Facts and other things I think I know.

Fact #365: Well, this is awkward...

2011-07-10T16:32:00.000-04:00

Um, this is it, guys. This is my 365th post.

I'm torn between saying "Wow, I can't believe it's been a year," and "Wait, it's ONLY been a year?" But it has been. One whole year has gone by since I started this blog. Which is weird, because I was really pretty sure I'd have my whole life figured out by the time I got to this point.

That... didn't... happen.

But a lot of other stuff did happen! I was in two plays, I traveled to both ends of the country (and lots of places in between), I shot a movie, I bitched about and failed to overcome my fear of flying, I obsessed about puppies, Freddie graduated and got a job at Pixar, I helped him pack up and move to California, I auditioned for and got into grad school, I spent time with my awesome family, I laughed (a lot), I cried (also a lot), I got three moles sliced out of me, I said goodbye to Pittsburgh, I sold all my stuff and I moved to Texas.

And that's just the quick version. For the long version, I've got 365 days worth of posts to remind me of where I was and what I did all year.

I've been debating the past few days, trying to decide if I'd keep posting on this blog once I hit the one year mark. I've been having so much fun posting every day, I don't really want to stop! But I also don't know if I'll have much time to write when I'm in school -- and it'd get pretty boring to read post after post of, "Aaaah! So busy! No time! Aaaaah!"

So.. I've decided on a compromise.

I started a new blog, and I'm going to post a picture every day! Maybe sometimes if I have time I'll write something too. But I figure no matter what, no matter how busy or crazy it gets, I can always find a second to take a picture. And I have a feeling there will be some fun photo ops over the next year. :)

So this is where I'll be for the next 365 days:

A Year of Living in Pictures

Til next time!

Fact #364: Fingernails vs my bank balance

2011-07-09T23:38:00.000-04:00

Usually I just have to look at my fingernails to know how much money I have.

I've been doing massage therapy as a support job for almost five years now. As a therapist, I have to keep my fingernails pretty short so I don't end up incorporating accidental acupuncture into my massage sessions. So I generally trim them or file them down every couple of days, or even every other day if I'm working a lot.

That also means I have a built in warning system when my funds are about to dip. If I notice my fingernails getting a little long, it means I haven't worked much lately and I haven't had that built-in reminder to trim them.

But now that I'm about to start school, it just occurred to me that I can do whatever I want with my fingernails! I could grow them or paint them or... well, I guess those are the two main things I could do. They're just fingernails after all. But still!

And I might. I might try growing them out to a nice girly length and painting them a nice girly color.

I guess I'll also have to start checking my bank balance at the ATM like a normal person.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #363: Be honest, be brave

2011-07-08T23:18:00.001-04:00

That's going to be my mantra for the next two years.

In just a little over a month, I'll be starting classes in my MFA program. It's gonna be crazy and wonderful and intense. I can't even quite imagine yet how it'll feel to be knee-deep in the program. But as long as I hold onto those things, as long as I remember to bring them back when they start to slip away, I think I'll be a-ok.

It's easy to hide. It's easy to bluff or fake your way. It's hard to be open, accountable, honest. It's scary. But it's how you get to the good stuff.

So when things get challenging and I just want to lock myself in my house and eat froyo all day and never come out, these are the words I'll give myself:

Be honest, be brave.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #362: Kneejerk reactions (emphasis on 'jerk')

2011-07-07T21:15:00.003-04:00

Not to make myself sound crazy, but I have a sort of running commentary / conversation with myself going on in my head most of the time. (You know, like normal people do.) Anyway, in my internal commentary, certain things always elicit the exact same response every time I encounter them. For example:

Whenever I see a person walking a tiny little yapper dog, the voice inside my head says, "That's not a real dog!!"

Whenever I walk by a policeman, the voice inside my head says, "Aaaah!!!! He's a got a gun!" (Then I check to make sure I'm right.)

Whenever someone orders a disgustingly sugary blended drink with whipped cream and a cookie and a bagel, the voice inside my head says, "Thisiswhyyou'refat.com."

So now you know the truth. I may seem nice and sweet on the outside, but inside I'm judging you and your dog, and checking you for firearms.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #361: A new question

2011-07-06T21:42:00.000-04:00

I've started asking myself lately: "What are you hoping for?"

To be totally honest, I'm not always sure.

But I think when I figure out the answer to that question, something pretty amazing is going to happen.

Til tomorrow.

Fact #360: I'm so ready for a gondola ride of emotions

2011-07-05T23:29:00.002-04:00

Today was yet another rollercoaster ride of emotions. I woke up feeling good -- I'm mostly settled into my new place, and I was excited about exploring the city a little with my mom.

But when we went down to the parking lot, my car wasn't there. Uh.. what? In the hopes that I'd just forgotten where I'd parked it, I wandered around looking for it for a few minutes. Meanwhile, my heart was slowly sinking to somewhere around my ankles.

Then I went to the leasing office to let them know what had happened and ask if it could possibly have been towed. They gave me the number for their towing company.

Yes, it was towed! Not stolen. Heart back in chest, resuming normal rhythm.

Then I had to argue with the towing company, who claimed there wasn't a parking permit on my car -- There was!! There so totally was!!!! -- and with the leasing office, who of course denied any liability for the whole thing.

Heart still in chest, but pounding with frustrated rage.

(I was actually very proud of myself for not unleashing a giant shit-storm on people who really didn't deserve it. The leasing office ladies were nice and sympathetic, but there wasn't much they could do. The evil lady with the Irish accent yelling from the back room wouldn't let them.)

Then I had to take a bus out to the impound lot (had a mini-breakdown on the bus, gotta stop crying on public transportation...) and get my car back from the scary guy with mostly no teeth.

But it was there! My car was there! My little car that I just spent all that money to get fixed, that I drove all the way across the country, that I need for the next two years of school. My little Baby Force.

Heart swells, music swells.

After I got my car, I went back to the leasing office for a new permit, and while I was there I got a cup of coffee and a cookie from the waiting area. I figure if I do that about two hundred more times, I'll get my money's worth for what it cost to get my car back from the impound lot.

Then I used my car to pick up the boxes of stuff I shipped to Houston, which arrived right on time today.

Then I went for a swim in the little pool in my complex.

Then I had a delicious dinner and a Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA, in honor of what I wanted to act like all day.

Then I unpacked my boxes and played Bananagrams with my mom.

So it turned out to be a pretty good day after all. Still, my heart is totally ready for a day where everything is boring and nothing exciting happens.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #359: 17 books to go, and some good advice

2011-07-04T12:01:00.001-04:00

Tonight I read Zen in the Art of Archery cover to cover. One more book off the Monster Reading List, woohoo!!

This was my favorite quote:

"You see what comes of not being able to wait without purpose in the state of highest tension. You cannot even learn to do this without continually asking yourself: Shall I be able to manage it? Wait patiently, and see what comes -- and how it comes!"

I like that bit of advice. I get in my own way pretty badly sometimes by trying to guess how I'll handle the unknown.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #358: I live in Houston now

2011-07-04T00:50:00.000-04:00

And I have pictures to prove it! :)

My bathroom. There's so much cabinet/shelf space it's actually kind of intimidating.

Also my bathroom. Some of you might be wondering why I have an alarm clock in my bathroom. Some of you might be impressed that I hauled it all the way across the country even though it doesn't technically belong to me. Some of you might be afraid you're going to get it for Christmas next year.

My bedroom. It's not actually that dark, but the window made the contrast too high. I have some awesome new plants, a newly assembled Ikea dresser, and a super swank view of the parking lot.

My fish!!!! He doesn't have a name yet. Sadly, Baby Force is already taken.

The hallway. I don't know why I took a picture of it, but there it is.

Our living room. The coffee table is also a chalkboard. The couches were a last minute purchase from Goodwill -- I rented a truck to pick up a couch from a guy on craigslist, but he was a total jerk and bailed at the last minute. So I swerved the truck into a Goodwill parking lot, ran in, and ran out with these. I was renting the truck by the hour!

Our dining room/nook/area. These are an Ikea table and chairs I got from craigslist. I didn't have a dining room in my last apartment, and I didn't realize how much I missed having a table to sit at. As you can see, it's already getting put to great use.

So that's a little tour of my new place! It's super huge, which is nice. And we're on the top floor, so we don't have to listen to annoying loud neighbors above us... instead, we get to be those people!

Just kidding. I'm very quiet and nice.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #357: The easy way

2011-07-02T23:51:00.000-04:00

I'm realizing that it's not really in my nature to do things the easy way. I guess I figure if it doesn't come with sweat, blood and tears, I didn't really earn it. But sometimes, the easy way is totally the best way!!

So I owe a big thanks to my mom for making me do at least one thing the easy way during my Houston move-in. It was just what I needed to keep my sanity/inner calm/hair.

And tomorrow, once I've assembled my brand new beautiful dresser from Ikea, I'll post some pics of my home!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #356: I'm torn...

2011-07-02T00:36:00.000-04:00

...between wanting a beer and not wanting to peel myself off my new bed to go get it from the fridge.

Ooh, what to do...?

I do want that beer. It's a St. Arnold's Weedwacker (St. Arnold's is one of the few microbreweries in Houston, and I haven't tried their stuff yet).

Then again, this bed is really soft. And I did carry it up two flights of stairs, so I feel like I've earned the right to lay on it for as long as I gosh darn want to.

But I wanted a beer all day.

But I still have a ton of unpacking to do.

But my bed (did I mention) is just so freaking comfy!! (And bouncy. There's a ceiling fan above me, and I'd say there's a 90% chance I won't be able to resist jumping on the bed and will end up decapitating myself or at least knocking myself unconscious.)

Okay. That settles it. Beer first. Then jumping on the bed. Then sleep/coma.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #355: Life in Tiny-Town USA

2011-06-30T23:37:00.000-04:00

This is by far the old-timeiest gas pump I have ever used.

That's what happens when you drive 8 miles off the highway in the wrong direction looking for gas in the middle of Alabama.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #354: Go car go!

2011-06-29T23:12:00.002-04:00

Oh mah gah, you guys, I'm so tired. We drove so many miles today! For a good chunk of time, I was pretty sure it would never.. ever.. ever.. end. But it did! We made it to Alabama!

And my car is holding up very well, considering I just got it back from the mechanic yesterday.

Up until now, my car has never had a name. But it's been pointed out to me by more than one person that after all the trouble it's been through in the past few weeks, it needs to feel a little love. It needs to feel appreciated.

And over the course of taking it to four separate mechanics in Pittsburgh, riding the bus back and forth many times after dropping it off, leaving it with strange men for weeks on end, finally being tearfully reunited last night, and driving it hundreds of miles today, I found a name for my little car: Baby Force. (Not to be confused with Baby
Force, the dance crew from Singapore. Common mistake.)

There's not a lot of rhyme or reason to the name, but I like it. And it's exactly what my car has as it chugs along, valiantly trying to keep up with the rest of traffic on the interstate.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #353: Here we gooooooo!!!

2011-06-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the day! We'll throw the rest of my stuff in my car and blow this popsicle stand! Our first stop is.. somewhere in Alabama. And then New Orleans. And then Houston!!! Wheeee!

I like to start every roadtrip by singing, "On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again..." (just that part, I don't know the whole song) over and over for the first hour or so.

I know, you're sad you're gonna miss that. You can admit it.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #352: I am a bottomless vat of human emotion

2011-06-27T18:49:00.000-04:00

Today was one of those days -- I'm assuming everyone has days like these, but I could be wrong (please tell me I'm not wrong!) -- where I started crying at 8:30am and never really got it back together.

I mean, I wasn't a weepy mess all day. It was just there the whole time, ready to burst out again every couple of hours for another round.

I'm a little stressed. And I'm a little sad. And I'm a lot tired.

It seems to be a system I've worked out with myself. When I don't give my eyes enough time to be closed at night, they punish me by spewing tears all day.

So just deal with it, bus-driver-at-8:30am-wondering-why-this-crazy-girl-is-crying-on-your-bus. It had to be done.

And now I feel better.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #351: Casablanca

2011-06-26T23:51:00.000-04:00

I saw Casablanca at the Regent Square Theatre with some friends tonight. I'm glad I went, I'd never seen it before! There are tons of old movies on my 'to watch' list, but I can finally check this one off.

I have some thoughts about it:

1) They played all the credits at the beginning of the movie instead of the end. I liked it.
2) It's weird watching a movie for the first time and recognizing so many iconic lines. I sort of felt like I'd already seen it.
3) People in old movies often appear to be terrible kissers.
4) There are some amazing one liners in the movie (besides the famous ones).
5) The 'single tear halfway down the cheek' appears to be a very powerful argumentative technique.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #350: Oh man

2011-06-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

I suck at goodbyes.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #349: Help

2011-06-24T13:44:00.001-04:00

One of the hardest things for me to do is to accept help without feeling like a big fat failure, a drain on society, and a hopeless, helpless lost cause.

I'm working on it, though.

I'm trying to get better at accepting help with simple grace and gratitude, knowing that those moments will come when I'm able to turn around and help someone else.

That's slightly easier said than done. But I'm working on it.

Til tomorrow.

Fact #348: More space

2011-06-23T20:30:00.000-04:00

It's another post about space, folks. Deal with it.

This afternoon (after being as productive as I could reasonably expect myself to be in one day) I curled up on the couch to watch last night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance. And then this dance made me cry.

Aaaah! Tears! Emotions!

I love words and language, and I'm a little shy -- so I sometimes wonder why I didn't gravitate more towards writing than acting. (Not that you can't do both, 'cause you can.) But I think the reason I picked acting, why I love it so much, why I do it even when it makes me feel like I might barf, is because of things like that dance.

Because of bodies in space and what they can communicate.

Sometimes it's bigger than words.

(So why didn't I become a dancer instead of an actor? Well, I do still think language is pretty awesome. Also, have you seen me dance??)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #347: One week!

2011-06-22T21:45:00.000-04:00

That's it. That's all I've got left. In one week, I'm leaving Pittsburgh! Yiiiiiiiiiiikes!

I'm starting to realize that even though my house is mostly empty, even though I've given notice at work, even though I've been packing and planning and apartment hunting in Houston, and reading a billion books for school, and getting my car fixed for the trip, and starting to say my goodbyes... Even though I'm quite obviously moving away... I don't think that fact is going to really sink in until I'm somewhere in the middle of Tennessee.

It's gonna be a big surprise.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #346: Tattooed!

2011-06-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

I got my third, and probably last, tattoo this evening.

All three of my tattoos are on bony areas -- one on my sternum and two on my ribs. But this one hurt the worst!! If I knew any government secrets, so would my tattoo artist by now.

It's big. It's the biggest one I've ever gotten. I'm kind of scared of it. But I love it.

It's all shiny and 3D right now, but I can't wait for it to settle in and become part of me. I'm already forgetting what I looked like without it.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #345: Space

2011-06-20T22:07:00.000-04:00

This is what my living room looks like now.

I actually kind of like it. And it's much better than the "my house exploded" look that it's had for the past few weeks.

Plus, I've always said that if I was super-rich I'd have a room in my mansion called the "Empty Room". And it would be just that: a big empty room. There's something relaxing and exciting and inspiring about an empty room. The freedom of movement and the huge potential inherent in the space are so energizing.

The other awesome rooms in my imaginary mansion might be a little harder to create as a pre-billionaire, but it turns out you can make pretty much any room into the "Empty Room".

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go put some socks on and run around the house. Wheeeee!!!

Til tomorrow!

Fact #344: Music for the road

2011-06-19T21:06:00.000-04:00

It was a nonstop White Stripes extravaganza at the coffee shop today. Because when I'm serving you coffee I also get to be your DJ, and I play what I want!!

I sort of wanted to just put that song on repeat all morning, but I restrained myself for the mental health of our customers. But it's going on my road trip playlist for sure!

I'm also in the market for some new music. It's a 23 hour drive from Pittsburgh to Houston, and I'd like to have a solid 23 hours of awesome music loaded up on my iPod before we hit the road.

Suggestions?

Til tomorrow!

Fact #343: You learn something new every day

2011-06-18T01:55:00.000-04:00

For example, last night I went to a play and learned a whole bunch of stuff I didn't know about the Lindbergh baby and one of the prime suspects in the case, Violet Sharp.

If you live in Pittsburgh, go see this show! Do it. It's a fascinating story, and some really lovely work by the actors.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #342: Pittsburgh, now I'm mad at you

2011-06-17T00:11:00.006-04:00

Pittsburgh, what did you do to me? How did this happen?

I didn't see it coming. Two years ago, I had no idea you even existed (just kidding, my geography's a little bit better than that). But I didn't know how awesome you were. I didn't know how cool and arts-supportive and friendly you were.

I didn't know how much I was gonna love you. I didn't know how much you were gonna change me.

You picked me up and shook me, Pittsburgh. Which normally I like. But to be honest, you shook me pretty hard sometimes. And then you spun me around in circles real fast, and when you set me down I was facing towards Houston.

So now I'm a little mad at you, Pittsburgh. For making me care about you while simultaneously lighting a fire under my butt that's taking me away from you.

I'm gonna miss you, Pittsburgh. You witnessed some of my biggest growing pains, but you were nice to me anyway. I think you're kind of wonderful.

So, like John Lithgow in Harry and the Hendersons, I have to yell at you and punch you in the face to cover the sorrow of parting.

A touching moment made creepy by John Lithgow's very presence.

It's like magic.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #341: I covet Surly gear

2011-06-16T23:01:00.002-04:00

Ooo, ooo, ooo! I want one of these.

I used to have one, actually, but I donated it in my big moving purge. (And, to be honest, it was actually Freddie's. I sort of commandeered it, despite the fact that it was way too big for me.) I told him he could take it to California when he moved, but he didn't want it anymore! It's almost like his girlfriend stole it and wore it all the time until it was all faded and old.

In my defense, I was gonna get one of my own, but for a long time Surly wasn't even selling them. But now they are! In girl sizes! And I want one! (Even though where I'm going, it'll only be hoodie weather for about 10 days a year.)

But I still want one! I wanted it my whole liiiiiiife!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #340: Now I don't have a bed or a microwave

2011-06-15T20:37:00.000-04:00

It's cool though, because I'm super into sleeping on the couch and eating cold soup.

(I actually don't have any soup either, but it was the only thing I could think of off the top of my head that you usually eat hot.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #339: Tom Cruise got one thing right

2011-06-14T22:10:00.003-04:00

And that one thing is: Scientology.

Haha. Just kidding!

But seriously. No matter how hectic, stressful, or busy life gets, Tom Cruise taught me never to forget the value of occasionally cranking up some music and dancing around the house, most likely in your underwear.

It's very important.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #338: It's just a flesh wound

2011-06-13T22:58:00.000-04:00

I got another mole sliced out of me today! On my foot this time. Which, incidentally, is my new least favorite place to have stitches. How am I supposed to run with stitches on my foot?? I guess the answer is, "painfully and with a limp." Or, "you're not."

Sigh.

I'm not letting it stop me from doing yoga though! I took today off, but I think that's good enough. I've got a month pass that expires in 10 days, so I've got to soak it up while I can!

Anyway, after two hours at the dermatologist's office (88% waiting, 12% mole slicing), I spent the rest of the day watching the Tony's and puttering around the house sorting through the rest of my stuff. I've got it mostly sorted into three piles: keep, donate, and foist off on friends. The pile of stuff that's coming with me to Houston is actually amazingly small. I downsize pretty easily, I guess!

As my prize for getting all that stuff done, I limped over the the Southside Works to watch Bridesmaids with a friend. (I realize I'm a little late to the party on that one, but I haven't been to the movies in forever.) It was so funny! And gross. And funny! And sweet. I really like Kristen Wiig, she gets the humor without letting go of the truth.

Now I've gotta take some ibuprofen for my sore little footsie and go to bed.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #337: My to do list is raging out of control

2011-06-12T23:20:00.000-04:00

One of the things I've always secretly wanted to do (besides join the circus) is to write a picture book.

I remember with amazing clarity some of the great pictures books I read when I was little, and the impression they left on me. I loved them then, and reading them years later, I love them all over again. I've been having the best time buying books for my niece and nephew. It's seriously too much fun!

Those books are so f(a word I can't say because I'm talking about children's books)ing awesome!

I think the art of writing pictures books is really fascinating, too. They're so short, every word matters. They're like poetry.

So, yeah. Sometime in between finishing my Monster Reading List, finding more monologues, packing, cleaning, moving across the country, taking trapeze classes, and doing a buttload of yoga, I want to write a picture book.

Oh, I know. I'll just do it in my spare time!

Til tomorrow!

Fact #336: Bahahahaha!

2011-06-11T22:28:00.000-04:00

Oh man, Stephen Colbert cracks me up.

But seriously, don't let that woman anywhere near the Oval Office.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #335: I'm totally doing this, and you can't stop me!

2011-06-11T06:22:00.000-04:00

If you know me, you know that I have absolutely no rhythm and can't dance (well) to save my life. You know that anytime I try to play sports, I get hit in the face by balls (hehe, balls). You know that I'm terrified of flying. You know that I'm fairly uncoordinated, and may have actually witnessed me trip over absolutely nothing but my own feet.

But you also know that I have a freakish amount of upper body strength. And that I'm sort of flexible. And that I've secretly always wanted to be in the circus.

So I'm totally taking classes in Aerial Trapeze and Fabric when I get to Houston. Whaaaaa...??

Wheeeeee!!!!!!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #334: Animal noises

2011-06-10T13:33:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I like to go to the Humane Society website and just look at the adoptable dogs. (What? Like you don't do that?)

Then I make these noises.

Awwwwww...

Ohhhhhh...

Ooooooo...

Eeeeeeeeee...

Mmmmmm...

Rrrrrrrrrrrr....

Ewwwwww...

Til tomorrow!

Fact #333: I have so many stories!

2011-06-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

When Freddie and I were drifting off to sleep at night, I used to suddenly think of a billion things that had happened during the day that I just absolutely, positively had to tell him about right that second.

So I would.

And he'd roll his eyes and groan, but I'd tell him anyway.

I miss that.

He might feel differently. :)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #332: Play with me!

2011-06-08T20:38:00.002-04:00

A few years ago I was in a production of Mr. Marmalade in Chicago. I played a little girl named Lucy, who has a somewhat strange imaginary friend named Mr. Marmalade. It was one of my favorite roles so far, and one of my favorite shows. And not just because I got to wear a tutu.

It was just an amazing challenge to get into a 4-year-old head space. To find it in my mind and body. It's easy to play youth or old age with exaggerated physicality, but to find the truth in the actions is harder. I did a lot of yoga during rehearsals and perfected my deep squat, a move you see kids do all the time but most adults wouldn't even attempt for fear of blowing out both their knees.

(I don't know this kid.)

One of my favorite parts of the show was a funny little ritual that developed between me and Marz Timms, the actor playing Mr. Marmalade. The set for the show was very simple, a series of oversize blocks that were moved around to suggest different furniture pieces. Every night before the house opened, I'd go onstage to warm up and stretch. I'd do my regular stretches, then I'd start playing around on the set, moving around on it like a kid would.

And Marz would always come play with me.

He'd chase me all around the set and I'd shriek and giggle and try to run away or crawl up on the blocks to safety.

I loved that game. It got the two of us in the same head space for the show. It connected us. And the best part was, I never said, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we did our warm up together? Maybe you pretend to chase me, and I'll pretend to run away." It just happened. And it was so much fun!

Marz is a stand up comedian in Chicago, a super talented guy, and way cooler than me. He could just as easily have done his own warm up or rolled his eyes at my ridiculous antics. But he didn't. He got up and played with me. And I think that's super awesome.

I like playing.

See? I'm having so much fun!

Til tomorrow!

Fact #331: Here's what I've been thinking about

2011-06-07T22:30:00.005-04:00

I was looking at the labels I've put on all my posts over the past 330 days, and here's what I found out.

My top three topics, over 50 tags each, are:

Acting
Things I Think Are Funny
Deep Dark Secrets

Hm, sounds about right. I would call that an accurate reflection of my psyche.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #330: Baby steps

2011-06-06T23:05:00.001-04:00

I flew three times last week. The flights got progressively longer, too.

PIT>>IAH 2:40
IAH>>SFO 3:40
SFO>>PIT 4:40

But even during the longest flight, I didn't freak out too much and was able to keep my heart rate down to a manageable level. I did so good! I'm so proud! I brought a bunch of books with me, but I ended up spending most of the time watching old episodes of The Venture Bros.

My next goal:
To be able to actually be productive on airplanes instead of turning into a totally useless human being whose only focus is trying not to imagine the plane falling out of the sky and also convincing herself that her imagination doesn't have the power to make the plane fall out of the sky.

For now, though, I'll take 'not freaking out too bad' as a step in the right direction.

Plus, The Venture Bros is hilarious.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #329: The same tricks you try on babies also work on me

2011-06-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

This blog post is coming to you from the glamorous International Terminal of the SFO airport (I'm not actually flying internationally, but my flight was delayed and they changed the gate). I was supposed to leave at 4, but they pushed the departure back two hours and now I won't get in to Pittsburgh till 1:45am. Booo! Super boo! Super duper lame-o boo!

Anyway, I'm so tired I keep doing that accidental head nod thing every few minutes as I type. But I'm trying to keep myself awake now so that I'll sleep on the plane instead of having a giant meltdown during the flight.

Now if I could just get someone to carry me off the plane and drive me home once we land...

Til tomorrow!

Fact #328: Sometimes there's no time for blogging

2011-06-04T23:31:00.001-04:00

I'm at a raging party. But I took a break from dancing to blog! So...

Blog.

My work here is done.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #327: I don't know what to say about today (part 3)

2011-06-03T21:39:00.001-04:00

My computer clock can't keep up with me as I run around the country through various time zones. According to my iBook, it's 12:46am on Saturday. But the wall clock says it's 9:46pm on Friday, and that's the number I'm going with!

I'm getting much better at going with the flow.

I've been balancing a bunch of things, but I'm getting better at seeing what's right in front of me and taking things as they come -- not needing to plan everything or know all the answers at once. Accepting, as a friend of mine used to say, that "all shall be revealed."

Til tomorrow!

Fact #326: Ruv

2011-06-02T23:35:00.002-04:00

This is why I like puppies.

Marshmallow: Play with meeeeeeeee!

Me: Okayyyyyyyyy!

Til tomorrow!

Fact #325: Personality test

2011-06-01T23:38:00.002-04:00

I realized something about myself today.

I'm not so much a "glass half empty" person. Or a "glass half full" person.

Nope. I'm more of a "Wait, are there other glasses? How full are they? What's in all of these glasses? Is it the same thing in every glass, or different? Can I do a blind taste test? Can I do a not-blind taste test? Am I allowed to mix two glasses together? Can I go back and look at the first one again?" kind of girl.

I can't help it! I just like to consider my options!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #324: I just want to (find a place to) liiiiiiive!

2011-05-31T23:47:00.001-04:00

The Great American Apartment Hunt of 2011 is on! It is so on.

Apartment hunting is funny. There are a lot of factors to balance -- price, size, location. It's hard to find exactly what you want in all those categories. So it helps to be a little flexible, and to know already which amenities you can live without and which ones you can't.

Of course, I always like to start by insisting on getting everything I want. It may not work out that way, but at least I set the bar high!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #323: The truth

2011-05-30T18:46:00.001-04:00

I've been posting on this blog for 323 straight days. That's a long time. I feel like we've really gotten to know each other over these past months. I feel like I can trust you.

So I'm gonna tell you the truth.

The truthiest truth I can truth.

Are you ready?

Okay.

*deep breath*

I don't have any idea how to take care of my cast iron skillet. (Hangs head in shame.)

A few years ago I got a cast iron pan, and I've been using it for most of my stovetop cooking ever since. When Freddie moved his stuff out, I insisted vociferously that he let me keep the skillet because it's seriously one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment.

But the truth is, I do not understand the basic care and maintenance of cast iron cookware.

I'm supposed to season it, right? And I'm not supposed to wash it with soap and a scrubber like my other dishes, right? Well... imagine that I have occasionally washed it with soap, and don't actually know if I've ever seasoned it. Is that bad? How bad is it?

What should I be doing to make my skillet happier? And also to make myself feel more like a top chef and less like a hack and a destroyer of quality cookware?

Thank you for listening to my truthiness and not judging me. (And if you did judge me, thanks for keeping it to yourself. And if you didn't keep it to yourself, thanks for nothing.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #322: Just let it out

2011-05-29T22:16:00.002-04:00

Eek! Time has really decided to take this whole "being relative" thing pretty seriously. Somehow April just flew by.

I've still got so much to do! I'm not freaking out (yet) -- I just try not to think about everything that has to happen all at once, or my head explodes.

But it's cool. I'm on schedule with my reading list, and I'll have a place to live soon. My garage sale last weekend was a smash success (so long as you consider $37 smashing). And I'm starting to make plans for my move.

I also went to yoga every day last week, which helps me stay sane.

And if that doesn't work, I can always just let my emotions out by screaming!

Til tomorrow!

Fact #321: Sometimes time-outs are awesome

2011-05-28T23:45:00.000-04:00

Tonight I had a lovely home-cooked dinner with some friends.

It was perfect. The food was super delicious, the company was great, the conversation was interesting. And I tried Kombucha for the first time!

It was also a nice break from the constant impulse to be getting something done. Reading, packing, memorizing, sorting, selling, apartment hunting, working, planning -- there's always something I could be doing. Most times, there's something I should be doing.

But I every once in a while, it's good to make sure I can still turn all that noise in my head off and just have dinner.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #320: Grieving a little

2011-05-27T22:01:00.001-04:00

One of the hardest things we must do sometimes is to be present to another person's pain without trying to fix it, to simply stand respectfully at the edge of that person's mystery and misery. Standing there, we feel useless and powerless. -- Parker J. Palmer

That's how I feel today.

Til tomorrow.

Fact #319: My TV stand got stood up (again)

2011-05-26T21:24:00.001-04:00

Some guy was supposed to pick up my TV stand tonight, but guess what? He didn't!

Nope. No picking-up going on around here. None at all. I don't really know what to tell my poor little TV stand -- it's developing quite a complex.

"No," I say, "it's not because you're ugly."

"No," I say, "it's not because you have a weird mystery dent on one side. I can barely notice it."

"You're great," I say. "You could do so much better than that jerk."

But my TV stand just wants love. It just wants to be accepted. It's dressing sluttier and sluttier and starting to hang out with a crowd I don't approve of. If it doesn't find a good home soon, it may end up on the streets.

So empty inside...

Til tomorrow.

Fact #318: Contented sigh

2011-05-25T23:16:00.001-04:00

I probably should have posted something before I went out for margaritas this evening...

But since I didn't, instead of writing words, I'm just going to post this.

I'm not sure Steve Martin should keep doing Cheaper by the Dozen movies, but I love his early comedy. And I love, love, love this:

Generally, I stay away from anything that even makes me think about thinking about bluegrass (things like, for example, the banjo) but this always makes me smile. It's infectious. And pretty incredible.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #317: Typey typey typey

2011-05-24T22:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I typed up a hundred thousand monologues. Or at least it felt like a hundred thousand. It was probably more like several dozen. But still.

My WPM is totally improving.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #316: Yoga Flow

2011-05-23T21:25:00.001-04:00

Today was the first day of my monthly pass at Yoga Flow in Shadyside. It was also my first time at that studio -- I really liked it!

I was a little nervous because they were playing music at the start of class, which sometimes gets really distracting/annoying. I guess I'm biased because Amazing Yoga doesn't play any music during class, and I got so used to just listening to the sound of my breathing. It's so meditative and gives me something to focus on.

Luckily, they turned the music way, way down during class. Maybe they turned it off...? I honestly don't remember, which I guess is a good sign. If it was so non-distracting that I don't even know if it was there or not, I guess I didn't really mind the background music.

Anyway, now I'm debating if I should go to the 6:15 or the 9:30 class tomorrow morning. I'm tempted to do the 6:15, but sometimes when I go that early, I literally sleep my way through class -- I wake up an hour later in Shavasana, drooling on my mat and wondering what the hell just happened. So maybe I'll wait til 9:30, have a little coffee first... oh yeah, that sounds much better.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #315: Sundays

2011-05-22T20:47:00.000-04:00

Growing up, this was always one of my favorite things about Sundays:

I think Bill Watterson is a genius, and he's one of my personal heroes.

What he created is brilliant. It's funny, silly, and goofy. It's irreverent. It's innocent. It's so intelligent. It's meaningful. It's from the heart. It speaks to my soul.

And he never sold it out. He respected his own work, he championed his art form, and he quit when he was done. It takes incredible integrity as an artist to do that. How many of us have run something good into the ground because we were afraid to let it go when it was done?

This is long, but very worth the read.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REAL WORLD BY ONE WHO GLIMPSED IT AND FLED
Bill Watterson
Kenyon College Commencement
May 20, 1990

I have a recurring dream about Kenyon. In it, I’m walking to the post-office on the way to my first class at the start of the school year. Suddenly it occurs to me that I don’t have my schedule memorized, and I’m not sure which classes I’m taking, or where exactly I’m supposed to be going.

As I walk up the steps to the post-office, I realize I don’t have my box key, and in fact, I can’t remember what my box number is. I’m certain that everyone I know has written me a letter, but I can’t get them. I get more flustered and annoyed by the minute. I head back to Middle Path, racking my brains and asking myself, “How many more years until I graduate? …Wait, didn’t I graduate already?? How old AM I?” Then I wake up.

Experience is food for the brain. And four years at Kenyon is a rich meal. I suppose it should be no surprise that your brains will probably burp up Kenyon for a long time. And I think the reason I keep having the dream is because its central image is a metaphor for a good part of life: that is, not knowing where you’re going or what you’re doing.

I graduated exactly ten years ago. That doesn’t give me a great deal of experience to speak from, but I’m emboldened by the fact that I can’t remember a bit of MY commencement, and I trust that in half an hour, you won’t remember of yours either.

In the middle of my sophomore year at Kenyon, I decided to paint a copy of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” from the Sistine Chapel on the ceiling of my dorm room. By standing on a chair, I could reach the ceiling, and I taped off a section, made a grid, and started to copy the picture from my art history book.

Working with your arm over your head is hard work, so a few of my more ingenious friends rigged up a scaffold for me by stacking two chairs on my bed, and laying the table from the hall lounge across the chairs and over to the top of my closet. By climbing up onto my bed and up the chairs, I could hoist myself onto the table, and lie in relative comfort two feet under my painting. My roommate would then hand up my paints,and I could work for several hours at a stretch.

The picture took me months to do, and in fact, I didn’t finish the work until very near the end of the school year. I wasn’t much of a painter then, but what the work lacked in color sense and technical flourish, it gained in the incongruity of having a High Renaissance masterpiece in a college dorm that had the unmistakable odor of old beer cans and older laundry.

The painting lent an air of cosmic grandeur to my room, and it seemed to put life into a larger perspective. Those boring, flowery English poets didn’t seem quite so important, when right above my head God was transmitting the spark of life to man.

My friends and I liked the finished painting so much in fact, that we decided I should ask permission to do it. As you might expect, the housing director was curious to know why I wanted to paint this elaboratepicture on my ceiling a few weeks before school let out. Well, you don’t get to be a sophomore at Kenyon without learning how to fabricate ideas you never had, but I guess it was obvious that my idea was being proposed retroactively. It ended up that I was allowed to paint the picture, so long as I painted over it and returned the ceiling to normal at the end of the year. And that’s what I did.

Despite the futility of the whole episode, my fondest memories of college are times like these, where things were done out of some inexplicable inner imperative, rather than because the work was demanded. Clearly, I never spent as much time or work on any authorized art project, or any poli-sci paper, as I spent on this one act of vandalism.

It’s surprising how hard we’ll work when the work is done just for ourselves. And with all due respect to John Stuart Mill, maybe utilitarianism is overrated. If I’ve learned one thing from being a cartoonist, it’s how important playing is to creativity and happiness.My job is essentially to come up with 365 ideas a year. If you ever want to find out just how uninteresting you really are, get a job where the quality and frequency of your thoughts determine your livelihood. I’ve found that the only way I can keep writing every day, year after year, is to let my mind wander into new territories. To do that, I’ve had to cultivate a kind of mental playfulness.

We’re not really taught how to recreate constructively. We need to do more than find diversions; we need to restore and expand ourselves. Our idea of relaxing is all too often to plop down in front of the television set and let its pandering idiocy liquefy our brains. Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery-it recharges by running. You may be surprised to find how quickly daily routine and the demands of “just getting by: absorb your waking hours. You may be surprised to find how quickly you start to see your politics and religion become matters of habit rather than thought and inquiry. You may be surprised to find how quickly you start to see your life in terms of other people’s expectations rather than issues. You may be surprised to find out how quickly reading a good book sounds like a luxury.

At school, new ideas are thrust at you every day. Out in the world,you’ll have to find the inner motivation to search for new ideas on your own. With any luck at all, you’ll never need to take an idea and squeeze a punchline out of it, but as bright, creative people, you’ll be called upon to generate ideas and solutions all your lives. Letting your mind play is the best way to solve problems. For me, it’s been liberating to put myself in the mind of a fictitious six year-old each day, and rediscover my own curiosity. I’ve been amazedat how one ideas leads to others if I allow my mind to play and wander.I know a lot about dinosaurs now, and the information has helped me out of quite a few deadlines. A playful mind is inquisitive, and learning is fun. If you indulge your natural curiosity and retain a sense of fun in new experience, I think you’ll find it functions as a sort of shock absorber for the bumpy road ahead.

So, what’s it like in the real world? Well, the food is better, but beyond that, I don’t recommend it.
I don’t look back on my first few years out of school with much affection, and if I could have talked to you six months ago, I’d have encouraged you all to flunk some classes and postpone this moment as long as possible. But now it’s too late.

Unfortunately, that was all the advice I really had. When I was sitting where you are, I was one of the lucky few who had a cushy job waiting for me. I’d drawn political cartoons for the Collegian for four years, and the Cincinnati Post had hired me as an editorial cartoonist. All my friends were either dreading the infamous first year of law school, or despondent about their chances of convincing anyone that a history degree had any real application outside of academia.

Boy, was I smug.

As it turned out, my editor instantly regretted his decision to hire me.By the end of the summer, I’d been given notice; by the beginning of winter, I was in an unemployment line; and by the end of my first year away from Kenyon, I was broke and living with my parents again. You can imagine how upset my dad was when he learned that Kenyon doesn’t give refunds.

Watching my career explode on the launchpad caused some soul searching. I eventually admitted that I didn’t have what it takes to be a good political cartoonist, that is, an interest in politics, and I returned to my first love, comic strips.

For years I got nothing but rejection letters, and I was forced to accept a real job.

A REAL job is a job you hate. I designed car ads and grocery ads in the windowless basement of a convenience store, and I hated every single minute of the 4-1/2 million minutes I worked there. My fellow prisoner sat work were basically concerned about how to punch the time clock at the perfect second where they would earn another 20 cents without doing any work for it.

It was incredible: after every break, the entire staff would stand around in the garage where the time clock was, and wait for that last click. And after my used car needed the head gasket replaced twice, I waited in the garage too.

It’s funny how at Kenyon, you take for granted that the people around you think about more than the last episode of Dynasty. I guess that’s what it means to be in an ivory tower.

Anyway, after a few months at this job, I was starved for some life of the mind that, during my lunch break, I used to read those poli-sci books that I’d somehow never quite finished when I was here. Some of those books were actually kind of interesting. It was a rude shock to see just how empty and robotic life can be when you don’t care about what you’re doing, and the only reason you’re there is to pay the bills.

Thoreau said,
“the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
That’s one of those dumb cocktail quotations that will strike fear in your heart as you get older. Actually, I was leading a life of loud desperation.

When it seemed I would be writing about “Midnite Madness Sale-abrations” for the rest of my life, a friend used to console me that cream always rises to the top. I used to think, so do people who throw themselves into the sea.

I tell you all this because it’s worth recognizing that there is no such thing as an overnight success. You will do well to cultivate the resources in yourself that bring you happiness outside of success or failure. The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. It’s a good idea to try to enjoy the scenery on the detours, because you’ll probably take a few.

I still haven’t drawn the strip as long as it took me to get the job. To endure five years of rejection to get a job requires either a faith in oneself that borders on delusion, or a love of the work. I loved the work.

Drawing comic strips for five years without pay drove home the point that the fun of cartooning wasn’t in the money; it was in the work. This turned out to be an important realization when my break finally came.

Like many people, I found that what I was chasing wasn’t what I caught.I’ve wanted to be a cartoonist since I was old enough to read cartoons,and I never really thought about cartoons as being a business. It never occurred to me that a comic strip I created would be at the mercy of a blood sucking corporate parasite called a syndicate, and that I’d be faced with countless ethical decisions masquerading as simple business decisions.

To make a business decision, you don’t need much philosophy; all you need is greed, and maybe a little knowledge of how the game works.

As my comic strip became popular, the pressure to capitalize on that popularity increased to the point where I was spending almost as much time screaming at executives as drawing. Cartoon merchandising is a $12billion dollar a year industry and the syndicate understandably wanted a piece of that pie. But the more I though about what they wanted to do with my creation, the more inconsistent it seemed with the reasons I draw cartoons.

Selling out is usually more a matter of buying in. Sell out, and you’re really buying into someone else’s system of values, rules and rewards.

The so-called “opportunity” I faced would have meant giving up my individual voice for that of a money-grubbing corporation. It would have meant my purpose in writing was to sell things, not say things. My pride in craft would be sacrificed to the efficiency of mass production and the work of assistants. Authorship would become committee decision. Creativity would become work for pay. Art would turn into commerce. In short, money was supposed to supply all the meaning I’d need.

What the syndicate wanted to do, in other words, was turn my comic strip into everything calculated, empty and robotic that I hated about my old job. They would turn my characters into television hucksters and T-shirt sloganeers and deprive me of characters that actually expressed my own thoughts.

On those terms, I found the offer easy to refuse. Unfortunately, the syndicate also found my refusal easy to refuse, and we’ve been fighting for over three years now. Such is American business, I guess, where the desire for obscene profit mutes any discussion of conscience.

You will find your own ethical dilemmas in all parts of your lives, both personal and professional. We all have different desires and needs, but if we don’t discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for,we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.

Many of you will be going on to law school, business school, medical school, or other graduate work, and you can expect the kind of starting salary that, with luck, will allow you to pay off your own tuition debts within your own life time.

But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.

To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed,and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.

Reading those turgid philosophers here in these remote stone buildings may not get you a job, but if those books have forced you to ask yourself questions about what makes life truthful, purposeful, meaningful, and redeeming, you have the Swiss Army Knife of mental tools, and it’s going to come in handy all the time.

I think you’ll find that Kenyon touched a deep part of you. These have been formative years. Chances are, at least of your roommates has taught you everything ugly about human nature you ever wanted to know.

With luck, you’ve also had a class that transmitted a spark of insight or interest you’d never had before. Cultivate that interest, and you may find a deeper meaning in your life that feeds your soul and spirit. Your preparation for the real world is not in the answers you’ve learned, but in the questions you’ve learned how to ask yourself.

Graduating from Kenyon, I suspect you’ll find yourselves quite well prepared indeed.
I wish you all fulfillment and happiness. Congratulations on your achievement.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #314: We made it

2011-05-21T22:37:00.001-04:00

A few years ago I was lucky enough to work on a film called The Christians, written and directed by a ridiculously talented guy named Stephen Cone. Funnily enough, the film is about a group of people who believe that the Rapture is about to happen, and the fallout in their lives when it doesn't.

So in honor of surviving my second brush with the apocalypse, here's the trailer for The Christians. I'm very proud to be part of this movie, and feel especially lucky to have met some of the most wonderful people I know while working on it.

The Christians (Official Trailer) from Jeffrey McHale on Vimeo.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #313: Rapture? I hardly know her!

2011-05-20T22:03:00.001-04:00

Harold Camping is decidedly crazy. But I do like Stephen Fry. Did you know he's going to be in The Hobbit movie? Well, he is.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #312: My TV stand is cursed

2011-05-19T07:15:00.001-04:00

Guys, I gotta tell you, I'm pretty much over craigslist.

I mean, I'm not done with it. My codependent, semi-abusive relationship with craigslist is likely to continue for years.

But I'm totes over it.

I've probably sold over $500 worth of stuff on craigslist in preparation for my move, but I've got plenty more things that still need to go. Like, for example, my TV stand.

It's a nice little TV stand that I'm selling for 20 bucks. Easy peasy, right? It should sell like hotcakes. (Just like my soon-to-be-written best selling children's book, Reasonably Priced Hotcakes for All.)

I don't know what the problem is, but this stupid TV stand just won't go away! It's like a curse. I've had several people email me about it, make plans to pick it up, and then never show. I even had a woman come all the way to my apartment before she realized that she HAD NO TV and therefore, obviously, no need for a TV stand. Good thinking, lady. You must be a delight to shop with.

The problem is, now it's about way more than just $20. It's about the principle. If I end up having to donate this TV stand to Goodwill, then I've lost to craigslist. And I refuse to lose to craigslist.

What appears to be an ordinary TV stand

is actually a giant pain in my ass.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #311: Finding balance

2011-05-18T21:29:00.000-04:00

This is how I'd like to approach acting --

I'm not performing open heart surgery. I'm not dismantling bombs. I'm not developing greener technology or protecting endangered species or pulling people out of burning buildings.

What I do is not more important than any of those things.

What I do is sometimes very silly.

But it is important.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #310: Sicky productivity

2011-05-17T22:01:00.000-04:00

I spent a giant chunk, ie most, of the day in bed today. I tried to be productive anyway, but it's a little difficult when you're also fighting off the plague. This is sort of how it went:

Read 10 pages of Eccentricities of a Nightingale.

Pass out for an hour.

Wake up, make some echinacea tea.

Read another 10 pages.

Pass out for an hour and a half.

Wake up, drink cold, very strong tea.

Try to clean house, mostly just move stuff around in a daze.

Read another 20 pages.

Pass out again.

Repeat all. day. long.

I did manage to read two and a half plays, so that's something. I'm officially finished with the Tennessee Williams portion of my Monster Reading List. Woo hoo!

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for another nap.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #309: Okay, I lied

2011-05-16T19:01:00.000-04:00

I am sick.

Waaaahhh!

There are only two things in the world I always like doing. One is not being sick. The other is whining about it when I do get sick. There are lots of words you might use to describe me, but stoic isn't one of them.

Til tomorrow.

Fact #308: Gross

2011-05-15T23:59:00.000-04:00

I am a giant snot factory today.

But I'm not getting sick.

Seriously.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #307: Moving forward

2011-05-14T22:29:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow Freddie graduates from CMU as a Master of Entertainment Technology. It's crazy to think it's been two years since he started this journey. I'm so proud of him.

Now it's time to close this chapter and move on to the next!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #306: Make it about me? Oh, all right then.

2011-05-13T23:58:00.000-04:00

Sometimes when I watch an actor give (in my opinion) a truly terrible performance, I feel bad because I think, "Oh my god, that could be me! I could be that bad." Then I feel better because I think, "Well, at least it didn't stop someone from casting him." Then I feel worse because I think, "But it probably should have."

This has been another episode of Let's Make it All About Me! Tune in next week, when I describe how bummed out I get when late breaking news interrupts my favorite TV show.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #305: It's not my fault!

2011-05-13T13:10:00.001-04:00

Augh! I tried to blog yesterday but I couldn't!

I got home from a massage appointment and sat down to write about, oh who knows what, probably something super awesome. Quite possibly the most brilliant thoughts I've ever had. But Blogger was down, and it didn't go back up til just now. So, I guess you'll just have to settle for these words of wisdom:

Don't bring your mistress to the same spa where you bring your wife. Not classy. Oh, also? Maybe don't cheat on your wife.

My job is weird sometimes.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #304: Oh goody!

2011-05-11T18:07:00.000-04:00

I guess I won't have to pack any pint glasses to bring to Houston -- I can just restock my supply at the Ginger Man!

You think I'm kidding, but I'm not kidding. I am, in fact, completely serious.

Actually, there's a 90% chance that pint glasses will be the only form of dishes that I'll own. You can eat breakfast cereal out of a pint glass, right? Right. (Admittedly, an omelet might be a little harder, but I'll make it work. You just gotta want that last bite.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #303: Now you see why I want a dog?

2011-05-10T23:01:00.001-04:00

Freddie always sends me links to this guy Nick Holmes' blog. Mostly I don't get it, but this made me laugh pretty hard. Dogs are super fun.

Stay. Staaaaay....

Til tomorrow!

Fact #302: My pants can't come off fast enough

2011-05-09T01:06:00.006-04:00

Wow, Kid Cudi. Your lyrics are so... um... how do I put this?

There's Shakespeare. And there's Kid Cudi. Everyone else should probably just go home.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #301: I'll say this one time...

2011-05-08T13:10:00.002-04:00

In less than two months I'm leaving to go to school in Houston. And I'm a little scared.

It's the first time I've moved anywhere totally, completely on my own. I spent a year in London during my undergrad, but that was really more of a long vacation. When I moved to Chicago I had a network of college friends. I moved to Pittsburgh with Freddie.

And now I'm moving to Texas by myself. I know friends-of-friends who've offered to help me find a place to live and show me around. And once school starts, I'll be surrounded by a group of people pretty much nonstop.

But first, the move -- so far away from everything and everyone I know. So far outside of my mid-western culture. So hot. So humid. Finding a place to live, navigating a new city. Finding a way to make it feel like home.

So it's a little scary. And I don't mind admitting that, mostly because I can immediately follow it with, "I'm a big girl. I do okay."

Besides, if I remember correctly, I wasn't all that super stoked about moving to Pittsburgh. I may have spent the first couple of months here bemoaning the fact that my 'street' was a glorified alley, mocking the nonsensical roadways and poorly placed signage that are everywhere in this city, and bitching about the fact that I couldn't buy beer from a grocery store like a normal person.

But I've come to love Pittsburgh so much. For realsies. It grew on me like a giant city-shaped wart. I'll be back, I promise. I'll be back for a latte from Big Dog, for a beer from The Library, for brunch at Zenith. Hopefully I'll be back to work with some of the great theatre companies out here. I'll be back.

But first, time to bust out the shorts and flip flops, and figure out what the hell to do with my hair in humidity.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #300: Taking inventory

2011-05-07T21:56:00.000-04:00

Not to brag, but I have a miniature telescope and I'm pretty sure you don't.

I hope your overwhelming jealousy won't get in the way of our friendship.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #299: It's fun being good at stuff

2011-05-06T22:59:00.003-04:00

The difficult should become habitual, the habitual, easy, the easy, beautiful. -- S.M. Volonski (from Stanislavski)

It always cracks me up when a massage client says with surprise, "Wow, you found all my knots!" Um, of course I did. I'm a trained professional.

But when I think about it, that actually means a lot.

I remember a moment early on in my MT training program when the instructor was teaching us how to feel imbalances in the body. I was working on one of my fellow students and he asked me which side of their back was more restricted. I moved my hands around in circles (very much like the Karate Kid practicing his wax on/wax off) then I randomly guessed it was the left side. Honestly, I had no idea.

Well, I do now. After massaging hundreds of people, after working on thousands of muscles, my hands feel things totally differently. I don't even have to think about it consciously, it's second nature now -- your knots are like magnets to my fingers.

That's the fun of getting really good at something. At first it's hard, but you practice and you practice until it's in your bones. And it becomes easy. Then it becomes something else. It becomes intuitive. It becomes beautiful.

On a not-entirely-unrelated note, I'm so ridiculously, amazingly excited that I get to study acting non-stop for the next two years! (Acting and massage, people. I will always find a way to connect them.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #298: Slowing down

2011-05-05T23:15:00.001-04:00

One of the things I liked about New York is that it's a city of fast walkers. That worked out great for me, since my 'meandering' pace is still fast enough to lap a professional speedwalker. At the airport, I walk next to the moving walkway and breeze past the people on it.

And it's not really about being in a giant hurry. I'm not late for my flight or desperate to get to work on time. I just don't like walking slow. I don't get horrible road rage, but I do occasionally get sidewalk rage when I get stuck behind a casual walker.

I've been working on slowing down a little lately, or maybe I should say, living more deliberately. Not rushing through stuff. Noticing where I am. Finding what's new or different and enjoying it.

So I'm trying to work on walking slower.

Seriously, it's super hard! I have to rein myself in every few steps, as my feet start tripping over themselves to move faster.

But today I spent the afternoon in Shadyside, and when I walked to the bus stop to come home, I went as slow as I could go. I noticed the trees -- most of them have leaves by now, but they're still the bright, light green of spring. In another couple of days, they'll probably look totally different. So it's a good thing I saw them today.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #297: Earmarks

2011-05-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

As I work my way through my Monster Reading List for school, I write down certain passages that I want to remember. Especially since I've got so many books to get through, I feel like it'll help keep everything from blurring together if I have a reference for the words that really struck me. Like these:

To an actor a word is not just a sound, it is the evocation of images. So when you are in verbal intercourse on the stage, speak not so much to the ear as to the eye. -- Stanislavski

Yah, I like that.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #296: All the pictures I took

2011-05-03T20:40:00.003-04:00

I'm terrible at taking pictures. I just get too distracted! The more fun I'm having, the fewer pictures I take. So clearly I had a great time in New York, seeing as how I only managed to take about 8 pictures.

Here they all are:

Beer flight at The Ginger Man. If you're interested, those are Dogfish Head Olde School, Dupont avec les Bons Voeux, Nectar Ales Black Xantus (at least it was before I drank it), and St. Feuillien Blonde. Yummy. Yum-town.

This is our view of the Empire State Building as we left the bar.

The arch in Washington Square Park. I sat in front of it and ate the most delicious hummus sandwich in the world.

My friend Anna on the Brooklyn Bridge. We made it all the way to Brooklyn!

The Statue of Liberty as seen from the Brooklyn Bridge. Like many celebrities, she looks much smaller in real life (and from far away).

Me in Grand Central Station. Right before this picture was taken, a guy walked in front of me and saw the camera, but instead of ducking out of the way he just stood there staring at it for another 20 seconds. Now I kind of feel bad that he's NOT in this picture.

Me and Anna on the subway back from Brooklyn. We just walked a billion miles. And I have crazy-eyes.

The New York Public Library. As soon as I saw this, I stopped dead in my tracks and started yelling, "Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!" I'm a nerd and an embarrassing tourist. But I don't care.

Those pictures only really just scratch the surface of all the fun stuff I did on my trip! I also had girl-talk over Mexican food and margaritas, ate a cupcake from Magnolia, saw Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (congrats to Arian Moayed on his Tony nomination!!), watched a show at UCB, had many wonderful conversations with old friends, wandered through Central Park at night, and ate some kind of delicious chocolate covered pretzel chocolate thing from the Shake Shack.

It was a great trip. Just what I needed.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #295: Goodnight NY!

2011-05-02T23:15:00.000-04:00

I walked a billion miles today. It was pretty awesome. Tomorrow I take the bus back to Pittsburgh. My first visit to NY = smash success.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #294: No time for blogging!

2011-05-01T23:22:00.000-04:00

I'm mo-blogging again. Busy day! Too many fun things to tell you all of them now. I'd say I would show you pictures, but I've had a documentation fail. I've taken 3 pictures so far. Oops.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #293: I like my feet on the ground

2011-04-30T16:20:00.000-04:00

Or at the very least, I like my feet on something that's on the ground. I had the best ride up to New York on the Megabus, due mainly to the fact that a bus is not an airplane. Is this how normal people feel about flying?? It was great! I slept for a while, I read for a while, I listened to my iPod... It's amazingly easy to kill time when you're not also fighting down hysterical panic. It's pretty nice, actually.

I didn't get a ton of sleep last night, so the bus ride was the perfect chance to rest up for the weekend. So far, I like NYC. For one thing, walking 12 blocks I already passed a ton of yummy looking vegan/veggie places. *drool* New plan for the weekend: eat everything.

I'm mo-blogging so I can't post pics yet. And actually, I haven't taken any yet. But I will!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #292: NYC'ed!

2011-04-29T21:43:00.000-04:00

I'm hopping on the Megabus bright and early tomorrow for a weekend trip to New York City. I'm really looking forward to it, especially because (I'm ashamed to admit) I've never been there before! Whaaaaa...? Close your mouth, it's true.

But there's a first time for everything, and I anticipate this trip being a super-fun first! I've made plans to meet up with several friends in the city who I haven't seen in a while -- honestly, that's the part I'm looking forward to the most.

The other things I'm looking forward to include seeing a show on Broadway, hopefully seeing a show at UCB, and just taking in the city. I mean, I've lived in some big cities before -- London for a year, Chicago for several years. But I don't think either of those are quite the same experience as New York. From what I hear, it's going to knock my socks off. Literally. And then steal them. And then punch me in the face.

Eeee, I'm so excited!!!

If you need me, I'll be somewhere in there.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #291: My heart cracks as it expands

2011-04-28T21:29:00.000-04:00

Before I left Colorado, and again before I left Chicago, even as excitement bubbled up inside me for the coming adventure, another thought started repeating in my head louder and louder as my departure grew nearer. "Why am I leaving this?"

Leaving is hard. I've left people I love everywhere I've ever lived.

But with each move, I've also met wonderful, amazing people in my new city. If I hadn't left Chicago, I wouldn't know any of the people in Pittsburgh who have become such a big part of my life.

And when I leave Pittsburgh, I'll be heading off to meet a whole bunch of new cool people. It's the best and the worst part of moving.

One thing these big moves have taught me, though, is that you've got to hold on to the people who are really special to you. You will move. They will move. Life and work and family will exert their pull on everyone. But don't let go of the ones you love, no matter how large the distance between you.

Now how 'bout a group hug? Anyone? Anyone?

Til tomorrow!

Fact #290: Shaken, not stirred

2011-04-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

I like being shaken.

...did that sound weird?

Probably. Oh well.

Being shaken is awesome! You might think I'm crazy, but don't knock it til you've tried it. (Have I ever steered you wrong before? You've already tried moaning, right?) Seriously, I'm not making this up, and it's not just the ranting of a slightly odd individual -- I'm a trained professional. Shaking is a totally legitimate massage technique, as explained here:

Jostling and shaking can stimulate muscle tissue if applied rapidly or ease stress and tension if applied gently. Jostling and shaking help prepare the tissue for range of motion and stretching.

See? See? It's a real thing. And it totally works.

Freddie used to laugh at me because even if I was in the depths of a major crisis/meltdown/pity party, all he had to do was grab me and shake me to make me smile.

What can I say? I'm pretty low maintenance.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #289: My words of wisdom

2011-04-26T14:20:00.001-04:00

A discount is temporary, but antlers are forever.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #288: I'm obsessed with quinoa

2011-04-25T20:25:00.000-04:00

Seriously, you guys. I am.

If quinoa was my neighbor, I would always coincidentally leave my apartment the same time it was going out, so we'd just happen to bump into each other, and I'd inexplicably know intimate personal details about it, like its favorite book or its middle name.

If quinoa was a celebrity, I would be completely, absolutely positive that if I was just able to slip past its entourage of security guards, our eyes would meet, our souls would collide, and we'd be together for the rest of forever. Because we are M.F.E.O.

All that might make me sound super creepy, but I can't help it. That's what quinoa does to me! It makes me crazy.

Why do I love it so much?? Well, let's see. According to Livestrong.com:

Quinoa is a complete protein, which means that it contains all the amino acids necessary for our nutritional needs. Complete proteins are rare in the plant world, making quinoa an excellent food for vegetarians and vegans, or for anyone looking for healthy protein source. It's also high in iron and calcium, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium and copper, as well as fiber.

Ooo! Quinoa, you're so cool.

Quinoa is an awesome substitute for rice in pretty much any dish. I also like to put it in salads. Or make muffins with it. Or use it in a parfait. The list goes on and on!

For real, everybody. Quinoa rocks. You heard it here first. (Or here, 5,000 years ago.)

Looks like meh.

Tastes like MAGIC.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #287: Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T23:17:00.001-04:00

Today's one of those days I wish I lived closer to home -- or home away from home, aka Minneapolis. Easter is a holiday that's best celebrated with family.

It's not really a big enough holiday to warrant a plane trip home, but it would have been fun to hide eggs in the backyard for my niece and nephew! (I heard there was even some re-hiding of eggs so the hunt could go on a little longer. Very sneaky.) Instead, I got to spend the day making coffee. Well, not even too much of that, actually. Mostly my coworker and I just hung out and drank the coffee ourselves.

On the upside, I did have a giant chocolate chip cookie for dinner. So I'd still call this Easter a modest success.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #286: Another rollercoaster ride of emotions

2011-04-23T22:59:00.000-04:00

Do you wanna know a secret?

Despite the fact that I can't pass a dog on the street without stopping to pet it, despite the fact that in at least half the pictures ever taken of me I'm squeezing a puppy, despite the fact that I talk all the time about wanting a dog...

...sometimes I worry that I'll be a terrible dog owner.

That I'm just in love with being in love with puppies.

That I just like to pet them and play with them, and it'll be a whole different story when I have one of my own and I have to feed it and walk it and take it to the vet and be responsible for its whole life.

That I'm not up to the responsibility.

BUT. Then I remember how when I visit my brother, I unconsciously end up sitting on the floor within 10 minutes of walking into his house. Because that's where Bruno is, and I want to hang out with him.

I remember how I house-sat with Bruno for a week, and he slept upstairs in his little bed, right next to my bed. And how I unfailingly got up in the morning to feed him and let him out because his cold nose in my face told me it was time.

I remember that the only reason I don't have a dog already is because it matters to me so much to wait until I'm able to give it the best life I can.

And then I think, "I'll be the best dog owner ever!"

The only thing I really have to worry about is how it will break my heart into a hundred thousand million pieces when I have to say goodbye, as I inevitably will.

And that, despite how much I already know it will hurt, will be so, so worth it.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #285: Vitamin C-ed!!

2011-04-23T00:03:00.005-04:00

Last week I bought a 3lb bag of clementine oranges. I almost bought the 5lb crate, but I got too scared. In fact, I normally shy away from buying fruit in any kind of bag/box/crate situation. It's too much for me to commit to.

But these clementines were just so.. darn.. cute! So adorable and tasty-looking. So bite-sized and easy to peel. They overcame my natural fear of produce commitment.

All week long, I've been eating them like they're candy and I'm a kid whose parents let her shove candy in her face all day long. By now I only have one or two left.

But I think all that vitamin C is working! A couple of times over the past few months, I've hit that point where I miiiiight get sick -- and each time, I pulled myself back from the brink without ever actually coming down with something. (And yes, I realize that by saying that, I'm basically flicking fate in the forehead and then running away as fast as I can.)

Anyway, the main point is, next time I'm getting the crate.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #284: A rollercoaster ride of emotions

2011-04-21T23:44:00.000-04:00

I'm finally figuring out how to use Twitter (by which I mean, I'm probably barely scratching the surface of its usefulness).

But it did help me find out about this:

East End Brewery's

Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride 2011

My first reaction when I saw this was, "Oh my gosh, I'm totally doing this!"

My second reaction was, "Wait a second, I'm selling my bike this weekend."

Balls.

Never fear, I'll find a way! Maybe I'll rent a bike. Maybe I won't sell mine after all. Maybe I'll just meet them at the end and have an extra beer.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #283: Thai massage = the best thing ever?

2011-04-20T23:59:00.000-04:00

I got my second Thai Massage today. I feel amazing, lighter and longer and pleasantly wrung out.

Now I want to make everyone I know get one too! Seriously, it's kind of my new favorite thing ever. If I was Oprah, you'd all have a free Thai massage under your seat.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #282: Preparation for being a broke-ass student

2011-04-19T22:02:00.000-04:00

I got all these overripe bananas from the grocery store yesterday...

...for a DOLLAR!!! Whaaaa?!

I froze them in chunks and will use them to make delicious smoothies (and possibly also delicious banana bread). For a DOLLAR!!

Take that, ramen.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #281: So. Tired.

2011-04-18T23:09:00.000-04:00

Today was a long day of endless chair massages. I would say it was exhausting, but I don't want to because tomorrow is going to be even longer.

On the plus side, falling asleep tonight will be a snap. For a mild insomniac, that's a pretty big bonus.

Mmm... sleep.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #280: Expectations vs results (a story with a happy ending)

2011-04-17T23:07:00.002-04:00

Remember when I decided I wanted to learn how to crochet? I started very patiently, practicing different stitches and then unraveling my work so I wouldn't waste yarn. But after a while, even though my technique was still pretty.. um.. rough, I got sick of unraveling everything all the time. I wanted a finished product, darn it!

So I found a cute little stuffed animal pattern that was labeled 'easy', and I started crocheting away.

I kept crocheting, even when I got the colors of the ears mixed up, so they didn't match.

I kept crocheting, even as I wondered why the head was turning out so squashed looking.

I kept crocheting, even as it became clear that whatever I was making had mutated far beyond the help of any 'pattern'.

This is what I was going for:

And this is what I got:

Uhh..

Different, right?

I had a lot of mixed emotions about this. First, I felt proud. I was so proud of my handiwork that I wanted to share this little guy with the whole world.

Then, I felt scared. Because let's face it, he looks a liiiittle creepy.

Then, I felt embarrassed. Because if I, a grown woman, was scared of this little bear/anteater, how could I possibly give him to a kid to play with?

I brought him with me on my trip Philadelphia to give to my brother and sister-in-law as a gift for my niece (although I almost chickened out and just left him in my suitcase). But I was very gratified that the reaction when I gave him to them was one of excitement, not raw terror. Maybe there was hope for the little guy after all.

And then, a few days later, my sister-in-law sent me this picture:

His name is now Aorta, and she's feeding him a cracker.

I think he'll be just fine.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #279: What do you do with an old, broken eMac?

2011-04-16T20:50:00.001-04:00

Try to fix it?

Get rid of it?

Put fish in it?

What the whaaat?

That's not mine, by the way. Mine is still just a busted computer. It's been sitting in the basement for months, but now Freddie's got me all excited about turning it into a fish tank.

It looks like a pretty time-intensive process, and I've got plenty to do this summer. (Like read a billion books/plays. And find a billion monologues. And sell all my stuff. And find a new place to live.)

So this project might have to wait a bit. But I'll hang onto my computer for as long as I have to, if it means I get to fill it with fish someday!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #278: I just can't get enough

2011-04-15T20:14:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I called and made an appointment to see my dermatologist in June. I'm gonna have her slice out another one of my freckles before I leave town.

You know, for old times' sake.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #277: "Will blog 277 days straight for theatre tickets"

2011-04-14T17:18:00.006-04:00

Last night Bricolage Theatre offered local bloggers a chance to see a preview performance of their new show, Hunter Gatherers. Even though I blush bright red to even think about referring to this blog as a real blog, I think I've already made clear my love of both all things theatre and all things free. So I jumped on that deal like a starving artist on a free theatre ticket!

(PLUS, when we showed up for the play we were greeted in the lobby by Odie, one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. Puppies, free tickets, beer?? How many of my favorite things can be in one room at once? Well, maybe if they had a giant vat of froyo...)

The show was amazing! Some of it was hysterical, some of it was crazy, some of it was gross, some of it was sad. It's a pretty manic play that doesn't give the audience (or actors!) much time to catch their breath. But when those moments of quiet do come, they really hit hard.

As an actress, something I'm always trying to get better at is sitting in an uncomfortable moment. Hitting that point where it's awkward or painful or revealing or disturbing, and not keeping one hand on the railing. Not keeping up that tiny little barrier between myself and the uncomfortability (not a real word), so I could always back out if I wanted. Letting the tension settle, with no urge or obligation to cut it.

I thought they did that really well in this show, to hilarious and poignant effect.

Also, the special effects by Steve Tolin were amazing! There is (I don't think this is giving too much away) some blood in this show, and all of the stage effects and violence were really seamless.

So, in summary, go see Hunter Gatherers!! And then email me. 'Cause there are some things I want to talk about...

Til tomorrow!

Fact #276: What happened to the BEGINNING of April???

2011-04-13T00:22:00.000-04:00

How is it the middle of April already? Where did the time go??

Someone must have turned on Ludicrous Speed.

(On a separate note, I love Rick Moranis.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #275: I'm pretty gullible

2011-04-12T08:54:00.002-04:00

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa---
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(gasp)---
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatthebleep?

**UPDATE**

Someone just told me that this was an April Fools joke.

(I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned my extremely credulous nature, but I believe everything I see/read. If you point behind me and say, "Hey, look over there," I'll look. Even if you just told me, "I'm about to try to make you look behind you, there's really nothing there.")

Til tomorrow.

Fact #274: It's not so politically correct

2011-04-11T20:25:00.002-04:00

When my life gets busy and crazy and stressful, it really helps me stay happy and focused and stress-free if I keep up a regular regimen of running, yoga, and a healthy diet. Those are literally some of the best stress protectors I know of.

And yet...

Sometimes, when my life gets crazy and stressful, what I decide to do instead of staying active and eating right is to lie on the couch eating entire sleeves of Nutter Butters. That's so not good for you. I mean, me.

So this is what I tell myself whenever I'm feeling stressed or moody or overwhelmed:

"You don't have to get fat about it."

(It's not super PC, but it makes me giggle. And giggling is also one of the best stress protectors I know of.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #273: What's the difference between Pittsburgh and Houston?

2011-04-10T17:59:00.003-04:00

This.

(Well, probably a few other things, too.)

Til tomorrow!

Fact #272: It's pronounced 'ooo'

2011-04-09T19:36:00.006-04:00

The first day in Philly, we checked out some of the historical points of interest -- Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Elfreth's Alley. We took a few tours and brushed up on our U.S. history. (We also bought some delicious food, including Butter Krak eggs, from Reading Terminal.)

The next day (after more food and more Butter Krak eggs) we went to the Mütter Museum.

The Mütter Museum is a museum of human oddities and medical pathology. And it. Is. Crazy. Ca-razy!

Usually I have an internal museum timer -- after a couple of hours wandering through galleries and displays, my brain starts making a beeping noise that indicates it's no longer willing to accept any more information. (It will, however, accept a giant cookie.)

But we spent a long time wandering around the Mütter, and my museum timer never went off.

It was really fascinating. I'm sort of a sucker for that kind of stuff. The human body is so strange/wonderful/resilient/fragile.

I also saw this in the gift shop and almost bought it, then realized that would actually be a horrible idea.

I'm not allowed to read this book, ever. If you see me trying to read this book, slap it out of my hands.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #271: From the streets of Philly

2011-04-08T23:57:00.001-04:00

I'm mo-blogging tonight.

I've been drinking....

Til tomorrow!

Fact #270: I went here today

2011-04-07T23:49:00.004-04:00

I'm so cultural.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #269: What? No!

2011-04-06T22:33:00.003-04:00

This made me laugh.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #268: Number 13

2011-04-05T18:19:00.006-04:00

My class at UH will be the class of 2013. Oooo!

Luckily, the only thing I'm superstitious about is pennies that are tails up. (You will never, ever see me pick up a penny that isn't heads up. And I'm poor.)

I like the sound of 2013. It sounds like a good year. Plus, we'll have made it past 2012. (Woo hoo! Thanks, John Cusack!)

I actually think it's cool that some people consider 13 an unlucky number and others consider it a lucky number. It's like you get to pick a side. Are you pro-13 or anti-13?

It also cracks me up how a lot of hotels still don't have a 13th floor. (Don't tell those suckers on the '14th' floor!)

There are a lot of cool things about the number 13.

So here's to the lucky class of 2013!

Til tomorrow.

Fact #267: Boy, this day really got away from me

2011-04-04T23:15:00.003-04:00

And I even got up at 5 o'clock in the morning!

And no naps!

And yet, there still wasn't enough time for all the things on my 'to do' list.

I even had 'take a nap' on there.

Ah well.

Til tomorrow!

Fact #266: My crazy vs. your crazy

2011-04-03T00:31:00.000-04:00

Isn't it amazing that we can actually ask another person to take us into their heart just the way we are? To look them in the eyes and say, "Hey, here's all of my crazy! You cool with that?"

Then again, I guess it's pretty reasonable, considering we can also look another person in the eyes and say, "Yeah, I see all of your crazy. And I'm cool with it."

We are crazy, bizarre, temperamental, tangential, irrational, silly, strange beings. All of us. Pretty much without exception. It's funny how much time we spend trying to hide that.

And isn't it funny how when people let us in on their crazy, those are usually the parts that make us love them best?

Til tomorrow!