So....

It's a quarter of three in the AM, and because of my already whacked out sleep schedule, I am up. I have to leave for the airport in three hours to fly to rainy Juneau, Alaska, where I am designing Twelfth Night for Perseverance Theatre. I will be there for a little under three weeks.

I am excited about the gig, just dreading the 11 and a half hours on a plane it takes to get there.

This trip begins a stint of travel that will also include trips to Minneapolis, MN, to assist on a show for Beverley Emmons, and Lafayette, CA to design a new adaptation of Peter Pan. I have a week at home between each of these trips, but I am doing a show in the week I am back from Alaska, and the week back from Minneapolis is Thanksgiving. So I am effectivly away from home from tommorrow morning until the beginning of December.

It's not that I mind traveling for work, in fact it's one of the things I really love about what I do. But what is disheartening is that I have to travel in order to make a living as a designer in this town. This town, with all of the theatre that is produced here, cannot seem to provide more than a handful of people working as designers with a living wage. I know many actors and directors are in the same boat, but this is my blog, not theirs.

The other somewhat unfortunate thing about leaving now for two months is that I have begun things in my personal life that are now on hold for weeks at a time. And who knows what the situations will be like when I return. Because timing is everything in life.

I guess that is my fault really, for trying to have a personal life while trying to push a career, especially a career in the arts. I had been activly avoiding the whole personal life thing for a while, but sometimes things just move on their own, whether you want them to or not.

All of that movement has caught me off guard, and I am confused on several fronts. But those are tales best told at another time, if they ever are.

You didn't really think I was going to get through a blog post about myself without being cryptic, did you?

The things I am looking forward to in my travels, other than working on the shows:

Hanging out with ECAG in her new hood (that's right, I said hood)

Seeing Perseverance's new TD, a friend of mine from school.

Smoked salmon hash and eggs at the diner.

Hopefully seeing some bears before they go in to hibernate.

Catching up with Speed in Minneapolis.

New placemats from the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art.

Seeing Brundibar at Brekley Rep.

Next time I post will probably be from Alaska.

Happy Trails