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Random Musings...

Wednesday, June 30, 2004 

 
    Woohoo! Happy Hour is on today. Perfect way to celebrate PT's LAST DAY OF WORK!! That's right...his last day! I never have to deal with him ever, ever again! The new person starts tomorrow. She can't possibly be worse!

    By the way, for the past two Happy Hours, one of my former directors has been coming. He is a guy in his 40's. The rest of us are girls ranging from 23-25. Does this seem sketchy to anyone? I mean, we all have a rapport with him in that we all met doing his show. However, we got together for one and then he was offended that he wasn't invited since he was the one who introduced all of us. Now, it's twice in a row he's coming. Last time was fine, because he's a nice guy. But now it's striking me as weird. Why would a man in his 40's head to Happy Hour with four girls? Now I'm feeling a little dirty about being cast in the three shows I've done with him.
Posted at 3:18 PM

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    Got my DMB Gorge CD/DVD set. I watched the DVD last night. Awesome! I can't wait until July 29!! I'm so pumped for this tour! So now, I've bookmarked this page in the hopes that I can find a reasonable bid for any of those seats for the 29th. I'll be checking every day and hoping that no one bids on it. There is over a week left of agonizing over this. I know it's a long shot, but I'm a hopeless day dreamer. I talked to Bobby about it, and he was definitely willing to help out with the cost if it meant getting these seats. He said maybe he could even convince Dad to pitch in a little. I'll let him work his charm. Hopefully it will increase our buying power! I need to start a Get-Rosalie-and-Bobby-Good-Seats-to-DMB Fund. Come on, brother and sister bonding is a good cause! :)

    I may be heading to Happy Hour after work today with some friends. I hope it works out. It's always such a good time.
Posted at 10:29 AM

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Tuesday, June 29, 2004 

 
    OK, it really sucks not to be able to download anything onto this computer!! I don't know when any of my email comes in now, so I've resorted to compulsively refreshing the inbox.

    On the bright side, while cleaning my desk, I found an unlabeled CD. I checked it out, and it's a live DMB disc. I think it may be from the Gorge. SOOOOOOOOOOOO fitting since the Gorge CD/DVD is released TODAY! I'm stopping at Best Buy on my way home today and buying it. I can't wait to watch it!!
Posted at 3:38 PM

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    Good news and bad news...

    Bad news--My computer at work died yesterday. Just completely died. I had all these files on there that I really, really hope I can get back! I had backed up most of them, but I hadn't backed up anything in about a month. I have three huge files that I've been working on that I really, really need back!! I'm really hoping there is some way to pull them off the old computer.

    Good news--I have a new computer! It's so fast! Marvelous. My old computer froze and had to be restarted three or four times a day on average, so I won't have that problem anymore. It's so nice to pull up a program and have it up within a second, rather than a few minutes later. Seriously, the old one made my blood pressure rise! The downside, I can't download anything onto this new one. :( That means I can't have MSN Messenger that lets me know instantly when I receive an email, and it means I can't chat with Christina on Yahoo anymore. So upsetting. Oh well.
Posted at 10:51 AM

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Monday, June 28, 2004 

 
    Where did the weekend go? I had all these plans for the weekend, and suddenly I ran out of time and hardly got anything done. I wanted to clean my room, I wanted to vacuum, I wanted to mop, I wanted to get together some packets to send out to agents. I did none of these things. The only constructive things I did were grocery shopping, bathing the dogs, returning them to my parents, and umm, updating and turning in a syllabus to Target Copy that I completely forgot to do last week. I'm so glad I remembered before today, but it sucked to have to go into the office on a Sunday! I'm not going to be home for another weekend for a month. I'm going to have to squeeze in housework during a week day, which I hate!

    So I'm seeing a pair of DMB tickets, 5th row for about $300 in North Carolina. Sooooooooooo tempting. So very, very tempting. UGH! I don't know what to do!
Posted at 9:11 AM

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Friday, June 25, 2004 

 
    Thank God it's Friday. Whew!

    Last night was my last night of filming the movie, too. I'm glad. I just wasn't into this project. The director is a really nice guy, but I just wasn't feeling it.

    My knee is still screwed up. It's so annoying to be limping around. I have an interesting little rhythm going. It's amazing how you don't normally hear yourself walking unless you have certain shoes on or something. Now, I always hear my walk because it's so different than I'm used to. Ba-DUM ba-DUM ba-DUM! It's dumb.

    I came across an amazing photography blog. Check it out. He posts one or two pictures a day on a different subject. Keep going back. There are some really amazing ones in there. This guy is amazingly talented. My favorites so far: Self-Reflection, The Chair, the top one of Drive In Wheel, Paperbag Head, Reflected Downtown, Old Beetle, and Untitled. I'd probably have dozens more favorites, except that's only as far back as I've gone. I'm going to keep going back through that site. Incredible stuff!
Posted at 9:46 AM

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Thursday, June 24, 2004 

 
    Well, well, well. I am not in a good mood today. I came home yesterday to find that the three dogs got into the trash and proceeded to rip it up and scatter it all over the house. I could have killed them. I was screaming at the top of my lungs at them and started kicking around the trash can so much that they were cowered and shaking in a corner. If I hadn't been so enraged, that might have softened me up. Instead, I locked them up in the guest room and started cleaning up the place, cursing the whole time. The dogs, who normally whine and scratch at doors when they are closed in somewhere made not a squeak. They were THAT scared of me, as well they should have been. Bastards. It was disgusting. Today is trash day, so it was a completely full bag. Ugh!

    Then, Andrew came home with the realization that we have to change our plane tickets for the trip to Lake Ontario because he got scheduled for a group therapy session on Friday afternoons. To change the flight from Friday morning to Friday night cost us a $100 change fee and $80 fare difference for each ticket. That's right. This thing cost us $360, just to move it back a few hours.

    Then, we took Andrew's car in this morning and I just got a call back from them. $500 will be the total for the day. Fuck. That's $860 out the window in less than 24 hours.

    Plus, my knee is completely screwed up. I have no idea what's going on with it. I'm kind of mad at the doctors who did not even bother to check out what was going on with it after they determined that my leg pain was not something I was going to die from. In the meantime, it's gotten worse, and if it continues, I'm going to have to get my ass back over there and shell out more money to have them tell me what IS wrong, rather than settling for what isn't. I've gotten to the point where I am limping around. Even just lying down hurts because it constantly feels like it's hyperextended or something. Ugh.

    Not in a happy mood, no.

    I have to keep reminding myself of all the happy things I have going on in July, though. July 2-5, 4th of July long weekend with my family. I'll be seeing my grandmother and my cousins, too! July 7, our three year anniversary. We can't celebrate it that night because Andrew has a presentation the next day, but hopefully we will be able to go out on the 8th, then. We're thinking about doing Melting Pot again. Mmm! July 9-18, Lake Ontario. The plane tickets fucked us over, but we are still getting there, which will be nice. As much as I would have preferred going to Alaska with my family instead, the nice thing about Lake Ontario is that there is nothing to do except sit around outside on the lake and do laid back stuff like reading, painting, etc. It's a nice place to relax. July 29, DMB in Tampa with Bobby! I can't wait. I WAS going to try to see if I could land some premium first through fifth row seats with this auction thing, but now that we are $860 poorer than we expected to be at this point, I can't do that. I'll have to settle for section 301, but what the hell, I'll be there with the good music and sharing it with my brother. That's still a lot to be happy about. August 2 is Andrew's 28th birthday. I'll have to think of something to do, although I think we'll do it down in Orlando. Shoot, I need to buy him presents!! What to get him? What to get him? Then, finally, of course...August 5-9, Lane and I will be in Wisconsin enjoying the sights of Madison and the sounds of Dave. (And I'll meet Christina!!) The weekend after that, I'll be in Puerto Rico for the first time in over two years (the longest I've ever gone in my entire life), which is awesome, except it's for the most depressing wedding I will have ever been to, Jackie and Andy's. I think I'll just get nice and drunk to forget about it and try to have fun anyway.

    Ok, so I just listed all the things I'm supposed to be happy about, went back and read it, and realized that I posted something negative about almost each and every one. Yes, that is the mood I'm in. Let me put it better. In the next two months, I'll be celebrating 4th of July with my family, celebrating my three year anniversary of pure bliss, going on a nice, weeklong relaxing vacation up north, seeing DMB with my brother, celebrating my husband's birthday, traveling with Lane to see DMB again, and going to Puerto Rico. That's a heck of a lot to be happy about. The bad stuff just needs to work itself out somehow.
Posted at 8:47 AM

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Wednesday, June 23, 2004 

 
    Made the first step. I found what looks to be a good agent in Orlando. I called her up yesterday and am in the process or trying to see whether or not I can get signed with her. I figure both Disney and Nickelodeon have TV shows filmed there, and along with Universal, there are movies being shot there routinely. I'm willing to travel for any gig that pays a decent amount. Orlando is the third busiest TV/Film city in the country and it's two hours away, so this just makes sense. I think it's a great way to test the waters and see if I can make a go of the full-time professional thing.

    My family got back from Alaska. Man, I'm jealous. Apparently, this was the best of all the trips we've done there. They went on a whale watch and had Humpback Whales jumping clear out of the water and splashing down a mere 100 feet away from them! The guide was amazed because he said something like they don't usually do that that far north. There were about six of them apparently. Must have been incredible. The helipcopter tour to the glaciers was apparently the best of the three they've done because for the first time, the weather was perfect. They were able to take a different route and fly over the snow capped mountains, etc., rather than sticking close to the ground for visibility like we had. Oh well. Hopefully Lake Ontario with the in-laws will be a rockin' time, right?? :)

    I'm really getting excited about the trip Lane and I are taking to Wisconsin in August to see DMB. They kicked off the tour last week and the concerts, from what I hear, have been incredible. Plus, with it being six weeks away, we're finalizing plans, like hotels, car, tents, etc. So exciting! I'm excited about all parts of the trip. Lane and I are going to spend a night in Madison and explore the city. I can't wait to be her travel buddy! It seems like she always does the coolest things. Then, camping, which I've never done before. To add to that, we'll be camping with about 100 DMB freaks like me. Wow. This should be an experience. Then, of course, the concerts! Ooh! I'm glad I have the week vacation and the Tampa concert in between, or else I would die from the anticipation.
Posted at 9:41 AM

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Tuesday, June 22, 2004 

 
    Well, it looks like I'll live after all! :) Just a stupid, random thing apparently. Advil's enough. I don't need to go back unless it gets worse or lasts until next week. Hooray! I still feel like an idiot, though. The doctor thought I was a real moron. "Let that be a lesson to you!" How embarrassing.
Posted at 2:14 PM

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    Ok, so my own stupidity is what got me a doctor's appointment today. Usually I can't see the doctor immediately, but when I talked to them yesterday about what was going on, they said that they'd squeeze me in today because it needs to be checked out ASAP. That doesn't make me feel very good. :(
Posted at 8:26 AM

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Monday, June 21, 2004 

 
    Dave is the 30th most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes. It's listed as Dave Matthews Band, but the synopsis only talks about Dave for some reason. I'm guessing the $28 mil is from the whole band, which is divided equally among each of the members. Although maybe the Some Devil revenues were included in the total? I don't know. Point is, Dave is rich and cool.
Posted at 1:28 PM

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    I'm a stupid hypochondriac.
Posted at 12:35 PM

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Sunday, June 20, 2004 

 
    A nice lazy weekend so far...well, except for the last half hour. We went to Home Depot to get some stuff to repair our bathtub that got a chip in it when we realized we wanted to replace our screen door. We decided to go to Lowe's since it's a lot closer to our house in case the door had to stick out the trunk. (We prefer Home Depot usually, even though it's farther) So we bring the door out to the car after buying it and it's too wide to fit into the deeper part of the trunk, which meant that about 2/3 of it was sticking out. There's no way we could drive like that. It obviously didn't fit inside the car either. We finally decided to strap it to the top of the car, but we weren't thinking of all the wind resistance a flat surface would have. Whenever we broke ten miles an hour, it would start standing up almost at a 45 degree angle!! We were freaking out. Very stressful. Fortunately, it's all backroads to our house from Lowe's, but still. In retrospect, we should have just called someone with a truck or something. Oh well, it's home!

    I took Lucky out on a walk this morning, and it was quite eventful. I was so cheery seeing the retention pond by the park full of wading birds. Herons, ibises, etc. Very pretty sight. Lucky also happened upon a rather large turtle that somehow I didn't even see! It's shell was about a foot and a half long! Lucky was quite intrigued by it, and I had to pull him away. Anyway, it was a nice feeling out there walking before it was too hot and seeing all the nice wildlife when....*JUMP!!* Lucky jumped about two feet in the air and I turned around in time to see a wasp fly off and Lucky start limping on three paws!! Poor guy got stung!! It took him about 20 minutes to stop licking and hobbling around. He looked so sad! But he didn't cry, which is more than I could say, probably. I've only been stung by anything once and I let anyone within a 100 yard radius of me know about it.

    Last night we went to a going away party for one of the guys in Andrew's lab who is going off on internship. He's heading to Baltimore and said that the program would be a good fit for Andrew too. It actually wouldn't be bad to end up there since one of my aunts works in HR there at Johns Hopkins, so I could actually find a job for the year! So, Baltimore is ok by me I've decided. Let's see where we end up in two years!
Posted at 3:50 PM

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Friday, June 18, 2004 

 
    I just talked to Jay North!! WOW! Unfortunately, he was not happy because one of the profs here asked him to appear at a fundraising event but never called him back about it. She is out of town until the end of next week. :( But anyway, I still talked to him! Cool! I used to watch Dennis the Menace every day!
Posted at 1:52 PM

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Posted at 1:12 PM

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    OK, I've listened to all of them at this point. Crazy Easy makes me want to pee my pants!!!! God I love this band!! It's been too long since I've heard a new song from them.

    Anyway, I had a blast last night at Bonefish with my friends. It was Martini Night, and all the girls got completely goofy on just two of them while the guys just watched in amusement. We all ordered the "Hypnotic Martini" which was pineapple, coconut and other stuff, but it came with a glow stick. Wow, we had entirely too much fun with those glow sticks! We probably caused a scene, but oh well!
Posted at 9:48 AM

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Posted at 9:12 AM

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Thursday, June 17, 2004 

 
    Every day, I agree more and more with a lot of Nietzsche's views. There was a time when I used to get mad at his cynical view of humanity. After all, if he was making these biting comments on the human race, he was including me in the whole thing. How insulting! But with each passing day, I become more and more of a misanthrope. I've become part Nietzsche with a dash of Hobbes, and all the rest of me is...I don't even know. Whatever. The point is, there was a time when I thought to agree with Nietzsche, you had to be one depressed shard of a person. Surprisingly, it's not as depressing to be part-Nietzschian as I thought. See, just because I hate humanity doesn't mean I hate all people. Actually, I think it makes me appreciate the people I love even more. If I believed that most human beings were good and kind, then my friends and family would only be people I know more than the rest. However, since I have accepted that 90+% of the human population sucks, my little circle of loved ones is my precious oasis in the Sahara of assholes and idiots.

    Some Nietzsche quotes that entertain me...

    At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
    I think this is what caused me to think I was Republican for so long.

    He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
    Dubya?

    Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
    Completely true. I was going to say that the same applies for stupidity except I've met too many stupid people.

    Only sick music makes money today.
    Wow, even Nietzsche complained about this. He never even lived to hear Good Charlotte.

    Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.
    Actually...yeah, this is a really good one to think about.

    Christianity gave Eros poison to drink; he did not die of it, but degenerated into a vice.
    Something I did last night is still illegal in many states.

    The last Christian died on the cross.
    I know that Nietzsche is a hardcore athiest, which I am not, so he intended something different by this statement, but I can still agree with it by my perspective. Christianity has been so perverted.

    The thousand mysteries around us would not trouble but interest us, if only we had cheerful, healthy hearts.
    Love this one!

    Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual.
    Ooooooh yes. What a perfect way to put it.

    The masses seem to me worthy of notice in only three respects: first as blurred copies of great men, produced on bad paper with worn plates, further as a resistance to the great, and finally as the tools of the great; beyond that, may the devil and statistics take them.
    This man is a genius. Yes, yes, and yes.

    Life always gets harder toward the summit - the cold increases, the responsibility increases.
    I hope the summit comes already, then. I just hope I'm climbing the right mountain.

    How good bad music and bad reasons sound when we march against an enemy.
    WMD, Iraq/9-11 link, etc., etc., etc. Oh, and of course that song about putting a boot up someone's ass.

    I would believe only in a god who could dance.
    How cool is this guy??

    I live in my own place have never copied nobody even half, and at any master who lacks the grace to laugh at himself - I laugh.
    Something to strive for.

    There are no facts, only interpretations.
    Something to remember when you are so certain about something.

    Without music, life would be a mistake.
    I can't even imagine how I'd have my bearings without Dave's music.

    Love is a state in which a man sees things most decidedly as they are not.
    Can't agree with this one, buddy. Unless of course I am so blinded that I, of course, can't know what Andrew isn't.

    A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
    This one is just plain funny.

    Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?
    And yet I stay here at this desk nine hours every day to disprove this true statement. Where do I get off wasting away like this?? Sometimes I think of Nick who had until the age of 20 and how he slept three or four hours a night just to fit everything in. He would pull me out of my room to take me out to dance under the stars in the middle of the night, he put together the biggest production Davidson had ever seen, and died in the company of friends. How can I have known him and waste the time he didn't have?
Posted at 1:32 PM

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    Are John Kerry and George W. Bush really the two finest people we have in this country?? Really?? It scares the crap out of me that, in such a volitile time, we are definitely having a terrible president in 2005 no matter what. It is a 100% certainty. I hate having to sit here and watch all this. I haven't even been able to watch the news lately it makes me so sick.
Posted at 11:50 AM

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    I've had to restart my computer three time already today. Joy.

    Tonight I'm meeting up with some friends for dinner at Bonefish. I haven't been yet, but I keep hearing that it's great. Can't wait...good food AND being done with work for the day!

    I think I'm getting carpal tunnel in my right hand. I have had this terrible pain several times in the past year. It comes in waves, like one week it will be really bad, and then it gets better. I think it's from all the mouse clicking I do with my hardcore web browsing I do nine hours a day. How terrible is that?

    Ok, I just had the weirdest conversation with this guy. He was annoying as hell, but he was psychic or something. All of a sudden in the middle of the conversation, he's like, "Tell me something, you from Carolina?" So, uh, I told him that I used to live there. I asked him if I had an accent, and he said no. Then, later on, he asked me if I was Spanish. Ummm....yeah. How random is that?? It's not like ever guessed any other things. He just came out and guessed I lived in North Carolina and that I'm Spanish. Weird. He was still annoying as hell, though. He just talked to me for 10 minutes. Very strange.
Posted at 9:32 AM

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Wednesday, June 16, 2004 

 
    Work-related things I've done today:
    -Answered approx. 30 phone calls
    -Sent the mail
    -Checked the enrollment of a class
    -Signed on to an administrative system to verify to the other office people that it was, indeed, down.
Posted at 1:28 PM

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    Ok, apparently today is a day that I will be posting a lot.

    But I just had a terrible realization...if I were to stay in this job until I leave Gainesville, I'm only at the halfway mark. Halfway. It's enough to drive me to insanity. Halfway.
Posted at 11:21 AM

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    I feel like my life is on repeat. I get up every day to come to this job. Every few months, I think I find the answer to getting out of this rut, only to get slapped down once again within a few weeks. I have an occassional renaissance of hope for my future which fades within the week. And the cycle continues on and on. I plan trips I can't take, I fantasize about acting professionally, I think I have another job opportunity, I whine about my state in life, I become ambivilent, I become complacent, I become content. On and on. This is my little cycle. Over and over. My life is identical today to what it was two years ago. Nothing has changed except the passage of time.
Posted at 11:06 AM

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    My film shoot went better last night, though I still don't see how it's going to be a great movie. Maybe I was spoiled after the one I did with PBS, but this one is just a guy and a camera. I don't see how the sound is going to work. Last time I worked with him, he at least had a boom mic. This time, nothing. Oh well. Not my problem, I suppose. Still good to keep up my experience.

    I had a dream last night that I was performing in a huge venue. I mean, it was huge, like an arena. Sitting all up in front were all the people I went to high school with. I looked out and saw then and filled with pride. The very people who used to tease me were watching me out there performing for over 10,000 people, and I was bringing the house down. Take THAT!

    I could really do this acting thing for a living. If I could get cast consistenty, I would be extraordinarily happy doing that for the rest of my life. I'm well beyond the point of this being my hobby. This is truly what fulfills me in life. As much as I complain about the demanding schedule, I love every minute of it. Professionals sometimes say, "Oh, it's not all fun and games" and "It's not as glamorous as it seems." No, it's not, but I still love it. I have been acting seriously for ten years now. Yes, a whole decade. I definitely know what I'm talking about at this point. I've had the time to evaluate exactly what I get out of it. I'm not seeking the fame, and I'm not even seeking redemption like my dream. As strange as it seems, I love how difficult it is. I love how I am rarely 100% satisfied. I love coming home each night and trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, what I could change, what I could add. Most of all, I love how it feels when I just nail something for the first time, after trying and trying and trying to get it right. It's a natural high. I come home after good performances, and I can barely feel my feet on the ground. I can't think of anything else that gives me that much personal pride. I worked and worked and worked at it until I finally succeeded. I love that whatever happens out there in front of all those people is all me. It's just me, standing in front of them, and doing my work. I'm out there for all to see and judge. It's so terrifying and yet so comforting somehow. I can't even explain it. It's just so good to put myself out there, to subject myself to the possibility of screwing up publicly, to risk having people whisper to each other about how inadequate I am, and yet, I come out the other side having transported them, having moved them, having made them laugh, having made their evening. I love the feeling of leaving the stage after KNOWING, just KNOWING that I just NAILED the show, and being brough back out to the stage by an applause that was EARNED. And it doesn't happen every night. Actually, it's rare. That's almost the best part. Every night I have to go out there and strive for that performance. Every night it's up to me once again to get out there and kill the place.

    This all just seems like it needs to be so much bigger for me. I feel almost silly feeling this way about the work I do in tiny community theatres with an audience whose average age is 76 on any given Wednesday. I feel like I'm needing more and more. I've been doing the 100 size crowds enough over the last decade. I want to know if I'm able to step it up. Part of me is terrified that I've become a big fish in a small pond and I will do nothing but disappear in a big pond. I must admit that part of me worries that all this time I've only been good enough for Gainesville, good enough for Davidson, good enough for Trinity. What if all of this I have inside is an overblown sense of purpose from having been in such small pools of talent that I feel bigger than I really am? I think for a while now, I've been avoiding confronting this fear. I've been content to just tell myself that I'm not going to try this acting thing on any larger scale because of other factors, certainly not from INADEQUACY! And yet, the PBS shoot gave me a boost. I had a small role, but really, there were no roles for me in this movie, and I can tell I was shoved in there because the director saw something in me. There I was playing the wife of a 40 year old man and mother of a 7 and a 5 year old. This is a movie that will be taken to festivals around the world and broadcast on national television. Actors travelled from hours away for the shoots (as far away as Atlanta), so it's not only that I was, again, just good enough for Gainesville.

    So what do I do with all of this now? I'm pretty much at the top of where I can be in this town. I get recruited by directors, I am asked to audition, I get cast on word of mouth. Where do I go from here? How much more can I really do right now? In order to do anything bigger, I'd need to head down to Orlando more to auditions. That means I'd have to take off of work, and I can't do that responsibly, no matter how much of a waste of time it is here. This whole situation is so frustrating. I know exactly what I can do to make me happy for the rest of my life, but I don't know that I even am able to. Ugh. It always comes down to that, doesn't it.
Posted at 8:47 AM

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Tuesday, June 15, 2004 

 
    As promised, here is the picture of Dixie, Andrew's family's new dog! How cute can you get?? (nd here are the other four wondering what all the hooplah is about. The brown one on the left is Lucky, of course, the tan one in the middle is Rocky, the Preston's "old" dog (well, he actually is old: 13), the black and white one is my family's dog Toby, and the brown one on the right is also my family's dog, Duke (He's old too: 14).
Posted at 9:36 PM

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    My hotmail account is always on the brink of being full. I heard that due to the new competition from GMail, Yahoo increased its email capacity dramatically to keep people with Yahoo. I just wrote Hotmail to see if they had any similar plans. I really don't want to go through the hassle of changing my email address, but for 50 times the storage space, it would be worth it! I hope they step it up for me!
Posted at 4:53 PM

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    I always start these deep, philosophical posts on here, but eventually have to delete them a paragraph in because I keep getting bothered. Stupid work. I have more important things to think about, like the meaning of life! Not figuring out if we have enough staples in our inventory.
Posted at 3:28 PM

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    So sleepy. Andrew is now the one getting sick, except his sickness includes a bad cough. He was coughing all night long, so neither of us got any sleep. I want to go back to bed!

    In the meantime, I'm alone in the office, which I love. The other office bitches aren't coming in until noon, and Bitch Prof is going out of town for two weeks! Woohoo! Freedom! I'm listening to music. I love being able to do that! I hear some distant doors opening and closing, but I don't think they'll come and bother me for a while. Ok, just as I finish typing that, a professor comes to my desk to read the newspaper. Umm....ok? Music on hold.

    Last night was the first day of shooting for another movie I'm in. I thought it SUCKED last night. Oh man, I'm regretting signing up for this thing. The girl I was shooting with was so apathetic, so it was so hard for me to get in character. After each take, she'd say something stupid, like "It smells like pickles" or "My hair is dry." It's just so hard to get into something when the person opposite you doesn't care. Hopefully it will get better tonight, since I have to do this for the next two weeks!

    Ok, the prof is gone. Music is back.

    I had to park in the far parking lot today. There is this wooded part that I have to walk through to get from the lot to the office, and for several months, they were working on putting in a sidewalk. I think they must have been putting in pipes too or something, because I don't think it usually takes months just to install a sidewalk. Anyway, they just finished it a month or a month and a half ago. Already this morning, I noticed several sections barracaded off. As I walked around these sections, I noticed that with all the rain lately, the runoff had created whole pieces of the sidewalk that had nothing underneath them. Ok, haven't people been putting in sidewalks for a long, long time? Shouldn't the science of installing a sidewalk be pretty much explored? How can they spend so much time installing a sidewalk that is in danger of crumbling six weeks later? I have a feeling I will continue getting muddy shoes for the next several months while they rip this one out and put in a new one. Ugh. No wonder they can't afford to give me a raise.
Posted at 8:35 AM

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Monday, June 14, 2004 

 
    Ok, stupid Blogger deleted a post I did about an hour ago!

    Anyway, if you are looking for a good book, check out Leaving Maggie Hope. It was written by one of my favorite professors at Davidson, Dr. Abbott. He is the cutest old man! I've heard and read nothing but good things about it. It's his first novel, amazingly enough, and (unfortunately) it is somehwat autobiographical, though he doesn't bill it as such. (I know that just knowing about his personal background). This just may be the first novel I will read since, what, 9th grade or so? And before you go thinking there's irony in this, let it be known that though Dr. Abbott is an English professor, I had him for drama, not for lit. I never read any novels, but I read every single play the man assigned me. Don't question my love for Abbott!! I was so happy to find out that he still remembers me, so I have a personalized, signed copy heading my way soon. :)
Posted at 4:13 PM

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    I just realized that my first day of shooting that film is today. I don't even know which scene we are shooting today, and I've only read the script once. Shit! Time to cram the lines in the next hour!! I can't believe I did that!
Posted at 3:07 PM

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    Well, I finally showed up to work again, and wouldn't you know it, I feel sick again. Maybe it's like a gag reflex. I'm sitting here feeling dizzy and nauseous. I came back to a stack of papers on my desk about an inch tall. Fun. Plus, I have to have three reports done by tomorrow that I had never been given a deadline for. Yay.

    This weekend was fun. Andrew's family was in town. We started off with six people and four dogs in our house, and by the time they left, it was six people and FIVE dogs! We went to PetSmart on Saturday, and Andrew's mom spotted an adorable little mutt. There was another girl there who looked like she was going to take her, so we just left and spent the rest of the day looking through the antique shops at Micanopy. Sunday morning, however, she was still thinking about the dog and asked to go back to PetSmart, just to make sure that dog wasn't still there. Now, mind you, they had no intentions of coming and adopting a dog. This little girl just stole her heart somehow. Lo and behold, we show up and she's still there! So, there is a new addition to the Preston family, Dixie! She is so cute. She is part terrier and part poodle. Very, very cute. I'll try to post a picture tonight or tomorrow. She was very timid and afraid, and because of that, she had had a hard time getting adopted, but she does seem like once she warms up that she'll be a great dog. I'm sad they took her away when they left this morning! I'll see her again in a month, though, when we see all of them up at Lake Ontario.

    My family is all in Alaska now, having a great time. I wish I was there and not here at this desk! Why can't I have unlimited vacation days??
Posted at 8:51 AM

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Friday, June 11, 2004 

 
    Another day staying at home! Hey, I haven't take a full day off for sick time in over a year, and I think I've only taken two in a row once before ever. It's not like I abuse this sick thing. Even when I was going through my rough illness in December, I worked half days every day.
Posted at 9:43 AM

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Thursday, June 10, 2004 

 
    I decided to stay home from work today. I'm feeling crappy, but mostly PMSing big time. I haven't taken a day off in a long, long, long time, so I feel entitled.

    Last night, the news had this story about a boy and his grandmother who had been missing for three years. Well, they found the boy's body this week. I don't know why, but I started just sobbing. I guess the PMS combined with seeing this kid's face, I don't know, he kind of reminded me of my brother at that age. Small, kind of silly and geeky with glasses. I don't know, I look at that child's face, and I look at the grandmother, and I can't believe that there was someone out there who could kill them. I got these very vivid images of this boy screaming and crying just before being killed, and it just gets me. God, I'm even crying now just typing this. What is this? I don't know, but last night, I could not be consoled. I sobbed for about two hours. It was hard to breathe. I went to sleep crying. And I'm doing it again. It's a good thing I stayed home today. I don't know why I'm so emotional. Not that this case isn't horribly depressing, but it's not an isolated case. I don't know this one just gets me. So I need to stop because I'm sobbing again. Damn this fucked up world and damn PMS.
Posted at 12:23 PM

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Wednesday, June 09, 2004 

 
    Ok, not to let myself get overly excited....ok, I'm already overly excited...but I just heard from Amy about the Venue Coordinator position at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Well, apparently they are wanting to redesign the position to combine what it did previously (venue operations, basically glorified office work) and add an educational component. This is GREAT news for me because it likely means that they will be looking for someone with a true background in the arts, not just someone who works in the administrative side. I have a full degree in theatre and TONS of experience. Plus, Kelly is the Educational Director at the Hippodrome State Theatre, so she can help me out with ideas, collaborations, etc. How perfect is this?? So, not only am I an internal candidate because of the weird structure of the College, but I also have an official referral/recommendation from someone who already works there, AND I have the specific training that not many people have. How perfect!! This has me written all over it. This better work out, damn it...and SOON before I have to let them know at Shands if I'm interested in that administrative assistant job.

    Update 5 Minutes Later:
    Well, this is what Amy just wrote...
    hey. i just spoke with my boss regarding the position. they aren't sure exactly what to do with it yet. officially, it's "assistant venue coordinator" - not that we have an actual "venue coordinator" - they are figuring that out too. it is in the front of the house (and it is the only position in front - we're all in back --, so there needs to be someone actually there), and the problem with her/him doing education is that they might need to leave the office to do things. so, it's really still in the works, and there is a chance that an intern might just do education.

    i'll let you know as soon as i know anything. my guess is that it will be posted during or before the end of the summer, because that is when heather is leaving, but my boss didn't give a time frame.


    So I guess I jumped the gun a bit. Things are still up in the air, and it sounds like I'm going to have to decide whether or not I should turn the Shands job down and hold on to the hope of this one.
Posted at 2:06 PM

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    I had a great night last night with the girls. I finally feel like they are "my girls." I had girl talk for the first time since college. I had been missing that kind of bond for so long. It was great. We were there for over three hours! We definitely need to do it more often. Unfortunately, our schedules are so crazy. We only have ONE weekend left in the entire summer that we all have free: July 23-25. The ONLY time all of us can get together. When did life get so complicated?? I miss the days when you could just call someone up 15 minutes before heading out to dinner somewhere and get together. We do plan, however, on getting together for dinners and happy hours during the week.

    Other than that, I was so close to calling in today as a postponed day off I feel I should have been entitled to yesterday. For some unknown reason, I decided to come in. I'm contemplating calling in tomorrow just for the hell of it. I have over 170 hours of sick leave. Come on! It's not like I'm always calling in. That's over a month I could take off for some illness! I don't know what false sense of duty keeps me coming in every day, because I sure as hell don't get much done on most days. It's always some stupid little thing that pulls me in. Like, oh, this professor said he needed something typed today. Umm, it takes five minutes, and I'm coming in nine hours for that?? Bleh.

    My in-laws decided that they are coming to visit this weekend. It's Andrew's parents, both his brother and his sister, and their dog Rocky. That means that tomorrow through Sunday, we will be six people and four dogs in our place! Wow! Should be interesting. I'm trying to think of what we can do to keep them entertained.
Posted at 10:42 AM

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Tuesday, June 08, 2004 

 
    Dilemma. It looks like I have a job if I want it. One of my directors has given me a strong recommendation for a job within his division, and it looks like they are very interested. I submitted my resume a while back. Well, I don't know what to do. It's another secretarial type job. I felt that if I were to leave this job, it'd be for a step up and to take on a position of actual responsibility. This kind of work is maddening to me. If I took this, I'd get a change of scenery and higher pay, both of which are great things. There is nothing really tying me to this job. I hate it, plain and simple. The downside of me taking this job is that I'll kind of be tied to it. I don't want to be job hopping for the sake of changing jobs, you know what I mean? I want to wait for the right opportunity to step up and build my resume in a positive way. If I take another secretary job, I feel like I'd be solidifying myself as a career secretary. Then again, I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity for well over a year. Is it not coming? Should I give in and just opt for a raise in a new office with new coworkers? I had the other two prospects, but things are moving so slowly. UGH! I have no idea what to do.
Posted at 4:00 PM

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    As predicted, I walked into the classroom and all the students looked at me like I was an alien. Being as I'm high still from all the damn fumes I inhaled yesterday, I was talking but I wasn't sure I was talking loud enough. I felt muffled. Maybe I sounded like a retard. As I walked out, I heard, "So she just wanted to make sure we were showing up today?" So even though I was treated as a leper by the class, I felt a little better knowing that they were as insulted by Bitch Prof's asking me to do this as I was. I don't call her Bitch Prof for nothing.

    Since no one is here, I'm listening to internet radio. Live365 is awesome, except that it has a lot of pop ups. Oh well. I'm listening to a station that is mostly Dave with some Phish, David Gray, Ben Harper, etc. mixed in. Perfect. This is the happy thing in my day. My goal for the day is to get myself acceptable for meeting my friends for Happy Hour today after work. If I am still in this funk, I'm not going.
Posted at 9:52 AM

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    I am in a terrible, terrible, terrible mood today. I want to do is lie in bed and kick and scream if anyone tries to pull me out.

    So yesterday I had to breathe in sewage gas for well over an hour. Something about someone screwing up the vents so that the sewage gas was being fed directly into the air conditioning. It gave me such a horrific headache and I felt light-headed. Horrible. So I went to the gas station after work and since I was all high on the poop and piss of every digusting person in the building, I proceeded to pour gasoline ALL OVER myself. I was dripping gas and everything. I completely freaked out and imagined myself spontaneously combusting. Being as I am a recovering pyrophobe, this sent me right back to those nights I would sit in bed for hours thinking I smelled smoke. I pictured myself becoming like that girl from the drunk driving accident I posted about a few months ago. I had no idea what to do. I didn't know if starting my car would start a spark, I didn't want to be near my cell phone, and of course, I got even more high on the fumes. I STILL smell like gasoline, several showers later. There's no getting it out. Of course, I was wearing my favorite skirt, so I have no clue what I'm supposed to do with it.

    So today, I feel like I'm majorly hungover, like I partied too hard last night, except I didn't. I just inhaled toxic gas for several hours. I probably took a good chunk out of my life. I wouldn't have even shown up today if it wasn't for the fact that I knew the other office bitches weren't going to be coming in today. Neither is my boss. If I didn't come in, the office would be closed and there would be no one to tell about it. However, Bitch Prof, who can not attend her class today, has instructed me to walk all the way over to the fucking O'Connell Center for her 9:30 class to leave them my business card to call if they have any questions. I have to shut down the office for this. The office will be closed for probably a good 45 minutes while I walk there and back. For what? The students are just going to be like "Ok, whatever." I would blow this off, except it's Bitch Prof, and I know she's going to follow up on it to make sure I did it. Not because she cares, but because she wants to make sure I did something she told me to do. This is the same woman who reprimanded me for showing up five minutes late one day and no one else was here to answer her phone call. She didn't even need anything. She was just checking her voice mail. So, this is the same woman who thinks it's ok to shut the office down to say hello to her students for her. Nevermind anyone else who needs to get into the building or calls with questions. I shouldn't even be here and I have to do this petty crap for her.

    Oh, and in case it wasn't painfully obvious, I also have PMS. I'm hungover on flammable, toxic fumes that has killed half my brain, and my hormones are wreaking havoc. I'm expected to be rational??? Fuck that.
Posted at 8:30 AM

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Monday, June 07, 2004 

 
    Ha ha!! I received an email from a big mailing list I'm a part of that announces all of the events going on in the area. It was telling me the details of a Sweet Sixteen Pool Party. I was a bit confused. Ten minutes later, I received:

    I mistakenly sent out a private invitation to the Sweet Sixteen
    Pool Party for Van Choojitarom on June 12 to the listserv titled "announce 6/4"

    My apologies to Sheila and Van and if you weren't personally invited by them please respect the privacy of the party and don't show up.
    Bill
Posted at 4:41 PM

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Posted at 4:30 PM

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    Oh my God. There is a completely overwhelming smell of sewage here right now. It's so bad I have a head ache and I have my shirt pulled over my nose. I called to report it, but the guy who handles this kind of thing wasn't at his desk. I feel like I need to leave. This is SO BAD!
Posted at 2:53 PM

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    Here are pictures from a Poker Night I had with some friends a few weeks back. (Kim not pictures since she was the photographer) This group is so fun! The girls are getting together tomorrow for Happy Hour again. :)
Posted at 1:57 PM

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    Another sleepy, sleepy Monday morning. I want to go home!!

    I had a pretty low key weekend, which is nice. Friday night, Andrew took me out to dinner to a nice restaurant as a late birthday dinner. I thought it was a bit overrated, but it was still nice to sit in a small, romantic place like that. We just went home afterward and watched Noises Off that I got from my parents for my birthday. So funny!

    Saturday we woke up to drive an hour to the Okahumpka Rest Stop on the turnpike. Why? Because it's the exact halfway point between our place and my parents'. They left for Alaska yesterday and will be gone for two and a half weeks, so we told them we could take care of the dogs for them, rather than have them boarded up all that time. So, it's interesting to have three dogs in the house now. Going for walks is quite the adventure since we have three different speeds. The 14 year old, arthritic Sheltie Duke, the stubborn Shih Tzu Toby, and, of course, the springy mutt Lucky. And heaven forbid we try and take them in turns. All hell breaks loose. It's amazing how jealous dogs get of each other and want to do anything the other dogs are doing. So yes, between the two of us, we have to walk three dogs simultaneously. So annoying! Still, they are so cute, and I miss them since I don't live with them anymore. Toby especially knows that I'm his mama. He always begs for me to pick him up and carry him around like a baby. Sometimes Lucky gets excitable and starts bugging him, so Toby tries to run up my leg for protection. Duke is the crabby old man that doesn't even deal with Lucky's whippersnapper ways. If Lucky even sits near him, Duke will get up and walk to the other side of the room. And they absolutely can not eat at the same time!

    Saturday night we went out with Dan, Amy, Jason, and Laura to a Japanese restuarant, and then to see Shrek 2. I think I loved Shrek 2 even more than the first one! So funny! I was cracking up. The visual effects are amazing. Just a great movie! This was the first time we saw Jason and Laura since the wedding, too. It was funny to have three stages of coupledom. The engaged couple, the newlyweds (one month), and the, well, I guess we're the old couple. Weird. It always feels like I've been married forever, but I still feel like a newlywed sometimes. So far, I still haven't found what others' mean by marriage is difficult. It has seemed so easy for me. Of course, we don't have kids.

    I got a lot of housework done and went grocery shopping. It's amazing how far behind we had gotten on little daily stuff. The house feels much better now! We don't have to move crap in order to sit down somewhere. God, that drives me crazy, even as messy as I can get sometimes.

    It looks like our idea to tile our kitchen countertop is going to work. We had considered relamination to cover up the hideous burns and chips all over the old laminate, but no one would do it without replacing the entire countertop. All estimates were between $1000-1300! We looked into tile and found out that it's only $5 a square foot for installation, and it can go over the existing countertop. We picked out some really gorgeous and expensive tile, and it's still only going to be about $500! Much better, and it will look so much nicer than laminate! Our kitchen's going to be so pretty! I can't wait! It's the last major improvement I wanted to make to the house. When we got it, I wanted a new floor, which we got within the first year, a patio, which we just did a little bit ago, and now the kichen. Our place is going to rock!

    Wow, that was a long rambling post.
Posted at 9:14 AM

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Friday, June 04, 2004 

 
    Yesterday I came home from work and fell asleep on the couch for about half an hour until the phone rang. Then I fell asleep again around 9:30 and still found it hard to wake up this morning. I've just been feeling off lately. I've had this feeling for a couple of weeks now that I may be getting another wave of "female problems." I really hope that is not the case.

    I nearly felt sick to my stomach this morning thinking of what would happen if I can't have children. I don't know that I could live with the guilt. I know, I KNOW that it wouldn't be my fault, but I would have such a hard time not letting myself feel like I robbed Andrew.

    Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts. But I don't know if I should stop thinking them or if I need to get myself to a doctor to get this suspicion checked out. I swear sometimes that I'm a hypochondriac (though it has been a long while now since I've felt sick) but then again, this is not an issue that I can let slide, and it is proven that I did indeed have this problem before. UGH!!!!!! I can't tell if I want to throw up or scream.
Posted at 8:38 AM

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Thursday, June 03, 2004 

 
    And now it's time to go after an absolutely crazy day...and raining cats and dogs out there...and I had to park in the far parking lot which is a ten minute walk. It had to wait until 5:00, huh? Damn.
Posted at 4:59 PM

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    That storm yesterday was CRAZY! Three trees fell in the parking lot, there were branches blocking the road, enormous puddles and sudden rivers everywhere. In the four miles to my house, however, the scene rapidly changed. My flower bed was bone dry! My house repels water or something. It has not rained ONE SINGLE TIME since we planted our garden months and months ago. I'm out there with a hose every day like an idiot.

    I met with the director yesterday who directed the movie I did about a year ago. He had good news and bad news for me. The bad news: I got cut out of the movie. He said he was really upset to do it since he thought my scene was one of the strongest of the whole film (or so he said), but that it didn't really fit in with the rest of it, so he had to cut it. Really, I know that kind of things happens. Most of what is filmed ends up on a cutting room floor, so that's just the way it goes. He did say he was going to put my scene in the "Deleted Scenes" of the DVD, though! ;)

    The good news, is that he insisted that he was impressed with my performance, so he wanted to work with me again on this next project. It's a larger supporing role, so I don't expect to get cut out this time! It already starts filming in two weeks. Woohoo!
Posted at 10:19 AM

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Wednesday, June 02, 2004 

 
    Scary weather out there all of a sudden! It hasn't rained in months, and all of a sudden, over the course of less than ten minutes, this enormous storm that no one predicted moved in, carrying sheets of rain, gusting winds that made branches snap, and tons of lightning. The building next to us just got struck a few minutes ago. And now? The sun is out. Florida is a freak of nature!!!
Posted at 4:42 PM

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    Finally, a moment to breathe. I had training all morning today, and it was so frustrating! I swear, I never cease to be amazed at how much stupidity there is out there. I was in a class with about 30 people, all theoretically at about the same level of job as I am since we all are assigned the same duty for our respective departments. We all had computers which we were to use to go along with the instructor through various examples to learn how to enter in leave time, time worked, etc. etc. Well, the instructor could not give two steps in a row without the class throwing a fit. There was a question every 30 seconds. Oh my God. People are so stupid. This is the latest in the long series of confirmations that I do not belong in this job because everyone at my level appears to be mentally challenged. I was ready to scream!

    Afterward, I decided to make a run for Latin Cafe (Mmmmmmm) and bring my food back to the office. As soon as I walk in, one of the professors is panicking, saying that she is behind on a deadline now because she wasn't expecting me to be "out" this morning. So for two hours, I had to type this enormous document for her while my food sat and got cold. I only just now finished it up. What a day.

    Some good news, though. I got a call last night about the possibility of doing another movie, this time a bit bigger of a role. I'm meeting with the director at 7:00 tonight to discuss the details. Let's see what kind of project this is!
Posted at 1:44 PM

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Tuesday, June 01, 2004 

 
    Two disturbing things:

    1. This morning, I opened the blinds to the sliding glass door and window that look on to our patio. I screamed! We have our bird feeders hanging off of two shepard's hooks that are put back to back. You can kind of see it in this photo. Well, wedged tightly in between the two hooks was a dead bird, head on one side, body hanging on the other. Such a horrific sight! I feel so horribly guilty! If we hadn't placed the hooks together like that, it wouldn't have gotten wedged in! It just seemed so freakish! So, we've moved the hooks apart now.

    2. The building closest to the parking lot in which I park is a science building. There is a lab on the ground floor in the corner of the sideI walk past to get to my building. Well, for about two weeks now, I had been noticing a man standing in the room, just standing there in a lab coat looking out the window. He hadn't been standing right up in front of the window, though. He stood somewhere in the middle of the room, looking out. Once I noticed this, every morning I looked to see the man just standing there staring out the window. Well, twice in a row now, I have caught the man taking off his shirt! Two mornings in a row, I have walked by to see the man take off his shirt to reveal a bare chest. How weird is that?? I don't know if it's a shady thing or not. Maybe it is just a coincidence and he is changing into his lab clothes or something and he doesn't know you can see in as well as you can. I don't know. Just seems weird.
Posted at 11:22 AM

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    ROSALIE TAKES MANHATTAN

    Saturday, May 29
    We arrived in New York around 10:30am. We checked into the fabulous Marriott Marquis which is right on Times Square. Our rooms were up on the 36th Floor, so we had an amazing view of the Square (1,2) and of the city skyline (1,2). For our first outing in the City, we went to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we met up with Anika. It was so great to see her after going waaaaay too long without seeing each other! I was glad she got to spend as much time with us as she did. The museum itself was spectacular. I had actually never been in all the times I've been to New York. It was breathtaking! We saw everything from medieval armor to Asian art to ancient Egyptian art to European paintings. My favorites were the Van Goghs, especially Wheat Field. Seeing the Van Goghs in person was an amazing experience and I finally got why he has the fame he has. His paintings are so much richer in person than I could have imagined.

    From there we went to Divane's, a great Turkish restaurant. The food was sooooo good! Mmm! And I was surprised by how reasonable the prices were for the amount of food, especially since it was right there in the theatre district. Oh it was so good. I wish we had such a great selection of food here. Then, it was off to the Billy Joel musical Movin' Out. I would not characterize it as a musical so much as a visual concert. There were no spoken words or singing from the actors/dancers. It was quite simply one pianist/singer performing Billy Joel's songs with a band that were strung together by dancing to construct a general plotline. The story was about a group of friends who go to fight in Vietnam and return changed. I was a bit jarred at first because it was not the kind of show I was expecting. However, halfway into the first act, I started to enjoy it. By the end of it, I was enthralled. I LOVED it! The dancing was so incredible that it just made me want to glide and spin around New York. I was even inspired enough to do a little concert for Andrew and Bobby when we got back to the hotel room! I just couldn't keep still after watching such great energy like that!

    Sunday, May 30
    It was so nice to sleep in after having had to get up at 4:30am on Saturday to catch our flight. We rolled out of bed and got ready just in time to make our 12:00 reservation at the famous Tavern on the Green. The weather was PERFECT. I mean P-E-R-F-E-C-T! We decided to have lunch outside on the patio overlooking Central Park under the blue skies and cool breeze. It was heavenly (1,2). It truly was. After lunch, we decided to walk down to our matinee show. The walk took us through Central Park (I thought of Dave, of course), past the Plaza Hotel, down 5th Avenue past all the fancy department stores, past Trump Tower, and through Rockefeller Center, to arrive at our second show for the trip, Sly Fox. The play was GREAT! I liked it even better than Movin' Out. It was a comedy starring Richard Dreyfuss with other such stars as Bronson Pinchot (Balki from Perfect Strangers!) and Elizabeth Berkley (Jesse from Saved by the Bell! EEE!!). (1,2) Elizabeth Berkley is SUCH a bad actress, but fortunately it didn't matter so much for her role since she was supposed to be a bit bimboish. It was still good to see the one and only Jesse! ("I'm so excited...I'm so excited...I'm so...so...scared!!!!") The show was hilarious. It was such a good time. We bought the tickets at the last minute, and I'm so glad we did. It was probably the highlight of the trip. After the show, I waited by the stage door for the actors to come out. I saw several of them, but none of the big ones I had hoped to see and get a picture taken with. Apparently, they have a secret exit they take. Oh well! We only had about an hour to kill until our next show, Perfect Crime. This show was ok. Everyone else liked it more than I did, I suppose, which is fine since my dad suffered through Movin' Out for me. It was a murder mystery. The theatre was this tiny room on the third floor of a building up this enormous flight of stairs. It was tiny. Tinier than my community theatre! Quite a change from the spectacular chandalier and gold theatres of Broadway. It was still a good time, though!

    Monday, May 31
    Happy Birthday to me! Our flight left JFK at 2:30pm, so we didn't really have time to do anything in the City. We had breakfast at the hotel, but my dad did surprise me with a birthday limo ride to the airport! That was a nice way to say goodbye to the short, but sweet trip. When we got back to Orlando, we went out to dinner (and actually got carded for ordering a margarita!) at a great Mexican restaurant (1,2,3) before we headed back to Gainesville.

    And now I'm here, back at work. Joy. :P
Posted at 9:31 AM

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