Holy shit. Too much bad! All around too...one of my group-mates in one of my classes father died yesterday and one of my prof's has a death of a family member looming and didn't make it to class today. Ugh. March, you are ON THE LIST.

Hugs and ~ma and prayers to everyone. Ugh.

Susan, are you around? I need you to point me to some of your fundamentalist/dominionist blog/other resources links.

I need you to point me to some of your fundamentalist/dominionist blog/other resources links.

This sort of thing never ends well....

This sort of thing never ends well....

Ha! It's for a group research project at school. Really. It's vital to my completion of my degree.

I think we need home videos of Taz too.

We have decided that necessary kitty accessories for Teh Hoomans are:

Roomba
digital camera - and now I think it should be a digital video thing too!

Oh, that's totally perfect Nora! Digital cameras with video capability aren't even that expensive anymore.

Ok. Off to grab some lunch then tutor for five hours. WOOT!

Health-ma for...way too many people and pets than I should need to. Kicks cancer for good measure.

We have decided that necessary kitty accessories for Teh Hoomans are:

Roomba

digital camera - and now I think it should be a digital video thing too!

Especially so you can film the Roomba chasing the cat. Taz looks like a sweetheart. A hard-boiled sweetheart, apparently.

Especially so you can film the Roomba chasing the cat.

My cats are disappointingly uninterested in/unperturbed by my roomba.

Good grief, Empress. So sorry.

And much cat-ma to all concerned, too. And Yay Taz, also - although my connection wouldn't allow me to watch the video. But he's clearly cute as a button.

t ventypants

So, the little play I'm in for the Fringe, which we're performing next week? The director...he's a nice bloke, I like him, I enjoy his company - but he could not direct his way out of a paper bag. And it doesn't matter - it's just the Fringe, which is precisely to give people the opportunity to try their hand at something new. And it's nice that he's so chilled about me forever sticking my oar in and saying "But I think surely [X]". But, but I wish I didn't need to do this! I wish that he understood how the play works, and knew all the lines, and had a handle on the characters. Because he really doesn't. At all. And the other actors are sufficiently inexperienced themselves that I think it isn't galling them, but - damn it, I may not have done lots of acting, but I've done a whole lifetime of reading, and story is something I really really do get. This is such a tiny wee play that it's criminal to me that he doesn't have a solid grasp of what the lines are (fuck, I know the other people's lines just from hearing them in rehearsals and reading the script through a few times - he should know them better than me), let alone that he doesn't understand how it functions dramatically. He's just - he really doesn't have a handle on the characters or the rhythms of the piece.

I realise this sounds unspeakably pretentious, and I'm sorry - but I need to vent this in a place where nobody's feelings will be hurt.

And I am being STUPID, because, man, I have like four or five lines total (but I'm on stage the whole damn time, and am thus going to make the most of acting my arse off the rest of the time sans lines), but I know I've put more into guiding, supporting and directing the (inexperienced) lead actress, and into giving encouragement and constructive criticism to the others, than he has. Because you NEED to tell people what they did well before you pinpoint what you want them to change, damn it! You need to be recognizing their successes and boosting their confidence even as you help them to tweak things, you really do - especially when your cast is largely either inexperienced or in their teens.

It doesn't matter. It's going to be fun. I do like him. (I may have reassessed my respect for him when he revealed that he was under the impression that Tom Stoppard was one of the actors in the Fifteen Minute Hamlet, rather than, you know, the writer, but that's just because I'm a bit of a snob. He's still a good bloke, and fun, and likeable.) But - gah. He doesn't know what he's doing, and I don't think he even realises it. It's doing my head in.

t / ventypants

Sounds like you need to direct the next play, methinks ;)

See what knowing what you're doing gets you?

{{{Everyone}}}

I just talked to Mom again. She is still feeling lousy, but she is more upset that she can't go back to work this week. My mother doesn't know how to sit down for 5 minutes. I wish I had my car so I could go see her today, but TCG has it. His car is in the shop AGAIN.

I can't wait to be in Dallas tomorrow night. Must pack.