Well, dear readers, I am too pooped to pop. Yes, Virginia, I, BK, am too pooped to pop. Or, conversely, I am too popped to poop. Oh, dear, not a good reverse, is it? And what exactly does too pooped to pop mean? I understand if you have poopy popcorn that it might be too pooped to pop. But I, BK, don’t pop, so why is am I too pooped to pop when I don’t pop, that’s what I’d like to know. In any case, even though I don’t really pop I’m too pooped to pop if I did pop, which I don’t. You know, if anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about, don’t tell me because it might frighten me. I can barely keep my eyes open because I am full of food and it’s been a very long day. Speaking of a very long day, yesterday was one such day. I got up a little later than I should have, so I had to move a little faster than I like to in the morning, and I began my long jog about twenty minutes later. I got back and had to quickly shave and shower and then I had to go do two errands, and then I headed over to LACC for our second LACCTAA event, a musical theatre master class with Miss Karen Morrow. We had about twenty-five people at the start, but we had quite a few latecomers, and we ended up with about thirty-five to forty people, which was just perfect. We picked ten people to sing. Miss Morrow was wonderful – not only is she a great performer and a terrifically warm and caring person, she’s a born teacher. Each singer got up and did their song, and then she’d begin questioning them about the words, the intention, who they were singing and playing to, all very specific. It was amazing to see how many of them, even the ones who’ve done professional work, had trouble verbalizing what the song’s words meant and what story the song was telling. She’d get them to break it down and then have them do it again, and she’d just pull and pull from them and then it was so much fun to listen and watch them get the result. I think everyone there had a great time and learned a lot, whether singing or just observing. There were even faculty members taking notes. That part of the day lasted around two hours, and then we did a forty-minute Q&A, which I moderated. I asked several questions that I’d prepared, and then we opened the floor to questions. Miss Morrow was smart, funny, supportive, and it was just a great, great afternoon. Richard Berent did a great job accompanying the singers, too. The reaction to our first LACCTAA newsletter was also very nice, although because I was rushed in the proofing phase, the second page, which was all done last minute, had a couple of unfortunate errors, and I found two little problems in my piece that I just hadn’t had time to catch. Since we’re going to send out a PDF version to our LACCTAA mailing list, those few mistakes will be fixed, and when we print up the next batch those will be the corrected version. I got home around four-thirty, answered a bunch of e-mails and tried to sit on my couch like so much fish and begin a movie. I started to watch The Story On Page One, which I’d TIVOd, but I fell asleep after six minutes – it doesn’t seem like a very good movie, but then again the director is Clifford Odets, the writer, and he wasn’t exactly known as a director. From the little I saw, he seems to encourage his fine actors to go completely over the top, and these normally fine screen actors just become irritating. I’ll try to finish it today.
I then toddled off the cousin Dee Dee and Alan’s home environment for a dinner partay. They always throw the nicest partays and this one was no exception. The guests included Tony Slide and Bob Gitt, actress Carol Kline and her husband and lovely daughter, Sara, and myself. Also present was the delightful Casey, the dog of the house. As always, the conversation was varied and interesting and sparklingly sparkling. Plus, Dee Dee made my favorite appetizer – I’m not sure what she calls them (cheese puffs?), but it’s slices of English muffin, toasted with a mixture of parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, onions, and I’m sure some other things. It’s so yummilicious that I can’t even tell you how yummilicous it is. I had the equivalent of a half an English muffin. A great start to what would then be a great meal, which included a delicious chicken dish, some red cabbage thing that was great, and a carrot thing that was also great. I didn’t have any bread, but did eat one and a half chicken breasts. It was very filling, but given the long jog and the fact that this was this week’s splurge meal, I think I was fine, diet-wise. The only really caloric thing was the dessert – a poached pear covered in dark chocolate. It was great, but I was a good boy and only ate half. After dinner, Sara went home and got the Kline’s dog Ajax, and Casey and Ajax played while we all conversed. Time flies very fast at these dinner partays and before I knew it it was already ten-thirty and I suddenly was too pooped to pop, so I took my leave and came home, where I immediately sat on my chair like so much fish, and just zoned out at Ye Olde Laptop.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am too pooped to pop and yet I must pop over to the next section.
Have I mentioned that I’m too pooped to pop? Today, I shall do nothing but relax, watch DVDs, and eat some of the appetizer thing we had last night – Dee Dee was thoughtful enough to prepare some extra and give me some English muffins. That will probably be a major part of my meal o’ the day, with maybe a little salad or something to go with it. I shall do my best to clear my head and be ready for the busy week ahead.
Tomorrow, I have a brunch meeting at Hugo’s, and then I must begin doing some work on Nudie Musical, and David Wechter and I have to buckle down Winsocki to talk about any changes we want to make so we can do our little rewrite. I also have to finish writing the notes for the new Kritzerland CD as well as get it prepped for release. The cover looks very nice. I also have to decide which bits I’ll be reading at the book signing on Saturday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, relax, watch DVDs, and eat some delicious cheese puff things. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I go remedy the fact that I’m too pooped to pop by getting my beauty sleep.