Tommy, can you hear me?

Auditions for T0mmy are in three weeks. My voice is raw from acid reflux and I weigh 180. Not good. I didn’t go to class last night, because I want to give my voice a chance to heal before the auditions. Although, I did go to the scheduled rehearsal, and I have to go to the Shakespeare class tonight. Really, the medicine should be working by now. (I’ve also got to recover the high A that I will need for Tommy, which I haven’t had in a while due to smoking.)

Instead of class, I went to the 17th Street Corridor and had an early dinner at Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse. By myself. I kept my head down and buried in a MW Magazine, mostly. There were some fine looking men there. I looked up when the bus-boy picked up my salad plate. He looked at me, over his shoulder, with a piteous hunger for a good top. Now, when I say “bus-boy”, I mean “drag-queen who mistakenly left her hair and heals at home” And when I say “Top” I think of somebody else.

I had two glasses of wine that I wasn’t supposed to have, not only because I was supposed to be in class, but also, because it was Monday – the day the Captain Walker T0mmy diet started. (I want to get back to 170. I’m not as young as the last time I played Captain Walker. So I hope being close to hot might make up for the faded boyish charm.) So the wine, cigarettes, other assorted cocktails – totally uncalled for. I was so pleased that I hadn’t smoked or drank on Sunday. But today, I was playing hooky from school, my husband didn’t know where I was, so I was having a glass of wine to celebrate a moment of freedom. The next glass was to help mask the guilt.

After dinner I walked the 17th Street track from P Street to New Hampshire several times. The sun was bright. All the restaurants were beginning a nice out door business. The boys bring their dogs, and get a table next to the sidewalk, so they can have the dogs with them, but not *really* in the restaurant. I saw some really fun dogs. One, a quiet little terrier, having caught the eye of a passer-by, stood on his hind legs and danced until his prey was forced to go over and give him a good petting. Playful boys and their pups crowded the dog-park at New Hampshire and 17th. And I’ve never noticed the Cherry Blossoms at just this state before, either. The petals are still plump and pink, but they’ve all fallen to the ground and make a soft and snowy pink carpet that you’d want to lay naked in.

Then off to the theatre for rehearsal. My voice gave out pretty quickly and I was done by 9. So I dropped in at the Playbill for a quick martini and to steal a cigarette, my second of the day, from my new friend Missy, who I called Becky by mistake.

I didn’t want the party to end – so I had another drink when I got home. And some snacks too. So, I’ve pretty much ignored the doctor’s advice for the evening. Until this Acid Reflux goes away, I’m not supposed to be drinking, I’m not supposed to be smoking, and I’m not supposed to eat anything 4 hours before bed time. The result? I was up just about all night. I bet I hear inappreciative comments about that from the husband. Yep, and I overslept too. I woke up when I heard, in a peculiarly cheerful tone, my mother announce that my sister was dead. Only I was alone in the house, just me and the dog. Fun times.