The Art of Dramatic Living

Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know that I am going to take some time off the next two weeks. I’ll be back in the groove the week of August 10.

In the meantime I’m moving to a temporary home, moving my mom to her new home and house hunting for my permanent home with husband-to-be.

We’re closing the Theatre NXS show, Geroge F. Walker’s Adult Entertainment, this weekend. We’ve had a heck of a run so far. I’m very appreciative of the great audiences who’ve turned out to see us. If you liked it tell your friends. If you hated it tell your enemies.

I’ll have some things to share with you about what I’m taking away from this character. She’s an interesting woman and I’ve enjoyed living in her skin for awhile even if it is an uncomfortable skin.

Acting classes are full swing! Onward! I’m beginning to think more about the structure and business model for future classes. This is my calling and I’m so happy to be sharing what I love with my fantastic students.

I’ll be back soon with more Dramatic Living from the new digs.

I am still Wonderfully Distracted by Happiness so this post will not be nearly as polished as I want it to be.

You know I love art and I love artists because they are brave and soulful and they fill my life with beauty – even when the art isn’t “pretty” they still fill my life with beauty.

Since I began blogging and twittering I have connected with some truly talented people and I want to share some of my favorite virtual galleries with you. Just click and browse and breathe in the inspiration. All of the sites will open in another window so you can easily come back here to continue your gallery crawl.

Sometimes it happens. Happiness comes along and smacks you down. And somehow you don’t mind. So I’ve been terribly and wonderfully distracted lately since the love of my life proposed to me on bended knee last Friday.

It was late on Friday – about 10:00 PM – and I was tired after a long work week and some tough rehearsals. The character I play is in crisis mode from the beginning to the end. Let me tell you 3 hours of hysteria every night for a week can wear a girl down. So the point is – I was tired.

Instead of going out we decided he would pick up pizza for everyone (me, him, my mom and my daughter) and come over to my house for a family game night. We thought we might sneak out of the house later for a drink so we could spend some alone time with each other.

Instant Gratification: Buying Books Online

Okay most of you know I’m a book fiend. And I like immediate gratification. Which means I’m craving a Kindle, but that is the LAST investment I need to make right now. However, I can get immediate gratification from Audible.com. The only disappointment is that Audible doesn’t carry every book I want. And in order for the service to be worth its subscription, I really should be more consistent about loading my audio books onto my iPod and carrying the iPod with me.

I was restless last night. I think my restlessness is related to the fast pace of my life right now. I am enjoying my life so much right now. I am involved in so many things that I am happy about and at the same time I am finding it hard to settle myself down at the end of the day. When I am restless I start browsing my bookshelves, perusing the titles and spines of my books looking for a sign. Books play a large role in my comfort and self-care.

I found Michael Port’s Book Yourself Solid. Nice. But I knew as soon as I started leafing through it that it was going to stir me up rather than settle me down.

I read a horrible story yesterday and the sadness and ickiness and anger it generated is sticking with me for some reason. It was a story about a young woman who I went to college with. She was beautiful, lots of fun and, I thought, a little eccentric – but exciting. She was fun to hang around with. I remember walking downtown with her to get some TCBY and she carried a parasol – not an umbrella – a parasol. Her name was Margaret Trigg and she died in Bellevue in 2004.

Here’s her story: The Perfect Margaret Trigg: The performance artist and sitcom actress would do anything to be a star, including making herself her own lethal science project.

The story frightens me because is wakes up that part of me that can only be called self-loathing. It brings up a lot of anger about the industry that is “showbiz”. And it reminds me why I gave up on my acting career when I was 29. I couldn’t handle it. The industry took something I loved and turned it into a commodities market in which I had no place.