Stuff I did while I wasn't posting

• Went to my Grandma's 80th birthday celebration Saturday, came back Monday
  
• Helped strike X-mas carol at the Rep Monday night
  
• Went to Donald's Grandparent's house in Odessa for X-mas day Tuesday
  
• Pulled a New Year's Eve concert together in about 2 days Wednesday thru Friday
  

It's the New Year's Eve concert that's kept me busiest for the last few days. I got stuff ready the day after X-mas. Thursday we hung the rest of the lights in the morning, focused in the afternoon, and I wrote cues in the evening. All day long there were changes happening, "scenery" being moved around, the songs were all rearranged, etc. Yesterday we teched the show in about 3 hours, and opened last night. It was pretty unorganized. But now that it's all together, it's a fun concert featuring both singers from Love, Janis and one singer from It Ain't Nothin But The Blues. Good music, halfway decent lighting, 5 more performances.

What D& D character are you?

I Am A: True Neutral GnomeDruid/Rogue (2nd/1st Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-13
Dexterity-13
Constitution-12
Intelligence-13
Wisdom-14
Charisma-12

Alignment:
True Neutral A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Gnomes are in wide demand as alchemists, inventors, and technicians, though most prefer to remain among their own kind in simple comfort. Gnomes adore animals, gems, and jokes, especially pranks. They love to learn by personal experience, and are always trying new ways to build things. Gnomes stand 3 to 3.5 feet tall and live about 350 to 500 years.

Primary Class:
Druids gain power not by ruling nature but by being at one with it. They hate the unnatural, including aberrations or undead, and destroy them where possible. Druids receive divine spells from nature, not the gods, and can gain an array of powers as they gain experience, including the ability to take the shapes of animals. The weapons and armor of a druid are restricted by their traditional oaths, not simply training. A druid's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast.

Secondary Class:
Rogues have little in common with each other. While some - maybe even the majority - are stealthy thieves, many serve as scouts, spies, investigators, diplomats, and simple thugs. Rogues are versatile, adaptable, and skilled at getting what others don't want them to get. While not equal to a fighter in combat, a rogue knows how to hit where it hurts, and a sneak attack can dish out a lot of damage. Rogues also seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to avoiding danger. Experienced rogues develop nearly magical powers and skills as they master the arts of stealth, evasion, and sneak attacks. In addition, while not capable of casting spells on their own, a rogue can sometimes 'fake it' well enough to cast spells from scrolls, activate wands, and use just about any other magic item.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Candied Walnuts

I'm very pleased with the walnuts. I'll say this was actually cooking since it involved measuring things, breaking an egg, and using the oven. The recipe for 1 cup of walnuts uses 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 egg white. Getting the walnuts onto the pan to bake is pretty sticky, but now that I've done it once I'll do it better next time. These are damn tasty.

Treats

I made treats yesterday. I won't say cooked, because I mostly melted chocolate, and some peanut butter candy. I dipped 3 trays of chocolate and peanut butter pretzels and 1 tray of regular chocolate and white chocolate pretzels. Then I made peppermint bark, which involved not only melting chocolate (and white chocolate) but smashing up candy canes. It came out pretty well this time. The first time I made it too thick so it was really hard to break apart. Also- broken up candy canes are very stabby. This time I made sure to spread the chocolate thin and it worked nicely.

I'm making all these treats to give to family. I got cellophane bags from the craft store so all the food can look pretty in its individual packaging. I'll probably add some curly ribbon for decoration.


Next up: candied walnuts and chex mix. The holiday snuck up on me so I don't think I'll be making pumpkin bread this year.

She sees you

Anna is watching you through the computer. Behave!

Do you need stamps?

If you do you should get Yoda stamps:

Or these Tiffany stamps are lovely too:

The Tiffany stamp is actually .41 as well. Dear post office: raising the price of stamps all the time only makes people less inclined to send letters.

Damn youse weather

Yesterday we went to visit Donald's grandparents a little before noon. We spent a few minutes chipping ice off the car before we left, and sliding about on the driveway while we chipped. The majority of the driveway was not too icy. We left their house around 3:30, and chipped a bit more ice. We made it home and up the driveway, and decided to stay in. Looking back, it may have been a bad idea to go up the driveway. We were home by 4 and it kept sleeting the rest of the day. It's certainly all iced over now, and then it snowed on top of that. We'll have to go out and check it out at some point today, since Donald will have to go to work Monday. Sigh.

Snow boots got put to use

I had a busy day yesterday. I started off by going to the grocery store with my mom, because it was snowing and she felt compelled to "stock up." I got quite a few tasty things, including cinnamon raisin bread, (yay toast) a couple croissants and tasty lemon curd.

After I got home, I swept the snow off the front steps again, then ate delicious cinnamon raisin toast. Then I shoveled about half of the driveway, starting at the point where it goes up the hill then flattens out. That's the spot you get stuck on when it gets icy. It was still snowing, so by the time I finished, there was a good bit of snow again. Bah. I quit shoveling, and let the handymen into the house to re-caulk my tub and such.

Later my dad appeared in the back with his snowblower. I watched him for a minute then felt guilty, so I went to shovel some more. The lower part of the driveway was pretty clear, since Jon took up shoveling a short while after I quit. There are definite advantages to sharing a driveway. It stopped snowing by then, so dad and I managed to pretty much clear out the back parking area.

I was pretty tired after that! Shoveling is damn hard work when the snow melts and gets heavy. I made meatloaf for dinner and finished our holiday cards, Donald and I watched Grey's Anatomy, and put up our (fiber optic) tree. My arms are tired today.

Snowing!

I love to watch the snow. It's a nice winter feeling to be inside my (relatively) warm house, working on a project while it snows outside. Yesterday I made a necklace for my secret santee, then made one for myself. I spent the rest of the day working on my holiday cards. Last week I cut up all the paper into 2-card sheets, then I ran them through the printer to put the Anna picture on the back. I'm making about 30 cards, so I do one step at a time, to the whole batch of cards. Yesterday I did a paint step, then let them all dry, then cut the sheets into single cards. Then I did 2 glue steps and let them all dry in between, while being pressed under a pile of books. (Thanks Brockett, I knew you were good for something.) That took a long time. While things were drying I did a few sample paint things on scraps of paper and made a few stencil templates.

Today I'll do more paint stuff. That'll be fun.

PS: It's really starting to come down now. I wonder if it'll build up?

Not buying stuff is surprisingly tiring

I went shopping today. I thought I saw a coat at Target I might want, so I went to find out. They didn't have my size of the coat. I looked at the other coats, tried on a shirt that didn't fit, looked for presents for our nephews, and looked for something for Donald but didn't find it. Then I looked at a shoe store and didn't find anything. I saw lots of shoes that I liked, but none of them were comfortable. I'm not paying $40 (or more) for shoes that look flimsy and will make my feet hurt in the long run.

Next I went to Petco, Old Navy, Waldo Pets and Sutherlands and didn't buy anything. Then I went to the grocery store and bought plenty. After I went home and unloaded all that, I went to Costco and bought plenty more. I love the samples there, and it's pure genius. You're going to think twice about buying a 3 pound bag of chicken tenderloins. What if you don't like them? If you have the chance to taste them first, it's a done deal. Because those chicken tenderloins are pretty tasty. I tasted 2 kinds of cheese, a quiche, spanikopita, chicken, bourbon chicken, juice, sparkling juice, and finished it off with a chocolate covered macadamia nut. It was like a tiny, weird, lunch.

I am useless

Donald said I could be replaced at the theater by a drinking water bird. :(

This and That

Yesterday I made chex mix, so my house smells like Worcestershire sauce. :) It's nice, actually.

I got my teeth cleaned yesterday. I'm out of dental insurance money for the year so I paid out of pocket. I don't understand how it could cost $110 to clean your teeth. The dentist pokes around with the pointy tool for a couple minutes, then the assistant polishes them for a couple more minutes, then the fun part starts. The flossing. I ask them to be gentle, but they aren't. My teeth are really close together, so the process of jamming the floss between my teeth always ends with the floss slamming into my gums. Sigh.

I saw Enchanted this week. It was very charming. Parts of it were eye-rollingly corny, but they were supposed to be. The big song and dance number in Central Park was really fun. I'd recommend it for a good time.

Today I'm going to broil a steak. It's in my fridge, thawed and ready to go.

May You Live in Interesting Times

To start where the last post left off- the furniture got moved again and we refocused stuff a third time. :P

That was a weird weird tech. The plan was to focus Friday morning, dry tech in the afternoon, tech Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, then open Saturday night. Friday evening's rehearsal was supposed to start at 7:30, and actually started around 9:30. It ended at midnight, and we hadn't gotten trough Act 1. The next day we picked up where we left off, finished the show, and even had enough time to run part of Act 1 before the 8:00 show. Which was opening night. It went surprisingly well, considering it was our first run through!

The director left Sunday morning, but the LD was still there for the matinée. We did a batch of cue notes after the show, then he got on his plane and went home. Things got interesting during the evening show. Let me first say this show is more like a concert than a play. They mostly play songs, and just talk a little. During the evening show, the guitar player skipped a song. Up in the booth, the SM frantically located the right cue, and we jumped forward. Then we had a quick headset discussion about whether he would go back, or keep going. He went back. We jumped back, then got ready to jump forward again. At other points, singers forgot lyrics, forgot to come on, and generally just faked it. The audience loved it. At the end of the show they were on their feet, demanding an encore. Naturally, we hadn't rehearsed that. So the SM frantically found a bright cue and we jumped back again, while leaving the houselights up. After the encore they were satisfied and went home. Whew! I've never used the "Go to Cue" button so many times during a performance before. :P

Why theatre is dumb today

I dragged my ass out of bed at 6:30 this morning to get down here and focus lights at 8AM. To start off, there were no spikes on the floor for the furniture so the lighting designer spent half an hour placing spikes. Then we focused the lights for an hour and a half. (It's a very small plot.) Then we took a break, and worked on the cues for awhile. We had a lunch break, then came back to find that the director showed up and moved everything around. Naturally. So we worked on the cues for a few more hours, then spent half an hour refocusing on the moved furniture. There's nothing that annoys me quite like doing work twice because somebody didn't do their job.

Happy Thxgiving

Anna is thankful for blankets.
Hope you are all cozy!

Ain't weather funny?

It's 1:00, and it's snowing. Less than 24 hours ago, it was 75º and I had the windows open.

Mmmm... meatballs

I mostly wasted yesterday's good weather. I had a meeting at noon, and as I drove to it with the windows down, I thoroughly enjoyed the weather. I wished I had some errands to do so I could further enjoy the weather. But I didn't, so after the meeting I helped my mom make sauce and meatballs. I was going to fry the meatballs while mom formed them, but the damn oil kept spattering me so I had to quit. I don't know how she does it. Maybe after years of meatball- making she's developed super heat resistant arms. We switched, I formed some meatballs then chopped onion and garlic for the sauce. My left hand still smells like onions. Does this happen to anyone else? It doesn't matter how much I wash my hand, it still take a couple days to go away.

After meatballs were finished I went back to my place and pretty much played Oblivion the rest of the day. And my hair smelled like delicious meatballs, which I didn't even get to eat. (I'll get to eat them today though, so it's okay.) But it was pretty rough, smelling tasty meatballs all afternoon, then thinking about meatballs at dinner time and settling for macaroni and cheese. What's worse is that I could have had the meatballs for dinner, if I'd only cooked some pasta. I didn't know that until it was too late and the the mac and cheese was done. :(

Re: Cat Talking, Translation

This IS pretty funny. cuteoverload again.

Easy to Please

For dinner last night I made hamburger gravy. This is very simple, and Donald loves it. You brown hamburger and onions together, drain, then add chopped celery. Next, dump in a can of cream of mushroom soup. Finally, let that simmer for awhile. You eat it over mashed potatoes or noodles. Cream of mushroom soup makes beefy goodness.

The sun is coming in the south windows of the computer room right now, hitting Anna who is flopped on my lap purring. What could be better? Sun and lap, all in one. Kitty life so easy!

T-shirt isn't usually appropriate clothing in November

My thermometer says it's 74 outside. Even if it isn't quite accurate, that's pretty warm for the middle of November. It's warmer outside than it is inside again! I just walked over to the Rep to pick up some keys, and I had to stop and take a drink of water when I got back, because I was hot. In November. I went out with a jacket, but didn't wear it because it's all sunny and hot out there! It feels like April. But global warming doesn't exist, nope.

In a stroke of poor timing, Coldstone emailed me a buy one get one free coupon today. It's good until the end of November. Somehow, I don't think I'll use it. Then they'll email me another one.

Screw Coldstone

Donald and Mike and I are hooked on Miami Ice. It's this ice cream shop located entirely too close to Mike's house. They have several fantastic flavors of ice cream, including cheesecake, peanut butter, cinnamon, and coffee. They have a cold stone to make concretes. There's also the namesake "Miami Ice" which is a shaved ice with your choice of about twenty flavors, and has a dollop of custard at the bottom. They have way too many tasty treats, and their prices are really low. Did I mention the ice cream is really good?

We went in Friday night and found that our treats would be buy one get one free because they're closing up for the winter. The helpful guy behind the counter told us that Sunday (today) would be the last day of the season and if we came back after 7 we could do buy one get one free on the hand filled pints on whatever flavors were left. How could we resist? Mike got cheesecake with strawberries smashed in, Donald got cheesecake with oreos, and I got mint with oreos. Of course this was after two of us had cones and one of us had a milkshake. I'm so full right now, and happy to know that there's more ice cream in the freezer.

Holiday lighting

Despite saying that it's too early for christmas stuff yesterday morning, I helped my dad put up christmas lights yesterday afternoon. His reasoning was that it's warm now, so let's put 'em up! We usually put them up on Thanksgiving, so it isn't all that early.

In the beginning, my dad used to string colored lights across the front of the house forming one horizontal line. (My parents' house is ranch style.) This involved a short ladder and a whole lot of green garden twist-ties. Eventually, I realized that the single line looked majorly half assed. For a couple years, we added lights in the bushes. We also tried adding more to the single line, extending around the south side or along the front of the garage. Then we had the genius idea of putting blue lights around the 3 big windows as well. That idea was a definite keeper. Conveniently, they string right around the shutters and are very easy to put up. A couple years ago my dad started stringing the colored lights down the fence along the driveway. It looks pretty, you can see them when you turn the corner all the way down the hill at 52nd street, and is much much easier to put up. Now I'm working on convincing them to buy LED lights. Dad's been using the same strings of lights for a long time and they're about worn out anyway.

I'd like to put lights on my house, but there doesn't seem to be any good way to do it. I'll make do with my lovely LED lights in the windows. I never took 'em down last year, so next week all I have to do it plug them in. :)

"Cooking" etc.

I had a rather busy week. It was the week of X-Mas Carol load- in. What's that, too early for christmas stuff you say? Why yes it is, but ACC (for short) always opens before thanksgiving, ensuring that everyone working on the show will be thoroughly sick of the holiday before December even starts. Anyway, we hung lights then installed all the practicals and stuff then focused it Thursday and they're in tech today and will open tomorrow night. It's a really short tech, but since this is the 26th year, they're all pretty familiar with what to do. It used to close a couple days AFTER christmas. Yeah, it was pretty dismal that last week. Lucky for me I'm pretty much done with it, unless Jon needs me to fill in for him at some point.

I did more non-cooking last night. Robyn helped me out:

nessa33: hmm. what to make for dinner?
tinydryad: make me something too
tinydryad: I got nuthin
nessa33: i dont want to defrost anything so i think its frozen chicken strips
tinydryad: I could make chicken too
nessa33: i also have french fries and green beans
tinydryad: so do I!

So Robyn and I made the same dinners last night. :) It was a decent meal. My fries were Ore Ida "Zesties" and were pretty tasty. My green beans came from Costco, so I have about 4 more pounds of frozen green beans to get through. They're organic baby green beans, so they are quite a bit better than the regular frozen green beans. Macaela says that if you apply heat to something it counts as cooking. In my mind, I have the impression that "cooking" should involve some stirring as well. Oh well, it was a nice change from frozen pizza.

Yay!

Donald fixed my laptop yesterday. It developed a crappy flicker in the screen when you moved it, or didn't move it. He looked up how much it would cost to get a whole new screen, and it was about $150. Then he looked up how much it would be to just buy a new cable, the one that connects the screen to the laptop. That was about 5 bucks. He ordered that one. he installed that one. No flicker! I'm so glad to not need a new laptop.

Driving sucks

I hate driving. Actually, I hate all the other people driving. The people who don't follow the traffic rules. The people who run red lights, don't yield, switch lanes without signaling, take up more than one lane when driving, park in places that block the street, and talk on their cell phones while doing all that and more. It seems like every time I drive, some stupid fucker nearly causes an accident. I wish we had a subway system.

Hanging lights

Today's light hang went better than I expected. We started kind of slow, but once we got moving we had enough people to get a lot of work done in a decent amount of time. Since I was the Master Electrician for this one, I didn't have to hang any lights myself. I answered questions, and told people where to hang the lights, and kept the paperwork up to date. I prepared the plot to hang earlier this week. I drew circles around groups of lights on the plot indicating where they should be plugged in. This sounds like a silly thing, but it makes the hang a LOT easier in the long run. I didn't bother plotting the plot in half inch scale for several reasons: because the plotter can be a pain in the ass and I didn't want to deal with it, because half inch scale is really bigger than necessary, and your sheet of paper is unwieldy and it's a waste of paper because you're just going to throw it away at the end of the day. (Plotter paper is expensive.) I printed the plot in 4 sections on regular 8 1/2 x 11 paper, so each person can have their own piece of plot. That way everybody knows what's going on. We managed to be finished by 5. That's damn good for 116.

Things I've been doing lately

• Hung lights at Copaken for a show that doesn't focus until the day after Thanksgiving. It's the sure-to-be-glorious John Denver Holiday Show.
  
• Re-watched the miniseries and first few episodes of BSG while at the opera. What an awesome show.
  
• Prepared gel and plot for UMKC student show I'm ME'ing. Hang is Saturday. Boo for getting up early Saturday, yay for getting paid to do it.
  
• Played Oblivion with my new character, even though I never finished it with my old character. Donald challenged me to make a character who isn't a sneaky thief, so my new character is a Redguard who uses blunt weapons to bash the crap out of her enemies. And mudcrabs.
• Made a tasty apple crisp from Granny Smith apples.
• Got coffee with Donald and Mike, played Quiddler.
• Went to the dentist, got my bite adjusted AGAIN. Picked up copies of my x-rays. It's pretty interesting to see pictures of all your teeth.

Today I'll wash the dishes again, and possibly produce something to eat. I won't say "cook" because I might just take something out of the freezer and bake it, and that's not really cooking.

Oh boy, more subway conductors

Enthusiastic conductor: Ladies and gentlemen, the last car is not the only car on this train. If you spread out, you get on the train faster, we get moving faster, and you won't be able to complain that MTA trains never run on time. It's simple mathematics, ladies and gentlemen. Get up on it.

Conductor over loud speaker: In case you didn't stop to look at what train this is, listen up, because I'm telling you now. This is the C Train. This train will be running express from here to Canal Street. I repeat: This train is running express from here to Canal Street. If you need to get to a local stop in between, you must go to 14th Street and take the C uptown. Uptown trains are stopping at all stations. Next stop: 42nd Street.
Teen girl, as train approaches 42nd: Excuse me, is this train stopping at 23rd Street?
Conductor: You didn't listen to the announcement at all, did you?
Teen girl: No.
Conductor: Then I'm not telling.

Conductor: Attention! You've boarded the ghetto express. Next stop, Deep Ghetto. If you're trying to go to any of the Ghetto Light areas, please transfer at this stop for the Ghetto Local. Thank you!

Conductor: This is Fifth Avenue. Transfer here for... Aw, hell, there ain't no transfer here. Get in the damn train.

Conductor: Okay everyone, we're going to evacuate the train now. Just stay calm. This isn't the Titanic. I repeat, this is not the Titanic.

Conductor: Board the train so the doors can close. [Girls slowly shuffle around doors.] You must physically board the train to ride. The platform does not move.

Conductor, very politely: Ladies and gentlemen, please stand clear of the closing doors so this train can leave the station. Thank you. [Later, not as politely] Sir, maybe the fact that you have to hold on to the outside of the car to stay inside is a sign that you should wait for the next train!

Conductor: Y'all, these suckahs gon' be on this train for hours!

thanks to Overheard in New York again.

Please explain

Monday night was the first of NINE Garth brooks concerts at the Sprint Center. NINE, holy crap. My route to both theaters I work at downtown goes past the Sprint Center on 13th St. My routes back vary slightly, due to the one-way-in-the-wrong-way nature of downtown streets. As I left the Lyric Monday night, I intended to go east across 10th St, south on Main, west on Truman (south of the highway) and go south on Oak as it turns into Gilham and eventually Rockhill, taking me home. My plan was foiled by the post- Brooks traffic bullshit, which seems to mainly mean cops blocking off streets in an apparent effort to make traffic smoother, but which actually causes people to have to go around making it all worse. I don't get it.

The police blocked off Main past 12th, so I had to turn east on 12th St, well before my intended destination. That's when I saw them. The limos. It seemed that every limo in a 10 mile radius had been drawn to the Sprint center, and had lined up along the surrounding blocks. I saw literally, at least 25 limos of all shapes and sizes. This is the part I don't get. I'm fairly certain that Garth Brooks already has a ride, and if he didn't that he could only physically ride in one limo at a time. Who are all those limos for? And why must they block the streets so?

overheardinnewyork.com

"Conductor: Attention, passengers, this J Train is now going express to Myrtle. You hear me? Express. Express! There is a local train right behind this one. This train is going express! [Mob of angry passengers exits train.] Psych! This is a local J Train to Manhattan. Next stop: Chauncey. Please enjoy the leg room brought to you by the New York City MTA."

Subway conductors must get really bored, going back and forth all day.

It's funny if you're a lighting person

Today we hung lights down at Camp Copaken. Nick and I were working onstage, while Jon and Porter were working in the first catwalk. Jon yelled down that he'd forgotten the color, and would I bring it to him. I told him no problem, send down the bucket and I'd bring it up. I went to the cart, looked for the appropriate pile of color, and located the 1st Catwalk page of the instrument schedule. All 21 lights were N/C. (That's short for No Color, meaning the whole catwalk has no gels.) I thought, that's pretty weird, showed the page to Nick, then decided it would be funny to put the single sheet of paper in the bucket for them. They took the bucket up, got their paperwork, saw that they needed no gels, and we all had a good laugh. Whoo! Lighting humor!

Downtown Moment.

I saw a neat Downtown Moment yesterday on my way to the opera. I passed 3 guys in suits who had removed their jackets, and were playing frisbee in a parking lot. This Downtown Moment has been brought to you by the letter F, and the number 3.

That took long enough

My dad asked me to help him install track lighting in their kitchen yesterday. Back in the day, Dad installed a skylight in the kitchen, removing the light fixture. My mom has wanted some kind of lighting in there since then. That was the year we moved into that house. That was somewhere around 1986. For about twenty years, my mom has waited to have some lighting in the kitchen, and it took us one afternoon to do it. :P It took about 4 hours, and my dad didn't fall off a ladder, or through the ceiling from the attic, or set the attic on fire. Success!

Another one down

Opera tech is over. It went pretty well in the end. There were the usual screeching halts, where we encounter some stupid problem and come to a complete standstill for awhile. I say usual, which is sad but true for the opera. Opening is Saturday, and I'm pretty sure there won't be any surprises like last time. Yay!

Last night I went out for a drink with the opera stage management gals. We went to a bar with video touchscreens in the booths and played video Monopoly. Long game short, I took all their monies. :) I'm pretty sure that's the first Monopoly game I've finished in at least 10 years. Even with a computer doing all the math, it still took two hours. When I was a kid I played Monopoly with my cousins a few times, and I don't think we ever finished it. We always had to stop because my cousin Scott would start losing and then cry. He's the one that got married this summer. He doesn't cry when he loses games any more. :)

Figures

Last year, much like this year, I was in tech at the Lyric on Halloween. I was chatting with Donald, who was telling me that the doorbell kept ringing even though there was no light on the porch, and he even covered up the doorbells. I told him that it would be a good time to offload the banana nut granola bars we didn't want. He didn't think that was as funny as I did. No candy = doorbells.

This year, I had candy ready for Donald to give out. The doorbell didn't ring a single time. Candy = no doorbells. Figures. Luckily, there's no danger of Donald and me just eating it all, because it's Tootsie Roll Pops and we don't like them that much. I shall give them away at the theater.

Inappropriate things to give trick or treaters:

Scissors

Canned soup

matches

Casserole

Silverware

Painkillers

Edit: Chewing tobacco

more coffee

The aforementioned Starbucks at H&R Block is coming in handy. The production staff here at the opera wanted coffee Saturday, so I led them there. We've been back 3 times. There was a local coffeeshop down here that also had nice sandwiches, but I think it has closed. That makes me sad, because I just don't like the coffee at Starbucks as much as other places. Sigh.

dinnertime moment

The Hamburger Helper was almost ready to eat.

Donald:

"I'll go clear off the table. And by table I mean coffee table. And by clear off I mean move the computers."

It was funny to me. :)

coffee on site

They opened a Starbucks in the same building as our theater downtown about a week ago. It's right next to the box office. They're going to make fat cash, because house management is allowing food and drinks into the theater for this show. (Not to mention the several hundred H&R Block tax drones every day.) They're going to be open weekends and evenings, selling many overpriced sugary things to theater patrons. The whole concept of food and drink in a live play rubs me the wrong way. You aren't seeing a movie after all, and those actors one stage can see you too. So far, I think there has only been one coffee spill. It just seems wrong to me...

The Starbucks itself is pretty humorous. We're at 13th and Main. The other Starbucks downtown is at 14th and Main. Due to building layout, you'd actually have to walk 2 blocks to get to the other Starbucks, but still. A block away. There's also a nice local coffee shop 2 blocks away that I'd much rather go to, but it isn't open as late. And the damn Starbucks is actually in the damn lobby. I've been going up there when other people go for drinks because they are giving away Song of The Day iTunes cards. Each card has a code for a free download. When I take a free song card and don't buy a $3 drink, it's my tiny, ineffectual way of sticking it to the man. :)

How The Cat Wakes You Up In The Morning!

This is pretty much true, and DAMN cute. I laughed out loud. :)

Heroes

Tonight's episode only confirmed that I hate that Molly kid. I hope the boogeyman guy comes and eats her face. I don't know why, she just gets on my damn nerves. Aside from that, I enjoyed the Micah in LA story. I also enjoyed the Claire gets a boyfriend story, although it's damn certain she's going to get caught. I like the addition of Flying Man Jr., and that he's added some doubt into Claire's mind about HRG. Donald thinks junior is up to no good, but I'm not sure.

Our VCR is getting a good workout so far this TV season. We've been taping Heroes because 8:00 on Monday is an awfully good time to go get coffee, being my only night off currently. Wednesday I tape Bionic Woman. The lead actress is alright, but a little annoying in the same way Jennifer Garner was at the beginning of Alias. I will continue to watch though, because I just love Katee Sackhoff. Thursdays we tape Grey's Anatomy because we love that show, even though Meredith continues to be annoying and whiny. Good supporting cast = we keep watching.

Update: Amazing

eBay batteries arrived, and when installed in flashlight, produced light. Success! Hooray for the internet.

We watched Mean Girls the other night, and were thoroughly entertained. Tiny Fey should write more movies. I loved the dialogue! It also made me sad that Lindsey Lohan has turned herself into a scrawny blonde burnout. She really had potential (and pretty red hair.)

Cute +10

This kitten is almost too cute to be real. Beware!

Amazing

I bought a nifty little LED flashlight for $10 on clearance a year or so ago. It has a small round plastic base with a clip, so it can sit on a table or be clipped onto something. It has a bendy neck so I can point the light where I need it. It's pretty much great during a light focus session. The batteries ran out, so I needed to get new ones. It takes 2 CR 2032 watch batteries. I bought a new battery from CVS the other day for $3.99. When I got home, I realized dammit, I need 2 batteries. Then I thought, wait, I'm going to spent $8 on batteries for a $10 flashlight? Now, I know CVS prices things high. I know I can almost certainly get better deals somewhere else, but for some reason I still occasionally shop there. It's convenient. But this is just silly. I checked Amazon, prices okay. They're selling a new battery for .01 and shipping it for $4.99. That would be great if they did combined shipping. I checked eBay. The second listing is for 10 new Sony batteries, $8.50, free shipping. The seller has a 99.9% positive rating. I clicked Buy it Now. In 4-5 Business days, we'll see if I got ripped off or not.

More tasty dinner, and not too funny

I cooked again! At the theater we decided to do an Italian- themed potluck on Sunday between shows. Yesterday, my mom and I made spaghetti sauce and meatballs. It was fun to cook together, and delicious too. Afterwards, my hair smelled like meatballs. My hair seems to absorb food smells very easily. I smelled delicious. So now I have delicious sauce and meatballs to take.

After the show last night I caught the end of UMKC's production of Noises Off. Verdict: I'm not sorry I didn't see the beginning. One major element that the movie does better than the stage production is focus your attention. I saw the last 10-15 minutes of Act 2, where there is a lot of chaotic running around. In the movie, they put the camera on what they want you to see. On stage, there's so much mess that you don't know where you should be looking until you realize you've missed something. This is more of a problem with the staging then the actual show. I'm sure that professionals can (and have) pulled it off nicely.

Next there was a ridiculous little, I dunno, intermission show or something while the set changed. They played Mission Impossible music and a guy dashed around playing commando or something while the turntable turned and the set revolved around to the front. It was the single most amateur thing I've seen on the Spencer Stage. I was kind of embarrassed, actually.

Then there was Act 3. Another issue I have with this production is the voices of some of the actors weren't strong enough to project the dialogue. Act 3 isn't funny if you don't know how much they're doing wrong from Act 1, and you can't tell how much they're doing wrong if you can't hear what they're saying. They also seemed to have cribbed a lot of blocking straight from the movie, which was even more obvious in Act 2.

Verdict: Watch the movie. It has Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Marilu Henner, Julie Hagerty, Mark Linn-Baker, Denholm Elliot and young Nicollette Sheridan running around in her underwear. It is hilarious.

P.S.- The lighting wasn't any good either.

Tasty dinner

I actually cooked today. From scratch! I bought the cookbook Macaela recommended, Cheap. Fast. Good! and today I tried my first recipe from it. First I made the Thai-Style Peanut Sauce, then I used it to make a pasta dish. The sauce was made in my blender, so it was easy and fast. The longest part was chopping up the fresh ginger. Oddly enough, this peanut sauce used only 1/2 cup peanut butter to make about 2 cups sauce.

For the Thai Spaghetti Toss, I cooked chicken pieces in my wok. Next I added onions and snap peas, then bean sprouts and half the peanut sauce, then mixed in the pasta and added crushed peanuts. I'm pretty damn pleased with it. Donald thought it was a little bit bland, which could be fixed by merely adding more sauce. (The other half of the batch of sauce went in the freezer for next time.) It made 4 good sized servings, and Donald even had seconds. Success! And now I have 2 dinners to take to the theater with me. If anybody's interested, I can post recipes.

Transporter 3 will probably take place in a secret moon base

The Transporter, which I was assured was much better than the Transporter 2, was not much better than the Transporter 2. It was better, but it still wasn't what I would call good. There were some very enjoyable fight scenes, especially at the beginning. It started to go downhill when he let kidnapped girl stay at his house, and he went to bed. Good idea, sir! Clearly you've kept your reputation as a guy who does the job without getting involved by making genius moves like this. What could possibly go wrong?! It got more improbable from there, but at nowhere near the level of the sequel. Probably because the piles of cash available on the sequel allowed them to make exponentially more unrealistic stunts. And somewhere between the two movies Mr. Badass took a class in Matrix-esque bullet dodging. I still like Jason Statham though. I enjoyed him in the Italian Job.

Donald and I decided that the producers of the Hitman movie (which is based on the Hitman vidya game) were insane to have someone OTHER than Statham play the main character. Timothy Olyphant is a lovely guy, I'm sure, but I just don't buy him as this character. Somebody else already went through the trouble of comparing:
Whatever. It'll probably end up as one of those movies I want to see but not badly enough to fork out $9. There have been an awful lot of those lately.

Not quite Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs

I sat down in my desk chair this morning and wrapped myself up in a blanket because it's kind of chilly. A couple minutes later Anna dashed in, hopped onto my lap and gave me a dirty look- as if to say, you got out the blanket and didn't tell me?? Then she turned in circles a few times and settled down, purring furiously. I love having a cat.

Monday I finished up Aida. It took about an hour, then I spent a couple more finishing up my gel file cabinet organization project. I'm pretty damn pleased with the outcome. There are a few more things to organize, and it's not perfect, but it's sooo much better than before. All it took was a bit of time. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's probably because I started the file cabinet project many moons ago, and just now got around to finishing it up. Monday evening we watched Heroes. It was a good start to the new season. Lots of questions to answer!

Tuesday I went in to work and started my dimmer check as usual, to find that the entire first rack of dimmers wasn't working. That meant zero lights were working front of house. I had no idea how to fix that, so I called SMJ, who came over to save the day. After poking at several things, they came back to life. We didn't really figure out what was wrong, and that's never good. If it happens again and we can't get them up at all, there are several backup plans. First plan was to turn on the Studio Spots and use them to frontlight wash the whole stage. (The set is small. This would have worked.) Plan 2 was to turn on the followspot and have SMJ followspot the whole show. (It's a one woman show. This also would have worked.) Comedy option three was to give the audience free booze so they'd be so drunk they wouldn't care what it looked like. This led people to suggest that we should have had free booze all through tech. Yeah, and if wishes were horses we'd all be eatin' steak.

Wednesday Donald stayed home sick, and spent most of the day sleeping on the couch and feeling crappy. We got Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from Netflix, and tried to watch it in the afternoon. I say tried because it was a really crappy movie. I dozed off once, and then gave up entirely and got ready for work. I sure hate it when a good book is turned into a bad movie. That night was opening night, and it went just fine. All dimmers kindly performed their dimming, the audience clapped, then we ate nibbles at the opening night party.

Thursday I went for a walk in the morning, washed some dishes in the afternoon, did the show in the evening, and watched the tape of the Grey's Anatomy season premiere that Donald kindly remembered to record. We're so hooked on that show.

I have the ForecastFox extension installed. It puts today's weather in the bottom of my browser. I just glanced over and saw a curly looking symbol I'd never seen before. I moused over it and saw that it was predicting wind, but not until after I thought to myself, "Ah, sunny with a chance of squigglies." Now I'm picturing squigglies falling from the sky.
It'd be different!

dollas

The show we're teching at the Rep has been ridiculously easy. It comes in at probably 65 light cues total. I will definitely be getting a lot of reading done on this one. They're cutting tech time left and right which is good because I get to go home early, but bad because I don't make any dollars when I'm at home. Sigh. I wonder if I'll get the pay increase I asked for? It surely isn't fair to make $2 an hour less than the guy doing the same thing at the other theater.

I added up my hours for the opera just because I was curious tonight. I get paid a set amount for the whole thing, so the fewer hours I work the more I make. If I work 5 more hours, I'll average out at $18 an hour. Pretty sweet!

Whew

Opening night of the opera we all got a surprise when a previously dark scene was suddenly bright. Very bright. I first noticed it when I could see the scene change happening. I thought perhaps I was just seeing more because I was at the top of the balcony. Then it stayed bright. Oh shit, I thought. I ran down to the booth to see what the crappity smack was going on. Between the two of us, the board op and I figured out that the lighting designer- who made changes after the last rehearsal- brought up a bunch of lights in one cue, and they tracked through the whole scene. The scene was supposed to be dark and moody, as the cast of about 75 sang and carried candles and sacrificed a topless virgin priestess. Not on opening night, oh no. On opening night it was as bright as about 6000* watts of accidental PAR cans can make a scene. Unfortunately, I couldn't fix it then, but I could see clearly how to fix it for the next show. Tonight before the show I fixed it, we ran through the cues with the stage manager to double check, and happily went into preshow; safe in the knowlege that it would be dark when it was supposed to be dark, and bright when it was supposed to be bright. Whew. I finally got do do something really productive as ALD.

In book news, Robert Jordan died yesterday. Thousands of readers' first thoughts: How are they going to finish the series??!? Fortunately, it seems that he's left instructions on how to finish up. Oh, and sympathies to his family and stuff. The series started in 1990, I started reading around '98. I've been on board for 9 years, as he added more and more plotlines. I waited through several books when very little seemed to happen, until stuff started happening again in the last few books. Now I want to see how it ends, goddammit! I really enjoyed the last book, where as least two plotlines got tied up and several others made significant progress. Sigh.

*for those of you who want to know, that's 21 1000w PAR cans at 28%.

Elliptical reflector

Ha ha! Click for big:

The Lyric makes my knees hurt

The house of the theater used to be a full semi circle shape. At some point, they walled off the sides nearest the stage, making a more wedge shaped house. The walled off portions are now hallways and storage areas with slanted floors. My path from the house to the office (where I print things) goes out a door, down a ramp, through a door, down more ramp, turn left then up a ramp, turn right then through 2 more doors, up a few stairs, turn right, then up stairs to the second floor. I do this often, and fast. The place is peppered with small flights of stairs, everywhere you go. It’s definitely not ADA accessible, and gets to be hard on the knees! It doesn’t help that the leg of the tech table intrudes in my space and I whack my knees on that sometimes. The whole thing is still much much better than last year when the tech table was in the balcony.

Meatloaf

Ever wonder how the cat's legs are arranged when in the meatloaf position? Wonder no more:

whiskey and brownies?

Donald and I finally went to visit his grandparents yesterday. We hadn't been to visit them in a long time. It was a nice visit- but she made us eat brownies. She made me have ice cream with mine. Crazy, right? Forcing people to eat nice fresh brownies? Okay, it was voluntary brownie consumption. Grandpa offered us whiskey, as usual. :) See, he offers us Sprite, and when we decline, he runs down the list of other beverages on hand usually finishing with whiskey. I wonder what he'd do if we said we DID want whiskey? Grandma said she had no computer questions for Donald. She did ask him to set the clock on the VCR, so he re-set up the whole thing. I guess he's got to fix something. He did download some updates for the computer, but that's it.

Yesterday I wanted to play Wii Sports again, which led to the inevitable sore right shoulder. Why do I insist on swinging the wiimote so hard? I'm not really throwing a bowling ball, dammit! Donald and I played a bit of tennis, baseball and bowling together before quitting because we were hot. I had the air off because it's starting to cool down to a decent temperature at times. Those cool times are not 4 in the afternoon. If I can remember to close the windows and turn the air back on before it gets up to 80º, wii will be able to maintain comfortable temperatures.

Donald and I hung out at Mike's 2 nights in a row. We joked that the people at Muddy's will think we're dead. Mike got a 360, so we've been enjoying the new thing. He downloaded/bought Carcassone, which was much more fun after we read the instructions. I can't imagine playing it with actual cards though, it would be worse than Settlers for scooting around and coming undone. Do you play it in the floor? (Robyn actually has this game.) Another reason to go to Mike's is the new ice cream place. Miami Ice is the name, and their unique treat is shaved ice with a blob of custard at the bottom, available in many sno-cone like flavors. They also have some very tasty ice creams, and we've barely begun sampling them. The best thing is how cheap they are, and how much they give you for it. The total bill for Donald and me has been under $4. If you get a waffle cone, they fill the bottom with chocolate chips, then stuff about 2 scoops of ice cream into it. I couldn't finish mine the other day. If you get a regular cone, they still stuff about 2 scoops worth of ice cream on top, so you have to eat fast before it melts and becomes a tipping hazard. Tasty goodness.

"Mensa Invitational"

Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which, once again, asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter - and then to supply a new definition.

The winners are:

1. Cashtration (n.):
The act of buying (or building) a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus:
A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication:
Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize that it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation:
Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.):
The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy:
Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti:
Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm:
The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte:
To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis:
Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis:
A degenerate disease.

(This one got extra credit)
12. Karmageddon:
It's when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, and then the Earth explodes and it's a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.):
The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

14. Glibido:
All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect:
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.):
The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.):
Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.):
The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n.
The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj.
Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3. Abdicate, v.
To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade, v.
To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-Nilly, adj.
Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj.
Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v.
To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n.
Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n.
Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n.
A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n.
A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n.
The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n.
A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n.
A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n.
The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n.
An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Still here

After I posted on Friday, I FINALLY got ahold of the doctor's office and FINALLY got my hands on a new prescription and FINALLY put it in the mail on Saturday. Finally. It really really shouldn't have been that difficult. I'm certainly not planning to go back to St. Luke's Internal Medicine again. They were astonishingly unhelpful.

As for our rent, we decided to get a 9 month lease. We had an appointment to go over the new lease, but it got canceled and we don't have a new appointment yet. So we've gotten nowhere with that. Donald's going to go ahead and pay the rent for next month at the same rate we've been paying, since there's no way we'll get a new lease signed by Sept. 1. Plenty of time to argue about stupid crap details in the sample lease Donald picked up.

Donald and I decided we should eat out less. We're spending too damn much money on delicious but unnecessary meals. Or maybe I just decided it- at least it seems that way with all the crap Donald's been giving me about it. :P In the time left before I'm sucked into tech rehearsals, I've been trying to cook more. For dinner Wednesday I broiled us a steak. KC Strips were on sale, so I got a great price. It was mostly a steaky success, but ended up overdone because somebody thought it was too red in the middle. Next time I won't listen to somebody, and he'll eat the damn steak however I cook it. I also made instant mashed potatoes and frozen green beans. For dinner last night I reheated the sides, and baked breaded chicken tenderloins. While the food I prepared was certainly not cooking from scratch, it's at least a step above frozen pizza. (Which we had Monday.) Gotta start somewhere. :)

Last Saturday Donald completely and totally surprised me by making me breakfast in bed. He said he was worried that I'd hear him and wake up. I've gotten so used to sleeping through the noises he makes while getting ready for work every morning, that I had no idea what was happening until he walked in with a tray. He made me scrambled eggs and toast with jam. It was great. :) It was also a little weird to be eating right after I got up. I've gotten in the habit of getting up and puttering around on my computer for awhile before eating breakfast. Just like I'm doing now!

Ron's Slip and Slide Extravaganza (FULL VERSION)

hassles

Sometimes I wonder if my phone still works. When I'm expecting someone to call back and they don't, it's all manner of annoying. Sadly, I know the phone DOES work. I'm trying to get a prescription written.

When I went to the doctor in July, the nurse said she'd fax it. How convenient, I thought, and went on my way. Two weeks later, I went online to order a refill. It wouldn't let me, so I called them and found that the prescription never happened. So I called the doctor's office, and was directed to leave a message. Eventually someone called back telling me that the previous nurse was wrong about the faxing, and that they would send me a prescription in the mail so I could mail it to the mail away pharmacy. They would also call over to the CVS and I could get a month's supply from there while I wait. This business was on the Friday before I went out of town to my cousin's wedding. I got back, and on Monday I went to CVS to pick up the prescription, which they never got and therefore wasn't there.

I called the doctor's office again, and was told that my doctor's last day was Friday, and they couldn't help me. Apparently, the nurse I spoke to on Friday didn't exist or something. The receptionist was rude and unhelpful. Fuck you, St. Luke's Internal Medicine. Then I called my doctor's new office, got an answering machine and left a message. A nurse called back later, and finally- called CVS so I could get more drugs. (Which, by the way, cost nearly twice as much as they would from the mail away pharmacy.) I went back to waiting for the prescription to come in the mail, thinking maybe the St. Luke's nurse managed to get that part right. Three weeks later, I've given up and am back to calling the doctor's new office. I've called them several times on 2 different lines and never gotten a person. I deal only with the answering machine. Sigh. I should have just taken a written prescription with me back in July and avoided this whole mess. I just called again, and actually got a person- who promptly transferred me to the answering machine. Awesome.

More hassles! We haven't gotten a new lease yet, since the new rental company has still been sorting things out. Yesterday we got a renewal notice on our door, with our address, the wrong rent amount, and 2 other people's names on it. Great organization there. Donald talked to them when he got to work, and the bastards are not only raising our rent $30, but we're suddenly supposed to pay for water. We've lived here 4 years without paying water, but it seems that the girls downstairs have been paying water all year, for the whole house. That's bullshit, they shouldn't have to pay for our water, but why now? Ridiculous. Donald says they're going to charge us a flat rate of $35 a month, which seems awfully high. IF this crap goes through, they're essentially raising our rent $65. Ridiculous.

kitty tail tale

I just saw the funniest thing. I was playing with Anna, using a piece of string. She was chasing it, I was dangling it and so forth. I dropped the string on her, and it landed neatly over the base of her tail. She was still chasing it- and spent several moments spinning in a circle, centrifugal force keeping the tail-string out of her reach, while I laughed at her. The string fell off, and kitty stumbled a few steps in one direction until she regained her balance. Priceless!

Stardust

I really enjoyed Stardust. I know they changed things up for the movie, but I'm okay with that. It's been several years since I read the book, so I barely remembered more than the plot anyway. I found it to be about 90% delightful. The part I did not enjoy was the completely pointless DeNiro mincing about scene. The movie people clearly think it's hilarious, but it just made me feel embarrassed. On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the 7 brothers, Michelle Pfeiffer and her goat drawn chariot, Claire Danes, and the guy playing Tristan.

It's been a lazy week for me. Dishes have been washed, groceries have been purchased, laundry has been laundered. Annnd... I played a bunch of Wario's Woods. I just can't help it, I love games when things fall out of the sky. We've certainly gotten our $5 out of it. It's funny that I've never played it on the Nintendo. I played it on Donald's computer- emulated, and on the Wii- also emulated? I don't really know how the virtual console works.

Well look what I didn't know- Wario's Woods was released for NES an SNES at the same time. Wish they'd released the SNES version for the virtual console instead, it looks eaisier on the eyes. After entirely too much time playing this game, all I can see is little dancing creatures. Must stack them!!

Show's done

As I mentioned (very briefly) the preview of our show went fine. As anyone in theatre knows, a good preview is a bad sign. If a bunch of things go wrong in the preview, opening night will be fine. If your preview is smooth, something will go wrong on opening night. I figure there's some kind of universal balancing act going on there. Things have to screw up at some point. There wasn't any kind of disaster Monday night, but my light board did overheat and reboot itself twice. I was pretty unhappy with that. At intermission we moved the fan closer and raised the board up, so Act 2 was okay. The audience seemed to really enjoy the show. Success!

Strike yesterday went very smoothly. Taking things down is so very much easier than putting them up! Hooray gravity. With a bit of help, and a few trips here and there, I was finished and home by 2:30. Then I took a most glorious shower. It was even more satisfying because I knew that I didn't have to go back to the dusty place ever again! My lungs will finally be able to recover. I'm looking forward to not coughing up phlegm and being able to talk again wouldn't hurt either. My toe is feeling better too. I'm feeling very hopeful that my toenail is undamaged. Regrowing my big toenail would be a bitch.

So now it's on to the next show. I've started preparing for Aida at the Lyric. I also have a bunch of dishes and laundry to catch up on, and I need to go to the grocery store.

Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!

Friday I got to play with icing again. Lucy wanted a pineapple cake this year. Mom baked the cake in 2 round pans, and I took it from there. I got out the food coloring and the good ole' Betty Crocker icing and had a good time. It turned out nice and pineapple-y. The whole time I was making it the Spongebob song was in my head. ("Who lives in a pineapple under the sea!") The real pineapple was very useful to have as a reference. Mom cut off the top and stuck it on the cake before serving it Saturday.




When I went out to water my plants yesterday I heard rustling under the bushes. My first instinct was to squirt the sound with the garden hose, assuming it was a squirrel. Turns out, it was a teeny baby bunneh. It was cute, so I got my camera. It was also terrified, being a bunny, but too stupid to actually run very far. It was gone, or at least better hidden by the time I finished watering.

Yesterday I managed to drop a Rubbermaid container of Chinese leftovers on my right big toe, causing a great deal of pain. The edge managed to just hit the cuticle, which has now turned very purple. I couldn't even yell in pain properly, just sort of croak. It amazes me how much something so small can hurt. It just throbbed all the rest of the night, as I limped around at the show. (The preview went fine, I took many photos.) It feels better this morning, but I'm still going to keep it elevated as much as possible. Sigh. I decided not to post a toe picture, but I have one available on request! It actually doesn't look like much. :)

Time for an audience

Our little show is ready to go. We ran through the whole play last night and the night before, and it went pretty great both times. We have our preview tonight, and the performance tomorrow. Yay! I'm glad to get to the performance, and yes, I'll be glad when it's over. I'm looking forward to not inhaling any more dust. We're bringing in fans to try to keep our audience as comfortable as possible. Oddly enough, we all agreed that it didn't seem as hot lately. Either we're getting used to it, or there's some inversely proportional temperature thing going on with the outdoors. It's probably the first one.

I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon helping the set designer make masking. Using only the finest in materials- we made blacks out of black plastic paint tarps. :) It worked surprisingly well. I cut them to size, then sat and put grommets in them, and Dave hung them. Then we made a backdrop with the same technique. The backdrop has fabric "buildings" attached. Dave laid them out, then I took over making them into buildings. It was a lot of fun actually. The sound designer watched me do it, making suggestions. So it ended up being a truly collaborative effort. For once. All the talk about collaboration in theater is usually just talk. It's very rare that 3 designers do ANYTHING together. So, it was fun!

Speaking of dust, I started getting a sore throat a few days ago. I'm sure the excessive dust doesn't help, even though by this point we aren't really stirring it up. By today my voice is nearly gone. I'm thinking about making myself a button that I can just point at to avoid unnecessary speaking.

For dinner last night Donald and Mike and I tried out the Westport Flea Market for the first time. I give them 2 thumbs up. They have 2 sizes of hamburger, A Little Too Big and Really Too Big. Both sizes are delicious- flavorful and juicy, and reasonably priced for the size. They come with a side of fries, and you help yourself to a condiment bar. There are a lot of other sandwiches on the menu, but I'm pretty sure that the next few times I go there I'll be getting another delicious burger. Tasty tasty.

That must mean I'm a unicorn!

Day 2 in the dustiest place to ever do a theatrical production went rather better than day 1. I got some desperately needed help from Dan Parks for a few hours. He helped me hang and focus my pile 'o lights. Hanging eighteen lights is no big deal, if you have a buddy. If you're on your own, it takes much much longer. So Dan is awesome, and I owe him a nice big dinner sometime. With his help, I got the stuff ready between 11:30 and 4:30. Then I went home and took a glorious shower. One of my top 5 showers ever, probably. I rested awhile, made a lovely batch of smoothies, and had dinner with Donald.

Around 8:30 I went back for the evening portion of rehearsal. I wrote some cues, and watched the scene change rehearsals. It was a pretty productive evening. It was also relatively comfortable, sitting still in front of my light board with a fan on me. I borrowed a camp chair from my dad so I have a clean place to sit. Once the sun has been down a couple of hours, it gets cooler, or at least seems to . That's not going to help with the performance much though, since "curtain" is at 7:30.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to not go in until 6:30 for rehearsal. We thoroughly teched Act 1, then just did the scene changes for Act 2. It's coming together quite nicely, and I think we're ready to run through the whole thing tonight. If you're free Monday night, check it out... it'll be unique! Bring a hand fan and wear shorts though!

info here: http://davidfehr.net/Sin.htm

Dirty place: day 1

Having gotten the Equity Showcase up, and having returned from the weekend out-of-town trip, I was left with no choice but to start in on the One Night Stand show. Hoo boy, did I do a lot of running around using up petroleum today. (Sorry planet, at least I recycle, right?)

1. Drove to fetch lights from theater in a land far, far away (Kansas.) Took about half an hour to get there. Kept telling myself, the lights were free, I only had to go get them. Filled up my dad's gas tank, said goodbye to $50. Delivered lights to "theater."
2. Drove to fetch booms and dimmers from a land much closer, but possessing a much more unpleasant smell. Harvest Productions is just north of the river, and it smells truly awful in that general area sometimes. Loaded all the stuff into the pickup truck, back to the "theater" for more unloading.
3. Drove back to my home to get keys so I could fetch a light board and various other stuff from UMKC. More unloading.
4. Started setting up in "theater." This was the hard part, and the lack of A/C was very unpleasant. I spent a lot of time taking water breaks and trying to cool off somewhat. At least there are now copious extension cords to plug fans into.
5. Drove to Home Depot, bought a few things, went back again.
6. Set up a bit more equipment. Got booted out of the building at 7. I've never been so glad to be kicked out of somewhere I'm trying to work. I was so ready for any excuse to go home and take a shower.

I think I sweated more today than in the whole rest of the summer combined. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better, since all the equipment is already there. Now I just have to put it all together, and hope none of the lamps are burned out. Then focus the lights, and write cues, and do a play! Whew.

weekend pics

We headed up to the farm this weekend for my cousin's wedding. Here are a few pics:

Donald, dad, and me before the weddingThe happy couple
In the getaway vehicleThere they go, off to the receptionYep, they drove to the reception in a shiny new fancy (borrowed) tractor. No question here, they're farmers. :)

The ceremony was blessedly short. The church had very inadequate A/C, so they kept it short. The reception made up for it though, being nice and chilly. The food was good, the cake was very tasty, and I ate too many wedding mints. I can't help it! I love those damn things! I was told they're usually made of cream cheese and powdered sugar. Mmmmmm. It's always good to spend time with the family at my Grandma's house. Since Grandpa died, I wish I could get there more often to visit. My dad goes up pretty often though. All in all we had a nice time, but by Sunday we were ready to go home. As always, it was good to be back in my own bed again!

Day so very long

Yesterday we loaded in the Equity showcase in 116. I got there at 9am, and didn't go home until midnight. At times, it was a highly unproductive day. First thing, they hang curtains. First problem, they didn't have the right curtains. That started the day off late for me, since I was supposed to be starting lights by 11, and didn't until at least 12:30. Then it all just went slow. At 9pm the stumble through rehearsal got started, and somehow took 3 hours. I am telling you, the show won't be 3 hours long, so I don't know how it took so long. I tried to write a few cues, to get ahead for today. I took a few notes of things to change or fix. By the time I got home I was ready to go to bed. Ugh. I'm heading back to the theater at noon to keep working.

Certainly uncontaminated by cheese

I made a purse about a couple months ago. I fabricated it from the leg of a pair of pants I cut off for shorts. Since then, I've been intending to do some embroidery on the corner of the flap. I was going to do something with a leaf pattern, but my sample leaves looked crappy so I went with just swirls. Then I redrew the pattern about 4 times trying to get it just right. Once I had it the way I liked it, I drew it onto the purse with a pen. Yesterday, I finally got around to embroidering it. I'm very pleased with it, especially the way the variegated color thread turned out. I have 3 curls with crystals, 3 loops, and 3 little curls. The number 3 makes a nice asymmetrical pattern. The embroidery was fun, so I kind of want to do the pattern on something else now, but I don't know what.


Bonus kitty paw:

HP7- done!

I finished Harry Potter yesterday. It was full of ups and downs, and very hard to put down! I just wanted to keep reading. I know I'm not alone in feeling kind of sad that that's the last book. That's all I'll say, no spoilers here. Donald and I took turns reading. He got it in the evening, and I read during the day. It was kind of fun to be sharing a book. Of course, it was hard to wait while it was Donald's turn.

Donald and I went to Odessa to get his car back last night. Driving on the highway by yourself sure is boring. I don't know how people do it for 8 hour trips. Listening to music certainly helps. Driving at night is even more boring, since you can't see the scenery. And it's only about half an hour to Odessa! We stopped at his parents house for a few minutes, and saw both of the nephews. It's weird that I'm an aunt now.

We watched The Illusionist after we got back home last night. I enjoyed it, but Edward Norton's accent was awful. The story kept me interested all the way through, then the ending didn't really resolve anything about the magic. Pretty good overall.

Well if you insist

I wasn't going to buy this Harry Potter book. I was going to get it from the library, and buy a paperback copy later in order to match my 6 other paperback copies. Then I went to Costco to buy some chips, and there was a huge pile of books lookin' at me right inside the front door. So I bought one. And then it sat- unread- the rest of the day since I was busy. I ended up reading about 5 pages before falling asleep last night. This morning I got up and checked my email, and the library has the copy I requested. So I didn't need to buy a copy at all, because I would have had it today anyway. Oh well. This way I can loan it to somebody when Donald and I are done. Although there seems to be no shortage of this book. I bet there will be a lot of extra copies lying around in a week.

I had a busy day yesterday. I'll make a list:
10:30-2:30- Hot dusty cleanup duty
2:30-3- Drive around in circles looking for parking spot
3-3:45- Watched a rehearsal
3:45-4- Ran to Costco
4-4:45- Watched a different rehearsal
4:45-5:15- took another shower
5:15-7- got ready for LAN party
7ish-2AM- shot people

Yes, we finally had another LAN party. It was a small one with only 4 extra nerds in our house. Off the top of my head I could name 6 more people who would play games with us, if they didn't live an another state. Here in the area, that was about all I could come up with. Next time I'll start looking sooner. I had so much other stuff to do that I didn't organize this one very well. We had fun though. I made cheesy dip and fresh guacamole. They were thoroughly gobbled up, so must have been tasty.

very addictive

I came across the website for the folks who make Quiddler and 5 Crowns. They have a few daily puzzles, one of which is based on the game "Set". I don't have this game, but now I really want it. The daily puzzle is a great brain teaser. http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm To learn how to play, click the "how to play" link and it will take you through a quick tutorial. After that it's all getting your brain to see different patterns. If the daily puzzle isn't enough for you, at the bottom of the page is a link to Multiplayer Set where you can play online! You can play as a guest or register. Then you can play against other people or practice by yourself. Robyn and I played for a while the other day. Check it out!

Dinner adventure

For dinner tonight I made "homemade" pasta sauce. I say "homemade" because it's actually just doctored Ragu. :) I browned hamburger and onions, and cut up zucchini. Then I added the Ragu, and various spices, and left it to simmer. I started to do some dishes. When I turned back to the sauce to give it a stir, a sauce bubble popped up and burned my hand. I squawked, swore a little, and ran it under cold water. Then I went back to washing dishes. After a few minutes, the water didn't seem to be draining, so I gave the disposal a spin which usually sucks the water down. This time it didn't. In fact it kept filling. Great. Then it came back up. Ew. I thought maybe some food was caught, so I stuck my hand in to check. Again, ew, but nothing. Crap.

I washed a few more dishes, having to stop every couple of minutes to wait for water to go back down. Naturally, it was 6:45, well after the time anybody would be in the landlord's office, so I left a message. About 7:00 I started the pasta. Donald got home when it was just about ready. I was getting pretty hungry, and he's usually ready to eat as soon as he gets home. I took the pasta to the sink to drain it, held the lid on the pot and turned it over to let the water drain out like I always do-- then dropped the whole thing in the sink. As I stared at my pile of pasta in the sink, it quickly slithered into the garbage disposal. And I just watched it go, as my stomach grumbled.

So my dinner has literally fallen down the drain, and I could do nothing but fill the pot with water again, and put it back on the stove to make more pasta. Then I had to get the old pasta out of the garbage disposal, because it chose today to not work right! I pulled the trash can over to the sink, sighed, and stuck my hand in the garbage disposal AGAIN. I immediately yanked my hand out of the garbage disposal because that pasta was still very hot! Slimy and hot! About half of the pasta came out through my ingenious idea of using a fork. Then I ran some cold water to cool off the rest, and dug it out with my hand. Several minutes and a new batch of pasta later, we got to finally eat dinner.

Moral of the story: fuck cooking.

Here's the pasta after entering the disposal:

Here's the payload in the trash:

And the cat just sat there, not helping at all: