RETURN FROM THE BloGRAVE!
In Which Akiva is Found Under a Pile of Papers in a Deep Coma, and is Startled to Discover that it is the Year 2006!
I win the “Worst Blogger of the Year” award. Life just got in the way. The problem was so much stuff happened that I just didn’t have time. Then once I DID get time I got overwhelmed because I wanted to catch people up on the craziness in my life, but at the same time I was still overwhelmed with the shit that went down and I didn’t want to revisit it. Well I think I am just going to sum up the past two months in a newspaper style format because that way I can get everything I need to say out.
Akiva Narrowly Avoids Corporate Lawsuit
Okay….so this is pretty much the reason I stopped blogging. I just got so caught up in this shit a few days after my last post that I went into a depression of sorts and couldn’t bring myself to write about it. It was a shitty shitty time for me. I’m gonna try and fill you in without going into too much detail, because frankly I don’t want to write about it all that much.
After my amazing backstage tour of Lord of the Rings I was so excited that I wrote all about it here and on a theatre website I frequent. I even drew up details to share the amazing experience I had. Well to make a long story short I got in a LOT of shit for doing so because the producers of that show (VERY VERY powerful people) got wind of this and apparently the show was still under extremely tight wraps at that point and under strict legal secrecy. I just wish someone would have informed me of this BEFORE I posted it all over the internet. Honestly there was NO indication of how confidential the stuff we saw was. But that didn’t seem to matter to anyone as I got reamed out, like totally yelled at and stuff, by various people in positions of power. I took the stuff down as quick as possible and apologized, and there was nothing more I could do. But I am still quite certain that the people involved are still very unhappy with me. Okay…moving on…
The Hostage
At just about the same time I was getting reamed out by people for the above incident, I was just getting into the thick of my role as the Assistant Designer on a play, Brendan Behan’s “The Hostage”. At the beginning of the process I was pretty much a research assistant which I love. The big designer I was working for taught me the importance of research and I fell in love with the process. I immersed myself in images of Ireland and terrorism and the era, and it was amazing. I learned so much. I also learned from her the importance of details. As a designer I am known to be anything but subtle. I am known for being big and bold. But she showed me that the details really count for something and that the intricacies of each prop and paint job are what tells the characters stories. I would spend days breaking down the beautiful new props to make them look used and old and worn, and it turned out amazing. See for yourself.
Another amazing thing about it, which I have mentioned before is that by working some of the biggest designers and directors in Canada, I am know slowly integrating myself into the Toronto theatre scene. I have already been offered a job by the designer I assisted, who is the Costume Designer on this new show. The Set Designer is pretty big and is doing a show for Stratford this year, sp it will be an amazing opportunity.
Ryerson Dances 2005
I was the Head of Marketing and Publicity for Ryerson Dances 2005, the big dance show this year. It was an amazing experience. My job was to get as many asses in the seats as possible each night. This meant getting ads out, sending out press releases, bugging the media and setting up media visits. The show itself was astounding and I learned so much about dance. I am definitely developing a taste for it, and I now am more aware of what I like and what I don’t. Some of the pieces were beautiful and joyful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Here are some pics taken by Scott McLeod, a really good photographer in my class. I have to remember to ask him permission though, when I get back to school:
The best part of this experience (besides being able to flirt with the hot dancer girls and throwing a wicked opening night party) was the amazing girls in the P.R. Office. We had SOOO much fun this semester and even though times got tough many times, we bonded and pulled each other through. We are all such good friends now. Shout out to the P.R. Crew, not that any of them read this.
Herbert
Just a quick update on Herbert (If you don’t know who he is shame on you, and you need to go back two posts and rekindle your friendship with him): He is amazing. He is such a part of me now. An extension of myself. I was so scared at first at how everyone would react, but even my super-religious adopted families, as well as my mother who was originally not so impressed, have grown to accept him as part of me. I like that I have something that visually sets me apart a bit from the rest of the people in my neighbourhood. I love that it gives a bit more of an accurate first impression of me, so that people who are just meeting me might be open to accepting a different side of me that they might not normally.
Sadly though I think he is slowly starting to grow out of me, and I amy have to take him out soon enough. I will be SOOO sad when this happens. But I think my big goal is to retain the new found confidence he gave me and carry that with me, even when he is physically not with me.
Roomie
Well I think the last time I posted I still had two roommates. You see my roommate Gad had his friend staying with us for quite some time. We got along so it wasn’t an issue at all. But all sorts of craziness happened in his life, that I will not go into because I really don’t think it is my place and I would for people who aren’t supposed to know to find out. But anyways he finally moved out which meant that me and Gad were all alone in our apartment as originally planned. I was worried because I really hadn’t spent much time with him alone, because his friend was always around.
But it turns out I had nothing to be worried about. We get along great and the dynamic is exactly what I want from a roommate. We are both really private so we tend to hole ourselves up in our respective rooms, but at the same time it is not awkward at all when we are both in the kitchen or the living room or whatever. He has a weird, sick sense of humour like I do, which is a relief, and he likes weird movies. The funny thing is most of our conversations take place through stickie tabs left on my door or over MSN. Hah he has even befriended a few of my friends over MSN without me knowing, and now they talk.
Which Brings us to…
NOW! So I have been back in Cowtown for a couple weeks. Its weird. Everytime I come back here, I feel less like this is my home. All my friends are busy with their own lives and other friends. I am quite sure that I want to spend my summer in Toronto, if at all possible. The trick to that is getting a decent job and making money. I shall try with all my might.
But don’t get me wrong. I LOVE being back and seeing everyone. Here are some pics stolen from Colleen. She and Lisa ambushed me one night, when I had plans with Becky, so we all went to the Point and it was good times. Then a few nights later I went to Tweedly’s birthday which was lots of fun. Also me and Colleen went on a secret mission downtown which I shant discuss because of the level of confidentiality involved (hehe…I learned my lesson from the Lord of the Rings). All I can say is it was great fun and may have started a sick infatuation with something that I probably shouldn’t like.
Anyways…quick shout out to Efron, Becky and Hayden who proved this week that we can still be close as ever because of the internet, no matter how dispersed we are. And of course to my dear Colleen who is really going to to be the only person who makes it this far reading this post. Good times were had this break, and more good times are bound to happen.
Your Friend,
Akiva
posted by The Collabos @ 3:33 AM
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