Thursday, December 11, 2008

New stuff!

I have been dreadfully behind on posts, I know, but I've been holding down a full-time job at Giant Multinational Corporation, rehearsing for an off-off-Broadway musical that opens this weekend, exercising, auditioning, writing a book, learning poker, dating and trying to keep in touch with friends all at the same time. That's not even counting personal projects. So it's been a little crazy. There's good news though. I finally finished my legal project, which always makes me happy because it sucks, I've been shopping too much but found amazing deals, I have my very first starring role & I have a new boyfriend! He's terrific. I honestly thought I couldn't upgrade from Sexy Englishman but what do you know, miracles happen. Our first date was election day - go Obama! - & 3 days later we made it official. It's been a few days over a month now. I'm scared, of course, but I'm trying very hard to open up & trust that he's for real. It helps that I've met his family & if we don't see each other every day he misses me (& tells me so, even more importantly).

I'm pretty nervous about my show. It is kind of my responsibility for it to go well, since my character is the only one with a story arc and I am central to almost all the scenes. I keep freaking out, as I usually do, but also tell myself to calm down & be effective. Speaking of being effective, I've stopped drinking for a while to lose weight (that's going pretty well) & I finally stopped shopping. I just need to find time to sleep more. Which I should probably go do right now. Wish me luck, everybody!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Punisher: War Zone even worse than first Punisher

I actually quite liked the first Punisher (I mean the one a couple years ago, I don't know if that was also a remake). Thomas Jane is handsome & convincing, one of my favs Rebecca Romijn graces the screen with her "ordinary girl" persona, & there's just enough torture to keep me happy while still watching. But let's be honest, some of the dialogue in that one was really awful. At least the story more or less hung together. If it's improbable that one man could set up such an elaborate revenge while evading or killing all his enemies, the story did make it pretty easy to suspend disbelief.

New Punisher, on the other hand, barely makes sense. There were so many times when I turned to the Boyfriend (he's new, more on him later) like "WTF???" "No one noticed that?" The police force is basically letting the Punisher (Ray Stevenson) do their dirty work for them. To his credit, the actor actually does a pretty good job with the dreck they gave him. Although it's incredible how he manages to mow everyone down, all the time, no matter what. And the continuity of the story is almost non-existent. My biggest problem with this movie, though, is the absolutely gratuitous gore. I like watching torture & violence, believe me, but this was way too much. We do not need to see the one mobster's super-messed up face every other shot. (& calling himself Jigsaw? Come on. No one can take that seriously after Saw.) I really could have done without every exploding head, not to mention impalings, broken limbs, etc. If you thought Hostel was bad, you'll hate this. This was one long series of lovingly-filmed death throes. I was almost relieved to hear silly dialogue because it was a temporary respite from all the murder.

I did like some of the cleverer fight scenes, but even then it was hard to not think how unreal they were. If you've gotta see this, don't waste $12+ on a ticket. Get it on Netflix & keep your finger on fast forward.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Mistress has retired

There was a bit of a legal kerfuffle last week at one of my dungeons, and I decided I've had enough. I've been thinking about retiring for a while. I am perfectly fine but the head mistress went to jail for a couple days (completely undeservedly as far as I know) so that's pretty much it for me. Plus, they have been absolute dicks about money in the last few months & I don't need any extra stress in my life. It's weird - I thought I'd be happy when I could hang up my whips, but it's a little sad. *sniffle* It's the end of an era...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

sorry guys!

I've been terribly remiss with posts & I apologize. But if you knew how topsy-turvy my life has been... Sexy Englishman & I broke up in May. It was absolutely devastating for the first two weeks, but I'm still here. It helped that I started dating the next day. Although lately it seems that he's been regretting his stupid decision. [Fingers crossed, everybody.] More importantly, I went to a 6-week theatre acting intensive and I learned so much. It was crazy! I haven't slept properly in about four months because first I was too busy dating & going out (oh so much partying), then insanely busy learning scenes. We all did at least 6 scenes in 5 weeks. It was so intense my photographic memory came back, probably in solidarity with the rest of me. Plus, I never thought I could do theatre besides musicals but now I want to try.

School was like therapy, boot camp and social awareness training all rolled into one. As an actor you can't be detached from your life - you have to go honestly with the truth of the moment. I had to stop distancing myself from what goes on around me. Which meant that I ended up crying almost every time I got up in class. It was worth it - I kind of knew I was sitting back, watching my life go by, but this smacked me in the face with that fact and stopped me. I also have a hard time allowing myself to express my feelings, because I'm afraid of how intense I can be, & I had to learn that it's ok to scream & throw shit & cry & do whatever short of physically hurting the other person. I found it incredibly difficult to stop controlling my emotions all the time, so I wasn't very good until my last scene. My partner & I were so good, the teacher just tweaked our scene a bit, let us do it again & said, "Thank you. That was fantastic. You've inspired me to greatness. Next!" No one in our classes had ever finished a scene that quickly. I was walking on air the rest of the day.

I'm working at Giant Multinational Corporation again for a while. It sucks because I desperately needed a rest after school but I had to start the Tuesday after it ended. Money is money though. Business at the dungeon is nearly nonexistent anyway, after the police closed two places. I'm going to try to update more often... wish me luck with auditions & boys!

Friday, February 22, 2008

busy busy bee

A ton of stuff has happened since December. I quit my hostess job at Swanky Uptown Restaurant after a month of stress; I moved about 80 blocks south; I started sessioning at a new dungeon; & I am now into snowboarding. SUR sucked. I liked the food & most of the other employees but the managers were terrible. I stuck it out through xmas, since I said I'd work, so they took advantage & had me closing xmas eve, xmas day & the day after. Plus they made it so difficult to get my hard-earned money I almost wanted to give up & not bother anymore. At my new dungeon, on the other hand, everyone is sweet & doesn't give me any problems. No one yells or orders me around & the head mistress has shown me some new stuff. I never used a hoist or electrical equipment before & now I know how to. Plus we changed my name to a much better one.

My new apartment is great, it's like a little home. I had a housewarming party a month ago & it's pretty much all set up. Things are going well with Sexy Englishman, although he's still scared of the moving-in-together conversation, & we just celebrated our first anniversary together. It was my birthday a week before that, for which he took me to River Cafe (omigod so good) & threw me a party at Pacha (lots of fun & girl kisses). We're leaving for Vegas tonight - I'm sitting in my cozy new home watching the lovely white snow fall outside, & right now I am very happy. Have a great weekend everybody! (& I promise I will catch up on posting). :)