Who the heck do I think I am?

It's been a busy dang weekend.

Yesterday morning, etakyma and I went to the Museum of Science to take advantage of a Groupon offering the chance to tour Cambridge - by Segway. Segways are totally, totally cool.

And wicked easy to use. Amy had a little trouble just after we left the training paddock, but within a few minutes we were both zooming around like pros. We had a fabulous time with our tour guide (Evan), who was Our Kind of Geek. And there were bits and pieces of Cambridge that I had never really known much about. The tour took in the park that was installed as part of the Big Dig, went down along one of the canals built in Cambridge (which I'd actually been to before, but it was at night and I was actually trying to find a restaurant and had taken a wrong turn), and then down to MIT. It was cool to tootle down to MIT again, though I have to say that my perception of MIT's campus and buildings is forever coloured by participating in Civilite.

We freely admit, though, that the real reason for taking the tour was simply to gain the experience of riding a Segway! Which was SO COOL! And I can now state for the record that Quidditch on Segways would be completely awesome and totally safe.

We also saw a Planetarium show (which was marred only by the rather fractious child next to us, but her mother finally took her out), and then wandered a mere half-mile away to the site of my boss's wife's art show, which was good.

A took a nap and then went home, leaving me to fend for myself for supper. More adventur ensued when I decided to have A Beer with my pizza. I chose (unwisely) to use the bottle opener on my all-purpose kitchen shears and when I had finally pried the cap loose, the beer exploded all over my PJs. I swiftly set the beer down in my kitchen sink (thank goodness I had just washed the dishes) and ran to the bathroom to strip off my now beer-soaked PJs and leave them in the tub to dry before adding them to the laundry. Except that when I go to toss the PJs in the tub? THERE'S A SPIDER IN THERE!!

A big one, too.

Yeah. Well, he was down by the drain, so I dumped the discarded clothes at the other end and proceeded to put on fresh PJs - and shoes. Because gods know, I can't be expected to KILL A SPIDER barefoot (let alone naked)! I grabbed my trusty spider-swatter and thus armed, proceeded to Battlefield: Bathroom. He tried to run into the pile of clothes, but I got him before he was able to hide in their beery folds. Terror! But I prevailed. Then I ate - and drank what was left of the beer. Half a beer is better than none?

That was a pretty full day by itself. But then I added today to yesterday.

NEW GLASSES! Ouch. $500 of new glasses (though that's both regular and a pair of prescription sunglasses). No, they were NOT very expensive frames. In both cases, the lenses were way more expensive than the frames, in fact. And guess what? LensCrafters does not accept EITHER my health insurance OR the vision care insurance I took out expressly because I knew I would be replacing my glasses! Well, I understand that I can submit claims directly to both and see what I get reimbursed. But... PITA. All-around PITA.

And of course, had to spend two hours malling while waiting for the glasses (because sunglasses take two hours, not one). Which is okay - I had a birthday present to shop for and I needed new 'intimates' - but zoicks. Those little errands (plus a couple others) set me back another couple hundred (literally). I was in the mall for 6 hours, altogether! And then I still had to hit Target for a couple other items.

Man, I'm tired.

And broke.

But I do like my new glasses. I especially like being able to see properly.

It's been a weekend of really good food.

First, we had the Wellesley Players' Annual meeting on Saturday night. Always a good group of people. Some community theatre groups really aren't very social outside of shows, but this one really does function more as a large support network, as much as it is a group of people with a common interest in theatrical production.

The "entertainment" was fun - in that it was mainly a singalong. Yeah. Get about 50 musical theatre geeks together with a professional piano player and a tonne of music books. Stir. Very silly.

And there was one young lady for whom this was her first contact with us - how adorable is it that she came to Fiddler, loved it, decided, "I must get involved with this group" - saw the party notice on the website, asked if she could come, signed up to sing, hung out... I mean, seriously? That's just awesome.

Then Sunday a bunch of Players also went to a production of Annie Get Your Gun starring the young woman who'd played Tzeitel in our Fiddler. She was amazing - head and shoulders the best thing in the show (though their Frank had a great voice and was absolutely gorgeous, he was a weak actor). And afterward we went to dinner (technically I invited myself and A) at a restaurant down the street. We were all SO HUNGRY by the time we got to dinner that we were eating the berries out of our sangria glasses, praying for the bread to come, etc. But the food was excellent - I had mushroom ravioli - if a smidge more than we were planning (or had cash) to spend.

And then I had a fabulous dinner last night with byronhaverford at Market in Boston. I actually ate tuna! It was seared and rolled in a cracked rice cracker crust and it was really rather yummy. Then I had the lamb chops (mainly because someone in our party Sunday had had lamb and it put me in the mood), C had the bass, and we each hogged our desserts - his was a carmelized banana cake and mine was an absolutely DIVINE passionfruit souffle. Stuffed. And nearly 10:00 by the time we were done - gotta love fine dining!

An even more pleasant surprise to find that apparently, old job never shut off my T-pass, so when I went to add value to what I thought was a Charlie card with about $10 on it, I instead found that I had a Monthly Pass expiring on 5/31/10 (which is what it always says, then resets on the next month). I had been told they would drop the recharge once I went off payroll. Apparently someone has goofed - but I'm happy as it got me into town and back for "free" basically. (And yeah, if I'd known THAT, I'd've totally gone in to town that way the day I wound up paying $30 in parking!!!)

Of course that means I'm not 100% certain where the other Charlie Card is....


Meanwhile, shared my resume with a consulting / recruiting professional and she suggested changing to a "results-based" resume (yeah, the arrogance of that kills me), and beatricedwinter says I should craft multiple resumes focused on job area (i.e., one for conference planning; one for arts administration, etc.).

What are y'all's resume strategies? It's not a bad thing to redo the resume, mind, especially since re-uploading them generates activity / new interest on job boards.


And in totally other news: OMG, I have diverted a DISASTER of double-booking.

Back at Christmas, grouchyoldcoot gave me a gift certificate for tickets to see a touring company in the Pittsburgh CLO summer season. We had to pick the date and fill out the response card, and mail it in. Tickets were supposed to be mailed in April.

We looked at the schedule, selected our performance (Curtains) and date (June 26th), and sent it in.

And forgot about it. And I didn't update my calendar.

Last night, halfway through dinner, something triggered my memory banks. And I said, "OH, CRAP!! June 26th! A. We were supposed to get the tickets in April and it's May; B. THAT'S THE WEEKEND OF OUR REGISTRATION STUFFING PARTY!!!!" Ack. I simply cannot bail on that!

So, on the way home, I called Joel, who confirmed he had not received the tickets. This morning, I started calling around to confirm the tickets and hopefully get them changed.

Heh.

Well. First phone call only tells me that the ticket request was passed on. She transfers me to someone who tells me that they were processed and mailed and "There are no refunds or exchanges" - well, phooey on them, I think. But we might as well get the tickets and if nothing else, he can go with someone in town. Which would suck, but still. And I'm not convinced there's nothing that can be done, either. Because it's not like I want to exchange shows, I just want to change the date. But, she tells me I can call a different number to request a reprint. This phone call (after convincing the girl that yes, zip codes do start with 0 in some places!), confirmed that my tickets did exist, but I could talk to someone else to request a reprint. That someone was Luke, who, when I requested a change of date, said, "Sure!" and told me the available dates.

The show runs Tuesday - Saturday of that week. And I'll be in that part of the country the weekend before for Bardic Roundhouse in the MK. So. What do I do?

"We'll take Tuesday, thanks!"

Yeah, I am a master. Of course, this assumes that I will still not be working and have no demands on my time - but y'know, that's okay. I will take a job over "Curtains" if necessary, but as I do have the time at the moment, it's an elegant solution.

So it looks like I'll be in Pittsburgh on Monday, June 21st. Anyone want to get together?


Meanwhile, I am now back on the diet - balancing that with the fact that I have massive leftovers from Saturday's party (one of the advantages of being on the clean-up crew).

I'm so behind on everything....

But the show opened last night (yay!) and I experienced a second occurrence that I really hope does not turn into a tradition. I was rear-ended in traffic. Luckily, it was incredibly minor (at least on my end). It was one of those bumper-to-bumper situations where traffic ahead of me started, but the car *directly* in front of me didn't go right away. But the person *behind* me thought we were going, so she tapped her accelerator. So, 5 MPH, maybe? Her BMW was much more messed up than my SUV bumper - I mean, I don't even know if there's anything (other than paint) to fix. Though that said, if there is anything, I will get it fixed because hello, I don't want rust. She was really, really upset at the time (which was way disproportionate to the accident, so lucky for me I was completely calm), and she called me this morning (at 8:15, UGH!) to find out if I'm okay and apologize for falling apart, and to make sure that I had all her information.

I figure - hey, I've been at fault in accidents before, ones with much more extensive (though never injurious) damage, and I was fortunate that at least once, when I was really upset about it, the other driver was calm, collected, and not wanting to rip me a new one for fucking up his car. Even when I was hit on the way to "Steppin' Out," the worst part wasn't the trunk damage (which wasn't dramatic, but was enough to stop the trunk from opening easily for the rest of the life of the car), it was that I was on my way to the performance and I was worried I'd be late. And I think I was pretty calm with that woman, too. Point being, I've been there myself, and I know how it feels to want the last five seconds back.

Then I witnessed another almost-accident on the way home... at 1:30 AM... after going out drinking after the show (which was a whole 'nother story. We tried to go to the 99 and it was closed, so we all tried to go to TGI Friday's before they closed, got in JUST before last call, but just as they finally brought our drinks and food, a Framingham cop started going round to everyone saying, 'You've got 5 minutes before they close up.' And everyone got really pissed, because, dude, we'd JUST got our stuff. If we weren't going to have time to sit and enjoy, they shouldn't have served us at all). So I'm in Waltham and I turned up the side street to bypass all the lights on 20, and there's a monster truck two cars ahead and a little VW Passat behind him. The truck swings wide to the left, clearly about to turn right but with NO SIGNAL, and the Passat tries to slip in front of the truck...on the right. They came within an inch of hitting.

I hung back while the guys got out and checked their cars. There was a little discussion but no exchange of info - and no violence, which was good. Because honestly, could have gone that way, and if I'd had to be a witness, I'd've been obligated to say they were both boneheads.

Anyway....

So, this coming week marks four months of unemployment. It's the longest I have *ever* gone without working. Even during my previous worksearches, I was temping and getting money coming in within a few weeks of my layoff. But with this worksearch, I dunno, it's hard to find temp jobs that are "worth" doing compared to collecting unemployment. But on the other hand, there's a strain to being out of the workforce for so long, losing touch, losing routine, etc. I haven't been nearly as productive as I aspired to be - though since the weather has improved (well, not early this week!), I've been walking more and really focusing on trying to get back in shape.

(Speaking of which, Champion now has a low-cost version of the ultra-high-tech Sketchers that improve your butt while you walk, which is itself a US version of MBT shoes, which have been around in the UK for a few years already. Anyway, Champion sells through Payless, and the shoes are $30 instead of $100. I knew it was just a matter of time.)

But back to the "no work" thing. Well, I did get a call yesterday about a possible contract position. It's an AA, but they're specifically looking for someone with project management experience (which is interesting), and the pay is fairly good, though it's apparently somewhere west (I think she said Westwood? It wasn't Westboro, but I didn't hear the name of the town clearly). I said I'd at least be interested in talking to them. Why not?

And so many reports and blogs and newsletters are saying that contract work and other new models are becoming the norm, much more than direct hires. Which makes sense - it was trending that way even before the economy slipped - but it makes for a career of constant change. I don't mind that mindset when it's *theatre*, but I really prefer a little more stability in the rest of my life.

So, the dilemma facing me is whether I should go back to that career coach and say, "yeah, okay, my way is totally not working. Let's plunk down some cash and start networking" or whether I lower standards and go back to Admin work just to get back in the game.

Something else to do, especially now that I'm into the show and out of rehearsals, is refocus on the other projects - recording and such. And I have to finish "spring cleaning" which also now includes reorganizing the basement storage.

And there's still more theatre. I just bit the bullet and joined "StageSource" in order to put in for their auditions in June. (The deadline is in just over a week.) Which means I have until June to get my hair cut decently again, get a good headshot, and get ready to audition.

And I have to start really working on learning lines for "Medea" and "The Final Battle" - but that's been on the burner for a while.


Meanwhile, Target is having a HUGE DVD sale including lots of TV. So I got Burn Notice S2, How I Met Your Mother S4, and Weeds S5 for just over $50 (for all three). Which blows the entertainment budget for a good while (sigh), but I couldn't stop myself. Honest.

In other entertainment news, I've been working through my birthday present from Amy. It's a BBC series called "The Last Detective" with Peter Davison as the maligned "Dangerous Davies" - the "last detective" anyone would want working a case. Except he's really a good detective. He's just a very unlucky one.

And I'm two ep's behind on SPN, Chuck, probably a few others. I still haven't seen the White Collar season finale from a few weeks back (though I'm not worried about it), and I'm WAY behind on The Closer and others. But I did finish the first season of "Lost" via Netflix and it's okay. I'll probably move on to season 2 at some point.


And now I need fooooood.

This has been a rather intense week. And no, I'm not cutting it. So there.

A short while ago, I offered to record a bunch of audio narration files for a pervasive game that flourish and a friend of hers were working on, called Civilite. The narratives took several locations around the MIT campus and transformed them into 19th-C. Parisian locations. It was so cool-sounding that I asked if I could play in the play-test.

And I did.

But it came on perhaps the busiest week I've had since I've been back after Christmas. Arisia was last weekend - convenient, in one sense, as it was just up the street from MIT, but also resulting in much walking and many late nights. Then this week, I had rehearsals every night, including two for the Weston gala performance last night, plus the gala itself, and plus there was voting this week (which did, like, no good, of course), and a few other miscellaneous errands (groceries, etc.).

On the upside, I did a LOT of walking this week, so it was good for me to get out and be active.

On the downside, it sapped a lot of energy.

I didn't suck at the game, but it was hard to not have easy access to the campus at all hours, as some of the other players did. I at least managed my planned double-cross expertly, though it's interesting that the character's post-game story included some negative consequences, though the character still survived and managed to escape to a less illustrious existence. That's not so surprising, though, considering some of the goals of the research study component of the play-test. Ethical choices and pressures, indeed. I am not really all that burdened with those. ;^D


I also did really well all week with the dieting - mostly because I was out and didn't spend money on any food while I was out, and didn't have time for anything more than micromeals before going out again - and then of course, this weekend. Blown. Spent a lot of money going out with the cast of the gala, too, but well, that was social, at least. Must get back out of the habit of drinking, as it more than doubles the bill. Diet Coke is just fine without that shot of Jack in. I don't need a margarita, either. (Although I *WAS* good Friday and had a salad instead of dessert, but Saturday we had cheesecake and brownies and I split chicken fingers with another cast member. Today? Leftover cake, sigh. Cheese and crackers for dinner. then a piece of cheescake for dessert. Must resist the tray of goodies leftover from the show!)

(There's a fun story about Victoria's Secret in here, too. I tried to find a better undergarment for my dress, being nearly backless. And Amy and I took one look at VS's "solution" and proceeded to construct one... for about $2.25 in materials and five minutes' sewing, instead of the $50 it would have cost for a bra and this little halter thing! Yeah.)


I had to make a mad dash to rehearsal tonight. For the second time since we started! Oy. I swear I read the schedule, but all I saw for tonight was "Russians and Bottle dancers." I didn't see the "Work Scenes 1-6 with principals" that was written *ABOVE* "Russians and Bottle Dancers". Oops. Luckily I screamed out there and made it in about 20 minutes. Narg.


But I got some interesting news today, too. Two of my SPN stories have been nominated for "No Rest for the Wicked" awards. I'm not sure what that is, but there are some cool folks nominated in various categories, like musesfool and copperbadge so I guess I'm in good company. The fics are Sometimes a Day Goes By for angst and The Children's Hour for best gen. And that's really interesting, because a. they're both older stories, and b. I don't even think TCH is my best gen fic. I don't know if there's a word limit, though, and most of my better stuff is longer.

I also don't know what I'm supposed to do, other than respond to "accept" the nomination. I'm a little new at this, getting recognized for writing, that is. It doesn't happen often.


Alternity continues to be awesome, if a little slowish. I know that events will pick up soon, though, so keep reading it, if you are! (And if you are, let us know? What do you think of how we're doing? We'll keep going, but a little feedback does help on occasion....)



Job search is nowhere. It's hard to stay motivated. I have callbacks for "The Final Battle" to prep this week (due the 30th!) and I dunno. Other stuff.

I guess that's pretty much the state of the Gwen right now.

Yes, yes, I know.

Mainly, I've been using LJ for about the past, oh, 9 months, as an outlet for roleplaying gaming (in the form of hpalternity which is more fun than should be legal), and thus not really using this journal much, at all, or doing much of anything else terribly creative writing-wise.

I have, however, been planning a certain conference...which let me just say is going to be HELLA AWESOME and OMG AMAZING and is in YIPE! Two Weeks!

Followed by Comic-Con International.

Followed by Pennsic.

Yes, I am a CRAZY person, why do you ask?

But, I needed to post about something important and (getting more and more) shiny: My New Palm Pre.

She's a coy little thing sometimes, but I am learning her quirks. I picked her up Wednesday and she's actually a twin - her sister had some out-of-the-gate issues and the friendly tech at the Sprint store switched devices - but she and I are in those new stages of a relationship. As Amy said, I'm trying to determine if this little beauty will give me "the love [I] need from a cell phone."

There were a few bumps in the first 24 hours, but since making friends with my phone's very large and comprehensive User Guide, I am learning the ins and outs of Pre ownership. I already LOVE the apps and wish there were more.

Downsides are that the text editor will take some practice (I am SO still not used to the lack of a fast, easy trackball) and the QWERTY keyboard is a. very small and b. not fully featured (like no Tab, only one Alt and one Shift key (both on the left thumb) and y'know, little quirky things that will just take adjustment to over time). I would love an app for it that pops up a regular touchpad keyboard like the IPhone, but perhaps that will come soon. My father will be *thrilled* that I have downloaded the "AccuWeather" app and can now tell him *exactly* what the weather is doing wherever we are.

One thing that is frustrating me currently is that I can't seem to figure out how to get music to synch to the phone. Theoretically one plugs in the USB port, tells it to import "media", and it just ... does. But that's not happening and the manual and the online help don't seem to want to tell me why. It may be a call to the support staff at Palm. Unless someone knows? Maybe I'll check the Palm website for help.

We even ate dinner tonight courtesy of the Pre's "CitySearch" app. Found a new restaurant that went in on Moody street where the Iguana Cantina used to be. Pretty good food, too.

We got together here and not in Framingham (I've mostly been going there these past couple months to either help or stay out of the way in Amy's pre-Azkatraz Project Factory), because the local theatre, the one that plays more arts films, was showing "Moon." This is Duncan Jones' full-length directorial debut. And while that might not mean a lot to many of you, to me and Amy it has significance: he was two years behind us in college.

Yeah.

It was a really good movie and we're very proud of him, even though Amy only took one class with him (Playwriting) and I never even properly met him.

Did I mention that I'm running a conference? It's sort of an accomplishment, I guess.


Anyway. So. Conference. Alternity. Palm Pre. Job continues. Stress puppy = me.

Yeah.