German National Anthem (circa 1930s)

My grandfather once mentioned that our last name was heralded in the Nazi national anthem (no pride there, we’re Jewish) as the bordering river of Germany’s expanding boundaries.
I did some google sleuthing and found it to be true:

Germany, Germany above all,
Above everything in the world,
When always, for protection,
We stand together as brothers.
From the MAAS to the Memel
From the Etsch to the Belt -
Germany, Germany above all
Above all in the world.

German women, German loyalty,
German wine and German song,
Shall retain in the world,
Their old lovely ring
To inspire us to noble deeds
Our whole life long.
German women, German loyalty,
German wine and German song.

Unity and law and freedom
For the German Fatherland
Let us all strive for that
In brotherhood with heart and hand!
Unity and law and freedom
Are the foundation for happiness
Bloom in the glow of happiness
Bloom, German Fatherland.

Germany, Germany above all*
And in misfortune all the more.
Only in misfortune can love
Show if it’s strong and true.
And so it should ring out
From generation to generation:
Germany, Germany above all,
And in misfortune all the more.

The reunion train

Once again, the L train put two people puzzle pieces together:

I unabashedly examine my fleeting reflection in the subway window as it hurdles itself through an underwater tunnel. I stand, hold the rail with my yellow kid gloves, and watch my pale face emmerge and recede from the dark wall and dull glass. Streaks of light flash where my eyes should be. As the train slows into the Bedford stop, I make an arbitrary decision to squint my eyes and furrow my brow, wondering if a person waiting on the platform will see me and wonder what I’m thinking about.

She sits on the last bench on the platform, peering into one train while waiting for another. Directly alligned yet separated by glass and steal, she raises her eyebrows as I unfurrow mine and we calmly raise one gloved hand in a mirrored wave. No puzzlement. No confusion. Just a wave…then a smile…then a few obvious gestures (heart u, type type type , cell-phone pinky, etc.) The doors close and momentum breaks the contact.

The train assembled and disassembled our encounter within 30 seconds; a perfect coincidence.

Hello, my name is Kimberly and my eyes are up here.

Oh the eyes of men,
the eyes of men,
they skirt the shirt,
and shirk the skirt,
no matter what position they’re in.

Political rhetoric

I’m helping a friend research and compose a piece of theatre to be done in his loft apartment sometime next month. All of the text is being culled from archived presidential State-of-the-Union speeches.

Reading these speeches gives you an excellent sense of the political climate throughout our country’s history. For example, Look at the jarring difference between these two excerpts:

“We have much to be thankful for. With four years of growth, we have won back the basic strength of our economy. With crime and welfare rolls declining, we are winning back our optimism, the enduring faith that we can master any difficulty. With the Cold War receding and global commerce at record levels, we are helping to win unrivaled peace and prosperity all across the world.

My fellow Americans, the state of our union is strong. But now we must rise to the decisive moment, to make a nation and a world better than any we have ever known. The new promise of the global economy, the Information Age, unimagined new work, life-enhancing technology — all these are ours to seize. That is our honor and our challenge. We must be shapers of events, not observers. For if we do not act, the moment will pass — and we will lose the best possibilities of our future.

We face no imminent threat, but we do have an enemy — the enemy of our time is inaction. So, tonight, I issue a call to action — action by this Congress, action by our states, by our people, to prepare America for the 21st century. Action to keep our economy and our democracy strong and working for all our people; action to strengthen education and harness the forces of technology and science; action to build stronger families and stronger communities and a safer environment; action to keep America the world’s strongest force for peace, freedom and prosperity. And above all, action to build a more perfect union here at home.”
-Bill Clinton, Feb. 4th, 1997

And this one, ten years later:

“From the start, America and our allies have protected our people by staying on the offense. The enemy knows that the days of comfortable sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free flowing communications are long over. For the terrorists, life since Nine-Eleven has never been the same.
[...]
In the sixth year since our Nation was attacked, I wish I could report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not. And so it remains the policy of this government to use every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty, to find these enemies, and to protect the American people.

This war is more than a clash of arms – it is a decisive ideological struggle, and the security of our Nation is in the balance. To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred, and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and come to kill us. What every terrorist fears most is human freedom – societies where men and women make their own choices, answer to their own conscience, and live by their hopes instead of their resentments. Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies – and most will choose a better way when they are given a chance. So we advance our own security interests by helping moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy. The great question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security . . . we must.”
-George W. Bush, Jan. 23, 2007

Yowza.

Example A: Blind optimism?
Exampbe B: Reckless fear-mongering?

I don’t think we’ll feature this in our piece of theatre….we’re aiming a little broader…but I found it striking. You can read more presidential State of the Union speeches here.

Broke

I’m a little hard up right now. Skint. Impecunious. In straitened circumstances. Penurious.

And that’s BAD when you live in New York city.

A professor of mine used to say “Being in New York is like hemorrhaging money”. (mat!)
Actually, those were his words of (dis)encouragement before I decided to move here.
What really adds up is the cost of socializing. Friends meet up and go for dinner, drinks, theatre, museums, etc. Ka-ching, ka-ching. ka-ching.
Not to mention RENT (not the musical, god forbid, blech)
What’s worse, I’ve lost what little enjoyment I ever possessed for waiting tables. More and more, it feels like servitude with a smile. Doing the little dance, timing out your approach to the table, eyeballing without intruding, clearing away dirty plates and napkins, suggesting dessert, dropping the check without being rude, and on and on and on. Also, I noticed that I don’t like the sound of my voice when I serve. My sister pointed out to me the other day that I raise about an octave when I talk to people I don’t know (which is daily), probably to try and sound non-threatening, but I’m sure I just sound infantile.

So….I’m avidly craigslisting (a new verb?) and imagining myself has a hypothetical secretary, or tutor, or masseuse (eeewww). I’m liking the sound of being employed by the Democratic National Committee….it could mean at least 2 year job security (2008 elections) and I’ve always been compelled and interested in politics. We all should be, I mean right?

Meanwhile, I’m counting the coins in the coffee-can for subway fare.

Pennies from Heaven

I can’t get over this.
Christopher Walken!

Heads, Hands, and Heroines

Down to 15 degrees tonight!

Heads and Hands
The most important body parts to keep warm are your hands and head. Wearing mittens or gloves will keep your fingers from stiffening. And since body heat escapes through your head—Grandma was right about that—wear a wool hat. It’ll help keep your whole body warm. (Tips to stay warm according to Weather.com, rather obvious, right?)

Heroines

I’m prepping for lots of Shakespeare lately. I read for Hero in ‘Much Ado’ on Tuesday for a summer festival in California. Monday I’ll read for Nerissa in ‘Merchant of Venice’ for a theater on E46th. I love the opportunity to read for specific roles….even if they don’t pan out…I am becoming more and more familiar with the women of Shakespeare.

This is what I’m preparing:http://www.bartleby.com/70/1912.html

Notice the xenophobic comedy routine between mistress and servant regarding courtship? Similar in theme to a scene in ‘Comedy of Errors’ between master and servant Antipholus and Dromio (line 96-112)

Sharks: my foe.

I’m terrified of sharks.

I lived by the Pacific ocean for five years and never once went more than ankle deep in the frigid water….because THEY are out there. Shark-attacks are extremely rare but my irrational rationale is that they’ve got too many teeth and too little brains…they can’t even tell what they want to eat without maiming it first!

Not too many years ago, a man was abalone diving off the Fort Bragg coast which is 26 miles from my home town. It was right around Christmas time which also coincides with some sort of annual seal activity. Abalone divers, diving up and down and in dark black wet suits, look and behave quite similar to a nice, fat, juicy seal…a Great White fav.
Well, out of nowhere, this massive Great White shark swam up from the deep and ripped this poor unfortunate diver’s HEAD off. And then he spit it out…cuz he didn’t like the taste of this guy’s head.
“Oh, my mistake, I prefer seal, thank you. Sorry about your HEAD”.

In the news lately?
Off the coast of Japan, a fisherman found a pre-historic shark that has never been seen alive, and its existence dates back 80 million years.

Its been called a living fossil because of how little it has evolved.
It’s also been called ‘freakishly ugly’ and ‘really F-ing scary-looking’ (by me, of course), because it has a mouthful of needle sharp teeth, frilly gills, and a serpentine tail.
Ick.

Tuesday, Jan. 23!

Ack!

New York nightlife has gotten the better of my resolution…on a Tuesday night.

However, I was busy all day, away from my computer, doing real-actor-type things: An audition AND a play reading….so there.

Furthermore, its not midnight on the West Coast yet, and I consider myself to be
bi-coastal-conscious (?!), so this entry can still qualify for 1-23-07.

Now I’m going to sit and think feminist thoughts with my dear friend Dori. We tend to have conversations concerning dominant patriarchal ideologies and oppressive social constructs after  our outtings in Manhattan nightlife. (i.e. persistent men in bars who give themselves a lot of credit for finding us attractive and stubbornly refuse to interact in an articulate, intellectual, or even adult manner).

We’re gonna write a play.

We get it. Do you?

No Dice

Tonight I’m going to go see a 3.5 hour long show called ‘No Dice’ performed by the Nature Theater of Oklahoma (they’re not from Oklahoma), as part of the ‘Under the Radar’ Festival in New York.

Actually, I’ve already seen it. I’m going for the second time! Ultimately, I’ll have watched 7hrs of this production, and honestly I wouldn’t mind if it was 8 or 9.

Why is it worth seeing twice?

Because its fascinating to watch. Its one of those shows that is so engaging, you lean in towards the stage on the edge of your seat, eyes wide and ears open.

There is no narrative to speak of. The dialogue is from transcripts of hours upon hours of phone conversations between the company members, their friends, and their family. Each character goes in and out of an arbitrary accent (French, Jamaican, Scottish) and they run through a pattern of repetitive hand gestures….all of which illuminated the abstract humor of the conversations in an extremely random way. Furthermore, the tone of the acting conveys the broad and melodramatic style of silent-movie performances. (Think: wringing of hands, swooning, and other such declamatory gesticulations).

Catch it if you can!

http://www.oktheater.org/nodice.htm