Chandelier acrobatics

Tightrope walking up a hypotenuse

Midgets on balloons being bounced around

The music

The percussionist (we sat right behind him)

Ahh!!! Is she hanging from his MOUTH?!?

Bodies defying all known known laws of physics



yeah, it was one of the best nights of my life. my brain nearly exploded with the beauty of it all.

crap...i haven't even thought about my taxes.

crap.

Dear Internet Users:

If you are going to quote a movie, please use spell check. Especially if it is Shawshank Redemption.

Guh.

Don't make me sick Chuck Norris on you.

Sam Haldiman is in town and would like to hang out with people. If you need his number, I have it. He will be at the Remainders show Friday night and will be hanging out after that. Send him an email, he'd love to hear from you!

I am okay with having fun.

I never go out and *do* anything, so now I am. Next Thursday I'm going to see Cirque. Yup, it's officially official. I remember leaving Vegas when I went to visit Lindz, thinking, why am I not watching a show? So it's $100...so what?! This is something I've wanted to do for years. And $100 isn't going to put me out on the street.

The movie Six Weeks is what got me into lists. This girl is dying of leukemia and has a list of things she wants to do before she dies. That's always stuck in the back of my head. I know I will jump out of a plane--that's a given. So it's not on my list. I've given it a lot of thought, and the two things I really want to do are go to Hawaii and see Cirque. This has been the sole content of my list for years. So next Thursday is a pretty big deal to me. I get to cross something off.

And then I get to perform in the PIF and hang out with the visiting troupes for a weekend. Then I'm going to Cali to Coachella. How amazing is that?!!

Two more things I'd like to do this summer are go tubing down the river and see a movie at the drive in. Life is too short to not enjoy it.

OK, so it's not official yet, because I don't have the tickets, but I'm planning on being able to cross off one of the two things I want to do before I die!

Cirque!!

When Bill Binder went to be in a rodeo, he passed Cirque tents, so I made him check into it. Sure enough, they're in town through April 9. I could pee!

Hawaii will have to wait.

I'm so tired it's hard to focus my eyes, but I have to post about Friday. The Remainders are doing a show at Mardi Gras at 8pm. You should come! We are awesome. I love the people in my troupe so much I could vomit.

This is what I felt like last year when I was really beginning to discover improv. I'm finding it all over again. This is a fabulous feeling!

Day 3: Check.

Grand total:

755 miles driven
$50.69 in gas money
...all in 1 state

Jeff Watson had braces for 7 years.
Michael Cosand's hair does a flippy thing after a certain amount of time passes.
I am exhausted.

The End.

Day 2: Check.

The audition was fine (she says in a disgruntled voice). To be fair, I felt much more relaxed at this one now that I've taken the class with Darlene. But it wasn't anything spectacular. I drove six hours to audition for a role I'm not going to get. But I signed a contract with my agent, so I did the right thing.

Candy couldn't come, so it was just me and Michael. (p.s. what colors do you like for your scarf?) We were doing really well on time, so about 3/4 of the way to Flag we stopped for Dairy Queen. Ice cream and good company...you can't get any better than that. Filming was fine; the energy was a lot lower than yesterday. Probably b/c everyone was tired. There was still goofing off when the camera wasn't rolling, don't get me wrong, but just not as much as last night. And they still had stuff to do after I left, so I have sympathy for them. Jeffs, what time did you wrap?

On the ride home we needed food. At one point I wished Subway was open (we passed one on the highway and it sounded really good), then I wished for pizza. Then there weren't really any restraunts for a while, so I thought, well, we could stop at a gas station and I could just get some cookies. But not too long after that there was a rest stop sort of place that had gas and a little shop. Like something you would see at a border where you could exchange currency...only this was in the middle of the state. Guess what??? There was a Subway in the strip that was open! So I got a meatball sub (which was practically pizza: meat, cheese, sauce, and bread), and cookies! I should have wished for a million dollars, if I had known it was going to come true! :-) Anyway, I made it home by 1:30 and fell directly asleep. Which was much safer than on the road, had I been alone. So, congratulations Michael, you win my undying love and a scarf. What are you going to do now? (picture him saying: "I'm going to Disney World!")

Now I'm off to meet my folks for church. My sister was going to come for a half a second, but she's asleep instead. Oh well. But at least my parents get to come and meet some of my friends.

OK, I should probably get out of my pjs.

******
658 miles
$44.19 gas money

Day 1: Check.

After we got out of Phoenix rush hour, we made it to NAU by 8pm. Filmed until a little after midnight; went to Denny's for late food; in bed by 1:30ish. Home by 11 this morning. The drive back went very fast. I talked to Hagrid most of the time, which was great to catch up. I think I'm going to take a nap for a couple of hours. Then audition, then drive again.

Hooray for Michael (probably) and Candy (possibly) for coming with me tonight!

I've learned fun things about shoes and film shoots. Adria got to see snow flurries for the first time. Being in a college dorm with two trashed roommates and a vomiting girlfriend wearing a high school letter jacket makes me feel old. Also, improv is like marriage. More to come later.

*********
312 miles
$26.73 gas money

I need help

If anyone is available to drive with me to Flag Saturday (tomorrow) night, please call me asap! I have to drive there tonight (Mr. Watson is my buddy--thanks!), then back to PHX tomorrow for an audition, then back to Flag that evening. I will be leaving around 5-6 pm Sat night (depending on when the audition is over). As soon as we're done filming Sat (which may be late) I have to drive back to PHX for family obligations Sunday morning. I am basically looking for someone to help keep me awake.

I would love you forever and perhaps even crochet you a scarf as a token of my appreciation. But, really, my love should be enough.

Thanks!

My alarm is going to go off in four and a half hours. And I'm not anywhere close to sleeping. I have a hard time sleeping before I travel. And especially when I know I need to get sleep, my body is all like, too bad. Tonight at dinner we were trying to work out the logistics of me driving back from Flagstaff at 6 in the morning to pick up my folks for church, when my uncle brought up the fact that it might snow.

"Oh, so I should plan three hours to make it to your place."
"No, so you should plan to stay there as they will close the roads."

I hope that doesn't happen. Ugh. I have to try to get some sleep.

Hey, happy St. Patty's Day!

Dear Mr. Inner Critic,
You suck.
Love always,
Ashley's Ego

***

It's weird that I get nervous doing musical improv. I'm a pretty confident person, but when it comes to this artform, I keep thinking, "I'm no good. My song will blow. I should just stick to being background support." But then we start and I don't suck and my songs are okay and I'm feeling better now. Part of it is the fact that I'm working with supertalented people I have oodles of respect for, and I don't want to let them down. Another part of it is that I'm only doing this once a week. It sounds like we're going to have more opportunities to perform on a regular basis. And I think the more I do it, the more comfortable I'll be. I played the sax for 8 years, and I know almost nothing about music. That makes me sad. But I love learning, which I am, so it all evens out. And I'm getting to know some truly beautiful people in the process.

I am not fishing for compliments, so please don't post any. This is just how I feel sometimes.

Joaquin Phoenix performed all of the songs himself without being dubbed and learned to play guitar from scratch.

Is it too much to ask that Naomi Watts learn to juggle for King Kong?!!?

it hasn't stopped raining

What a week!!

It started with awesome work news, and ended with rain! My birth father, Johnny, randomly called me Thursday afternoon: "Hey! I'm in Sedona. When can I see you tonight?" So I had to cancel some plans, but it's been about three years since I've seen him last. And he had presents, so that's always welcome. Yesterday at work sucked. The first three hours were spent furiously trying to get stuff done for this huge report. Marsha's on vacation the next week, so things are going to be *extra* hectic. It seems that I'm getting transferred just in time.

Last night I went out for Tammy's birthday party. Hurricane Bay has a dance floor, but the music isn't painfully loud. I was able to have conversations with people without having to scream into their ears. There was this guy I'd been checking out all night and I really wanted to dance with him before the night was over. Not a hot guy; a crazy guy. Sometimes it looked like he needed a hula hoop.

Melissa: What is he doing?
Tammy: Yikes, I dunno.
Me: I think he's stretching.

He was just crazy and didn't care. It was beautiful. Plus he had his white shirt tucked into his 1987 acid washed Jordache Jeans. I was supposed to go to Ben's going away party, so I couldn't stay in Glendale for too much longer. Crazy Man was on the floor and the Humpty Dance started to play. Well, this was it. There was a group of us dancing, and he was kinda on the outskirts. So I opened the circle up and we danced! Not in a rude, I'm making fun of you sorta way. But in a, you dance crazy and are 55 and this is fun. Remember the Friends episode when Rachel started jogging with Phoebe, and Phoebe ran like she was 5? Her reasoning was if you have to run, why not make it fun? So that's what we did. It was big and ridiculous and we didn't care if we looked like idiots.

By the time I got home, it was 10, but I was pooped (Johnny had been over close to midnight the night before), so I didn't make it to Ben's party. He wasn't going to be there until after 10:30 and I didn't want to be out late. Plus, it's hard to sit and talk with someone in a situation like that. Hopefully he can get together today. Although I wouldn't know b/c he didn't return my call from yesterday morning. (that's fine...I'll chalk it up to you being busy packing and everything.) ;-)

This morning I woke up at 8 to rain. It hasn't rained in PHX like this in months. I think over 150 days at least. I dunno. Someone somewhere has a statistic.

Today is lunch with Cassy, who I haven't seen pretty much since I left Star. Then I have to study for a medical terminology test. It's just for them to see where I am, so hopefully we can cut 8 hours of my training off. But I basically have to review hundreds, if not thousands, of word roots, suffixes and prefixes for a test Wednesday. And find time to work on my lines for Thoughts of Love, which films next weekend. All of this between rehearsal, church, a PIF meeting, and picking my folks up from the airport and driving them halfway to CA (well, Peoria, but still--my aunt/uncle live about an hour and a half away from me now that they've moved).

I thought March was going to be quieter.

I was clearly mistaken.

Dear Natalie Portman,
Thanks for not taking yourself too seriously.

Holy exciting news, Batman! I was asked today if I was interested in processing LIT Hip/Cancer claims. Boy am I!! This means that I will be telecommuting in just a few short months (best case scenario=September)! I realize the use of exclamation marks is excessive, but I am so dang excited!!! Why, you might ask? Well, because I will most likely be able to telecommute from LA. That's right ladies and germs, I will have full medical, dental, and 401K benefits, and making almost twice what I make now. With hours I set. So if I need to take off for an audition or filming or something, there will be no scheduling problems. Plus the money I'll save on gas alone is worth it. Also, I can work 7 days a week any time between 6 am and midnight. And if I need extra money, I can process extra claims.

My original plan (because I'm a planner) was to move out to LA with about $20Gs saved, so that I could focus on finding an agent, getting headshots, and auditioning without having to worry about a 9-5 job. But my stocks aren't doing what I was hoping (although I *am* in it for the long haul), and due to some unforeseen extra expenses (aren't they all) I won't have quite that much in the bank. But now I won't have to worry about that, because I will be moving out there with a job. One negative, however, is that I will most likely be here another couple of months. Which sucks but is fine at the same time. I'm SO ready to go, but I'm not going to pass up an opportunity like this. Also, I will have to move again. If you remember, I moved 4 expletive times last year. Yeah. Four. This year I will be cutting that in half. Faith had already picked out the place where she was going to live when I moved in August, and it's, like, two miles away from my job. So tomorrow after work I'm going to check out the two bedrooms. This will cut about an hour and 45 minutes off of my commute. I can handle moving up north for a few months, then on to Cali.

Man, I will be able to immerse myself in the improv world! I can take classes anytime, and I can afford them! I can do plays, I can work with my friends. But most importantly, I can surf. :-)

OK, seriously, I could continue gushing about how stinkin' pumped I am about this, but I will spare you.

In other news, I had a zit on the back of my ear. It made a strange noise when I popped it.

Called in sick today. So, Hagrid, if you are emailing me, I'm not ignoring you. Anyway, I've been exhausted recently and when I woke up this morning it was one of those, well, I could go in to work, but then I'll just get worse and end up even more sick. So why not stay home and nip this in the bud. A vote was taken. I didn't go to work.

I've been more busy than usual, which explains my lack of posting. I did some Alexander work one day with The Remainders a while ago, then Mack asked me to work with his high school students in Guys and Dolls. So that's what I've been up to. Wed-Fri I went straight from work to Cortez High School. Twice on Saturday. Then the Throwachair! and Galapagos show. Sunday was packed full of stuff to do as well, and I didn't get to bed until 11. Which doesn't sound late, but I was pooped and needed more sleep.

I really enjoyed doing Alexander with the students. And some of them liked it back, which was encouraging. The music director spoke with me after and asked if I'd be interested in coming back in the fall to workshop. I didn't have the heart to tell him I wouldn't be here. Besides, I'm trying to get a telecommuting position in my company. If that happens, I'd be able to come back to PHX anytime I wanted. So, anyway, I'm not ruling that out.

Talked to my folks for a bit yesterday. My dad wrote a short story and is sending it to me. "For something you and zha can work on." How adorable! And supportive, which I appreciated. My folks are really excited about my move; mainly because I've been talking about it for practically my whole life and now I'm finally doing it. zha and I talk a lot, and usually when we get off the phone I want to pack my bags and go right then. But there are a few things I need to take care of here. Like PIF. There's No Way I'm missing that. I've been involved in the planning for months, and The Remainders are performing--of which I am a part. Plus, I really want to see how this whole telecommuting thing works out. If I can move to LA with a job, full medical, dental, and 401K benefits, making about twice what I make now, with hours that I set, well...that one's a no-brainer. And if I'm doing this by June, I can be more involved in the VBS program, and Book Pals. Cross your fingers for me on that one.

OK, I'm off to start my day. (read: take a nap)

Dang it, Thin Mints!! Why must you be so tastey?

I shake my fist at you.