sara may.... or she may not

On Asking and Telling

2010-09-23T09:34:00.003-05:00

Our service men and women, both the straight and the (closeted) gay ones, are dying for their country. Why are we squabbling about an archaic policy that keeps people shamed and quiet when they are literally laying down their lives to keep the rest of us safe?

It's ridiculous and it's hurtful.

On a completely different note, I started culinary school yesterday. It's exhilarating, if a bit overwhelming at this point. More on this later....

Dance/Candy

2010-09-11T10:40:00.004-05:00

Last night I attended the opening night of the Keila Cordova Dances piece entitled As Big As The World.

It was a wonderful show. Catch it if you can-- it closes this weekend.

For the last three Fringes I've stage managed Keila's productions and they have been some of the most wonderful times of my stage management career. Keila and Andrew are so wonderful, the dancers are sweet and funny and very talented, plus there's always a baby hanging around to play with. It has been the essence of the Fringe Festival for me-- hard work + long hours + great people= a perfect experience. The very beginnings of creation, the birthing of Art.

It was weird to see the show merely from the audience's perspective, but I loved it. A huge thank-you to Keila, Andrew and the dancers for creating such a great work and for all of the wonderful Fringe-y memories of years past.

And in other news...

I started working as the pastry chef's assistant at the Fountain this week. It's totally fucking awesome.

My first day we made simple syrup and berry toppings and apple turnovers and then experimented with honeycomb candy, which was later made into an ice cream. Yesterday we made brownies and hot fudge and absinthe truffles. Yes, you heard right. ABSINTHE TRUFFLES.

I never saw myself interested in pastry/candymaking. But I'm fascinated. I love it. I want to learn everything I can about it. It certainly doesn't hurt that the pastry chef (her name is Davina) is awesome and funny and sweet and a GREAT teacher.

Next week I'm going to learn how to make ice cream. What the WHAT? This is so exciting.

AND on Thursday I made a trip up to New York to pick up my official Natural Gourmet Institute chef jacket, houndstooth pants, aprons and side towels. Plus of course I got some drinking done with Kris, Leah and Kelly. It's going to be a fun year.

It's real, people. It's really happening. So fast. Less than two weeks now.

Soda Jerk

2010-09-05T09:02:00.002-05:00

Mixing a Japanese Thirst Killer at Franklin Fountain.

Despite the occasional rude customer ("can you just shut up and give me my change?") I'm really getting into this job.

Come visit me. I'll scoop you some ice cream or mix a phosphate for you. And you can be one of those lovely customers that makes my day.

Leaves of Change

2010-09-04T11:09:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again, folks: last night was the official opening of the Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe Festival and for me, the unofficial beginning of Fall.

I had the privilege of attending Jenn Rose, Dan Kazemi and Steve Pacek's production of Untitled Project #213 in my old stomping grounds at the Walnut's Studio 3 space. Philadelphia people, don't miss this show. It plays this weekend only and it's the best piece of theater I've seen in a very long time. Poetic, beautiful, deeply heart-wrenching. The technical elements were absolute perfection and the performers were astonishing. Thank you so much for such a wonderful theatrical experience.

After the show, when I finally stopped sobbing, I pulled myself together to go to the opening of this year's Festival Bar with Amanda and Arizona. The venue has changed (and become a little more clubb-y and less art-y) but the cheap beer and dancing remained.

It's going to be a great couple of weeks.

In other news........

For those of you who follow me on facebook (become a fan if you haven't already!), twitter (ditto) or at The Cozy Herbivore this news is a bit old, but for the rest of you, here goes:
Yep, I gave my resignation to the Walnut Street Theatre. I am changing things up to the extreme, following a dream and going to culinary school this fall at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York. I will be commuting there two days a week for the next ten months. It's a huge step for me... I have never done anything but theater in my adult life. And I love it, I still do. Once the theater gets into your blood it never leaves. It's like malaria.

But the schedule was really wearing me down, and more than that, I have felt a wellspring of creativity bubbling up inside of me for several years now that has been up to this point rather frustrated and unfulfilled.

Let's face it, being a stage manager is an exciting and interesting job, but it is not creative in any way. It's a facilitating job-- I helped artists create all day every day. And I miss being a part of that creativity. I have no interest in theatrical creativity myself-- I'm no director, not cut out to be an actor, and my design work is woeful. Still, I itch to step out from the sidelines, to not always be the woman sitting quietly at a table taking notes about other people's art.

Since I was a little girl I have always loved to write, and in recent years I have discovered an abiding love of food and cooking. It's suddenly become my dream to channel both of these loves into a new career. I'm thinking I would like to get into food writing or recipe development. Or possibly be a personal chef. I don't know exactly what, yet. But I do know that I don't want to spend too much time in a restaurant kitchen. Because, let's face it, if I am complaining about the long night hours and the low pay of theater, how is restaurant work any different? Right down to the crazy behind-the-scenes drama, the two are linked in an adrenaline-fueled, sleep-deprived junkie sort of way.

In the mean time, a girl's gotta make her money, so I got a job at the Franklin Fountain. If you're in Philly, you simply must check this place out. It's awesome, handmade artisan ice cream served in the style of a turn of the century soda fountain. Right now I am a soda jerk, but on Tuesday I begin training with the pastry chef to be her assistant. The Fountain has purchased an old fashioned candy shop next door and will open it in time for the holidays.

Never in my wildest foodie dreams did I think I would get into candy making, but I am fascinated and terribly excited to learn all about it. I especially love that the Fountain is committed to local and seasonal ingredients, prepared in an old-fashioned way.

So now I've caught you up and I can stop dropping mysterious hints on this blog about Big Changes. Onward...

Son of a Beach!

2010-08-09T15:28:00.005-05:00

This summer has been a weird one for me & Deb... kinda stressful, very poor (okay, nothing weird about that, we're always poor in the summer) and in a break from tradition, we're not taking a vacation this summer. There are many reasons for this which I can't really get into right now, but let's just say Big Things are coming and we can't really get away.

Enter Beth to the rescue: she has planned and organized two trips to the beach at Strathmere, NJ with a great group of friends to help us get out of the city. Thanks Beth!

We returned from trip #2 last night, sandy and sunburned and bone-tired from frolicking in the ocean. It was blissful. It may not be a full-fledged vacation, but getting away for even a day was just the change of pace we needed.

And none of this would have been possible without the help of Tara, Scotty, Mel and AJ, who took turns taking care of Hyde so his mommies could slip away for the day. Thanks guys!

Amanda and I, right after our first dip in the ocean:

Deb and Chris just, you know, chillin':

Chris and Jihad, hard at work on one of the many sand castles constructed:

The boys and Deb even tossed a football around:

Deb and Arizona give the thumbs up to beach bellies:

Arizona and Kali played some futbol:

Hold on, it's the ocean calling. I said HOLD ON!

We win! Thumbs up! (l-r: Deb, Beth, Kali, Chris)

Chris, hard at work on his second sand castle:

Getting sunburned:

What is a trip to the beach without the traditional beer shotgun?

Group shot! (l-r: girl who's name I don't know, Anna, Jihad, Marc, Deb, Kali, Beth, me, Rafiq)
As we left the beach, Chris drove us to a little ice cream shop that made their own ice cream (so different from the popular pre-made place) and we jammed the whole way back to Philly, our hair filled with sand, our bodies sunburned and our hearts very, very happy.

Progress

2010-08-06T12:38:00.003-05:00

Great article about Judge Walker's decision being a turning point in the culture wars here.

Next stop, the Supreme Court?

This is VERY good news!!

BREAKING! Garden Update!

2010-08-04T12:04:00.011-05:00

I'm kidding, of course. There's nothing really "breaking" or urgent about a garden. And that's why I love them.

But anyway, the container garden is in full swing, and despite the heat, we've had many occasions to sit outside with frosty beers and enjoy it. Although the air conditioning unit on the patio is noisy, we are so grateful to have central air inside, especially during this beastly year. And in the interest of not wasting any water, we collect the air conditioner's runoff and use it to water the plants every day. I also put a bucket in the bottom of our shower (it takes FOREVER for that water to heat up to anything close to comfortable) and we use that as well to feed the thirsty plants. Sure, it's kind of a pain in the ass to lug a bucket of water outside every day, but knowing that we're doing all we can not to waste resources is really important to me. Plus I'm developing some awesome biceps-- it's a win-win!

The garden isn't all work and no play: I've been using this incredibly lush mint plant for juleps and for making mint syrup that enlivens every cocktail with a summer-y flair:

And I found a nice alternative to chemical mosquito repellents: a citronella plant!
Actually a member of the geranium family, this plant smells extremely lemon-y when disturbed even the slightest bit. I don't know if it's all that effective against those stinging buggers, but hey, every little bit counts, right?

We've just started to get our tomato crop in, and it looks like there are many more to come:

Look at this lovely Orange Blossom tomato!
They are INCREDIBLY slow to mature, but oh-so-worth it. Gorgeous and delicious!

Luckily we have the Black Cherry tomatoes coming in like they're going out of style while we wait for the Orange Blossoms:

They grow fast, they look adorable and they're so sweet & juicy:

I'm totally in love with my zebra-striped geraniums-- so cheery!

The pansies are blooming continually as well:

Even the sensitive plant, re-potted to get more sun, has started to bloom:

The pepper section of the garden is just getting swingin':

Look at this itty-bitty jalapeno!

And this bell pepper is FINALLY starting to get a little color... grow, dude, grow!

The Swiss Chard has been good to us this year, as evidenced by the stalks we've cut off and used to top sandwiches and to saute into breakfast scrambles:

Still no sign of any okra buds, although I'm not giving up hope yet:

And I'm getting a second round of green beans too!

The fairy garden seed packet has yielded a magical container of little, sweet flowers:

And the strawberries have sent runners all over everywhere, which combined with the morning glory pot (on the bottom) gives this yellow shelf an awesome overgrown look:

The morning glories say hello to me as I water every morning:

And the rosebush. Oh, the gorgeous teacup rosebush. It's been so beautiful all summer, flowering over and over. I love the delicate little blooms and I love how when they fade they scatter pink petals all over the patio. It's too perfect.

The verbena had a brush with death when I left it in an overly sunny spot, but moved to shadier digs, it's coming back:

And the bronze fennel is seriously out of control:

Of course for all of my garden successes, there was a big failure:
Both of my zucchini plants died, hard and fast. I don't know why. It's so frustrating. They both had male & female flowers, even little baby zucchinis! But then they just wilted and died. I've never had luck with any of the cucumber/squash/melon family. This same fate befalls them all. Any suggestions, fellow gardeners? I'm thinking it must be some sort of pest, although I couldn't see any huge red flags when they were dying.

Because I'm wildly obsessed with farmer's markets, I couldn't resist showing off my latest haul:

Yes, that's my foot at the bottom of the picture.

A pint of onions, a bunch of carrots, an assortment of peppers, 2 heads of lettuce, a head of garlic, 3 cucumbers and a loaf of bread for a little over $20. So stinkin' cheap, so stinkin' good.

Good god, all I want to do is live on an organic sustainable farm, raise chickens, start canning produce and making cheese. Can this happen soon, please?

Poolside

2010-07-28T12:23:00.003-05:00

This summer has been hot, hot, HOT. I'm very grateful to live in an apartment with central air, but nobody likes being cooped up inside when the sun is (mercilessly) shining. You feel guilty, like you SHOULD be braving the heat to be doing something summer-y and fun, because god only knows winter is just around the corner. I hate winter.

So I'm very glad that Mel & AJ have brought back the famous kiddie pool:

Mel & AJ have an abiding love for smoking stodgies in the pool, which is apparently a tradition of theirs most evenings when they come home from work. The couple that smokes together... drops their ash into the pool. (AJ!)

When the shadows begin to lengthen, we light citronella torches to ward off the stinging beasties:

Although the pool is still as warm as bath water, we get out in the evenings and toast with mint juleps, made with fresh mint from the garden:
We cool off, refresh and drink bourbon to try and ease the sweltering heat and maybe, possibly try to forget that this is the last summer Mel and AJ will be here. It isn't an easy thing to think about, so we work hard to cram all of the love and fun we can into this hot and sticky season.

Ooops...

2010-07-22T13:06:00.003-05:00

...I accidentally slammed the dogs tail in the door which started bleeding a lot so then Deb took him to the vet and he had to get 4 staples put in but he won't stop licking them so he has to wear this stupid cone which he absolutely hates but this picture is just so silly and cute I can't resist laughing at it every time.

Yeah, I'm a terrible dog mommy. But as a wise parent of a human child told me, "Everyone drops the baby at some point". Jeez. Can't wait for my own human children, because if I feel this guilty about a DOG I can't even imagine what my brain will be like with actual offspring.

What else is new? Hmmm. This week is a little crazy because I'm workshopping a new play being written by the lovely and very talented Madi Distefano called MEANWHILE...

It's a two-person quick change comedy that spoofs film noir. It's hilarious. If you're in Philly this week, come and check out our reading this Sunday, 7/25 at 6pm in the upstairs of Plays & Players. Or go and see the actual production of it this spring when BRAT puts it onstage.

Other than that, I've been writing a lot, both for The Cozy Herbivore and as a guest poster on the Green Aisle Grocery blog. Check out my latest entry (a berry crumble/berry cobbler debate) here.

I'm proud to report that Hyde is recovering nicely from his... err... incident. And I, in turn, am now super-paranoid about letting all of him get out the door before I close it.

All's well that ends well, I suppose...

So Heeeeyyyyyy....

2010-07-17T13:08:00.009-05:00

How's things with you? How is your summer going?

Mine's going just swimmingly, thanksforasking. (You see what I did there? SWIMMINGLY? In the SUMMER?! Okay, I'll stop.)

My show closed (finally glorygloryhallelujah and if you ever want a long and drama-filled theater story, buy me a drink, ask me about it and I'll give you quite an earful...) and now I'm doing... nothing, officially. Of course, "nothing, officially" really means lots and lots, unofficially. Which is fun.

Right now I'm interning at Green Aisle Grocery, which is the cutest little boutique grocery store EVER. Seriously, if you live in Philly you must come and check it out. The owners, Adam & Andrew are super nice and they're even letting me write a guest column on Green Aisle's blog! Check out my Summer Cocktail post here.

I've also been really hard at work on my food blog, The Cozy Herbivore. It's currently rocking an awesome site re-design (thanks to Mona!) and some great summer recipes. I'm really focusing on local and seasonal ingredients this summer and I'm also working hard on my food photography. I'm really proud of the way this blog is growing, shaking and yes, cooking. With gas. So you should all check it out and become a facebook fan and follow me on Twitter. Because if you don't, I'll think you're lame. There, I said it.

Annnnnd I've been having other adventures too-- tomorrow I'm going to the BEACH which I'm superduper excited about because I didn't get to the beach ONE TIME last summer and that was a total drag. Not this summer, I determined. So I'm sure I'll have lots of beach-y happy fun photos for you after tomorrow, but until then you're just going to have to content yourselves with a few photos from My Summer Thus Far.

The week after my show closed my mother convinced me (by buying me a bus ticket) to come up for a short visit because there was to be a May Family Gathering. Now unlike the Tompkins, who get together most weekends and have lovely picnics all summer long, the Mays rarely gather together. Mostly because a lot of the Mays live far away, but also because if you get too many Mays together for too long, it's like a scene from Highlander-- THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. Of course we love each other very much blah, blah, blah.... and we do indeed love to do what the Mays do best: eat and drink.

So when my Uncle Chris called and said he was going to be in town and would we like to come and eat at a fancy restaurant in Syracuse can you guess what we said?

Oh hell yes!

(l-r Aunt Therese, my new Uncle Jim, the Grandfather, Mom, random waiter who talked like a robot, brother Joe-man, Aunt Maureen, Uncle thanks-for-the-food-and-booze Chris, Dad)

My visit home was short (but very sweet) and I'm really happy I got to spend some time with the family. I even snuck in a quick lunch with Weas, who has taken up running. For fun. Don't get me wrong, she looks FANTASTIC, but who is this person and what have you done with Weas? I concluded my trip by making a vegetarian meal for the family which of course you just know I had to blog about.

I had to return home to Philly in a hurry because that weekend was our epic Fourth of July party. Deb and I fretted incessantly about this party-- would anyone show up? Because it was a potluck, would we have enough food? Would my veggie burgers hold up on the grill? WOULD THERE BE ENOUGH BOOZE TO GO AROUND?

We needn't have worried. Folks showed up in droves, and everyone brought something to eat. And to drink. And just when we started to worry that there was TOO MUCH food & drink that we would never finish ever and we don't have enough refrigerator space and we hate to waste food and all of this booze needs to be drunk by SOMEONE the horde descended and, like the proverbial locusts, devoured everything. It was amazing. Our friends are amazing.

Even the people we sorta-kinda know are amazing:

Okay, so Lauren & Dan on the left side of the picture are old friends, but new friends-of-friends came too!

Amanda brought this bottle of Canadian whiskey and proceeded to harass everyone into taking swigs. From the bottle. She went home at 11pm that night.

(l-r: Rachel, Amanda "the pusher" McKenna, Carrie)

Deb & Scotty pumped UP the jam:

What would a 4th of July be without fire in the hands of inebriated people?
Jered shows off his fire style while Sarah cheers him on? Tries to eat his face? I can't really tell.

And of course it wouldn't be a party at our place if Lindsay & Deb didn't get drunk and take off their pants/do stupid stuff like piggy-back rides:

It was a really fucking fun night.

And SPEAKING OF Deb, my lovely lady just hit a major milestone: last Sunday was her 30th birthday!

She decided to invite our besties for dinner at the Jamaican Jerk Hut (shut up, haters) followed by a night of serious drankin' at Bob & Barbara's, home of the $3 Philly Special. (For those of you unfortunate out-of-towners that's a can of PBR and a shot of Jim Beam. Shutup. You know you want it.)

It was an AWESOME night.

Eating at the Jerk Hut:

Cherie Tay FTW!

Yeah, it was hot, so we all looked so glisten-y:

(l-r: Mel, Debs, Rachel, Leo)

The food is SO GOOD:

(Cherie and Bryan, keepin' it klassy)

A rather blurry picture of my girl eating her Brown Chicken:

This is me all: Where's my wallet oh who are you, stealing my camera and then taking this picture?
I also learned an important lesson that night about wearing a vintage maxi dress when it's pouring rain... namely that the hem gets mad wet and that moisture travels up your skirt so you feel damp all night long...

Deb is all: I got the money for the check and I'm looking real cool and then Mel decides to grab my boob:

Our friends have such great taste in shoes, even if I do make fun of Alison's inner dyke for coming out with these boots (although they are super hot and secretly I want them):

Moving on to Bob & Barbara's, where the photos got a little blurry towards the end of the night...
...I'm sure it had NOTHING to do with all of those empty beer cans behind us. Nothing at all.

Our friends are so foxy, even when they are making fishy faces:

(l-r Mel, Alison with her hot lesbian boots, Carrie I-just-sucked-a-lemon-slice-or-maybe-just-did-a-shot-of-bourbon-face)

So my last few weeks have been unofficially wonderful. And I look forward to lots of unofficial fun in the weeks to come as well.

Weekend Update

2010-06-25T20:31:00.006-05:00

How's tricks, kids?

Things here are good.... looking forward to a BREAK. My show closes on Sunday, and let me tell you what, it's time.

Now don't get me wrong. I love my cast. The show is nice and short. I like getting a regular paycheck.

But Mama is TIRED. It's been a looooooooooong season. There's been enough drama both onstage and off to last me for a good while.

SO. Summer is here, and although I spend most days freezing my ass off in the heavily air conditioned theater, I hear the weather's been nice and hot. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to drinking lots of beer, lounging in Mel & AJ's pool, maybe going camping and just generally relaxing.

Now you know of course I can't totally relax, like, EVER, right? So of course I have a few things up my sleeve this summer. Stay tuned.

....

Okay, okay I KNOW I've been sort of neglecting this blog and when I do update I'm being all kinds of sketchy. I was just scrolling back through some of my earlier blogs and reminiscing about my old blogging habits. IT WILL GET BETTER SOON, I PROMISE. Really. Thanks for sticking with me, it's been one of those years.

Until then, check out this sweet picture I snapped with my phone at The New Pornographer's concert Deb & I rocked out at last Monday:
It was a really great show. We've learned the big-girl trick of snagging seats at concert venues with balconies. Sure, it's rad to be on the floor, but we're OLD. Seats? Drinks? Balcony view? Sign us up. All you have to do is arrive a little early, ID in hand (most venue balconies are for people 21+ only, which makes them even cooler) and be prepared hold onto the seats you get for dear life. When one person goes to the bathroom or to get beers, the other must spread their body over two seats and prepare to elbow any pushy little latecomer in the face. This ensures maximum old-person enjoyment of a concert. Balconies may get hot and crowded, but at least you're not being pushed around by some dumb 18-year-old determined to ROCK OUT at their first unchaperoned concert.

Wow, I really do sound like an old person. Harumph. Get off my lawn. Damn kids.

Anyway. My summer's just around the corner. And it's gonna be big, I tell you, BIG.

Thanks for sticking with me, kittens.

Phone Tag

2010-06-15T14:44:00.008-05:00

For a little while this past fall and winter I was without a camera. This pretty much sucked, but I made do with my Blackberry's camera.

I decided to do a great camera phone clean-up, and thought you'd be amused by some of the photos on my phone...

Like this one, especially:

This glorious piece of snow sculpture appeared the morning after one of the gigantic snowstorms that hammered us (heh) this winter. Sadly, it only lasted a few hours before some self-righteous person with no sense of humor knocked it down, presumably for "the sake of the children".

This picture was taken by me during our recent block party... and I have absolutely no idea what Amanda is doing to the back of my head.

More pictures from the snowstorm... taken after stumbling out of a wine bar.

Our bedroom is HELLA COLD in the winter, so we are forced to pile on the covers. Apparently Deb thought I looked cute, but as I remember it, I was just cold and drunk. (Are we seeing a theme here?)

This past fall I went apple picking with Amanda, Arizona, Chris and his adorable son Aidan.

Do these gourds look phallic to you?

SUNGLASSES! (me, Amanda, Arizona)

Aidan tackles a caramel apple like a champ:

Amanda opted for the peanut-covered caramel apple:

Trying to capture the beautiful fall sunshine streaming through my kitchen window:

From the living room window:

On a recent hike down Forbidden Drive, the dog took a moment to freak out on a sandbar:

My good friend Caitlin came to visit a few weeks ago and we did a Philly-style bar crawl. Here she is exhibiting her phone number cards from Sisters, which sadly, did not contain any phone numbers. (The lesbians just weren't biting that night!)

Deb caught this picture of the dog sleeping on my head this past winter:

Farmer's Market Haul

2010-06-08T15:10:00.004-05:00

Money's a little tight lately, but that's not stopping us from accessing the best fruits and vegetables of the season. I'm so grateful to live in Philadelphia, an extremely farmer's market-friendly city.

Deb and I were recently wandering around Rittenhouse Square, enjoying the gorgeous weather, adorable babies toddling about and rich people doing whatever it is that they do in the middle of a day on a Tuesday. We stumbled upon the weekly farmer's market, and with only ten dollars in our pockets, we took home all this produce:

(It was actually a pint of sugarsnap peas, but you know I had to get all artsy with this photo...)

Plus a pound of this grass-fed, pastured ground beef for Deb:

She cooked up two of the patties with a little sauteed red onion, chiffonaded basil on a bed of Swiss Chard picked from our garden!

The produce was so incredibly gorgeous that I was inspired to create a simple Farmer's Market Pasta. Check out my recipe-- I'm super proud of this one!

A pound of humanely-raised ground beef, 2 zucchinis, a pint of cherries and a pint of sugarsnap peas for ten dollars. Good for our wallet, good for our health, good for the planet.

Greek Festival!

2010-06-05T17:54:00.005-05:00

It's that time of year again... time to stuff ourselves silly with baklava and spanakopita and dolmades at the St. George's Greek Festival!

I persuaded my cast to join me in the festivities between shows today, and I think they were glad I strong-armed them into coming.

Lauren shows off her spanakopita:

Alex enjoys a Greek salad... perhaps a little too much.

And what would the Greek Festival be without a shot of Ouzo? Opa!
Although it was stifling hot under that tent, it was absolutely worth it to enjoy these Greek delights. There was a live band and a group of teenagers dancing-- what's better than that? We rolled away from the church stuffed to the gills, dreams of phyllo dough dancing in our heads.

Container Garden 2010!

2010-06-02T13:44:00.009-05:00

Hello, dear readers, how have you been? Since my last posting, I have been dealing with show drama (sick actors, no understudies, oh my!), looking for some sort of job to keep myself occupied with over the summer (4 months off is a little non-stimulating, not to mention not very well paid...), having house guests (Leah and Kris and Anthony, on their annual migration from NYC to Brevard Music Center) and fighting off the aforementioned plague that has been passed around the Walnut Street Theatre like a bad penny.

Throughout all of this, I've actually managed to get the container garden up and growing, and with the help of my amazingly creative girlfriend, I must say it's looking pretty stellar:

I decided to grow a huge variety of things this year just because well, I could. Here's the run-down, in vaguely left-right in the picture above: 2 zucchini plants, echinacea, bronze fennel, rosemary, sensitive plant, oregano, 3 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, geranium, sage, cilantro, thyme, a rosebush, salvia, 2 petunia plants, dianthus, begonia, basil, jalapeno pepper, swiss chard, bell pepper, wildflower mix, strawberries, morning glories, potato and verbena.

And I want to grow more. I'm always looking for new plants (and containers!) to try out. Any suggestions?

I've already got little baby zucchinis-- I can't wait for these babies to be ready to eat! Look how cute:

I'm excited to see the echinacea bloom:

And this has to be my favorite botanical purchase of the season. There's an awesome dude at my local farmer's market who sells plants that his daughter grows from seed. This little guy doesn't have any consumable parts, but it is a neat party trick. It's called a sensitive plant, and it looks like this:

But when you touch or shake it, the leaves fold into themselves like this:
So cute, right? Pictures really don't do it justice. You'll just have to come over to my house and touch my plant.

My heirloom oregano is looking good these days:

And this is bronze fennel, a gift from my new friend Adam Erace:
(More on that topic later...)

The tomatoes have already started to flower, leaving me with visions of those round globes of summer dancing about my head:
I was fully committed to growing only heirloom and organic tomatoes this season. For the life of me, I just cannot remember what variety this particular plant is, maybe Brandywine? Anyway, I also have Silvery Fir Tree and Black Cherry varieties in containers, all purchased at my local farmer's market.

I had been rather staunch about only growing vegetables and edibles in my garden, but this year I decided to loosen up and add some flowers as well. After all, it's important to entice those bees!

Deb rigged me up a beautiful hanging system for some colorful blooms:

I've really fallen in love with the begonias:

And on a total whim, I purchased an heirloom yellow potato plant. I can't wait to see how my tubers turn out!

Mmmm, Swiss Chard. Love me some leafy greens!

An okra plant, recently purchased at the farmer's market.

The thyme is growing like a weed, which is good because it's probably my favorite and most-used herb.

And my strawberry plants came back from the snowy grave! I planted these babies last year and experienced a rather disappointing haul, but after their winter hibernation they are up and running!

My green beans are a little out of control already:

I bought a packet of seeds at Whole Foods labeled "Fairy Garden" and this is my first fairy bloom:

Today's harvest:

So hopefully now things in my life will start to settle down and I can enjoy the fruits (and vegetables!) of my labor.

Until then, dear reader, I'm thinking that my beautifully green deck may indeed be the perfect place to crack open a beer on one of these unseasonably hot nights we've been having.

On Street Festivals and Block Parties

2010-05-18T18:03:00.006-05:00

It's official, Summer has begun. And by "official", I mean SARA HAS DECLARED IT THEREFORE IT IS SO.

Kicking off my personal summer season is the annual Italian Market Festival, mere blocks away from my house. Beer being sold on the street, mangos on sticks, Italian music, the parade of Saints... there's just so much to see.

But I had one goal. Funnel cake. Where in the hell was the funnel cake?! I haven't had funnel cake in A WHOLE YEAR! Where is it??!

Oh. That sure is a handy sign.

This is my FUNNEL CAKE face, biatch!

Deb's plate is on the left. Mine is on the right. I do not know how she consumed the entire thing. She's so talented. I'm totally jellus.

And best of all, there was a block party happening ON MY BLOCK. Our neighbors and all-around-cool-cats Scottie & Tara closed down our section of Warnock for a rockin' party to celebrate Tara's 30th birthday. They even had a BAND!!!
It was a hipster-o-rama fest, let me tell you that. If it was hipster-related, it was there. You had your strange haircuts, your ironic tattoos, your fixies propped everywhere, your weird facial hair, your pitty mixes roaming about, your biking fanny packs, your keg of PBR.

And best of all, my favorite hipsters were there too!
(l-r: Beth, me, Arizona, Amanda, Dalice. I don't know who that random girl behind us is, but her shoulder tattoo was rad)

Viva la summer!

New Gaydar

2010-05-16T13:29:00.005-05:00

(Click for an enlarged image. Courtesy of STFU Homophobes)

Also, watch this NOW:

New post with lots of pictures coming soon...

Summer Plans

2010-05-08T09:55:00.004-05:00

I know, I know. I've been neglecting this blog again. But I hope that the above picture of our stupid doggie will ease the pain of my absence...

It's not that I don't love this blog, I swear. And it's not that I love my other blog better either. I double-dog pinkie swear. (Okay, I really do love writing recipes.)

Anyway, I know my excuse for not posting is always "I'm busy", but really I swear it's true. Without going into the gory details, let me just say that this show has been one of the most profoundly exhausting experiences of my life. Don't get me wrong, it's great, and you should totally come and see it. But it's big-- HUGE-- bigger than any show I've done in the Studio and therefore the process has been nutty and trying and weird and ultimately (I hope) rewarding.

So what's happening in my life now? The show's open, I'm looking forward to having my days free. After weeks of working over 60 hours and dealing with... personalities... I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have the whole day free, to stroll in to work around 6pm and be done at 9:30pm. Before you call me lucky or get all jealous, trust me, I've EARNED this.

My season ends on June 27th and I have the summer off. In the past I have simply gone on unemployment and tried to relax before the next season starts up again, but this summer I think I'm going to switch it up a bit. I find that while having one month off is glorious, four months becomes so very tedious. I'm poking around for a part-time job that will let me collect partial unemployment so that I can keep my brain active and yet still have time to loaf. Hopefully this new game plan will allow me to have the Epic Summer of Hanging Out and a little extra pocket change to boot.

Do I sound a little vague to you? Don't worry dear readers, things will be all clear soon. Until then, you'll find me cleaning my house, cooking a lot and catching up on all the reading I've been putting off. On my nightstand right now: Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, by Jessica Prentice which explores seasonal eating across many cultures and gives the modern reader a chance to reconnect with those ancient and valuable traditions. I'm really enjoying it! Up next I'll be tackling Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys, which I ordered soon after I finished his American Gods. American Gods was one of the best books I've read in a long time. I cracked it open on my birthday and it's themes have had a profound effect on me during this winter/spring of my weird journey.

Okay, now I'm sounding really nutty. I'd better stop while I'm ahead. Until then, dear readers, I leave you with the (hopefully sincere) promise to keep this blog better updated.

What's this in my tooth?

2010-04-25T20:57:00.002-05:00

It's a kernel of truth:

We're Singing... Because It's A Musical...

2010-04-18T13:01:00.003-05:00

Our first week of rehearsals for the last show of the Studio season, Musical of Musicals: The Musical! is over and let me tell you, this one's going to be hilarious. Seriously, don't miss this it.

Tom Miller took the Publicity Photos on Friday:

(clockwise from top left: Craig Fols, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Sarah Gliko, Rebecca Robbins)

Yes, Carl is wearing pink knickers. Our costume designer Mary Folino is made of awesome.

Sarah strikes her Chicago/Cabaret pose:

We run from May 4th-June 27th. Don't miss it!
(l-r: Rebecca Robbins, Alex Bechtel, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Sarah Gliko, Craig Fols)

More rehearsal photos to follow soon!

It's About Fucking Time

2010-04-15T23:08:00.001-05:00

From The Daily Beast today:

Hospital Visitation Rights for Gays?

It's not gay marriage, but it's a small step in the right direction for same-sex couples. President Obama has signed a memorandum requiring hospitals to grant visitation rights and medical power of attorney to a same-sex partner. Before now, only blood relatives or legal spouses of patients were allowed to visit. Under the president's orders, the Department of Health and Human Services can no longer discriminate in hospital visitation, and the move will affect any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding. The decision will likely place Obama right in the middle of the same-sex marriage debate.

Available With or Without Nuts

2010-04-14T08:20:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm in my double week (for Musical of Musicals: The Musical! which is going to be hilarious so you should come and see it.) but I had to leave you all with this:

The rest of Tina's SNL episode was a bit hit or miss to me: the stuff about Michelle "Bombshell" McGee was a little harsh, babe. It takes two people to cheat, and I didn't hear you ragging on Jesse at all. Plus, just having tattoos doesn't make you trashy. (Having white power and Nazi tattoos however, does indeed make you trashy)

Okay, rant over. I still love you, Tina.

Do they make "Brownie Wife" for us gay gals?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Cherry Bomb!

2010-04-09T17:18:00.006-05:00

Many years ago, some springtime mastermind planted dozens of cherry trees along my block. Obviously I don't know who this person was, but if I ever met said mastermind, I would give them a big fat kiss.

For those of you who don't remember, we are celebrating our one year anniversary in our apartment, after escaping from the wilds of 2 Street and crooked landlords. I have a vague recollection from last year of spring being absolutely beautiful in our new place, but we were so stressed out that I barely had time to appreciate it. Not this year, though. This year I'm loving every second of it.

And because of our weirdly warm April weather, boy oh boy have these babies just POPPED.

I present you now with a photographic journey of my walk to work through cherry blossom heaven. You're welcome, dear readers, you are welcome.

A view down the block:

Happy spring!

Spring/Philly

2010-04-04T12:28:00.005-05:00

I'm feeling a little guilty for letting the craziness of my life right now interfere with how often I update this blog, so I have decided to try harder. For you, my dear readers. All for you.

So spring is aggressively springing all around us here in Philly, with our record temperatures. Seriously, it's going to be 80 today. In April. I'm not complaining, but damn!

Deb and I have been experimenting with taking the dog to work with us when there is an empty dressing room for him to chill out in. He really loves the walk in, and of course all of the attention he gets from the actors in the greenroom doesn't hurt either.

In our breaks between shows, we take him to Washington Square Park to romp around. He LOVES the warmer weather. He loves being with his two mommies too!

Look at this handsome fellah:

We taught him a new trick, which Deb calls "hugs", but I call "jumping on mommy":

Happy stupid doggie face!

This morning I took my camera along for my walk to work to capture the absolute perfection of this day. Happy Easter, by the way! And here's some excellent reading material about Easter's origins as a pagan holiday!

Anyway, I digress. Look, the oak tree in front of our apartment has started to grow some teeny-tiny leaves!

Yes, those are a pair of shoes hanging from the branches, or just some "urban fruit" as I like to call them.

This tree is on the end of our street-- gorgeous!

Um... dogwood?

I know a lot of people view them as weeds, but I personally love dandelions. And I think they make a stellar addition to any city window box:

Philly in the spring: mirrored murals and blooming trees!
Tomorrow we have Epic Plans to clean our deck. I can't wait for beers and barbeque and hanging out in the sunshine!

April Fools

2010-04-03T12:28:00.009-05:00

The times, they are a changin'...

So because I think we have developed a bit of a hive mind, our group of friends has suddenly, independently decided to make some major life changes. I'm very proud to share that Melanie has been accepted to grad school in London (and hopefully AJ will be able to join her there!), Alison is working on getting into grad school here in Philly and Amanda & Arizona plan to leave the country as well to teach English in Brazil or some other exotic location like that.

And it all happens this fall. So basically we have this summer ahead of us as Our Last Summer of Fun & Debauchery. Or at least that's what I've decided to call it.

We've decided to start early with the Epic Hanging Out.

Opening night of my show, Travels with My Aunt, Mel and AJ joined us for our traditional Coco's after opening shit-faced session:

Carolyn, our House Management apprentice, and Lauren, my apprentice:

This morning Arizona invited us all over for a vegan brunch. Holy moley, it was awesome. Arizona made tofu scramble and spicy potatoes, I brought my Breakfast Carrot Cake and Beth made smoothies! Linds & Carrie brought over a New Zealand pudding, but I had to go to work before it came out of the oven. Sad face. I'm told that even as I type, they have moved to the park to kick around a soccer ball. I'm so jealous!

Beth is a big fan of brunch:

Lindsay can't decide whether to drink his smoothie or his beer:

Amanda went with the smoothie first... but I can bet her beer will follow shortly!

Chillin' with Arizona's Italian friend Matteo, watching some futbol:

So whenever the kitty goes to the litter box, there is a giant ritual of incense lighting and general exclamations about how very stinky it is:
It's hard not to be a little sad that our tight-knit little group is breaking up, at least in a geographical sense. But I have every confidence that no amount of distance will destroy these bonds we've forged and these memories we've made together.

Congrats, guys: I'm so proud of you all for moving and shaking and following your dreams!

I'd Hit That

2010-03-14T18:13:00.001-05:00

Gabourey Sidibe and Joel McHale, my two favorite people ever right now:

In like a lamb...

2010-03-13T14:03:00.003-05:00

So of course the old saying about March goes "In like a lion, out like a lamb", but....

For the first time in a very long time, I'm not complaining about Philadelphia's weather. Last summer was cold and rainy, January and February were just absolutely brutal, but March has been quite wonderful.

Last week we had temperatures in the 50's and 60's all week, and although we're enduring a bit of a Nor'easter right now, I can't even bring myself to complain. Sure, it's raining hard and really, really windy this weekend, but the temperatures are quite warm and hey, it's not snow. And they're forecasting another beautiful week of weather ahead of us, once this storm passes.

So I am enjoying hearing birdsong in the mornings, seeing the first shoots of grass and the first crocus buds and the general feeling of spring tip-toeing around the corner.

Perhaps all too fittingly for the season, I'm working on something really, really major. Huge life changes are coming. It's still in the embryonic stages currently, but as soon as I can share it here, I surely will.

Stay tuned! It's going to be a beautiful year....

...and another one gone, and another one gone...

2010-03-04T19:04:00.003-05:00

From the HuffPo today:

Early Wednesday morning, State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.) was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving. Sources report that Ashburn -- a fierce opponent of gay rights -- was driving drunk after leaving a gay nightclub; when the officer stopped the state-issued vehicle, there was an unidentified man in the passenger seat of the car.

I'll say it again: it's cool to be gay, it's even to cool to keep your sexuality private. But it's really not cool to be closeted and use your political power to hurt and take away the rights of people just like you.

In honor of Senator Ashburn, I'd like to roll out a little Queen (pun intended!). Plus I'm sure that the Senator would be really into Freddie Mercury's booty shorts in this video. This one's for you, Roy:

Birthday.Dip.Friends.Pretzels.

2010-03-03T18:32:00.005-05:00

You know why I love my friends? Because they never cease to amaze and amuse with their fantastic party ideas.

Like my friend Steve. Every year he has a "Pretzel Party" for his birthday, where he buys 100 of Philadelphia's finest soft pretzels and invites his friends to bring their own innovative pretzel dips.

Some stand-outs from this pic: (starting at the bottom right hand corner and moving counter-clockwise around) Wendy's Frosty (shockingly delicious with a soft pretzel!), beer (more on that one later), cheesesteak "whiz wit" dip, peanut butter fluff with marshmallows, spinach artichoke dip, herbed goat cheese and of course, my contribution, sweet potato dip.

A close-up of my contribution. I won the Most Original category-- woot! I'm pretty pleased with my dip-- and hey, kids, now YOU can make it at home! I posted the recipe over on my other blog, The Cozy Herbivore.

Naturally this party was about more than just carb-loading. Steve also organized a raffle and when he drew a name, he challenged his friends to "Experience Prizes". My name was drawn for the pretzel eating contest. (So, okay, I guess my "Experience Prize" WAS about carb-loading...) Steve and I face off to see who could eat a soft pretzel the fastest:

This was my first experience with competitive eating. We got to chose our own dip, and Steve made the bold choice of Rachel's Cinnabon Frosting, while I chose just plain beer, thinking it would help the pretzel slide down a little easier. Steve defeated me quite easily, but now that I'm aware of this competition, I might start practicing now for next year.

Ugh. Or maybe not. That pretzel sat like a stone in my stomach for the rest of the night, but hey, I had a lot of fun getting it there.

My camera was on some sort of weird setting all night, which just sort of illustrated how perfectly drunk and fuzzy we got. At some point in the evening we decided that we were going to pretend that we were being hounded by the paparazzi, a la Lady Gaga.

That's Steve's awesome girlfriend Sara Nye, showing off her best paparazzi blocker, while my apprentice (and awesome lady herself!) Lauren Tracy looks at her skeptically.

Me and Amanda McKenna show off our own "Please don't take my picture, you BEASTS!" pose:

There was even some very romantic slow dancing! (Face licking optional):
I left the party like a good girl around 1am, but Deb stumbled home at 6am!!!!!

Just goes to show, with friends like these, it's easy to lose track of time in the middle of the fun and the pretzels.

Year of the Tiger

2010-02-24T18:03:00.003-05:00

I know I'm a little behind the ball with this post, but things in my life are very hectic (and very stressful, I might add) lately, so you'll have to forgive the delay.

BUT! A week or so ago, I celebrated my very first Chinese New Year's, in Philadelphia's own Chinatown.

We rang in the Year of the Tiger with our most ferocious tiger faces (l-r: AJ, Mel, me, Arizona the tiger):

There were so many dragons out and about!

Deb's tiger face: Meow!

I cuddle up with my favorite Arizona Tiger, just back from her trip to Hong Kong:

Firecrackers were lit, and as the gentleman in the picture so nicely demonstrates, they were LOUD!

Soon the whole street was filled with dragons and people beating drums and cymbals, chasing away the evil spirits. A dragon even bit Melanie, which I think is going to bring her good luck this year.

So many dragons! The dragon dancing was beautiful, and catching sight of the little baby dragons was so darn cute.

Dragons dancing around a firecracker strand:
Arizona gave us all the traditional red envelopes that held a piece of Chinese money. I'm keeping mine close, hoping for a fresh start in the Year of the Tiger.

Game Night

2010-02-18T16:42:00.004-05:00

Lately I feel like I'm trapped in Narnia. You know, in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, where the Witch curses Narnia so that it's always winter, but never Christmas? Yeah, like that.

Last night I watched a forecast for the week ahead, and it was exactly the same for the whole week: cold and windy, punctuated here and there with a few snow showers. And then back to being cold and windy again. In fact, the forecaster (Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz-- amiright, Philly?!) said that the temperature hadn't risen above 40 degrees the WHOLE MONTH of February.

Sigh. For a girl who hates cold and winter, this hasn't been a fun couple of months, I tell you that right now.

To help take the sting out of winter, Deb and I recently got together with Mel and AJ and had a game night. This kind of thing reminds me of cold and snowy winters growing up in Central New York, and it's pretty perfect in this awful Philadelphia winter as well.

We got really into our game of Golf:

Game night is always better with a little libation:

Deb and AJ plot their next move:

Melanie took some time out to give Hyde some love:

Hyde decided to try his paw at a round of cards:
It was pretty much the perfect antidote to my winter blues. I can't wait to do it again soon!

So it would seem....

2010-02-07T13:59:00.004-05:00

...that we have a bit of a rodent problem up here in Studio 3:

A rodent that finds stage management paperwork quite delicious:

I know I should call maintenance, but they will just put out those awful glue traps and I can't stomach that. So instead Lauren and I are cleaning and wiping everything down with Clorox wipes.

Besides, it's cold and snowy outside. I can't say that I blame the little mice at all for prefering the warmth of our office.

War Stories

2010-02-04T18:04:00.005-05:00

(l-r Edward Furs, Ephraim Lopez, Nick Anselmo)

Well, the wheel in the sky keeps on turning... and we're already in rehearsals for our next show, Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue. It's a really moving play about three generations of a Puerto Rican family going to three different wars. Rehearsals have just started, but I can already tell it's going to be a great show. Plus the cast is a totally fun group-- it's so awesome to have four Puerto Rican actors plus a Puerto Rican director up in Studio 3! Makes me think of my own extended Puerto Rican family. Not to mention, after two all-male casts in a row we finally get an actress up here. Our director is Jose Aviles, the Walnut's Theatre School Coordinator. I've been seeing Jose around the building these past four years and it's really great to actually work one-on-one with him.

So don't miss this one-- it's going to be really great. We run February 23rd (my mom's birthday!) through March 14th.

On a totally unrelated note, my friend Alison has started a new blog. Read it here-- it's hilarious, just like Alison.

The awesome photo at the top of this post was taken by Tom Miller, our Communications Manager.

Stand OUT

2010-02-03T19:15:00.003-05:00

I watched the documentary Outrage last night, and found it extremely thought-provoking.

Written and directed by Kirby Dick, this movie explores that uniquely Washingtonian phenomenon of gay politicians (especially gay Republican politicians!) to stay in the closet and work very hard to oppose all aspects of gay rights.

This film is quite controversial in that it actually does out several closeted politicians. Now initially that concept gave me pause-- I firmly believe that it's very wrong to out people who aren't ready to disclose their sexuality. It's a very hard thing to be gay in American sometimes, especially in conservative atmospheres. We all have our own experiences and demons to face, and coming out of the closet is an extremely personal thing.

BUT. The more I watched the movie, the angrier I got at these closeted politicians. It's one thing to prefer your personal life be kept private, but it's quite another to be a gay American and work every day to deny other gay Americans basic rights. It's not a matter of privacy any more when you are letting hypocrisy and fear affect the lives of millions of people just like you.

And what really got my blood boiling was the section of the movie that discussed early legislation regarding HIV and AIDS. In the 1980's, when HIV was just being discovered, several closeted politicians worked very hard to deny all funding for AIDS research, to sweep all patients under the rug, to deny people basic human rights. They literally have blood on their hands. For shame.

My only criticism of the film was the talking heads featured were awfully male and awfully white. It would have been great to hear from some more gay women/people of color.

But I highly recommend you checking it out! Very thought-provoking indeed.

Seriously....

2010-02-02T19:12:00.003-05:00

All of you spammers need to fuck right off. I'm not interested in investment portfolios or cheap Viagra. So stop leaving comments, 'cause they just get deleted.

Also, you suck.

That is all....

Birthday Week Day Off

2010-01-26T17:34:00.007-05:00

For those of you who know me well, you'll recall that I like to celebrate my birthday in a lengthy fashion. Why chose just one day when you can celebrate for a week (or more)? So although my birthday isn't until Wednesday, I declared my day off yesterday to be the unofficial start to my Birthday Week.

Yesterday was pretty bizarre, weather-wise: it was almost 60 degrees with bouts of pouring, sideways, driving rain. Deb and I braved the elements to walk to a wonderful breakfast at the just-opened Green Eggs Cafe with our good friends Steve and Sara:

We were all slightly damp, but the food more than took our minds off of our soggy clothes. It was amazing. Being the food-porn amateur that I am, I had to take pictures. (Shameless plug: check out my own food porn at my recipe blog, The Cozy Herbivore-- I add tons of new and delicious vegetarian recipes all the time!)

I had the Grilled Cheese and Tomato-Gorgonzola Soup:

Both Steve and Sara chose different variations of their French Toast:

And Deb had the Kitchen Sink breakfast, which consisted of, well.... everything, drowned in sausage gravy and served in a cast iron skillet:
I can't recommend that place enough! A truly delicious and perfect birthday week brunch.

After breakfast, Deb and I found ourselves wandering down 4th Street and made a stop in to one of our favorite places there, Philadelphia Eddie's Tattoo (Brace yourself, mom):

We had been thinking about a new tattoo for both of us for some time. Now I know, I know-- the first rule of couples tattoos is don't get one, for your relationship is sure to be doomed. But hey, we aren't really ones to follow rules and besides, even in the unlikely event we chose to go our separate ways, this will be something we will always remember and love.

We went back to the artist Bird, who did Deb's first tattoo and my fourth. He's a cool cat and a totally amazing artist.

Deb went under the needles first:

And then it was my turn. We got them on opposite arms, as I already had one on my left arm and Deb already had one on her right.

We completed our awesome day off with drinks and fun at Mel and AJ's, where we just had to show off our new ink:
It may be hard to see from a computer screen, but we got outlines of our beloved pup Hyde.

So my birthday week kicked off with a bang, and although I'm nursing a sore arm, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the festivities!

Insomniac's Theater

2010-01-23T14:13:00.010-05:00

Last night.... err, this morning I had the opportunity to see an amazing piece of theater. The ever-wonderful Brat Productions staged an incredible production of Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Soprano.

One of the best examples of theater of the absurd, this play is set in a suburb of London and involves two couples talking in non-sequitars about their tedious lives. Their evening is interrupted by the appearance of a saucy maid and a slightly crazed Fire Chief. Ionesco intended for the 55 minute show to be performed twice, with the two sets of couples switching roles at the end of the first performance. Brat took his concept to the extreme-- the cast of their Bald Soprano performed (and is, as I type, still performing) the show back-to-back for twenty-four hours. No breaks, no replacement cast, no relief-- just an endless loop of absurd theater at it's best. Read their blurb on it here. The performances started at 8pm yesterday and will conclude at 8pm today.

My bestie Melanie was the stage manager of this awesome theatrical event, so of course we had to go and support her. Plus we heard there was going to be free beer. We opted for the 2am-4am time slot, and had so much fun that we actually stayed until 5am this morning to see the show for a third time.

This play is absurd to begin with, but to liven things up for the actors and the audience in this marathon, director (and all-around awesome gal) Madi Distefano orchestrated some pranks to keep the actors on their toes. Instead of a doorbell sound cue, Melanie had a variety of obnoxious buzzers and whistles. Madi went around and whispered to the audience a phrase to shout at the actors during the 3am performance, which the actors were both startled and amused by. The Fire Chief is an unpredictable character in the play already, but Madi upped the insanity by instructing him to come onstage at different points in the 24 hour period with a stuffed dog, with a burlesque dancer, with bananas, and oh, yeah, dressed like this at 4am:

The other actors rolled with the punches, pounding his drum for emphasis and generally keeping (mostly) straight faces about the whole thing.

Hey, don't get mad at me for taking pictures. Everyone else was doing it. I have never been a part of a theatrical experience like this. The audience was rooting for the actors in an immediate, visceral way. We stayed to watch them do the show the same way for hours, delighting in small variations, marvelling at the sheer endurance and skill of the performers.

Oh, and did I mention we got to wear our pajamas to the theater?

Yes, this is us at 4am, eating donuts and drinking coffee AND beer. (l-r Deb, Melanie, AJ, Lauren). Melanie got to take a break from 4am-10am, lucky girl. The actors weren't so lucky.
So a huge thank you to Madi, Melanie and Brat for a truly magical theatrical experience.

Look For Me

2010-01-21T16:30:00.001-05:00

You never let me down, Neko.

Let's Never Do This Again

2010-01-19T15:49:00.002-05:00

Well, folks, as most of you know, it's been a rough couple of weeks. But things have calmed down quite substantially, so I am keeping a bravely optimistic face and saying that it's all somewhat behind us now.

On New Year's Day I got a call from an old friend. It was one of those phone calls where you can't understand a word the other person is saying-- only that they're really, really upset. Once I determined that no one had died, I let her talk and cry for a while before I figured out that she was telling me things were going very badly in her marriage. She needed to get away. So she did, to Philadelphia, the week after New Year's. We cleaned out the spare room, borrowed an air mattress and stocked up on ice cream and tissues. It was a good week, relatively speaking-- I hope that my old friend felt loved and supported and taken care of. There was a lot of girl talk and girly movies and eating fattening food. I had hoped that the time and distance would help her marriage, but alas. I got word a few days ago that it was pretty much over, he was moving out and that things continue to be terrible and hard for her.

The day after my old friend left, I was struck with a terrible stomach virus. It was the first time in four years that I called in sick to work. Too bad it was no fun-- convalescing as close to a bathroom as possible does not a relaxing day make.

But my physical woes were small potatoes compared to Deb's-- the very same Sunday I was sick, she returned from the dog park with hives spreading all over her body. She took a Benadryl and went to work, but still felt awful and was actually having trouble breathing. She went to the emergency room Sunday afternoon, and they put her on a nebulizer and pumped her full of more Benadryl, sending her home that evening. Monday morning she woke up, rolled over in bed and the hives returned. She spent all of Monday in the ER, and they released her late that night. A few hours later she was having so much trouble breathing that I had to call 911. This time the hospital kept her overnight, aggressively treating her asthma, but pretty much ignoring the obvious allergy attack.

She was released Tuesday evening. We had planned an evening dinner at Horizon's Restaurant for my birthday with a few friends, and despite my hesitancy, she insisted that we go and that she meet us there. Off I went, with Mel & AJ, Lindsay & Carrie and Amanda. Deb was late, and lots of time passed without an update from her. I got worried. I called her, and our friend Julia answered. Apparently she and Rachel, another friend of ours, had been walking down the street when they just happened to come across Deb. She was sitting down and was not able to talk. She was having trouble breathing again. They managed to get her home, but Deb's breathing did not get better. I rushed home just in time to jump into the ambulance with her.

(Side note: my friends are utterly amazing. From Amanda McKenna jumping up, getting our untouched food wrapped and rushing home with me, to Melanie & AJ taking Hyde to their house for three days, to one of my friends at the restaurant paying for my meal and refusing to accept reimbursement or to even tell me who it was, to Rachel & Julia's quick thinking and level heads, I just can't believe how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life)

This time the ambulance took Deb to a different hospital, which actually made all of the difference in the world. They kept her at the hospital from Tuesday-Friday and worked aggressively to find out what was wrong. Now we still haven't really figured that part out yet, but the good news is that they were able to get rid of the hives and Deb has had no other breathing issues since. (Fingers crossed!) So she has an appointment with an allergist soon to try to really pinpoint the issue, but right now she is controlled, healthy and heavily medicated.

And then two days ago we got word that my wonderful sister-in-law Maria's godmother died in a terrible and senseless accident. I met this woman at Maria's shower, and I remember her as a joyful, giving woman with the biggest heart. She leaves behind a young family and a circle of people who's world is a little dimmer without the light of her smile. My heart goes out to my Puerto Rican family in this terrible time. Te quiero.

So needless to say this has been a very long, very emotionally draining week. But the fact that I have a chance to breath a little, to post this blog, and to come down a little from Red Alert is a good thing. Now I just need to get some sleep....

New Decade's New Year

2010-01-02T09:55:00.003-05:00

Happy 2010! I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve.

Deb and I eschewed the traditional Walnut Street Theatre party this year to hang with our good friends Dan Kazemi, Jenn Rose and Steve Pacek. We had a blast!

Dan and Amanda posing as arty-farty party people:

Even Steve's dog Amos got in on the festivities!

This is how Amanda and I drink whiskey:

New Year's with my baby:

Jennie Eisenhower, big glasses and a goofy grin:

Jenn Rose, ladies and gentlemen:

It was really nice to have drinks with our dear friends, to celebrate this new year and this new decade and to hope for a bright and beautiful future.

Twenty-Aught

2009-12-31T17:26:00.006-05:00

It’s quite the cliché to look back on your year on this day—but this New Year’s Eve is even bigger than that, as our decade is about to come to a close.

In world news, this decade has been tumultuous and ugly and weird and I’m glad to see it go. I was thinking about the decade during my walk to work this morning and suddenly it hit me—this was the decade of my twenties. Having been born in 1979, my age directly correlates with the decades. The 90’s were my teen years, and the aughts (what an awkward term!) were my twenties. I’ve never really thought about it like that before.

When I turned thirty last January, a lot of people asked me if I was freaking out about leaving my twenties behind. I wasn’t. My twenties were fun and hectic and tumultuous and crazy and wild. I learned a lot about the world and even more about myself. I had lots of triumphs, made a ton of mistakes, met some wonderful people, lost family members, gained family members, started a career and lived in many different apartments in many different cities. All of my experiences have forged the person I am today. But in my thirties I look forward to the whirlwind settling down a little: I plan to get married, start a family… well, maybe not settling down so much. A different kind of crazy, more like.

Bored in rehearsal today, I started making a list of the important events of my Aughts, in a vaguely chronological order. It’s strange to see how much I’ve packed into ten short years. And I don’t even recognize the twenty-year-old I was at the beginning of the decade—she seems like an entirely different person. And so very young!

So here’s what happened to me this decade, starting from that headstrong and confused twenty-year-old Sara in 2000, trying to figure out her decade.

LEAVING PITTSBURGH
I quit college at SUNY Fredonia after one year, frustrated and love-sick. I was in college for acting, but I hated it. I was also dating Kevin, who was living in Pittsburgh at the time. I hated college and I hated being away from my boyfriend, so I decided to quit, move to Pittsburgh and find myself.

And I did. In Pittsburgh I found a new career: stage management. I also discovered that I could do it on my own in a big city, and that Kevin and I weren’t meant to be. Mostly because I was gay, but there were many other factors as well. Needless to say, my parents were overjoyed when I left both him and Pittsburgh behind, but I was already moving on…

COLLEGE (THE SECOND TIME)
Getting accepted to SUNY Purchase was a dream come true for me. It is notoriously difficult to get into their Design/Technology program and even more difficult to actually graduate from it. But I did it. I survived shitty dorm living, intense class work, strikes on Sundays, Dan Hanessian, being a freshman, a certain grad student, D/T football, the dining hall food fights, the end of the year party, the operas, crazy directors, loose-cannon acting students, Set Design I, and September 11th twenty minutes outside of New York City. It was a whirlwind, and after it all had passed I came away with a degree in stage management and a wonderfully dysfunctional theater family who I know will have my back always, no matter what.

SHADOWLAND THEATRE
Every summer for five summers beginning my sophomore year at Purchase I worked at Shadowland Theatre in Ellenville, NY. Those were some of the best summers of my life. I learned so much about stage managing from the down-and-dirty work of summer stock, and I came away with plenty of crazy stories and adventures. The woman who fell down the audience stairs. The What the Butler Saw opening night. Hiking with the girls. The cast of Steel Magnolias. Sam.The audience member who pooped in her seat during a show. Carrot cake cupcakes. Drinking, dancing and singing at BG’s. Sueann introducing me to bourbon. Eating pizza in the lobby. Dave & Lisa’s wedding. Going out to dinner with Bill. The Elting House kitchen-bedroom. The 4th of July parades. BBQ’s at the Eckert’s. Getting to know and be friends with Rachel, watching her grow up from a shy fourteen-year-old volunteer to one of the finest backstage crew people I have ever worked with to a professional lighting designer. Daytrips to New Paltz and Woodstock. Painting the floor for A Couple of Blaguards. Our first scary show, The Woman in Black. Directing Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune—Bill and Sueann gave this first-time director a dream come true. Mostly I remember Bill, my mentor, my friend, the patriarch of my theater family.

PHILADELPHIA
I had no idea where I was going after I graduated from college. I literally got out my Regional Theater Directory and sent out a resume to every Equity theater in the United States. Only three called me back—one in California, one in Cincinnati, and one in Philadelphia. Seth Rozin from InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia graciously allowed me to interview over the phone, as I was stuck in tech at Shadowland. I remember exactly where I was when he called me back to offer me the job. Philadelphia it was. I love this city. From my first apartment in Chestnut Hill to my Christian Street apartment with Danielle and then later Alison to living with Deb on 2 Street (okay, that place wasn’t the best) to my current apartment, I have loved this city and the people in it. I’m so grateful to Seth for bringing me here. This city and I work well together. I spent two seasons at InterAct, where I was lucky enough to meet the love of my life...

DEB
I met Deb through a sound designer I was working with at InterAct. We discovered we lived close to each other in Chestnut Hill, so we began to carpool. Deb was her roommate, and it was pretty much love at first sight. Five years later, we're planning to get married and have kids. I couldn't imagine life without her.

COMING OUT
Meeting Deb and enjoying the very first stable and long-term relationship of my life was amazing, but of course it meant that I couldn't keep my sexuality hidden any longer. I spent most of my late teens and early twenties trying desperately to date men, hoping this pesky gay would go away if I could just meet the right guy. I never did meet the right guy, and although I did end up dating some very nice guys, it never worked out for some reason. And then I met Deb and it all clicked. Still, telling my parents wasn't easy. And to be honest, there are times when me being gay is still tough for my family. But I have never doubted their love and support for a second, so I am confident that we will continue to foster growth and understanding in the decade to come.

Coming out to my friends, however, was pretty much a non-event. You gotta love theater people for that level of acceptance.

WALNUT STREET THEATRE
Getting the job at the Walnut Street Theatre was huge for me. It was a huge step up career-wise, and I was so happy to have stable stage management work in a very supportive atmosphere. I just began my fourth season here at the Walnut-- who knows what the decade ahead holds for me?

ADDITIONS/SUBTRACTIONS
This decade saw many additions to my family. I gained a sister (yay, Maria!), three second cousins (Maggie, Rachel & Harper) and a life-partner, not to mention a fat kitty named Betty and a goofy greyhound named Hyde.

I lost my Grandpa Tompkins. He was the best grandpa a girl could hope for-- I'll never forget his sly humor, his awesome fire-making skills and his homey meals. He was "kickin" to the last second, and his love for his grandchildren knew no bounds. I think of him every day, as I inherited his awesomely 60's kitchen table and a bunch of his kitchen stuff. Every time I sit at that table or use his utensils I feel like a little bit of him is with me. I'll never forget you, grandpa!

MISCELLANEOUS
The odds and ends from this decade: my mom's store burning down (the new store is awesome-- yay!), turning thirty, my best friend Weas' wedding, getting four tattoos and a nose piercing, becoming a vegetarian, developing a love for cooking and gardening, that New Year's in Vegas, teaching myself how to knit and cross stitch, learning to love my body at any size, that awesome summer that I spent with Weas, Amanda and Matt at the dinner theater, learning to accept and embrace differences in others, Joseph graduating from high school, Jonathan moving to Puerto Rico, developing an incredibly close set of friends here in Philly (I'm looking at you-- Mel, AJ, Amanda, Alison, Arizona, Lindsay, Carrie, Dalice, Beth), taking a burlesque dance class, stage managing for the Philly Fringe Festival and mostly.....

Learning slowly, painfully how to love myself.

So goodbye, aughts. Goodbye, twenties. Hello new decade, full of promise and possibility. I can't wait to see what you hold.

Princes of Philly

2009-12-29T19:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our first rehearsal for our next Studio 3 production, a new play about politics, corruption, greed and the greased palms of our elected officials called The Prince.

Today we trekked to City Hall in the freezing cold for our Publicity Shots:
That's Tom Miller, our Communications Manager, on the ground. Armen Pandola and Bill Van Horn are our very talented actors/playwrights.

The show runs from January 19th-February 7th-- don't miss this one!

Sara's Christmas Workshop

2009-12-21T22:48:00.003-05:00

...like Santa's, only slightly creepier:

And with a completely disinterested dog in the background!

More pics when my project is complete and in the hands of it's recipients.

Christmas in Philadelphia

2009-12-20T15:40:00.008-05:00

'Tis the season.... and this year, I'm really feeling it. Christmas can be tough for those of us in the theater, as our jobs revolve around providing entertainment to the masses and this time of the year the masses sure do want their entertainment. Lots of it. Added matinees and evening shows and shows during snowstorms when the rest of the city is shut down are pretty much our lives.

But for some reason, I'm loving this season. Maybe it's the fact that I'm feeling all settled and content in our cozy apartment, or maybe I'm just over being cynical and exhausted around Christmas time. It's nice to embrace the true spirit of the season-- giving to others and being with those you love.

I really wanted a real Christmas tree this year, but they are so expensive, plus a pain in the ass to get into our apartment, especially without a car. Deb solved this problem by buying a tabletop tree and hauling it home on the handlebars of her bike. Isn't she the bestest?

No Christmas season would be complete without our friend Rob's swanky Christmas party. True to form, everyone was dressed to the nines, the drink fountain was bubbling and we all had a wonderful time:

I don't think anyone likes getting dressed up as much as Amanda and I:

Pretty tree, Rob!

And of course the big news around these parts is the SNOW. Lots and lots of snow got dumped on us yesterday-- in fact, we had more snow yesterday than we had all year last year!

Hyde loves the snow. This is his morning walk, before the real accumulation began:

It's the Walnut Street Theatre's policy to never cancel shows, so we all had to trek to the theater for two shows yesterday. I tried to sweeten the deal by bringing everyone some schmancy hot cocoa. (l-r: Lauren, me, Katie)

On our dinner break, Lauren and I decided to have some fun with the weather. We walked from 9th & Walnut to Washington Square Park, making frequent snow angels. By the time we walked back, our first angels were almost completely gone. Crazy snowy!

Lauren demonstrates her technique:

This is me, making the point that the hardest part of a good snow angel is the dismount:

Twin angels!

Back at the theater, our loopy mood continued. I caught Lauren making shadow puppets during my light check:

After last night's show, I tromped through the snow to our good friends Lindsay & Carrie's house for an ornament decoration party! Carrie baked up some cute shapes and we painted them:

Craft time with Melanie and Dalice!

Today is Carrie's birthday, so naturally we had a cake from Isgro's.

Hyde found his buddy Amanda pretty quickly:

I did some last minute shopping for Mom at Macy's this morning, and stopped to enjoy the Christmas light show:
So this year finds me at peace with this crazy time, trying to find beauty and balance in this hyper season.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Teching Tuna

2009-12-05T13:40:00.004-05:00

So I'm a little behind the ball on this one, but I got some great pictures during our tech for Red, White and Tuna. We run from now through January 3rd-- I hope you'll come and see it!

The Starlight Motel, where all of your dreams can come true:

A view of Vera Carp from the stage manager's table:

The call book:

Shon Causer, our esteemed lighting designer, hard at work as always:

Helen and Inita: (Bill Van Horn & John Zak)

Our dresser Katie Rauch watches Studio 3 apprentice Lauren Tracy pat Pearl Burras's (Bill Van Horn) stomach:

Studmuffin Arles Struvie (John Zak) at the Starlight Motel:

The two lovebirds, Bertha Bumiller (Bill Van Horn) and Arles Struvie (John Zak):

Director Madi Distefano has to get this picture for posterity:

Lots of good country sound cues programmed into QLab:

Our TD Andrew Thompson chats with our Set Designer Adam Riggar:

Lauren completes her run-sheets like a good ASM:

It was a crazy hectic tech, as all Tuna tech are, getting the lights, sound, costume and set changes coordinated. But we're open now, and the show is running like a (relatively) well-oiled machine.

Come on down to Studio 3 and spend your holidays with the boys (and girls!) from Tuna, TX!

Theater Family Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T09:21:00.006-05:00

Our schedule was completely insane this year, and without the trusty Subaru, we decided that travelling to Homer for Thanksgiving just wasn't feasible. It was a real bummer to be away from the family for the first time on Thanksgiving, but luckily enough we were invited to Andrew and Keila's for a Theater Family Thanksgiving.

Dax and Deb enjoyed chillin' on the same chair together before dinner:

Katie and Alison, also orphaned this Thanksgiving, await the feast:

This is what a vegetarian's Thanksgiving plate looks like! Clockwise from the top: yams, roasted corn salad, pumpkin lasagna, my green bean casserole, pineapple bread pudding. Who needs turkey?

Well, apparently Deb does. This is a carnivore's Thanksgiving plate:

Susan entertained us at the dinner table:

Happy Thanksgiving! Around the table from the left: Keila, Rajiv, random German guy (and the only non-theater person among us!), Susan, Katie, Alison, Shon, Deb, Carolyn

Dax is super excited about dinner....

Dessert time! There were so many options, so little stomach space... but we managed to pack it all in somehow! Naturally there was pie, but Andrew also made pumpkin ice cream and cranberry sorbet too!

Susan & Keila bond over dessert:

Dax got sucked in again by the Wiggles after dinner:

Post-dinner glazed eyes from Deb & Alison:

Rajiv is ready for his nap. (Don't you love him & Deb's matching sweaters?)

Even Dax started to think about bedtime!
It was so wonderful to be surrounded by such lovely people and such delicious food. A huge thank-you to Andrew & Keila for being such amazing hosts!

This was truly a family Thanksgiving: even though none of us were blood related, we are the family that theater created and it was great to celebrate this holiday together.

Red, White & FABULOUS!

2009-11-20T16:32:00.004-05:00

Just a little teaser for all of you Tuna fans-- the publicity photos* for our upcoming production of Red, White and Tuna:

(l-r) Bill Van Horn as Inita and John Zak as Helen. Of course they each play like 1,000 other characters too, but you'll have to come and see the show to see those costumes-- we don't want to ruin any surprises!

You won't want to miss this one-- we're in tech now, and it just keeps getting funnier! We run from November 24th-January 3rd, so be sure to get those tickets now before we sell out!

*photos taken by Tom Miller

Autumn Around a Fire

2009-11-17T21:44:00.007-05:00

Mel and AJ's firepit is quickly becoming the best place this winter to spontaneously get together for beers and great conversation.

We've found that we can call people without any warning and they will show up rather quickly.

Mel is a wonderful hostess!

Pets are always welcome.

And silliness is definitely encouraged.

Lola the pup moves at light-speed the whole night, but that's just part of her charm.

Deb and Lindsay tried to moon us through the window at one point, but they ended up just falling over.

Our backs get cold, but our hands stay warm.

White. Trash. Five.

2009-11-10T21:52:00.008-05:00

Hyde is all geared up for the party, dressed in his turtle costume, waiting for guests to arrive:

Octomom (Michele Traub) was first on the scene, scattering babies everywhere she went:

Hyde loves babies. Really.

And the winning costumes of the evening, Ms. Hotdog and Mr. Beer (Mel & AJ):

Deb and I went as Ren Faire trash. I'm not ashamed to say that every piece of my costume (except for the red vest) came from my own closet:

We had awesome representation from this year's Walnut Street Theatre apprentices! l-r: Hooters Girl Stephanie, Cougar Moriah, White Trash Barbie Sarah:

The hotdog gets DOWN, baby!

Sup, dawg?

Production management apprentice Courtney and my apprentice Lauren get trashy:

This is our neighbor Dana, who also has a greyhound. She got real trashy. We were proud to make another convert:

Katie looks smokin' as Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors:

Mainstage stage management apprentice Cherie is a beauty queen:

Sports rivalries are so trashy! Kelley Faulkner and Fran Prisco show off their respective city prides. (Side note: GO PHILS!)

Sara Nye and her good buddy came as drunken Phillies fans. They threatened to pull down traffic lights all night long. They also applied lots of lipgloss, all over their faces.

What could be trashier than teabaggers? Lindsay & Carrie don't take kindly to Obama's socialist ideas....

Deb and the apprenti!

Ashley and Melissa made a fine Bleeker & Juno:

Dalice & Amanda came as facebook pages:

Jon & Kate showed up, with the 8 kids on a rope. Jon found a drunk Yankees fan to hang out with instead of his kids, though:

At some point in the evening we decided to go outside and shotgun beers:

It's time for Amanda to update her status:

Yay for White Trash!

...and now is the time when Deb gets groups of people to take off their pants and brandish weapons....

Things got so crazy people started switching costumes!

Besties!

I know I'm really drunk when I start taking pictures in the bathroom:

I heart Carrie! And White Trash is our anniversary- 4 years ago we met our neighbors Lindsay & Carrie when we invited them to White Trash I!

At the end of the night, it's time to take off your pants and have a snuggle with a greyhound-sized turtle:

Another year, another White Trash success!

Back in Black

2009-10-30T16:18:00.002-05:00

It's official, folks: fall is here. And that means many things to us....

Like lots of leaf piles to sniff on walks!

And lately, the Phillies in the World Series! GO PHILS!!!

Let's not forget the most important part of my fall: going back to work. This week was my first week back. We begin rehearsals for Red, White and Tuna this Tuesday. It's going to be a laugh-riot!

But my first week was a prep week, so I decided to boldly go where no one has gone before (or at least for many, many years) and paint my office. I wanted to do the walls a nice light green, but I got word from Above (no, not god-- my boss) that I had to stick with whatever colors we had around the theatre. But hey, anything is better than this:

Yes, I leave my keys in the door like that. All the time. Yes, that is a bottle of vodka on the desk. It's for cleaning costumes, I swear.

My new apprentice Lauren is a good painter:

I wasn't wild about the yellow at all, especially with our horrible fluorescent lighting.

But with a few adjustments, some pictures on the walls and better lighting, I think it turned out pretty darn nice:

I felt good leaving the office today, all cleaned and freshly painted and organized. I feel really ready to start our rehearsals on Tuesday.

Now I'm off to clean the house in preparation for our other big fall event: WHITE TRASH V!!

Pictures to follow. Should be an incredibly raucous time.

Autumn Daze

2009-10-22T21:46:00.006-05:00

The leaves are turning, the rain is colder and the sun has that faded golden look. As my break winds down, summer gives it's last gasp and makes way for chilly, changeable autumn.

But there are some things to celebrate about this seasonal changing of the guards...

Like snuggling on the couch:

Going to Philadelphia's First Friday with friends:

A bumper crop of cool-weather spinach:

Friends with backyards and fire pits:

Holding on to those last moments of summer with a s'more:

And enjoying bare feet outside one last time:

anti/biotic

2009-10-21T21:53:00.006-05:00

I'm still around, I promise. Just going through a rough patch lately. And to top things off, I'm nasty-sick. Although I couldn't resist the above graphic, according to the doctor I don't, in fact, have swine flu. It's just a virus, which is ultimately maybe more frustrating as there is nothing to do but take antibiotics and hope they work out. In the mean time I feel like death warmed over.

Also I'd like to take a moment of silence to remember my trusty '98 Subaru Forester, which recently went to live in the Big Parking Lot in the Sky. RIP, my beloved Lesbaru-- you hauled me many miles, moved my stuff many times and were generally an all-around badass of a car. Deb and I have signed up for Philly Car Share and suddenly feel like true residents of this city. I'm even going to get a Pennsylvania license. What has this world come to?

But anyway, enough bitching from me. Let's talk about some positive things in my life right now, in no particular order:

1. I start work in less than a week. Can't. wait. I'm ready to be productive and proactive and engaged again. Also I'm looking forward to another round of Tuna goodness. Nothing like laughing your way through the first rehearsal process of the season.

2. I'm getting super-obsessed with writing recipes for my new website, The Cozy Herbivore. I'm totally into it. I want to write a vegetarian comfort food cookbook for reals. It's a new goal of mine.

3. Starting work will mean I will have the money to do all of the things I've been putting off all summer long: dye my hair, get new jeans, get a haircut, actually start a savings account....

4. After a cold and miserable week, I feel like we've finally had some Indian Summer weather. It's been just lovely!

So life has it's ups and it's downs, and I'm just riding this big wave. I'm going to get back into the blogging groove soon-- I just needed a little break to collect my thoughts. Much love to you all.

Catching UP

2009-10-06T16:59:00.003-05:00

I've been away from this blog for a little while-- things are changing, moving, grooving. Also I've been busy working on my newest blog, The Cozy Herbivore. Check it out-- it's a collection of comfort food vegetarian recipes I'm writing. I'm trying to eventually put together a cookbook, so I would love to hear your suggestions and feedback! Also I'm looking for a few guest chefs, so if you have a vegetarian recipe you'd like me to publish, send it to me!

Anyway, the weeks of my 4 month long summer vacation are winding down. I'm really quite happy about it. I know things are crazy during my season, and I don't want to waste any of this precious free time that I won't see once we begin, but frankly, I'm getting bored. I'm ready to get back into the saddle, ready to get to work, ready to feel like I'm contributing to society again.

I've been trying to squeeze in as much fun in the mean time, though. I made my yearly trek up to New York City to meet up with my favorite group of stage managers-- the girls I graduated from SUNY Purchase with.

Interesting side note: my friend Kris Carr pointed out that not only am I the only one from our graduating class of stage managers still stage managing-- I am, in fact, the only one from 3 years of graduating classes (the class before mine, my class and the class after mine) still stage managing. Wow. Just goes to show you that the theater market is over-saturated and under-paid.

Anyway, in true Purchase form, I had so much fun with my girls that the incredible hangover the next day was (almost) worth it. I'm getting too old to drink like I'm still in college, but that fact doesn't keep me from trying.

My former classmates and current buddies Kris Carr and Anita LaScala:

Me and Leah were quite drunk by the end of the night:
The subway ride back to Kris Carr's apartment was pretty grueling, but we weren't the worst drunks on the train, so I didn't feel quite so bad. We had a hangover-curing brunch in the morning, and then I was back on the bus to Philadelphia. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Last night was the 15th annual Barrymore Awards, which celebrate excellence in Philadelphia Theater. The Walnut Street Theatre was nominated for several awards, including 2 "Best Actress in a Musical" nods for our production of Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits! Both Jennie and Ellie were nominated, and Jennie ended up taking home the prize. (Although I do wish that they BOTH could have won-- they were both just incredible and I can't believe they had to choose between the two! Also I wish our two boys, Sonny and Marcus, had been nominated as well. Anyway...) Jennie's award was the only silver coin statue the Walnut took home last night, which was a bit disappointing overall, but I'm super proud of Studio 3 for taking home that honor!

After the ceremony, we partied at the Ben. I didn't think to take any pictures with my phone, so thanks to Stephanie Michael for this picture:
(l-r: costume shop manager/costume designer Colleen Grady, Deb, me, Stephanie Michaels)

A huge congrats to everyone who won, especially to my good buddies at 11th Hour Theatre Company who took home 3 statues for their amazing production of Avenue X. Press coverage (and more great photos of everyone dressed up and looking purdy here.)

This weekend I'm heading up to Homer to visit my folks. My brother and his wife will also be visiting, so the whole family will be together! It's going to be so nice to see everyone, and to enjoy the beauty of CNY in the fall.

And that's all the news that fit to print! I will try to update more regularly now that my other site is up and running.

The Lady Doth Protest

2009-09-25T15:59:00.006-05:00

In an 11th hour addition to the Pennsylvannia state budget, elected officials in Harrisburg decided to extend the state sales tax to cultural performances and venues. This means a 6% sales tax on every ticket sold for theater, museums, ballet, the zoo... but they chose not to tax smokeless tobacco, movie tickets, or sporting events. Naturally this has our whole community up in arms- our funding has already been severely cut, and now we are being taxed on top of that. Not to mention that most of the organizations being taxed are NOT FOR PROFIT, which of course cannot be said about movie tickets, tobacco or sporting events.

Great article about the whole debacle here, including a quote from my boss, Bernard Havard, at the very end of the article threatening to go to jail over this measure!

A call to action was sent out. We will have a protest! So today at twelve noon hundreds of arts & culture professionals and students assembled at the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets, carrying signs and chanting "Save our arts!" and "This tax is wack!" and "Don't tax behind our back!"

We even had a few senators show up! (l-r: State Senator Daylin Leach, State Senator Larry Farnese, State Senator Mike Stack)

People had some pretty great signs:

I met up with Julia and Rachel, and we tried to look really tough about the whole thing:

My favorite sign of the afternoon:

The protest marched south on Broad Street to the Arts Bank, and then back north, ending in City Hall. People frequently crossed the street to wave signs on the islands of Broad Street:

It was a wonderful, peaceful and very powerful performance! The police did show up, but merely directed traffic around us. Motorists honked in solidarity:
I knew it was time to leave when, in the middle of City Hall, a young woman screamed out "Art is my LIFE! We should put on a performance right here! SOMEONE GIVE ME A BEAT!"

Ah, kids. I left them to perform their protest piece, happy that there were young people so inspired to fight for my art, my livelihood, my life.

Other favorite quotes heard from the young gays during the march:

"This is just like that scene from Hairspray!"
"I hope we get arrested. That would be fun. Plus handcuffs are HOT!"

A huge thank-you to everyone who showed their support today!

UPDATE: Press coverage of today's protest here.

Last of the Fringe

2009-09-23T18:50:00.004-05:00

I said good-bye to the 2009 Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe festival last week with sadness. I had a wonderful time working on my own show, and although I was quite poor this year and didn't get to see all of the shows I wanted, I still managed to pack my Fringe season with good shows and good fun at the Festival Bar.

(Side note: prices are getting absolutely ridiculous! This is supposed to be a theater festival-- how are artists supposed to see any shows at all if they are priced at $25-$30?!)

Anyway, I digress. Tuesday night was the A.W.A.R.D. Show!

The show pitted 12 Philadelphia dance companies against each other, competing for a $10,000 prize for the best 10 minute presentation of their work. The audience chose their favorites! I went to support my good buddy Jenn Rose and her amazing contemporary tap company, Loose Screws. The concept of a dance popularity contest is a little odd to me, but it was great to see all different types of dance and try to discern what made the choreographer's work unique and challenging. Plus there was free cheese afterwards! Jenn won the preliminary round, and went on to compete in the finals, ultimately losing the big prize to Nicole Canuso. A huge congratulations to Nicole (who's work I didn't see, but I hear she's fabulous) and to Jenn, who presented an absolutely beautiful piece.

Next Melanie and I pedaled our way up the hills of University City to see small metal objects. This show was an Australian import with a fascinating concept. The audience sat on risers facing a busy street. We all got headphones. The actors wore microphones, and at first you couldn't tell who was merely a passing pedestrian and who was a character in this piece. It was amazing to observe the reactions of people on the street not involved in the show-- I'm sure more than one of them wondered why a whole crowd was sitting together, wearing headphones and staring at them!

After the show, Melanie and I made it to Festival Bar for the very last night:

We were soon joined by all of our homies! (l-r: Melanie, Alison, me)

And they were passing out glow-sticks-- how 1996 is THAT?! (Arizona and Alison)

Friends are just the bestest... (Melanie and Amanda)

So happy to be here! (me and Melanie)
We were assured by the bartenders that the party would go all night long, but at about 2am the trailer bathrooms began to leak out of the bottom, letting loose a steady pour of shitty water all over the pavement. The bar was quickly shut down.

A fitting end, perhaps, to a crazybutwonderfulbutmessy festival. And as we hopped on our bikes and headed home in the crisp and cold night, I couldn't help but feel that despite what the calendar says, the end of the Festival was really the end of summer.

Bath Day

2009-09-22T22:07:00.003-05:00

Much to our furry family's chagrin, Deb and I got fed up with the fur-balls and the constant grooming and decided it was time for both Betty and Hyde to have a bath.

Betty we got in the sink... she used to be so passive about baths. Not any more. I still have stinging claw marks from this vicious beast:

Hyde had to go into the tub. Like, be forcibly lifted in. Not such an easy thing to do to an 80 pound, awkward, freaked-out greyhound. Once in, though, he submitted to his fate with a weary resignation only designed to make us feel really, really guilty.

I just can't believe you did this to me:

My dignity is totally destroyed:

And so was Deb's shirt (from Betty's nails):
Exhausted and thoroughly soaked, we sat back to enjoy our beers and our wet, miserably clean-smelling pets.

And that was Bath Day at the May-Holloway household! I have lots to post about the end of the Fringe Festival, but I'll have to get to that at a later date....

Festival!

2009-09-15T11:06:00.005-05:00

My third year working for keila cordova dances at the Fringe Festival was another wonderful experience. I love the company of dancers Keila works with, and I love the way her shows come together in a beautiful combination of dance, song and spoken word.

This year we did three pieces: Happy Inside (exploring life's simple pleasures), Meteorologica (exploring weather patterns and the meteorologist's relationships to them) and GOLD (exploring the image of the "gold digger", from 1930's MGM movies to modern day video girls). Full descriptions of each piece here.

Tuesday night is pizza night
Happy Inside: (Anna Sweeney and Kate Abernethy)

Turkey Tower
Meteorologica: (Kate Abernethy)

GOLDen girls: (l-r: Anna Sweeney, Kathy Kerner, Zoe, Kate Abernethy, Karmen Fails, Cristin Van Horn, Melissa Rodis)

Tip-toe through the tulips: (Cristin Van Horn, Kate Abernethy, Melissa Rodis, Karmen Fails)

I need a sponsor: (Zoe)

Ladies and gentlemen.... the GOLD diggers! (Karmen Fails, Kate Abernethy, Zoe, Anna Sweeney, Cristin Van Horn)

Plenty of money and you: (Karmen Fails, Anna Sweeney, Kate Abernethy)

It was a truly magical experience, and I'm already looking forward to next year! A huge thank-you to Keila, Andrew, Melissa and all of the sweet and beautiful dancers for making this another great year.

And of course I've been spending a lot of nights dancing and generally getting into trouble at Festival Bar with my partner-in-crime Amanda:

So although I've been too poor to see a lot of the shows this year, I'm still filling myself up with a very Fringe-y experience.

All dance photos were taken by Bill Hebert and the Festival Bar picture was taken by Kevin Monko.

In Rememberance

2009-09-12T10:21:00.003-05:00

I spent a lot of yesterday thinking about that fateful day 8 years ago, when our world stood still.

Some time has passed, and although I really appreciate Obama's legislation making September 11th a Day of Service (as opposed to a national holiday) I really do feel that the visceral memory is starting to slip from our consciousness.

I'm not trying to condemn anyone, but checking my friend's facebook statuses, I had a hard time finding any mention of the events of 8 years ago. This struck me as sad.

Now I consider myself very fortunate. I did not know any of the victims of this attack personally. I was not in the city that day. But I could have been, and I was only 20 minutes away.

I never want to forget any of the terrible details of that day. I never want to forget turning on the television before class that morning, which for some reason didn't have any sound, but just a picture of the first tower, smoking. And then I watched the second plane hit. And then our campus shut down. We were so close to the city. We watched on television as people started jumping out of the towers. And then we watched the towers fall. Our cell phones didn't work, because one of the major cell towers was located on top of the Twin Towers. We couldn't call our family or our friends, even from landlines, to let them know we were okay. We heard there were attacks on the Pentagon and somewhere in Pennsylvania, another plane crashed.

I remember going to the D/T office and watching Dan wheel a television into the hallway. The friend I was with started crying, and Dan gave her a big hug. I'd never seen him hug anyone before.

Classes were cancelled for a week. We couldn't leave campus. We sat in groups in front of CNN, watching in horror as rescue workers tried to douse the fires and find survivors. We cleaned out our cabinets, donating all of our canned goods and some of our tools. We listened to theories and conspiracies and often would hear wailing in the night, as classmates learned that a loved one had died. We watched fine ash from the towers, carried by the wind, settle on our campus. Some people even found papers from the Towers, caught in tree branches.

I wondered if television would ever show anything but news again, as every channel was news, 24 hours a day. I wondered if we would ever laugh again, ever feel safe again.

And of course we did. We began to pick ourselves up, go back to class and even laugh again.

My experience doesn't even touch the level of grief and fear that people closer to the attacks had. But for those people and for the people who's lives were taken in this senseless and cowardly attack, I want to remember.

So I hope this day continues to be a day of reflection and memory, of service and gratitude for the brave souls whose lives were taken so senseless eight years ago.

Health Care Reform Now

2009-09-10T12:26:00.003-05:00

President Obama's speech last night on the issue of health care reform was moving and inspiring. I hope both sides of the aisle take heed of his bi-partison proposals. The ridiculous posturing and shouting is getting nothing done. It's time to work together for reform. People are dying.

Philadelphia. Naked. Bike. Ride.

2009-09-09T11:07:00.007-05:00

This Sunday 800 brave souls participated in the first ever Philadelphia Naked Bike Ride. Other cities have beat us to the punch with this one, riding naked (or as naked as they felt comfortable) to promote awareness for bike safety in our city streets.

I was all geared up to participate myself, but on my way to rehearsal Sunday morning the chain on my bike broke and I couldn't find a suitable replacement. So sad! Instead I helped my good buddies Amanda and Arizona get into their liquid latex body paint, cheered them on, and partied with them afterwards.

They decided to do superhero-esque face masks-- here I (very carefully) paint Amanda's on:

Arizona went with turquoise and yellow:

And I painted my own face in solidarity:

Amanda is the Naked Bike Avenger!

Our friend Dalice participated as well, dressing up as a Never Nude. (l-r: Dalice, Arizona, me, Amanda)

On the ride! Amanda and Arizona look so happy! (Don't you just love Arizona's little panda bear nose??)

After the ride, Amanda and Arizona got re-clothed and we met up to celebrate:

The after-party took place at the Fringe Festival Bar, a place we've partied before! (It's a bar set up just for the Philly Fringe Festival, and it's super duper fun!) We danced until our feet hurt and enjoyed all of the art installations at the bar:

We knew it was time to call it a night when the latex started to peel off:

Although I'm super bummed that I didn't get to actually ride, I had an absolutely WONDERFUL time. Next year I am determined to ride-- with lots of latex, of course!

My thanks to Arizona for all of these pictures.

Check out the news coverage (plus a slide show!) of the Philly Naked Bike Ride here.

Hand of Fate

2009-09-03T13:13:00.002-05:00

I attended my first Fringe show Tuesday night-- New Paradise Laboratories' production of fatebook.

It was a final dress rehearsal, which I adore. I love seeing a slightly raw product, the actor's nerves informing the story, the overall new-ness of a piece that gives that jittery, alive feeling to a performance. And I must say, this was one of the most polished final dress rehearsals I've seen in a very long time. Plus, you know, it was free.

fatebook is an interactive piece that takes place in real time and in cyberspace, and the audience is encouraged to explore each character's journey as they spend a night dealing with many different things before they all come together for a party.

It was really great. I had a blast immersing myself in this world, and I don't want to say too much more about it except-- go see it! I went with Melanie and Amanda, and although we stuck together at first, we soon split up and experienced three very different shows. A great piece of theater!

Happy September!

2009-09-01T13:09:00.003-05:00

As much as I complain about winter, fall has a certain enchantment. We've had a taste of those beautiful, crisp, clear days this week-- gorgeous and sunny, but with that certain chill in the air that means fall is just around the corner.

And my favorite thing about September so far? Ben & Jerry's ice cream has renamed their delicious Chubby Hubby flavor to Hubby Hubby in support of marriage equality for all. Full story here.
Thanks Ben & Jerry's!

Interested in showing your support for marriage equality? Start by wearing a white knot and telling all of your friends what it stands for. Information about White Knots here. Write your congressman and tell them you want marriage equality for all. Participate in the National Equality March on October 11th in Washington DC. Together we can make this happen!

Fringe-tastic 2009

2009-08-30T09:48:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again... the 2009 Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe Festival is starting to kick into high gear.

For the third year in a row, I have the privilege to work with the very talented keila cordova dances. This year's production is called GOLD, and it explores the idea of the gold-digger, from 1930's MGM movies up to modern day video girls. Show information is here.

Rehearsals are well underway, in our fabulous new rehearsal space, the 954 Dance Movement Collective. As usual, the dancers look are working hard and looking beautiful, Keila is figuring out last minute choreography and our resident baby Dax is running around the studio, dancing to his own beats. We did a 10 minute preview performance at Plays and Players last week. The girls looked AWESOME! I'm really excited for the full show.

Getting ready in the cramped dressing rooms at Plays & Players: (l-r: Anna, Cristin, Zoe, Kate, Melissa)

I hope all of you Philadelphians will come and check out GOLD. It's going to be a great show!

Veggie Booty!

2009-08-25T15:21:00.004-05:00

I just came back from the farmer's market with my bag loaded full of this gorgeous produce. All for only $15.

It's harvest time, and the overwhelming amount of fresh and local produce is absolutely inspiring. I haven't the foggiest idea what I'll do with the corn, sweet peppers, garlic, swiss chard, zucchini, onions and summer squash that I bought, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Ideas? Recipes? Leave 'em for me in the comments!

Celebration Brunch

2009-08-24T10:40:00.002-05:00

Deb started her 2009-2010 season at the Walnut Street Theatre today.

It's been a really great summer. We worked our little tails off on the house and squeezed in a ton of relaxation as well. Our home is beautiful and peaceful, our bodies are rested and our minds are ready for another crazy season at work.

To celebrate all of our accomplishments this summer, Deb and I took ourselves out for brunch yesterday at Bump, a fabulous lounge in the heart of the gayborhood that also happens to serve delicious and affordable food!

And did I mention their ($4!) Bloody Mary's are the best I've ever had?

Deb ordered the chicken-fried steak eggs benedict:

There's nothing like eating a delicious breakfast while getting slightly buzzed from the amazing Bloody Mary's to pat yourself on the back and say "job well done!"

Now me, of course, I don't go back to work until the end of October. But I'm keeping myself busy-- the Philadelphia Fringe Festival is just starting to kick into gear and I'm hard at work on my third Fringe show with keila cordova dances. This year we're doing a piece called Gold, which I hope you will all come and see!

But in the mean time, I'll send my girl off to work every morning with a packed lunch and a smile, knowing that this summer has rested us and fortified us for the long season ahead.

Like Glass, Baby

2009-08-22T15:16:00.002-05:00

Deb stayed up all night last night, stripping and waxing our kitchen floor. Doesn't it look amazing??

When we moved in, the floor wasn't sealed. At all. The previous tennants had installed an industrial-grade tile floor (think of the type of floor in your high school), but had neglected to seal it. And then our landlord did some work on the kitchen ceiling and didn't bother to clean up all of the paint splatters that landed on the floor. This was all some years ago, so when we moved in, we got a dull, never-fully-cleanable, Jackson Pollack-decorated bright blue floor.

Until Deb pulled up her britches, went to the hardware store, bought floor stripper, wax & a cheap mop and spent all night last night in the kitchen, pausing as each of the 6 coats of wax dried to drink beers and watch her current obsession: Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Isn't my girlfriend awesome?

Garden Delights

2009-08-20T20:55:00.002-05:00

Deb made me this beautiful caprese salad today, with tomatoes and basil from our garden.

The late summer is upon us, bringing all of the goodness of the harvest and the smoldering heat that has been so elusive this summer.

I'm so grateful to be in a place with central air. That has a great little patio for me to grow my juicy heirloom tomatoes and savory basil. I wish the summer would never end, but I'm enjoying the progression of the season very much.

New Arty-Farty Blog!

2009-08-19T08:56:00.003-05:00

So I've started a new blog that I would love for you all to check out.

It's called The Stall Speaks, and it's basically going to be an arty-type blog: photos of bathroom wall wisdom.

I'm not talking your run-of-the-mill "Here I sit, broken hearted..." or "Jen loves Bill" or "Susan is a man-stealing bitch" type of bathroom sentiment, I'm talking more existential, perhaps unintentionally hilarious, out of context randomness that gives you something to think about while you do your business.

Now I can only peruse so many bar bathrooms (although I'm trying hard to hit them all, believe me) so this is where you come in. The next time nature calls and you see some wisdom on the walls, snap a photo and send it to me at thestall@live.com. It doesn't have to be from a bar bathroom, either-- all toilet sentiments are welcome!

I'll throw it up on the blog, and I promise to acknowledge the photographer! Be sure to include the location of said wisdom and the name you would like me to acknowledge you with. Here's the blog for you to check out-- become a fan, leave me lots of comments, submit photos!!

http://thestallspeaks.blogspot.com/

Happy bathroom hunting!

Benefit

2009-08-18T10:08:00.003-05:00

Last night Deb, our buddy Amanda and I had the priviledge of attending Mauckingbird Theatre Company's annual benefit performance entitled Miss-Cast 2, which was described as "A cabaret of songs sung by the wrong people".

For those of you unfamiliar with Mauckingbird, they are a local theater company dedicated to producing gay-themed shows, especially classical shows with a queer twist. Check out this sexy-as-hell poster from their very first show, an all-male production of Moliere's The Misanthrope:

That's our buddy Evan on the right!

Last night's benefit was a blast. The girls sang songs normally sung by boys, and vice versa. Just to name a few, we heard lovely versions of Tammy Wynnette's Stand By Your Man, Dreamgirl's And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going and Sideshow's Who Will Love Me As I Am? sung by dudes, and equally amazing versions of Cabaret's Two Ladies, The Wizard of Oz's If I Were King of the Forest and Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl sung by the gals.

The wine was flowing, the theater people were mingling, and we had just the best time chatting and laughing and supporting another great Philadelphia theater company. I highly encourage everyone to check out this young and very talented company. They need your support, and you won't be disappointed!

Central New York Adventures

2009-08-16T15:36:00.005-05:00

Last week we packed up the old Subaru and headed north to visit my folks in scenic Homer, NY.

Hyde loves riding in the car:

After a very beautiful drive, we arrived! Molly the dog was at the front door, suspiciously guarding the house:

But soon she realized it was just us, and her and Hyde reunited in doggie bliss.

Dog fever is catching! Our buddy Christine was home visiting her folks as well, and brought her adorable new puppy Mo up to the hill to meet Hyde:

We spent a lovely day with Matt and Weas, starting with a trip to the amazing Ithaca's Farmer's Market. We then were inspired to pick some of our own Central New York produce:

There weren't a ton of berries, but I did get enough to make an awesome blueberry crumble that I took to Aunt Eunice's for a summer picnic. Thankfully I had lots of help-- Deb is an excellent blueberry picker:

The next day Matt and Weas took us on an awesome boat tour around beautiful Skaneateles Lake and we even managed to squeeze in a picnic before the rain came.
The next day, Mom and Dad treated us to the Cayuga Wine Trail, a large collection of wineries around scenic Cayuga Lake. My hilarious brother Joseph joined us, and provided some entertainment:

Deb and Joe take a break from sampling wine to play some checkers:
The next day Mom and Dad took us to beautiful Bowman Lake State Park. We took full advantage of the setting and tried all kinds of activities, including hiking:

And kayaking! (That's Mom and Dad on the lake-- they're a little hard to spot!)

And, of course, swimming:

That evening, we cleaned up and hit all of the crazy college bars in Cortland with my oldest friend Caitlin:
I have to give a huge shout-out to my little bro for being our designated driver that evening. And profess my awe of Caitlin's tolerance for alcohol.

And the next morning, quite hungover, we stopped at Coffee Mania to fuel up and made the long haul home to Philly.
We had a lovely time and came back totally rested! A huge thank you to Mom & Dad, Joseph, Matt & Weas for taking such good care of these city girls.

Swell

2009-08-05T19:42:00.003-05:00

So what do you think? Does this look like me, set in the Mad Men world?
She doesn't get coffee for anyone but herself, though.

Deb and I are currently hungrily tearing through Season 2, delivered to our door courtesy of Netflix. We just can't get enough!

Create your own Mad Men avatar here.

Summer Concerts

2009-08-03T09:27:00.004-05:00

Deb and I have made it a tradition to pack our summers with as many cool concerts that we can afford. This year Deb really topped herself by getting tickets for two of my very favorite artists: Neko Case and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The two concerts were very different in tone, but similar in AWESOME.

First up was Neko Case (sadly she did not bring her greyhound to the stage!):

Often described as "alt country", Neko is known for her deep alto voice, interesting and complex lyrics and wonderfully crafted songs. She was scheduled to play in Philly the same night as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, so Deb got tickets for Neko's show in Baltimore-- a mere two hour car ride from Philly. I'd actually never been, so we decided to leave a little early and have dinner with our favorite Baltimore resident (and my childhood best friend's little sister), Christine. This made her sister Caitlin very upset, so naturally we took pictures. Side note: it may not be the wisest thing ever to upset Caitlin.

Getting ready for the concert, Deb came up with a novel way to avoid those horrid high beer prices in concert venues:
It's the right color, but it was awfully foamy "iced tea"!

The concert itself was really great. The crowd was mellow, the band was awesome, and the set had a giant owl with scary glowing eyes! Very creepy, very fitting with Neko's weird country-rock vibe. We scored some standing spots on the balcony overlooking the stage and had to hold our ground against some pushy people, but we made friends with our fellow standers and had a great time listening the music, laughing and singing along.

The next day was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert!
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are often described as post punk, dance-able rock music. Lead singer Karen O is a fierce bitch with an incredible voice and some amazing fashion choices.

This concert was in Philly, at the Electric Factory, one of my favorite venues in the city. It was the best concert I've ever been to, hands down. The set was amazing, the lighting was incredible and Karen O and the boys took the stage and partied down for a head-banging, stunningly loud and wonderfully raucous good time.

I managed to snap one very blurry shot of the stage:

The big ball in the center at one point turned around and was painted to look like a giant eyeball. Creepy!

Deb and I had the best time at the concert, and left with our ears ringing!

And thus concludes our summer concerts for '09. We're trying to be responsible and not spend too much money this summer, but I'm glad we splurged for these two concerts. They were amazing! If either Neko Case or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs come by your town, I highly recommend you checking them out.

Homebodies

2009-07-24T08:04:00.005-05:00

It's been an exhausting but incredibly productive few days. Deb and I have buckled down and started to finally paint, arrange, clean and otherwise make this apartment into a beautiful home. Because of our crazy move and insane end-of-the-season show schedules, we were barely unpacked. But now things are shaping up beautifully.

We started with the living room. Since of course we're both unemployed and (as always) poor as church mice, we were forced to do our renovations in the cheapest way possible. So we scoured our local paint shop for a bright color for the living room, finding the perfect color in their "oops" section. We bought a $35 gallon of paint for only $5 because someone had the color mixed but then didn't like it. Score! To compliment our fabulous new curtains, we painted the walls a deeply saturated orangey-red.

Here's Deb, hard at work:

The hallway was next. We decided on a soft, saturated "organic green" for one wall. (We're leaving the other white, for monetary and aesthetic reasons) As Deb was busy putting together our new Ikea bookshelf and getting the living room back in order, I ended up painting the whole hallway myself:

Next we outfitted the living room. We needed a major furniture overhaul. We had an old pub table and two stools that was just taking up space. The futon that was passed down to us from the previous tenant was disgusting and old-- it needed to go away. It was too big to haul in our car, so we gave Uhuru Furniture a call. Uhuru is an amazing local organization that you can donate your used furniture to and all of the proceeds go to African relief. Plus you can buy furniture from them too-- great stuff for cheap! And the best part of the deal? If you're making a donation, they come to your house and pick it up for you! Check them out, they are really awesome.

Uhuru came yesterday and took away the table and stools, but unfortunately they rejected the futon because the mattress had stains on it. (From the previous tenant) So we hauled it outside, set it on the curb and wrote a blurb on craigslist advertising a FREE futon frame and mattress, available for curbside pickup. We worried that it might rain overnight and no one would want it, but we shouldn't have. Literally within 10 minutes of posting on craigslist we spotted a minivan hauling both the frame and the mattress away. Amazing!

Our purple loveseat had to go as well. We needed a bigger couch to fit the two of us, and it really didn't fit in the living room. Hoping to recover some money from this venture, we posted another ad on craigslist, offering it for $100. We got an immediate response from a very nice woman who came and checked it out yesterday. She hauls it away tomorrow.

Now our living room was clean and painted, but empty. Back to craigslist we went, looking for a nice sectional couch for cheap. And after one disappointing venture with a stuck-up snob in Rittenhouse Square, we found the PERFECT sectional being sold by a lawyer who was closing up his office. The color is perfect, the size is perfect, and because it was in an office rather than a home it has very little wear & tear. Deb used her amazing bargaining skills on the lawyer and got it to a price we could afford. It took two trips to haul the whole thing home, but we finally made it:

(Sorry about the blurry pic, still taking pictures on my phone while I save up for that new camera!)

Today we plan to hang up all of our artwork and photos in the hallway and maybe get around to waxing the kitchen floor. We're going to spend the weekend cleaning and arranging the bedroom and spare room.

So our house is really shaping up into something pretty amazing! I can't believe how much work it's taking, but it feels really good to see things coming together. It's nice to work together on this project-- for the first time in my adult life, I really feel like I have a home, instead of just an apartment.

C'mon, folks....

2009-07-23T13:39:00.002-05:00

It's absolutely within your rights to disagree with Obama politically. But this nonsense about where he was born? So stupid. Guess people are just really stretching for a reason to complain...

How about getting back to the real issues? The economy, the state of healthcare, our educational system... instead of wasting time with this nonsense, let's do some real work.

Hilarious Daily Show clip about this issue here.

Renovations

2009-07-19T08:26:00.002-05:00

Well, summer is finally officially upon us as Deb closes up her season and we prepare for some hard-core fun in the sun. To that end, since things were so crazy during our move, we have decided to finally start some renovations around the house. We began with curtains in the living room, sewn by me:

The picture doesn't really do them justice-- they are this beautiful embroidered Mexican-folk pattern. We also have plans to paint the living room and hallway (we've picked out great colors... can't wait for some color in this house!) and to, you know, finish unpacking.

But the renovations are more than just about the apartment... I've decided to revamp and refresh my body and soul a little as well. Things are getting a little stagnant, it's time to shake them up.

To that end, I've taken up yoga pretty hard-core. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but my yoga DVDs just weren't inspiring, and when I was working I was too busy for yoga classes and when I was unemployed too poor.

All of that changed the other day when I was walking the dog down 11th Street and noticed a flyer for pay-what-you-can yoga classes. Surely this is too good to be true, I thought. I went home, checked out the website, and amazingly enough, it's just that simple. Plus the studio is only 3 blocks from my house and they offer 24 different classes all through the week. Totally incredible. I've been going every day, squeezing out my last few dollars before the unemployment check comes in, and totally feeling a difference in my body and energy levels already.

The studio is small, and the class size generally is as well-- in fact, I had one yoga session that was just me and the instructor. It was really cool to have my own personal class!

The studio is called Hawthorne Yoga and it's located on 1241 Carpenter Street. Their class schedule is here. I hope all of you Philadelphians will join me for some yoga! All of the instructors I have encountered are really great, and I've been experimenting with many different types of yoga this week. (My current favorite: Hatha. Love all that breathing!)

Another personal renovation I'm undertaking is trying to get comfortable with my body. I've always been a terrible dancer, and dance class brings me back to all of those uncomfortable hours in studios and rehearsal halls trying desperately not to look stupid.

So I signed up for a dance class. But this one's going to be different. For one, it's a burlesque dance class. Oh, yeah. I think this type of dancing is going to be right up my alley. Now don't worry, Mom, there is no nudity involved in this class. It's all about learning how to tap into our feminine powers, using heels and boas and strutting walks to become super confident in our own sexy skins.

Our first class was last Thursday and we spent most of the class talking about what we found sexy in the world, what we found sexy about ourselves and coming up with a burlesque alter-ego. I'm still working on a name. I've got several floating around in my head, but I would welcome suggestions from anyone! It's a four week class and at the end we have a little cabaret to show off our new struts. I can't wait! Information about the class and the teacher here.

So slowly but surely I'm renovating, physically and mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I'm already starting to feel the results of the yoga and the burlesque. I can't wait to see where the rest of this journey takes me.

Pool Party, South Philly Style

2009-07-15T11:04:00.002-05:00

Melanie and AJ have recently added an inflatable kiddie pool to their fabulous backyard, and we have taken full advantage. Please note the floating beer cans in the above picture of Alison and Melanie relaxing.

Seriously, I spent two full days this week in that pool, getting out only for bathroom and beer breaks. Heaven. I worked hard on my tan... er... freckles and generally baked my brain into that pleasant summer jelly that comes from lots of sun and beer and friends and splashing about.

The day after the above picture was taken Deb and AJ joined in the fun, and I have lots of pictures of that once I figure out how to get them off of my camera. (Yes, I'm still having camera woes...)

The rest of my time is spent with my other obsession: I've recently gotten into NBC's Heroes. I know, I know, I'm way behind the bandwagon on this one, and everyone tells me that it kinda sucks after the first season, but stil, the first season was SO GOOD. I just finished the last episode of Season 1 today.

Here's a trailer, for those of you as far behind as I am:

And this is what I've been doing with my summer vacation. Next week Deb is off of work (FINALLY) and we are doing some major house repairs and cleaning and generally fixing up, as well as relaxing into this beautiful summer.

Philadelphia Summers

2009-07-08T13:26:00.002-05:00

Man, there's nothing like summer in Philly. The rainy season is finally over, and the days are blooming perfect and hot and sunny. I love it.

Ice cream trucks roar down the street all day, the twinkling music luring children of all ages to run towards the siren song.

Clean laundry snaps and twists on the line, stiffening as it dries.

My garden grows green and lush and fragrant, offering up peppers and tomatoes and green beans and eggplant and basil leaves for our summer culinary adventures.

Once a week I troll the farmer's market, stuffing my bag full of fresh produce and homemade breads and new plants for the garden.

We go to friend's houses and drink beers and watch baseball and leave all the windows open for the cool night breezes while kitties prowl the windowsills and doggies nap contentedly.

We drink ginger beer & rum with lime in the sun, play Scrabble in the park and set up cornhole games on the sidewalk.

I dry herbs and set out pitchers of sun tea in the kitchen windows.

We sleep with the windows open, enjoying the night air gently blowing the curtains and the slow stir of the ceiling fan.

We have picnics in the park with our friends, eating and drinking and laughing under the shade of giant trees.

We go out at night, sipping margaritas at sidewalk tables, people-watching and getting slowly warm and fuzzy from the tequila.

We get up early in the morning to take the dog to the dog park before the heat of the day. We sit and watch him frolic with other dogs, panting and sniffing and generally being exuberant before he settles in for his 12 hour daily nap.

So far this summer has been pretty much perfect. And it's only going to get better once Deb is done with her show...

Two Hundred and Thirty-Three Years Ago Today...

2009-07-04T09:21:00.007-05:00

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Picnic in the Park

2009-07-01T17:40:00.004-05:00

The best way to spend a summer day? With a picnic, of course!

AJ, such a good boyfriend, kept an absent Melanie up to speed with text messages:
Hyde placed a few calls as well:

Splendor in the grass:

Steve and Sara are happy to be here:

Hyde got ahold of a roll of paper towels and made doggie snowflakes:

It was a very Zen experience.

Lots of snuggling was involved:

All of that food (and drink!) made everyone very content and very sleepy:

Season 3

2009-06-28T09:39:00.002-05:00

Tonight I close my third season here at the Indepence Studio on 3 at the Walnut Street Theatre.

It's been a very tumultuous year for me personally, but I am eternally grateful that my experience at work this season was a very, very good one. I don't think I could have made it otherwise.

That being said, I'm profoundly exhausted. I can't express just how much I am looking forward to a few months off-- to relax, settle into the new apartment and regain a sense of myself again.

To everyone who worked upstairs, I thank you for making this season a great one. See you next year.

The Business of Eating

2009-06-23T17:26:00.004-05:00

Deb and I went to see the documentary Food, Inc. yesterday. It was amazing. I encourage all of you to check it out-- it's a good look at how our food system has become totally industrialized.

I mean, do you really KNOW what's in your food? What do all of those dense words in the ingredient list mean? And where are they coming from?

This movie really helped to solidify my commitment to eating whole foods that hopefully come from local sources. Oh, and seeing the inside of some of those slaughterhouses made me happy to have chosen vegetarianism.

I can't recommend this movie enough. And for those of you in the Philadelphia area who want good local food sources, I encourage you to check out this website for information about farmer's markets and buying clubs that will deliver you a box of local produce, dairy products, grassfed meats and eggs every week. Amazing, and actually very affordable.

Your body will thank you for filling it up with such good stuff!

Neda

2009-06-21T16:12:00.003-05:00

I would like to take a moment to give my respects to all of those fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran, especially the peaceful protesters who are being viciously beaten and sometimes killed by the Basiji police.

I'm sure many of you have heard of Neda, the young woman who was peacefully watching the protests and was shot. She has become a symbol of the resistance-- an innocent life taken by this brutal and oppressive regime.

Technology has made this revolution so present, so in our faces. From the way that Twitter has helped Iranians to communicate to youtube users posting this video of Neda, right after she was shot, so that people could see what was really going on in Iran, despite the government's attempts to silence everyone.

A warning: this video is very graphic. But I felt I had to share it, to help spread the message to Iran that the world is watching.

**UPDATE: This video link no longer works, due to it's content violating youtube's terms of service**

I pray for peace and democracy for the people of Iran.

Faux Pas

2009-06-21T12:44:00.004-05:00

I stumbled across this on the wide, wide world of the interwebs and it sure did make me chuckle:

This image was a part of a fashion spread in Italian Vogue. I love it. It's so... continental. Imagine an American magazine depicting a mother smoking around her baby and the shit-storm of controversy that would ensue....

Not that I, of course, condone this type of behavior, or even the concept of the fashion spread: that fashionable women are cold bitches who'd rather indulge in a cocktail or a ciggie rather than take care of their offspring, but still, I can't help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of it.

I found this via Sociological Images, a kick-ass website that y'all should be checking out on a regular basis. The full fashion spread, in all of it's nutty glory, can be found here.

Growing, Eating

2009-06-20T23:31:00.005-05:00

Although this constant rain has been unbearably dreary, it's doing wonders for my garden. I harvested two banana peppers, a bunch of green beans and lots of basil last night:

I had some veggies from the farmer's market kicking around in the fridge that needed to be used, so I decided to do a very veggie casserole:

It turned out so well that I can't resist posting the recipe so everyone can try it. I basically modified a recipe of Mollie Katzen's-- her recipe is here.

Here's my recipe:

Sara's Early Summer Casserole

Olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 banana peppers, diced
handful of green beans, diced
3 carrots, shredded
4 small zucchini or summer squashes, chopped
10 cremini mushrooms, chopped
handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup shredded aged Gouda cheese
4-5 eggs
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
salt & pepper
paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, add onion, garlic, peppers, green beans and carrots, saute in olive oil until just tender. Add zucchini, mushrooms, fresh basil and dried spices (minus the paprika), saute until flavors blend and mushrooms get a little soft, being careful not to dry out veggies. (Add more olive oil if needed) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a bowl, mix together yogurt, eggs and cheese. Make sure all yolks are broken and eggs are thoroughly incorporated.

Remove veggies from heat and stir in yogurt mixture, coating veggies. The mix should be just a little runny. If too thick, add a little soy milk or regular milk to thin it out.

Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle top with a little paprika. Baked covered for 35 minutes, uncover and bake for 5 minutes more or until the mixture is "set". Give the dish a jiggle, and if it still looks runny, pop it back in the oven. You want to take it out when the sides of the dish are firm and the center is mostly firm.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Of course all of the veggies in my recipe are just what I had in the fridge and the garden-- this recipe is so versatile you can experiment with whatever you've got on hand. Try using different types of cheese or different dried spices! I suggest you look at Mollie's recipe for a more Mexican-flavored dish, or try your own flavor combinations!

Here's to much more delicious summer eating...

June (baby) Showers

2009-06-20T17:30:00.003-05:00

As our run draws to a close, the cast and crew of Forbidden Broadway decided to throw a surprise baby shower for our musical director Gina between shows on a rainy Saturday. The only room available in the building was the 4th floor rehearsal hall, so we had a true theater-style baby shower, complete with presents and food piled on top of prop tables!

Our set-up (can you tell she's having a boy?):

Gina was super surprised! After we ate some of the delicious food that everyone brought (we played the shower off as a company pot-luck to insure that Gina would stick around between shows) Gina got to open her gifts:

Me and the beautiful mother-to-be! It's getting harder and harder for her to reach the piano:

I couldn't have done it without the super-sneaky help of my two backstage elves, Melissa and Kate!

This has been such a great show and a great cast to end our season. I'm definitely looking forward to a break, but I will be sad to see this one close. We have one more week, so come and see it if you can!

A Greyt Day

2009-06-17T16:03:00.001-05:00

Hyde has been having lots of fun at our local dog park-- he's meeting all kinds of nice dogs that he loves to run and play with. Unfortunately today he had a little too much fun. Somewhere in the tussle he cut open his shoulder pretty badly. Greyhounds have notoriously thin skin, and this cut, although not caused by anything major, definitely needed stitches.

After his last round of mishaps, we decided that we weren't going to take him to our in-town vet. They are very sweet and obviously care a lot about animals, but they are HELLA expensive. So instead we called the place where we adopted him, the National Greyhound Adoption Program, or NGAP for short. They agreed to squeeze us in, so we piled into the old Subaru and took a ride to North Philly.

Of course they took great care of the Hyde-ster, but the real fun was getting to see all of the cute greyhounds:

These guys are just off the track. They were very excited to see us! Don't you just want to take one of these handsome dudes home with you?

Pet me! Pet me!!

But most importantly, we got our handsome boy all fixed up:

If anyone out there is considering adopting a dog, I can't recommend getting a greyhound enough. Hyde has changed our lives for the better-- he's the best friend and slobbery companion a girl could wish for.

First Harvest

2009-06-16T14:49:00.001-05:00

I had my first garden pickings today-- a jalapeno and some green beans!

(Sorry about the poor photo quality, because of my stupid broken viewfinder, I can't turn off the flash or zoom in on anything...)

I decided to make chili with my super-fresh veggies. I threw in some red bell peppers and some shredded carrots that were kicking around in the fridge to make it a super-duper supreme veggie chili:

And if I do say so myself, it was deeee-licious. I'm looking forward to much more from the little roof garden this summer...

Arty Farty

2009-06-13T17:49:00.004-05:00

I had hoped to be 100% moved in and unpacked at this point.

Although Deb and I lived together before this apartment, we had never moved together. I moved in to the 2 Street apartment after she'd already been there for a year, and tried my best to incorporate my stuff with hers.

But this time was different. All of our stuff came to this empty space together, and we've been trying ever since to combine and compromise and get everything unpacked and in some semblance of order. Since we plan to live in this place for a long time, we have decided to make it really nice, really homey, really... adult.

You see, Deb and I have moved on average once a year for the past 10 years or so. College, summer stock, theater... it's been a transitory decade, that's for sure. And in each new place, we've thrown stuff up on the walls willy-nilly, knowing it wouldn't be there for long.

Well, all that's changing now. We're turning over a new leaf, see? We're adults now. Deb and I have decided to really make our apartment into a home that is full of cool and interesting art.

Now of course we don't have a lot of money, so we're being all kinds of crafty. To that end, I've been scouring our great city for some affordable art, and I've found that there's lots of it around. I discovered Dumpster Divers on South Street, a gallery that features art made from found and recycled objects. I bought a great little abstract painting on a slab of re-purposed wood for only $5! And I've become an etsy fanatic, buying one-of-a-kind pieces at great prices.

So slowly our walls are becoming a little less bare, and we've come up with several themes for our different rooms. The living room is becoming a pop-art and clock room, the kitchen is going to have a 40's diner theme, and we're going to adorn our hallway with as many photos and theater-related memorabilia as we can cram in. I'm taking suggestions for our bedroom and spare room-- any thoughts? And if anyone has a lead on affordable art, either in Philly or on the interwebs, I'd love to hear it.

Just one more tiny step towards true adulthood...

Tony! Tony! Tony!

2009-06-09T14:19:00.004-05:00

The American Theatre Wings 2009 Tony Awards were this past Sunday. I love the Tonys. I know many of you may be rolling your eyes at the sheer nerd-dom that is the Tony Awards, but I think they're wonderful. A great way to celebrate our industry, to showcase the best and the brightest in the theater world.

That being said, there were a few flaws in this year's award ceremonies. It's pretty amazing to me when corporate America intersects with the theater world-- most often, disaster results. Theater is such a fleeting, temporal art, best seen in the long view and best appreciated by a live audience. To film such an event, with close ups and commercials and other television trappings often results in a very wonky experience.

Take the opening number. What a nightmare. Listen for all of the missed mic pick-ups. Listen to the actress backstage warming up and being broadcast on live television. The arrangements are terrible. It's confusing and hard to tell what's going on. And oh, yeah, at the very end (watch for it!) some dumbass brought a huge piece of scenery down on top of Bret Michaels, breaking his nose. Seriously? Theater people, we can do much better than this. Check it out for yourself:

There were some highlights, though. Check out the performance of the new musical Rock of Ages. Technically very well done, lots of fun (love that shout-out to Michigan!) and best of all, our good buddy Paul Schoeffler is featured. (He's the dude in the suit on the end).

And I really enjoyed the performance of Billy Elliot as well. Billy Elliot swept the Tonys this year, taking home 10 awards. And watching this piece, it's not hard to tell why. Not to mention that another good buddy of ours, Jamie Torcellini, is featured in this performance. Go Jamie!

Another huge congratulations to Brian MacDevitt, winner of a Tony for Best Lighting Design of a Play. Brian is a graduate of my alma mater, SUNY Purchase, and even suffered to teach me and my fellow stage managers a few lighting design classes. (Thanks for bearing with us, Brian!) Congratulations also to Jen Schriever, my classmate at Purchase and good friend, for her part in the lighting design win.

All together, it was wonderful to watch our industry be celebrated on national television. I just hope next year they invest a little more into some of the technical aspects of the production.

Old Friends, New City

2009-06-04T12:42:00.002-05:00

Right after my parents left, I welcomed visitors to our fair city of Philadelphia from my alma mater, Purchase College. More specifically, I graduated from the D/T program with fellow stage manager Leah McVeigh (far right) and spent a wonderful freshman year with Raz Barnea (center) before he decided that Purchase wasn't the right place for him.

The stars aligned in just the right way over Philadelphia to bring the three of us together: Leah was passing through on her way to her summer stock gig at Brevard Music Center and Raz was preparing to spend 2 years in Ghana as a member of the Peace Corps.

You know those people that you don't talk to for years, but then when you reconnect, it's like no time has passed at all? That's what it's like with Leah and Raz. It was wonderful to chat and catch up and wish each other well as the night came to a close and we all went our seperate ways again.

I'm already looking forward to our next reunion, when Leah can share her summer stock horror stories, Raz can talk about his time in Africa and I can catch everyone up on whatever it is that's going on in my life.

Until then, godspeed!

Live Free or Die

2009-06-03T18:07:00.001-05:00

Today New Hampshire became the 6th in our nation to legalize same-sex marriage. Congratulations to all LGBT Granite State-ers! Full story here.

Come on, nation-- New England is really showing us how it's done! It's time to catch up.