My confession

I have to get this off my chest. The guilt is killing me.

Instead of going to Madness, a series of original, short plays by fellow grads, I stayed home and watched baseball on Friday night. Because I had to make sure the Cubs clinched the NL Central division. By watching the Cubs beat Cinci (on a Cinci station), and then the Brewers lose to the Padres...And it's not like the Cubs usually make it to the post-season...And...

I think I am going to some kind of art-hell.

on iTunes: "Whistling in the Dark" - TMBG

Playing with grads

After a very full week, it would appear I have a much lighter this week. Which meant I actually had free time this weekend! I have not been to the library in 2 whole days!

On Saturday, I helped a directing grad with callbacks, reading parts of How I Learned to Drive for other actors. Then indulged in a gut-busting burrito. But in order to get to said burrito, I passed the Athena, which reminded me that I have not seen the inside of a movie theater in a while. So I called the other MA, who was thinking similar thoughts. We met for a 7.20 show of Death at a Funeral, which was laugh-out-loud funny, if cringe-worthy. Not unlike Little Miss Sunshine. After the movie, I was a bit keyed-up and very in the mood for a smoothie. Darted across Court Street, but the smoothie machine at the coffee shop was down. However, since it was near closing, they were giving away muffins! And you know how I feel about muffins. As the other MA was ordering her coffee, one of the scenographers in our class popped up. Apparently he had been bouncing from one cafe to the next, reading Ibsen. We closed that place down before heading down the street in search of fruit-based beverages, which took the shape of Raspberry Martinis at Blue Gator.

(The strainer looks like a face. This one in particular.)

At Blue Gator, we ran into the other director grads, who were hashing out casting. But mostly they had work, and we had play to accomplish. R. has never been to a bar! So that was fun to break her in.

Got home good and late. Pretended to read some film stuff before retiring to my fuzzy sheets and open window. Ah.

on iTunes: "Paper Aeroplane" - KT Tunstall

Living art

Lunchbag is usually a mish-mosh of undergrad announcements and burritos, but today we had a presentation by a resident artist. And it blew my mind.

Angelo Vermeulen is a Belgian biologist cum artist will be working/living in Athens for the next few months launching his newest installation project. But in order to generate some interest, he presented some of his previous work. After receiving his PhD in biology, he was really turned on by photography, which led to installation art, which led him back to biology in the form of "living art". He created paintings of algae, a vital stained-glass piece. Darwinian art installation/experiment looking at water fleas in tanks with fish and colored glass. Another project with algae that was influenced by radio-waves captured from space. Dude!

Now he has gotten into gaming, and wants to use an algae eco-sphere to cool a server of his own design. And the server will support a designed game that may manage the existence of the eco-sphere.

My description doesn't do it justice, but holy crap I love the way his mind works!

Then when I got home, I caught a glimpse of some animusic, which just tickled an adjacent part of my brain!

on the tube: Cubs v Reds (although funny to watch it on a Cinci station)

Guilt-free Friday

After busting my ass all week just trying to stay on top of things, it is so lovely to just lounge around for a couple hours. Like the most amazing feeling is slithering in the sheets and then lying in bed without feeling guilty for doing something as impractical as sleeping.

I've got laundry drying in the corner, picked up some fresh organic spices from Farmacy. Lead a really good discussion group on Medea and Lysistrata (even if I didn't bring in Sue Ellen Case's theories). I read all of my Beckett and was able to make some interesting points in class. Although the Beckettian weather certainly helped. Cold, rainy, bleak. Add to that the feeling that no matter how much you do, you won't finish.

Now I have rehearsal and Madness and beers waiting in my fridge. And a date with an elliptical machine or perhaps a large pineapple pizza.

Wrong undies

As I am procrastinating my laundry day, I have been forced into my penance panties. You khow the ones. They lurk in the back of the drawer, holey, without sufficient elastic, or just bad, waiting for that day you decide NOT to do laundry, waiting to torture you. It's not so much procrastination because a sick part of me actually likes doing laundry. I think it's the intoxicating smell of dryer sheets. But rather, I have not had the time to commit to such a massive chore. As it is, my laundry basket has morphed into a pile that is migrating towards the door. I wonder if I don't just let it go, it won't walk itself to the laundry. Hell, it can borrow the car for all I care. All the more reason I need a helper monkey.

Unfortunately, this meant wearing lace undies the same day I just spent several quality hours sitting on a hard chair. This is a bad combination along the lines of waffle-butt. And it just makes me even more grumpy about having to sit around and read more freakin' Beckett. But at least I get to do it in the comfort of my own squishy couch.

on iTunes: "Hey Boy. Hey Girl" - Chemical Brothers

I didn't know this was a marathon

In general I don't get marathoners. So finding myself in a metaphorical marathon has only strengthened my opinions of marathons.

Today was jam-packed full of big things that had to get done. I lectured on Lysistrata, which was very exciting, if slightly unnerving. But this meant I had to be up-down-and-all-over the text, as well as prepared with examples and interesting, novel insights. I love the play, the genre, and the opportunity to do it. I did not love the fact that if fell on the same day as the first rehearsal of Macbett.

As dramaturg, I had to do alot of reading this weekend, to become a quick-n-dirty expert on all things Macbett, including Ionesco, absurdism, the Scottish play, etc. The subject is really interesting, that I enjoy reading up on. But not on the same day as my 1st lecture. I have created a sourcebook (copy of text with cross-references to Macbeth, explanation of references, terms, translations, etc.), accompanying tabbed copy of Macbeth, as well as 2 media discs, one DVD of relevant style clips, and another of clips that refused to go on the DVD, as well as a 3 page handout for all 22 members of the creative team. Tomorrow, I have to lead a discussion of the script in terms of Ionesco's late absurdism, which may or may not have been influenced by Prague Spring, and the Paris Riots of 1968.

Unfortunately, I spent the past weekend busting through this work like it was a sprint. But halfway through today I realised I am in the first part of a marathon. *sigh*

Not helpful: Designers who want full image control, but refuse to give you said images in any useful timeframe. Telling me that you have all of them on some hard drive just after I spent an hour printing and assembling the packet, does not put you in my good favor. Especially when you tell me I shouldn't use the images I have assembled, even when I asked him for freakin' images over 2 weeks ago. Poor planning on your part does not merit a panic on mine. Also not helpful, sitting through a publicity meeting where everyone says how they don't have time to execute their brilliant viral marketing schemes.

Now I get to read more Theatre Journal before trying to synopsize Machiavelli's The Prince for a very gay Macbett. After I read all my Absurdism and Film readings, responding and running my discussion group on Friday morning, I may slow-mo across the finish line after dousing my face in a cup of vodka-spiked gatorade.

on iTunes: "Wait, Wait" (can you tell I was doing more dishes?)

One more thing to add

If you know where I can get one on the cheap, I could really use a helper monkey. That way I wouldn't even have to do the damn dishes! If it does dishes and toilets, I will provide all the internet and cable and bananas a monkey could wish for. But the poo-flinging will have to go.

Objects of Convenience

After spending 10 hours in the library producing a DVD for my dramaturgy project, I have decided that I want an external hard drive. I could backup my computer, digitize all my media, and NOT be chained to 2 computers in order to make cool teaching tools. But oh is it cool.

As you can tell, my digital camera is defunct. Well, not defunct, but I am sick of having to reprogram the date every single time I turn it on. So I add it to my list.

And I have decided that I need an iPod armband, because trying to do dishes while listening to my "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" podcast on my laptop with my headphones. And because going to the gym is already hateful enough without a personal soundtrack.

Because what is life without tech toys to lust after...

on iTunes: "Wait Wait" podcast

Ohio's got big nuts

And aren't the squirrels tickled!

My days almost uniformly start around 8.30/9AM. Get up, drink coffee, check email/news, head up the Hill. However, I have noticed that 9AM seems to be Crazy Squirrel Hour. Which is not unlike Crazy Nini Hour, except the girls generally scheduled that between 10PM-2AM. There are squirrels EVERYWHERE. And most of them are carrying huge nuts. Maybe it's an overabundance of black walnut trees, or overambitious squirrels. Combine this with the darting, bouncing, skittering. Depending on my level of caffeine/restfulness, this is alternately hilarious or something to just make me more bitter. (stop being so damn perky, Squirrels!)

Sorry no pictures of late - my camera is trying to crap out on me by eating batteries as a regular meal (watch batteries, so they're not rechargeable!). And maybe now it's the weekend, I can stop the "deep"/navel-gazey entries.

on iTunes: "Moi, mon ame et ma conscience" - Paris Combo

Permission

Perhaps the most interesting, universal lesson I am learning in grad school is the permission, even encouragement to question, to reject, to dislike. Maybe it's the whole modernist focus on self rather than blind acceptance of the canon. Maybe it's because I had Sue Ellen Case's article "Classic Drag" under my pillow that I am processing info like this right now.

Actually, this became a big part of my classes yesterday. Absurdism regularly annoys me, the genre and work, not the class. I love the class, because it forces me to think critically and objectively, but without rejecting my own point of view. Yesterday was Waiting for Godot. And the more I read the play, the more I like it. The more I learn about Beckett, the more I dislike him. But the key to this was the fact that by understanding Absurdism, and in the grad-level environment, I am not expected to understand or like it. It's very liberating! I can violently disagree with Beckett's refusal to assign meaning, but at the same time policing interpretations. All I can say is, "Thank God the old bastard is dead." In general, I dislike the whole impulse to be recherche for the sake of. And Beckett really epitomized it.

Likewise in Film. I loved 8 1/2. But I don't particularly care for the film people. Not because they don't have interesting and valid things to say, but because of the impulse to separate themselves from the other arts. To suggest that by admitting the obvious links to theater or literature, it somehow lessons the Art of Film. Which is crap. It makes film people really pretentious and hard to work with since I am both a theater-maker and someone who believes in the interconnectedness of the arts.

It's empowering to have an opinion and the opportunity to defend it. It is also comforting to know I am not the only person who feels this way. Talking to another of the theatre grads from the Absurdism class over martinis, she affirmed that any time I fear that I am the only one possibly thinking that, chances are she is sitting a few feet away thinking the same thing. An ally! Then again, she and I have the same taste in YouTube.

on the iPod: Un Homme et Une Femme" - Yves Montand

Time awry

One of the biggest lessons to learn about grad school is time management. This seems obvious, but grad school is particularly good at totally destroying your best efforts at it. With plays you forgot need to be read (do you panic and read, or realise it isn't gonna happen?), spur-of-the-moment meetings, or random outings (this is much less of a complaint.) However, I have discovered 2 new ones in as many days, both thanks for Spring Awakening.

1. Staying up till 2AM researching image references in a script. This is sanctioned and useful surfing until you realise that it is 2AM and you are elbow deep in some awesome art-chive, and you need to go to bed.
2. When collating said images takes 2 hours instead of 20 minutes, effectively killing your AM agenda.

These are both delightful and destructive, since I am trying SO hard to keep myself on a regular schedule, including a pre-arranged menu (to limit the junk intake). And because then I have nap-guilt later. How weird is it to feel guilty/irresponsible taking a nap, because you feel like you should be using your time more productively, doing things like reading, or the damn dishes. Must not feel guilty about sleep, since it vastly improves the quality of work, if not quantity.

Faking Fellini

Well that was funny.

I just saw my first Fellini film in its entirety - 8 1/2. He has always been on my list, but never really topped it. And I really liked it. Beautiful, vivid, a little wild. Definitely need to watch more Fellini.

It was after class, walking down the stairs of Lindley that I almost got into trouble. I couldn't help but fervently agree that this film was self-indulgent. And suddenly I was in a one-on-one conversation with a PhD student about Italian cinema. Something about "progenitor of neo-realism"... What?! I faked my way through, but realised that while I wasn't intimately familiar with the whole oeuvre, I did still have an opinion. Using Nine, the musical adaptation, I riffed. Borrowed the Cheese Fiend's theory on navel gazing.

It was like being tossed into the deep end of the water. But rather than treading water, I just let myself fall and have a tea party beneath. Complete with the garbled sound and silly images.

Calling a spade a spade

Before I've had my coffee is an unreasonable time to expect me to be anything other than bluntly honest. Candidly, even after I've had my coffee, I am not a master of the tact.

I called my leasing agency to find out when to expect people to start wandering through my apartment. Because instead of making appointments, they just give prospective tenants a map with the list of available properties. Then you just knock on doors, harassing tenants and hopefully getting a look at the apartments. I didn't like this even as a prospective, let alone a tenant who might just feel like wandering around in my pjs and not do the dishes for a week.

As I have toyed with the idea of an IARTS PhD from OU, I asked when I would need to notify. (I can't believe I have to worry about this in the 2nd freakin' week of my grad career!) Apparently there is no deadline. They can rent my apartment tomorrow without even notifying me. WHAT?! No first refusal?! This is crap. And somehow, he was surprised that I would point this out so bluntly.

He says it's "common practice around here", and that he "has to look out for the interests of the owners". My logic is that if my apartment is such hot property, turning down one person won't preclude you from ever renting. In JANUARY. I won't even have APPLIED to these programs. And what if I need more time in Athens to complete my M.A.? Apparently UOCH's answer is "sucks to be you."

I guess I was spoiled by the amazing arrangement I had in Chicago. And it reeks of Yellow House. Grr. Where's my damn coffee.

on Pandora: "Immortality" - Pearl Jam

Teaching

The sole source of my graduate stipend is my position as teaching associate for the undergrad theater history class. I am expected to put in 15 hours a week on this. And I am psyched!

The biggest part of my position is discussion leader for a third of the class on Fridays. I collate responses from the students and try to guide the discussion in a useful or creative direction. This past Friday was my first one. It was fun to read the student submissions, which alternated between brilliant and obvious. The discussion focused on Oedipus and gave me a chance to do my Greek-geeking.

In addition to discussion leader, I am responsible for Blackboard, which is the class website. I have been posting stuff like links, groups, and grades. Quizzes are easy, attendance is still annoying.

Overall, I am really liking this. I don't mind the paperwork, and I love interacting with the students, and trying to construct and clarify my thoughts. It just points to the fact that I am heading in the right direction with my degree.

on the Tube: Scrubs

Ignoring the To-Do List

In the past few days, I have been a bad, slack grad student. Unfortunately, since I don't have a mountain of work to tackle, it's hard to feel too bad about it.

Friday was my teaching day. Lead my first discussion list, worked on the blackboard site, did grades. And that was it for productive, other than making deviled eggs for Fives. And waiting for the phone guy.

Fives was a bit smaller than usual, since all of the actors and playwrights were at auditions, and some of the upperclassmen were MIA. Which just meant more beer and brats and burgers for the rest of us. It was fun to have a dog at the party who wasn't so much a beggar as just really eager to see people. But the party quickly devolved into a YouTube viewing, which is apparently not that unusual for this crowd. There were some real gems, and lots of telling details. I couldn't compete with the "Emo Merman" opera singer, or Dr. Tran, but I was able to contribute "The Badger Song", complete with a dance. Made beer floats with A., and generally plotted weekend adventures. Like my crashing a costumer BBQ the next day. It's good to be friends with PD&T.

Got the last ticket to Madness, and lead the post-Madness charge to Blue Gator. Which involved an espresso martini and some very wise advice/challenge from an openly drunk 2nd year. She and I are personally challenging ourselves to say at least 3 things in Absurdism, to buck the female perfectionism/fear.

Yesterday I did make it to the gym for a class that threatened to kick my ass. But I think it may be something I will try to do regularly, because I liked the objectives and pace.

Loafed around and did NOT do dishes. But I had a nice walk around town looking for essential oils and hitting the library for free videos. And I spent about 2 hours on the phone with the Domestic God before driving out to the BBQ.

The BBQ, besides being tasty, was just so cool. When I got there around 9, everyone was hanging out on the back deck with an incredible spread and tiki torches (always a good thing), warmed by blankets and tequila. After pulling some meat of the grill, we headed inside to play Apples to Apples, which is always special, especially with about 12 people playing.

Left the party early to catch Knocked Up which was the free midnight movie at Baker Center. It was good to see the other SOT grads there to balance out the freshman vibe. And while the movie was funny, it was a little weird since so many of my friends have had kids at this point. Still like 40 Year Old Virgin better.

Today, I am determined to dig out the list. I have started doing dishes (it's gonna go in rounds, since I can't fit them all on the rack at the same time), gonna do some reading and hopefully writing. Or I might end up watching My So-Called Life.

on Pandora: "Midnight Show" - the Killers

Lying in the grass

Between Absurdism and a 500, I managed to squeeze in some time to lie in the grass. This was mostly practical, since I can't eat my lunch in the library, nor was it likely that I would be able to finish my reserved reading in the 50 minutes. Coupled with the fact that it was entirely too nice to be stuck in the library yet again.

It was so nice to sit. To stretch. To breathe. I put on my iPod and absorbed the world on my terms. Having released all the tension, air bubbles and hidden energy/stress pockets in my body, I just laid back, staring up into the blue sky and trees on a beautiful late summer day. Well, early autumn as a few leaves lazily drifted toward me.

The goal (because everything needs an objective these days) was to convert my sense of mental exhaustion and frustration into relaxation. I didn't lack energy, I just lacked tension. I gave up on the idea of recharge or rejuvenate since my body wants about 3 more hours of sleep.

After running around yesterday and not accomplishing ANYTHING on my daily to-do list, with the exception of reading Artaud (which I have done in the past), today's breather was the most productive thing I have gotten done in 2 days. Right now I am blogging instead of replying to all my students. And later, I suspect I will be either at Blue Gator or sleeping to the game instead of reading Macbett.

on iTunes: "A Higher Place" - Royksopp

Marinading in my geekitude

I can't lie. Part of the appeal of grad school is that I am back in a place where it is social acceptable to geek-out. Not that I need a sanctioned or academic environment, it just makes it slightly less weird when I inevitably do it.

Of late:
Monday was the Greek theatre lecture in 270. As the professor presented slides and vocabulary, my soul did a happy dance (that I could barely contain in my aisle seat). Because I had BEEN to these places. I knew how the acoustics worked, and all the little production details of masks and platform shoes and periaktoi (which I used in an unrealised design for Charley's Aunt). It was like being surrounded by old friends.

For my 570 class, our first assignment was essentially a scavenger hunt, which I totally devoured. In general, I love the idea of scavenger hunts. I may have been the only one on my orientation team the first week at W&M who actually wanted to find all the stuff on the list instead of hide on the Wren steps and shoot the shit. And because it required research, it let me tap into some of my peculiar talents for locating weird stuff (ala tequila).

Tonight, I went back to Staples to select the right supplies for my organizational needs. And I am like a kid in a candy store! I get excited by stupid shit, like post-its (which hold my life together in a way that scotch tape used to), or sharpies (which are always on my Christmas list), or retractable highlighters. If I can't get a job at Hollywood Video where I can watch movies and hone my Guitar Hero, I totally want to work at an office supply store.

And perhaps my geekiest moment. As I was re-reading Oedipus for the umpteenth time (I stopped counting after 9, including Greek), all of my classics came rushing back. Because I remembered the connected verbs for "seeing" and "knowing" (one is a perfect form of the other). And the name Oedipus, while being a bit of a pun itself, also sounds like the word(s) for see/know. If you want the full low down, I will cheerfully give it, but it will involve me finding a good Greek font, because Symbol is just a crap transliteration.

I pity my students, who are sending some cool responses. At least I left the 12 rolls of my trip to Greece safely packed away in Virginia!

on iTunes: "I Summon You" - Spoon

Let there be Internet!

After over a week of packing up the laptop and trompping across the grass to get with in range of the OU signal, I finally have internet in my apartment! This is very exciting, especially after last night when I got trapped at Putnam where I had taken the computer to check email when the skies opened up. Not wanting to get both me and my expensive, valuable piece of electronic equipment wet, I was forced to wait it out. But now I can surf in my pjs! iChat me up! Oh, and I have cable.

I may never get another productive thing done here again.

on iTunes: "Bad Weekend" - Art Brut

Missing Chicago

Having been in Athens on my own for a whole week, and thus out of Chicago, I am beginning to gain a bit of perspective on my year-long experiment. The upshoot is that it was a great use of a year, and that it made me more confident (in case I ever had problems with that!), and gave me a sense of strength and ownership of my own expertise, if that makes sense.

On a more mundane level, I am just getting homesick, which isn't a negative reflection on Athens as much as a positive one of Chicago. It was really sad when I had to change the time zone on my iPod today, or when CTA canceled my Chicago Card. (The other night, I had it in my pocket out of sheer habit, along with my ID, ATM card and such!)

Things I miss about Chicago:

• all of the food/beer/Target options just minutes away.
• right now, I am really missing Wokki smoothies and the fab burgers.
  
• diversity of arts options
  
• the 22 (when it ran properly)
• ambient noise as indicative of energy and activity
  
• the Skyline and the Lake
• Kallisti, my cousins, the Hippies, the COP, and all the rest of my playmates

Things I don't miss about Chicago:

• Rats (here we have bunnies and chipmunks)
• the ridiculous sales tax
• by extension - $10 movies, $5/6 beers, "boutique" pricing
  
• it taking no less than 30 minutes to get anywhere, either by foot, car, or CTA
• finding parking
• not having health insurance (I shouldn't be as excited about this as I am.)

These are by no means exhaustive lists. Every day I think of something new as I adapt to Athens, and all that it offers and lacks.

But one thing Chicago DOESN'T have: a pirate house!

on Pandora: "O Green World" - Gorillaz

Very social Friday

Although I didn't have alot of work to do, I seemed to be pretty busy all day, bouncing from one gathering to the next.

Every Friday, as a requirement, the entire School of Theater (grad and undergrad) meet in Baker Hall for Lunchbag, which is pretty much a forum for announcements and discussion. Being the first Lunchbag of the year, there were lots of announcements, but not alot of discussion. But there was free pizza from Avalanche, which is the all-organic, wild-topping pizza place of choice in Athens. Despite attempts at forced mingling, we all ended up talking to our classmates. I now have people to do Little Caesar pizza picnics with! More than a productive hour, it was impressive to see just how big the school of theater actually is. Like with everyone in attendance, we pretty much fill the auditorium.

After Lunchbag, I spent some quality time in the library, chatting with an archivist and a PhD candidate, both of whom seemed really excited by the proximity of another human. But the archivist was eager to help, and the PhD student gave me insight on a super useful resource.

Got home and read Macbett before going over to Fives. Which is an awesome idea. Every Friday at 5PM, the grad students congregate at rotating houses to grill, drink and hang out. There is very little shop talk, although it always comes back around to theatre, because that is a shared interest. Watching badminton, the designers and I were trying to figure out what candy (chocolate or non) everyone involved would be. While I didn't know alot of people beforehand, this was a useful insight. And it was decided that my mentor is Guy Smiley. Only way more intelligent.

I headed home briefly before Madness, although this was largely a mistake since my neighbors had set up 4 kegs, cornhole, beer pong and a full band kit about 20' from my door. So in order to even get to my door, I had to dodge and step over drunk undergrads. Also, my detour home made me nearly miss getting into Madness.

To explain: Madness is held late night every Friday. A collection of short pieces created by the playwrights that week, exploring a central theme. And it is always packed! Post-Madness, some of the grads and I headed down to Blue Gator, which is the only uncrowded bar on Court Street. With marvelous Martinis and a cool beer list. But it was fun to hang out, discuss the wonder that is Julie Taymor and acquire yet another random nickname.

Hacking through the red tape

Lacking a proper machete, I have only the desire to kill and conquer to get me through this week.

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time waiting in line, filling out forms, sitting on hold, and generally running around. It's like herding cats. Made of jello.

On Tuesday, I tried to get all of my financial stuff in order to find out that someone still has to autograph a form before I can get my loan money. This is unfortunate, as I have a rapidly dwindling account, tons of things I need (like books and soy sauce), and the not unreasonable expectation that I would be getting my loan money released to me on Tuesday. Ugh.

Wednesday I tried to investigate my health insurance by making doctor's appointments. Whether or not I actually am in the system remains to be seen when I show up for my first appointment. And in case insurance wasn't fun enough, it may depend on the registration I was unable to get done without waiting in a stupid line full of stupid undergrads who seem unable to fill out a stupid form.

Today I am trying to get all of my address changes completed. This should be a quick and painless procedure I should be able to do online. But when a car is involved, it necessarily involves phone calls, rolling eyes and that patience I generally lack. I have given up on trying to get the car put into Ohio, so instead I just want to have it registered to my permanent address. But all of this requires mail being sent all over the place, only some of which I can practically intercept. Grr.

I can't help but feel like I am being penalized for being conscientious.

on hold: something generically classical

Absurdism - the class

Today, I had my first non-softball class. A 3 hour seminar on Theater of the Absurd, which involves some of my least favorite playwrights, and a bunch of PhD students. This could get ugly. Fortunately, it also involves a bunch of 2nd year MFAs who are both cool and also petrified by this class. (We shared our issues as well as the story of the Fireball over hot dogs at Oh Betty's).

I can tell already that this class will be a challenge and probably a pain. But I am taking the "Embrace what you don't know" approach to things. This will be interesting, as the professor emphasized that everyone bring their own expertise, which seems to be a distinctly grad-level thing. The assumption is that you know something. Unfortunately, what I know is that I think Beckett is pretentious, Pinter is a misogynist, and I will never understand Parks. And being a purist, I think Ibsen is more significant than Beckett. And that every time he mentioned influences like Dada or Surrealism, I connected with art and not literature.

Then again, I felt positioned in a strangely comfortable place, between scholarship and artistry. Because I can do both as a theatre historian. We'll see if this place becomes a weird chasm into which I fall.

Undergrads

There seems to be a vast gulf between me and the undergrads. Maybe it's the fact that I am 10 years old than them, or that I am a couple stages apart from them in life. Or because I have better taste in "art".

(Why is my iTunes obsessed with Poe right now?)

Now that my apartment is looking like a livable space rather than a dumping facility, I have started to think decorative thoughts. I have my Kandinsky print and mirror from Argentina. Of late, I have become really enamored of the 1933 World's Fair prints. And there is always Art Nouveau ads. Or Chicago skyline images when I am feeling homesick/uppity. But all of the posters available in town are so generic. Lots of beaches, bands, beer and boobies. I don't want this shit on my walls. (I had to stop myself from telling some boys that their choice of sex-joke posters would just about guarantee no girl would ever set foot in their room. And if they did, it would be followed shortly by a quick exit.) The closest thing to art I could find was "Starry Starry Night" and "The Kiss", which while cool, are freakin' everywhere.

Undergrad uniform appears to be OU paraphenalia and flipflops (I saw one girl kitted head to toe in OU, literally). Which makes it easy to dress down. I guess I am not used to that kind of school spirit.

Also, in the age of cell phones, you can't find a landline anywhere! This is new to me, since I didn't get a cell phone until after I had been out of school for a while. And because there were always landlines on info desks or around.

This year, I will be a teaching associate for an undergraduate theater class, which is pretty exciting. And intimidating. And with this quarter's focus on the classics, I am being forced to draw on my undergrad classes, which seem pretty hazy right about now.

I seem to confuse alot of people. One professor with whom I worked in Chicago did not understand that I was a first year grad. And two of my students mistook me for a freshman. Ouch! I hope I don't have that dazed-n-confused look!

The only consolation is that my advisor has to wear a jacket in order to not be mistaken for a student!

on iTunes: "Little Green Bag" - BNL & Tom Jones

My first day of school

(when I was little, my mom took a picture of me for every 1st day of school.
She took this the other day, so it should still count.)

I can say that I have survived my first day as a graduate student. If today is any indication, I will be spending the next year stubbornly pursuing what I want, as I am both inspired and exhausted.

Today started with me nearly spilling my coffee all over my tiny kitchen floor, before heading over to a 9AM meeting of all graduate students and department heads. It was good to see the whole crowd of us, as well as actually review some of the names I have pulled off the website and picnic on Sunday. I was really excited to hear that the student organization had agitated for more money from the general fee slush fund to be given to the Arts. Although we didn't get it, we did get some pacification money which is being used to make most arts events free to students. Which is great for so many reasons, not the least of which I can see alot more stuff. Also, the bigger goal is to make the arts accessible and attractive to non-arts students. When I was a senior in college, there were 3 shows in one month that attracted new audiences (including mine), which I consider one of the greatest accomplishments.

Met with my advisor no less than 3 times. Chased down professors and syllabi. Will be taking an absurdism class, reading some of my least favorite playwrights (damn you Pinter!) with my advisor's encouragement to fight and read against type. Hello Maria Irene Fornes! This means I will be turning down a class on the ethnography of performance, which, while interesting is only potentially useful and would definitely kick my ass. (I was having problems just getting through the syllabus).

The most frustrating part of my day was trying to dot all the i's and cross all the t's for my basic grad student stuff, like financial aid, registration, and such. I was pretty much pinballing between two buildings across College Green. But I think everything is as taken care of as it can be for now. I will give it another 24 hours before poking at it again.

Got to go home for about an hour of refuel, rest, and an episode of Scrubs before rushing back up the hill for my film class. And now I just sponge internet before heading down the hill again.

Being out of school for a while, it is funny to observe everyone else. The other MA confessed to being nervous, which I found cute. Can't say I was nervous, probably because I was so focused on getting stuff done. And because I have been preparing for this for so long. I do feel a bit senior amongst the other 1st years, but not impossibly so. However, I feel ancient compared to the undergrads.

on iTunes: "Mais un Lamento" - Ceu

Kickoff picnic

Yet another day of beautiful weather has me sitting on a bench, under a tree, enjoying a breeze and some better internet access. (And nearly being hit by errant footballs)

Last night, I drove out for the Theater picnic, which was hosted by one of the professors. The drive itself was a blast, along a few curvy, hilly backroads, and up one monster of a driveway. Set up on the top of a hill, on 40 acres was this amazing piece of architecture. Inside, there was exposed wood beams, lots of light and a really cool party kitchen. Outside there were probably about 50-70 people, more food, and some old dogs.


It was exciting to see such a turn out of faculty, staff and grad students. Without much difficulty, I met almost everyone at least once. Amazing what some beer, sangria, and grilling can do. It was fun to discuss setting couches on fire, ebonics and Klingon as legitimate languages, and general non-shop randomness with other theatre people. It was also nice to talk to people who were just as new to Athens and bored with packing/unpacking as me.


Things I learned:

• Along with the other MA, we are the guinea pigs for the theater history program.
• There are 35 first-year grad students, a bunch of 2nd years, but hardly any 3rd years (at least who made an appearance).
  
• The general consensus is that we have the best advisor (super intelligent, supportive, overall cool.)
• The other consensus is that yes, you will cry.
• Playwrights are cool.
• This will be a fun group to work and drink with.

We all stayed until it got good and dark, having watched a schnauzer find a tofu-dog, someone's kids manage to launch a Spiderman kite, and enjoyed some good food.

Couch comedy

Now that I finally have access to OU's (flaky) wireless, I can catch up on my blogging.

For the first time in nearly a week, I have slept in the same place for 2 nights in a row - my couch in Athens. (Bouncing from one house with my crap to the next house with my crap kept me on the move and healthily disoriented.) The first night, I slept on the couch to give my mom full run of my little bedroom. Last night, I gave up on clearing the bed of all my clothes. And since my couch is so long, swishy and generally comfy, it hasn't been a problem at all. At least now that it is parked in my living room.

The couch was a challenge right up until then. Located on craigslist, my mom and I arrived at this guy's door at 8AM, as promised. The emails were jovial. But apparently he was slow to primp and let us in. We nearly left without a couch until he finally let us in. Having seeing the couch, we discovered that it was not only red, but also a sofa bed. Le crap. This made it that much heavier than we were planning.

It was pretty ridiculous, 2 skinny kids trying to maneuver the couch down the hallway, to the freight elevator, down another hall to the loading dock where my mom and the huge cargo van was waiting. I nearly got flattened as we loaded it into the van. But it fit with no problem. Sadly, we didn't get the furniture dolly until after the fact.

With the couch loaded, we snagged my bed, and loaded up the rest of my junk. Then we started rolling west towards Athens. It was nice to drive with someone else, even though mom was piloting the van, and I got to motor around in my honda. Did the lead/follow thing I mastered on many long ballroom trips. And discovered that for not a lot of pickup, the van-o-crap could certainly move.

However, the Cosmic Muffin descended in West Virginia. I needed to refuel, and sniffed out a Target. Timing wise, this worked out well, since the van had just thrown a warning light. We had it checked out at the Quik-Lube up the hill. They tweaked the tires, but couldn't get the light to go off. So my mom and I took turns talking to Enterprise. Among other things, it was less than an hour before closing, assuming we could locate the nearest Enterprise. And assuming that location had a cargo van. To say nothing of the extremely unappealing possibility of having to unload this van into a new van. My mom's primary concern was getting back to VA, for which any vehicle would do. But with the stamp of approval from the Quik-Lube, we rolled the last 100 miles to Athens.


Unloading the van proved to be alot easier than packing it. Including the couch. We talked it out, "strategizing" how this red monster would fit into my apartment. And it went exactly to plan! We pulled it out of the van, pulled the one end to the top of the stairs and walked it tall before I did a monkey thing over the edge of the stairs to knock it in (I was perched on the hand rail, braced against the roof supports, feeling pretty cool doing it.)

My couch goes very nicely with the rest of my apartment. I have red sheets nearly the same tomatoey color. And there is a red wall in my bedroom. And the slightly rough look to the couch matches the student-housing effect. However, the roughness makes my mom twitchy, which I find hilarious. So I suspect my first care package will be not brownies and good wishes, but a slip cover.

In the meantime, my little apartment is still a den of despair, which boxes, clothes, and general junk all over. But I have another day to get things in order before school starts.

on iTunes: "Mass Romantic" - New Pornographers