Renaissance Girl

Things I love this week:

* NaNoWriMo -- a story came to me last week, and now I am being slowly inundated with ideas and plans and plot moments (although not an actual plot, never that, I don't plan....). I have characters and am collecting more. I am super excited about my cadre of strong, fabulous, snarky women in this family (so far a grandmother, mother, young great aunt & her wife, and a daughter), and my problem character is fascinating although he isn't telling me a damn thing about what he's done (I know he's done something to get all these supernatural forces chasing him, but I still don't know what). I have been carrying around a folder full of paper and writing ideas on notecards and am so looking forward to starting to write all this!

* Shakespeare! Last night I took a (free!) masterclass on Shakespeare taught by LAMDA's Randy Cottier, who is experienced, extremely knowledgeable, a fabulous teacher, and is also freaking hilarious. (Perhaps my favorite was him consistently calling Elizabeth I "Queen Gingerwig," which I am stealing.) It was a great class-- we delved into the first scene of Lear, and bits from lots of other plays, going over sections, looking at the text, comparing various versions to the folio, talking about rhythm and meter and vowels. I got to be the King of France. And also get on my feet and be Anne in the famous seduction scene with Dicky 3, to play with speed and motivation and verse. lkasdjkbkb SHAKESPEARE I LOVE YOU. I want to take classes like this constantly. It felt so effing good.

* Autumn. I'm just going to make this its own category, because otherwise half the things I list would be snippets related to this. So: pumpkin bread from Trader Joe's mixes, & everything else pumpkin flavored from TJ's; gorgeously colored leaves covering my entire street and my car and my walk to work; waking up to frost and being able to see my breath; fluid weather between bright sunny mornings and foggy cloudy rainy afternoons; warm tea; the smell in the air. It really does smell autumnal. 

* The Princess & the Pea. & the kids. Oh my god, they are hilarious. They yell and scream and get totally invested in the show and sometimes are on Daniel's side and sometimes rat him out completely, and say the best things at random moments (Daniel: "I'm going to stay awake all night-" Kid: "Are you KIDDING me?"), and then are so adorable after the show. Some of them want to come right up to us (usually me-- the perils of playing the princess), and some of them are really shy and some of them run over to give me hugs and kisses and the parents just love everything that's going on. It's a pretty big ego boost, won't deny it. And also super fun. 

*&etc: the Ramayana opens tonight--I cannot wait to see it!; good, positive, lively discussions in meetings; all of the amazing plants at Molbak's (I cannot stop taking photos of them); new unlikely dresses to wear; comfy jeans and sweaters, fall's wardrobe; notecards and colorful pens for idea organization; feeling on top of things at work, as much as one ever is; Superior Donuts at SPT, which is selling out and getting the kind of press and audiences that it utterly deserves; swanky galas and dressing up like a flight attendant.

What do you love?

Hello lovelies! This Thursday is a good Thursday-- it started with a chiropractic appointment, and I'm spending much of it cleaning, organizing, and cooking lots of food to prepare for the coming weeks. So, in no particular order:

* Exquisite Corpse (is a round-robin art project; we're on week two, and I'm really enjoying it! I am excited to pass along my piece to my friend and then get something new and make something from that--it's a good exercise for my creative crafting muscles that don't have as much of an excuse to work out)

* Fall Weather (the light, the colors, the leaves all over the ground, (finally) the crisp snap in the air, the hint of frost early in the morning, the smell of the air, the wind picking up, snuggling under my comforter at night, wearing scarves and sweaters, I love love love)

* Melinda is back! (my trusty honda, after visiting the car hospital and costing my family far too much money, but she's back and we're getting used to each other again, the poor beastie)

* Catch-up & Prep Days (cleaning house, cleaning out the entire fridge kjbaksdaksufg finally, making food for the week, doing laundry, organizing papers, feeling on top of things for once)

* Tea (with milk and sugar, best way to wake up)

* NPR pledge drives (yes, really, part of me weirdly loves them...)

* Calls with friends (who bring good news! like engagements! & also for just talking & catching up)

* Fighting my phone & winning (thanks to the gentleman, and google, and lots of android forum posts)

What do you love?

Things I Love (actually written on a) Thursday! Am still dealing with car accident/insurance/injury fallout stuff, but I think it's being dealt with all right and omg am I glad we had car insurance. Ack. Things I love:

*Trips & Weddings & Weekends! Tomorrow morning the gentleman & I are heading up to Port Townsend for the weekend for T&J's wedding. It's going to be glorious & full of friendly awesome people, and a fantastic celebration & dinner on the beach another night & seeing lots of people I don't get to see enough & dancing and a fancy party, and I'm super excited for pretty much every aspect of this weekend. I love mini-vacations and I love weddings and I love so many people that I get to see this weekend, so = ultimate win!

*&etc: this song by Mumford & Sons (& this one, and also this one), agh that band I love them; kale and beans and lemon for dinner; our new bigger and improved Council of Elders (new members are awesome); introducing a friend to the ridiculous fun that is Say Yes to the Dress; big library hauls; pretty dresses; the cool, crisp, foggy air this morning--fall is coming!

what do you lov

Things I Love... Sunday night! Holy cats, what a weekend. Oh my god. 14/48 is intense enough, but to do 14/48 while also performing in a show both nights is a little absurd. I don't regret it in the least, but I probably will not ever do it again? I put the question mark because I make no promises. So, things I love this week:

*14/48: the world's quickest theater festival! I got to be a Veteran designer this time around, which is quite exciting and meant I got to make Virgins get me beer on Thursday night. Ha. Also, it was a killer design team; so much fun to work with all of these amazing people. And it was a really solid slate of plays both days (with a couple of my favorite 14/48 plays ever, I think). I spent most of Friday creating an electronic sonic organ bag (playwright says: "like a bagpipe...with wires"), and yesterday was even more ridiculous. I love the intensity and the rushing about and the creativity on the spot that happens because it has to happen, and the friendships that occur without thinking about because you work together without negotiating anything but the necessary work to do, and the genius amazing stuff that all comes together at the end of the day. Such good times. (Next time I wanna be in the band!)

*The Last Leper's last weekend. We closed! And it was a good good show. My cast was lovely and the show was great and I'm really quite proud of it, and so glad it got on its feet at last. This afternoon we sat around and ate delicious tacos and drank and just relaxed, which was fantastic. Congrats all round, Leper-people.

*&etc: seeing Elliott and Gabe at the store when I went to buy cider today; seeing so many lovely friends who came to see Leper or 14/48 this weekend; helping with a wedding parade; breakfast meetings; this excellent open letter to Emmett "Jerkface Asshole" Burns, Jr.; chocolate chip cookies; my quilt; the windy weather that's suddenly kicked up and the fact that I had to wear a sweater today; seeing acting club friends at auditions; dinosaurs; "I'm easily worth two men. ...you can help too, if you like"; working on projects with the gentleman; looking forward to amazing trips coming up!

What do you love?

My brain is pretty much consumed with my show, given that I ended up being the PR person and most of the props design team along with acting in it, which I don't really mind, per se, but some notice would have been helpful. 

Also my hands are still stained with blood. So:

* LEPER LEPER LEPER. We open tomorrow, holy cats. If you're a Seattle person, come see my show! I am honestly really excited to give this thing an audience and would love to hear what you think of it, really. Follow the FB page for discounts if you need a little wallet help!
* Relatedly, this video of the awesome cast being silly. Yes. 
*Fluffy cats & cool houses! I get to housesit starting tonight at the fancy Ravenna house with three lovely cats. I'm so excited to snuggle their faces. Well, one of them. The other two will probably hide tonight. 

*&etc: Doctor Who-watching with the gentleman; getting invited to design for 14/48 again; ELSA's in town!; badass grungy blues music; how bloody my costume is getting after just two dress rehearsals; I have a lot of socialization coming up that isn't being in rehearsals; goldfish crackers. 

what do you love?

I am feeling SO busy today-- which is ridiculous since yesterday was my day off and I felt so relaxed, but that's how it goes. Without further ado, things I love this week:

* Walking around Green Lake with my lovely castmate JenRenee & having excellent conversations about everything under the sun.
* The sun.
* Archie McPhee's, my lord that store is bizarre and amazing and I love it so much and we found fake leeches! Well, sticky slugs, but they'll work from stage. I basically want to play with every single thing in that store. It's a retail madhouse.
*  Outdoor theater evenings - with lovely people, stuffing my face with delicious food, and watching theater, especially getting to see a play I'd never seen before: Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Suprisingly good, with some really beautiful poetry. Although that last speech about Elizabeth cracks me the fuck up, it's so brown-nosey. We were the only three laughing and kind of felt like meanies but it's SO FUNNY.
 * 14/48 KAMIKAZE - where no one even knows what they're doing til they draw it from a hat! The gent is a virgin director (I'm so proud) and it's going to be AMAZING. Relatedly, the 14/48 Blog is always quality. 
* No-bake Nutella Cheesecake. Kind of says it all. I made it yesterday. And it's goddamn delicious.
 * Great Britain's Showjumping gold medal! Besides being the first showjumping gold they've won in yonks, it was a legitmately thrilling competition including a jumpoff with the Dutch for gold. I was making weird jerky movements watching like I could somehow help the horses over the fences from miles and days away. I love horses.
* &etc: salami and brie; water in spray bottles to cool off from the heat; sunscreen for protecting my poor Irish skin; peanuts; my new(ish) water bottle; the fourth game of thrones book which I'm devouring at the moment; sandwiches; creatively solving stage blood problems with kitchen equipment. 

What do you love?

Things I love...

*Thursday. Date day with the gentleman-- stopping in at ACT to see Nicole and tweak the script, working on the comfy couches upstairs; wandering through downtown to Pioneer Square, ridiculously delicious lunch of sandwich and salad at Zietgeist, waterfall park; the Great Wheel! & going up high in the sky, gorgeous views, silly photographs and silly faces, the funny five-year-old with his grandparents in the gondola with us, how goddamn beautiful my city is in the summer sunlight; ice cream on the harbor steps, Beecher's cheese curds and the best mac and cheese in the world, overheated walking up hills, lying in front of the fan spritzing water in the air to cool down. Glorious.

* &etc: the Argo cast being silly; getting cast for a fun children's show (I now have theater booked til the end of October, baby!); eyeliner; keeping makeup wipes in the fridge--so refreshing at the end of the day; skirts and sandals; biking around the lake now that my poor tire is fixed, Heloise is back in business; learning lines and reading scripts lying on the grass in the shade; Starbucks' black tea lemonades-- I am almost ashamed of how much I love them, but not enough to stop drinking them; giant salads; talking Shakespeare late at night; excellent fantasy novels; dogs dogs dogs everywhere; hugs. 

What do you love?

This has been a weird week of good stuff that nevertheless I felt kind of gloomy throughout, at least the last couple days. So here we go, the main thing being:

*ASHLAND. Oh my everloving god, Ashland and OSF I love you so much I can't even make words. ajkbsdkusf. The drive is super long but totally worth it. We saw The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa, which was surprisingly hilarious and entertaining, and it was lovely to get to see a show in the outdoor theater. Plus Patrick and I started brainstorming ways to update & adapt other comedies and came up with the most brilliant update ever and no I'm not telling cuz it's a secret but y'all are going to love it when you see it. Which you will. 

& then we saw The White Snake, which is Mary Zimmerman's new play that she developed with this cast at OSF, and... words. fail. I just. SO GOOD. The story is heartbreaking and gorgeous; the design as always was breathtaking--the theatrical things she does with fabric make me tear up they're so beautiful--the acting was precise and funny and brilliant, the script was solid and paced well, the meta-theatrical elements were perfection. So, so good. So absolutely worth the trip even if that was the only show we'd seen. I'm so glad we went for it.

& Ashland itself is wonderful--I've been there enough now that I feel I can make my way around the main parts near the festival with no trouble (helps that the town is like four feet square, but you know), but there's still always new lovely things to find, like the labyrinth painted in the meditation garden at the historic episcopal church.

*&etc: cuddling with a giant dog while watching tv; lunchtime with friends and dog and cat; rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal and being unable to work on lines during downtime in rehearsal because it's far too hilarious and entertaining to watch everyone else rehearse scenes; colorful socks; warm tea; the barista at my local coffeeshop who is super friendly & sweet; bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches; singing along loudly to silly pop music in the car while driving with the windows down; sitting in a shady breezy bookstore garden patio with iced tea and a science magazine--a perfect afternoon; my new ear piercing which I love and which is healing well so far; finding the perfect gift for someone you didn't know you needed to buy them; gorgeous costumes in the OSF windows; hot cider while watching theater outdoors...

what do you love?

So. If you weren't in Seattle or following the news yesterday, there was a shooting in several parts of the city that left (now) five people dead and one seriously injured. We've had a stupid amount of shootings in Seattle lately--well, any amount of shootings is a terrible amount if you ask me--but this one hit a little closer to home. I didn't know any of the victims personally, but I'd seen two of them perform several times, and a great many of my close friends were very close with many of the people who died yesterday. So it was a strange and freaky day, to say the very very least.

So, things I love and am grateful for? Everything. I am grateful to be alive. I am selfishly grateful that my family and friends weren't killed. I am grateful for information spreading tech so that everyone was constantly updated and could keep themselves as safe as is possible in a situation like that. (That may be the only time in my life that "twitter" will show up on a TiLT post, so savor it.) I love my friends and my family and feel incredibly lucky to know and love so many amazing people who love me. I love the community and interlocking communities I live in and spend time in. I am grateful that I can pursue what I love and that I have enough resources to continue to build a good life for myself. I'm grateful for you. I don't know that I can say much more than that.

This is always a real question for whoever might read this, but I mean it even more this time: what do you love?

But literally, I think--we're in for that Seattle style cold-and-rainy-June after a glorious May. No problem, as long as I get at least one deliciously bright and sunny Folklife day, I'll be happy with it. Still, I have really enjoyed this long unbroken line of warm sunny days; it's weird, but man, does it ever make me happy! Other things that make me happy right now:

* first read-through for the summer park show this year! (great cast, silly show, fun fun fun in the park, I love it) * making new theater friends * pan-fried tofu with taco seasoning, why have I never thought of this before * giving really excellent job interviews (I didn't get the job due to my schedule, but they liked me! & that's all I can ask for, really) * fresh salads, mmm * gorgeous and hilarious wedding photos from Elsa & Jon's shindig * well adapted theater * sunlight sunlight sunlight * iced tea  in my fridge every day * wearing short-shorts for an entire week in a row * Carbon Leaf! * singing loudly in the car * yoga after a long hiatus * http://calmingmanatee.com/  (my favorite so far is "you get it, girl") * sandals & bare feet * 

what do you love?