Cable results in bad habits

I don't like kids.  I don't have the same passionate hatred/terror that Colby has, but I don't really like kids.  People keep insisting that I would be a great mom, and I don't believe them at all.

In any case.

I've been watching TV much more recently.  Well, no, that's not true.  I've been watching about as much as I always have, but I've had more to choose from.  I've started watching TLC and the Discovery channel (they've always been my faves), and there are three shows that will get picked before ANYTHING else on TV:  Good Eats, Dirty Jobs, and Jon & Kate Plus Eight.  WTF?  

I have no idea why I love watching a show about a family with 8 kids.  It makes no sense to me.  And they're REAL kids, complete with whining and crying and screaming and hissy fits and dirty diapers (in the earlier episodes) and puking and EVERYTHING.  Despite that, I enjoy it.  Maybe it's because they're trapped behind the TV screen, and I know I won't have to deal with them in person.

Opening Night!

There is very little that has the same feeling as opening night.  Tonight, Scrooge opened at Macon Little Theatre, and it was a good show.  There were a few little... snafus (or is it 'snafoo'?)... but overall, it was a good show.

The cast is large.  That's being polite.  It's a bit crazy.  And there are children everywhere.  Insane, mind-reading children.  Have I mentioned that I don't plan to have children?  There were a lot of them.  And they weren't particularly well behaved.

Shows definitely feel different from the perspective of a tech crew member, though.  There's a lot less of the excited energy back at the sound booth, and a lot more reviewing of cues and pre-setting all the technical stuff.  And tonight there was much panicking... the sound board got turned off.  This may not seem like a big deal - if it's off, you just turn it back on, right?  Wrong.  There's a short somewhere in it, and it's a 20 minute process (at least) of plugging in, unplugging, turning on and off, and wiggling cords to get it on again.  So sound check was 20 minutes late.  But we had sound, so it was good!

If you're in Macon, and looking for something to do, go see Scrooge!  Visit Macon Little Theatre for ticket info!

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.

Mind readers!

Today, I was surrounded by mind readers!

At the Trinity Woods Renaissance Fair, there were dozens of the things running around, reading minds, while most of the adults were blissfully unaware of the evil surrounding them. I, on the other hand, have been reading Colby's blog, and I know the dangers of children. I tried to encourage the folks minding the apple-bob station to drown a few, but I was ignored. I tried to discourage safety with the javelin and archery stations, but to no avail. As far as I could tell, no children were harmed.

Upon returning home, I found that a mind reader had joined our D&D game. I was slightly troubled by this, until I found out that she was playing a mind reader in the game - I then became quite troubled! I did my best to keep my thoughts blank, and I hope I succeeded... the last thing you want is for the mind readers to know that you know what they're doing!

The Look

Ever have one of those days? Actually, that can be taken so many ways... Last night, I had a dream starring a coworker. Today, I ran into said coworker in the hallway and saw the exact same expression that I saw in the dream, and it was kinda creepy in a cool way.

I loved that look, and I totally thought that I had made it up! I never actually expected to see it... it was a smile, with some intensity and a little bit of brooding, and a little bit of something that I can't really put my finger on. Actually, now that I think for more than a few seconds, I've seen that look before - Angel, from BtVS, had a similar look, although his often had a 'kicked puppy' component. Take out the 'kicked puppy,' and that's kind of the look.

I think the weird part was that I had dreamt it the night before, really. I get all sorts of interesting looks at work, mostly because I tend to watch people's faces as they come around the corner towards me. There's nothing more entertaining than almost getting run down by the crazy doctor and catching the wide-eyed panicked look that is there for a fleeting second before he regains his composure and looks like a jerk again. Of course, there's one doctor in the office who always has the exact same expression except for his eyebrows. They jump up and down a lot, but the rest of his face stays the same. It's a bit odd... same smile, same everything, jumpy eyebrows.

Speaking of looks (and Colby will appreciate this one!), I met an infant the other day whose expression was totally vacant. It was as if there was absolutely nothing going on inside it's head. You'd think this child was raised on a steady diet of soap operas, it was that vacant. It was creepy. I don't know if this kid will become a mind reader - there's nothing to read other minds with.

Oh, and the green light on the webcam is still on. Someone's been getting a thrilling look at my office carpet.