Category Archives: personal

Exit, Stage Lame

You know, like how Snagglepuss used to say, “Exit, stage left!”  I always liked that line.

Of course it is Lame Post Friday.  Perhaps you hoped I would not have one, since yesterday’s post was, well, I guess a little lame, too.  Then again, that usually doesn’t stop me (ssSomebody, sstop me!) (like Jim Carrey in Mask, a movie I have only seen once, not all the way through) (have you just lost all respect for me?).

Where was I? Ah yes, trying to get my blog post published before I get ready for rehearsal for Roxy, the play being put on by Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre (I thought it would be good to say that again).  It is one week before opening night.  They still have not gotten the gallows squared away, which I suppose should be good news for me, since I am playing the character who gets hanged.  Rehearsal may run late, but that is OK with me, because I don’t have to work tomorrow. Yay!

I have my contact lenses in, which I very rarely wear.  I get the one-day disposables for precisely that reason.  I get awesome distance vision with them.  Close up, not so much.  To see my computer properly I have on a pair of over-the-counter readers.  Full disclosure: I bought them because they were on sale and had rhinestones.  I don’t know what power they are.

I shall declare  this post sufficient for Lame Post Friday purposes.  I must go do my hair, look over my lines, and get ready to murder my husband with an ax, theatrically speaking, of course. Happy Friday, everyone.

 

In My Defense, Shut Up!

How’s that for a Non-Sequitur Thursday title?  I like it.

I did not write a blog post during breaks at work.  Before work I started a letter to a friend.  On breaks I worked on cryptogram puzzles. I love doing cryptogram puzzles.  I feel so clever when I solve them.  I may flatter myself, but I think the letter I was writing was witty and entertaining.  I probably used up all my wit and entertainment value for the day, so sorry about that.

Tonight is the only night this week when I do not have to be somewhere.  And the place I am most looking forward to being is… BED!  With my husband (and don’t anybody say TMI or I’ll get mad!).  One might think that on such a night I could come up with a better blog post, but I  don’t know why one who knew me might think that.

On an unrelated note (but how appropriate for the day) (see first sentence), I am SICK of seeing that commercial for the cookbook about stuff you can put in your crock pot.  That dumb lady saying, “This could take hours, but what if it only took FIVE MINUTES!”   In the first place, it’s five minutes plus eight to ten hours.  In the second place, why would I pay $10 for a book that tells me to put canned mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix in my crock pot?  I’ve been using those two ingredients FOR YEARS!!!

Anyways that puts me over 200 words.  As a final note, I will just tell you that at the end of my work day, I was singing a song that went, “Tomorrow is Friday, and they can’t make us work on Saturday, and we don’t have to work on Monday…”  Feel free to sing it yourself, making up your own tune and concluding stanza.  To anyone who works this weekend, sorry and thank you for your effort.  Whatever your work schedule, I wish you a Happy Thursday.

 

Herkimer Hop

Instead of  Wuss-out Wednesday, how about a brief overview of Steven’s and my running around Sunday afternoon (before it became Wrist to Forehead Sunday).  We made several stops in our hometown of  Herkimer, NY, so we’ll call it a minor Mohawk Valley adventure.

We first went to Hummel’s Office Plus, because Steven wanted to purchase some small yellow envelopes  for a prop for that play we’re in (can’t help but mention Roxy, can I?).  He found what he wanted easily.  I took the opportunity to pick up a couple of the pens I currently like best (ballpoint with a find point, excellent for how small I like to write on post cards).

After a quick stop for gas and cash, we went to T & J’s Fruits and Vegetables, to get fixings for a salad for my lunch (yet another attempt on my part to lose that last 15 pounds) (to give you an idea of how well I’m doing on that, it was previously the last 10 pounds I was trying to lose).  I got romaine lettuce, tomatoes and sharp cheddar cheese.  I had other vegetables at home.  I did not put the cheese in the salad, but I just love sharp cheddar cheese.

From there we went to Family Dollar, where I found two water bottles suitable for bringing to work.   We ran into another cast member from Roxy (just can’t get away from that play, can I?).  Our last stop was at Valley Wine and Liquor, where we purchased a bottle of Pinot Grigio, because we thought we might like to enjoy a glass of wine on the deck, time permitting (it did).

It did not take long to run our errands, and soon we were home and I was working on my blog post and dithering about auditions for  Lunch Hour, which were to take place that evening.  We felt pleased with our little burst of productivity.  I feel a little pleased that I wrote a blog post about something other than not writing a proper blog post.

 

Maybe I Can Act Like I’m Not Tired

I can’t, I positively canNOT have a Tired Tuesday post today.  For one reason, I simply cannot be tired.  Oh, physically I certainly can.  I had insomnia last night and worked a 10-hour day today.  I could, in fact, be forgiven for being tired.

However, my day is not over.  I have rehearsal for Roxy in about an hour.  I believe I warned regular readers (oh how I love having regular readers) that this blog may become All Roxy All The Time.  Well, opening night is one week from Friday.  It may be time for that to happen.

Tonight we will run the show.  That is, we will begin at the beginning and go straight through to the end, I hope without stopping.  Well, maybe a pause at intermission for a potty break.  Even Bette Davis took the occasional potty break.  Joan Crawford probably did too, but I doubt she admitted it.  But why am I referencing movie stars?  Shouldn’t I say Sarah Siddons or somebody?  Oh, I am tired.

In other theatre news, auditions were held for Lunch Hour, Ilion Little Theatre Club’s first official production of the 2015-16 season (Roxy is being presented by the Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre, just to clarify).  Lunch Hour is a romantic comedy about cheating spouses and what the cheatees do about it.  It’s cute.  Not nearly as serious as Roxy, and a MUCH smaller cast.  I’m stage manager.  I wonder if I’ll soon be making blog posts about how I’m so tired but I have rehearsal for Lunch Hour.  Oh dear.

Well, sorry to spend another blog post whining about my ills.  Perhaps I have time to make a cup of instant coffee before rehearsal.  Instant coffee has less caffeine than brewed, so perhaps if I drink that it will revive me for rehearsal but not set me up for another bout of insomnia.  If not, you’ll probably hear about it tomorrow on Wuss-Out Wednesday.  Hope your week is going swell.

 

The Only Thing To Do Is Keep Writing

I purposefully did not bring scripts or cryptogram puzzles to work, because like Return of the Modern Philosopher, on Mondays I write. At least, that is what I told myself when I packed my work bag this morning. I had a feeling even then that it would not work out as planned and, well, here we are.

It’s even worse than I thought.  As I wrote that last paragraph I felt pleased with it.  It’s getting to the point where the go-to topic for this blog is Not Writing.  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

I was about to say, “The only thing to do about it is …”  when I realized I have in fact a few different options. Perhaps I could write about them and make this an acceptable Monday Mental Meanderings post.

I could take a break from writing entirely.  That might re-charge my batteries.  However, past experience has shown that complete breaks tend to have the opposite effect on me.

I could force myself to try to write on other topics or projects.  While this often leads to long periods of staring at a blank page, sometimes it works.

A related approach which works even better is to give myself permission to begin a new project.  Few things are easier for me than to begin an entirely new project.  I write notes and notes as ideas seem to tumble out of my pen. It is great fun.  The problem with this approach is — you guessed it — it leads to any number of uncompleted projects as beginning them is much easier than continuing and eventually finishing them.

My original thought was the thing to do is to continue writing whatever I can write and hope to segue over into something more useful as time goes on.  This is my usual approach and hence my automatic thought of it as the only thing to do.

There are other little tricks:  Switching mediums — that is, stop writing and try typing.  Can’t do that right now;  I’m at work with my trusty spiral notebook and ballpoint pen.  Thus, related techniques such as changing locations, changing clothes, putting on music, and drinking tea are likewise ineligible.

I can’t think of any other little tricks offhand, but I see I have accumulated a few paragraphs already that might in fact make a blog post.  Cool.

I know, I will go back to my first-mentioned technique and modify it:  Instead of forcing myself to do anything, I shall gently lead myself to another project and write just a sentence or two.  No pressure, they can be lousy sentences, just see what comes out.  Astute readers (as I”m sure YOU are) will have noticed that I have also incorporated my most often used technique:  I kept writing and now hope to make the segue.  Or is it more of a leap?  No matter, whatever it is, I am going to turn the page and see what happens.

Update:  After I wrote the above I turned the page and wrote a new scene on my novel.  I believe it moved the plot along, incorporating an element which I had introduced earlier but neglected.  Full disclosure:  it may have been a lousy scene.  The important thing is I wrote it. Now to write something else…

 

Loves of a Theatre Junky

It’s another Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but I have a different source for my angst today.  I am waiting to go to auditions at Ilion Little Theatre  for Lunch Hour, a romantic comedy to be presented in November.  My angst is not from audition butterflies, because I have agreed to be stage manager.  My job is set.  My angst is is due to the onset of as huge case of  WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING???

Of course the answer to that question is, I’m not.  I almost never am.  I am, it must be admitted, a theatre junky (my computer wants me to spell it “junkie,” but my dictionary says “junky” is also correct).  When somebody asks me to do any theatre thing, I jump at the chance.  They don’t even have to ask me, I often volunteer.  And by “volunteer,” I mean beg.  “Oh please, please, PLEASE let me be in your play!  I can work backstage!  I can make costumes!  I can work on the set!  I can do lights and sound!”  Full disclosure:  I may be a complete klutz and borderline useless at any of these jobs; it never stops me.

Actually, I have not had to beg since I got involved with Ilion Little Theatre.  They are a very welcoming group, not at all clique-y.  I feel very fortunate to be involved with such a fun group of such nice people.   However, it cannot be denied that doing plays takes a lot of time and energy.  Sometimes there is more drama  backstage than onstage, even with a fun group of nice people.

The other source of my hesitation to become involved in Lunch Hour is that I am still so filled with concern over RoxyRoxy, as regular readers know, is the play being presented by Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre.  It is less than two weeks until opening night!  Yikes!  Will we pull it together in time? Will it be good?  Will I be good?  Oh well, probably, but one can’t help but have butterflies.

You know, I don’t know why I’m sitting here with my wrist to my forehead.  I LOVE the theatre!  It is wonderful to audition for a play and get a part.  It is fun to learn lines, go to rehearsal, develop a character and all that.  And when the audience applauds at the end, well, that’s pretty good too.  As an added bonus, I often get quite a number of blog posts out of it, as you may have noticed.  So Happy Sunday, everyone,  I’m off to auditions.

 

Scattered Saturday Stroll

First, to give a health update (although people who go on about their ailments are usually tiresome), I woke up this morning with no light-headedness but with a dreadful headache.

Still, I felt marginally better so thought to go for a walk to the post office.  I had finished a letter to a friend yesterday at the laundromat (so two useful results of the heinous part of the day) (I think I mentioned in yesterday’s post that it was a heinous part of the day).  I wrote three postcards, got ready and headed out the door.

It was cool in the shade but warm in the sun,  the beginning of a beautiful day.  I had on my crazy old lady hat and was grateful I was carrying my purse, which contained my prescription sunglasses.  As always, it felt good on my legs to walk.  For the first block or so I had the vague idea to return home, put on the proper gear and go running instead.  On the other hand, I thought, still ill, no running for weeks, maybe a longish walk would be better.

To make it a longer walk, after mailing my things, I walked towards Main Street then down Green Street.  I noticed the newspaper’s building, an old, interesting structure.  “Evening Telegram” stands out in stone letters on the front.  In fact, it moved to a morning paper some time ago and more recently merged with the Little Falls paper to become the Times Telegram.  I am actually quite impressed that the area can support a daily newspaper, three if you count the Utica O-D and the Rome Sentinel (in fact, we subscribe to the Times Telegram and the O-D, although there is some overlap in their coverage).

I thought it would be a good idea if I came down and took a picture of the building before they update the sign, if they ever do. After all, an elegant stone sign, why not keep it up there for the sake of history?

I continued down Green Street past the First Baptist Church, which hosts Cup with a Cop every month.  That is a chance to sit down and chat informally with our local police.  I enjoy it very much, when I am able to attend.  Unfortunately, this month it was last week, when I had to work.  I hope to be there again.  For one reason, it is usually good for a blog post.

Continuing on I came to the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal, a favorite place of mine to walk or run.  My legs were feeling a little tired by now, so I felt I had made the right decision not to run.  On the other hand, my headache seemed a little better.  I was setting a brisk, steady pace, which I have read is good for producing pain-fighting endorphins (why is my computer telling me “endorphin” is a word but not “endorphins”?).  That is one thing about not walking with a cute little doggy.  You can set a brisk, steady pace and not stop to let someone sniff every few feet.  That said, I would rather have my dog.  However, I do not mean to whine about my loss.

I continued walking for a little over a half hour, so I felt I had gotten some exercise.  My headache returned in full force almost as soon as I stopped walking.  I say this only to give an update, not to further complain (although I realize it may be difficult to tell the difference).  Later, after decongestant and a nap, my headache had gone to be replaced by the lightheadedness (again, UPDATE, not COMPLAINT! Sheesh!).

I did enjoy my walk.  I hope to take another one soon.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

 

Respectable but Silly

A few good things happened today.  My Saturday overtime got cancelled, so it really truly is a Friday for me.  My laundry is done (of course actually doing it was a heinous part of the day, but I’m being glass half full here).  It is Snapped night on Reelz, so I can continue to research my character of a woman who kills her husband (for that play I’m in, remember?).  And, it is Lame Post Friday, so I can write a silly blog post and not worry about it.

I know, this is just one of many silly posts I make these days.  In my defense, I’m getting sick again.  I spent the day in misery, wanting nothing better than to go home, lay down on my bed and watch the ceiling spin.  The highlight of my day was when I remembered about Snapped night.  I try to be grateful for any bright spot.

However, I did not start this blog post to kvetch.  I started it because, well, I like to post every day.  Oh, I know what, let’s have a continuation of Toot My Horn Tuesday by sharing a Facebook post I made On This Day a couple of years ago:  So I said to this guy at work, “I have a terrible hemorrhoid.  You can get a good look at it when you kiss my ass.”  Incidentally, that is what I could say to anybody who thinks I am making too many silly posts.  Then again, if somebody is actually reading me, perhaps I should keep it polite.  Any thoughts?

In the meantime, I’m over 250 words.  I call that respectable.  I have some murder television to watch.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

Why Would I Lie?

I just checked, and it has been 20 days since I published a post whining about how light-headed and awful I felt.  You have probably guessed I checked because that is what I feel like making a post about today.

I actually started to feel pretty crappy at rehearsal last night.  I think I still got my lines mostly right.  As rehearsal lasted longer than expected, as will sometimes happen, I began to say to some fellow cast members, “I’m never being in another play again.”  I don’t think they believed me.  Do you?

Time did not pass too slowly at work, for one blessing.  I spent much of the day wanting to put my head down and rest, but I resisted the urge.  The day was further enlivened by my reading of a play.  I am looking for one to direct for Ilion Little Theatre.  The play I was reading was VERY funny.  I kept laughing out loud as I was reading.  Then I would go back to work feeling unable to wait till I could read more.

“This is the funniest play that ever lived!” I enthused to Steven when I got home.  No, I’m not going to tell you what the play is.  For one reason, I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up that we’re going to do it.  For another reason, I don’t want any rival community theaters stealing it.

Incidentally, directing a play is NOT the same thing as being in one.

 

Roxy Update

Rather than have Wuss-Out Wednesday, I shall provide a brief update on Roxy, the play being presented by the Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre.  Full disclosure: as opening night gets closer this blog may become All Roxy All The Time.  For now we will content ourselves with an update.

For anyone who has missed my previous posts about the play, it is an original play, written by local author Jack Sherman, about a historical crime which happened right here in the Mohawk Valley.  In 1884 in the Town of Warren, Roxalana Druse killed her husband, Bill, with a gun and an ax.  She was later tried in the County Courthouse in Herkimer NY and hung in the 1834 Jail.

The story is set some 30 years after the murder.  Roxy’s son, George, all grown up now, is telling the story to his daughter, Florence.  It’s not like those old movies Steven likes to make fun of, where the whole thing is a big flashback.  Rather, the action switches back and forth between the past and present, with Florence asking questions and remarking on the events.  Sometimes within the past,  the action goes even further back; as a character testifies in court, the murder is re-enacted.

At our rehearsal last night things seemed to be going very well.  The transitions from present to past to re-enactment are getting smoother.  Characters are being developed.  It is beginning to feel like a play.

We have rehearsal again tonight and I fear I have not looked over my lines since yesterday.  I should perhaps hit publish and do that.  Roxy will be presented September 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20, at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, at Ilion Little Theatre, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students.  For more information call 315-866-6413.