Internet, let's play dress-up

Here's the deal: Against my better judgment, I've agreed to take part in a one-night-only performance of a one-act play written by one of my Rosemont peers. I say "against my better judgment" because I've protested being cast considering that I:

1. Can not act
   
2. Will be unable to get the lines out without laughing, because they're hilarious, and
   
3. Have to "cry" and be "frightened" with a certain degree of authenticity.

You see, a few months ago I took part in a script in hand reading of another play written by a Rosemont grad, and that apparently cemented me as an "actress." Which, let me repeat, I am not. There's a bit of a difference between reading with some inflection and actually, you know, acting. Still, Jillian, the playwright, implored me to take part in her show. "I have the perfect part for you! It's small! You'll like it!"

Of course I show up to the first table reading and discover that I've been cast as the whiny strumpet. I have to tart it up all over the place and plaster myself on the men in the cast. I have to say ridiculous lines with conviction and defend my character's erotic poetry. I have to CRY on DEMAND. Thanks a lot, Jillian.

ANYWAY, considering that I will suck for the duration, I might as well suck while looking good. Which brings me to the dress up: I need your help picking my costume.

The play takes place in the 1930s at a party. I've discovered, however, that the majority of 1930s dresses are slinky and dowdy, neither of which seems suitably sex-potish for an erotic poet nor anything that would particularly flatter my body type. Since we're not being entirely period, I'm drifting a bit more towards the 40s wear. And while Rosemont has offered to cover the expense of the costume, provided they can keep the dress afterward, I've decided to just buy it for myself, seeing that I have weddings to attend later in the year and will need a dress for those occasions.

Here are our choices:

The "Stop Staring Lula" Dress.



I like this dress. Swanky, sultry, shows off curves. Good for post-show wear as "little black dress" staple.

The Stop Staring True Blue Dress.



I love, love, LOVE this sweet little dress. However, I feel it might be a little too sweet and also creeping too close to the 50s for the purposed of this show.

The Stop Staring Red Lana Dress



Vampy! However, I'm worried about the crossing fabric across the bust line, which traditionally doesn't look good on me.

The Red Siren Dress



I like this one, but it feels a bit dressed down for the purposes of the show. Like, I need something a bit more fancy. For a point of reference, the men in the show will be wearing tuxes. So I feel like I might need to gussy up a bit more. Something like...

The Lace Maria Dress



Va-va-va-vooom! I like this one a lot. I'm just worried about looking, uh, too thick in it, you know. But the site seems to imply that they make the dresses for girls of all sizes (Bless you, Daddy-Os!), I'm just hesitant because internet shopping for clothes is always tricky.

So there are your choices. Let the voting begin! And feel free to suggest alternatives that you find on that site or elsewhere.

Oh, and for anyone who wants to come see me make an ass out of myself, the performance of "Murder!" a One-Act Murder Mystery/Comedy is on March 21, Rosemont's Main Building, 8PM, FREE.

Skin Deep

Skin Deep is a thriller set in the Dublin art world, inspired by artists like Damien Hirst and the new greed of Ireland. Karl, a struggling artist, owes money to his landlord, a photographer called Dan. Karl is stuck for inspiration, when one day he hits upon an idea, involving a huge favor from Susan, a medical student moonlighting in a hospital morgue. Dan's girlfriend Ruth writes a weekly column on her love life. As Karl's new work elevates him to celebrity status, Ruth becomes suspicious of the secret to his success. All this... and a mysterious foot!

Skin Deep by Paul Meade
THE AMERICAN PREMIERE!

Directed by Tom Reing
Starring Charlie DelMarcell, Jared Michael Delaney, Corinna Burns and Melissa Lynch.

January 6-18
The Adrienne
2030 Samson Street

Ticket reservations online or 215-454-9776













Philly kids, you know you want to go!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Hey, did you know there's an election today? Your vote is important, exercise your rights, stand up for what you believe in, etc.

I myself am driving an hour and 15 minutes to make sure my vote is counted. Surely you can walk to your neighborhood polling place and cast yours.

And given how this election season has featured not one, but two prominent female politicians, I thought this was appropriate:



Well done, Sister Suffragettes and Rock the Vote.

Life Changing Events

So I don't want to blog about this too much, because I don't want to steal other people's thunder, but some of my friends have been rocking out with life changes and I want to give them shout outs for being awesome.

First, there's the newest member of the 141 family. Who looks like Al, I think. She's all of a week and two days old, and I am mentally preparing to spoil her rotten. Welcome to Lillian (a.k.a. - Blueberry!) (Yes, I'm calling her that forever.)

Second, just this past weekend, this guy I know got married to a completely bodacious girl. Congrats, Brian and Nazzy! I wish I could have been there to take a million photos and celebrate with you.

As for me? I got cleared to register for my thesis. PEOPLE. I will be done in December. I will be a MASTER. Of, you know, ACADEMIC STUFF. To me, that's crazy. Who saw fit to allow me to be into grad school? I kind of can't process it all.

Super Exciting Arty News

So in my last post, I hinted at something SUPER SECRET and awesome that I didn't want to jinx by talking about.

Well, now I can talk about it. Are you ready?

My friend Hunter, having seen some of my design work from the past semester, alerted me to a digital media art show and urged me to submit my work. The deadline for the open call was literally that very day (in fact, I had technically missed the deadline by 12 hours) but Hunter told me to go ahead and submit anyway. I figured balls to the wind, why not? So I went ahead and submitted three of my favorite pieces.

I just found out that one of my pieces was accepted.

Which one? Well, you're just going to have to come and see:

The Off the Wall Gallery/Dirty Frank's
NE corner of 13th and Pine, Philadelphia
ENTER DIGITAL
Opening Reception Thursday, June 5
7pm - 10pm
Show continues until Friday, August 1st.

People. My work is going to be FRAMED. Hanging in an ART GALLERY (ok, ok, a bar/art gallery -- but why quibble?). FOR SALE. I'm dying a little bit over here.

Post Weekend Wedding Exhaustion Redux Recap

I wish I could cohesively recap Kit and Tim's wedding for you, but the whole day seemed to pass in a giant ball of stress, joy, and excitement.

And really, what can I say? Kit looked radiant. When she was being buttoned into her dress, I got all choked up -- remembering the girl who happened to be in line behind me to get our Cabrini IDs tapping me on the shoulder and saying "I was in color guard too!" after noticing my LCHS Marching Band jacket, living on third floor of Woodcrest, joining Cabrini Theater, going to improv shows, walking to House 7 for MSTie Nights on Thursday, walking back to the dorm late at night on that wooded path, "I love us!," Suburbia, As you Like it, Popcorn, Overdue, getting tipsy together -- she looked so lovely and now she's about to go be a wife to someone. And not just someone, but Timmy Too Tall!





I was, of course, not allowed to get choked up or verklempt because I had a job to do. You guys. Seriously. I was so worried and stressed because I wanted to do a good job for my friends. At the core of it though, stressing and worrying were not helping me. Once we got to the church, my nerves kicked in full time, but I had to suck it up and just do it. In retrospect, there's a lot that I would have done differently, but I can honestly say that I did the best I could. I'm not a professional, I don't have lots of fancy photography equipment, nor do have any formal training. I shot honestly, straight forward, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. I learned a lot, to say the least. If I could do it again I would:

1. Slow down.
   
2. Be more vocal about where I want people to pose, be more forward about moving objects that were in my way, instead of working around them.
   
3. Not worry about whose way I was in. Having that camera gives me carte blanch to be a bit pushy.

I honestly hope Kit and Tim are happy with the photos. I was told that I am my own worst critic and I've only sifted through 200-some shots, but there are already things I see that I don't like, that I'm beating myself up for.















Still, despite all my stress and worry, I had a wonderful time at the wedding. I'm so happy for my friends. At one point during the reception, during Kit and Tim's first dance together, I got choked up again. After I took my photos, I went back to my table to wipe my eyes and grab a sip of water. Mikey Likes It noticed my emotion and started in on me, "What? Are you getting choked up? Are you thinking about the awesome commitment they've made to one another? How they're dedicating their lives to each other, and going off on this great journey together, forever, in beautiful union? Are you thinking about the sacrifices they're making because of their undying love for each other?"

I should have thwacked him with my tripod.

But yes, I was thinking about the amazing commitment they were making. Not only the commitment to each other, but also what they're going to do next: They're moving to Indiana and Tim is beginning seminary. Talk about sacrifice and commitment.





It was also great to be with all of my friends, dancing and bopping about with happiness for Kit and Tim. Joe! was there (I've decided that Joe! always needs an exclamation point after his name) from Chicago, Renee had graduated that morning*, Jose was there, Maria-Rita came with her friend Steve -- it was just so nice being with everyone celebrating the first marriage within our circle of friends.





Afterwards, everyone wanted to go Pirate Mini-golfing at the place in Lancaster on Rt. 30. I really wanted to join them, but I was dead on my feet. Feet, by the way that were killing me, seeing as I was wearing shoes that were slightly small for me and I had been running around most of the day. Instead, I opted for going home to Lebanon since it was closer and surprising my mom for Mother's Day. Some surprise. I walked in, announced "happy early Mother's day," and went to bed. I slept the sleep of the dead for something crazy like 12 hours.

Photos are slowly trickling in over at my flickr.

Edited to Add: Flickr seems to be going through some hiccups and problems today. Consequently, photos that I want to save in the wedding set aren't being saved properly. With any luck, that problem will be fixed by tomorrow.

*Renee, I am so proud of you! Congratulations, Master Tomcanin!

Say, are you busy this Thursday?

Whatcha doing this Thursday? Well, besides watching Lost?

That's boring. You know what you should do instead? You should come to Rosemont for a little while for A Stroll Through the Arts.

OK, so it's not really strolling per se, seeing as it's all in one room. You could stroll through the room, I guess, but usually when I see "stroll" I think of a leisurely walk through a garden.

Whatever.

My point is, that 12 pieces of digital design by yours truly will be on display that night. There will also be readings done by the M.F.A. students, including my friend Courtney who writes beautiful poetry, and I'm not even a poetry fan so you know it's good if I'm recommending it. Oh and short films by the video students.

It's free, people. And there will be snacks. You know you want to come. And you'll totally get home in time for Lost, so don't worry.

A Stroll Through the Arts
Rosemont Campus, Main Building
1400 Mongomery Ave.
Rosemont, PA
7:00pm

Oh Puzzles!

You guys. Puzzles has passed away!





Goodbye quiet, gentle giraffe!

You Don't Really Want to Know What We Ate This Weekend

But I'm going to tell you anyway. Oh yes, friends. It was Sussex County Fair '07. The one time of year where we embrace our fat rolls of sadness and just pack it away. Final tally of what we ate (please note this is the whole group, although make no mistake, we individually ate a lot) is as follows:

• Roasted Corn
  
• Baked potatoes of the Lord
  
• Watermelon of God
  
• Honey sticks
  
• Turkey leg
  
• Fried Oreos
  
• Corn Dog
  
• Chili Dog
  
• Fudge
  
• Frozen Banana
  
• Chicken Fries
  
• London Broil Sandwich
  
• Watermelon from Watermelon Eating Contest
  
• Cotton Candy
  
• Zeppoli
  
• Kettle Corn
  
• Gyro
  
• Chicken Pita
  
• Beef Jerky
  
• Ice cream
  
• Milkshake

I KNOW. My body is still detoxing. I'm on a celery and distilled water diet for the next 3 weeks. I was thisclose to taking my camera into the fair grounds to document all of gluttony, but at the last minute decided it was not for the faint of heart and that you didn't really want to see photographic evidence of Mike wolfing down a chili dog. Or me going face first into a slice of watermelon. Plus, it was approximately 600° outside and I really didn't feel like schlepping it around for 7 hours.

Just like last year, post-fair we went back to Kelly's parent's house and, uh, deep fried things to continue to gorge ourselves. LOOK, STOP JUDGING ME. I KNOW. WE'RE SICK FATSOS. BUT IT WAS ALL DELICIOUS. I REGRET NOTHING! Ahem. We also had the chocolate fountain. Oh, yes.



That chocolate was so, so good. Kelly's mom went to the store and bought us about a zillion things to dip into the chocolate, anything you could think of, really. This led to Kelly's brother-in-law, Kenny, trying to make a fake s'more with some graham crackers and marshmallows.



But then, once constructed, how do you eat it?



Hmmm...



Wait! Almost!



And there you have it. That, my friends, is exactly what the New Jersey State Fair is all about.

Wherefor art thou?

Thou art in Clark Park, obviously. Well, if you're cool anyway.

Shakespeare in Clark Park begins tonight! Romeo and Juliet is the show, every night between tonight and Sunday, at 7pm. Did I mention it is FREE? Come, spread out a blanket, bring some wine and cheese, get some culture, baby.

Oh and did I mention who directed it? Guess!

If you guessed my brother, you win the magic codpiece! Go see it! Philadelphia Weekly makes the show an Editor's Pick, and since my brother directed it, you know it will be good. I myself am going to try to go see it on Sunday. See you there?

More info here.

Weekend O' Fun!

I am gearing up for what may just be the BEST WEEKEND OF THE SUMMER. So much cool shit is on deck, I just don't know what to do with myself.

In an Oh-My-God-I'm-Such-Ditz move, I double booked myself for Friday night. I never do that. See, some of you might make fun of me and my day planner (BRIAN), but this is why I need it. I forgot that weeks ago Miss T invited me and my friend/coworker/boss Miss R over for dinner and drinks tonight. Miss R is moving to West Virginia in a few weeks and this is sort of a goodbye dinner for her. So I can't miss that. But! Foolishly I forgot about this because I didn't write it down and instead got Renee and and Haven riled up for Blobfest '07, which also begins tonight. The solution, I think, is to try to do both. I'll miss the running from the theatre and the tin foil hat competition, but hopefully I'll still get there in time for some silly antics. My thanks to all parties involved for being so understanding about my retarded scheduling.

Saturday morning it's back to Blobfest for the street fair, possibly the parade, and the stalking of this woman, who I am all a-flutter of the prospect of meeting. I'm such a MST3K dork, this is going to to be awesome.

After dorking out, we're headed for more dorky awesomeness at Eastern State Penitentiary where we will be attending the Bastille Day Celebrations. I'm so stoked about this as I've been planning on attending since I found out about it last year. There's a festival, and then they re-enact the storming of the Bastille. AND instead of saying "Let them eat cake," Marie Antionette says, "Let them eat TastyKake," and then (I swear I'm not making this up) they chuck 2,000 Butterscotch Krimpets at the crowd from the tower walls.

I KNOW. How fabulously ridiculous is that? This is going to rule.

I am super excited. I'm taking my camera to all events, of course. I'll catch you on the flip side.

Wait, scratch that. Reverse it.

OK, so remember how I was all, "Well, looks like we're moving?"

Only, not so much. Because: I am stupid. Here's how it all went down. Mike and I sent a letter in with our July rent checks saying basically, "We love living here, but later skaters. We won't be renewing our lease." We did this becaue I knew we needed to give our landlord 2 months notice of departure, and so I made an ass out of U and Me by assuming that this meant they needed to be notified by July 1st.

Turns out they needed to be notified by June 30th. And since July 1st fell on a Sunday and they didn't get our rent checks until, like the 2nd or 3rd, our lease renewed itself automatically and now? We're stuck there for another year. Kelly, who actually has common sense, is off of the lease since she told the landlord right away when she decided to move out. Mike and I hemmed and hawed for awhile trying to decide what we wanted to do, and now we're stuck.

Part of me is really annoyed at them for being such sticklers (we've been model tenants and it's the difference of, at most, 3 days), but a larger part of me is sort of relieved. I love that apartment and I was really sad at the prospect of leaving it. Plus I hate moving. A lot. And thus far our search for new apartments had turned up bubkis.

Mike seems to not mind the idea of breaking the lease, but the price of breaking the lease is high. He may not mind breaking it because he can afford to drop $400+ a night at the strip club (and believe me, he has), but me? On the poor side. So breaking is not an option as far as I'm concerned.

It looks like we'll be looking for a 3rd roommate (I already have one in mind...) or covering the rest of the rent ourselves come September.

Decision # 2

Seems I am getting custody of this fat 'lil guy.


Other pink bubbles needed: Living room furniture including sofas and side tables, kitchen table, toaster, blender, microwave, VHS/DVD combo, more bookcases for living room, TV stand, more plates and utensils. Why, hello IKEA. I believe you and I are about to have a very illustrious affair.

Decision #1

Mike and I decided that we will not replace Kelly. We will be moving out of our apartment at the end of August.

Decisions still to be made: Are we moving into a new place together, or separate apartments? Who gets Dill? Where the hell are we moving to?


You guys, I hate moving so, so much. Ffffffttt.

Getting nervous too.

And still so sad.

P.S. -- Begining the Pink Bubbles/Energy Raising now: "My new apartment is affordable, with lots of light and space... My new apartment is affordable, with lots of light and space..."

Flowers + Music = Exhuasted

This weekend is kicking my ass, you guys. And it's not even Sunday yet! I spent all day today at the Flower Show since Sean was playing with his friends for a couple of sets. I got there about an hour before their first set began and tried to get in as much of the flowers as possible, but it was crowded. A good deal of elderly people — many in wheelchairs – and a lot of kids too, which surprised me. In any event, it made for slow walking and crappy picture taking. I didn't get to see everything, but what I did see impressed me enough to want to go back next year.

Once the music sets began, I just began clicking my little heart out, not caring or paying attention to anything around me. I filled up an entire 1GB media card, mostly of Sean and the musicians, but also some great candid shots of people around me.

Here's the thing about my cousin (and I can't stress this enough): He's really good. Like, really. He and the two girls he plays with were so good that they had people stood standing still at the Flower Show. And not just like one or two people either, but a large CROWD of people gathered and smushed up against the stage, blocking walkways and everything. And they're so young! All three of them are younger than me. And Caitlin, who plays the fiddle, she's only 16! I was amazed at how captivated the audience was, especially the children. There were kids pushing to get up front to the stage. Incredible. I'm dead proud, as you can tell.

After the sets and music, we lugged Sean's instruments through Chinatown and had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Rangoon. Mmmm...mango chicken. Then we lugged the instruments back to the convention center and to the car, where Sean was kind enough to offer me a ride home.

I've just spent the evening cleaning and tomorrow, bright and early, I have to get up and go shopping for breakfast-like foods. My mom and aunt are arriving at 10am and we're hopping the train to the Franklin Institute, where we will see the King Tut exhibit. I must have been crazy to suggest this Sunday, as I forgot it's the same day as the parade which, you guessed it, will be marching right by the museum. Tomorrow is going to be lovely.

In the meantime, I'm wiped and I need to get to bed since I'm losing an hour tonight.

Come and see all the talent!

Once again proving that all the talent genes were sucked up by other people in my family, I have some announcements:

My amazing talented punk of a brother currently has some of his paintings on display at Twenty Two Gallery Cafe as part of their Neighborhood Group Show. The paintings will be on display until March 8. Any proceeds from the sales will go to fund Inis Nua Theatre Company.

Twenty Two Gallery Cafe
236 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Open 7:30am-5:30pm everyday

My amazing talented awesome cousin is playing several local gigs in the month of March. Most notably, Sean's trio of traditional Irish musicians has been invited to play three segments at Longwood Garden's Flower Show on Saturday, March 10th. They also have also been invited to play at the St. Patrick's Day Celebrations at Kildare's Pub in KOP from 1-4 on Saturday, March 17th. You're all coming. Because I said so. I mean, it's a SATURDAY. SAINT PATRICK'S DAY. Do you know how rare and wonderful those are? Come and celebrate with me!