Vol 2 Issue 25

Pic of the week 

I finished my puzzle and hung it on my wall and I am in love.  It looks so good!!!

What's going on?

Pretty chill week, y'all.  Pretty.  Chill.  Week.
I spent a lot of my time getting my piles and piles of photos organized.  I want to digitize it all so I don't have to have hard copies of everything taking up space in the closet.  I was planning on just taking pictures of my pictures, which I know is not ideal, but then a friend who works with cameras and such said I should really scan them.  So.  Now I have to figure out how to make that happen.  Perhaps I'll snag myself a scanner from Craigslist and then sell it again when I'm done.  Craiglist is a wonderland, I'm telling you.  Also, going through bunches of old photos is a trip.  I found a photo of myself holding a falcon, or something.  I have ZERO memory of that happening.  And, fun fact, we took a lot of photos around Christmastime, but not a lot at other times of year.  Makes sense, just something I thought was interesting.

Honestly, I can't believe we're already halfway through September.  How did that happen?!  Also.  Can it please start to cool down?  I know most of you are already experiencing heavenly temperatures, but September is prime time for summer temperatures around here and I'm done.  Bring on the sweater weather. 

Not much else to report, really.  All of my plants are still alive, and I think that's worth celebrating.

What I'm reading

I really like everything this guy writes.  His worlds are so imaginative.  I'm only two chapters in so far, but I'm excited to see where this one goes.

What I'm watching

3rd Democratic debate.  No surprises here.  And honestly, I don't know that these debates are changing anyone's mind.  They're all just the same talking points and canned responses, but I watched it anyway. 

What I'm listening to

Jazz radio on Spotify.  Real fun and interesting mix of music.

Vol 2 Issue 24

Pic of the week 

My friend Toffer is currently living and working San Diego and came up to hang at Disneyland for the day.  My pass has been blocked out all summer and is finally unblocked!  Hot tip - the Tuesday/Wednesday after Labor Day are some of the best days of the year to go to Disneyland.  It was pretty dead.  Like, the brand new Millennium Falcon ride at Star Wars Land only had a 40 min standby line dead (we did single rider and basically walked on).  Like, pushing 100 degrees and the standby line for Grizzly River was only 10 minutes dead.  Also new and fun - there's a geyser at the end of Grizzly River that sprays up, but generally stops when a raft floats over it.  That did NOT happen when we went on the ride and we got SOAKED.  It was awesome. Here is evidence:

What's going on?

Aside from a magical day at Disneyland, I had a busy week of work and travel.  I went to Las Vegas to do a professional development workshop with some elementary school teachers and had a total blast.  We were training them in how we teach narrative writing and I think everyone had a lot of fun. Had a couple of auditions this week - neither of which panned out *shrug* and did some more ultrasound patient work.  This time they were looking at my heart, and according to the cardiac specialist who was training the doctors in using the ultrasound machine, my heart is in great shape!

And I bought some more plants.  Trader Joe's even had a Monstera plant for $10!  They're usually, like, $40!!! But I think I'm basically done with plant purchases.  My room is looking more green and lovely.  I might still need one more tiny succulent, but overall I'm happy with the life that's happening in my bedroom!  Now it's time to see how many of them survive.

What I'm watching

Heads up that there are some swears, but overall this movie was delightful. 

What I'm puzzling

This is one of my all-time favorite posters.  (It's a whole series, and they're all awesome.) My friend Mariah gave it to me in puzzle form for my birthday and I'm FINALLY getting around to putting it together. When it's done, I'm going to frame it and hang it on my wall.  I'm very excited.

What I'm listening to

Here's the deal: (heads up that I'm going to use the word "Mormon" here in a way that Mormons aren't going to like, and isn't agency wonderful?)  In the last few years I've been listening to a lot of liberal/fringe/progressive podcasts around Mormonism.  I think there are some fascinating ideas out there, and ways of looking at the faith I grew up in that are new and exciting and vibrant.  One thing that has come up time and again in these podcasts is the idea that Mormonism is pretty terrible at talking about sex.  And I have to agree.  That's not to say that the doctrines and beliefs Mormons hold around sex are bad, just that the way we teach and approach those doctrines and beliefs is problematic and damaging.  I can speak to this from personal experience.  All this is to say that I listened to a series of episodes on the Mormon Sex Info podcast (hosted by licensed sex therapist and active member of the church Natasha Helfer Parker) about pornography and sexual messaging in the church and I think they should be required listening for every parent and leader, and really every member, in the church.  You can find them here.  Episodes 18, 20-22, and 33-34.  I think if you get them from this website, they're $1.25 per episode, but you can download episodes 18 & 20-22 for free in any podcast app. Mostly I highly recommend anything Natasha Parker does. Also anything Jennifer Finlayson Fife does.  Her series "Ask a Mormon Sex Therapist" on the Rational Faiths podcast is awesome.  These two women should be speaking in general conference.

Vol 2 Issue 23

Pic of the week 

I made this! From scratch! I've been looking into getting a bookcase for a while and saw this really cool one on Etsy that I LOVED, but it's so expensive!  For a plywood bookcase!  And I thought, "I could make that.  For probably, like, $100."  So I did!  It's not perfect, but I am over the moon with how it turned out and pretty proud of myself for making it happen.  Especially since I basically built the whole thing with nothing but a jigsaw and a drill. (I did end up purchasing myself a circular saw - Craigslist for $20! - toward the end, which helped with some of the doors and stuff). I learned a lot in the process, and will probably make some more stuff at some point in the future because I also really enjoyed making it!  If I ever have the space, I may build some furniture as a little side gig.  Who knows!  Also.  I'm going to turn my mate (MAH-tay) cups into succulent planters.  CUTE!  Here are some pics of the process:

Also.  I had enough wood left over for a matching little side table. 

And I still have a plank of wood.  What should I make next?!

What's going on?

So many things!  It was a very busy week.  During the summer, we at Story Pirates like to check in with everyone since it's our slow time and see how everybody's doing, and how their last year has been and what goals or hopes they have for the year to come.  It's really fun, and also pretty time-consuming.  I started having some of those meetings this week, along with starting up new director training, and also putting together an After Dark show.  Most of our Story Pirates shows happen during the day, at schools or performing arts centers or what have you, but every once in a while we do a show "After Dark."  Traditionally these have been shows exclusively for adults - still family-friendly shows, just no kids allowed.  But since Story Pirates is growing and becoming more and more recognized, these have turned into family shows that happen in the evening.  Anyway, we haven't really done them a lot in LA because of a lack of space etc.  But we found a space and decided to go for it.  And it was a blast! 

All of that Story Pirates madness was mixed in with some hours at Kidville, a tutoring student, a job at UCLA medical school where I pretended to have a cough, some Shakespeare, and working on that beautiful bookshelf up there.  Also.  I seem to have come down with a cold here toward the end of the week.  But whatever!  Life is fun!

What I'm watching

This show is so good!

What I'm listening to

This episode of the podcast Revisionist History was fascinating (as are most, if not all of the episodes of Revisionist History).  I found the part about people's propensity to assume truth especially interesting.

Vol 2 Issue 22

Pic of the week 

Spent a couple of days this week at a summer camp doing some Story Pirates.  This is Stephen Eric Apple a glow-in-the-dark alien horse.  He went on quite an adventure to find a girlfriend who ended up being an inflatable dinosaur.  Love finds a way.

What's going on?

Y'all.  I love my job.  Like, LOVE my job.  And I recognize how lucky I am to be able to say that.  The summer camp we went to this week is called Camp Harmony.  It's a camp for underprivileged kids - many, and I think most of whom experience or are affected by homelessness in some way.  It's one of the coolest things we get to do all year.  This was the most involved we've been as well.  We did two days of programming.  Writing workshops in the morning and a show performing the stories the kids wrote in the evening.  It's always such a cool experience.  A couple of us did both days, but most of the Pirates involved just did one.  We got to stay overnight and experience all the fun things at camp - including staff pretzel night!  Also fun - a couple of the camp directors are sort of famous for riding Segways around camp.  One of the stories was set at Camp Harmony, so we borrowed one of the Segways and I pretended to be one of the camp directors and got to ride the Segway around for a bit.  Turns out, I'm pretty good at it!

Also spent a good chunk of time this week building a bookcase.  I bought some plywood, used a friend's jigsaw to cut it up, and spent yesterday afternoon assembling it.  It didn't turn out exactly like I planned, because all I had was a jigsaw and a drill, and didn't measure it out exactly beforehand, but luckily it's easily adaptable.  I still have a few finishing touches to put on it, so I'll post a picture next week, but I'm pretty darn happy with how it turned out.

Early in the week I had a meeting with a friend at a cookie shop.  I bought an extra cookie and threw it in the seat of my scooter.  It kind of got buried and I discovered it again SEVERAL days later.  It was still good!  Cookie surprise!

What I'm reading

This is a quintessentially British production and I am HERE for it!  I love British humor.  It's so bizarre.  Anyway, this also recently came out as a series on Amazon as well, and I'm interested in seeing the adaptation.

What I'm watching

This was delightful and so heartwarming.

What I'm listening to

This episode of the On Being podcast included such an interesting and refreshing conversation on what it means to be Christian.  I really enjoyed it.

Vol 2. Issue 21

Pic of the week 

I put up new curtains.  I had some blackout curtains hanging in my window because the porch lights of the building next door shine directly in my window all night.  Those particular curtains have been there since before I moved in so I thought it'd be a good idea to wash them.  I put them in a bucket of warm water with some Oxyclean and the formerly white curtains turned black.  No idea what happened.  Isn't science fun?  Needless to say, I bought some new blackout curtains.  

What's going on?

Summertime is finishing up with a bang!  I mean, I guess technically we're only half-way through summer, but school starts around here soon, so summer is basically over.  And I'm packing everything in.  Work, Shakespeare in the park, ice cream, dinners, cleaning, organizing, hanging curtains, installing a bike holder, taking my bike to get fixed because it broke while I was riding it, hitting a GIANT pothole and nearly eating asphalt on my scooter.  Quite an adventurous week.

Y'all.  There are too many TV shows to watch.  Have you noticed?

I had a plan this week to build my bookcase.  I went to the Home Depot and everything.  I was looking for 3/4" Maple Plywood.  I told the guy working the saw that that's what I wanted and he said, "maple?!" like I was crazy.  Anyway.  Turns out they didn't have any.  So I didn't get to build my bookcase this week.

What I'm reading

Super cute book about a robot who wakes up on an island and becomes part of the wilderness community there.

What I'm watching

Haven't seen it yet, but I plan to.  I loved these books when I was younger and am excited for the movie!

What I'm listening to

This playlist on Spotify.  It's so fun!

Vol 2 Issue 20

Pic of the week 

As part of my life upgrade, I'm getting some plants for my room.  I saw a cute planter on Etsy that I wanted, but they were charging $45 for it.  It's pretty simple and I have a friend who does pottery, so I asked if he'd make it for me.  But then I went one better and asked if he'd show me how.  So he did!  We went to a little ceramics place and this is the start of my little planter.  It has to dry and then be fired and then glazed and fired again, so it's a bit of a process, but when it's done it'll look something like this:

Also.  Throwing pots is super fun!  And harder than it looks.  And I kind of want to take a class now.

What's going on?

Not much to update y'all on this week.  I was busy with all my jobs and enjoying life immensely.  I went to see a couple of plays with friends and by friends and starring friends and it was all thoroughly enjoyable.  If you ever get a chance to go see "The Play That Goes Wrong" I'd recommend it.  It was hilarious.

Other than the usual, I'm still in the middle of various projects to get my life and things in order.  Bookshelves and curtains and reading chairs and thrift store donations and planters and all that good stuff.  Slowly but surely it's coming along.

I had to take Phin in for a service this week.  My mechanic told me that mine is the scooter with the most miles on it that he works on.  It's got just over 60,000 - which is a LOT for a scooter.  He also told me he'd like to keep it on the road as long as possible.  He therefore did about $300 worth of extra repairs for free for me.  Super cool guy. And now Phin is running like a champ.  Not that he wasn't before, but even more so now.

What I'm coloring

Mandalas.  It's a fun morning meditation.

Vol 2 Issue 19

Pic of the week 

On tour with Story Pirates in Las Vegas this week.  We rolled up to our hotel and immediately got a flat tire on our 9-ft-tall 15-passenger van - which we then had to change.  So.  Adventures all around.

What's going on?

LAS VEGAS!!!  That's what's going on.  We had a fun little tour up to Sin City. It was over 100 degrees every day we were there and thank the heavens for air conditioning and a pool - sketchy though the pool may have been.  We did have a blast though.  We had a few fun shows, wandered through so many casinos, had lots of mediocre food in kitschy restaurants, saw a police chase, an overflowing sewer, and a capybara! LAS VEGAS!

Also.  I asked my room buddy how gay this outfit was and he said, "Is 'turbo' the right answer?"  I think it was: