It's the End of the World!

Nah, just the end of December. I had a really fantastic Christmas this year and, I'm almost ashamed to say, it's because I didn't go home this year. I know, I know...give me your awww's and your pity and judgment and whatever else. Just get it out of the way. It's hard for a lot of my friends to understand that my family and I just aren't that close. For a myriad of reasons, we are not the ideal family. We don't talk on the phone, we don't know much about each other's personal lives, and it's been that way for a long time. Wah, wah, wah.

SO when it came time to figure out what I was doing for Christmas this year-the answer was really simple. My fantastic friend Steven - along with several other friends - was in Hershey for Christmas because of the Christmas contract. So I made arrangements to bus it to PA for my holiday. Mostly because I knew I'd get even MORE judgment for just staying in NYC.

We did everything that makes us happy and since he didn't want to be with his family either-we felt totally justified. We had delicious food, saw a lot of movies, talked, played games, and had general merriment. I got to spend good quality time with other friends in town and managed to miss the Snowpocalypse in NYC. Go me.

Really though-it's totally cliche, but Christmas is more of a feeling and I was totally Christmas-ified in PA. This is, however, probably the start of a trend in which I invent reasons to not go home for the holidays for many years to come. I know. I'm horrible. But at least I'm happy!

Solstice!

Shortest day of the year also happens to be rather long in the Rachel sector of life. For the last time, I was up at 5:30 am to catch the train to catch the ferry to catch the shuttle to stage manage the show. Staten Island is a lovely, far away place that I will not miss traveling to every day. I will miss my cast. Really. We were 7 people in a wacky situation and I actually believe we made the best of it. We had a show interrupted by a crazy Russian woman. We had more travel time than rehearsal and performance combined. We rehearsed at a rec center with children/teens literally walking in and out of scenes. It was actually pretty awesome and if I lived closer, I'd totally work with Sundog again.

HOWEVER now that it's done, I can focus on some other things. I've got the crazy 3 days before Christmas stuff to deal with (wrapping, mailing, shopping, swearing) and then I get to pack and head to Hershey! I have 2 days of work and a few friend dates between me and my first trip via Megabus. I'm so excited. Then, before you know it, I'll be sad and back on the bus and then back at work and then at a New Year's Eve party and then it'll be 20-fuckin'-11! Holy god. I better get ready!

Christmastime Approaches!

I just got back from an overnight in Maryland. I'm running performances of "A Christmas Carol" with the Sundog Theatre. It's an interesting thing. When I did FoodPlay, everything was very specifically laid out. I had very little set up and there weren't many outside factors to worry about. If we had a table and a chair and a power outlet, we were good to go. Not so with this show. I have wireless mics and a sound board I bring, but I need to use the venue's system and I have to try to put together some semblance of lights. That's new. I've got a pretty good group of people though. I think I might even stay friends with a few after this is all over next week.

It's funny how with just a small show and a simple day job with steady hours, I'm crazy busy and feel way behind. I guess that means my life is going well and I'm in a good place, right? Let's try to stay on the positive, for once. And...go!

I'm going to spend Christmas with friends in Hershey, PA. It's my first year not going to Iowa for Christmas. It's a tough thing...I don't want to go there, but it seems so taboo to not go home for the holidays. I keep getting pity and I don't want that. I made a choice. It is the right choice for me. I'm going to spend more time with people who will make me happier and I will only have spent $55 on bus tickets versus $400+ on airfare.

10 days til Christmas folks...are you ready?

Thanks and Such

So I've been at my day job only 26 days so far and I'm already moved to a new department. It's neat. I'm in a call center taking orders and customer service calls. It's much more suited to me so I like it. Also-no uniform. That's a plus.

I ordered the most awesome present for SMB today. I doubt he still checks this, but just in case, no spoilers here. Suffice to say it really does feel good to get someone something you KNOW will make them smile. That's right: I was just sentimental. Almost. I really do have emotions sometimes. Even though I fight it.

I was waiting for the train today and looked up and there was Emmeline. I like how the big city can also be a small city. I like randomly running into friends on the street (or in the station) and I like that people visit all the time. I also like that people move here all the time.

I still don't know if I want to stay though. I am really having a hard time accepting this as any kind of permanence. If I let myself think about it for too long, I can feel my heart rate accelerate and my breathing gets a little shallower. Then I have to plot out my escape plan and distract myself before real panic sets in.

Lately EVERYONE keeps asking if I'm dating anyone. Is that just something that happens when you're in your (gulp) mid-twenties? You should be coupled up by now? I guess. Well, I'm not. I don't even know how to do that anymore. My life has been dictated by contracts and schedules for so long, real life seems strange and unattainable. Dating? Pshaw. Guess I could work on that.

I had an awesome Thanksgiving, by the way. I spent the afternoon/evening/night with a few college friends and their family and close friends. 9 of us altogether. The one kid there who didn't have a Viterbo connection kept double checking: "You're ALL from the same place? You ALL know each other?" Anyway-it was great. Nolan made the most amazing food, Brit (and her cousin) coordinated a wonderful gathering, and we played one of the best games of Celebrity ever. Oh-and we had cherpumple. That's a cherry pie in a chocolate cake, a pumpkin pie in a spice cake, and an apple pie in a yellow cake-layered together in something sinful and strange.

(I promise: someday I will try to blog about one subject at a time. I mean...I promise I'll try.)

To Unfriend...or Not?

Why is it such a big deal to unfriend someone on Facebook? I won't even pretend like it isn't...because it is. I went through a mega friend purge last year and deleted almost 100 people and when I told my real-life friends, they were shocked. How could I?

I had specific criteria. A person only got deleted if a) I hadn't seen them in over 10 years and we never communicated past the friend request moment, b) we weren't friends in real life, nor would we ever speak again (or ever) in real life, or c) they just flat out irritated me. (<3 lol :) ;) etc. are not necessary in EVERY post.) If someone met said criteria-they were gone. What's the big deal? Not one of those people has re-requested me...they probably don't even realize we aren't friends any longer.

It makes sense to me. But what if someone doesn't meet this criteria and you still want to unfriend them? What if every time they pop up on your news feed, you feel a surge of rage...or pain? I'm talking ex-friends. Ex-boyfriends. Ex-people. Why bother holding on?

Maybe you drifted apart and you're too far away now to talk and it sucks and every time you see her posts, it just reminds you that you're not as close as you were and there's no getting that back. Or you see her squinty little eyes in her stupid drunk pictures and you want to punch her stupid face because she ISN'T lost at sea right now. Or every time you see his or his girlfriend's (because you're dumb and you're friends with her too) posts or pictures, it just hurts that you can't talk anymore because platonic friends don't exist.

Why is it such a big deal? Why is it so hard just to click that little X and confirm the deletion of friendship? If it doesn't exist in the real world, why hold on to it in the internet world?

Because humans are stupid and have feelings. Dammit...I'm human.

Lazy Day

I want to blog more. Today, a friend told me he was blogging for the first time in months. I stumbled across another friend's blog and it's clear she updates daily, always with insightful things. (Presumably...I only read 2 entries.) So here I am.

I did nothing today. The only reason I put on clothes that weren't my pajamas was to walk downstairs and 3 doors over to order Chinese food. It's the end of Week 2 of the Steady Day Job and I'm feeling it. Though I was also fighting a losing battle with a cold the last few days, which could explain my fatigue.

I was semi-productive though. I figured out what to get a friend for Christmas. I finished a hat (a gift for someone, not an Etsy item). I started a hat for myself since I'm constantly jealous of other knit hats and never make anything for myself.

Nope...that was it. Oh, I guess I did continue to drink copious amounts of green tea in an effort to rid my body of this cold. Bah. Emergen-C for breakfast tomorrow. And maybe a bedtime snack tonight. I'm so adventurous.

Really though...maybe I should challenge myself to blog daily. Nah, that'll never happen. Maybe at least 4 times a week? A sizeable goal. Maybe just once a week to start. Yeah. That's safe.

Worst Blogger Ever (or, an Octoberly update)

It's November...surprise! It's starting off pretty well. Highlights of October:

-Hung out a LOT with friend AraBella. We painted her room, ate a ton of Pinkberry, and made a few trips to Home Depot.

-Finished up the run of TESS: A New Rock Opera. (I was a Production Assistant, if you remember.) It was lots of fun and I was really sad to have missed the last performance, which was an added performance, because I was in Iowa.-Went to the best wedding ever in Minnesota. My good friends from college got married in an "Up" themed wedding and I flew across the country to go.

-Fetched my furniture and other miscellaneous possessions from Iowa and journeyed them cross-country to NYC. Now I feel vaguely trapped, but I like hanging things on the walls.

-Saw "A Life in the Theatre" (twice), "American Idiot", and "The Scottsboro Boys".

-Made a website for my SM side of life. Updated the Etsy site. Ordered some business cards. Y'know...in 48 hours.

-Went to the Great FoodPlay Reunion of 2010 (sans one Carlton Hall) and had a great time. You know it's a good night when a 4 hour dinner goes by like nothin'.

-Had SEVERAL random "small world" run ins all over the city. The guy from UCF who was at TESS strike, the former TSF co-worker who lives downstairs, and the girl at callbacks who is from Des Moines...to name a few.

-And one of the best parts: a surprise visit to Hershey! I tagged along and surprised some of my Chocolate Town favorites. Spent Halloween with them and even got to look for Sasquatch at the zoo.

So...November. It's shaping up rather well. My new show had callbacks yesterday so we should have a cast...like now. Rehearsals start soonly. Started a day job. Made an Etsy sale. Got together with some college friends, one of whom is visiting on his latest epic road trip. Of course, it's only a week in. Anything can happen. And I'm ready.

NYMF!

Remember how I talked about a whirlwind previously? SO true. Wednesday morning I reported to the rehearsal space, helped another gal gather all the props (about 5 loads total), hailed a taxi, got everything to the venue, helped finish the set, helped with props during Q to Q, arranged dinner, and helped run backstage during the show...having never seen/heard a run. It was GREAT! Tonight is another performance and I'm excited. I didn't realize how big NYMF was until some good friends pointed it out. Yay for friends who throw your name around in the world.

Also, I've been working more on Etsy items. I'm going to get a few more ready, redo some photos and get it all posted. Should keep me a bit busy. The day job thing still needs to happen, but in its own time. Like...in the next couple weeks. Thank goodness for planning and frugality.

Lots of people are starting to pop up around the city. Mostly new arrivals from this past summer. Some old friends from summers past. Look at how poetical I can be. Poetry aside, it's nice to be in a new city with old friends. Probably the way I should have been doing it all along.

Crazy Whirlwind

Yesterday I was at IKEA with a friend. We were in the checkout line and my phone went berserk. First was a notification from Etsy that one of my items was listed in a treasury. Pretty cool. Second time it's happened. First time was for some gloves I made.

Second email was from a PSM asking if I was free to be a production assistant (PA) for New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) which starts this week. Turns out, I'm free so I emailed back and talked to the General Manager. Thanks Blackberry for providing me with constant contact with the world. So I'm off to rehearsal today to meet everyone and load out the set. Gulp. What's up, first NYC gig?

Because of the dates of this gig, I am going to have to rush to make it to Jenna and Troy's wedding. I'm flying into Minneapolis the day of the darn thing. It'll be fine...even though I have the sneaking suspicion that this is very similar to the start of a sitcom episode. I'm still going though!

Also, I've launched myself back into Etsy item making. Soon I should have enough baby items to post. I'm thinking of re-doing all my photos and even coming up with a new logo and more aggressive marketing. All in good time.

Week One...Practically Done

It's an interesting thing to move to a new place sans a job. I've actually never done it before. And I'm mostly okay with it.

I've been doing some exploring. A lot of walking. Not really tourist stuff, but going to well-known places. There's usually a goal. Greenwich Village. Times Square. Et cetera. I'm trying to save some of my exploring for later, but it's hard with all kinds of time on my hands. One of my friends has a really good thing going. He has a small NYC notebook that has a subway map, a map of the city, and blank pages to write down places he likes. Restaurants, parks, shops, and stuff all go in there. We realized it will be really cool to look back through it in 6 months.

I have spent a fair amount of time catching up with friends. Seems like every day in my residence in NYC has been devoted to a friend. Roommate from OST, friend from high school, friend from college, friend from Hershey (which doesn't count since he moved here Friday), and multiple friends from college. Last night was beer pong with people I haven't seen in 6 years. It was great. I met a bunch of new people and laughed harder than I have in a long time. I miss being with people whose sense of humor is so attuned to mine.

Also...I kicked butt at pong. At least until the third game.

Ah...Panera Wi-Fi

The joys of moving...packing all your things haphazardly, praying you get a parking spot in front of your building, and realizing the stolen wireless from the neighbors isn't good enough for your chronic Facebooking so you go to the local Panera for hours with a lone cup of coffee to make you seem slightly welcome.

That all happened.

So here I am...New York City. Technically, I'm in Queens, but who's really keeping track? I'm unloaded, semi-unpacked, furniture-less, jobless, and thrilled. I applied for a few retail jobs today. I'm planning on a few theatre jobs apps in the near future too. Probably tomorrow since I bet I have outstayed my Paneriffic welcome here.

Things are good. I saw Natasha today for lunch. I have (tentative) plans to see Kira tomorrow. Other folks are in the wings waiting to jump back into my life, and me into theirs. It's a glorious time to be carefree in the city.

This cookie is delicious.

Pics to come. (Of the apartment...not the cookie.)

Moving Day...Again

I'm moving again! Biiiiiig surprise. But this time I am only moving 4 hours from my current location...not 18-20 like normal. In my usual spontaneous way, I decided about 13 days ago to move to NYC. I actually have roommates and a place and some semblance of a plan. Wacky, I know. I figure, it's only the second most crazy thing I've ever done, so it can't be that bad, right? Plus, when you decide to move to NYC and have roommates and keys to an apartment within 72 hours, you should just do it. (Don't worry...I know who I'm living with and I did not send any money to a stranger promising me things.)

I'm packing the apartment, a little glad I'm the last one to leave this year. I had to run out of town so fast last year that I was all stressed packing while I was working. This time I've been a (little too) leisurely about it, but I'm not planning on leaving until tomorrow morning so it's all good. Today's weather makes me glad I'm not trying to drive into the city and unload a car anyhow.

The end of the season was as expected. Harder on some than others. If you look really closely, you can tell who was feelin' the end of season blues, but for the most part, my kids were okay. We had a great last couple days (despite the two giant holes that ended up in my set the LAST DAY) and since 75% of us are moving/planning to move to the city by 2011, it's not like we'll never see each other again.

Crystal Sneakers 2010 Original Cast. Thanks for the summer of insanity. Smiley face.

Another Self-Deprecating Title

Wah, wah, wah. I suck at blogging. Shut up and quit whining about it, why don't you?

I actually have some future topics I'd like to update the world on, but tonight I'm just too lazy. So why am I blogging at all? Because I spent the last hour reading other blogs while I wait for Aerosmith to get off work and wander over. I have a horribly impulse-buy like personality: if I see it, I want it. If you have pizza, I want pizza. If I'm reading a blog, I suddenly want to write one.

Anyway...only about a month left of this burst of employment. For the first time in my life I don't have a plan and I am not frantically scrambling to find one. I don't have a job lined up after this. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know ANYTHING. I think when it's time to leave, I'm just going to drive west and see what happens.

I think I'm actually kind of sick of the nomad thing right now. I want an apartment. I want a couch. I want all my stuff to NOT fit in my car. I want to hang up my Opus shadow box. I do not want to settle down permanently. I do not want children. I do not want a husband (or a wife for that matter). I do not want pets. I just want some stability.

Speaking of children...I reiterated my vow to never have children to the girls in my cast today and Marisa was astounded. She said she just can't understand someone who doesn't want to have kids. Kelsey thinks I'm going to change my mind. Daily, I am surrounded by girls who have sisters and stable parents and want families of their own. How am I ever supposed to connect with them when we have so little in common at the fundamental, core value level?

Take Your Own Advice

I keep telling my cast and crew that it's all about perception. It doesn't really matter what your intentions were, but how they were interpreted does. For instance: if you're in the audience talking to your friend the entire time you watch the show, it says to the performers that you don't care about them and the work they're doing. Even if you were just raving to your friend about the greatness of the 3rd dancer on the left.

I should take my own advice. Sometimes I get caught up in things and I forget to take a step back and look at the big picture. Sometimes I over analyze and over justify things when I should just take them as they are and shut up. Sometimes I'm just a pretentious so and so.

I hate apologizing because it means I did something wrong.

I Love When I Fail

I'm on a baking spree. Again. Tonight it was rice krispie treats (not baking, I know), chocolate chip cookies, and a shoofly pie. Well...the pie FAILED. The crust, to be more specific. I made an awesome pie crust for the Key Lime Pie experiment of 2 weeks ago and saved half the dough. The dough did not want to be saved and refused to become the shoofly pie I know it could have been. So...I'll have to make more pie crust on a day that isn't today.

I am drinking a lovely Jack Daniels and ginger ale right now. So tasty.

My dresser has gotten me reading vampire books. I read the first two of the Anita Blake series, which is nice and gory, just like I like it. Now I'm on the True Blood books. I've seen the first season, so the book is just taking me down that path again, but E says that it gets different around the 4th book. I think she has them all. Yay!

Work has been a little bleah lately. I succumbed to stress. I didn't realize how draining it's been lately until I imploded on Tuesday night. Thank goodness I had friends to escape to. B and S are the best. So is Epic Scrabble. And fire.

I Forgot I Have a Blog...

I did. I really did. Good thing I saved blogger.com in my bookmarks at the top of my Firefox browser. Whew. Thanks again, Firefox.

We completed Detox. I lost 12 lbs. I have since gained some of it back because I got super lazy so it's back to Detox on July 5 for a week to see if we can't reverse this turn of fortune. It's the working out part that I'm having trouble having consistently in my life. After 7-9 hours of work a day, who wants to go to the gym? Not me. I've been attempting morning gym sessions, but that requires motivation to outweigh sleep deprivation. I went yesterday. I did not go today.

I've started baking. A lot. Like...since I started 2 weeks ago, I made 2 cakes, 2 cookie cakes, a pie, several batches of cookies, and buttermilk pancakes. All from scratch because boxed baked goods aren't allowed in our house. There's a pic of the first one: a 3 layer white cake with layers of lemon curd and raspberry jam with lemon icing. It was amazing.

I'm also planning an epic birthday party that is in...2.5 days. It's for Nadia's 20th birthday. She knows there's a party, but not much else. It's fun to plan surprises for people. I'm just hoping it's as much fun as I want it to be. It should be...3 cakes means a good party, right?

Anyway...it's time for work again. Why does it feel like all I do is work?

My Brain is Irritating

So I should be on day 8 of 9 with Detox, but we're amending the diet. It's not really fair for my cast and other co-workers to suffer from my lack of carbs. We moved on to Phase II a couple days early, except we're amending that too. It's supposed to be adding back in meat, some more dairy, and some grains, but not enough. We're making it fit our lifestyle better and working out more frequently to make up for the food choices we're bound to make. For instance: I want to make dishes that I can easily pack to take to work and eat between shows. Pasta is excellent for such things, but isn't supposed to be eaten for 3 more weeks. Screw that. I can have coffee again though. Thank god.

I came to an interesting conclusion around 10:15 pm last night though. We were sitting at Applebee's, preparing to officially end Detox by ordering formerly forbidden food when I realized now that I can have pasta again, I no longer crave it. My pasta craving was intense on Day 3 and Day 6 of Detox, but the MINUTE I told myself I could have it again, the craving lessened. Thus: My Brain is Irritating.

All in all though, the diet has been a good idea so far. I'm slightly more motivated to work out, I lost some weight and intend to keep going (albeit in a healthier fashion), and I had the willpower to not consume pasta, bread, cheese, or coffee for a week. I thought I was going to FAIL on the coffee part, but I am stronger than I thought. Huh. Go me.

Fast Forward

Apparently I spent the last 2.5 weeks at the Pantry. Gosh that'd be amazing. And expensive. And delicious.

Really I just had tech for my show and 3 separate visitors on 2 separate occasions. It sounds simple. It wasn't. There were some long hours and some random errands to run. Shows have been open since May 29 though and so far it's been going pretty well.

The best part of my 2.5 week hiatus was Venezuelan Surprise. My friends Erin, AraBella, and I were all apprentices at Orlando Shakespeare Theater in 2007/2008 and we all parted ways that spring. I've seen them both since, but they have remained apart. Sad. Luckily, AraBella and I planned an epic surprise. Erin was visiting and was unaware AraBella had arrived 5 hours before she did. Since it's not abnormal for me to ask my friends to look in closets for their birthday presents, she didn't think anything was amiss when I sent her on such an errand.

And that's about it. OH! No. Lies. Steven and I are doing this diet thing. It's the Fat Smash diet. It seems less insane than other diets. I mean, it has a book to guide you. Anyway. We're in day 2 of 9 of the Phase 1: Detox period. So far...I'm really, really hungry and CRAVE bread, but I have also lost 5 lbs in 2 days. So...yay? The WORST part of it all is I'm supposed to avoid caffeine. It's impossible. My caffeine headache is RAGING along with my bread CRAVING. 5 lbs in 2 days is mega incentive though. I suppose I could keep you posted.

Also, I played poker tonight.

Also, last week I invented cookie cake.

Bliss

I am going to the Hershey Pantry this morning.

That's all.

Rehearsalness

We're on Day 11 of rehearsal. It's about halfway through the process. This basically means you're incredibly lucky I woke up too early and can now blog about life. I'm averaging 9 hours a day at rehearsal, though that average is steadily creeping up to 10. The set looked better every day until we stopped working on it. Our scenic people come back next week so it will exponentially improve again once they make their return.
The trophy case drop. This is my favorite. Our scenic painters are the BEST.


A dancer in front of the talent show drop.


I finally got some time over at the other show. They did a run for me (sans diving and sea lions), but it was still funny. They're going to have a great show on their hands.

Things are going pretty good in the non-show aspects of life too. The last of the entertainment folk showed up this weekend. There are people to gather with for every kind of mood. We bought a grill and intend to use it 4-6 times a week, just like last summer. I do need to work on hanging out with the people who don't live in my apartment complex. I have rehearsal fatigue as an excuse now, but that won't matter in 2 weeks.

Roommates are good. The herb garden is thriving. I tried growing dill from seed, but only one wee seedling made it...so I bought a whole dill plant to inspire it to grow. We haven't used the mint much yet, but mojitos are on the horizon.

So really, all is still good in Chocolate town. I'm getting anxious for friends to visit, but that starts all too soon so I should rest up and get ready!

We're All All Right

Pretty much everyone is in town now. A fantastic amount of people arrived in the last three days; it's been so great. All my favorites are here now. The people I have been spending time with are wonderful, of course, since I don't associate with un-wonderful people, but the two I spent the most time with last summer are now here (one being my roommate!), so all feels right in the world. Also, we saw Pwese, which was a delight as always.

Different dynamic this summer. It's kind of interesting to watch it form. Not sure yet how I feel about it. I want to make an active attempt to be less bitterly sequestered than last summer...only time will tell. We had an impromptu cast get together, which isn't as impromptu as it seems since a) 2/3 of the cast lives next door to each other, b) we actually kind of planned it, and c) who else would we hang out with? I like it though.

We embark on Music Rehearsal #3 today. Adventure? A little bit since we're going to try to actually be IN our venue for part of the day. Eep! It's been rather cold here lately. The Floridians and Texans are not pleased. I'm okay with it, but not so happy about it either. Good thing the park is closed today and I can wear a hoodie.

No new pics of the set, maybe later today. I haven't been to the venue in 3 days due to orientation and rehearsal. Really, things are going quite well and the only thing that would make this better would be Life-Changing Chicken Dip, constantly available. Mmm...chicken dip...

Also, allergy town, population: my nose.

Read Thru Eve

We have orientation and a read thru tomorrow. YAY! I'm excited. Some of the guys and I went out to dinner tonight and then came back to my apartment so they could meet my roommate. We ended up playing Catchphrase for a few hours. Fantastic. Things are finally rolling along. The set looks great (see below), people are texting/Facebooking updates from the road, and very, very soon I will be all set for the summer.


I got to bind scores today with this crazy mad hole punch thing and the plastic spiral binder things. Basically, I want my own now so I can turn everything into a book. Office supply joy.

2 of my 3 roommates bake banana bread. We're going to have a banana bread-off. Awesomeness, I am sure.

Scenery and Such

As promised. Top one is at the Amphitheatre, the foundation of the set for Crystal Sneakers. The others are for the Aquatheatre show, Showdown at Cocoa Canyon. If you aren't already planning a trip to Hersheypark to see these, get on it!

The Ball Gets Rollin'

I figured I'd better update before people get snippy about how many days since the last one. Especially since it's about to get busy here in Chocolate Town.

My boss got to town today. He was a bit delayed because of the flooding in Tennessee, which is RIDICULOUS. Anyway, things are off to a good start here. Costumes and props and uniforms arrived. The sets arrived. Load in is partially underway in one venue and further along in the other. Today the TD mentioned how strange it is to have two venues in one park to deal with. Agreed. We have a meetin' tomorrow to talk over ALL the things that need to get done. It's a lot of things. I'm excited.

A lot more of the cast arrives tomorrow. That will be nice. We're only 3 days from orientation and read thrus. I should actually go to bed since I have to be functional much earlier tomorrow than I have been lately.

Oh, one thing to note: today I set up my own wireless network. I even had to troubleshoot. I'm all colors of impressed with myself. It was a great piece of work too since I had to go buy a new router and such. It was an adventure!

So...bed now. And I'll take and post some pics of the set tomorrow. Consider this my last push of laziness before I turn into Productivity Girl. Hm...sounds like I've been watching Buffy lately. Oh wait, I have. Good night, World.

Awesomeness

I did some awesome things lately. Here is a list. Be jealous.

Friday:
-Had a 2 am Etsy sale.
-Went to Hershey Pantry for breakfast with Scoot, Karyn, Lydia, Tammy, and Katie.
-Went to Yarn-Love.
-Got my Etsy item shipped.
-Scheduled internet installation.
-Went to Tap preview.
-Applied for a job.

Saturday:
-Went to Philly for lunch with Kailee (who was my pen pal when we were 12...that's longevity, folks).
-Bought 5 shirts, a dress, sandals, a bottle of lotion, and some fancy greeting cards for approximately $110 total.
-Told myself NO at Target several times.
-Had dinner at Houli's with Kristina and Tony (and Kristina's mama).
-Updated blog.

AWESOMENESS!!!

It's All in the Timing

Don't you hate it when your timing is off? You walk into a room at the exact WRONG moment. You send an email and realize too late that the recipient is completely swamped and you just added to the pile. You get a death row pardon two minutes too late. Oh wait...that's ironic...

Pause for laughter.

Silence.

Damn.

Ahem.

I've just been thinking about timing a lot in general. I applied to some jobs for after September and I can't help but hope my timing was good and that someone sees my delightful little resume and thinks my cover letter is charming and wants to talk to me. Or it's lost in an inbox of fury and will never see the light of day.

I have lots of mid-day downtime lately so I've been texting people things as they come to me and THEN I remember they have tech/finals/load in/etc. and I seem callous and rude and uncaring. In my personal life, I find myself being inconsistent and it irritates me. It's much easier when I work so much that I have no personal life and I don't have to worry about it.

It's tough when you NEED information from someone who is insane busy and can't respond to you. It's tough when you just want to make someone aware of something, but they are insane busy and you KNOW you're making it worse.

I've also been on a "what might have been" train of thought lately. Cause-and-effect style. Like...WHAT IF I had stayed in Houston? A whole mess of events wouldn't have happened. But what WOULD have happened? What if I hadn't said what I said or had done what I didn't?

I should not have idle time to think so much. Leads to dreadful results.

Accident Soup

Today I will tell you the tale of Accident Soup.

Once upon a time there was a girl. She liked cooking. It saved money and it was healthier. Also, it was fun to make messes. One evening this girl decided to make dinner. She got out some bun (rice vermicelli noodles), red bell pepper, green onions, leftover chicken breast, garlic, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, powdered ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. She heated some water to soak the noodles in, sliced half the red bell pepper, sliced 3 of the green onions, diced the chicken, and minced the garlic. She drizzled sesame oil and rice wine vinegar in a pan and heated it. She soaked the noodles. She added the garlic and chicken to the pan.

OH NO! The noodles soaked too long! Quickly, she drained them and rinsed them in cold water. She added them to the pan along with the red bell pepper and green onions. She added soy sauce and a tablespoon of peanut butter and the ginger and red pepper flakes. The noodles were getting gluey. A little more soy sauce...no bueno. Balls...what else to do? Not wanting her uberly cheap dinner to be ruined, she added some chicken stock. She stirred. She added some water. She put it in a bowl and added some fresh cilantro. And...WHAZAM!
Accident soup.
The end.

Productivity, question mark

Apparently I'm not allowed to take more than 2 days between posts. Some people have been tetchy and anxious and I can't be responsible for that kind of thing. So here is another multi-topic-ed post for YOUR enjoyment.

I made a lasagna! I made it with the intention that my roommates could eat some of it after rehearsals, but they've been so tired, they haven't tried it yet. But I have and it rocks. Here's what I put in it:

Sauce: 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, 3/4 diced yellow onion, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach (messily thawed and drained), 1 package sweet turkey sausage links with casings removed (browned before added to sauce), some sugar (to cut acidity), a little salt (to...do whatever it does that makes it taste good), a dash of paprika, and generous sprinklings of black pepper, dried sweet basil, dried oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. Oh, and about a third a cup of water to make it thinner. It simmered for like an hour.

I mixed a 15 oz container of 2% ricotta cheese with an egg, some grated Parmesan cheese, and a lot of dried oregano. Layers: Sauce, 3 whole wheat lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, mozz and parm, sauce, noodles, ricotta, mozz and parm, sauce, noodles, mozz and parm. It got baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes covered and 15 uncovered.

**You should all note this is like the 10th lasagna I've made so I actually do sort of know the recipe. Except the seasonings. I just add stuff til it tastes right. Bazinga! Still a recipe failure. Aw.

Wow. Okay. I also finished Sally's hats and gloves and got them sent off to her. (One is pictured on the left.) Then I started making some baby hats. I'm on my second baby hat right now. I'm trying to think outside the box for my baby items. For instance-not just pale pink and pale blue hats. Not just hats. I'm hoping it works. I need to get my Etsy shop back up and running. It's just kind of sitting there idly right now. Goals for that are: new/better pics, baby items, and trying harder. It's the trying harder that's gonna get me.

Roommates and I had a little bonding Sunday night. We went out to dinner and Stefanie got to have Red Lobster for the first time ever. Then we went to a poker game and Janelle played for the first time ever, which meant she, of course, royally kicked all of our butts. I'm hoping for a poker tourney this summer.

All right. I told myself that with the new blog I would be positive and not bitch and rant all the time like in the old bitchy, ranty blog, but this is still bothering me so I'ma talk about it cuz it's my blog.

Basically, lots of people I know are getting married and buying houses and having babies (in fact, six different friends either announced babies or engagements THIS WEEKEND) and it makes me feel bad about my life. Not because I'm lacking something, but because THEY think I am. I don't wish them ill. I don't want them to not be happy. I'm not jealous. I just don't like the following:

1) I do not like losing friends because we don't have anything in common anymore because I am single.
2) I do not like losing male friends because they got married and being the platonic female friend isn't kosher.
3) I do not like the phrases "Oh, I'm sure you'll meet someone soon", "Well, you've still got time", and "So...are you seeing anyone?"

I don't actually want to get married or have babies, thank you. I like traveling and having a career. Just because I'm a female in my mid-twenties does NOT mean I need a man and a baby to be happy. And apparently, MSN knows what I'm going through: "Single Women Still Feel 'Spinster' Stigma" The subtitle is "Annoyances worst in mid-20s to mid-30s." Great. I can't wait for the next decade. Thanks a lot, MSN.

Whew. Wait. I don't feel better. You mean that venting one's frustrations on the internet doesn't instantly bring about a feeling of golden-hued contentment?! Damn. Back to knitting.

Vindication for My Laziness

I did not go to the gym today. I went on Tuesday and Wednesday and fully intended to go today. Instead, I was a gym failure. I was going to feel bad about myself because of this, but instead I got all self-righteous as the day went on about all the awesome things I've done in the past 36 hours that should make me feel good about myself.

I acquired tickets to the Hershey Bears game without bribing someone else to get them for me.

I walked to the grocery store AND used a reusable bag. (Yay Earth Day.)

I went to Yarn-Love and only bought 2 skeins of yarn that are already promised to a project.
I made all my meals today AND they were all healthy.

I have made good progress on Sally's second hat.

I got Karyn's approval on my current Etsy pricing and projects, as well as Sally's finished hat and gloves.

I got lots of Hershey related work done today...lots of questions answered.

I looked up some post-Hershey employment options. Even made a spreadsheet.

I updated my resume.

I only screwed with Pat Shiner's mind for 10 minutes last night.

I went to Chocolate World and only spent $7.00 (with discount).

I only ate 20 Jelly Belly brand jelly beans for my snack today.

I gave Stefanie some Mucinex and now she feels better.

I planned a lasagna for my tired roommates' dinner tomorrow.

So in short, screw you gym guilt! I'll go tomorrow.

Also...completely unrelated: Janelle brought home goldfish. Now we have herbs and pets. We're SO domestic.
(Photos from top: Hershey Bears in action, Sally's earflap hat, Hershey's Extra Dark chocolate with Pomegranate flavored pieces, Goldy and somethingorother our new fish)

Lessons Learned

I learned a few lessons today. Yes, even at my ripe old age, I can still learn lessons.

First: patience isn't a bad thing. As antsy as I was to figure out what I'm doing the next few weeks, I spent the day focused on smaller things. I got my ID. I visited my venues. I had lunch. I hung out in the costume shop. I saw sea lions. And then some work came my way and all is well for a while.

Second: rescue missions for cilantro are futile. Yes folks, it seems as though the rescue mission was actually a murder. Senor cilantro appears to be on his last legs...last roots...there's gotta be a joke in there somewhere. Anyhow, I clipped him down a bit (and used some of his leaves in my breakfast burrito thing) and I'll see if the roots take and he livens up a bit. If not, into the trash he goes and some chives or something go in his place. That's the life of an herb.

Third: I suck at recipes. I can tell you what I put in things, but I cannot for the life of me tell you how much. Especially with spices and liquids. I use phrases like "several shakes of chili powder" or "a sploosh of milk" or "til it tastes/looks/smells right". Therefore, my amazing recipes can never be duplicated by anyone else because I can't tell them what to do. For instance, my dinner tonight was some rice vermicelli, chicken, asparagus, scallions, 3 basil leaves (from my new basil plant), 2 cloves of garlic, some peanut sauce, some soy sauce, some rice wine vinegar, and some pepper. No clue how much, which is too bad because it's definitely too thick a sauce for these noodles. I think I used too much peanut sauce. Oh well. Guess it's a good thing duplication is futile.

Thieves in the Night

So yesterday ended with an adventure! My friend Tyler designed lights for "The Wild Party" at Penn State-Harrisburg and he told me to go see it closing night. I've wanted to see that show ever since Kara chose Queenie as her makeup class assignment waaaaaaay back in 2004. So, with my now-trusty sidekick Scoot at my side, we took off for the show. The completely jaded theatre professionals in us couldn't help but notice a few small technical things (PLEASE just step downstage a half step! You'll be in your light!), but overall we had a good time. The lights looked good, which is the whole reason we came AND we discovered Penn State-Harrisburg's theatre is on the 2nd floor of the Olmsted building. So...mission accomplished? Yes.

Day 3 is wrapping up with yet ANOTHER adventure! After an unsuccessful Wal-Mart trip in the afternoon, I had some quality roommate bonding time with Stefanie (which involved watching the infamous "Injury" video from 2009) and then I coerced Scoot into joining me for dinner.

Don't worry, I haven't told you about the adventure part yet.

After dinner we decided to go on a rescue mission for my abandoned cilantro plant. In a slightly less than legal move, we rescued it from an undisclosed former place of my residence and took it with us on the lam. After a successful Wal-Mart trip, it was back to the undisclosed current place of my residence where I showed off my mad gardening skills for Stefanie while I planted the fragrant cilantro along with its new friends Flat Leaf Parsley and Mint. The result? The makings of my own little herb garden!


Tomorrow, the goal is to acquire some basil for that empty center part and all will be complete. Senor Cilantro is looking a bit wilted, but after his arduous journey, I'm not surprised he's a little down. Hopefully he will perk up soon. If he doesn't...guess we're having tacos soon.

So far: 3 days and 3 adventures...life is SWEET here in Chocolate Town.

A Week in the Life

So here we are. A new blog. Sounds exciting. This blog is partially so friends can keep up with me, though things like Facebook and text messages do a decent job of that. This is also partially to show off my knitting prowess and culinary skills. I considered a specialized blog for the knitting and the food and decided that while the knitting one may still happen, I don't cook enough for an entire food related blog. Essentially, this blog is going to be real random, but all me. Cliche, right? Too bad. My blog, my randomosity. (Warning: I apologize in advance for the scatter-brained-ness of this post.)

I just finished one of those 1000 mile, multiple-day-long road trips. I say "one of those" because this is the sixth I've been on since 2008. This time it was Iowa to Pennsylvania. Thankfully I have friends dispersed around the country and they let me crash on couches and in spare rooms. It's normally an 18 hour trip and at one point I could have done it in 2 days, but I am too old to do that sort of thing anymore. I get sick of my own company after a while and there are only so many times you can listen to the Harry Potter 7 audio book (which is, incidentally, 21 hours long). Here's what I did this time 'round.

Tuesday: I left Iowa at an easy mid-day time. I met up with the FoodPlay National Troupe in Watseka, IL and got some quality hanging out time with Carlton and even better than that...

Wednesday: I got to see a performance! It was a lot of fun to see the set-up, warm-up, and show as a regular, non-troupe member. After the show, which was somewhere between pretty good and great in my opinion, I drove a leisurely hour to West Lafayette, IN where I was entertained by a friend I met at the Texas Shakespeare Festival back in 2007. Oddly for a theatre person, most of his friends are NOT theatre people. They were pretty awesome though. A good time was had. There were beers, $1.50 wells, and maybe a phone call or four.

Thursday: It was on to Columbus, OH to stay with a friend from high school. She pulled out a bunch of yearbooks and it was crazy to remember things from an entire decade ago. Then I felt really old.

Friday: The last leg took me across the rest of Ohio and the western half of Pennsylvania to lovely Hershey, PA. After only 2 hours in town, friends stopped by with my ticket to the Hershey Bears game and we set off for dinner. My first hockey game was awesome. Bears won, 3-2. Karyn then had the less awesome idea to trek from the Giant Center across the extensive parking lots to a bar on the other side of the park. Her theory was we'd get there before those who had to fight the 10,000 people leaving the game. It would have been great if not for the rain that plagued us. By the time we got there we were soaked through. Great time though. As Lydia put it, we are now "intrepid". Really? I thought I was just cold.

So that brings me to today. There was some grocery shopping, a little more unpacking, and the best part: a little bit of lunch-having. I created a pasta dish: whole wheat penne with canned diced tomatoes, asparagus steamed with garlic and basil, and a little extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Super easy, super tasty. I'm on a healthy cooking kick. It's too easy in this kind of environment to go out to eat with people all the time. It gets pretty costly AND not always healthy. So there's a goal. Work on that. Easier said than done. I have a friend coming back this year who does horrendous things to my diet. So many indulgences...

I'm back at Hersheypark for the summer, stage managing two shows and (hopefully) having another fantastic summer here in Chocolate Town. Even though I am REALLY going to miss my cast and crew from last summer, I think we've got some good things in store. There are several people returning, a few friends of friends, and lots of new folks. That's one thing I really love about the nomadic theatre thing. I meet more people at each new job than I ever could in another career.

Also, there are sea lions in one of my shows this year. Does your job have sea lions? I didn't think so.

(Photos from top: I-65 in Indiana, the FoodPlay performers juggling around their stage manager, the "intrepid" and thoroughly soaked group at Parkside, penne with olive oil and asparagus, some of the cast and crew from "Beyond the Dragon Gate" 2009.)