Wide awake

So here I am at 3am doing laundry.
Can't sleep, brain won't shut down.
Reading a book's not making me very tired. I'll try blogging.
Not real thrilled with the monday meme. The friday five was rather blah too. No real sense wasting your time with that drek.
While doing laundry, I went into our "guest bedroom" down in the basement, waiting for the washer to finish so I could change loads. Laying on the bed down there, remembering the wonderful times I'd had there, in that bed. Now I'm back up in my little single bed, and and missing lost friends more than ever. I hate mornings. I hate the melancholy reflection that inevitably comes then. Hate. Karma's getting a load of shit ready to dump on me for all this hate recently. I don't care. I hate Karma too.

no more giggling

I hate my fucking life. I hate my fucking job. Right about now, I hate fucking everything.

Today was hang for Tavern. I had one person to help. Good help, but, being new, I had to walk him thru the process, all day. Really slowed me down. So I'm staying late to finish. Right now, I'm taking a dinner break, eating my baloney sandwich, with half an apple for a treat; while all the rest of my co-workers went out to dinner for chinese. I felt I needed to finish Hang, and I didn't bring extra shirts to clean up into (I'm pretty skanky when I'm working). I come up to the computer and up pops my reminder that it's S's birthday.

FUCKFUCKFUCKDAMN

I'd totally spaced that today was it. I wondered what the occasion was for going out, but nobody mentioned it, and I'm too busy with two different shows, and six other stresses in my other life.
I really feel like shit now. Total crap. Crap on baloney. If I'd remembered, I'd have gone home to clean up, blown off work. She deserves so much better of me. damn. Well, I got her something, but won't see her for two more days. Happy Fucking Birthday.

All this on top of a total shit weekend. I can't seem to get anywhere in life. No matter how hard I work, I still get the same shit from Wife that, "we can't afford it." Whatever it is. Scrimping and saving doesn't seem to make any difference. She probably wouldn't have let me go out anyway because "we can't afford it". But funny how she always manages to find 10 or 15 dollars to buy shit off ebay, or get her favorite treats at the store. and today is another 40 dollar prescription for her pain meds. and I just can't pick up the dogs arthritis meds, they want to SEE her, again. and the insurance needs ANOTHER copy of a form we already gave them three of, before they'll reimburse us hundreds of dollars in prescription receipts.

And on top of that, I can't even drink heavily cause I'm climbing a ladder!

FUCK I HATE MY LIFE RIGHT NOW

Rude Place names

A book, soon to be released in Britain, lists the hundred rudest place-names in Britain. Here's the list.
Makes me giggle.

The full list

100 Jeffries Passage, Surrey

99 Prince Albert Court, Surrey

98 Nork Rise, Surrey

97 Brown Willy, Cornwall

96 Great Tosson, Northumberland

95 Trump Street, London

94 St. Mellons, Cardiff

93 Percy Passage, London

92 Booty Lane, North Yorkshire

91 Nether Wallop, Hampshire

90 Honeypot Lane, Leicestershire

89 Mudchute, London

88 Juggs Close, East Sussex

87 Cockermouth Green, Newcastle

86 Six Mile Bottom, Cambridgeshire

85 Cock and Bell Lane, Suffolk

84 Little Bushey Lane, Hertfordshire

83 Titlington Mount, Northumberland

82 Slippery Lane, Staffordshire

81 Hooker Road, Norwich

80 Cumloden Court, Dumfries and Galloway

79 Tinkerbush Lane, Oxfordshire

78 Ugley, Essex

77 Pratts Bottom, Kent

76 Ramsbottom Lane, Greater Manchester

75 Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire

74 Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire

73 Upper Dicker, East Sussex

72 Swell, Somerset

71 Bladda, Paisley

70 Snatchup, Hertfordshire

69 Spital in the Street, Lincolnshire

68 Shingay cum Wendy, Buckinghamshire

67 Pump Alley, Middlesex

66 Old Sodom Lane, Wiltshire

65 Long Lover Lane, Halifax

64 East Breast, Inverclyde

63 Dicks Mount, Suffolk

62 Staines , Surrey

61 Crapstone, Devon

60 Three Cocks, Powys

59 Feltwell, Norfolk

58 Pant, Shropshire

57 Balls Cross, West Sussex

56 Ogle Close, Merseyside

55 Friars Entry, Oxfordshire

54 North Piddle, Worcestershire

53 Mincing Lane, London

52 Bottoms Fold, Lancashire

51 Backside Lane, Oxfordshire

50 Winkle Street, Southampton

49 Wham Bottom Lane, Lancashire

48 Upperthong, West Yorkshire

47 Tosside, Lancashire

46 The Furry, Cornwall

45 Lower Swell, Gloucestershire

44 Lickers Lane, Merseyside

43 Honey Knob Hill, Wiltshire

42 Boghead, Ayrshire

41 The Bush, Buckinghamshire

40 Hill o'Many Stanes, Scotland

39 Grope Lane, Shropshire

38 Willey, Warwickshire

37 Happy Bottom, Dorset

36 Feltham Close, Hampshire

35 The Knob, Oxfordshire

34 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool

33 Titty Ho, Northamptonshire

32 Crotch Cresent, Oxfordshire

31 Blairmuckhole & Forestdyke road, Lanarkshire

30 Pant-y-Felin Road, Swansea

29 Beef Lane, Oxfordshire

28 Merkins Avenue, West Dumbartonshire

27 Pork Lane, Essex

26 Moisty Lane, Staffordshire

25 Wetwang, East Yorkshire

24 Scratchy Bottom, Dorset

23 Swallow Passage, London

22 Lickey End, Worcestershire

21 Bitchfield, Lincolnshire

20 Spanker Lane, Derbyshire

19 Rimswell, East Riding of Yorkshire

18 Lickfold, West Sussex

17 Dick Court, Lanarkshire

16 Beaver Close, Surrey

15 Fanny Avenue, Derbyshire

14 Cockshoot Close, Oxfordshire

13 Inchinnan Drive, Renfrewshire

12 Fanny Hands Lane, Lincolnshire

11 Hole of Horcum, North Yorkshire,

10 Slag Lane, Merseyside

9 Shitterton, Dorset

8 Back Passage, London

7 Fingringhoe, Essex

6 Muff, Northern Ireland

5 Sandy Balls, Hampshire

4 Twatt, Orkney

3 Bell End, Birmingham

2 Minge Lane, Worcestershire

1 Cocks, Cornwall

Lawyers, Bah!

I hate Lawyers.

Who knew?

Well, I guess a lot of people really, it's kinda a cliche.
Yes, everything is funnier when it involves a nun.
Nun humor. Lots of potential, lots of common experiences shared by many many ex catholic schoolkids. Lots of nun comedy shows already out there though, How many NUNSENSE versions are there now? But I don't recall seeing a Catholic Bingo night premise for a show before.
I'm refering to the fundraiser show we did tonight at the theater. Sister Bernie's Bingo Bash. Their bingo hall got demolished, so they're taking their bingo game on the road. Seven games for each of the seven deadly sins, with prizes to combat those sins. Great improv comedy, pretty talented actors (ok, one really good one, one pretty good one, and one ok one. And yes, that could also be read as a pretty, good one.)(pay no attention to me, I'm just sticking around and drinking the night away.)

Again, a pretty busy day for a day off. I got the video computer hooked up after all, while TD was finishing the projection screen, helped hang the screen (weighed a ton! took 4 of us), then focused the projector on the screen. Loaded the PowerPoint show that I built from his slides, and lo and behold, the slides looked really RED. I viewed the original pix from his disk, and same thing. some setting must be really off. So I ended up running the show from my laptop. AGAIN. Though I was worried because I hadn't seen my "renew your Norton subscripton now" popup yet today. sure enough, just as the house was opening, Up it came telling me that I only have 12 more days to renew. Not too bad, only a few people saw it. Then, two minutes before the show was to start, Up pops the auto-scanner. D'oh. never fails. I had had my laptop on all afternoon, waiting for it to popup, but it waited for the second worst time to do it. who says computers are dumb.

Alright, tomorrow is another day another 7 bingo games. and a buttload more stuff to do before Monday. I guess I gotta stop drinking now, too, and go home.

A good day yesterday

One of the best that I've had in quite a long time.
Morning was humdrum enough, with a bit more physical activity than usual. When TD got in (we both had doctors (or PT) appointments in the morning), we managed to get the striplights moved. It was a pain, but I lucked out having only to use 4 of the 5 for the next show. The last striplight would have been almost impossible to move at this point. Then we hung and rigged the projector for the fundraiser show this weekend. I'm on vacation so I'm leaving the hookup of the video computer to TD.
Around noon S came by and said that she was going to a corner bar for burger and a beer and wanted us to come along. COOL! I can take that over a baloney sandwich any day. thankfully payday is this Friday. Of course, I get the day-old baloney sandwich for lunch today...
It seems contraindicatory, but at 4 we all left and moved S out of her rathole ghetto apartment, and this was really a fun thing to do. She'd been preparing for this for the past two weeks, and was raring to go. We had L's trailer, TD's pickup and my little wagon. It took only one and a half loads! Her new place is a huge one-BR in a building complex, meaning a maintenance staff, and attentive landlord. We (six of us by the end) got her moved in, and even started unpacking and arranging furniture. Of course, she provided the obligatory pizza and beer after the move. All in all, it was the most enjoyable evening I've spend in quite a while, spending time with the people I enjoy most.

Ok, back to the drawing board, literally. Today is a bit truncated, Wife has an Orthopod apt. in early afternoon. Damn, I have to miss the production meeting. (sarcasm intended)

I've heard on the news quite a bit recently, that the new Mindset List is out. Every year, some professors at Beloit college put out a Mindset list to prepare their teachers for the mindset of the incoming freshmen. Here it is. Makes you feel old.

humph

Still feeling down. Though at least I'm getting some work done. At least I did before today.
Yesterday was blah. Felt crappy, didn't get enough sleep the night before (a story in itself there). I got in and did some work, I think I've finally gotten Tavern figured out, so I can start drafting today. Had a bad realization on Sunday: my 6' long striplights need to be moved one pipe over on stage, and it wouldn't be a problem, except that TD already has some walls up. Now there is no easy way to get to these monsters to move them, except by extension ladder. D'oh again.
(TD is also getting on my nerves. Every little annoying thing he does just irks me.)
More crappy news, S's car got vandalized again, egged this time. She's going to start parking out of the neighborhood all together, and is moving by the end of the week, "out of the ghetto" as she put it. Sunday, after the Woolf meeting, I went to the liquor store and met the Woolf props guy, doing research for the liquor bottles that are consumed in abundance during the show. Trying to find distictive gin, bourbon, and brandy bottles. I was there to restock my personal libation supply. I picked up a Haitian rum, that was only a little more expensive than Captain Morgan. Not bad, interesting new flavor. A bit stronger. Had a bit of that with dinner last night, before I had to go to a run-thru of Virginia Woolf. Sitting thru an almost three hour show where they constantly drink, and having only water was irritating. Especially when other friends are going to a ball game. grrr. (yeah, TD's wife scored three tickets to a game somehow, and they took S. Not bitter. There's no way I could have gotten out of the rehearsal (and after her week, S needed it) but I miss doing stuff like that.) I need to get out more. We haven't had a movie or poker night in months, though our poker group is now down to 3 or 4 (gonna have to do something about that). And group bar outings are a thing of the past. I guess bar darts may be in order, but I hate to shoot by myself, and most shooters at the bar are leagues beyond me (usually, literally). Though that is sounding kinda fun about now. Beer and darts. mmmm.
This week of vacation is filling up fast. Now I'm re-formatting the jpg pix into Powerpoint for a show this friday. Sister Bernies Bingo Bash. A fundraiser for our theater, starring one of last years actors. Then we need to hang the projector box and projector, run the cables to it from the booth so we can run the powerpoint show. then move the striplights before any more walls go up and make it more difficult than it already is. All on top of drafting the plot. When I shouldn't be here at all.

Monday Meme times four

Monday Meme 14 : 2005-08-22 : Pick Four

1. What are your four favorite beverages?

Water. I'm not a water snob, usually tap water is fine. Sometimes well water can get skanky though...
Iced Tea. Nothing like it on a summer day. No lemon. No sugar. Instant is ok in a pinch, if I'm gonna drink half a gallon in one chug.
Lemonade. I used to love the Koolade presweetened packets, but my new favorite is RealLemon juice sugar and water.
The Captain. Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. Private Stock if I can get it.

2. What are your four favorite tv shows?

Past and Present.
Picket Fences. Still not out on DVD.
Dead Like Me. from Showtime, only lasted 2 seasons.
Simpsons. Season 6 DVD available now.
Monk. I don't catch it as much as I'd like, but will even still watch re-runs I've seen before.

3. What are your four favorite desserts?

Hmmm. only four? It really depends on my mood, so in no order...
Ice Cream. Mint chip, a berry, or good French Vanilla are still classic
Pecan Pie was always a staple during holidays.
Pumpkin Pie. ditto.
Hmmm. gotta have some kind of cake. Lemon sponge cake is great.

4. What are your four favorite hobbies?

Ooohh and I've had a LOT of them.
Wood working, carving in particular.
Knitting Maille
Reading.
Fencing. Though I haven't done this in a long time.

5. What are your four favorite musicians?

Jethro Tull (as a group, though Ian Anderson is great too)
Lisa Gerrard
Carlos Santana
Holland Zander

I was the 67th person to take this week's Monday Meme!

I'm tired. I'll tell you about today tomorrow.

I'm such an idiot...

I've been searching for my jump drive to transfer files to and from my laptop and either the work computer, or my home computer. I vaguely recall not putting it in one of my regular spots, and made a point of remembering where I put it. I didn't. So for three days I've been scouring all over for it. Not under the bed, not in my laptop bag (which has more pockets than GOD), not on my desk (which has more clutter than my bag has pockets).

I just found it in my jeans pocket.

D'oh

Not entirely unproductive...

I'm putting some time in at work tonight. Gotta get SOME work done.

It was a mistake.
I should have known the consequences.
But I couldn't help it.

Fellowship of the Ring was on TV Friday night. Theatrical version. I couldn't NOT watch it. I knew what would happen. And it did. We had to drop in the following DVDs and watch the rest of the saga. I conked out after Two Towers, so RotK was the following morning. Sometimes you just gotta. But it's an incredible waste of time. (no, not waste, just loss of productivity).

So, I'm back at work. Had a meeting for Woolf at 1 and came here after. Of course, here I am blogging, instead of plotting, but it'll happen soon.

God that is such an incredible movie experience. One of the best parodies is here. Read them in order.

Bored at work

Sitting here at work, eating dinner (chicken sandwich), listening to music (currently Ben Folds), blogging, and drinking heavily.

Pretty down today. Trying to work, and keep getting distracted. Well that's not quite the case, I can't really concentrate today (today? ha! try, this week!). There comes a time in my designs when it all comes together and everything just clicks, I know what I want to do, and how to do it. Not there yet. and running out of time for the coin to drop. It really pisses me off that I have to have it all done a week and a half early. (of course, I'm depressed and I'm drinking; everything pisses me off.)
Didn't get to the gardens yesterday, work kept piling up. oh well. Late in the afternoon S came by and had just gotten texted by E, who mentioned that she needed to START hanging lights for Virginia Woolf, that her crew keeps bailing on her. So I decided to go out and help out after their rehearsal at 10. Got there, caught the last 20 min. of rehearsal, and stayed to help. E said that she was beat and wasn't going to do lights that night, but just a bit of painting of walls of the set. I helped K pick up a bit in the reh. space, while E wandered off on the phone with somebody. I walked K out to her car and chatted some more. As much as I enjoy her, we don't hook up enough to just chat. Anyway. Before we know it, the security is locking the back driveway baricades (It's a college campus). K mentions that she's never gone out the long (and winding, and confusing) way. I go find E (in the shop, painting), explain that I'm going out with K, and say goodnight (I generally also don't like leaving her to walk out alone, but she does it all the time, and she's parked right by the door.).
Today was E's birthday. I really wanted to get her flowers or something, but realized that would be too psycho-stalkerish, and she asked me to leave her alone. So I did.
I'm not a big birthday person. I have a terrible mind for dates like that, which makes it convenient that I don't celebrate my own birthday (the most I'll ever reveal is that it's March and I'm a pisces. That give 'em three weeks to guess from). To me, it's just another day older, just like yesterday, just like tomorrow. What makes one more special or interesting than the next is not something that happened 40 years ago. It also puts no pressure on anybody else to try to remember my birthday. Becky was the only one of my friends who ignored my stricture, and always called on my birthday, but I liked talking with her ANY day. (Great! I always get maudlin when I'm drinking. AND Chicago's Color My World just came on.) Anyway, back to birthdays. This seems to be a month for it. I've been reminded recently that, in addition to E, there are two other friends who have birthdays within a week or so (news to me, actually). (Hmm. Thanksgiving SEX?) I don't know if I'm going to do anything for them, It's really out of character to me, like I'm conniving or something. I usually have these vague grand plans, but then I realize how ridiculous, or creepy, it would be, and I write it off to my overactive fantasy life. Like my favorite saying, At my age, the pleasure lies in the contemplation, not the act.

I do a lot of contemplating.

Back to work.

A good day

First real day back at work in a long time. Got some productive work done on Tavern. Begining to realize that it's gonna be bigger than I anticipated. Gonna get at least one new toy to work with, about all that my budget will allow, but gonna be a great effect for some pivotal scenes. The high point in the day was right at the end, after 4. S came down to do some work in the shop. She'd had a hellish weekend, and beyond getting the story firsthand, I wanted to see how she was handling it. So we chatted as I walked her out (I had to go back to lock up) and on a bench outside for a while. She's doing ok, but it was so good to reconnect with her after being away for almost 2 weeks. I also got some hints of her personal life. She doesn't open up to me much at all, and she doesn't realize this. Several times she mentioned things that I'd had no notion of. Like the guy that she went out with a few times, and then dumped. (That she and E and these two guys met and each hooked up with, and that E had much better luck with her guy than S did, is another issue I need to deal with. God, I'm fucked up! (I even deleted this note, then quit censoring myself and put it back in) yes, I'm jealous, but she deserves a nice guy.) Or the traffic accident she had two years ago that, thank gods, she walked away from, but the other guy didn't. It was the best time I've had with her in a long time, but it really reinforced to me just how disparate we really are. Oh well. I'll take whatever I can get.

It also got me thinking about the vagaries of fate and how tenuous life is for us in theatre. She had her car vandalized by a gang of street kids. Only HER car. Three windows, in a matter of 30 seconds. For no apparent reason. And she would have been out about $600 if we didn't know a glass guy who could do it for just over half. Still, that's a months rent. Most of us in theatre live hand to mouth, and don't have floating capital to throw around. I HAVE a savings account, but it's primarily a holding tank for checking account overdrafts. Wife deals with our money. I make it, she spends it. All the bills etc go thru her. I don't always agree with her methods, but it's what she does, and it's one less thing for me to worry about. Thank gods all our medical bills have been covered by auto insurance. Can't say enough about good car coverage.

Ok I've rambled on for far too long (literally behind Wife's back, she's watching TV and I'm at the Living room computer.). I've gotta get some sleep tonight. Early PT for Wife tomorrow, and a dash to work for a meeting. It's also 3rd thursday tomorrow, meaning free (donation) day at the Japanese garden again. Maybe?

How cool is this?

I wanna go....
Take a look.
It's back to work tomorrow, and none too soon. I originally had these past two days off to help hang lights for Virginia Woolf, but they didn't need the help so I lazed, and did a bit of house cleaning (that's how bored I was). Need to start cracking down on my Tavern design. This also means bedtime at a reasonable hour.

It's done, done, done.

Well, it was a hard thing to do, but I pushed that 'send' button and sent off my letter and resume for that job. Now it's in the hands of the gods. As I said before, I won't be too upset if I don't get it, but It would be a cool change of pace. I think I'd miss the design work though. We'll see. The support that I've been getting from distant friends who recently took this same leap has been phenomenal. N especially has been great about making me feel better about this being a good thing.

Now the waiting begins...
must be calm
must be calm
must be calm

Monday Meme again. On Monday even.

It's that damned color again.

Monday Meme 13 : 2005-08-15 : Reading Rainbow

1. Do you subscribe to any magazines? Which? Are there any you'd like to subscribe to but haven't?

I used to subscribe to GAMES magazine, but haven't seen it for a while. No magazines currently.

2. How many books do you read per month? How many are for work?

6 or 8 per month. Half may be for work. I usually have a book by my bed, and one in the 'Reading Room'. Sometimes also one at work.

3. What is your favorite genre of book (fiction, self-help, etc...)?

Ooh, I guess I'd have to say Sci-Fi, though I also have a taste for thrillers. Wife is the big NonFiction reader. She'll read just about anything I bring her home from the library.

4. Where do you get your reading materials? Online? Bookstore? Library?

Almost exclusivly from the Library.

5. List 5 books you recommend people read:

Of course, the obligatory Lord of the Rings. The book is so much deeper and fulfilling than the (albeit excellent) movies.
Some Asimov robot stories, such as Robot Dreams or I, Robot. This is our future.
Some Heinlein. He had a lot of ideas on the nature of future utopias.
The Tao of Pooh and the original Pooh stories by Milne. They really go hand in hand. Read the originals, and then the Tao take on them. Lighten up Francis.
I'd also recommend reading some history from an era you are drawn to, or have an affinity for. You can learn a lot from history. As the saying goes, those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. I enjoy the Norse Sagas: Egil's and Njall's sagas.

Friday Five - I know, I know....

1. What foods did you eat growing up that you later found out were regional items? (specific brands or recipes that you thought everyone could buy or make)
The one biggie, that I still crave, is Blue Moon Ice Cream. Rumor has it, that there is a place in Madison that sells it. Gonna have to road trip to find it... Taste-wise, it's kinda fruity, but not blueberry, despite it's bright pastel blue color.
2. Ham or turkey at Christmas and Easter? Or was there some other main course not typical for your area or religion?
Easter was always Ham, or, rarely, lamb. Christmas and Thanksgiving were almost always Turkey. My dad's favorite. Mine too. And, in season, one of the cheapest meats there is.
3. What was your favorite meal served at your elementary school?
I don't remember much about my school food. I don't remember it being abysmal though.
4. What family recipes have been handed down to you, and have you tweaked any of them a little bit to make them more yours?
Every holiday had the obligatory greenbean casserole. But, I was never a fan of mushrooms, and even went to the extreme of picking out those itty bits of 'shroom in the cream of 'shroom soup used in the casserole. Nowadays, I use cream of Asperagus.
5. Are there foods/recipes you wouldn't eat as a child that you now regularly enjoy?
The big one that comes to mind is Shrimp. oooh. Another one... We used to occasionally have the canned chinese food, either chop suey, or chow mein. I hated them (still don't know the difference between them). Today, I still won't eat those canned things, but LOVE restaurant chinese food.

Sorry this is so late. I've been having some issues with the laptop this week. After the Nortons Internet security firewall issue with my wireless, I started getting these dire "security alert"s. I've run several checks, and the best I can figure is that it is normal operation for my computer. It involved a program in the Windows System32 folder called svchost.exe I'm allowing it for now. It was bringing up this warning box, on top of everything, and as soon as I'd close it, a new one, identical, would pop up. About 20-30 times in a row, as fast as I could click them closed. Then it would go away for 20-30 minutes and then the same routine again. grrrr.
Getting the cover letter written tonight, gotta get Boss-man's ok to use him on my reference page. Got the other two today. It goes out tomorrow. Not sure how I feel about the job, I don't think I'll be crushed if I don't get it. But I have to at least apply. It's for running the electrics in a Road house theatre. Meaning supervising load-in for touring shows. That's more of a game for youngsters, but I can definitly handle it, but we'll see for how long.

Scary potential

I got an email about a job posting up in Milwaukee. Could be right up my alley. And the money, at least by local standards is great, more than double what I make now, with benefits. So I'm updating my resume, and making inquiries. Coincidentally, I spent the morning getting past show photos from the theatre photographer, 'past' being 3-4 years! lots of pix. Now I have to update my website to incorporate those pix. I think I'm going to try going to thumbnails and full size pix on a seperate page. I may eventually even post the weblink here. Maybe not. We'll see. Just the thought of moving, though, scares the shit out of me. Wife, moreso. (I still haven't gone into detail about Wife and her condition, and our relationship. Remind me later.) What if, after picking up and moving both of us there, I hate it, or they hate me. What then? Of course, I've just had two friends move across the country to blind job openings, so I don't have much to complain about. It all comes down to motivation. The size of the lever that moves my world.
But still scary if you're responsible for a household.

Good news. I'm right on schedule with Virginia Woolf. I turned in the plot to the TD/ATD/ME (She's the TD for the show, ATD for the college, and thus the ME for hanging the lights. It's also E. Can I just say how sexy a woman at home with powertools is?) tonight around seven pm, right on my schedule. Next is hanging lights next Monday. Though this weekend is working on Over the Tavern, the first show at my real job. We finalized the dates for getting that show up, and I need to hang lights at the end of this month. Not much time, well, enough time, but most of it is still on my vacation time. Not Fair!

So, tonight, a theatre link. From time gone by, a bit of history from Christmastime.

A disturbing quote

I came across this quote today.

"The average age for an American woman to lose her virginity is 16.
The average age that she experiences her first orgasm is 20.5, a gap that spans the majority of our college career."
These are the numbers reported by sex expert Lou Paget, the Kinsey Institute and Playboy's College Survey.


There is just something wrong with that. Maybe it's because I got such a late start sexually, and was more mature, but that is just sad. I've known that old statistic that a man reaches his sexual peak at 18 and a woman at 30, but there's no excuse for that disparity. What aren't we teaching our children? I guess that's why women have made such a commodity of men-bashing.

It isn't the site cited above, but here's one that is fun to browse.

Dinner break

Sitting here at work, just finished what passes for dinner, and lunch for that matter, balony sandwich, apple, some pretzels and water, and tonights treat, a handful of gummy bears.
I'm stuck here at work working on Virginia Woolf. After the meeting last night, I realized that I need to get the paperwork turned in by the end of the week! After wrestling with VectorWorks and losing (those lines just WOULDN'T move into the 3rd dimension) I'm moving back into the 20th Century and doing all my plotting on PAPER! Things are begining to fall into place, and I may actually have a rough plot done by tonight. That leaves a final copy to draw up, and the auxilliary paperwork to generate, in two days (my goal).
On the good side, I finally cracked down and called Dell Tech Support for my laptop. I've been having problems with my wireless signal. The computer says I have a strong signal, but neither NN nor IE would connect. It seems that I was the dummy. I actually had this thought laying in bed last night (I get a lot of my insights then) that it was my Nortons. Sure enough, I forgot to check that before I called. Guess what the problem was? Yassir Youbecha. Firewalled. The one thing that the tech guy at Dell couldn't help me with, so I turned it off, and stepped it up until it quit. Fixed. I'm gonna want that in a week or two sitting under the hotspot at the college in tech rehearsals.
I think that some people at work are taking me seriously when I said that I was going to be a spectre at work this week, here, but not officially here. I've only seen two people all day, Boss in the Box Office (where I did my tech problem solving) and TD who was in and out of my office all day. I talked to S on the intercom, briefly, but never saw her.
(Listening to Avenue Q soundtrack. Gotta love it:
The internet is for porn
The internet is for porn
So grab your dick
and double-click
for porn, porn, porn.)

Ok, enough por... er... blogging here, back to work.

Great place to work

I'm up early, so I guess I'll blog.
Had the first rehearsal for Virginia Woolf last night. Immediately there was a great sense of comraderie and family between the people. Most of us have known each other for many years, and respect each others work. There were lots of hugs and kisses going around. I can't help comparing the environment of the two theaters I work at. One seems open and friendly (at least to me, other people have felt snubbed and unwanted by the same people), and the other seems stifling and oppressive, more of an atmosphere of impending doom. It's sad that the latter place is my main job, and that the former is only for the occasional job-in. These people are some of the most talented that I've ever worked with, and I have a great amount of respect for their talents, and genuinely like them as people. Some of them very much. E is one of them, and I think I've mentioned K before too. It's my usual habit, since these two ladies are usually the last to leave the building, to walk out with them to their cars. K left first and we stayed and chatted at her car for a while. E was still closing up the building, so I then walked back in to leave with her. We chatted a bit about the show, and about people. Then one of her old friends from the college showed up, and I was then chopped liver. She stayed close to him, chatting closely with him, and leaving me out. Not one to stick around when I'm not wanted, and since she had an escort, I took off, yelling good night out the window, and getting a wave in reply. Only reinforced to me that our relationship will never again be more than coldly professional. I only wish that I understood WHY I'm so obsessed with her; why, despite her callous, immature, attitude, and recent cold shoulder, I still find myself wanting to love her. No that's not quite right, my loving her is immaterial to her feelings. I wish she felt half as much tenderness towards me as I feel for her. Oh well, she's in my karass, that's my only explanation.

Monday meme

Still my vacation, but I'm going in to work today. I need to do some serious work on Virginia Woolf today. Tonight is the first rehearsal, and I'll be expected to say something about what I'm planning. But mostly I just need to get the hell out of the house.

Not a big fan of this color, but I'm too tired to change it.
Monday Meme 12 : 2005-08-08 : Eye of the Beholder

1. What physical feature do you get complemented on the most? What do you think of that feature?

The last time I was complemented on a physical feature was an actress who said I had the most amazing hands. I do have large hands. Large handspan but relatively short stumpy fingers. I have my dad's hands, but then when I compare, his are more proportionally stubbier than mine.

2. What do you like best about your appearance?

Not much. I suppose my hands are ok. Thanks Deb. The feature I think looks best are my legs, though I don't often wear shorts. A lifetime of carrying extra weight has kinda built them up.

3. What do you like the least about your appearance?

Blunt. My gut. I'm at least 75 pounds over where I'd like to be. One time E made a comment about "man-tits" that kinda bugged me. I mentioned it to her (in an email), and she replied that she only talked that way about people she didn't already like. But it still bugs me.

4. What is the most extreme thing you have done to try to change your looks? Surgery? Hair dye? Dieting?

The one thing that I often change is my hair. I often shave my head bald. Occasionally I'll trim my beard to a goatee (once I did muttonchops but Wife hated it). It doesn't always coincide with the weather. Just a whim and boredom. I like the feel of my bald head, and also the feel of it after a week of not shaving it, i.e. just past peach fuzz stage.

5. If you could look anyway you wanted, how would you look?

At least 75 pounds lighter.

Oops again

I just went for a view, and Overheard in the Office is down again. I don't know about those guys. It seems to be a crap shoot. Good luck.

I also forgot to add a link for today's post. Since the Friday Five (a day late again) is about friends and lovers, Here's a link from my racy folder. A collection of pix of former girlfriends (front page is SFW, beyond that isn't!). No, not mine! But they all are beautiful women, and I'm a big admirer of beautiful women. But I can't help wondering about who they are, and why they dumped/were dumped by the poster. There's a bumper sticker I saw that said, No matter how beautiful she is, remember there's a guy that dumped her ass. As I said in the 5, theres more to love than a body. I mean, Wife and I are soulmates, and she has the body of a goddess. Willendorf. (Look it up yourself)

A Friday Five

Who was your first best friend?
I had just moved to a new neighborhood and school. I was about 8. A kid came up to me and started talking to me. We became fast friends for the next 9 years until I moved away. We corresponded for the next several years. I eventually lost track of him. His sister was my first big crush. She's the one I would like to see again.

Who have been some of the most influential people in your life?
I know its cliche, but my dad was the first. He was a quiet unassuming man, with strong morals and ethics.
My first longterm professional boss was another. He taught me strong work ethics and not a few tricks about my art.
Becky taught me that I may be an old, fat, married man, but I was still attractive to her, and loveable.
She'll never know it, but E has been a tremendous influence on me. The way she put me straight when I got too familiar with her has shattered my presumtious ego, and reminded me of my place, that I'm an old, fat, married man.

Do you usually have one best friend or a lot of close friends?
I don't really have any best friends any more. The two people who were my best friends are both on the east coast, one north and one south. I don't see them much anymore, and seldom communicate as we all have busy lives. My close friends are my co-workers. Though because I'm so out of their circle, they aren't really very close as friends, we don't confide in each other about weekend plans or happenings, but I care about them very much and want them to be happy.
Do you believe people of the opposite sex can be best friends and not lovers?
Ah, the Harry Met Sally conundrum. I used to think so. Now I'm not sure. That's been the hardest thing in my life, to have female friends, just as friends. I don't have a sister, and haven't learned how to relate to women. As a result, I'm terribly shy around women. Women, to me, are to be placed on pedestles, and treated with kid gloves. I also fall in love very easily. I find that I can truely love many women, partially because I see not just a body and face, but her personality as well. I've never met an unattractive woman. I've always found something to love in every woman I've ever met, and I'm very forgiving about their faults.
Have you ever fallen in love with a friend?
Of course. They're friends because I like being with them. I care about their happiness. Becky was a friend for almost 20 years before we became lovers, and that was only for one magical weekend, five years ago. I'm not sure that I could do casual sex. I need to want to give her pleasure all night, and that takes more than a brief encounter to build that kind of rapport and trust.

Spectre time in the morning

Ok, even though it's my vacation, there's still work to do. Today was tech for the last kids drama workshop. There have been three two week sessions all summer, doing the same program, culminating in the same show. I had to write cues and program the light board for the show tomorrow morning. The previous two sessions have been great, and even though the attendance has been less than stellar, the kids did a phenomenal job with a tough show. This session...? Not so much. The kids need to take a mid-morning ritalin snack break. They were inattentive, uncooperative, and often, downright rude. So I told people I'd be in this morning to do the tech, but since it's still technically my vacation, I wasn't really there. Tomorrow was also going to be a half day for just the show in the morning, but then Boss scheduled a double production meeting in the afternoon, discussing the first TWO shows at our theatre. That could easily take two and a half hours. So much for the half day.

But let me tell you, I'm so ready to get out of the house. Yesterday was a Dead Like Me marathon. The whole first season. Really cool, and life afirming (yes, a show about death can be life affirming). Of course, the day started with Wife's PT appointment at 8:45 in the a-freakin'-m. Then we went out to the Grocery store to pick up some things that we forgot in our big shopping outing last weekend. Then, Wife had a craving for the giant burrito at El Burito Loco (the thing is a full meal for me, and two full meals for Wife). Then we finally got back home.

Today is baking day. I want to make some bread, maybe and some cookies (just what I need when all I do is sit around watching tv.) Something to keep busy. Then maybe, I'll rearrange my bedroom. I need to get rid of one of the two bedside tables in front of the window so I can have it open at night. That'll probably precipitate an arguement since Wife still clings to the notion that she'll move back into the bedroom in the near future. I'd like to get rid of her bed entirely, but that won't go. One step at a time. oh well. Gonna try to get something done.

oops almost forgot. Todays link is from the New Age/Religion section, is for JBL Statues. They offer a huge collection of historical statues of Gods/Goddesses and Earth Spirits, as well as modern interpretations. Their catalog is called Sacred Source. Cool stuff.

Gonna be a long week...

I'm being forced to take vacation time. I found out that we're not going to be paid for any unused vacation time, so it has to be used or lost by the end of Aug. It actually happens that this is the most opportune time to take it, work is slowest for me, having just gotten over a flurry of three shows in two weeks. So some of my time off is going to be working on a show across town, Albee's Virginia Woolf, getting that ready, but this week is relaxing. However, I'm really just stuck at home. Wife doesn't want to go out at all, a) because of the heat and b) because she has to dope herself silly to manage travelling. She also then tries to dissuade me of going out at all when I am home. So today was: blogging, watching movies on DVD, and ripping and burning CDs onto/off of my laptop, and watching movies on TV, and soon, bed. really exciting. That's my life. I think I'm really going to look forward to the few days I'm back at work.
Gotta get out tomorrow. Just gotta.

It's Back!

On a lark, I just checked out Overheard in the Office, the sister site to Overheard in New York. It's been down for quite a while now, but it seems to be back. Enjoy

We're Not As Stupid As You IT A-holes Think...

IT guy: Do you have a license to install Photoshop?
Employee: You need a license?
IT guy: Yeah.
Employee: It's not that hard to install, you just double click on the icon.
IT guy: You don't understand.
Employee: Yeah I do, I'm just fucking with you. Jokes are funny.

2 W. 2nd Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma

A day late Monday Meme

Sorry about the delay, if it bugs you, think of it as a Tuesday Meme. I didn't get online at all yesterday.
Monday Meme 11 : 2005-08-01 : Childhood Memories

1. Colors... What was you favorite color when you were little? What color was your room? Was your hair a different color?

I remember when my favorite color was red. Bright chinese red. Then, for some reason, it switched to blue. Now it's evolved into a dark midnight blue. I recall a time in the seventies when my room was mostly blue with red accents. And no, my hair has always been blond, though I always waited for it to change. When I was young, I learned that my dark haired father was blond until high school when it turned dark. It never did for me.

2. Toys... What were your favorite toys when you were young? What toy did you want to get more than anything else?

I think the longest lasting toy that I loved was Legos. I had a dresser drawer full of them. They were magic. I could build anything and go anywhere with them. This was in the day before all the specialized lego blocks, no people, no (what I call) hand props, no special molded pieces. The most unique blocks were the beveled roof pieces and the hinged blocks. By the way, check out The Brick testament in my links sidebar.

3. Pets... Did you have any pets when you were little? If so, what was your first?

It seems that I've always had a pet, specifically a dog. The first was Columbus, a beagle. He was a biter. He didn't last long. Next was Howdy (try calling that name down the street), or Howard. He was a little terrier mix, I think mostly toy Manchester terrier. HUGE upright ears. Snoopy coloration. We got him from our family pastor who had to get rid of him because of two other female dogs who moved in with his daughter. Howdy was my most enduring pet memory. He was around until after I went to college.

4. Holidays... What holiday did you look forward to as a child? What did you do to celebrate?

Of course, every kid (ok, Christian kid) looks forward to Christmas. The obligatory tree (always real, always cut ourselves at a farm. We were from Michigan. After we kids got older we got our own tree in the basement by our bedrooms.), the lights, setting up the manger scene. The counterfulls of cookies which we decorated.

5. Food... Were you a picky eater when you were a kid? What were your favorite foods? Do you still like those foods today?

I always thought I was a picky eater. Now, seeing other kids, I realise I was pretty liberal. I didn't eat liver, though my parents insisted on having it at least once a year. Mushrooms and olives were the only other things I wouldn't eat on a regular basis. I always picked them off pizza, even avoiding the mushrooms in the greenbean casserole (made with cream of mushroom soup! I now use cream of asparagus soup in my casserole!) Favorite foods? Steak, or anything grilled. And yes, I still love those.