In the midst of a hurricane

I have had such a peaceful day today. Which surprises me a bit, because I had a sad goodbye last night.

Break ups are hard, always. Especially when you are cast in two back-to-back shows with the person you are breaking up with. In many ways, this summer was a wonderful transition for us. It forced us to see one another in a new kind of relationship, and smoothed the transition into friends. However, we both agree that it is important for us to experience the absence of one another's presence from our lives. And now that our summer of shows has ended, we are making that break.

I've learned to live without him in the romantic sense. He has become such an integral part of my life, though, that learning to live without that is going to be a whole different kind of shitty.

It's like break up: round two.

In a lot of ways, though, I think it will be a relief. There are a lot of things I still love about him, and seeing him every day has been a constant reminder of those things. This will give us both time and distance and space to accept (continue to accept) that this relationship, while wonderful in so many ways,  is ultimately not what will make us happy.

I spent today alone. My roommate and bee eff eff is in Connecticut, and I am trapped inside with the threat of a hurricane. Throw in the tearful goodbye last night, and it sounds like a recipe for moping all day. It's actually been really nice though. I snuggled with Kirby (my demon cat) on the couch while I read and sipped tea, I played with my rats for about an hour, I did yoga, I played my guitar. Now I'm sitting in the dark listening to Celtic music with the window cracked, listening to the wind and storm outside. Tomorrow morning I'm going to the farmer's market and buying apples in celebration of fall, hopefully spending some time with my dad. Good stuff.

I'm going to be fine.

Hola from NYC!

I am currently wasting away from hunger in my castmate's parents' basement with 4 other members of "Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending." Our assistant director and stage manager are currently at the grocery store replenishing our dwindling food supply, and I'm hanging out with these hungover Hannahs. (By all rights, I should be hungover as well... but I hydrate, so I is not). 

My last trip up to NYC (last weekend), I left feeling certain that DC was the place for me. Perfect blend of Southernish hospitality and Northern politics. Great theater scene. Busy as a city should be, but not crazy. This weekend, I am beginning to waiver. Although I'm pretty sure it won't happen, last night I started to entertain the idea of living here. I immediately wrote it off because it's not part of my life plan, but then it struck me that I always have a life plan. Maybe I don't necessarily need one. The thought that instead of starting up my dog walking business in DC and pursuing a (probably) more successful theater career there and living in the DC metro are forever, I could move to New York and do god knows what, is kind of exhilarating. Probably still something I won't do, but I think it's good for me to not meticulously plan every detail of my life so far in advance.

The main thing I'm all about in this city is how much character it has. I'm used to DC, where everything is very polished and classy. So far, I've gotten some of the best falafel I've ever had from hole-in-the-wall joints for $2. Last night we went to a 157 year old Irish alehouse. It had old wooden floors covered in sawdust (to absorb spills, presumably). They only have 2 choices - light and dark ale. $5 gets you 2 8oz mugs, hand delivered by the owner of the place - an old Irish chap. So cool! Then we went to a tiny Bulgarian club with a live band and swings in front of the bar instead of stools. In the basement is The Ice Box. You don furs and Russian caps, go in the freezing cold cubicle of sorts filled with bottles of vodka, and have 2 minutes to drink as much of it as you can. I did not partake in this because I a) hate shots and b) have the alcohol tolerance of a small child. But 3 of my friends did and I enjoyed hauling their drunk asses around for the rest of the night (mind you, I and my 2 other non-ice-box-participating friends were pretty drunk as well). Then we went to another hole-in-the-wall club. Coming from big giant DC clubs and bars, I have to say these tiny ones are the way to go. You can only fit about 40 people in the whole joint, so it feels like a party, and by the end, you have a bunch of friends! 

All in all, it was an excellent night. I've spent the morning rereading Sweet Tater's trip to NYC a couple months ago, and now all I want to do is go out and eat as much food as possible. Unfortunately, I'm trapped in a Long Island basement, and may not make it into the city til tomorrow. So I'ma go upstairs and see if those gals are back from grocery shopping. Maybe I can munch on a bagel and pretend it's this:

Update, Shmupdate

I haven't written in awhile. And that's lame, right?
Big excitement in my life right now - a show I'm in is currently performing in FringeNYC, a big international theater festival. My roommate is the playwright (along with her brother), and also the director. This is the 4th time we've remounted our show, which has been pretty damn successful so far, and lots of important people are coming to see it in NYC. Real exciting. Yay!

But... all this excitement may be making me a bit ill. We're going back and forth from the city, working long hours with little sleep. And it's really hard to afford to eat a balanced diet in NY... but I'm doing my best. Regardless, I'm getsing a cold. Soooo last night I filled the blender with cranberry juice, lemon-ginger-echinacea juice, 1 lemon, 6 cloves of garlic, a piece of ginger the size of my palm and some Chinese herbs. I did that 3 times. Kind of gave me heartburn, but hopefully it will beat this shit of a cold out of me.

I'm off to get ready for work. Hopefully there will be more New Yorky updates soon. I know everyone is waiting on baited breath for my next entry ;)