Attempt at Articulation of a Schedule or Rant 'n Rave

And I am instituting what will hopefully become a weekly Thursday tradition of a rant followed by a rave--to end on a positive note.

Bad Mechanics
So yesterday I went to Jiffy Lube to give Toyota some TLC--you can't be too good to a seventeen year-old car. Anyway, I know a thing or two about cars, and I know that mechanics will try to fool me. So as they are changing my oil they ask my which kind of oil I want--wait--they tell me which kind of oil I want. They say "You want the Valvovine XJ23589292-30, right?" And I reply "Or whatever is cheaper." Which turns out to be the Valvovile XJ2385974985-20. Whatever. It doesn't end there. They proceed to bring in my air filter and a little valve to interrupt me from my Newsweek. They tell me that I need it changed and will be like $14. Dude, I've seen a dirtier filter before, show me it in six months, and then I might change it. Regarding the valve-thing, I don't know what it does, but it isn't broken or dirty so I ask them why I should replace it. The dude responds with, "We recommend it." I quesiton him, "Why?" "..." he says, "Well, uh, that, um, it's just a good idea." No dice, dude. Therefore I exit the Lube without spending an extra cent. All I needed was a change of oil and them to fix the pressure in my tires. Which they did. Horrah!

Cookies/Performance Studies
A guy in my Performance Studies class brought in the most amazing peanut butter & chocolate chip cookies ever. They were crumbly and had big chunks of good chocolate. I can't rave enough, only savor the memory. Also, I think I want to go to graduate school for performance studies, it's much cooler than both English and Theatre, and then I could do whatever I wanted! It gives me more agency than if I was just to go into an MA in English or an MFA in Directing. Wahoo! It really depends on where I end up being able to go.

Cycling

And I think college is the time when you realize just how reptative and cyclical life really is. I don't mean to sound at all negative or to invoke teduim, although many people see it that way, I just realize that life has a daily, weekly, etc., routine that we have to follow in order to survive. We've known of our daily routines since we started school, way back when, but now I think I realize my weekly routine more. I always venture out to the grocery once a week, cause I love food and cooking is good for the soul. I also am lucky enough this semester to be able to have a weekly workout routine. [On a side note, never go to the gym between 4:00 - 8:00 pm--insanity and some amazing gender performances: a lot of men trying their hardest to be men and women trying their hardest to be women. ] I also need to get back into a weekly chore pattern where I clean my room and clean one public area of the house once a week. (Not to mention that I desperately need to clean out my car.) This house gets so nasty so fast, and not everyone does chores on a regular basis, so I think it's important that I do my part. I have officially lost any extra storage space in my bedroom, it is all used up: closet, shelves, drawers, under the bed, hooks, hangers, bags, floor--all full. Crap. I need to throw stuff away. Right now I need to go finish cleaning the kitchen. *Pause* And our house also has a routine where everything needs Drain-o. I just Drain-o-ed the sink and nothing freakin' happened. I felt like a failure and had no idea how to get the water to go down the sink. I used the plunger. I know it's gross because it goes in the potty, but I had no other alternative! Then I washed some dishes, and now I'm not sure if it even did anything! EEP! Whatever.

Lack of Inspiration or Should I Have Wine with Dinner?

And I love wine, and have an impractically large collection of wine under my bed--should I drink it? I feel bad because the bottle may go to waste if I only have one glass each night. At rehearsal, we were talking about food, and our director, who is from South Africa, said that he always has one glass of wine with most meals save breakfast. I love that idea. Now red wine is supposed to be good fro you, but alcohol isn't. So, maybe I can make a compromise. Also, for me food is a celebration of life and art, but can I celebrate it by myself? Someday I'll be able to always have a working wine bottle or two, but what do I do in the mean time? Huh? Drink myself into a hangover or what?! Have more parties. Yes. Which reminds me, I need to get on top of things and stop wasting my time here.

The Third Act

And Thorton Wilder is my hero. I just saw an amazingly refreshing, and wonderful performance of the play I've read a million times, Our Town. I've seen it twice before, each time with very convincing Emilys and Georges, but the rest of the cast was, you know, twelve, so things weren't as believable. This was great. Perfect, almost. Nothing crazy, just amazing acting, direction, and script. That play is one of the first pieces of innovative theatre I remember reading. I remember my first drama class, where I discovered reading new plays. Our Town and You Can't Take It With You were two of the first real plays I'd ever read, and I was hooked. Now I'm trying to write them myself. After years upon years of acting in them, helping out with them, building sets for them, reading them, writing about them, I thought I would like to write one of my own. Well, I've tried it a bunch of times in the past, and never got past more than twenty horrible pages of trite, teenage-angsty pieces. I had a few little scenes and monologues that weren't disposable, but no luck on length. I remember in high school when were were assigned to direct a 10-15 minute play I decided to write my own. It turned out, well for a sitcom-esque piece with one horrible (and unkind) actress in a vital role. It was fun though, and I started a trend of people trying to do something besides a Durang scene. Lately I've been thinking that I could direct shows, too, but nothing here is satisfying my cravings. I need, really need, to start some sort of group that can help create a show. I don't think that one person is enought to carry the creative anvil around.