odellio

My crazy ass dog

I have a 4-month-old Goldendoodle named Izabel. She is crazy...

Shots from my show....

So, we took a few publicity shots last night. Not everyone was there but we got a few good ones.

Peter (Nathan McManus) and Jason (Jacob Wills) are best friends, room mates and secret lovers. Here they discuss the nature of their relationship in the song "You & I".

Sister Chantelle (Deidra Helen) talks to Peter (Nathan McManus) telling him she knows he is gay and it is ok in the song "God Don't Make No Trash".

Jason (Jacob Wills) comforts his twin sister, Nadia (Jessica Janes) when she doesn't get the role of Juliet in the school play in the song "Plain Jane Fat Ass". Which is actually OK since he is cast as Romeo. That would be a little weird.

Ivy (Cindy Godell) tries to convince Jason (Jacob Wills) to give her just "One Kiss".

Wii fit

Yesterday I bought one of the new Wii fit things for (what else?) my Wii. It was released yesterday and I decided that since I wanted to get one (and really need one because I HAVE to lose some weight and this would be a fun way to jump start it) I should get it now because there will probably be a shortage. Sure enough, I walked in to GameStop and asked for one and got met with a resounding "Did you pre-order?" Of course I hadn't. I didn't even know it was already out until yesterday morning when I got an email from Nintendo saying it was released. The girl behind the counter said "Well, we had a couple of extra's so I'll just go ahead and let you buy one of those". I wanted to say "As opposed to just letting it sit there and collect dust? Wow, what a trooper you are nerdy girl. Quite a novel concept to sell someone something that you have in stock."

Anyway, I bought it along with a rechargeable battery pack and was on my way. I took it out of my car after rehearsal last night and of course I had to plug it in and at least get it set up. I stripped down to my underwear (not pretty - I promise) hooked it up, turned on the Wii and selected my Mii and then it was time for the assessment. I stood on the board, hoping that it didn't scream "get off of me fat ass!" - it didn't - so all was good. It first assesses my center of balance. I learned that I am centered when I stand but tend to lean back. It coached me into finding my center (which felt really weird but my back felt better). It then asked me for my birthday, sex and height. It then weighs you and posts your BMI. Now here is where I got the giggles. I know I am a fat ass. I know I need to lose about 50 pounds. So as it weighs me and I watch the BMI go from Normal, to Overweight to Obese (yes - I am Obese and proud of it) it stops, gives me my BMI and then my Mii (for those of you not in the know with Wii, you create these little Avatars that represent you. It is basically a Cartoon character you create) all of the sudden lifts up and expands. Yes, the Mii represents me all over now. Short and fat. It seriously took my measurements and made a scaled down little me. Fat and all. Then it shifts the menu so you can set your fitness goals and my little Mii comes running up and I lost it. If I look like that when I run I could make the world a happy place. Seriously - it was hysterical. So, I set my fitness goal then went to bed. (Hey - it was late and I had to get up early. I'll use it after my show closes). Oh - I also found out what my "Wii Fit" age is (kind of like your "Brain Age" on those DS games). Let's just say that I am much older in Wii fit years than I am in normal years.

Master

I forgot to write that I have completed 98 hours of education in Business Analysis. I now have a Master's Certificate in Business Analysis and can now use the title, MCBA. Honestly, I knew more than I learned from these classes, and driving to Clear Lake was a pain, but it is done. I have the certification which makes me more marketable and worth more money. Can't complain about that!

A lashing

There is something liberating about giving a well deserved tongue-lashing. I don't like being mean, but if I have to, I can be. I used to be very passive and let people walk all over me, but as I have gotten older, and worked at my current job for 8+ years, AND had to deal with some idiots at the playhouse, you learn to stand up for yourself.

When I moved into my new house I had no living room furniture. I went to Aaron's sales and lease and leased a couch, love seat and 46" tv. A couple of months ago I took out a consolidation loan and paid off the living room set to avoid the monthly lease fees. I took the rest of the money and bought a 50" plasma at Best Buy. It was a bigger, better and cheaper TV than the one I was leasing. As I have written before, I had scheduled with Aaron's multiple times to come get the TV and they never showed up. I left work early today because I wasn't feeling that hot. (Seriously exhausted). I was cranky that they had missed their last (third) appointment. I called them when I got home and royally chewed them out because when I got home I had a letter in the mail telling me I had defaulted on the lease agreement. I was PISSED. Needless to say within 10 minutes of me hanging up the phone they were here and the TV is gone. Bliss....

Wiped out

So, I am exhausted. I had a LONG weekend. We rehearsed Friday - we ran Act 2 a couple of times. That act went very well. Act one (on Thursday) wasn't quite so good. But, all things considered, they had been away from it for 2 weeks AND we had a "fill in" pianist who didn't know the music that well. Still, it was a good refresher of the basic blocking for everyone. Luke is back this week and we are working each act again. This is when we will "spice" up some of the numbers and solidify the blocking and such in others. Saturday we run the whole show for the first time at 11 AM. We go until 2:00 then we have to fix costumes, take some "yearbook shots" for the call board and finish putting up the set. We have all of the platforms legged and the structure of the confessional put together. We just need to build a couple of stair units, attach all of the stairs to the platforms and put the coffin on some casters, face the platforms and paint. We should be able to get a majority of it finished this weekend. Man I am tired.

Finished

So, I finished "Twilight" last night. I didn't hate it, but there were only about 5 chapters in the book that were REALLY good.I have heard from many people that the first book is the slowest. So, I am starting "New Moon" hoping that they have done all of the set up. This one just seemed a little anti-climactic, but there are 3 other books in the series, so....

A post

I haven't posted today...well, now I have.

"Once" - The sweetest movie in the world

I watched this movie a few months ago. I had heard lots about it as it was really big on the Indie scene (and I LOVE my Indie movies). The minute the credits rolled I went to Best Buy and picked up a copy of it to own and went to iTunes and bought the soundtrack. It is seriously the sweetest movie I have ever seen. You can't watch this and not tear up. It's a very simple movie, really about a guy that works in his dad's shop repairing vaccuums and then spends some time as a street singer. He sings a lot of "I'm broken hearted and alone" songs about his ex that cheated on him and moved to London with her new man. One day this younger woman who spends her time selling flowers on the street approaches him and asks if she died. He says "No, she left me and broke my heart". She asks him what he does and he tells her he writes songs and repairs vaccuums. She tells him she has a Hoover that is broken. The next day she shows up in the middle of the street where he is singing, dragging her vaccuum behind her. They take it back to his dad's shop, but first stop by the music store because she wants to play some of his music with him. They sit down and sing the Academy Award winning "Falling Slowly". This kicks off a friendship (potential romance maybe?) between these two that is soooooo sweet. I tear up just hearing this song.

Seriously - everyone needs to see this movie.

Types of Books I Like

I love to read (as I have posted many many times before). I could spend hours upon hours in Barnes and Noble. Last night as I lay tossing and turning in bed (I took a 2 hour nap yesterday - I knew I shouldn't have) I started thinking about books - those I have loved, those I have hated, genres I like and genres I despise. Here is what I came up with.

I love vampire books. Always have. I read Dracula when I was in 4th grade (don't tell my mom). I used to stay up on Friday nights and watch "Night Gallery" after my parents had gone to bed. I was always entranced when there were vampire stories on. I read the entire Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Granted, some of them were stupid. I loved Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned but hated Tale of the Body Thief and thought Memnoch the Devil was kind of dumb. They grabbed me again when she started writing about the other vampires (Armand in "The Vampire Armand", Marius in "Blood & Gold", and Pandora in "Pandora"). I still need to read the series where she combines her vampire characters with her Mayfair witches.

I also like biographies/auto-biographies. Especially if they are juicy and scandalous.

I used to really love books by Dean Koontz, John Saul and Stephen King, although they have lost their appeal lately. I guess because they have written so many books they don't shock or scare me anymore because I know their way of writing. I used to love Mary Higgins Clark. LOVED her but after a while grew bored because I got to where I could always figure out "whodunnit" after the 4th or 5th chapter.

I always love classics. I still love "The Scarlet Letter" and the way William Faulkner wrote was brilliant.

A few genres I don't like are the "romance" genre. I mean the over worked, unappreciated, beautiful woman whisked away by a romantic stranger which leads to pages and pages of sex scenes that are described ludicrously....hate it. This is not to be confused with "chick lit". The light, often funny, romance types like Good Grief, Happiness Sold Seperately, Good in Bed and Bridget Jone's Diary. I love those. I also love a good drama (ie The Road, Bel Canto, The Keep) or tear jerker. (ie The Time Traveler's Wife, Before I Die, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, The Secret Life of Bees). By the way, just because The Secret Life of Bees was great, the same can not be said about The Mermaid Chair. I LOATHED that book. Absolutely hated it.

I am also not a fan of courtroom books or detective/police stories (ie John Grisham, James Patterson, Iris Johansen, Harlan Coben). I don't know why, but these books bore the pants off of me. I don't like those types of TV shows either. I really don't know why. Like the whole Law & Order series and even shows like "The Practice", "Boston Legal", etc just do not interest me. I've tried - I just hate reading them. I was also way bored with The DaVinci Code. Maybe I tried reading it at the wrong time. I thought it was incredibly boring and not worth the hype at all. I couldn't get through it.

So, there you have it. If you ever want to buy me a book (or loan me one or suggest one) you know where to look. :)