Experimenting with Experimental Theatre

My personal predilections regarding politics and culture are, more often than not, reflected officially in print by Seattle’s alternative weekly, The Stranger. Sure, there are occasions when their recommendations for a Wednesday night involve, say, a bondage party at an abandoned warehouse (which might not be all that bad) but I’m referring to things that I can tell my mom about: plays, shows, author readings, etc. In this last issue, Lindy West was raving about a two-man comedy act, down from Bellingham, known as The Cody Rivers Show. Adjectives such as intelligent, unique, and hilarious were abundant and, though I’m not particularly any of those things myself, I certainly enjoy seeing other people that are.

When opening act, a comedian named Sean Devlin, who was holding a Stella and talking about the sub-par quality of the majority of heroin-inspired music, asked the sold-out crowd if we had seen the headlining duo perform before, the majority of attendees cheered and applauded. “Oh,” I thought to myself, “I’m not as hip as I thought.” Surprising, huh?

Anyway, the actors came out, arms spread and tiptoeing around, making wisecracks about those who were brave (or late) enough to sit in the front row (“Green on the top, red on the bottom, eh? Well, Merry Christmas to you.”) Suddenly they transformed into quick-talking market employees who laced their advertising with confessions of adolescent misadventures (“Two tomatoes for 99 cents, take back an onion, throw in three bell peppers for a dime, the old man was a bastard so I dropped out and joined a dirty circus.”) The skits went on: they derided professors, acted in slow-mo, performed a song and dance number, impersonated a mother bird feeding its young, threw in a little slapstick, all with accuracy and energy, originality and insight.

I could go on but my “review” couldn’t do it justice. The show played for two nights only; Saturday night was sold out so I can only assume the same for Friday. They’re on the road now, in the bay area, I believe, so if you’re down there, I’d say spend the ten bucks and see a performance with some soul.

About Time

So, what's new with you? Me? I've been busy...

My graphic novel reading habit has finally paid off. A few months back I was trying to find a ticket to go see Art Spiegelman give a lecture here in Seattle. I acquired the ticket and in the process came across another activity presented by Seattle Arts and Lectures called Wednesday University. I clicked, scrolled, and discovered a class about consumption and consumerism that had been given last winter. I cursed the heavens for missing it and vowed to track it down.

Shortly thereafter, I found myself emailing the teacher, who is also a professor at UW, and asking her if I could enroll as a non-matriculated student in her "History of Consumerism and Consumption" class for the Spring quarter. My request was blessed, signatures were obtained, and money was paid. I'm three weeks into the class, as of yesterday, and totally digging it. We've read Thorstein Veblen, talked about Heinz, watched a film about Coke; we have examined how women fell prey to the advertisers while in search of sovreignty and how patriotism and consumerism almost go hand in hand. If you're in the market to do a little shopping yourself, I'd suggest "Sold American" by George McGovern (we, in the class, refer to the purchase of books as a positive mode of consumption). Furthermore, my final paper is going to attempt to address the development of sustainable building practices and why it has taken so long to implement them.

So yeah, I stumbled into the right place.

In maintaing my own consumptive habits, I've:

read the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami and almost all of Palestine (graphic novel) by Joe Sacco.
watched the first few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm from season one as well as the movie "Avenue Montaigne."
bought plane tickets for a month-long sojourn to Spain with my lovely bride (Jabiz, if you read this, we're coming to New York on the way back.)
listened to quite a bit of Ratatat, Explosions in the Sky, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Amon Tobin, and The Roots.
been to my second Seattle Men's Chorus performance to watch Jeremy sing.
gone to see Sarah Vowell.

So yeah, what's new with you?

Married Man!

Today marks my one week anniversary of being wed to lovely Risajoy and I feel it's time to muse over our special evening. Since marrying her was the easy part, I'm sure this post will center more on the party itself (which was rad, as one friend put it).

The night before was our rehearsal dinner which was marked mostly by socializing and imbibing. Something vaguely resembling rehearsal was conducted with the tabletop as a plan view of Marco's and forks; mainly, "the girls will come down from here and you pick them up and bring 'em up front." As the night went on we managed to meet up with some more out of town guests at two local bars. Needless to say, it was awesome to spend time with people that we don't see often enough, whether they were in from out of town or from across town.

I woke up Saturday morning in my brother's hotel room; we decided that I wouldn't stay at home the night before so that the first time I'd see Risa on our wedding day would be as she came down the aisle. Traditional, I know but it was well worth it. The remainder of Saturday was spent running last minute errands: picking up the cake, the PA system, wires from Radio Shack to hook up the ipod, etc...

By the time the fellas and I arrived at Marco's Supper Club, some guests had already arrived. The pastor was there as was the father of the bride and my family. I rushed around getting the sound right as people came and waited for my bride to arrive. I was cool though; talking to everyone, shaking hands, introducing people to one another. The appetizers were out as were the cocktails. Marco's staff was amazingly proficient and welcoming as was the proprietor himself (read: he and his restaurant are awesome; you really should go there). Then the phone call came!! They were close. Both the pastor and I had an immediate need to use the restroom to calm our nerves; he said, "ladies first" so I scurried off and left my masculinity with him.

Back at the front I cued up Al Green's "Let's Get Married" as the bridal party made their entrances. In retrospect, I think they ran because as soon as I looked up they had all arrived. I faded out the song with my thumb and switched over to M. Ward's "Fool Says" for my gal. Her father brought her down, past the bar, and all of the guests were on their feet! She looked incredible and I know I had the biggest smile possible painted across my face. Jeremy proceeded with his awesome sermon as Risa tried to pull me closer. Had I relented, the guests would have lost sight of the MC and since he was wearing the nicest suit, I couldn't let that happen. At one point, I allegedly stood up on my toes and leaned it toward her because I was so excited. I believe it because I've never been so happy in my life.

The ceremony ended a little awkwardly because it wasn't planned; I think I said, "let's party", which we did. We turned the tunes back on, signed the license and proceeded with the eveninig. The toasts were excellent, the cake was incredible, and the rest of the evening was awesome.

It's really funny, to me at least, that my nerves were cool the majority of the night. I did get excited when I knew she had arrived but thatt was just because I couldn't wait to see her. A friend of Lynnie's, the dance-machine, Jackie Brown, told me that she had never seen two people that meshed like Risa and I do. She told me was ecstatic for us and a little jealous too. Her comments are cemented in my brain and they just reinforce what I've been thinking all along.

I'm one lucky guy. (Go ahead, call me sappy now.)

Apparently, I’m an over-reactive, bigoted, redneck

I’ve always taken pride in my tolerance but it is currently being tested by my instincts. Let me explain: almost two weeks ago my girlfriend, one of her friends, and I were rear-ended, at stoplight, by an immigrant woman who was TAKING OFF HER SHOES while driving. She works in a kitchen, at a casino, and I’m sure she had just put in a long day. Her feet probably hurt. I can empathize: my lower back hurts at times from sitting on my wallet in my ergonomic chair, in my climate controlled office, thirty-two floors above street level, overlooking Elliott Bay, so I understand. However, my back felt fine the evening of the accident because we had just spent the day in Bellingham, shopping for artisan earrings, before stopping off at a party on the way back into town.

She was driving a 2002 Kia Spectra; we were in our five-month old Toyota Prius. I think this is the part that infuriates me so; we are spending our kind of hard-earned money on a vehicle that is better for the environment and now the rear bumper has been scratched by a lesser automobile. Speaking of quality, her insurance was of an inferior sort as well. After hassling the no-name company for two weeks, I came to find out that she had cancelled her policy and was driving around without coverage. So of course, I hate her. Upon discovering this, I immediately took the elevator down to street level, whipped out my cell phone to call her and vent. She was not at work and they would not tell me when she was coming in next. Is that because they are hiring illegal workers? Did that really just cross my mind? It did. Come to think of it, right after the accident occurred, the first thing I said, or maybe it was more of a yell, was, “Do you have insurance?” I wonder if I would have said that had it been some meathead in a Hummer and a three-piece suit...

So now I have an internal conflict as well as an external one on my hands. Nothing new, I guess, but usually I’m not questioning the validity of one of my supposed values. My dad summed it up by saying that is how it goes: you follow the rules and the morons of the world run around screwing everything up. Maybe that’s it, maybe she’s just stupid and my real problem is with stupid people, regardless of race. Or broke. Don’t those two things usually go hand in hand? Stop it! You are from Texas but you have assimilated to progressive Northwestern ideals.
Luckily, we have uninsured motorist protection on our platinum-grade insurance. The woman who hit us did offer to pay for the damage in cash so maybe we will accept it, maybe not. I sure as hell won’t accept pesos though. Just kidding. Isn’t that what they call Black Humor?

Speaking of, there were these three black kids on the bus last night making so much noise…

Wish me luck

So, if you know me, you know that I'm a little disenchanted with my career choice. Therefore, I'm trying to change it. Below is a copy of the statement of purpose letter that I'm submitting to the geography department at the University of Washington tomorrow, 1/15. Who knows what will come of this? Not me. I'm excited to find out though.

Statement of Purpose
A step in this direction is somewhat daunting but I am embracing it nonetheless. I was trained as a Structural Engineer at Texas A&M University where I took two courses in geography to fulfill my undergraduate social science requirements. I originally chose geography over the more popular economics pairing because, at eighteen years old, I thought maps were more interesting than money.

I cannot say that we talked extensively about maps in either my Human Geography class or in the Political Geography class that I took two years later. I do, however, remember the professor telling the few engineers in the latter class, “you are not here to be educated; you are here to be trained.” Upon hearing this, I reflected on the narrowness, or maybe more of a specialization, of my curriculum and realized that I was enjoying this particular class so much because it covered so many different areas: history, economics, political science, and physical geography.

Thus the foundations of my career plans were formally shaken; here was a subject that interested me more than the path I had chosen. I had previously considered changing the focus of my studies but I hadn’t had a clear idea of what would better suit me. Being the pragmatic Texan I was, I chose to continue down the road that I had nearly completed traversing. A semester later I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and continued on to a graduate program. I continued to spend my days learning the intricacies of Structural Engineering and my nights searching for meaning in novels.

Upon graduating, I accepted a structural engineering job in Denver, Colorado where I decided that philosophy was the path of study for me and audited a course at the University of Colorado at Boulder for part of a semester. Less than two years later, I accepted a similar position in Seattle, where I took an English literature class as a non-matriculated student at the University of Washington. Alas, both of these areas were at the opposite end of the spectrum from engineering: too abstract, not technical, not always logical, etc. I enjoyed the subject matter, the discussions, and the opportunity to use the right side of my brain, but I realized that I would be unable to apply any of these newfound skills to the physical world.

As these conclusions were gestating, my interests in the physical world had begun to develop in areas that I never would have imagined possible as a youth in Texas; mass transit, urbanization, and sustainability are words that have gone from the periphery of my vocabulary to the core of what I believe is important. I find myself spending evenings at Town Hall listening to researchers discuss the merits of replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with surface streets and increased transit; I initiate conversations about the merits of urban density; I make it a point to read articles such as a recent one by Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker about the oceans becoming a massive sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide; I send emails to my friends in Texas urging them to watch An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car?; I help my fiancée pay for a Toyota Prius so that our one-car household can be as green as possible. Rather than focusing on the Professional Engineer’s exam, I am studying for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation exam, which is a program implemented by the United States Green Building Council to encourage and reward environmentally friendly development.

All of this attempted activism satiates my immediate desire to improve the quality of the environment but it is immediately reversed, in my mind, every morning when arrive at work. As I sit down at my desk to design shopping malls and parking structures to be built in Anaheim, California or Honolulu, Hawaii, I feel like I am directly contributing to part of the problem rather than the solution. I would prefer that my creative and intellectual energies be directed toward a progressive end that I can support as a citizen, rather than a rebuilding of the status quo.

Geography interests me because I feel it spans the gap between the technical aspects of my current career path and the people that are ultimately affected by these developments. The path of study that I feel suits me the best would be an area that straddles geography and a branch of civil engineering. Relationships between LEED accredited buildings and traditional buildings would be an area that piques my interest; transportation issues and resulting effects on public health, mobility, and psychological phenomena is another.

The University of Washington’s department of geography would suit me for myriad reasons. Upon browsing the website and speaking with several professors, namely Dr. Tim Nyerges in the geography department and Dr. Scott Rutherford in the civil engineering department, I feel like research is being conducted in the areas that interest me and that the mindsets of these two faculty members parallel my own. I also feel that the community at large has the same concerns as I do and that living here has nourished this part of my identity. Furthermore, and more personally, my grandfather earned his doctorate from the University of Washington about forty years ago.

Keeping in mind my interests in the quality of life in the urban environment and the effects of the constructed environment on nature, I came across other faculty members whose current research and research interests lead me to believe that I would be a good fit. Dr. Sarah Elwood’s current project using GIS as a tool for urban planning and revitalization certainly piques my interest. Dr. Suzanne Davies Withers’ interests in quantitative methods and urban housing are also areas that I find very interesting. A few months ago I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Tim Nyerges in person about his work with the civil engineering department and the medical school and found this interdisciplinary research effort especially captivating.

Although I am currently applying for acceptance into the Master of Arts program, I hope to continue on at the Doctoral level. I realize that in coming from a different background there are many basic literatures pertaining to geography that I am not yet familiar with and, thus, there are certainly fascinating areas that are still unknown to me. The opportunity to take a few classes as a nomatriculated student, at the undergraduate or graduate level, in order to help construct the foundation I need as well as giving me a chance to meet some faculty members and prove my worthiness, would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited by the potential opportunity to work and research in an area as compelling as geography and feel that I have a deep-seeded interest and desire to further advance the discipline.

Premier Post-Holiday Posting

Christmas has passed and so has the New Year. My Birthday is coming up shortly (January 11th) and I plan on spending it as follows:

First, a celebratory Italian dinner and Machiavelli, on Capitol Hill...

Followed by an evening at Town Hall to see Matthew Stadler and his presentation entitled, "What Has Become of Cities?" I have never read one of this gentleman's books though I have read his pieces in The Stranger. For more info, check out: http://www.townhallseattle.com/calendar.cfm



And while we're on this subject, let's talk about the viaduct debacle.

As many of you know, Seattle has a butt-ugly, multi-level, relic of the 40's (or so) jammed between our downtown and Elliott Bay called The Alaskan Way Viaduct. It was severely damaged in the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake and is in danger of collapsing during another seismic event, so they say. Our mayor wants an overly expensive tunnel. Some people lacking in intelligence or creativity want to rebuild the behemoth that is already there. The smart, progressive crew over at the People's Waterfront Coalition want to tear that sucker down and improve mass transit in Seattle. Check 'em out at http://www.peopleswaterfront.org

Governor Gregoire decided that we were going to vote on this so now is a good time to read up and tell your friends.

I'll close with a quote that is somewhat related:

"The monuments of learning are more durable than the monuments of power. Have not the verses of Homer continued 2,500 years or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter, during which time inifinite palaces, temples, castles, cities, have been decayed and demolished." -Francis Bacon

Culture Overload

Purchased for myself this last week of the Christmas shopping season:

Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story (Graphic Novel by Harvey Pekar)
Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards
The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler
Two tickets to the Seattle Public Theatre's Christmas Eve performance of The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris
Two tickets to Night at the Museum which I saw at the IMAX theater with my nephew-to-be, Coby, on Friday night (actually purchased by Risajoy)