"Well this is how we do things now, yeah this is how the modern stay scared. So I cut out all the good stuff, yeah I cut off my foot to spite my leg..." ~frightened rabbit

I went to the taping of Daniel Radcliffe's Inside the Actor's Studio interview on Monday. It was about three-and-a-half hours long. After listening to him talk for three-and-a-half hours (and after seeing him onstage naked for a prolonged period of time in Equus), I feel like I know Mr. Radcliffe. And he seems like a great guy. He's very humble, and he's also very funny. His Harry Potter fame hasn't gone to his head. He's very appreciative of that role and yet is already moving beyond it; he can do so much more than Harry Potter. I enjoyed listening to him and learning more about him. The interview will obviously be drastically edited for TV, so I'm glad I was able to be there for the taping and got to see the entire thing (even though I was fidgety and starving and exhausted by the end of it).

My favorite moment (what Daniel described as the stupidest thing he's ever said): At the end there was a Q&A session with the audience. After one audience member asked what roles he might like to play in the future, another audience member suggested that his diminutive stature makes him perfect for playing Napoleon. Daniel then told a funny Napoleon story. During a late night shoot, around 1:00am, Daniel wrapped something around himself to stay warm. He was cold and tired and apparently out of it. His dresser told him that he looked like Napoleon. Daniel asked, "Do you know what Napoleon's first name was?" His dresser paused and gave him a strange look before replying, "Napoleon." Daniel's (completely serious) response was, "So his name was Napoleon Napoleon? That's odd." I guess it doesn't seem so funny in print, but the way he told it was great. He's a very charismatic guy.

Tonight I'm going to see Speed the Plow on Broadway (Nicole got comps). I'm so excited. I like Jeremy Piven (although I'm not sure he deserves the multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards that have been heaped upon him from Entourage; it's getting a bit ridiculous that he wins every year). I've heard good things about the play. I'll report back.

Teaching is going well (of course now that I've said that I'm sure it will blow up in my face). Of course I have to deal with behavior problems every day, but I guess I'm more used to it. For the first time, I feel like I might actually be a good teacher someday. Not yet, because I know I have so much left to learn, but someday I think I could be good at this. I think I'm off to a much better start than I was last year; it's wonderful to have some experience under my belt, and I know the kids can sense it. Some of them are so sweet. And they're all great when you're working with them 1:1. I've grown accustomed to the fact that they are nice kids, they just don't understand how to behave in school and it is impossible to change some of their behavior. I have to work with what I've got. My students' math teacher is not doing so great, though. The kids are tearing her apart. It's not good, and it'll be really bad if that behavior spills over into my classroom. We'll see what happens.

"Wiseblood knows how to walk the way the wind blows. Wiseblood hears grace whisper right behind." ~kurt stevenson & chris boesel

I don't know what's wrong with me. I've just been in a sort of rut lately. I'm not sure why. I'm not depressed or sad, just moody. I'm reading Nicole Krauss' The History of Love and something in every chapter brings tears to my eyes. I'm not sure if it's because the book is so heartbreaking or the book's sadness is enhanced by my own mood. Anyway, it's a beautiful novel. It's one of those that I don't want to finish reading because I want it to go on forever.

I've been going through the entire series of Six Feet Under. The season 3 finale made me cry. It made me think about Heaven. I thought Claire's vision of the afterlife was interesting; it was a huge carnival filling the cemetery. She asked her (dead) dad if it was a special occasion, and he told her that it's like that every day. Seeing Claire see (or imagine, I guess, because her dad told her it was her own vision) Lisa taking care of her (Claire's) unborn baby was what brought on the waterworks. It must have been comforting for her to know that he's being taken care of, although I'm sure it was devastating at the same time to know that she won't get to see him grow up. And then Lisa asked Claire to take care of her own baby, Mya, who is still alive. The entire episode got to me, but that moment was the most touching. The worlds of the living and the dead collided for a minute or so, and the characters remain connected to each other through their children (Lisa with Claire's son in the afterlife, Claire with Lisa's daughter in the world of the living). It's probably not enough for either of them, but it's something. It made me think about death and it made me think about the fact that I will never understand death, because I can't imagine death as a better place if you're separated from the people you love the most. It's beyond my understanding, but I guess that's the way it's supposed to be.

I guess that's all, now that I've thoroughly confused my imaginary readers.

"You twist and whisper the wrong name. I don’t care, nor do my ears. Twist yourself around me; I need company, I need human heat.” ~frightened rabbit

That beautiful song is on the season 2 premiere of Chuck. Which went up on Hulu today. And is absolutely fabulous. The whole episode is amazing, but it especially reminded me of how much I love Casey. He's so tough on the outside, but deep down he's a marshmallow (to steal a Veronica Mars line). His character is fascinating, and Adam Baldwin is brilliant in the role. He can do so much with a simple grunt.

I <3 Gina Gershon. She is hilarious. Check out this video:

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

She is currently starring on Broadway in Boeing Boeing, in which she gives a great performance. October 2nd is her last day (as well as Kathryn Hahn's) and I really want to see it again before she leaves, even though I've already seen it twice.

I know I haven't written in a long time; I am just so insanely busy that it's impossible to find the time. And my internet is screwed up. Right now I'm posting from CCNY's library. I know this sounds funny, especially because I didn't usually enjoy going to the library at UR, but I love being back in a college library. It's just so...peaceful. This library is huge and I'm in a tiny study room up on the fourth floor.

I saw a couple of Broadway shows last week. I saw 13 and To Be Or Not To Be.
13 was...interesting. The cast and band consist entirely of teenagers. It's a musical about 13 13-year-olds. I think there are some very talented, hard-working kids up on stage, but the show needs work. I was uncomfortable about some of the subject matter (I don't think terminal illness should be treated flippantly), and I think some of the dialogue is unrealistic for 13-year-olds. The act one finale and the curtain call need to be fixed. It was a free night of theatre, though, so I was glad to see it. I looove Jason Robert Brown (he's the composer of The Last Five Years and Parade), and I did enjoy his score for this show very much.
To Be Or Not To Be was more enjoyable. It's a very funny play about a company of actors living in Poland during WWII. I like how it walks the line between comedy and drama, and the acting was fabulous. I went with my Theatre for Youth class, and beforehand we had a preshow workshop with MTC's Director of Education that was very interesting.
The Broadway Flea Market was this past weekend, which is one of my favorite days of the year. I won tickets to Hairspray and traded them for tickets to The Seagull, so I'm seeing that tomorrow and I can't wait. Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Sarsgaard are fabulous actors so I can't wait to see them live on stage.

I should write about school, and I have other random fun stuff to write about, but I'm just too tired and pressed for time. Maybe later.

"At least you're not alone, your friends are there too. They're singing, "Happy Birthday"..." ~jonathan larson (tick tick boom)

Today wasn't a bad birthday at all, although it was uneventful. I did have my one requisite crying spurt (I always seem to go through one of those on my birthday; this year it was because of a little thing that probably shouldn't have affected me so much). I had school and then had to go to a 3-hour class, and I have to teach tomorrow, so I didn't really get to celebrate. I'm going out to dinner with my parents, aunt, uncle, and cousin tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to that. I really appreciated all the birthday wishes people sent me; it's such a fabulous feeling to know that people care about me. My friend Karen gave me two big birthday hugs today. Because one just wasn't enough. That made me really happy. I like receiving hugs, even though I'm not very good at giving them.
My kids were very nice to me at school today, and they enthusiastically wished me a happy birthday. One table made me a beautiful birthday card that said the following:

"Dear Ms. B.,
Roses are red, violets are blue, happy birthday to a specil person like u. Happy bday. Your 1 year older and your still look 14 or 15! But Laura thinks you look 28. Well we hope you enjoy your bday. We (heart) you."

How sweet is that?? (Well, besides the part about me looking 28.) And only on the third day of school. I love my kids. Cards like that are the reason I'm a teacher.

"Make a circle in the sand, make a halo with your hand, I'll make a place for you to land. The bus is running, it's time to leave. This summer's gone, and so are we. So come on baby, let's go shut it down..." ~counting crows

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm excited to meet my new kids. I'll probably have what is right now my only class (that's a big problem that I won't go into now) for most of the day, which means I need a lot of activities to keep them busy. For some reason, despite the fact that I haven't done much planning yet, I'm not that nervous. On the first day they're usually shy and quiet because they're nervous, so tomorrow I probably won't have to worry about behavior management too much. I just need to make sure I lay down the ground rules and expectations that will influence the rest of the school year.

Last year my birthday was the first day of school, and I remember going back to my apartment after school and planning like crazy because I used all of the plans I had already made on the first day. Here's my blog entry from my last birthday. It's interesting to go back and read it and see what I was thinking as I began my teaching career. I guess I'm slightly more jaded this year, but I'm still optimistic. I'm more aware of how challenging it will be but I'm up to the challenge.

Yesterday I went to see the Broadway musical [title of show]. I had some misgivings going into it (should they really be allowed to charge that much for a show with such a low production cost?), but I did enjoy it. I won the lottery for a cheap front row seat (which afforded me a perfect view); I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. It's a show for theatre-lovers, which is exactly what I am. Here's my favorite song from the show, A Way Back to Then. I saw Alice Ripley perform this song on Friday night and fell in love with it then. Heidi has a wonderful voice:

Towards the end of the show, Susan (one of the four actors) actually pointed at me, grinned at me, and sang directly to me. That made my day; it is so incredibly cool to connect with an actor onstage.