The opera is done (for the time being)...
and now, off for some much-needed sleep.
For, like, three days would be nice.
and now, off for some much-needed sleep.
For, like, three days would be nice.
I am about to be sucked away into a world of 12-hour-a-day opera rehearsals, so I may not be around much for a little while. Here's hoping that nothing happens to the hot naked girls (nor the rest of you lovely folk) while I'm gone.
Today is "National Talk Like a Pirate Day."
So...yarrrrrrr. Shiver me timbers, man the for'ard long-nines, scupper the scurvey lubbers, here there be monsters, pieces of eight!
etc, etc...
So...yarrrrrrr. Shiver me timbers, man the for'ard long-nines, scupper the scurvey lubbers, here there be monsters, pieces of eight!
etc, etc...
I feel like I should update this thing, but every time I try, I find myself at a loss for things to say.
As of this week, I've been single for three months, after a 3-year relationship. On the one hand, I feel like I'm ready to move on, and would love to start dating again or something, though I'm dreadfully out of practice. On the other hand. I have some days filled with absolute despair when I can think of nothing but wanting her back. I know that "time heals all wounds" and all that -- I just wish time would hurry up a little.
In other news, I've become mildly addicted to "Kingdom of Loathing." For someone whose videogame prowess reached its peak with the original Nintendo system, or perhaps the original PC version of "DOOM," this is a game that I can actually handle. Plus, it can be damn funny.
On a completely unrelated note, I think I want to start figuring out my Halloween costume now, rather than wait until the last minute. I say this every year, of course. Any suggestions?
Anyway, now back to your regularly scheduled program.
As of this week, I've been single for three months, after a 3-year relationship. On the one hand, I feel like I'm ready to move on, and would love to start dating again or something, though I'm dreadfully out of practice. On the other hand. I have some days filled with absolute despair when I can think of nothing but wanting her back. I know that "time heals all wounds" and all that -- I just wish time would hurry up a little.
In other news, I've become mildly addicted to "Kingdom of Loathing." For someone whose videogame prowess reached its peak with the original Nintendo system, or perhaps the original PC version of "DOOM," this is a game that I can actually handle. Plus, it can be damn funny.
On a completely unrelated note, I think I want to start figuring out my Halloween costume now, rather than wait until the last minute. I say this every year, of course. Any suggestions?
Anyway, now back to your regularly scheduled program.
So, our show is open, and the crowds have been decent, and the early reviews have been positive. One more weekend to go. If anyone's interested, here are some shots of me in character as Orson Welles. Unfortunately, the grey in my hair is mostly real. Fortunately, the fatness is not (the padding adds about 100 pounds -- and 20 degrees to the temperature onstage).
(if the photos are cut off, the full versions are in my Pics folder).
In other news, I'm still unpacking. It's taking a while -- still don't have pictures up on the walls or anything, but it's starting to feel like more of a home. Not that I wanted a new home (I was perfectly happy with the one I had), but so it goes. I've been trying to work out a bit -- get healthier and all. Trying to cut back smoking, taking vitamins, that kind of thing. I can't wait until this show is over so that I can get a haircut and trim my beard back to normal. Otherwise, not much of interest to report -- other than waiting anxiously for the next Harry Potter book to come out. I could care less about the movies, but i admit to loving the books. They're hardly the calibre of the His Dark Materials trilogy or Lord of the Rings, but they're a prett good read.
More as events develop...
(if the photos are cut off, the full versions are in my Pics folder).
In other news, I'm still unpacking. It's taking a while -- still don't have pictures up on the walls or anything, but it's starting to feel like more of a home. Not that I wanted a new home (I was perfectly happy with the one I had), but so it goes. I've been trying to work out a bit -- get healthier and all. Trying to cut back smoking, taking vitamins, that kind of thing. I can't wait until this show is over so that I can get a haircut and trim my beard back to normal. Otherwise, not much of interest to report -- other than waiting anxiously for the next Harry Potter book to come out. I could care less about the movies, but i admit to loving the books. They're hardly the calibre of the His Dark Materials trilogy or Lord of the Rings, but they're a prett good read.
More as events develop...
What a day.
Moving sucks enough by itself, but it's even worse when it's not by choice. At least my new place is pretty nice -- small, but enough space for me and my meagre belongings. I think I'll actually enjoy setting the place up, decorating, making it my own, etc. It's just the packing and moving and all the bullshit that comes first that really can drain one's soul.
Fortunately, the girl (my very recent ex) has been pretty helpful -- or at least, hasn't been a bitch about it. I can tell that splitting up with me was a hard thing for her to do, maybe as hard as it was for me to be on the receiving end. I can't be mad at her or hate her -- we both still care for each other deeply, and that both makes things all the more difficult, but at the same time can be a bit of a comfort.
Anyhoo. Onward and upward.
On top of all this, the play I'm in is only about a week and a half away from opening. For those of you who might be curious as to what I look like in makeup and costume as Orson Welles, I offer the following picture for your viewing pleasure (it's a little fuzzy, but you get the idea):
Moving sucks enough by itself, but it's even worse when it's not by choice. At least my new place is pretty nice -- small, but enough space for me and my meagre belongings. I think I'll actually enjoy setting the place up, decorating, making it my own, etc. It's just the packing and moving and all the bullshit that comes first that really can drain one's soul.
Fortunately, the girl (my very recent ex) has been pretty helpful -- or at least, hasn't been a bitch about it. I can tell that splitting up with me was a hard thing for her to do, maybe as hard as it was for me to be on the receiving end. I can't be mad at her or hate her -- we both still care for each other deeply, and that both makes things all the more difficult, but at the same time can be a bit of a comfort.
Anyhoo. Onward and upward.
On top of all this, the play I'm in is only about a week and a half away from opening. For those of you who might be curious as to what I look like in makeup and costume as Orson Welles, I offer the following picture for your viewing pleasure (it's a little fuzzy, but you get the idea):
So it's my birthday.
Let me tell you something, boys and girls: if you haven't turned 30 yet, do your best not to have your entire life fall apart just before that landmark date. Trust me.
I may be exaggerating for effect, but I speak from experience. It sucks to have your girlfriend leave you, despite all of your deeply devoted efforts to the contrary, just days before the big 3-0.
I'll try to write more when I can get my head far enough out of my ass to think straight. In case that takes a while, let me say thank you in advance for any well-wishes that might come my way -- they are deeply appreciated.
Let me tell you something, boys and girls: if you haven't turned 30 yet, do your best not to have your entire life fall apart just before that landmark date. Trust me.
I may be exaggerating for effect, but I speak from experience. It sucks to have your girlfriend leave you, despite all of your deeply devoted efforts to the contrary, just days before the big 3-0.
I'll try to write more when I can get my head far enough out of my ass to think straight. In case that takes a while, let me say thank you in advance for any well-wishes that might come my way -- they are deeply appreciated.
So let me tell you how shitty my last couple of weeks have been...
It all started when my boss (the General Director of my company) came down on me and hung me out to dry for something that was neither A) my fault in any way, nor 2) a big deal to begin with. In fact, he himself (along with two other senior staff members) was to blame for the issue. When I tried to writed a calm, well-reasoned and suitable humble response to his tirade (this of course took place over email -- why can't people pick up the phone, for chrissakes?), he wrote a very terse response saying that he had no intention of even reading my email. Of course, while the other staff members involved agreed with me and deplored my treatment, no-one acutally came to my defence. Luckily, as I said, the problem ended up not being a big deal, and he now seems to have forgotten completely about it and is quite friendly. But the whole thing sticks in my craw (as we say in the South) -- this is not the first time something like this has happened to me or to other staff members, and is yet another thing to add to my list of complaints about my treatment at work. I've been with this company for 8 years, and while I generally love what I do, the lack of outward support, appreciation, or sometimes even respect from the upper management is constantly frustrating. I'm glad that our board of directors has a revitalized Human Resources Committee who will be meeting with us individually soon -- I have plenty to get off my chest, and they know all is not well within our administration. Whether or not that will mean any real changes for the better, I don't know, but it will feel good to talk about it with people who care.
To add injury to insult, as it were, I was robbed a couple of weeks ago. After spending a lovely Sunday afternoon hanging out with friends, I came home to discover that my house had been broken into. The theives had rifled through the whole place pretty well and made quite a mess (though nothing was broken), and ended up stealing my laptop. While I'm thankful nothing else was taken, the laptop had my whole life on it -- in addition to the irreplaceable personal items (pictures, music, documents and projects from the last several years), it had lots of work information. Nothing that I couldn't live without, but plenty of stuff that was painful to lose. Anyway, it took the police almost an hour to respond, and then another hour for the CSI guy to come and take fingerprints, etc. It's been a real pain to deal with all of this, on top of which my personal and professional activities were severly limited for a while due to the loss of the laptop.
Thankfully, there is a silver lining of sorts: A good friend of mine (who I've done a number of big favors for, over the years) heard about the incident, and offered to give me her one of her laptops (for some reason, she had three of them). The new one is almost identical to the one I had before (perhaps a little better, even), and I'm slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things. I thanked my friend profusley of course (hell, I probably would have gone down on her, if her husband wouldn't have minded) -- a new laptop would have been an unbearable expense for me right now, even though I desperately need one for work and otherwise.
The moral of the story? Pay attention to karma, folks -- you'll never know when you'll need it.
And now, back to the boobies.
It all started when my boss (the General Director of my company) came down on me and hung me out to dry for something that was neither A) my fault in any way, nor 2) a big deal to begin with. In fact, he himself (along with two other senior staff members) was to blame for the issue. When I tried to writed a calm, well-reasoned and suitable humble response to his tirade (this of course took place over email -- why can't people pick up the phone, for chrissakes?), he wrote a very terse response saying that he had no intention of even reading my email. Of course, while the other staff members involved agreed with me and deplored my treatment, no-one acutally came to my defence. Luckily, as I said, the problem ended up not being a big deal, and he now seems to have forgotten completely about it and is quite friendly. But the whole thing sticks in my craw (as we say in the South) -- this is not the first time something like this has happened to me or to other staff members, and is yet another thing to add to my list of complaints about my treatment at work. I've been with this company for 8 years, and while I generally love what I do, the lack of outward support, appreciation, or sometimes even respect from the upper management is constantly frustrating. I'm glad that our board of directors has a revitalized Human Resources Committee who will be meeting with us individually soon -- I have plenty to get off my chest, and they know all is not well within our administration. Whether or not that will mean any real changes for the better, I don't know, but it will feel good to talk about it with people who care.
To add injury to insult, as it were, I was robbed a couple of weeks ago. After spending a lovely Sunday afternoon hanging out with friends, I came home to discover that my house had been broken into. The theives had rifled through the whole place pretty well and made quite a mess (though nothing was broken), and ended up stealing my laptop. While I'm thankful nothing else was taken, the laptop had my whole life on it -- in addition to the irreplaceable personal items (pictures, music, documents and projects from the last several years), it had lots of work information. Nothing that I couldn't live without, but plenty of stuff that was painful to lose. Anyway, it took the police almost an hour to respond, and then another hour for the CSI guy to come and take fingerprints, etc. It's been a real pain to deal with all of this, on top of which my personal and professional activities were severly limited for a while due to the loss of the laptop.
Thankfully, there is a silver lining of sorts: A good friend of mine (who I've done a number of big favors for, over the years) heard about the incident, and offered to give me her one of her laptops (for some reason, she had three of them). The new one is almost identical to the one I had before (perhaps a little better, even), and I'm slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things. I thanked my friend profusley of course (hell, I probably would have gone down on her, if her husband wouldn't have minded) -- a new laptop would have been an unbearable expense for me right now, even though I desperately need one for work and otherwise.
The moral of the story? Pay attention to karma, folks -- you'll never know when you'll need it.
And now, back to the boobies.
