have you ever?

gone through a period of time were all colors and interactions were pale, but music was like one million pixels and an infinite color palette? i am taking advantage of this set of circumstances to listen to a lot of the beatles.

lazy fucking weekend. and i don't give a shit. full of good, unexpected conversations.

i bought sweeney todd and a pair of jeans. i think i am going to return the jeans.

two lists

things that are awesome:

• dancing.
• new jobs that are awesome jobs.
• new awesome jobs that have cafeterias with full service, CHEAPER starbucks inside of them.
• finally getting a work computer and a desk.
• hot fuzz - A GREAT BIG BUSHY BEARD!
  
• having the internet again!
• enjoying your place of work.
• having autonomy.
• comedy.
  

things that are not awesome:

• not finding the pizza places you specifically looked up on menupages.
  
• poorly run shows.
• bad skin.
• weird hives/rashes that make you think you have rheumatoid arthritis.
• being tired enough to consider missing new team harold / harold night.
• spilling cheap starbucks hot chocolate all over your pants and white shirt.
• your new place of work being 4 full floors - each... HUGE floors
• your new work desk being a table along a wall behind two green tents. seriously.
• trying to figure out lotus notes.
  
• sticking paper towels down your pant legs so that wet denim isn't sticking to your legs.

if i make it out tonight... it'll be a miracle.

thoughts

i think something may have been biting me in my sleep last night. there's a swollen part of my right hand, and a part of my forehead that's weirdly swollen. not really noticeable to anyone but me.

yesterday i was in poughkeepsie with my family and my mom's side of the family at her dad's house. she and her sisters grew up in that house. in a three bedroom house, 4 girls grew up. shudder. plus the basement is permanently wet so the walls are full of mildew and mold. and it hasn't been renovated or redecorated since at least the mid-70's.

THERE'S CARPET IN THE BATHROOM... SHAG CARPET.

it was just weird to be in the house where my mom grew up, i guess. looking through pictures of my aunts when they were awkward teenagers was awesome though.

last night was stressful. i was running from the train to get home, and then running from home to get to show i was teching. all of the stress of the night was blown away by belting out 'closing time' at the end of the night with the stragglers from the show. that was fucking fun. everyone should sing really loud with their friends at least once a week.

fuck 'disaster movie'.

weird day

i had a really fun class show last night. unfortunately, it was very argumentative overall. i REALLY need to remember to let whatever my scene partner does inform and CONTINUALLY make me play my game. but overall it was fun and i enjoyed it. i think the class will gel a lot more after this.

i had a weird night out at the bar. it was pretty fun, but i was being kind of combative for no reason. i think i just wanted to analyze the show endlessly with the people i did it with, and instead i was endlessly analyzing someone else's show with them. i am a jerk. then a bit went way weird and i didn't really react or stand up for myself. need to work on that.

i had another 'MTA adventure' getting home, which sucked. i took the 2 because the 6 has been weird late nights for the past couple weeks, thinking i was smart and a proactive problem solver! yeah, no. the 2/3 were stopping service after 96th street, so i had to take a fucking shuttle bus 5 avenues and 20 blocks and i was all stressed out and tired. i showered and went right to sleep when i got in; didn't check my email or go online. so i missed that leroi moore, saxophonist and general wind instrumentalist for the dave matthews band unexpectedly passed away last night in california.

most of my new york friends don't really know about my history with this band, for a variety of reasons. i no longer have a car, so i don't drive to see destination shows like SPAC anymore, and i am now working for my money, and spending my money on improv classes instead of 8-12 dmb concerts and travel, per year. and partly because my obsession with the band has waned somewhat. the most recent studio material from dmb felt half-assed and underwhelming; and you are always hurt most by the ones you love, right? the live performances remained vital, but without new MATERIAL to be excited by, my obsessive attention turned to david gray and the national; who between them encompass the things about dmb that brought me into that crazy fold to begin with; lyrics i deeply identified with, and fascinating musicality coming from a group of vastly different and interesting performers. my obsessive listening shifted, but never abandoned, dmb. and because there is a weird label attached to being a dmb fan that i hate and am embarrassed by. i dunno, all this personal shit doesn't really matter, i just feel compelled to contextualize why i've been so bummed today.


i never got the opportunity to meet roi, unlike many of my friends (who raved that he was incredibly nice and genuine, and boasted about how he invited them on his bus to admire his saxes, if they were fellow players), but i always identified with him, onstage and off. in a band full of funny guys always trying to make the others laugh, HE was the funny one. he was a soulful, accomplished, inventive and skilled musician. his music meant, and still means, a lot to me. i feel awful that his family and friends and fans only had 46 years with him. Rest In Peace, LeRoi Moore (on-the-sax-a-phone).

it's a weird day. i am closing out here at this job, and it's been really busy, but i am having a hard time focusing because i'm sad. i am listening to live at red rocks now. i'll probably troll youtube for old school videos later on. i don't feel like talking about improv or doing any bits over chat sites. just sad.

a good article, if you are interested

stories i hate

i am reading a collection of short stories right now, and in it, neil gaiman uses the phrase 'story-shaped' to describe the kinds of personal event stories he likes. in other words, he likes when there is a satisfying narrative arc and unexpected but righteous conclusion. terry pratchett uses the phrase 'narrative causality' to indicate those stories that happen over and over again in a culture. mysterious hitchhikers turning out to be long dead children, the third daughter being the most beautiful, the youngest son prevailing in any quest. et cetera, et cetera, blah blah blah.

there are some of those stories that i hate. the ones i hate the most are those where everyone in them has terrible problems, and their reaction is to do things that are morally reprehensible, or incestual, or counter to the strict mores of their victorian time. therefore, i hate edith wharton, ethan frome, and most tragedies. i just find those stories... tiresome and silly. and boring and upsetting. i dunno. i am pretty immature in a lot of ways, so i guess that is another symptom of that lack of maturity. so it's back to my modern , humorous penny dreadfuls, assholes! mostly i just really didn't want to watch 'before the devil knows you're dead' tonight. perhaps it was just my mood tonight, but i found the whole movie to be fucking unbearable. i should have gone to see tropic thunder, or pineapple express tonight. that would have been a good idea. OR the dark knight again. DAMN IT. that would have been an awesome idea. way to have the best idea 2 minutes before your weekend officially ends, asshole.

at the del close marathon, andy rocco made a coin purse out of his nutsack. just looking for more hits on the ole blogosphere!

boo.

i suck.

yeah.

this whole music trying to reload thing is INCREDIBLY frustrating. various albums have disappeared without reason, and my itunes is refusing to acknowledge the tv episodes i bought. i know it's stupid, but the fact that most of myy home time has been spent fucking relabeling and organizing my itunes collection because of NO fault of my own... it's just really frustrating.

also i have a headache, and i don't want to do any of the organizing, cleaning or chores i want to do. look, katey being pathetic and self-pitying! shocking!

reading

i am going to make a list of the books i want to obtain in the near future. dc pierson wrote an entry that reminded me that i am STILL 2/3 of the way through the first neal stephenson baroque cycle book, and i started reading it BEFORE I MOVED TO THIS CITY. it's been on top of the book case in my bedroom since i moved into my apartment and got that bookcase set up. ugh. that's partly because it was an exhausting book to read up until that point, but i also really enjoyed what i read AND many of the passages are extremely vivid and i think of them pretty often. so i need to man up and finish the series. they are cheap at the strand. and i think they came out with mass market formats of them, so i won't have to pay $14 for a 3 pound book. that sounds silly, but i am still a weak little person for the most part, and i try to avoid carrying heavy things. which is one of the reasons i haven't read harry potter much since moving here. i used to read the entire series (in order) at least twice (if not 4 or 5) times a year. but i only have the big hardcovers and they are annoying to carry, especially when terry pratchett stuff is lighter, funnier and more... authentic is almost the word i am looking for.

that made me remember reading the mists of avalon some time in HS, in the waiting room for an appointment in some hospital, and i ended up waiting for like 2 hours and finishing it. weird memory.

um. on to that list of books.

2 robert heinlein books. to be chosen at point of sale.
philip roth. american pastoral and the plot against america.
michael chabon. the yiddish policeman's union.
david foster wallace. infinite jest. (thanks for the suggestion, DC)
the rest of the baroque cycle.
whatever book professor dan chambliss suggests i read.
making money. terry pratchett.
a non-dark tower stephen king novel. suggestions plz.
reader's choice - please suggest. funny science fiction prefered plz.

a final note; i actually was on the same train car as DC last night; we didn't walk on together, and didn't catch the other's eye so we sat apart and i could tell what relish he had for opening whatever he was reading and just focusing on it. i am the same way with reading. i fucking love it, and i love it for the experience of it, but i also like the triumph i feel when i finish two or three novels in a week. keeping with that, i cracked open my latest artemis fowl adventure (boo-yeah) and proceeded to be jerked around by the MTA for next HOUR. an experience that started with the smelliest homeless man in all of new york and the 5 boroughs colonizing my car and taking his shoes off, and ended with me being stuck on 2 different 6 train platforms for 50 minutes and taking a grand total of 4 different trains to get to my house. boooo mta.

why i am going to a new job

an email i received today:

I am still waiting to hear back from someone within your organization. This entire affair seems to be handled very amateurish. If I won a prize just send it along rather than jerking me around like you have. Do I need to stop over at the "PRIZE" headquarters and tell my story to you client?

keep in mind i emailed this guy once and waited for him to reply for 2 weeks. clearly his definition of jerking around is different from my amateurish handle.

also, a REALLY heavy platter fell out of my dish rack last night and hit my ankle really hard and now i have an impressive bruise. that's a reason to leave a job, sure.

life and times (a video i was in)

a video by rob stern and dave bluvband. i don't understand it! enjoy!

i gave in

and started a tumblr too. i'll try to keep up both - blogspot for more serius bizness posts and tumblr for fucking around, socially. we'll see.

http://rubysneakers.tumblr.com/

also, tumblr doesn't make me puzzle through a word verification every time i want to post or edit something... BLOGSPOT TAKE THE HINT.

breathe

i've been listening to the newest david gray song, 'breathe' obsessively as of late. someone sent me a high-quality rip from his live at abbey road sessions and it's amazing. really dark, with a crazy rhythm and rhyming scheme. a fairly complete transcription of the lyrics:

wake, wake and the moment's gone
wake, wake and the moment's gone
wake, wake and the moment's gone

and then the doorbell rings
somebody asks ya 'could
ya spare a little time?'
-to feel the weight's that's mine?
and lower down your guard
you'd let your heart get smacked
caught in the wheels and and dust cracks
dangled on the edge
breathe

feel you're in too deep
so offer up some crumbs
drop it in the tin
slither back within
your crenallated wealth
your educated self
your family in ruined health
and all the joy it brings
aren't we forgetting something?
feet out on the ledge
feet out on the ledge
breathe
breathe
breathe

and in the heat of noon
finds you like some dog
you're parked up in a field
hermetically sealed
scratching at the windshield
and howling at the glass
and anyone might walk past
were you not aware?
were you not aware?
breathe.

a sea of frozen lights (broken lives)
mechanics, doctors, housewives
feet out on the ledge
feet out on the ledge
feet out on the ledge
breathe

i cannot WAIT for the new album. rumored for fall 2008.

in other, less fun, news i've left my improv team, bad data. i probably should have left months ago, and i was sticking around for the wrong reasons. let this be a lesson, children; if you are upset about something in a group situation, and you don't address and deal with it, it will come out in other, negative and more hurtful ways. basically, grow some balls and be direct with people, even if they are way more passive aggressive than you are. it wasn't a bad break up or anything, but it still feels like a break up. it feels profoundly lame to be struggling not to cry at work because of improv comedy.

however, to be clear, i'll still be around the improv and indie worlds way too much. i never really needed the excuse of performing in a show to go see it and hang out afterwards though.

and if anyone needs someone to sit in for a show, i would most certainly be up for it. i'll definitely need the stage time.

DCM

a few notes:

at 6:30 in the morning, nothing is funnier than magnets and green shirts.

'rowar!  i'm a gay werewolf!'

'yes.  i am president carter.'

everyone is awesome.

sometimes i hate myself.

'where is my utility tool?'

'it appears YOU have nothing to bite.'

brooke shields is tall.

rob riggle is impossibly nice.

'let em laugh, let em laugh, let em laugh!

liar!

today's blog title is an homage to one of the healy-wurzburg girl's favorite movies growing up - the disney live action adaptation of the three musketeers from the mid-nineties! it really is a kick ass family movie, and i am pretty suprised that it doesn't seem to have the staying power i expected it to have. much like star chris o'donnel's carrier. and don't think that he's the only draw for the live action disney version either; the cast features oliver platt, tim curry, kiefer sutherland, charlie sheen and that guy who played the sub-lieutenant in 'robin hood prince of theives' with the scary deep voice. and that woman who was in the the before sunrise/sunset movies! and the priest from chocolat! seriously! anyway, it's a fun movie, watch it if it's on.

erm. what was i going to post about? oh yeah, i am a liar. i did not go home last night, i stayed for most of i got next, did 3 minutes of mostly shitty improv at 12:30 am and watched the power duo of starband (starzinski and bluvband) fucking rock my face. sigh. someday i'll be good at improv. SOME DAY.

i was up early for work today. i am doing the very little that needs to be done here. pretty lame. i wish i was taking the workshop i was supposed to with matt walsh. in oddly enough news, ian roberts asked me what time he needed to be at the classrooms on friday. it was surreal to write the next day's classes on the board, and have the last names be the founders of the UCB plus the last two AD's of the theatre.

well, i am going to be up for the next 20 hours or so, so i am going to go get some work done, hydrate and eat some peanut butter toast. BREAK!

p.s. if you are so inclined, come see bad data perform tomorrow at 8:45 am at the URBAN STAGES theatre of the del close marathon! should be ridiculous!

new beginings

so my work related stuff can be discussed now; i interviewed for a new job last week and this week, and was given an offer yesterday that i accepted! i am thrilled. it's working for a really awesome place called JWT, which is like that place that every 20 something independent woman who works in new york in the movies works at. it's modern and cool as shit, and seems full of totally awesome people. i am really psyched to join their team.

and it means i will no longer be an accountant, AT ALL. i am really thrilled at the prospect 51 weeks spent as an accountant is really far too many. and taking a pay cut because i don't have an accounting background? yeah, chock that up to one of the worst decisions i've ever made. however, i really enjoyed most of my time at my current position. i certainly learned a lot, and had a great time when i opened myself up to it. i am hoping that this new job will push me to develop my social time at my professional position; i tended to devote all my social energy to my comedy and improv circle over this past year and am planning on being more equitable in this new position. i think i will feel more balanced if i do.

so yeah, new exciting things on the katey front. in other news, i am interning tonight at my regular UCB shift, then probably going right home since i have to get up at 7 am tomorrow so i can leave by 4 pm to work ANOTHER UCB (DCM) shift... then be up for another 9 hours before my show at 8:45 am. then it's home to sleep until my 6 pm teching shift saturday-sunday. then up again until the krompf show sunday morning.

yowzers. still no computer.

a conversation from earlier today

me: awesome job last night

was way fun

John: pff, i was barely on, but thanks

you using your dick was funny

me: haha my penis object work leaves a lot to be desired

John: hahaa

me: there's a sentence i never thought i would say

stress

i ran a scheduled update on my ibook saturday morning, because i had been putting it off and i am trying to be more proactive.

now my computer won't turn on. tekserve says it's the update. i say "&*~!^@*&^$@# i need the internet NOOOOOOW!!!!'. i am trying to figure out a way to fix it that doesn't involve $195 dollars leaving my pocket.

it is DCM week. this weekend is DCM weekend. i'm not really excited, i am just anxious about it. i had a fucking blast last year and all i can do is worry about the weekend. wtf. i hope i chill out by thursday. i need to do a load of laundry, maybe tonight. i know, i know, you're saying 'but katey... it's TUESDAY! HAROLD NIGHT! LOL WUT!?' it's weekend team harold night, which i am somehow not as stressed to see all of. i might go home, do a load of laundry and then head, leisurely, on down to chelsea. oh, what luxury! i'd rather not miss new team harold though... we'll see.

also, bugs seem to be haunting my every turn lately. there was a huge cockroach in the dressing room at USM on friday, then sunday there was one in the main bar at the parkside, and today there were two centipede's at my cubicle neighbor's desk. FUCK. THAT.

i'm way busy at work. i won't be able to take the walsh workshop i signed up for because my boss has to take her dog in for surgery on friday, so i can't take the day off.

there is also some other work-related news that i could be revealing soon which is ALSO stressing me out, even though it's going to be a good thing... should it happen.

assorted miscellany

item the first: when buddy holly was my age, he was already dead.

item the second: 6th avenu heartache by the wallflowers is still a rocking tune. i wish their two biggest singles didn't differ markedly in tone and, to some degree, style from the rest of their catalog.

item the third: some assorted miscellany of quotes:

'the city air is poison, but it tastes so sweet'
-david g.

'i'm so glad our paths crossed this time today / on our way into the night'
-david m.

'and if every window pane should shatter / if every wall should fall apart / well it might hurt a bit, but would it matter - with this diamond in my heart?
-david g.

'"wouldn't work with dragons," said lady ramkin. "some daft creature rolls on its back, you disembowel it. that's how they look at it. almost human, really."'
-terry p.

item the fourth: pepsodent should not be allowed to label itself 'toothpaste'. instead it should be given the new label of 'wtf is this white shit supposed to be? why is it leaving a film on my teeth? how is my mouth cleaner now'.'

item the fifth: go shopping tomorrow. you need plates and some assorted sundries from other home furnishing suppliers.

also, congratulations

big ups congrats to christine nangle, who's been placed on the UCB harold team 'Whorenado!'. Christine is a great, super funny writer and a really talented improvisor. i was lucky enough to be on a team with her in my last 501, and it was a total joy. i had a fairly massive comedy crush on her before the class, and it was beyond fun to get to play with her regularly for the class. i think she'll be great on the team, and i can't wait to see her play with them. and for the record, my girl crush on her is now sealed. BOOYEAH.

actually, she might actually play with them THIS COMING SUNDAY AT THE LORELEI! what a smooth transistion to a plug. i am just THAT good. AND it's a solidly awesome line up this month, i am way excited about it:

indie darlings

DAYSTALLION!

JOHN FRUSCIANTE presents JOHN FRUSCIANTE!

solo improv, not for the faint-hearted!

and the aforementioned

WHORENADO!

a ucb house team! we've gone corporate!

as always, the lorelei is at 8 pm at the parkside lounge, on houston btwn aves B & C. the show is free, but we (it's just me, actually) ask that you buy copious amounts of the free drinks from the lovely cocktail waitresses. also, i will do some sweet stand up comedy as your host for the evening. EXCITEMENT!

the color blue

my favorite color has always been blue; a variety of shades therein. i think i like blue because i do like all tones of blue. and i almost always prefer blue-based colors to more orange or red-based colors (i.e. i prefer cherry red to fire engine red). i had a blog entry on my old livejournal in college that labeled all my friends with their aura color. no, i hadn't become a gen-you-ine hippie over the summer between sophomore and junior year (the same summer i got my first ipod, 'bob or beowulf'; 1000 points if you know where that name is from); i was using 'aura' to mean whatever color your mind thinks of when thinking of a certain person. i believe it was entitled 'the synasthesia entry' or something like that, and it was really fun, actually. at the end of it, i asked my friends to say what they thought my aura was.

the answer was unilaterally red.

sigh.

i suppose my childhood spent arguing for the rights to play the blue side on stratego was all a waste. and i think i will always think of myself as more of a 'blue' person; even though loud, energetic and tiny female firecrackers are rarely 'blues'. over the past year or so, i have fallen in love with a certain jewel tone of dark red. and unlike wearing ill-fitting blue shirts from the gap (high school!) all the time, it doesn't emphasize my see-through skin and blue veins quite as much. i do compromise by making sure it's a blue-toned red.

in other news, for the second day in a row, my iced caramel macchiato has started curdling after i am half way through drinking it. i think my favorite starbucks' caramel sauce is old. or their entire shipment of whole milk is old. either way, it's off-putting. but i just took another sip because it's still delicious as long as i don't look at it.