Category Archives: humor

Tired Tue after Much Ado at the Zoo

What if instead of Tired Tuesday I had Tirade Tuesday?  I could rant and rave over something I feel strongly about.  I could make my point loudly, or at least all in capital letters,  and describe the accompanying gesticulations (“gesticulations” is one of my all-time favorite words).  It would be a powerful statement.  Well, don’t get your hopes up (as if any of you were).  I don’t have that kind of energy.  It is once again Tired Tuesday.

Last night I participated in Much Ado at the Zoo at the Utica Zoo with LiFT Theatre Company.  I thought it went pretty awesomely.  I guess there were some line glitches.  OK, I screwed up one of my Friar speeches.  I recovered my poise and continued.  I neither stumbled nor lost my shoes in my Second Watch scenes (yes, I have done both of those, who do you think I am, Sarah Siddons?). More importantly, the audience loved it. We got all kinds of compliments after the performance.  I must agree with our director, Matt Powers that bringing Shakespeare to the Mohawk Valley is a noble endeavor.

Unfortunately these noble endeavors wear me right out.  I couldn’t even stand up in the shower.  I had to take a bath or stay dirty (don’t worry, I chose bath).  I hope I can find clean clothes for work tomorrow, because I am way too tired to do laundry as I had planned.  As for writing a decent blog post,  well, once again, I ask my wonderful readers to bear with me.  I’m still in the midst of All Much Ado All The Time, but tomorrow I hope to at least come up with something less… tired.  I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Mental Meanderings before Much Ado

That served me right.  I started to work on a cryptogram puzzle instead of writing my blog post, and I could not get it.  It is a similar phenomenon when I play one more game of solitaire (do I need to specify with an actual deck of cards, not on the computer or other device?) (oh, who am I kidding? Nobody plays solitaire on computers any more!), even though I do not have time enough to do so, it is almost always a lousy game.  Well, we cannot always do the right thing and very often we cannot even agree on what the right thing is.

And there goes that theory anyways.  I couldn’t think of anything else to write.  I looked at the puzzle and got it.  Bam.

The preceding is what I wrote while on break at work.  I was going for a Monday Mental Meanderings, I suppose.  The only other thing I got is this:  Under the heading It Take So Little To Please Some People: today is 8/8/16.  Get it?  8 + 8 = 16.  Teehee.  Yes, I am easily amused.  I was going to post that as my Facebook status but I forgot.

I’m afraid this post is not very amusing. In my defense, I have to get to the Utica Zoo by 5 p.m.  We are presenting Much Ado About Nothing at six.  I am suddenly feeling quite nervous about it.  Making sure I remember all my costumes and props, driving to the zoo, finding a place to park… oh yes, and remembering my lines.  I’m going to stop blogging now and look at them.

 

 

 

I Judge that it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday

I did not think I was having too much white wine last night, but perhaps I was.  Or I could blame it on spending a couple hours out in the bright sunlight yesterday enjoying Herkimer’s Village-wide Garage Sales.  Perhaps the combination of the two.  In any case, I am having a Wrist to Forehead Sunday that is even more wrist-to-foreheady (you don’t have to underline that, computer, I know it is not a word) than my usual.  I’ve had a dreadful headache all day that is only just now in abeyance, after copious amounts of water, Gatorade and rest.

Those of you who feel the white wine is to blame and are shaking our head (or your fingers or your booties) in superior condemnation, don’t judge.  At least, I suppose I ought not tell people what to do.  Who am I to judge people for judging me?  For all I know they are perfectly right to do so.  Just because everybody says, “Don’t judge” doesn’t mean nobody should ever judge anybody under any circumstances.  What about federal judge or the Supreme Court?  I feel this is too complicated a question to consider.  It might bring my headache back on.

In any case, I have another bear of a week to prepare for.  Tomorrow is the postponed Much Ado at the Zoo.  That’s 6 p.m. at the Utica Zoo, local readers.  Free with admission to the zoo.  Come see the show!  We have three more performances in Little Falls, in Benton Landing and at Canal Place as part of the Canal Days celebration.  I’ll tell more about those later.  If you want more information, you can consult LiFT’s Facebook page.  You can also Like the Little Falls Canal Celebration page, for information about the whole festival.

 

And It Is SO Pleasant Here out on the Deck

If I have another Pinot Grigio, I may be adding another feature called Sloshed Saturday.  There was one Saturday where I used the title, “Never Drink and Type Be Damned!”  Not a great post, but a rather profound title (or do I flatter myself?).  Be that as it may, I am sitting on my deck trying to get some semblance of a Scattered Saturday post together so I can get back to enjoying my  weekend.

I had to work this morning, rendering my weekend less of one, as you may imagine.  After that I enjoyed Village Wide Garage Sales in Herkimer with my friend Kim.  Later on I had dinner with my husband at the Belly Up Pub (now under New Management).  And in between I had a nap.  Don’t judge.

Last night I participated in a delightful performance of Much Ado About Nothing with LiFT Theatre Company in Caroga Lake, NY.  I must write much, much more about the performance and about LiFt.  However, I feel that right now I shall not be able to reach the profundity the  subject deserves.  Suffice it to say that I had a marvelous time. As with many plays, I have reached the point where I am alternating between “I am never doing another play again” and  “I want a bigger part next time!”

All of this is no matter.  I am over 200 words.  I shall have another glass if Pinot Grigio.  I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday as much as I am.

 

Not Even Time to Think of a Lame Headline

For today’s Friday Lame Post, I shall share what I wrote in my spiral notebook while on lunch at work earlier this week.  I shall add comments as I feel like it.  I think I will put the comments in italics, just to be precious (whatever that means) (I may address that use of “precious” in a future post).  And I just italicized what I just typed in, to be consistent.

My plan, for last week as well as this week, was to write blog posts ahead so I would only have to hit “publish” before heading out for rehearsal or performance.  So far it has not worked out very well.  Still, it’s only Tuesday.  I have hopes for this week.  Not high hopes. As you may guess, I was correct not to harbor high hopes.

Today I am testing a long-held theory of mine.  The theory is:  you can write when you’re in pain as long as it is not a headache.  My wrist is throbbing for unknown reasons.  And here I am writing.  True, it is my left wrist and I am right handed.

Oh!  It hurts like a son of a bitch!  My theory is wrong.

Come to think of it, I knew my theory was wrong years ago.  I had strep throat when I was in college, and it made me feel dreadfully ill.  My head throbbed in a most painful fashion.  But I had exams and I took them.  Well, let me tell you I wrote some of the best essays of my life with my head throbbing.  Maybe part of the reason was that I wanted to get finished and get the hell out of there and back to bed, but I felt as if my brain focused with laser precision and cut through all the crap.

What did I learn from this?  I don’t know, but I think I won’t use this blog post, because I do not like it (oh, I do NOT remember writing that part.  Oh crap).

And I wish my wrist would stop hurting.

My wrist is feeling better, for any kind readers who were concerned.  Probably a stupid pulled muscle or something.  I feel a little silly for having made such a fuss about it, but as I wrote earlier, it did hurt like the proverbial son of a bitch.  I’m wondering if my original assessment of not liking and thus not publishing this post was not the right one.  However, for reasons I have been talking about for weeks (remember, Much Ado About Nothing?), I now only have time to hit “Publish.”  Happy Friday, everyone.

Under the heading, It Takes So Little To Please Some People, I like the way the title of the play is not italicized when it falls in a paragraph that is all italicized.

 

Next Time with the View

Today I shall give a brief, slightly belated shout-out to Cucina Berto in Frankfort, NY, where Steven and I recently enjoyed lunch. We had heard about the place some time ago from Mohawk Valley Living. I’m thinking we just do not eat out often enough, or we would have eaten there sooner, because, yum.

Cucina Berto is located at Frankfort Marina, so there is a lovely view of the water from the tables on the deck.  However, we opted to sit inside, because it was raining.  Inside seating is more limited, but we found a seat with no problem.  The waitress brought us menus.  We both asked for coffee and a glass of water.

We got cheeseburgers.  Steven got fries with his, which he graciously shared with me.  I’m trying to lose weight so should stay away from such things, but sometimes I cannot resist.  They were very good french fries.

I noticed some good-sounding breakfast items on the menu.  Cucina Berto serves breakfast all day, so I can return at any time to try those.  I probably will.

Cucina Berto is located at 143 Marina Park Dr., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-717-7724.  For more information you can visit their website at https://cucinaberto.wordpress.com/.  You can also Like them on Facebook.

 

Much Ado at the Keyboard

Let’s see how this goes.  I am going to do all my internet stuff on my tablet,  thus forcing myself to type using the stylus and giving my left hand a rest.  As I have mentioned before, it is very frustrating. But I must say, sometimes the computer’s suggestions for the next word can be amusing.  For example, they suggested “easy” or “good” when I wanted “frustrated.”

I am pecking (can’t really call it typing) this in the morning  (I know it would be shorter, but I just don’t like calling morning a.m.)  (the parenthetical comments also take their toll), because I have an earlier call for rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing  tonight.

We have a performance Friday at Caroga Lake so are rehearsing there.  I am very fortunate to be getting a ride with my dear friend, Kim.

Full disclosure:  Halfway through the previous paragraph, I stopped pecking and went to work.  Now I am back on my laptop, but I am typing with my right hand and only using my left for the occasional shift.  It is, as you may imagine, still frustrating, and without the added interest of the tablet trying to guess what word I want next. Perhaps my dear readers are trying to guess what sort of post I will make next.  I can only spend so much time whining about my keyboard woes, after all.

In the meantime, I have to get ready for rehearsal.  I hope to see you all tomorrow.

 

Once Again, I’ve Said Too Much

This is not exactly a blogger’s sick day, but I don’t know what else to call it.  The stupidest thing happened.  Oh well, maybe not the STUPIDEST, but stupid enough to call it so, and already I am typing too much.  This morning I got a mysterious pain in my forearm, just a little above my wrist.  I didn’t worry about it, because it didn’t hurt that bad.  I just went to work and went about my business, because, you know, I work for a living.

And it kept hurting.  Off and on, with gusts of real pain followed by lengths of irritation, interspersed with increasingly shorter periods of not feeling bad at all.  I don’t think it was work related, because, well, I wasn’t working all that hard (don’t judge me), and I figured it would go away eventually.  However, I thought it would be a good idea to just mention it to my boss.  You see, if it was work-related, and it turned into something serious, and I hadn’t told anybody, I could get in big trouble.  So I always err on the side of saying something, even at the expense of feeling stupid. I know, it is not an unusual feeling for me.

My boss sent me down to the nurse.  She emphasized that she could not diagnose nor even force me to do anything, but she gave me an ice pack and some ibuprofen and suggested the following:  I should continue to ice and take ibuprofen as needed and wear a wrist brace, which she also gave me, when working.  And I should rest it.  I mentioned that I type a blog every night, and she told me I shouldn’t do that.  She said I could type a very short one, while wearing the wrist brace, and explain that I had an arm problem and would not be blogging for the rest of the week.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Not blog every day?  Say it ain’t so!  Still, one does not want to aggravate an injury, or whatever it is.  And I don’t want anyone at work reading my blog and getting mad at me if my arm still hurts (oh yeah, like any of them reads my blog! I have such an ego).

So this is all of today’s post.  It is longer than I had intended, and perhaps longer than recommended, but I’m even leaving some stuff out.  What can I do?  I know, sign off before I up my word count even more.  Don’t tell the nurse, but I intend to post again tomorrow.  Perhaps I will attempt to type one handed.  Then there could be no possible objection.

 

But Was It A Triumphant Run?

We interrupt All Much Ado All The Time for a running commentary.  If I can write one.

Our production of Much Ado About Nothing faced an interruption of its own when we postponed “Much Ado at the Zoo” from today till next Monday, Aug. 8.  So it is an unexpected night off for me and my fellow cast-members.  Ah, a chance to study my lines, press my costume, do a load of laundry, spend time with my husband.  And run.

I did not run on Sunday, because when I got up it was pouring rain.  I don’t usually run in the rain (although I got rained on plenty later on at rehearsal, as I may have mentioned in yesterday’s post).  I can possibly run before Tuesday’s rehearsal but probably not Wednesday’s.  In short, it would be a good idea to run today.  I spent the day thinking about it, hoping my body would just automatically do it instead of letting my mind talk me out of it.

But, oh, was I tired by the end of the day!  I had my Monday backache, my feet hurt as always, and I was inclined as usual to be a big fat baby about it.  Nevertheless, once I had taken Spunky for his afternoon business meeting, I got on my running clothes.  As I struggled into my sports bras, I felt I was getting a more strenuous workout than the run was going to be.  Don’t bleat “TMI!” at me!  Ladies, I appeal to you, is it not a dreadful experience, wrestling a small spandex harness over a sweaty body?  I was out of breath when I finally triumphed.

My run was less of a triumph.  As I started down the sidewalk, I could tell my body was not going to surprise me with athletic prowess.  Oh, well, I guess it never surprises me with what you might call prowess.  Still, sometimes I feel like I’m rocking it.  Today I felt more like a hunk of rock.  And I could hear the ice cream truck. That damn ice cream truck!  It plays the same tune over and over again, mocking me and sometimes stalking me.  Yeah, I’ll just stop running and eat some FATTENING ice cream! But I don’t have any money in my running clothes. AUGH!

I saw the truck coming down German Street.  I cleverly ran toward it so we would be headed in opposite directions.  Ah ha ha, I triumph!  The truck turned down my street.  I could still hear it perfectly.  It would probably turn at the corner and drive parallel to me.  Like I said, stalking me.  I reflected that at least it would make something silly to add to the blog post.

As I continued to run down German Street, my legs did not feel any better about the exercise.  I kept going anyways.  I even had a couple of very short sprints across the street when cars waved me by.  Still, a sprint is a sprint, right?  I waved thank you to all the cars that stopped for me.  Soon I realized I did not hear the ice cream truck.  I savored the silence.  I was surprised when it lasted for the rest of my run.  True, the run was short, but that ice cream truck can be persistent.

I can’t say I was happy I ran, but I will admit to feeling a certain grim satisfaction.  I recited my lines from the play while I was in the shower.  As I type this post, I am waiting for my husband to get home so I can spend a little time with him.  I don’t know that I will do any of the other chores I mentioned earlier.  But at least I made my blog post.

 

Rainy Wrist to Forehead Sunday

My original title was “Lousy Sunday Afternoon.”  You know, because yesterday was “Lazy Saturday Afternoon.”  But once I typed it, I just didn’t feel like being that way.  Steven had suggested “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.”  I typed that in, wrote the first three sentences of this post, then thought of what I used.  Unless I change my mind before I hit publish, in which case I will change the preceding sentence.

I am back from rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing.  We met at the Utica Zoo, where we have a performance Aug. 8 as part of Utica Monday Night.  It was raining.  I brought an umbrella but had missed the text or email (technology mystifies me) that said we were not doing costumes.  I was in my Second Watch costume.  I took off the shirt (I had on a camisole underneath) and my black socks, changing my clogs for the sandals I wear as the Friar.  Then I put on some earrings I had in my purse.  As long as I wasn’t supposed to be in costume.

The rain got heavier and lighter as rehearsal started.  Some of us stood on stage with our umbrellas, acting.  We felt all method in one scene, where a character mentioned it was drizzling rain.  A few zoo patrons were also braving the weather.  We cordially invited them all back tomorrow.  My main problem is there was no dry place to sit down when I did not have to be on stage.  Also, I was pretty sure the stuff in my bag were getting wet, although that seemed better than standing there holding a heavy bag for hours.  I was not sorry   when rehearsal was over.  It is certainly more pleasant to rehearse in more agreeable weather.  Still, the show must go on.

The play seems to be coming together very well.  I cordially invite all my readers to our performance at the Utica Zoo.  It is at 6 p.m., free with zoo admission.  For details look for the Facebook event.  And have a Happy Rainy Sunday.

One small note:  This is an updated post.  When written earlier today, the event was scheduled for tomorrow, Aug. 1.  It has since been rescheduled to the 8th due to weather concerns. Sorry for any confusion.