I fear for this country (or, my adventure at Target) October 19, 2004 ~ 9:57 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedMom and I went to Target yesterday. It’s technically in Queens, near JFK, and a huge shopping plaza (the kind you only see on the Island or in Jersey) has been built around it. Old Navy, BJ’s, Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond, they’re all there.
I love going to this Target. For one thing, it’s Target! They sell everything!! And stylish things that I don’t need that are still fun to decorate my house with (like the lamp shaped like the Eiffel Tower that’s on my dining table)!!
For another, if I make it out there, I’m in a car. And because I live in the city, I don’t get to do that very often. I get as excited to ride in a car as a dog. “Wanna go for a ride in the car-car? YES!!!!”
Yesterday, Target didn’t satisfy as it usually does. For starters, it was packed. And in the midst of all the customers were employees hell bent on running the customers over with hand trucks. Seriously. If you see an aisle that has five customers in it, would you still drag your packed hand truck through it and run everyone over? No, you wouldn’t, because you have common sense. But common sense was out the window at Target yesterday. I almost got run down six times, no lie.
Then, because I found a moth in my closet this weekend, I wanted to get moth repellent. We asked several Targeteers (I’m tired of writing the word “employees”) where we could find some. They directed us all over the freaking store, but nowhere near any moth repellent. And almost got run down twice more.
Targeteers were everywhere. But when I wanted to find out how much Fahrenheit 9/11 was, do you think any of them would help? No. I looked for a scanner thing, but was afraid to go too far for fear of another hand truck injury. Finally someone told us that it was $19.99. Thank you. How hard was that?
The register was another story. As soon as we got to the check out, the cashier ran off after the customer before us, since he had left a bag at the register. She left us alone for five minutes while she chased him around the parking lot (I guess). Then when she got back, she had an issue with the way we wanted our purchases packaged. We had bought a large plastic bin (for cat food), and so didn’t need bags. Just toss them into the bin, right? Wrong. She didn’t want to put anything in the bin, she wanted to use the bags. Lady, I have half a million plastic bags at my house, I don’t need more of them. She decided that if we wanted the stuff in the bin, we had to put it in there ourselves. Fine, whatever.
When she had finished ringing us out, I checked my receipt and found I had been overcharged on my allergy meds by $20. Fuck that shit. I told her this, and she said “I can’t do anything, you have to go to Guest Services.” Another line. Another wait while another incompetent went to check the price. While we stood around waiting for him, we noticed a line of people who were applying for jobs on the Target computers. Then we noticed that on one of the computers, three people were working to fill out one application. Suddenly everything became clear: if you can’t fill out an application by yourself, how can we expect you to be competent? We can’t.
Eventually price check boy came back and said “Well, she says the marked price is a mistake, but we’ll give it to you for that.” No way 24 allergy pills (which rang up as $18) sells for more than 48 pills ($15) of the same brand, which is what he was saying. But they did give me my $20 back.
And then we left, totally disenchanted by Target. My first Target disappointment. I’ll go back, because this is the only bad experience I’ve ever had at Target, but if they pull this Three Stooges routine again, I’m gonna beat someone.
Picking the crablegs October 16, 2004 ~ 10:57 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedWe went to Jordan’s Lobster Dock tonight to get my crablegs, and Rick came with his girls. Mom and I had crablegs, the Oldest had a shrimp sandwich, the Youngest some chicken tenders, and Rick, a cheeseburger. Because that’s what you have at a seafood place. No, seriously, he thinks he’s allergic to fish. Depending on what kind of fish and how they’re prepared. Don’t ask. In the past, he’s told me that fresh fish don’t bother him, so I’m guessing the parts of my crablegs he noshed won’t kill him.
The Oldest and the Youngest discovered that Jordan’s lobster bisque is pretty good when they shared it with mom and me. And when they saw all the fun involved in cracking crablegs and getting the meat out of them, they decided they wanted to help. They didn’t want the crablegs, they just wanted to crack them open and take the meat out with the little crab picks because “that looks fun”. They got pretty good at it, too. Of course, with the added time needed to let the Youngest pick the crab out for me (the Oldest was helping mom), it was a little cold when I ate it. But hey, if it was keeping her entertained, wtf, right?
To cap the night off, we left the restaurant in a monsoon. Rain coming from every direction. And, just as we got in and were shutting the doors, the hail came. But the crablegs were just as good as I remembered. 
Friday October 15, 2004 ~ 4:03 pm
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A picture of my campus in Spring to chase away the rainy day blues. Almost good enough to be in a college catalog, isn’t it?
As one of my professors in college used to say: “It’s Friday! TGIF! Go out and drink, and drive, and die!” To do it justice, you would have to hear his accent - he’s Nigerian. I miss Professor Ogbomo’s sense of humor.
On the boards for this weekend: rehearsal tonight and tomorrow afternoon, then Mom comes up for a few days for a belated birthday celebration. I finally get my birthday crablegs tomorrow night. Sunday we’re going to the official opening of Romeo and Juliet (it’s been in previews until now).
Monday, a half day of work, and then (joy of joys, wonder of wonders) I get to go to the good Target. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s no such thing as a bad Target in my eyes, but we’re going to the one in Long Island, the one that never runs out of things. Target in Brooklyn starts to look a little picked over by about 1 pm. What can I say? We were Target deprived for years in Brooklyn. We’re making up for it with a vengeance now. My goal while I’m at Target: buy a toaster oven. Because if I had a toaster over, I could make biscuits and cookies. And it’s those things I miss the most about not having an oven. It’s all about the biscuits and cookies.
Tuesday, another half day of work, and then Sting! Sting, at Madison Square Garden. Sting, for chrissakes! Oh, yeah, and Rick’s going. He’s protesting, but still going. Ha. And if I planned it right, even though our tickets are way up in the nosebleed seats (or as I now prefer to call them, the gods - thankyou, Frank McCourt, for that term), we will be near bathrooms and beer stands. Rocking out to a 15 minute version of “Roxanne”. That’s the life.
This brings me to my random story of the day. It’s a story about another Madison Square Garden concert: the time Lori and I went to see Elton John (no, not with Billy Joel. That was another trip to MSG). We were up in the gods, taking advantage of our proximity to the beer stand. And much too soon for my taste, the beer caught up with me and I had to pee. It was like being at the movies when you really don’t want to leave because the story is really good, but if you don’t, you’re going to piss your pants. So I drunkenly stumbled to the restroom, and as I sat down in the stall, Elton started playing “Rocketman”. All I could think of was “Well, this is surreal. How often do you take a piss with Elton John playing live in what is theoretically the next room? Not very often.” It remains a very special memory.
And on that note…happy weekend, all!
Rescue Me October 14, 2004 ~ 10:18 am
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Because I was watching Rescue Me last night and they talked about the spotlights that were up after 9/11. So here you go, a picture (dim and indistinct as it may be) of the spotlights that were there this year on September 11, as seen from my house.
And did anyone else see Rescue Me last night? It was fucking amazing! So many storylines came to a head last night - I can’t wait to see where they’ll all end up. I’ve been catching the show as I can around rehearsals for the past several weeks, so some of the things last night caught me off guard (like when the hell did Tommy knock up Jimmy’s widow?), but I was stuck to the screen for the whole show. And I loved the hockey game, which featured my all-time favorite part of hockey, a monster fight. Why can’t real games be like that?
As for the debate, I came home in time to catch about a half hour’s worth. What I saw was backed up in the polls this morning. CNN and MSNBC show Kerry with a sizeable lead, the others a little less so, with some polls saying it was a tie. Fox News actually showed Kerry up 2 points when I checked it, amazingly enough. The one thing I thought Kerry nailed Bush on was his lack of recognition of the NAACP and other black leaders. The only comeback he could come up with was “I met with the leaders of the Caucus. In the White House.” Oh, the irony. Another spot where I felt Bush missed the mark was when Bob Schieffer questioned him about overturning Roe v. Wade, and Bush answered it with some bullshit about litmus tests for Supreme Court judges. That isn’t what Bob asked, asshole. He asked if you are going to take away a woman’s right to choose. How difficult is that to answer? Wait, I know, you’re stuck between women and Conservatives. Tough choice. But to make no choice just sunk you a little further in my estimation.
And now I have a question for my Republican/Bush supporter readers. I know you’re out there. Please explain to me why you support Bush, particularly if you are a woman, gay, or non-Caucasian. Because as I see it, those groups stand to lose the most if he’s re-elected. But I would love it if you could explain to me your reasoning. Seriously. I want to understand where you’re coming from. Anybody? All my Liberal readers (and you know I don’t use that as a pejorative), hell, just tell me what you thought of the debates, the issues, whatever.
holy shit! October 13, 2004 ~ 4:40 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedBlogger is finally letting me post! But it’s the end of the work day and I have to go to rehearsal, so instead of a witty post, I leave you with something on the order of “Where’s Waldo”. I call it “Find the cat”.
Since when is Liberal a bad thing? October 13, 2004 ~ 9:46 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedI give you the following from Dictionary.com, who in turn got it from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Yeah, there were bullets and crap, but it wouldn’t let me cut and paste those, so you have to muddle through on your own.
lib·er·al ( P ) (lbr-l, lbrl)adj.
Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.
Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.
Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor.
Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes.
Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation.
Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum: a liberal education.
Archaic. Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman.
Obsolete. Morally unrestrained; licentious. n.
A person with liberal ideas or opinions.
Liberal A member of a Liberal political party.
Does anything in there look like it’s a bad thing? Not so much, right? So why is George Bush using the term Liberal like it’s the closest thing to “Commie punk asshole” out there when he refers to John Kerry? I’m sorry, I don’t think calling someone Liberal is an insult. I am a proud Liberal. Call me that, and I’ll thank you. Except for you, Dubya. You shouldn’t call me at all.
Laid-Back Weekend October 12, 2004 ~ 1:56 pm
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In honor of what would have been John Lennon’s 64th birthday this past Saturday, I give you one of the Poseidon heads that decorates the fence around the Dakota, where John lived and was murdered.
Laid back weekend, kids. Finally. It’s what I needed.
Friday, our wonderful director for God’s Daughter let us out of rehearsal 45 minutes early so that we could go watch the debate. I didn’t take notes, so I will leave it at this: I was thoroughly amused at Dubya’s take on the Dred Scott case (and come on, the best case he could come up with to illustrate his point is 150 years old!) and the Constitution: “It says…well, it doesn’t say that!” He can’t answer questions about the mistakes he has made, which speaks volumes to me. If I make a mistake, I know that it’s best for all if I admit it up front, rather than letting it fester. It takes a big person to admit they made a mistake. Dubya is obviously a little tiny person, because he can’t admit that he’s made any.
Don’t get me wrong, John Kerry did his share of skirting issues (example: Charlie Gibson had to ask twice what each candidate would concretely do to lower the deficit, and neither of them really answered), but I felt that he did answer the questions better on the whole. Bush did better (I hate that I’m using this word twice in the same line, but I can’t think of another word) than I expected in the town hall format, but I do think Kerry was the winner. To be fair, I thought the last debate was more of a tie.
Saturday: Jordana and I went to brunch and then saw Cheek By Jowl’s production of Othello at BAM. Fan-fucking-tastic! J and I had to cut Othello down to an hour for a dramaturgy class project three years ago and have had an interest in it since. We keep saying we’re going to put our version in the Fringe Festival, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe this will give us the inspiration to take it off the shelf and look at it again. The only thing I didn’t really like were Othello’s fits, which seemed more like epilepsy in this production, instead of just a mind being led into insanity by Iago. But if you can see it, do so. You won’t be disappointed. Oh, but rent the headsets. Iago’s accent and voice unfortunately combine to make him unintelligible at times. I know the play very well, but for those who don’t, it might get confusing.
Saturday night, R&J. It ran long (1:50 with no intermission), but the actors were getting a chance to act on the stage, something they haven’t really had a chance to yet. They were making new discoveries all over the place, which was wonderful to see. Now they just need to tighten it, and I know they can. I see it again Sunday (the official opening) with Mom, and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve got something great here, once we get the kinks worked out. Everyone has worked really hard, and it shows.
Sunday, God’s Daughter rehearsal, including a run-thru. This piece is in great shape, so I’m not worried at all that we go into tech on Saturday. Alex (director) again let us go early, so I went in search of comfy boots and work clothes, because I’ve gained a little bit of weight back and can’t fit into size 4’s this year. I’m not that upset, they were like a second skin last year - I just bought them because I could fit into them. I’m wearing stretch 6’s today, but would like to get some winter weight 8’s and some new tops so I don’t feel like my clothes are pulling on me. And a pair of boots that don’t have platforms from hell so I don’t sprain my ankle again!
Went home Sunday night, made myself a decent meal, and settled in for an evening of chick flicks. Yesterday was spent watching a Night Court marathon on A&E, and then Friends, Growing Up Gotti, a biography of Mary Kay Latourneau, and Crocodile Dundee. I was such a couch potato, but it was nice to just sit around the house all day and do nothing.
This morning, I woke up puking, but that went away at 11, so I took a shower and came into work. I think it was just excess acid from all the stress I’ve been under this past week. Rick also called it “puking up the blues” since I was a little down this weekend. Like you all wanted to know that.
Okay, back to work.
Final dress, my ass October 8, 2004 ~ 4:19 pm
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Bleeding hearts, W. 75th Street, Manhattan
Last night I got home at 1:30 am. Part of this was because the subways were knackered, as always, and it took me an hour to get home instead of a half hour. So it took me an hour to get home. Which means I got out of rehearsal at 12:30. Rehearsal was supposed to end at 10:30.
Last night was our “final dress” rehearsal, supposedly. The one where the actors finally get a chance to do the show start to finish, with all the tech stuff neatly put in so that they can work with the lights, the sound, the costumes, the set, whathaveyou, in almost show conditions. This did not happen.
The company I’m doing R&J with is a repertory company, which means that they run several shows at the same time. One week it’s R&J, the next it’s something else. It’s very cool, and not done very much these days, because it takes a lot of work. You have to have two rehearsal processes running at the same time, two sets being built (and one has to be taken down and stored when the other is up)…all sorts of things the people don’t want to deal with. It’s simpler to have one show going at a time. I saw why this week.
Although we’ve been rehearsing since Labor Day, we didn’t get to work on our set till Monday night. The behemoth that is Dames at Sea was on stage, and they couldn’t take it down for just one night like they normally do. It’s just too big. So we’ve been rehearsing in studios, on the Dames set, in the theatre’s cafe space, anyplace we could. Have I mentioned that our set includes ramps, stairs, and a four foot high platform? It does. And swags of fabric that have to be manipulated by the actors to create different settings. Again, very cool. But we didn’t get the ramps and stairs and platform until Monday. And we didn’t get the swags of fabric in place till Tuesday. And while this was going on, they were teching the lights to figure out how those should look. All of this is going on while the actors are trying to get a handle on playing 25 characters in a new space. There are six actors, did I say that? Adding new things every night is not good for the actors morale. They feel like they’re not prepared. But they’re troopers, they worked through it.
I was at rehearsal for my other show Wednesday, so when I came in last night and the Stage Manager said “We’re going to get through the whole thing tonight,” I said “Hell yeah, we are.” See, I thought they’d been able to do that the night before. I was wrong. Up until last night, the actors had never had a total run-thru of the play in costume with lights, sound, set, swags, etc. And they didn’t last night, either.
The director/adaptor had decided to cut a minor character from the final scene, and insert another character that had been previously excluded. This meant the last ten minutes of the show had to be re-staged. They stopped the run-thru at that point to do so. The Artistic Director of the theatre and I just looked at each other - it was a surprise to both of us. The director staged the end of the show. Then he wanted to hold off on staging the curtain call until before their performance tonight. Their first preview performance. Uh, NO. Everyone in the room (Artistic Director, me, Stage Manager, Lighting Designer) said no and made him do it then. Then he decided he wanted to give notes before tonight’s performance, instead of then. The actors were tired and wanted to go home (it was already half an hour past when rehearsal should have ended), but they wanted to be able to think through their notes. So we did notes then. And by that point we were all exhausted, but more things had to be gone through. I thought I was never going to get out of there. At 12:30, I left. I have a day job. I can’t be out all night because we can’t get our shit pulled together.
Now, I like this director. I think he’s a great guy, and he knows his shit when it comes to translating and adapting plays. However, he gets frantic at times, and becomes literally unable to communicate. He can’t get the words out. And why he decided to make the cut now is just beyond me. I don’t know, I give up. But before I left last night, I made damn sure that every actor knew that I appreciated how hard they were working last night, and how great I think this show is going to be because of them. Just give them a few nights to process all this shit.
I’m still exhausted. But now I have to go to another rehearsal and then go to Rick’s to watch the debates. I’m probably going to fall asleep, which is a shame because I was looking forward to it. Oh well.
Aaah. October 7, 2004 ~ 2:49 pm
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The cupola on the library of my lovely workplace.
I’ve been out of it this week. Two shows in rehearsal simultaneously will do that to you. R&J goes into previews tomorrow night, so then I’ll only have to worry about God’s Daughter. And that opens next weekend. Then a bit of time off from rehearsal, but still doing work on the next project. Larry has decided that he might want to add a second act to Hemingway. About Tennessee Williams. I don’t know, don’t ask. All I know is that I am now scouring the corners of the internet for videos of Tennessee Williams for him to study. Good God.
My week thus far:
Monday night: Gala for one of the theatre companies I work with. They had put together an amazing performance featuring Charles Busch (author of Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom), Frank McCourt, Larry Luckinbill, and some of the cast of 42nd Street, among others. I have to stop here and say that Frank McCourt is one of the funniest people in the world. The line “We were told to meditate on the wounds of Christ for school. We were eleven. I repeat, eleven year olds were told to meditate on the wounds of Christ.” will have me rolling for days to come. The performance was followed by a dinner, and between the wine and the fish, I was quite the sick little puppy on Tuesday.
Tuesday: Much time spent in the bathroom. Rehearsal for R&J.
Wednesday: Dentist appointment for a check-up and cleaning. No cavities, thank you, Goddess, but because I have the world’s worst dental insurance, I had to shell out $165 out of pocket. My plan may reimburse me for some of it. This is probably going to be like when they reimbursed me $8 for each of my three $170 fillings. I’ll repeat that. On a total cost of $510 that I spent out of pocket, my dental plan paid $24. Yeah. Spent time with Rick afterwards, then went to rehearsal for God’s Daughter.
Today: Work. And much time spent tracking down rights for an Ira Gershwin song called “I Can’t Get Started” for GD. I’m handing it over to the producers at this point - the rights holders want written requests. I don’t do that. Tonight, final dress rehearsal for R&J.
And the rest of the week:
Tomorrow: Work. And rehearsal for GD.
Saturday: Jordana and I are going to see Othello at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Finally, something fun! Saturday night, I’ll end up going to a preview of R&J.
Sunday: First run-thru of GD. I will then hopefully escape to Rick’s and hang out with him and the girls. We all have Monday off for Columbus Day (I think this is a New York peculiarity, I never had Columbus Day off before I moved here), and I want to spend it with them, relaxing.
Damn, I’m busy. I didn’t even get a chance to watch the VP debate this week. Sorry I missed that. And now I have to get back to work. Pleh.
You know what I like? October 4, 2004 ~ 2:43 pm
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First of all, a picture of my favorite tree in Prospect Park.
But what sparked the title of this post was another park. Central Park, to be precise. Lest I leave you all thinking that my boyfriend is a complete asshole because of the birthday fiasco, I give you this:
Two weeks ago, he took me for a long walk in Central Park, through the Ramble, which is about as close as you can get to hiking in New York City. It was a perfect day, cool enough for jeans, but sunny and warm enough that we didn’t need jackets. As we walk past a stream, there’s a patch where the sun has broken through the canopy of leaves, and I smell it. That rotting leaf smell that has always said “Fall” to me. We walk on a little bit, but I ask “Did you smell it?” and he says “Yeah,” knowing exactly what I mean. He stops, takes my hand, and leads me back to the scent. “It smells like Fall,” he says. “I know,” I reply. “It makes me happy.” He pulls me into a hug, kisses me on the top of my head, and we just stand there, smelling the Fall.
There, cheesy enough for you?
