Celebrity Sighting

On Saturday, while getting coffee with my friend Elizabeth at Aroma's, we saw Michael Cera.

I feel like there should be a bigger story here, that I should build it up, that it should be exciting... but really, we just saw Michael Cera.  He was getting lunch at Aroma's.  He sat sort of caddy-corner from us, and through a window.  One minute we were talking, and the next Elizabeth said, "Don't look now, but Michael Cera is just behind your right shoulder."  And so he was.  We played it cool.  We didn't stare, or ask for a photograph, or an autograph.  Suddenly we noticed that the music had changed to the Juno soundtrack.  Subtle, Aroma's, subtle.  I texted Zan, and he came to Aroma's for a coffee, and we all tried not to look too much.  Then Michael Cera finished lunch and left, and I swear half of the people in the coffeeshop left, too.  A lot of tension dissipated.  I hadn't realized there had been that much tension.  We finished our coffee, Elizabeth headed off to her afternoon plans, and Zan and I visited the Shoe Attic.  We talked to Brittany about how Michael Cera was in town trying to avoid being mobbed by people.  We joked that he should come to the Shoe Attic and hide in the dressing room.  As we left we passed him sitting on the street hiding in a big coat, and a few minutes later Brittany texted that Michael Cera was in the store.  Serendipitous!  He didn't hide in the dressing room, though.

And... that's the story.  But, it was pretty cool, even if nothing big and exciting happened.  It's not something one expects to happen in Williamsburg.  In Los Angeles, sure.  Not in Williamsburg.  Not on a random Saturday, when I just happened to feel like going home for the weekend to see my cats.

Maybe the moral of the story is, sometimes being a cat lady lover leads to neat experiences.

Or... actually, just pretend I didn't say that last bit. :)

Morning Movies

Yesterday, Zan and I decided to take full advantage of our very odd work/school schedules to go see a movie together!  Both of us have evening-heavy commitments-- his work schedule means that he arrives home around 9:30 PM, and my classes and rehearsals run until late in the evening.  Most nights this fall, we've finally gotten to see each other around 10:00 or 11:00 at night.  Thus, we haven't been making it to very many of the movies we've wanted to see.  The other day while pondering this sad fact we realized: we have our mornings!  Not every morning, mind you, what with schoolwork, theater obligations, teaching seminars, and his second job, but some!

So we made a plan.  And yesterday, we followed through on that plan!  We walked up to Bayou Bakery a little before 11:00 for an early lunch of root beers, bacon and blue mac n' cheese, and a cup of gumbo, before catching an 11:30 AM showing of Thor: The Dark World.  And what a perfect morning it was!  I just love the feeling of going to a theater to see a movie.  I always forget how much I love it, but when a movie is entertaining, it really is a 2-hour escape with flashing lights, pretty people (Chris Hemsworth's abs...), and cool special effects.  Not that I only like superhero movies packed with action, but yesterday, it was just what I needed to pump me up for my afternoon Apprenticeship Teacher seminar.  I think I'll be taking in some more Morning Movies in the very near future. 

Holding Off on the Holidays

Two weeks from today, I will have finished my first semester of classes at Georgetown.  Four weeks from today I will have turned in all of my final papers, and then I will let myself buy Georgetown swag.  Yes, my gift to myself for completing the semester will be a new hoodie proclaiming that I am a Hoya for real and certain.  It's nice motivation. 

But the last weeks are always the hardest.  I want so much to start letting myself get swept up in the holiday spirit.  My December issue of Southern Living arrived the other day, and I am finding so much inspiration, but I can't really let myself indulge yet.  Christmas movies will have to wait, and I don't anticipate anyone getting homemade gifts this year-- especially since I begin working my nine-to-five again before I've even turned in my last paper.  I just don't foresee  having the time to cross-stitch or play very much with clay.  But maybe.  Maybe I'll surprise myself. 

Not that I haven't been having fun. Besides the karaoke party I mentioned a few posts back, I went to a bona fide "Christmas" party, where I drank wonderful hot chocolate, cider with rum, ate kringle and homemade cookies and s'mores, and watched A Muppet Christmas Carol.  That really made me want to go all out with the holiday love, but not yet, not yet.  Over the weekend I had dinner with Shea, and the next night I got to see a couple of friends who were visiting from out-of-town.  Tomorrow I'm attending callbacks for The Tempest and I believe Friday is the first read-through; I'm really, really excited about working on this project and rejoining the craziness that is GG&SS.  I'm really trying to balance out a social life with grad school this time around. 

Still, part of me wants to do nothing but barricade myself in my room and read and write until I have it all completed.  Part of me can't let go of the idea that I must get all of my work done before I'm allowed to play.  Part of me has trouble seeing that anything other than school obligations are really worthwhile, including working on theater, spending time with friends, visiting museums and limited-engagement events in the city, and having conversations that lead to new ideas.  Part of me still struggles with this idea of balance.

Return of the Elf

Thump-THUMP.  Thump-THUMP.

I wake up.  Zan is still asleep, and I know the best way to get him out of bed is to make coffee.

Thump-THUMP.  Thump-THUMP.

I enter the kitchen.  Standing at the sink, I can see into the family room, but I notice nothing-- yet.  I'm focused on measuring the water, putting in just the right number of scoops of ground coffee into the coffee-maker.  I never drink coffee, so the process is new to me.  I want to get it right.  Once I have started the coffee-maker, I put on a kettle for my tea.

Thump-THUMP.  It waits.

I re-enter the bedroom, and gently shake Zan awake.  "I made coffee for you," I say.  He smiles, so warm and genuine.  He gives me a kiss, and consents to come to the kitchen for coffee.  We get out mugs; he fills his with the coffee, I pour the hot water over a pouch of Earl Grey.  I begin to head to the family room to turn on the television-- I stop short.  I let out a shriek.  My soul curdles with terror. "Where did he come from?!" I cry out in fearful dismay.  Zan only laughs.  As usual, he denies all knowledge of the provenance of this elf.  The nightmare has returned.  I will be on my guard until Christmas.

It smiles, a small, sly smile.  Christmas is Coming!

(For a complete account of my feelings on Elf on the Shelf, re-visit this post!)

A Little Busy Bee

I thought once Cabaret closed I would have an abundance of free time-- so much so that I would sit around watching movies and reading books for fun and sometimes just being downright bored in the most gleeful of ways.  This has, of course, proved untrue.  It sort of started that way: Sunday night after a long day at Cabaret strike, I decided to take time just for me.  So, I put on my PJS, then curled up in bed with tea and Netflix.  I spent a lovely night watching both Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Thor, neither of which I had ever seen.  Then Monday morning rolled in, and I have been going non-stop.

Between catching up on the workload of two seminars, beginning to think seriously about/research for my final papers, and attending Modernities Working Group and an Apprenticeship Teaching seminar, school is keeping me hopping.  End of the semester is right around the corner, and we're all feeling the crunch.  I need to go go go if I'm going to get everything done and done well.  The last few papers looming over my head have me feeling just an edge of anxiety already... in just four weeks, I need to have completed all of my work for this semester.  Right now, it's a chilling thought.

Then, additionally, I am happy to report that I will be dramaturging GG&SS's winter play The Tempest by William Shakespeare!  If you know me, or you've followed this blog for any length of time, you know how much I love Shakespeare and theater.  I'm so excited to be a part of this production, to get to research production history, to put together actor packets, to teach a little about scansion, and to uphold the vision of these two directors.  After our first meeting last night, I am very excited about this production-- the directors' concept is gorgeous and really well conceived.  And I get to research for it and to help the cast and crew put it all together!  This, of course, means a lot of work-- work I am very happy to undertake-- but still, something I need to direct a lot of energy and time towards if I'm going to do it right.

And, of course, I need to see my friends!  Last night I attended a most excellent karaoke party with my cohort.  It was so nice to see them again, after missing a lot during Cabaret.  We really bonded over the singing of mostly 1990s pop songs.  Then tonight is a "low-key" movie-watching party night with the cast/crew of Cabaret (with whom I want to keep in touch).

So, with school, The Tempest, and a social life hanging in the balance, I find that all of that time I supposed I would have for just me-- with tea and a book, or Netflix-- has totally gone out of the window.  But I think I'm okay with that.  Maybe Winter Break will be enough time to recharge... when I'm not cooking up eighteenth-century masterpieces with my Foodways friends, of course. :)

Life is a Cabaret

 (Cast and Production Team of Cabaret.  I'm on the left in menswear and a beret.  Very Marlene Dietrich.)

Tonight is closing night of Cabaret.  As my first experience with GGSS, it has been quite the ride.  I haven't written a lot about it-- mostly because I haven't written a lot at all-- but since September Cabaret has dominated my life.  I rehearsed two to four nights a week for nearly all of September and October, and when I wasn't at a wedding, a conference, or struggling to finish the massive amounts of reading and writing assigned to me for midterms, I spent my weekends at crew call.  Last Friday I spent from 9-5 helping with load-in: I helped hang the backdrop, moved heavy set pieces, made sparkly bow-ties, and used a sewing machine for the first time.  The next day I was back at the costume closet, sewing on snaps, reshaping hats, and hemming.  And Sunday was tech run-- as an ensemble member who rarely leaves the stage, I spent nearly ten hours sitting in the "cabaret" as lights were adjusted and set pieces were spiked.

Then, on Wednesday we opened.  Zan surprised me by coming to the show when I thought he couldn't make it, my friend Pete came to see me (and to see Mike J., Kelsey, and Josh, of course) and on Thursday some members of my cohort came out to see the show, too-- I can't express how moved I am that they came to see me, when I have such a very small part.  On Thursday night I attended a cast party (something I haven't gotten to do enough) and tonight I'm bringing goat cheese and crackers to our final cast party potluck celebration.  Tomorrow is strike, then it's over.

I'm not sure I've made the most of this experience.  I've met some really nice, interesting people, and I hope to continue to build some of these relationships in the coming weeks/months/years.  I've gotten to experience the joy of singing loudly to Kesha, Katy Perry, and Britney Spears as we all put on our costumes and make-up pre-show.  I've gotten to get up onstage to sing (just a tiny little bit) and dance (badly, because I'm me).  But somehow I feel like with all the other things I had going on, especially during the last two-thirds of October, I didn't become as invested as I wanted to become.  I didn't bond with the cast quite as much as I wished/hoped I would.  The long commute to the law center hasn't helped either, and why are parties so hard to get to these days?

But, there's always the next show...

(Which is The Tempest.  And I'm hoping to put on my dramaturgy hat.)

Bucket List Update

Sadly, I didn't make it through my entire bucket list, but luckily some of the things I missed can still be done equally well in November!  Still, given the conference, the midterm projects and papers, and the incredibly large time commitment of Cabaret, I think I did pretty well!

I managed to make a cream-cheese pumpkin pie (5), watch Practical Magic (4), drink a pumpkin latte (9), throw my annual Halloweentown party (2), watch The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (11), and watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (6).  Last night, although after Halloween, I watched Hocus Pocus (1) because I simply couldn't NOT watch it.  So, I completed seven of my twelve bucket list items.  I am a little sad about not managing to get a good costume together (Zan and I wanted to go as Parks and Rec's characters April and Andy's alteregos Brent Macklin and Janet Snakehole) and not getting to greet trick-or-treaters.  I'm also a bit bummed out about not making it to a pumpkin patch to pick out my pumpkin and not getting to carve a jack-o-lantern.  But, at least I got to have the Halloweentown party, and most of the food on the list will be made in November and will taste even better with the colder weather moving in this month. 

Plus, I got to drink about five thousand vanilla chai lattes from Coffee on the Corner during the Blackfriars Conference, and ain't nobody can argue with that.

(Look out soon for a blog post dedicated to my experience at the Blackfriars Conference!  I presented a paper and got to meet some real Shakespearean superstars!  And soon I'll have a blog post dedicated to Cabaret, too!)