I have a fifteen-pound cat.

Everybody knows about my personal zoo of distinctly unique animals. Especially my cats. Maevie, the little one-eyed princess, is currently asleep on a bright pink velour hoodie on my closet floor. She took up house in the closet when Spencer moved in and took over the dining room. Spencer is my fifteen-pound ball of pain-in-the-ass. A dog stuck in a cat's body. So affectionate you trip over him as you move through the house, because he can't stand to be away from you for one minute. Right now he's asleep with his cheek against my knee. In the middle of the night I'll wake up and he'll be sleeping fetal position next to me, with his head on my arm, or he'll be sitting right above my head. He loves humans.

When Maevie moved in, I quickly figured out that I couldn't let her into the living-room when I found claw marks on the legs of my precious leather couch. Princess Maevie to the core, the regular cat-scratcher wasn't good enough for her delicate nails. This situation was easily fixed. I created a faux-gate with some wire mesh from Target. You know, the kind that you build dorm-room bookshelves with? Anyhow, she looked at the gate, looked at me, and the message was clear. Living-room off-limits. Got it boss. Even now, when I'm in my little office-enclave, if she wanders in thinking I'm not around, all it takes is one look from me and she turns tail and heads the other way.

Spencer, however, is a different story. His goal is not the leather couch, but the yummy plants in the living-room. But he's only curious about the living-room when I'm in there. Because he always needs to be in the same room with me. At first he would just shove the bottom of the gate forward until he could fit his body through. I footed the gate with a large book. The he shoved the other side open. I footed that with a heavy bookend. By that point, it was not only difficult for the cat to get in, but difficult for a human as well. Spencer then figured out how to clear the gate by leaping from the floor to the back of the couch. So I built the gate higher. No good. He would just back up and re-calculate his leap, even when I put a vacuum-cleaner in front of the gate. At first his leaps are messy, much like an amateur pole-vaulter when one raises the bar, but after a couple of tries the leaps are easy and the cat is winning Olympic medals.

One day, while doing dishes, I hear what sounds like horses galloping. Then a large clash and clang of metal against wood. Spencer the Undeterred had started at one end of the apartment, charged the length of the hallway, and slid into the gate full-force, thereby breaking it to pieces.

This house don't suffer no fools.

Now I find myself researching the purchase of AN EXTRA TALL BABY-GATE, because I have a fifteen-pound cat, who thinks it's a dog, and therefore acts like a toddler. Why do I put up with it? Because for the past half-hour he's been lying next to me, his head pressed against my leg, not moving when I move, only content to be where I am. Because when we went to the shelter, he climbed into my messenger bag head-first and just stayed there, upside-down. Because in the middle of the night he'll step across my throat and nearly asphyxiate me, but only because he wants to lay next to me. He's like Lenny in Of Mice and Men. An extra-large, oafish cat who destroys things, but only because of his inability to control his love.

P.S. He also likes to sneak up on Maevie when she's in the litter box. I don't think that's out of love.

Flying by the seat of my pants.

So I had a bizarre Saturday.

Yesterday my friend Emjoy called me and left me a message saying that Porchlight Music Theatre was doing a last-minute casting call; they needed one female dancer for "The Fantasticks" and she thought that I should submit. I had seen the audition notice and not done anything about it; I haven't done a musical in 9 years so I generally skim over them when I look at casting calls. However, Emjoy seemed to think that I was perfect for it, so I sucked it up and sent in my rezzie.

This morning I awoke to a phone call at 9:30 - the producer was calling to see if I could come in at 4PM for an audition. Unfortunately I had to work, so he asked if I could come in at 10:30 instead. AM. As in, forty minutes from the time of the call.

I've never done an audition that last-minute before - but I got on down there, danced for them, and a half-hour later they offered me the role and asked if I could attend the first rehearsal at 12PM. Um. Okay.

So within two and half hours of waking up on a groggy Saturday morning, I auditioned, was cast, and was at a rehearsal for a show. It was crazy, and it shows how fast things can happen in this business sometimes. Needless to say, I'm grateful for the opportunity - it's a good musical. I play the role of "The Mute" - and I realize by writing this that I'm opening myself up to a myriad of jokes from my brother. "The Mute" is silent throughout the entire show. Hallelujer. I get to really use my dance and movement training, which I haven't had the opportunity to do for a while.

So yes, I will be performing in a musical, without uttering a sound. This autumn. It should be great.

And thanks, Emjoy! It wouldn't have happened without you.

Here's a link to the Porchlight's website with info about the show -
http://www.porchlighttheatre.com/

Man, she is writing so much this week!

I know - but I can't help it, I slept till 1 PM today and now it's 11:13PM and I don't want to say good-bye to this day.

Why did I sleep till 1 PM? Cause I could. Also, I went running yesterday and it about sacked my ability to walk today. My legs feel like dried play-doh filled with more dried play-doh. Only different colors. Like my legs are yellow on the outside, but if you detach them from my body and look on the inside, they're mauve. I could make a racially-motivated joke right now, but I'm too tired.

Anyhow, remember the blog about the plant babies? I'm gonna tell you MORE about the plant babies. But quickly, before the laptop runs out of batteries.

Long story short - my herbs are doing well. Well, the sage has died, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's being re-incarnated to a better life as basil. Cause my basil is kickin ass and takin' names!

Also, my marigolds never made it past the seedling stage. And the cosmos were doing well, only a massive storm passed over and flooded the soil right out of the pot. I thought those suckers were goners. They were goners, AND they were suckers. But I was sitting on my back porch yestermorn', meditating, and lo and behold - they had capitalized upon the three inches of soil left in the pot, twisted their way to the sun, and (GASP!) are those buds I see?

Yup. So in a couple weeks I may have some renegade, can't take me down, blooming cosmos. They won't be arranged so well, but they made it. And I'm proud of them.

But this is a little lesson with me and plants. Can't happen. And any plant that survives me, I will love them forever. Mammals, however? I'm great with my mammals. My cats are thriving. They don't even mind that their pots are low on soil. I kid. I totally fill their pots with soil after EVERY rain.

A few favorite pictures from Miami

Our trip to Miami for my friend's wedding. We stayed at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort (thanks Khai, sameorcheaper.com). Wish I had just one more day there - a four-day weekend is not enough time to enjoy the beach!

Updates

I haven't written anything lately, and right now I have a lot of summer-time on my hands, so va-va-voom let's go!!

I'm in a pretty upbeat mood right now; I attribute it to my run/yoga today. I've been getting better at running, using a free 5K training podcast I got off of the iTunes store. I don't like to run, so I need a personal trainer telling me exactly what to do otherwise I'll just stop in my tracks and stare at the trees, thinking, "Why...?" Anyhow, this podcast intersperses intervals of running and walking, increasing in difficulty each week for 9 weeks. Or is it 7 weeks? Anyhow, my goal isn't to "finish" the training - it's just to get out there and run two or three times a week, and to see a noticeable improvement in my cardio. So far, so good. Also, with a training podcast I don't need to worry about time or intervals and can focus on relaxing my toes and my shoulders and my thinky-thoughts. It's nice.

I've also been doing quite a bit of yoga. This began after I got out of the hospital. My body had a "talking-to" with me and after the nurse ripped those IV's out of my arm, I was on the search for balance and health. I also made the decision to get my yoga-teacher's certification by fall of next year. Hopefully, in three years I can build a private-teaching business that will support my acting career. I love teaching in the schools, but it's sensory-overload, low-pay, and stressful. Instead I hope to return to the movement training that I specialized in at Ohio State, and to capitalize upon that. It will give me flexibility in scheduling, diversify my income source, enhance my acting-training, and keep me healthy. Anyhow, I practice at home about five days a week, from 20 minutes to an hour and a half, and when I have extra cash I catch a class at my favorite studio, Yogaview Division.

In the meantime I've taken on a third job at Coobah on Southport. I don't get paychecks from St. Matthias during the summer break, so I'm hosting part-time, soon to be serving again. It's a high-end restaurant specializing in Latin-Filipino fusion, with solid clientele and very kind manager and owner. At first I was frustrated to find myself in a restaurant again, but then one of the servers commented on how the economy has been bringing in 40-year old businessmen looking for serving jobs. So instead I choose to be grateful. I plan to keep this job during the school year, work a few nights a week and make some extra dough to throw at my credit cards.

It's nice now, however, during the summer. I work at the restaurant three nights a week and have the days to enjoy the city. Go running, do yoga, read, write fun things, clean the house. And it's nice that I don't need to scramble to get work covered when my agent calls. When I have auditions I can plan my entire days around them, since my schedule is open. So much less stressful, so much more enjoyable. Live it up while it lasts, for when September hits, I'm going to be juggling again.

Anyhow - Thanh and I had a great date-day yesterday. Went down to The Newberry Library book-sale downtown. I was soooo excited, since the Newberry is an amazing place with a great collection, however it was the last day of the sale and all the good stuff was gone. At least we found great parking though, and we took advantage of our spot to walk to Michigan Ave. for a little shopping. Then we drove to Evanston to see "500 Days of Summer". I didn't love it, despite the rave reviews. I could get into why, but then I would be spoiling it for others. I will say that the movie left me oddly morose, so as soon as Thanh and I got home he popped in "High Fidelity" to cleanse us of our sadness. Now that's a great movie! It's like an onion. It keeps on blooming.

Another summer goal: to read Anna Karenina. I just read a book called "Elegance of Hedgehog" (fantastic!) that kept on referencing Anna Karenina, so I figured it's about time to attack that Behemoth of a Book. It will happen.

Father's Day Celebrations

Happy early Father's Day!

Continuing the tradition from last year, I flew my dad up to Chicago for a nice extended weekend. He arrived Wednesday night, and so far a great time has been had.

First stop in Chicago (immediately after picking up Dad at the airport), Le's Pho for a late-night dinner, where we had pho, shaken beef, spring rolls, and my favorite, a durean shake. Mmmmm. Dad and I are big fans of durean, but Thanh is not. A detail in my building argument that Thanh is not actually Vietnamese (he also doesn't like papaya or mango, somebody explain this to me).

Thursday was low-key, seeing that I had to work til' six, but Thursday night we headed over to Thanh's place to watch the Laker Game. Why Thanh's house? Well, not only does he have a fantastic view of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago (his condo is on the 32nd floor), but he also has cable. About six months ago I decided to cut my cable connection so that I could save 60 bucks a month. (I catch my favorites on Hulu.com) I'm not a huge fan of basketball, but the Laker game was pretty exciting. And we had some yummy meatballs with rice that Dad and I cooked up for the occasion. Lakerballs and rice, I should say.

Friday afternoon Dad accompanied me to work, where he was an honored guest during my theatre classes. The kids were introduced to "Ms. McBride's daddy", and then they promptly ignored him while they galavanted around the stage as jungle animals. I was proud of their lack of self-consciousness, and Dad enjoyed their hijiinks.

Today Thanh and I took Dad to the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory, one of the lovely and fantastic free activites in Chicago. Highlights were the Orchid Room (though my favorite is the Fern Room where I can pretend to be a dinosaur), and the Regenstein Ape House where we watched one chimp kiss another chimp's ass. Scientists call it "grooming". I call it inappropriate and unnecessary. There were also some very cute swamp monkeys that were playing tag and chewing on baby toys.

Here are some photos from our activities today.






Tomorrow we are off to Chinatown for dim sum at Phoenix Rising (I call it Pho-enix Rising. As in, "Thanh? What does Pho Enix Rising mean?" Hee hee hee....). Then to Mitsuwa Marketplace for a soba dinner and a cruise around the Japanese supermarket. Yummy fishcakes.....

My Plant Babies

Though a little late in the spring, I finally had time to make my plant babies today! This is my amateur foray into gardening from the seed, hopefully to make a lovely contribution to the back-porch garden that my neighbor beautifully cultivates. Maybe one day I'll be good enough to plant a whole garden, when I have a front and/or backyard!

I bought two little greenhouses, and I planted some Cosmos and Marigolds, as well as basil, sage, and lemon-balm. I had a fresh-herb pot last summer and loved it, so I can't wait for them to seed so I can transfer them outside. Memorial Day is coming up, which in Chicago means that the winter nasties are safely over and plants can make their move to sunshine.

I'll post my plant-baby progress as the weeks come. Happy Spring!