hey, remember...

...how i had that awesome going away party?

J&J gave me beautiful Gerbera daisies (technically, that was several days pre-going away, but still)...



Another beautiful J&J, from Janine's, came out to play (I write in the notebook and/or wear the earrings daily, ladies)...



What these beautiful men are doing made sense in the moment, and that's all that matters...



Scot, loyal 'til the end, hope to see you soon, my friend...



Laura, making an angle...



Mike, drinking BEER!



Tim, Andrew, and Laura, being awesome...



Tim, Andrew, and Laura, being MORE awesome...



No words exist to describe us...



Loungy...



Cue happiness!...



BEN!...



Aaaaaaaaannnd, someone please put me to bed. Thanks, Minneapolis, you are freaking awesome.

little fascinations

1. Kids in Korea are trained to call their Korean teachers 'teacher,' as a sign of respect for the elders. Teachers at some hogwans are known by their first name combined with 'teacher,' as in 'Tony-teacher' or 'Megan-teacher.' At my school, we use the western style 'Mr.' 'Ms.' etc., but can choose to use our first or last name, depending on our preference. Saying teacher is so deeply ingrained, of course, that even my youngest kids still say 'teacher' every five seconds when they need help.

'Teach-ah, octopus spelling is what?'

2. Knowing literally nothing about Korean grammar, my guess is that either question words go at the end of the sentence or there is just inflection to indicate a question. That inflection is, of course, still necessary in English, and sometimes takes the place of a question word. Working with my kids, though, to get them to practice putting question words at the beginning of a question sentence is not easy. Not easy simply because I'm already so used to hearing the way they construct those sentences that it's starting to sound normal.

'Teach-ah, this is why?'

3. Daily, I hear 'Teach-ah, he is boyfriend?' in regards to any and every male teacher my kids see me talking to. One kid writes 'Ms. Blake *heart* Mr. Wall' on the white board every break time. I wear a ring on my right hand, and my students on Friday asked me if my boyfriend gave it to me. This doesn't cease to crack me up.

4. Lots of the little kids really like to climb on the male teachers during break time, to get lifted up and to see how strong the teachers are. I'll bet all the teachers seem really big, in comparison to these little ones, not to mention the stature of their parents, for the most part. I finally had one kid do it to me on Friday, grab onto my arm to lift her up, so I did, and she was pretty impressed.

'Wow! Strong!'

Yeah, and you way, like, 25 pounds.

5. I have one student who, every time we use crayons to color the pictures that start with a certain sound, reminds me very loudly, 'Ms. Blake, I don't like color,' to which I say, 'I know, Matthew, just write instead.' He always uses his pencil to write the words of each picture, and he's well on his way to being a better speller than some of my 4th grade age kids. I asked him once why he doesn't like to color, and he gave me a very long-winded, complex answer about how colors are too messy that I didn't really understand, so I just let him be.

So, no colors because they're messy, and even better, he hates sweets. One day, when I asked what their favorite ice cream was, Matthew answered, 'I don't like ice cream. I like vegetable.' On the day we talked about favorite foods, most kids said a fruit (which is really cool), but Matthew said, 'My favorite food is vegetable.' When we talk about apples, he talks about vegetables.

Needless to say, I like to encourage his quirks.

6. I was asking some of my students what kind of animal they would write a story about, if they could write about anything.

'Rabbit.' 'Rhinoceros beetle.' 'Shark.'

Tommy's response?

'I like lion and tiger, white tiger, liger, lion, tiger.'

That's right. One of Tommy's favorite animals is the liger.

7. 'Teach-ah, what minute?' seems to mean some combination of 'What time is it?' and 'How long until the end of class?' My standard answer to this somewhat infuriating question is the equally infuriating 'many minutes.'

full of lightness, full of weight

Lazing the day away, enjoying idleness and some light cleaning, eating a tasty egg-potato-broccoli concoction, drinking cups of coffee, and spending a lovely few hours talking to Ari on Skype after she got home from work. Couldn't quite shake the weirdness of talking to my computer with its built-in mic, no headset or handset or anything, just me talking alone in my room... I'll never stop being thankful for that girl who understands all the best and worst about me and the fact that we will never run out of things to talk about. Thank goodness technology can connect me to the reassuring sound of her voice for free, because I could easily rack up the bills it would previously have taken.

Currently sitting in my digs listening to music, eating spicy noodles and drinking orange juice, candles burning, thinking about going downstairs to get some bleach for my drains (the drains really start to stink things up around these parts), happy to be chilling out, happy to be right here right now.

Last night ended up as a noribang adventure that included teachers from both ends of this crazy city - Joe and Heidi were there with their friend Laura, Shannon, Allison and Bethany from Magnet, and wonderful Lauren, former head teacher of my school. We ate chips and Joe and I sang songs we knew only marginally with much gusto ('Celebrity Skin' and 'Origin of Love'), Heidi got down with some Disney, some ladies busted out some opera, I kicked the ass of 'One Way or Another,' and I got to hear Lauren sing the US national anthem with her stellar set of pipes, followed closely by a lively rendition of 'Oh, Canada.' (Why oh why didn't I take any pictures of this?? Gotta do better with the documentation.)

And then?

And THEN?

(This is the exciting part.)

I got in a cab by myself and I remembered the words my coworkers taught me for right and left and straight and we didn't get lost and then presto! I was home!

I think that's pretty exciting, thank you very much.

Korean vocabulary currently includes: 'hello,' 'thank you,' 'goodbye,' 'beef,' 'right,' 'left,' 'straight,' and 'over here.'

***

As we approach the 4th week of the 1st month, I certainly still have my moments when my emotions overtake me after second graders Samuel and James spend 2 hours making noise, making faces, farting, and generally doing everything they can find to do other than their work. I'm still trying to settle into discerning in the moment what needs to be taken care of and what needs to be ignored in favor of more important things. Though there is no tragedy, no disaster, simply a hard days work done, I am sometimes overcome. Those of you prone to emotionality in this way may understand what I'm talking about, others may not. I'm taking the advice of a friend and allowing a deep breath to precede the moment when the tears flow, and combining it with the advice of another friend who is a bit of a fountain of tears themself, and not feeling guilty about it when it happens. Let it happen if it has to, let it be a release of energy, a catharsis, and at the same time striving to not let the manifestation of my emotions take the place of actively seeking solutions when there's a problem at hand.

Right now, I am thinking that it ends up being less about how I experience emotion, and more about dealing with and letting go of fear and doubt, and just ... being. Just being the teacher that I am, doing my best, not spending all my time worrying about whether or not I'm doing it right, whether I'm any good at it.

(That last sentence, while about being a teacher, really ought to be said about being, well, a person on this planet.)

Anyway, I'm here to do my best, and then to experience a lot more than just working at a hogwan. I'm here to see the world, to meet new people, to become ever more myself, to try new things, and, most of all, to have the time to contemplate all of this. Constructively, not with the circular thinking that often pervades my mind when I'm too busy to sort anything out.

I'm here to put my thoughts into words, on paper or outloud, to voice them and then to be able to keep the ones I need and ditch the rest.

I'm here to appreciate the gravity of life, but to cultivate lightness in the face of it. To not take life so, well, seriously.

Oh, yeah, and I'm also here to spend Saturdays idle in my apartment in Western Seoul, sometimes turning my brain on, sometimes turning it on standby, drinking coffee and breathing.

Whew. Heavy.

The next post will be full of pictures, I promise. And anecdotes about adorable Korean children.

15 months later...

... and sometimes all I want in the world is a cigarette.

Weekend

Lost and some bulgogi pizza and a nap and then some ice cream and some more Lost.

Sometimes you just need to stay in to have some fun.

Happy Sunday.

10 Things I Know on a Tuesday Night

1. We're coming close to the 200 posts mark. Measly, for the 4 years I've been writing at this address. Awesome, because it's a MILESTONE, GODDAMIT.

2. We started class today, with our own classes and everything. Yesterday (Monday) turned out to be the end of the summer intensive, so the three new teachers at our school were in charge of covering the class of a guy whose contract was over. Nice to meet students, totally lame to be in class with 3 groups at the end of the semester, after they've had snack parties to celebrate the end of the semester, trying to play 'games' with them to reinforce school rules. Today was much, much better. Real lesson plans, books, new classes, fresh semester.

I taught a group of kids who are basically between kindergarten and 1st grade level at our school about 's' and 'm,' at the beginning, middle, and ends of words. I discusses families, the calendar, and the words 'meet,' 'pleased,' 'hobby,' 'interest,' 'where,' and 'too' with some 1st grade level kids. All of these kids know more English, and more about everything, than I would ever have guessed. Including the kids who don't want to raise their hands and answer questions. I've already figured out the kids that I'll need work on sitting in their chair (no, not the chair next to you, no, not the desk, YOUR chair), and the ones who don't want to offer up answers, even though they know it exactly. Hopefully I can find some way to get them to sit down/engage them.

Um, also, we played a lot of hangman. Because one of our books for the classroom wasn't delivered today. And hangman is AWESOME.

Tomorrow I teach those two classes again, and add my other class, a 2nd grade level class. The 2st graders were so freaking smart (and rowdy), I can't even begin to guess what will happen with these guys tomorrow. I've heard that one of them always vetoes game time in favor of studying; I've read a couple of her essays, she's clearly amazing. So, tomorrow will be yet a new adventure.

3. I still haven't figured out my zip code. I'm sure you're all dying to send me mail, right?

4. Soju (liquor cheaper than water, good for toasts and numbing your mouth after totally, riotously, righteously spicy food) is also good to pour on bug bites to get them to stop itching. At least until I get to the pharmacy and properly articulate 'mogi' in order to get some sort of tincture.

5. There was an adorable, new, cute little boy who was a. doing the robot or b. being a dinosaur when he was not sitting in his chair today. I only managed to ask him to sit down once, because whatever he was doing when he was standing was so fascinating. Don't get trapped by the cute, dude, just don't do it.

6. I went out to get a drink on break and one little girl gave me a hug for 2 minutes while another held my hand. All while I still got a drink from the cooler. And I had three kids give me a hug who weren't in my class (who I met yesterday), and another 7 say hello to me by name in the hall. These kids are AWESOME. And know how to write and spell. Even if some of them refuse to do it. I hope I can hold up my end of the deal and help them learn more and do good tests and stuff. Yeah.

7. I got a huge bed, but now I really need a mattress topper of some sort. That thing is as hard as my mom's bed, which defies some kind of physics in being harder than the floor.

8. I'm not jet lagged anymore, I don't think, but my sleep schedule is not what it ought to be, that's for sure.

9. I had an adventure on Sunday that included a market, a mountain, makkoli, and a mineral spring. Pictures to follow when it's not so late.

10. Any suggestions for cool/informational stuff I can hang up in my classroom that at different times will house kids from post-kinder to 2nd grade? I'm a little freaked out by how many grammar posters are up right now - that's great teaching, but I don't know if I know what all of it means, which seems shady. Taking suggestions. Alright.

11. How do I get Google to stop being in Korean? Like, completely? Not good enough at hangul for this yet; I'm hopeful that someday...

It's 1 AM in South Korea. I'd probably better go to bed.

Just the Beginning

We're here, we're here, we're here!

While I was able to sleep most of the way through the flight from Minneapolis to San Fran, I couldn't catch a break but for a 40 minute snooze in all of our 12:25 hr flight to Seoul. Luckily, Korean Air is officially Freaking Awesome. Pashmina-esque blankets, little bags labeled 'for-your-comfort' with socks, sleep mask, toothbrush, and toothpaste, and bottles of water all waiting for us when we got on the plane. Totally respectable airplane food, including a beef-filled sweet bun for breakfast that was surprisingly delicious. And best of all, individual entertainment centers for each seat, with so many movies and music and games that it didn't matter one bit that I couldn't sleep: Adventureland, Sunshine Cleaning, Taken, I Love You, Man, some Stan Getz, a little Thelonius Monk, and (I couldn't get off the plane without watching at least one really really trashy something) He's Just Not That Into You.

Upon arrival, we had a little mix-up with our transportation, but eventually were driven to meet Eric, a really nice, helpful gentlemen in charge of all kinds of things related to getting teachers legally in the country and settled into their lives. He got Todd checked into his co-op (he's staying there til Sunday, and then he'll be moving into an apartment in my building), and then took me to my new digs. Got me set up with a bag full of bedding (need something to make it feel less like I'm sleeping directly on box springs, but at least I have a nice comforter), a bag of kitchenware, and even took me next door to the convenience store to get a few snacks:



Since arrival, I've also received a fridge (important), a tv with cable (for educational purposes only), cable internet (fast and awesome), and a table and chairs (good for grading homework, and for eating, because I've lost my ability to sit cross-legged on the floor for any length of time).

We've only had one day of training out of the time we've been here, at least for my school - we're technically 'quarantined,' and can't go on campus until Monday. So, we've just been exploring, eating things, trying to get around without knowing any Korean. Today we went out in search of converters for our plugs, and ended up in placed eMarket, in a giant complex called iMall, and there found an awesome grocery store (little kids in 'kids-heart-beef' t-shirts in a photo shoot around a giant hamburger, plus pretty much any kind of groceries we might want, including some Western staples), some Baskin Robbins (dude, they are EVERYWHERE here, along with Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, and many pizza chains ... weird), and a sweet food court with examples of all of the food in the front so we knew what we were ordering.

I've met some of the people who live on my floor, all of them teachers for the same school, and they were all incredibly nice and helpful: sharing tips, food (nectarines, anchovies), and maps. They're not actually teaching at the same campus that I will be, so I won't see them at work, but hopefully I'll get a chance to see them around here. Tonight, we'll get a chance to meet even more people at a going-away party for the outgoing teachers from our school.

I'm sorry this isn't a more coherent tale, but alas, not much to be done now. This is, after all, just the beginning.

The view outside my window:

buh-buh-buh-bye....

Travel plans have changed a bit- Minneapolis to San Fransisco, San Fransisco to Seoul - but all four of us leaving on this adventure get to go on the same flights, get to keep each other company over this next long day, over these next many miles.

It's finally here, just hours away.

Dearest dear friends, I miss you already.

And to the friends I've yet to meet - YOU'D BETTER GET READY.

G'night, Minneapolis.

Monday

...woke up ate cheese took a shower dropped off laura gave elliott his accordion picked up bike sold books bought books about korea bought manicure set watched tv picked up laura tried on clothes with no dressing room at the target remainder salvation army bought some teacher clothes ate cheese puffs watched tv talked to sprint guy about korea drank drinks ate cheese saw beautiful faces had great fun said goodbyes boy i'm gonna miss you smelled flowers tried to order pizza but it was too late...

... the countdown begins ...

So, it's for real.

Now that I can take a moment to sit down, after the flurry of activity that has been the last many months... I have a visa, I have a plane ticket, I haven't packed yet.

SUN AUG 23
MSP to ORD
MINNEAPOLIS ST PL, MN to CHICAGO, IL
depart 8:40am SUN arrive 9:55am SUN
1hr15min

SUN AUG 23
ORD to ICN
CHICAGO, IL to SEOUL INCHEON INT, KOREA REPUBLIC
depart at 12:35am SUN arrive 4:00pm MON
13hr25min

teeth and smoke and wings and things

Dear Toothfairy:

My teeth have been falling out in my dreams again. If I put them under my dream pillow, can I redeem them for things in real life? Like the new Metric, maybe?

This morning, in dream Lawrence, I dream smoked a half a pack of dream cigarettes. I convinced myself that 10 cigarettes in a year still counted as quitting. Considering I likely smoked an average of 4000 cigarettes a year when I did smoke in real life, I don't think that logic is really far off. 10 cigarettes = 1/400th the normal rate of smoking.


Should I start a separate blog about my travels, a la Guatestrad, Kevman's blog of yore? Or should I just write on this here blog o' mine, this blog that will turn 4 years old in September? I just thought I'd offer the question up to the blogoverse before making any rash decisions.

Feeling more myself again, after many days adrift on a sea of salt.

LMOD!

Atonement

Dearest dear,

Let me air my laundry list of indiscretions:

I have gotten behind on all of my bills.
I owe multiple friends money.
I have been taking things too personally.
I have been initiating terse, frustrated conversations.
I have not been answering my phone, nor returning phone calls.
I have not been answering emails, unless they are about the show(s).
I dream of letters, but do not send them.
I dream of hugs, but do not give them.
I can't pay attention to any one thing for more than 5 minutes.
Every time I go into my room to clean it, I fall asleep instead.
All of my white hairs are starting to show again.
I'm so full of pathos it's just absurd.
I don't write on the internet anymore.

Please forgive me for my sins, and I will do my best to get my shit together. At least by the end of the summer in time to fly far, far away.

I adore you.

Love,
Me

He Woke Up In A Strange Place Called Home And Although Looking For Bed He Kept Finding Death Instead

Find out about this.

Better Better Best

1. My last post was, alas, a dream I had the other morning while I was sleeping on the couch in my basement inside of two sleeping bags. So, New York will just have to wait.

2. Conversation at 5AM while weighing jars of spices for inventory:

Me: Taste Adventure Split Pea Soup?
Jamie: Yes, definitely.
Me: No, but ... Taste Adventure?
Jamie: Yes, it's an adventure ... You know the part in Star Wars where they're stuck in the trash compactor? Some people would call that an adventure. It's like that.
Me: So, you're saying it's like a garbage adventure in my mouth?
Jamie: Yes, that's what I'm saying. Reconstituted soup tastes like farts.

3. I have a new phone and it's shiny.

New York City Dreamin'

Somebody has to take a weekend off from ASTRONOME, and I get fitted for their costume just in time for the show to start. Unfortunately, the only thing anyone says to me about what I'm supposed to DO is 'Follow me.'

Luckily, Richard wasn't, for some reason, in attendance at this performance.

I get Brendan to promise to tell me what I'm actually supposed to do before the next night's performance.

I realize I have nowhere to stay while I'm acting in the show. I try desperately to remember how to get to Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books, and start walking.

Laika's Coffin

If you live in Minneapolis, please go to Toy Theater After Dark at the Open Eye tonight or tomorrow. You will be missing a really important opportunity to see some amazing works. (The good pieces were so good as to happily erase all ill will I might have had towards the not-so-good pieces.)

Check this out, alright?

Tonight!

I will play a song on the guitar in front of people other than the people that live in my house. Whee!

I'm nervous, but I'm wearing cowboy boots, so I feel like everything is going to be alright.

noodles

Lifting boxes and putting things on shelves all day makes me feel like a noodle. Not a wet, soggy noodle, but an al dente noodle that didn't make it all the way into the pot, so it still has some really crunchy spots.

This crunchy noodle needs to settle into her schedule, take more satisfying naps, get a new set of knees, and feel some spring air on her face. Possibly, this crunchy noodle needs a vacation.

Some Things That Are Good:

Coraline



Thai Kitchen Pad Thai




No One Belongs Here More Than You

Lesson One

Pacific Natural Foods Hazelnut Milk

I drank some of this at room temperature (serving suggestion is chilled). Slightly chalky, but not as chalky as rice milk. Definitely nutty, a little bit sweet, apparently from a brown rice sweetener. Steamed for a latte, not quite as neutral a canvas for the coffee as soy, but my taste buds are pretty used to soy at this point. Made for a nutty cup of joe.




Michael Angelo's Roasted Chicken Bolognese

The pasta was nicely al dente, and the tomatoes were flavorful. The chicken's texture was a little bit lacking. Not bad as far as frozen pasta dishes go, although I need to remember to put frozen meals in a proper dish if I'm to feel like it's a real meal. Oh, and it was on sale. That makes it taste better.

Cultural Revolution

Try their vanilla yogurt. Try it by itself before you go adding anything to it. I mean it. Delish.

I need someone who knows me really well to recommend something new for me to listen to. Specifically, something you can burn for me and send me in the mail? Yeah? I need some fresh tunes in my life.

Food Education

I straightened products in the baking/snack/cereal aisle today, and there are things that I've never, ever noticed, for all of the co-ops I've frequented in my life.

Garbanzo bean flour.
Quinoa flakes.
Hazelnut milk.

I feel like trying everything in every aisle that I've never had before. Even the gross stuff. Just so I know what it's like. So, once I get some money in my wallet, I'm going to enjoy a little food self-educating, and I'll let you know what I try and how I like it.

I think it's going to take me a long time to figure out where everything is, but as far as first days go, this one was pretty good. And I got found a free orange, a free loaf of sunflower bread, a free cookie, and a free Ginger Spice tea bag before I hit the road.

Yum.

Now I know...

...why I once thought to myself, 'Man, I took a shower an hour ago,' and then realized I was just walking past a bratwurst stand.

Men Smell of Cheese and Women of Onions

Puff the Magic Dragon

I'm listening to recordings of my dad playing songs for my friend Megan.

I can hear Megan laugh sometimes, at jokes that I'll never know because I'm not there, and that makes me happy.

I wish we were sitting on my mom's porch, perched on the railing, while my dad plays and I sing along, drinking delicious beverages and feeling glad to know each other, and glad to be alive. You and me and everyone we know who likes that front porch.

***

In other news:

No need to worry, I have another part time job, one that will make sure me and mine are fed full of good foods all the time.

jazz 88

I think that the student DJ on the radio today is playing exactly the same set he played yesterday. Cause I know I heard something by the James Taylor Quartet AND a string version of 'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead' yesterday when I was working.

Seriously. Not cool, dude.

Some Notes on Life and Living

Notes on Life:

* I've got a brand new pair of *ice* skates, you've got a brand new *?*...

* Astronome at the Ontological looks awesome. Three friends are in it. Who wants to take me to New York on a little vacation to see it?

* I may become a grocery stocker. I may also become counter help at a French bakery that is very far from my house, but I hear makes great French eats. I may, if possible, go on tour doing plays for children.

* My birthday is in one month and one week.

* I still haven't sent out those challenge prizes. Damn that procrastination gene.

* We're making some petite performances. We're thinking to the future. Kevlar, are you thinking about containers? Dawn, remember when we were thinking of eggs and adolescence? I'm about ready to start sitting in cafes that aren't the one I work in, sipping hot drinks and thinking of objects and space.

***

Notes on living:

1. Eat lots of vegetables.
2. Go for walks.
3. Shovel the snow.
4. Clean your bowl right after you eat out of it, even if the dishwasher is full.
5. Plan your garden to dream of spring.
6. Play on the ice to make a dream of winter.
7. Change your socks before you go to bed.

Who's Lame?

Me, for how incredibly long it's been since I've written anything.

Sadly, I don't really have anything to say in this moment, other than that I'm looking for a job. Again. Sheesh.

Oh, and it's -5 degrees, -25 with the wind chill today. (Glad I got some outdoor time in on Sunday! Yay for some skating and lots of falling!)

I promise I'll write something more substantial soon. Cross my heart.

b

Merry Merry

I am excited for Christmas.

I am excited to see my mom and dad, my aunts, my grandparents, my uncles and cousins and second cousins. I am excited to eat delicious food and have hugs and dancing to jazzy Christmas music all day long. I'm excited to see Kyle and laugh until I can't breathe and see my old schoolmates and tell them over and over that yes, it's effing cold in Minnesota, and yes, I did actually quit smoking, thanks.

I'm excited for a road trip with two of my favoritest friend people.

Heck, I'm excited for the little drive South with another one of my favoritest friend people to get me to the bus.

So what I'm saying here is... watch out! I'm in a goooood mooooooood.

b-tistheseason

P.S. I not only remember how to knit after putting my knitting in the closet for 9 months, I also FINALLY figured out how to finish the end of the first thing I ever knitted! And it's off keeping someone's neck warm! Hooray!

Sleigh Bells Jinglin'

Dude.

I finally got some waterproof boots. (Thanks, Pops!)

Who wants to go play in all this freaking snow??? Yeah yeah yeah!

Also, who has the inventory necessary to take me on a one horse open sleight?

Acoustic

I'd forgotten just how much I like listening to acoustic music at coffeeshops until last night.

Two guitars, a ukulele, some poetry, some improv, a lot of coffee. Yes, thank you, I'll have some of all of that.

every pitch is a curveball

You still exist in this world?

And you want to know if I'm going to be home for Christmas?

The Small Hours Can Be Unkind

Last night I got caught in the web of the witching hour, and rather than my half-witch powers gaining strength and vivacity, instead my half-human doubts crushed me under their much-multiplied weight.

Tonight, come midnight, I will be fortified and ready.

Good Will Towards Men-Tality

Hey. You. Why don't you go and see this show? Tonight, okay?

Thanks.

Crash That...

I will poison you with my adorable poison bubbles, so WATCH OUT.

Fight to the Finish!

Ahhhhh!

We made it to the end of the challenge, people!

Now, we are all winners here. We all did some really nice work, and I plan to continue this kind of incessant, often inane posting, because 1. it gives me something to do, 2. it makes me remember how to form written sentences, which might prove useful in the future, and 3. it is an often hilarious way to conversate with my friendlings. I hope that you plan to do the same.

Yeah, yeah. But WHO WON?

Well.

That would MISS ZOE of Joseph and Zoe Tell It Like It Is, by being the only one to not be distracted by weekends, by staying the course, by posting at least once every day for 21 days!



CONGRATULATIONS! Please send me your address and any requests you might have for your Grand Prize.

While Zoe may have Capital-W Won the Challenge, there are other prizes to be handed out, to all those who have participated, because you're awesome and you did a freaking good job. So, send me your addresses, PRONTO. Thankyouthankyou to Todd, Au (dude, you almost tied for the Grand Prize), Justine, Kevin, and Zoe, for adventuring with me. You're all sexy geniuses.

Please note: we're cooking up some weekly themes for those who would like to participate in further challenges, so send me suggestions if you've got them.

Did you have fun? Would you do it again? Will you post daily without a challenge? Do you have a challenge you wish to administer? Let us know...

Thank you for making the Interwebs awesome.

-bebebeteerannosaurusrex

Who's the fairest of them all?

Snow White, that's who.



And don't you forget it.

Prunus Dulcis

Almond croissants are good, even when they're not very high quality.

Here's the question, though: why do I like the almond paste in almond croissants and not marzipan? I think marzipan is beautiful...



...but I do not like to eat it. This sad fact makes me a marzipan outcast in my family.

Marzip-anecdote: My sophomore year in college, I went to New York with my uncle and cousin for my cousin's birthday. My uncle pestered me the whole trip about if there were any boys that I liked at school, and finally I admitted to liking a particular one. He said, "Well, alright then. You need to buy him a present from New York!" He even offered to pay for it.

(I think it's funny that he was so insistent that I try to woo said boy. I think he just wanted me to be happy, but it was a little weird.)

So, what do you get for a college boy you like but only kind of know? A Yankees hat? (No.) An I Heart NY t-shirt? (Lame.) A book? A Playbill? What?

Finally, on the last day of our trip, we stopped for canoli, and my uncle said, "Look at that marzipan! That's what you're getting your friend." Now, I have plenty of friends who would totally dig that gift, if for nothing but the novelty, but really? Lacking any better ideas, though, I picked out all of the best marzipan vegetables in the case, including some radishes and carrots.

When I gave it to said young man upon my return, he was appropriately confused by the gift, as I had expected. Needless to say, my vegetable wooing proved fruitless.

I embrace the awkward in life, or try to (I have to. I am, after all, 'The Girl Who Makes Things Awkward'), but for some reason the marzipan incident got blocked from my memory for about 4 years.

Then I moved to New York, and one day I walked past the very shop where the marzipan was purchased. I stopped dead in the street, and remembered suddenly not only the candy but also the recipient, and the years of awkward gift giving that followed that forgotten marzipan, like a truck it all hit me. And I laughed.

I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Sometimes, things are just so weird that you know that life is a funny joke, not a cruel one.


Awesomely awkward
(and awkwardly AWESOME)
-sweet beet

P.S. Almond flavoring smells to me like poison. I had forgotten that until I was making a drink the other day. Teej is a man who knows his poisons, and he told me that cyanide smells like almonds.

Hm.

Hope I'm not poisoning the customers!

Sunshine

Too much sun will make you crazy.

Nuance

"As Harold took a bite of Bavarian sugar cookie, he finally felt as if everything was going to be ok. Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true."

You never knew why you felt so good in the strangest of places...

There is a gorgeous light dusting of snow on the ground this morning, and my roommate made me an egg sandwich.

Which put me in a good mood as I left the house at 7:30 for work.

Which is good, since I stayed up too late last night playing Rock Band and drinking champagne. Also, when I walked in the door of the cafe, the espresso machine was clogged and leaking everywhere, and there was a flood on the floor from some mysterious source.

The floor is now mopped and dry and smelling vaguely of lavender, I got the machine to stop leaking (at least so horribly), all of the opening chores are finally done, and soon I'll have my second cup of coffee and decide to really be awake.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that my snow- and egg-infused good cheer is kicking the butt of this lame day. So there.

-b-funk


P.S. Dude. San Pellegrino Limonata is delicious.


P.P.S. This totally rad lady comes in every few days for an iced honey americano. She and her husband have different favorite coffeeshops, and rather than switching off where the go, or debating the merits of one over they other, they just go to both.

Every time. No questions asked. She gets a honey americano at Janine's, he gets a medium cup of dark roast with skim milk and one equal from Java Jay's. And they're happy as clams to do it that way.

I think that is awesome.


P.P.P.S. Pascal said of his yogurt today, "This is going to taste me good!"

Which, apparently, is perfect grammar, if you're speaking German.

The Peak

It rained, it sleeted, it snowed, and then it was sunny, crisp and clear, all in the trip to the top of this mountain.

(I just got the pictures from this trip that we took developed. Yeah!)

re: graffiti...

Nothing comes close to that whale, but...













(faile)

all heart,
double-b

He also tells great stories and remembers everything in exact chronological order.

Well, I definitely didn't touch a computer (but for a friend's iPod Touch - um, those things are SWEET) all fake-weekend (I have Sundays and Mondays off) long. So... whoops, again.

However, I did find out that this FREAKIN' AWESOME GUY is checking out the challenge:



This knowledge has rejuvenated my Challenge Spirit, and I'm ready for a new week.

Some things you should know about that guy up there:

1. He takes his coffee black, unless we're at a diner, in which case he lets me stir in two creams, because he knows that I like to.

2. He used to let me blow my little nose on his shirt sleeve when I was full of snot. I'm sure he still would if I asked.

3. He has a sweet bicycle.

4. He has been quietly wanting a puppy for at least 25 years. No one should have to wait that long for a puppy. Your time is coming, dude, I can feel it.

5. He doesn't fall asleep with peanut butter sandwiches in his mouth. Anymore.

6. He's really good at growing baby flowers.

7. He doesn't like listening to you chew, either.

8. He probably thinks you're pretty awesome. And he probably wants to watch a movie with you or play you some records. So call him up.



Your #1 Fan for Life,
b - snot factory - b


P.S. I saw a commercial for an iPhone this weekend that showed an application where you can know the exact whereabouts, on Google Map, of your friends who also have iPhones. This is TOO MUCH. Twitter, blog, text where you are, for everyone to find you, fine, great, but basically, I don't want to WANT to know where my friends are, literally and exactly, at every moment. That just feels too gross.

Now, the iPhone app that lets you hold your phone up to music playing and figures out what song it is and who it's by - that is gadgetry this girl can get behind.

Flirt Alert

Pascal keeps running behind the counter to get my attention.

Then he winks at me and runs away.

More Theatrical Nostalgia

Hey, remember that time I got to be in a Richard Foreman show as a stand in for a fighter pilot for half a rehearsal?

That was pretty sweet.

Making Up

Challenge, Day 11

!

I had big plans to post when I got off work yesterday, but then I ran errands and put squash in the oven, grated cheese and ate pasta and went to rehearsal and then rehearsed some more, watched some hockey highlights, then fell into bed.

All of which is great, but none of which is posting on my blog.

So. At least twice today as penance, okay?

***

Last night, and the night before, we had a rehearsal after rehearsal, and I was transported back to the days of yore when it was common practice to rehearse a show from 7-10 and then start the next rehearsal at 10:15, to continue until everyone fell down from exhaustion

That brings a few gems of college rehearsing to mind (lesson: why it's not safe to be too tired):


1. Watching TBuch try to demonstrate a Fireman's Carry, only to be foiled by the man on her back. Watching her face hit the ground. Catching her blood in my hands, trying not to let it get on the new dance floor in the rehearsal room. (Dr. Faustus, 2002)

2. Seeing Kevin get kicked in the head by Peter AND Flinn pass out from lack of oxygen in the same rehearsal. (Ugly Duckling, 2003)

3. Hitting my head on the ground so hard during a movement warm-up that I gave myself whip-lash. (There Is No More Firmament, 2005)


Oh, for real. Let's all try to be a little bit more careful, shall we?

-b.concussed.b

P.S. Mmmm. I want a bed, an electric blanket, a sleep mask, and two days to spend with said items.


Mmmm, I wish I was under an electric blanket, with a sleep mask on

dreams of the study of the nature of being

I had a dream last night that I was helping to throw a dinner party for this guy:



It was being thrown on some tiny college campus somewhere, and something essential to the party was missing (some notebooks), and it was my fault. And anyone who knows that guy, knows that you don't want to be the one who lost anything of his.

What's a challenge without a reward?

To all of my fine friends who are participating in The Challenge:

If you make it to the end of Week 3...

I will make you something special and send it to you in the mail.

How about that?

Heart,
beaniebebe

P.S. Cowboy Hat Guy is here right now. Today would be a very good day for a cowboy hat, what with all the freaking sleet.

P.P.S. Can I drink 8 glasses of water a day, like the proverbial 'they' say I should? Glasses of water so far today: 3 1/2. (Note: cups of coffee are approximately 3 1/2 also. Hmmm.)

Thinking

What's delicious?
A turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, mayo and mixed greens.

What song is awesome?
Case of You by Joanie Mitchell.

What actor would you watch in anything?
Robert Downey, Jr.

Back 2 Skool

Somebody needs to start studying for the GRE, and that somebody is me. I miss book learnin', and while it will take a standardized test for me to get there, I need to get myself some more schoolin'.

I heart Zooey Deschanel...

...and I'm glad that I finally saw Elf.

You should watch it. Especially you, Dad.

Questions

Pascal: What's that?

Me: A flower vase. My friend dropped a flower vase yesterday and it looked like he laid an egg.

Pascal: What did he do?

Me: He said he was sorry.

Pascal: What did you do?

Me: I said it was okay.

Pascal: Did he clean it up?

Me: He did.

Pascal: What's his name? How old is he? Is he a man or a lady? Where does he live? Is he your dad? Do you have a kid?

Me: I don't.

Pascal: ... Me, either.

Saturday Morning

7AM comes only moments after I lay down, it seems, and I am so warm and cuddly in bed...

But then there is an old fashioned donut and a crunchy donut hole and an extra-strength cappuccino and some good company and Pascal will be here in 5 minutes to bring all the good cheer a girl could need on a rainy day and there will be good music all day long and a crossword puzzle and good friends later.

What a cozy little day.

What is that sticking to my hair and eyelashes?

Happy first snow.

It's looking pretty darn quaint outside the cafe window this morning. I'm just sayin'.

Gushy gush gush.

I have the best friends a girl could ever ask for, spread across the whole world. And while sometimes I get awfully lonely, and start to feel a little lost, I am lucky, and I know it.

Thanks, guys.

(It sounds mushy, I realize, but you know that I mean it.)

I promise to walk it and feed it and love it, okay?

This made me think of you, there in Japan.



And this made me want a puppy.




Challenge, Day 3

Wow wow wow!

Zoe at Joseph and Zoe Tell It Like It Is has joined the challenge!

AAAAAAANNNNND

Even though he insists he wasn't invited, my favorite Kevin has excepted/accepted the call and if you haven't already been there, go to I Like Drinks, start reading from the beginning, and get yourself all caught up.

Sooooo, now The Challenge is alive and well in Minneapolis, Baltimore, Athens, Lawrence, AND Brooklyn! Another cool thing? Not everyone involved in the challenge knows each other (yet).

While the internet has limitless potential to alienate, I'm glad we're taking this opportunity to connect, friends!

Proud To Be...

Cheers to the future.

Someone rearranged all of the magnetic poetry on the board that we keep by the window at the coffeeshop into the shape of a heart.

I just went over to look and see what phrase was in the middle of the heart.


"Yesterday is over."


Challenge, Day 2

Au officially accepted the challenge! Read her musings at Secret Plans. She just joined the blogolution, so I'm excited for this opportunity to read something she writes every. damn. day.

Justine will be joining us as well! She is smart and pretty and has adorable children! I'm new to her blog, so that will be some good reading, too! Find her at Welcome to Tink's!

Guys, this is pretty awesome. The challenge now includes amateur bloggers/cool cats living in Minneapolis, Baltimore AND Lawrence. That's fuckin' rock and roll.

***

Things I want for Christmas (if Target can have all their Christmas crap up, then I can start my Christmas list):


Dear Santa:

I've been really good. Please bring me:

Some skates.
A bass.
A new job for my friend Todd.
An Everlasting Gobstopper. The REAL kind, not the kind that comes in a box of 20.
A puppy.

And I'd like to make it home in time for Christmas Eve dinner. Can I catch a ride in your sleigh?

Thnx,
B.T.

(T is for T-Rex and don't you forget it.)

Challenge Accepted!

Challenge, Day 1

The call has been answered! The maestro over at Todd's Place took up my challenge with a *smack*, and Au will accept the challenge once I tell her the following information:

No, length is of no consequence. You can still expect short bursts of inane thought about food from this here blog during the challenge! Aren't you excited??? So don't panic, because you, too, can join! All you need to meet the challenge is at least one post a day for the next three weeks. Why, that's so much easier than getting homework done!

So, that's three of us taking part, isn't it? Any more takers?

Now, Au, please answer the following:

Is your blog yet public? Can I share it with the world on my list of blogs written by awesome people? Say yes, say yes!

Today is a List Full of Unrelated Thoughts and a Lot of Exclamation Points!:

1. Let's all vote!
2. Let's all drink a cup of coffee or three!
3. Welcome to the world, little Miles Forrest!
4. Welcome to Minnesota, sugarfree and db! Let's see each other soon and often.
5. There's a beautiful Indian Summer happening in Minnesota, at least for another day. Happy November! Who wants to play in the leaves with me before it snows?
6. Hot dog, french fries and a beer for $7! Oh, Triple Rock, there is more to you than just bouncers who bully Kevin on his birthday.
7. Don't Panic! Not quite yet, anyway!



Cheers!
-bebe

Zzzzzzz

Last night I was so sleepy at 630PM that I went to get a double espresso to cure what ailed me. I decided the Cliquot Club was the place to go, with it's cute boy waitstaff and it's connection to Kevin (and it's proximity to the Ivy Building where I would be rehearsing shortly).

I turned off the car, closed my burning, tired eyes for a second, and then?

I fell asleep in my car for 20 minutes.

When I did wake up, I almost decided to let myself fall back asleep, without checking to see how long I'd been conked out.

I dragged myself into the Club and ordered my coffee, but it's all a blur because basically, I was still asleep.

Choosing to nap in your car is one thing (lunch break at the McJob, waiting to pick up someone from work, etc.), but to fall asleep accidentally... is just kind of bizarre.

I think this means it's time for me to hibernate. See ya in spring, suckers.

Internet Challenge

I will post something every day for 3 weeks if someone else will take up the challenge and do the same. Any takers?

Seriously, guys

Who ate all the Halloween chocolate between 11AM and 5PM, and why wasn't it me?

Thinking

How can I go back in time and thank the person that discovered cheese?

How many sodas will I drink at work today?

Wish I had some pizza.

Anything Related to the Sea

The following traits are widely associated with Pisces.

* malleable / impressionable

* gentle

* good natured / easygoing

* likeable / kind

* compassionate / sympathetic

* sensitive

* impractical / dreamy

* instinctive / intuitive

* imaginative / artistically able

* versatile

* gullible / naive / easily led

* spiritual

* escapist

* selfless

Likes: Feeling appreciated, feeling loved, freedom, stability, mystical settings/enchantment, dreaming, having their input valued, being unique

Dislikes: Feeling vulnerable, having no goals to move toward, feeling invalidated, being criticized, illiteracy, noisy scenes and displays, having no sense of structure

Ideal Careers: caring for the needy, as in the fields of medicine or veterinary medicine • anything related to the sea • acting • psychics or mystics • religion • cooking • pharmacist

Dear Guy

Dear Guy in the Big, Black Cowboy Hat -

Your hat is awesome.
Your boots are, too.

You make me cooler by proximity. Thanks for drinking your coffee with soy milk at Janine's.

Your Fan,
b

decidedly

I may not have any inclination towards or talent for writing about the current political climate, but I'm sure glad that other people do.

Read this now:

Undecided by David Sedaris

My weekend, in brief.

Ready, Set, GO:

Drive.
Drive.
Drive.

IOWA!
Play Wii.
Power sleep.
Get up at 7.
Shower.
Bid adieu.
Fast food breakfast.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Tertiary Edition, Radio Play

Drive.
Drive.
Drive.

KANSAS!
Find Megan, Mike, Wendy, Jeb.
Eat thai.
Find wedding party.
Look at all those pretty faces.
Bowl a 96.
Bowl a 103.
Drink coffee.
Eat pizza.
Drink whiskey.
Dance.
Dance.
Dance.
Eat cake.
Remove shoes.
Prince.
Talking Heads.
'It's Raining Men.'
Sleep.
Eat muffins.
Drink coffee.
Eat India Palace.
Drink more coffee.

Drive.
Drive.
Drive.

IOWA!
Eat pizza.
Play video games.
Watch Darkman.
Sleep.
Donuts.
Allergy explosion.
Video games.
Serenity.
Video games.
Watchmen.

Drive.
Drive.
Drive.

(Nap nap nap.)

HOME!

Fin.

We Make Good Foods

Let it be known.

My task:

Grilled Cheese with Pesto Cheese, Winter Cheddar, and Tomatoes on Buttertop Bread
Carrot Ginger Soup
Thick-cut Pepper Bacon

SuperFriend task:

Halved Squash with Butter and Brown Sugar

On the side:

Dill Pickles

For dessert:

Light Roast Coffee with Cream and Sugar



We know how to make this one delicious life.

Somebody spoke, and I went into a dream

Woke up, fell outta bed, dragged a comb across my...

No, wait. Wake up, see the beginnings of sunlight, know that's a bad sign, roll over, look at my alarm clock, see 7AM, say MOTHERF***ER (not too loud, don't wake the roommates), pull on pants, find two socks that are vaguely similar, shove everything near me into my bag, curse my STUPID PHONE for shutting itself off in the middle of the night even though it was fully charged, thus not waking me up at 6:15 as planned, put on my shoes, run out the door (did I shut it?), pedal to the metal, GOTTA PEE GOTTA PEE, get in the back door of the shop, turn off the alarm, start the dark roast, open the door, turn on the OPEN sign, go to the bathroom (oh, thank goodness...), settle in, settle down, settle in, settle down.

Off work, three hours to myself, plan for phone repair, new socks, shower, clean hair, nice clothes, ready for DoG, instead drop off phone to get FLASHED (what?), go to Target, find no new socks, buy a drink and some gum, swing by to pick up my phone, sorry not ready, read 1 chapter... read 2 chapters... start a 3rd chapter and realize this is just too long, hey where's my phone, no one answers, I stand, I ask, I sit, I stand, I ask, I watch the guy who helped me first count out his drawer and avoid my eye contact, I ask a woman with a watch for the time, OH MY it's 5:25 and I have to be back at work by 6, lost all chance at shower, clean hair, nice clothes, fixed phone, I ask ONE MORE TIME, a girl comes out and says the flash fried it, nothing left, did anyone warn me that might happen?, no they did not, well, I'll get you a new phone, sorry about this, so sorry, well I have to go right now, can I come back tomorrow, sure come back between 8 and 5 and I'll help you, NO, sorry, I have to work and then play with astronauts.

Pedal to the metal, deep cleansing breaths, breathe in, breathe out, breathe breathe, GO car, GO FASTER.

Pull in.

Big hug.

Big laugh.

Breathing back to normal.

Genuine smile on my face.

Ready to make coffee, dirty face or no. Ready to belly laugh. Ready for the good bit.

Aaaaaannnnnd.... here we go.

DoG

Delusions of Grandeur, you rocked little ol' Janine's last night. The place was hopping, full of friendly, loud laughers, and you proved a good date for them all. You showed them a grand time. I, for one, am already ready for more.

What a fine premiere!

Repeat after me, everyone: DoG, Janine's, 1st Friday of every month.



Sarah Palin, in Australia, with a meteorite.

le petit, again

I asked Pascal how old he turned on his birthday, and he held up his fingers - 4. I asked him if he liked being 4, and he nodded.

Papa said that on the morning of Pascal's birthday, he came into the room, arms flung open wide, as though he felt noticeably bigger.

Today, Pascal asked me how I pick out the things that we sell, what is in the refrigerators, where the dishwasher was ('that's me!' I said, 'I'm the washer!).

He said, 'I'll see you next weekend!'

I told him I won't be here, because I'm going to a big party.

'Who's going to be at the party?'

See you in two weeks, mon petit!

le petit prince

So, the tiny, coffee-drinking, french-speaking prince-o-my-heart's name is Pascal.

And today was his birthday, so his papa told me. As an explanation for why he was particularly full of energy, running in and out the front door. I didn't mind all the running around, though, because le petit Pascal has the good manners to run around quietly when he's inside.

He came to ask what the ladles were for while I was doing some dishes, and I told him they were for soup. I told him, "Bon Anniversaire! Happy Birthday!"

To which he replied, "Happy Birthday!"

"What are you going to do for your Birthday?"

"Have presents!"

Later, he came behind the counter while I was making coffee, and asked what the espresso machine was for.

"It's for making coffees like the one your papa was drinking."

"Oh! Well. I'll see you next weekend! 'Bye!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Happy Birthday! 'Bye!"

Bon anniversaire, mon petit chou!

Cry if you want to, I won't tell you not to.

Yesterday, my roommate got home just as I was getting done watching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy from last season. I had, as I am wont to do, cried my way through it (I finished my tuna sandwich before the real deluge began), and so there I was: tear-stained, sniffling, ready for the season premiere.

She asked me later why I watch shows that make me cry (lady shows, she called them, thank you for that), and I told her I that I think it's because I find it cathartic. All those emotions that I can't quite find an expression for in my own real life, that don't quite well up to climax of tears, I can let them come out all at once when I watch other people suffering or finding joy. I like to do the same thing when I read books and see performance, as well. (Strangely, more embarrassed to cry when I hurt myself than at a good piece of theater. Why is that, I wonder?) I feel like, maybe, it makes me more prepared and open to my own life, to feel so much for other (fake) people. So long as I don't forget to go out and live my own life, too.

I mean, I also like to laugh at funny shows and be horrified by gritty shows (many can't agree with me on this one), seeing some things I find recognizable from my own life, and others that I, thankfully, can't directly identify with. I feel kind of lucky, that my taste range runs large, so I can love goofy TV and vomit-inducing theater and everything in between.

Really, this post is just so the whole internet knows that I cry when I watch TV, in case anyone didn't already know. It's a good thing, I guess, that I couldn't get that episode of Grey's Anatomy to work while I was at the coffeeshop on Saturday. That would have been a little awkward.

There must be someone out there...

...who wants to buy me a present.

Je voudrais un cafe, s'il vous plait.

There is a four-year-old in the cafe right now, visiting for a blackberry Izze and a scone with his papa after french class.

Apparently, sometimes they share coffee, even though the little one is, let me say again, 4. Papa wouldn't give him any espresso, because 'it's not the kind of coffee you like,' much to the little one's dismay.

Seriously, this is my kind of kid.

Also, Papa asked him if his class today was easy or hard, and little one said, 'medium.'

He's a four-year-old genius coffee drinker. We're going to be best friends.

Wedding Bells

I'm going to the first wedding I've been to in 4 years tomorrow afternoon. The only wedding I was invited to that I'm really, truly sad to have missed in all that time was definitely Sara's wedding in Greenville. I'm still regretting not reading at the wedding. Alas, I was trying, unsuccessfully, to save up money to move to NY.

The last wedding (reception) I went to was Emily and Aaron, and I took my friend Steve as my pseudo-date, and he didn't know anyone but me. He got drunk without me noticing and colored me pictures in children's coloring books, and refused, for the most part, to dance. Oh, Steve. I had a good time, I hope you did, too.

Anyway! Now, I have new friends that are getting married! And tonight I will get to hang out at their rehearsal dinner! And tomorrow I will get to don some fun clothes and see two people who are really cool experience a really important ritual together, and see how happy they make each other, and eat food, and see a handsome friend of mine in a handsome rented suit, and dance a lot, and meet new folks.

Yay!

Congratulations!

Ouch

Somewhere between 8 hours of manual labor and reading for several hours propped up on many pillows last night, I have such a horrible crick in my neck that I keep dropping things at work. Much coffee has ended up on the counter, I can't really look up, and I keep inadvertently cursing under my breath.

I'm not actually in a bad mood about it, which is cool, but I really wish someone would come and fix it. Any takers?

Thanks...

...to all of the many generous tippers to come into Janine's today. You've totally made my day. I'm totally gonna buy an ice cream (or two) in your honor.

Shed His Grace On Thee

So. Where do you go when your one-time pick-me-up destination, your go-to vacation, has recently become your new home town? I'll tell you where.

The majestic mountains of Colorado.

Activities included (but were not limited to): playing cards, building fires, hiking, reading books, watching Firefly in its entirety, getting sunburns, riding horses in the Garden of the Gods, riding SCOOTERS in the Garden of the Gods, getting lost in the car on a dark, dark mountain, taking the Cog Rail all the way to the top of Pike's Peak, playing Skeeball, singing Karaoke, watching friends get engaged, drinking coffee, cooking, sleeping, laughing, and eating sooooo muuuuuch goooood fooooood.

Delicious treats included (but were not limited to): Cracker Barrel French toast, Mom's salad, Radina's and Edesia's coffee, vegetables from my Grandparents' garden, French toast stuffed with ham and swiss cheese, eggs, so much BACON!, Butterfinger ice cream, tortellini, hamburgers with pepperjack and mushrooms, some serious mac and cheese, PIROGIES! with Havarti cheese and horseradish, served with smoked salmon and an egg, fresh salt water taffy, fudge, carne asada, menudo (is that a pig's foot in my soup? yes, it certainly is), tots, barbecue chicken, and lots but not enough SONIC.

Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you.

Aside

People have told me about Devotchka.

But I've managed to ignore them for a long time.

Put some on this morning, and it immediately started to lift me out of the funk I found myself drowning in this morning when I woke up.

Between that, the surprisingly cool morning air, and this delicious cup of coffee I've found for myself, I may make it to the end of this day in one piece.

Thanks, Devotchka!

T-Minus 6 Hours

Please whisk me away, from this place that for so long was my Great Escape. Take me back to where I'm from, and then away amongst the trees and the clouds. Let's breathe easier (after the initial strained breath of higher altitudes) and remember how to share and how to be happy. These have been hard weeks and I want to become a better version of myself.

To the mountains, the valleys, the free meals, the big hugs, and the adventure that is to come: CHEERS!

I'm ready.

Good Things Come to Those Who...

You know.

Tuesday morning, I call my boss at Janine's, where I've been working part time since the end of the end at TJL, to ask a quick scheduling question. My boss says she's not sure where I am in my job search (I'd sent out another round of resumes to office jobs that morning), but she thinks I'm doing a really good job and doesn't want to lose me if she can help it, so can we figure out how to make the cafe my real job? Especially since she eventually wants to take some leave to have her baby?

Well, YEAH.

You know what I love? Making coffee. You know what I'm good at? Making coffee and being nice to customers. You know where I'd like to do these things? In a tiny cute shop with cute artwork and homemade soups and a garden in the back (as opposed to corporate chocolate with uniforms and chocolate sludge in my shoes and rules rules rules).

So. I am a happy, employed girl, who will have plenty of time and energy to start working on little theatrical projects and keep playing with her friends. How about that? Sounds like the best way to play grownup.

More

Maybe you should be looking at these pictures as well:

Fatal and The First, both directed by Laura Leffler-McCabe. Eventually to make up a trilogy of full-length pieces with Hey! That's My Mom!

Now, whoever wants to give us some money to produce these shows, please give me a call at your nearest convenience.

My Collegiate Romance with a Robot

A slide show of pictures is available here!

All pictures by Brad Dahlgaard.

Hooray!!!

Jasper Johns

JASPER JOHNS:
3 Works by Skewed Visions founders Charles Campbell, Gulgun Kayim, and Sean Kelley-Pegg
They respond to GREY PAINTINGS, TARGET PAINTINGS, and FLAG PAINTINGS

This Wednesday Through Saturday 8PM at the Ritz Theater in Northeast.

More information here.

Ahhhhh!

Bring May Flowers

Oh, man.

I am SICK.

Okay, alright, I'm a lot better than I was this morning. But this morning, when I couldn't breathe through my nose, when my snot was green, when I was coughing hard enough to almost vomit, and I was sitting on the couch using Kleenex not to blow my nose but to wipe up exhausted, spirit-crushed tears... Then I was SICK.

I'm spending the day futzing around on the internet, watching movies, drinking cup after cup of Twinings tea, and generally feeling sorry for myself. I'd just held on so long to the hope that the cold I'd been ignoring would just go the hell away, but today I had to give up hope and just give in to being a sick, crying little girl.


Anyhow, now that I'm feeling a little bit more upbeat (as much as can be expected), I figured it was HIGH TIME to BLOG.

Ready.

Set.

1. End of R&J
Thank God.

2. Vacation #2
CALI.
Orange.
Looks like the set from a movie about making movies. Reality twice removed.
The Doctor lives in a cute room in a cute house with beautiful, kind friends, most of whom make movies. I want to move in as soon as possible.

We ate grapefruit with lots of sugar and drank apricot beer and The Doctor read stories out loud and we wore dresses and played with friends and had the best frozen yogurt of my life. I saw LA and the Santa Monica pier and Erin Burns and the Chapman film school, where I ran into a guy I knew from college who's acting in movies now. I found sunglasses and bought shoes. I feel like The Doctor's friends will soon be my friends, too.

I went from being nearly sick with worry and various other forms of bad juju to breathing easy and being happy and seeing pretty visions of my future.

Thank you, OC, and thank you, Doctor.

3. FATAL and My Collegiate Romance with a Robot
Bedlam 10-Minute Play Festival
FATAL felt for awhile like it would not become... but it did, and at the Sunday performance we just busted that shit out and went CRAZY! What a stellar group of people. I continue to look forward to making it an evening-length shot to the face.

My Collegiate Romance... went from being a thing that LMac told me I should make, to a title, to a cast show, to a WRITTEN, cast show, to a piece that I really enjoyed, made what it was by a bunch of people I like and am really proud of. And other people enjoyed it, as well. Who could possibly ask for more than that? There will be pictures available soon, and I will be happy to share them here, there, and everywhere. Sunday, Eric was in the audience, and it was clear that every secret was open to him, and everything moment of catharsis for me was apparent to him in it, and hearing him laugh was like a gift just for me.

So, four performances, then strike, and a champagne toast, and a lot of beer on the rooftop patio, and me, happy as a clam.

4. This week
There is too much to say about the down-sides of this week.
But.
On the sunnier side.
There have been walks, and italian sodas, and movies, and grilled food, and painting, and stories, and a house full of friends, and all sorts of things that make me happy and break my heart at the same time. Which is how it should be, I think.

Okay. I'm going to listen to the rain and finish this movie and try to get all better.

Thanks for coming back.

Gremlins

I just wrote a really long post about the failing technology of my workplace, but upon re-reading, find it TOTALLY BORING.

Long story short? In the last week and half, my computer crashed, and was not backed up in any way. My co-worker's computer froze in the middle of a database upload and she has to leave it alone until a technician comes in next week. The phone system went on the fritz, and it took me 2 days, 36 phone calls, an hour on the phone with the technical director reading DOS-like menus outloud, to fix the damn thing.

CAN SOMETHING JUST WORK RIGHT FOR ONE MINUTE?

We are home to gremlins that come out at night and have drunken parties, and our technology is paying the price.

Did somebody say Macbeth? Who was it?

Seriously?

A month and a half?

Sorry, I've been learning to throw stage punches from a hot Canadian. Sue me.

Romeo y Julietta opened this weekend, a charmed weekend so I'm told. Friday was the day of several planets aligning for several hours in just such a way that everyone on earth is inevitably going to drop whatever their holding, fall down, lose a limb, forget someone's birthdays, etc. Sunday was the full moon, the special kind that happened when Christ and Buddha... yeah, I don't know, I was only half paying attention to my mom on the phone about this one. Sounded pretty SWEET though - especially the part about llamas.


Anyway.


Saturday's show, in between the planets mis-aligning and that full moon, was so full of mishaps we probably should have just called it quits at intermission. Balthazar shattered a glass bottle with a pipe, then fell on his ass when he fought Tybalt; the Prince punched Juliet in the nose as Romeo accidentally ripped open Juliet's dress at the boobs; Capulet gashed his arm open on - what? someone's zipper? - and on and on. Blood blood and more blood.


May we ward off death and severe injury for the next 9 performances.


IN RELATED NEWS: I'm about to start rehearsals for the 10-minute play that had a name and a cast well before it ever had a script.

'Cause THAT'S HOW I ROLL.

Winter Demons

Thinking again of inconvenient affections of eras past, of spring time, of big cities. Thinking of anywhere but here. Thinking of streets where all of the snow has been cleared away, of streets that smell like melting, burning, maybe even that sickly sweet smell of the underground. You know you'd better watch out when you'd rather smell subways than wear scarves and caps and sweaters one more day.

So.

I'm taking a vacation. A week from tomorrow I'm getting on a plane, with no money and high hopes. I'll have a whole week of paid vacation during which I will do absolutely anything I want in that dirty pretty city I used to call home. And this is better - every town is better when you're a visitor.

I will sleep on the couch of my old apartment.

I will visit my old haunts.

I will play a ghost in this particular scene.

I will try to regain my wits, since I seem to have lost them several months ago. Maybe I'll have an epiphany. At least I'll have some time to walk around. To do the things that I never had the energy for back then.

Do you think it's brainless to assume that making changes to your window's view will give a new perspective?

We'll see.

Time Flies

Holy crap.

I'm 24.

When did that happen?

Anyway, it's been good so far, all day of it. Gonna be a good year. I can feel it my blood.

Thanks to all the beauties that traveled from the far reaches of the Cities to attend my birthday party. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did, but even if you didn't, thank you thank you thank you.