Taboo

On monday, I was in a little pain, and it really made me think - what the hell made this topic so taboo? What part of history just made it the worst topic?

Ok, so I had my period - and still do (4 days a month guys, no getting around it), and I just don't get the fuss. I mean, it's a bodily function, right? Albeit, with a slightly grosser product than urine, I'll give you that. But the fuss? I don't get it.

I've had conversations upon conversations with guys (AND girls) talking about pee, poop, vomit, sperm, ..... as soon as the word "period" comes up, everyone makes a face, plus their ears "lalalala - I can't hear you". Really? blood is grosser than poop? grosser than VOMIT? Don't even get me started on the grossness of sperm - I've been in conversations that included such sparkling phrases like "drop my load" or "squeeze one off" and have even been a party to the "never use the towel next to a guys bed" topic. Gross in their own ways, but hilarious nonetheless.... Does anyone not understand the hilariousness of uncontrollably bleeding for 4 days every month? I mean COME ON!!!!!

(I think it's a hilarious coincidence that today of all days my favorite humourous blog is dedicated to the internal lady parts - please go check it out and laugh!)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I often disparage others for not updating their respective blogs, but then I don't update for days and it's ok?

Alright, alright....
I spent all of May working on Throwing Heat, which closed on 5/30. I then jumped right into production meetings and planning for Video Project #2. The pics are from Day One of filming - we do our second day of filming this Saturday! :) Once the whole project is done filming and editing, I'll post a link to the final piece!
I'm running lights & sound for WNEP's 10th Annual SKALD this coming weekend, and I just booked a stage management gig for Trap Door Theatre's fall production of "12 Ophelias". I'm excited about the show and the process, and I'm hoping to blog more about it when we start up.

In between all of this, Sara's Uncle Dick passed away last week, so we had some very sad family obligations. Dick had had a hard time since his wife passed away just last year ,(http://allthingsdianna.blogspot.com/2008/05/stop-all-clocks-cut-off-telephone.html) so while it was very sad to see him go, we all knew he was ready. Funeral Mass and burial was this past Saturday, followed by the ubiquitous Polish pig-out meal (dude, pierogi, smoked sausage...yummmm). Plenty of tears were shed for Sara's only Uncle from her mom's side....but an equal amount of laughter and memories were shared. Sara'snfamily are some great people, and I'm always humbled and thankful for how much everyone has embraced me as one of thier own.

Florida or Bust? Bust....

A lot of folks knew (and some didn't, sorry), that Sara and I were completely planning on moving to Florida next year. When people said "Why?", our answer was simple - we desperately want to start a family, and houses are completely cheap down there, Sara has some family down there already, and I have some friends down there too. It all seemed to make sense for us - we wanted a nice house, the standard of living is lower down there, so Sara would be able to complete school only working part time probably, and there's a hotel from my chain located right there (we were looking at Tampa/St Petersburg). So, we started making plans - a time line to let jobs, landlord, and others know. We slowly started telling family, some friends. Everyone knew where we were coming from - they all said they'd miss us, but that they were glad we were making the leap.
We had initially made the "Let's do it!" decision late in February.
Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago.
Sara had done some thinking - she just couldn't see herself living so far from her sister, brothers and her mom & dad, especially if we have a kid. She was also really worried about leaving well-paying jobs up here (and good bennies), and having bad luck down there. She didn't want to go.
I was pretty crushed for a little while. We had been planning it for a long enough period that my heart was really set on it. I had been looking at Craigslist almost daily - seeing what kind of apartment deals could be had, keeping an eye on the job market, etc etc. I had myself on mailing lists for local theatres to keep my ears open for any kind of job opportunity. ANd now we weren't going.
After a period of morose-ness, I started feeling a little better.
I only had ONE BIG caveat when it comes to staying in Illinois.

I am NOT NOW, NOT EVER going to move to the suburbs. End of story.

One positive thing? I now don't need to "squeeze in" as many Chicago theatre jobs as posible before leaving (just for money's sake), and I can go back to being more selective. (Hence, my meeting tonight for possible Fall show - more to come), and also I can plan for other projects in the future (WNEP, I'm looking RIGHT AT YOU in regards to the Hopper piece...or, anything really)

That's it, I guess... no Florida.

Rob K brings the funny

It's been awhile, I know.

I've been enjoying some theatre-free time off, thankyouverymuch.

I had to break radio silence though to point out one of the funniest theatre related blog posts in awhile. Man, does Rob K hit the nail right on the fucking head. Read it, my theatre peeps and have a nice Friday laugh on me.


(fear not, 3 or 4 people who read my blog, I'm meeting with someone next week to iron out the fall show i'm working on. Until she and I "shake on it", I don't wanna jinx anything by talking about. It's looking to be a very interesting project, so looking forward to blogging on the topic - stay tuned)

Birthday, Birthday, who's gotta Birthday?

Well, 2 of my favorite peeps have a birthday today....



First off.... my MOMMA!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Ma! She doesn't read my blog, but I'm sending birthday wishes out across the interwebs in the hope that she will somehow know I'm doing it...







Second?
My good friend Mace!
In honor of the occasion, I have to re-post one of my favorite pics of us:
(yes, the labels are correct...we were totally drunk)

Growth and Moving on

Now, I'm not sure if one actually "moves on" from the death of a parent, but I guess finally this year, after 21 years of sadness, refelection, stories (and blog posts), May 11th kind of came and went.
Don't get me wrong - I thought of my dad. But the thoughts were quick and pointed. "Wow... 21 years" and "It's been so long - really miss you", and then my brain moved on. Not in a push the thoughts away kind of way, but in a Jed Bartlett-esque "What's next?" kind of way.

I think the point is that the DAY no longer holds the trauama it used to. When I was 23, for the 10th anniversary, I took the day off of work (I think for the 5 year we went to church and had a mass said?). I don't NEED those things anymore. My thoughts of my dad are now scattered throughout the year in a more reflective manner. I wish Sara could have known him, for one. I wish I could just hug him ONE MORE TIME.

My older brother Danny, is now older than my dad was when he passed. That always weirds me out a little. My dad was almost 36 when he passed away, and Danny is 37 now. I wonder at times how he feels and what he thinks about that.

Anyway... I guess the point is, my thoughts of Dad are a year long thing, and I'm thinking it's high time for me to stick a fork in May 11th. The date means very little now. It's those day to day thoughts that hold more meaning, not some silly date.

A while ago I set up my phone to post to my blog. This is a test, this is only a test.