NaNoBlogMo2 - The Butler McGig

Anson McCook
Photo Credit: Rob Symonds

One of the most unique gigs that I have been a part of as a member of Sea Tea Improv was a gig we did for the Butler McCook house this fall as part of EnvisionFest. The Butler McCook house is a historical house in Hartford. During the Civil War, two sisters lived there: Mary & Eliza Butler. The were cousins to the somewhat well known McCook family (aka the Fighting McCooks). Fifteen members of the McCook family all enlisted in the Union army with varying assignments, successes and longevity. Mary & Eliza tried to help out in the war effort by sending packages (with things like food, newspapers, wine and in one case enough mittens for a literal boatload of men) and writing letters to their cousins. A fabulous recent find in the attic of the Butler McCook house was stacks of the letters the cousins wrote in response. 

We were asked to read through the letters/books/notes/etc and put together some scenes based on these real people and their interesting lives. I think one of my favorite things about the experience was reading through everything. It really struck me how normal and human and real these people were. They got homesick and complained about flies. They fell in love and they talked about the importance of home cooked meals. They wondered about getting promoted and teased their family members. We tried to write sketches that picked some of the most interesting stories or qualities from five of the McCook cousins who were brothers (Roderick, Ed, JJ, Anson & Henry).

 

Ed & JJ McCook
Photo Credit: Rob Symonds

Vlad, Julia & I met one night to discuss casting, which stories to focus on and the structure of the performance. We decided to set it up as though Mary & Eliza were putting together a package with their cousin (also named Mary), and discussing the five brothers. At times the men would pantomime what they described, or would step forward for a flashback. We used as many quotes from the letters as possible for acuracy and also because the letters themselves were just fantastic. Casting was hilariously easy to do because the brothers oddly seemed to match up very well with the personalities of the members of Sea Tea. Since we were one dude short, I volunteered to cross-dress (AGAIN) and play the part of Roderick (aka Shed), a naval officer. Part of the reason I was slated to play Shed is because while he was serving on the USS Stars & Stripes, Eliza & Mary knit 80 pairs of mittens for the enlisted men on the ship. While we were getting an initial tour of the house to start learning about the Butlers & the McCooks, my eyes must have lit up at hearing that. Julia just looked at me and was like, "Yep...we are doing that story." I wrote the opening scene, Roderick's story & "Horse" Ed's, while Julia wrote Henry's, Anson's & JJ's (the closer).

The McCooks & Butlers
Photo Credit: Rob Symonds

As the un-official Sea Tea costumer, I was also responsible for getting us period garb. As part of the grant that was covering our performance, there was a portion just for costumes & props. I was excited to actually have a budget to work with instead of needing to scrounge into my own odd clothing reserves and Goodwill. After some research I decided to go with Boston Costume, and I don't mind at all giving them free advertising because they were extremely helpful. It took quite a few phone calls & emails to get all the details straight, but they were very patient and there is no arguing with the end result. We got a lot of compliments for our costumes. And we still had a bit of money leftover from the grant money to also get some prop civil war muskets that came in very handy during the pantomime. 

In between the three performances we did during the day we wandered around Hartford in costume. We ended up taking a ton of pictures with people. At one point we ended up running into the Mayor of Hartford (so this marks the second time I've met the Mayor, and both times I was cross-dressing and in period garb. When he saw me he said, "We must stop meeting like this!"). We also decided to ride the carosel in Bushnell Park in costume, which was a wonderful moment....until they started playing the song "Dixie" to our Union dismay.

So now we have done scripted history gigs for both the Mark Twain house and the Butler McCook house. I wonder what other landmarks in Connecticut would like some talented improvisors to bring life to their unique histories? I know I'm always looking for excuses to get my fellow troupemates to wear interesting clothes...

Mileage: 2.5

NaNoBlogMo2 - Sky Diving

I've wanted to go sky diving for many years. On my 18th birthday, my parents told me they would pay for me to go sky diving as my birthday present. But at the time I was overweight and I only ended up getting heavier from that point. When I started trying to get in shape last January, my mother said to me "Maybe you can go sky diving when you are done?" (or something along the lines), but I just scoffed at her and said, "I don't think I'm going to be able to lose 70 pounds."

Welp, apparently I didn't give myself enough credit. I'm 65lbs down from that point and still working. So when a Groupon came up for sky diving in Ellington, CT, I forwarded it to my mom and she immediately bought it. After a one week delay due to Sandy (and whats a one week delay when I have been waiting to go for 8 years now?) I got to jump this morning.

I didn't tell too many people that I was doing it before I jumped just in case it got cancelled or something happened (not sure what that something was....chickening out maybe?). I was also trying not to think about the jump too much, I think to avoid psyching myself out. The few people I did tell wished me luck and I honestly had to remember I was going. I think I only admitted to myself I was actually, truly, for reals going to jump once I started putting on the jumpsuit.

My rentals and I arrived at Ellington around 7:40 AM. I signed a bunch of paperwork saying I promised not to sue if I got all broken or died. I put on some extra layers due to the cold. I got my jumpsuit and harness on. My tandem jump partner, Lindsey (not sure how she spells it), went over the basics with me, what would happen in the plane and what positions I would need to be in for each stage of the fall.


The shuffling crouch.

I practiced my positions while my mother laughed and took pictures. Then we were getting loaded up into the plane. The door that they opened and closed for us to jump through was clear and I had a good seat to watch out while we took off and got to the jump height (I think Lindsey said it was about 2 miles up). While we were in the plane, Lindsey hooked the two of us together very snuggly. Lots of tightening of straps and hooking things together. She checked every connection and said them outloud as she did so (for my benefit I think). She asked a few times if I was excited and ready. I think I had done too good a job of not psyching myself out. The whole time I was still extremely mellow, so I probably seemed almost bored. I promised her I was excited and looking forward to it. I put on my leather cap and pulled my goggles over my glasses (which was exciting cuz I was worried I wouldn't get to wear them and it would just be a long blurry fall). The couple in front of me that were also jumping gave each other a quick kiss (which was made extra adorable and a little funny since they were both strapped to other people) and then it was time for us to jump out.


Initial jump position...aka arch.

We were the third pair to go. We crouched and scooted to the exit, facing the front of the plane with the door on our left. We rocked once, twice and then we were falling out of the plane. I pushed my hips forward and head back (as I was instructed) so that we would get into the right position for falling. The first few seconds were rather surreal. My face was pointed towards the earth and the air was just rushing past my body so fast and strong that I couldn't really move or look around. It honestly didn't even feel like I was falling at that point. It was just like I was watching the Earth get closer, while looking downward in a strong wind. Lindsey gave me the double tap on the shoulders so I knew I could spread my arms out and enjoy the fall. My goggles shifted slightly and for half a second I thought I was going to lose my glasses a mile above the ground.

Free fall position.

After a short time (at least it felt short), Lindsey pulled the parachute and things immediately slowed and calmed down. She unhooked something else, and I dropped away from her a bit and suddenly I was falling vertically. From that point on it felt pretty much like parasailing. Quiet, calm, breezy and beautiful. We floated down while I tried to pop my ears and Lindsey pointed out different cities. "There's Springfield," she said, then pulled us leftward, "And there's Hartford." I was pleasantly surprised at how long we got to float around, I thought it was going to be over much faster.

She asked if I got nauseus easily. When I said no she handed me the straps that control the parachute and guided me to set us into a spin, first left and then right. That was a lot of fun. I asked her how the directional straps worked and she explained how they create drag. Looking back now (a whole few hours later), I think thats pretty typical for me. There I was, sky diving for the first time, falling towards the ground, and I take a moment to ask for a lesson on parachute mechanics. Ah well, I like learning and understanding.

Lindsey had me practice the landing position a few times the closer we got to the ground and scoot my butt further back into the straps. Once I could make out the shapes of my parents and Tony (a family friend and coworker who lives near the airport and came to watch me jump), I waved. Then the ground was coming up fast. I pulled up my knees, then stretched out my legs. We landed on our rears and slide forward a bit before my heel caught the ground and brought us to a rather ungraceful stop and made Lindsey whack me ever so slightly in the back. She unhooked us, I thanked her for the ride and she had to go run off for another jump.

The whole experience was over pretty quickly and I still feel slightly detached from the whole experience. I had a really great time and I would absolutely love to go again. There's one thing I can cross off my bucket list.

Mileage: 3

NaNoBlogMo2 - Sea Tea Studio Curtain

 

Anyone who has known me for longer then 15 minutes knows I'm an improvisor. It takes up the majority of my non-working and non-sleeping time. In exchange for my life, soul and at times my sanity, being in Sea Tea has also given me a hobby that pays for itself, a ton of wonderful/odd/unique/ hilarious/fantastic opportunities, and most importantly some amazing and talented friends that are more like family.

One of the wonderful things that Sea Tea was able to do recently was to start renting our own studio space. There is a great article about it HERE. We are having the official grand opening next week (contact me if you are interested in attending), but we've already been holding rehearsals, classes and mixers in it for over a month.

We've already spent some time painting/cleaning/moving stuff in/getting the place presentable. Part of what I was assigned to do, because of my crafty nature, was make a stage curtain. Although the studio is not an official theater space, we still needed a back wall to perform in front of. And the back wall we set has a doorway leading into the green room (aka the lounge, aka "The Tea Room"). So Vlad got some blackout curtain material, I lugged my sewing machine to the studio and I set to work. (P.S. Did I mention I got a sewing machine for Christmas last year? It was my father's idea, which makes me smile.)

I measured about a thousand times, and still cut everything with a ton of leeway just to be safe. Casey, one of our newest members, was super helpful in pinning all the  long edges so all I had to do was run the loooooong hems through. (This made me laugh as it was always my job to pin while my mother sewed when we did projects together.) While we were doing that, Dan and Vlad were securing the hooks to hang the curtain rod. That way, once every other edge was done, I could hang the curtain exactly where it was going to be and pin it exactly how we wanted it (with a bit extra fabric at the bottom to pool and block the light from the green room). Other than a short break for a road trip to go get more thread (I stupidly and rather unlike my normal overpreparedness did not bring a spare spool) I (and my super pinner Casey) worked without stopping from the first measure & cut to the final hang up.

I tend to work better with deadlines. I started making a sweater blanket in January (remember in my hobby bucket list from last year I said I wanted to make a sweater blanket?) as the first project I was working on with my new sewing machine. I was working at a pretty fast pace, too, but then I hit a roadblock of a broken needle and have not worked on the project since. Because we were having some other improv people in the studio the next day, I wanted the curtain DONE. So one mad sewing marathon happened.

The only tip/crafty detail/etc that I can really mention for this story (cuz it doesn't feel like this one has a point) is that I tried to add weight to the bottom of the curtain as much as possible to help with the pooling. It also keeps the curtain in place while people go through, and stops it from billowing in breezes and such. I weighted the curtain by folding up all the excess fabric instead of cutting it off before I hemmed, and also by inserting curtain weights into the bottoms on the corners. I think the  end result looks nice and next I plan to make matching curtains for all the windows.

Mileage: 3.25

NaNoBlogMo2 - More Geeky Pumpkins

Starting off easy.... I also wanted to post this as close to Halloween as possible before it starts becoming super un-relevant. In the three Halloween's I've had at home since I got back from China, I have made three super geeky pumpkins. In 2010 I made the Tree of Gondor, in 2011 I made a Darth-o-Lantern, and this year I made a Serenity pumpkin.

Firefly is one of my favorite shows, largely because of the quality and awesomeness of the show itself, but also because of the memory and fun folk attached to it. It serves as an instant bonding point for a lot of cool geeky people when I first meet them ("You love Firefly too? How much did you love the episode where...."). After a bit of searching for ideas for what geeky thing to carve into my pumpkin this year, since I had obviously set a precedent, I saw a picture of Serenity...the ship.

To be clear to the uninitiated, Serenity is the name of the ship from the show, and it is a Firefly-class spaceship. Hence why the show is called Firefly and why the movie was called Serenity.

 ANYWAY! I thought it came out ok. I am still working on my partial carving technique (as in, carving off the top layer of pumpkin-ness without going all the way through). It needs work. Please bear in mind it looks much cooler in person but I am still getting used to my new cellphone's camera.

 I had to put two candles in so that it was bright enough inside to show off the design. And I was wondering why it seemed to be getting dimmer while I was trying to take the picture when I realized the carving was so thin that there wasn't enough oxygen flow inside and the candles were dying! I laughed at myself and my forgetfulness regarding basic fire science before carving a quick face in the back of my pumpkin for airflow.

Now...what should I carve next year?

NaNoBlogMo...2?

In a move I can only describe as "idiotic" I am considering/planning/probably going to try and do a self-imposed daily blog entry this November like I did last year.

When I realized that it was November 1st, my first thought was doing my NaNoBlogMo again, which I immediately decided against since I haven't been doing much cooking or crafting lately.

My next thought was that I should do a self-imposed fitness challenge since getting into better shape has been a big part of my life lately. So I decided that by the end of November I want to have run/jogged/fast walked at least 40 miles. I mentioned this to my friend Julia and she is joining me in this challenge. We are also planning on doing a 5K sometime this month.

When we started making plans, she mentioned she also wants to do some sort of daily set writing this month. Which made me think about my blog again. I realized that a complaint of mine lately is that I have been very busy, but busy doing pretty much just improv and improv related activities, so maybe doing NaNoBlogMo will make me think about my other hobbies more this month. I also realized how lately when I cook I often use my old blog entries as recipes and wish there were more to chose from/look at. And I realized that I have done some interesting stuff lately that I can write about even if they aren't craft/cooking related because they are still hobby related and so is my running so I can use my blog to keep track of that and besides which this is my blog and I can write about whatever I want even if its stupidly long run on sentences.

...I guess its been a day of realizations.

So I guess I'm doing NaNoBlogMo again (and yes I am keeping the name despite it making no sense). Can you see how non-committal I'm being? Maybe I'm crazy. We'll see.

Milage: 2.25

Improv: Explaining in Reverse

**Warning: In this post I use the word "anus". That is all.**

In this week's Sea Tea Improv rehearsal, a series of events happened that I wanted to write down, probably because it is an example one of my favorite things about improv: explaining in reverse.

Often times in a scene you find yourself making a big, bold, character/universe defining statement or action only to later need to dig yourself out of the hole you just put yourself in. Actually, that's not quite right. Its more like finding yourself at a mountain peak and then trying to find the path that got you there.

I admire my teammate Joe because I often see him doing this in one breath. He often makes bold declarations in scenes. You can see the process in his eyes as he realizes that what he said probably needs some explanation, thinking of some backup, the light when he gets an idea and the satisfaction as he gets the audience from point 1 to point c (not a typo). All this without hesitation.

The example from this week's rehearsal was more of a slow, group explanation in reverse. We were doing a montage long form, which means getting one suggestion and then doing a series of scenes off of it. It is extremely free form. The scenes can be short or long, and often there are recurring themes/characters/story lines.

In an early scene we met a character of Dan's who was a "dungineer" (or dungeon engineer). When I heard that, I immediately started wondering what dungineer school would be like, so later on I initiated a scene with Dan's character starting his first dungineer class. During the class it came up that I had tortured the sickest man ever, which made me the sickest man ever ever. In response to this, I gave Dan's character my card and said in an offhand way "Here's my card...keep it close to your anus."

Let's step back a moment. Now, I had no in-scene motivation for saying this at all. However, the previous montage we had run included a very detailed story of both a pair of hamsters living in people's rears' and a male prostitute with an amazing amount of...er...storage space. Of course these story-lines ended up meeting for a very odd ending. Also, in Dan's dungineer class he drew a picture of a cow whose mouth was sewn to it's own ass (after being instructed to draw the sickest thing he could think of). Perhaps with those things fresh in my mind "anus" was just at the tip of my....nevermind.

Regardless, Dan did the best possible thing he could do in the situation. He took it in stride, gratefully took my business card and placed it where directed.

Now, that could have been the end of my nonsensical statement, but twice in later scenes characters exchanged business cards from their anuses (never did I think I would need to pluralize "anus"). By repeating the gag, they were also making it normal and a part of the world we were creating. It's a little like watching a kid's movie where the main character can talk to an animal; the first time it happens it can be a bit odd, but the more it happens the more you just accept it and the rules of the universe are defined.

The best part, though, was a later scene when a character of Greg's needed to get a business card because he didn't have any yet. Dan was brilliant as the business card maker and passionately explained how we keep business cards near our anuses because dog's have the right idea in sniffing each other's butts: the anus contains the essence of ourselves and is the fastest way to know the true nature of a person. Greg was "fitted" for a business card by having his scent imprinted on a business card, and gleefully went on his way.

In particularly successful long forms, I love trying to trace back the threads of the world we have created. This one remained clear in my mind from my original statement, to a great "yes, and" from Dan, to support and continued use from other players, to final explanation. I am sure I could have picked a less anus-centric example, but this is what you get.

Anyway, all that aside, we have a show this Sunday at 7pm at the City Steam Brewery in Hartford. This show is actually a benefit show, where any donations or shirt sales will go to a cancer group (I don't want to write the actual name just in case google brings anyone to this entry. I don't think they would appreciate being connected to an entry about anuses.) If you are free you should definitely check it out!

New England Clam Chowder on the Fly

Clam chowder is one of my absolute favorite things in the world. When I was young and set in my ways (as opposed to now when I am slightly older and set in my ways), I would pretty much always order the same thing to eat when I went out with my parents: grilled cheese and clam chowder. And I mean New England clam chowder. If there is one thing that will vamp up my New Englander pride more than anything else, its the superiority of our chowder. Thick, creamy and delicious with big chunks of tasty veggies and clams...that's how a chowder should be.

That being said, it occurs to me that I don't think I have ever made clam chowder before. I know my mother has a recipe for a low-carb chowder (made when we were all on the Atkins diet a million years ago), but I don't think I ever even made that recipe. Despite that, Sunday night my mother mentioned that she had collected the ingredients for clam chowder and Monday night I found myself flying blindly, yet somehow confidently, into my first attempt. Clam chowder is a passion of mine, surely I could just make it by instinct.

I searched the fridge and freezer for bacon but none was to be found. That was really my only setback for the evening and easily solved when my father suggested rendering some salami he was currently slicing up for a pre-dinner snack. Once I had something to sautee my veggies in, I chopped up 3 peeled potatoes, 6 stalks of celery, half an onion, 3 peeled carrots and a partridge in a pear tree. Everything got mixed up with a spoonful of minced garlic. Once all the veggies were nicely mixed up and starting to get their cook on, I poured in water/clam juice that I drained from my large can of clams and set everything to simmer for a while.



In the large soup pot, I started to make my roux. I melted two whole sticks of butter (this chowder sure wasn't going to be healthy but it was going to be rich) and whisked in about a cup and a half of flour until it was thick and smooth. I slowly whisked in Half and Half until I got the consistency I wanted.

It was around this time my mother came into the kitchen and said "Do you know what you're doing?" and I answered honestly, "Nope."



I turned the heat off of my roux and made a little over two cups of clam broth using some clam base, which I kept set aside. I kept checking my veggies while they were simmering away until I could easily slice a large hunk of potato with a spoon. Then, one ladle-full at a time, I added my veggies (including the clam juice), my clam broth and the now-drained can of clams to my roux. I turned the heat back on and kept it on just long enough for everything to mix up and heat through. While I was mixing I added fresh cracked pepper, garlic salt and a little Old Bay seasoning. Right before turning off the heat and serving, I stirred in a bit of red wine vinegar.

Although I can never be 100% pleased with my cooking results, I was pretty excited more than anything else about the consistency. I wanted a nice, thick chowder and that's what I got. It needed a bit more seasoning, but that can always easily be adjusted bowl by bowl, whereas trying to thicken a chowder after its done would probably end disastrously. I've had it for lunch the last two days and is the perfect thing for a dark, rainy Connecticut December.

Honestly, I think the thing I am most disappointed in is my pictures for this entry. Since renewing my blog mojo I have been looking at other blogs and the photos I have been seeing make me understand why people use the term "food porn". Maybe I should stop using my cell phone and break out an actual camera.

I think this post might be the closest entry I have so far to being an actual recipe, since I did try to mention measurements when I could. Question for my reader(s) for the future: would anyone actually use a recipe if I tried to write down what I was doing during one of my "flying by the sea of my pants" cooking adventures?