(for days when the insecurity tries to burrow in)

It's nice to hear from actors who want to steal me for all their future productions, like some sort of portable, personal stage manager.

I have so many things to do. But also, sleep?

* Four auditions in four days - DONE.

* There's still three performances left this weekend.

* I keep trying to fall asleep with pencils still up in my hair. It doesn't work well.

* Must figure out a way to fall asleep with heat on lower back, but cool everywhere else because this is still Houston in June.

ACTORS!

I wish there was an industry standard number of stupid questions and/or ridiculous emails I could receive from a single actor before I could rescind their audition privileges. "Sorry, Timmy. That's the third time you asked about the audition start time, despite it never changing. I answered the first two instances, but now I'm invoking the 'Stage Manager Ain't Got Time for That' rule, and your slot will now go to someone with reading comprehension skills. You are on six months probation, and we *do* keep a list."

Of all the people who's life you should want to make easier, actors, it should be the stage manager.

the plus of bringing a computer to work is you can answer emails on one while answering other messages on the other - at the same time

Today's rehearsal:

* Actors trying to do the fight choreography in socked feet because they didn't want to wear their shoes. It's okay, they're only wielding a metal dagger and a large wooden dowel rod. (This is maybe why the under 14s shouldn't have been in the big battle.)

* A frantic actor tracking me down in the house, because the large puppet just partially snapped one arm. It's okay, the rig still functions and the other leg can still do the proper movements.

* Loud cracking sound less than an hour later, as same puppet slipped a shoulder strap, causing wearer to awkward try to get free ... and accidentally snap the other puppet arm, nearly all the way. This is less likely to be solved with wood glue and gaff tape.

* Shield is actually injuring actor's hand, because irony is at work in tech week.

* Lamppost is finally pulled from its shipping box to be assembled. It is over-glittered, has a warning sticker that its construction materials have been known to cause cancer, and the globe top is broken.

* Got to buy a back brace for a twenty-something, because it's hard to be a unicorn on stilt legs.