I've Had a Great Run of Seeing Theater The Last Couple Months

Now, I usually see 2-3 shows a year. Obviously, I would always like to see more, but there are things called time and money that can put limitations on things. I have a whole rant on ticket prices, not just for theater, but in general, that I could go on, but I'll save that for another time. And I never win lotteries. I enter them, never win.

However, the same could not be said for my sister the last couple months. It seemed like the only lottery she couldn't win was the one for Oh, Mary. In the last two months we saw The Notebook, Our Town, and Gypsy (in previews). That's a pretty good run. The Notebook really is a notch above most of the other movie to musical adaptations we've been getting lately. It changed enough from the movie, especially how the flashbacks to Young Noah and Allie were told to us, to make it feel like it's own little thing. Our Town is Our Town. I had never seen it before and now I can say I have. And now I can say  I've seen a Kenny Leon directed show, too. 

But the grandmommy of them all was Gypsy. I got to see Audra on stage for the second time, and my sister got to see her for the first time, and what an introduction for her. It's such a staggering performance. This production better be filmed for PBS Great Performances or something because it's a great revival that makes such smart choices. I want to see it again. And I need the cast recording so I can listen Audra's "Rose's Turn" on repeat.

Then my family sees a show together every Christmastime, and this year's selection was Sunset Boulevard because that was the one my dad was most interested in seeing. Thank god he's not a Gypsy fan, or otherwise we would've been out of luck when they had their flu outbreak. It's a great production no doubt. With multimedia becoming a trend on Broadway in recent years, this seems to be the only show that it really felt essential to the telling. But I'm still not an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan.

And there's so much theater coming this spring that I want to see. 

I still need to see Death Becomes Her. That looks like a freaking blast of musical comedy. I want to see Maybe Happy Ending because I've heard nothing but good things, and if we want original musicals on Broadway, we should go see the ones that make it to the Great White Way. I want to see BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical. And now I'm blanking on what's coming but I know there will be more. There will always be more.

journal, the theatre

Trying to Utilize YouTube Playlists More

When I watch videos on YouTube, even if I like a video, I very rarely hit the like button. So when I want to go back and watch one again, I have to scroll through my history to try and find it, and it's finding a needle in a haystack. 

Read more »

journal

I Think I'm Actually Going to Leave The Bad Place (Twitter)

I'm actually doing it, this is not an empty threat. My biggest obstacle in the past has always been me never deleting the app off of my phone, and I actually did it. it's no longer. 

I’ve just become a rat that keeps pressing the button. It’s the first thing I check in the morning, and I check it frequently, and just scroll. And scroll. And scroll. Even as a write this, I go to my phone and click the app that is now taking up Twitter’s spot.

I joined Threads when it first launched, and just today I joined Bluesky, so I am still on a social media platform like Twitter, but since I haven’t developed the habit like I have with Twitter, it might be easier to wean myself off the platforms.

We’ll see how long this lasts.

journal

Just Numb Right Now

How the hell is this happening again? Honestly I don't have anything else. We'll probably have a better picture in the next couple of weeks how this happened once every vote is counted and all the data is analyzed. Though I do have theories that I'm not brave enough at this moment to share. 

We have four more years of fighting like hell in front of us. But right now, I'm just numb.

journal

After the Madness of March, I’m Going to Try to Watch More Women’s Sports

 The WNBA draft is upon us, after an electric and record breaking Women’s March Madness. This was the first year I really paid attention to the tournament, after only watching last year’s championship. I watched as much of this year as I could, watched both Final Four games. I didn’t end up watching the final because I had tickets to the final performance of Spamalot on Broadway. I contain multitudes.

Read more »

journal, sportsball

The Allure of the Days of Analog

I miss the days before tech took over our lives. I know I only got to experience the tail end of that time, but I keep running the thought experiment in my head. 

What really started it was when streamers decided that they were just gonna remove their own movies and television shows from their platforms, and just not release completed projects. (Justice for Batgirl!) That got me interested in building up my DVD collection, and now I've got a Google Doc two pages long of suggested titles I wish I had the disposable income to purchase every single one of. A lot of them from the Criterion Collection. It also had me rediscovering network tv, and actually watching it as it airs, or at least the magic of the DVR if I missed the original airtime. 

But it's also things like picking up an issue of a magazine, watching the news on tv. And when I'm finding articles online, I go directly to publication's sites and not just scrolling Twitter and looking at links the people I follow share. I'm also trying to read more books, but that's been a separate battle. 

It's missing the water cooler, where no one was watching things on their own schedule and we were all participating in a lot of the same conversations about it. And just flicking channels and catching a movie or watching a marathon all day while you do chores or work. The simpler times. 

So, while the studios still won't come to reality and give the WGA and SAG-AFTRA what they want and need, I will keep looking at the way I watch art and read about it. 

journal, thoughts

My Style Crisis is Never Ending

It's been about a year since I first noticed my inability to buy new pieces for my wardrobe. At the time I didn't worry about it because all I was really wearing day in and day out were jeans and a t-shirt. Working on a cold and dusty soundstage all day didn't really want to wear things I cared about getting filthy. But, doing that for over a year has really ruined my personal style.

I don't know what it is anymore. I go into stores and nothing grabs me. I try things on and they don't feel right. I try to put an outfit together with I have and inevitably go back to the staples in my closet. 

One thing I haven't brought myself to do is a closet purge. Just get rid of the stuff I don't really wear anymore. I could probably take them to H&M and take advantage of their clothes recycling program and get my good human points for the day. Also, I think there's some sort of discount you can use at the store if you bring in your clothes, so that's a plus.

My hope with the purge is that I can figure out my personal style and figure out what I have that fits it and I can get rid of what doesn't. It's just, I have this fear that if I do it, it won't solve my problem of actually buying clothes. I go and try things on and they don't feel right, and I don't know how to work past it that's not just continuing to try things on, and it's really ruining my enjoyment of shopping.

I could shop like no other. I used to be able to spend hours at the mall, just browsing and trying things on. My mom and sister are not shoppers. They are more in and out of the store kind of people, so the fact that I'm becoming more and more like that is annoying. 

Obviously, one of the other things hampering the actual purchasing is money. Building a whole new wardrobe is expensive, so whenever I do figure things out, I won't be rebuilding all in one go. It'll be spread out over time. I take donations. Kidding, of course.

Can the Sabrina the Teenage Witch opening credits be my life? That always looked like fun!

journal

Readjusting My Sleeping Pattern is Going Great (Sarcastically)

 For the last couple years, my start time for work has been 5:30-6:00 am, for 10-12 hour days. Yeah. So that has altered my sleep cycle. I started going to be at 8:30-9:00 pm so my brain can turn off at night since sometimes it takes a while to do that. But now, I am currently out of work, and I can finally have the sleep schedule of a normal person. 

The hard part is actually making that adjustment. My first plan of attack was to stay up as late as I can to force my body to not wake up automatically at 4:30 am. It did not work. I just got even less sleep. That sucked. It was like morning the of the living dead when I would wake up. Compounded by me not being immediately active like I usually would be that early in the morning. Not even doing my morning routine as normal would get rid of the tired feeling that made my limbs feel like lead. Cause I’m not leaving my place before sunrise unless I have to because, one: safety first, and two: nothing is really open for me to go. So I just lay in bed, which makes it worse. At midday, once I shake off the dead, I go walk for an hour in the park. Get some outdoors and fresh air, see some nature. Sometimes I'm too tired to walk for the full hour I force myself to and just find a bench. It's not exercise, but it's still outdoors, so I'll take it.

It also didn't help that the first two weeks of trying to do this, it's been raining. Now, a light drizzle where you can still be comfortably outside. No, it'd been afternoons of down pouring rain. Soaked to your socks, umbrella pretty much only keeping your head dry, rain. Great weather to venture into the outdoors in. 

In my third week of unemployment, I think I've recalibrated. I'm now waking up at about 8:00 am and going to be at 11, and I feel normal. If I had this sleep schedule during the broadcast television season, I could have watched all those shows live instead of playing never ending catch up like I'm doing now. (P.S. #paywriters) The sun is out, the weather isn't unbearably hot yet, and I am going out into the world like a functioning human.

journal

I Hate Writing Cover Letters

 What is the point of cover letters in applying for jobs anymore? What am I going to write that is going to be substantially different than the hundreds of others that the hiring manager or robots are reading? 

I'm a hard worker who shows up every day and works hard. I am very well organized and a great multitasker. I have a lot of experience with [insert skill here]. I know how to use Microsoft Office and Google Suites. I look forward to being part of your team and learning from everyone. 

Obviously you fluff it up, and maybe tell a personal anecdote. But, unless you're asking for something specific to be written, it feels like you'd be getting variations on a theme.

There's also the issue that I hate writing about myself. I can give thoughts and opinions on stuff, which I hope I've demonstrated throughout this blog. Give me movies, television, music, whatever, I will talk about it. But puffing myself and my skills up I just can't do. It feels weird and gross and blegh. Because I am all these things. But how do you write that without sounding like everybody else?

Normally at the end of something like this there's an answer, but I don't have an answer for this. So, yeah. I'm just gonna do my best and grin and bear it.

journal

I'm Officially (Mostly) Moved In

I finally got my studio apartment! And now that the lease on my old place is over, I feel like I am finally officially moved in. Mostly.

I've got my new Purple mattress that I spent $1100 on and a new bed frame that looks like it could be paired with my favorite American Girl Doll, Kit Kittredge. And thanks to that new bed, I got a new comforter and sheets, new bed new vibes. I've got all my clothes and knick knacks mostly sorted. I've got my Wi-Fi and my television hooked up. Now I just need... pretty much everything else. 

I need a real dresser now that I have the space for one, as well as a nightstand for the same reason. Hopefully I can get a tiny little love seat, that I should have enough space for. And more money for me to spend. Oh joy. But these are things I can hopefully keep for a while and take to the next place whenever that is. I am also on Venmo.

journal

Nothing Like Being Sick Your Entire Christmas Break

My lovely Christmas break from work this year was for 10 days, and it should have been glorious. I needed those 17 days, including weekends. 17 days to relax and chill, go see movies, shopping, and not have to have a 5 am alarm to start my day. I did not get that. For all but 4 of those days, I had every symptom of the common cold you could imagine. Thankfully it was not covid, so my streak lives. But 13 days of being sick when I should have been experiencing the holiday joy.

I started out with a sore throat, something I do not handle well since I had strep throat 6 times in kindergarten, and 12 times total in my childhood. For me it always feels like my throat is closing on me, so I have to hold my hand to the base of my neck so I still feel like I can breathe. So I hate having sore throats. Then the chest congestion started and I was hacking it up for about two days. And regular old stuffy noses started, too. I started taking whatever over the counter drugs I could. As a new symptom popped up, a new drug was introduced. First it was cough drops and sudafed, then it was robitussin and mucinex. Finally after about 5 days of being medicated to the gills, the day after Christmas I decided to go 24 hours with meds and detox, see what my symptoms were after that. I was left with a nasal congestion and post nasal drip. Gross. After that it was standard cold stuff, runny nose, cough, and ear hurts, and that lasted until Monday. Real fun times. 

Sorry for the TMI, but it sucked to have your time off of work, at the holidays, and spend the majority of it sick, and I needed to vent. Here's to a better start to a year than my end of one.

journal

I Need to Watch More Christmas Stuff This Season

Last year I wasn't in the most Christmassy-mood, so I didn't watch a lot of movies, or specials, or even listen to a lot of Christmas music. The Christmas spirit didn’t hit me at all. Maybe because I was between gigs, or I just wasn’t in the mood for a lot the happy and sentiment of the holiday.

But this year, I’ve already listened to my favorite holiday tunes approximately a hundred times and am checking the tv listings every day for Christmas movies and specials to record and watch.

I don’t know why it’s struck this year, but I’m going to enjoy this mood while it lasts. I’ve got carols playing, and I just need chestnuts roasting to complete the lyric.

journal

Goodbye(?) Twitter, You Wonderful Hellscape

Right now Twitter may be operating today, but with a lot of Twitter staff not staying on for the troll's Twitter 2.0, it seems like it might actually be dying out. And the vibe on the timeline last night was very much like "Bye Bye Life" from All That Jazz.

Just doing what Twitter does best: good and overused jokes about its demise, last words, and sincerity about the friends you made along the way. 

If you look at my feed, you wouldn't think I was that active on it. But I wasn't someone who like every tweet a friend would post or reply to celebrity or trending posts (unless I had come up with a good line or response to a prompt). But I would check it every day for news, both actual and pop culture, sports scores, and just try to find some fun stuff. So I'll miss it for that. Not in the ways it helped to worsen our society, hence the hellscape in the title. Thankfully my Twitter usage never ventured into that.

journal

I Want a Studio Apartment

I have have roommates since 2014 when I started college, and I would like to live alone now please.

I want my own little space. And a kitchen to myself. And bathroom. Bathroom, especially. Not have to be cognizant of others, can be as neat or messy as I want or need, and relax. I can do my own things on my own time, and not have to wait for others to finish up whatever they were doing. 

A big part of it is that I've never really had a space of my own to decorate. It's always been tiny rooms with no spaces for shelving, fancy tables and chairs, and not great wall space for hanging things up. I've been browsing a few websites looking at home decor to get an idea of what my home style is. 

The main thing I'm looking forward to though, is my entertainment set up. In the apartments I've lived in, I've never had space for my record player or record collection. They never even made the move from home, and I've been missing them since. I could also get a DVD/Blu-ray player, because while streaming is great, as we're learning from HBO Max, just because it's there today doesn't mean you can watch it tomorrow. Which is why I wan my DVD's back and to add to the collection. And maybe be fancy and maybe get those Criterion Editions of classic movies. Just thinking about the lists of movies and music to buy is getting me excited about the potential of my own space. 

And a shelf for my books!

journal

My Teeth are Fucked and I'm Finally Doing Something About It

My mouth is fucked. And the most fucked up thing is that my teeth didn't get fucked and start shifting until I was an adult. My canines started to become snaggled, pushing my two front teeth in, and then that is degrading my bottom row of teeth. So I got Invisalign. 

I never knew teeth could be sore. Those first couple days were awful. The first night my teeth hurt so much I couldn't even bite a muffin. And it was such a shame because it was a really good corn muffin and I love corn muffins. Thankfully that only lasted a couple days. And I hope when I put in the new tray each week it won't be that bad. 

As of now the only drawback is how annoying it is to snack. I love snacking. I even had to come up with a trick to curb the snacking. I don't think I need that trick anymore. The annoyance and inconvenience of having to take out the trays just to have a cookie doesn't feel worth it. Check back in once my teeth have shifted and it's easier to take them out, but as of now, my eating will be the best it's ever been.

Even though it sucks right now, and my brain is still having trouble processing how this is going to be my life for the next seven months, I can't wait for the end result. My teeth straight and not feeling like they're trying to make a run for it from my mouth. And also to only have a retainer to wear at night. That's great, too.

journal

It's Been a Bit...

 So it's been a bit since I've posted here. It wasn't like a planned absence, it just kind of happened. Work was slowing down, and then I had a week off, and then I was back at work and there wasn't much going on. And I was really enjoying that lull. Just let my body and brain relax because I knew it was only a matter of time before the early calls and long days would start again. I was the most well-rested since I started working in film and tv. Going to work at 7:30 for an eight of nine hour day was heaven. I cherish those days more and more with every ring of my alarm going off at 5 in the morning for a twelve hour day. I miss you.

journal

A Night at Harry's House

I was one of the lucky ones that ventured into Harry's House at Madison Square Garden. 

I'm not somebody who goes to concerts a lot. I don't really like being in big crowds, especially screaming crowds. And if the bass settings are too high, I start getting a migraine like halfway through the night. But I have been to some shows over the years, including to One Direction's first two US tours. At those One Direction shows, people lost their damn minds. At the Up All Night tour, someone had spotted Niall behind the amphitheater, it was a stampede to get a peek at him.

I was scared that that would be the vibe at a Harry show. It wasn’t thankfully. I mean, girls still screamed their faces off, but there was moire actually singing along and dancing than there was at those One Direction shows. And Harry didn’t really stop and chat that much. He kept the show moving along, which I think ultimately kept the crowd under control. The one time he did stop though, he found someone in the crowd who was celebrating here 21st birthday and got all of Madison Square Garden to sing “Happy Birthday” to her.

The actual music was amazing to hear live, especially when he brought out the horn section. The set list was structured great, where each sing really flowed into the next and there weren’t drastic energy changes. For his encore, he did “Sign of the Times”, “As It Was”, and “Kiwi”, and judging by the audience reaction to that last song, it’s not a common occurrence.

Just. a great show and a great night of music. 

journal

Finally Saw Jaws For the First Time (and on the Big Screen)

Saturday was National Cinema Day, and to celebrate it, all movie tickets were sold for $3. Normally, I hear about things like this the next day and wish I'd heard about it earlier. Not this time. This time I heard about this deal two days before managed to get a ticket. And the movie I chose was Jaws.

This was doubly good, because I had never seen it before. I’m scared of sharks, so a monster movie where the monster is a shark is not something that would interest me. And I knew that the shark wasn’t in it that much, but still. Shark bad.

But it’s been one of the major gaps in my film watching for so long, this was the perfect opportunity to cross it off my list. And it was great! Finally got to see the USS Indianapolis monologue in its full context. The shark is still scary, and with almost 50 years of jump scares between then and now, it still makes you jump. And thanks to Roy Scheider, I want to watch All That Jazz again, and for Richard Dreyfus’s, maybe check out Close Encounters of the Third Kind, another Spielberg classic I haven’t seen yet.

Thanks to this experience, it also makes me want to see more classic films on the big screen, whether it be an epic, a film noir, a musical, or a classic comedy or drama. Movies in the big screen improving the viewing experience, who’d a thunk it?

cinema, journal

The Baked Good Trick to Stop Snacking

I've been having a snacking problem of late. They are provided at work, and the selection is great. Top tier snackage is going on. So I needed to find a way to curb it.

Enter: the baked good.

One day, I had grabbed a muffin from crafty, but I guess I got caught up in something, so I didn't eat it immediately, so it stayed next to me at my table. And once I got less busy, I didn't eat it, it just sat there. And sat there. 

But because it sat there, I didn't grab other things to eat. I had food near me, so I didn't feel the need to grab other snacks. I had a snack, so why grab more? And it's really helped. When I do grab a snack, it immediately goes into my backpack. Out of sight, out of mind, and I get a snack for when I get home.

That's really it. Just my little mental tricks to not snack during the day. Passing on the knowledge if you want to curb unnecessary snacking during your day. 

journal

Narrative Won't Compute

Cannot. Process. Story. Narrative. Won't. Compute. Test Failed.

And it sucks. There are so many shows and movies piling up in watchlists and DVR space that are waiting for me to hit play. But I can't pay attention to story right now. I don't know why it happens. 

There are things I can put my focus on. I can watch documentaries. I loved The Last Movie Stars, Ethan Hawke's documentary series about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. Also, been watching a lot of Mets games this year. This fact also coincides with the fact that they're good this year, but still, when I can I've been watching games in full, or at least a couple innings before I go to bed. 

I haven't watched The Bear or Prey yet. I have Scorsese's The Age of Innocence recorded. And Paris Blues, one of the films Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward made together, this time with other star couple Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll. So many other movies that just keep getting added to my various watchlists on streaming platforms just sitting there, waiting to be watched. 

I think I just don't have the brain power after twelve hour days to pay attention, and then it can bleed into my weekend viewing. I think I really just need to force myself to watch something. Now something I care about, so if this test fails again, I won't be disappointed that I didn't pay attention to something I actually wanted to see. But it also can't be something I'll hate, and just sit there and stew while forcing my brain to process garbage. Now I have a plan: watch something that's not top priority on my watchlist, but something I'll still actually like. 

journal