And In A Marketing Sort Of Way

My Designer website.

Turning The Corner

At Playbill this evening, I had a brief discussion with a director whose work I admire very much. That forty-five second exchange left me feeling better about my choice of career than I have in months.

The Fall was stupidly busy. It was also frequently busy with things that, although they paid really well, had little if anything to do with being a designer. Given that I went through a lot of trouble and no small expense to become a part of United Scenic Artists, the union that represents theatrical designers, the lack of design work has been exceptionally discouraging.

Having that moment this evening of "Oh yeah, you are someone I would be really excited to work with!" has recharged the ole battery a bit and I feel motivated to try and find more design work.

Now I just have to get better at marketing/ publicity...

Random Wedneday Musings

My work life at the moment is a bit like trying to jam six gallons of water into a five gallon bucket. Yet I still keep taking more work.

It looks like S will be coming for Christmas. Woot!

Although the warmer weather is nice, it does make it difficult to get into the holiday spirit.

At least it isn't warm enough for flops.

I have serious doubts about the Democratic Congress' abilities to do anything worthwhile. That makes me sad.

I recently watched the entire series Sportsnight on DVD. How did that show get cancelled after only two seasons?

I don't get women. At all.

The Thing You Are Never Supposed To Say

I am tired of being single.

It Really Is The Devil

After over two years without one, I finally broke down and bought a TV. I was tired of watching DVDs on my laptop, so I purchased it and a DVD player online. Both arrived last week in the midst of tech for a show. I got them hooked up, and even patched in my Laserdisc player this evening.

The damn thing has been on almost constantly when I have been at home.

I am NOT getting cable, or I will never get anything done.

Semantic Question For The MSGAP*

Is there a difference between "the guy I am seeing" and "my boyfriend"?


* Multi- State, Girlie- Advising Posse

Did I Miss Something?

In the past few months I have observed several men, all of whom seem old enough to know better, sporting mohawks.

Someone please splain.

Second Time Is The Charm

Received this in my inbox today.

We are pleased to inform you that the Lighting Design Exam Committee has approved your application for membership into the United Scenic Artists Local 829 and will recommend to the General Membership that you be admitted to the Union.

Woot!

Random Shit

Back home from California. The show went very well and the reviews so far have been positive.

I have been trying for about a month to find a time to meet someone I met through Onion Personals for coffee. The Onion Personals tagline is "For people who already have a life." Apparently, we both have so much of a life that the first time we meet face to face may be in November.

Lucky Spinster has completed her stint at the MacDowell Colony, and hopefully will be back in DC soon. Food and adult beverages with her and ECAG (Retired) are definitley in order.

The next three weeks promise to be absolute hell. I am double booked this week and I am taking the United Scenic Artists exam on Saturday in NY. An event for which I am not the least bit prepared.

I am contemplating someone I met over a year ago. We went out twice, but I decided to see where something with someone else would go. It went nowhere. The question for the MSGAP (and anyone else who wants to chime in) is, how weird would it be to call her now?

I finally have a dining table and chairs. And blinds. The apartment is beginning to feel a bit like home now. And I've only lived here a little over two years.

More later. Peace in yer crease.

A Long Overdue Update

I am sitting in a Starbucks in Lafayette, CA. I am here to design Scenery and Lighting for Copenhagen. The show is going well. We teched throught he whole thing yesterday, and I am mostly happy with the results. There is still some poking at it that needs to be done, but I feel confident the show will be in fine shape when I head home on Friday.

I have more work in DC this season than I did last season. And since I am managing to be home more, I am endeavoring to actually have something of a life outside of just working. In pursuit of that, I have been trying to be more social with my friends and family. I have also been reading more. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and How To Be Good while I was in Alaska, and I just finished Middlesex, which was fabulous.

Another part of trying to have a life is I have leaped into the dating pool again. We will see how that goes.

I left my iPod at home by accident. My heart is filled with sadness.

My heart is also filled with sadness over North Korea's nuclear test yesterday.

Trying to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving.

More later. I promise to attempt to write a little more often.

Peace in yer crease.

Hello

I am still alive, and made it safely to California.

Dear Tabloid Skewered Celebrities

Yes, you are right. Often the photographers and reporters working for these publications use sleazy tactics to catch you at your worst moments. They are the bottom feeders you complain of.

But if you are writing a check to a publicist every month, then when it comes to this issue you need to SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Thank You

As I write this, I am sitting on the floor outside the "Admirals Lounge" at Seattle- Tacoma International airport. We opened Hamlet last night, although I was not able to watch the first act because I was sewing scenery pieces for my next show. I did slip in to watch the second act, which is the part where everyone dies.

Hope I didn't spoil it for anyone.

Despite being exhausted, I could not sleep last night because I had a 6:50 AM flight and I was afraid I would oversleep. So I sat up and read Nick Hornby's How To Be Good. I enjoyed it, but am not yet sure how I feel about the ending.

Obviously, I was not so good with the whole writing every day thing. I really have no excuse. For the first time since I started working at Perseverance, I had a Master Electrician to execute the physical part of the design. I even had an assistant who kept track of paperwork (and me*) during the whole process. As a designer I felt totally supported.

So why no writing? I am not sure. Part of it was practical. I had no internet access where I was staying, so I had to get online at the theatre. It is hard to have a private moment there.

Really I have not been writing because I have not had much to say, and I have been tired. I think the play really got me down. Here is a family, the place where you are supposed to be safe and loved and cared for, yet they cheat and lie and eventually murder one another. With all of the terrible crap going on everywhere in the real world, I guess I was not ready to watch horrific events on the stage as well.

I don't know. I always feel reflective when I leave Juneau, and since I fear it may have been my last time there, I am even more so.

Please try to be good to one another and yourself.

* I came to the conclusion that I had become D. My assistant told me where to stand and what we were doing next, and I brought her cookies, although they were not nearly as good as R's.

A Grouchy Stream Of Concious

I am grouchy I have no internet access where I am staying so I have to come to the theatre to check email where I can recieve it but not send it because of some network isssue that no one has been able to resolve on top of which my domain address has been bouncing back a mass of messages for the last month so no one seems to be able to get ahold of me via email and I don't have time to contact my hosting service and investigate the problem and my cellphone does not work up here so I have to use a calling card and most of my friends are control freaks and won't answer their phones if they do not recognize the number so I play phone tag and oh by the way my father had a heart attack last week and now I am in family life hell which is compounded by being three thousand miles away so I cannot deal with anyone directly and I am four hours behind the east coast which gives me a very short window to talk to call people or try and get business done especially since we have been in the theatre till around one am so I cannot sleep in if I want to talk to anyone back home and I am trying to find materials for a show in NY next week but that of course is difficult for the aforementioned reasons plus I do not really know NY well enough to know where to go for things and I am eating like crap here and starting to get sick and there are a whole host of show related issues I cannot even begin to discuss and I am lonely and really would the world go spinning off of it's axis if i were to get laid every once in a while and I have not been able to do laundry since I arrived here and I do not know when I will have a chance to before I leave here and head for NY.

No, I Have Not Been Eaten By A Bear

But, after six fruitless trips up here to Juneau, I have finally managed to see one in the wild.

I went with A and E out to see a friend at what is called a Salmon Bake. It is basically something they set up for the tourists who come in on the cruise ships. They bus them out into the woods where a number of large grills are set up. Everyone pays an exhorbitant fee to sit outside, eat salmon and other foods, and listen to my friend Betsy sing funny tunes.

We had gone out on an invitation from Betsy. She was able to get us in for free, and we were hanging out and eating when Betsy exclaimed "Oh, I almost forgot. There is a bear here."

We moved over a bit to observe a very large black bear, nestled in a tree taking a nap. He moved several times, trying to find a more comfortable position. He was adorable, in that whole large animal capable of ripping your head off with one swipe of his paw sort of a way.

There are other tales, but they will have to wait.

So Much For That Whole Writing Every Day Thing

Yeah, about that....

In my defense, I have been busy. I am at the theatre close to 13 hours a day*, and trying to keep my head above water on four other shows at the same time.

Little of interest has happened really. The somewhat relaxing weekend rolled into a rather hectic week. We had a dry tech of sorts on Monday, sans actors. Tuesday night we began with the cast. A lot to do. The first scene took almost the whole evening, what with the lightning, sound, fog, lighting, costumes and makeup. Last night rolled through a little better, though we did not reach the end of act one.

Our fight choreographer arrives on Saturday, so we have to be to the fight scene by then. It is the last scene of the play, but the fight will take a great deal of time to stage.

More later I am sure.

Juneau- Day Three

I am afraid I don't have much today.

Cooked dinner for a bunch of people from the theatre last night. Pan- seared salmon in a red wine reduction sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, bread, and wine. Lots and lots of wine.

Also a very relaxing evening of good people and good conversation.

Sat through a run through of the play this afternoon. Impressed.

Off for the rest of the evening and again no idea what to do.

Have not seen bears yet.

Juneau, Day Two

As a little exercise, I have decided to try and post every day while I am here in sunny* Juneau, Alaska. I am here to design Hamlet for Perseverance Theatre. Both I and E, my intrepid assistant, arrived very late Thursday night/ Friday morning.

We showed up at the theatre yesterday morning to get our bearings, see how scenery and lighting were coming along, get connected to the theatre's network, and attend a production meeting. We also met AL, the new electrics intern, who had the plot up and raring to go.

We started focus last night, and actually finished this afternoon, six hours ahead of schedule. I am as giddy as a schoolgirl, although I am not used to having free time when I am here. A Saturday night in Juneau, and no idea what to do with myself.

So far things are going well. It is a little frightening.

I will write more tomorrow. Now we are off to have dinner with A, the theatre's TD.

Peace in yer crease.

*And by sunny I mean rain drenched. The ten day forecast is for showers every day and temps in the low 50s.

For The Rain, It Raineth Everyday

For those of you monitering this for news of my health, I made it safely to Juneau. Both the flight to Seattle and the flight to Juneau were delightfully un-eventful, although I am annoyed by this whole "You can't carry a bottle of water on the plane, even if you purchased it at a kisok after going through security" thing. It seems to me the message is that they can't ensure security of the space even after you go through the screening.

And I was told today that it has been raining in Juneau for 25 days now.

S

I am in a funk.

I spent three days last week in Chicago with S, the founder of the Multi-State, Girlie-Advising Posse, and her mother (also a good friend of mine). We had a great time. Looked at some art at the Art Institute of Chicago (including my favorite painting), as well as stained glass at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows on Navy Pier. We also ate great food and drank great wine in a number of spots, like Quartino.

So why the funk?

When we get to spend time together I am reminded how woven into the fabric of my life she actually is. I don't ever feel awkward around her. I can say what is on my mind, and we can sit around talking about just about anything for hours on end. We can also sit quietly with one another. There is no such thing as an uncomfortable silence when I am with her.

And when we have to part, it is as though I have lost my right arm. I miss her terribly.