What? Sometimes I can't find my mouse.

I love the pause/unpause spacebar function in iTunes more than words can express.

FALL WEATHER BLISS

Why am I inside right now? And why didn't I go swimming last Monday off like I'd wanted? (It's much too fall now, as I suppose I should expect from the end of September.)

Two ephiphanies from the weekend:
* I used to be second in my class, and now I run around in a mascot costume. I find this funny rather than sad. (Mostly because I do a *lot* more than mascot costumes. I don't know if it would be a depressing thought if I didn't have more.)

* Lions must be the natural predator of acting bugs, as a lioness totally stalked Ta-Daa while I was walking past their pen. (We walked over, she moved to the fence; we walked down the path, she followed us on her side of the fence; I knelt down to be closer to the wee ones, she would pop up to try and see where I went.) I found this amusing, but not as much as the people who weren't in the suit themselves.

1901

I keep starting blog posts, not finishing them, saving them to drafts, and moving on with my life. Clearly I'm working out what's in my brain without the need to share it with others, which may or may not actually be helpful.

Apparently I'm not having a post production meeting today as people keep leaving me notes (or, just now) texting me that they won't be available. When I compare what our post-PMs have become (all about the budget) versus Sunday morning's conversation about what some of us would rather have (completely focused on what did or did not work with constructive criticism for the future), I know what camp we'll be in today.

Yeah, I don't know why I'm watching "Mamma Mia" at midnight, either.

I kinda hope my Mom was secretly in a girl group when she was younger so they can make a special guest appearance at my hen party some day [far] in the future.

Maybe I'll just need to do karaoke and sing Super Trooper.

happiness is...

...remembering the dispenser of bubble gum in your desk just as your enthusiasm for typing up the show script completely dropped off. (Did you know I concentrate better if I'm chewing something while I type/write/etc.? This is how I developed an unhealthy Tootside Roll habit in college.)

Related only in that I needed them while opening said dispenser: I'm kinda glad that I chewed off all my fingernails during tech week. I had promised myself a manicure treat if I mangaged to keep them intact, but now I can spend that money at Borders instead.

(what's extra fun about strange post titles is trying to remember what I meant several years down the line - it's like playing a game with my college self)

I think I'm contractually obligated (what? go with it) to do a flippant post of some sort after every long-form, exposing one's faults post. Please enjoy the following.

* I planted seeds batch 2.0 over the weekend, and already little green bits are popping out of the soil. Moments like this give me so much joy I automatically forget how sad I am when I inevitably kill them all off three weeks later.

* I recently discoverd that I *had* taken pictures while on my vacation a month ago, both hiding on my phone. One is an Iowa cornfield, the other is a grouping of burgers, showing that no longer must the isolated burger be isolated.

* I'm not going to suss out a link to the above statement (though I bet there is one) because I'm suddnely remembering to eat dinner. I like eating food, so there you go.

airplanes, pt. 2

I feel somewhat obligated to talk about opening, what with the stress and bad eating habits it's brought about in my life these past few weeks. I even started a post, but it took a fast spiral to the depths of emo-land that I needed to restart. (Who wants to read what 13-year-old me would've written to get pity from others? Nobody, that's who.)

You want the sum up? I don't always believe it when people say I'm a good stage manager, and that can make stressful rehearsals difficult. I'm working on this.

ANYWAY.

After Thursday's awfully-off performance (the only positive thing was that all the actors and myself had our blunders), having Friday go so very, very well was actually even sweeter. (And, with that many ADPers in attendance at the same time, so much the better. Y'all are more pressure than critics.) Lines mostly occurred where written, transitions started picking up time, cue calls found some stability, and there was free chicken afterward. It even helped with minor problems that popped up the rest of the weekend; if one performance could pull together so exceptionally well, certainly it could do so again.

I'm rambling slightly now (no really, you don't know how much I've deleted and tried to re-edit so far), and I'll admit to being concerned what we'll look like Wednesday night when we've been away for three days, but at least I don't miss the children's theater quite as much anymore. So, ultimately, thanks to everyone for your patience and prayers this past month. I know I haven't been a total picnic since I came back from MO (maybe taking such an awesome vacation wasn't the best choice just before stressful rehearsal time?), but I appreciate people still trying to be friendly all the same.

[Fun fact: this was not at all the post I thought I was going to write tonight.]

not on the checklist

I was trying to think of what I'd forgotten to do next before tonight's opening performance....and then I realized it was "remove food from microwave and eat it."

(I maybe should've just edited these together, OR con't con't rocking out)

I don't know if it actually counts as "rocking out," but I do dearly love the "Year with Frog and Toad" soundtrack. If we had the royalties budget, I'd suggest it for a future season.

(As is, any children's theater that has performed it gets an extra asterisk in my brain when I look at such information as other theaters, especially those in a more Midwestern location.)

((Also-also, my sort of wanting to play one of the obnoxious birds is very much influenced by the fact that one is sung by the same person who was the original Little Red in "Into the Woods."))

continued rocking out at the desk

I can't think of Jars of Clay's "Love Song for a Savior" without picturing late nights in Jefferson City, windows rolled down, and the capital lights in the distance.

best by

I didn't think I was having a stressful day, but something must be up seeing as I just ate a package of ancient Pop Rocks. (How old were they? They'd solidified into one large, sticky, no-longer-poppy mass that I pried off the packaging with my teeth like a melted candy bar.)

In other news, first preview for Daisy is tonight, and the shop staff is getting high on my sugar stash.

rocking out in the office

One of my regrets from the past year: I should've seen OK GO while they were in town.

(Also, the fact that I haven't made it out to a Flogging Molly show any of the times they've been close shames me slightly.)

your make-up needs make-up!

You know what makes me giggle EVERY TIME? Seeing "just got feet, don't got shoes" in the previous post, in bold, blue font.

You know what makes me an English major? That I just had a debate with my writer self about whether or not I could leave out the comma after "bold" in the above sentence. ("...but technically the color isn't called 'bold blue,' so that means it's two seperate adjectives...")

You know what I don't have a third question for? This post. (That'll do.)

(sadly, I was too busy with Daisy to mention this until now)

I had a genuine Kids in the Hall moment this morning as the woman also waiting at the bus stop asked me for directions, confirmed the price for a single ride, and then apologized for not being able to speak English. As I'm pretty sure my brain didn't suddenly stumble into fluency for Spanish, I have to assume I instead tumbled into a Canadian sketch comedy act.

In case you're more confused than ever, Just got feet; don't got shoes.

because--right now--what's the point?

...and in anti-London news (for once), I haven't let myself open the weekly Time Out London email for at least two months because it's not like I'd be taking advantage of the week's Best Bets right now anyway.

way to be, seven year old me

You know what's still awesome? Slightly stale animal crackers from the Barnum's box on a string (that totally could double for a purse once you were done). Could someone please bring a glass of milk to my office so I could enjoy this even more?

hoggy woggy Hogwarts

I know I talk about London a *bunch* (and I'm about to do it again), but I really should be there some year on September 1 so I can take my First Day at Hogwarts picture at King's Cross Station. (Do you think I could rent an owl for an hour?)