I'm Baaack!

It's been an energy-sapping, drama-filled holiday season. We FINALLY closed our show amid multiple blown fuses. I think that was one of my more exhausting shows I've worked on in awhile. It gets tiring sitting on pins and needles 5 hours a night, 4 nights a week, waiting for something to break, fail or blow. On to my (pathetic) personal life...

I really dislike being dragged into other people's drama. I especially hate being involved in the middle of drama. I have been witness to people making stupid decisions and if it wasn't for the fact that these people ranking higher than "acquaintances", I would have written them off a long time ago. Unfortunately, because I know and care about these people, I can't just write them off and be done with it. Dealing with drama and craziness is very draining. One of my resolutions for next year: no more new crazies. I work in theatre, my PDA is full of crazies.

Oh, and it's the Christmas season. That's enough stress to last me till Lent.

Now for stupid stuff that makes us laugh.

A friend of mine drove from Houston to L.A. about a week ago. I get a phone call at about 9am the morning (breaking my crack o'noon rule) after he left Houston.

Me: Morning.

C: How much do you know about international law?

pause

Me: Not enough to bail you out of a Mexican jail, if that's what you're asking. WHERE are you?

C: I'm in Mexico.

another pause

Me: How did you get into Mexico??? I-10 doesn't run through Mexico!!! L.A.'s a straight shot down I-10!!!

He then proceeds to tell me that he and his buddy wanted to get breakfast in El Paso. He turns on what he thought was an exit ramp off I-10. What he actually turned onto was the border crossing in to Juárez, Mexico. He's never been out of the country before and he's armed with only his driver's license. I'm laughing my head off while he's panicking slightly and worrying that he won't be able to get back into the U.S. (Don't worry, he made it back into the U.S. and gave the U.S. border guard something to laugh at.)

How To Be Single And Still Have Complications

Me: All the good guys are taken and/or married. Or gay.

D: There are probably 2 left here [in San Francisco].

Me: I think there are 2 here. One is on his way to being taken. The other has issues.

D: Of course.

So a dear friend in SF and I were commenting on our current plights. Nemesis and I have been advising her to drop problem guy like a bad crack habit. She's trying, but it's tough. Nemesis and I decided we just need to take a road trip to SF to run an intervention program on her. (Hang on, D. We're making plans.)

Our current plight is this: we are both single, fabulous women (if I do say so myself) with complicated relationships. I thought complicated relationships were reserved for those actually IN a relationship! Ours don't even come close to being a relationship. Strictly platonic. Yet somehow they've evolved into complicated relationships.

Interesting...

Your Birthdate: June 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Will This Show Never Open???

I'm in the throes of yet another show and this show is also cursed. We've been plagued with problems from all sides: cast, staff, building, etc. There have been so many problems and headaches that one of my actors jokingly said I should upgrade from the beer to the crack. I think I should just upgrade straight to the gun with a handful of bullets to be used on others or myself.

Cast: I love my cast. I truly do. That said, some are still fishing for their lines and making it difficult for their fellow actors and making it difficult to establish the rhythm and pace so necessary for a comedy. We open in 4 days and have now had 2 public previews. Oy vey!

Staff: Problems on every design aspect. The set construction is behind and a major set piece has yet to make its appearance. Lighting is somehow overloading the system and blowing fuses for the ENTIRE building. The costume designer is in the midst of moving, so she's been AWOL for half of tech week. Since she's moving, her sewing machine is packed up and she's behind in some alterations. Sound designer is also AWOL because his wife just had a C-section (their first child) at the beginning of tech week. It's also a complex sound show and most of our sound cues need to be redone or adjusted. Props is the only area that's done.

Building: Besides loosing power, we can't run the a/c in the lobby with stage lights up because the a/c repair man bypassed a regulator and the a/c is now pulling too much power. I have spent the past week watching the show on pins and needles hoping the electricity holds out at least till the end of show.

It's a mess! One day, my life should return to some state of normalcy (whatever that is).

Life's Small Pleasures

Life's little pleasures (at least for today):

1) One of those rare days - mid 70's, not a cloud in the sky, nice breeze blowing and low humidity (REALLY rare).

2) Hammock

3) Wireless that reaches all the way to the hammock

4) A happy dog

So I took my dog and laptop outside. As my dog was running around, I hung out on the hammock and made some friends jealous as IMed from the great outdoors. They were stuck in windowless offices while I was outside in the fabulous weather. Of course, I went into great detail about how great it was outside. I don't think they appreciated it.

Maybe Next Time

Well, it's over. It was a clean sweep and like the NL Championship, I spent most of the World Series listening to the game in bits and pieces during breaks and calling various people for updates. What little I saw was pretty painful and was one long nail-bitting session. Yes, it was great to finally get to the World Series, but it would have been nice to win some of the games - especially since we SHOULD have won some of those games.

No more discussion. It's too painful.

Finally!!! I Win!!!!!

I finally got a hold of some juicy news before my mother!!!!!! I win!!!!!!

This Week's Lessons

Here's what I've learned from this week:

1) Sleep is a highly overrated, frivolous, unnecessary and time-consuming luxury.

2) Murphy's Law kicks in to overdrive when you're trying to take a much-needed power nap after getting little to no sleep the night before.

3) The best time to call someone is when they're attempting to take a nap.

4) I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to live Downtown! It feels like you're living in an actual city.

Go 'Stros!!!

My Life As A Staffer (Or How To Make An Emergency Mint Julep)

My friend (JV) who I've been helping with some of his Katrina/Rita efforts was asked to testify in front of a Senate committee. He'll be talking to one of the various committees that are reviewing government efforts and responses in the past two hurricanes. He's talking to the committee tomorrow and found out about the trip this last Saturday. That's not a whole lot of time to prep for a trip to The Hill.

Monday

I get a call Monday afternoon from JV pleading for my help and my laptop. Being the fabulous friend that I am, I agree to go help him out. As I pack up my stuff, I get another call from him.

JV - "I need you to something really, really important."
Me - "Sure."

I'm thinking Kinko's run, FedEx drop-off, something along those lines.

JV - "I need you to get mint juleps."

Mint juleps??? It's 2pm on a Monday, mint juleps don't come ready-made and who under the age of 50 drinks mint juleps on a non-Derby day? (Apparently him and his friend / newly-appointed handler .

I go pick up the ingredients for the very important mint juleps and hightail it downtown. My first job was to mix a couple rounds of mint juleps. My only request: red wine and a TV tuned to game 5 of the NL Championships. We spend the rest of Monday typing and researching while watching the game. We could hear the crowd literally across the street from us watching the game as it was projected on the wall of a neighboring building. At the 7th inning, we decided to take a break and join the screaming, cheering masses below. It was crazy, pumped and insane - in a good way. At least until the top of the 9th inning, 2 outs with 1 strike left to send us to the World Series. Thousands of screaming, joyous fans silenced by a home-run. OUCH! After that, we went back to office to drown our sorrows in more work. We were so busy that we lost track of time and realized that it was too late to get our cars out of the garage. So I worked till about 4:30am then crashed on the couch.

Tuesday

Wake up at 8am as JV's friend / handler comes bouncing into the office (he left at 9:30pm the night before, so he got plenty of sleep). More work on the report and its supporting evidence. The handler had us promise to get JV out of the office by 9:30pm since they were catching the 9am flight to Baltimore the following morning. Handler left the office at 6:30pm and we were pretty sure we could wrap things up by 9:30p - 10p at the latest. I (foolishly) make plans to go kareoking that night. 10pm turned to midnight.

Wednesday

Midnight turned to 4am as we finished the report and prepared for final assembly - or so we thought. At 4am, we get an email from the local Vietnamese community organization with some long-awaited numbers. Those numbers had to be plugged into the report and the appendices. At 5am, I announced the time and declared that we had to be out of the building in 45 minutes since JV still needed to change, pack and get to the airport. We finally left the office at 6am. I ran JV home to shower and start packing while I picked up his dry cleaning and ran back to help him pack. We finally headed to airport at 7am and made it to IAH in record time - 30 minutes during rush hour traffic. After I dropped him off, I spent an hour trying to make my way back home. I figured I could finally sleep after sending off some last-minute email. WRONG! Everytime I'd go to sleep, I would be awakened 1.5 - 2 hours later by a phone call. After waking up to field my 4th call, I decided sleep was highly overrated and not necessary. Besides, game 6 would be on in a few hours. I could sleep after the game. And meeting up with some friends to celebrated our 1st trip to the WORLD SERIES!!!!!!

Total hours of sleep in a 72 hour period = 7 hours (give or take 30 minutes)

Couples...bleh!

This couple thing is getting old. If you want to invite one, you have to invite the other or they're busy being together, blah, blah. It seems like everyone is in some state of coupling: married, engaged, domestic partners, exclusively dating, etc. And it's not just confined to the straight world. My socializing circle has just gotten much smaller - fewer playdates with fewer playmates. With everyone coupled up, there are fewer people to talk about, too. One can't talk about who's interested in who, who their Friday date is, as opposed to their Saturday date...in other words, no mess to debrief about because they are all DATING. Or engaged. Or married. Or might as well be married.

BLEH!!!

Or maybe I'm just bitter.

The Rita Debrief

I FINALLY made it home last night at about 9:30p. I took my time leaving Ft. Worth and stopped in Temple to visit with my friend who graciously housed my cats and I on our way up to Ft. Worth. The drive down was uneventful and completed in normal travel time.

A few of my friends stayed and hunkered down for Rita. The worst I heard was a loss of electricity for about 12 hours. A few that I know did leave. One person ran as far as Spring, TX - a 30 minute drive that he completed in...30 minutes. (Boo him!) Other drive times & locations: 22 hours to Huntsville, 12 hours to Belleville, over 50 hours from Galveston to Ft. Worth, and one spent the first night in a nudist colony. This person didn't realize it was a nudist colony until they arrived (the person who housed them left that little bit of info out). That person, hands down, had all of us beat.

Hopefully things will get back to normal soon. We go back to normal show schedule starting tomorrow. We have now extended the show yet another week, so we close on the 23rd, barring anymore fires, hurricanes or other disasters, natural or manmade. We figured the next will be the plague of locusts, or down here in Texas, a plague of roaches.

A Small Rita Diversion

This is one of the quizzes Nemesis took and has linked in his blog.

What a letdown for my brother & parents!!!

You are a Social Moderate (55% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (26% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat

Happy, Nemesis???

Happy now, Joel???


How evil are you?

My Hurricane Update - pt.2

Just a few observations & musings while I've been on the run:

1) The traffic jam/parking lot I encountered on 290 & Hwy 6 up to Bryan/College Station was at least 10 times worse than ANY traffic jam caused by an A&M-t.u. game! (And if I complain about the next game-induced traffic up to B/CS, remind me of this evacuation.)

2) This is the first time I saw heavy traffic on a 2-lane farm road that wasn't caused by the local football game (FM 485 from Hearne to Temple).

3) I don't think I could live in the DFW metroplex - too flat, too suburban, too small-town mentality, no beach/oceanside within reach (in spite of hurricane season's best efforts to scare us away)...too blah.

4) Thank God for friends who reside in small, podunk Texas towns! She not only opened her house at 1:30 am, but her town was the 2nd spot I saw that had gas! (The first one had at least 40 cars lined up to enter the gas station.)

5) Who would have thought that something as mundane as D-cell batteries could be more precious than gold?

6) Non-Filipinos / non-Hawaiians combing the shelves for Spam - who'd have thunk????

7) For that matter, a run on Spam????

8) The land of big-hair still lives on in Ft. Worth!

9) The longest travel time I personal heard of (to date): OVER 48 hours from Galveston to Ft. Worth!!! (After hearing that, I'm not about to complain about my 14 hour trip on 1 full tank of gas. That family had to pull off and wait at least 3 hours for gas after they ran dry.)

10) I never imagined seeing both sides of an evacuation in under 1 week! Last weekend, I was helping settling Katrina evacuees; this weekend, I'm a Rita evacuee.

11) Now that I'm on this side of an evacuation, I'm not sure I like the moniker of "refugee" or "evacuee".

With any luck, the next blog will be from home!

My Hurricane Update

I finally made it to my destination! I'm at my cousin's place in Ft. Worth. I left Thursday morning with plans to stop off at my friend's place in Temple to visit, eat dinner and feed and water my cats. I ended up staying overnight because it took me 14 hours and almost a full tank just to get to Temple. Normally, Temple is a 3 hour drive. At least I wa able to gas up in Temple, the 2nd station I saw that had gas. The first was in Hearne and the lines were over a block long - in either direction. I'll probably head back home Monday or Tuesday. I want to avoid the 100+ mile parking lot.

This is my 2nd evacuation and it's getting a little freaky.

WOO HOO! I Found Water!!!!

I just came back from an early morning shopping trip. When I say early, I mean EARLY! 2 am early. That's when the grocery store by my place restocks. Earlier in the afternoon, I hit 4 grocery stores and the shelves were empty. No water, batteries or tuna to be found. The gas station I went to had lines at all of their pumps and 2 of the pumps were dry. I think everyone down here is a little freaked by Rita. Well, let's face it, Houston is WAY overdue for it's hurricane.

I'm encountering 2 very different responses to Rita. On one hand, you've got the people who are concerned (at the very least) and are prepping 5 days before her expected landfall. These tend to be the people who are natives to the coast or at least were here during Alicia (I fall in this category). Then there are the ones who are rather blasé about Rita. They tend to be non-natives. I just talked to a non-native friend of mine and he's doing nothing to prep for the hurricane. It's a little disconcerting. I don't think Rita will be as bad as Katrina (I hope not), but a hurricane is nothing to sneeze at. Even this far inland, she can cause trouble for us. I remember Alicia - no electricity, lots of water, damage to the house, trees downed, etc. Granted, our house was under renovations when Alicia hit, so the water in the house was due to the hole in our roof (we were getting ready to put a skylight in, so there was a big ol' hole over the living room). Still, Alicia was no picnic.

I'm not in panic mode...yet. I'll wait till the forecast models are a little more accurate before deciding whether or not to move into the panic stage. In the meantime, we're stocked on water, canned beans, tuna and snacks. I'll stock up on wine tomorrow. So if any of y'all are floating by the house when Rita blows through, come on in for a little hurricane party!

Good luck, Houston!

Another Day, Another Storm

Well, Mother Nature's been busy this hurricane season! We're at our 18th named storm. Does anyone know the last time we made it this far in the alphabet? Houston is packed with Katrina evacuees and the city/state is discouraging future coastal evacuees from coming here. I hope we ARE ready for this one!

It's About Time!!!

Brown's out.

Not "yay". Not a sigh of relief.

It's about d*** time!

Oh, and here's a novel concept - replacing him with someone who HAS experience in emergengy response and management.

Doesn't FEMA stand for Federal Emergency Management Agency?

Domestic Problems

No Coffee Left!!!!! Waaaahhh!!!!!!

Let me restate that...no GOOD coffee left!!!!

The coffee I'm referring to is the stuff that is personally hand-carried from the Philippines. This stuff (at least in our family) is worth it's weight in gold. We don't trust ANYONE with this coffee - especially our own family members! My uncle is still bugging me about the coffee I was "suppose" to have delivered to him - 3 years ago! (Nevermind that his freezer has just been restocked with a few kilos of the golden beans.)

Roomie came in this morning and asked me if we have a grinder at the house (which we don't - but I plan on rectifying that problem this afternoon). She then told me that there was ONE teaspoon of (ground) coffee left, then took cover behind the BF as I screamed and wailed. I NEED MY COFFEE!!!

Brief recap on Saturday's events.

The original plan was to meet up in the morning with a friend who I've been assisting with the Katrina relief efforts. We were going to phone some organizations in town to gather info and post them on a central message board. Instead we met with one of the city councilmen at City Hall and then proceeded to check out apartments that the city has targeted as longer-term housing options for the evacuees. The mayor's plan is to empty out the big shelters by (we think) end of next week. We then scouted out possible neutral meeting spots for a last-minute meeting between one of the mayor's staffers, one of the councilmen and heads of organizations that provide services to the various Asian communities in town. The problem that we're seeing is a lack of communication between the groups. The groups tend to be very territorial and that's causing a breakdown in communication and expeditious dissemination of information to the evacuees that are being assisted by these various groups. The big question on everyone's lips is information about FEMA - what are the aids and services FEMA will provide to the evacuees, the voucher programs FEMA will provide to evacuees and vendors who are donating their resources, etc. FEMA STILL hasn't set up shop yet here in Houston! They should be acquiring a location tomorrow. That's ridiculous!!!!

On the artistic front, we opened our show last night and it went off without a hitch. No fireworks or anything! After the theater's opening night party, my director, her husband, 2 of my actors and I went out back to BW3 to eat. The talk quickly turned to events caused my Katrina. One of my actors is currently playing host to her baby sister and her family (that consists of her sister, husband, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a parakeet). It's a regular zoo at her house, but she doesn't mind. In fact she's thrilled her sister is there. And relieved. The conversation then turned to the government and THAT'S when the verbal fireworks started. The actor (who's a native of New Orleans) is a staunch Republican (a rarity in my field) and my director and her husband are staunch Democrats (the norm in my field). When I left, they were still arguing about the Bush administration, the federal government, the Louisiana state government and the New Orleans municipal government. I wouldn't be surprised if they were arguing until the restaurant kicked them out at closing time.

1 positive note: the general consensus is that everyone has been impressed with Mayor Bill White's actions, both reactive and proactive. I heartily agree. He and the non-governmental organizations are at the very least steps ahead of the federal government in this situation!

Long-winded

After reviewing my last blog, I realized that I never fully explained the 5 points I listed at the top of the blog. I might talk about them at a later date. I also realized that my past few blogs have been rather long, but my brain has had quite a bit to process over the past few days. It's been an unusual couple of weeks, to say the least.

What Day Is Today???

Craziness still ensues down here in Houston.

The Cliffnotes version of the past 3 days:
1) Going to work on Labor Day only to find out I DID have the day off (they just failed to tell me of the change)
2) My car had to go into the shop because it wouldn't start
3) An unexpected day off due to #2
4) We CAN move back into the theatre, but our schedule for this week and next week are a little wonky
5) What started as a FEMA trainer session (to assist victims in the enrollment process) resulted into a seat on an emergency relief committee

All of this in the past 72 hours. Whew! So much has happened, I can't even remember what day it is.

Ok, I have to rant before I explain the 5 points listed above.

I think the federal government's (particularly FEMA) response to Katrina is SHAMEFUL & APPALLING! As of Labor Day, FEMA had yet to establish a central point of operation here in Houston. The fact that Texas is currently hosting about 1/4 million evacuees is not news to anyone. We've been playing host since before Katrina made landfall. Houston the closest large city to New Orleans and a stop on one of their evacuation routes. This should not be a surprise to FEMA. It is now about 1 1/2 weeks since the hurricane and we're still waiting for FEMA to do more than just show their face. While the federal government is still scrambling, the bulk of the work (at least down here) has been done by the city and private organizations. Red Cross is taking care of the Reliant Complex while the George R. Brown is being run by CenterPoint Energy. Yes, you read that right, CenterPoint Energy.

I know that all of the media focus is on the small city now dubbed Reliant City, but very little focus on the other evacuees that are not being housed at Reliant or G.R. Brown. Boat People SOS, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to the Vietnamese community, has been working with (at last count) about 8,000+ Vietnamese evacuees. They are SWAMPED! I just got a call from them today looking for volunteers to help them with the FEMA enrollments. The Filipino community has identified about 120 Filipino evacuees. I've talked to a few of them, making sure they are aware of the FEMA enrollment and trying to identify their needs. It's absolutely heartbreaking! I didn't think I'd make it through my first phone call. One gentleman I talked to is being housed by his son's girlfriend. One of his neighbors just went back to their parish (it's one of the few that's accessible from 6a - 6p) to check on their house and gather some belongings. His neighbor was shot & killed as he was leaving the neighborhood. His son is in Iraq (due to come home within the next 2 weeks) and his family (his mother, 3 sisters and about 14 other relatives) are spread out from Houston to Pensacola. This is a family of about 20 who, until the evacuations, lived in the same neighborhood in New Orleans for about 30 years. His 3 sisters & mother are here in town, but are spread out over Houston & Pearland. I talked to one of his sisters and she doesn't know where she'll be in the next 24 hours since they just ran out of money for their hotel room. Most of the people I talked to didn't need low-interest loans to rebuild their homes (the only thing FEMA could offer them at this point), they need immediate funds to get them through the next few weeks. For housing. For food. For clothing. For daily necessities we take for granted.

On the more positive side, I just came from a pan-Asian community meeting with Mayor Bill White and it was heartening to see how the Asian community here has responded. Hong Kong City Mall has generously opened up their space as a gathering point for the Asian evacuees, the local hotel association (many of their members are Asian) has donated a number of hotel rooms for reduced rates or for free, BPSOS has been working overtime to feed and find housing for the Vietnamese evacuees, FACOST has doled out about $8000 (in hard cash) to the Filipino evacuees, the list goes on. Kudos to the residents of Houston! We're working hard to help our neighbors and their immediate needs and we're trying to help them prepare for their longer-term needs, but we need the federal government to get off their butts and kick into action! They can't allow the generous citizens to become disgruntled due to the overtaxing of energy and resources while we all wait for the government to do something!

Here, read this and talk amongst yourselves:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3335758

Shameful, appalling and inexcusable!

What A Long Week It's Been

It's been a long week!

This week was tech week for us. Always a stressful time, but even more so this week. One of my actors is a New Orleans native who has family from Baton Rouge, Diamondhead and everywhere in between. Luckily, all her family (immediate and extended) are safe and accounted for, but most of them have no home to go back to. Needless to say, she's been on an emotional rollercoaster all week. Three other actors have family members who just went into the hospital - two of them just this week. On top of all of that, we're all trying to get through tech. Tech was a sort of relief, however, in that we were able to divert our brains and focus even for just a little bit.

So we rolled through tech and had our first audience on Saturday. Everything was going fine until about 20 minutes into the show. I'm sitting in the booth with my light board operator when I hear a pop. I turn toward my board op and look at the breaker box thinking we blew a fuse. Our breakers that our lights are connected to use the old-fashioned glass buses that pop when they get overloaded (as opposed to the new switches that trip). About that time, my board op calls to me and I look at the main electrical meter box that's 2 feet from my board op's head (5 feet from me) and I hear more popping and sparks from the box. After kicking my board op out of the booth and telling him to stand by the fire extinguisher, I sprint (in my platform heels, mind you) to the box office where my director (who is also the artistic director is and tell them about the meter box. She and I sprint backstage, she runs on the stage and stops the show while I head back to the booth. Now we have sparks & flames emanating in short spurts and the booth is filling up with smoke. I can hear my director calmly telling everyone that we have to cancel the show due to an electrical problem, could everyone exit the theatre and their tickets will gladly be rescheduled. The audience claps (they were thoroughly enjoying the show), they were a little disappointed, but they were in very good spirits as they filed out to the lobby. My actors, having no idea of what's going on other than the loss of lights and the popping they heard, saunter into the dressing room and are milling about, trying to figure out what was going on. The dressing room door they came in is right by the booth, which at this time I'm thinking is going to blow any minute. So I hustle them out of the room and out of the building. When we got outside, we could see flames over the roof. The electrical line from the building to the utility pole burst into flames and then we saw flames coming from the transformer across the street. As the audience filed to the back where we were, I realized I had no phone (that was the first item came to my head), no keys and no ID. I ran back to the booth (with the box that is still popping), grabbed my stuff (sans dinner - which is STILL in there) and ran back out. My board op realized he left his iPod and rescued it later.

The fire trucks finally arrive. I guess the box finally shorted itself out, but the booth and dressing room are now filled with smoke. Let me just say right now that Houston has some of the cutest firefighters in the country, a fact that was not lost on myself or 2 of my actors. The electric company then came and disconnected the theatre from the power grid. After all of the excitement died down and the first fire truck left, we convened at a local pub. As we were animatedly discussing the recent events, we had to laugh at our immediate reactions as we were evacuating the building. My initial thought (after I took a headcount of cast and crew) was "my phone's in there! I can't call anyone!". My board op was concerned about his iPod and one of my actors grabbed her make-up case as she headed out the door. So we were in danger of being burnt to a crisp and we're concerned about our music, looking good and being able to talk to people. Well, it was funny to us.

HUNGRY!!!!!

The current show I'm working on is Empty Plate At The Café Du Grand Boeuf and the characters spend about 50% of the show talking about FOOD! They describe these fabulous dishes at length and in great detail. This is a 7 course meal at a 5-star restaurant, not some roadside diner. Absolute torture! The descriptions get more beguiling and more embellished with each course. I have to listen to this 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. And on top of all of that, rehearsals are right through the dinner hour! So I'm starving by the time rehearsal is over, but my only options are 24-hour diner spots (IHOP, Denny's, etc.) or cheap Mexican spots. The show doesn't just make me hungry, it makes me hungry for GOOD food! I try to eat before each rehearsal, but with rush-hour traffic and construction, I barely make it to the theatre on time. No chance of me getting food beforehand. So dinner consists of colorful descriptions of these fabulous dishes. Too bad rehearsals aren't catered.

Inventions of Evil

Well, it's my first day back to work (daytime gig). ICK! The worst was having to set my alarm clock last night. I think that rates as one of the most depressing moments of my weekend. That's why I'd like to nominate the alarm clock as one of the top evil inventions of the modern, civilized world.

Reality Bites

Ok, so I just got done watching that movie. So sue me. I like the soundtrack, Ethan Hawke looks yum, it was filmed in a great city and there was nothing else on TV. On to my reality.

I'm back in home and reality crashed into me like a wall of bricks. I feel like I got off the plane and hit the ground running. My next show is suppose to start rehearsal tonight - except we only have half a cast (at least, I think we're that lucky). So instead of the usual first rehearsal consisting of a read-thru, introductions and design show & tell, we're running auditions. Yeah. Our first audience comes in 2 weeks from this Saturday. Oh, and after tonight, our next planned rehearsal is on Thursday. Today is Monday. That leaves us 1 1/2 weeks to rehearse before we go into tech week. (That's where we start throwing lights, sound and costumes at the actors.) Oh well, we'll see.

On top of that, I've got my show that I'm directing. I'm running auditions this weekend. Yikes! I HATE auditions! I hate them as an actor, stage manager and director. There has got to be a more efficient, less painful way of casting a show. It's always a crap shoot. Some people do lousy auditions, but are great once you get them to rehearsals. Others do great auditions, but never get past what they gave you at that initial audition. But on the flip side, I'm meeting with my set & light designer. One person, both positions. We work extremely well together and he's very talented. I feel like this production is really rolling now. I'm excited again about the show.

My Philippine Survival Kit

These are items I'll be packing for the next trip to the Philippines (in no specific order):



1) Umbrella - especially during the rainy season (which starts in August).





2) Tita Cora and/or Tita Grace - the former is Mom's sister-in-law, the latter is Dad's sister-in-law. They are some of the best hagglers in our family. ALWAYS bring them when shopping!

3) Dramamine - they come in orange-flavored chewable tablets now! I don't need it for planes, trains or boats, just cars in the Philippines. Urban & rural travel. If you're in the city, you'll need it for the potholes and crazy taxi drivers. If you're in the country, you'll need it for the potholes, winding dirt roads and crazy drivers.




4) Fan - the hand-held type. You'll need it 80% of the time (indoors & outdoors).




5) Boyfriend - real or rental, it doesn't matter. Pictures and/or assurances of one don't work. He has to be there in person.

6) Reservations at the Amigo Terrace Hotel (when in Iloilo City) - it's right in the middle of town, has a/c in the rooms, bathrooms with showers, hot water & toilets that flush and a great staff. Bell service not only takes care of your luggage, but will run out to the 24-hour pharmacy/convenience store for you!

7) Reservations at the New World Renaissance Hotel or Shangri-La Hotel (when in Manila) - aah...the joys of a 4-star hotel! Where does one start? Rooms, room service, lounge, restaurant, drivers, walking distance to Greenbelt, Landmark & SM...the list goes on.

8) Reservations at the Tirol & Tirol Beach Resort (when in Boracay) - the rooms look like nipa huts (those are the huts on stilts with thached roofs) from the outside and each room has a porch with chairs, table & hammock. Oh, and coffee delivered to your porch every morning.


9) A lightly-packed suitcase - that way you have room for the obligatory souvenirs, cheap pearls & loads of GREAT coffee!!!

10) Bottled water - make sure you have at least 2 on hand!

11) First class round-trip - flying coach for 20 hours is no fun!

12) Toilet paper / tissue paper - trust me, most public bathrooms don't stock them.

Philippines - Countdown Back To Reality

I finally made it to Manila! Philippine Airlines kept canceling flights from Iloilo City to Manila. We started getting scared. Normally there are about 5 flights to Manila a day, but during the week PAL was canceling flights and rebooking people on later and later flights. This would be such a problem except this week was a major event for the city. According to the mayor, every hotel was booked. With all the festivities over, many people are leaving. I was in the first wave of flights out. I was originally booked on the 4:00p flight to Manila. That was cancelled and I was moved to the 6:30p flight. THAT was cancelled and I was rebooked on the 8:10p flight. I was scared that I wouldn't get off the island till tomorrow - if I was lucky. Luckily, my flight out of Manila isn't until Tuesday, so flying to Manila on Monday wouldn't have been a major problem for me. Unlike my brother, who's flight back to the US is tomorrow morning at about 9am. He couldn't risk not getting off the island late, so he took the early morning flight out - which was full.

After figuring out that debacle, I thought it would be smooth sailing. I packed (after sleeping in - so yes, I missed church), visited with relatives for the last time, double & triple checked my luggage, passport, carry-ons - everything except my ticket. I didn't remember my ticket till we were about 5 minutes from the airport. So we had to turn around and get my confirmation printout and made it with minutes to spare. Except this is the Philippines and all sense of time is chunked out the window. So "minutes to spare" actually translated to 15 minutes before boarding the plane. Filipinos and their sense of time make the Spanish mañana attitude look punctual.

So now I'm in my hotel in Manila, winding down and getting ready to go to bed. FYI, I'm staying one of the 4-star hotels and it's FABULOUS! If y'all need recommendations on accommodations here in the Philippines, talk to me.

Some random pics from the trip to keep you entertained:





The drill field & chapel at CPU. This is a cheer competition they had during the anniversary.












Engineering students on the roof of the engineering building, rooting for their cheer team.

The ice cream man stopping by our boat at Boracay. No, really! It was the equivalent of the ice cream truck going through the neighborhood. Just replace the streets with the open waters and replace the houses with boats and voila! The nautical version of the ice cream truck!

Philippines - Dinner Under The Umbrellas

Today was the CPU Grand Reunion Dinner & Reception. With so many people here for the centennial celebration, there were very few venue options for tonight's event. The reception was housed in the gym with the overflow in the auditorium. There's just one teensy, weensy, tiny problem with this: the gym's not done yet. There's a roof and a floor and ... a roof. No walls, just the roof. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be an issue. It would actually be preferable to a gym with a roof & walls because we had breeze & air circulation without the walls. With as many people there, air circulation would have been a major problem. But I digress. Back to the no-walls issue.


Did I mention we are in the middle of the rainy season? Not only are we in the middle of rainy season, there is a typhoon headed to Japan & China. This means the Philippines is getting rain from that typhoon. We've been getting rain at least twice a day for the last 6 days and today was no different. We got rain as soon as dinner started. First we heard it, then as the wind picked up, we heard AND felt it. We're sitting in the middle of the gym, so I'm thinking we may be ok. The folks on the right edge of the gym started opening their umbrellas and the rest of us were gawking and giggling. Then the wind really picked up and we could see the rain blow in sideways. Umbrellas started popping up all over the gym. No one was paying attention to the children's dance troupe, our dinner entertainment. Everyone was too busy looking around at the sea of umbrellas and with all the umbrellas open, it was difficult to see the stage. Dinner was actually quite fun and funny. Everything after that seemed almost anti-climactic.




Well, almost. This is Dad singing with some of his frat buddies. This is the real reason why I went tonight, in the rain & flood and why I had dinner under a sea of umbrellas.

Philippines - P.S.

Mr. Nemesis,

Check your email. All the info is there. Hopefully you DID read and didn't randomly delete.








Us on the boat right before going snorkeling. Ain't you jealous?

Philippines - the lechon entry

I'm back in Iloilo City and we're in the midst of rainy season.

Yay.

I can't get any of my days straight anymore. Actually, the only day I can remember is Friday because:

Friday = university-wide picnic = lechon.

So I'm using lechon as my calendar benchmark. Speaking of the pigs, as soon as we hit the CPU (Central Philippine University) campus, we saw 2 cows on spits, cooked lechon-style. Nearby under a tent, about 30-40 lechon were neatly laid out, ready to be dropped off at various spots around campus. Those pigs were so yum! And let me tell you, those pigs didn't have a chance. Vultures & condors can't work as fast as a few hundred Filipinos. This one lechon was on the table being cut into and about 5-10 minutes later, I went up to get some and there was nothing but fat and bones left. That pig was picked CLEAN in under 10 minutes! Food everywhere and everyone's aunt / grandmother pushing you to the food line to make sure you ate enough.

I've got unlimited wireless at this hotel for the next 24 hours, so I'll update later tonight. In the meantime, here are some pictures for you viewing pleasure.

Rory at Boracay.

This view was about 30 steps from my front door at Boracay. Isn't it fabulous?

Philippines - pt 1

So I'm here in Boracay in the Philippines. It's the famous beach spot here. Getting here was a test in patience.

I came so unprepared for this trip because I had almost no time to get ready. I've forgotten stuff or didn't have time to buy stuff, so I'm constantly kicking myself.

My mother has reverted so far back in Filipino Standard Time that even has the native Filipinos saying she's late. That take alot of work! For those of us still running on an American sense of time, it's infuriating.

Let's talk about happier things. Like snorkeling among the corals and tropical fish. Like a string of black pearls for $20. Like a 1 hour massage for $15. Like toilets that flush, water coming out of the shower head, hot water coming out of the shower head & window a/c units. YEA!!!!!!

I'll elaborate more in another blog and get some pictures posted. Till then, I'll go work on my tan on the white beach by the blue waters. Ciao!

STS-114

Good luck & Godspeed, Discovery!!!

Back To The Rants

Ok, so I'm back to the semi-angry posts. I just have a few things to get off my chest.

1) Yesterday I was listening to a radio show that features the local arts scene. One of the artists they featured was the winner for the piano competition of a young music artist's competition. He was playing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 and I think that's the piece he won with. At this point in their lives, the artists are quite accomplished and talented. As I was listening to him play, I started to get mad. Actually, I started getting upset within the first 3 measures. All I could think was "he won with this performance???". I spent half the drive home critiquing and mentally screaming at his performance. To my ears, it wasn't that good. There was no finesse, he steamrolled through the opening theme, his runs were muddy & he dropped some of the melody notes in the runs (among other things). I was venting to 2 of my friends last night and they both laughed at me and how upset I was getting. Very few things get me as riled up as a bad performance (music or acting). Wow, I really can be harsh.

2) This morning on NPR, they talked about the beginning of the impeachment proceedings for Philippine Pres. Arroyo. I hope it doesn't turn into another People Power event because I leave for there in 30 hours. With all the constant political upheaval & corruption, it's no wonder we don't take the government seriously. Come on, when a political nominee's biggest and ONLY advantage is the fact that they are/were a celebrity, what would you think?

3) This afternoon I read this in the LA Times. It further cemented my disdain of the colonial mentality that's still an overwhelming social factor in Asia.

Beauty and the Bleach

Sometimes my people make me so mad.

Yikes!!!

Nemesis called me today and said that he read my blog. He made the comment that my blog was angry...no...scary. After taking another glance at it, I do have to admit that some of the entries are scary and some could be viewed as scary. So I decided to comment on some non-angry stuff.

This weekend's social calendar was PACKED. My roomie and I held a dinner party on Friday, so the nights leading up to the dinner were jam-packed with cleaning, grocery shopping at midnight and more cleaning. The menu for the evening consisted of brochettes, salad, paella and dessert. Thank goodness I decided to have the brochettes for appetizer, because the first pan of paella didn't hit the table till 1 1/2 hours after the party started. (It was a Spanish-influenced menu, so we ran on a Spanish time-table.) Yes, I did say first pan of paella. Since there were some people who are suffering from a self-proclaimed allergy to seafood, I cooked a smaller, non-seafood batch of paella. The main pan hit the table about 20 minutes after the first was done and when I brought it to the table, the first pan was demolished. Judging by the wreck of the kitchen and the volume level of the room, I'd say the party was a roaring success. It was a little nerve-wracking having 80% of the party in the kitchen watching me cook. I'm not going to lie and pretend that they were there to admire my fabulous 3 1/2 inch, pink slingbacks with bows on the back (even though I've successfully trained most of them to check out and admire the shoes). Everyone had a great time and the food actually turned out ok. Even Mr. Cynical (a harsh critic), who came the following morning for leftovers, said it wasn't bad. It's been 72 hours and Roomie and I are still trying to clean up the kitchen.

The next day was yet another wedding. I missed last week's wedding due to a show (there's a surprise), but I was able to go to this one. The wedding was beautiful but scary. (I just said this would not be an angry blog, I never promised a non-scary blog.) The bride was a girl who I used to babysit and in my mind, is still 9. (To the mother-of-the-bride, there are laws against minors marrying that young!!!) No, she's not 9 any more, but to admit her real age would admit that I'm...older. (Shut up!!! I'm still 27!) It was great seeing everyone there. There were people who I haven't seen in awhile, mentors from my younger, more impressionable years. One of them was Mother-of-the Bride. I was able to visit with her today and catch her up with my goings-on over the past few years. (I hope I haven't scared you or given you cause for concern.) But it was a great visit and she gave me things for my brain to chew on.

I leave for the Philippines in less than 48 hours and I'm not anywhere close to ready. I haven't even thought about packing yet. This trip will be...interesting. Part of me is looking forward to the trip and part of me is a little apprehensive. It will be great to see family but I'm not looking forward to "How old are you? You're not married?". Those are the questions, verbatim and in that order. How do I know? That was the standard greeting I received the last time I was there. Not once, but by every single female relative and family friend I met there. Once during that trip, I was hit with those questions at least a dozen times. Before lunch. About a week into the trip, I vowed I would not return without a "boyfriend" physically present. The boyfriend could either be real or rented. I didn't have time to rent one for this trip and it's too late to acquire a real one AND his plane ticket within the next 48 hours. Sigh. The most I can do is find my current passport before I leave. And pack.

Pottermania - part 6

Yes, I am one of the millions who bought my (pre-ordered) book in the first 24 hours of its release. I was not one of the many who bought it at midnight - only because I didn't leave the bar in time to pick it up. And yes, I have finished the book. It took me a bit over 24 hours because I had 2 shows to work (even though I read during the show between cues), a luncheon to attend (interrupted by aforementioned show) and a bar to visit. All I have to say is:

I Can't Believe She Did That!!!!!!!!

A friend and I are scheduled to meet tonight over drinks to "discuss" the book.

Bitter, Party Of 1, Your Table's Ready

Guys suck! It's almost enough to make me want to hop the fence, except that would mean having to put up with girls. And right now, girls suck, too. Maybe I should look into joining the convent with the 30 ft. high, 3 ft. deep brick walls.

"You can't choose the ones you fall for." - The Admiral

Damn, damn, damn!!!

Low Tolerance

I'm discovering I have a low tolerance for incompetence and sheer stupidity. Let me restate that - I'm discovering just how low my tolerance is for incompetence and stupidity. I had to let one of my employees go because he fucked up BIG. Basically he let his party ways interfere with his responsibilities. On the eve of one of the biggest sale days at the store, he decided he was going to party hard with his buddies. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to pass judgment on how you play and how hard you play on your own time. I, too, was coming to work after just 3 hours of sleep. When he parties hard, it usually translates to drinking into the not-so-wee hours of the morning (ie. it's 9am and they're still drinking). I'm sure this is what happened (he's very predictable). The problem is that we opened at 8am and he was a no-show. He was a no-show until 1pm. So we were short employees on a day we usually get slammed with customers. He actually had the audacity to ask if we were busy. On a phone call he made 3 hours after we opened. After my boss called asking for him. He was toast! And he was actually debating on whether or not he would come into work! He shows up 5 hours later thinking he still had a job. HA! What really sucked about the whole situation is that he was my right-hand man and he left me high and dry. He didn't even apologize when he came in. I guess he thought he could just slip in. Idiot! I know he's hard up for money and normally he's responsible and he's competent and he's a nice guy, but he messed up and I feel no remorse or pity. It's one thing if you don't know how to do something, not everyone can do every job. It's another thing if you're irresponsible and just too stupid for your own good. You deserve to get weeded out. Preferably out of the gene pool.

I HAVE A NEW PROJECT!!!!!!!!!

So I've been busy with my 2 current shows. As if I don't have enough to do I have a new project & I'm STOKED! Only lately have I been vocalizing about my project because I'm a little superstitious and I didn't want to say anything and end up jinxing the project. I will (cross my fingers) be directing a show in the fall. The crazy thing about this project is how different events & people have been falling into place. It's like the stars & planets have all aligned - and are pointing to this project! Yea!!!!!!! So I'm sure as I approach fall, more and more of these blogs will be about the project. So I apologize ahead of time for all of the shop talk.

Star Wars!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I did see Revenge of the Sith. And yes, I did see it more than once (twice, at the moment). And I plan to see it at least once more (ahem, ahem). The script needs help.
"Hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo when all we had was our love." Blah, blah, blah & gag. At least the fights more than made up for the unspeakable lines.

Eek!!!

Last night, I had one of my funky show dreams. I dreamt that I was in a performance for this current show, but the set was slightly different. Not enough to be totally unrecognizable, but enough to confuse me. Apparently, everyone else was alerted to the changes EXCEPT me. I'd set out the props but everyone kept yelling that they were wrong, scene changes were in different spots, so either I'd be out in the middle of the scene or I'd miss a change, costumes changed so I had no idea who was wearing what, people were constantly screaming at me...fun stuff. Then the set morphed into an outdoor, idyllic forest scene. The bulk of my show takes place indoors, so I have no idea where the woods came from. Then Renee Zellweger appeared onstage (apparently we added performers) and I woke up - as my radio alarm kicked on, telling me about her wedding. The weird thing is (other than Renee Z's shotgun wedding) that it's been over a year since I've had this kind of dream. I usually get them about this time in the rehearsal process (tech / preview week).

How Did You Get In???

So I'm talking with my nemesis and we're complaining about how stupid the general public can be. My big amazement is how some of these people have matriculated to college! There are people still coming in to buy their textbooks NOW, 3 weeks before finals. Here's one of this week's conversations, which, unfortunately, not a unique conversation:

Shumck: I need a book.

Me: Ok...What book do you need?

Shumck: Um...I'm not sure.

Me: (fake smile plaster on my face) Ok, what subject?

Shmuck: I think it's English.

Folks, telepathy is NOT one of my superpowers!


Me: Who's your instructor?

Shmuck: Ms. _____.

Me: Oh, you need history.

Shmuck: Oh yeah.

Me: History 1 or 2?

Shmuck: Um, I don't remember.

Did I mention it's about 3 weeks before finals?


Me: Did you need a textbook or a novel?

Shmuck: I need the textbook. I'll recognize it when I see it.

Alright, most of our history textbooks are by the same publisher and have very similar bookcovers. Shmuck ain't got a chance!

(5 minutes after Shmuck stares at the shelves)
Me: Do you have your syllabus? It will be listed on your syllabus.

Shmuch: It's at home. I'll have to go home and check it.

Folks, there are suppose to have tests to keep these people out!!!!!!!!!

What A Cool Site!!!

I've always wanted to hang a big map on my wall and mark all the places I've been to. Now I have it in a much more compact form!





create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Chess for Credit

Here's an article from the NY Times about graduate-level course whose goal is to "improve teaching by guiding a group of teachers through the problem-solving strategies that are part of a good chess player's arsenal". It's using chess to try to teach teachers to teach their students to think instead of just regurgitate information. There's a novel concept!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/education/12teach.html?8hpib

Mudbugs and More

I'm currently recouping from hosting a crawfish boil. It was my first time to cook crawfish and they didn't turn out bad. It was a good thing my nemesis wasn't there for the cooking and the initial carnage. Between the cleaning and cooking of the live critters and the eating of their cooked siblings, he probably would have run away screaming like a little girl. The beginning was quite a sight: 35 pounds of steaming crawfish dumped in the middle of the table and no less than 10 people STANDING and devouring the little bugs. YUM! The only rant I have is too many people offering their 2-cents worth in their efforts to "help". "You should do this" or "why are you doing it this way", etc. All I wanted to do was yell "stop and get out of my way"! I'm not a kitchen nazi like SOME I know, but when they keep throwing their suggestions and moving stuff around while I'm standing over 2 multi-pound, steaming pots, it's hard not to turn into a growling, bitching monster. So to those I snapped at, I offer my apologies, but y'all drove me over the edge! Oh, and FYI, when you talk about the Causeway, it's the I-45 bridge that connects the mainland to Galveston Island and not any other bridge in the area that happens to span a body of water!

Family Fun

My nemisis has started a new Diplomacy game. It's a game where deals are brokered, treaties are drawn up only to be violated at a later date, allies are back-stabbed...good, wholesome fun. To quote my nemisis, "let the carnage begin"!

New Music!

Every since I acquired my new baby, I've been hopping from one hotspot to another and downloading stuff from iTunes. My newest purchase is Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Journeys: Beyond The Horizon. Good Stuff!
http://www.yo-yoma.com/

Further Into The Matrix

Ok, I've decided to dive further into the Internet and the 21st Century by setting up this blog. No specific plan or topic, just random stuff that strike me as interesting or things I feel the need to comment on.