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Archive for the ‘the-ay-ter’ Category

why i love the theater

Monday, July 14th, 2008

I have a confession. I deep dark secret that has been lurking in my closet, banging on the door, crying, begging to be let out. I’ve been ashamed, afraid my street cred would be in jeopardy if this privity were out. However, I feel as though I must let it out, atone for my sins as it were.
Here it is:
G and I are Guthrie Theater season ticket holders.
I hope this doesn’t spoil any illusions you may have of us. One might think we were cultural elitists, rubbing elbows with the wealthy suburbanites, Thomas Kinkade prints adorning the wall above our tasteful sofa, my closet full of faux-artsy clothes purchased at Chicos. This would be wrong. We simply enjoy theater of all kinds, preferably thought provoking, or at least something to absorb us for a couple of hours. If we can get it for cheap, then all the better!
It started innocently enough. I saw a title that made my heart flutter. We’d waited for deals in the past, hoping we could see interesting shows at affordable prices. However, I felt deep in my heart this was something I needed to see, so I figured we should pony up at our first chance. Then, G found out we could get season tickets for as few as three shows. For twenty dollars a show. Rush tickets are $25. There were two shows that we kind of wanted to see, one of which had buzz not unlike a honey farm. We were sold. We purchased tickets, and we were off. The first show was okay. I didn’t want my two hours back or anything, but it was a little disappointing all the way around. The script was not up to the playwright’s usual par, the actors were capable, but not outstanding, and the set was pretty lackluster. The next show was ambitious, and I would even say enjoyable. However, it fell a little short of being ideal, or even outstanding. I gave it a whole lot of credit, however, as I will take an ambitious piece that falls short over a predictable or safe piece.
We just saw our final play, the play I had been waiting for, on Thursday. The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde. We were schedule to see it a month ago, however that night also happened to be opening night of the show I was in. Fortunately, because we had season tickets, we were able to exchange our tickets for another night at no additional charge. Sweet! Unfortunately, that night was the night before the show closed. This meant no opportunity for failure! We couldn’t miss this show, and we couldn’t see it again. It was do or die.
Luckily we made it. We had rather delightful seats, third row, house left (stage right). I was able to let every single impeccable detail wash over me and seep into every pore. It was an amazing experience. Easily the best thing I’ve ever seen at the Guthrie, and definitely on of the top things I’ve seen in ten years of living in the Twin Cities.
Not only was this show ambitious, it was successful. I feel as though words cannot adequately express what I witnessed on the stage last Thursday evening. As an audience member, I felt invested in these characters and haunted by the storytelling. Even inanimate objects were enthralling. I wanted to see it again, to let all the details not only wash over me, but absorb into my pores.
Alas, it was not to be. Only one more performance, and we could not attend. Positively brill. It was everything I love about the theater. It truly showcased the effectiveness of a talented collaboration. When every detail is spot on, and those involved are truly invested in their craft. How a piece of art should make one react, with emotion and feeling that fills you.
I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to have this experience. It is the kind of thing I aspire to create and share with the world.

mergh

Saturday, April 12th, 2008

Whew. Whatta week. I began rehearsals this week for a new show, which has added a nice layer of crazy to my life. It makes the work to gym to rehearsal commute a little hectic, but I refuse to give up!
So, here are this weeks stats.
Sunday- nothin’
Monday-One hour strength, 45 minutes bike on cross country, ten minutes stretching
Tuesday- nothin’
Wednesday-one hour strength, 45 minutes on the elliptical on random and cross train, ten minutes stretching
Thursday-nothin’
Friday-One hour strength, 45 minutes on the elliptical on random and cross train, ten minutes stretching
Saturday-nothin’
Starting weight-144.5
Current weight-145.5 (boo)
I bumped up most of my weights, which is awesome. I have inherently sucky quads, so that is my frustration. I’ve had at least two doctors confused over my oddly weak quads, and not sure what to tell me to do about it. I work them as much as possible, with a lot of grumbling and groaning on my part. I bumped them up five pounds on the machine, and thought my legs were literally on fire by the end of the first set. Everything I do that works them is a struggle to get through…so anyone bothering to read this who might have some advice, I will gladly take it. Everything else is shaping up nicely. I am actually for the first time I can remember, getting definition in my calves. My arms are slowly shaping up…I just wish my triceps would shape up faster! My butt is a little perkier…and my favorite part, I have a lovely two pack, and can see two more forming below. I just need to be patient, I know. I am trying to focus on the good things, and remind myself that I am making progress, so I can keep going.
I mostly can’t wait for the weather to turn around so I can walk/run and rollerblade.

bits and pieces

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

On a general note: man, I am a tired girl. So far this week, this is the first day I haven’t taken a nap! I want one, but figure I should just go to bed early…so I’m storing up my sleepiness!! Hopefully my inherent night-owl-ness won’t keep me up.
What would Miss Manners say?
So, my sister found this super-great deal a while back, and mentioned it to me, lamenting that she wished she knew someone who could use it. I told her I knew someone it would make a great gift for, and we went back to the site of the bargain to see if it was still there for the having…it was, and I scored it…at an additional half off!! The event for giving the gift is still a while off…however I now know that the intended is really wanting it (as in it is on the wish list, and peeps know it is wanted). Do I just give it now, lest someone else buy it? Do I wait and cross my fingers?
I’ve got a fever!
I love winter…but I wish Spring would hurry itself up! I am desperately wanting to purge the house, Clean Sweep style. Lay out a tarp and sort all of the crap out and have a yard sale and maybe make a few dollars whilst emptying the cellar, the garage, the utility room, the cupboards, the closets…
Then I want to clean like a madwoman, windows open, radio blasting.
Then I want to finish the walk and patio.
Sadly, winter does not allow for any of this!! AUGH! I’ve actually debated if people will buy things in the snow. I’ve come to the conclusion that they won’t, nor will I sit and watch our stuff in the snow either. Boo.
I’m kind of a big deal.
So, I was just offered a role in a show! Two roles, actually! Shakespeare, none-the-less! The topper? Being a baton Twirler helped me land said role! Good to know all those years weren’t wasted.
In the meantime I am anxiously waiting for the auditions to wrap for a (very) different show I already auditioned for to find out if I was called back/cast. I used to think the audition was the hardest part. Now, I know it’s the waiting! Knowing it is out of my hands, and knowing that roughly one million ladies of the same type were/are competing does not help! I really would love the role, as it would be a great opportunity on so many levels, yet I worry because it would also be pretty tough, commitment-wise.
So, things need to hurry up…but not too fast.

it’s official….

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

…when I grow up, I’m going to be Tilda Swinton.

…and breathe.

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Eeps. So, I was totally going to do the version of NaNoWriMo that I did last year, and write in my blog every day in November, until I realized that amongst the gajillion things I have been trying to get done over the last two weeks, it is well into the first week of November. So, here I start, five days late, with a recap of why I have been so gosh darned elusive.
So, let’s start off with the big birthday. Ten days ago, I turned the big Two-Five. Yes, you read that correctly. Shup.
So, of course, my annual golden birthday bash had to be thrown, and this year it was held in conjunction with my dear friend Creamer’s non-golden twenty-fifth. In order to throw said party, we had to get our kitchen squared away, and get the bulk of the hizouse clean in order to have guests. Pretty much all free moments leading up to the party on the 26th was spent working on house stuff. We got the kitchen finished (outside of some baseboard moulding), and it is pretty sweet. Now, if I can keep up on the dishes, we’ll be good to go. Lucifer has been pretty pissed as that closed access to one of his ceiling entry points, but them’s the brakes. Cats don’t belong in ceilings, yo.
We were also able to get he house presentable. Seeing the state the place was in about an hour into the party, I am not sure why I was so concerned. I am still finding sticky spots on the floor after roughly twenty moppings over the last week. Anyhow, it was overall a fun time. Once again I managed to consume no solid food over the course of the night, meaning I missed out on yummy Cabernet soaked cheddar cheese, my awesome grim reaper birthday cake, and Creamer’s ice cream cake. Boo. I did however, have lots of yummy mojito, cosmo, and wine.
My friends are generally pretty awesome. I made off with some mad loot. Zusy got me a raven bank, complete with a Euro in its tummy. Hennifer got me a RED moleskine planner for 2008 (which I LOVE), a bag of Gin-gins (which has mysteriously gone missing…anybody?), some fancy chrysanthemum tea, a bottle of Cranberry wine, and a Mr. Mustard card (which is ridiculously cool). Benq and Everlastingwhy hooked my up with a fortune cookie 8-ball that answers questions with things like, “you don’t won ton know,” a “bling” ice cube tray, and wine glass stem flags that proclaim things like, “WOOZY.” (I wonder which is my fave??) G got me the new Tori cd, which I didn’t have yet, so I could listen up before I see her LIVE from the FRONT ROW. The pair of us received an adorable card from Mrs. Self Destruct with a long haired chihuahua on the front. A couple of friends from work made what would have been a sucktacular day at work pleasant by surprising me with treats in the form of a cookie monster and a Frankenstein’s monster cake. Then, they came to my party and presented me with a bouquet of purpley black roses and a squirrel creamer. I have a bunch of pretty cool people in my life.
That being said, I don’t know that I want to have that huge of a party again. Our house and patio were crammed solid at one point, which is fine. What was not fine was that lots of people didn’t respect our boundaries. Generally, we can have a closed door or two, and our friends leave well enough alone. Some people I didn’t know very well (being a joint party, and all) didn’t have that sort of respect. Our office became, um, well, the make-out spot (to put it politely). I wouldn’t have minded quite so much if a)we were all in high school and b) if it wasn’t where I had all my projects, and all of our stuff we have (well, had) sorted to go sell on e-bay and Craig’s list. However, since I am a skosh older than 16, and I have spent the last ten days sorting through what became a pile in the middle of the floor, I am annoyed. I was annoyed when one of the cast members of the show I’m costuming (more on that later) pulled trash (such as fun-sized candy wrappers) out of his jacket pocket at dress rehearsal. I am sitll annoyed that my glasses are missing, when I left them with stuff I was sewing.
Serenity now. Lesson learned. I now know where my limits are. Spilled drinks on a mop able surface okay.
Tossing my stuff around, not okay.
The day after the party, I was supposed to go look in on rehearsal and go to a scrapbook crop with my dear LaLa. However, I had a bitchin’ tension headache. I thought it was hangover, but it most definitely was not. As a result, I lounged all day Saturday, and we went to the club late that night, and left early. I still was headachey on Sunday, and most of Monday. Stupid headache.
Anyhow, I survived the B-day, and another year of lord-knows-what.
LAst week was spent getting my ducks-in-a-row for the show I’ve been working on. It was a little tense at some moments, making sure everyone had everything, and some miscommunication with my assistant at the zero hour, but we made it through. Everyone has ideal or nearly ideal costumes. I was nervous working on seven people (it’s been a while since I’ve had to do a large show), as I figured I would have seven egos to deal with. However, everyone was really easy. I didn’t get any of the sass I usually get. (The last of which nearly made me swear of costuming entirely.) I thought everyone looked pretty darn good if I do say so myself. The show opened to a pretty happy group on Saturday. Now, I just need to total up my receipts, return the few things that wound up being not needed, settle up the budget, and wait for the show to close, and divvy up what’s mine and what’s the theater’s. I like costuming, but I think the next time I do it, maybe it should be when I have less on my plate.
Otherwise, it’s my day job. I like it…but, it’s been stressful. Like today when I get a call from one of my departments asking a question that I have answered multiple times already. In fact, I even put it on the department’s log so that everyone could read it. Yet, they keep asking the same question. This is really the least annoying part. I just finished redoing a department, to be told to redo half of it again, because they want to move some things. (nevermind how hard it was to get the stuff installed the first time). This is in between finishing up a remodel, and planning another remodel. And I am not to change any due dates. Despite the fact that my partners aren’t doing squat. Grrr. At least I am pretty sure it has been noted that the all talk people have been noted, and the fact that we are getting a reward for the first project on our department’s docket getting completed.
I think that’s about it. I should probably take advantage of my “free time” and do some laundry and try and pick up more of our office. I am also hoping the hubby calls soon and we eat din-din. I should be back tomorrow!

thanks, but no thanks.

Monday, September 24th, 2007

So, I finally dove back into auditioning for shows. I took the summer off, which spawned taking the beginning of fall off (every show seemed to conflict with the trip that didn’t happen).
Then, I took a costuming job. For a musical (no snickering, please). I am pretty excited about it, and hope that I manage to keep sane through the run.
Then I hit a couple of auditions. One of which, apparently, everyone in the tri-county area auditioned for. I signed up as soon as I heard, and got a slot for twenty after nine in the evening. They had to extend auditions. IT was crazy.
Anyhow. I got a couple of call-backs. Yay, especially considering the turnout. I attended said callbacks…and then waited. And waited.
And got a call.
There didn’t seem to be a role that was up my “alleyway.” Fine. That show ran at the same time as the show I am costuming. Perhaps the gods way of telling me to chill the hell out.
Then there was waiting. I got a call from a fellow called-back thespian, who hadn’t heard anything. Waited some more.
Today came the call.
No dice again. There were just so many people, it wasn’t me, I was great.
It’s like a break-up. You give it your all, you put your time in, and if you’re lucky you get the easy let down. It’s the call no one wants to make, and no one wants to receive (special circumstances excluded). It’s not you, it’s me.
But, like a break-up, I am sure time will prove that everything happens for a reason, and there is something better waiting just around the corner.

let me dirty up your mind

Thursday, March 22nd, 2007

So, late last night (or early this morning, if you prefer) as I was making my way home, I began to think about blogs. Now, I try to be pretty open on this here blog. However, I still have some reservations about what I put here. I kind of wish I could just go balls-out and write whatever I’m thinking/feeling/doing, devil-may-care style. There was a blog awhile back, and the title is lost somewhere in my peabrain at the moment. Anyhow, I read said blog only a couple of times before it disappeared into the ether. This blog was also discussed in Chuck Olsen’s Blogumentary. It was theoretically written by a local young woman who drove a new Beetle, and hit all the cool rock shows in town, and was unabashedly open in her blog. It garnered quite a following because of the raw honesty. She really let the reader into her life. Of course, it turned out that the blog was really written by a middle aged man. It wasn’t really a life on display, hence the intensity.
Anyhow, I wish I could do that for real. Just say everything, and let the cards fall where they may. Yet, there’s this tiny part of me that actually cares what people think. This causes me to post less, as I censor myself. If I wrote about my feelings every day, for instance, would this cause my mother to worry and call me every day? If I said what was really on my mind about some of the people I come across in my day to day life, how upset would some of the people I actually care about who have these people in their lives be? Should anyone know about some of the weird and possibly disturbing habits or thoughts I have? Would they want to?
In this day and age of premanufactured blogs, like mySpace or Livejournal, I realize that things are different. People can easily censor what people read by posting them such that they are viewable by only some of their friends, or only their family, or so that everyone but their neighbor’s dog walker can read them. This is fine, and I don’t judge anyone for making that choice. However, I do feel like it’s a cop out. If I am going to go through the trouble of putting something on the internet, it is going to be on the internet. That is sort of the point. Otherwise, I would send an e-mail or a holiday letter or text or phone call. (Okay, anyone who knows me, knows I wouldn’t actually use the telephone, but it’s an example of what a normal person who isn’t me would do.)
I guess all this was weighing on my mind because I had a million strange thoughts going through my head in the wee hours. My OCD was going a little crazy, I was exhausted, and frustrated with some things. I debated if I should just come here and unload. Then upon further thought, I decided that may not be the best course of action. So I let it stew. What do you all think? Those of you that read blogs, why do you do it? If you write a blog, what is your level of censorship? Discuss.
Note: MimiSmartypants is someone who is real, and who is pretty open in her blog. She didn’t tell her parents about it until her book was being published, so she was still censoring herself to some degree. Anyhow, I would like to be able to be even that open. Much less all the way open.

i’ve got a hunger only tacos can stop.

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Eek!! That pretty much sums it up right now. So much on my mind, so much to do. I’ve been on a manic swing which I wish made me more productive, however, instead it is making my mind jump all over the place. I have two weeks to get a whole lot accomplished, so I really need to focus!
Yesterday was mostly a goof off day. It was good old Saint Patrick’s day, which I ordinarily don’t celebrate outside some wearing of the green. However, my dear friend Toni talked me into going out bright and early. We met up with her at McGovern’s at 11 o’clock. It’s frightening how many people were out and bright eyed and bushy tailed and drunk at that hour. I was pretty decked out. I had picked up some little hot shorts that were black with green ribbons laced up on either side. I know I’m chunky, but I still went for it. I wore my green Robin tights with black fishnets over them, my black super tall boots, a black tee with a rhinestone shamrock on it and two shades of green eye makeup. It was pretty cute. G wore my Guinness tee-shirt. We hung around for a bit, then I went off to rehearsal.
Rehearsal was interesting. I’m happy with where I’m at for the second half of the play. Feeling it and what not. However, the first half I am totally struggling. This character is toying with me!! She’s a strange woman. I know I will find what I need within me, but I hate going through this awkwardness. It’s feeling really false right now, so I need to work extra hard to get past it. We also had a production meeting after, so there was a table full of the the theater company’s board members/crew. It was good to get an audience, and I tried to think about how my blocking was reading. I may have overcompensated, but it’s what rehearsal is for! The production meeting was good. It was fun to be a part of it, and see what was going on. After rehearsal, I had G take me to Penney’s to see if I could find costume stuff. After much wandering around and measuring, I walked out with a bunch of good potential pieces. I felt some serious relief, since it seems like there is not much out there that goes with the picture I have in my head. Tomorrow I will have the ladies try on their things, and we shall see where we are at. Cross your fingers with me that these things work! Then I just need to accessorize them. I’m having them bring a few things to see if they will work. I’m thinking I may make the jewelry pieces I need, unless something awesome and inexpensive pops up. Oh, and I did get a sweater for my character on e-bay that is pretty cool. Well, cool for the character, I don’t know if it’s so much me. I need to find an appropriate skirt to go with it still, but I am confident something exists out there.
After my exciting shopping trip, we chatted with our lovely friend, the man of many names, and met up with him at the Chatterbox for some drinks and lunch…er…dinner. It was fun. I have to say, I’m glad we’ve become friends. He’s a pretty cool guy. Who knew I would make a good friend from going dancing nearly every Saturday night? We hung out for a good while, and parted ways for a bit so he could get amped for the rest of the evening, and we could meet up with friends in Minneapolis. There were more drinks, a bar change, and some interesting peeps. We eventually made our way to our final destination, Ground Zero. I had a pretty fun time, drinking and chatting and meeting new people. We met up with our lovely friend again, along with a friend who we hadn’t seen for some time, at least until he accompanied us to 300 the other night. We stayed until we were booted out at the end of the night, and made our way to the Uptown Diner, where I drank some hot water, ate a bit of a caramel roll and fell asleep on my friend’s shoulder (sorry man, hope I didn’t drool on you). When we arrived home, I crawled right into bed, fully clothed outside of my shoes.
Today I felt like poo, but not in a hangover way. My throat is sore, and I kept going back and forth with freezing and burning up all day. That was not fun.
Oh, and I found out this week that the bestest band evar is headlining the Virgin Festival in Toronto. Can we say ROAD TRIP!!!! The tickets presale Tuesday, and I must get some! I think I will request this to be my 25th birthday present this year! The concert will be before the big birthday, but it would certainly be an amazing present. *sigh* Billy Corgan. I have not seen him live in years. Too many years. I also cannot for the rest of the NA tour to be announced…I would like to see a few shows. In my youth I wanted to be a Pumpkinhead and follow them for a tour and see all the shows. I am seriously considering such an endeavor, though it hardly seems practical now. Especially since there are two other tours coming that I also would like to see: NIN and Tori Amos. I don’t know that I would follow them around, but that is still at least two more shows to add to the list and the budget.
Oh Billy.

my plate is officially full….

Monday, March 12th, 2007

…which may have something to do with the strange sounds coming from my tummy.
So, yeah, where was I?
Australia.
No really….this is what my mind is reduced to. I can’t complete a coherent thought at the moment. I think I need to sit down and make a list, yet, I feel like that would waste precious time that would be better served elsewhere.
anyhow, you kids probably have noticed that I’m in a show. when I am adequately convinced I don’t suck, I shall give the world the deets. Last week, I was asked to costume said show. I accepted the position. I haven’t costumed in a long while, so it should be fun. The only downside, is that I much more enjoy playing with clothes than say, remodeling.
Which brings me to the other portion of my plate. The kitchen. It is still going a bit slower than I would like. However, we officially have a deadline now. I invited my family to come out and stay with us for Easter. Due to the show, I can’t go to them, so I thought it would be fun to have them come to us. They accepted, and now we must have the kitchen done, and the house clean and beautiful for guests by Good Friday. This is fine, because left to our own deadline-free devices, we would otherwise be lucky to have the darn thing done by my birthday.
Hey, at least I cleared the second job from my plate!
I have also managed to find some time for fun. We saw 300 over the weekend, and I promise to give you a review of it later. For now I shall tell you, It was awesome. We also made it out dancing on Saturday. We even went out for late night snacks afterward, and stayed up until the wee hours. Hurrah!!
To close, I will point out that I have realized that while a lot of shitty people may cross my path, I am blessed by all the awesome people who choose to stick around for the journey.
And now, I must paint.

red, white, and blue…

Friday, February 16th, 2007

Well, I’m officially done with the red paint. I made my last touch ups, and threw away the tray liner and roller. I just didn’t want to deal with washing that shite. Anyhow, the entryway is lovely red. I began priming the kitchen, and hopefully can get some paint on that bad boy tomorrow.
We also ripped up the hallway carpet. Good riddance. I would have done a cartwheel on the revealed subfloor, but felt that I might injure myself or a loved one, so we settled for a mental cartwheel. On the downside, we do have to replace a portion of the subflloor. We expected we would, but hoped that somehow we wouldn’t have to. We pulled up the first half of the portion we are replacing. I decided to pull out the trusty shop vac to suck up the dirt and junk that had been sealed between. I got halfway through, and the shop vac kept sucking up dirt. Lots and lots of dirt. I realized I was creating a hole. A hole in the part of the floor that is just dirt. I mean really, why would one want to make sure there was a bed of all concrete before laying the floor? Moisture barrier? What? So, we’ll have to pour some concrete. We’ll probably go ahead and put some plastic down while we have that chunk open. As my dad said, “where was the building inspector???” Where indeed.
Since we have the ceiling completely ripped out in the kitchen and entry, Lucifer has taking to tightrope walking on the exposed pipes, wires, and cables. While I was priming the kitchen (the part that will be behind the fridge if you are concerned), I was bent over getting the bottom of the wall. Suddenly, “WHOOMPF!” Something somewhat soft landed on the back of my head, then slid to the floor. It was a rather pissed off Lu. Apparently he lost his balance on his little tightrope walk. Guess he’s not ready to work without a net. He also has some white hairs on his tail from brushing the wall. That darn cat. Good thing he is small and furry, because the experience didn’t feel good. Couldn’t imagine if he was large. Or not furry.
Anyhow, we are making progress. Slowly, but surely. As we keep hitting setbacks, it makes me tell myself more and more that it will be such a miraculous transformation. I keep telling myself how much more storage we’ll have, and how organized it will be. Part of me worries it will let me down, or something won’t work out. However, for the pain in the ass, it should be miraculous.
I think the disaster area that is our home is part of what’s been making me feel so down lately. When you don’t have a lot of room to begin with, then you pull nearly everything out of one room into other parts of the house, then bring a bunch of other stuff in so that you can put that stuff back…well, it makes for close quarters. Every inch is stuffed. It is impossible to set anything down much less put it away. It’s tough to move…even the cats are grouchy. Forgive me for sounding all new-agey and whatnot, but it is making for some bad energy. Couple that with job annoyances, and the fact that I’ve put on a few pounds, and it makes for an unhappy Raven. The few pounds are annoying because when I gain weight, it hurts. My wee bones get all grouchy, my joints decide to give me hell, and my muscles cramp and seize and all sorts of fun. It is not helping that I don’t have my space to workout right now, and it is too cold for me to feel like going for a walk. On the bright side, I put in my notice at my part-time job yesterday. It took a lot of thinking on my part, and building up my nerve, but I think those few extra hours every week will make a big difference.
So, yesterday was the big V-Day. It was a pretty romantic day. I worked both jobs, and got to see G for about half of an hour. Fortunately, we already celebrated. We decided to celebrate on sunday. Since we have had zero time, I suggested that we just do our shopping together. Great minds think alike, and we found we were planning on shopping at the same store. We had to stop at two locations, but we got what we were after. I got G this:
molten core.jpg
And he got me this:
dance tee.jpg
Ahhh…geek love. We also decided on extra gifts once we were out. Hot Topic had their Nightmare Before Christmas stuff on clearance, and I saw a great jacket for Geoff. He’s been wanting a hoodie type jacket, and there was a pretty cool one. I pointed it out, it was super soft…so I thought it would make a nice second thing for him. He found the Jack Skellington hoodie I’d been wanting but thought was too pricey. It is black and very dark grey striped with a big Jack Skellington face appliquéd on the front. Wicked cute. We then saw the perfect hoodie for Geoff. Despite it being full price, it was way more awesome than the Jack one, so I made him try it on. I had been planning on getting him a different hoodie previous to our excursion, but apparently this was in their new batch of merchandise. Seriously it was too perfect…
transformers hoodie.jpg
Megatron versus Optimus Prime. Even though it will be in July, I am totally making him wear it to the Transformers movie when we go to the midnight opening. Well, let’s be honest, I don’t think I will have to make him.
We did buy some non V-day presents. I finally found a wallet I liked:
selanimal wallet.jpg
I got some new mats for my car and a steering wheel cover, we got G some batman boxer briefs, and some stuff for a friend.
We then took a romantic trip to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, and popped home. We changed into our dork twin ensembles, and headed to the Olive Garden. (don’t knock it. That’s some tasty food, and reasonably priced) Then we headed to the Chatterbox Pub. Which, side tangent here. There is a restaurant half and a bar half. Both halves have gaming consoles, and you can check out board games for either half. We arrived early to meet our friends, and thought we would kill time with some old-school nintendo. Since we were going to do karaoke when it started, we thougt we could stake out our sofas and get going. However, some lovely parents apparently mistook “console games” for “babysiter.” There were three kids. Apparently they needed to use all three TVs in the bar. One of the kind servers said he would check into it, because they’d been taking up the space for a long time (mind you this included two full-size sofas, a loveseat, and four armchairs that were around the three TVs). It was a no-go. The kids really needed all three TVs. Fine. We took one of the restaurant sets, with the understanding that we would move when the brats left. I tossed my coat and purse on the sofa and headed for ladies. As I walked through the bar, I saw the kids. One was at the table with the parents, completely on the other side of the bar from the consoles…the parents wouldn’t even have been able to see the kids at the damn consoles. Not to mention, I could tell the dad was trying to get the kid to go back to the other children (the oldest of which was maybe 10) One was playing with the Golden Tee machine, and one was actually playing a console. The other two were just left at the intro screens of the games. Needed all the TVs my ass. First of all, if you want to go to a bar and drink and have the kids out of your hair…hire a freaking babysitter. If you think your kids would have fun playing games, sit with them. Pay attention to them, and have some courtesy for the other patrons. People piss me off. Especially parents who don’t think they actually have to parent or be held accountable for their children’s actions.
Anyhow, eventually the brat pack left, and we moved to our sofas in time for karaoke. The rest of the night consisted of hanging with our friends, playing some tetris, and singing some songs. I discovered that I am really not cut out to sing Morrissey. However, I also discovered that the KJ had Vanity 6…so I made up for my lack of Morrissey talent by rocking out with that. So, the night turned out pretty well.
We ended the night by curling up in bed and watching The Apprentice LA. Perfect for a couple of dorks like us.