On Stage

At 6 o'clock on Friday I headed up the narrow staircase of the Richland Players Theater toward the old green room.  It was the opening night of Almost Maine and all of the cast was milling about mumbling lines under their breath and getting out their makeup cases.  We had two hours before the show started and everybody was on edge.  After two months of memorizing lines, stage decorating, and rehearsals in the ancient theater, we were as ready as we'd ever be.

We put on makeup, did hair, and made sure our costumes were laid out for changes between scenes as we listened to the audio feed from the theater.  As the clock approached 8, the crowd got louder and louder and the whole crew gathered in the green room for one last "Hurrah!" before the show. 

I crept down the old rickety stairs that led down to the stage before my first scene. Two other actors and I sat in darkness backstage listening to our friends deliver lines that we all knew by heart.  As I sat behind the curtain, listening to the crowd laugh and sigh, I thanked God for the excitement I felt.  I prayed that I wouldn't blank out on stage but conceded that if I did, life would go on and the world wouldn't end. 

As it turned out, we had a hell of a show. There weren't any huge mishaps to speak of, and nobody drowned in that foreboding pool of stagefright.  My two scenes were in the first Act, and so I got to relax until the final bow.  After the show, the cast, crew and directors went out for drinks and appetizers at Applebees.  We smeared our lipstick on glasses of beer and shared deep fried everything in celebration of a fabulous opening night.

Putting on make up.

Sexy sexy...before make up and costume.



All done up as Villian the waitress.



Someone's got a case of the Mondays

Okay, so I started this post Monday morning and finished after my guitar lesson in the afternoon.  Please observe how fickle my outlook on life can be!

Monday morning:

Ugh...what a day. I don't know what my deal is but every fiber or my being is anti-today. It's my day off and I should be relaxing and enjoying the free time but I get anxious almost every Monday. I worry about my guitar lesson and not being prepared, I dread going to rehearsal at 5:30, and even the little things that should be enjoyable--like going to lunch with my cousins--seem like chores. The good news is that even though my Monday mornings usually start off funkified, after the guitar lesson the day looks a little brighter.

I'm thinking of tutoring in the ESL classroom starting next week. Somebody keep me accountable for that okay? Just ask how it went, cause I'm sure if I just get out of the house in the morning things will look up.

Monday afternoon (Reflection on Saturday):


On Saturday, Shivyon and I decided to be spontaneous and drive to Walla Walla after work for some wine tasting.  The drive was beautiful and we arrived in the cute little downtown district around 4:30.  Sadly, most of the tasting rooms closed right about that time and reopened for music at 8.  After about half an hour of walking around we finally found a little tasting room that was open.  The "Sleight of Hand" wine was abysmal but the girl with dreads (dreds?) serving us was nice and said we didn't need to pay the usual $5 tasting fee.  We walked to the Millhouse Brewery for a well balanced meal of spiced wine, buttered rum, and pot stickers.  We finished dinner and were ready for some good music but when we looked at the clock it wasn't even 6.

Me and my spiced wine at the Millhouse Brewery.

After that we headed to a beautiful cafe/restaurant/wine bar called Olive and got huge glasses of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  We setttled down in comfy leather chairs and chatted for over an hour as we waited for the band to start at Sapolil.  Pleasantly tipsy, we paid the $3 cover charge and sang along with the 3 man band as middle-aged couples awkwardly danced and made me happy that older people could still hold on to that can't-take-my-eyes-off-of-you romance.

I sobered up and we drove home to the T.C.  I was exhausted from the week and wine but glad to have done something out of hum-drum Kennewick routine.  Next trip planned: Spokane!

Hello 2011

Hooray for a new year! I always get excited about new beginnings but I shyed (shied?) away from making huge New Year's resolutions.  As I told most of the Corner House during Sunday's conference call, I'm trying to do little things more regularly--wearing my retainers, putting my shoes away, making my bed in the morning etc. I should put up reminders to keep that up because it's really not hard and doesn't take a ton of time.  It's just getting in the habit I guess.

I have good news about my heart! I think that I might be over Oscar (knock on wood).  It took long enough, geez.  Some of you know that over the past few weeks I've been desperately lonely--missing my Whitworth community and wanting a guy as well.  In my miserableness, almost any guy that crossed my path became a possibility.  Sure, boy craziness is not the most positive place to be but I realized that I'm not reverting to Oscar.  I'm looking for someone new and that makes me so happy even if I have to be a little lonely until I find him.

My sister and I went to Crossview (the church whose pastor is a Whitworth grad) on Saturday and Pastor Josh came up to us afterward and introduced us to a whole slew of people. He invited me to his small group on Wednesday so I might check it out.  It would be so nice to have a quality group of people to spend time with.  However, the play is going to take over my life here pretty soon. Next week we'll have rehearsal every night in costume! I'll be glad when it's over. I have to keep reminding myself that I CHOSE to be part of this.  I like it when I'm reahearsing, it's just so far away and inconvenient. Ok well enough about me. On to reading your blogs. Love.