Proof of my continued existence.

Hello internet.

It's been a while, as usual, so I'm just going to hit the big stuff as I can recall it. First order of business is, of course, my amazing girlfriend. Tabitha and I are sickeningly cute still and that doesn't look to change any time soon. We've done a few nice dates though that has slowed since I no longer have money. most of the cool stuff I've done in the past month has been with her by my side since we can't bear to be apart too long.

The Art Institute of Chicago
http://www.artic.edu/
This was a wonderful date. We went to exercise our mutual love for fine art. The impressionist exhibit was lovely though not as extensive as I would have expected which is too bad sine it was %50 of the reason for going. The gallery did not disappoint overall though. Their collection is massive and wide ranging. Their collection of tapestries was truly incredible, though not very varied. There was a lot of work from the same few artists and while they were excellent I would have liked to see more variety. We quite enjoyed their statue garden and their, in process, Chinese collection. The Egyptian artifacts and religious jewelry they had tucked into the passage between the big galleries was also quite lovely. Overall we had a grand time and got to be really cute in the vicinity of some truly great works of art.

Repo, The Genetic Opera
http://www.repo-opera.com/
This movie seems to be largely the product of blogging so I should probably have added my salmon to the run before now. That said we watched this movie a few wekks ago as part of it's first national tour. The film is trying to gain support so that Lions Gate Films will make a larger release later.
Repo is an interesting film combining a dark latex vision of the future and a goth-rock sound not unlike Evanescence. The basic premise is that in the future a organ plague will bring modern society to its knees in response a biotech company finally perfects man made organs and offers payment plans to those who cannot afford the transplants in time to save their lives. The downside is that as time goes on it becomes fashionable to attempt to overcome ones own genetics and not only perfect one's cosmetic appearance but to perfect one's internal structure as well. designer organs become the vogue The natural train for this is, of course, when you have financing options for high ticket items which are in demand there will be people who promise more than they can pay and repossession becomes an issue.
But how do you repossess an organ though, you might ask. You call the night surgeon, played by Anthony Stewart Head. He's a legal assassin with the singular task of tracking down debtors and forcefully removing the unpaid merchandise from them without anesthetic or sanitary measures. When on the job he is known as the Repo Man. This isn't just a dark gothic slasher flick though. Nor is it just a musical. It is also the story of the Repo Man's other life. His daughter, who he raised alone has a dangerous genetic blood disorder and cannot be allowed out of the house. His love for her overrules all else in his life and his devotion and desire to keep her safe are his only concerns. Throw into the mix the family running GeneCo, the company responsible for the organs and the repo man's employer, who are nothing more or less than classic operatic archetypes albeit viewed through a looking glass darkly.
It was enjoyable though I found some of the music to be noticeably sub par and many of the characters to be almost entirely superfluous. It was a fun show but I would wait to see it in a second run theater or wait until it comes out in a, no doubt extra sanguine, DVD release.

Now, of course, we in America celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. For those unfamiliar it's the day we celebrate some people having dinner a long time ago. We celebrate by having dinner every year. Sure, you can talk about overcoming the troubles of early colonization and peace between the colonists and the natives they were soon to destroy. When you get down to it though, this is a holiday about our country's love of eating dinner.
That said, it was great. Tab and I watched the Macy's parade together and got to see the balloon hitting the NBC booth and the national rickrolling perpetrated by Cartoon Network's submission. We will be making sure to watch the NBC coverage from now on. as we mistakenly watched the CBS rubbish for about half of the parade and didn't get to see most of the floats or their performances.

After a little while with Heather we all three of us headed out to the Barrett's house for Thanksgiving dinner. The assemblage of misfits and family had a lovely time though I'm sure I don't remember half of the names thrown at me. I look forward to making their dinner a part of our tradition for the years to come. For the facebook crowd there promises to be photos coming soon.

There was something special about the "first holiday" with Tabitha. I found myself often thinking about how as the years go on I'd like us to grow as a couple. I'm so glad I got to share this first holiday with such friendly, welcoming people. That said, I get to meet the parents next weekend in a similar setting, I can only hope that I make a good impression.

Today's Gems are from Repo-

I found a really cool cache of videos on YouTube. They are from the original stage version of Repo. What makes this cool is that you can see just how far the material has come since it's inception as what looks like a pretty low budget art house piece. For most of the songs available from the original the change was very much for the better. I've chosen to give you the one song which, aside from much better orchestration, might have been better in the original.

This is a copy of the song as it appears in the film, sadly no video was available. So you get to watch the thrilling performance of the logo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT2aLJmS_48

And this is how it appeared in the stage version. I think the song is more effective as a soliloquy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saCfVhAUP0I

Sadly, my favourite song was abysmal in the original version.
Thrill to the logo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm5FBc906qY

And now see the finest father daughter confrontation scene in the film as it was without the daughter. I'm not sure if this came from the same part of the show or if it was moved but it seems a lot weaker without Shiloh in the picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvaaAXR_vGY

I believe that's all I have at the moment, I know I missed a lot of material like Heather's performance in "I Ain't Stingy", Leslie's performance in "A House With No Walls" and my own performance in "Queen Elizabeth's Dwarf". Hopefully there will be another post next week with all theatre content. I'm only waiting so I can lump them all together as well as including Heater's performance in "The Right Answer" this weekend.

If anyone would like to come support Heather the show is at the Gorilla Tango Theatre in Bucktown.
http://www.gorillatango.com/chicago/index.htm
Saturday at six and Sunday at five. Tickets are $20 and seating is general.

-That will be all.-

Cabbages and Kings

Get yourself something to drink because I've got one or two things to say and since no one's making you read this I feel no reason I should be brief. For those of you who read regularly or who care enough to read what is to follow, thank you.

That being out of the way let me take care of the business first. I have a new cell phone number. My old plan did not allow me to call Tabitha enough so I have made that last step out of the house and got myself my own cell plan. The old number will still get you through to me for a little while as I'm not sure how long it will be before my folks decide they don't want the plan anymore. However, it may cease to get you in contact with me in a timely manner soon when I get tired of carrying two phones with me all over the place.
Ansel's New Cell Number- 7738963975
Consider yourself informed.

The Halloween party was a smash. The attendance was good and we had a generally brilliant time. I was pleased with the caliber of everyone's costumes until leaving college and seeing people's costumes out and about in the city on Friday I didn't really realize how blessed I am to be friends with artistic people. some of my favourite offerings included "guitar hero" Rachel Wells, "Frank Einstein" Shane and most amusing of all, sexy Lincoln by Fara. They win for clever costume. For cultural references who could ask for more than 1/3 of the crew of Serenity? Katie Chin as River Tamm, Tabitha as Zoe and myself as Wash, as well as Katie K's Pikachu, Derrik's Voldemort and Faith's Death. Most convincing reproduction goes to Heather as Giselle from "Enchanted" and Josh as Hellboy. Let's be fair, Josh already looked like Hellboy so it was all a matter of horns and red makeup. Heather's reproduction of the dress from the film is a titanic feat not to be rivaled.

As some of you may have noticed I am no longer employed at the Corner Bakery. Now that I am honest with myself I was not truly happy with the job. I was tolerating it and letting it mistreat me. Something I told myself I would not do after ACCR. I was little more than a glorified delivery boy. Knowing that I made more money than anyone else outside of management which was not even beginning to be as much as I deserve or need also did not bode well for advancement. As if that were not enough I was not being given enough hours so my paycheck, which should have been twice what I was making at ACCR was hardly better by $100. That being said I did enjoy the experience of working with the colourful people of the Corner Bakery. I was picking up a little Spanish as I went and slowly making the kitchen my own.

I find it hard to be worried though. Being with Tabitha has made me start looking to the future. It has made me think of many things about myself and how I see the world. Tabs and I largely agree on most things. Seeing my own needs and desires reflected back to me has been enlightening. I am reminded that at this point in my life my dreams are the most important thing in the world. Moving toward those goals should be my only focus. It bears thinking then, what are those goals? When I look into the future I see a few things clearly. By the time I am thirty-five I would like to be solidly in academia involved in my studies and imparting my knowledge either though application in conservation and translation or through teaching. By the time I am sixty I would like to have found the comfortable place where I can rest for good. Preferably a cottage in England. The thing these two images have in common is that in each of them I have found love. In both scenarios I am most content because I have a hand to rest in mine and a head to rest beside my own. With those snapshots of the future in mind I have been reminded of the imperative behind my current state. Continuing to let myself be comfortable now will not help me to be comfortable then. I have to take the chances which will make me great. I need to fight for the things I'm owed and I need to protect the beauty I've found.

To that end I am slightly glad that I no longer work at the Corner Bakery. It allowed my to be pleased but it did not make me happy. I need a position which allows me to not worry about money any more. I need a job which allows me to pursue myself as well. At the bakery I was limited by the hours and the pay. I hope that my next job or jobs will allow me to change that. Allow me to make the money I need to pay for the tuition at Loyola, allow me to buy myself a bed to sleep on and a dresser to put my clothes in. To pay my Electric bill for crying out loud. At 9.00p/h I was eating and living, no more.

Things with Tabitha have been amazing in ways I cannot even begin to tell you. the level of connection we feel is like nothing I knew could be possible. I say this only because I cannot do otherwise. She makes me so happy I cannot contain it within myself. I look forward to continuing to tell you all about this relationship for a long time into the future. We've gone on a couple "dates" now which are only differentiated from every other day by our having specifically designated them as such and making the effort to get into the city. A day does not go by without us touching base and every day we try to see each other if there is any time at all. Luckily, there tends to be time hidden away in the mundane tasks of life.


I suppose in retrospect I may have overestimated the length of this post. I had a lot to say when I started and I suppose in the need it wasn't as hard to express as I had anticipated. Tabitha and I have something special and I look forward to exploring that connection I've said it and I feel good for having done so.

Today's Gem of the Internet- For those of you with cats here is a gem first shown to me by Katie Stauffer a few months ago and brought back to my attention by the Breos

Simon's Cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s13dLaTIHSg

Also Check out the other two videos posted by this artist. Cat Man Do and Let Me In! I nearly died laughing.