Sunday, November 14, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Would You like Fries with That?
Well here it is...a year after graduation and still doing the same thing - serving tables (though I've often preferred to call myself an agent of persuasive communication). My degree being in English, I can get away with it.
While in school, I dreamed that after graduation I would advance into the world of technical writing and be PROUD. Proud of a career that others would also look at as a proud profession. Didn't you know? It's a hard pill to swallow when customers throw it down your throat. "Oh, you're going to school? What are you studying?" Suddenly you've become a person - and not to mention an intelligent one.
That's the problem. Being a waitress may as well fall into the same category as construction. That is, a walk-in-and-apply-job and not much experience needed short-term gig. That's what most people think anyways. Did you know that its listed under the top five most challenging jobs?
And talk about a balancing act. So many people to make happy while deflecting so many unhappy people. Those folks in the kitchen aren't real happy. And did I mention my boss? Let's just say that he's sensitive. But all my fellow servers are fairly nice, even though they're fiercely competitive. We work for tips ya know. It's a lot to digest, a schizophrenic smorgasbord.
But there is a bright side. The green is amazing. I managed to work three days a week while attending to my degree and payed for school. No loans. No debt. And that sure does feel nice. I couldn't imagine the pain of being in debt and not having a job after graduation. Sounds like hell to me.
So it's not so bad after all, waiting tables. One day, I'll get a break.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Who needs drugs when you’ve got Pink Floyd?
That was my philosophy back in high school, and also when I was introduced to them.I had this history teacher who was on a leave of absence due to a drinking problem. The final straw was the day his temper lashed out on a trash can. Whoever the student was, their sense of humor wasn't funny that day. Then again, life isn’t so funny to those who’ve been recently divorced because of a losing battle to an addiction, especially of which made - what was left of life – bearable, so he kicked the can.
The next day the class was introduced to Brian, our substitute teacher and the lead singer of Sirus, a Sonoma County ska band. He must have been in his late twenties and was hard to forget. I still remember his thin frame, black beret, platinum hair and doc martins, and how we all thought, “COOL!”
I don’t remember what we learned in class that week, just that we had an experience.
No books, no lectures, only “The Wall.”
Unlike any teacher we had before, this one was telling us to think for ourselves; the film we were about to see was going to give us insight into ourselves, and the world in which we were about to enter.
It was love at first flight; I had become Comfortably Numb.
It’s amazing how a person can come into your life and change it by introducing you to some band.
And what exactly is a dream?
And what exactly is a joke?
Nobody knows - Syd Barrett
Best piece published in the CSUEB paper, 2008
Doubt: A Parable in Walnut Creek
Instead of buying tickets for the movies this weekend, why not go see a play instead?
Winner of the Tony Award for best play as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2005, Center REPertory Company presents John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable directed by Timothy Near. Now showing at the Bay Area's Lesher Center for the Arts located in downtown Walnut Creek .
An astonishing 24 awards under its list of achievements, the play was written as well as influenced by the unsettling ashes of uncertainty about our political leaders during a post 9/11 America .
Doubt shares in a similar uncertainty within the realms of St. Nicholas Church School in 1964. A nun and her parish priest in a battle of uncompromising modes of conduct over the students.
Without doubt, the discomfort of ambiguity is the driving force and centerpiece of this curious play set in The Bronx of New York.
As the opening line is delivered by the convincing Kevin Rolston as the charismatic Father Brendan Flynn, "What do you do when you're not sure?"
A doubtful answer to this inquiry is delivered by Lorri Holt as she steals the stage as the puritanical and calculating school principle Sister Aloysius Beauvier.
Holt executes a frighteningly arresting performance as her character seeks to extract the progressively modern Father Flynn from the church due to a suspicious relationship with the schools first black student, Donald Muller.
Upholding her commitment to fixed values of fear- invoking discipline and doctrine, Sister Aloysius disagrees with Father Flynn's overly friendly attitude towards the boy, as well as other students.
Is the priest truly guilty or is the nun simply overreacting to the merely relaxed relationship the priest shares with the students?
Will Sister Aloysius' traditional instincts prevail over Father Flynn's contemporary ways?
The Sister James played by Linda Morache, joins forces with Sister Aloysius as they scavenge for evidence in a controversial preconception without concrete facts.
Loyal to a fault Morache is as she constructs the character rendition of the young Sister James, a tender and optimistic heart inexperienced with church politics but eager to please the upper-hand of Sister Aloysius.
But Sister James eventually has doubts herself about Father Flynn's suspect allegations.
In an attempt to gain an ally, Sister Aloysius tries to arrange an alliance in her convictions by informing Muller's mother, played by BW Gonzalez, of her suppositions but fails.
Muller is a practical woman with stern wisdom believing only in what is best for her son.
Although a small part, Gonzalez's seamless delivery governs much visibility on the cultural issues blacks had to face at the time of the mid-sixties.
A finely tuned cast in accord to the adopted perspectives each character endorses, Doubt is an enticing and tantalizing ride strapped in a gamble of guess.
It's a suspenseful hour and a half that bonds the audience together in a web of perpetual doubt until the very end.
Not to mention, the drama unfolds on a moving set rotating between scenes while the performers are still playing their parts, adding dimension to the overall affect.
Don't miss out on the few remaining shows. Performances are held Wednesday through Saturdays only until Nov. 22.
Call for tickets at 925. 943. SHOW or order tickets online at www. lesherartscenter. org. Tickets are marked at a reasonable $39.
Instead of buying tickets for the movies this weekend, why not go see a play instead?
Winner of the Tony Award for best play as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2005, Center REPertory Company presents John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable directed by Timothy Near. Now showing at the Bay Area's Lesher Center for the Arts located in downtown Walnut Creek .
An astonishing 24 awards under its list of achievements, the play was written as well as influenced by the unsettling ashes of uncertainty about our political leaders during a post 9/11 America .
Doubt shares in a similar uncertainty within the realms of St. Nicholas Church School in 1964. A nun and her parish priest in a battle of uncompromising modes of conduct over the students.
Without doubt, the discomfort of ambiguity is the driving force and centerpiece of this curious play set in The Bronx of New York.
As the opening line is delivered by the convincing Kevin Rolston as the charismatic Father Brendan Flynn, "What do you do when you're not sure?"
A doubtful answer to this inquiry is delivered by Lorri Holt as she steals the stage as the puritanical and calculating school principle Sister Aloysius Beauvier.
Holt executes a frighteningly arresting performance as her character seeks to extract the progressively modern Father Flynn from the church due to a suspicious relationship with the schools first black student, Donald Muller.
Upholding her commitment to fixed values of fear- invoking discipline and doctrine, Sister Aloysius disagrees with Father Flynn's overly friendly attitude towards the boy, as well as other students.
Is the priest truly guilty or is the nun simply overreacting to the merely relaxed relationship the priest shares with the students?
Will Sister Aloysius' traditional instincts prevail over Father Flynn's contemporary ways?
The Sister James played by Linda Morache, joins forces with Sister Aloysius as they scavenge for evidence in a controversial preconception without concrete facts.
Loyal to a fault Morache is as she constructs the character rendition of the young Sister James, a tender and optimistic heart inexperienced with church politics but eager to please the upper-hand of Sister Aloysius.
But Sister James eventually has doubts herself about Father Flynn's suspect allegations.
In an attempt to gain an ally, Sister Aloysius tries to arrange an alliance in her convictions by informing Muller's mother, played by BW Gonzalez, of her suppositions but fails.
Muller is a practical woman with stern wisdom believing only in what is best for her son.
Although a small part, Gonzalez's seamless delivery governs much visibility on the cultural issues blacks had to face at the time of the mid-sixties.
A finely tuned cast in accord to the adopted perspectives each character endorses, Doubt is an enticing and tantalizing ride strapped in a gamble of guess.
It's a suspenseful hour and a half that bonds the audience together in a web of perpetual doubt until the very end.
Not to mention, the drama unfolds on a moving set rotating between scenes while the performers are still playing their parts, adding dimension to the overall affect.
Don't miss out on the few remaining shows. Performances are held Wednesday through Saturdays only until Nov. 22.
Call for tickets at 925. 943. SHOW or order tickets online at www. lesherartscenter. org. Tickets are marked at a reasonable $39.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
...and before Louis Brookes, were - The Dolly Sisters
"...they were the first show business personalities to be accepted as equals by international society" (http://www.classicimages.com/past_issues/view/?x=2000/january00/dollysisters.shtml).
Just recently heard about this 1920s dancing-duo from Hungary, Rosie and Jenny Deutsch - Amazing identical-twin sister act, indeed.
One of the first vaudeville/burlesque groups popularized, they were an exciting sign of the times ahead, not only because of their unique act but the fact that they weren't your typical voluptuous-blonde-next-girl-kinda gals - they were short, petite, with onyx black hair.
They even sported a boyish type of hairstyle that was never before seen, but would be ten years later during the flapper era - "The Bob," donning themselves also in long, slinky robes, covered with exaggerated jewelery.
You could say these charmers dished out a new kind of exotic-erotica to mouth-watering masses!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Distractions from the Nutshell.
Recently I posted some pictures from my past on a social media site. Don't worry. I didn't do what most people do - post something stupid and then later kick myself for doing something so stupid.
The pictures weren't anything vulgar or what a boss would consider scandalous. They were just a handful of pictures back from my old clubbing days...so I wore a lot of black. What can I say?!? Black's a color, also :)
Shortly after this posting I realized a friend of mine - a colleague I'd academically competed with in college - removed herself from my friends list, and even blocked me! Wow! Very painful, it was.
I had always known she was incredibly conservative. She'd always say things like, "I just don't belong here, everyone so liberal!" Her husband, you see, was a Marine, and she was from a small town near San Diego.
This brings me to something of an unsolved mystery; something that is misused; something misinterpreted; something most of the time is misunderstood. A definition us folks like to call - "friend".
Ask yourself - how many friends DO you really have? But before you answer, think past those places I like to call "collection sites" such as Facebook, Myspace and Friendster.
Now cross out all those you see on a weekly basis in the local coffee shops, bars and clubs - the "frequenters," I call 'em. Really? Who's left? And are they your drinking buddies? How many of these - friends you say that are left - you spent time with in a museum or at a play?
If think along the lines of acquaintances, I bet it's long and winding. A friend is far and few between.
You see, I thought she was my friend. I mean, we knew each for years and had many discussions at school. But when I really began to think about it, after graduation, our discussions were ALWAYS on Facebook.
Guess I bought into the illusion - a friend on Facebook doesn't necessarily make them a friend. My bad!
So now I ask you, and myself - what's up with all the acquaintances? I'll admit it, I've gotten carried away with the social networking sites. I lived a lot of places so its been real convenient. When I was in school and holding a job, I only had some much time to spare.
All this brings me to this - is it really that we just don't have the time to invest or devote to another; and, if this is true, for some of you - like it was once for me - why are we so let down when someone else cannot give the same to us?
Don't lie - your human! Emotions are something, no matter how hard you try, will not wither up away and die.
I know what you're thinking - so what; who cares! It is what it is! But sometimes, I can't help but wonder if all this "acquainting" spills into our nationwide rising divorce rate of 50%. Pretty embarrassing I think. This issue we're speaking of is how we communicate with we each other, right?
And it gets even worse - 67% that try at marriage again will fail, and 74% will fail at a third try: "according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," John Lennon once said. So what happens when you're not busy anymore?
Or are we too scared to slow down and see the error of our ways?
Making the wrong friends and getting into the wrong relationships because it was quick and didn't demand a lot of our time.
But in the end, my friend - time is all we'll have.
Time has become a phenomenon that's defining our lives in this age of instant gratification.
Simply stated, there is none.
So we've become, frankly, lucky to get what we can get, right?
We need to reconnect in this age that feels the need to travel faster than the speed of light. We've become sociopaths; collectors - friends that are never there; marriages that are failing; children with homes and no parents; so much stuff we can't really afford yet buy and never use.
...they're all distractions; a collection of distractions.
So now, I'll end this rather long - hopefully triggering - rant with some wise words by Will Rodgers, who said, "half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save."
What will you do with yours?
Work on it now; collect wisely :)
The pictures weren't anything vulgar or what a boss would consider scandalous. They were just a handful of pictures back from my old clubbing days...so I wore a lot of black. What can I say?!? Black's a color, also :)
Shortly after this posting I realized a friend of mine - a colleague I'd academically competed with in college - removed herself from my friends list, and even blocked me! Wow! Very painful, it was.
I had always known she was incredibly conservative. She'd always say things like, "I just don't belong here, everyone so liberal!" Her husband, you see, was a Marine, and she was from a small town near San Diego.
This brings me to something of an unsolved mystery; something that is misused; something misinterpreted; something most of the time is misunderstood. A definition us folks like to call - "friend".
Ask yourself - how many friends DO you really have? But before you answer, think past those places I like to call "collection sites" such as Facebook, Myspace and Friendster.
Now cross out all those you see on a weekly basis in the local coffee shops, bars and clubs - the "frequenters," I call 'em. Really? Who's left? And are they your drinking buddies? How many of these - friends you say that are left - you spent time with in a museum or at a play?
If think along the lines of acquaintances, I bet it's long and winding. A friend is far and few between.
You see, I thought she was my friend. I mean, we knew each for years and had many discussions at school. But when I really began to think about it, after graduation, our discussions were ALWAYS on Facebook.
Guess I bought into the illusion - a friend on Facebook doesn't necessarily make them a friend. My bad!
So now I ask you, and myself - what's up with all the acquaintances? I'll admit it, I've gotten carried away with the social networking sites. I lived a lot of places so its been real convenient. When I was in school and holding a job, I only had some much time to spare.
All this brings me to this - is it really that we just don't have the time to invest or devote to another; and, if this is true, for some of you - like it was once for me - why are we so let down when someone else cannot give the same to us?
Don't lie - your human! Emotions are something, no matter how hard you try, will not wither up away and die.
I know what you're thinking - so what; who cares! It is what it is! But sometimes, I can't help but wonder if all this "acquainting" spills into our nationwide rising divorce rate of 50%. Pretty embarrassing I think. This issue we're speaking of is how we communicate with we each other, right?
And it gets even worse - 67% that try at marriage again will fail, and 74% will fail at a third try: "according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," John Lennon once said. So what happens when you're not busy anymore?
Or are we too scared to slow down and see the error of our ways?
Making the wrong friends and getting into the wrong relationships because it was quick and didn't demand a lot of our time.
But in the end, my friend - time is all we'll have.
Time has become a phenomenon that's defining our lives in this age of instant gratification.
Simply stated, there is none.
So we've become, frankly, lucky to get what we can get, right?
We need to reconnect in this age that feels the need to travel faster than the speed of light. We've become sociopaths; collectors - friends that are never there; marriages that are failing; children with homes and no parents; so much stuff we can't really afford yet buy and never use.
...they're all distractions; a collection of distractions.
So now, I'll end this rather long - hopefully triggering - rant with some wise words by Will Rodgers, who said, "half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save."
What will you do with yours?
Work on it now; collect wisely :)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Love's in Bloom
This year, thus far, has been a good one. New evaluations and relationships. Did I mention that I also won the lottery? That's right - that man of mine. It's like I got everything, I thought, would be impossible to find in someone. Yes! being picky all these years did finally pay off. The impossible really is - possible...
Monday, March 8, 2010
Anne Bancroft
Love her! Though, I'm only familiar with her as an actress - nevertheless - the air about her is something to be reckoned with - class, confidence and charm - supported by a force driven with solid strength.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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