wine helps memory

A Naval War College, arguably the best aquarium on the west coast, Cannery Row, and oodles of Harry Otter paraphernalia are some of the highlights of a town you will hopefully be acquainted with before you die-Monterey. Amidst the touristy cornucopia is a little wine-tasting cellar belonging to Bargetto. My dear friend Casi and I happened to waltz into here and we bought two bottles, a zin and a muscat. I took the muscat with me to Long Beach, and she held onto the zin, vowing that we would only drink it with the other when one goes to visit the other. Despite a couple visits up north (one being for her birthday in October) the bottles are still sealed. I came across my bottle Saturday night, July 31st, realizing it had been exactly one year since we were in the Bargetto Winery collection.

That was one of the best going away presents of last year, a day-trip to Monterey with antics around the aquarium, pictures with a shark on the curb, and just general

i-dont-know-when-the-next-time-i'll-see-you good times. That following Monday, August 3rd, i took off from norcal with my car, Mary Jane, full of just about everything I had except for my bed, violin, and TV, and took off for Long Beach. Scott was working VBS and Martina was running amok in Yosemite, so it was up to me to travel down a week before the others, sign the final papers and get the keys to Apt 8.

Today, my belongings were shuffled into a storage unit and my good friend Madison moved into that room, and as I was walking through the halls of the storage complex (which looked eerily like a hospital) I mentioned that exactly a year ago today i moved down here. Crazy. One year. To. The. Day.

One year down at CSULB, one to go, a couple of Asst Directing gigs, a whole lot more acting than I t

hought I'd be doing, a new relationship (that's still going quite well, thank you!) networking to other companies, and now I write for the Long Beach Acting Examiner as a reviewer, House Manage for Long Beach Playhouse, and am currently a Directing intern with the Long Beach Shakespeare Company for a soon to come summer production of Twelfth Night with professional actors and kids from the summer Shakespeare camp. 365 days is a long time, but not really. This school year shot by, with Songs of the Siren, Much Ado, Human Interest, The Big Funk, the New Play Festival, and Out of Thin Air, and, oh right, classes.

I'm not going to call out everyone, but there are a few things I want to say, pick whichever ones think may apply to you ;)

thank you opening your arms

thank you for not judging

thank you for not thinking of me as "some kid"

thank you for trusting me

thank you for helping me

thank you for "talking me off the ledge"

thank you for asking

thank you for not asking

thank you letting me breathe

thank you for smothering me in a hug

damn you

to hell with you

screw you

fuck you

really?

thanks for giving me one less person to worry about

thank. you.

I think that about covers everything. Who knows what the next year will bring, other than a few more theatre-based projects and a diploma, there isn't much else I've planned on. I'll be sure to keep you posted. It sure hasn't been easy, but if I'm still writing, that means that's another day I've woken up and have been pleased to find myself still breathing.

Thank you, Long Beach.

and Thank you, you.