Finster Finds

We had our annual party last night. It was swell! So much fun. Every year it is different, but fun. I am now recovering. I cannot party like a 20 year old now that I am in my 40s. So sorry body. You will have to deal with it.

Okay, so tomorrow I am supposed to take both my children to drama class at the Foote Theatre School in the Citadel Theatre. It's not to bad, but I have one in at 9 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m. so we go for one, come home, and go back for the second. However, tomorrow is the Grey Cup Celebration stuff which is being held downtown. We got a couple of calls - one yesterday for Gibson and one today for Oliver about this issue. My response was " Oh $%!t ". Because basically the parking will be horrible, AND you can only enter the building via the Foote Theatre doors, AND several streets will be blocked off. I don't know how close I can get. I don't know if I will be walking for 2 blocks, or 3, or 4 or 10 blocks for that matter (with 2 kids in tow). I don't know what it will cost. I don't know how many moronic drivers will be out there on the roads. It will probably be better for Gibson's class at 9 a.m. but Oliver's is at 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. whi...

Maybe. Or maybe with rehearsals my life is just pretty full. This is the mixed blessing of Edmonton - there is so much to see and not enough time to see it. And sometimes you make the wrong choice and see the wrong thing instead of something that would have been better/different. Anyhow, I have seen a few shows this month and missed a few and rehearsed quite a bit ( and oh those are my children) , and now I feel overloaded. The most expensive show I saw was one of the furthest from the best. The most inexpensive show I saw was the best I have seen in forever - the rest were scattered in the middle on both price and quality. I missed at least four (The Crucible, Laramie, Legion Blues, and Edward Muybridge) that I wanted to catch and having not seen them I do not know how they were, but reports were good so I feel regret. Anyhow, those of you who might think there is nothing to do in Edmonton are sadly deluded. There is so much and at times too, too much. I am now gearing up for M...

We went to the Broadway Across Canada production of Grease at the Jubilee tonight. It was fun. Very surreal, however, because the chronology was so different from the movie and I know the movie so well. Once I settled in and just accepted it as going to be different I had a lot of fun. Some major issues with mic balance (which shouldn't happen for that much money!) but we had a good time. We go with Richie and Vero and it is nice to have those pre-established 'dates' so we get to see them. I have plans to bring Vero lunch and hang with her and the baby, but we have to pick a date! Anyhow, it was a nice night out. We went for supper and the show and it was all good.

It seems as though I can never get the balance just right. I am either incredibly busy I am stressed about it or so under-busy I am bored and stir crazy. When I get my stuff sorted out to the right level, then 16 of my friends have shows on and I need to see them, but I can't possibly get to all of them. Sigh. It's feast or famine. I squeeze in a book a week (which feels like under performing in the reading area for me) and I agonize that I have yet to start my Drama Paper (due in two weeks - yikes! - at least I've done my reading and have my research books). I have glitter and green paint on my fingers from building props and have somehow managed to feed the kids (that's a good thing) and get them to their activities. I feel overwhelmed, but I know that once all the shows are done I will feel at loose ends. Sigh.

And I have seen some good theatre this year, don't get me wrong. BUT Northern Light Theatre's THE 4TH GRADERS PRESENT AN UNNAMED LOVE -SUICIDE was the absolute best think I have seen in I don't know how long. Only 30 seats per show. Normal run length. A script that would be so easy to screw up, but they certainly didn't. If you can, go see it. It is nothing you could ever expect.

Last night I went to a friend's birthday party while Mark and the boys went to a Guy Fawkes party. I had fun. It was great chatting with friends I haven't seen in awhile. I stayed out too late and I am tired today, but that's okay. I also stopped by the theatre on the way and checked in on Much Ado. I saw about a 1/3 of the show and it looks good. Some 'line' calling, but they are almost a month out (3 1/2 weeks) so I was pretty impressed. Not a script onstage! It is physical and fast but not frenetic. The cast is having fun and seem to know what they are doing. That's where I like to see a show 3 1/2 weeks out. I have some props work to get done, before we get too much closer. I need to steal a sword to build the scabbards so I will do that this weekend. I have had to deal with some drama this week at the theatre. I knew things were running too smoothly. Sigh. I hope it is all resolved, but you never know. Cross your fingers for me. It's nothing...

The worst thing about this job is the people... Sometimes they are the very same people. I get to work with so many amazing people. I am lucky in that. Sometimes they are completely unreasonable. I guess that is true anywhere. I let so much slide off my back, I wonder why more people can't do that. One day I am going to freak and it isn't going to be pretty. Be warned.

Sigh. I had a whopper of a library bill to pay today. I tried to renew them online but couldn't figure out how to do it so I took them back today and faced the music. Yikes. 5 books. 2$ a day. 7 days. You can do the math. The librarian was lovely. Told me that as long as the fees were under $50 I could take out more - so I got them down to $30 and took out what I needed. I will have to make sure I get my paper written in less than 2 weeks so that I can get those new ones returned. EPL is a lot cheaper for fines. Sigh. Oh well, I probably helped pay for more books for the library. Just doing my part! Yesterday started so crappy. I basically lost the day waiting on my car and then getting Mark's so I could accomplish the rest of the day. This past week when you count the rental car and the repairs we spent almost $1000 on my car. I think it is time for a new one. Really. If you include the lost time for me it is even more valuable. Ggah! The evening was better. I was...

I am really enjoying my theatre history class at the U of A. I know some of the other students might be a bit less into it because we spent over a month on Greek Theatre before moving on to anything else, but looking at the resources we could probably spend a whole 4 month son Greek Theatre and still not cover everything. I was very excited because today I found the resources I need to write my paper. Yippee! I would like to get a draft done this week so that I can get it proofed by our Professor (he said if we got him a draft by the 5th of Nov he would read and comment and get it back to us after the Remembrance day weekend). Now, it might be silly to be so excited about a resource, but I really didn't know how they would have done this one effect and now that I know I feel so much better. AH!