Do I have anything interesting to say right now?

Not really.

But I feel bad when I let this go too long without an update.

Erm.


Alright, I've actually purchased some new music recently. My recent favorites...

Sour Cherry - The Kills: This track rocks so hard. I hadn't realized how much I liked The Kills, but then I did some browsing and ended up plunking down for Midnight Boom. Damn good. Also good: Cheap and Cheerful

Atticus - The Noisettes: Heard it on KCRW a while back, but the new album, Wild Young Hearts, wasn't out yet. Really beautiful song, a lot less bouncy than much of the album, but man... those kids have range. Also good: Wild Young Hearts, Never Forget You (a.k.a. the song Amy Winehouse probably wishes she had recorded)

(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer: It's been QUITE some time since I approved of one of Weezer's singles (I'm looking at you, "Pork & Beans". And "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived". And "Beverly Hills". And "We Are All On Drugs".) Because of this, despite my deep and unrelenting affection for The Blue Album and Pinkerton, I have not been an easy sell on their post-Matt Sharp material. But I really do like this track. The upcoming album title, though... Raditude? Really, Rivers? Also good: yet to be determined

Savior - Rise Against: Just a really great, high-energy song. Also good: Audience of One

Percussion Gun - White Rabbits: Seriously, if you're gonna call a song "Percussion Gun", you better have a whole lotta drums going on. This song does not disappoint. Feels like there should be some rock-n-roll belly dancer gyrating along to this tune. Also good: I confess, I know nothing else by this band.

Samson - Regina Spektor: Not new at all, but I fell in love with this tune back during "Gloves Required". Just gorgeous. Also good: You caught me again; I'm not nearly up on my Spektor.

Days Go On - Greg Laswell: One of those songs I hear on KCRW every now and then and it sticks in my head. Finally looked it up and downloaded it. Also goo-- ALRIGHT! I'm giving up on this section. I am not as well versed as I might pretend.

Origin of Love - Hedwig and the Angry Inch: I just re-watched this movie. GODDAMN, it's good. Anyone who hasn't seen it... do so. It's available on Instant Watch on Netflix. Which is great, because that means I can watch it anytime I like. John Cameron Mitchell = genius. "Shortbus" is also incredible... but prudes need not apply. Also good: Wig in a Box, Wicked Little Town, Sugar Daddy

Meh, that's it for now.

*insert picture of monkeys trying to assemble a toy train*

Pardon our slowness! We got a little off track!


Alright, I'm busy. Work is nutty what with the whole "new HG book" thing (coming to bookstores everywhere next Spring!). Rehearsals for "Much Ado About Nothing" are well into full swing (go to http://shakespeareca.com/ for info), and I'm trying my damnedest to get my demure face on to adequately portray Hero.

I just ate one of the most delicious dishes of my life. Some kind of butternut squash lasagna made by the goddess Evan Kleiman. That woman RULES.

I took a 3 day vacation in Santa Barbara! It was nice! Matt and I went to the beach! We got sunburnt. We went on a boat! We froze our asses off! We drank beers served by a one-eyed bartender named Jack! We took a wine tour with an awesome renegade wine guide named Hans, who was all like, "I'm supposed to take you to this other winery now, but they suck, so we're going to a place that I like! Screw those guys!" We ate a lot of good food! Right before we left, I had this incredible Crab Cakes Benedict with amazing potatoes on the side and a HUGE friggin' mimosa. Happy ending.

Alright, I'm gonna go run lines and work on my wig.

That's right. Work on my wig.

Things I've made and done and done made.

I feel the need to redeem myself by posting photos of actual things I've done lately. And so, at long last, the pictures from my ice cream making adventure.







(Just in case you're wondering what the crap is going on, I'm making the custard base.)















I was far too excited by the time I got to the "freezing the ice cream and adding the strawberries" part to photograph anything else. But this is what it looked like.





And a couple of weeks ago, I painted a dresser that I got from Adam that he had gotten from someone else. It had been sitting in a closet for a couple years, so I thought it could use some spiffing up. So spiff I did.



It's somewhere on the continuum between "Little Girl's Dream Dresser" and "Liberace's House of Spangled Blouses".



And then for the cast party, I made a shortbread recipe from a Nigella Lawson cookbook, which of course, I couldn't help but tweak. It came out good, but it wasn't a sure-thing in the "during" process. However, the results were, to quote a fellow cast-member, orgasmic.



I sent a bunch of it with Matt to Bob and Melissa's. Partly because I think they might enjoy it, partly because I don't need to eat that much chocolate-covered, caramel-layered, peanut-filled shortbread.

Hopefully, there are more good things to come...

Aw crap. I'm a Twit.

I caved.

I joined Twitter.

Just like I always swore up and down that I wouldn't give in to Facebook (and now don't know how I'd keep in touch with anyone without it), I've given in to Twitter. BUT I only did it so that I could get in touch with Kogi BBQ and tell them that they need to come back to the spot behind the Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks because I've been craving their Spicy Pork and Short Rib tacos since they teased me with a brief stint a couple weeks ago.

http://twitter.com/hotcupofdana

Find me there. I have one follower, and I think it's a robot that's going to try and trick me into giving it a lot of money. And I'm a sucker for robots.

Would you believe...

... that spending most of your day sitting in front of a computer, writing, makes one want to do so MARKEDLY less in your free time? WHO KNEW!

*sigh*

Anyhow, "As You Like It" has closed. We had a fun run, it was a good time with some truly excellent people that I'm lucky to know and will hopefully work with again soon.

The new HG book is in the works... and that's all I can say about that. But we're working on it furiously and simultaneously trying not to let the daily emails suffer. Good times. Good, busy times.

PLUS, I just got cast in California Shakespeare Company's production of "Much Ado About Nothing" (one of my all time favorite plays) in the role of Hero. Last time I did this show, I was Dogberry, the bumbling fool. This time, I'm the pure-as-the-driven-snow damsel character. At least I'm not being typecast.

And finally, I'm making a little resolution to myself (which I'm sure I've resolved to do many times before) to stop worrying so much about everything preemptively, to quit picking on myself for stupid little things, to quit blaming myself for everything, to stop always assuming the worst, to stop stressing about what others think about me (or rather, what I think that others MIGHT be thinking about me). Because 95% of the stuff I find myself obsessing over is stuff that I a) can't do anything about or b) have made up and is all in my head.

Mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!

Booooo. Hiiisssssssssssss.

I officially broke my own self-imposed rule banning homemade martinis in my place of cohabitation. This rule was set into place on November 6...5...7...*&%*)*^%#$#&^... somewhere around there. I decided that they were fine to have in an environment where it was clear I would only have only 1 or 2 (i.e. ANY BAR IN L.A.), but if I was making them at home, the margin of repetitive consumption was far too great. However today, after the opening of "As You Like It"... I feel pretty entitled to a damn martini enjoyed on my couch and finished alongside my computer (an Apple, while my boyfriend ironically enough is asleep in preparation for a day working at the Apple Store).

Get a lawyer and sue me.

Oh my goodness, the slackitude!

How have I NOT posted about the ice cream that I made and have nearly polished off yet? I think the prospect of going through the entire experience again seems daunting to me. But I have pictures. And the ice cream is good. However, I feel like the next frozen treat I'm going to attempt shall be of the sorbet nature, because I honestly don't NEED a quart of full-fat frozen custard waiting for me in my fridge on these days where the temps are consistently 100+. Oh, you wacky San Fernando Valley, you!

Hmm.

I want to make a necklace out of washers and ribbon like this...
... in the style of Anni Albers. I decided I wanted to when they started selling "kits" to make her kind of "junk jewelery" at Urban Outfitters, and I thought to myself, "THAT DEFEATS THE PURPOSE! I mean, go get some friggin' washers and a piece of ribbon! This thing is MEANT to be easy, but still be a project! Get your lazy, skinny hipster asses off your re-upholstered vintage loveseat and put in the legwork."

So I went to my local Ace Hardware. They didn't have enough of the washers I liked. I figure I'll swing into Lowe's the next time I'm in the area.

(Lazy.)

OH! I DID make a dress, though! Yeah. From scratch and everything. Well, from fabric and string and without a pattern. I didn't weave and loom the cotton or anything. Pics to come...

(Lazy.)

And my recent decision to start going to the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, in an effort to get me doing stuff on weekends, eating more veggies and fruit, and supporting local farmers has resulted in a grand upswing in my cheese consumption. Sorry, cheesemongers of Santa Monica. Gotta cut myself off.

There's a new (to me) dresser sitting in my living room. (Thanks Adam!) The plan is to paint it, fill it with clothes that currently reside in an old unsightly plastic set of drawers, and use said plastic set of drawers to organize and store some of my craft stuff. The farthest I have gotten into this project is doing my laundry. Crucial, and yet that dresser is still in my living room.

(Lazy.)

New show opens July 31st.



Anyone who'd like to sing me sing the hits of Wham!, The Smiths, Eurhythmics, Duran Duran, and Prince while dressed like Boy George would be well advised to attend.

"But Dana! What does any of that crap have to do with Shakespeare?"

Why are you asking so many questions? It's gonna be fun, okay? And they sell booze at the theatre, so that's ALWAYS a plus.

July 31 through August 23, 2009
Fridays @ 8 p.m., Saturdays @ 8 p.m., Sundays @ 6 p.m.

Click here for more info! And if you order tickets, tell them I sent you. It won't help you any, but apparently there's a cash prize for the cast member who brings in the most paying audience members. This is CLEARLY not going to be me, but it never hurts to throw it out there.

Alright, I've got a date with a man, a margarita, and pollo en mole. Adios.