Obits

Here are the obituaries for Grandpa Sam, Aunt Mim & Seth:

From Today's Washington Post, a nice article -
Samuel Snyder, 96; Broke Codes And Designed Early Computers

NY Times -
Miriam Borko

NY Times -
Seth Palmer

I am so many people...

New Yorker.  - just spent my last night in my NYC pad for the next 2 years. (I miss it already.)

Aunt. - just created a play in one hour with my nieces and nephew which we performed 1.5 times in one night. (It was a hit.)

Writer. - just checked-in with my lead actress/producer after the 1st day of shooting in NYC on my latest script. (All went well.)

Daughter. - just shopped for provisions for my parents in the wake of an orthpaedic mishap. (Everyone will be OK.)

Peace Child. - just arrived at the 25th Anniversary Reunion of Peace Child (it's my 20th anniversary) and hung out with many old and far-away friends, like Ella & her daughter Dasha (pictured below) all the way from Moscow. Last time I saw Ella was in Baltimore in 1988, clutching my white graduation dress, in which she went on to get married. (Many more emotional reunions to come tomorrow...)

Just to name a few...

How many more people will I be tomorrow?

Alumni

Outfest 2006 Screenwriting Lab Fellows (minus Luther Mace) reunited.
(Seb, Dasha, Sam & Isaac)

In the past 2 weeks I've received invites to my 15th college reunion, 20th high school reunion and Peace Child 25th reunion. That means I've lived a lot, to be tapped for so many great adventures' legacies. But a shorter, sweeter reunion happened yesterday: 1 year ago 5 writers/filmmakers gathered at the Chateau Marmont with 5 mentors and a gaggle of talented and wisened folks to make our scripts better. 4 of the 5 fellows showed up to a public reading of one of those scripts, and a chat & chew following. I'm proud to be an alumni of all.

R.I.P. Dyke TV

I am sad to see it go: Dyke TV is off the airwaves for good. (Who knows how long that link will work...?)

I watched Dyke TV from its ambitious riotous start because I came out of the closet at the same time as this amazing television venture was hitting the public access airwaves in NYC. I learned how to be a lesbian by watching (my herstory, the lesbian avengers' escapades, queer filmmakers, politics, news, I was a lesbian child, trans issues), and came to love it for so much more.

Dyke TV is the place where I learned basic camera work and Final Cut Pro; I made fantastic friends and launched a film career. "The D Word" was born at a producer's meeting. While I was only involved for a short time, the organization and people gave back to me threefold what I contributed. For that, I'll be forever grateful.

Where else are you going to get "Television to Incite, Subvert, Provoke, and Organize!" ?

R.I.P. Dyke TV
1993-2007

1,000 words

So much has been happening lately, lets just go mostly with the pictures, since I'm short on the 1,000+ words to describe it all.

This is a view from inside the new building at MICA (Maryland Institute College of the Arts) on opening night of the MD Film Festival. Dig the onlooking reflected posters.

Why the inside of MICA? Because of these three gentlemen:

Leon Fleisher, Dr. Daniel Drachman and Nathaniel Kahn - all key players in the making of "Two Hands," which was one of the opening night shorts.

This trip back had happy things: the MD Film Fest and visiting family, like my cousin Emerie, who is doing a rousing job staring in the ensemble of Arena Stage's "The Heidi Chronicles."

And my two sweeties together:

It also had sad things, like the memorial for my beloved theater professor Joe Patenaude.

This is the door to Joe's office at Drew University.

This is some of my fellow theatre arts alumni - notice how they taught half of us to keep our eyes closed for the photograph.

My favorite republican, Gov. Tom Kean & I... The first student show he saw as prez was my first play, "Gaijin." We've had a mutual admiration society going on ever since.

It was healing, though, to walk on the campus again and see the beautiful new Arts building - of which I'm totally jealous (we had to rough it in The Commons, a blackbox, and Bowne, a converted gymnasium).

From Drew's college in the forest, to Baltimore's oddities...

Filling up on the East Coast to last me a while on the West.

Attention Must Be Paid

Either I'm paid little to no attention or am the subject of unwanted attention here in L.A.

I went to see a brilliant writer friend perform at Wordamara the other night. It was a spoken-word evening filled with witty, poignant, talented writers and performers. There were a few familiar folks in the audience, and we exchanged pleasantries, but I was struck at how invisible I was to the new people to whom I was introduced. Sure, they didn't know me, but to be literally sitting in between my friend and the "new" people and be talked over - completely and utterly ignored (remember, I have nothing to contribute in terms of job opportunities, gossip or sex as far as they know). They were actually leaning on me to get closer to each other, bitching about whatever literary goings-on needed to be bitched about, as if I was bar stool. No eye contact, no acknowledgment that I was human, or even present, despite the recent introduction. Only the bartender noticed me and my wedged-in status, pouring multitudinous refills of Coke (G-d bless him...). I'm not asking for an instant fawning entourage, but common courtesy might be a little nice. At least don't treat me like furniture, and uncomfortable furniture, at that. As for the show, well, it was quite long and entertaining.

On my way to the launch party for OutFest's 25th Anniversary year at the Egyptian, I got way too much attention from the LASD. That's right; I got pulled over by the cops. Slightly disoriented by the traffic, Xmas lights and the insistent voice on my TomTom One to "Turn Left NOW," I made a left turn on Hollywood Blvd. right in front of an oncoming Sheriff's car. Now, the turn was perfectly legal, just a little close for his comfort. He followed my turn, lights flashing, siren yelping. Oh shit. I pulled to the side of the road, rolled down my window and felt like I was in the middle of a really bad episode of LAPD Blue (if it existed). I handed over my NY Driver's license and confessed that I had been lost, was just following my portable GPS, and was a dumb newly transplanted New Yorker. I like to think that my winning smile, accompanied by my pathetic rendition of the truth (my car's so new it doesn't even have license plates yet), and the fact that I didn't actually do anything illegal, led this imposing man to let me off with a warning.
"You won't do anything this stupid ever again, now will you, M'am?"
"No, sir."

As penance, I paid way too much for parking behind the theater.

Thanksgiving out West

Sitting here watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV (all 13" of it off of Craig's List) gives me a little reprieve from the West Coast. It brings up giddy memories of watching the inflation of the parade balloons, tethered on the Upper West Side by the AMNH, thousands of kids agog at the nearness of a gigantic Kermit. Me agog, too.

There's Ballet Hispanico - they're on my block on the UWS! There's Sesame Workshop, my former awesome workplace. Big Bird looks a little deflated... My friend Liz Warner used to work the parade every year, putting around in a golf cart up & down the route with dignitaries in tow. Now Liz is here in L.A. as a morning DJ for 103.1 FM, and a friendly presence for me.

I've been in L.A. for 2 weeks, now. I've got an apartment, a car, (most) furniture, food, non-working cable TV and an intermittent internet connection. And a neighbor across the way with a rooster (and attendent chickens) that crows starting around 4am, and then whenever he feels like it after that. My immediate neighbors have all been incredibly nice and helpful and welcoming. I've also got great friends, new and old, who've been looking out for me as I take my first baby steps in the City of Angels.

As I spent the past 3 days in misery and anger on the phone w/Time Warner Cable on my upstairs neighbor's borrowed phone (I've only got my NYC mobile phone, so when I call the L.A. TWC, the message says "It appears that you are calling from a number outside of California, please hang up and try the East Coast number. Click.), on hold for hours, complaining about no-show technichians and their general lack of service, I realize that as flawed as they are on the East Coast, at least they answer the phone in under 30 minutes and show up for appointments. The Angelenos to whom I bemoan this eggregious behavior aren't surprised at all. Every one of them, nonplussed, explains that there really isn't a concept of customer service out here. Oy!

I made the most of my time, while waiting 8am-6pm for technicians everyday, by building furniture, cooking/baking and putting up curtains. Setting up a home here just makes me long for the one that's already set-up back there, and the gorgeous talented redhead who's baking cookies in it. If my internet connection decides to stay mostly "on," I'll video-conference with my sweetie and family, all gathered together in Baltimore. If I can't be with them, at least they can be with each other. I'll be with family friends from synagogue back in Baltimore, who are kindly taking me in. As my new neighbor Guin said "You're a Thanksgiving orphan, huh?"

I know I'll start thinking of this place as home eventually (the comfy new mattress helps), but for now, I'm counting the days - 7 - until I go back to NYC, my adult home. I need my family, my sweetie, my pets, my friends. I need my fill of the East Coast. Withdrawal is a bitch. And I'm thankful for the heartache of it all, and the means to pursue my dreams.

Wrenched

I have the cutest most awesome new car EVER. The dealer called yesterday morning and said my Toyota Yaris in beautiful Bayou Blue had made it off the boat earlier than expected. After a 2 1/2 hour drive (bad rush hour traffic) down to Toyota of Orange, as arranged through my high school friend Zack, I picked up my little piece of automotive heaven. Well worth the hassle! I drove it off the lot with just six miles on the odometer. Six! And, the requesite new car smell, of course. I proudly put the AAA auto emergency pack (complete w/lug wrench) in with the spare tire, too.



Then, while waiting for my vintage loveseat to be delivered, I tinkered away at assembling my new Ikea Hopen bed. I'm pretty handy (& I bought a full tool set w/drill, too), and have had plenty of experience assembling Swedish DIY furniture, but this one took five hours. Five! And my back is completely tweaked from the effort - all that leaning over and balancing wood and metal for hours with a tiny allen wrench in hand... Ouch!

Tomorrow: return unmatching misc. home furnishings and cover at least four windows. Four!

Missing my sister's three kids. Three!

Counting is so much fun. Ah, ah, ah! (ref Sesame and now to bed....)

Vote Different

While I sort out Gay Marriage in NJ, what to pack for LA and how much candy to buy for Trick-or-Treating, enjoy this Apple TV ad parody with a decidely political, but no less clever, bent.



The democrat is my friend Jamie Effros!

Like The Way I Do

Tasha and the other Lesbian Overtones rock the Go NYC house!

Well, I did it. I sang my first solo with The Lesbian Overtones at the Go NYC Magazine 4th Anniversary Party! I belted out Melissa Etheridge's anthem of adultery "Like The Way I Do." Too bad nobody could hear it.

I was the lone Overtone at the soundcheck, and the monitors and mics were great, but during the show there was a ton of feedback on the mics and nada on the monitors. We couldn't hear ourselves and only the first row or so of sweaty lesbians caught an earful. It's a shame, because we rocked in a newly reconstitued form - 2 of our beloved 'Tones went off to pursue their educational and filmmaking dreams - to be replaced with 2 new sparkling musical personalities. I will be the next to go. So, our gig at Mo Pitkins this Tuesday night will be my tearful last. I'll always be a Lesbian Overtone at heart, even on the Western shore of this Sapphic country.

The evening wasn't a total bust - my picture kept flashing overhead and on monitors throughout the club as one of the 100 Women We Love (always good for an ego boost) - while I hung out with many of the women I love:

Dasha, Laura, Sarah, Erin       and        Liz Dahmen a.k.a. Terry Tone

Jen Howd, Michelle Wolff, Julie Neumark

So, be there for my farewell performance, because really, no one does it Like The Way I Do:
Coming Out
October, 24 2006
8:30pm at Mo Pitkin's
34 Avenue A, New York, 10009
Cost: $5

I'm giving in to the surveys...

Another survey from jen & michelle. how can I resist my actors?

1.You have 10 bucks and need to buy snacks at a gas station what do you get?
Fig newtons, root beer & a lottery ticket

2. If you had to be reincarnated as some sort of sea dwelling creature, what would u be?
Blue whale. No contest.

3. Who's your favorite redhead?
My girlfriend.

4. What do you order when you're at a waffle house?
If its truly a waffle house (like the awesome Canadian Waffle House that used to be at Broadway & 82nd St. and NOT pancake house), then I'd get the cornbread waffles. Heavely.

5. Last book you read?
"Fifty Degrees Below" by Kim Stanley Robinson

6. Have you made out with anyone on your friend's list?
Um, duh.

7. What's your lucky number?
12

8. Describe the last time you were injured.
Rough and tumble cuddling with the gf - we bonked heads.

9. Of all your friends, with whom would you want to be stuck in the jungle?
All the stage managers and 1st & 2nd AD's. They are prepared for EVERYTHING.

10. Are there any odd things that make you feel uncomfortable?
goldfish that swim upside down, the toilet paper roll hung the wrong way, doctors offices

12. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone?
default

13. Soda?
root beer

14. Flavor of pudding?
flavor = chocolate, type = non-dairy

15. What type of shirt are you wearing?
PJ top.

16. Prescription medication?
Too many, but less than before.

17. Name two things you did last night?
bought cookies at the Union Square Green Market, attended a screenplay reading with friends

18. $100 bank error in your favor, what do you buy?
I'd feel too guilty to use it, knowing it'd be corrected against me eventually and then out $100 bucks...

19. How many people on your list do you know in real life?
most

20. What are you listening to right now?
my cat sniffling

21. Most recent movie you've watched in a theater?
Lady in the Water (for free at the DGA)

22. If you could invent one thing, what would it be?
World Peace

23. Name a boss you had the hots for:
Haven't had the pleasure, yet.

24. What's your favorite town?
Always NYC, but St. Petersburgh is a close 2nd.

25. Favorite kind of cake?
Cup

26. What's the first word that comes to mind right now?
hoo hoo

27. When was the last time you saw your mom in person?
2 weeks ago

28. Who got you to join MySpace?
Maggie Burkle

29. What did you have for dinner LAST NIGHT?
Salad

30. How long have you been at your current job?
too long/not long enough

31. Is Tom on your friends list?
yes. can I dump him?

32. What's the last thing you said out loud?
'night, hon.

33. Look to your left, what do you see?
Amsterdam Avenue.

34. Who is the last person who spent $100 on you?
my parents

35. Who's your least-favorite tennis player?
Ivan Lendl

36. Favorite sport?
women's basketball

37. What's the last piece of clothing you bought?
swank shorts for my trip to LA

I Heart My Lesbians

Why would I get up before the Sun on a Sunday, trek down to a sandy field on the bank of the East River, don a shirt 5 sizes too small and dance around a softball diamond? To shoot a comic video with friends, of course! Laura & Nicole, the dynamic duo who brought "His Name Is Cosmo" to the LGBT film festival circuit, have teamed up again to film an hysterical music video for Clay Drinko's single"I Heart My Lesbians."

"Cosmo..." screened with "The D Word" at the Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival earlier this year and the fest's director asked us in the Q&A afterwards if there was a small lesbian filmmaking mafia (the "Muffia" as it were) in NYC. We laughed it off, but if you're hitting the queer festival circuit, the connections seem clear. The Muffia is as tangled-up as the dyke dating scene in Park Slope. An example of 6 Degrees of Dasha Snyder:

- Dasha Snyder (that's me) took an editing class at Dyke TV, taught by Erin Greenwell.
- Erin Greenwell edited "The D Word" and wrote/directed/produced "Mom" starring Julie Goldman.
- Julie Goldman (was also stared in "The D Word") is a writer for Mr. Murray Hill.
- Murray Hill has hosted "The Lesbian Overtones" (all lesbian, all a cappella, all the time) several times at his show.
- "The Lesbian Overtones" is made up of several illustrious voices, including it's founder's, Elizabeth Dahmen.
- Liz Dahmen has appeared in many queer shorts, including "Bar Talk (also starring Alix Olson who made "Left Lane" with Samantha Farinella)" "His Name is Cosmo," & "Mom" which brings us back to Erin Greenwell and Dyke TV, which leads to Jules Roskam who made "Transparent" and Sam Feder who made "Boy I Am" which were both shown at NewFest, where Dasha works and met Cherien Dabis who made "Little Black Boot" which was funded by Power-Up, etc...

So you can see how the connections pile up for the Muffia. No wonder they put me in the "Muffy" shirt for the shoot...

Sing Along

Fred belts it out with a little moral & vocal support from me

My girlfriend kept asking me "What do you want for your birthday?" and I kept replying "A really good party." She was focussing on a physical present, and so was I, but of a different sort. Yesterday, after dozens of friends and family showed up to sing out and chow down at my Karaoke Birthday Bash (thanks to Karaoke Champ and Liz Dahmen), she got it.

I've been waiting for nearly my entire adult life to be healthy enough to grab the microphone and sing out strong, with the cheering from friends and family as the ultimate bonus. I got the hard-sell in LA to move out to the West Coast and capitalize on the momentum of the Lab and my script. Now that I'm finally able, it's time to make the move and work my brain to the max in pursuit of my writing career. It's oddly exhilerating and terrifying to contemplate the move, even if temporary. Didn't I just make fun of LA in The D Word...? Not to mention the logistics of apartments, pets and girlfriend. Oh yeah, and I've got a ton of spec scripts to write before I even get there and attempt to land an agent, get staffed on a show and raise funds for my next film. All minor technicalities...

Pool Away From Home

What started out as a small gathering of NYer's around a foreign object - a pool in LA - grew into a friend and filmmaker hang at the Standard. I feel like such a Yente, putting interesting folks together and then enjoying the frothy interaction. Much laughter, swimming and drinking was had by all.


And a shout-out to one of my mentor heroes, David Dean Botrell who won an Outie last night for "Available Men!"