Who the heck do I think I am?

I found out who the music director will be for Seussical and OMG, it makes me feel 100x better about the whole thing! He's not only a fab MD, he works with young kids all the time and so he'll really be in the zone with this half middle-school cast. YAYZ.

I wasn't at rehearsal, however, because I had an audition. Which went fine - but it'll be a while before I hear anything.


So now I'm watching Project Runway and putting together a to-do list for tomorrow.


Also, I meant to say last time, that I'm still really enjoying "Mark Reads Harry Potter" but there have definitely been times when I think, "Jesus, Mark, how can you NOT have figured this out?!" It takes me back to the endless debate days when people actually thought Snape was not acting as a double agent. Or when people couldn't figure out that Hermione was time-travelling. Or that Lupin was a shapeshifter (I won't say werewolf because hey, I thought he was shifting into the Grimm because I thought he was Sirius Black in disguise. So in a way I was a book early). I haven't read his reviews in a couple days (when I left off he was somewhere around Chapter 16), but it's both interesting and frustrating that for someone with his experience of the genre, he doesn't seem to be thinking very critically about what's happening. But maybe that's just because he's reading it just as it comes and not trying to speculate very hard. Still. There's only so much, "BZUH? WTF WTF WTF?!" one can take....

That said, I'm still enjoying his reviews and finding the process interesting. And I'm very intrigued by his reaction to the books especially without any kind of break in between, since it's long been a theory of mine that future generations will be at a huge advantage to those of us who had to wait, who had time to theorize, who had contact with one another and encouraged each other to play around in the Potterverse. These generations (like Mark) will read straight through and thus they won't necessarily stop and think about the inconsistencies and the plot holes and the other flaws in the books - especially the last three. They don't have the expectations that were built up over years and months of waiting, and particularly the collective brain power of thousands of people, of whom at least a few hundred were really perceptive and intelligent and creative and came up with brilliant theories (and some cracktastic ones!) that turned out to be far off-track - and in some cases, IMO, better than what we got. So I'll be very interested to see if the payoff works way better for him, as a representative of generations to come.


Oh, and Playreading. Hm. It was interesting. Of course, some of our play suggestions were made before we knew that we're being forced to change our traditional venue, so we scratched a lot off that might have been a really good stretch had we been able to stay put. But at the same time, I think there are some assumptions at work in the committee that may not be accurate. We'll see....

I'm watching Tim Gunn lose it on Project Runway ("animal wooly balls" vs "real balls" - yeah, if you don't know what I'm talking about you're probably better off).

I have dried out the sleeping bags, but the tent probably needs to at least be set out on the other side, probably better to actually set it up (oy). And I need water seal for the seams.

So the quick ( Pennsic Update )

I went to the grocery store today for milk (yay!) and more cheese (my open cheese got moldy while I was away) and will do a "real" full grocery shop tomorrow or over the weekend when the new flyer prices go into effect. (Need soda, yogurt, dinners.... but have a coupon!) I also got QUARTERS so I can do my laundry! I did a load of whites (with bleach) but needed more change to continue.

Have decided not to pursue Aflac. I've contacted them a total of 3 times now on separate occasions and apparently they can't be arsed to get back to me. Screw'em. The guy at the bank suggested I apply there. Hm.

I also need to go to Macy's to see about the perfume spritzer (yes, the saga continues!). Short version of story: It definitely leaked while at war, the temperatures were hot enough to sort of "bake" the ester and I have visible proof that the bottle leaks. A little pointed questioning of Joel resulted in his not only remembering that he bought it at Macy's, not Sephora as previously believed, *but* that his receipt was still in the bag in his bedroom. From 2 1/2 years ago!!!! Frightening, but not a bad thing in this case. So I am armed with the receipt now, too!

I must re-motivate to start looking for work again. I can't seem to get up the energy. I've been sleeping a lot.

And I must clean. Oy. Really, really need to clean. I currently fear that I accidentally returned the unused high-capacity black toner cartridge instead of a used one. Sigh.


I'm caught up on Project Runway, and I'm ready for tonight's new episode. I watched last week's Burn Notice but I think I missed one in there. But USA shows it all the time. I also watched last night's new The Choir but BBC America does not, apparently, repeat the old episodes as much as I would like, so I missed one there, too.

Way behind on White Collar and others. Meh.

I did get an order from Amazon that I ordered with gift certificates: A Little Princess (the good, BBC / Wonderworks TV version); Chronicles of Narnia (ditto, the BBC / Wonderworks one), Snoopy (replacing the CD stolen from my car about 4 years ago), Season 2 of The Closer, and The Addams Family - the musical. Turns out etakyma bought the same soundtrack! Wish I'd known, but oh well.

But I am also loving Top Gear on BBC America. OMG, these boys are SOOO funny. And they are boys. They constantly play tricks on each other. It's like if Moony, Padfoot and Prongs grew up and had a car review show. Seriously. (Jeremy is Moony, Hammond is Pads and James May is Prongs, of course.)

And Alternity? Man, it's awesome. I love that even when there are issues behind the scenes, we work them through and we're committed to helping each other remove roadblocks and at least trying to keep it fun for everyone. We don't always succeed - because let's face it some characters just are harder to play in Alternity than others - but we sure as hell try. Meanwhile, I think the measures we take do improve the game, not just for those characters but for everyone, and offer new dimensions for the readers, too.

So y'all should read it. Really.

Oh, and I found out that somehow I missed the email about the October cabaret thing that Wellesley's doing - but I got to the organizers in time. And I even talked them into a solo! So that'll be cool and rehearsals start at the end of the month. I'm sure there are other auditions to look out for, too. Back to the grind.

And back to job search. Bleah. But there's simply no alternative. I have to get a job.

This week has been tech week for Fiddler.

Which would have been a lot easier had I not come down with a horrid cold Monday morning.

I am still impossibly stuffed up and snuffly, but at least I feel human again. My nose hurts like almighty whatever, though, from the copious tissue-abrasions.

The show is shaping up really, really well, however.


Meanwhile, a Netflix review: Lost in Austen. ( Cut for potential spoilers )

So, yeah. I'm not sure whether A would like it or hate it, since she hates Austen (which I find really interesting, because I also lose patience for the writing, but not the characters and I love film versions of the stories), but it's not *really* a faithful representation of Austen. It's more of a wink and a nod - it's kind to the material, but not slavishly reverent. Real fans of Austen should definitely check it out, but don't expect the same story you know!


In other news, I'm still unemployed. There are still few to no jobs I'm seeing that I'm interested in *and* qualified for. There are still too many jobs for which I'm grossly *over*qualified but that hold no interest for me. And while the weather was great this week, Monday was the *only* day I managed to get outside and walk, because the whole rest of this week, I've been so much with the headcold. This has to be the worst cold I've had in three years, easily. Gak.


Oh, and one little thing on the Infinitus front: SQUEE is coming. Serious, serious SQUEE. Wait for it....

1. I have the best heterosexual life partner ever (Christmas, and I suck - but I have new socks, books, all of Harper's Island on DVD, and a new rotary cutting board, ruler, and rotary cutter. Japanese garb will be EASY, yay!)

2. I am an idiot and left my phone at her house.


ETA: Okay, three things.

3. "Black Books" is teh funneh. OMG. Lost half a day and I'm sure I'll lose much of tomorrow watching over on IMDB.

Large and small.

Okay, first off: no, I did not watch Show. I did not watch Pushing Daisies. I also didn't watch Bones. I watched "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" on HBO (and missed half of it because of my father!) and liked what I saw. It's charming. And Anika Noni Rose is HILARIOUS.

Then I tried watching some of the "Highlander" marathon until I remembered that the final ER was on, so I switched to that about 20 minutes in. OMG, Ernest Borgnine! I thought he was dead. Yay.

And I cried. And I approved of the ending.


So, I am still way behind on SPN. Meh.


( CELL PHONE WOE! )


There were wild turkeys in the lot behind our building today! I have pictures; just no USB cable to upload them. Two cocks (roosters? heh, I said cock) and a few hens (3? 4? I fail at counting).


Okay, so the other decision I can't make is on Amazon:

Vote for your Favorite Sesame Street Clip for the 40th anniversary DVD.

There are ten clips:

Aligator King (the number 7)
Bert & Ernie (the one where Ernie has tied string to his fingers to remind him - not as classic as the banana, sadly)
King of Eight (Good grief, it's princess number 9)
the Martian Beauty Song (she doesn't like shoppin' cause she doesn't like hoppin')
"What's the Name of That Song?" (YAY JOE RAPOSO and JEFF MOSS)
Pinball Animation (1-2-3-FOUR-5-6-7-8-NINE-10-11-12)
Caribbean Amphibean (he likes to hop in the tropical sea! A frog in the coconut tree)
Big Bird singing about the number 4 (cute number but nothing special)
a Henson ball (which is an impressive Rube Goldberg machine, but otherwise kinda boring)
Elmo's "debut" (which was a bit of a tap-dance routine featuring pretty crappy greenscreening - and therefore disqualified).

As much as I love the cuteness of the Alligator, the King of Eight, the Maritan Beauty, and the Caribbean Amphibean, and as much as I would hate not to see another Raposo/Moss song be highlighted, I think it has to be the Pinball Animation - because ANYONE who's ever seen Sesame Street can sing that and it sorta symbolizes everything about Sesame Street's goal to teach counting and basic skills.

But oh, I love those other clips. You should go vote!

I should do some freaking work today....

My favorite film version of Inherit the Wind is on Encore - it was an 80's TV-movie version with Jason Robards, Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Kyle Secor, and Megan Follows.

AWESOME.

But it's not out on DVD, according to Amazon. SO SAD.

This is superior, IMO, even to Frederic March and Spencer Tracy, and WAY better than Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott.

I shall now be enraptured for the next two hours.

So.

I drove my car to the mechanic this morning to ask about the potential harm to the car if I drove around with the emissions system leaking.

The mechanic didn't even want to look at it. He said, "It's not going to lock your engine. The most that'll happen is you might see a decline in your mileage. But if you're getting rid of it...don't bother doing anything with it. Come in right before you're about to trade it in and we'll turn off the engine light for you. Then let them deal with it."

Which was GREAT. But it left me with my car, halfway to work, and nowhere to leave it.

So I drove back to the mall again, and parked by Best Buy this time, and caught the bus. Missing the first one, as usual. But that's okay.

Work was...work.

But then. I took the bus back and got off at the mall and went into Best Buy to see if they had a. any sort of case for the sidekick; b. anything inexpensive and t00bulous to buy. They didn't have a case that would fit, but that's okay. I walked around the movies and carried a $4.99 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure for a bit, and also a $14.99 double-set of Good Morning, Vietnam and Dead Poet's Society - all of which were short on features, but hey, the *movie* is what you watch most often?

Then I saw the Alien Nation Movie Collection. For $40. Which felt too expensive. So I put it back.

Then I saw something *else* for $25. Which felt about right. But I said to myself, "I should check it on Amazon before I get it. I wonder how much the Alien Nation is?"

Then I remembered that I had a SIDEKICK with me.

Ahem. They have the Alien Nation set for about $26ish - so that was right out. But the other thing? It was actually $2 more expensive, which, by the time I paid tax, was just about the same. So I put back Bill, Ted, and Robin-squared and bought the other thing.

You guys.

Voyagers. Jon-Erik Hexum and the kid.

OH. MY. GODS.

Yeah, so when I was 10? I wanted to be that kid. Not because I crushed on Jon-Erik Hexum but because I'd get to TRAVEL THROUGH TIME. With a device kind of like the old TARDIS, in that it *malfunctioned* all the time and there was no predictability. YAYS.

This is SUCH a guilty pleasure. I'm sure it's going to be utterly painful, because, hello, it wasn't that good then, but to a 10-year-old, it was AWESOME.

And yeah, I shouldn't be buying DVDs just before Pennsic. But hey.

Jon-Erik Hexum. As a bad Jules Verne pun. And the OMNI.

I'm just sayin'.

Anyway - the point is that the Sidekick? Totally made me feel good about my purchase. (Thanks, Heidi!)

And I've just driven the car for probably the last time until I return from war. Sigh.

We had a huge storm this afternoon.

Huge. And still coming. So the office closed early, our read-through got canceled, and I get to WATCH MY SHOW tonight!

Of course, it took a solid FIVE HOURS to get home. Left at 1:30 PM, got off the bus at Mem Drive before it turned right for Kendall and *walked* 15 minutes to Central Square. Ten minutes later I was at Harvard...where I waited for 40 minutes for a 73, and then we crawled (pretty much literally) all the way down Mt. Auburn / Trapelo. After an additional 90 minutes on the bus...I hopped off at Slade street, popped into the CVS there for milk (and eggnog) and walked the rest of the way home.... and got in at 6:30 after slogging through ALL THAT SNOW.

Jeebus. However, I've changed, I'm warm, I'm IN, and I will have SHOW in about half an hour. With eggnog.

Hee.

OH - and the wonderful and darn-near incomparable ficwriter1966 posted her response to my fic request of a few months ago as part of her marathon Christmas ficapalooza. It's called "Family Ties" and it's up here.

Go read and give her some love! Bobby! Dean! Ties!

Okay, y'all, 'fess up:

If you've posted music downloads or playlists lately, especially for classic rock or fannish music, please point me to them.

If you have posted with downloads of "Pushing Daisies," or "Reaper," or any of the other new shows this season (that I haven't had a chance to see), please point me.

Flist at skip=390 and not finding what I'm looking for....

Love,

Me

So, a while back, I auditioned for Wellesley's fall production of "Steppin' Out." I was not cast.

This was a bit of a bummer, because I was really hoping for an opportunity to get better at tap, because it's my weakest dance form. And considering how out of shape I am, that's saying something.

Well, I got a call from the director last night. They need to replace a cast member, and would I be interested?

Hell, yeah. Only of course, now I've got all that travel booked out right up to the weekend just before the show. I sent the director my conflicts to find out what he thought - would it be workable?

Answer: Yes.

So now I'm in a show this fall, in addition to everything else. I went to rehearsal last night and luckily, Rita had ordered a very nice pair of taps for a cast member who, it turns out, doesn't need them. And they're my size. I just need a heel insert because the heels are a little loose. But this means I'll have shoes for Thursday night's dance rehearsal!

Yes, you heard me right: THURSDAY Nights. The nights that I have to get up early the next day. The nights when I'm usually packing to go out of town. The nights when Supernatural is aired! Ack.

Well, I have access to a closed community that posts the episodes after they've aired. I've also got iTunes, and I'm debating whether to purchase the whole season, because frankly, if I get in (as I hope I will) to any shows this spring (there's about 5 I'd love to be involved in), well, it's highly likely that I'll have the Thursday night conflict again. Thursdays are way popular for rehearsals.

So, to aid my decision-making, a Poll:

[Poll #1054233]