Lost Downtown

Finally, I have some direction.

2007-11-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this weekend, I was poking around online, and came across Steve Job's Harvard Commencement address. It made a lot of sense to me. I think I've read it before, but this time around something clicked (haha, no pun intended). The whole bit about, "Don't settle, you'll know when something [a job] is a good fit when you find it."

And that got me thinking about going back to school again. I've been considering it for several months, but options are limited as it is cost-prohibitive and also really not feasible with a full-time job.

So I (re)decided that I needed to go to Oberlin. I've been making changes around the house, cleaning up, cheering up, moving on, and I guess it sparked something.

I've wanted to go to the Conservatory at Oberlin for about seven years or so. I talked myself out of it when I gave up the dream of pursuing music. But music never really left me. I wanted to double major at Wesleyan, after they told me I could, and then when the time came and I was all enrolled, I got laughed at. "You can't double major in Theatre and Music," they jeered. "Why not just get a Musical Theatre degree and be done with it. Or just choose Theatre, b/c the Music Department is stupid."

I spent my time there wishing -- quite often -- that I'd either switched schools or majored in music.

Now I'm two years out of school and ready to go back. But I have to wait. Oberlin is even more expensive that IWU. More expensive than Northwestern. At least it's still a steal compared to University of Chicago (where I wanted to go, but they didn't have any suitable majors for me)...
So I'm going to try and take one course per semester while I'm still down South and then test out of those Foreign Languages when (if?) I get to Oberlin.

The big deal with getting in there is that it's the oldest conservatory program in the country, and it's really, really hard to get accepted there (I think). I have no idea how my talent would stack up to all these other people's talents. And the audition basically determines whether you are in or not.

I've got less than a year to do the following:

- get a voice instructor to work with
-improve my keyboard skills
-make my sightreading unbelievably awesome
-learn guitar
-then learn mandolin
-then i could have violin as a secondary instrument, as violins and mandolins have the same tuning

It's a lot to do. But I feel better now that I've got a plan. And I can (hopefully) take German this semester, b/c it comes in very handy when singing opera, especially Mozart. I'd like to take Italian, but there isn't Italian 101 for spring semester, so I'll take what I can get.

There. Now I have a sort of to-do list of goals. Yay.

And then i waited another 6 months to write

2007-09-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

*sigh* I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that I'll never be a loyal blogger. It's not going to happen.
In case there's anybody out there reading this that I don't see on a regular basis, here is a summary:

March - raise at work. yay. found an apartment, but unable to move until mid-May
April - happy. started planning for moving from downtown to my own place
May- got my own apartment. soooo nice.
June - painted the walls a lovely spring green. Just the bottom 38 inches.
July - saw my beloved Lauren (yay! friend from jr. high) Saw my folks and my sister! started doing yoga every night before bed.
August - stung by a jellyfish. got the sweetest birthday card ever. it was hand-drawn!
Sept - Hmmm, I guess that's now. I just got a cute little bob the other day, and dyed it so it's a uniform color -- no more blonde on the tips. I have MBTs (shoes) and they are pink and white and awesome. I drove downtown to walk on the Battery in my fantastic MBTs.

I'm either visiting my family in December, or if I'm not allowed to, I'll go to the American Lindy Hop Championships. I've wanted to go to the ALHC since I started dancing eight years ago (geez, i got old!!), but I think I just might go to use a $25 off Airtran tix coupon. I'm out of practice, but I'd be in Heaven to be with all those dancers! All the greats! And Frankie Manning!

I still miss home. I miss the seasons, and I miss resources. I miss watching the leaves change and the snow fall. Snow is sucky to drive in, but it's beautiful and magical if you're simply watching it. I'm not leaving Charleston immediately -- don't know where I'd go -- but I don't think I'll stay forever... There are many more places to explore, and I intend to see them someday.

That's quite enough blogging for now. I don't want to overtax myself with all this sudden, strenuous blogging. See you in six months!

So it's been awhile. A long while. like 6 months

2007-03-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

Yep, I figured I'm finally going to blog again. I can break the drought and then blog more often.

I was at Enter The Blues in Atlanta this weekend and it rocked. Rosie, my host, was super-sweet and we got along famously. It was sooo nice to finally get to dance again. I hadn't danced since November, and really blues dancing?.... probably fall 2005 in Chicago or Champaign-Urbana. Not a lot here in the South. I doubt the blues really made it much past St. Louis. or maybe Memphis...

I was a Lindy Ho (bluesho?)and danced w/ dozens of men and it was fantastic. I saw Tristan again (I'd danced w/ him in Charlotte. he reminds me a lot of Jim...maybe that's why i like him so much?) and he is a wonderful dancer. I danced w/ Jeff, who is from St. Louis. Fun times. Midwesterners dance differently, I think. They're more relaxed, which is counter-intuitive... We played darts too. I have improved since my inaugural dart adventure at Gene's with Jim and Sally and Dave.

Unfortunately, at some point, I caught strep... not surprising, I'm estimating there were 80-100 people there. Through contact of whoever I was dancing with, I probably got germs from everyone there... There was no Purell at this exchange, unlike WCLX7. I will suggest that if I remember. So now I am sick. It sucks.

Oh, and on the way to Atlanta, b/c I had to drive through Columbia anyway, I dropped by the Art Garage and visited w/ Jim. That was nice. I hadn't seen him since mid-February. And I got to play with an *adorable* little girl. We played w/ hula hoops, and swung around the pole in the room, and carried a "cake" around. And we played ring-around-the-rosie -- fantastic!! I haven't played that since, um, college. (Okay, so winter 2005 a bunch of us went outside and played in the snow, an obligatory part of which involves that particular game. and snow angels. but I digress...)

So now I'm debating which other exchanges I want to do: Ryan and Jenny - end of March, Natalie and Yuval (i think that's her name) in April, ATLX in April or May, Blues Shout St. Louis sometime soon.... there's a lot. that's to say nothing of Chex... I will be surprised if anyone goes to that. who's going to want to drive to Charleston, there's no swing dance scene here!? Maybe my Charlotte friends will visit.

I think that's a good restarting the blog post. I'm *blahhhh* b/c I'm sick and I want to sleep. So that's what I shall do, although it is but a quarter 'til 11. (hey, don't laugh, i fell asleep at 4:30 or 5 saturday night post dancing)

Hooray for restarting things!

Improvements! Hooray!

2006-10-16T01:57:00.000-05:00

Yay! I am finally feeling like myself again! Getting done w/ being sick.

Things are improving in other ways too:

I get more hours at work by working at the Mt. P. store-- so I'm actually approaching 30 hrs a week. Score! Not sure how long it will last. Mulling over other part time job options too. Do I want to work at the Earth Fare Juice Bar? Hrmmmmm....

I will likely get benefits by New Years or so. Thank God! :)

I've been chillin w/ my gals a lot. O'Hara and Flynn's, Bain Mattox, Sermets, and various wandering around town-ness. I love Bain. I just cannot get over that voice of his. Geez. And he remembered me from the Cumberlands craziness post-DockStreet. I was honored and impressed.

Jim is gone for the moment (Tennessee -- I swear that was not on the myspace. I would've noticed it. unless that was the TBA...) but will be back soon. Hooray!! He'll be gone for a couple of weeks at least in November, but we've got some time before then. Some. *sigh* Oh those musicians. They don't stay in one place very long!!

I found a dear friend from high school on myspace: Stephers!! Yay stephers! I missed that girl. For all you folks down in Charleston -- think around the lines of Cary Ann. That's similar to how steph sings, but there's something more to it. (also, steph is a bitty little thing too, even more so that C.A.) I love Cary, but Stephers has God in her voice. Seriously. We did a duet back in the days of showchoir, and it was so fun. We blended well...
I miss singing. and I miss singing w/ ppl who really, really, love it with all their souls. I keep coming back to music. It happens quite frequently. Perhaps I will do something about this soon. I've been listening to the Secret Garden for the past few days, which is strange b/c it still kind of reminds me of Charles, but mostly reminds me of senior year driving to Hammond for rehearsal with the Guild. I sang all morning at work when I was dusting before we opened. I'm getting back to where I was before I got to college and Marcia all but beat the music out of me, and I got so busy and discouraged (plus the back problems) I stopped singing incessantly. But that's come back, as Taylor and Mary Ann (and anyone at work) can attest...

But the sad thing about finding ppl from school is that they're all still up North, so I won't get to see them. Prolly not going home until Spring Break time-ish, b/c my mom will be off school, my sister may be off, and it won't be so cold (compared to the option of going home for the holidays).

Off work until Wednesday. Will continue working around the house. Got a deco fan I need to check up on, and a Halloween costume to finish. And... potential roommates (2!) never showed up this weekend. Hmmm. Maybe ppl are hesitant to live in the ghetto? Just a thought, b/c the price is certainly right.

Going to try and sleep b/c it's 3. Goodness, i am big on the late night posting!

Yep, I'm still awake.

2006-10-09T02:46:00.000-05:00

Gahhhh, I can't sleep anymore. I've been kind of sick since August or late July, and really sick for the past month. Apparently this is what happens to people with severe allergies who live in Charleston... and they run out of medication.

I am finally getting better. But not enough that I can sleep at night. I can't breathe. So between that and stressing out about never getting benefits at work, I have developed an odd case of insomnia. The kind that when I finally fall asleep (4-5, usually) I"ll sleep for 10-14 hrs. Not cool. I'm definitely still sick if I can sleep like that and not wake up.

But it sucks. There's nobody home, so I suppose I could clean or sew or do laundry. I'm a bit miffed that I have to be home (instead of at the doctor's) to let the floor guys in tomorrow morning. I probably shouldn't be driving anyhow, though, it's supposed to flood downtown. With my luck, I'd come back from Mt. P. and have no way to reach my house b/c the Crosstown would be flooded or something.

Work hours have dwindled to about 10-15 hours a week. Which is very bad, b/c this is my only job. I"m hanging on for the time when I get benefits and thusly more hours, but for now this is ridiculous. Or I'd totally be cool working at Starbucks b/c they have benefits & stock options. I'm gonna go nuts w/ all this time on my hands. I'm still trying to get to a point where I can make money off my art or busking or something. I don't know what I"m waiting for. Maybe when I can live in an organized environment? I don't know!! It's impossible to find what I'm looking for in terms of furniture, so I can have storage and a clean room and a clear head. Boooo.

I'm complaining a lot. Life isn't bad. It's not really bad at all. I've got fantastic friends, a job I enjoy, a hot and amazing boyfriend, and I live in a beautiful city. I just feel stuck. Stuck w/ not enough work and not enough storage and not enough allergy medication to function as a human. Sounds like much of this would be remedied by the benefits at work: more hours, more money to afford nice furniture, and allergy meds! I suppose it'll happen eventually. My mom thinks I should hold on and not look for another job, b/c who's to say that at the next job they won't be like, "Sure, you can have benefits," and then turn around and be like, "Welllll, we can't do it right now.... but someday. we don't know when," like the current situation. and this is true. I must learn to be patient and not be such a pathetic example of the typical American who wants instant gratification.

But some cool things have happened via Myspaceness (www.myspace.com/eponinelisette): I talked to Nicci, who I haven't talked to in years. We were friends in high school, and haven't really talked since then. She was a senior when I was a freshman, but we got along well. So that was awesome to talk to her. I've found other ppl from high school too, the few folks I actually liked...(And sadly, Mike from IWU doesn't email me back anymore. I hope he's okay. I sent him and his brother a "happy birthday" email, too, but nothing back. ) I found Charles and Joy and Cecil myspace too. Rock.

Oooooh, and I totally got checked out at O'Hara and Flynn's on Saturday. I wasn't even dressed cool. I was wearing my Talbots black cardigan and black pants and gym shoes, all tied together with a scarf that has skulls and hearts on it. (Thank you Taylor!) It was an ego boost, b/c I've been feeling unattractive and blob-like (probably b/c I feel sick. You know how that goes.)

Well, it's four o'clock in the morning. I'll try and sleep, but most likely end up just doing something around the house, b/c I'm very awake right now. Boo.

good day. + random encounters on city streets.

2006-09-18T01:58:00.000-05:00

Yep, I put in my two weeks last week. So almost done. Not happy there and highly allergic to bad things growing there...

Rocked it at work today. One thousand dollar sale (1184, thankyouverymuch, that should've been an additional 288 had the woman remembered to buy the coat initially). Boss says perhaps parking and benefits soon? That would be so nice!

It was a good day. i got free food:

I met a random dude from New Orleans. the reason i met that guy is b/c there was a "dusty rose" (specific, eh?) stepladder outside of Talbots and it was decided it was free for the taking b/c it was just leaned up outside the building. so i took it and was carrying it the two blocks to my car. the dude commented on the ladder and we got to talking, went for coffee. I got a free coffee and chicken wrap out of the deal. Is that wrong? I knew I was just going for food, and he was cool to talk to, but I was quite uninterested in him as I *heart* my current boyfriend. So yeah, the old Port City Java = mondo expensive new place. $10 for the wrap/chips (why?) What? It's crazy. That's why they don't post their prices... oh, and as I was within sighting distance of my car, he was like, "are you sure you don't want to go out for drinks?"

yes, i'm sure. i've told you that several times. I also insisted upon coffee and not dinner. and mentioned my adorable boyfriend several times, too.

"are you sure you don't want me to walk you [the 50 ft] to the car?"

yes, i'm sure. right, it's that dangerous in new orleans that i need an escort... Hell, NO! I"m not that stupid. There will be no non-open spaces w/ you buddy. No car. He didn't send out creepy vibes, but he was rather insistent all the same. no, no drinks. Fortunately, Taylor called about which Harry Potter house I was in, so that was a welcome distraction and made it clear that I'm a big dork, and thusly [i hoped] less attractive. i didn't know how else to say i was not interested aside from, "I have a boyfriend. I am not going out for drinks or dinner [with ANY other men]. No."

don't know if i'd even ask for hotel info if i finally ever made it to new orleans... i might. i'm only going there if it's w/ the bf or w/ my gals -- certainly not alone, b/c that's just plain stupid -- and he seems nice. he gave me his card. he said he knows of good deals on hotels things b/c of work. but i'm not going there anywhere in the near future. i don't even have paid vacations yet.

I was in it for a quick conversation and a free meal. I don't usually do that. but the opportunity presented itself -- and hey, that meant i didn't have to cook. rock. so i went home and he went away. yay.

also, when wandering downtown w/ the gals, we were passed on king by a creepy man who said in an odd annoyed tone, "y'all are in my way!" or something. I felt it necessary to apologize, so I said, "Sorry, man..." as we went single file. Unfortunately, he decided that was an invitation to start talking at us. Not to us. At us. "Haha, I was just kidding! I didn't mean it....Where y'all from?"
"Here." we answered flatly and without emotion. asked stupid crap. creepy. He was all *ewwww* and actually put an arm around taylor and addressed her as "redhead." We all looked at each other and turned and walked the other way. It was not cool, but we also possessed silly string, street smarts, sarcasm, car keys w/ a razor blade/nail file, and a gal w/ a black belt in our posse, yo, so we could've kicked some if we needed to.

and then i searched out a sunday paper at one in the morning b/c i need coupons b/c i'm not making that much money. and i'm ocd about sales. wafflehouse has papers, score! HT on Folly does not. haha, yeahhhh, i'm cool like that. but, in comfort, that's why one of the nice cashiers at HT gets the paper too. We had a silly bonding moment over coupons.

that's enough for now, i think.

So many shows... so much trivia...

2006-09-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

Okay:

past few weeks: new job -- mehhh? not loving it. still not sure if i'll stay. however, having the parking spot is mighty nice... still considering sermet's b/c i'd be happier, but make $1/hr less...

trivia two weeks ago: 2nd place! Team "Snapes on a plane": me, Taylor, Maddog, Mary Ann, and Jim.

trivia last week: ohhhhh, we won! (me, Taylor, Maddog, Mary Ann, and Sermet's Sarah- Team "education + tragedy = happiness" or something) and we beat the rival team of Bill Carson, Nathan Koci, and co. ("dutch oven muppet experiment") That was the real victory, especially b/c I'd caught Bill at the door and asked if he wanted to join our team. He'd politely refused and said they were meeting friends and would be on that team. Final score: E+T=H : 1st place, $50 bar tab. DOME: 5th place, $0 bar tab. Oh yeah. Beat them on the last question.

Friday night: David Mead show at the vt. it was pretty sweet. but the opener guy soon lapsed into christian rock, so Kaminsky's Sarah bought us (m, T, MA) appropriate shots ("the blood of christ" hahahaha) to deaden the pain. DM was just adorable. He was dressed very 1950s, with a red pomp, button down shirt, and cuffed jeans. Johnny Gray played w/him too, and that of course was fun. I didn't see much of the circular strumming I'd heard so much about, but i did get to see a pbr in a can spilled on a ukelele. ("the uke took a hit! the uke is down!"). fun show.

saturday: flea marketness. oh yes, this is a supreme flea market. wow. scored a serger, a 1914 sewing machine (too heavy for me to get it out of my car. i need a boy for that.), and an amber globe light that's real similar to the one in my room back home. I went swing dancing briefly, and convinced only one person to trek on over to O'Hara and Flynn's for the requisite weekly music/wine (or mineral water, as was the case last night for me) enjoyment. Nobody blues dances here. it sucks. I balboa-ed ("bal"ed. to "revolution is eternal") with the guy who came with, and it was fun. he wasn't real happy with the whole atmosphere, i don't think. perhaps he's not into that type of music, or felt out of place b/c everyone in the wineshop was friends and we had a certain rapport. taylor came and hung out. good times for everyone except random bal boy.
I missed Jim a lot, b/c he would've dug the impromptu jams going down, and even known the words to that one verse of "Rocky Raccoon."

sunday. lazy sunday. violent femmes show tonight with taylor.

(last weekend was bill/nathan/flynn/kaler at redux, then "athens night" with the modern skirts at cumberlands... i do go out a lot, non?)

New job update

2006-08-22T23:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, so far I'm digging the new job. The computer stuff is way easier than the clerical work I did back home, and I know how to package things well from when I sold stuff on Ebay. And it's been quite laid back -- I love not having to dress up! Score! I so had missed my jeans...

Also, I'm digging the parking spot downtown. I may call tomorrow to see if I need to walk to work or not. Hopefully I can drive, but I'm not sure b/c I still don't have a parking decal (if you're Canadian, read: DEC-al).

My room is still a work in progress. Still need to hang that other rod in the closet and buy a quality dresser/vanity or something. Haven't been home much, that has a lot to do with it.

I'm working the rest of the week, but hopefully I'll have enough energy (or, er, caffeine, courtesy of Bruegger's Bagels) to get stuff done post-workingness. Like, I go from one job to the next, but that's not a huge deal b/c they're about 3 stores apart on the same side of the street. Nice!

Taylor rocks my world and has been hooking me up w/ concert tix b/c I still haven't figured out how to change the address on one of the credit cards. (They make it impossible-- really! Nothing on the website. grrrr) Mary Ann is back in town (yippee! the three of us kicked it last night pre-metal and partook of some break-the-fast vittles at dinnertime), and Amanda will be back in a few weeks. Rock. It's good to have the gang back together, even if it's only for short periods of time. :)

I'm a happy gal. Woot. Life is good. And today, I got to pet a cute little black bunny rabbit. It was so cute! um, the end.

'Night all!

A basic necessity i am without

2006-08-13T03:01:00.000-05:00

I just got back from Charlotte, after an impromptu roadtrip to see the Modern Skirts. I am tired and smell like smoke and wanted to shower now so I don't have to get up tomorrow morning (errr, today) extra early, b/c I have to leave the house by 10 (get up 8:45). It is 4:00 in the morning right now.

Unfortunately, Claire's friend -- he is very nice-- forgot or didn't bother to turn our water back on. Claire said we'd not have hot water. Okay big deal. No, we don't have ANY water. What the hell!!!??? I am quite miffed. Had I known this, I would've gone through the usual preparations learned from years of thunderstorms knocking out power: fill 5 gallon buckets with water so the toilet can be flushed, and have a jug or two of drinking water ready for teeth brushing and sponge bathing. Right? Hahahaha. I wish I would've done that. I am, however, blessed that there is almost a full Brita at my disposal. So I can at least brush my teeth and wash my face. And it's good I did the dishes before I left, too.

Claire's not even home to appreciate this situation. Yes, I am pissed. I can't even take a shower to wake me up before working from 11-5:30. THIS REALLY SUCKS. Boooooooo. So I have to go to work w/ my hair smelling like smoke. And this bothers me.

And the further irony is the ppl I could call and use their shower are not in town! Ward no longer lives in the Jump house, Mary Ann is at home, and Jim is in Atlanta. Suuuuuuccccckkkkks. and I don't have time to drive to North Chuck to use Taylor's shower b/c I have NO idea how rush hour traffic would be. sucksucksucksucksuck. booooooo.

Imma crash now. At least I don't have to get up early to take a shower.... gahhh!

Randomness downtown

2006-07-28T02:21:00.000-05:00

Mary Ann and Amanda Mae are in town for a few days, so Taylor and I went to hang out w/ them. We went to Vickery's and hung out at waterfront park (good times!) but the craziest part is this:

Right by Mary Ann's place, we found a foozball table on the curb. Yes, foozball. So we took it. And it is now (in pieces) residing in my living room. It seems to pretty much all be there, and the only problem we've seen is that one side is cracked (but it can be fixed w/ duct tape and maybe a reinforcement piece of plywood). All the men are there, all the pieces, and both scoreboards. It looks in great shape!

So we will have foozball. It will be hot. Don't know where it will live in the end, but if it doesn't work, we could always throw it out again.

I just needed to share this w/ the world. It's so bizarre. And it was even featured in one of my déjà-vu dreams, the part about unloading a foozball tabletop from a car trunk. Very cool.

fin.

Trivia is good. and sermets is good, too.

2006-07-25T23:51:00.000-05:00

Went to Trivia night at King St. Grille w/ Maddog and Taylor. It was cool. We sat next to some hottie from out of town that helped us on some of the answers. We lost b/c a couple of moron teams totally cheated and called friends to google answers, but it was still fun. I would've gone out w/ the hottie if he were actually living in chas.

And before that I went out w/ Taylor and her family to Sermets. I think maybe I want to work there. I didn't like the energy at one of the other places I applied, and Copper Penny just wants nights and weekends people. Um, ew. I already work weekends a lot. Soooo.... maybe sermets? Cool.

The end.

Getting back on track

2006-07-23T01:47:00.000-05:00

Finally feeling almost normal again.

God, it's been a long week-and-a-half. Took me a week to get over things, and the past few days I've been mostly working, but not feeling so crappy in the times I'm off or simply on break.

I have this thing where whenever I do a marathon cleaning session, it's always in the middle of the night. And lo and behold, it's 2:45. But I'm progressing. I'm such a dork, I'm all excited that I replaced the light switch cover with a beautiful bronze deco-style one. (And it didn't even take me that long to find the fuse box... although, I'm sure I'll be regretting moving that refrigerator. Hopefully my back doesn't completely despise me tomorrow...)

I've been working ridiculous amounts. I had several random days off, so I've been doing 8-9 hour days lately. (I took an extra few hours yesterday, worked until 8:15 instead of 5:30, and took Anna's shift for tomorrow 12-5:30.) Spending so much time there that when I crashed after dinner, I woke up very confused about helping a customer take a dress to the fitting room. Seriously! Bizarre, non?

Then I got up and cleaned.

I'm going to continue doing this for another half hour or so. Or that's the plan.

Tomorrow the new rod for the top half of the closet gets hung. I bought a level, I can do it now. Rock. It will be good.

How much life can change in a week

2006-07-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

Don't think I'll bother to post for a while.

I was feeling fantastic last week -- settled at last!

That lasted until Wednesday evening.

No point in posting now. Nothing worth writing about.

Check back when I get a life. or if, not when.

Not blogging, working. and painting. and cleaning.

2006-07-09T15:31:00.000-05:00

I keep thinking I'm blogging more often than I actually am. I'm working downtown now, which is cool b/c I can walk. The benefits of this are: save gas money (yea!), don't have to pay to park in a garage, don't have to park on the battery and have my car covered in corrosive salt water, I crush calories, and get super hot legs from logging at a couple of miles a day to and from work. (plus being on my feet all day at the store helps too, but that happens regardless of whether I walk or drive). Negatives: I can't walk home if it's late at night. Most of the time I can catch a ride w/ someone, but last night I actually had to call a cab. which sucks. but that's the first time that's happened, so hopefully it'll be a rare occurance.

My room is painted. It's puuuuurty. It's "Curry Sauce" the exact color of yellow curry (for the uninformed, a lovely shade of goldenrod), and the ceiling is a couple shades lighter in matte and not semi-gloss like the walls. I should post a pic b/c it's so nice. Comments include: "Ooooooh pretty!" and, "I love it, it's so vintage-y!" Yea! It's gonna look so awesome when it's done, but for now it's a work in progress. which is fine.

I'm going to continue cleaning now. I have to get to a point where I can buy storage for the Kiki costumes so they no longer take up the trunk and the entire back seat of my car, and only then can I buy larger scale items for the room. Hence my need to clean...

more whenever I think about posting.

Back from Asheville

2006-06-26T22:22:00.000-05:00

Woo. Yesterday, after a six hour (instead of a four) drive, me and a couple of Kikis got back from visiting the rest of Cabaret Kiki band in Kiki: The Ballet Edition w/ Terpsicorps Dance Theatre in Asheville. I'm still kinda wiped. A ridiculous amount of fun crammed into about 2 days. Plus, I drove 3/4 of the time, and that's tiring.

But wow. I'd never been to a-ville before, and it's pretty cool, like maybe Paris and San Francisco combined and moved to a mountaintop -- but I've never been to either, so it's a guess based off others' comments and my minimal knowledge. Defintitely a hippie vibe, lots of organic food. Like on the radio, there was a "win a t-shirt" thing and they specified and stressed the fact that the tee was 100% organic cotton. Certainly different from Charleston, and on the other side of the spectrum from Cedartucky. Lots of buskers, too, which was really neat.

Kiki done by Terpsicorps was waaay different. My costumes mostly weren't used. Some of the band wore my stuff, others do their own adaptations, nothing out of the ordinary in that respect. But the dancer costumes were clearly inspired by mine but skimpier and w/ lycra and sparkles. I could see my concepts, but they were not mine. I didn't feel like it was my show. :( It was amazing, don't get me wrong, but I felt pretty far removed from it and it sucked when people were like, "this and this and this costume were better." I designed that show from 800 miles away and without even hearing all the music, let alone seeing any choreography. I think I did damn good, considering the circumstances. I loved how it turned out. I'd made a conscious decision in my designs to have elegant costumes that were suggestive perhaps, but didn't show a ton of skin. I didn't know who was comfortable wearing what (I'd not met anyone, remember I was on the other side of the country), and it's also my personal opinion that covering the body and hinting at what's underneath is sexier than leaving little to the imagination.

Yet in Asheville, the choreographer/designer had a springboard: she'd done some of the choreography, heard all the music, seen rehearsals, seen our production, and seen what I'd done with the costumes. It's easier to improve upon things than to come up with them from scratch. Or that's what I tell myself.
I feel that in some capacities I failed. Like I should've thought to not do a gown for the Mighty Hermaphrodite. I always wanted a gown, but it would've read better on stage if it were more of a clear difference like in the Ballet Kiki... I guess that was the thing that bothered me most. The other designs, I mostly saw where she was going with things and it was similar to my stuff. The half/half costume was always the most challenging part of the show-- I knew it would be from the start. Fortunately, I had a brilliant cutter/draper/tech extraordinaire to help me to achieve my vision. Unfortunately, I'm not a wig tech and it was a struggle for me until Kerri, a fabulous hair goddess stepped in and saved the day. I was so glad to have her around. I knew what I wanted but lacked the knowledge to reach the final result.

It's stupid, but it really bothers me. I feel like everyone liked the Ballet Kiki costumes better than mine, and that's sad b/c what do I have then? If Heather designs/choreographs and does everything, she has that. I don't have designing then if a choreographer is better than me. I don't have singing -- who cares about operetta, no one cares if I can sing that. Regular singing -- well, let's just say my friends are the most unbelievably talented folks I've met.
I'm just feeling insecure now. Like, everyone else has their area that they're extraordinarily talented in, and I can't hold a candle to it. What am I good at? I don't even know anymore. Jack (Jill?) of all trades, master of none, perhaps.

I didn't feel like this earlier, but as I've been writing this, it's made me sad.

I should be happy. I've got a new job starting on Wednesday. I'm finally painting (still!) my room so I can feel settled. I live in a beautiful city w/ amazing friends. yet I'm not happy right now. alas. maybe tomorrow. maybe this melancholy will lift as quickly as it rolled in...

encouragement is appreciated. good night.

I'm slack about posting... whoops.

2006-06-12T19:44:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been over a month. Guess I kinda forgot I had a blog. Time flies when you're having fun, ya know?

More Kiki shows: one on May 9th, one last week at Club Pantheon. Things have been going really well, except some costumes went MIA somewhere between Chucktown and Asheville. which sucks. So I hunted down new costumes as best as I could. (and then, God bless her, Cary found a great thrift store dress for one of the dancers, so I could stop freaking out about not finding one at the mall that lacked slutty stores. All I needed was a slutty store... silly citadel mall...)

We had a drag queen in the Pantheon show. She was gorgeous and soooo amazingly talented. I wish I would've gone back to my car and gotten my camera, but I'd already made an emergency run back to Kiki Kostume HQ for extra pieces, so I wasn't keen on leaving again. Blast. I should be better about taking pictures, b/c the process is always fascinating to look back upon. Plus the dressing room had better lighting, so pics would've been clearer. Gah...

As far as I know, there's another show on the 29th. Not sure how the show is evolving exactly, but it can't be too significant b/c that date is not so very far off. Also, Kiki (minus some of the dancers) is playing Asheville again, so that time will be shot, too. Unless... I go with, and the downtime is spent contemplating Kiki Evolution aka "Kiki Intelligent Design." hahaha. I'm funny. right.

I guess I also go out a lot, too. Last week: something sunday?, Metal Monday, Thursday night Ward show, Friday night Bill and Nathan gig, Saturday night Carbon Leaf at the Windjammer. Good times, especially the first three shows.

(Oddly enough, the show that cost the most, the CL one, was the least fun. I suffer from "Non-Charleston Band Disenchantment" -- I'm too close to the scene to experience the magic of a rock show that doesn't include someone I know. Or at least, in that case. Maybe it just wasn't a rockin show... also a possibility. But Carbon Leaf was sooo good last year when they opened for Guster! it was odd... I hope I can enjoy other shows still. It could've definitely been the venue. Plus I was concentrating on how wicked cold I was the whole time, which could've also interfered with enjoying CL. We'll find out if I go to the Dick Prall show when I'm back in Chicagoland (if I stay that long).

I'm skipping town for a few days to load up my car w/ all the cool things that I couldn't fit on the way down (back in March) b/c of Kiki costumes and other various necessities. So that will be good, b/c I can miss the hurricane when it comes through here. I think I'm leaving early enough tomorrow that I should miss the rain 'n' stuff. I'm not ready to face a hurricane yet, not if I don't have to!

Cabaret Kiki has consumed my life...

2006-05-08T00:07:00.000-05:00

...and I'm fine with that!

The cabaret went into high gear tech week, we opened last Thursday, and it's been Kikiness ever since. Photos at: http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierrotsomepeople/sets/72057594126286448/ They're not mine, but they exist!

Good fun. Sold out First Show, afterparty, [moving into my new place the day after we opened!], block party, dinner party. Damn. I've gotten to see another part of Charleston that I'd never otherwise see: the folks w/ money and their big beautiful fancy houses. It's cool, but not as cool as I thought it'd be. I dig chillin w/ all the other kikis. it makes work bearable when I have kiki stuff to look forward to.

This isn't terribly coherent, and I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll have enough time and energy to unpack tomorrow! oooooh. redecorating = quality!

Shtuff

2006-04-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so that habit of blogging all the time didn't last, apparently.

Lots of show-ness, lots of work-ness. Moving out next week = happiness. :) I can hang up my clothes and not live out of my car. Love it. Went to the symphony on Saturday and saw folks I knew, which was cool. I love Charleston for that. (well, at the moment. I'm sure that at some point I'll just want to be anonymous. but for now it's great!)

Show will be rockin. Sweet.

Chatted w/ Kerri and she told me about this fab website that carries my beloved cats'-eye sunglasses w/ rhinestones (b/c dancestore.com sucks and doesn't have them anymore): http://www.garmentdistrict.com/store/party/sun/index_sun.htm Score. Good stuff. Also, on a related swing note (I've been listening to a lot of swing lately. hm. must mean I need to go dancing), http://www.swingdanceshop.com/bathingsuits.html has the cutest little retro bathing suits! *squeal* Now, I'm not keen on beach life, but I think I better get used to it considering my location. I've always wanted a vintage bathing suit -- I may shell out the dough eventually. Don't know if I could make a really nice one myself (prolly not, at this point), so it'd be better to buy one...

Cannot wait to move into the house! Oh, there will be retro goodness. and it will be amazing. And then I can revamp my wardrobe so it is flirty and 50s and Charlestonian.

C'est tout, y'all. (Like the french and the southern mixed together? yeahh, it's nice). 'Night.

Weekend Update w/ me. Just me. 'n' stuff.

2006-04-18T17:58:00.000-05:00

Yeah, haven't posted for a few days. Busy.

Saturday I was at CBT on and off throughout the day. Lara's fitting took maybe 10 minutes, when I finally had an opportunity to do it (they had new choreography to learn, so I had to wait until afterwards. kinda cool watching, but I hadn't planned on the time issue). But mostly everything already fits, so not a whole lot of alterations.

Talbots went well. They were nice and will pay okay. Seems like a great company to work for. Maybe at some point?

Ward's show was fantastic! I got to see many of the other musicians and artist from around town. I didn't realize I already knew so many people! So the verdict is in: Ward is both a rock god and a virtuoso. Very nice.

On Sunday I went to an Easter get together at one of the Kiki writer's parents' house. (confused yet?) Good times, great oldies (to quote). Met lots of amazingly nice ppl and stayed until 1 am discussing, amongst other things, how to make Kiki the beginning of a united Charleston artist/performer scene. The only bad part of the evening was that I'm covered in bug bites. Evil gnats and mosquitos, they ignored the bug spray. Let me tell you, my legs and feet look especially attractive covered in red bumps. Stupid mean Carolina bugs. It's distracting, I keep scratching! Argh!

Monday was stressful, of course. Work always is; I'm always terribly nervous when the boss is around. Almost to the point that I'm shaking. I don't mess up much, but I feel as if I've committed a crime when I do. not fun. :( I'm not perfect, and I"m doing the best that I can, but I don't feel like it's good enough. it sucks. Kiki rehearsal was fun though. I like going, it helps dissolve the ickies from work.

Tuesday was a little better -- had some lovely conversations with customers-- but at the end of the day I spent about an hour in the basket room. With sweetgrass and straw baskets.
Basket room+ me + severe allergies = one very unhappy gal.
My voice was starting to go, just from being in there and breathing in the straw-ness. Boss didn't notice. Voice came back, headache stayed. Me no likey. My stomach hurts from the stress. I felt a bit like little Cosette. I try to make myself as scarce as possible and not interfere when I'm told to do stuff in the "stock room" aka basket room of doom. There's not much air in there as it is, so I think that exacerbates the problem. My sinuses are draining like it's their job! (and maybe it is...)

I need to get to a point where I can focus. I have Kiki stuff to do. I'm feeling very scattered, which is evident from the state of my room. (minor chaos.)

Maybe I should budget my stressing: not stress about work (yeah right) and focus on things I'm passionate about (Cabaret Kiki) -- and then if I must stress, put it toward my passion. A friend of mine does that, and it sounds like a good idea. I just don't know if I can handle work if it's gonna be like this... It may get better. I mean, logically it should, I just don't know if the change will be significant enough. I was debated today whether it's better to be miserable and make money or to not have as much money and be happy. I think I'd rather be happy. Just not sure what I'm going to do about that, though...

And ze Friday into ze Saturday

2006-04-15T00:35:00.000-05:00

Yeah, the title's better w/a French accent.

Work went well again today; I racked up the big bucks yesterday and today (well, mostly yesterday...) Works out to like $21/hr Thurs, and $17.50/hr today. It's kinda boring sometimes, but I guess it pays nicely.

Went to the Bill Carson/Films show at the Music Farm. Good times. Just got back a little while ago, actually. Hung out w/ the dancers from Kiki, mostly. Danielle and I totally rocked out. She got the Films's drum stick (the drummer had a habit of chucking the sticks into the house) and that started a whole thing that involved finding Cary Ann and chillin' in the green room w/ various area rockers. Good times were had. Bill Carson rocked it -- I've never heard him rock it like that, but it was quite fabulous, and The Films seemed amazing. It's so loud, it's difficult to make out the music if you don't know it. Said hello to various Charlestonian friends, like Kiki-ers and Brent. Met several "Opiates" from the Jump board, spread Kiki propaganda. Wore two Kiki stickers.

And-- this is lovely-- I don't Have to be at the Lara fitting at 10 tomorrow. We'll see if I make it; it's been a long week. Also, on an unrelated note, I"m investigating whether Lauren can sublet her place or something. I cannot stand 2 or 3 more weeks of couch surfing. I mean, everyone's been sooo nice and accomodating; I just want my own place, dagnabbit! I'd like to get settled and not live out of my car, and be able to find things! (yeah like the "where did I put the safety pins" game I played? I don't like those games. I Want organization, yo!)

C'est tout. I'm definitely feeling better after that crazy week at work. I so love Charleston. and I love nice people, too. :)

Long day...

2006-04-12T22:51:00.000-05:00

It was a long day. I ran the store by myself primarily, which was mostly cool. I messed up and got yelled at. Well, not yelled, but you know what i mean. it sucked. I was sad. I ate a box of wheat thins. and then I read that it was passover. oops. blast. I kinda wanted to keep kosher, but I just bought a fresh loaf of carmelized onion/garlic bread from HT. gahhhh.

I'm still kind of bummed. I should be happy. I'm just stressed and I want to sleep, but I have to throw the rest of my stuff in bags so I can move again tomorrow after work. I hope things get better. If the past few days have been any indication of future weeks, I need to find some other job. Also, it's not much fun working alone. People don't visit me b/c they're all working, too -- and besides, people don't hang out in little gifty/crafty stores, they hang out where there is food and drink. It was different at the cafe, b/c folks dropped by just to chill. Alas, not in this situation will that happen.

I don't think I want to work weekends though. I'm going to need weekends to do all the stuff I can't do during the week. and de-stress, so I don't spontaneously implode. and for rehearsals and funness, b/c this store is not fun, and Kiki and chillin' w/ those ppl is fun.

Maybe thursday will be better. Oh! and I missed Lost. sadness. I hope someone Tivo-ed it. it looked like it was gonna be a good one, too. :(

need to sleep...

Day one at new job

2006-04-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, I actually woke up and got downtown in time for work this morning. My car was fine. I was parked waaaaay over on the Battery by 9:20, 9:30ish and walked over to Broad Street. It's a long walk! I need to bust out the pedometer one day and see just how far. Also, I'm parking further east if possible tomorrow. The walk is at least 20 minutes or so.

I was there at 9:45, and waited until 10 for the boss to show up. (In the meantime, Talbots called and I have an interview at 3:30 on Saturday. I don't know how much I really want to work in addition to there... can't think about it now.

I got thrown headfirst into everything, pretty much. We had as much business today -- on a Monday, which is usually slow -- as is normal on a Saturday. Crazy. I caught on to most things quickly, like scanning credit cards, keeping things clean, things I've done at previous jobs. learned to work the pricing machine, other stuff. Then more stuff got thrown at me, things got stressful, I felt incompetent. Not the best first day, but it could've been worse.

So yeah. I'm not sure if I'll go to Metal Monday or not. Met some dude at the little restaurant where I had lunch, some guy who went to Ball State and is in town trying to start a music label or two w/ friends-- and told him to check out Metal. I should probably go to rehearsal b/c it's always fun, and then I'll likely want to go out later. But at this point I'd rather sleep. I'm cold and tired and vaguely hungry. Long day. Yet I should be sociable!

I will at least go to rehearsal, which is at 8:30. We'll see about later. My toes are numb and feel odd from standing and walking all day. I don't like it. Argh.

Addendum, 12:30 am: Nope, didn't go to Metal. But rehearsal went well. We made progress regarding show order and a coherent throughline and stuff. Quality. Maybe Metal next week. Too much went down today to allow me to properly, how do the kids say, "Rock Out!"

Now, if the losers on this street would stop blaring their music and honking their horns, mayhap I can cop a nod. (that's catch some z's for all you squares out there)

Night, all.

Kiki-riffic day!

2006-04-09T23:10:00.000-05:00

Wow! That was a busy day!

I had fittings at 11:00 at Charleston Ballet Theatre. However, I had to first go to Evan's place and pick up the suitcase, bags, and hangers full of costumes and load it all in my already-filled car. When I got to CBT, I discovered I'd forgotten my camera. Blast. So I ran back and got it. Kind of a rocky start, not too bad, but things improved. Not that it was terrible, just a bit exasperating.

Fittings went amazing!! I'm so glad I'm OCD about measuring everything I buy, and that Jessica took perfect measurements for me to work from. The dancers already look hot, and today was just Round One of Fittings. Golly gee, was that fun!

Then I met w/ Claire, who owns the house I'm planning on renting an apartment in. She's awesome. We talked for several hours over coffee and bagels. Good times were had. And, the house is really cute. It's a little blue cottage near the Crosstown, but on a quiet street. So 1950s. I'm excited, I can't wait to finally get settled somewhere! but alas, I've got a few more weeks of couch surfing ahead. Which is okay, b/c my ppl are rockin' totally.

Hung out at "home" for a while, worked on Cum Sum Yun Gai's slipdress, and then went off to find Rebellion Road Studios (I think). Got a little lost (of course!) at Folly, but Molly straightened me out and I made it mine.

I have never sat in during a band rehearsal/readthrough before and damn, is it fun! We had Gus our mentor-esque director (Cap'n Biv is the director for real) help us clarify things and work out a storyline, for what it's worth. The band alternately rocked out and then laid a smooth groove (yes I said "smooth groove" hahahaha). Hot jazz, y'all. HOT. It was an amazing experience. Words are totally escaping me right now, but it was so incredibly cool. Gahhh, that's the best I can do. Just to be around everyone jamming, doing there thing on their respective instruments was almost surreal. And I'm part of it!! Ahhhhhh! How did I get here?!

I am so ridiculously and totally blessed. And so happy. I finally feel like I've found a place where I can fit in -- a place I never found in school-- high school, nor college. Living in Charleston and working w/ other local musicians and artists just feels like home to me. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's completely and honestly true.

And... on a Charlestonian note, I hope my car is in a happily legal spot. Molly said cops don't usually come through this neighborhood and ticket, so God willing I'll be fine until I move my car in the morning. And if they do, it's $15. I'm counting on the fact that M. New York car is similarly parked...

Well, I should be off to bed, b/c I've got to get up for my first day of work tomorrow. Should prolly get up über-early so I can drive down to the battery, park, and walk. I suppose if I have extra time I could drop into G & M and hook up w/ some coffee.

Yeahhhhh. It was a good day. Happiness. :)

Okay! Time to start blogging again!

2006-04-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

I've been back in Charleston for a week and a half. So far, I've landed a full-time job, couch surfed in two locations, befriended many local musicians, artists, and brilliant people through Cabaret Kiki, -- www.cabaretkiki.com -- and met yet more musicians with the Chas. Symphony Orchestra through simply chillin' w/ members of the former group. (In case you didn't know, I'm costume designer for the Cabaret.)

And -- I've landed a singing gig! Yes, I"m getting paid to sing! supreme sweetness, I think.
Check it, y'all. http://www.piccolospoleto.com/schedule/default.aspx?m=5&d=30&perfid=1082
I'm staying w/ the photographer for Kiki, and it's awesome. I'll be here only a few days before I resume my original location several blocks south, on the CofC campus. Hooray for amazing and wonderful friends! People I hardly know have welcomed me like you wouldn't believe... okay, maybe you would believe it. I mean, Southern Hospitality and all.

I've got fittings tomorrow, followed by a meeting w/ a gal whose house I may be moving into, followed by other stuff, I don't know what, then rehearsal at 8:00. I need to work on some costumes tonight -- prolly a slipdress for one of the dancers, and maybe rig some tearaway pants. Also, I have my own pants that need to be hemmed, but we'll see what I feel like doing later. Working on clothes for 10 other people really doesn't make you eager to work on your own.

I have never been so happy. I love the city, I love the people, I love the fact that I can just wander around town... (and, uh, get caught in the rain on Upper King and buy another umbrella. well, I needed another anyway.) I love the houses, and the small-townness of the city, and how I've made more connections in a week than most people have in two years... It's good to know the Bivins brothers. They know everyone who's anyone here, so I get to meet all those people. Amazing. I love my freedom! I'll love it more when I get my own place next month and can get settled, but for now, life is grand all the same!

It's been storming pretty bad here. Lots of thunder and lightning. The house is rattling. Tornado watch until 9, and it's only 5:30.

Well, Imma go do some shtuff, yo. Call me or IM me or whatever, all y'all who know me. :)

My day existed in between naps and short periods of productivity.

2005-02-04T04:30:00.000-05:00

Today really is Thursday. And it was an uneventful day, mostly, which I thoroughly enjoyed. No Dr's appointments, only one class, and lots of time to do what I needed to do (as well as things that were unneccessary.)

Well, I guess sleep is not unneccessary per se, but I've been super-tired lately and I napped a ton today: half-hour between Theatre History and working on Props, and then post-dinner I napped most of the evening. Now I'm up again and then I'll shower and go to bed for real. I hope nothing's wrong with me b/c I never feel rested (except when Sheerya wakes me up at 6:00 b/c she turns on the light at the vanity-- which has a three-way-mirror-- and effectively floods the entire room with an unhealthy neon glow. I was Awake then. Haven't been since.)

I guess the fact that the blasted Theatre History project is over is worth noting. We were at the library until 1:15 last night, which definitely sucked. But at least it's done, and it went okay in class. There were times during the presentation, however, where I felt like my groupmate would try to discredit what I said or take credit for the idea or observation herself. Ah well. I don't think anyone believed her though, b/c she was not the group authority on Men's Fashion from medieval times onward and clearly, I am the Design major and she is not. So there. *sniff*

I worked on Props for Chicago today. Specifically, turning an issue of the Pantagraph into The Times with the headline, "Roxy Rocks Chicago!" It's pretty far along even though I only worked on it for an hour and a half. Speedy progress is good b/c we open near the end of the month! (Argghhh!) I might have to post a picture of the finished product, b/c it will be très cool.

KB and I were chatting about productivity and she suggested that I publish a book on my Philosophy of Work: The Philosophy of Selective and Intermittent Productivity. The basic premise is that I'm productive when I need to be and not always during other times. I think this could work well for other people; I should share my newfound wisdom.

I will work on the book when I feel like it mostly, and occasionally when I Need to work on it, to meet such industry-imposed nonsense as deadlines. It will sell millions and make me quite rich. This will be a welcome supplement to my salary as a Costume Designer, which would make me a Thousandaire turned Millionaire. (Because it can be very difficult to make a living in the theatre. Designing is a bit for stable than acting, but not by much...) And of course, I will have an amazing husband and gorgeous, wonderful little kids, and they would be happy that I finally made some money. And... I made it because I'm not productive! (*insert uproarious laugher here*)

I also finally figured out why my profile wasn't linking. I'd ended up creating two blogger accounts, and that had caused problems galore. Fortunately though, I realized that my issues lie in a one character discrepancy in the login name, and I was able to fix the problem. I hope.

Well, I must turn in for the night. I have to be up in less than 8 hours to talk with Charles! Hooray! I've been looking forward to our chat time all week.

Oh, and I still don't know if I'm going to the Ballroom or not. It's mighty tempting...

But it felt like a Thursday...

2005-02-02T23:33:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I was inspired to start a blog finally. Maybe I'll like it and stick with it. To tell you the truth, I only started this so I can post my *witty* (ha) commentary on Charles's blog.

Today totally felt like a Thursday, but it wasn't so that was kind of sad... I guess my day started a bit off: I thought I hit the snooze button, but I guess I didn't or something b/c I went back to sleep. Only by the Grace of God did I wake up at 9:37 for my 10 o'clock class. (Actually, 9:27 because I set my alarm clock ten minutes fast; keeps me from being late... Most of the time.)

Went to class, then to Buck to print out some research for Costume Crafts class b/c my printer's color cartridge is no more. That took until noon; not cool. Then I ran back to put in my contacts, grab a boxed lunch from Saga, and then go to Physical Therapy at 12:30... Only the lunch part was omitted.

When I'd gotten back to my room, I open the door to find Sheerya asleep. I set down my stuff, she woke up, I stepped into the bathroom to put in my contacts. I was in there maybe two minutes. Dashed back to my room and... it's Locked. Oh crap. This is lovely, Sheerya just locked me out of the room and I have a doctor's appointment in less than half an hour (and I still need 15 minutes to get there.) I was a bit miffed, and told Brad I was locked out so I wouldn't be alone in my misery. Rachel heard me and told me to find Greg-- an RA of some sort-- and he'd unlock the room. He did-- and shortly after, he returned and informed me that I'd have to go to the main desk and fill out the paperwork for the Lockout fee.

I looked at him in disbelief and repeated incredulously, "You mean that because I stepped out of the room for two minutes to put in my contacts, I have to pay $5 for Sheerya's mistake?" (The bathroom is across from my room, folks. I don't need to bring my keys-- but I usually do anyway. The one time, you know?) Then I left. Physical Therapy. blah blah. My hips aren't so badly messed up anymore, but Anna had me sit on the body ball-- which is several inches too tall for my frame-- and my left low back got angry. Boooooo! So instead of continuing to be productive and working w/ weights and such, I ended the session anticlimactically with a stupid ultrasound to make my back stop hurting. It was disappointing. Maybe Friday it'll go better.

Costume Crafts class, worked on jewelry. Mine is based off an amulet similar to the Circle of Solomon and other similar talisman type amulets. Except I'm putting Hebrew on mine instead of Latin. (I'm not altering any Kabbalah amulets, though-- you don't mess with Kabbalah.) Dinner at Tommy's w/ KB. Then Class Project for VisCon: It was creepy. We were blindfolded and walked one at a time into the chapel, where it seemed as if the laughter of a thousand evil people echoed deafeningly off the walls. Soooo creepy. I felt like they were laughing at me, but that was the point.

After I write this, I will nap/clean/something else , then off to Theatre History Meeting #2 with Don and Ali. Hopefully we won't stay until 12:15 again...

And tomorrow's not Friday and I wish it were! Boo.

Question of the evening: Should I go to Swinger's Ball at Willowbrook Ballroom? Saturday night, $20 cover, live band, swing dancers dressed to the nines, but a long drive...