Tag Archives: nervous

After All, I’ve Killed Before

Posted on April 27, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was hoping to make a quick blog post before getting ready for our performance of Recipe for Murder Royale, the murder mystery we are presenting to benefit Salisbury Grange. We have not rehearsed at the Grange, but I feel that is the least of my worries. Did I say I was worried? Say it ain’t so! But I think many performers get butterflies of one sort of another.

This is us!

My butterflies are often regarding the pesky details moreso than the performance itself (moreso isn’t a word? Who knew) (oh I just checked: it is a nonstandard spelling). Much like the butterflies I get before a road race: I am more concerned with finding a parking space and getting to the starting line on time than the actual running. It is not a perfect parallel, however. I harbor a few qualms about the performance. After all, running is a fairly straightforward proposition. In theatre, you have lines to remember and other actors to deal with.

Well that little sidetrack took my mind off my troubles for a few minutes.

What I have to worry about this morning is getting ready, making sure I have something to eat (not easy since I have not been grocery shopping), getting to the Grange (I’ve driven there before, but regular readers know my propensity for getting lost). Getting ready is the main thing. What, oh what am I going to do with my hair? I was growing it out for Prescription: Murder, and that worked out fairly well, with the help of the wonderful woman who volunteered to do hair and make-up.

I will NOT be able to do this myself!

Well, I will wash it and perhaps blow it dry and see what I can do. Time to look over my lines again, take my shower, get something to eat (not all at once, but no promises about that given my dithery state of mind). I’m sure I’ll break a leg. If I forget all my lines, my castmates may break it for me!

Short Post Before Rehearsal

Posted on April 24, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello, and Welcome to All Morning’s at Seven All The Time. I am posting (in haste) before rehearsal, and I am quite flustered. Our rehearsal last night lasted late (for me), and when I got home I couldn’t sleep. Eventually I did. Till then I just laid quietly and rested. Not tossing and turning can go a long way, I find.

OK, so one paragraph into All Morning’s at Seven All The Time and I have talked more about my bad night’s sleep than the play. Is anybody surprised? Is this not the sort of nonsense we are by this time accustomed? Or are there new readers present who have no idea what to expect and are subsequently confused? Where am I going with this?

So we have two more rehearsals of the play before opening night on Friday. Dress rehearsal on Thursday is, in fact, more of a performance, because we will have people in the audience. Of course I am nervous! Who wouldn’t be? Yes, I have been in many, many plays. I am always nervous until I actually get on stage and start talking. Then it’s fun!

Morning’s at Seven will be presented at Ilion Little Theatre April 26, 27, 28 and May 3, 4 and 5. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. For more information you can visit the Ilion Little Theatre website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org.

Post Before Murder

Posted on March 24, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I keep telling myself that a few nerves before a performance are a good thing (good things? Is each nerve good? Discuss amongst yourselves). That said, why do I feel as if I am having a full-blown panic attack? I said it in a recent post and I will say it again, what the hell, me? This is not my first rodeo, as regular readers know. Additionally, I know how many things can go wrong and a performance still be entertaining and appreciated. These heart palpitations have got to stop!

For anyone just tuning in, and for those who cannot keep all my gyrations straight (indeed, why should you be expected to when I cannot keep them straight myself?), tonight’s performance is A Trivial Murder, an interactive murder mystery presented to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society. We are rehearsed. We know our lines, we know our characters. We know where we are going and what time to be there.

I will feel better after I am completely ready. My costume is not laid out but what I want to wear is in my head. If the shirt I am thinking of is dirty, there are other candidates in my closet. I even found my rubber gloves so I can put the purple in my hair (not a necessity, but I think it will add a nice touch, and I did find the bottle earlier). Enough heart-burnings! (Ooh, that’s it: I have heartburn because of the egg sammich I ate earlier to tide myself over till dinner) (yes, I like to spell it “sammich”).

Perhaps I will do a post-murder post tomorrow. Or it will be Wrist to Forehead Sunday, as I hurry on to my next theatrical endeavor. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Posted in humor, personal and tagged A Trivial Murder, community event, herkimer county historical society, murder mystery, nervous, performance, theatre. Bookmark the permalink.

Stomach-ache at Suiter House

Posted on April 1, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m sitting here wondering if my upset stomach is due to the piece of leftover pizza I had for lunch or to nervousness about tonight’s murder mystery. It feels more like a pizza upset stomach, quite frankly, but one cannot completely discount pre-performance butterflies.

As more astute readers will have guessed, this is going to be another foolish post. However, since I often have foolish posts before a theatrical performance (oh, OK, and the rest of the time too), I think I will be forgiven. And if not, oh well, I will just have to live with the disapproval.

The murder mystery, in case you didn’t read about it in a previous blog post, is Secrets at Suiter House, to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society. I think it is one of my better scripts, but perhaps I flatter myself. I have an excellent cast assembled. I know they will do a marvelous job. I dare to include myself in that confidence. Accuse me of tooting my own horn if you like, but I maintain that there are worse things than having an ego the size of Manhattan, especially for an actor.

Is my ego the size of Manhattan? I’m sure these things are difficult to measure. I certainly have ego enough to set my foolish words afloat into the blogosphere (there’s a silly word) and trust some people will be entertained by them. I have ego enough to write a murder mystery and present it to a room full of people, trusting that they will be entertained.

And yet I sit here with my stomach roiling, saying to myself, “What the hell am I thinking?” I guess a gigantic ego does not always translate into a plethora of self-confidence. Never mind. Overconfidence is a dangerous thing, and sometimes nerves are a good sign. So I say, break a leg, me.

Maybe I’ll try the effects of some ginger tea on my stomach.

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Posted in humor, personal and tagged blog post, blogging, break a leg, ego, health, herkimer county historical society, nervous, Secrets at Suiter House, self confidence, stomach ache, theatre, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

I’m Not Hydrated Yet!

Posted on July 8, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have have Lame Post Friday in the middle of vacation, can’t I? Of course I can; it’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to. Wait a minute, that’s something else.

I have spent all day having Boilermaker Butterflies (I think I once wrote a blog post of that title). I mean serious, stomach-churning nervousness. I don’t know why. All my problems will resolve themselves at the proper time. I will run the race. There is no reason to think I will not have fun. Yet here I sit, trying to drink more water and worrying.

I went for one final run today (is it bad that I have begun the last three paragraphs with “I”? Just something else to worry about), 30 easy minutes. It didn’t feel too bad. I found the shirt I wanted to run in, a large yellow tee with a Superman logo which Steven purchased for 50 cents at a church thrift store some years ago. It is a little wrinkly, and I am considering ironing it. I rather like the thought of running the Boilermaker in a freshly pressed t-shirt.

This morning I had several errands to run: an afghan to drop off, a trip to the post office, a visit to the library to print out my Boilermaker registration confirmation. By 11:30 I was headed to Utica to Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) to pick up my race number and goody bag. What a crowd scene! However, people were nice and numerous volunteers kept things running smoothly.

For dinner I had a London broil in the crock pot. Some time ago, a nice young man at The Sneaker Store told me I should have a steak dinner on Friday and pasta on Saturday. I substituted roast beef in the crock pot then as I did now. I plan to use fresh basil from my container garden to make pesto for tomorrow’s pasta. Yum!

What I am mostly worried about now is that this is a truly lame blog post. Can I possibly expect tomorrow’s to be any better as the 15K race looms ever closer? I should probably have an in-depth conversation with myself about whether the race is worth all this anguish I put myself through, with perhaps a side discussion about why I put myself through such completely useless worry. Don’t worry, any minute now I will move on to the point where I start to laugh at myself. Happy Friday, everyone!

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Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged anguish, blog post, blogging, Boilermaker, lame post, nervous, running, Utica Boilermaker 15K. Bookmark the permalink.

Lame Minute Before the Race

Posted on July 11, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

The Boilermaker excitement continues. And could somebody please explain to me why I feel so blankety-blank NERVOUS about it? I will run 15 Ks. It will be fun. My problems of getting there and getting home afterward will be solved one way or another. There is no reason for butterflies.

One theory about why I would be nervous is that I am on my employer’s Corporate Cup Team. My time will count in a competition that could win money for a charity. I will not run fast. I never run very fast. But the others on my team already know that. They let me on the team anyways. It is no cause for distress.

Today Steven and I went to the Boilermaker Expo at Mohawk Valley Community College to pick up my race packet. This was another source of stress. Drive to Utica, find a parking space, make my way through a crowd — regular readers know I have trouble with all these things. The little trip went off without a hitch. One would expect me to feel relief.

And here I sit with my wrist to my forehead (figuratively speaking, that is), knowing that I am being completely stupid and self-dramatizing. These are not insurmountable problems, I tell myself. Quit being such a big baby!

Perhaps my problem is not the Boilermaker 15K at all. Perhaps my problem is that this is the last Friday of my two week break. I will run the Boilermaker Sunday and go back to work on Monday. I believe this is something that could cause any rational person at least some amount of distress.

On the brighter side, I can look forward to next Friday, when Friday will MEAN something again. It won’t be the end of my days off, it will be the beginning of my days off. Yes, it will be two days rather than two weeks, must you bring up the negative aspects of everything?

In the meantime, don’t mind me. I’m just being foolish. I really am looking forward to the Boilermaker. I’m even looking forward to the short, easy run I intend to take tomorrow morning. I like to run.

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Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged Boilermaker, Boilermaker 15K, Mohawk Valley Community College, nerves, nervous, running, The Boilermaker, Utica NY, wrist to forehead. Bookmark the permalink.

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