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This past weekend I helped with a Circus Themed show at Gators Mardi Gras. The show is put together by the Lollie Bombs choreographer. As of now, there will be a show the 4^th Saturday of every month. So in addition to the lollie bombs bi-monthly weekend shows, I have the Electric Vaudevillians every month. I was also approached during this weekend’s show by another burlesque producer, and asked about working a monthly show beginning in June, that would be the first Friday of every month. It feels good to be wanted and appreciated, even if it’s just for my dependability. But it’s also a bit overwhelming. I have not accepted or declined the offer. It’s not a high paying gig, but it’s usually fun. But I’m not sure if it will continue to be fun if I’m doing 2 – 3 shows a month plus dress rehearsals. Based on what I normally get paid, and a 6 hour commitment per show (rehearsal + set up + show + breakdown/cleanup). I’m making about $4/hour. I made more than that working retail in high school in the early ’90s. Of course, I guess I should probably calculate in the comp tickets I normally get for each show. That puts me up to $7.50 an hour. I think that’s about minimum wage. So maybe I shouldn’t complain so much. This is the first time I’ve ever really thought about it in the terms of pay. It’s probably because I’m trying to imagine spending 6 – 12 days a month doing this. Mind you, it’s only like 3 hours a day. But considering that all the shows and rehearsals are in Dallas proper – the 30 – 45 minute commute each way really gets old. I’m sure Phlome can concur since he tends to end up doing a lot of the driving himself.

So here’s the real problem: I have two show producers who want me regularly, we’ll call them ShowGirl and ShowMan (SG & SM for short). SM is the choreographer for the Lollies & the EV shows – he’s the reason I have all these opportunities to begin with. However, I really like SG and I really like working her shows. They’re more elaborate, bring in a lot of big names, and provide me with an opportunity to meet more entertainers, and really get my name out there. When I’m working her shows I feel like I’m really working with celebrities (even if they’re not really known outside the community). So I guess I could say I like the prestige of working with her. But I LOVE working with SM and the Lollies. With them, I know the shows better and I’m more comfortable. I also get the spotlight a bit more, and have more responsibility – so I’m not just the girl in a skirt clearing the stage. Then there’s one more up and coming producer who I’ve done one show for, and who has asked me to help with another show in May. Depending on who else she has working with her behind the stage, I may just flat out refuse to work with her again. I didn’t really enjoy working with her stage manager/existing wrangler to begin with. She’s really nice – and I’d love to support her, but I like the people I work with on the other shows more.

As I’m typing this I’m thinking I may just stick to SG & SM, and if I get any other offers, I’ll probably turn them down, based on my already over-booked schedule – unless they’re especially exciting, anyway.

I hate it when people ask me if I’m “cool.” I never really understand exactly what they’re getting at until I’ve stared at them blankly long enough that they’re pretty sure I am definitely not “cool.” What’s going through my mind when they ask me if I am “cool,” is some approximation of:

Well, I’d like to think I’m cool, but probably not as cool as you. I’m not sure I can actually answer that question. It’s not one a person is supposed to answer about themselves. Coolness is an attribute one determines about someone else, not about themselves. Oh…you mean. Oh.

“Um yeah, sorry, I’m a little slow to catch on sometimes.” *sheepish grin*

The question is almost always immediately followed by someone in the room partaking of, or offering “coolness.”

Last week I was asked if I was Kool and the Gang. This one confused me even more. “Huh?” I asked – she repeated the question. This time my thought process was more like:

Isn’t’ that spelled with a K? I am not Kool and the Gang – obviously – hey wasn’t there a Scrubs episode where JD and Turk got all excited about Kool and the Gang. Man I am so not cool, much less Kool. Oh wait…that question again…

“Um yeah, sorry, I’m a little slow to catch on sometimes.” *sheepish grin*

And that was the end of the conversation. I looked to someone in the room who was aware of my point of view, and he offered no support. No one partook, nothing was offered around…just a random out of the blue question. Then on to the next topic.

I’m guessing my coolness was not at all convincing.

I got my iRobot scooba in last night.  We tested it out using just water (no cleaning solution or vinegar).  It’s way louder than I expected.  I’d kinda hoped we could turn the little guy on and just let him run while we entertain ourselves with TV or some such.  Maybe if we put him in the kitchen.Luna doesn’t really seem to care either way about him.  Barley is wary, and Toby is curious and a little intimidated.  It doesn’t help, that twice the scooba coincidentally went straight at Toby.

In other homonymical news…Phlome and I hope to take SCUBA lessons in the next couple months.  We have a cruise in July, and plan to take advantage of one of the SCUBA excursions.  I actually discussed the potential ear issues with an ENT, and he seemed reluctant to discourage me.  He suggested that the worst thing that could happen is a ruptured eardrum, and they usually heal on themselves.  I’d just have to deal with deafness in one ear for a few weeks.  In very rare cases ear drums don’t heal on themselves but minor surgery can correct it.  He seemed quite nonchalant about the idea of ruptured eardrums and deafness with the possibility of surgery.  I figure I’ll just discuss my ear issues with the SCUBA instructor and see if s/he will let me give the SCUBAing a try before I commit to the full class.

I’m not a big milk drinker.  I like chocolate milk.  But only when made with Nestle quick powder.  I don’t really care for it made with chocolate syrup or the pre-made stuff.  There are a few instances in which I will drink plain milk.  That is when eating:

• Oreos
• Graham Crackers
• ‘Nilla Wafers
• Suzy Q’s

I will not eat any of the above without milk.  On very rare occasions I might eat double stuff Oreos without milk…maybe.

Every now and then I *might* drink milk when I eat chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake or brownies.

You’re probably wondering what prompted this, and why I think anyone should care about my milk preferences.  Well, I’ll tell you.  Last week the vending machine guy put Suzy Q’s in our vending machine.  I eyed them all week long, but did not buy any, because I have no milk at work.  No milk = no Suzy Q’s.  This morning I woke up thinking of those Suzy Q’s.  So I brought some milk with me to work today (in a “go-cup”).  

The go-cup did not fit well into the cup holders in the new car.  I tried to squish it down and wedge it in the holder a bit.  But as soon as I came to a stop, the cup when flying forward and spilled milk all over the gear shift.  I grabbed a bunch of Kleenex and tried my best to sop up the milk, but I just could not get it all (especially along the edge of the gear shift).  So now, I’m running even later to work, my car’s probably going to smell like old milk by lunch time, and half my milk is gone.  But that’s okay, because I have Suzy Q’swaiting for me at work.

I finally arrived to work and put my milk in the fridge while I got started on my morning.  After checking my email and taking care of a few Monday morning tasks, I grabbed a dollar out of my wallet and trekked down to the vending machine.

No Suzy Q’s.

My new Scooba should arrive by Monday afternoon.  I am very excited.  Right now it is sitting in Earth City, MO.  “Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story” is also en route to my house.  I expect to see it in the mail by next Wednesday.  Next week should be a very exciting week.

Last night we played our third night and fourth softball game of the season.  We lost.  But it’s a loss with no shame.  We played hard and we played well.  Our pitcher is showing more promise.  We played harder than I’ve seen us play so far.  We went into the game with a low expectation of winning, but our loins were indeed girded against a complete beat-down.  We held our own, and played defensively very well.  We were up against a much better team, and still scored 8 points on them.  Everyone hit very well.  I’m proud.  I hope we can play like that again.  It just takes time and experience.  We have 4 more games this season, then the summer season starts up.  I would like to play again this summer, I hope we can get enough people together.

Tonight we’ll probably take it easy - nothing too terribly exciting. Perhaps go to the club for a few hours.  Tomorrow I have Burlesque Undressed at the Lakewood.  Rehearsal at 2, call time 7, show at 9.  I don’t even know what to wear at this point.

We’re also getting a new roof today.  And eventually a refinished ceiling in our bedroom.  Someday we’ll have a new doorframe onto the balcony, and Phlome (with a little help from me) is making a lot of progress on our deck.  My hopes are that by the end of next month we can use our hottub again.  Which will be great to come home to after a softball game.  We had initially hoped to have the deck done, and hottub useable by our anniversary, but we have had so much rain this year, we’ve probably lost about 4 weeks.  In theory if we really buckled down, and focused on it, we might make it happen.  Maybe we can just set the goal to have it done by April 22nd, and host a hottub party in celebration of the end of the softball season.

As for the other ‘projects’ I’ve been working on: 

• The cork board is done, except it’s not.  It needs some backing to support the corks a bit more.  If it definitely an amature job.  But hey - it’s a first attempt.  Don’t judge me.
• Zero progress on the clown costume still…maybe Sunday.
• I finished my first knitting project.  That is, if one can consider getting to the end of the ball of yarn with no intention of going futher, done.  Technically I still have to “bind/cast off” the knits.  I’ll be done with that before lunch today.

I can’t remember now what else was on my list, if there was anything else.  So I think I’m done here.

I have been chastised for already failing in my goal to blog more.  You see, I’ve actually been pretty busy at work the last two days, and didn’t have time to blog, as I had the first two days of this week. 

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s day.  I did very little to celebrate.  Didn’t even have a beer.  I had imagined I might work on some projects (such as those listed before).  But I didn’t.  I have no excuse, other than just not wanting to do much last night. 

Tonight we play ball again.  Need to reset my goals.  Tonight, I hope we don’t get run-ruled, like we did the last two games.  I also hope to avoid a fight with the hubby again.  We really should not play ball together.

Tomorrow and Saturday will be pretty busy as well.  Maybe Sunday I can hem the stupid clown skirt.  I hate hemming.  Really I do.  More specifically I hate hemming in a circle.  Hemming a straight line isn’t so bad.

We also need to fix the comments on this blog - and change the layout.  Make it a slightly more visually appealing page.  We’ll see.

Oh - and today I purchased a Scooba.  It should be at the house in a couple weeks.  This should be fun.

The other day I was thinking about Exquisite Corpses again.  It’s seemingly impossible to create your own, since the premise is to combine several unrelated words to create a sentence.  The way I understand its original intent, a different person should provide each word in the sentence with no knowledge of the other words involved (in the format of: The adjective noun verbs the adjective noun..  Instead, I used Excel and Random.org (random number and random sequence generating website - been a fan since I used it in college for experiments in my psych classes) to create some Exquisite Corpses for myself.  Here’s what I’ve got so far:

1. The uneducated Disciple plays the beautiful Jogger.

2. The ugly Guitar cleans the likeable Kettle.

3. The tropical Foxglove lives the useless Italy.

4. The educated Internet drives the swaying Soap.

5. The imploring Heaven eats the modern Level.

6. The old-fashioned Burma reads the tensest Wool.

7. The unlikeable marsh makes the cold potato.

8. The ambidextrous snowflake nibbles the tormented pipe.

9. The tactful gramophone flies the sturdiest Archer.

10. The warm Tadpole cuts the useful Chronometer.

11. The empty candle runs the erratic screen.

12. The tall mouse slides the gregarious man.

13. The smooth machine hides the hard bottle.

14. The changed phone harasses the colorful plantain.

15. The variable calendar rewinds the noisy tape.

16. The neutered dog hops the gorgeous river.

17. The chaste apple tips the purple can.

18. The terrific stereo examines the interesting tree.

19. The fulfilled building drives the scary dragon.

20. The dull pencil triggers the blunt yarn.

It’s not perfect.  Obvioiusly when creating a list of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, by yourself you’re likely to come up with several similar or related words.  I actually tried to find some randomly generated words and nouns, but was unhappy with the websites I found.  So I generated a few random words, filled in the rest from some I came up with, then randomly ordered the sentences.  The best site I came across for random words was this Random Word Generator. Unfortunatly you an only generate one word at a time, though you can sepecify verb, noun, adjective etc.  Some of the words could be both nouns and adjectives, I tried to avoid those.  Like I said, it’s not perfect, but it was entertaining for a while. 

I think 8 & 19 are my favorite.  What’s yours?

Gonna give this another shot.  I have no excuse what-so-ever, other than just not thinking about blogging anymore.  So here’s a brief summary of what I’ve been up to.

I’m working as a stage hand of sorts with a local Burlesque troupe: The Lollie Bombs.  I’ve also been asked to help out with several other shows for other Burlesque performances not necessarily related to the Lollies.  I enjoy it.  It’s fun, I get a little attention, but don’t have responsibilities of the performers.  Low stress, maximum fun, and occasionally I get paid enough to pay for my drinks for the evening.  Plus, this weekend I got recognized while out to dinner.  My little taste of local fame - whoo!

I’m managing and playing on a co-ed recreational softball team.  We don’t win much, but we have fun.  Though it is significantly more fun when we do win.  So far in the past 2 seasons we’ve won 2 games outright.  With one forfeit.  This season we were undefeated for one week - but we made up for it this week when we lost two consecutive games to the run-rule.

I also have a few too many other crafty type projects going on.  Some started, some planned, and several mid-process and put away for entirely too long:

• Shadow box of great-grandmothers items: completed twice, but the items aren’t staying up as they should - have to give it another go soon - it’s been a year, since I tried to fix it.
• Victorian-era inspired skirt and coat: started, have all the material, and the skirt cut and pinned.  Been about six-months since I worked on it.  Have no excuse.
• 1940s/50s inspired housedress for Christmas in July/August Very Beaver Christmas themed party - have pattern - otherwise have not started
• Clown Costume: piecing together some parts of other costumes I have together, and a few items purchases (plus learned how to make puff balls out of yarn).  Mostly done have to hem the skirt and add border to it.  I hate hemming.  Bust be completed before the 27th.
• Knitting: I’m learning - I’ve spent about 2 weeks on a wrap that is only about 6 inches long.  Time consuming yet relaxing.
• Wine-cork board: Been putting of for years.  Have plenty of corks - finally got a frame to attach the corks to.  Started last night.  Bought more glue today.  Hope to finish before the end of the week.

That’s all for now.  I may or may not post again soon.