Lookingglass

Weather-ed

2011-01-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

I was chatting with a friend about these fine Irish gentlemen last night and now I feel like sharing. These are pictures from a few years back but I think their faces are pretty timeless. A little warmth on a cold-ass day.

Waiting

2010-03-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

So far it's been a lot of this:

And this (even though it's pretty):

But I am ready for this:

Soon. Or bad things might happen.

Ew

2009-05-20T12:37:00.001-07:00

Who invented nail clippers on a key chain? Who are you? Show yourself! You, friend, are a menace to society.

Hear ye Hear ye.
Public Service Announcement. Everyone listen up!

There is absolutely no reason why anyone should be clipping their nails in public, therefore there is no reason why your keys and your nail clippers should be attached. Period. You hear me boys? NO. PERIOD.

Also, there is not a woman on earth that disagrees with me. So think about that next time you're checking out some pretty young thing waiting for the train while you're dropping your nail clippings all over the platform. What was that you said? She didn't look up from her book so she doesn't know its you? Oh yes she does. She can hear it. That Sound. Click. Click. Click. And she knows its you. We always know. That girl will never sleep with you. Ever.

The subway is sad and gross enough. Stop making it worse please. Thanks.

Velvet Rope

2009-03-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Golden Rule. Do unto others.

I try. I really do.

And so I made a choice, and I walked backwards through two years of dank, smelly tunnels and opened the door again. And I forgave.

And it blew up in my face.

There's a lot of fear and pain down there. And it bred a desperate, violent sort of recklessness. But I get it. And it never scared me. Still doesn't. In fact, I know how to deal with it, and there was time when I was reveled in the thought of dealing with it, well, forever, I guess. But a light went out and I can't turn it back on. I totally believe that I was hearing the truth. That there was a revelation. You get it now. But it's too late. So. It kills me, but I'm done. I have to be.

Right words, wrong face. That's all I could think while I was speeding up the west side highway in the back of a cab. Right words. Deadly accurate. Wrong eyes. Wrong voice. Throw something. Shout. Cry. Smoke a slow stale cigarette. Shrug it off.

Flack

2008-10-09T23:55:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a lot of crap from people regarding my top 5 friends post. Seems that it strikes a nerve for folks.

Let me first apologize to those of you who thought we were super close besties, and have now learned that we aren't. Sorry. Yes, I'm a little mean. But I tell the truth. Doesn't mean I don't like you. Just means you're on the B-list. That's not a bad place to be. It's pretty sweet actually. We hang out, we laugh, we smile, and you don't have to deal with anything real or important. It's like a temp job. Oh come on...if you really stop and think about it, I bet I'm on your B-list too.

Lots of you are very interested in defining "real friend". It runs a pretty wide spectrum: Remembered birthdays. The people you would call for bail if you found yourself in jail in Indiana. Those who might drop everything to weep by your bedside if you were in a coma. And I have to say (and I'm not just tooting my own horn here) no matter the severity, when pressed to think within their own guidelines, most of these definition seekers could not come up with more than 5 names (sometimes even fewer).

Let's do my favorite thing- make an argument more complicated:

How about soul mates? How many of those should we have? 1? Lord I hope not. In fact, I have an alternate proposal. What if it has nothing to do with gooey-sugar-coated-love stuff? With the other half/hole in your soul/incomplete package crap we are all sold every time Valentine's day rolls around? The dictionary definition of soul mate is "a person with whom one has a strong affinity". Affinity. Great word. Natural liking. Feeling of kinship. An inherent similarity between persons or things. What if a soul mate is simply someone who gets you? Really gets you; without judgement; without fear, and without even trying. In that case, we definitely have more than one soul mate out there. How comforting are those odds?

So. There's my definition. Don't judge me when I screw up, and don't fear me when I'm furious. Believe that through all the bullshit, I'll come out right on the other side. Always tell me the truth and always be ready to hear the truth. Care outside of yourself . Make my world a better place just by existing and being the badass friend you were born to be. I'll do the same for you. I will love you fiercely and without end, no matter what you do.

I promise. I have to. You're my soul mate.

Actuador

2008-10-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

A man named M. Gary Neuman has written a book about infidelity. He researched. He interviewed hundreds of men. And, in brief, here's what he found out:

1 in 2.7 married men have cheated, or will cheat.
92% of men said it wasn't primarily about sex. Most sighted insecurity and a need to feel "more appreciated"
88% of men said that the other woman was not necessarily better looking or in better shape than their wives, but rather that the attraction was simply to something "different".
Only 7% of men confessed to cheating without being asked, and 48% deny it until they are confronted with irrefutable evidence

Ladies. Listen closely:

1 in 2.7.

Think about that. Do the math. Think about all the times you smugly looked down your nose at your single friends and wished we could just settle down and be as blissfully happy as you are.

Then give me a call. Drinks are on me.

No room at the table

2008-09-30T00:16:00.001-07:00

Why are friends so few and far between? At a party on a Saturday night a few weeks ago I whittled my list down to a very small number. It was horribly sad and I got horribly drunk. And then a few days ago, it happened again and the list got even smaller. But at least now I know where I stand. Trusting humans is such a risk. We give up so much and then it is so easy to throw it away. The older I get the more I am wary of new friends. Who are you? Why me? Should I listen to your stories...and when I listen, I really listen...because you might turn out to suck, and then I've wasted all that time. Life is short babe. I want my hours back.

My magic number is 5. Just barely a handful. What's yours?

Thanksgiving in Toronto

2007-11-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

As I sit here at my desk eating my 6" turkey sub from Subway, I give thanks for the good things in life- friends, family, sleeping late, and honey mustard. No one here in Canada gives a crap about Thanksgiving, and I have to say, it's pretty refreshing. The producers threw a lovely Thanksgiving lunch for us this afternoon, and while my jokes about canned cranberry sauce shaped like the can were lost on Tony, the Canadian chef that cooked for us, we had a good time all the same.

In other news, Sweeney Todd made an appearance on Canadian morning TV last week. Enjoy.

Quick Thought

2007-11-10T15:39:00.001-08:00

I have to make this quick because I'm about to go and do the show for the 9 millionth time in 5 days, so I'll do a longer rant on Canada (and French Canadians-ew.) later. But I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone in New York who is affected by the strike today, especially my Local 1 pals. Stay warm and stay badass. We are all thinking of you up here in Canadia. xo.

Not Quite Bali

2007-11-04T21:56:00.001-08:00

Well hello there. I got a lot of flack over the last few months for not "completing" my Asia blog, and to those of you who were the grief givers, I have 4 words for you: Jakarta- not so inspiring. In fact, I think that might be the motto on their license plates. Anyway, don't worry, because I'm on the road again, and back to spewing my unsolicited blatherings into the vast blog vacuum. This time I'm headed all over the US with the national tour of Sweeney Todd. Slightly more "sophisticated" and "artistic" than Spongebob perhaps, but sometimes I miss the square yellow guy all the same. So, we're on our last performance Boston, and we head up to Toronto tomorrow. Never been there. Sort of exciting. It's been nice to be here in Boston and see all the college buds who still live here. And being here for the big world series win and the absolute chaos that followed was pretty fantastic. It's just starting to get rainy and cold, and that all too familiar never-ending-pit-of-despair-and-darkness feeling that comes along with it is starting to happen, so we're getting out just in time I think. You know what I'm talking about BUers.

Leaving Singapore

2007-06-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

This is being posted about 2 weeks late, but the internet in Bali was too weak to upload pictures. So, sorry. But imagine it's two weeks ago....

As I sit here in the Starbucks in Marine Parade Plaza, Singapore, mere hours from boarding a plane to Bali, I feel the overwhelming urge to make a tedious list. Here are the things that I recommend you do on your next visit to Singapore.

1. Visit the zoo. It's open air, it's massive and it's beautiful. No cages, just moats and ditches between you and every kind of animal you could possibly think of. I highly recommend staying for the night safari as well. There's a tram that runs through the entire park in the pitch black, so you can see all the animals in evening mode. Walking through the fruit bat cave is amazing, but certainly not for the faint of heart. Also, make sure you check out the reptile house, they are fed in the evening. I saw the biggest snake I have ever seen eating a huge rat-- only the back feet and tail sticking out of his mouth. I almost threw up a little- but boy was it cool.

Also this is funny:

2. The Orchard Garden at the Botanical Gardens. I've already posted about, but it was so nice I had to say it twice. And rhyme.

3. The Jorong Bird Park. Another massive sanctuary dedicated to the preservation of animals. Don't miss the "Lory Loft" a giant area with over 1000 Lorys (Lories?) flying around in it. Buy a cup of nectar from the lady at the door and feed them. They'll jump on your shoulder and you can make endless pirate jokes. (Trust me, we did it, it's funny for at least an hour.)

Here's a picture of some that were not too interested in me:
4. Drinks. Go to Raffles hotel and have a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar. (They invented them there). Go to the New Asia bar on the 71st floor of Swissotel and have a Lycheetini.
Go to the beach (any of them) and have a cheap beer from a stall. Add Satay if you have the munchies.

5. Sentosa. It's a resort island just off the coast. Take a cable car over:
and walk out to the "Southernmost Point in Continental Asia". Pick a beach, pick an umbrella, put in headphones, open book and chill. The day we were there, every bride and groom in Singapore was having their picture taken on the beach (no, really, there were at least a dozen couples that I counted). Skip the "Songs of the Sea" laser light show- it's lame-os. (That was for you David.)

...So goodbye Singapore, hello Bali.

Singapore

2007-05-29T03:48:00.000-07:00

Hello All. I'm in Singapore. And it rocks. Come visit, it's a great city. Spent the day today (my only day off while we're here) on a bus tour, and spent some time in the Botanical Gardens. The orchid garden is so beautiful...well, I tried to take pictures, but it barely does it justice. Things are going well with the show, we are all really siked to do our first real performance this week. Check out the roadside advertising that we saw downtown...very exciting! It's so clean here- lots of scary laws about littering and chewing gum (so illegal, $500 fine and jail time depending on what neighborhood you're in) but the people are all really nice and it's super easy to get around. I miss you all...please e-mail me and let me know what's up stateside!

Botanical Gardens:

Our Poster on the street:

This one's for you Dad:

Buddhist Temple:

Public Housing:

Jupiter

2007-05-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Basically, I'm in the middle of tech and I'm too exhausted to come up with anything witty right now. I will let these pictures speak for themselves.

Spiderman.

2007-05-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

So. They have something at the movie theaters here called "Golden Screen". This means that you sit in a giant comfy recliner, and that you have waiter service at your chair. It's only 34 seats. You can buy all the usual movie stuff, popcorn, soda, plus there's a bar. And the price is not that much higher than a regular movie. The picture above is of the choreographer and I chillin' before the movie started. And, since Spiderman 3 (that's what we saw) totally sucked, the drinks were helpful. So, someone in the US get on this- we have to open one of these. It's a brilliant idea, and it makes crappy blockbusters that we are peer pressured into seeing so much easier to get though.

what's for dinner?

2007-04-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm eating while I'm over here, so here's the run down on the local eats. I hope you're not disappointed. First of all, everything (and I mean everything, even the "western" food) comes with an egg either on it, or next to it. I don't know why, and no one here seems to be able to explain it to me. They look at me like I'm crazy. Also, pretty much every menu has an appetizer on it called "salted chicken feet". I haven't quite worked up the nerve to try it yet, but I am fascinated watching people around me chow down.

That said, my favorites so far are Nasi Lemak and Ayam Percik. Nasi Lemak is a coconut rice dish, (Nasi is Malay for Rice) usually served with anchovies, nuts, cucumbers, and sambal which is a chili paste (about 20 alarms, beware, I about burned my face off the first time I tired it). Also sometimes something called Agor, which is a pickled vegetable salad. It comes with a type of curried meat, usually chicken or prawn. It is served with each component meticulously separated into several tiny dishes, but every waiter I've encountered so far pretty much makes you combine all the ingredients in the bowl with the rice and mix it all up, so I'm not really sure what that's about. Anyway, it's very tasty. Seek it out. Ayam Percik is a wicked spicy barbecued chicken (or sometimes fish) made with tamarind and lemongrass. You can buy it at roadside stalls on sticks or wrapped in paper. For those familiar with Thai food, it's like chicken Satay on crack. I'm also obsessed with a dessert called Cendol- it's like a snocone made from coconut milk, and it has green rice noodles all inside it, and liquid brown sugar poured on top. The noodles look like inchworms. So gross, but so tasty. Ok, I think this might be my longest post so far. How sad, and how typical.

Grace

2007-04-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this has nothing to do with Malaysia. But, if I were in New York, I would be showing everyone that crosses my path pictutes of my beautiful new cousin. So, here she is, two weeks old and A-dorable. Let the cooing begin. I hope I get to meet you soon Grace!!

cell phone

2007-04-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

I got a tri-band Asian cell phone today. And a SIM card. Tri-band. SIM card. These are all new concepts to me. Apparently US cell phones work on an entirely different system than the rest of the world. Did you know about this? Yet another thing that we insist on doing the most complicated way possible. The metric system. Base10. The Charlie Card for the love of god. (that's for my Boston peeps). Everyone else gets it. Why don't we?

Anyway. Call me. I'm in Asia.

Batu Caves

2007-04-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

Really beautiful caves containing several amazing Hindu shrines. And monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. There are 272 steps to get to the top. The idea is basically that the climb is so physically taxing that by the time you get to the temple at the top, your mind is clear. Boy does it work.

What what what?

2007-04-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Here's four things I saw last night. Enjoy. I know I did.

maneuvers

2007-04-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

A few hundred Australian air force guys arrived at the hotel a few days ago. They are staying here for the next couple of weeks. The tell us that they are here doing "maneuvers" and "drills", but mostly they seem to lay out by the pool and work on their tans. It's a bit like living in the middle of a Foster's commercial. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

air soup

2007-04-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

Everyday in KL, sometime between 2p and 3p, it rains. Pours. Without fail. For about an hour. And then it goes away, and the sun comes out again. It rains so hard, and the water that falls is much colder than the baking asphalt streets, that it creates a curtain of steam so thick it looks like you could eat it with a spoon.

Here's the Mosque (yeah, i said Mosque) across the street from our rehearsal hall just before the rain came:

And here's a shot out the same window during the storm:

curiosities in KL

2007-04-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

1. In Malaysia, a 3-hole-punch does not exist. 2 holes. In the center of the margin, about 4 inches apart. That's it. Everywhere.

2. Our local crew has never heard of Paul Simon. Don't worry, I'm taking care of it. Today we jammed to Graceland, I intend to move on to Rhythm of the Saints tomorrow.

3. The only food the people of KL love more than McDonalds, is KFC. And the only thing they love more than KFC, is Spongebob Squarepants.