soldiers @ the dallas/fort worth airport

while i was travelling to Chicago recently, i had a lay-over in Dallas. I was sharing the airport lounge with a sea of soldiers, all deploying to iraq. I spoke to many of them, asking them if they were returning there or first timers. What struck me most was their youth. Of course I am aware of what is happening overseas, but only as an outside observer--and only armed with what the media is filtering through to us. these kids made it even more real & sad & they even felt it was futile...
the death toll is approaching 2400 for our guys, and countless deaths for the Iraqi civilians.
when i say countless, i know there are some spotters saying in the tens of thousands.
anyway, no matter my take on the war, i was moved to tears to see all these scared young kids on their way to the unknown. There were many people there in the airport just saying goodbye & going up and down the line hugging strangers, i imagine they had lost children or family members. a very moving and sad scene, and i was there in the safety of the airport, only going to Chicago not Baghdad. what can we do?

roadie night @ the rainbow

we drove the lil' miata to the rainbow last night after a good work out at the gym, jozie is a one-woman linda hamilton. she is whipping me arse into shape with her tricky work-out tips & the gym rats were all coming over to watch her work her magic...
anyway, we went to the rainbow to meet up with some friends & ended up seeing all Kinds of old roadie buddies, it was a perfect night on the sunset strip.
today i have to get some more work done on printing for the big art show coming up.
i know it seems like there is much time in between now & june 11th, but truly, it is going to fly by. we went yesterday to look at the space & i dropped off the announcement for the show @ the printers...here is a copy:

live theater & table read, baby!

had such a great weekend, we did our first reading aloud of the new script,
and got so much done in way of rewriting. Makes such a difference to hear the words being spoken as opposed to reading them in your head...Malena was fantastic, i was so proud.
& Ethan, he has written a gem.
after we did some work @ my house, we went to see a play over on Melrose @ Fake Gallery, a small but darling art house theatre. The play is titled "She Always Told Me". I was so inspired by this work, a collection of 12 short skits, clever as hell. Go see it if you can, they run 'til the end of May. Prod. Rebecca Johnson & writer Annie Mebane, Jen Zaborowski & Anne Gregory, each has a stand-out piece in the work, & they reminded me that we are living in a city of real live actors, not just tv & movies.

after the play, we went to check out the American Electric tattoo shop "Bully" artshow, and it was packed to the gills, people spilling over out on to Sunset. Happy to say one of my pieces sold....lalalala.
working some shows back-to-back this week, and then go to Chicago for a real Greek wedding, can't wait to see everyone, my parents are coming out too--thankful i get to spend some time with them.
Now i am getting ready to meet Sherri & Farah for sushi on this rainy LA morning..

tour swag

was at dinner this week with a bunch of my roadie friends--NEK made an amazing table of food, & we proceeded to drink a little celebratory champagne...as it was Claire's birthday.
anyway, somehow the talk turned to tour swag. while remaining discreet, i will say some tours shower you with swag, to the point of too much, while some give you nothing but a boot in the ass on the way out the door. some give you autographed photos & some give you gorgeous embroidered shirts, some give out personalized gold records & some generously give their crew big appreciation parties. i never ask for/expect much, of course, but it is very nice to have a little memento from your time spent with a tour. the crew photo is always a wonderful thing to have later on down the road.
anyway, Nicole had one of the greatest pieces of swag i have seen, here she is w/a top of the line soccer ball, something i would really use!