A gratitude

The curtain has closed for the last time on "Honk! The Musical"

Thank you to everything who took time out of their busy schedules to come and support us.

Thank you to the cast for all the laughter and joy, the hard work, and the friendship.

Thank you to the crew for helping us pull it all together. (And your friendship, too!)

It was fun, it was exciting, it was exhausting, it was hard...it was worth it!

Free Agency

It's a tricky thing.

We all want to be able to make our own decisions. We all have the right. But, we all will have to live with the consequences. And sometimes, other people have to live with our consequences, too.

It seems to me, thinking about the people who love us should help us make better decisions. I know darn well that isn't always the case. We all, on a daily basis, make stupid choices.

So, is there anyway to tell someone they are making a stupid (or otherwise) choice? Yes. But we must be prepared to accept the consequences. Will it change their choice? Maybe, and maybe not.

That's the point. We can't choose for someone else. Even if we think we know better. Even if we do know better.

This post brought to you by the Vague Verbiage Version Voice.

A gratitude

Thank you Clarissa, Arlee, Shalise...

for cheering me up with Ridiculously Funny Banter.

I love pizza, too!

Vent

It's been a long time since I've vented on my blog, and even now, I'm rather hesitant.

Still...

My good friend Kate has often said, "It's my blog, I can say what I want!"

Here Goes Nothing...

I am frustrated with people who have nothing positive to say.
I'm tired of hearing only complaints over which I may have had control once, but no longer do.
I am upset that no matter how upbeat I try to be, no one seems to appreciate it until I no longer have the energy to keep it up.
I can't believe that at that point they ask for more.
I'm angry that the situation involving my child was blown more than out of proportion and my child blamed for the entire problem.
I'm sick over inappropriate behavior (but I don't say anything, because who am I to judge?).

And finally...

I'm livid that all of this has affected me so negatively and I've become one of those people.

A Question

What composer is deaf, has three syllables in his name, begins with a Bee, has a toe in the middle and ends with Salieri?

I don't know either.

Ask the Laughing Stock players.

A gratitude

Thank you to all my friends and family who came out to the show last night. You were a Great Audience (the cast is hoping you all come back!).

Thank you to David for going back home and getting those things I forgot.

Thank you to Clarissa and Eric for remembering that we had wanted to go see Laughing Stock last night. It was more than a little bit fun to spend the rest of the evening together.

Thank you to the cast of Laughing Stock. I laughed so hard I cried.

And last...

Thank you to Ella for yelling "Wake Up!" multiple times this morning. Otherwise I might still be asleep.

Cow Tipping!

"Honk! the musical" opened last night.

We had a couple of flubbed lines, a couple missed entrances, some forgotten hula hoops, a mic that went out, some other minor problems with the sound, a snow machine that didn't snow and various other opening night woes.

On the other hand...

We sang our hearts out, we took the energy level up about a zillion notches, everyone made every costume change, our blizzard effect almost worked, our dancing was dang close to superb, we had more fun than we've ever had doing this show, and we all went cow tipping together!

And then...

Patti-oke at my house!

Everyone who wanted to sing put their name into my tip jar. I would draw the names out one at a time, and when your name was drawn, you sang! (Pretty simple system, don't you think?)

Shalise did keep herself to one song (that was the rule; One song per person, please) although, Arlee chose to sing "Stepsister's Lament", which means that Shalise sang with Arlee as well. (This is not against the rules.) Sterling sang a wonderful song from "Dreamgirls", Robert sang a funny little ditty about Santa Claus being too fat for the chimney. Ames wanted to know what did he need with love, while Aleks was just thrilled with Being in Love. Kathy and Michaella insisted I Won't Say I'm in Love, while Michaella soloed with a Little bit in Love. Joshua and Garrett convinced us all to "Seize the Day" (which we all did the echo part! *grin*) and Keatly and Berkley taught us the follies of drinking Cider Through a Straw. I chose to sing "I Still Believe" with Crystal, while Joel croaked his way (literally) through "Happiness"...with lots of help from everyone in the cast...

just a note on "Happiness": Joel started out, people would add in lines as they felt them. Seth sang, "Happiness is...having a sister," I sang, "Sharing a sandwich," we sang, "Getting along!" Different people in the room would know different lines and sing them. When we got to "Happiness is singing together when day is through", we all sang together. I really felt like this line spoke every one's heart at the moment.

Happiness is singing together when day is through,
And Happiness is those who sing with you.
Happiness is morning and evening
Daytime and nighttime, too.
For Happiness is anyone
And anything at all
That's loved by you.

It seemed as if all the little kids wanted to sing (who can blame them!) and we had no problems with them participating, in fact, we encouraged it. If we don't let the children sing, how will they ever learn to be theatre people?

Crystal got to sing last (rather appropriately) and chose to sing "For Good", which she dedicated to this group of people who have made such an impact on our lives in such a short time. Yes, "For Good" is a duet, and yes, I sang with her (we figured two people, two songs, both duets, was not against the one song rule).

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better.
And, because I knew you
I have been changed
For Good.

Feet

I started my tap class officially yesterday. Yippee! I love tap! It was really funny to watch the old ladies in my class try to figure out if I was going to be behind, or slow them down. They all asked questions about how long I've been taking lessons. We started with barre, which doesn't really give a good indication of ability (toe, toe, toe, toe...heel, heel, heel, heel) but then we went into Maxie Ford's and when I whipped those out I think they started to feel better. But it wasn't until I wasted them all on the double shuffle buffalos that they realized I was a decent tapper. In actuality, the old ladies and I are a good match. There are a couple of things that they do that I haven't learned yet, but I pick up fast, and there are a couple of things that I just plain do better than them.

I wore my character shoes for what felt like eternity last night but was really only 5 hours. Still, character shoes on a junior high school stage and having danced for more than an hour in the morning...well, my feet were killing me by the end of the night. The things we do for shows. Hmmm. I did bring my house slippers with me, and when I got the chance to put those on, my feet were very grateful.

I'm grateful for my feet.

• they don't hurt this morning.
• they know how to dance
• they carry me where I want to go
• they wear toe nail polish well

Can you spot the Maxie Ford's?

Faulty

I never remember how hard tech week invariably is until I'm in the middle of it.

Thank You...

...to everyone who gave me ideas for my list.

100 Things to do to Raise Your Spirit

(for under $10)

1. Paint your toenails.
2. Wear red shoes
3. Share a Jamba Juice (with Drewser!)
4. Bake bread
5. Try to remember all the words for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
6. Dance to "Footloose" (everybody cut footloose!)
7. Watch "Joe Vs. the Volcano"
8. Buy flowers
9. Read a romance novel
10. Watch "What's Up Doc?" (Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal...hilarious)
11. Take a bubble bath
12. Have a picnic
13. Ride a bike
14. Browse through a used book store
15. Sing "Scripture Power" with the Primary
16. Go to the library
17. Swing on the swings
18. Go for a walk
19. Watch a Michael Buble video
20. Watch your favorite episode of Gilmore Girls (Right a Hit, Be a husband)
21. Get an ice cream cone
22. Listen to "Be Our Guest" (No, No! Not the Kickline!)
23. Hold a happy baby (Sabrina works really well)
24. Drive in the mountains
25. Draw on the sidewalk
26. Play in the rain
27. Play in the snow
28. Walk through crunchy fall leaves
29. Go out to lunch with a girlfriend (cheap or even brown bag!)
30. Watch silly videos on You Tube (Ow! Charlay!)
31. Make faces at yourself in the mirror.
32. Pet a puppy (or Chubs)
33. Call an old friend (or a new one!)
34. Look (and laugh) at an old year book
35. Pick wild flowers
36. Pop bubble wrap (Because I'm an Adult!)
37. Sing at the top of your lungs
38. Have a pillow fight
39. Send someone a thank you note
40. Eat M&M's
41. Do the actions for "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" (Reindeer)
42. Watch "Singing in the Rain"
43. Read the last chapter of "Anne of the Island"
44. Watch "Tommy Boy" and quote all the best lines (fat guy in a little coat)
45. Eat finger jello
46. Brush your hair
47. Sing a perky broadway tune and make up choreography on the spot
48. Embarrass your children with silliness
49. play Rock Band (with Esther)
50. play Wii (with Esther)
51. Blow bubbles
52. Play Flying Hamsters
53. Read a story to a child (like Esther)
54. Watch "The Princess Bride"
55. Watch your favorite episode of "Friends" (would you like to put it in the freezer?)
56. Eat Sconecutter spicy fries
57. Have a fresh tomato sandwich
58. Bake cookies (for Esther)
59. Play Candyland
60. Knit
61. Play the piano
62. Make a collage out of old magazines or pictures
63. Watch Colin Firth dive into a pond
64. Hug your children
65. Color with crayons (the fat ones!)
66. Listen to the Alvin and the Chipmunks version of "Funky Town" or "Bad Day"
67. Take a nap
68. Try on pretty shoes
69. Have an at home date
70. Play Boggle
71. Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows
72. Watch a thunderstorm
73. Watch the end of Anne of Avonlea (Jonathon Crombie, Megan Follows)
74. Watch General Conference
75. Write in a journal
76. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald
77. Watch a Danny Kaye Movie (but not "The Three Pennies", that one is sad)
78. Compose a song
79. Take flowers to a friend
80. Make (and eat) brownies
81. Tap dance
82. Wear pretty pajamas (all day if possible)
83. Work in a garden
84. Play out the dinner scene from "While You Were Sleeping" (these mashes potatoes are so creamy!)
85. Browse through a Farmer's Market
86. Listen to Harry Connick, Jr.
87. Ignore the laundry for a day
88. Give flair
89. Smell lilacs (or roses)
90. Read poetry
91. See a show in Taylorsville ($5 is a deal!)
92. Quilt
93. Read the scriptures
94. Pray
95. Smile at everyone (even people you don't know!)
96. Have an inside joke (I've got to Pi'ikoi)
97. Kiss your husband
98. Laugh out loud (at nothing!)
99. Count the stars, or your blessings
100. Have dinner with your family

?????

Why am I awake?

I didn't sleep well.

I don't feel good.

I'm exhausted.

Why am I awake?

Are they serious?

Movie Reviews

I'm a Smashing Moo-sician!

I was given minus tracks for our musical "Honk" and to tell the truth, some of them aren't very good, and by aren't very good I mean really stink. And some of them are just plain missing and I mean exactly that. As a result, I've been building and repairing tracks as best I can and as fast as I can, which really isn't all that fast. To build a track from the ground up takes me, on average, one hour per minute of play time. So, if a song is three minutes long, it will usually take me three hours to build the track. Which means, since the music for "Honk" totaled about 80 minutes, that I didn't have time to fix everything. I really wish I did. Anyway, I thought I was done, but after our run through on Thursday night I realized that there are problems on a couple of tracks that I just couldn't live with, and one track in particular that I just had to scrap and start over. I started work on them last night, figuring that I might have to give up some of my precious sleep. Well, I did give up some of my precious sleep, but not because I was working on music, no! that was finished! (Hence the Smashing Moo-sician.) I gave up my sleep because I couldn't stop reading this book. It wasn't even that funny, but I kept reading and before I knew it was almost done, or at least with only 40-50 pages left, and by that time I might as well finish.

Well, I was going to post the absolutely fabulous version I finished last night right here, but I can't get access to my uploading site. Shoot! Now everyone will have to come and see "Honk!"



HONK! A Musical Tale of "Ugly Duckling"

The Taylorsville Arts Council presents HONK! A Musical Tale of "Ugly Duckling" on Sept. 25, 26, 27 and 29, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. (matinee Sept. 27 at 2:00 p.m.) at Eisenhower Junior High, 4351 South Redwood Road. Cost for admission is five dollars per person.

suggestions, please?

I'm putting together a list (mostly for my own use but I will post it here when it's finished): 100 things to do to lift your spirits for under $10.

Right now there's things on my list like:

• wear red shoes
• watch Joe Vs. the Volcano
• bake cookies

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

True Love

There were chocolate chip cookies with butterscotch bits waiting for me when I got home from rehearsal last night.

David made them.

*happiness*

Eric Armstrong is Freaking Brilliant

"Come with us and Learn our Ways."

GRRRRR

I don't want to be awake this morning.

The Plan

Blog
Clean kitchen counter
Start a batch of bread
Exercise
Take Ella to school
Shower
Laundry
Finish batch of bread
Teach lessons
Laundry
Make crock pot chili for dinner
Pick up Ella
Laundry
Make lunch
Massage
Laundry
Pick up Living Room
Teach lessons
Make cornbread for dinner
Clean up dinner
.
.
.
Collapse in a heap

Joy (of Motherhood)

I finished the music!!!!!

It's all cut, pasted, polished, normalized, and ready to be burnt onto cds.

I'm amazing! No wait!!!

I'm a Smashing Moosician!!!

Just a Glimpse

Pots, Kettles and Purple Rings

"Hello Kettle. I'm Pot. Did you know that you are black?"
"What?! Well, who are you to talk? You're black, too!"
"No I'm not! I'm a nice copper shade!"
"Maybe you were once, but you're looking pretty tarnished to me."
"Tarnished? Really?"
"Yep. Nice and dirty, just like me."
"You know, I have some S.O.S. pads in my pot, maybe they could help us both. Let's give them a try!"
"If we work together, things could be just fine!"

This message brought to you by the coalition for happier pots and kettles (CHAPOK).

I have a purple ring in my bathtub of Dr. Seuss proportions. It looks like the Cat himself came and bathed in my tub. I suppose this is appropriate since I place the blame for this ring squarely on the shoulders of "Seussical the Musical". I saw "Seussical" last Friday, and I loved the Purple Kangaroo's purple hair so much that I decided I had to have some for myself. And since Purple Kangaroo was played by Cindy Johnson (Hairdresser Extraordinaire) I was able to get purple hair on Tuesday. I love my purple hair. I adore my purple hair. I'm going to want purple hair again and again and again.

However...

My shirts are purple, my ears are purple, my neck is purple, my pillowcase is purple, my hands are purple, and yes...my bathtub is purple.

Serves me right.

Maybe I should have been Ariel

I've almost completely lost my voice. And since I'm obsessively careful about everything connected with my singing, I won't even be trying to talk today, and maybe tomorrow. The last time this happened, when my voice got to the hoarse, mannish stage, I quit talking and wondrously! got my voice back rather quickly. The key is not to aggravate it while it's trying to heal.

I'll still have to go to rehearsal tonight, and I still have bunches of lessons to teach today, but I can do that without a lot of vocalizing. Isn't it amazing that I've been teaching lessons for so long that I know how teach voice lessons without vocalizing? It isn't the best way to go about it, but since I'm always ragging on my students about vocal health, it definitely makes a point.

Daisys

I am sick. Dayquil should get me to the party tonight, but I don't think I'll end up staying very long. With Ella having preschool this morning, I'll get the chance to stay in bed for a while. I still have to teach lessons this afternoon, but I might end up cancelling some of them, it all depends.

Tom Hanks brought Meg Ryan daisys when she felt this way.

Thank You, Crystal

The peaches are wonderful!

Even now, my fingers are a little bit sticky...

I'm such a follower

You Are Jasmine!

Independent and adventurous. You don't want much; just to break out of the guilded cage society has put you in and experience life to the fullest. Following orders isn't really one of your strong points, and you would rather live a life of poverty than being forced into something that you hate.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I saw an actual Van Gogh on Friday.

Perhaps the funniest movie ever...

What's Up Doc

Judy: You don't wanna marry someone who's gonna get all wrinkled, lined and flabby!
Howard: Everyone gets wrinkled, lined and flabby!
Judy: By next week?

________________

Judy: I know I'm different, but from now on I'm going to try and be the same.
Howard: The same as what?
Judy: The same as people who aren't different.

_______________


Judy: I can't see!
Howard: There's nothing to see really, we're inside a Chinese dragon.

_______________

Howard: You! You!
Judy: Eu-nice. Eunice. We've almost gotten that stammer cured.
Howard: How! How!
Judy: How-ard. Howard. He always gets stuck on names. It must be the excitement of meeting
you for the first time.

______________

Judy: Eunice? That's a person named Eunice?

______________

Judy: Love means never having to say you're sorry.
Howard: That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

_______________

Howard: I'm not repeating myself. I'm not repeating myself. Oh, God, I'm repeating myself.

________________

Frederick Larrabee: Don't you *dare* strike that brave, unbalanced woman.

_________________


Eunice: Since when have you taken bubble baths?
Howard: It came out of the faucet that way, Eunice.

________________

Judge Maxwell: You. You in the blanket! You seem to have caused all this trouble. Exactly what have you got to say for yourself? [Judy lowers the blanket]
Judge Maxwell: Judy!
Judy: Hello, Daddy...

well planned

My plans for the day consist entirely of the following:

• lay around in my pajamas
• read this very good book I picked up from the library yesterday
• return to the library to get books 2 and 3 of the trilogy
• memorize my lines

That's it.

Yep.

Plan Wrecker

Plan Wrecker - see streptococcus - Symptoms of strep throat include fever, stomach pain, and red, swollen tonsils. A child with strep throat will be unable to attend her second day of school, leaving mother to cope with a hyper (because she's feeling better) and unhappy (because she's missing school) four year old. In addition, the child's father, who took the day off of work to take the mother to the museum, will be trapped at home with the other inmates, bringing the total of trapped, miserable people to three.

Buzzing

No rehearsal for me again until Tuesday! Yippee!

I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up...just a minute ago they were babies, now Ella has started her last year of preschool, Sarah is giving her dad grief in the mornings, Ben is just about to earn his Arrow of Light, and Joshua nearly cried when he read that Uncle Press died (if you haven't read Pendragon that statement will make absolutely no sense...don't worry about it.)

Kate, Kate,
She's our gal
She makes me just
Smile, Smile, Smile!
Gooooooooo, Kate!

I love recording music, it makes me so happy! It's even better when it's not someone else's stuff, but right now it's been so long since I've had a chance to do any recording that I'm thrilled finishing up the minus tracks for Honk! (Come and see the show and try to guess which tracks are mine!)

I got a portion of a song stuck in my head last night at rehearsal, not enough to sing out loud, just enough to drive me a little bit nuts. It did come back to me later on, and the cast laughed at me.



It really is a fun song! Thanks, Esther!

WHOA!!!! I've used a ton of exclamation points this morning!!!

Ella's Day

We made a paper doll that looks like Ella.

Together we baked cookies. (Interpret that as I baked cookies and Ella played with my camera.)

Self Portrait Picasso Style

Licking the beaters is a job for everyone.

Right now, Wendy's has the best kids meal prizes.

Cookies!

We watched a princess video that taught us how to make a fortune teller.

Choose a number. Choose another number. Choose a flap. Seven? "Happiness is a warm puppy."

This, I remember

It's Ella's first day back to preschool. She's really excited, I'm really excited, we're both up and dressed, and yet, I'm running late. Why?

It's quite simple really.

David got my digital piano hooked up to my mixer/computer last night.

In other words, I'm doing music. And it doesn't matter that it's not my own stuff, although I'm very excited to get to that, it's stuff for Honk, and I've been sitting in front of my editing program, listening to little bits of track, figuring out the best way to reduce the noise, trying to get the voices out completely (it's not going to work), and I've lost track of time.

What a delightful way to spend my morning!

Tender Moments

Waking up cozy and warm when Ella crawled into bed with me this morning.

Seeing Benjamin's eyes light up when the clerk placed the French Horn on the table in front of him.

Sitting between my two boys during Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull yesterday.

Watching Sarah pose in her new orange coat (yes, it's very cute!).

Eating dinner as a family last night.

Start Spreading the News

Esther and I bought our plane tickets for New York last night. We're not leaving until next July, but with the way rates have been going, and all the worries about airlines, we thought it would be best to reserve early, and with reputable airlines.

At this point we have our hotel reservation (thank you, Seth!) our New York Passes (I strongly suggest this if any one is thinking of going) and our plane tickets. We could leave tomorrow.

Too bad we'll have to wait 302 days.

*sigh*