i am re-addicted...

...to Friday Night Lights. I got season 2 on Netflix, and I've been watching one episode before I go onstage, and one episode after I'm finished. It's very weird to be watching DVDs in the dressing room (or using a computer, for that matter, like I'm doing right now) but I need something to kill the time - I just don't have enough magazines!

Anyway, there are a few shows that I really get into (Kitchen Nightmares, Chuck, The Office, 30 Rock) and one that I absolutely LOVE (Mad Men). FNL was one of those shows that had fallen by the wayside for me (like Heroes or ER or Lost). But now...the love is back, baby. Not quite at the Mad Men level, but I am definitely enthralled.

All right, I need to start getting ready to perform. Sounds like a good house tonight.

my hero

It's like someone read my mind and stole all of my tactics. Uncanny.

a depressing day

Steelers lose.

Mad Men has its' season finale.

Sad.

must see tv, sort of

via text message to Maxine

Palin is supposed to be on SNL tonight. Think I'm going to watch her segment. Can I call you after?

sleep deprived

So tired, folks.

Camp ended today. I'm now staying at my friend's place, a huge one bedroom that any New Yorker would drool over.

I'm finally on vacation. I've got peeps coming into town tomorrow, and we will make merry until Friday morning, when I head back east.

I've got a bunch of text-posts to put up from last week. And I'm probably going to scratch in my notebook for the most part this upcoming week. So expect a series of new posts to go online in about a week.

(I will, however, be writing every day, as stated under the rules of 365. Don't worry about that.)

Now, let's see if I can stay awake through an episode of Mad Men. Either way, I am the winner.

horrible is great

Do yourself a favor: in the next couple of days, clear 45 minutes out of your schedule, and go revel in the brilliance of Neil Patrick Harris and Joss Whedon in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

You can thank me later. You've got to watch by Sunday at midnight; otherwise you'll have to pay to download it at iTunes.

slings & arrows

I just finished the third and final season of Slings & Arrows on DVD. I have two comments:

1. This is an amazing series. I put off watching the final three episodes because I didn't want the show to end (they only did eighteen episodes over three seasons).

2. If you want to see what life at a theatre company is like, watch this show. It's not entirely accurate, but it's pretty damn close.

I'm looking for a new TV series to watch on DVD. Anyone have any suggestions?

Tim Russert 1950-2008

He died today, of an apparent heart attack, at 58 years old (the same age as my father). I just found out, and I am in total shock.

I've been a political junkie for years, and I've always enjoyed watching the Sunday morning shows. This year I've been spending lots of time watching Russert, both on MSNBC and on Meet The Press. He had such a kind and gentle way about him - but he also had the ability to cut through a lot of the crap and get right to the heart of the matter. And the depth and breadth of his knowledge was astounding.

It's really hard to imagine Sunday mornings without him (as well as the rest of this election cycle, which he was all over). He will be missed.

wasted day

written in my journal in my dressing room

Eight hours of rehearsal. How much time did I work?

About ten minutes.

And that wasn't even onstage. That was in the back of the house, practicing my fight. And the only reason we did that was because it had been two days since I had run the thing at speed, with a live person.

I made the best of it, though - grilled, watched several episodes of 30 Rock, Scrubs, and The Office, and tried my best to be social. Part of me wishes I could have been home in the "corporate apartment" doing laundry and watching the basketball game. But a job is a job, even if you're not properly utilized.

tax waiting room

in the waiting room of the Equity building in midtown Manhattan

I'm waiting to get my taxes done at Equity. Normally I make an appointment, but I somehow missed the sign-up day. So I had to get up early (7am) and schlep up here to sit in line. I'm number eight. We've been here three hours, and they're at number four. If I can get out of here before two, I'll be happy.

There is this elderly lady here who won't stop talking! Seriously, nonstop. We've heard two of her cell phone conversations, which have been very loud, and she has also been kind enough to give up updates on the status of coffee ("They're gonna brew a pot in an hour or so, and it will cost fifty cents!"). I have also learned that she's a Citibank customer, she has a daughter, she lives in Riverdale, and she took a car here!

Dear Lord.

I brought a couple of DVDs (the final episode of West Wing, which I couldn't bring myself to watch because I was in denial about the end of the show; and The Wire, which I've been meaning to start forever), but my laptop is low on power and I'm not near an outlet. My life's so bad...

Hope everyone is having a good Wednesday...

i had a great day yesterday

1. Made an awesome breakfast - egg white scramble with turkey sausage, spinach, and tomato; toast with strawberry preserves; orange juice. Mmmmmmm....

2. Watched the Sunday morning political programs and PTI.

3. Cleaned up the entire apartment - StefStar and I had been working on that for a couple of days. You could have eaten off of the floors.

4. Open house. We found a great roommate (hereby called the Traveler) as well as someone to sublet when StefStar leaves for the summer. But almost all of the people were cool.

5. Dinner party. StefStar and I had her cousin over, as well as The Hot Wing and another friend. Pasta primavera; tasty salad (made by THW); lots of wine; apple pie with ice cream. Mmmmmmmm....

6. My alma mater won a HUGE basketball game against one of our arch rivals.

That's about as good as a non-football Sunday can get.

blog housekeeping

My post from Sunday is finally up - sorry it took me forever and a day to transcribe it, but I've had other things on my plate.

I'm looking to change my template. Anyone have any suggestions for me? At first I thought this pukey green color fit well with the idea of collard greens, but now I just hate it.

I'm having girl issues again, but I'm not quite ready to write about it. Maybe tomorrow. That, of course, will answer the mystery question I posed a couple of days ago...

Off to shower and watch this past weekend's football games. Enjoy your Wednesday.

Colbert & Stewart

Sorry for the short post below: I wanted to write about those two programs, but they weren't going to end before midnight, and I didn't want to miss my deadline. Hence, those three sentences.

Anyway, I watched them, and it amazes me that the networks want these guys to go back on the air. They HAVE to know that they're going to spend half of their time taking shots at management. It doesn't seem to be the best way to hold your position, you know?

I'm glad that the shows are back, but I don't think they're going to be watchable for very long. Let's hope that this strike can get settled sooner rather than later. Then we can all go back to rotting our brains on TV...um...I mean...the sooner that I can start working in another medium!

quick tv post

Watching Daily Show & Colbert.

I hate the strike.

Thoughts soon.

short post

The roommate is leaving on March 1, which makes me happy. I'll get into the story later, maybe on Monday. Still trying to figure out who will take his place - you know anyone interested?

Right now I'm getting fired up for a weekend of playoff football. The Steelers play at 8 - keep your fingers crossed for them, please.

feeling yucky

I'm not feeling too great. Something's going on with my stomach. I'm not sure if it's an acid reflux problem, or if I strained something, or what.

Think I'm going to eat fairly conservatively over the next couple of days, and I'm going to try and see a doctor tomorrow, since I'm scheduled to fly to Chicago on Monday. Don't want to rupture something on the plane...

Time to catch up on some TV before I watch the Packers-Cowboys game (thank God I have NFL Network).

snapple is cool

If I've ever wished that I could be in love with someone, I wish that about Snapple.

Just got off the phone with her - about an hour, I think. She's really great. We talked about our love for Tila Tequila (the reality show, not the woman herself), and gossiped about the people we met this summer in Rockport. And she said something really great: "Not that our summer together wasn't great, but I really wished I had more time to myself. I really like being alone here now, so that I can explore, and just chill out and relax."

Now, if she had done that when we were dating, things may have played out very differently.

(For the record, she's doing a show out in Rockport now - flew out there the day I left Valley City - oh, the irony...)

I know that she's not the girl for me. And I know that if I end up working with her again on the road, I'll have to be careful not to fall into "old habits". But I do think she's really cool, and I'm glad that we seem to be becoming friends.

Bedtime. Sorta have to work t'm'row.

win a shot with tila tequila

...may be my new favorite show.

I love MTV.

Anyone else feeling this?

TV recommendations

I'm kind of a closet TV fan. There's a lot of crap on nowadays, but occasionally I'll watch something that catches my fancy. Here are a handful of things on my radar:

THE WAR: This is on my television as I type this. Everyone below the age of 35 probably watched part of Ken Burns' The Civil War. If you didn't like that, well...I really don't know what to say to you. But, if you did...this is better.

CHUCK: NBC is pumping out a lot of shows that are similiar to Heroes (why is it so hard to come up with an original idea in Hollywood?). This really isn't one of them; it's kind of an action-comedy. And it's pretty good. The lead guy, Zachary Levi, is probably going to become a star.

KITCHEN NIGHTMARES: No one does trashy reality TV like Fox. This time they've taken their general sleazy methods and applied it to something not-so-dicey - fixing up failing and floundering restaurants. And it's utterly delicious. You've got to see the first episode - priceless.

NFL FOOTBALL: Seriously, are you surprised this is on here? If you are, you obviously don't know me very well.

TV melancholy

I love "Scrubs". It's one of my favorite shows on TV. Totally my kind of humor.

(Though tonight's episode pissed me off because it was a clip show. And not only was it a total copout, like most clip shows, they acknowledge throughout the show that 1. it was a clip show, and 2. clip shows suck.)

Fortunately, it's on in syndication, which means I can watch it five times a day. And sometimes, when I have the day off and nothing to do, I watch all five. 12, 12:30, 7, 7:30, and midnight.

I just watched the late one on the Fox affiliate (to wash the taste of the clip show out of my mouth), and they showed the episode entitled "My Nightingale". Probably second or third season. It's one of my favorites. Ted has his doo-wop group singing TV theme songs.

They sing the theme to "Charles In Charge".

It makes me sad.

Why is that?