Oops, HNT again

I almost forgot it's Thursday. I have 20 minutes left. I know I've occasionally pushed the boundaries of TMI (too much information) here on my blog...
... and I'm doing it again. This time you get to SEE too much. If you have an aversion to body hair, look away now. The Norse believed that a man wasn't a man without hair on his face. I like to believe that body hair is an extension of that philosophy. Men are supposed to have hair on their chests. I've even known women with hair on their chests. It's natural to have hair.

Poker last night was fun. It was just the old gang. D, TD, and I at S's apt. I had a "tens and twos" moment, but nobody heard, and I didn't even have the satisfaction of having a good enough hand to stay in! Old friends will know what that means. Others will have to ask. Tomorrow night is a Cobb Party. Looking forward to that as well. It does mean that I'll have to pick up a bottle of something to take over (even though I end up drinking almost the whole bottle by myself).
I've found a new kindred-spirit blog that I'm getting into. She's a married mother stuck in an unhappy marriage. But she, at least, has found temporary bliss with another man. Here's to temporary bliss , when it's the only bliss we have.
Yes, it's a new moon.

Courtesy of FARK

Cool biz

On my way into work today I saw this in our parking lot. It's a Morgan. Sweet little thing isn't it? I love pretty cars.

Poker tonight! Woo Hoo.

Puzzled

Well, last night was the opening night for my third to last show of the season, Nickel and Dimed. I managed to avert the seemingly regular cockup of the aftershow party. I'd heard last weekend that there was a shooting at the place it was to be held. What I didn't hear until Wed. was that the party was therefore moved to another place. Where, I didn't know. Of course, I heard nothing of it from any of the organizers of it. So I sent out an email, Thurs, the day before, saying that I'd heard it was cancelled, and did people want to gather at the brewery for good beer? One of the three people replied and gave me the name of the new place. It was at a nice place, a little upscale for my tastes, a draw of Guiness was $5. Not extreme, but all I could afford since I'd not been to the bank that day. The odd, puzzling, thing was my feelings about being there in the first place. While we were in the restaurant chatting it was nice. After a while, though, most of the people went into the bar proper to hear the band playing. I don't dance. I don't karaoke. I had no more money to drink. It was too loud to chat. I was bored. I started to wonder why I feel the need to go to these shindigs. It was mildly entertaining to sit and watch the drunken dancers and other mating rituals, but all in all, not a great time. Am I turning into just a boring stuffy old partypooper? If I had been able to drink more, and if she'd asked me (a LONG shot in and of itself), would I have dropped my inhibitions enough to dance with S? It probably would have taken quite a bit of drink for me to get that loose. I did have a bit of a Karmic revelation, in a goes-around-comes-around sort of way. S was disturbed that E was off in the corner with three of her college age friends. I asked S if it bothered her, and she said, only being left out of it, not being included. "You know what I mean?" she asked. Did I ever. Now I'm debating an email to her telling her it'll pass; but it comes down to her having to deal with it in her own mind.

Yesterday was, all in all, a very eventfull day. A trip into Chicago to look at props for Tommy (they were supposed to have pinball machines, which I would need to hook up, or modify, thus my inclusion in the excursion). They had no pinball machines, strike that, they had no useable pinball machines; they had one antique wooden non electric one, looking like it came out of a penny -arcade on some boardwalk. Boss bought us lunch at a thai place in Oak Park. Really nice. I haven't had real thai in quite a while. I had a yellow curry, and S had a red curry. both were equally good, though hers would have been really spicy after a whole plate of it, mine was just right, tongue numbness at the end of the meal. We got back to town just in time for a production meeting. Met the choreographer and one of the video guys. Not much else substantive decided that affects me, other than Boss and I have to meet soon to discuss staging so I can start finalizing plans for my lights (as if I've started yet. No I can't put it off too long, I want to get it done early to do some pre-programming. It'll be a huge show for me.) So here are some pix of our trip into the prop warehouse in chicago. An AMAZING place. anything and everything. Lets see, the pix are of the drive in. Dreary Chicago day. Off and on Sneet (that hard snow that is almost sleet, yet not quite hail), no, I was not driving. A general shot of one floor of this place. There are at least two floors, all like this. One shot of some of the stuffed animals they have. One of S and Boss figuring up a total next to the pile of cigar boxes. Just LOTS of lots of stuff. I could spend days there just looking. A most entertaining waste of time.

HNT again

Here's another pic for Half-Nekkid Thursday. I thought I'd just get bizzare with it this time. It was actually a toss-up with another pic, but I wasnt' sure you'd want to see the other one. Maybe another time. Then again, this site isn't about what you want, it's all about me (ya gotta keep reminding me of that).
When I first looked at this pic, I thought, "My God, I've got a wrinkly back!" Then I remembered what it was. I have some other pix to share this week also. More later, opening night tonight (oops, even though I started this post on Thurs, I'm finishing it on Friday evening. My secret is out.).

life again

I realize I've been posting a bit recently, but it's all been external stuff, not much about what's happening with me (and it is all about me). So here's a life update. After the hustle and bustle of getting Stones up and running, I jumped right away into Nickel and Dimed, the show at the college across town. The usual challenges of working in that space, and then some. They have a series of shows on the mainstage while we are performing in the studio space in the basement. They needed some of our dimmers, and some of our lights at various points in the process. Trying to work around that has been a challenge to say the least. And E has been particularly unhelpfull this time around. From the start, I'll always say that she's overworked and stretches herself too thin. But she takes it all on herself, and agravates it by partying with the kids at the college, like she's trying to ignore that she needs to be mature and adult. She really misses those carefree party times, and as a result, spends more time than she needs to at work, often drinking and toking while doing paperwork. Making a 30 minute job last 2 hours. Then the rest of her work suffers. Anyway, enough rant on her. So, after a week of that, the show is in pretty good shape. It will open this next Friday. S and I have been spending quite a bit of time together, both of us working on Nickel, and neither spending a lot of time now on Stones, and now, gearing up for TOMMY. She's got another karaoke contest that she's going to enter tonight, as well as one of the local actors, but he's bailed out at the last minute twice before, so I don't have a lot of hope that he'll come thru tonight too. I'll be there for her, at least, and she says that, other guy or not, she's gonna do it. She's been going thru a lot of self examination recently, and has grown up a lot in the past few months. I don't think she particularly liked what she saw when she did that introspection. The change is pretty apparent. She still needs to work on the self-confidence, but all overweight people have those problems (comes from a long childhood of teasing and ridicule), I think. I know I do. The other thing I'm dealing with is that she's pretty much decided that she won't be here next season. She's got to move on, and find new experiences to continue to grow. I don't blame her, I've wanted to do that for years, on several levels. But I also realize that she is the only person that I spend any time with around here that makes this place tolerable to work. Boss is a micromanaging prick with little atistic talent, and an equal measure of people skill; TD is barely competant in his job and only survives because other people continually prod him to do his job right, and make deadlines that he barely meets; Boss' favorite SM is a psycho arrogant prick who is also barely competant, and is not even personable enough to cover for it; The costumer, A, is nice, pleasant, and competant, but also not much in my social circle. We do occasional things together, but we each have our own lives seperately. Ditto for the box office manager. That's the extent of the tech staff. I'm not sure I could survive without going postal on the rest of these people. I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Looking forward to tonight. I'm really going to enjoy a drink or three. On top of that, S is planning a luncheon tomorrow at the local India House buffet. Mmmmm tasty curry and naan.
Wife is bugging the hell out of me. She hasn't been sleeping well, and is therefore grumpy as hell, and making what time I spend at home pretty unpleasant. I spend a lot of time in my room (of course, most recently, I'm only home to sleep between the two jobs). My birthday money from my parents mostly got used for dog meds ($145!), though the curry tomorrow will come out of that too. So much for getting some new clothes. I realized the other week, that I don't have a single shirt that doesn't have some flaw; missing button, rip, worn elbow, broken snap. etc. And I didn't have that many clothes in the first place, a by-product of my loathing of shopping, and my not being a fashionista, and just plain being poor (which is why I'm amazed at people who have six laundry baskets of clothes. Mine will ALL fit in a single carry-on bag). Home repairs are piling up and I just need to knuckle down and do them. Replacing the works in a toilet is cake, right?

March weather

We were predicted to get, first 3-5, then, 6 inches of snow. Of course it SNOWED! Quite the spectacular blizzard. If it weren't 35 deg. out it would have been bad. As it was, the first 4 inches melted as it landed. It snowed like this for about 5 hours. then stopped. We got an inch, maybe two. I even got some great video of it. Any clue how to mail or post a 35M mpeg?

8th Grade??!!??

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, Kansas. It was taken
from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society
and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10.Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

The top of the test states > "EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS
April 13, 1895 J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)"

According to the Smoky Valley Genealogy Society, Salina, Kansas "this test is the original eighth-grade final exam for 1895 from Salina, KS. An interesting note is the fact that the county students taking this test were allowed to take the test in the 7th grade, and if they did not pass the test at that time, they were allowed to re-take it again in the 8th grade."

Half-Nekkid Thursday

An interesting Blog phenom-
enon. Sure, I'll buy into it. It's not about the half-nekkid part, it's about art and creativity. The post title is a link to the guidelines site I found. There are some great shots out there for people who aren't afraid of nakedness in art (or at least of nakedness posing as art).

Evil, vile, nasty thing

Hide-and-Seek Alarm Clock
How about a little game of hide-and-seek every morning? Every time you hit the snooze button, the clock rolls off to hide. And when the alarm sounds again, you would have no choice but to get up and seek out the clock to off it for good.
Get the Clocky Hide-and-Seek Alarm Clock

Doctors orders

This topic came up recently with a friend. She says that alcohol helps alleviate some of her other physical symptoms. She seemed bothered by this. Now, her boss may have other ideas, but I prescribe 1-3 drinks a day for greater health. Perhaps one, three times a day, taken orally. Right after your cod-liver oil. As a matter of fact, I won't let her suffer alone, I'll be taking my dose of her medicine right along with her. And to show it won't harm her, I'll take a double dose. What a guy.

A recent Monday Meme

Monday Meme 40 : 2006-03-06 : Liar, liar! Pants on fire!

1. Do you ever tell lies? Don't lie!

I think everybody does to some extent. If we aren't lying to others, we're probably lying to ourselves. I try not to lie, it invites bad Karma. I may not tell the whole truth, I may not volunteer information, but I try not to lie outright. Not that I'm not good at it, but I TRY not to.

2. Are "little white lies" okay if no harm is done?

You have to balance the greater good. "Does this make me look fat?" answered honestly will only hurt feelings. If you can manage it, try answering in a round-about way, "The other dress is much more becoming on you," rather than "the other dress doesn't accentuate your fat ass."

3. Would you lie to your parents? Would you lie to your significant other?

What time is it? Just last night, I told my parents that I'll look into getting health insurance, that I'll consider coming down to visit them, and that we'd love to see them on their trip west. Well, technically, I did consider coming down to visit them. Briefly. VERY briefly. Then I dismissed the idea.

4. Have you ever been caught lying?

Who hasn't? Lies come back to bite you on the ass. They always do. Even the little ones. "Last month you said this dress looked good on me..."

5. What is the biggest lie you've ever told (that you can talk about here)?

We're going to spend the day in Chicago. We'll be back late.

I was the 126th person to take this week's Monday Meme!

Bah!

Kinda in a rotten mood. Got blown off again for a dinner with the visiting Lighting Designer. Nobody bothered to come into the shop to see if I wanted to go. So it was a balony sandwich for dinner. So I guess I'm gonna blow off notes after the show tonight, and go home early. Probably pour myself a really big glass of the Captain. First one of those in a while. Tomorrow morning is a breakfast with our theatre's founder.
Then I have to finish hanging lights at the college.
Humbug.

A friday five

It's been a while since I've wanted to do one of these, and this one kind of struck me as interesting. I may even do another one this week, the Monday meme is also thought provoking.
1) When does liking someone a lot become loving that person?
Does it matter? I love a lot of people, people who care about me, and people who I like a lot. Some of them I would do anything for. Some of them I want to make happy and feel that they deserve only good things for a long time. I suppose you can like somebody without really knowing them, but once you do know them, warts and all, and still like them, then it's bordering on love. A friend once said that love is being able to see someone naked, watch them take a crap and still love them.

2) Is there a job you would do for free, and is it your current job?
It's close. I might do the same thing, but not as franticly. I'd do more free-lance work, being able to travel to do select jobs.
Hmm, I read this differently the second time I read it. The first, I assumed that I wouldn't HAVE to work, that I was independantly wealthy. But on second reading, that isn't implied. I might (and have) done work for friends for free, for the experience of working with them. But don't we all help friends move for free (or at least pizza and beer). But a long-term job? Sorry, I have bills to pay.

3) What is one person/thing that inspired you to take action of some sort?
The one event that got me into theatre for good was in college. I'd been required to take some classes for my film major. One of the first shows I had to work on was Grease. Each night for warm-ups the whole cast sang "We go together...". I remember sitting back and thinking, "My god this is fun. I could get paid to experience this. And other people pay us to do it!"

4) Though you might not believe in it, would you like fate to exist?
I certainly hope so. I'm a big believer in Karma and Karmic retribution. The wiccans have the threefold rule: That which you do comes back to you threefold. Three times the good that you put out into the world, and three times the evil that you send, so strive for the good.

5) What's the kindest thing that anyone has ever done for you?
Wow. That's a toughie. Becky really turned my life around, showing me that even at my age, with my physique, I can be physically attractive to somebody who will let me express that in return.

A blonde joke.

A blonde wanted to go ice fishing.
She'd read many books on the subject, and finally getting all the necessary tools together, she made for the ice. After positioning her footstool, she started to make a circular cut in the ice. Suddenly, from the sky, a voice boomed, "THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE."

Startled, the blonder moved further down the ice, and began to cut yet another hole. Again from the heavens the voice bellowed, "THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE."

The blonde, now worried, moved away, clear down to the opposite end of the ice. She set up her stool once more and started again to cut her hole. The voice came once more, "THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE."

She stopped, looked skyward, and said, "IS THAT YOU LORD?"

"NO, THIS IS THE MANAGER OF THE HOCKEY RINK"

D'oh! Technology

Well, we got our new sound operating program delivered and installed, but it wouldn't go out thru the speakers. It seems that the high-end studio editing program computer wasn't good enough, or too good, or too much extra stuff or something. So they found another computer just laying around the booth... the one driving the webcam. So for the time being, the webcam is down again, but you can take my word for it that the show SOUNDS terrific. Sorry if you checked in late evening yesterday and only saw my note in the window, the actors union won't let us broadcast during actual rehearsal or performance. So, you only get to see us non-union slugs making it all happen before and after. Or, rather, you would if it were working today. Which it's not. So I guess we're just as good as those actor-types after all.

Two weeks...

...has finally happened. My theatre, New American Theatre in Rockford, IL has now gone to streaming webcam.
Here's the direct link and here's the webcam home page.

Personal DNA report

My personal DNA report. Hmm pretty midline for the most part. Hmmm lowest on extroversion. Highest on openness? Does not compute.

Considerate Experiencer

Really tired. Gonna go home now.