someone please buy me this right now

I'll have trip updates soon. in the meantime, somebody start bidding because christmas is coming soon!

UGH.

Why do all these people with chronic and persistent mental illness persist in having chronic mental illness? Seriously you guys, feel better soon. Even though you won't see this post.

Let me just say that working in theatre at Fountain House has really made me have to learn how to adapt techniques on the fly and how important it is to plan for people slipping off meds, ending up back in hospitals or homeless, etc. In other news, the recording of several new plays, monologues and songs from people I've been working with is almost done! I will be sending it everywhere and to everyone when it's finished.

No one wants to play Sega with Harrison Ford; Christopher Walken builds a Robot

"Bad Day on the High Sea" is the title of this piece by Brandon Bird, who paints some pretty great things. If you liked Perry Bible Fellowship and can identify Chuck Norris, you'll like these. So you should go here and see them!

(also, RC 40th update coming soon)

This is pretty crazy right here

This is pretty freaky. I see it going clockwise, but I can get it to reverse if I think about it. Bizarre!

Oh man, Teen Wolf!

I love movies. And the more movies I see, the more I appreciate those that really stand out - the ones you keep talking about weeks after you see them, or that you honestly get excited about when you see they're coming on TV.

Just this past week my friend Maria (just back from seeing her family in Italy) and I saw "Cranes are Flying," a remarkably shot film from 1957 which tells the story of a Russian family's involvement in WWII. The director does some pretty impressive things, and his later film, "I am Cuba," has been brought back for circulation by Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorscese. I'll be seeing that this coming weekend.

I also saw the new edition of Blade Runner at the Zigfield Theatre at my brother-in-law's suggestion as part of my eldest sister's birthday celebration (what a convoluted sentence). The new version looks great - the flaws from the old version have been touched up along with the music, and the film's plot holds up surprisingly well.

And tonight, Teen Wolf is on AMC! Teen Wolf!

Oct. 31 is coming!

Is there any good night for a curse? Um...let me check my calendar. How's Thursday for you? Anyways, despite whatever nonsense scheduling advice Castlevania II: Simon's Quest might have to offer, Halloween is coming! I can't wait! I woke up today with the song "this is halloween" stuck in my head, and I downloaded and listened to the Mercury Theater's radio production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is available here for free. Now I kind of really want to watch that old cartoon version of Sleepy Hollow. Oh, this is my favorite time of year!

Update: Sometimes I do love the internet. Here are the two best parts of that same cartoon telling of the Headless Horseman, the song which tells the legend and the final chase scene, courtesy of Youtube. You can't reason with a headless man.

The Muse of dance has a birthday party

In my life I have met some very amazing people, and every once in a while someone comes along who is so creative and passionate in their art that they become a sort of Muse to those around them. Anne Koivunen, of whom I've spoken before, is one, and Lindsey Sherline has been inspiring me, and all those around her, for years.

And if Monday night was any indication, that list now has to include my salsa teacher. Monday's usual salsa night at Taj became her birthday party, and the night was a series of singers, dance performers, drummers, and others all marking her birthday. It was so much fun, and it was really something to see how so many creative people from different backgrounds came together to celebrate her.

I have to say, as though it weren't apparent already, that through all of the nonsense that's gone on in the past many months, my work with my salsa teacher has been great therapy and has really helped me make it through. Happy Birthday, Talia!

On the subjects of Freemasonry, salsa dancing, and Die Hard: The Puppet Musical

This past Saturday I attended a rare performance of Die Hard: The Puppet Musical!! If you liked the first Die Hard movie, you really owe it to yourself to see it acted out by puppets. The whole thing is totally, wonderfully, over-the-top ridiculous. The production's kinda sloppy, but in some strange way, that works. Puppets exploding, making friends, committing goofy acts of violence, falling in love, and singing funny songs...do you really need anything more?

On Tuesday, my salsa teacher was on the Today show! She participated in the Today show's version of Dancing with the Stars, which entailed her teaching Tiki Barber how to cha-cha. She did a great job, particularly considering how little time they had to work together. Just another reason I'm so proud to be her student!

And in my most important news, I passed my second degree test and am now a Fellow Craft (2nd degree) Mason. (Only one more degree to go.) Our lodge, being a very old-school lodge, handles the test differently, in a way that is more stressful and asks more of the candidates than other lodges. But I really think I got much more out of the experience because I was held to high expectations. In theory I'll take my third degree test in February.

No cancer for this kitty; International Talk Like a Pirate Day; the GRE is to fun as...?

Hooray! My sister's cat Bast does not have cancer, as was feared! Bast is a tremendously awesome cat who means a lot to my sister and her fiance, and, as you see below, totally comes equipped with an eye patch. Don't let the sweet (and a little dumb) exterior fool you. Piratecat is on to you.



I was going to post about international talk like a pirate day, but I was studying for the GRE and now it's the day after talk like a pirate day. The GRE is a weird thing. My princeton review book says, and I'm inclined to agree,that the GRE only tests your ability to take the GRE and nothing else. Not knowledge, not intelligence, just whether you can figure out what the test-makers were thinking when they wrote that question. That's it. So when the question asks...

Treaty of Ghent is to oxoglutarate dehydrogenase as:
a) badger is to footrace
b) schooner is to Batman
c)-12 is to lunchbox
d) Mischach is to Abednego

you know the answer is clearly (e) you are wasting time and money on a test your prospective neuroscience programs require you to take but don't really care about.

In other news, I don't want to presume anything, but I think this is about me. I even saw this person and everything! ("acrossed?") Man, this whole internet business kinda frightens me.

Except for this guy. He never frightens me.

Shakey Jake (????-2007)

I was in my head, and there only, as I strode down the street. Jaw clenched, more stress than usual - too much work, too little time, and too much juggling of science and theatre and a million other things. Too much in my head, though, to actually get anything done. And then, a tiny man hobbling just as fast in the opposite direction. A big, leopard-print, fur-collared coat. A straw hat. A guitar with only three strings. Large and unmistakable sunglasses. "I got to do my job," he said, happily, addressing me. "Ain't nobody else going to do my job but me!"
He passed by, and I couldn't help but laugh. It was suddenly so clear. He had his job, I had mine. I got back to work.

Shakey Jake passed away on Sunday. His job was, by all accounts, being Shakey Jake. A local icon like no other. Loved by his host city of Ann Arbor, and always happy to bid you a hearty hello or a simple, conspiratorial nod, like he knew what you were up to and he wanted you to know he approved. Did he actually know how to play that guitar? Where did he go when he wasn't on the street? How did he know what I needed to hear? Probably neither I nor the thousands of residents of Ann Arbor with similar stories of Jake will ever know. He was just Shakey Jake, and he did his job. Rest in peace, Jake.

Of particular interest to Luke, or anyone else who likes creepy space skeletons

I saw the band O'Death at a new artists showcase (for which my favorite radio station was kind enough to put me on the guest list) some months ago. They completely tore the place down - do you know how hard it is to get hipsters to dance? These guys were like what you'd get if the Manson family formed a band, and were incredibly fun to listen to. Well, they've finished their first music video, and here it is. (The claymation galley slaves are the best part, methinks.) Go watch it!

I love brooklyn (cont.d), Or, Is that giant snake monster sponsored by beer?

Woo, lord it does take me a long time to keep this thing up to date. My point being, the best event in all of NYC was held, for the 40th year in a row, on labor day a stone's throw from my place of living. And the West Indian Cultural Festival/Parade did not disappoint. They say somewhere between 3 and 4 million people attended! Some of the dance troupes had upwards of 200 members! It's really just amazing, and I know it couldn't happen anywhere else.

Help!

Someone last night left me a voicemail message saying "Hey, it's me," and explaining that their sister has to have surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells, and asking me to call. But they didn't say who they were, and I couldn't tell from the message! There was no record of a missed call, because my phone was off, so...if this was you, PLEASE CALL ME BACK AND LET ME KNOW!

For the millionth time, i LOVE brooklyn

(this is also one of two such posts glorifying my borough of residence that you'll find this weekend, for with monday comes the best event in NYC)

I went to Coney Island last night with a friend for the fireworks. Walking around you'd be hard-pressed not to crack a smile at the surreal joyfulness of it all - the games, the rides, the music, the food. It was a perfect night, weather-wise, for laying on the beach and watching the fireworks. And there, amidst the brightly-colored commotion in the sky and on the ground at Astroland, as we rose from the sand in the shadow of the monolithic parachute jump tower sitting silent nearby, some siren Brooklynite began to really belt out the Fugees' "Killing me Softly," at a Karaoke booth on the boardwalk. And I fell in love with Brooklyn all over again.

Batch update #72 - Laziness on a saturday

I am SO bad about keeping this thing updated! Things pile up and then you get posts like this one.

I flew home recently for a family reunion. It was a really nice time out at my uncle's apple orchard in Romeo, Michigan. He's had a lot of work done on the place since last I was there, and it looks great. Seeing the fam was, as always, re-energizing and calming all at the same time. I also cooked dinner with Hilary (as has become our tradition) and we made Opah.

I also have the pleasure of announcing that Sarah has bought a house with her boy Joey (who will be pictured here when blogger stops being stupid). The house is huge and they are completely renovating it (as if this girl didn't amaze me enough before). The parts that have been redone are like something out of a magazine. I'm so happy for her!

My old tango partner came to town recently, which was great fun. I got to take her out dancing with me at the usual monday night spot, and she really liked it.

Otherwise, things have been good. Work is work, I'm starting to jump through the hoops for my phd applications, and I've been dancing and cooking and running about.

A brush with greatness that could have ended in the Cobra Clutch

After a harrowing ride from a cab driver I'm pretty sure was drunk or on something (he drove backwards down the freeway part of the trip), I arrived at the airport this morning and ran into an old college friend, Marit Dewhurst (who played the receptionist in The American Superhero Applies for a Job). She was on her way to Seattle, and we were catching up as she lined up to board her plane. I happened to notice the person lining up behind her, and I quickly whispered to Marit, "Do you know who that is standing behind you?!" She didn't, so I told her. And she said, loudly, "Sergeant who?"

" Sergeant Slaughter!" I said. I broke my practice of never approaching celebrities, and said hello to him and shook his hand, and told him I was a big fan. The line started to move then, and Marit kept asking, "wait, who is that?" so that was about it. Afterwards, a young couple came up to me to ask if that was the Sarge they'd seen, so I was a little glad I wasn't the only one to be caught up in the nostalgia of simpler days and better pro wrestling!

EDIT: you know, looking at that wikipedia page, I see we share a birthday and a home town. Coincidence?

"Three hundred people living out in West Virginia/have no idea of all these thoughts that lie within you"

She said: "I'm thinking flashbacks. I want to show my past in flashbacks, very romantic and exciting, like a soap opera, with the pink border and everything, so that by comparison people can see how bleak my present is and how I have no future. What do you think?"

To which I replied: "That sounds amazing."

While I was really thinking: "Oh my god. This is some serious you-just-found-out-there's-no-santa-and-your-baby-bunny
-has-to-eat-sand kind of business."

Yep. Beautifully told stories to make you feel terrible and fortunate all at the same time can only mean one thing: another theatre workshop at Fountain House! I've been running these for a while now, but Wednesday's was particularly good. We had some new folks who seemed especially talented and creative - and who brought especially sad stories. It's really weird sometimes to try and match their excitement about telling these things. "Oh, abandoned by your family in an abusive hospital, you say? Forty-some shock treatments? Sure, we can stage that." Still, I am always reminded that their ability to survive all this crap and then be willing to get up and talk about it makes them a lot braver than I think I'd be.

Man, bunnies do not like sand.

This might have been the best weekend ever, Or, I guess this means we're not getting back together? (bwahahaha, i kid, i kid!)

I can't even hope to accurately convey how much fun I had this weekend. Susie Harter got married! Her wedding was an adorable celebration of the pure, hopeful love that can only exist between two such wonderful and caring people, and was set against the backdrop of an idyllic, pastoral setting. I really could not be more happy for Susie and Josh!


The wedding was held at a summer camp/resort in upstate New York, and involved a weekend full of campfires, canoeing, hiking, delicious food, dancing, dancing, and dancing. I got to see some folks from college I hadn't seen in a long time, and I met some great new people, too! And, in keeping with my previous post about my friends, I was very pleased to find the guest list for this incredible couple's wedding included a neuroscience phD candidate, a very laid-back physicist who slows down single atoms in the hopes of creating the world's most accurate atomic clock, a man who not only runs health services outreach to HIV positive ex-cons, but also studies the best method for doing so, a gentleman who councils small businesses on environmental sustainability, and many, many other such inspiring folks - all of whom were, even more importantly, as sweet and sincere as can be.

The reception for the wedding was like none other I have been to. It was a fantastic dance party which culminated, very late in the night, in this hilarious and yet also really cool interpretive contact improv dance to "total eclipse of the heart," involving all of the remaining friends and family. Very strange, very funny. Then on to another campfire!

And, even though I got about an hour's worth of sleep all weekend, I still managed to keep things rolling through a very foggy-minded monday to go salsa dancing that night with the incomparable Margaret Conway (pictured here in resplendent hat)!


Tuesday night I was convinced into going to see Bonnie and Clyde at McCarren Park with some friends, but sooner or later I'm going to need some sleep!

P.S. Even though our fling lasted a very short time back in the day, it's still odd to have another ex who's married. This is what, four or five now? One has a baby, for crying out loud, and another's pregnant. Not too much pressure to move things along.

This is the kind of world I want to live in

Last week there was a crazy huge dance party at the Brooklyn Museum for their First Saturday celebration. I haven't missed one of these in a while, and I'm glad that's the case, because they're always really fun. This week was a Pan-Carribean dance party held under the stars with yours truly and Marie the Swede, together with about 300 brooklynites dancing the night away. Tonight is "bollywood goes to brooklyn," an event which seems to have drawn its creative genesis from Symplex B's Gumnaam remixes.

And as if that wasn't enough joy in the world, behold! A giant LEGO man from the sea!

fun with downtime

The Perry Bible Fellowship


is pretty great.