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close your eyes and listen

Sometimes you just need a really good song.

Numb by The Airborne Toxic Event

Thank you Anna and the whole Airborne Toxic Event. I continue to love your music.

team effort

my every show ritual: shot of the cast on the last day of rehearsal
(THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, by Stephen Adly Guirgis)


A few of the images I put up on the wall for visual reference.


a shot from load-in, featuring our lovely Associate Costume designer and John McDermott's gorgeous hand-made hubcab lantern practicals


Grant Yeager (lighting designer) is also a genius.


right before Satan's entrance...

Sometimes I love the internet.

Check this out.

I don't know if I actually know this person, but I feel like we are kindred spirits. Except, he/she is cooler.

Also, here's a picture I took at the gallery show of one of my favorite artists. Marcel Dzama. (Formerly of the Royal Art Lodge.) I think he secretly wants to be a theater director. Or throw really fabulous parties. Can you imagine?

paper-bagging it in washington square park on a friday night

City life is such an endless source of inspiration.
Today is the day-- the day that feels like spring or even summer when the whole city breathes a collective sigh of relief that the seemingly interminable winter is indeed coming to an end. You see the skin of girls' knees and boys' pale forearms, toes find an occasion to poke beyond open heels or summer sandals even. There is so much more music and so much more kissing. It makes me think of all of the times this has happened in my life-- all 30 times, or I was probably only really aware of the meaning of the seasons from 4 on or so... And those 3 1/2 years in LA were a little bit of a different story... But spring in a 4-season climate is a glorious thing.
Corita has a painting that says (So far) the crocuses have always come up
And I love that sentiment. And as much as I understand that intellectually-- to experience that first burst of spring is something altogether visceral; animal almost.
Happy Birthday Katie!!!! You too are an inspiration in all things.

awe

Two items to share today.
The first is Frank Rich's farewell op-ed in today's NYTimes. Good thing he's only going to my guilty pleasure-- NY Magazine.
The second makes Black Swan look like absolute child play.
Watch it and gasp. And then stretch. So that one day... you too might be able to...

blind luck and the universe converges

Today was a good day.
When I got in late last night (after the drive from New Haven and looking for legal parking on the night before street cleaning) my eyes were filled with a precarious bounty of bags, computer, blankets, boots, and books and I barely got the front door open with all of my items intact. This morning, when I came down the stairs, my wallet was sitting in the vestibule with a note that said simply, "found this on the stoop." All of the cards were there and there was an absence of cash-- exactly as I had left it.
This was a wonderful relief (though I hadn't even noticed it missing yet), especially since every morning someone comes by the front gate and rifles through the recycling collecting cans and bottles for deposits. Had this stranger been the one to find the wallet and drop it inside? Someone broke enough to roam the streets in the bitter cold collecting bottles? Or was it someone in my building? I will write them and note and see if anyone picks it up. And I will keep you posted.

The other magical thing that happened today is the spontaneous appearance of Ken Roht (back in my life, right here in Brooklyn!). He is an old friend and an artistic hero of mine and I spotted him on Court Street outside the Cinema. We hugged and caught up and I learned he is spending the next several months a block from my apartment... so there will be more catching up ahead. The crazy thing is-- he arrived this morning and I had no idea he was coming east (he usually lives in LA) much less to my hood, and I love that I just happened to see him on my walk home. I wouldn't be so struck by this if it was the first time. On January 17th, 2004 I ran into Ken on the street in DUMBO (on a bit of a bad day) and our conversation and a job offer from him resulted in me spending 3 1/2 years in LA. The last time I saw Ken was in April 2008, when he was writing my recommendation letter for Williamstown Theater Festival. I went to Williamstown in May 2008 and never went back to LA after that. Is it just me or does it seem like he's sort of a spiritual force in my life?

Him and Vito Acconci. A man who either I am following or he is following me.