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6.07

Cowboy Bebop.

Personal

I’ve been on the run since the end of May. I left my home of Albuquerque, the fact of which seems garish and unfamiliar to me still, took a road trip with Knuckles through Las Vegas (which is really bright, and fun- they really do pump oxygen into the casinos – I recommend wasting 20 bucks on low stakes blackjack) through the Mojave (with no air conditioning, the third time in my life I have done such) to Berkeley, CA, where I learned what hipsters are. (And after long reflection, I’ve decided that they’re basically okay. Which was not where I started. The heart of hipster fashion is this: co-opting other fashions and then regurgitating them in a knowingly ingenuine way. Exhibit A: trucker hat. Remix culture meets corporate marketing. Irony, I think, is key to our generation: clear skies, defending freedom, and so on. But I still think they’ve have gone too far, and they must be stopped. But now they’ve started to self-cannibalize, so the end can’t be far.) In the Bay I visited Ariel, who I love, and did a voice workshop on her. Rad.

Then, Chicago.

Let’s imagine how I’m going to remember this time period. Taking naps in Millenium Park on a locked duffle bag because it’s the only free place I know of. Walking for hours on end in various neighborhoods in converse. Sleeping on friends’ couches (and on one porch). Making ramen noodles in a used baked beans can, making tortellini in a used baked beans can, making more ramen in the can, eating with pliers. Making do with all sorts of cowboy tricks before my things arrived, staring at blank walls in an empty apartment in a new city, the belongings from one duffel bag folded neatly along one wall. Reading a book about cadavers on the train. Watching Cowboy Bebop and eating pecan shortbread cookies, paranoid of losing my job because nobody teaches me anything and I’ll screw it up at work. Building shelves out of dumpster lumber, beer bottles, and gorilla glue.

The emotional rather than functional or even existential ramifications of the move have yet to register, which means they’re probably already setting in, and I’m unaware of them, as usual. I can only hope that the massive amount of good that was my six months in Albuquerque carries forward to a massively good transition.

Professional

I got a reading for a play of a student at Columbia College. One rehearsal, one reading. The director worked with some other Red Team kids before, and loves them. I gave what felt like a terrible audition, and got the lead role. You never can tell. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m extremely pumped to get back on the horse. There’s a great bit with a knife.

Phase three began today, which means that I’m sending out my headshot and resume. Auditions on the horizon. I’m out of practice, and haven’t touched most of my pieces in a long time. I’m nervous and excited about doing possibly Marc Anthony from Julius Caesar: Friends, Romans, Countrymen! There are too many auditions to keep track of. I gotta develop a system: and this is exactly precisely why I came to Chicago.

Political

If you haven’t seen the Obama girl, you should youtube her. She’s exactly the sort of viral thing that campaigns love and fear.

I’m still having trouble finding a horse to back in the primaries. I joined al of their email lists.

The platforms are all pretty similar, and nobody’s shown any policy teeth yet in the debates. I love Edwards in theory, but something is missing. Obama just makes me feel fuzzy and I get chills when I think of the first time we saw him in 2004. I want him to be President. Hillary makes my skin crawl and I think of Seattle 1999, but I wonder if she isn’t the best man for the job. People keep telling me that Richardson is qualified, but so far he looks way out of his league. Biden seems interesting, but people look at me funny when I say that. Dodd, I’m going: why? And the more I see of Gravel, the more I love it that he’s running.

In short, I got nothing.

I used to be really suspect of personality based politics. The kind of crapmentary that focuses on who seemed more in control in the debate rather than what they said. Sportstfan politics. But my dear old mum put it to me well this way lately: “Think about how important George Bush’s personality has been in the way he faces problems.” Of course it’s important to think about who the person is, not just what they say.

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