there should be a law

no motorized yard work before 9:00AM. i actually would prefer before 10:00, but i'm willing to make concessions. makes me want to stick my speakers in my window and blast my hairband mix.

sorry, not much sleep last night.

for the curious, i've gotten over the review. as was pointed out, it's one guy and he was predisposed not to like the show. and my lack of mention tells me nothing of my performance - though my reaction tells me quite a bit about my own insecurities. but i suppose if i didn't care about my performance, i wouldn't be much of an actor.

rehearsal thursday was a bit subdued, but we kicked the heck out of it last night. some of the cast felt the audience was a bit unresponsive, but i didn't feel that at all. and everyone said they enjoyed it. susie came down from westerville to see the show and brought some of her youth group peeps with her. chris was there, too - good to see them both. great when friends come to see you. will have more tonight. which reminds me, i need to do some cleaning.

trying to decide if i should go see spiderman 3 today or not. there's a show at 12:30, which would put me home by 3:30 - plenty of time to grab a nap before i have to head down to the show. not in a huge hurry to see it - pretty sure i'm going to be disappointed since most of the negatives i've heard are my pet peeves about big budget movies. but i'd like to make the judgment for myself. of course, if i don't go, it means i could spend more time in my hammock - and it looks to be a perfect day for that.

been reading palahnuik's latest - rant. the main character reminds me of Grenouille from perfume - some similar oddities. i love chuck and his willingness to stare at the grotesque with a smirk. it's actually quite a horrible story - a man responsible for spreading a virulent form of rabies throughout the world - but it's told as an oral history, meaning you get the story from several viewpoints, some not trustworthy. i found it, remarkably, at the norwood library. good read so far, though i feel a bit guilty since i should be grading papers.

damn. i told myself i wouldn't think about that today.

been listening non-stop the last week to the the hold steady, especially their cd separation sunday, which i borrowed from kurt. great stuff and perfect for the onset of summer. they're performing at southgate monday night and i would love to go, but i get the sense my need to get grading done will outweigh my need to see them. ah well, my own fault for not being more diligent. but i've been a bit distracted, what with the play and all. not an excuse, but...ok, it is an excuse. and not even a good one.

looks like i'll be doing the OWP this summer - seems everything is paid for, which is really what i wanted. not thrilled about losing most of my summer to it, but everyone says it's cake, so hopefully it won't be too bad. and i get to write, so maybe i can shake some of these ideas out of my head finally.

still thinking about vegas. i toyed briefly with turning it into a road trip, but with gas prices the way they are, it would be much cheaper to fly - though certainly not as much fun. need to figure out when i have to decide so i don't drag this out too long. an analogy keeps coming to mind - i occasionally retry food i decided i didn't like, just to see if my tastes have changed. maybe i should do the same with vegas. i'm a much different person than i was at almost 21 and, so i hear, so is vegas. hmm. decisions, decisions.

enough. need to get ready for visitors.
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tunes: the hold steady - cattle and the creeping things

torn

the citybeat review is up:

http://www.citybeat.com/current/onstage3.shtml

and now i don't know how to feel. is it better to be mentioned in a bad review or not mentioned at all? he slammed the lovers, praised bottom and the mechanicals and completely ignored me. was i that bad that he couldn't even bring himself to be harsh? or was i that forgettable that he forgot to even mention me? or perhaps his editor read his review of my performance and decided it was too mean and it would be better to not say anything (ye olde thumper rule)? regardless, i'll have to wait a bit longer to get my first official review. i had hoped to at least get noticed. as it is, i gained less attention than the costumes. i suppose it's what i should have expected.

at least gina will be happy with the review, as it will vindicate her belief that we've bastardized the bard.

off to grading hell.
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tunes: old 97's - let the idiot speak

strangeness follows

something odd is in the air. everyone i talk to is having difficulty sleeping. teachers at school. students at school. becky and gina at housechurch tonight. and my battles with insomnia are well documented.

and my emotions have been a bit off this week, as evidenced by my previous posts. they're not wrong, per se, just shifted a bit. things that normally bother me aren't. things that normally slide under the radar are sending up bright flares. an odd week.

should be heading to bed, but alas, when i look for sleep, he is far in the distance, waving mockingly, letting me know he's there, but won't be anywhere near me soon. not necessarily complaining as i have the new palahnuik book to keep me company, which, surprisingly, i found at the norwood library yesterday. pretty much fits the mood of the week.

i'm trying not to be sad about losing two of my favorite tv shows this season - gilmore girls and veronica mars. my tuesdays will certainly be much freer. gilmore probably needs to end before it completely jumps the shark - though the past two episodes have rocked. and veronica is only dying because of those damn pussycat dolls - why spend money on a well-written, well-acted show that no one watches when you can do a lame reality show that the american public eats up.

gosh, i hate the masses sometimes.

written earlier today, while i let my students journal outside in the beautiful weather....

we're outside today for class because...well, i really didn't have a reason other than it's a beautiful day outside and i wanted to be in the sun. plus, i find it helps to break up the routine whenever i can. i suppose if challenged i could find a way to tie it into mockingbird. we are talking about tom robinson's death and we are near a fence - but i doubt i'll be asked.

sounds like i'll have quite the crowd saturday night at the play. steve, brent and his mystery guest, gina and joyce, mom and dad, students, susie - nearly half the capacity (ok, so i exaggerate). hopefully they'll all get tickets. doubt it will be a problem. wonderful to not have rehearsal last night - not that i was in anyway productive, but good to have a night free.

addendum: might be even more people there on saturday. guess i should carve out some time to, oh, i don't know, clean the house. and then kat is coming in the next week to get her moz on. you'd think i had a social life or something.

we'll not talk about all the grading i have to finish, ok? i'd rather not send myself into a spiral of panic.

gina's trying to get me to go to vegas in july with some of her coworkers. i've been resistant to the idea, mostly because my first (and only) experience there was painful. and depressing. and i have no idea what i'm doing this summer, since sharonville is no more (sniff). guess it will come down to deciding if i want to spend the money. and i think i'd feel a bit guilty, since most likely i won't be able to make guatemala work and then to head off to the land of debauchery....wrong, right? ah these pesky moral dilemmas i work myself into.

little response to my offer for free music. only a haiku from ang so far (in an incredibly cool card, but still). seriously, you don't know what you're missing.

was hoping putting words to the screen would make me sleepy. only served to jumpstart my brain. guess i'll have to rely on chuck to break me out of this - or draw me so deep inside i don't notice or care anymore.
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tunes: frank and bono - i've got you under my skin