Today I took Arnie to the pier to see if the mystery bed was still there. It was not, but there was a loaf of bread, a pair of fingerless mittens, and a moldy copy of 'Cold Mountain.' I keep wondering where the bed went...it has to be somehwere.

Then we went to airport to say goodbye.

Me: I'm sorry I cried last night.

Arnie: It's ok to cry. Now it's a tradition.

The saying goodbye part still has not gotten easier but the time it takes to bounce back has lessened with every trip. On days like these I want to go to bed early so I can wake up the next day with the parameters of this relationship back in place, fully defined, where questions that begin with 'what if' don't exist.

Tonight Arnie took me out to dinner.

Arnie: Sarah don't use your flash. This place is...nice.

And later at a bar watching the Patriots game

Me: Can I use my flash here?

Arnie: Sure.

I guess one thing I left in Chicago is tact.

Arnie came with me flag football today. We are not the best team, but not the worst. In fact we are 4th place out of 8 teams so we are perfectly average, but today was a literal comedy of errors on and off the field. While he was sitting on the sideline I bent over to give him a kiss and accidentally poured a bottle of cold water into his lap. During the game I fumbled the ball straight into the arms of a player on the opposing team and he ran for a touchdown.

During the game Arnie kept boasting that he could do a cartwheel. When we got home (after taking quick ride on the tricycle) he insisted I do one first.

Arnie: That was pretty good.

Me: Thanks. Now you.

Arnie does something resembling a painful tuck and roll.

Arnie: Ow! I just hurt both of my wrists.

So he tries again. Same thing.

Arnie: I think I just pulled something in my side.

Score Today: Arnie 0 Adorably Bad Cartwheels 2

Yay! Yay Yay Yay!

Arnie arrived in Boston today. Due to bad weather his plane was delayed 7 hours and he got to the theater a few minutes before the 8pm show. Since he needed time to settle he only saw the 10pm show. I gave him my keys and told him where he could get something to eat. It was wierd to think that while I was performing Arnie was walking around Boston doing the things that I do.

For about an hour all I could do what look at him a think 'You're here. You don't exist here. My habitual nature tells me I should say goodnight and go home to talk to you on the phone.'

It's also great to have him see the theater and meet my friends.

Me: Arnie, you remember Doug.

Arnie: (shaking Doug's hand) Yeah we met last time I was here.

Me: Doug doesn't remember meeting you. He was drunk.

Doug: Yeah..(to me)..thanks.

Doug split his suit pants during the show tonight. A six inch gaping hole right on the butt. Thankfully it was right before the intermission so we got some time to figure out what to do. In the end we decided that instead of Doug just wearing jeans, we would all change into our jeans (even the musician and tech got into the action) and keep our show tops on.

Anastasia: This is awesome. Now all the guys look like stand up comics from the 80's.

Doug and I got our eyebrows done today. It was our first time with this esthetician so she felt the need to make small talk. She was very sweet but had an unrecognizable foreign accent and a lisp that made all of her comments sounds a bit condescending.

Esthetician: So do you two live together?

Me: No. We work together.

Esthetician: ...oh boy...

and later

Esthetician: So you guys are the actors at the theater?

Doug: Yes.

Esthetician: ...my dear...

Taylor's favorite candy is candycorn. She eats it every night to the point of sickness. Coincidently her birthday is just a few days before Halloween (same days a Rachel's actually) so everyone got her candycorn for her birthday.

Halloween is coming soon.

After leaf peeping I walked down to the water. This is what a found tucked away at the end of a pier.

A futon mattress, pillow, briefcase, hand lotion, a pile of crumpled clothes, a pair of suede flats, body wash, and a blanket. No one was there.

Did someone leave this for a homeless person they saw sleeping out here? Is a college student doing this for a project? Have I stumbled on the home of the Jack Kerouac of the business world? Did I make my bed this morning?

I want to go back at night and see who sleeps here but I won't for fear I'll be killed by a crazy woman wearing better shoes than me.

Another picture from the photo shoot. It was windy that day.

With shows, rehearsals, and teaching I am at the theater 7 nights a week. On paper it seems like a lot but never feels like it. Not because it's not time consuming but because it doesn't feel like a job. It's refreshing not to stare at a clock, or pray for the lunch hour to come sooner, or to feel exhausted after sitting in front of a computer all day.

Behind my childhood home there was a convent. My brother Jesse and I would play there a lot and take our dog on walks through the gardens. If we ever ran into the nuns they were always so nice; constantly smiling, playing with our dog, and asking us about school. In second grade I had to draw a picture of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I thought once the crayon hit the paper I was locked in to a career for life, so this was taken very seriously. A nun seemed like the perfect career choice.

Wants to play with friends all day? Check. Likes to smile a lot? Check. Thinks Jesus is pretty neat? Check. Loves dogs? Check.

Jeremy and I took a walk though Harvard Yard after going to the Head of the Charles Regatta today.

The Head of the Charles is the largest rowing race in the country (maybe the world?) and is held in Boston every year. I've been really excited to see it but was disappointed to find out that they race one at a time, not head to head. The crowd lazily watched the races while drinking cider. No one clapped or cheered once.

Harvard Yard proved to be a bit more exciting because I recognized it from movies. But even here I expected people to be more energetic. Possibly rooting eachother on while finishing complex math problems or people just giving eachother high fives and screaming "We go to Harvard!"

Today is Rachel's birthday.

While getting dressed for the show I heard the piano chime in and everyone started singing the birthday song. I ran out of the greenroom and joined in, jeans in hand. After we were done I just handed them to her.

Happy Birthday.

Harry finishes a whole round of Text Twist by himself tonight.

The cast is hooked. We play before shows, at intermission, and after shows...for a long time.

Tonight Micah premiered our two person improv show titled 'Oh Shit! Look Behind You! Featuring Micah and Sarah.'

It went really well and it felt good to do a long form improv show, like stretching your legs after a road trip.

Afterwards Doug and I went out for Mexican food in the Back Bay (Jeremy thinks I have too many pictures of Doug on this blog but I couldn't resist.) A new network show is shooting in Rhode Island so a lot of the cast members from the theater (including myself) have been called in to audition for bit parts. Anastasia got cast and filmed his part on Tuesday while I was at the casting agency reading for another part. After dinner Doug and I ran into a guy that works at the Casting Agency.

Casting Agency Guy: Hey! My name is ___. You're Sarah right? You did a really good job with the reading. Too bad the show was cancelled yesterday.

I feel bad for Anastasia. He was so close to being on network TV and being stopped on the street and asked if 'he's THAT guy from THAT show.'

It would be cliché to say 'it's confusing to get around Boston' but it's confusing to get around Boston. All the streets are curved or 'S' shaped and the street names randomly change.

I know this city is much smaller than Chicago but it's still pretty big to me; probably because I don't know where I'm going. Today Jeremy told me you can walk from one end of Boston proper to the other in 45 minutes.

The weather was beautiful today. While walking home I was listening to music and watching the sidewalk. I looked up after two minutes and realized I was completely lost.

Today I noticed that the Chistopher Columbus statue (the centerpiece of a park named after him) had been defaced. After snapping a few pictures I went home to brush up on my knowledge of his history to post in this blog entry.

From Wikipedia (free online encyclopedia):

Because of recent vandalism or other disruption, editing of this article by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. Such users may discuss changes, request unprotection, or create an account.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just dating a voice.

Arnie says he's not good on the phone, and frankly I don't think I am either. Each night we recap our days and usually spend the rest of the time trying to find things to talk about. Long silences, sighing, and humming have taken the place of having a shared experience.

In an effort to make our next phone conversation more interesting Arnie decided we should each make a list of 'Things that are stupid' and talk about them the next day. I applaud his effort even though the idea (affectionately) almost made my list.

Another day of flag football.

The Ref: My wife wanted to name our son after Tom Brady, but I said no.

Score Today: Gray Electric Monkeys: 26 The Theater: 25

Weekend shows draw a lot of people who are celebrating something; mostly bachelorette parties and birthdays. Usually these groups can get pretty rowdy and always want to be included in the show.

Last night a big group was celebrating a birthday for their friend Jeremey. They all had masks of him and everytime we began a new scene they would yell "Jeremey!" and wave the masks in front of their faces like confused football fans.

Talked to my ex-boyfriend, Joel, over IM today.

Joel: Mike's baby is cute. Please pass along congrats. I had a dream that it was your baby. Not with Michael, but just that you had a baby, just saw you in the hospital with the baby, your mom and gram were there, you were cooing and doing the usual new mom things and I was awkwardly standing there watching.

This got us talking about the blog. I told him I was worried it may be a bit...hokey.

Joel: No it’s a Journal. Life is Hokey, the descriptions of it are not.

Me: I see.

Joel: I doubt it.

Me: huh?

Joel: Meaning I think you're still worried it's hokey.

Me: uh....yep. I may just blog about this conversation, you thinking my blog is hokey and all.

Joel: Fine, but I didn't say that. It would make a hokey novel is what I said.

Me: Yes, I will misconstrue your words and make you seem like an asshole.

And later, I IM'd Arnie and asked him the same question.

Arnie: I don't, babe.

Me: Would you say if you did?

Arnie: Maybe.

Me: Huh, so maybe not, too...

Arnie: This IM conversation is hokey.

I love my landlord who lives beneath us. To say that he speaks and acts exactly like Paulie from the Sopranos would be an understatement. Every word is vehemently yelled, so it took me while to realize that he didn't hate me. I told him I worked at the Theater and now he can't stop introducing me to his friends, who apparently are ALL in the arts.

Paulie: Hey Saeyrah! This is Ant-ney. Ya know he puts out a magazine? Real nice glossy paper and shit. Ya know, the good stuff.

He treats the building like his house, leisurely walking in and out of apartments (without knocking) to talk business or just say hi. With no wife, no apparent job (besides taking care of the building), and kids in college, he has a lot of free time.

Callahan and I decided to clean the apartment. I looked up from the over flowing sink and Paulie was just standing in the doorway.

Paulie: Callahan! What the fuck ah you two doin!?

Callahan: Oh you know, just bombing the place.

Paulie: Sounds like it! I can't fuckin' stand listenin' to ya big feet. This whad it's like. (Stomps around our kitchen) Ya know I like cleanin' just like yous but Jesus Christ keep it down!

Callahan: Sorry, we'll be quiet.

Long silence. Just staring at each other.

Paulie: Ah right, I'm comin back up. I got some real nice veal cutlets and chicken with some real nice bread foah yas. But don't fuckin' microwave it ya know? I cooked it in the good oil.

In the wee hours of the morning I got a text message from Tim. I read it, immeadiatly fell back asleep and in my dream...

I'm crying. I can see myself crying, and suddenly Tim and I are in his car on Paulina. It's snowing. We're parked, just talking because we're both sad. Tim suddenly gets antsy and wants to go around the block. We drive forward, slowly turn right, and BAM! Hit by a car.

I jumped up in bed and hours had passed even though it felt like minutes.

Oh dear god.

The pictures came back from the photo shoot. The powers that be decided to make one into a huge banner for the entrance of the Theater.

On paper, having your pictures in lights seems pretty neat. Like a childhood dream come true. In reality...it's horrifying.

Anastasia: Look at my foot, I look like a retarded kid.

Doug: Woo hoo! Look at Rachel's boobies! Sizzlin!

Me: Do I look like I'm about to poop?

Leaf Peeping is a yearly New England tradition.

Leaf Peeping(from Wikipedia): An autumn activity in areas where foliage changes colors. 'Leaf peepers' are those that participate in photographing and viewing the fall foliage.

So I guess I'm a peeper now.

Arnie's sister Allie is a starter (as a sophmore) on Georgia Tech's volleyball team. Today they played at Boston College so I went to see her play.

It was a nail biter and as the scores got closer and closer, the announcer became more and more subjective.

POINT!!! BOSTON COLLEGE!!!

point. georgia tech.

In the end Georgia Tech lost but Allie was great. I showed up late cause I had a game of my own to lose on the football field. I didn't get to see her afterwards and it turned out she didn't know I was there.

Fun day.

6 weeks ago-

Stacey P: We got new stage chairs. I am going to leave two old chairs on the side that can be used for 'stunt chairs' if you want to throw them around. Please DO NOT break the new chairs. They cost $75 each.

4 weeks ago-

Stacey P: We had to take away the stunt chairs so be careful with the new chairs. They cost like $85 each.

2 weeks ago-

Stacey P: The stunt chairs are back. I painted them to look like the new chairs. So don't break the new chairs and use the old ones to knock around. They cost like...$100 each.

Guess what I did tonight at The Midnight Show. Eeek.

Temp work.

Moving is expensive so I'm making up for it a couple days a week. Today I spent the large part of my day typing up a sheet called "Interesting Facts About Your New Consultants!" They are not very interesting on paper but I did over hear this:

Pregnant Lady: Oh my God.

Not Pregnant Lady: What?

Pregnant Lady: My husband bought a CD of babies crying so our cats can get used to it.

Not Pregnant Lady: Wow, that's crazy.

Pregnant Lady: Yeah, he really loves Butters and Diva.

Received another package today, this time from Liam.

We were each other’s first relationship that lasted a year in high school. Our first kiss akwardly happened at Vito's pool. He was a tall gangly wacky guy (pardon my generalizations) and I was a quieter more sullen teenager. After high school we got together for lunch or drinks about once a year.

That only lasted about three years but thanks to MySpace (finding people you thought you'd never talk to is the only thing it's good for, right?) we found each other again. Now he lives in San Francisco and writes for a newspaper.

Liam (via email): I actually took my first comedy class ever last week. Mostly because the journalism I’ve been doing is way too fuckin’ depressing. I’m trying to find more subversive ways of communicating information without beating people over the head with mind-numbing stats and sob stories. Please don’t think that just because I live in San Francisco I’ve turned into a gay, communist hippie.

And he has a blog too.

Liam: It's basically a semi-humorous news update about how fuct up everything is. As you know, I've always been a smart ass, so I guess this is just my way of dealing with ... everything.

It feels like we've swapped perspectives (again, the thing about the generalizations) and I'm glad to hear he's doing well.

Now I'm in Boston and so is the World Cup.

I visited Boston in July just a few short days before the final World Cup game between Italy and France. The excitement was palpable in the North End. While walking down the street a small car with about 5 guys sped down Hanover honking their horn, waving flags, and screaming 'FRANCE!' People came pouring out of the coffee shops, screaming profanities, and throwing whatever they had at the car.

A few days later Italy won the World Cup and according to Ryan this place was turned on its' ear.

Today there was a mob in front of a restaurant on Hanover. Lots of police, camera crews, and angry people pushing eachother. It reminded me of the parade held in downtown Chicago after the White Sox won the World Series(at that celebration I got to shake Barack Obama's hand and say 'Hey! That's Barack Obama!' I'm sure he already knew that). These lucky people get to celebrate for another four years. Technically I only have a few more weeks.

Saying goodbye hasn't gotten easier.

Tonight BJ had Cowlick over a BBQ at his new house. He still lives in the city but now in a very quiet residential area. With his new house, new wife, and steady lucrative job, BJ is clearly the father figure of this team. He feeds us, gives us advice, and bitches about wierd things.

It began to rain really hard and water began to leak into the basement.

BJ: Ahhhh...shit. What is this? JANELLE! THERE'S WATER IN THE BASEMENT! This means that I may have to take off these wood wall planks which I don't want to do cause I really like the look of them but if there are fractures in the walls and the foundation may be ma mo meh ma me ma mi ma me meh meh ma me mo mer moo....

Me: Let's play trivial pursuit.

Mary Beth: OK!

Sunday.

Chicago: Sleep in. Go out for brunch at the Lincoln Restaurant. Watch tv. Lazily walk from room to room. "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" Play 'You Don't Know Jack.' Lose. List all the things we could do. Do none of them. "I'm sorry I'm so boring." "That's ok. I like you when you're boring." Play cards. Watch more tv.

Boston: Sleep in. Go to the coffee shop. Look for a festival. Watch tv. Take some photos. Maybe play football. Watch football. Watch baseball. Think of all the things I could do. Do none of them. Call Arnie. "I'm sorry I'm so boring." "It's more fun to be boring together."