The ramblings of an Everychild View: The Gory Details. View: Comrades. View: Calendar. View: Memories. You're looking at the latest 20 entries. Missed some entries? Then simply jump into the past 20 entries.

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

Time: 8:12 pm.

I'm not going to go back at "friends only" all of my entries, but I did do it to the last five or so and from here on out, all new entries will be friends only.

Comments: Sit this one out 14 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: Give 'em Hell Time: 12:10 pm. Mood: cold. Music: Dr. P talking.

So we opened for No Exit last night to a pretty good sized audience, if somewhat unbalanced. They reacted with weirdness, as I expected with this particular show. When I first came onstage, I noticed a woman sleeping on the shoulder of her companion. "Huh." I thought. "Once I start screaming in a few minutes, she'll wake up." There were three women sitting near the door that were annoying and two cell phones went off. Also, at the end, when Alan came out and started clapping, NO ONE ELSE CLAPPED. It was so hilariously awkward for poor Alan. But overall, I think it went awesome. Eric was on freakin' fire last night. His energy was very catching. Randy stood in the far back corner agains the wall and when I go into my whole "They rented it!" bit, he was RIGHT THERE. It was a little intimdating and I screwed up my lines a little. No one knew, I just tossed in an extra "that's my room, damn it!" and it went well. Randy gave us all hugs afterwards and then vanished. It was kind of funny. Afterwards, I went with Eric and Katrina and Sailor Tim to the LMC where a handful of students had gathered. Chris Coleman, the guy running against that dork Randy Kelly came to meet with us. I was impressed that he took the time (especially at 10 o'clock at night) to meet with like, seven college students and answer their questions. I was nice. Alan (who is not a Democrat) came and displayed an amazing awareness of current events and asked lots of really good questions. Alan's a cool guy. After that, Eric, Trina, Alan and I, along with four freshman (Marylynn, a Tim, a Jordan and a Shelly) and eventually Josh went to Perkins (where I was the night before with Eric and Josh) where we stayed until 1 am eating ridiculous food and laughing and laughing. I went into the costume shop with Rebekah, a Junior transfer student with whom I've formed a sort of partnership. As she's the oldest member of the costume crew besides myself and she seems like the dependable sort and I like having someone else I can bounce ideas off of. When we got there, there were a few notes from Jim on sewing trim on the curtians for Marty's bedroom (for Grease) and a request for a valance that's 2 feet by 30 feet. I e-mailed Jim just to be sure that it wasn't some kind of horrible joke. But 30 feet. Basically all that has to be done for it is measuring, cutting and hemming, but hemming 60 + feet of fabric makes me sad. But I admit to being a little excitied about the costuming thing. Seeing my name in the No Exit program after the title "Costume Designer" was cool. The end.

Comments: Sit this one out 4 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: the same five rag dolls and the same wood carvings of... what is this, a duck? Time: 10:08 pm.

I love that the four Pequots all got different answers. Go us! You scored as Inara Serra. The Courtesan. You have a job that brings comfort to people and eases their burdens. It took years of training and dedication to perfect. So why do people keep calling you a whore? You tried to get away from those people, but something keeps bringing you back. Inara Serra 100% The Operative 75% Simon Tam 75% Zoe Alleyne Washburne 69% River Tam 63% Capt. Mal Reynolds 56% Kaylee Frye 56% Shepherd Derrial Book 56% Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 25% Jayne Cobb 6% Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Comments: Sit this one out 12 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: You really do have a bit of a mean streak. It's quite charming Time: 12:23 pm. Mood: chipper.

So yesterday was our last hurrah at the Ren fest. We went to see human combat chess one last time and sat on Sir Adrian's side for the first time since we saw it . . . for the first time. When Simon came out to do his little opening thing, he asked the audience a question and we yelled out a hearty "YES!". Simon turned to one of the other characters. "They say-" he looked at us, his eyes widened in recognition and I think, disbelief that his arch audience enemies were on his side. "THEY say yes!" he said in delight. The show went on and we did our thing, being the cheering section. When it got to a part where Sir Adrian is arguing with Lady Elora, the four of us started cheering for him and he saw us and a smile played on his lips before he quickly got back into character. It was a good time. We also saw the Morris Dancers for one last time and Drunk and Disorderly (twice) and a group called The Londo Broil Show (www.shouldhavestayedincollege.com) which was the highlight of our day. They were effing hilarious and we took it upon ourselves to cheer for Duncan, who had no fan club. We left before the show was over to get some soup, bread and sandwiches and do a little escalator riding in Uptown before returning to campus. We went over to the GC and spoke with Eric for a little while and he invited us to Applebees where a few theatre types were gathering. I told him to call me and we returned to the room to watch Ever After. 'Trina left and we made hot chocolate and swooned over Prince Henry until Eric called, came over and we all went to Applebees. Amanda, Paul, Erin, Josh and Josh's friend (Jon, I think) met us there (after we got past the bouncer, which thrilled Kiddo to no end, being carded). It was an awesome and very affordable time (my bill was a whopping 3.75). It was nice to see Amanda again and there was lots and lots of laughing. We left around 12:30 and Eric dropped us off and we promptly got into Steph's car to listen to more Drunk and Disorderly and return Kiddo to her campus, where she displayed her butt wiggle card access trick. I got back to the dorm to shower and watch the last 15 minutes or so of Ever After before falling to sleep. All in all, it was a freaking awesome day. But now I have to go to Wal-Mart and buy shoes. Feh. -Kate I love the smell of goth in the morning. It smells like cloves and not enough hugs from mommy! -Ren Fest Duncan: Bungee cords! That's so Renaissance! Matt: They're made out of wizard's whiskers! -London Broil Show

Comments: Sit this one out 1 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: Georgia in spring time Time: 8:46 pm. Mood: tired. Music: tee vee.

It was again, a fairly normal day. Child psych is just . . . arg. It's weird and frusterating, and I want so badly to like it, I was so excited for it . . . elipse . . . Anyway. Dance was a blast, we worked on polishing the ol' Jellicle Ball and all sang Happy Birthday to MmDan, who is now 21. And because the class is full of theatre kids, it was lovely and harmonized, not all crappy and off key. We start tap on Tuesday, which I don't love as I love other dance stuff. Ah well. After dance, I set out with Eric to JC Penney's to shop for suits, something I know nothing about. And we were running a little late, so we spent about 15 minutes rapidly browsing the suits. I selected three that I liked, had him try them on and we both agreed on a two button job with pinstripes (Eric likes pinstripes and I wanted to incorporate more color into his costume). It was long in the legs, but they told me they'd hem 'em for eight bucks, which is a nominal fee and saves me the hassle. We actually spent more time in the car than in the store. It was nice to talk to him one on one. He told me about Georgia and stories of theatre happenings past and other things. It was a good time. We were a little late to rehearsal, which was a run through today. We didn't have the intensity we need, Randy didn't stop us at all, so I think we got a little lazy. There's a part where Eric turns on me and makes like he's going to choke me, which he doesn't, never even touches me. I've been a little uncomfortable with it, but this was the first time we did it with actual "feeling" as the saying goes. I knew it was coming, but when he swung around and I had to stop. I'm sure it looked weird to everyone else; I physically recoiled, jumped back. "Can we do something else?" I asked quickly and Eric just as quickly agreed. "I thought I might scare you." he said, and we did something different. I felt bad because Eric felt bad, but it was fine. After rehearsal, Eric, Jenn, Trina and I relocated to the costume studio so I could pin Jenn's dress. She asked what the deal was with the whole neck thing and and admitted that I don't know. But when we got back to the room, I suddenly remembered why and it made me sad. So Heather doesn't have electricity, which is lame and Katrina and I ate pizza which was tasty. Also, I need to work the hell out of my lines this weekend. Steph? Feeling generous? The End.

Comments: Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: "You're a long way from Mrs. Whatshername shucking beans." Time: 6:23 pm. Mood: thirsty. Music: Leaving Liverpool- Gaelic Storm.

Today was a fairly uninteresting one for the most part. We had a STAGE meeting, where Michael spoke on the subject of what happend Friday last. He even turned to me and said something about me throwing the break, which surprised me for a second. Then he asked if anyone had said the M word and when Katrina fessed up to it, he laughed and laughed. Instead of regular rehearsal today, we had individual coaching with Randy. I was sort of nervous going into mine, just because it would be only me and because I knew he was going to have me do all sorts of bizzare things. The first section we worked on was my "freak out" speech, which was lots and lots of yelling. He had me do it entirely without words, sitting absolutely motionless, with animal physicality (like a hawk, in my case, which is way more helpful than it sounds), with complete focus on my arms, with complete focus on my diction and with focus on three high points. Then he talked about problem areas I have (I have totally bizarre arms and a tendency to mush my words in intense moments) and then we moved on to another section, the one where I see a man in my room. I did it over and over again, at different places of the stage and with different suggestions. When he finally let me go on past the yelling to one of the few parts in the play where I'm not totally all over the place, he got up and ran to the other side of the stage, paying me a compliment as he fled. "That was very nice work, Kate. Excellent." Randy lets us know when we do something he likes, but this was a different kind of compliment, a rarer kind and it made me feel all proud. By the end of the hour session, after all the "Faster! Bigger! Louder! Bigger! To them! All over! Faster!" ecetera, I was wore out and in need of a drink. But the entire thing was really, really, helpful. It's the most I've ever worked with a director exclusively and I enjoyed it a lot. But now I'm really wanting like, Jamba Juice or a shake or something. Well, Trina's gone, so I'm going to do some homework. No script anaylsis tomorrow, but it appears that I will be suit shopping, so we'll see how that goes.

Comments: Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: just keep pushing Time: 6:21 pm. Mood: listless. Music: Katrina chattin' with Tyler.

So Michael came back from the South. He was coming out of the drying theatre as I was walking by and he reached out to stop me. "Glad to see you're okay." he said and pulled me in for a hug. I actually returned it properly, it was a rather nice hug and every once in a while, I enjoy a little human contact. Roger came for a visit today, which was nice. He told us not to be bitter, but I think it amuses him a little. It was nice to see him and nice to hug him too. No Exit rehearsal has been kicked up a notch now that we're (supposed to be) off script. Randy's having us do things over, to do little exercises ("Kate, say that line five times in a row with more intensity each time!") and encouraging us to act without thinking. Today, after failing to get the results he was looking for in a little scene between Eric and I, he had us arm wrestle as we said our lines. Eric clearly went easy on me, he's way stronger than I am, but it helped us tremendously, just to feel the conflict between us. Later, there's a scene where Eric and Jen are on the couch and I taunt them and push them into each other. I sort of got into it and found myself up on the couch, pressed against Eric and delivering my lines in his ear. I stopped suddenly and sat back. "Is that just too weird and creepy for words?" He and Jen laughed, "No, no, I mean it is creepy, but it's really good!" So we did it again and I climbed up on the couch again and did the whole thing. It's so much fun to just be able do things in a more . . . primal way than what I'm used to doing onstage. Well, I'm worn out from a day of dance (Jellicle Ball kids. Yes, it's awesome) and arm wrestling Eric, so I'll sign off. Kate

Comments: Sit this one out 1 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: Charge it! Time: 8:26 pm. Mood: tired.

After a long night of tending to the theatre and an early morning of more tending to the theatre, Trina, Steph and I met up with Jenn to find her a costume. After a decided lack of sucess, we found an armful at Macys. There were two dresses that made it to the final cut, one being this absolutely lovely blue number that we all just loved. Unfortunately, it was marked at 153 bucks. So I fretted about it for a little while, finally deciding that is was pretty much The Dress and damn it, I would cut corners elsewhere if I had to. Besides, the dress was orginally 300 dollars. So I took the thing to the register and laid down my credit card, delighted to find out that it was actually 115 dollars. Sweet! Then we went to Claires and bought some bling ("Jen, pick out a wedding ring!") before seperating from dear Estelle. Then it was off to Kohls to hunt down something in the blazer-y department for myself. I found two affordable options, so I bought them both and I'll let Randy have a look. It's entirely possible that I have most of the costuming taken care of. Provided the tux I dug up for Alan (post flood) fits him and depending on what Randy thinks of everything, including the suit I found that fits Eric (except for in his long arms). I still need pants and shoes and there are a couple other odds and ends, but we are making head way. Tonight: LINES

Comments: Sit this one out 2 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: The "M" Word Time: 2:05 am. Mood: grateful.

One of the things drilled into the heads of young people working in a theatre is how very dangerous it can be, the fly in particular. If a stage weight falls from the grid or off an arbor, it can bounce off the floor and fly a remarkable distance, easily killing a person. So we've been told what to do in that situation, basically, run like hell. This is a synopsis of what happened today after five hours of working in the shop, in form of an e-mail I sent to Roger: Roger, We screwed up today. Pretty badly. A bunch of us, (Trina, Jeremy, Josh Huber, Dan Aubin, Nathan, Justin and a couple of freshman) were getting weights, lowering then from the grid on arbors. Trina, Justin and Jeremy were at the grid, Dan, Huber and I were on the rope, everyone else was on stage. After giving the freshman a what-to-do-in-case-of-emergency talk, we started bringing it down. After a moment, it started getting away from the boys and I. We tried to hold it for a few seconds, but all at once, we realized we had to go. Dan, Huber and I yelled to the others and we ran, ran, ran. Dan, Huber and I sat in the wings for a second, starting at each other and the water as it started pouring down. After we made sure no one was hurt, we ran outside. Now all of this is terrible enough, but as we were all standing around watching the fire trucks coming in, a car that was too stupid to get out of the way got broad sided by the fire truck while we looked on. So no one is hurt (aside from Dan, Huber and I’s hands), but us upperclassmen feel like jackasses. We should have known better, there was too much weight, and we were stupid. And everything is flooded. We’re sitting outside watching the water pour into the street, fearing Michael’s/ Jim’s wrath when he comes back and wishing you were here. Even if you yelled at us, as we deserve. Kate Here are the details: It was a lot of effing weight. I don't know what we were thinking, having that much weight on one arbor. Everyone who wasn't on the line or in the grid was sitting on the bare baton to counter act the weight and when we started lowering it, everything was fine. But eventually the baton was getting pretty high off the ground and Dan told those still clinging to it to get off. So they did. Things went pretty quickly from there. There was the distinctive zzzzzzz sound that Roger told us about. Dan, Josh and I tried to hold it, but it was a blur between our hands and we could feel the heat through our gloves. I don't know who it was that said whatever was said, but we bolted. Josh ran to the backstage door (not with Dan and I as I mentioned in my e-mail), Dan made for the stage right side stage. I took a few seconds to ram up the brake on the run away line in a petty attempt to slow it somewhat and bolted after Dan. He slid to his knees on the floor and I dropped beside him. He pressed his forehead to the floor as there was a loud bang and a second of silence. I put my arm around Dan and he sat up and leaned against me. There was a pitter-patter sort of sound and it looked like dust and debris falling from the sky. Dan looked at me. "This is so bad." he said, hoarsely. "I know." I answered. Then I realized that it wasn't dust, it was the sprinklers. Dan and I jumped to our feet and ran to the opening of the side stage. "IS EVERYONE ALL RIGHT?" we yelled. There was no answer, but we could see people running for the doors and the stage was free of bodies, so we bolted. We got outside and there was a lot of waiting and a lot of Mel chasing Grease cast members to rehearsal. Then there was a car accident in front of Katrina, Jeremy and I's eyes and eventually I called Brenna, gave her the news and she took us to eat to ease our nerves. After we ate, Katrina and I went to meet up with Dan and Nathan in the Union so we could have a pow-wow. I saw Dan sitting at a table as I walked in and we just stared at each other until I got close enough for us to have a long hug. After comparison of rope-burned hands, we all discussed what happened, how we upper classmen are absolute idiots for not going with less weight and being grateful that things aren't worse. There's lots of water damage, obviously, but thanks be to God all the weights stayed on the arbor, which is a real miracle. There are a couple of fly lines that are completely out of commission and who knows what's going to happen with the drapes. But the fact that no one was hurt and that the damage is not as awful as we predicted it would be is a great relief. Three hours were spent in the GC, talking to Eric, who was working, and then a couple hours in the theatre doing some emergency water clean-up. We start again tomorrow at nine. I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed.

Comments: Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: we'll laugh about it like we knew it all was happening Time: 11:08 am. Mood: calm. Music: Through the Iris- 10 Years.

Randy can be rather cruel in dance class sometimes. For the last 45 seconds or so of our aerobics section, he had us doing knee lifts ("Higher! Faster! Higher!") and then we had to do leg toning and it hurt. Jerk. So yesterday was our last rehearsal on book. For the first third of the show, I hardly used my script, but towards the end, I was relying on it pretty heavily. For my big flip-out speech, I left my script on my sofa, wanting to test myself. I got so close, but found myself repeating my words and swore rather violently, which, after a moment of stunned silence resulted in laughter as I picked up my script and carried on. Went with Brenna, Trina and Aaron to The Five People You Avoid in Heaven at the Brave New Workshop in Uptown. The theatre is very cool, with a nice little lounge/bar area, free refills on pop and fruit snacks for 50 cents. The show was basically a series of sketches. My personal favorites were Hair Gel Evil, Credit Card II, Coffee Monkey and Downsizing It. After that, they had about 1/2 hour of improv and then a party out in the lounge area with free food. We took some food and bolted. Katrina and I had plans to hook up with Stephanie and Crysten to see a midnight showing of Proof. We drove, got lost, finally found the place and after a discussion with the almost painfully dense ticket guy, discovered that the website had lied and they weren't showing it. So we returned to campus where sleeping happened. Today I have child psych and work (I plan to work a little longer today and report a couple more hours. Since Katrina didn't work today, I think I might actually get paid for them). Other plans: Homework, memorizing script and Firefly (are we still on Steph?). Tomorrow, I'm going shopping for Jen specifically (maybe I'll find something for myself and if I'm really, really lucky, Eric) at the Mall of America. Should be an interesting time. Kate "Monkey in a coffee shop, a monkey in a coffee shop, he's not just on the loose he fucking works in the coffee shop!" "Remember the night we were doing all the different kinds of deoderant? Well, I think our actions had some reprocussions in the form of a fetus." When I read our show title, I can't help but think of all the people who believe they are going to heaven but have no idea how to act here on earth (think Pat Roberston and Tom Cruise)."

Comments: Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: Try not to say anything weird Time: 12:36 am. Mood: sleepy. Music: Through the Iris- The Autumn Effect.

Awesome Thing One to Happen Today: The Student Union features a new item for the time being, a veggie hummus wrap. Not only does it contain feta cheese, it is wonderfully free of onions, mushroom or peppers. That, coupled with the new healthy (as healthy as they can be, anyway) chips is awesome. Awesome Thing Two to Happen Today: In the middle of rehearsal, Randy suddenly came onto the stage, turned to me and said, "I think . . . you and I should talk after rehearsal . . . I don't . . ." when he finally got his thoughts together, he said that he didn't really see any burning need to have the play set in the 40's and we would do it in a modern setting. He asked my opinion and I said that suited me just fine, because then I wouldn't have to hunt down: a) A wig for Jen that wouldn't obviously be a wig and cost a zillion dollars b) seamed nylons that didn't have little bows or skulls on them like the ones found at Hot Topic c) A 40's style suit for a guy as big as Eric, who's not fat or anything, but tall, solidly build and hard to costume Also, Jen and I wouldn't have to try to pull off those crazy arched 40's eyebrows and, most importantly, I get to wear pants! Wee! Which in turn means I won't have to wear heels. This makes me happy mainly because there's a part where Eric gives me a rather rough shove. I fear that I would loose my balance in heels. So I got a rather nice budget and now I get to take other people's money and go dress and shoe shopping. Score. This all means that I've done a ton of research on 40's era clothing, hair and make up for absolutely no reason. Ah well. Just a little more useless knowledge. In other news, I was having some worries about my bee sting. It had gotten all funny looking, puffy kinda green colored with a red ring around it. The ring kept getting bigger and the sting area more nasty looking. I though that it might just keep spreading and spreading until it overtook me and I turned into a giant bee woman of some sort. I had this vision of Katrina waking up one morning and saying, "Kate?" and I replying with, "Buzz." . . . luckily, it appears to be getting better.

Comments: Sit this one out 3 or Dance All Night.

Today's Chapter: I hate everything. Time: 3:19 pm. Mood: pissed off. Music: Get Stoned- Hinder.

I'm in a bad, bad mood. My day started by calling my boss back home, in the hopes that I have another paycheck coming, which is still yet to be determined. I went to my only class of the day, which is Child Psych and went from annoyed to pissed off. We talked briefly about genetics and then the prof told us all that she not "pro abortion" and that her feelings on the subject are very strong. I could feel my jaw tightening. Then she proceeded to play a movie on the subject, a movie that was made by the Lutheran League of Wisconsin or some such thing. Not only was it incredibly lame (poor production quality) it was also completely and utterly insulting. It was narrated by a woman with a voice that was so condescending and “motherly” that I felt like a naughty child. It included such gems as “Some people don’t believe that all children are special. They think they can just be thrown out.” And “They don’t think children or other people who need extra care should be taken care of.” And “There are people who don’t think babies are special or that they are important when they’re in the womb.” Apparently, there are also some people who don’t understand the difference between “pro choice” and “pro abortion”. If a person is pro abortion, then that person is a sadist. Abortion isn’t something women get together and do for fun. There are also some people who don’t believe that a bunch of white men in Washington should be making reproductive decisions for women, and that abortion is never a good thing, sometimes it’s the best thing to do. Anyway, the movie made uncomfortable and defensive. I talked with a class mate later and told her I though the film was “insulting religious pandering” and completely inappropriate for the class, not to mention totally inappropriate of the teacher. So I was pissed about that. Then I went to work and was given the task of CLEANING OUT ROGER’S OFFICE. I almost cried. Then Jim told me that he wanted Katrina and I to “sit Grease out” so the tech positions could be given to freshman. I was flabbergasted. And then I was pissed. There was a whole horde of freshman in the shop today and while they seem like completely nice people, I was feeling rather bitter. They did a sub par job with the set painting and were effing everywhere, not to mention taking my hours. Here I sit, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, with homework to do, listening to the one Hinder song I have repeatedly, being pissed off. Okay, I’m done ranting.

Comments: Dance All Night.

Blurty for Kate of World. Look: User Info. Look: Friends. See: Calendar. See: Memories. You're looking at the latest 20 entries. Missed some entries? Then simply jump into the past 20 entries.