exhausted

It's almost 1 a.m. and I just got home from another incredible show. Actually, some of the cast and some friends and I went out after the show. It was nice. I've found some great people during this show and I think we will continue talking to each other, just like Cathy and I have, and like Tim and I have.

I'm not sure why, but it seems like Misery is being mentioned to me a lot lately. I've talked with more people about it than I can count, and they all seem to think I would be a good choice for the part. One person in particular, whose acting I completely admire, is talking as if I already have the part. I won't let it go to my head, though. Everyone has to audition and mine may be horrible, like my audition for Hamlet was. Or it could be great, like my audition for Guys and Dolls. Speaking of that show, I still haven't heard, but I don't expect to hear anything until after Labor Day, as promised. I did hear that they were having a shortage of adults at auditions, which bodes well for me. If they want to cast adults in the adult roles and teens as chorus parts, maybe I have a better chance at Sarah. We'll see.

I had a moment tonight, with someone I've been interested in for awhile. I'm not sure if he felt it too, but I really felt something... a connection. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I felt like there was a hint of things to come. Maybe... maybe not... but it's fun to think about it! He is so amazing.

Work was good today. I was only in the office for about half the day, but I got so much done! I felt great about crossing those things off my list, because the list was starting to get a little too long! It feels more managable now, and I'm okay with everything I need to do and the time frames involved. There's a lot going on right now and it will be important to stay on top of it. I spent the afternoon at a United Way rally, talking about my organization. It was at a local chemical plant and I was really nervous going there at first. There was a safety video and I had to wear a hard hat and safety glasses. It was crazy, but I loved it!

I may have another interview soon. I'm just waiting for a call to give me the details. It would be the most amazing job and I could really see myself doing it. The organization does something that is really close to my heart, and I would love to be a part of it.

I got a little writing done today, but not enough to bother updating the meters. I like the direction Magnolia Tree is going, and Deadly Council is taking shape a little more. I haven't stopped planning Draha either. It's always on my mind. I am still working on the basics of the world right now, but it's getting there. I'm so excited about the concept!

Two years after Hurricane Katrina

I was in Biloxi the other day, and it looked better, but there is still a lot of work to do. Not to mention the other towns in the area: Gulfport, Waveland, Pass Christian, New Orleans, etc.

Working at a disaster relief organization opened my eyes to the realities of what a storm can really do to a community, to a family, and to an individual. It is devastating. But do you know what else working in disaster relief has done? It revealed the inner strength of people to me. I have seen the most amazing determination in the faces of people who have lost everything. At a moment when I fear I would have given up, these people were helping each other so that they could all put their lives back together. This is why the communities affected by the storm will return better than ever. The people will see it through to the finish.

Today was not a day of sadness for me. It was a moment to remember the struggles and to applaud the people who are still there, still strong, and still rebuilding.

Hamlet Photos

I took these photos from the light booth during the dress rehearsal of Hamlet. Actually, I took about 300 pictures during that rehearsal, but I've only posted a few of them. I have to admit, I'm proud of these photos. I could only take them between light cues and I couldn't leave the booth to take them, so under those circumstances I think they turned out great! Because nobody else took pictures, and because I know how nice it is to have production photos, I burned CDs for everyone in the cast and gave them out on opening night. They seemed to appreciate it. I love this show and I love this cast. It's going to be difficult to say goodbye on Sunday.

how many posts?

I feel like I'm going for a record or something. That's not really what's happening, but I had to quickly mention that I finally updated my word meters. I did a lot of work on Magnolia Tree this evening when I got home from auditions. I also did a little on Deadly Council. I'm reaching a really interesting part of Magnolia Tree, when Tori has to face what her family has done for generations and has to find out if John is related to her or not. I think the conversation they will have regarding the DNA test she wants him to take is going to be fun to write. How awful to have to ask the man you are falling in love with to take a DNA test because you're afraid you are related to him! Of course, I know how the DNA test will come out...

Guys and Dolls: Auditions

I auditioned this evening. I didn't know what song I was going to do until the moment I drove up to the theatre. Then it hit me. The song that exhibits the range required for the role of Sarah (that isn't actually a Sarah song and that I know well enough to use in an audition) is "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from Phantom. I hated to do a song from such a well-known musical, because everyone does them, but it's a good song to show off my range so I decided to go ahead and do it. I felt better when the next person auditioning did Amazing Grace. :)

Anyway, the song went very, very well. I feel like I did a good job on it. After I sang, they gave me a script and told me I would be reading Sarah. Another woman read Adelaide. When we went out into the hallway to practice the scene, she told me my song was amazing. That felt great! We went through it twice and then went onstage. I think the reading went well too. I felt good about it. Much better than I felt about my disasterous audition for Hamlet all those weeks ago.

They said they would let everyone know after Labor Day. We'll see what happens...

Martial Arts Mondays: Part 1

I'm creating a new feature on my blog which may or may not be repeated. I saw something on YouTube that was so amazing that I would be remiss (whatever that means) if I didn't share it with you imaginary people on the internets. So I'm creating this feature just to share it with you.Here is a video clip of the MMA Girls demonstrating one of my favorite moves (the side choke) from a full guard

Silver lining

Things are looking up! Another opportunity has appeared. I hope it works out!

Great Moments In Stupidity: Mac Attack

Friday morning I did one of the dumbest things I have done in a long time. I spilled some soda on my laptop. For those of you who don't know me:Yes, sometimes I drink Coca Cola Classic in the morning--don't judge me, you're not the boss of me!I am not the most careful person with electronics that you will ever meet. If machines ever become sentient, like in The Terminator, Terminator 2

First weekend of the show

We had an audience Thursday night, and opening night was Friday night. The preview on Thursday was great... the cast really brought all their energy and ability.. or so I thought. However, they brought even more on opening night! It was amazing. The director seemed very happy. Having been there from almost the very beginning, I have to say I'm proud of this cast and crew. They have put together an amazing show and they should be proud of themselves.

The job situation continues. I still have some resumes out. As I mentioned before, I declined a third interview with one company, and just got a letter from the other company I interviewed with saying they decided to go with another candidate. It's not really disappointing. They were not offering much more money than I'm making now and the last person doing the job only stayed a year. It wasn't on the top of my list, needless to say. I still have several resumes out, but haven't heard from them. One in particular is the one I really want. It's with the university and it sounds like a great job. I actually applied for two jobs at the university, so I'm just waiting to hear about those. I hope I get one of them, because if you work for the university, you can go to graduate school free. I would really like to do that!

The more involved I get in the theatre, the more it calls to me. I'm beginning to remember why I loved it so much. There is a beautiful, amazing energy that comes from creating a world that has the power to pull people in and keep them there, if only for a short time. It's why I love writing too, actually. For me, though, theatre is a hobby... writing is not. Not that I don't take theatre seriously, because I do, but it's not something I could do professionally, although in an ideal world it's what I would be doing. Acting and writing - those are my passions. Monday, I'm going to audition for Guys and Dolls at a different community theatre. I'm not certain I will get a big part, but I'm going to audition anyway. I love the show and I think it would be so much fun to be a part of it. Since it looks like I'm going to be involved in shows pretty frequently in the future, I'm going to stick with my writing in the morning schedule. I haven't been doing it this week, because of tech week, but I'm getting right back to it next week.

I'm glad it's Saturday. I had a migraine yesterday so I missed work. I hate to do that, but sometimes it's required. I slept until noon because of the medicine, and then just rested. When I get a migraine, all I can do is sleep or lie in a dark, quiet room. I'm completely worthless. Luckily, they don't happen very often.

Anyway, that's it for now. Laundry today. Show tonight!

confusion sets in

There is so much confusion. So much I want to do, and I seem to be unable to do any of it. I am torn in so many directions that I'm not sure what to do anymore. I love working in public relations, and I absolutely adore working in nonprofit, but there is no future where I am, no way to advance beyond my current station unless someone quits or gets fired, and that's not going to happen. I want another job, one where I can continue growing. I also want to find something that will allow me to enjoy the other part of my life, the writing, the theatre, and the photography. It's odd... when I was in college, all I wanted was to find a job that consumed every minute of my life because I'm single and don't really have a huge amount of friends. But now that I've found theatre and the group of people involved in it, I want my free time!

Deep down inside, I yearn for the stage. I wish I would have gone after that when I had the chance. Now, I feel I'm too old and way too out of shape to try for anything professional in that area, not to mention the fact that most people in theatre/television/film are beautiful, and I'm average at best.

Why did I have to be cursed with so many passions? I want to do so much in my life, and now I'm too old to do some of them, and have too many financial obligations to pursue others. Like I said, I love my job and I love working with an organization that helps people, but my passions... they are my reason for living. I still want with all my heart to be a writer, and I'm trying to get that off the ground so I can do it fulltime. It'll be a few years before I'm able to go fulltime, though, so in the meantime I'm doing everything I can to get things started.

Still, the confusion remains, and I'm unsure what to do about it.

Does Big Gay Al have a Little Gay Dog?

The other day I heard the screech of tires and a crash outside the ninja fortress. It was a car crash, and I automatically assumed that the drivers were women. I didn't assume that both drivers were women because women are bad drivers (even though it's true), but rather because both cars were "chick cars". One was a mini-cooper and the other was a Volkswagen Cabriolet. But I was wrong. Yes..

Tap Out

After having spent a few days with visiting relatives, I am mentally, emotionally, and spiritually depleted. I will probably post more about the wackadoos in my family in a few days, but for now, I only want a nap. I feel like I just fought in some type of Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match, except that the pain doesn't stop when you tap out. It continues and escalates until it's time

tech week

Okay, I'm just going to go ahead and give the excuse now. I won't be doing a lot of writing this week. I'll probably post regularly here, but not a lot of writing on the current projects. It's tech week, which means I'll be at rehearsal every night this week. Opening night is Friday! They finally let me play with the lights tonight and it was fun! The sound tech came too. It was actually quite funny because it was someone I had met previously... which I think happens a lot in community theatre, especially in a smallish community. I adore the family of friends that Hamlet has created, and even though I'm on the sidelines this time and am not as close to the actors as they are to each other, I feel sad that we will say goodbye in only two weeks. As with the last show and probably every show, it feels like we started only yesterday, but also that we've been laboring over this project forever. It has made me want to become more involved in the community of theatrical people in this region, which means perhaps trying out for shows in Mobile in addition to the shows here. I will always feel more at home at Theatre 98, though. There is just something special about that place that captured my heart and soul, and I know I will always belong there. But I'm sure the other theatres are special in their own way! Anyway, we only have 3 more rehearsals before the invited dress. The show is really looking great. There's one person who still doesn't know all his lines, which is disturbing, but I feel confident he'll have them down by the time we have an audience. The dynamic of this show is so different than Fuddy Meers. I don't know if it's because there's a larger cast, or if it's because the cast is considerably younger, but there seems to be more backstage drama.

Work has been pretty good lately. There's a lot going on right now, but that's the way I like it. Actually, I had a series of interviews for a couple of other jobs. I haven't heard from one and the other asked me to a third interview, but between the second and third, something changed my mind. Yes, I'm being vague! So, I respectfully declined the interview. I'm not so desperate for a new job that I'll take one that isn't right for me. In fact, I like my job a lot and leaving will be very difficult, unless it is the right position. Anyway, tomorrow will be a great day because I get to spend the whole day touring our new Jesuit Volunteers! They arrived tonight and will be spending a year in Mobile working for various social service organizations. They are always great people and I enjoy getting to know them. We'll tour their agencies and then we'll have lunch. After that, I'll do a quick driving tour of Mobile, then take them to the bank and to get groceries. After that, I'll drop them off at their house and then it's off to tech rehearsal. I might swing by the bookstore and pick up a hairstyle magazine to see what kind of haircut I want to get. I've been struggling with that decision for about a month now, and I'm really stuck. All I know is, it looks awful right now and I want to do something about it!

Do your thing

Chris and I saw this documentary last year at the Sidewalk Film Festival and I found it completely inspiring. I didn't know it was available for purchase until I googled it tonight and found a link to download it. So that's what I'm doing now! I need a little inspiration right now, especially considering a venture I'm about to start. More details on that later... For now, enjoy this preview and get this movie! It's wonderful!

Adventures in Law Part 3: A Footnote for Eternity

I’ve already mentioned that I don’t think much of most academics. While most of them suck, some of them are really cool and interesting though. Professor X was one of them. He was a visiting professor at my law school (which I won’t name because then you might figure out who I am and I would have to kill you) and I got a job as his research assistant for $8 an hour (which is minimum wage today

Girl Day

Yesterday was "girl day." I called my sister and asked if I could take her daughter Hannah for a girl day. We were going to go see a "girl movie" but we decided to go shopping instead. (She's 5 years old, by the way!) When she becomes a teen, we'll do the mani/pedi day, but for now, shopping works. It's so fun to have a little girl in the family! Actually, it's fun to have both. The boys are fun in their way and she's fun in her way. I'll give my sister one thing, she did give us some variety with her kids! So anyway, we went shopping. She wanted a new necklace because the one she had got broken on her first day of school. She said she pulled too hard on it when she was scared to go to class. I advised her not to pull on the new one. It's a pretty silver chain with a blue butterfly pendant. Not expensive, by any means, because I think giving a 5 year old an expensive piece of jewelry is kind of insane, but she picked it out and she loves it. After picking out her "prize," she asked me if she could pick out something for her brothers. I was happy to let her do it. She picked out some Hotwheels cars for the boys, and then picked a package of stickers for each of them, herself included. As we were leaving the mall, she spotted a place that was selling fake flowers and asked if I would get one for her Nana (my mom.) She chose one and I bought it, of course. I have spoiled this child, I'm afraid! But at least her desires were for other people, not all for herself. I think that says something. Anyway, we had a lovely girl day and I'm sure we will do it again.

Next weekend is going to be a boy day, when I take Kohl (the youngest) to get ice cream and feed the ducks at the park by the beach. It's his favorite place to go. The weekend after that will be Noah's. I'm sure we will probably go see a movie of some kind.

We have rehearsal this afternoon. It should be interesting. I haven't seen them run the show all the way through without books yet, so I'll enjoy this one a lot. My mother came to the theatre with me this past Friday night to help paint sets. It was a lot of fun. I think she enjoyed herself. Is it odd that I like doing things with my mom? Oh well, I don't care if it is odd, I think it's great!

It's gettin' hot in here...

I have been thinking about what it would’ve been like if I lived in DC before there was air conditioning. It sucks that I don’t have central air conditioning (yet) but at least I have window A/Cs.* It’s bad enough walking from the metro to my (badly) air conditioned ninja fortress, but if I lived before there was such a thing as A/C, I don’t know how I would’ve handled it. It's a hundred

ring... ring...

All this time waiting for the phone to ring and today, it rang twice! I scheduled an interview and will call another back tomorrow to set up another one. The first is Friday, and I like the description a lot! I think it would be a great position. Very community oriented, very exciting and interesting. The other is just as interesting, though. This is actually quite fun!

Today was nice. A coworker asked me to help her with her public speaking. She feels uncomfortable speaking in front of groups, and since I don't have that particular problem, she asked me to help her. It was so much fun! We are going to do lessons and everything for as long as I'm there. I'm going to have her do a speech for me and some other coworkers once a week so that she can start feeling more comfortable doing it, and we're going to work on some key points like inflection and pronounciation. I'm also going to try to work with her on her nerves. She gets so nervous when she has to speak in front of people! I gave her some tips today and she said they helped, so that made me happy. Anyway, it's something I'm enjoying at work, so that's always good. I have a meeting tomorrow night, the fundraising committee. It's going to be the first meeting, so it'll be interesting.

School starts tomorrow and two of my sister's kids are going. Hannah in K and Noah in 6. They'll be in the same school, though, because it's K-8. It'll be good for Hannah to know that her big brother is in the same building.

Worked on Magnolia Tree today, but haven't updated the numbers. Will do that tomorrow, because I took an Advil PM earlier and it's starting to take effect.

making decisions

Graduate school, here I come! I've started studying for the GRE. For the program I want to enter, I have to have a score of 1000. I took a practice test the other day and did pretty well, but I think I can do much, much better. Writing is my ultimate dream, but I want to get this Master's degree so I can teach. I can just see myself teaching public relations and public speaking, writing for the media, and other similar classes. Oh! Argumentation! That would be fun too. I'm still looking for another job and I'm hoping it will be in another type of public relations. All experience I'm getting now will be valuable when I start teaching. I can really convey to the students what it's like to work in the field. I had a teacher who had worked in corporate, nonprofit and government PR, and she had such a wealth of information to share with us! It was great learning from her. I had hoped to get a government job, but it didn't work out. I'm thinking now that doing PR for an educational institution would be great, and I have three resumes out for that.

I gave myself a little break from writing yesterday. I got something in the mail that deflated me a bit and I needed to regroup. Rejection letters are no fun at all, are they? And this one was from the publisher that does not accept simultaneous submissions. Oh well, it's with another publisher now and I will keep writing. I've heard that you shouldn't be a writer unless you absolutely cannot imagine yourself doing anything else. It's that kind of passion that will keep you going in the face of so much rejection. I agree with this, and can't imagine not writing, so I keep writing. It does make me wonder (again) if I'm really a good writer or if people have just been nice all these years.

writing update

Did some work on Magnolia Tree. It's going very well, I like the direction it's taking and I like what's happening with the characters. The story is interesting and I think people might actually want to read it when it is finished and (heavily) edited.

The two main characters from Draha have names now. I'm happy with the names, but I don't feel comfortable revealing them yet. I want to get to know the kids better before I start telling people their names. The story is coming along in my head. I have a special notebook that I'm using to write notes for the books and I carry it around with me everywhere I go. I'm always reaching for it to write some little detail or plot point. It's an awesome notebook for this project, too. It's the one I got in the journal swap and it has Celtic symbols and really nice colors.

Tomorrow is rehearsal. The cast is supposed to be off book for the first time. It should be interesting!

Adventures in Law Part 2: A Job Offer from the Grave?

Most law professors, like regular professors (and cops) are pompous jackasses. I don't know what that thing is called, which academics have, that makes them jackasses, but whatever it is, Joe Griffin had the antidote. If anyone had a right to be pompous, it was Joe Griffin who, literally, wrote the book on international antitrust law. But luckily, Joe was as down to earth as he was smart. His

Crazy weekend

I spent almost all day yesterday buying things for Noah. School starts in a few days. My parents bought him some uniform pants and I bought most of his school supplies. Of course, my sister has two kids in school this year, so my parents bought Hannah's school supplies. Except for the bright pink Bratz lunchbox. She really wanted it, so I got it for her. She's going to be so cute in her little uniform, carrying her pink backpack and pink lunchbox. It's her first year of school and she couldn't be more excited!

Anyway, school supply shopping is really different now than it was when I was a kid. I clearly recall that when I was in sixth grade, they didn't ask for specific types of highlighter markers, pencils and pens. They didn't have requirements about the types of folders and the colors of the composition books. When I was in sixth grade, I bought a binder, some notebook paper, some great folders, pencils and pens. That was pretty much it. No kleenex, no dry erase markers, no chisel tip blue highlighter marker... they require twelve folders with pockets and prongs, assorted colors. They require two packages of graph paper (50 sheets) but I couldn't find two packages of 50 sheets so I had to buy one package with 100 sheets. I hope he doesn't get into trouble. It's crazy! I have no idea why they are getting so specific, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that they want to stamp every bit of individuality from these kids and turn them into mindless, identical drones. Well, they're not getting Noah, or Hannah for that matter. They are strong, creative kids with their own identities. I strongly encourage that in them, and I will continue to do that as long as I'm in their lives.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience to buy all the school supplies. It was actually sort of funny to listen to the complaints of the moms in Target, talking about how expensive it is to shop for school supplies.

Today, I didn't do anything at all. Nothing. It was nice. I did a lot of thinking about things, a lot of soul-searching and considering things in my life. Sometimes everyone needs to stop and think about life. I did that today, and I'm glad I did. I feel better about some things now.

Photo Hunters Theme: Funky

Play that funky music, white boy! This photo is of some of my friends at a show. They were getting funky on the dance floor! It was a fun night, which I'm sure you can tell!

C'mon Gentrification

Well, DC's first Target store continues to tease me like a stripper between the first and second song of her set. The outside looks like it's done, so I don't know when it will be finished, but I am avoiding trips to the Virginia Target on principle (and also because I'm lazy and Alexandria, VA might as well be Cincinatti Ohio, as far as I'm concerned. Do they even have indoor plumbing in

ouch

Migraine tonight. Three meetings today. I was going to write this evening, but the meeting lasted longer than I expected and I got home late. I'm exhausted and my head feels like it's about to explode. Going to bed now. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.