Um...

I got distracted before I made it here and now I have no idea what I was going to say. Let me think.





Nope, still don't remember.

ETA: Someone came to my blog by searching for "drinking coffee wear invisalign". I wish I could think of something witty to say to that a la M. Giant, but I have nothing.

Success!

After yet another sleepless night inhaling cigar smoke, I investigated behind the stove and discovered a 4 or 5-inch hole. It looks like it was an exhaust pipe for some appliance long gone. Presuming it had no other function, I decided to close it up.

After a dance class in which I realized that I'm my own worst enemy, I headed to Home Despot (no, that's not a typo) to pick up a piece of wood to nail over the hole. I wandered around the lumber section for a while, staring at what seemed like miles of wood not even resembling what I needed. I finally found some 2x2 sheets of hardwood, but they were much too big for my purposes. I asked the man at the "Pro Desk" for help, and he sent someone over to cut lumber for me.

This large, bearded, blue-eyed man walked up with one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen a retail associate wear. It made my afternoon. And he followed up that bright smile with guidance to the right products and techniques I needed to use to patch the hole. He was friendly, warm, and knowledgeable. I unfortunately didn't catch his name, but I'm writing them a letter tonight to thank him.

So I did exactly as he said, making a huge mess in the process, and now...now I'm waiting for it to dry. And hopefully tonight I won't be plagued by eau de cigar or taco salad surprise. Too bad I discovered this so late in my occupancy. Well, if nothing else, it's a gift for the next occupant, and I'm hoping they never know it was me. :)

Stories from the Front Lines

Just in case you didn't know, I perform one-woman shows in schools every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In these shows I wear a variety of costumes and footwear to indicate Wilma's different ages. The changes happen fairly quickly, and the costumes only have as many pieces as necessary to give the general idea; pretty bare bones.

After my second and final program of today, during the question and answer session, a first-grader rasied her hand.

"Yes?" I asked and pointed to her.

"Did they have socks?" she asked, all seriousness. The room erupted in laughter and I had to take a moment to compose myself. At no time in my show do I wear socks, and I also explained at the beginning that Wilma's family didn't have much money. This little girl put two and two together, but decided to ask anyway. I looked down at her.

"They did have socks, it's just that as an actor, it's faster for my changes to not wear socks." I moved on to the next question, but I was still giggling to myself.

Long Week

I had three Thursday shows for the first time this season, and boy am I feeling it. I usually only perform on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but these particular schools couldn't schedule the shows any other day, so Thursday it was. By Friday, with the added shows and dance all week, my knees were not happy. During one of my short runs up and down the aisle my knee slid out of alignment. It popped right back in, fortunately, with a minimum amount of pain, but I still tried to take it easy during my last run in place. I can't have that happen again. Normally when it does I just go down and can't trust my right leg enough to walk on it for some time after. Not to mention that it swells to the size of a softball.

I still had to take another class this week to fulfill the requirements of my intensive study program. So after work-study this morning, I stayed for Advanced Beginning Ballet. Gah. That was frustrating. They've been working on the same things for a session and (almost) a half now, so trying to jump in in the middle was confusing, to say the least. There was one exercise that I just sat out of because I didn't think I could possibly follow what the instructor was doing, and I didn't want to just jump around looking silly. I realize that looking and feeling silly helps us learn new things, but I was about to cry at that point and thought it better to just take a breather and watch. One can learn a little bit by observation, right?

Now I'm home and cooking dinner after a soaking in a hot bath. I'm just about finished with Naked by David Sedaris. I bought three books at Borders - Naked, Wicked, and The Lovely Bones - because they had a "3 for 2" promotion this week and because I had a Borders gift card given to me by my thoughtful sister for Christmas. :D However, after those purchases and my two days of expensive coffee, I have 28 cents left. Oh well: it was a gift and it was meant to be used.

Now to settle onto my bed and watch Law & Order while my dinner finishes cooking. Good night, sweet internet land.

Feeling Beaten Down

Dance was beyond frustrating tonight. I got teary-eyed a couple times, and I fell on my butt once. I feel like I should be improving, that I've been working at these things for some time now, and nothing's getting better. My pirouhettes still suck, I can't kick worth crap, and my brain craps out on me halfway through every class to the point that any new information just bounces off and away.

I know that it takes years before anyone can truly be proficient in any skill, but I'd think that after a few years (however inconsistently) I would be making some small gains. My arms are more toned and I think I've dropped a little of the extra fat, but I would be fine with weighing 20 extra pounds if I could just turn without falling over. Well, maybe not 20. Maybe just 10.

Anyway, I was going to stay for modern after jazz, but I wanted to go home and relax. That puts me at only three classes after tomorrow night because I'm missing ballet in the morning for my only Thursday shows of the year, but at the end of class I didn't care. I wanted out of there. I'll have to take ballet on Saturday after work-study.

GAH. I JUST WANT TO GET BETTER. I'm ready to get better. I'm tired of looking like my limbs have minds of their own and have decided to take a holiday but have forgotten that they're still attached. I'm tired of feeling dumb. I'm tired of my back hurting and my knees stiffening up when I sit still for too long. I'm tired of being tired. I just want to get better.

I should go to bed. I have an audition tomorrow after a three-show day. Hooray.

I Have Rock Star Friends

So far my plan to be the bearer of birthday greetings has not worked. I'll wait, though, because you might just have forgotten I mentioned it. I kind of forgot I mentioned it for a while. But it's ok, because I know you'll step up and email me your birthdays soon.

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I went to a CD release party last night for The J Project at the Fine Line. I did a musical this summer with her in the cast, and I knew then that she had a phenonmenal voice, but I had no idea she was such a rock star. She was incredible, she looked beautiful up there, and she and her band sounded amazing together. She's going to be crazy famous soon, and I can't wait until I can say, "Hey I know her! In real life. And she knows me!"

Had a voice audition today for a series of animated shorts that will also, I think, be a video game. I'm hoping that I'll get to see the finished product no matter what. The short bits they gave us to read piqued my interest, and I can't wait to see how they visually imagine those characters.

I'm going to make some ramen now. My stomach is growling, and I don't feel like making anything more complicated than that. :D

One More Thing

It's always someone's birthday somewhere in the world. I think it'd be really fun if everyone made sure I knew when their birthday was, and they could find a special message/picture on my website's splash page, just for them on their day. I'm getting tired of looking at the same picture, but I don't know what to change it to. So do it. Email me and let me know when your birthday is, and I'll make sure something cool happens on the website just for you. K? K. Even if I don't really know you in real life or know you that well in real life, it'd still be neat to do. Don't be shy.

Super Bowl Sunday

My audition at The Jungle went pretty well. I remembered all of my monologue (major bonus) and got a little chuckle out of the auditioner, so I would consider it a success. I was glad to get the opportunity to be seen, even if nothing else happens.

I went over to my parents' house for their Super Bowl party and realized that I had never really watched a Super Bowl game all the way through (I don't think). I mainly watched to see the commercials. I don't know if anyone else saw it, but the one with the guy, the cat, and the spaghetti sauce was excellent. That and the Lays potato chips one were my favorites. $2.4 million for each 30 second spot. Crazy. That could make or break someone's agency if the commercial is a flop. Yikes. I also wondered whether the talent was paid more for the Super Bowl spots than for an ordinary union spot. Probably not, is what I surmised, because the time itself cost so much that the talent might have been paid less. Ha! I wouldn't put it past them. But it would be nice to tell everyone, "Hey, tune into the Super Bowl and you'll see my commercial!"

I was going to bring my sister's old CD burner home with me tonight but I forgot it. I always do that: intend to take something from my parents' house and leave it there for a few more days because I forget to take it with me. No matter: I'll be there tomorrow night to do laundry and spend the night. I can get it then.

Now it's time to take my vitamins, brush my teeth, and go to sleep.

Waiting

I started looking for apartments earlier this week, thinking that I could move in March. The reason for this thinking stems back to late October/early November when I wanted to get out of my lease and move elsewhere. I couldn't, and was told that if my place didn't rent I would be responsible for the rent on it until March 31st, 2005. So I was thinking that the same would hold true at the end of my one-year lease. And I thought wrong: I'm responsible for rent until April 30th.

Of course, because I can't move until then I found a really great place - that actually has a bedroom - for less than I'm paying now. And I can't have it because it's a March 1st start. However, the building manager said that he'd keep my number and if no one wanted the place by March that he'd call me for April 1st. And yes, I'd be paying rent on two places that month, but if it would help me get an apartment that I could stay in for more than a year I'd be happy to do it.

Nonetheless, I don't know what's going to happen. If I'm supposed to have that place, it will be there for me when I'm ready to move. If I'm not, something else will come along that'll be even better.

Something that I've noticed in my latest search is that this building is pretty nice for what I'm paying. Looking at other places in this price range and seeing the, um, less than stellar living conditions has made me realize why people stay here even though the walls and floors are paper thin and smokers who have little regard for other people smoke cigars in their apartments. It is a nice place. It's just not right for me.

So will I be moving back in with my parents come April while I hunt for another apartment? Or will I be living it up in a swanky one bedroom of my own? Who knows. For now, I'll just wait.