The Ghost of Bloggers Past /

(Ideally, whatever word I used there would have rhymed with "Christmas", but it's 8am and my brain hasn't started functioning yet. Guh. See?)

Well hello. Remember me? I'm Kate. I used to have a blog. I used to post things on it. Sometimes even pictures. Mostly of cats or my dumb brother. (I'm just angry with him because he stayed out West this Christmas and avoided the Hewlett Plague which hit me, my sister, my nephew, my nieces, my other sister, my dad, my step-mom, etc. etc. It was BRUTAL. No Christmas dinner for us, because we got some kind of evil 28-Days-Later-esque virus that knocked us down like dominoes. Or bowling pins. Whichever simile you prefer.)

So yes. Hello. Welcome back. (You, not me. Assuming you haven't been here for a while since there's been NOTHING TO READ.) I won't even try to fill you in on the last two months, because there is so much to report, but--

Oh what the heck. I'll do my best:

New York was DELICIOUS. (Like delightful. Like I enjoyed it. I didn't lick the ground or anything. Ew.) What a truly phenomenal city: the people, the buildings, the food, the green space, the theatre. Even the cockroaches were impressive. Gross, but almost worthy of respect due to their size. I swear I even saw little muscles on one of them. New York cockroaches clearly think that physical fitness is no laughing matter. The rats were quite impressive too. I wonder if the cockroaches ever use the rats as transportation. You know, like little hairy horses.

Okay. Foooooocus, Kate. Foooooocuuuuuus.

Yes. New York was wonderful. The play ("Humans Anonymous") was well-received and I made some new friends who I will cherish (long-distance, unfortunately) for a long time to come. After New York, I came back to Toronto to begin rehearsals for DON'T WAKE ME, the "killer" new work by UnSpun Theatre which I co-wrote with Chris Hanratty, Christopher Stanton, Mike McPhaden and Brendan Gall (yes, THAT Brendan Gall -- unless you're thinking of the one who got his life sucked out by a Wraith. Not THAT Brendan Gall. The one who plays Kaleb on SGA.) I tried to find a short-term lease here in Toronto but the shortest I could find was six months. For a commitmentphobe like myself, that is a LONG TIME, but it's a great apartment in a vibrant, fun neighbourhood and I'm having a blast so far. I have some silverfish issues (silverfissues?) but I think I've made peace with them and we are living in harmony now. Until Martha (cat number two) eats them. That throws the balance off somewhat.

FOCUS.

The show (DON'T WAKE ME) opened last night to a much larger house than we expected, so that was exciting. It is part of a brand new festival here in Toronto called the "Next Stage Theatre Festival", which showcases eight plays that began at other festivals (eg. SummerWorks, Toronto Fringe, etc.). It kicked off last night and goes until January 13th at the Factory Theatre. Come and see DON'T WAKE ME -- I am so proud of this brand new version. UnSpun Theatre is a great company and this is a really fun, strange, dark, fast-paced show. The cast includes Chris Stanton (amazing), John Cleland (remarkable) and me (commitmentphobe).

If you're interested, all the info can be found here:

http://www.nextstagefestival.com

Hope everyone reading this (and everyone not reading this) is well and happy. There is much more to report but I need a coffee. From Jet Fuel. And I'm not living in Cabbagetown anymore, so it's going to take some time getting there.

K.