Take Five (Part 10)

Anna put her arm around the younger woman and gave her a hug. "Hey, it's a foot in the door. I take it that, uh, Sophia doesn't know about..." She tilted her head in Ricardo's general direction.

"No," Laura said, shaking her head, "And I want to keep it that way for as long as I can."

"She would probably treat you better if she knew," Anna pointed out.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Ricky told me the same thing yesterday. But this is something I really want to do on my own, Anna. I need to."

"I know, chica," Anna said, smiling. "Why do you think I've kept quiet about who my cousin is?" Laura smiled back. It was good to know that Anna had made it on her own - maybe she really could do the same.

"Hey!" Ricardo barked, coming over to the trailer. He sounded gruff, but he winked at the two women in front of him. "Where's my star?"

"Right here, Ricardo, dear," Sophia said, stepping out of her trailer.

"Sophia! You look beautiful - come and sit in the light for me, so we can share you with the world," Ricardo said theatrically, offering his arm to the actress.

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Sophia replied, taking his arm.

As the director led her away, Laura looked at Anna and rolled her eyes again. Anna laughed. "Have fun! I'll be over at Stage B for a bit, then I'll come back to touch her up." "Thanks," Laura said wryly.

Take Five (Part 9)

"Ms. Cornish?" Laura called, knocking once more. "Mr. Jarvis has called for places."

Inside her trailer, Sophia sat serenely as her personal make-up artist finished her work.

"Would you be a dear and tell that girl outside that I will be ready when I am ready?" Sophia asked the make-up artist, her voice almost too sweet.

"Of course," the woman replied, and stepped outside.

"Anna!" Laura jumped back as the door opened, surprised to see her cousin stepping out.

"She's in a mood today, Laura," the make-up artist warned after closing the door. "She's being really sweet..."

"Shit," Laura muttered. When Sophia started out sweet, things usually ended up being much worse than normal by the end of the day.

"Anyway, she's all made up, hair done, and she says she'll be ready when she's ready," Anna continued. "My stuff's still in there, so I'll just stick around until she comes out."

"Sure," Laura said, still somewhat distracted by thoughts of impending doom. "You aren't usually this late with her makeup - what's going on today?"

"I've got no idea," Anna replied. "All I know is taht Mikayla called me as soon as she was done Sophia's hair, and that was almost an hour later than usual. I've got no idea if it was Mikayla or Sophia getting in late, or if it was just a bad hair day."

Laura sighed. "Hopefully, it was just a slow morning."

Take Five (Part 8)

As he walked away, Blake shook his head a bit. Sometimes, he felt a little guilty about leaving a girl hanging. However, if she couldn't pick up on the fact that he still didn't bother learning her name... well, she almost deserved it.

This intern thing, though, had caught Blake's attention. The girl didn't really give of an "I'm-sleeping-with-the-director" vibe, so it surprised him to hear that she was seen with him like that. He made a mental note to watch how the two of them acted - after all, food services girl didn't seem to be the brightest bulb, and it was entirely possible that she was wrong.

"Let's get rolling, people!" The director's voice interrupted Blake's musings, and the actor made his way over to his place, glancing around, trying to see where Laura was. He finally caught a glimpse of her over at Sophia's trailer, knocking on the door.

Drama Llama

I was in the OR this morning, as I am almost every Thursday morning, and I heard that term for the first time. See, when you're a scrub tech in the OR, you end up having a lot of time to just wait for the doctor (well, if you work for my doctor, you do!). Unfortunately, while you're waiting, you're sterile. That means you can't touch anything that's not sterile, which includes your own body from the waist down and the sides back - you can't rest your hands on your knees, or cross your arms, or do anything but stand or sit there with your hands partly in the air. Anyways. Back to the drama llama.

While we're waiting, we chat. Today, there were three of us in OR1, waiting for the doctor. Sometimes, chatting turns to gossip. It turns out that one of the OR team has earned the nickname of 'drama llama' because everything around her turns into some huge melodrama - a paper cut bleeds for a week, that sort of thing.

I started thinking about it, and I can identify at least two other drama llamas at the office, and occasionnally, I show the same tendencies (at least I realize it! And sometimes try to control it...).

I also love the name - drama llama. It's cute, and I like llamas. Plus, llamas are less regal than queens, so it implies that your drama is not important enough to make you a drama queen. Or you're too straight to be a queen...

Do you have any drama llama stories to share?

Attention span of a gnat

I logged in to blog tonight, and was surprised to see my face. Yes, I had forgotten that I changed my avatar from my tap shoes to a photo of me. Early Alzheimer's perhaps? Or maybe just a short attention span. Or maybe just too many things on my mind!

I'm now a card-carrying member of the library system. I got signed up today, and I started off with two knitting books, and two card-making books. I've heard that a particular friend of mine doesn't approve of libraries, because people don't have to buy books, thereby not supporting authors. I understand where she's coming from - I want people to buy my books (well, my theoretical books), not just borrow them. At the same time, there are people who simply can't afford books, and should not be denied the joys of reading. And, well, I can't really justify $29.95 for a knitting book when I may or may not actually find a pattern that I like at my current skill level. Of course, if I do find a pattern in a borrowed book, chances are good that I'll go out and buy it for myself.... so libraries, for me, are more of an idea place.

My throat still hurts, and I'm starting to get froggy-sounding. This is not fun. On the bright side, I've only used about a quarter of a box of Kleenex (with Aloe and Vitamin E!) today, as opposed to the almost-full box that I used up yesterday, so my nose is getting better! I chatted a lot tonight (PRN!), and I'm wondering if I'll still have a voice in the morning. It used to be, when I got sick, that the first thing to go was my voice. I almost miss that. It was nice to have an excuse not to answer phones or deal with patients... ahh... those were the days... I had a little whiteboard that I carried around. There was one night that I lost my voice, but Kari-Ann and I still went out to the Norwood to see Schmadams playing, and boy, did he ever have fun with that whiteboard!

My phone is dying. It is dying a slow, slow death. It will now stay charged long enough for only a ten-minute phone call. After that, it will give one pathetic beep, wait about six seconds, then turn off. I have unintentionally hung up on about six phone calls this week. It's only Wednesday. I wonder who else I will hang up on?

I'm craving chocolate. I had a slice of chocolate cake for dessert, and rather than quelling the chocolate-monster that lives in my belly, it acted as an appetizer, and the monster wants more. More!

I need to get a garbage bin for my office. I keep noticing candy wrappers and such that really need to make it out of the room, but I get distracted and forget them. I'll have to write myself a note.

How was that for a random day?

Other things on my mind

So blogging has been a bit truncated these last few days... I've been (and still am) icky. I've got a nasty summer cold, and all I want to do is sleep and blow my nose. I've still had to go to work (apparently it's the thing to do), so once I get home, I mostly crash.

When I'm not sleeping at home, I'm playing with the puppy, who is sad that I've been icky, and has also been sneezy herself. But her appetite is improving. The recent tornado sirens haven't made her feel any better - they get her very unnerved (and do the same to me!).

When I'm not sleeping or playing with the puppy, I'm vegging with a movie, a box of Kleenex (with Aloe and Vitamin E), a glass of juice, and some yarn. I finally finished Stuart's superfun surprise, and he'll receive it next time he's in town. I've started on a lovey for Joy's baby, and I bought yarn for a present for Erin's baby (but I won't tell you what it is, in case she reads my blog!). I also really want to make a Jayne hat for this weekend, but I don't think it will happen, unless I take the knitting along with me to PRN this week.

So I've been mildly productive, if not typing... the computer screen just makes my eyes water even more when I'm sick. But once I'm better - watch out! You won't be able to shut me up!

Someplace safe

Have you ever put something 'someplace safe' so that you could find it later?

Isn't it amazing how 'someplace safe' always manages to migrate without telling you?

I had a box of NeoCitran (cold remedy) a while back. I put it 'someplace safe' so that I could find it the next time I was sick. Of course, the next time I was sick, I couldn't find it. A few weeks ago, I was cleaning out my downstairs bathroom, and I found it under the sink. I decided that this was not a good location, so I moved it to another 'someplace safe.'

Now I'm sick again. Do you think I can find my safe place? OF COURSE NOT!!

I tried denying it

But I can't anymore - I have a cold. My nose is runny, my throat aches, my ears hurt... generally, I feel like poo.

I'm going to go lie down and try not to feel like poo now. That is all for today.

Happy Saturday!

It's time for another edition of 'What's on My Desk?'



Today's 'What' is actually a couple of things that are visible in the photo. In the centre is a plaque-mounted photograph of the centre of a flower. It's really pretty, and it was a gift from Renee, one of my sister's bridesmaids. When my sister got married, Renee and her boyfriend stayed at my apartment, and this was their gift to me. Renee's mom actually took the photograph, and it was the inspiration for the growing collection of flower photos that I have on my computer... although none of mine look quite as artistic!


To the left, you can see a deck of playing cards. I haven't used real playing cards in years... probably since first year university, when my friends and I would skip French class to play Asshole. Ahh... those were the days... to be young and foolish again...


To the right is a pair of flowered red cd cases. I got those before I moved last time - at Dollarama! They were $1 each, and totally worth it! I think I got about six of them... it was much less expensive than getting another big cd binder, though a bit more cumbersome. I've got those two now living on my desk with computer-related cds, I've got two in my car, and AJ's got another that was filled with blank cds so she could burn some music for me (HINT HINT!).


And that's some of what's on my desk!

The universe conspires

Apparently I am not meant to stay up and blog this week. Nor am I meant to sleep well.

I woke up with bites. Fifteen (15) bites, to be exact. Thirteen of these were on my left thigh and knee, and one on each ankle. WTF?? I have no idea what bit me, but they weren't there when I went to sleep. I've been in agony all day. I took an antihistamine this morning, and I've been slathering on hydrocortisone cream, but I still just want to rip my skin off!

In other news, I made an awesome dinner tonight, and I will have another awesome dinner on Sunday, made from planned leftovers. I like good food.

In other news, my puppy didn't eat much of her food today. She still got a couple of treats for going outside instead of peeing on the carpet, and she devoured part of a rawhide bone, so I guess she just wasn't hungry. I put it up, so she can't snack all night. We'll see if she's hungry tomorrow.

In other news, I found a box full of mittens and scarves while I was pulling out my suitcases. This is a good thing, and not entirely unrelated to my first story of the night - I will be sleeping with mittens and socks on tonight, in an effort to avoid scratching.

In other news, I'm going to bed now.

I'm tired.

I'm very tired. I feel like I'm always tired these days, and I'm getting tired of being tired.

I know that I'm going to bed too late. The problem seems to be that I get a second burst of energy very shortly after I get tired enough that I decide to come upstairs and start doing all my bedtime routine. About two minutes after I sit down to blog, I get that second wind, and I spend a lot of time poking around online and just generally being awake.

So tonight, I'm cutting my blog short, and I'm not reading anyone else's blog. Instead, I'm going to bed. We'll see how tomorrow feels...

Cutest Ever!

Woot! I am the "cutest video blogger ever"! (According to my sister.) I had a lot of fun with that video, actually... aside from getting it to upload! You may have noticed that the timestamp on the post says 10-something pm, but you probably didn't actually see it online until the next morning. That's because it took HOURS to get it online! First, my internet was being spotty and conked out a few times, then it was slooooooooow... and then it took forever to process! I finally had to give up and go to bed, because it was after midnight. It finally got fully posted in the morning... but I did have it recorded and posting before midnight!

Luckily, tonight, the internet is being nice to me. Yay!

I spent time in a very mulit-cultural environment tonight - it was Project Runway Night (PRN) at Blake's place. 'How is PRN multicultural?' you might be asking. I'll tell you! There were people from multiple cultures! There was an American, a Canadian, a Brit, and an American-turned-Brit. Okay, so the cultures are fairly similar... but we did have a nice little discussion about the differences we see!

Canadians and Brits butter everything. You name the sandwich, we'll butter it! I've been known to butter my bread to make a PBJ.

Canadians and Brits add extra 'u's to everything. Look at my blog - you'll see the little buggers everywhere!

Canadians and Brits say 'tap' instead of 'faucet,' but Americans use 'tap' to refer to the thing you put on a keg to get beer out (Canadians and Brits do, too).

I won't ask for that special Friday section of the paper at work (the Out & About) because I get laughed at every time I do. The American-turned-Brit gets teased for talking about wearing 'regular' clothes instead of 'normal' clothes. The Americans get laughed at in the other two countries ;).

Also, we had Shepherd's Pie, that ended up being country pie because it had beef instead of lamb. And that is a British/Irish dish.

Maybe next time, I'll make perogies!

Yikes!

So after last night's panic about wonky internet, I was very relieved to finally get my blog up. Then tonight, after I got home from shopping, I returned to my computer to find that, once again, my internet connection was missing!! This is VERY distressing! Luckily, my network admin managed to get it working again (yay, Shane!), so I still have my posting streak. Whew.

This brings up the question, though, what should I do when I truly don't have a connection? Back in May, when the tornado hit town, I had no internet access (and no power) for quite a while, so I used my camera to make a vlog, which I posted as soon as the internet was up again, with a back-dated time. I didn't feel that this was cheating, as I had blogged, but I simply couldn't get it up.

But what about other times, times when an Act of God is not involved? Part of me wants to make a backup post, something that I change the post date on each day, to serve as filler in case I don't get online. I really don't like that idea, though, because the point of this blog was for me to write every day, in some fashion. Honestly, I'm not crazy about putting up videos for this reason, but it's a rare occurence, so I'm okay with it once in a while. And I do compose (kind of) what I plan to say.

So what do you think out there, Loyal Reader(s?)?

On a vaguely related note, what's with the screencap that they used for my video?? I look ridiculous!!

I thought my internet was out...

...but it turns out, it wasn't! But I did a vlog anyways, so here you go!

Plenty of children

I think that this weekend has given me my quota of child time for the week. Or possibly the month!

While I don't have quite the same view of children as Colby, I'm not really a huge fan of them. I don't plan to have any myself (and yes, I know that half of the people reading this will want to respond with, "You'll change your mind!" and no, I don't think I will at this point). It's not that there's anything inherently wrong with children (I know Colby believes otherwise), it's just that I don't really like being around them for long periods of time.

I've spent years with children. I started babysitting when I was 12. I worked in day camps and nursery schools and daycares and youth centres. I have seen good kids, and I have seen bad kids. I have seen happy kids, and I have seen screaming-mad kids. I have been around day-old infants, and I've worked with teenagers. I'm just not interested.

And while everyone says, "It's different when they're your own!", they don't necessarily mean that it's better! My friend Heather told me today that it's not that different... except that when they're yours, you can't give them back! Heather's girls, however, are some of the best kids that I've run into in my life, so I have to give her a round of applause for that. Good job!

Anyways, between the girl at our gaming session all day yesterday, shopping with Heather and her girls today, and dinner with another infant tonight... well, I've put in some quantity kid time this weekend! I'm almost looking forward to working with the old people tomorrow. Almost.

Weird dreams...

Maybe it was the beer and pizza for dinner. Maybe it was watching "Evil Dead: The Musical." Maybe it was something else entirely. In any case, I had a crazy epic dream last night.

It started out in a boardroom at the dance studio where I used to take classes. It didn't look anything like the studio, but I knew that was where I was. We (myself and two of the teachers) were sitting at a table, talking about dance. Then, the room started to shift, and the table and floor started to slide out of the room - literally. The wall on one side was just a continuous stream of paint (or something of that consistancy), and the floor slid out, taking the table with it... kind of like that Jamiroquai video for "Virtual Insanity." Then patterns started coming in through the other side, hills and bumps and winding paths, and the three of us were still talking, but we were manoeuvering around these things. Tara, the tap teacher, asked me about something that I was making for a friend, and I told her that it was for Jonathan. Then she told me that he was her nephew, but that they hadn't seen each other in years...

Next thing I remember, I was in a car with Jonathan, just chatting, and he confirmed that yes, Tara was his aunt. We were in the car for a while, on a road trip. To England. (Look, I know and you know that you can't drive from the US to England, but apparently my dreams don't know that.) We were driving around London, but it looked more like Chicago. We were trying to find a place to get souvenirs, and decided to go to Costco. As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that all the spots had signs indicating that all of the parking was metered. And it cost $3.76 to park (what a weird number).

Neither of us had any change, so we got out of the car and Jonathan walked over to a nearby truck and stuck an American $20 into a slot on the trunk's bumper. A bunch of Canadian change (four toonies, two loonies, and about eight quarters - yes, I know that doesn't add up to $20... blame it on the exchange rate) came out of the tail pipe, and we headed back to stick the coins into the slot on the sign.

As we were walking over to the car, Tony (Nathan from G&D) came up to us and started chatting. He was afraid that we would tell his wife that he was at Costco, and made us swear not to tell her. We chatted a while longer, then said goodbye to Tony, and tried to put the money into the sign. Jonathan gave me the change, and I kept dropping it and trying to figure out how to put in exact change without having any pennies. Finally, I got the money in, and we went into Costco.

And then I woke up.

I need to get some more normal dreams.

Take Five (Part 7)

"That's her," the craft services girl whispered to Blake, pointing to Laura as she walked past.

"Really?" Blake asked.

"Really!" she replied. "I saw her last night, after we wrapped. She ran over and got into Mr. Jarvis's jeep - she put on some dark sunglasses and slouched down, like she was trying to hide, and he totally peeled out of here!"

"Really..." Blake said, this time sounding more thoughtful. The intern and the director? That was awfully cliche, but it did seem to happen all the time.

"Blake?" The craft services girl was looking at him, like she had just asked something.

"Sorry, baby, I missed that - what did you say?" He flashed her a smile, hoping it would keep her from getting upset with him.

"It's okay," she said, grinning. "I wanted to know if you were busy tonight?"

"Sorry, gorgeous, but something has come up," Blake told her, keeping his smile on. "I'll call you later, though."

"Okay," she said, giving a little giggle as he got up and left the cart.

As he walked away, Blake shook his head just a little. Sometimes, he felt a little guilty about leaving a girl hanging. However, if she couldn't pick up on the fact that he still didn't bother learning her name... well, she almost deserved it.

Running is stupid.

I ran today. What a stupid idea!

I don't like running. I believe that you should only run away from things (like evil trees) or towards things (like the bus that's pulling away). Running for the sake of running is just silly. However. Today I took my puppy for a walk, and on the way home, she wanted to run. I figured we'd run for a few steps, maybe a minute or so, then she'd get pooped and want to walk again. I was wrong. We ran all the way home. (Except when we slowed down because she ran across a grate and partly fell through because she's got little feet. I have little feet, too (that's another story), but they're big enough not to fall through the grate.)

I'm now all hot and sweaty and shaky. It's not fun. Also, asthma sucks ass.

I'm going to resubscribe to my dad's heartbeat theory: You are born with a limited number of heartbeats. Don't waste them on something silly like running.

Take Five (Part 6)

Laura waited until his door was shut, then breathed a sigh of relief. This job was way more stressful than she had expected it to be! Between Sophia's little fits and Blake's teasing, Laura was constantly on edge, waiting to see who was going to catch her by surprise next. After taking a moment to compose herself, Laura headed off in search of the director.

Ricardo was almost all the way to his car when Laura spotted him. She picked up her pace and arrived at the vehicle just as he put his hand on the handle.

"Laura!" he said, surprised. He hadn't heard her approach, although that didn't surprise him - he had been lost in though, trying to come up with some way to handle his two stars. He quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching, but it seemed that the coast was clear.

"Get in, and keep your head down," he told her, climbing into the red Jeep. Laura hurried to the other side and climbed in, pulling on a pair of sunglasses from her bag and sitting low in the seat. Ricardo fired up the engine and pulled out of the lot before he glanced over at Laura again.

"So what's up? I thought you wanted to avoid being seen together," he said.

"It's just been a bad day, Ricky, and I wanted to talk to you," Laura said with a sigh. "Between Sophia's sulking and Blake laughing at me... it's just sucked."

"I told you about Sophia before you started," Ricardo said. "I knew it would be hard to deal with - but you insisted that you could handle it."

"I didn't come here to have you say 'I told you so,'" Laura pouted. "And I can handle it. Usually. It was just today."

"You can always quit... I'm sure I could find someone else -"

"No! Ricky, please - I can do it! And if I can get through this, I can work anywhere in the business." She looked at him, her expression fierce.

Ricardo chuckled. "I know you can, kiddo. Don't worry, every day can't be this bad. Of course, it could be much better for you..."

Laura sighed as Ricardo trailed off. "I want to do this on my own, Ricky; I want to actually earn my respect, not just have people being nice to me because of you."

"I'm just saying, it's handy to know the director," he said with a shrug.

"Nepotism is not the way - I don't want to just be Ricardo's baby sister."

"So you'll just be 'that intern over there,'" he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Laura sighed. "For now."

Creativity has its limits...

I have no creative juice left today.

I worked on my apron all night, which was fun, but exhausting... my dining room table is a tall one, so I actually have to stand up to use my sewing machine. I really need to get a sturdier craft table to put it on, so I can sit. I also had a puppy running around, which made it a bit more challenging.

I spent my lunch hour working on Stuart's superfun surprise, but still didn't finish it. *sigh* So he's going to get it in the mail, because there's NO way it'll be done on time to give it to him by 6am tomorrow!

In any case, I think I used up all of today's creativity between those two things and daydreaming at work. I spent a lot of time daydreaming today, actually. It was Tuesday, and Tuesday is LASIK day. Usually, I have to concentrate a bit more, but today I was training, and Angela (the trainee) is a bright gal, and she picked it up really quickly, so I had very little to do. So I stood there in the dark and daydreamed. It was kind of fun, and I definitely got some more story possibilities out of it... I just don't feel like writing them down today.

Tomorrow, though, will be a writing day (I hope!).

en francais, svp!

de temps en temps, je voudrais ecrire en francais. malheuresement, je ne sais pas comment ecrire ici avec les accents, alors je n'utilise de tout la ponctuation.

on peut penser que je crane - mais c'est pas vrai! j'avais parler francais depuis... plus que vingt ans, et j'aime utiliser la langue quand c'est possible. dans ma ville ici, il n'y a pas beaucoup des gens qui parle francais, et je ne peux pas beaucoup practiquer... alors, je dois ecrire.

je pense que c'est plus difficile a ecrire une blog en francais, peut-etre parce que mon vocabulaire est plus limite en francais. j'ecoute des podcasts en francais, mais je ne sais pas si ca m'aide ou non. j'utilise bien ma dictionnaire francais/anglais!

est-ce etrange que je suis fier d'avoir me servir de mon mot favori? j'adore 'malheuresement' - c'est deux fois plus beau que 'unfortunately.'

d'ac, je pense que j'en ai assez... au revoir pour le soir!

Busy day!

I feel like I got a lot accomplished today, but if you look at my apartment, it doesn't really look like I did. I hate that.

I finished Jonathan's poncho, which makes me very happy - I had a self-imposed deadline of 15 Aug, and I beat it! Yay! Which means that I'm now letting myself start on Stuart's superfun surprise (I love that alliteration), though I don't think it'll be done before he leaves for school (I've only got 3 days, and I've got that pesky going-to-work thing, too). After that, I'm finishing my blue dice bag, and then it's on to my sweater!

I also cut out all of the pieces for my apron today, although I haven't started really assembling them... I ran the stitches for about half of the gathering, and the rest will have to wait until I bring my sewing maching downstairs and fully set up. That probably won't happen until Tuesday at the earliest, but if it doesn't happen Tuesday, it'll wait until next Sunday (because I actually have a life planned this week!).

I played with my puppy to the point that she lost interest in me and chewed on her toys quietly.

I did three loads of laundry.

I watched the rest of season one of Carnivale. Wow. I then harassed Jonathan for season two.

I chatted online for the second and third time this week, which was also the second and third time in the last few months.

I caught up on email.

I added more lyrics to my iTunes collection.

I still have crap all over my room.

But it was a productive day, even if it doesn't look like it!

Back to the regularly scheduled programming

After a two-week hiatus, I once again spent Saturday playing D&D. I'm a geek, what can I say? It was nice to be hanging out again, and I even managed to convince two friends to join in - one had played once before, and the other was a D&D virgin (although he admitted to playing Magic in high school). Unfortunately, the first had to leave early, and I couldn't tell if the second one actually enjoyed himself or not... and since he doesn't leave comments on my blog, I won't ever know (BIG OLD NOT SUBTLE HINT RIGHT HERE!).

I have spent the majority of my [short] D&D career as a player. I've been gaming for less than a year, so it makes sense. Tonight, I was the Dungeon Master (or DM, for those of you in the know) for the first time. Well, technically it was my second time, but the first time was on a weeknight with only two players, so it doesn't really count, especially since we abandoned it after one night. This time, I had five different players, and we played for about 10 hours (including character creation and a dinner break). It was a pre-fab adventure, which does put some limits on the DM, but it went pretty well. I recorded the first hour or so of it, and I'm planning to go back and listen to it later. Why? To see how much I suck as a DM... to see where I lose control of the game, to see where I give more information than I should, to see where I take too much time to set up things... just to see where, as a player, I would get bored and lose interest. And then I'll delete it.

All in all, it was a pretty good session, although I'm not sure if I like being the DM... There's definitely less waiting for someone else to be ready, but I don't really like that other people are waiting for me to get ready. The pre-fab adventure is fairly restrictive, and I think that's bothering me a bit. I definitely didn't get to be very creative with this one. I think it might be better if I was writing my own adventure - I love how Shane's campaigns just flow with the players. I guess everyone has to start somewhere, though, and most of the DM's I know (but I only know 4) started by running pre-fab adventures, or at least running in pre-fab worlds. It's not a bad way to get a feeling for how to run, I suppose, and it's keeping my players in line a bit more... kind of... although it's driving me nuts that Artemis keeps controlling every undead creature they come across! The party had a zombie and two skeletons following them around for a while, and almost had an ogre zombie (I'm soooo glad that check failed!).

Hope you enjoyed reading all this geekiness... I'll bet it's as foreign to some of you as football stats are to me!

Take Five (Part 5)

Laura did her best to keep her expression neutral until Sophia was inside the trailer. Laura shut the door gently, then stuck her tongue out at it - childish, yes, but it made her feel a bit better.

"Nice," said a voice from behind her. Laura spun around, mortified at the idea that someone had just seen that.

"Mr. Herrington!" she managed to squeak out, her cheeks growing red. "I, um... that is, it wasn't what it looked like..."

Blake grinned. "Oh?" he said, his tone playful. "You mean you didn't just -"

He stopped mid-sentence and laughed at the expression on the intern's face. It was clear that she was terrified that Sophia would hear him. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks had gone from bright red to ghostly white.

"Don't worry," he told her with a wink. "Your secret is safe with me." With that, he turned around and opened the door of his own trailer, disappearing inside.

Laura waited until his door was shut, then breathed a sigh of relief. This job was way more stressful than she had expected it to be!

I can't think of a good title

I have no inspiration for tonight's post, which leads to the lack of title.

Actually, titles have always been a sore spot for me. I rarely end up with a title that I like. I'm good with coming up with working titles, but it's hard to come up with a good final title. I keep waiting for some memorable line to appear in the story/play/novel, but most of the time, I miss it entirely! You'd think that, being the author, I might actually catch those sorts of things... You'd be wrong.

I'm having an easier time writing two of my latest pieces, and I think that's because I'm doing a hell of a lot less self-insertion than I used to. I'm still definitely attached to my work, and emotionally involved, but I don't feel like I have to end up with an outcome that is appropriate to what I would expect/hope for in that situation.

Of course, every once in a while, I come up with a superfun idea for a title, and then I can't manage to come up with a story to go with it....

Is there a home for orphaned titles? Somewhere I can adopt one for my stories? And somewhere I can leave titles that I can't use? That would be a good thing...

Blogger ate my post...

I got all huffy earlier tonight about being stuck at home, and I did a ranting blog all about how much it sucked. I hit post, and Blogger ate it. It disappeared completely. So I said to myself, "Self, get out of here!" and grabbed a cab and went out.

Which took me to the joy that is Project Runway. I have never watched it before, but I think I will watch it again! Actually, even better than Project Runway was Shear Genius! It was absolutely ridiculous and I loved it! Where else can you see someone putting squid into a woman's hair and calling it high fashion? Seriously! I've also discovered that they have blogs! Although something tells me that they won't be quite as awesome as Colby's blog... but they have the potential to be painfully amusing.

So now I am off to read other people's blogs! WHEE!!

Take Five (Part 4)

"Really? Just to see me?" Sophia asked, suddenly looking sweet and innocent, every trace of irritation gone from her face.

"Just to see you," Blake repeated. He leaned in again, wrapping his arm around her. "Seeing you makes my day a bit brighter." He slid his hand down her arm, but left it on her elbow this time.

"You know," he said softly, "I'd really like to see you again... on purpose..."

She blushed and looked down, then laid her hand gently on top of his. "I'd like that," she said, looking up to meet his eyes.

Blake lifted his free hand and ran the backs of his fingers along Sophia's jaw, then gently turned her face towards him. Her gaze flickered between his eyes and his lips, her cheeks flushing with anticipation. Slowly, he brought his mouth towards hers.

Her eyes closed as their lips met, and after just a moment, Sophia lifted her hand to Blake's cheek.

"And cut!" Ricardo called out. "Beautiful! That's a wrap for today - we're out of light, so go home and get some rest."

Blake slowly pulled away from Sophia, still caught up in his character. It didn't take him long to drop it, though, and he nearly jumped up from the bench. "See ya tomorrow," he said with a grin as he started back towards the craft services cart.

Sophia blinked as Blake leapt up, once again irritated at how dismissive he was being. Taking great pains to keep from looking as irate as she felt, Sophia rose and walked back to her trailer, snapping her fingers at Laura when she saw that the door was closed. The intern barely hid her exasperation as she opened it, and Sophia frowned at her - the girl had a lot left to learn.

((PS: Last night's brilliant plan didn't work - instead of sleeping deeply, I dreamt I was shopping at the liquor store. *sigh*))

To sleep, perchance to dream

I am having a snack tonight before bed. It is a high-quality snack, and apparently a high-cholesterol snack. Did you know that Bailey's Irish Cream is high in cholesterol? I did not... but I'm young and I've been pretty good about not getting tons of cholesterol, so I'm going with it.

Why am I drinking before bed, you ask? Because I don't want to dream tonight. I want to sleep all the way through the night. Last night I woke up no less than four times, and I had crazy dreams all night. I think the problem is that I'm not getting into a deep enough sleep to get past the dreaming phase. My dreams are incredibly vivid and interactive, so it's actually quite exhausting to dream (if you're me). Many people have suggested that I take an allergy pill before bed, but all of my allergy meds are the non-drowsy sort, so that won't work. I don't really like the idea of sleeping pills, because I end up feeling really groggy the next day. So I'm going to try having one drink - just enough to relax me, but not so much that I'll be hung over.

We'll see if this will work.

In other news, I've got way too many projects on the go. Wait... that's not really news, is it? I've got to finish Jonathan's poncho in the next 11 days, so that's at the top of the list right now. Luckily, it's almost done. I'll make him model for a photo when it's finished. I've also got a novel to finish, and a play that's demanding to be written. Oh, and I'm still working on Take Five (stay tuned for another installment, coming soon!) Plus, I've got a new dice bag to finish, at least three blankets to finish, and my sweater. I REALLY want to finish that sweater before it's sweater season! Of course, given the way the weather works here, I've got quite a while... but that's next on the list, after the poncho. I've got a gift certificate for more yarn, and I won't let myself use it until I finish at least two projects (because new yarn = new projects).

...I think that's all for tonight...

I'm a bird, I'm a plane...

I am a ninja. I have impressed the world of theatre with my mad ninja skillz. I am one with the darkness. I move across a dark stage like the Force to stop swinging windows. I slip between shadows to retrieve fallen hats. I jury-rig headsets to stop the screeching sounds. With a single glare, I silence noisy actors.

Wait. Maybe I'm not a ninja. I'm Chuck Norris!

Wait. No, I'm not Chuck Norris. I'm a stage manager!

Best part? I've been asked to do it again, so I must be doing something right!

Today's post sucks

Today's post is going to suck, and I know this in advance, so I'm warning you now. If you want quality in a blog post, turn around and go find another blog for today - but please come back tomorrow!

Yesterday, I got a shot. I hate vaccines, but they're required for where I work. It makes sense, given that I work in a medical facility. Still, I hate getting them. Yesterday's shot was part two of the Hep B series. Today, I feel ick. I knew I would, but I didn't really have a choice about when to get it. No, that's not true. I could have remembered on my own, and scheduled the appointment for a week or two ago, and been on time or early, rather than a week late. *sigh* That's what I get for being forgetful. In any case, my arm hurts and I'm exhausted. Apparently making antibodies is hard work.

Public Service Announcement

If you see someone who has a body part about which you know they are self conscious, it is not in anyone's best interest to draw attention to this body part in a way that is less than flattering. Example? "Damn, girl, you got booty!" is somewhat complimentary. "You really do have a big butt!" is not.

'The more you know...' *swoosh*

P.S. I'm not really that offended. I can make fun of my butt. I can let other people tease me about it. Not everyone is as cool as me ;)