After about 4 months of being unsure about where we can park our house, we have finally moved for the last time... at least for a couple of years! It wasn't easy. We really had to make things happen to get settled in our new place before the end of the year. There's still a lot of work to do on the place, but by the spring it will be looking great and we are in a prime location for our summer activities with Broadway Under the Stars. My commute has grown to about 40 minutes, but it is a gorgeous, scenic drive through Sonoma wine country, which I don't mind at all. It's just the right distance to offer a decompression time after my work day without adding stress to it. Things are looking up for 2014!
   Another bonus of being in our new place is that we have a mailbox that we can receive packages in right on our doorstep. This may seem silly, but after 8 months of going to a PO Box to look for my packages, I can't wait to see little brown boxes in my mailbox and on my porch... I HAVE A PORCH!!! One of the first things I will receive are the razors pictured above from Dollar Shave Club. I loved the commercial that they put out a while ago for their off beat sense of humor combined with a really good idea and REAL SAVINGS. I went to the store during tech week of my last show to buy a new leading brand razor cartridge for the 3 week run and couldn't believe the cost. I ended up paying over $10 for a single cartridge (since I was feeling the lack of appreciation for good art in my wallet). I can't wait to get 4 good razor cartridges in the mail every month for less than $10! My wife and I use the same razors, so it's a good deal for the both of us. It's a great gift idea for the shaving enthusiast in your life. No more running out of razors or using them until the comfort strip is completely gone and the razor feels like a cheap disposable that rips my skin with every stroke!
    I'm also really excited to be in the heart of the Sonoma Valley so that I can do more wine tasting. As I drive by local wineries that refer business to us at Kaz all the time, I will have the opportunity to check them out and see which ones I would really like to recommend. Usually I stick with recommending the little vintners, but I should give some of the mondo vinos a shot, too. Regardless of whether or not they end up being favorites of mine, it will be fun investigating them! Leesa and I are headed to a mixer at what is known as the castle of the Sonoma Valley on Wednesday. She has been talking about going there since we first drove by and she remarks about it almost every time as I turn up my nose. I decided in the spirit of the season and since they are going to be all decorated, this would be a great time to check them out. Maybe we'll even get some good pics of us for the annual holiday facebook posts!

I love my truck. I never thought I would say that, but it's true. Dusty has become an old faithful companion that has already helped me numerous times since I purchased it back in August. My GMC Sierra 2500 is everything I need on a regular basis for hauling things in the bed and pulling my trailer whenever I need it.
There are few times when I find myself needing more than what Dusty has to offer, but this is one of those times. In order to move into our new place in Sonoma, I need to find a way to move the trailer of a deceased resident whose family can not be contacted. That trailer is one with a 5th wheel hitch. That's the kind that goes across the bed of the trailer, on top of the truck's axle, where the two humps are.
To rent one would cost us a couple hundred dollars and we don't want to add that in to our move-in costs, so we are exploring the power of social networks to try and find one to borrow for a couple of hours while I move the trailer in question. I am even willing to trade my faithful ol' Dusty during the time that I am using it. I joined a group on Facebook called "Hitch and Barter," and put in my request. We are asking everyone we know and I intend to go to my old school, face to face networking fraternity this week to see if anyone there can help me.
I have been saying for a long time that I think there will be a movement with social networking soon, which will get people to come together IRL (In Real Life) and create a stronger global community than we have ever known. I'm always pushing to see if that time is coming. It's kind of like an experiment. Here goes. Can anyone help a brotha out?!

A couple of years ago, I had heard of Bitcoins and had the idea to get a couple for my son for the annual festival of gift giving that comes in the heart of the winter. I was over ruled. Back then, one Bitcoin was valued at about $20 and I would have only been able to buy him a couple, if I wanted to give him something else, too. My wife thought that we should give him something that would be more tangible, instead of something that was basically an economics lesson.
Cut to today, those same Bitcoins would be valued at over $700 a piece. I've always had a knack for spotting trends and speculating about things that would become more popular. I've never had the resources to actually invest in things like this, but if someone were to follow my advice, they might be able to profit from it. Unfortunately, in our capitalist society, the people with the money don't tend to listen to those without it.
I've been trying to get Kaz to start accepting Bitcoins at the tasting room for a few months now. When I first suggested it, Bitcoins were valued at between $150 and $200. If we had been accepting them and keeping them, we could have tripled our money. I did a little research and found out a simple way to accept Bitcoin without taking on the risk of holding on to them for their speculative value, too!
I love to watch Star Trek, and in that society, people spend their "Credits" the same way that Bitcoins work. They predicted the tablet PC, video phones and the communication devices which are ubiquitous today, so why not  this too? Bitcoin (or something very similar) is the future of currency. Not tied to the whimsy of petty politicians or dictators in any country, but an open source currency that is protected by the people who use it. Anyone can look at the code to find any problems or make any improvements, so it's a lot safer than the mysterious way in which The Fed works to control the US economy.
If you have the means, I highly recommend that you put a little money in Bitcoins. Perhaps you'll be able to buy some wine from Kaz with them in a little while. The Petit Verdot and Lenoir that were just released are well worth the current market price of .05836 BTC!

    Finishing a show is never an easy thing. Even when I think I am sick of a show or that I'm ready to move on, there's always a little part of me at least that misses the previous event. Nowadays, I do shows with short runs, like 3 or 4 weeks, and I feel like all the work we do to prepare for the show is too much for such a short run and I wish we could do a lot more! Cuckoo's Nest was really well received and we were praised by many, but it came and went like a thundercloud across the great plains.
    Now, it's time to continue with life while recovering from the show. Things are always a little stretched whenever I take on a commitment like this, but if feels like this time was especially rough. My wife was out of work for the last couple of months and our living situation has been up in the air and including a lot of driving around to get our son to school and me to work/rehearsal for the last several weeks. On top of economic stress, I have been fighting an illness that does not seem to want to go away.
    I'm tired of talking about all of the things I want to do in my art, but not doing them, so I have tried to hit the ground running after the last show of the run. I have been making phone calls and taking meetings, trying to set up a performance art piece for the summer time. I have a lot of creative juice flowing at the moment and I want to take advantage of it! There are always obstacles that get in the way, but as a producer, it is my job to find ways around those obstacles without losing my head. Often, that includes favors from others.
    Today, Leesa is starting her job with TTC and they are being very gracious and kind in understanding and helping with our financial issues. Hopefully we will find a permanent place to live soon and that will be one less worry on our minds. Also, now that I have the time, I can spend some quality time with my son helping him with his school work that he has been struggling with.
    We love the Sonoma area and really want to stay here for the rest of our lives. It's not a cheap place to live, but it can prove to be easier than many places due to the amazing people that populate this county. We would not be able to get by without a little help from our friends and to everyone who has helped us out in ways big and small, I am forever grateful. Thank you for helping us sustain our family and to be the creative people that we are. It really does take a group effort some times. Here's to the Community!!!

I don't know why it's called crepe hair or anything, but you can find out by using the google machine. It comes in a tight braid that you need to undo. Start gently pulling the hair out so that it is less curly. I used a straightener on low heat to get the hair to a desired straightness without burning or melting it.

Dab a small amount of liquid latex onto the bald cap with the sponge and press the hair onto the wet liquid latex. It only takes a few minutes to dry, so don't wait too long to apply it. This is one and a half 6 inch sections of the crepe hair. I cut one in half to put on the lower section of the cap to support the longer hair to make it stand up more.

Once one side is completed, let it sit and dry for a few minutes. It's good to try and stretch the cap while it's drying.

I love making my son's costume every year. He always wants to be something obscure from animation or video games. One year he went as Stinkoman 20X6 (pronounced twenty exty six). I'd love a comment from anyone who knows what that is! I'll even post a pic of the finished product! This year, it's Dr Wily from the Mega Man video game series. Usually he is seen with a white shirt and a red tie, but rarely he is seen with a pink shirt and a green tie. Of course that's what he wanted. We went poppin' tags at the thrift shop and were able to find the whole thing for $7.75 at goodwill. My parents were in town for the opening of Cuckoo's Nest and bought him the lab coat, bald cap, hair color and moustache! Leesa provided an old fishnet stocking to help keep his hair tame for the bald cap. I never thought I would be okay with cutting up fishnets for a child's costume! Gotta love Halloween!

We were able to dog sit this adorable boxer with fur that is soft like a bunny rabbit! I've been close to him since he was first rescued by my former house mate, two years ago. It was great to be able to cuddle this big teddy bear for the week. It's going to be hard to leave him and go back to the TARDIS tonight. To ease the sting, I got the night off from rehearsal...WHAAAT?! I needed a day off, but my coworker was sick and my boss is on vacation. The night off will do nicely!

The look for Dale Harding in Cuckoo's nest is coming together. I just got my hairs cut this weekend by the wonderful Pam, my face is bald, and my glasses ROCK!

You can see how impressed Justin is with my new doo!

Working on this show has been quite a challenge emotionally. There have been some bumps in the road, but the final product is going to be riveting. Yesterday, I had a sense of what it will be like with an audience there.

It's funny how naked one can feel letting emotions show on stage. It's much different from working on musicals or comedies! If we do it right, the audience is going to come on quite the emotional roller coaster with us.

Our first rehearsal with an audience is for a group of High School kids on Tuesday of tech week. That will be an exciting challenge. If we can hold their attention, we'll build tons of confidence for opening on Friday!