Only 8 of Me.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 8 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Ok.. now back to work.

No If's, And's, or But's

I just got back from my rehearsal for 'Into the Woods.' It's my second one with the cast and so far I've returned with nothing but amazingly positive feelings about the show.

It's going to KICK-ASS!!!

That's right. KICK. SOME. MAJOR. BOOTAY!

The director did an amazing job picking the cast and the talent coming from everyone is phenomenal. This only makes me want to work even harder. I love it! There are some people I've encountered (not in the show) who were skeptical about the production because of the smallness of the theatre (trust me, it's small), yet for me it only means that the audience will be more involved in the overall experience.

So on that note, YOU WILL COME TO THE SHOW!! You won't be disappointed. And being that we're performing 24 shows -- yes, I will be spending every weekend in the month of April with this cast -- the only time I'll see my friends is if you attend.

Save the dates: March 30 - May 6 (Friday and Saturday night, Saturday and Sunday matinee). I'll post more info, as well as send an email, once it becomes available

When Brown Sauce Attacks

I woke up late this morning, which meant I had to forgo on making my lunch if I wanted to leave work early enough to relax at home before rehearsal. No worries. I'll just buy my fall-back lunch--steamed veggies with rice. And to "spice it up," a little brown sauce for flavor.

I'm not sure when and how it happened, but somehow that brown sauce gave me some major back-splash. Looking in the bathroom mirror I suddenly take notice of these freckles on my chest... freckles that never were there before until now. My initial reaction was 'WTF?' accompanied with a mini jump-back, which quickly led into "Holy crap! That's brown sauce!" I've been walking around work for the past 4 hours with my these new found freckles.

Yummy!!!

The upside is noticing them before heading off to pick Ollie up from camp. I have this image of him being happy to see me and then immediately honing in on my chest. All the while, I'm trying to figure out why he has this uncontrollable urge to lick it clean. EEK!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

GO PATS!! GO PATS!!!

IN YOUR FACE CHARGERS!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Calm

Last week I emailed my friend Jen asking if anything was happening on Saturday so we could go out and dance. I was feeling the need to hear some beats because the last time I went out dancing was back in August at the Virgin Festival. Too. Long. Ago.

She quickly replied that she was attending a drum circle that night and I should go. Why not? I've never been to one and it would be, if anything, a very unique experience. I had no idea what was in store because in my simple view of what a drum circle could be, I figured we'd be drumming and dancing the whole night. Turns out to be partially true.

The event is called Soul Fire, sponsored by Conscious Collaborations and takes place once a month. There is drumming and dancing, but also spoken word, singing, and meditation. It reminded me a bit of the chill rooms at raves, minus the party favours.

There were parts of the event that made me giggle, but overall I enjoyed playing the drums, messing around with the other instruments (cow bell, tambourine, various forms of maracas!), and dancing. There were some really skilled drummers there too, which made it fun to dance because they knew how to pick up the beat and get funky. Oh, and unlike raving, it's frowned upon when you take your camera out to snap pictures. The camera flash is intrusive. Buggah!

Oddly enough, once I got home I didn't have as hard of a time falling asleep as I thought I would. I was relaxed. A sensation that is still foreign to me, so I thought I'd go with the flow.

I was thinking about a Sunday bike ride, but being that I was feeling pretty peaceful with myself, I decided to take a Pilates class instead. Exactly what I needed!! And for the first time I actually felt the results of a Pilates workout. Needless to say, I'm hooked.

So, over the past 24 hours I've experienced some new things, as well as learned a bit more about myself. A fantastic way to begin the new year. I only hope I can learn to "switch on" the calm when I need it because being in a relaxed state of mind is actually quite enjoyable.

Single Salute

I'm driving on the beltway, left-hand lane, going a steady 70mph. Been driving in this lane since the 270/495 split. There's a car behind me, driving pretty close. Tailgater? Quite possible, but I couldn't get over because I was blocked on my right. I could have sped up, but wasn't in the mood. Besides, 70mph is a good clip for the beltway.

Within a minute or two, I see a car pull out to my right and then pull directly in front of me. Now I am not sure about this next part, since I was listening to a rousing discussion on NPR about HIV prevention in DC. Either the driver immediately adjusted his rear-view mirror to get a better view of my beauty, or flipped me his bird. Hmm. Curious. I tilt my head in confusion, the continue on my journey.

Huh. Odd. My odometer has moved to the left. I'm now driving at 60mph. I giggle as I think about what this particular driver's intentions are. If he was so keen on getting in front of me, why is he now insisting that all of us in the left-hand lane slow down to 60mph.

Ah-ha. I have an opportunity to get over to the right. Just as I do so, he puts on his blinker and cuts me off. WTF?? I smile even bigger. Immediately get back over to the left and drive.

As I pass this elderly individual, he holds up his middle finger against his window and refused to at in my direction. That to me means he was either PO'd at something prior to our meeting, or pulled a maneuver that was uncalled for, and rather than taking the blame, decided to use me as his scapegoat. Butt-muncher. Within seconds, he appeared to have slowed down even more and I lose him from my site as other cars drive furiously to pass him.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love driving? (feel the sarcasm.)

il iPhone e' una cosa speciale

The iPhone is for absolute sure H.O.T.

I spent the past 2 hours reading a Macworld Expo 2007 live-feed of Steve Jobs' keynote address (via Engadget). What us mac-heads have been waiting for and speculating over the past year is true. The iPhone does exist and it was worth the wait.

A 3.5" screen, multi-touch functionality (goodbye mini-keyboard, unmanageable keys and stylus!!), OSX as the operating system, IMAP and POP3 compatibility, full web-browsing (no more WAP), HTML email, full sync to iCal and iTunes, images are viewable horizontally or vertically, GSM + EDGE ... read the article to get all of the sexy details.

Yes, I haven't stopped drooling since noon.

Yes, I plan on spending the $500 to purchase the phone.

I have the image of me and Signore iPhone walking hand over phone along the Almafi coast in Italy. *sniff* I feel a tear coming on.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

Another year is upon us and I feel like this is going to be a good one. Our lil' family is already in a 'transitional' state with lots of good things in motion.

To top it off, I've made my annual New Year resolutions.

• Master the Italian language
• Travel (I did none in 2006, so I'm due!)
• Collaborate with my man on all of the many projects we've been discussing over the years

My list goes on, but then it's not so much of a list of resolutions, instead it's a list of what I want to accomlish in general.

Good luck with your resolutions, if any, and hope you had a kick-toochis New Year!