Everybody and their mother has a Facebook.

As well as their father, grandparents, and in some cases, dog.

More like CREEPBOOK. FACE. ...book.

Facebook has become a such a standard that I get asked more if I’m on Facebook than if I have an email address (to be fair, nobody ever emails me anyway). I get friend requests from people that I meet later, which makes for a surreal and confusing “I know you from somewhere…” interaction. It’s the home of many a record-breaking game, like Farmville. And it’s the source of everything absolutely factual about life.

Well, that last one isn’t true, but people like to think it is.

In my gender article a few days ago I mentioned that people keep asking me how things were with my partner. This is thanks to me being in a “complicated relationship” with a male friend of mine. Now here’s something that started as an inside joke between two people that Facebook funneled into a FACT. Believe it or not, our relationship status is NOT ACTUALLY TRUE.

OR IS IT?! (PROTIP: It's not.)

You can basically say anything you want to on Facebook, and everyone who reads it will immediately believe it. I haven’t seen this kind of brainwashing since THE NAZIS. Which, to be fair, I wasn’t alive to see. In a world where there are people who refuse to believe even the most credible of news affiliations, like CNN or me, they jump at the chance to believe even the slightest status update about the rumors of a new Harry Potter book.

"IT'S NOT HERE?! BUT I READ IT ON FACEBOOK! GURBLEDURBLE!"

My advice? Give it a shot. Say something completely untrue on your Facebook and see how people react. Maybe if we trick everyone on Facebook with something that’s untrue, we can instill some kind of HEALTHY SKEPTICISM. As the bible says:

The simple believes everything they hear, but the thoughtful knows when it’s bullshit.

-Proverbs 14:15 – New Geoff Version (NGV)

That may not be exactly what your bible says, but look it up. It’s there.

Let me know how it goes.

And don’t burn me for committing sacrilegious acts, like publishing my own interpretations of the bible on the internet.

I’m gonna go post this on Facebook.

Catch you later.

I don’t usually write politically charged posts, and I think that’s why most of them are boring and unread.

Working with quiet and exploring issues of gender dynamics this season has been really interesting, especially meeting with people who have all these different ideas and viewpoints on the subject. It’s really made me evaluate my own thoughts on gender and how it plays into society and the like, much like T-Rex in this Dinosaur Comic:

"BETWEEN PANELS!" is the most genius plot device I've ever seen in a webcomic.

It’s also made me evaluate myself and how I’m perceived in relation to my gender. It’s actually sort of strange to me.

I’ve always been under the impression that people view me as “manly”. People tend to comment on my beard, and my apparently intimidating appearance as being that of a bear. I’ve been told that I’m manly in appearance and personality. That’s all fine and dandy. I mean, I am a man, physically speaking.

Maybe it's because of pictures like this. Tuxedos, smoking, and blurriness are all classic signs of manliness.

I’d like to point out that I’m not actually smoking in that picture. Conversely, if smoking weren’t bad for you, I would smoke ALL THE TIME. Because IT’S COOL AND YOU KNOW IT.

However, I think it’s really strange that I come off as manly. I mean, I love show tunes. I’ve been known to watch TLC for extended periods of time. I think baking is lovely. I love a good smelling candle. All of those things don’t really fit inside the big box society has scrawled “manly” on, right underneath the crossed out words “kitchen” and “master bedroom”.

I’m also beginning to suspect that there are several people out there who think I’m gay. Maybe it’s because my sexual preference isn’t defined on Facebook. Or that my profile says I’m in a complicated relationship with a man (which happens to be complicated because we’re both straight men). Or that my profile picture shows me wearing a shirt proudly representing a group devoted to making gay marriage legal.

FCKH8.com (CHARITY PLUG)

I’ve actually been asked by people on Facebook that I haven’t talked to since high school if me and my partner are doing ok, or if there’s something I need to tell them. This leads me to two different thoughts: one, it’s nice that people I haven’t talked to in years care, and two, Facebook is the gospel to a lot of people. That’s for a later article.

Also, I’m straight. However, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m attracted to women, and not attracted to men, I would be so gay. And better at musical theatre because of it.

With all of this in consideration, I think it’s interesting that I’m still viewed as manly. People are stereotyped on things that aren’t necessarily reflective of their personality. Maybe this means that STEREOTYPING ISN’T ALWAYS VALID.

That being said, I also think I’m manly.

It’s the beard. And the rippling biceps.

Catch you later.

Wow.

So I was casually looking at my computer’s clock when I noticed the date. It’s been a month since I moved to Seattle. I felt compelled to write about it. It’s been a big month.

I’m living with some very good friends I met at NAU, Matt and Roxy Hornbeck. As soon as I got to Seattle, Matt and Roxy took me to a rehearsal for quiet’s production of “Pick-Up Artist: The Musical”. For those of you who don’t know what quiet is, it’s a non-profit multi-disciplinary arts community. And for those of you not familiar with the show, Matt wrote it for his master’s thesis in sociology. After a few days of tagging along to rehearsals, Matt asked me if I play the bass. Knowing what was coming next, I simply said, “Not yet.”

So I started learning how to play the bass. I learned the show in the two weeks before we got into tech week. Once tech week started, it became clear that there wasn’t anybody with the time, or else the experience, to build the set. So in the few days before we opened I built three platforms. Along with having very little help, we also had the wrong screws, and the paint didn’t take to kindly to drying with it being cold and dark outside. It finally got done by final dress.

The show opened to great success. Most of the performances have been full. We’re doing panel discussions after every performance to create a dialogue with the community, and Matt asked me to facilitate two of them. It was really cool to see what people took away from the performances. Matt and Roxy also gave me an incredible opportunity, they asked me to be the programs director for quiet. They’ve been super awesome.

Speaking of awesome, they’ve also introduced me to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. I’ve been wanting to watch it for a long time, and they have it all on DVD, as well as “Angel”. So I’ve been watching through both series’. I’m on the last season of Buffy, and the fourth season of Angel, and things are IN TENTS. Every time I watch I get a little more depressed, and a little more impressed. It’s absolutely phenomenal, I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it. LOVE IT. Especially Giles. Then again, could just be that I love Anthony Stewart Head. Nah, Giles rocks.

This past weekend I applied to work at this little magic shop in Pike Place Market downtown. This place is sweet, you walk in and it’s wall to wall, floor to ceiling magic. The owner, Sheila, was super nice and seemed to like me, so here’s hoping for something good to happen as far as employment goes!

Matt, Roxy and I have also been working with two other organizations, Rainy Night Productions and The Heroes, on a cabaret project in the spring. More on that later.

Aside from all of that, I’ve just been having a blast exploring this city. There’s so much to see, I’ve only caught a glimpse. And that’s just from what I can walk to. So, more like a glimpse of a glimpse. It’s an amazing city, moving here was a great idea.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this past month. This weekend is the last for “Pick-Up Artist”, and then I start working on a production of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”. I’m assistant directing, and really looking forward to it. This month has been packed, but it also seems like it has gone by in a flash. Maybe I’ll be compelled to keep this more up to date.

Thanks for keeping up with me.

Wow, Geoff. You know, I’ve found that creating things like The GEOFFGASM! is really easy to do, but following through is a lot harder. That’s why “Let’s Talk About Stuff” failed. What’s funny about that is I deleted that website a few months ago, and only a few people have asked me about it. I’m pretty sure only one of them was one of the writers.

My problem is that I get too easily distracted. I get on my computer with the intent of writing a post, or even making a video, but as soon as I open up my web browser to come to this site or find something to write about, I immediately get sucked into the social networks. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, doesn’t matter. They take over my life as soon as this damn machine gets turned on. So I’m thinking about taking a hiatus. I’m not going to delete my Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, but I am going to stop visiting them. Which means that anyone who’s reading this, if you use any sort of social networking tool to contact me, you should probably just stick with email, text, or even phone calls (if people still do that anymore). Otherwise, I might not get it for a while.

Too bad nobody reads this except you, man.

Yeah. Talking to you.

Anyway, I’m hoping that making myself bored by not having those things to distract me, I’ll actually do stuff. Like make more GEOFFGASM videos.

On to that subject. I tried out some videos a while back now, and they were fine or whatever, but I really wasn’t all that into them. I’m definitely going to try a new approach. So hopefully you’ll be seeing something new and different from me sometime soon.

On to some reasons why I haven’t been posted anything since the end of July. I’ve been working on a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which opens tomorrow. Or, today, since it’s after midnight. I still consider it tomorrow since I haven’t gone to sleep yet. I’m both directing and acting in this show, which has lead me to a few conclusions. Mainly, that I will never direct and act in the same show ever again. Not that I feel like I failed or anything, it’s just really hard, and I feel like I had to make compromises on both aspects as far as quality of work goes. I hope people enjoy it anyway. I’ll let you know in a few days, at least how much people claim to like it.

A huge piece of news, which you most likely already know if you’re reading this, but I’m moving in a little under two weeks. I’m leaving the sunny and hot Phoenix, AZ for the rainy Seattle, WA. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve wanted to move to Seattle for a few years now, and I’m finally just going to do it. I’m not sure what the hell I’m doing, but I’ll try to figure it out as I go. I’ve found that all of the excuses people give for not following their dreams (such as lack of funds, things they’re leaving behind, etc.) are just excuses. Sure, I don’t have a lot of money, but as Oscar Wilde once said, “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a serious lack of imagination.” At least I have a place to stay. And yeah, I’m definitely going to miss friends and family, but it’s not like I’m never going to see anyone ever again. The world just keeps shrinking.

So yeah, while on the subject of excuses, those are mine for not writing and making videos. Hopefully I can make them less of an excuse now that I’ve addressed them, and actually make things happen. But as my current track record shows… I’ll leave it up to you to hold your breath or not.

Thanks for wasting your time here with me.

Flash games.

I can’t get enough of them. I play flash games like they’re going out of style. Every once in a while I find one that really catches my attention as a well made game. I usually play games until I beat them, but when I find one that I especially like, it becomes an obsession to finish it. So I decided that when I come across a game like that, why not share it with you guys? Every time I play a game that I think is worthy of recognition, I’ll put it on here. We’ll start with one I recently found and loved:

Trippy Maze

This is the kind of game that I love, an intellectual puzzle. Something that makes you take a second to figure out what you need to do to proceed.

What do you think of Trippy Maze? Let me know if you guys run into any good flash games, and share them in the comments. I’d love to play them, and I might even feature one here.

Catch you later.

This past week or so has gone by in quite a blur. Last weekend I had 4 performances in 2 days for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which went very well. The week leading up to that was one of scrambling to get the set pieces finished and painted, getting used to the props and costume changes, and just overall working my ass off. This week, following the production, has been one of me going to see what I would consider 3 of the best movies this year. Monday I went to an advanced screening of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World which was INCREDIBLE. I’ll definitely be writing an early review of it in the near future. On Tuesday I had my second viewing of Toy Story 3, which was just as good as the first time. And yesterday I saw Inception, which I’ve been dying to see since it came out. Absolutely stunning. I loved the story telling, the mixture of action and legitimate plot, and the thoughtful questions it gave me to ponder. And of course the effects were beautifully done. It’s a movie I’ll talk about more after I’ve seen it a second time.

I also got a job yesterday! It’s a small one, but a job nonetheless. I’m designing the website for my friends Matt and Roxy’s community of artists, Quiet Productions. It should be great fun.

So there are the reasons that I’ve been away from writing posts or making more videos. Busy doing a show, followed by being lazy and watching awesome movies. That changes today.

Because I wrote this post.

And I’m planning a new video.

Look for it soon. As for me, I’m off.

Catch you later.

Click here to view the embedded video.

‘Jersey Shore’ Cast Goes on Strike
http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/18/jersey-shore-mtv-reality-show-contract-dispute/

Sarah Palin – Refudiate
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2010/07/19/moos.refudiate.this.cnn?hpt=C2
http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/18863040998

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thought you should know I totally blasted my pecs today.

So there was a little hiccup in the whole “personal trainer” plan. Apparently my father misunderstood what the gym told him. The information he was given was that it was $250 for 6 group sessions. What he took that as, as well as how I took it, was that you pay $250, and a group goes for 6 sessions. Well, we got to the first session with the personal trainer, and he’s a really awesome guy, totally willing to cater to what we wanted to get out of the workout. Unfortunately, what the gym neglected to mention, is that we get separate times to do individual work, because we all have individual needs. This means that for $250, each member of my family gets a single one hour session, and then two of us would get a second session. As it turns out… you can’t do much in one session.

So as it turns out, we’re not doing the whole personal trainer thing. Bummer.

However, that doesn’t mean that Project Pec Blast has to be thrown away, I’m still able to work out on my own. So today (I guess yesterday, since it’s about 3:00 AM) I went in and started testing equipment, seeing what I like to use, and checking what my max weights for lifting are. It was an exhausting process, and I definitely got more of a workout then I’ll probably usually get once I have a routine down. I’ll probably be hurting tomorrow. On top of that, I cranked out three miles on the ellipticals. I usually just do two, but today I went up a notch. This whole gym thing is starting to become something I enjoy, which is definitely a good thing.

Aside from the gym thing, I’ve got a show coming up next weekend. The Brelby Theatre Company‘s production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is running July 24-25, 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM both days. For those of you who don’t know, “Complete Works” is three guy’s attempt to condense all of the plays by William Shakespeare in a single theatrical production. It’s an awesome show, even for those who don’t think they like Shakespeare (or theatre in general), and especially for those who love the bard. Here’s the bad ass poster drawn by a friend of mine, Justin Wagner:

Yeah. Awesome. That’s me on the right. I’m the tragedy mask. I don’t know why I’m crying when I have that amazing beard.

The three of us in the cast got together and made some promotional videos as well.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So if you’re in the Phoenix, AZ area next weekend, come check out some hilarious theatre.

Anyway, that’s all from me. I’ll continue to update on my progress at the gym, as well as update on how the show goes. But you won’t need to read that. Because you’ll be there to see it. Every performance.

Catch you later.

A recent addition to YouTube has really caught my eye as something you should definitely check out. If you’re a reader who doesn’t know me, one of the things to know is that I really love Star Wars. As a theatre person, I am also a huge fan of improvisation. There is a group out there that I love watching called Improv Everywhere. You’ve probably heard of them; they’re the ones who got 200 volunteers to freeze for five minutes in Grand Central Station, and sang an impromptu song about produce in the middle of a crowded grocery store. Well, their latest stunt has been one of my favorites. Go ahead and watch it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yeah. Star Wars on a city subway. Awesome.

I’m hoping the next time they reference Star Wars they recreate the Death Star trench run in the aisle of a Walmart by crashing their carts together and spiking a child in the head with a Nerf ball.

Catch you later.