Drink wine and screw.

Lots and lots has happened this week, but what I really want to talk about is the Queens of the Stone Age concert I went to. Not that I even have anything of interest to say other then FUCK, I had an amazing time. I was just so goddamn happy. There is nothing like hearing them live. I dragged Joe to the front of the standing room because I refused to be far away. I'm so happy I did. It's goddamn intoxicating. The audience was so strange though! So still. and quiet. For a rock concert. why? It's meant to be enjoyed! Meant to be danced to! who cares though? I felt great.

just. yes. It was so nice to not be thinking about anything. To just share this amazing experience with Joe. I had missed him so much this past week and it made me so happy to just be with him and have an amazing time. It was a really wonderful weekend that I'm so thankful for.

We also got to see a play together on Friday night and dinner in the North End on Sunday night. It was basically a weekend of awesome dates!!!




On another note Blackadder opens in LESS then two weeks!!!

Rehearsal yesterday went so well. We worked on the episode where I only have like, five lines, yet I was STILL struggling with the accent. What the hell? Ha! A couple of rehearsals ago the Assistant Director (who is ACTUALLY British) helped me with my accent and it made me feel so much better. Well, yesterday was the first day our director saw the accent work the AD had done with me and felt a lot better about the scene! YES. It's so a great feeling to know that even though I only have a very small part in that scene I'm still getting worked with on it. Nobody cares that it's a small part, they still want it to be GOOD and they want me to feel comfortable doing it! It's so nice. It makes me feel really fortunate to be working with these people.

ALSO. I have to go BLONDE for this show. YES. I'm going to be bizarro Chelsea.

Oh god, I want to go into detail about last week but it whooshed by so quickly. Some bullet points.

- Saw My Wonderful Day. V. funny show. Great premise.
- Helped Kyler with Twelfth Night Auditions (that was awesome)
- Did some Freedom Trail training for seven hours in the bitter, bitter cold. However, found out I made a really, really great hourly wage so I feel GREAT.

Man, I've been drinking wine this evening so I'm done with writing in this thing, but HEY. wine is great. life is good. I'm at another point in my life where I'm restructuring how I live. And that's good. always figuring things out. yessss.

Aren't Sundays supposed to be lazy?

Not that I'm complaining!

It's been a strange wack-a-doo week. I've felt inconsistent. Unable to focus. But I've also felt great about some things and tense about others. But! There are grand things afoot. And I like that. Of course! Oh! And surreal. There have been some surreal moments this week. Like leg puppetry. We all need a little leg puppetry in our lives! More on that later.

We've finally settled on a space for Super Land and I'm fucking giddy about it! I've really, really wanted to see this play happen for numerous reasons. It's a new work! It's campy! It's different! It's fun! It's exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see happen in starting our little theatre group. And now we've got something tangible to work towards. Ah! Yes!

Wednesday night Conor and I went to help out my friend Veronica by filming her leg puppetry performance. It was so neat:



She had trap door made in the ceiling so she could rig a climbing harness right above it, that way she was able to dangle her legs through the trap door and use her legs as individual puppets. Each of her legs was a specific character and it was goddamn adorable. The concept was really delightful and she pulled it off so well! There's something really bizarre and wonderful about seeing legs coming out of the ceiling. After awhile I forgot that those legs were even attached to a body, which I guess is the remarkable thing about puppetry...!

On an unrelated note I just spun around in my chair and saw Maestro passed out on his back in my doorway. I love when he does that. He becomes Sleepy Guardian of the Hallway!!!

Back to leg night. On our way out we made sure to grab a picture of this wonderful sign:



Kids must love going to Dr. Butts.

Maestro had his second class and I was really proud of him. Even though he was kind of a prick at the beginning I found his response to the work we did in class really rewarding! She had us put all of our dogs in crates for the class and for the first few minutes Maestro was fine, but then all of a suddenly he was like "Waiiiit a second, what?!" and he started barking his fool head off. I was persistent and I kept telling him quiet/pulling his leash then walking away. Eventually he finally started listening! And then I was able to give him a treat every time I looked over and saw he was lying down quietly! I was so proud of him for figuring it out and responding to me. We've been continuing the crate work at home and he's just getting better and better. I really do love my little guy.

After class I went out for Megan's birthday (which also happens to be St. Patrick's Day) and got way too drunk (I didn't even drink THAT much! Shows how much of a lightweight I've become...). I think because I've been so busy lately and I've been thinking about so many damn things that I haven't had time to really think about how I feel right now. So when I got drunk it was just this wild wave of emotions. All over the place of course! I had a good cry, good laughs, good rants. Although, I really don't like having little control over myself. Ah, well! Can't regret a good night. This is why I could never really be an alcoholic! Getting drunk takes waaaay too much out of me and it makes me not want to drink for a little while.

Friday was a wonky day because of the whole drinking-the-night-before thing and I never quite got my equilibrium back that day. I did, however, go to see Katie's show "Alice in Bed". I was so proud of them. It was one of those things where they were like "let's just put on a play" and they did. The script wasn't my favorite, but it didn't really matter because all of the actors were great. Especially Katie.



Saturday my friend Emily e-mailed me a way to get free tickets to The Donkey Show, which is a re-telling of A Midsummer Night's Dream through DISCO!

It was a blast. If I could sing I would want to be in it SO BADLY. I danced so hard.

Note: I'd been working on this post and got distracted and never posted it. It's hard to finish now because I started writing it so long ago so I'll just post as is! Who cares?!

Castle Island!!!!

One of my favorite people in the world came to visit this weekend:



(Hank, the dog, came to visit this weekend too. He was also fun...despite being an idiot). Emma lives in New York City and I really can't even begin to tell anyone how much I miss her. She has this way of making everyone around her feel like they are filled with potential and wonder. Whenever she's around I'm so receptive and positive about everything that's going on. She's just a genuinely good person and I'm really lucky to know her.

Sorry, Emma, It's TRUE!!!

We had a great weekend. Friday night we saw Prometheus Bound, I'm too lazy to go into any sort of in depth review at the moment, but it was definitely something! One thing I will say is it really pissed me off that all of the actors were brought in from New York City. It's such a bitch slap to all the professional actors working in Boston who could have EASILY played the roles in that show. Why give the limited amount of paid acting gigs in Boston to people who don't even live there? It's shit. Now that's not to say the actors they cast weren't good, of course they were!! But they weren't so good that it justified going to New York for them. Come on.

Anywho! The next day I had an early Stage Door show.



After the show I came home and I rallied the troops. It was the first beautiful day in AGES and there's one thing you MUST to do on a beautiful day in these parts...and that's go to Castle Island! Castle Island is, well, not REALLY an island because it's now connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. But it's about 3 miles away from where I live and you can walk all the way along the beach to get there. It really is a beautiful walk.

So we took the dogs (Hank and Maestro) and began our journey. I let Maestro off leash for a little bit on the beach and he ran into the ocean!! Only for about thirty seconds or so, but it was wonderful. I ran down the beach and he chased after me. best.

It was just nice to be outside on a beautiful day with my friends.

I feel like I didn't really appreciate a gorgeous day in California because it's almost ALWAYS nice out there. In Boston? First sunny day above 50 degrees and EVERYBODY is outside. It's like the entire city comes out and shares the simple pleasure of nice weather.



Sunday I worked all day with Andres (it was great), and Emma left (bummer).

Hmm, I already I have to leave soon so some bullet points.
- still don't think I'm cut out to teach a class of eight 3 - 5 year olds, ha!
- looked at a space to put Super Land up in, went very well! A definite possibility.
- Sunday night beer + rock band = bliss!!!!
- I need to get With These Hands back on track.
- Saw House of Yes, solid production
- Just need to see My Wonderful Day and Bear Patrol, whew.

There!

Reasons to be Pretty and how I almost lost my keys

Today I saw Reasons to be Pretty by Neil Labute.

Now, I read this play in college, and I have to say I'm a waffler when it comes to Labute. Some of his plays I love (Mercy Seat, Bash). Others I could take or leave. I thought reasons to be pretty was one of these plays. When I read it I thought it was stupidly shallow and mundane. Nothing special. Just a bunch of characters cursing at each other and fighting over stupid shit. It didn't seem like something that could be emotionally compelling to me.



After seeing it last night all of that changed. What a wonderful, wonderful performance. I was completely sucked into the play and the two hours flew by. Conor went with me and he turned to me right after curtain call and said "That's the end?! It went by so quickly!".

All of the actors were perfectly cast and I hated all of the characters for one reason or another. Steph was an over indulgent drama queen, Greg was a lazy intellectual, Kent was a capital D douche bag, and Carly was a vapid moron.

But even though I thought all of these people were AWFUL I still felt horrible for them. Except for Kent. When he got the shit beat out of him towards the end of the show I practically cheered.

The show was so goddamn truthful. Women really DO get upset about things like being called "regular" by their boyfriends and they DO have huge horrible arguments about it. It doesn't seem like it's a big deal when it's said like that, but when you're watching these painful verbal battles play out in front of you then you really feel how upsetting the situation is. I mean, nobody writes plays about petty relationship problems, but the truth is a lot of people go through it and it's cathartic to see it and know that, hey, it's real. It's part of many people's lives. So many people get trapped in these long term relationships because it's "fine" and they are afraid to be alone, but in the end, is it worth it? And maybe it's good that Greg called Steph "regular" because it gave her a reason to get out of a dead end relationship and it gave him a reason to pursue his passions in life.

Mostly the show made me thankful for the people in my life. I'm endlessly glad that I'm not dealing with drama on that level, and as painful as some of those scenes were to watch, they made me sigh with relief. "I don't know anyone cheating on their pregnant wife...Hallelujah!"

On another note, the transitions were great. All of the actors did their scene changes in character and it made them really enjoyable to watch. I made it so I didn't get taken out of the show while they were changing the set.

Really worth seeing.

I'm so glad Conor went with me! I've had trouble finding people to go see shows with lately because they are either busy rehearsing or lazy or poor or all three. But Conor and I had a great time. Before hand we went to The Beehive and were surprised to see they were having a Venetian Carnivale themed night! I got a free mask and a martini called "The Arlecchino".

Yesterday I almost lost my keys forever. Which was tragic. I had taken Maestro for a run at 7am (he was being a prick, so I was trying to wear him out) and realized they were gone. I frantically searched the ground on my route. I had gone home and given up until I realized I should go and ask in all of the stores in the neighborhood. Thankfully somebody had dropped them off at the convenience store.

This was the second time I've almost lost my "Pussy Wagon" keychain. The first time being in The Netherlands years ago. Mike said "The Pussy Wagon will always return to you. Always."

I hope that's true. I'd be pretty heart broken if I lost it now!

The Hotel Nepenthe (and dog training)

Last night I saw "The Hotel Nepenthe" done by Actors Shakespeare Project. Some of my favorite actors in Boston were in it!



What a quirky, entertaining, thoughtful show! The premise is a bit hard to explain, but essentially it's about a bunch of characters who are connected by this one hotel. There were four actors playing many different parts and they did a fantastic job of defining each individual character. Some of the strongest acting I've seen. And so very funny! The tone of the show bounced around considerably. Some scenes were noir-ish others seemed like they were right out of a slapstick comedy. Some were family drama or magical realism. All of them were engaging and all of the characters felt real. I believed them all. Even the outrageous ones!

The ending was a little bit of a cop out, but I wasn't too upset by it because I got what they were trying to say. And I liked it.

The lighting and sound design were phenomenal. The set never really changed (it consisted of four "dressing rooms" with a bunch of clothes on each rack, a podium, a bathtub, a couch, some chairs, some tvs, and some video cameras), but there were SO many locations. They had scenes take place in cars, taxis, buses, a bedroom, an elevator, a rental car agency, and a store and I was never unclear where people were. The actors made us believe it with their physicality and the lights and sound brought us the rest of the way there. For example the bus was merely one guy sitting on the couch on the opposite side of the stage from a guy sitting in a fold up chair. When he stumbled up to the guy playing the driver I really saw the bus because of how he moved and the sound effects they used. It was so simple, but so very effective!

Oh! And the show was done in an old retail space which they did a lot of neat things with! For the scene that took place in a store they just turned on the horrifying florescent lights.

There was one monologue where the actor just had to list off a ton of people and you don't really know why she's doing it until the end of the monologue, but she manages to keep you interested the entire way through. It was really lovely to watch her see each person.

I like bizarre plays that confuse me. I felt like I was putting together a puzzle as I watched and that was so goddamn fun!

Just a really unique, wonderful experience. I'm so glad I got the chance to see it and it's nice to know that Boston is doing theatre like that.



We had our first dog training class with Maestro today!

It was pretty damn informative!

Evidently it's going to be hardest for me to be "alpha dog" in our pack because female owner/male dog (male owner/female dog is the easiest) is the most difficult relationship to have authority over. If I don't train him now he's going to "think I'm his bitch" in the words of the trainer. AWESOME. So we've got to shut that down so our pup doesn't turn into a jerk.

Amusingly enough I get e-mail updates about Maestro's development. They e-mail me every time he reaches a milestone (12 weeks, 16 weeks, etc) and tell me what to expect when he's that age. I got the one for 20 weeks this morning and the sub text was basically "At this age your dog is going to turn into a huge douchebag, have fun!!". It said he's going to bark for no reason. Start marking his territory. Stop listening. etc. etc. They said the best way to deal with this is to train them daily. So! I'm thinking it was a good time to start dog classes...

Here are the things we're supposed to work on with Maestro:
- putting him in his crate at least once a day and having him sleep in it at least once a week (this is so gets comfortable in his crate, it's "his place". He can feel safe and comfortable there. That way we'll never have to worry about putting him there when we have to, we'll know he will be okay!)
- making sure he sees us eat before he does and feeding him in different places every day
- marking/rewarding good behavior that we catch him doing (good down, good crate, good sit, etc.)
- only letting him have chews in his bed or his crate
- moving his crate into a new room every 30 days until he's been in every room
- not allowed on furniture unless a person is also on it
- don't feed at the exact same time every day
- no bed (bummer...)

This also seems pretty reasonable! Next class she's going to put him one of their crates to see what progress we've made. We better get to work! We've only been really using his crate when we have to leave him alone (which really isn't that frequent considering all of the people we live with).

I really like working with Maestro. I taught him a couple of basic commands before we started class (sit, down, rollover, stay, paw), but I think this training will really help him grow into a stable, happy a dog. I really love this damn dog and I want him to have a good life because he brings me so much joy.



Now to play some Pokemon!!!!

Attempts at Gardening, A new job

I've got another job! On Tuesday I'm going to start training to be a guide on the Freedom Trail. I'm really excited because it means I will have to research a TON of U.S history. I love having any reason to learn something new. I only barely remember Mrs. Pyle's AP History Class in high school, and I haven't had any real history classes since. It will be really good for me, I think. And the pay is great! Plus tips! I've been worrying about money lately, but this makes me feel better.

Yesterday I came home after kids show rehearsal (which went...strangely, I'm not sure I like how we're being directed, there's no freedom to be creative or to find the part in your own way. I feel like it's very paint-by-numbers. There's only one way to say a particular line, one way to do a joke, etc. And I feel as if I'm blamed for not doing it right immediately, even though I can't read minds. Oh well! He's a really talented guy, and he knows what's funny, but it doesn't make me any less frustrated. It doesn't really matter because we only rehearse once a week and once I know the show I know it and I have fun performing for the kids...but...ahh. That's how I feel. And this has been the longest parenthetical in the history of mankind. I was going to de-parenthize it, but I decided I like it), and I had a blissful time.

After taking the dogs on a play date with our neighbor's dog, they passed out in my room while I played Beyond Good and Evil and had a glass of wine. Heaven. I've never played that game and it's really, really good. Very streamlined battle system. It also has wonderful music and voice acting. I've only played for about two hours, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. I love having a new game to play.



Backstage at the Children's Museum we have a board where we post things about our upcoming projects. Right now it's an example of what I lovingly call "theatre incest".

From Left to Right:
Book of Days (Anna, a friend of mine, is in this play with Joe), With These Hands (top/my web series that Andres, Joe, and the rest of my roommates are in), Rough Week (our theatre company), and The Freedom Trail (Anna works there and I'm about to start working there).

Everybody is connected in the Boston Theatre scene. It's kind of nice, actually! I adore the people that make up our little community.

My shift at the museum went really well today! The audiences were all so responsive! I really love that job in spite of my earlier bitching about rehearsal.

It was WARM today! So when I got home from work I came and told Lauren "Let's plant some BULBS!".

So we did. This is what we started with:



There was dog poop, dead leaves, trash, and all sorts of other lovely goodies! I don't have an after picture yet because by the time we were done planting it was dark, but trust me, it looks a LOT better.

We planted narcissus, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and A BILLION of crocuses. I have no idea if it's going to work out. We might have planted them too early, but we're hoping for the best. C'mon flowers, BE PRETTY!

Our next goal is to start growing some vegetables from seed inside and move them out into our garden in the spring. So far I think we're going to grow lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, cilantro, chives, garlic, peppers, and various berries. I've never had a real garden before. Last summer I grew lettuce in a window box and it WOULD have been successful, but it bolted before I had a chance to harvest it. This time lettuce, I will SHOW YOU!!!

While we were hard at work these two watched us from the window:



We tried to listen to "This American Life" while we worked, but these doofuses kept knocking the iPod and the speakers off the windowsill. They're lucky they are so goddamn cute.

Mmmm. Speaking of dogs, they are napping on me right now. Mike said I was like "Queen of the Dogs" and then Lauren used the phrase "Queen of Shiba Inu". We're a classy bunch.

Plays I need to see:

A lot of plays I need to see are opening all at once. This is a reminder to myself that I have to see them before they close:

Bear Patrol - Closes March 19th
House of Yes - Closes March 20th
My Wonderful Day - Closes March 26th

Completely manageable! Just have to make sure I see one a weekend! My goal is to start writing about each of the plays I see. Too often I try to recall details of shows I saw months ago and fail miserably!




I caught Pula mid-expression and I love it. She's the most endearingly neurotic dog I've ever met. She's stayed with us before and she will not let me leave a room without her. She needs constant affection and she has so many strange needs that I don't know how to meet. I adore her though, she's a really smart girl, and I love my long walks through the Common and on the Esplanade with her.




I've been particularly giddy the past few days.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I went off my birth control? I didn't think my birth control was affecting me negatively, but I'd been on it for so long, how could I possibly tell the difference? I've just felt so...clear. Maybe it's also because I was so sick last week and my body is still delighting in being healthy. Who knows, maybe I'll wait a bit to renew my birth control prescription and see if these good feelings continue. I like it. I feel more like myself!

We had a screening of the first three episodes of "With These Hands" last night at Rodney's bookstore.

It made me so proud to see all the episodes in a row. So many people worked SO hard on all of them and all because I had a silly little idea. It's really gratifying to see that work laid out right in front of you. To know your friends made it happen.

I can't wait to start filming Episode 4. Scheduling everyone is such a bitch, but I don't care!! I want to make it happen, consarnit! I also want to get better at acting on film. I'm still not all that comfortable with it, and that definitely reads on camera. It doesn't get me down, though. I feel like the more I do it the less awkward I'll feel and the only way to get less awkward is to get more experience! So, onward!

I'm also relieved my Freedom Trail Audition is done with. I think it went pretty darn well, but I'll know for sure tomorrow if I get the job or not. It's just nice not to have to worry about preparing for it anymore.

It looks like I'm going to play Lee in True West. Of course I would play the alcoholic brother who disappears for months into the desert. Why does that feel right?! Reading for him just felt strangely natural. Ha! Maybe I just understand his type.

Either way, YES.