A Few Thoughts Before Another Rehearsal

Posted on March 14, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here I sit, laptop on lap (and if you just said, “Duh,” hey, some people put them on tables), searching for a blog topic.  I push my wet hair out of my face and remember that I can get it cut now.  I kept it “long” for Steel Magnolias.  I put “long” in quotes, because it was not exactly all the way grown out.  It is long enough to get in my eyes and drive me nuts.  With help from fellow cast-members, I made it do for the play.

And why am I not running to the Hot Spot, where I usually get my do’s done?  Well, I have rehearsal for He Laughed Himself to Death, the murder mystery Ilion Little Theatre is putting on at Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion on April 1.  Yes, this blog may become All Murder Mystery All The Time very soon.  For one reason, I have another one coming up April 22 (Who Shot JS? at the Elks Club in Herkimer, to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society).

In other news, a nor’easter is expected in the Mohawk Valley tonight and tomorrow.  I read a Facebook post from WKTV Weather saying it was a nor’easter not a blizzard, citing the specific conditions to earn the “blizzard” designation.  I was moved to comment that “nor’easter” does not sound like a real word.  It sounds like something the old timers say is headed this way, basing their prediction on their corns or bunions.  My bunions say precipitation, by the way, but they do not seem to feel strongly about it.

Well, I must go.  I need to photocopy the scripts for tonight’s rehearsal.  I am counting on the nor’easter NOT to start till after my actors are safely home from rehearsal.  I am going to call this a Monday Mental Meanderings post and hit publish.  I hope to see you all on Tired Tuesday, although I will perhaps be less tired now that Steel Magnolias is over.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

To Boil or Not to Boil?

Posted on March 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would take this week’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday post to spend a little time dithering on the computer screen about the latest decision I am angsting over (I know, angsting is not a word, but I just can’t think of the word I want): Should I or should I not run the Boilermaker 15K?

I have looked at the calendar and I have enough time to build up my run time to where I like it to be.  In fact, I even have some wiggle room if I utilize my maxim of, “If you can run for one hour, you can run for two; just don’t stop.”  I want to start running again. It is a good idea to have a goal to work towards.  I can get a lot of good blog posts out of it.  It is a great Mohawk Valley thing to do. The Boilermaker falls right in the middle of my employer’s two week shut-down in July.

Those are the pros.

There are a hell of a lot of people running the Boilermaker.  I hate crowds.  Getting my runner’s packet is another fairly intimidating crowd scene for me.  I cannot be as lazy and irresponsible about taking car of myself on my vacation. (Oh, I know, that last one is probably a good thing, especially at my age.  As if YOU always do the right thing for your body!)  Transportation to and from the race is often a problem.

Those are a few of the cons.  I could probably think of more, but do I want to talk myself into this or out of it?

I asked the Magic 8 Ball I gave my husband Steven for his birthday, and it said I should. Of course that is not a quote. I asked multiple times, and although a couple of times it told me to ask later or said the answer was unclear, it never directly said not to.  No, I am not relying on a novelty toy for my answer.  I wasn’t even doing the thing of, “It’ll tell you what you really think, because you will be elated or disappointed by the answer.”  I just thought it would be fun.  You know how I like to get silly.

So now I shall open the floor to my lovely readers.  What do you think?

One other question:  When you saw the headline, did you think I was talking about hot dogs?  Hmmm… I could go for a hot dog.  Fried or grilled, though, not boiled.  Happy Sunday, folks.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, running, Wrist to Forehead Sunday and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Some Steel on Scattered Saturday

Posted on March 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

My plan had been to do the picture thing again.  You know, where I find something good in my downloads and write whatever I can about it?  Then I remembered that there have been a few pictures of Steel Magnolias on Facebook, and I thought, “Hey!” Of course now I can’t find any.  However, here is a picture taken last night during a performance by our awesome sound and light guy, Rick DeJohn.

From left to rght, Kelly Stone as M’Lynn, me as Claree, Kim Darling as Truvy, Cindy Shepherd as Ouiser, and Kara Buttermore as Anelle.

A way better picture was in the post containing the review of us in the Times Telegram.  Unfortunately, I could not download just that photo.  However, if you click on “review,” I have provided a link (I’m not completely technologically illiterate).

Kelly Stone as M’Lynn with Kaylynn Iglesias as Shelby

I realized the first photo did not include the entire cast, so here is a pre-show photo of mother and daughter, showing off the family resemblance.

A great bunch of people to work with!

And here is most of the cast and crew, sharing a toast after final dress rehearsal last week.  I believe we are missing one crew member. I believe she was taking the picture and perhaps prefers to remain anonymous.  I may just have to cast her in a murder mystery or a play (did I say I was never going to direct again?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!) and get a picture of her as a diva actress (I mean that in a fun way, not the sort of diva who only deserves eye-rolls, especially at the community theatre level).

In the meantime, I am over 25o words and I have a show to get ready for!  That’s Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  Visit their website or Facebook page for more information!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in community theatre, humor, personal, Scattered Saturday and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Lame Flutters, Not Butterflies

Posted on March 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

We all knew this would be Lame Post Friday, and here it is.  I had a few thoughts about what I could write about, just some general commentary.  None of it seemed good enough in my head to try to put it on paper, and I had to look over my lines anyways.

The lines, by the way, are for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  We play tonight and tomorrow, March 10 and 11, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m.  Then we have the CAST PAR-TAY!!!  Which I may duck out of early, because I did not take Monday off.  I thought taking two Mondays off in a row was excessive.  Additionally, my husband Steven, who just happens to have the day off, plans to clean the house that day.  My job is way easier than cleaning a house as bad as mine!

For any local readers planning to go see the show, I advise you to purchase your tickets online (which you can do by clicking on the Ilion Little Theatre link in the previous paragraph) or get to the theatre early.  We are hoping to sell out.  Of course, we may not sell out.   We did not sell out last weekend, although we had pretty good houses.  We had very appreciative houses, I may add.  They laughed at the jokes!  They clapped at the end!  We even got a standing ovation on Sunday!  Ooh, I LOVE live theatre!

I am not having the butterflies that plagued me last Friday.  My stomach is not entirely quiet, but the flutters are less intense.  That is to be expected.  As the time draws nearer to my departure, the butterflies increase.  They are not the beautiful, colorful creatures we love to watch floating from flower to flower in the summer.  Therefore, I will stop calling them butterflies and henceforth refer to them as merely “flutters.”  As I come closer to my time to depart, the flutters increase.  That’s much better.  In a way.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Not the Same as Be-Bop

Posted on March 10, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I am suffering from some form of anxiety.  Or do you suppose that’s just hypochondria or self-dramatizing?  Well, why wouldn’t I self-dramatize; I’m all into theatre, you know.

This is going to be a Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  I am going to just let my thoughts jump all around everywhere, type up what I can, think of a silly headline, and hit Publish.  I feel this is better than than taking a Blogger’s Sick Day, which was my first impulse (I think stress is as legitimate an excuse as a diagnosable physical ailment) (and isn’t “diagnosable” a word?  My computer seems to think it is not) (I can’t go get my dictionary now, that will only add to the stress).

Where was I?  Nowhere in particular, I suppose.  I spent most of the day at work pondering various plans for getting done all that I wanted to do before tonight’s pick-up rehearsal for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  I formulated and discarded numerous scenarios, then came home and sat down going, “Heh-bee-be-buh-buh.”  You know, that sound you make when you just kind of fiddle your lower lip in wordless distress.

Me without words?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

And, obviously, it is not so.  I am just over 200 words.  Score!  I call that a blog post!  Maybe I can come up with something better tomorrow, on Lame Post Friday.  After all, stranger things have happened.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in blogging, humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Tired After Typing on Wuss-out Wednesday

Posted on March 9, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I interrupt my typing to… type something else.  I have been typing into my laptop the script for He Laughed Himself to Death, the interactive murder mystery dinner theatre to be presented by Ilion Little Theatre at Morningstar Methodist Church in Ilion, NY on April 1. Phew, that was a mouthful.

Yes, I am late getting the script typed up, but we have not started rehearsals yet, so I am OK.  Luckily, murder mysteries do not take as much rehearsal time as full-length plays.

The murder mystery takes place at a special stockholders meeting of Gorman’s Gotchas, a company that makes novelty jokes such as plastic poo, whoopy cushions, exploding cigars, etc.  The founder of the company, Norman Gorman, wants to sell out to a conglomerate called Corporate Realignment Associated Products, but others in the company do not want to sell.  They are also a little tired of Norman’s incessant practical joking.  I really think I need to go to the store and purchase some plastic poo.  To  inspire myself if nothing else.

I have experienced this problem before:  I spend some good time working on another writing project, then I have no oomph left to make my blog post.  Then again, I did threaten yesterday to have a Wuss-out Wednesday today.  I wonder if I will be able to manage something better than a Non-Sequitur Thursday tomorrow.  Oh dear.

In my defense, Steel Magnolias opened last weekend and continues this weekend.  True, I have not had rehearsals every night this week as I did last week.  But I am still tired.  I am not a young woman, and I do not lead the healthiest lifestyle.  I’ll have to work on that.  I’ll be sure to write a blog post about it when I do.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in blogging, humor, personal, Wuss Out Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Run But No Commentary

Posted on March 8, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

After a break at work, I often observe the “after the break hump,”  a metaphorical speed bump I have to somehow get over in order to get back to work.  Today, I said to my co-worker, “After the break hump is nothing compared to after four days off hump.”  I know, I can be happy I had four days off or miserable because I had to go back to work.  Or I suppose I could multi-task.

Be that as it may, I came home from work and went running.  As you can imagine, the “I haven’t been running in I can’t remember how long hump” is quite the obstacle as well. However, I faced it and overcame it.  One help is that I have really missed running.  I have been WANTING to run but haven’t had time.  As you may have heard, I’ve been in a play.  And am writing and performing in murder mysteries.  The play still has a weekend to go, and I’m still working on two of three mysteries.  Nevertheless, I ran.

And now I’m too tired to write about it.

It was a short run, only 22 minutes.  I made up my mind to do 20, as a start, since I have not been running in a while.  Twenty minutes with an eight to  ten minute cool-down walk around the block sounded good to me.  The extra two minutes just sort of happened.

Then again, for Tired Tuesday after a four day break, I don’t think this is such a contemptible post.  Let’s see what happens tomorrow, when I may have a Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in blogging, humor, personal, Tired Tuesday and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

At Least I Used Pictures

Posted on March 7, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So here I am on the last day of my fabulous four-day weekend, watching a movie I have seen many times before and thinking I had better make my blog post now, so I can get back to enjoying my day.  We did a few household chores, ran the necessary errands, and are on to the hanging out, movie watching portion of the day.

The first thing we watched was The Feud, Bette and Joan, which we DVR’d from… some cable channel.  I forget which (Steven is smoking in the basement, so I can’t ask him).  Susan Sarandon is Bette and Jessica Lange is Joan.  They are excellent!

Can you find “Nina”?

I love Hirschfeld, too.

I’ve been wanting to use this picture in a blog post.

Full disclosure:  I don’t know where this picture came from or who made these dolls.  My husband must have found it somewhere, because it was in our downloads.  He finds the best stuff of the internet!  I can never find a thing.

Guess which one looks like me before coffee.

After we saw The Feud, I wanted to see an old move, so we put in one of our all-time favorites The House on Haunted Hill, the original Vincent Price version from 1958, not the rather hideous remake, which we say but about which I do not much recall.

So here is my Monday post.  I don’t know that you could call it a Mental Meanderings, and I feel it is not a Middle-aged Musings, but I hope it is acceptable. And I hope to see you all tomorrow on Tired Tuesday (you think I won’t be tired after a four-day weekend?  I’m afraid you overestimate me).

 

2 Comments

Posted in blogging, humor, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Late Post on a Busy Sunday

Posted on March 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, I just knew this would happen. I waited till the last minute to post and now I don’t want to write a good post and I’m not even convinced of my ability to do so.  Then again, is that not appropriate on Wrist to Forehead Sunday?

I had a matinee of Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  Before that my husband Steven and I went to the HALO Chinese Auction at the Herkimer VFW and to Rose Quartz Stand, a gem store located nearby.  HALO, for anybody that does not know, is the Helping Animals Live Organization, based in Little Falls, NY, a no-cage, no-kill cat shelter.  The Chinese Auction, in addition to being their major fundraiser of the year, is one of the hottest tickets in the area.  There were a LOT of people walking around,  putting in their chances to win a wide variety of marvelous prizes (I donated an afghan myself).  We did not win anything, by the way.

Rose Quartz Stand is a business I visited back at Christmas time and intend to go to again.  We bought a frog carved from stone for Steven for his birthday (which was Friday) and a dinosaur to keep the frog company (I am a big anthropomorphizer).  I intend to write more about the store later, perhaps even doing an article for submission to Mohawk Valley Living, my favorite magazine.

After a well-received matinee of Steel Magnolias, Steven joined me and  several other cast and crew members for Applebee’s in Herkimer for drinks and dinner.  It was a great time.

Now I am dying to get back to watching a DVR’d Columbo and crocheting yet another afghan to donate… somewhere.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

2 Comments

Posted in Community Events, humor, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Macaroni Salad on Scattered Saturday

Posted on March 5, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s that moment in an every day blogger’s life, when you’re waiting for the macaroni salad to chill and you want to get your blog post published and you realize your brain is working no better than it was earlier today (that is, not at all).  I’ve done a few things, so perhaps I could manage a Scattered Saturday post.  We’ll see.

We slept in till almost 6:30.  It was a late night (for us), opening night of Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  So we got a slow start.  Eventually we made our way to Mona’s Diner in Mohawk, NY for breakfast.  The last time we ate there it was called The Family Fun Center.  It’s still a pretty good place to eat.  We don’t get to eat breakfast out together as often as we used to, so we enjoyed it.

Next we went to Basloe Library in Herkimer.  Ah, libraries, how they can save your life.  I had the character sheets from He Laughed Himself to Death I wanted to print out.  That is the murder mystery Ilion Little Theatre is putting on as a dinner theatre at Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion on April 1.   It may be a scramble to put it together, but I think it will be highly entertaining.

Around one o’clock, I took a nap.  I will have another late night tonight.  As I type this, I am drinking coffee in anticipation.  I do love coffee.

After getting up from the nap, I made a macaroni salad for dinner (remember, I mentioned that in the first paragraph?).   I enjoyed the therapeutic benefits of chopping vegetables.  I will enjoy even more eating the salad with the kielbasa we got to go with it.  Yum!

Now all I have to do is wait to go to the theatre for tonight’s performance.  I don’t feel as nervous as I did yesterday, but I am far from calm, cool and collected.  That was to be expected.  However, I am glad I have at least composed a blog post.  I hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

4 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, Scattered Saturday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →