itch in the night

so, recently i've been plagued by something sort of indescribable. but i'll try. as i lie in bed waiting for the sweet numbness of slumber to carry me off to a date with mr. sandman, i have started feeling these weird sensations on my feet. they are what i refer to as tickle-itches. these are not to be confused with the 'inside itch' that my chum aubre has tried to explain to no avail, rather, to heavy mocking. the tickle itch feels like a little tickle on the surface of the skin. that no amount of scratching will end. it's torturous and has kept me awake, rubbing my feet with a pumice stone til they are near bleeding then slathering them in cocoa butter, til about 5 am every night for the past week or so. on a more positive note, the skin on my feet hasn't ever been so supple!

what does one do to pass the impassable time in these twilight hours, one may ask. well, i've taken to watching old seasons of 'will & grace' on dvd. it's hard to belive it's been nearly eleven years since these characters first made their way into the world of pop culture (11th anniversary, Sept 21, 2009). equally hard to believe is that they've only been off the air for just over three years (series finale aired spring of 2006). or that of the 187 episodes aired, shelley morrison only appeared in 68 as karen walker's maid rosario. she just always seemed so present, now thats acting!

anyway, in revisiting these characters, i found several truths that i never befor realized. first, whom ever was doing debra messing's make-up should be drug out into the street and shot. now i know it was part of the schtick for her hair to be wacky and her clothes to be just off the mark so karen could have endless comments about her flawed fashion and grooming. but why did she look like a drag queen for most of seasons one and two? second, as we all can agree, the life blood of this show was neither will, nor grace. but instead, the supporting characters jack and karen and their wacky hijinx. that being said, the first time around, karen seemed so broad and farcical. but upon further exposure, it is my opinion that she was the most developed and multi-faceted character on the show. her backstory and character nuances were the truest and most influencial to the final product of the character. and this was not a result of the writing, but of the acting chops of miss megan mullally. next, i find that, say what you will about the character of jack, but the slapstick style of acting employeed by sean hayes is nothing short of genious and it is an inherant skill, not something that can be learned.

now the heart-ache. what the will? why was will such a debbie downer all the time? it wasn't in the writing. i have analized many of the scenes and the script work does not demand that will be negative and condescending all the time. but the choices that actor eric mc cormac made really make will unloveable, and worse, unrelatable. in fact the times when will is being tender with grace, when he should be most loveable are when i stomach him the least because he can never allow her to be his equal. he always has to be holier-than-thou with grace. the only times i have found will to be enjoyable is when karen pulls him through a scene and doesn't allow him to condescend to her. i also noticed when doing a google image search of each actor while preparing for this blog, that this seems to be a true-life character flaw in eric mc cormac. every picture is unnatural and posed, even candids. and you can read through the lens that he thinks he is alot more attractive than he actually is.

that aside, the writing for this show was so good that it took me 11 years to realize eric's acting is at the level of a strong community theatre and not nearly as polished or natural as his three ensemble-mates. also, i crave guest appearances by debbie reynolds as grace's mother, bobbi adler, the flawless "jewess from schenectedy." debra and debbie's ability to mirror and oppose eachother at the same time while portraying the journey grace is taking to 'become' her mother is fascinating,seemingly effortless, and uproarious!

all-in-all "Oh. My. G-...!"