Time to Breathe

Wow, it's been a week so far. Monday was fraught, Tuesday a bit better, and today...well, I stepped in a packet of ketchup and that's all I've been able to smell for the rest of the day, since it splashed all over my ankle, and inside the hem of my jeans. There's been so much I wanted to blog about, but I've just been so exhausted!

This has been a week of broken-down cars, camper freak-outs, hot hot heat, frantic decision-making, and oxidized hair dye, when all I wanted to do in the whole world was dye my hair. Blurg.

Yesterday was made much better by a ten-minute date with a bottle of red hair dye (a day belated, but it looks fab) and an actual date with Jake!

When I got home from work, he suggested we go to Sidebar for the Tuesday raw bar menu. It was a great idea. We've had our fair share of drinks there, but have only had bar snacks (and the occasional Chicago-style hot dog). Sidebar just got a mention in Washingtonian as your "Plan B" go-to speakeasy in the DC area, but it's my #1 pick.

Last night, I had a Classic Old Fashioned and a Sazerac, along with the raw bar dinner. I decided to be bold and try an oyster, 'cause what would a raw bar dinner be without one? I picked the smallest one (natch), and it was delicious! The oysters came with two dipping sauces, and the green one was far superior to the brown vinaigrette-y one. We also had lobster rolls (amazing!) and scallop ceviche with tortilla chips (delish!) to round out the meal. We had great seats up at the bar, and watching the bartender--Gordon?--mixing the drinks was quite a show. Will definitely be back for more raw bar action, and I can't wait to go to a Wednesday chef's night sometime soon.

So, yes, my car is dead, and children are nutty, and it's been really hot out this month, but at least there are good drinks and tasty seafood and good company (not to mention chances to fabulize oneself) to allow me time to breathe.

Date Night: Silver Spring

Still from Regretters.

Yesterday afternoon, there was an item on my Outlook calendar that said "Go Home on Time For Once!!!" Yes, that's three exclamation points. I really meant it. But after a long day of dressing like a superhero (I was one of two Wonder Woman-ses--the other was seven years old--and one of the students wore an orange wig and came as ME!), cleaning up and re-dressing a student who had an accident (par for the course for me, but I had to tell her she could pretend she was wearing Beyonce's old jeans to get her to go back to class), handling the mishegoss that comes with a fire drill, and doing my regular old job, there was no way I could actually only put in an eight-hour day.

So, there was nothing I wanted more when I got on the bus home from Bethesda than to hang out with Jake for the night. We had movie-going plans, and since my bus got stuck in earlier-than-expected traffic, I had to hit the box office for tickets before running up to the apartment to change into a dress (not wanting to wear my sweaty-from-camp Wonder Woman T-shirt out for the night), and then straight out for our date.

Totally worth it.

This week is SilverDocs at the AFI, and again, it's one of those things that would be a shame to miss considering it's right across the street from my apartment. People come from all over the world to this festival; how could I miss it?

Last night, we had tickets to Regretters, a film about two Swedish men who had gotten gender reassignment surgery to become women...and then took it back! One of them, Orlando, had a second reassignment surgery, and now considered himself a sort of "third gender," neither male nor female, but with male sex characteristics. The other, Mikael, lived as Mikaela for eight years, and still wasn't happy with who he was. In the last shot of the movie, we see him being wheeled into the OR for his second reassignment surgery.

The film was fascinating for many reasons, one of which was their rationales for getting the surgery in the first place. We usually hear stories about people "feeling trapped in the wrong body," and then feeling more complete when they have the gender signifiers they've always thought they should have. Orlando was a gay man in a time and a country where being gay was illegal. He figured life would just be easier as a woman, since he has "feminine mannerisms" anyway. Mikael learned from a young age to be scared of men, and never had satisfying interactions with women; he figured he could relate to women better if he was one. But he found that people treat women differently than they did men, he never really felt like a woman, and he still felt awkward around people; being a woman didn't turn out to be the cure-all he thought it would have been.

The movie is set up as a conversation between these two men: one who just wants to feel comfortable with himself as a human being and fade into the background, and one who loves being flamboyant and noticeable. (In Stockholm, Orlando is easily recognized as "the man in the red suit"; he wears sequins and earrings, and has his platinum hair heavily styled.) There are home movies and slides interspersed throughout the narrative, so we can see who these men are and were. The filmmaker appeared for a Q&A afterward, and it was good to hear that the movie had been embraced by the transgender community, since it was pretty controversial. I'm going to be thinking about this for a while.

The movie was preceded by I'm Just Anneke, a short film about a 12-year-old girl who is taking hormone blockers to put off puberty until she decides whether she wants to live her life as a boy or girl. The most interesting part of this movie for me was Anneke's mother declaring "I was always the fat girl who got chosen last in gym class. How could I not support my daughter, and who she chooses to be?" And "She's choosing to be who she is. I don't think I know who I am, even as a grownup."

We went to Ghar-E-Kabab for dinner afterwards. Vegetable Momo, Lamb Saag, and homemade Indian ice cream makes for a great after-movie, end-of-date-night meal.

Tonight: Stones in Exile!

The Life at Sea is the Life For Me...

It's summertime, and the living is far from easy. We've declared this summer a Pirate Summer at work since all of our shows--professional and student--are about pirates and sailors, but theatrical piracy isn't all fun and games, you know. This year, there was really no clear demarcation between the end of Spring semester and the beginning of summer; one of the projects I work on during the school year has been held over through the summer (good for the budget and for the cause of arts education, bad for my sanity), and camp crept up on me.

Good thing I like my job!

Camp started this week, and the kids are amazingly super cute. (Those adjectives should show you the extent of my brain-dead-ness at the moment. Also, the fact that I used the word brain-dead-ness.) Part of the reason I like managing the summer camp is that I get to hang out with some awesome teachers, and some pretty cool students. Sure, I'm also the one who has to deal with the parents, but we have a good relationship for the most part, and it's not too much of a schlepp.

The biggest reason I like working with the camp is that it gives me an opportunity to stretch my creative muscles and write a play. I've previously posted about the play I was writing, The Adventures of Sinbad and the Princesses from Persia, and now it's actually finished and in rehearsal! It's sort of an odd feeling, hearing kids speak and sing the words I wrote. Very interesting and a great experience, but odd nonetheless.

I'm usually on the other end of the process, editing scripts other folks have written, and gauging how natural their words sound coming from actors. This has been different from the other scripts I've written. I'm working with a new composer I've only worked with peripherally as a songwriter (there was a blackout at work last year & we wrote a song for a play my friend wrote, because we had nothing else to do). The director had a hand in dramaturging my script and helping me through a couple of drafts. (I love how involved he's been! I can't dramaturg myself, and he was incredibly helpful in helping me define the characters and find the arc of the play.)

I've also been sitting in on rehearsals the last couple of days, and have been able to have a little bit of input, which I usually don't get to do. I'm trying to do that from the perspective of a dramaturg (as in, "this makes sense in the world of the play; this doesn't") rather than from the perspective of a playwright (as in, "but this doesn't fit my vision!"--not that most playwrights are like that). I've told the director he can feel free to tell me if I'm being annoying, but he hasn't yet. :)

Yar.

Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with Peter Pan.

I previously posted about how even though I work in the theatre industry, my job can be just like every other job. For example: I work in a cube, have to deal with office politics, and agonize over whether to eat California Tortilla or deli for lunch (accessorized, of course, with the obligatory Diet Coke.) There will, inevitably, be more posts in a similar vein.

However. Here are a couple of reasons my job is not like everyone else's. One: I get to play. Two: I get to play while dressed as a pirate and doing a crappy (but effective!) accent.

Reason the first:
A few weeks ago, the wife of one of Jake's colleagues contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in leading an improv class at her temple's retreat. It should have some connection with the weekend's theme (awareness of the environment, particularly ethical eating), be somehow related to Judaism, and include about 60 students and parents, from four years old to grownup-aged.

No sweat, right?

It's tough to write a lesson plan that includes so many people, at so many ages. But somehow, we did it! Armed with my colleague Jackie, as well as a bag of musical instruments and dance scarves (and my loyal assistant Jake), we trekked deep into suburban Baltimore to lead this class. Honestly, we had no idea what we were walking into. Were they going to be into the activities? Were they expecting to watch while the kids did improv activities with us? Would everyone be able to understand and participate? How big was the space going to be?

It was awesome. The group had a really good time (I think!) and so did we. I was out of breath and sweating by the end. I love interacting with people, and when I get to work with small children, teenagers, and adults, and include them in activities that bring them together and give everyone a good time, that just makes my day. (Gross, huh?) I would gladly do it again, especially now that I actually know what I'm doing. Ha!

Reason the second:
This summer, we're doing all pirate plays at work, both in our professional family theatre, and in the summer camp I manage. What better way to kick off a pirate summer than with a pirate treasure hunt? Which, of course, entailed decking the lobby and classrooms out like pirate locales (The Jolly Roger Inn, the Shiver Me Timbers, Long John's Lagoon), and all of us dressed up like pirates. My colleagues organized the whole thing; I just showed up as the Bonny Captain Jenn to lead tour groups through the "treasure hunt."

What a great time! Again, we were all exhausted and sweaty by the end of the afternoon, but it was well worth it. We (groups of 4-25 students and parents, each led by a staffer) left on a tour every ten minutes for three hours. We defeated the Kraken (by throwing pennies into our "scholarship fountain), learned how to sword fight, solved puzzles, and ultimately "found" the treasure.

My accent was halfway between Irish and Caribbean, and I was wearing my belly dance scarf and a tri-corner hat. At work. What more could a girl ask for?

Have it Your Way

Photo courtesy washingtonian.com

This is a post about burgers. I want to put that right out there. Burgers. The most American of American foods. And they can be done really, really nicely, or really, really crappy. This post is about the former.

Last night, after a happy hour celebration in Dupont for a friend who was in town for, like, thirty seconds, Jake and I trekked back to The Spring to get dinner at 8407 kitchen bar. We ordered pretty quickly--we were hungry. I got a spinach salad with walnut oil vinaigrette, figs, blue cheese, and duck prosciutto; Jake got roasted bone marrow presented in an actual halved bone (I'm glad I tasted it, but am also glad I never have to try again); then we shared squash blossoms because the bone marrow was much smaller than we thought it would be.

I took another look at the menu after we ordered and noticed a nice-looking burger. So, I pointed it out to Jake, who pointed out in turn that we have no shortage of delicious "gourmet" burgers in our neighborhood--yet another reason it's a great place to live.

About a week ago, we ducked into Ray's The Classics for a super-late dinner. We had been in the Baltimore area later than we anticipated, and came in right under the kitchen-closing wire, putting our orders in just before 10. Even though the kitchen was probably ready to call it quits for the night, the burgers were amazing as always: juicy to the point of dripping, done extremely well (by which I mean medium-rare), with toppings to die. (That night, mine included huge slices of sauteed garlic.)

We love Ray's, but we've never eaten in the actual restaurant. Why would we, when the lounge is incredible? You can get a burger and a good drink for a very reasonable price, and the atmosphere is downright classy. Plus, the servers and hostesses remember us, which is always nice. So, fab burger number one.

We had fab burger number two earlier this week. Jake and I had some in-advance cooking to do, but we decided to get dinner out first. We went to Quarry House, the basement dive bar. Here are the things I love about Quarry House:

Photo courtesy the now-defunct Silver Spring Penguin

1. Binder menus for beer and whiskey.
2. It's a real dive, not one manufactured to attract the hipsters. (Although the hipsters do come a-flocking.)
3. The jukebox is awesome, and the customers know how to use it. Standard playlist: David Bowie, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Gogol Bordello.
4. Tater tots.
5. Tater tots.
6. Tater tots.
7. Delicious huge burgers.

It's always a good time, especially when you can get a seat. Oh! And burgers are half price on Mondays, so I guess that's Thing I Love number eight. Also: the bar has been around since Prohibition, and that's how I learned that Maryland never enforced Prohibition, hence its nickname "The Free State." (It's true. Look it up.) I like bars that make me have to learn things. :)

So, no shortage of good burgers in Silver Spring. "But our dear blogger," I hear you asking me, "Whatever do you do during your work day if you have a craving for a burger?"

Oh, you silly readers! I work in Bethesda, and so I get to go to BGR Joint or, most frequently, Wing Hub. Man, I hadn't realized until now that I eat a lot of burgers. (BGR Joint does have an amazing veggie burger, and the turkey burger at Wing Hub is really good, especially with swiss cheese.)

Jake chimes in to inform me that the best burger is at Ray's. And I'm probably gonna have to agree. But there's something to be said for eating a burger with a good beer in a dank basement while listening to The Stooges. Fortunately, I don't have to choose. Although I shouldn't go to both in the same day.

Time for you to chime in! What's your favorite burger?

Be Vewwy, Vewwy Quiet; I'm Hunting...

The Post Hunt!

The third(?) annual Post Hunt took place this afternoon, and Jake and I trekked downtown to join the thousands of other folks ready to traipse their way through the Penn Quarter looking for cryptic clues. (Seriously, it's one of those events where you look around and realize...you're one of...those people: the sort of people who enjoy a super-brainy scavenger hunt on a sweaty afternoon.) We named our team "The Debbies" in honor of our fallen teammate who just had to accompany a play she composed and music-directed.

We had learned a couple of things from our venture last year: we sprayed ourselves down with sunscreen, bought big bottles of water, and packed umbrellas and sandwiches. (By the end of the thing last year, we were downright starving.) We scoured the Washington Post Magazine on the Metro, knowing that somehow or other, one of the articles--if not more--were going to relate to a clue in the Hunt.

We got to the official meeting spot in time for the announcement of the map coordinates and spent the next three hours walking around looking for answers in statues, outside of buildings, peoples' outfits, and even one misguided bush. All in all, Jake and I tallied 3.5 out of 5 correct answers (we're accepting a .5 for an answer we totally got but wrote off as way too easy) and had a fantastic time running around figuring things out.

After the jump, a play-by-play in pictures, complete with how we got the answers we got. (Besides just being geeks.)

A Little Change Will Do You Good

I found out a couple of weeks ago that I was going to have to move from my cubicle at work to another one, a whole pod away. In reality, it was only a move of about ten feet or so, but that seems really far away when you're talking about uprooting three-and-a-half years of lived-in-ness. Five of us were picked to move, and since I'm the only one who was moving to a vacated desk, I had to start the ball rolling.

In real-estate terms, I've decided I've moved to a "corner office with a window view," and I think it is a more desirable space than the one I'm coming from. I have an actual floor-to-ceiling wall, which I'm super-excited about. I come from a center-cube, so I've only ever had the regular metal walls to deal with. I want to decorate it somehow--we have a bit of freedom in our cube-decor, since we work in a creative environment. I'm thinking a decal from BLIK, but they might be a little bit out of my price range right now. But seriously, how cute would this be:

Or this:

 Or this:

So cool.


It's funny: when you work at a theatre, people assume something particular about your job. They may think that you're on stage all day, or always teaching (as per what I do), or building something, or otherwise completely active. But the reality is that we still have to deal with office politics, and the realities of cube-land. It was downright cathartic to recycle bins and bins of paper files I haven't looked at in years, and will never need...

But you'd better believe I took my red Swingline stapler.