tim!
At midnight, my roommate Liam comes home from a party and tries to talk me out of watching 3 Women (dir. Robert Altman) using reverse psychology. By 1:20, he is sawing logs on the sofa while I eat Fourth Meal™️ (75% of a leftover hoagie), and oboes drone, and Sissy Spacek makes good her escape to the swimming pool at the Purple Sage Apartments. The serpent-tongued demigods at the bottom of the pool, their bronchial shouts.
At about 2:30, I put my teeth in peroxide and fall asleep with my hair down playing the watermelon game. I'm wearing the same t-shirt I put on Friday night. It's a full moon. If I wake up in time I'll make eggs. Who am I kidding? I never wake up in time. I told myself I'd stop using the everything app. I'm doing this instead. Who am I kidding? it’s more like 3.
At 8:45, my cat Mamma Mia steps on a sequined cowboy hat and that’s my alarm clock for the day. She gets a quarter-cup of dry food in the morning, and later a can of chicken slices in gravy. The morning sunlight in my bedroom is my very favorite thing about my house. Every sunrise feels like the first one, like that hymn. It is divine.
By 9:45 I'm dressed (Yo Gabba Gabba-core) and putting my shoes on to buy a bagel from Bart’s Bagels. I've forgotten my teeth a lot this week. Hopefully writing down all of my actions will make it easier to remember. On my way out the door, my sweater comes undone. I notice my tarot cards are where I hid them. I'm riding to East Falls with my friends Ben and Cassandra to help them pick out furniture for their new home. Maybe I'll find some pieces for myself too.
I got a ceramic owl mug and a spice rack that’s too tall for my counter. Pittsburgh plays Baltimore in the early game on CBS. Our friend Andrew is coming over to finalize the script of a play that he and Liam wrote and that I'll direct. We started working on it about a month ago and it’s being staged at Vox Populi on Thursday - we have prop rehearsal today and tech on Tuesday. The actors have only read the material together once at the time of writing. The tight turnaround has been a really exciting creative constraint for me, but I wonder what they think about it. They're allowed to have the script with them onstage to compensate, but I can’t imagine that will feel much like a safety net in front of an audience.
Patrick Queen is former Baltimore linebacker who signed with Pittsburgh in March. He just forced a fumble with 30 seconds left in the half and Pittsburgh losing 7-6. I have a complicated relationship with football, but I will always love Pittsburgh’s linebackers. Queen's story, within the context of the Pittsburgh-Baltimore rivalry, is a great addition to Pittsburgh’s defensive tapestry. Cam Heyward, their gray-bearded defensive lineman and the rangy safety Minkah Fitzpatrick are a few other favorites who have kept me following the Steelers even as I've been living in Philadelphia for the past 7 years. The late game will be Kansas City vs. Buffalo - red vs. blue, classic for an offensive match-up - but for now, defensive struggle, which is the hallmark of Pittsburgh-Baltimore (yellow vs. purple) is carrying the day. Football produces so many prime numbers.
Rehearsal is a blur. I haven’t directed since college, and by the end of the night my brain is spilling out of my ears. Everyone seems to be having fun so the biggest challenges don’t wind up being much of a challenge at all. Liam and I take a Lyft home and talk some about theatrical forms. Oddly enough, our play shares some themes in common with Disney’s The Kid starring Bruce Willis so I fall asleep watching John McClane struggle with his inner child.
tim! (preferred punctuation included) lives a few doors down from taco man. you can follow them on instagram (or letterboxd if you’re a freak like that) at @thee.sweet1e
