monkeybard | The week in review

Went hiking with the man-cub to Monte Cristo--an old mining town up in the mountians. You can't imagine how much I loved it! The hike was pretty easy--along what was the road that was once the railroad track. Mostly closed to traffic, but it being a pleasantly sunny day (between a too hot day and a somewhat chilly day) there were maybe a half-dozen trucks that passed us. The town itself is almost entirely gone. That's part of what I loved so much. Less than a century later there's nothing to tell you where the main street and the hotels once were but wooden signs. I love that. Not 100 years and you'd never know there was once a whole thriving town there. So cool.

Monday: First, I posted Log 3:2 over at DNashional Archive. It felt really good to get that up. Of course, I've not heard a peep of feedback on it since, but I keep telling myself it was a holiday weekend and it's a long piece. Perhaps folks are waiting until this weekend to read it.

Then, the man-cub and I attended a lovely barbecue at Shakespeare's Den on the Memorial Day holiday. It's become a tradition at S&D's place, and I'm glad. It was great to see friends and have a relaxing day. I'll admit to being a little blue afterwards, however, because as I sat listening to friends' stories about what they've been doing, I didn't feel like I had anything to contribute. That's a very strange and sobering feeling. I don't like it. Particularly when I'm quite busy--just not with things that most people would really appreciate. Maybe I don't give my friends enough credit. We're all huge geeks. Maybe going on about the fanfic I've been writing, and the ENTERPRISE Virtual Season I'm working on would be just fine. I guess I'm just too conditioned against revealing such deep levels of my geekly nature. Ridiculous, really.

My bro loaned me a cool graphic novel of The X-men--penned by Joss Whedon, no less. Very, very cool. It's been a crazy week so I haven't read it all yet, but I'm excited to.

Tuesday: I've been working this week for one of my two usual contract employers. It's been good, as usual, but a little slower than the previous times I was there. Still, we got out to the guys in Honolulu what we needed to get out to the guys in Honolulu, so all is well with that aspect of the world.

The coolest part of Tuesday was the first rehearsal for Henry V. We had a read-through that evening, and it was so much fun! How can it have been so long since I did a full-scale production? What the hell was I doing taking an unplanned and far too lengthy hiatus from the stage? I must have been on really cheap crack. There's nothing better on Earth than doing Shakespeare with a group of talented and competent people. Really. Life is incomplete without theatre.

Wednesday: I wasn't called for rehearsal on Wednesday, so I cooked an impromptu dinner: black bean sloppy joes. O! so yummy! You want the recipe? I made it up. Here:
1/4 finely diced onion, sweated in canola oil
rough chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 can black beans, drained
1 sm can tomato sauce
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 tsp honey
1 Tbs worchestershire sauce
Cumin and cayenne to taste
Cook it all down, occasionally mashing some of the beans, and spoon over half a warmed kaiser roll. Top with grated cheddar and fresh chopped parsley.
I'm pleased with it. It's going in my "keepers" file.
ETA: I've corrected my little recipe. I forgot to mention:
1Tbs of white wine vinegar
and about 3Tbs of Brown sugar
(And I've edited the quantity on the honey--although all the quantities are subjective. I didn't really measure all that much.)

Thursday: Still working on Thursday, but this was when things slowed down so the day seemed long. I left early and came home to snuggle with the kitty. She doesn't like it when I'm gone all day. She likes to have someone around to alternately boss around and snuggle with. I have to admit, I prefer that to going off to an office, too.

I wasn't called for rehearsal until 9 last night, so the man-cub made a surprise theme dinner: cornbread, catfish, and collard greens. I so wish he could have met my Grandad. Grandad was from Missouri and Kansas. He would have appreciate that dinner. Of course, had I known what the man-cub was cooking I'd've asked him to cut back on the garlic. We rehearsed V, ii last night. Naturally I apologized profusely to the guy playing Henry since that's the scene with the kisses. I need to plan better from now on. For any of you out there unfamiliar with theatre, should you ever find yourself on stage and required to kiss someone, always remember: avoid garlic; brush your teeth; and if all else fails you, chew a couple of Altoids right before the scene. It's just good form.

I watched some of the Seattle Storm game last night before rehearsal. It's the first time I've seen them play. It was great! It took me back to 1980--the last time I attended a professional basketball game. Then, of course, it was the Sonics. And that's just what this was like. The WNBA has what the NBA has lost somewhere in the past 25 years: athletes playing for the love of the game. The NBA has become nothing more than an over-hyped pissing contest among a bunch of overpaid, undereducated, arrogant wads. They have no class whatsoever. The women on that court last night struck me as pros. It was about the competition of the sport rather than the competition of the ego. You know, like sports ought to be.

Friday: Now we come to today. One would expect an interesting day when one disembarks the Metro in the bus tunnel and is immediately aware of the scent of marijuana. It must have been someone right in that bay, because you could smell it all the way up the stairs and nearly all the way to the Westlake entrance. As I say, one would expect an interesting day. ... It really wasn't. It was a good day, but not what I was lead by fate to expect. Still, we went out to lunch today, courtesy of the boss, to a fabulous place called Andaluca. I had the Tower of Crab Salad. In a word--amazing. Go there. Order it. You will not be disappointed.

The man-cub and I popped over to my folks' place to take them up on a dinner invite this evening. Lentil and sausage soup. A family staple. I have eaten well this week. I so appreciate when others cook for me.

Rehearsal this evening was about the shortest I've ever attended. I was only called for an hour, 7-8, for scene III, ii. For those who don't know, the entire scene is nothing but Henry's 'Once more unto the breach' scene. That means we ran in, he urged us back to the battle, and most of us ran off again. We did this once and the director laughed and said, "I think I overscheduled this scene." ;D So we did it again. With 40 minutes left in the hour, they decided to move on and pick up a scene they hadn't been able to do on Wednesday. I'm not in that one at all so at 7:25, I headed home. The man-cub had dropped me off, planning to come back in an hour. I called and told him I'd walk home, since he was running errands and it's only a two-mile walk. Of course, about 1.25 miles of that is a single uphill stretch. Still, I needed it after sitting at a desk for four days. And as luck would have it, we got home at the exact same time.
So we've had a quiet, pleasant evening. I had a great chat with my dear friend Nancita, watched some (bad) baseball, and played with the kitty. Now I'm going to bed. Well, to be accurate, I'm already in bed, but now I'm going to turn off the computer and go to sleep.

Have a great weekend, everyone!