And finally...The American Idol Auditions!

Many people have asked me - did I get to sing for Simon, Randy and Paula? Nope. Since there are thousands of people, what they do is they have 16 tables set up on the arena floor. Each table has a judge, and you approach the table in groups of four. You sing one at a time, and then the judge tells which people are going on to the next round. If they're moving you forward, you get a Golden Ticket, and you get to go on to the next round.

It was about half star talent (people who have a shot at winning the overall contest) and half wacky people. These people were dressed in all kinds of costumes: a 300-pound lady in all white trimmed with feathers, a trio of girl scouts a la Andrews Sisters, a little guy in a purple leotard, a man in a frizzy red wig, Batgirl and Catwoman - all these people made it to the next round. Look for them when the series premieres!

Rebecca is in a new play!

I'm playing the role of Grace in "Ashtrays for Vodka" as part of the Fall Festival at the Manhattan Repertory Theater. October 3, 5 and 6 at 9pm. Come see me!

Pool Party!

Thanks to all the friends who came to console me about getting older! I love you.

Here's the skinny on 29...

Birthday Fun!

Here I am before we all got wet in the pool!

I'm Delinquent!

Okay, apparently I am not pumping these American Idol posts out fast enough. (Thank you, RM.) So I'll throw out a bone here until I have a chunk of time to write more.

For the first four hours in the arena, we were sitting in our assigned seats filming "crowd shots." If you've ever seen the show, you know that is where everyone is screaming and waving their arms. If you've ever worked in television or film, you know that NOTHING is spontaneous, and that "impromptu" take was actually take number 9 (or 47.) Sooooo....that took a while.

Then, finally, they started setting up the tables for the actual auditions.

Me on Audition Day

I wore my favorite audition shirt (everyone's seen it on my Facebook page, right?) a black skirt and the hottest heels.

That did not impress my judge, a casual woman.

(The guy before me fell on the floor when his song was over. She gave him a golden ticket, and as if to exonerate herself, said "He made me laugh, so I gave it to him." I thought about changing my song at that point but figured it wouldn't work twice in a row anyway.)

Special Guest Ryan Seacrest

Girls were screaming wildly for him - here he is being followed by cameras on the floor.

My First Glance at the Arena

FULL OF PEOPLE!
Every single one of these people wants to be the next American Idol.

The Man Who Took My Ticket

I'm finally in!

Finally going inside!

Willing to do anything to get on camera part 2

This girl dressed up as a christmas tree. It worked - not only outside with the news cameras, but later in the arena, she got the coveted golden ticket.

What to do while waiting?

We stood there in the pens until about 8:30 am. People were doing anything and everything to get on tv - local news stations and the Tonight Show were there.

Sopranos actor Steve Schirippa was guest hosting a Tonight Show segment, so he interviewed a pair of singers doing their version of "Tainted Love." He called them Stripper Idols. (Did anyone see this segment on Leno? If you did, email me or comment on this post!!!)

American Idol Part ? The waiting continues

Here are some shots of the ENDLESS crowds.

American Idol Part Three

My alarm rang at 4am, at which point I vocalized, put on my makeup and clothes and checked out by 5am.

It took an hour to drive 5 miles to the Wachovia Center! It turned out that Philadelphia was the biggest turnout EVER for American Idol auditions. I sat in stopped traffic on I-95 for two miles. After finally exiting, another traffic jam welcomed me. All the Wachovia Center lots were full. I parked in the nearest lot a few blocks away, changed into my flip-flops for the walk (sexy Aldo shoes in the bag for later) and joined the parade of pre-dawn hopefuls.

Now it's about 6am. I get to the waiting area - I'm in pen #8. Each pen holds about 2000 people. (Eventually they ran out of pens and just put people in a huge parking lot.)

American Idol Part Two

Sunday.

Well, I had been sick since Thursday but after driving down to Philly and back in blazing heat with no air conditioner and devoting his entire weekend to my dream, Joe was not about to let me throw it all away.

So I booked a hotel, did last-minute wardrobe checks with my neighbor, loaded up on vitamic C and echinacea, and drove BACK to Philadelphia.

I did everything I could think of to try to feel better- soaking my sore muscles in the hot (more like lukewarm) tub, drinking pepper tea, getting to bed early. But alas, recovery was not on the menu.

American Idol Part One

On Saturday, Joe and I drove down to Philadelphia to register for American Idol.

Expecting throngs of people, we were quite surprised to find the parking lot nearly empty. We walked right up to the desk and I was registered within ten seconds. Hmmm, I thought, is no one auditioning in Philadelphia?

Well, I had my official wristband, so we headed back to New York to start phase two.

Check back for an update!

Missing Hannah

It's inevitable, I'm going to miss Hannah more when special occasions come up. I'm turning 29, and Hannah is still 25.

Different revelations have come to me at different times. When I first sat with her body at the hospital, it seemed so clear to me: there is nothing after this life. Hannah's lifeless body communicated one thing to me: there is no afterlife, nowhere we are going after this. I felt I had deluded myself after Papa's death into believing that he was watching over me from somewhere else, and suddenly, I knew that wasn't true.

But I still have a strong belief in the existence of the soul. What separated Hannah from being alive one moment and dead forever the next? It seemed to me that her soul was there, and then it left, and that was what made all the difference. As I explained to a friend, if her body had seemed destroyed, that would have explained it. But it didn't - she seemed as beautiful as ever, just tragically frozen.

I'm starting to think that life is supremely random. It's not that Hannah was "meant" to die, or that there was a cosmic mistake that allowed her to die despite other plans for her. She just died through the confluence of tiny events and decisions. For some reason, this makes me believe that we must not cling too steadfastly to anything external. Not that we shouldn't have goals and reams - I don't believe we can survive the heartbreaks of life without our aspirations. But we must thrive in the moment and not rely upon something we think we deserve coming to us in the future.

Composting

Yes, I'm a procrastinator.

I've lived in my apartment for two and a half years. Last week, I finally found a place to take my compost. See, when there's an obvious solution to a problem, I just get things done. When I worked at a school that had a composter on the roof (next to the greenhouse full of organic plants - can you tell it was a Montessori school?) I took the compost to work on a weekly basis. But when I'm not sure what to do, I'm paralyzed.

So the smallest thing can be a victory.

Joe can take the credit for this one - his subtle incredulity that I didn't have a compost bag in the freezer finally got to me, and I called the Green Thumb garden people to ask where I could bring my compost. They gave me the number for a community garden two blocks away from my home. That turned out to be a neighborhood woman's private phone number, so the conversation went a little like this:

Me: Good morning. Do you accept compost?
Her: Who is this?
Me: Rebecca
Her: Where are you calling from?
Me: My apartment. (?!)
Her: Hold on a second. (Sound of television being turned off in the background.)
Ok, so now what's this all about?

I won't bore you with the rest of the specifics, but, yes, they will take my compost. I just have to sling it, double-bagged, over the fence of the garden.