Thursday, September 25, 2008
Moving
Ooops...it occurred to me that I never let those of you I don't see in real life, on a regular basis, know that I was moving shop. You can now find my musings about theatre and life and writing here if you are so inclined.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Authorial Musings
Which writers do you love best?
I'm reading American Gods for my book club. Neil Gaiman is one of Steve's favorite authors, and I can see why, and I can't believe I haven't read anything of his before. I love this book; it's so rich and interesting. Discussing it launched us into a conversation about who our favorite authors are. Steve had no trouble rattling off his top five; he'll go out and buy every book they publish.
I don't have a list like that. So many of my favorite authors (Margaret Mitchell, L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen) are dead, for starters. And there are other books I loved--deeply--but have never really thought to explore the authors' other work.
And then I spent four or five years reading primarily plays. I could tell you my top five playwrights, no problem: Paula Vogel, Rebecca Gilman, Sarah Ruhl, Eve Ensler, Neil LaBute. Donald Margulies and Wendy Wasserstein are honorable mentions.
But I'm not sure about fiction. I'm too new at reading it again, maybe. There are certain series I love--Rachel Vincent's werecats, Richelle Mead's YA vampires, Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars--but I'm not sure if I'd follow them into other worlds. (Actually Rachel Vincent's working on a YA series about banshees that I'm totally curious about, so maybe?) I'm out-of-my-mind excited about Stephenie Meyer's newest book, Breaking Dawn, which will be released and in my hot little hands tomorrow, but wasn't particularly interested in her adult book The Host. Hmmm. I think with favorite authors, you should want to read anything of theirs. Melissa Marr would be at the top of my list. Philippa Gregory.
What about you?
I'm reading American Gods for my book club. Neil Gaiman is one of Steve's favorite authors, and I can see why, and I can't believe I haven't read anything of his before. I love this book; it's so rich and interesting. Discussing it launched us into a conversation about who our favorite authors are. Steve had no trouble rattling off his top five; he'll go out and buy every book they publish.
I don't have a list like that. So many of my favorite authors (Margaret Mitchell, L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen) are dead, for starters. And there are other books I loved--deeply--but have never really thought to explore the authors' other work.
And then I spent four or five years reading primarily plays. I could tell you my top five playwrights, no problem: Paula Vogel, Rebecca Gilman, Sarah Ruhl, Eve Ensler, Neil LaBute. Donald Margulies and Wendy Wasserstein are honorable mentions.
But I'm not sure about fiction. I'm too new at reading it again, maybe. There are certain series I love--Rachel Vincent's werecats, Richelle Mead's YA vampires, Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars--but I'm not sure if I'd follow them into other worlds. (Actually Rachel Vincent's working on a YA series about banshees that I'm totally curious about, so maybe?) I'm out-of-my-mind excited about Stephenie Meyer's newest book, Breaking Dawn, which will be released and in my hot little hands tomorrow, but wasn't particularly interested in her adult book The Host. Hmmm. I think with favorite authors, you should want to read anything of theirs. Melissa Marr would be at the top of my list. Philippa Gregory.
What about you?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Fringe Recap
How did it get to be the end of July already?
Oh, that's right. Fringe.
I am so proud of my brilliant playwright husband. Both of his plays were well-attended, and he garnered so many lovely, positive comments from audience members, as well as four very positive reviews. I love seeing his work onstage. Plays are wonderful to read, but by their nature they come most alive in performances. He impresses me, and I say that dramaturgically as well as wife-ishly. In Born Normal I was impressed with his ability to mix magical realism with everyday heartbreak, to set up unusual characters and extraordinary situations and then explore them with wit and sensitivity. To make the audience roar with laughter and then weep. His actors were beautiful and nuanced, too, and the direction--something I don't tend to notice--phenomenal. There were just these little, amazing, striking moments, one after another. And then there was Gilgamesh, the little collaboration that could. Its last show sold out! It was full of spectacle: the looming, twisting shadows of gods behind scrims; evocative dances and choreographed fights; the call-and-response of grief and worship; haunting noises and marvelous soundplay. It took me until the second viewing to notice the power of his adaptation, the cleverness of its structure, the sibilant ebb and flow of it. I'm not an experimental-theatre kind of girl, but I loved it.
He will be embarassed when he reads all this praise, but I don't care. I knew when I met him that he was brilliant and talented, but at 22, kind of unfocused. He wrote short stories and plays and some creative nonfiction and journalism. He applied several times to Emerson's Creative Writing program in fiction, and he didn't get in, and I was so thankful because I didn't want him in Boston. Otherwise--well, who knows? But now, more unselfishly, I'm glad because I have every confidence that he is on the path he's meant to be on, pursuing a career in playwriting. He has a very distinct voice, and he's found the right form for it. I'm so proud. And I loved that so many of our friends and family came out to support him. Last Saturday was like our wedding, in a small way, with an eclectic mix of love. My dad and his girlfriend were in the audience, and two professors from our undergrad, some of his college friends and some of mine, my BFF and her mom, plus some actors he's worked with and some grad school friends.
All that said, I'm...glad it's over. I saw six other shows: one fantastic, three entertaining, one meh, and one dreadful. Plus I saw Gilgamesh twice and Born Normal thrice. I'm a little burnt out on theatre again. And I missed my husband so much. This week we finally fell into a routine in our new apartment. We sat and talked about favorite authors, reading together in our reading room at dusk. We watched Project Runway and The Closer. We ate dinner together. I need to remember to treasure these little moments, to hoard them until October when he goes away into rehearsal-land again.
Oh, that's right. Fringe.
I am so proud of my brilliant playwright husband. Both of his plays were well-attended, and he garnered so many lovely, positive comments from audience members, as well as four very positive reviews. I love seeing his work onstage. Plays are wonderful to read, but by their nature they come most alive in performances. He impresses me, and I say that dramaturgically as well as wife-ishly. In Born Normal I was impressed with his ability to mix magical realism with everyday heartbreak, to set up unusual characters and extraordinary situations and then explore them with wit and sensitivity. To make the audience roar with laughter and then weep. His actors were beautiful and nuanced, too, and the direction--something I don't tend to notice--phenomenal. There were just these little, amazing, striking moments, one after another. And then there was Gilgamesh, the little collaboration that could. Its last show sold out! It was full of spectacle: the looming, twisting shadows of gods behind scrims; evocative dances and choreographed fights; the call-and-response of grief and worship; haunting noises and marvelous soundplay. It took me until the second viewing to notice the power of his adaptation, the cleverness of its structure, the sibilant ebb and flow of it. I'm not an experimental-theatre kind of girl, but I loved it.
He will be embarassed when he reads all this praise, but I don't care. I knew when I met him that he was brilliant and talented, but at 22, kind of unfocused. He wrote short stories and plays and some creative nonfiction and journalism. He applied several times to Emerson's Creative Writing program in fiction, and he didn't get in, and I was so thankful because I didn't want him in Boston. Otherwise--well, who knows? But now, more unselfishly, I'm glad because I have every confidence that he is on the path he's meant to be on, pursuing a career in playwriting. He has a very distinct voice, and he's found the right form for it. I'm so proud. And I loved that so many of our friends and family came out to support him. Last Saturday was like our wedding, in a small way, with an eclectic mix of love. My dad and his girlfriend were in the audience, and two professors from our undergrad, some of his college friends and some of mine, my BFF and her mom, plus some actors he's worked with and some grad school friends.
All that said, I'm...glad it's over. I saw six other shows: one fantastic, three entertaining, one meh, and one dreadful. Plus I saw Gilgamesh twice and Born Normal thrice. I'm a little burnt out on theatre again. And I missed my husband so much. This week we finally fell into a routine in our new apartment. We sat and talked about favorite authors, reading together in our reading room at dusk. We watched Project Runway and The Closer. We ate dinner together. I need to remember to treasure these little moments, to hoard them until October when he goes away into rehearsal-land again.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Whedon Strikes Again
Okay, I'm a big Joss Whedon fan. I only got into Buffy during the last two seasons, but then the summer after college I gobbled up all the past episodes on FX. I have the musical episode memorized because whenever I was freaked out--which was, like, a lot, that summer--I'd watch it on tape. Remember tapes? How quaint. Anyway, latecomer that I was, I found it to be genius. Funny and smart. When I lived with Ceinwyn we watched it on DVD so I think I've seen most of the episodes at least twice. I liked Angel okay but it's the part of the Whedonverse I'm least familiar with. I watched the final season mostly 'cause it featured Spike and I had a monster-crush on him. But Steve and I loved Firefly and Serenity. And now he's collecting the Buffy Season Eight comics and I love them too.
All that is just preamble to say this had me at the words "by Joss Whedon," but if you like things that are funny and free, check out Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. But check it out before midnight on Sunday, when it shall disappear forever!
All that is just preamble to say this had me at the words "by Joss Whedon," but if you like things that are funny and free, check out Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. But check it out before midnight on Sunday, when it shall disappear forever!
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Scoop
What's Awesome
I love our new neighborhood! I love walking the thirteen blocks to and from Union Station along pretty tree-lined streets, past rainbow houses, exchanging hellos with friendly people walking dogs and adorable babies. I have picked out my favorite houses on the walk already: mostly red brick, or in one case gray with gorgeous red trim and a scarlet door, usually with porches. Bonus points for porch swings. The walk is great daydreaming, brainstorming time, and it goes quickly with my iPod. I can also walk to several coffee shops and 7-11 and Liz's and Eastern Market and tons of restaurants. I already found two restaurants (both all of three blocks away) that I really really like. At Sticky Rice last night I had the best sushi roll ever, their Goochland: smoked salmon, goat cheese, and sesame seeds. I was also a huge fan of the G.I. Jane: cucumber, cream cheese, and sesame seeds rolled in crushed wasabi peas. Last week we went to Granville Moore's, a crumbling pub that reminds me of New Orleans, where I found beer I actually liked drinking, and some fabulous Belgian frites. As far as our apartment itself: I love the uneven hardwood floors, the buttery yellow walls, the eat-in kitchen where we made room for a little square table and folding chairs with red-plaid cushions. Ceinwyn can chat with me while I cook on Tuesdays! I dig the way we arranged our living room, using our corner TV stand in the corner (shocking, I know), maximizing the little space. I like how light-filled it is, having windows on three sides of the apartment, and how the monkey-cat has made himself thoroughly at home, splaying out on the floor soaking up sunbeams. I turned their TV stand into a dining-room hutch and have two stationary drawers. I'm such a dork, but I loved organizing all my stationery and envelopes and can't wait to buy more artsy cards at the Market. I also enjoyed organizing my shoes onto a huge shoe rack on the back of my bedroom door. Oh, and best of all, I love our tiny, oddly-shaped office, with two big windows and two big armchairs. It really is the perfect reading spot, and when I've felt stressed, I've been taking refuge there.
What's Not
I posted our extra furniture (desk, futon, dining room table) on Freecycle yesterday and got an immediate flood of responses. I set it up for a woman to stop by last night at 7 p.m. to pick everything up and felt all proud of myself, like I was contributing good karma. Then she never showed up. I turned down tons of other interested parties, and I think it's pretty damn rude not to even call to say you won't be coming by to pick up your nice free furniture. I'm trying to set something up now with the runner-up. But it's hard to vacuum under and around all of it, and our apartment is really dirty and dusty. The previous inhabitants didn't do a fab cleaning job, plus moving is messy. I guess I'll sack up and do it this afternoon. I had planned to do lots of cleaning tomorrow afternoon. Except Steve just checked the Evite for a luau we're attending and, surprise, it's at 3 p.m! Not 7 p.m. Which kind of makes me want to cry, honestly. I'd looked forward to that afternoon post-yoga, pre-luau lull to get things done. My parents are coming to visit on Sunday and I know I shouldn't be so stressed about it, but I want our apartment to be all shiny and likable. Even though they will very likely be rude about having to come visit us in the city and dislike it regardless. Sigh. I am still exhausted, so I'm feeling overly sensitive and I just want to curl up in my chair and read old Christopher Pike novels. Of course, I'm exhausted partly because I got up at 5:45 a.m. to go to the Running of the Brides, which was crazy-awesome. Sarah found a completely gorgeous, super-cheap dress in like twenty minutes! It was so exciting! But now I need a nap. But I needed internet more. We're not getting ours set up until next Wednesday, which also stresses me out when I'm trying to coordinate Fringe stuff and visiting relatives and furniture giveaways.
Awww. My mom just emailed me, asking if I wanted her to bring us fresh zucchini and peppers and cucumbers from her garden. That's the kind of random thoughtful she is. And this coffee shop is playing Billy Joel. I'm all good again.
I love our new neighborhood! I love walking the thirteen blocks to and from Union Station along pretty tree-lined streets, past rainbow houses, exchanging hellos with friendly people walking dogs and adorable babies. I have picked out my favorite houses on the walk already: mostly red brick, or in one case gray with gorgeous red trim and a scarlet door, usually with porches. Bonus points for porch swings. The walk is great daydreaming, brainstorming time, and it goes quickly with my iPod. I can also walk to several coffee shops and 7-11 and Liz's and Eastern Market and tons of restaurants. I already found two restaurants (both all of three blocks away) that I really really like. At Sticky Rice last night I had the best sushi roll ever, their Goochland: smoked salmon, goat cheese, and sesame seeds. I was also a huge fan of the G.I. Jane: cucumber, cream cheese, and sesame seeds rolled in crushed wasabi peas. Last week we went to Granville Moore's, a crumbling pub that reminds me of New Orleans, where I found beer I actually liked drinking, and some fabulous Belgian frites. As far as our apartment itself: I love the uneven hardwood floors, the buttery yellow walls, the eat-in kitchen where we made room for a little square table and folding chairs with red-plaid cushions. Ceinwyn can chat with me while I cook on Tuesdays! I dig the way we arranged our living room, using our corner TV stand in the corner (shocking, I know), maximizing the little space. I like how light-filled it is, having windows on three sides of the apartment, and how the monkey-cat has made himself thoroughly at home, splaying out on the floor soaking up sunbeams. I turned their TV stand into a dining-room hutch and have two stationary drawers. I'm such a dork, but I loved organizing all my stationery and envelopes and can't wait to buy more artsy cards at the Market. I also enjoyed organizing my shoes onto a huge shoe rack on the back of my bedroom door. Oh, and best of all, I love our tiny, oddly-shaped office, with two big windows and two big armchairs. It really is the perfect reading spot, and when I've felt stressed, I've been taking refuge there.
What's Not
I posted our extra furniture (desk, futon, dining room table) on Freecycle yesterday and got an immediate flood of responses. I set it up for a woman to stop by last night at 7 p.m. to pick everything up and felt all proud of myself, like I was contributing good karma. Then she never showed up. I turned down tons of other interested parties, and I think it's pretty damn rude not to even call to say you won't be coming by to pick up your nice free furniture. I'm trying to set something up now with the runner-up. But it's hard to vacuum under and around all of it, and our apartment is really dirty and dusty. The previous inhabitants didn't do a fab cleaning job, plus moving is messy. I guess I'll sack up and do it this afternoon. I had planned to do lots of cleaning tomorrow afternoon. Except Steve just checked the Evite for a luau we're attending and, surprise, it's at 3 p.m! Not 7 p.m. Which kind of makes me want to cry, honestly. I'd looked forward to that afternoon post-yoga, pre-luau lull to get things done. My parents are coming to visit on Sunday and I know I shouldn't be so stressed about it, but I want our apartment to be all shiny and likable. Even though they will very likely be rude about having to come visit us in the city and dislike it regardless. Sigh. I am still exhausted, so I'm feeling overly sensitive and I just want to curl up in my chair and read old Christopher Pike novels. Of course, I'm exhausted partly because I got up at 5:45 a.m. to go to the Running of the Brides, which was crazy-awesome. Sarah found a completely gorgeous, super-cheap dress in like twenty minutes! It was so exciting! But now I need a nap. But I needed internet more. We're not getting ours set up until next Wednesday, which also stresses me out when I'm trying to coordinate Fringe stuff and visiting relatives and furniture giveaways.
Awww. My mom just emailed me, asking if I wanted her to bring us fresh zucchini and peppers and cucumbers from her garden. That's the kind of random thoughtful she is. And this coffee shop is playing Billy Joel. I'm all good again.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Bombast
Ok, we can all still be friends. I love you, even though some of you are wrong.
1. Cookies: Soft. My very favorite cookies are giant head-sized gooey-soft chocolate chip or sugar cookies. I prefer chocolate chip cookies without too many chocolate chips, too. And, salmonella be damned, I love me some raw cookie-dough.
2. Scones: Sweet. There's a Port City Java near the Market that I'm in love with because it has wireless (our internet/cable isn't being set up 'til next Wednesday, boo) and the best raspberry scones. And cinnamon-chip scones too. A little crispy on the outside, soft inside, utterly delightful.
3. Books: Organized by genre and by which I love best. My play collection is currently out of favor with me and isolated on two shelves in the living room, divided by women playwrights (a focus in grad school) and male playwrights. I have a few heavy textbooks on the bottom shelf in the bedroom. The rest are organized by genre (mostly children's lit or historical romance or the rather nebulous book-club category, mostly contemporary Oprahish fiction) with my favorites all together in the middle, my crumbling well-thumbed Gone with the Wind next to Wislawa Szymborska poetry next to The Trial of God (the only play on those shelves) next to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
4. Since Klimas called me out: Peter Pan reduced-fat creamy peanut butter, actually.
I am exhausted, y'all. I guess moving is catching up to me. I had grand plans of Getting!Things!Done! this week, launching back into editing, cleaning our new place top-to-bottom, starting new yoga classes. Instead I've been falling asleep reading at like ten o'clock every night. On the positive side, I did buy some very cool art on Etsy today to decorate our new place. And I used Freecycle to find someone who wants our extra futon, dining room table, and desk. And I might be going to the Running of the Brides tomorrow at the Filene's Basement up in Baltimore. Steve's a bridesmaid for his BFF Sarah and they invited me to come too. Seems like an adventure.
1. Cookies: Soft. My very favorite cookies are giant head-sized gooey-soft chocolate chip or sugar cookies. I prefer chocolate chip cookies without too many chocolate chips, too. And, salmonella be damned, I love me some raw cookie-dough.
2. Scones: Sweet. There's a Port City Java near the Market that I'm in love with because it has wireless (our internet/cable isn't being set up 'til next Wednesday, boo) and the best raspberry scones. And cinnamon-chip scones too. A little crispy on the outside, soft inside, utterly delightful.
3. Books: Organized by genre and by which I love best. My play collection is currently out of favor with me and isolated on two shelves in the living room, divided by women playwrights (a focus in grad school) and male playwrights. I have a few heavy textbooks on the bottom shelf in the bedroom. The rest are organized by genre (mostly children's lit or historical romance or the rather nebulous book-club category, mostly contemporary Oprahish fiction) with my favorites all together in the middle, my crumbling well-thumbed Gone with the Wind next to Wislawa Szymborska poetry next to The Trial of God (the only play on those shelves) next to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
4. Since Klimas called me out: Peter Pan reduced-fat creamy peanut butter, actually.
I am exhausted, y'all. I guess moving is catching up to me. I had grand plans of Getting!Things!Done! this week, launching back into editing, cleaning our new place top-to-bottom, starting new yoga classes. Instead I've been falling asleep reading at like ten o'clock every night. On the positive side, I did buy some very cool art on Etsy today to decorate our new place. And I used Freecycle to find someone who wants our extra futon, dining room table, and desk. And I might be going to the Running of the Brides tomorrow at the Filene's Basement up in Baltimore. Steve's a bridesmaid for his BFF Sarah and they invited me to come too. Seems like an adventure.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
To Determine Whether We Can Be Friends
1. Cookies: crispy or soft?
2. Scones: sweet or savory?
3. Your books: how do you organize them?
(If you don't have a large-enough collection to warrant this question, um, see above.)
More detailed posts regarding the big move to come. Along with the Right Answers to the above questions, obviously.
2. Scones: sweet or savory?
3. Your books: how do you organize them?
(If you don't have a large-enough collection to warrant this question, um, see above.)
More detailed posts regarding the big move to come. Along with the Right Answers to the above questions, obviously.
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