Exciting news today-- new candy at work! 100 Grand, Oh Henry!, Raisinets, Goobers.....lots more to stuff my gaping maw with. Will the joy never end?
I am in a state of agitated confusion. I have the opportunity to stage manage a group of four shows that run for a weekend in November. Other things I have to do in November are: see Tasia's show in Boston, and hopefully go to the Berkshire foothills all-day singing. I also have to make a living. This is the hardest part.
If I decide to work on the shows, my schedule will get very very very tight and I'll probably have to race around like a lunatic for two and a half weeks. I'll probably be cranky and tired all the time. But I will also probably meet some awesome people (they already seem super cool) that could be possible collaborators. And don't I always try to believe that if I wait until I'm ready, I'll never do anything?
I guess the solution is maybe to cut down a little on everything. Like, I could maybe not go away to sing....even though I really want to. I NEED to see Tasia's show-- it isn't an option. I would feel so bad if I didn't, AND I really want to.
I don't know. No matter what I do, I'm not going to get to do all the things I want to do, AND I'm not going to make as much money as I want to make. So if I accept that now, shouldn't it be okay?
To close....dictionary.com's word of the day is awesome today:
ensorcell \en-SOR-suhl\, transitive verb: To enchant; to bewitch.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Free man in the morning!
Someone just called Euro fomr a 518 area code, and I tried to chat them up, but they were calling for someone allegedly named Buffy, and I couldn't help them...didn't go as well as I hoped it would.
Well! What's new? This weekend was both eventful and lazy, which I guess is an ideal combination. I watched several movies, and I will now pretentiously rant about them.
A FACE IN THE CROWD- totally awesome movie where Andy Griffith plays a drifter who skyrockets to fame as a folky musician/public figure/all around mess. Elia Kazan directed it and it is CRAZY. Andy Griffith is amazing in it....his singing is off the hook. Yes. Off the hook. Justin just told me that in the last scene, where Andy Griffith's character is drunk and a mess, that he was really drunk-- Kazan kept feeding him liquor and "berating him" until he got crazy. Ugh!
MY BLUE HEAVEN- the first time I saw this movie was sophomore year, and a whole bunch of us were persuaded by Craig "Con Man" Mungavin to watch it instead of writing some paper that was due the next day. Of course we did, at Glenville...it remains a fond memory. The movie stood the test of time, too-and in some parts was even funnier than I remembered. Specifically....the dance number and Bill Irwin's dance solo. Jared has his phone number. All I'm gonna say.
I went to Katie Tynes' birthday/Halloween party. I dressed as Ed Wood. I had black pants, a white angora sweater, a beret, I made my hair look greasy and sort-of manly, and an eyeliner mustache/stubble. And lots of 'I am tired and world-weary' eye makeup. On the way home, I was waiting for the subway and there was a trio by me noshing on curly fries. They were punked out, though not for Halloween. The girl was ranting "I've seen so many stupid girls....like, slutty nurse! Slutty cop! Slutty waitress! Slutty whatever! I mean, what do we have over there? Slutty pseudo-Frenchman?" Looking at me. Always ready to fight, I said 'What?' She says: "Am I right? Frenchmen? Existentialism?" And I say, with my characteristic panache and wit....."I'm Ed Wood. I'm not Slutty Anything." Her drunk friend goes "What? Ed Wood? YEAHHHHH!" and high-fives me. Take THAT, bitch!
I drank too much, of course, and drunk-dialed Steven Fazio on the walk home. He called me back yesterday and left me a message. This is the highlight:
"It's three o'clock already. You're not THAT hungover. Get up, answer your phone. I'll make you pancakes. That is a LIE. But only because of logistics."
Yesterday, Aldo, Jesse, and I ventured to the pretty Montclair New Jersey to sing. Continuing the trend of me singing parts that I don't usually sing, I accompanied a newcomer on treble for all but a few songs. It was more fun than alto, because the parts made a lot more intuitive sense to me. Also because I was in a better mood. We took a bus to and from the Garden State, and the three of us sat in the back and were very, very silly the whole time. Good fun.
And now I'm at work. I'm tired, though I went to bed at like ten last night. I am sort of sick, which sucks....especially since I don't really understand my health care situation right now. Meaning, I don't really have insurance....I don't think? I don't know? Awesome.
Time to make the donuts.
Well! What's new? This weekend was both eventful and lazy, which I guess is an ideal combination. I watched several movies, and I will now pretentiously rant about them.
A FACE IN THE CROWD- totally awesome movie where Andy Griffith plays a drifter who skyrockets to fame as a folky musician/public figure/all around mess. Elia Kazan directed it and it is CRAZY. Andy Griffith is amazing in it....his singing is off the hook. Yes. Off the hook. Justin just told me that in the last scene, where Andy Griffith's character is drunk and a mess, that he was really drunk-- Kazan kept feeding him liquor and "berating him" until he got crazy. Ugh!
MY BLUE HEAVEN- the first time I saw this movie was sophomore year, and a whole bunch of us were persuaded by Craig "Con Man" Mungavin to watch it instead of writing some paper that was due the next day. Of course we did, at Glenville...it remains a fond memory. The movie stood the test of time, too-and in some parts was even funnier than I remembered. Specifically....the dance number and Bill Irwin's dance solo. Jared has his phone number. All I'm gonna say.
I went to Katie Tynes' birthday/Halloween party. I dressed as Ed Wood. I had black pants, a white angora sweater, a beret, I made my hair look greasy and sort-of manly, and an eyeliner mustache/stubble. And lots of 'I am tired and world-weary' eye makeup. On the way home, I was waiting for the subway and there was a trio by me noshing on curly fries. They were punked out, though not for Halloween. The girl was ranting "I've seen so many stupid girls....like, slutty nurse! Slutty cop! Slutty waitress! Slutty whatever! I mean, what do we have over there? Slutty pseudo-Frenchman?" Looking at me. Always ready to fight, I said 'What?' She says: "Am I right? Frenchmen? Existentialism?" And I say, with my characteristic panache and wit....."I'm Ed Wood. I'm not Slutty Anything." Her drunk friend goes "What? Ed Wood? YEAHHHHH!" and high-fives me. Take THAT, bitch!
I drank too much, of course, and drunk-dialed Steven Fazio on the walk home. He called me back yesterday and left me a message. This is the highlight:
"It's three o'clock already. You're not THAT hungover. Get up, answer your phone. I'll make you pancakes. That is a LIE. But only because of logistics."
Yesterday, Aldo, Jesse, and I ventured to the pretty Montclair New Jersey to sing. Continuing the trend of me singing parts that I don't usually sing, I accompanied a newcomer on treble for all but a few songs. It was more fun than alto, because the parts made a lot more intuitive sense to me. Also because I was in a better mood. We took a bus to and from the Garden State, and the three of us sat in the back and were very, very silly the whole time. Good fun.
And now I'm at work. I'm tired, though I went to bed at like ten last night. I am sort of sick, which sucks....especially since I don't really understand my health care situation right now. Meaning, I don't really have insurance....I don't think? I don't know? Awesome.
Time to make the donuts.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Fuck these people. Some of them.
I'm sorry to be so crude, but...I am beginning, after a week of doing this, to understand what maybe a big problem about temping could potentially be for me. And that is-- that these people, or the majority of them, think what they are doing is SUPER IMPORTANT. And in one way, that's good- because it's their job and they should think that they're doing something important. But when I get yelled at for transferring a call to some bigwig, unknowingly, and people say inhushed tones to me "You really have to be careful-- he's the *CCO*. You really can't do that again" and look all reverent, I want to say "WHO GIVES A FUCK?"
Yesterday, a guy came to see someone. I called Mr. B, the person he was here to see. Mr. B snapped at me "You need to call my assistant." I did.
Today, the same guy came and again asked to see Mr. B. The same thing happened, althought this time the snap was meaner.
I just want to ask him-- "Sir, what are you gaining by being mean to me?" Also, "What makes you so important that you can yell at me?" These people advertise sunscreen. Give me a fucking break. Why do they think that any of this matters?
People also get mad when they want me to swipe them into the offices and I won't do it. I. Am. Not. Allowed. To. Do. That. I say. Or, if they ask "Do you have a card?," right off the bat I just say 'No, no, I do not." And then they get pissed.
I think there's a simple soultion-- remember your ID. Aren't you a grownup?
Anyway....
Sad news today in the Ny Times-- Tom Murphy, a Irish actor who won a Tony for Beauty Queen of Leenane in 1998, died a week or two ago from Hodgkin's. He was only 39. I remember very vividly watching him get his award. Such a shame.
When Will I See These Movies?
Eastern Promises
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Gone Baby Gone
Dan in Real Life (hello, Sondre Lerche soundtrack?!)
Lust, Caution
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Quuuuuuiiiick conclusions often lead the best of us astray;
The wisest move in life is just to wait!
Otherwise your galloping emotions run away
Like horses at the gate!
The above lyrics from The Mystery of Edwin Drood won’t stop repeating in my brain. Hmm.
So, what’s new today? I’m back on reception at the same place I was yesterday. A lot is going on. A lot I can’t talk about. I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel. No, really—I don’t know how I feel about writing stuff about work in here until I maybe figure out some more privacy settings or something. I know you’re waiting with bated breath.
Last night, I went to see ‘The Farnsworth Invention,’ because Jess works for the producers and had a bunch of comps. I sat with Mikey and Jess in the mezz- beautiful seats that would probably cost around eighty dollars. Good lord. It’s a new play—I think it was workshopped at least at La Jolla before coming here. It’s by Aaron Sorkin, Mr. West Wing, and stars Hank Azaria. Let me say first off that Hank Azaria sounded like Moe from the Simpsons the whole time. I’m aware of the fact that he does Moe’s voice. It was funny.
The play is about two guys—Philo T. Farnsworth and David Sarnoff, who are each crucial in the invention, development and explosion of the television and radio, respectively. It starts out with Sarnoff talking right to us, narrating about Farnsworth’s life. And then Farnsworth does the same for Sarnoff—and we see them bounce back and forth, each telling the other’s story, until finally they converge…in reality and fantasy.
I was disappointed at the conventional tack the show took after the beginning moments. The narrative device returned time and time again, but it framed really standard, we’re-doing-a-scene now….made “edgier” by sharp transitions accompanied by drastic light switches and a really far-ranging use of the enormous stage. The cast was ABSOLUTELY HUGE, and I really think that the play could benefit from a downsizing—this is just my snotty, uninformed opinion. For example—there were all these characters that we see once and then never again. I like when there are a million characters and I like it when an actor plays a ton of them, but there were so many actors that the effect was totally, in my mind, diminished. At curtain call, I said to Jess “I feel like I didn’t even see half of those people during the show.”
Also, the interplay between fantasy and reality wasn’t explored enough for my tastes. Farnsworth and Sarnoff have a meeting in the last scene of the play that Sarnoff tells us (after the fact) never really happened—I was into that. I wanted more stuff like that to be going on—the whole thing felt like a two-pronged biopic resisting the urge to be a riff on the possibly-connected lives of guys. I wish it had been the other way around—I wish I had been left craving MORE facts. As it was, the facts flew so thick and fast that half the time, I couldn’t even absorb them. But what was I expecting? I never watched The West Wing, but I know how he operates. That sneaky devil.
Hank Azaria, Moe-aside, was good, Jimmi Simpson as Farnswroth was super. Blanketly, the women kind of sucked. I don’t know why. The costumes were lavish, the set was utilitarian (though a little dangerous-looking sometimes). Michael Mulheren was in it, playing a judge at one point (which is funny because he sometimes plays a judge on L&O), and playing Ernst Alexanderson at one point (the word Schenectady happened TWICE in the show!!). Jim Ortlieb, who had a recurring role as Ben’s mean science prof on Felicity, was also in the show. I like him a lot.
All in all, it was an up-and-down thing. I had a nice time, but it wasn’t great. And I’m an expert, so you should listen to me. It was a great TIME, and the theatre is beautiful. I’ll be interested to see what the “real” reviewers think.
Also, Joanna Gleason was there. So that was cool.
The wisest move in life is just to wait!
Otherwise your galloping emotions run away
Like horses at the gate!
The above lyrics from The Mystery of Edwin Drood won’t stop repeating in my brain. Hmm.
So, what’s new today? I’m back on reception at the same place I was yesterday. A lot is going on. A lot I can’t talk about. I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel. No, really—I don’t know how I feel about writing stuff about work in here until I maybe figure out some more privacy settings or something. I know you’re waiting with bated breath.
Last night, I went to see ‘The Farnsworth Invention,’ because Jess works for the producers and had a bunch of comps. I sat with Mikey and Jess in the mezz- beautiful seats that would probably cost around eighty dollars. Good lord. It’s a new play—I think it was workshopped at least at La Jolla before coming here. It’s by Aaron Sorkin, Mr. West Wing, and stars Hank Azaria. Let me say first off that Hank Azaria sounded like Moe from the Simpsons the whole time. I’m aware of the fact that he does Moe’s voice. It was funny.
The play is about two guys—Philo T. Farnsworth and David Sarnoff, who are each crucial in the invention, development and explosion of the television and radio, respectively. It starts out with Sarnoff talking right to us, narrating about Farnsworth’s life. And then Farnsworth does the same for Sarnoff—and we see them bounce back and forth, each telling the other’s story, until finally they converge…in reality and fantasy.
I was disappointed at the conventional tack the show took after the beginning moments. The narrative device returned time and time again, but it framed really standard, we’re-doing-a-scene now….made “edgier” by sharp transitions accompanied by drastic light switches and a really far-ranging use of the enormous stage. The cast was ABSOLUTELY HUGE, and I really think that the play could benefit from a downsizing—this is just my snotty, uninformed opinion. For example—there were all these characters that we see once and then never again. I like when there are a million characters and I like it when an actor plays a ton of them, but there were so many actors that the effect was totally, in my mind, diminished. At curtain call, I said to Jess “I feel like I didn’t even see half of those people during the show.”
Also, the interplay between fantasy and reality wasn’t explored enough for my tastes. Farnsworth and Sarnoff have a meeting in the last scene of the play that Sarnoff tells us (after the fact) never really happened—I was into that. I wanted more stuff like that to be going on—the whole thing felt like a two-pronged biopic resisting the urge to be a riff on the possibly-connected lives of guys. I wish it had been the other way around—I wish I had been left craving MORE facts. As it was, the facts flew so thick and fast that half the time, I couldn’t even absorb them. But what was I expecting? I never watched The West Wing, but I know how he operates. That sneaky devil.
Hank Azaria, Moe-aside, was good, Jimmi Simpson as Farnswroth was super. Blanketly, the women kind of sucked. I don’t know why. The costumes were lavish, the set was utilitarian (though a little dangerous-looking sometimes). Michael Mulheren was in it, playing a judge at one point (which is funny because he sometimes plays a judge on L&O), and playing Ernst Alexanderson at one point (the word Schenectady happened TWICE in the show!!). Jim Ortlieb, who had a recurring role as Ben’s mean science prof on Felicity, was also in the show. I like him a lot.
All in all, it was an up-and-down thing. I had a nice time, but it wasn’t great. And I’m an expert, so you should listen to me. It was a great TIME, and the theatre is beautiful. I’ll be interested to see what the “real” reviewers think.
Also, Joanna Gleason was there. So that was cool.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam!
From Hotel Cassiopeia:
JOSEPH [sitting at a cafe table]There are days that I will have
a few donuts
a caramel pudding
two cups of Dutch process cocoa all milk, white bread,
peanut butter and peach jam
a Milky Way candy bar
some chocolate eclairs
a half-dozen icing cakes from Bay West
a peach pie (6 cents)
and a prune twist
and, on other days:
cottage cheese, toast,
bologna, jello,
fresh baked shortcake with creamy chocolate icing
Kool Aidbrownies and cherry Coke
a cinnamon donut
homemade coffee cake
the pink centers of Huntley and Palmer shortcake cookies
pancakes
It's no coincidence that some of my favorite passages from this play and bobrauschenbergamerica are all about food. Or that I'm writing this as my stomach grumbles! I'm working reception at a global ad agency right now. Which means there are some foreign hotties walking around.
In the pretentious update....hmmm. What do I have? Ah, yes-- I just got finished with my duties as production assisstant for the Common Thread Theatre Company's workshop production of Moving Shortly. The show ran for three performances, two of which were completely sold-out, which was fun. A whole bunch of friends came: Katy, Emma, Molly (and here's a SHOUT OUT!), Jade, Juls, Lee, Ava, Duke, Liz...punch me if I'm forgetting anyone. The show went quite well, from a technical/production view-- which is the vew that I, as a bona-fide techie, had for it. Michael and I worked sound/projection and lights, respectively. I haven't really touched a light board since the days of the BRTC, when I ran A Lesson Before Dying. I remember it being very stressful, though that could have had somtehing to do with the fact that cast members were dropping out left and right ALL. THE. TIME. Anyway... There were lots of silly antics in the booth, and Michael and I had a good time. There were lots of stupid scrawlings all over the walls- Michael and I added our own contribution: one of those twist-things that everyone used to draw in middle school, accompanied by "'95!' next to it. We were proud.
This is another line I really loved when I saw the show:
Then Balanchine revived The Somnambulist for me
and in that ballethe always had me exit backwards
because you know
well
because I didn't need to see a doorwayto go through it.
I thought it was VERY Judith Chaffee.
I'm going to see The Farnsworth Invention tonight-- it's a play by Aaron Sorkin, starring Hank Azaria. Jess is working for the producers, so she had a bunch of free ticket opportunities during previews. I'm psyched.
Here is a post that I meant to do the other day, but I'll tack it on here and elaborate:
In weird New York City coincidences part 1,586—
I ran into Rebecca McHugh the other night as I was leaving the Bedford stop. I was walking behind this girl and I thought 'She is so put together. Why can't I dress like that?' and then I realized that it was her. I stopped her and we walked out together—she lives two blocks away from me. Strange, isn't it? Then, yesterday, I saw Meghan Dalton's brother Tim in a coffee shop right near my house. We had a big case of mistaken identities when I tried to talk to him that we eventually cleared up....funny funny.
Michael and Nitz and I watched innings 4-9 of the baseball game the other night. We leapt for joy when Youkilis hit that homer. Matt Rudnicki was in the same bar as us, randomly, and we took a lot of pleasure in watching him from afar as he and some girl drank copious amounts of beer and occasionally flashed us the high-sign. Good fun.
Also, speaking of baseball AND coincidences—at work the other day, I was transcribing some phone calls and in one, a guy was talking about eh revitalization of downtowns. He mentioned two cities, and two cities only: Boston and Denver. Oooooooooh!
There is too much glass in this office. Everyone can see that I'm surfing the internet. Oh, dear.....
JOSEPH [sitting at a cafe table]There are days that I will have
a few donuts
a caramel pudding
two cups of Dutch process cocoa all milk, white bread,
peanut butter and peach jam
a Milky Way candy bar
some chocolate eclairs
a half-dozen icing cakes from Bay West
a peach pie (6 cents)
and a prune twist
and, on other days:
cottage cheese, toast,
bologna, jello,
fresh baked shortcake with creamy chocolate icing
Kool Aidbrownies and cherry Coke
a cinnamon donut
homemade coffee cake
the pink centers of Huntley and Palmer shortcake cookies
pancakes
It's no coincidence that some of my favorite passages from this play and bobrauschenbergamerica are all about food. Or that I'm writing this as my stomach grumbles! I'm working reception at a global ad agency right now. Which means there are some foreign hotties walking around.
In the pretentious update....hmmm. What do I have? Ah, yes-- I just got finished with my duties as production assisstant for the Common Thread Theatre Company's workshop production of Moving Shortly. The show ran for three performances, two of which were completely sold-out, which was fun. A whole bunch of friends came: Katy, Emma, Molly (and here's a SHOUT OUT!), Jade, Juls, Lee, Ava, Duke, Liz...punch me if I'm forgetting anyone. The show went quite well, from a technical/production view-- which is the vew that I, as a bona-fide techie, had for it. Michael and I worked sound/projection and lights, respectively. I haven't really touched a light board since the days of the BRTC, when I ran A Lesson Before Dying. I remember it being very stressful, though that could have had somtehing to do with the fact that cast members were dropping out left and right ALL. THE. TIME. Anyway... There were lots of silly antics in the booth, and Michael and I had a good time. There were lots of stupid scrawlings all over the walls- Michael and I added our own contribution: one of those twist-things that everyone used to draw in middle school, accompanied by "'95!' next to it. We were proud.
This is another line I really loved when I saw the show:
Then Balanchine revived The Somnambulist for me
and in that ballethe always had me exit backwards
because you know
well
because I didn't need to see a doorwayto go through it.
I thought it was VERY Judith Chaffee.
I'm going to see The Farnsworth Invention tonight-- it's a play by Aaron Sorkin, starring Hank Azaria. Jess is working for the producers, so she had a bunch of free ticket opportunities during previews. I'm psyched.
Here is a post that I meant to do the other day, but I'll tack it on here and elaborate:
In weird New York City coincidences part 1,586—
I ran into Rebecca McHugh the other night as I was leaving the Bedford stop. I was walking behind this girl and I thought 'She is so put together. Why can't I dress like that?' and then I realized that it was her. I stopped her and we walked out together—she lives two blocks away from me. Strange, isn't it? Then, yesterday, I saw Meghan Dalton's brother Tim in a coffee shop right near my house. We had a big case of mistaken identities when I tried to talk to him that we eventually cleared up....funny funny.
Michael and Nitz and I watched innings 4-9 of the baseball game the other night. We leapt for joy when Youkilis hit that homer. Matt Rudnicki was in the same bar as us, randomly, and we took a lot of pleasure in watching him from afar as he and some girl drank copious amounts of beer and occasionally flashed us the high-sign. Good fun.
Also, speaking of baseball AND coincidences—at work the other day, I was transcribing some phone calls and in one, a guy was talking about eh revitalization of downtowns. He mentioned two cities, and two cities only: Boston and Denver. Oooooooooh!
There is too much glass in this office. Everyone can see that I'm surfing the internet. Oh, dear.....
Friday, October 12, 2007
Looking for a Sparking
So, the past two nights have been taken up (pleasantly) by two events at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Two nights ago, I saw Charles Mee and Anne Bogart speak, and last night I went to see their latest collaboration, a play called Hotel Cassiopeia.
The talk was interesting, but too short-- less than an hour! Maybe I'm only mad because I had to pay for it. The q+a was mercifully truncated, at least. Man, I hate q+as!
Charles Mee was wearing red suspenders. I had seen him once before, the summer after freshman year, when Erin and I went to Skidmore to see Craig's presentation thing at the SITI training program. Craig pointed C. Mee out to me but at the time I didn't particularly know who he was....just that he had had polio and was on crutches. (This is also the time that I witnessed Anne Bogart give Craig a hug.) Anyway, he sort of looks like Abraham Lincoln, which of course makes me love him right off the bat. He seems a little taciturn, or, I don't know, maybe he was nervous---it was opening--but he was less sort of friendly (whatever that means) than Anne Bogart struck me as being. And I definitely would have thought that it would be the opposite!
Anne Bogart opened things up with a funny story about marrying Charles Mee and his wife, Michi-- A.B. performed the ceremony, in a Chinese restaurant, in Queens. She apparently told them to do some sort of physical thing, and they did it wrong, and she was terrified that if "they didn't do the right ritual, they wouldn't be married!" They got married, of course.
I took a bunch of notes and had the pipe dream of assembling them in a readable fashion in here....but now I don't think I'm going to.
So, last night, the show. First of all, I have never been to the Harvey Theatre, and it is CRAZY. I was in the super cheap seats, which are sort of like bar stools with backs on them....really, really, really mightily uncomfortable. I was sitting next to a nice girl who was knitting before the show, and next to her was a crazy lady who asked her "Are you planning on doing *that* during the performance?" I hope someday that lady sits next to Eve at a show and asks HER that questions. But the theatre itself it so strange-- it looks all run-down, but a lot of it must have just been made to look that way. Which I have nothing against. It looks beautiful. The stage extends all the way out to the floor, so people in the front row were sort of on stage. And vice versa, I guess. My seat was one row from back, but the balcony (excuse me, gallery) was so raked that I could see everything just fine. It was the same kind of steep as the place in London where I saw some ballet and I kept fantasizing about how if I took a running leap from the last row, I could jump over the balcony edge so easily. Scary.
Ellen Lauren, who Judith talked about every day in Suzuki, was in the show. This was great for me, because I didn't get to see her in bobrauschenbergamerica. She really is beautiful-- and her neck is just as long as Judith said it was! She played a ballerina, and Lauren Bacall. This is off-topic. Somewhat.
But there were a lot of SITI people that I HAD seenn in b.r.a-- the bum, the dork, the trucker, of course the eternally hot Akiko--and they are all so awesome. They are all in amazing shape, first of all-- and though they all do look good, that's not even what I mean-- they are just solid muscle, and so, so controlled. There wasn't a single misstep, no faltering movements, no stumbles! There was a part where the man playing Joseph Cornell had to attach a bunch of wires to various objects-- a barre, a chair, a tree. And he was sort of controlling the descent of the wires by waving his hands at them. And then he oh-so-calmly attached the wires, while doing other stuff, while other people were doing other stuff...and I thought about the moment when I was in Rhinoceros and I had to latch part of the wall to part of the floor. And how it literally made me break down once because I found it so stressful. It appears to me that in the SITI company, there is none of that stress. It is all ease. And I guess that all makes sense if I think about it, because the whole central tenet of Suzuki as I understand it personally is experiencing rigor so that we can then experience ease. Or choose to feel rigor so that we then know what that is like, and can then look for ease. There was no ease in what I did. There was no rigor in what they did.
As usual, the text was funny and fragmented...with little exhanges that then later came back in different forms....lots and lots of repetition. Some characters who drifted in and out- a waitress, a girl on a bike, two love interests, Joseph's mom and brother, Lauren Bacall....
And when it was over, I didn't want it to be over. It was not at all a linear story-- I didn't learn as much about Joseph Cornell as I thought maybe I would, and I was totally okay with there. There was so much other stuff going on, and somehow, although I'm not quite sure I know how, it all was part and parcel, thematically, of what he and his work were about, and were trying to explore, or were trying to create or compensate for.
In the talk the night before, Anne Bogart talked about how Cornell wrote about "looking for sparkings," which were moments where everything was just right. She talked about how that was the driving narrative, in a way, of the piece.
Oh, crap, I have to go.
The talk was interesting, but too short-- less than an hour! Maybe I'm only mad because I had to pay for it. The q+a was mercifully truncated, at least. Man, I hate q+as!
Charles Mee was wearing red suspenders. I had seen him once before, the summer after freshman year, when Erin and I went to Skidmore to see Craig's presentation thing at the SITI training program. Craig pointed C. Mee out to me but at the time I didn't particularly know who he was....just that he had had polio and was on crutches. (This is also the time that I witnessed Anne Bogart give Craig a hug.) Anyway, he sort of looks like Abraham Lincoln, which of course makes me love him right off the bat. He seems a little taciturn, or, I don't know, maybe he was nervous---it was opening--but he was less sort of friendly (whatever that means) than Anne Bogart struck me as being. And I definitely would have thought that it would be the opposite!
Anne Bogart opened things up with a funny story about marrying Charles Mee and his wife, Michi-- A.B. performed the ceremony, in a Chinese restaurant, in Queens. She apparently told them to do some sort of physical thing, and they did it wrong, and she was terrified that if "they didn't do the right ritual, they wouldn't be married!" They got married, of course.
I took a bunch of notes and had the pipe dream of assembling them in a readable fashion in here....but now I don't think I'm going to.
So, last night, the show. First of all, I have never been to the Harvey Theatre, and it is CRAZY. I was in the super cheap seats, which are sort of like bar stools with backs on them....really, really, really mightily uncomfortable. I was sitting next to a nice girl who was knitting before the show, and next to her was a crazy lady who asked her "Are you planning on doing *that* during the performance?" I hope someday that lady sits next to Eve at a show and asks HER that questions. But the theatre itself it so strange-- it looks all run-down, but a lot of it must have just been made to look that way. Which I have nothing against. It looks beautiful. The stage extends all the way out to the floor, so people in the front row were sort of on stage. And vice versa, I guess. My seat was one row from back, but the balcony (excuse me, gallery) was so raked that I could see everything just fine. It was the same kind of steep as the place in London where I saw some ballet and I kept fantasizing about how if I took a running leap from the last row, I could jump over the balcony edge so easily. Scary.
Ellen Lauren, who Judith talked about every day in Suzuki, was in the show. This was great for me, because I didn't get to see her in bobrauschenbergamerica. She really is beautiful-- and her neck is just as long as Judith said it was! She played a ballerina, and Lauren Bacall. This is off-topic. Somewhat.
But there were a lot of SITI people that I HAD seenn in b.r.a-- the bum, the dork, the trucker, of course the eternally hot Akiko--and they are all so awesome. They are all in amazing shape, first of all-- and though they all do look good, that's not even what I mean-- they are just solid muscle, and so, so controlled. There wasn't a single misstep, no faltering movements, no stumbles! There was a part where the man playing Joseph Cornell had to attach a bunch of wires to various objects-- a barre, a chair, a tree. And he was sort of controlling the descent of the wires by waving his hands at them. And then he oh-so-calmly attached the wires, while doing other stuff, while other people were doing other stuff...and I thought about the moment when I was in Rhinoceros and I had to latch part of the wall to part of the floor. And how it literally made me break down once because I found it so stressful. It appears to me that in the SITI company, there is none of that stress. It is all ease. And I guess that all makes sense if I think about it, because the whole central tenet of Suzuki as I understand it personally is experiencing rigor so that we can then experience ease. Or choose to feel rigor so that we then know what that is like, and can then look for ease. There was no ease in what I did. There was no rigor in what they did.
As usual, the text was funny and fragmented...with little exhanges that then later came back in different forms....lots and lots of repetition. Some characters who drifted in and out- a waitress, a girl on a bike, two love interests, Joseph's mom and brother, Lauren Bacall....
And when it was over, I didn't want it to be over. It was not at all a linear story-- I didn't learn as much about Joseph Cornell as I thought maybe I would, and I was totally okay with there. There was so much other stuff going on, and somehow, although I'm not quite sure I know how, it all was part and parcel, thematically, of what he and his work were about, and were trying to explore, or were trying to create or compensate for.
In the talk the night before, Anne Bogart talked about how Cornell wrote about "looking for sparkings," which were moments where everything was just right. She talked about how that was the driving narrative, in a way, of the piece.
Oh, crap, I have to go.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Things Coming Up (Most of Which I am Vastly Underqualified or Unprepared For):
-an interview for a position as counterperson/sandwich-maker at a cafe located inside some sort of Scandinavian Cutlural Center (underqualified)
-an interview at a high-power temp agency that demands real skills from the people who work there (underqualified and unprepared)
-an interview with an allegedly sexist (but in my favor!) temp agency (unprepared)
-a trip to BAM to hear Anne Bogart and Charles Mee speak (unprepared)
Plus, I submitted an application to Trader Joe's and underwent a "screening" today. If they want me, they'll call within two weeks.
Meanwhile, my new friend Rachel told me how to make a living as a nude artist's model at colleges. Um...where do I sign up?
-an interview at a high-power temp agency that demands real skills from the people who work there (underqualified and unprepared)
-an interview with an allegedly sexist (but in my favor!) temp agency (unprepared)
-a trip to BAM to hear Anne Bogart and Charles Mee speak (unprepared)
Plus, I submitted an application to Trader Joe's and underwent a "screening" today. If they want me, they'll call within two weeks.
Meanwhile, my new friend Rachel told me how to make a living as a nude artist's model at colleges. Um...where do I sign up?
Dark and Dreary.
अप्परेंत्ल्य, ई ऍम टैपिंग इन हिंदी।
That says "Apparently, I am typing in Hindi." I added some Hindi transliteration tool to my profile and it took over. Cool.
It's grey, grey, grey outside and still sort of humid. Gross. I'm watching The Today Show but other than that it could be like 6:00, I have no idea. (At night, I mean.)
Alright. So, I signed up for a free trial of Netflix. My parents get a free DVD added on to their plan or something if I get referred by them, so I did and I signed up. Also, my trial lasts for a month as opposed to the normal free trial which is for two weeks. The idea is that I'll cancel before it's over, but actually....can I afford nine dollars a month to watch movies? I think I can. First on the queue is The Twlight Zone, disc 1. And then The Purple Rose of Cairo. I can't wait.
I got an application for Trader Joe's yesterday. The guy who gave it to me was very friendly. It was SUPER busy when I went in and I was watching the workers zipping around, and I thought "Yeah, I could do this." The application was a little daunting- lots of talk of shifts at 5:00am and until 2:00am (I said I could do those. What am I, insane? No, I just want them to hire me.) Also, there was a ridiculous "Math Test." It didn't tell me to show my work. I didn't. Mr. Gill would NOT be proud.
I've already seen a few people on the Subway a few times, and get the feeling that they'll be those people that you (I) see regularly on the train. Interestingly enough, all three of them are guys who at at least one of the times I've seen them, have been dressed at least partially in women's clothing. Nice. And they weren't all together. I prefer drag queens/trans-whatever to hipsters any day, thank you!
I also saw, last night on the L, a really, really cute guy reading Timequake. Be still, my heart. I like to look at everyone and pretend that maybe we'll actually get to know each other some day. He had a notebook (a la J. Rich) and after a while wrote (yeah, I looked, what?): 'Like most things, it sort of depends on....' and then I exited the train. Ooooooooh.
That says "Apparently, I am typing in Hindi." I added some Hindi transliteration tool to my profile and it took over. Cool.
It's grey, grey, grey outside and still sort of humid. Gross. I'm watching The Today Show but other than that it could be like 6:00, I have no idea. (At night, I mean.)
Alright. So, I signed up for a free trial of Netflix. My parents get a free DVD added on to their plan or something if I get referred by them, so I did and I signed up. Also, my trial lasts for a month as opposed to the normal free trial which is for two weeks. The idea is that I'll cancel before it's over, but actually....can I afford nine dollars a month to watch movies? I think I can. First on the queue is The Twlight Zone, disc 1. And then The Purple Rose of Cairo. I can't wait.
I got an application for Trader Joe's yesterday. The guy who gave it to me was very friendly. It was SUPER busy when I went in and I was watching the workers zipping around, and I thought "Yeah, I could do this." The application was a little daunting- lots of talk of shifts at 5:00am and until 2:00am (I said I could do those. What am I, insane? No, I just want them to hire me.) Also, there was a ridiculous "Math Test." It didn't tell me to show my work. I didn't. Mr. Gill would NOT be proud.
I've already seen a few people on the Subway a few times, and get the feeling that they'll be those people that you (I) see regularly on the train. Interestingly enough, all three of them are guys who at at least one of the times I've seen them, have been dressed at least partially in women's clothing. Nice. And they weren't all together. I prefer drag queens/trans-whatever to hipsters any day, thank you!
I also saw, last night on the L, a really, really cute guy reading Timequake. Be still, my heart. I like to look at everyone and pretend that maybe we'll actually get to know each other some day. He had a notebook (a la J. Rich) and after a while wrote (yeah, I looked, what?): 'Like most things, it sort of depends on....' and then I exited the train. Ooooooooh.
Monday, October 8, 2007
2 whiskey sours'll do it.
Free drinks= delicious.
Possible free train rides home=elusive yet intriguing.
Tara=awesome.
Also, I love my friends that are here, but I miss my friends that aren't here so, so, SO much. So much. If there's any doubt in your mind that I miss you...assuage it now. I love you and miss you. That goes for everyone.
Alright. Clearly, I've had too much to drink and shall now go to bed.
To close:
'MOM'S STILL GOT IT!'
Possible free train rides home=elusive yet intriguing.
Tara=awesome.
Also, I love my friends that are here, but I miss my friends that aren't here so, so, SO much. So much. If there's any doubt in your mind that I miss you...assuage it now. I love you and miss you. That goes for everyone.
Alright. Clearly, I've had too much to drink and shall now go to bed.
To close:
'MOM'S STILL GOT IT!'
Friday, October 5, 2007
EXCITEMENT!
I just got a call on my cell phone from an organization whose initials I don't want to include in this post in case they are monitoring me. They might be. I mean, if they are, they'll see this anyway, so what does it matter if I write it or not? All I'll say is-- I used to want to work for them when I was little, AND Mulder and Scully are two of their most famous employees.
Apparently my name (sort of) is connected (sort of) to a hoax terrorism plot in Boston. Some guy said he brought plastic explosives into Boston and sublet an apartment from a BU student named Heinrich who lived at 610 Beacon Hill. Now, of course, I was a BU student named Hendrick who lived and 610 Beacon Street, so...I guess I'm the closest thing they had to a 'lead.' Isn't that insane?
The agent knew a lot about me- obviously my phone number, but my house phone too, and my address. It was a little scary. But also sort of funny. The guy was very jovial and joked that if they ever catch this guy, he'll be prosecuted and there's a tiny chance I would "receive and all-expense paid trip to wherever that trial is!" Yeah, awesome. I guess it would be SORT of awesome. Anyway, his last name was the last name of a famous gangster and I had to laugh. It just plays into the overblown James Ellroy stereotype that I have in my brain of the people who work for this agency.
Apparently my name (sort of) is connected (sort of) to a hoax terrorism plot in Boston. Some guy said he brought plastic explosives into Boston and sublet an apartment from a BU student named Heinrich who lived at 610 Beacon Hill. Now, of course, I was a BU student named Hendrick who lived and 610 Beacon Street, so...I guess I'm the closest thing they had to a 'lead.' Isn't that insane?
The agent knew a lot about me- obviously my phone number, but my house phone too, and my address. It was a little scary. But also sort of funny. The guy was very jovial and joked that if they ever catch this guy, he'll be prosecuted and there's a tiny chance I would "receive and all-expense paid trip to wherever that trial is!" Yeah, awesome. I guess it would be SORT of awesome. Anyway, his last name was the last name of a famous gangster and I had to laugh. It just plays into the overblown James Ellroy stereotype that I have in my brain of the people who work for this agency.
Never Forgive. Never Forget. (Plus stamps.)
So, something of GREAT importance has been brought to my attention. And that something is...The Sweeney Todd Trailer! (AHHH!) I awoke to find that multiple good friends had posted a link on my facebook wall. They knew.
I watched it, and even though the quality was sort of crappy and I couldn't really hear that much (thanks, computer, thanks, construction), I got super excited. I just can't wait. Liam and Meghan and I have talked a lot about the jealousy/protectiveness/I-liked-it-first feelings that are more than likely to surface around the time of the movie's release. And I know it'll happen, just like when Rufus started getting really popular, and I felt like I had some ownership over him. Or, like, how I feel compelled to say that Seth Rogen was always my favorite on Undeclared, which in my mind somehow means that I like him more or that I am cooler than you because you just like Knocked Up. (Which is stupid because I didn't even watch Freaks and Geeks until after Undeclared was already off the air, so I can't actually say shit! He WAS my favorite, but, please. Come on.)
Meghan said that when we go we'll be like Kristen Wiig's Penelope character on SNL, just walking around the movie theatre saying things like "I guess all I have to say is I wrote Sweeney Todd, it's not a big deal, I wrote the music and the lyrics...I'm in it too, I play Sweeney Todd....um, Sweeney Todd was my real dad, this is actually about me and my family..."Things like that.
Here's the trailer for anyone who wants to think for themselves.
Another interesting item for today is that Mauritius has opened on Broadway. Theresa Rebeck is the only female playwright with a new play on Broadway this season. Isn't that terrible? I think that's just insane. The NY Times review was mostly nice, I guess, though it said that the formula was a little tired and that her characters have almost all been written before, and in most cases, have been written better before. There are a lot of comparisons to David Mamet and specifically American Buffalo, which happened when the play was at the Hunt in Boston. Honestly, I don't remember a lot of my specific opinions about the show. (I mostly remember how Tasia and Craig and I were in the balcony of the Wimberly and it was freezing up there...and how on the way, we got to go into the weird church in Copley Sqaure and listened to some men singing with high voices...until the church Nazi intimidated us into leaving.)
Anyway, Alison Pill is in the show here, and man, do I envy her. This, and before this, she was in Blackbird, which everyone blew up about though I think it's one of the stupidest plays I've ever seen, and before that Lieutenant of Inishmore (at which she frowned at curtain call, so I'll always have a little bit of a grudge against her), and she's also got a big old movie with Steve Carrell coming out (Sondre did the soundtrack!)....and she's oh, um, I think, 22 years old. Must be nice.
I liked this part of the NYT review: "Mr. Baker and Mr. Abraham never quite dispel the impression that you have met more vividly drawn versions of their characters before. Mr. Abraham appears to be doing a mild variation on Ben Kingsley’s attention-getting portrait of a sadistic crime boss in the movie “Sexy Beast.” Aiie! Here's the review.
That's all the pretentious reportage (bahhh) I can handle this morning.
I watched it, and even though the quality was sort of crappy and I couldn't really hear that much (thanks, computer, thanks, construction), I got super excited. I just can't wait. Liam and Meghan and I have talked a lot about the jealousy/protectiveness/I-liked-it-first feelings that are more than likely to surface around the time of the movie's release. And I know it'll happen, just like when Rufus started getting really popular, and I felt like I had some ownership over him. Or, like, how I feel compelled to say that Seth Rogen was always my favorite on Undeclared, which in my mind somehow means that I like him more or that I am cooler than you because you just like Knocked Up. (Which is stupid because I didn't even watch Freaks and Geeks until after Undeclared was already off the air, so I can't actually say shit! He WAS my favorite, but, please. Come on.)
Meghan said that when we go we'll be like Kristen Wiig's Penelope character on SNL, just walking around the movie theatre saying things like "I guess all I have to say is I wrote Sweeney Todd, it's not a big deal, I wrote the music and the lyrics...I'm in it too, I play Sweeney Todd....um, Sweeney Todd was my real dad, this is actually about me and my family..."Things like that.
Here's the trailer for anyone who wants to think for themselves.
Another interesting item for today is that Mauritius has opened on Broadway. Theresa Rebeck is the only female playwright with a new play on Broadway this season. Isn't that terrible? I think that's just insane. The NY Times review was mostly nice, I guess, though it said that the formula was a little tired and that her characters have almost all been written before, and in most cases, have been written better before. There are a lot of comparisons to David Mamet and specifically American Buffalo, which happened when the play was at the Hunt in Boston. Honestly, I don't remember a lot of my specific opinions about the show. (I mostly remember how Tasia and Craig and I were in the balcony of the Wimberly and it was freezing up there...and how on the way, we got to go into the weird church in Copley Sqaure and listened to some men singing with high voices...until the church Nazi intimidated us into leaving.)
Anyway, Alison Pill is in the show here, and man, do I envy her. This, and before this, she was in Blackbird, which everyone blew up about though I think it's one of the stupidest plays I've ever seen, and before that Lieutenant of Inishmore (at which she frowned at curtain call, so I'll always have a little bit of a grudge against her), and she's also got a big old movie with Steve Carrell coming out (Sondre did the soundtrack!)....and she's oh, um, I think, 22 years old. Must be nice.
I liked this part of the NYT review: "Mr. Baker and Mr. Abraham never quite dispel the impression that you have met more vividly drawn versions of their characters before. Mr. Abraham appears to be doing a mild variation on Ben Kingsley’s attention-getting portrait of a sadistic crime boss in the movie “Sexy Beast.” Aiie! Here's the review.
That's all the pretentious reportage (bahhh) I can handle this morning.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
So.
So. I am here.
And I got a job!
Oh. Wait. A non-paying job.
But hey....it's good. I'm going to be one of two production assistants on the Common Thread Theatre Co.'s workshop production of 'Moving Shortly.' The first rehearsal was last night-- in a Theatre Row rehearsal studio. I felt like a Broadway star! Though I guess it's really no big deal.
This isn't really pretentious (also, who the hell is reading this? No one.), but I wanted to record it:
On my first day here, I ran into Duke and Liz.
On my second day here, I ran into my cousin Leah, Lisa Kron, and Baron Vaughn.
I didn't run into anyone yesterday, though I did see Nitz, Juls, and Michael.
And today I'll see Katy. There are a lot of people who live here.
I am feeling a little overwhelmed by everything, but I guess that's to be expected. I feel a ton of pressure about getting a job, starting to make money-- I'm already terrified that I won't be able to pay the rent. I know that isn't true, and I know that it's completely unrealistic to expect to have a job or any job prospects at all my first four days here, but...it's daunting.
And I got a job!
Oh. Wait. A non-paying job.
But hey....it's good. I'm going to be one of two production assistants on the Common Thread Theatre Co.'s workshop production of 'Moving Shortly.' The first rehearsal was last night-- in a Theatre Row rehearsal studio. I felt like a Broadway star! Though I guess it's really no big deal.
This isn't really pretentious (also, who the hell is reading this? No one.), but I wanted to record it:
On my first day here, I ran into Duke and Liz.
On my second day here, I ran into my cousin Leah, Lisa Kron, and Baron Vaughn.
I didn't run into anyone yesterday, though I did see Nitz, Juls, and Michael.
And today I'll see Katy. There are a lot of people who live here.
I am feeling a little overwhelmed by everything, but I guess that's to be expected. I feel a ton of pressure about getting a job, starting to make money-- I'm already terrified that I won't be able to pay the rent. I know that isn't true, and I know that it's completely unrealistic to expect to have a job or any job prospects at all my first four days here, but...it's daunting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)