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shadowkatIt was a pretty day today - in the low eighties and high seventies by mid-afternoon, with a nice breeze, and in the sixties this morning. Tomorrow promises to be the same. Then it is going to rain and dip into the fifties and sixties again - just in time for my vacation next week. Kaloo Kalay.
But hey, clear, no clouds, and lovely today - I took a fifteen minute walk at lunch time through the bike path garden at Battery Park, and up and around the historic section to grab - you guessed it - gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
Most of the day, I worried that someone had stolen the bag that Amazon had allegedly delivered on Saturday. Mainly because I didn't see the package over the weekend. (Considering how hard it is to read the labels on these packages, and how they hide behind other packages - there was an off chance that I just overlooked it.) So when I got home - and looked and gasp, found the package - I was relieved. The bag wasn't necessarily that expensive? But I wanted it. Hippie Cross Body Bag for $16.99. It's perfect for non-work traveling about the city. Big enough to fit grocery bags, light, and easy to cart about.
I'm currently flirting with Wildgrains Gluten Free Products (it's also dairy free). But I have no real freezer space, let alone much refigerator space. I can't freeze that much - my freezer space is very limited (think small box at top of refrigerator). And they give you a ton of stuff. Also, it's high in carbs which in turn equals high blood sugar.
And big family size portions. So no, probably not a good idea? But if the link helps anyone else? Go for it.
And, does anyone want to explain - when it became necessary to buy non-cotton materials for hiking? Apparently after years of wearing cotton on long hikes, I can't do it anymore. At least I remember wearing cotton in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Did I? Sigh. It was too long ago - I can't remember.
At any rate - I have next week off as a staycation. I'm not going anywhere.
And I don't really want to plan ahead or buy tickets ahead? I want to be spontaneous. Go shopping one day. Maybe take a train to the Bronx Zoo or Botanical Gardens? Or tour the Met? Or just check out the Highline park.
Wander about the city, exploring. Check out some parks. Maybe take a ferry ride. Or just clean out my closets and switch clothes around, write, and paint.
***
The Juliet Landau podcasts that she's doing with her husband, Dev Weeks, (original titled "Slaying It" and now, "Revamped") are rather charming, comforting and reassuring. By far my favorite podcasts. I've become quite charmed and enamored of Landau. She's a hard working character actress, who has a ballet background. She started out in ballet. And she interviews fellow hard-working character actors. Such as? The Teacher (Natalie French) from Teacher's Pet portrayed by Musetta Vander, who also had a background in ballet - Juliette and Musetta both went to the same ballet school and saw visitors like Mikhail Baryshnikov. As a result of the ballet background, the actress who did Teacher's Pet didn't quite understand some of the on-set complaining. Ballet is hundred times harder than acting, and brutal in regards to "toxic work" environments, not to mention level of competition. (I was friends with a former prima ballerina from the NY Ballet Company in college - she was five to six years older than me, and had stopped dancing around twenty.) Anyhow, Musetta was from South Africa, grew up with nature and close to animals, and had issues with hurting the crickets in Teacher's Pet (she didn't). Also apparently was in a lot of science fiction television series from Star Trek to Star Gate, to Xenia. They also interviewed Owen from Never Kill a Boy on the First Date - who has been in a lot of television shows (failed television shows, many didn't make it past one season or just ten episodes and a lot of failed pilots - he's known for Playmakers - which was cancelled by Disney, when the NFL requested that Disney cancel Playmakers in exchange for airing NFL games. The NFL didn't like how their football players were portrayed in the television series.) And finally Principal Flutie - who apparently was the acting teacher and mentor of ...the guy who played Principal Snyder - and even suggested that actor audition for the part of Snyder. Ken Lerner who played Flutie - was in Happy Days - he played multiple roles in the series,
and has been in a lot of movies and television shows. He was killed with a pen in Running Man, and worked in Every Which Way But Loose (but never met Clint Eastwood, just his stunt double who directed the movie). They all say the same thing - only become an actor if you can't find anything else you want to do, and if you love it - because it's a stressful and tough career that you don't make a lot of money at, have to work while sick and in pain.
The guy who played Owen - did a movie six months after he had major brain surgery to remove a brain tumor. Musetta explains how she worked through a torn hamstring after doing a round house kick on Xenia - in a fight scene.
Juliette explains how she limped through and kept doing the fanged four group shot and boxer rebellion scenes after twisted her ankle on set, and literally fracturing it. Her dance background pushed her through the pain.
I get it. I have the same insane work ethic. I've been known to work through pain. But actors are insane. They will work through the flu. Brain injuries. Broken ankles. Torn hamstrings. Etc.
I found out that she was mentored by Guillermo Del Torro while filming A Place Among the Dead - her directorial debut. Guillermo Del Torro charms me as well - I watch his films partly because I find him endearing. He's such a kind man. And talks about how most artists don't work for years at a time. He's only really worked ten years of his life - most of the time he's trying to get work, get work off the ground, get someone insterested in his ideas and work. But he wouldn't do anything else, and it's worth it for those years spent working.
It is really hard to get a film made. They talk about the process with Owen and Lerner - and Juliette mentions getting heart palpitations just talking about it. Producing is just painful. You are constantly trying to get someone to do this or that, or hunting money just to get this off the ground, or get the investors to bony up funds so you can pay your crew.
It's a juggling act.
I get a kind of schendfreud thrill from listening to it? Or it comforts me? Because I struggle to get my art down and out there too, but as a side hustle. And often just do it for myself. Juliette charmed me - when she states that no one should stop you from expressing yourself through art, whether it is singing, music, painting, acting, performance, what have you - you should be allowed to do it. And some will love it, and some won't. But be free to get it out there.
Also, listening to them - while working on a spreadsheet at work - helps make the time go by faster. It gives me something to look forward to.
But hey, clear, no clouds, and lovely today - I took a fifteen minute walk at lunch time through the bike path garden at Battery Park, and up and around the historic section to grab - you guessed it - gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
Most of the day, I worried that someone had stolen the bag that Amazon had allegedly delivered on Saturday. Mainly because I didn't see the package over the weekend. (Considering how hard it is to read the labels on these packages, and how they hide behind other packages - there was an off chance that I just overlooked it.) So when I got home - and looked and gasp, found the package - I was relieved. The bag wasn't necessarily that expensive? But I wanted it. Hippie Cross Body Bag for $16.99. It's perfect for non-work traveling about the city. Big enough to fit grocery bags, light, and easy to cart about.
I'm currently flirting with Wildgrains Gluten Free Products (it's also dairy free). But I have no real freezer space, let alone much refigerator space. I can't freeze that much - my freezer space is very limited (think small box at top of refrigerator). And they give you a ton of stuff. Also, it's high in carbs which in turn equals high blood sugar.
And big family size portions. So no, probably not a good idea? But if the link helps anyone else? Go for it.
And, does anyone want to explain - when it became necessary to buy non-cotton materials for hiking? Apparently after years of wearing cotton on long hikes, I can't do it anymore. At least I remember wearing cotton in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Did I? Sigh. It was too long ago - I can't remember.
At any rate - I have next week off as a staycation. I'm not going anywhere.
And I don't really want to plan ahead or buy tickets ahead? I want to be spontaneous. Go shopping one day. Maybe take a train to the Bronx Zoo or Botanical Gardens? Or tour the Met? Or just check out the Highline park.
Wander about the city, exploring. Check out some parks. Maybe take a ferry ride. Or just clean out my closets and switch clothes around, write, and paint.
***
The Juliet Landau podcasts that she's doing with her husband, Dev Weeks, (original titled "Slaying It" and now, "Revamped") are rather charming, comforting and reassuring. By far my favorite podcasts. I've become quite charmed and enamored of Landau. She's a hard working character actress, who has a ballet background. She started out in ballet. And she interviews fellow hard-working character actors. Such as? The Teacher (Natalie French) from Teacher's Pet portrayed by Musetta Vander, who also had a background in ballet - Juliette and Musetta both went to the same ballet school and saw visitors like Mikhail Baryshnikov. As a result of the ballet background, the actress who did Teacher's Pet didn't quite understand some of the on-set complaining. Ballet is hundred times harder than acting, and brutal in regards to "toxic work" environments, not to mention level of competition. (I was friends with a former prima ballerina from the NY Ballet Company in college - she was five to six years older than me, and had stopped dancing around twenty.) Anyhow, Musetta was from South Africa, grew up with nature and close to animals, and had issues with hurting the crickets in Teacher's Pet (she didn't). Also apparently was in a lot of science fiction television series from Star Trek to Star Gate, to Xenia. They also interviewed Owen from Never Kill a Boy on the First Date - who has been in a lot of television shows (failed television shows, many didn't make it past one season or just ten episodes and a lot of failed pilots - he's known for Playmakers - which was cancelled by Disney, when the NFL requested that Disney cancel Playmakers in exchange for airing NFL games. The NFL didn't like how their football players were portrayed in the television series.) And finally Principal Flutie - who apparently was the acting teacher and mentor of ...the guy who played Principal Snyder - and even suggested that actor audition for the part of Snyder. Ken Lerner who played Flutie - was in Happy Days - he played multiple roles in the series,
and has been in a lot of movies and television shows. He was killed with a pen in Running Man, and worked in Every Which Way But Loose (but never met Clint Eastwood, just his stunt double who directed the movie). They all say the same thing - only become an actor if you can't find anything else you want to do, and if you love it - because it's a stressful and tough career that you don't make a lot of money at, have to work while sick and in pain.
The guy who played Owen - did a movie six months after he had major brain surgery to remove a brain tumor. Musetta explains how she worked through a torn hamstring after doing a round house kick on Xenia - in a fight scene.
Juliette explains how she limped through and kept doing the fanged four group shot and boxer rebellion scenes after twisted her ankle on set, and literally fracturing it. Her dance background pushed her through the pain.
I get it. I have the same insane work ethic. I've been known to work through pain. But actors are insane. They will work through the flu. Brain injuries. Broken ankles. Torn hamstrings. Etc.
I found out that she was mentored by Guillermo Del Torro while filming A Place Among the Dead - her directorial debut. Guillermo Del Torro charms me as well - I watch his films partly because I find him endearing. He's such a kind man. And talks about how most artists don't work for years at a time. He's only really worked ten years of his life - most of the time he's trying to get work, get work off the ground, get someone insterested in his ideas and work. But he wouldn't do anything else, and it's worth it for those years spent working.
It is really hard to get a film made. They talk about the process with Owen and Lerner - and Juliette mentions getting heart palpitations just talking about it. Producing is just painful. You are constantly trying to get someone to do this or that, or hunting money just to get this off the ground, or get the investors to bony up funds so you can pay your crew.
It's a juggling act.
I get a kind of schendfreud thrill from listening to it? Or it comforts me? Because I struggle to get my art down and out there too, but as a side hustle. And often just do it for myself. Juliette charmed me - when she states that no one should stop you from expressing yourself through art, whether it is singing, music, painting, acting, performance, what have you - you should be allowed to do it. And some will love it, and some won't. But be free to get it out there.
Also, listening to them - while working on a spreadsheet at work - helps make the time go by faster. It gives me something to look forward to.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-07 09:15 pm (UTC)And, does anyone want to explain - when it became necessary to buy non-cotton materials for hiking? Apparently after years of wearing cotton on long hikes, I can't do it anymore.
Do you mean that you now find cotton uncomfortable, or that people advise against it? I have heard that it doesn’t wick as well as some other fibres, and that if there’s any chance of getting wet and/or the weather being cool, it should be avoided as you could get hypothermia.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-07 10:09 pm (UTC)That people advise against it. I signed up for Trail Dames, which organizes hikes - and they stated wear non-cotton layers. I asked my niece who is outdoorsy - and she said that she doesn't wear cotton, she wears bamboo and synthetic blends because cotton doesn't dry well. Mother told me to buy hiking clothes on Amazon that are non-cotton.
(I like cotton and find it very comfortable and inexpensive, also it's a natural fiber.)
no subject
Date: 2025-10-07 10:10 pm (UTC)