- I think our neighbors' friends are trying to break into our neighbors' apartment. They're at the main upstairs door and keep yelling and ringing our doorbell. I'm not answering, it's 2 am and I don't know who they are.
- I got rejected from the meaningless acting title for the second year in a row today.
- I have a 14ish page "short" (not short) story due on Monday and have less than a page written.
- I have no time to write said story as I have rehearsal at 10:30 tomorrow morning and am immediately afterward leaving for Illinois for a festival that will go until Sunday.
- Since rehearsal starts at 10:30, I have to get up at 9ish to shower and make it over there, which means I will get 6 1/2 hours of sleep if I'm lucky. And probably less tomorrow night and the night after.
-The cheeseburger and milkshake I had at Sonic last night was easily the most balanced meal I've eaten in a week. It was also one of the only meals I've eaten this week.
Yes, this has been a great day.
04 April 2009
23 March 2009
A Long Post: or, My Life Right Now
The first day back from spring break is pretty much the worst thing ever.
New York was awesome. We saw four shows, two on Broadway and two improv shows. One night we got (really cheap) rush tickets to this new play called Impressionism--still in previews--AND we got front row seats, which was ridiculous. Joan Allen (the mom in Pleasantville, among other things that I haven't seen) and Jeremy Irons (the voice of Scar in The Lion King evidently) starred in it, which was pretty cool, and overall it was a great show--not without its flaws, but really interesting to see something in its earliest stages of performance. The next day we got some more rush tickets to The 39 Steps, a ridiculous spoof of a Hitchcock movie. It used lots of improv techniques which was really interesting, and the first act was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen--unfortunately it lost steam in the 2nd act. Still totally worth it. Then we saw a long form show with performers and writers from NBC--two of the actors who play writers on 30 Rock were performing, one of which was on my coach's team years ago in Chicago. After that we went over to another theatre and saw a group of Titanic alums who live out there now. Both shows were excellent, and overall more impressive than the Broadway shows.
The other highlights of the trip: the $1 falafel sandwich I had in the east village, the exhibit of stage designs at the Museum of Modern Art, playing the "guess the price" game for the ugly designer dresses at Saks Fifth Avenue, the thrift store in Greenwich Village where I got a brand new $220 dress (it still had the tag on it) and a pair of shoes for $19 total, the Max Brenner chocolate shop/restaurant that we stumbled upon and that Willy Wonka himself would probably endorse, and the delicious Indian food. Also, I now hate Times Square (after spending several hours there waiting for shows to start) and New York is not the place to go for a good coffee shop, which surprised me.
Anyway, that was a long description. My life has now switched back into being consumed by Asymmetry. We had the meet and greet tonight, and it was so cool to get all the designers and actors together for the first time. The designs look so good--I feel like the designers are reading my mind, but they're finding thoughts that I didn't know I had. Hearing the play out loud was amazing too--I have a much better idea of where it's going, and some of the moments already sounded really good. I can't wait to get back to rehearsal tomorrow!
New York was awesome. We saw four shows, two on Broadway and two improv shows. One night we got (really cheap) rush tickets to this new play called Impressionism--still in previews--AND we got front row seats, which was ridiculous. Joan Allen (the mom in Pleasantville, among other things that I haven't seen) and Jeremy Irons (the voice of Scar in The Lion King evidently) starred in it, which was pretty cool, and overall it was a great show--not without its flaws, but really interesting to see something in its earliest stages of performance. The next day we got some more rush tickets to The 39 Steps, a ridiculous spoof of a Hitchcock movie. It used lots of improv techniques which was really interesting, and the first act was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen--unfortunately it lost steam in the 2nd act. Still totally worth it. Then we saw a long form show with performers and writers from NBC--two of the actors who play writers on 30 Rock were performing, one of which was on my coach's team years ago in Chicago. After that we went over to another theatre and saw a group of Titanic alums who live out there now. Both shows were excellent, and overall more impressive than the Broadway shows.
The other highlights of the trip: the $1 falafel sandwich I had in the east village, the exhibit of stage designs at the Museum of Modern Art, playing the "guess the price" game for the ugly designer dresses at Saks Fifth Avenue, the thrift store in Greenwich Village where I got a brand new $220 dress (it still had the tag on it) and a pair of shoes for $19 total, the Max Brenner chocolate shop/restaurant that we stumbled upon and that Willy Wonka himself would probably endorse, and the delicious Indian food. Also, I now hate Times Square (after spending several hours there waiting for shows to start) and New York is not the place to go for a good coffee shop, which surprised me.
Anyway, that was a long description. My life has now switched back into being consumed by Asymmetry. We had the meet and greet tonight, and it was so cool to get all the designers and actors together for the first time. The designs look so good--I feel like the designers are reading my mind, but they're finding thoughts that I didn't know I had. Hearing the play out loud was amazing too--I have a much better idea of where it's going, and some of the moments already sounded really good. I can't wait to get back to rehearsal tomorrow!
18 March 2009
Of course...
...the day I leave for New York, and I wake up at 6 am with a horrible sore throat. This would happen, wouldn't it? Time to gargle cayenne pepper for 3 hours and hope it goes away...
16 March 2009
Spring Break and Springtime
It got up to at least 60 degrees today, maybe warmer. What a beautiful surprise for break. This afternoon I got some iced tea and went up to the capitol square to try and get some work done outside. It was too windy to juggle papers so I ended up seeking refuge in a coffee shop, but it was nice while it lasted.
We start rehearsals for Asymmetry right after break, and I have so much to get done before then! I have rough blocking written down for the about 30 pages of the script already--having the whole thing blocked in my head by next week is looking remarkably doable. We got the whole cast together for a meeting last week, and I'm so excited to work with everybody. And terrified--what a daunting task.
I only have another day or so to really work on it, since I leave for New York on Wednesday. I'm super excited to get to actually see stuff in the city, since I didn't get to this summer. We're going to go see improv, and go to museums, and maybe see a show or something. I haven't been on a plane in like 3 years though, and I've always hated flying. Oh well! But it would've been nice to make it home for a weekend--I miss everyone! I hope you're all having awesome breaks!
We start rehearsals for Asymmetry right after break, and I have so much to get done before then! I have rough blocking written down for the about 30 pages of the script already--having the whole thing blocked in my head by next week is looking remarkably doable. We got the whole cast together for a meeting last week, and I'm so excited to work with everybody. And terrified--what a daunting task.
I only have another day or so to really work on it, since I leave for New York on Wednesday. I'm super excited to get to actually see stuff in the city, since I didn't get to this summer. We're going to go see improv, and go to museums, and maybe see a show or something. I haven't been on a plane in like 3 years though, and I've always hated flying. Oh well! But it would've been nice to make it home for a weekend--I miss everyone! I hope you're all having awesome breaks!
24 February 2009
Much Fear Shakespeare
Shakespeare exam tomorrow. I can't seem to study. Today I had the flu. But I don't think it was the real flu, it was just a terrible 9 hours where I couldn't focus and thought I might pass out. The fatigue took over, which was weird because I've gotten enough sleep the last few days. I think it was some kind of anxiety attack. Like...a slow burn or something. I'm worrying about so many things. And I think my health is just off kilter lately anyway. Plus I'm not eating right. Or exercising. My classes might finally stop killing me after this exam tomorrow. And my auditions are Saturday, which is like ten times scarier than going to an audition.
I might have a little faith in myself as a director though. I think I might actually have an authoritative bone in my body. That thought calms me down a little. Once I have a cast, I will probably calm down even more.
I might have a little faith in myself as a director though. I think I might actually have an authoritative bone in my body. That thought calms me down a little. Once I have a cast, I will probably calm down even more.
16 February 2009
A Rough Summary of the Upcoming Week, Starting at This Moment
1. Workshop stories.
2. Get 8 beautiful hours of sleep, probably interrupted by the stifling heat in my apartment and/or extreme feelings of stress.
3. Get story workshopped in class and feel horrible about myself afterwards because the class will inevitably say that the story is "not about anything," or is "cliche and non believable," or that it reads like a play.
4. Listen to remaining nutri sci lectures (or majority thereof) while trying to write restoration paper, therefore missing all the information in the nutri sci lectures and being no better off than when I started.
5. Curse my life at 5 am and vow never to do something like this again. This one is a weekly occurrence.
6. Skip class, hand in paper in next class, and cram for nutri sci.
7. Take nutri sci exam, filling in lots of pretty patterns on the scantron and guessing C when in doubt (on half to 3/4 of the questions).
8. Play hearts on the computer until Scrubs comes on, then watch an hour of Scrubs and whatever dumb show comes on after it. This one is a weekly occurrence.
9. Scramble to read the last act of Much Ado About Nothing and the last four and a half acts of Two Gents of Verona, turning to spark notes less than halfway through.
10. Do scansion and paraphrase homework, wishing I had more energy to put into it.
11. Lunch, class, coffee (hopefully the last of the three will take less than four hours this time).
12. Pretend to read restoration plays for 3 hours before rehearsal. Then realize that in that time I could have read the entire play, and get very upset.
13. Go to rehearsal, get home at 11:30 and sit down to read the whole five acts of the play I was supposed to have read for Tuesday. This one is a weekly occurrence.
14. Thursday classes, after which I will suddenly realize that my concept meeting is on Sunday and I haven't picked up Asymmetry in a week. Panic will ensue.
15. Improv practice! This will be the high point of the week.
16. Frantically try to work on Asymmetry, but by this point will be so burnt out that I will fall asleep as soon as I pick up the play. This is where the downward spiral of productivity begins.
17. This takes me to Friday, when Jenny is coming to visit and perhaps I will relax, or pretend to relax while stress and anxiety brew in my general torso and stomach region. This is the constant state of things for the semester.
18. Repeat for the next thirteen weeks.
2. Get 8 beautiful hours of sleep, probably interrupted by the stifling heat in my apartment and/or extreme feelings of stress.
3. Get story workshopped in class and feel horrible about myself afterwards because the class will inevitably say that the story is "not about anything," or is "cliche and non believable," or that it reads like a play.
4. Listen to remaining nutri sci lectures (or majority thereof) while trying to write restoration paper, therefore missing all the information in the nutri sci lectures and being no better off than when I started.
5. Curse my life at 5 am and vow never to do something like this again. This one is a weekly occurrence.
6. Skip class, hand in paper in next class, and cram for nutri sci.
7. Take nutri sci exam, filling in lots of pretty patterns on the scantron and guessing C when in doubt (on half to 3/4 of the questions).
8. Play hearts on the computer until Scrubs comes on, then watch an hour of Scrubs and whatever dumb show comes on after it. This one is a weekly occurrence.
9. Scramble to read the last act of Much Ado About Nothing and the last four and a half acts of Two Gents of Verona, turning to spark notes less than halfway through.
10. Do scansion and paraphrase homework, wishing I had more energy to put into it.
11. Lunch, class, coffee (hopefully the last of the three will take less than four hours this time).
12. Pretend to read restoration plays for 3 hours before rehearsal. Then realize that in that time I could have read the entire play, and get very upset.
13. Go to rehearsal, get home at 11:30 and sit down to read the whole five acts of the play I was supposed to have read for Tuesday. This one is a weekly occurrence.
14. Thursday classes, after which I will suddenly realize that my concept meeting is on Sunday and I haven't picked up Asymmetry in a week. Panic will ensue.
15. Improv practice! This will be the high point of the week.
16. Frantically try to work on Asymmetry, but by this point will be so burnt out that I will fall asleep as soon as I pick up the play. This is where the downward spiral of productivity begins.
17. This takes me to Friday, when Jenny is coming to visit and perhaps I will relax, or pretend to relax while stress and anxiety brew in my general torso and stomach region. This is the constant state of things for the semester.
18. Repeat for the next thirteen weeks.
08 February 2009
Being Swallowed Whole by the Semester?
I have a story due tomorrow for my workshop. I've written just over 2 pgs. While there's no page minimum for individual stories, over the span of 2 stories we must write 25 pages. That's fine, but the people who handed in stories last week set the bar way too high by writing 12, 16, and 23 page stories. Really? Is that necessary?? Now I'm just going to look bad even if I manage the 10 pages that I would consider to be a great accomplishment. Too much pressure. I'm not sure why I signed up for this class.
That is only the beginning of the endless amount of work I have to do in the next week and a half. AND there's all this beautiful springlike weather that I want to enjoy! The world is an evil place.
That is only the beginning of the endless amount of work I have to do in the next week and a half. AND there's all this beautiful springlike weather that I want to enjoy! The world is an evil place.
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