So Apparently Being An Adult Means You Can’t Ride in the Grocery Cart OR The Laundry Basket, aka This Sucks, and To Top It All Off, the Laundromat Doesn’t Have WiFi

Happy Thor’s Day, people of the internet!

META-THOR.

Full disclosure - I am actually writing this ahead of time, on Wednesday. Also, in case you hadn’t guessed, I am sitting at the laundromat down the street from our apartment, waiting for my clothes to dry and being slowly and gently fleeced in the meantime. (It costs at least five dollars for us to do two weeks of laundry down here. Can you imagine? Five whole dollars. That’s almost as much as I paid in library fines yesterday.)

rain rain rain VIDS rain rain rain

Hullo, friends!
Unfortunately, Chicago has not yet decided to give up and admit it isn't winter anymore, so in a few minutes I get to walk to work in what is now rain and is threatening to turn into snow, given half a chance.
Before I go, though, I have some pretties for you.

{insert something clever here}

Good afternoon and Happy Wednesday, people of the internet!

At one point, I drafted a terribly long and thinky and super-seriously overblown blog post meant to reintroduce myself in this space, but then I lost it in an explosion of visitors and overdue paperwork. In the long run, I'm glad I did, because it was so awful, guys. Suffice to say that I'm back, I've got a whole pile of new and exciting and slightly different things I might be writing about, and I will also include the occasional life update, as it occurs to me, because it's been brought to my attention that certain of you would sure like to know I am still alive. Fair enough!

For now, though...because they are definitely more interesting than me rambling on in the abstract about where my head's been lately...delicious links!

AFP being awesome (as per usual)

If we know each other very well at all, you will already be aware of my mad fangirling feels about Amanda Palmer. This is a link to her blog post thanking all the people who helped with her recent TED Talk (which was lovely and you should watch it if you haven't already!), and I am pretty much in love with how she does music, celebrity, vulnerability, people and life in general. Especially in this instance - it's not usually that sexy to talk in detail about all the little random people who have held you up on your way to rockstar-dom (literally or figuratively), but she makes a point of it, and yes, she makes it sexy. Here's the creative process, she says - no, there's no loner genius here; instead it's a hundred drafts and a thousand cups of tea and a million listening, critiquing, encouraging friends. Read her. Listen to her. Love her. Join the movement. You're welcome.

The Middle.

I've been following this blogger named Jamie The Very Worst Missionary for awhile now, off and on, and aside from being a refreshingly Real person (dude, she talks about poop way too much to be a proper Christian blogger; it's great), she occasionally hosts her awesome friends to talk about important things - in this case, God, Jewish holidays, categories, and living in the tension. I'm not Jewish, but I live on the Christianity spectrum, and the philosophy behind this post feels a lot like the places my God And The Universe-related thoughts have been exploring lately.

Vintage.Black.Glamour.

I think the title says it all, really. I could try to come up with something profound about blackness and beauty and portrayals as they change over time, but I think we're all smart enough to just mentally fill that in...

In other news, the show I'm stage managing closes on Sunday (that went fast!), I've got at least two more projects lined up for after that, and life is goooood, if slightly hectic! Thanks for reading, friends. Be back in a bit.

~L

1. favorite book

Surprised?
Me too! But this has been one of the most important books in my reading history for so long, I thought it deserved some recognition.

as the workdays run together...

Good morning, friends!

I've been sitting here for fifteen minutes, trying to think of something interesting to write about, but I have a confession to make: my life does not come with a lot of interesting anecdotes right now. Three (four?) of the summer's productions are in rehearsal so far, and I've met a number of very nice actors and stage managers, and I'm looking forward to working with them all at tech this weekend (which will be the most epic tech I have experienced in my life thus far - I think we have four days in a row of 10/12s). Aside from that...I answer a lot of phones, send a bunch of emails, and run errands. And I watch and listen as much as I can to how the professionals around me are conducting their business.

Oh, and I've started writing a play. It is ridiculous. You can tell I've been spending a good third of my waking hours reading plays; I've gotten sucked right in.

In other news:

something intriguing

something inspiring

and something hilarious.

Happy hump-day. If you've got something interesting going on today, please share in the comments!

working Wednesday

Good afternoon, people of the internet!

I apologize for the lateness of today's post; my computer's been in a bit of a sulk most of the day and I (terrified of getting on its bad side - again) have been running around doing things other than typing. To whit:

1. Packing. Endless, endless packing. I am so close to being done, guys. So. Close.
2. Tutoring (my student has a peer review on her yet-to-be-written analysis paper tomorrow).
3. Eating sandwiches with the irrepressible Lindsay T., who should really have a blog of her own because she is hilarious.
4. Having awkward encounters in the dressing rooms at Target ("Hey, aren't you the same girl who was here yesterday?" "Um...yes?" "Well, you're sure here a lot. It's like we're family!" "Um...no?")
5. Paying strangers to rip out my eyebrow hair, all the while making comments like, "Oh my; they're so thick!" and "You don't do this very often, do you?" and "Wow, you cry a lot."
6. Buying my Very First Ticket To See A Broadway Show.

That's right. This Saturday, at 2pm at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City, I am going to see Venus in Fur! I will be sitting in Balcony Row C, so if any of you, my lovely readers, should happen to be there too, you should come by and say hi.

I feel slightly guilty about not having any actual work news to report today, but rest assured that that will be changing very soon. The day after tomorrow, I leave for my NYS&F job...which means, in about 48 hours, I hope to be drafting a blog post about the No Doubt Ridiculous trip (because something ridiculous always happens when I take a trip).

Much love everyone, and thanks for reading! I will soon be writing you from a different time zone (eep!)...

many hats

Source: vixenvintage.blogspot.com via Simone on Pinterest

Although I like to identify as a theatre professional now (does it count as professional if you have yet to be paid?), I still find myself doing a lot of things that have nothing to do with theatre, for the sake of a paycheck.

Now, for example. I'm a composition tutor Monday - Thursday mornings, and I work in catering on the weekends. Neither of these qualifies as a full-time job (the tutoring gig is only for a few weeks), but they bring in reliable money utilizing my non-theatre skills, and so I'm happy to have them.

I suspect I will have these kinds of jobs, off and on, for most of my life.

good ideas come to those who walk

It is true; I keep forgetting it but it's true. Whenever I am out on a walk, it's as if my brain, realizing that I am now preoccupied, seizes its chance to take whatever challenges or questions I've been mulling over and excitedly rips them to bits, making way for a perfectly simple and elegant solution that I really should have seen all along.

This is, of course, as opposed to my brain's usual behavior while I'm sitting at my desk trying to get to work, which is something along the lines of "Oh, wait, what? Did you want something? Mmmm, coffee. MOAR COFFEE. Oh look, a gif of a chicken falling over!" Etc. 

In a related story, I once had some friends who would go for walks - like, serious middle-of-the-day, let's-hike-on-and-on-for-miles-type-walks - all the freaking time. And sometimes I'd go along for solidarity's sake, but the whole time I'd be thinking, "What is the matter with you people? Where are we even going? Why do you all make me feel so fat? WHY IS THERE NO COFFEE?"

Well. Now I get it. And I'm seeing someone about the whole coffee thing, since that's clearly an issue...

tech week: day three

Source: Uploaded by user via Lauren on Pinterest

Lately I've been getting a lot of comments along the lines of, "Wow, I love how laid-back you are," and "Thanks for not freaking out about this!" and "Sorry, I'm late/forgot/don't know my shit ... please don't hurt me ... wait, seriously? You're not gonna hurt me?"

Here's the secret, kids: I keep it cool so that when I do give up and break out the Serious Bizness face, you will know that it is Serious Bizness Time For Freaking Real.
Seriously.
Because if I should ever actually lose it, it must be important - right?

something to brighten up a Wednesday.

(Swiped from Terri Windling's blog. Happy Wednesday, friends! You can make it!)


Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

another day, another dollar

I'm sure that's what these guys are thinking.

Then again, maybe they're thinking, "Mind your own business, giant wench!"

Anyway, I'm off to work - heigh ho, heigh ho.

Happy Wednesday!