Your opinions

I am in the market for a new car! I am leaning heavily towards the TOYOTA MATRIX in cosmic blue.

So, I have some questions for you.

1) To power or not to power? I avoided a power package (windows, locks, etc.) in the past because if they DO break, they are expensive to fix. But then, I think how nice it will be to roll down all the windows when the weather is nice to save on A/C and gas. And yes, I know the car is less aerodynamic, but in the city, I would bet there is gas savings there as opposed to the highway.

2) Does anyone know what the difference between speed control and cruise control is? Vladimir, the Russian Toyota Sales Guy, said they were the same thing, but the price indicates they are not. Obviously speed control is missing something that makes it cheaper. But what?

Thanks!

Gurgle Gurgle!

So I get a message about this terrible thing happening. A local actor that is fairly well known loses just about everything in a house fire. He was not home, but pretty much only has the clothes on his back.

People have organized to give him a benefit to help "rebuild."

Um ... I don' t mean to belittle his lose or sound bitter or anything, but where the hell was my benefit? I was a struggling artist and grad student when Tropical Storm Allison flooded my apartment. Where was my help? Where was my benefit? Why am I up to debt waist deep that I have worked hard to get lower this year only to have my car totalled and all but putting the pay off at a stand still?

Mmmmm?

Happy Birthday to me!

Today I am 37. When the hell did I get so old??!

Geesh, three years to 40! Well, being 40 doesn't really bother me. By the time I get to the big numbers I seem to have dealt with the issue, or at least locked it away somewhere that it can be ignored.

But 37 is tough. For some reason, late 30s sounds old. Mid 30s did not. Early 30s most certainly not, but LATE.

As an actor of my general type, and being male, age doesn't scare me. I am too short to be a typical leading man and too tall to be a typical character man. BUT, once my look starts to catch up with my age, I will be just about right for husbands and fathers. Older brothers too. I should have been rife for younger brothers, but they have been few and far between and someone else always gets them. Damn them!

Oh, and being an actor with a relatively young look helps me with the whole locking away thing. I am still reading, knock on wood, 10 years younger. Of course it was only two years ago that was 15 years younger. At that rate, I might look 40 when I get there!

Cheers from a near future Ingé-not-so-nue!

Wake me when its over!

What a horrible couple of weeks I have had! Nothing real pithy to say either.

1) Crew come and go so quickly here!

The theater I work for has a show opening this week. Last week was tech. Getting crew for the show as been a farce. Sound Borad ops have been a revolving door, which ends up with me doing it. AH! Well, I can use the money for a down payment ... a small down payment on a car ... teeny tiny, but a payment none the less.

2) Stoppard by any other name wouldn't smell like Stoppard.

I auditioned for a Stoppard piece this last week too. I didn't get cast. Usually I take a day, MAYbe two, to mope about that and move on. This one hit me hard and made me go through the serveral stages of actor denial. The director is a fool, the other actors suck, I suck, why put myself through this, I should quit, oh look, something shiny! (i.e another play I can audition for!)

I think the main reasons were, A) I was just exhusted. I dosed through Robots on Sunday. I never sleep in movies. B) Ever since I saw Arcadia, I have wanted to do a Stoppard. Any Stoppard. I would be good in it, I know!

Anyway, that week is over and life moves on. I am not so depressed and unhappy as I was, though recovery on this one is slow, but I am getting some sleep and working a children's show. And, a dear and necessary co-worker, whom I shall refer to as The Brain, is returning next week from a sojurn up North. 4 weeks, and she has been missed!!

The Brain? Well, I sometimes think of her as the Brain to my Pinky. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Cruel tricks!

So, you are a multi-millionaire who is determined to fly around the world non-stop.

You build a special plane, curl yourself up into it and are stuck in this position for days and days until you accomplish your goal.

The real trick, uncurl yourself from this stationary, near fetal position and balance yourself on the top of a tiny step ladder.

Now, tell me, do you think that is fair?

What's a meme?

As a new blogger I am discovering these fun things called MEMEs. I guess because they are little things you do that are all about me. Me!

I have done many road trips to and from Texas and Massachusetts, so I took care to only include the states that I specifically stopped in, like the Reebok outlet in Pidgeon Forge, TN. This as opposed to Pennsylvania which I have only ever driven through to get somewhere else, food stops not withstanding.

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're currently living in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Ten things that I've done that you probably haven't

Inspired by Lemming and Three Bed, here is my list of 10 things:

1. Waited table on Christopher Reeve

2. Ran into Stephanie Zimbalist and her dog while hiking with my best friend.

3. Toured US and Europe in a chorus, singing in St. Patrick’s and Notre Dame in the same month.

4. Created my first iPod play list with Wicked (OBC), Green Day, Avenue Q (OBC) and Kelly Clarkson.

5. Played the part of 11 year-old Peter Warren Hatcher at age 37.

6. Worked a short New Year’s Eve wait shift and made more money in tips than the very perturbed staff that had been there all night.

7. Directed and choreographed a workshop musical about Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov.

8. Locked a suite mate in the bathroom hall between the rooms freshman year. Silently unlocked his side and “disappeared.”

9. Drove from Massachusetts to Texas non-stop with an Icelandic citizen.

10. Explained to a Waffle House waitress in Alabama that Iceland wasn’t in a state, but an actual country between the USA and Norway. You know, Norway? Europe? Very far a way in the Atlantic.