Fail

I auditioned today for the school's fall shows. Didn't get a callback. Oh well, at least this way I don't have to worry about further time crunches on my lame schedule.

Do I really feel the way I feel?

Amidst the rubble of old scenery pieces and sawdust that compose the backstage area of any respectable theater department is this beautiful green chair. I was talking to Daisy this afternoon and we both spotted it. "Oh, I have to sit in it!" She said. So she kicked back and pretended to smoke a nothing while I took her picture. Nice! I love the random stuff you find/see/cause as a theater student! Tonight Jason had his fantasy football draft party thingy, so while he was at Dave and Busters, I was at home watching our girls and Dustin and Alanna's kids, since they are both participating this year. That should be interesting... Having six kids in the house is waaaaaaaaaaay too much for me, yikes. But they had a blast, the older kids running around outside with Leigha and Bri's super soakers and the youngest three dressing up as princesses. Cute!

A place where they will never find

I went to the school today to practice my song for the upcoming auditions for this semester's show season. It's going to be all but impossible for me to work out how to do the rehearsals, but there's one particular show I'd like to try for and if I get in....well, I'll figure it out somehow. I'm determined. On the drive home I was treated to a lovely sunset, which I snapped a quick picture of. Yeah, while driving. Touch screen phones are the bawmb.

Cameraphone < actual camera

Jason and I hired a sitter for the evening and took off. Woo hoo! Crazy kids that we are, we headed first for some dinner at Jerusalem Cafe' followed by a leisurely browse through a bookstore and some coffee. That was nice. But....since we had a babysitter and it's the last Saturday of the month, we met up with some friends at the Westport Flea Market for their once monthly live band karaoke! Woot! It was so much fun! We did a lot of cougar watching. (wow.) Epic night out.

But I haven't had anything yet!

Had another 'all day at school' kind of day, but it's okay because it was mostly fun stuff. Classes, practicing music, then a theater kid meeting to discuss upcoming opportunities and stuff. After that concluded, I followed Austin and Chad to the place Austin is currently house sitting and Jason brought Brianna and met us there. (Leigha is spending the night at a friend's.) We got a fire going and made up some hot dogs, then marshmallows which we made into s'mores. Poor Jason had to leave in the middle of the festivities to head to work. Have I mentioned how terrible and lame his schedule is? 'Cause it totally is. But we had fun making ourselves sticky and talking until we eventually dispersed, at which time I drove home, Bri and I causing the car to smell like a campfire.

Caught in the act

Spent an abnormally long day on campus due to a project that's due in my acting class on Tuesday. Feels good to get things finished, though. I got home and found Bri on the laptop, viewing Barbie.com and looking incredibly guilty, so I snapped a fast one. She looks like a modern day Coppertone baby or something!

The Middle

I went to back to school night for Leigha's class....es. Yeah, that's right, 5th grade is middle school here! We first sat in a meeting that explained the changes in their advancing education, such as class changing and how the cafeteria works. (They have an ice cream machine. Why wasn't MY school a fraction of that awesomeness???) As I walked to her homeroom class I saw this on the board outside. If you can't read it, it says, "Leigha. Funny, I have the energy to play, I like going to grandma's, I wish I had a DSI (google it.) , plays ball and making friends." I am assuming they were told certain things to write, such as "describe yourself with one word" and "what's something you like to do?" Either way, she already has a flair for making cool letters like I do. That's my girl! I do think her regular handwriting is better than mine, though.

Peeking in

Why yes......I see you. Do not be alarmed, for I am Giantcat. I am not here to frighten you, little mouse, but to deliver a monologue. Yes. Because all evil villains reveal their plots before their prey meets their demise. Oh! I see you are quaking again. Do not fear, I promise these last seconds of your life will be filled with the smooth comfort of my Giantvoice. For you see, I have grown tired of chasing moths on the sliding glass door. I find them to be too.......simple. Likewise, the small human terrors in this household prove to be much to easy. But you...yes, you try to escape. But what's this? A tug on the tail? Ba ha ha! See, little mouse? I have trapped the end of your tail under my Giantpaw. You won't be going far, I'm afraid. Besides, have I come to the end of my monologue yet? No. Because if I had, you would be

*NOM!!!!!!*

He's still here

Beautiful day today. Campus was sunny and my classes went by quickly. I spent the hour in between the two classes sitting on the hill doing homework. Staying on top of things early means being a huge ginormous nerd...not something I'm unused to. The girls had a bunch of pent up energy when they came home today and spent a lot of the afternoon dressing up in weird outfits then running between Jason and I (he upstairs working on the kitchen, I downstairs doing homework) giggling like lunatics. The most memorable of those outfits was when Leigha announced 'Hipster Brianna is coming down the stairs!' I turned to see Bri wearing mismatching mittens, pink sunglasses, a sideways baseball cap under a bike helmet, and a popped collar. Wow. They totally nailed the hipster look.

Joe Handshake

Improv is like a bright colorful chair, because when I forget to take pictures at improv rehearsal, I take pictures of bright colorful chairs. (See what I did there? Yeah.) Yup. So yeah, there was improv this afternevening. First rehearsal for our newest member, Matt Yale! He was definitely excited for the evening. I was glad to go and vent off some funny steam, it's been a rough week.

Get a head

As an acting student, you read a LOT of scripts. In my acting 2 course, we have to read certain plays off a list and keep a journal of them. There are 10 with an option to read up to 5 more for extra credit, all due at the end of the semester. A lot of my friends from school took acting 2 last semester and one thing I clearly remember is how EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM procrastinated, resulting in massive Facebook status updates detailing the awful feeling of catching up on a semester's work at the last minute. Determined that this will not be me, I am getting ahead of the game. My first class session was last Thursday, my next will be Tuesday. I have already finished one script and one play journal entry, and started a new script today, reading between cleaning the house and music practice. Everyone wonders how I find the balance in my life, how I do all the things I do...with college, it's simple. I make sure I'm taking classes I find interesting and enjoyable wherever I can so that it doesn't feel like a burden, but a joy. That's why I chose to major in theater, knowing job options in that particular field are slim. But as I keep saying, "Hey, as long as I have a degree I don't care." And it's true. I don't ever want to be chained to a desk all day anyhow, so why try for a degree that gives you every opportunity for misery? Some people have those kind of jobs and enjoy them very much. I applaud those of you who fit into that category. I don't. This is what works for me.

....And we're back!

What up, world? Hey! So, I got a new phone in the mail today. My old one was having massive issues so we sent it back, they sent us a replacement that had the same issues, we determined it was the type of phone so I got a new one. A smart one! And guess what? It takes pictures. Aw yeah! So here's a short and sweet howdy to let you all know this thang is back up and running! Today was Brianna's first day of school, which was, as she so eloquently put it, 'good.' I went shopping with Austin after my school day. She is starting a new job monday and needed clothing for it, so we made her into the princess of Kohls and got her hooked up with several fabulously flattering and work-appropriate outfits. Woot!

Sabbatical.

So...it's just too hard to try and get a picture a day with no camera. I'm taking a break from the day-to-day full entries until I get a new one. So here's a summary, to be updated daily:

8/14/2010

Competed in Improv Thunderdome. Didn't win, but we had a great set and a ton of fun. All my good friends came to see me. It was great!

8/15/2010

AO held auditions to take on some new faces to our ranks. We are taking on one new member but I can't say who yet. Either way it'll be great to get back in the swing of things with a troupe that's committed to being a great team.

8/16/2010

Found out late last night that a friend of mine died over the weekend. She was 30. Spent the day at home with my family.

8/17/2010

My last day of Summer break. Epic Super Mario battle, Jason won. The girls put on a play that largely involved them giggling and running into walls.

8/18/2010

The funeral was today. It was held at a Catholic church, the practices of which I am unfamiliar with. Stand up, sit down, kneel, cross yourself, and where are those chimey bell sounds coming from? Very strange indeed. It was great to remember a well-lived life with friends. RIP, Jill, you meant a lot to me. You are missed.

8/19/2010

Today was my first day of school since I missed yesterday. It was also Leigha's first day of school. I miss my camera.

iBlecch.

Today was every bit as Friday the 13th as it gets. The best thing that happened to me today was a sandwich. To begin, my iPod was updated recently and the wifi hasn't worked properly since. Troubleshooting online led to me doing a hard reboot of the entire thing. While that got started, Jason and I went to Target to battle the other frenzied parents trying to find the same exact school supplies that everyone else needs. (Okay, markers and crayons for a middle schooler? Why? And why THAT MANY new crayons for every student every year? I'm calling shenanigans!) Wading through the multi-handed grabbing demon that is everyone else in the school supply aisle, we fought our way through and came out victorious. When we got home I checked the iPod, which was now finished rebooting. Not only did the restart erase ALL. MY. MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But now the wifi wasn't even showing up as an option in settings. What??? So we went to Best Buy where I got it, but I don't have the receipt (it was freakin' January!) so they looked through all their records and couldn't find it. The lady said, "If you get your bank records and shows us we can go off that." Cool. In the meantime they told me to see if Apple would do anything. Our nearest Apple store is on the Plaza, so Jason went off to work and Bri and I drove through the beginnings of a thunderstorm to get there. We pulled up at 8:15 and ran in through the now substantial rain only to be told that you have to have an appointment, they were out of appointments for the day, and could I drive all the way back across town tomorrow in the middle of my busy day so they could begin to troubleshoot what might be the problem? Yeah...............sure. So I made the appointment and checked to see if Best Buy was still open ('till 10! Yes!) then set off for home to get my bank records with a pit stop at Jimmy John's for a much desired dinner sandwich. I found it, printed it badly due to our printer cartridge having very very low ink at the moment (Come on, now is NOT the time!) and ran back to Best Buy...only to find that the power is out due to the storm. It's 9:22 pm. Bri is in the back seat rubbing her eyes, I'm irritated beyond reason, and it's pouring rain. We drove home and I put her to bed, snapping a quick picture of myself using the webcam (Camera's broken!) before ripping into my hard-earned sandwich. And that was my day.

Ashes to ashes

Austin's mom is in town and she wanted us to meet, so she invited me as well as Chad to come to lunch at Oklahoma Joe's. When we got there the line was supremely long so we decided to take our hard-earned BBQ back to the casa and enjoy each other's company without yelling over the chatter of other diners. Her mom is awesome and we all had a fantastic time. As I was leaving, Austin gave me a ginger ale because it's disgustingly hot out. I accidentally dropped it on the pavement on the way to the car, so to prevent dropping it again with all I had to carry, I put it in my purse. When I picked my purse up again there was a dull POP! and my armpit felt wet and sticky. "Augh!" The ginger ale had exploded in my purse! Almost everything is fine...but this is the last picture my camera will ever take. Thank goodness the memory card was unharmed! Here's the epitaph I wrote for my camera on Facebook:

That camera has been with me through many adventures. It went to Europe, Alaska, both coasts this summer, New York and Canada. It has happily followed me to at least six improv festivals, my epic week in Chicago, our first house, and Brianna's first day of kindergarten. It has been more faithful to me than many friends, and I use it to update my daily photo blog. I've had it for about 2 years now and it was a display model that cost a mere $100.

Today I was given a ginger ale and dropped it on the sidewalk, so I put it in my purse so as not to have to carry and potentially drop it again...that untrustworthy ginger ale exploded in my purse and killed my camera. What a way to go.

My lips are sealed

Leigha has been spending the night with her friend Dahlia from time to time over the course of the Summer. Twice in the last two weeks, in fact. Since Brianna sometimes sleeps with Leigha (and sneaks in when we tell her she can't) she gets distraught when Leigha is gone, claiming she'll have nightmares (apparently she saw part of Jumanji at Leigha's request and it scared her...this was a month or so ago). Tonight Leigha asked to spend the night at Dahlia's, and I said yes. As soon as the girls had gone, Bri started in on her "I'm gonna be scared!" routine, so I went to my closet and dug out a bag that I had been saving for just such an occasion. "Bri, do you know what this is?" I asked her, handing her a bright pink sphere with glitter on it and purple flowers. Her eyes got big as she shook her head, 'no.' "It's a dream ball." I said. "You put it in the water and it turns the water pink, and when you get out of the tub you have good dreams!" She giggled excitedly as she ran to get her pj's together. When she came back we started up the tub and I let her drop the ball in, and it began fizzing and dispersing color immediately as a pleasant aroma filled the tub. "Cooooooooooool!" She said. By the time I tucked her in she was so giddy with happiness that she didn't even mention being afraid of the dark once. Score one for me!

Sicky sicky me.

I have to make sure I'm taking in lots of fluids...but water gets boring. Here's how Jess jazzes it up. We didn't do too much today. Went to Jason's leg doc and got him some socks (they cushion his stump inside the prosthetic) then got groceries. I still feel drained.

Over the counter, under the covers.

I made good on my promise to see the doctor today. I hate going to the doctor and didn't wanna, but I felt even crappier today so I did it anyhow. Ugh. Adulthood. Ugh. Apparently I suffered a teeny weeny concussion and messed up my sinuses. The good news is it's all going to clear up pretty much on its own and I will be just fine in a couple weeks, now I just have to try and keep myself from getting a full-blown sinus infection. Sudafed, saline spray, affrin, and a scrip for antibiotics should do the trick. Thank goodness it's nothing that's going to make me look funny. I have Thunderdome this Saturday! If I came out there in a nose brace....

Well, actually, maybe that would help!

The source of the trouble

I get hurt a lot, and I usually laugh it off. Nine times out of ten, I'd say. Well it's been about four days now, and my nose still hurts pretty bad. I still wouldn't be worried if it wasn't for the fact that during church this morning I was singing and suddenly lost my balance, nearly falling. Right in the middle of the song. To be honest, that was pretty hilarious. Especially when I looked over and saw Jared (our pastor) laughing his face off in the front row. Funny, yes. But clumsy as I am, that amount of imbalance is unusual for me. I went to the kitchen to get more coffee after worship was over and Alicia was there. As I explained to her what had happened and how I hadn't been worried because there was no bruising or swelling, she said, "Oh yeah...I think I see some. It's really light." After that I obsessively searched in the mirror. Seeing nothing, I decided to take some flash photos to see if that would bring it out. I still don't see anything (do you?) but I am going to the doctor about this. Even if I get a 'you're fine.' I will feel much better. Let's hope I'm just being a hypochondriac about this.

The illusion is over.

I had a great morning. I shot a tv promo thingy for a potential show about people who do estate sale-ing in Kansas City. I answered a casting call a little while back and they came back and said, "Oh, we want you!" It's a little studio here in town called Take 2 productions. The footage from today will be edited down to a 3-6 minute clip and pitched to a higher up as a possible recurring thing, either on the internet or on local cable TV. So basically, I could be the next Wayne's World! I guess we'll see what comes of it. I went straight from there to another planning meeting for the improv festival (just a little over a month away!). After I got home, Jason was relaxing on the couch. The pose amused me so I took a picture of it. "You dang kids with your sewing machines and prosthetics..."

This is what you wanted.

Tonight was the (one night) return of KCXRC at a new venue. The show was packed, as it's first friday, and the troupes delivered with gusto. Here's a great shot of Ed, Trish, Nikki and Megan hanging out pre-show. I liked the composition of the shot, so yeah, figured I'd use it. I had a great time, made some fab new friends, and chilled with a few old friends. Ah, improv. I love how it brings people together.

Soft tissue damage

I FINALLY got a picture of my Thunderdome team together at a rehearsal! Woo hoo! We got together tonight and Trish ran us through the loosely structured fun ball that is our 'format'. This was our last formally coached rehearsal session, as the next time we meet will be the day of the show! During one of the scenes with Julie we were doing a secret handshake/dance for our 'sororaternity' (Alpha Theta Delta Chai Tao) she accidentally clocked me full on in the nose with her elbow. OW!!! The good news is I was able to run offstage quickly since it was just a quick in/out bit, but yowza! During the break I got me some ice for my poor aching schnoz. I got hit so hard and so fully that even my teeth hurt!

Fail pirate

This morning began with a commercial shoot for my school. I sat at a desk with Sarah, Ken and Tj, behind Daisy and Erik, and tried to look engrossed in note taking as Beate wrote things like "Fossils-30% of your grade" on the whiteboard and the guy who says things to the camera said things to the camera. We had been told to set aside 2 hours for the shoot, but it ended up wrapping at 20 minutes. I decided that since I was already on campus I would get my textbooks, and ended up standing in line for 2 hours. So basically, it all evened out in the end.

When I was young

When I was a little girl I used to love crafty things. Coloring, cutting, gluing, etc. One day when I was really small (5 or so) I remember getting a coloring book, coloring a few of the characters in it, cutting them out, grabbing an envelope, putting them in it, then taking them out to the mailbox to send to my mom. I thought I was being clever and sneaky and envisioned her going out to get the mail, finding them, and me saying, "Gee, mom, I don't know how those got there!" Eventually, (5 minutes or so) my impatience got the better of me, and I couldn't wait any longer for the mail to come. So I grabbed my mom's hand and said, "The mail came, let's get it!" But she was in the middle of something. I don't remember if I got her to come with me or not, but I remember being very frustrated that she was busy just then. Didn't she know that something VERY IMPORTANT was happening in the vicinity of our mailbox RIGHT NOW???? Either way, she got the envelope and cooed over them, and when she asked if I did them, I said, "I don't know WHO did that!" I figured that was explanation enough, especially when she didn't question me further. At the end of the encounter, I felt very sneaky and pleased with myself. Much as I imagined the Tooth Faerie feels after a successful molar heist.

These were not mailed to me, simply given to me by Brianna. But they sure do bring back memories...

The cat is a lie

So today's picture was supposed to be a video, but the video is sadly MIA. The 'Musical Theater Heritage' production company of Kansas City does a nifty thing once a month called 'Musical Mondays.' Basically, they invite a few 'host' singers and musicians who put on a show, and flesh out the rest of the music with people drawn from a lottery of performers in the area. I found out about this and got myself on the list for the event, and wouldn't you know it, my name was drawn! So this evening I went to the Off Centre Theater and sang 'On My Own' from Les Miserables. I had a couple friends in the audience and I asked one of them to take a video of the performance for me, but there was a snaffu with the camera and it didn't take. Bummersauce! Guess you just had to be there. I was greeted with warm applause and many complements in the lobby after the fact, though. Aimee, Ashley and I celebrated the show (and getting out of the house, which apparently they both needed badly) by heading to Jerusalem Cafe for a delicious meal. We parted ways after that and I went on to my friend Lauren's going away party. She was accepted into a music program on the East Coast and it's kind of a big deal. I'm sad to see her go, but so happy for her to have this opportunity!

I'd like a new pair of feet, please.

This morning didn't come nearly as early as I thought it would. Hooray! I woke up at a decent hour feeling refreshed and ready to go out and see the sights. On board the happy tourist express were me, Zak, Brandi, Scott, and Jamie. We went to the Lower East Side looking for breakfast, pausing to have a cupcake at Babycakes first, then decided 'screw breakfast, let's get lunch.' So we went to Katz's Delicatessen. It's supposed to be one of the very best delis in New York and apparently a scene from When Harry Met Sally was filmed there. I've never seen that movie, but I tell you what...that sandwich was AMAZING. I'm going to make that place a regular on my New York sightseeing circuit. From there we went south to Battery Park and took pictures of the Statue of Liberty, then we walked up to check on the progress of the World Trade Center rebuild. (It's coming along.) Jamie and Scott pealed off on their own at this point, and Zak, Brandi and I continued north to Times Square, where we took a ton of fun pictures at the amazing Toys R Us there. From that point, we walked north to Rockefeller Center, where we went into 30 Rock for some touristy swag and to gawp at the fact that we were in the very building they film Saturday Night Live, which is kind of a big deal for those of us who do improv. After that it was a short jaunt to Central Park where we took more pictures and had hot dogs. At that point, my time was up and it was time to go to the airport. I said a fond farewell to my compatriots and the big beautiful city, then trekked across Queens and jetted home. I think I'll sleep for a week now.