"B.I.C.U."?

So, as you know by now, having not heard or read anything since August (holy crap, has it been four months?!?), Living Loud has not been either. This blog has, for all intents and purposes, been in a coma on life support in the Blog Intensive Care Unit. My life, of course, has been quite the roller coaster ride, what with theater projects out the wazoo, amazing family experiences, and many adventures with my remarkable lady friend. But, as Thoreau so eloquently put it, there has been no time to write about it all, because "writing about it was not what interest[ed] us."

Among other things, I have been rethinking my web presence quite a bit. There is so much to write about, some of it actual categorizable stuff I want to pursue, that I have not been convinced it could all fit properly here. The final decision (for now at least) is for me to move this blog to a new location. I am in the process of porting old blogs over to Living Loud's new address, and am also in the process of creating a new look for it. In the meantime, this page will become something...else...and there will be a couple other pages as well, all linked together in a nice little nepotistic manner. Look for a huge rollout in 2010.

Thanks to all you who have read in the past. Next year will be an interesting experiment. Happy Holidays and see you in two weeks when it's next year!

Clip of the week...

The fall of communism?



I shouldn't laugh. But I did.

Putting in for resupply...

Time to dock the ship. She is in need of repair and refit, and supplies need to be replenished.

There is a wonderful book called The Artist's Way. It is a workbook to help you unblock yourself creatively, and it has been very helpful to me on so many levels. One of the concepts the author describes is the replenishment of the soul--she calls it "Stocking the pond"--in order to have more food and creative energy.

She also presented an exercise in which you draw a spoked wheel, with yourself at the middle. Each spoke represents fun, spirit, etc. and you are supposed to rank your activity on each. Then you connect the dots. The idea is that, when you are done, the thing should look like an even web, and if it does not, you know better what to focus on. Currently mine is quite a mess.

I am going to a retreat facility that also doubles as a B&B. And taking my workbook. And my hopes and dreams and all the chaos of my life. And hopefully leaving the latter there when I return on Monday.

Have a great weekend, readers.

Clip of the week...

I started a blog post on Sunday that has shifted shape daily ever since and still hasn't been finished. In the meantime...happy Wednesday! This one was introduced to me by my eldest son:



Enjoy.

Rock and roll...

...is loud. And that's part of why I like it. Life is loud right now. And that's part of why I like it, too. In the last seven days, some pretty incredible stuff has happened:

One of my best friends in the whole wide world has returned to California. After a series of some-good-but-mostly-suck-ish adventures in the midwest, Jon is back in town. He drove all the way from Missouri (which I envy) and got a flat tire one and a half hours away (which I do not envy). But he is here, he is staying with me until he gets work and a place of his own, and it is grand to catch up. We have already spent countless times reliving the past and laughing our butts off about the present. Good times.

My kids and I have spent some wonderful time together. We have gone to the Russian River to splash around, and take the dog swimming. We have played board games and watched movies and had popcorn and stayed up late. Thing One came to work with me on Tuesday, and I get to see him again tonight. He is getting so mature, and growing so much--he nearly fills out his bed now, and I can still (barely) remember carrying him like a football. Thing Two is growing, too, although his heart was broken Tuesday when his pet rat passed away. (She had a giant tumor and a couple other smaller ones growing in her, so it was for the best.) He is handling it like a trooper, trying to remember the good times, but it is hard. Other than that, he is also growing like crazy and becoming his own person.

Last weekend a show I am directing opened in Santa Rosa. "Wretch Like Me" is a one-man autobiographical show about growing up into and out of Fundamental Evangelical Christianity, something close to my heart and in my own past. It is a very potent story about religion, but even more so about maturing, finding one's own voice, and how the things that often drive us into difficult situations are also the very things that give us the tools to get back out.

This week, I ran auditions for my own creation, a show called "Affairs of Face" (If you are interested, check my theater company's page for more info.) The turnout was pretty small, but the cast is small, and I am going to put some feelers out. There is still hope. And, both of these projects ("Wretch" and "Affairs") will be part of the very first Sonoma County Arts Fringe Festival this autumn. So I am VERY excited about THAT.

In all of this, I have frequently lost sleep due to fretting about things, panicking about things, and drinking waaaaaaaay too much caffeine. I have not always been my cheery self. However, throughout these adventures, my girlfriend Denise has been stalwartly at my side--supporting me, comforting me, encouraging me, giving me strength and love every step of the way. She has helped out with the show, being "on book" and taking notes for us during the rehearsal process. She has taken care of me when I needed it. And even with the busy-ness of it all, we have spent some wonderful times together.

In reflecting about everything that is going on, I really cannot complain. I am doing what I love, with the people I love, and I cannot really ask for much more than that.

Except maybe win the lottery.

Clip of the week...

Yesterday, in case you didn't know, was the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon.



Congratulations to all the staff and crew of 1960's NASA--you guys rock.

Heard this on the radio this morning...

...now I have to get the CD. The song is "Laughing With" by Regina Spektor:

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God
When their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke,
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’ve lost all they’ve got
And they don’t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
That the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their goodbyes
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughing at God in hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very
poor

No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God