Last night I met J and A in the Common to see Shakespeare in the Park. It was As You Like It, and it was delightful: lovely costumes, charming actors, and awesome audience members who made sure the sight-lines were cleared. It was a very good experience all around. It threatened rain, but we were able to enjoy our goodies (wine/sandwiches/starburst/chocolates) and stay dry under the cloudy sky. I'd gotten there early - around 5pm, and we didn't leave until 11. It was nice to be outside, enjoying Shakespeare with hundreds of other Bostonians.
Perhaps the most comedic part of the evening, however, was the ride home on the T. I don't mean this as any disrespect to the fine actors involved in Shakespeare in the Park; they certainly did a great job. I just find it particularly impressive that A, J, and I performed an entire talk-show, complete with guest interviews, with no media equipment save a black umbrella. Let me explain:
As we were waiting for the T, there was live music playing. This is not an odd occurrence in the T stations, as there are frequently buskers playing all manner of music. This had a sufficient beat, and A and I were able to do one of our favorite things: "freak" J - this basically consists of us aggressively dancing on J to make her laugh. If we were men doing it, it would be wildly inappropriate and intimidating, but since we're chicks, it's just funny.
Anyway, once we got on the train (luckily snagging a block of seats) and it began speeding off at the pace of a disabled snail, we quickly grew silly. We began singing Pat Benetar songs into the end of A's umbrella as if it were a microphone. The guys (standing) in front of us indicated that they enjoyed our "dancing" on the platform before we boarded. We thanked them, and then asked them for their thoughts, sticking the makeshift microphone in their faces. They shared. We asked more probing questions, people cried. It was intense. We got more attention from the other passengers, or audience members, as I thought of them. Let me tell you, A, J and I could kick the asses of those chicks on The View ANYTIME. In a classic moment of talk-show banter, we asked the gentleman to J's right "So, are you from around here?", and I knew we'd truly arrived on the talk-show scene (circuit?). When we got off the train at our stop, there was a warm round of applause, and promises that people would tune in every time we "aired".
And people gripe about the lack of relevant, gripping media. Seriously: we've got substance. Also, we're cute, and we have a magical microphone umbrella. There is nothing we can't achieve...
I'm out. The show opens tonight and I have much work to do before then...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Binder Clips
I'm in a play. Actually, it's a series of several one-act plays. It's a whole night of one-act plays in fact, and I'm in the first one. I love the people. I love the theatre company. I love the acting.
But...
Yeah, there are some things about community theatre that... well, that are a little...ghetto, shall we say?
Just as an example, almost the entire set is held together with binder clips. Uh huh. Not even duct tape. Or gorilla glue. Or monkeys with nothing better to do. Binder clips - old ones with paint all over them. Our "blacks" (those are the black curtains meant to provide a back-drop and block out other distractions) are frayed and pitiful. Erg.
That theatre I worked with when I was in Reading, PA (before I moved to Boston) had a constantly-leaking roof. Even when the weather was delightful we had to have buckets under certain parts of the ceiling to prevent patrons from getting wet. Luckily there were never that many patrons. Ha! Also, it was freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer.
The message? Community theatre needs more resources. Money, time, people with skills and the motivation to use those skills. It's tough, because every cause needs those things, and community theatre is pretty far down the list of things to believe in and support for most people.
I'm writing this because the theatre has meant SO much to me, and I feel like I could give more. That is why I have several binder clips (of varying sizes) in my purse right now. Because I care enough to take them from work and bring them to my community theatre.
Yeah.
But...
Yeah, there are some things about community theatre that... well, that are a little...ghetto, shall we say?
Just as an example, almost the entire set is held together with binder clips. Uh huh. Not even duct tape. Or gorilla glue. Or monkeys with nothing better to do. Binder clips - old ones with paint all over them. Our "blacks" (those are the black curtains meant to provide a back-drop and block out other distractions) are frayed and pitiful. Erg.
That theatre I worked with when I was in Reading, PA (before I moved to Boston) had a constantly-leaking roof. Even when the weather was delightful we had to have buckets under certain parts of the ceiling to prevent patrons from getting wet. Luckily there were never that many patrons. Ha! Also, it was freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer.
The message? Community theatre needs more resources. Money, time, people with skills and the motivation to use those skills. It's tough, because every cause needs those things, and community theatre is pretty far down the list of things to believe in and support for most people.
I'm writing this because the theatre has meant SO much to me, and I feel like I could give more. That is why I have several binder clips (of varying sizes) in my purse right now. Because I care enough to take them from work and bring them to my community theatre.
Yeah.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Infallible, my eye!
Dear L'Oreal Paris,
Recently, I stumbled (I'd had some Jack Daniels - don't judge me!) into my local CVS to buy some toothpaste. Feeling vulnerable and impressionable, I found myself in front of the vast make-up continent occupying the entire east half of the store. Holy Potato, L'Oreal! You have a lot of products! You probably know that. Now I'm pretty bad at things make-up related, but occasionally, there's no getting around it.
You see, L'Oreal, I act in plays. In order to be under the bright lights and not look like a corpse, one needs to wear make-up pretty aggressively. I'm happy to do it. Every now and then it's fun! But, the challenge is finding quality products that fit your role. Currently, I'm acting with a theatre group who works in a space with no air conditioning. In July. I need products that don't melt off my face and make me look like a Dali painting. Additionally, I have a stage kiss. It's important that after said kiss, I and my kissing partner (Jenny, if you must know) are not covered in lip-goo.
L'Oreal, I know you understand. You've no doubt coated the lips of many a starlet. This cannot be new information that I'm giving you here! So, why are you playing me?
Back to the CVS where I plunked down my $11.99 plus 5% MA state sales tax: I hurriedly went home and lovingly laid my new L'Oreal Infallible Lip Color (or Couleur, since you're a saucy Parisian) in my make-up case for use the next day.
The next day came: hot and sticky, as promised. I applied (with excitement) shade #75 (Zinfandel) onto clean lips - as specified - and waited the requisite 1 minute before application of the clear conditioning top coat. A few minutes later, and I checked my pouty kisser in the mirror. What the HELL, L'Oreal?!?!
So, when you promise an "even application", do you actually mean that the color beads up on your lips like little bits of pencil eraser? And when you indicate that the color is "super long lasting", what are you referring to? The color fell off my lips about two hours after I put it on! When I hear "super long lasting", I want it to compete with my 18-hour-bra in terms of longevity!
Damn you, L'Oreal. This is the last time you seduce me with your clever packaging and marketing BS. I'm outta here. Plus, you totally owe me $12.59.
Sincerely,
Yum...
Recently, I stumbled (I'd had some Jack Daniels - don't judge me!) into my local CVS to buy some toothpaste. Feeling vulnerable and impressionable, I found myself in front of the vast make-up continent occupying the entire east half of the store. Holy Potato, L'Oreal! You have a lot of products! You probably know that. Now I'm pretty bad at things make-up related, but occasionally, there's no getting around it.
You see, L'Oreal, I act in plays. In order to be under the bright lights and not look like a corpse, one needs to wear make-up pretty aggressively. I'm happy to do it. Every now and then it's fun! But, the challenge is finding quality products that fit your role. Currently, I'm acting with a theatre group who works in a space with no air conditioning. In July. I need products that don't melt off my face and make me look like a Dali painting. Additionally, I have a stage kiss. It's important that after said kiss, I and my kissing partner (Jenny, if you must know) are not covered in lip-goo.
L'Oreal, I know you understand. You've no doubt coated the lips of many a starlet. This cannot be new information that I'm giving you here! So, why are you playing me?
Back to the CVS where I plunked down my $11.99 plus 5% MA state sales tax: I hurriedly went home and lovingly laid my new L'Oreal Infallible Lip Color (or Couleur, since you're a saucy Parisian) in my make-up case for use the next day.
The next day came: hot and sticky, as promised. I applied (with excitement) shade #75 (Zinfandel) onto clean lips - as specified - and waited the requisite 1 minute before application of the clear conditioning top coat. A few minutes later, and I checked my pouty kisser in the mirror. What the HELL, L'Oreal?!?!
So, when you promise an "even application", do you actually mean that the color beads up on your lips like little bits of pencil eraser? And when you indicate that the color is "super long lasting", what are you referring to? The color fell off my lips about two hours after I put it on! When I hear "super long lasting", I want it to compete with my 18-hour-bra in terms of longevity!
Damn you, L'Oreal. This is the last time you seduce me with your clever packaging and marketing BS. I'm outta here. Plus, you totally owe me $12.59.
Sincerely,
Yum...
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Pretty pretty princesses
I'd like to suggest something: get dressed up - pretty dress, fancy-schmancy shoes, make-up - with a friend and go anywhere for a lunch. No doubt it's better when you can do it in the summer and there's outdoor seating, but I'm sure it would be good anytime.
On Saturday afternoon, I got prettied up and went into Harvard Square to Grendel's with my lovely little elven friend, A. She even wore a hat. We walked around, ate yummy food, and strolled through one of (apparently) only 2 only-poetry bookstores in the USA.
Later that night I went into Central Square to see my friend, Tim Fite play at TT The Bear's. Mr. Fite and I went to high school together, and it was a lot of fun to watch him get a crowd of people "perform" along with him to Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.
Wow, I love living here.
On Saturday afternoon, I got prettied up and went into Harvard Square to Grendel's with my lovely little elven friend, A. She even wore a hat. We walked around, ate yummy food, and strolled through one of (apparently) only 2 only-poetry bookstores in the USA.
Later that night I went into Central Square to see my friend, Tim Fite play at TT The Bear's. Mr. Fite and I went to high school together, and it was a lot of fun to watch him get a crowd of people "perform" along with him to Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.
Wow, I love living here.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
2 things about work...
One thing I like about where I work (and there are a LOT of things, this is just one I'm thinking of right now) is that at 4:55pm, there isn't any rustling of papers and shutting down of computers. At 5pm, there isn't a mass exodus. People generally stay later. I do too. I used to be trained to leave right at quitting time; I was antsy if I stayed later. This isn't because I don't like work, or I'm lazy, but more because I like to stick to a time-line, and 7:30am to 5:00pm is an easy one to follow. In any case, it has helped me immensely in remaining focused that there is no actual "end of day" here. Some people quietly leave at 5, or 5:15, or 5:30, but I no longer feel like I need to go at any certain time. I still do occasionally leave at 5, but not because I'm itching to.
This means a lot to me because it's important that I do my job well, and I enjoy the thought that others think I am valuable to the company. In short, I suppose that staying later to get more tasks done (we're resource limited, so we all "wear many hats") makes me proud of my performance. In a job where I have a hefty personal investment in our success, that's great. *pats self on back*
So, the thing I don't like about my office is that it is SO cold in the summer. Jeez! I'm wearing clothes that are completely summer appropriate for a woman, and my cube is a meat locker. I feel like I'm in cryo-stasis for ten hours a day. When I get to escape to the outside I hear the cracking of the thaw. Dang! This is what comes of letting people who wear the same thing all year (read: men) control the temperature!
Funny, kind of related story:
When I was in college, one semester I lived with J, A, and S. We had an apartment (10B!) where we controlled the heat. J and I were always FREEZING and constantly turning up the heat. When A and S would come home from crew they'd complain and turn the heat down to 40. When they left, we'd return the thermostat to 80 and huddle together doing shivering-thermogenesis until the color returned to our skin. We denied turning the heat up, every time. It was pretty passive-aggressive. But, it's what you gotta do when you're perpetually cold...
This means a lot to me because it's important that I do my job well, and I enjoy the thought that others think I am valuable to the company. In short, I suppose that staying later to get more tasks done (we're resource limited, so we all "wear many hats") makes me proud of my performance. In a job where I have a hefty personal investment in our success, that's great. *pats self on back*
So, the thing I don't like about my office is that it is SO cold in the summer. Jeez! I'm wearing clothes that are completely summer appropriate for a woman, and my cube is a meat locker. I feel like I'm in cryo-stasis for ten hours a day. When I get to escape to the outside I hear the cracking of the thaw. Dang! This is what comes of letting people who wear the same thing all year (read: men) control the temperature!
Funny, kind of related story:
When I was in college, one semester I lived with J, A, and S. We had an apartment (10B!) where we controlled the heat. J and I were always FREEZING and constantly turning up the heat. When A and S would come home from crew they'd complain and turn the heat down to 40. When they left, we'd return the thermostat to 80 and huddle together doing shivering-thermogenesis until the color returned to our skin. We denied turning the heat up, every time. It was pretty passive-aggressive. But, it's what you gotta do when you're perpetually cold...
Monday, July 7, 2008
The 4th of Overcast...
Oh, the 4th of July was so nice! I started off by eating a leisurely breakfast with M (bacon and eggs, of course) and watching some Planet Earth (thank you, BBC!). Then I puttered around for awhile tidying up and doing some laundry. I went to get some sweets (apricot almond tart from Trader Joe's. I was going to make mocha nut brownies, but I had no time!) for a friend's bbq. I picked up M on my way to the bbq where within the first 1/2 hour of being there I managed to jam my finger in the metal door lock and scream like a howler monkey on crack. It still hurts, but I'll live. Also, I medicated with beer and a bag of ice. The entire thing was lovely(excluding the finger-jam)- with good friends and food, relaxing music and conversation. Then onto the fireworks!
So 500,000 people were gathered to watch the 'works. They started about 20 minutes late, which didn't matter, as the weather was agreeable - the only issue was that it was so overcast that we missed a lot of what I assume were great sights. After, we got another drink while the crowds died down and took the T to my car.
Saturday and yesterday were fairly lazy. Still, I feel like I got a lot done - learned most of my lines, did some light gardening, ironed (my all time hated chore). Yesterday I picked J up when she dropped off her ZipCar and we went for a delightful dinner in Teele square where we practically licked (drank?) the plates clean. Yum.
Anyway, this week promises to be busy and crazy at work, but hey, what else is new? I'd better get to it...
So 500,000 people were gathered to watch the 'works. They started about 20 minutes late, which didn't matter, as the weather was agreeable - the only issue was that it was so overcast that we missed a lot of what I assume were great sights. After, we got another drink while the crowds died down and took the T to my car.
Saturday and yesterday were fairly lazy. Still, I feel like I got a lot done - learned most of my lines, did some light gardening, ironed (my all time hated chore). Yesterday I picked J up when she dropped off her ZipCar and we went for a delightful dinner in Teele square where we practically licked (drank?) the plates clean. Yum.
Anyway, this week promises to be busy and crazy at work, but hey, what else is new? I'd better get to it...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
3 Men on Bass
So, let's start early in the day yesterday. I wore a pretty sun-dress and walked to work. The weather was glorious! Then, midday, there was rain and hail and gale-force winds. Ugh! It did clear up enough for me to only suffer a little from soggy-flip-flop syndrome on the way home, but the skies were threatening.
Later, I got on the T and went into Harvard to meet the lovely J, who had an identical pretty-dress-and-crazy-rain kind of day. We'd come to see one of our friends play at Passim (club in Harvard - but not a dance and rave kind of club, more of a listen to music quietly and eat vegan food kind of club). Anyway, two points were emphasized by listening to these three men on bass:
1. Bassists seriously rock, with all of their "wakita-wakita-bow-ow"ing
and
2. Bassists are FUNNY
Best line in a song:
"You may hesitate to think I'm better than the best you've had, but your dog really likes me so you should get used to me being around..."
Nice.
Afterwards, we went with D, one of the bassist's long-time fiancée across the street for margaritas. Oh Hell Yes. If J and I hadn't had work today we would have stayed for more, but as it was closing in on midnight we hopped a bus back to our 'burg and went home. J really had to pee, so there was some torturing going on. I'm sure she was able to wait until she got home :)
Anyway, after already putting out some fires today, I'm hoping to take it easy this weekend. Tonight, I'm thinking Thai chicken and a bottle of wine. Tomorrow, hopefully some laziness in the sun and then fireworks.
Enjoy.
Later, I got on the T and went into Harvard to meet the lovely J, who had an identical pretty-dress-and-crazy-rain kind of day. We'd come to see one of our friends play at Passim (club in Harvard - but not a dance and rave kind of club, more of a listen to music quietly and eat vegan food kind of club). Anyway, two points were emphasized by listening to these three men on bass:
1. Bassists seriously rock, with all of their "wakita-wakita-bow-ow"ing
and
2. Bassists are FUNNY
Best line in a song:
"You may hesitate to think I'm better than the best you've had, but your dog really likes me so you should get used to me being around..."
Nice.
Afterwards, we went with D, one of the bassist's long-time fiancée across the street for margaritas. Oh Hell Yes. If J and I hadn't had work today we would have stayed for more, but as it was closing in on midnight we hopped a bus back to our 'burg and went home. J really had to pee, so there was some torturing going on. I'm sure she was able to wait until she got home :)
Anyway, after already putting out some fires today, I'm hoping to take it easy this weekend. Tonight, I'm thinking Thai chicken and a bottle of wine. Tomorrow, hopefully some laziness in the sun and then fireworks.
Enjoy.
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