This'll be a short post, because I still have things to do tonight before sleeping, but I just wanted to write about the awesome-ness that has been my weekend.
Yesterday: slept in, yummy home-made meals, delightful reading in the perfect weather at Griffith Park. You know that already. But then last night, I spent from 7pm until midnight working on a digital album from a trip I took to Europe in 2006. Yes, it took me 5 years to finish it, but it's DONE! It feels so good to have everything typed up (I typed up my journal from the trip, and sometimes I get really wordy!) and all the pictures in place. LOL I forgot where some of those pictures were taken, or I didn't have copies of the places anymore, so for some of the pictures I found images from the internet and just put them in. They're sights I remember seeing, so it's only cheating a little! But it feels SO GOOD to be done with it! Then some chatting with the roomies and a little more reading before sleep.
Today, I slept in again =) and then had lunch/finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with a few of my friends. We started watching it a week before spring break but didn't get through to the finale until just today. But it was satisfying and an excellent way to see the whole series. Lots of fun! Then I came home, ordered myself a copy of my beautiful Europe photo album, and then went over for a Passover sedar with the Los Angeles contingent of my family. It was also a lot of fun to see them all again--I don't give myself enough time to spend with my family. Lots of good laughs and happy times. And yummy food, much of which came home with me! =)
So the weekend was the perfect combination of alone time and social time, family and friends, fun and productivity. Technically speaking this weekend was nothing special... but that's why I liked it.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Simple Things
It's so easy to get caught up in the insanity that is life. In my case, it's the craziness that is classes, trying to figure out opportunities post-graduation (less than a month away!!!), various class activities and rehearsals, making time to hang with friends... It's a lot, and I don't mind it, but it's just too easy to get caught up in it all.
So today I didn't let myself. I didn't set an alarm clock and woke up at noon feeling seriously refreshed. Read for a couple hours, then made some lunch. I went grocery shopping yesterday so I actually have food to eat! Hooray!! Watched a little TV, then drove to Griffith Park with juice/Pringles in one hand and a big stack of books in the other. And it was just beautiful.
The sun was shining and it was late enough in the day that it wasn't incredibly hot, but just warm enough, especially when coupled with a gentle breeze in the shady tree. I found a hill to sit on and used my book bag as a pillow, with just the right angle for reading. I finished one book that my roommate lent me (wasn't crazy about it, but I was determined to finish it!), read a little bit of the library book I borrowed yesterday (it's all in emails, which I love. The epistolary novels are always favorites of mine), and continued reading on a Kindle book. Unfortunately with that one, somehow the e-reader had gotten to the end of the book. So it looked like I was almost done with it, while in fact I wasn't even half-way through it. It took me a couple of chapters of reading to notice what had happened. Oops! But I went back and found my old spot. Sometimes technology likes to mess with me. =)
And now I'm home again. Going to continue my relaxing day with some dinner, maybe a Netflix movie or more TV, and probably continue to read. A nice, quiet break from the craziness that life has been lately.
So today I didn't let myself. I didn't set an alarm clock and woke up at noon feeling seriously refreshed. Read for a couple hours, then made some lunch. I went grocery shopping yesterday so I actually have food to eat! Hooray!! Watched a little TV, then drove to Griffith Park with juice/Pringles in one hand and a big stack of books in the other. And it was just beautiful.
The sun was shining and it was late enough in the day that it wasn't incredibly hot, but just warm enough, especially when coupled with a gentle breeze in the shady tree. I found a hill to sit on and used my book bag as a pillow, with just the right angle for reading. I finished one book that my roommate lent me (wasn't crazy about it, but I was determined to finish it!), read a little bit of the library book I borrowed yesterday (it's all in emails, which I love. The epistolary novels are always favorites of mine), and continued reading on a Kindle book. Unfortunately with that one, somehow the e-reader had gotten to the end of the book. So it looked like I was almost done with it, while in fact I wasn't even half-way through it. It took me a couple of chapters of reading to notice what had happened. Oops! But I went back and found my old spot. Sometimes technology likes to mess with me. =)
And now I'm home again. Going to continue my relaxing day with some dinner, maybe a Netflix movie or more TV, and probably continue to read. A nice, quiet break from the craziness that life has been lately.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Stage Managing
It's been a while since I've been in the rehearsal hall. For Spider Baby, sure, but once we opened mid-October we stopped rehearsing. And I've had rehearsals for choirs and for class scenes, but those don't feel the same as rehearsal for a musical or a play.
So I decided to offer to stage manage Take Back the Night at USC. TBTN is an organization dedicated to bring awareness to and hopefully end sexual violence, and the play I'm stage managing is a series of short scenes examining these sorts of situations. It's not a happy topic, but it's an important one, so I'm glad to be there working on the show.
It's definitely an interesting experience, being on the other side of the table. I've done it before--ASM'd and assistant directed various shows and I've been at a ton of auditions for a cappella--but this one's a little different. I don't have a ton of things to do because we aren't in an actual theatre--more like a classroom. So for the performances, I run the lights, which are a little wonky because we don't have the ability to just light up the stage. So the audience will be lit all throughout the show. That's OK, they can read their programs and see all the little names... I guess. I find it annoying, but there are limits to what we're able to do and we don't have the time/resources to make other drastic choices.
During the runthrough today, since we weren't even in the actual space, I led warm-ups (I think they thought I was crazy because I was having them do random dance moves... but that's OK. I am crazy!) and then yelled out "blackout" or "lights up" in-between the scenes. I also ran half of the fight call, which is fine and dandy except for the fact that I have no experience in stage combat. Other than the Spider Baby fighting, which took forever to learn. So for the rest of rehearsal I worked on cover letters and resumes. I actually got a lot done, which is good. I'm just ready to be done with it all.
Too bad that probably won't happen anytime soon, unless I miraculously get a dream job out of nowhere. Or even just a job out of nowhere. On the plus side, the show ends this weekend and I'll have a little more free time to relax. Not that I want the show to be over--I'm enjoying being in the creative space, even if I'm not being so creative myself--but I've been super busy these last few weeks and it's a little overwhelming. Honestly, once I get through this weekend I should be OK. It's just getting through to the weekend that's the hard part. Wish me luck!
So I decided to offer to stage manage Take Back the Night at USC. TBTN is an organization dedicated to bring awareness to and hopefully end sexual violence, and the play I'm stage managing is a series of short scenes examining these sorts of situations. It's not a happy topic, but it's an important one, so I'm glad to be there working on the show.
It's definitely an interesting experience, being on the other side of the table. I've done it before--ASM'd and assistant directed various shows and I've been at a ton of auditions for a cappella--but this one's a little different. I don't have a ton of things to do because we aren't in an actual theatre--more like a classroom. So for the performances, I run the lights, which are a little wonky because we don't have the ability to just light up the stage. So the audience will be lit all throughout the show. That's OK, they can read their programs and see all the little names... I guess. I find it annoying, but there are limits to what we're able to do and we don't have the time/resources to make other drastic choices.
During the runthrough today, since we weren't even in the actual space, I led warm-ups (I think they thought I was crazy because I was having them do random dance moves... but that's OK. I am crazy!) and then yelled out "blackout" or "lights up" in-between the scenes. I also ran half of the fight call, which is fine and dandy except for the fact that I have no experience in stage combat. Other than the Spider Baby fighting, which took forever to learn. So for the rest of rehearsal I worked on cover letters and resumes. I actually got a lot done, which is good. I'm just ready to be done with it all.
Too bad that probably won't happen anytime soon, unless I miraculously get a dream job out of nowhere. Or even just a job out of nowhere. On the plus side, the show ends this weekend and I'll have a little more free time to relax. Not that I want the show to be over--I'm enjoying being in the creative space, even if I'm not being so creative myself--but I've been super busy these last few weeks and it's a little overwhelming. Honestly, once I get through this weekend I should be OK. It's just getting through to the weekend that's the hard part. Wish me luck!
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