Tell you all my secrets

A truly awesome birthday was had yesterday.

I got a nice new cut and a fantastic color as my treat to me, then did all the dead-run party stuff that always comes up for parties - making various salads, helping swamp out the living room. It was supposed to rain, but I kept insisting the clouds needed to keep their legs crossed until at least midnight and it mostly worked.

I got a new computer monitor, a Sims 2 expansion, a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a copy of Ravens in the Library, a Title Wave gift certificate, a wineglass candle (which was accidentally knocked over and shattered within the hour) and a remote control zombie. We had the family birthday dinner for the triplets and I last Sunday. That was a gift certificate-tastic affair (and that rocks). Mom and dad sent me a bunch of books from my wish list and I've read most of them already.

We weren't sure how many people were coming, so we over-cooked. A lot of people who planned on coming didn't and some folks brought friends, so I think it still eeked out around 30. When it finally started to rain we went inside and hung out in Jay's apartment.

Today I have my first production meeting for Harvey and a closing shift at the Aurora show. That will give me a good jump into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (so I can then lend it to the person who gave it to me.)

Books read:

1. Long Way Down

2. Birthday

Plays read:

Movies seen:

1. Requiem
2. Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny

Plays seen:

Overnighters 10, Saturday night.

Pain levels:

Bad

(Reviews to be added, really)

So much to say and so little desire to write.

In the last couple of days we had our new bed frame delivered. It's gorgeous and it is HUGE. We had such an adventure getting it inside at 10 at night, just Mark and I, with me trying not to lift. We dinged it in a few places, but none too terribly. Markis trying to decide how best to fix it, wax or a sharpie.

Based on comments,we named our Roomba. She is Rosie. Mark is now on a quest to rememebr what Rosie on the Jetsons sounded like and I want to make her a little white maid hat/tiara.

The treadmill arrived today. Mark reordered the living room to better fit it. He thinks I hate the arrangement because my first comment was that it made our living room very small, but what I meant was that it is not really entertaining size but is a nice, intimate size for just the two of us.

Mark came home very late last night because of tech. I spent the night reading after having dinner with a friend. I re-read "A Woman in Mind" which is one of my favorite Alan Ayckbourn plays. It was the first one I'd ever seen and I am still haunted by the ending - Susan standing there speaking in her own language that no one else can understand crying "December bee? December choosy?" I have recommended it to one of the theatre companies in town and I wanted to give it another read before I lent out my copy to make sure there was not anything they might object to that I didn't remember.

I followed that up with one of Ayckbourn's childrens plays "This Is Where We Came In". Dear God, I laughed until I cried. I tried to imagine how to explain it and the best I could come up with was "It's 6 Characters Trying to Ditch Their Authors". Basically there is a group of Story Players, who act out the stories as the Story Tellers spin them. The Story Tellers are older than death, one of them tells the same things over and over, one can't remember things and the third gets everything wrong. Which leads to moments like "And this is the story of Grethel and Hansel. ("so far so good") who live at the edge of the forest with their father (Albert dons Woodsman attire.) who is a plumber." Having slept on it, I love the play even more.

Tonight I went to see "Back of the Throat". Mark just blew me out of the water. I was so impressed by his acting. The entire cast was dead soild. He kind of warned me that the script starts out great and thne gets really weird but I was riveted from start to finish. I teared up at the end. The audience was small, but none of us left when the lights came up, every one of us stayed to talk to the director and actors. I think that says a lot.

We went to see Veronica at Blues Central after that, which was a kick. We were totally "that table" yelling and screaming "We love you" after every song. We even danced like white guys right there at the table.

Oh, huge news flash - I will be appearing ON STAGE at the Overnighters. Yep, they only let me out of the booth about once a year and it will be on Sunday. Please send Diet Coke.

After 13 hours we have arrived back home. I read an entire volume of Timberlake Wertenbaker plays, an Ayckbourne play for kids 3 times (it's a chose-your-own-adventure play, an adaption of Juniper Tree, 84 Charring Cross Road, another translation of Pirandello's Henry 4 and Durrang's version of Christmas Carol. And watched a movie. I'm feeling better - my nose had chosen to at least consider optins for reunification with the rest of me, though it still launches periodic sneak attacks on my upper lip. Oh, and the fish survived our vacation, so, bonus.

Well, Conservatory starts tomorrow. Today is my last day to put together paperwork and little details, we have meetings all day tomorrow and Saturday and then we have kids on Tuesday! I am going to try to keep the questions coming in spite of having to be at the PAC at 8 to unlock the doors most mornings (we're going to try to split door-duties this year).

We finally finished watching the original Grudge last night. I'm ashamed to say that while I figured it out, I didn't understand it at all. I also finished reading Spiral, the sequel to Ring. Holy hell! I love these books! I can't wait until I can get my hands on Loop and Dark Water. They are so different from the movies and they sound so stupid when you try to explain them, but these are some scary stories.

Last night at Hullaballo there was a very, very nice older couple sitting in the balcony with me who insisted on striking up a conversation every time I approached. I'm trying to get a head-count and they are asking me about the actors and how do I like the show and so on. Finally I just had to hold up one finger, excuse myself and begin counting under my breath so they could see my lips moving. The husband started to say something again and his wife shushed him very gently "Hold on, dear, she's getting a message."

At intermission he came over to look at the tech box and asked me if people ever ask if I behave myself up here. I said no, since most people have figured out I never behave and he began to explain "No, you see, whenever someone asks you that, you can always look them right in the eye and tell them that you are behaving regardless of if you've been good or bad. You see, most people behave according to their income bracket and since I am not a rich man, I always behave poorly."

1. What is your favorite kind of weather?

2. Have you read the Harry Potter books?

3. What is your favorite song title?

What a fucking day. I don't think I have been this loaded with stuff at work since Christmas Carol. I felt like I was up to my ears in work with someone up my nose the whole time adding to the pile.

I've also been a horrible slacker about writing. I keep having ideas, but I just don't take the time to put them down. It's been a crazy week and this will be an utterly random catalog of events.

Saturday Mark and I went to see The Tempest. I enjoyed it for the most part. It was pretty dull in places. I think that can be one of the problems with the Late Romances; because they are about fathers and daughters and the villains are not that strong there seems to be a temptation to downplay them which takes the teeth out of the story. Antonio, Sebastian and even Caliban had no real menace. I think the play works best when you have a feeling that Miranda, Ariel and Prospero are in actual danger from the forces convening around them - stranded on an island in a sea of villains if you will.

Mark went to the wake for Jesus Christ Superstar after the show but I was just too tired to rally. I felt bad, but I also felt drunk and exhausted and didn't want to snore on anyones' parade.

The weather has been so amazing lately that Sunday Mark decided to repot most of our plants. We also started some seedlings for a veggie garden. I bought myself a present. I got a blueberry bush and named her Muffin. Between that and the teeny-weeny sprouts of the European Salad seeds I bought I've been wandering through the house hissing "Grow! Grow, my pretties! Grow large and strong so that I might eat you!"

We rented Sideways this weekend. It made me miss South Africa terribly. It also made me thirsty. We went through 2 bottles of wine

Sunday was also our first rehearsal with the Toad crew. Sometimes I feel as though they only keep me around because they like me - it sure can't be for my singing. I really surprised myself on Sunday, though. I think I was one of the stronger singers. At least I was able to remember the note progression on the main song we worked and sing loudly enough to help others stay on key. Of course, the moment someone started harmonizing, I was off singing with them instead, but that is what I do. I blame years of being in choir. My technique is pretty much just "sing what you hear". That came back to haunt me on one show. We had to do "My Funny Valentine" in 4-6 part harmony and I could not hold onto my part to save my life once I had to stand away from the other altos. I sucked. I was terrified. The night of the show, Mark ran up to hug me at the end of the song and said "I could hear you!" It was a huge occasion for me, I never sing well or loud enough to be picked out of a group. I ran over to the director, all excited "Mark could hear me!" and he said "I know, and you could hear me. You were singing tenor."

On Monday we went to see Baraka at the Bear Tooth geolinguist. I got the tickets really early and then went to Title Wave to kill time. I finally broke down and bought a copy of Ring which I have been devouring every moment I am home. I'd probably be done with it by now if I didn't keep leaving it at home. Baraka was interesting. I can see why people thought it belonged in the Qatsi trilogy but I did not think it was as good. It lacked a reason for being made other than "look, isn't this cool!" in some of the scenes. Most of them were early on, which made it hard to grasp onto the movie.

Last night I went to Bear Tooth grill with kahteeyah and then hung out at home with her, Mark and Krista.

Krista is in the middle of Passover and rather grumpy about it, which is amusing as hell, especially since she alternated between that and pining for Jon Stewart. We had to remind her that even if we got him for her he wouldn't be Kosher. Even a doll wouldn't be, since they both plump when cooked, but a 2D standee? 100% Kosher.

Tonight Mark, kornopolous and I went to Bear Tooth (anyone seeing a pattern here?) to see Merchant of Venice. I was quite impressed. I really enjoyed the movie visually and it was an interesting take on just what Antonio did when he ordered Shylock to convert. It's spawned many conversations.

But now, there is a kung-fu vampire movie waiting for me in the other room so.....

Mark met me for dinner and prought me a bresent - Shel Silverstein's new book Runny Babbit (a billy sook) and I got to read his new plidrens chay. I raughed my lass off.

For some reason Live Journal is giving me connection errors when I try to access my friends' pages. Hopefully it will iron out, I miss you guys already!

It's Tuesday, which means it's time to whinge about my PT again. Actually, this week was not bad, it was a lot of talk and not much work. I've lost my wall push-up privileges after last week's flare up and have to do them as part of my "all fours" exercises instead. Basically, the rib is *very* unstable so as much as I can do on hands and knees is best, The doctor loves the little mantras I come up with - during strike it was "I can lift anything I want as long as my elbows don't go any farther out than my boobs do". Last night I was "helping" the fairies find weird, skittering movements and I was trying to encourage someone to see if they could squat down and then put their leg over their shoulder (from the side, kind of like stepping over yourself.) I looked up to see the fascinated, perplexed stares of the director and actor and just went "Okay. If it's something that no one else can do, it's probably not good for me to do it either." I think my doctor wants me to put that one on a sampler and live by it every day.

In other news, ATY now has an Executive Director. One of his main goals is getting me to stop with the 12 hour days. I'm rather in favor of that myself. It's going to open up all sorts of possibilities, like doing errands before going to the dentist tomorrow or getting to buy Mark's birthday presents. Mark has me just stumped for what to get him for some reason. He's really not hard to shop for, but I am just having a serious mental block . I know he wants to upgrade his computer, but since I have no idea what to get for that, it would mean just handing him a big greasy wad of cash. Not a bad option but not perfect. I think I finally decided on getting him a nice bottle of whiskey. He's been playing his brother's copy of Halo 2 but there is a problem with the disc and it won't load past a certain mission so I'll probably get him his own shiny clean version of that.

I still can't believe I'm going to the dentist tomorrow. And I *really* can't belive I agreed to the pre-medication thing. It's just a big pet peeve of mine. See, I have a heart condition. No big deal, one of the valves doesn't fit right so it lets blood backwash. It's a very common problem, especially with women, (and for some reason has a high correlation with loose connective tissue, but that is another post) and there is a very, very slight chance that bacteria and other crap from dental cleanings will travel in the blood to the heart, get trapped there because the backwash doesn't clear out all the blood, cause a sudden, major infection and kill me. Very, very slight . Kind of a one-in-a-million thing, like kahteeyah
's cancer. Dentists tend to panic about it and make everyone with a heart murmur pre-medicate with a massive dose of antibiotics. The cardiologist I saw yonks ago said my murmur was so slight, I didn't have to do it, but I neglected to get that in writing.

Because I am a dumbass.

I have a major problem with the idea of unnecessary antibiotics, especially with all the resistant bugs in the world. I don't want to add to the problem. That's one of the reasons I don't visit the dentist as much as I should. Mark knows about the whole thing, but the other night he said something wonderful. He was telling a co-worker about the whole thing, the filling, the antibiotics and she told him about a friend of hers who had a similar heart condition. He had a stroke while still in the chair. I tried to reassure Mark that this is really is something that only happens to one person out of thousands and thousands, it's really nothing to worry about and all he said was "Yeah, but I don't want you to be that person." I'm picking up the antibiotics in the morning.

That's about the news here. I've been looking for plays to suggest for coming seasons. I finally found an absolutely perfect adaption of "The Velveteen Rabbit" and I'm hip-deep in a stage version of "A Christmas Story." I'm sure we'd never be able to afford the rights on it, but it would be so much fun!

Thank you so much, everyone, for sending all those nice messages and warm thoughts. It really helps a lot to know there are people out there thinking about me. Things are not bleak, but it was still not a fun time.

In other news, we went to Title Wave last night and I went a little nuts. I found a new book on stage managing, though, and the new Thieves World book my friend Sean and I have been discussing.

Before I forget, will someone please check the 3-month forecast for hell? I think they are in the midst of a cold snap. Mark's dad is in the process of buying a triplex up here and offered Mark and I a "rent to own" kind of situation. When we first looked at it, the idea was a source of some intense discussion because we can't afford something like that with what I was making. Mark went to see the place anyway on Saturday. Even before that we were sort of "if we were to get the place, which we won't but if we did"-in Last night we were talking about parties at our house and I kind of joked about whether or not dad's place would be good for parties. Mark offered to take me over to see it. There is a tenant in the apartment so we couldn't go up, but we sat in the back and he described all the different rooms to me. It has a washer, dryer, dishwasher and a second bathroom, which are my requirements for leaving our funky little rental. We kept talking and it seems Mark has given a lot of thought to the economic realities of it, how much we would be paying when you consider what is included in the rent there, and he thinks we can do it. Not anytime soon, the current tenant is looking for a roommate and will be there until at least June, possibly longer, but at some point after that....it looks possible.

Now after all that, I need to go stir my onions some more. We're having a BBQ for the Crooked Toad rehearsal and soft onions just sounded wonderful on hot dogs tonight.

"When anything truly important happens in your life, wherever you happen to be, find a stick in the immediate vicinity and write the occasion and the date on it. Keep them together, protect them. There shouldn't be too many; sort through them every few years and separate the events that remain genuinely important from those that were but no longer are. You know the difference. Throw the rest out.

When you are very old, very sick, or sure there's not much time left to live, put them together and burn them. The marriage of the sticks."