WaaH HOOoh.

We now have less than one year to suffer under the Presidential Imbecile.

I Even Ate First

Dammit!

I just finished watching the film Big Night, and I am hungry again.

The Day I Knew Would Come...

... has arrived.

I am now out of bookshelf space in my apartment.

Time to move.

Happy New Year

A New Year.

Really, how the eff did it get to be 2008.  Just yesterday it was March.

Unlike last year, where I missed the turning of the new year because I was reading a book, I actually managed to make plans and go out.  Indeed I went to two parties and had a wonderfully festive time at both.  I even got kissed at midnight.

The down side of New Years Day, other than the hangover, is it is a week before my birthday. So that whole what have I done in the last year/ what am I going to do in the future year just feels so much more intense.

The past year was mostly up, with a bit of down.

The Ups:

Two fantastic design gigs with the most creatively inspiring director I have ever had the privilege of working with.  

I got to assist on a show at Roundabout Theatre in NY.

I managed to patch up a friendship that had gone south.

I got to work with a director who wants to hire me for much better money at another theatre.

I had work for the whole year.

Also for a brief time I was involved in a relationship, which was lovely while it lasted.

The Downs:

My brief relationship ended.

My uncle passed away after a short illness, and I did not have a chance to see him before he died.

The year ahead looks far more uncertain.  I don't have a lot of design work lined up at the moment, although there are some rumors on the wind.  

I am planning to take the Scene Design Exam in the Spring.

I have decided to swear off women for the year.  I love the women in my life dearly, but women are insane.  And all of the MSGAP who I have said this to agree.

I hope everyone's New Year is safe, happy and prosperous.

If You Are Planning To Buy A Car...

...please consider buying a Ford.

I stopped driving several years ago, so I cannot comment on the quality of Ford's automobiles.  However, their commitment to fair treatment of homosexuals and trans-genders is certainly something worth supporting.

Interestingly enough I was alerted to this by an email from the American Family Association, an organization that seems, at least as far as I can tell from it's emails, to spend most of it's energy and resources promoting blind hatred and bigotry disguised as religion.  They refer to the "Homosexual Agenda" and ask their members to encourage companies that have non-discrimination policies and provide benefits to same sex partners to "remain neutral".

The rest of their emails tend to be about boycotting stores that use the words "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas".  One wonders in a nation with somewhere between 700,000 and 2,000,000 people homeless (36% of whom are families with children),  36.5 million people living in poverty (including 12.8 million children) and 47 million people without health insurance (including 8.7 million children), what Jesus would have to say to those bastards who won't say "Merry Christmas".

I Love Panda Cam!

It's just a little burst of happiness in the day.

Am I The Only One Who Thinks This?

The Internet is the worse thing to happen to dating.

Ever.

The Holidays

The period from Thanksgiving to New Year's is my favorite time of the year.  It always reminds me of good food, fine wine and the company of people whom I love.  Even if I don't get to partake in all of that every year, I still love the season and all it means.

And the best part of the whole package is Christmas.  I was discussing this recently with a friend of mine who noted how strange it was that an atheist (ie me) should love Christmas so much.  I tried to quote to her the passage from the Bible that to me sums up the idea behind Christmas* but I mangled it.  Here it is:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them: and they were afraid.

And the Angel said unto them, "Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

While I don't believe in the divinity of Jesus, I do think he had a lot of great ideas about what it means to be a part of the human race.  And I don't think it at all hypocritical to celebrate that idea; peace on earth, good will toward men.  Would we did not have to confine that notion to one day.

So I hope my non- Christian friends will forgive me when I wish you all a Merry Christmas.  I hope you all can take from it the same meaning I do.  

And wishes for you all to have a Happy New Year.

* So did Charles Schultz.

Wahoooo!

This is my first post from my new I-Mac.

I love this machine.

DAMMITT!!!

That is all.

Randomly Overheard Statements This Past Weekend

"It's sheep, sheep, sheep, and then we're out."

Dan Covey

"It's that sheep! It's trying to kill us!"

Holly Twyford

What Are You Doing Saturday Night?

This Bitches!

If Only You Could Translate Sounds Onto Blogger

Then you would hear me crashing and burning.

To the MSGAP, ignore the previous post.

A Question For The MSGAP*

What do you think of asking someone out via email?

* Multi- State, Girlie- Advising Posse

Update?

For several months I have been less than motivated to write here on the ol blog. Part of the reason is that work has been busier than the law should allow. Seriously, I went four months without going to the grocery store. There are only so many different meals you can really make from the stuff available at 7-11.

Another factor in my lack of posting was being involved in a relationship for a while. Strangely enough, I wanted to spend free time with the GF rather than sitting about writing blog posts.

Probably the biggest reason for my silence of late is that most of the things I have cared enough to write about recently I have cared too much about to write a half-assed or truncated post.

I would like to pause and say a big thank you to those of you who have continued to tune in despite the lack of reasons to do so. I appreciate your loyalty.

So what is going on?

I am currently in Baltimore designing scenery for one of the universities up here. The show has been going fairly well, although there have been some interesting mindset adjustments that have had to be made. For instance, part of the action of the play is for one of the characters to smash a guitar onstage. I suggested rigging a fake guitar to do this bit, but instead we purchased enough guitars to destroy one every night of tech and performance.

We have spent more on guitars for this show than the scenery budgets for several projects I was involved in last season. Of course this is a university with a "use it or lose it" budget situation. Like I said, a whole different world.

I have met someone I think I would like to see a whole lot more of. I suppose time will tell.

Work slows down considerably after this week. I am actually going on vacation for a while. Looking forward to getting away.

I hope I will get back to a little bit of blogging soon.

Peace in yer crease.

Why I Am Aggravated At The Moment

Because I am a big wuss.

It is amazing how much this bothers me.

And yes, I know I am being cryptic again.

Eastern Promises

Easily the best movie I have seen all year.

A Moment Of Silence

Luciano Pavarotti died today at the age of 71.

Argh!

Expletive! Expletive! Expletive!

That is all.

Blah!

I am in California at the moment. Tonight was 1st preview for Bleacher Bums. The show has been going well so far. We will start tech-ing The Weir on Monday. I will catch a plane Wednesday and finally head home.

As always seems to happen when I go out of town for extended periods of time, life has thrown me a few curve balls*. One of my mother's two surviving brothers had been sick and went to the hospital to discover that his whole body is riddled with cancer. The doctors have estimated one to six months left for him.

I received an email last week that a friend from college (the first time) died after a long illness last Sunday. Steve was truly one of the good guys. Despite the pressure of a very intensive program, he was always able to maintain a view of the larger picture. He was a dedicated family man and managed to find a balance between life and work that has so far eluded me. I wish I was a better writer so I could really express what a loss to the world Steve's passing is.

I won't go into details other than to say there is no bad guy in the situation, but I am single again.

I will pause here to say Happy Birthday to S, who is 28 today.

Peace in your crease, folks.