It has been both a exceedingly stressful and dramatic week but also incredibly gratifying as well. On Wednesday I went to the Grand Sierra Resort to the "Magic Toyshop" an adapted ballet recital put on by the Nevada Dance Academy. I went to watch a few of the burlesque dancers show a different side of themselves. Instead of nipple pasties, heels, and corsets it was tutus and point shoes. It was a beautiful recital. However I have never been to a recital and therefore was blithely unaware that 10 numbers out of this 39 number productions were full of tiny little tots of children running around the stage and playing pattycake. Of course those were the ones that knew what they were doing, most of them just looked around as if they were going to pee their pants.Don't get me wrong, it was cute and all .... for about five minutes and then I was over it.

Yesterday, the Utility Players had their final big gay comedy show at 5 star. It was by far, one of our best improv shows to date and we had a full and packed audience. I love playing improv. It was an entertainment medium that I never had any real interest in nor did I think I would ever be remotely good at it. Now, i can't imagine my life without it. I think one of the reasons why I love it so much is the members of the troupe. I get to go over to Ian and pretend that he is my lover that I am cheating on Joe with or that Matt is my date at a drive-in. The straight men in our troupe not only accept these realities, they play along with it, and often out-gay me (it doesn't happen often, but every once and a while). Every time I hear some bullshit on the news or some new legislative agenda is introduced that has at the top of the agenda "BLAME THE GAYS", I am reminded of the men in this troupe. Their kindness and acceptance are small glimmers of hope of what reality could be like.

So I am taking off to Tahoe for the day for a little rest and relaxation. Before heading out, I consolidated a bunch of blog entries I had anticipated writing into one. So here is a random hodgepodge of random facts, reviews, and recommendations. Have a beautiful Friday.

My Jam Book for the Week: Rick Riordan "The Red Pyramid" ---- Riordan surpasses expectations and satisfies audiences with his new series focusing on Egyptian mythology. If you were a fan of the Percy Jackson series then this is definitely a book for you.

New Movie I Will Push Small Children Out of the Way to Get a Good Seat For: Toy Story 3 --- this third installment of the magical Pixar series promises to be better than the other two combined. Opening this weekend, this movie has already made an impact and audiences agree that it is a must see for the summer.

Favorite Random Youtube Video of the Week: "Cranbrook Deer" ---- the video is a little disturbing and I did scream a little bit. A momma dear gets all bigigiddy on this poor dog and cat who get way to close to the momma's baby. This proves once and for all why I do not do the whole nature thing.

Favorite Pic of Random Hot Guy Who Will be My Future Husband: Zac Efron in People Magazine ---- People Magazine just released their issue of celebrities with the hottest bodies. All in all a generally pointless issue, it does have glossy photo spreads though of Zac Efron looking like this.

Top Television Show to Watch: Season Three of True Blood --- I mean come on, vampires, werewolves, and gay undertones. How could this not be my jam show?

My Oldie but Goodie Song for the Day: Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston singing "When You Believe". Not only was the movie Prince of Egypt enjoyable but this powerhouse ballad that came from the movie is epic. I had my IPOD on shuffle when this song came up and it reminded me how much I used to love Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and how amazing they were. Now Whitney is cracked out and down for the count and Mariah is incapable of releasing a track where she sings.  The good ole days.

Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend!!!!

So, Valentine's Day was kind of a little bit of a bust. I was recovering from the show, and somehow after a drag show my entire body hurt and I basically laid in bed all day. The only point in the day that I stirred was when my friend Nayte called me to nerd out with him and go see Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Although I love sci-fi/fantasy and pre-teen novel series that I can become ridiculously obsessed about, I had not read this series yet, and relished the opportunity to see the movie before reading the book. I also saw that the movie had an impressive cast including heartthrobs Logan Lerman and Kevin Mckidd as well as the fierce divas of Rosario Dawson & Uma Thurman; so I was game to go. Since I have the attention span and tastes of a thirteen year old girl, it doesn't take a whole lot to impress me; some special effects, fierce divas, a few Greek gods, and some battle scenes is all I really need.

The movie follows the story of Percy Jackson, a slightly emo-ish high school student, discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, and therefore a demigod. Percy is accused of stealing the powerful lightning bolt of Zeus, which sends the Gods and Heavens in an uproar. Everyone is vying for the lightning bolt in an attempt to overthrow Zeus and rule the world. If the lightning bolt is not returned in 14 days, Zeus will declare war upon the Earth the other gods contriving storms and other natural disasters to wipe out humanity. Percy, along with a few friends, must battle minotaurs, gorgans, hyrdras, and more in order to discover who is the lightning thief and return the bolt to Zeus before war begins.

My friend Nayte had read the books prior to the movie and had mixed feelings about the movie. Although generally enjoying the movie, the movie took some liberties on the details of the book, screwed up a few important elements that apparently are recurring themes in future books, and left some characters out, which Nayte was generally not pleased about. I however, ignorant to the books, thought the movie was pretty good. It had a logical plot line some funny moments – as well as some cheesy overdone ones – but all in all I was entertained and sometimes that is all need from a movie. Most of the time I do not need life lessons or an intense complex psychological examination of the human psyche. I checked out reviews of the movie at Rotten Tomatoes – my favorite place to learn about movies – and people were generally split about the movie. For whatever reason, critics kept referencing Harry Potter in their reviews, stating that the movie is a far cry from Harry Potter or a poor imitation there of. I understand that the idea of a “chosen one” with unique abilities who holds a revered place in a mystical world unknown to humans who has two best friends that help him in all of his ridiculously dangerous adventures sounds like Harry Potter but it is not. Ok maybe a little bit …. ok a lot … but simply put, Harry Potter is about magic and Percy Jackson is about the Olympian Gods. They're different, and as much as I love Harry Potter – which is a lot – Greek gods are just infinitely cooler than witches and wizards. Seeing a 60 foot tale armored-clad Kevin McKidd as Poseidon was one of the most delicious things ever. All I know is that I am planning on making a trip to the book store today and heading straight for the preteen section and start indulging myself.