Holidays are fuzzy

Well, yet again I have proven my status as a really bad bad blogger. It has been a month since my last post or very nearly a month. However, I do have some good and hopefully interesting things to report.
I finished out the tour with Penn Shakes thoroughly exhausted and fulfilled with the work I had accomplished. I ran back to New York, huge suitcase in hand, to attend an audition at the American Globe Theatre for Romeo and Juliet. By some strange act of God, I landed the role of Juliet in their tour and feel that some strong karma is coming my way for some perils that will remain unnamed at this time...let's just say I'm pretty sure I did my time in a certain department and deserve a break! I can't wait to get started and am terrified, but am glad I no longer have to be terrified that I would grow old without getting the chance to play this part! So rehearsals start Jan 26th and in the meantime I have taken up caroling. Christmas caroling that is....So get ready new york city for three little voices of splendor in your very own neighborhood....
And yes there will be an elf costume.
I am currently sitting in the comfort of my parent's home in Amarillo, Tx with a lovely little black and grey cat curled in my lap. For now I am soaking up the love of the fambamwam and refueling for the northeast...where they trample Walmart employees in shopping frenzees (Anyone else hear that ridiculous and horrifying news??!)
Tuesday I will finally be back in my new york life and can't wait to say hello to some much missed faces and something called yoga that I used to enjoy regularly. Updateshmupdate.

Verges gets lucky

This weekend we finally had a performance for an all adult audience and it was amazing. I managed to horribly embarrass a woman in the front row. It definitly involved me shaking my butt in her face and hitting on her a lot. This was definitly done in the role of Verges and not Hero btw. You know me, any chance I get to shake it...I will definitly take it! Above is a little taste. Enjoy...I promise to write more later. Seriously.

Yay weekend.

It is the end of the work week. I am exhausted. The weekend of sleep and yoga and hopefully some type of physical activity not involving heaving large sections of scenery is now upon me. For the next two days I will be wearing fuzzy pants and a smile. And in no way will I be speaking in verse. I need to find a delicious vegan cookie recipe for the dinner on Tuesday with the cast. Any suggestions? Alice would normally be the first one to answer, but then I had to go and put the word vegan in there....

31 hours in Charlotte NC

Now, what would one do if there were 31 hours in which to travel? Definitly go to North Carolina that's for sure. I got on a little plane at around 6am saturday morning to see my man's face for just over 31 hours. North Carolina in three words: soul, collards, and joviality. Good stuff. I have to be up in just over four hours to get to my 5am call which is sounding pretty stupid right now in life. But what a wonderful weekend with a wonderful boy. I love love.

Professor FuzzyPants on crack

Today I was pleasantly surprised by this little number in my inbox. I think that happiness looks something like this picture.

We only had a performance today, no workshops. Which was a nice change of pace. Also we got to meet the cast of the PlayPower tour which is our High School counterpart for the high school production of Much Ado About Nothing. The little girl who is playing Hero was very adorable and I also got to meet the girl playing verges. Super fun. They got to see us perform the show today which was really cool. Also I can't wait until I can get my hands on some pictures of us in costume because let me just say that there is a little number with me with no pants on and a mustache which may just be my best moment on film yet.

I'm leaving in the early morn for a flight to North Carolina to see mr. Chris Coyle and I couldn't be more excited. Except for the fact that it is going to cost me 65 dollars to get to the airport!!! WTF. apparently people just drive their own cars here. psh. Whatever happened to public transportation...so says the spoiled city gal.

I felt very blessed today. I shared a wonderful day full of giggles and silliness with some wonderfully talented and hilarious people. I only hope that my familiar giggling faces will be back in my life soon! Then Jackie and I, being the only two people left in the house for the weekend shared a delightful little dinner of some trash tv, tofu, and laundry folding.

As of tomorrow morning I will be sitting in the passenger seat of a little blue mini cooper s alongside a wonderful man on my first visit to North Carolina. I feel pretty much as wonderful and that little kitten.

Once Upon a Time in Pennsylvania

Oh boy. I knew this would happen. It's been a whole month nearly since my last post. Procrastination insues and I once again become myself. But now down to business...what what what have I been up to this past month? Well, nothing too interesting. Mostly just rehearsing over and over and over again. I have discovered a love for red lipstick (we're placing the play in the 1940's) and most importantly have been bowled over by kids in high school and middle school while teaching the shakespeare workshops. Honestly when I first got cast in this and heard I had to teach workshops as well, I was mostly terrified. But seeing all these kids who 75percent of them have never even been introduced to shakespeare getting up on their feet and having fun with shakespeare is the most rewarding experience ever. I really feel like I'm doing something that has a purpose and hopefully inspiring some kids to follow their dreams. Or atleast I hope I am.

The travel schedule has been pretty outrageous. Up at 4 or 5 and at the schools by 8. Set up the set (which you can see by the picture above is not exactly scarce), do two workshops back to back, get into costume, run the show, and then break down the set and drive home (that's all of us in front of our trusty penske truck which carries our set everywhere). Craziness! I've had a couple of bouts of blackouts which have made me have to really buckle down on becoming more aware of drinking and eating the right things. I've already been pegged as "the vegan" and all the cast has their fun with that one. But it's all in the name of fun. They're all really great people and it's awesome to find some form of ensemble within this project.

The most important lesson I've learned is that people don't respect "vegan" as much as they might respect "i'm deathly allergic to all dairy and meat". Lesson learned. And that out in podunk Pennsylvania, I may very well be the only vegan these people will ever come across.

I'm enjoying sunrises every day. Though the alarm going off at 4am sometimes makes me want to kill something. I miss you all and can't wait to see your faces. December 1st calls!

Also, please please if you can come out to Desales University in Center Valley PA for the public performance on Nov 1st! It would mean the world to me. And it's only a short bus ride away from NYC and you could definitly crash at our awesome cast house!

Jesus brought me to Bethlehem

I woke up to sunlight in my room today and the smell of clean air drifting in through my window. My first thought was "well I'm definitely not in New York anymore." Yes kids I'm in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem, Penn to be exact and yes they have an enormous star of Bethlehem that sits atop an enormous hill and is lit at night. Just in case you were wondering. Today will be my first day of rehearsals. I met the cast and some of the crew last night and everyone seems awesome thus far. the director especially seems really cool so that is good news. There are nine of us in total and we are split into three houses. Somehow I managed to get the awesome house which is four floors shared by five people at the moment and eventually only three. It is pretty nice so I can't complain. The best part is the moosehead bar that was just right in the middle of the living room amidst about five or six couches. No joke. Also I am still finding little presents from the professor all over my clothing...just try to get cat hair completely off your clothes...JUST TRY!

confessions of a procrastinator

Alright friends. I leave on wednesday. So far I still haven't packed. But mostly because I have no idea what I'm going to bring with me! Ack. This is me being really organized. I'm super excited and nervous and also having some panic attacks at the thought of leaving nyc for a while. It'll be great I think. hope. ugh.

I had my last weekend at Bikram this past weekend and was a bit sad to leave my lovely Bikram family. I will miss you guys mucho! Thanks for being such a wonderful support system to my life in more ways than one! I can't wait to get back into the hot room.

I'm hoping to put aside enough money to go to the Bikram seminar in Philly in October. It will kick my behind but will be totally worth it.

In a way I'm kind of looking forward to leaving a bunch of my "things" behind and just living out of a suitcase. I really resent the importance we all place on objects and things in our lives and can't wait to reduce that dependence in number. woo!

On a bit of a sadder note, my grandad is in the hospital again as of this weekend. Any good prayers or thoughts would be wonderful.

so as of today i have less than two weeks before I leave for pennsylvania....eeeek! i'm super nervous and mostly so because I will be leaving and going away from some much loved faces for too long. this was mostly noticed today around 1pm when I sat down to a lovely raw lunch of sprouts and some sunflower seed pate that I had concocted and all I could see in my head were all these new people who will quite possibly think I'm absolutely nutso. Yay for nutso! Yay for sprouts!

Also the prospect of not having bikram yoga for three months makes my toes tingle with fear. Dear Jesus, please let erica not go crazy by the end of these three months because she is not able to sweat out all the anger and frustration in her life. love, erica.

And I believe that I have decided to stay as long as possible in europe in january through february. this is really scary because of the whole "omg what am I doing with my life if I'm not auditioning and pursuing my acting career???" and because of the "holy shit I am so flat broke it's not even funny..."But scary or no, I believe this opportunity has presented itself as a source of living and creativity in my life and who knows, maybe I'll even start to paint again when I'm there. The professor will be very angry with me for leaving him with strangers for the next six months, but I do think he may get over it.

Tonight I go to bikram. I've been going everyday since I got back mostly because I think I'm terrified of not having it. home practice is poopy...

Bloggy Blog Blog

It's official. Chris Coyle has saved the day. So after about seven days or so of eating the same quinoa that was stashed in my pantry because of the absence of money in my account, Mr. Chris Coyle, though overseas has still managed to save me from myself. I waited and waited yesterday for a supposed "present" arrival, and after hours on end of torturous waiting and getting no clues at all as to what the present could be, (I think I should mention here that I am not one of those people who feels the surprise is ruined if I guess what it is. In fact one of my favorite games is guessing the surprise before I get it and I'm quite good at it. I also like to know the ends of books and movies before I read or view them. Weird I know)Dominick calls from upstairs to say that I have three packages! Woo! so I go up to their back porch where they endlessly spend their days and find three little boxes labled Fresh Direct. He bought me groceries. For God's sake even in Brazil he bought me groceries. Also, Dominic gave me lots of fresh figs from his fig trees and made me the happiest little girl in the world. Needless to say, quinoa has now found it's way into the realm of oatmeal in my mind...meaning foods consumed in times of financial despair, never to be eaten in the real world again. ugh.

Also I think it is now time to unveil the new pattern of life for me. I have been trying to go vegan for a while now but putting it off for various reasons, mostly reasons that are basic crap. Ladies and Gentlmen, I have gone vegan. Yes yes. Let me say, I believe it to be the best for my system so far and plan to stick to it for as long as feels correct.

Also, Professor FuzzyPants has started to sleep in my sink. Boy oh boy if that isn't the cutest thing I've ever seen then I don't know what is.

being high tech is the new little black dress

Ok so after realizing I have been unaware of several of my overseas friends' blogs for the last few months and feeling the pangs of their missed presence, I have given in to this large block of metal and plastic and decided to go high tech. Forget the notebooks and pens of my youth! The satisfying click of the keyboard is my new utopia. And besides, this way I am absolutely barred from dissappearing off the face of the planet like I usually do....(I don't always do it on purpose I swear!)

Update: Last week marks the final dispersment of the Swindell children into real life. Also, my brother looks like a grown up. weird. Where are the army suits and indian costumes of the past? He will forever be frozen in my mind as the kid in camouflage pajamas holding a plastic weapon of some kind pointing it in my face. Well, he kept the gun but changed it for a metal one and now he keeps his camouflage pajamas under wraps. Pretty damn good skeet shooter though...he's all growed up! On the bright side of things, I saw my mom cry for the first time in my life after leaving him at college. I guess it would be more aptly described as tearing up...

That's all for now...I'm gonna go sweat my socks off at Bikram now....