My rainy day craft box

My vacation is over. Today I go back to work. I must say I am not thrilled but hopefully it has bought me some time and I can work for a while longer while I start searching for a new job.

As you know, this week began with me getting catastrophically, epically sick. This ruined my camping at Lilies War plans but perhaps it is for the best since I really couldn't afford to camp anyway. I had actually been stressing a great deal about camping and how I was going to pay for it for a long time. I think all that stress combined with working very hard finally got to be too much for me and my body just gave out. In the 72 hours from Saturday through Monday I think I slept for about 60 of it. I'm not kidding.

Monday was the troupe's Hamlet show at Lilies War and as I think I said earlier, it went really well. By Tuesday I was fully recovered so I drove up again for dinner and rehearsal with the cast. Wednesday was the adult show and it was an amazing success for the cast and a delight for the audience. I am happy to report that the sketch I wrote and directed got riotous laughs and applause. My case made me very proud.

The best was yet to come, however. Thursday I rode with M. to a job interview that led to her being hired on the spot at what's going to be a really nice massage clinic that pays well and is run by a pair of warm, sincere, and quite visionary people. Their suite is still being renovated and the interview literally took place in a construction site. She won't start work until late July but she has the job and that's going to make a great difference for us, I think. We celebrated with some good food and by seeing The Avengers for a second time.

We've mostly just relaxed for the past two days. I've worked a lot on music, played some WoW, and just hung out for the rest of my vacation. It's been nice and, I suppose, just what I've needed. Now I need to get back to my usual pace. I vowed I would get a new job after Lilies ended. It's time to make good on that promise.

The troupe is under a great deal of stress; more than I've seen since I joined it three years ago. That sounds more ominous than I mean for it to. There's just a lot of things to be done this year and many of them are coming down to the last minute. I feel the stress very much myself. This week I need to take out the tent that was given to me, make sure it has everything it needs. I also need to get together groceries and supplies for a week of camping as cheaply as possible.

I'll feel great once I'm out there, but for now this week just feels like a hassle to be endured and suffered through. I'm also completely broke until Thursday, adding to the stress.

I'm using music as my stress reliever. I feel like I sound like shit when I play, but I feel good when I do it, like I'm creating something. That's an important feeling and a necessary one. We're painting the room I use as my music studio so all my gear has been moved to the stair landing. Surprisingly, I'm actually finding this a somewhat better practice space acoustically and ergonomically. Still, it's a landing and I don't intend to be there forever.

Stress has crept into my little musical world too though. My drummer was unable to buy a new drum set like he'd planned. So this kind of puts us back at square one. I guess for now I just keep doing what I'm doing which is writing song. By the time I've got enough for a band to rehearse with hopefully a solution will have presented itself.

The theatre troupe's shows at Lilies are going to be great this year. This has turned into all I do theatrically anymore but I've also found it's really all I need. In a way it's also all I can manage. I'm fulfilling the urge with fellow performers whom are incredibly talented and whom I really like as people and it's just enough to keep me from getting burnt out which happened frequently when I was trying to act "full time." I could never have made acting a career, I realize now. But I'm happy for the role it's played in my life and very grateful for the place in my life it has found.

I have returned from adventure in the woods with The Champagne Players. I am proud to say that the whole thing went better than I could have hoped or imagined.

Our performance this weekend was at an SCA event called St. George and the Dragon. I arranged to carpool with Tess, one of our actors, and she picked me up Saturday afternoon. Getting to the secluded campground outside of Springfield, MO turned out to be an adventure in itself. Cell reception was bad out there and the directions we received via cell phone were not clear, Lesley's phone cutting out as a crucial part of the directions were conveyed. After going literally a hundred miles out of our way we got back on track, only to find ourselves at the blocked road we had been attempting to avoid all along. Fortunately, Tess is a hell of a wheelwoman and took a twisting, nailbiting, backwoods dirt road with a confidence and speed that many would never approach.

Side note: this incredibly twisted, on-the-verge-of-reverting-completely-to-wilderness dirt road was regularly marked by armadillo carcasses in the midst of being devoured by vultures. Creepy. This road clearly gets no traffic, yet cars somehow came along at just the right time to kill not one but two armadillos. What are the odds?

Once ensconced in our camp site we had enough time for a breakneck dress rehearsal to iron out the bugs. The SCA folks had been drinking, dueling, and jousting all day and I figured they'd be tired. But no, they were ready to party and nearly the entire population of the campground showed up at our stage come performance time. Our show consisted of two comedy sketches, a burlesque dance, and an operatic solo by one of our very talented ladies. About a half hour of material but apparently just enough to rile up our rowdy audience and leave them wanting more. We got lots of feedback and friendly heckling from the crowd and it helped us take our performances to a level we just couldn't reach in rehearsals. Frankly, it was the most fun I've had on stage in years and possibly rekindled a passion for live theatre I haven't felt in far longer.

Once we were through with the show we were ready to party too. The women of the troupe put on their bellydance attire and migrated to one of the larger bonfires where they mesmerized us one and all. A few bards were present who, between the girls' dances, regaled the audiences with songs and comedy. With the dancing done we strolled through the campground, sampling excellent homebrewed beer and mead and socializing with people. I haven't let my hair down like that in a long time and I can't wait to do it again.

Sunday Tess and I got back with far less adventuring and after a quality dinner at 54th Street Grill with my beautiful wife, we reconvened with the Players for a rehearsal of the material we didn't perform. The rehearsal was almost as much fun as doing a show. I think after the stress and hustle of getting the performance in gear we were all ready to have some fun.

Today was back to work and reality but I'm still still floating on the weekend's vibe. Our next performance at Lilies War is still over a month away but I am SO ready. Last year it kind of felt like work even though I wound up having a blast. This time, however, I'm like a kid looking forward to Christmas.