Damn, I do not remember how to work these html tags. Perhaps one of my techie relatives could give me a few pointers on how to embed an email link into my side column. For months, I've provided no opportunity for redress or retort. Maybe that will change.

I'm in the midst of a redesign. The untitled status is only temporary, as is the "this is where you put information about yourself". I can't find the code for that, or there would be random information about myself, like recurring dreams, favorite website links, etc. One thing at a time, though. What do you think of the new template? This is the template that I used when I began this blog almost a year ago. A bit more exciting than the monochromatic statement I've made lately, and similar to my poster design for the Core of Culture benefit.

The benefit went very well, though the event really needed a stage manager. I was running camera b, so I couldn't really call the show as well. Prajwal was lovely and charming, as were most of the people in attendance. The staff at the Chase are really laid back, but not lazy. The Chase is a little gem of a space: an old hotel run by a group of techies and design students. I hope to work there again.

This message is for those persons who call me when I don't post to my site for a while. I'm sitting in my studio, also known as my associate's kitchen, listening to Culture Club. We'd planned to attend a workshop for Chicago area designers, but a quick call to the theatre revealed that the workshop was last Wednesday, not today. Oh, well. Now I'm a bit less stressed about not being able to print my business cards yesterday. Somehow, the template for my cards that comes loaded in Word isn't aligned with the performations in the card stock. After about half an hour of trying to finesse them to fit, I needed to walk away from it.

Maybe I can get Lewis to block my sweater tonight instead....

My item from eBay finally arrived last week. It made its appearance on my doorstep the only day of the week that I wasn't at home. I am unsure what my expectations of the yarn were when I purchased it, but it turned out to be one thousand yards of sock weight yarn. I wound it into a ball the size of a melon, which, even with the assistance of the swift, took all afternoon. I plan to make a pair of socks for my mother, as a thank you for doing all four sets of my tax returns this year. I'm so spoiled having an in-house accountant. I've made a lot of socks lately, which is funny when you consider that I wear clogs most of the time. As soon as my Green Mountain Spinnery sweater is finally blocked and assembled, I can move onto another sweater project. I hate having a lot of unfinished projects around.

The nominations for the Jeff Awards were finally announced. My last project did not garner any nominations. It was perhaps overly optimistic to think that we would, but one of the director/producers wasvery gung-ho about it. He said that if we were to receive any nominations, the show would be remounted. So, in a way, I as relieved. I can finally let go of that show, those people, and all the energy about the group. It wasn't a bad experience, exactly, but far from ideal. Comparisons could be made to the end of a relationship. I'm on another show already, so I wouldn't have been able to re-open Wanda June, and that feels wonderful. The show is a Beckett piece, which is an ideal intellectual sorbet to Kurt Vonnegut. And having only two actors, instead of nine, is a nice change of pace.

I caught up on my periodical reading at the library on Monday, listening to my little minidisc player and plowing through a stack of Vanity Fairs. I was reading American Theatre, in a somewhat uninterested attempt to keep current within my industry, when I found my thumb across the name of one of my exes, in bold print. It caught me in an unguarded moment. He and I no longer speak, so it is interesting to occasionally hear news of him. And yet, it makes me wonder if I ought to take Ned's advice and date someone outside of the industry. But where would I meet such a person?

From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines. Walt Whitman

More Things I Like
Striped Socks.I have a couple pairs, and many more planned.
Sharpies. For all your permanent marker needs.
My Leatherman PST II. The accessory for the well-heeled techie.
Black Sony Color Collection Minidiscs. I found one in a pocket of my messenger bag yesterday (featuring Cat Power and Nick Drake). The way that the disc shines through its shell is very sexy.
Good Parking Places
Frank Sinatra. Strangers in the Night.
All Those Wonderful NPR Shows: Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Car Talk, This American Life, etc.
Margaret Cho
Maglites. I have several, of various sizes and colors. Much better than burning your thumb with a lighter.
Clinique. My "three step program" has many more steps. Very good for pale skinned WASPs like me.
My Cell Phone Pocket. An accessory from Manhattan Portage that attaches to the bag strap, transferrable to other bags. Kind of like a holster, but not as nerdy as the phone holsters that cell phone manufacturers sell. Saves from embarassing rummaging through my purse.
Koigu Painters Palette Merino Yarn. A gorgeous vareigated sock yarn softer han an old pair of jeans. I'm using it in one of my current projects, and look forward to another opportunity to work with it again. Sadly, neither of my LYSes carry it. Current skeins were purchased at an expensive NYC yarn shop where they "don't do socks".
Cocoa with Little Marshmallows. Especially is you hit a clump of undissolved powder.
Q-tips
Shiny Docs. I polished my currant colored boots yesterday and they look great!

Things That Suck
People Driving with their Brights On. This happens to me every night coming home from rehearsal. I can see both the filaments in their headlamps in my rearview mirror. Sometimes, I can even see my shadow on the road ahead of me as their lights blow through my car. Why are they trying to blind me?
Frogging a Project. I have a couple of things that I've been meaning to pull out, but can't bring myself to do it. All that work lost. This is especially bad with small gauge projects.
Skin Infections. You don't want to know.
People Who Outbid at the Last Minute on eBay. I thought I had the excellent, poorly named Boom Boom Multi Box until some jerk grabbed it out from under me for only fifty cents more than my maximum bid. I wanted to use it in my oral history project. Not the first time this has happened to me.
The State of the Minidisc. When will the prices come down the way that the price for blank cds did? I wish that MDs got more space in the stores, that the blanks were cheaper and easier to find, that you could buy pre-recorded minidiscs. So far, I've only seen them at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. They were packaged in weird little cases similar to casettes. That being said, Best Buy seems to be devoting a bigger retail footprint to the minidisc. The display at my local BB wasn't put together as well as it might be: the portables were nowhere near the blanks. Still, it is a start. Also, Target seems to have a sale on the RZ505 and 707s. You can view them in the counter case in Electronics like glittering gems.
The Current Cold Snap. I want to wear my new linen skirt and flip-flops without freezing.
Waiting for the Arrival of eBay Purchases. I have a short attention span when it comes to mail order. I don't want to email the seller too soon, because I'll seem like some kind of impatient jerk. Invariably, the package arrives the next day.

Lost and Found
Today is a beautiful day. So wonderful, in fact, that it inspires me to dig out my trusty Birkenstocks. Alas, I cannot find a matched pair of any of my sandals. Perhaps that is for the best, since I recently lost a toenail. It wasn't traumatic, but it is kind of gross to look at. I cannot believe that all of my sandals are lost.
While looking for sandals, I came upon a cache of cds that I'd assumed lost or stolen. Excellent entertainment, bad footwear. It was a hard decision, but I gave Grupo Corpo the first spin. GP is an incredibly successful modern dance company in Brazil. The music is perfect for this weather. Also found: Carole King Tapestry and Ani DiFranco Living in Clip, as well as a Tori Amos cd that I'd already replaced. Maybe it will be a gift soon....
Also found: a minidisc that I can rewrite, and a minidisc case (they might be related, hard to tell). Hypothetically, I can rewrite any of my minidiscs, but the contents of this disc are truly disposable.

Things I Like: a list

Jawoll Jacquard sock yarn. Awesome effect with no additional effort on my part. Great colorways.
Minidiscs. How can you explain the appeal of these av candies? They're a flexible format and cute to boot.
Bitch Magazine. They listed MDs in their things we like list last issue. New issue arrived in my mailbox today.
Knitting. Of course. I want Lewis to learn to knit so we can work on projects together.
Tori Amos. Since the early 1990s.
Warm spring days, like today.
My cell phone. A professional necessity. I know I lived without one, but I wouldn't want to again.
Ribbed Old Navy tanks. Not as pretty as the ones I used to wear, but pretty rugged. I'm wearing one now.
Clogs
Birkenstocks
Doc Martens. I've loved 'em since high school, but they're not the fashion statement they used to be.