happiness never against!

I had a chiropractic adjustment this morning that completely freaked me out. The guy untwisted my sacrum using a method referred to as "The Table Drop," which to me sounds like a WWF wrestling move. And quite frankly, it might as well be, CAUSE IT HURT. But I feel a bit better, and am walking straight now, instead of like a pregnant lady. Then my friend Rian gave me a massage that was way more than an hour and worked out tons of crap going on in my back and my neck. It's so weird how traumas seem to register in and then remain in my muscles. But I'm feeling worlds better, much better than I ought to be, probably. And I've developed a great retelling of the whole mess to add to my repetoire; I was trying it out last night on my friends and it was KILLING 'EM.

Opening night of Sylvia went really well. The audience really seemed to love it, which was especially encouraging since I know we were letting some stuff drop (I was, anyway). So when we (I) hit our (my) stride, we'll (I'll) be really solid. I really love working with these people, I know I've said it before, but I'm just going to say it again. And Eric, the guy that's in charge of the Summer Rep, came up to me and said some really nice things. He's my hero, really. He's the one who cast me in my first show at UI and the one that encouraged me to go to grad school for it and all. I owe him a lot.

O.K., so plans for this weekend include a picnic on Saturday, a cookout in the evening on Saturday, FIREWORKS on Sunday (oh, how I love the fireworks), cookout at David's, AND Fahrenheit 9/11. I'm going on the FOURTH OF JULY, PEOPLE! I'M A DAMN PINKO COMMIE NO-GOOD-NIK! WHO'S WITH ME?????

You know, I love the fireworks. Though no display I have seen has ever come close to the fireworks displays my hometown used to organize in the 1980s. They used to be held in Circle Park, which was about three blocks away from my house, and I'll always remember fondly the day that the mayor almost fainted because the wildly inspired pyromaniacs on the fireworks committee had chosen to start off the evening by wiring up the batting cage about fifteen feet away from where the seating began with what seemed like at least a half-ton of M80s (I was RIGHT THERE, it was BEAUTIFUL!).

They stopped having it at Circle Park though, because Circle has become too small for the bloated, blighted, disconnected, mini-mansioned, strip-mall laden 'community' that is now Bloomingdale. So now they have it out at this park on the edge of town which is right by this unincorporated town called Keeneyville. The last year I went to the fireworks at home (which incidentally they now have in LATE JUNE, which I think we can all agree is TOTALLY RIDICULOUS), there was a bunch of Keeneyvudlians shooting their guns at rusted out oil drums a few hundred yards away from the crowd. Apparently they weren't rusty enough, because my friends from high school and I were sitting there talking and all of a sudden there was a scream and an ambulance came flying up. A bullet had ricocheted however far and hit an old guy in a plastic lawn chair sitting about ten feet away from us. That happened, AND the display sucked that year. So I've never felt the need to return.

Iowa City's display is o.k., but it's not great. They set it to music, which is fine, but Ray Steven's Guitarzan of all things??? Bluh.