Encounters: Dionne A.

So just when I think I couldn't be farther away from running into someone, I'm in the lobby of the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf (in San Francisco, and it has a Fan Page if you're on FB), and run into Dionne!!

She's an actor from DC and I just ran into her in a hotel lobby on the West Coast!! Just when you think the world can't get any smaller, right?!

I met her at some theatre event or another in the past several years...the Helen Hayes Awards, I believe. I haven't had the pleasure of working with her, yet, but all in good time. Apparently she was in SF for the day, doing some kind of training workshop. Between the ADHD and the 7 kids I'd been charged with not losing during the course of the trip, I unfortunately heard but didn't listen enough to commit the information to memory.

Although DC's got the 2nd largest theatre scene in the country, right after New York City and only recently before Chicago, it's definitely a small community if you're the type of independent performer who diversifies their income streams by working at various organizations. :-)

Encounters: Michael H.

Ran into Michael H. in the wee hours of the morning, at Reagan National Airport.

I was helping to round up about 80 high school students from National Cathedral School & St. Albans (where I teach Dance) at about 5:30am, for a chorale trip to San Francisco. I know, what was I thinking!! I kid, of course; I love being their teacher.

Anyway, we're getting ready to herd the first wave of kids through security, and I see Michael walking by me, apparently on his way to Florida. We met when I sang with the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington for several concerts a couple of years ago or so.

Michael's pretty involved in the arts community and sector in the area. Now in addition to singing with GMCW as well, I'm not sure if he was at the time, but he is a member of the organization's Board of Directors.

He is also the Director of External Relations for the Washington Ballet and an adjunct professor for George Mason University's Arts Management program. If you've ever gone to a Washington Ballet performance, chances are you've said hi to Michael. And if you haven't, you should. He's a nice guy.

There is no J Street

Okay, so my experience with J Street actually started with my brief tenure at GWU as a Dramatic Lit major. Even though I'd been born and raised in DC, I'd never thought about the fact that there is no J Street, as far as a street. There is a nonprofit advocacy group by that name and just to be sure, there is no affiliation between this blog/myself and that.

That being said, I was actually inspired by an up & coming personality in the DC area who chose another street to identify with. Albeit it's a more infamous street, it is by far not representative or related to my own experiences as a DC native.

So why a street that doesn't exist? Well, having gone by JR since middle school, J Street JR just had a nice ring to it, especially with the alliteration.

But what better metaphor for the side of DC that might not be as well known nationally or internationally than a street that is technically nonexistent? Much like the blank rune (which itself doesn't exist traditionally), J Street as a concept literally exists nowhere and therefore can philosophically exist everywhere at the same time.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. :-)

- J Street JR

P.S. Yes, the title of this blog entry is a Matrix reference :-)