Big Apples and Jumping Buffalos (Buffaloes? Buffali? Buffalae? Buffalini? I need a beer.)/

I'm going to be wild and crazy here and start my post with the second part of the title instead of the first part. Then I'll talk about the first subject second. Wow. I'm not just thinking outside the box -- I'm crushing the box with my mighty fists and then giving it to Martha to shred. (She's half gerbil.)

So...I can not recommend Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump highly enough. It is smart, funny, sad, beautiful, original, exquisitely performed, cleverly directed, SHORT!, and thought-provoking. GO AND SEE IT IF YOU LIVE IN TORONTO. It closes on Saturday so you have five more chances to see it (tonight through Saturday night plus a Saturday matinee.) Click on the link to the right for more information. I'm going to go a SECOND time. That's how good it is.

Before I move on to the New York portion of this post, I have a confession to make: I didn't get Rufus shaved after all. I couldn't go through with it. He looked up at me with that...uh...big-boned (?) face of his and his little eyes said, "Please don't shave my pride away." The catcut would have been really expensive, too -- more than I pay to get my own hair done. That seems fundamentally wrong to me. And to respond to one of the comments on my last post...yes, he's short-haired and usually only long-haired cats get shaved, but he sheds more than any cat I've ever owned in my life! (And that's a lot of cats.) So, contrary to my promise, there will be no pictures of a humiliated, robust ginger cat to follow. And I still can't get enough light to take a photo of Martha. She exists, though -- I swear. She is being de-womanized as we speak and will no doubt be furious with me when she comes out of her druggy, genderless stupor.

So...NEW YORK! Thanks to those of you who came to see the readings, to those of you who made brownies!, to those of you who handed out A Dog's Breakfast flyers, to those of you who stuck around to chat after the show, and to those of you who recommended cool places to go in New York. I ended up being busier than planned, but I still tried to do as much as possible: I saw the library, I went to Century 21 and tried on J-Lo coats (gee...I can't think why they always fit so well...), I saw the big Christmas tree, I got to know Brooklyn, I ventured into the gift shop part of the crazy space age sci fi restaurant (the name of which I've forgotten), I ate great food, I saw some fantastic musicians and I hung out with one of my oldest friends. (She's a hundred and twelve. No, no...like I've KNOWN her the longest. Jeez.) It was really great to meet those of you that I met. Thanks for your support, yet again. Some highlights of the trip include: working with The Bridge Theatre Company, hearing my play read (really well!) by entirely different voices, seeing Kristen Chenoweth live in a horrible terrible play that she absolutely shone in, having great food everywhere I went, shopping on Canal Street, Soho, hearing a New York audience laugh at my very Torontonian play, rehearsing around the corner from where David Letterman is taped, exploring New York by subway, Borders, running into a good friend from high school randomly in a mall, discovering vodka-sodas, meeting fantastic actors and playwrights, Daily Soup, hearing someone sniffing in the audience because they were moved by the play!, etc. etc. etc....

Some LOWlights include: getting trapped in a turnstile with my suitcase, creepy men on the subway, accidentally committing a B&E because I tried to get into apartment 4e instead of 4a, the tiniest airplane ever, being proud of myself for my economical packing job then realizing I forgot to bring tops, spending money I don't have, and coming home and realizing how much I miss my long lost New York buddy!

New York is a great city -- overwhelming in some ways but amazing. I hope I get to visit again soon. I think the play was a success, so hopefully it (and I!) will be back before long.

Okay...gotta go outline my new play, write a screenplay, pick up a sick cat, clean my apartment, make a wheat-free dairy-free taste-free meat-free soul-free lunch and trick Rufus into exercising.

Happy holidays everybody!

K.