who needs prozac?

Okay, after re-reading the "haiku of despair" post from yesterday, I kind of caught on to the fact that I'm a little down. Nothing major. I think it's just the combination of being between projects and my annual bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

I've been inside a lot lately because I really fucking hate the cold--but that just means I get less sunlight and turn into Albino Grumpy-Pants. What to do?

For starters I'm going to go workout this morning--get the endorphins flowing, get my sweat on. After that I have an audition for a sitcom in which I get to read for a Janeane Garofalo type. And finally, I'm going drink lots and lots of beer (our friend is having a way-belated Octoberfest party today--the man brews his own beer and has a customized fridge with five taps on the side. Wicked Rad!).

And if all that doesn't improve my mood, then I'm a lost cause.

holiday haikus

freezing my ass off
frosty new england winters
suck like no other

Shakespeare auditions
consume my focus and time
yet no one hires

cooking and cleaning
hours of domestic work
kind of drive me nuts

lemonade

Sorry for the long absence, my friends. I've been wrapping up a show and doing a bit of traveling, so I haven't had much time to interact with my beloved computer.

Professional Skepticism was surrounded by an eerie curse... two of our actors sprained their ankles a few days before we went up. Completely unrelated accidents, proving the universe has an even more sick sense of humor than I ever imagined. Here's how the initial conversation with me and another castmate went:

Summer (arriving at rehearsal): Hey, Ben. Seth is going to be a bit late. You heard about his leg, right?
Ben: You mean Bill.
Summer: Um... no. Seth called me earlier today and said he sprained his ankle.
Ben: You mean Bill called you, right?
---silence---
Summer: Bill hurt his leg?
Ben: Seth hurt his leg?
Summer: Oh my god...

You can imagine the rest. Now, this was a few days before we opened, so we weren't entirely certain we could manage. But in the spirit of any seasoned thespian we forged ahead. We frantically reblocked the play to take out some of the more dangerous fight scenes and incorporated Seth's limp (which was more severe than Bill's) as a character trait. I thought we had salvaged the show and we all had hopes of putting on a beautiful performance.

Alas, the Powers That Be did not agree. Unfortunately the "show must go on" edict is not universally known, and as this was a production hosted by an academic group (at a business school), our producer decided to cut his losses and mount a staged reading instead. This news came to us the night of our final dress run and was a shocking blow.

As painful as it was to sit shackled to our chairs, scripts in hand, in front of hundreds of Bentley College freshmen for three nights, I must say that we put on the best damn staged reading possible. Lines memorized, characters fully developed, our freaking staged reading held a captive and entertained audience.

So, to my intrepid cast, thank you for bravely forging ahead, for keeping the faith against unbelievable obstacles, and for helping me laugh about the whole sad situation. I love you kids.

Here they are, my boys, my heroes...