body parts

it NEVER rains in LA... so when it does, people act in the craziest ways. they drive up onto sidewalks and into telephone poles, seriously for like NO reason. i was leaving the silver platter tonight, with a bodyload of equipment (camera, tripod, computer, several inches of scripts), with 2 beers in me, and i stepped squarely into the gutter as i was trying to load my car. as the brown oily water streamed over my shoes, 4 inches up my ankles, my phone slipped down the drain... i just stood there, watching the river rush over it, saying outloud, "phone is dead, phone is dead, phone is dead." it was a pretty dead experience. not at all like loosing a family jewel or a limb. at the same time, i admit my phone is probably the closest thing to being part of my body; at the very least it's an extension of my fingers, brain, voice, social network, and sentimental life (literally hundreds of pet pics- um you know you do too!). i was surprised by the matter-of-factness of instantaneously realizing my entire day tomorrow and money i don't have will have to be spent trying to replace it, because i depend on it for pretty much all functioning... employment being the most/least of it.

THIS IS ALL TO SAAAAAY
tonight is the first night i can officially talk about DAMELO TODO casting/rehearsals!!! OMGGGGGGGG

INTRODUCING

GABY

as Teódulo/Topacio

(this is her boy drag... total hotness baby butch riiiiight?????) gaby is half colubian half ecuadorian, she's 24, and she's a naturalz. and the hottest thing on video camera ever.

AND

YASENIA

as Rogelio/Rubia

Yasenia is 21 (!!!! woulda never guessed the diva is such a baby!) from Colima and like... I can't even tell you about her power. umm when i was adapting raquel's story i wrote this for her - she embodies everything about the role, period. and she BRINGS it. and she NAILS it everytime. some of you may recognize her also as the leading lady of Morales Y Sus Geishas.

AND

RAQUEL GUTIERREZ

as Herself

*say* *no* *more*

magic!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tonight was our first full on rehearsal. we were blessed by the

AHMAHZING GIFT OF

SHAKINA NAFAK

acting coach (mexican butoh/PHD) life light

i just met Shakina tonight so i really couldn't do her justice now in this post. but i was completely blown over by her serious talent, skill, and singularity... we werked it to the bone.

afterwards, raquel said it, that Shakina can take a text and put it into the body. that's literally simply it. she can take words on a page, and bring them into her body. and then teach it to anyone! it's crazy and cool and soooo fun. acting exercises! the best part was watching her show Yasenia how to find a her inner gay Salvadoran machismo, blow fake smoke rings into the air, and then lay Gaby up against a wall...

ROGELIO
(smirking while smoking a cigarette)
Que te paso?

His eyes fall onto Teódulo’s crotch tent and places a hand over his mouth to smother the hearty guffaws erupting from his belly. Teódulo is mortified but his boner still will not yield. He cups his crotch in vain attempt to conceal.

ROGELIO

Vergón...

(hissing as he exhales smoke from his flared nostrils)

Tu mano es tu mano, una compañera leal. Pero, es mejor con algo real. Lo has hecho de verdad alguna vez? Esa cosita se ve como un ratoncito rosado, sabe como una jocote podrida y se siente muy rico, hombrecito... (Your hand is your hand, a trusty companion. But, it is better with the real thing. Have you had the real thing? That little thing looks like a pink mouse, tastes like a rotten jocote and it feels really good, little man...)

it warms my little heart...

and today is only day 2!!! we get to do 4 more rehearsals before filming!!! iiiieeeeeee. lots to do. i met Shakina through the butchlalis's most recent production (she directed cosa rara) and it all keeps feeling like a little magic happenstance. Raquel was saying that a good project pulls the right energy together... fingers crossed!!! AND i'm so grateful tonight to be reminded where my body starts and stops.