April

Now I just need to run some errands and then have a relaxing evening. I'm so glad I decided to come down today. Much less stressful even with the weather issues.

The English Teahouse is playing the country station, where Marty Bass is now the weather guy. I haven't heard that name since the 80s. I remember hearing his weather report on the way to school (don't remember which station he was on then). Nice to know he's still around.

I'm still not getting anywhere with my play. I just can't get myself to think about it. I can think about little things I want to add here and there, but I can't seem to make myself think about the progression. How can I get from point A (the beginning) to point B (the end)? I should probably just keep writing and see where it goes, but I can't seem to do that yet either. Maybe it'll happen later today.

Andy's coming up tonght :)

Then I arrived home to some drama, and between that and the tense, traffic-filled ride home, Wednesday was exhausting.

And yesterday, besides answering a ton of email, I couldn't get very productive. It didn't help that nothing I tried to do was going smoothly.

But today is good- filled with work productivity and things going the way they should (including an almost-complete, ontime grocery delivery- finally, a company I can trust).

Yesterday the neighbour next to me moved out (going full time to her house in Southampton)- she'll be renting her apartment. Hope she finds some quiet people. I never did understand the rental situation in her apartment- it seemed to be she rented it a few times and then she came in from time to time. Maybe this time she's renting it long term or something.

Speaking of neighbours- the neighbours on the other side of me are doing the loud music thing a little too often recently.

I really need to fully organise my April schedule tonight. It's a busy month.

I'm back to being unproductive. Just can't get myself to do anything other than rest. I'll be paying for it later, but right now I really want to enjoy some rest while I can.

I'm also being reclusive. I know there are people I should get in touch with, but I don't feel like doing that right now. I just want to enjoy some alone time (before the onslaught of visitors, starting next week).

Someone's blaring Christian rock music on my street. I looked out the window (as did several people across the street) but couldn't see where it was coming from. It's probably someone's car stereo.

I'm not doing anything Easter-related this year. I did Passover (with Neil, Maxine, Abby & company)- that was enough religion for one season ;)

Sounds like Neil, Maxine, & Abby are having a nice Easter. Wish I could be there (a picnic upstairs sounds like fun).

I really miss Phoenix weather.

In a weird way, I'm enjoying this stage of the growing tooth. I really hope it's the last one though.

The NYC recycling program is driving me crazy- they keep sending information on changes to the program.

And I'm pissed off at Sprint for deciding not to process my rebate because I "didn't include a receipt or packing slip" (they sent a card in the mail telling me so). Um, YES I DID. And according to their website, my rebate process is all in order. So now I get to call them and hope for a useful customer service person to find out what's going on. Always something.

Not having a good eye day- should probably eat something soon.

Harvey finally was on a seriously delayed train tonight. He has amazing luck with avoiding travel irritations and still doesn't believe me (maybe he 40% believes) when I tell him about all my bad luck travel situations. Anyway, their train tonight was almost an hour late.

My neighbour has not moved out yet (heard her tonight). Maybe she will at the end of the month?

Busy, random NYC day. Too tired to go into details, but it was rather nice.

Have I mentioned the lovely weather recently? Great fun for running all over the city.

And in other irritations, Geocities has been giving me problems uploading the past few days. It works eventually- just takes many, many tries before that happens.

Speaking of Hawaii, I know we'll be there in the "rainy season", but it would be nice if we could have a sunny day or at least have it be sunny for the majority of a day. It's always so gloomy everywhere, which I like from time to time, but not ALL THE TIME (like it has been everywhere I've been for over a year [minus a few hours here and there]).

Marcell called last night to see if Jay and Sherry are still coming up this weekend. Hopefully we'll find a time for us all to get together. It should be a BUSY weekend! We already have tickets for "Wicked" on Friday and reservations at Artisanal on Saturday (hope the service isn't awful). Then Sherry wants to shop and go down to Ground Zero (and will only take taxis), Jay wants to go to a deli, they want to go to a museum or two, and then try to get together with Marcell. Maybe they're not leaving until Monday?

And yes, I'm still having trouble uploading.

It's been a sunny day on and off today!! This is exciting! Wish I could go out and enjoy it.

Tonight is dinner at Craft with Harvey and Paula. Tomorrow Jay and Sherry arrive.

What will I do the rest of the weekend? Hopefully be productive like I wanted to be last weekend. I'm getting a second chance, and I hope to take advantage of it. My first priortiy was my play, but since we got our research papers back in theatre history today and I discovered she wants me to do what I suspected (change the paper to make my thesis WHY modern entertainment is similar to the Roman Empire- that will take forever- I already tried to do a little research on that and got nowhere- that's why I wound up not doing that to begin with- I don't know how I'll pull this off now), that's sort of more of a priority. But I thought tomorrow it might be fun to go down to the Village and find a cute cafe in which I can work on my play, and then head over to TLA Video to rent a movie (and then I'll probably do the same thing on Monday, except return the video rather than rent any). I can start research for the paper tomorrow night. Tonight I'm taking off (don't know what I'll do yet). I guess I should also still try to get together with Marcell this weekend. I also sort of want to go somewhere. I have the urge to go somewhere I've never been (just to get away from my life for a minute). So, I've also thought about renting a car tomorrow and going wherever the car takes me (as long as it takes me somewhere I've never been). Or maybe I'll do that trip to Princeton. But I really feel like being spontaneous. Hopefully I'll still feel spontaneous tomorrow.

Since Marcell wanted to meet today (since she had an accupuncture appointment 2 blocks from me), I decided to stay in town and go down to the Village after walking Marcell to her appointment. I took the bus down 7th and had to endure touristland. Times Square was a ZOO!! And there were semi-annoying tourists on the bus.

The Village was beyond crowded as well, but at least it was a more preferable crowd. I tried to go to Tea and Sympathy, but it was too crowded, so I walked over to Greenwich Cafe and tried to work on my play there. I didn't get very far. Then I tried to do some clothes shopping and really didn't get very far. I did, however, go to TLA and got a few things: Volumes 1 & 2 of "The Prisoner" and "The Shape of Things" (maybe it'll re-inspire me for writing my play).

Then I was too hot and tired to continue clothes shopping, so I just walked over to Astor Place and caught the train home. I was hot because while I did need the leather jacket and warm-ish shirt when meeting Marcell, I definitely did not need it by the time I was walking all over the Village. And it didn't help that I was carrying my heavy bags.

So now I'm home and, except for the videos, wish I didn't take the time to go down to the Village. I would have been better off maybe taking a little walk after meeting Marcell and then found a bench by the river to work on my play. I hate when that happens. Oh well, I'm over it now.

My intention is to spend most of the night working on my play, but whether that happens remains to be seen (or should that be "reamins to be 'scene'"?).

I've decided to try the writing center at Hunter. Even though I don't have high hopes, I'd rather try to talk to someone there about my paper before I try talking to my professor. She really has unusually high expectations, and I'd rather see if someone with lower expectations can give me decent suggestions and maybe that'll be good enough. So, I'll do that on Monday.

Oh, and I picked up my latest batch of pictures this afternoon. I'll probably put them up sometime this weekend.

Today Paula reminded me that in Phoenix, you pay taxes on an apartment rental. I can't believe I had forgotten about that. That was obnoxious.

My idea of a good test schools should focus on: listening tests instead of reading/writing tests. Get people to learn how to listen (a skill most people are sadly lacking). They could have the person monitoring the test give instructions for the students to follow and give a lecture that students will have to answer questions about. I think this could be useful.

Two random things I've really been noticing when walking on Lex recently: almost everyone is speaking a language other than English and almost everyone smokes.

My knee's been bothering me for the past 2 days.

Well, I'm supposed to stop by next Tuesday afternoon to do any possible last minute set-fixing things, but after that, I don't have to be back there until strike (on May 9). And I went home this evening earlier than expected. I do want to see the show though- I'll probably go next Tuesday (since I'm already used to not being home until late on Tuesdays). And that will be the first show I'll see this year. Can barely believe that.

And in other theatre news, I could see Neil LaBute's new play ("The Distance from Here") for free this week (since Hunter's offering free tickets), but this isn't a good week for me to take the time to see it. I hope to see it at some point though. I'm not thrilled with the subject matter (suburban slackers), but I love the playwright and Josh Charles is in it (gotta support a fellow BSAer, right?).

Oh, and I got a little boo-boo today (don't remember it happening, but I have a minor flesh wound on my leg). I seem to be hurting myself a lot in the past year or so. I never used to hurt myself. I wonder what's causing the change? But on a somewhat related note, my knee's not bothering me today (even after bending backwards and upsidedown under the stage this afternoon).

Tomorrow I'm going to give the writing center a try. But first I'll take advantage of the free health screenings Hunter% s offering (unless the lines are too long). After all that, I'll go down to the Village to return the videos and work on my play. Then Thursday Neil, Maxine, and Abby will be here.

I have so many big topics on my mind these days (the education system in the US, the future, all the things people accept as a given, our government...), but I just don't have the time to sit for a while and write about them. All these huge thoughts swimming around my head sometimes can get overwhelming. Fortunately, I can easily stop thinking about all of them when they get too overwhelming (until the next time).

The day started with Hunter-related things going smoothly. Unheard of! First, I managed to print out the latest stuff for my play and everything worked. Then I went to the screenings at the health fair. They said to expect a wait- the longest I waited was a few minutes for the blood sugar screeing. And I'm very healthy- low everything (blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol). Then I went to the writing center and really expected a long wait. And there normally would have been, but I actually got lucky. There was a tutor whose student didn't show up and happened to have 20 minutes before her next appointment (they only give you 30 minutes, so I was only losing 10- not a big deal). She wasn't very helpful in helping me narrow down a thesis, but she did give me the name of a professor in the classics department who teaches a course on Roman sports and spectacle. So I went to her office to check her hours, and saw that I could see her on Friday during my break. As I was writing down that information so I wouldn't forget, she happened to show up. She was about to go to a meeting but had a few minutes. More amazing luck!!! She also wasn't helpful in helping me find a thesis since it "wasn't her area of expertise", but she did have a list of sources for me to check out (I'll do that on Friday during my break).

Then I went down to Tea and Sympathy and got the last table available (so no wait). Unfortunately, after not eating all day (since I couldn't eat before the screeings and was too busy running around after that), I wasn't hungry, so I worked on my play for a little while and then took my food to-go. Then I returned the videos and went home. I was going to try some clothes shopping, but after the wonderful day I was having, I didn't want to ruin it. I'll try the clothes shopping thing next week (hopefully).

Other good things about the day? The weather was fairly nice (although at times it was EXTREMELY windy). All transportation went smoothly (and virtually no waiting). As soon as I got home, Brian called out of the blue (haven't talked to him in a while). Shortly after that, I had a nice little online chat with Andy (which is always a nice thing).

And I discovered a wonderful thing today. A belt. My pants are always too big on me, and I don't know why I've waited this long to do something about it. Or should I say, try something again. I've tried belts before but have always had problems with them. But this time it worked. Maybe they'll work from now on (or at least work well enough).

I half-watched Jeopardy tonight, and I found many of the questions and categories rather odd. Then at the end of the program, we were told that all of the questions were written by one of their oldest question-writers who recently died. At least the oddity of the questions wasn't in my imagination.

So yes, today was great. Things should go smoothly more often. Imagine how much more time we would have if they did.

The past few days were long but good. And I only had 1 person give me a hard time. I really stayed out of things this time, and I don't know if that made things more stressful for other people or if it didn't matter (I should ask Paula and/or Maureen). I met Matt- another lefty- this is getting really strange- I'd love to do some kind of study on it (but don't know what it would accomplish nor do I know what I'd be trying to prove nor do I have the time to do anything in-depth). And I met Stepheca (another travel lover). Everyone else went home last night, so I offered to hang out with her in case she didn't want to go back to the hotel by herself. She wanted to see a movie and decided on Jersey Girl. It obviously wouldn't have been my first choice, but it wasn't horrible (and it's always fun seeing the street you live on in a movie- I'm sure it's one of the things I saw being filmed and had no idea what it was).

Neil, Maxine, and Abby left this morning- always nice having them here.

Even though I have several major projects to tackle, I'm going to take today off. I'm not exhausted (but probably will be later this evening), but it would be nice to have a relaxing Sunday just for fun. I can afford the time (I think).

I was right- I was EXHAUSTED last night. I actually fell asleep quickly and slept for almost 8 hours (after waking up and going back to sleep once).

I tried to play some trivia with Andy last night, but I just couldn't comprehend anything I was reading, so I gave up and we just chatted for a little while. Sometimes I don't even think of the distance between us as not-the-ideal (I just accept it), but other times I really wish we could have more in-person time.

Sylvia called yesterday. Matt's hip operation went well, but it's a tough recovery period. I should probably call him at the hospital tonight.

I'm now caught back up on my life and it's not even 2:00. I have a few more little things to do (like some more job searching and cutting my hair), but I feel on top of things. Of course I still have huge things (all the school stuff, like my play and papers and all the reading), but none of those were my goals for today. My goals for today are almost complete.

I did a good job on the haircut the other day.

Busy day yesterday: work, classes, errands, worked on play (I've never written anything so slowly), and I went to see "Venus" last night (the production actually wasn't bad).

Did some work this morning (have I mentioned recently how silly I find market research?) and now plan on spending much of the afternoon/evening and all day tomorrow reading the books I picked up the other day on the Roman Empire. Hopefully I can find a thesis by tomorrow night and then I can write the majority of the paper over the weekend (and work on my play as breaks in between- don't think I can take the time for real breaks this weekend).

The fall semester schedule is up online now. Why do they schedule all the required theatre classes at the same time? Does that make sure people can get in classes more easily? Since you can only take 1-2 requirements at a time? And don't get me started on the strange Monday/Thursday, Monday/Wednesday/Thursday nonsense. But actually, now that I mentioned it, why have some Monday/Thursday classes and some Monday/Wednesday/Thursday classes? It's annoying to go there for one 50 minute class on Wednesday. But that's what they do. So, if I can get into them, I hope to be taking Visual Elements (with "arrogant bastard") and Play Analysis (since they stupidly only offer it in the fall). I have a feeling Play Analysis will be closed; in which case, I'll take the 3rd World Theatre. If that's closed too, I'm stuck unless I take Scene Design (with "obsessive assingment giver") on Tuesdays & Fridays. That would have me going there 4 days a week for an hour an 15 minutes each day- kind of annoying to break up every day like that, so hopefully I can get into the other classes. I don't have a registration date yet (I do have one for the summer- May 4th), but hopefully I'll be early enough to get into the classes before they close.

Eytan called while I was out last night. Haven't heard from him in ages. I'll try to make the time to call him back tonight. Hearing from him reminded me how sometimes I'm glad I don't have a lot of friends and family. It's hard to take the time to keep up with so many people.

Wound up doing a last minute visit to Todd's last night where I got an interesting mini tennis lesson in his apartment (mainly we talked about how to have a powerful serve with minimal movement- you don't need to throw out your back to whip your opponent). Now I really want to play. Maybe I'll wind up in Maryland one weekend this summer (doubtful, but you never know), and Jon & I could try to play (although probably something would happen like: it would rain or I'd be too tired or I couldn't find the garage where my car's parked and when I finally find it the garage would be locked and it would be a whole ordeal and I wouldn't have time for tennis after [no, I suppose something like that wouldn't happen more than once]...).

Finally called Matt today- didn't get to talk long though (which is fine since I didn't know what to say other than ask how he's holding up). He sounded good though. They're supposed to move him to a nursing home as soon as he's more stable, and hopefully the rest of the recovery will go well there.

Wound up having too much work to do today, so I haven't gotten very far in my Roman research. I'm starting to get worried about this one. I plan on talking to both Paula and Andy about it tonight- maybe they'll have some ideas for my direction/thesis. I'm not holding my breath, but I'll be no worse off after talking to them than I am now, so it can't hurt.

Time's going at the speed of light again. I think I missed a few weeks in April.

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