Beware: The Chibis Have Taken Control!

*clears throat* So... I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I've been out of work now for about 16 months and my life is wildly different from what it was when I first went out on disability. I no longer have my own apartment. I have a gorgeous niece whom I adore. I'm back in school to pursue a new career. I have lost almost 70 pounds. I have made new friends.

And it all started because of Hair.

Don't run away! Hear me out. I promise, this is not more Hair babble. Not really, anyway. ^_^ *coughs* ( As a compromise, I'll place the self-realization babble behind a cut. Fair? ) What it all boils down to (for those of you who skipped the cut ^_~) is this: All of my big talk about getting involved for the last year+... it was all just lip service. I hadn't really done anything. Just sat at my computer and signed petitions. I'd stifled my own voice because I was afraid to use it alone. Enter Hair again. Gavin Creel (the Broadway Revival's first Claude), recently reminded us all that AIDS Walk New York is happening soon and this year, Broadway Impact is going to have a team. I watched him starting to raise money and boggled at how quickly people jumped on board to help. Then again... he really is that awesome. ^_~ I checked out AWNY's page and looked at the route map. I realized that it couldn't be more than 5 or 6 miles. I could do that. It wasn't so much, really. It was almost too easy.

I could do that. I can do that. And if I only raised $25 from my own mother... well, that's $25 going to a damned good cause. So, I signed up. To get involved. To help in whatever small way that I can. To do something to help someone else. To take the next step in creating my own happiness.

To use my voice.

To change the world.

So, I'm going to take a chance. I set an extremely modest fundraising goal for myself and I'd like to blast it the hell out of the water. So, I'm reaching out to all the social networks that I frequent and even risking a connect between LJ and real life to do it. If you think you can help out, even if it's only $5 or $1... please let me know. I'll send you a message with a link to the donation page. I'll put that faith out there in you not to abuse it.

And as an added incentive, I'm even willing to offer a reciprocal gift of sorts. How about we'll call it... a short fanfic of your choosing in any fandom for which I have written or am currently writing? Hell, I'll even consider revisiting Sailor Moon for a cause this worthy. ^_^ Not sure I write in a fandom? Ask. I may even be willing to consider a new one for this. ;) To be gifted to whoever among my LJ crowd donates the most money (...or any money, if I want to be realistic ^_~) towards my goal.

Sound like something you might be interested in? Let me know. We'll talk. ^_^

Thanks for listening.

*eyes icon* No, Setsuka. Just... no. I really won't. Why? Because I live on Long Island and we've gotten more snow so far this season than freaking Anchorage, Alaska. That is not right. O_O It's Alaska. We're... not. *twitch*

( Anyone who doesn't want to listen to me babble about general life, TV shows, ficcage and Hair (again)... flee now. ^_^ )

Final bit of random other news: I am one of the new mods for 15_minute_fic, successor to the now defunct, 15minuteficlets. Long story. ^_^ Anyway, the point of the comm is that every week a word is posted under a cut tag. Once you look at the word, you have 15 minutes to write... whatever. ^_^ It's kind of a fun way to get your writing juices flowing when you're a little stuck. Head on over and check it out! We could use some fresh meat. ;D

I think I'm gonna go toddle off and do some writing or something. ^_^ *waves* Later!

Starting word count for OB part 5 rewrite: 8,694 2564 / 10117 words. 25% done!

1,032 more words. And it's like pulling f*cking teeth. What the hell all of a sudden? *makes faces* I think I need to scene skip. *sigh*

On another note? Dude. Love this song (Fireflies, by Owl City):

( Video behind cut. Enjoy! ^_^ )

Frickin' awesome song, really neat video... and I swear I heard it somewhere in Dollhouse. Or, at least it sounds like something that should have been in Dollhouse. I don't know. ^_^ Found a few more of his songs and am rapidly becoming a little obsessed. ^_^ Listen!

Also, yesterday I sound recorded all my youtube Gavin bootlegs so I could burn them onto CD and listen to them in the car. I am way more obsessed with his new song "Out Love" than can possibly be healthy, not to mention, "Unspoken Heart." ;_; *sob* *wistful sigh* I wish I could be in Toronto next weekend. ^_^

Edit: 4:30 PM... and a weight loss update. 1.6 lbs. this week... for a total of 60.2! *cheers* That means I only have 15 lbs. to go before I reach my healthy weight range. :D :D *throws confetti* Let the countdown begin! :D :D

4:45 PM -- Damn it, now I'm afraid to start anything because I know dinner is in 15 minutes and if I do get into something, I won't have time to keep working on it. Damn it. And for some bizarre reason... I think I'm stalled because Berger wants me to write him sex... and for the first time, I think I might be willing to try. O_O That scares me. A lot. Because if that's why I'm stalled... I can't figure out how to get unstalled. *whimper* Help...?

OK, first off, I'm still high off of Gavin Creel's third and last Birdland show. He was even more corny and adorable than at the first show. And there were even more new songs! All of which were wonderful... and most of which made me want to bash Jonathan Groff in the face (or crotch, whichever was closer) with something heavy. Honestly, I caught Gavin wiping tears away after one or two songs. ;_;

That being said... Dude. Hobbit table. XD Sheer awesome. XD And so much more, but I'm just too tired and I can't even try to write it all.

Mainly, the point of this post was to share this article about Hair's new tour cast. The whole article is awesome, but here was my favorite two paragraphs:

"Hair's touring company is led by a phenomenally talented collection of actors. Burkhardt is perfectly cast as the sexy, mercurial Berger. As likely to charm a woman in the front row with his long dark hair and easy smile as to flirt with the man sitting next to her, Berger is the unofficial leader of the leaderless Tribe. He's the man who they all want to be. Or do. Or both."

Seriously? OMG, awesome. XD And so true!

"Burkhardt infuses the character with an undeniable magnetism, an effect heightened through his clear onstage connection with Remillard's Claude. The characters Claude and Berger are engaged in a mutual and uninhibited triangular relationship with Sheila. The two men love one another, and Remillard and Burkhardt communicate that intimacy in an entirely casual and naturalistic manner. They have developed something powerful that brings an even greater depth to the story, moving the audience to even greater investment in the pair."

*wobble eyes* Also, so true! The ease of the relationship between the two of them was one of the most beautiful things about this cast. I adore them so unbelievably much. And I seriously love how Sheila only got a brief half-line mention in an entire paragraph of gushing about Paris and Steel's Claude and Berger. :D

Now, go read the rest of the article! It's not very long and it's totally worth it.

Side note: So glad they seem to have found a blowdryer for Paris' wig. It looks much better now... a.k.a. almost like his real hair. ^_^

Part 2 of the massive deconstruction that ate my life for two days -- and before you complain about it being short remember that looks can be deceiving. My discussion of Paris Remillard alone took up a whole page of 10 pt single-spaced font. O_O Coming tomorrow: Discussion of Claude/Berger and the dance party. ^_^

And then on to the "Big Three"...

8) ( Caren Lyn Tacket as Sheila )

9) ( Steel Burkhardt as Berger )

10) ( Saving the best for last... Paris Remillard as Claude )

Addendum 12:50 AM -- from Gavin's Twitter...

gavincreel Gavin Creel
dragged it up, opening night PRISCILLA in toronto. bravo to everyone, especially my hippie leader.
21 minutes ago

*just dies* Really, Gavin? Really? *_* So adorable. So much love. It's been almost 5 months (?) since they last did Hair together and Will is still Gavin's hippie leader. *_* Lovelovelove! Is it fair to say that Will will always be the Berger to Gavin's Claude? I think so. ^_^ They make it so easy... they really do. ^_^

Go back to Part 1 | Part 2 | On to Part 3!

12:45 PM
1) I did yoga for the first time ever last night. I loved it. And because business hasn't picked up yet after the summer slump, I was the only person who showed up, thus allowing the instructor to give me a lot of attention and really tailor the class to what I needed. *_* And as an added bonus, I feel better and more limber this morning than I have in a _long_ time. When I woke up, there was no pain. There was no stiffness. O_O I don't even remember the last time I was able to say that. How am I going to get through waiting until next Thursday for my next class?? D:

2) I made a fake peach crepe for lunch from a 1 pt. wrap, some ricotta cheese sweetened with Sweet 'n' Low and sliced up peaches sprinkled with cinnamon and popped into the toaster oven. OMG. Epic yum. And it was huge and only cost me 2 1/2 points. *_* I have a new favorite food.

2) Uncle made hamburgers for dinner tonight. If you'd ever had my Uncle's hamburgers, you'd understand why that makes today epic. ^_^

3) I'm finally going to see Million Dollar Quartet tonight! :D It's the first show in a month or two for my Mom and I and I'm really excited! :D Though I'm a little nervous about going to see it with her. The last time she saw Elvis in concert I understand there was screaming and resultant deafness involved. Oh wait... maybe that was my Aunt Sandy doing the screaming and my mom with the resultant deafness. ;D I'm sure I can trust her to behave. ^_~

And last but sure as hell not least...

4) I have reservations for not one, but two of Gavin Creel's concerts in November!!!!! Is it wrong that I'm really happy that zoicite couldn't go on the same day that msorange21 and the rest of us were planning on going, thus giving me an excuse to go twice? *eg* What's that you say? My horns are showing? Damn. I thought I'd managed to duct tape the halo more firmly to them this time... *shrugs* Ah well. You live, you learn. ^_____________________________^

Could today be any more epic? Not if it tried. :D :D :D :D :D

Update (12:45 AM): OMG... Million Dollar Quartet is freaking awesome and I met Lance Guest!! I have had a major crush on him since I first saw him in The Last Starfighter when I was six. And the man can sing. He has this deep, velvety bass that you just want to wrap yourself up in -- which I totally didn't expect because as himself he talks like a tenor! :D My mom thinks he was checking me out at stagedoor... but dude, he has a long-time girlfriend and a kid. *sigh* So, I doubt it. Still... just getting to meet him... *_*

And seriously... Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis were totally having eye-sex over the piano in every freaking song. Total eye-sex. ^_^ *_* H_H

No. I won't do it. Won't.

^_~

*deep breath* I've been thinking lately... this is not where I thought I'd be this time last year. My life has had some pretty dramatic upheavals in the last 12 months and it has led me down roads that I never thought I'd travel. And it has been one hell of an interesting journey. So, I thought I'd take a brief exploration of the trip, a little comparison of where I've been at Rosh Hashanah's past and present.

( Cut for excessive rambling. Hey, it's my LJ, I'll ramble if I want. ^_^ )

*deep breath* In short... I've come a hell of a long way in a year. My life now bears almost no resemblance to my life of last year. And do you know something incredible? I don't miss that old life. That old me was depressed, tremendously overweight, had very few friends and had long since misplaced many of the things she used to love most about herself. This new me feels good, is energetic, has made some awesome new friends because she was brave enough to reach out to them and hold on once she had them, and has discovered and rediscovered a hoard of new hobbies and interests that she'd long since forgotten. She's happy. She has a purpose in life. She feels like she's moving forward into a bright new future when before there was only darkness. I can't even begin to express what an unbelievable feeling that that is. So, though I never thought I'd even think this, much less say it... I'm grateful for my back injury. I'm grateful for this year. Most of all, I'm grateful for my family and my friends, without whom I would never have made it this far.

L'shana Tovah tikateivu v'teichateimu! -- May you be written and sealed for a good year and thank you all so very much!

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*coughs* OK, I'm not done. I need to brag about one last thing. ^_^

And I never thought that the single most exciting thing that would happen to me on Rosh Hashanah 5771 would be that I would buy tickets to go see Hair for a sixth time... in New Haven... on October 23rd, 2010. That's right, folks -- I have my tickets!!! :D zoicite was kind enough to let me bully her into coming with me. I have had butterflies in my stomach and a racing heart ever since I gave the lady on the phone my credit card number. To quote myself... "It's been too long. My heart is too full for words." And to paraphrase from my people...

"Next year in Jerusalem, sure... But next month in New Haven, first!" ;D ;D

O_O I keep meaning to get around to comment and e-mail replies and it keeps not happening. Had a really long, though satisfying weekend. Started with Paris!Claude... and ended with Gavin Creel's new EP, Quiet, going up on iTunes for download... and now that I've listened to it three times in rapid succession, my brain is a happy pile of purring mush. (If you haven't downloaded it -- or it's predecessor, GoodTimeNation -- go do it! You won't be disappointed. ^_^) Sooo... since happy piles of purring mush are not conducive for writing intelligibly, I'm thinking that bed is probably the wiser choice. ^_^ That way I can respond to comments and e-mails when I'm well rested and actually coherent. ^_^

*snugs* Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow! (The happy chant of a master procrastinator. ^_^)

G'night all! Happy Solstice!