Meet me at the back shack

In Wisconsin for a week... It's nice to be here when the ground isn't completely covered in gray slush. I already swung by my old place of business and made plans for the next few days with my Yankee friends (named as such out of love - its all love with Jessica) and now I am killing time as best I can.
I read an article on yahoo that said too much cola will ruin your muscles or something to that affect. I was drinking Coke while reading it. I'm screwed. Although death by Cherry Coke might not be so bad. At my funeral, no matter how I go, I want Cherry Coke served... In cans, that's when it's the tastiest.
So I am reunited with all my art materials and I think I am going to paint some ladies while I'm up here, but I need to think of which ones I want to paint. Not real ladies, like celebrities or historical figures or Harry Potter characters, but more like women representing something - different things. Hmmm.....
Okay, let me tell the creepy guy story. I was on the interstate and I had literally just crossed the state line into Wisconsin, when I see a guy in the next lane leaning forward to look at me and smile. He was preparing to exit, but he kept speeding forward to get a good look at me. I finally looked back to see what the deal was and I realized he was masturbating. I screamed and my mom, who was seated next to me screamed, but then she started laughing as I started to gag and shudder. Why? I mean, why? I think that there will be permanent damage as a result of this. Oh, my brain.
My old boss told me today that I had "lost so much weight!". That's a situation where you don't know whether to be complimented or insulted. Was I such a whale before? Yikes.
Thank goodness I do not have a phone with Internet capabilities, because I sure can waste time like nobody's business. I mean, really.

If you're under pressure

Let's take the time to walk together while we have the sun
You never know when temperamental weather's gonna come
And if you want to face the death you're never that far from
Just take a breath and sing to it when all the day is done

So sorry about all the sorrow in your life you'll know
It's true that all the ones you love will someday have to go
And everytime you say goodbye you'll hear the trumpets blow
A serenade to the soul, all surrounded by the glow

If you feel all broken 'cause i left you there too soon
Just know that it's not up to you to make the flowers wilt or bloom
And if you think you're lonely then just listen for the tune
Of all the stars i left for you in the chest of the moon

If you want to shake whatever separates you from
The holiness you want to make your life on earth become
Live your life with a compassion you can be proud of
Then let your last breath fade away with dignity and love

Let's take the time to walk together while we have the sun
You never know when temperamental weather's gonna come
And if you want to face the death you're never that far from
Just take a breath and sing to it when all the day is done

While We Have The Sun - Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, Ginger Brooks Takahashi & Friends

3 seconds of genius

"Acting is the business of inducing your own insecurities." John Lithgow

For those of you who don't know, I have spent the past week at the NSAL National Drama Competition in Washington D.C. and it was amazing. It rocked my britches off. Seriously.
I was surrounded by ridiculously talented kids, which at times was a little overwhelming, but they were all very nice and funny and so on. There is so much that happened, that I perhaps should break it down into days....

Day 1
I arrive at the hotel and moments later I meet my roommate. Um, and I love her. She taught me the importance of being fierce and to demand that people recognize how awesome I am. She also taught me about the three p's. Anyway, we register and that night at the orientation banquet, we are greeted with bagpipes and the color guard. And free drinks... very important. I meet several other cool kids, one whom I instantly discover we are connected through mutual theatre friends! And then we go on a bus tour of D.C.
Okay, so I got lost at the Lincoln Memorial. My roommate and I spent 45 minutes trying to find our group and our bus. Everyone was cool except "Big Pink", who looked like she wanted to strangle the two of us and for the rest of the trip constantly reminded us where the bus was and would drop comments about not wanting to lose us again. Yeesh.

Day 2
We go to a luncheon at the very prestigious Cosmos Club. I mean, fancy out the wazoo. Let me take a moment to say that I did not pay for a thing... all of this was covered by NSAL, which girl- they have money honey. That evening we are invited to the Indonesian Embassy, which is held in the most expensive home ever built in the U.S. and was where the owners of the Hope Diamond lived. It was very pootsie; we were treated to dinner and Indonesian dancing.

Day 3
The competition. I feel my stomach turning the whole time. I lay down on a bench and try to stop shaking. When it is my turn, I begin my first piece and I feel my underwear, which ties up with ribbons on the side, start to slide down. I clench my buttocks together and pray that my drawers do not slide all the way down my legs. Not because of the embarrassment factor, but because it could be considered a prop!
That night we meet a few people from the cast of Ragtime at the Kennedy Center and then go on a backstage tour. I wanted to take pictures of all the posters of productions that had been held there because you would not believe. Holy. Moly. Did you know that there was a ballet of Edward Scissorhands? Did you? We then went to Watergate for dinner (more pootsie-ness) and then went home.

Day 4
Master class with the judges-- the first one who spoke was the artistic director at the Kennedy Center. Mostly he talked about marketing yourself as a product and shared stories of how freaking hard it is to get your foot in the door. He was followed by a guy who is a casting director at ABC (for shows like Ugly Betty, Dirty/Sexy/Money, etc) who continued on with this theme but talked about the business of television. They both had excellent points and I took lots of notes. Then came Mark Medoff - if you don't know who that is, he is a famous playwright/screenwriter/director... has won Tony awards and been nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay "Children of a Lesser God". He had a few of us read from his upcoming screenplay that he is directing... and then rewarded me by saying I had really gotten the character and then later pulling me aside to tell me how good I was and to give me notes about my competition pieces. He truly is an amazing man- I felt honored to have made some kind of impact on him, because he made a point to talk to me several times after the class. This probably made the whole trip worthwhile, honestly.
Then John Lithgow came and worked with three students on monologues. He pulled me up onstage to partner with a guy who was doing a piece from The Diviners. Then, joy of joys, he talked about Shakespeare. I got to talk to John Lithgow ABOUT SHAKESPEARE. My heart melted, I swear. Then before I left, Geoffrey Soffer (the casting director) took my head shot and resume. Hurray!
So, moving on- that night was the banquet, where I was the most under dressed person there, but whatever! I didn't win, however, the whole experience had been so mind blowing, and the kids there were so talented that I honestly did not mind. I had such an amazing time!

Day 5
After getting around an hour and a half of sleep, I got up and went to the Russian Embassy, where we were treated to a performance from a one man show and then discussed Stanislavsky. Then I came home.
That is honestly the abridged version of all the events that happened while I was there. It was unforgettable- the other contestants were the shit, and I discovered I liked being treated like a pootsie lady. I also learned a lot. And I brought home some great quotes. Ahem.

"Sometimes the best things that happen are the things that go wrong."
John Lithgow
"The only creative conversation that's useful is an honest one."
John Lithgow
"I'm not looking for a performance, but three seconds of genius."
"I need you to be who I need you to be so I'll be comfortable."
John-Paul Sartre via Mark Medoff

Puketastic

Ohhhhhhh competition. Ohhhhh nerves. I leave tomorrow at 6:15 am. I still haven't packed or figured out exactly how I am getting from the airport to the hotel. I hope my clothes are nice enough - I don't want to look like hot southern mess!
I honestly have no expectations ( I still am a little baffled that I won in this chapter ) but it sure would help things a lot if I at least placed or something. I need to do my pieces again for people, but I think I might throw up. For the love. WHY can't I be an overconfident bitch? That would make things sooooo much easier. Of course, it would also make me delusional... but anyway.
Prayers. Prayers and hot tea.
I need to find a way to burn off some of this nervous energy.

Let Your Honesty Shine Shine Shine

You know that feeling when someone enters the room? Like, the air shifts or something... I've been getting that feeling in my apartment A LOT lately. But hold up, you smarmy commentators- I am NOT, repeat NOT saying my apartment is haunted. It just has history is all! It feels lived in, but in a good way. But I desperately need to lay claim to it as my own by moving the rest of my stuff in. I am missing my cat HARDCORE. And my easel! And all my other stuff (computer, dvd's, books)... However, after two months of limited access to these things, I've discovered that I can do fairly well without a large tv and without checking my Facebook ten times a day. I never thought I'd say that! Man, you don't realize how much of actual LIFE you replace with interwebbing. My god, what would happen if tomorrow all the networking sites went down??? I would lose contact with everyone! Well, everyone except for a handful of people, like 3 or 4, but JEEZ! Its tragic! I'm not blaming Facebook or these people, I'm pretty lousy at keeping up with others, which makes no sense. I truly do thrive off of human contact. But person to person, you know- not person to computer. And I really do mean contact. Not in a perverse way. I'm sure people who don't know me as well think I'm a total grope machine, but I just naturally loop arms with friends while walking or hold hands with them for no reason- I'm the same way on stage! I have a hard time making that kind of emotional connection without making a physical one first.
I'm a freak.
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, get off the interweb and come fill up my apartment! It needs new life!
Oh. And I could tell you about my puppy fever, but I'll just show you instead. I am in so much trouble.

Boy oh boy

I never done nothing to nobody. So why all the karmic backlash? Girl need some guidance.
I also need a couch....

I retract slightly. My professional life is on the up, and I am very grateful for that. Very grateful. But I still need that couch.