In other news, I injured myself on the set so now we know the show's gonna be really good!

[My knee is mostly fine.]

Oh heaven help me, but we have piles and piles of books free for the taking in the lobby (the leftovers of the 1619* all over the Freud set), and I've hardly looked through them, and yet -- Smith curse! -- I already have seventeen in a pile to take home. Does it help that some will turn into presents or craft projects or such?**






* Yes, I counted. Have you met me? Weirdly, it took approximately the same amount of time as it does to run the show.

** No.

run for designers night

Nobody died! Nobody was murdered! (Yes, those are two vastly different things. Hoo doggies, at the end of this week, those are vastly differing items.)


[This post could've also been called "It's 11:11 pm and I'm eating cheese crackers, obviously."]

Oh my gosh, I'm so sleepy. So much for baking chicken after rehearsal.

Hey self, remember when we'd stay up all night, writing papers (that received good grades!) and eating Tootsie Rolls, and feel perfectly fine the next day. Twenty-year-olds have no inkling of the golden juices flowing through their quick metabolizing, fast recovering veins.

I'm gonna eat queso before every rehearsal!

(No, I'm not. I'm currently out. Perhaps this is the true cause of all my current ills.)

I forgot where I was going with this because I instead went down an unexpected Sam Rockwell rabbit hole on YouTube. Y'know, as you do on Monday nights when you were actually planning on doing something else legitimately useful. Maybe I never had anything else. I should stop waiting for the end of the day to decide I want to write something, especially if I'm not writing about anything in particular.

Between being in the bug suit and the top of the 12th inning, my neck is gonna be legit sore tomorrow.

Well, that was fun. Nice of the Royals to save the bulk of the action for when I was watching, even if I didn't come in until the 9th.

Needs more footage from KC itself, though. If you can't win it in the hometown, at least *show* the hometown, jeepers.

Gonna be some fun flights into MCI tomorrow. Might be some awkward subway rides tonight.

(Gotta publish this now if I'm gonna keep up the streak.)

There was no need to cook that entire box of pasta, self.

So much elbow macaroni. So, so much.


It feels strange to be home on Halloween - no rehearsal, no performance, no party. All the rain this morning certainly took the "let's do stuff!" out of me, so I'm not complaining. It's just been a long time. I haven't had any kiddos drop by, though perhaps they prefer the residential streets west of us over wandering the complex. Stay away kids, I have no candy to pass out. (Talk to me this time tomorrow, though...)

So, uh, Doctor Who, Royals, and pretending I'm not here if the children pop 'round? Sweet.

If TCM On Demand would work once more...

I don't know who in the programming department decided to follow-up "Freaks" with a Mickey Mouse cartoon, but, whoever you are, we should definitely hang out.


Things I Should Do Tomorrow:
* enjoy that I don't have to work
* clean my disaster of a kitchen
* put away laundry more than folding it and leaving it on a chair
* bake a casserole or two ahead of the full rehearsal week

Things I Will Actually Do Tomorrow
* probably just that first one

even in Australia

I don't have anything to post, but I've posted the last few days in a row and I don't feel like breaking the chain yet. (This sort of feeling will lose weight the further I get into rehearsal). That never stopped me in college, though, so here we are together.

Um, both my hair and nails are currently short. (As am I, for that matter, but that's not new.)

I mean, I sometimes *don't* want to deal, but that's not the point.

Things I am still working on: conveying that we may have an issue adding additional [scenery / props / costumes] without coming across like a grouchy child that doesn't want to deal.

In other news, I'm apparently drafting scene shift paperwork two weeks early, starting tomorrow. Oh boy!

pretend for a moment that you know how to 'adult'

I'm trying to play this game called "Work With Me Here" where both participants in a single email conversation chain answer all questions posed back and forth, with detail, rather than only answering one item with the barest of replies. (It's not even the least you can do - the least you could do would be to give a vague non-answer answer to all questions, not one sort of vague answer to one question.)

Why are you making emails feel like pulling teeth - especially as if I'm pulling my own, like I'm trying to extract information from a source that is actively fighting me the whole way.


[I am tired of adulting today. I'm going back to taping floors for rehearsal because the floor doesn't refuse to do its side of the process.]

How do you write that? / I pull out a keyboard and go to Word...

This is such a sarcastic group of people, so at least it's going to be a quotable time turning this one-act into a full-length.

I have no milk left, but it's twenty til eleven and nothing that will change tonight. Time to eat ice cream instead!

Just watched a scary film, at night, alone in my apartment because sometimes it's like I don't remember who I am and how I react to things.

I like you, Signs, and your score is beautiful, but you're a creepy frakking movie, no matter how many times I've seen you.

I did not go into that short sentence intending to use four commas.

(Sorry. I have nothing else.)

I pulled something in my shoulder while changing a lightbulb, so that bodes well for the day.

By the way everyone's been talking about the weather, we're all about to be washed away by a tremendous wall of water. (We'll see.) If nothing else, I'll take it as an excuse to stay inside and do things around the apartment ... y'know, like I really want to do anyway on a Saturday when I don't have to be anywhere official.

Might wish I'd gone ahead and picked up another gallon of milk yesterday, if the monsoon ever does start.

Christmas rehearsals start Monday. Halloween is Saturday. Theater timelines are weird.

October = the St. Luke's pumpkin patch, Christmas decorations going up way early in Highland Village, and me talking about baseball

It's weird that this time last year I would've been cheering for the Royals vs. [whoever] rather than today, when I was actively rooting for their ... not destruction, but definitely inability to cash in on momentum. Might be even weirder that the Astros are in the postseason [end of sentence], but maybe not.

Not gonna lie, though, I'm excited that there will be a game four because it means I'm gonna be at a postseason baseball game next week.

When this show closes, I'll stop putting splinters in my fingers from checking the stabbed side of the tabletop.

My job is weird.

I helped someone move this week (twice, sort of), so all I want to do is sit on my couch with a heating pad and watch foreign films I have in from the library. BUT! It's so beautiful out, in the way the top of autumn is extra welcome in Houston after the months and months (and months and...) of summer humidity, and for the first time in forever you *want* to sit in the sun.

In grief that "Parks and Rec" never won an Emmy, I may have just bought the entire series on DVD.

(But it's still me, so of course I've been watching prices for months and had to reconfirm everything before I could click the confirm.)

My goal for tomorrow is called "stop feeling like crap" which will involve lots of sleep and not being at the theater. Perhaps I can lick the potent combination of changing weather, lots of water, and twelve actors who are also trying to not be sick in a single day.

Oh, man. 2004 Me was super-earnest.

Shout-out to 2011 Hannah, who wrote a shut it down/reply to a margin note originally written by 2004 Hannah, right where I was getting overly emotional during All Time Favorite Book last night at well past midnight.

I highly recommend everyone (at some point) write notes in the margin of their favorite book, because it's quite the jolt to see where your brain was at a past point in your life. However, it does make it difficult to loan out copies after because OH MY GOSH, SHUT UP PAST HANNAH, aka now you're stuck with those grand thoughts forever. Is it worth it to giggle anew at one joke I made eleven years ago with each re-read? Absolutely.

all-time favorite book remains all-time favorite book

I'm currently re-reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the nth time, which means all I really want to do is sit and read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

So, goodnight. Time for fifteen more short chapters.

moment in time

I'm on my couch, still in PJs because I don't have to be anywhere until tonight's show, smelling slightly of condensed milk from the casserole bubbling away on my counter (cheddar cheese and potatoes - it'll take care of part of my ongoing nacho craving) from having to go through multiple cans before finding the one that was past the 'best by' date but not actually expired, listening to Shostakovitch playing live from London as part of the Last Night of the Proms, reminding myself once more that someday I actually want to *be* at the Last Night of the Proms, a disc of 'Friday Night Lights' endlessly paused on my TV from when the concert started, and about five minutes away from working on a limerick to continue a joke with one of my actor/jurors, but distracted by the way my opening night flowers have continued to bloom one week after receiving them.

Previously plans to run around today canceled because I keep injuring myself and I'd rather do that indoors today, thanks.

In related news: the multi-bandage configuration on my foot makes it look way worse than it is. In related-related news: we need to buy a roll of gauze for the first aid kit for the next person with a cut several inches long so they don't have to Frankenstein something together.


Reviews for the show keep popping up, and happily they're all positive so far. (Also, from my side of things: this is holding true.)


Am I now going to spend my holiday putting together a spreadsheet for what to tape in the new television season? Maybe. (Yes.)

(extra plus side: I'm still in my PJs at 10am on a Thursday)

I will take this morning's nosebleed over yesterday's 'rancid chocolate milk to the eyeball' any day of the week, and month of the year.

(thanks, the two people who still read and comment)

I'm eating watermelon, mostly because I already finished the leftover mashed potatoes (which I spooned out of the bottom of the tub with cheese crackers).

If I didn't already know it (because, oh, do I know it), the last sentence would've completely pinpointed to me that I was about to open a show. My fridge definitely has a "raised by wolves" vibe at the moment.

I feel like I'm sucking at everything right now (hey there, tech week!), so here's a quick, incredibly random list of things that I *know* I'm good at:

- ignoring Ms. Fye's voice in my head when I end a sentence with a preposition

- that thing models do where they shrug a jacket off in a fluid motion to reveal the outfit underneath (it's with my robe and PJs in the morning, but still)

- alphabetizing

- scrambled eggs a la microwave

- rewriting my thought to fit within Twitter or texting character count

- not ignoring Fye's voice in my head and rewriting for better clarity after all, jeepers

Did I just leave my stuffed animal of Mr. Tugg'n'Buttons in the house so he could appear on the time lapse video?

I think we all know the answer to this question.

I put something on my to-do list in April with the full knowledge that it couldn't be completed until August. I crossed it off today, and it felt SO SATISFYING to take care of it, let alone know that I hadn't forgotten in the meantime. *Now* we can call 2014/15 LION touring complete - the anniversary card is in the mail.

Did I pop onstage so one year from now my mother can see me in the time lapse video of all the season strikes? Yes. (Checking the stage because it's my show was just bonus.)

White and green, Mamita.


In other news: thank you, math, as the set walls are currently going up mere inches from where it was taped out around the walls of Jericho (aka previous show). It's beautiful, and I love it.

wonders of the age

Seeing as I picked up new flash drives today (hurrah, sales and tax-free weekend!), it jogged my brain that ten years ago I bought my first flash drive.

I don't know. Those 258mb (for just under $25 - also a sale on tax-free weekend) are awfully close to the 48gigs ($16) I picked up today, right? :)

(I gotta pick up with *this* again, too, because it was super helpful in reminding me what I was up to in February '14 mere hours earlier.)

I'm glad I'm picking back up my habit of taking down quotes again, because it always gives me such joy when I find them years later ... such as tonight, cleaning out boxes and discovering the notebook that was clearly running around in my purse circa 2010-11. Oh, boy.




[Okay, here's one: I would be the kid like, "Why is my patronus a toaster?" -WL]

Things I love, right now:

* the knowledge that I'm sitting, watching the same show as is likely playing in the JC house

* my sweet Doctor Who and Harry Potter loving teenagers and their extensive collection of fandom tshirts

* the half gallon of fancy chocolate milk sitting in my office fridge

* post-it tabs

* the many hours of Parks&Rec that are taping this week because it's tech

I am working on a project for a pal having a rough week.

Artists I'll put on a mixtape because they seem like safe bets: Taylor Swift, Spice Girls, B-52s

Artists I'll put on a mixtape for my enjoyment (and hopefully others will, too): Moxy Fruvous, Flogging Molly, Rosemary Clooney

Things I'll put on a mixtape because they seem to be halfway between the above: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covers of Broadway songs

Standby, Organ Boys...

(That's what they call them. Whatever gets you through your six week run, I guess.)


The side of my brain that likes fixing things enjoys doing one-off coverage of other people's shows in the same way an extreme sports expert might enjoy jumping off a cliff: it's a rush, you don't know exactly how it'll end, everyone's hoping for the best. I find it weirdly fascinating that the person who actually could have the most control over how a production goes can be completely replaced without the audience's knowledge. As I said in many emails* today, theater is weird.

It's obviously better when there's some heads-up (I like checking my bungee cord) so paperwork can be clarified, notations explained, even props reset to minimize the number of things the replacement can screw up. I still have recordings on my phone from two separate productions that I covered: nearly all the numbers in Godspell (so I could practice calling light cues on their proper bumps) and the ending of "The Beams Are Creaking" (to practice conducting and calling cues simultaneously). I'm glad today's SM had the time to walk me through life before tonight's show, as it helped to know so much was taken care of when the world tried to fall apart elsewhere. (Let's do 'Miracle Worker' with a functional-now-nonfunctional water pump? Sounds great!)

Or, no heads-up can be fun, I guess: the stage manager who knew I was in the building, so she buzzed me to come up to the booth so she could throw up. That Saturday when the morning version of BCPE had an actor not show so we brought me in to run their version while the stage manager went in for a Herdman. I sometimes wonder if part of why I try to be so meticulous in my own paperwork is to ward off theater gremelins from causing me to miss a performance - and thus call for meticulous paperwork for the last second cover.

It's midnight now, so I will quickly sum up by saying that I guess this all means I like my job. Some days, though, there's that extra kicker to get you through the three-four-five-forever weeks run.




[* These emails were asking various cast members if they have a preference for the flavor of gum or cough/Vitamin C drop we'll use in an upcoming production because the props designer doesn't want anyone stuck with an unwelcome flavor. Of course they were.]

From the minds that brought you "Standby Velociraptor," now comes "Standby Velociraptor with a Taser"

Because sometimes it takes the big guns to get people to put turn off their phones.

[I hope the one and a half people (or so) who know what I'm talking about like that.]


Super-Anyway, I feel like all I'm doing today is answering emails and watching radar maps. We're clearly going to get rain, but no one can agree yet on just how much. The meteorologist are walking a balance of 'don't panic the people' and 'don't make everyone feel so calm they accidentally drown tomorrow,' and I don't envy them that tightrope. Meanwhile, I'm planning for meetings that may or may happen tomorrow and congratulating myself on *not* buying the fancy tickets to see "Inside Out" early, as the movie theater or bus service or any other number of things may very well be flooded out by tomorrow evening.

three hours, ten minutes

Currently considering purchasing a plane ticket which will include an extended layover in St. Louis - probably just long enough (and cheap enough, compared to the direct flight options) to hop in a cab, get some Ted Drews*, and make my way back to Lambert.




* I phrase that as if I don't know what I would buy. I would buy two Cardinal Sins: one to eat immediately, one to [likely] unsuccessfully try to fit into security-approved bottles to take back with me.

Things I looked up during the Tony broadcast (in no particular order):

* Daisy Eagan's age when she won for Secret Garden

* Peter Gallagher's entire history to figure out what project Megan knew him from

* How many Tonys does ____ have?
- Tommy Tune: now 10, from 13 nominations
- Brian d'Arcy James: zero
- Michael Ceveris: because I can never remember how many Sondheim-based awards he's won
- Scarlett Johansson

* When in relation to the schedule of Smash did Christian Borle win his Tony

* Did we really have a tie for the best book over the commercial break, or did the website have a misprint?

* Cheno's acceptance speech from 1999

* Jackman's hopping opening from last year, because somehow Megan had missed it

* Does Helen Mirren somehow have a Grammy, whereas she just became an EGOT winner?


And, if you've never watched Tommy Tune's choreography for Grand Hotel, I give you Michael Jeter's lack of legs.

"Would Brian Stokes Mitchell be singing by now? ... If I'm actually on Eastern time, maybe?"

I've spent a lot of the past week thinking back to a year ago. I could probably do this more frequently (we keep solid enough calendars that I could figure out what paperwork was stressing me out when), BUT it's a lot more interesting to think back on the milestones.

It was a Big Deal Week, in a number of ways. It wasn't on the floor level (someday perhaps, young self), but I was still there - sitting at the Tony Awards. We saw two of the year's big winners. The side of my brain that also geeks about music still cannot believe that I own the recordings of casts I saw live. I've been obsessed with Forbidden Broadway since 1998 (thanks Lion King-Napster-Ragtime/Gagtime), and finally made it to the mylar curtain.

We got to hang out with people I hadn't seen in years, and let them help us feel a little like locals. My brother met people who were (and still are) important to me - whether in 315, S Office, or weaved throughout my ADP career.

And, all the ways it was a Smith Sibs trip - Caleb hanging out with the paparazzi after Letterman (which is why he has better Jackman pictures), taking notes on what comics I should be reading, checking out the children's literature exhibit at the NYPL, him falling asleep in the [outdoor] line for Shakespeare in the Park. Above all, not wanting to murder him part way through (making it a step up from London '09).

I [mostly] don't feel the need to live in NYC anymore. My own city has theater and museums and parks that I don't have time to see, and I expect it would be the same there. Fun to visit for a goof-off week of the best of theater? Yes, please, always.

Gonna finish my Tony homework for this year (I have about twenty minutes left of On the Town), cook some grilled cheese, and watch this year's telecast - minus heels.

(Technically, this isn't helping.)

My only act bandage is in my SM kit in the office, and I forgot to grab a wrist brace while I was at the store, so I'm improvising with a washcloth and hairbands.

I maybe need to stop typing so many things at work for a few more days.

tuna fish and crackers

I will say this, waiting out multiple-day inclement weather was way more fun during Ike when I had storm buddies to hang out with.

Followed by the interview with the drivers who had watched someone give up on waiting, only get their car about twenty feet further, then walk off into the horizon

My new favorite news moment of the morning is the reporter pointing out the drain on the road, excitedly talking about how the road finally has a place for the water to go - followed by a pan out to show that this road is actually a highway, at least a foot of water still standing.

The good news is that the rain held off long enough for me to get home, free and clear.

The bad news (more inconvenient than bad) is that I seem to find myself temporarily in possession of lakefront property. Let me once again thank God that my doorstep is the highest point along the entire row of apartments.

I am one away from a 100% on this, so you know what I'm obsessed with right now.

[climbed climbed climbed]

The rain needs to hold off until four (pretty please?) so I can get there and back from a movie at the MFAH. (When you finish a DVD and immediately try to find any possible way to see it on a huge screen, you don't want to be held up by weather.) At least wait until I make it back to Westheimer, okay storms? Not that I *need* to go to the discount bookstore, but it would make a cozy hangout.

I can't post this on Twitter while riding the bus, I'm already holding too much.

Right now, as I try to devour my 780 page library book on a bus for 20-40 minutes at a go, I'm starting to understand how e-readers became so widespread so quickly.

This post could've also been called "Dude! My wrists!"

And now I'm watching the old VHS copy of 'Star Wars' that I took from my parents over Christmas vacation some year.

Good thing I already know what this looks like, because the tracking button is not doing a thing (except add to my exercise for the day, since it's not even on a remote).

[No, I don't need a DVD copy.]


I wanted to treat myself to a picnic at the Waterwall today, as it's my last guaranteed Monday off for the season. When it was after one and I hadn't started lunch (or gotten out of PJs or otherwise acted like an adult...) yet, I gave up on the plan a little. I did pretend it was ten degrees warmer out than it really was and took to the pool for half an hour. I'll call that the joys of Texas - having a pool fifteen feet from my front door. (Also, the afternoon sun warming up the water enough to be in it the first week of May.)

Picnic and pool will be rescheduled to the future. I think my summer of not running a show should involve lots of both.

but I can't change time

Approximately this time last year, I was trying to get myself to fall asleep early so I could be up incredibly early for Tony Award nominations / opening of ticket sales for the ceremony.

Tonight, instead, I want to stay up for the next seven hours watching best-of Rifftrax videos. I don't know if that's a better priority or not.

Monsters! Ogres! Dwarves!

My absolute favorite moment of the LION performance at the large outdoor theater today was when the Witch called for all her evil minions to help her kill Aslan *right* as the park's train whistle tweeted, making it sound like the train was gonna bring them all over to her.

This might only be funny to me. I don't care.

I'm gonna miss this show.

Why am I still awake? I have to be up in five and a half hours.

Oh, because I'm listening to Randy Newman's "Louisiana" on a loop while I try to work out adulthood? Okay, then.

(We interrupt an utter lack of new entries in order to post something I can't condense for Twitter.)

I'm updating my bio (as you do at 11:30pm, when you've been editing the playbill for PR and realize how out-of-date your own listing is - how can my most recent credit be from 2009, anyway), and I seem to be filling it with a combination of "productions I absolutely loved" and "shows that tried to kill me and/or my soul."

I feel like that's a fair way to represent myself. We'll see how 11:30am Hannah feels.


[Don't expect to see this new bio in the next playbill. Since tomorrow morning's the pre-print deadline, I don't want to be that person with the last-minute request who makes PR brains bleed.]

I am legitimately upset that only those 15 and under get the mini-Clydesdale at one of this weekend's giveaways.

(I don't want to *buy* one - I just want the Cardinals/St. Louis-based stuffed animal given to me for free.)

SO! Clearly I died eating bad broccoli, and this is why I haven't posted since May. Who would've guessed that there'd be Twitter in the afterlife, but no Blogger? Either that or I've been busy having adventures--such as running (lost) through the streets of New York (June), fishing on a small lake in Missouri (today), and typing up so much administrative paperwork for the upcoming season (everything in between). Clearly one of those two.

Related: thanks for the joke, Will.

Unrelated: I had the start (again) of fingernails before this week, but the Cardinals are broadcast every game here, so fingernails are gone again.

(this broccoli is not quite right)

- bought groceries so I won't come back to zero food options
- made my list of things to clean before I go (to also not return to a disaster)
- will do laundry this evening while everyone else is out being social
- need to buy postcard stamps because I'm one of those people
- for personal giggles, create mini cardboard Tony Award, because there's a picture I want to take...

I can take a regular twenty minute nap if I started six minutes ago.

1. At dinner we decided that my filter must've expired with my twenties, as it hasn't been in effect since Wednesday*. It's probably the lengthy sugar rush.

2. All I want to do right now is spin around in my Tony dress at home. Naturally, I'm still at the theater and will be for another two hours.




(*This is only sort of true. When I start telling actors exactly what I'm thinking at any given moment, then we'll know that I have no more filter.)

The best part of my "write down any quote on anything" habit is finding things randomly later.

Found, with no attribution, on top of a stack of post-it notes:

"You know, I have this [sets down DVD copy of 'Million Dollar Baby'], and they totally show you how to box. And how to take someone off life support - lots of helpful hints in that one."

Having your local team in the American league is hard.

I may or may not have just looked up whether the Cardinals were playing a New York team while I would be in New York.

tech week, day two: all my fingernails are chomped

It's after ten p.m., I'm singing along to 'Moulin Rouge' while working on an Excel spreadsheet - is this junior year all over again?

(Um, please join me using this somewhat illegal method.)

My first real injury of tech week* occurred today when I banged my knee sliding down a fireman pole. Fortunately this was not the swinging vine from "The Jungle Book" all over again, as I'm pretty sure my knee will heal and not creak when the weather changes from now on, as compared to my left pinky. [In other news, the set has a fireman pole.]




*strike/load-in doesn't count ... unless it's a wickedly good injury

Last night I dreamed that someone was taking away all my favorite parts of my job so I could purely focus on all the things that turn me into a Tiny Rage Monster. Now I'm at the theater for a two-show day. Should go well.

I'm glad that I'm not in charge today, as I'm basically going to spend all time when I'm not doing something for this show working on my next show, as I'm about to be in tech. This includes, but is not limited to:

- currently working on blocking paperwork while I can spread out in my office
- working on props tracking during the show, as I figured out yesterday how to balance everything on the part of the soundboard that I'm not using
- taking home glow tape to cut while watching TV
- holding an animation marathon in my apartment tomorrow to serve as background to whatever of the above doesn't get completed today


I'm so proud that I still have [most] of my fingernails currently, though I imagine I will not be able to say the same thing this time next week. So much for adulthood.

(sorry, this is an incredibly long single sentence)

Tonight I called the show by running both the light and sound boards (normally, for those not in the know, you only cover one, as it's best to not over-task your brain), and while it was one of the more terrifying things I've ever done (you can run all the cues all you want, but it's completely different to do so with the actors - and even more so when the first time with the actors is also in front of an audience), it was also more reaffirming to my stage management career than anything else I've tackled in the past season.

everybody's life has got static

I'm full of the allergies, there's a sizeable splinter still in my finger from Saturday's strike (which I'm fairly sure is either going to stay there together or cause me to pass out when I pull it), and I start with two separate shows this week. Bring it, spring!

three

This time tomorrow, I'll be on a plane to the north.

This time tonight, I'm eating creamy jalapeno on my couch while watching an episode of "Legends of the Hidden Temple" after having done a bit of city gardening.

This time three years ago, I was gearing up for a second show after having moved into a new apartment in the morning. I was about four hours from coming home to a land of endless piles. (That sentence could repeat on many another day in my life.)

(also because I'm off Monday)

I may* or may not be still awake because I just did my taxes and (now that I have a refund number) am looking at dresses for an event in June that I'm not even officially attending yet.




[*May. Definitely "may."]

magical, mystical three-day weekend

Sleeping in until 8:15 a.m. may not seem like much of an accomplishment, until you remember that it's (A) me and (B) I'd already conked out before eleven last night. However, I'm not sure how great of sleep it was, seeing as my dreams were essentially calling past shows in a battle royale of technical failures, line flubs, and FOH mishaps. So that was fun.


I wish I could remember what caused the cut over my right eye (as you'd think I'd remember such an action), but I'm going to assume it's another casualty of Monday's strike and hope that I perhaps get a cool scar out of it.



In completely unrelated news, it just hit me that I made lunch plans with someone at a mainly Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day. I think I'm going to ride that one out and see what happens.

I have bacon bits AND sour cream right now, so it's BAKED POTATO TIME, Y'ALL!

* I've spent all day bouncing between re-reading a favorite book and watching movies. Hurrah! Best day off work ever!

* Yesterday it was pointed out that I always celebrate whenever I perfectly time out calling the voiceover cues (which have the slightest lag on the front) with when the audience will stop laughing/clapping from the previous scene enough to hear the sound cue, as soon as possible to avoid adding extra time on the show. It's not easy, I don't hit it every single time--but, man!, when I do--yeah, I'm gonna celebrate. On the plus side, this is helpful because I've been a little burnt out on stage management for awhile. (Some of this is very likely from working at a resident house, where I get a constant paycheck but don't always work on productions I care about.) Even if there's just a little spark right now, it'll hopefully glow again.

* Anyway.

* What is it about Sandra Bullock? She's in at least three movies that stop me completely when I see they're on cable somewhere (such as "While You Were Sleeping," which I'm watching right now). Dang--four: "The Lake House" somehow gets me every time, too. [I don't have anything else here. It just hit me a little. I'm a sucker for her movies.]

* Excuse me while I watch the wedding disaster, bake some cookies (because my apartment is freezing), and finish this book.

[I think we've all had this basic incident with our job]

* receives email
* reads cryptic response
* thinks "okay, that sort of answers my question"
* continues reading
* thinks "wait, what does that even mean - that has nothing to do with this"
* thinks "if I ask about that, will I like the answer? Will I suddenly be in charge of it? Will it be worth my brain power to get involved?"
* files email

lumos / nox

I dreamed that my old middle school was now housing all the props and set dressing from the Harry Potter movies, and (of course) they were all actually magically, and (of course) you could tour the stacks ... on broomstick.

I know that I am a responsible adult this morning, as I am not currently still asleep and waiting to see what popped up next.

2131

Why yes, I seem to still be awake at slightly-past-two-a.m. because I'm listening to movie score snippets on itunes, trying to directly identify the single piece of music I adored in a movie I saw one year ago.

I think it's safe to say my life took a weird turn in January. 2014's gonna be a strange one.

(And now I'm trying to do *four* things at the same time...)

Today I wrote my meeting notes on the paper wrapper from a pack of copy paper because my computer was stuck in an endless loop of updates and I don't always pack a notebook when I have the laptop on hand. I know the table probably shared a collective "really, you don't want regular paper" moment, but Y'ALL! It had natural folds so I could keep each department in it's own section and it's was double the size of my normal meeting notebook and I kinda wish I could use it every meeting.

[In other news, I remembered I had a blog again. Perhaps more will appear soon.]

So, the usual:

Things I Should Be Doing:
* wash dishes
* take out trash
* clean the bathroom
* take down and store Christmas decorations

Things I'm Actually Doing:
* being online
* eating cherry tomatoes
* watching TV episodes I've already seen at least 10 times apiece

publishing separately because now I'm chasing 39

Take note, actors of the world! Whenever you...

- ask a question that I've already answered (especially in reply to the email where I answered that question)

- don't send confirmation that you'll attend [whatever] after I've specifically requested it, and then show up anyway

- make a request of me that would only require thirty seconds of your own time (but will take much longer of mine)

- behave in any other rude or unacceptable manner

... I make a note. (Some shows, I've literally had a column where I've kept track of who was difficult to deal with prior to the audition.) And, whenever the director is trying to decide between you and someone else, I just might pipe up with that information.


[Why yes, I might be going through my community audition emails today, why did you ask.....?]

I only posted 38 times in 2012; clearly I'm suddenly determined to do better this year.

Hey, you wanna see the world's saddest mac & cheese? ... Neither did I.

Also on the list of things I didn't want to see: the giant roach in my dishwasher this morning, especially as he was clearly too large to have climbed in through any entrance path I could see. (I did, however, learn that my racks pull out completely, which became helpful as I tried to chase a roach around the inside of the machine.) Steam rinse, you're my current favorite setting.

I feel like I should preface this by saying I'm really, truly okay.

Today it became absolutely, non-sarcastically funny to me how much I've cried this week. (Please refer again to title.)

Some of it was legit - dropping my brother off to go to a family Christmas I didn't get to attend for the first time, talking to those same family members on Christmas, looking into moving, general hormones - but the vast majority has far more flimsy reasoning. For instance:

* Brian D'arcy James singing the instrumental parts of "I Can Do That"
* crushing milk jugs
* the giraffe in the "Southern Comfort Zone" video
* typing audition sides
* running out of soap

And onwards. Really, it's been ridiculous. Even by my normal standards of inward emotional turmoil, this is above and beyond.

However.

* If I had traveled this week, I would've just been upset about having to leave early (and pull the rest of my family away early), while traveling in March gives me a wide span of dates.
* I hate change, even if it'll ultimately save money. (Well, money I'm gonna spend on bookshelves if I have to leave my built-in shelves behind.)
* I trust in the God who knows where all this is headed, even if I can only see a little of the path ahead.
* At the time, it was kinda devastating to run out of soap.

In retrospect, I didn't need to buy the to-go pie from House of Pies.

* I am thankful that I'm not spending the day trying to rush to an airport, then to a theater, then to collapsing into bed. Tried it last year, didn't work out well.

* I am thankful for plans, already afoot, for a time of the year when I won't have to rush, and family members willing to take time out of their schedule to see me then.

* I am thankful for bacon, chocolate-covered cherries, creamy jalapeno dip, pickled ham, and the many other less-than-helpful items I've eaten this holiday. Yum!

* I guess I'm thankful that I love my family enough to be sad about not being with them this year. Some people don't have that, and I'm grateful that I do (even if it hurts at the time).

* I am not thankful for the bug on my kitchen floor this morning, but I guess I should be glad I was here to kill it.

October? There was an October?

Today in "Approaching True Adulthood" News: it didn't even hit my brain until about 4:00 that I could've done a midnight screening of Thor tonight. Hey look, it's me instead choosing sleep and washing dishes instead of screaming crowds ... and also I completely forgot that it opened today because nothing sticks in my brain anymore.

[I might be more on the "Approaching True Senility" side of things, really.]


It's my half-birthday tomorrow, so let's all get prepped for me to start having feelings about turning thirty. Watch out: that's gonna be awesome.

currently 85 degrees

I had seriously considered popping into the pool tonight (what's the point of Texas if you don't get to swim in September?), but I've seen too many movies to get past the Friday the 13th-ness of the day. Nope, can't bring myself to go swim by myself.

Maybe it's just as well - I'm not sure how it can be only 9pm on a Friday and me feel as tired as I do tonight. I think my body is catching up on all the sleep I missed over the past three months ... but all in this week. (Dear self, I don't think this is a good plan...)

the end of a thing

(As in, the quote often used in the booth the past two months: "Well, that was a thing.")

THURSDAY - Not gonna lie, I was stressed to the point of wishing I could just sit in a corner and cry. (I didn't, so I guess that's good.) Instead found out my favorite stagehand is a Braves fan ... and was watching the Cards/Braves game on his phone between cues.

FRIDAY - Only two things stand out from the show: One, the curtain getting caught on the tree was my favorite part of the show, or--more accurately--the subsequent rush of stagehands to rescue the curtain (though I decided after the show that if such a thing had happened in the first act, I would've deemed the show cursed - it taking place mid-Act 2 just made it funny). Two, I never truly saw the bat flying around backstage - all I saw was something dark move quickly and highly above the dressing room hallway, with just enough time to think "WHY are they throwing things BACKSTAGE?! - standby light cue 267." Somebody trapped it in the conference room, which is how the actors lost their green room part way through the evening. I should've stayed around to watch the stagehand recover the bat (this somehow involved throwing a towel), but I wanted to reset props instead.

SATURDAY - Shoot. What do I even remember about Saturday's show? [I really only wrote this so I could remember the bat forever.] Um... my darling mess, D., spinning like a frakking dervish in the wings before entering calmly in-character. The Miller staff being happy I restocked the Butterfingers in the candy jack-o-lantern. Offering headset high-fives to the light and sound folk after the storm sequence. Finally feeling coordinated at pressing three headset buttons and the deck crew light switch at the same time (that's a big one). After the show, the Miller staff asked to keep my contact info on file, and the same crying actress hugged me three times.

Life, right now.

I'm enjoying this new channel that randomly showed up, and happens to be airing Farscape from the beginning. Starting this week. Opa!

Oh, hey there, week old creamy jalapeno dip! Why, yes - you are trying to kill me with your concentrated, built-up power. I was gonna save you to marinate chicken, but I think I'm gonna eat you tonight instead. (I'm not at work tomorrow - I can stay up until 2pm.)

I've spent the last couple of weeks slowly working my way through both 'Spaced' (over work lunches) and 'Slings And Arrows.' Neither show had a long run, and I'm gonna be so sad when I finish one. Then the other.

I was gonna run to Walgreens for some milk (and to take advantage of a free rental), but instead I sat online while a Broadway composer I love had a live webchat for whoever wanted to sit in. Sometimes I love technology.

Just sent a thing. Hope it goes over as intended.

Oh, "Pacific Rim," your ridiculous film, you. Four out of four snakes on a plane - plus another half for what my brain wants to call 'love theme for a giant monster' playing over the end credits. Gosh, I wish I'd been at a midnight showing rather than in the house of six people I sat in today.

Please go with it if I start using "canceling the apocalypse" in regular conversation for a few days. [Besides, if any position in theater has such a slogan, you know it would belong to the stage manager.]


Okay, yes, I'm going to bed now.

My body may have tried to kill* me, but I'm not actually dead yet

*Don't worry, family members: I'm mostly exaggerating. (Except that I really truly felt like death ... yet still made it to every single day of work this past week. I might have other problems.)


- The show is open, and that's good, even if it hasn't started that "show running itself" thing that shows usually do by this point. None of the kids seem to be actively trying to destroy any of the other kids (except for some of the siblings - nothing I can do there), so I'm grateful for that. I have a rolling door frame that I think is working toward sentience as it's started actively refusing to move properly onstage, but there's little I can do there, too. [Maybe it'll grow smart enough that it'll start resetting props for me.]

- A fair portion of my day off today went into final construction of the Brother's birthday gift (he's already okay with it being late). I'd post pictures, because I'm really proud of how it turned out, but that would sort of defeat the surprise. (Ask me in a month, you know, when I remember I have a blog again.) I love when I get to be geeky and crafty at the same time. Also, cardboard still sucks to paint (just TAKE the COLOR!) and I always always forget this.

- I'm fairly certain the heatwave is gonna kill half my plants before my mom shows up next week. Sorry, mom. Sorry, begonias.

I'm currently on track to fall asleep *before* midnight, and we won't talk about how long it's been since that happened.

During rehearsal today I listened to the ASM and a cast member talk about how weird it'll be when they turn twenty-three because Taylor Swift's "22" won't be the same to them anymore. I remained quiet and focused on not sprouting gray hairs.

This has not been the greatest of weeks, though at least the second half was not sucky, especially in comparison to the first half, where my whole system felt like it was going to simultaneously implode and explode at the same time. (I'm sure that's a thing that happens, right?) All my tech week stress hit a week early, along with some professional and personal upheaval, plus we all know how much I love sharing with others that I'm not feeling/dealing well.

*sarcasm!*

Really, though, life took an upturn after Wednesday's not-at-all-awful run-for-tech, and I'd like to think I worked through enough tech week things this week to tackle tech much calmer next week. (I'm also enough of a realist to know the last part isn't true--some bizarre thing I haven't even dreamed of yet is probably going to drop mid-week, as it always does--but I've done enough other things that I'll hopefully have time to deal.)

Before then, though, I'm sticking with tonight's bedtime schedule. G'night.

Things that consistently make me laugh like it could kill me:

[purely in good ways, of course]

- the post-post credits scene at the end of "The Avengers"

- the inmates' reaction to '...and cherries jubilee' in the Nathan Lane version of "The Man Who Came to Dinner"

- the indoor water balloon fight from "Parks and Rec"

- whenever Brian Williams appears anywhere making fun of his on-air persona

- "SAVED by the BUOYANCY of CITRUS!"

[this post has a somewhat abrupt ending because my bacon was burning, and the thought was gone when I returned]

It occurred to me recently that I've stopped taking down quotes like I used to do. My quote habit's been running since ... middle school? high school? (Definitely strong and well-known by college.) It certainly isn't that people around me stopped being quotable - I imagine it's related to not running a show at the moment. When I'm stage managing, I'm never too far from a piece of paper (or, in a pinch, pen on the palm of my hand) to take down a note or reminder or whatever. Why not write down everything else amusing at the same time?

Maybe I'm growing more comfortable taking part in life in other ways than my previous introvert-approved method provided. (When you're the person documenting life, how much do you actually need to be involved?) Maybe I'm just tired of walking around with ink on my hands, which reads far more metaphorical to me than the reality - oh man! you write down something funny, but forget to transcribe it somewhere more permament before washing your hands ... this happens in my life way too often. Probably something in the middle - behind chewing my nails, this should be my longest-held habit.

"Come and meet the girl who can"

Oh, Houston-area comic cons! Why are you all happening at times when I cannot attend you? I'm even [unintentionally] one step closer to a Souffle Girl outfit:

Step one - vaguelly looking like her (thanks, shortness and brunette hair)
Step two - learn a British dialect as part of high school theater
Step three - red tennis shoes!

(This conversation just made very little sense to a lot of people I know read this. Sorry.)


I looked around yesterday and realized a large portion of the photos I have out are the same pictures that moved to Texas with me. They're still great pictures, but I'm switching some out to reflect more of my life from the past--sweet heavens--seven years. (Don't worry, "swankin ladies" isn't going anywhere.)

(I don't know where all these earrings came from, nor why they live in my apartment.

Productive things from today:
* cleaned the bathroom
* sorted out my linen closet
* so much sweeping


Less productive things:
* finally watched that Netflix
* matched the (approximately) ten million earrings mixed up in a tray together
* used a coupon to buy a frivolous thing I wanted to buy anyway


Completely unproductive:
* watched the same five minutes of Doctor Who multiple times to see if I would cry each time (the answer is yes)
* saw Jurassic Park at the HMNS with my company intern gal
* only slightly superglued my fingers together

let's watch the flowers grow

So ... hey there, twenty-nine. Pleased to meet you, whatnot.

It was a good birthday, with lots of people offering nice words and nice food. It was also one of the few birthdays where I didn't have specific theater-related duties (rehearsal, performance, or otherwise) for the day, which freed me up for the people and food. You guys are all awesome.

[Seeing as the power just flashed off and back on, I'll cut myself short. Please remind me about how I wanted to talk about all the random things I've found while cleaning out my closet boxes. Hello, college notebooks and picnic baskets.]

I just wanted to hold onto this thought.

I'm baking cookies, and the simple act of laying out newspaper/wax paper for them to cool brought on a rush of my childhood like you would not believe. I've rewritten that sentence five times trying to get the right emotion out. Close enough.


[Also, don't get excited, actors: I'm not sharing these with you. Thought about it, decided against.]

"Not everything comes along just when we want it" -Miss P

I cleaned my kitchen, then cooked dinner. Which means part of my kitchen needs to be cleaned again. I feel like I did this in the wrong order.

It's been fun unpacking drawers and cabinets to find where I threw knicknacks or important papers or whatever in the haste of clearing things in the apartment. You never quite know where anything will be, which is equally frustrating and fascinating at the same time. (There's a lot of "why did I think that would be a good idea?!" happening in 21 lately.)

I had a third thing [per usual], but it's gone now. Oh well.

Hello.

The great March apartment flooding incident should be [oh please, nothing else pop up] complete forever, as I have new carpets and walls and rent credit. Also, my furniture is basically back where it belongs, though I have a bunch of boxes around from where I'm using this as an opportunity to reorganize. Of course.

I'm working the children's show now, which is ... unexpected. Also, I enjoy doing a show without *being in charge of everything* since it's such a flip of my normal life. You need someone to turn on some lights and fetch water for the dressing rooms? On it! (I played sudoku and texted people all through yesterday's tech, and it was glorious.)

I've been to the movies twice in the past two weeks, and have standing plans for twice more before the end of the month. April, you know the way to a girl's heart.


You now have to do a comment confirmation word-thingy. I'm sorry that we live in 2013 and spambots are trying to take over the world. (On 2013's plus side: Skype, watching baseball games live over the internet, Jurassic Park in 3D)

"It even tastes purple"

Two years ago I moved into this apartment. Ironically, my current dishevelment matches a lot of that first day's disaster. (On the plus side, I did *not* have a two-show--or even one-show--day today on top of moving. What were you thinking, twenty-six year old Hannah?) I'm slightly more in flux this time around, though I suppose I could crank the Les Miz whenever I finally get to put everything back to rights again.

Today I bought new flowers for the annual "enjoy them until they inevitably die from heat" tradition, but they looked so lonely and in need of rescuing from not getting enough water. Don't worry, little begonias and petunias and whatever-the-third-was, I'll happily love you.

Also, I got a free purse, two packs of Jammie Dodgers, and the cutest little Thor action figure that ever went on clearance. Such a good day.

updates

[this may or may not turn extensive]

* I almost like the deleted scenes from "Pirate Radio" more than the movie itself. (This is not actually an update, unless you wanted to know what cheered me up this evening: if you are sad, you won't be after watching the "Stay With Me" deleted scene ... unless you've never seen the movie before and thus won't understand the scene at all.)

* My apartment was only a flooded swampy for about a day and a half, and hot water magically came back a few days ago (though sometimes with questionable pressure). The complex is apparently still working on bids for the actual plumbing fix (seriously?), but will move me if the construction is going to be too disruptive to my world. For now, though, I'm supposed to keep stuff moved out of the way in case the temporary fix springs a leak again and my closet again returns to a bayou. (I think I'm going to adjust a little, now that I know we're not right in the middle of construction, as there is literally a bookcase on my bed.)

* In other "I'll need a vacation in April" news, we're one week out from Winter TAA performances and two weeks out from Easter, which means my production side gets to overtake my life for the rest of the month. It's weird to be out of practice in generating tech tracking paperwork. Also weird: coming into a project with only three weeks to go, fitting an entire rehearsal process into two weeks, and something thinking the character name "Queenan" would make sense to anyone. Two dress runs tomorrow with teenagers! What fun!

* I wanted to write a post about my favorite movie composers and bits of score and etc. after a conversation I had around Oscars-time, but then life happened and I never got it written and now it just floats in my brain when I should be thinking about other things. (this would've been featured, if that's informative) [Also this, and probably this for completely different reasons, now that I'm trolling.

* Don't trust Thick Kevin on anything.

* Daylight savings is still messing with my head, as I feel like I could be awake for another three hours, and seven a.m. is gonna feel like death.

* This post needs some Thomas Newman. The man still doesn't have an Oscar, he might as well get some love here.

[that moment where something that caused you a certain amount of anxiety proves to work out exactly in such perfect detail that it stops your breath]

I love walking in the city at night, and I love that I live somewhere where I feel okay doing so (even if at times it's only to go to the corner Walgreens for milk). Even better was tonight picking up on the scent of smoking wood from somewhere, bringing together the best of the country [I love a fire at night -- and not for the pyro-reasons you might be thinking] with the lights of the city.

If someone were to open up some sort of restaurant with a fire pit enhanced outdoor seating somewhere in within walking distance of my apartment, I would never eat at home again.

I might be using my laptop to stay warm right now.

And by "might be," I actually mean "sweet heavens, why is it so cold in my apartment?!" Get it together, Houston weather - especially as it relates to the inside of buildings.

Additional reason why I shouldn't have a roommate [at least as long as there is only one bathroom, and no dryer]: the bathroom is currently drapped out with all my drying laundry, as it saves me an entire load to just let my jeans drip dry in the shower. This was a way more awkward habit when DD was still in the picture.

I'd say I was confused why I was already so tired at only eleven, but I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with still being awake at almost three this same morning. Can we call it practice for the movie marathon next weekend?

There'd be a fourth point here [basic jist, "Elizabeth Taylor! Put on a dress!"], but I'm tired and refuse to shoot out poor grammar when I see it in action.

LOVE

[purely from today, so not an exhaustive list]


- onion rings

- the AMC BPS, especially whoever pays attention to details like starting the movie "Zero Dark Thirty" at 12:30A (as in, true zero dark thirty)

- Hugh Jackman

- interns who like to bake

- Excel spreadsheets

- Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner's "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You"

- being at the theater for a show when I'm *not* in charge

- not dying in car accidents

- Cobra Starship's "Snakes on a Plane" credits song

- the knowledge that there will be an episode of 'Community' waiting for me when I get home

"Is that the voice you use to call Ryan Gosling?"

I'm at the point of illness where I feel okay, but have lost about 1/3 of my regular vocal register. Sultry sick voice: you're fun, but I have things to do. May I stop coughing now?

In all my rewatching of Animaniacs over the last few weeks (syndication is a wonderful thing), I've noticed that (1) even being a with-it kid, there were a lot of jokes I missed until now and (2) I still don't care two wits about the Goodfeathers or Mindy and Buttons. Sorry.

I guess I should check on the literal "and then I found $10 dollars" I discovered last week, and see if anyone came back to look for it after I left. Otherwise, milkshakes for everyone*!





*everyone meaning me, two and a half times

In unrelated news, my throat is vaguely on fire, and I keep almost throwing up. So that's helpful.

How not to sell your property: the large note of DO NOT DISTURB TENANT NEXT DOOR.

Let's not dwell on how hard it is to decide on places to check out when I need to see what bus route they're on ... and the Metro trip planner software is currently under "technical difficulties." Thanks, team.

Also, hey there! one week out from tech, even if I'm not in charge of the show. I should maybe edit together all those cues that I haven't edited together yet, huh? It's not like I'm currently making progress elsewhere.

Two things:

I'm working on sound (preshow and intermission) right now for Texaco, and I wanted to note that

- Elvis recorded so much music, there's a CD out of his specifically "inspirational" sort of songs.

- Five words: "The Johnny Cash Children's Album." I want to hear the same man who growled out "Boy Named Sue" perform something call "There's a Bear in the Woods," don't you?

$5000 ham napkin

Things that shouldn't matter, but do: if I have to turn in this DVR, that means the end of 2011 Game 6 goes with it. (Also, who knew I still had all 4+ hours of game five against the Nationals still saved? Certainly not me! Who is surprised that I sat and watched the last fifteen minutes when we came from behind to win the whole thing - also not me....)

There is so much afoot right now, and I just can't even. Apartment hunting, Stupid Adulthood Decisions, and the end of 30 Rock: my goodness. I'm gonna eat my feelings in the form of a large pizza.


[Side note: I am pretty good right now, for the record. I just hate dealing with decisions that have no clear-cut solutions. My brain refuses to see it as "then anything could work fine!" and flips into overdrive trying to find the item with the most flaws.]

...and then I realized it was quarter-'til-eleven and I hadn't eaten dinner yet

Don't worry, Mom. I ate a lot of Goldfish crackers today. BUNCHES. Anyway, on to the usual bullet list, eh?

* Note to self: redo fingernail polish before Saturday, as a small sign to the stage mothers of the world that I can keep myself together [and disguise the fact that I will spend all summer chomping my nails off from stress].

* Taking a day off in the middle of the work week is fantastic. (Even if I was still dipping into emails, just in case.)

* Lunch dates are even more fantastic, especially when they involve four extra people you didn't expect to see, and a baby. Babies are great. [Technical side note: let me qualify "babies are great" with the proviso of "...as long as they don't have to stick with me full time." Sorry, um, all my friends with kids. Your kids are great, but...you know.]

* Oh, show. I think I only watch you because I can predict the plot points before they happen, and then I feel good about myself.

* Excuse me while I go eat, well, anything with higher nutritional value.

"I would never ask you for four"

[This post is going to get a little stream-of-conscious. Go with it.]


My plan was going to be to type up the Anne/Gilbert sides for Saturday, but instead I've been doing other highly important things, like reading blog posts from two years ago and finding amusing .gifs from the Golden Globes. I know people will say I should focus on not doing work while I'm not at work, but my work hours keep getting eaten by other things. And I *so* don't want to end up spending my Saturday morning typing scenes.

I think every single person in my office spent time considering other jobs today. It was that sort of day. Nothing else needs to be said.

I need to cut my hair because it's at that state where I can't do anything with it except put it in a ponytail so it can get out of my way, or I can keep growing it for the sole purpose of being Clara for next Halloween. As always, what good is working for a place with a costume shop if you don't borrow a Victorian outfit now and again. Also, if DW is going to gift me with a short brunette character, I'm all for it.

TJ Manatee, you're a fantastic roommate, but you should wash the dishes now and again. The sink isn't going to clear itself.

I love how pleased Mr. Vandemaar looks when he's stuck the knife in his hand.

Sorry, that's a Nevewhere reference. Happy birthday, London Underground.

[Someday I think I'd like to go as Door for Halloween, but people have enough trouble figuring out who I am from my weird costumes.]

I've managed to bring my new email count down from twenty-one to seven [with many more than just the 21 hitting during the day], so I count that as a win.

The Houston Symphony was one of those emails, and they're apparently playing Dvorak's New World Symphony this weekend. Sometimes it's nice to not be at rehearsal.

This is apparently post #2102. I always miss the milestones.

I should add a subtitle to this blog about how it's [nearly] always lists and be done with it.

* What really pushed me over the edge to returning that dress I bought on impulse right before Christmas? That'd be setting up an appointment for a technician to come out and realign my satellite dish after the wind tried to destroy it earlier this week ... and the cost being almost exactly what the dress cost. Between that and my shoulders looking weird, I'm now ahead $1.59.

* I'm now glad I have internet, as I'll be slowly streaming the new episode of Downton Abbey off the PBS website instead of watching it on the DVR tomorrow.

* Also, this is now me working from home Tuesday afternoon so I can be around during the four hours that someone *might* show up. Also-also, this is me not buying season six of Doctor Who this month. (Oh well. Most of it is on my DVR anyway.)

* Unrelated (as we always reach on these type posts): it's January, meaning it's my pre-Oscar movie bonanza season! Hurrah for not working a show slot right now, huh? (Though I promise that wasn't my thinking at the time. When we set the schedule, all I saw was the first chance to *not* do a show, even if that was after [... um ... nevermind, too depressing] shows in a row. Excuse me while I try to track down rumored short features and reupdate my Netflix queue. It's not like I have TV to watch anyway.

life and things

* I don't know how many times I've seen the "Breaking the Magician's Code" specials, but I cannot NOT watch them whenever they're on. (Thanks, holiday marathons.) I think it's the snarky commentary - I *know* how we cut a gal in thirds, but I hadn't remembered the quips.

* Related fun fact: one of the specials covers the trick that broke my pinky toe a few summers ago.

* Seeing as it's now 3 p.m., I should try to be an adult and do real life things, such as finish unpacking from last week's trip, unload the dishwasher, and (only in my apartment) remove the heels from the bathtub after washing off mud. Instead I'm going down a rabbit hole of full broadway shows on youtube [yes, while watching the masked magician over-guesture] and steampunk crafts on blogs.

* I should maybe eat a full, real meal rather than the ridiculous amount of snacking I've been doing so far today. Bah, adulthood.

* Now all I really want to do is watch "The Prestige." Mmm, Hugh Jackman. (And Tesla. Don't forget Tesla.)

* The show is closed, there's a few weeks until auditions for the summer show, and I have chicken wings in the fridge. I think life it pretty grand.

Is there a more joyful scene in cinema than when the Oneders [that's the ONE-ders] hear their song on the radio for the first time? (If so, I don't want to know about it. Thanks.)

I'm not sure why, but my copy of That Thing You Do! is now randomly pulling up the subtitles mid-play. I'm not selecting them, and then go away when I turn the subtitles [back] off, but it's weird.

Phase two of mailing Christmas cards went out today - hurrah! Progress! Goodness, it's easy to mail things when you actually have *stamps.*

It's a good thing I have a variety of food in the house, because that makes it [slightly] easier to move past sitting on the couch and eating nothing but goldfish crackers. (Have we talk about how I'm essentially nine? I thought I'd aged up a bit, but I was wrong.)

Oh, Regional Holiday Music, how much I love you. You, and Baby Boomer Santa. And Danny Glover's facial expressions.

I burned my pizza, but I'm eating it anyway.

* I can't stop listening to this same Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song, which is weird since I normally don't like rap music. Chances are though, if you've seen me with headphones on in the office over the past two weeks, I'm still listening to "Can't Hold Us."

* I have functional hot water in my tub again, which is notable if only because I no longer have to wash like it's 1812. (Thanks for the training, fort years.)

* Two other techies and I spoke to a group of eighth graders today about what we do and why techies are the real reason shows happen [at least, that's all I cared about]. I sold stage management, as I always do, as getting to tell people what to do. I hope that doesn't backfire on their show.

* Today I also looked up for review of the new Spice Girls based musical (they were less than zigga-zigga-ah), Oscar nomination short lists, and how long Allie and Noah were apart in "The Notebook." I promise I did work, also.

Excuse me while we practice dropping a tree on an actress. Theater life, how glamorous!

This is me feeling bad about not posting, and then turning into even more of an emo teenager than I already felt.

Hello, today I feel atrocious. I have a headache that has only gotten worse, and no amount of free chocolate left at my office door or videos of Adam Savage recreating movie props or interviews with new DW cast members have cut back on the general funk an all-day headache causes.

Happy things:
* I love reading the books I'm going to give away as family Christmas presents, as it makes me pick up things I wouldn't normally and then I don't have to make room for them on my shelf.

* New 30 Rock tomorrow!

* Christmas crafting

* Discovering there's a large variety of blueprints online to create a TARDIS out of LEGO. I like when geekery combines.

Things I probably don't need to keep in my wallet:

* The Continental Airlines wings I gained in 2006 [post 2006 London trip]

* a book of one cent stamps (when all the other stamps are own are forever stamps)

* an address that I later found out was incorrect

* a one-day Missouri fishing license

* a small rubber snake

* that Staples gift card I've magically *not* spent in the past two years

* A receipt from two months ago that has a midly funny quote on it.

* All those pennies. I mean, really.