Wasser

A moment of appreciation for water. Life is truly a miracle. Not only is my civilized life a miracle in that this magical fluid lives inside metal cylinders ready for my every need, but Life as we know it on Earth is a miracle because there is this substance that cleanses, that hydrates, that in different forms both  floated and sunk the Titanic.

I am so grateful for water right now. I am in a sleepy slump--still behind a giant paper mill of grading, but also in bed--with wet hair from rinsing on the account of chlorine in my hot tub, which Bug and I just melted into after nomming on the s'mores bars I made. A plastic movie theatre cup on my bedstand--full of the stuff.

Lil melon I picked up at the farmer's market in September. Had to bike home with it.

So I hope I never see the ocean again,
pushing and pulling at me as I go deeper and deeper in--

'til I'm so far from my shore, so far from what I came here for.
I let you surround me.
I let you drown me out with your din,
and then I learned how to swim.

Scooby Dooby Doo

After like five years of more attempts than I can count, I wore my seahorse boxers in public without judgement. Last night I went to a pajama party at two comedy boys' house. Pretty much everyone I knew from sketch/improv/standup was already drunk at like 4 PM or earlier. Welcome to my school.

Anyway, Chelle kept trying to get me drunk, being all devious and giggly as she would ask me to hold her shot and then just get another one. Bwah bwah. Sid was equally coercive. Some random dude with a mohawk kept finding me all night, no matter where I stowed away, to give me very poorly constructed speeches as to why blacking out is necessary. (Obvi, one of us was just a speech and debate coach, and one of us wasn't...) During one of these speeches, he mentioned to someone passing by, "Oh yeah, and Scooby Snacks are on the way."

"Oh!" I said. Immediately I was back in second grade, sitting at my childhood friend Hilg's kitchen table, her mom bringing us Eggos with ice cream on them. "I want a Scooby Snack!" Chelle looked incredulous, "You won't take a shot with the girls, but you'll have a Scooby Snack with this guy?!"

Uh oh. Abort. Abort. "Oh...I'm just kidding." I said. Had I actually believed someone brought a waffle iron to the shindig? Mohawk dude winked and said, "I'll make sure you get one." I tried to backpedal. I disappeared to the back porch. Somehow, he kept finding me and offering me a cup of this slime green substance. No, no, no, I'd say, but it was like he got hit in the head and lost all his memory after the moment I showed mistaken joy in eating a delicious ice cream novelty.

No moral to the story. I'm just twelve.

Deserving

Last weekend was opening weekend of Spelling Bee. After the Friday and Saturday shows, most cast members went out drinking/partying. They'd ask, "Where are you going? Where were you last night?" As if being in a community theatre performance is reason to celebrate with no inhibitions. I don't want to sound like a complete grouch/grinch. It is a celebratory event! And, yeah, I did work hard, but I also had a lot of fun, and being in the show was something I did for myself. I don't feel like I "deserve" much after completing a self-serving extra-ciricular.

On Sunday after the matinee, I gave myself one treat--a large mocha with chocolate sprinkles. I am living on a budget as I ramp up for grad school, and I praise every little cup of coffee I buy. But it was not a reward because I had just finished our first weekend. I deserved the mocha because it was raining outside, and I was sitting in a cozy cafe with stacks of reading, writing, grading, and corresponding to do because I had a hectic work week on top of tech week. I deserved a little chocolate and a little warmth.


Pie I ate on Pi Day 2011 with Mia!

On New Year's I performed with my improv group downtown. It was great, and in-between shows, people dashed out to the street fair to grab drinks. It was New Years after all. During one of my breaks, I headed into a little cafe that had pictures and crayons on every table. KWall, my sister, and I got to work chatting and coloring. I heard a little girl behind me saying, "Look, Mom! She was--!" I turned to see the girl pointing at me. They had just come from one of the improv shows. The mom coaxed her, "You can say hello! Now she's here coloring with friends like you!" But the girl just waved shyly to who she thought was a celeb. I waved back with the crayon in my hand--happy it wasn't a beer.