Theatre Freaking

You looking for me?

2009-04-22T14:06:00.001-05:00

The Magic Room
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Well not that I am abolishing this blog I am not, but right now I am participating in a blog experiment. A 365 Blog. One post a day for a year. Roughly. Follow me at: www.momarimomari.blogspot.com

I promise I will post stuff here as well- just not as frequently. :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful Spring. I am diggin' Philly more and more everyday! Come visit!

Call Center Me

2009-02-07T08:50:00.001-06:00

Call Center Me
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Some days...everybody just calls to complain. But I still love the job. Have a great Weekend Everybody!

JC Superstar at The Academy of Music

2009-02-02T11:58:00.001-06:00

Academy of Music with Loreena, originally uploaded by kimmelcenter.

So this pic is inside the Academy, and it is from just about exactly where we were too. But this pic is of the Lorenna McKennit Concert there in 2007. Aaaaaannny hoo. I saw Ted Neely play Jesus at the ripe old age of 68 last night in Jesus Christ Superstar, the Rock Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. And the Productions was pretty good. Except for Grandpa Jesus. Now before you think of me as blasphemous, let me say that the music for this Rock Opera is very much meant to be reminicent of say 1975's Led Zeplin. Lotta' Screamin' and whaling on the parts of Judas and Jesus for sure. And Ted at 68 couldnt cut it. His rythms were off. If he couldnt reach a note he would speak it instead of sing it, and the entire show he pranced around regally and etherially, and it took some of the raw, realistic edge the writers of this show had intended for the character to have away. And that made me sad. Some flashy tech tricks were nice, and plesantly distracting. And the beauty of the space was a real treat. I went with my friend Betty from Wilmington and we had a lovely dinner after at the Sushi place next to my work. all in all not a bad way to spend a Sunday. :)

Philadelphia Livin'

2009-01-15T10:39:00.001-06:00

Philly Night, originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Hello All!! Long time no bloggy. Sorry about that. I have been wildly busy since arriving in the city of brotherly Love December 1st, but I finally have a moment to breathe. So Philly. Wow, what do you want to know? Is it dirty? Yep. More trash than I ever saw in Chicago. Are people rude? Yeah- a little. East Coast rude for sure, but once they see your face around they become far more friendly. How do I like South Philly? Oh I am so glad you asked! I LOVE SOUTH PHILLY!!

So Ok- South Philly isn’t granola crunchy like Germantown, or Mt.Airy. It isn’t super trendy like South Street or Center City. It isn’t hip to the kids like University City, but it’s totally great for so many other reasons. A) It is a mere 2.2 miles from Center City. That is 10 min on a train, or 40 min walking slowly, or 20 min on a bike. B) Geno’s Cheesesteaks. What more is there to say about that. World Famous and sooooo yummy. C) All the houses are cozy row houses on narrow streets. You get to know your neighbors really well. Little old Italian ladies smoke out on their front porches and scope the young ladies out for their Grandson’s. (It’s kinda adorable really) D) The Sports Complex is like 10 min walking distance from my house. And by Sports complex I mean to say the Baseball Stadium, The Football Stadium, the Basketball Coliseum, The Hockey Arena and an old school Sporting Facility are ALL located in ONE spot in South Philly. Surrounded by food and hotels, it’s kinda a really great idea if you ask me. I am hoping to catch a Hockey Game this year, and possibly baseball in the spring. E) Geno’s Cheesesteaks. Yeah I know I said it already, but they are so good I get to count it twice. F) Oregon Ave. Oregon Ave is the Street I live off of. It has a consistent stream of bakeries, corner groceries, wholesale seafood stores, Barber and Beauty Shops and someplace called Bums BBQ that has an amazing Grilled Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with raspberry vinaigrette that I HIGHLY recommend. G) South Philadelphian’s are funny, and caring and loud in most cases, and have really long nails and really big hair. I love them. I feel very comfortable here. H) Seeing as the majority of the community is South Philly is Italian, I being named Mariangela (a very Italian name if you didn’t know that) am getting along great with the locals. Every Grandma in town wants me to meet her Grandson Vincent.

How’s The Job? OMG! OMG! OMG! I love my job!! LOOOOOOOOVVVVEEE it!
Ticket Philadelphia ROCKS! It offers exactly the challenges I was looking for, none of the IT hassles I had using Provenue Crap- uh I mean- Provenue Max at VGT, and I have a real office environment. I have a cubicle, decked out with my photo Magnets, and I get a real lunch break (1hour and it is recommended that I leave the building to get a true BREAK from the office.) The people I work with are all fun and wonderful. We have a ballet lady whom as her name would suggest is a former dancer. Her cubicle has signed Toe shoes from all sorts of important PA Ballet stars. We have the Orchestra Guru, he is English (go figure) and his Cubicle resembles my uncle’s kitchen with tins of Fortnum and Masons English Breakfast Tea, and London Philharmonic Posters. Our quality assurance manager reminds me of Dwight from The Office. (If Dwight had long hair and a cooler sense of humor) And the whole Patron Services team is really great at what they do and a pleasure to be around daily. I check in at 8:45am and at 5:00pm I check out. No staying late, no Will Calls. It’s brilliant!

Job Perks that I have enjoyed so far: Free ticket to see The Messiah Performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Singers Chorale. AMAZING ½ price tickets to see Bela Fleck and The Flecktones. (Such a good show) Free tickets to see Ruben Studdard and Frenchie Davis (Both of American Idol Fame) in Ain’t Misbehaving. (I was gone that weekend so I gave the tickets to my good friend Betty from NC who now lives here and she gushed about how great the show was) And I am hoping to get COMPS for Jesus Christ Superstar at the end of the Month and Rent in Feb Starring Original Cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. And Spring Awakening (The winner of the 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical) will be here in June…and I am sooooooo getting tickets for that. Plus it was just announced that we are selling tickets for Morrissey in March. Oh yeah! Wooooot!

So yeah- the job and the City Rock! I would love to see any and all of you here anytime. And I promise to Blog more often now that I am fairly settled. And hey- I can honestly say I am enjoying the 30-40 degree temps! I have yet to see a speck of snow, and it hasn’t been lower than 30 yet. (I know all my Chi peeps are struggling through like -12 right now. Hang in there y’all)

More to come! Till then GO EAGLES!!

Good Bye Chicago

2008-12-07T10:42:00.001-06:00

My Party was hoppin, originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Happy December everyone!!

I have arrived in Philadelphia and will soon be posting pics and the like from my new home City!!

I have a great little house in South Philly with two awesome roomates I found on Craig's List if you can believe it! My new Job with Ticket Philadelphia who handles all the ticket sales for like EVERY OLD THING in Phily is incredible, and I could not be happier!!

Well I do miss my friends in Chicago, but slowly the pictures from my going away party are trickling in from those who remembered to take pics. :) This one here is a general shot of the party peeps.( Im behind the bar in the black shirt on the lower Right side of this pic.)

Click the pic and you can see some more on my Flickr site if you like.

More to come soon! Till then have a great December!

Todays edition of "Why GOD? Why?"

2008-11-26T15:43:00.001-06:00

bacon11-24-08
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

I present for your consideration: Gummy Bacon. Strawberry flavored no less. Yep. Wow....

Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

Casting Auction=FUN!!

2008-11-15T21:20:00.001-06:00

Flapper me
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So this is me tonight. At the VGT Annual Casting Auction. Every year we pick a well loved musical and then Patrons pay 75 bucks a head to come to the theater- dress up like the characters from the show, drink and eat all they want, and then place bids on the lead roles in the musical. We make a KILLING on this event. After- everyone who won rehearses the show for 2 months and then they perform it onstage for 3 nights in February. They invite all their friends and family, and at $25 bucks a ticket- we make a killing on that as well. This years show: MAME.

So roaring 20's/30's was the theme. thus my outfit pictured here. Drink of the night: The Gooch (named after the character of Agnes Gooch in the show) I had 3 Gooches...they are yummy. I also had rasberry cheesecake, and White chilli. Something I intend to make very very soon for myself.

Right now they are all bidding on the roles in the theater and us (the staff) are drinking and eating in the lobby. In about an hour when the auction is over- Lorraine and I will snap to action and "check everyone out" i.e. we will take payment for the roles they won.

Right now the lead role of MAME just sold for $19,000. Yeah you read that right...$19,000. Someone paid more than my first new car for a role in a community theater piece...I cant even think what that's like.

I will audition for my roles thank you. But wow what a great way to raise money for our theater right?! :)

Griffin Rocks

2008-11-15T21:09:00.001-06:00

Griffin Rocks
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

This is Griffin Davis. He is 3 months old. I babysat him on Friday night. He is funny...and wanted to put my camera phone in his mouth. He smells like pudding. I will miss him when I move in a week. : )

Oh yeah- and....

2008-11-05T18:01:00.001-06:00

Kimmel Center
Originally uploaded by ZevDesigns

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!

Wooooooooot!!

Start Dec 1st! Philadelphia here I come!!!

Thanks for all the well wishes, prayers and crossed fingers!

Now come visit!!

Obama-palooza

2008-11-05T16:13:00.001-06:00

Obamapalooza
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

145,000 Chicagoans met in Grant Park Last night to hear the man who will be our 44th President speak. 145,000 men women and children. 145,000 God loving, good hearted people who just want SOMETHING to change in the way our Country is led. 145,000 people who want to stop fighting Wars we cant afford for Countries who are not appreciative of the help. 145,000 people who dont want to have to file Bankruptsy every time they need the ER because their Health Insurance only covers about 20% of the bills. 145,000 who hope that all their hard earned Tax Dollars going into Social Security will still be there to pay them when they retire, and not be absorbed by astronomical Federal Debt being accrued daily. 145,000 people who believe "Yes We Can" have a safer, healthier, happier and greater America, and it has to start now.

I am one of those people. I believe in God and Country. I believe in being good to one another. I believe there is never a good reason to fight a war unless it is Self Defense. I believe we should help others who are less fortunate than us. I feel God has taught us that. Sure there will be those who are greedy and abuse the system, but in 1995 when I was 22 and making $4.75 and hour at Subway, I was very thankful to God and our President for the Food Stamps I recieved every month that kept me from starving that year.

In our world today I cant stress enough how important I feel it is to keep religion and government separate so we can all worship, love God and be good to each other freely in each our own way. After all that IS what the founding fathers were trying to create with this new nation. A place to be Free. A Place to make your own choices and walk your own path, as long as you do no harm and obey laws in place for the good of the Country.

If voting for Obama made my reservation in Hell, I will have to face that when I face God at the end of my life. What I know of My God, the one I have been talking to all my life, I know he understands my motives and loves me unconditionally. I know he wants mankind to look out for one another, even the sinners. I know he wants us to live in peace and help those in need. And that is what I voted to ensure yesterday. I voted for Change. I voted for Freedom and Peace. I voted for the right to love God on my own with out government intervention. I voted for help when I need it. I voted for safety on my streets and in my country.

I am proud my canidate won and that I was here on this earth to see it. I believe God had everything to do with that. (He even made it unseasonably warm and beautiful for the past three days here in Chicago. 70degrees! Unheard of in November! Seriously!) I hope in time all the people who are mad and hurt and afraid the apocalypse is coming because of this election will see they had nothing to fear from the Change our new President will bring upon this country. I am proud to be an American. I hope you all are too no matter what way you voted.

So now....Who wants to meet me in DC on Jan 20th to watch the Inauguration on the Capital steps?!

My Halloween Costume

2008-10-31T13:42:00.001-05:00

My Halloween Costume
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

HA! Oh HA! I AM Funny!

Cant actually take credit for this one. It was my friend Camilla's idea. But she said get a pageant dress and a Tiara and make a sash that says "Miss Information" across it./ But seeing as I don't have any of the affore mentioned items and no $ to really spend on a costume, this seemed like a good alternative. especially if you look at the Ironic aspect. See my JOB is to give out Information about Shows and ticket availability. And inevidebly we get/give misinformation all the time. Not on purpose, but it happens, we ha a lot of cooks in the kitchen around here.

So my Halloween plans for the weekend begin tonight at The Biograph Theater (work) after the show , the staff of the VGT is having a Costume Contest, and a screening of the original Night of the Living Dead. We are breaking in our newly purchased Popcorn machine too! YAY!

Tomorrow night (after work) I am heading to a friends house for a Halloween Party. Should be fun.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

The Mom has entered the new Millenium

2008-10-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

The Mom and Eric...
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

and the wide world of ichat. :)

This was Saturday morning when I got to chat with Mom and Eric at the same time on the ichat.

It was fun, and I do so enjoy not having to talk into the phone.

City Hall Philadelphia PA

2008-10-15T17:36:00.001-05:00

City Hall Philadelphia PA
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So I went to Philly on Monday, and Interviewed for a GREAT job, full of all sorts of opportunities for me in the field of ticket selling. The Company looks great, the people seem great. The location is right around the corner from this picture here. On all fronts it seems pretty great. Pay isnt what I had hoped for, but there is room to grow in the company, and the benefits of working "down in it" ("in it" being the arts scene in Philly) are almost worth the pay cut I would be taking to take this job. Of course they have to offer it to me first. They have 4 more interviews this week and will make a solid choice by this time next week. So I have tossed it up to God. If they offer it to me I will take it, cause after all these days a low paying job is better than NO job, and if they don't then I was meant to look for something else.

As for Philly- I didnt really see much more than downtown, the drive into town and the Athletic Complex and Naval Yards of South Philly (Eric had an appointment there that afternoon...I wasn't just trolling the Naval Yards of South Philly-Jeeze!) But what I saw looked good. I could call it my home for sure.

So stay tuned to see what happens next!

OMG!!!!

2008-10-06T17:53:00.001-05:00

kimmel center @ night
Originally uploaded by kimmelcenter

So this is the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Its like the Lincoln Center or Kennedy Center of Philly. I applied for and had a phone interview, for a job there in the Box Office dealing with the various Subscriptions they offer about three weeks ago. I had all but given up when I sent a friendly follow up email two days ago about my continued interest in the position. And today THEY CALLED!!! I have a face to face interview one week from today with them in Philly. Excited doesn't even begin to cover it! Please oh, please keep your fingers crossed, pray, meditate do what ever you all do to send good vibes all around this endeavor for me. It would be amazing for once in my life if I could re-locate to a new city with a job already in place!!

Take the virtual tour of the place at www.kimmelcenter.org its awesome!!

Oh how did we live without....

2008-10-04T01:06:00.001-05:00

Me on his Screen
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

ichat!!! So Eric got a MAC this week. He bought it from my former roomate who bought a MacBook to take to Spain with her. He got an incredible deal on an iMac that is all of a year old, with 2 years of Apple Care left on it. He has twice the gigs as my lappy macbook, and tonight he hooked it up and we had our first sucsessful i chat! No cell phone nessisary! It was awesome, and funny and awkward. Cause you know after a year of saying goodnight to a cell phone it was weird to just be telling him goodnight, and seeing him there in real time.

The sound was great, and the video was not choppy or glitchy at all. the low light in the room I was in and the fact that his monitor is 17 inches me me a bit blurry on his screen(pictured) but not to bad for the first time out.

YAY!! Technology is fun. If you gotta love someone who is far far away, this is totally the way to keep close. :) I might never call him on the phone again. :)

Another E Weekend

2008-10-01T13:41:00.001-05:00

Huh?
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Eric came to Chicago again this weekend. Thurs eve- Tues eve. It was awesome. We moved me off one couch and onto another further north. we help Camilla move out of her place by buying up her MAC (awesome) and her killer wooden end tables. We finally made it to Carols for Karaoke. (He sang a song by Cake and it was awesome1). We saw Burn After Reading, the new Cohen Brothers movie and it was also AWESOME. We took a late night tour of the Biograph, complete with creepy ghosty sounds we couldnt explain. I worked on Sunday, and he did office work on his laptop. Monday we got a killer deal on a hotel DOWNTOWN, and it rained all day, so we rented movies and ordered Chineese food and had a Hotel picnic. Tuesday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry cause it was a FREE ADMISSION day! It was VERY VERY cool. Thats E in the picture from the Space exibit. Do you know in 2014 we are going to send a crew to the Moon to LIVE for 6 months!! HOLY COW!

All in all it was a great weekend in the city. Beautiful weather in the 70s except for Monday when it rained all day and Tuesday when it was 62. But I cant complain. Click the pic to go to flicker and see all the other shots from the museum and the weekend.

So I realized some of you might not know....

2008-09-08T12:10:00.001-05:00

philadelphia fairmount park summer 2008 3221 [no invites/icons please]
Originally uploaded by bly2k

I am relocating back East this winter. Philadelphia to be more specific.

Why you may wonder?
Yes well- I do LOVE Chicago, and it has been fabulous to me for the past 4 years. But it is a)cold...a lot. b)far away from family and friends back east. c)no room for advancement at my current job d)did I mention cold and far away from family and friends?

Why Phily?

East Coast City! YAY!
Mass transit is good so I wont need a car! Double YAY!
Amtrack trains can take me north to NYC and Hillary, South to MD for Heather and Eric, further south to DC for well all my freinds and fam there, further south to Fredricksberg to my Mom and Brother, further south to Richmond for my nieces and nephews and just past that the same train will take me to Newport News and all my Va beach peeps, or to Raleigh to D and Jess. (see much more connected there than here)

Theater scene in Phily is BIG, and thriving. :) So the plan is to get into Childrens Theater or start one.

Cost of living is virtually the same as here.

So yeah..thats why Philly.

The time line is a little flexible. I am leaving here for sure by Jan 31st. thats all I got.

Till then, I will be couch surfing around and saving money and trying to have a great time in the city I love while I still have the time to do it. Because I have a whole new city to fall in love with. :)

Peeps in the Park

2008-09-06T14:44:00.001-05:00

Peeps in the Park
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So my last Summer in Chicago seems to have blown past me at record speed. This pic is of me and some friends at Grant Park for the final Movie in the Park of the Summer: GREASE! August 26th, 2008.

Left to Right: Camilla, Sarah, Kyla, Me and Ian. We had a delectible spread of food, and Wine as well as several cans of Fosters Beer. This shot was just after the movie ended, when everyone was heading out, we just chilled and let the crowd dissipate. I have known the ladies for quite some time now, but Ian was a new friend I had just met in person that night. He is a trumpet grad student here in Chicago that I met through a mutual friend who wanted him to have some contacts in Chicago when he got here. He was super fun, and by the end of the night he had charmed not only the 4 of us but every woman on a three blanket raduis around us. Charm and good looks will do that for a guy! :)

Tonight- in keeping with my do as much as I can in the city as possible before I leave attitude, I am going to see my friend Mr. B's show at the Playground Theater at Midnight. 5 improv comedians sit around and play poker and tell crazy stories. Hillarity Ensues. :)
That should be fun...if I can stay awake till then. I work till 9pm, and then I plan to grab food and beverages after that before the show.

Other than that, I have been keeping busy with work at THE VGT and part time nanny-ing for my friend Jenny. (She pays $10 an hour!! Holy smoke when I started Babysitting at 14 it was only $3!!)

I got my bike back today. First ride since August 3rd. And don't think my legs don't know that. I might need a long hot soak after I ride home tonight! A month is a long time to be off the wagon-um-bike.

Hope this blog finds you well!

Hint

2008-08-23T20:12:00.001-05:00

IMG_1658
Originally uploaded by aphotogroove.com

Eric is center of this pic in a blue New York shirt. Weedon is to the right of him, I am to the right of her...in the balcony...see us??

9:30 Club J's show!!

Us at the 9:30 Club

2008-08-23T20:10:00.001-05:00

IMG_1262
Originally uploaded by aphotogroove.com

J's Show. We are in the balcony. I see Eric...do you?

Me and E at the J's

2008-08-23T20:06:00.001-05:00

IMG_0318
Originally uploaded by aphotogroove.com

At The Norva after the show....we are pooped!

2 SKINNEE!!!

2008-07-26T19:07:00.001-05:00

Mork J's
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

My favorite band of ALL TIME are reuniting after being broke up since 2003. I followed these guys around the country as often as I could from 1995-2003. Their live show is incredible, and I am fortunate enough to have tickets to their show at The 9:30 Club in DC on August 6th aaaaaannnnd their show at THE NORVA in Norfolk VA on August 8th...and I am sooo excited I might just faint. Seriously. Stoked does not even begin to cover how happy I am about this reunion tour. Pictured here is the line up, with Stumpy in the zoot suit in front. (he actually does nothing musically for the band. he stands on stage the whole show drinking beers and smoking cigarettes and calls himself the manager, and girls Looooove him. Me included.) I will post pics Post concerts I promise! And if you are anywhere near any of the afore mentioned shows please join me. You wont regret it!!

Oh how I Heart the Taste of Chicago!

2008-07-02T18:22:00.001-05:00

Cheescake Frozen Yogurt
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

10 days of food and fun in Grant Park! Over 100 resturaunts are represented all over the Park. You buy tickets (12 for $8) and "taste" portions (Smaller protions thatn the Large regular portion) from the different vendors are usually 2-3 tickets a piece. I "tasted" the following: BBQ Ribs, Fried Plantane and Penut Sause, Motzerella Bread stick, frozed chocolate dipped bannana, Epenadas, and the Cheesecake Waffel Cone you see here! YUUUUUMMM!!

Click the pic to see more if you like! And have a happy and safe 4th of July everyone!!

Drive-by Groping...Oh No He didn't!!

2008-06-20T19:14:00.001-05:00

omg its early
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So Not since oh, JR High I am sure- have I had such an adolecent stunt pulled on me. But today on my way to the bank of all places, I was about to make a left turn at a light onto a one way street so I pulled to the left of the cars stopped at the light.

I SLOWLY proceeded to pass them all, and I approached the SUV at the front of the line, to get ready to make my left turn. I could see the driver of this SUV looking at me in his drivers side mirror as I approached.

Apon begining to pass his open window and make my turn, he reached his arm out his drivers window, and grabbed my right breast, and said "Yoynk!".

I was so stunned as I continued forward into my turn, that I swivled the bike some, and the only instant reaction I could have was to flip him off with my right hand. I could hear him laugh and then he honked as he proceeded through the intersection strait, while I made the left turn on to the one way street.

For the next 1 min and 30 sec it took me to ride to the bank I rode in stunned disbelief.

Did this really happen? Was I just groped by a driver of an SUV while riding my bike at 5:12 on a Friday afternoon in the city of Chicago?

What world does this guy live in that he thinks that is ok? Seriously? Seriously!!

Robert Plant and Allison Krauss ROCK!

2008-06-19T18:27:00.001-05:00

Concert me
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

This is me on the Lawn at Ravinia last night to see an excellent concert!! Camilla went with me and we took food and beverage and had an overall wonderful time! Click the Pic to take a look at more shots from the show on Flickr.

Me Bean...

2008-06-19T18:25:00.001-05:00

Me Bean...
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Kevin and Song came this weekend. I have been friends with Kevin since 1983...if you do the math you will realize we have known each other since we were 10 years old.....thats a loooooooong time!

Click the pic for more pictures of what we did while they were in town. : )

First Night of Shooting...

2008-05-24T16:07:00.001-05:00

cooled
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Was last night. I didnt stay..it was Crazy Go NUTS!! People all over running around like busy bees. Shooting was 9pm-6am. By the time I got to work this morning- it looked like this. People walking up and down the street taking pictures. Its not offten you can stumble apon a block long set strait out of 1938!

I plan to take a walk down the street tomorrow eve when the street gets lit up and take some more pics. If you click this picture it will take you to flicker for the latest shots I got today.

And no....I havent seen Johnny Depp yet!! Arrrgh!

Johnny's Street 5 21 08

2008-05-22T14:36:00.001-05:00

Johnny's Street 5 21 08
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

John Dillenger was here...and it looked like this...and beginging tomorrow Johnny Depp will be here.... so very cool!!

The Heavy Metal Years

2008-05-17T20:20:00.001-05:00

1992 Senior Picture
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

SO my mom has been doing some scanning of old photos for family records and albums and such..... she sent this one today. Since Joe was so brave this winter and posted his Senior Pic from like 1989 I had to do the same. Wow thats some hair! It was 1992....all the cool kids were doing it! :)

Its begining to look like 1938...

2008-05-09T16:31:00.001-05:00

Movie Magic 3
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

...around here! This is Universal City Studios building fake facades next to my place of work, so Johnny Depp can come get shot in the street in three weeks by Christian Bale for Michael Mann's latest Blockbuster: Public Enemies. Its the John Dillenger Biopic, and the stars will start shootong in about 7 days! I am on the security list- so I can get into work....but I dont know how much work I am gonna do when Johnny and Christian show up on set....seriously! : ) More to come for sure!

More Music Man

2008-04-25T11:57:00.001-05:00

More Music Man
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So I have been playing with Pics Eric had taken in Philly to be used for his Music Web Page, promo material etc. This one is not my fav...but if you click the pic it will take you to Flickr where you can see the Walking Man one and thats My fav. More to come I am sure...

On a SIde note...johnny depp begins shooting at my work (The Biograph theater) in two weeks!! TWO WEEKS!! I got put on the Security pass list yesterday...I can come and go as often as I like!! OFTEN AS I LIKE!! I feel I might have to be working late those days . I mean shooting is a grueling schedule..long hours, lotta hurry up and wait... main reason why I got out of the film buisness, but I might make an exception to check out this sized production! :)

Playing with Halin

2008-04-22T17:02:00.002-05:00

Playing with Halin
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Just took a great Vaca to MD this past weekend. I should be flying home right now, but an unforseeable incident detained me and now I will fly standby tomorrow. Im not complaining, with my last day here I went to the Park with Halin and played with Photo Booth, and am planin on making Nachos for dinner. :) Over all-Not a whole lot of excitement went on during this trip, but never underestimate good quality chill time. :)

Aaaaaaaah!!

2008-03-29T17:25:00.001-05:00

Aaaaaaaah
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Large creepy insect from like a million years ago!!!

So My sister Beth came to Chicago this week. We did all the tourist-y things to do. And one of them was The Field Museum. This exibit is call Evolution of the earth and it took up the whole top floor of the museum. We arrived a little to late in the day to see it all- but we also saw and Ancient Egypt exibit, and a cool Mamals of the Earth Exibit. Also a really cool Dinosaur exibit. Click the pic to go to Flicker and see some of the other pics from her visit! :)

Long Weekend...

2008-02-22T16:29:00.001-06:00

We are in Ohio!
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So some of you reading this know that all last week I was totally bummed cause I had just got back from my vaca to MD to see Eric play with his band....and I thought it was going to be like a month before I could see him again. And well honestly he didnt seem as bummed about that as I did. So that alarmed me. Either A: he is over me already... or B: he is comming out this weekend for Valentines day.

All week- I tried to trick him into giving up the secret....and he never did. In fact all the things he said left me with just enough hope not to cry...but yet confirmed NOTHING...

So Last night: Friday- I give up. Cause he has been texting me all day and clearly if he was getting on a plane ther would have been about 2 hours of radio silence, and that never happened. He had texted me religiously ever half hour or so. I get home from haveing a few post show beers with Brad, and I am totally BUMMED OUT!!

I call him for our usual late night conversation, and we chit chat about his day. And he says you REALLY need to take your computer down to the lobby and check your email. I sent you a card...so I do. And there was nothing in my inbox...so I call him again. "LIAR!!" I exclaim. "Oh really?" he says. "Maybe its in the atrium. Go Look" So I do...

And in the Atrium of my apartment building was Eric, and a bunch of flowers!! He DROVE 11 hours to get here...11 hours. For me. Seriously? Seriously!!

Thats why he gets the best boyfriend EVER award!! Totally.

So On Monday, because one good turn deserves another, we were able to work it out so I could drive back to MD with him, and Fly back to Chi-town on Wed to be back at work at 1pm. It was a GREAT 12 hour road trip through 5 states. It was a beautiful dy, and it was cool to be back in MD after just leaving the week before.

Tuesday I hung out with Weedon and Halin most of the day, (his children) and Wed I flew back. Thats what I call a whirl wind weekend!

Click the pic for more pics from the trip out of Chicago!

New Hair

2008-01-26T16:35:00.001-06:00

New Hair
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

10 inches gone. I heart it! What do you think?

Eric came to visit this week....

2008-01-22T20:00:00.001-06:00

Photo 16
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

We played with the Photobooth and Guitar Hero a lot cause it was 0 outside with a wind chill of -17!! Yeah- you would stay in too!!

Click the pic to view more ridiculousness.....at your own risk.

In other news, my show was well recieved opening weekend. We are on hiadus now but will be back Feb 15-March 2nd! If you are in the hood or planning to come to Chi-town, dont miss it! Its a good Show of I do say so myself!

So wondering why long time no blog....

2008-01-16T22:25:00.001-06:00

Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Been busy Directing this show. Its gonna be sooooo good!

Check out www.gorillatango.com for more details.

More blogging soon I promise!

Me and E in the Bean

2007-12-13T18:28:00.001-06:00

Bean
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So me and Eric hit the town this Monday and Tuesday. He had never been to Chicago, and I was more than happy to show him around. It was a bit cold and snowy...but not too bad.

It was a great few days hanging out with him, and I have a sneaky suspicion he will be back soon. (I think he might kinda dig me...)

Tuesday we caught the Magic Cabaret for his Birthday at my Theater. Good times were had by all.......

19 degrees

2007-12-06T15:44:00.001-06:00

My shadow
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

yep..you read right....its 19 degrees today. This was me (well my shadow) at 11 am freezing waiting for the train....brrrrrr......

Morning Snow

2007-12-05T17:27:00.001-06:00

Morning Snow
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

First Snow of the Season this morning! 26 Degrees outside, and wid gusts up to 30 miles an hour. Booooo....it has begun!

Director Mari

2007-11-28T19:10:00.001-06:00

Director Mari
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So the time has come again for me to Direct a Show....its been just over two years since my last Directing Endevor and I am sooooo looking forward to getting back on this wagon. I am directing a play Called Beirut by Alan Bowne. Google it...type in Beirut by alan Bowne and you will get all kinds of articles about the play and reviews. That will tell you more about this show than I could here. I have two great lead actors and 4 men will be rotating as the Guard who appears once during the show. We are doing the show at Gorilla Tango Theater (www.gorillatango.com) and it will be a co-production with them. This pic was me at Auditions this past Tuesday where we foun our leading lady who is amazing! We open Jan 18th and run thru the 20th...then we break and come back Feb 15th and run through March 2nd on Fri, Sat and Sun eve's.

This is not a happy play- but in our political climate today- this show is perfect and fits in our Companies mission statement of being a story that is relavant and worth telling.

If any of you plan to be in chicago those dates, please come check it out. It's gonna be great!

YAY for theater!!

Masked Girlfriends

2007-10-31T19:36:00.001-05:00

Masked Girlfriends
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So Last Night (October 30th) I went to a Masked Ball hosted by a really cool theater company called Sanscoulattes. (Yes -the name means No Pants). It was very cool. It was at an Art Gallery, and there were yummy appetizers, and live music, and cool art work, and a shadow pupet trailer of their upcoming show. There was also an Open Bar, and a Poor Mans Auction that was totally humorous to watch, plus a spooky photo booth with halloween props for fun! It was only $10 to get in and the proceeds went to the production of their next show. I had a blast. Pictured is Me and Corinne and Camilla. I "painted" my mask on because I have to wear glasses and a real mask would have just been a problem. My mask went well with my cool 70's Polyester Dress. My friends David and Brad met us out, and good times were had by all. I cant wait for their next fundraiser!! :)

Happy Halloween Y'all!!

Cute Hair

2007-10-29T13:08:00.001-05:00

cute hair
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

I got a hair cut. $14 bucks at the Aveda Institute. Looks good, I like it. Its healthy.

Oh and October 25th was the three year anniversary of me moving to Chicago!

Yay Chicago!

The Best Laid Plans of Brides and Women

2007-10-20T15:29:00.001-05:00

The shower from Hell
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So this weekend (October 13,2007) My best friend Heather got married in Maryland to her wonderful Partner Jenny. I have been planning this trip for 3 months. About 3 weeks ago-Heather asked me to sing at her weding. I was very excited. I thought long and hard about how I was going to get to said event. I do not drive and would be flying into national airport at 9am the day of, and I needed to arrange a way to get to Maryland by 3pm. Now I had many options. People I could have asked to take me. I chose to ask a friend from high school whom knew Heather, (so he wouldnt feel like he was out of place or didnt know anyone). I called and asked him to go two months ago. I made it very clear, that the reception was in the evening, so I wanted to make sure he would be able to take off work for the night. He assured me this would be no problem. In the months that followed, I got a dress, the perfect shoues, and my plane ticket. All the while calling him weekly to check in, and make sure everything was in place. I was assured all was a go, and that I would be picked up on time, be able to power nap, and shower and change in plenty of time to arrive in Maryland by 3pm.

Thursday October 11th, 2007: 7:40am My phone rings. Its my weding date. He says that his girl is freaking out about me staying at his place, and he wanted to be sure we were on the same page about the sleeping arrangements. (um...well we are now, seeing as this was the FIRST I had heard of him even having a girlfriend) Now I feel awkward about staying with him, so I call a friend in Va and ask if it would be cool if I arrive like around midnight after the reception and stay with him. He of course says no problem because his fiance was having a small surgery and would be doped up all weekend anyway. Whew...problem averted and I am ready for the weekend.

Sat October 13th, 2007: 5:30am Chicago, IL
I hit my front door with luggage in tow, and meet Chirs who has graciously agreed to take me to Midway Airport at this ungodly hour, on his way to a 7am call at Harpo studios. I board the plane without incident and take off at 7:10am. I promptly pass out, because I have only had 3 hours of sleep, as I was attending a work function till midnight the night before. In what seems like a milisecond, I am woken by the forward thrust of the landing cycle, and I am on the ground in DC. Local time 9:45am...right on scedule! :)

9:50am I text my ride, and ask where he is. "10 min out" he replies. (I learn later that when he gives you a time, you need to add at least 15 min to that time if you wish for an accurate time to expect him.) No matter- it is a sunny day and I am chillin outside the terminal.

10:20 he picks me up. After plesantries, he says "yeah-I didnt get much sleep. My girl followed me home last night. she is still there sleeping." WHAT?? The girl who is already mad that he is taking me to a weding, and who totally Kaboshed my crashing arrangements is AT HIS PLACE where we are going now?? So I am going to have to endure this total awkward turtle moment on 3 hours of sleep?? Ok, fine, lets do it and get it over with.

10:45am we arrive at his place. All I want to do is nap. But I make pleasent talk with the girl, and finally I can pass out on the couch for a mere hour and 15 min before I need to be up and in the shower to get ready. As I am laying there, I hear his bedroom door close and the music gets turned up REALLLY LOUD. So loud in fact that all my hopes of falling asleep now were dashed. Then it hits me...hmmm...why do you close a door and crank your music? EEEEWWWW.... Are you trying to prove a point? I get it, you all are a couple, I am backing off, you dont have to do what I know you are doing while I am on the couch to prove this point. Tacky...to say the least. After about 20 min, they emerge, she wakes me up to say goodbye, he says he is going to work for a while, but he will be back in time to get ready and be out the door by 1:30 to make the drive to MD by 3pm. Finally...sleep....

12:35pm: My alarm goes off. Ok, I am up. Now to shower and get beautiful, and salvage what I can of this day. It is after all my best friends weding day. I have been looking forward to this for months, I want it to be perfect for her. I walk to the bathroom and notice that there is no towel cabinet, so I hunt around the apt till I find what appears to be a clean towel. Now into the shower....

12:42pm: I stare, in sheer shock and awe at the sight before me. (See photo) Where the shower should be, is a half tiled, half gutted, debris filled tub, with no shower curtain and no knobs on the fawcet to turn on the water. Seriously?? SERIOUSLY??? Are you Kidding me?? I had told him I needed to take a shower? How had he neglected to mention that his shower was for all intensive purposes NON-FUNCTIONING!! SERIOUSLY!!!

12:45pm-I take a picture with my phone and send it to my girls back in chicago. They are equally appauled. One suggests that I try to french bathe in the sink. Not possible, I need to wash my hair, shave my legs, get beautiful for this weding I am singing at in mere hours!! I call my host. "WTF?? MAN?" He directs me to where the knobs are, where the shower curtain is, and what to do with the shit in the bottom of the tub. I shower. Wash my hair with Axe Body wash cause he has no shampoo, and super condition it so it wont look totally crappy.

1:30pm: I am ready to go. No sign of my date arriving home from work to change yet...I text. Within' 10 min he arrives and changes into his suit, and we are out the door. On the ride up to the weding, we are blessed by free moving traffic on 95 and those of you from the DC area know full well what a blessing that is! So at least God is smiling on me in that sense. But in the hour long drive up, he hits me with the final straw...he has to WORK at 11pm. So we will have to leave by 8pm to get me to where I am staying in time to get him to work on time. What part of "can you get off work cause it is a late reception" didnt he understand? He claims that something came up and he got called in. Well the way I see it, that is when you do one of two things. You A) tell your boss no I am in Maryland at a weding. or B) you call your weding date so she can get someone ELSE to take her to the weding. Now I am pissed! So pissed if I could have pushed him out of the car on 95, stolen his truck and taken my own self to the weding, without going to jail I totally would have! No matter, its Heather's day and I am going to make it on time, and sing like an angel for that girl no matter what.

3:30pm: I meet the guitar player. Truely the highlight of my day at this point. He is terribly cute, very funny, talented, smart and rehearsing with him for the 40 min before the ceremony was the most fun I had had all day. And at 4pm the weding went off without a hitch.

5:30pm: we mosey over to the reception hall, and meet up with friends from High School , have several glasses of wine, delicious appetizers, and good conversation. Things are looking up. At this point my plan is to NOT tell my date what time it is, as his phone has died, and he has no other way to tell time. I am hoping to just stay as long as I can till he figures it out. Dinner is yummy, there is more wine, and finally I am able to catch a moment with Heather. As I am on my way to catch up with her, I am snagged by my date who informs me we have to go in 10 min. Boooo. They are just beging to dance, and they havent cut the cake. It isnt a weding without cake! But ok, whatev- I knew this moment was comming.

8:10pm: I am in the hall with Heather where I break the bad news. She is visibly upset. "is there no train? No Cab? No other way for you to get to Va?" No there isnt. She says she will be right back- and when she returns she says she is going to give me a hundred bucks to take a cab to Va after the reception."NO WAY!" I tell her. I am so not going to take her money on her weding day to take a cab to Woodbridge, when honestly from where we were it would probably be like $250, and thats just ridiculous. I told her I loved her for the thought, but I had to go. We huged, I went and said my goodbye's to her folks and my friends, and new friends (cute guitart player) and headed out. I think I got one picture with Heather on my camera, and I think the Photographer might have got one more...but honestly I kinda felt like I wasnt even there cause everything had been so rushed, and I was whisked away so early.

By 10:20pm I was safe and sound at Kevin's house with a Yeungling in hand. I had a lovely time with one of my oldest friends. I recounted my day, and in the end I felt muich better.

Now I know this Blog might seem really harsh on the person it is about. And honestly I hope it is. Because I was totally wronged. There were MANY different choices this person could have made at any time during the three months leading up to this day, that could have saved me the ordeal that this day had become. Several other people I could have asked to take me, several other arangements I could have come up with. His tacktic of hitting me with things last min, one after another when I had only 3 mere hours of sleep was FLAT OUT WRONG, IMMATURE, AND THOUGHTLESS. And I am probably going to be quite upset about this one for a long time. But thats life I guess and life happens...even to the best laid plans of Brides and Women.

Free Tix

2007-09-21T19:26:00.001-05:00

More G-Love
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

are never a bad thing. Last night I got to see G Love and Special Sause for FREE at the Vic theater, compliments of my friend Camilla, and her awsome connections! It was a great show! They rocked! Drinks were riduckulous($6 for a miller lite! PLEASE), which only gave me more reasons not to drink. But they were sponsored by Camel, and though I dont smoke, or promote smoking, I did enjoy the Spin Art booth where you could spin paint an old 45 record and take it home with you. Plus the Crazy Camel photo booth was sweet.
Good tikes were had by all...and he played all of my three favorite songs: Rodeo Clowns, I like Cold Beverages, and My baby's got sause. Plus a really cool cover of Why dont we do it in the road by the Beatles.

My New Calculator

2007-09-13T19:50:00.001-05:00

My New Calculator
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So we all have little calculators at work. And someone always steals mine, so I wanted a new and BIGGER calculator so no one would take it and misplace it if it was GINOURMOUS!!! So today it came- my $8.00 super huge Calculator!

Very excited! Very Excited indeed!

Playing in the Park

2007-09-05T21:30:00.001-05:00

090507_19351
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So my theater company The Storytellers has been running around Chicago Parks this summer performing a small 30 min one act called When Shakespeare's Ladies Meet. It is a silly farce about some famous leading ladies meeting in Juliet's garden to talk her out of waisting her life on Romeo. We have been well recieved. We have made $50 bucks in donations, and had a grand total of about 48 audience members so far in 6 park performances. Not bad I think. Our fundraiser is monday night at an actual theater, and that is where we expect to make the most $. It has been a lovely time working with some great women, and performing to strangers who were so greatful for the show. This pic is from tonights performance in Grant park. I am sitting on our one set piece, and the picture is taken from the audience perspective. And there were BUNNIES in the garden! this shot was just after the show ended. Click the pic to check out more park shots on FLICKR!

Sudden Rain Storm+Bike=SOGGY Mari!

2007-08-24T14:20:00.001-05:00

Sudden Rain Storm+Bike=SOGGY Mari!
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So last night you may have seen on the national news that 60 mile an hour winds and mass amounts of rain slammed into Chicago not once but twice! And me being the fool I am- thought that I could beat the second storm in the break after the forst one. I after all only had to ride 4.2 miles north...a typical 20 min ride for me. I am about 3 miles into it and almost there and the heavens opened up and DUMPED mass amounts of water on me!! I tried to seek shelter under an awning of a convenience store..but to no avail. Water was just blowing in on me under the awning. So I pressed on. I arrived at Rehearsal at Chris', looking like this. He says "Wait here I'll be right back" I think he's going to get me a towel....nope- he came back with the camera. Then I had to clean out my SOGGY back pack- dry everything, including my clothes and proceed to run lines and sew costumes till 10pm. Today- I left the bike at home cause they are calling for a repeat tonight!!

34th Birthday =FUN!!

2007-08-18T18:57:00.001-05:00

After Wicked
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So I went to see Wicked downtown at The Oriental Theater. It was great! My Mom and Lawton and Beth chipped in and got me the tickets, and I took Chris. (We had been wanting to see the show since we moved here almost three years ago now.) We went to a late dinner shortly after this picture was taken. It was a lot of fun. Over all I had a great 34th birthday! Thursday night I went to Karaoke at my favorite pub CAROL's and then Friday (my actual Birthday) I had a great day seeing SUPERBAD at my favorite Evanston Movie theater, and then WIcked at 8pm. This morning I closed out my Birthday extravaganza by going to the Verizon store with Chris to uprade our phones, and split the joint lines. I got a cool pink razor phone, and then it was off to work. I'm here till 10:30pm.....and its only 7pm now.....wish I were at home playing guitar hero! :) Click this picture to see more shots from Wicked and my Pub night at Carol's.

Guitar HERO!!!

2007-08-09T21:59:00.001-05:00

Guitar HERO!!!
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So I got this COOOOOOL game for my B-day from some friends for my Playstation 2 Video Gaming system (that I inherited from the break up with Chris cause he was plannin on getting Playstation 3 when it came out) and this game RULES!!! And its super hard!! I unlocked all 28 songs on the easy level, and now I have opened 12 of the 40 songs on the Medium level and it is starting to kick my butt!! You have to watch the screen as the notes(colors) scroll by you, and you have to have the fret (colors) pushed down and you have to strum the guitar (controller pictured here) at the moment the notes get to you at the bottom of the screen. If you miss notes you hear an awful sour note, and the crowd starts to boo you and throw things. Then when you hit all the notes they cheer and you get more points (fake Money you can spend on costumes and better guitars). If you make it to the end without getting Boo'd off stage you win Gig Money and when you win 3 songs per level it asks for an encore and if you win that you go onto the next level. The Music is AWSOME! Currently Jessica by the Alman Brothers is killing me on the medium level and keeping me form moving on to Level 5....Aaarrrgggh! I might need to invite a boy over to beat this level...we shall see. Till then...ROCK ON CHICAGO!!!!

Me And The Simpsons

2007-07-31T15:37:00.001-05:00

Me And The Simpsons
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Corinne tookme to see theSImpsons Movie last evening...it was GREAT! GO See it! And this was the display at the Movie theater....

I had no idea homer was so HUGE! He's a big guy....: )

Look away MoM!!

2007-07-26T20:13:00.001-05:00

The Nose Ring
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

ok- so on my last day of vacation, I totally lost my mind (as one tends to do on the eve of one's 34th birthday) and my friend Ben who works at a tatoo Parlor and Piercing shop, offered to pierce something for me for my birthday. And so, seeing as nose rings have become so acceptable, and I already had a small scar on my nose right there so if I take it out to let it close up one day it wont leave a new mark... I didnt see how I could say no. Only hurt a bit because I have a "Thick" nose as he put it- and after the needle they have to cork screw in your jewelry...so that was unpleasant. But Its all healed up now and I dont even notice it anymore.

It was an extremely sterile process involving lots of handwashing and surgically sterilized instruments, and the after care involved daily cleanings and washings with the anticeptic they give you just like when you pierce your ears.

I have a tiny fake diamond chip in there now...and might switch to a small flat flower for fun some day. This pic is close up so it loos bigger than it actually is. And dont worry, I will NEVER wear a hoop through it...that just looks crazy. My boss (who is 43) loves it and has said she might concider getting one herself...

Sorry to give you a stroke Mom, but I figured you should know now before I come home for the holidays and you faint like you did when I got my first tatoo. Everyone seems to think it looks good on me. I will more than likely take it out....in about 6 years. :)

Happy thurdsday all!

My Bike

2007-07-21T15:55:00.001-05:00

My Bike
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

so Chris got me this great second hand Bike. Its a Beach Cruiser....no gears, back pedal breaks,and big fat tires. I LOVE it!! I have ridden it to and from work now for three days. Its been wonderful! Many Biking stories to follow soon!

Happy Saturday!

BUSH GARDENS!

2007-07-13T00:07:00.001-05:00

MMB
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

Was awsome. My escorts...BBM (BillBryanMelvin) were entertaining as always! It was hot, but crazy-go-nuts fun. Click the pic and check out the other shots. I got a few good ones! :)

Tomorrow is my last night in Va Beach. Next stop- Wilmington!

More pics soon!

:) Mariangela

KaPow

2007-07-08T18:13:00.001-05:00

KaPow
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

I got some great pictures from the fireworks at my mom's place in Fredricksburg... click the pic and check em out on my flickr site...

The Shot I am going to use

2007-07-04T23:34:00.001-05:00

The Shot I am going to use
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

for my headshot. Jen just sent me the finished images. They are stunning! I love the contrast in this one. If you live in the greater Washington metropolitan area and you are an actor or you have children you want photographed in their environment I highly recomed looking her up.

Her web address is: onesockon.com .

She specializes in photography of Chilldren, but as you can clearly see she had a great eye, and a fabulos camera that I bet could capture many different types of subjects in a variety of settings.

Anyway you can click the pic to take you to flickr to see the others I chose, as well as some really cool shots from today (the 4th of July) where I went to Grant Park to the Taste of Chicago and a great Free concert by Robert Randolph and the Family Band and John Mayer.

Aniversaries and Being a Good Aunt

2007-07-02T11:00:00.001-05:00

Ashley and I
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So, for those of you who may or may not remember (and it's totally ok) Last year on June 28th my Father Died at the age of 56 after living for 13 years with a transplanted heart taken from an 18 year old who had died in a car accident on the DC beltway in 1993. It wasn't his heart that failed him. It was the medicines you have to take every day to keep your body from rejecting the heart. Those medicines are not designed to be taken for long term. The meds destroyed his liver and kidneys. The average life expectancy with a transplanted heart is 6-9 years. The fact that he got 13 is a true blessing. So though it was a sad time, to loose him, I was really greatful for the 13 extra years I got to know him.

On the first anniversary of his death, my stepmother (his widow) and my niece Ashley drove from Richmond to Chicago, to be somewhere else on the sad day. Ashley was the closest to him of all 4 of his step-grandchildren. My stepmom stayed with her son Michael and Ashley spent 4 days with me. I had to work most of the time, but she came with me and helped out, and I let her see the show we have running at the VGT, and we did some sightseeing. It was super fun. She talked about my Dad a lot. I think she needed to. She had just gotten a watch that my Dad had given her (it had been his) back from my brother who had accidently taken it by mistake. And she was very excited to have it back. She talked about school and friends a lot too. (She's 13 and going into the 8th grade) I think she needed to do that too. Her mom had asked me to talk to her about her friends and the way she talks. (her mom finds her use of slang, and put on accent too "Urban" for her taste and wanted me to try and perswade her to be herself) After spending much time with her, I realized, that at this moment in her life, this IS herself. She is still trying to figure out who she is, and how she wants to be. I went through it, her mom went through it (I just dont think she remembers), and when in the company of me, or my friends, or while at work she knew to tone it down, which shows me that she isnt just being a punk, she is simply trying on different attitudes to see what best fits. And thats really ok with me. I tried to tell her she would have an easier time at home if she toned it down there too, but at 13 I dont think she will. Rebellion is half the fun at that age.

I never really got along with my stepsister Dana. And for a long time because Ashley looks like her and talks like her I just assumed Ashley wouldn't like me either sisnce her mom doesnt. But this week really showed me that all the time I spent when Ashley was small (3-8yrs old) getting to know her, and taking her out, and being a good Aunt to her, had forged a bond between us that I had not realized existed till this weekend. She isn't Dana. She's Ashley, and She likes me because I am a good Aunt, who has always been honest and true to her. I don't judge, or make demands. I lead by example instead of dictating, and I think she is close to me for the same reasons she was close to my father. (she used to go to the theater with him like I did when I was groing up). It wouldn't suprise me if she went into theater when she graduates high school. Probably best profession for her actually. Anyway, it was nice to see all the time I spent driving to VA from West Va and Wilmington to spend time with her and her brother Randy when they were small was not for nothing. She knows I am here if she ever needs me and I now know definatively where I stand in her life. And I am happy about that.

Thanks Dad for bringing us together. I hope you were hanging around this weekend and saw how much fun we had in your honor. You were missed.

And for those of you who are Aunts or Uncles, or about to be. No matter what your relationship with their parents, your neices and nephews will not hold it aganst you if you forge solid roots with them. And even if you think they could are less about you, you will find out one day how much you really meant to them all along.

Hey There!

2007-06-24T12:51:00.001-05:00

Hey There!
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

This morning I took the Clarke Bus from Andersonville to Lincoln Park- strait through the heart of Boystown on Pride Day. And it was AWSOME!! Rainbows and freaky people everywhere, It was by7 far the coolest Bus Ride ever. Took about 45+min....and when I hit "Shuffle Songs" on my trusty Ipod Nano the following sountranck to my commute was created....

Gomeck- The Feast of Stephen

Ana Ng- They Might Be Giants

Cantaloop- Us 3

Mary Jane- Coolio

Virtual Insanity- Jamiroqui

Praying for Time- George Michael

Smile- Lilly Allen

Aeroplane- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Guerillero- Ozomatli

Someday this wil all be Road - Spin Doctors

Mr.Wendel- Arrested Development

Happy Sunday Everybody!

PURE CHEEZE

2007-06-08T11:43:00.001-05:00

PURE CHEEZE
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

I have today off....very excited!
Last night...I saw OZOMATLI live at The Abbey Pub...BLEW ME AWAY! I danced for an hour and a half...it was AWSOME!! (and the Don Julio in the flask in my pocket was nice too)

If you don't know who OZOMATLI is google them NOW! I'll wait........

(humming Jepardy Theme here)

They are super cool eh?

Now go buy a few CD's, and blast them from your back porch while sipping a margarita and Salsa Dancing in your sprinkler...

And if you visit the Web site and see they are coming to a town near you...Run dont walk and get yout tickets...you will be glad you did!

YAY for Summer.

Seriously?...Seriously...

2007-05-27T14:41:00.001-05:00

See No
Originally uploaded by MariGerard

So its Sunday- the first real weekend of summer in Chicago, and I am at the end of a 12 day strait work week. 12 Days no day off....I think I am delerious...seriously- I think I am. I worked Wed-sun last week, then I worked the NRA (National Resturaunt Association) convention at McCormick Place. It was 8:45-4:30 Mon and Tues and I had to leave at 7:15 each morning to be there by 8:45 and I got home around 5:30 each night. So it was two long days...bur really fun. Then it was back to work Wed - today. I'm pooped!

But this afternoon, when I get off work- I plan to NOT think about the VGT for 48 whole hours at LEAST. I am going to go to the Park and get my base for this seasons tan. I might try to catch a Chick Flick with my friend. Whatever it is I do- it will NOT have anything to do with VGT. Sawheet!

I hope you all have a Safe and Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Heh...

2007-05-22T17:24:00.001-05:00

Heh...
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

this made me laugh...a lot.

Wish me luck...work week starts tomorrow.

Blargh.... but Memorial Day is this weekend- so at least thats something to look forward too!!

Thursdays....

2007-05-17T19:48:00.001-05:00

Heh....
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Are like the hardest work day ever for me. They are filled with meetings, and usually a plethora of renter needs and all other sorts of Hoo Ha that I have to handle. Today was mostly the same, peppered with like 3 irate patrons who just do not understand that when you move your seats to another series for a season, your old seats that you had a year ago get released and given to other patrons in the series that you moved out of, thus making it impossible to give you back your origional seats in your origional series after a whole year has passed....but I digress.

Last night I got to take advantage of one of the perks of my job by scoring two tickets to see Rick Cleaveland's One man show MY BUDDY BILL, about his 2 year sporatic friendship with Bill Clinton, that spanned from the last year he was in office till Hillary was about ready to run for the Senate. Rick Cleaveland was a writer for The West Wing and Six Feet Under...and his show was Hilarious! It will air on comedy Central in June or July...catch it if you can- it is TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Other than that- I am just getting ready for Summer in Chicago. I am buying a Bike (used of course) this weekend or next so I can attempt to bike to work on nice days. I am very excited about this. Chicago has been adding Bike lanes to many of the most comonly used streets, and I can take my bike on the bus or train for free...so I think this crazy plan might actually work out.

I hope you all are having a good week.

Drama Queen

2007-05-11T09:57:00.001-05:00

Drama Queen
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So last Sunday I am waiting for the Clark bus to work, and a family with a 3 year old girl walk by me. The little girl is closest to me holding her moms hand. Just as she passes me I hear her scream " I WANT IT!!!" and she bursts into tears, repeating "I WANT IT" as her parents are continuing to walk with her. I look at her and she is pointing to me. Still Crying and repeating "I Want it! Mine! The Princess! I Want it" The Mom is looking at me, and telling her child "I dont see a princes. I dont know what you want. Its ok, lets keep walking" "Nooooooo!" the little girl cries, "The Princess!! I WANT IT!!" they are still walking and now getting further away from me. I shrug and shake my head and they nod at me, and pick up the crying girl who's eyes are still fixated on ME...

then the bus comes and I swing my purse around to get my bus card out of the pocket of my purse and I find the Princess. Right there on my bag that was hanging on my hip (eye level for the passing three year old) was my Drama Queen button. There it was, the princess that the little girl had wanted. And we all just thought she was halucinating... : )

Have a great Friday!

Eye Opening

2007-05-04T19:28:00.001-05:00

Eye Opening
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So, a little insight into the way the CTA works...somedays the CTA Fairies smile on you and every bus and train are there and waiting when you get to the bus stop. Other days, they like to piss in your wheaties, and you cant catch a bus with a bucket full of nails scattered across the street. It is always A or B, nothing else.

So yesturday, I get to the corner and I can see the #36 about 3 blocks away. Yay! So I am fumbling to get my ipod all set and on, and this guy walks up. He is boy band cute. Nice clothes, nice hair, but probably not any older than like 22 or 23. the conversation goes like this:
"Excuse me?" he says
"Yes?"
"I couldnt help but notice you are real pretty. Would you mind if I called you sometime?" he says
"Oh, thanks...Im flattered, but I dont think my boyfriend would apreciate that" I lie. (after all he's like 23 at the most)
"Thats cool. I figured you probably had a man, but it cant hurt to ask right?" he smiles
"Have a good Day!" I say and he walks away.

Then the bus comes. I get on. I am sitting un my usual sideways seat. (to avoid bus sickness) and there is this woman whom I have seen on the bus before. She is mentally ill. Scitzophrenic I think, because she talks to herself, and then has these huge out bursts at people on the bus whom she thinks she has been having conversations with. Most people just ignore her when she starts yelling, but today I think how lucky I am that she is 4 seats away from me and quiet as a mouse.

I speak to soon. After about 5 min a blonde girl gets up and walks tward the door of the bus. She bumps into the crazy lady cause the lady is a Large woman and is sticking out into the isle a little bit.
The exchange goes like this:
"Dont you bump into me! You skinny, hussy!How dare you!" she yells.
The girl looks at her while still exiting the bus. " I didnt mean to, you are sticking out in the isle. I am sorry."
"YOu are not! You bumped into me on purpose. You bumped into me and you stepped on my foot with your stupid high heel shoe" She yells. (the girl has now gotten off the bus and I saw the exchange and the girl did not step on her foot) The woman continues yelling " She is a hussy! And I knew she was going to be doing that to me, because I had been sitting here talking to her. I told her she was a hussy and she should be at work" (she hadnt said a thing to the girl in reality) "and she told me to shut up! And I told her she better not talk to me like that or I will punch you in the face! Hussy! And then she got up and crushed my foot with her stupid high heel shoes!"
This rant continues like this till I get off the bus 20 min later.

Now I am walking 4 blocks to work. It is sunny, and I am on time. I see a bunny...it is cute. I reflect on the crazy ride I just had...and hope that the afternoons trip home is less eventfull......it is, but I wait 35 min for the bus....meh, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.

More tales from the city another time.

Mani and Peddie Monday

2007-05-01T10:50:00.001-05:00

Lincoln Park After Dark
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So with my lazy Monday yesturday I finally got to take advantage of the $28 Manicure/Pedicure deal at the cute little nail shop across the street from where I work. This color looks Black, but iits actually a really dark red/brown. Its actually a Chicago named color....its called Lincoln Park After Dark, and its by OPI (a company out of New York City)...as I work in Lincoln Park I thought it would be fun . After the spa treatment, I went to the grocery store and got a huge Chicken Ceasar Salad...it was yummy...today, I think I will make the next Ninja Movie...and do some laundry... have a great day !

And now....

2007-04-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

we live in a country where it isnt even safe to send you children away to college.... I've been to Virginia Tech on numerous occasions, and I spent years in a secluded college town in West Virginia....It never would have ever occured to me that something like this could have happened in places like that. City street, bad neighborhoods maybe. Not sleepy college towns. It is a very sad day in our country's history for sure.

LOL

2007-04-13T16:42:00.001-05:00

ewe...
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

thought Id share this funny pic taken while tooling around Milenium Park at about 7:30pm on Monday Evening with my friend Stephanie who was visiting...

click the pic to take the flicker tour of more shots from her trip.

Have a good Day!

And this was the Managing Directors Response

2007-04-12T19:44:00.000-05:00

Read the blog below this one FIRST, or this response will make no sense.

"We all are sympathetic to the frustration of solving these problems. I am sorry you do not feel appreciated. You are appreciated…but there will be more time to appreciate you when these aren’t hanging over our heads. How many did you solve and what do you suggest for the balance?

__________ or I will call about the ones you sent to support.

Talk to _______ (not email) about either calling _______ or sending them to support. Then please proceed by calling ________ or sending to support"

Is it me or did she miss the point of my previous email?

Ranting and Raving....

2007-04-12T18:44:00.000-05:00

So for months now I have been working my butt off keeping things running at my job in Box Office, while I train a woman hired to be my boss, and a woman hired to be under me. I was promised a raise in Jan....as of last week this raise has yet to show up on my pay check. I do all sorts of tasks above and beyond what I was hired for, and way beyond what I am currently paid to do....I had been doing them because I was hoping my dedication would show my obvious worthyness of my promised raise...... yesturday when I asked for a simple approval of a Renters Document I had been preparing to make our relations with the renters operate smoother, I was responded to from the General Manager of the Theater with this " I will trade you the approved Renters Document for the completion of Outstanding Posts" Keep in mind that I was not the Director of ticketing Services then and I am not now, so why the functions of that position have been dropped on my shoulders I am unsure.

So I responded with: That is not my job now and was not my job then. Either get the person whos job it was then back in here to finish her job or make the new Director of Ticketing Services (whos job it is now) responsible and get her to do it.

The Problem with that response was that the New Director has not been trained fully on all the things that she is responsible for. So of course she cant do what they are asking, in fact I am actually the only one still remaining who even knows where to begin on these tasks....

So today I spent 5 hours doing nothing but trying to resolve old End of Day accounting for them, and then I responded with the following email:

After much research, and attempt at resolution the following EOD’s are the only ones I am unable to resolve. ( spent from 12:30pm-4:30pm today strait working on these and nothing else)

11/2
11/3
11/10
11/28
11/30
12/9
12/19
2/16
2/21

All others have been completed and sent up.

March and April are current and have no outstanding posts.

** I would like to apologize for my tone in yesterdays email to ______regarding Posts. My frustration came from the fact that the sole reason I did not apply for the Director of Ticketing Services position when I was asked to was this EOD situation. I had been watching ______ convolute all the numbers and jerry-rig Provenue for months and I knew it would take someone with far more experience than I to resolve those issues.

What I did agree to do and have done successfully by myself since they left in Jan/Feb was to keep moving forward with EOD’s and de-bug the system so that they would run properly from here on out, while simultaneously handling all renters needs, training _____and _______in all functions of the Box Office (this is still on going), and making sure that we are able to sell tickets everyday. Please understand that the above mentioned are no small tasks and I have worked many hours of overtime since ______left in Jan to accomplish those tasks. When I am told that something I desperately need to make the job I am supposed to be doing (Box Office Supervisor/Renters Division) work properly, will not be available till I complete tasks that were never supposed to be on my plate to begin with I become incredibly frustrated. ________has not had time to train on End of Days yet, so I have been more than willing to work on them all I am able till she is trained, but ultimately by job description the Director of Ticketing Services is the one responsible for that level of accounting when problems arise that the base managers are unable to handle. (That is why she is the Box Boss and you pay her the big bucks and me and Ali are lower level managers.)

I am sorry about the way I may have come across yesterday, but I also feel like I have been working very hard for months to make sure the transition between ______/________ and ________/_______goes smoothly and not create any new problems or issues, and I feel like I get no recognition of my hard efforts. I have yet to have a day off since Feb where I am not contacted on the phone to resolve issues _______ and ______are not trained yet to handle. This is understandable and I know this is part of my job as the one who knows what has to be done, and I always have my phone at the ready when I am off for that reason. I would just appreciate some kind of recognition for my efforts. I work very hard for the benefit of the BOX and when I get responses like I did yesterday, it makes me not want to work hard at all. I feel like it would have that effect on anyone in my position, but I know I should have communicated that better than I did yesterday, so I do apologize for that and I will try not to let that happen in the future. ***

Mariangela Saavedra
Box Office Supervisor

See Even the dream job comes with BS.......

Thanks for reading the rant. I feel better now.

Francheeze

2007-04-07T17:30:00.001-05:00

Francheeze
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Take one Hot Dog- stuff with cheese-wrap in bacon- deep fry it, and serve on a bun.....then promptly have a heart attack and tripple bypass surgery....yep that' Chicago eats for ya! This is the world famous Freancheezey, found only at The Bagel in Chicago. The Bagel is a Jewish Deli that has been around since someting like 1955, and makes all their bagles from scratch daily. John Stewart, Steve Colbert and Dennis Miller all sing the praises of The Bagel. So if your in town I highly sugesst checking it out.

And Now...back to work!
Have a great weekend! Happy easter! Bock Bock!!

who's scared...

2007-03-01T16:33:00.000-06:00

who's scared
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Not us! Snow Tubing rocks!! Had a blast with the fam this weekend at Whitetail in PA. It was an awsome day, not too cold, not too hot. We got at least 15-20 good runs in a 2 hour session. If you live near a ski resort- I highly recomend looking into snow tubing, its crazy-go-nuts fun! Just got back to chicago yesturday at 7:30am and came strait to work...where I learned I am not 21 anymore and can not do that. Today after 10 hours of sleep last night, I am MUCH better. CLick the pic to see more shots from the trip! Have a great week all!

Workin Stiff

2007-02-10T19:15:00.000-06:00

Workin Stiff
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Sorry so long no post....just been riduckulously busy. Pretty much just doing what you see here, and its REALLY COLD in Chicago in case you missed that on the news. -11 wind chill most days. This shot is funny because it is actually me on the phone down the street with the Head House Manager asking him if it was ok to ask two patrons who were kissing and fondleing each other during a performance to leave the theater at intermission. Apperantly they were going at it so heavily 9 patrons came to us and told us about it at Intermission and the Stage Manager for that show said that the actors were having trouble focusing because the space only has 8 Rows, and they could see the people from the stage! Can you believe that??

Hope you all are warm.

: )

Snowy day!

2007-01-15T16:36:00.000-06:00

DSCF0011
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

It is cold. It is Snowing....it looks like it will not be stopping anytime soon. I will not be leaving the apt today. Thank goodness it is my day off. Click the pic for further cool shots from my window of the snowy day...hope you all are warm.

: )

3 States 9 Cities 5 Days

2006-12-30T21:02:00.000-06:00

The Religious Room
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So Christmas Vaca was a Blurrr this year. I did a lot!! Saw a lot of people...and got very little sleep...but it was awsome! Here are the highlights:

Sat Dec 23rd: FLy into National Airport @ 10:30pm eastern time. Picked up by Kevin and taken to Woodbridge Va where we got to a Bar and shoot pool and get prominently drunk with his fiancee Song.

Sunday Dec 24th: 10am drive to Rt 3 outside of Fredricksberg Va and meet my stepbrother who takes me to Richmond to see my Step Mom and my Nieces and Nephews. I stay there till 5:30pm. Then my brother drives me to the interstate to meet my Mother who then drives me back to Fredricksberg...to hang with the fam and get ready for Chirstmas.

Monday Dec 25th: I got lots of really cool presents!! I made a Ninja Movie with Lawton and Beth. Watched MacGyver, and Ella Enchanted, and a good dinner. Also we played a really cool Urban legend game I got the fam for Christmas.

Tues Dec 26th: Boxing Day- loaded the car and drove to Annapolis for Lunch at Uncle Johns on the river, with my Grandma, and Great Aunt, and Aunt CA. Good visit, good food and good beer. then after 5pm we loaded up the car again and drove my great Aunt to Baltimore. then back to Fredricksberg Va for an evening of munchies and Movies.

Wed Dec 27th: SHOPPING DAY!! We went to the Fredricksberg Mall and went SHOPPING!! I got a bunch of stuff with my gift card from my uncle at Macy's. It was fun!! Then we hit the OG (Olive GArden) for a lovely dinner, and then I tried top catch an Amtrack to MD but it was WAY late and I decided to scrap it and get on the AM train in the morning. So I returned to my moms and watched Second Hand Lions before crashing out.

Thursday Dec 28th: Took the Amtrack to Alexandria to the Metro into Chinatown in DC to eat with my Step Dad Tony. Back on the Metro at to Larel MD by . Hung at Heathers house for a while. Then Eric arrived Late (after 10pm) and we went to the Rams Head stumbling distance from Heathers and listened to an awsome BAND, and I drank many Blue Moons and a few shots of Irish Whiskey. Got back to Heathers at like 2am.

Friday December 29th: up at 7am. on a Marc train at 8:00 to New Carolton. Metro from there to Vienna VA (about 55 min on th metro) then a cab to Chantilly to see afriend and her Baby. Then a cab back to the metro and another 55 min ride to Silver Spring MD..(please keep in mind I am schlepping my lugage all around the afor mentioned journeys). Joe picks me up in Silver Spring and takes me to his home where I finally meet his fabulous wife and awsome baby girl. We visit for a few hours and then its back on the metro for 55 more min of fun to get to National Airport. Check a bag, and get on a 7:45 pm flight to Chicago. Lands at 8:45 pm Chicago time, and then its 50 min on the L to get home. I litterally walkd in- dropped my lugage, threw down my coat and flopped on the airmattress where I woke up this morning.....

I had to work today- 10+ hours cause we are short staffed over the holidays....but it was a good day and I can't complain cause I love my job.

Tomorrow I work till 8:30pm then Jason and I are co-hosting a swaree at his place/My place where we will partake in fireworks from the rooftop deck of our building. HAPPY 2007 y'all. Hope your Vaca was more restfull than mine! But I hope it was equally as awsome!!

Are you threatening me?

2006-12-21T21:12:00.000-06:00

Are you threatening me?
Originally uploaded by hotdoughnutsnow.

SO, most of you reading this got an email today from me asking you to sound off on a few questions I had about a situation that got out of control. Many of you asked for details, and asked if I was ok. I thank you deeply for your concern and I thank all 25 of you I emailed today- for responding. I sent it to so many because I figured only half would write back, but all of you did and that makes me feel good, to be cared for by so many.

So here it is: A company member of my theatre company The Storytellers had a falling out with another member. They could not reconcile their diffeneces and he made it very clear to me that "He couldn't stand her, and you can not make me like her". I took this to mean he hated her, and could not be in her presence. (today most of you made me realize that there is in fact a difference between hating someone and not standing them, and that the latter is often a lesser offence) I however told the person that couldn't be stood that the other person had voiced his "hatred" for her and did not want to be in a company with her. I wanted to know if they could live with this knowlege of each other and keep it out of company buisness, and they both agreed they could. So I let it go.

But then that person who "Couldn't stand " the other person then had a disagreement with me, and then contacted other company members and tried to get them to oust ME out of my own company saying I was a pathalogical liar because I had said he "hated" that person when all he actually did was say he "Couldn't stand her". (this is the abridged version of couse) Needless to say nothing came of that, I am still in my company, and I let it go as it was useless drama.

Then on Monday I had a disagreement with a close friend of his who was still a company member, who overreacted to something I said and went to him in tears about the way she felt she was treated by me instead of confronting me about it. All I had done was ask his friend to take responsibility for a script deadline she had been given and to recrut whomenver she needed to to get this done. But this was apperantly to much for the girl and it brought her to tears. HE then picked up his phone and left a message on my cell phone in a very Agressive and mean tone that "Making ____ Cry Had to stop! If you continue to make ______ Cry there will be hell to pay, I kid you not!" then it is here that it gets hazy- I heard him say something like - I wont hesistate to kick your ass..or I will let ____kick your ass...or maybe I was so angry with rage at this point I thought that's what he said next but maybe he didnt. I am a woman I can admit that when I get super angry my listening skills often go out the window...but at anyrate I felt threatened and was not going to let any man speak to me that way.

So I called the cops. And filed a report. And they called him on 3 way with me and he denied threatening me and admitted to saying there would be "hell to pay "which I guess isn't a crime or a threat in the eyes of the CHPD- but the cop did say on the recording that for a man who was innocent, he knew exactly whom he was calling about before he could even get my name out. Someone who had done nothing wrong would not be expecting a call from the cops now would he??

At anyr ate- the bully is out of my company. The Cryer has resigned, thought I have asked her to reconcider and work with me on comunication issues, as I feel she is agreat talent who did not mean for the bully to call me she was just emotional and venting to him. She did not expect him to take action of any kind, he did that on his own.

So I am fine, my company is fine, and I now have a formal complaint on record with the Chicago PD. Good times!

I'm home for the holidays in two DAYS and I can not wait!!

Sunrise

2006-12-21T09:59:00.000-06:00

sunrise
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

On Monday I took Chris to the airport- at 5:45am. Normally I'd just be cranky about being up that early, but then I get home and outside my window, the sun is rising over the lake. It was stunning. I never get to see it cause I am always sleeping at dawn. So I guess I have to thank Chris for that.- Getting me out of bed so I could see this...I would have used my digital camera (would have been a better pic) but the batteries were dead. Enjoy the pic anyway.

Chillin'

2006-12-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

Mo Mari
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

in my apartment is awsome..we have had a few days of bitter cold, and snow, so I have been in a lot, and I have to say- MY APARTMENT ROCKS!! Its a pretty cool place to stay warm...and I still haven't had to turn on my heater really. I live on the 9h floor, and there are 10 in the building. So Im getting 8 floors of heat topped off by the 10th floor as a way for holding the heat in. Say hello to LOW electric Bills this winter!! : )

Lets play a quick game of eye spy: can you spy the following in my picture? (you can click the pic to go to flickr and view the photo larger if you need to)

a) a pillow

b) a Magnet strip

c) an afghan (the one my grandmother made me)

d) A hand towel

e) a bra

f) 3/4ths empty liquor bottles
(LEFT OVER from my BYOB party Oct 21st...I have a coctail every once in a while and I still can't kills those bottles....they are apparently bottomless...they will always be 1/4th full...)

g) a tatoo

h) Refridgerator Magnets

Your score:

All 8 items: YOU ROCK HAWK EYES!

7 Items: You can't find the Bra can you?

6: you are kidding? What else can't you find? The Magnet strip?

5: ok if you only found 5 things you have your eyes closed.

1-4 things: You obviously do not understand the meaning of the words for the things I would like you to look for. Seek out a translator, and try again.

Thanks for Playing! Have a great week all!

The New Place

2006-11-14T12:32:00.000-06:00

My new Apartment Rocks. I am all unpacked and that feels good. I got pictures up this week, and Chris came sunday and hung some shelves and coat racks and mirrors to open the place . It looks great and is starting to feel like home. I know 5 people in the building. Two of them live down stairs below me on 7 and have a wireless internet router that my Mac pics up. I split internet cost with them- which runs me 10 bucks a month. To get it on my own I would have had to pay 30 bucks a month and the cost of installing it. So I got a great deal! The View from up here on the 9th floor is awsome. The Lake is beautiful most days. Use the link to go see pictures of Flickr. It wouldn't let me post them here today..don't know why. Just click on the title of this blog (The New Place) its a link to the pictures.

ME

2006-11-05T09:15:00.000-06:00

ME
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

This is me if I were a South Park Character. I have been making them for all my friends. You can click the picture to surf the others on my flicker page.

Or you can do them yourself at: www.sp-studio.de/ The trick is though that you have to take a screen shot of the final product, and then import it to iphoto or photo shop to crop and edit the picture.

I have done most of the staff from work. I haven't uploaded them all yet so keep checking back!

Have a great Sunday!

We are Marshall

2006-11-03T21:48:00.000-06:00

wearemarshallonesheet
Originally uploaded by TheGoogly.

This is about the footbal team the died in the plane crash in the 70's and how the city of Huntington West Virginia and Marshall University students wouldn't let the team die, and the people who re-built the Marshall football program. Its stars Matthew Mcconeghey and was fillmed at Marshall this past spring. May of my friends from school who are still in Huntington PA'd for this movie- or were extras, my friend Jon is a featured extra with a line in the film! Very exciting stuff. And I my self have millions of memories hanging outside the student center by the memorial fountain that was built to remember the team that died in the crash. I always thought it was a good story.

And for those of you reading who don't know- I went to Marshall University for 4 years. And I knew Chad PEnnington who now plays for the Jets. (he taught me everything I know about making comercial reels for radio. I worked with him at WMUL 88.1fm) He's a cutie and going to have a great career in Broadcasting when he is done playing ball. I also had two classes with Randy Moss (but I Randy's got bad Karma; don't even get me started-thats all I'm gonna say). My point is this story is the reason that Marshall's Football program is still here and at such a high level of excellence. (producing Heisman trophy nominees and NFL players) And they filmed it there- so those of you who never came to visit me while I was there, you can take a peak at the city at the corner of West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, where I spent 4 years of my life in the mid/late 90's......good times......goodtimes.... : )

I had a Party!

2006-10-23T13:25:00.001-05:00

DSCF0006
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Saturday Night- while Chris was in NC- I had a PArtee! 25+ people came- it was Super fun. There was dancing, and drinkin' and Dancing, and eating, and Dancing! We started at 10:30 and made it till 3am. Not bad...not bad at all! Click pic for more party shots. A lot of them are blurry cause I didn't want to annoy anyone with a flash!

My 2 yeaar anniversary of moving to Chicago is tomorrow. 2 years! Already!! You have got to be kidding. My first to years in Wilmington took longer than this!!

Two weeks from today is moving day! : ) My New APt will be ready Nov 6th, compete with new carpet and paint!! YAY!

In the box

2006-10-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

In the box
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So we still haven't moved the "Office" over to the Biograph yet...Booo! But- the job is getting progressively less hellish, and that is really nice!! Tonight I am going to Al Capones Jazz Club tonight with a buddy from College- the Famous Git Fiddle Player- Joe Vallina. That should be cool- now I won't be mad that everyone else from the Victory Gardens is at the Gala tonight while I work...but low girl on the totem pole has to work right? No worries- I am going to have a great night anyhoo. More to blog soon!

All lit up

2006-09-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

All lit up
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

no turning back now...tomorrow night is the first preview in the new space. tonight they had the ceremony to light up the marquee- it's it cool!!

So I got a Digital Camera-

2006-09-26T17:24:00.000-05:00

Flowersill
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

from Heather..I bought her old one-(she upgraded to more mega pixels)..and today I took it out for a test run around my apartment..then I ran it through iphoto on my mac. Some shots just got triming, some got color boost or fade, some were left alone. only a few were croped, most were shot as is. Most of them aren't great- I am just learning. But feel free to click and see todays trail and errors. : )

Biograph Marquee

2006-09-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

Biograph Marquee
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So its official- we are moving into the historic Biograph Theater on Thursday of this week....it looks soooo good in there!! The Marquee just came back from the restoration house and was installed yesturday. The lighting ceremony is on Thursday Night. For those of you that don't know- the famous gangster John Dillinger was shot outside this theatre . they say his ghost haunts the theatre and the alley next to it. Can't wait to test out that theory!! Any way- more pictures to follow soon!

Box Office HELL!!

2006-09-09T16:17:00.000-05:00

Box Office HELL!!
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

This is the face..the face that says "This is it I have found it I am in HELL!!"

Tickets for next season went out this week. And there were about 4000 of them we sent out. A computer error caused about 1500 of our subscribers to not recieve their tickets for the first show- and they are REALLY PISSED.

About 1000 of our subscribers have been flooding the phone trying to exchange there tickets for other show dates- and to add even more fun to the plate- we are having an open house at the Biograph theater today where hundreds of Chicago-ans are flocking to the theatre to grab a sneak peak of the new theater, and want to buy tickets and sumbscriptions- but our box office isn't ready there yet- so we have to do it remotely from our box Office at the Greenhouse while dealing with the phones here.

I have two other staff here with me- and we are all still SLAMMED!!! CRAZY!!!!! Crazy I say!! Do they pay me enough for this???

I Love theater! I Love Theater! I LOVE THEATER!!!

And every patron is important. Every Patron Is Important.
EVERY PATRON IS IMPORTANT!!

(there better be a stiff drink in my future tonight after I surface from this crazyness!)

More Beautiful Bean Footage

2006-08-30T18:36:00.000-05:00

More Beautiful Bean Footage
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So Hillary came to visit this past weekend. It was so good to see her. For those of you not in the know- I met Hillary in Wilmington at an Audition for a production of Steel Magnolias I was directing. After I cast her I was in rehearsal with her and she says " Wow- that line of direction you just gave me really reminds me of a direction my high school drama teacher once gave me" and I was like- "oh really- where did you go to high school?" and She was like "Virginia Beach" and I got all pale- and was like "First Colonial High school?" and she says "How did you know that?" and I say "Because I went to First Colonial High school and was in their drama program" and come to find out Hillary started FC the year after I graduated. Small world. We have been best friends ever since. She lives in NYC and works for Lincoln Center, and we had a great girls weekend in the big city. I get to go to NYC and see her next spring, job willing. Anyway this was us and the bean in Millenium Park. Click Pic for more. Happy Wednesday.

The Arizona

2006-08-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

The Arizona
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

For those of you who have not discovered Google Earth...go now..NOW and download it. Its free. And ot is soooooo cool there are no words. I have been all OVER this planet in the last few days. This is in Pearl Harbor of course, and it is someplace I have always wanted to visit. Click pic for a few more of my favorite places so far. Happy Monday!

Millenium Coaster at Cedar Point

2006-08-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

Millenium Coaster at Cedar Point
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So this bad boy drops you at a 65 degree angle down 400 feet- and all you gt is a seat belt and a lap bar. And we rode front seat for this one...it was AWSOME!!!!! We rode a grand total of 13 coasters that day- and many other thrill rides. We stayed in a great hotel a mile from the park- that came with a free parking voucher- and free breakfast vouchers, and it was really great. Cedar Point Rocks! I am going to get me to a water park before the summer is out I promise!!

Star Wars Chess Ninja

2006-08-13T01:50:00.000-05:00

Star Wars Chess Ninja
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

He's so stealthy!!

Do you see him?

2006-08-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

Do you see him?
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

New Hair Cut

2006-08-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

New Hair Cut
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

I got a new hair cut...What do ya think? She blew it out so she could be sure the layers were right. Fear not- curly do will be back in full force as soon as I wash my hair. Click Pic for more.

Where were we at again?

2006-08-08T08:51:00.000-05:00

Where were we at again?
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Oh yeah- the cubs game a week ago when Jer was in town! It was HOT!! 98 degrees at this moment. Click pic to see more shots from his trip- and perhaps a few more ninja sightings. : ) Have a great Tuesday!

More Fun!!

2006-08-07T17:04:00.000-05:00

Sketch serious
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Still playing with my new toy....click pic for more just posted today!

Modern Art

2006-08-06T01:32:00.000-05:00

Modern Art
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

New hobby # 2..playing with web cams on MacBooks..click pic for more..this is what I now do for fun on a saturday night...I'm old..

Beware of the Ninja

2006-08-05T13:15:00.000-05:00

Desk Ninja
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

This is my Pocket Ninja. I bought him at the Pitchfork Music Festival. He was in the crafts tent. He is ridiculously cute. I have started a new hobby, Ninja photograp. hy. He goes with me every where, but he hides and he sees you...do you see him? Sometimes he is very stealthy, and other times he is not. Click the picture and check out the other Ninja shots on my flickr page, if you feel like it. (Did I mention I now work 40 hours a week at a desk job? though my jobs ROCKS! I don't get to move around much-the Ninja makes me happy!) I hope you all ar having a great weekend- (Its a Thursday in my work week today)- But Have a good one!! : )

First Week as a Full Timer

2006-07-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

BOX Office Mari 2
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Yep- that me in the Box. " Thank you for calling The Victory Gardens. This is Mari. How may I help you? " So My first week as a full time salaried and benefited employee has been quite lovely. I am very excited to have this job, and finally be fully employed in Theater! Only took me 17 years! Visit the web site any time to see what we are up to. www.victorygardens.org Have a great weekend.

Patricio Gustavo Saavedra

2006-07-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

Me and My Father
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

Patricio Gustavo Saavedra "Pat", 56, on June 28, 2006 at Henrico Doctors Forest Hospital, Richmond, Va. A 13-year heart-transplant survivor, Mr. Saavedra acted and directed in major East Coast dinner theaters as Pat Anthony Aleman. Formerly adjunct faculty at VCU, House Manager for Wolf Trap Park for the Performing Arts, a high school drama, English, and Spanish teacher, an Arlington Co. policeman and an OPM EEO Representative. He is survived by his wife, Donna; daughter, Mariangela; sister, Caridad Pettiot; brother and sister-in-law, Pedro and Martha; stepchildren, Michael and Dana; grandchildren, Randy, Ashley, Raymond, and Emily; and nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed by his close friends and students. A memorial service will be held at Goodwill Baptist Church, 8701 Hungary Springs Road, Richmond, Va., on Saturday, July 8, at 2 p.m. A memorial Mass is planned for July 15 at St. Charles Catholic Church, Arlington, Va. Donations may be made to the Virginia Transplant Council, 9200 Arboretum Parkway, Suite 104, Richmond, Va. 23236.
Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on 7/5/2006.

Another show in the Can

2006-06-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

box ofice Mari
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

So, the show closed on Sunday. It was our bigest money making week of them all. Steve who understudied for chris was fantastic in the role, and the show closed with large houses as we al wanted. Over all we didn't make enough money to break even- but every week we did clear enough money to pay all the actors and Staff for that week- so that was nice. We aren't sureabout all the whys', and why nots of this show not selling more. In the bible belt in a two week run this show made $7,000- in Chicago- in a four week run we only cleared $3100- and 600 a week went to payroll. Live and learn I guess. I am still glad we did it and our company name will echo through the Chicago Theater Comunity for quite a while- so we can take time off to write grants and get money in the bank before we start our next season in January. It was nice to get to do something on this scale with the incredible people I got to work with. And it all came at a time when I really needed a creative outlet. Theater is a gamble, and I guess this time we didn't win officially but I still feel like a winner. And my mom got to come and see the show and that was cool. Now I get to focus on climbing the ladder at my new job- at The Victory Gardens Theater. snd that will occupy my time and energy for a while. Plus I am going to have to get back on building my savings up again so I can get my own place as soon as possible. I dipped into it to produce this show- so I am sorta back at ground zero- but I can get on a plan againa nd work it out I feel. Anyway- more to come later! Have a great week!

Little Theatre

2006-06-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

Little Theatre
Originally uploaded by MariGerard.

The Review in the Chicago Reader Came out on Thursday!! It was quite good- and they never give good reviews. You can go to the company blog- and read it: www.thestorytellersofchicago.blogspot.com Now that the show is runnign my focus is on pubicity (butts in seats) and my work at The Victory Gardens. Very excited about all that I have going on this summer. Just trying to make it all pay off now so I can get my own apartment soon. "Life in the big city will spoil you" (thats a quote from the show) Have a good week.