Weekend update.
I had an eventful weekend. I spent the near entirety of it in DC, hanging out with friends. Friday night, I was picked up by Yancy, and we met up with Jeff and Liz for what was possibly the most Seinfeldian car ride I have ever experienced. For most of the way, I just shut the hell up, as not to disturb the flow of conversation-- one quip layered over the other. There was confusion over pizza, lots of talk about the zoo, bitchy traffic cops, the almost-hitting of stupid pedestrians, and where the hell is Connecticut Avenue? Cast party at Ty & Roddy's was a success-- there was good sangria (of which I partook quite liberally) and lots of dip, gaping over Madonna, questionable activities, Lost fannishness.
Saturday was spent brunching at Tryst with Noelle nursing a mild hangover, browsing at a quaint used bookstore where I bought a stack of interesting postcards, watching The Matador (oh Greg Kinnear, thank god you stopped doing crappy movies, and why do I have a strange crush on you?), having Ethiopian food with Kevin, and then seeing the Rudes' all-female production fo Much Ado About Nothing.
I have to say, I was pretty impressed with it, overall. Branda Lock came out as an incredibly memorable Beatrice-- her inflections and physicality were wonderful, and she really fit in with the 40's styling. Jaki Demarest /
tazira was hysterical as an over-the-top (at least, in the first act) Benedick-- there were cookie gags and a shiny pink pimp suit... never let it be said that the Rudes don't have a fresh take on 'ol Bill. What was really impressive about this show was that many of the smaller (and usually less memorable) roles featured really fabulous acting, so I have to give props to Lisa Hill-Corley as Leonato, Katie Wanschura as Pedro, Maureen Shanahan as Dogberry, and probably most especially Amy Rauch as Borachio, whose physicality just blew me away. The costumes were designed by the awesome Heather Jackson / sabine42, who pulled double-duty as Antonio in a particular dapper suit (it pays to be the designer!). Overall-- props to the cast and to director Josh Engel / tompurdue for a great show. Also, after the show, band-master Sean / chickenhat, pulled me up to dance, and let me say-- swing dancing in Doc Martens? Kind of a challenge.
Sunday was brunching with Noelle, Ty, & Roddy at Café Saint-Ex, which is cooly themed around the works of Antoine Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince. We browsed cool trinket shops (Go Mama Go is now officially my favorite gift-hunting spot maybe ever-- and I got one of those big star lanterns for my bedroom, as well), before I headed off to the metro.
On a sad note, my dog Lady passed away this weekend. She was fifteen. I've never been a dog person-- Lady was the exception to the rule. I hadn't seen much of her for the last two years-- not living at home, I only got to visit with her every now and again, and most of the time, she was very weak and frail. She was gentle, nurturing, sweet, and the best damn soccer goalie I've ever played with. She exceeded her life expectancy by many, many years. She will be missed.
At any rate, yay for good friends. This week is going to be filled with good friends as well, in avoidance of the most crappily timed Valentine's Day ever, though I did get asked out on a Valentine's date this morning, and were I not otherwise engaged that evening, it might have been fun. Well, my schedule isn't going to be as packed next week, so maybe a raincheck. At any rate, I need to be gentle with myself for awhile, because I'm still very much dealing with Big Things at the moment, and it's hard. But at least I have friends who are going to pile cats on me and cook me weird foamed food and take me out dancing and be otherwise their strange and amusing selves. Focusing on the positive here. Chin up, chin up.
Saturday was spent brunching at Tryst with Noelle nursing a mild hangover, browsing at a quaint used bookstore where I bought a stack of interesting postcards, watching The Matador (oh Greg Kinnear, thank god you stopped doing crappy movies, and why do I have a strange crush on you?), having Ethiopian food with Kevin, and then seeing the Rudes' all-female production fo Much Ado About Nothing.
I have to say, I was pretty impressed with it, overall. Branda Lock came out as an incredibly memorable Beatrice-- her inflections and physicality were wonderful, and she really fit in with the 40's styling. Jaki Demarest /
tazira was hysterical as an over-the-top (at least, in the first act) Benedick-- there were cookie gags and a shiny pink pimp suit... never let it be said that the Rudes don't have a fresh take on 'ol Bill. What was really impressive about this show was that many of the smaller (and usually less memorable) roles featured really fabulous acting, so I have to give props to Lisa Hill-Corley as Leonato, Katie Wanschura as Pedro, Maureen Shanahan as Dogberry, and probably most especially Amy Rauch as Borachio, whose physicality just blew me away. The costumes were designed by the awesome Heather Jackson / sabine42, who pulled double-duty as Antonio in a particular dapper suit (it pays to be the designer!). Overall-- props to the cast and to director Josh Engel / tompurdue for a great show. Also, after the show, band-master Sean / chickenhat, pulled me up to dance, and let me say-- swing dancing in Doc Martens? Kind of a challenge.Sunday was brunching with Noelle, Ty, & Roddy at Café Saint-Ex, which is cooly themed around the works of Antoine Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince. We browsed cool trinket shops (Go Mama Go is now officially my favorite gift-hunting spot maybe ever-- and I got one of those big star lanterns for my bedroom, as well), before I headed off to the metro.
On a sad note, my dog Lady passed away this weekend. She was fifteen. I've never been a dog person-- Lady was the exception to the rule. I hadn't seen much of her for the last two years-- not living at home, I only got to visit with her every now and again, and most of the time, she was very weak and frail. She was gentle, nurturing, sweet, and the best damn soccer goalie I've ever played with. She exceeded her life expectancy by many, many years. She will be missed.
At any rate, yay for good friends. This week is going to be filled with good friends as well, in avoidance of the most crappily timed Valentine's Day ever, though I did get asked out on a Valentine's date this morning, and were I not otherwise engaged that evening, it might have been fun. Well, my schedule isn't going to be as packed next week, so maybe a raincheck. At any rate, I need to be gentle with myself for awhile, because I'm still very much dealing with Big Things at the moment, and it's hard. But at least I have friends who are going to pile cats on me and cook me weird foamed food and take me out dancing and be otherwise their strange and amusing selves. Focusing on the positive here. Chin up, chin up.