Fall

Must do final reports on the Fringe run, make connections, correspondence, etc. I was waiting until the Fringe was officially over to take care of these things, and I am still settling into the routine here, even after a week. It has been one crazy summer.

And it is over. There will be more warn days, sure, but come on. The block party my wife has been organizing came off last night like a big, successful block party-like thing. People who share the same street and have never spoken to each other were line dancing to The Cupid Shuffle in front of my house.

Then just as abruptly, the clouds burst open (today, not yesterday, last night was perfect for a street party) the temperature dropped and the miniature golf we had planned needed to be shelved. Bam. Autumn.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 I had knee surgery. That was a very trying time, very emotional. I worried I would never run again. You wouldn't know it these days, I run all the time. No complaints, no worries. I do not know what will break down next. I felt so old then, incapacity makes me feel old. Performing at the Fringe made me feel young. It's all about action, I imagine.

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Glidepath (133 BPM)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 56º
Weather: cool
Weight: 157.5 lbs.

Inarticulate

Ah ... the skunks of Euclid Heights Blvd.

The differing shapes of my body. How do I lose weight, when I lose weight? Not just through exercise, as they tell us in the media these days (as if we didn't already know this) but through diet. A good diet. And a smaller diet, a more compact diet, made up of better things.

Of course, I do not eat a good diet. When I was in New York for ten days, I must have had several hamburgers and at least one hot dog. I ate better on the cruise.

Jesus. I ate WAY better on the cruise.

Last fall, I had knee surgery. Recovering from that involved an hour of exercise every morning. While I was in New York, I was schlepping palettes of water around, I can still feel that in my shoulders and in my chest.

Impending fall. The glory of winter. I am looking forward to the cooler days, and the cooler runs.

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Body Language (163 BPM)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 64º
Weather: cool & humid
Weight: 154 lbs.

I feel numb

BLOGROLLING: the nytheatre i
What they have to say about me, talking about them.

Headphones fragged my last day in New York. First my camera, then my headphones. You know which is more important. Those headphones lasted, I believe, more than two years. Not bad considering the kind of wear they receive. And sweat. Wear and sweat.

I ran most day I was in NYC - thanks to Harris. Some days I would not have gone, except he was, that was major encouragement. And then there was the walking. I had not run since last Saturday, and I can tell. Yes, I have gotten scant sleep - but I had less in New York. I survived summer camp this year by getting up at 5 AM. To run.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 66º
Weather: cool ... and humid
Weight: 155 lbs.

My 2009 Summer
Halo (159 bpm) - Beyoncé
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Holiday Road - Lindsey Buckingham
Floaties (163 bpm) - Mark Storen
96,000 - In the Heights soundtrack
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Can't Get You Outta My Head - Kylie Minogue
This Must Be the Place - Miles Fisher

Let's see if that makes me feel any better.

Everywhere I'm looking now I'm surrounded by your embrace

Home.

An uneventful drive home, which is nice. I have more to say about this year's Fringe, which in many ways was my favorite to date. But for now I need to connect with Toni, settle in and go to sleep. Tomorrow, the great work begins ... again.

Closing

Following yesterday morning's run, I walked all the way back downtown for the final performance. I feel as though, in the past few days, I have gotten worse at standing up for myself and not better. A guy at a juice bar misunderstood me and made me a juice instead of smoothie ... and I let him. Then something in this juice seriously disagreed with me and I began to have ... digestion problems. Like, a half-hour before the show. It's not a show I want to do with the sh*ts.

I'm sorry, what is the show anyone wants to do with the sh*ts? Maybe Jean Genet's The Sh*ts. In any case, once the performance started, in spite of my exhaustion, dehydration, and physical distress, everything went according to plan. There were 14 people in the audience, not that I expect any different on a Saturday at 2 PM, and the response was as warm this day as for any other performance.

In general, more than in general, by large, the audiences were engaged and interested, and they laughed. It was enjoyable presenting this show.

My first partner from GLTF, Mariah came into town to catch the show, and she and her husband Bruce and I went to get me a plate of pasta after the show. It has been years and years since I have had the chance to catch up with her.

Then I found out my camera is dead. Sigh. The pictures I have taken are fine, but it won't take any new ones. Hmn.

And so I was on my own to decide how to spend this last night in New York before heading home today. The plan was to cram as many shows into one evening as possible, but I was demoralized by the first one I saw. More an AEA workshop production than anything else, I was stunned by the amount of people who attended this one-act, which included polished acting, clever dialogue, the potential for conflict, or horror, or revelation, but instead just ended abruptly at 50 minutes. I only attended this show because I knew it was short and it fit into the schedule, by the description I was not expecting much. But I did get caught up in the story so it was even more distressing when it ended with not a bang but with that whisshing sound that came out of the air mattress as I put it away this morning.

So instead of seeing another show, I needed company so I called Kelly and she watched me eat a burger (A REALLY GOOD BURGER) at the Tavern on Jane (hey - check out the first photo on the website, that is exactly where we sat!) Mariah told me she was going to see a show today, one written by an old colleague, PEACE WARRIORS. A bit of kitchen sink, the tangled lives of progressive, academic Jews.

By then it was past midnight, and in spite of my better judgement, I decided to say farewell to Kelly and Sam and make my way to FringeCENTRAL. It was "international night" and Owen and Mark both said they would be there, and so they were. I got to say a proper good-bye to a number of people - I was charmed that Charlie gave me a shout-out from the stage during the show, I think they were saluting the people who didn't just come to drink at 11 PM but actually stayed to be engaged in the variety show.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, you may FINALLY enjoy the podcast from last Saturday night's VPR. I have not listened to them yet, but I am assuming you will find Mark Storen performing Stab U in the first half and my performance in the second half ... which for some reason is not yet online. Not that I could use it to promote my show now, anyway.

I felt a definite sense of sadness that I had no reason to hand any of the people I ran into last night postcards for ATYD. In fact, I didn't have any, I made a point of taken the packet of cards I still had - maybe 50 cards - and putting them in the trash. I do not need them. I have some archive copies at home, and I successfully managed to distribute almost 2,500 cards. At four different fringe festivals, I have never divested myself of nearly that number. I did everything one (or one person with a friend) possibly could.

We pack up today, bid a fond farewell to Allison, the Venue Director from God, and then over to Brooklyn for a picnic with Eva Dean before hitting the road. Hopefully we will be home shortly after dark.

Thanks, NY Fringe. That was a good time.

Curtain Up review

Criticism

And Then You Die is a work-in-progress. I have changed words here and there since the Fringe began. And I intend the alter it even further. I don't think it needs to be 80 minutes long. During the BIG BOX rehearsal process, I was kicking out long pieces of exposition. 

After BIG BOX I got the impression that the NY Marathon pieces were too long, they were difficult to say while running, and besides, we got it, Pengo. Move on.

I also got the impression that people wanted more of Pengo, of the illustrator, of the relationships. I did not add to those, I cut the running bits so we could get back to them.

The reviews I have received here have been extremely helpful. Believe me, I am not just saying that. Some comments I find difficult to take seriously - TONY said (in addition to numerous extremely kind and positive things) "a virtual run through Cleveland goes nowhere." 

But when nytheatre.com adds "Segments about how he trained for the race, especially his final preparatory run, from his own home on one side of greater Cleveland, to his parents house across town, are similarly fascinating," it is easy to dismiss such comments outright. 

 

HOWEVER, I do believe I did not do an adequate job with the Cleveland run on opening night - when TONY was in the audience. And that has changed the way I have done it in subsequent days. That's a lesson, too.

As to the rest of the nytheatre.com review, Martin Denton states very clearly; "What I wanted was to understand why running is so fundamentally important to Hansen. But this show never really gets us to that place." This is extremely important to me, and I take it to heart. Denton's review was very carefully critical, like I was receiving feedback from a member of the Play House Playwrights Unit, or a teacher, or a friend.

What he never does in his review is get clever, add humor for its own sake, write with condescension ... it is as though he cares. And Martin Denton is, by the way, the founder of nytheatre.com. That's who they (he) sent to my show. Time Out New York sent Michael Freidson, the editor-in-chief. Both sites are trying to cover all 201 shows. I am flattered. And I really feel this trip has been worth everything.

Final

Car-Free Streets to 440 Lafayette

Distance: 6.2 miles
Weather: Overcast and HUMID

So we begin, so we conclude. Only this time instead of Beyonce I had Harris with me. That's okay, too.

Coming home I hit up the in-line skate booth for a free AMP. Why do I drink those things? More sweet, spiced coffee, and a big, sweaty slog up and down Park Avenue. Last week it was brighter, sunny, not muggy. Doesn't matter. Great run. Good time.

The Fab Marquee review "David Hansen's story will have you dusting off your sneakers and running to make a change in your life."