i went to work this week, too

EDIT:
I forgot this anecdotal story:
The other day this woman and her daughter came to exchange a t-shirt that was too small. She had the "Top Ten Shakespeare Insults" shirt in medium and wanted large but there were no larges left. I said we had the top 10 pick up lines shirts and the "We Do it With the Lights On" (the HOUSE LIGHTS!) shirt in large but she said they were from a very Christian community and that she wouldn't be able to wear either one of those shirts. I looked at the insults shirt (the first insult being "You are an ass") and said, "You're allowed to wear shirts that insult people but not shirts with Shakespearean pick up lines?" She said, "You just have to understand where we come from." I let her exchange the shirt for a more expensive book without charging the difference.

Today we had a company picnic. There was almost nothing I wanted to eat there. If only I made the choice to try more foods I wouldn't have that problem. There was some REALLY AWESOME cornbread, though. Chris and I brought 3lbs of cole slaw. Neither one of us eat cole slaw but it was at Kroger and we didn't have to put any effort into it. It's not like we can make anything anyway, neither one of us is skilled enough and we didn't have 8 hours for a crock pot chicken. I told him we should have brought Taco Bell.

The Virginia temperature has gone back to normal. I think it's supposed to get hot again later this week. Bleah. I enjoyed not having to run the AC at night.

So, as anyone following me on Twitter knows, I was watching the streamed Radiohead concert on Thursday and it was fantastic. I love everything they do. I've been listening to them all weekend because of the concert and I learned "Karma Police" on the guitar on Friday. I think I've gotten better despite taking an enitre month off from playing. Strumming is still hard but it's coming along. Strumming is like tap dancing to me: it sounds right in my head and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong but I know I MUST be doing something wrong. Especially with tap. That's why I don't tap and never will.

So, yes, we're all puzzled by Sarah Palin. I mean, basically, what John McCain seems to be saying to me is, "You are not pretty enough for me. I only want to be surrounded by beauty queens." My first reaction was, "HE picked a WOMAN!?!?!??!?!" It's just... puzzling. I mean, I can see why he did it for the election (and the only person who will NOT suffer from this pick is Hillary Clinton. She's going to come out of this situation looking amazing), but... I mean... HUH? John McCain reminds me of Grandpa Time.

The other night Chris and I went to Target, like we do whenever we're bored, and I found the EXACT SAME STYLE of shoes that I got at the Ross in the cheapo Target brand. I found the shoes that I bought on Zappos and they retail at $80 original price. YIKES. I mean, the real Steve Madden shoes that I got from Ross were cheaper than the Target brand, but you can bet I thought about getting the brown ones to go along with my teal ones. I didn't... but I thought about it.

My little gift shop has been selling really well lately (Knock on wood). Hopefully by announcing this to the world the sales don't plummet forever. The better the sales are the better I look, being the gift shop manager, and the more likely it is that my bosses will let me continue to order new things. I am going to get the final t-shirt designs this week and send them off to the printing guy. I can't WAIT until they get back.

I want to go on a trip. I wish I had money to go on a trip. I really wish I could take a trip to LA, actually. When I moved away everyone told me to visit and I said, "Oh, I definitely will." I clearly have not and it's about to be 3 years since I left. I wonder if my LA friends would remember who I am by now. Probably not, but there's still a lot of PLACES in LA that I miss. Like, lol, Koo-Koo Roo and Johnnie's Pizzeria.

time of the season

It's freezing today! I'm exaggerating. It's not freezing. It is, in fact, 57 degrees which is not freezing... but that's HELLA COLD for August in Virginia! I like it right now. I'm sure I won't like it after a couple more weeks. It's raining and gray and messy outside. I wore my jacket and thank God I did. I could have worn a hat and gloves!

Well, I'm sure it'll go up to like 90 degrees again before fall is really here for good.

So, there's this new Ross in the town right next to ours and it's still clean and nice so it's, you know, a disount retail dream. Chris took me there last night to cure my sadness and they had these Steve Madden teal heels for $16. These shoes are amazing. Really. They are mary-jane and (as I said) teal and they fit perfectly and I can wear them with anything and everything. Steve Madden is an expensive brand. More expensive than *I* can afford. Oh, Ross. You're so good to me. Anyway, well made shoes are awesome. You never realize exactly how awesome until you have a pair. They don't hurt your feet like crappy shoes, they don't fall apart the next day.... it's a whole new world out there. A world with great shoes that didn't sell well and were sent to Ross. I love these shoes.

On Sunday Chris and I cooked a chicken in the crock pot and it was AMAZING! Just put a bunch of spices on a chicken, stick it in the crock pot, turn it on Low and 8 hours later you have the best, most incredible chicken ever. Chris tried to lift it out of the crock pot to put it on the broiler in the oven and it completely fell apart, that's how tender it was. We didn't even need a knife to get the meat off. CROCK POT CHICKEN WINS!!

Scot, Kate and Ella might move in to the apartment below ours and I really hope they do because that would be so much fun. It's a great apartment; there's a lot of rooms in it. Who wouldn't want to live there? No one. It's the best. Ever.

And this is for Phil: I went to school with a lot of goblins and elves. I work with a lot of elves and two goblins. Sometimes I get sick of the whole goblin/elf world but only because it's a tough life out there for a girl.

seriously

This is the cutest little kid thing I've ever seen in my life. I couldn't help but post it.

Rylie Cate, daughter of United States' Christie Rampone, jumps from the podium in joy after her mom's team won the gold over Brazil in the women's soccer final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.

(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

i coulda been!

This morning I woke up to find out I had not been chosen to be Obama's running mate and I was SO DISAPPOINTED! I like Joe Biden---he is REALLY funny---but come on. It's ME! I say all the right things. I, too, am funny. I'm young and enthusiastic about life. I buy flowers on Saturdays. I get things pierced and change my hair color/cut on a whim. I can SING! Come on, Mr. Obama, with those kind of qualifications how could you say no? Man.

My hair is not cooperating today but other than today I have had a great hair week. It's weird having short hair again. I feel like I don't have ANY hair in the shower. Everyone says they like it and unless they're lying, that's a pretty good consensus. I like it, too.

Isn't it weird when things you're waiting for are over? You spend so much time thinking about it and then it's like... oh. Well, that's done. Oh man. I just quoted Shakespeare. Jen was saying how someone didn't want to vote for Obama because of his name and I said, "What's in a name? that which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet." That should totally be his campaign slogan for people who are racist and don't want to vote for him because of his name. SEE???? I am TOTALLY vice president material!

maybe i can use my old headshots again

Ok, so I got my hair all cut off and here it is. I hope I don't look too much like a Swiss girl. This is basically the same haircut I had when I lived in Los Angeles... except... now I'm 25 instead of 22. Oh, and now my hair is red. I'm not wearing any makeup in this picture so don't judge me. Carmandy would not approve.

My massage was great. I love getting a massage. She also gave me three referral cards and the people who get them get 50% off and if everyone turns them in then I get 50% another massage. Since I got 50% off the massage I got the other day it would be great doubly great. I had so many knots in my shoulders and neck. It was really bad. I blame that mean guy. The girl who did my hair was really nice and I liked the salon and their incredibly reasonable prices.

Chris is giving a tour with Stephen and he just said (after naming himself and Stephen) "...and we are a couple--" (opens door for Jasmine) "a couple of actors. Not a couple...." and then I laughed a lot and some man on the tour said "Congratulations!" It was really funny. It was probably funnier to me than it is to you, dear reader, but seriously... if you would have been here you would have laughed a lot.

I was so happy that Shawn Johnson finally won a gold medal. She is just so adorable. She could win a gold medal in the adorable routine every day.

The phone has not rung in over 2 hours. Although I am sure it's going to ring any second now that I said that, that is a really long time for no one to call the box office. This is our slow season, though. August and September are worse than the winter, apparently.

We finally got our crock pot!! I am so excited! We also finally purchased a toaster! Wow, what simple kitchen equipment we've been living without. I still don't own a cook book but, you know, one thing at a time.

Yesterday I bartended and the bar had a GREAT night. $206 and there were less than 60 people in the audience. I, however, did not have a great night with tips: I made $8. I was happy that it was more then $5 but man... when you think about that it's crazy. That's less than 5%. Like I have said before, I don't mind if someone orders one thing and doesn't tip... it's when it's multiple alcohol drinks that it gets annoying and almost everyone who came up ordered mulitple glasses of wine or beer. Annoying. That's all... it's just annoying.

Someone finally called. It had been nearly 3 hours but someone finally called. Hooray for $80!

the full moon was waning

Last night at work a man yelled at me because he was disgusted by the ladies next to him, with open toed shoes, who had put their feet up on the wall in front of their seats in the Lords Chair section. He refused to say anything to the ladies, he didn't want US to say anything to them, he just wanted to yell at me. I was more stunned than anything. It was like I was a cat and he picked me up by the nape of my neck---I just hung there and stared at him. This is, of course, without the soothing chemicals that get released in cats when they get picked up by the nape of the neck. In fact, since I obsess over everything, as Chris and I were at the grocery store later my shoulders started to hurt so bad that I wanted to cry. I'm getting a massage on Monday (I had a coupon!) and there couldn't have been better timing. Well, maybe, but this is really good timing.

The most redeeming part of last night was that my friend Chris Johnston had his first day in the box office and it was so good to see him. He told me all about the modernized production of Twelfth Night he just did in Utah... where the soliloquies were done with CELL PHONES. This is apparently the "new" thing for Shakespeare--- soliloquies said to an imaginary person on a cell phone. Someone called us once telling us about this Othello she saw in Norfolk or something where it was set in South Africa and they used cell phones for the soliloquies. She said she LOVED it. That poor woman. These poor PEOPLE. I mean, what are they THINKING??? Ugh. It's so easy... and yet, so easy to completely screw up.

Oh.... anyway... oh. So this massage. I'm really excited. I'm also getting my hair cut which is also exciting. I don't know what I want to do with it... I just want it to be cool. I haven't had COOL hair in a while. I think a lot is going to have to come off since dyeing your hair every month is not the best thing to do to hair. I'm going to research hair when I get done blogging.

So. Michael Phelps, eh? It was just meant to be for him. Everything fell into place for him exactly as he needed it to. Sometimes things are meant to be and sometimes things are not; this was meant to be. No silver medalists should feel bad that they lost to him; IT WAS MEANT TO BE FOR MICHAEL PHELPS. It's not their fault. I'm sad the swimming is over. It was exciting. It was also exciting watching the women's individual gymnastics. I cried a lot. I was watching those two American girls doing their floor routines, heat swelling inside my chest as if I could send them positive thoughts over the TV and half the length of the earth.

I have to do dishes and I do not want to.

multiple choice

Today has been long and pretty boring. I've been watching a lot of Olympics for the first time in years. I felt so bad for that girl gymnast last night. I completely know how she feels. Ok, well, I've never lost a gold medal in a sporting event (I've never participated in a sporting event) but I know what it feels like to have one thing go wrong and then have everything else fall apart around you. That girl needed a hug and a friend.

My advice to actors is this: don't get a non-acting job at a company you used to be an actor for unless you plan on changing careers. It's too sad. What I mean by that is: it will make you sad. Especially if you're around the performing all the time. Maybe if you're never around it it would be okay because you can pretend it doesn't exist but if you're around it all the time it will just make you sad that you're not acting. You will be sad. Don't do it. I like my job enough. The gift shop shop is fun and I like the people.... it just makes me sad.

I think about moving to Toronto every day. I actually could probably move to any city, it's just that Toronto has this mystique about it. I don't know why. I've been there more than any other major city. Maybe because it's Canada. Good old, mysterious Canada. Maybe they'd let us get a kitty there.

Now that I've been to the farmer's market I think about it and look forward to it every day. Chris and I are definitely going to get a crock pot. I saw this crock pot cookbook and everything in it was like "mix ingredients together, put in crock pot, turn on crock pot." That's right up my alley.

Here's a picture of the
beeaaautiful wildflowers that I got at the farmer's market.

On Sunday the final group of the kids' camp performed and they did such a great job. They did all of Hamlet with three different groups and now I think I may have seen Hamlet more than any other play. The girl from the first group who played Ophelia was from Toledo and she had such a nice voice. She should be a recording artist. I wanted to tell her that but she kept getting taken away. Little girl, if you're reading my blog, become a singer on an independent label.

Last week when we were doing laundry Chris found a rawhide dog bone in the dryer amongst all his clean clothes. We don't have a dog. I have to wonder..

A. Was it left in the dryer or the washing machine?

a. What? Why?

B. Was it planted there by a stranger when we went to look at sheet music next door?

C. If it was there before he put his clothes in, how did he not notice it?

D. Is Chris secretly chewing on rawhide dog bones and doesn't want to admit it?

PS - I wrote this post at different times during the day but now after watching Project Runway let me just say that I am SHOCKED Kelli went home. She was my favorite one! Man, those early leads can get you every time.

a beautiful day in the neighborhood

I said I'd do it and I did it: I woke up (ie, I got out of bed. I don't know if I can technically be described as "awake") and went to the farmer's market. I had the added incentive that downtown was having a sidewalk sale so I wanted to see if there was anything good. This beautiful little clothing boutique that I can never, ever buy anything from had a couple little sales out front and this one weird store that sells literally anything you can imagine (make up, faucets, furniture, unicorns, inspirational books... it's so random) had everything 10% off and everything out front was only a dollar INCLUDING a huge basket of contact solution! I don't know where this store get its stuff. The boxes had all been opened before but the solution was still sealed and they didn't expire for a year or so. I wouldn't buy that at Target for the $5 returned box of contact solution but for ninety cents? Yes. Contact solution is really expensive, especially for me since I can't use generic solution (it burns my eyes). Anyway, all told, I spent $12 this morning and got a loaf of whole wheat sour dough bread, a bouquet of wild flowers, two things of contact solution (one had a case and rewetting drops, too!) and 2 big cookies. My bouquet is so pretty. It smells like my grandma's farm.

We also saw all the dogs in the world. Duke barked at a car's breaks while we were walking down the hill, there was a dog which I named "Duke's sister" because it looked like a smaller Duke, a cockerspaniel, a miniature poodle, a chocolate lab puppy, a regular chocolate lab, a big, black lab, and a bunch of other dogs that I couldn't tell the breed of, including one which I said, "That dog is the perfect dog." It looked like the dog in that one commercial for dog food that cocks its ear up. I don't know what the dog food is or what the dog is, but I love that shaggy dog. Our neighborhood kitty, Choxie, was also in the front garden this morning watching cardinals and then she came up to us and rubbed her face all over the front steps. I love that kitty. I wish she was ours.

Today is my sister's birthday! She is 23 which is CRAZY. I guess I didn't realize she was that old. I was 23 when Chris and I started dating. Jim was 23 when we started dating a million years ago. God that's weird. 23. What a weird age. None of these things seem that long ago but if my SISTER is now 23 they must be. TWENTY THREE!!! Wow. Anyway, happy birthday to Jen!! I wish you better health in the new year.

The other day Aaron told me and Chris to come with him and then he gave us all this free stuff that the NEH people had left behind in their living arrangements, where ever those may have been. It was great. We got two couch pillows (that match the couch and rug perfectly), a chair cushion, a bunch of silverware and cooking spoons and uh... probably something else, I just can't think of what it is. I love free stuff so I loved this. Now if only I knew how to cook. I need someone to give me a free cook book. A free, low fat cook book. I can't even think of things that I COULD cook. I'm pretty sure everything I eat can fit into a list of 10. Perhaps a cook book would give me ideas. I can't eat microwavable weight watchers Smart Ones forever and Chris REALLY needs to expand his horizons from lean pockets and lean cuisine pizza. The only thing we cook is spaghetti once in a while (and even that is annoying) and Chris will sometimes make a steak. Everything else except vegetables is microwaved. Gross. I'm going to get salt poisoning.

The Olympic opening ceremonies were pretty cool, huh? Did anyone watch the Puppy Olympics afterwards on Animal Planet? I liked the kitten opening ceremonies. Thank you, Animal Planet.

Oh, so in the Project Runway pool I ended up drawing 9th and I had to choose between Leanne and Stella (everyone else was worse). I like Stella enough but there's NO WAY she can win so I chose Leanne. Chris got Suede which was a pretty good grab for 8th pick. He's annoying as hell but he's okay at designing and least he's not that idiotic, disgraceful BLAYNE who had never heard of The Beatles outside of Across the Universe which was the worst movie I've ever seen. Yes, I am putting that on record: I HATED Across the Universe. Everyone I know said I'd like it. Most people I know DID like it... and I think they must just have absolutely no taste because that movie was HORRENDOUS. It was so cheesy and lame and it was NOT a good representation of Vietnam, or hippies or The Beatles or SINGERS! If they really wanted to make a statement someone should have DIED. It was not Hair, it was not the 60s, it was not anything except CRAP.

I'm sorry, I just really hated that movie and I am ANGRY that I paid $20 for me and Chris to see it and drove 45 minutes to Charlottesville because that was the only place it was playing. It was not worth my time or money and if you liked that movie then... that's just unfortunate for you. It was a bastardized version of the greatest band of all time.

Ok. So..... moving on.... it's really nice out, so far, today! :) It's only supposed to be about 79 degrees and tomorrow there might be THUNDERSTORMS which would be great.

The other day at work I got half my t-shirt order in and I was so happy. The guy came at about 6pm, right when we were setting up for the show and I was a crazy person trying to get 3 or so of each size and type folded, on the shelves and in the computer before we reopened at 6:30pm. The next day I spent about 5 hours folding. It was.... I don't know what it was. He said he might be able to get the other half in by yesterday, but unfortunately he didn't have time to bring them down and we had no one to go get them. It's not a BIG deal, I would have liked to have had them for the YCTC crowd, but oh well. I'll live. I am looking forward to getting them, though... and our graphic design people are working on the new womens' t-shirts! I can't wait until we start doing those. They're going to be so cool. ACTUALLY cool, too, I hope.

vote for meeee!!

I entered this contest on Jason Robert Brown's website. No one knows what the prize is. It's probably nothing but to enter I had to sing "I'm Not Afraid of Anything" and it was a lot of fun. I like singing. Chris and his recorder thing recorded it for me. You can vote until August 10th at 12:01am. Please vote for me. Like I said, I don't know what the prize is, but I want to win it.

Just email "jrbkaraoke2008@yahoo.com" and put "Alisa Ledyard" in the subject line. It will take you less than a minute. Thanks!! YAY!

alisa and tipping

Remember when I used to work at the Olive Garden and I hated my life because no one on the UCLA campus ever tipped more than 10%? I am having flashbacks of that terrible time.

The normal bartenders are both out of town and Nash just left yesterday for Hawaii so I was scheduled 5 bar shifts this week. I was all about it. For some reason I kept thinking I'd make like $20 in tips a performance. WRONG. Try $10 on a $120+ bar total or less. I mean, I really can't complain (but I will). It's more than I'd make sitting in the lobby, I get to watch half the show and it's a more social job than the box office... but MAN. Today no one tipped me until halfway through the first intermission and it was a QUARTER. He did it yesterday, too. I made $5.51 today. You have to really wonder about that 51 cents, don't you? None of the bar prices include change, everything is either $2, $3 or $5. Where did the penny come from? The thing is, if you just want a bag of candy or a bottle of water I'm SHOCKED if you tip me. Even if it's just a coke or something I'm surprised. But if it's $20 worth of alcohol... I mean, come on. I can pour two cups at once!! I had a foam problem on Wednesday but by the end of the night I had learned how to pour beer correctly and there was hardly ANY foam (it takes someone who has never drank beer before longer to learn about preventing foam). I made less than $50 for five shows. I asked Jen if this was normal and she said yes, for the time of the year. That's lame.

There must be a correlation between people tipping and a good audience. Today's audience was awful. It was Twelfth Night and they hardly laughed at anything yet the performance is hysterical. It was the same yesterday morning for Measure... but last night for Lear it was a GREAT audience and they were also very generous tippers. Hmmm.. someone should do research into this.

Ok, that's my tipping complaint blog. I haven't been able to do that for over 2 years. I've enjoyed the two years.

In other news, since everyone went on vacation, I was scheduled 6 days this week but it's ok because I only have to work 4 days next week. Ah, salaried job. I signed up for some Aflac insurance on Tuesday. I'm getting vision insurance. YAY. They will just GIVE YOU MONEY after a year of having the insurance! That's almost as good as Canada!

A Barack Obama canvassing headquarters just opened up on my wlk to work. I haven't stopped in yet, but they've got all kinds of buttons and stuff so I'm sure I will. I DID, however, stop into the bakery yesterday. They're closed today and I didn't get in until one hour before they closed yesterday so I am sure at, say, the beginning of their work week there is more to choose from, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. I got a big piece of cookie from a pie pan for only TWO DOLLARS! That's awesome. Also, I am making a pledge to go to the farmer's market next Saturday. It's always hard for me to wake up in the morning but on my way to work yesterday I caught the tail end of it and it looked GREAT! There's food and flowers and probably some kind of.. craft work... somewhere. There's also all the dogs. Everyone walks their dog to the farmer's market on Saturday.

Chris has decided to start a Project Runway pool at the theatre. We have a list of 13 people involved, we'll draw numbers and based on your number you'll get to pick your designer. If I was first right now I'd choose either Kenley or Kelli. I'm okay with Stella, but there's no WAY she could win, I like Terri and I hate Blaine, Suede and Keith. Everyone else... I don't know enough about them, yet.

Ok, that's all for now.