Fact #355: Life in Tiny-Town USA

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

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 #296: All the pictures I took

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 #293: I like my feet on the ground

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!

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 #272: It's pronounced 'ooo'

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 #228: Beautiful

This is gonna be another post about how much I hate to fly. If you're sick of hearing about it, just look at this:

Awwwwww..!

Now on to the serious business of my irrational fear of flying.

I flew back from California on Monday night, and it went a little something like this:

The flight is scheduled to land at 11:59 (just a minute before my birthday!), but before we take off the pilot tells us that the winds are in our favor and we'll get in around 11:30. Super sweet. So I try to settle in. I watch an episode of Modern Family. I listen to The Hunger Games on my iPod. I watch a ridiculous movie called Salt.

But I don't do any one of those things for more than 10 or 20 minutes at a time. I watch part of the movie and think, "Nope, this isn't working." So I listen to my iPod. "Nope, not working either." Of course, nothing really works because the only thing I really want is to be on solid ground.

Towards the end, I start getting super antsy from the horrible combination of rising panic and growing boredom. I'm literally counting down the minutes until 11:30.

Then, 10 minutes before we're supposed to be on the ground, the pilot makes an announcement that it's snowing too hard in Pittsburgh -- they cleared a runway for planes to take off, but haven't gotten one clear for planes to land yet.

He says they'll have a runway clear in about an hour and a half, but we don't have enough gas to just circle and wait. So we're being diverted to Buffalo. Literally, I swear he says, "We've got enough fuel left for about 30 minutes, and Buffalo's about 30 minutes away." About??? This is no time for 'about', sir!

Ten minutes later, as I'm envisioning us coasting into Buffalo on fumes, the pilot comes on again and says we get to go back to Pittsburgh, apparently now they think the runways are okay. Okay??? About??? Are these technical terms?

So we turn around and head back to Pittsburgh. By this point I'm pretty certain I'm going to die.

It doesn't help when I plug my headphones into the armrest and tune in to channel 9 (the open channel between the control tower and the planes) only to hear the control tower tell the pilot that, "braking action on the runway is nil." So what should we use to stop, then? The side of a building???

It also doesn't help that when the flight attendant tells us to put our tray tables up and all that, she also adds, "in the event of an emergency evacuation, please leave all of your carry-on baggage behind." Why, is there going to be an emergency evacuation???

Just in case, I put my phone and my wallet in my pocket so that in the unlikely event I survive the crash, I can call for help and then go get a beer.

I look at the girl sleeping next to me and want to punch her in the face for being able to sleep through this.

Then I look out the window.

We're right above the clouds, so it's totally clear. The moon is shining so bright in the sky, and it reflects off the tops of the fluffy clouds. It's so peaceful and beautiful. It's like the magic carpet ride in Aladdin. Only nobody drew this, it's real. I'm flying up in the sky and I get to see what the moonlight looks like on the tops of the clouds.

It's amazing.

It's breathtaking.

But I still hate flying.

Epilogue: We land just fine and everybody applauds. Then I trudge through the parking lot to my car, which takes me forever to find because it's buried in snow. Then I dig my car out of a giant snow drift. Then I drive home from the airport at 1 o'clock in the morning going 20 miles an hour because the roads are so bad. But I do all that with a smile on my face. Because at least I'm on the ground.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #214: I'm back!

Grad school auditions: check.

Yaaaaaaay!!!

It was a great trip! Lots of auditions -- some stressful, some wonderful and illuminating and energizing. I learned a lot about where I am as an actor, and what I'm really looking for in my training.

I also got to spend some quality time with good friends, including my awesome hosts. I didn't go out too much during the week, but I had some free time after my last auditions on Thursday -- during which time I managed to consume two delicious Belgian beers, half a basket of French fries, two entrees (I couldn't choose!) and two pieces of cake (I shared!). Yum. So worth it.

Now back to work!


Til tomorrow.

Fact #209: Chicago is great

I'm here, I'm here! I made it to Chicago in one piece -- thankfully, there were no shark attacks on the plane. (By which I mean no sharks tried to bite the plane in half, and nobody tried to yank my top down.)

It's nice to be back. I spent the whole El ride from the airport looking out the window and thinking about how much I love Chicago. It's a cool city.

I got settled in with my lovely hosts, spent a lazy afternoon catching up, had some delicious Tom Yum soup from Cozy's, played some scrabble, watched some Modern Family. . . I'd call that the perfect audition prep!

I probably won't have much time to post in the next few days, so it may be mostly pictures of puppies. But I promise they'll be very cute.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #208: But first...

Oh yeah. Before all of my auditions in Chicago, there's one little thing I have to do: get on a stupid airplane and fly way high up in the sky.

Waaah! Well, on the plus side, at least my paralyzing fear of flying takes my mind off any audition nerves.

Oog.

I know all the statistics about how it's safer than driving and all that. I get it. I know it's a pretty irrational fear. But it still freaks me out! Sometimes I even worry about getting hit (or should I say smooshed?) by a crashing plane while I'm walking down the street minding my own business.

I'm even afraid of this happening:



(Whether I'm flying over an ocean or not.)



Til tomorrow!

Fact #158: The next 24 hours

As they say, there's no rest for the weary. . . or is it the wicked? Well, either way.

Tonight after my show I'll hit the road for a 3-hour drive to Columbus, Ohio. At 7am tomorrow I'll be on set in Columbus for a commercial shoot.

Then I'll jump back in my car and drive as fast as I can back to Pittsburgh for one of our last performances of Hobson's Choice tomorrow night.

Wheeee!


Til tomorrow.

Fact #122: Can't I just flap my arms??

I just booked my plane tickets home for Christmas. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!!! Ten whole days of family and food, and more food, and puppies and babies and beer, and more food... Ahhhhh.

The only part of the whole thing I'm not excited about is the part where I have to get on an airplane. Seriously, just buying my tickets and seeing how many times we'll be taking off and landing (because direct flights cost a million dollars), I started feeling a little queasy.

I don't know how I got to be such a bad flyer! I mean, I've never liked it, but it never used to freak me out this bad. I haaaaate it!!!! Ogh, ugh, blurg, barf barf barf!!!

But I can't stop flying. I have too many cool people to visit and fun places to go! So, I'm opening this blog up for suggestions.

Fellow nervous (or not) flyers:
How do you make sitting in an airplane way up high in the sky not the shittiest thing in the whole world?

Alternate question:
Do you have a Harry Potter broom? May I borrow it?


Til tomorrow!

Fact #97: "Because it's dull, you twit! It'll hurt more."

Anyone who knows what that quote is from will win a prize! (Or something.)
Hint: Imagine Kevin Costner not doing a British accent.

I covered a shift at the coffee shop this afternoon, and the playlist was all Spoon all the time. And I don't care if everyone hated it, because I love it!

Spoon is one of those bands I could pretty much always listen to. And I often do. I never get sick of them.

I remember listening to Spoon on the drive from Minneapolis to Chicago (the first leg of my move to Pittsburgh). I was about 10 minutes from the city. At the end of a 7 hour drive. And I'm a bad road-tripper, especially by myself. I get so antsy.

But Spoon got me through! I have all their albums on my iPod, so I hit shuffle and listened to them all the way into town.

As I was driving down Lawrence, "Jonathan Fisk" came on.



That song is that moment for me. It always will be. And I love it.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #91: I'm homesick for a place that's not my actual home

I need another trip to Minneapolis.

And don't bother telling me I just had one -- I already tried telling myself that, but I'm just not buying it. I miss my people. And those darn babies! They're growing up so fast, even though I specifically keep telling them not to!

All right. I've convinced myself. Another trip to Minneapolis it is. I'll get there someway, somehow! By plane, train, or automobile! (Ooh, I sense a hilarious madcap road-trip movie in the making. . .)

PS. For your listening pleasure, here's my Song of the Day for 10/10/10:



Til tomorrow!

Fact #84: My passport sure came in handy today

Guess where I was today? I'll give you a hint:

Oh wait, that's just a shot of my knees that I accidentally took
when I was trying to get my camera out to take pictures of...

Niagara Falls!!!

Yep, I made my first ever trip up to Canada today! It was a quick trip with not much time for sightseeing, but we did manage to stop at the falls and also try some ice wine and Tim Hortons donuts. So, a day well-spent in my book.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #57: Yes, I can imagine

I have a very active imagination -- some might even say an over-active imagination. I like that about myself. It's fun. Usually.

You know when it's not fun? When I'm stuck in a giant metal death trap 36000 feet in the air and we hit turbulence. Then my imagination nearly kills me, either by visions of the plane dropping like a stone or the heart palpitations those visions induce.

I try to be calm. I try to breathe. I try to accept my own mortality. I eat my tiny bag of pretzels. Sometimes I even watch movies. But no matter what I do, the little voice of my imagination keeps on talking. And this is what it says:

"Oh my god, what was that bump? Did we hit an air pocket? A hole in the space-time continuum? What if the pilot got sucked into an alternate dimension? Who's flying the plane??? I wonder if it's better if the engine fails when we're this high up or when we're in the final descent. If it fails now, that's a loooong way to fall. But then maybe there would be time for some kind of backup engine to kick in. If it fails as we're going in for a landing, we'll have less distance to fall but less time to react. Especially with no pilot. What's that buzzing noise? Did an engine just fall off? Why is everyone so calm? Okay, if no one else is concerned, it's probably all fine. Wait a minute, what am I saying? These people are idiots. They don't know anything about flying a plane. Wait a minute, neither do I! Who's flying this plane??? The sign on that exit door says it weighs 42 pounds. That's kind of a lot. There's no way that woman is gonna be able to open it. Why would you lie, woman?! I'm gonna be trapped inside this dumb plane because you wanted more leg room?! What if a wing falls off? How often do they test for that sort of thing . . . ?"

And so on. For as long as the plane is in the air.

I'm in negotiations with my imagination to see if on the flight back maybe I can swap out some of the visions of twisted metal and flames for other, nicer things, like teddy bears baking cupcakes. So far it's not going well. My imagination is kind of a bitch sometimes.



Til tomorrow!

Fact #55: Shakespeare vs Babies and Puppies

Ooh, ooh, ooh! Guess what?

I'm about to embark on a week of nonstop awesome! What's going on, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Much Ado opens today!!! We have our first performance at 2pm. I slept in til 10, which I never do -- now I'm gonna do a little yoga, have a little coffee, do a little warmin' up, then head over to the park. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited to play!

Tomorrow we've got another performance. Then I have to run some errands to get ready for . . .

A trip to Minneapolis!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeee!!!! (Too many exclamation points? I beg to differ.)

O.M.Babies and Puppies.

I can barely contain my excitement. What am I gonna do when I get there, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

1) Put my face on a puppy tummy. Two puppy tummies probably.
2) Try to make my little niece laugh. It is the ultimate goal of my life and the most satisfying sound ever.
3) Have lengthy conversations with my nephew, who I hear is saying all kinds of big words now.
4) Taste test all the new homebrews on tap in my brother's kegerator.
5) Catch up with all my siblings, including my younger brother who's visiting from overseas.
6) Play the word game with my dad.
7) Play crokinole with anyone who'll accept the challenge!
8) Trade albums with my sister-in-law, my music guru.
9) Have a sleepover at my sister's new place, which will also hopefully entail some wine and girl talk.
10) Take lots and lots of pictures - there's even been talk of a big family photo since we'll all be there.

I like going home. It feeds my soul.

But first things first -- as the old saying goes, "Shakespeare before babies and puppies."

Coffee: check.
Yoga: check.
Sunscreen: check.
Know my lines: check.
Not raining: check.

Annnnd, week of nonstop awesome . . . GO!



Til tomorrow!

Fact #49: Everything I need to know about flying, I learned from Lost

I'm flying back from LA to Pittsburgh after a quick trip out for a wedding. We arrived yesterday just in time for the wedding and reception, and now I'm on my first of two flights to get me back home.

The wedding was fun. I don't know the couple very well, but it was a big fancy-pants party at the Ritz Carlton, so I had a good time regardless. The food was yummy and I was a big fan of the groom's signature cocktail -- ginger beer and spiced rum. T'was very tasty. I lurved it.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be sleeping right now. I've got a busy week coming up and I'd like to start it well-rested. We open Much Ado on Saturday! Yikes!

PS.
Random poll: Ever since Lost aired, do you look around the plane whenever you travel and wonder what it would be like to be stranded on a desert island with all the people around you? I totally do.


Til tomorrow!

Fact #41: My grasp on geography is beginning to worry me. Also, I'm going to Canada.

I don't know where I think I've been living, but I've been way, way off in my estimations of Pittsburgh's approximate distance from other cities.
Maybe it's because growing up in Colorado, everything on the East coast seemed so far away from where I was. So I started thinking of it all as one big "East coast clump," where no place took longer than a few hours to reach from any other place.

Now that I live in Pennsylvania, I feel like I should be part of that East coast clump. But the way Pittsburgh sits so far west -- in what turns out to be a very long state -- puts it in a weird sort of no-man's-land.

Anyway, between those two factors, I have seriously miss-estimated how long it would take me to get to a variety of places.

For example, it's hard for my brain to grasp that it would take me less time to drive to Washington, DC than to Philadelphia. But. . .I don't underst. . .Philadelphia's in the same state as. . .wha. . ???

And, despite having been told this a few times before, I finally actually really realized that I'm only 4 hours away from Niagara Falls! And 5 1/2 hours away from Toronto! WHAT??? I'm so totally going, ey!


Til tomorrow.