wow. red eyes are really fun. hah. hah.

i made it to Alma. :) I somehow made it through my last day in san francisco. work was as insane as i thought it would be. but i made myself proud by telling people 'no' on some things... or saying, 'perhaps you'd like to ask someone to do that who's NOT going away for a month?' made it through the 2 auditions - not my best work...the movie one went rather atrociously actually, but who gives a shit - i'm done!!!!!!! :)

My 10:40pm plane thurs night was delayed til about 11:30pm. There was a baby and a young child in the row behind me. there was a small yappy dog two rows in front of me. and there was a young couple making out in the seats next to me. but i think i managed a wee bit of sleep on the way to charlotte. once in charlotte, my flight to buffalo was delayed, so i got a bagel and some juice and promptly fell asleep hardcore on my bag so much so that I woke up and the airport had gone from totally empty to filled to the 4th of July weekend brim and i was drooling on myself and must have looked quite the sight as i asked the poor man next to me, '*yawn* have they called for buffalo yet?'

my charlotte flight was delayed too... and us airways (who i am not impressed with) overbooked it (just like they did on the SF flight) so our delay went even longer. But I finally made it into Buffalo around 11:30am east coast time. dave and i had lunch with an old friend of his from high school, Jenny, who is very awesome and i was still even able to make coherant statements... so that was all okay. we also had to find a dance store that carried rock rosin since the airport told me i wasn't allowed to bring my spray rosin (i think i should have been allowed to put it in my checked luggage, but they said no. i need to look into that.) well the best dance stor in the city just happened to be a mile down the road from Jenny's house and omigod - who knew? buffalo, ny has the most beautiful, spacious, dance store i have ever seen with an expansive, mind-blowing inventory. sadly there was no time to gawk or look at leotards. :( but we got my rosin adn were on our way for the 2 plus hour ride to Alma, NY and to dave's dad. we made it safe and sound. i prompty fell asleep again as soon as i hit the couch. and later we went into wellsville, ny and ate at the famous texas hots, which just happens to have an autographed picture of bill pullman in it as he is from around here. small world. :)

time for bed. goodnight.

24 hours to go

ok - so dave made it into alma last night safe and sound after quite a big final push. I think it was almost 1am east coast time and he sounded relieved and sore. ;)

I'll try to keep up with updates here whilst we are on our journey - a lot of campgrounds actually have wireless internet these days...so we'll see how it goes. :)

in other news, knowing that i am going away, life has sent me many tests lately. I have had to say no to several amazing tissu gig opportunities. including one at shoreline. yes - shoreline. it's in july. i was asked to come in and work with a girl from the youth circus and even do some choreography for a show in, yep, you guessed it - July. ok. i had my final class before leaving with my russian teacher tonight and she finally let me do a very hard high level trick that i had been patiently waiting to try. now i won't get to try it again until September because she leaves right when I come back. ok. my callback for the first show of the season at the magic (the special trapeze one) was supposed to be this month - it was moved - yep - to July. i've had a myriad of calls for readings, auditions...all sorts of stuff - since the world knows i can't do them... The kicker though was ACT. ACT called last week for an audition. yeah - i don't even need to tell you that it's in July. ah dear. i don't even want to talk about that anymore....

so my dayjob is insane. our fiscal year ends on friday and my last day in the office is tomorrow. i knew today was going to be crazy. yeah - well it was freaking CRAZY. ok. fine. i can deal with it - just one more day. but then my agent calls this morning for a lead role audition in a low budget feature film (these do not come along very often in SF) and the audition is - NOT in July.... but TOMORROW! ugh. ok. that means getting audition sides prepared, outfits selected, make-up found and leaving work to run out and back. Then not 2 minutes later, I check my e-mail and the casting director at the Magic is asking if I can come in today or tomorrow to put some monologues from the trapeze play on video so that Bill P. can have them for a callback. um. ok. so i'll have to leave work for that and back. and can I say that perhaps I'll be a little, um, not on my best game? and then did I mention that my plane leaves tomorrow night?

ok. i'm procrastinating and that's exactly what I shouldn't be doing when I have to pack for a month and prepare for two auditions and do some dayjob work. and debbie and michael are coming soon to say goodbye.

goodbye!!!! goodnight!!!!

it's the final countdown

just heard from dave - he's just outside of Erie, PA - about 110 miles from home and he's going for it. he's being chased by thunderstorms and would rather not camp in them. understood. but let's just all put out good vibes for him as he enters deer territory....

MOMWOW arrived today. I leave in 2 days. It's all really happening! :)

I've been slowly saying goodbye to people - friends, workmates, circus buddies and with each person it sinks in a little more. but i don't think i'll really realize that this thing has happened until we're camping at Treman Falls in Ithaca and about to drive up to The Nines to get some kick ass pizza. wow that sounds good.

I had two of the worst trapeze classes back to back yesterday and today. i have to believe that it's something about how my brain is kinda full and things are nutty and perhaps part of me is packing when I should be concentrating on balancing on my knees on this ridiculously small bar before plunging forward and catching it. i dunno. maybe it's just that everything that I learn now is hard.

speaking of - i had to put together a little something to send to the Magic theatre since I'm missing my callback. This is little edited cuts of me practicing on a single point trapeze (thanks to debbie for staying up late with me to figure out just how to do cut it together!):

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dave is a speed demon.

ok - so day one was SF, CA to Wendover, NV for a total of 616 miles. impressive. Yesterday he completed a grueling 812 mile day from Wendover, NV to Gothenburg, NE. Today, Dave drove from Gothenburg, NE across Iowa and went a total of 570 miles to Geneseo, IL, where he is now once again asleep in his tent. To make it to Alma, he'd have to drive almost 700 miles tomorrow, which is a bit overwhelming, but needless to say, he'll be there soon! Go Mr. Tart! :) impressive.

Day 2 - Dave kicks ass

Ok - it's 7:30pm and dave just called from somewhere in Nebraska. He made it across Utah and Wyoming today and is already well into Nebraska. We checked distances and believe it or not, he's already half-way to Alma, NY! kick-ass.

Trip has begun...

...dave left this morning and has made it safely to Wendover, NV which is practically Utah. He's at a KOA Kampground and sounded tired but good. :)

mr. makes 'em grow

this is mr. makes 'em grow. he was a mother's day present for my mutti. he was very late because i knew he needed just one little final touch and it took forever to figure out just what that touch should be.... but basically, he's pretty agreeable - he's made out of a cloudlike water body, wears a leaf hat and has dirt eyes and is excellent for helping you make things grow. not pictured here is his magical sunshine pouch filled with magical mist for growing. that was the final touch. :) he also has an awesome cloud-like tail - but it's behind him so you can't see it. sorry.

he got along very well with mr. bean and fred the weevil before heading off to Pennsylvania. mom said he is already helping make things grow. pleasing. :)




i'm sorry that i have no pictures of sarita's b'day present: fenton the flower. sarita named him. she did very well. he totally looks like a fenton. :)

thursday of mass insanity

that's what the piece of paper says. i found it in my bag recently. it was in a folder marked 'upcoming'. as it refers to April 19th, i, um, rather need to update my upcoming folder it seems....

so, i admit, i have a lot of hectic, crazy ass days in my life, but this one seems to have actually warranted not just a simple list, but an 8 1/2" x 11" size sheet of paper list. it's pretty amazing, so i thought i would share. A few things to know - i had my first ever public aerial tissu gig at a way-too-hip-for-me club called supperclub in the evening...i had never tried to put together a circus 'costume' before and you have to try such things out on your apparatus BEFORE you perform (makes sense). :) I also had an audition scheduled at the Magic for the afternoon for a new play by Bill Pullman (yes, that Bill Pullman) about NASA that incorporates the use of low-flying trapezes to simulate movements in space. (can you say, omigod, sign me up?!?!?!) and much to my surprise when I got to this audition, it was actually him running it! but that's a whole 'nother story....

let us begin...

Thursday of Mass Insanity

in morning:
1) print audition sides and read them (FYI - 'sides' are the pages of the play that you should specifically prepare and be partially memorized on for an audition)
2) gather audition outfit - blk pants, tank top, long sleeves if cold?
3) cut fishnets and bring with blk tanktop to circus center to double check on tissu
4) get supperclub address
5) e-mail Jayne re: reading schedule ?'s (FYI - another staged reading that was coming up)

leave house no later than 10am - take motorcycle

arrive circus center no later than 10:30am

at circus center:
1) short tissu practice with costume
2) change the rescue 8 from red to wine color tissu (FYI - rescue 8 is the hardware that attaches to the top of a tissu that then gets attached to your carabiners and swivel)
3) run drop type tricks with tissu at 22 - 24' (FYI - supperclub ceiling height was quoted at 22-24' rather than the 30' we have in the gym - needed to make sure drops would still work)
4) do you stick to tissu with fishnets? does the tank top ride up? are you getting tissu burns?
5) go to office - pay for next class session
6) tell elena you are going to yosemite - will miss class.
7) change into work clothes

leave circus center no later than 11:40am
- have with you: tissu, all hardware, outfits, hair clips, rosin, et al

arrive Supperclub (location now known) no later than 12noon.

at Supperclub:
-drop off tissu
-check in about anything else i need etc...

arrive PricewaterhouseCoopers no later than 1pm

at PwC:
1) work
2) print updated headshot/resume for audition
3) highlight script for reading rehearsal later (FYI - a different staged reading I had coming up which was having it's first rehearsal in the evening)
4) make 'away from desk' sign
5) change into audition outfit, remember your headshot/resume, put on a little make-up

leave PwC no later than 2:30pm for audition at Magic Theatre

arrive Magic no later than 2:55pm

at Magic - 3pm Audition
1) do audition: 3 - 4pm
2) change back into work clothes

arrive back at PwC 4:30pm

at Pwc:
1) work
2) highlight your script if you didn't get a chance earlier
3) deal with most pressing personal e-mail
4) tell dad you saw willie nelson last night at the fillmore. :)
5) find directions to rehearsal studio
6) keep checking yosemite weather (FYI - twas currently snowing and we were going to be camping there in a day and a half)

leave work no later than 6:15pm

arrive rehearsal space in the Mission by 6:45pm

at reh studio:
1) rehearse for a staged reading 6:45 - 8:30pm

SPRINT HOME

arrive home by 9pm!

at home:

1) can dave drive you to supperclub?!?!?!??!? (FYI - it had started raining)
2) get changed into something you can wear at a club
3) have tissu outfit, make-up, hair stuff, ROSIN!, towel, other clothes options
4) hat - for dave too - does deb know????
5) chill out and breathe for 10 seconds.

leave no later than 9:40pm!

arrive supperclub by 10pm calltime

at Supperclub:
1) figure out where the hell you go
2) double-check the tissu
3) find out about mat
4) put on make-up
5) warm-up
6) change into costume

be ready by 11:15pmish for go! (I went on more like 11:45pm and then debbie, dave, jeremy and i stayed longer for a buddy of mine who was doing trapeze)

whew!

____________________________________

wow. i am actually exhausted just thinking about this day.

thank you for living through it with me.

what i also love about this day is that dave's mom had just left a week before, i had come down with a raging cold that i was still fighting and we were trying to get our shit together to leave for yosemite for a few days for camping and relaxation. We had to go a day late due to the snow, which did thankfully did stop and in the end good times were had by all.

let's all nap now.

dear god....

...dave leaves in just about a week to start the cross-country journey with the motorcycle. (he has to basically get from here to buffalo in 6 days. whew.)

i fly out in precisely two weeks to meet him and then we start the meandering excursion across the whole U S of A. See family, small towns, mountains, nashville, who knows...cause the whole point is that it's not really planned.....

I really hate to give him credit where credit is due, but he did say, oh, like back in January that this was all going to sneak up on us a whole lot faster than we think, and um, well, he was, um, *cough*, well... he was right.

mr. many happinesses!

a belated b'day present for my most excellent brother spud. i figured the spudwardo needed something as happy as possible to deal with the weather in portland. the box was received today and the results are in: a success! yay! mr. many happinesses will work his infectious happy magic yet another day.....

newest obsession

oh jeez. ok - so dave was gone this past week (he had to go to vegas to work for the week - ask him about how much he liked it. ha ha.), which left me to my own devices, which resulted in all sorts of, um, interesting side-bars and lack of sleep weirdness. Some of you might not know this, but if it wasn't for dave, i would just stay up all night every single night just lurking around the house doing things....it could be cleaning... reading... internet-ing.... songwriting.... singing... sewing.... watching youtube videos about whatever is most recently catching my fancy... sorting through mail... looking at old pictures... picking my nose... my toes... god only freaking knows where all the time goes, but it's a problem. he hardly ever goes away, so it doesn't come up very often anymore. but wow, it doesn't take long to revert to one's old ways now does it?! anyway - in a long chain of events that involved procrastinating checking e-mail (i loathe it, i really do...no really...i really do)... trying to google a list of aerial tissu moves, which morphed into finding a few new tissu videos on youtube, which morphed into watching a few pole dancing videos and suddenly i'm watching this woman from england do a pole dance demo (to promote her pole dancing studio) and i can't focus on what she's doing because this song she's dancing to is so freaking haunting and chilling and beautiful and eerie and making me excited that i've found something new and just when i'm thinking, 'who the hell IS THIS!?', I scroll down into the comments where a bunch of people asked the same question and so i am introduced to Damien Rice for the first time.

It was this song: 9 Crimes

i can't get it out of my head.

there is also an actual video, like mtv video, which is pretty freaky, but i want you to really hear the song first before being caught up by the visual medium.

i bought two of his albums today.

i spent an hour and a half last night watching all his youtube stuff. i felt like a teenager. it was kinda fun. :)

Percy...

the pincushion is cute.... and useful!