whoosh

Whoosh, it all goes by so fast. I sat with First Son with a very meaningful episode of Thomas the Train together, and right now, he’s at an age where he likes a great deal of affection from me, but I know there’s going to be a time soon where he’s going to pretend not to know me, so I’m trying to eat up every moment with these kids, even the Teeny Wonder Twins, because good parts and bad parts, it’s all going by so bloody quickly.

hair

Now as a mama of three, I take a long time to get around to getting my hair cut. I have long hair with layers. By the time I go to a professional, the layers are all outgrown and at the bottom, giving an effect of a fussy ballgown with way too many floor-grazing ruffles. It is as if a runaway 80s prom dress decided to make my head its home. I was having such difficulty finding a sitter, I was this close to cutting it myself. I looked it up on YouTube and it seemed so easy! But Husband said “For the love of God, no.” I do trim my bangs myself, and since they look like a child took their construction paper scissors to them, I admitted the man may have a point. When I got to the salon, I instructed — keep the bangs, keep the hair long, keep the layers, but take away some of this Liberace fullness, the salon lady dutifully fulfilled my request. She thinned it all out and I felt quite relieved, but today at work, I caught myself in the work bathroom mirror and realized…I kind of have…a mullet. Oh the calamity!

new world

Lately, I keep playing “New World” by Bjork from Dancer in the Dark/Selmasongs. I recently had a moment at work where it felt like Gandolph the White came down from heaven to bestow the hardcore truth to the hobbits, almost like a divine intervention moment. I actually mentioned this feeling during this discussion…and I got a lot of needle-off-the-record looks. Can’t be helped. Love this song.

F.B.T.

Husband and I are in the thick of period of our lives I like to call F.B.T., a.k.a., Fat/Broke/Tired. If this were a sandwich, it would defintely involve bacon. Now I don’t want to be too in-a-van-down-by-the-river about the whole thing. I think it’s a pretty typical state for folks in that stage of life when their children are young. Sadly, for me, people ask me if I am expecting (to which I say, “No, I’m truly not expecting a thing.”) or insist on giving up their subway seats. I have a pretty good attitude about the latter category, but since it happens twice a day sometimes, I have become much more discouraged. No matter. Independently, fed up with our F.B.T. status, Husband and I both joined gyms! True, gym membership does not really solve Broke, but it really helps with Fat and Tired. So far, I have lost one pound in one week. The march continues.

If you are curious about the accompanying image, I googled “bacon earrings” and that’s what I found.

baby bodies

Wonder Twin Boy has a body like a Butterball Turkey. Wonder Twin Girl has a body like a musical instrument.

milk

when I lived in Staten Island with my aunt and her family (my parents were there too, so I’m not trying to make it sound like I was orphaned), I remember we had a six-pack of milk delivered to the house every morning. Every morning, it was placed outside our doorstep.

Is that not so “Little House on the Prairie”? Yikes, it truly does mean I’m old.

i’m with the band

I recently connected with an old pal through fb whom I met through a play. Among our catchup talk, he told me that when we were in a play together, the entire cast thought we were hooking up, despite the fact that he had a serious girlfriend and I had Serious Boyfriend (who later became Husband). Due to the popularity of his girlfriend, I was apparently not at all popular, and with this new intel in mind, I wonder if that is the real reason why I was not allowed to audition for certain productions. I was startled to hear that I was subject to a rumor (and flattered too in a weird way) but also weirded out that I had no inkling that people would so grossly misinterpret my behavior. Either way, I told him, it would never be possible for me to ever go for someone like him. He’s too “lead singer.” I’m much more into the “bass player” or “drummer.”

Don’t other people think like this? My friend Becca and I were gabbing and she said she never approached things that way, but it’s very simple — the lead singer is the one who is obviously good-looking and popular with everyone. The bass dude and drummer are cute, but more off the beaten path, maybe don’t want to even be in a band because they’re so into being under the radar or are anti-conformist, etc., etc., etc. So Duran Duran — Simon LeBon? Never. Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor? Always. A-ha — Morten Hawkin? (sorry Christine, I don’t remember his last name and I’m too tired to look it up.) Never. Pal (pronounced “paul”) what’s-his-name? Always. My only exception is Journey — ALWAYS Steve Perry. This may be in part because I have no idea what the rest of the band looks like or does at all…and I’m like a fake fan, because I only know the hits that have been recycling late. But when I really think about it, the draw of the bass/drummer is that you (or just me) fall for this one because you think you have spotted something special only you can see. (So in fact, this is a very narcissistic crush, isn’t it, very Mary Sue. Actually, the Mary Sue would be if you were the one as spotted as special by a lead singer, etc. etc.)

And there you are. A new way to analyze your love life. I happened to marry someone I THOUGHT was a bass player, but turns out he has a few lead singer overtones. Oh well. We all win in the end.

big bird

I saw this clip and in a weird way, I feel it is heartbreaking. It’s designed to help kids, I think, resist conformity just to be accepted, that you should be accepted in all your oddball glory. I love that there are people who care enough about that message to try to communicate it to young people like First Son. It’s a very sweet notion.

julie taymor


Here is an excerpt from an interview with Julie Taymor, the creator of the Broadway show “The Lion King” regarding casting:

“What I love about The Lion King is that this is a show with a predominantly nonwhite cast that is not about race. On the other hand, it’s all about race — and that should be acknowledged, because there are very powerful traditions from a certain race, and that fact shouldn’t be ignored. “We shouldn’t have to think about it,” the Disney people insisted. “And I was saying, ‘No, you’re absolutely wrong. We are absolutely going to think about race here. We’re going to have a person representing the king on that mountain and he’s going to be wearing African-inspired clothes.’ White people may say that race doesn’t matter, but to black people, race matters, totally. As some have told me, ‘It’s the first time my son has seen a black person representing a king on stage.’ That moment at the top of the mountain is the first time he’s seen in a position of power, the father kindly talking to his son about what it’s going to be like to be king — something that white people take for granted, but it’s very, very powerful. America is up on stage, and, I hope, the future of America, where race is interchangeable.”

I really like that thinking. There was a recent hullaboo at La Jolla Playhouse where Chinese characters were cast with caucasian actors. I’m not going to yap about it here because I’ve already talked about it extensively with several friends, but one of the interesting points of the discussion that this workshop actually violated an Actors Equity rule — the term “multicultural” was to create more work for African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, handicapped, and Native American actors. You can’t call a production “multicultural” but do the opposite.

Anyhoo, Julie Taymor’s quote clarified certain things for me. First of all, that lady is remarkably bright and sensitive. You usually hear white casting directors and directors complain there aren’t any minority actors (there are tons, but they usually just know each other — so to me, this is a sign that there isn’t much integration in our society) and that race shouldn’t matter if the performance is strong. Her quote points out dude, white people always say that because they never think about race; non-white people always think about race.

That is all.