"Do We Really Hate Anne Hathaway?"
I don't hate Anne Hathaway, for the record.
Also, can "actressy" stop being a bad thing? Or maybe stop being a thing at all? Not all actresses are "actressy" and not all "actressy" people act. Mostly, let's never use any form of "actor"/"actress" pejoratively, okay? Thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx8DO-yeUyA
Every Easter I get nostalgic for this commercial. Then, I get nostalgic for all the things about my life during the period of time it was on the air - pets and plays in school, Holiday TV specials, and being so wide-awake-excited about the Easter Bunny that I'd get up and do squat-thrusts on my little twin bed to exhaust myself so I could fall asleep.
Just consider the following three songs: Time In A Bottle (even though the "logic" of this song's main conceit makes me a little crazy):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM
I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN1nMpmC0n4
(And my favorite) I Got A Name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcqauC49Xmc
Still not sold? Try one at karaoke.
More HERE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gxs78C3XGok
Joanna Goddard of the excellent blog A Cup Of Jo recently posted this video and I thought it was so excellent I wanted to post it as well.
It's not that what Ash says in the video is surprising or particularly new to me, but it's said really well and it touches on a huge category of my brain activity which is "fantasies about how I'll teach my kid to be a good person and do what's right." I have fantasies all the time about talking to my son about just this sort of issue - I work out my own version of this speech (and many others) so I'm ready - which is why I appreciate being given such a great template. If you've got 5 minutes, check it out. It's totally worth it.
Today is my kiddo's birthday! He's more sweet and bright and fun every day and I feel so lucky that he's a part of my life.
Here's what I want:It's a service like Style For Hire except it's about housekeeping.
So where, with Style For Hire, a Stacy London-approved stylist comes and works with you to style the clothing you've already got (and maybe do some strategic additional shopping), with my idea a (let's just say) Martha Stewart-approved housekeeping maven would come to your house and help you figure out the best way to keep your house clean - the order in which to clean things, tools and techniques for getting things done efficiently, etc. Maybe this person would also help me set up a calendar of home maintenance tasks - bigger things that don't need to happen every week.
I clean my apartment once a week and it takes me about two hours which, I think, is a reasonable amount of time. But I also know there are things I could do better (like floor mopping) and things I really don't know how - or how often - to do at all (like taking care of the wainscoting). A service like the one I've imagined feels like a great way to clean better and more efficiently without resorting to hiring a cleaning person.
So, universe, get on that, please.
Last night I participated in a reading of Futurist and Neo-Futurist texts. It was the second of four such evenings - each exploring a different "-ism" - in a series called Disembodied voices, all taking place at Jack in Brooklyn.
It was a fun event - three of us Neo-Futurists plus two actors we'd never met before our one rehearsal two days prior, read excerpts from The Futurist Manifesto by Marinetti, Italian Futurist plays by several different authors, and three of our own Neo-Futurist plays.
Additionally, there was a recorded sound piece that incorporated a visual in the form of two static sculptural pieces and then an electronic musician who creates improvised pieces using a series of small, battery-powered motors and then adding different additional pieces which would vibrate and create the sound.
After there was a great group discussion about Italian Futurism, its relationship to Fascism (the politics of the time), Neo-Futurism and the future in general. The audience was rather academic - smart and engaged - and it was a gratifying and illuminating conversation.
The whole thing was super nerdy in a really great way.
Then, the other two Neo-Futurists and I went to Locanda Vini e Olii and had a memorably delightful and delicious time eating together at the bar.
The next two Disembodied Voices evenings are going to be on Dadaism and Surrealism and I really encourage you to check them out. While you're at it, think about making a reservation at Locanda Vini e Olii. If you go, keep an eye out for Daniel the bartender who I like to think of as Italian Joseph Gordon Leavitt.
Last Friday I went to see David Henry Hwang's The Dance and the Railroad at the Signature Theater. It was - it is - EXCELLENT. What, specifically, was excellent? Off the top of my head, I'd say the writing, the performances, the direction, the set, the lights, the sound . . . please just go see it already.
More broadly, if you're not already familiar, please acquaint yourself with the Signature Theater. Beyond the stand-alone excellence of their productions, they provide the opportunity to get to know the work of important playwrights - like Mr. Hwang - more deeply, via their mission and programming philosophy.
Also, on a related note, I heard on the radio yesterday that the Signature theater had the highest rate of actors of color in their productions - this in a climate in which only 23% of actors performing on NYC stages are not white.
High-Five, Signature! I love you.
There's a reason George Clooney has a successful acting career and it has a lot to do with his talent, his smarts and, oh yeah, his looks. He keeps working and we're not surprised. One of the first blogs I started reading is MightyGirl - I've been reading it for years - and this recent post is a great example of why I keep coming back (nevermind that she happens to be quoting another blog I enjoy).
I try to do right by you blog readers of mine, but I'm just a newbie compared with Ms. Maggie Mason of MightyGirl - she's like the George Clooney of bloggers.
I've been feeling really compelled by Bunheads, especially since season 2 started.
(If you like it too, leave a comment because I don't have anyone to talk to about it!)
"High Maintenance" is a web series about a pot dealer. It has just begun its second cycle and I stumbled onto it because Michael Cyril Creighton (fellow New York Neo-Futurist alumni and super star of his own web series Jack In A Box), Max Jenkins (fellow Committed Impulse classmate) and Katja Bichfeld (30 Rock casting director who I once met in an Actors Connection workshop she was teaching and thought was SUPER cool) are all involved. Katja is a Co-creater and Executive Producer and Michael and Max star in separate (but equally wonderful) episodes. You know it's good because I'm such an anti-drug nerd that the pot-smoking-neighbor episode of Louie made me wildly uncomfortable and yet I'm energetically recommending that you check "High Maintenance" out. It did not make me uncomfortable; it delighted me.
Here is the "High Maintenance" website.
Click HERE to see Michael Cyril Crighton's episode, "Helen" and Max Jenkin's episode, "Olivia" (and the rest of the episodes as well).
Enjoy!
"Tar Baby" is the newest one-woman show written and performed by Desiree Burch. It's currently running off-Broadway at the DR2 through January 19th.
Here's the blurb:
Celebrated Huffington Post and NY Magazine comedian Desiree Burch presents Tar Baby - the tale of America’s black & white love affair from shotgun wedding to “post-racial” relationship. Speaking to a growing majority of minority experiences in America, Tar Baby effortlessly weaves games, audiences, laughter and insight in an interactive carnival of Race & Capitalism - where no one's a winner, but everyone's still playing!
Backstage just gave it a great review (click to read).
And here's a fun 30-second teaser.
I haven't seen this version yet, but I saw an earlier production and it was AMAZING. I have no doubt that Desiree has continued to grow and improve the piece.
I'll be there on Monday the 14th if you want to be my coincidental date. I am SO EXCITED for Desiree's success.
The theme for 2013 is EASE.
2012 made me into a goal-setter when I had never been one before. A to-do list maker? Sure. An action-item creator? You bet! A deadline setter for accomplishments? Absolutely! But I had never really set the goals that all of those to-do list and action-items were serving.
Then I had a baby. The time that was MINE was instantly in smaller and more discrete bites and goal-setting, naturally and intuitively, was how I dealt with making every minute of that MINE time count.
The other thing that happened to the MINE time, though, was that over time it became fraught. On a great day I had four hours to work on my career; more recently a good day is three hours and that's pushing it. Soon, as soon as my kiddo was asleep and it was time to work on my to-do list or action items I was increasingly paralyzed by the tension around "I only have a little bit of time! What should I do?! What if I don't get it done?! What if the baby wakes up?!?!?" I was wasting my precious time - already in short supply - with tension and anxiety.
So in 2013, my watchword is EASE. It means working just as hard as before towards my goals but skipping over the extra worry that slows down productivity. So far, I'm mediocre at EASE, but just having the intention has already made a good difference.
Happy New Year!
To be clear: I'm a lapsed Presbyterian. But I love a Latke (and o.m.g. don't even get me started on hamentashen). In the past I've been invited to the homes of other, more-expert Latke makers than myself to partake in this seasonal delight. But, as with so many other things in this first year of having a baby, if I wanted Latkes I realized I was going to have to make them chez moi.
I made the first batch of Latkes, on Saturday night, according to the Gourmet cookbook's recipe - a pound of potatos grated on a box grater, mixed with some finely chopped onion all wrung out and tosed with some salt and pepper and one egg, dropped into a pan with some hot olive oil, pressed flat and flipped. Salt, keep warm in the oven . . . delicious!! I also cooked some sausages (keeping kosher not being a mandate for the lapsed-Presbyterian) on my grill pan. They smoked up the whole apartment but they were delicious with grainy mustard and a really nice Latke-accompanyment.
Last night, I made Latkes part 2. This was actually a Pomme Paillasson - a skillet-sized potato cake - aka a GIANT Latke. My friend Bekah came over to help. The recipe we used, sent to my e-mail from a private chef, involved 2.5 pounds of potatos grated using my cuisinart, wrung out and mixed with salt and pepper and then pressed into the bottom of a large pan into which butter had been melted. Caramelized onions were sandwiched between the bottom and top layers of grated potatoes and the whole thing was elaborately flipped using two plates and some chutzpah in order to cook the other side. We cut it into wedges and served it with a frisee salad that involved endive, radish and apple, the recipe for which I found on epicurious.com.
We finished both Latke meals with these cookies which have gotten more delicious with age (maybe that sounds gross, but it's true). My friend Rob who came for Latkes #1 suggested they would also be delicious with fruit and nuts instead of chocolate. In any case, these cookies mixed up easily and are a treat!
I hope you're enjoying the holiday season and it's many treats and traditions!!
So I attended the Bust Craftacular earlier this month. Because this year I went with a baby strapped to me, I spent less time lingering over the various wares than in years past, but I can assure you that the event - and the crafting community - is thriving and bursting with festivity.
With the $3 price of admission, I was given a gift-bag which was full of a lot of surprisingly awesome stuff! We got:
Additionally, I stumbled across the following compelling vendors:
Happy Holiday Shopping!
Here's a joke my mom texted me last week:
Q: Why didn't the snow come to the party?
A: Because it was a bunch of flakes!
Tee hee.
No real snow here in NYC yet. Here's hoping . . .
. . . and, though I sorely wish I could submit myself for this role, "Warrior Woman" just isn't for me:
[ WARRIOR WOMAN ]
Female, age 18-35, all ethnicities. Lord of the Rings kind of Dwarf. Warrior woman who is capable to do things like some stunts, willing to get dirty with soil, to run in the forest & fight.
For the record, I will run in the forest & fight ay day.
Recently, via this post on Mightygirl.net, I stumbled across this video:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siu6JYqOZ0g&w=560&h=315]
It resonated with me as an artist, a mother, a sister, a daughter . . .
When I was much younger, I always thought that if we could all find and follow our true passion, the world would be a better place. I realize it's naive, but the video inclines me toward that sort of optimism.
Hey, The Blog! I didn't forget about you! I've been busy going on a bunch of auditions and working on this:
On The Future is the New York Neo-Futurists Fall Prime Time show. This time around, instead of one 75-90 minute piece of theater, the Neos decided to create an evening of six 10-minute plays and I wrote one! All of the plays somehow reflect the authors' visions of the future. Mine is about preparing for the future . . .
Click Here for more info on the New York Neo-Futurists' website.
Click Here for the Facebook event.
And let me know if you're going - I'll try to arrange to bump into you.
Today I rode down in the elevator of my building with a delivery guy who'd been bringing lunch to my neighbor. Looking into my stroller he asked, "Is that your baby?""Yes." "How old?" "Five months." "I have . . ." "You have a baby?" "Yes." "How old?" "Five" "Years?" "Yes." "Wow! Boy or girl?" "Boy." He had his head in his blackberry. A pause. And then he showed me: a photo of him holding his little boy on his knee, both smiling. "He looks like you," I said. "Yes." He beamed.
Six floors. Human connection. Hard to ask for more than that from an elevator ride.