End of Year Superlatives

OK it is time for me to reflect and evaluate my experiences of the year and share them with you now in this blog forum setting.

Biggest pop culture setback for me in 2007

My Entertainment Weekly subscription lapsed. Que horror! I have been completely out of touch with what to pay attention to. Though perhaps this enhanced my enjoyment of movies this winter that would have otherwise been overhyped.

Personal thought on the ending of the Sopranos

I thought it was perfect.

Most notable lifestyle change of 2007

I took 14 round trip flights this year. It kinda wiped me out.

Music I bought this year that I especially liked

• LCD Soundsystem - Sounds of Silver
• Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
• M.I.A. - Kala (Paper Planes is possibly the Single of the Year)
• Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog
• The Soundtrack to Once (Falling Slowly also a possible single of the Year)
  
• The Soundtrack to Spring Awakening the Musical

Also a possible single of the year because it rocks and uses "Mamasay Mamasah Mamamakusah" as a sample
Rihanna's Please Don't Stop the Music

I bought this a while ago but I really started liking it this year

• Goldfrapp - Supernature

Best Musical addition to my life

The iPod shuffle (thanks to the UCSF staff appreciation gift given to my already iPod Shuffle owning nurse-lover)

Movies that I saw this year that I particularly liked

• Once
• No Country For Old Men
• Juno
• Superbad
• Michael Clayton
  
• Shit, what else came out this year?

TV Shows I enjoyed watching this year (some on DVD)

• Weeds
• The Sopranos
• A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila (I missed the final episode!)
• The Hills
• Lost
• Heroes Season 1 (Season 2 mm not so much)
  

TV Shows I was forced to watch

• Survivor
• Grey's Anatomy

TV Shows I don't watch but would like to at some point

• 30 Rock
• The Wire (only up to season 2)

Favorite Plays I saw this year

• Dark Play or Stories for Boys by Carlos Murillo at The Humana Festival
• Our Town at Trinity Rep in Providence, RI
• Spring Awakening on Broadway
  
• The Pillowman at Berkeley Rep
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Best of Broadway
  

Friendster of 2007 Award
Facebook (the interest is already fading, to be honest. MySpace, winner of the 2006 award has descended into a pit of neglect. Every time I logon I get spammed by whores) LinkedIn or, god forbid, Orkut, 2008 could be your year? Or, maybe Manhunt.

Most Uncomfortable Moment Watching My Own Play
A senior couple in front of me watching Hunter Gatherers on Cape Cod with the wife fully engaged and the husband (by the end of the play) fully arm-crossed, pivoted away from the stage and staring at the back of the theater, just past me.

Best Hand Drier Discovery of 2007
The Dyson Hand Driers at the Providence Place Mall

Nafta Nation I really meant to go to this year but didn't
Canada

Most unlikely trip I made in 2007
Driving to Portland to see Kathy Griffin in February

Best Dessert in Kentucky
The Bourbon Ball

Best Dessert of the DECADE
The Mochi Ball (chocolate in particular)

Best New Recurring Foot Problem
Weird bruising and pain that re-emerges from time to time on left foot. Podiatrist consulted.

Best New Purchase for Bed for these Cold Winter Weeks
The 10 dollar fuzzy mattress thing from Costco that Mark bought

Biggest Vice
The Internet. I remember in college, a similar obsession happened to me with tetris and I had to delete it completely from my computer. I can't do that with the net, but I am taking some severe cutback measures in the interest of keeping eyes on the prize

Most Satisfying Corporate Acting Event of 2007
Entertaining and roasting select Supervisors of the San Joaquin Region dressed as a Detective. I still got it. I still got the humor juice in me!

Satisfying but Exhausting Corporate Acting Event of 2007
Playing Jacek from Hackistan for Fortify Software at tradeshows all over the world. (I'm sending the fleece and hat fed ex soon I promise! It's in closet purgatory)

Best New Gay Bar in SF
Truck. And not just 'cause it's the only new gay bar in SF.

Best newly discovered Lube of 2007
A tie between ID Millennium and Gun Oil

Best hip hotel with awesome bed in the middle of the room, huge shower, every bit of furniture made of recycled materials, floor to ceiling windows, cute staff, Polaroid camera chained to the bed, and house music playing till one AM from the rooftop pool bar even though no-one is up there in Play Del Carmen, Mexico
The Hotel Basico

Favorite new fashion purchase
My Lucky Jeans

Best fashion christmas gift
Cashmere scarf

General thought of 2007
Did it sort feel like an intermediate year? Like we're all waiting for things to happen next year? Is this the case for most odd years? I feel like there was a lot more affecting me in 2006 than in 7.

Still love playin it every time I go to Vegas
Craps!

Special Thanks to this year's sponsors

I am on the cusp of completing my first year as a full time writer (and actor too...I need to write a post soon about my extensive corporate acting experiences of the past year). Very exciting, though the whole 1099 and tax business is a little daunting and scary. I'm not going to think of that for another month.

I'm hopeful this is just the first year of full time writer(and actor)hood. I have to whip out my Creative Capital blue binder and figure out how to do that for 2008. I may have to learn some massaging skills, or maybe find some sort of bar in need of an inexperienced but friendly bartender.

So, anyhoo, a special shout out to everyone that gave me some money or service or plane flight and/or other treat this year for doing what I love: (in non-offensive alphabetical order)

The American Theatre Critics Association
The Araca Group
Ars Nova
Bret Adams Ltd.
Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre
Dad's Garage Theatre Company
Encore Theatre Company
Fortify Software
The Gerbode Foundation
Will Glickman Theatre Fund
The Hewlett Foundation
Look Talent
The Magic Theatre
Marin Academy
Mark Marino (health insurance provider)
Murder on the Menu
Nachtrieb Family Existence (many meals, berkeley rep tickets, family support, continued genetics)
The Playwrights Foundation
San Francisco State University
South Coast Rep
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
The Superior Court of California
Theatre Bay Area
Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre
Z Space Studio
Zannel.com
and of course
all those who bought me a beer.

Merry Christmas!

from all of me at peternachtrieb.blogspot.com

I am getting ready to reflect on the year soon but am a little frazzled by holiday shopping, murder mystery performing, and first draft writing that I haven't had a whole lot of time to look to the past with my rose colored glasses. I guess that's why the official reflection period takes place after Christmas.

...

See I'm so distracted I don't even know what to write next.

ugh

brb

A couple things where i'm not feeling the hype

• The film Atonement. I found it a little passionless and dull. But nicely shot. The 10 minute shot of sad and defeated British soldiers was impressive, nicely orchestrated but blah ('oh, there's the wrecked galleon again'). The epilogue at the end...well that sure wrapped up all structural twists rather obviously. I'm trying not to do any spoilers here, though my sense is that the film is a spoiler of a much much better book. And I'll just be getting madder about it because it's going to win stuff. (In related movie news, when I left after seeing No Country for Old Men, I was pretty weirded out. And wow, that movie has stuck with me for weeks. I need to see it again. It's got a time release on it.)
  
• Mike Huckabee - Does all a Republican have to do to be popular these days is be nice and refreshingly able to speak candidly? (That's enough for Bill Maher, apparently.) So a few plus points for that. Many more negative points for not believing in Evolution. And for hating on the gays. Oh and for wanting to quarantine AIDS patients. Oh and saying that the reason he wanted to quarantine AIDS patients was for a Scientific reason when I suspect it likely had to do more with fear/dislike of Gay people. Oh and saying this about possibly meeting Ryan White's mother:

  “I would be very willing to meet with them,” the former Arkansas governor said today while campaigning in Iowa. “I would tell them we’ve come a long way in research, in treatment.”
  

  Um, Mr Huckabee, I don't think you got shit to tell Ryan White's mother. You go there, sit your ass down, and listen.
  

George is growing that Stash for a reason

Yes he is! My brother George has been growing a mustache this month, along with 70 other men in the San Francisco area. It's a sacrifice for a good cause (though the stash is looking pretty good in this pic, Gdawg) and YOU have the opportunity to applaud the efforts of George by sponsoring him (all donations are going to the Breakthrough Collaborative)

In a past year, I was honored to be a judge for this event and I did such a good job they never asked me to be involved ever again. I was hoping to be the East German/French judge and skew the votes towards my bro (though his stash is taking on a formidable character these days that may not need any influence) but I'll be in the crowd clapping him on in the competition next Thursday.

Come to the big showdown December 20 and find out more about m4k

Late Night December Rain Thoughts

We're having wetness here in SF today. A welcome wetness. A good December rain. I find November rains to be more melancholy and songworthy, myself.

I am also in the middle of a slew of corporate performance gigs that require me to retain specific information in my brain about a particular business and its culture and translate their lingo into brilliant topical comedy. It is always my goal in these gigs to create jokes that would only be funny to the specific group of people I am performing for. It is a challenge and strangely satisfying.

Tree purchasing has been scheduled for tomorrow in our household. Discussions are under way as to where to put the coatrack to make way for the Douglas Fir killed in it's early pubescence. I don't feel too bad for the tree. Especially in San Francisco where all dead trees have a future life as city mulch! Yay!! What would they call an organization for the ethical treatment of trees? Teta? Oh haha.

Has anyone seen the documentary about the Peta founder on HBO? Interesting. A weird thing to watch before going out for a drink.

I partied with nurses on Tuesday. Raucous fun. Lots of Rye Manhattans.

I bought a pair of Lucky Jeans recently. Very comfy. I'm worried about their stretching reputation, but I appreciate their softness and nice butt shaping.

I sometimes write in a Starbucks nearby. The main reasons I write there are that the furniture is well suited to work and that you have to pay for the Internet access (meaning I won't have Internet access which is a good thing for productivity). However my trip today may be the last for December due to the unfortunate onslaught of Holiday Starbucks tunes on constant rotation (and for purchase on your iPhone). Whatever happened to the Starbucks concept that it was a place to escape?

We hosted some Canadians and their Strong Canadian Dollars in our apartment over the weekend. Canadians make good house guests. They were paying half price for stuff here than what they pay in Canada. The drained Shoe Biz's entire stock of brightly colored sneaks. Good people. We're coming to the 'Couver, we promise!

Am writing like crazy these days. Writing sometimes feels like a battle against the world and myself at the same time, and other times it feels OK. First drafts are evil terrible compelling little beasts. I will never have a baby but I've had bad poops and writing feels like a big bad poop that lasts 9 months. And you're just pushing and pushing, occasionally taking breaks and lamenting how little progress all the pushing has made. Sometimes when I'm writing well, it doesn't feel like it's me that's writing. Does anyone else get that?

OK now you're all caught up.