The requisite 2011 Survey

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

Kept a new year’s resolution (vegetarian week), stuck with a job (the radio station) for five solid years (going on six for 2012), wrote and performed a one woman show, made the cover of the city paper, wrote an existential play, won platinum leasing specialist at work (yeah, I know…), got a master’s degree from JHU, stayed in a relationship past the two year mark (fingers crossed for more years) without doing something to explode it, and parented 7 cats.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I kept some of them. The big important one was that I wanted to be a vegetarian for the first 5 days of every month to cut down on my red meat intake, and I actually did it! Added together that is 60 days (2 months!) of being a vegetarian this year.

This year I’d love to be a better cat mom/girlfriend (I’ll think of ways to measure it), sing with a band again cause that’s always awesome, travel more, and we’ll add the requisite watch the finances and be healthier in to the mix for good measure. Longer post on this stuff to come.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

The Mikkelson family had a baby! She’s cute as punch. Lots of other people I know had babies and got pregnant, but no one else who is really that close to me.


4. Did anyone get married?

Same answer as last year: everyone is always getting married. And if they didn't do that, they got engaged. I didn’t go to any weddings.


5. Did anyone close to you die?

Happily, no. And I realize after reading last year’s responses that I’ve stopped thinking of my friend who attempted suicide as having that attached to him all the time. Thank goodness. He’s too wonderful to be pigeon-holed as “that guy who tried to kill himself.”


6. What countries did you visit?

I stayed in the country this whole year again, but I’m making progress. I went to NYC twice and both trips were great. I visited my sister in Dallas. D’Paul and I ventured to DC a good bit, and I went home for the traditional Cumberland, MD/Keyser, WV Christmas. I found my passport and it’s still valid for a year so if I want to go somewhere I can. And that feels like something.


7. What would you like to have in the 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Last year I had lofty expectations for a better understanding of my career’s trajectory and good hair.

This year, I want a record deal.


8. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and what for?

November 10 – I Want To Be A Gay Icon! opened at Theatre Project. The entire year was basically a build up to this happening. I had a phenomenal creative team working on this with me, and we worked our asses off. I realized that the show was in the works for well over a year and putting it out there was amazing, humbling, and gratifying.

December 1 – Moved in with D’Paul. The apartment is great. D’Paul is great. The cats are great. We’re saving money and we have enough space. I immediately started waking up happier and more relaxed. I love this man. Life is good.


9. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I Want To Be A Gay Icon!

Graduating from JHU with my MLA


10. What was your biggest failure?

Being cranky pants about trying to balance work/work/school/being a gay icon. I will have less on my plate this year. I will.


11. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing too serious to report. I took some corticosteroids for my voice prior to Icon opening, but that was more as a preventative measure than anything. I’ve been feeling good. I need to watch my dietary habits because they’ve GONE TO SHIT. Eventually there will be consequences.

12. What was the best thing you bought?

I got into fashion a little bit more heavily this year. So, I’m going to go with…

Jimmy Choo shoes, and a Halston dress.



13. Whose behavior merited celebration?

D’Paul, D’Paul, D’Paul. He’s just wonderous.

Anna was awesome.

Joseph Ritsch was a godsend for Icon

Two professors from JHU helped make Icon what it was in major good ways

And oddly enough, two work superiors stepped up and made this year a bunch better than it started out.


14. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The Republican party

Idiots at work


15. Where did most of your money go?

Cats. They’re terrific. And when you have a bunch of them, expensive.

Car. I paid it off last February.

Icon. Theatre is expensive.

Clothing. I tried to dress better at work.


16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I Want To Be A Gay Icon!

Moving in with D’Paul

Visiting my sister in Texas

Vacation for 11 days this week.

Going to the Metropolitan Opera in February 2012


17. What song(s) will always remind you of 2011?

Song of the year is Lady Gaga, Born This Way. It’s a fun dance track, musically sound. The message is great and it made it into my show.

Brett Dennen – Sydney, I’ll Come Running

90’s dance music made a big comeback on my iPod this year.


18. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happier or sadder?

Decidedly happier.

richer or poorer?

My salary increased, but student loans are coming due now that I’m graduating. And my salary didn’t increase that much. Let’s say poorer.

thinner or fatter?

Fatter. For reals.


19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
No regrets. I’d say, if anything, I wish I had sat at home and enjoyed my life with D’Paul and the cat babies more. But I’m about to have a lot of time to do just that – which is awesome. And if all I ever did was sit around rather than do all the things I did, I bet I’d have regrets.


20. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Stress out D’Paul. I’m so good at it.


21. How did you spend the Holidays?

Home for Christmas Eve/Day

Back in Bmore for Christmas evening with D’Paul

Restful days until New Year’s Eve party


22. Did you fall in love in 2011?

I fell a little harder all year long.


23. How many one night stands?

None.


24. What was your favorite TV program?

I’ve watched a lot of TV, and cared very little about any of it. I heart Rachel Maddow.


25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate last year?

Same as last year - I don't have the energy.

26. What was the best book you read?

I took a few lit classes in the last year and we read some awesome books. I really appreciated Camus, The Stranger. My entire world was shattered by Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried. I read a bunch of great plays. Hands down the most incredible book I read was The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Holy shit, if you haven’t read it stop what you’re doing right now and go grab it. Prepare for armageddon.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I saw Rihanna in concert and got the full thrust of how awesome she is in person. I found out how much I like Melissa Etheridge and k.d. lang while I was working on my project. Martha Wash became important. This year was more about me working on myself as a musician than about finding a lot of new out there. I went to people I already liked with the mindset of “What can I steal from you?”


28. What did you want and get?

I wanted I Want To Be A Gay Icon! to be a success and it totally happened. We made the cover of the City Paper, got a great review, and got articles in b magazine, Gay Life, and OUTloud. The audience response was amazing and hopefully 2012 will bring some great things for continuing to move the show forward so we can reach more people.


29. What was your favorite film of this year?

It’s a split honor this year. The films sharing the award will be Midnight in Paris, which was just absofuckinglutely delightful and charming, and The Muppet Movie because, well, nostalgia. We also saw the original Ghostbusters in the theatres (they did a limited run re-release) and it was fantastic. It’s much funnier on an enormous screen. Honorable mention goes to Bridesmaids. I liked it, it was fun enough. I adore Chris O’Dowd and he was super loveable. I don’t go in for the disgusting comedy much, so there were more poop jokes than I needed. But with all the writing about it as some kind of feminist statement, I figure I should at least acknowledge that I had a good time seeing it.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?


I turned 28 on June 29th. D’Paul and I had dinner with my parents at Akbar in Baltimore the weekend before. On the actual day of my birth I took a class at work (Dealing with Difficult People! Useless!) in the morning. In the afternoon I drove to our College Park offices to work, and promptly got sick. I went home early, and had to skip class that night. I wrote a paper, and ate a wonderful country meal that D’Paul made for me because he is sweet and thoughtful.



31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?


This year would have been better if I’d been living with D’Paul for all of it, instead of just the last month. We’re really happy. It’s more relaxed, because I don’t have the pressure of a separate home to keep.



32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Bougie. I got more interested in fashion, and spent lots of time perusing haute couture. I own none of it, but that’s to be expected. Someday I will have an haute couture gown from Elie Saab. It will cost the same thing as a house. And it will be worth it.


33. What kept you sane?

This question presumes that sanity is a part of my life. I’ve given it up.


34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Lady Gaga – always and forever. She never stops working for the lgbt community. And she’s fucking fabulous.

Rachel Maddow is less flashy about what she does, but man it is important.


35. What political issue stirred you the most?

Gay marriage. Until it’s no longer an issue, it’ll be my most important one. Right up there with bullying kids.


36. Who did you miss?

I don’t know. The big three: Ira, Sarah, and Kristen have all lived away for some time now, and I’m used to it. I missed Anna while she was in Israel. But then she came back, and now I don’t miss her anymore.


37. Who was the best new person you met?

Melissa Hilbish. She’s the head of the MLA program at JHU and I took two of her classes in the last year. She’s incredible. Technically I knew her before 2011. I had interviewed for the program with her in 2009, but we’d never been close. And despite her deep abiding love for John Wayne, she’s a wonderful person. Very bright, very funny, and deeply snarky.


38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:

Continue to question things long after you think you know the answer. And then question them again.

I’ve also started to piece together (at the end of a master’s degree) that I learn in a very different way than most people. It has taken 28 years for me to start figuring it out, but my brain just works differently. I don’t think I’d call it a learning disorder, it’s just another way.


39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I’m not drunk I wanna go home, officer
And that’s all, that’s all, that’s all

With a warning I check my wipers and defog
I notice my mind is on the floor
But I must move onward

Emotional all over the place

This week has been unreal. I don't know how to describe it because it only lasted a week but I feel like I had a lifetime pass by. Since I last wrote we have gone through tech, press, dress rehearsals, opening, closing, and strike of I Want To Be A Gay Icon!.

At this point last week I did not have the full script memorized. Now it's over. I'm just beyond overwhelmed, and I've been in a constant state of emotional instability and I'm having a terrible time figuring out what to do with myself now. I mean, I know what to do. Clean the house, catch up on homework, figure out what's going on with our living situation, sleep, eat well, go to the gym, and prepare for the holidays. But since sometime last Spring I haven't done anything without this show in the back of my mind, and then starting in the summer it's been at the very forefront of my every waking moment. I'm exhausted in a way that I don't even understand. It's beyond tired. But there's a need to not give in to it, because of the wonderful response to the show. Here's how the last week looked:

Sunday

We load into the theatre. Another show's audience was in the process of leaving when we got there and they were striking. Everything got in, but I was sent home to work on lines (I am not terribly handy or helpful when a set is going up). I am, somehow, not freaked out that I don't know all my lines yet. 

Monday

I stop by to have a quick meeting with Joseph, the director, and the set is up. It's beautiful. The lighting is gorgeous. I have this incredible moment of realization that this is really happening, and soon. I feel good about that despite having had to be at work all day, and therefore not having made progress on those lines. It's a weird conflicting emotion. It's exciting, but also, shit just got real. I go home to work, and we will see each other tomorrow when we do a cue to cue and a run. There are issues with sound.

Tuesday

I have to call out of work today, as I have been hit with a stomach bug. Of all things, this is the kind of sickness you want the week you're performing because it's gone quickly and it doesn't mess with your voice. I learn my lines (poorly) during the afternoon. At rehearsal lighting continues to be gorgeous. Sound is a big problem. I don't worry about it. Normally every little set back would reduce me to a quivering pile of rage-tears. I was remarkably chill all week. We run the show. I call for line two days before opening. I still forget the same sections I always forget. I do not worry. Sound is fucked. I do not worry about it. We hear that we're going to be in the City Paper, which is cool. Hooray for a little picture and a feature article.

Wednesday

NO. It is not a little feature. It is the whole fucking cover story for the paper this week. Bwhaa? I had to call for line last night and now you've put my nearly naked ass on the front page of the paper? Not a little part of the paper. The entire cover. Remember on Monday when shit got real? It got realer on Wednesday. I call the requisite people and spend much of the day reading wonderful congratulations from folks on my Facebook page. I'm stunned. How did this happen? I'm still flabbergasted. Then someone at work comes up to me and tells me I'm in b magazine too. With a picture and an article that says the show looks "damn awesome." 

Rehearsal that night is...I don't even remember. I think I made it through without having to call line. I know I rearranged some text as we went. No train wrecks. Sound is still a mess and all of the sound people keep messing with what the other sound people have done and it's just getting tense. I'm excited. Not worried. I'm just in a positive mood. The band sounds good, and so do the back-up singers. I'm getting good feedback from the director. There's a piece of me really looking forward to the next week when I don't have to do it anymore, because it's tiring and stressful even though I seem to be handling it as well as could be expected (especially for someone who doesn't know the meaning of the words "emotional stability") I want life to return to normal. 

Thursday

I'm excited. I wake up energized and positive. The feeling carries throughout the day while I'm out running errands. I get to the theatre and there are still sound issues, but they're better than the day before. I feel good, vocally healthy, and I'm not generally nervous. I felt a little wiggle of nerves once or twice, but mostly I'm focused. I know a lot of great people are coming to opening. Mom and Dad, my adviser, and the director of the MLA program in particular. Lots of students came to opening. We sold out. The show goes off basically without a hitch. There are some minor snafus, but we cover them well. No one notices. And the waves of positivity that come from the audience are mind-blowing. They love it. They laugh. They clap. And afterwards they say that we have to do it again. They love the message and we need to take it on the road because people need to hear this. I don't know what to do. I'm not good at accepting praise, let alone crushing enthusiasm. But the idea is good. We start to think about what this could be, and logistics, and I can actually see the possibility of my life changing in some real way because of this project. I try not to think about it, because I have wonderful people everywhere at the wonderful reception. I'm just going in a thousand directions. Parents, teachers, show colleagues, friends, and I'm bouncing everywhere like a pinball.

Friday

Show again, still feels good. Big crowd (we got around 100 seats filled each night, which is phenomenal). I can tell I'm getting sharp with people and I don't like it, so I try to pull the reins back a little. Start talking to band and singers about a possible redux and they're into it. There's a tinge of the feeling that "okay, we've done this, we can do it, let's just do it again and go home." That sounds terrible. I love this show more than I can say. But theatre was not meant to be done as a side gig. It takes over your life, your energy, and the people in your life get put aside because you're busy. Still it's a good show and everyone reacts super positively again. By the time we get to I'm The Only One every night I'm excited. I know the crowd will like it, and once we're to It's Raining Men it's doubly exciting. 1) That song is awesome and requires your full commitment. If you don't have it a little bit you don't have it at all. It requires that you're excited. 2) It's almost time to take these clothes off and go home!

Saturday

I took the day to get little presents for the world's best cast, band, crew, and support. I love that part. But it takes up a lot of time and suddenly the day is gone. I go to the theatre and we do our pre-show routine. Except we don't really do much of a sound check, and I realize before we start that I haven't really warmed up the way I like to, but the audience is out there now so I can't. I hum to myself to warm up and I want to go home. But at the same time I'm really taking notice of how much I really appreciate everyone who works on the show. The back up singers are wonderful and I can't imagine doing it without them, same with the band. Joseph isn't able to be there to close the show, which is sad, but nothing could be done. D'Paul's family came last night. So that adds a layer of needing to do well, which was probably good because I was able to pit that against the fact that through the middle of the first number I just think to myself that I want to go home. How is that even possible? I love to sing, and I love this show and its message, and I love lots of people in the audience. We had a great audience last night. Such wonderful enthusiasm, and appreciation for the music and the politics in the show. It's so gratifying. AND a friend I hadn't seen in a decade came out to see the show and surprised me. I couldn't have asked for a better reception from the crowd. More talk of taking this thing further.

We strike most everything from the space before we leave. My mind is already on to the house we ended up touring this morning, and what needs to happen to start cleaning up our homes, and I'm tired and I want to go to bed. I get deliriously silly in the car on the way home in a way that D'Paul thankfully plays along with, but in hindsight must have been nauseating. 

Sunday

We stopped by strike this morning to get the last couple pieces of equipment. It's a gorgeous day. It looks like the theatre company will do better than break even for the show, which is all we can really ask for. There's more positive feedback and a continued insistence that the show be developed further. I am so enthusiastic about that possibility, and I want to start ASAP. We close up and we agree to meet next Sunday and have a meeting about where we are with everything.

Then on the drive to work by myself in the car things are finally back to normal. I'm in my routine and I have a reasonable amount of work to do. Then a song from the show comes on the radio and I lose it. I just start crying and missing the thing that a day ago I couldn't wait to get away from. I've been teary since. We're going to try our best to continue the show. It's not necessarily over, but I know that it might be. And it hurts in my gut, because I think we had a really good thing here. The only thing I can think to compare it to is the end of a relationship. I feel like I've been dating this show for a year and now it's gone.

So that's where I am now. I still can't believe that it was only a week. It feels like it's been at least two or three. I guess the only answer is that continuing to work on this piece and find venues for it will be massively important to me. The message is important and I do believe in it. I would love nothing more than to keep it going, and be able to measure the progress of the LGBT equality movement. It would be amazing to be able to say 7 states have legalized same sex marriage, and then 8, and 9, and so on. It feels like this show was the only real contribution I've been able to make to this cause and being without it feels like I'm losing some vital part of my identity that was actually real for a minute. Today is turning out to be hard.

Doing 11 in 2011

Let's check in!

So far I have successfully completed vegetarian week for 11 out of the 12 months! Only one more to go - OHMYGOODNESS I THINK THIS IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

Next year D'Paul thought that I could combat my exercise avoidance by doing a modified vegetarian week at the beginning of each month. For the first five days of the month I would have to be a vegetarian UNLESS I work out. So, if I get up and go for a run at the beginning of the day I can munch on animals for the rest of the whole day. But if I am feeling lazy, it's only food without faces for me. Likewise if I've gone half a day without exercising and I'm jonesing for bacon really bad, 30 minutes of running buys me permission for a blt. What do you think? I think he might be on to something.

We scheduled the next trip to NYC, and it is going to be a doozy. I'm very excited and possibly in over my head, but so excited I could spit. Details to follow.

D'Paul and I haven't been able to date each other as much as we'd like these days. My show has been sucking all of our time away, but that's finished in a week. Last night we had off, and I made a real dinner (roasted turkey tenderloin, asparagus, potatoes, mini desserts) and it was just so lovely. We ate and watched Strangers on a Train for my film class (I can't stop all homework just because I have an evening off) and I cannot overstate how relaxing it was to have a real evening at home. Lots of those coming up in the near future. The baking and making will be epic.

Both apartments are in a perpetual state of disaster. I just keep saying "As soon as the Icon project is over..." We'll see. Speaking of which - come see my show! It's a lot of fun. I promise!

Progress!

This year is just chugging along beautifully. It's getting to the point in the calendar that I love. Fall is my favorite season because the weather chills out a bit, and the epic baking can begin in earnest. I'm sure there will be updates about baking successes and the inevitable new recipe failures as we go through the next couple of months.

We can put a check mark next to vegetarian week for September. I'm also happy to report that we took another day trip to New York! D'Paul and I left yesterday morning around 5:30am and spent the whooooole day in the city. We had a very impressive itinerary, and I wasn't sure we were going to get through it all, but we did, which is why I am completely exhausted today. On the schedule we planned to:


- Visit as many premium espresso spots as possible to fuel D'Paul's very particular coffee needs

- Score rush tickets to a Broadway show, preferably Follies, and then see said show

- Chelsea Market

- Lunch in Chinatown for me

- Lunch somewhere that wasn't Chinatown for D'Paul

- Pastry, pastry, pastry

- Dinner at Buddakan

- Picking up assorted treats to take home

- Meeting with a friend of D'Paul's from the internet to pick up a free fancy coffee grinder

That's a lot to do! AND WE DID ALL OF IT IN 14 HOURS.

Our first stop was Stumptown Coffee Roasters for the first espresso of the day. Now, fair warning, I am not a coffee goddess. I have no nose for the stuff. It tastes and smells like coffee to me. Nothing infuriates D'Paul more than my completely pedestrian understanding of espresso (or scotch, or anything that requires a nuanced tasting - I'm more fixated on texture and where and how much sugar/chocolate is located within the thing I am eating). So I will not be reviewing the coffee. I did have a delightful brioche bun at Stumptown (Where even the hipsters are imported! - D'Paul). It was light and fluffy with a beautiful brown finish, topped sparingly with what looked like puffed sugar (I don't know what it's really called), and filled with a delicate orange scented pastry cream. Wonderous. I will now attempt to recreate this majestic breakfast pastry at home, I'm sure.


Then we headed over to the Marquis to get rush tickets for Follies, which we did successfully acquire. From there we walked over towards Chelsea Market. On the way we passed Billy's Bakery, which a friend had recommended to us. Holy delicious, Batman! The cupcakes there were the freshest I have ever tasted, and so amazing! I've had Magnolia bakery's much lauded cupcakes, and I'm telling you right now that they have NOTHING on Billy's. I'd confidently go so far as to say that their red velvet cupcake is the best cupcake I have ever tasted. The cake is perfect, moist, perfect density, and just slightly airy. And then the frosting (OH, THE FROSTING!) is a thick beautifully hand applied cream cheese that is smooth, tangy and sweet, and just perfect. Towards the end of our day we headed back to buy a box to take home with us, and I have discovered that they can be ordered online. Hot damn.

Then we hit Chelsea market and got D'Paul's next espresso fix at Ninth Street Espresso. He later deemed this his favorite espresso of the day. Then we went up to the High Line for another taste of espresso, this time from Blue Bottle Coffee. It tasted like coffee! Since it was roasted yesterday we got a half pound of beans. Roast dates that recent are hard to come by, and unfortunately usually coffee beans that you can buy most places are past their peak date. Expired? Well, no. As good as they can be? Very rare.

We dropped some dollars on cabs yesterday, because with so much to do it was easier and faster than figuring out the subway system (and potentially wasting time by going to the wrong place). Here's where the sprint starts. Next we hurried over to Chinatown to get my beloved Cantonese pan-fried noodles at Big Wong. They were great, and I inhaled them. Consequently, I had the hiccups on and off for the rest of the day. On the way out of Chinatown we passed a street festival going on in Little Italy, so D'Paul stopped and got a big Italian sausage sandwich with peppers and onions. The whole booth smelled great, and he was thoroughly pleased with his sandwich.

Then it was on to the theater to see Follies! This was D'Paul's first Broadway musical. I'm pretty impressed with his theatrical eye. He picked up on a lot of things that tend to strike me about these shows. He buys no one's cheap, old, and tired jokes - and I love that. He loved Bernadette's voice, and Sondheim's music (except where the show by means of necessity goes to a cheesy place. Perhaps his next Sondheim is something drier like Sunday in the Park with George or Passion?). We both appreciated the look and the technical aspects of the show. The lighting was gorgeous, and the costumes (particularly those of the Weissman girl ghosts) were stunning. I loved the ghosts, and if I thought anyone would get it I'd go as a Weissman Showgirl for Halloween. After seeing the show in person from start to finish, I think I prefer it in a concert setting. It's so high concept in parts that when it comes back down to earth to go through a more conventional scene it's jarring, and not in a particularly effective way. The individual performances were fantastic. Bernadette Peters was just wonderful. Her voice is spectacular, and seeing her live was a treat. I hope I look like that when I'm 63. With all due respect to Ms. Peters, for me, Jan Maxwell stole the show. I've never seen her work before, but I'm going to have to see more. She blew me away. Her Phyllis was a spot on blend of warm/cold, humorous/biting, and smart/dreamy. By the time we got to the Lucy X and Jessie Y number there had been a tension built up completely justifying the need for the song. Where she really won me was Could I Leave You. I've heard the song dozens of times at this point, and I may have even performed it myself, I can't remember. The jokes (although familiar) were funny, and biting and we laughed all the way through while cringing. I don't know how she did it, but the song's big comedic payoff in the last line "Will I leave you? Guess!" landed comedically and then socked you in the stomach. To take that moment and somehow create it so that the comedy remained intact, but while also sucking all of the air and the hope out of the room at the same time was truly masterful.

After Follies we walked back to Chelsea (can I just move into this neighborhood please?) and had some coffee at Cafe Grumpy. Just stop trying to count the amount of coffee consumed on this trip, it's unreal. I like the lattes at Cafe Grumpy, and had a little bit of D'Paul's drink here. Dinner at Buddakan was next on the docket and I'm happy to report that we had a much better experience this time around. No lost credit cards, and all the food was splendid.

We started with lobster egg rolls with a sweet chili sauce, and spare ribs that came with Chinese mustard. Both were excellent. The meat was tender and so flavorful. I think we'll be trying some kind of a lobster cabbage potsticker at home in the near future, and I'm certain a delicate mustard will accompany our sweet barbecue from now on. Those combinations were so good. D'Paul had a very flavorful Shacha Chicken, and I had the Steamed Sole for dinner. Both were great. The sole had a very delicate, subtle flavor and the texture was light. I enjoyed a bite of the chicken too, and it was dripping in it's own savory goodness. We got a side of char-grilled asparagus with a black bean foam (how trendy) and that was garlicky and delicious. Dessert was a weeping molten chocolate cake with jasmine tea infused ice cream. We waddled out of the restaurant, happily sated.

Of course, that was followed by the trip to Billy's for cupcakes to take home, a trip to Rice To Riches for rice pudding to take home, and D'Paul's meeting with the fellow from the internet to get the coffee grinder. It's a Mazzer (very impressive, I'm told) that needs a little love. So he'll be refurbishing that in the next few weeks. We made it back to the Megabus area in time to get in line early enough to sit together on the ride home. Once we were on the bus we slept all the way back to Baltimore. We got in at about 2am and were in bed by 3am - but I am still sleepy. I had to be at work at 10am today, and it's going to be a long day. I think it was worth it. We had a great time together, and reminded ourselves why we're constantly saying "We really should get up to New York more often." and how easy it is to actually do just that.

My daily workout schedule to keep me in top mental and physical shape for I Want To Be A Gay Icon! starts tomorrow. And now that I wrote it down it has to. Wish me luck!

Moving on through the year - August

As always, somethings are good and going well. Others are not.

Vegetarian week - still going strong! I did the first week of this month without too much trouble, and that means I'm 2/3 of the way through the year. Holy crap, am I going to actually keep the eat more vegetables/vegetarian week resolution?

Pin-Up Shoot - Anna and I had our shoot. And, it ain't bragging if it's true - our untouched pictures look hot. I'll throw them up here as soon as I get them back from Stacey. In other picture taking news, I got my headshot back from the NO H8 campaign and I love it! I do think that it's funny that with my white white skin, a white shirt, and a white background I look just a little bit like a floating tattoo, hair, and eyes. Still, it makes me feel a bit like a big time super liberal celebrity, and at the end of the day, isn't that what it's really all about?

I guess while I'm doing all the superficial resolution checks I should mention that dressing up and feeling hot is working out a-okay. It doesn't hurt that I've lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 - 20 lbs since June. I feel better, although my clothing is not such a good fit anymore. I'll live - THESE ARE GOOD PROBLEMS TO HAVE. Am I right? Of course I am.

Let's check in with the other resolutions, shall we?

Jam of the Week - Abandoned, as was the 30 Day Song Challenge. I got busy right around the time it asked me for a song to describe myself. No matter how you answer that question it comes across as cocky, or inspires a raised eyebrow and a bemused "really?" from the peanut gallery. Maybe I'll pick it up and finish it off. I'm honestly not losing a wink of sleep over it.

Three NYC trips - Here's the thing about doing a solo show: THIS ONE PROBABLY WON'T HAPPEN. If we're lucky we'll get in one visit before the end of the year. It's a bummer because I really wanted to see the Alexander McQueen show at the Met, and it closes tonight. Maybe I'll do something irresponsible and use a few vacation days, take some time off during the week and just go. That sounds like it might work. Maybe? File this under things that I'll be daydreaming about while actually being tied to a desk.

Monthly Real Date with D'Paul - Sort of. We're bad planners, so none of this has ever been as organized as my compulsions would prefer. But I did take him for mussels and beer in DC last weekend and we had a marvelous time. I paid the bill while he was in the restroom, so he couldn't be a gentleman and steal it away. This is a game we play, stealing the check. We are both exceptional at it and each enjoy stealing the other one's purchases so that we can give a surprise gift instead. We are adorable like that.

Do weekly body work - Humbug. We played tennis again and had a great time, then the devil went down to Baltimore and it's been ungodly hot so we've not been back outside. My job has sent me on outreach a lot lately, so I've been walking in this awful weather. That's exercise! Also, I have blisters from the heels I'm required to wear. Yea maintaining dress codes in inappropriate situations!

Clean the apartment - Nope.

Record a Song - D'Paul has been entertaining the idea of producing a kind of Eurotrashy 90's inspired dance track with a friend of his, and they would need vocals. Clearly, I'm doing this. Here's the inspiration:

Sunday Update

Hola! I am here at the radio station, and eating taco bell, hence the espanol. It has been a few good weeks for the resolutions. D'Paul and I went to the American Visionary Art Museum, and it was very cool. I think we'll probably go back. It was like someone concentrated Baltimore down and made it into a museum. Apparently we are sparkly and quite a kitschy little city, but you already knew that. Note: this counts for two categories, we went to the AVAM, and it was a planned date. Boom, accomplished.

Cosmic Galaxy Egg at the AVAM

Tomorrow I have a pin-up shoot with my wonderful Anna, so that will be another double accomplishment (both a photo shoot, and dressing up and feeling hot.) I am on vegetarian week now. But why, you ask, is it not the 10th of July already? It is, vegetarian week had to be pushed back this month; I just couldn't handle being a vegetarian on the 4th of July. I am eating a lot of fruit lately (more than I have in the first few months of the year) because it's actually available. It's easier in the summer when all the fruit I like is in season. If they were reasonably available and reasonably priced year round I'd have no trouble eating bunches of cherries, nectarines, and blueberries. On the clean room front I've been doing better. I did the major overhaul and since then things have been much more organized. It could all go to pot at any second, so I should do a little bit of clean up time in there tonight, picking things up that don't look like a mess, but could evolve into one at any moment. I still haven't done the Jam of the Week in awhile, but I am participating in the 30 day song challenge on facebook. I'll post all 30 songs when I get through the month. Oh! And D'Paul and I went out and played tennis yesterday! That's exercise!

Hooray!

Update! I am terrible at updating this!

Ha. At least one of my resolutions wasn't to blog regularly....


Since last we spoke, here's how the resolutions have been going:

1. Jam of the Week

This has been almost completely abandoned. It's hard. Also, I'm too obsessed with podcasts to take the time to do this too. As for the podcasts, you should listen to the Rachel Maddow Show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Doug Loves Movies, the Savage Lovecast, and Greg Proops' The Smartest Man in the World. DO IT.

2. Pin-Up Shoot

This is still happening. Twice. In a few weeks I'm having one done for fun. Then later this year the same photographer will be doing the poster for my graduate project. Maybe I'll write about how that's going. I probably won't remember.



3. Three NYC Trips

Did you know that travel takes money? Me neither! Hasn't happened yet. It might? Don't hold your breath.



4. Monthly Real Date with D'Paul

We're not good at planning. The closest we get to planning is buying a groupon, forgetting about it, and rushing to use it on a date the day before it expires. That counts as a plan, right?



5. Do weekly body work (meditation, yoga, dancing, stretching.)

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, about this one.....

So far in 2011, I have:

                              - run or worked out everyday for 8 days (once)
                              - gone out for a 2 mile run and quit after the first mile (once)
                              - run one 6K race without stopping (once)
                              - taken one Zumba class
                              - purchased 6 Xpose fitness classes, attended 0

This is pretty pathetic. That's about one month's worth of exercise, slightly longer if I actually took the Xpose classes. I should probably actually do this one. 



6. Eat more vegetables

Nope. Probably less. But I do like asparagus now.

Actually, a re-examination of my plan says I've been far more successful with this one (sort of) than at first glance. Remember how I said I would take the first five days of each month and eat no meat? I've actually done that for the first 6 months of the year! Sidenote: it's undergone a bastardization though. Have I eaten meat at any time during vegetarian week? No. Have I gone through an entire vegetarian week eating minimal vegetables while eating carbs almost exclusively? Yes......



7. Go to the AVAM

Let's refer back to #4 and see how this will go. I bought a living social coupon for it. That coupon expires in July. I will probably go to the museum the day before it expires.



8. Dress up and feel hot.

Completely and totally achieved. I've been feeling cocky as hell. Because I am sexypants. So there.



9. Take an hour, once a week, and clean the apartment.

This one has been really hard because in order to clean the apartment, I would need to clean off this pile of crap that's laying around everywhere to actually find the apartment I wish to clean. Next question please.



10. Record a song

This was intended as a mid-season replacement resolution for when I failed at something else. D'Paul and I have talked about it. We'll see how it goes. I envision this happening in the fall, if ever.



11. Eliminate any of this as needed.

Done and done.

Fell off the blog update wagon!

Time for a New Year's resolution update. I haven't been on here in a little while, so let's just call the song of the week for the last 2 months Lady Gaga's Born This Way. I loves it.

I ran a whole lot a few weeks ago, and then stopped. I need to start again, since I'm running a charity 6K in a few weeks, and I'd like to make it to the end.

I have maintained vegetarian week each month! It's getting easier each time, but I still end up craving delicious animals at the end of the week. D'Paul and I have made some serious commitments to eating more ethically. We are only drinking organic milk from grass fed cows. The effects of the additional hormones in conventional milk are too scary to continue courting that threat.

We're doing the whole organic, free range, grass fed, uber ethical path for all of our animal product consumption. Health and animal cruelty are concerns of ours, so this is going to make us feel a lot better about the food we eat. I hear you saying, but it's so much more expensive! I can't afford to eat like I do now if I follow all those rules. To this I say, that's the point. We can't afford to eat the same amount of meat as we used to, and that's a good thing. We're getting more creative, eating healthier, and making a much smaller environmental impact. Winning!

I have done well on and off with the cleaning. Things were terribly busy with school, life, and work for awhile and I totally failed at keeping my life in actual order. Things in my house are picked up now, but I have to do some hard core deep cleaning. And laundry. Laundry is going to need to become a priority REAL SOON, or I am going to be  walking around naked before too long. I have the day off tomorrow and Saturday, so I'm taking tomorrow to make things happen. I have a meeting with school, another one with the artistic director of Iron Crow, and some time to do laundry and homework. Saturday I'll take the day off.

We're talking about scheduling the next NYC trip after D'Paul takes the bar in July. This will be an eating tour of New York! We have a gift certificate to Buddakan that they sent to apologize for the debacle last time, so we'll eat there again. We may look into Colicchio and Sons, Brasserie les Halles, and any other suggestions we receive in the meantime. Where do you like to eat in the city? What have you wanted to try? Help us plan our trip!

Week #5 (and everything you missed from Week #4)

Week #4 Jam of the Week

I'm just getting around to posting this one. I cleaned up my apartment while listening to it and it sparked a whole week of listening to Jason Mraz, which equals a happy sunshiney musical outlook. Hooray!

D'Paul and I have been very good at going on dates this past week. We had dinner at one of our favorite spots, Woodberry Kitchen, last Saturday and it was super yummy as always. PS - I dressed like a pretty lady and wore my contacts and make up. I am getting better at this! Then, when the snow hit and it seemed silly to leave the house we had dinner at the Prime Rib for their restaurant week special! It is right in the lobby of our apartment building and also very delicious. Much more traditional than Woodberry. I wore a little black dress, heels, and lipstick on a Wednesday night. What a wild and crazy social butterfly lady I am!

Living Social had a great discount this week and it helps with my resolutions too. They offered tickets at half off for the American Visionary Art Museum, so I bought them, and I will go! Today marks the first Sunday of my vegetarian five day challenge for February. Woo. So far, so good. D'Paul and I are heading out for a run tonight. And when I say out, I mean up to the gym in our building.

In other news, I have made major progress on another of my on-going goals: financial stability. In the next year or so D'Paul and I will be moving out of our apartments and looking for a home that holds us both, our kittens, and our stuff. Whether that will be buying right away or renting remains to be seen. However, given the financial planning that goes into buying a house, I figure that I need to be planning NOW (if not years ago.) So, this week I paid off my car, set up a high interest savings at my bank, sent in direct deposit paperwork to the payroll people at work so they send what used to be the car payment into the new account, ordered my credit reports (one of which has already come in and is perfect,) and organized a savings plan. This may seem like a lot, but so is a 20% down payment on a house. Especially in Silver Spring, where D'Paul wants to live so we can be close to his family and DC. We have a lot planned in our future, we don't need to be worrying about whether or not we get a good rate on a mortgage loan. Also, 20% of a house that costs 300K is 60K. Think about the prospect of having to come up with that in cash and you'll scramble to plan too.

And apparently, my life is to be an indie rock video this week. Enjoy JOTW #5 - Down by the Water, The Decemberists

Week #2 Wrap-up and JOTW #3

This week I actually did the body work I've been saying I would do. I did my NYC Ballet dvd and bought my Body by Bethenny dvd. This morning I did a little of that one too. I can't stand the gym in my building. It has no oxygen and smells like stale rubber. So, until it warms up outside, I'll be doing videos in my apartment. Hooray!

D'Paul and I made our date for the month. We are going out for restaurant week next week and we will dress up and try something delicious on the cheap.

I continued to clean my apartment, AND I had new floors installed. Originally, they were old tile floors from the 70's (which was impossible to clean) and now it's a much more modern laminate that will be easier to clean and won't show dirt as much when I am unable to do the cleaning. I was owed an upgrade from the management company and I'm thrilled with my choice.

I also continued to dress up and feel hot! I went out. ON A WEDNESDAY. WEARING MY CONTACTS. 

The jam of the week this week was excellent. I continued to eat more vegetables, but when you take into account the amount of crap I ate along with them, I don't think my efforts count very much. On the plus side, the semester hasn't even started yet, but I finished the first round of reading for existentialism. Nerd Power!

And so, I will leave you with the jam of the week for this week. I was able to resist making this the JOTW for 16 whole days. I cannot wait anymore. Enjoy!

Week #1

We’ve completed the first full week of 2011! I have to say that I think I’m doing well so far! Of course, we all do well with our resolutions for the first week, right? Thus far I have:

Identified my Jam of the Week

We already covered this. It is George Michael’s Too Funky, which is just exactly the right amount of funky if you ask me. I love it.



Eaten way more vegetables!
I decided I’d handle the vegetable eating by being an ovo-lacto vegetarian for the first 5 days of each month (starting on the Sunday.) It’s hard to achieve such a non specific goal like do “more” of something. What does more mean? So I decided more vegetables = no meat for awhile. I can do an all or nothing kind of thing, but I don’t want to be a full time vegetarian. A full 60 days this year should do it. And I stuck to it! Only 55 more days to go!



Miscellaneous!



I also dressed up and felt as hot as one possibly can whilst they are harboring a horrible cold. I did my hair every day. This is progress.



I also spoke to D’Paul about going out on our date. We will schedule that in the next few days.



I took about 3 hours last night and cleaned my apartment. There is still a lot to do. I may spend more time in there tonight.



I also need to do some body work tonight. My cold has finally gone away to the point where I feel good enough to work out.



As we near the end of the first week, and all I really have to do is one work out, I feel pretty freaking awesome about this! So, to prepare for week #2, here is the jam of the week! It's Anjulie's Boom. Get obsessed with it right now.

New Year, week #1

This week I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian! I will eat more fruits and veggies (like that clementine I just ate) and avoid animal flesh. This helps the planet, saves my cholesterol, and saves me some money at the grocery store. Tonight I will be having dal for dinner! Maybe D'Paul will make some roti for me?

And here's our Jam Of The Week! It's George Michael with Too Funky