After having a mostly public LJ, I have decided to make more and more of my posts friends only. You may request friendship from me. Some explanation of who you are would be helpful in determining whether you are someone genuinely interested in my LJ or if you are trying to gather information for a hit.

Thanks

God I'm a slacker.

Day 13:

Hate: Cutesy shortened versions or lettered abbreviations of words

I first developed this particular aversion with a co-worker of my mothers who used to refer to things like a food processor as a "pro". I think I either blocked the rest or they were drowned out by Rachel Ray who is by far the worst offender that comes to mind. Don't get me wrong, I like her recipes, and she does have some helpful hints, but every time she says "E.V.O.O" I want to rip her uterus out and make a pate out of it. Is it so fucking hard to say actual words? Delish? What, you can't say words of 3 syllables unless they're lettered? This hatred extends to netspeak as well. Lisa's nephew, whom I'm very fond of, uses netspeak all the time on facebook and while I rarely correct him on it, it drives me crazy. I guess I'm just getting old, but I equate netspeak with Newspeak. Items one comma five comma seven approved fullwise stop suggestion contained item six doubleplus ridiculous verging crimethink cancel stop unproceed constructionwise antegetting plusfull estimates machinery overheads stop end message.

Love: Clean sheets

By that I mean fresh from the dryer clean, especially on a cold day in Fall when it's still too warm to turn on the heat, but too cold to walk around the house without pants on. (Oh right, like you don't do that!) Seriously, it is awfully nice around this time of year to be able to feel fresh clean sheets around you for those precious seconds before the big dog jumps up on the bed and tries to force you out of it.

Day 14

Hate: Selfishness

Like so many things I hate, I hate selfishness when I find it in myself more than when I find it in others. I think part of why I despise it so much is because we (the US) as a country have been taught for the last 30 years that selfishness is some kind of virtue. The "Greed is Good" philosophy of Gordon Gekko if you will, is what has ruined our economy and it seems to follow an old saying attributed to either Attila the Hun or Napoleon I: "It is not enough that I succeed: Everyone Else Must Fail". That is the philosophy of a virus. I prefer to think that humans can be more than viruses. Instead of wanting it all for yourself, how about sharing with others and finding ways to increase what we all have together.

Love: Generosity

When I say generosity, I don't mean so much in a material sense of the word as in just the nature of a person. Some people are generous with food, some with money, some with time, some with good words, some with love, etc. Generosity is a fine balance too because it is possible to think you're being generous when in fact you're being overwhelming. Nonetheless, most of whom I consider to be my best friends are the ones who are generous.

Day 15:

Hate: Abstinence Only sex education

What are you fucking kidding me? Let's be clear. Teenagers are going to fuck each other. That's what they do. If you want to keep them from making babies, you'd better teach them what a rubber is, how to use it, and what the goddamn consequences are. I know a lot of people who got pregnant unexpectedly and chose to take on that responsibility. They went on to become excellent parents, wives, society members. To them I say bravo. Unfortunately, they are the exception to the rule. To assume that teenagers are not going to screw like rabbits is ridiculously naive. I know, not all of them will (I didn't) but many of them will, and they need to know the goddamn facts of life before they start exchanging bodily fluids.

Love: The sound of water (creek or ocean)

I find this to be one of the most soothing sounds there is. I return to an earlier love: Ocean City where I would wake up to the sound of the ocean every morning in the distance. I have a similar liking for the sound of a stream or a creek or something like that.

*sigh, I'm never going to get caught up on this goddamn thing, am I?

Day 6: Hate- Peanut butter and chocolate together

As long as I have been alive, I have found this to be a revolting combination. The mere idea of it is enough to make me retch. On the rare occasions when something including a combination of these two things has found it into my mouth, I have had to fight the urge to spit it out on the floor. It's odd because I love chocolate and I like peanut butter. I similarly do not like peanut butter with anything else sweet: not marshmallows, not honey, not even jelly.

Day 6: Love- Making people laugh

About as long as I've hated peanut butter and chocolate, I've also known that I have the ability to make people laugh. The style of my humor has changed somewhat over the years, but if I know nothing else, I know I can make people laugh. When I was a kid, I learned very quickly, mostly through listening to comedy records, that I was an auditory learner. Anything I hear a certain number of times becomes memorized, sometimes whether I want it to or not. (I once had all of the lyrics to Achy Breaky Heart memorized to my chagrin) I then discovered that I not only could recount the words, but the inflections of how they were said. This had adults greatly amused when they saw an 8 year old doing Woody Allen, Bill Cosby and Steve Martin routines verbatim with the exact same timing as was on the record. Of course, I had no idea what the hell I was saying half the time, but it made people laugh so I liked the attention. Years later, when I did my first play, "The Curious Savage", I got my first genuine laugh on stage from saying a line that I didn't even think was meant to be funny. "I'm not angry, I'm just hurt." According to my Dad, the delivery of the line reminded him of Harvey Korman. (Again, not what I was going for, but I guess that was good.) Following that, I did mostly comedic roles in plays and musicals and felt very natural in them. It's one of the reasons why I was initially somewhat daunted by the role of Father Flynn. It's about as dramatic a role as you can get (though there are some humorous moments) and I really had to work at it. Hopefully that work will translate into a good performance that will not induce people to hurl tomatoes.

Those of you on Facebook have already gotten an invitation to come see this play, but I want to make sure I cover all bases because some of you aren't on Facebook.

So...Doubt: A Parable. Yes, it's the same story as the movie. I play Father Flynn.

I want you there. Yes, you!

Dates are on the flier listed below. Click on it.

Tickets are $15 if you're an adult, $13 if you're a senior citizen, $10 if you're a student or if you're one of a group of 10 or more buying a block of tickets. So organize!

The Cedar Lane Stage production of Doubt: A Parable is in sudden and very big need of an Assistant Director/Stage Manager. Our current person had to drop out of the production due to health issues. If you or anyone you know is interested, please let me know ASAP. Our production dates are October 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 30 and 31.

Please reply here if you are interested.

And forgive me, this will be cross posted to a few different places. Apologies in advance.

Does anyone know a good Catholic Church that I can check out? I'm specifically interested in attending a decent homily. And yes, this is research, I'm not converting.

In the play I have to deliver two sermons. I feel pretty comfortable with it, but would just like to see a few real ones just to be thorough.

I spent my birthday last night at a callback for the play Doubt: A Parable which is being produced by the Cedar Lane Stage in Bethesda.

Turned out to be time well spent because I got the part. I was a little unsure of my chances going in as the play has only one male part, but I thought it was a great part that I could do a lot with, and apparently the director thought so too.

So, yay! Details will be forthcoming, but the production dates are basically all of the weekends in October.

Probably the advice given to me in 1992 that marrying Victoria was anything other than a very bad idea.

Someone's pelvic bone.

The Tempest is almost sold out. If you haven't gotten a ticket yet, you better get on the ball because they're flying out of the box office faster than panties off of a freshman girl on her first week of college.

https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7393675

This show really is one not to miss. Really. Truly. Seriously.

Regarding an observation of the title of the special coming in November. Bear in mind, this is speculation!

( Spoiler only if you don't want to know the title of the next known Dr. Who Special. (It's nothing special in and of itself) )

Tickets are half sold out according to tompurdue. Do not miss your chance to see this show. This is the last performance!

( The 11th Doctor in costume )

In other news, Torchwood: Children of Earth begins tonight on BBC America. You must watch it!

Yes, this is yet another plug for the wonderful wonderous reprise of our production of The Tempest: A Celtic Musical. It is done for the Capital Fringe Festival, so even if you didn't know it to be an impossibly cool musical, it is made cool by association because of the Fringe Festival. There's singing, dancing, drinking and a vomitswallow. How many musicals offer you that?

It's a good show, it's Cap Fringe, easily the most interesting thing to do in DC in July, and it's a chance to catch what we do in a shiny black box theater with a bar, downtown.

Afterward we can all gather for debriefing and cocktails.

Saturday, July 11 @ 3:30 PM
Friday, July 17 @ 5:15 PM
Sunday, July 19 @ Noon
Saturday, July 25 @ 6:00 PM

The Warehouse Theater - Mainstage
1021 7th Street NW DC

http://shows.capfringe.org/shows/92-The-Rude-Mechanicals-The-Tempest--A-Musical.html
for tickets

Those of you who missed it the first time around, you now have no excuse. You must come see this show. (unless of course you have other plans, but if you can make it out, I'd rather like it)

I was not on the Metro during the crash, nor was lkell. Those who might have been, I'd like to hear from you to know you're ok. Seriously.

Creationism really DOES make sense once explained scientifically:

Spoilers under cut...fair warning:

( First Reaction )


( Second Reaction )



( Third Reaction )



( Final Analysis )

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go mutter to myself for the next nine months.

Today is my 5th wedding anniversary with lkell

We'll be celebrating at Jackies because it's our favorite restaurant in Silver Spring.

Happy Anniversary babe.