Ooma

Objects of my affection.

Jessica Gruner Waters.... I remember sitting at Cafe du Nord years ago talking with Jessica about her dreams of becoming a writer -- she was a high school teacher at the time. Today, Jessica has written 4 novels, three of which have been published, with the fourth one on its way.

Maybe a year or so after the writing conversation, Jessica asked me to model some clothes for her for her website. She had her hopes set on opening a boutique of her own someday. Today, she and my good friend Matt (her husband) own Ooma - a beautiful boutique in the heart of San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood.

In the past 6 years, I've witnessed Jessica realizing these dreams, and it's been so inspiring!! :)

I'm glad she's a part of my life.

Breathe....

This is painted on a concrete fishing bench at the Berkeley Pier.

I'm throwing a birthday party. Some friends of mine are working to convert a warehouse from an auto shop to a theatrical and training space, and have offered to let me throw a party there. I'm putting together a show to help support the development of their space and to feature some of my lovely and talented friends. I've asked that people not bring gifts, but donate to the space instead.

Right now, my lineup includes: stage combat, stand up comedy, singing, acting, modern dance, clown acts, a literary reading, and some music pieces - Yeow!

I'm ecstatic and terrified.

:D

My new awesome hat!

Yup.  That's all. 

En Garde!

This is my favorite photo from the workshop.  The big guy on the left is Dave! 

We ended on Sunday and my muscles are still sore, but my body just wants to keep on fighting.  Makes sitting at a desk all day a little painful...

Kristen's Month of Possible Death

I kept saying, "December's gonna kill me!" ...to the point where I thought I had maybe predicted my own death.  ...and, getting super sick sort of reinforced that idea...

Yaaaaaaaa!!! 

...but, here I am at LAX, ALIVE! exhausted, inspired, blessed, still fighting mucus, but ready to go back to Oakland and jump in...and, I feel great!  :)

Interesting how having a self predicted possible near death experience can motivate a wildly optimistic perspective on life. 

;) 

Let's FIGHT!!!!

I'm a little over half way through a week long Dueling Arts International stage combat workshop, and I'm getting my ass kicked -- but it's so much fun!!  We fight all day everyday. 

We're focusing on rapier and dagger, broadsword, small sword, and unarmed combat... and we've touched on tai chi, filipino stick fighting, knife fighting, akido, rapier and buckler, rapier and cloak, and groin shots (yes, because they're funny!).

Everyone at the worshop is terrific.  It's been a great way to finish out the year.  ...and, I'm almost (almost) recovered from my cold!

And, we're off!

I probably shouldn't have raised a beer mug of decaf coffee to health when I did because, as it turns out, I'm still fighting a lingering sinus infection and a phlegmy cough.  Yuck. ...but, it's not enough to stop me now. I flew in from Colorado this morning, and am on my way back out to L.A. as I write this...

Wish me luck!

December hasn't killed me yet...

To your health

I asked for a decaf coffee, and this is what they gave me...  it actually IS a decaf coffee. in. a. beer mug. 

?

:) 

Having your health return is an amazing feeling.  It's like coming out of a cave you've been in for too long and seeing the sun again....

Gravity

I guess I should've anticipated a fall after the high I've been on...  :)

I'm sick.  I've been sick for four days...  it's torture.  Wait, last year's hives was torture... this is more kind of miserable and inconvenient.  And, maybe necessary, actually.  I ran myself ragged - what did I think was going to happen...? 

A friend of mine pointed out that keeping busy might be a coping mechanism for me.

Sea of rooftops

New York 2010 - take two.

I'm on a flight back to the Bay with the longest sunset hanging on the horizon...

This time around, my days were filled with work in the New York office, introductions to our brilliant East Coast counter parts, and lunches with some of my former SF favorites. 

My nights were filled with:

Kenichi and Patrick
Des in Brooklyn, Holly in Manhattan
The Creditor's with Patrick (Simón's show), drinks with Simón
The Red Shoes in Brooklyn
NY office Christmas party, Brooklyn artist party
Looking at Christmas with Des (Holly's show), The Pelican with Simón

A self proclaimed ex-runway model at the artist party said that I had a great presence and he could see a future for me as a comedian... ?  In L.A.  ?  And, I think I made a date to see theater with the driver who came to take my boss to the airport...I thought we were just making small talk while we were waiting, but he said he'd meet me at the show the next day.  ?? 

The sun sets... until next time NYC...

Brooklyn

I love it when plans change exactly how you want them to. At the last minute I got to go to the theater in Brooklyn last night.

The Red Shoes was a production full of devices beautifully orchestrated to unlock imagination. Movement and moments made with light and frames and music and dance and smoke and stars... it was like a fable, and a bit of a clown show, and a puppet show, and...I sort want to compare it a little to the Rocky Horror Picture Show... hm. ...but, with less sex and more shoes and churches and old ladies and people in underwear (wait, both seemed to have a lot of underwear). Maybe that's a bad comparison. I only saw it once. (Well, I only saw both of them once.) Anyway...

The end of the show surprised me. I thought we were going to find ourselves arriving at an obvious kind of a moral lesson -- but instead we found ourselves arriving at...humanity. Exquisite.

---------

I haven't slept since... I can't really remember when...? Sometime before Carmel. ...the Bay Area feels like a distant memory of incredible food and chilly rain...

Nighttime in New York

Looking out the picture window of my over priced New York City hotel room... (unfortunately, you can't really see anything in this photo.)

I'm hoping to sleep tonight.

I'm jet lagged, booked solid, and feel great.  What is it about this city that I love so much...? 

Carmel

After the quake in 1906, a group of artists moved to Carmel from San Francisco.  According to monterey.com, today, Carmel has more art galleries per capita than Manhattan.

What a beautiful location for a film... we didn't catch any shooting this weekend due to the rain, but we scouted locations, saw raw footage, played a solid game of poker, and got to hang out with our brilliant movie producing friend and his fantastic his crew.  :)

Repost

(I didn't like my last post, so I deleted it -- but I liked the picture... :))

In stage combat terms (or, maybe it's deuling swordfighting terms, which is actually all kind of the same thing... :) or how about we just say, according to Dave, the instructor I've worked with over the last few years), to riposte means to answer. It's a swordfighting technique that can be used to quickly change the direction of a fight.