actuallyactuallydeanna

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

On South Sound Theatre (Day 129)

On South Sound Theatre (Day 129)

I suppose this blog was bound to be about theatre again at some point. Well, here we are: at the moment where quarantine and Black Lives Matter and theatre have mixed and merged. And, with the heat of July and the Internet and many years of repressed feelings, they are bubbling and seeping all over the place. It’s a bit of a mess. But it’s okay. We have time to get a bit dirty. We don’t have…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

CAPSLOCK DEANNA (Day 106)

CAPSLOCK DEANNA (Day 106)

There’s a moment in the film version of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” when Harry is afraid he more like Voldemort than anyone really understands. He confides in Sirius Black, saying, “I just feel so angry. All the time.“

Well, I get it. When the whole world is unjust, when you’ve been lied-to by the people who you’re supposed to trust, when you aren’t physically safe, when no one…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

The Emergency Closet (Day 82)

The Emergency Closet (Day 82)

The night of the 2016 election, Johnny left for a business trip, so the kids and I settled in for what I thought would be an exciting and historic moment to witness as a family: the election of our first female president. As the numbers trickled in, panic cozied into our nest of blankets and snacks. I hustled the kids to bed, and stayed up until every news network had called it.

There were a…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

On Breathing (Day 77)

On Breathing (Day 77)

“Engage your abdominals and then breathe,” the yoga instructor said to me. This was in a class years ago, in a time when I would breathe and sweat in a steamy room with strangers ON PURPOSE. Gross.

After class, I approached her, “I can’t really do that. Engage, andbreathe deeply. I’m a singer, and I’ve learned to loosen to breathe and engage to sing. It feels like I can’t get a breath if I’m…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Praying for a Meteor (Day 71)

Praying for a Meteor (Day 71)

My phone pinged with a reminder that I had an annual physical scheduled. I didn’t think much of it. Many other, and frankly, more important, appointments have been cancelled due to quarantine. I’ve been unable to get my regular bloodwork done for a chronic kidney condition. I had to cancel the MRI on my lungs, following the embolism I had last year, so I’m just living with a raspy cough. It came…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Sex Education (Day 64)

Sex Education (Day 64)

The kids keep telling me I have to document this in my Covid-era blog, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. So here goes …

Birds have loud sex on our roof every day.

And I mean EVERY day. At this point, we hear the loud coo-coo-cooing and someone in the household yells, “it’s PIGEON SEXY TIME!” and hopefully no one is in a meeting.

They start around 10:30am, and then reconvene around noon, and…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

A Sample Daily Schedule (Day 57)

A Sample Daily Schedule (Day 57)

There’s a routine to our days now, which is what seemed to be the aim, so early on. “Routine is good,” I kept reading online and seeing on T’.V. “Get a sense of normalcy.” I think that routine is easy, actually. We are creatures of habit as “they” say. Whoever they are. Whoever they are, I’m sick of them.

Like I’m sick of most things.

6:45 AM

I try to sleep in, but some anxiety dream inevitably…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

The Sixteen Day Curse (Day 47 - nearly 48)

The Sixteen Day Curse (Day 47 – nearly 48)

We have this theory that on every 16th day of quarantine, folks have an itty-bitty mental breakdown. My musical reinterpretation of the entire “Tiger King” saga on my first Sixteenth Day may have been the genesis of the theory. As I pranced around the kitchen, belting out about “the aciiiiiid in the tiiiiiger’s stomach caaaaan disolve a whole chicken like thaaaaaat!,” my children asked with…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Day 43: Birthday Fun/Existential Dread

Day 43: Birthday Fun/Existential Dread

It was Kai’s birthday yesterday, and mine earlier in the week. That means we’ve celebrated three of our birthdays in quarantine (as well as Holy Week and Easter). Johnny gave me an online shopping spree as a present, which is really the gift that keeps on giving. All week I’ve been getting packages on the porch, and waving to the delivery people through the window.

We gave Kai a Nintendo Switch…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Nails in His Feet (Day 29-30ish)

It’s technically Saturday, but since I can’t sleep, it still feels like Good Friday to me. Johnny and I attended Maundy Thursday services by Zoom, yesterday-ish. The pastor shared that our artist friend, Siri, created an original work inspired by the concept of the art hung in hospitals during the Plague. Christ was depicted with sores all over his skin, just as the plague-ridden patients were.…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Taking Breaths in the Garden (Day 27)

The Vegetable Gardener, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1590

I finished planting the vegetable garden today. The beets from last year had re-seeded themselves and come up without permission, so I plucked a handful of their leaves and added them to our sandwiches for lunch. The parsley and lavender never died back, and the rosemary is so big that I trimmed enough to make eight bundles for drying. Leila…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

That’s So Medda

It’s time to say goodbye to another character. This time, to my lovely Medda Larkin: a character I’ve loved since the first time “Newsies” ran on the Disney Channel when I was a kid. The bedazzled Ann Margaret, with her feaux-Scandinavian accent as the “Swedish Meadowlark, Medda Larkin,” glided and glittered amidst the drab newsboys. Magical.

Ann Margaret

When the show came to Broadway, Medda was…

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

#happyfathersday to the dad who always brings the magic #faithtrustandpixiedust we love you ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

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A post shared by Deanna Martinez Neidlinger (@actuallydeanna)

Woooooooooo #lifewithmalia #fossstrong (at Tacoma Dome)

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Malia’s art was submitted by a teacher, chosen by the editor, and featured in this year’s edition of #Trillium art magazine at @tacomacc #lifewithmalia #artistsoninstagram #artistlife

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

Happy Birthday, Denise! In this pic, I’m distracted, and she’s embarrassed. It’s perfect. Some true stories about us: - when I was 7 and she was 4, I got scolded by an Aunt for being her mouthpiece. Every time she was asked a question, I’d answer. But she hated talking, and I just knew what she was going to say. - when she was 7, and I was 10, she hatched chicks in her class. It was then that she decided to be a doctor. I proceeded to write her a musical called, “Embryology.” It May be my only completed work, to date. - when I was 16, and she was 13, we attended a Christian youth rally where they’d shout out random identifiers and the first one up would get a prize (ie “Blue socks! Yes you! You get a Bible bookmark!”). The leader shouted, “twins!” and no one came forward. After a moment, we looked at each other, shrugged, and went forward. Everyone cheered, and no one questioned us (we are still mistaken for twins). I got a book about demons. - Last night I worked as an actor at a Mystery Dinner, improvising with patrons, and acting out a silly story. Denise hates improv and looking silly so much she has that she has gripped my arm in hateful panic when we’ve been in an audience where participation might be required. -Last night Denise probably saved a life or delivered a baby or something. Her job is important. *tap dancing away* 🎶”Em-bry-ologyyyyy!”🎶

[actuallyactuallydeanna]

I’m so happy. #jesuschristsuperstar twice in one weekend #theatrekid #happyeaster