Mea Culpa

(Or, as my mom says, "Mayor Cooper.")

So, it looks like my typing fingers made a promise my heart couldn't cash in my last post. Of course, the moment I vowed not to let thoughts of pitter-pattering little feet take over the blog, it was the only thing I could think about to post about. It was like when someone tells you not to think of pink elephants...Then, you can't think of anything but pink elephants!

Add to that the fact that in a week, I won't be thirty any more, and I'd hate to have to think of a clever new name for this blog. (Thirty-one, Flirty-one, and Fabulous...one?)

All of that out there on the table, I've decided to start a new blog. That's right, you heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen: A BRAND NEW (AND IMPROVED) BLOG. You can find it at http://mamaturg.blogspot.com. There will be posts about theatre stuff and living-life stuff (much like this here blog), as well as posts about my journey being a mom and having a family. I've even imported some of my "greatest hits" over there to start us off.

Come join me at Mamaturg!

Demo: 18-34

It never strikes me that I'm firmly lodged in a specific demographic as much as it does when I'm watching a car commercial. Yes, I know, most commercials are geared toward the coveted 18-34 age group (which I'll be in for another four years, thankyouverymuch), and we love us some Betty White getting tackled in a backyard football game, or an indie female singer crooning about how much she loves life. (Double points if she's backed up by a ukulele!)

But now, I've got this other thing going, which is lending things a whole 'nother shade. I'm going to be a parent. And dammit if we don't all want to be the coolest parents in the world, not those old fuddy-duddy parents we've seen in other generations.

Or, so the car companies believe of us.

Almost every car commercial I've seen in the last year or so has an absolutely adorable child, either telling its parent how to use their car or rolling their eyes at how lame their (or other kid's) parent's car is. Tag line: "Just because you're a parent doesn't mean you have to be lame." We're clueless, Toyota tells us, but we don't have to be the geeks we were made fun of for being in high school! Or, we don't have to worry about becoming geeks, just because we've procreated!
 
It all started, of course, with this commercial, which I admittedly thought was cute.


Yes! I thought. Parents are people, too! But after several viewings, it all seems so...desperate. We like to shop! We wear hoodies! We play loud rock guitar while our children bang on the drums! We know the lingo and we're not afraid to be our horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing selves! We're not lame, and our children will love us! It is a far cry from other, older car ads, but I can't help but feel pandered to.

Ah, well. I'm just looking for a stroller that can fold up quickly enough to get on the bus.

You're Too Young To...

WARNING: MUCH THEATRE GEEKERY AHEAD!

I was at a discussion earlier this week with other amateur theatre critics (both professional theatre folks and supporters of the arts), and a panel of choreographers and music directors. The topic was what choreographers and music directors do, exactly, and how we can tell if they've done a good job.

All was well and good for a while. I don't see (or work on) all that many musicals, but I love the form, and it's always interesting to learn about other people's jobs, especially when it's something I could never do to save my life. Like, I absolutely understand what a music director does, but I didn't have a clue as to how, as a member of an audience, to tell if their vision was coming across.

THEN. The gentleman in front of me raised his hand to ask a question. He asked how the choreographers feel if their audience doesn't intimately know the historical period they've drawn from for their choreography. I get the question; it came after a statement from one of the choreographers about what happens when dance styles don't match the period of the play. (For example, imposing modern dance on a production of Singin' in the Rain.) But then, he went on to say, "I'll be 70 years old on my next birthday. My first Broadway play was...well, forever ago...I understand the history of the form. But what about these young audience members who don't?"

And I raised my hand to respond. (More after the jump...)

Well, Hello!

Hello, blog! Long time, no see. I know I've been neglectful. Here, have a bouquet of flowers and a half-eaten box of chocolates. (What? I got hungry!) Want a foot massage?

I've missed you, baby. Been thinking about you all the time. But you know how it is when you're in a relationship with a workaholic. I hope you'll have me back...

Yay for more blogging! So, what have I been doing in my long absence?

• Dramaturging plays for The Inkwell and Doorway Arts (most recently, this past weekend).
• Taking a trip to California (happy reason: wedding, sad reason: funeral--the two were unrelated, just happened to be the same weekend).
• Going to concerts (Frightened Rabbit!).
• Seeing plays.
• Teaching.
• Learning more about the ukulele.
• Gestating!

That's right, as if you didn't know already, your (soon-to-be-again-I-promise) intrepid blogger is pregnant! Really racking up the life changes in my ThirtyFlirtyFab year! I may be tempted to discuss the pregnancy and ensuing child on this blog, but I hereby make the following promises:

1. There will be no medical-type information. ('Cause, raise your hand if you need to know what's going on inside my uterus. Any hands up? No? I didn't think so.)
2. The pregnancy and ensuing child will not be the sole subject of this here blog.

I have more dramaturgy gigs coming up, an insight on ageism in the world of play criticism, work-related musings, and hopefully more pictures of food-type yumminess. I'm back, baby!

Cupcakes!

We take a break from our regularly scheduled Staycation posts (I promise to write about our awesome Day Four at Mount Vernon very soon!) to bring you pictures of...CUPCAKES!

In the last two weeks, I've baked two batches of cupcakes, my latest non-ukulele-related obsession. The most recent were orange(-ish) with orange buttercream frosting. The cake was particularly moist and delicious, but I had to deviate from the prescribed buttercream recipe, because I couldn't find the required orange flower water for the life of me. I'm incredibly curious, so if anyone knows where to find some in a brick-and-mortar near Silver Spring, I'd love some intel! Otherwise, I'll turn to these here interwebs.

The tastiest cupcakes came last week, when I baked to impress some out-of-town guests. (Yes, even husband's former college roommate/our best man/great guy and his awesome wife deserve to be impressed every now and then.)

I made vanilla cupcakes with raspberry jam running through, and a vanilla buttercream with raspberries plopped on top. Enjoy the picture:

Yum! Will have to make these again sometime soon. Slight modification next time (which the recipe actually calls for, but I left out): cut a hole in the top of the cake and plop some more raspberry jam in there before frosting. Oooo.

Staycation: Day Three

In which Jenn and Jake actually get to go to the Botanical Garden and traipse around the Mall in the rain.

What a full day of sightseeing on Wednesday! The great thing about staycating in mid-August is that the town isn't as full as it might be otherwise; families are getting ready for back-to-school, so vacations have pretty well ended; most camps are out of session, so there are fewer field trips; and the locals are still out of town. All of this led to many fewer tourists than I had originally anticipated, which was awesome.

After the jump: the Botanical Gardens, Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Museum of American History, and the Freer/Sackler Galleries (links and pictures included). All within a few compact blocks on the Mall!

Staycation: Day Two

In which Jenn and Jake run around Gallery Place (and other galleries) and apparently don't know what time things close!

We planned on seeing a lot on Day Two of the Staycation. (Not as much as Day Three, but that's another post.) The goal was to head out to Gallery Place, hit up the National Portrait Gallery, get some lunch in Chinatown, head down to both the East and West wings of the National Gallery, and then to the US Botanical Garden for a nature-y close to our day. And we accomplished most of that...Be advised, if you go to the Botanical Garden, it closes at 5:00. The website says 7:00, but it doesn't specify that the outside part closes at 7, while the inside part closes at 5. No big, we went back this morning, but it was still a chunk of time walking in the DC summer-hot-n-humid air.

We had a great time at the galleries, though...details and pictures after the jump!