Life musings, off-the-wall subjects, and serious cases of "open mouth, insert foot".
Friday, April 28, 2006
we have chicken poop
Has anyone else seen this advertised on many Walgreens boards? It cracks me up. I went in to buy some eyedrops one night, and I saw the advertised "chicken poop" in a bin on the counter. (It's only chapstick, in case anyone hasn't actually seen the stuff yet.) So I made a comment to the guy working behind the counter, "I can't believe they actually sell chapstick named 'chicken poop'. Who would buy this stuff?" And he proceeds to tell me, "There's not really chicken poop in there. That's just the name." "Really?" I asked (as sarcastically as you can possibly imagine). As Bill Engvall would say, "Here's your sign." Because I actually thought that they really tubed up chicken poop and sold it for people to balm their lips with.
And, for anyone who's keeping up with my ever boring search for a job, I have an interview at AG Edwards on Tuesday. I had to fill out an online (what I thought to be) skills assessment. Instead, it was more like an 8-page personality test. "I believe it is OK to hurt other people to get what I want - Disagree, Strongly Disagree, Agree, etc." There were about 3 pages of questions like that, then another 3 pages with 6 sections of 4 words each in which I had to mark one each for "most like me" and "least like me", and a page or two of "A is to B as C is to..." Interesting. I just got my application packet in the mail, which I have to fill out and take with me on the interview--which is slated to take about 2 to 2.5 hours.
Also, "Cats" rehearsals are going pretty smoothly so far; it seems like everyone is starting to remember the words (if they didn't know them already), plus remember the notes. Mr. L sang his Old Deutoronomy part last night for the first time, and it actually gave me a bit of goosebumps. It was entertaining to watch and listen to, as he sat perched on his stool, choral book stretched out in front of him (the lyrics are printed in very small type), glasses pushed down the bridge of his nose while he alternated looking over the top of them and raising his head to look out from beneath them. "Journey to the Heavyside Layer" gave me goosebumps also, as it has before when we rehearsed it.
We have 2 baby showers to attend tomorrow: one for Eric & Heather, who are having a little girl in July (?), and one for Dennis & Jenny, who recently adopted a little 2-year-old boy from the Ukraine. Dustin had to practically drag me away from the baby section at Wal Mart while we were shopping tonight. And if the amount of money we spent on our friends for their babies is any indication of how I will spend when Dustin & I have a baby of our own, we will be in serious trouble!
One more thing before I quit boring y'all. I finished the Trauma Room One book I was reading. I highly recommend it; it definitely swings the pendulum more toward the possibility of Kennedy's assassination being a government (?) conspiracy / cover-up, but it's a good read and thouroughly informative.
...then Howard Frank Mosher's A Stranger in the Kingdom should be on your list of must-reads. Several months ago, while I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird, my main boss at the time told me about this book and highly recommended it. He gave me a brief synopsis (a new--colored--minister and his son move into a small Vermont town, and racial prejudices surface when he is accused of impregnating and killing a white teenage girl) , then told me he would have it sent to my apartment. "Sure, sure," I thought, but sure enough, a few days later it was sitting on my doorstep. I finally got around to reading it last month, and although I didn't find it nearly as powerful as To Kill a Mockingbird, it was a close second. It's not too terribly long (432 pages), but I do have to admit it's very slow-going at times. If you can hang on through the long-winded and sometimes tiresome parts, though, it finally picks up and is a great read. The trial was definitely my favorite part of the story, and I found myself actually talking OUT LOUD to the characters in the book, giving them hints and clues. (I tend to lose myself when reading like that.)
I also recently read The Pearl, by John Steinbeck. I may have had to read this short story in highschool, but if I did, I don't remember it. It's a quickie (96 pages), but if you have an hour and are looking for an interesting read, I'd recommend it.
Now I'm currently reading a book I am borrowing from my dad: Trauma Room One: The JFK Medical Coverup Exposed. (As you can tell, my reading preferences vary greatly.) This is an eyewitness account by Charles A. Crenshaw, MD, who was an attending surgeon at Parkland hospital where Kennedy was rushed after the shooting. I started it about an hour ago and am already 75 pages deep. So far, I'm enjoying it, especially since (I'm ashamed to admit) I didn't know all that much about the president's assassination as I probably should have. But this is a book that definitely opens doors for debate, and raises questions that many people have been asking for years. It should be an interesting, informative read that I'm really looking forward to. For example, one line states, "The wounds to Kennedy's head and throat that I examined were caused by bullets that struck him from the front, not the back, as the public has been led to believe." Interesting.
Other books on my shelf that I have yet to read and re-read are: Pride and Prejudice, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, A Tale of Two Cities, Son of a Witch, and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Hopefully I keep on this chain of reading (devouring?) books that I've been on for the last couple of months. Any suggestions to add to my list?
Rehearsals have FINALLY started. On Tuesday night, while we were learning our parts for "The Jellicle Ball", I turned to Adrienne at one point and, like a giddy school girl, said, "Dude, we are totally singing 'Cats' right now!" When I got the email with the rehearsal schedule on it, it all suddenly became more real, but it still wasn't quite tangible. Once we started learning and singing those songs, though...wow.
Last night was a really good rehearsal, and I actually remembered the correct notes I'm supposed to sing during "The Jellicle Ball"! (Andrew Lloyd Weber wasn't very nice to the altos in this musical.) Sure, I can sing along with the CD, no problem. But having to actually sing the harmony notes is a little bit different, as they are harder to pick out on the recordings. I did get goose bumps last night when we were singing "Journey to the Heavyside Layer", though.
It's already apparent that, while they will both still make it fun and a good time, Joie and Christian are going to be cracking the whip during rehearsals. (No offense!!!) But that's a good thing. We have 34 rehearsals until the first tech, and while that may seem like a lot, there is sooo much to be done. Most of the people in the show know the music, or are at least familiar with it; now we just have to work on all of us blending our voices and sounding fabulous. Plus, there's a TON of dancing to learn, remember, and work on. It's going to be a long rehearsal period (3-4 times a week, for 3-4 hours at a time), but it's definitely all going to be worth it in the end. Now that we've started singing, I'm ready for the next step: learning the dances! ------- In other news, no job yet. But still sending out resumes, following up, and going on interviews. Unfortunately, the interview process is where it's been stopping (much to my chagrin), but I'm confident (?) that something will turn up at some point. Hopefully sooner than later, though!
I'm 2 days late posting this, but: Happy Birthday to Dustin!, who turned 26 on the 7th. A spaghetti dinner, chocolate cake (complete with my own icing-made "NY" logo!), framed pic from the movie Scarface, and trip to the casino were his gifts.
And a big CONGRATS to the kids at DB, who performed "West Side Story" this past weekend, Weds. thru today. I saw parts of the show on Weds. and Thurs., then I actually got to sit and enjoy the whole thing last night. Our "adopted son", Joe, did a FABULOUS job as Tony. He had started taking singing lessons when he found out he'd landed the role, and they definitely paid off. Dustin & I tend to brag about him like he is a son, or even a little brother, and he's pretty much come to be both of those, in a sense. He's always at the apartment, and he even teasingly calls us "mom" and "dad" on occasion. I'm super proud of him for the wonderful job he did in the show, and I honestly hope he sticks with the theatre because the talent and bug are definitely there.
Mike (Action), Justin (Riff), Marcy (Anita), Maggie (Sharks' gal), and Collin (Bernardo) were other seniors in the show, and they ended their highschool Guild "careers" with a bang. I've done the alumni shows with the latter 4 of them, and they're a super talented group of kids who will have bright theatrical futures ahead of them if they decide to puruse it. -----
My dad was nice enough to give Dustin & I two tickets to last night's minor league baseball game, the first game to be played at the new Busch Stadium. Springfield beat Memphis, but I wasn't really paying attention to the score or the game, anyway. I was too busy taking in the new sights and sounds... Complaints? 1) TOOO MANY STEPS. For 2 people out of shape--as in my husband & I--climbing the 5 flights of stairs to our seats turned out to be too much, leaving both of us hunched over and gasping for air by the time we reached the top. Too bad we hadn't seen the working elevator and escalator BEFORE we started climbing... 2) Concession stand lines were LOOONG. We stood in line literally for 1/2 hour to get our hot dogs and soda. The vendors didn't seem to know what they're doing quite yet, but I guess I should give allowance since it's new to them also. However, when the vendor short changed me $1 (after my correct amount of change was displayed on the screen for he AND I to see), I was a little peeved. 3) The seats are really close together. I know I've, um, expanded a bit, but I know it's not been by THAT much. They somehow seem closer together than they did at the old Busch, so it was a bit hard not to be distracted by that. Bonuses? 1) More bathrooms, NO LINES!!! I didn't wait in a single bathroom line last night; I was amazed! There are bathrooms on each level, and all very accessible. 2) Each level is like a veritable carnival! Food stops are conveniently (too conveniently?) located at just about every exit for every section. The normal staples of a ball game are there--jumbo hot dogs, beer, peanuts, popcorn, nachos, etc.--but they also had extras: Hardees (in a ballpark?! oh the joys!), pizza, Dippin' Dots, and the grand daddy of them all: FUNNEL CAKES. They have funnel cakes! Happy happy joy joy! 3) The view is amazing. The cut-away portion of the stadium allowed for really pretty views of the courthouse, arch, and other St. Louis buildings. However, looking through the cut-away and seeing the rubble where old Busch once stood was a bit sad. All in all, it will definitely take some getting used to before I call the new Busch "home". But it's a beautiful stadium overall, and more accessible than old Busch. Except for the steps! Damn the steps!
