The great thing about being back in school....

I'm super tired, but excited to be back in the saddle. Graduate school, so far, has been great. After spending the past 3 years making conversation with folks in the legal world, it's great to be around artists. It's breath taking to hear the stories, debates, and experiences of people who've made a commitment to do art (and attempt to make a living).

It's all wonderful.

Theater is so awesome.

Playwrights are so cool.

Sigh.

It's either funny or it ain't

Saw Superbad last night.

This dude is funny.


I will crawl out on a limb and say Michael Cera is the funniest funny man to be born in the 1980s. I loved him in Arrested Development, and he's great in this movie. You know why Michael is so great? Because he has a great sense of timing and he knows how to use silence, facial gestures, stammers, and stuttering to land a joke. He has an arsenal of tricks. He reminds me a lot of Bob Newhart.

This dude is NOT, NOT, NOT funny.

And he was super whack when paired with the pure talent of Cera.

You know why Cera's co-star sucks? Well, I have to give Jonah the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was simply playing the role given to him, but he just bitched and moaned the entire movie. Everything was at level 10 which made him seem one dimensional and flat.

This dude is funny, too.


Christopher Mintz-Plasse was also great because he had dimensions. McLovin' was a great character and Mintz-Plasse took it where it needed to go.

Crack is Whack!

While hunting for a biography about the founder of the Protestant church, Martin Luther, I ended up looking through a collection of photos taken by a photographer named Boogie. The book is titled It's All Good.

I'm gonna whip out my naive checkbook and make a few payments right now.

Boogie managed to score a raw look at life in the projects of Bed Stuy and Bushwick, Brooklyn. I can type up a slew of trite phrases about how powerful the work is. Boogie captures drug addicts, hustlers, gangsters in the real. No joke. It's insane that people live a life like that just a few boroughs away from where I sit right now.

Flipping through the book then reading Boogie's captions at the end added a depth that shook me to the core.

Be warned some images are graphic.

Check out photos from the book here.
Check out Boogie's other work here.



Whew.

Abe-y baby

I went to DC this weekend. Had a great time hanging out with my friend, but traveling to and fro sucked. Is it me or has it gotten unbelievably frustrating to travel by plane, train, or bus anywhere in America? I can understand customer growth can disorient organizations temporarily, but it seems like these folks refuse to plan accordingly again and again.

Ick.

I did manage to take a few nice pics while visting Chocolate City.

My friend's favorite piece in the sculpture garden:

Good old Abe sitting pretty. I didn't except to get a little emotional standing in his presence but I did. There are crappy parts of America's history and there are beautiful parts. I couldn't deny the powerful moments in history that have happened at this place:



A reflection caught in the Vietnam memorial:

Gorgeous day:



The inscription didn't really come out, but this is where MLK gave his "I Have a Dream Speech" August 28th 1963:

So You Think U Can...

I'm sitting in a cafe (what else is new?) trying to remember all the stuff I have to do. My brain is fried, unable to battle the series of items gleaming from my to do list. I often feel a tad bit more productive if I post, so I shall post.


Last night So You Think You Can Dance crowned its third season winner: Sabra. It was great to see the final two slots occupied by people of color who can dance, dance, dance. Very exciting.

[Side note: I'm sure the you tube clips from the show will be removed so watch while you can.]


Folks who sucked

-Lacey was better at slutting it up than exhibiting any kind of dancing skills. When the camera cut to Benji, he often had an uncomfortable smile plastered across his face. And didn't he look a lil' too relieved when his sis got the boot?

-Lauren was a good dancer, but her movements were always too choppy and jerky.

-Dominic was just disgusting. He was groping a woman every chance he got. I swear he could've done spin moves on his ever present chubby.

-Cedric was a lucky s.o.b.

Folks who kicked ass

-Jesus was great. He had a great energy. Wonderful movement. And he could do it all. That krump routine he did was HOTTTTT:



-I wasn't too impressed with Pasha, but he became a favorite of mine as time passed.


-Sabra is a firecracker. A real performer and superstar.

- Sara was surprise. Homegirl put on those heels and worked the floor! The jazz piece with Pasha was a favorite:



-Danny. It's been said by too many folks so I won't repeat the "great," "arrogance," "Leroy from Fame" talk. He's an amazing dancer, a good looking kid, and already well established in the dance community. He didn't need to win the competition. The exposure alone is probably a bigger win than the top prize. Lots more people know who he is and because he's great at what he does, they'll remember him.

He's a grand grand diva:



But NOBODY can top my Benji and Donyelle from season 2:

Hello? Is anybody there?

These reunions are always a lil' awkward, huh?

You and I, right now, are witnessing a glorious Monday morning. I'm sitting in a coffee shop in BK, sipping a slightly whack skim latte. It's been a while since I've posted, or at least it feels like it's been a while. In the last few weeks, I've collected a series of mental notes I wanted to discuss here but have since lost most of them. So this return won't be as "wham bam pow!" as I'd like it to be.

Next Act

Lots of change happening right now, and each change comes with its own bag of feelings, lessons, and theme songs. I'm starting to believe some thing should shake up my life every few years.

Be careful what you wish for, right?

Just to clarify: I'm not asking for tragedy, loss, or sorrow.

I think it's beneficial to shift in new, scary, and exciting ways. I've been hunting for stability for the past few years. I think I caught a kind of stability about three years ago but not the kind that can make me happy. This explains the move to graduate school. This explains moving out of nyc. This explains defining my career and devoting myself to it. A good chunk of this is SCARY, but I know I couldn't really be satisfied or happy if I bailed. I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to dive in and make it happen; I'd be a fool to stay on the platform and just tiptoe along the edge.

Looking down the road at my future self, I'd rather embrace the woman who tried rather than the woman who didn't. I know taking a risk towards something I love will make me better in the end.

Interlude

Mr Lou Rawls singing You're Gonna Miss My Lovin


Thrasher

I bought a skateboard last week. Aside from being nervous about breaking a bone I'm excited. One improvement: I don't have the "oh shit!" feeling when I stand on it. I've been able to ride it a few feet without squealing. That's progress folks.

Shelter

Snagged housing in Providence. It's a great place with good folks. More importantly, it's a space I should be able to get some writing done.

Site Update
I'm tweaking a few things in craland. Will post more info soon!

Finale

Patti Labelle on Sesame Street singing a love song about her X