i've been working on a cocktail

Standoff with Bugs.
Hour 4.
Have killed one nasty hairy spindly water-centipede I found in Brother's room.

Have not killed any of 3 Roaches (or perhaps the same one, swapping locations throughout the evening to fuck with me), coming out and staring at me and twitching their antennae and looking generally huge and shiny and horrible.

WHY. WHY WHY WHY. Because I live in New York, yes, that's why. But really, my house is decently clean. Sometimes the dishes linger, but it's certainly not grounds for infestation.

I blame the new neighbors below. The bugs no longer have a big empty apartment to scuttle about in, so tonight, they're checking out the penthouse.



My pest problem aside, I am actually working on some projects worth a mention, since this is supposedly a blog about directing. On the directing front, Baby Bear Productions is a scant 2.5 weeks away from the Paper Planes shoot. On the writing front, been plugging away at the Heart show w/ Ms. Foxfire (met her at the US auditions; she's slated to play Brooke whenever that gets-a-goin again). On the design front, I'm doing costumes for a show called "What a Life," with a company I've never worked with before - and THAT is always exciting! And on the (GASP) acting front, I'm actually reading something aloud with MORE people that I've never worked with before. My friend Kindred (who brought me to a lovely goth-trash-rock show and encourages me to co-write letters to Guillermo del Toro with him) invited me and Daisy and some other folk to read a new play aloud next Friday.

And Gorey Stories co-author Stephen Currens dropped me a line last week, asking about the RTC production! I told him we've postponed, so we'll be meeting for a drink & discuss when he visits NYC in October.

Just putting this into the blagosphere, as a wish, since I've sent the letter (gloriously translated by Daisy's stepmom) to Pierre Bergè, asking for permission to perform it: La Machine Infernale.

grey skies are gonna clear up

Been up for eight hours on two hours of sleep, and it's only noon! Man and I are literally on opposite schedules - he went to bed just as I was leaving the house this morning. Albeit I was leaving at five AM to work a SpikeTV Pros VS Joes event at Madison Square Garden. Now I've come home, crawled into bed, and awakened him so he can get to work by one.

Lots is new, and lots is awesome. Man moved from Texas to NYC, and we are having a time of it. We did, in fact, have champagne in Tennessee on New Years' Eve. We are nearly moved out of the apartment on 106th street, which is depressing, but onwards and upwards! We are moving uptown by a few blocks, into Mom's apartment - as she is moving out, to live with Teach! It's quite the shuffle. Most of our days consist of downloading an absurd amount of movies, trading pants, working weird hours, doing RTC biz and chattering to each other in strange voices.

Heath Ledger died. What the fuck.

I got this fantastic job, working with kids in the Drop-Out Prevention Program at Norman Thomas High School, here in Manhattan. I'll be directing the first play they've done in 15 years, and I think we'll be writing an original. The woman who hired me was interested in putting up "Waiting for Godot" with a similar design to the Out of the Nest production I did a few years ago, but when I got to the site, the kids seemed way...disinterested in that. I'll take my cues off them and see what we can put together. Either way, I'm following through on the promise I made to myself when I walked out of the Central Park Boathouse in May 2007 - if I have to starve first, I will make my living in the theatre realm, and I will not take a shitty full time bread job.

And I have nearly starved (in fact, still working on crawling out of the hole a bit, but I can see the light) waiting for a job - this job - the right job. Here I am. STOKED, man.

And look out for the RTC, because we are about to do a HUGE marketing and fundraising push...because we have all kinds of good stuff up-n-comin.

2008 SHOW SCHEDULE (thus far):

1) Tango Ballet Performance
by Sophomore Dancers at Talent Unlimited HS
When: February
Role: Costume Designer

2) Decades Ballet Performance
by Junior/Senior Dancers at Talent Unlimited HS
When: March
Role: Costume Designer

3) Beckett Shorts including Catastrophe, Play, and Come & Go
by The Real Theatre Company at Trinity High School, Talent Unlimited, and possibly other schools
When: Throughout the spring
Role: Director/Producer

4) Untitled Show
at Norman Thomas High School
When: May
Role: Producer/Director, possibly Playwright

5) Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
at Talent Unlimited HS
When: May
Role: Costume Designer

6) How I Learned to Drive
by The Real Theatre Company at Theatre Row (directed by PJ)
When: June
Role: Co-Producer

7) Gorey Stories
by The Real Theatre Company
When: October
Role: Director

8) Bye Bye Birdie
by The Real Theatre Company
When: December
Role: Director


Holy...gosh. It's only January and there's 8 shows booked. I'm terrified, but that's like catnip for me. I wanna put that list on the floor and roll around in its wonderful fantasticness.

Oh, and as of yesterday, I've been fingerprinted by the Department of Education - I'm in the system, man. Eeeeek!