It was warm enough last night, so I slept with a fan blowing on me. This morning I wasn’t sure if my sore throat was the signs of an impending cold, or just the effects of a dry the wind in my face drying out my sinuses and throat. It’s pushing midnight, I’m I guessing a cold is about to hit full force by sunup.
I’m thinking I’ll just hole up Friday and read and watch Netflix.
Maybe I’ll try and make it to the library. There are a couple of books I want to track down. This afternoon, while waiting for a largish video file to reconfigure, I pulled a book from my shelf which I’d bought years ago, but never read. It’s “Revolution on the Border: the United States and Mexico 1910-1920,” by Linda Hall and Don M. Coerver. In a chapter concerning San Antonio, I read some of the expected history. Such as los bros Magón–you know, Enrique and Richard Flores–the revolutionary brothers who came to San Antonio to continue publication of their rabble-rousing newspaper, Regeneración. In fact, I have a book or two around here, somewhere, about the Magón brothers. But there were also some radical sisters–Teresa and Andrea Villareal (sometimes spelled Villarreal)–who fled Mexico to come to San Antonio and publish two newspapers to bring attention to the revolution: the feminist newspaper, La Mujer Moderna, and the more IWW general paper, El Obrero. The Magóns brothers and the Villareal sisters were all associated with the PLM (Partido Liberal Mexicano). Even with the most cursory search, I’ve located two titles about these incredible women. I’m sure there are some interesting academic papers. I’d also like to find a good book that gives an over-view of San Antonio’s role in the revolution. There was quite a bit going on here. Via la revolution! Also, time to reread Reed, John, that is.
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I was out biking on the Mission Trail this afternoon around five. The place was empty. Strange, yesterday it was packed at the same time. I did notice a row of port-a-potties at a couple of parking lots near Espada Dam. And then I remembered. Sunday’s Easter. It’s a tradition on the south-side for families to camp out during Easter weekend in the parks along the river near the historical missions. Tomorrow the place will be swarming, with tents and hibachis and kites and fishing poles and music everywhere.
Also, people might have been avoiding the wind. It was insane. As it came from the south, my ride out to Mission Espada was like swimming in molasses. But, the reward, was the tail-wind-assisted high-speed return trip.
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Mostly I frittered my day away wallowing in self-pity. And it was only with a concentrated effort that I dragged myself out of the house. So, after my bike ride, I made my way to C4. Michael Druck and Brian Potts were running their second monthly Actors Network SA mixer.
I’d made a quick visit last month. I was there just to pick up some video equipment. And the first mixer was fucking packed. This second one might have had a few less attendees, but I’d guesstimated that, at any given time, there were about 45 to 55 people there.
It was nice to see so many familiar faces. Some I see all the time, some I’ve seen recently, some I’ve not seen in years. Let’s see, other than Druck and Brian, there was Jon Gillespie, Lee Hurtado, the Cheap Soup crew, Manuel Cantu, Veronica Hernandez, Roman Garcia, Christopher Viltz, Robin Early, Martha Prentiss, and on and on. I was happy to see one of Nikki Young’s young acting students there with her family. Little Sofia is confident, intelligent, makes smart decisions & sticks with them, and all in all she shows tremendous promise as a performer. It was good to see her meeting other people in the industry.
There was this one woman I noticed later on in the evening. She looked so familiar. I knew I’d auditioned her before. And I knew I had seen her on the stage. Wait, wasn’t she the wife in the Attic Rep’s performance of Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Um, what was her name? Suddenly the name Gloria Sanchez came to mind. I pulled out my iPhone and Googled “Gloria Sanchez” and “Attic Rep.” And there it was, five listings down, my blog, where I was gassing on and on about how great she was, not just in Sylvia, but also the more recent Attic Rep’s staging of Octavio Solis’ Lydia.
For some reason I’ve very shy approaching, for the first time, stage actors whose work I love. This is why I wanted to remember if I didn’t indeed audition Gloria for a film project. That would put us a bit closer to being on the same level.
But I couldn’t recall. So, I just decided to walk up to her when I saw that she wasn’t talking to anyone. I thought I’d made eye contact. And just as I said, “Gloria Sanchez?” I heard from the other side of the room Michael Druck shout out: “Gloria Sanchez! Come on up!” It seems he wanted her to pull a name out of a bowl for a door prize. Gloria smiled and walked right past me.
I was, however, able to talk to her later. I told her how incredible she was at the two extraordinary plays I’d seen her in at the Attic Rep.
“I’ve met you before,” she said.
“Yeah, I know. But I can’t recall. I know you auditioned for one of my film projects.” I was thinking, way back, of Vaya Con Dios, Asshole, but it was Gloria who finally remembered.
“That bar on Broadway,” she said. Ah, yes. That was one of the very last production cycles for the Short Ends film group. I remember being amazed by her. She was smart and sexy, and she gave a great read. That was a few years back. I’m not sure why we didn’t go with her. I think her character was another character’s mother. And because of age or ethnicity, there would have been a disconnect. Now, what I need, is a hefty budget, so I can work with actors of such extraordinary caliber as Gloria Sanchez.
Here’s a spy cam shot I took of Gloria tonight as I was trying to remember when I’d met her before.
Also, here’s a snapshot I took of Laura Evans tonight. I like this look. She is so lovely, and obviously comfortable in front of the camera.
As the evening was drawing to a close, I made sure that Druck had enough people to help him clean up, and then I made a fast and quiet exit.
Great event!