Thank You...

...
to all the vets who serve and have served and will serve to protect our ability to blog about whatever we want to, to assemble about what we want to, to pursue our dreams, to live our lives in relative freedom, to elect whom we want, to pursue happiness, and to love whomever we want, to disagree with our government, to work for change...

Especially big remembrance and a sorrowful thank you to those who lost their lives doing this. I am humbled by your sacrifice.

Thanks to all the families of all these people too. You make huge sacrifices every day.

,Michael

Sunday at Lake LBJ

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The effects of my lack of claritin were starting to get fairly obvious by Sunday. Still not feeling up to par. I also had a weirdly sore throat: not sore when you swallow or on the inside, but from the touch on the outside to the adam's apple area. (Today that seems to be going away.) I toyed with the idea of bailing on the lake house party, but went to Central Market to get something to take, remained un-inspired, took dried fruit to munch on in the afternoon. And headed out. I haven't been to one of these in a couple of years, so I'd been fairly excited to make it. And Frank and Michael are in town, etc.

On the way out 71, I pulled out the tape player and started making notes on Ponzi and a great idea came to me...and I rattled it off into the player and finally had to stop because I was in Kingsland already. (about an hour outside of Austin)

The party was fun. Just chill. Sat and chatted with folks on the edge of the sun. Then moved to the shade. For awhile there, these lakehouse parties were full of people I didn't know...sort of circuity type guys, who weren't really mingling and such. Sure the old regulars were there, but spread out amongst these guys. This year, it was just the fun people. Great group of folks. It's at Steve Kubenka's beautiful lakehouse. Organized by Rob and Doug. Just a time to sit and chill and talk and eat and such. Rob and Sammi circulated a large plate of delish devilled eggs. Rob and Craig (Megan's husband) grilled amazing hamburgers. (Frank said they ground their own meat before I got there! Now that's fresh! And one way to be sure you don't get those pesky ground meat diseases!)

I stayed a little later than I planned to, but I was home by 10pm. Came in and worked on the papers some more. To bed relatively early...

Nice Day.
Hope you're having a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Cheers!
,m

Saturday, 29th of May: The Report of the Day, not the Snippets Post (below)

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I felt a bit odd that day. Worked around here. Worked on Ponzi. Almost skipped a fundraiser for the remount of "The Psyche Project", which I believe they're calling "re:Psyche"... it's being staged differently this time...at the Blue Theatre, not the Brockett. Fewer actors (many have moved on already). Some of these are hanging around just for this, before they move on to LA or NY.

The fundraiser was fine. I was glad I went--the heat had deterred people and they were tired and not doing as well as they'd hoped. I had a beer or two. A little food. Watched pinata attempts and other games, for which they sold tries for a dollar. Chatted with a few folks who are on their way out of town. (as in permanently, as in graduated, as in gone)

Came home and read.

First Mistake:

...
On Friday deciding that the brunt of allergy season is over and discontinuing my daily claritin-generic allergy pill.

Second Mistake: similarly phasing down the nasal corto-steroid sprays to one a day...

Third Mistake: forgeting the spray all together today.

After going back on my claritin and taking one spray and napping for 2.5 hours, I feel okay. A bit weird and groggy, but hey, maybe the iced coffee will help with that.

,m

[7:09 pm: nothing a good leisurely building to cardio bike ride won't cure! great time for a ride! I think I may shower and go get a piece of Julio's chicken and come back and Ponzi all night!]

i swear, this useta be a picture show
©2010, mitchell

Garlic Breath.

...
So I'm wondering if our aversion to someone else's garlic breath is really that it reminds us so vividly that we are taking in air that was just inside of them.

I wonder if in some cultures there's a similar aversion to minty breath...
(so hey, I guess minty breath would remind us of the same thing, no? just pleasantly...)

That being said, pickled garlic from Hruska's is amazing on top of hummus! Yum!
(If I see you today, you might stand over there.)

We're all closer than you think!
Cheers.
,m

Saturday, 29th of May...

...
~Chatting via email with Eugene in London... sounds like they're having fun... scoot over to Community Matters to see the stories of Italy (note: his new blog format only does the first pic and such, be sure to click on the "read more" blue link at the bottom of each story to see the rest of the associated pics and story!) http://www.communitymatters.biz/ It's like the old days on CM over there: lots of rich pics of Italy and people he's visiting etc.... you can live vicariously!

~Frank and Michael are in town from DC. Great to see them. Went to Perla's on SoCo last night and YUM, YUM, YUMMY! No wonder Esquire mag and all the national press is raving. It's all seafood and fish and it's good! We were celebrating the esteemed George Forgie's 69th bday with John Hildreth and Steve Davis! Very nice dinner!

~Had a cocktail in DaZee's DEE-luxe apartment in the sky before heading out to Rain. Wow, two weeks in a row. I'd better watch out; I'll get a reputation! Being a holiday weekend, it was much more fun than last! More people I knew. Great energy (never went next door to challenge my theory of the OCH energy suck)...

At one point Frank and Michael were dancing. I went to go dance with them. (The song was changing and DaZee was leaving the floor.) I went to make some hip-hop inspired entrance, but the floor was slick and my boots slipped and I teetered and tottered and ended up catching myself on the wall... everyone was looking to see if I was going down....oh my... it's great when the old guys come out to play, huh? But hey, I didn't fall! And I danced.

Frank, Michael and John left to call it a night. I decided to hang out for a little bit longer with Steve. We were crossing the patio and who did I run into, but Jeff Taylor from College Station. Jeff is Melissa's ex-boyfriend from A&M who later came out. I hadn't seen him in awhile. Nice guy. It kinda caught him off guard. He said, "I don't know whether to shake your hand, hug you, or kiss you." (meaning social kiss) "All three!" I guess it's hell running into adults you knew and not sure if you're supposed to say the sir thing or what. His friend he was talking to was a little taken aback until I turned to him and said, "Hi, I'm Michael. I was his ex-girlfriend's father's partner." It kind of caught the guy off-gaurd and he immediately warmed up. We only chatted for a bit, but it was good to see him. Looks great!

~CONGRATS to Ashley Helms graduating with many many honors and awards today from Houston's Memorial High! Yay, Ash! She's off to Duke in the fall. CONGRATS to Scott McQuien, who graduated last Saturday from Episcopal High in Ft Worth and he's off to A&M in the fall! Wow. I remember when they were all babies and .... oh well!

~Today's update on the F1 Racetrack: looks like it's been secretly planned for three years, so it may not be as sudden as it seems. Okay. I'm resigned to it. It's cool. I've vented. We talked about it a bit last night. John and Steve came down on the opportunity side. Frank on the horrible carbon footprint of car-racing, espeically these. So... it's out there. Doesn't appear to be public funds/abatements involved.... so I'll shut up, for now.

~Today's Statesman: Perry calls EPA an intrusion into states' rights. Give me a fucking break, dude! The Clean Air Act is the law of the land. When GWBush beat Ann Richards in 1994, he immediately gutted the authority of the Texas Environment Quality Yadda Yadda... many good, dedicated employees left because the agency became like a front for business: Yep, you need a permit, come see us, we'll make it happen. (wink, wink) NOT: let's make it happen within the Clean Air Act laws that protect air quality and such. We've waited 16 years for the EPA to finally step in and enforce the act! Thank God they are! And Perry screams that it's gonna kill the most powerful economy in the nation. Duh... it might be easy to be that when you don't play by the rules that all the other states play by... then fight to not have to provide health care to all the people you kill with the bad air! Republicans... ?!?!?

~Same article mentioned all the Texas Counties that are in non-attainment of the act.. and that Travis is borderline. Hmmmm...on the other hand, about that racetrack....

~It's hot here in Central Texas. Summer has arrived. As have the mosquitoes, which took a long time getting here, Thank God, due to the colder winter. As has the ranting season! Brace yourself!

~Last night before Steve's apartment at The Spring, I parked and looked up at a stunning one day waning "full" moon, very deep orange, just cresting the new buildings over by the interstate side of down town... I was between The Spring and RR track and all I could see was a line of new, sleek high-rises, mostly residential...and the lake and the Long Center...and this big ol' stunning moon. It's a new world out there, Austin. Dang.

~That's all from The G! Enjoy your holiday!

Cheers!
,m

what da bee sees
©2010, mitchell

Elitist?

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I've thought about Eugene's comment all day. (see posts below about pending Formula One Race in Austin) The comment forced its way into the forefront of my brain and won't dislodge. My response to it has ranged from defensive to angry to questioning to resign that I may even be a little "elitist" and then, that I'm okay with that. (Thanks a lot Eugene, for messing up the first half of my writing day. But I got my laundry, housework done while I was working all this out. So jeez, it's okay. I still love you.)

First the line I've seen a few times about these cars not having much emissions or whatever. Hogwash. How do you even start to measure the carbon footprint of using a giant plane to fly in a car and extra tires and supply and crew and staff and personal chefs and such from Bahrain and Abu Dhabi and Russia and Germany for a race?

I'm sorry, but with the oil slick in the Gulf, I think about things like that.

And besides all the clogged airplanes for spectators and inconveniences and smog created by chock-a-block traffic, I also think about the scores and scores of thousands of spectators arriving via autos at the event site and idling on SH130 as they wait to exit/enter. Hmmm, what is the carbon footprint of all those limosines? Limos from Dallas and Houston and San Antonio because the hotels are full in Austin. Hell, limos from downtown Austin.

My first point was we need to take a serious look at the culture of "expanding" sporting events that continue to frivolously burn through fossil fuels--regardless of the "ROI" ["return on investment"] or the perceived international swankness of the event(s).

I still believe all that. I personally think the NASCAR enthusiasts currently have more than ample tracks around the country (world) for their sport. There is a huge one in Ft. Worth; I've driven by it.

So I opposed government support of such a new track (which I've since learned, a Formula One track apparently is much more expensive and elaborate and specialized than a NASCAR one) and at this point, it appears there is no government abatements/funding--except for the State using it's special events funding to help local governments cover the costs of hosting such mammoth events. I'm okay with that.

My comments about whether Austin is a race track kind of town might be somewhat elitist. AND, yes, I'm okay with that too. In my opinion, Austin is not a race track kind of town. Nor was it a Disneyland type of town, when those rumors/trial balloons were going up twenty years ago. Nor was it a giant baseball stadium crammed on Town Lake sort of town back in the 90s--that went to Round Rock. It's not a giant water park kind of town--those are in San Antonio, New Braunsfels, Williamson County (planned?), Houston, Dallas, etc.

I saw in the news this week where the City is slowly putting lights on the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail. I remember when a developer wanted to light the whole thing twenty years ago and the citizens of Austin went ballastic and opposed it: why? Because back then Downtown was our living room. Everyone went downtown to eat and drink and catch up and walk/jog around Town Lake (now, Lady Bird Lake). The cry was: "We don't want a River Walk like San Antonio! We're Austin!" And the lights were cancelled. Now there are so many people living down there, it may make sense. The lights don't bother me; merely making a point.

Yet these days, Downtown is the land of tourists and $15 glasses of wine and $10 parking and glitz and style shows and pretty people--an area that most people I know avoid, except for special shows and events--unless, they chose to live down there. There is that. I was in Steve's beautiful condo just this week, as I reported, and it's beautiful and it's on the edge of downtown and I'm glad they have all those, but...

Is a huge fly-in of the über-rich going to only exacerbate this divide? Will it suddenly pump up demand for Downtown and they build more and more, until it becomes even MORE of a blockade to try to maneuver around, intead of the place we're all going to?

A month or so ago, I'd heard that some guys were shopping in Austin for land for race track. I'd heard they wanted Highland Mall (I mentioned this to some folks a few weeks ago...and predictably the response was very negative.) Can you imagine the noise and the impact on central Austin? So when this article about the F1 racing snuck out without a location, I was suspicious as to where they'd want to try to cram it into the city via statewide elected officials--and you have to admit the Republican Statewides have had a thorn up their butt about our independent way of doing things and our liberal lifestyle for years and they "Austin Bash" year after year during the legislature so that their moneyed friends can have the breaks and laxity to build whatever/wherever--just like they get in other parts of the state. (And if The State were to buy the land, then it's not subject to City of Austin zoning and regulations. So central Austin wasn't totally out of the question. I have no indication that any politicians wanted it there, but having heard that separately, it wasn't as farfetched as it might sound at first blush.)

I always find it highly ironic that wherever I go in Texas, whenever I say I live in Ausin, other Texans always say, "Oh you're sooooooo lucky." But then their elected officials are constantly trying to do everything they can to make Austin as much like the rest of the state. Hunh.

So yeah, I'm elitist when I don't want Austin to be like the rest of Texas. I own that.

My comments about Williamson County being more suited to a racetrack are still fair: Williamson County has a history of supporting these types of projects (the Ice Bats, the sports arena, the Dell Diamond, the water park, etc.) and that's okay. That's what they like. Also, I was trying to imagine the soils/land availability in Travis County: the west is all hills and rock and the east is all clay. But these track developers have apparently located a tract along the new SH130 toll road, which as Robert says, makes some sense. The tollway will ultimately go almost to San Antonio and people can zip right up it to get there--and ditto if they're coming down from the North, they can avoid the Austin congestion and get right to it. It's on the Houston side of town, so it will be easier to get to from there as well. There is currently a lot of unused land out there on an under-utilized tollway... So that point probably makes some sense. (if you forget about the "green" aspects of it!)

As far as NASCAR and the image: I didn't create the image of the NASCAR guy as the southern, conservative Republican. I know it's a stereotype, but as in most, there is a lot of truth in it. A lot of them might consider themselves tea partiers these days. A lot might consider themselve blue dog Democrats. Whatever. I consider Austin a liberal town--every state needs at least one. I consider it a thorn in the side of the statewide Republican party. And thus I could easily see those bigwigs sitting in their back rooms, smoking their big long phallic cigars, trying to out-homophobe the next one--while secretly checking out his goods--laughing at how they'll finally get the conservative base to move to Austin: RACING!

So these were all floating around underneath some of my earlier comments. The angry tone in them came from the oil spill in the Gulf and people just caring about the "ROI" and profit and exploitation and going ahead full-throttle, ignoring it and its implications.

When do we finally say we can't go on like we have been? When do we finally start making the hard choices? Start changing our lives to get off our addiction to gasoline? What if they spend all this money and that happens soon and it's a bust? Who will eat it? What if we start building infrastructure to try to meet the demand of this event, who will fund it? What if the increased infrastructure sits lagging during the other weeks of the year and thus fuels a vicious cycle of a demand for more? (Hotels, expanded convention center, etc.) What if it's a bust? (Apparently some are.) Why is the City even bothering to create the high-level position of Sustainability Officer if we laugh in their face and create something that totally flies in the face of sustainability--just because it's glamorous and has a good ROI?

I personally think there are many factors to be discussed, considered, and talked about--as Austin is so famous (infamous) for doing.

But no, they're ramming this down us because they want it to be up and ready for the 2012 race. And if it's not? As Robert pointed out, that's when they put these things on the streets and he lived through one of those in San Antonio and he says it's a nightmare.

It's not organic to Austin, like our other huge events (ACL, SXSW, ROT Biker Rally, UT Football Games, Inaugurations, Legislature, etc.) It's being rushed. And IF that's all happening in the private sector, without any local funds or abatements, then hey, I'll shut up and see what happens and possibly eat my words someday. Then, I will say I was wrong. But there's still that little nightmare going on in the Gulf of Mexico right now that's making even that seem a little dirty.

Now, the part of my earlier posts I feel most necessary to clarify were the comments about SUVs, Vans, and Trucks. I really do intend those as societal problems, not individual. I see certain groups where it is a status thing to drive a Navigator or an Escalade or Suburban or whatever, bigger is better. Or another group where giant trucks with cattle guards on front is huge, though they never use them for work. Or others that still drive Town Cars and Cadilacs. My point there was to start chipping away at that mindset. To start asking the difficult questions. And in my rant, it may have come across as a personal attack--that is not my intent.

Hey, you could easily argue that many new SUVs are greener than my 1998 6-cylinder Lexus. It's true. Whenever this wears out, I will switch to a much smaller, more economical car--if a car at all. But my modus operendi in all my purchases--auto or otherwise--is to buy very good quality and then hang onto it forever. So, I could also make the argument that I'm being more green by not buying, by simply driving what I have into the dirt. It's not great for ending the recession, but everything I've read says it's the best route for personal finance and for the environment.

Simply living simply with the things I already have.

Cheers!
Now, my mind has released it; I can go back to my previously great momentum on Ponzi.
Have a lovely, safe, green Memorial Day Weekend.

KissKiss
,m

another bang a comin'
© 2010, mitchell

Good Day of Actual Writing...

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A lot of work done, based upon recent work on legal pad and such. Yes. This time, we're slowly plodding to a good finish.

Tonight, after writing, I finished up some mostly stale New Yorkers... ie...ones I'd read most of what I wanted to read, but just needed to finish up to see if I wanted to read more or not.

Not much else to report, except Kitty is really on a strawberry ice cream kick. He won't eat vanilla any more. He just sniffs it and leaves it for Biggs. Tonight we tried Haagan Daz mango--yum! But ditto. He just walked away. He takes after Melissa, I guess!

BeYOOTaful full moon tonight. BeYOOTaful night.

Have fun!
,m

Cooper Boatright

(pic snagged from her FB page...hmmm, which means it's small... oh well.... squint, dammit!)

...
was in fact born yesterday, the 26th...or in fact from what I can piece together on Stacy's FB page (posted by Ryan) Cooper was 8+lbs at his birth. And Mom is supposedly doing fine.

Congrats y'all!

,m

Horoscopes:

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LIBRA:
(FreeWill Astrology:)

It's time to think comprehensively, not defensively . . . to see futuristically, not didactically . . . to fantasize fantastically, not diplomatically. Your assignment is to stop reacting to every little blip that leaps into your field of vision, and start surveying the long-term cycles of your life from an expansive vista. Be a proactive visionary, Libra. Be a high-minded explorer. Weave all the disparate threads into a tapestry that reveals the big picture. The next phase of your liberation requires you to slough off petty concerns and trivial details.

LIBRA:
(Today's Statesman:)

If not for creative people, the world would be a dull place. The best part is, you are one of them. You're about to have a breakthrough.

YES!

(Brief) Addendum to Formula One Post/Rant Below:

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Woke up this am, thinking Austin doesn't need another weekend (week? ten days?) when you can't fly in, you can't get a room, the restaurants are full, the streets are gridlock. I mean, we have SXSW, ACL, ROT Harley Ride, UT football games and graduations, etc. And those are fine, they're organic to the town, meaning: they grew up here, the town grew up around them. Thus if I'm stuck in traffic trying to get across a bridge during SXSW, sure I'm annoyed, but I'm a little bit proud too. (Note: Milinda's email response to my post last night mentioned the same thing.)

The story, of course, is all over the Statesman today. The race track alone will likely cost $150-200 million. It's a huge fly-in of the über rich of the world and thus the choice of Austin for its entertainment and lifestyle and location and hipness and climate...yeah,yeah, yea...

http://www.statesman.com/

So, in the Statesman, it doesn't seem quite so final/decided as it did in the post last night. The investors wanting to bring it here claim no state or city funds will be used to build the track. We'll see. We'll see if: they can pull it off, if there really won't be any city/county funds involved, if it happens if it isn't a flop like some of these have been.

Apparently former mayor and state senator Kirk Watson was a big player behind the scenes and state funds will be used to help cover costs of putting it on--like they will the superbowl in Arlington next year.

I realize it fills hotels and rental cars, which have huge taxes on them, from which much of the City's funding for the arts comes. But still. If there's not enough rooms, which there won't be, they'll build and build more hotels, which will be too many the rest of the year, unless you expand the size of the convention center (again!) and have more big fly-ins...which fills the town with tourists and low-wage service jobs (even as Sematech is likely moving to NY and Dell is cutting Austin jobs--real, solid jobs, lost)

So for now, I'll shut up and watch. But JUST for now. I'm sorry, but international playscape of the ultra-rich is not the Austin I moved to or want to stay in.

,m

Happy Birthday, Lynn Helms!

the eyes have it
©2010, mitchell

Have fun today! Cheers!
Love,
Pepto

Cooper Boatright Today?

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I saw on FB that they're going to induce labor if Stacy hasn't given birth by Wed--and guess what, that's today...

So in the midst of all that rant and angst of one notable post below...is the hope of much joy.

Melissa's best friend, and a member of the family for decades, Stacy Boatright and husband, Ryan Boatright are expecting a boy, Cooper, and unless I just haven't heard or something's changed since her post on Monday, today's the day.

Here's wishing them all the best!

Love,
,m

(deets later as they unfold)

the gulf
©2010, mitchell

Formula One Racetrack in Austin?

...

I saw this on FB tonight... it's from the NY Times. And it made me furious.

http://formulaone.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/formula-ones-u-s-return-to-be-in-austin/?src=me&ref=sports

Apparently our pathetic excuse for a governor and Susan Combs, ditto whatever she is now (comptroller?), have been working to bring some big new state of the art formula one racetrack here.

People, please, there's an oil slick the size of Maryland in the Gulf of Mexico--it'll likely be the size of Montana before you read this. Can we NOT expand sports that require huge usage of fossil fuels?! I mean, we're trying to find ways of turning down our carbon usage in the real world (carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, requiring much higher fuel economies, Car2go, biking, etc.), do we really need to expand sports that burn it up like crazy?

Notice I said "expand". I didn't say shut down all the existing racetracks, the Nascar, the Indy, the whatever this and thats--although, I personally think they should, but hey, I'm realistic and I realize these things take generations to change. But meanwhile, we could put a moratorium on building new tracks and limit the number of races per year on the existing ones.

Sure, I get upset at all the suburban sprawl and the apparent need of many people to drive SUVs, Vans, and Trucks. It's time to change that too. Hey, we all (mostly) were raised in sedans and station wagons, it's time to make them the norm again! I hear people say they want an SUV because old people can get into them easier. Sorry. The world is dying. That luxury's over. All it takes is a hand helping them in and out. Or, they want one to carry their Home Depot and Costco and Levico and Petco and Smacko purchases. Sorry, ditto. They usually fit into your car--especially a station wagon. Or, they need a place for the dog(s) to ride. Sorry, I have a 70lb dog and he's riden on my leather seats of my sedan for more than 12 years just fine. Not necessary. People claim they feel safer in big trucks and SUVs. Sorry. You might be safer in a collision, but only because you're putting the rest of us, who are at the normal level at a much higher risk, AND, you're less safe on icy roads and at a higher risk for rollovers.

Yes, Tom had several guzzling SUVs, and many other family members and friends have one or more of the above. I'm not pointing individual blame, but collective, societal blame: It's been the norm. It's been too easy for too long.

Now that I've ranted, I'm not for outlawing those things. I'm for substantially increasing the taxes on them. Trucks, Vans, SUVs, etc. That's all. If people really need/want them, feel they have a legitimate reason to drive one, then they can pay the premium and it can be used to offset some of the societal costs of doing so. No moral judgment. And maybe, someday, they'll work their way out of our addicted systems...

But all that being said...I can understand those arguments. I don't always agree with them, but I can understand them. They're not necessarily selfish arguments; they're what people have convinced themselves of. Okay, I get it. Pay the tax and go right ahead if that's what you believe you want to do.

But I don't understand and can't support the expansion of sports that guzzle gasoline like Formula One Racing, Nascar, etc. (And yes, someday soon we're going to have to take a hard look at boats and personal watercraft too.) In my humble opinion, these all pretty much amount to fiddling while Rome is burning.

So for the last month, I've been seething and aching and depressed over the BP disaster in the Gulf and then I see this piece in the NY Times and it made it all blow. It's time for a change of perspective, attitude, priorities.

But frankly that's not all. It's coming to Austin? Get real. Austin doesn't want that shit. We're not a Formula One type of town. And, to think Texas is facing huge deficits and such and the State is bringing that here. Huh? (I don't know how much, if any, state funds are involved to bring it here. How much tax abatements, if any. It's not in the article. So I may have to eat my words on this part--but have you seen anything come here lately that wasn't pumped up with economic stimulus packages?) We can't fund medicare or higher education or our parks or whatever, but we'll bring a state of the art race track here while the Gulf is dying? Nice.

I hope it falls apart and doesn't happen. I hope no City of Austin or Travis County officials and tax dollars are involved in bringing it here. I'm not sure what I'd do if they are, but it won't be pretty. [I went back and looked and in the linked announcement/story, Mayor Leffingwell is supporting it...so we'll see.] I imagine it's likely in Williamson County. It's more their style. Let them pay for it. Yikes. I'll have to wait to learn more. I'm probably reacting too much too soon, but I'm sorry, with all the shit going on, it just hit me the wrong way and it unleashed all sorts of pent-up anger at this whole realm of related issues... (as by now, you're well aware)

Breathe, Michael, breathe.

Oh yeah, breathe. Hunh. I haven't even touched on air quality. Our metropolitan area has been teetering toward non-attainment for years. You know they don't build state of the art race tracks for one race. There will be races year round. If that sorry governor of ours and Mz Combs cause us to hit non-attainment, that will be pathetic...but not surprising, they seem to relish those type of things as badges of honor because the more pollutants and gasses and obnoxious shit you can do with the environment is alway a good thing, isn't it? It means business is thriving in Texas and that means votes.

Bullshit.

,m

Hagen Daz

...
I was always a Blue Bell Boy.

No more.

I guess it was because BB came onto the scene about the time I started buying groceries in the early 80s and it was relatively local and advertised how wholesome and contented it was....and yeah, it was pretty dang good.

For most of the last decade, I've bought the individual cups of Homemade Vanilla and shared one with the boys at bedtime. Until I realized it's sweetened with High Fructose Corn syrup... then I realized it has all those preservatives in it. Jeez. That's wholesome and fresh and contented. Not. [The individual cups weren't necessarily portion control... I only want a little bit and I can still do that with HD...but I want it to be fresh and not have icy particles on it when I open it up...thus, it was just the right size, 3 oz...but alas...that's over, BB--I've found a new love.]

So first I tried Central Market's Organics brand. And I tried for 3 or 4 months to like it. It's just grainy and powdery tasting and yeah, it's the only truly "organic" ice cream I find, but it just doesn't cut it taste wise....

Then I tried Hagen Daz. OH MY GOD! Yeah, at first the vanilla (my favorite flavor of all ice cream flavors) tastes a little odd, when you're used to the saltier taste of BlueBell (no salt in Hagen Daz.) Then you realize it's the taste of natural freshness--like fresh whipped cream when you use to love Cool Whip. It's very similar to my experience with organic cottage cheese. It takes a few times to get used to the difference, but then you realize you're actually detoxing from that salty taste. And once it sinks in.... oh my... there's no comparison.

Hagen Daz is pure, with amazing natural ingredients and delicious. (So okay, it's not organic... whatever, it's beyond yummy!)

Okay, so I'm a little late to the circus. Sue me. But now I've learned. No more BB for me! Well, unless you're scooping, I'm sure a little bit won't hurt me.... just most of the time...

Cheers!
,m

The Moon Tonight is...

...
...nothing more than a muted glow, like a bulb behind some sheers or something in someone's apartment, over some balcony, between big leafy pecan trees.

I worked outside tonight, by the Carnaval Tree, under the big fan and the warm, cheery lights. A good night, but I couldn't quite get lost in it because I was having to also work at keeping Biggs on the sheet I'd laid out for him. (Don't want him to lie in the grass and exacerbate his allergies.) It was our first time out back this year and he kept wanting to move over to the grass... but he finally got it. Pretty much. It's nice out there. It's so nice this year with so few mosquitos.
Give me a cold winter EVERY year, PLEASE!!!

Today, I discovered the hike and bike trail through Pease Park. Wow! An untapped bike avenue! I mean, I pretty much knew it was there all these years, but I've never been on it. I was in the mood for something different, so I decided to head over there. I bike down 29th a lot to Breed and Co; there's a bike lane... so I decided to go a few blocks further and cross Lamar and explore... Wow! Loved it. I biked all the way down to almost 15th St, where Pease Park ends... the trail crosses Shoal Creek there and I think it goes on to Town Lake? Or, at least the signs say it does! Cool! Future adventures. Plenty of frisbee golf dudes playing; biking through a leash free doggie zone; joggers and bikers--some obviously commuters (the trail continues on to 38th St and to Shoal Creek Blvd...which is a major bike path all the way up to Anderson Lane...) A very nice ride this evening--fun, different. I haven't been in Pease Park in years. A lot of the trees have grown up and you really don't see the traffic from Lamar during most of it.

Came home, made a delicious stir-fry before heading into the back yard.

Last night, I had dinner with Steve Davis. First we met in his new deeee-luxe apartment in the sky. (from DaZee to Weezie) He lives on the 23rd floor of the recently opened Spring Condominiums (goes on up to about 44 floors.) It was my first time in there. The lobby and halls were somewhat tight, but his condo was stunning--and that's what matters, ¿right?

He's in the northwest corner, so his view encompasses Lady Bird Lake, the hills, west Austin, down at the flagship WholeFoods, Waterloo Records, etc. and then around to UT Tower, the Capitol and some downtown buildings. We sat on his balconey with a glass of wine and watched night fall on that part of the city, looking at what I think is Mt. Bonnell in the distance. Great!

We walked over to Ztejas for dinner. It was fairly empty, but then again, it was 9pm on a Monday night. I hadn't been there in years. My chile relleno was very good. Came back to Weezie's 23rd floor condo and watched a Lady GaGa video and caught the view in full dark before heading home.

That's it, of late.
Trying to be less social until the weekend. Relaxing, working, getting things done. It's all good.

Cheers!
,m

big bang theory
©2010, Mitchell

Catch-Up ...Busy Busy Busy....Jeeez!

...
~after I posted my MDA results, I slept for almost 3 hours Thurs. exhausted from lack of sleep and very odd dreams and such the night before and driving down and back by 3:00pm... sort of a lost day...but a good day.

~Friday: worked, biked, washed, gave Benjamin a bath... he has hints of last year's red stuff coming back, worked the Resi-Cort into those places and it seemed to help. He's still itchy, but not too bad. So far, we're just barely staying ahead of it--without doing the bathe him three times a week.

~Friday night Hector came over about 8:30. We had a glass of wine. Headed downtown about 9:30. Went to Lambert's. It was after 10:00 when we were seated. I don't think he was too impressed. He'd kept saying to choose wherever I wanted to eat, but was secretly craving a steak, but wouldn't say that. Jeez. Then, he was happy they had a fancy steak on the menu and the waitress recommended it as their most popular item, but it took him a bit to get used to it being seared in a syrup or something. And, they don't do baked potatos--which he claimed was the kiss of death of a steak place. I reminded him we weren't in a steak place and Bonanza serves baked potatos. (And whose KOD? Lambert's is doing quite well from what I can tell.) Then they brought the wine out in jug glasses. He liked the wine, but was missing real wine glasses. He was a good sport...pretty much. Because he was glad to go inside his favorite building in downtown Austin (old 1800s general store on corner of 2nd and Guadalupe)

Lamberts has such amazing sides, that you share...we had aparagus and friend okra, which were good (I liked that okra was left long.) But, I couldn't sell him on the green chili grits--I didn't even try the collard greens. Oh well.

Then we went to Rain and OCH. Rain was kind of fun, packed. We had a drink. Chatted with a few folks. He mentioned checking out OCH. So we did: energy suck. About a third full, if that. Lethargic. Same ol', same ol'. I was ready to go home by the time we finished a beer there. You know the feeling, you're doing okay, having a good time and then you walk into a place that drains the night right out of you. Ironically, by this time the line to get into Rain was to the end of the block. Hmmmm.

For a while, there seemed to be some synergy between these two bars, but not anymore. OCH is tired. (And sometimes that's a nice thing, but it's tired and doesn't know it's tired. It's trying too hard--whoever heard of turning up the lights and trying to turn half a gay bar into a sports bar!?)

Oh well... came home. Couldn't go to sleep for a long time. Slept horribly because of eating red meat so late in the night, coupled with the drinks.

~Sat: I took several naps to make up for the night before. Piddled in the office. Filed MDA papers and stuff. Mowed the yard with the rotary (non-motarized) mower to try to pump in some energy. Mixed results.

~Sat, late afternoon, went to a function at Kevin and James' house for The Care Communities. Nice to catch up with folks I haven't seen in ages. Didn't know that Pamela was actually married. I'd seen a status change on FB, but wasn't sure that was the case (that's always so weird on FB anyway....) David Manning is back in town from San Miguel de Allende. We had a nice chat. Poo Pouri inventor and magnate Sergio Batiz and partner, Gerald were there. I told him I'd seen a new product by Poo Pouri out there called "Trap a Crap", which he says has taken off (geared at hikers and hunters and such when they're out there in the wilds!)

~Left there about 6:30, exhausted. Came home and lay down and had some more caffeine and some EmergenC and finally got to the "7 Doctors and a Master" Graduation party after 8:00 (it started at 7, at the Art Authority...) Martin is the Master. Kelly is one of the Doctors. Fun to see his family, meet his sister and 2year old niece, meet Kelly's family--especially her wonderful grandmother. Fun time. But I was more mellow than I might've been. That's okay. They were all a bit worn out from all the Grad stuff.

~Home just before midnight. Went to walk the boys around 12:20, planning on falling into bed early. Well, at the end of the street, a half-drunk quasi-homeless singer/songwriter on a bike, toting a big guitar case said something to me. I was turned back, waiting for Fernando. He asked if I knew who lived in the house on corner of H and 44th. I told him it's a Home-Away home (nightly rental)...he'd noticed people were always up late there but different people...he'd wondered who threw all the parties. (I think he was hoping to befriend them.)

The guy was talkative--VERY. You know the type--fried too many brain cells, but obviously might've been smart if he'd tried. Too young to be a Vietnam vet, but acted like one, and older than me. He went on about songs and music and how one was performed in a concert and when he was a sophomore in high school, he and four friends always sang it, and one day they yelled it as they swang off a rope into a river, one at a time. He was number 2. Numbers 1 and 3 drowned. The mother of one of the dead boys gave him that album to remember him by. I didn't learn if that boy was 1 or 3.

He asked what I do, and then he started asking all sort of questions about my plays. We slowly were making our way up Ave H during this. We got to the Fresh Plus parking lot, where we landed like cement and we kept on talking about them.

Then, out of nowhere, he starts telling me his idea for a screenplay, in EXCRUTIATING detail--giving lines of dialogue, names, relations, what we see, etc. I kept waiting for a break. The boys were not amused; they were ready to get home to their treats. He finished it and before I could say anything, he'd started on another one.

The conversation wasn't uninteresting; the guy was a little off, but not threatening or anything--any other night I might've engaged. But, I did talk with him about certain plot points. Both ideas were (at this point) pretty clichèd plots of action/thriller types. I say "at this point" because who knows if he could work them into something interesting? Maybe. He kept saying "I do genre types, genre."

Uh-huh. Got it.

Toward the end of the 2nd screenplay, when he got to the idea of how he might give it a surprise shift to a spoof/farce/romance, I'd had enough. I told him he'd lose his genre audience. He countered that "Scream" had been that, that you didnt' know it was a spoof until halfway through it... whatever. I cut him off and said I had to get home with the boys. He was a little tiffed that I was just ending it and sulked off toward Quack's or La Dolce Vita on his bike.

I think he would've talked for hours. It was about 1:40, when I got home! Jeez is right!

~Today, I slept until 10:30 and could've gone longer. I went to a brunch at Michael and Rachel Fefferman's very cool re-done ranch in south 04. (between Oltorf and Lightsey) I hadn't been in that area in years. A lot of cool re-dos happening in there. They take these little ranches and explode them--or they tear them down and build new. Fun brunch--and of course, Rachel had some amazing things she'd concocted. Yum!

~Came home and read the Statesman. Took a nap. Was going to go to Central Market to get good stuff, but was starving and when I was practically already salivating over the idea of fresh bread and good cheese, I realized it might turn tragic, if I went that hungry! So I made my annual summer batch of pimento-cheese here and started the NY Times. (It's one of those things I make about once a summer.)

Decided to go on a power walk right at dusk. Made it past the UT Tower, which is all orange with "10" in the windows for graduation. Then up Guadalupe--about a 1.5 hour brisk walk. Came home and showered and finished the Times.

~This is a fairly busy week and approaching holiday weekend. But I'm hoping to get some good work done.

So there, in not quite as excrutiating a detail as my guy was giving me last night, you're caught up. Did you want to be? Of course you did.

Cheers!
,m

"Keep on Doing What You're Doing."

CANCER REPORT:

Just drove in from MD Anderson. My scans came back clean. So that means my second remission is now technically longer than my first remission was (and they always say your first is your longest!) Yay! AND, I don't have to have another round of scans until January! (I'll still meet with my Austin oncologist in September and if he feels the need based upon how I look, feel, bloodwork, etc...then he may order some...but more than likely, not!)

So great news! I'm exhausted from a choppy night's sleep, getting up at 5:30, and driving down and back. I'm going to take a long nap. But I told you I'd post. So I did.

Thanks for all the help, love and support!

Cheers!

Love,
Michael

Batmobile, Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage, Numerous Log Cabins, Dead Trees, Two Guys on Horseback...

...
...leading another horse (oh no, horse rustlers!?!?), a wreck in which if no one got killed they've been living very very right, two scissor tails chasing off a crow, Company, Kiss Me Kate, hot pickled garlic, haze from Mexican fires--or are those local fires?--Berdoll's obnoxious electronic sign in the sky is also selling bling now (and pecans), a car painted like a zebra, Praise God signs, vintage car lot, the big white water tower with the smiley face on it on top of a hill of pines, "Home of Hope Floats" sign, dead: possums, armadillo, raccoon...

These are just some of the things I saw (or listened to) on Hwy 71 either last night or today, en route to and returning from Houston for tests at MDA. (Except for a huge turtle on the shoulder, the I-10 leg of the trip was relatively boring both ways.)

I couldn't believe I was seeing so many dead trees. There are tons in Austin because of the drought and then cold winter. I assumed it was similar causes there because a lot of these were pines, so I knew it wasn't the vast oak wilt carnage you'll see in other directions. Coming home today, I was suddenly struck by how there were all these dead trees on one side of the road but not on the other--then I remembered the major forest fire they had last year, during the drought. Ohhhh...

Got to Lynn and Chris' house about 7:30 last night. They were at The Ashley Show! (Their wonderful daughter Ashley won so many awards at her Sr awards last night, we were thusly teasing!) She's off to Duke in the fall. Lynn had projected they'd be home around 8ish and then we'd catch a late dinner. Well, I read an article on Oskar Eustis in an old New Yorker and they got home around 9:20. We caught a late dinner at Houston's...which has a delicious French Dip! Fun to catch up. Lynn and I sat up past midnight last night.

I was up and out of the house as light broke this am. I had to be at MDA at 6:30, but I didn't get there until 6:40. Oops. Oh well. I must admit that going that early is kinda nice. They're relatively on-time all the way through. I was through and at Starbux having a coffee and a sandwich by noon and home by 3:00 and had a 1.5 hour deep sleep. So, except for how much it throws off your clock, it's fine.

Results here on Squirrels LATE on Thursday afternoon/evening.

Meanwhile, I can't shower for two days because of the bone marrow biopsy. So I can't really exercise or get it all sweaty...but I can sponge bathe.... and I will.

Otherwise, that's it.

So hey, maybe you oughtta take a drive down a funky non-crowded highway yourself and don't get on the phone (most of the way I had nothing playing--just silence) and you too will be surprised at what you run into!

kisskiss
,m

untitled*
©2010, mitchell

(*can see too many things in it, and tonight, I want all to be equal by their anonymity)

My Argentine Weekend!

...
Central Market is taking a page from Neiman Marcus and doing an annual "fortnight" type thing. I don't think they're calling it that. But this year it's Argentina! And I haven't even been there yet, but my dear friend, Kelly Howe, (aka "Chit") posted on FaceBook yesterday: [Kelly Howe] suggests Austin friends get over to Central Market while the bakery there is still making alfajores (I think until Argentine Independence Day on the 25th). Best alfajores I've ever had. They are seriously off the hook.

So I must head over this week and try these off-the-hook alfajores! Maybe you should too!

As you may or may not know, Kelly's serious squeeze and also my dear friend, Martin Zimmerman ("chat") is graduating from UT's Playwriting program with his MFA next week. (Oh, yeah, and Kelly is getting her PhD in Performance as Public Practice from the UT Theatre and Dance Dept, as well! Congrats to both! Yay! Yeehaw! Shazam! Zip! Bang! Pop!) But I digress...seriously, digress. (churchlady: "sorry") Martin's mother in Argentinean, her name is Marta (important later in this post.) Martin has explored many Argentinean themes in his work and has been to visit family there.

Well, only thinly related to that bit of information but a part of the circular arc of this post, Sat night I was at a party at Diane Hyatt and Bill Morarity's stunning house in the hills. It was a lovely, Brazilian themed (the country, not the hygenic manuever) dinner, by the pool, catered with yummy yummy food from the new Brazilian (ditto) restaurant, Rio's Cafe (corner of East 4th and Pleasant Valley). On my list of must try places (although I still love Sao Paulo on San Jacinto) Anyway, it was an amazing night for mid-May in Austin: no humidity, clear, pleasant temp, no bugs... I'd met a few folks, had some nice chats, good Malbec, etc.

I was winding down, thinking I'd head back here and maybe resume where I'd left off writing that afternoon. But I was introduced to a beautiful and interesting woman, Nila, with whom I began talking and then others joined us, Martin and Nadia who are fabulous Argentineans. All fun folks. We talked of Buenos Aires and it's large Jewish community and Austin and Internet startups and playwriting and proms and sex advice and wine and real estate and dance and defibulators and cancer and Still Fountains and Caddy scholarships and on and on. I ended up staying until almost 1am. We were the last guests out there! Bill and Diane had long since joined our table and it was fun.

Today Milinda and I went to a nice afternoon party given by my dear dear friend Greg, at his most lovely (and large) new home, The Embassy. It was a nice, intimate gathering of folks, honoring his sister, Tita, who was in town and who just became assistant dean at the University of Maryland, and also honoring Steve Franden. Well, as you may or may not know, Greg and Tita's father is Argentinean. So we talked of that. And in the process I learned that Tita is a nick-name for Marta. She's very charming. I felt like I knew her well, but I've only met her once. (Maybe it's Greg's many fond stories of her?)

And having come full-circle in my very loose Argentine connections with the realization that Tita is short for Marta, I came home and walked Benjamin and lay down for a nap and slept an hour and a half. Jeez! Read the papers. Chilling out. Dreaming of South America and a nice big glass of a delicious Malbec! Cheers!

Hmmmm...now about those off-the-hook alfajores!

,m

Last Few Minutes of May 16th...and I don't recognize my life!

...
Okay, so I'm lying. My dream was wrong. I didn't win the lottery by the 15th. I still recognize my life. Who knows what it all meant!?

I merely imagine that some things set in trajectory in my head or elsewhere might affect said life in said near future and I won't be able to recognize the things that consume a lot of my energy at this point in my life?

That's all I know.
Well, that and...
Clarity is a drag queen in Tempe Arizona and she got deported!

KissKiss
,m

may 16th
©2010, mitchell

Lena Horne & Kermit the Frog Singing "It's Not Easy Being Green"

...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPvZR6DTbq8&feature=player_embedded

Welcome to Your May 12th, Hump Day...

may all your hurdles be of pretty colors
© 2010, mitchell

la cleavage de la esposa de la greench!
©2010, mitchell

or,

sometimes in life you gotta open the purple-shelled clam to find the pearl

mother smiley
©2010, mitchell

or,
blink and you'll miss happiness

Hi Y'all!

...gettin' up in the mornin'...

©2010, mitchell

But now, it's late. Hey, so what. Are you counting? I'm not. Better to be up, posting, than in bed wondering if the account will come through tommorrow and if I did all I could to ensure it does and we land it and I'll be most popular and most productive at office and get the next bonus in order to pay of this and that...and then, tossing and turning and rolling and burning and all that. Yeah, all that.

Strangely enough, I did a bit of that last night. I don't remember why, but I got in bed early, yet couldn't sleep, tossing and turning and thinking and shit. Oh well, it is what it is. I guess we all do that. I remember at one point having a quasi-dream about Les and Tom and it was weirdly calming. Okay, sure. (The night before I had this dream about Mexican Nationals and Milinda and Robert and me and true love and multi-colors and lots of people and cars in colonial towns and stuff...so hey... maybe it's the season, ¿no? So although it was 2:30 or 3:00am when I got to sleep, sleep wasn't restful for me, again.

Today, I got up around 8:15. The landlord's guy, Sal, was coming back to work on sealing underneath the house and I had no clue what time he'd show up. So I got on up. It was fine, but it threw me off. I wasn't rested enough, coffee wasn't doing it, I wasn't ready to be in the world yet. So I made the piece of art above as how I felt. (Yet, it's perhaps a bit more chipper than I actually felt.)

A lot of it is Benjamin. He's in allergy hell and having a lot of ghost itching and waking me up all night long. He's getting old. That's just that. It is what it is. On the front porch it takes him forever to get up. I think he needs carpet, but the same thing happens on the rug in our room. Getting old is hell.

Another big part of it is the approaching May 15th. Whatever that means. I had a dream that did two things: 1) told me that I wouldn't recognize my life after May 15th, and 2) I should play the lottery all the time until then. Huh?

I mean what would constitute "not recognizing" your life? Falling madly in love? Winning the lottery? A fire? Encephalitis? A stroke? (deflect! deflect!) Someone buying your work and taking you to another level? Someone close to you having a problem where you need to focus on that? Getting some beauracratic job and suddenly spending your time buying right-of-way or something? Losing the boys? I don't know. It's just weird. Dreams have been very very vivid lately and sort of imposing and directional. So hey, I might be in Mexico by the end of the week with Milinda and Robert, chasing this hot Mexican National's almost as hot brother. Yeah, it was the "almost as" in the dream. But there were a lot of colored walled houses and a big wooden door where women would wait for me to knock and he would answer. Yep. Dreamland. Pack your bags, Milinda and Robt!

And yet,

I've made great great progress on Ponzi this week. A lot of fun working on it. Today took awhile before I clicked and then I had an hour and a half hard sleep in the early evening...before I biked to Half Price Books and came back and showered and then worked some more.

The next few days are really exciting--not for my whisking away to Mexico--but for the new places we'll go in Ponzi! Yay!

And I biked yesterday and I stir-fried and I prepped for Sal and I'm glad they're finally sealing off underneath the house--maybe it'll stop the possums and the fleas. Typhus? Maybe that's it?!? (deflect! deflect!)

So, life is good. I bought my lottery tix. I'll buy the latter half of the week during the latter half of the week...

meanwhile, I just maintain and wait and work and chill and send out a big ol' cheers to everybody!

I'm happy. Life is good. I did some other art today too. I'll post that next!

CHEERS!

love,

,m

Lena Horne, 1917-2010

...
"I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept," she once said. "I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked." "I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept," she once said. "I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked."
--a quote in the AP piece on Lena Horne's death on http://www.statesman.com/

Wow. Is that a haunting quote, or what?

Lena Horne will always be one of my heroes. Period.

I didn't discover her until I was about 20 years old. I think I'd heard of her, but don't think I'd ever heard her sing or anything. So, I met her after she'd reclaimed a lot of her anger and dignity and decided that to be Black in America didn't mean you had to be the nice Black that Whites liked. It meant you were to be yourself, to be proud of your heritage and your people, to be proud of how you broke down barriers, to demand that your people were allowed into the places you were allowed to sing, and to stand up for wrongs against other Blacks and all people.

It was about 1981, when I first became enamored with Lena Horne. I was alone in the living room at our house on Westside. It was my last summer in Sherman. I'd just come out to myself and a very limited circle of very close friends, but no family yet. I'd met an interesting guy the night before I packed up and came home, but I never saw him again. That's okay. It just was. Yet, I thought about him a lot that summer, about the what-ifs....

But I was alone in the living room, the front screen door was open (yes, we had one then--but back then I hated it because it seemed so old-fashioned on our 60s ranch house), it was hot. The a/c was out and dad was closing Toppers and we were tight on funds and they had two kids in college and it was okay, even if it was a horrendous record-breaking June heat wave. So by the time the heat wave hit, it was impossible to find an a/c repairman available. So we mostly just rode it out. I'm sure I bitched a time or two, but that just was. Our neighbors, Dussing and Margie said we could sleep at their house. Sister said we could sleep at 811. Yet, I didn't. I wanted to be home, for that last hot summer.

And I was home that Sunday night in June, when Sundays meant stores were closed and people were off and Sundays were slow and relaxing (I'm still angry about them over-turning the blue laws...) Who knows where Les was, but the rest of the family was at the Raquet Club in Denison, and I sat alone--thank God--and watched the Tony Awards.

It was the beginning of the Tony's tradition.

And, Lena Horne came waltzing into my life and shook me up and had my crying so hard. Crying for a million things: one, her apparent slight of half a century on B'way and the Tonys; her power and elegance and confidence and humor, in spite of all that; for the similarity I was feeling at the time--the idea of realizing I was an outsider (later, I would go through periods when looking back, I would probably more easily identify with her quote at the top of this post--the good gay...the gay that didn't offend...the token gay... the I like you, but I don't like... yeah, people...I heard all that... a lot. And while you think you're complimenting the person, you're really cutting huge chunks out of their soul.), and ultimately, I identified with her song that night, If You Believe from The Wiz, which became one of her signature songs.

Here, please please please click on this and watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8bG_Rml0cg

You can see that amazing performance for yourself. Watch how she immediately plays to the balcony, apparently they were standing for her and watch how slowly the White power folks of Broadway were to get to their feet when she came on-stage. I mean, by this point, she's a Legend. (capitalization intended) And yet...I'd bet every one of them considered themselves a liberal.

And yet...
She thanks them and gives them one hell of a performance, and she had a confidence and elegance and poise that a 20 year old just coming out gay boy in Texas drank in like water and has kept in his DNA ever since.

That was the beginning of the dream--or rather, of believing that it was possible to dream and pursue them. That was a moment I fell back upon many times in my life. That is a youTube clip I've returned to over and over again during my slow progression as a playwright and in this ever-changing, new adventure of my life--this point of finally believing in me. (yeah, I know I've posted it before and blogged on this... click on it anyway....she just died, you owe it to her to watch again!)

I hope you watch it. I hope you can feel just a hint of that tingle, if not cross over into the world of her many many fans and admirers and people whose lives are much easier because of her.

We have truly lost a legend. Goodbye Lena Horne, I never knew you, but in many ways I knew you very very well. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love,
Michael

a big ol' bunch of happy squigglies, tied up in a string, for my most precious mother on mother's day
© 2010, mitchell

Happy Mother's Day, Betty!

Much love!

Jr.

[And, to all you other mothers out there--you know who you are--your own bunch of happy squigglies on mother's day!]

Cheers!

,m

"My Uncle" Jackson, Farewell for the Summer to BW, Dillon, Screw Top Wine on Wedding Anniversaries, etc.

...
Spent the early part of last night at Julianna Sciaraffa and Manny Lee's son, Makhai's 2nd birthday party. It was at their very cute "new" house in the 1940s neighborhood of Rosedale--the opposite side of Central Market from Hyde Park. (Great job of Realator-ing there, Robert Torian!) It was a fun party, with delish BBQ from Franklin's BBQ--a trailer operation on Manor Road. YUM-MY! I highly highly recommend the pulled pork! (I didn't try the sausage, but it and the brisket were both yum-my!)

Makhai had specifically requested a "Dance Party" (and amazingly for a two-year old, "he" requested no gifts... teehee)... And dance we did. Earlier in the day, Juli would play a bit of a song and Makhai would either say "I like it" or "No, I don't like it." And thus, the playlist, which included The Twist and Rock Around the Clock and Hey Yeah and other hip-hop and dance-pop, etc...

And his favorite these days? The recently deceased "My Uncle" Jackson. Julianna would play a Michael Jackson song and Makhai was do a crotch-grab and dance. Uber-cute!

There were lots of kids--only a handful dancing. Mostly a group of the adults dancing with Makhai. Yeah, uh sure, I was mostly in that group. (Makhai called me "crazy!")

Congrats to Charlotte and Ben, who just had a baby. (I didn't even know they were expecting! And strangely enough, though I "met" the baby, I never got his or her sex or name. Hmmm.)

It was fun. I had to scoot out a little early to make it to the last half of the farewell dinner party... (Farewell for Barbara Wogulmuth, who heads off to her house on The Cape for the summer and we traditionally have a good-bye dinner at her house just prior to her leaving.)

By the time I got home and walked the boys, Dillon had been reduced to one remaining production trailer, down by the Elisabet Ney Museum. A few gaffers and best boys were packing up the remaining things. So, we missed Fernando's big chance to be a TV extra! And evidently, we just missed Melissa and Drew who spent their 4th wedding anniversary here, drinking screw top wine and watching the filming.

So in the words of the late, great "My Uncle" Jackson: Shake your body down to the ground!

Fun night!
,m

Further Thoughts on PC/Feminism and "Body Awareness"

...
Funny how after a day or two contemplating a play, some of the rough edges wear off. It probably helped that I was at a dinner party last night with lesbian friends who are raising two daughters and another lesbian couple, one of whom raised her now adult sons with her late partner. I found myself referring to Body Awareness and the issues in the play a couple of times. As I was describing the college psych character, one of the women interjected "A FemiNazi?" Yikes. I'm not a fan of that term because it implies that these feminists are cramming their positions down upon others and because of the negative connotations implied by its creator types (was it Rush Limbaugh who coined that term? If not, he uses it a lot.) I quickly interjected my word, which was Stepford-Feminist, which I think means taking the positions of extreme PC, just because you feel it's a part of the package, or feeling like one is not a true feminist unless one is a total feminist. (I realize I'm way out of my league here...so forgive me for trying to summarize this in a catch phrase. The purpose is more of explaining the phrase, used in my previous post below--and reacting to the assumption that they thought I'd use the fminazi term.)

Then, as I thought more about it on the way home, I think I wasn't really meaning feminism, but more politically correctness, which I sometimes tend to associate with feminists because in my world, they are the most visibly active in politically correct-think/speak. And thus my term.

I totally support a woman's right to lead, to work, to make decisions about her body and health without government or whomever interjecting, to be empowered as a woman--to be equal to men, which is what it's all about, isn't it.

I don't think that a "male gaze" invalidates what would otherwise be an empowering thing for women--the same way I don't think it is wrong for a white playwright to write black characters or a male playwright to write women, or vice-a-versa. I also don't think it automatically makes a male masogynistic if he writes a character of a woman in a stereotypical role: say, that of a prostitute, for example. Ditto with writing a flippant gay character: they're out there in real life. We paint with the palette of real life. We can't create black characters without creating them in the voice that is true to that character--and if that means some jargonism, dialect, slang that is typical of the characters, it is what it is: writing that character honestly. This dilema is one that took up many long conversations over drinks or in feedback sessions or whatever, while I was at UTTD. And, I think it's good to have the discussion, to be aware of the issue and possibility of the perception, but then I think it's equally as important to remember that we are artists and Daniel Alexander-Jones often said that our work would take us to the scary places to places we don't like, where we're not comfortable.

So, in that line of thought, I think the play does a pretty good job of pushing those buttons, yet acknowledging the underlying issues (good and bad), and of making us think about the current state of the women's movement by boiling it down to a microcosm of a lesbian couple and two very different men in their lives. Thus, my opinion of the play might be edging upward a bit.

Also, on the production's many transitions: sometimes it's just not possible to write the best play possible and not have them. It's better than faking transitions just to have smooth ones. If the scene is over, get out of it and get into the next one at the point that matters the most... often this is going to require a blackout, a transition, a set change... In days of yore, theatre-goers were used to this--often curtains opened and closed to show new scenes, there were sometimes "bridge scenes" to be performed in front of the curtain while the set was being changed behind it. I'm glad we've pretty much moved beyond this very distancing type of presentation. Today, we are used to fluid transitions--often marvelling at the mechanics of the set change before our eyes as much as what is happening in the script. When both are "on" this is the magic of theatre. But theatre can be great when both are not at peak for whatever reason: the story, lack of funding, space limitations, whatever. And usually this requires the usual "willing suspension of disbelief" required of audience members. Sometimes the problem lies merely in trying for too realistic of a set/costumes/props etc. Sometimes the playwright just got lazy and didn't think about transitions. Sometimes it probably didn't bother anybody but other theatre-types in the room, who sometimes tend to be harder on things like that than the other audience members who come in and get lost in the story/show.

Yesterday, I stepped back and looked at the current iteration of Ponzi and it will have black outs--mostly for entrances and exits, but also to let the audience know there's been a gap in time. Purposely not a lot of necessary set changes during them, but hey, a certain designer/director combo could chose to do so and it might end up feeling like what bothered me the other night.

So, I'm a little more chill on that aspect today too. But as theatre professionals, we have to be aware of transitions and work to make them as smooth as possible, so that the magic of theatre comes bursting through, as much as possible.

Get out and see a show! Your local theatre community needs it!

,m

Late Night @ The G... Thoughts on Friday Night Lights and Feminism via Art

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Yep, good day. It included good work on Ponzi, a cardio bike ride, watering the plants, a nap, washing blankets and some clothes, and a night at Hyde Park Theatre's sold out, Body Awareness.

First, tomorrow night, The G Spot will be on the very edge of Dillon. Dillon will actually start at the other end of the block. My area is designated for parking of production trailers and such. Maybe one of the stars of Friday Night Lights will be spritzing right in front of the G!? Soaking in vodka in her dressing trailer? And I won't be here to report. Dang. First, going to Makai's bday party and then to join for desserts to say goodbye (for the season) to Barbara and Carrie. (off to Cape Cod, our traditional send off dinner...) Melissa claims I'm going to come home to her and Drew sitting on my porch.

(I keep forgetting how much I love dang. Such a fun word. I'm reclaiming it's vitality. Dangit! No nabs thrown in the middle though! Dang! or Dangit! Dangnabit sounds contrived.)

Second, Body Awareness. A lot of people loved it. Half the audience was on their feet, but I didn't. It was okay. Pepsi is okay. Yes, it was very funny at times and even moving, but also annoying.

It felt like a play that had been smothered in workshop after workshop. Yet, Katharine Catmull is amazingly spot on and perfect and great as the conflicted lesbian mother. I love love love watching her act. I also loved the play's attempt at exploring PC-ness and Stepford-Feminist types. (my word combination, not hers) Yet, it seems to want to go deeper, but is afraid to do so, because it might offend her advisors, profs, peers, etc. (parents' neighbors? she grew up in Amherst.)

I remember at times growing tired of the über-feminist eggshells created by some of the UTTD department. I could list examples, but it wouldn't be useful. So hey. It's there. The department sometimes recruits based upon it. For taking this tackling this aspect of Academia, the playwright should be commended. And she does it pretty well... and pretty lovingly.

It's about two women...one teaches psych at a small state school in Vermont and the other teaches at the high school... and their stereotypical (and very annoying) son who may or may not have Aspberger's Syndrome. Yes, he was moving toward the end, but jeez...he was annoying. It's Body Awareness Week at the state college and KC's partner is leading it. (Body Awareness, instead of eating disorder, trying to be PC and put a positive spin on it...) And Katharine Catmull's character (the hs teacher) has agreed to have one of the guest artists stay at their home. He's a white male who photographs normal women naked--not beauty queens, but everyday women. KC's character finds his work empowering and beautiful. Her partner thinks they're offensive because they were taken by "the male gaze."

Then you can almost hear the comments in a workshop, about when the photographer has a conversation which seems to finally break through to the son: "be careful about after all that angst between him and his mother and her partner that it not look like the white male was the one who saved him." So the visiting photog gets almost creepy in his advice. (Not saying it's a wrong choice. He's fairly well rounded character, as is Joyce, KC's high school teacher...the kid and the partner are not...in my humble opinion.)

Yet, it was a better than average theatre experience and has had a good run. But it left too many things not dealt with and mysterious...and it had WAY too many transitions. Perhaps it was written to be a fluid show on a big stage, but HPT's tiny stage doesn't accomodate that well. HPT did a great job of having said multiple transitions flawlessly whisk by...but still, it seemed like every few minutes we were sitting there in a black out, waiting on a transition--even quick ones get old after so many.

HPT does stellar work. I love their choices of plays they produce. And like I said, much of the audience apparently loved the show. It wasn't my favorite piece they've done.

Now, all that being said...the playwright, Annie Baker, had a big hit in NY last year with Circle Mirror Transformation. I heard great things about it. HPT is doing it this summer. I'm looking forward to it!

Seems like there was a third thing I was going to post about when I sat down here, but hey... don't remember it now.

I've had enough. Haven't you?

Cheers?
,m

...


every branch of the decision tree has its own set of pros and cons
--michael mitchell

What A Difference a Day Makes...

...
much better mood today.
lots of work on Ponzi...started over from beginning--not from scratch, but in re-write process...
best way to get on trajectory
new decisions/revelations
about 4 solid hours of work
been washing blankets: throws, heavier cotton, etc.
ready to put them away
summer is now
I'm keeping the house warmer this year...just not getting used to it being cooler...so it won't be a problem in the first place...but the animals are moving slow because of it... such is life: animals used to live in houses in the south without any a/c at tall. still do... so hey, they'll survive, and pant and roll their eyes at me and plop down in front of a fan and survive...
that's all from G
better day...
dryer stopped
going to get that and then walk Benj early
his system is out of whack, timing wise...eating, pooping, whatever...
season change, I guess
have fun!
,m

and then there's Julie Mitchell, My Sister-in-Law!

a breath of fresh air!
© 2010, mitchell

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIE!
Dance why dont ya?!?

love,
,m

Just Blogging, Posting, Venting...

...
...put me in a better mood already.

The doors and windows are open again. It's still dropping down to 59ish tonight!? Where are we, Marfa? 94 today, no humidity, 59 at night!

So, might as well save on the a/c for as long as we can!

cheers!
,m

[warning: deductive reasoning has it that you're going to run into a venting post below...and related art themes as well...]

French Maid/Made

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So, many of you are regular readers of www.communitymatters.biz as well as squirrels and saw Eugene's cute post about Tana going to Paris to buy French Maid stuff.

Yes, I'm guilty. He meant French Made. I heard French Maid. I wondered for a moment. I assumed he surely was talking about cleaning products or oils or something that French Maids might use, for one could surely get a French Maid outfit at Lucy in Disguise, here in town, but there was something in the way he said it that made me pause like that... and yes, I felt a big smile growing on my face as I realized what was happening...

So, I'm glad to report that Tana is going to Paris to shop for French made things. Joe, on the other hand, is dissapointed to learn of this distinction!

Cheers!
,m

ghosts of the dinosaurs, cinco de mayo, 2010, gulf of mexico
© 2010, mitchell

spill baby, spill
© 2010, mitchell

Funky Day, that Cinco de Mayo

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as in: somewhat in a funk, not as in wore big seventies shoes and danced to Parliament or The Brothers Johnson, or anything.

I guess that funk shit happens, is to be expected, whatever one does, did, will do or won't. But it was sort of a wasted day. Wasted as in: not useful, not as in drank all day or anything.

We hit 94 today. Arizona has taken the next step(s) in sanctioning racism/racial profiling/hate. Crude oil is killing the Gulf of Mexico and BP is spending their time worried about being sued by people willing to help them with their problem or clean up their shit, instead of fixing it, and now they say they can't fix it, so they're going to divert it, but when they were questioned about being able to handle off-shore drilling in this area back when they started, they claimed there was no risk of environmental harm or serious spills, and the Governor of Texas claims it was an act of God and not to get all up in arms about off-shore drilling, because those companies might just support his campaign, and another house in some far away suburb sold today and everyone cheered because it meant our fake economy is coming back, when they should've mourned because people keep moving further and further away to soulless suburbs which require more crude oil to get there and back and then they insist they have to drive Suburbans and trucks and shit, and there wasn't one piece on the NY Times headlines on-line about the spill today, because the whole country is now focussed on a near bombing in Times Square, which yes, is another bad thing, but let's not let BP off the hook! Can you not hear BP bowing down and praising the Pakistani Taliban right now? And Sarah "Drill Baby, Drill" Palin is making $100k a pop for speeches to stir up racist propaganda and dumb people and convince them it is their God-given right to drive those big mother-fuckers and live 40 miles from where they work and shop and eat and that it's okay to fire teachers with accents and to check the identity cards of anyone who looks suspicious.

Damn. Maybe it should've been a day of drinking or shooting up or something! Damn.

Sure, tons of people did drink today. A lot. It's Cinco de Mayo. Swill baby, swill! I saw FaceBook postings of frothy margaritas at 3:00 central from a person in California! Guess I just wasn't in the mood. That's okay. I had a couple of glasses of wine later tonight, on the front porch, trying to chill baby, chill.

Tried to write, but I'm having a hard time going back to Ponzi. I spent a lot of time working on it the last couple of days--working on it with a legal pad and resolving issues/problems/questions. But I couldn't make myself get into it and just do it. It felt like a kid you're mad at right now and you know you love, but you really don't need to see for awhile or it'll make it all worse.

Damn. Maybe I should turn on some Parliament, top of the volume, dance away the night, drink the rest of that bottle and thank God everyone's out swilling tequilla during such a crappy week.

Funky Cinco de Mayo to you too.
,m

Free Will Astrology Horoscope for Week Beginning 6 May 10

LIBRA:

When a girl is born, her ovaries already contain all the eggs she will ever have. What this means, of course, is that a part of you was in your grandmother's womb as well as in your mother's. Now would be an excellent time to celebrate that primal fact. Your connection with your mother's mother is especially important these days. I suggest you meditate on what gifts and liabilities you received from her (genetic and otherwise), and how you might be able to make better use of the gifts even as you take steps to outwit the liabilities.

[This one's a doozy--on soooo many levels. And probably worth thinking of, thus germane. I'll ponder, you ponder... get back to me on that, will ya?]

Fran Tillman, 1916-2010

Fran Tillman died on May 1st. ( http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heralddemocrat/obituary.aspx?n=franciska-tillman-fran&pid=142468945 )

She was a spunky, fun, sweet Jewish member of our extended family. My grandparents adopted her and her mother many years ago. Fran worked for my grandfather. The two of them were always at Christmas parties and such. Her mother died twenty-ish years ago. Fran kept on coming. Even after PawPaw and then later, Nanny died, Fran kept coming.

She was especially close to Sr.

(She was adopted by Sr's parents, but was in the same class at Sherman High as Granddaddy, Betty's father.)

Fran just had a funny little, quirky personality that was endearing and yes, at times, annoying, if you let it. But the secret was giving it right back, and then it became fun, almost flirty. She would wrap up hint o' naughty gifts to annonymously give me for Christmas, then I'd return the favor. Everybody knew they were all re-gifted from somewhere else and that was half the fun.

Fran did many great things volunteering at the hospital in Sherman and such. A sweet soul, who had a very difficult last couple of years. I'm sad for the loss, but glad she's moved on--away from her suffering.

She wrote for the Sherman Democrat at times and was very excited and supportive of my choice to become a writer. I enjoyed seeing her when I was up there.

Cheers, Fran!

,m

Calming Down, Getting Back into Ponzi, Digging this Weather, Front Porch Nights, Vacuuming w/ Attachments, Benjamin, Etc.

...
FuseBox wrapped up Sat night...or was it Sunday? Sat for me, but I think there were some things on Sunday. Sat night I saw John Kelly's "Paved Paradise Redux" homage/love letter to Joni Mitchell and was blown away. The audience was full of all different groups of folks I know. From many many different crowds. The first song or so didn't quite bring me in, but at some point I was in and Wow! I was there. And my mind would do funny tricks and think I was actually watching Joni Mitchell, but then I'd realize it was a man because his voice would have a wee bit of a crack or shift or something.

It was great! Possibly the hit of the festival... that and "A Western," which I didn't get to see. People were blown away by the performance--all types of folks: straight men, gay men, women of all creeds, colors and orientations, children, artsy types, rough rider remnants, and preachers.
(Well, actually, I made the last one up, but otherwise, it's all gospel!)

Went from there to the Art Authority for a relatively tame ending night at the late night venue--but the night before had been the killer show. I didn't go to it. I'm fine with that. Sat, was just chill. Folks sitting outside and talking about shows they'd seen. Various artists of shows we'd seen just hanging out and chatting with us. Fun night. The main gals of FB: Dani, Elle, and Natalie were ready to cut loose. So we did. It was a nice night. Most folks outside until Graham rigged a dance party. Sam and I danced a dance, then I realized it was past 2:00 am, and I said I was sneaking out. They danced another hour, I think. (Dani and Natalie both were lead crew folks on Still Fountains. Great theatre icons--make it all happen! They all deserve a big round of applause: clapclapclapclap!) And they're all damn fun people too!

Sunday, I was moving slow from the late night, a few beers, ten days of FuseBox, etc. But read the papers and chilled before heading out to the 1934 themed kick-off fundraiser for Paper Chairs--a new theatre company in town. I have a number of friends in it. Mostly twenty-somethings, some I knew from UT, others from other theatre connections--all very creative and good at what they do! It will be a theatre force to be reckoned with! (It's lead by Dustin Wills, who directed my first 10-minute piece at UT, Tango Schmooze, in "Once Upon a Weekend"--the mixer, throw you together, write a play in 24 hours event they used to have/and I ran for a couple of years.

Well, I intended to only stay a short bit, being worn out by FB and all.... well, Cameron (Lockley) one of Eugene's aging godkids provided 34th St. Deli and that and Dustin's creativity created a fun event and well...yeah, I left at midnight, mere minutes from the end of the party.

Yesterday, I did a lot of business/errand/house type things. Eased back into Ponzi, after two weeks of concentrating on my client's book. I am totally loving this weather: cool nights, no humidity, edging toward hot in the late afternoons... turn the a/c on about 5:30 or 6:00pm... open the house back up by 8:00ish. Windows open all night. Close up the house around 10:00am, to capture the cold air. It stirs up many things for me. One, it reminds me of 811, the old family home, which was huge, two-story and had window units in various rooms. So there were hot spots and lukewarm places and it created an amazing pungency (in a good way) that lingers today: gas pilot lights, dogs in the house, hardwood floors, etc... all warmed up... then cooled down. Takes me down memory lane in a second. (If it were humid, we wouldn't be playing this game!) Two, it reminds me of Lynn and me (and some hot guy named David that we really didn't know) living together on Avenue D with window units in 1984. Three, it feels good to economize so much and not waste energy and such. Four, it's last call before the onslaught of summer...and the front porch/screen door nights are probably seriously waning--and I will greatly miss them... Five, I'm just stirred up, dammit! Go with it!

Allrightie then...

Benjamin's skin issues have started back up a bit. He's obviously allergic to grasses and weeds and such. And maybe my stripping him exacerbates it--who knows? But he lies there, and I assume he feels an itch or something and does a phantom leg scratch...over and over again...about 20 times a minute... usually rubbing against the hardwood floors...making noise, disturbing sleep (mine and his) and such... but after a year of this, and watching closely, we know what it is: seasonal allergies--mostly grass/weed related... so we're working on that.

He's also having a very very hard time getting up these days. He won't sleep on the rugs. He always gravitates to the hardwoods, then he tries to get up and slips 6 or 13 times getting up because it's slick. Getting old is hell, I guess. I try to help him as much as I can. He finally gets up. And just gives me his big ol' grin and those amazing brown eyes...and a kiss as big as Texas and moves on. We've cut our walks way down. He'll turn around and head home. He wants to go on the walk, but we get a block away and he wants to come home...it's too hot. Yet, he usually chooses to come back via an alley so the dogs will bark at him and he can walk past them knowing he's stirred them up and still has that effect on them: same as old men, I guess...huh?

Today, I vaccuumed the house with attachments. During the possum escapades, I had to look behind and under things with a flash light and wow! WowWowWow. I didn't realize how many piles of pet hair were accumulating in all those places. Wow. Took awhile, but we did it. Under desks, bed, behind stereo, a ton behind the bookscases, etc.

These days, Fernando is leaving a trail of hair wherever he goes. He lies on the blanket and it's grey when he gets up. He's by far the worst shedder of the three of us. And yet, I brush/strip them both, multiple times a week! I gave Biggs a bath late last week and that loosened whole wafts of beige hair coming out in clumps. Ahhhh, Spring in the house of two long haired animals!

That's if from here!

Cheers!
,m

Happy Birthday, Lily Christie!

caketime yet?
© 2010, mitchell

Have fun today!

,m



[gee, your grandparents have silly friends!]

Happy Birthday, Maryanna from Boerne!

psst, you, over here
© 2010, mitchell

[stay away from gassy tulips]