rocky horror

Remember those years I spent all of October immersed in one thing: The Rocky Horror Show?

That was the best. The most fun, the highest energy, the most INSANE time of my life.

Look at me in this picture, all of 19 years old and with my natural hair color.

Every time I tell someone I've done that show three times they ask who I played. I say, "Janet. I always play Janet." They reply, "Janet!?!??! I would never think to cast you as Janet! Definitely Magenta... or that other girl....uh..."
"Columbia?"

"YES!!! You'd make a PERFECT Columbia!!!"

It'd be interesting to see how I'd be cast now. I still can't imagine playing anyone else in that show. It's also one of the few shows I could do.. like... forever. I don't think I could ever get sick of it. It's too weird and funny... and since there are new audience participation lines all the time it changes often.

And it was a GREAT way to spend my birthday.

Happy Halloween to every one from those casts and to you, blog reader.

And YEEEEEHAW---only 2.5 hours until my birthday!!!!!!!!

BOO!!!!

The Halloween party was awesome!! We had a great time. On Monday morning Chris and I ran around to get the donuts and a couple other last minute things (like dinner for us later). After we got home we cleaned and set everything up and then were putting on our costumes until the very last minute when Jenny and Eliot came. Eliot was dressed as a kitty ("Succotash" to be exact) and Jenny came as that woman who carved a backwards B in her own face and blamed it on a fake attacker. Ella was REALLY excited to start bobbing her apples but I had to keep telling her to wait. We couldn't bob for apples with only 3 people there! Greg (my birthday buddy!!) and Alyssa came next since she had to go to a dance class at 8pm and soon after Doreen, JP and baby Olive followed... and then EVERYONE ELSE followed!!! I made them play the game where you eat a donut without using your hand, a pumpkin cake walk and then finally Ella was able to bob for apples. The food was in our apartment and games were in Scot and Kate's downstairs. The party only lasted about 2.5 hours but that's how I like it. My parties are like 50 minutes of extremely high energy and craziness sandwiched between regular socializing. I was EXHAUSTED when everyone left! It was great, thuough. Here is a spooooooky picture of me in my first costume, dead maid. I changed into Sexy Dinosaur halfway through the night (Sexy Dinosaur costume is now too big for me, just like all my old clothes.)

You can see all the party pictures I took (and some Alex took) at my flickr website.

SO!! What else.... we have not won the McDonald's Monopoly game although we aren't really trying as hard this year. I got addicted to that game in 2005 when I was sad over the break up, didn't own a refrigerator so I couldn't go shopping and had only $5 a day to spend on food. Chris actually won a pretty big prize one of the first years it was out so he has liked it since then. While on the road last year we played a lot since we could but this year we just never have the chance. Oh well. Even though McDonald's is now mainly trans fat free it's still not GOOD for you.

Now that my party is over I feel like Halloween is over, even though it's still 2 days away. OOOOOooooooohhhhh, two days until my BIRTHDAY!!!! YAY!!! As we all know, my birthday is the best day of the year for me and everyone else. Look how everyone celebrates it!!! Martha Stewart is CRAZY about my birthday!! She taught me how to make a paper wig today. Man, the Halloween mix I made for my party was SO AWESOME!!!! I had a ton of great classic songs (like the one featured at the bottom of this post) and some you might not be expecting (like "I Wish I Was a Girl" by Counting Crows). I was so proud of that Halloween mix.

I have to go to work tonight (I was thankful to be able to sleep in), tomorrow morning and then I have off for my birthday. On Saturday Chris and I are judging some one act play festival in Lexington or something. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing, really, but I know they're giving us $75. We HAVE to make it home for Thanksgiving!!

The Milwaukee Shakespeare Theatre closed abrupty yesterday. I guess one of their main contributors pulled out because of the financial crisis. This made me really sad. It looked like such a great theatre. Plus, you know, it's terrifying. At our theatre, and most other non-profits, tickets sales only cover 60% of the operating costs so we depend on donations.... that's not good in these rough economic times. I mean, it's probably not good to be a theatre at ALL right now. At least we have the pull that we are the world's only recreation of the Blackfriars and we're the only company in the world performing plays with all the original staging practices that Shakespeare used. That's a draw, right??? RIGHT????

Ok, go get a pumpkin and have some fun celebrating my birthday. BOOOOOO!!!!



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Now playing: DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - A Nightmare on My Street
via FoxyTunes

lobsters are messed up, too

Chris has been working out like a maniac to get into "Talbot shape." He's playing this character in 1Henry6 that's all... a warrior. From what the scholars say the character of Henry V may have been based on Talbot (the Henry 6's were written first). So, you know, he must be some kind of great speaker and totally bad-ass. Anyway, that's obviously Chris to a T but that cuddly bear still wants to become super buff so he works out all the time. He'd already lost a bunch of weight because I make him eat so much fiber. The other day he started to look sick and I can only assume it's because his immune system was too tired.

I'm watching I Love the 80s 3D: 1989 right now. They just showed The Little Mermaid and I realized something. You know how she dies in the original version? That's a story that was REALLY ahead of it's time. She gives up her voice for a man and then she DIES. I always found the story of Jessica in Merchant to be very similar to that of Ariel... not the Disney Ariel, but the other one. I still do love that movie, though. You know it will probably always be my favorite movie. She taught me how to SING!

We got a new desk at work and it's nice. I stress out in this job a lot. I don't remember EVER stressing out while on tour. The only time I DON'T stress out is when I'm bartending but even then, if I haven't eaten enough I get the shakies. So, anyway, I stressed out today when we finally were able to turn the phones back on (we had to get all the messages, put everything BACK in the desk, people were coming in and calling on both phone lines), I stress out if I feel like I've bothered anyone, I stress out about money, the size of the audience, having enough time to set up... I hate it. I wish I had a hot tub so I could just relax after work and forget I went there all day. Man, is THIS why people drink? I won't start drinking. I'll just start twittering more or something.

My birthday is only 9 days away!!! Ooooooh!! Or should I say BOOOOOOOO. I'm excited. I think we're going to Roanoke. My party is on Monday and I am also totally excited about that. Our apartment is the coolest Halloween apartment EVER!!! When I was little I was deathly afraid of the song "Thriller." Apparently once my dad played the song when we were going through a car wash and both things freaked me out a lot. I used to call the car wash "Thriller." Anyway, now I think it is the greatest song ever written.

What is UP with those Burger King Steak House Shroom and Swiss commercials? God, they're so weird. Burger King has definitely gotten funnier over the years but they also don't make any sense. Maybe that's the point.

I watched part of Signs the other day and was simultaneously freaked out and totally crying my face off. I always liked that movie... I really like movies where things mean something (like why Culkin boy has asthma or why tiny Abigail Breslin left glasses of water everywhere). I am also terrfied of aliens. Well, I used to be a lot more terrified of them. Recently I have truly seen how things on this earth are FAR WEIRDER than anyone's image of an alien. Even a regular FISH is weird looking than a movie alien. Anything from the sea is so messed up and freaky that I almost wonder how much weirder real aliens could be. Regardless, I don't want them to come here and kill me. There's no way we're the only planet with living organisms on it in the universe... but I sure don't wat to meet any other ones. Spooky.

debate schmeschmate

I was angry at work on Saturday for a couple of reasons but it made me not a very nice person. One person's tickets were completely just... LOST. They'd been paid for, it was clear a reservation had been made, just not for the performance he was supposed to attend. I was nice to him. I was also nice to the school group who wanted to change every thing at the last minute. I started to get really irritated by the old lady taking advantage of the student rush ticket (you can get 2 tickets for one student ID) who demanded to be put in the best seats even though we had a bunch of walk up ticket buyers (we had 50 that night) behind her in line who were actually paying full price. We were running out of reserved seats. If it had been a small house I wouldn't have cared if they had good seats, but why should we sell a seat for$11 if we can sell the same seat for $35 when there are only a couple seats left? Ugh. Anyway. I was mad.

Last night Chris and I ventured out to karaoke with Nash and Pasha. It was pretty funny. Chris Nash did "air fiddle" to "Ants Go Marching" by DMB. There was a lot of interpretive dance going on in front of the stage. There were only like 20 people there and they all wanted to interpretive dance. Or rap. God, it was funny. Their song list was GREAT, too. They not only had every Pat Benatar and Heart song I could ever want to sing, they had the entire soundtrack to Hair!! I sang "Invincible" by Ms. Benatar and Chris did not sing... although he said he might next time. Pasha sang his apparent standard, "Brown Eyed Girl." It was fun.

I am, of course, not watching tonight's debate. Why on earth would they schedule a debate during the same time as the FINALE of Project Runway?? I don't like debates anyway. They make me uncomfortable. It's not like I would ever change my opinion by watching one, anyway. As long as you're a republican I'm not voting for you. Anyway, I am so excited for the finale!! I hope Leanne wins (obviously). I do like her collection the best. I liked Kenley's too (and Jerrell's but that's a lost cause) but she is just too mean to win. If Korto won I would only be disappointed that I didn't win $65 from the work pool. I really love Korto. She is awesome. But GO LEANNE!!!!

teena brought me candy called "creepy peepers"

I'm house managing tonight which sucks because A. It's the longest of the 4 shows AND there is a talk back and B. I am going to have to watch the late episode of Project Runway. I'm also going to be totally alone in this lobby for the better part of 2.5 hours.

My throat is starting to feel swelly. I hope I'm not getting sick. It wouldn't really matter if I was but no one WANTS to be sick. My body hurt all last night for no reason but I attributed that to paper-cutting fatigue (which is what I did ALL DAY at work yesterday, making invitations to the Halloween party). I have been doing a lot of physical work today.... so much so that I didn't sit down until I had been here for over an hour and a half and then I forgot to print the will call until 10 minutes before the lobby re-opened.

On Monday Chris and I went to Charlottesville to go to the Halloween store. It was great. I twittered about this but I did a search for Halloween stores in Virginia and there are only 15. In Ohio there are over 60! That's ridiculous. There's also about 7 times the amount of Haunted Houses in Ohio. Why does Viriginia HATE FUN? I'll tell you what Virginia does not hate... potato donuts. We finally made it to Spudnut in time (they close at 2pm) and got to try a potato flour donut. Man are they good. And it was only $1.80 for two. PLUS... you know... I'm sure there's more of a nutritional value because it's made from a POTATO. Yes... that's how I justified it to myself.

I got to sing for the old folks again today in a workshop (PS- "old" is not someone is his mid-30s as a certain anonymous jackass commentor likes to think. "Old" is 70-80.). I like singing. I especially like singing Johnston's version of the "lullaby" from Midsummer. We sound GREAT and that song is awesome. I was so proud of myself for coming up with my harmonies on the spot because they are... very contemporary and complex. I am really good at coming up with contemporary melody lines, though. If I could use someone else's words and someone else's chord progressions I could be a killer melody-line song writer. I don't think that job exists, though. I think too many people can already do all three a lot better.

Sometimes I think about writing a book about how much working at the OG sucked. I mean, yeah, most jobs suck... but that job REALLY sucked. Especially when I moved back to Ohio. In California I didn't get tipped more than 15% but at least I wasn't completely freaked out by all the customers AND my coworkers. I was like the only person who worked there who wasn't drunk and on drugs all the time. I still really like that restaurant, though. If there was one closer than Roanoke I might actually go once in a while. I haven't been to the OG since Duluth in March!

i'm using bad language to make a point

So, anonymous comments had continued so I had to stop letting anonymous people make comments. Great job, you ruined it for everyone. Also, let me just say one thing: I don't care if you make fun of me (well, I DO care but I'm not going to delete the comment. I'll just stoop to your level and insult you back) but when you insult my loved ones there is a BIG PROBLEM. This is why I am a hitter--- because when I get mad I get REALLY, REALLY mad. Not once, but twice? Come on, dickweed. Grow some fucking balls and get over yourself.

etc etc etc

I got to sing once more this week for Alyssa but otherwise it's been a pretty boring week. They started renovating the lobby. The painters were there on Tuesday (and every night after the shows were over) and on Wednesday we got new shelves in the gift shop. They are really nice and they'll be even nicer when they have handles on them. My new shirts are selling really well which is good and bad. I obviously want them to sell but I do not want to run out of them right away.

I started decorating for Halloween and it is very SPOOKY in our apartment. Kate has done some very scary lights outside, too, which is awesome. I just want Halloween to last forever!

I did not watch the debate on Thursday because it would just make me angry. I did watch the SNL debate which was of course hilarious. Right now I am watching The King and I which is also hilarious. I mean, maybe I'm not laughing outright per se, but I am feeling the humor inside me, and isn't that good enough? I really do want to play Anna some day when I'm older. No one seems to do these shows, anymore. Rogers and Hammerstein shows. I mean, except for the racism and/or sexism that is in them they're really very good. Smart and funny scripts, great songs... I don't know why I am trying to justify Rogers and Hammerstein to the world. I think they've proven themselves already.

Project Runway was really disappointing this week. I HATE that they did not just get rid of Kenley. I mean, come on. It's just going to make the eventual elimination worse for whoever it is. I am getting excited about the finale. I am especially excited because I have Leanne in the work pool and if she wins I win... you know... $5 from the other 12 people. Considering I was 9th to choose I think I got a really good contestant.

exciting and cold

This week has actually been exciting. It started out pretty much horrible but it got a lot better. On Wednesday I had to trade shifts with Solomon which left my morning open which meant I could sing at this workshop for the Elderhostel group. I was happy just to be singing. That evening I found out Alyssa had slipped a disc in her back and might have to have an understudy go on. She still was able to go on as Viola in 12th Night and her roles in Richard but she had to miss Measure and Lear. Alyssa sings a lot in the preshow/interludes of those shows so I of COURSE mentioned to Aaron if they needed someone I would love to do it. They did need someone and I got to sing and I was so happy. I mean, obviously I didn't want Alyssa to be in excruciating pain but I was happy to help out and again, just happy to be singing. Her understudies did great in the roles, too. Lesley got to go on twice as Cordelia. I love it when Lesley is in shows... I just think she is so talented.

Anyway, so ALSO on Friday Johnston and I did our "gig" at the hotel next door. We were in a small ballroom next to the bar and between the bar and the room there were probably 100 people. We were doing this strolling minstrel thing but only people right next to us could hear us because it was just SO LOUD. Rene was in the bar after the show and he didn't even know we were in there singing. Our set was about 25-30 minutes and we did it 3.5 times in 2 hours with really quick water breaks between. I have never sung that much for that long in my entire life. I could have kept singing but MAN was my speaking voice gone! I could only speak to people in my head voice after it was over. I'm a soprano and Chris is a tenor and we both have much, much weaker lower registers so obviously everything we were singing was really high. It was pretty funny. I was exhausted after it was over. My legs hurt, I couldn't speak normally and I was sooo tired, but overall I think it went pretty well. A lot of people complimented us afterwards (and some even started talking to us mid-song) and we made a nice chunk of change so it was worth it. I'd like to do more stuff like that with the hotel so hopefully they will have a need.

My t-shirts for the gift shop came in and they are AMAZING!!! I was so happy. We've already sold a bunch even though they are more expensive than any other clothing items (except hoodies). Every one in the company loves them. They just look super cool. I am very pleased with how this turned out. If I am ever able to order anything new in the gift shop I want to start with the company Immortal Longings. They sent me this AWESOME sample pack (which included a Viola card (that we gave to Alyssa as a get well card) and a Cordelia card (which we gave to Lesley as a thank you card) ) and I totally love them. The drawings are just so pretty.

I've gotten two mean comments from "Anonymous" recently. It's kind of annoying because I'm left wondering: who is this person? I really doubt that anyone I know is secretly that mean. Plus, why on earth would a STRANGER take the time to insult someone they don't know on the internet? Why NOT put your name? It's not like I'd know who it was anyway. And if I DO know the person they clearly don't want to be my friend anymore so why not let me know that so I can erase them from my memory and leave them alone? Plus, if they hate me so much, why are they reading my blog? I mean, come on. Get a life. I don't read Angelina Jolie's blog. I don't like her and therefore I do not care what is going on with her. Anyway, so I've been thinking about, you know, my ENEMIES. I've only had one real enemy and I don't think we're still enemies anymore because those events are like 7 years old. I'm pretty sure the statue of limitations has cleared us of enemy-dom. We also appologised to eachother. That helped the situation. The only person who I have offended deeply enough to want to be this mean to me is Sarah Palin. Sarah, I'm SORRY! I can't help it. I know I'm being a hypocrite, you're just... so.... not presidential material. That's the best way to put it: She's just not presidential material. You don't have the chutzpah. I don't look at her and think, "WOW! I sure respect THAT WOMAN!" I look at her and think, "WOW! You're in way over your head!" So, anyway Sarah, stop leaving me mean "anonymous" comments on my blog. The joke's getting old.

My birthday month begins on WEDNESDAY!!!! I bought some decorations at Target in the dollar section. I am so excited. I can't wait. This is gonna be ONE SSSSPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOKKKKYYY MONTH!!

it's finally fall

Chris is in a really bad mood because he doesn't have any money. I told him, "as long as you're an actor you're never going to have any money." I mean, it's TRUE, is it not? Acting sucks. It is so expensive. Any kind of good headshot session costs at least $250 (and that is a BARGAIN), reproductions are at least $100, joining the union costs I think $1100 (plus dues twice a year), you have to buy nice clothes for auditions, if you go to an audition out of town there's travel+hotel+food+registration fee (like UPTAs) and then there's the fact that no one will pay you any money because half the theatres are not for profit and if they're not they have really low wages because there will always be someone who is willing to act for hardly any money and horrible treatment (see: The Barn). This is assuming you take no classes of any kind and do not have a subscription to Backstage. Then there's the staying healthy because you CANNOT just call off work and having no schedule leeway to do anything else. And, if you want to have any kind of real career, you have to live in a big city with rent that is sky-high. Yes, my friends, acting sucks and I would recommend it to no one. It's a lot of fun, though..... you have a LOT of fun.

Chris Johnston and I are singing at this thing on Friday for the government of Virginia at the hotel next door and it is going to be really funny. Funny for ME, hopefully not for the people who are attending this conference. I guess, since we work at a Shakespeare theatre, they assumed we only know Renaissance music, so that's what they originally asked us to play. We, of course, don't know ANY Renaissance music so we had to use this book to find some and let me tell you... Elizabethan music is TERRIBLE! Sometimes people complain that we play modern music during our preshows and interludes but who in their right mind would want to actually listen to Renaissance music? So, anyway, we're playing a couple songs from this book (most of which are featured in at least one Shakespeare play), some original music Johnston wrote for "Midsummer", "Merchant" and "The Maid's Tragedy", one contemporary interlude song we did for "Merchant" and two random contemporary songs that we just want to do. We are going to be doing a "strolling minstrel" thing and I am just happy to be getting to sing in public instead of alone in the lobby of the theatre.

I am looking foward to winter when my face will be less oily. I've been using those oil blotting sheets because I have some serious excess oil. I don't know how I haven't been breaking out like crazy. Anyway, in the winter, a single drop of excess oil will be extremely welcome. My whole face is so dry in the winter that my nose starts bleeding.

I am so excited about my birthday coming!!! Scot told me today that if I wanted to, he and Kate would let me use their half of this house to have a two-story SPOOKY apartment party! Uh.... HECK YES I would want that!! I am totally excited. It is going to be such a SCARY time and everyone is going to have lots and lots of fun! Dollar General and Big Lots better be prepared for me to buy them out of their Halloween decorations.

It finally happened. After months of watching What Not to Wear every day on my lunch break I finally would rather wear a blouse than a t-shirt. They really do look better.

i don't have enough to blog about because nothing happens

I had to work all mornings this week. Most people would LOVE working 9-5 every day but for me it was like.... AHHHHHHH!!!! I started to get anxiety over the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep past 8am all week which kept me awake at night. Next week is almost exactly the same. The worst part about this is that there is no one at the theatre all day now that the tour left and rehearsals for Richard II are over. Most days it's just me and one other box office person (and sometimes it's just me for hours). Hardly anyone comes in to the theatre to buy tickets in person so I see less than 10 people a day except on my walk to work. It makes me not want to wear anything even remotely nice. It's like, why should I if I'm not even going to see anyone? I could just wear what I'm wearing now (a hilary duff t-shirt, lol) and no one would know. Some days I started to sing in the lobby just because I was the only person in the theatre and no one would know. Now I'm LONELY. I just can't be happy at work, can I?

I got my hair cut on Monday again. I mainly just needed it shorter so that when it grew out really fast (as it will) it wasn't totally weird looking. And, you know, I didn't want it to grow into a mullet. I've fixed that, now.

I really want a ragdoll cat. They're such big, big kitties! Apparently they're the most dog-like of all the cats, so Chris would like it too (he likes cats a lot but he LOVES dogs). First I need to convince our landlord to let us have a cat in the first place, then I need to find a ragdoll cat in a shelter and then I will be a happy girl. Oh, and I have to somehow control the cat allergy Chris has. I just need a kitty.

The woman on What Not to Wear has naturally curly, red hair and hates it. WHAT?? Who would hate that? That's the best kind of hair in the world! I really watch this show too much. I mean, I guess there are worse things to watch (infomercials? anything on MTV?) but our TV is only on 3 channels: TLC, ESPN and Bravo.

i wish i could buy pants in bulk

I hit my head really hard on the refrigerator like an hour ago. It still hurts. You never realize how fast you're moving until you hit something in the middle of moving.

Today Chris and I met Scot and Kate at Costco where I got Fiber One bars in bulk! I had no idea there was a Costco in Harrisonburg and we go there pretty often. Tomorrow I am getting my hair cut again since it grows so fast and if I am going to keep it shirt I need to REALLY keep it short. Right now I'm afraid it will grow out into a mullet. I cannot let this happen.

Today I tried to put on a pair of jeans that used to be my "skinny" jeans. When I bought them they were just the right amount of tight and so when I would wash/dry them they'd be slightly too tight and I wouldn't want to wear them, you know, every week of the month. I haven't worn them in a while and today I put them on and they were so big that I couldn't wear them out. A belt was the only thing to keep them up but the belt made them bunch in the front. I cannot believe those jeans are too big. I had worn a size 8 pants for the last... I don't know... 6 years and now not only am I swimming in a 6 but size 4 is even a little big in some cases. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS. My physical activity level has decreased significantly since June, I eat all the time... so, listen up. Seriously, listen to me and Brittany Spears. If you want to lose weight and not, apparently, do anything at all (except 100 sit ups a night), eat as much fiber as you can and stop drinking regular pop. Cut that sugar down. I am going to WISH this worked for me again in 10 years.

It's above 90 degrees again today which equals horrible in our apartment. This is the only day for the next 10 that is anywhere near this hot and we haven't felt like this in about a month. Tomorrow it's supposed to drop like 10 degrees and another 10 the day after that and just hover around 70 for the foreseeable future. That will be nice. Today it's just sweat city.

Ginna's boyfriend Sheffield just got cast in White Christmas on Broadway. I was talking to him on Friday night after the Richard II opening. I told him he needs to change his name to "Broadway Sheffield." Change his resume and everything. I laughed a lot because he said something like, "Yes... I'll be the most presumptuous fuck in the world. 'Hi, my name is Broadway Sheffield and I'm here to audition for your show'." Speaking of Broadway, John is closing Hair at the Public Theatre... but the show announced on Wednesday that it's moving to Broadway in January! They said they'd take everyone, but John doesn't want to count his Broadway chickens before they hatch, so right now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for him. I talked to him on Thursday for a long time and everytime I do it makes me want to move to NYC. So, then I was talking to Chris about it and he said he didn't think Broadway was an impossible dream for him and I'm thinking, "THAN WHY DO YOU WANT TO MOVE TO DC!?!?!?" Anyway, since most of my friends moved to New York and I have three friends who have worked on (or are about to work on) Broadway and a fiance who thinks it would be easy for him to be on Broadway, I decided in the shower that we are going to move to New York when Chris is done in like.... a year. I'm going to UPTAs in February and I'll either get a job there or be sad in the B.O. but we totally have to save the money to do this somehow.

As I said, Richard II opened and it is a good show! I didn't know if I would like it because it's a history play that's not funny and there's no REAL conflict but I did. When I was bartending two nights this last week other people seemed to be liking it, too. Well, these rude kids on Wednesday did not like it, but I don't care what they think because they were forced to go by their teacher at the community college. The touring troupe left yesterday and Dennis is letting us borrow his car the whole time they're gone which is AWESOME.

Man, my head really hurts and it's making me sleepy. I don't like this.

Tina Fey looked, sounded and acted just like Sarah Palin last night on SNL and it was hilarious. I'm sure she just loathes her. Sarah Palin freaks me out, mainly. I think it's more the Alaska thing than the woman republican thing. I guess I'll never understand killing an animal and then posing with the bloody carcas for a picture. That's just gross. And I know, the meat I'm eating was alive once, but whenever I think about that it's really disturbing. I could never kill animals for a job let alone do it for FUN. I can't even handle raw meat to put it on the George Foreman grill. I just don't know what the "American values" are. I've heard people (Republicans) say that Barack Obama is just too liberal and that most Americans are somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum. But why? Every other big country is WAY more liberal than we are. Is it because American was founded by Pilgrims and Puritans? And why are "European ideas" put in quotation marks? I LOVE European ideas! The Beatles, IKEA, mass transportation, cars with really high MPG, marriage for all... why are we the last ones to get on board? And then, when we finally do, we act like we invented said "ideas" in the first place. How can the country that brought you the ipod be so behind in everything else? America was also founded by EXPLORERS (like my relative, John Ledyard and, you know, Christopher Columbus) who were looking for something new and exciting. Let's take THEIR example! No, not the native killing and gold stealing (which I am sure the Puritans and Pilgrims did, also) but the NEW and EXCITING example! Let's harness the WIND and let it blow us to freedom from oil!*†

*Amerigo Vespucci harnessed the wind and look what happened to him----he's got two continents named after him!!

†Also, after reading this paragraph to him, Chris said, "You should end with, 'So in conclusion, the wind and the republicans can blow me'." I chose not to say it myself but it was too funny to not include at all.

not my dream job. not so much, dennis.

A guy buying tickets just asked Nash and I if either one of us had been involved in shows here in the past. He pointed at me and I told him what season I was in. The man buying tickets said, "So you've given up your life's dream to work in the box office!" I sighed and said no and then died inside.

This week has been really boring. SMALL houses (like under 50 every night) and, of course since I mentioned how well it was doing before, low gift shop sales. Chris and I went to IKEA on Monday and it was fun. He bought the wardrobe (I bought.... measuring spoons) and put it together when we got home that night. It looks good and our room is already so much cleaner after hiding everything we own in the closet. Well, at least all the guitar cases, amps and plastic storage bins.

I was sad to see Stella get voted off Project Runway. She was so funny! I was happy that Leanne won for the second week in a row. She's funny, too, but in a completely different way.

Tropical storm (née Hurricane) Hanna is coming tomorrow! That'll will be.... wet and rainy. I guess I won't be going to the farmer's market again. I'll miss those magic cookies.

I'm so down on myself lately. My confidence is falling... ugh... and it took so long to come back! This is gonna be a long lifetime if I get this depressed every time I'm not performing. Maybe it's like a break up and I'm just not over it, yet. I bet that's what it is, for real. I spent a year with the same 11 people doing one of 3 different things every day and then all of a sudden they're ripped away from me and I'm doing something I'm not interested in. I bet if I were in another show it wouldn't be so bad---just like in a break up. I mean, this would explain how the three people from our troupe that went straight to the next tour cried at the company meeting... it's because they were sad about our troupe breaking up. I have to say, this revelation is actually amazing for me because I was afraid I was JUST SAD. Having found the similarities to a break up gives me hope that I will only be sad for around 6 months (it takes half the time you were with them to get over them) and that maybe after that I won't be sad anymore. God, I hope I won't be sad anymore. It's getting depressing.

Chris wants to cure my sadness by taking me to Ohio for a couple days at some point. I want to do it. I don't know if we can AFFORD to do it but I'd really like to. I always feel better when I see the lake.

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.