Tuesday, January 05, 2010

A running start into 2010...

(here's hoping I don't trip!)

So far, focus has been with me...I just hope it sticks around for the rest of the year...or heck at least for the next 6 months...it would be nice.

I can honestly say I broke in the New Year with two performances. New Year's Eve, I performed a bit of post-fireworks fire poi at our friend's dinner party. (Gotta love a woman with an Upper East Side penthouse complete with deck wide enough for me to spin). I sadly will not be able to start the year with continuing lessons, but I'll be practicing as I will need to play catch up in the summer.
New Year's Day, I got to test out some new material for Single What? Female... at Eric Vetter's No Name special New Year's Open Mic. A great thing about No Name and a Bag of Chips as it truly is a friendly environment at which one can comfortably test out new stuff without being heckled or have things thrown at them. I am so glad that I've been able to try things out there and will hopefully be there again in February or March with more new stuff.

Sunday, I checked out the Salon, formerly at the Algonquin and now at the BNO venue of Etcetera, Etc. I was only there the first half of the night, but had a lovely time - Julie Reyburn just rocks my socks - AND got to take the opportunity to pencil Big Night Out in for 2/18. We may be on haitus for January, but we will be coming back big for February!

Yesterday was a big day for emailing and meeting arranging - Big Night Out AND a recital coming up! - laundry, decluttifying and I even made it to the GYM! SO nice to work out after a month of NOT. I joined the fab Planet Fitness last month (cheap and three blocks away-how could I not?), went twice, and then...didn't while doing the Christmas show; nor during the holidays. Yesterday, I was back, and plan on being back there as regularly as possible.

Today, back at the day job, doing more meeting arranging, audition checking and figuring out where the heck I am going to get a new suitcase.

The man and I are hitting ITALY in a number of DAYS and there is nothing like realizing that the suitcase that I rolled behind me on countless trips back and forth to Boston, that survived a cross-country road trip AND Burning Man, has succumbed not only to wheel damage, but kitty puke and hairballs. I figure I could give it a final scrub, but may have to replace a wheel nonetheless. In the latest LOLcats book, there is a kitty sitting atop a suitcase basically saying to its "hooman" that it's not going anywhere. I like to suppose that out kitties have essentially declared the same thing by marking it, but I think at least one of them will be happy to have us out of her house (because, of course, it's not OUR place).

IN THE MEANTIME...the laptop will be coming with us and I will do my best to blog and see if the Italians think I'm Italian. We will be visiting my Mother-in-law as well as various cousins and seeing Italy their way.(thank you MIL for your frequent flyer miles...) I am ridiculously excited as it has been YEARS since I have been out of the country and have wanted to get back to Italy since we did a family trip when I was 17. We will be in Naples and Rome primarily with a couple of side trips to see couins as well as one layover in Amsterdam. We also do have a layover in Paris, but due to the heightened security, we may not see more than the airport. Was it wrong of me to have my first thought be, after hearing about a stifled terrorist attack Christmas Day, "DAMN YOU, TERRORIST! Charles de Gaulle is a b*tch enough to get out of and around and now we won't be able to LEAVE 'cuz of you!" We have an eight hour layover. Due to Charles de Gaulle airport being one of the most tedious airports to get around and out of, we figured we had a good four hours-maybe-in Paris itself. Since the thwarted attack (which happened on a plane coming from our other layover stop, Amsterdam), Paris authorities have said security will be beefed up enough that it is suggested that passengers heading to the states arrive up to THREE HOURS in advance of their flights. I figure we have time to get lunch at a cafe. Maybe. Otherwise, mmmmm...eight hours in an airport.
Outside of that, I really should be thinking about two things: a) security was obviously not what it should have been. Intelligence was not properly shared and this guy was able to get on a plane with bomb stuff strapped to his leg and IN HIS UNDERWEAR! and b) it is true that if a person wants to get at us badly enough, they are going to get there - and we can hope that there will be forward thinking passengers ready to tackle and thwart said person's plan.
I could also go on a rant that if we hadn't gone into Iraq and had actually gotten Osama Bin laden, we might not have to worry so much about all this nonsense, but I won't...not now...'cuz it's not going to change what's happening NOW. Nor is it going to make my airport experience any better. I'm just going to stick to focusing on what's going to be happening IN BETWEEN airports! Woo hoo!

KEEP PAYING ATTENTION!

Peace --Alex

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