Good day (and more to come).

Sometimes days just line up with a good vibe and some nice productivity. Today, I visited church, successfully tackled some illustration work while nurturing a nice caffeine buzz, grabbed a bite with brotha Sammy, and made some headway on planning the upcoming NYC trip. And along the way, I found this little random burst of color (see photo). At the CPK near church, it looks like someone did a little vigorous coloring. Scribbling like the wind! I like that.

Yes, I'm heading to NYC in just over a week. Can't wait! Many friends are in various chapters of their runs in NY shows, and I can't wait to celebrate that. I also look forward to visiting some of my Squigs' Ink peeps. I'm hoping to be able to take part somehow in the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Broadway Flea Market. If it works out, I'll be lending a hand to friends at the [title of show] table. And in addition to spending my usual time in the Theatre District, I want to venture out a bit further and see more stuff Uptown and especially Downtown. I just picked up a tote big enough for my sketchbook, camera, and a guide book, and along with my Metrocard, it sounds like a little package of adventure! I can't wait to see all sorts of friends – NYC friends, Wichita friends, Texas friends, LA friends, Vegas friends. And I'm thankful to friends who are helping me with accomodations... Colby Q, Garrett Elise, and Kilty. Thank you, folks!

So now I'm spending the week taking care of some bidness. I also want to catch my buddy Scotty's one-man show Served at the Whitefire, Plaid compadre Stevie in the pre-Broadway Memphis down in La Jolla, and maybe the Watkins at Largo.

So from LA to NYC (then to KS), life is nice and full. I'm so thankful. Take care, all. Be curious. Peace and love!

Looking back and then forward to autumn...

After a lovely weekend – a last visit to the Sawdust Fest and a surreal and memorable send-off to the Moonlight's season and fantastic production of Les Miz – it is a happy thing to think ahead to the next chapter. I enjoy summer, but I think I like autumn more. I know I'm in the minority, but I love it when I feel that first nip in the air (which is still a ways off). I love apple season and harvest time. My creative impulses often are heightened when our corner of the world goes from that extroverted time of the summery outdoors to the more introspective, buttoned-up fall.

Specific things I'm anticipating are a trip to NYC in a couple of weeks (lots of friends in shows as well as a certain guy turning 40), followed closely by a quick trip back to Wichita to take part in their annual gala fundrasing event. It will be a great time of friends and fun and a little hard work. Can't wait! Then October will be filled with art and new possibilities, capped off by the start of my next show's rehearsals on Hallowe'en. I am so looking forward to taking part in Plaid Tidings at the Welk Resort Theatre. It will be a wonderful thing to spend the holidays performing great music and bringing the laughs alongside friends Kevin McMahon, David Humphrey, and Ryan Drummond. I look forward to a visit from the family early in the run. That will be lovely and I know they'll love the show.

Well, how's that for a quick summary of a few months of my life? I wish you all the best in all that comes next. Take care, all. Peace and love.

P.S. In response to my post a little while back about the history of my hiking trail, my brother Jordan found out that the estate comprising a portion of the trail wasn't owned by a Lila Wilacre (who?) but a silent movie cowboy named Will Acres. Thanks, J, for doing a little more digging. Now I want to find out more about this Will Acres guy.

A farewell to summer.

I'm getting ready to hit the road again in a southerly direction. A couple of great summer institutions have reached the end of the season and I want to see them off. First, the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach has become a happy stop on treks through Orange County. I love chatting with the artists, grabbing a beverage and sitting a while to listen to the great live bands. I'll miss that funky Laguna summery vibe. But I'm glad to note that while you might have to look harder for that vibe in the off-season, it's still there and being enjoyed by less people. More parking for me! Ha!

Second, the Moonlight Amphitheatre has reached the end of this wonderful summer season. I saw their fantastic production of Les Miserables on Friday night and I'm going back for a second and final helping this evening. Can't wait. Emotions should be incredibly amped up not only because of the closing of this special show, but also because it is the last night a show will be seen on this stage as we know it. As I mentioned previously, this stage will be torn down and a brand new updated and more versatile stage house will take its place next year. So this is a closing of a chapter of sorts with the anticipation of a more exciting one to come. After ten shows I've taken part in on that very stage myself, I'll definitely be nostalgic. So many of my life-long friendships have been made and cultivated there. I hear we may have the opportunity to grab a piece of the stage before it gets scrapped, so that will be neat. I'm looking forward to see who comes out of the woodwork tonight. The crowd is expected to be record-breaking. I just hope I get a spot on that back wall.

Well, take care all! Happy end of summer. Peace and love!

A spontaneous trip to jazz nirvana...

I made a rather spontaneous decision last night to head down to Sunset Boulevard and catch the second set at Catalina Jazz Club. John Pizzarelli has been on my radar for quite a long time. I can't latch onto the specific reason, but I really love the sound of jazz on guitar. Django Reinhardt. John's father Bucky Pizzarelli. And John is taking the mantle and running with it into the modern age. Jessica Molaskey is an amazing Broadway actress, most recently taking part in the acclaimed revival of Sunday In the Park With George. She brings those theatre chops to a classic jazz songstress vibe and it's a beautiful thing. I've felt that I've gotten to know them a bit lately by listening to their radio show, Radio Deluxe. In fact most recently I've listened to them on my morning hikes. I was so excited to catch them live – so close to my hood.

I was NOT disappointed. Wow! John and Jessica were accompanied by John's gang of regulars – Larry Fuller on keys, Martin Pizzarelli on bass, Tony Tedesco on drums. These guys really ripped it up. The song selection was amazing. I was particularly happy to hear a couple of medleys from Jessica's recent albums that John put together – John Hendricks' Cloudburst with Sondheim's Not Getting Married Today and The Circle Game with Waters of March. There were a lot of tunes from John's recent Richard Rodgers album that were amazing. I'm particularly fond of (actually fanatical about) the amazing Mountain Greenery. All in all, it was tune after tune of happiness and I loved it. Pretty spiffy experience for a spontaneous adventure.

Now, I'm wrapping up a little sketching. And then I'm hitting the road down San Diegy way – catching Patty Griffin and Langhorne Slim at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach (which I'm looking forward to) and then Les Miserables at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista tomorrow eve. I'm particularly excited to see this show. So many dear friends have poured themselves into this epic, the southern California regional premiere of this show that is so special to many my age. And this will be the last production on the Moonlight stage as it is. So many wonderful memories live on from that no-nonsense but limited platform. It's so exciting to say that Vista passed a bond initiative that, in addition to building other city facilities, will build a brand new stage house with a fly loft and other fantastic resources. Next season will be a new animal on the hill.

So... onward! Take care, all!! Be curious. Be spontaneous. Peace and love!

A few healthy thoughts...

As I mentioned a couple posts back, I'm trying to make some healthier choices. I've been mostly consistent in walking a trail in Fryman Canyon which is a roughly two-mile trek up into the hills and back down. And being a rather curious person and observing as much as I can as I huff and puff and listen to podcasts, I began putting together some clues about the origins of the trail. The trailhead is at a park (well, parking lot) called Wilacre Park that actually has a street address. The steep winding path uphill is paved for the first quarter mile and is lined with terra cotta bricks (mostly grown over) and features what I think was once a large fountain and now has a big tree growing in the middle. At the end of the paving, the path opens up to a large field that boasts remnants of old fences and some old, bare foundations. What the heck was here? Well, after a little digging, I found one brief reference to the park's namesake. Evidently, Lila Wilacre was a silent movie actress who had an expansive estate here in the 1920s. I wish I could find out more, but that one reference was all I could find on Google. Really interesting though.

Some more intriguing facts about the trail is that at one end is the Alex Trebek estate and at the other end is the George Clooney compound. And near Clooney's is the entrance to another trail that is more obscure but often talked about on hiking sites and LA city recommendations... the Rainforest Trail. I hear tell of a seasonal stream and a rope swing and a half-buried VW Bug. An exploration might be in order soon.

One final granola-ish health observation is a memory from junior high. Mr. Wilkinson, p.e. teacher and coach, told us of something he called mushroom tea, a tea cultivated over a month using a fungus (not actually a mushroom, but a cake of cultures). There were supposedly many health benefits, but that didn't matter to junior highers who wretched and convulsed at the thought of the stuff. Well, mushroom tea – or Kombucha – while still falling under "alternative supplements", is becoming more and more accepted. Folks have cultivated their own for ages, but bottles of the stuff are now available mixed with various juices at Whole Foods and other stores. I'm still a little creeped out a bit by the idea, but I've tried it and it isn't nearly as disgusting as I thought it would be. Anyway...

That's enough musing for the day. Back to drawing... lots of projects on the desk. Peace and love, y'all.

Gravensteins.

As I mentioned in the previous entry, I drove out to Oak Glen today to see if their Gravenstein apples were anything like the Gravensteins I grew up eating from the neighbors tree. Well, after hitting the farm on an absolutely gorgeous day, I headed home with a bag of freshly picked apples. My first bite into one took me back to many a late summer on Williams Street. Isn't it amazing how your senses can bring back such memories? Paper route. Sidewalk business ventures. Basketball on the low hoop to make me feel taller. Before I made it home, I had eaten five apples. Now my new goal is to find some grapes like the ones in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard...

Take care, all! Peace and love.

Odds & ends...

There's just a mish mash of stuff bouncing around in my head, so I thought I'd toss a bunch of it out here. First, this Monday and Tuesday I had the pleasure of taking part in a reading of a new musical. Vrooom! – by Berton Averre, Rob Meurer, and Mark Saltzman – is a high-energy, irreverent, fun take on the world of auto racing. It seemed to go over rather well, and I wish them all the best in taking it to the next level.

I've also been trying to get my brain to focus on one of many illustration projects I have on the back burner. It's wild to have so many half-hatched ideas on the brain and yet to have so much trouble getting my hand to make that first stroke. I think this is a universal problem though and I look forward to getting over the hump. Soon. I'm thinking today.

It still feels like summer, but autumn is on its way. One clue is an announcement I received from Riley's Farms (east of LA) that their apples are ready for picking. Among the early pickins are their Gravensteins. Growing up in Lebanon, we had a big Gravenstein tree that hung into our yard from the neighbors'. I have good memories of eating apples off that tree as late summer arrived. I think I'll go out to Riley's tomorrow and see if their apples are anything like what I remember.

I've been trying to live a bit healthier lately and among the ways I'm doing so is to walk Fryman Canyon, a hiking path in the hills nearby. I really like these hikes – getting to feel like I'm getting out in the middle of nature even though I'm still smack in the middle of big ol' LA. Today, I saw two deer grazing in the grass. That was a bit of a shock. Normally, I just see squirrels and lizards and snakes. The photo above is of a tree on the trail I've nicknamed "Pan's Tree" since it reminds me a bit of the look of recent film Pan's Labyrinth. This great little tree is growing out of the top of a cool looking stone upheaval in the cliff. As we move into autumn, the leaves will go away and it will look nice and spooky by Hallowe'en. I also like it since it is near the top of the incline and signals the downhill section of the hike.

Well, that's about it for now. Back to the drawing board. Take care, all! Peace and love.