The following punk-ass so-called “Democrats” are on my list:
Carper (D-DE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Thanks assholes. Thanks for passing this most recent un-American piece of crap legislation. I don’t know how you sleep at night.
1) People who want to blame Clinton for 9/11 when he wasn’t in office at the time. IF he had gotten a memo that said Al Qaeda planned to attack inside the US and IGNORED IT (the way President Bush actually did) then we could blame him.
2) People who want to blame video games for their children’s bad behavior. I can get behind being angry at the industry for advertising violent games directly to minors, but I absolutely cannot blame the industry as though it pulled the trigger. At some point the parents in this country need to take fucking responsibility for their kids.
3) People who say they would rather fight the war on terrorism not on our soil. That they don’t want their children to have to live in fear.
Well. Isn’t it all well and good that American children can feel safe, but Iraqi children are being blown apart left and right. Don’t you think those children’s mothers would rather see “terrorism” being fought not on their soil? How do you think THEY feel now that we’ve completely botched the “liberation” of Iraq and Iraqi citizens live in as much if not more fear than they did under Sadaam?
The sheer selfishness floors me. Of course it’s not the American people’s fault per-se that we’re fighting this war in Iraq. But to say you support the war that is FAILING to get rid of terrorists because it means your children can sleep soundly at night with NO THOUGHT for the people who are being blown up and the innocent lives that are being destroyed every day in the name OUR freedom is short-sighted, selfish and frankly un-Christian. You should be ashamed.
So here I am, in Louisville, Kentucky.
What most of my friends probably don’t know is that the last time I was in Kentucky (as in, actually in the state not just driving through it), I was 10 years old and in fifth grade. I was in Lexington as part of a team from my school competing in some academic competition. I can’t even remember what the subject was anymore – something social studies related, I think. I remember it was hot, we al had a blast staying in a nice hotel and my team did terribly. Not because we’re not smart, I think we were just cautious, not as quick as the other teams, and one of our teammates had a bad habit of buzzing in when he didn’t actually know the answer (or maybe he buzzed in too late every time because he couldn’t remember how to use the buzzer…something like that.) We were 10, what do you want?
Anyway, now I’m in Louisville. It’s a very cute city. I’ve seen very little of the downtown so far, but it looks like it has (and I’m told that it has) gone through a recent revitalization. Lots of new construction. The Kentucky Center that we’ll be rehearsing and performing in looks neat from the outside. I’ll see the inside on Thursday.
So, I really wanted to blog because I just watched the end of season one of Lost and holy crap. Anyone who has already seen it knows what I’m talking about. I want to cry about Charlie, but the minute they found that plane I knew what was coming – I just hoped it wouldn’t. So yeah, this has TOTALLY screwed my netflix queue because now I have to put season two of lost at the top. There are other things that have been patiently waiting that I really want to see that will have to wait a little longer now.
Not much else going on. The stage manager and everyone at the company seem very nice and competent. Apparently the staff at KY Opera has just gone through a huge upheaval and there are rumblings of discontent among the ones that have been around a while, but nothing out in the open. Not sure how that will affect things but probably won’t have much to do with my world. I haven’t worked with any of the singers or artistic staff before. The hotel they put me up in is very nice, I have almost like a studio apartment. When you first walk in there’s a small living room with a desk, TV, armchair and couch. Past that is a small kitchenette and the bathroom, and in the back is my bedroom which is basically a bed, two side tables, a small dresser with a TV and a closet. It’s more or less the same amount of space as a regular hotel room with two queen beds, but the space is used a little differently (and I have a king size bed – geez!) There’s a wellness center right across from the hotel where I have an appointment for a massage Thursday night. REALLY looking forward to that, especially after last week.
Okay, little overdue for this post so I hope I can get everything in!
My last day in Providence with Jesse, we had breakfast with my aunt at this Italian place a couple blocks from Jesse’s apartment, located in this little Italian square with a fountain. It was very tasty but the coffee was lacking. So after breakfast we went for a walk to explore the square. We went into a poultry store and gaped at the live chickens in cages in the back room. Then we checked out Pastiche, an amazing bakery that smelled heavenly of coffee. It smelled so good I bought a cappuccino to offset the crappy coffee from Vita Dolce: totally worth it. Delicious!
Jesse then got a call from his roommate and we headed back to his place. I said goodbye to my aunt and accompanied Jesse and his roommates to a second hand store where they picked up all sorts of neat furniture for their apartment, including a small Amish shelf (complete with an Amish couple with a heart between them) that was promptly hung on the wall once we got back. After a lovely lunch feast of egg salad, tuna salad, orzo salad, bean salad, artichokes, zucchini and cucumber, and a couple other salads I’ve forgotten, Jesse drove me to the airport.
The trip home was far from boring. My first flight, to Philadelphia, was late leaving because the flight coming in was late, and there was some stormy weather causing the airport to space take-offs farther apart. By the time we landed in Philly, there were 10 minutes left before my next plane to Chicago was scheduled to take off. So I ran like an idiot through the airport (all the way down one concourse and all the way up the next, of course) and arrived breathless at the gate. The plane was still there, and one of the stewards gave me a bottle of water as I entered the plane.
And then we sat for forty-five minutes.
I think that delay was weather-related as well – all I know is I felt silly for running like a madwoman when the plane wasn’t going anywhere. Finally we take off and land in Chicago without a hitch, just half an hour late. David generously agrees to pick me up when I call him after landing. I go to the baggage claim for my bag – and I wait, and wait, and wait. My bag didn’t make the connection. So I file a claim for my bag and we go home.
The next day I sit home all day waiting for my bag to show up. My impression had been that my bag could show up any time between 11:30 – 4, so I gave myself a project to keep busy: I rearranged the office. It was a big project, but it was done around 1pm. So I futzed around doing who knows what, and at 3 I got a call from the guy delivering the baggage saying he’d be in my neighborhood between 4 and 6. Okay, fine. He finally showed up at 6:30pm after I spent a half hour wrestling with our internet connection trying to get onto the USAir website.
And then Tuesday, just a couple short days after getting home from Providence, I was on the road again with my parents. We’re currently in a hotel in Columbus, GA. Tomorrow I’ll see my brother graduate from his basic training. My parents will pin his stripes on him, and he’ll officially be soldier of the US Army. More on my thoughts on this later.
I know what you’re thinking: what happened to days 2-4? Well, the open wireless connections around Jesse’ apt in Providence are spotty, so it’s been hard to have extended periods of time online.
So the quick run-down:
Wednesday Jesse, his brother Adam and I drove to Providence from Westchester. We just barely beat the traffic (although we did hit a little on 95) but sadly didn’t make it in time for the local guy who answered Jesse’s Craigslist ad who was going to help us unload the truck. He had to go to work. But amazingly, because we rock, we got the truck unloaded in maybe 2 hours. My aunt showed up to help out about an hour into unloading and actually was the reason the futon got safely into the house - she suggested lifting it over the banister of the front porch so it could go straight through the front door instead of trying to get it in on an angle from the steps. Way to think out of the box (it’s because she’s a designer - go RISD)! We were actually able to RETURN the truck on Wednesday instead of waiting until Thursday. That was a big load off our minds, because driving a 15 foot truck on city streets get old really fast. Jesse drove it all the way from Chicago to New York (can’t imagine) and I took the New York to Providence shift. It’s not bad once you get used to it, but I can only imagine what it must have looked like: me this tiny girl behind the wheel of a fairly large moving truck. People probably wondered what poor schmo got paid off to work the pedals for me.
Anyway, that was Wednesday. Thursday was about unpacking and cleaning the kitchen stuff. Thursday night was about going out to dinner with my family. We met up with my aunt and cousins and their significant others at this bar (I want to say it was called J. G. something) on the ocean. Wow. It’s been easily a decade since I last saw the ocean. It was beautiful and we watched the sea gulls dive for fish as they went into a feeding frenzy that caused the water to churn white in spots. We also enjoyed reading the funny personal anecdotes on the menu (e.g. the house salad was called The Large House, and the description said it was called the Large House to remind the owner that like a large lawn, large car, large dog, etc. he used to have one of those, but doesn’t anymore thanks to his ex-wife. Nothing in the description about what was actually IN the salad.)
Today we didn’t really do much unpacking. We cleared a path for his roommates to be able to move in and then headed in to campus. Jesse took care of some business, like getting his e-mail set up and getting his Brown ID and Providence library card, and then we went to a read-through at Trinity Rep of The Cherry Orchard. It’s being directed by Curt Columbus (formerly of Steppenwolf, now AD of Trinity) and is a new translation by him. It was fantastic. The actors were all wonderful and very expressive for a read-through. (Side note- it’s being stage managed by Alden from The Goodman). Afterwards we headed back to the apartment for some iced-tea and chill time, then headed over to my aunt’s for a cook-out. I got meet a group of my cousin Christine’s friends who were pretty nice and fun. I stuck around about an hour after the kids all left (they’re all I think 4 years younger than me) to chat with my aunt and then came home, stuffed with Sam’s Club potato salad (it’s really good for store-bought potato salad, I was shocked).
Tomorrow I go back to Chicago. I’ll be happy to be home, but I’m going to miss Jesse a lot.
It was so great to spend time with my cousins and meet their other halves.
I’m posting from Jesse’s parents’ house in New York. Yesterday, Jesse and I drove from Chicago all the way out here in one loooong day. It took us over 15 hours because of a couple longish pit stops. The construction along the way didn’t help much either, but I think it was the pit stops that really slowed us down (especially the last one where I got to talk to a friend I haven’t talked to all summer - but that one was worth it!)
It’s okay though, because once we got here we found the bread, cheese, artichokes, cherries and brownies that his mom has laid out for us. Yum.
The travel day was rather uneventful. Once Jesse got the truck out of his parking space (with the help of a trucker who guided Jesse through the narrow turn onto the street) and we fueled ourselves and the car up at the dunkin’s donuts, we were on the road and met little traffic. We just barely got out of Chicago ahead of the traffic, but we made it. We hit a patch of rain at one point, but for the most part the weather was perfect. Cloudy so there was no sun in our eyes, and dry (well, except for Jesse getting rained on INSIDE the truck, but I’ll let him tell that story.)
And just a side note for those I haven’t spoken to recently - my show at Steppenwolf closed this past weekend. It was a smooth closing show and I’ve received good feedback from the company, so hopefully it will not be my last show there, for those of you who missed it.
So last night, the moment I’ve been waiting for and dreading for the last couple months arrived.
My 10-year high school reunion.
Here’s how it started: I walked into Tommy Nevin’s Pub at exactly 8pm, because I’m a Stage Manager and it’s impossible for me to be late. I was told I was the first to arrive. The DJ hadn’t even started playing yet and there was no bartender in sight. So I politely told the people manning the name tags that I would be back and high-tailed it out of there. I started walking toward downtown with no idea of where I was headed. I spotted Bar Louie on the corner and decided I needed a drink to steel myself. Now mind you – I NEVER do that. I have never walked into a bar by myself, sat down right at the bar and ordered a beer. But I did last night. I chatted with the bartender a little, let him know it was my high school reunion. I drank my beer the way a drowning person clings to a life raft. With a third of my beer safely in my churning stomach, I looked around me. Lo and behold, at the table behind me I spy 5 of my classmates who call me over when they notice me. Ah, safety in numbers! We end up staying at Bar Louie drinking for somewhere between a half hour and forty-five minute before finally heading over to Nevin’s.
And what can I say? I had a GREAT night. Only 2 people were there that I hung out with on any kind of regular basis during high school, and they were two of the five I ran into at Bar Louie. Everyone else I ended up chatting and catching up with at Nevin’s were people I hadn’t even thought about since high school, a couple were people I hadn’t had much contact with since junior high. And you know, that might be what made all the difference. If all the people I used to hang out with had been there, there would have been more pressure to get back into that high school mode, to fit into a group. As it was I felt totally comfortable floating between people, and I got to talk to people who turned out to be really cool and interesting. I even exchanged a few numbers. And you know, all the alcohol helped, too.
Admittedly, I made no effort to share more than a “hi” with the north shore kids that in high school seemed to be too good for me, and vice versa, so it’s not like all the barriers were broken down or anything. But it was much less painful and more fun than I thought it was going to be. I do still wish more of my old crowd had been there, especially some of the people who were in acting class and on speech team with me (you know who you are!)
But I guess that’s what Friendster’s for now.
These seeming innocuous stats describe the 6th inning from hell I observed at Wrigley Field last night. Yes, all that in ONE inning. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the 11 runs scored by the Mets in that inning, including 2 grand slams.
But the really depressing thing was all the garbage that got thrown on the field by the disgruntled bleacher fans. I understand being upset, there’s no reason we should have fared so poorly in the game yesterday. We were winning 5-0 when David and I arrived in the second inning. And I’m pissed at Dusty Baker and the Cubs management, too. But the way to express it, as I’ve said before, is to stop going to games. Throwing shit on the field only hurts the poor innocent groundskeepers and makes Cubs fans look like assholes.
But enough of depressing stuff, here’s how things are in my world.
I go into tech tomorrow with SPARE CHANGE, the show I’m SMing for Steppenwolf right now. I’m so happy to finally be moving into the theater, as I think always happens at this stage of doing a show. Working on a brand new play has been such an interesting experience. The collaboration is fascinating and inspiring to watch, but I’ve also observed moments of too much collaboration where the playwright shouldn’t have been afraid to put her foot down and say, “no, we’re doing it my way!” But yeah, it’s been awesome. And the weird thing about teching this show is that because we’re in rep with two other shows, after we tech tomorrow we have two more rehearsals back in the rehearsal space, sans tech, and then we have one more afternoon of tech before the preview. And since we’ve hit this point of major things changing in the play, I just know we’re going to spend hours teching something that will change in the rehearsal room and then have to be re-teched all over again. But it really has been a great experience so far. I really like all my co-workers on this project. I can’t remember the last time I did a show where there were more people sitting behind the table than acting in front of it!
Below is the URL where you can check out what I’m working on:
http://www.steppenwolf.org/boxoffice/productions/index.aspx?id=345
I’ve gotten the criticism that my blog tends to be too much about what I ate for lunch and not enough about what I think and feel about things. So, here’s a (small) taste:
Okay, like most angry liberals I get e-mails frequently from Move-on.org. Today I got an e-mail from them about Bill Frist reintroducing the marriage ammendment to congress. I also heard about it on NPR (like most card-carrying liberals). I tried to call my senators, but of course their lines were busy and their mailboxes full. So I settled for signing a petition to go to Bill Frist “demanding” that he not take the marriage ammendment before congress. And here is the “persoal message” I wrote to him:
Mr. Frist,
Although I am not one of you supporters, I respectfully request that you take this shameful ammendment off the table. It distracts our congressmen and women from much more pressing and important matters, such as the health care crises, the controversy of domestic spying and the war in Iraq. I do not expect all people to agree with gay and lesbian marriage, but there are many laws on the books that I as a liberal do not agree with and yet I respect and abide. It just doesn’t seem right that we should pass an ammendment restricting people’s rights. Gays and lesbians marrying HURTS NO ONE. Guns kill thousands of people a year in this country, and yet we allow people to carry them. Please, see reason on this.
I thought it was very respectful and tempered considering how royally PISSED OFF I am about this.
Just got back from spending a couple days in Wisconsin at my buddy John’s family’s farm. I drove up early Monday morning, picked up my boy in Marshfield and he drove the rest of way to Native Bay restaurant where we had delicious roast pig and really amazing potato salad. There were also 4 local breweries there with free samples. Mmmmm, beer tasting. We ate ourselves silly, enjoyed the ridiculously warm weather and finally headed back to the farm where we played dominos and then Munchkin before turning in. Today we met John’s parents at a local brewery for lunch and ended up taking home a growler of tasty local Wisconsin beer (which I am enjoying right now). We drove through a lovely storm on the way home. It rained so hard I couldn’t properly see the road for a while, and we saw lighting strike a power line right next to us. But we made it home safe and sound, though not before stopping at Mar’s Cheese Castle for some tasty cheese curds.
Backing up a bit, my college buddies Ruchi and Maria were in town this weekend. We had a fabulous day on Sunday eating a lot of food, visiting the NU campus, walking around Millenium Park, shopping and topping it all off with a drink in the Signature Room. It was really good to see them, especially since I haven’t made it out for my annual visit to LA this year.
Nixon in China closed Saturday night. We had a great run and I really think the show will do wonders for the company. Thursday night was kind of a weird night, with a mic going live at intermission, a glass breaking onstage during the show, and some other weirdness I can’t remember now, but Saturday night’s show was flawless.
