Where two or more are gathered...

I got home from prayer group a while ago. This is when a group of women I know sit around and pray about various concerns. Tonight was depressing because one of the kids we've been praying for, a 16 year old with cancer, died recently. A lot of people in our church have cancer. One of the women in my group thinks cancer comes from "the pit of hell." Please. Cancer comes from irregularly multiplying cells.
So yeah, there are a lot of varying opinions in my group. Some are conservative and some are more progressive, like me. We are drawn together because we want the world to be a better place and think our words are heard.
I started working out with Stephanie today. It was tough but not as bad as I thought it would be. She did make me do walking lunges around the gym, however. Now THOSE come from the pit of hell. We did some cardio and some work with weights. We also worked out a little bit on the step and I confessed to her that I knew the step class would be really good for me, but I was afraid I would fall off. Tomorrow I'm doing a class that incorporates step as just a part of the class, and that's the limit of my step for the week.
I ate after 9 tonight, but it was celery, hummus, and a piece of string cheese. No carbs. That's the main thing I want to stay away from. I don't think it's too bad to eat later, as long as it's not a big meal or anything. I'm still hungry...but I'm going to ignore it and go to bed.
Hanging up now...

Ash Wednesday

So, for those of you who don't know, today was Ash Wednesday. This is usually a Catholic holiday but my church observes it too. It marks the beginning of Lent, which is a time of repentance and fasting. Some years I have given up some kind of food--one year I went on a "fast food fast." This year I'm trying to do two things. As far as the eating goes, I'm trying to not eat after 9 PM. But the big one is: getting my ass out of bed and going to church! I have missed too many services. My pastor tonight said, "We miss you when you're not here," and the look on her face was just sad. She is very progressive and yes, a woman. That is the first reason, first-impression-wise, that I decided to go to this church. I didn't want to go to that kind of non-denominational "megachurch" that one of my friends goes to. For all of their modernity, I find them pretty conservative. My church is made up of people with a variety of opinions, different ages, and different countries of origin. We come together because we love God, know God loves us, and want to show that love for him by our worship.
So, why fast? I do believe we sin as human beings. I don't believe in original sin, but in the sin that comes from what we do, or rather what we don't do. The best definition of sin that I have found is "He that knows God's will, and does not do it, sins." I know that I sin in this way all the time. There are many things I should do that I don't do, and there are many things I do do that I shouldn't. It's the human condition, we all do it, and therefore we all sin.
But I don't dwell on the sinning, that which separates us from God, but rather what brings us close to God. We can do great things. We can be creative, generative people. Often I thank God for the creators, for the writers and painters and dancers and actors, for those who put things together and figure things out. (Cancer, watch out!) We are copying God when we do these things. We give him great pleasure when we "make our light shine."
So I'm going to visit Him more often, not just by setting aside my own time every night, or once a week in my prayer group (which you'll hear more about tomorrow) but by going to His house and worshipping with those of like mind. And the no eating after 9 pm? I'm doing good so far!
Hanging up now...

Oh! Bama

Half an hour until our fearless leader addresses Congress. Sean Penn called Obama "elegant," some would call him "classy," but above all I call him "intelligent." It's been eight years since we had someone intelligent in charge. I had such high hopes for Clinton, but then he got mired in that stupid Monica Lewinsky thing. We impeached the wrong president. The truth is that people are dying because an inept administration lied to us. In a town hall meeting, Obama said that we would always have a presence in Iraq, we just won't be at war. He said Iraq is a "distraction" from Afghanistan. I don't ever want to disparage our men and women in uniform. We just need to send them somewhere where they are really able to do some good. Bottom line, I don't believe America is safer because some soldier lost his life to a roadside bomb.
Sorry. I'm much more comfortable talking about my own little life than the life of the world, so let's switch topics. Ji-Yoon really opened up to me today. I bought some comic books for us to read, but we didn't even get to them. She spoke very well on a variety of subjects. She's been to more sights than I have! Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls...she's been to Key West and Tampa too. I've been to the Grand Canyon, Niagra and Key West. It was rainy and cold when we went to Niagra Falls. Kind of a downer.
I'm going to start working out with a trainer again. I have let my weight creep up. I saw some pictures of myself from 1994 and I like how I look. That was 20some pounds ago. I work out three to four times a week, but I want new stuff to do so I don't get stuck in a rut. It's expensive, but with the new money I'm earning I will be able to afford it. My trainer is a friend of mine so we have a good time during the hour.
No writing today...I've been too busy. Slept in too late again, worked out, worked with Ji-Yoon. I spend way too much time on Facebook. It's just a really good way to stay in touch with people. For instance, there is one friend who I'd completely lost touch with and now we talk every few days on Facebook chat (you know who you are.)
Well, it's about 10 minutes til my hero speaks, and I want to check FB to see what folks are up to. Addictive as my Diet 7up.
Hanging up now...

Be gentle--I'm new at this!

So, I finally caved. I finally started up a blog. Just about everyone I know has one, so why not me, right? I used to think I didn't want to put my personal info out there or that no one would read it. My sister thinks my dad should have a blog, but all he does on the computer is look at lolcats. So I guess it's up to me.
I'm looking for a new direction to my life, seeing as I got fired from my internship at Eastern. That's what it felt like--like I was getting fired. I set my sights on being a teacher three years ago and have put a lot of energy into attaining that goal. Looking back on it, I see that it really wasn't the career for me. Some say teachers are like actors. Well, I'm an actor, and that didn't help. I'm used to performing in front of a paying audience that has come for an evening of enjoyment, not a bunch of bored teenagers who would rather be anywhere than in school. As one girl put it, "We have lives." These lives don't have anything to do with paying attention or turning assignments in on time. (In a class of twenty-five students, four turned in an assignment.)
So now what? I tutor several Korean girls in conversation and get PAID for that. That's a nice feeling. I'd love to have more students, and the word is getting around the Korean community in my apartment complex that I do good work. So maybe that will turn into something. I wish I could be paid to write. I am working on a play right now that I think is pretty good, but it doesn't pay the bills. Writing is a job like anything else--only you don't get paid unless someone decides your work is worth taking on.
I'm lucky--two of my plays have been produced. One was in college, in a sort of "page-to-stage" class. The class had seven playwrights, seven directors, and a bunch of actors. I wasn't happy with the way mine turned out, but it did inspire me to write more. The second was written in between studying for finals. Write a paper, write a scene. Study for an exam, write two scenes. I don't write like this anymore. I think that's a good thing.
The second play was produced by a theater company I was in for a few years (it didn't pay either.) I was nervous as hell opening night. A thousand times worse than the nervousness I ever felt as an actor. I was lucky to have a good cast and crew. Very lucky. It was one of the best theatrical experiences of my life.
The Oscars were last night. Except for that terrible tribute to musical theater (and I like musicals) they went off pretty well. I was really rooting for Mickey Rourke. But I can't talk because I haven't seen Milk. I hope it comes here--it hasn't yet. I read The Mayor of Castro Street years ago. I wish I had been in SF when Milk came out. (hee hee.) I used to live there when I thought it would be a good place to live. SF is a city of neighborhoods, and they don't mix much. I lived in the Tenderknob for a while and then moved to Noe Valley. Rent in SF is through the roof. I paid as much for one room in a house as I do for a whole apartment here. And I thought SF was going to by like NYC, which I love. I often think I should have moved there or Chicago. Not much work in SF. I did do a student film and was an extra in Flubber.
So, my new play. I set myself the goal of writing a scene a week, but now it's turned out to be about a page every few days. I'm trying to let it cook but I still haven't quite got it. The first draft of the first act is done, but I'm not entirely happy with the end of the act. And I'm afraid there's not enough action, just people sitting around talking. I also have a lot of serious moments for a comedy. My challenge is to make some of the serious characters do funny things. Those are the best kind of characters, in my mind--the ones that are so serious they don't know when they're being funny.
Well, it's getting late and I have to pee. Hanging up now....