Reflections on a looming strike

In response to this article on the Hollywood Reporter website about the looming SAG strike, one particularly Clueless-About-The-Acting-Profession commenter wrote:

5. foobar comments:

November 24, 2008

Who really cares? Go ahead. Strike. I'm broke and the economy is upside down. Who can afford the theater anyway?

See? This is why I love America. People who know absolutely nothing about a given subject are completely free to express their opinions anyway. Who can afford the theatre, indeed?

34th and 8th will never be the same for me

Today, on my way to an audition, I walked by the ever-familiar corner of 34th street and 8th avenue right near Penn Station.

I happened to look down just as I was about to step on a pair of lacy black thong underwear that had clearly been worn.

It was horrifying.

Another Op'nin', Another Show!

You'll have to excuse my lack of entries this month. I got hit by illness twice in a row. Just as I was getting over a week-long cold, I got the first migraine of my life that somehow turned into a week-long flu. The long and short of it is that it was nasty.

Somewhere in there, though, I opened and closed a show at the Gene Frankel Theatre. It was called "Documentary: A Suicide Narrative" and it played November 7-9. It was a blast to work on and the cast and crew were really great. Not to mention, we had some Law and Order casting directors in the audience one night, so here's hoping that a part I'm perfect for comes up soon! Fingers crossed, everyone.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know what I had been up to. My next project is an independent film that shoots for several days this month and next. I'm also working on getting more involved with NJ Rep. Other than that, it's back to auditioning every day!

Happy Voters' Day!

So yeah, it's Election Day. Wooo!!

This year was my first year voting at an actual polling place, since I've only been old enough to vote in one other Presidental election and I was in school and using an absentee ballot in 2004. It was a lot more exciting getting to vote in person, let me tell you. You really feel like, for at least that one day, you getting up off your ass and pulling some levers might actually make a difference to someone or something.

I have to admit, voting in New York was a real hoot. The actual machine has this very 1960's vibe going on with its huge lever and little black dials. I laughed out loud when I noticed that all the way down the ticket on the Democratic side, the black dials were worn from fingers turning them for so many years. No such wear marks on the Republican knobs.

I had a lot of fun getting to vote for some Independents in the smaller categories, although I couldn't bring myself to vote for Bob Barr for President.

I'm staying in tonight to watch the results on TV, just in case the election doesn't go the way New Yorkers want it to and there's rioting in the streets. I wouldn't be suprised.

Fall flavors

In honor of the changing seasons, I made the most wonderful fall pastries ever today: the pumpkin scone.

It's a Starbucks knock-off recipe that I found online after having my first ever pumpkin scone last week. Since I don't want to literally eat myself out of house and home, I figured I should make my own because I can't stop craving them.

I have included the recipe below because you should really make them. They're delicious and are such a fabulous way to incorporate some delicious fall flavors into your day. Each bite is bursting with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and pumpkin undertones, plus there's lots of yummy icing.

Note to all: These are not diet food.

Unless you eat one and nothing else all day, I guess.

The recipe is as follows:

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Recipe #214051

These are great for the holidays...or any other time of the year. Recipe origially submiited at icollectcookbooks.com by Rachel-Snachel

30 min | 15 min prep

6 scones

Scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 large egg

Powderered Sugar Glaze

• 1 cup and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze

• 1 cup and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ginger
• 1 pinch ground cloves

1. TO MAKE THE SCONES:.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
5. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
7. TO MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZE:.
8. Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
9. When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.
10. AS THAT WHITE GLAZE FIRMS UP, MAKE THE SPICED ICING:.
11. Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

I only baked them for 12 minutes and they were just right. And I ended up with a ton of extra spiced glaze, so you could definitely reduce that if you wanted to put the effort in.

Happy fall!

NJ Repertory Company

Just a little note to let you all know that my long trek out to Long Branch was worthwhile.

You're reading the blog of the New Jersey Repertory Company's newest member!

Check out www.njrep.com if you get the chance. My headshot and resume should be up soon!

Pumpkin carvers extraordinaire!

So Dan and I were walking home from my show the other night and outside of Gristedes on 54th, they were selling pumpkins! Yes, pumpkins! I didn't know you could buy pumpkins in the city; I thought you'd have to go out to a pumpkin patch in Long Island or something, but not so!

Dan being the eternal optimist that he is, made the decision to carve out the drama masks pattern that I found online, despite how difficult it looked to achieve.

We didn't have the proper pumpkin carving tools, so we had to use a kitchen knife, which certainly didn't make anything easier. Our lesson learned this year was to be a little more modest in our pumpkin carving goals or to be a little less modest in how much money we shell out on the proper accoutrements.

The final result was pretty, but didn't much resemble what we were going for.

I did make the pumpkin seeds into roasted cajun seeds to snack on, though. Those were delicious!

Rolling out the green carpet

I'm not sure exactly what happened. One day, everything was fine in Commerce Bank Land. Blue pens abounded, along with free dog cookies and little red "C" piggy banks.

The next day, I go to make a deposit, and all of a sudden EVERYTHING IS GREEN! No warning...just green. And I have to use a new website to check my accounts online.

I actually really liked Commerce Bank. I hope TD Bank changes very little except for the carpet and the window treatments. Commerce is a relatively new bank, too. I remember just a couple of years ago when they started popping up all over the place around here. I guess it's really true what they say: everything in New York gets torn down before you get a chance to love it. I know I'm paraphrasing someone there, but I can't for the life of me remember who.

A rush of relief!

I remember, not so long ago, a time when native New Yorkers used to make me laugh. 

I'd hear one of them describe how they got anxious every time they left the city and couldn't wait for that moment when they walked back onto its crowded streets.

Well, up until today, I couldn't really relate to that. Sure, I've always loved New York. But feeling anxious in the outside world? That used to seem more than a little silly to me.

Today, however, I finally understood the feeling. 

I made the trek waaaaayyyy out to Long Branch, New Jersey (an hour and a half each way on the New Jersey Transit) to audition for upcoming season at the New Jersey Rep Company.

As I was sitting on the train heading out to the middle of nowhere, New Jersey, I actually experienced a moment of panic. What if i get caught somewhere far from the train and there's no subway to save my ass? What if I can't find a Dunkin' Donuts? What if I never find my way home? What if....? 

When I walked out of Penn Station at the end of the day, I felt a huge rush of relief to be back in my territory. Silly? Yes. Prententious? Maybe. Faked? No.

What recession??

Today I had the great misfortune of being forced into entering Bloomingdale's uptown.

Forced, you ask? Yes, forced. 

Dan got a $50 Bloomie's gift card from work this week and we couldn't find anything for our apartment (besides a single candlestick) that was cheap enough to get and Dan didn't fit into any of the men's clothes there. So he decided to let me get a new strapless bra with the money because I've been desperately wanting to throw out my old dingy one and we could at least afford to get a bra with the card.

So I walked into what is one of my versions of hell (designer-clad daddy's girls abounded) and was able to successfully obtain the much-sought after bra.

What really struck me was the shoe department, though. I couldn't help but take a picture as the aisles and aisles of $1000 designer shoes were being gobbled up by swarms of the wealthy and all I could think of was, what recession??