malaysia's musings

I'm the only one.

2006-10-29T01:28:00.000-05:00

I knew I was unique.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

I'm still here

2006-09-22T16:35:00.000-05:00

I've been called out. And rightly so. I don't even remember the last time I blogged.

The only defense I have is this. I've been living in the world of Othello and they didn't have computers or blogs back then. I know, bad excuse. In reality I've been splitting what little free time I have outside of the theatre between sleeping and knitting. Christmas is fast approaching and I don't have a single present planned yet, never mind about getting stuff ready to sell. I've been a bad bad knitter.

Someone asked a few months ago "how many projects do you have going right now?" I stopped counting when I got to 30 because it was just too depressing. In my defense (I've used that word twice now) it's not because I get bored with the project, it's because I run out of yarn or I need needles that I don't have, or I need to block something. I go to the yarn store to pick it up and instead of buying what I need my head gets turned by the pretty new yarn (of which I only buy enough to finish about 1/3 of the project, and I'm off and running)

I'm trying to convince myself that my attitude towards yarn isn't a reflection of my love life.........

In other news we start rehearsals on Black Coffee on Tuesday and I can't wait. Like much of our audience the Halloween show is one of my favorites. Besides the fact that it's finally getting cooler and that means winter is almost here.

every time I even consider moving back to California to be closer to my family winter comes around and I can't imagine not having that moment ever November where I'm looking out a window, holding the hot cup of coffee and seeing everything blanketed in white.

20 minutes to Othello crew call so I'm off.

(I promise to post again before another month goes by)

Warner's Bash

2006-07-18T09:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, everyone at this point has either read/woken up from the hangover and remembered about this amazing party on Sunday night.

First off, right off the bat, Kudos to Thomasin. She managed to get what can only be described as many "generations" of Waysiders all together in one place to celebrate this man who means so much to all of us.

Next, how amazing to think that there are some people who drove up to 10 hours to get here to spend 6 hours together. I think you can see from the slide show above (if the code indeed worked) that much fun was had.

On a personal note Warner Crocker (who does actually turn 50 today - Happy Birthday!)has been one of the most influential people in my life thus far. I was living in St. Louis, in a fairly bad relationship, considering quitting theatre when I got this bug up my ass to give it one more shot and mailed out what seemed like 100 resumes and cover letters (even accidentally sent Wayside two - that's how frantic I was) Weeks after I had sent Wayside my stuff I got a call from Libby Ingham (our former Company Manager)that Warner wanted to set up a phone interview with me. Now, it's a well known fact that I love the phone interview. Any time you can get a job while sitting on your bed in your pajamas I'm all for. What followed was more like a conversation with a long lost friend than a phone interview. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. (I say hadn't because there have been many more sessions of uncontrollable laughter since then) At the end of the conversation he told me he was off to SETC (or UPTA - something like that) and wanted to interview a couple more people and would get back to me in a week. The next day he called and offered me the job. Told me he knew I was the right person and didn't want to interview a bunch of people he wasn't going to hire anyway. It took me 2 hours to figure out the financial stuff and I started packing (my move was still about 2 months away). I have never regretted it.

I have had the honor to work in some fairly large houses in this country with some fairly well established professionals. But this is my home. When the time comes to leave this beautiful place it will still be my home. And this man is the reason why. He has comforted me in my pain, bolstered me in my failures and celebrated with me in my successes. He has encouraged me when I needed it and yelled at me when I needed it more. I came here with no actual Stage Management experience (only assistant work under my belt) and every time he tells me that I'm one of the best he's worked with all I can think is how much he has shaped me.

So kudos to one of my best friends and mentors.

Happy Birthday Boss.

My space ate me

2006-06-28T09:26:00.001-05:00

Okay, it's not that I haven't been blogging. It's that I haven't been blogging here. But now I've realized that if I want my friends who aren't part of my space to ever read about me I must indeed blog in both places. (Or start copying and pasting stuff over)

We are now well into the summer season. The first show is open (to much success I must say) and the second is in rehearsal and going into tech next week. The new company is doing as well as I hoped they would and the only sad thing I can say right now is this. With the first show closing both my beloved JT and Steve will be leaving us for a bit. At least Steve will be back soon.

And of course a small bit of interest to me happens this Sunday.

I turn 30.

Now I remember being 16 and thinking, okay when I'm 25 I'll be an adult. And then when I was 25 I thought, 28, that's absolutely adulthood. 28 came and I thought, well it must be 30 then. And now that 30 is here (scary thought) I don't think I can put off adulthood anymore. So this Sunday I will officially become an adult (at least in my own head) and do things like start a savings account for retirement this year.

I live

2006-04-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, Peter Boyer has shamed me into updating this sucker.

I have seen (or continue to see) many of you since this was last updated so not a whole lot new to share. (Except for the aformentioned Mr. Boyer - will you ever come back and see us?)

I've been staying out of trouble for the most part by getting ready for next years company. I now have more versions of next year's Master Calendar than I can count and am trying to convince myself to dive back into the Standard Operating Procedures manual. Sexy huh?

On the good side the company for next year looks amazing. I get to keep many friends around and even get some old ones back for a bit. Mr JT Arbogast looks like he'll be joining us for the first show. (Many have seen the happy dance from me today) as well as Mr. Przybylski is returning for a good portion of the summer. Yeah! It feels like a family reunion of sorts.

Even better my actual family is coming to visit. My sister (who I may just refer to as "the brilliant one") will be making her first trip out to Virginia this May and I can't wait to see her. I usually only get to see her once a year at Christmas so this added visit is much appreciated. Add to that the fact that if everything works out we will be making our way to the Maryland Wool and Sheep festival. I am such a dork, but the idea of that much wool in one place...well some of you get drunk, I knit.

too much time

2006-01-24T23:09:00.000-05:00

So when I'm up late at night and am tired of knitting (don't faint it happens on occasion) I start doing silly things like surfing the web randomly and doing random quizzes. This one is the OKCupid test. I just think it's funny that I'm Random and Brutal. I sound like a tornado. Or a sniper. I love the line "Then you make her bleed". I don't just hurt her....I make her bleed.

Yep.

Anyway, read for yourself.

The Wild Rose
Random Brutal Love Dreamer (RBLDf)

Colorful, but unpicked. You are The Wild Rose.

Prone to bouts of cynicism, sarcasm, and thorns, you excite a certain kind of woman. Hoping to gather you up, she flirts and winks and asks you out, ultimately professing her love. Then you make her bleed. Why? Because you're the rare, independent, self-sufficient kind of woman who does want love, but not from a weakling.

You don't seem to take yourself too seriously, and that's refreshing. You aren't uptight; you don't over-plan. Romance-wise, sex isn't a top priority--a true relationship would be preferable. For your age, you haven't had a lot of bonafide love experience, though, and this kind of gets to core of the issue. You're very selective.

evil on the web

2006-01-22T05:27:00.000-05:00

So my good friend Warner pointed me toward this website that will tell you how evil your website is. At first I was saddened to find out that my blog was only 30% evil, but then I only write on it about twice a month these days so if two days out of my life can equal up to 30% evil then I can live with that.

I was also heartened by the fact that evil.com only rated at 33% evil so I feel like I'm doing okay.

Oh and if you were wondering my knitting blog was 35% evil and my website only 9%.

In other news we go into tech for Smoke on Tuesday and it feels like we are way ahead this time around. We have a few understudies going in on the first week though so most of my work is in the next couple of weeks.

Country Road, Take me home....

2006-01-04T20:57:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm actually flying, but you get the point.

Tonight ends my 11 day stay in beautiful Southern California where I have done nothing but eat, sleep, shop and knit.

I arrived Christmas morning after quite a fun drive into DC with Larry, Theresa & Kris to whom I owe a big thanks for all the stopping so I didn't throw up in my car on the way there. But we eventually made it to our planes (or I assume we did since the last time I saw Kris and Larry was in the long term parking lot where we got separated into 2 different busses) But I eventually made it to my parent's home where within a few hours I got to see family who I haven't seen since May. We ate dinner, we opened presents and once they all left I opened gifts with my immediate family. Now I know I'm old when Santa no longer visits. Of course I got two big 'ole presents from the "Knitting Fairy" (that was actually written on the slip, I'm not making it up) Tons of fun yarn and new knitting books as well as a ball winder and a swift (don't ask it's too hard to explain), plus visits to at least 4 knitting shops and I've had an amazing vacation.

New Years Eve we went to my mom's aunt and I saw cousins and aunts I haven't seen in, get this, 15 years. Which meant that many cousins who I remember as infants or toddlers are now driving which is just depressing. I managed to dodge the attempts to get me to sing and we were back home around 10 and I was asleep by 11 (in my own defense it was past midnight in Virginia)New Years Day we went over to some friends house where there was live Hawaiian music and hula dancing as entertainment and it underlined for me how different my life is now.

All in all I've eaten more in the last 11 days than in the previous month and I'm very much looking forward to getting back to work next week. If I'm counting correctly I haven't been to work in at least 3 weeks and if you know me I'm going a little crazy, but I'm feeling more relaxed than I have in years.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. JT Congrats on the Penn win and hopefully I'll see you all very soon.

2005-12-23T00:13:00.000-05:00

I can talk!!!! I can speak and people can understand me!!!! I can.....crap, Abigail went home this morning and I have no one to actually talk to.

Needless to say I'm feeling much better. Thank you to everyone who sent their good thoughts my way. Especially the folks at Wayside. What would I do without my extended family? They kept me stocked in Gatorade and Christmas cheer.

I have been very sad having missed the entire last week of A Christmas Story. I never would have thought I would miss all those little rugrats so much. But I'm definitely going stir crazy in the apartment. Only a few more days though before I'm off to visit the folks.

On the upside I've absolutely lost weight this week due to my limited liquid diet. I don't recommend this method though....

medical update

2005-12-20T16:33:00.000-05:00

So all those years of avoiding needles has caught up with me. My visit to the ENT proved painless but full of promise.

It is confirmed that I have an infected salivary gland. So i got new meds to get rid of the infection. The best part however is that in order to actual get rid of the problem I have to actually get rid of the gland. So in January I will be having surgery to remove my left salivary gland.

In general it all just sucks because I actually woke up feeling better for the first time since last Thursday.

More details to come after my nap.......

Update: I just read that they cut from the outside. So now you guys will be able to call me scarface. A two inch incision under the jawline and I get to spend the night in the hospital and they are going to put a tube in for the first night to drain blood. Yeah.....uh huh......

Can't even knit

2005-12-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

There really is no excuse for my long absence from the blog world. I just got busy with the Christmas Show.

But nature has a way of shutting you down when you are going strong and if my current illness is any indication of how hard I was pushing....Well, let's just say....damn.

Most people during this time of the year suffer from the flu or a cold or a sinus infection. Not malia, I say. Oh no. She gets an blocked infected salivary gland. And if it sounds painful it really is.

I woke up last Thursday kinda swollen so I thought since the morning show was cancelled due to an oncoming ice storm it would be a good time to hit the urgent care, get some antibiotics and just knock it out of the park. Well I've been on the antibiotics since Thursday, been back to urgent care on Sunday and I still feel like crap. And I sound like a cartoon character. My tongue and gland are so swollen I can't actually eat anything so I'm also starving which isn't helping in the getting better. The pain medication is okay though, I can live with the pain medication, besides if I don't have it I end up in the fetal position rocking back and forth in pain.

The good news here is that I get to go see an Ear Nose and Throat doctor tomorrow afternoon. I assume he will put many needles in my already sore mouth and I will experience much pain. However the dreams of eating solid food again some day will help me get thru the pain. That and Abigail who has put off going home for Christmas to stay at my side and care for me.

I should also thank Mr. Chris Ham who has taken over calling the shows for me since I can't talk.

Hey, maybe I'll blog more now that I can't talk...hmmm.......

I live.

2005-11-27T08:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, I have really good reason for this extreme lack of blogage (or is it bloggage....) Because I've been in tech. And not just any tech. Christmas Show tech. And for the majority of people here who read my blog and actually work or have worked at Wayside I don't need to explain anything else.

For the rest of you it's not as bad as Camila was (remember the tango musical with the heart surgery, broken ankle and kamikaze cross that tried to take me out with it?) but about the same as working Midwest Theatre Auditions.

But we open today!!!! Previews went well yesterday. Our matinee was wonderful and our evening show was also great with a few more bumps but dealable. It was nice to hear an audience respond to the show and see that our hard work is paying off. And I think I could spend years watching Dahlke getting better and better and what he does.

It's an interesting format to the show that reminds me very much of the stage version of "To Kill A Mockingbird" where the adult version of the main character narrates and moves through the action of the show. Narration is a tricky thing. It's a memory that you can't wait to share with your audience, but you can't attack them you have to welcome them in from the beginning. And as Warner put it last night the narrator is the audience's ticket into this world.

And even though the children have been a challenge I've seen many of them take leaps over the last few days. The trick will be to keep it up. I've always been a big believer that for the tech crew, tech week is the hardest part of the show, but for the actors the hard part begins next week when the fear of having an audience begins to fade and the relaxation with the show sets in.

It will be nice after tonight to spend some much needed time with Abigail. We are going to Martinsburg on Monday to meet up with another couple (Kim and Katie) to have dinner and see Rent. (Though I've heard that they screwed the pooch on Angel's death, so we'll see).

Harry Potter!!

2005-11-19T01:18:00.000-05:00

Went and watched Harry Potter tonight. Simply said it is the best of the four movies out so far. I was one of those people who hated the third movie because of all the actual important stuff they left out and all the crap they made up. Whoever adapted this one from the book was amazing. you got all the story within an acceptable, though I agree long, time frame.

Other than that life continues as normal. Spent the day at the theatre getting ready for tech next week and then had rehearsal tonight. A little painful at some points, but we managed to muddle our way thru. A full day tomorrow, but only with one cast which does make things slightly more bearable. I got the majority of my lighting and sound cues today. Kris, my sound tech for this show, walked in at the end and started cursing both Teresa and myself when he heard us writing Sound YYY. So yeah, it's gonna be busy in the booth.

2005-11-16T22:14:00.000-05:00

It has been a bit of a long week. We've moved into the theatre for A Christmas Story and are continuing to figure things out. A day off tomorrow is well deserved by everyone.

It's a challenging show. Probably the most obvious is the fact that we have 14 children in the show under the age of 14. On one hand they are amazing and doing a great job and on the other....well they are 14 children under the age of 14. Let me put it this way, on the way home from rehearsal yesterday I called my mother and apologized for every bad thing I had ever done to her during my youth.

Our friend Beth is in town visiting so she will, as always, bring some relaxation and laughter into our life for awhile.

yes, I'm a slacker

2005-11-08T22:09:00.000-05:00

JT has called me out and rightly so. I'm a total slacker who hasn't blogged in over a week.

So what's been going on....well I've been in rehearsal with 14 children for A Christmas Story. In all honesty it could be much worse. Many of the kids are very talented and very smart.

Sleuth has one more week to go and I will truly miss this show and this cast. They have made my job extraordinarily easy.

Other than that I have been doing a lot of knitting. Got a special order from Ray and Til for scarves and a bag from Maureen Limon's store. In addition the store I usually shop in, Frog Eye Emporium, has made a deal with me that I can't believe. The owner, Sue, has offered me an amazing discount in her store in exchange for knitting some samples. So basically I get to knit with amazing yarns and get a discount on stuff to keep. Very cool. I'm also working on a hat w/ Natalie for the Christmas show. Oh, and stuff to sell in the curtain call. Huh, I guess that's why my wrists hurt and my fingers are going numb.......

Oh, and in case you haven't heard the Democrat Tim Kaine won the governship in Virginia tonight. :)

2005-10-31T15:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween to all and Happy Birthday to Abigail!

Isn't it evil what we will do to our dogs? I don't feel that bad, if it hadn't been in my car I would've grabbed my devil hat too.

tattoos and alcohol....bad combo

2005-10-25T22:17:00.000-05:00

okay, I couldn't resist. Many of you already know the story behind this tattoo. So here it is.

This picture brought to you by the first actor I ever met to use as an excuse for missing his entrance "Well, I was standing there and I heard my cue and I thought, "I should be onstage" . But I wasn't"

What I did with my day.

2005-10-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

Okay besides getting the knitting blog up (w/ 6 posts already) I actually finished a project today. This is the sweater I made for Piper (which if you don't know is the name of Connie's baby - due in February). It's actually a cashmere blend. Why not start with the spoiling now. And hey Connie is gonna have tons of time to handwash baby clothes.....yeah.

And then Laura came over and Abigail taught her how to tie a tie. Aren't they adorable? By the way, check out Abigail's new haircut.

It's called a faux-hawk. It's a fake mo-hawk. It's really cute. Oh, and by the way, just to brag, that's the sweater I made her for Valentine's Day last year.

Back to work tomorrow!

Really glad I missed this one

2005-10-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

As many of you know I seem to have a knack for flying into Florida just in time for hurricanes. My mother and I were on the last flight in before Hurricane Andrew hit and Abigail and I got evacuated from Ft. Lauderdale last year from Hurricane Jeanne (we had been there a total of 17 hrs). Many of you may have also heard that Andrew was headed straight for Broward County (where my mother and I were huddled in a closet-okay I was sleeping and she was watching TV, but only because we didn't know any better) before turning at the last second and hitting south of us.

I wasn't paying as much attention to this one because I haven't been watching the news as much this week. So when I heard that it actually hit Broward County it kinda threw me for a loop. The picture above is taken in Davie which was literally 2 blocks away from where I lived all thru high school. I've spent a portion of this evening looking up pictures of buildings I recognize, with no windows.

Can't get thru to anyone in S. Florida. So pray for all my friends who are down there.

Boring, boring, and a little more boring.

2005-10-24T01:19:00.000-05:00

So I was gonna call myself a bad blogger for not posting since last Thursday, but then I realized that with the exception of Warner none of my friends have posted in forever so....hey I'm in good company.

The reason I haven't posted in forever is that, well frankly, everything is very calm and kinda boring. But nice. I guess the calm before the storm continues for a few more days. It so much easier to talk about problems in your life than when things are going well. Isn't that depressing?

My theatre friends will be glad to know that I have saved them from having to look at my knitting blogs, by creating a second blog dedicated exclusively to knitting. Once I have it up and running with the pictures and all I'll link to it, just in case you all are bored.

I had a great, but too short, visit with Emily yesterday (or I guess it is technically Monday, so 2 days ago). It will be nice to have her home and working back at the theatre, even if it is only for 10 days or so. Actually over the next few weeks many friends will be returning to the area for the Christmas show.

Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about once I start rehearsals with 14 (yep 14) children.

Somewhere in the world Terry Lee is laughing her ass off at the idea of me trying to handle 14 children. And Keith and Marc are thinking "What's the problem? Just tie them to the fly rail."

Oh, I do miss St. Louis something awful sometimes.

The calm before the storm

2005-10-20T13:29:00.000-05:00

So here's a first this year. I don't have to be at work until 6:30pm tonight. I have spent a good portion of the day in my pajamas (which I put back on after going to work out), sitting around my house and hanging out with Abigail. I watched an entire program on Pompeii and what would happen if the volcano erupted today. I will read "A Christmas Story" before I go in tonight. So yeah, I've pretty much just puttered around the house doing nothing.

But the Christmas show is just around the corner. It's really hard to believe that in two weeks I will be in rehearsal with a whole lot of kids. I'm trying very hard to appreciate this down time before everything goes kablooey again (that is the technical term by the way).

In other news Miss Emily Rossi will be here again this weekend. And it must be getting closer to winter because I went and got my first box of winter clothes out of the Middletown house yesterday. And I'm sitting on my bed enjoying a steaming hot cup of Miso soup (the powdered stuff is better than nothing) What could be better? Other than I ran 1.7 miles today before I got kicked off my machine and I wasn't winded at all yet.

Oh and just a warning to all my theatre folk friends. Since the title of this blog does actually have the word knitting in it I'm going to be posting some pictures of what I'm working on in the next few days. (Because the people who are actually here with me aren't subjected to "Hey look at what I'm working on now!" enough already) Just beware if you look at all the pictures you may get a glimpse of your Christmas present.

By the way is it bad that a tooth I had a root canal on 4 years ago has begun to be very sensitive to heat and cold in the last two days? Because that's what I need. More dental work. Bleh.

Revocation

2005-10-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, I absolutely get my lesbian card revoked tonight. So Mac (one of Abigail's teachers) asked her to take care of his cats while he was away for Fall Break. But Abigail went away this weekend as well so she asked me to. So I go over Saturday night to feed the cats, but I can't get the key to work. So I call Abigail but we decide I will try again in the morning when there is light and stuff. So I went over this morning and still couldn't get it to work. I met Jonz' (our old Scene Designer) mom. She lives in the apartment behind them and she couldn't get it to work either. So I call Abigail again and she calls Will Ingham to see if he knows if there is another key in town. Evidently he Mac keeps one in his office. So Will and his wife Libby come to opening night tonight, but he's left his office keys at home. So we open the show, go to the party and then have to go to Shenandoah to get campus security to open Mac's office to get the key so I can feed the cats that haven't been fed since Friday evening. But when Will gets in the key is gone. So i must have the key he usually keep there. So it must work, right? So we all head over to Mac's where I try a couple more times to get the door to open, which I can't. So I let Will try....and of course he gets it open in the first 10 seconds. So I admit it. I needed a big strong man to open a door for me. By the way, Thanks to Will and Libby Ingham for trekking around Winchester with me tonight all in the name of feeding a couple of cats.

In other Malia news we opened the show tonight and everything went very well. Some scariness during half hour when Warner sent Nat out back to test shoot our gun and it wouldn't fire twice in a row (which of course it needs to do during the show) so we had to use our back-back up gun (also thanks to Will Ingham for lending it to us). Other than that things went very well. The guys did a great job, the audience really seemed to like it, went to the party (where Warner told the "Die, Larry, just die. Literally die" story - which I will never live down, and rightly so) and then the cat craziness ensued.

Abigail's home tomorrow. Yeah!!!

2005-10-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

Not my best work today I have to say. It's so frustrating to feel prepared for something, and to fall so short of anything resembling acceptable. At least to me.

And to top it all I twisted my knee again which is just annoying.

Blew the shit out of the beginning of the show this afternoon and then screwed up again because I let it bother me. Got it right tonight, but then we had problems at the end of the show with sound. Joy of live theatre right? Maybe I should have gone into film. It would suck not to have an audience though.

In any case, you better believe that I'm ready to hit it out of the park tomorrow.

Keep flipping back and forth between being pissed that I screwed up and beating myself up and being pissed that I screwed up and feeling rebellious to get it right tomorrow.

Enough of that. I'm sitting on the floor of my apartment watching, of all things, Gettysburg. You'd think that I would have had enough of the Civil War by now, but evidentally not. It's so weird to hear the lines I'm so used to hearing coming out of the mouths of different actors. And the scenes are in a different order. I was watching the Buford/Hancock scene and then all of a sudden I was in the Trimble scene and my brain just went "But we're already in intermission". Okay, I'm a dork, I know.

Abigail is home in Richmond visiting her folks for her Fall Break. It's nice to have time alone and all, but I miss coming home to her at night. And it's always weird to not have Oscar (our dog) running around underfoot. Isn't it always the way that just as I'm coming out of my hermit phase, everyone is busy or away.

By the way, I almost titled this entry "Frustrated and Loney" but it was too depressing even for me. Hence no imaginative title.

pics

2005-10-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, too tired to write much, but here are two good pictures, also from closing night of Killer Angels.

How cute are these two? Isn't that Andrew one sexy meteorologist?

Peter, Larry, Jim & Carl

Bye Bye Killer

2005-10-09T08:38:00.000-05:00

So, Killer Angels has closed. Had one final amazing show last night. The most responsive audience of the run. Felt like we really went out with a bang. Thank you to the boys who really made this experience for me.

On another note, had a big reunion last night with Steve Przybylski, Katie Strock, Anna Marie and of course Miss Emily Rossi. It was fantastic to get to spend some time with my friends. We ended up at The Isle until about 1:45ish. (at least that's when I left, there were still quite a few downstairs). Hopefully all made it home okay.

Focus all on Sleuth now. We have one more rehearsal in town hall today and we'll put the show together for the first time. Get to have dinner with Emily one more time before she goes back to college on Tuesday. And then a day off and we move into the theatre for tech week and open next Sunday. All in all life as usual.

Harriet Miers know who I am? :)

2005-10-07T07:41:00.000-05:00

Got a mention on that Harriet Miers blog today. Seems she likes bad knitting too. Still getting used to total strangers reading what I'm writing.

Quickly coming up on the end of Killer Angels. Only 3 shows left. All in all it has been a wonderful experience. These guys are a great group and many of them have earned my respect over the last month and a half.

Tomorrow is proving to be quite the reunion. Not only is my friend Emily coming into town, but our old music director Steve Przybylski, and two actresses from previous shows, Katie Strock and Anna Marie Sell will also be here. Haven't seen these guys for quite a while so I'm very much looking forward to it.

Fairly normal day today. Production Meeting, rehearsal, show, come home and knit. Speaking of which I'm going to start selling on ebay I think. I already have one scarf up as a test, just to see what happens. If I don't start getting rid of stuff soon the scarves are going to take over the apartment.

for abigail

2005-10-06T06:44:00.000-05:00

Today is my 2 yr anniversary with my beautiful girlfriend, Abigail. Hard to imagine it's only been two years and that it's already been two years.

In typical theatre fashion today she will go to school and then open a show tonight. I will go to rehearsal and then run my show tonight. I'm pretty sure we will see each other before midnight, but you never know.

So, happy anniversary baby. Thank you for two years of loving me despite all my faults.

not my find....but still

2005-10-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

I can't take credit for this. Warner gave me the link today, but it was so funny I had to pass it on. Someone has created a "blog" for Harriet Miers. You have to start at the beginning and you have to read the whole thing.

Also for my knitting friends, you have to check out this blog. It kinda epitomizes the phrase "just because you can....doesn't mean you should" You knit what?. Enjoy.

It's an epidemic

2005-10-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

I have now been accused of inspiring two new bloggers. Who knew I was so inspiring?

My good friend Emily Rossi has started her blog called The Not So Daily Herald. Emily has just started her first year at William and Mary studying theatre. I met her 1 year ago when she came to Wayside as a mentor student. And if you had told me then that I would someday come to regard this 18yr high school senior as one of my closest friends I would have called you crazy. But maybe I need a little youth and idealism in my life to balance my own cynical nature. What can I say, for some reason we work.

My other very good friend is an actor I met last season. A true gentleman named J.T. Arbogast. He lives in New York with his girlfriend (who I still haven't met and have accused him of inventing). He currently performs in an improv group and is just truly a good human being. He is about a week into his blog. Backmountain Whistles.

Today Em told me blogging was addictive. She's right. But what I enjoy more than writing my own is the chance to read my friends'. In a life where the majority of my family and friends are scattered not only throughout the country, but the world, it brings them into my living room every morning, if only for the 5 minutes it takes me to read what they did the day before.

So thanks to Larry and Warner for inspiring me and giving me a new way to keep the people I love a little closer.

2005-10-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

I've spent the day trying to get my life somewhat in order, which includes getting all the photos off my camera and into and organized in my computer. This is my favorite. From the top (and going clockwise) it's me, Thomasin, Tamara (who was celebrating her birthday, I mean she looks great in a tiara, but she doesn't wear them all the time) and Libby.

Next I will tackle the apartment and then maybe even my car. If no one hears from me in 24hrs you may want to send help.

words from America's "morality czar"

2005-10-02T07:21:00.000-05:00

But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

-Bill Bennett (a man refered to as America's "Morality czar" and author of The Book of Virtues)

Oh. My. God.

Can there be any clearer sign of the health of America's so-called morals?

a house full of homos....

2005-09-30T23:10:00.000-05:00

Came home tonight from the show thinking I would just put my laundry (4 loads - I really need to do laundry more than once a month) away and pass out. Feeling kinda blah in general. And then I walked in and found a house full of gay men. Fan-fucking-tastic! There is nothing in this world that will cheer me up more than a room full of drunk gay men....well almost nothing.

And the prettiest gay man I have ever met in my life (my apologies to my other VERY handsome gay friends). His name is Michael (didn't catch the last name) and he's a drag queen in Richmond. He's given his sperm to two other lesbian couples to have babies, which just makes him....well just cool. He's so pretty I took a picture which I will post tomorrow.

A good show tonight. Standing ovation. 1 week left before I'm immersed in the tech world of Sleuth. Props, props, and more props. Or as Warner puts it gack, geegaws and goo-goos. By the way, if anyone has a microscope they can lend me let me know.

2005-09-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

This is for all my friends from Webster. The muppets are finally getting their own stamps. I don't think it will improve my correspondence, but still.....very cool.

killer...killer....and a falling one legged man

2005-09-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

Two shows of killer angels today. Most amusing moment of the night? When Devon entered for the first time as Ewell (who carries a cane because he only has one leg) and tripped, dropping his cane. Then we got to watch him try to figure out how to bend over to pick up his cane with only "one" leg. Looked a little like a monkey trying to surf....a cute monkey....but a monkey.

Ah, the joy of live theatre.

Had a lovely dinner with sir Dahlke this evening. Will be very strange when he's not around for a month, but hopefully it will only make us appreciate him more when he gets back for Christmas.

Will spend tomorrow morning enjoying the brand new Michael's craft store that is opening about 5 minutes away from me and then back to Sleuth and another performance of killer.

for shits and griggles.......griggles?

2005-09-27T20:37:00.000-05:00

God I love this part of my job. There is something that appeals to me about still running a show and starting rehearsals for the next one. We started rehearsals for Sleuth today. Got a great start on blocking. And to watch Warner really in his element....things don't get better.

After speaking with my sister yesterday I may have had a change of heart about family however. Not my sister, my extended family. There are some days when I'm so happy I live on the other side of the country.

A slow couple of days off. Which isn't always a bad thing. Talked to emily and made tentative plans to drive out and visit in November. She will be here on the 8th. Can't wait to see her again. Almost done with Piper's first poncho. Who I will figure out a way to see in February.

Back to the land of Killer Angels tomorrow.

my life outside of here...

2005-09-26T14:03:00.000-05:00

This is me and my sis last spring when we went to Disney land. I've been thinking about family alot lately.

Every summer my mother's side of the family has a reunion. Usually it's in Vegas, a couple of years ago they actually moved it to Hawaii and next year I think it will be in L.A. It's been about 5 years, at least, since I've been. But on Friday I got a book with pictures and contact info for my whole family. (It's still weird to see blond hair, blue eyed children and call them my cousins) It's so easy to let myself get totally immersed in this life I lead. I need these reminders sometimes that there is an entire group of people out there who #1 have no idea what my job is (have you ever tried to explain to anyone what it is a stage manager does?) #2 have no idea why it's so important to me (the last time I saw my uncle he asked if I was still doing that "theatre" thing) and #3 see me in a totally different light than anyone here. Perception is a funny thing.

thought for the day

2005-09-24T23:50:00.000-05:00

just a quote today:

Bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather the taking of action despite fear.

too deep in thought tonight to go more into it, but perhaps I will expand on this at a later date.

life continues....

2005-09-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

Fairly regular day yesterday. Though the first time in 3 days I didn't have a headache. I think those dosage things on the side of motrin are really just suggestions.

Good show last night. Though when Longstreet "drove" to his battlefield I had a pretty good chuckle. (We still love Larry anyway)

Went out to the Isle with some of the cast and had a wonderful conversation with Carl. Something struck me while I was talking to him though. When I lived in St. Louis I had this great group of gay and lesbian friends. My community was something I took for granted. When I got here I didn't really miss it because I had this amazing new family and really it doesn't matter who people sleep with. But I have to admit there is a level that Carl and I understand each other on, that I can't define. We talk about it sometimes and then burst into a chorus of "We are family". There are many things I will miss if I leave this place, but I am looking forward to the possibility of having that be part of my everyday life again.

photo call and a little love

2005-09-22T23:39:00.000-05:00

Had photo call tonight. Photo call for this show was bound to be painful. 9 men playing, I believe the rumor was about 50ish different roles. The original list had 49 shots. I got the designers to cut it down to 39 and we still only got 35 shots done. God bless the patient men of this cast. At least it gave me time to write 7 pages in my actual journal.

I love the men in this cast. No matter what mood I walk in to the theatre with they always make me laugh and look forward to work every day. Even sitting here I laugh a little imagining Peter doing his Tofu dance (the vegetarian version of the Chicken dance - I think you have to see it to really understand) I have to agree with Larry on this one. The fact that going to this theatre is considered "going to work" still amazes me.

And I'm gonna take a second here to praise the actual theatre as well. I've worked in 5 or 6 different theatres now (still a baby compared to most), but Wayside is the first that has felt like a real home/family since the day I got here. I was supposed to be here for 1 season and 3 years later the reality that I will probably leave someday makes me want to go a little fetal. Even on bad days walking into that building reminds me of why I wanted to go into theatre to begin with. I can't imagine how the next job will possibly compare. The idea of following Warner Crocker around, and being his stage manager for life is very tempting.

Piper Delaney Cohen

2005-09-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

It's a girl!!! My best friend from Webster, Constance, is 20 weeks pregnant. Her and her wife Heidi have been trying for so long to have a baby. Today after many weeks of waiting we finally got the confirmation of sex. So, to the left you will see pictures of Piper Delaney Cohen. I can already tell she has Connie's nose. I can't wait. So much knitting to be done!!!

the walls come tumbling down

2005-09-21T07:15:00.000-05:00

okay, not all the walls. just two 8' stud walls. and on top of my girlfriend. who is now lying next to me a little more bruised than when I left her yesterday.

Evidently she was in the scene shop at her school and there were two stud walls leaning against a rolling ladder (let's let stupidity #1 go by for a moment). Some freshman moves the ladder without realizing it's holding something up and the walls fall on Abigail. She is now sporting a swollen lip, where she tried to bite thru, a couple of bruises on her shoulder, a knot on her head (where her head hit the ground - which she doesn't remember) and my favorite a big 'ole bruise/knot directly behind her left ear.

She has decided her family is cursed. Mom had to get 6 stitches when she fell in a parking lot, Dad rolled the family van down the driveway into the fence across the street, and her brother broke his nose in a minor car accident all within the last two weeks or so.

Jesus.

For Emily

2005-09-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

Surrounded by two of my favorite ladies, Miss Nat (aka saucy wench) and Miss Em (aka warm cookies)

2005-09-19T22:01:00.000-05:00

okay, here goes. This is my attempt at some sort of journal that doesn't only include the moments of my life where I am pissed off or really upset. In other words I'd like to look back on some of what I write and not look like a total insane lunatic.

I can dream.

A little about me. I'm a stage manager working in Virginia. I grew up in Los Angeles, have lived in Hollywood, Fl and St. Louis, Mo (a place I'm still having problems not calling home even though it has been 3 years) I knit. I knit a lot. I can spend entire days doing nothing but knitting. For some people this sounds pathetic, for others it's the dream. I have more scarves and purses than friends right now.

I was inspired to do this by my friends Larry Dahlke and Warner Crocker. Both very interesting and faithful bloggers (so far). We'll see how long I keep this up.

Just so you know, malaysia is the nickname my father gave me as a child. And since I was a VERY bad daughter and forgot his birthday on the 18th I thought I'd name my blog in honor of him. (BAD BAD BAD DAUGHTER)