Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Karamozov's

The Karamazovs. Opens December 7, 2006.
Celebrated director Bill Peters presents a new vision of the classic story of a broken family’s violent retribution. This bracing new play is inspired by the literary establishment that is Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, which follows the history of four men and the catalog of indecencies committed by their wealthy, monstrous father. The brothers include a sterile aesthete, a monk, an illegitimate factotum, and Dmitri, an elegant officer, always broke and at odds with his father, yet engaged to a rich and lovely young woman. Family tensions erupt when Dmitri falls in love with one of his father's mistresses, the coquette Grushenka. When the father is killed, it is Dmitri who is put on trial, with the brothers’ honor hanging in the balance.
This production is being performed in two parts.

Part One: Thu, Dec 7, 8 pm; Sat, Dec 9, 2 pm; Sun, Dec 10, 2 pm
Part Two:Fri, Dec 8, 8 pm; Sat, Dec 9, 7 pm; Sun, Dec 10, 7 pm
Admission: $10 General/$8 Students & Seniors
Tickets: 415/338-2467
Tickets for Part One and Part Two are sold seperately.
Purchase tickets for the complete show (Parts One and Two) at the same time and recieve a 50% discount on your ticket for Part Two.

Little Theatre, Creative Arts bldg
SFSU campus, 1600 Holloway @19th Ave, SF

Click for more.



This is the new show that I have been busting my ass over every week night - and some weekends too.... Check it out!

posted by Mai @ 1:19 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 13, 2006

It's raining...

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring... I wish I could send some of it across as this recent rain prompted me to check the drought level and Brisbane is upto Level4?? I'll try and do a little rain dance for you... but I don't think it will become effective until February - that's my prediction anyway.

posted by Mai @ 4:36 PM 0 comments

Sunday, November 12, 2006

settling down

Life is settling down after a few months and it feels like I have an established 'life' here which I will be so sad to leave. I feel the weeks coming closer and closer to the end. Last night I was invited to my friend's place from university for a cocktail party. It was amazing and I had so much fun even if I froze my little Australian ass off in the mountain. She lives near San Bruno mountain and I'm not sure of the exact place it is, but it has one of the most spectacular views across to the city and the outer suburbs of San Francisco and Oakland. I tried a Dirty Martini and it was the worst - I just don't like martini's i've decided. Nothing against the maker and shaker but i've decided i'm just not a martini girl. Neil made some delicious quiche and we had tiramasu for desert and more drinks. I am still taken a back by the generosity of people in this town. Just when I think I can't go on someone pops their head around the corner and helps and it just all comes together. But then there is this other side of SF which is far more inhumane on a bigger level... the homelessness. I am getting tired of seeing poverty and people crying out for help but seeing a government turn a blind eye on it all and force a few small agencies take on the work but are far to underfunded and staffed to make a big enough impact. It's quite sad and i've had plenty of conversations about this and basically it all comes down to a few bad choices on behalf of San Francisco and American policy as a whole. But back to my dinner. We played a board game and I was delighted to get a lift all the way home afterwards.
Today was pretty mundane. I cleaned my apartment room and went shopping for groceries which is always a bit of fun in Chinatown. It's always so crazy to see all the dried goods stinking out the front of shops. It's about a quater of the price of the shops and it's all more fun trying to squeeze your way through a thousand chinese people shopping as well.
Okay, Alberto needs the computer so I am signing off and i'll try and update later when I wake up a bit more.
Rob

posted by Mai @ 11:41 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Rhiannon

RHIANNON!!! CONTACT ME!!!
xoxo

have you heard of email?

posted by Mai @ 5:03 PM 0 comments

A recount of my tattoo experience last Sunday


A recount of my tattoo experience last Sunday




It’s cold and chilly afternoon in the streets of Haight Ashbury, holding a steaming hot soy mocha no whipped cream. I have butterflies in my stomach, feeling nervous about Miriam getting a tattoo and the thought of joining her and getting my first. No thought eases me and I approach the intersection before Mom’s Tattoo and Piercing with thoughts of doubt swimming in my mind. We open the door and Miriam approaches the counter and asks to see if there are any flash pictures of the star tattoo she wants for her ankle. I recognize the guy behind the counter up until now he has never been the friendliest person but he makes an attempt to smile anyway. He draws out a white A4 paper with several sizes of stars and Miriam and orders two, one inch and another three quarter inch star for her ankle. Without thinking I blurt out, “Can I please see a flash of an ohm?” He reaches behind the desk and gets a book on Buddhism and Hinduism and opens up to show the picture of an ohm. I take a good five minutes staring at it and then carry the piece of paper nervously into the cubicle while Miriam gets her tattoo.

I watch him mark the spot on her ankle, prepare the needle and I feel okay and not too nervous. Then at that second when I feel okay about the whole process the artist switches on the tattoo gun and the vibrating jackhammer like buzzing starts up. It sends a chill down me and I begin to wonder about the pain involved with the whole process. The tattoo artist wipes the last of the turquoise from the star Miriam and we head over to the counter. I stand at the glass counter pull of piercing jewelry and I think to myself that another piercing might be more enjoyable than the tattoo process. I stare at the symbol I would like tattooed on my back and reach into my handbag to pull out a hundred dollar note and my passport. Shaking with anxiety I place the money on top of my passport and hold the picture in my hand nervously looking at the guy behind the counter. Ever so slowly, with my hands shaking I hand over the money and passport and say, “do it”. I know at this moment if I walk away it will be a long time before I walk in again. I have to wait a few minutes while the tattoo artist sets up and I call my friend and let her know what I’m doing. I’m called into the cubicle where I see all the utensils laid out neatly on a sterilized silver platter and the office like chair with a head rest for me to get comfortable in. He asks me if this is my first tattoo and with anxious eyes I look at him and tell him, “yes”. With a relaxed voice he says, “for a once in a lifetime offer I will do something to help you with your first tattoo, but first let me place it on.” He reaches for a shaver and removes the hair around where the tattoo will be. I breathe very deeply and try to relax some more. He then wipes down the area again and places on the carbon copy of the ohm symbol to the back of my neck. I grab the pretty pink mirror dangling next to his work bench and admire what will become my tattoo. I look again and ask him to place it just slightly to the left some more. The tattoo placement is repositioned and I tell him it’s perfect. He asks me to sit and I obediently do so. I sit in the turned around chair as instructed with my arms resting on the back rest and my head on the stand with my hair pulled across and out of the way. He tells me that he will fill the needle with water and do a test patch on my skin because he doesn’t want me moving and ending up with a funky tattoo because the anxiety is worse than the procedure. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in, clenching Miriam’s hand; I get nervous for the billionth time and wait for the needle to hit my skin. As I feel his hand coming to rest on my back I stay extremely still. The moment I wait for happens and then needle has gone through a test drive on my tattoo. I scrunch up my face and look at him with a, “that’s it? Let’s get the show on the road”. He fills the needle with ink and outlines the tattoo and then 15 minutes later fills the remaining space in. I like the sensation of it vibrating through my body and the ticklish feel around my neck. My knee jerks from the nerves shooting down my leg and I laugh at the trying not to move at all. It’s over and I stand and reach for the dangling mirror again to admire the art in the larger mirror at the back of the store. I notice how red it is but can clearly see the ohm and I love it. People are free to judge this and say what they would like as entitled, but at the end of the day I don’t regret the process one bit.

I think to myself how much I built it up in my head compared to what the actual process was like. For some it might be just a physical marking, but for me it was an intense emotional and spiritual journey which I have no regrets about. I am very happy with the finished product and my experience in the tattoo parlor, and could not have hoped for a better way to mark my journey in San Francisco.

posted by Mai @ 4:53 PM 0 comments