On Gaining Weight

I've ended up spending a lot of time at Cafe Olé in the Old City section of Philadelphia.  They have free wireless internet, which is a great thing, and they're only a couple blocks from actor housing, which is another great thing.  And they have some tasty-ass food.  I've fallen in love with their European-Style Grilled Cheese sandwich -- a lovely concoction with muenster and feta and olives and all sorts of tasty stuff on it.

In fact, I've eaten better (or at least more) since I've gotten to Philadelphia than I have in quite some time.

My first night here, on Monday, I was wandering around the neighborhood and suddenly became very light headed, and broke out in a cold sweat.  My guts turned to liquid -- a very classic reaction for me, sorta hypoglycemic.  It was only then that I realized that I hadn't eaten all day.  Or the day before.  The last time I'd eaten was breakfast on Sunday morning, before I jumped into the painting that day.  And the crazy part is that I think I had the equivalent of a cup of tea and a muffin, or something similar.

So after the urge to faint passed, I stopped on the way back to the apartment and picked up some groceries.  It was kinda shocking to realize that I hadn't shopped for groceries in probably two years.  Beyond the normal, get yourself through your life stuff like milk, salt, tea, that kinda thing.

After our first rehearsal, Aaron Posner, the director, took Erika (my housemate) and I to the Whole Foods grocery store, and I went hog wild.  I bought the ingredients for a nice, spicy red sauce, which I've not made in I-can't-tell-you-how-long.  Between us, we stocked the fridge.

The long and the short of it is that I've been eating three square meals a day since I got here, when I'm used to eating one big meal a day.  I can feel the weight being packed on, god help me.