Welcome to AvantaLand

Yes, that is yours truly in the center.

I have no excuse other than apathy. And an overwhelming all-consuming obsession with watching all my old favorite TV series on Netflix. Which is why I've just finished watching all nine seasons of The X-Files and am about to embark upon an orgy of Stargate: Atlantis and Babylon 5 consumption. I'm getting a lot of knitting done during these marathons, too.

The latest:

• M*A*S*H rehearsal seems to be going well. My part is soooo small that right now I only need to show up about once or twice a week, and I don't see much of the rest of the show. We open in three weeks, though, so I'll be expected to be a more frequent attendee at rehearsal when we start running the show in its entirety every night. I guess I ought to learn all six of my lines.
  
  
• In other theatre news, auditions for the next show, Night of the Living Dead, will be held on Monday and Tuesday. Brainzzzzzzz......
  
  
• Spouse and I joined a gym. I really like the facility: lots and lots of weight machines, free weights, and treadmills/Lifecycles. It offers a variety of classes like Zumba, yoga, and Pilates, which I expect I'll take advantage of eventually. There's also a workout room just for women. A real plus is a reserved locker -- it's a small extra charge per month, but worth it for the convenience of not lugging my workout gear with me to the office several times a week.
  
  
• The Technical Expert in my office retired and her position is now open. Last week two members of management made a point of stopping at my desk and whispering, "You are going to apply for the TE position, right?" With this kind of interest (and tacit approval) from management? You betcha.
  
  
• Several of the saucepans and skillets we received as wedding presents eight years ago have finally bought the farm, so I'm shopping for a new set of cookware. Unfortunately, right now the budget will not permit me to buy the $1,000 set of Calphalon that I really want, so Target will get my money instead of Williams-Sonoma. I may run over to Tuesday Morning and take a look before ordering from Target.
  
  
• We made the last payment on spouse's pickup this month. Just to watch him choke, I told him that meant next month we needed to buy a new car for me. Heh. In reality, we'll keep both paid-off vehicles for at least another year. But I want a convertible for my 50th birthday.

Okay, time to get my Saturday started. Laundry and dishes await, as well as the 2008 X-Files feature release on Blu-Ray, arrived in today's mail just in time to wrap up the Mulder and Scully marathon.

At the board meeting last night, we approved next season's shows:

• Little Shop Of Horrors. Book by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken.
  
• The Children's Hour. By Lillian Hellman.
  
• Necessary Targets. By Eve Ensler.
  
• The Exonerated. By Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen.
  
• No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs. By John Henry Redwood. We had quite a bit of discussion about what sort of reaction this title would provoke while on the marquee for several weeks.
  
• 110 In The Shade. Book by N. Richard Nash, music by Harvey Schmidt, lyrics by Tom Jones
  
• Angels In America: Perestroika. By Tony Kushner. We did Millennium Approaches this season.
  
• Undraped. By John Haman. This is an original production by a local playwright.
  
• Passion. Book by James Lapine, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
  
• The Rocky Horror Show. Book, music and lyrics by Richard O'Brien. Oh boy.

Should be an interesting year for Weekend Theater. Now, I'm off to research funding opportunities.

(No room to name the music track down there! It's "Wish I Felt Nothing".)

I gave the curtain speech for Proof last night, which meant I got up before curtain and asked people to turn off cell phones and begged them for money. I also stayed for the show. I was only vaguely familiar with the story, knowing it had something to do with mathematics. It's a nice story, if a trifle blue (I'm still shocked whenever I hear the F-word in a community theater production): a young woman and her older sister try to figure out what to do with themselves after the death of their father, a brilliant mathematician. The four actors did well enough, although I thought the young woman playing Katherine (the lead) a little weak. Her nose was bright red by the last scene, so she may have not felt well or been having allergy problems. Heaven knows that theater is dusty enough. There are some funny lines, and some places intended to be tender and moving. But I never felt attached or connected enough to the characters to feel genuinely moved; I don't think the actors were attached enough to their characters to move me. Scenes had two emotions: anger and pathos, with nothing in-between, which tells me it's a direction problem. Good actors do what the director tells them; excellent actors transcend their direction. These actors were good. They needed to be excellent.

Lights have been removed from the porch posts, the mantel is undecorated... Gee, my house looks bare. I wonder if that's why I've been such a snark on BookCrossing today? Nah, can't blame that on the lack of Christmas decor. Sometimes it's just plain fun. Childish, perhaps, but fun. I'll be a grownup again later.

Theatre board meeting this evening. A joint staff and board meeting actually, with potluck. I finally made that cranberry-walnut pie this afternoon after having begged gorydetails for the recipe (in October!). It looks and smells delish, and it's going to the meeting with me. Spouse has been threatened within an inch of his life if he touches it. He gets the chicken & dumplings leftovers for dinner, and if there's any of the pie left after the meeting, I'll bring it home with me.

We discussed our financial plans for the year this morning. Assuming he does well at this new job (and he feels he will), we may be able to pay off all the credit cards this year. If that happens, we'll be able to buy or build a house next year. I most sincerely hope this will happen. I want my own house, with my own landscaping and paint colors and wallpaper.

Hmm. It's a quarter to six. Gotta jet to the board meeting.