Dang

It’s 10am. And I leave tomorrow. I have done nothing by way of preparing. After this, I’ll get up, dressed (should I shower and shave first, or will that just take up time?) get the laundry ready and take that down the street. Then I’ll get out the carrying cases and start planning it all. Annoyances and concerns- I got an email from the airline this morning, reminding me that I can check in online, and no fluids, etc etc. It also said that and second checked bag will cost me 25 bucks. The thing is- I have to check a bag, and a sleeping bag. The bag itself is my dad’s frame pack. Will the charge me because it’s awkward sized and bulky? And how tightly do I have to lash the sleeping back to it in order not to get charged 25 dollars for it? Damn. Flying just gets more and more expensive. This is no good. Second annoyance- it says to get to the airport at least 2 hours in advance of my flight, due to high seasonal traffic. I usually plan on getting to the airport an hour before the flight, because I check in online. And usually never check baggage. I’m trying to decide how much of this is their scare tactic just-in-case, and how much is true. It’s probably true. It is JFK, on a saturday, in the summer. And I have to check stuff. But I really don’t want to leave my house at 6 am to get there at 7ish, to get a 9am flight. Although. John got back from the bike ride yesterday, and we’re hanging out sometime today and he’s spending the night and driving me there (so, so glad of this, I very much did not want to leave at 5 am and drag all of my shit on two subways and the airtrain), so I’m not really planning on sleeping anyway. Seems like I should spend my last night here awake with him and the cats. I don’t want to leave the cats. I was pretty bored yesterday, and took 2 rolls of pictures of them. My light meter needs a new battery, so who knows how they’ll turn out. And one roll was black and white. And they’re cats, so the pictures are all the same. But they liked posing, and liked that I was playing with them. Pidgeon has been curling up next to me a lot lately. I don’t know if it’s just a new habit, or if it’s because she knows I’m going soon, but i like it. Snippet hasn’t hung out with me much since I had to give her horrible tasting dewormer. It’s hard to make amends with a cat.

I’m not overwhelmed by today, but only because it hasn’t really started yet. And I can’t fully imagine all there is to do. Maybe it’s not that much. I hope I remember everything. I should make a list of what I need to remember. I like lists. There’s so much to do. Argh. Oh! I have to remember not to pack clothes for tomorrow. And clean the bathroom, change the litter. And remember chargers. And turn off my ac before I go. And bring my paperwork. And turn off my alarm clock. And Riley’s book. And the cat instruction manual for Ian.

I really have to get started on this. I hate going anywhere. So much preparation.

Whooo

Been a while. A loooon long while. I haven’t been busy. I mean, I’m sure of of the time (how long has it been?) I was busy. BUt generally, not so much. Oh well.

I hung out with Naya tonight. It was nice. Sometimes she’s spazzy and odd and this different sort of persona, not fake, but not what I’m used to. Not tonight. It was very low-key, she was wrapping presents for her boyfriends’s birthday, and I offered creative suggestions. And we made dinner. And talked a lot. I was a little worried about hanging out with anyone because Vanessa and Jill have been staying with me the past few days, and I was a little peopled out, but there was no obligation to entertain or find things for us to do or anything, so it was just what i needed.

I did like having Jill and Vanessa here. We saw lot sof shows (Gypsy, In The Heights, [title of show], Spring Awakening) and went out to eat a bit, and bantered and teased each other and rode the subway. But it was all exhausting. I’d like if they lived closer to me, but I’m glad they’re not staying with me anymore. I was also sick of how they both went straight for the video game whenever we got home. I recently discovered Katamari, and bought a ps2 specifically to play it. I have a long history of hating video games, so this is somewhat of a big deal, but I really like this one (mainly because it’s pretty easy to play and it’s fairly absurd). But I realized that most of my utter dislike of video games in general is from watching other people play them. I hate how everyone ends up just sort of staring at the screen and not really talking and either just spaced out, or really wanting to take the controller. Lame. Not how I want to spend time with people I see once or twice a year. Watching a movie is somehow different and better. Anyway.

The shows were great. I saw TOS the week before with John, because he’s off on his motorcycle trip now, and it’s the only time I could drag him to it, and he had been wanting to see it since the first time I talked about it. It was fantastic, and made me cry and worry about being disconnected from theatre, and am I really doing what I want to be doing, and such. I didn’t like it as much the second time around, but I think that’s because our seats weren’t as good, and Jill was just so damn excited about it. I tend to be perverse about things like that, which is fucked up,a nd I should fix, but her being that enthusiastic put me more in the ‘no big deal’ mod. And I had already seen it 6 days before. From better seats. It was still great the second time around.

Gypsy was good. We were way high up and far away and I couldn’t hear it all that well, but there were funny bits, and Patti Lupone really is fantastic, hitting all the notes while still retaining the crazy edge to her voice.

In The Heights was pretty good, and I loved the lighting, and it was well-everythinged, acted, written, sung, all of it. But it didn’t have that effect on me. Didn’t really hit my core the way I had been hoping/expecting. I have the soundtrack now, though, so maybe repeated listenings will change that and add to my liking. It definitely did deserve all the awards it got.

Spring Awakening was awesome. I think of the four, I liked it the best. The lighting was fantastic, I liked the concept and the story. Not all of the songs, at first, but now they keep trying to get stuck in my head, but I can’t remember them well enough for that to happen, which sucks. I really wish I had a better musical memory. Some of the cast was still original, which I was glad of. It was fun. I want the soundtrack. I think Jill was a little taken aback at the graffic nature. I like exposing her to things like that.

John is on his annual bike trip. Apparently it kind of sucks. But he might get home in time to go see WALL-E with me, spend the night, and take me to the airport the next morning. I hope. He’s had terrible phone reception, so I haven’t heard much, but from what I did it seems that there’s been some good riding, nice curvy roads in the last couple days, but mostly it’s rushing around to sit and eat, and he’s frustrated at people, and a few of the people left, two because of a family death, and one for a work emergency. So it’s sort of been a letdown, but with bright spots. I don’t think he’s going to go next year. And I’m not so sure I’m going to go to Camp next year. Maybe we’ll go to Prague or something.

About Camp. I haven’t been looking forward to it so much. I leave at 9 am on the 19th. Which is awfully soon. Camp starts on the 21st. I’vee been really tired and lazy lately, and the thought of waking up at 8 every day is really unappealing. It’s a lot of energy, keeping kids engaged all day long. I’m trying to think happy thoughts, about the kids that I know and like, and the staff members, and about how I like being silly with them, and how nice and not-humid it’ll be, and I won’t be spending money, and people will cook for me, and I’ll get to make postcards in the afternoon and so forth. But I still have this feeling of obligation and annoyance. i hope it goes away when I get there.

I applied for a nanny job starting in september. I had a really great interview with the mom, I thought I responded well to her questions and to her description of the kids (two girls, 8 and 11), and she told me to call her when I get back from camp, so I can meet them. I really want this job. It would pay well enough to support me generally, without being full time. My plan is to hire myself out cheaply to designers in the mornings, for drafting and paperwork, and sitting in on tech when I can. That way I keep my hand in theatre, get experience, add to my resume, without having to depend on it for a livlihood. I hope it works out. I hope I get this job. I hope designers hire me. I don’t want to have no clue what I’m doing when i get back from camp. I don’t want to worry about money all the time. And I like working with kids (despite what I said above about camp) and I’m excited about getting to hang out with just a couple of them on a really regular basis. I think I’d be good at it. And I’d get to feel all smart, helping them with homework and stuff. We’ll see.

It’s late. I’m tired. And perhaps hungry. So time to go. I’ll try to update this a little more regularly while I’m at camp.