Mamma Mia was SOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome! I loved it even more than I expected. It made me sad though... because when I was younger, more than anything I wanted to sing and tour like that.... I guess somethings aren't meant to be....*sigh*

School is fine...

Work is...work.... I work this weekend, yay! *Note the sarcasm*

Only two more shows for BK, thank God!

Marvel Donagon starts soon... they had a read thru, the director did not call me... that made me mad... "Call me as soon as read thrus begin" I said. The director gets ONE warning, and the next time he does not call, he will be looking for a new Stage Manager.

I've been uptight and upset lately... no real reason.... I'm not sure why.... .... I just want to crawl in a hole and stay there....forever....

Techie

It's freakin' 6:41.... and I don't work today... WTH is the matter with me? It's always that... If I have to work, I need more sleep, and if I don't I could run on an hour....

Beyond Karaoke has been going well....for the most part... Last night during intermission Mike and Elicia showed up ot of nowwhere and sat up in the booth for part of the show, it was ... interesting... i think the only reason they came down was to ask about a script.... Gee, I feel so loved... Have you not heard of a telephone?

Only one problem last night... during one scene I am suppose to fade in a special and run the spotlight, so I hit "go" on the board and went to the spot... and to my suprise, and probably the ones onstage...my chase scene was running.... ouch! So I ran back to the board and pulled up some random que, which, luckly, was a general cue.... I freaked out about it and the director came up to see what happened ...I was up tight and freaking out and apologizing and he was only getting upset because I was freaking out.... he finally grabbed my wrist (because I was guesturing with that hand) and said "Ashley, the audience does not have a script, the actors know to go with it if something happens because the equipment is not the best, I'm not mad, CALM down..."

As dumb as it sound, it's not okay and I wish he was a little upset about it....

Today we are suppose to go se "Mamma Mia!" My mom, Grams and I .... but my Grams has the flu... and can't go... so my aunt Shelley is going to go with us... because I am a loner and have no friends my age.... no offense to her...

This morning I am going down to the Ice House *I know, it never ends.* And we are going to work on the bathrooms... They had decided to re-do them.... but whoever signed the check was not thinking... is was a bit over $6,000 for new stalls alone! So, to save money, one of the board members is going to sponser it, (ie: Just pay for it and call it a donation: Ie: getting her name on the plaque at the end of the year, = Cool), anyway, her handyman is building us new ground cabinets and working at cost and the rest of us are going to strip wallpaper, paint, clean out the crawl space...etc..... We delegated Gary to clean the crawl space, the dark and creepy things down there won't scare him....Did I ever mention that Gary is blind? He's a neat guy....

People sometimes forget he's blind... like.... during one show he was running sound, yes he can do it, he put braile on the board.... it's pretty neat..... but anyway, the headsets have a 'call' button that you can press and it will turn red on everyones headset so in case someone is not on headset, but can see the light, they can put the headset on... Well, Elicia was backstage pushing the button because Gary was not on headset and she needed him...once he finally put it back on she said something to the effect of "Gary, I've been hitting the call button, didn't you see it?" Ummmm, NO.

For another show, a musical I think, there was a drum set on stage, and Gary was in the show... he walked onstage and right into the drum set knocking something off, while picking it up and replacing it, he said "Gee, you'd think I was blind" *Joke Joke*

So, I better go... I have some tuff to do before heading down to the Ice House....

Adios!

BathroomCleanerTechie

I guess I have used this title before... because I only had to type 1/2 of it and it came up... I guess that shows how original I am!

So, Friday night was opening night for "Beyond Karaoke". It went well... I was really suprised... the only problem... and suprise suprise-- it wasn't mine, was that when one of the actors pulled the stereo system kart out... it tipped over...he caught the bottom, but the 3 decks on top fell off.... Eeekk.... they played it out, and the audience never knew it was not supposed to happen.

2nd night... tonight went well... Elicia was hostess so I went out to the lobby before the show and hekped her out a little bit, and we talked about a couple past shows and a show she was thinking about doing in the future, which I REALLLLYYYY hope she does, I am going to read the book, then the play for it. You guys have probably heard of it as well as read it-- Misery by: Steven King.

When she explained it... one part inparticular, I was said, "Oh my gosh! That is SOOO kewl... Wow... isn't it horrible that I said that?" and Elicia said "No, I was thinking the same thing." Lol, I think it would be really neat to do! And we already know who the crazy lady would be... yet, we'd still hold auditions. Maybe DiT, AD, or SM for that show?

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At work we hired a girl... she starts Monday and I get to go back to my new, but normal schedule... 2 afternoons a week and every other weekend....Something tells me she's not going to last more than a week... I REALLY hope I am wrong, but I really don' t think this girl will be able to handle it.

This place has been through....7 girls in the past year or so, me being #5... and one of two still there... does that tell you anything? I've been there for about 7 or 8 months...

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Grades were finally posted online for the fall semester....
They were what I hoped for, better than I expected, but not as good as I should have gotten. I got B's across the board... I expected to get C's-ish... hoped for a minimum of B's... but I should have gotten A's...

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Must sleep... I worked ALLLLL day....and tomarrow I have to work... --All day... and I have a show... still not sure what I am gonna do about that one....

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Techie

I've had this song running through my head all week....Though, I guess I could be worse like... Well, I guess I am asking for it if I try to think of a worse song to have stuck in my head...

Sooo, Saturday I got my own 1 on 1 tech with the director... we got a lot done... only took around 3 1/2 hours... Oh goody!

Sunday I went to "Po-dunk" (I've had that stuck in my head too, thanks Carolyn!) to see Chewey's puppies, cuteness!!!! We got home just in time to change and go down to the theatre for auditions for "Marvel Donagan" ... both my sister and I tried out, and I highly, highly HIGHLY doubt, that either of us will get a part, which is A-okay.

Monday we had our first full run-through tech rehearsal.... the director was happy with it... for the most part with only a couple minor notes... i on the other hand was not so happy with things... 'X' was too slow 'Y' was to soon 'Q' didn't fade in right, and to top things off the light for one of my backstage specials blew...

Tuesday night, went well, Mike came down and fixed the things for me... though I REALLY wish he would have showed me and let me do it so if and when it happens again and he's not there, I can fix it myself... especially it it's an on stage speical... I really hate being dependant on him when it comes to lighting stuff... Elicia had come with him so they stayed and watched the show. They enjoyed it... they plan on coming to at least 3 more shows...which I find REALLLYYYYY odd... Elicia claims it's for "Moral support" of the cast... I really wish she would just tell me the truth, because no offense to her, but knowone in the cast would care if they did not come.

This morning I was back down at the theatre around 4:30AM...yes, AM.... a local news station came down and video tapes 12 times.... 6 teasers and 6 mini segments... I had to be there to run lights...and sound... it was a long morning... the crew was late, so we missed the first broadcast, and then they think I have EPS and know when to play the music .... which I did quickly learn. Though, it was not MY fault... I have NO CONTROL what-so-ever over volume, I just make sure the music is running... someone turned the music portion of the board down and they yelled at me because it was not playing.... I put them in their place...

See, I am up in the light booth with the sound machine and light board/computer, the sound board is in the back row of the audience and that is because you can't hear right up in the booth, so someone has to be in the audience to adjust sound when the actor begin singing because things change every night.... well, the guy who does that decided he didn't want to come.... Thank God I know a little bit about the sound board... because this morning the director was freaking out because the music is playing but the mics won't work...

"Why won't they work?" he asks...
"Well, are the batteries in the mics dead?" I ask...
"No"
"Do you have the master up for the mics?"
"The WHAT?"
"The master..."
"The master...........*confused look*"
"Yea....the master...this one *slides the mic master up* No master, no sound, it has to be up, like on the light board.."
"Uh...ok....?"
"Nevermind, just bring it up when they sing."

Did I mention that anyone who is not a tech should never touch tech equipment? The first night the director insisted I leave the board on so he could have stage lights... got there the next day and all my cues were gone... the next night, I have to clear the board and re-program, after I have already re-programed the board.... Last night, I was trying to run through the show to make sure things were in place... every cue was a general light cue... even my blackout and special cues..... This morning, my chase cues were messed up....

So, anyway, tonight I have a board meeting at 5:30pm... and by the time that is over I will have to run the show....

Adios!

Techie

This morning, 2 police officers showed up on my doorstep. I asked if it had to do with my car getting broken into, and they said no... they wanted my mom... So I went and got my mom and went to tell them she was getting dressed, meanwhile they asked me a couple questions about my car.

When my mom came to the door she invited them into the living room, out of the cold and they held up my keys-- it had an old house key, my work keys, a keychain and my blockbuster card. "Are these your's ma'am?" (to my mom) (me chiming in) "Um, those are mine."

They ran the blockbuster card, who has my mom's name, with mine as a sub name so I can check out movies....

Apparently whoever broke into mine and Matt's cars last night, decided it wasn't enough... so he/she broke into a resturant downtown... and dropped the keys he/she stole out of my car.

The police found them and tracked them to me... I haden't even realized that those keys were gone... I was so shook up last night I didn't pay much attention...

Tonight we had rehearsal at the Ice House.

Tonight... someone broke into my car.

After rehearsal, we went out to our cars. I got in my car... glove compartment was open... ash trey was open... center console was open....sunglasses were the floor and my 2 over head compartments were open....

"I don't remember leaving my car like this... I know it's messy but... huh, looks like someone was in here...Er...NAH, I locked my car after I came and got my script... Oh shit.... the money in my console is gone...oh God... I think someone was in here..."

*Get out of car, approach fellow actors/techs....*

"Uh, guys.... I think someone broke into my car...."

*commotion, everyone checks their cars*

2 / 5 cars were broken into....

They stole everything out of my glove compartment except the napkins. The money that was in my center console was gone-- cd's were still there, cell phone charger still there, money in pit under stereo still there, --stereo intact, not tampered with. They took my jazzercise bag, it had my hand and ankle weights, the new scarf I just made, and my badge thing that gets me into jazzercize, and the flip flops and whatever else was in the bag.

It's not so much the things that were taken that hurts me, it's knowing that someone was heartless enough to break into MY car. Some strange thief was in my car!!! Though it really really sucks that the things were taken.... probably around $80-$100 in things, I hate knowing someone was inside my vehicle going through my personal things. Not that there was anything real personal, I do believe they stole the pad I had in my console, but that's not important....

I think maybe I will buy some poster board and made some signs to hang up where our patrons park. Since most of our shows are at night, it is the perfect time to break into a car-- when there are lots of them and knowone around. Something like "Don't forget to lock your car."

I remember asking Elicia why she alwasy HAD to park up front, even if she blocked someone in, and she told me her car was broken into before and parking up front was better... So, I uncontiously followed that,... "Always park up front"... but I never thought that it would happen to me... I guess some part of me really did not even believe her... Now I know...Don't be ignorant, because it's only bliss until it happens to you. Then, it's reality.

I would swear that I locked my car. The only door unlocked was the driver side door, and that was not the last door I got out of. I went out to get my script-- in my passenger side door, then I shut the door and locked my car. My alarm did not go off, at least knowone heard it, so if it did, whoever broke in knew how to turn it off.... I will check my car out more tomarrow...

I did call the police to file a report, but unless I waited out there for someone I can't file a real report until monday, they did, however file an incident report saying it happened.

I don't know what I did to deserve this, but what goes around sure as heck better come around.

ViolatedTechie

Here's a record for me, 2 posts in ONE week!

Anywho.... I haven't been feeling so great lately... At times I get really short of breath and my chest feels a bit tight and my heart begins to race...and no it's not 'love'...mercy... I wish...!!! i went to the doctor... and it's not my heart, which is good. Still awaiting my lab results.... In the meantime I am going to be put on Zoloft for anxiety and they have ordered an inhaler for me. I really wish I knew where they got the idea that I need to be on zoloft. I hate being on meds like that, it's makes me feel crazy.... I guess that's part of the reason I went off the ocd meds... all it did was remind me of my problems and make me focus on the problem more... Now I just try to not think about it and when things happen I try to let them run their course and then it's over. I found that if I don't dwell my ocd occurences don't last long.

So, work is...work.... long and tiring and I really have to take things slow or I have to stop and really chill to catch my breath... by some miracle my co-workers and boss took pity on me on Tuesday.... My mom called my office, but because the clinic was open, I don't have to answer phones, the girls in the office do... so my mom told the lady who answered what was going on and that I really needed to go to my 1:15pm doctors appt.... Only 5 people work there, at most on any given day... therefore word travels like a roadrunner on speed. One girl was sent over to 'help' me.... and a little later another girl came over and gave me my check and said she would work for me that afternoon....

Cool.

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Mike and I got lights set and he showed me how to begin programing... Wednesday night he was not there so I went thru light stuff with the director, Jack. A lot of things needed to be changed and added, but nothing that would be hard, though, enough that I cleared everything I have done out of the board and started all over...

I think, tonight, it only took me about 20 or 30 mins to re-program.

So, during one part of the show, actually, during one of the songs there is a crazy guitar solo and we are supposed to have a disco ball hanging up... well, the one we have.... You see, it only spins super fast, and dosen't create the right effect... and in addition to that... it has a tendancy to un screw itself.... and fall... SOOOO, what I decided to do was still shine the lights on the disco ball, but not turn it on. Then, I would create what is called a 'chase' cue, which just looks like someone is pulling the light sliders all over the board up and down really fast. Thing is, is that happens in ONE cue, and lo and behold--- I figured out how to do it!!!! w00 - h00!!!!

The director even liked it.... I think it's too bright, but he decided to 'settle' for it... I hate it when people just settle like that....but oh well. It just saves me the trouble of figuring out how to darken things up...

After I re-programed the board 2 nite the director decided to run a pre-tech rehearsal with mics, lights and sound. Did I mention that in addition to lights I am also running music? I have briefly read through the script, nothing was highlighted or marked very well, or in the right place for that matter... things were kinda choppy, but actually went well considering I have never ran lights and never even used the sound board or heard the music before.

Friday night we are going to run the whole show.... and saturday we are suppose to meet down at the theatre to do stuff with mics, and Jack is having E come down and help... I'm not sure why ... we have everything under control. Whatever.

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I ordered a new cell phone... STILL waiting for it.... it was supposed to be 3 day shipping... it's been 15 days.... I am also waiting for a couple items I ordered for Mike and Elicia... Well, I guess Christmas present is out of the question... I ordered this stuff over a month ago! Ugh! I got E the same thing I ordered for myself, the "techies rule" shirt.... and since I knew Mike would not wear a shirt, even though I don't expect E to wear hers, I ordered him a hat... because it's super rare to see him without one. Mike is 100% light guy, and the joke is, "Be nice to your techs or they will turn off the light and go home." I got the hat that says "Be nice to me or you'll be dancing in the dark"...or something like that.

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Well, I am tired and well... just really tired... and I have work tomarrow, G'nite!!!

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The all super-- Techie in the Black

I worked on Christmas Eve..... when I got home the G-parents were at my house with their 5th wheel....
They stayed the night and Christmas day we got up and opened gifts... as usual certain piles of gifts were horribly large, obviously SOMEONE overspent, again....

I got a lot of things, and I appriciate every bit of it...

I got Mamma Mia tickets, which I am VERY excited about... January 21st!!! Yay!

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Work is VERY tiring...I've been working 7am-5pm at least 5 days a week... I hate it... I have no time for myself... I come home and want to do nothing.....

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This morning I met Mike down at the theatre and we worked on lighting... from about 8am - 1:30 pm... we got quite a bit done... I was really suprised.... Tomarrow we are meeting back down there at 5pm to finish up some stuff.... He is going out of town so he won't be there Wednesday for our first tech rehearsal... I just hope it goes okay...

I went down to the theatre tonight to show the director what we have done and he liked everything... we just have to make some adjustments...

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Well.... it's getting late and I have to be at work by 7am.... *sigh*

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TiReD techie