Category: Work

Categories
Awesome Beauty Being a girl Drew Work

How I’ve missed you, weekends.

Collapse production photo

On Friday Drew and I went to Berkeley to see Collapse at the Aurora Theatre.  This was closing weekend and they were totally sold out, but we were #1 on the walk-in list because I called three weeks ago and did industry walk-in because I was too cheap to pay for tickets.

Luckily we got in, and we even got two seats together.  The show was great, funny, and only 80 minutes, which we both loved since it had been kind of a long week, and we had to catch BART back.  Sitting in the lobby beforehand, waiting to be let in to the empty seats, I flipped through the program and read everyone’s bios, and I started to feel that itchy feeling that I recognize all too well: I like being backstage, I like being part of a production team, I like meeting a whole rush of new people every couple months.  Oh no, am I going to miss PA-ing?  One week back on the real-job wagon and I’m already looking for a new fix?

Then, while watching the show, the crew is moving furniture around in a low-ish level transition light, and I’m sitting there, wearing green, out on a date on a Friday night, all weekend stretching ahead of me, and I thought, “Hells no, I made the right choice.”

On Saturday Drew and I went up to Milagra Ridge and climbed around.  The views are gorgeous and it was great to get some fresh air.  Lucky we went when we did, since it clouded up pretty good later than afternoon.

By that time, we were grocery shopping with a little windfall of cash we had come across.  We were also buying girl scout cookies, and I was buying used paperbacks from a thrift store next to Safeway – four Stephen King books (that I need for my complete Stephen King collection) for a dollar each.  (I would have paid up to $4 per book, but don’t tell them that.)  (Today I swung by that thrift store and found Brian Jacques’ Redwall.)

This, by the way, is the picture I took and sent to Erin, to try to convince her to move back to California.

Pacifica, from Milagra Ridge

And what better way to start a lazy Sunday…than by calling the cops on a domestic dispute happening right outside your window?  We were awakened by a man yelling, “Gimme my phone!” and a woman yelling, “Gimme my baby!” and screeching tires.  Still not sure what was going on, but, because of the repeated screaming at each other, the manhandling of said baby, and the fact that I saw the cops outside the couple’s building just a few weeks ago, possibly talking to the same guy…Drew called and requested an officer to come out and make sure everything was okay.  So that was our Sunday excitement.

Both yesterday and today we made dinner and watched Dexter (we finished Season 2 tonight), and just hung out.  Incredible.  I could get used to this.  I could get way addicted to making dinners and packing lunches and going to bed at 11:00 to get up at 7:00 and go to the gym and go to work and watching TV at night and being around on Tuesday nights for friends dinner…you get the idea.  This is living.

Categories
Awesome Beginnings Being a girl Children Friends Work

Children and art

CHILDREN

I got a call this evening from my 10-months-pregnant friend, and our conversation went like this:

Me: Hey there!
Her: Hey, sorry I missed lunch today.
Me: That’s okay.  Did you have a very good reason?
Her: Yup!
Me: What is it?
Her: A baaaaybeeee!
Me: OMG!
Her: It’s so weird!
Me: AND?
Her: It’s crazy!
Me: AAAAND??
Her: It’s a boy!

I am so stoked for her.  She’s still at the hospital but once she gets home it will be all I can do to not bother her constantly to let me come over…especially as I now drive RIGHT past her house to get to work.

Hopefully she won’t make me wait too long before I meet him.  I want to see him when he’s still very small.  (Not that he was THAT small – almost 9 lbs apparently, yikes.)

I might have teared up a little when she told me.  I wasn’t there throughout her entire pregnancy but the last three months (is that all it’s been? doesn’t seem like it) have been all about this moment.  When I didn’t see her on Facebook or gchat for a couple days I figured that’s what was going on.  Weird that I couldn’t just text her and be like “Are you pushing right now?”  Weird when you have to take some time off from instant gratification.

& ART

On the job front…I can’t believe I’m so happy.  I didn’t expect to be SO. HAPPY.  I love it, I’m just having the best time.  It helps that I remember most stuff so I’m not training from scratch.  But I love the team there now, I love the space we’re in, I love the work I’m doing.  The work days are flying by and everything is interesting.  And I don’t think that’s going to disappear, I think it’ll just get better as I get more situated.

Today I spent large amounts of time on a storyboard for an “audio slideshow” – which we use as a show “trailer” on the website.  So I storyboarded the images and text that will go up there to sell the next show in the season.  It’s great having some creative parts of the job to go along with the sales parts.

I’m not sure what’s different about the job this time around, that I’m a trillion times happier there.  (I have a couple theories though.)  I’m just uber grateful that this worked out the way it did, and that I’m now in this position.  It’s a far better situation than I figured I’d be in, back in the beginning of February as I looked ahead.

Because I don’t start until 10, I’ve been getting up when Drew leaves (at 7:00) and going to the gym.  Because there is no way I’m going to come home at 6:00 and then go to the gym.  No freaking way.  I think I’m going to try going every day next week, and then I could take the weekends off.

So happy today – everything is great!  Makes it easy to be thankful.  All color and light.

Categories
Awesome Beginnings Nonfiction Religion Sentiment Uncategorized Work

Congratulate me, O Friends!

Elton Richards – the pastor out of pasture – broke down prayer for me into four types.  It’s a handy mnemonic: ACTS.  A for adoration (praising God).  C for confession (telling God your sins).  T for thanksgiving (being grateful to God for what you have).  S for supplication (asking God to help you).

–The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs

Like most people, I’m pretty good at Supplication.  But I also think that I’m good at Thanksgiving: when it’s an especially pretty day, when I get home safely in the pouring rain, when I get a sweet parking space.  I try to get some Adoration in there too: it often goes hand-in-hand with Thanksgiving.  I don’t do a lot of Confession, but maybe that’s something I should explore.

Last week found me supplicating silently all the time.  Sometimes specific, sometimes just “Please please please.”  When I was being specific I couldn’t quite bring myself to say, “Let me get this job,” but rather, “Give me the confidence and courage to nail this interview” or “Let this job be part of your plan for me,” since even I don’t presume to know what’s best for me and my life.

But on Friday, when I got the job, I was equally as enthusiastic (and speechless), sticking mostly to “Thank you thank you thank you!”  I threw in some “You’re amazing!”s to mix it up.  It’s things like this that make it really obvious that there is a plan for each of us, and that God has a hand always in our lives.

The job in question?  Sales Manager at one of the major Bay Area theatres…incidentally the exact position I held when I worked at this company for four months in 2009.  Which is another story altogether.  But now I’m back, and while they have done some major renovations and overhaul on the building, it sort of feels exactly the same.

So here’s to the first day at a new job  career, and to getting what you need (not always the same as what you want), and to prayers being answered.

And let’s not forget, a (brief) moment of silence for my (brief) subbing career.  Which I enjoyed but was perfectly willing to give up.

Categories
Endings Sentiment Theatre Work

Closing Seagull

Things I will miss about Seagull:

-The people, etc, etc (this encompasses everything about friendship and memories and good times I’ve had – the rest of my bullet points will be more specifics)
-Craig shouting “I forgot my walking stick” at me
-Kostya’s Act I monologue about his mother, while he plays piano
-All the piano music, actually (luckily it’s all available on soundcloud!)
-Masha’s beautiful hair
-Waiting for Act III to start and making faces across the stage at the people in the other wing
-The Act III-Act IV transition

Things I will not miss about Seagull:

-The schedule, etc, etc
-2:45 running time…and then a full reset at the end of each show
-Watching the prop grapes get ickier and ickier over the week
-Resetting air vibrations

My favorite lines (in no particular order, and completely out of context):

Sorin: Bring ALL the horses here, NOW!

Arkadina: Light as a feather!  I could play a girl of fifteen.

Masha: Once I get married, I won’t have love on my mind.  I’ll have new problems to worry about.

Trigorin (to Kostya): Irina Nikoleyevna said you are ready to let bygones be bygones.

Polina: I know I’m too jealous.  I’m so ashamed.  You must be sick of me.
Dorn: No, no.  If you must keep talking, do.

Seagull isn’t closing quite yet, but I’m starting to feel the first pangs.  I’ll miss you, MTC.  Can’t wait to sit in the audience and watch Fuddy Meers in a month!

Categories
"Other people" Children Sentiment Work

An ode to the smart kids

Another middle school today.  This one all around much better than the last one.  I think I’m sort of getting the hang of just NOT being the students’ friend.  I like it, in a way.  It gives me an outlet.  No worrying about making a great first impression, or being charming or funny.  Just no-nonsense, sit down, shut up, take out your lang arts book.  Love it.

I always notice the one smart, bookish, no-fuss kid.  The one who rarely says anything (I’m not talking about the raising-her-hand, I’ve-got-all-the-answers kid).  Just the regular kid who is going through middle school.

Last week there was a kid who finished his worksheet, turned it in, put his pencil away, and then pulled out a book and started reading – all silently.  Love that kid.  Loved him even more when I saw he was reading Stephen King’s Misery.  I kind of wanted to say something to him (like, “Have you read it before?  Do you love it??”) but he was still near the beginning, and I didn’t want to be a total creeper.

There was a kid this morning who also silently started the worksheet.  When I said they could work QUIETLY in pairs, he raised his hand and said, “Do we have to work in pairs?”  No, no you don’t – I hated group work also.  Much easier to just do it and get it done.

In my sixth/seventh period today there was a kid who looked annoyed/fed up with his classmates’ antics (and there were a lot of them).  At one point he said, “Can I talk to you?” and I said, “Yeah, what’s up?” and he said, “Can you make a list of all the names of the kids who were being good?”  I guess he could foresee the mediocre report I gave the teacher about that class.  Then he said, “I finished the reading questions.”

“Did you finish the worksheet too?”  He nodded, face in hands and elbows on desk.  “Both sides?”  Another nod.

Then he said, “I’m bored.”

All I could say (and no one else was listening, so I felt it was safe) was, “I know you are, I know how you feel.  I promise you it will all pay off one day.  Don’t let it discourage you.”

He just nodded some more, looking resigned.

Oh, smart kids.  Please don’t let the monotony of middle school (or high school, or life) get you down.  Eventually you get a chance to stretch out and grow. 

And then in college you’ll learn the joys of skipping class.  So work it while you’ve got it.

I bet Smart Kid would know better than to put unnecessary quotation marks.
Categories
"Other people" Beginnings Children Work

Beiber and fever

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single young man, between the ages of 4 and 14, in possession of a good fortune, must be into singing Justin Beiber songs.

Or so I’ve learned over the last four days, when I have been in a preschool (on Friday) and a middle school (today) and both times have been faced with boys singing “Baby” and “Never Say Never.”  This is surprising to me because in my world, Justin Beiber is low on the radar: I don’t really hear his music on the stations I listen to, and I don’t really pay attention to him except when he pops up in front of my face somewhere.  In my head he’s like an 8-year-old boy, even though I know in real life he’s like 16 and probably doing all kinds of things with girls (yuck).  In my world we don’t really acknowledge Justin Beiber, and we would probably make fun of anyone singing his songs (even though we might get them stuck in our heads sometimes, because they’re adorably catchy, but not in a way that makes them art, or anything).

On Friday this little boy was singing “Baby” while we were walking them over to breakfast, and I thought that was cute.  It was a little weird, but I thought, Eh, he’s four years old.  The rowdy 12-year-old this morning was a different story – I kind of wanted to ask if it was cool of him to be singing those songs.  But whatever.

Other than (and even including) Beiber, the preschoolers were cute.  Here are some stand out moments from the day:

-This little girl (we’ll call her “M”) deciding we were besties, and spending most of the morning cutting out paper hearts for me.

-M holding my hand while walking back from breakfast, and then pointing at this other little girl (who, unfortunately, had flaky skin all over her face and hands, and looked like she needed to be bathed in cortizone-10 or something), and saying
M: Her says bad words.
Me: Does she?
Flaky girl: *looks up at me with big brown eyes* My mommy teaches them to me.

-This super cute little round-faced boy with big nerdy glasses goes, “Everyone says I look like Denzel Washington.”  (I’m thinking, “Not likely.”)
Me: What’s your name?
Kid: Denzel.
Me: …Ah.

-All the kids were dancing to some song where you put your beanbag on your head and dance around! on your shoulder and dance around! on your elbow and dance around! etc.  And this one kid was sitting at the table all slumpy, and I said, “Don’t you want to dance?” and he said, “I wanted to dance, but this song is driving me CRAZY.”  Touché, kid, me too.

-The most memorable thing for me about the day (as of right now) is that they got me SICK.  Which I guess I kind of expected, everyone told me it’s a job hazard, whatever.  On Saturday my throat started hurting and then it’s kind of devolved from there.  I think it’s a sinus thing now.  On Sunday morning I used cough syrup to swallow cough pills.  I’m hitting this thing hard.

I even ran around with them at recess, playing tag and hide and seek.  The next day I questioned whether getting that involved was the right choice: sure it’s good if you’re a babysitter, but should a teacher be playing like that?  I’m not sure which way I lean on this.  The older teachers didn’t play, but the younger ones seemed more willing.  So maybe I’m just right in the middle.  A friend of mine (who has a 4-year-old) says playing with kids is always good, because you’re fostering the right things in them, so I should never be concerned about that.

A Typical Middle Schooler (Picture from Paramount)

After my day with the little kids I kept thinking, High school can’t be harder than this.  But I forgot to account for middle schoolers, the Grendel of the education system.  I was at a middle school today and these are the lessons I learned:

-Middle schoolers are bitches.

-Don’t give them the benefit of the doubt.  Just be strict from the very beginning.  And through the middle.  And then at the end.

-Don’t trust them.  They don’t really have to go to the bathroom.  They’re just going to wander around for 15 minutes and then come back and claim they had “a problem.”

I have to give them a little break, because in two of the Social Studies classes we watched a video on the Silk Road.  It was exactly what you’d expect from an oldschool video that a sub would show; and bonus points on the references to the USSR!  I felt bad that they were supposed to take notes, because even I wasn’t sure what I’d write down, but when one of the kids started complaining super loudly I was like, “This is my second time watching it, how do you think I feel?”

The best teacher today was the young Chinese woman who ruled that class with an iron fist.  They called her evil; I called her magnificent.

But I figured out why HR said that a lot of subs don’t want to go to the preschool: it’s 7:00-3:00: 8 hours, minus lunch.  But I was only at the middle school from 8:30 to 2:30: 6 hours minus lunch!  Sweet!  Still, middle schoolers suck.

However, I had a really good time both days, and I am making great strides in learning.  Just trying to keep track of everything I’m learning.  I’m in two high schools this week and then on Friday I get a break (unless I get a call).  Life hasn’t been boring lately, that’s for sure.

Categories
Beginnings Nonfiction Theatre Work

Bit by bit, putting it together

So this is what’s going on right now, just because I know that sometimes a “this is what’s up” post is necessary.

Seagull goes on, 8 or 9 shows a week.
Meanwhile I’m trying (and failing) to keep up my hours at the Opera.
Meanwhile meanwhile, I have been working on paperwork etc to start substitute teaching for two of the Peninsula school districts.  So I finished that on Tuesday (it was a super busy day, with me at 3 different school locations between 8:30-11:30, and then heading to Redwood City to see my friend Sam while she’s still pregnant).  Tuesday is yesterday.  So this morning at like 8:30, the HR person from one of the districts calls to tell me that my prints cleared and she’s lined up 3 jobs for me.

Wait, wait, though.  Because this is how our interactions have gone so far.

(December)
Me: Hi, I want to sub for you guys.
HR: We don’t really have work right now, maybe after the New Year.

(January)
Me: Hi, I still want to sub.
HR: Great, I’ll call you this week to bring you in.

(Later in January)
Me: Hi, are you going to call me?
HR: Well, we don’t really have a lot of work right now, but I said I’d bring you in, so okay, I guess.
Me: *doesn’t respond to email for a couple days because that doesn’t sound promising*
HR: Are you going to call me or what?
Me: Okay…

(Today)
HR: Hi, I lined up 3 jobs for you next week.
(Later today)
HR: Hi, also for this Friday, at a preschool.
(A little later today, on the phone)
HR: Hi, are you busy now? Want to go on a job?
Me: I’m at work already!

Anyway, that’s that.  So hopefully this is what she means by “not a lot of work” and I can get work at least 3-4 days a week.  Fingers crossed majorly.

So work plus Seagull equals I haven’t been to the gym in a week and I haven’t seen anyone besides Drew or people I work with in almost three weeks.  They just asked me if I want to do this same job on the next show and I’m praying that I won’t have to do that.  But…you know, I’m grateful the opportunity is there.  That’s really, really nice to know.

Other activities in my life:

-Reading Oliver Twist, which is taking so much longer than I’d anticipated.  Maybe because I keep cheating with other books.
-Watching Dexter (we’re only on Season 2 and are creeping through it at a snail’s pace.  But if I had a whole day I think I would tear it up.  It took me about half the first season, but I’m interested now).
-Still attempting to write, which I can totally do backstage on paper.  And today my producer (!) and I submitted 2 short plays to the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Play Festival, which is in July.  So, you know, fingers crossed on that too.

All in all though, I’d say I’m pretty happy with 2011 so far.

Categories
Beginnings Theatre Work

Opening Seagull

I’ve never been an opening-night gifts kind of girl, for several reasons.

1) You’re working so hard leading up to opening, there is little time for thinking up and assembling gifts/cards/inside jokes;
2) Opening, while exciting, is still smack in the middle of the job.  So there is less sentimentality and fewer feelings of “OMG I’LL MISS YOU GUYS!!!” than on closing night.
3) Closing, being the end of your job, is also when you sometimes get tips.  So I’m always potentially more excited for closing than opening.  Not that tips usually happen here in this job.  But, you know, they have a couple times.  And that’s cool.  But never on opening.

To be honest, I don’t think I’ve done any kind of full-cast gifts since…Recent Tragic Events in New York.  For Sunlight (my first MTC show, you may recall) I gave the stage manager very specific in-joke gifts.**  But since then, I just haven’t done anything for anyone.  Bad PA?

Seagull was no exception to my “I totally didn’t do anything for opening” tradition.  I got cards from a few people, which is super sweet, especially since as far as the cast goes, I met them last week.  But while the actors were all sporting tiny airplane bottles of vodka and cognac – no one hooked me up!  Bummer.

Opening is cool and all, but I mean…I never dress up for it (just wearing all blacks) and I duck in and out of the party to grab some hors d’oeuvres (pesto ravioli, chicken satay, lots of things on sticks, plus cheesecake and brownie bites, and of course the ever present red-or-white wine), but mostly it’s about doing work.  Then it’s like 11:30 so I just want to go home.  So I sneak out the side door and go.  I’m much more likely to stick around for closing, especially if I’m not planning on being back there in 2 weeks for another job.

The ME did give me a book of crossword puzzles to work on backstage during the show, which was one of the most thoughtful opening night gifts.  And everyone was super nice – even after I dropped and shattered two prop glasses in the lobby, drawing everyone’s attention and full silence.  Thank God for whoever shouted “Opa!” first.

I heard of one (kind of generic, but cool) opening night gift for actors.  You give them a pen, a highlighter, and a pencil, with a card:

To sign your contracts – may they be lucrative;
To highlight your lines – may they be plentiful;
To write down your blocking – may it be downstage center.

Cute, right?  I’m curious about other people’s opening/closing night gift traditions…thoughts?

PS. The show went well (although the tally of broken things got out of hand: a belt, a brooch, a journal, a walking stick, the 2 glasses I broke…).  The audience was a typical loving and supportive opening night audience.  The cast was charming and friendly.  At one point during the show the stage manager asked me to go check on one of the actors when she came offstage, because he had never seen her “shake like that before” during her emotional scene.  The other PA and I were like, “Heath, we’re pretty sure she’s acting.”  But she got a kick out of him checking on her.  So yay, Seagull is open!  And life will go back to normal-ish.

**My gift for the Sunlight stage manager was: an eraser (because she spent the entire rehearsal process trying to keep track of this one pencil she had that still had a tiny stub of an eraser); a chocolate truffle bar from Trader Joe’s (because she kept sneaking into the dressing room to steal bites from the actors); and a squeeze bottle of pickle relish (because one of the actors was constantly dropping the line “with great relish!” and we would wait for it every night of the run).  LOL, by far the best show gift I have ever given.

Categories
"Other people" Work

Whole Awkward

In Whole Foods the other day I was standing in front of the chocolate section, trying to decide what was the closest to a plain old Kit Kat.  (Why only fancy chocolate, Whole Foods?  Why only special brands?  That’s your major flaw.  Sometimes I just want Yoplait or Diet Coke or M’n’Ms.)  A woman with flyaway gray hair came up behind me, carrying a reusable grocery bag with a cat on it, and, while selecting fruit leather, said, “Where’s Jam.”

At least that’s what I thought she said.  But maybe she was asking for Jim.  So I ignored her.  Until she looked right at me and said, “Where’s jam.  Do you work here?”

“I don’t work here.”

“Oh.  They wear dark colors here.”  I was wearing all black, having just run over from tech.  (Wearing all black in a not-well-lit intersection also caused me to be almost hit by not one but two cars.  But that’s another story.)  I didn’t have an answer for her.  I guess I could have said, “They also wear green aprons.”

Then I reached for a bar of dark chocolate with candied orange, and she asked, “Is that your normal brand?  Chocolove?”  I guess she was trying to show we were just friends.  Eye roll.

I said “No” politely and then hightailed it for the checkout lane.  I think she stayed behind to look over the 2011 “Bohemian Cats” calendar with all the cats doing needlepoint and stuff.

I feel like this happens to me a lot.  I am constantly getting asked where things are.  Not even, “Do you work here?”  Just straight up, “Where’s the conditioner?”  When I know where the thing is, I’ll just tell them.  This happens at Target, at Trader Joe’s, at Whole Foods.  Maybe I just look competent.

Categories
Drew Sentiment Theatre Work

Greener grass on the other side

I am so far behind in things I want to talk about.  Case in point: I wrote this yesterday (Saturday) in a notebook sitting backstage at tech, but this is the first chance I’ve gotten to sit down at a computer.  So here goes:

I’m working on The Seagull at MTC, and we started tech today.  Yesterday during our staging day, I was moving props or something and I had one of those “oh snap” epiphanies where I realized how crazy lucky I am: working backstage at an actual theatre, and getting paid real money for it.  I had a nice little glowing ten minutes or so, but like all good things, the euphoria didn’t last forever. 

(Although I’m still happy.)

Yesterday was Drew’s birthday and I wish I had been able to hang out with him.  Or even hang out today.  Or tomorrow.

We spent so long on opposite schedules that, last fall, when we were suddenly both working daytimes, home together in the evenings and on the weekends – well, I just got used to it quickly.  Used to it, and you might say, taking it for granted.  So now, even though it’s just for the next month, it’s frustrating to be back on that schedule.  I always feel like I’m missing out on something.  For example:

-Drew’s birthday
-Glee, and friends dinner night for the next 4 weeks
-2 out of the 3 episodes of Watson on Jeopardy (Watson is the computer competing against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter – I’ll get to the see the first episode but not the second and third)

I guess I should worry less about missing TV.

I remember I survived this before.  This is temporary.  Paying dues.  Eye on the prize, and all that.  But I think it’s clear what my goal is here for 2011.

PS. The grass really is greener onstage – check it out!