I'm Waiting on the Man

By man, I mean, manager. :P I found out on Friday afternoon that my Xerox reps were able to dig up the funds for me to go on the Bahamas cruise that they gave away for their yearly trip! The information was sent off to my manager, and I just need his approval to go ahead and register. I can't see why it wouldn't be okay as I was able to go last year, so I'm pretty excited. :)

Friday, I ended up bailing on the gym (I know, shame on me :P) and went to Peel Pub with Shane and Phil. We had a few pitchers of cheap beer and tasty cheap pasta before parting ways around 10:30. Saturday was a pretty chill day. Shane worked on some of his homework while I did my reading. We headed over to Scott's for a board game night. Vanessa was there, of course, as well as Sam, Janna and Phil. We played 'Betrayal at House on the Hill." I totally got everyone hooked on it. :P

Sunday I was up bright and early to head out to rehearsal. I'm helping out with a production called "Mental Floss." It's going to be an interesting show - I wish I would have been able to audition for it, but unfortunately it goes up the same weekend as my sister's wedding. Oh well, hopefully I'll get in on the next one. :)

Today was a bit of a long day. We had a table top schedule to promote a new deal, so I was running back and forth from my desk to the 2nd floor. Ugh. Seriously, the 1st of the month is the absolutely worst day for a table top. I have so much to do. :S I headed down to the gym, which definitely helped relieve some tension.

It was a short but tough workout. I finished in about 12 and a half minutes. It was 6 rounds of 3 pistols, 6 pull ups and 9 sit ups with a weight on the chest. Afterwards, I did 100 singles and 20 push ups to round out my work out. In all I feel really good, but my legs are going to hurt tomorrow thanks to the pistols. Scott gave me a lift home, and planning on catching up on my Supernatural (oh I love those Wincester boys :P) and possibly playing the Sims.

Labels: Daily Life, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 7:57 PM |

 
Sorry - I'm a Slacker!

It's harder to find time to blog now that I can't access it at work! I can tell you about this past weekend, but there's been so much going on, the days kind of bleed together!

Lets see, Monday I went home early from work with a migraine. Tuesday I stayed home from work with the same migraine, and Wednesday left early again and visited a doctor to get stronger painkillers. Thursday I woke up feeling like a new woman and went to work all chipper. I spent Thursday evening hanging out with Andrea and her housemates at Marika's going away 'pantsless' party. :P I left before the streaking. lol

Friday after work I went to rehearsal for "The Color of Me," at Inter Arts. It went very well, and by 10 pm, we had what blocking we needed down etc. I met up with Shana, Marika and Andrea on St. Laurent and we ended up going to this bar just north of Fairmont and riding a mechanical bull. Yes, that's right, a mechanical bull. It was freakin' awesome! Afterwards, we got some beer from the dep and ended up sitting on Andrea's rooftop terrace and chatting. I headed home around 1 or so, whenever Shana left to go to the old man bar on Papineau since it was in the same general direction.

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day. I didn't do much during the day. I chatted with an adorably drunken Shane mid-afternoon (I love drunk dials :P) and hung out in the park a bit. I got home around 4:30, showered, ate and headed out to prep for the staged reading at 8 pm. We started at 6 pm with our warm ups and a run through. In all, it went very well. It's a lovely and thought provoking play. After, Alex and Emily, Sean, Kurt, Andrea and I went to Dieu de Ciel, a micro brewery on Laurier at Clark for a couple of brews. I had 2 of the 9% Imperial Pale Ale. Alex and Emily went home after that, but the rest of us made our way down St. Laurent, getting $2 phad thai from a noodle place and walking Kurt to the metro. Once we said our good byes to Kurt, we hit L'Absinthe where I tried, you guessed it, absinthe. It tastes rather like black licorice, which I'm not a huge fan of, but you really only need one - it packs a wallop!

Yesterday I was very lazy. I slept in, slathered on the sun block and went to Parc la Fontaine. I laid in the sun, reading, dozing and listening to tunes until 5 pm. I met Sean by his place and we went to this delightful restaurant for couscous and lamb. After dinner, I went home, showered again as I was all greasy and sticky from sun block, gathered up my laundry and hit the laundry place around the corner. It was a pretty relaxing day - there won't be many more where I can just sit in the park all day. Seriously, where has the summer gone?

Today was a good day at work. I got a good sized order and got all of my metrics. After work, I called Sarah and we talked as I stopped at Indigo to get a book (the next Laurel K. Hamilton book in the series I'm reading), stopped at Provigo (for groceries) and came home. It was nice to catch up with her. I think tomorrow I will try to get either Em or Dre on the phone. :-)

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

posted by Lisa at 8:54 PM |

 
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 |

 
Hmm...

I can't think of a clever title. :P

So I had a really good audition yesterday. At least, I felt good about it. I didn't call back, but oh well. :-) Alex had just finished his audition when I arrived, so we were able to catch up before I made my way to Greg's. We got sushi - it was very good - from a sushi place on Mont Royal at St. Laurent (too far to be a regular sushi stop for me sadly). I left about ten to 7 to meet folks for roller derby, and of course, managed to get lost. It was pouring and I got completely soaked, but I did manage to hop on the St. Laurent bus to meet Jan and Dave and we made it to the arena.

Roller Derby is awesome! I can't wait to go again. About 15 minutes into the bout I had a light bulb moment where I actually knew what was going on. Plus 2 for $5 beer. :-) After the bout, we headed to KGB for the after party. We partied there until about 1 am before heading deeper into Mile End to crash a party that Greg was at. The host was very nice about 4 strange women just showing up. On the walk home, we got followed by this drunk guy. "My name is Fernado but I'm so much more!" We managed to lose him by the time we got to St. Viateur, which was close to where Andrea lived. I hailed a cab on Mont Royal, too drunk and tired to walk any further. I got to bed around 5 am. :P

Today was a lazy day. I slept until about 11 am, and headed out about 2:20 to meet Alex for a movie. Unfortunately, he got caught up at his call back and didn't make it, but since I was already there (and a bit too hung over to do anything else) I stayed and went to 'The Hulk.' After the movie, I ran him to see what was up, and he was still in the mood for a movie, so he treated me to see "Wanted" which was awesome / terrible / awesome again. :-) I'm about to turn in - it was a very exhausting weekend and I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow.

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

posted by Lisa at 11:24 PM |

 
The Big Post

Sat, May 31st: I was up bright and early to head to IKEA with Scott and Mare. We were there until about noon (it was a zoo) and I was able to get my new sofa bed. It was quite inexpensive, and for a small extra charge, I was able to get them to deliver it.

We started unloading the truck around 1 pm or so. It had been pouring out, but luckily it stopped long enough for us to get everything in. Unfortunately the tenant, Penny, was still in the apartment, so we had to pile everything into one room. The couch arrived around 8 pm, and I put it together while Penny finished up her packing around me. I slept on it that night as I could not put my bed together.

Sun, June 1st: Again, I was up early, this time to head to Laurier to help Emily move into her new place. I was home around 2, and was able to start unpacking my kitchen stuff. Penny started moving out around 4:30/5, and by 7, I was able to finally start unpacking. It took forever to get my bed put together, but I was able to eventually get it together and spent my first night in my new room.

Mon, June 2nd: The morning was spent unpacking, and then it was off to downtown for my 1:30 interview. It went very well - she made me a verbal offer by the end of the interview. Woot! :) I stopped in the Eaton Centre and got my new cell phone and Montreal phone number, and tried to get the internet, which was less easy than getting the new phone. I made my way back home and spent the rest of the day unpacking.

Tues, June 3rd: It was a rough day. It was raining, and I had to go the store for groceries. I walked all the way down, got my groceries and realized after everything was rung in that I'd forgotten my wallet. So I had to walk home, again, in the rain, and then back to the market. Thankfully Alex stepped up and we went to a movie - The Strangers. Creepy movie, and enjoyable (just don't think about it too much!)

Wed, June 4th: Wednesday was spent much the same way. Lots of unpacking, etc. I also went downtown to sign the papers for my new job. I went for a walk to find a library because I was starting to get desperate. :P While I was gone, Kaylee got out. I couldn't find her anywhere, and ended up calling my Mom and Sarah, a complete wreck. Thankfully, she'd just got into my neighbors' kitchen and hid out there. She came to the door and I went down to get her, extremely relieved!

Thurs, June 5th: I spent the afternoon wandering around the Plateau and Mile End with Alessandro, who had come to see the apartment earlier in the week. We parted ways around 9 pm, I did a bit more unpacking and then to bed.

Fri, June 6th: In the evening, I met Izy at her work and we hit an Irish pub downtown called Hurley's. We were eyeing a table of attractive guys, which sparked a debate about the age of one of them. I went over, asked how old he was, and returned to our table. Brave soul that he was, he followed me back (much to the giggling delight of the girls) and we ended up hanging out with them. They were all actually just in town for Grand Prix and happened to be staying at the same hostel. One was American, two were German, one Slovakian, a Scot and an Aussie. The hostel ended up being close to where I live, so they walked me most of the way home, and we parted ways.

Sat, June 7th: Em and Alex popped by so that Alex could drop off the Opera tickets. I spent the afternoon on Mont Royal for the cool sidewalk sales, and returned home in time to get ready for the opera. Alessandro met me at Place des Arts. The show was spectacular! Truly wonderful.

Sun, June 8th: I spent an hour at Parc la Fontaine before heading to Mont Royal to join Alex and Sean at the tam tams. It was Sean's birthday, so we hung out drinking beer. At one point, Sean, Alex and Dave decided to take part of the Live Action Role Playing, and rented rubber swords. The skies then opened up, and we got completely soaked. Dave and Jan kindly invited us back to their place to dry off, and then we went to a micro brewery called Benelux for Euro Hot Dogs and strong beer. :)

Mon, June 9th: My first day of work at PC Mall. I was up early and on the bus to downtown. The day flew by! The evening is a bit of a blur.

Tues, June 10th: Another fast day at the office. I bought a fan at lunch, which was much needed. Seriously, the humidity migh kill me! :P After supper, I went for a walk on Mont Royal, stopping at the Provigo to get a few groceries. I also had a good chat with Em.

Wed, June 11th: Training flew by again, and for the second time in the week, we were given lunch from the company. After work, I made my way to St. Laurent for an audition. It wasn't my best audition ever - I was nervous. Afterwards, Alex and I went to this brew pub where I got a nice cream ale, and Alex got a crazy beer that smelled (and kind of tasted) like pepperoni. Very odd! I had a good conversation with Sarah after I'd got home.

Thur, June 12th: The day went a little slower as I had caught on to what we were doing a bit faster than everyone else and spent a good portion of the day playing catch up. After work, I was finally able to bully Bell into getting my internet up and running. I then wasted the rest of the evening on Facebook, uploading pics etc. I also chatted with Helene, who I'd met Sunday, for about 2 hours.

Friday, June 13th: Friday was a good day. Work not only fed us, but gave us an extra hour. Me and the guys in my training class ended up going for a beer at the pub up the road during that extra hour. Then we discovered that Fridays are 'Ice Cream Fridays' so work gave us all ice cream bars. Yum! I made my way to Emily's after work and made chili for her house warming pot luck. It was a good time, and I met some really nice people, who invited me to hang out with them Saturday night.

Saturday, June 14th: I showed my apartment to a couple of people. The last guy to come by, Nicholas, liked the room and he and I really hit it off. We decided he'd take the room and we went for beer to celebrate. Kelly called and we met her at the Sherbrooke Metro and then we made our way to St. Denis to go to a veg Thai place. It was very tasty! We parted ways at 7, and I made my way to Vendome to check out Alex's show. I really enjoyed it (although I wasn't wild about the way they presented 'Sure Thing') and afterwards I made my way to Paulina and Ryan's. I ended up there until about 3:30. :P

Today I slept in a bit, and then met Kelly to go thrift shopping. I got two sweet dresses for $12! We made our way to Mont Royal where we went to this cool bakery/deli/coffee shop. We then spent a few hours in Parc la Fontaine - it was lovely!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:02 PM |

 
Sunny Disposition

It's a lovely day today! I'm totally going to walk home and enjoy the sunshine.

It was a good weekend - very relaxing. I met Sarah at Churchill's for beer o'clock after work on Friday. We didn't stay too late - we ended up going to Quality and renting 'Once.' What a great movie. So sweet, and I've had the soundtrack for months. I highly recommend it. :) We chatted for a bit after the movie, and Sarah left around 11:30 to check on a sick Matt.

Saturday I didn't do very much. I read until about noon, put my hair into rollers and watched a movie. About 4:45, I headed to Rob Roy's studio to take part in the photo shoot for the banners for SJTC's next season. It was Kizzy, Suzy, myself and a whole lot of cake. It was a lot of fun. :) Afterwards, I headed to Dre's to hang out before going to see Improv Corp down at Akhord. It was a good show, if a little long. It's the first time I've been in the position to just watch them perform since I was asked to leave the group. The long form was really tight, but I realized that performing a Harold is a lot more fun than watching it. It made the show a bit too long.

I hung out at Akhord for a while, but everyone was heading out to Scott and Alison's (it seemed to be a cast only thing) so Brian and I went to Elwoods to see who was playing. It was some industrial goth band, so we skipped it and popped into Taco Pico to hang with Colleen and Doug for a bit. They have salsa night on Saturday nights, which I somehow did not know. :)

I couldn't sleep when I got home, so I was up until about 3 am. I ended up sleeping fitfully thanks to a budding cough and didn't get out of bed until about 11. Sarah and I were supposed to check out 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' but she was stuck in Freddy so we rainchecked. I didn't really mind - I'm super broke - so we'll go Wednesday or something (after I get paid :P). I went for a short walk mid-afternoon, and watched a movie. Dre picked up Brian and myself at 5:35 to head out to Jay and Lisa's for D&D. It was a great session - lots of fighting and a surprise ending. :) I'm hoping we can figure out a way to conference me in to session after I move. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:46 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 |

 
Sigh

If the last 2 hours are any indication of how my day is going to be, it's going to be a long one.

After an uber long work day on Friday, Sarah picked me up and we met Matt at Churchills for a brief beer o'clock before heading to Liz's for her annual JCS viewing. I have to admit, it's not my favorite musical ever, but the company was great!

I had stayed up late, of course, and didn't end up getting up until late. I poked around the apartment, had a light lunch and then met Sarah and Matt at the Imperial to see "Tuesdays with Morrie." What an excellent show - Bob and Jeff were wonderful in it. Me being the sap that I am, cried pretty much the last 15/20 minutes. :P Good thing I brought tissue!

I had to rush off afterwards as Skot was picking me up for their gig is Sussex. It was a good time, despite the fact that it was all metal. :) The guys are actually very good. Skot is super entertaining to watch play - I've never seen a bass player get into it like he does.

After the gig, Skot and I had a drink at the Alehouse, then I made a pitstop at home to get my wine and throw some danceable tunes on my iPod for the 'Morrie' cast party. I'd been unsure if I wanted to go, and once I got there, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to stay. I did though, and ended up having an awesome time.

I didn't end up in bed until 7 am - nobody went for breakfast - but I got up at noon. I didn't want to sleep all day and then end up awake all night. I probably should have just stayed in bed though - I was exhausted, a bit hung over, and feeling way down because of it. I went had breakfast at Churchills (Reggie's was closed - wtf!), and spent the rest of the afternoon hiding out in my apartment.

For supper, I got some Phad Thai from the Thai Hut (yum!) and rented a couple of movies. I watched "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," which is just delightful, while I ate. Skot came over and we watched "Hitman," which was okay, and "DOA" because I love it (it's my 'Roadhouse') and Skot had never seen it.

Labels: Friends, Movies, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:34 AM |

 
Collapsed in the Act of Just Being Here

Yesterday was a very long day. I was very nervous - more than I usually am before a show - so the day seemed to drag on. Jay M came and took me to lunch, which was nice, and helped me ignore the nerves for an hour at least. I was able to pick up my Gunslinger and Serenity comics too, which was another nice treat.

Curtain seemed to creep up on us. I chatted with Sabine for a bit before getting ready, and ran into the improv folks on my way to get into costume, which was a nice treat. I have to admit to not really missing the improv, but I do miss the gang.

I also had a brief chat with Anthony, which was kind of nice. It was still a little awkward, but it was surprisingly good to see him. I felt nothing but that warmth that you get when you see a friend you haven't seen in a long time. I'd been wanting to talk to him - I didn't want to move with him thinking I hated him.

The show went really well. We had a great pace, there were only a few minor line issues, but nothing really major and we were able to pick them up. I had one kind of scary blank out, but I found it after a moment. :) We had audience members land on either side of the fence and a couple who were torn right down the middle. So yay! :)

We popped into Churchills after the show to meet Mare for a drink. Graham, Kizzy, Stephen, Tim and Dre were also there. I had a great chat with Graham, and he gave me a few names of possible contacts in Montreal when I move. I was still wired when I got home, and ended up being up until about 1. Which I guess isn't really that different than any other night... :P

So two more to go. The discussion panel is after tonight's performance, so if you're coming to see tonight's show, I hope you'll stick around to discuss the show.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:48 AM |

 
Opening Night

Last night's dress rehearsal was pretty good. I felt a little off about it, but it was good to run with the costume changes at least. I'm just hoping everything runs smoothly.

I got home feeling stressed and tired. I skimmed my script, and spent a bit of time poking around on Facebook. The need to mop struck me at about 11:30 - I don't know why, don't ask - so I swept and mopped up the floor. I got to bed around midnight and read for about 30/40 minutes before turning off my light.

I'm kind of nervous today. My tummy is a little flip floppy, and I'm hoping to find some time to run through my script again.

Anyway, I hope to see you there!

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:50 AM |

 
Shut Up Girly Brain

Seriously, I don't know why I can't just accept things at face value and not over-analyze. :P I'm sure it was meant, so why am I worried? Because I've a stupid girly brain.

I didn't sleep well at all Sunday night. Between the time change and my over-active brain, I think it was after 2 am before I fell asleep. When my alarm went off, I simply could not muster the will to get out of bed. I called in a floater and crashed out for a couple of hours and woke feeling refreshed. I bummed around in my pj's until around 1, and then headed out of the apartment at 2. I went down to the Prince William Street Java Moose for a mega-sized latté and sat down to just read my script.

When I finished, I was struck my the need to go price out the tattoos on my back. I'd told Alex that the next time I visited, I would probably have them, so it had been in the back of my mind for the last couple of weeks. So I went up to Pins & Needles and the guys there had come highly recommended and chatted with them for a bit. I ended up booking an appointment for 5:30, and got Goddess and God symbols, one on either side of my lower back.

It hurt like a bastard! WAY more than the first one did. I know the lower back is more sensative, but holy gods, I wasn't expecting it to hurt *that* much. It's a good thing he started with Goddess on my left side because God on the right hurt twice as much and I don't know if I would have the courage to let him continue. :P Luckily it only took about 30 minutes to do both, and it wasn't expensive. They look pretty good, although it's a bit hard to tell at the moment since they're red rimmed and a bit swollen, and you know, on my back. :P

Rehearsal was cancelled, partly because of the venue change, so Scott and I got together at his place at 7:30-ish to run an Italian. It went well. There were only a couple of spots where we lost lines, but they are certainly much fewer and farther between than before. ^_^ I got home around 10:30-ish maybe, and discovered that my DVD player isn't working. It's causing every disc to skip. I'm hoping it just needs to be cleaned because I so cannot afford to by a new DVD player.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Religion, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:42 AM |

 
Just Words

It was a good weekend, for the most part. Friday I went to beer o'clock with Kizzy and the gang, and stayed there until about 8-ish before Scott and I went to his place to run lines. It was rough - I think we were just tired, but there were a lot of sketchy parts. I got home around 10:30 or so, but ended up being awake until around 1:30.

Saturday I was up bright and early for rehearsal. The run went pretty good. There were a few shaky parts, but for the most part, it went well. We finished up around 2, and I relaxed for a couple of hours. Scott and Mare picked me up around 4, and we headed out to Jay and Lisa's to test his convention game. It ended up being a late night, but lots of fun. We finished up after midnight. I was a bit tipsy by the time I got home and ended up getting changed and spent 45 minutes or so running around in the rain. I was completely soaked, but felt completely rejuvenated afterwards. ^_^ Of course, it was (with the time change) 4 am by the time I got to bed.

I woke up at 10 am (much to my dismay). Rehearsal was at 1, and also went very well. Again, a few shaky parts, but less than Saturday. It's certainly coming together. Pippa was there, and she laughed quite loudly at a few parts - I guess we've become so close to the material that we forget there are a few moments of humor in the show to break the tension. It threw us a bit, but in a good way. ^_^ We finished about 4:30, and I spent the evening hibernating since it was my last free night for the next week. I turned my phone off, turned up the TV and just vegged. It was kind of nice (although I think my DVD player may be dying. :( It was acting wonky and all of my discs were skipping).

I didn't sleep well though. I was up until about 2:30 - I just could not relax. I think I got up about once every hour after that. My mind was racing - still is actually - and I have such a bad habit of over-thinking everything.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:49 AM |

 
"You've Got My Heart Blinking Like An Old Nintendo

It's never gonna work again. It's never gonna work again.
And MegaMan 2 says "BA, what's wrong with you?
You've got a bad attitude
She's gotcha pretty screwed."
- BA Johnston

Yesterday was a good day. I woke up a little distracted, was a brat and shared my distraction with others. :) After work I ploughed into my lines. I realize I pretty much know all of my lines, just not the order they come in. As long as I get the correct cues, I should be fine. (No pressure Scott :P).

Scott swung by around 9 and we walked down to Elwoods. I was mostly there for BA, and he didn't disappoint. He is so much fun to watch, and his songs are equally entertaining. We didn't stay for all of Wax Mannequin's set though - by 12:40 I was fading. Thanks for lift home Scott and Mare! :)

I'm beat today though - I couldn't relax when I got home. Mare and Scott had given me their plan for the move to Montreal and it was on my mind. It was 1:45 am the last time I looked at my clock. But, it's Friday, so YAY! I'm going to try to get home tonight at a reasonable hour since we've got rehearsal tomorrow morning at 10 am.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:39 AM |

 
Ditto

Blarg. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. Boo-urns. I'd forgotten about it until they called to remind me.

So, I talked to Mom yesterday after work. Now it's official - I'm moving. Yup. I fell madly in love with the city while I was there, so I'm going to move to Montreal. June 1st is the date I've set for myself. I've 12 weeks left in Saint John and will be gone indefinitely.

It's something that's been on my mind for a very long time. The bug kind of hit me about a year ago, but Anthony was tied to his job and I wasn't willing to leave him. But now, I really only have me and my cats to worry about. I know so many people who have been taking the plunge, following their heart and doing those things they want to do - Alex moving, Suzy and John auditioning, and Val deciding to sail for a year. It's been very inspiring, and if they can do it, so can I. Even if I just end up doing what I'm doing now - working full time and doing theatre on the side - at least I'll be in Montreal doing it. If I can get paid for doing what I love, even better.

Of course, now that I've made the decision, I kind of want to go *right now*. :P Anyone want to come with me? It could be a ton of fun! :)

Rehearsal last night was very productive, if difficult. It was our first off book rehearsal without being able to call for lines. Considering we'd only had one rehearsal for each act off book, it was really hard and, for me, very frustrating. I'll be spending the next two nights cramming. I was pretty tired when I got home, but I did treat myself to a beer and an episode of Buffy before bed.

Labels: Daily Life, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:19 AM |

 
War Wounds

We had a very productive rehearsal last night. I still need to find time to cram more, but it went pretty good for the most part. It also ended with a bang. Scott miscalculated and cracked me pretty hard. He almost knocked me over! It's still a week before we open, and I've already got 6 bruises (one of which is on my palm just under my index finger and I've no idea how I got it). I tend to bruise pretty easily, so I'm going to be looking pretty abused by the end of the run.

Speaking of, we've got posters. If anyone has somewhere they can put one or two, please let me know and we'll find a way to get them to you.

I was still feeling blue when I got home, so I ended up reading my lines, Facebooking, Photoshopping and watching a bit of Buffy. I was up until about 1:15 - I just could not unwind! I woke again about 5 am, and was awake until about 7 before I was able to doze off again.

I wish the weather wasn't bad - it would be nice to get out of here for an hour or so today for lunch. Maybe Friday. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:53 AM |

 
Powerlines in the Bloodlines

"I am a writer, a writer of fictions
I am the heart that you call home
And I've written pages upon pages
Trying to rid you from my bones
My bones.
My bones."

- The Engine Driver - The Decemberists

I've had the Decemberists on repeat on my iPod for the last couple of days (this song always gets played at least twice in a row). It's some of the music Alex sent me home with and it's my current musical obsession. Every song is a story and I'm loving it.

Rehearsal last night was very productive. I didn't call for line as much as I had worried I was going to (although the last few pages of Act 3 I didn't really get to Sunday and that was kind of a rough part to get through :P). It's the first rehearsal in a while that I've left feeling pretty good about. I don't like feeling unprepared and now that I've got the majority of my lines, I'm feeling much better about it.

I took an uber long shower last night to unwind (seriously, I love my apartment. Tons of hot water and great water pressure) and went to bed kind of early-ish. Unfortunately I was up a number of times through the night and am pretty tired today. The fog and gloom isn't helping lift the Tuesday blues I'm feeling. I'm so ready for winter to be over...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:19 AM |

 
Lundi, Lundi

It was a very, very busy weekend. :) Friday I met Sarah et al. at Churchills for beer o'clock. I had a salad and a couple of beer before Scott picked me up for rehearsal. It was a very productive rehearsal if a little stressful. :) We finished up around 10. I texted Sarah to see what she was up to, but ended up deciding to just go home.

Saturday I was up bright and early for rehearsal. I didn't feel great about the rehearsal - I was woefully unprepared and I hate that feeling. We finished up around 1. Scott dropped me at the grocery store. I was out of pretty much everything as I hadn't bought any groceries before going away. :P I spent the afternoon chilling before Scott Miller picked me up around 6-ish to go jam. We hung out for a bit before getting started. We went through the song that I learned our last session a couple of times, and nailed down the melody for the one we'd written. I've got about half the lyrics - ish - and it felt like a pretty productive evening. I headed over to Dre's around 11, and stayed there until 1 or so. Despite being tired, I was tipsy and my brain would not shut off. I ended up being up until about 3:30.

I slept in a bit Sunday, made lunch and then headed out to cram. I spent some time at Tim's (while lamenting the lack of real coffee shops in Saint John. Seriously.) and then moved to Churchills. I managed to cram all of act 2, and 95% of act 3 into my head before going to book club at 7. Book club was lots of fun. It's great to have an excuse to get together with the girls and chat. :) I left a little after 10, chatted on the phone for an hour or so, and then read my script for an hour because my brain, again, would not turn off.

Today has been weirdly busy. I haven't really been able to be productive at all because everything is in conflict with everything else. Boo-urns to Mondays. I did book my flight for April though, so that's something else to look forward to. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 2:13 PM |

 
Lisa travaille sur sa liste

Yesterday was as long as I had thought it would be. :P I have a few highlights though - I spent the day emailing with Mare in French. Sure it took me forever to read each email and make sense of it, and even longer to respond, but I definitely feel I learned a lot and am making progress. I also had a friend running lines with me via email. It was very helpful!

I treated myself to supper at the Thai Hut, and when Scott came to pick me up for rehearsal, Mare gifted me with "Learn French" game for the DS and headset! Thanks Mare - you're awesome!! ^_^ She also gave me a suit that is a bit too big for her but fits me perfectly. Yay presents! Rehearsal was very productive. I'm not nearly as off book as I should be, but I did know more of act 1 than I thought I did. I was very stressed out about it as I dislike being unprepared, but it certainly could have gone worse.

I didn't get home until a little after 10, took a shower, and spent an hour chatting on the phone. Instead of going to bed like a normal person, I turned on the new game to give it a try. It's very fun! I'll be bilingual before you know it! ^_^ By the time I actually ended up turning off my light, it was about 1 am. I woke up again around 3:30 and poked around the apartment for a bit before going back to bed for a couple of hours.

I'm drinking an energy drink right now. I rarely have them - I can already feel the caffeine buzz. It's a tastier delivery method than coffee - it's Red Rain and tastes vaguely like fruit juice.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:03 AM |

 
Restless

I spent most of last night cramming lines. I was having a really difficult time. I just wasn't feeling the script and was suffering a major case of the blahs. My trip was like a high and I kind of crashed yesterday. I was feeling anxious, stressed and very, very restless. I texted a bit with Sarah and Alex through the evening, each being a welcome distraction. I was having such a hard time concentrating that I was almost resenting the fact that I had to study.

Em called around 9-ish and we ended up going for a coffee because I needed a break. Her timing was great because I really needed it. Afterwards I downloaded some free 'Learn to Speak French' podcasts from iTunes and plugged them on my iPod (I'll make an effort to listen to them at least 3 times today). I ended up staying up until 12:30 studying, and feel like I've hardly made a dent in it. *sigh*

Today I'm still feeling that restlessness. I don't want to be here at all, I can't focus, and I don't really care to. It's going to be a long day...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:16 AM |

 
Hello Real World

Being back in the city has been feeling kind of surreal. It's very weird. I loved being in Montreal so much that it almost feels like I'm just here for a visit. I was considering making the move before I went, but now I seriously think it may be something I need to do. Mare has offered to help me with my French, so between her, various podcasts etc., who knows, maybe I'll be ready to make a move within the next 3 to 6 months.

Work was, well, work. I had a hard time maintaining my focus... My luggage arrived at least. Afterwards, I ran down to Princess and Dre gave me a black eye for a promo shoot for "Oleanna" that Dan so generously did for us. It looked pretty bad. ^_^ After grabbing some take out, we went back to Scott and Mare's to do a read through of the script (We're supposed to be off book today... I'm not, so I'll be cramming between work and rehearsal to get Act 1 as close to off book as possible). I finished unpacking, took a shower and uploaded photos to Facebook from my trip.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:54 AM |

 
Au Revoir Montreal

So Montreal is freaking awesome. I seriously think I need to move there - it turns out that I love that city!

Let's see, Scott picked me up Thursday at 5 am to take me to the airport (thanks again Scott!). I got checked in and didn't have too long to wait before they made the pre-boarding call. While waiting for boarding to start, I chatted with Jeff Smith who was on route to Boston and going to be on the same flight. I had a window seat, which is good, but which also meant I was trapped next to a man who was reading a book called "Abortion - The Lie" that had been distributed by the Christian Colition or something. Kind of scary...

I arrived at 7:20 and ended up waiting forever for my baggage. It turns out that they couldn't have two baggage carosels running at the same time. :P I was there until about 8 before I was able to go find a cab. I got to Alex's about 8:50. He had left a ton of hilarious post it notes all over his apartment giving helpful instructions regarding where to put the key, and how to use the light switch. ^_^ I promptly went to bed for a couple hours, and when I got up, Shawn was out of bed so I finally got to meet him. I then found my way to the nearest Metro, got lectured by a Portuguese Metro attendant for not being bilingual before he advised me to go to the Bonaventure terminal get a tourist pass for the Metro. The tourist pass is great - 3 days unlimited use for $17. I got lost a couple of times, whichs is both kind of scary and fun and finally found my way to the Eaton Centre. I spent way too much, but I did get a pair of great shoes, an awesome skirt and a couple of sweet blouses. I went to the Basilica Notre Dame as recommended by Dre, and spent a good hour there.

I met Alex at Place d'armes Metro as it was just two blocks from the Basilica and we headed home so he could change and I could drop off my purchases. We then went to dinner at the best sandwich place in the world - I'd been there my last trip to Montreal. I got the Northern Lights (herbed cream cheese, romaine lettuce and olives on huge brown bread) and he got the Killer Tomato (tomatoes, some sort of spices and cream cheese, and lettuce) and we shared. So good! It's on St. Urbain, if you are ever in Montreal. We then went to a bar to check out music but didn't end up staying too long because we were both pretty tired.

Friday I got up at 6 to have breakfast (Eggs Marshall :P) with Alex before he went to work. I went back to bed for a couple of hours before hitting the town. The bus driver made fun of my tourist pass (I think - he was speaking very rapid French while laughing uproariously), but it was okay because I made a friend because of it. A girl came and sat next to me and asked if she could see the pass. We chatted all the way to Metro depot and on the train, and we had a coffee before she had to go to class. She was super cool - studying photo-journalism - and gave me her card. Which reminds me, I'll have to facebook her... :) I spent the afternoon wandering around town getting off at random stops and then just walking. I found super cool stores and restaurants, including this great little Korean place that I'll probably never find again and a crazy store that sold wigs (so I bought two :P).

I met Alex at home, we had a couple of beer before going to this great Thai place for supper. I got a red curry called Kang Pai Pek (I think), and he got Tofu in a peanut sauce with crispy spinach. We shared again - seriously one of the best meals I've ever had. The tofu was beyond delicious, and who would have thought deep fried spinach would be so awesome?! We also got some green tea ice cream, which Alex had never had before, to cleanse our palate before heading out on the town. We made our way to this super cool bar/coffee shop called KGB where they had - wait for it - hip hop karaoke. It was wild - they had an actual DJ who was spinning the beats and people would just go up with the lyric sheet and kind of freestyle it. It was wicked cool. We stayed for a couple of hours before heading home.

Saturday we wandered around his neighbourhood before heading into town. He had a play reading for a show he's been cast in, so I hit old Montreal for a couple of hours. I went home around 5:30 because things close in downtown Montreal at 5 pm on Saturdays (wtf?!) and my phone was dying. I got changed and tried out one of my wigs, and then met Alex at the Sherbrooke Metro. He had reserved tickets to a play called "The Elusive." It was a great - very "Closer" esque. By the time it was over, it was 10:30, and we hadn't eaten, so we headed closer to his place in the hopes of finding some place we could get some take out. Unfortunately, many places were closed, so we ended up going to a little super market, and getting olive pizza, weird cheeses and hummus, and just hung out.

Yesterday we ran around his neighbourhood again (it's a great area - very cool and lots of Anglos), had a latte at this cool coffee shop that looks like a bar and is famous for its lattes. We walked around, stopping for a bagel hot out of the wood stove, and checked out some cool shops. There was this awesome little boutique where the girl working actually was sewing the clothing. Every piece was an original, hand sewn item and was cool. Unfortunately, hand made means expensive and I couldn't afford anything in there. We headed back home at 4:30 so I could finish packing, etc. I called a cab around 6 to go to the airport.

Of course, my flight was delayed, and my luggage didn't make it on the plane some how. :P They tell me there was no room for it. I'm not sure how they didn't have room for the people and not the luggage when the plane wasn't even full... The next flight from Montreal should be coming in any time, so hopefully my bag is on it. All of my new stuff is in it, as is my hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, etc. All the things that one needs but cannot take in your carry on any longer. Grr! :)

Sarah picked me up (Thanks Sarah!!) and we headed into town. We went to Chris and Suzy's to watch the end of the Oscars. I got home around 1, and have never wanted to be anywhere less - the weekend went by way too quickly.

So now it's back to the real world. I've got a photo shoot this evening for Oleanna posters, and then I've got to line cram as we're supposed to be off book tomorrow. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:42 AM |

 
Ted-ing

There is a great episode of "How I Met Your Mother" in season one called "The Pineapple Incident." The whole thing starts with the gang making fun of Ted for over-thinking every situation. Ted gets drunk and stops thinking and embarks on a series of adventures.

I've been thinking about a certain situation to constantly. And talking it to death. (Thank you to my very understanding friends for humoring me :P). I *know* I'm over analyzing, but I can't seem to stop! I've been telling myself to just park it - it's not really the kind of thing that requires a lot of over thinking. I know that its going to work out - life has a way of doing that - but my brain, like Ted's, isn't willing to just let life do its thing.

So I'll keep thinking about and I'll probably keep talking about it. Just bear with me - I'm hoping it will resolve itself soon.

Tuesday's Girl

Yesteday Jay came over to get me and we had lunch at the Market. We had been in the habit of having lunch at least once a week, and haven't been able to in a while between our various schedules. It was nice to hang out and catch up (thanks Jay!).

After work, I reheated some leftovers, and then headed down to the Jay's for rehearsal. We're doing text analysis this week. It was good to start delving into the text - Carol is very different from me and I'm already relating to her a bit more than I did before. After rehearsal, Em came over (cause what's a Tuesday without Em? ^_^) and we chatted for a good hour before watching a couple episodes of HIMYM.

And why is texting so addictive? I mean really? I like feeling connected to people, and the people I text the most tend to be just as bad as me - it's almost like IM-ing. But someone made a teasing comment yesterday and I realized that I may be texting some folks too much. So, if I'm sending you too many, please just let me know, and I'll try to cut back.

Oh, and I'm definitely getting a cold. I keep sneezing and my nose is runny. *sigh* The timing is impeccable, really. I'm going to have to take it easy for the next week so I can get it through my system before I go away.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Theatre, TV

posted by Lisa at 10:50 AM |

 
Working on the List

Friday I met Jason at Churchills for a drink. We'd both had a long week, and before you know it, we'd each enough beer that driving to the Blue Olive was out. We ended up popping into Elwoods so Jason could drop off some posters, picked up a 6 pack and went to his place to hang out before heading to karaoke. We actually didn't leave his place until about midnight. Sarah and Jay met us there, and we were able to get in a few songs before the bar closed at 2.

Needless to say, after about 10 beer and staying up until 3:30-ish, getting up for 8:30 for our first reading of 'Oleanna' was less than pleasant. :P The reading went very well though. It took a bit to find the rhythm, one of the best and worst things about Mamet is the way he writes dialogue, broken with half expressed thoughts and sentences. After the reading, I went to meet Dre, and we made our way out to the mall for Starbucks, and so she could run a few errands. Keith met us at her place when we finished, and we ended up hanging out for the afternoon before having dinner at Swiss Chalet. I hadn't been in ages - so tasty! ^_^ The evening was spent watching movies. We watched "The Nines" with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy, which was just excellent. I can't really tell you what it's about without ruining it for you except to say it's 3 interwoven stories where the characters are all played by the same actors. We also watched 'Blade' because Dre hadn't seen it. The evening was also punctuated with some hilarious texts from Matt. :-P

Yesterday was pretty quiet. I'd been up late, of course, and we had our second 'Oleanna' reading at 12:30. I did get out to pick up the latest Buffy issue, had coffee with Al around 8, and arranged to meet a guy this evening about the possibility of me fronting his band. ^_^ It was good to have a quiet night to myself because the next two weeks are going to be jam packed.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:44 AM |

 
Full of Light

So yesterday was my first day actually on the new job. I was doing a lot of grunt work, but I don't mind. It was nice to be productive, and to be getting more familiar with the programs I'll be using daily.

I treated myself to Thai Hut green curry last night for supper before heading to the loft for the reading of "Rossum's Universal Robots." It was a small turn out - only 5 of us - but it was great to hear the script read a lot. It really is a fascinating story. We discussed afterwards how so many of the modern sci fi stories, such as "I Robot," and "The Matrix" really got their beginnings from "R.U.R."

It's a long-ish show though, and we didn't finish until 9:30. Tuesday is usually my Emily night, but she was stuck working on an essay, so I spent the evening watching some TV and battling Alex for the title of 'How I Met Your Mother Trivia Guru.' True story. I was winning as of midnight, but he's got an hour on me in the evenings. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:09 AM |

 
Keeping Busy

I had a wonderfully busy weekend, which is exhausting, but still much needed.

Friday night I headed down with Dre to Happinez to share in some birthday celebrations with Ann. We hung out and chatted for a bit. Ann headed out for dinner at 8. Kristi, Dre, Sabine and myself hung out for a while after that, catching up. Dre and I then headed to Mike and Neil's for their Christmas party. It was a good time - we met a couple of really nice people. I got a kick out of their apartment though - total bachelor pad! ^_^ We left at midnight or so since we had to get up early. I was a bit tipsy from the wine, so it was actually 1-ish by the time I got to bed. :-P

7:30 am came very early. I was up and at Dre's by 8:40, and we got ready for our East Point gig at her place. We left at about quarter after and headed east. It was actually kind of fun. The customers seemed to get a kick out of us in our costumes, and it was so nice to be able to give away free turkeys and flowers. The kids especially seemed delighted. The only problem I had with the morning was leaking boots - my feet were soaked through and freezing cold. I was so glad to get them off! We finished just in time to head to Stephen and Sandra's for a reading with "Tuesdays with Morrie."

What a wonderful script! It's very sad, but uplifting at the same time. We hung out for a bit afterwards, but Dre and Mare had to get back into town, so we headed out around 5:30 or so. By this time I was exhausted and not feeling up to doing too much. Nicole came over and Jay picked us up a little while later. We watched "DoA," which is so bad it's awesome!

Yesterday I tried to sleep in, but Kaylee was having none of it. I just stayed curled up in bed reading until about 11:30 or so, because I was still tired and couldn't be bothered to finish unpacking. Dre and I went to see The Golden Compass - Sarah and Chris met us there - and it was really quite fun. It's been about 5 years since I read the books so I didn't remember anything, but I liked it a lot. The little girl in it is excellent! We stopped in at Pets Unlimited after the movie and I picked up some cat toys. Sarah dropped in to pick up her totes and hung out for a bit.

Kaylee was afraid of every toy I'd bought, which is pretty funny since she's usually so fearless. Zedd, on the other hand, went completely wild for everything, especially the cat nip mouse. He batted and chased it around, pouced on it, chewed it, cuddled it and chased it some more. When I left at 5 to go to Scott and Mare's, he'd completely exhausted himself and was lying on his back, legs spread, with the mouse on his belly. ^_^

Dinner at Scott and Mare's was excellent. The food was great, the company excellent. Thanks again Scott and Mare for your hospitality! I got home a little after 10, finished a movie I'd started, and played with Zedd and Kaylee to wear them out before going to bed.

Tonight is D&D, which should be fun. I still have to find time to get some groceries, buy some blank DVDs, and do my Christmas shopping. Maybe Thursday... ^_^

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:50 AM |

 
And Are We Still Solemn and Bleeding?

And are we still swimming in water
that was already wet?
It's over, it's over, it is.
-Lisa Loeb

So the play is over. After the long and potentially disasterous dress rehearsal, we managed to get through opening night with minimal mistakes and the show really progressed. We've been getting positive feedback and everyone seemed to have really enjoyed it.

The cast party was, as many of you already know, a bit of a disaster. There was too much drinking (on my part as well as others) and I spent a large portion of the night sobbing on the shoulder of various friends. In the end, I just ended up hurting myself - literally - and had Kizzy, Kristi, Nicole and Brock take care of me. Nicole and Brock came home with me and stayed, which I really appreciated because I don't think I could have been home alone. I was in really rough shape.

Again, I'm sorry to everyone if I ruined the party for anyone, but I do appreciate the overwhelming support and caring I've received from you all.

Sunday we went for a late (late) breakfast with Dre and then it was off to see "Beowulf" with Jay and Lisa, Brock and Nicole and Sarah. It wasn't the best movie ever, but entertaining. Dre, being my girl, took me to her place and fed me supper before heading to co-host Jay's INXS special edition of his radio show. Chris and Suzy came over and watched "Audition" with me, a crazy Japanese film that Stephen had loaned me. The entire movie is a slow lead up to the creepiest last 15 minutes ever. The more I think about it, the more I liked it.

Yesterday, despite being up late and having only got 3 hours of sleep after the cast party, I was up at 8 am. I did managed to get in another hour between 10 and 11. I had lunch, and went through the Christmas decorations, separating them into two boxes. Anthony and I have agreed that seeing each other right now is not wise, so he's willing to trust that I'll be fair sorting out who gets what.

It's really not fair that one person can just decided "Hey, it's over" without thinking of all the other things involved in leaving. Going through our stuff has been incredibly difficult - a huge portion of the things in our apartment right were purchased together or given as gifts to the both of us - and every item holds a memory. I'm the only left alone in the home that we shared, tearing it into pieces and its horrible. I'm definitely going to need help getting through it; its really hard doing it on my own.

I met Dre for coffee at 3. After our coffee break, we ran into Stephen and I chatted with him until Colleen walked by on her coffee break, and I joined her. I didn't end up leaving the mall until 5 pm. Dre invited Keith and I to eat with her, and I ended up going out to Jay and Lisa's to jump back into the D&D game. It was a lot of fun, and good to think about something else for a little while.

I'd rather be anywhere but here today, but that's how I've been feeling about work these past couple of weeks. It's hard to focus...

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

posted by Lisa at 10:11 AM |

 
Tough Morning

This morning has been very difficult. I found an apartment Tuesday night, told Hazen Investments I'd take it yesterday, and got the deposit on it last night. I woke up this morning and it hit me. I have an apartment. One that will not be shared with the man that I love and have been sharing my life with for the past 5 1/2 years, someone I had fully intended on spending the rest of my life with. It all of a sudden seems way to real. It's all moving so fast...

Thank heavens I've got rehearsals to keep me busy. It takes courage walking through that door each night, but I've been getting through it. The show is shaping up really well, and we're really finding our groove now. I think its going to be excellent! I also got to see the rest of my costumes last night. I've got two beautiful nightgowns, a sweet day dress and a wonderful 'burial' gown.

Labels: Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:45 AM |

 
Welcome to the Grindhouse

Or, just saying back to work is probably less dramatic. :-P

The weekend was a flurry of activity. I know, what a shock. Anthony picked me up after work on Friday and we headed east with Nicole to check out "30 Days of Night." While not the best movie ever, it was entertaining, and I did enjoy the look of the vampires. Afterwards, we went back to our place for a few drinks before heading over to O'Leary's. I was out of points by the time we got there, and since its generally not very fun to be the only one not drinking when everyone else is, I headed home around 12:30. Anthony showed up at home with a slew of people, and feeling grumpy for being woken, I sent them down to John's. Of course, once woken, I had a hard time falling back to sleep and was actually still awake when he got home a little after four.

This made Saturday an extra long day. We went for breakfast at Cora's with John about 11:30, and finished up just in time to head to the rehearsal space for our run of the show. Act 1 went pretty smooth. Act 2, a little less so. But, on the up side, I did get my little girl! Elsbeth, who is 11 (and a half, we were informed) came to try out being dead for me. It made a huge difference. I felt much creepier when making my entrance. Yay! We went to East Side Mario's with Scott, Kizzy and Stephen for supper since we were all going to see 'The Tempest' at 7:30, and Scott wasn't heading back home. We had about an hour to kill before heading to St. Mac's for the show.

The set was an interesting concept. However, combined with the period costumes, I found it almost jarring - it just didn't fit. Had the costumes been post modern or the set been pained to look like rocks, it would have worked much better. The scenes between Prospero and Miranda lacked energy, the young man playing the prince gave, at best, the weakest performance. Some of this could have been corrected with some direction, but it also seemed to be lacking. The show was a series of recitations followed by 'my blocking says I move left' action. However, the young woman who played Ariel was excellent, as was Michael, who filled the role of the witch's son (the character name is eluding me). The interplay between Keith and Jay was good, but unfortunately not enough to save the scenes they were in. Gilbert was the hightlight of the show by far - the scenes between him, Vince and Michael kept me awake. Costumes were lovely (although out of place on as I said), the specialty make up by Dre excellent. The goddesses in particular looked quite beautiful.

After the show, Anthony and I went with Sarah D, Chris, Suzy and John to Tapps to have a beer. We ended up going home right after and hitting the sack.

Sunday we slept in, which was much needed. I had to go to the rehearsal space at 2 pm for promo photos. Dre was on hand for make up - she did a great job, especially with my bite marks! Afterwards, we walked down to Market Square to meet Anthony. We ran into a former co-worker of mine, and new co-worker of Dre's on the boardwalk, and chatted with her a bit. We headed up the hill to the Smart Kart for drinks, and ran into Keith. We moved out to the street where we banged into Ann Keery. We all chatted for at least a half hour before heading our separate ways. Keith kindly ran me over north (one of front tires has a flat) to the Shoppers so I could get contact solution. He dropped me off home, and I made supper. Anthony and I ended up having a quiet evening. We went out at one point to go to the bank, and ran into John. He walked down with us, and then came back to our place where we watched a couple episodes of this and that. It was a nice and relaxing day in general.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:11 AM |

 
Insert Random Sound of Frustraion Here

My morning started with a huge network error here at work. For the first hour and a half of my day, I did not have access to my profile. No email, no documents, nothing. I've been doing the old catch up scramble. It couldn't have come at a worst time - it's been super busy.

Let's see. Tuesday night we ran the second half of Act 1. It went well. It went better the second time. ^_^ This is our first week off book, so things are a little wonky, but we're in a good place I think. It's still tons of fun. If only my fangs would arrive! ^_^ I also got a lift home from Chelsea in her Smart Car. I totally want one - it's like being in a space pod. :-P

Last night was a performance of "Cheese Monkey Box Pirate." We could have done with a larger crowd. I know some people are tied up with The Tempest this week, but what about the rest of you? You know who you are! :-P I think our next performance night is Sunday, the 28th, so hopefully we'll see you all there!

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:10 AM |

 
The Weekend Wackies

This past weekend was a flurry of activity. Friday we headed down to Churchills for 7:30 to have drinks to celebrate Dre's birthday. We had got her a FFXII 'Balthier' action figure that she'd been admiring. We opted to skip the movie, and hung out with Chris, Suzy, Doug and Colleen for a few hours. Colleen wanted to go to 'Blush' so we headed there. BT was working - seeing him is always a treat. We had an interesting conversation about a mutual acquaintance. At one point, one of the dancers approached me and asked if I remembered her. She did look vaguely familiar. Any way, it turned out to be one of my sister's friends from junior high! It was very surreal!

Saturday morning I totally overslept. I slept right through my alarm, and only woke up because Anthony returned home from his breakfast with John, at 11:55. I jumped out of bed, managed to shower, dress, grab food on my way through the Market and still get to the rehearsal space at 12:50. I had really wanted to go to the UNBSJ rally at noon too. Yar! Rehearsal went very well. We ran through Act 2 and Bob was pleased with our progress, so we didn't have to run through it again. We headed home and spent a few hours doing some cleaning before going to check out "Michael Clayton" at the plex. It's an incredible movie - easily one of the year's best. I highly recommend checking it out. After the movie, we ended up out at the Irving for pie, coffee and conversation with Scott, Alison, Chris, Suzy and Nicole - we actually hung out there until about 11 before going home.

Yesterday I was up bright and early for our Second Stage meeting. It was very productive and we made some good head way. We'll be making some changes that will result in higher quality programming, more exciting events, and an all around better season. I had lunch with John at Tim's before improv practice at 1. It was also very productive, and I'm looking forward to the show Wednesday (which I'm sure everyone except Tempest folks will be attending, right? ^_^). We went with Nicole and Brock to see "Across the Universe," which was terrible. The soundtrack is excellent - how can you go wrong with The Beatles - but the rest... *shakes head* Seriously, don't waste your money. Since we had the rest of the night ahead of us, I watched a couple episodes of 'Arrested Development' while Anthony did some script studying, and then we watched a random episode of 'Fun-Zai!' Gods, I hate watching myself on film! :-P

This week is going to be crazy, we've got rehearsal every night except Wednesday, improv Wednesday night, a full run Saturday, and we'll be going to see The Tempest Saturday evening. Oy!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:13 AM |

 
3, 2, 1, Subscription Campaign!

Jay kindly ran me home after work and after I changed and had a quick bite, I headed down to Happinez for the official launch of the SJTC Subscription Campaign. We have a lofty goal this year - 1000 subscriptions - but we're already doing incredibly well thanks to the best pre-sales the company has ever seen.

If you have been planning to buy a subscription, but have not yet, I can take your order. If you are on the fence, at a price of $60, a subscription is an awesome deal. With single ticket sales of approximately $30 each, you're getting the third show free! Again, the shows are "Dracula" (featuring Anthony, Chris Walsh, Suzy Kimball, Kizzy Kaye, Scott Thomas, Stephen Tobias, Richard Roy and myself) in November, "Tuesdays with Morrie" in March, and the modern classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" in May. Great shows all. At any rate, email me or give me a call if you want to get a subscription.

Rehearsal last night went very well. There was a little moment of fear when Scott tripped over the bed, but he wasn't hurt (whew!) and we had a bit of a chuckle when he drooled on my neck. :-P Bob let us out a bit early, and we went to Uzone for a bit before heading home.

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:06 AM |

 
Boo-urns on You, Monday!

Gah! I woke up late this morning and ended up rushing around the apartment, and still managed to miss my bus. So, I wandered to Jave Moose, got a latte to console myself, called work to advise I missed my bus and caught the 9:02. 15 minutes late for work, and I ended up playing catch up all morning. :-P

It was a busy weekend, but good for all that. After work on Friday, I went to get groceries, and Anthony picked me up there. After we got everything put away, I realized I'd forgotten a few things, and we ended up running out the mall. We headed to the Blue Olive to use the last of our gift certificates around 8:30, and to hear Kizzy sing for a bit. We went a bit over board with an order of Saganki, and I got the moussaka (which I had totally been craving). Yum! :-d Dre arrived about 10-ish, and we hung out with her for a while, but Anthony looked like he was going to nod off at the table, so we headed out around quarter after 11.

Saturday we were up bright and early-ish and off we went to the east side to have lunch with Anthony's mom, aunt, sister and Ryan. We finished about quarter after 12, just enough time to run home, get our scripts etc. and head to rehearsal. We did two (very) rough runs of Act 2. There were some parts we hadn't had a chance to really work last week, so the first run through was a bit sloppy. The second run was much better though. After work, we had some time to kill, so off we went to the mall for Starbucks. Mmmm... :-d (I'm glad that it's out at the mall - if there was one uptown, I'd be in trouble!) I also picked up a pair of black ballet flats that were on sale - they'll make a good rehearsal shoe. We joined Jenn's birthday party at Chris and Suzy's about 9:45-ish, and hung out enjoying wine, delicious cake a la Suzy, and laughs. About 12:40-ish, I got the urge to go out, so on a whim, I called Keith to see what he was doing. He humored me and came uptown, and joined Anthony and I at Ozone for some dancing. After the club closed, we checked back at Chris and Suzy's but the lights were out, so we headed home.

I slept in on Sunday but woke with a really stiff neck and super sore shoulders. I don't know if it was due to the dancing or sleeping funny, but it did not feel good (It still doesn't actually). Anthony ran into Alex and Emily on their way to lunch, and we chatted with them for a bit. We did some window shopping in the afternoon, looking at 42" flat screens at Future Shop (*drool*), had Starbucks, and headed home. It was relaxing. ^_^ We had a quick bite, and then it was out again, this time for D & D at Jay and Lisa's. It was an exciting adventure, full of lots of battles. We left at a bit of a cliff hanger, which is too bad because it will probably be a couple of weeks before we can play again. D'oh! ^_^

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

posted by Lisa at 12:18 PM |

 
1 Down!

Thanks to everyone who made it down to "A Khord" for the show last night! It went very well, and folks seemed to enjoy it. It's a good space. There's lots of room for the audience and its great to have a stage, lighting, etc. I think it would be a cool spot for some fringe theatre too. I hope it does well - it would be worth approaching them to participate in TotE next year as a venue.

The guys went to U-zone after the show. I went home and curled up with my book. I was pretty tired though, and ended up in bed early. I'm feeling a little worn around the edges today, but hopefully that will pass. I'm back at it today to continue my training for the "Legs for Literacy" run in November. I've got 6k to run, so I've just brought my stuff to work to run home. I'm hoping to beat my MbtS time. ^_^

Labels: Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:28 AM |

 
"Grab that BOX of CHEESE, you MONKEY!" yelled the PIRATE

That's right. Tonight is the official opening of Improv Corp's Cheese Monkey Box Pirate at A Khord. Two weeks ago was the trial run and it went swimmingly. Now we're ready to give you two acts, more laughs and an overall good time.

Curtain is at 8 pm, and cover is only $2!

See you there!

Labels: Theatre

posted by Lisa at 1:48 PM |

 
Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!

Last night's rehearsal was fun. I got to do my second death scene which involved lots of creepiness. ^_^ My throat was a little raw afterwards - I'm going to need to start warming up my voice prior to these rehearsals. After rehearsal, Anthony went to Scott M's to borrow "Dead or Alive," the movie. I've heard its terrible, and I totally want to see it, but when Anthony mentioned he was going to watch it last night, I thought he meant the vampire movie everyone's been talking about in rehearsals (Dead and Loving It) so I said he could go ahead and watch it without me. :-( If I'd have realized... No, that's not true. 10:45 is too late for me to start watching a movie anyway. *sigh* At any rate, I'm deep into book three of the series I'm reading, and it's very good.

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:42 AM |

 
Tuckered Out

It was tough getting up this morning. Whew! Our rehearsal last night went later than expected. We didn't finish up until about 10:20 after some particularly tiring scenes. My 'death' scene is particularly challenging. I'm going to have to give my neighbors warning that I'll be practicing and not to worry as I'm not actually being murdered. It will just sound like it. :-P

This is a busy week, but it did get a little less busy. We've got rehearsal tonight, 'Cheese Monkey Box Pirate' at A Khord tomorrow night, but the Thursday rehearsal got bumped to Saturday, which means no Saturday rehearsal for me! Woo hoo! ^_^ I may pop down to the subscription campaign launch at Happinez Thursday night, but we'll see. I've told my mom I'd find time to check out her new place.

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 7:58 AM |

 
Happy Birthday Jenn!!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and I look forward to celebrating with you this weekend. ^_^

In Your Face 10k!

Friday night was spent pretty quietly. Anthony worked late, and around 8:30-ish, Doug called to see if I felt like going for a drink with him and Colleen at Churchills. I headed down there, and enjoyed a couple of cold beer. Anthony came down about 9:30 with John, and we stayed until about 11:30 before heading home.

Saturday I was up early-ish for improv practice at 11. It was a good practice, and then it was over to the Market for lunch. I got the Curry Chicken Rice from Slocum and Ferris, but it wasn't the best ever. It was actually kind of dry, and they didn't put the sauce on it. I ended up only eating about half. Very disappointing. It was a long rehearsal. Productive, but long. We finished at 5:10, just enough time to run home, change and then head back out to the Alehouse for Jay's birthday dinner. I had the Kilkenny pasta, which I think may have had something bad in it. I ended up feeling sick to my stomach (as did Mare who had the same thing) and we both headed home early.

Sunday I was up bright and early (Okay, it was foggy and dark, but it was early!) for the Marathon by the Sea. I got down there at about 7:50 and the race started at 8. Mare and I ran together the whole race, which was great. The time flew by, and we were able to keep each other motivated. My personal goal was 1:15 for my first race, and I finished at 1:11:29. Yay me! I'm totally pumped to train for a half now. ^_^ We hung around to see everyone else finish, and after Keith crossed, I ran home to change and then went to Tim's with Mare, Scott and Roger (Karen and Jack met us there) for a breakfast sandwich. I headed back down to the finish line to await Anthony's triumphant arrival. He finished the full at 4:53. Woot! ^_^ Chris, Anthony and I had a coffee in Market Square, Doug and Colleen joined us for a bit, but finally it was time to get an increasingly tired Anthony home for a nap. We ended up going to see "Resident Evil: Extinction." The zombies reminded me a lot of Buffy-verse zombies, and there really wasn't that many. I was nightmare free, which was nice.

My legs are feeling tight today, and my gluts are a bit sore, but otherwise, I'm feeling good. I went to bed early last night, and Anthony gave me a lift to work, so I got to sleep in a bit. I've got lots to do today, but hopefully I won't be too tired for rehearsal tonight.

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

posted by Lisa at 9:23 AM |

 
I Vant to - Aw, forget it.

It was a very busy weekend, so busy in fact that I can't remember what I did Friday night. :-P We had lots of Dracula rehearsing. We blocked the entire show - Act 1 on Saturday and Act 2 on Sunday. Bob's a machine! ^_^

Saturday after rehearsal we went with Scott out to the mall and helped him pick out a movie. We went home, had supper, and then headed out to S & A's to watch The Manchurian Canidate (the remake with Denzel). It was quite good. We also watched a bit of the original Batman movie - that movie has not aged well! :-P

Sunday was a busy day. We got up and went to breakfast with Doug and Colleen at Cora's. Anthony wanted to show off the new NHL '08 for the X-Box 360 so they went into U-Zone to play a quick game. After the (very close) game, it was over to the Superstore for groceries. That gave us just enough time to head to the Nature Park for a quick run before rehearsal at 6. I decided to do the entire outer trail, which Anthony told me was 7 km. I think it's more like 7.5. After a few wrong turns etc. my total run ended up being a little over 8 km. Oy! I kept a good time though; I love running in the Nature Park. My legs were a little rubbery for rehearsal though. :-P

Monday and Tuesday I was sick. Very sick. With some sort of flu bug. Why do I catch everything? :-( Yesterday I was back to work, but after missing two days, I was way to busy to update. 106 emails, 28 voicemail messages and a whole slew of to-do's. Last night's rehearsal was a ton of fun though. I got to practice my horror movie scream, get chased around and bitten. Good times. ^_^

On the Side
If you haven't written to, well, every political official in the province regarding this post-secondary report, I strongly urge you to do so. The government is here to serve us, and we've got to let them know that collapsing UNBSJ is not serving us, but themselves.

Labels: Daily Life, Health, Movies, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 12:40 PM |

 
Cheese Monkey Box Pirate

Tonight, come enjoy some high quality long form improv with IMPROV CORP at the new Akhord Bar on Water Street. Curtain is 8 pm!

See you there!

Labels: Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:42 AM |

 
Almost There

This has been a long week already. Work has been busy; I've only been here two hours and I'm already ready to go home.

I did a fast run home last night, ate supper quickly, and then it was off to rehearsal. We did the text work for Act 1, and Bob was a man on a mission. We made it through all but that last couple of pages before it was time to break for the night.

I went down to Akhord with the guys afterwards to check out the space. They've done a good job; it looks nice. I hope they do some heavy advertising though; it was empty. In fact, if it wasn't for Scott, I wouldn't have known it was even open! We also popped into Churchills to wish John well on his birthday.

I haven't decided if I'll take part in the improv tonight; Nicole couldn't get the night off and there should be a woman taking part. We'll see... I didn't sleep well, and could really use a nap...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:32 AM |

 
Happy Birthday John!!
Happy Birthday Melissa!!

I hope you have a great day, and a wonderful year to come.

Mua ha ha!

The first reading of 'Dracula' last night went very well. There are familiar faces in the cast, and some new faces as well. ^_^ I've a feeling its going to be a really cool show!

Labels: Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 12:22 PM |

 
Tuesday Blahs

I know I've said it before, and I'll surely say it again, but Tuesdays are the worst day of the week! Especially when it's rainy and gloomy. Boo!

Yesterday felt like a Monday. It was busy at work, but not that good busy that makes the day fly by. At the end of the day, I went into the ladies room to change into my running gear only to discover I'd left my shirt at home. I rushed back to my desk to gather my things so I could catch the bus. On the up side, however, when I got home, Anthony was in his running clothes, so he waited for me to change, and we did a 6 km run together. ^_^

The run went well. It had been over a week since my last run, and I was concerned that I would have a hard time. I actually found myself being surprised at the end of each interval, so I think my next run I'll add a minute. I'm a little worried about the upcoming 10 km race though. I haven't been able to stick to my running schedule very closely, and I'm supposed to be up to a 9 km run this Saturday, which I don't think is going to happen. I had wanted to complete the 10 km in under an hour, but I think at this rate, I'll have to content myself with just finishing. At my current pace etc. I should be able to finish 1 hour / 1 hour 15, but we'll see. I'm going to try to run as often as possible between now and then.

The rest of the evening was spent quietly, and I ended up watching 'Disturbia' before going to bed. Movie of the year? No, but I enjoyed it. Some of the romance stuff seemed forced, but other than that...

I'm really pumped for the first reading of "Dracula" tonight. It will be cool to see who else has been cast; I only know who is cast in a couple of roles for certain. I almost always really enjoy a first read (unless it takes all night - that's less fun). It's cool to see how people first preceive their characters, and then we get to watch them evolve as we go.

Labels: Daily Life, Health, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 2:09 PM |

 
Monday Monday

It was a good, if busy weekend. My weekend sort of started Friday. I took part in our company's 'Day of Sharing' program, so instead of coming in to work Friday, I headed down to Brunswick Square to help out with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Book Sale. It was a long day! It's been a long time since I had to stand on my feet all day. It was nice to spend the day doing something, but I'm not sure I'll do it again next year... I did get a bunch of books for $5 though. ^_^ My feet were pretty sore by the end of the day though, so I ended up spending the evening reading and gaming. It was nice and relaxing. ^_^

Saturday I was up bright and early to get ready for Liz and John's wedding at 11 pm. Liz looked gorgeous, and John was very dapper. The ceremony was pretty quick, and while they went to do the picture thing, a bunch of us went to Churchills for a drink. We headed up to the Union Club at 1, and once John and Liz arrived, we sat down for lunch, which included very tasty wedding cake a la Suzy. Anthony and I went home and ended up napping. We went east after our nap, and decided to pop in to Scott and Alison's briefly. Our short visit ended up us staying for supper (Scott, can I get that recipe?), and we watched The Godfather, which I had never seen.

Yesterday was a busy day. We had a Second Stage meeting at 1 to discuss TotE as well as a few other things. It was a good meeting, I think, with lots of interesting thoughts and feedback. At 3, I stuck around to help out with the Dracula call backs, and then a little after 4, headed for home. Anthony went for a run, which I should have also done, but I was hungry so I opted to eat instead. :-P He got back at 6, just in time for us to run to the movie theatre. We watched "Shoot 'em Up," and stuck around for "3:10 to Yuma." In between movies, Andrea C called to offer me the role of "Lucy," which I accepted, of course. I'm pretty pumped; our first reading is tomorrow.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 12:12 PM |

 
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 |

 
Disappointment Tastes Bitter

Now that the numbers are (mostly) in, it turns out that TotE was a failure. Despite all the hard work put in by the organizers and the assorted casts, as well as sponsorships, the festival was not a success. I'm not really surprised to hear that though. We had terrible houses all week. One evening had only 8 people in the house, another only 11.

To be fair, I guess we can't expect people from the general populace to come see the shows when we had little to no support from within the company as a whole. There were a number of people who did not come to see a single event.

Maybe it's not fair to have expected company members, but there you have it. I don't think it's unreasonable to have expected to see people at at least one event here and there especially when I hear of all the group trips to see other shows.

We've been relying heavily on a small core group for a while though, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Our houses have steadily declined. There are so many mainstage regulars who have never even come to see a Second Stage show. It's disheartening and frustrating; I thought we were on the same team.

I do want to say thanks again to John for facilitating the festival. He put in hours and hours of hard work, and it was appreciated.

It's a shame because this feels like the final nail in the coffin. After lackluster houses for Script Happens, An Evening With Harold and now TotE, I hope people are not surprised if we don't end up doing any shows in the new season. The people have spoken, and they are just not interested.

As a committee member, I would like to know why. Is the format just getting old and tired? Is everyone just getting burned out? What makes other productions more appealing than home grown shows with familiar faces? Really, feedback would be appreciated; it would help with our TotE post-mortem.

Labels: Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:51 AM |

 
Back to the Grind

Friday night I headed down to the Mary Oland Theatre for around 7:15 to help get things underway for "Wingin' It!" We got the people taking part split into their groups, and at 8 pm, it got started.

My team got a plastic banana as a prop and the line "That dog looks like she means business." We headed to the Hilton bar (the name of which escapes me at the moment) for drinks and to do some brainstorming. We were there until about 1-ish and then we headed to our place to do some writing. We broke up around two to get some sleep.

We met again in the morning, and finished writing the script at about 11:45. We had lunch at the loft, went through the script again to make some tweaks, printed it out and started production. We gathered our props and costumes first, and then broke up to take some time to learn our lines. Our tech was at 6:30, and of course, we made it nice and complicated. :-P Scott M was a big help as he ran our tech for us.

The shows were excellent, really clever and funny. My team squeaked in a second win, but it was close. Frankly, I was pretty shocked that we won; I thought the other scripts were amazing! Definately one of the hightlights was Keith as "Prospectron" the gold mining robot, and Scott T as the diabolical Viktor. ^_^

The party got started around 11 or so. It was a good time, although around 2:30, I made the mistake of sitting down, and that was it for me. Exhaustion hit and I ended up leaving at 3:00 am.

Yesterday started out as not being a good day. I had an anxiety attack at around 5 am, and ended up not getting much sleep. The morning was actually pretty terrible all around... The afternoon was better. We went to Cora's and then to see "Stardust" and, on a whim, "The Bourne Ultimatum." Both were very good (although I still don't care for the 'shaky cam' style of the 'Bourne' director. I find it hard to watch.)

Labels: Daily Life, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 7:56 AM |

 
Great Show!

I was able to check out "An Evening of One Act Plays" last night, and I really enjoyed it. The casts were obviously enjoying themselves, the performances were fun and full of energy, and it was over all an enjoyable evening of theatre.

It was disappointing to see only eleven people in the house. I'm not sure what the problem is this week, but we just have not been getting the houses we're accustomed to. There are even many regulars, the bread and butter of the events, who have not come out, and, I fear, don't plan to. Considering the quality of the performances and how much work has been put into organizing the event, it's pretty frustrating. We've bought newspaper ads, radio spots, there have been three newspaper articles, and a blurb in 'here.' I'm not sure what else we can do to get butts in the seats. :-(

If you haven't seen any of the shows yet, I do highly recommend them. You really will be missing out if you opt to skip them.

Friday Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of pie?
Blueberry, although I generally like the idea of pie more than I like pie itself.

Soup
Name something that made you smile this week.
All of the plays I've seen this week.

Salad
What do you do to cool off when the weather is hot and humid?
Have an ice cream or a Java Moose Chilly-chino

Main Course
You receive $1,000 in the mail with a letter that says you can only use the money to redecorate one room in your home. Which room do you pick, and what do you buy to spruce it up?
I would probably do the dining room. We've got a table and chairs, but that's it. I would probably get a nice wine rack, one of the large stand up ones. I saw a really nice one at Wicker Emporium, some cool accessories, curtains, maybe a rug. There are ton of really cool stuff at Pier 1 to do a dining room up all spiffy like.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: My _________ says __________, but __________.
My heart says to follow my dreams, to do all the things I've always wanted to, but my brain (and my wallet) won't let me. I'd love to spend six months to a year in Europe, working in vineyards and orchards to make enough money to pay for my food and camp grounds, but I wouldn't even know where to begin to make that a reality. Plus, I have a good job and stability here; I don't know if I could give that up.

Labels: Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:02 AM |

 
Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear the reading of "The Goat: or Who is Sylvia" last night (all 8 of you). Also, thanks to my cast for doing such a great job.

Labels: Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:52 AM |

 
Back to Work

Friday after work we had dinner to celebrate Lisa and Alison's birthdays at "Boilerworks." I have to say I was impressed by the restaurant, everything tasted delicious! I will certainly go back. Afterwards we headed over to Chris and Suzy's to hang out a bit. We didn't stay too late; I was pretty tired (and having a full belly made me want to sleep ^_^).

Saturday we were up early for improv at 11. After lunch, Anthony went to Uzone with Doug and John to play hockey. I went for a run, and chilled for a bit before we headed over to Jay and Lisa's for dinner. Thanks again for the tasty meal J & L! Again, the full belly made me sleepy and we didn't stay too late.

Sunday we slept in, ran a few errands in the afternoon, and of course, The Aramando / The MP3 Experiment took place Sunday evening. The improv went well; it came together nicely. Michelle Hooton, our 'celebrity' guest, did a great job with her monologues. The MP3 Experiment was a blast! For those of you who didn't take part, you really missed out. And I don't care if it's 'not your thing.' I know you would have had fun (and besides, how do you know without trying it?). Two highlights for me included seeing people walk by outside to see us dancing to 'nothing' and running around the block with Santa (aka: Gilbert), handing out candy to strangers, waving and singing 'Downtown.' It was awesome!

After the show, we ended up at our place for a few drinks. The company was great, but come 3 am, when everyone left, I was beat. I didn't envy Anthony who had to get up for tennis with Gilbert, John and Scott T. at 10 am. ^_^

When Anthony got home from tennis, I got up. Yes, I slept in and it was glorious! Anthony went for a run, and I spent some time people watching at the NB day flea market (what a weird, and increasingly lame, tradition) before our reading at 2:30. The reading went really well; I'm so looking forward to sharing "The Goat" tonight. We ended up chatting afterwards, and the time just flew. Before we knew it, it was 6:45 and Alex had to rush off to his 'Bash' rehearsal. Then it was suddenly 7:40, we were starving and John was calling looking for Sabine. ^_^ We ended up renting a Korean movie called 'The Host,' which was interesting, and getting Chinese food from the Hong Kong Take Out. Yum!

Yesterday we were up early-ish, and on the road at 11:30. We picked up Sabine and headed out to St. Martin's. We visited the caves, to which neither Sabine or I had been in before, had 'world famous' seafood chowder at the restaurant on the beach with Anthony's mom, and headed to The Fundy Trail, again something neither Sabine and I had visited. We spent 3 hours walking and exploring the trails. We saw squirrels and flying caterpillars , picked raspberries on a beach, saw Fuller Falls and other wonderful scenery. We stopped for ice cream at the canteen on the way back (Sabine had fries instead) and headed back into town. We got back about 6:30, just in time to eat before heading to the museum to set up the camcorder to film "Out on the Edge." The show was great; I hope everyone gets a chance to check it out.

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Health, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:08 AM |

 
Feeling Stressed

First of all, congrats Dre! Yay! ^_^

Second, the last three days have been super stressful. I've been dealing with an issue that just refuses to be resolved. It's very frustrating, and is still up in the air. I'm hoping it will be worked out by the end of the day, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Last night's improv practice went well for the most part. Us regular Improv Corp people are falling back into it, but I have to admit to a little bit of worry about having new people taking part. Long form improv is challenging, and I don't know that they understand the format much less all the little intricices. They have the potential, but they're making the same mistakes we were making six weeks away from our Harold performances. I'm trying not think too much about it; I trust Scott to make the tough decision if it needs to be made.

After improv, John and I went to Churchills for a beer, and dessert. I didn't need the ice cream but I wanted it. ^_^ I didn't feel guilty about it until Kristi, who's looking aweseome, came over to say 'hi.' :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 12:34 PM |

 
Taking a Break From the Work Drama

I don't know if it's the heat, the recent full moon or what, but my gods, people are being major drama queens today! I totally need a moment to save my sanity!

Friday night we gathered at Studio 10 to see The Simpsons Movie. It was better than I was expecting, and I was pretty pumped for it. ^_^ My only disappointment was that I couldn't sit next to John to see his expression of childlike delight. ^_^ After the movie, we went to Boston Pizza for a beer, and to chat about it before heading home.

Saturday we were up early. I had to weigh in and then we had improv at 11. Improv was interesting, made all the more so by the drunk who harassed us. Afterwards, I stopped for dolma in the market, and we headed home. I read and gamed for most of the afternoon. We ended up having a few folks over and went to karaoke with Mo, Kathleen and Mary Ellen at a pool hall on the west side. He had a good selection, but the host was new to karaoke and didn't know some of the cardinal karaoke rules (like don't let one person sing 15 times when there are people who haven't sung yet).

Sunday we slept in a bit after the late night. Keith had crashed at our place, and we gave him a lift home so he could get ready for a Simpsons date with John. Since we were out and about, we headed east and I rented "Viva Pinata" for the 360. We ended up going to see "Hairspray," which was a fun film. Anthony had to work on the program, so I spent the evening gaming and reading. Nice and relaxing. It's too bad D & D ended up cancelled since it will be a few weeks before we can have a session.

Yesterday was a crazy day at work. There was just the two of us and it was busy! I ran home (finishing at a personal best ^_^) and met Anthony for a coffee since he had to work late. It actually was a really good run. Probably one of the best ever. It just felt good from beginning to end. The night was pretty mellow since Anthony was working late. I ended up just watching Angel. It's research. Really.

Labels: Daily Life, Gaming, Health, Movies, Theatre, TV

posted by Lisa at 2:31 PM |

 
Work on Hot Summer Days Could be Called Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Let's see, what's been what since my last post? Umm... Tuesday I ran home from work. It turns out that from work to my front door is just shy of 4.5 km, at least, on the route that I take. It was a good run, it took me about 35 minutes running at a 7:32 pace. My new sneakers are awesome!

I ate supper quickly and then it was off to TMNT. Zora's heart didn't explode, but I can't heal. Considering she's now unconcious and in the minus hit points thanks to a plane crash, that really sucks. Hopefully I'll be able to get help in the next episode.

Last night was improv practice. It was a good one. We did part of an Armando, which was challenging. It's very similar to The Harold, and we're a little rusty. I've no doubt that a couple more practices should get us back up to where we need to be though. Maybe I'll watch our three Harolds from February to brush up. ^_^

Tonight I've got a run to do. I'm hoping it will cool off considerably by the time I get off work. It's a tad hot today. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Gaming, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 1:29 PM |

 
Rain Rain Go Away

At least long enough for my headache to do the same. I'm assuming there is a low pressure system to account for this nagging headache I've had the last couple of days.

Last night was our first improv practice in a while. It was nice to get back to basics, and though I didn't feel like going, I had a good time once there. That's the way with a lot of things it seems. ^_^ We had a couple of new faces as well, which was nice. We finished up fairly early, around 9-ish, and I was able to get a few things done when I got home.

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 12:40 PM |

 
A Hair Pullin' Good Time

I'm going crazy. I've got about 25 bugs bites on each leg and tops of my feet. They are *so* itchy. :-(

Friday night Anthony, John, Sabine and I went to check out "As You Like It" on the Rothesday Commons. The weather held out; it was a bit foggy and cool, but nothing a sweather and blanket couldn't take care of. It was really entertaining, cute and quirky. The cast seemed to be having a lot of fun and their enthusiasm was infectious. My only critique would be there was a lot of upstaging going on and I often found my attention drawn to the background characters, not those moving the plot forward and I missed some of what was going on. A minor flaw in an otherwise stellar show.

Saturday Anthony and I *should* have got up early to go for a run. However, we were cozy and by the time we got up, it was late. We started to get ready for the run, but Doug called and sounded in need of company, so we went with him to the Big Stop for pancakes instead. By the time we finished, we didn't have enough time, and we headed out to Yessy's for my team BBQ with my co-workers. It was a good time, despite a 'Fear Factor' style challenge that had me shooting cold clam chowder, eating a chunk of mystery meat which turned out to be dog food, and a live slug, at which point I gave up and settled for 2nd place. We left about midnight, and I went home to bed. Anthony went with Jay out to the "As You Like It" cast party (Anthony didn't want to miss writing on the wall).

Yesterday, I woke up early but I dozed off and on, and read for a bit before finally getting up to go for my run. I did aproximately 5.5 km (I really need to invest in the Nike iPod running kit) in 44 minutes. I ran down Duke Street, up Water, around Lower Cove Loop to Union, down around the Red Rose Tea building, looped around the parking lot, back down Harbor Passage along the boardwalk, and up Duke to home. It was a tough run, but with the exception of some sore gluts today, it felt really good. I popped a lasagna in the oven, showered, ate and headed to the Millers' for D & D. It had a slow start, but once we got into the action, it was pretty exciting, and ended on quite the cliff hanger. I got to use some fun spells, including one where I was able to talk to plants. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 2:11 PM |

 
TGIT?

After work on Tuesday, I forced myself to the gym. I didn't feel like it, but as usual, once I got there, I was glad I'd gone. I spent the rest of the evening reading, and I got to level my TMNT character. That was pretty much that.

Last night I headed down to the loft for the Evening of Monologues. We had a good turn out. There were a few new faces, some participated and some just listened. I'd say there were probably about 15 people there. I read a section from The Goat, as a teaser for TotE (and because I hadn't prepared anything :-P). I got home around 9, and ended up curling up and watching episodes of "How I Met Your Mother." Yes, you were all right - it's hilarious, and NPH kicks butt. Plus, the guy who plays Ted totally looks like Mike D, which is awesome.

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre, TV

posted by Lisa at 10:44 AM |

 
It's Just a Dragon...

After work, Jay came with me for a 20 minute run. After the run, I rushed home to grab my TMNT stuff, something I could microwave and off I went to John and Sabine's for our weekly meeting. It was, as usual, an action packed adventure with a bunch of wacky hijinks courtesy of the die system. At one point, Kei (Chris), Savannah (Dre) and my character, Zora, very stealthily climbed down a wall and then failed all three of us failed our prowl roll and got caught by three gun toting iguanas. :-P Kei got caught and we were forced to leave him in the hands of the enemy. I can't wait for next week when we fight a giant lizard! ^_^

Don't forget, tonight is round one of TotE auditions. We've got some interesting scripts selected, and we're doing a special project in collaboration with the PRIDE folks, so you should definiately come out. Tonight and Thursday night at 7 pm at the SJTC loft.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:53 AM |

 
Directors Needed

Hey everyone. We've had a director step down from the TotE one acts. We've got a ton of scripts to choose from, so if you've ever thought "Hey, I'd like to direct!" now would be a great time! Please email me, Jay or Dre if you're interested.

Labels: Theatre

posted by Lisa at 1:04 PM |

 
It's The End of The World As We Know It

Three nice weekends in a row. There must be an apocolypse coming! :-P

Friday after work I had my rubber arm twisted and ended up just joining Doug, Colleen, Mike D and Anthony at Cougars. I didn't have anything to drink, but I enjoyed the company. Afterwards, we headed out to Scott and Alison's for a bonfire with John and Sabine. We ended up leaving about 11 since we had a early morning planned.

Saturday we were up at 8 pm. I went for a run, and then hit the gym for a quick upper body work out before we picked up Dre and Sabine for our tubing adventure. By the time we stopped at Walmart, went back for the forgotten tubes and went to the liquor store for beer, it was almost 12. By the time we got our tubes inflated and hit the river, it was about 1-ish. We floated down river for about an hour to the swimming hole, swam a bit and then walked back to the cars for a fabulous picnic lunch provided by Scott and Alison (you two roxxor! ^_^). Full and happy, we opted to do a second run. After another stop for some swimming at the swimming hole, we headed back to the cars. It was 6 by the time we got home, which was just enough time to shower and change to head out for our Girls Night.

Yesterday was a mostly lazy day. I woke up late (with a bit of a headache - it turns out a whole bottle of wine and no supper equals hangover :-P) and headed out to our Second Stage meeting. That was about 2 hours, and then Dre and I checked out United Bookstore so she could drop off book (and we could look at dice). I wasn't home very long when Anthony got home, and we spent some time doing some cleaning. Anthony made pasta for supper and John and Sabine came over around 6 or so to do some board gaming. We played Pictionary (Anthony and I won) and Simpson's Clue (John won). We chatted for a bit after the games before they went home. Anthony and I spent the remainder of the evening curled up reading.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:07 AM |

 
Goodbye to Another Show

Cabaret wrapped up yesterday after 5 successful performances. We had wonderful audiences, great crew assistance, and of course, a great cast. Today I'm feeling relieved to have a break, but I'm sure the post show blues will start tomorrow.

Friday and Saturday night we played to almost sold out crowds, and the two matinees had decent houses, but appreciative audiences. Sunday's matinee had a number of repeat faces, which was a real compliment.

So, thank you to everyone who came to see the show, and to everyone who made it so much fun, especially Jenn, Bertis and "Ze Girls." ^_^

Labels: Theatre

posted by Lisa at 4:10 PM |

 
Yawn!

Last night's tech rehearsal went very well. It's amazing what a difference adding costumes and lights can make. Everyone stepped it up a bit and it all felt really good. With, of course, the exception of my less than graceful moment during Mein Herr. :-P There was a point in the evening, probably around 10 pm, when I felt like I hit a wall and it felt like I'd been there *forever*! We wrapped up at 10:30, got out of costume and then had notes. It was 12:30 by the time we left the theatre and almost 1 am by the time I got my light turned off.

Brian took some pictures last night. Check out the sneak peek on the website!

This morning we were up bright and early and headed down to K100 to sing live as a promotion for the show. I arrived at 8:15 as requested to discover Lisa, Michelle, Kristi and Karen waiting. We were locked out. It was about 8:25 by the time someone thought to check and see if we were outside. Good thing it was so nice out this morning! :-P We sang Money and Karen did Cabaret. Man, she's awesome! In all, it was fun and certainly an interesting experience. ^_^

So tonight is our dress rehearsal with our student audience!

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:40 AM |

 
As Expected...

Cue to cue made for a long night. Cue to cue is one of thse situations where you've got to hurry up and wait. By the time things were set to get the cues rolling, it was 5 to 8. By the time Stephen let us go, we'd only made it through half of the play. The first cues were slow (there's a definate learning curve) but as we moved along, everyone seemed to have a handle on what was what, and we were moving at a pretty good clip.

I was wide awake when I got home, so I curled up with a book for about a half hour to unwind. That made getting up this morning a little tough, but that's to be expected show week.

Tonight we've got our tech run, and we're winging it for the second half. I'm sure things will go well, but we will likely be there late tonight to finish things up.

We (the Kit Kat Girls, Sally and Emcee) are going to be singing live on K100 tomorrow morning at 8:30. Be sure to tune in. ^_^ It should be fun. I think we're doing "Money." It's hard to believe that we've got our student audience tomorrow night! I don't know why it's always a surprise when we hit show week; it always seems to sneak up on me!

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:51 AM |

 
The Countdown Is On!

Friday night we had a full run of the show in partial costume. What a difference being partially done up made for the attitude of the show! My hot pants are shorter than I remember them being though. :-P

Afterwards, we went to Churchills for a drink. I didn't stay too long. I hit the wall not long after I finished my drink and went home. Doug and Anthony were playing Justice League Heroes when I arrived. I chatted with them for a few minutes and then went to bed.

Stephen gave us Saturday off. I slept in, which was much needed, and awoke feeling refreshed. We poked around the apartment a bit and then headed over east to see "28 Weeks Later." I enjoyed it. It was a pretty solid sequel, in my opinion. Yes, I'm okay with this one because they're not zombies; they're just infected. Alive, not dead. Huge difference. ^_^

We then stopped at the mall. I needed to pick up a few things, plus I found some great shoes at Payless on sale. I had a gift certificate from Anthony for $20 so they ended up costing me only 51 cents. Woot! ^_^ The evening was spent loafing around, with the exception of some dance practice. 45 minutes of going over the kick line to get my timing. I put 2000 steps on my pedometer. :-P I also read a bit, did some laundry, and then settled down to watch a movie. We rented "The Curse of the Golden Flower," with Chow Yun-Fat and Li Gong. It wasn't super heavy on the action, but they did nice character development and the sets and costumes were amazing!

Yesterday we slept in again (Ah!) and we ended up meeting Doug and Colleen at Cora's for breakfast around 2. Yes, it was a late breakfast. ^_^ It was then off to the Imperial for a trial run of hair and make up. That was fun, even if we didn't get everyone done by the time 5 pm came. We then did a full run of the show at St. Mac's with the band. It went well for the most part. I got screwed up somewhere in the kickline which was very frustrating after taking the time to practice Saturday. Yar! It was about 10 pm by the time I got home. By the time I got my hair brushed out and the make up off and had a light supper, it was late. I don't like eating that late, but it had to be done; I was starving!

Tonight is cue to cue. We have a 5 pm call. I won't be able to get there until closer to 6 (since I work until 5:30 and all :-P). It will be a late night. I charged my iPod and brought my DS so that should help fill the time.

Labels: Daily Life, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:21 AM |

 
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 |

 
Still Here

I haven't fallen off the planet. I am still here. ^_^

I've been training someone this week. She's very nice, but it's hard to do things like update your blog or read personal emails with someone looking over your shoulder.

What have I been up to? Hmmm... Cabaret.

That's about it.

Friday night, after rehearsal, we went to Churchills and then, as a lark, to Blush. The highlight was definately Doug showing up the strippers. :-P Saturday was rehearsal and then it was over to Jay and Lisa's for games and company. Anthony was up early on Sunday to go away on some business retreat, and I slept in before another long afternoon of rehearsing. I spent Sunday evening gaming and doing little. It was sweet! ^_^

We've been rehearsing every night this week and we'll be rehearsing every day from here until the show. If you can't find me, you're not looking very hard; I'm either at work, the rehearsal space or sleeping. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:20 AM |

 
Sneak Peek!

There are some sassy promo shots of Sally Bowles and the Emcee on the SJTC website. Take a look!

Tickets are going really well, so you haven't got them already, you may want to hurry if you want good seats!

Living at Rehearsals

Ah, gotta love show crunch time. Friday night was my last rehearsal free evening. It feels like I'm living at the rehearsal space. :-P

The last two nights have been dance rehearsal. We've been learning the Entracte kick line, which has some fancy footwork. It's a lot of hopping and is incredibly strenous. It's been like running for 3 hours straight on your tip toes. We've been having a lot of fun though; working with Bertis is always a hoot.

Tonight we've got music at 6 and then us Kit Kat Girls are marking our routines for a couple of hours. Tomorrow we start working the show in quarters. I'm glad I took Tuesday off to do some resting; I don't think I'm going to have another opportunity until after the show. ^_^

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:54 AM |

 
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 |

 
Burnt Out

I'm feeling a little burnt out. I haven't been sleeping well, and between the stress of constantly playing catch up at work and rehearsals, I'm feeling, well, just bleh. I'm really happy that it's Friday and that I don't have any plans for tonight.

That being said, however, I have been enjoying the rehearsals a lot. Last night us Kit Kat Girls planned an extra rehearsal to go through some of the routines. We spent two hours on Willkommen and Don't Tell Mama, working out the bugs, asking questions, and doing general perfecting. Nicki got us use of the stage at RCS, and afterwards, we went to her place for a glass of wine and conversation.

This weekend is going to be pretty hectic. We have music from 11 to 12 tomorrow morning, three hours off and then dance from 3 to 5-ish. Sunday is our first run of the entire show and then Serenity out at Jay and Lisa's. I was going to run errands before dance tomorrow, but with Anthony going on THDF'07, I'll probably just grab something for lunch at the market and relax for those few hours. Maybe even nap. ^_^

Labels: Daily Life, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:24 AM |

 
Monday Blues

It feels like a Monday.

After a long day at work Thursday, I headed to St. Mac's for dance rehearsal. We got a lot done, almost finishing Mein Herr, but after the 3 hours, we were feeling sluggish. I opted to go home after rehearsal, take a bath to soothe my sore muscles and game a bit before going to bed.

Friday, I slept in a bit, and then it was off to another dance rehearsal for 1 pm. We finished Mein Herr and got two of the last three items done for Don't Tell Mama. We also had costume fittings, which was both fun and scary. ^_^ My "Brooke" costume is extremely ladylike and elegant in comparison. :-P We finished up at 4:30 and I treated myself to Phad Thai for supper because I was not feeling up to cooking anything. I dozed off after I'd eaten, only to be awaken by a rowdy Kaylee at 6:55, just in time to run out for music rehearsal at 7. It was a good rehearsal though; I think we've really got The Money Song now. We just have to become more confident with it; it's a tough song. That evening, Anthony and I rented "Flushed Away," which is awesome. It's super cute; I totally recommend it.

Saturday I slept in a bit more, and did a few things around the apartment after lunch and before music rehearsal at 2. We finished at 3:30 and then Anthony and I went to pick up Holly and Ryan to go out to Anthony's parents' place. They spoiled us, as usual. We got our usual treats and card, but they also got us a slow cooker, which I've been wanting for ages. ^_^

We got home about 9, and I decided I wasn't up for Elwoods, so I called Michelle to see if she wanted to go dancing. We decided not to wait outside in the cold and snow for Studio 54 and went instead to Club Montreal. We had a blast! We got on the dance floor and stayed there for two hours. I felt so relaxed afterwards! By the time we got home and got Michelle home, it was 4 am when I finally turned out my light.

Sunday I slept in a lot. :-P We headed out to Cora's for a late lunch around 2. I had the apple-cheddar crepe, which was kind of disappointing. We headed home, and I ran through my routines while Anthony gamed. I don't have a good chair for Mein Herr though; the back is too high and it slips too much on the hardwood. :-( I scrubbed the livingroom floor, washed the bed linens, and did a couple of loads of laundry, watched some Buffy and then we rented "For Your Consideration," the Oscar buzz film by the same group that did "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show." It was really weak; I was disappointed. I went to bed after that. Although I was tired, I couldn't fall asleep. I couldn't get comfortable and my mind wouldn't stop racing. I'm pretty tired today.

I'm looking forward to playing "Serenity" tonight though. ^_^ It's my first foray into the world of RPGs.

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:00 AM |

 
TGIF, I mean, TGIT

Why are short weeks *so* long? Is it because we're anticipating the weekend that much more?

Last night I powered through an upper body workout before rehearsal started at 7 pm. We worked on blocking, which didn't take too long. Stephen let us go before 9, which was good. I got home to find John and Anthony doing TMNT stuff. I hid out, putting some highlights in my hair (that didn't turn out how I was hoping, but my hair color is definitely less flat now), and watching some improv while I waited.

And that was my night.

Tonight we've got dance rehearsal. I'm not sure if I'll be up for heading anywhere afterwards, but I'll keep it in mind. Anyhoo, if I don't see folks, have a good weekend!

Labels: Daily Life, Health, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 2:20 PM |

 
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 |