Do You Itch?

And I cannot wait to go to New Orleans. I miss Jason so much that I can't express it in words. [My computer's processor is being slow for some stupid reason.] I am insanely happy and impatient now that I have tickets. [Now it's better...strange.] There are going to be so many fun things we can do even though Jason has to go to work...a lot. It's just what we have to do. It'll give me some time to do some things. It's going to be so strange, because last time I was there I just took the St. Charles Streetcar from the house on Carrollton to somewhere on St. Charles if I wanted to go there or to Magazine or went all the way to Canal if I wanted to go to the Vieux Carre (the Quarter, if you will.). What will I do now? Maybe Jason will be somewhere else so I can walk to Magazine, but I might have to be more innovative, if not use his car. It'll be so intereseting (not to be unfeeling, it will probably be really hard), as an outsider who just went ot N.O. for the first time right before Katrina, and to be there right afterwards. It'll definitely inspire something. I need to bring a lot of Tennessee Williams to read, and maybe I'll write a play, because it won't be like I'm just copying him, but it will be a response or something. I don't know. Wierd. Maybe I can volunteer somewhere and help do something for a few days while J-J is at work. Hmm.

In other news, I have been uncommonly sleepy lately and it's really messing me up. I am getting eight hours of sleep, I should be fine! But I am still super-tired when the alarm sounds and I just sleep through several snoozes. Hmm. Only 1 and 3/5 weeks left of classes. Thank Nietzsche. Whew. Okay, Time for Honour rehearsal.

Gooseberries

And I will be going to the New Orleans soon! Not soon enough, I say, but still soon. I just booked my crazy flights on Northwest airlines so I may increase my frequent flyer miles! I am going to have to make sure I keep all of my luggage with me so that I don't have to worry about losing it in baggage claim land of stupid. Whatever that means. On the way to Nola I go from Indy to Detroit (which is Northwest's hub, and I almost always have to go there) and then I go to O'Hare (Chicago), and get on a flight that has to make a stop at Memphis before getting into N.O. Whew! That is going to be a big day of travel. Hopefully all will go well. New Orleans's airport is strange: it is the airport which serves the greater New Orleans area, is named the Louis Armstrong Internation Airport, and the initials for it are MSY. What? and Why? My mom asked an offhand question to me before I ordered the tickets: Are there people still living in the airport? No. MSY is crazy. Also, we have a smoke alarm which is low on batteries, so it chirps every few seconds. Lovely. I ate my first gooseberry today, albeit a dried one (from Trader Joe's!). Amazing. It's super tart, and you can't eat a whole one in one bite, or several, because it's just that tart. It's a guaranteed impetus for mouth watering. Fun, huh?

Doe G.

And I want a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. At first, when Jason mentioned the breed I was turned off by it's weird tiny legs...but then I looked at a few more and then I couldn't stop! I have been looking at Corgi's online for an hour. We're going to name our yet-unborn Corgi "Dogi" (rhymes with yogi or fogey), and I am excited. I wonder what color it is going to be. I went to the Pembroke Welsh Corgi association website for a long time. They seem like good people with their act together. I'm sold. Maybe it's just the fact that it will be both Jason and I's Dogi. I need to get some tickets to go to New Orleans! It'll be so fun. We're going to go dancing and wine tasting and dinner and lots of...ummm...yeah. We're also going to go to the Pacific Northwest, maybe Astoria, Oregon, next summer. It'll be great, especially since I have a job and am going to save a lot of money. Wahoo!

Anyway. I just made an amazon.com wish list for Christmas and am getting sleepy after a glass of Cab. Sav. and some tuna salad. I'm listening to an interview with Carol Channing on the American Theatre Wing podcast. This woman is amazing. I love it. Okay. I have lost all literary inspiration.

Antioxidotes

And I am alone in the yellow barn house. I am sitting in my room, waiting for mom to call me back and waiting to go to work. Work was great yesterday, but I think we had too many people working. I guess I enjoyed that because everything went so smoothly. Today I only work for a little but, which is nice. I really have about a million things to do: memorize and work on the Tempest monologue, go to the post office, read for class, start some papers, talk to the parentals, look for a bank, etc., etc. But instead, last night I did a little reading and had a half glass of wine and was lazy. I slept in a little today and went to the wonderfully empty gym. Ahh.

I talked to my great friend Kate today! I was so so so so so happy to hear from her! She's really jet-lagged from the return form Italy, so she was really funny. I might get to see her on Christmas break because she'll be in Lansing and that's only two hours from Fort Fun. Yay! Um, I need to get going and get on over to the Winery! End.

It Was Due

And I have I'm using again. Yes, I went to H&M. Yes, I want to go back. Yes, I need to go back. Now! I need it now! Okay. It's not really as bad as it seems, but I went to the H&M at Glenbrook on the off chance that they had a winter coat that maybe wasn't horrible and still within my price range. Well...um. They had two. They actually had more than two, they had a lot, which was the bad thing because I wanted a lot of them. I basically got two coats for the price of the coat I was going to order, but remember that they illusive coat is still the best coat ever. I splurged and paid for the cheaper coat and mom got the more expensive one, albeit still extremely reasonably priced, and a hat, gloves, and cheap-ass sunglasses. I always lose them. Anyway, the tiny guys section at the Glenbrook H&M isn't horrible, but could use some work. More undies, definitely. But they have the best scarves ever there, and I think all of my apparel-related xmas offerings will come from there. Wow. So great. In other good clothing news, I found my pretty blue cashmere hat that matches my scarf. I screamed when I found it, because it's probably the only cashmere hat I'll ever get, and I lose my hats so often that I want to scream. Yeah.

Um, I'm in the Fort. Waiting to go back to B-town, but trying to use this time to spend with the family and remember exactly why I am happy to not be in this city. (To all of you skeptics: it is a city.) I wish I would have had one more day (prior) to come here and shop and fiddle-faddle around, but I had class and stuff. It'll be nice to be at the house while it's quiet for a few days and make a few extra pesos while I'm at it. Maybe go to the gym and do some homework. I know the latter will fall out from between my ears. Oops! It happens.

Carly and I just went to see the film adaptation of Rent. I was dissapointed. Why? The direction is horrible. Bad choices. Stupid choices. Great material and cast to work with, although Rosario Dawson's singing voice is obviously digitally manupulated and a little weak compared with her compadres. Bad directors make me want to cry and scream. In a bad way. I should start a blog about them.

We had a little Oliver Riesling 2004 with dinner tonight, which was tasty. I kind of want some more. Nothing better than drunk blogging. The crazy Marsh store by our house has a lot of Oliver wine, so even if we run out of some good vintages I know I can come back and maybe get some here. Our Chambourcin Nouveau is out, and is yummy...for a Nouveau. I have a so-so attitude toward Nouveau, and it's weird. It kind of grosses me out because it's red but not like normally fermented/aged dry red. I don't know, I don't know. This wine is yummy to taste, though, and I could chug it from the bottle, it goes down easily. Well, I feel this post is starting to dwindle in pointedness, so it's time to maybe watch TV or read or surf...or something. Ciao.

Falling into Shrubbery

And the end has come and I am glad. Yesterday we performed Macbeth for the final time. I am very happy that I did it and equally happy that it's all over--I only wish that I didn't have a lot of assignments due this week! I have a paper due tomorrow, and the final draft of my play and reading notes due on Tuesday. Goodness me. It really irritates me when teachers have stuff due right before break. I guess it's alright because that means it won't be due later. Still. I know. I also have rehearsal on Monday for Honour so there go my evenings. It's good, because if I dont' have rehearsal I usually don't do much homework and just sit on my butt and eat. Good times.

My mom called and said that my grandparents "read an article and now have a wine order for
Thanksgiving". To that my dad and I said "uh-oh". My grandparents are easily influenced by writing and Oprah. They also send me e-mails, but they are only forwards of church jokes or cute puppies and kitties doing silly things. It's too much, I just delete them. I'm glad that they seem to want some nice gewurztraminer for Thanksgiving that I can get for $5 a bottle. I might bring a riesling, too. Sure. I also have an unlabeled bottle of muscat alexander that I really don't want. I own nine bottles of wine. Is that too much? No. I love my job, it got me hooked on wine. Also, I got a fat bonus for working in October. October was one of the biggest months at the winery ever, so they rewarded us for our hard work. It was sweet. I also got two long-sleeved polo shirts with the logo for the chilly weather. And I'll be getting a fleece vest with the logo soon bringing my closet's total logo-wear to six. Ooo, Oliver's Vidal Blanc Ice Wine was released Friday, and it is amazing. So interesting and concentrated. A party in the mouth. Wow. It's only $47.10 per tiny bottle. I only get two with the employee discount, so I'm thinking I might get one or two bottles for Christmastime, maybe one for the family and one for the boy and I.

Titles of Soft Things

And it is cold out after tornadoes. I just realized that this blog doesn't have automatic spell checker as my old one did. I also realized that I haven't been doing all of my readings for this week, and I just had a wonderful lunch. Mmm. I love Bloomington Bagel Co. Now, my week has been more than hectic, it has been insane. I have only six more shows left, I believe, tonight's being the halfway point. Tomorrow, a show at 10:00 am (which means an 8:30 call), and a show at 7:30 pm. Wow. I think I've about had enough of this show, it's getting stale, although last night had a refreshing breeze to it. I felt like we switched up the scenes a little from the rut we've been in. Not that it was a bad rut, but it was a stagnation. I have no energy to do anything except eat and sleep. Last night I fell asleep in the dressing room. I don't know if I'll make it through to the closing night cast party on Saturday. I might just fall asleep before I get there.

Tragedy: that's the only word I have for it. I have lost all of my hats. O, Hellkite, all of them. I don't know where they went to? My precious blue cashmere hat? Gone. My boring but versetile utilitarian black hat? Missing. Luckily I found the only hat I don't wear with regularity, the weird patterned one. I need to make one that matches my purple and yellow scarf. Today I inaugurate that scarf into being. It is a little bit too long for any scarf, and too thick. This is alright because that means if I make another scarf it will not take as long unless I use smaller gauge needles or yarn. I am going to go to the yarn store this Sunday and get myself a treat. I also need more comfy PJs pants. And more sweaters, t-shirts, jeans, HATS, and long-sleeve shirts that aren't thermals. Okay, I think it's time to head to Medieval drama even though I have not finished reading this weird Tudor play we were assigned. Ciao.

Listen: Lots of Sweet Things

And Jessica is listening to Joni Mitchell. It's nice. I ought to be revising my play, but I need more than 30 minutes to do that. So I'll blog a little. I'm thinking of starting two other blogs: A food blog and a review blog. The former will consist of recipe and restaurant reviews, hints, rants, and nutritional musings. Jason says I should be a food writer. Who wouldn't like that? Oh, and it will also feature wine reviews and cocktail recipes. Mmm. Maybe tea and chocolate reviews, too. Good idea. The latter blog will be my oft loathed criticism of theatre, and maybe movies and literature, we'll see. I'm a little too harsh most of the time. I just need to get it out. Last night at rehearsal, though, I realized there are others out there with a similarly critical eye. And that Derrida is a bitch to read.

So I'm not feeling horrible about my play, but we'll see how revision goes, because I want it to be good when it's read and I want people to be moved by it, and, most importantly, entertained. I enrolled in Playwriting II for next semester. We'll see how that goes. Oi. Oi vey schmear. It could be bad, or could be great, who knows? Anyway.

Oh my, I need to get going to class, tonight is the first show with a sort of audience! Yay!

Wit and Policy

And I ought to be doing my homework. But I decided to just chill instead. I really can't afford to "chill" right about now, the schedule does not permit. I haven't finished my homework for today, I barely finished yesterday's homework on time. Dress rehearsal went fairly well yesterday, although there were some costume quirks than can be fixed. McB came up to me during the banquet/Banquo-ghost scene after he went crazy and said, under his breath, "Fix my cape!" I had no idea how to fix it, I tried, but it didn't want to stay on these weird shoulder-pad horn-like things. Yeah. The show is beautiful; it looks like Star Wars meets Bible stories meets ancient Japan meets England. It's cool. Lady M is totally Queen Amidala, Malcolm is Legolas, McB is very "Throne of Blood", MacDuff is Jesus, the gentlewoman is Mary (as in mother of Jesus, Mary). The costumes look like they took forever to make. A lot of beautiful quilted fabrics. The witches are crazy/wonderful. The cast is extremely nice, and the SM and ASMs are doing a great job, as is the crew. There are inordinate amounts of people in this production, it's unbelievable. Okay, I really do need to go now, I'll be late for work. Eep!

An Analogue to Insanity

And oftentimes on Sundays I go off my rocker. Homework has began to get the better of me. I don't want to use my printer to print a reading I have for tomorrow and I can't find a copy of a play I need to look at for my medieval drama midterm. "Fie, for shame!"

I also need to sweep and dust downstairs, which I'll do tomorrow after classes since Jessica and Eliot are in the living room. The chores in this house are a usesless matter anymore. I get pegged as being the annoying one who harps on people to get their chores done. Sometimes people call me passive aggressive and rude. I just ask people do to their chores. Thoroughly. "Kitchen" entails mopping, as does "Bathroom". The kitchen is gross right now, and I was the last one to clean it. I should not have to ask people to do their chores, but people usually come to me saying "I'll do my chore [time]." Some weeks are just fine, but that is about once a month, and I don't like to live in grossness. I use this blog partly as a place to rant and thus vent. Ahh steam. Let go. Let it go.

I have also become very picky about the energies with which I surround myself. Today at rehearsal, for example, everyone was very positive and perky, which is rare for the first wet tech rehearsal. At home, not always. It's understandible, really, because when you live with people you have to unfortunately face them in their entirety, which, naturally, isn't always pretty. I'm not easy to live with. I need to work out more, because it keeps my spirits up. Yoga and stretching helps, too. So does sex. And Jason, he helps a lot. Fuzzy contact lenses don't either. Work does. I heart the Winery. [Note "heart" used as a verb...I don't know how I feel about that. "Hearting"? No.] I really do!

Okay. I should get going. I'm boring now.

MacTech Doth Come

And today began MacBeth tech week. It went amazingly smooth for a show with a giant cast and a lot of minute technical elements. I enjoyed rehearsal for the most part, and was lucky enough to get into the audience to see some scenes. The designers deserve so much praise for what they've accomplished. The set looks amazing, as do the lights and props, and aside from a few missteps, all is well.

Things that I loved today:

• the rain wall
• the lights
• the fog
• the fire
• the set
• the fights

Things which need some work:

• the sound (too loud)
• the "apparitions" (one head on a stick, and two babies on a stick)
• the acting (some scenes are amazing, the rest need to step it up)
• the curtain call (I hate bad curtain calls, the whole idea of them bothers me, it seems to stem from some need for approval, and usually just destroys whatever moment happens at the end of a show. I remember seeing Six Characters in Search of an Author where there was no curtain call. It rocked. The audience didn't know what to do, the house lights were already up, so they just sat for a while. That is power: making two hundred or so people sit for no reason at all. I love it. I hate curtain calls.)

For the huge show that McB is, it is going very well. I will not comment on acting or directing because it might be construed as opinion to some readers. Which it might indeed be. The show should be, at least, technically and literarily spectacular. It's Shakespeare. Now, the majority of the acting is great, but definitely not all or enough of it. I do not settle for mediocrity, even in school. Here lies the problem.

Here lies another problem. I ought to have started my midterm for Medieval Drama. I shall, now.

Christening

And I smash a bottle of champagne on the side of this blog! I have taken Jason's lead and chosen to begin a new blog, and possibly abandon my former one. Who knows. I hope it is easy to post pictures to this blog, because I plan on getting a digital camera someday and filling this to the brim with photographs!And now I will leave you for a moment and do what I ought. Goodbye.