June!

Recently, a friend reminded me that I have this blog. So...this post is for you, Tim.

Life is pretty good. My main show is finally open so I can sleep and eat and shower on a schedule like a normal person. My other show is going to open...really soon. I hope. Did you know sea lions aren't the most compliant animals?

Roommates are still good. Tonight we made homemade ravioli, marinara sauce, garlic bread, and banana bread. I'm drinking a bottle of my very favorite beer. Jazz night starts up tomorrow. Epic television plans with a friend Friday. Bridal shower Saturday. Sushi Sunday. Xmen First Class comes out this weekend. So much good.

Really...that's all I got right now.

My dinner was delicious.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)