JESUS CHRISTMAS

For the LOVE OF GOD.

A friend called me today and told me someone called him and said they heard there was
"Foul Play"
involved with Jaki's accident.

lol.
that shit is funny.

I want to make this clear.
IT.WAS.AN.ACCIDENT.

lol foul play.
some people really need to drop the crack pipe.

and by the by
she is doing great.

You Know What I Am Talking About

I am not talking about it.
Not in this forum.
Most of you know what this is in reference to.
Those of you who don't and are in the theater community - know someone who does.

Suffice to say, there has been a bit of tragedy in my department on this tour.
No death - thank God, but I can't seem to write
even though my fingers ache to scream about it.

She is my good good friend. I love her dearly.
And although I am sure there all kinds of rumors going around
I am not writing about it. period.

Thank You to those out there who have called to check on how I am fairing.
I appreciate your constant love and support of me.
I still maintain that no one has better friends than I do.
No.One.

In fact one of my very best friends, Jennifer, just happens to be
out here visiting
so I am not alone.
She has been so incredible. Just taking care of me.

I am sure this blog will continue. I really enjoy writing it.
but right now
my heart hurts

I am tired.

The Pictoral Entry

My trip home, by Fran Curry.


So I flew home. Southwest was a nightmare. Both of my flights were delayed and my luggage was briefly lost. After much fretting it arrived with the next flight and I went home

where I promtly went to


with


and had my favorite meal, Cheese Spaetzle with Watercress Salad.


The rest of the week I packed and then Jim and I drove the
upstate and loaded up my storage space. Once that was all done we could just relax and hang with my mom and my sister. We played A LOT of Pinocle, which is a dying game - no one knows how to play anymore. I am going to have to find some smart cards people and teach the game so it will live on.

On Saturday Jim and I went with my sister Mary to her barn where she keeps Shylock her Tennessee Walking Horse.



We hung out with her in the
for a spell and then went to her house to see Dante

Who is the most awesome German Shepherd ever and currently my favorite dog in all the land.



I took a train back to NYC. I have been on that train countless times and know it like the back of my hand. If you ever have to take a train to The City from upstate, make sure you are sitting on the River side. It is easily one of the most stunning views.


When I got back into town I immediately went show shopping to get some things we needed. I knew it was going to be awhile before I would be back, so I went to Mood and got some fabric.
The last time I was there, they had Project Runway posters all over the place and now they do not. I am thinking that they won't be buying fabric there during the next season.

That night on 46th Street between 7th and 9th there was all kinds of hubub going on with music

and booths of all the resaurants in the Times Square area. Kricka and I got some tickets and had samples of some of the best food in NYC. It was a good time, except I was still rolling my little suitcase around with me which people were not tolerating. Not that I blamed them. I would have hated me too.

Then we took the

home and called it a night.

Tuesday I got up and had breakfast with my good pal
at Katina's in the Slope. (I had to cheat a little. I forgot my camera so that picture of Rhonda is from a few months prior.)

Then it was back on the
to go into town. I spent time with my friends Eddie and Elizabeth and had such fun catching up with them that I flaked and forgot to take photos.

Kricka and I met up again and headed up to the Bronx to
to watch the Yankees play! We sat in our favorite section and watched Bobby Abreau (spelling kricka...) hit a 3 run homer. My baseball boyfriend Mike Mussina was not pitching that night. meh. They won! Fun was had by all.


The next morning I got up and went to have lunch with my friend
Larry is working at Legally Blonde currently. He was one of my very first NYC friends so it was not only good but fitting I should see him.

After breakfast with Larry I went to see
Which I really enjoyed. I thought it was a great show - new and interetsing, and captured teenage angst better than anything I have ever seen. You can imagine my surprise when I looked in the program and saw listed as a dresser on the show, the woman who I replaced on Spamalot. If you don't know who I am talking about, go back to the blog entry in January named "Thrown to the Wolves - Tampa FL". I imagined seeing her and punching her right in the schnahze. Luckily I never ran into her. She was probably too busy being crazy somewhere.
When the show was over I went backstage to see my kick ass friend
who I also forgot to take a picture of. We went out to dinner and then walked around the neighborhood. Heather and I met on Titanic and have been friends ever since. She completely rocks.
After Heather, Kricka and I met up and went to see
which was pretty much a piece of crap. They kinda ruined the story in my opinion. However, people were singing the songs as they walked out, and teenage girls were squealing, so on some level, it has it's audience.
When the show was over I said my goodbye to Times Square
and headed over to my friend Lisa's. I, yet again, forgot to snap a photo. You have to admit, I really packed in seeing as many of my people as I could. Every second of my life was spoken for during my last week, but it was all such fun. I had such a good time at Lisa's that it was far too late to take the subway home, so I hopped in a cab
and shelled out the 25 bucks to get to Park Slope from Midtown.

Thursday morning, my last day in Brooklyn. I got up did my laundry at the
down the street.
I was walking along and this skateboarder nearly collides with me. I am just sucking in air so I can shout obscenities at him when I realize it's my friend
who moved away 2 years ago! I was really really happy to see him and thought it was quite fortuitous that I should run into him on my last day. Kevin's good people.
Saying goodbye to Kevin, I made my way to the Tattoo parlor up the street.
I had envisioned my new tat while walking to the subway two days prior.
It is above the one I got 7 years ago. The star on the left is for Jim and the star on the right is for Kricka. (I am not someone who would ever get someone's actual name tattooed on me. Look what happened to Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.) It is EXACTLY what I wanted. Perfect. I love it and am happy I am linked to Brooklyn forever, no matter where I wind up.

So I ended the evening and my vacation hanging out at my favorite bar, Steinhof, with almost all of my favorite people.
Kevin and Kricka at dinner

Jim and Kricka outside

Jim and Christine

Joe and Chris

Other people came but the photos didn't come out so hot - so here's a big thank you to Brett, Joanne, Julie, and Larry for helping me say goodbye to MY neighborhood in MY city.
I woke up on Friday looked out my window and said farewell to
Think she'll miss me???

Back to the road.
Love to you all.

Just Sayin'

It has been so long since I have had to do this that I completely forgot



MOVING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

Houston - Week Nineteen

Oh yes a day off! Been five weeks but it finally arrived!!!
It was glorious. No, it wasn't the day I had envisioned but a day to myself, no matter what that day brings...is a glorious day. I wanted to be near the water. My plan was to get a rental car and drive to Galveston, hang on the Gulf, and just be. Well, Thrifty Car Rental decided to give my car away, and seeing as it was Memorial Day there were no other cars available. Note to self : Reserve with a credit card. So, with no car, I had no options. I spent the day in my hotel room, relaxing, reading, and watching Shaun of The Dead - one of my all time favorite films ever, period, end of story. Perhaps not the most imaginative way to spend the day, but completely enjoyable.

Tuesday, I got up bright an early - for me- at 9am. I got a car and went about finding the wacky things that Roadside America.com suggested. The first was something I really wanted to see called Pizza Pan Mary. Apparently, while serving reconstituted pizza to some students, the lunchladies at an elementary school here in Houston saw the visage of Mary the Virgin Mother, on their pizza pan. It became a shrine at the school, just begging me to come see it. Well after driving and searching, I found the school. They no longer had it, But sent me on to the church which was displaying it for their parishoners. I drove there only to be told, the Bishop had removed it and sent it on to the arch diocese. How dumb is that? No one will ever see it there. I was majorly bummed. No Pizza Pan Mary for me.

So, after that huge disappointment I moved on to The Museum of Funeral HIstory. THAT was cool. It was a bit of a drive to get there, being about 20 minutes north of downtown Houston. Not for Nothin but, these people drive like FREAKS. I dunno, maybe it is me and I am getting old. Pretty soon I will be an old lady who can barely see over the wheel, shaking her fists at the loonies zooming past. Anyway, the museum was really interesting. They had hearses from as far back as 1810, beautifully restored. No one was there while I was visiting, so I was able to just take my time, read all the little blurbs and take pictures as I wanted. There were coffins shaped like Lobsters, and entire section designated for the Funerals of past presidents. They had ribbons that the mourners wore at Abe Lincoln's funeral!!! They even had the original flame from JFK's gravesite. Ok, yeah, the place was a little creepy Goth, but really fascinating too.
After that museum, I headed out to the Beer Can House. Roadside America.com totally pulled through on Houston. This place was crazy. The entire house was sided in beer cans. I can't even imagine how long this took. Even the fence was all aluminium cans. It wasn't open to the public really, but it doesn't look like anyone lives there. The sign out front indicated that it would be open for tours very soon. So maybe the person who owns it is still trying to get through cases and cases of Keystone to line the inside of the place. Maybe all the furniture is beer cans too! How ecologically sound. Must be hotter than hell in the summer though....

Wednesday was a nite out at Slick Willies. It was a very cool place, just completely lined with at least 20 pool tables. The music was a pretty crazy mix, which matched the clientele. It was actually loads of fun. I played some pool, laughed a lot, and of course got sucked it Megatouch video at the bar. We must have sat there for an hour, playing trivia, Photo Hunt, and Mah Jjong. Oh the simple things that truly entertain me. Just a civilized pleasant evening out.

Thursday after the play, Angelina and Siobahn hosted an Italian themed party. Course the actors got all dressed up. It was pretty hilarious actually. They were all walking around with this Vinny BagADonuts attitude. The girls made a kick ass spread. Nothing like homemade Italian food. It was great, but I am a little old for water pistols full of vodka, ya know? Maybe it has finally happened. I am finally old. It could be. I could be old. I don't really feel old, but maybe I am just in denial.

Nothing else really happened. I mean, I could tell you the story of Judi, one of our dressers, who is legally blind (so she has these Coke bottle glasses) with an unfortunate set of teeth, wandering around looking for her notes. I don't think it translates on to screen, but she was just sort of waddling around looking for them, saying the same thing over and over like a Stepford wife. I couldn't stop laughing. Then, on Saturday, my stitcher was sitting there sewing and crying. I can't let anyone just sit there and cry, so I took her outside and she told me this horrible tale of how her boyfriend dicked her over and I wound up giving her this amazing advice, which I should totally take myself. All about how all the men we date, even the assholes, have something to teach us, so we can be ready when a decent man actually shows up on the scene. It's so easy to give someone else advice. Isn't it? giggles.

Sunday in between shows, Wayne took me out to dinner to the restaurant that is connected to the theater. It was a fancy schmancy place. probably one of the best meals I have had on this tour so far. Swordfish with grilled zucchini. Oh yeah baby. Yumm didley um. C'mon, admit it, you are salivating.

So my time in Houston is almost done. I get up at 5 am tomorrow to start my journey to NYC. I am home for two weeks to move out of my apartment in my beloved Brooklyn. I have been putting off and putting off anything having to do with this move. I keep calling Uhaul and Budget, getting halfway through the reservation, and when it comes time to give them my credit card - I bail. SO MUCH CHANGE GOING ON!!!!! Good God.
I am really trying to just roll with it all, but since January, everything seems to be in this constant state of flux. Maybe I should start meditating? I think I will start a pool to see how long you guys think I could actually hold my mind and body still. Ha!

Change or no, it is gonna be good to be home. YIPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will see most of you, very very soon!!!!!!


The Extra Pics



Beer Can House. Amazing really.




This was a diorama at The Museum of Funeral History. Made me think of Six Feet Under. I miss that show.




Arty Francesca Italian Party Photo.





So this is one of the many fountains I saw in Houston. I had this theory going that Houston prefers to have fountains where the water travels down, as opposed to traditional fountains where the water goes up and out. All over downtown Houston, there are walls of water and down flowing fountains. I thought it might be a statewide fetish, but alas, there were a few "normal" ones. Still, if I had more time I would investigate further....





OK. This is a major accomplishment I had to share with you. This is our Leading Lady Armor. That chainmail you are looking at was full of holes and bad repairs. All chainmail is made of are these little tiny rings mutilooped together at four different points for each ring. Here's a close up shot of it.

It was like cracking a code to figure this out, but figure it out I did!!! It took FOREVER to fix it. Hours of racking my brain right there, people. Every minute of this project was like sitting with a constant Math problem. My jewelery making skills completely kicked in on this. Well, that and all the swearing really helped too. It looks fanatstic and I am really proud of it.




This was hanging at The Museum of Funeral History.
It's all I ever hope for myself.