Optics

Life at Walnut Square Optometry.

The previous doctor, Dr. Harrison, had this practice for 20-someting years before he retired this past August, and Dr. Sim took over.

A lot of our patients haven't met her yet, and they haven't met me either.

So, when they come in for their exams, some of them ask if I am the new doctor.

How strange to be at an age where it is remotely feasible that I would have a medical degree.

Glad Tidings

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Your gift: the craigslist posting of the night.

4 HIDEOUS BUT COMFY CHAIRS - $150

Bay liiiiife.

Book Wyrm: Dorky and flammable!

Just finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. (It was a really big deal in 1999, along with Jelliroll pens and Third Eye Blind.)

This book is totally absorbing, except for the occasional mathematics/physics interlude. But I guess if you read a book that's narrated by a severely autistic savant genius, you're asking for it.

Also, a huge "thank you, you jerk" to Dakotah for sending me the link to the entirety of the Brick screenplay, with annotations by the filmmakers AND scenes that didn't make it into the final cut... on a night when I have to get up early the next day. Don't need no sleep, Seamus. I just gotta squawk.

In Which My Vague Ideas of How The Universe Works are Validated

Oh man.

So, as you may remember, I signed on to do a student film a month or so ago. What followed was a very trying series of shoots that involved a lot of me standing around, clothed in a thin, white dress, in the dead of winter, while the students decided 1) where they should shoot, 2) what they should shoot, 3) which of them should shoot it. Massive, massive, massive waste of my time. But, I repeatedly showed up to last-minute shoots, repeatedly canceled on friends, repeatedly shifted my plans around, because they are students and I felt sorry for them. (Note: "they are students" here means "they are astonishingly dim people.")

I also gave up several night this week to tutor a girl for whom I used to babysit. (She is now 13, and in the midst of finals.) That's four extra hours of work, on top of my eight-hour day.

AND NOW, THE PAYOFF: Today I called the SB Police Dept. about my $660 worth of expired tags citations from October. And because my car was in fact registered in AUGUST, they dismissed it for a cool 25 bucks.

Hello, Bank of Karma? My account is overflowing, and I would like to make a withdrawal. Thank you very much. Oh, is that number the amount of karmic interest I have accrued? Gracious, what a lot of zeroes.

Thank you for putting up with this silliness, but today the universe feels less like a chaotic, swirling void, and more like a good place to raise a family.

This is gonna be the update equivalent of a tequila shooter

I have not posted in many moons, it would seem. So here we go: My Life As It Currently Stands.

My mother and I got back yesterday from a trip to the Yucatan peninsula, for my cousin Rainbow's wedding.

Mexico: awesome
Rainbow's wedding: beyond gorgeous
My Spanish: Limited, but useful
Iguanas: EVERYWHERE
The seafood: bountiful, and delicious
The cervezas: bountiful, and delicious
My mother: hilarious

(INTERLUDE, for an actual quote from a relative. "Gosh, you look just like your mom. Do your drink as much as your mom did?"

Cue complete shift of worldview.)

Guernsey Literary Blah Blah Blah: Charming, but not life-changing.
When You Are Engulfed In Flames: Another goldmine from Mr. Sedaris. I am so smitten. Again.
Olive Kitteridge: Totally absorbing, and beautifully written, but impossible to describe. Just read it.

Mysterious tropical afflictions: have managed to evade them so far. Except that I have somehow contracted a good old-fashioned, all-American head cold and am as stuffed up as a Thanksgiving turkey that is also a Republican.

The new job: wonderful, but scary, as I have not yet learned how to successfully do many important things.
The possibility that I will have to do said things by myself because my only co-worker's wife was due on the 21st: very high.

Travel day tomorrow: Woot!
4-hour layover in Atlanta: Ick
Home again: Woot!
Thanksgiving: Woot! (PIE)

One of the highlights from the week: Lounging in hotel room, munching on Mexican Cocoa Pebbles, watching the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet with Spanish subtitles. The wilderness is wonderful, but I am, at heart, a creature of leisure.

Besos!

- Sua Amiga Loca

Zomgie

Today, I got a part in a student film. I will be playing Lucy. Lucy is a ghost who was killed on prom night in 1963, and has been killing unsuspecting people ever since.

Awesome. Relishing the small victories and keeping the gears oiled, so to speak.

In other news, Glee is pretty great, but sometimes I just wish they would air the pilot episode over and over again.

No on 1

My heart goes out to the queer community of Maine. As they did here in California, people voted out of fear and ignorance, and it sometimes seems that we're walking backwards as fast as we can. We lost a battle today, but the war is far from over. Never lose hope!

P.S. Happy 1-Year Election Anniversary, President Obama!

The Haps

Hi ho, gentle readers! Just a quick update for y'all today.

I'm trying to stay busy, but the main vehicles for keeping busy, 1) remodeling my room, and 2) Halloween, are now more or less done with. One of these activities left me with a puncture wound, and the other left me with a rather heinous hangover. I'll leave the which-is-whiching to you.

Side note: I went as a zombie Indian. With smallpox. The gift tag on the blanket reads "To: The Americas. From: Europe. Happy Columbus Day! xoxo." That's right, indignant masses. Come and get me.

Now it's back to the job hunt once again! There's a drop-in interview at a local restaurant tomorrow, which I plan to attend in all my perky, food-servicey splendor, and I continue to fire off resumes to unsuspecting craigslisters. I was really hoping for this one hosting position at a place that is WALKING DISTANCE from my house, but alas! It was not to be. I suspect that experience may have won out over my obvious capacity to be trained. Ah well.

I definitely feel very, VERY useless at the moment, but that may be because it's 2:30 in the afternoon and all I have done today is shower, change from my bathrobe INTO pajamas, and watch No Country For Old Men. Time to raise the bar. I'm gonna go sand my new hardwood floor.

(Oh, did I mention that I pulled up my horrifying old carpet and discovered beautiful, dark hardwood underneath? I ran shrieking through the house. Thank you, interior decor gods.)

Also, there is this thing, which is delightful and awesome.

Big kisses, world. Allie, out.

Hail, Craigslist, Full Of Grace

Today's winner of "Links I Don't Want to Click On Because What I Imagine Them To Be Has To Be More Entertaining That What They Actually Are."

From craigslist's job listings: Lumpers Needed in Newark, CA.

Go on, click. Guaranteed disappointment. Let me know how it turns out.

Button, button...

Just a quickie: I finally updated my website, after letting it stagnate all summer. Hooray! There are some new Easter eggz... good luck finding them. Mwa ha.

In Closing

It may seem like an awful lot of work was put into this show to only have had five performances, but I don't know that I would have it any other way!

We had a wonderful weekend of shows, closing to a packed house. And for a matinee, too! Friends and family rolled in from all over the place to see what we created, and we did ourselves proud.

This has been a truly remarkable time in my life, and I will always be thankful to have had this opportunity. I think everyone involved in this process will carry the spirit of the show with them into the future, pursuing their dreams with an extra hint of determination.

But what's next for Menz, you ask? Well, I'll be moving up to the Bay Area in a week or so, to live with my parents for a while. (Woot!) I got a job as a personal assistant to a local business owner, and I will be working with her- primarily from my home office- as soon as I return. Gainful employment for the win! While I'm there, I hope to a) save save save those dollars, and b) take classes at the Circus Center in San Francisco. (Which will involve spend spend spending those dollars, but I think of it as a shrewd and bendy career move.)

Lots to look forward to in the coming months, really. I hope to continue to excavate my old bedroom at my parent's house- something I have been chipping away at for the last three or four years and which never seems to get anywhere- and turn it into a more versatile space. The holidays are roaring down the track, and I can't wait for them to begin. Bring on the butter-laden treats! There's the autumn weather, which Santa Barbara has yet to figure out, and the reappearance of hats, scarves, socks, and thick sweaters... not to mention KNITTING! And, of course, finally getting to kick it with the Bay Area crew, whose company I have not enjoyed for an extended period of time in many moons. Work-wise, I hope to make (LONG OVERDUE) contact with the Kennedy Center, and shame-facedly offer my writing to them once again. Fingers crossed, cats and kitties.

Long story short, Om was a glorious thing, and I can't wait to start the next chapter. Onward!

Watch this. You will be glad you did.

Boom, ridiculous!

I have nothing new to say, I just wanted to show off my new banner.

This past weekend was delightful- a trip up to the Bay for the Renaissance Faire, Solano Stroll, friendly rideshare folks courtesy of craigslist, family time, and good friends a-go-go. Definitely looking forward to the next months, full as they are of uncertainty. I'm enjoying that more than I could have expected.

Now I'm back in Santa Babs, and we're kicking into high gear with OM. The final draft of the script is being distributed to the cast tomorrow (as I chew off all of my fingernails) and from there- the moon! Or rather- the devaloka. Also, a random audition found its way into my life in the midst of all of this madness- we'll see where that takes us. In the meantime, I'll be at the farmer's market, advertising for the show in a mask and monkey tail. Keep your eyes open- it's gonna be good.

Love to you all, critters.

My latest ambition: live and work on an organic farm in Holland and take circus classes. I mean, it doesn't have to be Holland, but it does have to be organic.

Boxtales Theater Company presents...

Only five shows, y'all! Git 'em while they're hot! Pre-sales greatly appreciated, and group rates available!

www.boxtales.org

Appearing One Night Only!

Hello, bloglodytes.

Well, if I had a way to simultaneously post here and in my other blog, I would. But I can't. So I won't.

Just know that I love you, and if you're really pressed for something useless to do, you can find me at pennygreeneyes.livejournal.com.

Holy crap, it's almost July.