Hernia Update 2.5

This is just a short blurb, before I do a big post about Christmas with the family and all that fun stuff. This is what my scar looks like today. I took a picture with a quarter next to it, for comparison. Enjoy the rest of the break!

Hernia Update 2

It's been almost a week since surgery. The bandages have come off, and it looks as though I am going to have a pretty sweet 1"-1 1/2" scar. See?

Incision with Steri-Strips over it.

Other than some itchiness (lots of sticky bandageness) and some pain doing some everyday unavoidable things, like coughing, sneezing, and laughing, it's healing well and I am pretty much back to happy-go-lucky me (minus lifting things, turning my torso, etc.). Laughing is by far the most painful though. 

Today I am headed out to go Christmas shopping, finishing off all the people on the list, my family is HUGE, so there are a lot of them. I'm excited for seeing family and catching up and good food and presents, usually I'm excited for the laughter, but this year... maybe I should buy myself a brace or something :) This is also good news because I have been off pain killers for long enough to actually 'operate heavy machinery.' I was pretty loopy there for awhile. 

I'm really glad that I got surgery before Christmas though, because it gives me a few weeks to recover at home, and I am not as tempted to try to go grocery shopping, to the laundromat, try to throw a crazy hammer, etc. By the time I get back to school in January I will be able to lightly exercise and start throwing gently again, and my goal is to be back in reasonable shape by the 8-week mark, Feb. 11, which is when I can play Ultimate again. Which means I can play (if everything goes according to plan) in Pres Day! 

So here is to... 6 days until stitches, etc. come out,

22 days until working out and throwing, 

and 57 days until Ultimate!

Happy Holidays!

Hernia Update

Directly after finals on Tuesday, I flew back home to have hernia surgery. Technically this is my 4th hernia, apparently I am "hernia prone," but that's beside the point. I had a herniorrhaphy, if you want to get technical, with an open, tension-free repair method as opposed to the previous surgery, a laparoscopic procedure, which probably necessitated me having the second surgery. 

This time I had a ventral hernia, which needed to have a synthetic mesh put in, so that I can get back to things like laundry, groceries, looking over my shoulders while driving, etc. More importantly though, get back to being able to participate in theater and playing ultimate. I miss ultimate the most.

This was after the first hernia surgery, small, very little pain. I even put a smiley face on it.

This is what it looks like today, larger incision, more painful, less chance of recurrence :)

Yesterday I slept most of the day, today I am a little more active and in less pain. Whoo hoo! I can't do much for 4 weeks, but by February, I can start to practice again. 

I have already finished Ender's Game (great book) and am starting on the Twilight Series, thanks to Bambi. And getting ready for Christmas... more updates to come.

SawStop

So... I can't remember where I found this on the internet... but I have watched it a lot. It's so cool! Oh technology, what will you come up with next?

BNT: Directing

This semester I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to direct for Brand New Theater. It is a student run theater company that features all student-written work, is student acted, student directed, and student produced. The show, entitled Laugh or Die, was a series of one act plays or scenes performed in a single evening. I directed one of the one acts called, The Difficulties of Being a Half-Vampiric Couple. It's about a vampire and his human girlfriend in a therapy session; a comedy (Not like Twilight).

It is always interesting seeing your work as a director, because near the beginning of the production, you are integral, you know everything, and by the end all you can do is sit in the audience and hope that nothing goes wrong. Everything is out of your hands. That is the most terrifying and exhilarating part, in some ways it feels like a mama bird pushing her babies out of the nest and hoping that they can fly. 

It was also very helpful and enlightening to get feedback from friends, family, and professors. Although the Village Gate is a small, strangely configured theater (it used to be a retail space), it worked for our small one-act festival. It's very small, at the most we had 80 people in the building, so it's intimate and you can see the rest of the audience. It's fun to see people's reactions to your work. 

It's been fun working in the theater a lot again. Between classes and this show, I've been busy, busy, busy. But I wouldn't change that. I learned so much about talking to actors and communicating where I want the scene to go without stifling the creativity of others around me. Of course there are bumps, like having the writer at rehearsals... or technical mishaps during the run of the show (ah!), but without them I wouldn't learn. 

I haven't decided if I am going to try to direct again in the Spring Semester amid Ultimate Season and recovering from hernia surgery, but I am going to be more involved, in some way. It makes me happy!

By the Waters of Babylon

Today I went on a date with 'Broccoli.' We went to see a production of By the Waters of Babylon at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. Normally, I wouldn't have gone, but as students we got free tickets, so how could we pass up the opportunity to get dressed up on a Sunday afternoon and go see some theater?

I was particularly interested in going because I had seen the world premiere of the show 4 years ago at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Many things had changed subtly from this performance to that one, but from a dramaturgical standpoint, good changes. 

Synopsis: Arturo, an exiled Cuban with a green thumb, tends to Texas widow Catherine's garden. Don't go getting any saucy ideas, though—what flowers between the two is friendship. 

The play has gone through a rewrite since the last time I saw it. The play and it's depth definitely benefitted from the change in Act II. Instead of divulging the information about Catherine's past through stories, she has an interlude where she pulls a gun on Arturo and attempts to commit suicide. It makes the scene far more interesting and more weighty. The stakes are a lot higher for both people in the scene.

The Geffen Playhouse is a proscenium theater, and the New Theater in Ashland is a black box theater. These two types of theaters give a very different perspective of the show from a audience's perspective. I would have to say that I liked the black box better, because I was closer to the action of the very intimate two person play. 

It was also interesting to see new actors in the play, because the playwright Robert Schenkkan had originally written it for the actors in Ashland. I enjoyed the show again. It's great to see that a play can have longevity. 

Comparing my first viewing an this viewing, it is interesting to see how I have grown as person. As there is nudity in the show, having several high schoolers go and see it was a leap of faith that I don't know that I could have done as a high school drama teacher. But seeing the small amount of male nudity in the original production compared to the full female and partial male nudity in this production, I can see how it was not a big deal. I thought that the nakedness in this particular play added to the story line, as opposed to only being there for shock value or to get audience members in the seats. Here is a review by the LA Times. Here is a review by LA Weekly.

Overall, I really enjoyed the production. I also enjoyed spending time with Broccoli, as I do not spend nearly enough time with friends. We did some shoe shopping, ate some Mr. Noodle and then got some Diddy Reese cookies. A really great Sunday. 

Performing Solo

This semester has been riddled with opportunities to practice different parts of my craft. Tonight was the performance for my Solo Performance class taught by Luis Alfaro. If you have not taken a class that involves different mediums, and would like to take one at USC, this class incorporates writing and performing personal pieces and to some extent directing them. Which meant that this class was right up my alley.

The performance was based on the 9 students in the class each performing a 5-7 minute personal monologue in front of an audience of friends, family, and peers. It was also our final. My monologue was entitled, "Big Girls," and is as follows...

I love him, I love him not

I love him, I love him not, I love him.

He’s my Dad, the only one I got,

Good, bad or crazy.

He’s my Dad, except when he wasn’t

Around I mean.

He’s my Dad, sometimes I think he forgot.

I am the oldest of 4, now the oldest of 7,

Forget that, it’s irrelevant

I’m the oldest.

I am always the big girl, the helper, the sidekick

The almost as good as Mom,

The messenger.poster child.

The big girl does chores, helps out, grows up

In the blink of an eye

You’re an adult.

It started at 6, my Dad wasn’t around,

He was upstairs in bed, sick,

I helped out.

He left to go on business, the constant provider.

I missed him, we all missed him.

I helped out.

A milestone. “Mommy, wow! I’m a big kid now!”

At some point that stops being a celebration.

I still helped out.

It was the same at 9, but worse this time,

My mom was pregnant, but not right,could have died,

My dad was working, couldn’t get back through the snow.

I helped out.

He’s my Dad, he makes me useless,

I can’t get Mom help.

He’s my Dad, he makes me scared,

What if she dies? You’re not here.

My head starts to throb.

He’s my Dad, but I’m doing his job.

I changed at 11, fought to be small,

I punched, I kicked, I yelled,

Just to get his attention.

I don’t want to be the big girl all the time.

I was the teenage rebel, well, more like a brat.

Negative attention.

Then one night, it all came to a head, over TV

So stupid really, I didn’t care, I refused to say sorry,

That got his attention.

A new form of punishment, “The Chokey” was invented that night,

I was doing sSolitary confinement at 12, in the dining room.

I stayed there 3 nights.

At 13 I stopped fighting back, against growing up,

All I know is it was the last real day of my childhood.

When everything changed on June 2, 2001.

Just another summer day, sunshine, soccer game.

Dad showed up and got kicked off the field,

He was that dad again.

He tried to say sorry, with 4-wheelers, and yelling, strange

My mom left; Andrea and I went to check it out,

Here was my Dad.

Driving tentatively round and around set off his temper,

Here I’ll show you! Helmet Daddy? No.

There goes my Dad.

Here he goes down the ditch.

What’s that noise? (revving noise)

He’s my Dad, and all I see is the bottom of the bike.

All is hear is him scream.

Oh my God!

He’s my Dad!

Running over,

Andrea jumps in,

Bike off Dad,

I’m at the top,

Looking at…

Blood dripping, ripped fabric, broken bones, spat out teeth.

He’s my Dad.

He runs up,

Jumps in truck,

I follow,

Grab phone,

Off we go,

Andrea behind,

Call 911.

Fail.

Breathe.

He’s my Dad.

Call mom.

Explain. Hang up.

Call 911.

Explain.

Look at Dad.

There’s blood everywhere, he’s wheezing through the spaces where his teeth used to be, his arm is on backwards, one eye sits lower, tears, blood…

We’re still driving!

Pull over.

Mmm.

Pull over, please.

Mmm.

PULL OVER!

We pull over.

Ah…Sirens.

Ambulance here.

Dad out.

Questions. Questions. Questions.

Did I answer?

Unknown.

Mom arrives.

Helicopter arrives.

Dad out.

Hospital.

Silence.

He’s my Dad.

When I look back on that day now, the day I saved my Dad’s life,

The day that is supposed to be good, because he survived…

Is the day he didn’t wear a helmet,

Is the day that Andrea did not see the blood,

Is the day the most talkative man in the world could only mumble,

Is the day where my childhood was forgotten at the top of a ditch while I called 911.

He’s my Dad, he has new teeth now,

And a new wife.

He’s my Dad, I took his job for awhile,

But now I have my own life.

Forgiveness is hard, but without it,

I could never enjoy the good today.

I love him…. I love him… a lot.

What was most interesting about performing this piece, is because my father and stepmother were in the audience. Having their reaction to the very personal piece was intriguing.

To badly paraphrase director David Cronenberg, "In order to make something great for you, you can't think about the audience when you are working on it. I couldn't think of what my mother would then I was working on A History of Violence because then it would never be at its most pure and essential and true." Luis Alfaro told us this, and without it I would never have been able to perform this piece.

I feel like I grew as a performer.

Updating

I know I haven't been updating lately, but since I am overly swamped with work right now, I am awake and procrastinating on writing papers by updating the blog I have been working on for class. And then updating this blog that I have been sadly neglecting.

So here is the blog I have been working for my writing class. It's called Art in an Unknown Direction. It is for my Writing course with an emphasis in the visual and performing arts. 

I don't know if I am going to keep it up, or just transfer the posts that I like to this blog, which I will work on getting everyone updated as soon as this week is over.