good advice

So I prepared for the weekend. When you work all week long, you'll realize that two days at the end of the week are so valuable and irreplaceable. So, in preperation, I went on Tuesday to Sultan Center carefully selecting a fattening companion for my irreplaceable weekend nights.

I bought XXL size of everything.. and I realized that Twix, cheese dip and sour cream onion potato chips... do not go well together. But a bottle of good grape juice would take the confusing taste off.

I got myself the Egyptian version of Scarface, starring Ahmad Zaki. Very good Egyptianizing! it was very successful and almost flawless. But leave that film aside.. I'm going to talk to you about acting!

I was watching -for the second time- Dog Day Afternoon. Al Pacino and John Cazale. The performance of these two gods of theatre brought me to tears. Its not the story... its out of my appreciation of beauty and great performance that I cannot bear watch so much beauty. In the movie, you could see the fear in the eyes of John Cazale so brilliantly performed you'd think you're watching a reality show. Not excessive; just right.

John Cazale as Salvatore Naturile
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

After I left the acting workshop I always thought I could not cope with the stress and hard work that it requires to live a character and do it. But as I was watching Dog Day Afternoon I realized I miss those days. Nothing matches the reaction you get from the audience as you astound them with words or actions or even your dress. Nothing matches the great experience of being somebody else on stage. I played Nils Krogstad in a production of act III from Ibsen's A Doll's House, I was into the character very much (at least I thought so). I did come short on the sudden acceptance of Kristine's explanation. Nevertheless I loved it, his pains were mine... I love antiheroes.. I am the history of antiheroes!

When I saw Al Pacino shouting "Attica! Attica! Attica!" I was almost brought to tears for his great performance if I may call it so. I so want to act again. I found out that in my acting I become my real self. While in real life I am acting all the time.

In the office I'm acting nice and polite when all I want to do is spit in their faces or crush their necks with my bare hands (the rude inconsiderate bastards). I act when I'm home, telling them I'm fine and that I am "a little" annoyed by work but that's it. I act around people to show them that I have great respect for whatever they do when I am surronded by wannabes. Back in KU I never told my teachers that they suck and that their PhD is worth nothing for they have stopped learning and their teaching techniques are utterly stupid (They wouldn't believe me anyway.. its hard to be a loveable teacher and yet a good one.. thought we have good examples, yet I'm critical of their methods). When I explode in someone's face to tell them about the real me... the feeling I get from that explosion matches the feeling I have on stage. Its really me.

I love Dilbert! It was so funny back then.. and now.. its even funnier!