2004 Review

Well, I decided to review all my LJ entries and make a listing of highlights of this past year. They are not listed in level of important, only sequentially.

1. Having a Job
2. “Oliver!” – Beit Hillel
3. “What’s Wrong with This Picture?” JEST – casted and dropped
4. “Pirates of Penzance” JEST – pit crew
5. “Romeo & Juliet” CST – Prince Escalus
6. More Job ranting and disapproval
7. Fantasy.Con 2004 – digital media
8 .Quit Smoking
9. CannaBrownies
10.Spinning
11.Icon2004 – digital media
12.Cooking – Chili at Shaiel’s
13.Touching Linux – and failing
14.Finally answered ‘s questions
15.”HaKeves….” CST – The father figure
16.Cooking – Friday night dinner – Lasagna and garlic
17.SHANNON in my life.

I’m going to have to go with number 17 as the most important of the year.

I challenge you all to figure out a relatively short list of what you did this year, higlights only! Single Line!

Early morning thoughts….

Ah, the joys of morning.
Now, don’t get me worng, I’m not a morning person, however, sometimes I enjoy the morning rituals.
I get into the office, after having a good shower & shave, feeling good, and head over to the kitchen to brew a pot of mocha coffee.
After that’s been started, I grab a large cup (a lรก Friends) and fill it with milk.
Head back to my office, sit down and fill the full cup with cornflakes.
Start checking my emails, sign in to Messengers (7 in all, thanks to Trillian!) and get grabbed to discuss something or other by someone.
Open Winamp, and grab a nice morning station, like LiveIreland, playing some beautiful music to work to.

It’s too early for the fit to hit the shan, but be assured that this will happen, and probably more than once before mid-day.

On the ride here, I was thinking (as I am prone to do) about what abilities I no longer have since my childhood. I can’t dive into a pool headfirst anymore. I’ve forgotten how. No more hand/head-stands, and actually putting my foot in my mouth. I can’t touch my toes anymore, as my hamstrings are WAY too tight.
I’m sure there’s more, but these struck me as abilities I wish I still had.

Ah, young love…

So I’m ecstatic about spending time with Shannon.
Last night she was really beat, soe we didn’t go dancing as orignially planned.
And when she said, “But you were really looking forward to dancing tonight”, I, the newly-crowned king of cheese, said “I was just looking forward to spending time with you.”
What has happened to me?
Over the weekend, came by, and and I cooked. Well, I cooked, and everyone else helped.
Made what I call “French Bagels” and some delicious vegetarian mushroom-tomato lasagne, a nice tossed salad, and even some rice that we didn’t get around to eating.
So we hung out, got baked, and slept a lot.
Sat. night’s show marked the closing of The Sixteenth Sheep, and afterwards most of us went out to eat at a restaurant called “Shakespeare”.

Ok, stop laughing.

Seriously.

Well, after that, we drifted home, and Shannon and I hung out at my place, and watched some Storyteller stories. It was a lot of fun.
Sunday I went to the Frankel School over in French Hill after work, as I was invited to come stage manage their show.
It was an interesting audition, as not many people showed up. I was offered the part of the innkeeper (probably a bit of song and dance, and a lot of talking). I don’t know if I can work this into my schedule. I have a career to think about, after all. ๐Ÿ™
It’s taken all day to write these few snippets, as work has been crazy.
I’m trying to figure out how to get a laptop so I can work on some projects while in Miluim for about 3 weeks to stay sane.

It’s late, so…

… I’ll keep this short.
She and I have discussed it after auditions tonight.
I won’t participate in Her production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”, because we are more important that the production to each other, and being the one who 1) is not directing it and 2) is not a life hurdle for and 3) would rather build the relationship than place an immediate strain on it, I have gracefully (***) stepped down.
So while the majority of my pals will be in the show having a wild time, I will be having mine own “wild” time with Her.

Good night!

*** – Doesn’t gracefully mean without tripping over your own damned feet? Just a thought.

Update: Completely unexpected, yet…

Well, tonight was a complete surprise.
After the show, She had to run out to another pre-scheduled commitment. I get a ride home, and drag Joe along with. We sit and start to conceptualize the makings of another show, and thinking about who we can/should get for different parts etc.
Suddenly that special ring goes off, and my face lights up. It’s Her. Apparently, Her event got canceled for the strangest reasons, and I ask her if she wants to go get some coffee. She responds in kind, and even extends it to dinner.
I drop Joe like a hot potato, and tell him that he’s welcome to hang, but he’s on his own now.
I shoot out of my apartment, and we go downtown and have a wonderful dinner, great conversation. The evening seems to go on forever, and I don’t want it to stop.
For I know the dark secret! I must confront mine own fears afore the night is done!
So we stroll around, and get Her some frozen yoghurt from the stand on the corner there, and sit down and have more wonderful conversation.
Finally, we head back to the car, and she drives back towards my place. We park outside, and I say this: “Can we talk for a minute?” She shuts off the car and turn the light on. Attentive. “I have to get something off my chest. I can’t get you out of my mind. I look forward to seeing you every day, and I really like you.” (Note to self: breathe) She completely is on the same page as me, and together we discuss the treacherous road that lies ahead, and that we’ll try the whole director-actor relationship and keep it completely seperate from the Me-Her relationship.
We held hands for a bit, and then, as the night drew to a close, I asked her (asked her, mind you! Papa learned me good!) if I might kiss her goodnight.

(insert huge smile here)

It’s that day.

Well, this weekend was a blast.
Thursday night we had a good show, and afterwards, we all went out to the Coffee Shop on Emek & Rahel Imenu.
Friday day, I wake up too late, stumble over to the theater, just in time to change, get makeup and perform wonderfully for tons of kids.
After that, rush home, make some food and SLEEP for a few hours.
Wake up later, and arrive, bearing ‘s remains of a computer and discourteously drop it on my desk, while I’m half-baked. I respond in kind, saying “Get that crap outta here!”
Anyways, Saturday, I head out to a communal lunch thing for the cast of our show, and She was there, in purple, looking beautiful…. {wistful sigh}
Saturday night show was great, and afterwards, I got dragged home at high speed, and then I got the surprise of my life. She called! She wanted to tell me that unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to go dancing Sunday, as She has a prior commitment, but wanted to know if I wanted to hang out, watchg a movie or stuff. YIPPEE!
Well, She came over and we watched a couple of Storyteller episodes, and then the entire Riverdance show, which we both love! After that, came out of his den and sat and chatted with us.
I have to ask Her tonight if she wants to go out for coffee on Monday night. God, I hope I don’t go all shaky-kneed. This is SO not me.

New thingy for me

Well, thanks to a new friend, , I now have a little “When did I quit” on my user info page, as well as posting it here:


QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

This essentially counts time from a “when” until now, and calculates the difference.
Nice, and useful.
Since May. Whoa.

On another note, my show is going well, and some people have already come to see it (and by some people I mean a lot of people have come to see it, but not that many that I know).
I am looking forward to next week, as it looks promising in many ways.
1. Sunday night – after the show, probably going dancing with Shannon again.
2. Monday night – auditioning for a part in a Shakespearean play, being directed by: Shannon!
3. Tuesday night – another show. Chance to see Shannon.
4. Wedensday night – couples dancing with Shannon.
5. Thursday, Friday & Saturday – shows. Seeing Shannon more and more.
6. Sunday – callbacks from the auditions. Pretty sure I’m going to ace it, so it’s another chance to see Shannon!.

Now, to the untrained eye I have just rambled on, but to the more careful reader, I have been smitten. And yes, I feel like a puppy. Bring on the comments.
I really like this lady. She’s awesome in so many ways, yet so unpredictable, such a mystery. Despite the irregulatiy of it all, I haven’t spoken to her about this yet. The universe has shifted power zones, and it’s to the point that has a girlfriend, and I’m the miserable sot who bemoans his fate at home.
I must break this vicious cycle. The universe cannot overpower me! For I am the Master of Destiny!

Well, I guess it’s about time…..

… that I answered these questions.
To remind the class, these were put to me by asked me here.
I think that since February, I’ve had some time to think (internal voice: “Yeah, right!”) on these questions, and finally might be ready to post some answers.
Josh, they’ve been sitting in my “Inbox” since then, as a constant reminder of a commitment to respond to them.

1) If you could go back and do it all again, what is the one thing you would NOT change, under any circumstances?
2) What book has had the most influence on your life?
3) What was the silliest thing you ever did in public?
4) Why don’t you want people to know how old you are? (Note: I am not asking how old you are, just why you don’t want us to know. And remember, you have to answer truthfully)
5) If you could have any one super power, what would you want, and why?
And I put that line in to make people like you crack up. Feel free to ask me questions in return

1. I have to say, quite truthfully, that there is nothing that I would change. My life has been a pretty interesting ride, with its ups and downs, and it has molded me into the person I am today. Yes, I wish I had been smarter in some of my business dealings, but there are absolutely no regrets. I’d like to think that I’ve learned from everything, even though sometimes the knowledge isn’t really evident until much later.

2. This is going to sound odd, but the book is “Goedel, Escher & Bach”. Dad has owned that book for pretty much all of my remebered life, and I’ve read and re-read it throughout my development years. It helped put things into a different perspective, and the idea of using some kind of metaphors to describe ideas in a way that a layman can understand some of the more complex ideas of philosophies. I’ll admit, I should probably delve into it again sometime soon, as I’ve forgotten a large chunk of it, and some of the heavier concepts were beyond me then, and I think I might be better equipped to understand them now. Note: Never say “I don’t know”. Say: “I don’t know yet!”

3. How can I even begin to try and remember the silliest thing I’ve done in public? I think something that rates mentioning is going to sleep in a Bank Mizrahi at about 2am on a random weekday, during my years on the Yishuv, when if you didn’t leave Jerusalem at 6pm, you were stuck in town for the night. A couple of friends and I found a place to huddle for the night, relatively warm to a typical Jerusalem winter, about 9 years ago. I’d call that silly, and fairly public.

4. My age is a closely-guarded government secret. The reason for it is classified, and far beyond your security clearance, citizen. But seriously, I believe that too much stock is held with age, and that a person should be evaluated on a different level. I’ve met highly intelligent and capable young people, and it never occurred to me to ask their age. On the other hand, I’ve met even more older childish people, so my age should never be an issue. I am ass old as I need to be. I think I was born at 35, and it’s been a downhill slide since then.

5. Superpowers are a tricky subject. Are you allowed to have a superpower, without the baggage that comes along with it? For instance, to be Superman, that would mean that not only are you unique on Earth, your entire people have been wiped out. So I don’t know if there’s a specific superpower that I’d want, but one that comes to mind is the power to control time. It seems that everything can be accomplished, as long as you have enough time. To think that I could go for a leisurely walk for an hour, and not have it at the expense of something else, because it always is…. damned useful, I say.

Anyways, this has been a long response, probably longer than thought it would be, but finally I get to cross this off the list of things I needed to get done.

Time isn’t on my side. There’s never enough time. We make time. If we don’t, it’ll leak out elsewhere, and get picked up by a bunch of monk-type characters, and to quote some exquisite literature, by my favorite author:

Because of the nature of time, the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew.
Therefore there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them.
Therefore the only appropriate state of mind is ‘surprise’. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now , you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now.
Be glad of it.
– Wen the eternally surprised –