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June 25, 2002

Bloggers Unite My friend and

Bloggers Unite
My friend and partner, Kambri has a BLOG of her own to publish. I think she is hooked. So if you get a second, mosey on over to and say hello.

Posted by mermu at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2002

And still no word on

And still no word on the closet.

Posted by mermu at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)

Less a Catholic Everyday I

Less a Catholic Everyday
I am so disgusted with the Catholic Church I could spit. What in God's name do those jokers think they are doing? It turns out the priest has neglectfully doublebooked the church. In addition to Jenny's wedding they are hosting a Church Bazaar complete with staged musicians, a raffle, and bingo. They have offered to steer clear of the church but the parking lot will be full of games, people, music and prizes while Jenny is getting married. I can't believe the gross negligence. So, ever the watchful and resourceful MOH, I call the Bishop of Austin's office to find information about the process of getting permission to have a catholic wedding mass off premises. I then get the biggest runaround. I feel like I am dealing with insurance salesmen. The bishop referrred me to the home church. The home church's wedding coordinator is out for two weeks with no one replacing. I finally talk to a lovely lady from Pflugerville's church. She basically says that it is completely up to the whims of the home priest to even ask the bishop to have an off-premises wedding. So much for the "universality" of the Catholic Church. The Bishop can then confirm or deny. The Bishop of Austin's webpage addresses the issue in a FAQ about weddings. Apparently it all has to do with respecting the solemnity of the occasion etc. etc. I had no idea that a bean bag toss and dunking booth could be considered solemn. What are they doing? Lately it seems that Father Church (such a misogynistic organization cannot really be considered "mother") is more Sanhedrin than Christ in the temple.

Posted by mermu at 03:06 PM | Comments (3)

June 21, 2002

Universe needs a tune up

Universe needs a tune up
The last coupla days I have had some bizarre confrontations with people. People who would freak out at the simplest requests or statements. It's been quite unnerving. And my dreams, while fulfilling and promising, leave me with a feeling that something's not ....right. It's as if the world is lost in some kind of universal red tape; there are a lot of documents but nothing's on the pages. It's like those pictures in the Kids section of the newpaper. There is a cartoon and the caption reads, "What's wrong with this picture?" When you look the policeman is wearing a fish for a cap and the dog is walking the canary. That's what the universe feels like to me right now. Nothing's wrong yet everything is bizarre. I was pondering this circumstance on my way to Greg's house for a play reading. When I got there I mentioned my discomfort with this feeling in the universe expecting an intervention as I had most certainly gone completely "astral". Instead Scott matter-of-factly mentions that Mercury was in Retrograde and now Uranus is in Retrograde. So maybe that explains it. But that freaks me out a little more. I don't necessarily believe in astrology. That I naturally felt something without knowledge of the astrological explanation is spooky. But there it is. I can't wait for things to get back to normal...this is just not right. .

Posted by mermu at 10:32 PM | Comments (3)

Out about a Closet

Out about a Closet
My landlady has promised to build me a respectable closet since October when she raised our rent. I currently have one of those old timey jobs that was built when people had a shoulder width of about 12 inches. I had finally given up on the thought that I would actually get a real closet until last Friday. Olympia the landlady came up and said she had finally found a carpenter who would do the job. That had been the hold up; finding a carpenter. Not only was I getting a wall to wall closet, I was also getting a real doorway. They would close up the opening I have now (Instead of a door I have an accordian kind of screen thing that opens into the living room.) and build a doorway complete with door from scratch in the hallway. The workpeople would come on Monday and most likely finish by Wednesday. Woohoo! Sunday night I dutifully removed everything from my bedroom as well as all wall hangings on the bedroom-side wall of the living room. I went to sleep that night dreaming of a future with a brilliant room complete with beautiful closet and door which I could make my own. Maybe Jersey isn't so bad after all. Monday rolls around and no carpenter. He called Olympia in the afternoon after she left numerous messages. He was held up on another job. It would be Wednesday before he got to my brilliant closet. I was a little disappointed but I remained undaunted. So what if everything that belongs in the bedroom is stuffed into the living room? I could stick it out. I was getting a closet. Wednesday arrives in no time. Still no carpenter and this time he's not returning Olympia's calls. As of today she has not heard from the carpenter since Monday afternoon and my stuff is STILL crowding the living room. I am now daunted. To top it off, everytime I try to get info from Olympia she goes into this huge diatribe about how frustrated she is about the whole situation. It's like I am the landlord and she is the tenant complaining to me. I think she's been had. She wrote a healthy deposit check and the guy split and I am left with a bunch of stuff in my living room and no closet and no door. PPPPPLLLLLBBBB!

Posted by mermu at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

A star at Starbucks

A star at Starbucks
When I went into the Starbucks on the corner (near my bookkeeping gig) to get my ritual Ice Venti Skim Chai I could hear the groovy sounds of Aretha Franklin playing overhead. There were two lines. One with all guys and one with all girls on opposite sides of the coffee bar. I chose the one with the guys thinking they are usually faster in these situations. Women have purses and can't always decide. I know this because I am one so don't scoff at my gross generalization. I know it's gross, but I had to choose one line and that logic seemed as good as any other. A few moments later, the first guy turned around. I realized almost immediately it was Ernie Hudson. I still get a little tickled when I see famous people just doing their thing like normal people. It happens all the time in NYC. And as a true New Yorker I wouldn't DARE let Ernie realize I had recognized him. That's just not what NYers do. Live and let live and still try to enjoy the sensation. I catch him humming to the tunes playing on the speaker. Humming along with Aretha and then realizing he is doing it and then stopping. So there I am in my line for my Ice Venti Skim Chai trying to catch a glance of Ernie Hudson waiting for his Iced Mocha while trying to maintain an air of nonchalance like a good New Yorker should. This was really hard and I couldn't help but smile a little because at the moment all I wanted to do was turn to Ernie and say,
"Who ya gonna call?!!! "
Somehow I don't think he would have cheerfully followed with "Ghostbusters".

Posted by mermu at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

MOH Update I am trying

MOH Update
I am trying to convince Jenny and Step that this would be the perfect Maid of Honor thank you gift. I would even settle for the cheapest one. But truth to tell, it's not about the present. I am just happy to do my part in celebrating their lovely day. Though it is too bad the MOH can't register. Especially if she's a spinster OLDER sister.

Posted by mermu at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)

Hello Blog-lovers!! Miss me? Please

Hello Blog-lovers!! Miss me? Please check out the addins to the previous blog. I meant to complete it later that day or the next but time and tide and blah blah blah...You know how it goes. Stay tuned!! In the next coupla blogs I will reveal a tiny family tiff...related to my blog (duh. duh. DUH.), another star sighting, and the general goings on of a New York City girl. I am also looking for a new name for this Blog and the articles I am currently writing about being a Texan living in New York City. I hope to post the articles here ( I have three written so far) soon too. Since I donated the "Tex in the City" moniker to my company with Scott, Kambri, and Greg I need to find another name for the other things. It's just too confusing to have everything named Tex in the City. Egads! It's a catchy name but not THAT catchy. So far I have come up with two potentials for the articles. Let me know what you think. Keep in mind that the articles are my impressions of coming from Texas and all the cultural idiosynchracies that implies and moving to New York City and all the cultural idionsyncracies that implies. I will also include some segments about being an artist striving to make a living in the City. So without further ado here are the two I have come up with:
* The North and the South of It
* Confessions of a Lonestar Yankee
So what do yall think?

Posted by mermu at 09:39 PM | Comments (9)

June 10, 2002

Blessings from an Appendectomy Last

Blessings from an Appendectomy
Last weekend I was really looking forward to hosting my 9-year-old cousin Katherine in New York City. My aunt Margaret was bringing her husband and stepchildren to NYC for a visit and was also going to escort my cuz from Houston. I didn't have a whole lot planned...just some ideas of things we would do. The Statue of Liberty of course. Maybe one of those big, red buses riding through town and pointing out all the interesting landmarks around the city. The Bronx Zoo. Central Park. And if I could get tickets spur of the moment, The Lion King, which I think my cousin would love. But these plans abruptly crashed on Tuesday night when I got a phone call from my mother. Aunt Margaret had an emergency appendectomy that day and the trip was indefinitely postponed. As disappointed as I was I couldn't be too disheartened. I hadn't prepaid for any tickets or anything so there was no money lost. The trip would happen eventually and before summer was over. Aunt Margaret was also okay. She seems to be recovering nicely from her impromtu surgery. So I was faced with an open weekend. I could attend TITC's post-party meeting that Thursday. I could maybe even try to catch "The Crucible" on Broadway, a show that I really wanted to see but had given all hope of seeing since it was closing that weekend and I was doing the cousin thing. I now had an opportunity to do both. But alas, the post-party meeting was postponed for the next day and I was sitting at work faced with cancellations and a free evening.


I decided tonight was the night to see what I could do about The Crucible. I would take myself on an "artist's date". If I could get half price tickets from the TKTS Booth I would do so. That would be the deal breaker....if I could get tickets half price or not. As I emerged from my building at around 6 o'clock there was a blustery wind and a light drizzle greeting me. No worries though, I had tucked my umbrella away in my canvas bag for just such an occasion. Although I didn't really need it. It was mainly a precaution. A warning to the weather that, unlike the day I lucked into house seats for "Urinetown" last fall, I was ready for what it had to offer whether it be a thundering deluge (like that Urinetown night) or a wispy mist. I picked up my tickets at the TKTS booth and had enough time to treat myself to a meal before the early showtime of 7:30pm. I chose a diner at 52nd and broadway that turned out to have the best swiss cheeseburger I had ever tasted. It was yummy. Then I walked the half a block to the theatre. I didn't recognize it until I got inside. It was the same theatre where I had seen Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" the first winter I lived in New York City.


The lady took my ticket and I was making my way up the stairs to the orchestra and praying to the TKTS gods that I had a decent seat. (I had sworn off the TKTS booth for a long time because of a really bad seat at the last week of "Fosse".) Then I remembered this is a long play...three acts to be exact. So before I found my seat I turned right around and made way for the the Ladie's Toilet. A small line gave me plenty of time to congratulate myself on my forethought. I did my biz and was now ready to make my way to my seat hurriedly as the curtain was about to go up. Then disaster reared it's laughing head. I couldn't find my ticket stubb anywhere and I had only a vague idea of where I sat. Twenty rows back in the far right...that was all I knew. I decided to bluff. To go and find an empty seat twenty rows back and hope for the best. I was promptly busted. "You'll have to go to the House Manager and speak with her about your, ahem, dilemma." I was beside myself with grief. I had just spent $40 some odd dollars for a show that I had lost my "TKTS" to see. OH WOE IS ME!!! OH Cursed Fate and Absentmindedness. Where had that foul ticket gone. Bleakly, I searched for the House Manager. If she was anything like House Managers I had run into in the past I was in for a rough ride. But to my utter joy and amazement, she was lovely. She managed to be gracious and help me out while mostly masking her bewilderment at how a person could get herself in such a pickle. She pulled out a business card. Wrote a seat number on the back and directed me to give that to the usher. I did so and discovered I was now in a better seat than the one I had paid for. About 10 rows back and three seats away from the center section.


I took a deep breath and awaited the sensations that were soon to envelop me. I must tell you, the show was so good and so deeply satisfying. Liam Neeson was good. Laura Linney was better. I did more than just enjoy her performance...I learned something as an actor. She stayed true to the character so steadfastly that by the end when she finally does give into the emotions of the situation the audiences catharsis is magnificent. A weaker actress would have played the love more and not the obstacle. I realize I am not making much sense, especially to those who aren't in the acting vocation. Suffice to say it was a brilliantly realized performance.


At intermission I was already feeling heady and happy and so grateful for a life full of the arts. I looked to my left and my good friend Bill Cannon was a few rows ahead of me and to the right. We said hello and then rushed to the restrooms. (I hate being distracted by my bladder during a good show.) Bill also mentioned I should come with him at the end of the show to go back and see Brian Murray. Brian played Judge Danforth in the show and was nominated for a Tony. WOO HOO! For the second time in as many weeks I was going backstage. Brian is a lovely man. A gentleman's gentleman so to speak. He seems very intelligent and genteel. He invited Bill and I to have cocktails at a restaurant down the street. The cast was having a "thing" there. I giddily accepted. Finally we made our way downstairs. Backstages at Broadway houses have many floors. Brian's dressing room was on the 3rd. So we get to the 2nd floor landing and there are a small gaggle of young girls with Playbills impeding our progress. What's the hold up I wondered? It turned out to be Liam Neeson signing autographs. I was starstruck and that is SO frustrating as I never know how to act. I don't want to be all ga-ga in front of my pals or Liam Neeson for that matter. ARGGH. What sweet torture. Liam noticed our intent and stepped back. I and my party brushed past him and all I could muster was a very quite but smiling "goodnight." To his shoulders. He responded in kind but to my face.


Back at the restaurant I sat at a table with Brian, his friend Fiona, her friend Robbie, and Bill. We had a lovely time chatting about theatre and things. Liam and his wife, Natasha Richardson, were at a table with Crucible's director, Richard Eyre, and Laura Linney. At one point, Brian flagged Laura over and introduced us. It was so much fun.
"Laura this is Meredith, Mereidith this is Laura"
"Nice to meet you, Meredith" Hand shake.
"Nice to meet you, Laura".
And now, I can live another day. I love this town.

Posted by mermu at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

Redux It seems my rendezvous

Redux
It seems my rendezvous with the Crudup-Parker couple are not yet at an end. Last Thursday, when I was walking down 18th street after a meeting I almost ran into Mary Louise Parker. She was coming out of the City Bakery and going directly to a hired car waiting outside. How bizarre! Scott has told me that everyone in New York sooner or later has their own personal celebrity that seems to follow them. Could my celebrity actually be a couple? Well, I will just have wait and see. If I run into them again I am going to be a little spooked. I wonder if I could put a restraining order on them? Wouldn't that be a hoot.

Posted by mermu at 03:44 PM | Comments (3)

June 05, 2002

BTW, My Mom made a

BTW, My Mom made a comment that Guy wasn't fabulous else I would have posted an entry more indepth. Well, it's simply not true!!! I have actually written about the experience at length in my snail-journal ( I guess that word doesn't really work the same as with mail, huh.) I hope to include the experience in one of my Tex in the City Articles that will be coming, if not soon, then eventually. Guy was amazing. I am so amazed at the command he has over his voice, the guitar, and a room when he is onstage. And he does have command of the room. He played in a small cafe in Bridgeport, more to help out a friend then anything else I venture. I think he was on vacation and just signed on to do this gig as a lark. It was all Acoustic. Most of the night he was alone on stage, singing and playing guitar and chatting. This is how I feel about guy: I can meet Billy Crudup, or Ed Norton or whomever and be cool, okay, and not get overwhelmed but Guy Forsyth is a rock star to me. I hope he plays more venues in NYC. He has another album which is all acoustic to be released in the Fall.

Posted by mermu at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)

Hey all. Boy it's amazing

Hey all. Boy it's amazing how time flies when you have a blog to keep up with! Speaking of which, my future B-i-L pointed me to an interesting sight dedicated to NY Bloggers. It's a bit creepy thinking that strangers on the subway could be reading your innermost thoughts. It's also kind of exciting. Tonight is the third TITC party so I am frenzied and nervous and completely unsure of what to wear. In a nutshell here's some news from the front.


This week on Biography...
I have finally added some content to the Biography page. I think I like it--the content..I am not crazy about the layout. I should be changing that soon. I am thinking to change it up a bit or add bits and pieces periodically so that in the next year or so I may have my first memoir. How about that? I promise to be mostly truthful.


Sorry Mom, Sorry Dad; Another Good One got away
I finally got in touch with one of my best friends from high school with whom I am not running a company. Troy is alive and well and procreating in Fort Worth, Texas. That's right. He has settled down. He has a daughter named Emma who will be 1 year old in July. Can you believe it? Katy, bar the doors, another one's done gone! My best wishes go out to Troy and his young family. I am glad he is happy. Much to the chagrin of my mum and dad there was never anything but friendship between Troy and I. I know my parents hoped otherwise at least once based on a conversation my mom and dad had years after I was out of high school, which my mom told me about after the fact. The gist of the conversation is that both parents were really pleased that Jennifer and Stepan finally hooked up. They felt that Stepan was a truly good man and worthy of their daughter. When the conversation veered to their fiercely independent and unattached eldest (yours truly), they both appointed Troy as someone they would have liked to see me settle down with. Sorry Mom, Sorry Dad, another Good One got away. In fact, I was the only one Troy didn't....never mind, that's an old story...AND I'M OVER IT. Truthfully, I don't think I could ever see Troy "that way". He was more like a brother than a potential suitor. So does that make me an aunt? I hope so.

Posted by mermu at 01:45 PM | Comments (1)