My World's a Stage

How long has it been?

2010-06-10T12:47:00.002-05:00

Wow. I haven't posted anything here in a long time. I've thought about deleting the blog, but then again.... I may want to post something once in a while, so I guess I'll keep it.

If you want to know what's going on with me and MY WORLD'S A STAGE, please visit me at my Facebook page! See you there!

The Annual List

2010-01-19T11:41:00.009-06:00

Surprise!

Bet you didn't expect to find me here. It's been oh so long since I've blogged. Basically, blogging has pretty much run its course for me. I now spend most of my online time on Facebook. BUT... since for the last few years I have posted a year-end list of theatrical productions I've seen, I thought "why break tradition?". So, here is the list of plays I saw in 2009. All the plays were productions by professional theatre companies, and each play was staged here in St. Louis. I have listed them in alphabetical order and I will not be grading or reviewing any of them since some (not many) were seen in my guise as a Kevin Kline Awards judge.

St. Louis theatre is amazing! So much to choose from. And as I say every year when I post this list.... there were several plays that I did not get a chance to see. This list of 50 productions is just the tip of the iceberg of what's available to the St. Louis theatre-goer.

GO SEE A PLAY!

Amadeus – The Rep
Back of the Throat – St. Louis Actors Studio
Barrymore – Avalon Theatre
Brooklyn Boy – New Jewish Theatre
Cockeyed – HotCity Theatre
Collected Stories – Orange Girls
Conversations With My Father – New Jewish Theatre
Cooking with Marge – Soundstage Productions
Edward III – St. Louis Shakespeare
Everything in the Garden – Stray Dog Theatre
Eurydice – Orange Girls
Fugitive Songs – Echo Theatre
Give ‘em Hell, Harry – Midnight Company
Heroes – Act, Inc.
In the Continuum – Black Rep
Lady Day - Unity Theatre Ensemble
Lady from Dubuque – Muddy Waters Theatre
The Last Five Years – New Jewish Theatre
Little Shop of Horrors – Stages
Lord of the Rings Trilogy LIVE! – Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre
Macbeth – St. Louis Shakespeare
A Man for All Seasons – St. Louis Actors Studio
Martha Mitchell Calling – St. Louis Actors Studio
Medal of Honor Rag – St. Louis Actors Studio
Merchant of Venice – St. Louis Shakespeare
Merry Wives of Windsor – Shakespeare Festival
Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom – HotCity Theatre
Night of the Living Show Tunes – New Line Theatre
An O. Henry Christmas – Avalon Theatre
Outside the Lines – St. Louis Actors Studio
Painting Churches – Insight Theatre
Private Lives – Black Cat Theatre
Quilters – Avalon Theatre
Return to the Forbidden Planet – New Line Theatre
Rocky Horror Picture Show – [insert name here] Theatre
Sabina – New Jewish Theatre
Saint Joan – The Rep
The Santaland Diaries – Echo Theatre
Secret Order – The Rep Studio
See Bob Run – Soundstage Productions
Sleuth – The Rep
Sonia Flew – New Jewish Theatre
The Subject was Roses – Avalon Theatre
Tomfoolery – West End Players Guild
Treasure Island – St. Louis Shakespeare
Twelfth Night – St. Louis Shakespeare
The Ugly One – Echo Theatre
Waiting in the Wings – Act, Inc.
What You Will – Roger Rees
Wonder of the World – Orange Girls

Excuse? I have no excuse!

2009-10-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

Wow! It's been over a month since I've posted anything on the blog. Bad girl! Bad!

What's been going on? A little bit of this and that. Nothing momentous, just day to day living. I'm seeing plenty of theatre (the Fall season is awash with wonderful plays to see!). I've been crafting, editing video, watching the new Fall season tv shows, etc.

I'll be at the Eureka High School Craft Fair on Saturday, November 7. That's totally cool! I hope you'll come out to the fair. There'll be lots of crafters with all kinds of wonderful stuff on display. What a great way to start your holiday shopping!

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Which of the new TV shows are you watching? I really like FlashForward and Glee. And I'm happy to watch the return of The Mentalist and Lie To Me. Of course, House is as frustrating and wonderful as ever.

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I might have another craft show announcement soon. I'll let you know as soon as I do!

Vacation is good for you (me)

2009-09-01T21:35:00.002-05:00

We recently returned from a mini-vacation to points South. After dropping The Boy off for his junior year at Tulane, we drove to Vacherie, Louisiana and visited Oak Alley Plantation. Below is a short slideshow video of pictures I took of the plantation grounds. Photography was not allowed in the house, so alas, no shots of the interior.

After the plantation, we drove to Natchez, Mississippi then on to Memphis, Tennessee. It was a short trip, but a really nice one. Absolutely gorgeous weather the entire time we were on the road.

Maybe someday we'll actually go on a vacation that does not include taking or picking up The Boy from school. smile.

Here's the video!

I'm a terrible blogger

2009-09-01T16:46:00.001-05:00

It's been about a month since I've blogged. I've found that I spend much more time on Facebook these days then blogger.

One day I will update this... probably.

Shameless self-promotion

2009-07-30T12:19:00.002-05:00

This weekend my business (My World's a Stage) will be participating the Big Ass Indie Art & Craft Show. It's my first time ever to be in a craft show and I'm very excited!

I've been selling online for a couple years but never tried to do a craft show because, well, I didn't know how to do it. Since this particular show is a "department" style event, it made it easy for me to jump in and give it a try. Easy because I don't have to set up a booth and I don't have to have a credit card system. The event organizers create all the displays and there will be departments... like housewares, jewelry, clothing, etc. Each participating crafter will have their items distributed throughout the sales floor. The craft show folks also take care of collecting payment for any sales.

Want to see what crafters will be at the show? Click here for a list. It's going to be tons of fun with live entertainment, a bar, and totally rad indie crafts. Please come out and support your local arts and crafts peeps.

Be there, or be square!

A very busy weekend!

2009-07-20T11:12:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was the opening of St. Louis Shakespeare's 25th Anniversary Season. I hope you came out to see THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, but if you didn't you still have time! We'll be doing four more performances this week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are still available. For more info, please click here. You don't want to miss this show!

Here's a review from Chris Gibson writing for BroadwayWorld.com. More links to reviews to come as I find them.

Part of the weekend's festivities was the opening night party at Vito's Ristorante. I was there with my video camera and interviewed several people who have worked with the company in the past (and some new participants as well). I've included the video's below (parts 1 & 2). Enjoy!

If you're a fan of St. Louis Shakespeare and you haven't visited our Facebook page yet, please join us there to keep up with all the latest news, reviews, video's, photo's, etc.

Besides attending (and video-taping) MERCHANT OF VENICE, I also saw two other plays this weekend: COLLECTED STORIES, the Orange Girls production at COCA, and THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW put on by [insert name here] Theatre at the Tower Grove Abbey space. There's still time to see COLLECTED STORIES. It plays through August 2, and is well worth seeing for its wonderful performances and interesting story. However, it's too late to see ROCKY as last night was the final performance. If you didn't catch it, you missed a really quirky and fun production.

And now for the St. Louis Shakespeare opening night party videos....

I know, I know!

2009-07-08T22:12:00.002-05:00

Once again, here I am apologizing for ignoring my blog. I've been so very busy lately. That's my only excuse.

If we know each other in real life, I hope that I've seen you recently. If we know each other from the local theatre community, break a leg and I hope to be seeing you on a stage soon. If you're my family, I love you and thank you for allowing me all the time I need right now to get ready for the craft show later this month.

I spend much more time on Facebook and Twitter than I do on this blog. Maybe I'll see you in one of those places.

Until the next time I have a few minutes to write a post....

A few things, but not everything

2009-06-29T10:46:00.003-05:00

There are never enough hours in the day, or days in the weekend.

As I've written before, I will be one of the vendors at the Big Ass Indy Craft Show. I've been spending almost all my free time in my basement studio doing my crafty thing trying to get ready. The deadline to turn in all my product is July 26. I know that may sound like I have plenty of time, but because most of my craft items include embroidery, it's a very slow process.

When I'm not spending my free time in the studio, I'm at the theatre. I saw seven (yes, count 'em) plays in June and so far I have four scheduled for July. I used to write about each of the plays I'd seen, but since I'm seeing some of them as a Kevin Kline Awards judge, I feel that I shouldn't write about them anymore. That's too bad in a way, because I really did enjoy telling you about some of the great stuff I'd seen. Oh well.

GO SEE A PLAY. Really. Go see a play. You'll love it.

*****

Here's a picture of an embroidery design that I digitized this weekend. Using a royalty-free clipart image from Dover Books' Classic Tattoo collection (the white half of the pic), I created this fun serpent coiled around a red flower. I don't auto-digitize. If I did, this probably would have taken considerably less time to do, but I prefer manually digitizing so it took me about 6 hours to get it the way I wanted it. I stitched it out last night (the black half of the pic), and it stitched very nicely. No problems at all.

Why does it take so long to digitize? Well, it doesn't take everyone so long, it's just that I'm really slow and I get easily distracted. While digitizing, I also checked my email, looked at Facebook, Twittered, embroidered a pillow, took time to eat lunch, talked to My-Guy and The Boy, etc. See, easily distracted!

Clean, cleaner, cleanest

2009-06-15T10:43:00.003-05:00

Ahhh, the joys of manual labor! It's a wonderful feeling to actually work really hard at something and get such a fantastic outcome. Yesterday My-Guy and I borrowed my Mom's power-washer and cleaned the dirt and algae from the front of the house, the porch, and the sidewalk. The first pic below is the house before cleaning. Notice the green algae spots on the right side of the doorway. Notice also the dirty brick porch (the bricks should be bright red). The white stucco near the dirty sidewalk also needed to be cleaned. Well, the power-washer did an amazing job! It was hard, messy, wet work but worth the time and trouble.

The red brick porch is now back to it's original color as you can see from the photo below. Also, the algae is gone and the sidewalk is now clean. We plan on doing all of it again next weekend, just to be sure it's as clean as possible before we return the machine to Mom. I think we'll also do the driveway.... why not?

My entire body aches from the hard work, but the results are definitely worth the pain.

Doing the best I can

2009-06-02T12:05:00.004-05:00

Guilt. I can't seem to get away from feeling guilty about working part-time. Not that I chose to work part-time, but still... I'm very worried and stressed about what the future may hold. Because of that I can't quite seem to enjoy the extra hours I now have to devote to my own personal creative pursuits. On one hand I'm ecstatic to have so much time; on the other I feel as if what I'm doing is detrimental to my family. I really need to be working full-time. I think once that happens, the guilt feelings will disappear and I will return to feeling "normal" again. Keep your fingers crossed for me that all will be well in the end.

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Good news: I've been accepted to be in the Big Ass Indie Art & Craft Show at MadArt Gallery, July 31, August 1 & 2. I've been selling online now for quite a while, but this will be my first craft show. And I think it will be the perfect type of craft show for me to start with because it's a "department" style show, which means that I do not have to set up a booth and have my own credit card system. Each crafter's items are displayed throughout the sales floor - there are no designated areas in which a particular crafter needs to set up their booth and/or display. The show also takes care of all money-handling at a main check-out area. If any of my items sell, I'll receive a check after the show has closed and bookkeeping has been finished. Works for me!

I hope you'll make a point of coming to the show. It will be lots of fun and if you've never been to an indie craft show before, you're definitely in for a treat. This ain't your grandma's craft show!

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Here are some pictures of the flat dolls I made last week. Enjoy!

I know! I know!

2009-05-26T17:05:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted on my blog. You'd think that since my hours (and pay) got cut in half, I'd have all kinds of time to be blogging... but I don't. Or at least there seems to be a million other things that need to be done instead: updating my resume, looking for a job to go along with the part-time one I have, sewing, crafting, video editing, going to the theatre, updating the theatre website, etc. Busy! I've been plenty busy, folks!

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Ahhh, St. Louis in the summer! Hot, humid, rainy, then sunny, then rainy again. All that with a non-functioning air conditioner. Dang, it's hot in here! But help is on it's way. At least I hope so. There are two repair guys here right now, but things don't sound good on one of the units (we have zoned AC). Keep your fingers crossed that A) it can be fixed, and B) that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

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I've been on a Battlestar Galactica binge! Yes, weekends are spent watching episode after episode of BSG. I'm enjoying it, although I may be on the verge of overdose. I think I watched about a dozen episodes over the holiday weekend. Maybe more! I'm now on Season 4, Episode 3. I may take the night off from watching and instead do a little crafting tonight.

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I am now a proud member of the St. Louis ShowMe Etsy Street Team! They don't have my Etsy shop name listed on their site yet, but I swear I am actually a member! I went to my first meeting a few weeks ago and it was fun and informative. Plus there was wine and cake! You can't beat that! I'll let you know more as I know more about this fun group of crafters. Right now I do know that they have a booth set up at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market, so be sure to stop by and check out all the cool indy crafty items!

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I'll try to be a better blogger and not wait so long before my next post. See ya!

I am a Featured Artist!

2009-04-27T11:27:00.003-05:00

I'm so very honored and excited to be chosen by St. Louis Handmade to be a Featured Artist on their site. Please click here to read the interview and see the pictures.
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Here's what the owner of St. Louis Handmade says about the site's mission:

"The mission of St. Louis Handmade is very simple, we love handmade products and believe the greatest handmade artists in the world live right here in St. Louis. We want to introduce you to them and share with you the amazing things they create.

Artists featured on our site range in style from fine art to handcrafts. We hope you will love the wide range as much as we do and find yourself as in awe of the boundless creativity of each and every one of them as we are.

In addition to artist profiles, our site also features information on local stores and events featuring handmade products as well as fine art events....."

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Thank you Tammy & St. Louis Handmade. You made my day!

You gotta love this guy!

2009-04-21T22:47:00.001-05:00

I love this!

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage Commercial

What have I been working on?

2009-04-19T21:44:00.005-05:00

Here are pictures of two projects that I've completed recently. Not that this is all I've been doing... oh, no! I've also entirely restructured the St. Louis Shakespeare website. Not that you can really see a lot of changes, but I did a lot of work to the structure and html behind the scenes. One really great change to the site (besides just the fact of having all the new 25th anniversary season info up), is that I've added production photos from around 15 or so plays! Please visit the site and click on the Photo Gallery link to see what's there. I have to give a big "shout out" to my friend archphoenix for supplying many of the photos that were used.

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OK, pictures of the first project. Meet Troy 2.0! Let me explain. The Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre uses life-sized dummy/dolls whenever they need a body for special effects and/or stunts. Somehow or other Troy 1.0 got lost. Who knows? Maybe he decided to go live with someone after the last play he was in. Whatever. He's gone. We miss him, but if he doesn't want to live in the theatre warehouse and come out occasionally for stunt work, well then he had to be replaced. So, I introduce you to Troy 2.0. He was a lot of fun to create!

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My other project recently completed is a set of The Six Wives of Henry VIII Bottle Cap Magnets. (Henry included.) For fans of Tudor history (or The Tudors tv show), these magnets will make a great display on your favorite metal surface. I will be adding them to my Etsy and my Artfire shops this evening. I've made 3 sets total, but don't wait forever before you decide to buy. I'm hoping that these sell quickly! (Note on photos: the Diamond Glaze sealer used to seal the photos is totally glass-clear and so shiny that it makes the items difficult to photograph. Sorry for the glare, but it couldn't be avoided.)

The recession has hit home

2009-04-15T13:54:00.003-05:00

Without going into detail in this very public forum, I’ll say just a few things: After working in my Administrative position with the same company for 10 years, my full-time job has been cut to part-time. I know, I know! It could be worse, which is why I am not panicking (yet).

Friends have said, “Wow! It’s Spring and you’re only working half-days now. Enjoy the weather. Enjoy your time off!” Well, I hope to enjoy a bit of that, but those half days off will now consist of trying to find an additional part time job to go along with the one I have.

I’m thankful that I still have an income, even if it’s cut. But keep your fingers crossed for me that something positive will result from this!

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My very good friend ArchPhoenix bought several items from my Etsy shop last week! Here’s a picture she sent me of the dolls and magnets displayed in her work area. That’s so cool! Because she so seriously rocks, I sent along some extra goodies in her package: an extra set of bottlecap magnets to go along with the one’s she bought; a small shoulder bag that I embroidered; and a set of EDWARD III dvd’s because she wasn’t in town to see the show. (Yes, we’re actually real-life friends as well as online friends. She has moved far, far away and I miss her company!)

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Photos of my newest craft items

2009-04-09T15:00:00.005-05:00

I've been having so much fun making bottlecap magnets! As you can see from the photos, I love to use pictures of old paintings, especially Pre-Raphaelite works and French portraits. After placing the photo in the bottlecap, I seal it using a water-based sealer called Diamond Glaze which dries totally clear like glass. The glass like appearance along with the fluted edge of the bottle cap make the pictures look like framed miniature portraits. I love them!

Let me know what you think!

Everybody's a STAR

2009-03-31T10:18:00.004-05:00

My-Guy and I went to the Kevin Kline Awards last night. It was a great time and we had fabulous seats! I'll be posting pictures on the blog this evening (if we're friends on Facebook, you've already seen the photos, right?).

There were so many fabulous parts of the evening, a few of my favorites were Colleen Backer winning Best Supporting Actress in a Play and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (two awards in one night! fabulous!), the Sarafina cast singing and dancing (what a tremendous amount of talent these young people have!), and the very last event of the evening: Abigail Isom came out on stage to surprise her dad (Steve Isom, who runs the Kevin Kline Awards) and sang a song from Annie, the play in which she will perform the lead at the Muny this summer. I could see how moved he was by the surprise and by her performance. It brought tears to my eyes.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch has a list of ALL the winners. Click here!

LOL LOTR!

2009-03-26T11:17:00.005-05:00

EXTRA WEEKEND ADDED!
Shows added on Friday & Saturday
May 8 & 9
8pm and 10:30pm nightly
tickets are $15 for Adults
$10 for Students 18 and under

Those Plantagenet Kings!

2009-03-19T12:13:00.003-05:00

St. Louis Shakespeare opened EDWARD III last weekend. Judy Newmark at the Post-Dispatch wrote an article about the play, discussing whether or not Shakespeare wrote it on his own or with collaborators. Click here to read it. Very interesting. Click here to see some photos.

If you’d like to read some reviews, here are a few links:
KDHX
RFT capsule review

Still plenty of time to see EDWARD III tonight (Thursday) through Sunday, March 22. Information about time, location, ticket prices here.

If you missed the free pre-show discussion about EDWARD III last Saturday night, it will be available to watch and/or download from iTunes sometime this weekend. Just search for St. Louis Shakespeare’s Podcasts on iTunes.

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The Boy is coming home this weekend for Spring Break. He’s bringing his girlfriend! How exciting! I’ve talked to her on the phone and met her during a video chat with The Boy, but this will be the first time to meet her face-to-face. I’m looking forward to it.

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Keeping busy!

2009-03-09T14:29:00.002-05:00

I know I’ve been lax about writing in my blog. I’ve been so busy!

I’ve spent this last week working on my embroidered/appliquéd flat dolls. (Yes, my embroidery machine is out of the shop and running in tip-top condition!) My-Guy made me some really nice little doll stands for the dolls. Here are some pics. I’ve got more that are almost finished. Hopefully, I can get those done in the next few days because after that I’m going to be busy at the theatre for the next couple weeks.

Tonight I will be celebrating my birthday with my family. Mom is making a cake and cooking dinner. Home food! Not that I’m complaining about My-Guy’s food! It’s just that sometimes it’s nice to have simple, home-style food instead of the fancy gourmet stuff he cooks up.

Here’s another short photo slide show that I created from pictures of St. Louis Shakespeare’s 2007 production of Othello. My very handsome son is in a couple of the pictures (he was in this production before he left for college).

Comedy of Errors Photo Slideshow

2009-03-02T22:13:00.002-06:00

Here's a very short slideshow video of photos from St. Louis Shakespeare's production of The Comedy of Errors. This production has been nominated for three Kevin Kline Awards (awards ceremony to take place March 30). Nominations include:

Outstanding Lead Actor - Cody Proctor
Outstanding Supporting Actor - Jared Nell
Outstanding Costume Design - Amanda Handle

As is always the case with YouTube videos, the quality is not very good. If you'd like to see better quality photos, be sure to visit this link.

Please fix my embroidery machine correctly this time!

2009-03-02T11:17:00.003-06:00

The picture above is a screenshot of a section of an Etsy Treasury page. The Treasury will expire tomorrow so I figured there's no reason to provide a link to something that won't be there much longer.

See the Lauren Bacall purse in the middle of the second row? I made that and I was ecstatic to find that a fellow Etsy-er liked it enough to include it in her treasury. Totally cool, huh?

*****

I'm frustrated because my embroidery machine is yet again in the repair shop. This is the third time in less than a year. I've had the machine since 2002 and at that time, it was Brother's top of the line machine. I paid a very pretty penny for it and I expect it to last for many many more years. The first 5 years I had it, I had no problems, but within the the last two years it's become fussy. Usually just small things that I could adjust on my own, but in the last several months it has become much worse. But the problems I'm having right now I believe are happening because of the last repair. The last repair replaced the needle bar because it would no longer release the sewing needle. That was a pricey repair and seemed like a fairly straight-forward fix. But I noticed from the moment I brought it home from the shop that things weren't quite as they were before the repair.

A) the embroidery hoop no longer would easily slide beneath the presser foot.
B) loops of thread would catch the foot and bring everything to a screetching halt.
C) when the thread wasn't looping, it would go the other way and become too tight, bringing the bobbin thread up to the top of the design. NOT GOOD.

I had an older embroidery presser foot that didn't sit so low to the throat, so I put that on and it seemed to help a bit. I checked the manual for thread tension tests and settings and went through and did each one, but none seemed to work.

When I took the machine to the shop yesterday, I gave them a typed out list of all the things that it was doing wrong since the last repair. I don't know much about needle bars, but I'm wondering if they replaced the old one with a new one that was a tiny bit too long for my machine? Here's hoping that the adjustments that need to be made are easy (and thorough). I really depend on this machine and there's no way in the world that I can afford to replace it. A new embroidery machine these days cost as much as a new compact car. No kidding.

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the weekend is over, another work week has begun

2009-02-23T15:03:00.000-06:00

I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those people who panic if my telephone rings anytime between 10:30 pm and 7 am. And I especially panic when a midnight call comes in and I recognize the ring-tone as one I assigned to my out-of-state college student son. A midnight call from my kid who is hours away celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans. My heart was about to burst I was so frightened. Luckily I had just started up the stairs to bed, so I was still wide awake and the phone was only steps away. I grabbed it, answered, and held my breath waiting for some kind of bad news.

No bad news.

Just my wonderful, sweet, enthusiastic and happy son wanting to know if I’d log on to video chat with him so he could show me all the cool stuff that was thrown to him at the parades.

Apparently, he and his friends made quite a haul. Bags and bags and bags full of beads and stuffed animals, and there was even a shoe from the Muse’s parade. Totally cool! He promised to bring lots of Mardi Gras booty with him when he comes home for Spring Break next month.

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I embroidered and hand-beaded several of my Costumed Character flat dolls this weekend. I noticed that my machine isn’t working quite the same way since its last visit to the repair shop. I should take it in and have them make some adjustments, but it’s so difficult to let it go when I NEED IT to do my craft work.

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My mom and I went to the movies yesterday and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. We both liked it. I thought it was a little long, but still good.

Benjamin Button and The Duchess (Best Costume nom) were the only two Oscar nominated movies I had seen. I watched the Oscars anyway because, well, I always watch the Oscars. Creature of habit, I guess. I loved the opening “low-budget” skit, but didn’t really care much for the rest of the show. I thought there was too much singing and dancing for a show that’s supposed to be celebrating movies.

I let out a great big “YES” when Kate Winslet won for Best Actress. Those of you reading this who know me know that my Kate Winslet crush has been a source of amusement for my husband and son for many years. Interestingly enough, neither of them had much to say about her win last night. Maybe this award put paid to their previously merciless ribbing of me for my girl-crush.

Valentine's Day Weekend?

2009-02-16T14:11:00.002-06:00

Was this Valentine’s Day weekend? Really? Because we didn’t do anything VD related. We’re not much on the VD holiday, but circumstances on Saturday made sure that we didn’t have time to celebrate, even if we had wanted. My-Guy’s mom is in bad health and Saturday was filled (for him) with routine and not-so-routine trips to her nursing home and to the hospital. After all the drama, it seems that she is going to be ok. By the time he got home from all that running around, I was asleep.

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I made a couple cute little things this weekend. I ran some silk through my inkjet printer and then made tiny lined pouches from the silk printed pictures of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. Check ‘em out!

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I did some more fiddling around with the video I’ve been working on for the theatre. The project was actually already finished and ready to go, but I couldn’t keep my hands off it. I added a few sound effects to the intro footage and to the opening titles as they fly on-screen. I added a video/motion page for the main dvd menu instead of the static page I had been using. Not only is it a short video, I used the NewBlue CartoonR effect on it to add a bit of whimsy. Fun! But I swear I’m finished with it now! Really!
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A curious thing happened with my embroidery software after a recent update: files that I had created years ago have now changed, and not in a good way! I found this out when I went back to an original file to make a couple tweaks to the design. Suddenly anything that was supposed to be a single line became huge fat lines of stitches and anything that was a small filled stitch area became an ultra small circular stitch area. WTF? So, basically, any time I need to tweak a file, I’ll have to check every single area of the design for these alarming changes. Not good!

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Last Thursday night I ushered for Avalon Theatre’s production of The Subject Was Roses. Great play. Strong story and strong acting. I’m glad I got a chance to see it. And the new space! Wow. I love it! Avalon Theatre is the first local professional theatre to open its doors in the new ArtSpace at Crestwood Mall. Other theatres, including Echo Theatre, will soon be moving in to the other empty retail spaces. Some of the formerly empty spaces have been taken by artists and craftspeople, including a great new shop called ShowMe Handmade. I dropped by there before going to the theatre and it was packed with wonderful handmade stuff created by local artists. A lot of the product names I recognized as Etsy sellers. The shop is open now, but they’re having their Grand Opening on March 7 & 8. Don’t miss it!

It's my birthday and I'll have a sale if I want to!

2009-02-11T10:15:00.010-06:00

Actually, my birthday isn't until the last day of my sale, but why not start celebrating now? If you're a machine embroiderer, now's your chance to get a FREE digital embroidery file (your choice) from my collection of Costumed Characters! Buy two of my Costumed Character digital design files and then choose another Character for FREE. Details are at my website My World's a Stage.

Here are a few pictures of the type of designs available during this sale. (The sale ends March 6, 2009.)

what I do when I can't embroider

2009-02-06T13:28:00.006-06:00

While my embroidery machine was in the shop (it's home now!), I've been trying to teach myself various tricks using my new Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 software. Here's what I've come up with so far...

a short video using my best friend's name:

another short video for a LOST fan:

I have also completed an hour long video of a live theatre production. I was able to edit two camera streams to create wide shots and close-ups. I'm rather proud of the fact that I figured out how to do it. *smile* Of course, I cannot post that here as the video is only intended for the cast and crew of the production.

I'm looking forward to my next video adventure, which will be another taping of a live theatre production. But until then... I need to catch up on some embroidery work!

Holy you-know-what!

2009-02-03T15:48:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday I had to put my embroidery machine in the shop (second time in less than a year). This time it was because NO MATTER WHAT I DID, including using pliers, I could not remove the needle from the machine. And yes, I did need to remove the needle because it had begun skipping stitches. Try as I might, it would not release so I could replace the needle with a new one.

Off to the shop it went, and I just now heard back from the shop and it is going to cost me waaaaaaay more money that I thought it would. Seems the needle bar needs to be replaced, which costs a bit of money, but it's the labor that's really kickin' my butt. This kind of expense is not in my budget, but it will have to be paid because I must be able to use the machine. It's not like I can just go out and buy a new one to replace this one. These things are incredibly pricey. Like buying a small used car kind of pricey.

If I were a beer drinker, I'd be crying into mine right now.

This week flew by!

2009-01-30T12:43:00.002-06:00

Of course, it didn't hurt that I had Monday off for vacation, then Wednesday off as a snow day. That definitely made the work week seem much shorter.

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On the agenda for this weekend: making more crafty items to replace the one's that sold this week at my Etsy shop. Who knew that my Henry VIII and Elizabeth I flat dolls would sell so quickly? I think I'll make a few more!

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I bought a cheap copy of an old used library edition book called "Sony Vegas 6 Revealed" (the Pro version). Yes, I know that's not the version of the Sony software that I have, but I figured I could learn at least a bit of this and that from the book. I started reading it last night and a lot of the instructions look like they'll cross-over to my consumer version of Vegas Movie Studio. First thing I want to do is follow the instructions to create my very own Star Wars-like text intro fading off into space. Fun!

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Catching up (added photos!)

2009-01-27T14:25:00.004-06:00

Maybe an hour on the treadmill is just more than my body can take. I didn’t even realize I had been walking so long because I was watching a movie and was so caught up in the story that time flew by. Today I’m definitely feeling it, though. My muscles really ache.

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I’m back at work today after taking vacation on Friday and Monday. What a productive weekend it turned out to be! Basically, I left my studio only to sleep and eat. I finished plenty of projects (look at my Etsy store!), watched more of the Sony Vegas Movie Studio training dvd, and worked on some video using my new found skills, I also updated my website with great photos of projects made by customers using my embroidery designs. Check it out!

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Earlier in the week my Mom had brought me a corduroy mini-skirt that my sister wanted me to conjure in to a tote bag for her. Finished that. I’ll be adding photos of it later… don’t have them with me at the moment. It’s really cute. I left the skirt as-is – no cutting it up. I sewed the bottom closed, added a lining with 4 roomy pockets, and a strap long enough to cross her body so that she can use this giant bag while shopping at the flea market. Oh, I also put in a magnetic snap to help keep it closed, but I think putting a belt through the skirt’s belt loops would be a really great way of cinching it up. I don’t have any belts or I would have tried that out myself.

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I’m looking at my calendar for February and I like it! Plenty of theatre to see next month. I can’t wait! Then before you know it, it will be March and St. Louis Shakespeare will be presenting Shakespeare’s Edward III, a rarely performed play and one that I’m pretty sure no one in St. Louis has ever produced. I can’t wait to see it!

Meet Leen the Graphics Queen!

2009-01-23T15:13:00.007-06:00

Ever since I ran across Leen's Etsy store, I have been consumed with curiosity about how she makes her graphic art. Luckily, she is a really easy person to talk to and she agreed to answer my questions about how her business works. I found it fascinating, and I bet you will, too! So, may I introduce Leen the Graphics Queen...

How did you get started in vinyl graphics home decor?
Absolutely by chance! About thirteen years ago, I was a cell phone sales person at an automotive accessory shop. When my boss decided to stop selling cell phones he didn't want to let me go so he offered to have me trained to make vehicle graphics. I was instantly nuts about it! Within a few weeks my new nickname was Leen the Graphics Queen! Eventually my husband and I started our own sign business and that led to wall decals and here I am today.

How is vinyl decor made? Does it require special tools or machines? Software?
It requires both actually. You need signmaking software and a machine called a plotter which does the actual cutting of the vinyl. Vinyl comes in solid sheets on rolls and the plotter uses a small razor to cut the vinyl as directed by the software. Much like your embroidery program.

How did you discover Etsy?
Back when I had spare time (lol) I made mosaics and sold them and mosaic tiles on ebay and was part of a great group of mosaic artists. Eventually most of us moved from ebay to etsy because it is more artist friendly. I was making wall decals locally and was so excited to learn that I could sell my decals on etsy as well.
How did you sell your products before you started selling on Etsy?
My husband and I own a sign shop and we sold signs and wall decals locally.

Do you do custom vinyl graphics? If so, what type of file would a customer need to give you? A jpg? A vector based file?
I LOVE to create custom graphics. I prefer to create them myself but if a customer has a vector file that they want made into a decal I can do that!

Is there a limit on the size of a vinyl item you can produce?
Not really! Vinyl is easy to lay together so if someone wanted a large decal I would send it in more than one piece.
Are there new ways to produce your product that didn't exist when you started?
The software is more advanced and easier to use now than when I started but the plotters are pretty much the same but with a few small extra features. I am still using the software and plotter that we purchased in 1998!

Where do you see your business going in the future?
I hope to continue my focus on wall decals and store front signage. I love home decorating and this enables me to help other people to decorate their homes.

Tell me more!
I enjoy when people send me pics of my decals in their homes and also when they tell me that my design was exactly what they were looking for. Especially when it is something for their new baby's nursery. Last week a woman ordered my decal "Free at last" for her new baby that she adopted from Kazkhstan. She loved the design and thought the title was so appropriate for her new daughter. It brought tears to my eyes (I am mushy like that).

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Thank you, Leen, for taking time out of your busy day to answer questions about your really cool business!

Friends, stop by Leen the Graphics Queen's Etsy store (and her blog) and check out her fun home decor (and great prices!).

Yes, an old dog can learn new tricks!

2009-01-20T15:00:00.001-06:00

I’ve been trying to figure out how to use Sony Vegas Movie Studio. I bought a training video and watched it this weekend. I’m still a bit confused by it, but I was able to hobble together a dvd menu using DVD Architect to go along with the three-hour Romeo & Juliet video I’ve been working on. Now I just need a dual layer dvd burner. ha! I’ve been looking at burners online and trying to make a decision if I want a dual layer burner that comes with LightScribe or not. Do you use LightScribe? Do you like it? Is it worth getting?

I had already been able to process the R&J video as 3 separate disks of one hour each, but none of them had a menu because I was using Pinnacle Studio 12 when I made those and for whatever reason Pinnacle has decided not to render any video that uses dvd menus. I have officially given up on Pinnacle after years of using their product.

I am determined to learn Movie Studio! While the interface isn’t nearly as friendly as Pinnacle, it looks as if the program does everything Pinnacle does (and more), plus the system requirements to run it are much lower. That’s a good thing because I’m using an older computer (no duo- or quad- core processors, very little RAM, etc).

My next video project is to take the KISS video I completed in Pinnacle (and which, of course, would not render after all that work) and re-do it in Movie Studio. Wish me luck!

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I can’t wait to get home from work today and watch the re-play of the Inauguration since I wasn’t able to see it at work today. Our office computers are over 10 years old (can you believe it?) and some of them can play video, some can play audio, but none can play both at the same time.

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I put a few new things up on my Etsy site over the weekend. Two of the items are zippered make-up bags in red with black embroidery on them. The embroidered designs are retro guys and gals and I find them quite humorous. If you’re reading this from my Blogger site, you’ll see pix of them in my Etsy-mini in the sidebar area.

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I’ve planned a long weekend. I have two vacation days left to take from last year and I’m taking them Friday and Monday. I plan on spending my four day weekend in my chilly basement studio working on crafts and video. I’m psyched!

Congratulations, Kevin Kline Award Nominees!

2009-01-16T13:02:00.004-06:00

This morning the Kevin Kline Awards nominations were announced (click to see the full list of nominees). That's always an exciting day for the St. Louis Professional Theatre community, of which I'm happy to say I am a part. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I am a Kevin Kline Awards judge, but I had nothing to do with these nominations because they represent productions in 2008 and I just now became a judge in 2009.

I am extremely excited that the theatre company I work with, St. Louis Shakespeare, received three nominations!

Outstanding Lead Actor: Cody Proctor in The Comedy of Errors
Outstanding Supporting Actor: Jared Nell in The Comedy of Errors
Outstanding Costume Design: Amanda Handle for The Comedy of Errors

The Outstanding Costume Design nomination makes me giddy with excitement because I built several of the costumes that Amanda designed. By "built" I mean that Amanda designed them and chose the fabrics, but I sewed them together for her. So, I feel just a little bit like this nomination is personal.

Congratulations to all the nominees! I'll see you at the Awards Ceremony in March!

Leen the Graphics Queen

2009-01-15T10:07:00.008-06:00

Just before the holidays, while surfing Etsy, I found the coolest vinyl decal shop: Leen the Graphics Queen . I immediately wanted everything in her shop! She makes the coolest vinyl wall graphics. Unfortunately, many of my interior walls are stucco'd (I think it's actually called "reverse" stucco), so vinyl decals just won't work for me. Then I saw that she also made vinyl lettering for vehicles. I was sold! I ordered lettering to put on my car. Hey, every bit of advertising helps, right?

Since buying the decal from her, I've been in contact with Leen and we've struck up a nice online friendship. It's always fun to meet crafty people, especially fun when their craft is something totally different from what I do.

Those online conversations with Leen led to her asking if she could "feature" my work on her blog. I was flattered! So, after some questions and answers and a few pictures, she has posted an entry about My World's a Stage at the Leen the Graphics Queen blog. Click the link to read it and be sure to leave her a comment letting her know you stopped by.

Since there is so much I do not know about her craft business, I think I may need to reciprocate the favor. Leen, what do you think? Ready to be interviewed and featured?

I should have known better

2009-01-12T15:32:00.000-06:00

As they say….

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry
No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it. The saying is adapted from a line in “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.”

And that’s just what happened to me this weekend. I knew that because My-Guy was driving The Boy back to college, I would have Saturday and Sunday all to myself. Ahhh, a quiet house! No reason to do anything I didn’t want to do. Hell, I didn’t have to shower if I didn’t want. Just drink coffee all day and work on my video project. That was the plan, and it all seemed to be going well. Actually, very well. I was surprised and amazed by how smoothly the video editing was going.

I should have realized that disaster loomed ahead.

The video project I am working on is for one of the theatre companies I work with. I was lucky enough to be able to record a live performance with two cameras: one from center for a full stage view, the other for various close-ups to use as cutaways. I’d never done this before and was a bit intimidated by it, but I figured why not try it? If it doesn’t work out, I can always just use the center full stage view without cuts. (I still may have to do that. I hope not.)

I’ve been using versions of Pinnacle Studio video editing software since version 9 (I’m on version 12 now). I’ve never had smooth sailing with Pinnacle and I’m not sure why I continue to think that the software will get better with each upgrade. It hasn’t. At least for me on the computer that I’m using. But, this time, on this project, things seemed to be going very well and I was happy with the video sitting on the timeline. It had nice opening credits, great looking video with cuts to close-ups, and a fun scrolling end credit page. All was well.

Then came rendering.

Rendering is when the software takes all the elements of the video project and creates a file that can be used to upload to the internet or burn to a dvd. In my case, I wanted to create a disc image that I could use to then burn copies onto dvd as I needed them. Rendering takes HOURS.

I rendered 4 times this weekend. That’s way too much wasted time on a video that is less than an hour long. Why render 4 times? Certainly not because I wanted to. The project would successfully (or so it seemed) render, only to find that at the very last second I would get a “failed” message. Each time, I changed the video just a bit thinking that maybe it didn’t like the scrolling credits, or didn’t like the zoom in on the title. Then I’d try rendering again for HOURS only to get another failure message.

I was pulling my hair out. I really thought that I’d have this video finished this weekend and ready to distribute to the cast and crew. Silly me. Best laid plans and all that. Then a phone call Sunday evening from My-Guy (still on the road) gave me a ray of hope. He suggested that I go to the Sony Vegas Movie Studio site because he said that he thought they offered a 30-day free trial on their video editing software. He wondered why I wanted to keep fighting with Pinnacle when there may be other software to try? Well, geez. Made me feel stupid. Of course, I had thought of other software! But I hadn’t gone looking for any because I didn’t want to spend the money on software that might be just as useless. But, hey, free software for 30 days? I went immediately to the Sony site, downloaded, installed and opened up the software.

OMG. It looks as complicated as flying a jet. ha. I was so tired at that point that I couldn’t even begin to think of trying to learn a new video editing program. So, I shut it down and printed out the PDF manual to read today. I’ll give the new program a try this evening and keep my fingers crossed that it will be capable of doing what I need and that I will be capable of figuring it all out.

Keep me in your thoughts. Because if this doesn’t work, I’ll have to run naked down the middle of the street while pulling my hair out by the roots. And NOBODY needs to see that.

Welcome to my new blog!

2009-01-09T13:29:00.002-06:00

So, you found me. I'm hoping that means you were getting ready to read the "All the World's a Stage" blog and found that I had stopped posting there. Good thing I left you a link and a message, huh?

Thanks for stopping by my new digs. I'm still doing a bit of work on it to get it to look more like "home" to me. All the old posts and comments from the other blog are here, so those comment-words-of-wisdom you shared pre-move are still here for the reading.

BTW, this is my first time using Blogger's templates/layouts and I'm not really happy with how it looks, but don't know how to go about making this site as pretty as the blog I just left. Anyone know how? The present template is just a bit too generic for me.

Glad you're here! Leave a comment so I know you found me!

The actors are come hither, my lord (2008 wrap-up)

2009-01-08T14:48:00.001-06:00

“The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral; scene individable, or poem unlimited….” Polonius, regarding the visiting acting troupe in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

It’s that time of year again! Time for the list of professional theatre productions I saw in the previous year. After putting together my list, I realized that I saw fewer plays in 2008 than in 2007. Blasphemy! (39 in ’07 and 33 in ’08). I didn’t see fewer plays because there were fewer to see… I just didn’t have time to see as many. Looking at my list, I can also see that I pretty much blew off seeing theatre in the last couple months of the year. Too busy trying to get my website up and creating product to put on that website. There are only so many free hours in a day! Choices had to be made. ;-)

So, here’s the list (in alphabetical order):

Antigone – St. Louis Actors Studio
Assassins – New Line Theatre
Bluish – New Jewish Theatre
Chaim’s Love Song – New Jewish Theatre
Cherry Docs – New Jewish Theatre
A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline – Ivory Theatre
Comedy of Errors – St. Louis Shakespeare
Edwin Drood – Overdue Theatre Company
A Fire As Bright As Heaven – St. Louis Actors Studio
Hair – New Line Theatre
High Fidelity – New Line Theatre
Killing Women – Hot City Theatre
King Lear – St. Louis Shakespeare
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park – Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre
Ladyhouse Blues – ACT, Inc.
Lieutenant of Inishmore – The Rep Off-Ramp
Little Dog Laughed – The Rep Off-Ramp
Mary’s Wedding – Echo Theatre
Measure for Measure – Mustard Seed Theatre
Men with Clubs – Hot City Theatre
Night of the Iguana – Muddy Waters Theatre
Odyssey – St. Louis Shakespeare
Road to Mecca – The Orange Girls
Romantic Age – ACT, Inc.
Romeo & Juliet – St. Louis Shakespeare
The Scene – Hot City Theatre
Scorched – The Orange Girls
Smoke on the Mountain – Mustard Seed Theatre
Snapshots – St. Louis Actors Studio
Tale of the Allergist’s Wife – New Jewish Theatre
Vieux Carre – Muddy Waters Theatre
The Waiting Room – St. Louis Actors Studio
War of the Worlds – St. Louis Shakespeare

And as I ask myself every year: what was my favorite production? What was my least favorite? (I NEVER answer this question in print.) Here are my top 5 favorites (in alphabetical order):

Cherry Docs
Comedy of Errors
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park
Mary’s Wedding
Scorched

None of these productions were seen by me in my guise of Kevin Kline Awards Judge. My judging duties start now in 2009. So, next year when I do my wrap-up of plays that I’ve seen, I will be leaving out the part where I pick my five favorites.

If you’d like to see my lists from previous years, click here for the 2007 list, here for the 2006 list and here for 2005 (and previous).

I’d love it if you left a comment telling me what your favorite productions were this year. Even if you’re not in St. Louis, let me know what plays you loved in your city!

Rocking out on the treadmill

2009-01-05T15:42:00.000-06:00

I made a really fabulous discovery this weekend: Rounded ceiling dormers are a singers best friend!

While doing my time on the treadmill with my iPod blasting in my ears, I came across a song I just had to sing along with: Heart’s Magic Man. Now, sure, I sang for years as a karaoke host but I stopped doing that 10 years ago. I could never sing Heart even when I was singing four nights a week. My range wasn’t wide enough to hit those high notes. But suddenly, there in that rounded dormer, I was Ann Wilson! ha! Well, one song led to another and I was singing along with Sonny & Cher, Lulu, Dusty Springfield, The Supremes, Led Zeppelin (hey, hey mama said the way you move…) Petula Clark, T. Rex, The Cure, Chris Isaak, Alannah Myles (black velvet in the little boy’s smile…), Rick James, Prince, and the Talking Heads. Yes, you guessed it… I had the iPod on shuffle so I was getting any old kind of music. But the point is that before I knew it, I had been walking and singing on the treadmill for over an hour. Time certainly flies when you’re having fun! I’m looking forward to doing it again tonight, but I’ll have to time myself because an hour on the treadmill is more time than I have available this evening.

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I took down the tree this weekend and put away most of the holiday decorations. I still have the white lights in the windows. I wish I could leave them on year-round because I love the way they shine onto the front porch.

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I finally (yippee!) have Romeo & Juliet video available for the cast and crew. After spending days (literally) fighting with my old computer, I was finally able to get dvd masters made. At this point, though, I am so disgusted with my computer that I refuse to use it to make dvd copies from my masters. Instead, I will use My-Guys computer, which is much more reliable and faster to boot!

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I hope you had a fabulous holiday season. We did, and we’re looking forward to an exciting 2009.

hope you had a holly jolly

2008-12-30T12:23:00.000-06:00

It’s been a while since I’ve updated. I’m not sure where to start.

A couple days before Xmas I was cleaning the house and getting things ready for the family to visit. One of the things I always like to do at Xmas is shoot a bit of video when all of us are there together. So, I got out the camcorder, loaded up a new mini-dv tape and started walking around the house shooting any old thing that happened. Or at least I thought I was. Turns out that the camera only shot the first couple seconds and then went blank. I tried changing the battery, changing the tape, turning it off then back on to reset it. Nothing worked.

I voiced my frustration to My-Guy and he replied, “Well, I guess I know what to get you for Xmas.” So, a bad thing turned out to be a really good thing. I immediately got online and researched camcorders in my price range. I knew that I didn’t need High Definition because we don’t have any hi-def tv’s or dvd players. Also, I knew that my computer didn’t have the power to process hi-def video, so I stuck with standard definition.

It had been so long since I’d researched camcorders that I didn’t realize I would have choices other than basically a newer version of my existing mini-dv tape camera. I was excited to find that camcorders are now available with built-in hard drives to hold the video. (Sound like an old codger, don’t I? So out of touch with the newest technologies. heehee)

I decided on a Sony DCR-SR85. If you click on that link, you’ll see the suggested retail price for the camera. Believe me, I did not pay anywhere near that amount. I found the camera on sale at the Best Buy website. Bought it online, then picked it up at the store.

I love the camera so far. It’s easy to use and can hold an insane amount of video on the drive. That’s mainly the reason I decided on it. In the past, I’ve had problems videotaping stage productions because they always last well over the hour that mini-dv tapes allow. Now, with this camera, I’ll be able to tape those really long Shakespeare plays without missing a thing! ;-) Bring on the 4-hour Hamlet! I’m ready! heehee.

I also updated my video editing software. I’m now running Pinnacle Studio 12. The only thing that could make all of this better is if I had a more powerful computer to process all the video I plan to take. Well, that’s for the future.

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I walked about 40 minutes on the treadmill last night. I plan on walking at least 30 minutes a day; longer on the weekends. It’s really great to have it in the bedroom next to the TV. Makes the time go by much more quickly than staring at a wall while walking.

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The Boy will turn 20 this Friday! Wow. No longer a teenager. How did time fly this quickly? It seems like he was my little bitty baby only yesterday. I’m so proud of him. He’s such a great guy, plus he’s handsome and smart. And no… that’s not just a proud mom speaking. He really is great, handsome and smart. Love him!

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I hope all of you had a wonderful (insert holiday here), and I hope that you have an absolutely fabulous New Year! Have fun!

I'm so looking forward to this

2008-12-19T11:52:00.000-06:00

Tonight after work I am going to Sears to buy a treadmill while they're still on sale. I've been wanting one for a while. You may remember that I injured my back on a treadmill last March. It took three months to recover and the time off from exercising broke my habit of going to the gym. But always in the back of my mind I knew that I needed to get back to working out. I just couldn't seem to muster up the motivation to do it. I am now motivated again, but this time I'm leaving out the gym part of the equation and doing it at home instead.

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The Boy is home for the holidays! He has officially taken over the TV room with his new XBox 360. Good thing I can watch TV in the bedroom (while walking on the treadmill).

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Christmas will be held at our house this year. It's a rotating holiday between me, my sister, and my mom. Actually, this year was Mom's turn but with the recent flooding of her basement and the general disarray of all the stuff she had to sort through afterwards, it will be easier on all of us to have it at my house. My Guy will cook dinner and other family members will bring desserts. My input to all this is that I will be the cleaner-upper. Yucky job, but someone's got to do it!

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This may be my last post before Christmas, so here's my wish for you: I hope your holidays are everything you want them to be. Enjoy your time with family and/or the time you get to spend alone. Happy (insert holiday here) !

projects, fallen Xmas trees, and non-opening car doors. Oh my!

2008-12-15T14:33:00.000-06:00

I took a vacation day Friday so I could have a long weekend to get some work done on a variety of projects that need to be finished before the holidays.

The first thing I did on Friday was to assemble all the photographs I had taken of my latest embroidery design “Katherine”. I made a video slideshow (with subtitles) to put on my website as a tutorial for how to do a multiple position appliqué/embroidery design. Each step of the process is explained (and shown). It’s not that machine appliqué is so difficult, but if you’ve never done a multiple appliqué section design, it can get confusing unless you have a guide to get you through all the steps involved. If you’d like to see how it’s done, click here. The video is around 5 minutes long. It also includes bonus steps on how to make the embroidered design into a stylish magnet.

While I was assembling the video, I also had my embroidery machine going stitching out two new designs: Troilus and Cressida. Yeah, you can take the girl outta the theatre, but you can’t take the theatre outta the girl. (Katherine, Troilus, and Cressida are not up on the site yet, but will be later this week.)

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Saturday I worked for a while at St. Louis Shakespeare’s auditions for the upcoming production of Edward III. I’m really looking forward to seeing this one, as I’ve never read it or seen it. I believe our production will be the Midwest premiere of Shakespeare’s most recently attributed play.

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Sunday was a waste, project-wise. I attempted three separate versions of an eyeglass case and none of them were good enough to keep. Later this week I will try again and hopefully come up with something that’s workable and pretty.

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While walking around the living room late last night turning off all the Christmas lights and decorations, I accidentally knocked the Xmas tree over. Ornaments went flying everywhere, but luckily only one broke. I guess carpet is good for something after all. It was past midnight and I really was way too tired to re-decorate the tree so all the ornaments are waiting for me to get home from work today and put them in their rightful places. ;-) And I’ll have to do that as soon as I walk in the door because just a few minutes later, I’ll be hosting this month’s board meeting at my house. Hey, maybe I can get the board members to help me re-decorate the tree!

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Icy weather today in St. Louis, but that wasn’t the reason my drivers side door and lock didn’t work this morning. I’ve been having this problem on and off for a while now. I cannot unlock the drivers side with either the remote or with the key. I’ve been crawling into my car via the passenger side and really…. it’s just too ridiculous. Also, it makes me feel claustrophobic to think that I cannot get out of my car unless I climb to the passenger side. So, into the shop it goes but I couldn’t get an appointment until Thursday. So, a few more days of crawling across the center console and then hopefully, all will be well.

Catching up, kind of. No, not really

2008-12-10T16:21:00.000-06:00

So much to do, so little time

Several weeks after the end of the run of Romeo & Juliet, I still have not processed the video I shot. It’s not that I haven’t tried, it’s that my computer doesn’t seem to want to let me capture it. That’s one of the reasons I was trying to buy a new computer (you can read all about that disappointing adventure in my previous blog entry).

So, no new computer means that somehow or another I have to get my old comp to step up to the task. I defragged, I deleted old unused programs, I emptied all temp files, etc. Still, no luck with the video.

Then yesterday I decided to upgrade the video software. I figured that it might help and if it didn’t, well at least I tried. Right? I installed the new software and viola! I was able to capture an hour and a half of video! This particular production of R&J was pretty damn long, so I’ve got another 1.5 hours of video to capture this evening. Plus, I shot some extra footage from a different angle; maybe another 45 minutes or so. I’m hoping that the video is good enough to actually warrant processing it for dvd. Keep your fingers crossed for me, OK?

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In other news: I finally finished my website and it is up and running! Of course, I’ve noticed a couple little things that aren’t quite right, but they’ll be easy enough to fix when I have a few minutes. So, here it is: My World’s a Stage. It’s my online store where I sell crafty items I’ve made, where I list any items I have available on Ebay, and most of all where I hope to sell the digital embroidery files I’ve created. So, if you have an embroidery machine or know someone who does, be sure to give them the link to my site. Even if you don’t do machine embroidery, please take a look around my site and see the kind of stuff I create.

And like my blog-friend Kathy G who tries to do one new thing a day, my new thing yesterday was researching and then buying online advertising on both Google and Facebook. I never thought that would be something I would ever need or want to do, but realizing that just because I have a website doesn’t mean anyone will ever find it, I decided to spend some money to target my desired customers.

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I got my first Kevin Kline Award judging assignment! I’m not saying who, when, what, where or why because… well… just because I shouldn’t announce what I’m doing. And I won’t be writing about the show afterwards either because that would also be … well… wrong. But I’m looking forward to it!

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I attempted to put up my Christmas tree over the weekend, but found after removing it from the garage, that rodents of some type had made their home in among the branches. The tree limbs were full of what looked like plant stems and blueberries. Plus, there was plenty of poo. So, the tree and it’s box went to the curb in the dark of night. (I didn’t want anyone to drive by and think “oh! a tree! let’s take it home!”. Mom was nice enough to let me borrow one of her trees (yes, I said one of her trees. She has a collection). So, Mom’s tree is in my living room and it looks very nice.

long, lazy, unproductive weekend

2008-12-02T13:27:00.000-06:00

You’d think that with such a nice long holiday weekend spent at home, I would have accomplished a lot. Yes, you might think that, but you’d be wrong. I frittered away an entire four and a half days. Even as I was wasting my weekend, I knew that I’d hate myself for it later. And I do. Hate myself. Well, what’s done is done.

It’s not that I didn’t do anything, it’s more that I didn’t do the things that would have put me ahead of the game home-business-wise. I’m such a slacker.

What I did do:

Wednesday after leaving work early: went home and hung holiday lights in the windows at the front of the house, then took a nap. Woke up, watched tv, then went to bed again.

Thursday: Discovered that U-Verse had decided to offer free HBO for the weekend and so I felt compelled to start a True Blood ten episode marathon. Which means I got to view most of the season, but will never know how it ends. And NO, I will not add HBO to our line-up just so I can find out what happens with Bill and Sookie.

Thursday, later: Enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes, red wine gravy, asparagus, and fresh crusty bread. Dessert? No, because I accidentally left it behind in the grocery cart on the parking lot of Schnucks Wednesday evening. Didn’t realize it until it was too late to go back and get it.

Thursday, even later: Continued my True Blood marathon on the bedroom TV while My-Guy watched football in the TV room downstairs, and The Boy went bowling with friends (even though he was sick).

Friday: Up bright and early to take The Boy to the Clinic at Walgreens. He has been unwell for a couple weeks now. He was diagnosed with an ear infection, so picked up script of amoxicillin and loaded up on sore throat lozenges and cold meds. He then slept the rest of the day, occasionally waking to blow his nose and cough. I watched a few more episodes of True Blood. No Black Friday shopping was attempted.

Saturday: Ran out of black ink for my printer so made a trip to Office Depot to get a replacement cartridge. While there, a certain on-sale computer caught my eye. I’ve been wanting a new computer for some time now as I’ve decided that I need/want a duo-core processor. The shiny new computer called to me. It whispered that it did indeed have the duo core processor I hungered for. It also had 6GB of RAM and a 750GB hard-drive. The computer whispered to me that I would get used to Windows Vista if I’d only give it a try. That was it. I was sold, except that the store only had a display model. I never buy display models, so I was directed to another Depot location where they had an unopened one on hand. I bought it; brought it home; had My-Guy set it up so that I could use the new computer and my old computer on the same monitor.

I sat down at the computer and was prepared to start loading my software to it, only to find that I had purchased a Vista 64 bit machine and not one single software program I own (and constantly use) would work with Vista 64. Not one program. About the only thing that I could do with the new machine was access the internet. Well, shit, I could do that on my old machine without any problems. I was so frustrated!

Saturday, later: Frustration with the new computer caused me to have to take a nap. Yes, I blame the nap on the computer. Deal with it.

Saturday, even later: My-Guy and I took The Boy to the bus station so he could start the first leg of his long journey via bus and train back to campus. Thirteen hours of travel is a hell of a long ride when you’re sick. Poor baby. (Side note: he’s still not feeling better yet.)

Sunday: Woke up early and re-packed the new computer. Took it back to the store; got my refund and then went shopping for a new Vista 32 computer. Did you know that they are very difficult to find? Almost every new Windows computer is now loaded with Vista 64. So, my hunt was unsuccessful.

Sunday, later: My-Guy suggested I go online and see if I could build a computer at the Dell site. Wow. All I can say is that Dell has fantastic customer service. They came up with several configurations (using Vista 32) that were well within my price range. I decided to sleep on it and make a decision Monday morning. (All the while I had also been working with a well-connected friend on trying to purchase a Mac instead of dealing with the Vista OS that I really didn’t want. Nothing worked out on the Mac front, though, as they are a bit out of my range, price-wise.)

Monday: Decided that even though the Dell computer would meet my needs, I plan on holding out until I can afford a Mac. That won’t be for quite a while yet, so I hope that my old XP computer will keep chugging along. There’s nothing horribly wrong with it, it’s just getting old and has decided that it doesn’t like to do some things now that it used to do easily.

Monday, later: Finally got around to working on some of the home-business tasks I should have worked on over the long weekend.

Today: I am going to catch up on all my friend’s blogs that I’ve ignored for the last week. So, I’ll see you there!

Thanksgiving traditions

2008-11-25T13:17:00.000-06:00

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? Do you gather all the family together and pig-out, then watch football, take a nap, then eat some more?

Not me.

Years ago, we gave up on the whole family Turkey Day celebration thing. Not that we aren't thankful. We are. But we prefer our Thanksgiving Day to be stress- and family-free.

My-Guy will cook something utterly delightful. Not because he has to, but because he wants to. And he will only have to cook enough to feed three. Yes, The Boy is coming home from college to spend the weekend with us. That's all the family I want and need on Thanksgiving.

So, if we don't have a large extended family to feed (or to visit), what do we do with our day? The Boy will sleep late, watch TV, maybe go to a movie, then in the late evening will visit friends. My-Guy will cook, watch football, and fall asleep on the couch. I will embroider, sew, do some more work on my unfinished website, watch TV, and probably fall asleep on the couch at some point. And of course, at some point we will eat whatever My-Guy decides to make.

It will be a marvelous day!

I hope your Thanksgiving is all that you want it to be, however you celebrate it!

theatre, sickness, and an online business

2008-11-18T13:10:00.000-06:00

St. Louis Shakespeare’s production of Romeo & Juliet is good. Really good. If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s still another four performances beginning this Thursday and running through Sunday of this weekend.

Sure, you think you know this story well. You’ve seen the movie versions. You’ve probably seen a stage production or two. Maybe you think you’ve seen it enough for a lifetime. If so, I’m asking you to reconsider because this production is well worth seeing, even if it’s your 25th time to see the play.

The actors playing Romeo and Juliet have an exciting blend of youth, beauty, energy, and sexual charisma that is palpable. Curran Bajwa and Elizabeth Birkenmeier give excellent performances as the young lovers speeding toward their doom. Great work by others in the cast, too. Mark Kelley’s Mercutio has a vibrant physical energy, a caustic wit, and an all-too-ready sword. Khnemu Menu-Ra’s Tybalt is angry, focused, and determined to avenge what he feels has been a slight against his family.

Get your tickets now!
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In other non-theatre-related news: I’ve been fighting a cold for well over a week now. I go back and forth on whether or not cold medicine helps. When I take it, I quit sneezing and blowing my nose, but I also tend to forget where I’ve put things, or not realize that I’ve repeated myself (over and over) until someone not-very-nicely points it out. If I don’t take the medicine, I think more clearly but can’t stop blowing my nose, coughing, and sneezing. I think I’d rather blow my nose a lot than have someone tell to shut up because I’m repeating myself.

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I’ve been doing a lot of work trying to get my business website redesigned and filled with content. For those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning, you’ll remember that I used to sell my digital embroidery files online. I stopped doing that a couple years ago because I no longer had time to create new designs. Without a constant flow of new designs, business stagnates. I’m going to try it again, with a few changes. One of the changes will be that when someone purchases one of my designs, they will be able to download the file immediately. Previously, I had to wait for a payment confirmation and then email the attached files to the buyer in the evening when I got home from work. Now the whole transaction will be automatic. So, day or night, whether I’m home or on vacation, the whole thing will take care of itself.

I’ll also be adding projects and instructions to the site, and a photo gallery of things I’ve made. (I also hope to add customer project photos to the gallery in the future) I’m hoping to go live within the next 2 weeks. I’ll let you know when it actually happens.

Comedy & Tragedy

2008-11-11T13:52:00.000-06:00

AT&T’s U-Verse may be the best thing since sliced bread, as far as TV viewing goes. We had it installed last Thursday. Our install was a combination of U-Verse TV (with total-home DVR) and U-Verse high speed internet. UV isn’t cable as you may know it. Here’s how AT&T explains it:

“Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) works by plugging your high speed Internet connection into a set-top box that's connected to your television. Once the connection is made, the set-top box assembles the code from your phone line into video and audio. AT&T U-verse broadcasts in both standard definition and high definition. Each TV in the home must be hooked up to a set-top box in order to receive the signal.”

I thought I’d never be able to give up my Tivo, but I did. There’s no reason to have it any longer as the UV system comes with Total Home DVR. It can record up to four shows at once (compared to Tivo’s two) and you can watch the recorded shows from any tv in the house (can’t do that with Tivo) even if someone else is in the middle of watching the same recorded show on another tv. Awesome. (Plus, now we have Showtime which we didn’t before.)

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Last Saturday night Mom, Cec, and I went to see Mustard Seed Theatre’s production of Smoke on the Mountain, a play set at a Baptist church sing-along in 1938 with the Singing Sanders Family. Hilarious! There was an amazing amount of talent on that stage. All the actors sang and played their own instruments. Well, except for June Sanders who said (and I quote), “I don’t sing. I sign.” And does she ever, but it’s no version of American Sign Language that you will have ever encountered before. She almost steals the show, she’s so funny. They’ve added an extra weekend to the run, so if you’re up for some serious laughs, you’ve still got time to see it! Click here.

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For those of you who gravitate toward stories of tragic young love, this weekend St. Louis Shakespeare opens Romeo & Juliet, the ultimate tragic love story. Curran Bajwa plays Romeo and Elizabeth Birkenmeier is Juliet. They are joined by a stellar cast of actors, including Joshua Thomas as Friar Lawrence, Mark Kelley as Mercutio, and Khnemu Menu-Ra as Tybalt. Romeo & Juliet opens Friday, November 14 and runs two weekends. This is always a very popular production for St. Louis Shakespeare, so be sure to get your tickets soon! Click here for more information, including a cast and crew list.

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Oh, and yesterday I found out that I will be a Kevin Kline Awards judge, starting January 2009. Cool.

It's a celebration!

2008-11-05T09:53:00.000-06:00

We were ready with the chilled champagne. What an exciting Election Day outcome. Congratulations, and best of luck to you, President-Elect Obama!

Normally I don't

2008-11-04T12:34:00.000-06:00

Talk about politics. That's right, I do not normally write about politics on this blog because that's not what this blog is about. It's about family stuff, craft & sewing stuff, theatre stuff. Stuff I love! Politics is not something I love. I acknowledge its existence and I watch plenty of TV news devoted to it, but I don't feel the need to write about it.

Except today.

And only very briefly.

At 5am, I "woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head". Then drove a few blocks to my polling place to get there before they opened, hoping in that way I would avoid a line. Didn't work. ha. That's ok, though. I really didn't mind. It was a beautiful morning and a lovely temperature for this time of year. Once the doors opened at 6am, it took an hour to get through the line, vote, and walk out the door. Really not too bad, all in all. It could have been much worse, and probably would be much worse if I waited to vote after work today instead of before.

I Twittered and Facebook'd while standing outside in line. I didn't see many other Tweets or FB updates from my friends, though. Maybe they were all sleeping in.

You're not interested in who I voted for so I'm not going to bore you by telling you how much I like him, even though he wasn't my choice in the primary. (I'm a middle-aged white woman. Guess who my primary choice was.) Whoever wins this presidential election is going to have a long, hard road ahead to get us where we need to be. I wish him the best of luck, whichever man it turns out to be.

Please take time to vote today. I'm not asking you to vote for the same candidate that I did. I'm just asking you to vote. Do it. If you don't, don't bother complaining about the outcome later. :-)

Shiver me timbers!

2008-10-31T09:33:00.000-05:00

You want more photos? Well, then click on my Flickr badge in the right hand column of this blog (if you're reading this at Blogger). There you'll find more Pirate photos, plus pix of costumes past.

I did not make this one, but I could have if I would have got my butt in gear instead of lolly-gagging around until it was too late to start. It really would be pretty simple: build a frock coat, a waistcoat, and a simple pair of trousers. The "look" really comes from the accessories, so if you're thinking of making a Pirate costume of your own for next Halloween, start browsing the thrift stores for leather belts. You can easily find the pistol and sword at any costume shop, or if you want a more authentic look those things can easily be found online (but they can be pricey). Tall black leather bucket boots can be found on ebay.

I think I will actually build myself a Pirate costume to keep on hand for those days when I need a little adventure. :-)

I hope you are having a wonderful Halloween. Have fun and don't eat too much candy!

Jump start and too late to begin

2008-10-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

Well, it has turned out that ebay was just the jump-start I needed to get some more of my craft stuff moving. I sold 3 items yesterday; one will sell later today; and several other items have "watchers" so I hope that means that they will start bidding soon.

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Yes, it's too late to start working on a Halloween costume. Most of you who have been reading here for the past few years know that I usually begin building a costume in August. Somehow time got away from me this year and I didn't sew a damn thing. So, what's a girl to do when she is expected to wear a costume to the office on Halloween? She borrows one. From a professional theatrical costume warehouse. Oh yes. It's good to have connections. *grin*

So, I will be playing it simple this year. Simple, as in I won't have to sew a single costume piece or accessory unless I want to. I'm going to be a Pirate. I've got a totally cool fake leather frock coat and my choice of two fake leather waistcoats. A pirate hat to die for, I kid you not. I love this hat! I have my own pirate shirt. A friend is loaning me his eyepatch and he might even have access to a prosthetic hand hook. Awesome! I think I have a prop sword around somewhere. NO. I am not going to wear a peg leg like one friend suggested. Thinking about it now, I realize that I don't have an appropriate pair of pants yet. Hmmmm.... I'm sure I can beg a pair from my costumer friend. I'm bidding on a pair of boots on ebay. I did have a fantastic pair of boots that I wore with my Musketeer costume a couple years back, but they fell apart. Ahhh, I love Halloween. Even though I will be the only one in my office who will be dressed for the occasion.

What are you going to be for Halloween? I'd love to see pictures. I'll be posting my own pix here once it gets closer to the holiday.

another day, another dollar

2008-10-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

After disappointing sales at last month's Pirate Fest and slow sales at Etsy, I decided to try my hand at Ebay. I used to sell on Ebay many years ago, but quit when I started working full time. Anyone who sells on Ebay knows what a time hog it can be, and I could no longer spend that much time online with them when there were so many other things that I wanted / needed to do. But I think I may have found a quicker (and less expensive) way to get my stuff auction-ready.

Auctiva.

It may have been around way back when I was selling on Ebay, but I wasn't aware of it. I saw several listings recently with Auctiva templates and I thought "wouldn't it be so much easier (and less time consuming) if I could use their pre-made templates instead of creating my own?" Yes, it has been somewhat easier. I have run into a few bumps along the way, but they were problems created by me as a newbie. Now that I have my "profiles" set up and have a somewhat better understanding of the program's capabilities, any listings I create in the future should take only a fraction of the time it would normally take me to create it all through Ebay.

Today's "bumps in the road" for me happened when I needed to revise two already posted auction listings. For whatever reason, the really fun Pirate-themed template I chose for those listings disappeared once I saved the revisions. Someone from the Auctiva user community looked at my code and the template should still be there, but it's not. Maybe we'll figure it out, maybe we won't. It's ok either way. I'm not going to stress over something so negligible. If you'd like to take a look at what I have for sale on Ebay, check out my Auctiva storefront.

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Anyway, besides re-learning Ebay stuff, I've mostly been watching the new Fall TV shows. I think my favorite of the new series (so far, at least) is The Mentalist. Have you seen that one? Do you like it? I love that fact that the lead character is such a brilliant smart-ass without being an a**-hole like House is. (I still love House, tho.)

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What's up with you?

purposely misquoting Shakespeare

2008-10-08T12:51:00.000-05:00

“Vanity, thy name is Woman”. No, Shakespeare didn’t actually say that, but hey, it suits the purpose of my blog post today. (The quote from Hamlet is actually, “Frailty, thy name is Woman.” )

In the short time since She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named-In-My-Blog has appeared upon the national political stage, I have been the unfortunate recipient of stares and comments about my resemblance to her. This does NOT make me happy. In fact, it hurts me and makes me angry.

For several years now I’ve had people comment that I look like I could be Tina Fey’s older sister. I enjoyed that because I admire Ms. Fey. I know that I don’t actually look like either of these women, but the reddish hair and the glasses suggested comparisons.

What’s a girl to do when what was once a flattering comparison becomes one that makes her want to scream bloody murder and scratch out the eyes of the person who dared to say such a thing?

She gets contacts and dyes her hair.

Yep. My once auburn hair is now dark brown and my rimless glasses have been replaced by contacts. I like the new hair color, but I’m not quite ready to say that I like the new contacts. (But then, I just got the contacts yesterday so I haven’t had time to adjust to the strange feelings they create: feelings of not quite seeing things clearly; feeling that I’m “missing” something; feeling a bit off-kilter.)

In one respect, I did not give in to the urge to further alter my appearance: I could have cut my hair short and that would probably more than anything have changed my look enough to stop the comments. But I just couldn’t do it. It took me two years to get my hair this long! I did go to a stylist and have it “shaped”, though. Did I show my stylist pictures of Tina Fey or She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named-In-My-Blog and say “make sure my hair doesn’t look like either of theirs”?. No. Instead, I brought her pictures of Eve Myles and asked if she could pretty, pretty please make my hair look like that. And she did. Thank you, Katie.

For those who know me personally, I’ll still accept the Tina Fey and She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named-In-My-Blog jokes because I’ll know that it’s all said with a wink wink, nudge nudge. But those same comments from people who do not know me will not be accepted with equanimity. My response might even be rude. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Let’s hope that I no longer look like either of those women or no matter how much I may hate it, it will have to be off with the hair.

because it will be Halloween before you know it

2008-10-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Getting into the Halloween spirit.... here's my latest creation. (BTW, I haven't made a costume for this year. Been too busy.)

Does your Mother send you care packages?

2008-10-01T13:45:00.000-05:00

I love to put together care packages for The Boy. He’s been at school for over a month now, so I figured it was time to send him something in the mail. Otherwise, his post office box sits there all lonely and empty.

Care packages never include anything he may need, like toothpaste, socks, or laundry detergent. Oh, no. Care paks only include fun stuff like candy, silly toys, dvd’s, etc. This particular pak was filled with Halloween candy. Yummy things like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, M&M’s, licorice. I also added some things that might or might not be yummy: Frankenstein’s Brains, Eyeballs, and Gummy Mummies. Also in the box were Glow Sticks, the RFT “Best of” issue, and a black t-shirt that I embroidered with a glow-in-the-dark Pirate skull and crossbones design. Yes, I know he’s in college, not grade school, but this stuff is FUN no matter what your age!

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September is over and so is my jam-packed theatre-going schedule. In my last blog entry I told you about Hair, Scorched, and Antigone. Since that post, I have seen The Rep’s Off-Ramp production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, New Jewish Theatre’s Chaim’s Love Song, and HotCity Theatre’s Killing Women.

NJT’s Chaim’s Love Song has closed. I hope you didn’t miss it. What a sweet story filled with charming characters.

There’s still time to see Killing Women, and I highly recommend it. Julie Layton stars as a mob hit-woman who has hit the proverbial glass ceiling in her murder-for-hire career. Very funny, and filled with characters who claim a unique view of what it takes to get ahead. Playing through October 4 at the brand new Kranzberg Arts Center (next to The Fabulous Fox Theatre). Info here.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore (playing at the Grandel Theatre) is a very black comedy full of blood and big laughs. If you’re a fan of off-beat, albeit dark humor, this is the play for you! Don’t worry. No real cats were harmed on-stage, but a couple furry fake one’s don’t make it through. Funny and gruesome and there’s so much slippery blood on the stage by the end that I feared the actors would break a bone or two. Playing through October 12. Info here.

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What’s next? hmmmm…. I might start a new sewing project. Or I might re-design my website. Perhaps I’ll get around to cleaning The Boy’s room, which looks like a tornado hit it. I’m not sure, but I’ll let you know when I figure it out. ;-)

I'm back!

2008-09-24T13:42:00.000-05:00

I’ve been so incredibly busy lately that I haven’t had time to write in my blog or to read anyone else’s blog. Sorry.

I don’t want to bore you with the minutia of my life, so here’s just a broad overview of what’s been keeping me busy:

Creating training documents at the office
Creating serenity from chaos at the office
Sewing/embroidering Pirate-themed merchandise to sell at Pirate Fest
Watching Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes
Seeing three plays in the last week
Helping Mom deal with the aftermath of her flooded basement
Finally filling out the paperwork to become an actual real-life business

OK, so much for the broad overview. Now, a few details:

Pirate Fest: My friend Lisa invited me to create some items to sell in her Black Cat Fashion booth at the St. Louis Pirate Festival. I made skull & crossbone embroidered drawstring pouches; embroidered (glow-in-the-dark) pirate pillows; and 3 pair of lace trimmed and embroidered gauntlets. May not sound like much, but I only had 2 evenings in which to get stuff ready. I was zooming around the studio from sewing machine to embroidery machine to ironing board, to design software. I was a whirlwind! One more weekend of Pirate Fest ahead. I hope my stuff sells.

Theatre: Three plays in one week. I don’t know how the reviewers do it! Seeing three in one week really got to me. Rushing home from work, changing clothes, grabbing something to eat, seeing the play, then getting to bed later than usual, then up early the next morning for work. I’m getting old, I guess, because this just wasn’t as easy as it used to be. And I’ve got 3 more plays on my schedule within the next week. No, I’m not really complaining. I’m grateful to get to see so much theatre!

Hair: This was my first time to see the play Hair. Great set. Fun costumes. Wonderful singers. Presented by NewLine Theatre and playing through October 18. Info here.

Scorched: This is one of those plays that is, in my opinion, what theatre is all about. Amazing story, amazing acting. I don’t want to tell you the story because if I start writing about it, I might just go on and on and on. You must see this play. Heart-wrenching and shocking, yet filled with hope. Presented by The Orange Girls and playing through September 28. Info here.

Antigone: Another entry in the St. Louis Political Theatre Festival, Jean Anouilh’s Antigone is a modernized version of the Greek play by Sophocles. Great cast and interesting story. This production is set in the 1940’s with drop-dead gorgeous costumes by Teresa Doggett. Presented by St. Louis Actors Studio and playing through October 5. Info here.

Before the end of this month, I will also be seeing The Rep’s Off-Ramp production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, New Jewish Theatre’s Chaim’s Love Song, and HotCity Theatre’s Killing Women. Ahhhh, September is such a great month for theatre in St. Louis!

I have no idea how to title this entry

2008-09-15T12:27:00.000-05:00

Weekends Equal Relaxation

Friday night was spent finishing up a few odds & ends to be ready for Saturday night’s Trivia Night and Silent Auction for St. Louis Shakespeare. Saturday entailed more Trivia Night errands, then the actual Trivia event Saturday night. Sunday included a three hour Board Meeting where we discussed Trivia Night among other things. Sunday night was spent helping my Mom because her basement flooded after the storm.

So, you can see that I had a very relaxing weekend. NOT.

Trivia Night is a really fun event, but one that takes a tremendous amount of planning beforehand and a lot of people to be on hand for the actual occasion. We wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of a large cadre of volunteers. People who give freely of their time, effort, money, and good will are the backbone of non-profit organizations. For any of you out there who volunteer, may you always be blessed with good luck and fortune! I am also a volunteer -- I get paid nothing for all that I do for the theatre, but I do it anyway and I do it happily (ok, I grumble every once in a while, but…). Volunteers ROCK!

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Floods of Memories

I slept through the rain storm that saturated the St. Louis area Saturday night. I never even knew that it happened until I read about it in the news. We got a small trickle of water in our basement, but nothing to be overly concerned with. So, when I got a call from my Mom Sunday evening, I had no idea what havoc the storm had caused for her. She had been away from home during the storm and returned to find three feet of storm water in her basement. It receded enough throughout the afternoon that she could begin to determine the damage. The damage was total. Nothing escaped the water. Not even the items she had stored in large plastic totes with lids. The water had come in so high that all the tubs floated, bobbed in the water, turned over and filled with storm sewage.

My mom is a bit of a pack-rat, so she had a huge amount of storage tubs filled with years and years worth of fabric, clothes, shoes, etc. All ruined. Some of it might be worth taking to the laundry-mat, but a lot of it is just not worth the time and trouble to clean it. My sister and her family, plus me and My-Guy, and several of Mom’s friends were there to haul everything out to her backyard where she can determine what she will try to salvage and what needs to be taken away.

This is not the first time that her basement has flooded. During the years she has lived at this house, the basement has flooded several times. Usually under a foot of water, sometimes much less. I think this is the third major flood (anything above one foot is major.) All of this flooding is caused by a nearby storm sewer that doesn’t seem to be able to handle the flow of a major storm.

Unfortunately, not only has the storm damaged her property, it has also brought back dark memories for her that are associated with a previous basement flood: In early June 1995, one of the worst basement floods she ever had resulted in (in her opinion) the death of her husband (my father). After several days of removing flood-damaged items from the basement, tearing down walls, bleaching floors, moving furniture, etc, my Dad died of a heart attack at home before the ambulance could arrive. So, as you can see, this flood not only damaged everything in her basement, it has brought back all the heartache of memories. Memories of the man she had been married to for 36 years at the time of his death. A man she loved with all her heart. So please, if you would, keep my Mom in your thoughts at this time. This particular flood has been physically and emotionally difficult for her.

all the news thats fit to print

2008-09-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

Classes resume at Tulane today after more than a week of mandatory evacuation for all the students. The Boy arrived back in New Orleans yesterday after having spent time in both Lafayette, Louisiana and Tampa, Florida. A mini-vacation of sorts.

Let’s hope that Hurricane Ike doesn’t decide to head for New Orleans. If it does, we’ll have The Boy come home to St. Louis this time.

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I spent several hours on Saturday re-building the St. Louis Shakespeare website which had been hit by a cross-scripting hack. It destroyed many pages of the site and wreaked havoc on the navigation links. Since some of the needed pages and information were destroyed during the attack, My-Guy suggested that I use “The Wayback Machine” to recover some of the missing info. What a time-saver! I had not been aware of this site before he told me about it. Fantastic. If you are ever in the situation where you need to recover lost data from your site, I highly suggest this site! Anyway, the site is now fully functional again and updated with information about our upcoming events. (Including Trivia Night which happens this Saturday. There’s still time to reserve a table!)

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Sunday was spent making gift items for the Silent Auction at Trivia Night this coming Saturday. I made two sets of masks/trick-or-treat bags. One set is pirate themed and the other is an embroidered glow in the dark bag and a really cute cat half-mask. Oh, and I also decorated an apron with a retro-kitchen photo printed on fabric.

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I’m on a “new” Doctor Who roll! This weekend I watched a few episodes from the second season. I’ve got all the Doctor Who dvd’s on my Netflix list and am looking forward to seeing them all, plus the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood (also in my queue). It’s tough to find time to watch the episodes, though, because I’m so busy with on-going projects. It may take a while to actually get through the second season.

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So, that’s what’s up with me these days. I’m off to catch up on your blogs because I’ve been remiss in my reading/commenting. See you there!

King Lear pre-show discussion

2008-09-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, I posted an episode to my podcast, St. Louis Shakespeare's Podcast.

Click this link to check it out:
Pre-Show discussion of King Lear
(a video podcast)

- St. Louis Shakespeare

The long road home

2008-09-03T15:24:00.000-05:00

The Boy called yesterday to let us know that he's still in Lafayette but is staying in a different house. One that has power. He and his friends plan on leaving for New Orleans tomorrow and sleeping over at a friends house until they are allowed back on Tulane's campus this Sunday.

He said he'll be very happy to get back home. Meaning New Orleans; not St. Louis.

We're happy and thankful that the situation wasn't worse than it was.

Yes. Very happy.

Eye of the hurricane

2008-09-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

The eye of the hurricane passed over Lafayette where The Boy is staying. He called a few minutes ago. He said there were high winds and a lot of rain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

They are without power and passing the time playing Risk. Seems appropriate.

Lafayette, Louisiana

2008-09-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've been watching the news and keeping updated on Hurricane Gustav. The Boy was evacuated from New Orleans to Lafayette. Gustav will be hitting Lafayette within the hour. Please keep him and all the residents of the Gulf Region in your thoughts. I will let you know how things went for him once I hear.

What a long strange trip it’s been

2008-08-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

After several days of organizing The Boy’s stuff and packing, we were able to get on the road to New Orleans by 5am Sunday morning. The weather was quite nice for a road trip. Even the slight drizzle once we got to Mississippi wasn’t bad. Things were going smoothly and we were making good time. Until. Yes, there’s an “until” to this tale. Once we were about a mile south of the Louisiana border, the car started making this weird jerky movement; almost as if we were out of gas. We got to the side of the highway. My-Guy restarted the car, and we pulled out onto the road again but got only a few yards further before the jerky motion started again. Once more to the side of the road, but this time the car would not restart. No, we weren’t out of gas.

We sat there for a few minutes thinking that we could restart the car again and maybe get a bit further down the road. My (very handy) GPS gave us our exact location, which we relayed to AAA (yeah, AAA!). They sent a tow truck and gave us phone numbers to several nearby service stations. Only, it was Sunday and none of the service stations were answering their phones. We couldn’t even get through to Enterprise to get a rental car. Meanwhile, it began raining. It was too hot to sit in the car, so we stood outside in the rain waiting for the tow truck. My-Guy accidentally stepped on a hill of fire ants, which proceeded to bite the hell out of his feet and ankles. Yikes! The one good thing about it all is that it was only around 3pm. Breaking down on the side of the highway in the daytime is much less stressful than if we would be out there late at night, I’m sure.

The tow truck arrived about an hour after we contacted AAA. The nearest town with a Toyota dealer/service station was in Hammond. The driver wouldn’t tow us there because the Toyota dealers lot was locked on Sunday and there would have been no place to store our car. Instead, he took us to Kentwood, Louisiana. I doubt you’ve ever been to Kentwood. There’s no reason to go. It’s not much more than a place for trucks to get diesel and to grab some fast food. OK, well, maybe it’s a bit more than that, but not much. And by the way, it’s the hometown of Britney Spears.

Unfortunately, by the time we got to Kentwood I was too stressed out to remember that I had my camera with me because I really should have taken pictures of the place we stayed overnight. OMG. The tow truck driver dropped us (and the car) off in the parking lot of a no-name convenience store that also housed a bingo hall / gaming establishment. Go ahead, laugh. It gets worse. The convenience store owners/bingo hall entrepreneurs also ran a small motel hidden directly behind the store. Hidden. Really. When standing in front of the store, you would have never realized there was a motel behind it. After discussing it, My-Guy, The Boy, and I decided that once upon a time, this motel used to be a super-market. It had the super-market area for carts next to the building and super-market powered entrance/exit doors. Only someone had disabled the power to the doors and there were no handles. ha! In order to get in or out of the motel, you had to push your body against the door to pry it open. Jeez Louise. How do people get away with that? Aren’t the building inspectors doing their job? Doesn’t the fire department frown on disabled building exits?

We were told that our room would have 3 twin beds. There were only 2. My-Guy and I tried to sleep on one together so that The Boy could have his own, but after about a half hour of trying to sleep within such narrow confines, My-Guy gave up and made a pallet on the floor (which was stained carpet). If this had been an established hotel/motel chain, we would have asked to be switched to a room with 3 twins or at least a double and a twin, but I don’t think that English was the first language for the owners so we didn’t want to try to explain/complain.

The room had two positive things: a working TV and a drop dead beautiful bathtub. The bathtub seemed so out of place in such a dive. Weird. So, we made it through an uncomfortable night to awake to more delays before we could get back on the road. The tow truck driver arrived at the scheduled time to load the car onto the flat bed trailer, only to almost immediately roll it back off the trailer and tell us that he had to go pick up another car first. He comes back with the other car on his truck and realizes that he can’t pull our car behind because our car is four wheel drive and it can’t be towed that way. So, off he goes again to deliver the other car to wherever. It all seemed so Keystone Cops. Just plain silliness.

Finally, with our car on the flat bed trailer and the three of us plus the driver in the truck cab, we were off to Hammond, the nearest town with a Toyota service center and an Enterprise Rent a Car shop. The 29 mile trip to Hammond was quite an adventure as there was only room for 3 on the bench seat. Guess who had to sit on laps? Yep. I felt so sorry for The Boy and My-Guy. I had to sit on them both while we traveled 29 miles over a very bumpy road. They never complained, but I’m sure it was incredibly uncomfortable, as I am not a light-weight.

Next stop, Toyota dealer! We left the car there so they could diagnose and repair it. Enterprise picked us up and took us to their location. We were supposed to be picking up a midsize car, but they didn’t have one available. They suggested an SUV (because we were packed to the gills with stuff we were taking with The Boy to college). Then they realized they had no SUV’s available that day. That left us with a gas-guzzling, V8, full sized, extended cab pick-up truck. Well, it did do the trick as far as having enough room to store most everything in the extended cab area, which left the 3 of us across the front bench seat. At least the seat was roomier than the tow truck had been, so there was no reason for further lap-sitting.

Finally… the last lap of the trip to New Orleans! We went straight to Tulane. The Boy and his huge amount of luggage were dropped off. He was happy to be there. We were happy to leave him there and get to our hotel for some much needed rest and relaxation in a much nicer room than we stayed in the previous night. After we had all had a short break from one another, we got together again with The Boy and went out to dinner. Then My-Guy and I did a bit of shopping picking up things that we had either forgotten or didn’t realize that The Boy still needed.

If things had gone as planned, we would have been driving home that day instead of just then arriving in Nola. The service center called us to say that they didn’t have the needed parts in stock and had to have them shipped. Damn. Another delay. So, we were stuck driving that huge boat of a truck for a while longer. When you’re used to driving something small like a Toyota or Honda, those full size trucks take a bit of getting used to. And it’s a good thing we got the extra insurance on it because we did … uh… have a small fender bender with a parked car.

My-Guy and I ended up with an extra day in New Orleans. Not all together a bad thing. We took the St. Charles street car to the French Quarter in the early morning and walked through Jackson Square, along the Riverfront, and in the Quarter. It was so quiet and empty and beautiful, but still damn hot. I took pictures. You can view them on Facebook if you’re reading this entry from there, or if you’re reading this via Blogger, click on the Flickr badge in the right hand column.

After cooling off in our room after our morning trek, we decided to go see a movie. So, we drove out to the suburbs and caught a showing of Tropic Thunder. Hilarious! Oh, so wrong, but frickin’ hilarious! That evening was spent watching the Democratic Convention in the cool comfort of our room. The next morning we were up and out of the hotel and on the road to Hammond to pick up the Toyota. The parts had come in; it was fixed and ready to go. So were we!

We had great weather on the way home and an easy journey. It was too late to catch the convention speeches on TV, but we were able to watch them online. (Believe it or not, we couldn’t get complete video on any of the obvious sites. Ended up watching President Clinton’s speech on the BBC’s site.)

As is often the case, stress catches up with me once I get home and manifests itself in the form of tummy troubles. So, I stayed home from work today and ate oatmeal, toast, and other things that supposedly settle the stomach. I’m feeling much better now and ready to return to work tomorrow.

Yes, it was a stressful and inconvenient road trip this time, but even with everything that happened, I know how very fortunate we are. We own cars that are (mostly) reliable. We have the ability to pay when they become unreliable. We were able to afford the extra nights at a hotel and the extra meals on the road. We have our health and we have each other. So, even when things became a bit inconvenient, it was still so much better than it could have been.

EXTRA: Today The Boy called to say that Tulane is officially evacuating all the students and staff as of noon Friday. Classes had just started on Wednesday. Luckily, his roommate has a car on campus and he and The Boy will leave New Orleans tomorrow and go to the roommates home in northern Louisiana. All will be well.

Keep New Orleans and the surrounding areas in your thoughts while they face the threat of Hurricane Gustav.

a bit of this, a bit of that

2008-08-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

Emotionally exhausted. That’s what I am. But in a good way. A project that I’ve been working on looks like it may come together in an even more positive way than I had hoped. There are still a few people who aren't sure of the project’s worth, but once they are won over, I think that everyone involved will be very happy with the result.

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Last Friday I got a call from the repair shop saying that my embroidery machine would be ready for pick-up Monday evening. So, yesterday I drove the almost 20 miles from work to the shop, only to find that my machine was still in pieces on the workbench. The sales person had a very good excuse. A real one. But, really, folks, it would only have taken 2 minutes out of your day to call me and let me know that there would be a delay. C’mon! I drove almost 20 miles in heavy traffic to get there, worrying the whole time that I wouldn’t be able to make it before the shop’s closing time. Two minutes of your time, people. Just two minutes.

This morning I got a call from them that said the machine really is ready this time. So, another 20 mile or so trek again after work today. Jeez.

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Don’t forget… there’s still 4 more chances to see St. Louis Shakespeare’s KING LEAR at the Grandel Theatre, Thursday through Sunday this week. It really is a good production. I saw it twice last weekend and truly enjoyed it. Nice set and costumes and some very fine acting. Kevin Beyer’s portrayal of Gloucester proves that less is more when in the hands of such a great actor. Khnemu Menu-Ra and Aaron Orion Baker as Edmund (the bastard) and Edgar (the legitimate son) of Gloucester provide truly exciting performances; almost stealing the show. Overall, a strong production and well worth seeing. Don’t miss it! Information here.

Please enjoy these fantastic King Lear production photos, compliments of Jill Ritter at jillritterphotography.com

So, what are you doing this weekend?

2008-08-15T13:31:00.000-05:00

May I suggest that you make plans to see St. Louis Shakespeare’s production of King Lear? Not sure what it’s about? I’ve provided a brief synopsis after the photo. Does the story line sound familiar to you even though you know you’ve never seen a production of King Lear? I’ll bet you already know this particular story and you just don’t realize it. If you’ve seen the movies “King of Texas” starring Patrick Stewart and Marcia Gay Harden, or “A Thousand Acres” starring Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jason Robards, then you already know the story of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Both of those movies are updated, relocated versions. Imagine seeing those dramatic stories played out live on stage. Don’t miss out! Dates and times below.

When England's aging King Lear renounces his throne to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, treachery, madness and murder soon follow. After banishing Cordelia, his most loyal daughter, Lear is betrayed and cast out by her elder sisters Regan and Goneril. Meanwhile, evil brews at the Gloucester castle as Edgar falls victim to his brother's deception. Can a man undo his wrongs? Or will the wheels of fate crush all in its way?

King Lear performances are at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, one block north of the Fox Theatre across from Powell Hall.
Performance dates:
Friday & Saturday, August 15, 16, 22, 23 at 8pm
Sunday, August 17 & 24 at 2pm
Thursday, August 21 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $10 - $22

top photo by Kit Kellison

second photo by Donna Northcott

both photos are of Peter Mayer as King Lear

My baby and me

2008-08-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

I’m happy. See me smile? See that great big smile on my face? SEE IT? I swear it’s there. I may have to physically hold up each edge of my mouth to keep the smile in place, but it’s there, goddammit. OK.

So, why am I forcing myself to smile? Well, it’s one of those smile-in-the-face-of-adversity smiles. Any one who reads this blog regularly knows that I am involved in a long-term love affair with my embroidery machine. Yes, my baby and I love each other and spend lots of quality time together. No. I’m not upset with her. OK. Maybe just a little bit upset. A tiny bit. I’m more concerned than upset. Kinda.

Friday night, in the midst of embroidering the second part of a pair of really cool faux suede Renaissance gauntlets, she stopped. Just stopped. No thread breaks. No nasty thread nest build-ups. She just stopped in mid-stitch and started making a low grinding noise. Crap. I reached to the side of the machine to turn the handwheel toward me in order to raise the needle up out of the hooped fabric. It wouldn’t turn. It was frozen. That’s when my adrenaline kicked in. It was either fight or flight to save her. OK. Not really, but my adrenaline was kicking in. I was rather upset at that point because she was still making that low grinding noise and I couldn’t raise the needle up out of the fabric with the handwheel in order to remove the hoop and turn off the machine. I really had to put my full strength into turning that wheel. Finally, I was able to raise the needle just enough to remove the hoop and fabric from the machine and go through the regular process of turning her off. Then I unplugged her, gave it a few minutes and replugged and started her up again. You know… sometimes things just need to be reset, right? Well, not this time. She was still locked up.

Saturday morning it was off to the dealer/repair shop. They won’t have a chance to look at her until Tuesday as the repair person is out of town until then (attending the sewing company’s new top-of-the-line machine debut). What will I do until I get my baby back all shiny and working like the pro she is? Plenty. People, I have so much to do. Baby was a big part of the reason why I’m always behind on everything else. She’s the siren that lures me each time I’m near her. I can’t resist. Thus, lots of things fall by the wayside because I can’t stay away from her. Perhaps now I can get caught up on everything else I need to do.

Keep your fingers crossed that she comes back home soon in perfect condition. And if you could cross your toes also, perhaps she’ll come back soon without costing me an arm and a leg. Although she knows I’ll give them for her because she’s simply irresistible.

Books. Movies. Theatre. School.

2008-08-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

Books: I need a good book to read! It seems lately that I haven’t been able to find a book that hooks me from the beginning. I’ve made quite a few starts lately, but nothing that has intrigued me enough to continue. OK. I take that back. I did recently finish a book that I hated. I have no idea why I continued to the end except that perhaps I felt I needed punished somehow. It was the audiobook version of Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I’m trying to reason it out. Why did I complete this book when I absolutely detested it? Perhaps because I hope to one day see the musical stage production of it and I want to know the story. Anyhow, I was very happy when I heard “the end”. Still want to see the musical, though.

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Movies: I’ve been renting from Netflix and borrowing from the library. I recently started Shogun, the 1980’s mini-series with Richard Chamberlain. I’ve seen it before but it’s been many years ago. I watched another Richard Chamberlain mini-series, The Thornbirds. I love that one! I love Richard Chamberlain! I used to have VHS copies of his made-for-TV movies The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo, but I’ve lost them somewhere along the line. They’re not available on DVD, unfortunately. Two of my all-time favorite movies star Richard Chamberlain: Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers. Maybe it’s time to pull out those DVD’s and watch them again. I’m on a Richard Chamberlain roll!

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Theatre: As you know from previous posts, I’ve been doing a lot of theatre-related work lately. A few more weeks of theatre stuff and I’ll be finished for a while. Thanks to those of you who came out to see The Odyssey. I hope you’ll be back to see King Lear, which opens on August 15 at the Grandel Theatre. Unfortunately, the St. Louis Shakespeare website is down because it was hacked. If you need information about show times and ticket prices, visit the Metrotix site or St. Louis Shakespeare’s Facebook page for King Lear.
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School: The summer is almost over for The Boy. He’ll be heading back to New Orleans very soon to start his sophomore year at Tulane. He’s ready to go back and see all his friends. This year he’ll be in a different dorm. It’s more of a suite set-up. There will be four guys sharing the suite and they’ll have their own bathroom instead of having to visit a communal bathroom across and down the hall like last year. That’s so much more convenient. But I bet it will get dirty fast and stay dirty because they are responsible for it. haha.

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Hope you all have a great weekend. Stay cool!

hot time in the city

2008-08-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here’s a picture of the totally cool graphic My-Guy designed for the back of the new t-shirts available in the St. Louis Shakespeare gift shop. I bought one, of course. If you’re interested in buying one for yourself, drop by the theatre and visit our gift shop.

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This weekend I plan on staying cool. Intense heat makes me cranky and tired, so my plan is to spend as much time at home as possible. I will have to work at the theatre Friday and Saturday evening, plus Sunday afternoon, but besides that, I plan on being in my basement sewing studio, which is the coolest place in our house.

I’m going to do some digitizing, some sewing, some embroidery… all that and print, fold, and mail hundreds of donation request letters for St. Louis Shakespeare’s upcoming Trivia Night & Silent Auction (more details on that as it gets closer, but save the date: September 13). If you have anything you’d like to donate for our Silent Auction, email me. Your donation would be much appreciated. The silent auction items are always a hit at trivia night!

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The Boy left for Chicago yesterday via train to attend Lollapalooza. I sure hope it isn’t as hot in Chicago as it is here, or if it is, I hope he’s smart enough to drink water and Gatorade.

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Hope you have a fabulous, COOL weekend!

Busy? Sure.

2008-07-30T13:05:00.000-05:00

Once again, I am being lax in my blogging duties. It’s not that I don’t have time. I actually do have a bit of time now that I’m finished sewing costume items, finished coordinating the theatre program information for the designer, gathering info for a bookmark promo, finished dealing with t-shirt vendors, etc. St. Louis Shakespeare’s production of The Odyssey opened last Friday and after working all weekend in the box office, I am finished with that as well (at least until tomorrow night when it starts all over again). Note: the actors looked fantastic in the hakama pants I made. Shirtless and in hakama pants. Yum.

So, what have I done with my couple days worth of free time? Nothing. Nada. Zip. And I feel a bit guilty about that. I feel like there’s something else I should be doing.

Ahhhh,

as I typed that I realized what it is that I’m supposed to be doing! Dammit. I’m supposed to be writing/mailing letters to request donations for St. Louis Shakespeare’s upcoming Trivia Night & Silent Auction. I guess I know what I’ll be doing once I get home from work today. I better stop on the way and get a new ink cartridge or I’ll not be able to print more than a few pages before the printer shuts down and begs me for more ink. So much for one more free evening before working in the box office the following four days.

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Did you read my very long post about sewing? Right. Sure you did. That’s why there’s so many comments. ha. Anyway… good news! I sold my Viking Rose sewing/embroidery machine! And I sold it to the very first person that I told about it! Cool, huh? I was ready to put it on ebay or Craigslist, but instead I decided to call a costumer friend of mine who had once borrowed the Rose from me. I didn’t know if she needed another machine, but I thought I’d ask her since she had told me she really liked it. She bought it! I think we were both excited about it! Selling it gave me a chance to clear out a bit of space in my studio, and it gave her another machine that not only sews, but embroiders. It was a good deal for both of us. I’m sure she’ll have many happy years with Rose.

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Did you see my newest additions to my Etsy shop? Gauntlets. I think they’re so cool! Take a look.

a 20-year history of stitching with KC (long…)

2008-07-23T12:11:00.000-05:00

1988

While I was pregnant with my son, I decided that I wanted to sew. In order to do that, I needed a sewing machine. Being pregnant, hormonal, and impulsive, I did not consider the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about sewing. All I knew is that I wanted to sew and I wanted to start now. So, I bought a cheap Singer machine. Then I bought maternity patterns, and fabric, and scissors, and pins, and a measuring tape, and a seam ripper and all the stuff I discovered I needed in order to actually sew something.

I read the sewing machine manual, I read sewing instruction books, I read pattern instructions, I cut fabric and pinned and sewed and threw away many projects before it all fell into place for me. And it did fall into place. Eventually. (I think my husband figured that sewing would be a passing fancy for me and that before long the machine would be collecting dust at the back of a closet. But it never did. I kept plugging away at it.)

1998

After ten years of proving that dust would never settle on my sewing machine, I convinced My-Guy that it was time for me to get a new, much nicer machine. I did a bit of web surfing and determined that the machine I wanted was the Husqvarna Viking Rose. It was a combination sewing and embroidery machine. It wasn’t their top-of-the-line, but it was only one notch below. But with my new machine came new items I had to have in order to use it. Stabilizers: tear-away, cut-away, dissolving, iron-on, etc. Thread. Not just thread, but machine embroidery thread in hundreds of beautiful colors. Ahhh, I was in love with my new machine. No piece of fabric in the house was safe from being embroidered.

1999

The joy of embroidering quickly became stale when I realized that without embroidery software, I would never be able to embroider anything other than the hearts, clowns, and tiny flowers that came on a “memory” card with my machine. So, I bought customizing software. I bought training tapes on how to use it. Even after downloading hundreds of free designs off the internet, I still had a yearning for something more. I’m thankful for all the free designs, but really… how many teddy bears, clowns, and bouncing baby pictures does a grown woman really want to embroider? I couldn’t find any embroidery designs on-line that spoke to me. I didn’t have young children, so had no use for the baby designs so easily found. I wanted something else, but couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

2001

Then I realized that I wanted to create my own embroidery designs. Which meant, of course, more and better software. With the help of video and print tutorials, I was learning Embird and cranking out my own stuff in no time. I look back at those first designs now and wonder how I ever thought they were any good. But because I kept plugging away at it, my work got better and better. There’s always room for improvement, though, and I’m sure that a few years from now I’ll look back at what I’m creating now and wonder why I thought the designs were so good.

2002

With the creation of my own designs came the desire to be able to stitch files larger than the 4”x4” area that my machine could handle. So, once again, I was in the market to add another item to my sewing/embroidery/software family. A newer, fancier, prettier, more fun combination sewing/embroidery machine: the Brother ULT-2002D, with an amazing 6”x10” hoop!. Top-of-the-line and the most amazing machine I have ever owned. Sure, now there are bigger and better machines available, but I’m still happy with this one. I love her. She can sew beautifully on any type of fabric. She embroiders (my designs!) like a dream. I hope to have her for many, many years to come.

2008

Realizing that my Viking Rose machine doesn’t see much action anymore (since I prefer working with the ULT), I decided to clean her up and try to sell her on Ebay or Craigslist. I started researching online how much the Rose machines are selling for these days. Not much, considering they’re about 10 years old or so and there are so many other machines on the market to choose from. That’s ok, though. I’ve decided to create a package deal of selling the sewing/embroidery Rose along with all the extra items I bought for her along the way: software, specialized feet, card reader/writer, extra cards, extra hoop, tutorials (both video and book). Maybe someone out there might want my Rose if they get all the extra bells and whistles with her. Here’s hoping someone will take her home and love her because…

YESTERDAY

While researching market value for the Rose, I came across a post at Craigslist for a high-end computerized sewing machine (not embroidery); one I had coveted for some time but could never have hoped to own because of it’s extremely high ticket price. Even selling my Rose first would not have covered the cost of this machine if purchased new. But… for whatever reason… this person had decided to sell her 2006 model at 1/3 it’s original price.

When I first saw the ad, I noticed it had already been listed a few days and I figured someone would have snatched it up already considering the type of machine it was (Babylock Quilter’s Choice BLQC) and the low price. Unless maybe there was something wrong with it? Or was I the only person trolling Craigslist for sewing machine deals? I sent off a quick email, figuring I’d hear back that the machine was already sold, or that it was a damaged model, or that she had changed her mind about selling. Nope! She answered my email with the info that the machine was still available… did I want to see it? It had only been used for about 10 hours total and had been sitting in its box for a year or so. She no longer had the time or inclination to sew and wanted to get it out of her closet. OMG. I cannot tell you how excited I was by this information!

Yesterday evening I took the long trek to this woman’s house out in the boonies. (Thank the satellite gods for GPS systems or I would never have found her place.) She let me sew on it while she was busy selling other stuff to people who had replied to her various Craigslist posts. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I would be stupid not to take advantage of this fantastic deal. I boxed it up, handed over the cash, and took my new baby home and put her through her paces. She’s perfect. I’m sure we’ll have many happy years together.

TODAY

If you know anyone who may be interested in buying a used sewing/embroidery machine, along with all its extra goodies, be sure to give them my email address. Rose is looking forward to new adventures with a new family.

My new baby

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

2008-07-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I thought I could, but it turns out I can’t. I spent hours upon hours sitting in my sewing studio working with my embroidery software to create what I thought would be absolutely fabulous Sfumato style designs only to find that upon stitch-out they looked like crap. On the screen, it looked OK. Not great. Not exactly what I had hoped to accomplish, but OK. I thought perhaps they would improve in the stitching phase.

No, they did not.

So many hours wasted sitting in my basement staring at the computer screen. Scanning, photo-enhancing, creating detailed vector files, tweaking, and then tweaking again. All to no avail. I swear that I have created successful Sfumato files before, several years ago, but I can’t seem to do it any more. I’ve lost the touch. Very frustrating. I’ve included a photograph here of what I was trying to recreate in stitches. I’m not going to show you the result of my labor because it’s too horrendous to show publicly. I’m at a loss as to what to do next, Sfumato-wise, except to perhaps admit defeat.

For information regarding these amazing Fayum portraits (and many others from that era), click here.
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Other than spending hours in front of my computer this weekend, I really didn’t accomplish much else. I watched a few more episodes of LOST (4th season). I watched a really bad mini-series (on dvd) called Marco Polo. I finished a book.

Basically, I stayed inside pretty much all weekend to avoid the wickedly hot temperatures. J

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What’s on the agenda for this coming week?

Well, since the Sfumato designs didn’t work out, I’ve got another craft project in mind. It’s a project I’m familiar with as I’ve made many sets of these before, but it’s been several years since I have. Once I get a couple pair finished, I’ll show you pictures and tell you all about it.

Also, later this week St. Louis Shakespeare will be opening their 2008 Summer Season with a production of Mary Zimmerman’s The Odyssey. I’ve seen the set and some of the costumes (hakama pants, anyone??) and I think it’s going to look great. I haven’t had a chance to watch any of the rehearsals, so I don’t know anything about the production performance-wise, but I’m looking forward to being there on opening night to see it. Hope you’ll be there, too!

a movie with friends

2008-07-16T13:34:00.000-05:00

Last night was a gorgeous night to sit outside with friends and watch a movie on a large, inflatable, rear projection screen. And not just any movie, but a local independent production filled with talented St. Louis actors, many of whom are my friends. Blog-friends who have been reading here for a long time will know exactly what movie I’m talking about, but for those of you who haven’t been around quite as long, I’m speaking of “Hooch & Daddy-O”. Yes, go ahead. Click the link. The movie is actually listed on IMDB (although you won’t find my name, my son’s, or my husband’s in the cast list even though all three of us appear briefly in the film).

The movie is also available to rent via Netflix. If you rent it, let me know what you think of it afterwards. I think it’s funny and well done considering the screenwriters and the director had never made a movie before. The film uses plenty of St. Louis locations that you may recognize, including Lemp Brewery and the City Museum. If you don’t know me personally and wonder who I am in the movie, I am the red-headed woman being interviewed on the street about the upcoming H&D-O movie reunion. I’m glad to say that although my scene is really, really short, it is funny. My son plays a teenaged paint-baller (and boy did he have the bruises to prove it afterwards), and my husband plays his irate father.

All in all, an enjoyable evening among friends. Rent the movie. I think you’ll like it. Click here to watch the trailers and read the synopsis.

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I am still working on hakama pants, but will be finished before Friday. While I love sewing, I dislike sewing the same thing over and over. It gets a bit monotonous.

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The aforementioned hakama pants can be seen live, on-stage starting next Friday. Click here for details. I’ll be writing more about this next week, but I thought I’d mention it to you now so that you can clear your calendar for opening night on July 25! ;-)

Now you see me, now you don't

2008-07-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

Wow! I’ve gone a whole week without blogging. That right there tells me it’s about time to hang it up. I have nothing to say anymore. Perhaps I’ll find something to write about again in the future, but for now….

OK. I’m back. Fooled you. I’m going to keep the blog, but I’m no longer going to worry about how often I update it. After all, there are only about 5 of you out there who read it anyway.

Let's hear it for long weekends!

2008-07-07T15:10:00.000-05:00

The 4th of July fireworks in our neighborhood were amazing! They really know how to put on a show. We were able to snag seats so close that I literally had to bend my neck back to look straight up at the fireworks. The finale was so huge that it took up my entire field of vision. Awe-inspiring, wonderful, and close enough to home to be able to walk there instead of dealing with the parking and traffic. A great way to spend the evening!

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I did a lot of sewing this weekend, but this time not for myself or for my shop. I’m working on hakama pants for an upcoming theatre production. I was confused at first by the pattern instructions, but after a bit of fudging the details, they’ve turned out very nicely. They’ll look quite impressive on stage!

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This weekend I spent quite a bit of time watching episodes of the second season of LOST. Re-watching these episodes has confirmed that season 2 is indeed my least favorite season. I cannot stand Ana Lucia. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me each time she enters a scene. I’m looking forward to Michael shooting her. J But I welcomed meeting Henry Gale (Ben) again and watching much more closely for clues as to what his agenda may be. I just now finished episode 18 “Dave”, so I think there’s maybe 6 more to watch before I’ll jump into season 3, which I like much more.

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I hope all of you had a fabulous 4th!

lazy hazy days

2008-06-30T13:12:00.000-05:00

I haven’t been posting as much lately as I used to. Probably because there really isn’t much going on in my life that would be of interest to anyone else. Everything in my life right now is good, pleasant, fun, creative, and normal. Life is just rolling merrily along. That’s a good thing because as much as I love drama on the stage, I hate drama in my life.

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I got a good start on several small projects this weekend, plus still had time to finish the first season of LOST and start the second season.

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My wonderful mother came over for dinner Sunday night. Pleasant company as always.

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My Guy found some dusty dinged-up snapshots of our wedding day. I’ve posted them on Flickr for your amusement. Just click on the Flickr badge in the right side column of the blog (if you are reading this imported post via Facebook, the photos are also available there). We’re so very 80’s – big shoulder pads and all.

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I’m happy that this will be a short work week. I do not have any big plans for Friday’s holiday. I will most likely stay close to home. Our neighborhood fireworks show is only a couple blocks from our house. We’ll probably walk over there with our lawn chairs like we did last year. Walking there makes much more sense than driving because it’s so difficult to find parking nearby.

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Bye for now. Hugs.

A day in the life...

2008-06-24T13:33:00.000-05:00

If you’ve read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I’m the kind of girl that gets easily distracted. I suffer from self-diagnosed ADD. Now, don’t get your panties in a twist thinking that I’m not giving proper due to those folks who are actually diagnosed with it by a qualified physician. I have never discussed it with my doctor; I do not self-medicate for it; I’m not qualified to diagnose any one or even myself for that matter. I just KNOW that I have ADD. I cannot complete one thought before another is intruding. I cannot finish a sentence without stumbling over the words because my thoughts are far ahead. Or sometimes I can’t finish the last word of a sentence. The silence will hang there while my mind races to try to find the word I was going to say. I know the word; it just won’t come out of my mouth. (I’m so glad I have a husband who can finish my sentences for me or this could be a real problem at home!)

Mostly I find that I cannot focus when it comes to crafting and sewing. I’m so easily distracted that it’s a joke. Make a purse? Sure, but wouldn’t it be just as cute if it were pillow? No! I’ll make a silkscreen and paint it on the fabric instead of embroidering! Faster, yes, but more messy. Maybe I should just cut a stencil instead. Nah. Embroidery will be easier after all, even though it takes longer. I could add rhinestones! Glue them on. No. Glue doesn’t always hold. I’ll have to dig out the BeDazzler. Where are those settings? Do I really want to do the rhinestone thing? Is that too cute? How ‘bout spangles? I love spangles! I need to dig through my spangle bucket to see if I have any silver ones. Where’s that bucket? Oh! Look, there’s the Velcro I was looking for earlier. I’m going to go ahead and sew that on the purse now. Put a new needle in the machine first. Hey! I have those cool purse magnets I could use instead of Velcro. I’ll need the pliers for that. They’re in the kitchen drawer. I could sure use a cup of coffee while I’m in the kitchen. I’ll clean out the sink with Comet while I’m waiting on the coffee to brew. Ewww! Now I smell like cleanser! I need to really scrub my hands to get this stink off before I can touch any fabric in the sewing studio. Where’s that new scrubber? Hey, look! There are those dust wipes. I need to use them on the TV screen! God, that screen gets so nasty. It looks so much better now that it’s dusted. I didn’t watch the Daily Show last Thursday night. I’ll watch it now. That was funny! Wow. Even after drinking coffee I’m really sleepy. I’ll just take a short nap.

And that my friends, is how almost every Saturday and Sunday goes with me. I start a project, get distracted, and end up so mentally exhausted that I wind up taking a nap. The whole thing starts over again once I wake up. It’s a wonder I get anything finished to sell on my Etsy site. Etsy site? Damn! I need to take pictures and write a blurb about my item. No! I need to check my email first; then Facebook; then Twitter. Shit! Another hour has gone by and I haven’t even taken the pictures yet.

Forget it! I’ll just write a blog entry whining about how I never get anything done.

The surgery and the damage done

2008-06-19T13:19:00.000-05:00

The Boy had 4 wisdom teeth removed yesterday. Poor baby. I can’t really say I know how he feels because… well… I don’t know. I never had wisdom teeth.

When we first arrived yesterday for the surgery, I got a chance to see his x-rays. Wisdom teeth are indeed odd things, aren’t they? It was so strange to see all his beautiful straight teeth, then these four that jutted out at weird angles.

The dentist explained that The Boy would be under general anesthesia and that it would all be over before he realized it had even been done. I believe that they called me in to the recovery area less than 45 minutes after the surgery began. Seems quick to me!

Once we were home I tended The Boy. Helped with gauze replacement; gave him his meds; convinced him to eat applesauce and pudding; strapped ice packs to his face. He seemed to do well for most of the day. There was a moment or two of discomfort when changing gauze, but for the most part he seemed quite well. He was still asleep when I left for work this morning so I don’t know how he is progressing today. I left the dentist’s list of instructions on the table for him so he’ll know how to proceed. Here’s hoping all is well.

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While The Boy napped yesterday, I was able to complete the messenger bag I had started over the weekend. I’m very happy with the result.

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Late last night I finished watching the final episode of the HBO mini-series John Adams. Amazing. I absolutely loved every minute of it. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Stunning sets, costumes, lighting, design. It all looks so dirty and messy and hot (or cold), and dusty, and painful, and just plain real. This isn’t some glammed up Hollywood movie version of the founding fathers. This made them seem very real. Very human. So real in fact that even though I know the outcome of the story, I was still anxious every step of the way rooting for them to succeed. What a tough, hard life most people led then. It made me realize how easy we have it in almost every way compared to the people who fought to give us our independence. I thank them for all the hard work.

Even if you’re not a history film fan, see this anyway for the amazing performances! I could not take my eyes off Paul Giamatti. A mesmerizing performance throughout.

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I’ve got a couple theatre shows to see this week. I look forward to telling you about them afterwards.

Until then…

St. Louis Shakespeare Podcasts!

2008-06-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

Hello, Friends!

Please take a few minutes to listen to one, several, or all of the St. Louis Shakespeare podcasts I've uploaded. There are 17 tracks in all. All scenes are performed by working professional actors in the St. Louis area.

These tracks were originally recorded in My-Guy's recording studio in 2004 as a fund-raising project that was sold in the St. Louis Shakespeare gift shop. He and I produced the cd and all the scenes were directed by St. Louis Shakespeare's Artistic Director Donna Northcott. Original cd artwork was designed by The Eleven.

Now, four years later, it's time to make them available (free) to a wider audience. You can listen to them by clicking on any of the tracks in the below embedded player, or in a few days they will be available for download through iTunes. (In iTunes, search for St. Louis Shakespeare podcast.)

Creating this cd (and now the podcasts) has been one of my favorite projects with St. Louis Shakespeare. It was lots of fun putting together the tracks; recording the actors; choosing sound effects; hanging out in the studio. I serve on the Board of Directors of the theatre company and My-Guy might as well be considered a member, too, as he has been with me every step of the way, doing whatever it takes to make my projects come to life. Besides recording the cd/podcasts, he has also built props, designed fund-raising event pamphlets, and this year he designed and created the 2008 season brochure for the company.

I hope you'll take some time to listen. Please let me know what you think. I look forward to your comments!

Podcast! Podcast!

2008-06-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

Hey all! I promise I'll give you plenty more detail about this podcast project, but it's too late tonight for me to think clearly. Check back tomorrow for a bit of the story behind why I did this.

KC

Hi everyone, I thought you might enjoy my podcast: St. Louis Shakespeares Podcast

- - St. Louis Shakespeare

the one I forgot to title when I first posted it

2008-06-09T12:37:00.000-05:00

As you know from my previous blog post, the plan for the weekend was to do a back-up on my cantankerous computer and then do repair work. Well, that didn’t go quite as planned. My-Guy bought an external hard-drive to back-up to, but even after disabling as many processes as “Kill All” could manage, the back-up was still interrupted numerous times by Norton. Yes, we had disabled Norton, or so we thought, but it would come up over night to do its quick clean, thus crippling the back-up program. All in all, a complete back-up of my computer took from Saturday morning until Monday morning, believe it or not!

Now that the back-up is complete, My-Guy will start on the repair work of removing the new video card and checking the G drive connectors. After that, things may go back to normal. If not, he’ll do more investigating.

I really, really miss my computer! I had plans this weekend for doing embroidery work. Nope. No can do without my computer. I had hoped to start an online project (that I’m not ready to tell you about yet), but nope. No can do without my computer. At least I was able to access my email over the weekend via my iPod. I’d have really gone crazy if I couldn’t even check my email!

I’m writing this post today from my work computer as, of course, I’m not yet able to use my home computer. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. Cross your toes, too, if you think that will help. ;-)

A wary glance toward my computer

2008-06-06T10:35:00.000-05:00

I have a Compaq desktop that’s about 5 or 6 years old. It runs Windows XP Service Pack 2 and for the most part it’s been good to me. But lately odd things have been happening. Several weeks ago, my auxiliary hard-drive (labeled G) disappeared from my list of available storage drives. Poof. There one day, gone the next morning. No warning. No funny sounds indicating an upcoming crash.

I use the G drive to store large files like movies, video projects, electronic scrapbook elements, recorded tv shows, etc. It wasn’t even half full, so it wasn’t a question of overloading. I need those files and hope that I’ll be able to access it somehow to retrieve them.

What might I have done to my computer to cause this problem? Well, I know absolutely nothing about how computers work, but the problems did start after making these changes: installing two new memory cards to upgrade from 512mg RAM (with 64 mg allocated to video) to the maximum allowed 1 gig. At the same time as upgrading the memory, I also installed a new video card. So, this weekend My-Guy is going to put the computer up on blocks and check under its hood, so to speak. He’s thinking that perhaps the new video card is causing some problems. He’ll remove it. Also, he’ll check the G drive connections to make sure they are secure.

Not only am I having G drive problems, but in the last couple weeks the computer has decided it does not like to restart or shut-down. It won’t even control-alt-delete to reboot. I have to press and hold the power button to shut down, then repress to turn it on again. Even then, it sometimes fails to come up completely. I can see the green power button is lighted, but nothing happens. Nothing on the monitor. No sounds.

So, as you can imagine, I’m very wary of my computer right now. I need to back up my hard-drive (C drive) because I’m afraid it’s going to fail. The back-up drive we have is not large enough to hold my C drive info, so we’ll need to get a larger back-up drive.

We briefly discussed getting a new computer for me, but my first choice (a Mac desktop) is out of financial range right now. That leaves possibly buying another PC, but I’m wary of Vista since I’ve only heard bad things about it. There’s also the concern that my embroidery software is Windows-only and there are issues running it on Vista (from what I’ve read in the online embroidery groups I frequent). If I ended up buying a Mac, then I’d have to also buy Windows OS software and load it on the Mac in order to use the embroidery software (there is no Mac version of the software available and I absolutely cannot do without this specific software).

Keep your fingers crossed for me that removing the video card and checking the G drive connectors is all that is necessary to get my computer running right again.

Isn’t it amazing how dependent we become on our computers? I don’t know how I’d do without one. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do any embroidery design or even embroidery stitching since my sewing machine depends on input from my computer. Ahhh, what a tangled web we weave!

Sfumato & other fun threads

2008-06-02T15:18:00.000-05:00

Sfumato embroidery kicks ass. Truly. It’s a bear to learn, though. It looks like it would be easy. Just outline your underlying photo template, then click “generate stitches”, but oh noooo, there’s much more tweaking to do in the editing phase to make it a truly realistic photo-stitch.

I’ve had the program for several years, but I have a love/hate relationship with it that sometimes keeps me from using it for months at a time. I even bought an expensive training dvd to learn all the ins and outs of the program, but it still is a mystery to me why some photos turn out gorgeous and others look like absolute crap. Sure, yes, working with hi-res, good contrast photos gets the best results, but sometimes even those don’t lend themselves to a successful picture-stitch outcome.

I created three Sfumato embroidery designs this weekend. I would say that from the moment of choosing the photo, through the process of creating the design in the software program, to the minute it finishes stitching out on my machine, it can be anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours plus. Really. Depending on the finished size of the stitch-out, the design might be hundreds of thousands of tiny embroidery stitches. Since my machine only stitches a maximum of 800 stitches per minute, you can see how this can become a very long drawn out session at the embroidery machine. And, yes, I have to remain near the machine as it stitches because I have to be there when it’s time to change thread colors. (Also, I had one really bad experience in the past when I left the room while it was sewing and came back to a frozen machine that had to be taken to the shop and cost me plenty of money to have fixed. Now, I stay near it through the whole process in order to hopefully catch any problems before they become catastrophes.)

Of the three designs I created this weekend the first came out very well, the second went in the trash, and the third one is still in the stitch-out phase. The successfully finished design can be seen in these photos (and also on my Etsy site where I hope someone will buy it!). The incomplete design that I hope to finish this evening is another Hollywood movie star picture. If it turns out well, I will also be making it into a purse to sell. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

In other embroidery-related news, I found a really cool website this weekend that sells machine embroidery files, hand embroidery files, and also clipart to use in whatever crafty way you want. Urban Threads. Check it out even if you don’t have an embroidery machine because the hand embroidery and clipart files are awesome, too! I bought the “Runs With Scissors” embroidery and clipart designs and I plan on using them to create something fun to give to my costumer friends who I am sure actually do run with scissors. There are hundreds of embroidery websites out there, but very few cater to the hip, urban, cool crowd, so this site is an especially great find.

Hope you all had a great weekend. I certainly did!

I heart theatre, actors, and crafts!

2008-05-28T14:41:00.000-05:00

I didn’t really accomplish much over the holiday weekend, but I still had a good time.

Friday and Saturday night I worked as House Manager for Muddy Waters Theatre assigning usher duties, giving actor calls, helping out wherever needed. Since I had already seen the play the previous weekend, I spent my “down” time (during the performance) watching movies on my iPod, hanging out in the bar next door to the theatre, and sitting at outdoor café tables enjoying the gorgeous evening weather. An altogether pleasant way to spend a couple nights.

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I did a few test crafts that didn’t turn out exactly as planned, but that’s ok. That’s why I test things first before going full steam ahead using good fabric or non-replaceable items. I don’t actually think of the tests as failures so much as an opportunity to realize that there is probably a better way to approach the craft.

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Last night I had the opportunity to videotape a two-monologue audition for a very talented local actor. He hopes to be accepted into an intensive summer Shakespeare acting course on the East Coast. After taping, he and I sat at my computer and edited the video, added Titles and transitions, then I burned the resulting file to a DVD and also rendered an iPod compatible file for him. Keep your fingers crossed that he gets into the program! It will be several weeks before he knows. I’ll update you if I hear the result.

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Looking forward to tomorrow night’s 2-hour LOST season finale. How ‘bout you?

Tennessee and TV

2008-05-23T13:20:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention that last weekend I saw Muddy Waters Theatre’s production of Tennessee Williams’ Night of the Iguana. In preparation for seeing it, I borrowed the video from the library. You know the movie, right? It stars Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. I couldn’t get through it, even though I kept it out much longer than my allotted two-week rental period. I just couldn’t get into it. I think it was mostly because I don’t care much for Deborah Kerr. So, it was with some trepidation that I sat in the theatre waiting for the play to begin. I figured if I couldn’t even make it through the movie, I’d probably hate sitting through a live performance of the piece.

I was wrong. So wrong.

The play is much better than the movie. It’s more concise and better structured. There are none of those painfully extended scenes of the defrocked Episcopalian priest T. Lawrence Shannon fending off the advances of the under-age nymphet Charlotte, who he had previously seduced. That’s not to say that the seduction and advances aren’t part of the play, but they seem more in balance with the rest of the script.

The set (by Sean Savoie) is gorgeous. He really knows how to make the most of the small Gaslight Theatre stage. The wonderful cast, directed by Jerry McAdams, includes Joshua Thomas as Lawrence Shannon, MaryBeth Sherr as Maxine Faulk, and Julie O’Neill as Hannah Jelkes.

Even if, like me, you think that the movie version stinks, don’t let that stop you from seeing this play. It is well worth your time. Information here.

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It’s that time of the year when most of the network TV shows are presenting their finales. Since we started using Tivo, I really can’t remember what night of the week or what channel most of my shows are on. I have seen the finale of House (thought it was just so-so), but if My Name is Earl has finished, don’t tell me because I am a couple episodes behind on that one. Also, I know Reaper has ended, but I haven’t watched that yet either, so don’t go spoiling it for me in the comments section! Moonlight ended last week. Not just a season finale, but a series finale. I will miss Josef. When the show first started he was my least favorite character but as the season progressed, I found him the most fascinating of all. Has CSI had their finale yet? I know I’m behind on that show as well. How ‘bout Without a Trace?

I know LOST hasn’t had their finale yet. LOST is one of the only shows that I remember what night and time it is on because I start watching it about 15 – 20 minutes after it starts. That way Tivo has gotten far enough into recording it that I can watch the show and skip through the commercials.

What are your favorite shows that have had their season finales? Were you satisfied with the way the season ended? What do you watch during the summer when there are no new network shows?

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Hope you have a great Memorial Weekend. Have fun and stay safe.

Take me where I want to go, John Cleese

2008-05-19T11:48:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I got up early to drive across town to attend an Embroidery Seminar. Near the last leg of my journey, the road became blocked because of an accident up ahead. I waited for a while, then realized if I didn’t detour around the traffic, I wouldn’t reach the seminar on time. I did a u-turn and made a right on the next street thinking that I would basically “go ‘round the block” and get past the accident scene. Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned. I drove and drove and drove before finding the next right turn that would take me in the correct direction to be parallel to the street that was blocked. Finally, I made the right turn but ended up in a part of town that I was not at all familiar with. I began to get what my mother calls “flustered”. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I was essentially lost. Now, my husband and/or my son (and probably anyone else who drives) would not have been lost.

I’m admitting it here and now IN PUBLIC: I have absolutely no sense of direction.

My-Guy and The Boy just shake their heads in dismay and disbelief when I tell them of times that I’ve gotten lost while driving (which happens quite a lot, unfortunately). Whereas, I am absolutely amazed and stunned that both of them can go to a city where they’ve never been before and find any location they need without a map. Do people really have maps just hard-wired into their heads like that? I wish I did!

When I finally pulled into the parking lot of the Embroidery Seminar, I was 15 minutes late and visibly flustered. Yes, I did finally find the place, but I really could not tell you how I did it. It wasn’t through a reasoned or well-planned re-routing of my original trip plan. It was through guess-work and fingers-crossed that the next turn I made would take me where I needed to be. Sad, but true. At that moment, I realized I needed help. I was disgusted with myself and knew that I did not want to be lost ever again. I determined that as soon as the seminar ended, I was buying myself a GPS navigation system. Hallelujah!

My next stop was Wal-mart. (Yes, I knew how to get there.) I bought a TomTom One for the low, low price of $150. Worth every friggin’ penny, let me tell you! It worked right out of the box. I let it lead me home, even though I knew how to get there. The comforting voice of the woman on the TomTom made me feel less stupid. Thank you, friendly lady.

As soon as I got home, I plugged it in to the computer and downloaded all the available map updates. While waiting for the download, I noticed that for a few dollars more, I could have the familiar and genial voice of John Cleese lead me from place to place via my new GPS toy. How could I resist?

I added “favorites” to my TomTom. Mostly, a list of theatre’s I drive to. Not that I don’t already know how to get to them, but what if I would need to get to them from some other origination point besides home? Now I would be able to get there without having to call My-Guy and ask him how. What a relief! (I once got lost on the way home from a theatre late at night while hubby was out of town. I called him at his hotel and told him where I thought I was, and he gave me directions. Duh. That’s how bad my personal navigation abilities are.)

So, even though all the driving I’ve done since buying the GPS has been on familiar routes, I’ve used the TomTom just for fun. It’s totally cool to have John Cleese tell me how to get around town. I also like the fact that if I decide not to take the route he has suggested, he will happily adjust to what I am doing even as he tries to tell me the shortest possible route.

My favorite part is when I arrive where I need to be, Mr. Cleese announces that I have indeed reached my destination, but he will not carry in my bags and that I am now on my own.

Love it! And because I love it, I have already made it its very own cozy and carry it with me everywhere.

The LOST Hard-Drive

2008-05-16T13:01:00.000-05:00

If you know me, you know I love the TV show LOST. I always let Tivo record it, then watch it later so I can skip through the commercials. After the show records, Tivotogo sends it to my desktop computer which then renders it to an iPod compatible file. This procedure takes a couple hours, so I let it do it’s thing overnight, then the next morning I drag the LOST file from iTunes onto my iPod so I can watch the episode again whenever I have time. (Of course, I could watch it again on my TV set because Tivo keeps it until I delete it, but I like watching it the second time on the iPod. Just because.)

This morning I sat down in front of my computer with a cup of coffee and prepared to load the show onto my iPod. iTunes showed the file there just like it should be, but there was a little exclamation point next to the title. I clicked it and it said it couldn’t locate the file; did I want to find it myself? Sure. I know it’s on my extra hard-drive because that’s where I save all my rendered Tivotogo files.

Only, for whatever reason, my extra hard-drive disappeared overnight. Gone. Not to be located. Suddenly, after several years, my computer decides that I do not have a “g” drive, which is the letter assigned to my extra hard-drive.

I know for certain that my “g” drive was there last night because I pulled the PBS show “Cranford” from iTunes to my iPod. Hmmm…

Of course, the first thing I did was restart the computer thinking that perhaps it just needed a clean slate. No good. Restarting didn’t find the missing drive. For good measure, I restarted it a second time. Nada. Nothing.

Yes, I’m disappointed, but not because I can’t watch LOST from my iPod. I’m disappointed because this probably means that I’ll need to buy a new auxiliary hard-drive. My-Guy says we’ll probably be able to get the files off this failed drive and onto the new one. I hope so. So, I’m pouting a little bit this morning, but I’m sure it will all work out well in the end.

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Last Wednesday night I saw New Jewish Theatre’s production of “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”. Hilarious! The audience really seemed to enjoy it as sometimes the laughter went on so long that the next line of the play was lost in the noise. Not only is this play funny, but it asks intriguing questions. It asks questions of the characters in the play, and questions of the audience. Questions about who we think we are; who we want to be; who we want others to think we are. As the director, Edward Coffield, writes in his program notes: “… a play that makes one laugh while at the same time giving one pause about what we see when we look in the mirror.”

Don’t miss it! The wonderful cast includes Penney Kols, Adam Flores, Bobby Miller, Donna Weinsting, and Lavonne Byers. Playing through June 1. Information about dates, prices, location here.

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I’m looking forward to a nice laid-back weekend at home. How ‘bout you?

Summer in New Orleans

2008-05-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

What gorgeous weather today! I wish I were outside instead of here at the office with no windows. My back still hurts a bit, so I get up and go outside a couple times a day just to walk off the stiffness. I get a breath of fresh air and then go back inside and sit. And sit. And sit.

This past weekend My-Guy and I drove to New Orleans to pick up The Boy from Tulane. His freshman year is over and he’s home now for the summer. Talk about gorgeous weather! New Orleans was around 90 degrees or so and bright and sunny and beautiful. I’ve posted some pix HERE. Take a look.

This trip was the first time we broke the drive up into two sections. Thursday evening after work we drove to Memphis and stayed overnight. The next morning we drove six hours to New Orleans. I thought my back pain would be really bad from sitting so long, but I didn’t hurt at all. I’ve figured out that I only hurt now when I have to sit in an office-type chair like at work or at home in front of my computer. Weird, huh? Car seats are great. They’re very comfortable and don’t hurt at all.

When we arrived in Nola on Friday, The Boy was just finishing up his last final for the year, so My-Guy and I walked around the French Quarter. In fact, we found the store that I had seen online that sells Absinthe ware. We bought a set of Absinthe glasses and another spoon to complete our set. Then we walked some more and I took pictures (which My-Guy hates because he says it makes us look like tourists. Well, duh! We are tourists.) We had café au lait at Café Du Monde, then walked some more. Plenty of walking! It was such a gorgeous day; so much prettier than it has been in St. Louis recently.

After so much walking in the heat, we needed to relax and unwind in the air-conditioned comfort of our hotel room in the Garden District. After a bit of r&r in the room, we walked one block to catch the St. Charles Streetcar and head back to the French Quarter to meet up with The Boy, his dorm-mate, and his dorm-mate’s parents for dinner at a restaurant in the French Quarter. Fabulous food and great company. Then it was back on the streetcar and back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday morning we had some more time to kill before we could go to Tulane and pack up The Boy’s room. We drove around and stopped for coffee, then walked around some more. New Orleans is a great town to walk around. Then it was time to pack. It didn’t take too long considering The Boy had so much crap! Computers, printers, guitars, amps, posters, tons of dirty clothes, etc. After the final room inspection, we went to Magazine Street and had lunch then decided to go ahead and hit the road for home instead of staying another night as we had originally planned.

The drive home went well until we hit the Memphis area. Torrential downpour! So bad that we couldn’t see a thing. Cars were pulled over to the side of the highway with flashers on and water was just sitting on the road. It was very slow going for awhile there. Very difficult to see through the rain and darkness. Once past Memphis we only hit light rain every once in a while so we still made good time all in all. We were home by 1:30 am. I slept late Sunday morning, then began what I’m sure will be about a week’s worth of non-stop laundry. heehee. I think every piece of clothing The Boy had came home dirty.

Now that he’s home for the summer, it’s time for The Boy to find a job. Hopefully soon. And before you know it, we’ll be taking him back to New Orleans for another school year. He can’t wait.

Guess where I am?

2008-05-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

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Bamboo love & KISS

2008-05-05T14:38:00.000-05:00

I had a fabulous weekend working at the theatre for the Magic Smoking Monkey’s. I worked for them last weekend as well. OK, I’ll admit, it doesn’t really feel like work. It’s more like hanging out with fun friends in between working the concession counter, the box office, the gift shop, handing out programs, and tearing tickets.

This years show (KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park) brought in plenty of fresh new faces: people who had never heard of our theatre group before, but through the KISS fan grapevine had heard about this production. Four audience members at Friday night’s late show actually showed up dressed as KISS. Awesome! They won prizes and got to stand on stage and be applauded by the audience.

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Thanks to all my Blogger, Facebook, EmbirdTime, and YouTube friends for your fantastic input on my Renaissance Stage craft project. There were so many great ideas, but overwhelmingly you voted for it to become a shadowbox. And indeed, it shall. My-Guy is going to build a customized box for it with a fancy front frame. I can’t wait! Well, I can wait because he said he can’t start building quite yet. He has several projects that have to be finished first, but he promises he’ll start within the next couple weeks. You can be certain I will be posting pictures of it once it’s finished.

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Have you ever seen a red bamboo shrub? I hadn’t, until this weekend. My-Guy and I were shopping for something to put in the two giant stone pots on either side of our front entrance. As much as we liked the ferns we had there last summer, we wanted a change. Once we saw that the bamboo plant was an evergreen and turned bright red in the fall and winter, we were sold! Right now, it’s just a small leafy green plant, but I think it’s going to turn out very well. I especially like the idea of the contrast of a bright red plant against our white stucco house.

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I’m off to read your blogs now. See you there!

I need your input, please

2008-04-28T23:05:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how to complete this project. I hope you can help by giving me some ideas...

Shout It Out Loud

2008-04-28T14:34:00.000-05:00

Oh, man, if you didn’t see The Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre version of "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park", you missed a great night out! They rocked the house! It’s still going on next Friday and Saturday night, so you’ve still got a chance to see it. Don’t miss it. All the cast was great, but Jim Ousley as Paul Stanley/Starchild almost steals the show.

So far there are two reviews available: STLog and KDHX. More reviews will show up throughout the rest of this week.

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I’ve been working on a craft project that I can’t quite decide how to finish. I’m hoping you’ll be able to help me. How, you ask? Well, I’ve taken step by step photos of its creation and last night I started making a video of those photos. I should be able to finish it this evening, then I’ll be posting it here. Once you’ve watched the video, I hope that you will leave a comment and let me know how YOU would finish this project if it were yours. I look forward to your ideas!

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Hope you all had a great weekend!

The Green Fairy Adventure

2008-04-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

I’ve decided that Hub-Man will now be called My-Guy. No particular reason; just wanted a change. Carry on.

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Brave Sir Robin commented on one of my posts and asked me about my recent Absinthe experience. So, I thought I’d tell you a bit about it and a bit about last weekend in general.

Last Friday: On my way home from work (in the pouring rain), I stopped at the local Wine & Cheese Store to buy slotted Absinthe spoons. Earlier in the day, I had made numerous calls to liquor and wine stores around town to try to find some because, after all, the spoon is a special part of the Absinthe ritual. The Wine & Cheese Store was the only place in town that had any and they only had three. They did not carry any of the special glasses. I figure if I want the glasses, I’ll have to order them online or wait until our next trip to New Orleans, where Absinthe paraphernalia is easier to acquire.

Next stop Schnucks because I needed sugar cubes. Normally, we don’t have these at home. I’m a Splenda girl myself, so I rarely use sugar, and even more rarely use sugar cubes. While at the store, I decided we needed something to eat while drinking Absinthe, so I bought fancy cheeses and crackers. Just a little something to nibble on to add to the experience.

Next stop Home. After all the driving around town in the pouring rain, I had a splitting headache and my back (remember the horrible back problems I’ve been having for the last 4 weeks?) hurt so badly I could barely move. So, the cheese went into the fridge and I headed toward the TV room with the plan to rest a while on the heating pad while watching Holmes on Homes on Tivo. And oh yeah, I also took pain medication. Rain, headache, backache, stress, a dark TV room, and pain meds. Guess what that was a recipe for? A nap. Yes, I fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, I realized I still had some time before My-Guy would get home from work, so I decided to go upstairs, crawl in bed where it’s more comfortable and sleep until he arrived. Only I didn’t hear him come home and he didn’t wake me up.

I woke up 14 hours later.

So much for Friday night Absinthe-drinking.

Saturday: My-Guy and I drove around the city visiting stores looking for Absinthe glasses and visiting nurseries looking for plants for the front yard. No luck with either. It was a nice day to be out driving around, so it wasn’t all bad and we did come home with a nice bottle of Patron Reposado.

There would be no Absinthe drinking Saturday night either. My-Guy had to mix a band, and I had signed up to usher at a play. Only, after I got there and did my pre-show ushering duties, I realized because the play had sold-out I would have to sit in the balcony. I’ve sat there before and it is very uncomfortable. I knew there was no way I could sit for two hours or more in one of those chairs, so I headed home to relax and take pain medication. At least this time I did not sleep 14 hours.

So much for Saturday night Absinthe-drinking.

Sunday: We finally drank the Absinthe. So, how was it? Well, it’s not a libation that I could sit around and drink all night. It’s more like a dessert drink. If your idea of dessert is liquefied black licorice that makes your throat and the tip of your tongue numb. Kind of like licorice flavored Chloraseptic. I know the flavor is officially described as anise, but black licorice describes it just as well.

The Ritual: (click "ritual" to see a photo of the process) Since we could not find Absinthe glasses, we used high-ball glasses. Referring to the recipe on the bottle, we poured 1.75 ounces of Absinthe into the glass. At this point the liquid is a pale, clear, grass-green color. Then we placed the flat slotted spoon across the top of the glass and put 2 sugar cubes on it. In order to louche (pronounced loosh) the liquor, we dripped 4 to 5 ounces of cold water through the sugar cubes, which made the Absinthe change from transparent green to a milky, almost yellow green.

The Effect: At least for me, there was an almost instantaneous numbing of my throat and the tip of my tongue, as described above. It didn’t create a feeling of drunkenness as much as a simultaneous feeling of relaxation and exaltation. I felt lucid. (Although, I did get a nasty case of hiccups.)

After that, we drank a bottle of white wine with dinner. The wine did not make me feel lucid. It made me drunk.

It was a great evening. :-)

I Wanna Rock n Roll All Night!

2008-04-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!

Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre presents a live, on-stage parody production of that fabulously bad TV special "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park". This is going to be so much fun! There's even a costume contest at the 10:30 shows. Come dressed as your favorite KISS member and win a prize (and the admiration of all others who were too chicken to do it).

WHEN & WHERE:

Regional Arts Commission (RAC)

6128 Delmar Blvd

University City, MO 63112

Friday & Saturday at 8pm and 10:30pm

April 25, 26,

May 2, 3

Tickets available at the door starting one hour before performance or online through Metrotix. $15 for adults; $10 for students with ID.

Ohmygod! The train came off the track!

2008-04-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

I woke up when the bed started shaking around 4:37 or so this morning. The first thing I thought was that a train had come off the track and was heading toward our house. You see, there is a train track at the end of our back yard. We’ve lived here about two years now and we’re so used to the noise and rattling that we don’t notice it anymore, but I was sure this time there had been some kind of terrible train accident in our back yard.

I turned to Hub-Man and said, “Are you OK?”. I’m not sure why I would think that he wasn’t OK, but hey, I’d just been awakened out of a deep sleep and was thinking there must be a train in my back yard. As he started to answer, the room began shaking. Not just the bed shaking like before, but the room!. The double sliding mirrored doors began quivering. It’s weird, but the mirrored doors were the only thing I could focus on while the stronger tremors were happening. I kept thinking “don’t the mirrors look odd? Like being in a fun-house.”

We both got dressed quickly and went outside. It was too dark to see if there were any cracks in the foundation of if any of our stucco finish had fallen, so I’ll check that more closely when I get home from work today.

I can’t wait to read your earthquake story! If you blogged about it, be sure to leave a comment here so I know to go to your blog. I’ll probably go to your blog anyway, but just in case…

(As I was typing this, we had an aftershock. I didn’t feel it, but a couple of my co-workers did.)

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We bought a bottle of Lucid Absinthe yesterday. Haven’t opened it yet, but we will this weekend. I need to find slotted spoons and sugar cubes. There are other ways to drink it, but the spoon and cube just sound like such a cool way to do it. I can find slotted spoons online, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to find any locally. Do you know anyplace that has them?

Spread the love!

2008-04-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

Weirdgirl gave me an award! Cool, huh? Now, I’m passing on the love and the Excellence Award to some of my favorite blogging peeps:

Ajooja – because he lays it all out there. There’s nothing he won’t blog about, no matter how potentially embarrassing.

Camera Obscura – because I’m in awe of just how busy this woman is and how she keeps it all together. I’d go insane, I think.

Jyoseph – because he takes the most amazing photos. Really, really gorgeous.

Not So Deep Thoughts – because she’s my homey, even though she moved cross the country and I no longer see her. She’s the one I go to whenever I can’t figure out technological problems.

Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia – because she is the most witty blogger I read. There’s nothing that she can’t find the humorous side of. Really.

Southern Circle of Hell – because she’s fabulous. Just fabulous. To know her is to love her.

So, for those of you that I’ve given the award to, please be sure to forward the love on to your favorite blogs, or you’ll be cursed with writer’s block for 3 weeks. Nah. Not really. I just made up the curse, but don’t forget to spread the love.

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Just a quick update on my back pain as of today at 12:15: on a scale of 1 – 10 (with 10 being absolutely hellish pain that should not be wished on anyone), I think I am now at about a 5.5 instead of the 8 that I was just a day ago. I hope this means I’m really on the mend and that this reduction of pain isn’t just a fluke.

Let the healing begin!

2008-04-14T15:09:00.000-05:00

I finally broke down and went to the doctor about my back pain. I figured that since almost 3 weeks of dosing myself constantly with Tylenol wasn’t making a dent in the pain, it was probably time to see if the doc would prescribe something. You may ask, “why weren’t you taking ibuprofen? It’s supposed to help with muscle pain.” Well, because I take meds for high blood pressure and the drug info says not to take ibuprofen as well. So, what did the doc prescribe today? Heavy-duty prescription anti-inflammatory pills. Sort of like jacked-up ibuprofen. ha. He also prescribed muscle relaxers to take at bedtime.

I’m sitting here at my desk at work with a back ache you wouldn’t believe, but since I’ve already taken the anti-inflammatory, I guess I can’t take any other pain medication. Damn, I’m hurting. Doc says that after about 5 days of both these meds, I will start feeling normal again. I’m glad to hear it because I’m not good at pain. It makes me cranky and tired. Oh… and just what is my back problem? Sacroiliac joint dysfunction. All because I decided to increase the incline on the treadmill. That’ll teach me.
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Last Thursday night I saw Mustard Seed Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”. It’s such an interesting but frustrating play. Is it a comedy, is it a drama? It’s both, and not always great at being one or the other. I’m not criticizing the production I saw, I’m criticizing the play itself. It’s uneven and somewhat mean-spirited at times. But since it ends with a wedding (or three), it fits into the comedy category, right?. Tragedies end in death, comedies end in weddings, right? See, I’m confused and frustrated. The play can be very funny at times, but the tragic moments are very tragic.

Mustard Seed Theatre did a very good job with a problem script. Excellent job by Jason Cannon (as the Duke and the Friar). One of my favorite moments of the play was Sarah Cannon (as Mariana) singing The Eagles “Desperado” at a karaoke bar. Pitiful and funny.

I’m going to try to see this production again if I can, but my calendar is very full.

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I ushered for St. Louis Actor’s Studio on Saturday night, but didn’t stay to see the play (The Late Henry Moss) as my back was hurting. I’m going to try to drop in and see it later this week.

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I have some new items up in my Etsy shop. Check ‘em out!

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After attending the SLS board meeting Sunday, I spent the rest of the day on the heating pad. I think that’s what I’ll be doing again today as soon as I get home from work.

where I display my stupidity for your enjoyment

2008-04-10T14:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after work I drove to my sister’s house out in the boonies. She had called me the day before and asked me to come help her set up her new iPhone. Seems she was having problems with iTunes erasing all the files it had previously let her place on the phone. Well, in my ignorance, I thought that I’d go to her house, set up iTunes for her, drag a few song files over to the iPhone icon, and then leave. Oh no, it certainly did not work that way. I ended up being there for five hours.

Personally, I’m on my third iPod. I’ve had the Shuffle, a 20gig (no video), and now I have the iTouch. With each iPod I’ve had, I’ve always set iTunes to sync manually. That way, all I needed to do to update my iPod was to drag files from iTunes. You can’t do that with the iPhone! It will not let you drag files over. You have to sync. Therein lies the problem we were having yesterday. Each time we would try to sync new song files to her iPhone, it would erase the 750 song files she already had on it.

We did eventually get the 750 songs plus her newly purchased dozen onto the iPhone, but by then I was so friggin’ brain dead that I don’t think I could explain how we did it. I certainly didn’t want to try doing it again. My sister is now nervous about buying any new music because she thinks that she’ll lose what’s already on the device when she hits sync.

A certain special friend who is an Apple expert tried to talk us through the process, but by then I think I was so frustrated with the entire enterprise that I just wanted to throw the damn thing across the room. So, friend, sorry if I was abrupt with you on the phone. I certainly did not mean to be. Your advice is always good, it’s just that my brain couldn’t process any more input at the time.

I still don’t know how we managed to get the music on her iPhone. I know there is a key piece of info I’m missing because, really, no company would purposefully make their product so difficult to use, would they?

So, if in the future I tell you that I’m going to get an iPhone, just shoot me, OK?

What a fabulous weekend!

2008-04-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

Friday night I went to see Over Due Theatre Company’s production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. Have you seen this one before? It was my first time. Lots of fun! Not only is it a musical comedy, but the audience gets to choose who the murderer is! I voted for the pretty girl in Middle Eastern garb. Most of the audience agreed because she ended up being voted the murderer! But, depending on the audience any given night, it could be any member of the large cast. Great set, fun costumes, and some beautiful singing voices. See it if you can!

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I had a difficult time getting motivated to get out of the house Saturday. I finally got out of the house by 2:00 and ran errands, did a bit of shopping, etc. I bought a beginner silkscreen kit. Now I need to find the time (and a clear work area). Guess I should read the directions first. There seems to be a lot involved and I don’t want to mess up!

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Saturday night I saw Echo Theatre Company’s production of “Mary’s Wedding”. Wow. Really. I haven’t been so moved by a play in quite a while. It was all I could do to keep myself from crying at the end. “Mary’s Wedding” tells the story of Mary (Magan Wiles), a young woman recently relocated from England to Canada and Charlie (Ben Nordstrom), a farm-boy. They meet and fall in love against the backdrop of World War I. There’s so much more to this than just your typical boy meets girl love story. Love, war, heartbreak, sacrifice, family, and obligation. It’s all there on stage with only two actors. You really need to go see this one! Playing thru April 20. Information here.

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Sunday morning we had a photo-shoot to get the needed pix for St. Louis Shakespeare’s 2008 – 2009 season. I love watching the pro’s work their magic. The actor/models put on their costumes; Liz worked her hair and make-up magic; Donna set up the scenes; Kit shot the pix; and before you knew it, we were finished. Now our art director will work his Photoshop magic and we’ll send it to the printer, then off to the post office and soon in your mailbox! (That is, if you’re on our mailing list. If you’re not, and you want to be, email me and give me your info.)

Did you know that oil mixed with Hershey’s cocoa powder makes really great mud? One of our actor/models was covered in it, and he was a very good sport about it. Thanks, Peter!

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Sunday afternoon was spent doing yard work at the front of the house. It was perfect weather for raking, shoveling, etc. The area under our holly trees gets filled with leaves over the winter. It really needed this cleaning out in order for the flowers and plants to be able to reach out to the sun. The hostas are already poking through the soil. I love Spring!

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I hope all of you had as fabulous a weekend as I did.!

So, what's up?

2008-04-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I’ve had lower back pain for about 2 weeks now. I just can’t seem to kick it even though I’m taking pain medication and laying around in the evenings on a heat-pad. I’m not really sure what brought it on, but it might have been the steep incline on the treadmill a couple weeks ago.

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Got my drivers side car window fixed. For free. Or as Hub-Man explained to me, it wasn’t actually “free” because we paid for an extended warranty. But it felt “free” to me because I didn’t have to outlay any cash on the spot. Good thing, too, because it was almost $400. Boy, I really didn’t realize how often I used my drivers side window until I couldn’t use it. ;-) At least it kept me from going to the drive-thru at McDonald’s.

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I’m hoping to see a couple plays this weekend. I plan to see “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. It’s being put on by The Over Due Theatre Company and directed by my friend Suki Peters. Looks like it will be fun. (I’ve included the link to the theatre’s website, but it does have advertising pop-ups. You’ve been warned.) I also want to see Echo Theatre’s production of “Mary’s Wedding”. St. Louis is such a great theatre town! These are only two of several plays going on this weekend. I wish I had more free time to see the others, but I have to reign myself in.

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This weekend we will be doing a photo shoot for St. Louis Shakespeare’s 2008 – 2009 season brochure. Once we get the photos, our fabulous Art Director will do his magic and before you know it, we’ll have the brochures out in the mail to our subscribers, members, and fans. I’m not going to tell you the theme of this year’s brochure, but it will certainly be interesting. Once it’s finished and public information, I’ll post a link here so you can see the finished product.

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When I get home from work today, I expect to find "Sweeney Todd" in my mailbox from Netflix. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

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That’s it for now. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and if you’re in St. Louis, I hope that you/we get a bit of a respite from the rain.

and the award goes to ...

2008-04-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

I did not attend the Kevin Kline Awards this year, even though it was held not 2 blocks from my house. Yes, I saw over 40 plays last year and I know many of the nominees, but I just couldn’t make myself buy the ticket. Why? Well, right now it’s just not in my budget because it’s not only buying a ticket, it’s also buying an evening dress, shoes, getting my hair done, etc. Maybe I’ll go next year. (I will definitely go if St. Louis Shakespeare or Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre get nominated for any awards.)

Anway… I’m sure it was a lovely ceremony. This morning’s local news listed the winners and a short video also. I have listed some of the winners below, but for a full listing, click here.

As for what’s up with me lately? I’ve been very very busy making my crafty stuff. In fact, this weekend I had another one of those really quick sales. I put a pillow on Etsy Saturday night and when I checked my email Sunday morning, it had sold. I love it when it happens that quickly!

I’ve been spending a lot more time on Facebook than here on Blogger lately. If you’re on Facebook, let me know in the comments section and we’ll “friend” each other on Facebook if you’d like.

Later!

PLAYS

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play

Winner: LAVONNE BYERS ("A Delicate Balance," St. Louis Actors’ Studio)

Other nominees:

Kari Ely ("Kindertransport," New Jewish Theatre)

Annie Fitzpatrick ("Bad Dates," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Meghan Maguire ("Standing On My Knees," the Orange Girls)

Julie Venegoni ("Enchanted April." Act Inc.)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play

Winner: JASON BABINSKY ("The Bomb-itty of Errors," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Other nominees:

Jim Butz ("A Number," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Jason Cannon ("Hamlet," RiverCity Theatre and Vanity Theatre)

Joel Lewis ("Death of a Salesman," Muddy Waters Theatre)

Peter Mayer ("Death of a Salesman," Muddy Waters Theatre)

Gregory Wooddell ("Much Ado About Nothing," Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play

Winner: TERESA DOGGETT ("Enchanted April," Act Inc.)

Other nominees:

Melissa Rae Brown ("Stop Kiss," Hydeware Theatre)

Kari Ely ("Return of the Bedbug," Upstream Theater)

Nancy Lewis ("Women’s Minyan," New Jewish Theatre)

Meg Rodd ("Kindertransport," New Jewish Theatre)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play

Winner: JOHN KINNEY ("What’s Wrong with This Picture?," New Jewish Theatre)

Other nominees:

Adam Flores ("Second," The Nonprophet Theater Company)

Christopher Hickey ("Greetings!," St. Louis Actors Studio)

Nicolas Pavlos ("Enchanted April," Act Inc.)

Steve Routman ("Much Ado About Nothing," Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)

Outstanding Ensemble in a Play

Winners (tie): "KINDERTRANSPORT" (New Jewish Theatre) and "WOMEN’S MINYAN" (New Jewish Theatre)

Other nominees:

"The Bomb-itty of Errors" (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

"Playhouse Creatures" (the Orange Girls)

"Remnant" (Mustard Seed Theatre)

"You Can’t Take It With You" (Stray Dog Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Play

Winner: DOUG FINLAYSON ("Kindertransport," New Jewish Theatre)

Other nominees:

Jason Cannon ("Hamlet," RiverCity Theatre and Vanity Theatre)

Susan Gregg ("A Number," The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Deanna Jent ("Playhouse Creatures," the Orange Girls)

Deanna Jent ("Remnant," Mustard Seed Theatre)

Deanna Jent ("Women’s Minyan," New Jewish Theatre)

Outstanding Production of a Play

Winner: "STANDING ON MY KNEES" (the Orange Girls)

Other nominees:

"The Bomb-itty of Errors" (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

"Much Ado About Nothing" (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)

"A Number" (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

"Playhouse Creatures" (the Orange Girls)

"Remnant" (Mustard Seed Theatre)

"Women’s Minyan" (New Jewish Theatre)

MORE AWARDS

Outstanding New Play or Musical

Winner: DAN RUBIN, "Demons…and Other Blunt Objects" (HotCity Theatre)

Other nominees:

Philip Boehm, "Return of the Bedbug" (Upstream Theater)

Joe Hanrahan, "Soldier Boy/The Little Frenchy Files" (the Midnight Company)

Andrew Michael Nieman and Suzanne Renard, "Veil of Silence" (Veterans for Peace)

James Russell Wax, "Insignificant Others" (Hydeware Theatre)

Outstanding Costume Design

Winner: DOROTHY MARSHALL ENGLIS ("A Little Night Music," Stages St. Louis)

Other nominees:

Ann Cailteux ("Remnant," Mustard Seed Theatre)

Teresa Doggett ("Playhouse Creatures," The Orange Girls)

Dorothy Marshall Englis ("Kiss Me, Kate," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Vincent J. Scassellati ("Hello, Dolly!," the Muny)

Outstanding Set Design

Winner: DUNSI DAI ("Remnant," Mustard Seed Theatre)

Other nominees:

Scott DeBroux ("An American Daughter," the Orange Girls)

John Ezell ("Heartbreak House," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Luke Hegel-Cantarella ("The Bomb-itty of Errors," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Narelle Sissons ("Bad Dates," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Lighting Design

Winner: GLENN DUNN ("Remnant," Mustard Seed Theatre)

Other nominees: Kirk Bookmann ("Dracula," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Jason Cannon ("Hamlet," RiverCity Theatre and Vanity Theatre)

Matthew McCarthy ("A Little Night Music," Stages St. Louis)

John Wylie ("Bad Dates," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Sound Design

Winner: DAVID B. SMITH ("Dracula," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Other nominees:

Matt Callahan ("Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Tori Meyer ("Altar Boyz," Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Mike Radentz ("Soldier Boy/The Little Frenchy Files," the Midnight Company)

Farshid Soltanshahi ("Knives in Hens," Upstream Theater)

Robin Weatherall ("Much Ado About Nothing," Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)

expensive kids, broken homes, monkey shenanigans

2008-03-25T12:01:00.000-05:00

The Boy is back at school. It was nice having him home for Spring Break, but it was also expensive. He was always asking for money for movies, bowling, eating out, etc. Now that he’s back on campus we can get back to our budget. heehee.

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Have you noticed how on the TV show “House” they always have to almost kill their ~~victim~~ patient before they can cure them? Well, I think the same sort of thing seems to happen in the reality show “Holmes on Homes”, except of course Holmes works on houses, not people. Not that Holmes creates the problems. No, not at all. He resolves problems that folks have encountered with shoddy construction. But it always seems to be that the initial problem turns into many, many more problems that he’ll have to resolve before the ~~patient~~ house is ~~cured~~ fixed. I love this show. I love this guy! If you haven’t seen the show, I highly recommend it. Info here.

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This weekend I put a few new items up in my Etsy shop. One of them was a tote bag I had made a few years ago. I had stored it away and totally forgot about it, but while going through my fabric stash I discovered it again. I ironed it, took pix, put it up on the site, went to the gym, and when I came back it had already sold! Awesome! Very exciting! I found another similar tote bag that is only partially completed. I’ll finish it up this week and put it up on the site. Hopefully, I’ll get lucky again and someone will snatch it up right away!

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Our newest Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre production is in rehearsal now. This play should be a hoot! We’re doing a parody of the tv special “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”. You don't want to miss this one!