Life's little ironies--

There are two things that happened on my way home tonight that just made me chuckle. Had to share them...

First off, as I was sitting at the drive-thru window at Taco Bell, I looked inside, only to see a young man in an Arby's apron getting his order. Arby's dines at Taco Bell...hmmmmm....

Second, shortly before I pulled into the driveway, the radio announcer was giving the evening weather forecast...'mostly cloudy over most of the Wasatch Front'. Didn't think anything more of it, until I got home and started climbing out of my car...and noticed the stars, just above the mountains. So then I started looking around...at more and more stars. Not a damn cloud in the sky. I just shook my head and smiled.

And all of this, after the TD at the Egyptian said he was going to try and get me a (relatively sizable) raise. It's fair, to me...they're still actually getting a bargain. I mean, the last three times they've called me, it's been to use my services as a scenic artist. There's not a lot of those in the state. And it's a skill (at this point, perhaps the only skill) that isn't in their 'talent pool' of staff personnel (well, that's assuming that Phil actually has some official affiliation with them, since he's been dredging out their costume storage!) I love being able to help out wherever needed...but it's so much more gratifying to be able to do something nobody else there can.

Made my night, really...I find it very easy to keep helping out people who let me know they appreciate my help...but 'Thank You' combined with a sizable paycheck says it so much more effectively than just 'Thank You.'

Mixed emotions...

So yesterday was pretty good. Low-key, for a birthday, but good. The park, for the first time (I'm not sure why it happened this year) put my name on the park computer system, so every other place I went at work yesterday, I had someone wishing me happy birthday. I even got serenaded by the entire Merchandise Department (I walked into the Opera House for something while they were doing an orientation, and the Department Manager put me on the spot...) I also had someone tell me they would have guessed me to be ten years younger than I actually am. I can only credit that to having a job that I love (even if I don't necessarily love everything about it...but I know guys I went to high school with that looked, ten years ago, older than I do now...)

The initial reaction on the news of the Opera House is mildly enthusing. Our worst-case scenario was that we'd point the problem out and they'd just say, "Sorry, out of luck...get out of the building as soon as possible." The Maintenance Director wasn't around yesterday (that's the sometimes-difficult part of the off-season...no guarantee that any one person is actually going to be at the park on any given day), but we talked it over with the head carpenter, who was pretty nonplussed by the whole thing and said, very matter-of-factly, "Yeah, just turn in a work order for someone to come over and inspect it, we'll get it taken care of." But, apparently, there's not a major fear of the beam crashing through the ceiling anytime soon. I'll just make sure I don't spend a lot of time standing at the north end of the stage...

The two worst things that happened yesterday were indirectly related. I woke up with a nasty head-cold, that's been trying to drop down into my chest...I got bronchitis about ten years ago, so every time I catch a cold, it tries to repeat the experience for me. I think I've got Scott to thank for the cold...I was doing makeup for a 'dance for the camera' piece this last weekend, and he had me show up at 10 AM Saturday morning--to a warehouse with no heat, and no air circulation, so it was about 20 degrees colder inside than out. And, then, basically, I sat and waited for 2 hours. And I got well-chilled, in the process. I could have waited outside, but the wind was blowing, and I dislike getting my eyeballs breeze-dried even more than I dislike catching a chill.

But we also had to grab a cart and haul a few things around yesterday...and it was a beautiful day, until about five minutes before I got the cart. By the time I got outside, it was raining. By the time I got back to the office with the cart, it was a full-on downpour. Fortunately, I'd anticipated getting caught in the rain; and I always dress extra-warm when I have a cold...so I had on enough layers that I didn't actually get soaked, other than my legs and feet.

But the day ended on a good note. My younger brother unexpectedly called me a couple of days ago and said, "Hey, Mom and I were wondering what your plans are for Wednesday night." I didn't have any...I'm getting together with some friends tomorrow night to have a birthday dinner (steak and dutch oven potatoes...hope I've got the cold on the ropes by then, it'd be a shame to be suffering a diminished appetite when the dinner is in my honor!), so I hadn't planned on doing anything particular on my actual birthday.

So Mom and Al took me out to dinner (granted, I had to drive to Logan for it...but I've made the drive for less). Nothing fancy...the buffet at Golden Corral...but it was nice to just sit and spend time with them.

All things considered, not a bad way to commemorate the ninth anniversary of my 29th birthday (it's a simple math problem, don't over-analyze it...) ;)

Thanks, D'art...

I needed something to get my morning off to a fun start...I'm coming down with a cold and last night was pretty miserable. So the new quizzes were good for a chuckle (didn't laugh as hard as you said you did...but I did get a good boost to my spirits!)

You Are Homer Simpson

You're just an ordinary, all-American working Joe... With a special fondness for pork rinds and donuts. You will be remembered for: your little "isms" and philosophies on life Your life philosophy: "Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel."

The Simpsons Personality Test

Your Fortune Is

Woman who wear G-string is high on crack.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

And Thanks to Frank, as well, for giving me another couple of reasons to stall going in to work.

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Black Comedy

In your life, things are so twisted that you just have to laugh. You may end up insane, but you'll have fun on the way to the asylum. Your best movie matches: Being John Malkovich, The Royal Tenenbaums, American Psycho

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

Happy (my) Birthday, everyone!

New Challenges...

I guess I should be careful what I ask for sometimes. Like, I've spent a lot of time in the past year or so telling people how much I enjoy my job, because it always presents new challenges. Well, I've got a doozie right now...

For those who may be vaguely familiar with Lagoon, the Entertainment Department uses the old Opera House as a rehearsal space. It's also the location for what we have in the way of a costume shop (prior to moving in there, I had what amounts to a glorified laundry closet in the Carousel Theater...we still use that space, but now it's primary use is just that--laundry. We do some emergency repairs there, as well...but if it's a big, 'Gotta take it apart to fix that problem' issue, we take it to the Opera House, where we can spread it out.) The Opera House isn't open for public use...not up to fire code for such things (If they'd kept it in use, they might have been able to 'grandfather clause' it around those specs...but since they didn't, it's no longer an option, really). As you can surmise from the fact that they let it close down in the first place, the Opera House isn't exactly a priority building on the park.

Well, we discovered a serious problem with the building a few days ago. The beam that holds up all the pulleys directly above the fly rail has torqued loose, and one end has smashed into (and through, in a couple of places) some of the roof trusses. Today, I got to clamber back up in there, making sure to NOT break loose any of the panels of fiber-board that serve as a sound-baffle above the stage this time, and take pictures of the damage.

We are, hopefully, going to get someone to fix it...or at least get the beam out of there. I say hopefully, because, given the attitude on the park about spending money anywhere but rides (the CEO worked in rides as he was growing up...so they are 'his baby' and pretty much the only place the park will splurge without some major arm-twisting), there's a decent chance that we'll show the problem to our head of maintenance, they'll close down the building, and we'll be stuck trying to find other places to rehearse this year...and once we're out of the Opera House again, for a safety reason, odds are pretty darn good no one's ever making it back in.

There are a lot of arguments for fixing it, even if we don't use it as a performance space. We use the fly loft to store a lot of odds and ends items that just don't store well anywhere else--odd-shaped flats, long draperies, curtains, etc. Just about every department on the park uses the space to do their specific department orientations. We stage Frightmares out of the Opera House...use the dressing rooms, turn part of the wardrobe area into a makeup studio, and make the magic happen. There are major power connections wired in or under the Opera House, as well.

I'd be happy if they even just dead-hung the worklights and took the beam out. Most of the stuff hanging on the lines right now is junk, really...stuff we could probably throw out and never miss it. I'm pretty sure they've got the equipment to fix it, though...I'm not a carpenter, and not a structural engineer, by any stretch of the imagination; but I can visualize some methods of fixing it that wouldn't require ridiculous quantities of man-hours and equipment.

Tomorrow, we meet with the Director of Maintenance, to show him the problem. That was why I took the pictures...so we could say, specifically, "At this point, directly overhead, the beam is broken through one truss, and is bending another...but, over here (striding rapidly downstage), it's only just starting to torque loose from its mounting brackets."

I really hope they fix it. I'm still bummed that they're probably never going to fix up the rest of the Opera House...it's a beautiful space and I would love to be performing in it (it's about 2/3 the size of the Lyric house, before they did the renovations...so it's got that kind of intimate feel to it). Granted, I don't think they'd ever do shows in there that I'd prefer...it's an amusement park, they want things to be light and fluffy. But part of me just aches a little bit every time I walk across that stage, and look out into that perpetually empty house.

So, I'm tackling this new challenge. I'm going to do some serious arm-twisting to try and get them to fix it...or at least get it to a point where it's still usable. I might have to spend most of my energy trying to convince our Operations Manager that it's actually worth fighting for. But we'll see what kind of response we get to the initial pitch tomorrow. I hope it'll be good.

If it's not, I've wasted a lot of work this winter trying to fix up a costume shop that's never going to be used again. I kind of feel like that building is my space...and I'll be torqued if someone else tells me it's not worth fixing.

Because it is.

Remember, remember, the Fifth of November---

Those of you who have already seen the film will doubtless have some kind of reaction to these words. I suspect most of you will get chills.

V for Vendetta was quite a ride. I've learned to go into movies without very high expectations--but even if I'd had really high expectations, this one would have lived up to them. The Wachowski Brothers can really lay out a mind trip for their audience, sometimes...and this is one of them. In much the same way that The Matrix got me thinking about the question of Reality versus Perception of Reality, V got me thinking about the question of just how much of what the government says can be taken at face value.

I will admit to being very stricken with the tagline for the film--"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." As I've said in several earlier entries, government officials work for us; it should never be perceived as the other way around. So I already knew some of what they were going to say in the film would be material that I would agree with, on some level.

I knew it would be an action film. I mean, you kind of take it for granted, when a movie advertises itself with a scene of Parliament being blown up. And, after The Matrix, I knew the action would be entertaining in its own right (I mean, even with the Matrix sequels...well, the one I saw, at least...I enjoyed the action scenes even if I wasn't impressed--at all--with the story). What I didn't expect was a premise that was frighteningly plausible, a future where an ultra-conservative backlash had put what amounted to a totalitarian theocracy in power in England.

That wasn't the scary part, to me...the scary part was the details, the story of how this transition of power was maneuvered. It was like a conspiracy theorist's wet dream...or worst nightmare. The only part of it that really stretched my limits for plausibility was in the tale of the hero's origin...and that was pretty easy for me to sit back and swallow as a given for the story to work out.

There are, I'm sure, nit-pickers that would totally argue this point with me. That's their right. I was more enthralled with the story, and the almost sickening sense of 'yeah, we're already on the path for that to happen', than I was with trying to figure out how V would finance some of the stunts he pulled to stymie the authorities.

Anyone who blindly accepts that their government is always acting in their best interests should see this film...because it raises the point of how easily a government can exploit that attitude. Anyone who doesn't trust their government should see this film, because it inspires one to challenge the right of government to take control of peoples' lives, from their personal preferences in religion or sexuality to their choices of artistic expression. If you have a hard time swallowing comic-book plots, this might be a little difficult for you to sink yourself into; but it was never your 'standard fare' of comic books to begin with--it was written for a mature, sophisticated audience, something that was kept intact in its transition to film.

I also have to take a moment and applaud the performances of Natalie Portman and especially Hugo Weaving. Portman's character was our set of eyes into this world; her own shock and horror at what was happening around her set the stage. And Weaving...well, what can I say? In almost every scene, he was acting behind a literal mask. When he wasn't, he was playing a blind man in heavy shadows. I enjoyed him in The Matrix...he was chilling. I wasn't crazy about him in The Lord of the Rings...I thought his portrayal of Elrond was pretty flat and heavy-handed (but, in fairness to him, a lot of that was in the scripting...funny, how they decided to try and add layers to some characters, but took so much life out of others in their efforts to re-tell that story for a 21st-Century sensibility). This performance, in my eyes, outshone both, easily. Playing behind the grotesque mockery of a face that is a Guy-Fawkes mask, he managed to convey an incredibly subtle variety of emotions...without even eyes to bring life to the character. I'm in awe.

So, if you haven't seen it yet, catch this film. It's very intelligent, very thought-provoking, and scary on a level that no horror film will ever achieve. It also defines patriotism in terms that would make our current government officials blanch. And for all they've managed to do for us lately, I think they deserve it.

After all, it is, ultimately, a reminder that governments are only as strong as their people allow them to become. And that is a lesson I think our country should keep in mind.

Ramping Up...

One of the things that I really enjoy about working at an amusement park is watching the process of it coming back to life each spring. Granted, I'm not especially fond of it once the park is open and crowded with people...I have to keep reminding myself that the only reason I get a paycheck is because they all show up; but it's really inconvenient to try and get anything done with them around.

Lagoon has finished its primary round of hiring. The various departments have started having their orientations, and started training operators for the rides and the games. For the past week, when I've left work each evening, there have been people walking around, standing around one of the rides or talking in front of one of the games.

I never realized it before, but there is a pulse, of sorts, to the park. Each ride has its own set of sounds, many of them rhythmic. And as more and more rides start running, those rhythms play over and through each other, in a sort of buzzing, whirring, and occasionally throbbing chorus of voices building to a crescendo of business operation.

I don't know why, suddenly, this year I've noticed this. Past years, I've been struck by the utter stillness of the park during the off-season--how sedate and utterly peaceful it can be, when you're walking on the midway in a fog, through which the only thing that's really visible is the star they hang from the Sky Coaster. I've been struck by the sudden eruption of life during the last week before we actually open, when the grounds crew is frantically filling in the flower beds down the center of the midway, and the face of the park is changing hour by hour. I've always enjoyed watching the transformation from regular season to Frightmares, but I can credit that to my own fascination with Halloween.

I think, perhaps, some of it has to do with my own evolving position at the park. When I was first hired on, the Entertainment Director went to great pains to try and keep us (the staff) limited in our 'regular park' duties, so we could stay focused on our specific jobs. Each year, they gave me a little more to do...re-designing costumes for a Frightmares show in need of a facelift, designing costumes for a new Frightmares show, assisting with the design of a regular season show--stuff like that. I took what had been a summer-only job and turned it into more than it was, to the point where they started taking things in new directions (we never used to do any of our own costume construction...it was all jobbed out, and we only worried about maintaining it...)

Then they moved, and we got a new director...and I had visions of what I could do with my job working under someone who had no pre-conceived notions of who I was or what I could do. That actually ended up being kind of a double-edged sword--because he already had in mind people to do some of the jobs I'd been hoping to work into, since he didn't know I could do them. But I still expanded on the job.

Last year, I felt stifled for a lot of the season. We had yet another new director--someone who thought of me as 'just' the wardrobe coordinator, and couldn't understand why I wanted to be doing so many other things (yeah, just like when I was at USU, I'm the resident Jack-of-All-Trades in my department at Lagoon.) It took a lot of talking before I got people to start to understand that...and it took our costume and makeup designer leaving us in the lurch before I got a chance to prove it was more than just talk. I was up to my eyeballs in extra projects for Frightmares...and I was happier than I'd been all season.

This year, due to the continued evolution of our department management, I've found myself involved in projects for the rest of the park. I spent a good part of the winter refurbishing Frightmares stuff for the Rides Department. And I found myself involved, for the first time, in doing interviews for employees for the 'general labor pool'. I have yet to see any of the kids that I interviewed show up in any of the small crowds I see on the park...but I feel like I've invested of myself in the park, as a whole.

I also, for the first time, find myself pretty much operating on my own. None of the department managers are keeping tabs on what I'm doing right now, and it looks like I'm going to be the one coordinating all the details on costumes with the designers this year (which was, in my eyes, what I'd been trained to do; but our production manager last year saw things differently. This year, however, she's doing a long-term substitute teaching job and won't be working with us until after the school year ends). A couple of years ago, I would have been really nervous about this. This year, I'm looking forward to it (of course, it doesn't hurt that I know both of the designers we're using this year, and like both of them on a personal basis).

It dawned on me, tonight, as I was weaving my way through fifteen-year-olds waiting to be guinea pigs on the ride-operator training for the Sky Coaster, that I really do thrive when I'm on the verge of being overwhelmed. If I don't feel like a job is going to be a challenge for me, like it's something I'll be able to coast through--well, then I'll coast, sad to say. But stack the odds against me, put me in a position where I've got to smartly use every minute and go to bed each night exhausted from trying to maintain the pace, and suddenly I AM working smartly and using my time wisely, and not just trying to stay a step ahead of things.

That's one of the reasons, I guess, why I'm making a living (of sorts) doing Lagoon and freelancing for other places, and have never even finished one of the novels I'm working on. There's no urgency to the novels, and I know I can write them, so it doesn't feel like a challenge to me (except for trying to keep myself focused on writing something that has no deadline.)

They say recognizing the problem is the first step to solving it. We'll see what I can accomplish in that respect.

Good timing....

With the immense level of tension between the Muslim and Christian worlds, Pope Benedict has decided that this is the perfect time to revise the revisionist history of the Crusades. His predecessor had taken steps to try and smooth some of the differences between the two religions, by offering apologies for past 'errors of the Church', including the Crusades and Inquisition.

Benedict, at the time Cardinal Ratzenberger, was among those who opposed this step. He's now sponsoring a conference that will discuss the Crusades in the light of being a venture undertaken with the 'noble aim to reclaim the Holy Lands."

Now, granted...if you look at your history, he's right. The First Crusade started when the Emperor of Byzantium appealed to the Pope, on behalf of Christian pilgrims that were being ambushed while traveling through Muslim lands. The Second and Third Crusades were nominally for the same purpose...though the realities of what happened leave one inclined to be cynical about the purity of intent (I mean, they DID sack Constantinople, which no doubt contributed to the eventual fall of the Byzantine Empire--resulting in yet more land in the hands of Muslims--so that kind of went counter to the stated purpose of the venture.) And the Christians, despite even further attempts at revisionist history, were not the only ones to indulge in some truly barbaric displays in the course of these wars.

But when you've got the Muslim world just starting to settle down after a series of rampages over inflammatory cartoons, it doesn't seem like the opportune moment to start blowing on the embers...especially when the log you're about to throw on the fire is actually a stick of dynamite. Benedict started his reign over Catholicism with calls for peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians.

Maybe he, like some of those Crusaders, is a little unclear about how his actions are going to accomplish his stated goals.

Heh...maybe they were right--

Used to get called 'Kermit' by the kids I went to school with (back when the Muppet Show was on)...guess they knew something...

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Huh?

Months after Katrina devastated New Orleans, there are stories coming back that make me sit back and say, "Now, what the hell is that supposed to accomplish?"

I understand the frustration of people who have lost their homes. I can even understand, to a certain extent, the desire to try and get back to what was lost. But there are people in New Orleans that are taking this to an apparently extreme degree, judging from mayoral comments.

Mayor Nagin formally announced the rebuilding program. Among those announcements was a statement that the city would continue to issue building permits to anyone, to rebuild anywhere in the city...but those who chose to build in the low-lying areas that got devastated would do so at their own risk.

Now, to me, this sounds like political double-talk. First of all, we KNOW that there will be a degree of risk involved--he pointed out that the damaged levees will not be fully repaired for a couple of years, so these same areas could be flooded again if another hurricane hits land near New Orleans. So, rather than keeping people out of areas that are known to be of dubious safety, he folded to the complaints...apparently, short-term satisfaction of constituents is politically more important than long-term protection of life.

Second, while the people who build in these areas will be taking risks, we know that the risks will not be theirs alone. If their taxes were the only ones being spent on emergency relief, then I'd buy that 'at your own risk' line. As it is, I honestly can't complain that much, because there's only been once in my life where I made enough money to actually owe taxes (although this year might be different...I made a fair amount freelancing last summer); but I get frustrated at the thought of paying for someone else's pig-headedness.

Current estimates are that the population of New Orleans is about half of what it was. I'd say those that are devoted enough to the city to have stayed, or to have gone back early, should get first crack at the prime real-estate. I know it'll never happen...for one thing, land developers are too eager to line their pockets and a lot of the people looking to rebuild are poverty-level. For another thing, sad as it is to say, the upper-class does not like sharing their neighborhoods with the lower class, generally. If they did, you wouldn't get upper-class and lower-class neighborhoods.

Nagin's trying to please everyone. That never works. Usually, what ends up happening is that no one is satisfied with the results. But that has never stopped short-sighted politicians from continuing to attempt it. One of the reasons our nation is so screwed up is because so many politicians are more interested in winning their constituents' votes than they are in protecting their constituents' interests, and they take the convenient, short-term solution that will pass the problem off to someone else in a few years.

I hope the citizens of New Orleans aren't so caught up in their drive to restore their city to its former glory that they fall into the trap of moving back into the line of fire. I hate politicians taking the short-view; I'd hate it even more if it led to another tragedy.

Oh, the irony...

I found myself chuckling ruefully at the irony of a situation I read about yesterday. An Italian minister, in criticizing new Dutch laws legalizing euthanasia, said something along the lines of '...the Nazi legacy is alive and well.'

The irony, to me, lies in the fact that, during World War II, the Dutch were among the oppressed that were subjugated by Hitler's regime, while the Italians were his allies. You can bet money that the minister in question would never have commented on that little twist of fate.

Personally, I think the Dutch laws, as they stand now, make a lot of sense. I realize that preservation of life is an important aspect of the services government provides...but I also feel that, if someone is on the verge of an excruciatingly painful and slow death, they deserve the option to choose to avoid the pain. Personally, I don't think I would do it...my own beliefs would clash pretty strongly with that choice. But if you've got, for instance, blood cancer, which is going to eat you slowly from the inside out (the ailment that claimed my step-grandmother), and it's gotten to the point where the pain medication is only going to dull the pain a little bit--the doctor agrees that there's nothing left to try--and the second opinion says the same--then I know a lot of people would choose, after a while, to find relief any way they could. And, to be perfectly frank, I'd be happier with a loved one dying peacefully rather than chewing on the end of a 9mm barrel thoughtfully for a moment before pulling the trigger. (Granted, I would also probably be the one arguing that throwing in the towel is pretty presumptuous, on your part...but I also think that, ultimately, each of us has to be responsible for making that choice. I don't think it's the government's job to decide that for us).

In other news--the Da Vinci Code trial is almost over...final arguments are today, then we just have to wait for the judge's decision. I want to slap the lawyer for the plaintiffs--he complained that Dan Brown was 'a poor witness' because he couldn't remember the dates and relative order in which he'd read some things. With all due respect to the amount of time spent becoming a lawyer, the guy's full of shit. When you're sifting through THAT much information, you don't think about when you read 'A' or 'B', unless you're some kind of savant that never forgets a date. And while Brown's a gifted mathematician and cryptologist, I just don't see the exact sequence of dates being important enough to him, in the writing process, to even warrant being noted. I think, if the lawyer in question can tell us, without referring to any sort of notes, the exact date of his licensing exams, then he might have grounds for making such a complaint.

And a last note, as I'm rambling about miscellaneous stuff--just read a commentary about Hollywood expressing concern over declining movie-house attendance. The article specifically referred to the exhortation made during the Oscars, with the line "No director called cut and said, 'That's going to look great on the DVD.'"

Well, y'know, maybe Hollywood has a reason to be concerned. The commentary I read pointed out that the death of the movie house has been claimed several times--first it was TV, then VCRs, then the Internet...and movies are still there. So, obviously, the problem is not the rise of outside entertainment.

For my part, I know I didn't go to the theater as often last year, for one simple reason--there wasn't a whole lot out there I felt was worth seeing. I can't bring myself to shell out seven to ten dollars to go see Hollywood rehash Bewitched or Dukes of Hazzard--the success of those shows on TV was hugely due to the chemistry of the cast, writers, and directors, and you just can't recapture that. I was almost ready to pass on Batman Begins...I don't remember what it was that finally convinced me to go, but I'm glad I did--they got away from the idea of doing a live-action comic book and instead turned the comic book into a real movie (some won't see the distinction between the two...and some will.) Saw Star Wars for two reasons--I'd seen some of the teaser stuff from earlier DVDs and knew I'd love the lightsaber fights, and I just wanted to complete the cycle in my mind. I've already expressed my disappointment with that effort. I caught Fantastic Four, with mixed emotions...it was what I expected it to be, so I wasn't disappointed (a lot of people said it wasn't as exciting and intense as X-Men or Spiderman...yeah, well, neither is the comic book...) And I don't think I saw another movie all summer, until Wallace and Grommit came out. Didn't catch another movie after that, until Narnia came along.

If Hollywood wants me to get out to the movie theater, they've got to put out films that I want to see. While I can appreciate the thought and emotion behind Brokeback Mountain, I honestly don't want to see it. I feel the same way about Crash...if you caught me on the right day, with money in my pocket, I would maybe go see it. But it just doesn't appeal to me. I'd go catch it long before I'd catch a re-invented War of the Worlds, though.

Give me something to see. I'll show up. Really, I will. I love seeing stuff on the big screen. But if the best you've got to offer is something I wouldn't even bother seeing on the small screen, don't expect me to cough up the money to suffer through it in a dark theater with a lot of other people around. I prefer to do my suffering in private.

Fond farewells...

Layton High closed Aida tonight. I think I've sort of found a second (or third or fourth) home there; I lost track of the number of times during the night that I had people ask me, "So, will you be coming back next year?" (Next year's musical, "Titanic", by the way...) And these weren't kids that were asking...these were the grownups, the parents, some of the other teachers that were interested in the shows...the kids were busy asking if I was going to be involved with the next show (How to Succeed in Business etc etc). All I could tell them was, "At this point, no...but, at this stage in the game last fall, I wasn't going to be involved with 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead', and look how that turned out (I got called a week and a half before the show because the director...NOT Dennis Ferrin...suddenly decided that a couple of the characters should really have beards. The weird things people ask me for, sometimes...)

So I pulled Dennis aside and mentioned all the questions I'd received...and got a fairly resounding 'yes', I will be needed to help with next year's show...and on a scale far greater than anything I've done thus far. I'm excited for it, even though I don't know anything about the show. The way things are sounding, they are losing their 'makeup mom'...the woman who has coordinated the makeup for the past several shows...so I may find myself even deeper in the mix than I'm expecting to be, at this point. And I'm excited for it.

I told several of the kids (and Dennis) that I love working with them...because I know any show that I'm working on there is going to be a production I'll be proud to be associated with. And I know that I couldn't say that about every school in the area...I've seen some of the productions some schools have done, and walked away cringing at everything from their so-called set design to their choice of casting (and that was AFTER making allowance for the kids only being high-schoolers).

It was kind of an emotional night, though...it's weird, thinking about it...I've only worked on a couple of shows with most of these kids, but I feel a very strong bond of friendship with them (in fact, I owe my involvement in Aida to one of them latching onto an idea--tattoos for a few characters--and really selling it to Dennis). So, when the vocal director started off warmups for the evening show by pointing out to everyone that EVERYTHING they did tonight would be for the LAST time, I got started thinking. (First of all, I thought about the fact that I had yet to take any pictures of any of my work for the show, and the fact that my camera was sitting at home on my desk! But then I started thinking about some of the kids that I really had come to love working with...and how many of them were graduating this year, and how I might possibly never get a chance to work with them again...)

Then, as a final warm-up, the whole cast sang 'The Gods Love Nubia', the number right before intermission. It's a really powerfully emotional song...and thanks to the 'pep-talk' from the Vocal Director, Stephanie (the girl playing Aida) was already so wound up that she could barely start the song. I'd been thinking about joining in with them, once they got to the chorus--but by the time they got there, I was in such a state that if I'd started singing, I would have been crying, too (as it was, I got pretty misty-eyed).

I loved this show. I still don't care for the music of the show, particularly (with a few notable exceptions)...but I will treasure this experience for years. And, for the next few months, I'll get a wistful grin when I think about Troy, playing The Beast, or one of the class geeks in Zombie Prom, or reveling in his tattooed, bejeweled wickedness as Zoser. I'll fondly recall Kaydee as an incredibly sweet and flirtatious Babette, or as one of Amneris' trivial-minded bathing beauties in 'Strongest Suit'. I already have fond recollections of Ariana and Kendal (they graduated last year).

And I'll take a lot of comfort in the fact that it's a small world. And, when you're talking about theater in Utah, it's a smaller world, still. I look forward to crossing paths with ANY of these kids. I can see, now, how some teachers can keep so active in life--because every time I get around these kids, I feel a good fifteen or twenty years slip off my shoulders and disappear into the ether somewhere. They treat me as one of their own...and that means a lot to me.

Some of them, I know I'll work with again; and I'd love to work with any of them. I'm curious to see what the up-and-coming batch will be like. There are a few that stand out already. I'm excited to see the others discover their own strengths as they move further through the process. It's one of the things that has entranced me about theater from the first day I started taking it seriously.

And, to the others, that are moving on and passing beyond the circles in which I move, I can only quote the immortal Bob Hope--"Thanks for the memories..."

Are you kidding me?

So, I've been sort-of-following the 'Did Dan Brown Plagiarize The Da Vinci Code' trial. I find it intriguing to hear his side of things, having done a few writing projects that involved extensive amounts of research (well, extensive by my definitions. By comparison to what he's done, I've barely skimmed!)

I've gotta say, I find it just a bit alarming, the amount of detail that he's being asked about in the process of this. I mean, when I wrote 'For the Fans', I kept some kind of notes, yeah...but I didn't maintain any sort of detailed bibliography. And I certainly couldn't have told you the sequence in which I drew ideas from various sources, or the approximate dates of when I found Source X, relative to when I was writing such and such a scene. These are questions he's being asked.

It alarms me, the thought that any random guy whose work I look at in the process of researching a project, can get a wild hair and accuse me of stealing his work to build my own. Never mind the fact that the allegedly plagiarized work is rehashing a series of ideas that have been in circulation for centuries, and is hardly the only work on the subject. Never mind the fact that Brown has made massive, substantial changes and additions to any ideas which his work and the debated book have in common (that, in and of itself, constitutes enough for me to throw out any claim of plagiarism, right there...)

I may be reading more into the situation than is actually there (it wouldn't be the first time), but I find it very intriguing that the third partner on the book in question--the man who would actually stand to gain the most if the courts upheld the charge and demanded some financial reward--isn't even involved in the case. In fact, he has refused, repeatedly, to even comment on the case. I also find it interesting that the other authors (whose works provided research material for Brown) have not only not started any sort of litigation, they've been praising Brown's work in the press for promoting the sales of their works.

I seriously doubt, as a writer, that a man who's been churning out novels at a pace of one every couple of years would resort to plagiarizing in order to come up with a novel. Having read Brown's witness statement (a lengthy piece of writing, in and of itself!), he provides so many details of where he got inspiration for various aspects of the story that I find it incredible that there's even a trial. If he came up with all the information in his witness statement for the sole purpose of avoiding paying up, he could have fleshed out the story, turned it into another novel, and made enough money to make up for the lawsuit!

And, I have to say, had Brown actually borrowed the plot line for his novel from this book (which I find problematic--since Holy Blood, Holy Grail is non-fiction, talking about this particular theological school which has been actively suppressed by the Catholic Church for centuries, there isn't really a plot to it...non-fiction generally doesn't tell a story, unless it's some kind of biopic work or telling about a specific event), Brown fleshed out the locations, the events, the characters...(No, I am among the few who have still not read The Da Vinci Code).

Sorry, I'll admit to being a prejudiced audience already at this point...but all I see is a couple of opportunists who wrote a mildly successful book, and smelled a way to expand on their success in a totally unscrupulous manner. Even if they don't get any money awarded to them by the court, they've publicized their book to an audience far beyond anything they'd managed to reach before, and I've got no doubt that their sales have boomed since the lawsuit went public. I'd even be willing to bet that they were expecting the case to be settled out of court, to avoid any possible delays in the film release (yeah, the timing there only adds to my suspicion...Da Vince Code's been a top-seller for how long now? Yet they file their suit after word comes out that the film version is going to be opening this spring...)

Regardless, they will always have to live with the knowledge that it took a better writer to come along and make their work interesting enough to reach a wide audience.

Here we go again...

So I read (once again, the skimming news articles thing) that Congress has, once again, called the major oil companies in for an inquiry regarding their continued record profit margins in a world with 'diminished supplies', and also to confront them about their recent mergers. Personally, if it were not for the recent furor about Abrahamoff(sp?) and Delay and others, I'd hold little hope for any results (of course, the FIRST Congressional inquiry didn't happen until after that, anyway). As it is, I'm still hesitant to put any hope behind any real, LASTING results coming from this. I mean, right after the last inquiry, the price of gas dropped almost a dollar a gallon--but it's creeping back up again (now, they're claiming it's increased demand due to the summer driving season coming up...never mind the fact that the winter heating-oil demand season is winding down...)

I was amazed at the double-talk I read in the article, from the oil execs. This time, they weren't trying to sell us on their 'we're not making any extra profit' BS--this was all about how the petrochem giants were securing the world's oil supply by swallowing up smaller companies and combining in a series of mergers. I wish I'd cut some of it out of the article to paste here...but it was so OBVIOUSLY propaganda that I was amazed anyone would even think of believing it. The Senator in charge of the hearings made some mention of the possibility of the government regulating mergers between petroleum companies...

Once again, I doubt it will happen. Too much money involved, too many chances to lose 'anonymous' campaign donations. I don't think they'd resort to outright bribery, but I have an unfortunate amount of faith in the corruption of both our government representatives and the executives of the oil companies. Let's face it...neither one has a particularly sterling track record, as of late.

So, I suspect the cycle will continue. Congressional inquiries will result in a drop in gas prices, from unbelievable back down to ridiculous. For a while, those prices will hold...and then begin creeping back up. After the oil companies have padded their profit margin again and the execs have re-lined their pockets and paid for their luxury vacations, Congress will call them to task again, and they will repentantly drop prices...

I hope I'm wrong, that this doesn't become an annual (or bi-annual) event. But I don't see that situation, from a realistic standpoint. I'm not sure what the 'breaking point' is, where the greed and deception becomes so great that the backlash strikes...but I kind of hope I'm not there to see it. It's not going to be pretty.

Yet another commentary on the news...

Okay, as I am wont to do, I was skimming through assorted news items on line. Today, I came across an article reporting that banks were concerned that the new laws requiring higher minimum payments will negatively impact their profit margins, due to higher default and charge-off rates.

First of all, I'm glad I read the article. When I heard that new higher rates were going to be required, I was irritated. I would have been upset, but I got out from underneath my credit cards a few years ago (although I still owe Mom a bundle for helping me pay off my last one.) The new requirements demand that credit card companies charge, as part of their minimum payment, not only the interest amount due, but also a percentage of the principal owed, as well, forcing credit card companies to slowly decrease the amount owed on an account. Looks good, in theory, but I don't think it's going to work.

Personally, I think the credit card companies deserve to lose a chunk of their profits. They've dug this credit pit that they keep throwing people in. They COULD, if they were really concerned about their clientele, decrease the interest rate, so that the minimum payments would remain the same, while still meeting the new requirements...but I don't think that'll ever happen, either. That flies in the face of the same logic that says, "Hey, our client can't afford to make his payments on time...so let's charge him even MORE money for the amount he already can't afford to pay us." When it gets to the point that you are charging someone ONE-FIFTH of what they borrowed, on an annual basis, I really have a hard time feeling sympathetic. The line between credit card company and loan shark is pretty slim...granted, credit card companies don't break your fingers or knees or anything like that...but loan sharks don't get the courts to take money right out of your paycheck whether you want it or not.

Combine this, with the new bankruptcy laws that make it more difficult to declare bankruptcy, and our average credit rating is just going to get worse. People won't declare bankruptcy, they'll just stop paying their bills. In an economy that measures the average level of debt as a measure of its health, I wonder what effect that will have. I was always taught that it was economic responsibility to try and stay out of debt--so part of me just rebels at the thought of taking out a loan or buying something on credit in order to make the economy healthier. It's using a flesh-colored band-aid on a gunshot wound...you might not see the injury, but it's not going to get any better.

I might be blindly optimistic, but I hope to never get another credit card in my life. I mortgaged my soul to that devil once, and have reveled in the freedom of knowing they will never call again. I can't imagine getting myself in a situation where I give that up again. They traffic in deception...playing on our desires for immediate gratification, by preaching a 'buy now, pay later' philosophy. They just conveniently obscure the amount you'll end up paying later.

It wouldn't hurt my feelings if they all went belly-up. I know it'd be a huge impact on the economy--and I normally have a really hard time wishing ill to befall people.

But for a credit card company, I'll make the exception.

Contrasting Faces...

I just got back from Park City...had to run up there to do some touch-up painting on the set. As I was walking back to my car, I was really struck by the contrasts in the whole place. It tries to maintain kind of a small-town feel and look, yet is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the state. It can present a wonderfully sophisticated air...but can be so simple and backwards sometimes.

The thing that really hit it home to me happened as I was walking down the alley next to the Egyptian, on my way to the parking terrace. Another guy, someone I have never seen before, was walking the other way...and out of the blue, nodded and said hi. Totally unexpected, but Park City does have a very friendly side to it. So I nodded back and exchanged greetings, and we each went on our way.

Then I looked down...and saw the five or six broken beer bottles, and even parts of a broken glass from one of the restaurants...pieces of shattered glass all over the walkway. I could only visualize what might have happened...three or four friends in the alley, roaring drunk the night before, smashing their beer bottles for kicks, or throwing them into a corner between the wall and one of the pipes because they were too drunk to give a damn about who might possibly stumble into the glass the next day.

Yeah, it's a friendly place...until drunk. Sweden was the opposite, in a lot of ways, when I was there. Everyone was extremely reserved--civil, but reserved. Until the weekends, when almost everyone went out drinking. You could find an avowed lifelong friend in about five minutes, on any weekend--you might never have seen them before, and would likely never see them again...but on that night, they'd give their right arm for you (at least, until they started to sober up).

I think that's one of the reasons I've never been interested in trying alcohol. Too many times, I've seen it take someone that was very nice and turn them into a total lout, or take someone who's very reserved and proper and turn them into a total fool. I know it doesn't do that to everyone (I've seen a lot of people drink a lot, and just turn into a more mellow or more intense version of themselves)--but I don't want to find out what kind of person I'd become if I was drunk. I like who I am, the way I am...and I'm afraid that boozing it up would change my perception of myself.

It really hit me, though, just how many people can be so totally different in different situations. I've got friends that were absolutely a pleasure to be around...until they were driving. Or in some kind of competitive situation. Then some kind of demon comes out. It's not a universal thing, because most people I know are not like that. Makes me wonder what makes the difference, why one person can remain so consistently the same person in every situation, while another can be an absolute angel one minute, and an absolute ass the next.

In a less philosophical vein--Annette's list of diva demands has been percolating in my head, so I think I've got some ideas for one of my own.

1--An unlimited supply of strawberry Twizzlers must be available, along with Mountain Dew or 7-Up (need both, in case my caffeine level gets too high with the sugar).

2--A licensed Swedish masseuse (not licensed in the Swedish massage technique, necessarily, but she's got to be Swedish, so I can practice again) must be available at any time.

3--Dinners shall consist of either A) medium-rare sirloin steak, B) Dutch Oven barbecued chicken and cheese potatoes, or C) chicken caesar salad with extra chicken, and a side of barbecue sauce.

4--I want an Applebee's Triple-Chocolate Meltdown at the end of the night each night (I'd actually prefer Wolfgang Puck's Chocolate Chocolate Mousse, but I'm willing to make a concession on this).

Yeah, beyond that, I'm pretty flexible. And since I'm not much of a diva to start with, most of those can be crossed off the list in the first place. But if you're looking to bribe me--that list is a good place to start...

A breath of fresh air...

So, Layton High did their preview for Aida tonight. I've got to say, right off the bat, that I don't particularly care for the show. Not their production of it, but the show in general. It is, to me, kind of the opposite of my standard experience with musicals. Usually, I find musicals to be really cheesy, but the music is catchy enough to keep my interest to some degree. With Aida, I really enjoy the story, but there are only about five songs that I actually like...

But I have had fun working with the kids. I've talked about this before; but, as I put it to someone tonight, when I go there, I feel like years slide off my life, and it's really easy for me to forget that I'm going to be 38 this year. I think most of the kids would kinda freak out if I said I was that old (I am older than the parents of a few of them, I know...the guy playing Merab was one of our dressers at Lagoon last year...comes from a family of seven kids, and his mom is the same age I am...)

It's funny, because every time I start working with them, things just kind of multiply before my eyes. At first, I was just designing one temporary tattoo, for Radames...a tattoo that was seen for only a couple of minutes, in the first ten minutes of the show...and then, never again, for the rest of the show. Then, they decided they wanted some kind of chest tattoo for Zoser. Then Zoser's ministers asked if they could have tattoos...and the director said he didn't mind, as long as they didn't overshadow Zoser's--so I said I'd go ahead and design some, to make sure. And then, tonight, when I was putting the tattoos on the ministers, people were so intrigued by them that about a third of the cast ended up asking if they could get some kind of tattoo...and I agreed, as long as we put them someplace that the costumes would hide them. (Dennis said I should start charging for them, $10 a tattoo beyond the ones I'd originally agreed to do for the ministers, Radames, and Zoser...)

But the sheer excitement they had over what is, really, such a simple thing was just...well...intoxicating, in a way. I'm glad it happened, because I'd been thinking last year that it might be a good way to make a few extra dollars, somewhere along the line, being set up to do temporary tattoos. One of the big expenses in doing these is coming up with the stencils...and since I know how to make my own, I can get off the ground with that much less overhead. But, as has happened with a great many other projects, I had kind of stalled out. I had multiple pages of designs worked out, just waiting to be turned into stencils...but they'd been sitting since last fall. Since I got started working on this, I've got most of the existing designs drawn onto the stencil material and just need to cut them out...and I've made six or seven designs specifically for this show, and have ideas for a few more (and these are NOT the typical designs you'd see for tattoos...Anubis, Thoth, scarabs...)

I need stuff like this to come along every so often...gives me a kick in the pants and gets me moving again. I wish I had the willpower, or the focus, or whatever you want to call it, to stay on task for stuff like that, without any outside influence.

But I don't, so I get a thrill when someone comes along and helps me out that way. Thanks, kids...for keeping me on task--and keeping me young at heart.

Romantic? Or Maudlin...

The last storm to blow over us happened while I was at my cousin's place (playing computer games, I need to write a post about that for Frank's Geek site). It was actually pretty impressive, down here (I don't know what the storm did up in Logan). I got there before anything had started falling...and when I left (at about 3 am), four inches of fluffy, white, beautiful packing snow had piled up on my car.

It was a fast-moving, fast-falling storm; but because it came through so quickly, the ground never cooled off from the day. So the drive home had an odd, ethereal, almost postcard quality to it. Everything was covered in white...except the road, which was wet enough to be black, and very stark contrast.

And as I was driving along, I was struck by just how incredibly beautiful the scene was. A little depressed, in fact, by the knowledge that I couldn't have gotten a good picture of it, even if I'd had my camera...the sheer panorama of it had to be taken in to truly appreciate the sight. And I was thankful to be driving home at 3 am so I got a chance to see it.

I would have just stuck to musing about the romanticist in me (which I find, personally, to be somewhat amusing, as I tend to be a pragmatist about many things in life)...but yesterday afternoon, I finally got a chance to see Harry Potter (I hadn't seen any of the earlier HP movies until they came out on DVD, and I wanted to catch at least ONE of them on the big screen--and the movie house in Kaysville only costs $2 ($3 on Saturday nights), so it was a good bargain (next up, I think, is Walk the Line).

But I could be found laughing at myself during the movie...especially near the end, the scene in the graveyard (not going to spoil this for anyone, in the off-chance that I'm not the only one who hasn't seen this film yet and is planning on seeing it--and the even further-off-chance that anyone in the previous heading hasn't already read the book). But I found myself getting misty-eyed...even though I knew what was coming, even though I knew it was just a film.

I've always had a soft spot for stories about self-sacrifice for a greater cause. I don't regard myself as an altruist--but I have my moments. And each time I face that choice, I fight a little battle inside myself, between the desire to take the easy way out and get the immediate gratification, or doing the difficult thing and enjoying the longer-lasting gratification I get from looking back at it. Thus far in life, those moments have been pretty small and relatively meaningless, in the grand scheme--giving truly impartial advice to a female friend that I would like to be dating, when she comes to me about relationship problems--rescuing a crippled pigeon--things like that.

I'd like to think, if I found myself in a situation where it was life-or-death (for me), that my higher motives would win out over my base instincts. I guess that's why I'm so touched by stories that create that kind of moral dilemma for the characters. I can understand if they don't make the hard choice...but I'm thrilled when they do (I still recall watching an episode of MTV's Real House/Road Rules competition, where both teams were supposed to be running a very difficult obstacle course...a member of one team was so rattled and tired by some of the obstacles that she almost quit. And a couple of her teammates, rather than rushing off to try and finish the course and abandon her to face the ignominy of losing the event for her team all alone, stayed with her...they coaxed her along, helped her through the tougher obstacles, and at a couple of points even carried her--and never did they make mention of the fact that it cost their team the victory. Their thoughts--at least the ones they vocalized--were all about her, and their desire for her to see this thing through, regardless of where she finished. I still get misty-eyed, just typing about it...)

So, yeah. Maybe I'm a Romantic. Maybe I'm maudlin and overly-sentimental. But I wouldn't want it any other way.

Priorities--

I've just gotta say it, right off the bat...I am utterly appalled that our state legislature found it more important to ban smoking in PRIVATE clubs than to pass legislation giving us a tax break. Thanks, guys, nice to know you're looking out for my well-being...never mind the fact that I can't AFFORD to go to the clubs because I'm paying taxes.

I suppose I should be grateful, they did show at least SOME common sense and decency. They didn't pass the legislation to ban gay/lesbian clubs in high schools. They did, FINALLY, pass some kind of hate-crime legislation (don't know if it's actually got any teeth to it...but it's a step in the right direction!) If I hear ONE legislator complain about being called into special session (Hunstman is talking about one, to get the tax legislation squared away), I'm gonna slap somebody. We, the normal, working folk they are supposed to represent, don't get to say, "Y'know, I didn't finish all my work, but my shift is over. Someone else worry about it." Nope. We get to go back to work and get the thing finished (or, in some cases, we don't leave work until it's finished, which seems more logical to me!)

In other news (there's always other news, you ever notice that?)--

One of my favorite things to do is coming up. I got involved with Layton High School's drama program last year...they were doing a production of 'Beauty and the Beast' and needed someone to do prosthetics for the Beast. I love working with these kids...there's enough support for the program that they are able to do REALLY elaborate shows (among their recent productions was Les Mis...this year's big show is Aida...), and they've got enough of a reputation that there are kids that are transferring high schools just to be in their program (one kid is driving from somewhere in Ogden to Layton on a daily basis, solely on the basis of the theater program).

I'm not that heavily involved in this year's show...they just wanted to put some temporary tattoos on a couple of the characters--but I've done that before. So I get to make a couple of stencils for the tattoos. But the thing I love about it is just working with these kids. It was really a breath of fresh air last year...they don't act like they're entitled to anything, they love what they're doing, they're excited about it, and it's still new enough to them that they haven't become jaded. It really was a pleasure, and every time I get a chance to go back there, I get that rush of exhilaration all over again.

So even though I'm only going to be working with them for all of maybe four nights out of the entire dress-rehearsal and performance process, I'm excited for it.

Closing note for the night--While channel surfing tonight, I stumbled across 'Skating with the Stars'. I've heard about this, actually pretty much avoided it (I'm also one of the few people that apparently doesn't care about American Idol...). But when I was flipping past, they were showing Kristy Swanson skating...

Now, I'll admit it. I've had sort of a crush on Kristy ever since I saw the original 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' She hasn't had a huge career, but I've enjoyed everything I ever saw her do. Including this.

She wasn't a fantastic figure skater. But she was good. And you could tell she'd worked long and hard at getting there. I'm even more impressed.

Maybe I'll watch 'Buffy' again tonight...

Tonight's Blog Entry--Take #2

Okay...so I'd written quite a bit on here when Edgar managed to land on the keyboard and back my browser up two pages, wiping out everything I'd written. He's getting very mobile...I left his cage door open tonight and figured I'd just wait and see when he'd come out. He stayed in there for about half an hour or so...even looked like he was going to go to sleep at one moment--and then, when I went into the bathroom, out he hopped. He has since discovered my trackball (I think the red ball intrigues him), the keyboard (as already mentioned), the stack of hats on top of the monitor, a stack of cassette tapes on one shelf, and the gargoyle head on the wall. This, in addition to his normal haunts--he's back on the rapier again, and has paid a couple of visits to the couch and the entertainment center. I was quite amused when he landed next to the keyboard while I was typing and started walking around (he even stepped on a few of the keys...which I was going to leave in the last post, but he apparently didn't think that was a good idea.)

I think Ed's feeling the 'pressures of springtime'...he's up on the rapier, making a variety of cooing noises and flaring his tailfeathers like he's doing some kind of mating display. It'd explain his more aggressive attitude lately. I think I'm going to invest in a little spray bottle to discourage his attacks on my hand when I reach into the cage to get him (or the food, or the water). DEFINITELY glad I don't have a parrot right now.

In other news--I think I may have stumbled on my new dream job. It would be sinfully easy, in comparison to what I do right now, in some ways...and much more demanding in others. But it's a job where I can't imagine NOT enjoying my time at work every day. And, at the risk of angering or upsetting some who may be reading this (it's just a joke, Jill!), I'll tell you what it is...

Are you ready?

I would really like---

I mean, REALLY--

Like to be--

The Wardrobe Manager or Chief Dresser on Deal or No Deal.

Have you seen this show? There really is nothing to it, intellectually...very simple premise, very straightforward...and I'm in serious danger of being addicted to it. But it isn't the show, itself, that I would enjoy, so much as it is the TWENTY-SIX gorgeous models they have holding the briefcases. I can't imagine it not being fun to work in that environment. ;)

Am I a chauvinist? Possibly. But I enjoy working with beautiful people. (Yeah, Kevin, I'm pretty sure I'd have to go union to land that job...thanks...) ;)

A guy can dream, can't he?