The Feast of Spring

It's been rainy here in the Bay. The weeds in the yard are growing like...well, weeds. But the air is fresh and new. The perfect time for Passover. Yesterday I went to my friend Matthew's house in the Castro for a seder with his friends. We used my Haggadah and it felt really good to share the service with everyone. Today, as is every year on the first day, was hard in the eating department. My diet consists of many things that are not kosher for passover. soy milk, pasta, tortillas. so i ate eggs on matzah for breakfast, noshed on apples and peanut butter and then some chicken for lunch and after Sarah's dance class tonight I made some quinoa with sauteed veggies and baked some tilapia with tomato sauce. it was good, not great, but good.

Tomorrow I am getting together with a potential musician for my solo project and then teaching the little ones at Old Mill. I have not been very successful teaching the younger kids, so I did a bit of research today as I took breaks from updating my Quicken files to send to Sallie. Well, there were lots of breaks in the early part of the day and then I wound up really getting things done later in the day. I tried not to get depressed at the numbers. The fact that this year my expenditures exceed my income. Last year I did okay and I am now living on those savings.

I like to continue to return to the ideas of spring. In fact tomorrow at Old Mill I will lead the girls through an exercise around the seasons. This session we will concentrate on Summertime. I am thinking about playing with Midsummers Nights Dream somewhere in there. But tomorrow we will get into our bodies and tell stories. I may try and play with yoga to kill two birds with one stone. But we'll see.

To Spring, rebirth, renewal and the start of new things.

The Start of Something Good

So, as is customary for March, the New Year's Resolutions have loosened just a bit. My daily rituals are rarely followed, but I am a more mindful person. I have been drinking more water, but the flossing not so much. I have been a little down in the yoga department, but this weekend was awesome. I was not quite excited to teach, but I no longer dreaded it. I am slowly embracing the idea that Shy said in the beginning of training - that we all have something to share.

I arrived late on Saturday since we had our presentation at Marin Theatre Co for the Winter after school program. When I arrived they had finished meditation and Shy set us on the task of forming groups of 5 and each person in the group teaches the other 4 for 20 minutes. This did not excite me. I did get through it and played with one pose that I never taught before - Janu Natarajasana - and a series that gave me trouble the first time we taught it - Warrior II to Side Angle to Reverse Warrior. The bad news is that when I went into Side Angle in my body the room started spinning. Yes, the vertigo is back and I am trying not to let it take over my life. Tonight in class when we started in Savasana not only was I dizzy, but I was a little nauseated. I took the class super easy and felt better when all was said and done.

When I got home I went on a hunt for my Haggaddah, did some prep for my MTC audition tomorrow, reviewed my list of activities for the class I'm subbing for Candace at Park Elementary and made Charoset. I also took a bath and did a load of laundry, but who's counting.

It's way too late and I really need sleep, but I have wanted to jot some thoughts now for a while. I doubt that I will go back and pick up those entry ideas - or more likely that I even remember them. But I can try and write a little every (or every other) day.

The great news is that I have been temping for the last 3 weeks. A nice labor office in Downtown Oakland. It's hours of data entry staring at a computer screen, but it's been steady and the people are nice. It has been nice to have a regular schedule and since I've been busy it's both easier and harder to get things done. I am back to having to be efficient with my time.

Here's to a successful and productive week!

Delayed Gratitude

I have started a number of posts, but have not finished any of them. The topics ranged from being silent and having something to say to an updated health report. I think I felt like I needed oodles of time to write and just didn't have the time or energy.

I had a productive day. Sleeping in, Chauncey's dance class, repairing the flat tire on my bike and posting my expenses. I meant to do a deep cleaning, but only managed to do a little dish washing and some kitchen counter cleaning. I hope to take more on tomorrow before yoga.

In the meantime, I continue to be grateful:
1. employment - temp work, a little teaching and some production work
2. living kitties
3. great food with old friends
4. knowing Allen Hagler (the Atlanta actor who passed away yesterday)
6. the folks at the Waterside Workshop who helped me fix my bike for $6!

Woot.

heading back

five days later I'm heading back west. this length of time is usually just about the best for all involved. usually my dad and me. i think it's unfortunate that i don't have steady work, but it did allow me to come to NY without much trouble. i did get a call from the temp agency today and kim possibly has a job for thursday and friday. most employers want to see a resume first so there is a chance she will select someone else.

on thursday i already have plans to practice yoga with some of the teacher trainers and also have office hours with shy. friday i planned to head up to davis early to hear a talk on chekhov before seeing the seagull that night. i should know the scoop by tomorrow. while it would be good to keep my plans as is, i really need the money.

time to get proactive!

gratitudes:
1. beautiful weather
2. my loving nephew
3. kind and supportive friends
4. possibilities
5. chocolate - yes, i did eat a little of david's bday cake. sue me.

The Official Turn Around

The last few months I've had real bad karma. "Yeah, yeah, we know," I hear you all scream. But just I just needed to say it one last time. I thought it was due to the run-in I had with my counterpart in On The Town, but I honestly gave that too much weight. The move to the Bay Area has been hard, but the troubles with the lack of work, injury, vertigo and loneliness are on their way out.

Why?

Because I friggin' said so.

I ate too many cookies at Eric and Keri's house, so it's difficult for me to write about anything else right now. I had a mini black and white cookie at breakfast with Julia this morning, but there were left over Italian cookies from David's party. Why, oh why did I eat that little sandwich cookie with the jelly dipped in chocolate and sprinkles?!

Why?

Because I am not very bright.

But back to the more empowering and positive stuff.

Once I decided that I will probably stay in the Bay Area for a spell things started to shift. I was offered summer teaching work with Cal Shakes, I was cast in a show with Livermore Shakespeare and I was chatted up at a party. While I am not out of the wood work quite yet in terms of a sustainable income, I am on the way. And then I got this Facebook message on my wall from Clifton Guterman...

Congrats on your San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nomination - Principal Performance, Female ... Musical! Yay! Wish I could've been there when you were running to see you.

Um, what?!!

To be honest, I really don't know much about this. The ceremony is on Monday, May 3 in SF. I am not sure if I have to buy tickets or not. And I am not even sure who all voted on this crazy thing. What I do know is I am super excited to be recognized for my first show out of the gate. I will certainly use it as a marketing tool and hopefully get some auditions and perhaps an agent.

Okay, cookies you win. I get it! Lots of yoga practice tomorrow and NO SWEETS!

Gratitudes:
1. my supportive parents
2. my grandmothers generous caregiver
3. long-time friends
4. sunny winter weather
5. undergarments at Costcon

Change of Venue

I am sitting on the floor at the Oakland International Airport waiting for my flight to board. Since I am not on the couch, I got excited to report that I can actually blog from other locations! I will be in New York in less than 6 hours.

Yahoo!

Oh, wait, we are boarding - or at least preboarding. Better run to the bathroom so I can make the most of this potential sleep time!

Looking Good

Mother Nature is a little confused today. She cannot decide if she's happy or sad. Crying or smiling. And it's driving me a little batty. One moment I don't want to leave the house and the next I would like to skip down the street. Ah, sun showers. Right now I see skies of blue and the rain has stopped. When on the phone with Emily from Cal Shakes this morning, she mentioned the weather confusion, as well. Actually she wanted to leave the office since it got a little cold and damp, but you get the idea. Emily and I spoke about possibilities of me teaching movement and/or acting classes during their summer sessions. There are two 2-week camps in Oakland and Lafayette and potentially elsewhere.

It's looking good that I will accept it and not teach at UC Davis again. Well, I have not been offered anything at Davis, so who knows if that's even an option. I am feeling more comfortable teaching the littles. In fact today in Mill Valley, I had the chicks in my hand. Well, not really, but better than usual. That is until Josh came in.

He showed up about 20 minutes late and then all hell broke loose. Some girls ran over to Josh and jumped on him. I lost their attention and he did nothing to stop it. Yes, I know it feels good to get this attention, but it's not helpful when I'm trying to keep the class going.

I had a great idea in terms of the presentation. It may be a bit too complex, but I would like to give it a go in 2 weeks. I would like to combine the three stories we played with The Ant & the Dove, Two Travelers and a Bear and (even though we didn't play - they know it) The Tortoise and the Hare. Since I will be in NY next week, I will have to wait 2 weeks to try it out.

Back to Business 2

I love when I type in a blog title and I get my first choice. With lots of repeating sentiments it's surprising there is not more titles that I have already used. However today, as I typed I hit a duplicate. You may remember the first Back to Business here. Yes, it was just about 2 months ago.

This week took it's toll. High speed and high intensity getting Jess' show up at CounterPULSE. After a weekend of yoga training where we touched on poses that either I cannot do or confuse me, it made it difficult to head to the theatre, especially for strike. For some stupid reason I decided to wear my pair of short heeled boots to the show. About an hour into strike the shoes came off and I stood in the middle of the stage brain dead.

Jake, Roz & I worked our asses off and we finally got back to the East Bay around 1AM. I was still a little wound up so I laid on the couch with the kitties and watched some TV. I almost didn't get up. But eventually moved to my bed. This morning I got up to feed the cats and then went back to bed. I finally got up around 10:30AM, but stayed in my PJs until 7PM when I had to put an end to all of this craziness. Since I missed Shy's yoga class last night in order to get to the theatre on time, I needed to take it tonight.

It was the perfect class. We started with a restorative pose and kept things pretty easy going for most of the class. I left class very centered and awake. Some tortellini and a glass of wine later, I am on the couch watching first the finale of The Bachelor and now Good Eats.

But as I return to the couch, I am back to searching for work. I got another university rejection letter and I personally turned down 2 jobs that didn't seem right. I was cast in a show yesterday, but there are some things I need to discuss and consider before I make a decision.

I head to NY on Friday for a few days so I cannot really apply for some jobs and some commercial roles, but I am back on the search.