A Child Of Atom

One of my favorite authors is fighting with one of my favorite net-denizens... I have a feeling that I would ultimately come down on Ze Frank's side... but don't make me choose boys!

One of my goals for myself after returning for the summer is to get back into the habit of carrying my lunch to work everyday rather than buying it. I figured out about this time last year that my share of the a grocery could feed both Kid Flash and myself both lunch and dinner 5 days a week for about the same as what I was paying for lunch.

One of the things that makes that doable is my nifty Japanese Bento box. Here it all, all packed up with tomorrow's feast:


It is pretty small, about 8"x3"x4", but it holds an enormous amount of food, far more than it looks like it would. (Tomorrow I'm having some samosa, grilled artichoke hearts, baba ganouj, and a yellow lentil spread with pistachios.) If I want to pack less I can skip the second tray.


My favorite part about it though is that it packs up tall and square. Most American alternatives that I tried in years past when I tried to pack lunches were dish shaped. While I carry a bag every day, a dish shaped thing doesn't fit in it, nor does a dish shaped container keep the food well. They tend to get all mixed up, and slosh around, and you end up with a big plate of mess.

All packed up this provides a self contained, airtight container that fits down in my messenger bag perfectly and keeps my food well because it sits in the bag upright! On the return trip it packs up even smaller since the second tray nestles inside the first. There is even a little slot on the top to contain chopsticks, although I don't actually use that. More reasons to love the Japanese!

My friends and I reached the following conclusions tonight:

1. Moose is NOT the new talapia.

2. Gravy boats are the most transsexual of serving dishes.

3. Our new favorite name for a child is La-a. ($1 to the first person who can pronounce it correctly.)

From an ad in a 1954 issue of Better Homes and Gardens... was there a lot of undigestible food being sold in the 50's? What the hell is with that tag line? Did that really sell Crisco?

Someone PLEASE steal this idea: It is simple enough, a hardware store, possibly, but not necessarily specializing in theatrical hardware, somewhere midtown-ish, like 45th and 10th, near enough to the theatre district to be useful. And now here's the kicker... it must be open 24 hours. Do you know how many times I've had a load-in hampered, (or in tonight's case halted entirely) due to the lack of some crucial item, and the lack of a 24 hour hardware store anywhere in Manhattan? New York mat never sleep, but it sure doesn't work much past midnight...

Are typewriters suddenly some hot vintage status symbol? I need two typewriters as props for a show I am designing, they don't even have to work, just make some clicking noises, and everything that I have been able to track down in the past two weeks is outrageously expensive. One guy even said in his ad that the typewriter was broken, and didn't work, and that the repair part needed had to be special ordered from Germany... and he still wouldn't budge off his $90 pricetag. What the hell?

So, I've been home two weeks. Well, slightly less than that, but still... I've had the time to digest my experience and to decide how I feel about the whole thing.

To begin: I've outgrown summerstock. At least, of that variety. 30 bedraggled and tired people busting ass to pull out a show every two weeks rain or shine. I need a summerstock of a more organized kind, with larger crews, and assitants, and multiple people for each job, instead of one person who kind of, sorta, maybe can do the job that he wasn't really hired for in the first place.

B: I'm rapidly turning into a grumpy old man. I brook so little nonsense these days, and I've started getting to that point where I feel like I can tell you what's on my mind, whether you asked me or not, and my social filter for such has also faded. Maybe it is living in the city, maybe it is being older, maybe it is just being generally crotchety, but I'm going to call you on your shit if I feel like I need to.

Third: Buddha help me, but I'm old. I have started to reach that point in life where a good night's sleep appeals more than a drunken escapade, and staying up until 4 am to paint a floor has real consequence. Not that I can't still do it, but more than a day or two in a row and I am really feeling the difference.

4: I like budgets. As good as I am at recycling and repurposing and figuring out how to make do (skiata ga nai!) I do like budgets. I have made a small name for myself at several theatres by being able to perpetually come in under budget by being able to use stock inventively, or pulling things off the street, or finding a resource, but sweet Christ on a bike having a budget is so much better. (the which I was reminded of by the total LACK of budget by the way.)

Lest this all seem negative the experience did reaffirm for me that I prefer designing theatre to my current job, and that I miss the give and take of the theatrical experience of working with a good director, or another solid designer who can supplement my own work in ways that I wouldn't have expected. It reminded me that there is still joy to be had there if I seek it out well enough. Plus I did have fun in the off hours.

Well, it is the 12th, so time again for my participation in Chad Darnell's 12 of 12 project. 12 photos on the 12th of the month to document my day. You can see the other participants here.

I began doing Chad's 12 of 12 years ago, and later discovered that there was a pocket of Geocachers who also participated, mostly through the Podcacher message boards. That community has grown a bit, and is doing a special project this month. Since the 12th fall son a Saturday this month Podcacher and several other podcasts encouraged geocachers to make sure to participatein the project, and to be sure to post some geocaching pictures. They are cross posting their photos here.

I wasn't sure at first that I would be able to participate in the Geocaching 12 of 12, since I had meetings in Connecticut today related to a production of Miracle Worker that I am designing there. I headed out to the train station pretty early this morning, earlier than I get up most weekdays even, but I had 3 hours of train time in front of me to get to my meetings.

My track at Grand Central Terminal, one of my favorite places in the city.

In CT the first order of business was to check on the progress of the set. They seems a bit behind frankly, but they have a bout a week before tech starts, so they should be able to pull it out.

Besides meetings I was also raidning all the prop storage and furniture storage for the theatre today, choosing furniture, and set pieces.

Lunch time! This handyman repair service truck was parked outside the resteraunt. I don't know if he was eating there or working on something. I just loved the graphic.

Prop warehouse #3 for today, the Yale Theatre Art's props storage. This one was fun. I love seeing all the old random props and trying to guess what show they may have been for.

The holy grail of props for this show, the water pump! I sort of love that the set is very stark and geometric, but the pump, the one thinsg that Helen interacts with the most in the show, is ornate and flowery.

At the reception desk for the prop storage. Trust me, I needed them. Do you see the dust on that water pump?

At the Metro North stop in New Haven, on the way home. I do enjoy the convenience of Metro North.

The vaulted ceiling outside the Oyster Bar in Grand Central. I had frankly never really paid attention to this area before. Now I want to eat there. Is it an over priced tourist trap? Does anyone know?

Between the subway and Grand Central I did manage to catch one cache! GC1WQC9. A year and a half ago I had Manhattan down to a single cache that I hadn't found. After a long winter, and 10 weeks away this summer it is up to over 60 unfound caches on Manhattan... I need to get busy again!

Just before I stepped onto the subway to head home. An over cast and foggy night in the city is a great time to photograph! And that was my day. Two states, three prop houses, two meetings, one geocache... and it is bedtime. See you next month!

Side joke/bonus shot for anyone visiting from the Geocaching website... I may not have been caching, but I managed to find two of the largest ammo cans I have ever seen today!!