Eclectic Endeavors

Its been far to long since this fine personal communication medium has been updated. I have now been in Ithaca, NY since May 15th working at my beloved Hangar Theatre. Two shows have already opened and we are well on our way to yet another successful season.

In other news I have become a current resident of Ithaca, NY, having lost my apartment in DC due to unforeseen circumstances. All that I own in this world is currently in my room up here patiently waiting for me to find another place to live. I have several options for the fall, but I am waiting for official word before I post things to the interblogs.

On a sad note I have been far to busy to keep my riding up. I really was hoping to ride a 200km ride before the end of the summer, but it may not happen now, but I am still hopeful.

this update is short and sweet, but its better than nothing…

Happy Easter everyone. I hope all is well.

The more I am around this world the more I am convinced of the truth that no matter where you go, there you are. People are just people. Some towns are more exciting than others, but it still requires a modicum of effort to seek out the exciting or unique thins, people, and places where ever you happen to be.

As it sits, I am leaving for Ithaca soon, and will be there the whole summer working away. I am leaving my DC place in May and will return, (if I can find a suitable place to stay.) It a little sad though, because it seems I am just settling into this place and now I am about to disappear for 3 months. Dont get me wrong… I love Ithaca. Its a wonderful place to spend a long summer working vacation. It just takes a little more effort to keep up with people when you move around so much.

On a much more practical note people should be aware that Kosher for Passover Coca-cola exists and it is good. Google it and be prepared for next year, or come by my place in about 2 weeks when I plan on popping open my last 2 Liter bottle.

p.s. - if you don’t own a bike… you should

So its been a little while. Sorry if you have tried to access the site recently and where asked for a password. I host my own blog and professional site on the same server and the confusion came about because of a coding error on my part. Oh well all is fixed and it gave me an excuse to update the sites all around.

So about a month ago my friend Kelsey came and visited this coast from Portland, OR. She is one of those people who just reminds you why you are alive. She pays the bills by serving coffee, but her other work is being an artist. yes an actual artist… However I have met few people who can (and do) speak so intelligently about what they are trying to create. Its kinda rockin. During the course of our visit she told me of her new graduate program… a self imposed program which she has undertaken so as no to piss her days away after her shift at work. I can understand the mindset as I often want to do nothing after a day of running up and down ladders etc etc. And it started me thinking about what I can do to emulate her, and have since created my own self imposed program of study. And in truth its tough. I started out strong, but have fallen behind as its been 10 days since I have had a day off and with a longish commute each day the time just flies away. However, I have now put it out on the world wide webs, so I had better regain some resolve. Feel free to pester me about “what I learned in school today.”

thats all for tonight…

I spent the latter half of last week in NYC. The main excuse for this particular jaunt was to see Hedda Gabler, playing on 42nd St. with Mary Louise Parker in the lead roll. I managed to get a cheap rush ticket for the last row of the balcony (though in the American Airlines Theatre this is not really a bad seat). Unfortunately I agreed far too much with the NY Times review, and I really enjoy reading Ibsen.

The rest of the trip was an excuse to see friends. Due to circumstances unforeseen at the time I ended up spending all three nights on my friend Jacob’s couch. It was a great time, as Jacob is one of the few friends I see with any regularity with whom I can really talk with all night. We both grew up in the south and are cut from enough of the same cloth that we can see through each others bullshit fairly easily. We talked about pretty much everything, relationships, work, the economy, religion, etc. One of the more pertinent topics to broadcast on the interwebs was the economy. Times are tough. No one can deny that, but for some reason neither one of us seems too worried. He works two jobs, and I work as a free lance theatre tech / designer. We both live in pretty large cities. Neither one of us has much to our names, and perhaps that’s just it. People who don’t have much to lose do not seem to worry as much as those who do. Also our respective parents both taught us that stuff is just stuff. There is a HUGE difference between a want and a need, and in today’s American cultural landscape that lines has been blurring for a while. Now I understand this is merely the outcropping of two commiserating 20 somethings with little to no external responsibilities, but it does raise the question.

Since I 1) am a theatre professional, and 2) did not graduate from a theatrical program, I have decided I should see all the theatre available to myself. I also hope to see a variety, not only for the purposes of being “well-rounded” in my tastes, but to help combat a sad trend I have noticed. I have read and heard anecdotal evidence that the flash speed of modern life has shortened the attention span of the populous. Now not only are there cell phones, facebook, and email, we can now update our lives via twitter from our blackberries. If you cannot get your message across a headline, and 2 sentences you should probably not bother.

Its sickening…and I feel myself succumbing.

Thus I hope a healthy regiment of live theatre of some merit along with books, yes actual books. I can teach myself to pay attention again.

To this end, I went and saw a classic tonight, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance. It is not a short play: 2:50 with 2 15 minute intermissions. It tells the story of human relationships and the longing for something…anything set in a lovely WASP-y community. While not as high on my Required-Reading-for-Life List as T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, I will highly recommend it.

Each character cocoons themselves in a different way. Each defense the same, each enemy the same, and, ultimately, each result the same. I cannot do it justice in this medium, so I suggest you head to your nearest library and check it out.

So if you have been any sort of friend of mine for the last few years you know I really enjoy getting around by bicycle. I dont really know how it started. I bought an old MTB off craigslist 2 years ago and started biking the 5 miles to work in lovely warm and flat Florida. Now I am in DC where there is something of a winter, and I still try to ride into the city (about 12 miles) a few times a week at least. Coldest ride to date was 20 degrees F with a 15 mi/hr headwind.

Ever since I destroyed my beautiful Long Haul Trucker in a wreck in Ithaca, NY, I have wanted to get a beater and add an xtracycle. However with the economy and whatnot I have decided a $500 shipped bike add on is a bit expensive. So what do I do? I get a wild hair and buy 2 more bikes (I currently have 2.5) to meld/bolt/magic together into a home built long bike. The inspiration is here and after a small investment of $75 and a few metro rides I shall start cobbling together my monstrosity later tonight. After all what could possible go wrong….?!?!?

I have spent the last week teching and opening my first professional lighting design in this town. It was a one woman show about the food culture and family ties in a Mormon household.   Although it was a short process in a small space, with a limited budget, I am convinced we, as a design team, put together a really solid show.  It was a fun process where we all worked together to make the show the best it could be.  Now of course this is the goal in any production, but it is nice to see it work that way in real life.  We opened last night to a very enthusiastic and very large (for our tiny little space) crowd.  It was a moment which reminded me why I want to do this.  Check out the links over at my work site here

It has been a crazy week.  For those of you without any connection to another living soul, we have a new president here in the U.S.A., and I was on the National Mall at 3:45, in order to get a “close” spot.  I employeed a bike, and walked across the 14th Street bridge to make it into the city (avoiding the Metro system like the plague)  Then a mere seven and a half hours later, during which time, I huddled, cuddled, and danced myself away from hypothermia,  I saw a very historic 30 minutes.  Now everyone who has any sense of modern convenience will ask if it was worth it.  The answer is simply yes…There were jumbotrons setup all along the Mall, and I watched the speech on one of them, but I was there with 2 million strangers all focused on one singular event.  The amazing thing was the setting, not the moment.  Leaving the event it took me about 30-45 minutes to walk the 1.5 back to the bridge because of the sheer number of people, and yet no one was mean or pushy.  Even in the few instances where I was going against the flow of traffic, the worst remark I got was one of frustration with the crowds.  People were watching out for the elderly and calling back warnings about obstacles that might cause people to trip.   It was a experience I shall never forget.  Who knows if Mr. Obama will be a president of note for his policy and action, but I can assure you many people are hoping for just that.

So here I am starting the newest incarnation of my blog to keep all of those who might care abreast of whats going on.

In a word…busy. Despite the economic hardships the country is facing I seem to be able to find work, almost constantly. Now most of it is not exactly what I want to do, but it does pay the bills and I usually enjoy it. Freelance, in any capacity or field, is an interesting beast. You go from job to job, in my case sometimes multiple jobs in the same day, not usually knowing where the next job, project, or paycheck will come from.

It can tire you out. It also requires you to be self motivated, which can be a problem for everyone at times, as should be obvious since I am posting this instead of working. Also in freelance it seems there is either feast or famine. The work is always coming or you have a week long unpaid vacation whether you like it or not.

But now I am off to a Design Run for an upcoming show.

A new blog for a new site. Welcome all.