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May 21,
2006
A List for Lists
Having been a list maker all my life, moving time is no
exception. Running back and forth to Chapel Hill for performing in
The Good Person of Setzuan and getting ready to move requires lots of
planning.
Chapel Hill NC is about 42 miles
from where I live and missing rush hour traffic is tricky. It's certainly
not the gridlock I've experienced in Virginia but it's definitely working
toward that density. A five-minute window can mean the difference
between arriving on time or being a good twenty to thirty minutes late.
Not good, in general; exhausting, in summer.
So, what I did was carry my laptop with me and find an
empty booth at the
Bear Rock Cafe to set up.
They're a Wireless HotSpot cafe and it kept me in touch with the world and
my emails. With its popularity among the students of UNC at Chapel
Hill, the real estate was prime and one had to be diligent to get not only
online access but the one booth with an electrical outlet to save battery
life!
It wasn't as difficult as it generally is in the winter,
when all the students are in town, but the folks knowing about that hidden
outlet behind the booth was large enough to make playing King of the Hill
great sport for the day.
The time was used to create my drafts for this column and
others I'm editing, in addition to creating all the lists I could think of
to keep my move in order. Also contacted the electrician and
exterminators to get things done, after I'm officially moved in so that the
pool will get set up and the workshop ready for fall creations.
It's getting closer to closing and I've decided to do a slow
move with the help of some strapping, young men to help with the heavier
boxes. Most of the furniture is going to my daughter's new home and
I'll just have to focus on contents and shelving units. I've never
done a move, this way, so it should be interesting.
May 14,
2006
What to Bring, What to Fling
Making final decisions on furniture, what to get new
and what to bring, is keeping my head spinning. What I'm most sure of is
that all of my shelving will come along.
The new place has burgundy walls in the room I'll use
for my office, so I'm going to repaint those shelves and some cheap white
metal files to see what happens. I know the white won't work because
they'll stand out too much. I have fallen in love with a paint called
Fusion by Krylon! It not only does
a bang-up job covering plastic but it covers metal, and every other super
smooth base that used to be so much trouble.
Ever since finding some old metal index card file
drawers at the Wholesale Office Supply store, I had wanted to get rid of
that old government green/grey color. That's when Fusion entered my life.
Now, the rest of the world may have been way ahead of me, but that's not the
point. The point is, I fell in love and we have been thisclose, from
that day forward.
It worked great on the file drawers so, of course, I
had to try it on plastic -- that is what it was created for, after all.
Took some old plasticware and -- voila! magic! It really does do as it
promises and that's what counts. Not me. The product. It
does the job and beautifully. To test it, I waited the recommended
drying time and then tried to remove it. Couldn't do it. I love
this stuff!
May
8, 2006
A Short Note to Keep in Touch
Entries will be sparse for
the rest of May and June, until I can locate all my notes and rough drafts!
Hope you'll stick around and revisit after the relocation. I haven't moved
in over fifteen years and there's much to be done.
One thing that's really
exciting me is a chance to get back to gardening and working in the yard.
I'm sure I'll remember the horrors after only a few weeks, but the soil
beckons. It will be interesting to see how the old body bears up under it
all, having been away for so long. Have tried to keep limber but aching
joints and slower steps seem to be a part of my day, now.
I've been driving by as
often as possible looking forward to when I can actually call the new place
home and that will have to do, for now.
May 6, 2006
Time is Passing and Decisions Must be Made
The Good Person of Setzuan opened, reviews were good,
and so we've settled into the run. I love to watch how these things
come together! Bringing together so many diverse and talented people
with a common interest for around six weeks and, at the end, it all evolves
into a beautiful production with everyone giving their own 100%. The
miracle happens over and over in theatres around the world and it's always
exciting.
I'm still checking out furniture and how to make what I
already have into something new and useful. Parting with lifelong items is
still hard and making choices isn't easy. But, it must be done, as we
all know, because there simply isn't enough room for everything. The
shelving is definitely following me -- plenty of areas will need it, both
inside and outside the house. It's the other things that are difficult
to sort through and leave behind.
But, I shall forge ahead with determination and the hope
that it will all work out, with the least amount of tribulation.
Goodwill, the Flea Market man, and
the We Haul Your Garbage guys are all on standby, waiting for my whistle.
It's a great way to move, when you can take your time, and you only have to
move exactly what you want. That's the theory. I just want
everything. I shall be strong. Right.
May 1, 2006
Solar Cooking is Back in My Life
One of the biggest changes, after the move, will be getting
back to incorporating Solar Cooking into my lifestyle. You know what I
mean, that fun thing we did in Girl Scouts and, later, to amuse the kids.
As a mother, I went a little further and actually used solar cooking for fresh vegetables
and a few stews. Truth is, anything you can cook in a Crockpot can be done in a solar
cooker, in addition to breads, cakes and cookies, and dehydrating. It's not
possible in my current home because there's no backyard, little sun, and a
homeowner's group that would seriously frown on my cooking in a cardboard
box in the front
yard!
But, with the return to the country, next month, and my own land, I'm not
only going to use solar cooking, I'm going to try to help others incorporate
it into their routine. We are a nation of energy abusers and this has
to stop. The bonus is that solar cooking will really cut down on your
electric bill. The biggest problem is the look of the current solar
cookers available. They're yucky, made from cardboard and foil, but
incredibly serviceable and primarily meant for Third World countries. Reduction of cost is the motivator.
There are some wooden ones made for around $255 but they still aren't
esthetically tempting. My focus is going to be on creating a
beautiful, inexpensive, solar cooker for the yard that everyone will want to
use.
We have to stop abusing energy in this country. I'm
not advocating the absolute stopping of using electric/gas stoves and
microwaves, but an incorporation of solar cooking into one's lifestyle.
Using a charcoal/gas grill still uses the earth's resources, while sun shine is
FREE! So, my goal is to make an attractive solar cooker that will make
women want to use it and have it visible in their own yards and encouraging
builders
to start thinking about incorporating a solar wall oven into the
Southern wall of their houses. That may mean redesigning kitchen placement (have
it come out of a pantry?) but, in the end, it's well worth it.
Well, as an avocation, master crafting -- painting, pottery,
etc. -- filled my time away from earning a living. But, now that's
changed. I've retired (Who would have thought these days would
actually arrive!) and I can focus on doing what I've always enjoyed, whilst
sharing with others at the same time.
So, the goals and projects have been set for my first years in the
new house. I'll keep you up-to-date and let you know what happens.
The evolution of the solar cookers into esthetically pleasing yard items
will definitely be something on view at all times at The Crafting Shop.
That's the new name for the little store next to the house. It evolved after
my trying oodles of combinations, but, I think it
really does reflect what I do and will be teaching.
The next few weeks will be very busy with the play, moving
and settling into my new home, creating checklists, getting a late garden
started and working out crafting classes. Phew. But, it's also
an exciting time and keeps the old brain active..
April
29, 2006
Tech Weekend With All Its Tension
With
The Good Person of Setzuan
opening next week, Tech Weekend is going to be a real tour-de-force. The
actors have to not only be off book, completely, but learn very intricate
movements for between scene changes (ten! count them!) of the periactoids!
I've tried and tried to work out the planning but it's a job for younger
eyes, I fear.
I'll be busy at the musician's table, playing the hand drum,
gourd shaker, and hand bells, so I won't be involved in moving sets around,
and that's enough for me. Thank the Lord they have a wonderful young
man who's directing this during the show and can point his finger at me when
it's time to do my thing. Remembering the rhythm for each song is
going to be fun. No
paradiddles!
Off book for a week, now, it's been fun building the
personalities of my two characters, Old Woman and Old Wife. It's a lot like
remembering actual people you know and magnifying certain traits to define
and isolate your roles from each other. Very important when doing
multiple parts. I know no one will recognize me because I put on
glasses and a babushka for my Old Woman character (so Clark Kent!)
That should keep the audience guessing.
This cast is so large, it's impossible not to have the
actors doubling up. There is literally no room for a tech crew behind
scenes. Every move backstage is choreographed so that scenes are
changed and actors ready without bumping into each other in the dark.
But, we've got a great group and I have no worries that everything will work
out, beautifully.
With full days on both Saturday and Sunday and then every
night through to opening, it's going to take lots of will power, energy, and
focus. I love it.
April
26, 2006
From Board Member to Regular Bowler for
Good, Maybe
For the past five years, I have been acting as
Secretary-Treasurer and team member for most of the bowling leagues I've
joined. It's a paid job, but not one you could make a living at,
unless you took over the job for every league in the house during a season.
No, thank you.
There are several software programs available to help and
they are marvelous. I've been using
Perfect Secretary by Treasure Software. It's
a great program and filled with hints and user-friendly guidelines.
And, as soon as you've finished, you can upload everything to
www.bowl.com
so that everyone can check on their position and current scores.
But, I think this will be my last season of doing that job.
Leagues have a tendency to vote you in, over
and over, because it's a real job and most folks don't want that, they just
want to play. Keeping track of regular payments is a piece of cake.
It's running down those folks who keep saying they'll bring the money or
have forgotten their checkbooks that make it a real problem.
I guess what confuses me is that these folks KNOW they're
bowling in a league every week and that they have to pay to bowl. How
do you forget that and show up without the money? So, to be nice, most
of us won't make a scene and let them bring the money the following week, or
the next, or. . .
The biggest problem arises when you're trying to make folks
understand that if they lose a team member and refuse to be spread out into
filling vacancies in other teams, they are responsible for paying for their
missing team member to the end of the season! They usually miss this
because they don't want to sit and listen to all the rules being read at the
beginning of the season. That can really play havoc with the Prize fund and
the secretarial fees originally set, so it's important that you force the
new members to listen to the entire presentation when they sign up.
Well, after five years, I think I've done my duty and it's
time to turn it over to the younger troops. Don't know how long that
will last, but that's no longer my problem. I
just want to be one of those bowlers who show up to bowl and leave as soon
as it's over. Then, I can get back to my new home and start some new
clay projects! So, it's goodbye to those frustrations from now on and just
having fun at the alley! Maybe.
April 21, 2006
The Apprentice Becomes a Popularity Contest
I've become very disappointed with The Apprentice. It
was bad enough that they removed the fourth wall and we saw the audience at
the end of the first season, followed by Trump's asking them who they felt
should stay -- very bad, indeed. Most disappointing was Trump's telling us
that this could possibly be an audience's question to answer. Hiring
an apprentice is his job. At least, that's what's represented, that The
Donald organization is hiring an apprentice.
Of course, once the program proved successful, every other
major vendor in the country wanted a piece of the action, looking for
maximum publicity for a few minutes' work. That might have changed the
playing field. But, it was making me mad.
To add insult to injury, he opened it up to viewers to text
message their votes for their favorites, for those who should be 'fired'
that day. Yeah, yeah, I know, they could win some money if they're
close to choosing the same one he "chooses." And, he does protect himself by
saying he may not agree. That's not the point. I just don't like
it. If anything removed this from a valid program of job applications into
the strictly for entertainment realm, in my eyes, this did it. What
employer do you know will ask ANYBODY not directly related to one's company
whether or not to hire someone? I certainly never hired anyone based
on public opinion.
When The Apprentice first started, I loved it. And,
there is still much that keeps me watching. Mainly, just how inept most of
these young people are in their people skills, which is greatly removed from
their own impression. They may be successes within their own businesses, but
they show little, if any, cooperative skills outside that venue. I
know it's a competition, but you would think the applicants would want to
show The Donald just how well they can organize a group of people into
action and not show their incredible pettiness. That is the point of any job
they would get, after all.
Checking out several web sites for professional reviewing of
the applicants and their
business strategies is enjoyed over
coffee the next morning. And, that, to me, is the value of the
program. Being able to review the business judgment errors or
successes of the candidates and see the results discussed in ways that are
meaningful to up and coming entrepreneurs.
But, I don't care, not really. What I do care about is
the idea that these young people are applying for a job and must meet with
Trump every week at the end of their task and HE is supposed to determine
the one to leave the show. This is his responsibility, after talking
with the vendors of the week and listening to the reports of his
immediate supervisors, Carolyn and George. Anyone else should
have nothing to say. He's either capable of hiring someone, or he's
not. If he's not, then find another show.
He needs to find another Bill Rancic. There's a man that
understood what the whole competition was all about. Trump looks for
right arms capable of overseeing very large groups of staff to accomplish
his projects. Bill's personality made his people feel at ease, yet he
had no problem creating checklists and even, personally, checking up
throughout the day on his "staff" to make sure everything was on schedule.
And, he made sure that he greeted Trump when the helicopter landed. Meeting
the boss is a no-brainer, yet so many of them failed to realize the import
of that small step.
These are traits that Trump should have no difficulty
noticing. He doesn't need outsiders. I want it to stop and stop,
now. Grrrrr.
April 12,
2006
Mattresses Designed to Fool a Princess
What has happened in the world of bedding? Boy, you
just let a measly little fifteen years go by and a whole new industry slips
in designed to bring you comfort whilst in the arms of Morpheus.
There's the number type (are you a 10 or 56?), the altered
waterbed, the pillow-top mattress, the deep-design (the extra 6 inches
require all new sheeting) mattress and the demise of the good old full-sized
bed. Queens are everywhere and now the standard full is a special
order.
Well, I'm ready to get back to the full-sized bed and I
don't want a Queen or Kind. Been there, done that. Being under 5'5", I
don't need the extra space. In fact, I fact I rarely move during the night
and could probably sleep on a tree limb, quite safely.
Naturally, I had to try each and every one for its correct
level of firmness. I love a firm mattress but have also discovered the
joy of a firm mattress with the soft pillow-top. What to do; what to
do! I defy the fairest of princesses to find a pea under any of these
newer models. I, personally, stopped bruising after only seven stacked
mattresses -- and I'm a fragile, Southern flower! Yup, that's me. The
mattress industry has come a long way.
I'm torn between two, right now, and only time will tell
what my final choice will be. Closing has been moved up to May 25th
Of course, I checked with the Feng Shui books to see the
best way to create my new bedroom and discovered that my favorite kind of
bed was a no-no. No storage under your bed if you want sweet dreams.
Who really knows this stuff? Where did it all start? How can
they be so certain? These are questions that need answers! Would
my Dreamcatcher offset the Mirrors and Chimes? Should I create my own
tradition? That's what I will probably do. Create a Dreamcatcher
with a mirror backing, and little chimes hanging from the bottom!!
That should take care of everybody trying to invade my sleep.
We've got just two weeks before opening and everyone is
working hard to be the best they can -- most of us are now off book, which
is quite a feat for such a large cast. It has certainly surprised me,
but there was just too much to do that carrying a book around made
impossible. It does gives enormous freedom to creating character for
each role.
The best part of having to go so far for rehearsals and the
show is that I get to see my guy almost daily! What a delightful perk
for my day. Everyone should have such a super person in their corner
who loves them dearly. And, I wish that fortune to all of you.
April 5,
2006
Signed, Sealed, & Shopping
Well, this has been a very busy week. Signed the
contract for my new home and it's really all over. No more dickering.
It's going to be mid-June before I can really get any gardening started, but
that's all right. Will spend most of the time getting beds prepared
and the logistics of making a mini-getaway worked out.
Have kept busy looking at furniture, upholstery, and accent
pieces, and believe that job it's pretty much finished. Everyone is on
standby for delivery dates. It's such fun to start out fresh. I
can't wait to see what Angel does when she sees how big the yard is and how
much there is to roam!
This time around, I'm trying a whole new look, contemporary
country. Soft and inviting without skirts on everything.
The pool is still up in the air, so far as I'm concerned.
Having never really taken care of one, it's not the biggest thrill to have
one. Will see what this year does and how well it fits into my
lifestyle. Grass grows fast enough, this is an almost unimportant
detail.
Will also be setting up for Solar cooking, again. I
really enjoyed using it in Virginia and should have even more available days
here in North Carolina. Will be spending time on creating attractive
designs to make it fun for folks who want to try it but don't want the
cardboard box look.
The Good Person of Setzuan production is getting better and
better and I've been given the task of playing the drum during the scenes
when I'm not on stage. Everyone has multiple roles and tasks, so it's
a very busy production for all of us. Being in the "band" relieves me
of moving periactoids during the performance. Phew! By the time I watched
the Stage Manager put down the sixth set of floor spots for scene changes, I
was thrilled to only have to worry about beating a drum and getting on stage
on time!
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