So...

After finally getting my internet working, I downloaded the automatic updates, restarted my computer and it crashed. Yes, it crashed. It is freezing up between the Apple loading screen and the desktop. It's a glorious blue screen of death.

Sigh.

It's not easy to get tech support from Scott via text, let me tell you. :P (Thanks for the help though Scott, I appreciate it.) Matt, the Apple guru at work, was out of the office until today, but he said he can take a look at it for me. Woot! I'm hoping that all of my data isn't lost. Even if the computer works just long enough for me to burn all of my photos etc to a disc, I'll be happy.

Let's see, what have I been up to? After a ridiculously long day of work on Thursday, I met friends for drinks. We ended up at Andrea's - who's roommate made us delicious chick pea curry - until about 12:30. I woke up Friday not feeling well, so I stayed home and ended up dozing and reading most of the day.

Saturday I went out looking for a present for Helene's birthday, to no avail. I had an idea of what I wanted and couldn't find it anywhere! I met Ryan on St. Laurent, and we spent a couple of hours just walking around and chatting. I went home, had some supper, and then went to this lovely little bar on St. Urbain at Sherbrooke called Lolita for karaoke. It was dead, so I bonded with the bartender, who's name I forgot to ask, and the owner. The owner's name is Coco - how awesome is that?! I had a few beer, sang a few songs, got a drink on the house from Coco, and headed home about 1 am.

Sunday, I slept in because I'd stayed up late reading. (I actually finished four books in the course of 5 days. I discovered Laurell K. Hamilton - it's fluffy but very enjoyable reading, and I started 'Twilight' on Sunday) I went to find some lunch, had a lovely chat with Emily, made my way home around supper time, and then got changed. I had a meeting with Adriano and Jimmy to discuss my website/press kit at 7, then I headed to Hurley's to meet Helene, Jenn, Jackie and a few others for Helene's birthday. I got there just in time to head to The Drugstore, where we met Jan and Dave, to enjoy a couple of cheap pitchers. I also realized I'd forgotten my umbrella at Hurley's, which means it's gone forever. Sigh. :P

Yesterday was a pretty long day at work. I was having a rough time getting in touch with the people I needed to talk to, and the day dragged on. I thought about going to see a movie, but didn't really want to spend that much on a movie when I thought I'd been seeing Dark Knight with Alex sometime this week. Besides, I was craving a burger, so I went to this little diner on St. Denis and Mont Royale for supper. I got home a little after 9, feeling a bit down, mopped the floor in the bathroom and kitchen and called Shane. I talked to him for about an hour and a half chatting with him. Thanks again for the cheering up Shane!

Today was another long, stressful day. Alex emailed me about 3:30 to ask if I wanted him to pick up a ticket for the 7 pm showing of Dark Knight. Unfortunately, because I'd thought it was already decided that we wouldn't go tonight, I'd booked an audition for 7:30. Oh well, Allan invited me to go with him and his roommate tomorrow night - it's not cheap night, but oh well. :)

My audition went well, but it's hard to say. It was for a short film, and I was feeling a little out of my element - I've very little experience with film/tv work. I also got caught in the rain on route. Nothing like going to an audition when you look a bit like a drowned cat. :P I think I'll make some supper shortly, and watch a movie.

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:36 PM |

 
1/2 a Sleep!

Or, considering my regular sleep pattern usually results in me just getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep, if I get to bed at midnight, then it will almost be a full sleep when my alarm goes off at 4:30 am. :P

I walked home from work last night. I love this time of year - it's perfect walking/running weather. It took me about 45 minutes to get uptown and then I stopped in at Scott and Mare's to drop off my spare set of keys as Mare has generously said she'd look after Zedd and Kaylee while I'm gone (thanks again!). I ran into Em on the street, and we chatted for a few minutes. I popped a lasagna in the oven to cook. Skot couldn't make it over after all so I actually ended up hanging with Melissa. We just watched a movie but it was good to see her.

I chatted with Alex a bit after she left to discuss visit details. Visit details just ended up him confirming that I was arriving tomorrow and that I'd see him when he got off work. Ha ha! We chatted a bit, and then I curled up with "House of Leaves." I really shouldn't pick it up when I don't have a lot of time - again I got completely lost in it and before you know it, it was quarter after 1.

It's absolutely fascinating to read - like the people who get lost in the house, you get lost in the book. The formatting is at times wacky, so you're turning it upside down or sideways at times, there are footnotes and the footnotes have footnotes, so you'll flip ahead two, three, sometimes four pages reading footnotes and then have to double back to pick up the story again. It's written in such a way that it seems like you're reading a true story and I get completely caught up in it.

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:24 AM |

 
1 1/2 Sleeps!

I can hardly believe it's almost time to head back to Montreal! The last 7 weeks seemed to drag on and now it's in sight! Woot! I'm excited, and hoping everything will go smoothly in terms of finding a new home.

The weekend was very busy, but lots of fun. Friday night I met Jason at Churchills and we had a couple drinks before he had to head to band practice at 7:30. I dropped into Brunswick Square to run an errand and I also picked up 'House of Leaves.' I was in the mood to rock out, so I made some calls and sent some texts. Eric was working at Elwoods but he suggested that I come down to see Slowcoaster. I ended up hanging out with Al for the evening, and we went to Elwoods around midnight. The place was packed, but the band was great! I also think I should have some sort of thing that pops up on my phone if I try to text while drunk. :P

Saturday I woke up with a bit of a headache from a wee too much beer, but it was nothing a hot shower and extra strength Advil couldn't fix. I went down to Jave Moose around 3:30 with my book, curled up in one of the leather chairs in the window and before you know it, the girl was telling me that they closed in 15 minutes. I got completely wrapped up in the book! I got home a little after 5, and made a light supper. Jason texted at 6 to ask if I was up for a drink before 'Script Happens.' We went to Churchills, where we got in the wrong section. It was the young guy serving us - he brought our beer and then we didn't see him again for an hour, at which point it was way too late to get food. Jason walked me down to the museum and I chatted with folks before the show got started.

I really enjoyed the first two shows of the evening. Again, I've got to give Keith props for committing to the chair humping. :) I had tears in my eyes by the time he finished. The last script I thought still needed a lot of work. I had expressed concern about the playwrites directing their own scripts, and this one was an example of a script that would have benefited from the eye of someone not so close to the material. I headed back to Churchills with Brian but it was packed, so I called Matt, who was on route to meet us, and we went to Thandi instead. I got a really good bowl of seafood chowder (only $5 - my beer was $7) that really hit the spot.

We got to Elwoods a little after 11, just in time for the Penny Blacks set to start. I was so happy that they were able to play 3 of the 4 songs from the EP. I love 'Our Old Rooms' and enjoyed it with the full band. The Tom Fun Orchestra took the stage a little after midnight, and they were excellent. I danced pretty much the entire show. Afterwards, I chatted with the lead singer for a bit, and was pleased to hear that they'll be in Montreal this summer. If you haven't seen them play, you really should. :)

I was wired when I got home, and ended up until about 3:30, woke up at 4:45-ish, read for a bit, and then slept from 7 to 10. Tired and restless, I went to Tim's for an iced capp and again got wrapped up in my book and ended up there for about an hour and a half. When I got home, I curled up on the couch, only putting my book down long enough to eat quickly around 4. I got completely absorbed and was startled when Dre called at 5:30 to say she'd be there soon to pick me up for D&D. It was a good gaming session, plus Lisa had made some of her famous chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Dre dropped me off around 11:30, and I chatted with Skot until about midnight. I again made the mistake of picking up my book, and it was 1 am when I next looked at the clock.

I'm very tired today. I woke up again at around 4:45 and laid awake until about 6:30/6:45. I was particularly thrilled when my alarm went off at 7:45. *sigh*

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:19 AM |

 
If Life Had Drama Points...

As I was getting off work last night, my cell phone rang. It was Anthony's mom calling to let me know that she couldn't get in touch with Anthony, and they were coming in to town, and someone needed to be at the hospital because Holly had been hit by a car. For a moment, I was 18 years old again, and my mom was telling me about my sister's accident. My stomach hit the floor and my heart jumped into my throat. Then she went on, and though she was upset, it didn't sound like it had been serious, so I told her that I would go to the hospital, keep trying Anthony, and let her know how Holly was doing once I'd seen her.

Jay kindly drove me over (thanks again!) and waited until I got news. Holly was in x-ray, but the nurse didn't seem too concerned, so I went out, asked Jay to get Anthony to call me or his mom as he would probably see him at improv before I saw him, called Valerie and Moyle with an update, and went back in. She was out of x-ray, and very upset, but luckily, she had nothing worse than a dislocated shoulder. I think she was in shock a bit too, but the nurse gave her some painkillers, and a muscle relaxant, then kicked us out so they could put her shoulder back in place. It seems that while Holly and her friend were out on their run, some guy somehow didn't notice she was in front of him when he decided to hit the gas while at a stop.

I hopped in a cab at about quarter to 7, and got dropped off directly at the loft. It was 6:56, so I cut it pretty close. There wasn't a huge turn out, which was both good and bad. It's good because Bob is more likely to remember one person out of 6 or 7 than 20. The not so good came in the fact that he took his time with everyone who auditioned and I didn't get home until 10 pm. A second up was getting to have Kizzy as my scene partner. ^_^ It was awesome playing a scene with her, even if it was just for an audition. We both joined the company in the fall of 2000 and have never had a scene together (we were both on stage together briefly in Cabaret, but our characters never interacted). It was a nice treat; she's so good, and it made auditioning so much easier when you've got someone strong to play off.

Needless to say, however, by the time I got home, I was so hungry I probably could have chewed my own fingers off. :-P Luckily, I had some leftovers in the fridge that only required two minutes in the microwave. After I'd eaten, I curled up with the cats and delved deeper into "Game of Thrones." What a great book!

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:02 AM |

 
Have I Loaned You...

Specifically,

Harry Potter and the Sorcorer's Stone by JK Rowling?
Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield


While digging through my books, I noticed a few missing, most notably the first in the Harry Potter series. We've also loaned out a pile of movies and tv series. If you've got one, and have read/watched it, can we get it back?

Labels: Books, Movies, TV

posted by Lisa at 4:20 PM |

 
Getting Buff - Buffy that is

Thanks to some super slow days at work this week, I've been able to get a lot of prep work done for the Buffy-verse game I'm planning to run. It should be big fun, once I get it up and running. The challenge will be finding time to get together with people to create their characters. ^_^

Last night I ran home. It started out as a good run, but I was having a hard time maintaining my pace. Every time I looked at my iPod, I was going way faster than I realized. By the 2/3 mark, I was started to feel it. I'm glad it was only a 5 km day, because that last half kilometre was tough! I ate supper and headed down to go 'shopping' at Dre's. She was getting rid of some of her wardrobe that was sitting idle, and I was happy to help take a few pieces off her hands. We ended up chatting until 10, and I went home to curl up with 'Stardust,' which Dre also happened to have. I'm already about half way through; it's very good.

Tonight we're having dinner with John, Sabine and Sabine's brother, Peter. It will be nice to see him; I met him when we visited Austria, and was afraid I'd miss him this visit altogether.

Labels: Books, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 2:11 PM |

 
Runaway Weekend

Wow! What a busy weekend!

First, let me say Congratulations! to Chris and Suzy, and Christine and Andrew on your nuptials.

Friday, I got off work early. Originally this was the plan because the rehearsal for Christine's wedding was supposed to be at 5. I took a few hours to just relax, and then headed down to Ambiance for an Aveda Hand Treatment. I'd received it as a gift certificate for Christmas from Holly, and it seemed like a good time to use it. It was awesome! It includes a manicure, but also a hand and forearm massage, a hand mask, and heat mitts. I could have fallen asleep. It turned out that after the massage I had some time to kill. Anthony and I ran a few errands out at the mall, and he dropped me off at the church at 7 pm for the rehearsal. Rehearsal took about an hour, and then we headed back in town for dinner. Anthony and I bailed a little early and we hit the movie theatre to check out Harry Potter and The Order of the Pheonix, which I found quite enjoyable.

Saturday I was up bright and early. I had a hair appointment for 10 am. I had asked for it to be a half up, half down do, but Doug got a bit excited, and it ended up as an up do. :-P It looked great though. Of course, it meant make up was required to cover up my tattoo... Oh well. I got home about 11, sent Anthony down to Coles to pick up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and did my make up. I arrived at Christine's at 12:15 just in time for photos.

We made our way to the church for 1:30. Christine was super nervous, but looked beautiful. The ceremony was really nice, for the most part. Unfortunately, the air conditioning got turned off accidently, and it got really hot. About 2/3 of the way through the ceremony, the best man fainted from the heat. And he hit his head. We had to call an ambulance. It turned out that he was fine, just embarrassed. Once he got the okay from the paramedics, the rest of the day went great. Of course, everything was about a half hour behind. By the time we got back to have dinner, it was 5:30 and I was starving!

At 7, while the bride and groom were mingling with guest, Anthony and I split to put in an appearance at Chris and Suzy's shindig. We had perfect timing and arrived just in time for cheesecake. Yum! ^_^ We also received one of the warmest greetings ever. Thanks for missing us everyone! ^_^ We hung out there until about 8:30 before making our way to the dance. It wasn't a rocking dance, except for those two women who seem to be at every event like this and dance the macarena to every song while wooping. *shakes head* We bailed after Christine and Andrew left at 11; I was beat!

It took an hour to get the 35 pins out of my hair and to brush it out. I then settled in to read a few chapters of Harry Potter before going to sleep.

Sunday we slept in a bit, and I spent a few hours curled in bed reading. I eventually felt a bit guilty and called Dre to see if she was up for breakfast/lunch at Cora's. We had lunch, stopped at United (and each bought two sets of dice. I know the geekiness never ends. :-P), and hung out in the Loyalist Burial Ground until it was time to head out to Lisa and Jay's for D & D. We had a great game with some fun surprises, and managed to get Act 1 wrapped up. I'm looking forward to Act 2! ^_^

When we got home, I proceeded to devour Harry Potter until 3 in the morning. I'd planned to only read for an hour but I'd hit the point of no return and could not bring myself to put it down. It's awesome! I even went back and read the last three chapters again because they were so good. By the time I turned out my light, it was about 3:30. :-P

Needless to say, I slept in yesterday. I met Anthony for lunch, which was a nice treat, bought a chilly chino from Java Moose, and spent the afternoon watching Angel and playing Puzzle Quest. I went to the track with Dre to calibrate my iPod and we got in a 3 km run, which was nice after a week of inactivity.

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends, Health, Movies

posted by Lisa at 4:06 PM |

 
Congrats!

Yesterday my sister graduated from St. Thomas University. Congratulations again Krista! I'm very proud of you!

The Weekend in Review

Friday night we ran the second act of 'Cabaret.' It went well. There were a few flubs etc. but the show is really growing. There's a bit of a buzz and excitement to the rehearsals now that makes it that much more fun. ^_^ Afterwards, a bunch of us headed over to The Blue Olive to hear Kizzy sing with Opa. I didn't stay very long, just for a glass of wine and an appetizer. Then it was home to bed because I was very tired.

Saturday I was up early to meet my co-workers at the Superstore for a team photo. It took about a half hour; it turns out that its hard to get a photo of 15 people and have everyone with their eyes open. :-P I got home about 11 am, and read for a bit. Around noon, I felt really sluggish, so I had a 30 min power nap before heading to rehearsal. We did a run of the first half, which went well. We finished about 4 and I headed home to make a pot of soy chili for S & A's Cinco de Mayo party, and then I chilled for a few hours before we headed over.

Anthony was working, so we didn't get there until a little after 8, but we were still in time for plenty of eats. And, oh, there were eats. Highlights had to be Dre's guacamole, Mare's trifle, (sorry Sue, I didn't have any of your brownies-they went too fast!), the pulled pork and beef and Allison's cheesy dip. Yum! My chili was also well received by Anthony and Alex, both of whom probably ate a 1/4 of the pot each. ^_^ I wasn't in the mood to do much drinking, so I enjoyed the food and some Fresca. There were a lot of people there. I didn't even get to speak to everyone over the course of the night. I ended up going to bed at about 3 am as the guys were setting up some crazy drinking game that included string, dice and glasses of water. It sounded needlessly complicated. :-P

Sunday we all slept in, and had left over pulled meat with tortillas, left over guac, dip, and sour cream. Mmmm!! We ended up throwing out a lot of food that had been left out. It was a real shame to waste so much. :-( We headed back into town about 2 or so with the plan that Anthony would go into work. We ended up curling up together and having a nap until about 4. I ate a quick supper and headed down to one of the churches on Germain street for our first rehearsal with the band. They had obviously done their homework and sounded great! All of a sudden it felt like a musical. ^_^ We got through it far more quickly than anticipated and I was home fairly early. I ended up playing FFXII for a few hours, which was a nice treat.

Yesterday I slept in a bit and took my time getting ready. Mom and Rich picked me up a little after 11 am, and we headed for Fredericton for Krista's graduation. We got there about 12:30 and after a quick stop at Starbucks, we picked up Kris and Sam. The ceremony was in the courtyard, and while it was good we got there early to get a decent parking spot and seats, it was very hot in Fredericton. Mom had some sunblock in the car but it was only SPF 15 and it didn't go a long way. We ended up going into the rec building about halfway through the ceremony (after Kris got her diploma of course ^_^) to discover my shoulders and chest were already quite rosy. (I think it will fade quickly though) We picked up Krista's yearbook and composite photo for her as well as purchased a frame and mat for her diploma. After the ceremony, we all went to dinner at Swiss Chalet before heading home home. It was about 8:30 by the time we got back to Saint John. The rest of the evening was spent reading the last bunch of Sin City books loaned to me by Sabine and watching Anthony play some crazy 360 cop game.

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Food, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 12:06 PM |

 
All Work And Lots of Play Make Lisa a Tired Girl!

It was a busy, busy weekend. I know, what a shocker. :-P After work on Friday, Anthony, Doug and Colleen picked me up at work and we raced off to Fredericton to catch the 6:40 viewing of "Hot Fuzz." It was super funny and totally worth the drive. Those guys are hilarious! After the movie, we popped into Chapters for Starbucks and I picked up a book of 4 Ibsen plays for $9.95. Then it was back to Saint John.

Saturday we were up early-ish. I needed to weigh in and Anthony wanted to rejoin, so we headed over east. Anthony dropped me off at 11:30 for our music rehearsal, which luckily wasn't super long. When we finished, I went down to Suzy Shier to find something to wear for our girls night. I did well. I tried on about half the store, but I found a shirt, a jean skirt and a super girly floofy dress that was totally unnecessary but I love it. ^_^ I went to the bank to deposit a cheque, and on the way up to the market, ran into Doug and Colleen. I ended up joining them for a break at Java Moose, and then we headed to the market together. I got some Korean food to take home for supper and Sense of Tokyo had a booth set up, so I got some uber-tasty dragon rolls for lunch. That's some good sushi! :-d

That gave me just enough time to go home, eat, change and head back to the rehearsal space for dance rehearsal. It was a good rehearsal. We worked hard for three full hours, learning new stuff, tweaking other things. It was great! I got home at about 6:30, heated up supper and relaxed for an hour. Then it was time to start getting ready to head over to Kristi's for our girls night. It was a blast! It was the Kit Kat girls, Jenn, Dre, Kizzy, Heather and Sabine. Dre and Kizzy helped with makeup, and we chatted, etc. until 12:30 when we finally realized the time and made our way to Studio 54. As part of their 5 year annivesary celebrations, the bar was opened until 3. By the time I got home, got changed and relaxed, it was 4 am.

When my phone rang about 11 am, my first thought was "Gah, its morning." That thought was immediately followed by "Mmmm... pancakes." It was then I registered that my phone was ringing. :-P I answered the phone and it was Anthony telling me how he'd lost his keys. In Moncton. I then called Sabine, asked how she felt about pancakes and we met 30 minutes later. Cora's was closed, so we ended up in Reggie's, where Irwin joined us. After breakfast, I made a pitstop at the Bargain Shop and the Smart Kart before rehearsal. We got started the run a bit late, which bumped everything late. We finished rehearsal at almost 6 pm. I joined Dre and Kizzy for a super quick bite at Churchills before Dre and I headed over to Jay and Lisa's for part 2 of the Serenity 'pilot.' I was tired, but it was good to go and think about something other than Cabaret. Plus, Mare made Fruity Oaty Bars. :-d Mmmm.....

And now, its Monday. I've booked tomorrow off for vacation. I totally need a break that involved sleeping in. Holly gave me a gift certificate for a manicure at Ambiance; I may try to book that for tomorrow afternoon. ^_^

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Food, Gaming, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:06 AM |

 
You're No Cheese Monkey Box Pirate But I Like You Fine

Thank you to everyone who came out to see An Evening With Harold and/or participated in the improv workshop. We had a slightly better house on Friday, and a good sized crowd on Saturday night. Personally, my best night was Saturday. I rocked that Harold! :-P You can check them out on Anthony's site for the nights you missed. (If you missed all of them, you suck!)

After the show, we headed over to Scott and Alison's to celebrate. A bottle of red wine later... (I blame Anthony). It was a good time all in all. Thanks, as always, for having us over S & A! You two are the best ever! ~_^

Sunday was a very busy day. Michelle and I headed into town for dance rehearsal at noon. We learned the splashy group sequence of Wilkommen, which is awesome! We had some fun learning various lifts. Hilarity ensued. ^_^ We broke at 3:20 and ran over to the other rehearsal space for music rehearsal. We learned "Money," which is a cool song, but pretty difficult. The rest of the evening was spent quietly. I read the first two "Sin City" books, kindly loaned to me by Sabine, and watched some Buffy. I'll planned to FFXII, but it was too much effort. I needed some think-free activities. ^_^

Yesterday I woke up with a brutal migraine. I ended up plugging myself full of painkillers and sleeping the morning away. I was feeling much better by lunch and was able to go into work for the rest of the day. In the evening, we started learning our "Mein Herr" number. It's very cool, but physically strenous. My legs, abs and obliques are quite sore today.

Tonight I'm getting some groceries after work and then heading to the late show of "300" with Emily. ^_^ Mmmm... Gerard... :-d

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 2:45 PM |