In other news, Johah and I have decided that we are going to make a Ninja Pirate Zombie movie. (I wanted the Pirates to receive top billing, but Johah is convinced that it needs to be alphabetical.) Now, this is in direct contrast to Whitey’s philosophy that Pirates, Ninjas, and Zombies are inherently funny but only in combinations of (a MAXIMUM of) two. When I said this, I was immediately refuted - and the scriptwriting began. The Phenomenon may even be my lesbian true love, and we might have even recruited a director.
My friends in this town are the SHIT. I have never been surrounded by such gorgeous, funny, talented, motivated people in my life. You all are fucking inspirational, and that’s the truth.
I am going to spend the rest of the day practicing my AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
POLL! If you were making a Pirate Ninja Zombie movie, what would YOU call it?
I am so happy.
I am so happy.
I am so happy.
Walking home from the Elysian last night, my chest was so tight I could hardly breathe. I’ve spent the whole morning on the verge of tears - so relieved, that everything that’s shitty in my life right now seems totally unimportant.
I love you and you more than anything.
(Thank you, thank you, thank you.)
I am so happy.
I am so happy.
I am so happy.
Walking home from the Elysian last night, my chest was so tight I could hardly breathe. I’ve spent the whole morning on the verge of tears - so relieved that everything that’s shitty in my life right now has practically disappeared.
I love you and you more than anything.
(Thank you, thank you, thank you.)
Here is what you are doing Friday night. No, shut up, it is.
So, everybody who knows me knows that this show opens tomorrow. Woot! What you may not know is that my pals at Live Girls! are also having a show that night. Thankfully, THEY have a late show, so those of us being artistic earlier in the evening don’t have to lose out.
SO. HERE IS THE PLAN.
I have two comp tickets to my show available, which can only be used this thursday, friday, or saturday. If you want those, text message/call/reply and I will shamelessly give them away to whoever gets to me first. Come see the show! Drink cheap beer! Gawk at the crazy people performing six inches from your face! Then, when all is said and done (and I have gotten out of the world’s heaviest FAT PANTS), we will head over to beautiful Ballard to see Baker’s Dozen, one of the most interesting theatrical experiments I have ever been part of. I directed once and acted once, and to date it remains the only time I have ever been in a show with Ray or Erin where there was a script involved.
Doesn’t that sound good? A whole weekend full of exciting experimental theatre! What more could you possibly want?
(Don’t answer that. Perverts.)
review
Saw this fucking HILARIOUS movie last night. Nobody told me it was going to be so funny! I liked it … but honestly, the things I liked about it were all things I liked better about Natural Born Killers. Maybe it’s just that I saw NBK at sixteen, and maybe it’s that I had spent the previous semester studying all the source materials referenced in the movie, and maybe it was just the thrill of riding to that movie on a schoolbus in the middle of the day. In any case, that movie is imprinted into my mind in a way that few others have managed. Yes, obviously Oliver Stone and Rob Zombie are pretty much different in every GD way. However, (IMHO), their takes on the fascinating characters behind all the violence are pretty similar. You end up really feeling for these assholes by the end of the film. Of course, that’s exactly why Mass Murder was such an incredible experience way back when. It’s fucking amazing getting inside the heads of people like this, even a little. In any case, if you like ridiculous death scenes or self-referential gore, go see this movie. If you get squicked out by cruel/unusual violence or DISGUSTING teeth, stay home.
ETA: Just watched the Mass Murder trailer for the first time in a long time. Man, I looked like a completely different person. (Creepy.)
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION … and crow
Come see OUR SHOW! We run this Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00, and then next weekend at the same times. And if you’re one of those busybodies who is too busy (007,I am looking at you) … you are in luck! Our rehearsal tomorrow night is also open if anyone is interested. It’s really good for us to have some “practice victims” before the house is full, and since tonight is our first night laying eyes on this place, we’d love all the artistic freeloaders we can get our hands on. No ticket price! (No sweet beer deal either, but those are the breaks.) I am really proud to be part of this show for the FOURTH time, and I would love for you to come see it.
There is a HUGE twist at the end of this episode. You do NOT want to miss it.
In other news, this is what I look like when I eat crow. This morning, I talked at length about how much tougher my immune system is now that I’ve been working with preschoolers (aka green-snot-volcanoes) for the last two years. I was like “blah blah blah, I don’t get sick nearly as much anymore, blah blah blah, I’m totally immune to grownup germs”. I officially suck. Around ten o’clock today, my throat started to feel like I had swallowed a rock of some kind.
{Confidential to Ms. Wonderhorn…I love you! Thanks again for being my hot date this weekend.}
waylaid
So, these pictures are extremely tardy, but here they are. Remember a long time ago, when I had that housewarming party? Right. Here are a couple of highlights.
Rachel and I are too sexy for this bowling alley
Mark singing the bowling blues, with Ms. Wonderhorn on backup
Whitey’s car is sexy, but Mark’s car might be sexier
And, just for good measure, HELL RIOT!
ETA: I forgot to link to this picture earlier, and it needs to be done. This is an example of how five years apart makes NO DIFFERENCE when you’re with people who are really your friends. Bin, you can feed me grapes any time you want. Get your ass out of Georgia!
Wedding Weekend Photoessay, part 2
All my pictures are here, but here are some highlights. Hooray, Online Coffee Co.! They serve me and all my computing needs.
I’m sorry my photos aren’t labeled (or rotated?) properly, but that will happen someday when I have more than a couple of minutes on a computer. My folks are considering helping me get a laptop, in a vain attempt at hearing from me more than once a month. Upside for me : No more voice messages from my mom about how she will have to call the Seattle police if she doesn’t hear from me. (Kidding, of course.) Upside for you : more mindless prattle! Aren’t you lucky?
Topher reads a section of “Money Can’t Buy Me Love”
Sash says “Hey! Let’s take a picture of us with all our clothes ON!”
Min with wine, cigarette, and Rainier
Probably my favorite photo of the weekend.
Cigar Picture 2005 … if you haven’t seen the original circa 2000, it’s here.
I felt like Annie Liebowitz when I took this picture
Ms. Wonderhorn and I with the father of the bride
And, courtesy of Sash,
I don’t know WHAT’s going on here, but I love it
And finally, courtesy of TMJ Callahan,
Everything is funnier when you’re drunk
Okay, back to work. Aren’t we pretty? God, it was amazing to see you guys. New Year’s in Chicago? Anyone?
Amazing, amazing, amazing. My cheeks hurt by the time everything was said and done - at one point I said “I can’t laugh any more, or I will throw up!” That pretty much epitomizes the wedding.
Here are a few quick links to other people’s pictures, since I haven’t uploaded mine yet.
Pre-Wedding COURAGE, and a disapproving Max
Bill’s little brother, who terrifyingly enough is now in college
How comforting that some things never change!
They clean up nice, don’t they?
Back at the hotel, where we just kept drinking
Photos blatantly borrowed from Minervacat … it was so lovely to see you, darling. ALL of you. More pictures and commentary when my head and heart are slightly less full.
i can taste you on my lips
and smell you in my clothes
It’s amazing how powerful scent can be. One tiny whiff of something that reminds me of something and my brain is suddenly a million miles away. Today, every once in awhile, I got to take a brief vacation from my fifth consecutive week of the same GD role drama curriculum … and go someplace cozier. Friendlier. Nicer. Even if only for a moment, and only in my mind.
How strangely ironic that all my college friends should descend upon the city en masse during the single most bloated, cramptastic, pmsycho week of my life? Fuck you, corporeal self. Fuck you for gaining several pounds of pure. jiggling. unadulterated. CRANKY just as you’re about to see everyone again.
I miss Eween. We have been playing phone tag but let me just tell you that the girl is too gorgeous for words. Have fun, hot stuff … but come back home to me. Okay?
In other news, Wonderhorn and I will be attending this event this weekend. We ended up with completely color-coordinated dresses and are ridiculously pleased with how bizarrely wonderful the next few days will be. Tomorrow night is apparently the first time I’ll get to see people, and I CAN NOT FREAKING WAIT. FreeBallin’ and Mikey and Phalex, OH MY! I love you guys, and I will see you SOON.
In other news, have I mentioned that I am ready to keel over and throw up on someone’s shoes? Just give me the fucking hysterectomy already. Put me out of my misery.
POLL
I am getting sick of this whole being blonde thing. I thought I was ready for a return to my roots (so to speak) but I find that in reality, it makes me feel like a fraud. What should I do next? (Someday, when I have money, which will NOT be for awhile.)
a) Stay blonde, yo. They DO have more fun.
b) Follow your dreams and put those black streaks in
c) Medium brown (boring and yet good for that whole act-y thing)
d) dark brown, which I NEVER do
e) back in black (sung a la Benlau with his ukelele)
f) none of the above - please explain
omfg pain
Just in case any of you wondered, doing a three-hour Viewpoints workshop with Sheila Daniels = MAJOR MUSCLE PAIN. This can be dealt with in several ways.
* drugs
* alcohol
* stretching
* LONG-ASS backrubs
For the record, #4 is my favorite. Special thanks to my ad hoc physical therapist, who made today infinitely easier for me to handle. Now, if I could just get my calves and hamstrings to stop throbbing, life would be a bowl of cherries.
Oy.
SO good or NO good?
Went out last night to see this show for the third time. (I know, I’m a dork.) Here are highlights, as I remember them.
* Ridiculously long discussion about which foods at the Irish Emigrant do or do not take more than fifteen minutes to arrive
* Good god, how I love drinking and watching theatre with LL Cool Ray
* Run-in #2 with the bizarre but ever-lovin’ Urban Tribe
* Having my knitted uterus turned down in favor of a diaper
* One of the most exciting moments of guy-on-guy action I have ever seen on a stage (ha!)
* Hot damn, do I have a total girlcrush on Stephanie
* I am no longer the only one who laughs until they cry repeatedly while out drinking!
* Brooke’s sexy new giant-ear-hole-things
* Getting to hang out with Molly for the first time in WAY too long
* Teaching others about the joys of the chichi (Yes, Crave, I always give credit where credit is due.)
* SPIDERMAN! (For the record, 007, I have been giggling about this all day.)
* Then, for good measure, HUCKLEBERRY FINN!
* Making Captain Dashing nearly fall over
* Getting to ride shotgun with The Phenomenon for the second time in three days
* Being reminded that Wonderhorn truly does have wonderful taste in people
* Getting picked up NO LESS THAN FOUR TIMES on my walk home from Charlie’s
* Wondering why “Hey, how you DOING, Mommy?” is supposed to sound sexy, even with a gangsta latino accent
* Walking most of the way home with a harmless homeless guitar playing hippie from Texas, who discussed with me in intimate detail why it’s so important to prioritize
* Discovering cat pee on my couch (sigh)
* Being more sure that my priorities are straight than I’ve been in awhile.
Shout-out for today to Jaegermeister for kicking the living SHIT out of that show, even while in pain. (Did I ever tell you you’re my hero?)
plizzans and MEMEME
Ray, Bill, Kylie, Sarah, possibly Meghan, and I are going to see THIS motherfucking hilarious show on Friday. Show is at eight, box office opens at 7:30. Want to come along? (Of course you do. Look how cute they are.) Afterwards, we were planning to hit a bar and raise a ruckus! Even if it’s just a LITTLE ruckus! Don’t you want to come? Yes, it’s a show about reality television. Yes, it’s improv. No, it’s NOTHING like our show.
And NOW, time for a little meme-age. You know that cool trick where you can post a comment - and then delete it - but lj will still forward your comment to me on my email? Right. I will see it, but NO ONE ELSE WILL. Here’s your assignment - tell me (or ask me) one thing that you wouldn’t care to bring up in front of others. This can be a juicy secret, an embarassing question, whatever. I promise to respond to whatever I get. Okay?
AMUSE ME!
(Thank you.)
furrysadrockinghappy
Today’s bloglovin’ goes out to my friend who just had to say goodbye to a childhood pet. I know that many people just don’t understand how uncannily strong the bond between a human and a non-human can be… but it sucks. It’s hard. Losing Teddy was hard. Losing Piper was even harder. Hey, you - if you need anything, let me know. Okay? I am thinking of you today.
In other news, we finally made our triumphant return to the Rickshaw! It had been way too long - after 7 Strangers rehearsal, we (LL Cool Ray, Johah, and I) were kidnapped by The Phenomenon, 007, and 007’s roommate, who has yet to be given a flattering online name. ;) Now, don’t get me wrong - I love Bush Gardens. I miss Kenny, I love Susie, and (like everyone else) I tolerate Christopher’s massive ego, all in the name of rocking out on a school night. However, there are many things that the Rickshaw has that Bush Gardens doesn’t … like Patty and Joel and Don/Laurie and Brooke and Susan. I’d forgotten how “home” that place used to feel, until I walked in and was immediately getting love from all these people. SHOUT OUTS TO MY KARAOKE LESBIANS! Seriously, you guys are the raddest. Don even sang “Strokin’” for me, which he hates. All in all, it was an excellent way to spend an evening. (I have gotten NO GODDAMN SLEEP this past week, for real. This week has also been far more fun than most, so I guess that’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.)
what have you done for me lately?
Tipped off to this by a good friend, I decided to check out my journal entries from last year at this time … and the year before, and the year before. The middle of July has, apparently, always been a time of major transfiguration. (This is stupid, given July’s natural proclivity for being a time of resting and sunbathing.)
One year ago …
I had finally realized that it was okay to admit that something was wrong with my chemistry. I had just been present for the second birth of my life - the now not-so-baby niece of Crave.I was a total wreck, and had allowed myself to disappear from the lives of pretty much everybody who cared about me.
Two years ago …
I was finally getting rid of the last remnants of the life I had when I first moved to this city. I was learning how to have girl friends. (Someone recently looked at a picture of me from a high school dance, and was able to immediately deduce exactly what my relationship with several of my male friends was like at the time. What can I say? Boys make more sense to me.) By spending time with the other 3 fat boys (who, for the record, are NOT boys) and noticing how different we all were, I was learning how important it is that I know myself well enough to really appreciate those differences. As a group, I think we had great strength in our diversity, which forced me to recognize and respect NOT being like the people around me.
Three years ago…
I was just beginning to pull my shit together after the most life-shattering life change ever. I was spending time with my East-Side high school brilliant computer friends (whom my whitey-pants Seattle Theatre Friends quickly dubbed “The Korean Mafia”), and I was forcing myself to get out of the house and spend time with people. It was hard as SHIT, but it was so good. Plus, falling beerlamps are always funny.
Four years ago…
Just about to do 14/48 for the first time. I would be cast over that weekend with BOTH of the actors I so idolized from the very first show I ever saw in this city. I would learn that they are just people too, and that my dreams weren’t so far out of reach after all.
Anyway, there you have it. On a more recent note, please remind me if I should forget again that I SHOULD NEVER DRINK BEER. Inanity, thy name is Hefeweizen.
nobody does it like doughty
You snooze, you lose
Well I have snost and lost
I’m pushing through
I’ll disregard the cost
I hear the bells
So fascinating and
I’ll slug it out
I’m sick of waiting
I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about poking. You think about something that hurts - repeatedly - in an attempt to be fully present in the magic moment when the hurting stops. Some of us are compulsive pokers, and every once in awhile the poking pays. I got up this morning after my first decent night of sleep in awhile, popped Mr. D. into the discman, and after a brief half-assed poke realized that I’d been wrong. There is nothing to stress over. My constant over-thinking of everything makes me see things that don’t have to exist. My life, right at the moment, actually kind of rules.
Went out last night with LL Cool Ray and Mandalay, who have been two of my best friends in this city for quite some time. With the summer-long absence of my Erinichka, they have helped me keep my balance. (And let’s not forget Ms. Wonderhorn!) We just sat at 22 Doors and talked and drank for a couple of hours, and I was reminded how much my posse in this city is the SHIT.
In any case, we’re back in the swing of rehearsals for 7 Strangers. As much as we all collectively dread that first rehearsal back after a break, it was so nice to see everyone again. I walked into the rehearsal hall and immediately went and lay down on top of Johah, whom I had missed WAY too much. (His new mustache is very 70s pornstar. Scary.) We spent our entire first scene together just snuggled up on the couch. I really love the cast of this show, and am so lucky to have gotten the chance to work with them over the last … almost THREE years? Holy shit. Marc and Ray and I are the only ones left of the original seven, and what a fucking crazy trip it’s been.
You know you can’t wait to see it. We will be so brilliant.
kill me now, I am quoting my mother.
A brief list of reasons why my mother was right. (If anyone ever tells her this, there will be hell to pay.)
Among the MILLION cheesy-ass things that she used to say were these time-honored favorites …
“There ARE no coincidences, Alicia.”
and
“Everything happens for a reason.”
For the record, when I was a teenager I nearly gagged every time she tried to bring up this hokey silver-lining-grey-cloud-shit. However, recently I have come to realize a few things that lead me to believe that maybe she rubbed off on me more than I might like to admit. There have been several “bad”s recently that have been outweighed by slightly greater ulterior “goods”. (And, being the math nerd that I am, here they are in full-force-dork-form. Those things are, in no particular order …
Stress < Certain methods of de-stressing
Crappy Night of Sleep < Super-Loving Cats who wouldn’t stop kneading
Obnoxious Conversation with Father about Finances < Being told that he’s proud
Hangover < Evening that brought it on
Cleaning < Pride at having someone see new apartment NOT covered in crap
Etc., etc., etc. There are a million others, but these are just at the top of my brain right now. What are the crappy things you have endured that ended up turning out for the best? I will try to never say this again, but prove my mom right. Tell me some stories … I have an hour to kill later this afternoon while I wait for my ride to rehearsal, and I want to be entertained.