Getting Ready...

My vacation is almost finished and it's almost time to head into the fire again. Literally. California is burning. I hope it clears up soon for the sake of the people I know there who have been going through this since Sunday. The Santa Ana Winds generally come over from the desert this time of year bringing warm and dry air to the coast. This was great when I lived in San Diego since we had 90º temps in October and November. This is not good when it dries up the land making it prime condition for massive fires. Evidently there are oils in the plant life around Southern California that the plants produce to protect themselves from insects. These oils have the same composition as petroleum and create a deadly mixture with the dried up brush, intense heat, and high winds from the desert. One spark from friction or an electrical line can cause major destruction, which it has in the past week. The air quality is already horrible over there and my friends tell me they brush ashes off their cars everyday. So far there are few casualties, just millions of displaced people. The breezes have shifted though and they are now coming off the coast creating moisture in the air, which should make these fires easier to extinguish. I hope it blows over by tomorrow.

I have been home in Ohio now for the past week after just leaving New York. Mostly I've been getting ready for the upcoming trip, which at this point will take me into May of next year. I'll be on board the Westerdam with Holland America and it will also be the first time I'm going to get my parents on board. I believe this to be my last cruise adventure and cannot wait to get back to New York again. My last week there was action packed. I was seeing friends for lunches and dinners and even friends from out of state. A lot of the time I met friends unexpectedly. That happens in New York. I got to see 3 Broadway shows, 2 off Broadway shows, and a burlesque show hosted by Margaret Cho. I went to a séance, a few parties, and even stayed in New Jersey. I got to see almost everyone in my friends circle. There were only a few I missed for lack of time. Who knew two weeks wouldn't be enough time. Some highlights were seeing my friends again from the past cruise. I think after seeing my friend Dan, the only people I hadn't seen since the cruise were Nathan and Bex. I saw some folks in Ohio, one in London, and the rest in New York. I saw my friend Niffer and we saw Spring Awakening. It was a fabulous show of performers. I wasn't crazy about the story line, but the singers were amazing. They were only 16-20!! I couldn't believe it. When they sang it sounded like a CD recording was happening. It was full studio sound and on hand held microphone. It was a unique experience and the music was phenomenal. Duncan Sheik was the writer and his music is definitely inspiring to me. I saw a cute little musical of 2 people with my friend Phil and his partner Shawn called Greetings from Yorkville about 2 songwriters from out of town moving into the upper east side and dealing with New York while striving to perform and write. It hit close to home and it was an autobiographical project of these two performers. A delight. I also saw a corny piece called Three 'Mo Tenors on Theatre Row on 42nd Street. This was exactly what I expected after seeing a similar show on the Amsterdam called Three 'Mo Divas. The one on the ship were obviously women, but it was the same show for the most part with the men on 42nd Street. I got to see Margaret Cho's Sensual Woman that night and it was Hi-larious. Then came the crème de la crème of Xanadu. I had my Broadway debut!!! Yes!! I made it to the Broadway stages… as … an audience member. Hey, small steps. There's a new trend happening where for a small price YOU become part of the set. The actors interact with you and you sit right in the heart of the action. Most are rear view sight lines or side view, but you are as close as can be and right there ON the stage. Xanadu was such an experience. The show was at 7pm and we had to be there right on time or we would miss our Broadway debuts. We got to the stage door and got the run down of what was expected and how we had to make our way to the restrooms now. Once we passed the door, we could not leave the stage. All our belongings had to be under the seat during the show in a bag that was provided. We walked onto the stage through the backstage area. It was my first glimpse at my future. We walked around on the set and got to our seats. The show started and there we were in the midst of it all. I saw entrances and exits. Cues being given from the stage manager and music director. We had special speakers on the backs of the seats in front of us so we could get the audience mix. The actors sat with us at times and interacted with us as a chorus. At the end of it all we were asked to get up and dance. It was fabulous. The whole show was tongue and cheek and totally made fun of the movie from the 80s. That's what made it fun. All the music was by Electric Light Orchestra including all the additional songs. The story was done in the style of Greek theatre with a chorus. I would recommend it for an evening of fun. Plot? What plot? It was just a hilarious adventure with fun music. More like watching a cartoon. I also saw The Ritz at Studio 54 with my friend Scott. That was a hilarious play. Yes, a play and with Rosie Perez playing the stereotypical Hispanic woman. She pulled out all the stereotypes in her choice for the character. The whole play was a hilarious piece written by Terrance McNally and taking place in a gay bathhouse. It was mishap after mishap as a farce is. I was laughing all over the place and it was a great end to my trip in New York besides all the gatherings and events I took part. I will miss New York for now and can't wait to get back in 2008.

Now it is off to the Caribbean (with a detour through L.A. for 3 weeks) for sun and fun. Relaxation and savings. Saving is the main reason I took this one. I plan to save loads to come back to New York strong and ready. I have a lot to accomplish before coming back to the hectic life of New York. After these next 4 weeks are finished, I will start actively getting myself prepared. It's time to leave the seas and get on land.

Family and Friends Refresher...

It's been a good month of friends and family. I came home to Ohio with a lot on my plate, but seeing and being near family has been great nonetheless. It's always good to refresh on your roots no matter what's happening in life. I spent a lot of my time just re-energizing and relaxing. I saw some friends in the midst of it all. I don't have many in Ohio anymore. A lot have either moved away or I've just lost contact with them. Although in this day and age of e-mail and new internet groups, a few have found me. I had about 3 weeks at home in Ohio before hopping on a plane to NYC. I didn't want to pack my home time with a lot of events simply because I just wanted to re-coop from the worldly adventures. I took many relaxing and stimulating bike rides through the glorious Metro park system. The Metro parks are awesome with all these trails and beautiful landscapes. I got to see many members of my family and even spent a weekend at my brother's place. Now I'm in NYC and my life is busy again.

I'm realizing that 2 weeks just wasn't a long enough visit in some aspects, but just long enough in other aspects. I'm so much enjoying my time here with friends and have another week of action packed scheduling with them including an evening on a Broadway stage. Yes, ON the stage. Granted I will be on stage watching the show, I can still say I was on a Broadway stage. Anyway, it has been busy meeting everyone and trying to see everyone that I can. Thanks to all the parties I went to while here, I made a bunch of friends who are great at keeping in touch and want me to visit. It's lovely and hard to see those in such a short amount of time since everyone else works during the day. However the city can be draining especially when you're not working or have no intention of working. Thank goodness I have the kindness of friends letting me into their homes, but just entertainment and food can drain the savings real fast when nothing is coming in. Also the temptation and draw of the city is so strong, and keeping it at bay while here can be hard if you're here too long. The auditions happen everyday and the art vibe here is amazing. I have been lucky with timing though and saw a lot of people already just on coincidence. More than I thought I would see. I also got to see a few shows including the new rock opera called "Spring Awakening" with the music of Duncan Sheik. These kids are rockin'! They are all in their younger 20s or even teens and they have these killer recording voices. Whoa!! I was blown away. The story wasn't the greatest, but the entertainment value behind it was hoppin'. I got to see some fabulous little productions and even a burlesque show that Margaret Cho is hosting in Hell's Kitchen. Along with that I've been out for a drink or two and a gathering or two. This weekend was especially fabulous since we took some cars and made a caravan out to Long Island for some wine, deliciously fabulous sweet corn dipped in butter, hayrides, pumpkins, corn mazes, songs, steak and friends. It was an eventful Sunday starting out at 9:00am, which was difficult to start sans coffee at first and a late night the previous night (the Margaret Cho event started at 11:00pm). We started in the ole "Enchanted Forest" as some call it (Forest Hills) at the diner for a good and hearty breakfast and LOTS of coffee. Yay! We then took the drive out to the north fork. I was asleep most of the way of course. We got to a goat farm first to sample some delicious goat cheese and see the cute goats on the farm. My friend Brooke was like a goddess when she went into the pen since the goats followed her practically everywhere and where climbing on top of her. It was hilarious. She had about enough after 10 minutes as anyone would if a herd just kept following you everywhere. I guess it just depends on the herd, but yes goats… 10 minutes… plenty of time. We got on the road and starting our wine tasting tour that started at a Ackerly Pond winery and ended at Borghese winery. The wine tastings were fabulous and at every place we had a grand time chuckling all the way and changing up cars between the vivacious musical theatre car and the more relaxing hits car. We stopped at a pumpkin patch after indulging in the fine tastes of the vineyards near the twilight of the day and had some delicious roasted sweet corn so infamously called sex corn (nicknamed by our group of course). So called because it is roasted on the grill fresh of the husks and then dipped in a sweet melted butter pot. It's hot, fresh, crisp, and juicy. So incredibly good. Yum!! My mouth waters just thinking of it and I had 2 husks that day. Whoa! We then made our merry way into the cornfields where we took a hayride singing all the way and then meandered through the corn maze. There was lots of fun at every corner as we all got split up and met up again at the end. There was some confusion since we lost a few people in the corn and had to wait for their reappearance. Hilarious. After this stop our bellies were screaming for food and our bodies were exhausted. We ended up at a steak house and had a fabulously indulgent meal. Brooke cleaned her steak down to the bone and the bone was whiter than I ever seen after she was finished. She loves her meat. We had plans to see the movie Xandau before Tuesday's event, but we were all exhausted. We just ended up going home and crashing for the night. Oh it was fabulous.

This week is no exception. There are still more lunches, dinners, shows, and nights out to be had. All the way up until Sunday where I return to the quiet city of Cleveland. It's pretty strange saying the quiet city of Cleveland, but after NY and L.A., it can't match up to the activities that transpire. Soon after I will be in L.A. in rehearsal for my last cruise adventure. It's hardly an adventure compared to the last 2, but my last nonetheless. I mean it this time. This will give me the savings I need to come back full force into the throbbing vibe of NYC.

By the way if you thumb back though postngs dated back to the beginning of June, you will notice some lovely photos attached from my adventures. I had over 3,000 to choose from, but I narrowed it down to a select few. Enjoy!!!