My Halloween Costume!

When Jeff and Joel came to visit me a couple weeks back we hit up Killer Trash, a great vintage thrift store downtown in Fells Point.  My treasure of the day was a Vietnam-era army-issue shirt.  It fit perfectly, Jeff insisted I buy it, and I was delighted to own such an unusual item.  I then decided to make a costume out of it!

Shirt: bought at Killer Trash
Green cap and dog tags: borrowed from Boyfriend
Black belt, black tights, and brown boots: Mine

I'm also wearing little skull earrings and my Phi Theta Kappa "Chapter Officer" medal (thought it was a humorous touch :-p)

In the first picture I'm wearing the outfit at the Phi Theta Kappa costume and game night at school, and in the second pic I'm wearing it at my brother's gig for an open mic night (both events in the same evening, whew!)  I received several compliments on how cute I looked, and one person dubbed me "G.I. Jane".  I plan on wearing it again tomorrow when I go out with Boyfriend and the Lemon Meringue ladies!  (Tomorrow I need to get a pic of me saluting while wearing it. :-p)

"Anarchist" Update III

Show dates and times for "Accidental Death of An Anarchist" at CCBC Catonsville are as follows:

November 10 (OPENING NIGHT :), 8pm
November 11 (My birthday :), 1pm
November 12, 10am & 8pm
November 13, 8pm 


General admission tickets are $8 and students, faculty, and alumni are $5.  Infomation can also be found by clicking on link to the Facebook event page on my sidebar!

"Anarchist" Update II

(Thank you, you wonderful and wise people, for the comments on my last post.  They were really encouraging and reassuring. :-)

We open in two weeks!  Dun dun dun.  Just kidding.  The designers and actors are engaged in a mad dash of preparation, and I have total faith in our end product.

The actors have come to me regularly asking for help with research and to run lines. I find myself looking for every opportunity to encourage them and validate their own creative process.  They're funny and talented people and it's been great to watch friendships being formed as they work together.  I missed that family experience of being in a cast.  Since being a SM and now assistant director I appreciate better the burden of holding everything together and being a support rather than the center of attention.

 
I've been commissioned with two huge final projects to help complete the show.  One is finding a major historical event to help complete Carl's edits.  Dario Fo makes a huge statement about Chile and the Pinochet regime of the 1970's, and I have to find something that is similar but contemporary.  In addition, I'm designing the pre-show music selections!  So excited about this one.  I feel honored to set the tone for the show, and to have my creativity and vision trusted.  When the list is complete I'll post it (but maybe after the show so I don't give too much away). 
 
There's also a task involving the scenic design that I'm involved in, but I don't want to share it juuuuuuusssst yet. ;-)  Gotta have some surprises to bring you to opening night!
 
I'll close with a song of rebellion brought to you by Jefferson Airplane. 
 

We Dream Or Are Asleep

I've been thinking a lot about my future lately.  To be honest, I've been thinking and worrying about my future for most of my life.  I was the kid who always wanted to be older, taller, better, and usually, anywhere but here.  I started college in the fall of 2008 and some days I feel like I'm no closer to my degree than I was two years ago (not actually true on paper).

Becoming active in the school's honors society (which heavly emphasizes academic success and transfer to a four-year institution) and pursuing every theatre opportunity that came my way encouraged me to be even more anxious about where I was headed.  I decided last spring to declare my major, even though I'd secretly known almost from the very first month of college that it would be theatre.

Over the past two years I left one serious romantic relationship and entered another.  In that time I've dealt with scars and doubts and memories and mistakes, and arrived at a very blessed and happy place.  My recent conclusions about Boyfriend have left me content and excited about that part of my future.

In less than a month I'll be 24.  Ugh. Ew. Gah!  I'm glad the community college enviroment is an equalizing one, because otherwise I'd feel even more discouraged and out of place than I already do some days.

I'm rambling because I'm so full of questions.  Is pursuing a bachelors degree worth it at this point in my life?  Am I stuck in my parents house with no car forever?  (That one is an obvious no, just an extreme frustration.)  Is theatre a viable career path for my life, even though my own doubts and people's patronizing attitudes scream of its impracticality?  Is that my biological clock I hear beginning to tick?  And in light of the last two questions, how can homemaker and actress possibly occupy the same body?  I know my capabilities,  and to be honest I fear the person that I am now could do one of those things excellently and both together poorly.  Why did God give me passions that refuse to intersect?

Thanks for allowing me to whine and worry.

"Anarchist" Update I

"Acting is a thinking man's game." -Prof Carl

We are about three weeks away from opening night of "Accidental Death of An Anarchist" here at CCBC.  This will be the shortest amount of time I've spent on a production process (we started rehearsals the last week in September, totaling six weeks of rehearsal- very long compared to the professional world).  Professional and undergraduate productions move at a much quicker pace then community or club theatre, which up till now is all I have been involved in.  I speak of the brief time period with my sympathies to the cast.  They're all struggling during this our first off-book week, and if I was acting instead of directing/researching I probably would be too.  Also I'm watching the design team and crew putting their nose to the grindstone as the first flats and frame of the set where put in place on Monday.

But I'm feeling the pressure of deadlines for my own job too.  As the dramaturg it's my job to know and understand as much as possible about the play, the playwright, the time period, contemporary events, the characters, the past productions, etc etc etc....and I honestly I'm not in a place where I feel I've adequately researched any of that to exhaustion.  I've kept the focus a bit more streamlined by focusing on the author's belief's and motivation for writing the play, public reaction to the play itself, indiosyncrasies and personalities within the play, and political events in relation to the play and our production of it.  As you may imagine from the title the text is heavily steeped with political issues and events.  In addition, we're updating some of the text as we go along to make "Anarchist", written in Italy in the 1970's, relevant to our time, our country, and our town (something commonly done wherever this particular play is put on).  This requires Carl, myself, the cast, and the rest of the production team to constantly be on our mentals toes for ways to make the show engaging and contemporary.

The show is transitioning into a hard place.  For the next three weeks I'll be helping actors drill lines and deal with all sorts of unforseen frustration.  Costumes, set, lights and blocking all need to be created and finalized.  Up till now it's been the bliss of sitting next to my mentor and having fun, but there's lots of hard work in store between now and November 10th, for everyone.

Listening Session

While listening to (*Fin) by Anberlin:


Debbie: "So yeah, you can see why no one knows what he’s saying.”

Nate: "I’m pretty sure Nirvana was more coherent.”

Debbie: "But Nirvana didn’t love Jesus, so be quiet!"

A portion of (*Fin)'s lyrics were ad-libbed in the recording session by lead singer Stephen Christian.  His words were disputed by fans for a time after the album Cities was released.  I personally find it to be a very moving and raw piece of music. 

October Postings

[Sorry I really fail at making this a monthly post. :-p]  This month the bulletin board has a theme, you could say...

1) Kinkade calendar (I decided I'm not going to have a calendar for 2011.  I either put events in my Blackberry or my day planner anyway.)

2) Pictures of Shannon, Boyfriend, and Selene.

3) Program from "A Doll's House" at Vagabonds last month.  It was sooo good, and I'm studying one of the scenes for KCACTF.

4) Flier from "The Perfume Counter."

5) Ad for "Twelfth Night" at Spotlighters.  My good friend and fellow-actor Tim is in it.  So excited for him!

6) Our promo poster for Anarchist!!  Isn't it cool?! :-)

7) A little stuffed Kiwi a friend brought me from New Zealand.

Me > Monday

I'll just say that yesterday was a Monday in all its unpleasant and obnxious Monday-ness.  It had me grumpy and worried and not feeling well.  But a few things made today very bearable:

-Working one-on-one with a lovely student actress, and watching the transformation that took place as she found a connection to her character.
-Learning to sing the soprano part of "Carol of the Bells" in acappella choir.
-Having a dinner out with Boyfriend, whose conversation and company never fail to delight me.

So take that Monday.  You may have had me down, but you'll never have me beat!

Lots to Say on 10.10.10

I'm writing this entry on my brand new toy- a BlackBerry Curve 8900! I'm still figuring out its features, but I like this Word To Go application a lot! My note-taking and blogging has possibly changed forever, haha! I really like my new phone, though I'm not sure I'll like the higher monthly bill that comes with it.. I'm really hard on my electronics, so I ordered a super durable shiny red cover for my [crack]berry. Can you feel the excitement?! :-)

I really owe you guys a substantial update on what I've been getting into these days. I literally went from doing one play to another in a week's time. Midterms are this week (I actually already had one yesterday). My physical well-being fluctuates from day to day, and I'm still getting less than an ideal amount of sleep.

My school sent out financial aid refund checks, and my award was very substantial. I spent a lot of it already, between the BlackBerry, donations, bills, and things for myself that I've been waiting on or need. I hate to see money go so fast, but it is nice to catch up on obligations and still be able to enjoy myself. I've capped my spending though and will use the rest to help me through the coming weeks. Rehearsal cuts into my work hours. :-/

That brings me to the current big news. I didn't make the final cut for Anarchist, nor did I end up being stage manager as per original plan. I was really heartbroken for about a week, and it sucked to have that disappointment happen while I was carrying out my Perfume Counter responsibilities. Fortunately my family and close friends were really comforting and supportive. And as a testament to happy endings, I was invited to do something better than what I asked for- I am Prof Carl's assistant director and dramaturge! I feel incredibly honored that he made a place for me that is such a fabulous learning experience. At first I doubted that I could make legimate contributions to the show and was planning on just sitting and watching, but no! Carl has had me completely engaged with the whole process, doing research, and given me the freedom to speak during rehearsals. I'm eating it all up and so happy to the point that it’s hard to stay focused for my other studies. Balance is something I'm still aware of learning! I'll post more about our show, Accidental Death of An Anarchist, as the process develops.

Today (Sunday) we're visiting "family"- Jeff is on leave from Afghanistan! I'm so happy and excited he's here safely.

Mk, I guess that's sufficient Debbie inundation. Have a great week!

Hold Please

Today my skin was healed enough to wear a dress and tights and heels for the first time in many months.  Today I was a practicing assistant director and dramaturg.  Today I accidentally killed my cell phone.

Today was a good day.

"where me and things go together"

I have exciting new jewelry!

I take great delight in my ring collection.  I rarely buy rings, but when I do they must fit perfectly and they must be distinctive or meaningful to me.  Yesterday on a jaunt up to Pennsylvania I visited a vendor in an Amish market for overstocksilver.com.  I fell in love with so many of their affordable and lovely replica designer pieces, and settled on two Tiffany's-inspired rings:


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The first ring is of course a homage my darling muse, Holly Golighty (plus I've been wanting a big ring for awhile, and on my little hand this piece makes a statement!  The second ring immediately struck me as distinctive.  In Japanese culture the dragonfly is a symbol of happiness, strength and courage.  I had recently been wearing a thumb band with the word "courage" on it, but the poor quality of the ring was starting to become obvious.  Now I have a new reminder of courage to shine on my walk through life. :-)

To top off the glamour, here's a photo that my brother took of me yesterday.  I like it. :-)

*blog title taken from a line in "Breakfast At Tiffany's"