WHAT!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

WHAT A DAY.

I'm pooped.

I've been up since 6:30am and just got home, but it was a GREAT day.

I managed to squeeze in the gym, work, errands, seeing the final dress rehearsal of Memphis on Broadway and got to do some other fun things at the theatre that I can't quite talk about yet...

Super things are a brewin', but I need to get some shut eye otherwise I will be too tuckered out to make some magic tomorrow.

I also saw Sienna Miller and Travis from So You Think You Can Dance. They are both small and blonde.

If you are in New York, go see Memphis! It is a powerhouse of a show and there is a native Bay Area actor in it (who also acted with the company where I just did the festival in August). He gives one HELLUVA performance. YOWZA!!!!! LOVED HIM!!!!

Go, James Monroe Iglehart, go!!!

Friday, September 18, 2009

DISASTER.

I have been off the blog because my computer has officially DIED.

D-I-E-D.

I can't blog from my friend's office where I am working, am hoping to buy a new computer tomorrow, but we'll see what happens.

If you want to send me $1,500 to put towards it, that would be cool.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

REGULATOR.

Apparently there was some sort of accident or maintenance going on yesterday on the 4/5/6 line.  So, when I was coming home from work I was lucky enough to have the good fortune of getting to squeeze myself on to the most crowded subway car I have EVER seen.
 

I had some old man's gut all up on my back, some short woman in my cleave, a middle aged mom in my right armpit, and my left arm was sandwiched between a big black ladies ta-tas.

Awesome.

As we approached 33rd Street, the doors opened and the mania began all over again.  A crowd of 4 middle school girls thought it would be a great idea to act like complete morons and they started running into the solid mass of people in the car while laughing hysterically.  This solid mass included me, as well as a mother and her young child and these hooligans continued pushing around long after they were already situated in the car.  

I was not amused.

The result of their unnecessary jostling was me getting more bump and grind from behind than I've had in months (but in a bad way) and a face full of smelly stranger's pit.  I swear to Swayze, there was moisture left on my nose after the pit-to-face contact.

This lead me to yell, "UM, LADIES?  YOUR SHOVING PEOPLE AROUND IS NOT EFFECTIVE AND YOU ARE HURTING OTHERS.  YOU NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER.  OKAY?"

As a few other passengers began applauding and shouting words of encouragement, the girls looked at me, completely shocked.  They completely stopped moving and, after a minute, I heard one of them ask her friend, "Does she work for the MTA?"

Brilliance.

Monday, September 14, 2009

HE'S LIKE THE WIND.

It is a very sad day for us all.  Patrick Swayze has passed away after his battle with pancreatic cancer.  


All I can say is: Patrick, since you blew my mind in Dirty Dancing, I've never been able to hear the name "Johnny" without thinking about you and the way you turned Baby into a woman during that glorious summer of 1963.  I can't hear those first drum beats of "Be My Baby" without thinking of the opening credits or hear the harmonica in "Hey Baby" without thinking of you twistin' on that log above the stream.  And, never has a man looked so hot in a black wife beater and tight black high waisted pants.

You also made me weep like a mofo in Ghost.

I will miss you deeply and I hope you're having the time of your life up there at the Kellerman's in the sky.

 

REHAB.

I'm starting to think that an Amy Winehouse musical would be a great idea...





From the new TV show Glee.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

I DON'T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME.

I just got back from the most insane class I have ever taken at a gym.


EVER.

It was supposed to be one of the normal conditioning classes but apparently they swapped the regular teacher with a deranged African dance Juilliard graduate with a degree in insanity. And she wasn't wearing a bra.

Class started with about 30 minutes of rapid flailing of appendages in all sorts of directions while jumping at crack speed. After about 5 minutes half the class looked like they were about to barf and I started laughing. Everyone looked totally and completely deranged. It was the definition of a spectacle.

Topics discussed (or shouted, rather) during the class after the teacher applied roll on deodorant in front of everyone while standing next to the sound system:

- Working on getting a degree in "Yourself" and applying that degree to attain "Heightened Levels"
- Phone sex
- Alexander Technique
- Burritos
- Her husband's flexibility
- Finding a husband
- Chip'n'dales
- Being obsessed with hanging upside down at the age of 25
- People trying to snatch your joy

I don't think I will be able to move my arms tomorrow. And I am sure someone will be able to snatch my joy because I won't have any energy to fight to keep it.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

HEALTH CARE REFORM ALSO KNOWN AS MY LIFE.

I haven't blogged about politics in awhile because, to be honest, I've been slightly detached from what is going on. But there is one issue I have been following because, selfishly, it directly applies to me, and that is the business (and by business, I mean business) known as Health Care.

I am a middle class, (normally) very healthy 25 year old female. I am predominantly self-employed and cannot afford private health insurance. I am a member of an actor's union, but that only gives me coverage once I hit a certain number of week's worth of stage work every year, a mark I have yet to reach for 2009. In general, I don't need to see a doctor except for routine yearly exams, and I fortunately have access to a fairly decent free health clinic that is funded through my union.

I am by FAR a minor case in the grand scheme of things. I am lucky enough to even have access to basic free care. I have friends who are doctors who I can email for advice if I am in a real jam. As of right now, I am not (hopefully) suffering from a chronic condition that requires frequent treatment. However, if something were to happen to me that would require daily medication or the diagnosis of a specialist, I would be up the ole poop creek without a paddle.

Where does that leave me? I have made the choice to strike out on my own, in some respects, to pursue what I have always wanted to do with my life. That has meant working odd jobs (for lots of odd people, I might add), scrapping together ways to make money, having a weird schedule, all because I'm trying to go for it. That has also meant that I can't afford to pay around $300 a month for private health insurance. Should going for it mean that if I get sick, I have to stay sick? Should I not pursue what I want out of my life, suck it up, and get a job I don't want doing something I don't care about in order to have health insurance to avoid potentially being sick without proper coverage?

I personally don't think that makes any sense at all.

I know I am grossly over simplifying here. I know how fortunate I am - trust me, I do - but I am one of those tens of millions of people President Obama was talking about tonight. I took my antibiotics (which, had it not been for the free clinic, would have cost me $160) in the middle of that speech and I couldn't help but feel fired up. He repeated a few times that he still believes, "we can act even when it's hard." I am right with Mister Prez here, seeing as my motto I coined a few months back is, "Doing what's easy is the easy way to feel like a**."

This is going to be a long process, but it is a necessity. Wake up, people. And nothing that comes easily is every really that rewarding. Growing pains are painful for a reason, but the rewards are oh so sweet.


THEY'RE 90.

In the lobby of the Mayo Clinic...

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

GROOVE TO THIS.

Awhile back I wrote about the wonder known as Grooveshark. Well, today when I was grooving to my own shark I figured out that I can post songs to my blog directly from their nifty website. So, I will be periodically posting some tunes for y'all to listen to as you peruse the blog.

Thanks to Sanchez's magical DJing on the drive to the airport, I got a good listen to M. Ward's new album and it is safe to say that I am madly in love with him now. I've listened to him all day.

I am devasted that he is married. What about me?!

BACK TO REALITY.

Well, I am back.

(Insert major groan here).

Back from the best vacation ever. Back to "real life," back to my apartment, back to the land where I cannot run in the woods for an hour every day, go sailing, swim in the ocean, and feel the winds of freedom blowin' through my hairrrrr.

I. Love. Maine.

We took some great pictures, but you will have to wait a bit to see them because I have to get them, gasp, developed. Eeeeep! I know. These days no one takes pictures on actual film, but I did. And, I rocked it old school style with a disposable camera. I am rather excited to see what they look like; I forgot about how fun it can be to go and pick up your pictures.

Maaaaaaagic.

I'll leave you with two photos from the first day, a meal I replicated on the last day as well.

It's a li'l photo essay I like to call:

"In My Belly."




Thanks, Mistah Lobby. You were great.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

VACATIONLAND.





See y'all next week!

WELL HELLOOOOOOOO.

I woke up today and not only is it September on the calendar, but it seems to have brought some lovely fallish weather along with it. And it is fabulous!

Speaking of fabulous, check out the forecast for my upcoming trip to Vacationland, The Way Life Should Be (aka Maine):

Wed
Sep 02
Sunny 75°/54°


Thu
Sep 03
Sunny 77°/56°

Fri
Sep 04
Partly Cloudy 76°/56°

Sat
Sep 05
Partly Cloudy 72°/52°

Sun
Sep 06
Sunny 71°/54°






BOOYA.

I am so excited. Today is going to be a good day of getting some things done, packing, working, and enjoying the perfect weather.

And, since it is the first day of September, I am going to encourage you ALL to go see The September Issue, which I saw last Friday. I loved it. We all did. Not only do you get to look at some incredible photo shoots and clothes and see the inner workings of Vogue, but the real meat of the film lies in the relationships between Miz Wintour and her employees. It is a quiet character study and the best character, hands down, is someone I've always wanted to be best friends with:


Andre Leon Talley.

Go see the movie and you will understand why.