responsibility

has anyone else ever been roped into babysitting an adult? i went to dinner with a group last night, and during dinner some people had beer. someone had a bit much beer and decided that there needed to be more drinking after dinner. by the end of the night, only two group members were left trying to minimize the damage. i think we prevented two bar fights and nobody had sex with anybody at the bar itself, so that was a success i think. i didn't even know this troubled individual before the group got together for dinner, and yet somehow, i end up feeling and taking on the responsibility of making sure she didn't get arrested or injured over the course of the evening. why would i do that? biologically, why would a human need to preserve another human that is not part of its own "herd"?
as ridiculous as the evening was, i did enjoy bits of it though.

sore throat

so i got a sore throat on sunday. no biggie, i'd had a really long shower (i sing in the shower and sometimes i get really into it) and i thought it would go away by monday. monday rolls around, and whoops, still kinda sore. i get to work and not only is another coworker out with the sickies, but our acupuncturist/chiropractor has called in - i guess she came down with it on saturday. so she feels guilty about exposing us all... so my boss sent me home after about 10 minutes. i was functional, just not comfortable. so i went home, had me some theraflu, and went back to bed. for 2 days. the fever set in, i got all achy, started congesting and coughing... blah! getting better now though. so i should be able to work again tomorrow. which is a half day. and after taking part of friday off for a migraine and the last 2 days for this silly flu thing, yeah, i'm not making a whole lot of money right now. but at least i've been able to avoid sickness on performance days (so far - knock on wood!). so today, after i started to feel better, i went to driftwood for my first read-through. i don't often get nervous about things lately, but i was for this! don't tell anyone there though - i tried to play it cool, and i think i pulled it off. we perform in july. until then, i'll get to do lots of driving, but i think it'll be worth it.
and other than being sick and going to aberdeen, the big news here is that i put my foot down, and won (sort of). i have been working with a nonprofit group for about 2 1/2 years, and recently started trying to make some changes that i believe would have been beneficial to the critters involved (yeah, so it's an animal group). anyway, the "old guard" as they are called, made it pretty clear that no changes were to be made - by saying they'd change and then not changing. also by lecturing me about you can't expect volunteers to do as they're told anyway. so i offered an ultimatim: either stop one specific action, or i walk. and they decided to let me walk. so there went a huge load from my shoulders. i no longer have to feel responsible for what they're doing. on the other hand, now i need to come up with some other activity to occupy my time. hmmmmmm. perhaps i could take up darts?

made it to the big leagues

sort of. i auditioned for a part with the driftwood theatre company in aberdeen. they're cool enough that people who don't personally know cast members go to see their shows. and i'm in. i shall be sylvia in the tender trap during the month of july. we do our first read-through on tuesday. i'm more nervous about that than i am about the remaining 3 narnia shows. combined. butterflies in the tummy. and something in the throat. i'm pony today (a little hoarse, get it?). heehee
but seriously, i'm out of popsicles again, and this isn't cool. i really would rather not lose my voice prior to a stage performance.
in other news, the cocker spaniel has gone home after a month at my house, and it is so wonderfully peaceful here now. and i spent most of the day watching the office again. great way to relax after a week of basically nonstop events. which i plan to duplicate again this week. and i don't have rehearsal on monday or wednesday. made plans for monday, but i've still got to fill in my thursday evening schedule. any ideas?

backstage shennanigans

today i got a cast member's brother to tell me, not only which other cast member the first cast member was crushing on, but also the specific type of axe the cast member was wearing to attract said other cast member. so i kept walking around sniffing and asking everyone except the perp who was wearing "the new axe - what'sitcalled - excite? i really like that one!" until he fessed up. then i pointed out how obvious it is that he is crushing on said other cast member. his poor little fallen face... but don't worry. i promised not to tell her.
and then there was much sword fighting and we played stop'n'go while the new lights were installed - i.e. motion was only allowed when lights were off. each little freeze-frame offered a brief glimpse at just who might win the epic tweedle beetle puddle battle. of course, i "won" when i slammed my foam fake sword over the crossed swords of the other two contestants. my sword snapped in two and one half went flying across the stage and into a tree. yeah, we have a bunch of fake christmas trees on set.

prom-crashing

so we've heard of wedding crashers (shoot, i've been one...) but has anyone else in their upper twenties crashed a high school prom? me neither, but don't tell the other stage west folks that!
long version of the story:
ashley and i arrived at the play venue early saturday afternoon to paint the set backdrop. we were surprised to find a venue full of balloons, lights, streamers, and other party paraphanilia. said stuff didn't quite block our painting area, but we were told by what turned out to be a prom prep person that, because of the fumes our non-fume paint would cause, she "don't want no painting" there today. so we took the moveable props with us and went to paint them in a convenient garage. while painting, we mused on how awesome it would be to crash the prom dresseed as rival-school people or some such nonsense. which would have been awesome except that we don't know who this school's rival is, if they even have one. so we discussed crashing the prom regardless. then someone mentioned that we didn't need to ruin anything for the kids, because is isn't their fault the planning lady was rude. so the compromise was to arrive at midnight to paint, but to spread the story about how we put on dresses and crashed prom and didn't get caught (our painting was behind a curtain, after all...)
so if anyone asks you where i was on saturday night: prom. backstage. with a paintbrush hidden in my purse.
heeheehee!

after such an illustrious beginning

the blog-drive has faded, not the incidents about which to blog. for instance, just yesterday i got attacked by a vampire (i'm not all that far from forks, after all) and escaped with some neck slashes - i don't think he really broke the skin though, so no sparkles for me. ok, so really it was a flailing irish setter who clocked me with a hind foot, but it looks like vampire fang slashes on my neck. and the kids at rehearsal sure found the story entertaining. speaking of kids at rehearsal... the other day, an unnamed source let go a really raunchy fart backstage and blamed it on one of the kids. yeah, that was pretty low of whoever it was. shame on them!
we are getting ready for opening night a week from today. i showed up in costume last night and the kids said i looked twelve. i was thinking, gee, pigtails and a sports bra will do wonders, but then one li'l guy said that it was because taht outfit "wasn't really working" for me, so i looked younger.
backstage antics are hilarious, as usual. the majority of the cast is convinced that i am fluent in asl because of random sign flashing. if only i knew what the heck i was "talking" about, that'd probably be pretty cool. also, there is a pretty narrow hallway behind the stage - narrow enough that i was able to brace against both sides and "climb" the wall. super awesome. i got in trouble for that one though - liability or something. sheesh.
mister is being much better behaved since the cocker spaniel came back. we're on week 3 of random frantic whining and rushing about bumping into furniture and other critters. during week 2, she tried to eat mister's breakfast. teddy intervened and a fight broke out. while the dogs were rolling around brawling on the floor, li'l chubby twilight came flying in hissing and growling and slapped the hell out of poor ladybug. mister's food has been safe since then. go twilight - the kitty police!