Very much enjoyed Lost tonight, as well as this lemur video

Barak Obama is 6'1" and has a Posse

Am loving the new Obama poster from the Obey folks. And I'll be voting for him on Tuesday. Yahoo!

The Castro in the 70's in the now

Thanks to the Gus Van Zandt movie being shot in San Francisco about Harvey Milk (starring Sean Penn as Milk...hmmm), The Castro has been getting a 70's makeover! Store signs are getting replaced with the names of shops from the time, and a re-tooling of the Castro Theatre sign back to 70's coloring.

I walked down Castro Street the other day and I saw a guy who was probably in his 20s in the 70's run up to his friend shouting "Our favorite bar is back!" pointing to the "Toad Hall" groovy sign that was now marking the entrance of the bar now referred to as '440 Booze' (aka Daddy's). I found that a sweet moment.



Many pics here

SFist post

Just to Clarify

The current play in New York at Primary Stages, entitled Hunting and Gathering is, in fact, a different play than the play I wrote, which is called Hunter Gatherers. The first one has an "and" in the title and mine has no "and." And no "ing" after "Hunt." I am fairly certain, based on reading the summary, that the plots are considerably different. I just hope there isn't a lamb slaughter scene in it. That could get awkward.

note to self

do not attempt to contribute to Obama campaign immediately after inspiring speech

Thoughts on End of Act Zingers.

During my trip to New York last week, I had the pleasure of seeing August: Osage County. Loved it. Even from the second to last row of the rear mezzanine with no legroom I loved it. It's the kind of play you think they don't make anymore and I found it very pleasing for that reason. (I do very much like the kind of plays they make a lot of, too.) ACT, you should totally do it.

One particularly pleasing element of August is the end of Act 2 (it's a 3 act play. I love that structure. Most plays in New York seem to be either 75 minutes or 3 1/2 hours). The shit really begins to hit the fan, the action rises to a pleasing boil all the way to a wonderful priceless emotionally satisfying and exhilarating line. I will not tell you what the line is because you should see it. If you've seen it, well then you know what the line is. Yeah, I liked it.

The moment is making me think of other moments while seeing a play that had that same "wow" effect on me at the end of an act or play where you just feel supercharged and wired.

A few other awesome end of act moments that spring to mind

• The end of Angels in America, part I. (sort of an intermission moment) I saw the Mark Wing Davey production at ACT way back when and I remember leaving the theater reeling. Probably helped that I was coming out at the time.
  
• The ends of Act I & II of The Skin of Our Teeth - Well, I'm always partial to impending apocalypses at ends of acts.
• The end of Act I of the The Visit - This is a favorite of my Dad's too. OK, so i love this because I directed this Durrenmatt play in high school. Sometimes, I wonder if my fascination with this play is telling of my general aesthetic in writing but then sometimes I think that maybe Monty Python's Holy Grail has more to do with it. Anyhoo, wealthy Claire has returned to her impoverished hometown and offers the town an enormous sum of money if they kill her former lover. It's the end of act 1 (I think) where she makes the proposal and everyone of course refuses and is offended. Claire (played by Celia Day in the Marin Academy production in 1991) take a moment and says "I'll wait." ZING! CUE BLACKOUT! MUSIC! WOAH! I think y'all know how that play ends. Germans don't like to flatter the human race all that much.

Any others that come to mind?

Also, am i the only one who's sick of all the fucking Atonement ads?

America Fights Back

Thank you, Jay, for sharing this with me.

Bicoastal adventures begin!

I'm off to New York tomorrow for the first (and shortest) of a few trips to NYC relating to a certain awesome theater producing a certain awesome play (no bias whatsoever). If you live there, and I know you already, I hope to maybe see you, have some coffee or a drink, maybe see a show?

I plan on seeing a number of plays and would love any recommendations. Definitely on the list so far is August: Osage County, Dead Man's Cellphone, and I'm thinking possibly Xanadu. Hell, maybe I'll go on the Circle Tour again. What else should I see?

I am prepared with hat, scarf and gloves and I think I have some warm sweaters somewhere. It's been a while since I've been able to experience those awkward heat change sweats that take place when going outdoors to indoors. I'm really excited for those to happen again.

Hey New York!

I'm coming for long multiple visits. Why, you ask?

Well, the fine folks over at Ars Nova have decided to mount a production of my play boom! How awesome is that?

Almost as awesome as when you go to the play and see it.

More soon...

George made is own Ricotta Cheese Today

Making cheese. First step is boiling milk.



Then juice a lemon or two...


Making the curd happen!


Then drain the curd in cheesecloth.



Let it drain.



Enjoy on good bread with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil!

Awesome New Blog about the 340 Brannan 5th Floor Men's Room

Let's hope they turn a corner!

Awesome Variety article about an NY Theatre with Peter Nachtrieb reference

Look for "Tyro Scribe"

Things I think about while rewriting a play that do not pertain to the content of the play.

I am writing a play that has blogging at the center of it. So, in a complex combo of research, procrastination and self entertainment, below is a list of the thoughts in my head that surface while working today:

• What happened to the Propellerheads? Their album from the 90s is still pretty awesome.
• Should I put that candy cane in my coffee?
• What's happening in Decatur, Georgia and why are they vi sting my website?
• I wonder when my new American Express Card will transfer those points to my JetBlue account.
• Should I wash the towels? I think I'm going to wash the towels.
• Should I fold the towels or look at this monologue? Finish the monologue, then fold the towels.
• One more bodum?
• What should I wear to see the play tonight? Am going with my mother so can't wear any of the tighter gay stuff. She gets too worried about my shoulders being cramped.
  
• String Cheese!

Crisis at Entertainment Weekly

I just re-upped my subscription to Entertainment Weekly, which had lapsed due to a credit card update in the fall.

Unfortunately, my subscription resumes amidst a writers strike of Hollywood, leaving the magazine a little unclear what to write about within its pages. It must be especially distressing that the Academy Awards are quite possibly going to be threatened which, as fellow EW subscribers will know, provides for approximately 6-8 cover stories for the mag including such issues as "We predict The Nominees", "Behold the Nominees", "We Predict The Winners", "This Week We Will Find out Who Won!", "The Winners!", and finally "Who Might Win Next Year?!"

Now thanks to the strike, we can add the newest cover to the series (which just arrived moments ago): Will the Oscars Happen? Distressing indeed. What are they going to write about for the next few months if they don't?

mid morning procrastination

• So I had a half written blog post about the Hillary Clinton emotional sharing moment, but that's sooo last Monday. So I'm not going to say anything about it. I'm still trying to decide who to send a 25 dollar campaign contribution to. I'm definitely leaning towards one candidate, but I think I need to re-read the platforms first. Ha. I like that I just wrote "re-read" as though I've actually read the candidate platforms.
  
• I like how pundits are now punditing about their own inability to correctly pundit anything. I wish pundits were members of the writer's guild.
  
• I unfortunately encountered the web phenomenon that involves two women and one pint glass. Ew on many levels but the reaction videos are pretty entertaining. But ew. But interesting that it's a phenomenon. But ew.
• My dramaturgy list emails stopped coming to my mail box. Whahappened? I'm missing my collectively gathered lists of plays from the Renaissance with 4 or more female characters in them. Seriously, though, it's a pretty fascinating theater discussion list to read and lurk on.
  
• Mark and I have yet to play our "Greys Anatomy" board game we received for Christmas
  
• Hey Playwrights of the Bay Area!!! Pub Night February 9th! Save the Date! I'll post more soon or just check out Marisela or Tim's post. But I'll post more about it too.
  
• more anon
  

It's raining and blowing like nuts here

I'm blogging to you from our mini-balcony just outside the kitchen where there is rain coming down in heavy torrents. If only you could see the bright parka I am wearing as wind blows, sirens wail, and a tree suspiciously leans over a fence and onto my building. The power is tenuously remaining on in the Mission district. It's only a matter of hours before Anderson Cooper shows up in town to figure out what went wrong.

OK it's not that bad, but it is stormy and I am remaining tucked in my apartment I continue to rewrite a play (exciting announcement to come soon). I'm hoping for a gym opening a little later. These days I am working on more that one thing at the same time and I am still struggling with how best to segment projects in my head and keep everything moving forward. I'm thinking physical exercise may be a helpful divider.

OK I am totally procrastinating.

i'm adding michael clayton to my superlatives

I totally forgot how much I dug that movie, so I'm adding it to my list. it was damn good

Happy 2K4x2

2K8 doesn't really work for me aesthetically, so I'm going to attempt to call it 2K4x2 this coming year. That's "two kay four by two." I think that's going to be an awesome year name.

OK, so that'll be fun

WHO'S GOT IOWA FEVER?!?!