Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Happy birthday wishes to our birthday gals!

I went to the doc again today and scheduled my Extracorporeal Shoch
Wave Lithotripsy for five weeks from now (assuming I don't pass the
murderous little som'bitch first). Personally, I rather like the idea
of an extracorporeal procedure, since it sounds like something that
involves ghostbusters. Hopefully there will be a cancellation in the
next week or two and I can go get my insides vibrated sooner rather
than later.

On the happy side of things, my four volume set of Mardrus and
Mather's Thousand and One Nights arrived today! I'm looking foward to
savoring them.

The show is going well. The first weekend has come and gone, and we've
had happy and full audiences. It is kind of hard to go wrong with a
script as witty as this. The show, btw, is "Picasso at the Lapin Agile"
a fun bit of post-modern frippery by the too-clever-for-his-own-good
Steve Marin. It's five shows a weekend though, (Thurs night, Fri night,
Sat afternoon AND night, and Sun afternoon) and I felt pretty drained
by Sunday evening. I went to bed at 8 last night! Granted, part of that
is recovering from "the ordeal" and I'm feeling much more myself now.

And just to be a shit, it's a lovely day here in Oakland!
  

    
>I went to the doc again today and scheduled my Extracorporeal Shoch
>Wave Lithotripsy [...]

The Internal Editor is required to note that Dan is undergoing a Shock
Wave Lithotripsy.  (For anybody out of the loop, this is using
ultrasonics to smash a kidney (or other) stone to relatively painless
bitsies without invasive surgery.)

If they in fact send in a schochet, you may be in trouble.
  

    
The word Lithotripsy is doing odd things in my head........
  

    
SCARY GODMOTHER!!!!

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0304/07/index.htm

how did I *miss* this??? 

squeeeeeee! says the girl.

In other news, I have blue hair.

http://ljconstantine.com/temp/blue.jpg

which I stealthily camoflague at work

http://ljconstantine.com/temp/stealth.jpg
  

    
"maure suit?" That kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies.

For Tara, and anyone else who is interested, there are more stills
from the animated Scary Godmother here:
http://www.comicbookpros.com/thompson/sganimated.html
  

    
Does anyone else watch Crossing Jordan?  Last night she picked up a
dead girl's diary which had in it a picture of Death.  You could only
see it for a moment.
  

    
Wow!
  

    
Tara -- Cool blue hair!  And cool "disguise"!  I have trouble getting
color to show up on brunette hair; may I ask what you used?

Davey -- Your story of Hebrew school reminds me of a scene in the Bob
Hope/Lucille Ball movie, _Yours, Mine, and Ours_.  If you've seen it,
you might know exactly which scene it is.  (I'll hide the description
in the next post, so I don't take up too much room here.)  It makes me
chuckle.

I'm known as "Lark" on my other favorite messageboard (off-Well). 
Among other reasons, I picked the name because I liked to sing, and
because it reminded me of that catalogue of cool ethnic instruments,
Lark in the Morning (http://www.larkinam.com) (which I later found out
was named after a traditional Irish tune).  I also picked it as a play
on the word "Lurk," which I intended to do for a while until I got to
know the board better.  Now we're all so comfortable with each other
there, and I've been on so long, that I'll respond to Lark almost as
easily as I will to my own name.  (And thanks, I rather like it, too!)

"Grizzly Bar" -- smirk.  I didn't get that until the second time I
read it, when I was not at work and could take the time to hear it in
my head.  Someday I'll have to do a taste test with the candy I can
find here, and report back.  :)  I already know that the raspberry
flavoring in a Tobler chocolate raspberry tastes like medicine.  And
dark chocolate is definitely the way to go.

Nope, nothing serious; thanks for asking.  Just some short-lived
muscle spasms.  And I trust you're all done with that yucky bug you
had?

Dan -- Glad the show is going well.  And it sounds like one you enjoy.
 Good luck at the doctor's, and feel better soon!  ((hugs))

Tomorrow, I'm starting a new project out at a client site.  I don't
know how much posting time I'll have, but if nothing else, I'll throw
in a catch-up message on the weekends or something.  I'm already
falling behind on Neil's journal and other favorite sites, but it's a
price I'm willing to pay to learn some new stuff at work!  Blessings on
all you guys.
  

    <hidden>
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
Neil mentioned on his blog the whole matter of people approaching you
at panels and conventions and signings and whatnot, saying "I love your
work."

There is a similar phenomena for actors, but with some more amusing
gradations. It's especially awkward immediately after a show, since if
you see a person a few months later you can just forget to mention
"liking" a show (or even more painfully, a particular performance)

I sent these to Neil, and he thought y'all would get a kick out of
them.

So, things you might hear after a show (but hope that you don't):

"Wow, that's an amazing set."

"Great costumes. Must be nice to work on a show with a budget, eh?"

"You guys really made some interesting choices."

"Nice work. Gosh, that's a really difficult script, isn't it?"

"Gosh, that's such a great part."

"So.... What was it like to work with that director?"

"You look like you were having fun up there." (only damning if it's
all they can say, or if combined with the above)

And finally: "It's really good to see you! I'm sorry I can't stay for
a drink or anything."
  

    
"Well, I happen to have William Shakespeare right here, and I can tell
you that he's pissed in both senses."
  

    
"My mistake.  More senses than two."
  

    
"Now that's an interpretation that would never have occurred to me."
Sometimes that's even a compliment.

A happy furry birthday party gerbilloon to Mike today! with hugs and
all good wishes.

Yesterday's rain mostly washed off the couple more inches of "spring"
we had the day before, which is too bad since I meant to log in earlier
and splat a generous handful of it at Dan so he wouldn't feel
shortchanged in sunny Oakland.
  I looked up the show, too--it looks interesting and witty; I may
find a copy to read.

Maure, everyone knows you're an alien, so why shouldn't you have an
extra suit to lend?

Tara, I like the hair. Hope life is mostly OK otherwise, too.

Christy Lark, I didn't know that scene, but it feels familiar. And
dark chocolate is the only way to go. Milk chocolate is only acceptable
on Raisinettes, and don't get me started on the
white-chocolate-is-an-oxymoron rant... But yes, certainly, you should
conduct a thorough scientific study of your local raspberry chocolate
options and report to us all. And anyone else willing to join in
undertaking this personal sacrifice in the spirit of sharing essential
knowledge about raspberry chocolate bars will also, no doubt, gain the
undying gratitude of the masses.
  Hey, btw, what's up with the Choir song? All done and perfect?
  

    
I can't tell if the image of an angry undead drunk Shakespeare wetting
himself amuses me or appalls me.

Davey - Do! It's a fun read in a way that many plays aren't. (I'm
doing a production of "Nora" (Bergman's reworking and paring down of
Ibsen's "A Doll's House") in June that is a very dry and seemingly
stilted read, but really comes alive and is funny and sad and intense
when read aloud. Funny how that works.)

As for weather. It's nice gotdya, but there's a nasty bunch of
cloudsses over the city and it's making it all greyses. Nasssty
cloudeses. We hates it!
*clearing throat*

I have no idea where that came from.
  

    
and I have no idea what my fingers were doing when I typed gotdya...
that's the worst typo for "day" I've ever seen.

I'm possessed!
  

    
Davey! I! I am not! I am *not* an alien! And thank you so much for the
early gerbilloon... It was delicious. bwahahaha!

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Dan, not possessed . . . just speaking in tongues. Er, typing in
tongues.
  

    

from Holley Nowell:



Dodge (hnowell)

Wow. Tinymonster. Someone else that remembers Yours, Mine & Ours. She had 8
and he had 9 or vice versa and then they had one of their own after they got
married to each other. I got that movie when I was going through my Tim
Matheson obsession since it was one of the first if not THE first movie he
did.

Tara. If you get tired of that disguise, they make pretty good inexpensive
wigs. A little short curly haired "normal" (ick) colored haired wig. When I
was a teenager my grandmother bought me one to wear to church because she
couldn't make me cut my long hair. But I didn't mind pandering to her desire
for a granddaughter with a chic hairstyle on Sunday. As long as she didn't
say anything about the long straight locks during the week. If you get one
that fits ok, they're not too uncomfy to wear once in a while.

Not much to say this week. Just checking in.
  

    

gotdya??

Wow. That's an interpretation that would never have occurred to me.
  

    
Hot diggity, that is funny stuff, Dan.  I have experienced all of
those, which I'm choosing to believe is not a reflection on me but of
the myriad of bad productions I've participated in.  For music, here
are some from recent gigs:

"I like the songs you didn't perform tonight."  
"You guys are really...um...energetic?"
"The spare ribs were really good." (wish I were kidding)
"I'm not a fan of your music but I like coming to your shows."
  

    

I've gotten the energetic one. Thankfully, never the spare ribs one.

...I've never played anywhere that served spare ribs, mind you.
  

    
Happy Birthday, Mike!

My favorites are, "That was .....interesting" and "It was nice.  No,
really, it was nice."  I think those were both from the same butthead I
went to grad school with.  I wish he'd been as good as he thought he
was.........

My friend Jeff, the opera singer, has a made-up list of reviews he
hopes never to get.  "Mr. McCollum did not fall down."  You know, when
the reviewer is trying to find one nice thing to say?  

Oh, and Maure is most definitely an alien.  But she's from a really
cool planet.

Taraaaaah!   I love your hair!  We must communicate non-electronically
soon!

Look out, Atlanta!  Tomorrow morning at 6:00 Debbie, Alia and I are
headed that way.  Whooo-hoo!  I've gotten e-mail from 2 friends I have
not seen in 10 years & I can't wait.  I really can't wait to see the
looks on the faces of the guys in Janah when we turn up at their show
Saturday afternoon.  They don't know we're driving 12 hours to watch
them play for 45 minutes.  (Who's nuts?)  Wheeee!

Have a lovely weekend, all of you, if I'm not around for a few days.

Mary (reading an old collection of P.J. O'Rourke essays, because even
though I disagree with him on almost every point politically, he makes
me *laugh*)
  

    
I don't have much online time tonight, but I'm sitting here cackling,
all alone, at your posts.

Mary (and Debbie and Alia and is the World's Coolest 12-Year-Old going
with you?) -- Have a safe trip and a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Mike!  A week before mine, and the same birthday as my
friend's little girl.

Davey, did you happen to watch _Whose Line Is It Anyway_ tonight?

More when I get a break,
Christy
  

    
Adriana, I've either said or had said to me all the the things on that
list. I hate being the one to say them more than hearing them.
Usually, I KNOW if I'm doing a show that deserves such comments. In
that case I can surreptitiously let them know, then bugger off for a
bitch session over a beer.

Actaully, even shows I'm generally happy with have enough maddening
things about them that a bitch session over a beer is a good idea. A
show that is so sublime that at no point do you want to throttle
someone is a rare and wonderful thing.

And yet, why do we do it? Because we must. Because we're all nutters.
Worse than crack heads. Can't go for more than a month without itching
to get involved in something else that will eat all of our time, keep
us from our friends, sabotague our relationships, and make us want to
maim otherwise likable people.

*pant pant pant*

I'm just bugging out because I've got another four shows this weekend
to do still, plus a workshop, family is coming on Sunday, and I'm
allowing mad scientists to use sound waves to pulverize a stone in my
body (and yet somehow not pulverize my bones at the same time) on
Monday. Pretty soon my eye will start twitching like Chief Inspector
Dreyfus every time Clouseau walked into his office.

(Can you tell it was a rough day at work today? (running around
wearing only a loincloth yelling "Wombats! Wombaaaaaats!!"))

Mary - have a blast y'all! I expect a full report from at least one of
you when you get back.

On a totally other note, I found an online comic that I've become
hopelessly addicted to. Check out http://www.sinfest.net
Start at the beginning and kiss goodbye to several hours as you go
through the last three years worth of comics. Funny stuff here, and
surprisingly good art for a webcomic.

Wombat!
  

    
one more thing... if you have broadband
http://www.whatisthematrix.com

new, final trailer is up...

sweet shiva on a skateboard