Do I wake or sleep?

I just came back from 5 days in North Carolina--I flew down on Saturday and came back Wednesday evening. Oh, I had SUCH a good time. I stayed with my friend Krista (who lives on one end of Chapel Hill) and Doug (who lives on the other end). The weather was absolutely gorgeous--5 perfect days of blue skies and heat and light breezes. I spent a lot of time sleeping in--perhaps I should've gotten off my tush a little more but heck, it was my vacation. The first night Doug and I grilled out on the deck--nothin' like burgers al fresco. I also introduced him to Cheerwine, a local specialty. Sunday Doug was studying for his real estate brokers' exam so I borrowed his car and wandered through Chapel Hill, poking my head into vintage shops and used book stores. Chapel Hill is such a pretty little Southern town, with itty bitty little bungalows and huge mansions with old, old oak trees along the streets. And lots and lots of greenery. Oh, my heart drank it up.

Chapel Hill has some adorable restaurants--one is called the Carolina Brewery and it has a CIA chef serving all sorts of Southern cuisine. Krista and I ate there and I ordered cheese grits topped with shrimp--oh my GOD, was it good. And I got bread puddin' topped with bubbon sauce. So, so, so delicious. Krista and I did some shopping and I got a darlin' little bag, a blue and teal canvas tote. I also picked up a little printed, smocked top for the spring--it'll look so cute with jeans and maybe a cowboy hat. Doug and I ate at a place called Mama Dip's in the middle of Chapel Hill. As fantastic as Carolina Brewery was, this place was better--I think this is the best meal I've had in a long time. I got the chicken-fried steak with gravy with sides of black-eyed peas and baked apples--I was pleased to see they called it chicken-fried, not country-fried, and they served it with regular (i.e., brown) not white gravy. Because that is how my Mother makes it and calls it, and that means it's correct! One bite of this steak and you can die a happy woman--it's beefsteak batter-dipped and deep-fried. SO delicious! For dessert I got chocolate pecan pie--fudgy and dark and rich and heavenly.

It was hard coming back to 50-degree chill and rain...

Paula and I went downtown to Marie's Crisis and the Duplex on Friday. We got there around 11:30 and hung out at Marie's for a bit. We were at the table at the right (in the corner) and lustily singing along--one older guy who looked just like an older Boyd Gaines kept looking back at us and started chatting with me. He was dressed in a suit and I thought maybe he was straight, as he really did seem to be checking me out, but when we started to leave, he asked us where we were going. I said "the Duplex, it's a place similar to this--" and he said "Oh, I know what the Duplex is--hello, I'm a gay man" impatiently which made me laugh all night. So Paula and I met Tesse there and hung out for awhile--some great singing but then they took waaaaaay too long to set up an only mildly funny skit so I started getting impatient, and eventually Paula, Tesse and I left and went back to Marie's. I had fun--I saw Mr. NotBoydGaines again and chatted, and I got a seat at the piano fairly quickly, but rather soon Tesse and Paula had to leave, and I was alone. I stayed for a little while longer, and then left around 2:30.

I slept waaaaay too late--woke up at 2. Oy. Scrubbed clean the apartment (which I usually do on Saturdays) and puttered around getting ready for Duncan's pajama party. I went over to Hoboken around 8:00, and Doug and I rode in with Seth and Rachel, who very kindly gave us a lift. The party was fun. Duncan (and Mickey, whom I met for the first time) live in a shotgun apartment, which I always think have so much character. It was a little hot in the living room from time to time, so I would periodically go into Duncan's room and flop down on the bed in front of Duncan's AC. I wore my peach-colored baby doll nightie, and Doug wore pajama bottoms with nooo top to show off his awesome body. Rowr! Tracy came and was the belle of the ball with her adorable big-eyed self. Yay! So good to see her. Besides Mickey I met Matt who's a playwright, and re-met a friend of Tracy's who saw Trojan Women.

Yesterday Doug and I did very little except sleep, eat and watch TV. We did see most of Norma Rae, which I really liked, not least because of its perfect late-'70s-ness. Sally Rae is sportin' the relaxed bun in back (or else long, loose and hot roller bouncin'--you see this look on early Dallas a lot), and the tight cap sleeves, and most of the older men have absolutely atrocious hair. Men's hair went down the tubes starting around the early '70s and didn't really recover until the late '80s.

After I worked out, Doug and I ate at the Farside. Hoboken does summer really well. I really love sitting at a sidewalk table, enjoying the warm evening air, sipping a beer and just feeling good. God love the summer.

Ladies and gentlemen....

We have a Prometheus. Mike's friend Doug agreed to do A Hillside in Hell.

Woo hoo!

This has been the most difficult play I've had to cast so far. Three such specific types. Thank God we can finally start.