middle school

The day before yesterday, I taught a bunch of 7th & 8th graders here at the Museum. They were a nice bunch.
I was herding them onto the elevators to go downstairs and leave the building at the end of their visit and, while we were waiting for one to come, I overheard a girl ask a boy "do you have a girlfriend?" My attention was taken away for a moment and when it returned, the girl was saying "well, can we just be friends then?" and the boy was avoiding eye contact and saying "ummmmmm." The tension was palpable. I could taste the tragedy creeping up the back of my throat. Then she said "I don't care if you have a girlfriend . . ."
Then the elevator came.
Phew.

Hands

Last night I went to a party.
My friend who was hosting the party was describing how you throw the rock in curling, and he did this thing with his hand - the way he sort of pantomimed it - that was just like the way my grandfather used sometimes to describe things with his hands. And then he did it again and I started to cry. Right there. No one saw, but I was suddenly very sad. And then my friend stopped with his hands and I could feel better. And drink more wine. :)

Sometimes people say really stupid things

I'm an actor.
I have a day job.
I go to my job all day and then I spend as much free time as I can manage trying to get a job or rehearsing a play or whatever else I might do to make acting full time and day job no time.
There's a woman in my office - she works in finance but because we don't have a human resources department she's the unofficial HER person as well - and she just doesn't get it. What's worse, she's judgmental and derisive.
Today, as we rode the elevator together, she asked if I had any new roles. I said (truthfully) that I'm in two plays. And she wrinkled her nose and said something like "plays? Well there's no money in plays, is there?" I said, "give me a break. You have to be in something so the people who want to pay you to act can come and see you! There might be money in background work, but that's not acting and you still don't get any attention." So she backed off of that and instead said, "well, isn't that hard? Working all day here and doing that in addition?" And I said, "pretty much everything worth doing is hard! Founding America? Civil rights? Those weren't easy!"
I can't help but be amazed that she has no concept of what it is to love something and want to do it more than anything else. She's a middle-aged spinster who lives with her mother. Surely she MUST want something else?

Commuting

Instead of taking the bus from my family's NJ home back into NYC today, my younger broter drove me.
We had a dance party in his car the entire way.
It was awesome.
I think it's pretty safe to say, that we were the only car rockin' out so fully.
Car Dance Party is the best way to start the day ever!

Dream

Last night I had a dream that my friend Loring and I were on a train - the A train. We were headed somewhere - maybe to an audition since we are both actors. Loring lives in San Francisco now, so it was nice to see her. Anyway, on the train we met a boy . . . maybe two boys by the end, it's fuzzy . . . and he was cute, but he spent the entire time talking about himself. In the dream, I thought "he won't stop talking about himself! I mean, it isn't that I want to talk about me, but he's just showing such poor form!"

Boys. Pft.

Christmas Sound Byte

After Christmas dinner, on the sofa in the living room:

Grandma: Why do you have to go to the gym?
Me: So I don't get fat.
Grandma: Is it working?
Me: Are you saying I'm fat?!