The House Of Troy

TWO THOUSAND SEVEN: A YEAR IN PICTURES

2007-12-31T03:43:40Z

Long time, no post. I thought I'd catch you all up on my year. At least, my year in pictures.

WARNING: There are a ton of pictures in the blog. If you have dial up (and honestly why the hell do you not have cable or something faster yet?) then you might want not want to click on the cut.

2007. What a year. It's had the highest high I've had in a really long time and the lowest low. I've lost friends, made friends, taken my first vacation ever and nearly lost my home town. This blog will cover the good and bad from this year. Plus feature a bunch of pictures taken throughout 2007.

THE GOOD

There's no question that the trip to Chicago is the best thing I did this year. Getting to spend time in a town I've never been to before (and which I fell in love with) was so much fun and so relaxing I can't tell you. Thank you to Nathan and Christina for being such fabulous hosts! It wouldn't have been as much fun without you, that's for sure. And, to be honest, it wouldn't have happened without you both. I had so much fun. Got to see a TON of the city and ate some fabulous food. Saw 3 different types of theatre. And had a blast. Thanks also to Jim and Lynne for some lifesaving things that you both did.

THE BAD

The Greensburg tornado. Nothing can compete with an EF5 tornado that devestates my hometown and manages to destroy both the house that I grew up in and the home my sister was living in. The week after the tornado hit was probably the most emotional week I have ever experienced. Seven months later I can still barely believe it happened. But life will go on. But it will never be the same.

OTHER STUFF

So much other stuff happened. I got kicked off the board of WCT. I won't lie. I'm still pissed about that. To be honest, I'd been thinking about leaving the board for a while, but the way that it was handled bothers me. First off, a friend who's on the board told me. To this day I still haven't ever heard anything official from the board. No note or letter telling me so or thanking me for all the hard work I've done for the theatre over the past 10 years. No word from other people on the board that I know. It hurts. And it pisses me off. So much so that I've debated about seeing the one show that I still have to see for the MJT committee and then making up not seeing shows there by seeing more Crown shows. And anyone who knows how much I HATE seeing shows at the Crown can tell how pissed off I must be. But I'll get over it. Eventually. But I won't have anything to do with WCT for a long time. If ever. Before I left the board, I had designed a new logo for the theatre. Since it'll obviously never see the light of day again, I thought I'd share it since I'm rather proud of it.

Lost one of my closest friendships this year as well. To be honest, I don't think it was as close as I thought it was because that's the only way to explain how easy I was to drop. But I've learned some lessons from it. I don't trust nearly as much as I did before. I've learned to be happy to hang by myself and be all right if I go weeks without doing anything with anyone. But the friendship gave me huge trust issues and those are things I'll have to work out. But I doubt I'll ever completely trust anyone again. Protecting myself is probably the most important thing I've learned from it.

Having said that, I've had a ton of fun with friends this year. Some memorable ones are hanging with Holly, Sarah and Justin at J's and Fantasy, Thursday nights at My Room, All Star Sports with Justin, movies with Jim, going to the Cosmosphere with Jim, movies with Liz, Jeremy, MJ and Amber, my birthday with Lindsey and Kelsey, and numerous other times I'm sure I'm forgetting as I sit here typing this. Plus, I'm sure that New Years Eve with the gang at Kobe's and the Biltz's is going to be on that list.

FAVORITE MOVIE: HAIRSPRAY (Runners-up are THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM and LIVE FREE AND DIE HARD). Yeah, I like escapist movies the best.

FAVORITE TV SHOWS: CHUCK, HEROES and PROJECT RUNWAY.

Ok, enough words.

PORTRAITS

STILL LIFES

THEATRE

THE GREENSBURG TORNADO

McCONNELL AIR SHOW

CHICAGO

IT'S BEEN FOREVER!!!

2007-02-05T00:05:23Z

Wow. It's been forever since I've posted in here. I pretty much blog over at my myspace now. If you want to go check it out, it's at: http://www.myspace.com/tdilport

Right now I'm in the middle of directing CLOSER for Theatre On Consignment. It's going pretty well. My cast is wonderful and, even though they didn't have to be, have been pretty much off book since the 8th rehearsal. It opens on February 15th, so it's gettin pretty close, but I think everything is coming together.

And that's pretty much my life right now. I go to work, go to rehearsal, come home and work on stuff I need to get down and go to sleep.

Hope everyone in LJ land is doing great! I do try and check it out from time to time. If you have a myspace, send me a friend request! Myspace is the easiest way to keep up with me now. But I'll try and post here from time to time.

Here's some artwork for my show. The first is the official poster. The rest are just things I've made from some pictures I've taken throughout the rehearsal process. Enjoy!

HANGIN' WITH FRIENDS

2006-07-16T07:00:27Z

Had a great day today! Did laundry. Did some grocery shopping and finally updated the WCT site with pictures from LAST SUNDAY.

Then I headed to Augusta to hang out with Nathan and friends at Nathan's parents house. He flew in today from Chicago and immediately started cooking for us upon getting home.

And dinner was fucking yummy! He made beef and chicken kabobs and white rice. God, it was all so good! Plus I had some strawberries and peaches.

Had a really nice time just hanging out with Nathan, his parents, his sister and her boyfriend, Liz and Jeremy, Amber, Jaime and her new boyfriend who's name I've forgotten...sorry Jaime!!!

Then we left Augusta and came back to Wichita to go to Quincy's for Cherice's birthday party. I, of course, had to stop off at home and take Thor out first though.

Again, more fun was had. Plus, Nathan and I played pool and I actually won. I think he may have let me win, but that's ok, I'll take it!

It was a great day.

Tomorrow is a busy one. I have a photoshoot with Justin and Tara, I think her name is. God, I am so bad with names anymore. I hope that's right!

Should be a hot shoot! Doubly so because they are both so flippin' hot and because it's going to be around 100 degrees tomorrow. Oh well.

Then, tomorrow night Nathan is getting us all back together and we are going somewhere to hang. Not sure where yet, but he'll let us know.

Guess that's it. Hope you all had a great day today!

And of course I took pictures today. They are below the cut:

My "arty" picture of the night.

Liz, not really happy to have her picture taken. :D

My other "arty" photo. :D

Awwwwww!!!

Me and the birthday girl

The "generic" Welsby picture.

Meridith and the pretty Bud Light bottles.

Boc and I playing dueling cameras.

Nathan singing "Piano Man"

Dammit Nathan! Why can't you be gay???!!!

And we end with Welsby's bald spot. :D

BLACK COMEDY

2006-07-13T04:45:06Z

I mentioned in a previous post that I went and took pictures at BLACK COMEDY on Monday night. I finally went through the pictures tonight. I would have went through them last night but that's my Kenneth night and we ate pizza and went to see PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2. The movie was ok. I was kind of bored actually. It didn't help that I was tired and had a hard time keeping my eyes open. I actually fell asleep for a brief bit, much to Kenneth's amusement. It had it's moments but I found myself watching the clock to see how much longer we had WAY more than I should have. Still, I'm not disappointed I saw it.

Anyway, back to the pictures. Amazingly, there's a BUNCH that I am happy with. I'm posting a small group of them on my myspace (ok, a decent sized group). The amazing thing is, this is about a quarter or less of the good ones. I'll try and get more of them up tomorrow night. Not here, but on the WCT site.

But for now, here's what I've got. Hope you enjoy. :D

http://blog.myspace.com/tdilport

HAPPINESS

2006-07-11T05:57:56Z

Today was a good day.

Work was all right. It actually went kinda fast.

After work, I went to WCT and took pictures at BLACK COMEDY. I had a good time there and got some good pictures, hopefully. I'll work on them Wednesday night and hopefully have some to post.

Then I came home, took Thor out and walked over to Indigo.

The best news was that I got to hang out with Larkin for the first time in 6 years. And damn, she is still hot as hell! And it was like we had never been apart. Hell, we were kissing within seconds of seeing each other and we even made out a bit. Check out the pics below. :D

As a bonus, I got to hang out with my best friend plus Miller and Welsby. I also got to meet Welsby's brother.

It was so nice to see Larkin!

And when the night was over, I hugged Welsby. Kissed Kenneth. Miller and I hugged and kept our arms around each other for a bit, then he said "love you brother" and kissed me on the cheek. Then I kissed Larkin...several times...and said goodbye.

Can't ask for a better night than that.

Yep, awesome fucking night.

LAZY SUNDAY

2006-07-10T02:49:34Z

Today was a pretty lazy day. Kenneth stopped by around noon and hung out for a bit while he waited for his friend Julie to get ready. We watched ANTS which he is a little bit obsessive about. I'm just saying. It was a little scary, but in a cute way. :D

Then he left and I didn't do a heck of a lot except watch the World Cup. I was cheering for France since lovely Karine is from there and, as is usual when I cheer for someone, they lost. But only by one goal after 2 fifteen minute overtimes and a penalty kick phase. I wish they scored more in soccer. Still, I enjoyed watching it.

Then I FINALLY took a shower.

I then took Thor on the balcony and tried to take a few pictures. He doesn't stand still much when I try to take pictures of him and when he does stand still, it's in a pose that is the least interesting possible. It's scary how he does that. Still, I got a few that I liked.

Then I gathered up the program and lobby stuff for BLACK COMEDY and headed out. Before I went there, I drove around downtown and took a few pics. After playing with a few of them, I kinda like them. All the pics are below so check em out and let me know what you think.

Then I stopped by WCT, where auditions were going on for EVE and dropped off the stuff.

Came home and that pretty much brings us up to date. I think I'm gonna walk down to Old Chicago for dinner now.

Hope you all have a great night!

And say some prayers for, and send some love to, my friends Lindsey and Kelsey. Their grandfather passed away yesterday. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

On a final note, thank you to my friends who commented on my last couple of entries. What you guys said really meant alot to me. I've got the best friends. :D

LOVE YOU ALL!

UPDATE

2006-07-06T03:27:45Z

Pics from the last couple of nights are up on my myspace blog:

http://blog.myspace.com/tdilport

I am so fucking tired tonight. Today really wore me out. Mentally and physically. There are no words for how much work sucked today. In some ways, it feels like it's slowly killing me. Or, at least, slowly wearing me down. I find myself shutting down more and more. There are some things I still find joy in, mostly they revolve around my friends. But most of the rest of my life brings me down. Makes me sad. Makes me tired. My self esteem, which is always low, is in the toilet.

I'm not sure what the way out of it is. If there is a way out.

Oh well, I just needed to bitch a little.

SELF PITY PARTY

2006-06-29T13:09:49Z

You might want to ignore this post. In fact, I recommend it. It's mostly going to be me whining.

I'm getting more and more depressed about not having anyone to love and to love me. To the point I was actually finding myself crying last night and I'm not really much of a cryer. I even went to bed kinda early last night.

I think part of the crying is that work is stressing me out along with all the other stuff I have going on. I'm overextending myself and I really need to stop doing that so much. Whether I will or not is another matter. But it's making me wish harder that I had someone to come home to.

And watching SUPERMAN RETURNS also added to it strangely enough. Basically any story with a love story involved kind of does it to me anymore though. It's hard to watch love stories when I have no one and have had no one.

I so badly want someone to touch, someone to touch me. Someone to love me. Someone to make me feel important. And I'm worried that, at my age, it's never going to happen. That I am so ugly, so unattractive, that no one will ever love me like that.

I am such a "touchy" person. I like physical contact. And, in some ways, I'm lucky. I have a best friend who hugs me and gives me a peck on the lips everytime we say hi and goodbye. And he puts up with my affection and has never complained. But I always feel self-conscious about it. I have several friends who put up with my touchiness, but I always worry that I'm making them feel uncomfortable.

I really want someone to love and touch where that isn't the case. Someone I don't have to feel self conscious of being affectionate with. Someone to make me feel important.

I try to make myself come to terms with the fact that it may never happen. But it's hard. And the littlest things set it off. Like a movie. And I found myself kind of shutting down after the movie on Tuesday. Responding to people with as few words as possible because while I enjoyed the movie, in my head I was feeling sorry for myself.

In a way, the affection I get from my friends also makes it worse. It's like getting a taste without getting the whole thing. Like being shown what I could have but am not getting. Not sure if that makes sense, but I'm not sure how to put it into words.

Anyway, that's my whine for today. Sorry it's a depressing post, but it's sort of my mood right now. I'm trying to work on putting on a good face in public and most of the time I succeed, but somedays it's harder than others.

So, those who you who have found someone to love and who loves you, appreciate what you have. There are some of us who may never find it.

FUCK YEAH!

2006-06-28T07:04:18Z

SUPERMAN RETURNS fucking ROCKS! I enjoyed it ALOT! Definitely my favorite movie of the summer so far. In fact, the whole night was great. My best friend came over, we ate cheesy crust pizza and cinnamon breadsticks with crack frosting. Watched the Adventures of Superman marathon on American Family tv and then joined Miller, Bailey, Rebekah, Mac, B, Welsby, Meridith and Michael Webber at the Warren Oldtown and had a great time.

And I'll definitely see it again too. How great was it? I didn't talk during the entire movie. Normally I made quips all over the place during a movie but tonight I said nothing. It was that good. Definitely lived up to my expectations.

So, go see it!

Ok, I'm exhausted. Off to bed. Good night all.

SATURDAY NIGHT

2006-06-25T06:00:19Z

Tonight was ALOT of fun. Went to Mosley Street with Lindsey and then went over to Jeremy and Liz's for a birthday party!

Because I'm too lazy to go to all the work to put up the pictures here, go to my myspace site and check out the pics from tonight.

http://blog.myspace.com/tdilport

TO MY WICHITA THEATRE FRIENDS

2006-06-22T12:00:15Z

Please come if at all possible! If you aren't able to be there, go to the MJT website, www.maryjaneteall.com and print off a registration form and mail it in!!! You can't vote if you don't register!

Hope to see you all there!

Thanks!

WHITE TRASH GAMES

2006-06-15T04:40:43Z

Tonight was SUPER HELL YEAH FUN!

P9A and I had a brother/sister night.

First we went to Abuelos and had a SUPER YUMMY dinner. And it was really damn good! Plus, having never been there before, it was really cool looking inside. It felt like I wasn't in Wichita, which was cool.

Then we went over to The Alley and bowled. I won the first two games and then P9A hit her stride and KICKED MY ASS! I mean, it wasn't even pretty. She kept getting strike after strike. It was awesome.

Although, funny story, after the first game I had to ask the person next to us if I had won or not because I wasn't sure if a high score was a good thing or not. Sad, but true. :D

Our arms are TIRED though. Plus I have a popped blister on my finger. But it was so worth it and P9A is excited because she's found a sport she is good at. I, on the other hand, suck big time at it.

Then we played skee ball, a game in which I can kick ass and did. Thank God. My ego needed it. :D

It was such a great night! I am so glad that we did it.

IF IT WEREN'T FOR BAD LUCK...

2006-06-09T05:10:20Z

Well shit.

Went to see FULL MONTY at Music Theatre of Wichita tonight. Enjoyed the show. My friends who were in it were great!

Stayed after to say hi to them. Walked to my car. Tried to start it. Nothing. It's dead. I can't figure out what happened because it's been running fine. The starter and the battery are only a year old. The alternator is only a couple of months old.

So, I called my friend Kate and she happened to be on her way home so she stopped by and we tried to jump the car. Nothing. Didn't make a difference. Still dead.

So, I have no idea what's wrong. We left it there in the lot I was forced to park in. Hopefully no one will fuck with it or tow it. I'll walk to work tomorrow and then Chad and I will run out to look at it again in the daylight once everyone gets to work. Still, it sucks. Big time.

I just don't understand it.

SCREENING PARTY

2006-06-06T02:40:24Z

I don't think I ever posted this here. I've since finished the book but loved it so much I figure I'll share the quotes I put up so that maybe other people will find this book and the author's other book which IS the funniest book I've ever read.

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I'm in the middle of reading SCREENING PARTY by Dennis Hensley, who's the author of my favorite book ever, MISADVENTURES IN THE (213). Which is the funniest book ever.

This book is basically him and his friends watching movies and making catty comments about what's going on. There's also bits about their life, but mostly that just works in to whatever movie they are watching. Each chapter was basically an article in British Premiere that he wrote monthly and then assembled into a book.

I'm enjoying the hell out of this book and thought I'd share a few moments (ok, a BUNCH of moments):

JAWS

"It's hard for me to remember what happens in JAWS," admits Tony, "because the first porno I ever saw was called GUMS, which was about a mermaid who sucked off guys in the ocean until their dicks fell off. My best friend's older brother had a tape of it. Every once in a while, an image will pop into my head and I won't know if it's JAWS or GUMS."

"And you knew Alex was a goner as soon as he was given a name and a couple of lines," figures Ross. "Jaws won't eat extras, but day players might as well have LUNCH tattooed on their rafts."

"Dreyfuss looks so young," I marvel, "like a little elf with those muttonchops. I bet he lives in a hollow tree."

"Lorraine Gary is so emasculating in this scene," observes Dr. Beaverman as Dreyfuss gets hammered while sitting with the Brodys at their dinner table. "I'm surprised she doesn't turn to Dreyfuss and say 'Last night, Martin couldn't get aroused. More wine, Matt?'"

"A lot of this footage is actually a real shark," says Ross as Jaws repeatedly tried to eat Dreyfuss through the bars. "But because the shark wasn't as big as Jaws is supposed to be, they used a smaller cage and stuck a midget in there. The same guy who doubled for Elizabeth Taylor in NATIONAL VELVET."
"He must have figured if Liz didn't eat him, the shark wouldn't," says Tony.

ST. ELMOS FIRE

When the camera pulls away from him, Tony notices something peculiar about our gang's cherished watering hole.

"All the customers are men," he says, "St. Elmo's is a gay bar!"

"St. Homo's Fire," mutters Lauren, who's had so many straight things turn out gay in her life, she's not even fazed anymore.

"I told you it was a gay bar," says Tony when the boys leave the bathroom and return to the bar. "Judd Nelson is kissing a guy." We look closer. "Oh, nevermind, it's Ally Sheedy."

Mare is still pissed at Rob in the next scene, in which the gang shows up at St. Elmo's Fire on Halloween night sporting Groucho Marx-style nose glasses.
"This is the one night a year where Judd Nelson feels normal," says Tony.

"I bet you culd hear that cherry pop clear back at the frat house," I saw are Mare surrenders herself to Rob.

TAXI DRIVER

"I didn't know porno theaters had concession stands," says Lauren as DeNiro picks up some snacks for the movie.
"I'd like a small popcorn and a medium Pocket Pussy, please," says Tony.
"Would you like a large for a quarter more?" asks Marcus.

"And her dress is a total LSD hallucination," says Tony. "I mean, Shirley Jones looked at that and went 'No fucking way.'"

"I called Betsy again in her office," DeNiro says wistfully, "and she said maybe we'd go to a movie together...Besty, Betsy, oh no, Betsy what? I forgot to ask her name..."
"Wetsy," says Dr. Beaverman. "That was too easy."
"Miss Wetsy if you're nasty," says Lauren.

"How does she not get busted?" wonders Tony about Jodie Foster. "It seems to me that anyone could see Jodie Foster wearing a hat like that and immediately make a citizen's arrest. She looks like Rose Kennedy in the Hamptons."
"Is it Friday? 'Cause this sure is Freaky," says Marcus.

"Is it just my MTV generation attention deficit disorder, or do these scenes go on forever?" I ask.

"With Travis Bickle, there is no gray area."
"Except for that skin," says Tony. "He's taking all this time to get in shape and he won't take a few minutes to go to the fake-and-bake? I could give him a coupon."

When the videotape messes up in the machine:
"You should get your money back, Dennis," says Lauren. "Just say the movie was unwatchable."
"Well, they know that already," says Tony. "Cybill Shepherd's in it."

"What's with all the diner scenes in '70's movies?" I say. "It must have been impossible to get a decent patty melt back then without having to jump over cables and sign a release."

"And those sunglasses on Jodie," groans Tony. "She looks like she's going to burst into 'Crocodile Rock' any second."

"Tony why do you hate Cybill so much?" I ask, finally sticking up for the singer-actress-pitchwoman.
"I hate anyone who insists on singing their own sitcom theme song," he states simply, as if it's the most logical explanation in the world. "If Kelsey Grammer and Linda Lavin were in this movie, I'd be gunning for them, too."

PRETTY WOMAN

"She looks like the Captain and Tennille rolled into one unfortunate person," says Lauren.
"What every john wants," says Tony, "a theme skank."

"Men don't ask women for directions," says Dr. Beaverman. "That's one of our first indications that this is a fantasy."

"And I'm sorry," says Ross, "but there are no whores on Hollywood Boulevard who look like Julia Roberts."
"Sure there are," argues Tony. "But they're men."

While Julia waits on the curb to catch a cab back to Hookerville, Richard approaches her and says, "If you don't have any prior engagements, I would be very pleased if you would accompany me into the hotel."
"Well, I'm gonna miss the free needle exchange, but what the hell," I say, speaking for Julia.

Whore in tow, Gere approaches the front desk and says, "Can you send up some champagne and strawberries?"
"And some extra-strength disinfectant and a two-pack of Brillo pads," adds Ross, "because someone is getting a SILKWOOD shower."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Julia asks.
"No," says Richard.
"Do you want to fuck my tits, then?" says Tony.

They arrive at a swanky boutique where Richard is greeted by Larry Miller, the veteran character actor and comedian who was anally penetrated by a giant gerbil in NUTTY PROFESSOR 2. Coincidence? You decide."

"If MARY REILLY had had a 'Julia tries on clothes' montage, it would have been a hit," figures Lauren. "Of course, she would have tried on 20 of the same frumpy black frock."

Jason crosses the field to Julia and says "Quite a nice change from Hollywood Boulevard. Maybe you and I could get together."
This pisses off Julia to no end, though none of us can figure out why. "All of a sudden she's sensitive about her hookerness?" says Ross.
"She should be giving out business cards," says Lauren. "This crowd is the networking opportunity of a lifetime."

Later, back at the Reg Bev Wil, Julia rips into Richard for telling Jason she's a hooker. "I hate to point out the obvious," Richard spits back, "but you are, in fact, a hooker."
My living room, save Marcus who's cutting the cake, erupts in applause. "I'm so glad that he calls her on her shit here," I say.
"Totally," says Tony. "I'd be like, 'Did my check bounce, Vivian? OK then, shut the fuck up.'"

Somehow the two of them make up, I'm not really sure how because Tony and I are too busy fantasizing about what Julia's conferences with her high school guidance counselor must have been like.
"Your aptitude test shows that you'd be good at rimming," says Tony, taking on the ton of my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Grandstaff.
"But stay away from triple penetrations because you scored low on multitasking," I add.

We spend the next few minutes inserting the word "fucking" into the names of well loved Disney characters. Our top laugh-getters: Tinkerfuckingbell, Cruella DeFuckingVille. Mufuckinglan, and my personal favorite, Annette Funifuckingcello.

9 1/2 WEEKS

"Dr. Beaverman can't understand a word Mickey's saying," says Dr. Beaverman. "He's so whispery, it's amazing we're not seeing a boom mike."
"Maybe she's sitting on it," I say.
"I bet if we pressed the closed captioning button, it would say, 'We have no idea, folks. Be glad you're deaf,'" figures Tony.

As Mickey starts to dollop honey on Kim's tongue and Tony predicts that Kim's going to have "a honey of an O," I can't help but wish there were more clever product placements. "Like why can't she touch up her bikini wax with a Chiquita label?" I suggest.

"I bet I know what she'd do for a Klondike bar," says Tony. "But where the hell are you gonna find a goat in Manhattan?"

We restart the movie to find Kim, more sex-addled and lethargic than ever, louging on Mickey's bed with a remote control in her hand.
"She's looking at that thing going 'I haven't had sex with one of these before,'" says Ross.
"Her world will forever be divided into two parts," I say. "Objects she can have sex with and objects she can't."
"Will Fit and Won't Fit," simplifies Tony.

"This music selection is called 'Unsafe Sex in E Minor,'" says Tony. "In case anyone's interested."

I decide I've had about all I can take of Mickey's colorless apartment. "He's like Mr. Monochrome Man," I complain. "If she showed up in a yellow sundress, I bet he'd beat the shit out of her."
"Maybe color could be her weapon," proposes Lauren. "Like she could go, 'I've got a lime-green handkerchief in my purse, asshole, and I'm not afraid to use it."
"Or drop a half-pound bag of M&M's on the floor," says Tony. "Mickey would literally just melt like the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Isn't Rita Moreno one of the only performers to win an Oscar, a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy," I ask.
"I think so," says Marcus, "and they are all Will Fits except the Emmy."

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

"Are nuns allowed to dance?" I ask.
"Yes," says Lauren, 'as long as they don't use jazz hands."

The pranks continue at the dinner table when Maria learns, the hard way, that one of the brats put a pinecone on her chair. "All this time she's been saving herself for God," says Tony, as Julie removes the prickly annoyance and takes a seat, "and she loses her cherry to a pinecone."

In fact, when Maria tells her she thinks the militaristic manner in whice the Captain runs his house is "so wrong," Frau Schmidt just sighs and says, "Ah well." "Frau Schmidt is so 'not my department,'" I say, "and I love her for it."
"Totally," says Tony. "The Captain could be shooting porn movies with the kids, a few goats, and his wife's dead body and she'd dodder in and be like 'Would anyone care for some tea?'"

When Maria returns to the Von Trapp mansion, the first thing she learns is that the Captain and the Baroness are engaged. "She's thinking, Wait a minute! I broke up with God for this?" says Tony.

"Meanwhile, the Baroness must want to say, 'Maria, isn't it about time for your reprise of "So Long, Farewell"?'" says Lauren.
"Totally," agrees Tony. "She's looking into the orchestra pit going, 'Take it from the coda, boys. Five, six, seven, eight...'"
"I want there to be a shot of her putting on brass knuckels and saying 'I know how to solve a problem like Maria,'" I say.

FLASHDANCE

"Hannah's just there to die," says Ross. "She's the Obi-Wan Kenobi of FLASHDANCE."

"I want Michael Nouri to look around and go, 'Maybe if you got a one bedroom apartment like a normal person, you wouldn't have to work two jobs,'" says Lauren.
"While driving her to the bedroom in a forklift," I add.

ARMAGEDDON

Before you know it, Bruce and Liv are being whisked off to NASA, where Billy Bob explains that the country needs Bruce to save the world. "This is a man who can't even save Planet Hollywood," says Dr. Beaverman. "And somehow they expect him to save Planet Earth."

"Is it just my ethnic bias, or does Liv look like a hostess at PF Changs?" says Lauren, referring to the ingenue's Pan-Asian dress and hairstyle. "I keep waiting for her to hand Billy Bob a menu."

Left alone, Bruce reaches for the detonator, which, surprisingly, is so crude looking it appears to have been made by Fisher-Price. "Baby's First Nuke," says Ross.

MISC. STILL LIFES

2006-06-06T02:23:24Z

I have some misc. still life stuff I've shot during some photo shoots I've done that I've just gotten around to looking at. Had a few I kinda liked so I thought I'd share.

SUMMER FUN (WICHITA PEEPS)

2006-06-04T19:07:10Z

I'd like to get more active this summer. To that effect I'd like to see if anyone else is up for it. But I'd love to get together with people and play a game of pick up basketball. I'd love to go play minature golf. Go bowling. Maybe get some people together and play softball. Play tennis. Just fun, active stuff that I never do. Doesn't matter if people are any good at it. I will probably suck at all of it since I haven't played in forever. Mostly I just want to get a bunch of friends together and have fun.

Anyone else game?

HEHE

2006-06-04T04:35:05Z

My nephew Chris just sent me pictures of his son, Declan, wearing the "Cuter Than Baby Jesus" tshirt I got him for Xmas. So, of course, I had to share!

God, I can't believe how big he's getting! And, yeah, I know I'm prejudiced, but MY GOD, he's cute!!!

WEEK IN REVIEW

2006-06-04T03:32:00Z

It's been a long week for me. After my memorial day weekend I shot 2 plays and worked on the pictures from them along with finishing up some other pictures I shot earlier. Not hard work, just takes up a lot of time. Still, I guess it could be worse. Here's some pictures that were taken since my last post.

After I did pics with Lindsey and Alex I went and ran a few errands. One of which was going to my co-worker, Chad's graduation party.

Then, later that night, I met Alex and Lindsey again at the Brickyard and hung out and had a few drinks. It was a fun time and the first time in a while that I closed a bar. :D

The first pic is of Alex. His feet were still covered in whatever the berries were that were on the ground all around where we were shooting. The next pic is of me and Lindsey.

Tuesday night I shot pictures of LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE at WCT.

After the show, I went to Walt's for karaoke because Cassiday(the girl in the first picture) had invited me. It was fun.

Wednesday night I went to take pictures at TOC's production of AMERICAN BUFFALO.

Then Thursday I had dinner with Lindsey, her sister Kelsey and Alex at Hana Cafe. It was a night of firsts for me. My first time eating sushi (and my last, YUCK!) and my first time eating a Korean dish, Chicken Something Soba. It was quite yummy. And most of all, I had a really good time.

Next week hopefully won't be so busy although I do have to see THE FULL MONTY at MTW and TWELFTH NIGHT at Wichita Shakespeare Company. I'm looking forward to FULL MONTY. Alex is in the show, along with my friend Monte, and both say it's going to be great. Hopefully I'll enjoy TWELTH NIGHT too.

Guess that's it for me. Hope everyone in LJ land is doing great.

And Nathan, this one was for you. :D

Love ya!

MAJOR UPDATE PART 3

2006-05-29T03:12:45Z

This is Tony Princ's daughter Lydia:

And here are pics from yesterday. This is Lindsey and Alex:

MAJOR UPDATE PART 2

2006-05-29T03:11:32Z

This is Karine, from France:

And here is Marius:

MAJOR UPDATE PART 1

2006-05-29T03:09:38Z

I realize it's been FOREVER since I've updated here. It's so much easier for me to post pictures up on my myspace and Xanga accounts that I forget to post here.

So, I figured I'l play a game of catch up today. Below the cut, is a bunch of pictures. I'll be making 2 more posts with pictues, since there are so many.

Hopefully though, you'll find it worth it. I've shot several new people lately, had a ton of fun doing it, and made some new friends.

So, here we go:

Here's Stephen:

And here's Devon:

These are some pictures I took at Botanica:

JOHARI

2006-04-13T14:14:31Z

Yeah, I did one of those damn Johari windows. Seems like everyone I know has done one lately, so I thought, what the hell? It's been sort of interesting to see the results so far. Go and fill it out if you get bored.

http://kevan.org/johari?name=tdilport

THE MEANING OF LIFE

2006-04-10T02:21:33Z

This is going to be one of my really down posts, so I'm warning you in advance, just in case you want to skip on down your friends page.

I find myself pondering what the meaning of life is. Or, rather, what the meaning of MY life is. I'm not sure it has one. Sometimes I think I'm only here for the amusement of whatever higher power there is. For some reason, I seem to be his shitting post.

My car is broken down again. I have no idea how much money it's going to take to fix it, but whatever it is, right after repairing my car just a few weeks ago, I'm not sure I can afford it. If it's more than $150 I know I CAN'T afford it and I'm not sure how soon I would be able to. I could be going a few months without a car. Now, maybe it'll be $150. That's fine. It just means I will be flat ass broke and trying to catch up for months. I'm tired of that. I'm tired of having no money.

Most of my friends go places, take trips. I don't. While it's true I've gone to NYC and Nebraska in the last couple of years, both of those were working trips that lasted a weekend and all I did was work. I saw nothing of either place that wasn't on the way to doing something. In my adult life I've never taken a vacation (and I only took 1 in my childhood). So I never get to escape or relax. I get one day off a week and most of those days I'm taking pictures.

It makes me more than a little bitter. Not the pictures part, that's my own fault, but never getting to go anywhere. There's just no way I can afford it.

My car is a piece of shit. My fear is that it's going to die for good soon and then I'll be really screwed since I can't afford another and don't relish the thought of having to walk everywhere and not be able to go places unless someone gives me a ride.

And then there's my "lovelife" which is non-existant and always has been. I keep wondering if I'm destined to live my life and never know what it's like to be truly loved by someone. I wonder why it's so hard to meet someone who could be attracted to me. And at this point, I wonder if there is no one who could be. Am I really that ugly? Am I really that unappealing? Am I really that horrible. I'm beginning to think I must be.

All in all, I keep wondering if there is any point to my life. And I'm having a hard time coming up with one. I feel pointless. I feel like the ugliest person on the face of the earth. I feel fat. I feel doomed. And I wonder why I go on. And to be honest, I'm not sure.

And I'm not writing this so people will send me a comment saying how much they love me or whatever. I'm disabling comments so that doesn't happen.

I'm just sitting here putting down what's going through my head right now.

SCREENING PARTY

2006-04-09T04:14:23Z

I'm in the middle of reading SCREENING PARTY by Dennis Hensley, who's the author of my favorite book ever, MISADVENTURES IN THE (213). Which is the funniest book ever.

This book is basically him and his friends watching movies and making catty comments about what's going on. There's also bits about their life, but mostly that just works in to whatever movie they are watching. Each chapter was basically an article in British Premiere that he wrote monthly and then assembled into a book.

I'm enjoying the hell out of this book and thought I'd share a few moments (ok, a BUNCH of moments):

JAWS

"It's hard for me to remember what happens in JAWS," admits Tony, "because the first porno I ever saw was called GUMS, which was about a mermaid who sucked off guys in the ocean until their dicks fell off. My best friend's older brother had a tape of it. Every once in a while, an image will pop into my head and I won't know if it's JAWS or GUMS."

"And you knew Alex was a goner as soon as he was given a name and a couple of lines," figures Ross. "Jaws won't eat extras, but day players might as well have LUNCH tattooed on their rafts."

"Dreyfuss looks so young," I marvel, "like a little elf with those muttonchops. I bet he lives in a hollow tree."

"Lorraine Gary is so emasculating in this scene," observes Dr. Beaverman as Dreyfuss gets hammered while sitting with the Brodys at their dinner table. "I'm surprised she doesn't turn to Dreyfuss and say 'Last night, Martin couldn't get aroused. More wine, Matt?'"

"A lot of this footage is actually a real shark," says Ross as Jaws repeatedly tried to eat Dreyfuss through the bars. "But because the shark wasn't as big as Jaws is supposed to be, they used a smaller cage and stuck a midget in there. The same guy who doubled for Elizabeth Taylor in NATIONAL VELVET."

"He must have figured if Liz didn't eat him, the shark wouldn't," says Tony.

ST. ELMOS FIRE

When the camera pulls away from him, Tony notices something peculiar about our gang's cherished watering hole.

"All the customers are men," he says, "St. Elmo's is a gay bar!"

"St. Homo's Fire," mutters Lauren, who's had so many straight things turn out gay in her life, she's not even fazed anymore.

"I told you it was a gay bar," says Tony when the boys leave the bathroom and return to the bar. "Judd Nelson is kissing a guy." We look closer. "Oh, nevermind, it's Ally Sheedy."

Mare is still pissed at Rob in the next scene, in which the gang shows up at St. Elmo's Fire on Halloween night sporting Groucho Marx-style nose glasses.

"This is the one night a year where Judd Nelson feels normal," says Tony.

"I bet you culd hear that cherry pop clear back at the frat house," I saw are Mare surrenders herself to Rob.

TAXI DRIVER

"I didn't know porno theaters had concession stands," says Lauren as DeNiro picks up some snacks for the movie.

"I'd like a small popcorn and a medium Pocket Pussy, please," says Tony.

"Would you like a large for a quarter more?" asks Marcus.

"And her dress is a total LSD hallucination," says Tony. "I mean, Shirley Jones looked at that and went 'No fucking way.'"

"I called Betsy again in her office," DeNiro says wistfully, "and she said maybe we'd go to a movie together...Besty, Betsy, oh no, Betsy what? I forgot to ask her name..."

"Wetsy," says Dr. Beaverman. "That was too easy."

"Miss Wetsy if you're nasty," says Lauren.

"How does she not get busted?" wonders Tony about Jodie Foster. "It seems to me that anyone could see Jodie Foster wearing a hat like that and immediately make a citizen's arrest. She looks like Rose Kennedy in the Hamptons."

"Is it Friday? 'Cause this sure is Freaky," says Marcus.

"Is it just my MTV generation attention deficit disorder, or do these scenes go on forever?" I ask.

"With Travis Bickle, there is no gray area."

"Except for that skin," says Tony. "He's taking all this time to get in shape and he won't take a few minutes to go to the fake-and-bake? I could give him a coupon."

When the videotape messes up in the machine:

"You should get your money back, Dennis," says Lauren. "Just say the movie was unwatchable."

"Well, they know that already," says Tony. "Cybill Shepherd's in it."

"What's with all the diner scenes in '70's movies?" I say. "It must have been impossible to get a decent patty melt back then without having to jump over cables and sign a release."

"And those sunglasses on Jodie," groans Tony. "She looks like she's going to burst into 'Crocodile Rock' any second."

"Tony why do you hate Cybill so much?" I ask, finally sticking up for the singer-actress-pitchwoman.

"I hate anyone who insists on singing their own sitcom theme song," he states simply, as if it's the most logical explanation in the world. "If Kelsey Grammer and Linda Lavin were in this movie, I'd be gunning for them, too."

PRETTY WOMAN

"She looks like the Captain and Tennille rolled into one unfortunate person," says Lauren.

"What every john wants," says Tony, "a theme skank."

"Men don't ask women for directions," says Dr. Beaverman. "That's one of our first indications that this is a fantasy."

"And I'm sorry," says Ross, "but there are no whores on Hollywood Boulevard who look like Julia Roberts."

"Sure there are," argues Tony. "But they're men."

While Julia waits on the curb to catch a cab back to Hookerville, Richard approaches her and says, "If you don't have any prior engagements, I would be very pleased if you would accompany me into the hotel."

"Well, I'm gonna miss the free needle exchange, but what the hell," I say, speaking for Julia.

Whore in tow, Gere approaches the front desk and says, "Can you send up some champagne and strawberries?"

"And some extra-strength disinfectant and a two-pack of Brillo pads," adds Ross, "because someone is getting a SILKWOOD shower."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Julia asks.

"No," says Richard.

"Do you want to fuck my tits, then?" says Tony.

They arrive at a swanky boutique where Richard is greeted by Larry Miller, the veteran character actor and comedian who was anally penetrated by a giant gerbil in NUTTY PROFESSOR 2. Coincidence? You decide."

"If MARY REILLY had had a 'Julia tries on clothes' montage, it would have been a hit," figures Lauren. "Of course, she would have tried on 20 of the same frumpy black frock."

Jason crosses the field to Julia and says "Quite a nice change from Hollywood Boulevard. Maybe you and I could get together."

This pisses off Julia to no end, though none of us can figure out why. "All of a sudden she's sensitive about her hookerness?" says Ross.

"She should be giving out business cards," says Lauren. "This crowd is the networking opportunity of a lifetime."

Later, back at the Reg Bev Wil, Julia rips into Richard for telling Jason she's a hooker. "I hate to point out the obvious," Richard spits back, "but you are, in fact, a hooker."

My living room, save Marcus who's cutting the cake, erupts in applause. "I'm so glad that he calls her on her shit here," I say.

"Totally," says Tony. "I'd be like, 'Did my check bounce, Vivian? OK then, shut the fuck up.'"

Somehow the two of them make up, I'm not really sure how because Tony and I are too busy fantasizing about what Julia's conferences with her high school guidance counselor must have been like.

"Your aptitude test shows that you'd be good at rimming," says Tony, taking on the ton of my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Grandstaff.

"But stay away from triple penetrations because you scored low on multitasking," I add.

We spend the next few minutes inserting the word "fucking" into the names of well loved Disney characters. Our top laugh-getters: Tinkerfuckingbell, Cruella DeFuckingVille. Mufuckinglan, and my personal favorite, Annette Funifuckingcello.

9 1/2 WEEKS

"Dr. Beaverman can't understand a word Mickey's saying," says Dr. Beaverman. "He's so whispery, it's amazing we're not seeing a boom mike."

"Maybe she's sitting on it," I say.

"I bet if we pressed the closed captioning button, it would say, 'We have no idea, folks. Be glad you're deaf,'" figures Tony.

As Mickey starts to dollop honey on Kim's tongue and Tony predicts that Kim's going to have "a honey of an O," I can't help but wish there were more clever product placements. "Like why can't she touch up her bikini wax with a Chiquita label?" I suggest.

"I bet I know what she'd do for a Klondike bar," says Tony. "But where the hell are you gonna find a goat in Manhattan?"

We restart the movie to find Kim, more sex-addled and lethargic than ever, louging on Mickey's bed with a remote control in her hand.

"She's looking at that thing going 'I haven't had sex with one of these before,'" says Ross.

"Her world will forever be divided into two parts," I say. "Objects she can have sex with and objects she can't."

"Will Fit and Won't Fit," simplifies Tony.

"This music selection is called 'Unsafe Sex in E Minor,'" says Tony. "In case anyone's interested."

I decide I've had about all I can take of Mickey's colorless apartment. "He's like Mr. Monochrome Man," I complain. "If she showed up in a yellow sundress, I bet he'd beat the shit out of her."

"Maybe color could be her weapon," proposes Lauren. "Like she could go, 'I've got a lime-green handkerchief in my purse, asshole, and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Or drop a half-pound bag of M&M's on the floor," says Tony. "Mickey would literally just melt like the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Isn't Rita Moreno one of the only performers to win an Oscar, a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy," I ask.

"I think so," says Marcus, "and they are all Will Fits except the Emmy."

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

"Are nuns allowed to dance?" I ask.

"Yes," says Lauren, 'as long as they don't use jazz hands."

The pranks continue at the dinner table when Maria learns, the hard way, that one of the brats put a pinecone on her chair. "All this time she's been saving herself for God," says Tony, as Julie removes the prickly annoyance and takes a seat, "and she loses her cherry to a pinecone."

In fact, when Maria tells her she thinks the militaristic manner in whice the Captain runs his house is "so wrong," Frau Schmidt just sighs and says, "Ah well." "Frau Schmidt is so 'not my department,'" I say, "and I love her for it."

"Totally," says Tony. "The Captain could be shooting porn movies with the kids, a few goats, and his wife's dead body and she'd dodder in and be like 'Would anyone care for some tea?'"

When Maria returns to the Von Trapp mansion, the first thing she learns is that the Captain and the Baroness are engaged. "She's thinking, Wait a minute! I broke up with God for this?" says Tony.

"Meanwhile, the Baroness must want to say, 'Maria, isn't it about time for your reprise of "So Long, Farewell"?'" says Lauren.

"Totally," agrees Tony. "She's looking into the orchestra pit going, 'Take it from the coda, boys. Five, six, seven, eight...'"

"I want there to be a shot of her putting on brass knuckels and saying 'I know how to solve a problem like Maria,'" I say.

FLASHDANCE

"Hannah's just there to die," says Ross. "She's the Obi-Wan Kenobi of FLASHDANCE."

"I want Michael Nouri to look around and go, 'Maybe if you got a one bedroom apartment like a normal person, you wouldn't have to work two jobs,'" says Lauren.

"While driving her to the bedroom in a forklift," I add.

ARMAGEDDON

Before you know it, Bruce and Liv are being whisked off to NASA, where Billy Bob explains that the country needs Bruce to save the world. "This is a man who can't even save Planet Hollywood," says Dr. Beaverman. "And somehow they expect him to save Planet Earth."

"Is it just my ethnic bias, or does Liv look like a hostess at PF Changs?" says Lauren, referring to the ingenue's Pan-Asian dress and hairstyle. "I keep waiting for her to hand Billy Bob a menu."

Left alone, Bruce reaches for the detonator, which, surprisingly, is so crude looking it appears to have been made by Fisher-Price. "Baby's First Nuke," says Ross.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

2006-04-04T03:11:45Z

On Wednesday at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06