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Theatre Memories on Tired Tuesday

I interrupt my reading of other people’s blogs to make my Tired Tuesday post.  I’d like to do the picture thing, but I think I’ve used all the good ones in our Downloads, and I haven’t downloaded any new ones lately. I wonder if Steven has.

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Photo by Mark Hanna, who is also a pretty good actor.

This is the cast of the murder mystery I wrote last year for Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion, NY, Engaged to be Murdered.  I’m writing a new one for that church, to be presented April 1.  This one is titled He Laughed Himself to Death.  I intend to incorporate the April Fool’s Day holiday in the plot.  I shall write more blog posts about that, rest assured.

 

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They were all leading ladies to me!

To continue the theme of theatre memories, here is the cast and crew of Leading Ladies, which I was blessed to direct with one of the finest groups ever associated with the Ilion Little Theatre stage.  Perhaps you read one of my blog posts about it.

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Full disclosure: a selfie stick was used in the taking of this picture.

Is it silly of me to post two pictures of the same cast and crew?  No matter; it is what is in my downloads, I will post it.  We took a selfie of the whole group a few times before performances.  It was one of those casts that really bonded.  I’m hoping we take a few backstage selfies of Steel Magnolias.  I’ll be sure to share them here if we do.

For now, I must scurry off to rehearsal, which is a little earlier tonight.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

Wrist to Ruby’s and Beyond

It is a later than usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday post, and I really do face a dilemma as I contemplate the upcoming week.  That is, should this blog become All Steel Magnolias All The Time for the next two weeks, or should I first indulge in a week of All Rubbed Out at Ruby’s All The Time or do a weird hybrid such as All Steel Ruby All The Time?

We just got home from another rehearsal for Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls, NY.  I can report that it is looking good, especially considering the costumes people wore or brought.   I think it will be a great deal of fun.  I only hope I can remember everything.  It’s not my lines I’m worried about.  I don’t have that many lines; it’s mostly improvised.  But I don’t want to forget a prop or costume piece.  I’m so scatterbrained these days!

I have not thought much about Steel Magnolias today; that is, the next production at Ilion Little Theatre, to be presented the first two weekends in March.  This means I must do some serious looking at lines tomorrow.  I hope I don’t forget to bring my script to work with me (see earlier line about being scatterbrained these days).

And what about the other murder mysteries I’m working on?  Well, I’ll bring my notebook to work with me, too.  Write, study lines, I can do it all, why not?  And if the stress gets to me, I guess I’ll just have a Wrist to Forehead Monday, too.  I hope everybody is having a nice end of their weekend.

 

He’ll Never Even Miss the Duck

What I day I’ve had and it’s not over yet!  We got to sleep in, because Steven did not work till 10:30 this morning.  After a fairly leisurely first part of the day, I got to moving and shaking when Steven left for work.

I first buzzed by the post office, where once again I needed post card stamps. I sent some people post cards of Utica, NY, which I purchased at the Oneida County Historical Society last Saturday.

From there I went to the Hot Spot Salon and Spa in Herkimer, where I had scheduled a pedicure.  I haven’t had a pedicure in months!  I was early, so I worked on the character sheets for the murder mystery I’m writing to be presented by Ilion Little Theatre at Morning Star Methodist Church April 1.  The title is He Laughed Himself to Death.  Soon, however, I was soaking my feet and chatting with the stylist.  I got my toes painted red, in honor of my character, Ruby, in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls Feb. 25.

With my toes all pretty (and a little cold, since I insisted on wearing my faux-birkenstock sandals (isn’t that a more elegant term for them than Fakenstocks?), I went to Ilion Little Theatre, where I met a couple of cast-mates from Steel Magnolias, to be presented the first two weekends in March, one of whom is also in Ruby’s.  We were going to shop a few thrift stores.

First we went to the Cornerstone Shop on Morgan Street.  We found purses for our characters in Ruby’s, and they found  a few good shirts for Magnolias.  I found a black evening purse with rhinestones on the clasp.  I did not need it for any play, or indeed at all, since I have many evening bags (I kind of collect them).  I bought it anyways.  It was beautiful!

Next we went to the New 2 You Shop in Central Plaza.  My friends had never been there, a scandalous omission.  We spent a lot of time looking at all kinds of things.  I found two pair of earrings, one for Ruby, one for me.  I tried not to look at the books but failed.  I actually refrained from buying any; aren’t you proud of me?  I found a jacket that will work for Claree, if I can put the right skirt with it. It was only a buck!

Then I saw a little duck that was only a dollar.  Wouldn’t Steven like a little duck?  However, we have many, many stuffed toys and are constantly giving each other more.  I refrained.  My friend Kim thought Steven might be disappointed.

“I will fix him something wonderful for dinner,” I said.  “He’ll never even miss the duck.”

“He never even has to know about it,” Kim suggested.

“Well, he will when he reads my blog and the title is, ‘He’ll Never Even Miss the Duck.'”

Kim agreed that was a good title, so I used it.  We had thought to go to the Salvation Army Thrift Store, but I was quite shopped out by that time.  I went home and had something to eat.

Now I have to get my rear in gear again and figure out something wonderful for Steven’s dinner.  Otherwise, I guess I’ll be going back to New 2 You on Monday and buying that duck.

 

A Slice of My Life

Sometimes I am too ill to write a blog post. Does it count if I am too depressed? I feel so self-indulgent even considering such a thing. Ooh, maybe this is a good lead.

That is what I just now posted on Facebook.  Almost before I had copied and pasted it here, a friend had commented that depression IS an illness.  I suppose I feel it counts for everybody but me.  You know, that thing many of us do that we treat our loved ones way better than we treat ourselves.  I know, a lot of people do the opposite, especially with physical indulgences.  However, I know a great many people who will put themselves down using terms they would NEVER employ when talking to a friend.  Just saying.

Where was I?  Ah yes, trying to make a Non-Sequitur Thursday post before I hurriedly get ready for rehearsal for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  This is what I posted on Facebook earlier:

Here’s the problem: I have so much to do, I not only keep thinking I’m forgetting something, I keep forgetting what it was I was just about to do. Making a list does not help. I not only forget to put stuff on the list, I forget where I put the list!

To make this a true Non-Sequitur Thursday post, I should make a catchy headline that has little or nothing to do with the post.  What is this post about, anyways?  Not much, as is par for the course when I am involved in a show.  Right now I am involved in two shows and need to finish writing two more to begin working on them within the next two weeks.  Yikes!  Why do I do these things to myself?  Ah yes, refer to an earlier paragraph about treating others better than I treat myself.  And I’m not all that freaking nice to others, either!  Happy Thursday, everyone.

 

Too Much Theatre?

It’s that moment when you are pondering what, oh what, to make a blog post about and you’ve got just about enough time to do it, and you find out your rehearsal is at 6 not 6:30.  Oh NO!  I can’t handle it! (Said in a dramatic tone of voice, posing with my wrist to my forehead).  Incidentally, it is rehearsal for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre, which will be presented the first two weekends in March.

I’m thinking it’s Wuss-out Wednesday, but given that last parenthetical comment, perhaps it is Wrist to Forehead Wednesday.  The sad thing is my husband had just started to tell me a story about his past.  I may have heard it before, but I do not mind a re-run.  That is one of the secrets to a happy marriage (not a very well-kept secret). (A lesser known secret is to have a husband that tells good stories). I guess he’ll have to tell me later.

AND we are watching WKTV News at five, where I believe there is to be a NewsTalk about Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the murder mystery to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls. DVR to the rescue!

You may have noticed that I am a little stressed lately.  I have mysteries to write, costumes to find, lines to learn and blog posts to make.  And who’s fault is it that I have too much on my plate?  That’s right, the overriding problem in my life is ALWAYS Operator Error.  Maybe I can get caught up on the weekend.  But don’t count on it.  Happy Wednesday, everyone.

 

My Funky Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!  I was unable to write a blog post earlier today, so I am doing the thing of finding pictures previously downloaded onto my laptop and writing about them.  The first thing to catch my eye is a not very romantic couple.  Just the sort of thing my twisted outlook would like to think about on Valentine’s Day.

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As things turned out, it was not a love story for the ages.

Chester Gilette and Grace Brown were an item in 1906, although he really was not that into her.  He tossed her in the lake, because she was pregnant and he didn’t want to marry her.  It is a famous murder case that was tried in the Herkimer County Courthouse.  Gilette was housed at the 1834 Jail across the street.  I’m not going to write a whole blog post about it; I just thought I’d share the picture.

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Also not a great love story, but I believe they were great friends.

Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton were married when they played a curmudgeonly lawyer recovering from a heart attack and his annoyingly cheerful nurse (um, not respectively) in Witness for the Prosecution, one of my all time favorite movies.  Their relationship is a highlight of the picture, although it was in neither the short story nor the play of that name. Watch the movie.  It is very entertaining.

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The 13th was just yesterday, although it was not Friday.

I end with Betsy Palmer and Jason, from Friday the 13th. Full disclosure:  I have never seen that movie.  I don’t know who the actor is, or even if it is a stunt double in the picture.  Steven tried to look it up in one of his Leonard Maltin books, but it was not clear which actor listed played the part.  So much for a well-researched blog post.

In any case, my dinner is ready, and  I have to go early to rehearsal tonight.  I declare this better than a Tired Tuesday post. Hope to see you all on Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

One Baby Step for Me, One Blog Post for my Readers

Well, now I am happy I did not indulge in Wrist to Forehead Sunday, because this is surely going to be a foolish post.  I am typing frantically.  I have to leave for rehearsal for Steel Magnolias in less than one hour.  I have not showered. I have not changed.  I have not looked over my lines in the last three days.  I am quite mortified over that last one.  Showering and changing I may actually be able to do.

Oh, but I am tired!  On the brighter side, I did email two articles to Mohawk Valley Living magazine, ON the deadline.  I’m afraid they were not very good, but I am by no means the best judge of that.  I can only wait and see.

Oh dear, I am having a dreadful case of type it in, backspace over it (gritting teeth to not backspace over that last sentence).  I keep going back and forth between contemplating how truly I do NOT have my act together and feeling that perhaps I can do something positive to change that.  Small steps, they say.  Dare I say, baby steps?  Since most of the time I act like a big, fat baby, would that be a good or a bad thing?  I mean, since I am a big, fat baby, does that mean I am capable of taking baby steps and so should take them?  Or since I do not want to be a big, fat baby, that I should not take baby steps?  It is very difficult to know what to do.

Well, one baby step I will take is to hit publish on this piece of nonsense.  Then I will shower and strive to look over my lines before rehearsal.  Note to self:  tomorrow, drink more coffee.  Happy Monday, everyone.

 

Souper Sunday

Imagine my delight just now when I searched and found that I have not used “Souper Sunday” as a headline.  I don’t like to repeat headlines.  I know I predicted a Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but I think Sunday Supper post might be nice.  I guess technically it was lunch, but you know how I love alliteration.

I had planned to make soup earlier in the week.  I had a big piece of beef in the freezer (I don’t remember what the cut was; it was on sale and it looked good).  I thought I would cook it in the crock pot on Saturday, then make soup with the leftovers on Sunday.  I find it is a good idea for me to plan menus for the weekend, to lessen the temptation to send out for pizza or Chinese food.  I confess that it only lessens the temptation.  That little devil on my shoulder will whisper, “That meat will be perfectly good to cook on Monday!”  However, this weekend, the devil was silent and I crock potted the beef.

I put Worcestershire sauce garlic powder, minced onions, Salt-Free Essential Spice Blend (from the So Sweet Candy Cafe in Utica, NY), and a small can of mushrooms in the crock pot with the meat, plus a little water.  It cooked for maybe nine hours.  Yum!  Steven nicely put the leftovers away.

I started the soup around 12:30 today.  As usual, I crushed up some garlic and set the timer for 15 minutes so it could “breathe” (I put breathe in quotations, because garlic does not have lungs).  I chopped up an onion and put it in a pot.  Ooh, here’s where I changed things up:  I did NOT cook it in olive or canola oil as per my usual method.  I used red wine.  Yes, I cooked with wine and I actually put it in the food!  You see, I impulsively purchased a cheap bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon the other day at Ilion Wine and Spirits.

“If it’s not good to drink, I can always cook with it,”  I said, quoting a bit of wisdom given me by another wine aficionado.  Turns out it wasn’t so good to drink.

After things had cooked for some time, I added a can of diced tomatoes.  Then I chopped up a small eggplant I had purchased specifically for the soup.  I love eggplant.  This was when I realized I had picked too small of a pot.  Damn! I put everything in a bigger pot.  After letting the eggplant cook for a while, I put in the leftover drippings and chopped up the leftover beef.  Stirring everything up, I added parsley, more Salt-Free Essential and a little cumin.

It was quite a tasty soup, and there was a goodly amount left over.  Steven put it in the freezer, for future consumption.  Now how could I have a Wrist to Forehead Sunday after such a delicious meal?

 

The Vagaries of Non-Sequitur Thursday

Well, now I’ve done it.  I sat here stressing over the fact that I CAN’T WRITE A POST TODAY (said in a dramatic voice, with a wrist to my forehead), and my sweet husband, Steven said that he wished I would not put myself through posting every day.  I said, “It’s just because I have rehearsal tonight.  I just have to stop doing PLAYS!”  Oh yeah, like that’s going to happen!

Thus adjured, I put my fingers on the keyboard and started typing.  I can’t stop posting every day, it’s what I do.  But I can’t let my husband feel upset because I am stressed.  So, as of right now, I am not stressed.  About the blog, at least.  I mean, let’s start small.

I just paused to eat a very delicious dinner that Steven fixed.  He really is a most satisfactory husband.

Earlier today I was pondering the vagaries of writing.  I have been having a difficult time lately, but earlier I sat down and wrote a page of dialog with very little problem.  It was part of Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company is presenting at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls in — yikes! –just a couple of weeks.  I thought to myself, “I can’t write, I can’t write, I can’t write, I sit down and write.”  For some reason I can’t just skip to the last step.

I just know that some of you are sitting there smirking, “Well, have you TRIED?”  Yes, I have.  In fact, most of the time I want to have at least a couple more rounds of “I can’t write, I can’t write” before “I sit down and write,” but I somehow manage to write.  Like right now.  Then again, perhaps that is not the best example, since this is just another of my foolish posts about I Can’t Write a Post Today.  Then again (I can have as many “again”s as I want; it’s not like “on the other hand,” where most of us only have two hands), today is Non-Sequitur Thursday.  If I can think of a punchy headline, I’m all set.

Hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

I’m Not Moldy; I Showered!

Oh dear, time passes quickly when you have to be somewhere at 6:30.  Of course this is not always the case.  Sometimes I sit here, stare at the clock and think, “Dammit, can’t it be time for rehearsal now?  I’m going to be tired at 6:30!”  Well, I guess I can say that today, but in fact I have been tired most of the day.  Maybe I had too much fun over the weekend.  We’ll go with that, because it makes me look like a wild child, not an moldy oldie.

I was late getting home today, because I made a couple of stops.  I am searching for costume pieces and props for both Steel Magnolias and Rubbed Out at Ruby’s.  I met with no success.  The Dollar Store (I think it is actually Family Dollar; they’re all Dollar Stores to me, but this is the one near Wal-Mart in Herkimer, and everything really is a dollar.  My favorite kind of dollar store)… I’d better start that sentence over; I got a little lost in my parenthetical comment.  The Dollar Store, I was saying, did not even have any play money.  I thought they always had play money!  They’re toy aisle was shortened.  Of all things!

I also went to the Arc Thrift Store next door.  I tried on two red evening gowns (I’m Ruby).  One fit, but I felt my flab was too lovingly detailed.  It was definitely not a 20’s outline.  The other one I couldn’t even get on.  I mean, maybe I was too fat, maybe I wasn’t.  The fact was, I couldn’t get myself into the damn thing.  It was a lined sheath, and I could not seem to get myself into both parts at the same time.  I would have laughed had I not felt so frustrated.  I caught sight of myself in the mirror after I had given up but before I had put my own clothes back on, and I said, “Damn.”  I positively must eat less.

When I got back home I was too tired to make the guacamole I had intended for my flat bread sandwich tomorrow (on a whole wheat tortilla, by the way).  So I’m afraid it’s Cotto Salami.  I’m sure that’s more fattening, but I comfort myself with the thought that it is better than crap out of the vending machine or deep-fried yumminess from the cafeteria (why is my computer underlining “yumminess”?  Isn’t that a word?  I’ll be damned!).

So that is my Monday Mental Meanderings for the week.  Did anybody notice that I did not whine about not being able to make a blog post today?  Can I get a brownie point for that ?  Mmmm…. brownies.  No wonder I’m fat!