Hitting the ground running...

I'm back home. After the whirlwind of yesterday, I'm happy to say I got a good night's sleep (despite our crazy LA heat). And now it feels like I'm juggling 18 projects and not accomplishing much on anything. Gotta focus!

One thing that's been on my mind lately is the lack of acting projects on the immediate horizon. In an actor's life, there are times the work feels like it's rolling in, and then there are other times when you feel like you'll never work again. I was feeling the latter after a few unsuccessful auditions. But in addition to the imminent Stop the World reading for MTG, I've just booked a couple workshoppish projects (actually within the last couple hours). First is a table read of a new musical The Roxy which may continue into a staged read in November. Second is a workshop concert version of Snow White at Disney Concert Hall (conducted by John Mauceri) produced by Disney Theatricals. I'm super excited about A) the opportunity and B) getting to perform on the stage of that beautiful building! So sometimes it's good to keep putting it out there and be patient.

And the schedule seems to be falling into place. All three of these projects lined up just right, and my trip to NYC at the end of September also fit right into the puzzle. We'll see if I can get a family trip or two onto the autumn calendar as well as a return to DC to curate my next exhibit in early November. I'm counting my blessings.

Well, I've got to stop procrastinating and focus on the tasks at hand. Whee! Take care, all! Peace and love.

D.C... Last day in town.

Gotta admit it... if I see one more large stone thing (building, monument, or monolith) or one more piece of art of any kind, my brain is going to explode. I need to go hang out in a Walmart to balance my culture quotient. I have had such a blast canvasing this city with eager eyes and adventurous feet. This final day was no exception.


Although I had a hard time getting myself out of bed, I had reserved a ticket to visit Ford's Theatre and their tour. There I am in the theatre with the Presidential box behind me. I'm sad because the entire theatre is actually a reproduction (except for select artifacts). I then went to the International Spy Museum, but if I show you any of the photos I'd have to kill you. Seriously, photos were prohibited but I was so enthralled that I didn't think to take any. Cool museum. Then I walked a couple blocks to the amazing National Gallery of Art and spent a few hours wandering the seemingly endless labyrinth of rooms of the main gallery (West Building – see above) and the modern art area (East Building – look below). It was a prime example of feeling cultural overload.


Then I made my way out to Arlington and Signature Theatre. After grabbing a bite, I picked up my ticket and headed up to see the show – and the gallery space on the way. I'm excited about the possibilities of exhibiting here. The building itself is amazing, and it reflects well the amazing artistic vibe and adventurous mission of this theatre. Dirty Blonde was really amazing!

Now I'm packing for my early-ish flight and returning e-mails and prepping for tomorrow's audition and music rehearsal. Who says I ever take the easy road? I'm planning on greeting whatever end I meet (hopefully far in the future) with blisters on my feet and my drawing hand, and with a head and heart full of adventuresome memories and love for those I meet along the way. Can it get better? So take care, all! Peace and love.

D.C... Morn 'til night.

I realize that over the past couple days, I've walked a number of miles. Just yesterday, I'm sure I walked at least a few miles, hauling my booty almost the entire way around the National Mall (which is around two miles all said and done) and a trip around the tidal basin, a jaunt through Chinatown, and various journeys around Dupont Circle. That's quite a bit of hiking. Today, I took advantage of a couple city bus tours. Well okay... before the tours, I did have a couple of walking adventures...


I finally took a photo of the site of the Reagan assassination attempt corresponding with that live video footage I remember so well from the TV. Yes, I actually went to YouTube to see it again, and a few of the frames show the building in which I'm typing this. Weird. I then took the Metro to the National Holocaust Museum. Such a powerful place. Everyone gets a booklet featuring someone with Holocaust involvement. After viewing various displays following the rise of anti-Semitism and witnessing second-hand Hitler's incomprehensible "master plan", those of us at the exhibit were funneled through an actual train car that took folks to the concentration camps. We saw horrendous footage of Jewish folks subjected to scientific experiments and viewed representations of gas chambers. I had to look at my little booklet to see if the person represented therein had survived or not. He had miraculously survived. But as I read this and rounded the corner, I smelled leather. I looked up and found myself in the middle of a room full of shoes... thousands of shoes that had been confiscated from people that met their end in the gas chambers. My blood ran cold. Very powerful.

I was able to meet up with my friend Mindy once again (after she joined me at the MetroStage opening Sunday). She and her little Zoe and I visited a fab pizza place in the lovely Georgetown neighborhood. It was a lovely lunch. Mindy dropped me off at the Natural History Museum where I took a brief trek through the collections. Above, you'll see the elephant in the main lobby. I saw the Hope Diamond too, but for some reason didn't take a picture. Anyway...



I then boarded the Open Top Sightseeing bus tour and ventured through many of DC's neiborhoods. As a side note, here's a shot of my well-worn Doc Martens that have accompanied me on every new city experience since 1994 (London, NYC, Chicago, Wichita, Milwaukee, Houston, Fort Worth, etc.). One of my favorite things about this particular trip was viewing the National Cathedral. Just beautiful! Throughout the woodsy neighborhoods around there, all of us on the top of the bus had to duck to avoid the low-hanging branches. Whee! Also on the tour, the fire station pictured above caught my eye. So much red in the scene. I used an effect on my new camera and blocked out all the other colors. Odd effect, but fun.


The evening brought a return to Union Station and the start of the twilight/night tour on the Tourmobile. What a treat! First off, here are some shots taken as the sun was setting.



Then as darkness fell, the lights on all the monuments were just stunning... FDR, Lincoln, Korea, Vietnam, Washington. It's like an entirely different show at night! And the weather was just perfect. I was perfectly comfortable in shirtsleeves, and the humidity was low. So nice!


Then we headed to the World War II Monument that was dedicated just five or so years ago. It's just massive and honors everyone from all walks of life and all branches of the military who served in WWII. I found the pillar that featured the home state and the wall of gold stars representing the fallen. We also passed the White House (which, of course, is currently vacant-ish as the Obama's are still on vacation).

It was a wonderful day full of fun and reflection. Oh... and even though I almost fought my urge to be too "punny," I took a photo that I've entitled "right on Q." [Cue the rim shot and then the trombone says "wah waaaaah.")

Anyway... that's all for now. Tomorrow, I'll be taking the Ford's Theatre tour and catching up on stuff that I've missed thus far. Then in the evening, I'll venture out to Arlington to catch Signature Theatre's Dirty Blonde. Can't wait! So until next time, loved ones... take care! Peace and love.

D.C... Marble and felt.

Oh, my dogs are barkin'. I'm actually nursing a few little blisters from all the walking I've been doing lately. But it's been worth it. My mind is just spinning from all the things I've seen...


After grabbing a bit o' the Starbucks (Thanks sis Deanna for the gift card!), I Metroed it right to the National Mall. (It's funny... this Mall doesn't have a Cinnabon. Mall of America must kick your bootay!) At the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History I saw my childhood in front of me. The Muppets are real. 'Nuff said. I took better pics, but there was just something spontaneous about this shot of Kermit and I. I saw the Harlem Globetrotters in their heyday – Meadowlark, the Geese, Curly, all on a trip I won for being a really good paperboy. Sweet Georgia Brown, indeed! And Minnie Pearl's hat brings back great Hee Haw memories. I had some of those overalls. And the Bunkers' chairs and Dorothy's slippers! The costume Anthony Daniels wore as C3PO in Return of the Jedi! And just to show that my interests don't completely lie in pop culture... the microphone that brought the country FDR's fireside chats and the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Someone really needs to do 1776 again.



Heading west on the Mall, I spent some time with the Washington Monument. These are the tame photos. I got a little "junior high" with some huge pee pee pics. Sue me. All joking aside, I was incredibly moved by the Vietnam memorial and witnessing a fellow reconnecting with some 40 year old emotions. Thankfully his family had his back and how fitting it was to hear drone of a piper on a nearby hill. There's something primal about hearing the pipes, like feeling the roots grabbing hold of the ground. As I headed up to the Lincoln Memorial, I was in need of some humor and somehow found it in the cautionary signage on the steps. And I liked visiting Abe too. That's a pretty amazing monument.



I headed around the tidal basin to the FDR memorial. Roosevelt had noted that if a monument were ever to be built to him, that it be no bigger than his desk. This came to be... check it out near the National Archives. BUT someone ignored his wishes and created an amazing tribute. Here he is, obviously performing miracles once again. And I had a great time with Eleanor. Forgive me, Mrs. Roosevelt! And I particularly appreciated this FDR quote as chiseled in this stone.



Further around the tidal basin and past the low-hanging cherry branches was the Jefferson Monument. The views of the Mall from a spot on the way were just stunning. I found that when positioning the Jefferson and Washington Monuments near the horizon, that the lens fish-eyed them a bit. Fun! And once at the monument, I found some of Thomas' words to be particularly prescient.


Heading back to the Mall, I landed at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. I'm not such a huge fanatic about the air travel (except much gratitude for the technology that shuttles me around the country on my various adventures). But how can you not be in awe of such monumental pieces of wood and metal and dreams as the Wright brothers' actual Kitty Hawk flight contraption? Or Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis? Or the charred command module in which the Apollo 11 astronauts returned to this blue marble? Wow!


My barkin' dogs then took me to the Capital. I shuffled in from the south and chilled a bit with the U.S. Grant Memorial before climbing the steps. Once "on the hill" I spent some time taking artsy photos and singing tunes from "Schoolhouse Rock." Once I was on my way in a northerly direction, I stumbled upon a whimsical little grotto with little stone seats and water a-flowin' and a-spurtin'. It was a random little respite that I found out later was designed by the Capital's grounds designer, superstarry legend of urban landscape design, Frederick Law Olmsted. He also created Central Park in New York City among many other fab accomplishments.


At Union Station, while admiring some great architecture and brilliant cloud formations, I bought a ticket for the Twilight Tourmobile to see DC all lit up, but alas, my shutterbug syndrome throughout the day had depleted my camera's batteries. I figured that the purpose of the tour was to get some amazing photos, so I'll be taking that tour tomorrow evening. The weather is supposed to be wonderful and I'm counting on it. So I'm here in my hotel room soaking my feet and updating my blog. Tomorrow will bring more schlepping and snooping, and I can't wait. P.S. My neurotic eye for detail brought me to YouTube to look up video footage of the Reagan assassination attempt. I've found a few frames that show my hotel in the background of this tragic event. It's sort of surreal. I'll try to get over there and get a shot of the same angle. Anyway...

Take care, all! Peace and love.

D.C... The old and the new.

Day two here in Washington DC, and here's a wee report. While the main goal for today was to get out to Alexandria, VA, I had some time to kill and decided to just grab the Metro and pick a stop and see what I could see. I chose the Gallery Place/Chinatown stop and after wandering a bit, popped into the National Archives. How cool it was to start off the adventure with a peek at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights... those documents kicked off some pretty grand adventures. I also wandered through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden for a bit, and took a self portrait using my flexible tripod attached to a park bench. A nice lady asked if I wanted her to take the picture, but I just stomped and exclaimed, "No, let ME do it!" I'm very independent. In this photo you can see that I'm carrying my jacket and tie for the evening's festivities. I carried my duds with me all day on a hanger I borrowed from my hotel. I'm classy too. You may also note that the flags in the capital are all at half staff. When I touched down yesterday, they had just laid Teddy Kennedy to rest at Arlington. How sad to say goodbye to such an amazing influence, who while clearly human showed himself to long be a man of strong conviction and voice. Bless you, Senator Kennedy!


Around two o' clock, I boarded the Metro for Alexandria. I meandered from the station down King Street toward the Potomac, taking a bit of an amazing detour to Christ Church which was where George Washington and Robert E. Lee worshipped. Not at the same time of course. I saw Washington's and Lee's family pews and learned a bunch of fun stuff. One of my favorite stories was about FDR and Winston Churchill visiting the church just weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack. They sat in Washington's pew on the National Day of Prayer and the event is commemorated by a couple little plaques. My tour guide told me to sit where Churchill sat. In the photo you can see he had a bit of an obstructed view. Oops.
Another cool story was this particular pew. Back in the day, land owners were required to support their local churches by renting a family pew. This particular fellow didn't have a family, so he rented the pew and made it available to any stranger needing a place to sit. Neat, huh?

After wandering a bit through Old Town Alexandria and the haunts of various patriots, revolutionaries, artists, and artisans, I found my way to MetroStage to change into the evening attire and see a show.


Musical of Musicals the Musical was just fantastic! I so enjoyed the production and the piece itself. Everything was just great. And it was so neat to see the art in the lobby. It's a modest little showing, but I'm super proud of it. I'm so incredibly thankful to Larry Kaye and Carolyn Griffin at MetroStage for making it possible, and I look forward to it opening the door to many more nifty experiences. But on this night, one of the big joys was being joined by my friend Mindy Reid who has recently relocated to Virginia. She and her hubby Tim just welcomed little Zoe and this was her very first night out while Daddy and Daughter bonded at home. I'm honored to have facilitated the outing, and I'm so thankful to her for her friendship and support.


It was such a great day, but my dogs are barking. I may soak them before hitting the hay. Lots to see and do tomorrow! Smithsonian, here I come! Take care, all! Peace and love.