Road Trip 2009

So we bought a big blue Toyota Sienna minivan- and tomorrow morning, we're taking it on it's first roadtrip. We are off to Portland Oregon to stay with Jackie's folks. Jackie parents are also being nice enough to watch the girls overnight so Jackie and myself (and our sister and brother-in-law) can go up to Seattle to see this:


I'm sure we'll have lots of stories afterward- stay tuned!

My Musical Next Year

We're found a winner for my musical theatre class next year:



If you want to see the complete musical Mr. G writes (about himself) go here.

July in New York (Part 5)

So Saturday morning, I skipped the closing session of the conference (it was just a chat back about Next to Normal) instead, wandered around looking for a good breakfast place on the Upper West Side. Finally, after wandering a bit, we just popped into a deli, grabbed a bacon, egg and cheese bagel and ate them while looking at art being sold on the street next to the Met Museum.

Both of us had tickets to The Norman Conquests: Table Manners which began at 11:30am. Around 11:00 (still up by the museum) we decided we should go- and- being stupid- decided to hoof it all the way to 51st street.

We made it to The Circle in the Square Theatre just in time- reeking of sweat (and hiding our sodas in our bags). Table Manners was hilarious- but Jackie was nervous because she had tickets to 9 to 5 at 2:00pm- and Table Manners got out at 1:50pm. Jackie ran away to her next show while I had Thai food and a cookie from Amy's Bread to tide me over for the next Norman Conquests show: Living Together. I was supposed to see Billy Elliott with the conference- but since I already had seen it, I sold it to a lady at the conference.

The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays that involve 3 couples- the plays take place over a weekend in July- all at various times. You can see each individually and have a great time OR, you can do what I did, see all 3 and witness playwright Alan Ayckbourn's genius at having one play take place in the dining room, one play take place in the living room and one play take place in the garden. It is a comedy- and it's structured brilliantly. This production was produced by Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic in London- and the entire cast came over from London to do it on Broadway.

After Living Together I met up with Jackie for dinner at the Stage Deli- it's famous and expensive. We've done it once, now we don't have to do it again (I like Carnegie Deli better for their cheesecake and a bowl of pickles).

After dinner, I went back to catch the final play Round and Round the Garden. All of these plays were directed by the same director as God of Carnage- and Boeing-Boeing which I had taken our group to in 2008. The Norman plays were even harder to direct because they were in the round.

After Round (all 3 plays were hilarious by the way- and if you're in NYC this next week, see them cause they close on Saturday) I felt bad for the actors doing 3 plays in a row in one day- but happy I got to see it. Jackie had gone to see the Pulitzer Prize winning play Ruined at the Manhattan Theatre Company. It started to rain as we walked to Magnolia Bakery (now at Rockefeller Center) to get some cupcakes.

It was a short night's rest because we had to be at JFK by 5:00am for Jackie's flight. We checked out at 4:30am, took a cab to JFK- Jackie's flight landed in SLC at 10:30am and mine landed at 12:30pm. Our whirlwind trip to NYC in July of 2009 was over- and it was great.

You too can have your own adventure in New York with me and Jackie- just put in your deposit before Oct. 1st to come with us June 8th-14th 2010!

July in New York (Part 4)

Friday morning, I got to sleep in while Jackie awoke at 5:00am. I already had my tickets for the musical Next to Normal and getting a TKTS ticket wasn't likely so we had found out that you could get a $25 ticket through a lottery that the theatre held every day. The first people in line could buy 2 tickets for $25 each- and the line forms early. So, off Jackie went with a book and a blanket.

While Jackie sat in front of a Broadway theatre with strangers (and a bagel with cream cheese), I headed off to a great breakfast place called Good Enough to Eat on the Upper West Side. I enjoyed my eggs and grapefruit juice while I listened to two Columbia students talk about how they tried to get 12th Night in Central park tickets at 5:30am- only to find the line was too long.

I took the subway down to say hi to Jackie and then it was back to the Time Warner Center for Day #2 of the conference. I arrived early because this session was all about the new Julie Taymor (The Lion King) musical Spiderman. We were meeting the musical director and the assistant set designer. As we were ushered in, we had to turn our cell phones off and put away all cameras. They played two songs from the show- and if I had doubts before, they were gone after those songs. The music is written by Bono and The Edge of U2 and the set is going to be unlike anything you've ever seen on a Broadway stage. They are spending 50 Million on this show and 40 Million is going to be the set. They told us Spiderman doesn't sing (let alone talk) and that all of their casting was done- There will be 3 Spiderman's- each with a different skill set (swinging, fighting, etc), the songs sound like good U2 stadium anthems- that still fit the characters of the show and the orchestra will be put into 2 rooms above the stage because the Chrysler Building is going to come out of the pit. It's going to be something amazing and I'm trying to make it the 1st show we see in NYC in June (again... come with us...)

We met 2 of the people involved with the short lived, but hilarious, Broadway musical Title of Show. They took us through a writing exercise that was based on their song Die Vampire Die- it was a great session with several teachers having moments of catharsis all over the place. I however was more concerned with meeting Jackie for lunch (with my cousin Allison- who just moved to Brooklyn with her husband Peter) at a SWANKY restaurant called Nougatine. It is honestly one of the top restaurants in the United States- not just New York- and they have a special $24 3-course lunch.

I got there just in time to have a delicious lunch of pea soup, steak and a strawberry tart. After that, is was back to the conference for an educator's workshop from Music Theatre International about their new products and then we got to talk to Tom Kitt, the composer of the show we were seeing that evening Next To Normal. I had owned the soundtrack for a while (so I know the secret in the show), but it was great to have him play some songs- and to hear him talk about his next project of being hired by GreenDay to bring American Idiot to life on stage. After that, we talked to Walter Bobbie (famous Broadway actor and director- most famous for the current 14 year running revival of Chicago). The best part of his session was him talking about the producers forcing him to put Melanie Griffith in as Roxie- and how she was a triple threat- she couldn't sing, dance or act--but she brought home the message of Chicago with extra clarity- that someone could get away with murder. He also really liked working with Usher in the show and that he could do all of the original choreography.

After the conference, Jackie was passed out from her early morning at Next to Normal so I went to the Drama Bookstore on 40th to get a few new scripts- and 2 hot dogs and a papaya juice (on 9th and 41st).

Jackie and I met up at Next to Normal- which is a fantastic show. It was emotional for everyone in the audience (the show deals with a mother who is struggling with severe emotional problems and the effect it has on her family)- and we had a great chat back with the cast afterwards. Alice Ripley deserved her Tony Award for Best Actress.

After that, Jackie and I were looking for food along 9th Avenue and discovered an Israeli restaurant. After eating my spicy goat, I tucked myself into bed with a slice of blueberry cheesecake and Joel McHale on The Soup.

July in New York (Part 3)

Thursday morning my conference began and I wanted to get over to Lincoln Center early to scope out the room arrangement. I left Jackie (still unconscious in the bed) and went over to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.

Last October, Jackie and I had discovered chef Thomas Keller's bakery Bouchon Bakery on the 4th floor there and I was excited to have one of his creations. They didn't open until 8:00am so I watched lots of college interns set up the kickoff for New York City Restaurant Week. Lot's of co-ed's were being sent all over the city wearing blue wigs and advertising free samples from some of NYC's top 6 restaurants- and the cast of Hair would be there at lunch time to sing. I texted Jackie that she should meet me at the Time Warner Center at noon to get tickets (they were free) and we would have a free, gourmet lunch together (with half of Manhattan).

After finishing my breakfast, I went and took the elevators all the way up to the top of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The nice elevator operator told me that the most expensive condo in the United States was at the top of the Time Warner building- and it was 58 million dollars. She told me he had his own elevator and entrance.

The conference started off great with 2 guest lecturers from Julliard. We did lots of fun "bonding exercises" and then it was off to lunch.

The 3rd floor landing of the Time Warner Center had turned into a madhouse. Jackie had gotten there early and had already gotten tickets for the food. We waited in line after line to try bite-sized samples of 5 star restaurants. Coke was there passing out free mini-bottles of Coke products. The cast of Hair was there, acting all hairy. It was crazy and fun. Jackie took off early to go on a walking tour to revolutionary NYC and I retreated from the restaurant madness into Borders.

The afternoon session of the conference was great. We talked to actors from The Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys, Avenue Q, and Billy Elliott. We had seen one of the actresses in an amazing production of Sweeney Todd (she played Pirelli) with Patti Lupone. After the actor chatback, we met with composer Jeanine Tesori who talked about writing Shrek, Caroline or Change and Thoroughly Modern Millie. She was funny and smart- and growing up played the piano but was not interested in musicals at all. She did say that her four years playing girls rugby prepared her for life in the musical theatre.

Jackie met me for dinner but first, we stopped at the world famous Levain Bakery for their cookies. We wanted real food so I smuggled them in my bag and we were off to Compass for dinner. Compass is a restaurant on the Upper West Side and, though normally crazy expensive, they had a pre-theatre dinner for $35 (3 courses). We both ordered off that menu and they threw in an amuse-bouche, appetizer, entree, dessert, cookies AND (the best part), little lemon coffee cakes to eat for breakfast the next morning.

We then caught the subway down to 50th to see Shrek the musical. Jackie had scored tickets from TKTS (I already had tickets from my conference) and it turned out to be a really fun show. I had the songs memorized because it's all Ellis and Millie will listen to in the car. We had a talk back after the show with Chris Seiber (Lord Farquad) and Jon Tartaglia (Pinochoccio- but most famous for being in Avenue Q and his own Disney show, Johnny and the Sprites). He started working for Sesame Street at age 16.

After that, it was back to the hotel to eat our Levain Bakery cookies from earlier that day- and we both passed out into a diabetic coma.

Above is a picture of the famous Levain cookie- and it's worth it.

July in New York (Part 2)

As Jackie and I stumbled into the summer New York sun, we both noticed there was no humidity- in fact, it felt great. After a quick lunch at Le Pain Quotidian (Jackie had egg salad with sardines! I had an Italian tasting platter) we went off to hear Seth Rudetsky interview Broadway actors live from Times Square. It was fun listening to Andy Karl (from 9 to 5) and the original Motormouth MayBelle from Hairspray. We headed over to TKTS- only to find not much available- at least nothing we hadn't already seen before. After debating a bit, we decided to head over to God of Carnage- a play that won the Tony for Best Play. It was starring Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini so it was a hot ticket- and I was hoping it was sold out- the reason being if a show is sold out, you can buy standing room tickets for $25- which we did. After buying our tickets, we checked out the hotel we'll be staying in next June (the Hampton Inn Times Square is going to be awesome! Come with us!), we both quickly drank caffeinated beverages to keep us going and we went to the show.
The play was awesome (we stood next to a cool guy from Seattle who was seeing his first Broadway show)- it's about 2 sets of parents (both well off) who get together after one of their sons beats up the son of the other couple. Even thought the topic was serious, it was hilarious (especially a moment of projectile vomiting) and we both loved it. It was 90 minutes exactly- no intermission and we didn't mind standing. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1543292572?bctid=17212090001
After the play, we went back to TKTS and were excited to see that Our Town- a classic piece was on for Off-Broadway. We bought tickets (for $30) and had a nice chat with an elderly gentleman who was in line in front of us.
After that, it was off to a restaurant called Artisenal- which is famous primarily for cheeses. We had amazing fondue and a 3 course tasting lunch menu. Everything was great (and we only paid lunch prices- and our cool waitress comped us an appetizer so we could "try it, cause it's great in the fondue"-which it was).
After that, we rolled down to Greenwich Village to see Our Town- after wandering through some cool historical streets. Our Town was at the historic Bleecker Street Theatre- which only holds 140 people. The show was sold out- and words cannot do justice to this amazing production. If you are interested, look over this video- all I can say is, it was probably Jackie and my favorite show of the trip.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1543292572?bctid=14151054001
After the show, we went right back to the hotel to find that they turned down our beds and left us each a famous New York Black & White cookie. We fell asleep quickly ready for more the next day.

July in New York (Part 1)

Tuesday, 8:00pm. Jackie and I have just dropped the girls off at my parents and we are headed to NYC. I'm going to a musical theatre conference at Lincoln Center and Jackie is going for a good time.

Jackie's nickname for this getaway is "Stitch-Head" because she chose the day before our flight to have a cyst removed from her head- and she's in minor pain.

As we near the airport for our 11:59pm nonstop flight, we both receive calls on our cells informing us that our flight has been postponed and would be leaving at 1:25am.

We check-in, had our bodies fully scanned and probed at security, get a Cinn-A-Bon and proceed to watch CNN replay the Michael Jackson memorial service 5000 times. After reading a newspaper, I try to fall asleep only to have Mariah Carey wake me up every time she sings.

As we wearily board the plane at 1:20am, I try to sleep while listening to my Ipod.

We stumble off the plane at 8:30am at JFK. The weather looks beautiful and we had planned on going directly over to Central Park to try to score tickets to 12th Night with Anne Hathaway and Audra McDonald. That was when our flight was landing at 6:30am- we decide to tell our cab to go there anyway. We hit Central Park West at 9:30am- only to find the line-literally- two miles long. I knew people started lining up at 5:00am for 2 free tickets (that aren't distributed until 1:00pm) so, after following the line a bit, we hit the sidewalk for our hotel.

At this point, Jackie is lugging our suitcase behind her and we walked from 92nd street to 60th. Jackie refused to use the subway "for my penance" (whatever that means)- although the plus was walking along Central Park West I got to meet Sutton Foster who was walking with her dog. She was very polite. We arrive at the Empire Hotel across from Lincoln Center and quickly realize that we are not dressed like the rest of the guests (and staff for that matter). This hotel was beautiful- and- having not changed our clothes from our flight plus having just walked over 30 blocks we were not looking our best.

I thought that we would just check our luggage because it was only 10:30 and check in wasn't until 2:00pm. Luckily, the guy had a king room available (the rack rate for this room was $700 a night- I paid $125 off Priceline) and up we went to crash.

The first thing I noticed about the room was that the shower was from the future. There was no shower curtain- or glass. It was open to the whole bathroom with a slatted, wooden floor (with the drain underneath). There was an overhead rain shower head- and a hand held water nozzle. I carefully disrobed in the room (the bathroom was too small to take off your clothes in), carefully turned on the water- and it blasted out of the nozzle onto the ceiling- arcing over the sink and pooling around the toilet. I could not for the life of me find the switch to turn on the overhead shower head- so I held the nozzle (with water blasting my head off) with one hand while I tried, vainly, to open the shampoo with the other hand (I ended up using my teeth). After the "shower", I went out to find Jackie asleep so I woke her in fury at the shower. I called maintenance and requested them to fix our shower- and fix the toilet that was leaking too (I couldn't figure out how so much water got around the toilet when I was far away in the shower- with no curtain, glass or door on it. I also asked for an ironing board. When the nice housekeeper arrived, I told her about our broken shower head- and she promptly hopped in the shower and turned it on correctly. I couldn't see the switch under the knob. I quickly mopped up the water around the toilet while she wasn't looking.

After that- we stumbled out of the hotel to do lunch and get our tickets for 2 shows that day. Our groggy adventure had begun.

Professional Laying

So Jackie and I decided to pull out all the stops this 4th of July and celebrate our nation's birth... by putting a new carpet pad under the carpet where water had leaked a week ago from a faulty pressure valve in our hot water heater in our new home that we've only lived in a month.

Last Saturday, after doing a load of laundry, I was downstairs and heard dripping. I went into the unfinished portion of our basement to discover a large pool of water stemming from hot water shooting out of the copper pipe coming out of our water heater. I ran upstairs to turn on all the faucets (it had done this once before- on the first day we moved in) to make it stop- but it was too late. Water had leaked under one of the walls and into the carpet/carpet pad of our office.

So, to celebrate our nation's Independence, (and after pulling up the carpet after church last week), Jackie and I cut out a new carpet pad, threw away the wet portion of the old one, laid the carpet back down and hammered it back onto the tack strip. We had no idea what we're doing and hopefully it stays down (or have huge ripples and bubbles from our professional job). We are now letting everyone know we are available for similar jobs because we feel professional now. Happy 1st month in our new house.

Skin Deep

So Jackie and I made a friendly visit to our local dermatologist on Tuesday. Note to self: do not schedule a duo appointment during the girls nap time. This may result in you having to take both girls into the men's bathroom to change Ellis while Millie thinks the urinal is a futuristic drinking fountain.

After having my moles checked and getting cream to rub on various pieces of skin, I asked the doctor about a random piece of skin that appeared on my thigh one day. I called it my "nubbin" or I guess, like a James Bond villain, it was my third nipple (just located far away). The doc told me he could remove it in 5 seconds, but because it was considered a cosmetic surgery, it wouldn't be covered by insurance and cost $80. So, he told me how to operate on myself. I am going to pass along this $80 information to you so that you can remove any unwanted skin.

Step #1: Numb the area with ice for 90 seconds.

Step #2: Have cuticle scissors, nasal spray, q-tips and a band aid nearby.

Step #3: After icing, cut the skin off with the cuticle scissors and quickly apply nasal spray to the q-tip and hold over open wound.

Step #4: Have Jackie pound on the door saying, "You shouldn't be performing surgery on yourself!! Let me do it. Those had better not be my good cuticle scissors!"

Step #5: Flush excised skin down the toilet (along with bloody toilet paper).

Step #6: Slap band aid on wound. It doesn't really hurt- just kind of stings from the nasal spray.

Final Step: Pray you don't have to go for stitches and try to explain to the doctor why there is an open wound on your thigh covered with nasal spray.