Down and Dirty....

Alright,

Oh the life of Susannah, it's just never boring. Here are the highlights...

TV: As you may know, I don't pay for TV. Rather I use blockbuster and Netflix to supply myself with late night, shut your brain down, entertainment. DVD is the best thing that has happened to the impatient TV watcher though. I can watch an entire season of a show I missed, I don't have to wait, or remember what happened last week, or season, and it has no commercials. I grab me a beer or a glass of pinot noir, and I multitask (and rewind if I miss something) or totally curl up and immerse. I'm discovering that due to my over active childhood with theatre, swimming, school, family, jobs etc....I missed some great TV. Also, since I've never had cable for more than about a year, some of the cable shows are super. Sadly some of the most brilliant shows have just one season or were cancelled part way through, for one who like closure...it's a sad sad thing to grow attached and then have your TV Charactes break up with you. So far my favorite shows, though least favorite break ups have been:

Dead Like Me, Wonderland, Firefly, Deadwood(but only the first season, it got boring halfway through season 2), Rome (SO cheap and tawdry, but watch it with the feature that tells you what is historically acurate and what is total BS...makes it less of a guilty pleasure and more of a "educational process, " The Tudors (trashy, but better than watching Rock of Love, rights? Corsets make it so.) Dawson's Creek, (seriously, really well written), Bones and Supernatural.

On the last. Now you know I love me some horror. Flashback to my Friday the 13th themed birthday party in highschool where I found all of my friends in the kitchen talking to my parents while I watch April Fool's Day, and Nightmare on Elm Street. And my halloween parties are famous. But what I think is so great about this show, and separates it from say Medium and Ghost Whisperer (decent shows in their own right) is the attention to creating a niche. The car, the classic rock music, the sibling rivalry, the fact the pilot starts off a block from my parents home (Stanford, CA) and the great combination of urban legend and intelligent set up so you can believe and buy into some of the more difficult, unsubstantiated bits. It's just super. I may have to get TV so I can watch the current Season 3, as I just don't know if I can wait for it to come out on DVD. The boys are not hard to look at, and I'm glad for the most part (with a couple of exceptions, minor mistakes quickly remedied) they keep romance out of it. Boys in an Impala kicking demon ass across america to Iron Maiden. THAT'S what this show is and I'm loving it. Which I think explains partially a really MESSED up dream I had the other night...

In a nut shell I was cominbing life stress and some things that are going on with work, life, and finances with some SN episodes. in my dream not only did my dad stab me in the back (weird) and I died bleeding to death slowly, but not in pain, and all the while trying to remember to write down my various passwords so people could be notifed of my death and bills could get paid, but I then was brought back to life just in time t try to get into a college building to ask a professor for a donation for the Cat rescue auction, and then promptly drove Dean's cool Impala (from the show) into the pacific unintentionally. I was very embarrassed, sadly the car sank despite me thinking in the dream I could hold on to it with my feet and drag it up back to shore. Bizarre.

Reading: Finished Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain (written from the perspective of a 12 year old lab mix dog) which was brilliant but a total tear jerker, and you know coming from a tough chick like me, that's huge. Liked it so much I though I would read another book by him. How Evan Broke his head adn Other Secrets. Another great book. Currently reading a short book called Grayson about a baby whale that follows this girl swimming about in ocean until it can find it's mom. Gotta love animals. Speaking of animals...

Cat Rescue: The invitiation for the August 16th fundraiser I am organizing for Maine Coon Adoptions came today, and they look great. Dexter did a super design job and we got a printer to DONATE 1,000 color, double sided postcards. Lots to do still, got to finish the script, but it should be a lot of fun and should raise at least $2500 for homeless kitties.

Other Theatre: Agreed to Direct Flag Day, a DARK comedy by Lee Blessing, produced by Second Wind, playing Sept 5-25 in San Jose. Rehaersals are in San Francisco, but I have a carpool ride, so my poor little not so happy at the moment yellow jeep ( No gas and the engine light is on) can rest and I can replenish funds and get him taken care of properly. I'm itching for a road trip like you wouldn't believe. And so is Jeep. Just... have to find the time. I'm thinking visiting my sister and best friend up in Washington and then maybe ifI'm luck just spending a few days in Vancouver. Part of me thinks that's pushing it. While seeing bears and Orcas in the wild would be a great way to recoop, saving up for 6 weeks in Africa next September/October I think will benefit me better in the long run. Then again, I might be a flight risk and one day just decide to take off for South America for a few weeks. Who knows. Now that I have Lincoln and Paxton, 3 legged wonder cats, I find it harder to leave them out of love and amusement even when I have plenty of people who would take over the apartment and look after them at a moments notice. They do put a cramp in the old spontaneous Susannah. Agian, we will see.

New cell phone law is in effect. I still see idiots merging onto the free way with their phones to their ears. Although I agree the vast majority of folks can't drive while talking on the phone, I also believe the vast majority of people can't actually drive, period. They can't drive while smoking, talking, listening to music, appying makeup, or if there is anyone else on the road. But what are you going to do? I'm against a lot of restrictive laws, but this is one freedom I think folks can sacrafice for the common good. the cell phone companies are totally in cahoots though with the law, now they sell more merchandise....ah capatilism.

Anyway....more soon....