SHE LIKES CAKE!

[photo: DRAMA DESK AWARDS, MAY 06]

I had just turned on my computer and was pondering what to write about tonight when I noticed I had just missed a phone call and had a voice mail message. Now, I can't go into a lot of specifics here, because that would mean divulging myself or my friends' names. So, my friend called with two messages. One of them was fantastic, but I will save it for another dry day in blog land. The second was from her roommate, who sometimes works in a certain capacity at a certain Broadway show. The roommate said, simply: "Beth Leavel told me today that she likes cake." HOLLER!

Earlier this summer, I professed my love for this woman and thought, hey, maybe I should send her a banana bread that I cooked since I am pretty darn good at baking banana bread (no nuts, "cuz men don't like nuts" <---anyone? name that musical). Well, we decided that if I did send the bread, Beth would probably have thrown it away because, hey, could have been a scary stalker, right? So, we left it at that and ate it ourselves. I had forgotten about that proposed idea and moved on in my life, until tonight.

I came home from the theatre, seeing a production of Greenberg's THREE DAYS OF RAIN, to this amazing note on my voice mail. I should start practicing baking cake. I wonder what kind of cake she likes? Chocolate? Vanilla? Ice-cream? And frosting... cream cheese? Strawberry? The kind with those little flecks of sugar in it? And, just as vital, what should I write on the cake when I do have it delivered to her dressing room?

My grandmother used to work in a bakery. She is one of the foremost cake decorators I know. She's great. To this day, damn, she makes a good cake. I'll have to talk with her about it and get her ideas for what I should send to this amazing lady. I can only hope that this lady doesn't get freaked out by a cake. By my love for her. Maybe I should avoid the word love all together. Maybe it should be something like, "YOU ROCK." Or, "HERE'S A CAKE YOU CAN HAVE. AND EAT, TOO." I'll work on some other ideas.

WOO HOO. The excitement is in the air.

Election Calls

Tomorrow is election day. I should be pumped up, methinks, but alas, I am not. I don't really care. I don't. Sorry, folks. What I do care about, however, is how I spend my free time. So, it makes me mad, it gets my dander up (if you will), when I get telephone calls from Tony Bennett and the like, asking me to vote for Whoozits or Whoohah. Tony, you called me twice in the span of ten minutes the other evening, and I hung up on you both times. I don't want to listen to you. If I did, I'd certainly rather hear your crooning than your begging. This isn't your style. You're supposed to be on AM1230: The Music of My Life, with those lilting melodies and creamy tones. THAT's what you're about. That's why people know you and (maybe still) care about you. They are the folks who will listen to your phone messages... but maybe you should reward them with a couple of bars if they listen to your whole message. And maybe you do. I didn't listen long enough to find out.

Step bump, step bump bump

Watch this.

Now, tell me you didn't laugh. It's HYsterical. And I know various people in different circles of my life who have turned me on to this show, these people, and this clip. Brilliance epitomized.

I think it's important... well, to be able to hitch-kick when it's required of you. Readers, if you cannot hitch-kick, please just go find a dancer friend and say, "Hey, this will only take 3.2 seconds, but Beedow wants me to learn a quick l'il ol' hitch-kick. Could you show me?" They'll inevitably say, "Sure!" and you'll be on your way to becoming a star.

Little Mysteries

Look at yesterday's post. See the text justification? Each line with hard spaces after it, so instead of wrapping around the line nicely like this post is doing, that one makes it look goofy on the page. The reason? Well, I wrote yesterday's post in my email program (Apple's Mail) and sent it off to be published. Blogger offers a really easy way of doing that, which I LOVE. It's easier than signing on to the website and using the form on the various webpages, et al. The problem is that it automatically puts in these hard spaces. I don't like it. I don't know why it does it and I don't like things that I don't know why they happen.

Like itches. You know, on your skin. I was just sitting here trying think of something that happens that I don't understand the reasoning behind, and I got an itch on my arm. Now I have an itch on my collarbone. Why is that? It's not like (--now there's one on the skin between my upper lip and my left nostril--) I said, hey, I wish I would start itching. Argh. I don't get it, and I don't understand it.

If someone knows why thing one or thing two occurs, please comment and let me know. You can even do it anonymously so you don't have an onslaught of people writing to you, calling you and driving by your home honking their horns in thanks for the answers to two of life's little mysteries.

Loopy Lotteries

What's the story with the lottery, huh? I have two friends who share
"Lotto Tuesdays" and share the cost of various lottery games each
week. They've done okay in their winnings, but they haven't hit it
big yet... at least, they haven't told me if they have. So why do I
feel I should play? What makes me think that I'll have the luck to win?

Earlier this week, I bought a lottery ticket -- and lost -- but so
did the rest of the country. No one one last Tuesday's Mega
Millions. So, the next drawing is tonight, and the jackpot went up.
I figured if I didn't buy a ticket, it would have been a waste of my
dollar early in the week, right? Does that even make sense (or
cents! ha!)? I also picked up a scratch off ticket. Each time I buy
these tickets (mind you, my total lottery spending in my whole life
is probably under $25), I feel -- I really feel -- like I am going to
win. I get excited about it. I get myself all geared up... how will
I spend the money? Will I tell everyone I know? Will I give to
charity? Will I be the same person or will I become a crazy fly-by-
night who goes nuts and is found face-down in a gutter in Connecticut
in a rainstorm some random April night next year?

Who knows... here's crossing my fingers though that I have the chance
to get the cash and NOT wind up in that CT gutter.

Bed Bugs (2/365)

Well, let's call yesterday's post #1 in our official PROJECT 365/365. So, this morning I woke up early because I had been bitten in the night by a bug. That's right, some sort of insect attached itself to my left ankle, stuck it's sticker in me and drew out my blood. Well, I immediately thought it was a bedbug, what, with the recently announced reinfestation of them here in the US. Plus, my sister mentioned that she thought she had them in college, and told us about it when she came home last weekend -- probably as a carrier of these nasty little buggers.

I did a little research this morning and found out I was probably wrong. It looks like mine isn't a bite due to the BBs, but maybe some spider or something. Anyhow, you should check out the link to make sure you're not infested, and if you are, how to get rid of them. Of course, the information is from Pest Control Canada, but I think the same applies to humans on both sides of the border.

And, lastly, in Canadian news, I took a friend of mine to Niagara Falls on Monday. I forget how spellbinding it is to first-timers. I've seen it often, and think it's grand, but not like newcomers. So, if you're in town, check out the Falls again, or for the first time. And if you want me to go with you, just send me a note and I'll come too, I will!

I'M COMING BACK

In light of my recent departure from the web, I am contemplating a return engagement to the blogging world. Most probably in an organized manner, pulling from the ideas and concepts behind Susan Lori-Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays. I will, once I begin, write here something every single day for an entire year. It promises to be exciting ... there are many things brewing in the pot for the coming months. It is also because I just realized that I began this blog just over one year ago (10/10/05) and why not come back to it?

It will change in essence, in ideas, in spirit ... but that's the fun of it. It'll be a buffet of information and thoughts, piled high on a brown plastic tray that looks like the one you'd get at Joe's. You know, EA(t) A(t) (j)OE'S.