Quiet Thanksgiving

The Chief and I had a quiet Thanksgiving a deux.  We found out we weren't going to have guests before we pulled the turkey out of the freezer, so we pulled out lamb shanks instead.  Very tasty, but greasy and a lotta work getting the meat off the bone (back to leg of lamb or chops).  Beautiful weather, too; I walked a few things to the post office today and didn't even need a jacket!

Got in a videochat with Dad yesterday on my brother's phone, talked to 2 sisters last night.  Left messages on 2 friends' voicemail and had a nice little chat with another friend this morning.  The Chief's brother is doing well.  And we'll be having lunch on Sunday with a friend we haven't seen in person in much too long.  Good weekend!

Gonna miss "shop class"

Now that I've got all my shop hours for the semester and the school production will be ending tomorrow, there'll be no more opportunities to build stuff in the theater scene shop. :(  I'm gonna miss using power tools to build flats and cabinet doors, platforms and trusses.  I'll miss spackling gaps too - (sounds like "jack sand") is fun to work with.

No telling what's going to happen next semester; the building is about to be mostly demolished and rebuilt into a much bigger performing arts facility.  It'll be 2 or 3 years before it's finished; no telling what they'll do for a scene shop or performing space in the meantime.  I sure hope they'll have something they can use for a scene shop, though - I want more shop class! :D

One last performance

"The Odd Couple" has one more performance - a 10:30 show tomorrow morning for a school group audience.  That'll be followed by strike, after which I can start thinking ahead to finals.  Already!  Running the sound board has actually been kinda boring.  Thanks to computerization, all I do is press keys on the laptop when the stage manager calls a sound cue.  However, I'm very grateful I don't have to run props or set changes.  This is a hugely prop-heavy show, and changing those things out at every scene change is a HUGE pain in the neck that I'm oh, so glad isn't my concern.

Next show...

Today I attended a production meeting for a production of Lend Me a Tenor (LMAT), for which I'm designing hair and makeup.  I love 1930s styles, so this will be fun.  LMAT presents the additional feature of requiring two of the men to wear Otello costumes, including "moorish" makeup.  One of them has to get out of that makeup and back into normal makeup relatively quickly.  (I still need to read the script to see just how much time he has for the change.  That'll happen this weekend.)

I've already reached out to the costumer to arrange a get-together so I can coordinate my designs with hers.  She may also want to borrow the dress I made last year for Death Takes a Holiday.  It would be nice to get a little more mileage out of it; doesn't matter that I won't be the one wearing it.

LMAT is a funny show; I'm looking forward to being part of the production team.

FINALLY!

Yesterday (yes, Saturday) I finally got a response to my Nov. 9th email asking the uni when I might hear about the application I submitted in July.  I was told they'd be releasing their decisions next week.  Since this was sent on a Saturday, it's not clear whether "next week" means the week coming up, or the week after Thanksgiving, but at least I finally got a human being to respond.  Progress!

Starting to get annoyed

I've been very patient with the uni Admissions folks.  I was told "mid-October" for a decision on my application.  I pinged them Oct. 29 and got an auto-email telling me to give them 3-5 business days to reply.  When I got no response, I pinged them again Nov. 9.  I got the same auto-email; still nothing.  It's now about a month past when I expected to have a decision on my application and I've heard exactly nothing.  If I weren't about to go into tech week, I'd go down there again and try to shame them into giving me an answer.  I guess they don't really want my money...

"Today, class, we assemble furniture."

For today's Technical Theater class, we spent our time in the theater scene shop assembling Swedish flat-pack furniture (5 chairs and a bar stool) for the Odd Couple set.  Our instructor then had me help him start building the bar for the set.  I'll probably put in a shop hour or two tomorrow working on the same project or similar, as I still need to put in 10 more shop hours for the semester.  The pace is picking up as Opening Night gets closer; soon we'll start painting the set.

The director gave me and the props mistress "large print" copies of the script.  (We're both in her Script Analysis class.)  I've already taken the loose pages, drilled holes in them, and put the script into a binder so I can mark it up at Thursday's "paper tech" rehearsal (marking where light & sound cues happen).

Feeling productive

Had a very productive day in the scene shop yesterday.  Only two of us showed up to earn shop hours, so we didn't have to share tasks or take turns with the tools.  We finished the steps and decking for the set, then removed a temporary backstage step to an entrance onto the set and replaced it with a platform.  The platform is at the same height as the entrance it serves, so the actors don't look silly stepping up to come into an apartment from the hallway.  Because the platform is so high, we also built a truss and step to make it easy to get onto and off the platform.  I got to cut the pieces for the truss and also drilled pilot holes for the screws putting it together.  I also "perforated" a bit of truss that needed trimming back to accommodate one of the steps on the front of the set, then cut some plywood for said step.  I don't drive the screws; I don't seem to have the hand strength or something.  However, I can measure accurately to 1/16" and can tell by the measurements I'm given whether I'm cutting a stile, a rail or a toggle.

This afternoon was spent in the kitchen: sweet potato-black bean chili, unstuffed cabbage rolls (tomorrow's dinner), and 15-bean soup with ham.  As you can imagine, the house smells oh, so homey and delicious right now.  Most of this bounty will go into the freezer so the Chief can have a ready dinner while I'm at the theater.  (The Odd Couple techs in next weekend.)  Tomorrow I'll make a batch of oxtail soup and, homework permitting, a batch of pumpkin-oatmeal-cranberry bars ("breakfast bars", as the Chief calls them).

You couldn't have told me that before?

I learned this afternoon that the transfer program I just applied for yesterday isn't for folks who already have a B.A.  It sure would be nice if they'd tell you that before you apply.  It seems to me they coulda mentioned that at the little presentation they gave on their program back in September.  If there'd been an application fee, I'd definitely be asking for a refund!  Harrumph!

Another application submitted

Just sent off my community-college-to-uni transfer program application.  Getting into the program will guarantee me admission to uni next fall as long as I get my AA with at least a 3.0 GPA.  That one isn't the nail-biter the straight uni application has been.  BTW, they have yet to let me know the verdict on the application I submitted in July.  I had expected to hear by mid-October; they're a bit late getting back to me. :p

Not a great hair day

You know it's not a good hair day when your husband tells you your hair looks like a wig.  You check a mirror and realize he's right - it does look like a wig, and a bad one at that! :D

My Regency stays are coming along

Had my second fitting this afternoon for my Regency stays.  My seamstress is giving me a very reasonable price because she's never done corsetry before.  She keeps telling me how much fun she's having, though - she's learning so many interesting things in the course of her research (scrimshaw busks, anyone?) and is enjoying learning new techniques.  The first fitting was just a single layer of fabric, to get an idea of where the seams, gussets & boning channels would need to go.  Today she had added a second layer with the busk and some preliminary boning.  It fit remarkably well; this is coming along nicely!

I had asked that it be ready by Thanksgiving so I would have time to make myself a dress (which I can't fit properly without the stays) for a Jan. 9th Twelfth Night ball the Chief & I plan to attend.  She's doing her part; soon it'll be my turn to start sewing.  The fitting scares me - I have NO idea how to make it work - but I know a few people locally who can help.  And even if I don't finish the dress in time for the ball, the Plan B dress I bought at last month's costume sale should do marvelously.  Just need to lower the hem and add some accessories and it'll be ready to go.

Music school audition video is behind me at last!

Last night I uploaded my audition videos to my music school application and sent it off.  Got a little email acknowledgement telling me I should hear back by 23 Dec.  I wasn't thrilled about my recordings, but I'm hoping they'll see enough potential to accept me.  I also hope they won't dismiss me because of my age.

Still waiting to hear whether I've been accepted to uni for the spring.  Maybe this week?  At least I can relax, knowing my Fall 2016 application deadline isn't till March.

Costume party!

The Chief & I didn't hand out candy last night because we had an invitation to a costume party.  He was less than thrilled about getting dressed up - that's my thing, not his - but agreed to wear a few pieces that came together as a pirate costume.  He liked it better when I was able to give him a facial scar (collodion is great stuff for that!).  It was a rush job, done before dinner on the night, but not bad, considering.

My costume was vaguer.  I've got this royal-blue dress which I augmented with a bling-y necklace, a water-color-y scarf with fringed ends that I tied around my head, and a skirt made of tulle strips knotted onto another length of tulle.  I also took some blue, teal & purple eyeshadow and painted swirls on my face and neck.  (Wasn't the greatest make-up job in the world, but I was in a hurry.)  Guesses included the Blue Fairy and Tinkerbell.

It's painful to hear a recording of yourself.

We finished recording my audition video and S is now compressing the files before putting them on my flash drive.  His accompaniment sounds very nice (DMA in piano performance, after all) but I'm not enjoying hearing myself sing.  I was struggling, especially with the Purcell, and I can hear every glitch, every wobbly pitch, every place where my technique is, shall we say, lacking.  I know you're always your own worst critic; I just hope the auditioners are kinder to me than I am to myself.

That's a relief! But "wait" is still a 4-letter word

I had expected to hear by now whether I'd been accepted to uni for the spring semester; still no word. I was getting concerned, largely because the Nov. 1 early-admission deadline for the fall is looming large.  Turns out that's the deadline for freshmen; for transfer students, it isn't until March 1st, so I don't have to worry about reapplying for a few months yet.

In related news, I record my music school audition video tonight!  I'm feeling by turns fatalistic and panicked, calm and nervous.  If I'm not accepted for Fall 2016, I'll just reapply for Fall 2017.  (They only admit new students in the fall.)  Pray for me, and for the Chief, who has to put up with me during this whole process.

I hate apps that nag.

Last night I started my music school application, which just needs my audition videos to be complete.  Today I got an email from the application system titled "Finish your application today", "reminding" me that my application is due soon.  Trust me, little app, I'm painfully aware of the deadline.  Now leave me alone!

Now that's love!

The Chief is what I call a "peanut butter purist" - only eats peanut butter in a sandwich.  He's not interested in peanut butter in any other form (ingredient, flavoring), and thinks peanut butter/chocolate candy (especially peanut butter cups) is an abomination.  Imagine my surprise when I was unloading the groceries today and found he'd bought me a package of not just one, but two, Reese's chocolate-covered peanut butter pumpkins!  He had fun making a big show of shuddering at bringing such "contamination" into the house, but he obviously enjoyed bringing home a little something he knew I'd enjoy.

This is getting real!

Tonight I had my first (and only!) rehearsal with my replacement accompanist.  He's a genial guy, with a doctorate in piano performance.  Not only did he play both my songs with ease, but he followed me well, too.  I recorded him playing both accompaniments so I can work with them at home (as I told him, "so I can take you home with me to practice").  Friday night we record my audition video! =:o  After all these months and months of working these 2 little pieces exclusively, it's hard to believe it's almost over.

I just finished drafting my music school application.  It's ready except for the video files (they want each song as a separate file).  Friday night we'll record, S will do the conversion and load my files onto a flash drive, and I'll upload the files to my application and send that baby on its way!

It'll be a relief to have this behind me after working on these songs for what feels like years.  I've already told my voice teacher I want to take next week off, then work on something, anything, else.   She agreed that that's a good idea; she's probably almost as tired of those pieces as I am.  She suggested we do something she's done with other students in similar situations - bringing in 3 or 4 new songs each week for a few weeks.  We'd give them a quick once-over, I'd take 'em home and work on them a little, we go over them at my next lesson, then pick another few and repeat the process.  Sounds like a relatively painless way to explore new pieces while giving myself a break from the audition pieces that have been eating my musical life for the past several months.

Today's lesson - Soundboard 001

Today my Tech Theater prof had us help the events team setting up for tomorrow's College Enrichment day.  Since I'm going to be running the sound board for next month's college production, I was assigned to the sound designer.  She showed me how she was mic-testing the wireless mics, then had me put fresh batteries into the handheld mics, then sound-check them.  I even got to set the initial levels.  She also showed me how she gave the TV crew a line out and had me set the levels for that feed.  Pretty basic stuff, but it's a start, and of course it also gives me a few grains of familiarity with the board.

Looking forward to being the sound tech for "The Odd Couple"; another skill, however, rudimentary, to add to my repertoire.