I have no words to describe my happiness...

I can't imagine why I didn't blog about this ages ago.

So guess what everyone...

MY SISTER GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all for now.

Love you all :)

Happy Friday the 13th!

Watch out for machete wielding maniacs!

Hi!

Well, it's official. I'm terrible at this. TERRIBLE I say.

Sorry (yet again) that I have left you all without any blog entries. A lot has been going on.

A LOT.

In January I decided to travel to DC at the end of the month for the DC/Baltimore area Equity Liaison auditions. It's basically a big audition watched by a bunch of different theaters all at once. In other words, a great opportunity.

So, I bought myself a ticket to DC. A few weeks later I found myself in Memphis, TN. More on Memphis later. We were there for a good long while so a bunch of us did a lot of sight-seeing. It was pretty great. The day before our only show in Memphis, though, there was an ice storm warning in effect. The next day when I woke up I had received a text from our stage manager announcing that our show had been cancelled due to the storm. Now, even though this meant I got to sleep in a bit more, it was actually bad news to me. We hadn't done a show in awhile and the tech crew had basically set up our entire set for nothing. Boo.

Anyway, later that day I was trying to find a monologue for the upcoming audition when I received an email...an email which at the time I didn't realize was about to send me spiralling into a bottomless pit of misery. And I'm not exaggerating. The email informed the Tollbooth cast that our next shows in Paducah, KY had been cancelled due to the storms. Uh oh. This meant we wouldn't even be driving to Paducah. Um...I was supposed to fly out of Paducah for the audition.

Shit.

I immediately got on the phone to figure it all out.

Long story short (since I don't feel like revisiting the anguish) I was able to get a new flight but it took about 5 hours of phone time and a whole shitload of money.

I left that same day for DC which turned out to be really nice. I needed to just lay back and relax and I did just that. Also, Paul came down to see me. That was most definitely a plus.

AND I saw Sarah Palin. I swear. I was driving into DC to pick up Paul and I happened to see a woman walking across the street in the most bootiest heeliest bah-BOOTS I have seen in a long while. I noticed that she was being let into a fancy car by a very well put together driver. I happened to glance into her window as she happened to glance out...and we had a moment...a 3 second moment at most. And I saw her. Her face was done and I mean DONE. I got make-up on my face by just looking at her. We stared at each other for those 3 seconds and then I forced myself to look back at the road...I mean, I was driving. It was her. It was Sarah fuckin' Palin. And to be completely honest, she didn't look so bad. I found out later that she had in fact been in town for some sort of dinner or something like that.

Anyway, the audition went well. You only get three minutes to sing a song and do a monologue but thankfully I wasn't cut off. I sang the crap outta the song (Oh Darlin' by The Beatles) and was a little shaky with my monologue because I was nervous but I got it out and even made everyone in the room laugh a little.

So, that's that for now. I'll write soon about our exciting expeditions in Memphis.

But for now I'll leave you with some absolutely RIDICULOUS videos. Hopefully they'll make you laugh a bit.

Both of these are from a Brazilian TV show. This bit out of the show is called Camera Escondida (Hidden Camera). All I can say about this first one is that I would probably pass out if this ever happened to me. From what I can understand the guys who are talking are saying that so far they've caught three snakes just to spook the guys who come in to use the bathroom. Little do these guys know that they are about to get a whole hell of a lot more spooked...


In this next one the guys are being told that they need to go set an alarm in this cemetery while their boss goes to have some dinner. If THIS ever happened to me I am quite certain I would fully pee my pants...


Bye!

Wisconsin!

Yes yes I know. I've been gone too long AGAIN! The reason I haven't been writing much is because for the past month I have been freezing my damn ass off. It was too cold to write, ok? That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So, we're back on the road. We started off in Wausau, Wisconsin which was equal parts thrilling and horrid.We really were spoiled by starting our tour in Florida. I'm guessing that throwing us into Wisconsin in January was the Kennedy Center's way of saying "Welcome back and hold onto your butts!" Well, we most definitely got the message. It was exciting to be back on the road but we hit a few challenges right from the get go.

We planned a lovely free cross-country skiing trip which a bunch of us were really excited about. It was a night trip so it was gonna be especially beautiful...and cold. So, we got ourselves bundled up and headed out in Big Red (one of our vans) for an adventure. Little did we know we'd actually get an adventure. Our GPS led us out into the country and onto some random dirt road which, since it's January, was a snow road. As we were driving we noticed a big lit lodge to our right but our GPS told us to keep going. A few minutes later she exclaimed "You have arrived!"...but we were in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around us but woods. We had, unfortunately, passed our destination. So, we tried to go back. It's not so easy to turn a huge ass van around, though. I suggested to Margo, who was driving, to drive a bit further and pull into a side road which would allow her to back out and turn around. Well, we definitely found a side road but as soon as we turned into it Big Red lost traction. Shit. We were stuck in the snow at night and it was freezing out. Dave got in the drivers seat and tried to rock the van back and forth but unfortunately we just got more stuck. Then, we tried various times to push the van out while someone reversed. Nope. We moved the van a good ten feet but the snow simply refused to let us go. Here's Dave trying to dig us out...And here's poor old Big Red. See where the tracks begin? That's how far we pushed her!What was worse than the fact that we were stuck in the snow was that we could see people skiing by us, cars drove past, Margo even called the lodge but no one would help us! Finally, we realized that someone was gonna have to go back and get someone from the lodge to pull us out. Margo volunteered so off she bravely went running in the dark woods with all the bears and monsters to find someone. She came back awhile later with a very nice man named John who threw some sand on the ground, chained our bumper up to his car, and pulled us right out.

Thanks John!

After Wausau we headed to Madison which was a lot more fun. I've been to Madison before and had a great time so I was happy to be back. Also, I was gonna get to see a teacher of mine from Interlochen, Amy Arntsen.

Our first night in Madison was a blast. A few of us went to a delicious restaurant called Old Fashioned. Then, we headed to a gay bar nearby called Shamrock. On the way, though, we stopped at another restaurant called Brocach for warm drinks. It may have been a short walk but we were freezing! Finally, after having warmed ourselves up a bit, we arrived at Shamrock. It was a weeknight so the crowd was pretty tame. That didn't stop me from hitting up the jukebox! Here's Kevin giving it up...And here I am being ridiculous yet again. I'm guessing Madonna was on. And please observe Carolyn's curious gaze. Is that judgement I see in those eyes?This image sums up the clientele of Shamrock pretty well...There's enough for everyone boys!

Yikes.

Anyway, the next day Margo and I ventured into downtown Madison for some sightseeing. We stopped at a museum to check out an exhibit called Odd Wisconsin. Lemme tell you...it was odd.Here are a few things that I found particularly interesting.

Harry Houdini is from Wisconsin. Here's some of his escape stuff!Old fashioned amputation tools. Ew. And ouch...This rock and note are pretty crazy. Click on the picks to read all about it.Isn't this an amazing picture?This? Not so amazing. Apparently people used to use skunk grease like we use Vick's Vapo-Rub today...Old toast? Gross.This is an Adolf Hitler piggy bank which squeals when you put money in it. Now that's odd...This is CRAZY! It's an ad for the auction of Ed Gein's farm. Ed Gein was the killer who inspired Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence Of The Lambs...And now for something a bit lighter in its loafers. Liberace's jacket...Creepy...Apparently this is the greatest prank in college history. Filling a lawn full of pink flamingos. Seems like a big waste of time to me...Paper dress...Bra flag!There was a whole section on women's rights. I found this picture particularly ridiculous...Margo stopped for a quick fake drink at the fake bar. Looking at odd stuff is exhausting...
After our odd excursion we headed to the Capitol...Beautiful! Inside it was even more beautiful, especially since it was so quiet and there was no one around forcing you to join some sort of tour. Margo and I headed for the very center on the building where the acoustics were incredible. Everything was echoed right back at you. Here's the view looking up from the very middle of the Capitol...These paintings surrounded the ceiling. Government...Justice...Legislation...Liberty...
After our visit at the Capitol, Margo and I headed back to our hotel. But not before we stopped at a cheese shop for the obligatory Wisconsin cheesehead shot...
The highlight of my trip to Madison was most definitely having dinner at Amy Arntsen's house. Amy taught at Interlochen when I went there and recently moved back to Madison, her hometown. She was nice enough to have me, Kevin, and Margo over for dinner at her cute house she just bought near Madison. After showing us around her house, she treated us to a wonderful home cooked meal complete with stiff drinks (a true Wiscon tradition!), a variety of cheeses, a delicious coq au vin for everyone but me (yup, still a vegetarian), and some amazing Culver's ice cream. It was great. AND she brought out a bunch of Interlochen yearbooks which were pretty hilarious to look through. Thank again Amy :)
Our final excursion in Madison was to a great little theatre downtown to watch Synecdoche, New York. The movie started our promising enough. We all thought it was absolutely hilarious. Plus it was filled with great actors such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, and Dianne Wiest. But somewhere in there it took a very strange turn and left us all a little baffled. I don't think we really got it. Oh well. Here's the theater which, of course, was FREEZING.And here are Carolyn and Kevin, most definitely confused by the movie...
The next day we did a few shows, one of which was attended by Amy. I get so nervous when I know people in the audience but she seemed to really like the show so I'm guessing that means I didn't mess up! Woo! After the show I walked Amy back to where she was parked and she made me insanely jealous by informing me that she was gonna go to a roller-derby that evening. She sent me a message later that week telling me all about the insanity. All I gotta say is that if you get the chance to go to a roller derby...GO!

Oh, and by the way...during our first show one of the charming children in the audience threw a dreidel at us. A DREIDEL.

We left Madison that afternoon and drove straight into -30 degree weather. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went from Madison to Appleton, and then from Appleton to Eau Claire where it was SO FUCKING COLD I COULDN'T BREATHE. Pardon my language...but it was cold enough to justify it. And seriously, I couldn't breathe. We had two shows in Eau Claire but one was cancelled because of the cold. There was a wind chill advisory of something like -50 below. That's not funny. That's not even ridiculous. Not even preposterous. That's LUDICROUS. Unfortunately, we still had to do one show for about 30 kids and the heating in the theatre was not really doing it's job. We were all bundled up like crazy. Poor Carolyn, she's actualy allergic to the cold. I'm not even kidding. She was in quite a bit of pain.

After Wisconsin we made short stops through Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri. By the way, while in Illinois we all decided to donate blood on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I found out, however, that if you are gay you cannot donate blood. How outmoded is that? Honestly, it felt like a slap in the face. Like someone was unjustly labeling me and all gay people as irresponsible sluts. Maybe that's a little extreme. But I felt pretty damn hurt by it. Especially while I had to wait in the blood center lobby like a reject.

Thankfully, Margo brought me a heart shaped twinkie treat after she was done giving blood. It made me feel better. But seriously, this is something that must be changed.

Which leads to the highlight of this blog entry. Barack Obama is now our president and I couldn't be happier. I'm incredibly eager to see where he takes us and what changes will come.

That's all for now. We're now in Meridian, MS where it will be 62 degrees tomorrow. Thank God! On Friday it'll be 72 degrees. It's practically summer down here.

LADY GAGA

No, I have not abandoned you all yet again! I'm still here, there is just so much going on. We have been stuck in the frozen tundra that is Wisconsin for about two weeks. There have been great times...and there have been some pretty shitty times. No lies. But that all requires a much more extensive blog entry! I promise I will write it very very soon.

But I have other things on my mind right now. I discovered Lady GaGa awhile ago and thought nothing much of her. I liked her eccentric outfits and her crazy ass hair but her song Just Dance never really grew on me. Instead, I downloaded her song Poker Face which is a really great track. A few days ago we were all stopped at a gas station and I heard a quick snippet of Just Dance on the radio and actually really kinda liked it. So, as soon as we got to our next hotel I downloaded the song. It's pretty fun! She's a racy, in your face, expressive sort of artist. My kind of artist, if you know what I mean. AND she apparently wrote all the songs on her new album The Fame. Not just the lyrics but the melodies, too. AND she did the whole performing in NYC bars and clubs to get herself going...just like another one of my other favorite artists. She created her own persona, she wasn't created by some record label.

Anyway...she's growing on me.

Here's her video for Poker Face...


And here she is playing the piano and jazzing up Poker Face. Pretty impressive, right?


Bye for now.

2009

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!

Please forgive me for being gone so long. The first half of tour ended right before Thanksgiving and for some reason I decided to take a bit of a break from blogging. A lot has happened! Hopefully I'll be able to catch you all up on everything from the past month and a half.

But right now I'm a bit tired...and a bit sad. I'm not gonna get to see Paul or my family for four months so I'm a bit down in the dumps. But the fact that I'm gonna get to travel to places I've never been before definitely cheers me up.

Anyway, we've been driving all damn day so I think it's time for bed. But I obviously wouldn't leave you without something fun! I just came across this video of Beyonce singing The Way We Were for Barbra Streisand at The Kennedy Center Honors event. How fitting, right? I work for the Kennedy Center and I love both Beyonce and Barbra! Enjoy!



Good night!

Boston and Bowling Balls

So much has happened! This blog entry is gonna be kinda long. But I'm ready for it.....are you?

Let's do it!!!!!

So I left you way back when in Burlington, VT. After Burlington we traveled to Concord, NH (where my dad went to the great St. Paul's School) for two shows. The second show was particularly memorable for me. I wear a wig when I play the Mathemagician, which is one of my many characters in the show. It's this huge white wig with a graduation cap on top. I've never really had a problem with it before aside from the fact that it's hot, it itches, and to be completely honest it's starting to smell a little. During that second show I most definitely had a problem with it.....it went flying off my damn head. That's bad enough but what made it worse was the fact that we had a talk-back after the show. A talk-back is when a group of kids who have just watched the show come backstage to meet us and ask us questions. Needless to say, I was pretty embarrassed.

Anyway!

After Concord we drove to New Bedford, MA. We had a day off there so Carolyn, Margo, Lindsay and I decided to go into Boston. Since I went to school there for four years I got to be the tour guide! We took the commuter rail into South Station and then caught the T to Hynes Convention Center so we could start the tour right at the top of Newbury Street. We walked down Newbury for awhile and then I took the ladies over to beautiful Commonwealth Avenue. I wanna live on Commonwealth!Carolyn and Margo strut like city girls.....We then found some statues along Commonwealth which were more than willing to join in for a photo shoot.....I tried to get this ladies attention. She just wasn't having me. What the hell was she looking at?!I mean, all I wanted was a kiss.....Ha! Awkward. I look like I'm about to eat her nose.

After Commonwealth we headed back to Newbury for some food. Unfortunately, nothing really caught our attention so we headed over to Charles Street for some soup and sandwiches. After lunch we headed into the Boston Gardens.Yoga in the park!New headshot?This fountain has always made me.....uncomfortable. What the hell is going on here?After our walk through the Gardens and Boston Common we walked to downtown Boston to meet my sister at her work. We all then walked to Faneuil Hall where we watched a rather boring street show and did a little shopping. Thankfully, we were near my most favorite spot in all of Boston. Don't ask me why it's my favorite, it just is. It's not even that pretty! It's right on the North End waterfront near the Aquarium. For some reason I just love it there. Woo! My favorite spot!Here's Andrea and I :)Andrea and Lindsay.....Yay Boston!After our waterfront extravaganza we headed to the North End for some Italian food. It was exactly what we needed, we were tired from all the walking! But before we sat down for dinner Andrea took us to see this interesting building. Take a look.....It's called All Saint's Way and it's all lit up and decorated with paintings of all the saints. Kinda cool, right?

All in all, our Boston trip was a wonderful success.

The day after our Boston adventure we had a 3pm show which my sister and a bunch of her friends came to! Thanks again for coming!!! Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the whole group. Silly me.

After the show, Dave, Eric, Rudy, Brian and I went to a nearby bowling alley. We had a really great time despite having to wear the most ridiculous bowling shoes I've ever seen.....I quickly got over the ridiculous shoes. Especially since I scored a Turkey!!! That's when you score three strikes in a row. See?Right next to the J? Yeah! That's me. Somehow I still managed to get third, though. Ugh. Here I am expressing my anger toward Brian. He won.....And here's a few more shots of us bowling away. Brian shows off his amazing bowling skills.....I'm not bitter.Here I am in the process of scoring my Turkey!!!Rudy had a pretty great way of throwing his ball. He was totally Fred Flintstone; I called him Twinkle toes. You can't quite capture the amazingness here but I'll let you all use your imaginations.....This next one is probably the best picture of the night, though. Dave threw his bowling ball with such vigor.....and hit only one pin. Here he is totally dejected.....
That's all for now. Bye!