So, I’ve decided in an effort to get myself writing again to challenge myself to write a short play a week. I’m going to select one of the contests from the Austin Scriptworks email that gets sent out weekly, and challenge myself to complete a play and mail it off. This weeks contest: IN10: 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL. Feel free to play along, and let me know if you are.
I woke up this morning to it still being dark outside. This was a good sign. We’ve had a few cloudy days in a row now, and I feel like each one resets my internal chemistry just a little bit more. I ate my shredded wheat, and milk. Bundled up my computer, unset the alarm and stepped outside. It was raining. Not pretend raining. We’ve had a few of those days these summer. The blistering sun has let a few drops through now and again to make sure we don’t feel like we’ve been relocated to a nuclear wasteland, but nothing real until today. I stopped by my car and picked up an umbrella. I made sure to get the cheap one. I often take the nice looking one with me, but it doesn’t actually open. That negates the usefulness of an umbrella for me.
I opened my umbrella and headed for the bus stop, half expecting the rain to stop on the way and the sun to start punching holes in the uniformly gray sky. I walked through the small copse of trees adjacent to our subdivision, and listened to the pops as large drops collecting on leaves let gravity pull them down, down down onto my umbrella. Pop, pop, pop. The rain eating up sound. Feeling truly alone. I reached the main street adjacent to our house. Cars rushed by. Too fast. All with their lights on. Making me feel like everyone was coming home from work rather than going. I stood at the bus stop with two adults. The teenagers had gotten rides to school with their parents I guess. As I sat there I watched oil and detergent streaming off the road, winding their way slowly down the hill into south boggy creek. Feeling relieved that we had finally been allowed this reprieve from our punishing summer. Almost hearing the plants sighing and whispering along with me, “Finally…”.
2006-09-07T20:58:47.000Z
like the new editor stuff, too
2006-09-07T21:07:43.000Z
Sumbitch spammers were out of control. I did one keyword delete statement that knocked out almost 5000 comments yesterday (to put that in perspective there are currently 373 legitimate comments across all LGT blogs). The spammers were slowing down the website, because they were firing a couple hundred comments within seconds of each other. My upload bandwidth is restricted by time warner, so each time they did that the return traffic slowed everything down to a crawl. But what really pisses me off is that now I have a captcha. And it’s horribly inaccessible. I’m planning on adding the audible captchas also when I get the time, but I just hate making things inaccessible. Captcha keyword “bugger”.
2006-09-09T17:02:03.000Z
I put up with the swampiness of this town because of the frequent rain. I would go nuts without it. Glad you got some.
Oh man. I can really see why public transportation doesn’t work. We americans have gotten way to used to our own private cars, and private houses, and private parks, and private roads.
So I was sitting at the bus stop today and there was a transient man hanging out sitting a ways down from the bus stop. Eventually another man came and sat on the far end of the bench from me. Then a little bit later a woman saunters up and sits in between us on the park bench. A few minutes later another transient man comes walking by and starts talking to his friend. He opens up a cigar, drops the wrapper on the group and begins to smoke (The litterers I have a legitimate beef with, but that’s another story). So the woman to my right begins making those fake coughing noises. The ones that just ensure that everyone else who might have been irritated by the smoke is now irritated by the smoke and her coughing noises. And what right does she have to complain? This is public property. He is smoking outdoors at least 30 feet away from the bus stop. Does she get up and move upwind? No. She sits there making loud coughing sounds in my ear. Because apparently that has become her seat on the park bench and moving would just show the smokers they had won, or something.
I suppose I should have moved. But then the woman might have thought I Was moving because I was bothered by the smoke, and probably would have kept up with her ridiculous coughing. Or I could have told her to cool it. But, I prefer not start things. Thinking back I should have just moved. Afterall, it’s pointless to complain. It’s a public space. And they were just doing what made them comfortable while waiting for the bus.
2006-09-01T12:46:41.000Z
Poor people. Never learned to share as kids :(
I was at the DMV yesterday and this young mother with her child was telling her kid to put his shoes on, and this crotchety old man came up and started arguing with the mom about the lack of overall meaning and importance of shoes in our society, and told the kid not to listen to his mom and walk around barefoot all the time. You could tell the mom just wanted the dude to shutup, let her take care of her kid and get the *#&$ out of the DMV waiting room. Turns out, I was next (#6) and she wasn’t for a while (#10). So they called my #, and I told her to go ahead, swapped #‘s with her, sat down next to the old man and gave him a very clear “hi. talk to me about my shoes… I double-dog dare you!” look.
2006-09-01T14:49:16.000Z
I wish I was able to be a bit more confrontational in life.
Originally written 08-22-2006
Man talk about in media res. I boarded the number 3 bus at Barton Springs and Lamar today tenatively. There was some sort of shouting, and for some reason that usually happens when someone is having trouble getting off the bus. I made my way to a recently evacuated seat only to see that an argument was still going on between a bald gentleman wearing a wifebeater outside the bus and the two people sitting behind me. I had apparently taken the bald gentleman’s seat.
It became clear pretty quickly that the man behind me to the left, a self-described anti-racist had trapped a homeless man (who may or may not have been a friend of the accused neo-nazi that had just been left spitting venom on the sidewalk) in the window seat of the bus. He explained that being an anti-racist was not the same thing as being non-racist.
There is apparently an anti-racist league in town. I have no clue what they do, although if this guy is any indication they antagonize people on busses. So the homeless man wants the anti-racist(ar) guy to move, because he was there first and this ar guy is definitely hostile. The ar guy asks the homeless man not to touch him in a raised voice and they argue the endless argument of who should have to move and who owns public transportation. The ar keeps telling the homeless guy to “Be Cool Man”, but anytime he actually calls down he calls him a nazi lover under his breath. At one point the AR guy invites the homeless man off the bus to fight him. He supposedly has a ring with gloves and referees. This anti-racist boxing alley is apparently somewhere around manchaca and lamar. In any case, eventually the anti-racist guy gets off and life returns to normal. I started writing my blog post when suddenly I notice that we aren’t moving and a car has pulled up. Out stops a capitol metro security officer who begins talking to the bus driver. I don’t know if they knew they were dealing with a neo-nazi when they sent this guy, but he was not your stereotype of security guards. He was a very tall, muscular black man. I could tell the homeless guy behind me was trying to disappear into his seat. He talked to the bus driver in hushed tones for several minutes. Talk about dramatic silence. After a few minutes he came back to the middle of the bus and asked if anyone on the bus had been assulted or injured by either of the guys earlier. No one still on the bus had been so he left. Probably not that much of an adventure to read about, but a pretty exciting end to a dull workday.
It would be awesome if they got Samuel L. Jackson to play the role of the Cap-Metro Security Officer.
Originally written 08-22-2006
So I’ve been thinking about the fact that I haven’t written anything about Stella. I have no clue why I can’t write about the mystery of childhood or what not. It’s odd. I don’t take interesting pictures and write about them. But I do find I’ve been getting more attached to her. For whatever reason I find it hard to get attached to things and she unfortunately wasn’t an exception. But, she gets to be more fun. On Sunday we did some cooking together before her patience was exhausted. A week ago I held out a bowl of smoked paprika to smell, but she wanted to chew on the side. I’m not sure she can smell yet, at least not in the action verb form. I’m sure she can passively smell.
I read a lot about traditional gender roles and paternalism etc on other blogs, and I feel like I’m falling into those traps no matter how hard I try. Ultimately, Julie is Stella’s primary caregiver. I know that’s how it has to be on principal. I have to be away from the home for about 45 hours a week, but I still just have this overwhelming feeling of guilt anytime I avoid a diaper or have to abdicate one of my duties to Julie. But at the same time I’m a human, and a very tired human at that, and it’s so easy to just give in and take the easy way out. I guess I’m probably not doing that badly. But I still feel like I’m not connecting.
And holy crap, a Capital Metro security guard just showed up… I think I have to move on to the next post. I was going to write about generational change not happening in one generation, but the bus is too crazy right now.
2006-09-01T17:21:13.000Z
Thanks for posting this, it is always refreshing to see good honest posts about parenting. I’m starting to understand what they mean about parenting being the kind of experience that brings all your best and your worst to the surface. I’ve only been at this dad thing a few months longer than you so I’m hardly an expert, but I can say that I know how you feel. My ideal dad-self is the involved and in-tune dad who’s never too tired to play and never gets impatient and is able to easily put his own wants and needs on the backburner, all the while being a great husband and still maintaining focus on his own interests and activities. Basically the perfect modern fun dad who has shirked off the outdated role of the distant paternal figure who comes home from work and spends all evening in the den wearing his cardigan and smoking a pipe…if he’s home at all. Where’d that cardigan and pipe thing come from? I don’t know. Point is, reality falls somewhere between ideal and failure, hopefully closer to the ideal end of the spectrum. Don’t beat yourself up over it.
2006-09-01T18:26:11.000Z
but my dad would come home put on a cardigan and take a nap until dinner was ready. So 2/3 of the stereotype right there. He might have had the pipe if my mom wasn’t so anti-smoking.
2006-09-01T20:37:49.000Z
…I was going off of some kind of ‘50’s imagery there. Which brings up another question…I wonder if we’ll be the last generation raised under the ghost of the idea that the ‘50’s were some kind of utopian decade, even though none of us were alive and we all know better.
So lately I’ve been worrying about my eyes. Up until now it was probably the only somewhat rational worry I had. For quite a while my eyes had been going down hill. To put it in perspective I wear a -8.5 contact in my left eye and -8 in my right. So I worried that my eyes would just keep getting worse. I knew that was irrational, but it worried me anyway. For the past year though, they’ve been holding steady so that’s a good thing.
But on Saturday I went to the Doctor. In the middle of the main exam he told me that I had a blood vessle in my retina. This apparently happens if your eye is not getting enough oxygen. Fantastic. He said it’s nothing to worry about unless there are lots of them, but I should change my contact brand just in case. He gets me setup on a new more oxygenated contact brand and sends me back out to the waiting room to wait for my eyes to dialate.
When my eyes are fully dialated I get brought back in and he pulls out the little light and magnifying glass. Up and to the Right. Down and to the Right. Up and to the Left. Down and to the Left. Pause. Keep Looking Down and To The Left. Pause. Pause. You have some retinal tears. Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty scary. The good thing I am told is that they’re all healed. Because apparently they’re ok when they’re scars. It’s the open tears that are the problem. So he sends me on my way letting me know that I should call immediately if I see stars out of the corner of my eye, or if it appears that a curtain has fallen over my vision. Wonderful.
And these new contacts irritate my eyes. And I have trouble focusing. It’s wonderful. Although, I guess I shouldn’t worry too much. There are plenty of IT professionals with vision problems.
2006-08-22T00:34:08.000Z
Yikes! if it makes you feel any better, I can’t see totally without double vision unless I wear my glasses. I have soft toric lenses and they feel decent on my eyes, but to read or do computer I really should wear glasses. Thats scary, I’m glad you went to the doctora. Love you! BeanBean
2006-08-22T14:30:33.000Z
yeah that sucks man. bad vision runs in my family. Fortunately, the onset is pretty late, but it deteriorates pretty quickly. By the time my grandfather was in his 70’s, he was nearly blind. Sucks. If I could only keep one of my senses, it would definitely be my vision.
2006-08-24T13:29:47.000Z
That’s rather frightening, but leads me to an interesting question. Which would you be more willing to lose? Your sight or your hearing? Me? I’m a movie buff. As long as I have subtitles, Im in good shape. Most of my favorites are french anyway. I’d miss the rapid-fire dialogue that I love so much, but I have no patience for braille. Besides, I don’t think hearing Oli grow up would be as satisfying as seeing it. But what about you? Is the essence of stage in sight or sound? Or does it depend on whether you’re the playwrite or the director?
2006-08-24T14:46:20.000Z
I think this may reflect on how bad my eyes already are, but I’d rather have hearing. I love music and singing and people’s voices too much. I like running in the morning and hearing all sorts of quiet sounds that you don’t hear in a car. I’d miss sight a lot, but I think I’d miss hearing more. And there would be a lot of retraining, but I know from working with blind people that technology has made it much easier to communicate and read. Screen readers are pretty amazing tools, and it’s amazing how fast you can get at navigating a computer while just hearing what’s on the screen. I would miss seeing movies and theater, but I think at least with theater you could still get a lot out of listening.
2006-08-28T03:09:47.000Z
That so completely sucks. I hope the new contacts are okay and things don’t get any worse. I already promised Ryan my corneas, but you can have the rest if something ever happens to me. Different blood types be damned.
2006-08-28T03:14:24.000Z
So, what causes the lack of oxygen to your retinas? Is it the contacts or should the new contacts just make it less of a problem? Of course, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was some genetic thing.
2006-08-28T14:37:29.000Z
Apparently caused by the contacts.
2006-08-28T16:07:19.000Z
That’s such an interesting question! I was thinking of this the other day and I leaned towards I would rather keep my hearing. I just love music so much. My second favorite love, theatre, would be out if I lost my sight, which would be devastating, but it would pretty much be out if I lost my hearing too, so… Although in terms of Stella, it would be awful not to be able to see what she looked like as she grew up. I think I vote not to lose my sight or my hearing!
2006-09-01T16:30:43.000Z
I like music too, dont get me wrong. Seth says I am the most musically eclectic person he knows. My Ipod goes from Tool to Louie Armstrong in 6 seconds flat. But here’s the dorky thing. I like drums. Lots. And of all the instruments, drums are the ones you feel. So I think I could get by without hearing. Besides, you put Satchmo on a good enough sound system, you’d be able to feel his voice too, I reckon.
Second dorky thing. I am super claustrophobic and acrophobic. (tight spaces and high heights) Combine this with an overactive imagination, and I think blindness for me would transmogrify into the sensation of being nailed in a coffin precariously balanced on the edge of a cliff. Yes, I have a dark turn of mind.
I just dont think I could risk it. I got burny-floaty eyes just reading Tim’s blog. Thats how much lost eyesight freaks me out. I wonder if theres a phobia for that?
I normally do my menu planning and shopping on Sunday, but this week it ended up on Monday. Tough weekend… In any case a new meme was established over here regarding Monday Meal planning. As I finished up my list this morning and sent it over to Julie I thought I’d share. I’ve added the list to the sidebar. We’ll see if I update it…
2006-08-15T17:57:33.000Z
mmmmmmm… tomato soup and grilled cheese!!
2006-08-15T22:42:05.000Z
Hopefully on white bread.
2006-08-16T16:54:04.000Z
whoie grains are good for you!
2006-08-16T19:32:02.000Z
I have no clue if you’re being serious or not. I personally cannot really eat white bread (I can, but it’s difficult). I grew up only being allowed to eat whole-wheat bread and so I didn’t develop whatever talent is required to keep the bread from creating a solid bass attached to the roof of your mouth and impeding air flow.
2006-08-17T21:12:51.000Z
Heck yeah I’m being serious :-) You can’t eat white bread but you hope your grilled cheese will be on white? No comprendo.
2006-08-17T21:39:31.000Z
I was being sarcastic. A grilled cheese sandwich does not sound particularly good to me. And I cannot eat white bread. But I do have a kickass recipie for tomato basil soup.
2006-08-18T02:39:25.000Z
I loove some grilled cheese. It’s one of my favorite foods of all time. Please do share the recipe. That sounds delicious.
The Austinist has a lot of coverage of the Zombie Walk. Check it out! Also if you haven’t done so yet, head over to zombiesrock.com and check out the latest news on Bitten! A Zombey Rock Odyssey!
This lady is really cool. Recycling is cool, but mostly I appreciate what you discover while wandering around. Everyone should do more walking and running. There’s so much to look at. So many interesting things to feed your brain. You start to like people more (which seems odd considering that they’re mostly in cars ignoring you). It’s a very odd thing. Now I feel like this is a challenge. I bypass about two trashbags worth of trash on the way to the bus stop in the morning. And the bus stop has a trash can. My house has a recycling bin. I really should do something about it. We all should.
Went to see Red Cans at the Off Center on Saturday. We got there a little early and were greeted by this weird homeless guy with a really cute dog. Well actually, it was Josh (the homeless guy, not the dog). But, I’m unable to play along with people when they’re in character (I have no clue why this is), so we had a somewhat nonsensical conversation in which Josh talked to me as though he was a character, and I talked to him as though he were Josh. Thankfully, Ramona the dog didn’t mind that I was a bit schizoid.
Once inside the fence we ran into our old pal Mo. We had a nice conversation and subjected her to pictures of Stella. I then went and filled out a suvery and Julie had a glass of water. That pretty much sums up all the things to do outside the theatre.
Lowell Bartholemee greeted us at the door with a cigar and baseball cap. He mentioned something about close toed shoes and keeping our posessions close. Yeah, whatever.
So we walk in, and it’s very dark. There’s almost no set. What follows can only be described as Terry Gilliam directing a nature movie about creatures evolved from a Will Wright game. It was fascinating. I don’t want to give to much away, but we’re first introduced to their language, and their movement. Then we see their maturation process, and the way their social heirarchies work. Amazing stuff. I really couldn’t believe the depth of thought that had gone into creating a complete world for these little characters. I will say that at one point the zoo gets turned inside out a bit, and I have never seen an audience so afraid. I mean I was able to rationally say that these were people in red cloth bags, but it was so effective that on another level my brain was having the real reactions it would have if encountering some strange wild creature. The audience at the Off Center who are normally so careful to not touch each other in those oh-so-close-together seats, were literaly cowering with their feet in each others laps. I have never seen this sort of audience reaction.
The only downside was that the show didn’t really have a strong ending. But at the same time, it wasn’t really a standard “show” so I’m not sure how they could have done so. It’s a bit like watching a cage of monkeys and then critizing them for not having proper plot structure. You’ll notice I’m not mentioning the actors much. Which is a bit of a shame because the physicality of the show alone demands a standing ovation. But they are so convincing as the cans, that the actors really disappear. It’s an amazing feat and hopefully there will be awards in their future for comitting so strongly and convincingly to a vision.
All in all, this is another wholey original piece from the Rubber Rep. I can guarantee you’ve never seen anything else like it, and isn’t that part of why we love theater?
Oh, and my survey won the free tickets. I think because I was the only one who filled out a survey. You need to go see it. If for no other reason than you’re going to have to listen to me talking about it for a long time, so you need to see what it is you hate so much.
WHEN: August 3 - 19, 2006 | Thurs - Sat at 8 PM
WHERE: The Off Center - 2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702
TICKETS: Fridays & Saturdays: Sliding Scale $10-$25 | Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Can
Buy tickets online or call 512-476-RUDE (7833)
2006-08-08T19:20:45.000Z
hey tim,
thanks so much for writing about your experience with the show. so interesting and helpful to hear what people make of things, especially in a forum that’s less formal than a “review” and more formal than post-show chatter.
Loaded Gun Theory is a sponsored project of Austin Creative Alliance.
For more information on Austin performing arts visit Now Playing Austin.