I just don't even know what to say, really. I've been keeping track of the views to this site, and well, every so often one of you will check to see if I've said anything. How? Why? Why would you keep coming back after eleven months of despair? I don't have the answer. But I'm glad you did.
Maybe, just maybe, this might be worth keeping around.
Oh, and I'm not reading LIFE OF PI anymore. I finished it last year sometime.
I mean, I'm not going to lie to you in my second post of the year, so, that means I guess I have to tell the truth. Which, well, to tell the truth, is not going to make me seem like the best person in the world. On the other hand, telling the truth will raise my level of self-importance because, simply, I am telling the truth which so many people don't do nowadays. And quite frankly, telling the truth about this topic is really no big deal at all, really, when you come right down to it. So, to sum it up, I'm not sure why I said "it's not going to make me seem like the best person in the world." Perhaps it will make you scoff at me, or turn your nose up, or turn the other cheek (what?), but ... nah, it's no big deal. So, here goes nothing:
I liked P.S. I LOVE YOU.
Sorry. I know. I couldn't believe it either. I didn't want to. I didn't choose to. It's a romcom (wow, that's a new cool phrase I learned from reading a blog of a friend of a friend who is in the know and inside the industry, and I liked it ... plus, it makes me feel like I'm writing for Variety, or rather, it makes you feel like you're reading Variety, which many of you probably have never read anyway because it's not so important to you). So, a romantic-comedy it is. But, it's not your standard Julia Roberts romcom, no. It's funny and quirky. It offers a small who's who of Broadway/NYC theatre people (Susan Blackwell and Sherie Renee Scott, and of course the incredibly strange yet really cool Nellie McKay) and made me laugh. Out loud in fact.
That said, I have no idea why I'm writing more about this movie than another movie that I truly LOVED but only gave a mention the other day. JUNO is HYsterical, brilliant, lovely, cute, charming, and perfect. It's wonderful. I mean, come on, who doesn't love a good story about teenage pregnancy?
With the dawning of a new year upon us, we take a mo' to pause and consider...
I had one official resolution for 2007, and I failed - miserably. All I asked was that I learn the guitar. Alas, I picked up a guitar maybe three or four days in the entire year. So, in 2008, I will once again make the attempt, although, maybe if I don't make it an official resolution, I won't be pressured, and then I'll be able to actually do it. So, it's a "back burner resolution" if you will (and if you won't, then poop to you).
My official resolution? Officially? What about only eating fast food as many times I can count on my fingers or less. That sounds good. I had an egregious amount of it last night before our sold-out performance (the only such performance of the whole run down here in Sunny Land), and I felt poopy. Literally and figuratively. So, yes, that's it. Okay. Maybe make it twelve times at the most, which would give me a double quarter pounder with cheese once a month this year... that sounds reasonable for a guy who was eating it a WAY LOT more than that in years past.
I'm also going to
- drink more water
- do more crunches
- take a dance class
- get a voice teacher
- do a fringe/festival show this summer instead of doing crappy stock jobs
- invite an agent to said fringe/festival show
- sign with agent
- keep my "chords of steel" healthy and in shape
- not be depressed* (i.e. not drink alone in excess)
- travel/visit/spend time with my friends, even if it costs money, because there's no time to waste
- blog more often (i.e. at least once a week. at least.)
* 2007 was the Year of Small Audiences and Depressing Days. I refuse to let both of those things happen again. I basically have zero control over the size of the audiences I perform for, [and no, I don't care that I use dangling modifiers] so I won't harp on it. Which means I MUST control the depressing days, and that just means being happy and positive and getting up on the right side of the bed -- which could technically be the left side, depending on whether I'm at home or in a hotel or on vacation or ... well, you get the point. So far, 2008 has started out better than many many past years, which I am grateful for.
You Better Believe It!
So, here I am (Yes, JJ), back. For good? Well, maybe for bad. But, back at least for the time being temporarily. It's tough writing a column all the time. I mean, think about it. Not only do I have to live my life, but write to my Dear Diary each evening and then fill all y'all in on it? No wonder I'm writing this post at quarter past three in the morning in the middle of my busy work week.
That's right folks - just because you're on a weekend doesn't mean we all are. I get Mondays and Tuesdays off - but not this Monday because of the holiday, I have to get up and put on a damn show Monday night. So, while most of the world is sitting on their easy chairs on Saturdays and Sundays, I'm waking up at the crack of eleven to warm up la voce so I can sing a song for the nineteen of you who choose to come to any of our two shows either day. Of course there's also a Friday evening, and this week a Monday evening, so whatever, life gets busy.
But, I'm less busy than I would be if I weren't on this job. Were I back in the Big Apple, I'd probably be pulling my hair out from balancing two or three jobs, and covering upwards of 50 hours a week. Down here on the beach, I'm working an easy 20 hours a week, and feeling grand.
Love to my homies.
Today, I simply applaud the prose of my buddy JJ over at As Little As Possible from December 12. Yours truly was also raised Catholic, and having gone through a few angry years is coming back again... but it is sh*t like this, this intolerance, that makes me (and so many others) so angry. I hope JJ is not upset by my reposting here... have an equal opportunity day everyone.
Same-sex relationships — like nuclear arms proliferation and environmental pollution — constitute "an objective obstacle on the road to peace," wrote Pope Benedict XVI in a statement released by the Vatican yesterday.
This from the man who wears Gucci sunglasses and red Prada loafers. Did I mention he's also calling for an "equitable distribution of wealth" throughout the world?
Your Holiness:
Surely you've already sold your couture wardrobe and given the proceeds to the poor, so let's not waste time on that. As someone who was raised Catholic, I must politely register my displeasure over the first part of your statement. You are in a remarkable position; a great number of people listen closely to and follow what you say. You advocate peace, but you do so at the expense of a vast sector of society that includes not only the GLBT community but also the straight people who stand with it. You, as the leader of a religion that calls for loving one's neighbor as one's self, have the power to very bravely say, "Love manifests itself in many forms, and its power or worth does not diminish as it shape-shifts. We are finished with senseless discrimination and effrontery. It is beneath us. We welcome all people who choose to believe that life is better lived with and for others rather than above and apart. A love for God and the espousal of the altruistic tenets of Jesus Christ are all we ask for — we do not care about your race, sexual orientation or any other personal aspect over which you have no control. We only care about the part you can control: the manner in which you conduct your life. Conduct it peacefully, with an open heart."
Instead of leading us into the future, Your Holiness, you have chosen to remain rigidly anchored to dusty, antiquated prejudice. You have chosen to inculcate intolerance. You are tilling the soil of society so it remains fertile for the seeds of hate. I look forward to the day when you realize your mistake — your sin — and I pray that time comes soon, on this Earth, rather than in the afterlife, when your god will no doubt purse his lips, shake his head and break the news that you were very, very wrong.
With love and in hope,
J.J.
One month ago, when I wrote my last post, I never imagined it would have taken me so long to have something to say again. Well, perhaps I did have things to say, I just didn't have the time (or the internet connection) to say them. And now, perhaps I don't have anything relevant to say either, but here goes nothin'.
1. Spending the winter in Florida is like swimming in the desert: it doesn't make sense. Sure, it's lovely weather... I mean, come on, I spent Christmas Day in shorts and a tshirt, and I didn't have to shovel any gd snow, but, it's just wacko.
2. Reality TV now offers programming showcasing real people with drug addictions, and we watch them shoot up, dance around high and then come down. Wow, gimme more o' that!
3. The special features on the BORAT dvd are brilliant. Just watch him go to the supermarket. You'll never frown again.
4. Candy cane martinis are too milky to drink a lot of. I prefer a chianti [insert Hannibal Lector slurp here].
5. JUNO is a really wonderful movie - lots of fun, very sweet and lovely.
6. SWEENEY TODD should not be remade without singers.
There's nothing quite like this week of Thanksgiving. Seriously.
It begins with anticipation - the eagerness for fun, family, food, friends, and naps. I start getting excited on Monday or Tuesday. Then, one has to worry about traveling, and getting those activities in order: plane tickets, cab fare, putting all your shampoo into little tiny bottles and then into plastic bags, getting to the airport exceedingly early, only for there to be no line and then you have to sit at the gate for over two hours before they even board your darn plane...
Then comes Wednesday, the biggest bar night of the year. We've been celebrating Big Wednesday for a few years now. This was certainly a good one - our friends stayed out with us instead of running home to the comfort of their blankies.
Thursday is the day of the turkey, of course. It's fun to watch relatives with hangovers deal with their little cousins. Muhahahaha.
And then just the days of meeting friends, having a good time...
I'm realizing this is a rambling, lousy post, so I'll stop. At least I won about $40 playing poker last night.
