Stardust

The paper has run a bona fide review of Sabrina Fair! Not just our press release, but a real review -- and a good one at that!

In the interest of full disclosure, the writer was a very good friend of mine in high school. But she really DID love the show.

Sabrina Fair review complete with cheesy melodramatic photo, for your viewing pleasure.

...and i think we have a really good show. considering the time and effort we've put into it, i think it was all worthwhile. legs will be broken!

we have poster!!!

i will be obtaining print copies of this either tonight or tomorrow. if you can think of anywhere to post one that might attract patrons please let me know!

i got the role!!!!!!!!!
my first real lead in 10 years, and a role i wanted SO badly. i am thrilled beyond all get out. over the moon really. hooray, hooray!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: just got the full cast list. Tybalt/Andy is playing Linus, which is both great -- exactly where i'd have cast him -- and hilarious, as it's about the most diametrically opposite relationship possible to the one we played in Romeo & Juliet. i'm genuinely pleased with this.
on the other hand, there is one other person i know in the cast, playing the younger brother David -- and that's an ex of Shannon's. that will be rather weird.

first readthrough is tomorrow. hooray! back to the footlights! =)

last night i auditioned for the first time at Jonesborough Repertory Theatre. (turns out i have lots of friends who know the director there, Kathleen, and they all offered to put in a good word for me -- but unfortunately she's not directing this show. instead it's a first-time director, a fellow i've seen act in the area, who is quite good. no one knows anything about him as a director, of course, it being his first show.)

the show is 'Sabrina Fair,' which is the play that the audrey hepburn/humphrey bogart film 'sabrina' is based on. of course i desperately want to play sabrina. and i figure i have a decent shot at it, since i'm the right age range (she's supposed to be in her late 20s) and particularly because i have a standard american accent -- something i think is suited to the character, since she's been in europe for 5 years -- and can already pronounce french (which the character speaks fluently, she has several french passages) quite well.

my friend Andy has done quite a few shows in jonesborough and he decided, after hemming and hawing about it for a while, to audition too. (i may take to calling him Tybalt, which was his role in R&J, to distinguish him from my landlord Andy, as well as several others i know... in fact i told him i'd have to give him a nickname for this reason, and he responded in total deadpan, 'you could call me Pat.' Pat being his identical twin, who is also a friend of mine. this suggestion amused me.) so Andy attended both days of auditions, and called me after the sunday session to tell me that no one had been there to read for the role of sabrina, only for the men and older women in the show. i was of course thrilled with this information.

last night three of us read for the role, and we each got to read quite a few times in different combinations. i will say that i honestly think i gave the best reading, possibly by far -- and yet i still don't think i'm going to get the role. it's hard to explain why, but i got a vibe from the director that he didn't like me for the role. in fact i got that feeling before i'd even read, which suggests he took one look at me and decided i didn't fit the look he wanted. which is fair, it's his play, but it sucks nonetheless if i'm right about that. there is also the not insignificant fact that the other two girls have both worked with JRT in some capacity before, though one may have not worked with the fellow directing the show. who knows how much clout that gives them?

the thing is, i want this role for quite a few reasons. it's a lead, which i haven't had in a long time; and it's an interesting and complex character, which i also haven't had in a long time. i adore comedies, and this is a particularly good one. i really want to do another play again, and this is the only appropriate role i see on the immediate horizon. but mostly i want the role because sabrina's story is my story, except that i went to san francisco instead of paris; my frenchman didn't follow me home; and it's taking me a little longer to find my happy ending.

( regular programming has been interrupted... )
in other news, i scrubbed my bathroom this weekend. serious, major scrubbing, like i did when i moved in. this is always a pleasure because it means i can take a nice soaking bath without having to clean the tub first! and i got andy to rip out the old radiator, so once the pipe is gone i'll have a bit more space too.
i also made a fleece cape... though it still needs a fastener and hemming. not that it will be of any use to me for a while yet, since it's going to be 70 bloody degrees the next few days! i am also making a really gorgeous scarf for Ireland, though i am going to have to go questing for more yarn -- i was sure i'd bought plenty but it's knitting up far too small, i need another skein. unfortunately i bought the stuff in asheville and the stock is being closed out; i might have to order it online.

Tgiving will be unusual this year but i'm looking forward to it. of course the librrry is closed thurs & fri, but my sister can't come home till friday night so we are having the family meal on saturday. that leaves thursday open to attend zannli's lunch and then drop in on linda's open house, which will all be lovely, and possibly to make my way to a party later that night. saturday i am scheduled to work, but i think i've worked out a tradeoff that will allow me to leave around 2:15 so my family's meal can be at a decent hour. sunday i go in to work at 12:45 so we'll be having a rather early brunch for my birthday. we did a brunch last year and it was great, and a fun change.

now to bed, to bed, to bed... work in the morning. where, incidentally, we have just obtained an ant farm. that's right, our librrry is bugtastic. ;)

little message Ireland sent off today before heading to london for the weekend:

"If you happen to receive something (eventually) in the post, from me, perhaps, you are not allowed open it until your birthday."

=D

(also: for a laugh, read this article he sent me earlier this week, with just a smiley for a subject line. =)

**update: what should i find when i got home from work yesterday but a package in the mail from Ireland??? the same day he sent the above admonition... and there's a book in it! won't know what for another 2 weeks... but the customs form specifies contents as 'book, cd, seashell, card.' =) and he mailed it 3 WEEKS before my birthday. he's the very definition of awesomex0r.

my butterfly has hatched!!! she is beautiful. this is our fifth and so far we've all been female. there will be photos and details on our library monarch project later... for now, here is the story i wrote about it. please give constructive criticism! i am hoping to get a few preliminary illustrations done soon.

( Letterfly )

Avast ye, mateys! today be Talk Like a Pirate Day.

as me hearty Cap'n Adam say, "It be only scurvy dogs won't give a little shantybanter this day."

...and don't be forget te be gettin' yer Pirate Name!

~Mad Jenny Bonney

i wish i'd written this...


World's shortest Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl, "Will you marry me?" The girl
said "No" and she lived happily ever after, because she went shopping,
drank martinis with friends, always had a clean house, especially a
clean bathroom with the toilet seat down, never had to cook, had a
closet full of shoes and handbags, stayed skinny, and was never farted
on.

The End

snagged from zannli's LJ... i have NEVER decided what i wanted to be when i grew up, so this can't hurt! ( career MEME )

i have a tendency to hang onto the threads of things that are gone... even things i *want* to be gone. for example, somewhere in some hidden place i think i still have old emails from grant, and thus a way (in theory, assuming address hasn't changed) to reach him. even though i never will.

but i'm not doing that anymore... especially not if the threads reappear sometimes and catch my attention. like the ex-friend who dumped me weeks ago, still on my 'friends' on myspace, posting bulletins. and i was particularly annoyed to see his name on the bulletin list right next to Ireland's, because really it seems like a profane sort of juxtaposition. so i looked at his profile (which i hadn't even been remotely inclined to do for at least two weeks) to see if there was anything like any reason i'd ever want to look at it again -- and no, there isn't, of course there isn't. so i deleted him. both regular and music pages. in a minute here i'm taking his number off my phone. (all overdue, i know, as i already gathered everything belonging to him into my car trunk... i'll either drop it by his door, if that's worth my time, or maybe just trash it.)

this is me moving on, and shedding the burden i should never have taken on in the first place.

...i explained the situation a bit to Ireland (because he has a very old friend who lies to him constantly, and called him a 'scurvy dog,' and i mentioned my own recent scurvy dog drama, and gave him the short version of the story). in response, this infinitely sweet individual said

"Sorry about your scurvy dog – it is not right that you were treated like that. I think his problems are all with himself, and nothing to do with you. I think he would treat everybody like that and may never know any better, but he needs a good smack in the mouth (not that I would preach violence)... nobody has the right to say mean things about you, but I truly am sorry that it was a bad situation in the first place... but whatever the reason for not seeing each other anymore, he is the one losing out."

ha! he's so right.
=)

from "Les Roses"
~Ranier Maria Rilke

X.

Friend of hours when no one remains,
when all's refused to the bitter heart,
comforter whose presence attests
to such caresses floating in the air.

If we refuse to live, if we renounce
what was and what may happen still,
we never think enough of this tenacious friend
who's next to us, at work on miracles.

he doesn't know what he's worth.
why are boys like that? or is it just the boys i know?
either they think they're the most precious thing in the universe, or they have been beaten down to the point that they have no concept of their own value. no concept of the possibility that someone in the world might appreciate them, and find them interesting, and really want to know them -- just the way they are. no 'improvements' or alterations necessary, or desired.

what, what, what do we do to the people of the world?
he's extraordinary, and yet someone (many many someones, i suspect) has convinced him very much otherwise. i have been there before. i remember that feeling.

how do i fix it from half a world away?

he actually *apologized* to me for not thanking me for every single kind word, for every tiny gesture i might have made on his behalf. as though the average person thanks anyone for anything anymore, at least more than cursorily. but he is this beautiful thing that has been neglected and abused and shoved into corners for so long that he has forgotten there may be any place else for him to go.

i was there once too. maybe i can prove there are other avenues left?
there are, there are. and he deserves his choice among them, and absolutely infinitely more.

so Ireland posted a bulletin on myspace about the '5 albums that changed you life,' and i responded to it... but just in case you haven't looked at it, i wanted to call your (namely zann's) attention to his list:

1. The Real Thing - Faith no More
2. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's the Muppet Show - The Muppets
3. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
4. Rubber Soul - Beatles
5. Want One - Rufus Wainwright

...that's right: the muppets! you love him now, don't you?

:)

(sometimes you don't know now to make a smiley that's... well... smiley *enough.*)

hehe... i has a new userpic.

tidbit for the day: Ireland and i have had an ongoing discussion of renaissance faires ever since i posted the pics from rogersville on my page. i've told him we'll find a faire to attend and i'll make him a cambric shirt appropriate for that kind of event. and we've talked about the attempts some workers and attendees make at olde enlgish. here is what he had to say (cobbled together from several different mails):

"still laughing at the renaissance faire - it is cheesy, but i would love it. i'd be laughing, but i would be in my element. although i would probably turn into a nerd and correct people and then get thrown out :)

"hmm yes, i think i would certainly require a cambric shirt of some description for a renaissance faire. i would strut around correcting everybody's olde and middle english.

"Hehe, I look forward to strolling around the faire in my new shirt, saying, ‘prithee, fair wench, makest thou some toffee apples for me, post haste’ and so on."

...after which i said "i love the image of you at the faire, and the demands you'll utter! as i said, there is something to the costuming that allows even the shyest among us to be dramatic and come out of the shell... i hope you'll really demand foodstuffs post haste from the appropriate wenches. though the most popular culinary delight is really the roasted turkey leg. people wander around clutching a whole one and flaying flesh from the bone with their teeth. it's teriffic! i can't wait to see you. let's find a faire you can attend and i will meet you there, wherever it is. i'll bring the shirt. what color should it be?"

and he responded "yes, at the faire i shall command the utmost obedience from all relevant wenches and may possibly hire a minstrel to sing ballads and rhymes to me as i walk around surveying the scene, one hand on my hip, the other holding a turkey leg. true, there is something about a costume that gives a certain distance from your real self, allowing you to do things you would not normally do. i think the shirt would have to be white, with a little green to denote my descendency."

ok, off to watch an old british sitcom now! tata.

what a lovely thing this was to wake up to!

"hi

thanks for the lovely mail and sweet dreams to you if you are still awake.
if not, hope you wake to a beautiful day.
i will mail a bigger reply later."

...thank you, Ireland. :)

...oh, and allow me to introduce you: my 'sisters' zannli and hemay (if you ever come back), meet my new little 'sister,' wilma! hooray! now we must all go play skeeball.
love the sisters.
=}

this just in: Ireland is the sweetest and most completely awesome person in the history of approximately ever.

okay, it's totally not *just* in, i figured it out a while ago. but it seems ever truer and truer.