Melinda's Moments Mmprh

Snowclones
(From the June 6th Blog)

In researching (ahem, yeah, I call my surfing research) an entry on Image Macros, I came across a category of phrases that use the format: “I’m in Your X, Y’ing Your Z.” It turns out that such formatted phrases have a name, snowclones, and a rich history.

Here’s how Wikipedia describe snowclones:
A snowclone or catch structure is a type of formula-based cliché which uses an old idiom in a new context. It was originally defined as “a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open array of different jokey variants by lazy journalists and writers.” […]
More after the jump…
A common example of a snowclone is “X is the new Y”, a generic form of the original expression “pink is the new black”. In order to apply the snowclone, X and Y should be replaced with new words or phrases. For instance, this snowclone might appear as “Random Is the new order”, a marketing phrase for the iPod shuffle.

Check out Wikipedia’s impressive list of snowclones organized by date of origin. Some classics:
16th century: Et tu, X?
19th century: The only good X is a dead X.
1910s: The X to end all Xs.
1920s: A W in every X and a Y in every Z.

…

Yep.

In Boston, at the airport. Waiting for our connecting flight to JFK.

Maine was beautiful. It started snowing the night we got there, and didn’t stop the whole time… I’ve never spent an extended amount of time in far-below-freezing weather (the wind chill today when we left was –6 Fahrenheit) except for maybe in Aspen… but I absolutely sure Maine was far colder. This deduction comes to me not necessarily from having a good memory, but because this trip to Maine was my first encounter with powder snow, which I’m assuming is necessitated by colder weather… Aspen had snow like the sort we see in Seattle, (we were there in March, I think).

I’ve always understood what power snow would be like intuitively, but being able to “get it” by frolicing in it was just plain fun. Snowballs disintegrate mid-air and I learned what a white-wash was… (from Jones…it basically is when he bends over with his butt facing you and dog paddles an uninterrupted snow flurry at your face… apparently it only works well in powder.)

Enough about the snow though, I guess. The show went really well, we added another piece, D2R B, which is a in and then out again piece we’re putting up for Italy for cases when the theater won’t fit our bigger sets. Italy is going to have 2 to 3 degree raked stages… something else new I’ve never experienced, and frankly it makes me a little nervous, even though I logically understand the ramifications of having a sloped stage and that it will be fine…

For D2R B I have to run the projector and the slides that go along with the piece… a new and anxiety-causing aspect to being in the show for me. Of course it’s not terribly hard, and I’m very capable of handling it, but the uncertainty of having technology possibly foil my best laid plans and (ahem) flawless execution is annoying. But it went as perfect as I could have hoped for.

As for the rest of the show, it went really well – minus a brain fart in Traj and a scary neck injury which has left me so sore today I can barely turn my head. Yikes: neck stuff.

Leaving the airport today in Maine, we walked in to the terminal hearing applause – and for a split second had no idea what was going on – and then we saw a huge group of troops that had just arrived from Iraq. They were all still wearing their desert fatigues and, I think, came from a plane marked ‘North American Airlines’, which I had seen from the window of my hotel room a bit earlier (our hotel was literally connected to the airport via a sky-bridge) and had noted that I had never heard of it…

The troops were met by, from what I could tell, random patriotic citizens, as well as teary-eyed Korean and WWII veterans. It was such a touching sight, and they were so obviously happy to be home, it melted my usually cynical heart. Once they had settled in, the bank of ten pay phones were all in use and had lines of troops – all calling home, I assume – and the vets and people who had welcomed them back to the states all hung around to talk to them a bit. There was even a therapy dog, a gorgeous and ridiculously friendly German Shepard that was being bathed in all kinds of attention. I read somewhere troops aren’t allowed pets on duty, and I can only imagine how happy I would be to see a puppy…

Randomly, I feel the need to mention that Boston is beautiful. Even though it was a mere 16 degrees F there wasn’t a cloud in the sky on our approach into the airport. From the window of the plane I got to get my one glimpse of the city (aside from being in the airport.) The skyline was beautiful, the coastline was beautiful and the sky itself was that really amazing crispy blue that only comes from very cold, early morning weather. It makes me want to come back a stay awhile. Maybe next year we’ll get to come here on tour.

Off to Brooklyn to a hugely important show, and to see Steph and NYC friends… I’m crazy excited to go see the city again… thankfully I’m wearing long underwear (thanks mom and dad) and my huuuge winter coat I bought for Korea last year – and didn’t need.)

Similar to how Des Moines surprised Megan, I am also surprised by how much I loved Birmingham. The presenters at the Alys Stevens Center and UAB were so wonderful and fun, and they went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. Sarah took us yesterday to her favorite soul food diner, Niki’s West , which was a 20 minute van ride from our hotel and located on a side-side street, it was set up like a cafeteria – you get a tray and a huge plate and point to what you want to eat – and it was delicious! I tried fried green tomatoes, fried okra, the amazing mac and cheese, grilled chicken, 20-bean casserole, collard (how do you spell that?) greens, sweet potatoes, apple pie, corn bread, steamed okra, pasta, and a bunch of stuff from other people’s plates… I left too full for a show day, but very pleased nonetheless.

(Non-sequitur set up:) Earlier that morning at Lucy’s Coffee for my last morning there, I randomly asked if they had other kinds of cream cheese besides plain. I was told no, and I laughed about my question, and said I figured, but I for some reason was thinking about cucumber cream cheese, and just thought I’d ask. I ordered plain, and went to my table. About ten minutes later when they brought me my (sundried tomato) bagel and cherry italian cream soda, the wonderful lady also brought out a small dish of cucumber cream cheese! I was rather confused, (and amazed and grateful;) she said she went next door to the subway and got some cucumbers and made it for me. I was blown away, and so excited. So, I tell this whole story 1) because it was awesome of her, and 2) because that’s what our entire stay here has been like: people going way out of their way just because they can to be nice. How refreshing!

Last night after our fourth (1 YPC, 3 regular) show, the venue hosted a masquerade reception and party in the building. We all got sequined masquerade masks and drink tickets and were treated to a yummy appetizer buffet and great conversation with friends of the arts program who had just seen our show. Our costume lady, Lisa, the educational liaison Kim, and most all the really genuine and nice, wonderful people who brought us here were there too. It was very enjoyable… Also, our demo reel was playing, being projected onto a wall, which even two years later, I still can’t keep myself from watching.

Right now, I’m sitting in the Birmingham airport, using the free wi-fi… we had to be up at 4am this morning (after getting to bed about 2a, last night after the party, showers and packing.) We get into LA at about 12:30pm, and then we have to pick up our passports, re-pack for Korea, see Dr. Hersten, and do any and all errands we need to all before we have to be back at LAX tomorrow morning at 9am. Geh. I’m hoping to save time for myself tonight to go see ‘Stranger than Fiction,’ but, we’ll see how the rest of the day goes/if I can find someone to see it with me who hasn’t already seen it. If not, I’ma see it when I get home. Or, maybe I will wait on purpose, that way hopefully Mom, Dad, Jerry and I (and Megan and Mike too!) can all go together and do Applebees.

Ok, off to check on the progress of my iTunes downloads… they’re going slow and I REALLY want Grey’s Anatomy to be finished before we have to board!!

I’m back at Lucy’s Coffee. After our class on Monday, Briana, Philip, Nick and I all decoded the Birmingham dart system (awesome trolleys that costa quarter a ride,) and found our way further downtown to the civil rights district so we could go to the Civil Rights Museum. We were dropped about two blocks away, and had a walk through the city’s civil rights memorial park to get to the museum which was kitty-corner away. The park is filled with statues, memorials and tributes, and, while none of them is necessarily self-explanatory, the theme and subject matter are easily understood. Just as we were about to exit the park, we heard someone coming towards us, talking to us, so we picked up our pace, until we were able to discern his words more clearly. I turned around to see a middle-aged african-american gentleman approaching us, using a cane, and giving us a history lesson. We stopped. When he saw he had our attention, he had a seat, and proceeded to tell us his experience living in Birmingham during the height of the civil rights movement, and additionally the full story behind all the memorials, and the story of each block and building within eye sight of where we stood.

He stayed with us for quite some time. He was genuine and charming, and not looking for anything more than to share his story with four kids who obviously wouldn’t have known much beyond the history-book facts we’d read. It was overwhelming to hear his personal story, and his interpretation of the events. It was so much more of a complete and in-depth learning experience than going into a museum and reading the captions posted below photos…

I can’t say for sure what the Civil Rights museum is like, because after we left Juan, we found out that all the museums in the city are closed on Mondays. Instead, we headed back to our trolley stop, and on the way found Birmingham’s version of the Seattle Science Center. We decided this was the best idea ever, and spent the afternoon making movies, capturing our shadows, standing inside tornados and laying on beds of nails. There was an iMax there too, but no space movies, so I declined the additional cost.

After our foray into the world of hands-on science, we re-trollied our way to the five-points district in Birmingham, (the really cute bars-restaurants-and-shops section) and had dinner at the Five-Points grill. This meal constitued my most expensive meal on tour, mostly due to the $12 martini. OUCH.

After dinner everyone in the company piled into our rooms and we all watched ‘Heroes.’ We have a group addiciton, and regular discussions on what the hell exactly might be going on. So far, we’re proving to be quite the awesome decoders, because quite a few of our predictions have come true.

Tuesday was tech. I got up and went to Subway for lunch, and unimportant as it is, I feel the need to mention I got a spicy italian sub, because I always get turkey. Good job Melinda, you tried something new. Well not really, because when I was much younger I started out getting that kind of sub at subway, and then I switched somewhere along the line, and have been a turkey girl for at least ten years now. Why the hell am I talking about this?

Tech was tech. We re-changed knockturn again, shaving another five minutes from its total running time, I think it’s a good change, it makes the whole thing flow much much better.

Yesterday we had to be in the lobby at 7am so we could get to the theater and tech the kids show, tech D2R A, do a 11am kids show, then Tech Traj, then run knockturn, then Do our regular show at 7:30pm. Needless to say, it was a long, long, long day, but thankfully, Sarah, our amazing presenter here got us delicious hot food catering for dinner (we usually get deli trays…) Chicken, rice pilaf, salad, green beans and carrots, bread pudding and biscuits. I think I gained about 10 pounds of in-my-belly food weight right before the show…

Other than all that yesterday was highlighed by a bad head-hit (and subsquent woosyness,) a great eagle-fly for me, and a missed flag-spectacular in Traj, which I am so glad I have on tape…

Today: another show, video review at 4, and perhaps going to view jello-wrestling after the show… (I’m not kidding.)

Awesome. I’m so tired.

I can’t believe what a lazy blogger I’ve been. I don’t want to bother recapping. Right now, I’m in Birmingham, AL, and one of the world’s cutest independant coffee shops called Lucy’s Coffee… it reminds me of my absolute favorite coffee shop ever, which was in New Orleans, (and I blogged every morning from there as well.) I think that’s what reminded me to get my ass on here, thinking about being in NOLA and having these relaxing mornings at a coffee shop and then teaching classes (like I’m off to do in about five minutes…)

Next door to here is a Starbucks. I love Starbucks, but I hate how they purposely try and eat up places like this one. I’d choose here any and everyday, even it if meant no more shaken ice tea lemonades or frappucinos ever again.

Birmingham is pretty damn cool. It reminds me of LA or Philly in terms of the economic discrepancy that is separated by blocks, not towns. We drove through some pretty run down places last night to get to the movie theater (we saw Borat,) and ended up at a High-Class nicer than Redmond Town Center-ish shopping town destination.

And, it was all decorated for Christmas. I get my most home sick when it’s leading up to Christmas… all I can think about is coming home. But we have Birmingham and Korea before that, and Korea is going to be a whole year’s worth of scary and a whole year’s worth of work stuffed into 10 days. I wish, right now, it was Novemeber 22nd and I was home prepping my belly for lots and lots and lots of food.

Soon… (sigh.)

– 3/26 to 3/30/2006

We got to Aspen after a five hour bus ride, (we flew into Denver’s airport). When we got to our hotel, which was located in Snowmass Village, about 5 miles from “downtown” Aspen, we had to have a police car come to escort us in… apparently they don’t allow any buses into the village without a police escort and a reason why. I guess it has something to do with security/foreign tour buses.

Snowmass Village is a pretty amazing little place. It consists of condos, hotels, houses and a retail/food complex that’s outdoors and multileveled and put together so it feels like a close little town rather than a really ingeniously constructed money-spending-pit. Everything in Aspen is expensive, which is why it’s a miracle I got away with spending very little money there. This was thanks in very large part to Jacques buying us food occasionally, the free hotel breakfast and the free meals we got before the shows.

The theater we performed in was the smallest house to date: it seated only about 500 people. We almost sold out both shows, and at first I was sad that so few people came out to see us, but then someone pointed out that Aspen has very, very few permanent residents, so in reality, we probably drew out a huge percentage of the local population, and that that was pretty great.

The theater was the home theater to the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and the same presenter, Jean-Phillipe, who brought us to Aspen is also the presenter who would bring us to our next city, Santa Fe. This was great news to all of us, because it also meant that the Aspen house manager, Steve, and one of the crew guys, Luke (who is also a dancer for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet,) were going to come to Santa Fe too. They are truly fun, awesome people to work with, so this made me happy.

Another thing that we found out would come with us to Santa Fe from Aspen: the elevation and consequential inability to breathe well. Apparently, I am a moron, because I had no idea that Santa Fe was about 7,000 ft. Aspen was at about 8,500 at the theater (I was told,) and I definitely needed the oxygen tanks they provided us on the side of the stage there to get through the show. One of the shows in Aspen I missed a jump I have to do to catch a bar on the side of Traj to enter onto it… I always, always stress about that jump because it is the highest jump ever for me, but I’ve never missed it (before Aspen) in a show. I’ve decided to blame the elevation. Just so you all know.

Other things about Aspen: they charge WAY TOO EFFING much for the internet. $30. Nope. I spent money I shouldn’t have on a really nice pair of sunglasses that I didn’t need. It’s all Leo’s fault. He had to go into this designer sunglass boutique and buy a pair of Prada sunglasses. Then he takes me in to meet the nice lady who runs the store. On subsequent days, I went in to visit the pair of glasses I liked before I ended up caving and just buying them. I got to meet the owner’s daughter too, who ended up coming to our show. Over the time we were in Aspen, Jacques bought three pairs of sunglasses there, and Leo, Crystal, David, Benji and myself all bought glasses from her. It was kind of ridiculous. But fun.

There’s a bar called Zeke’s in the Snowmass Village complex, and we went there a couple of nights in a row. On the first night, some of the girls (myself not included) somehow wound up getting into a foozball (another word I have no idea how to spell) face-off with Jacques, David and Ed. Beer and Liquor was bet, and the challenge spilled over into following days with a promise of double or nothing for the girls to win back their pride. When the story was retold the day after the initial games, Steve, in his infinite glory, out of nowhere, produced a foozball table backstage at the theater. All any of us did while we were at the theater (in between the tech of traj and the show, during load out, etc.) after that point was play foozball.

The night of our last show, we all went back to Zeke’s, and Jacques bought us all dinner. Some of us stayed, and enjoyed Tequila shots, and, I kid you not, five or so hours of foozball. I pretty much suck, but I am getting better. I guess I just don’t have the power in my wrists that the guys do. And, we’re not allowed to spin the players. Screw that. If we could, I would be a foozball god. So there.

We were at the bar that night until about three, and then we had to go home and pack, and then be back up to catch the bus to go back to denver to fly out at 5:15 in the morning. Needless to say, I slept on the bus that whole ride.

The dressing rooms we had in Aspen were actually classrooms. The girls dressing room was a children’s music classroom. It was a semi-creepy environment, with plenty of play things to have fun with: cowbells, scarves, bamboo sticks. I bring this up, lest ye all think we’re spoiled all the time. Sure, we got to stay in a crazy nice Aspen resort town, but our dressing rooms were in primary colors and learn-’em rhymes.

Also, about Aspen: the snow. When we first got there, it was obvious that it hadn’t snowed freshly in quite some time, and, while I am the world’s biggest snow loving freak, the sight of sad, old dirty snow piles made me depressed instead of warm and happy. This was confusing for me, since almost always the sight of snow makes me want to burst out in musical songs. This snow was great, it was, after all, snow… but there was something missing. This link didn’t come until a blizzard visited us on our next-to-last day, and coated the whole world in much, much white. All of the sudden there it was: I was missing the snow on the trees and the crystalline sheen of new snow. So now I know, I am a new-snow snob.

The new-snow afforded Garrett and I not only a two day straight giggle fest, but also the rare opportunity to ambush the company with snowballs. After the last show, we took a break from FoozFest 2006 and went outside to the top of the hill by the theater and made two piles of about 100 snowballs (as well as romped and played and made snow angels…) Then, when everyone was about to leave, we headed out early to took up our places behind our snow shields, and laid in wait. It was awesome. Johnny eventually charged the hill, and Jacques and David attacked us from behind after some keen strategizing, but it was all worth it. A special thank you to Jeribella, a child from the school whose mittens I borrowed from her cubby… without her, the snowballs could’ve never been made.

All in all, Aspen was pretty great. Being there actually made me want to learn how to ski. Interesting, since I’ve never had even an inkling to any other time in my life. Monica, Becca, Renee and I all walked around downtown Aspen one day too, just to see what it was like, and comparatively, I liked Snowmass better. So, there it is folks: go to Aspen to ski and do it Snowmass style. And only go if it’s actually snowing. Old snow sucks.

Latest tour journal…

Salt Lake City: 3-19 to 3-26…

Well, I failed to do my daily journal for this leg of tour (so far). I think it’s because, now, more than ever, touring itself is really starting to get to me. When I was in my LA apartment, I felt restless and out of place. Then as soon as I got to our hotel in Salt Lake, suddenly, I felt at ease. Oddly at ease, and not at home at all, but more at home than I had in my own room in LA. It bothers me that my body and mind are starting to acclimate to being on tour so much that it’s the normal I long for now, and the other places I live are the abbreviated stops. Hopefully that will all change when I get to live in Seattle for a month (May) or when we start rehearsals for next season in June. But even then, we’re only rehearsing for two weeks before next season’s tour officially starts… buh.

I’m really not trying to complain, I absolutely love what I get to do more than I ever thought I could love a job, (slash life goal/dream,) I’m just not comfortable being the person who is always gone.

Right now, I’m sitting in the hotel lobby so I can use the internet and am writing wedding thank you notes while the entirety of the rest of my family is at my uncle’s funeral service. I don’t get to be there to be with them, and I didn’t even have the option to. I found out Kenton was sick when I was in Omaha. I found out how bad it really was when we were in Chicago. I was able to see him on a too-breif visit home between legs of tour, and had to say what I knew was my goodbye because I knew I was going to be gone during the rest of the duration of his life. Finally, I was here in Salt Lake City when I got the call that he had passed away.

I think it is so unfair to my family that I can’t be home for all this. I think it’s so unfair to me that I have to live out the most important pieces of life from across the country, though emails and over the telephone. I feel sorry for my family and I feel sorry for myself. I didn’t even get to set my new life up with Jerry in person. Even that was mostly handled long distance and with faxes and text messages. I’m despondent. I think it’s just all bearing down on me, and I can’t shake the guilt and sorrow I feel that I can’t even be home to bury my uncle with my family. It’s awful, and I hate it.

****

Well, what else is to be said? Most of my time in SLC has been passing by my tendency to go deep inside my head and get consumed by bad news and troubles. In general, we’ve been teaching classes (1-2 a day all over the city) and doing shows. Yesterday, Jacques came out on stage during “bench” at the kids show just to see how we’d react. I react by promptly shitting my pants. Not really, but it caught me totally off guard. We saw “V for Vendetta” one night, David made us all dinner another night, and I sat in bed and stared at the TV most of the other nights.

Last night however, was a show, and afterwards the presenters took us out for a reception at a local restaurant, and it was really, really good. The presenters here are awesome. We’re at the Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus – Monica’s alma mater. Other things I now know, in addition to Chad, Leo and John leaving next season, so is Monica. She’s going back to U of U to get her masters.

Our hotel here is a suites hotel and Becca and I get a two story apartment-like room complete with a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three TVs. It’s pretty great. Everything here is pretty great, (except my mood). The altitude here makes the shows even really hard to get through, (though a good prep for Aspen, which is twice as high up as here…) and yesterday was ridiculous. We had a kids show, then a TV spot on local news, then tech for Traj, then the night show, then the reception. Ugh… it was a marathon.

The TV spot was with a guy named Big Buddha, a local personality. This is just all really disjointed. Becca and I went to the store our second day here and had to carry a ton of groceries all the way back, which was much harder than we both expected. — it’s cause we bought a lot of liquids. They’re heavy. We also worked out 2-3 hours per day our first three days here. We’re both on a health kick and it’s easier to be neurotic about it when someone else matches you. All the groceries did save me a bunch on money on eating out, but I did manage to make it to Chili’s (twice) and to a Hire’s Big H for lunch one day — pretty freaking good stuff there. Hmm… which reminds me, it’s lunch time. I’ma go eat.

Sorry it’s not linear.

–Wednesday, March 1st

Since I’m regrettably late in updating my tour journal/web blog I can’t really remember as much as I’d usually like to include. So… yeah.

We left on wednesday, and unlike almost every other time we leave on tour, we finally didn’t have to be at the airport at 4am. This time it was 10am, and we were flying on an actual airline… unlike last time when we showed up to TransAir (which turned out to be fine, but still.) We flew through Denver (turbulence city) to Omaha Nebraska. Losing two hours flying east and about an hour and a half to flight delays meant that we got to our hotel in Omaha just in time for dinner. We all walked about four blocks away from our hotel to the market square area of “downtown” Omaha and got dinner at a local eatery called Old Chicago’s. I got a huge (HUGE) order of nachos to go, and Becca and I rushed back to our room so we wouldn’t miss our perfect night of TV.

You see, Becca and I are cool enough that the ultimate on-tour activity (sometimes) is a good night of TV. Wednesdays, currently, consist of 8pm: American Idol, 9pm: Lost, 10pm: Project Runway. Missing any one of these is a sad and traumatizing event. So, when we got home at about 8:15, we thought we had only missed part of American Idol, but no! We forgot to compensate for central time’s ludicrous practice of putting TV on an hour earlier than either of the coast time zones… so we had actually missed the beginning of Lost — which, of course, you can’t come into late. We were so sad.

Right now, I am embarassed to admit that this event made me so sad, but whatever. It’s all relative, I guess. We skipped the rest of Lost so we wouldn’t come in late and decided to instead download it the next morning off the iTunes store (best thing ever…) Thankfully, the hotel room’s TV channel guide was erroneous in reporting that it did not carry Bravo, and Leo saved (our) day by knocking on the door that adjoins our rooms to tell us he found the channel we would need – lest the night be a total bust.

Have I ever mentioned that Project Runway is my favorite thing right now? Well it is, and I also adore Daniel V and want him to win. Also — anyone: what I want for my birthday (April 24th) is the white military/Japanese wool winter coat Daniel designed as part of his collection with the big double folded collar. I would CRY.

Went to bed.

–Thursday, March 2nd:

I had to be up early (booooo) because Chad and I were supposed to teach a class this morning. We met up in the breakfast area at about 8:30, along with a number of other Diavolites, and had the free breakfast at the hotel. Instead of a continental breakfast, our hotel (which, by the way, is directly across the street from the theater we were performing in — soooo nice for us…) serves a free plated, waitered breakfast… which was pretty cool, even though it was pretty unremarkable/mostly awful food. Chad and I were picked up by the local liaison and she drove us to where we were going to teach class…

On the schedule we get before we leave on tour we get all kinds of information on what we’re going to be doing and where, etc. and on that day’s itinerary it said the class was at a mental health facility. This in itself set off no alarm bells, because, we often use unusual spaces to teach classes to the community – gyms, ballrooms, YMCAs, courtyards… so we just thought that the facility was just where the class was (unrelated).

However! When we got in the car, the lady started telling us what to expect from the students, and Chad and I were mostly confused, until we started to realize we were about to teach a group of adult mental health patients — something we had never been told up until that moment.

Personally, I am very naive to mental health issues and that community in general, so I was assuming stereotypes and Law and Order episodes and crazy things (for about three seconds, and then I calmed down…) but then once I got over my initial fluster, and started concentrating on what we were about to be doing, I realized it was going to be a very different kind of class.

Basically, the group we were going to teach was the drama club at this facility, as it was composed of the more outgoing and stable attendees. We met up with the group’s advisor before the class and he was wonderful and explained to us a lot about the facility and the people. We discussed things we should be aware of: balance (due to heavy medication,) and touch issues… but even then he said it should be just fine.

And it was. In fact, I think Chad and I had the best class I’ve ever taught through Diavolo. It was so much fun, and the people cared so much about each other and being there… it was so much fun. Also – extremely quick learners and adept movers… better than most.

One guy who observed the class drew Chad and I a picture (of a downtown scene complete with extremely detailed buses and fire engines and a guy in a hole…) that I took back and put in the women’s dressing room later. Everyone was really thankful for the class and really excited about moving in general.

After the class, we went back to the hotel, and Becca and I promptly downloaded the Lost we missed and watched it (holy crap!) After, we walked a few blocks to a subway for lunch (and ice cream) and then headed back to the hotel for a brief nap (as always) before we had to tech Act 1 that night. On the way back to the hotel we found a random Buddhist center and were treated to an unusual experience: we got to see some Tibetan monks making a sand painting… look it up, it’s tedious and arduous and fascinating…

Tech was pretty normal. The theater was absolutely gorgeous… it looked on the inside the way I’ve seen pictures of the theater where Lincoln was shot. Was it Ford theater (I really might be making that up – if we had internet in Chicago, I would look it up and therefore appear smart, but I don’t so now I have to admit I have no idea.)

After tech, a group of us walked to micro brew restaurant called Upstream Brewery and got dinner… it was pretty amazing good, and it didn’t hurt that it was martini night and all specialty martinis were $2 off – so I treated myself to not one, but two, blue bayous (see cell phone blog for picture.) I also got a pretty decent veggie burger that came with some ‘smashed’ potatoes and gravy…. mmmm… gravy…

Then, bed.

–Friday, March 3rd:

The next morning we had to be at the theater early to tech act 2 and rehearse some random points (this was our first time doing the dances in about 3 weeks, so we had some stuff to clean up.) After, some dancers had to stay for a kid’s show rehearsal, but I didn’t, so John and Renee and I headed out to explore Omaha. We ended up at a pub called M’s, at which we had been explicitly instructed to order a carrot dog – like a hot dog, but instead it’s grilled carrot – which was actually really good. I tried a couple more fancy martinis, while Renee and John had about 8 glasses of beer each over the seven hours (not exagerating) we spent sitting there, having fun and talking. Benji showed up later on, too, and joined in. The drinks I got were courtesy of John and Renee, which I thought was really sweet. (Again, see cell phone blog for pix of the dog and the drinks… cause I’m weird like that.)

After the marathon bar time, we headed back to the hotel and to David’s room, where he was cooking dinner for all of us. He hasn’t had time to do this since our first leg of tour, and it was really nice having everyone in one room and to get an inexpensive and good home (hotel room) cooked meal.

After dinner and a couple episodes of Little Britain (soooo funny, look it up!) we watched “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” an eighties, (painfully eighties,) silly teen movie that I’m sure would have had me mezmorized for the majority of my youth had I known about it then.

After the movie we replayed the dance scenes and (probably against commonsense) tried out some of the partner lifts in the hotel room.

Then, bed.

–Saturday, March 4th:

This day was show day (and my mom’s birthday.)

Becca and I both slept in until about 1pm. Then we got up and walked to a creepily authentic diner called ‘The Diner’ and had lunch… I got three mini cheeseburgers, which were surprisingly good… somehow, I am always dually enchanted and weirded out by places and things that are so exactly what they are that it’s borderline surreal … because it’s so real… now I’m on crack and talking in circles. I’m basically saying this was was the epitome of midwestern diner complete with crazy wait staff and blue plate specials…

After lunch, Becca and I walked to get some ice cream and on the way stopped by a local store where I bought copper rings for Jerry and I, and some silly penguin earrings that I both adore and probably won’t wear cause it’s not really like me… but I just loved them, so who knows… they were pretty inexpensive anyway, so whatever.

Then nap before show. Then show. It went really well considering it had been so long. Also, I had an easy show because I wasn’t doing any of my solo or duo things – which was good because for some reason I totally felt like hucking the entire show. I downed a fistful of tums right before going on for Traj.

After the show during Q and A it was cool because a bunch of the people from Chad’s and my mental health place class were able to come because the lady who organized it all set aside tickets for them. It was really fun to see them and to have them of seen our show (I’m unable to properly verbify that sentence right now… I’m tired.)

After the show we walked around to the front of the theater to take a picture of the marquis which was the old school kind you change with a stick… it had “diavolo” in big red letters. I still get so excited by that kind of stuff like a big, big nerd. Then we walked back and randomly watched about five episodes of nip/tuck — again: addictive and amazing. I have like three new Tv obsessions… or more: 24 (not new, but RE-newed,) Grey’s Anatomy, nip/tuck, desperate housewives… to accompany Lost, America’s next top Model, Project Runway, Arrested Development, the Office… oh man. I’m such an escapist. I LOVE TV!!!!!! (drool… drool…)

Came back to the room and called mom and listened to her open her b-day present, and then went to bed. (Happy Birthday, Mommy!)

–Sunday, March 5th:

Travel day. Up early to walk back to the diner for another authentic experience… only to be disappointed by them not being open on Sundays… that sucked. So we rushed back to the hotel and made it just in time for the hotel breakfast… yum-ish… but not really.

After breakfast we had more than enough time to go upstairs and finish packing before we had to be back downstairs to catch the vans to the Omaha airport… especially since the vans ended up being a half an hour late. Becca and I saw on the news that Chicago was in the middle of facing the brunt of a snow storm and that all flights into and out of O’hare were delayed… so we assumed this was okay. When we got to the airport, our flight was indeed delayed by about an hour, and so a group of us huddled together and watched more nip/tuck. This show is only *slightly* less embarrassing to listen to in public in an airport than Sex and the City.

The flight was fine, and we arrived in Chicago greeted by snow… which was wonderful. I love, love, love snow… and I think I realized for the first time it’s in part because it minimizes the world to just what you can see, so horizons are smaller and spaces less intense. Everything gets smaller, quieter and easier to handle.

Also, at the Chicago airport, there are signs that you can order a “friendly local” to show you around the city. Sounds like a really, really weird escort service to me. Randomly, I also was reminded of the bathrooms in Korea, which had “courtesy bells” in each stall… basically a doorbell that you would ring if your visit to the bathroom was going to be rather audible… the bell, supposedly would mask the inappropriate noises escaping from your butt. This, I called to mind as I visited the ladies’ room post flight and was assaulted by a woman giving birth to a trumpeting walrus-sized poo-demon. I have no idea why I felt the need to share this, but there it is.

We drove about 45 min to downtown Chicago — like, heart of downtown — and to our amazing freaking hotel. Our room has two beds AND two bathrooms, and is as ornate as anything you could imagine. I don’t know how we lucked out with another five-star Hilton, but here I sit in my enormous room. Only drawbacks to huge, extravagant hotels: no free internet and no free breakfast. Wah, wah, wah…

So! First we made a beeline to H&M, a store I wish, wish, wish was in LA and/or Seattle… but! it was closing, so it was not to be that night. On the way back, we stopped at a local Chicago must-do: Garret’s Popcorn and I got a bag of half cheese and half caramel corn… it was really, really, really good.

After that excursion, we settled in to our hotel rooms before eventually making our way to a local pub where I got a burger and others got chicago style deep dishes (cause you have to…) and we watched the pre-show and the first part of the Oscars on the pub TVs. Then, during one of the lulls we walked back to the hotel (in the snow, and in the shadow of the L train’s rails above our heads,) and we settled in to watch the oscars in our room.

Once the oscars were over, Becca and I randomly decided we wanted to watch a movie (starting at 11:30pm by the way – cause we’re retarded…) We had been flipping through the hotel’s movie selections (a plethora by the way) and saw they had “Walk the Line” and we were set on getting it… so we called everyone up and had a Walk the Line party in our room.

It was such an amazing movie – but the downside was all I could think about during it was how (now) I was totally pissed Joaquin Phoenix didn’t win the oscar for his part in it!!!! GRRRRRRRR. Because, rarely do I ever watch a movie and while I’m in the middle of experiencing it do I stop and marvel at the acting I’m seeing in it… and this movie was doing that to me… and it made me mad/sad. I’ve also apparently lost my ability to eloquently express emotion… me mad. joaquin good. oscars eat poo poo.

Then, bed.

–Monday, March 6th 2006:

I got up this morning to my alarm telling me to get up to meet Renee for breakfast. I didn’t get up, my body was just too happy in my really nice hotel room bed. So instead, I sacrificed my arm and pulled it from it’s sleep spot and called her and said we weren’t coming after all. Over the next hour or so both Becca and I half-slept until we finally got up and got ready (in our dual bathrooms! woooo Hilton!)

We had very serious shopping plans for the morning: back to H&M when we had enough time and weren’t rushed by it closing, and then to Urban and then Forever 21. I allowed myself only the liberty to shop at H&M – justified because we don’t have them anywhere near us and also they sell in sizes that run small so it fits both Jerry and I very well. In the end I spent $30 less than I allotted myself and got some perfect stuff for Jerry. I only got a canvas coat and a satchel bag, and even those were really inexpensive considering how freaking rad they are (again, eloquent…)

I did, however, cave to some staples from urban that were on sale for half off (my favorite broken-in heathered tees they make) and a tank top…

We took a break in shopping to go to lunch at a local (ish) restaurant called Potbelly’s. It’s an “ish” because apparently there are more franchises of them, but we definitely don’t have them anywhere near anywhere I’ve ever lived/been.

After, we came back and chilled in the hotel room until Becca had to leave to teach at about 3:30. I randomly got engrossed in an even more random movie called “Hostage” which I stumbled across on Starz as it was starting and nothing else was on TV. Becca was going to be gone for about 6 hours, and I chose to be entirely antisocial and have some much-needed hermit time… which I spent on the phone with Jerry, my mom, going to McDonald’s (shamrocks shakes are great, by the way,) and renting “Memoirs of a Geisha” from the hotel TV (sooooooo good… both enhanced and detrimented by the fact I’ve read the book… ask me why sometime.)

When the crew from the class got back, we all walked about 10 minutes through downtown to a restaurant called Giordano’s which we had been recommended to for more (supposedly the best) Chicago-style pizza. It was pretty good, but SO MUCH cheese made me feel kind of sick, so I cut my night short (skipping out on plans to go to a blue’s club to come back to the hotel and chill a bit. David and Crystal stayed in my room and talked a bit before we all called it a night.

Downtown Chicago reminds me of a mix of downtown Seattle and downtown Philly… with maybe a touch of Manhattan. Also on the way home from dinner, we took a small detour to go by the Sears tower. It’s tall.

And now, bed.

–Tuesday, March 7th 2006:

I woke up early when the Passages team called our room to invite us to go to the aquarium with them. Sadly, I had to teach at 1:30, so I couldn’t go, or else I would have of had to leave 45 min after having paid admission and then pay for a $20 cab ride back all by myself.

So, instead, I took my time getting ready and walked around downtown exploring for a bit before heading to Quizno’s to get lunch to go and eat back in my hotel room.

The class I taught was at a high school that was about 40 min away from downtown. It was nice because the high school had a performing arts track and so the kids were engaged and talented. John and I were teaching, and everything went smoothly — something I’m extra grateful for because we randomly were being viewed by Jacques, the board of the Chicago performing arts group who brought us here, and is bringing us back year for a week to two week residency and performances.

One thing, though, was that I apparently hurt my back really badly. I was carrying John (he’s 200 lbs, but we do this all the time just fine,) and went he jumped into my arms he jumped funny and I tried to compensate… which, while I can catch and carry him, I can’t do a rescue-hero catch… and I totally killed my back. I felt fine all day that day, but the next day (today) I woke up with a terrible back spasm and unable to bend, lift, curl or brace myself. It’s pretty much awful… I’m not concerned long-term, but I’m worried about the show and tech tomorrow and the next day.

Anyhow, after the class (we got back about 4:30pm,) I went back up to my room and got ready for a company dinner. The Chicago presenters (who had been at the class and who are sponsoring us for a stay next season,) took us out to a crazy-nice Italian restaurant called Trattoria no. 10. They had a special menu with appetizer, salad, entree, dessert and wine options for us and on the top was printed “The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Welcomes Diavolo” it was pretty trippy.

The dinner was (amazingly) good and the presenters are so much fun and so attentive and nice. It’s crazy because the season that they’re putting us as a part of for their subscribers is: Us, the Bolshoi (Russia), the Kierov (Russia), Alvin Ailey, and a couple other modern dance heavyweights I can’t recall right now. Talk about pressure. I can’t believe (I mean, I can, but it’s so surreal) that we are starting to be included along side the companies I studied and was in awe of in college. Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

After dinner they took up to go see the theater we will be performing in… it’s gorgeous. It’s called the Roosevelt, and it was built in 1889 and in acoustically perfect. They said anyone who is anyone has performed on that stage (Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix,) and it’s where Pres. Roosevelt accepted the nomination for President. It’s a 2500 seat house — bigger than the venue we were at in Korea. I’m soooo excited.

After we saw the theater, Becca and David and Crystal and I all walked (in the rain) to what the presenters assured us was the best local Blues club called Buddy Guy’s Legends. We stayed there through a long, lovely set and a half by a rather endearing blues band.

Then, back to hotel to sleep.

–Wednesday, March 8th, 2006:

We had to be up early so I could check out before I had to go teach another class. I spent the morning packing, and had just enough time before I had to meet the van driver to go to Corner Bakery for a breakfast Panini. This time it was Renee, Leo and I, and I was mostly the voice of the class due to my back. The class was fun, and after we came back to the hotel, got our stuff from the bell desk and headed out on the bus (but not before I stopped at Chipotle’s for a burrito bowl to-go.)

We had a 6.5 hour bus ride ahead of us to Cedar Falls, Iowa, which was elongated by about three hours of traffic leaving the metropolitan area of Chicago. On the bus was more nip/tuck, Little Britain and Desperate Housewives (I’ve only just watched one episode so far, and it seems pretty good…) We made a pit stop at a McDonald’s/Gas Station mid-way, and finally got to our hotel at about 8:30pm. This meant (since we were in central,) we had almost no time before the finale of project runway came on. We pretty much all simultaneously checked our TV’s only to discover we didn’t get Bravo.

However, the ever resourceful Crystal somehow found out for us that the hotel across the parking lot (a holiday inn – we’re at a day’s inn, a far cry from our Chicago hotel…) had premium cable in it’s lobby bar. So we all (literally about ten of us) trekked over and sat in the hotel bar and watched the finale.

Two things: 1) Chole won, and I shocked and OH SO PISSED. SO TERRIBLY PISSED. I can’t even discuss it further. I am just angry. 2) In the middle of one of the commercial breaks on Bravo we randomly saw a full 30-second commercial for our upcoming show here!! It was pretty weird to see…

After, we came back to our rooms and Becca and I hung out and lamented that the internet here isn’t working (we called tech twice, they gave us the run-around.) After Conan and some infomercials, I randomly came across a movie called “taxi” which came out a couple of years ago and at one point had mildly interested me because Jimmy Fallon is in it… but them I saw the preview and lost all interest. Either way, I ended up watching the whole thing before I went to bed. It was pretty shitty, with some funny stuff every so often.

–Thursday, March 9th, 2006:

Finally back to a place that provides us with breakfast, Becca and I got up to go get the continental by 10am. Then we came back and napped until Garrett came a knocking to discuss possible alterations to the show because of my injury. I’m down for not changing much at all, but they’re being very protective of me, which is nice, but frustrating. We’ll see how it all pans out.

We’re about to go walk and get food. We’re on the main strip of a small town, so surrounding our hotel are a bunch of awesome, awesome fast food places. (I’m gross.) The air smells like snow here, but it’s not snowing even though it’s cold enough. I always marvel how places like this where it looks like such a small, crappy little town compared to where I live (both places) always somehow come up with sold-out crowds. I want to ask them where they all come from, but I bet that would probably come off sounding condescending. Ah well.

Applebees for lunch with John. I am going to miss him next year.

Nap.

Tech – which was frustrating for me because we had to alter all the dances to accommodate the fact I can’t move my back much.

Then Taco Bell, now: TV and bed.

First off, I’m in the middle of doing my tour journal… it’s just not ready yet… so instead I offer the following to hold ye over:

1) my cell phone’s photo blog at text america… it’s my camera phone’s little corner of the world wide web: http://melindoir.textamerica.com

2) the following (mostly idiotic survey)…

10 states you’ve been to:
1. WA
2. OR
3. CA
4. CO
5. NE
6. FL
7. LA
8. TX
9. PA
10. NC
(Plus a whole lot more. Touring rules.)

9 lasts:
Last dollar spent: my ring and my ice cream
Last cigarette: poop on cigarettes. I have enough problems breathing as it is.
Last beverage: Diet (eewww) Coke
Last movie: “Girls just wanna have fun”
Last phone call: My mom
Last Song Sang: “Pon de Replay” and “Since U Been Gone” in the women’s dressing room before the show… it’s a ritual. We HAVE to play them and dance around like crazies. If not, we delay curtain until it has been done.
Last bubble bath: Ugh… it’s been waaaay too long. Just ask my dysfunctional muscles.
Last time you cried: yesterday.
Last thing you ate: the food the theater provides us before the show: sammiches.

8 have you evers.
Have you ever dated a best friend: currently.
Have you ever skinny dipped: I think my swimsuit has come up upon jumping into the water before… but that’s not skinny dipping, that’s just bad planning.
Have you ever kissed someone & regretted it: only that damn banana slug. my lips went numb.
Have you ever lost someone you loved: lost meaning? yes, I believe so.
Have you ever been dumped: nope
Have you ever been drunk and threw up: I have been drunk and I have thrown up, but not relatedly… shockingly enough. I think I’m the only one of my friends that can say that.
Have you ever run away: no, unless you count going to college.

7 favorite restaurants in no order:
1. Baja Fresh
2. Rubios
3. Taco Del Mar
4. Taco Time
5. Spaghetti Factory
6. O.E. Shi Teriyaki
7. Chicago for Ribs

6 things you’ve done today: (in no particular order.)
1. performed to a sold-out crowd in Omaha (“OmaHEEEY”), NE
2. ate lunch at a real-life old school diner: three mini cheeseburgers and ham and bean soup
3. watched the episode of The Office I missed, but then downloaded from iTunes
4. downloaded season one of desperate housewives (never seen it before — I hope it’s good…)
5. Slept in until 1pm… (last night was late night movie night: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” — Oh my holy crap.)
6. bought a copper ring and ice cream

5 of your favorite things in no order.
1. my apartment in Sammamish
2. all my stuff
3. getting to be on tour
4. getting to be home
5. TV shows on DVD and my iTunes Library

4 people you can tell [almost] anything to in no order:
1. Jerry
2. my immediate family
3. Audrey and Erin
4. Becca and Sarah

3 things that make you smile.
1. good fun music
2. accomplishing stuff
3. friends

2 things you want to do before you die:
1. visit or live on every continent… (Antartica here I come!!)
2. pay my mom back for all the money she’s helped me with/buy my parents a vacation home

1 thing that you cannot live without:
1. the babers

Until I get a chance to get up-to-date with my journal and post my actual pictures on my saffitz photo blog… see ya laters.

I am feeling like crap and am sad I haven’t posted in a while and am also sad that I haven’t left the house today. I am too tired to really write anything, so this is it.

…sigh.