Going Home

I stole this link from Scott Ruggels. It's an awesome Dutch minimilist puppeteer. Go to "filmpjes" and watch away! http://www.xs4all.nl/~lrvk/lejo/

 Yesterday was my last day at Long Wharf. It was very nice and everyone at the theater has been extremely supportive of me and my decision to leave. Bill the props carpenter got me an AWESOME Cowboy Bebop T-shirt. It was funny, too, because I had just recently been scouring the internet searching for one, but all the ones I found were either:

a) Horrible or uninteresting designs or

b) Images of Faye in a lewd pose

I never thought to look at Hot Topic. Anyway, these next couple of days will be full of packing and pre-moving stress. I am happy to be going home, but I am very tired and don't feel like deciding the next step in my life. I have a web design job lined up to bring in a little bit of money, but I've always hated job hunting. Anyway, I probably will be fine once I get a bit of rest, I have much to do when I get home!

2004 Review

-January of 2004 started out with Centre term and The Yellow Boat. It was an amazing experience, and made me think that I might want to do props as a job. The show itself was a joy to work on, and the end product was so powerful.

 -Also in January, my need for companionship drove me to acquire Fish, my first betta. He's still going strong--moved all the way up to a 10 gallon tank--and he provided many things for me through that spring term of senior year (namely company, and someone to care for--sometimes at my own expense).

 -Spring of 2004 was a flurry of busy times in my memory. I recall a lot of pain and sweat. It culminated towards the end, where it all paid off at the conclusion of my senior art exhibition, in which I was informed that I had acquired a job for the next year. The sensation of relief and excitement afterwards was amazing.

 -I made the best of my last summer ever. It was an outpouring of pent up creative juices into various forms of art, spending time with good friends, and having Carleton nearby. I made it a point to never be bored, and milked the time for everything I could.

 -The fall was the start of the changes. Moving up here, starting my job, having various intimidating grown-up things tossed at me from all around--it was all rather overwhelming. I've learned so much working at Long Wharf, both good and bad. I've acquired all kinds of exciting new skills, and all kinds of unpleasant new knowledge.

 -Winter rolls around, and it is time for change. It is strange, I love the things I get to do, I love to be able to create. But at the same time, I am not happy here. To put it bluntly, working in theater sucks balls. It is not worth it. People say that to work in theater you have to "really love it," more and more that's starting to sound like a cop-out, something people say to reassure themselves. I remember hearing about when Laura Beth Adams gave up theater to move to Arizona and teach aerobics, or something like that. Everyone seemed so shocked, and even outraged, but I think I can empathize now. I don't know what to do now. I took this internship to find out if I really wanted to do this as a job, and the answer is a resounding No. Would quitting be along the lines of abandoning these people or this obligation? Or would it be the right thing to do, the braver thing? More than this has taught me that being brave is terrifying and painful.

CRRRACK!

Today at work, as a special event arranged by Company Management, my boss's chiropractor came in to give a free crank to the run crew and the interns. He told my boss later that he was totally shocked at how many young people's bodies were totally busted, and named me off as one of the busticated. It comes from slouching all my life, I think, and after my adjustment I was thrilled to find that trying to stand up straight no longer was a painful activity! I'm going to try and force myself to stand up straight as much as possible until the usual pain returns (as a quick chiropractic adjustment surely won't undo 10+ years of bad posture). All that whining I did when I was little and my parents told me to stand up straight, what was I thinking?

 In other news, I moved my betta and his one-eyed catfish companion to a 10 gallon tank the other day. Fish is loving it. He's grown to be so large that even his old 5 gallon was starting to feel cramped. Once I get the tank cycled, I think I may add some docile tetras to the mix, as I've heard the non-nipping ones make good additions to a community tank with a betta. I may even give Fish's old 5 gallon to Mr. Laguna (my office betta).

I noticed that although I'm a regular poster to the community, I don't often show off my fishies in my own journal. So here they are! Fish: Around when I first got him-- Now under fluorescent lighting!-- The New tank: Mr. Laguna (the crowntail I keep at the prop shop) Spaz, the one-eyed Cory Cat (good side then bad)

Rudolph with your nose so bright...

So, I figured as long as I'm on this Hero's Journey, I might as well consult an Oracle. Delphi was a bit too far away, so I settled for a Christmas-themed flower supply store in Wallingford where--after venturing through a "Winter Wonderland" of frightening yet festive robots--one could enter the private chambers of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

As I went in with my props-mates, Rudolph offered us a clicking, jerking, animatronic greeting. We chatted with the beast, and he sang Happy Birthday to one of my co-workers, all the while rolling his vacantly-painted eyes in a creepy, robotic fashion.

Finally, I asked the Ora...I mean Rudolph to tell my fortune*, and he told me, "You will wake up happy." Satisfied with my consultation, I went looking for a cyclops, or perhaps a hydra, figuring that's my next course of action. There weren't any at the park.

 *For a moment, I thought about asking why Bono counts "1, 2, 3, 14" in that U2 song. I mean, that's a pretty big leap from 3 to 14. I'll save that question for another Oracle, I guess

I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a jar of angry bees...

Tech week is crazy-busy, but I am still enjoying things. We're doing much more building of props this week, which I prefer much more than prop shopping. It's great to see all the big props finally coming together.

The master electrician taught me how to solder today, and how to wire the candle effects for some candalabras. It was very exciting and a good skill to add to my list-o-abilities, I'm glad I was able to learn. I'll definately post pictures of the candalabras, I've worked quite hard on them the past few days.

Time for bed, work in the morning.

Pie!

Tonight I went to Long Wharf's "Season Kick-off" cookout. It was pretty fun, I got to mingle and get to know my co-workers a little better. There was a pie contest (not pie-eating, just who makes the awesomest pie).

I also met Dr. McAllister's long lost twin, by my theories. Not only does he LOOK just like M.C. Allister, but he also has that constant smile that never ever ever goes away. His voice is different, and he's an English/Classics sort of person instead of a Mathy sort, but otherwise, it's definatley his long lost twin. Very bizarre.

Anyway, been making some new artstuffs. Playing with pastels. All fun and good.

Next week is the last week before the late-night pre-tech days at work begin, so we'll see how well I like my job after that ;)

EDIT: Brendan is my hero

Chaos, madness, and settling in

Well, the first couple of weeks up here have been successful. I really enjoy my work, and everyone at the theater is super nice. It is a very different atmosphere from summerstock theater, and certainly from what I've done at Centre. At any rate, from the looks of things this year is going to be great.

Thought I lost my wallet this morning which was stressful, but turned out the couch was just trying to eat it. This weekend, Carleton and I are going to Burlington, Vermont to visit his grandparents. He is always speaking of how wonderful a place Vermont is, so now I'll get to see if it's really true ^_^

Tomorrow, my Nana is going in to surgery for her cancer. It is a very nervous time, so if those of you who are praying sorts would please add her to your list, it would be most appreciated.

I've settled in enough to work on new art, so we'll see what future updates hold.