02/27/2006: "Telling of spelling and all that is well (ing)"

Bytes…I’m alive…and well.. and singing. Life it good, busy, and ever amusing…here are the highlights…

Closing Fruit: Pear slices has had a good run. Almost all sold out for the entire run. We had about 20 seats free dispersed throughout the 11 performances. Only two shows that proved an energy challenge and two audiences that were…let’s say…quietly appreciative. Fascinating how live theatre revolves around not only the energy of the actors but the audience. A bad one can suck the performance out of you, a good one can boost your performance. New life long friends and respected fellow artists out of this production, Josh who will indeed be famous one day, mark my words, and Troy, who I would work with in a heartbeat in any capacity. A great, articulate, intuitive director. My stipend will pay for my speeding ticket. I decided to pay rather than face Officer Apollo. It would have made for a good blog no doubt…but I couldn’t bring myself to risk going to court and fainting. Good stuff….aaannndd scene.

Design THIS!: Set design goes tremendously well for Magician’s Nephew. We have had two EXTENSIVE meetings and I feel like a princess indeed working with a crew that is dedicated to make my visions work technically and maybe it’s all the coffee, but I feel like I’m on a roll with concepts myself. For a girl that’s not a land mammal I have to say my choreography comes from some wickedly awesome muse. I found the PERFECT music after probably 20 hours over the last 3 weeks of searching finally presented itself and in 1 ˝ hours I got 8 kids and adults with 1 silk WWII parachutes (thank you ebay) and 4 satin bed sheets to simulate the creation of Narnia during a 4 minute and 50 second piece. They did great and I have to say I was amazed at how well it worked out. Without lighting, and costumes our first trial run of the whole piece brought chills. For all the challenges we have had (did I mention I’ve somehow lost the key to the dance studio…grrrr gremlins) there is certainly magic surrounding this. I feel like a fairy. Definitely a sparkle in my eye these days.

Garbage Truck: I know my life is hectic when my lovely yellow jeep starts to fill up with garbage. Among this mornings motley sightings in Jeep were 6 pairs of shoes, 3 coats, a parachute, a live cactus, 2 nail clippers, various Tupperware as I make an attempt to get them to the washing machine before they grow things, but we all know they are going to get thrown out anyway, and a box of publicity flyers for Magician’s Nephew. These are just a few of the many many things that live in my vehicle at present. I am milkdud and french-fry free I think at this time….I haven’t checked under my seat. And I’m missing a dance studio key….be afraid….be very afraid.

Home on the range: Congrats to Robert 4 (Chris Bartlett) and his new yellow (we approve of the color to be sure) VW golf and even better, his new 5 bedroom house. It’s a bit of a trek to Manteca (which I am offended means FAT/BUTTER in Spanish) which will mean my rouge fix of Irishman blarney and the big furry muppet known as Cuan will be greatly reduced no doubt, but I’ve signed on unofficially to spend his money on decorating the house. Gotta love that arrangement. I will have to get in touch with my feminine side of spending money and balance it with the masculine, macho, Irish, cop side. I’m thinking pastel pinks. Not. Reminds me of college and high school when I used to completely rearrange my room every 6 months and make little window displays. Gypsy roots no doubt. In the tradition of naming ones locale (the Lounge, the Highland Palace, etc) I nominate Chez Bartlett’s new abode to be referred to now and forever as Banba. What better name for the Irishman away from Ireland than a word meaning both a goddess or rather one of a trio of Celtic goddesses (meow) and an ancient poetic name for Ireland. My two cents. Can’t wait to start in on that project…

Under Age Labor: I was rung up at Quizno’s downtown last week by a little girl who could not have been more then 9 years old. Weird. Same day I saw a 14 year old boy behind the counter at my local coffee shop. Maybe it’s spring break, maybe he’s home schooled, maybe though….that’s just wrong.

Graveyard Shift: My favorite cemetery on Alum Rock is a huge HUGE catholic plot with lots of statues, mausoleums, and artistic gravestones. Quite beautiful. The iron gate surrounding is a wonderful touch and with this overcast weather it’s eerily soothing to drive by. They are “developing” a previously just lawned section and have stacked scores of stone crypts (empty) three high and maybe 20 across over the path as they dig up rows for them. Would make a really interesting discovery channel show. I wonder if the dead complain about the noise. I can almost imagine a corpse….”well there goes the neighborhood, a new bunch of deadbeats moving in”.

FAT Tuesday: Susannah’s National Holiday. I want everyone to send me flowers….or doughnuts. And apologies for calling me fat, in front of the whole world.

Apprentice Where are they now: Raj is running for Congress. Crazy man. Any bets on if he will win. Young, smart, smart ass, celebrity in the house….I wonder is Donald Trump will support the candidate. Should be interesting. I recorded the Apprentice which started its new series tonight...not a lot of hope for it..but we will see.

Clothes on demand: Threadless.com. Crappy shirts but a GREAT concept. For those of us who only do laundry once a month….I could stand having affordable clothing sent to me like xmas each month. I think they have something here.

Spellbound: Saw an EXCELLENT documentary called Spellbound about the national spelling bee. I am in preparation for my free tickets to the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee next Saturday. 5 out of 5 rockwell/Rutgers/D’nofrios. Poignant, funny, cute and a really well put together piece. See it. I will be seeing Putnam with a real live Putnam County/WV representative from the 1981 National Spelling B. He came in 40th. He may be an insensitive asshole to others, but he’s perspicacious in my experience. Spell that.

Progress: My niece Kayla has her own email address. This amuses me. What amuses me more is that she will go to the computer and when my sister asks her what she is doing the 28 month old says…: I’m checking email. Mom of course sends Kayla her own e-cards which she very much enjoys. Too funny. I know a couple of dogs who have/had there own accounts, but this goes beyond novelty. The first time I used a computer was in 3rd grade. We actually in the city of the birthplace of Apple and HP among other pioneers had a computer lab with 6 very large and loud computers. We took turns with reading and spelling games. In 6th grade we played 30 minute sessions of Where in the World is Carmen San Diego for a Geography Supplement and by 7th grade I was writing most of my papers on our green screen DOS IBM. But 2 years old? Crazy.

MUSIC PICKS: The Fray, Matt Kearney, Agustana….and Colin Hay from Men at work fame...They should totally play his and Lazlo Bane's songs onthe radio....great rainy day weather music…which it is….

Count down: 33 days to Sandy and Espe’s wedding (I pick up her dress with her Thursday), 21 days to Hawaii, 19 days to Magician Nephew opening. 7 days to Craig Furguson. 24 hours to mental breakdown…just kidding.

Have a good one.