December 10 - Ick

For the most part, I have not minded the cold weather in New York yet. It has been cold. It has been rainy. But it has been livable. Part of it has to be because I'm walking a lot more than I used to, so I manage to stay warmer when I'm outside thanks to my own internal engine. 

Today is miserable, though. It started out rainy, which it has been a lot lately. And then it switched to what weather persons might call a wintery mix, and now it is wet snow drizzle accompanied by ridiculous winds. I think I saw on the weather app I have that this is actually a nor'easter or some such thing and I have to say, I am not a fan. 

Then again, it might not be so bad if I had chosen to take public transit to my audition after work instead of walking the twenty blocks. Lord knows, when I get out of this audition, I am jumping on the closest train and will get home by transferring as many times as I have to in order to avoid the outside again. 

October 16 - Fall Challenge

I have to say, I'm loving that New York is staying warmer than Chicago is, a little later into the season. I didn't wear a jacket when I left the apartment yesterday, nor did I miss having one. That was nice. But I will also say this: dressing for New York weather is neigh on impossible, especially when one is consistently putting in fifteen to sixteen hour days. I leave the apartment at about 7:30 in the morning and am usually not home until 10:30 or 11:00 at night on a good night. Sometimes, I'm not home until after midnight. That is a) a long time to be away from home on a daily basis and b) a long period of time wherein weather can change a lot. Case in point:

When I left my apartment yesterday morning, it was sunny-ish, with a forecast for 70-degree temperatures and possible showers later in the day. I had an umbrella in my backpack (it has become a permanent resident there), I didn't bring a jacket, and I wore sneakers. For most of the day, I was fine. Even when the deluge hit at about 6:00 pm, I was nearly at the theatre and was able to stay mostly protected under construction scaffoldings and whatnot. It rained while our play was happening, creating a nice puddle on the floor off-stage left where the roof could use some work, but was then clear-ish when I left the theatre. Getting off of the train to walk back to my apartment, though, everyone had to pull out umbrellas again for deluge number two. By the time I got home, my feet were soaked. So this morning, seeing a forecast for rain showers most of the day, I again had my umbrella with me and chose rain boots for my out-and-about-walking footwear. It was hazy and cloudy and drizzly all morning, but has now cleared up and is sunny and gorgeous. So I'm going to look silly on my way to the theatre wearing rain boots, and again on my way home.

There are only two real solutions I can think of for the constantly changing weather here, given the fact that my sixteen-hour days are not going to be ending any time soon. One: start carrying around a suitcase that has emergency rain gear including a slicker, boots, and a change of clothes so I'm prepared in the event I get caught somewhere with inappropriate footwear. Or two: deal with the fact that I'm going to look silly and inappropriately dressed about half of the time.

I'm leaning toward option number two.

May 12 - Hot

It is hot and muggy and humid and I love it. My skin loves being outside and feeling the air. The wind on my skin is just about the most glorious feeling in the world right now. Especially on the walk home from an amazing rehearsal with brilliant people. I love it. 

Thank you, Mother Nature. 

April 14 - Spring?

For a change of pace, it is snowing in Chicago. 

Really?

Really!?!

Mother Nature, I get it. You're having a hard time making sense of all of the crap we've done to this planet. I'm sorry about that. But you do know that the seasons are off, yes? I don't think it is Oberon and Titania fighting - their fight kept winter away too long. So is this someone else fighting, or are you just really pissed at us?

I figured out what it is that is really getting to me now. It's the lack of green. Since spring is taking so long to get here, we've really had six months of brown and gray. Ireland was lovely because even though it was kind of chilly while I was there, there was green everywhere. The light in Ireland is different, too, so the green really did look greener. But now I'm in Chicago where we've had nothing but gray and brown for six months. Six months with no color. That may sound like an odd complaint from someone who wears mostly black and white, but I like to see colors. I just don't like them on me. And we're overdue. We're way overdue for some color, for some green and some yellow and some purple and some red...

So please, Mother Nature (or whoever is fighting), accept my apology. On behalf of the human race, I'm sorry we've messed up your planet. Can we please have spring or summer and some color? Pretty please?

April 1 - April

A couple of years ago, I had a particularly crappy February. At that time, I requested a do-over for the month of February. Of course, nothing ever came of that request, but I can't help but think about it now when we hit April and daytime temperatures are still projected to be in the 30s and 40s. See, if we'd had the do-over month, it would just be turning March now and this weather would make sense. 

Of course, if it was just turning March now, we'd still have another month to go before baseball. And even though the Cubs lost yesterday, I like having baseball back. 

Happy April. 

February 17 - Snow

I feel like a broken record talking about the weather in Chicago all of the time, but it is kind of one of the major things going on in my life right now, in that I often find myself needing to be out and about in really horrid conditions. I keep hearing reports on the radio, too, about how far over budget Chicago has gone with snow removal so far this year, and about various suburbs that have exhausted their budgets. I find myself wondering if it is for that reason that so few roads are plowed during storms. They seem to be waiting to send out the plows and salt trucks until after the bulk of the storm has subsided, which saves money, yes, but makes for bad driving conditions when I have to get 20 miles outside of the city at least four times per week. One starts to get exhausted by the whole process.

On the up side, tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer, so maybe the eight or so inches we are supposed to get today will start to melt a bit. I really can't afford to not go to the theatre - we open on Friday - but I'd really like to be able to get there without clutching the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white every now and again. Please?

February 12 - Routine

I am, in many ways, a creature of habit. I tend to cook the same things and wear the same things and drive the same route to work and whatnot. Some sense of routine or continuity can be nice. But by the same token, I'm sick of it. I'm tired of eating the same things. I'm tired of bundling up in what feels like the same six layers of clothing every day. I'm tired of having the same conversations over and over again. 

But if the Weather Channel app on my phone is to be believed, we may see above-freezing temperatures within the next ten days, and may even get some rain, which would be a welcome change from the constant snow. It is going to feel like a whole new world when I can bring skirts and sneakers back into my wardrobe, instead of layers of knee socks and boots. It seems like a minor thing, but being warm, even warm-ish most of the time instead of painfully cold some of the time, is just about the most welcome change to my routine I can imagine right now. 

Well, that or a phone call from a casting agent. Whichever is easier. 

January 28 - Broken

I feel like a broken record, bitching about the weather day in and day out. It's really cold outside, kids. Not as cold as Antarctica, but cold enough to be really annoying for Chicagoans. And frankly, as a person who hates being cold more than just about anything, I'm getting really tired of it. I'd like to know when the warm weather is going to happen, just so I know there is an end in sight. I know there is an end in sight - it can't stay this cold forever - but I want to know when it is, so if it doesn't happen by that date, I can be justifiably pissed and figure out a way to sue the weather forecasters or something. And I'm not just talking about above-freezing temperatures; I want to know when we're going to hit eighty degrees Fahrenheit (twenty-seven-ish degrees Celsius for our friends across the pond). I want to know when I will be warm all the time.

And then on top of the persistent annoyance of being cold, there are all sorts of other minor annoyances creeping into my life today. Nothing to talk about on the interwebs, per se, but enough little things that when added together, they feel like a big thing that just has me grumpy. Grumptopotomus City, goin' on in here. And weren't you guys supposed to be drawing pictures of grumptopotomi to make me giggle? Get on that!

So then I found seeds in my clementines at lunch today. I believe they are advertised as seedless, but whatever. I found seeds. And I think, to try to lift my spirits a bit, I'm going to try to grow them. My pineapple is doing quite well under the grow light this winter, and wouldn't it be fun to have a little clementine tree in my apartment as well? Just the sort of thing to help lift me out of the mid-winter funk. Grow a citrus tree inside.

So I may be a bit broken by the weather, but broken people can get better if they really want to, right Frank?

January 27 - Bears

I think that bears have the right idea. Not the Bears, obviously - they didn't make it to the post-season - but bears, as in the big furry animals who roar and eat fish and hibernate when it gets too freakin' cold outside. I know, I know, there are places in the world colder than Chicago right now. Last time I checked, Chicago was the sixth coldest city in the US this winter. But I say that is plenty cold. And with no end in sight, it's getting a little bit draining to have to get up and go about our everyday lives on a daily basis. Checking the weather to find "dangerous wind chills" doesn't really make me too enthusiastic about doing things like going to work, going to the grocery store, doing laundry, or (let's be honest) being conscious. When one's waking mind is constantly filled with thoughts of "how am I going to stay warm enough?" one gets tired. Just generally tired.

But bears (and other hibernating critters), they have it down. Eat as much as you want all summer and fall, and then sleep for three months. Yes, there are those who might object to having to deal with a poop plug, but I would happily put up with a poop plug for a few months if it meant A) I could sleep for three-five months and B) I didn't have to go outside in this. Or shovel snow. Or wear a minimum of two pairs of socks and three tops every day. That's a lot of clothing to go through, people. Do you know how often I have to do laundry, just so I can stay warm enough walking from my apartment to my car? It's nuts!

So yeah, bears. Teach us your ways so we can just skip the next polar vortex all together. And Mother Nature? You can hit us with above-freezing temperatures any time now. We're ready. Thanks!

January 26 - Haiku

Snow snow snow snow snow

Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

Enough already!

January 5 - Cold

It wasn't necessarily warm in the UK while I was there, but it was at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit warmer there than it is supposed to be here tomorrow. Schools are closing, businesses are closing, the news keeps saying people shouldn't go outside if they can avoid it. I don't think my company is closing tomorrow, but I think a couple of us are going to be taking personal days. Sometimes, you have to think of human safety and well-being above corporate needs. I apologize to anyone offended by that last sentence. 

Stay warm, everybody!

December 17 - Snow

I have a lot on my mind today, but not all of it is suitable for the interweb just yet, so I find myself staring out the windows at the snow, which just keeps coming down in Chicago. This time last year, we'd not really had snow. There was the threat of snow, but it didn't really happen until January. Which I remember, because I had the great big walking boot on my left foot, helping my broken ankle heal. Christmas morning last year was the first day I was allowed to not wear the boot, for just one hour. I used that time to walk up and down my hallway and take a shower before going out to my dad's for the day's festivities. I so love not having to wear that boot anymore.

But this year, we're getting snow galore. And thanks to the blustery conditions in Chicago, even when it's not snowing, it looks like it is because what is there is getting blown around. It's kind of pretty, I will admit, even though I still don't like having to go out in it. And I'm really hoping it doesn't snow the day I get on a plane to head overseas. I really want to get there. I can already tell it is going to be hard to come home from that trip.

I have some thoughts, too, on the role of actors as it pertains to the promotion of their own work. But I think I'll save that for another day. Today is sort of about watching the snow fall peacefully, until I have to go out in it and I can be justifiably grumpy about it.

December 8 - Snow

I like snow when I don't have to go out in it. 

I had plans to go out and run errands and take care of things today, but it has been snowing since about ten-thirty this morning. So I've stayed in. Read. Napped. Watched the snow coming in sideways, switching to a more vertical descent later. Watched it accumulate on the cars across the street. I'd like to say it has been peaceful, but there have been people shouting, horns honking, the sound of shovels on concrete. Still, today I don't mind the snow. And I'm hoping that by taking it easy, the impending coup in my sinuses may not be too bad. The down side to staying in being that I did not grocery shop, so I'll have to get creative for dinner. 

Be safe, everyone, if you're out in this. 

November 27 - Snow

I'm weird about snow. I know this.

I think we all know by this point, too, that there is very little in the world that I hate more than I hate being cold. Violence and cruelty, maybe, but then being cold. Then ignorance. But I digress. Digest. Yes, it is lunchtime and I'm about to open my crisps.

Anyway. Cold. Snow. My weirdness.

Snow is pretty to look at, and I don't mind it when it comes at the appropriate time of year and I don't have to go out in it unless I choose to. I love a house decorated for the holidays with lights in the bushes that have been covered by snow so you get glowing, multi-colored snow. It makes everything look cozy and nice and brings up memories of hot apple cider consumed with loved ones by a fire. I even, occasionally, like to walk outside while it is snowing, imagining that the snowflakes in my hair make me look magical and not at all like I have really bad dandruff.

The important bit to take away from that paragraph, though is "appropriate time of year." In my mind, just about any time after Halloween (October 31) and before Christmas (December 25) is the perfect time for snow. As soon as Christmas is over, though, the ground had best be bone dry or I'm going to have words with Mother Nature. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's that the cozy warm fireplace memories tend to go along with the holidays as opposed to happening on a random Tuesday night in January. Snow in January and February just makes me feel like Mother Nature is being pissy, even though I know it is still technically winter then (in the northern hemisphere, at least). Snow in March or April is a mockery, and snow in May or June is just mean. But snow in November and December is perfectly fine.

That said, I don't mind the snow that fell yesterday, and I won't be bothered if it snows again this weekend. But be prepared for me to get annoyed when snow happens in January, as it likely will in Chicago. I'll tolerate it for the holidays, but much like a Christmas tree left up too long, it will be unwelcome in March.

October 9 - Snuggly

Some days, you just want to be snuggly. Cover yourself in comfortable, soft clothing with a good, autumn weight to it. Curl up in a soft blanket. Eat and drink things that warm you from the inside. If you have a super soft, super snuggly companion animal to snuggle with, even better. Today was one of those days. 

Sadly, I did not get to have a snuggly day today. Too much life stuff going on - work, rehearsal. Not that those are bad things - I'm enjoying our rehearsals quite a bit and any day I get to act is a good day. But when the weather starts to turn like this, when it becomes sweater weather, sometimes I just need to have a snuggly day. 

Here's hoping I can make time for one soon. 

May 19 - Space Oddity

We flew home through a thunderstorm today. Well, maybe not through, but next to. We were at about the same altitude as the storm clouds, but they were...over there. And oh my goodness, the lightening show was brilliant. It must have been a fantastic storm, possibly even a scary storm for those on whom it was storming. And my thought process while watching the lightening flashes went something like this:

"There's your God, Mr. Shannon!"

"The spirit that I have seen may be the devil as the devil has the power to assume a pleasing shape, yay, and perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me."

"Yay, nitrogen cycle!"

I think it is safe to say, I am an odd duck. 

May 1 - Question

Why do we, as a culture, insist on eating grains with forks? Rice, quinoa, couscous, even small pastas like orzo, we insist on eating them with a fork. The least small-item-friendly utensil in the general American utensil set. Granted, there are other cultures that like to eat these things with chopsticks, which are even less small-item-friendly, and I myself enjoy using chopsticks whenever I can (especially my light saber chopsticks that I got at Comic Con), but really, this makes no sense. We are so addicted to eating things with forks in the United States that often times, spoons are not even included with the set of silverware laid out at the restaurant table. If your server deems your order worthy of a spoon (i.e. soup), then he or she will bring one when he or she brings the food. Otherwise, no spoon for you! You must eat these tiny grains of rice by stabbing them with the tine of a fork!

I recently decided that I was going to eat small grains with a spoon instead of a fork. It makes me feel like I am three years old, but it is a lot less messy and much more efficient. I don't have to stick my face in the bowl and scoop the remaining grains in like one of those arcade machines where you try to get the arm to push quarters over the edge. I can eat my food like a grown-up. Who uses a spoon to eat small grains.

And suddenly, there is ukulele music in the background which has completely distracted me from my forks vs. spoons rant. Now I feel tropical.

Yay nice weather! Happy May, everybody! And hooray for eating small food items with a spoon!

April 17 - Rain

I will admit, I do like a good rain storm every now and again. There's something cozy about being inside while lightning and thunder are happening outside. Like snowstorms, thunderstorms are best when you don't have to go out in them, but can be fun if you do choose to go outside during one.

I will also admit, though, that rainstorms are best experienced in moderation, and not for weeks on end.

Mother Nature, I know you're angry with us for a lot of reasons, and you have every right to be. On behalf of humanity, I apologize for those wrongs. Can we please have seventy degrees and sunny soon? Just for a little while?

Thanks!

Well done on the whole "Great Outdoors" thing, by the way. Your trees and mountains and such are really quite breathtaking.

April 2 - Spring

Spring is a really weird time of year for me. I love that the world starts waking up again, things turn green, the weather gets warmer, blah, blah, blah, but there are a lot of really odd and/or negative emotions that come with springtime, too. Even when it's not Springtime for Hitler. And Germany.

I love that the weather is getting milder. But I think we have all figured out by now that I hate being cold more than just about anything. Living in an apartment in Chicago, I do not have control over the heat in my apartment - I am at the whims of the radiator system that has been set up in my building. If the temperature outside is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit (about 13 Celsius for our friends across the pond), the heat comes on. If it is above 55, the heat does not come on. Sounds simple, right? Except when the outdoor temperature hovers between 55-60 during the day and at night, which it often does for a week or so at a time in Chicago during the spring. Then the heat doesn't come on at all for a week or so at a time, but the outdoor air temperature isn't quite high enough to heat the apartment on it's own, so it just gets cold inside. I know I should love spring with the increased sunshine and lovely, mild temperatures, but I always wind up colder than I'd like to be. I'd be fine with fast forwarding to summer.

I love that there is more to do in the city in the spring and summer. But I often find myself wishing I had a special someone to go do those things with. Until I remember, I'm rubbish in romantic relationships. I honestly am. Now, this is not to say I couldn't make a good girlfriend - I think I have shown glimmers of being a good girlfriend in the past (for the twenty minutes of my life I've had a boyfriend). I always find myself in a position, though, of having to balance boyfriend with the rest of my life - theater, various training exercises (roller skating, fencing, etc.), family, friends, work, my general introvertedness - and boyfriend always ends up losing. I keep thinking that when I meet the right guy, I'll want to give up some of my introvertedness to be with him, but maybe that's an incorrect assumption. Maybe I'll need to make a conscious choice to give that up for him. And honestly, that thought freaks me out. I treasure my alone time. Treasure it. I stay sane by not interacting with other humans for a couple hours every day. So I find myself in that really odd position of wanting someone around I can smooch from time to time and knowing that if I had someone like that, I'd be miserable.

Springtime also excites me because it's dress weather! I hate wearing tights and pantyhose, so I love it when I can wear a dress without the additional eight pounds of undergarments. But since I've been sitting inside most of the winter, I feel kind of gross. I'd like to show off a little leg or a little arm, but feel like perhaps I would be doing the world a favor if I kept all of that covered. This has been particularly weird lately, to the point where I don't trust mirrors. In my mind's eye, I am about a size 82 and always look greasy and tired. In the mirror, I look kind of cute and not nearly a size 82. The mind's eye thing makes it a little weird to go try to find a guy to smooch every now and again, too. So I sort of feel like I'm wearing dresses in spite of what society is telling me I should wear, instead of for the joy of being a little girly.

So hooray for baseball and warmer weather and fun things to do, but weirdness abounds as well. Meaning if I seem a little off, or do things that seem out of character, it's because it's spring and I don't know how to act otherwise. Anyway, gotta run to catch a bus. Talk to you tomorrow!

March 24 - An Open Letter to Snow

Dear Snow,

Hi. You really are lovely, you know that? Those of us in the northern half of the northern hemisphere just can't imagine the holiday season without you. We wait with baited breath for you to arrive for the first time each year, and are filled with warm fuzzy feelings when you get here. You make everything beautiful; you make everything clean and new.

Like all good things, though, I have to tell you that you are best in small doses and at the right time. When too much of you shows up at once, people get cranky, roads get slushy and dangerous. And when you show up in late March, well, I hate to say it but we're just tired of you. As lovely as you are, spring is lovely too, as is summer, as is fall. The four seasons need to work in harmony to highlight the beauty and wonder of nature.

So, Snow, my dear Snow, you are lovely, but it's okay for you to go away now. Just for a few months. Come December, we will welcome you again with open arms.

Sincerely and with warmest regards,
Kitty