Monday, Monday

Refusal
Originally uploaded by AdiaMichelle

Bah dahhh, bah dah dah dah... (video)

It's still cloudy and rainy. There was a patch of sunlight streaming down through the skylight at work for about 10 minutes. Since then, clouds clouds clouds. I'm contemplating buying a sun lamp. I might need to start popping Vitamin D. Are my knees starting to bow? More than they do, that is?

I have no excuses as to why I'm not actively pursuing Acting Things right now. I can't even blame it on the weather. I suppose I could say that I'm taking some time off to try other things and figure out what it is that I really like to do with my time (other than sleeping and eating and reading).

And now, I will continue reliving those few weeks when I held my own illicit listening sessions to my sister's tape of Tragic Kingdom via Last.fm.

Thinking About Food

Kimchee and Portuguese Sausage Omelette
Originally uploaded by AdiaMichelle

I think my stomach chose to upload this picture today.

I'm hungry. And I'm bored with the food I have to eat. It's all carb-a-licious, but in a really boring way. Bread, brown rice, lentils, ramen, granola. Hard to get excited about eating the same things day in and day out, but it's what my wallet will allow, and it makes for easy meals during the work week.

Oh, but I dream of exciting things like this kimchee and portuguese sausage omelette that I had in Hawaii. I saw it on the menu, thought, "That sounds like it could be terrible. I'll try it!" And you know what? It was awesome, of course. The kimchee was slightly spicy and the tang hit my tongue in just the right spot. The sausage had a spice of its own, but it mellowed out the sourness of the kimchee perfectly. Drooling a little just thinking about it.

However, by the end of the trip I was very tired of eating out. I was tired of staring at menus and trying to choose something to eat. I was tired of not knowing what the line cook was cooking my food in or on or with. I wanted my own preparations. That's a good sign, I suppose. It means that I have some skill in the kitchen, right? Or that I, at least, like the taste of my own cooking. And that's all that matters.

Power Bracelet

Power Bracelet
Originally uploaded by AdiaMichelle

Can you see me in the reflection over there?

I don't really want to go to work. I never really want to go to work, though, so that's not news.

I never minded getting up at the crack of dawn to go to a shoot. 7am call? Sign me up. I love being on set. I don't mind the hurry up and wait. I don't mind the sometimes tense atmosphere. I don't even mind the sometimes funky attitudes of others. I love watching everyone work together to create something kind of magical - even if it's a training film for a pharmaceutical company so filled with medical jargon that I read the teleprompter and have NO idea what I'm saying but know that I can sell it anyway.

I miss going to shoots. I also miss getting paid more than a month's day job wages for just a few hours' work. But even when I'm not getting paid, I love being on set.

Almost a year ago I shot a commercial for Cox Business Services. It was August, and we were shooting in a stripped warehouse. Because it was stripped, there was no air conditioning. Add about 75 bodies and gigantic camera lighting and you have a room temperature approaching 90 degrees. I won't lie: it was miserably hot.

But you know what? I didn't complain once. Even when I felt my consciousness retreating somewhere way in the back of my brain behind an impending faint and all I could do to stay awake was stand very still and fan myself and concentrate on not sweating, I didn't complain. I was so grateful to be exactly where I wanted to be, getting paid to do exactly what I wanted to do, that a little momentary discomfort was nothing.

So, yeah. I don't want to go to work today. I'd rather be melting in a warehouse than sitting at a desk answering phones. But I suppose this is a momentary discomfort to be able to do what I want to do.

Someday

I have been shirking my socialization duties lately. I had two different parties that I was supposed to attend this weekend and I decided not to go to either of them. I really wanted to see the hosts of both, but my mind and body were telling me, "Stay home. You have things to do and this is the place for you to be right now." So I didn't go out.

Last night, however, I realized that all my work was done. My room was clean: the file folders and majority of the miscellaneous crap was off the floor of my bedroom. My laundry was clean, folded or hung, and put away. My personal accounting was as up to date as it could possibly be. I didn't have a class to plan and I didn't have to be at one of my jobs early in the morning. It was a perfect night weather-wise, so I texted my friend Cori and we met up at Spyhouse at 9:30. It was a little late to be leaving the house, but I didn't care. Spyhouse Coffee was calling.

When I arrived I passed out the blank paper and markers that I'd packed in my bag and we proceeded to sit outside and color for the next two hours. A good friend of Cori's joined us around 10:45 or so and he colored, too. We made gloriously bad art and loved every minute of it. We reminisced about the summer of 2006 when we were writing our Fringe show. We'd meet at Spyhouse at around 5:00 pm and stay until they closed at midnight. For two weeks straight. It was glorious and it was awful. Our friendship was tested by fire and came out the other side that much stronger.

As we sat and chatted last night I looked around at the nearby apartment buildings, my eye instinctively catching on "For Rent" signs hanging from posts and stuck in windows. I'm not moving any time soon, but I still daydream of living within walking distance of Spyhouse, knowing that I could call Cori and say, "Spyhouse in 15 minutes," and that she would be there. Someday.

Tax Time Nostalgia

I just finished my taxes. And I'm in a good mood. This hasn't happened in several years, because for the past several years I've had to pay the federal and state governments a goodly chunk of my meager and hard-earned change. However, I didn't work enough last year and spent just enough money on producing a show that only earned half of my investment back (not to mention the other cast members) that I get a decent refund this year. Too bad I couldn't have just kept my money in the first place, but whaddaya gonna do?

I just finished my taxes because I am a procrastinator. And because I am a procrastinator all of my receipts were in various envelopes stuffed into various crevices in my black plastic filing box. So I had to go through them and sort and calculate. And oddly enough, that was fun. And painful. And then fun again. Sorting my receipts was a trip through 2006 colored by a financial lens. I saw just how much money I spent. I saw the movies that I went to and remembered who I went to them with and how we don't talk anymore. I saw the most extravagant purchase I made last year and relieved the guilty pleasure at blowing so. much. money. I saw the crazy road trip up to St. Cloud and then down to the airport to leave for New York, said road trip taking place in a matter of two and a half hours. I was flyin' down the road, music bumpin'. I saw New York City and the Cloisters Cafe and the actual Cloisters and taking pictures of lovely Annie with lovely flowers in the medieval garden. I saw my time in Alexandria and L'Homme Dieu and the Target where I bought my cherished blue hoodie. I saw Lanesboro, MN and the sweet bed & breakfast we stayed in and the night we watched The Beast from Yucca Flats and peed our pants laughing at Tor Johnson. I saw the Fringe. Oh, the FRINGE! I saw presents that were a hit and presents that totally fell flat and I wished I could read that person's mind and give them something that didn't suck so much. I saw Christmas presents I have yet to give.

Now 2007 is well on its way and I'm well on my way to having to hunt for my receipts again. I'm sure I'll yell at myself for not keeping better track of my expenses, just as I did this year, but as soon as I sit down and start remembering, I'm sure I won't mind.