I keep trying to make an update here, but my thoughts are very scattered lately, and I often forget what I was going to write. *sigh*

Tomorrow is my last day working at the JCC until February. From here on out, I'm full time at Lamplighters (God help me). Fittings have been...erm. Interesting, I guess. There have been a few times when I've put a costume on someone and went through the whole take-it-in-here let-it-out-there process, then after they left I found another costume that might have worked better for them. *facepalm* I'm trying not to beat myself up for all my little mistakes, but it's hard when I know the costume shop manager (who designed the costumes) is very picky about tiny details, and she WILL notice anything/everything I do "wrong." I haven't seen much of her, since she's currently busy with her costumes for the Bracebridge Dinner in Yosemite (...whoa). But I'm anticipating a lot of commentary by the time she gets back in January. Not that she'd ever be mean to me, because she's a sweetheart, but...I just want so much to leave a good impression, but I know I'm very much wet behind the ears compared to everyone else at this company. And that they're all watching me to make sure I don't fuck it up. Gah. GAH! :/

And pardon me while I murder people. Several folks didn't show up to their fitting appointments. Oh my god, do you WANT to go onstage naked? Because that can be arranged. Jesus Tapdancing Christ.


Also...

Dear whoever rented our costumes and cut 4-5 inches off the bottom of several Act 1 dresses,

I KEEL YOU.

No Love,
Me


I don't know what shade of stupid you must be to not understand how CUTTING THINGS OFF OF RENTED COSTUMES IS A BAD IDEA. Do you know how difficult it will be to find matching fabric for costumes built in 1992?? Or hell, even if I find good fabric, how difficult it will be to add to the length of a costume without disrupting the original design? GAAAAAAH *_*


Ugh, I didn't intend to write such a negative post. I really need to find time to write about the show itself and post pictures of my workplace, since I'm sure a few of you would find it interesting. Fortunately I have a bit of free time here and there this week, which is nice.

But I must go to bed now...I need to be up in about 6 hours for work. *sigh*

I am SO TIRED of listening to my mom make negative, offhand remarks about my sewing work.

"When are you going to finish that winter coat you were working on? You NEVER finish anything!"
"Well, I'm a bit BUSY sewing flower girl dresses for Jeannie and picking up extra shifts at work, Mom..."
"Oh, it's taking you such a long time to finish those! Why is it taking you so long?"
"......Because I'm picking up extra shifts at work. To pay my RENT. Because you aren't helping me with that anymore, remember?"
"Well I hope Jeannie doesn't get mad! If it were me, I'd be worried that it's taking this long!"
"I'm doing the best I can..."
"You haven't started Ivy's dress, either! How long will SHE have to wait?"
"THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH I CAN DO AT ONCE! JESUS!"

Thanks for the unnecessary commentary, woman. I'm not the fastest sewer in the world and I'm already worried about my lack of time management skills, and your opinion helps me SO MUCH. Fucking Christ.

I'm trying to crank out these dresses as fast as I can, since I need to have them done before Thanksgiving, when Jeannie's daughter will be in town and can bring them back to Montana with her for the wedding. I wish I could work faster. My ADD has been acting up lately because I'm stressed, so that is NOT helping. :(

My Lamplighters job begins on Wednesday...I'm trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to have a life once that starts. My schedule will be, um....special. :/ I know I need to drop at least one day from my PJCC work schedule, but I'm not sure which day yet.

I turn 25 on Sunday. What. The. Fuck. I'm not really doing anything celebratory other than a family dinner because, erm...I don't have time. Because of all the things I talked about before this paragraph. God, I fail at time management. :/ Mike suggested that he, Allison and I should have a San Francisco adventure, so we're doing that on Monday. Even though I should really be sewing. But I need to do SOMETHING for my birthday, dammit. Maybe we'll go to the Exploratorium or something. Or Japantown. We'll see...

I feel so BLARGH lately. I had PMS for a full week, I swear to god, and now that my period is over I'm STILL cranky and antisocial. Idunno what's going on there...probably a combination of panicking over my new wardrobe manager position and the thought of turning one year older, which always freaks me out for some reason. I got super depressed about my birthday last year, but I didn't have all these distractions to keep me from dwelling on it too much...I hope I'm not going into another depression dip. Because that would be BAD FUCKING TIMING.


Dammit, I was supposed to write a glowing review of This Is It tonight, because that movie was epic fuckwin, but I'm just not in the mood.

Ugh, fuck this shit. I'm going to bed.

Hrrm, today wasn't nearly as productive as I wanted it to be. I was supposed to help my mom plant bulbs in the backyard, since she doesn't have the energy to get the job done by herself. The plan was to start working at 10:30, but it was still really cold outside, so I helped Mom clean up the house a bit first. In the end we only worked outside for about 2 hours, mostly sorting through the ridiculous amount of bulbs she bought (she has a tendency to get carried away with her gardening) before Mom got pooped and needed to take a nap. She just can't exert herself the way she used to. :(

One of the cool things about helping Mom with her gardening is learning about flowers I've never seen before, like Red Fritillaria, which looks strangely prehistoric. The bulbs are stinky in garlicky kind of way; I find myself wondering how they would taste sauteed with a little olive oil and butter. But alas, they are poisonous.


I wasted away the rest of the day online. How typical of me. *snort* I wound up rewatching select scenes from A Very Potter Musical and wishing there was an existing soundtrack other than a YouTube mp3 rip (and also wishing that some of the actors were better singers, although I suppose their amateur voices add a certain charm).

...I haven't talked about A Very Potter Musical here before, have I? If you haven't seen it yet, you should check it out. It is all at once dumb and fucking hilarious. It varies in quality depending on who's in the scene...some characters are purposefully played out-of-character and it fails miserably (Snape and Dumbledore, I'm looking at you) but other characters like Draco steal the show (he shows up at 4:45). I cannot get over the adorableness of the girl who plays Draco; I want to take her home in a little box and keep her forever. :3 She can't always hit the right notes, poor thing, but the way she slinks around onstage reminds me of Fitzwilliam the Gender-Confused Child from The Big Gay Sketch Show, and that is enough to make me love her.

And don't even get me started on the whole Voldemort/Quirrel thing...somehow this musical made me fangirl a slash couple that I NEVER EVER would have considered fangirling. But I can't help it. THEY'RE TOO CUTE. ♥ Also, the guy who plays Voldemort is really hot. Like, he has no business being that hot and playing Lord Voldemort. SERIOUSLY.


I am slowly working my way through Stephen Fry's autobiography Moab is My Washpot. I did NOT expect his writing style to be so tangential...maybe it's just this one book that's so rambly, and his others are more linear? Despite his apparent lack of attention span, it's a very enjoyable book. I'm just now getting to the juicy parts dealing with his schoolboy acts of thievery and gayness.

I'm going to see Michael Jackson's This Is It tomorrow with Mom. We're both way too excited about it, LOL :P

I never realized that MJ's songs could be layered so beautifully!

Now if only MJ were singing it instead of this guy...he does a good job though. Also, nice camera trick!



That shout of "SAM!! I WANNA HAVE YOUR BABIES!!" at the beginning cracks me up.

Thank you for the nice comments on my previous post! I am taking the job, by the way...realized after reading the comments that I didn't really make that clear! ^^;; I'm trading e-mails with the costume shop manager about many many things...*head spins* All these little details and timing, timing, timing. I don't think this job will really get going until the second week of November, since there's another costumer using the shop for the gala/fundraiser costumes right now. That still gives me two months. Also, it turns out that this job does not require me to be at performances (...WTF?) but if I want to be a dresser for the show I can get paid additional wages for that. UM. HELL YES.

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but I'm currently sewing two flower girl dresses for a family friend's wedding. I need to make sure I get those finished before I start this job. @_@



I had originally planned to attend Yaoi-Con this Saturday, but my work schedule threw a wrench in my plans. (You CANNOT find sub coverage on a holiday like Halloween.) I briefly considered going on Sunday instead, but then I realized -- what the HELL am I going to Yaoi-Con for? I don't have money right now. And the dealer's room is a fucking siren's call. So no Yaoi-Con for me this year. It's more fun if you have friends with you anyway, and once again I couldn't get anyone to tag along.

*sigh* Yes, I work on Halloween. Balls. I get off at 8:15 and I don't like the idea of driving on the freeway with a bunch of drunk people in an attempt to get to someone's Halloween party (not to mention traffic). Don't have a costume this year anyway. BUT! My family is having Halloween dinner late just for me, and we're having some positively scrumptious pumpkin soup, so that makes me feel better. :)

I thought of a great Halloween costume idea today. LOL yeah, I know...two days before Halloween. Great timing. It would be for next year, maybe. I don't think too many other people have done it, but I'm sure someone somewhere has. It's the way I'd do it that would make it different. The only problem is that it could take a long time to make the costume, and there would be a lot of makeup involved. (Me and the goddamn makeup!!) Seeing as how I somehow never have anywhere to go on Halloween, I would need to make sure I went someplace where people would be able to see all my hard work. But it could be a really cool costume. Hmmmmmm! :3

So today I was going to e-mail the costume manager for Lamplighters and ask if they had any availability for me to work as a stitcher for their upcoming show. But this morning, I got an e-mail from the general manager:

Hi Lauren:

I'm wondering if you might be interested in working as our costumer for the Lamplighters' upcoming production of "Patience". The performance dates are below my signature. Our usual costumers are not available, but Melissa tells me that you are up to the job, and that she would be willing to walk you through a lot of the details. Other regular Lamplighter costumers have also offered assistance, even though they are not able to take the lead on this production.

The money is not much, sad to say - it's a flat fee of $2,500. But most of the costumes already exist - some would require alterations. I don't know how good or bad the sizes are with this year's cast, and how many costumes would need a rebuild. But it won't be anything like the intensity of My Fair Lady! The "Patience" costumes are Melissa's design, so are wonderful!

If you are interested and available, let me know. If yes, you should meet with Melissa so that she can explain all the ins and outs of the job, to make sure that you are comfortable with the position.

Hoping that this works out!
Best wishes,
Sarah

Sarah Vardigans
General Manager
Lamplighters Music Theatre


Not even lying, I'm kinda having a heart attack right now. The thought of being in charge of the costumes for a show.....AAGGHHHHADSLAJLJKLK:LJS o_o;;;;

...I'm glad I didn't AUDITION for this show like I said I would! There's no way I could do both!! LMAO

I've been on a huge Stephen Fry kick for the past couple of days. Much like aquandrian and her immense love for Jerry Lewis, I have been binging on YouTube videos and adding numerous movies and TV series to my Netflix list. I made a stop at Barnes & Noble today and foolishly wandered into the DVD section, only to have a heart attack at the sight of an ENTIRE DISPLAY dedicated to British TV shows & films, including A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves & Wooster box sets. WAAAAAAAANT. But I don't have money for that sort of thing right now. Hmm. Birthday or Xmas present?? I THINK SO.

But back to Stephen. I really do love this man, and it pains me that so many Americans don't even know who he is, as he has yet to achieve "stardom" in Hollywood...nevermind the fact that many people in the UK consider him to be a national treasure. So for any of my fellow Americans who are completely in the dark: Stephen Fry is a British comedian and television star, novelist, insanely brilliant human being, and quite possibly the most charming man in the universe. He is also gay, and has been very open about his struggle with bipolar disorder (he even made a documentary about it...watch it. It is fascinating, and he totally deserved the Emmy he won for making it.) He went to Cambridge with Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson, among other now-famous actors, and he's basically the type of man you would want to be a part of your family...like a big lovable uncle. He's also the most-followed celebrity on Twitter, because he is THAT awesome. :)

( Oh look, VIDEOS!! TONS OF THEM!! )

So funny how, in their Fry and Laurie days, Stephen almost always played the "smart" one and Hugh played the "dumb" or "silly" one...when in fact Hugh tended to be the big decision-maker when it came to their writing material. It's so sweet that they're still best friends after all these years. :3

Okay, I am very much overdue for a legit update. Thing is, there's not much to say about my life right now...I work 3 days a week at the JCC and I'm trying to find work elsewhere, without much luck. The main problem is that I need a job with flexible days and hours, because I'll be getting back into theater work this winter...and in this economy, finding a job AT ALL is difficult. :/ I've had interviews at two temp agencies, and neither one has been much help. *sigh*

So I'm getting by with my part time work and some sewing projects for other people. I just made a vest for a little boy for a family friend's wedding, and they've asked me to make two flower girl dresses, so I'm working on that next. I also did some catsitting, which always helps on the money front; the Meyers pay me really well to take care of their furry babies. :3

Let's see...what else??

~ I'm trying to get Mike and Allison into watching awesome, mindbendy movies with me, but I'm getting the impression that my taste in film runs a bit darker and grittier than they like. I finally got them to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and I'm not sure how much they liked it. (Me? I could watch it a million times over. I LOVE that movie. WE CAN'T STOP HERE, THIS IS BAT COUNTRY.) I'm wondering how they'll take Synecdoche, New York and Mulholland Drive. I can't help it if I like mindfuck movies. I just wish I had some RL friends who liked them too. :(

~ Stanford Theatre's 20th Anniversary Festival = waaaay too many awesome movies to see! I have a feeling I'll be driving to Palo Alto a lot in the next two months. Oy.

~ Trent Reznor and Mariqueen Maandig got married today. Goth girls around the world wept in agony. Okay, in all seriousness, as much as I'm still all "WTF" over this whole ordeal and his choice of bride, I gotta say that he's got good taste in wedding music. (I love how I'm learning all this stuff about his wedding because the guests are Tweeting. It's a brave new world, folks.) And as much as I'm convinced that this marriage won't last, I am glad that he's happy now...at least for a little while. Poor bastard's been through enough shitty relationships. Enjoy it while you've got it, Trent.



Jesus, I can't think of anything else to write. I always think of stuff during the day that I can put here, but I can never remember it later when I'm at my computer. :(

Oh my god, it should NOT take this long to make a goddamn vest.

I hate being unemployed (or mostly unemployed, I have two shifts a week) because without a structured daily schedule, I accomplish NOTHING for weeks on end.

...I hate my A.D.D.

Thought I'd make a quick update while I'm at my parents' house doing laundry...Martha decided to Bogart our washing machine at home. (Laundry Day is a very dangerous day, indeed.)

The sewing bug has finally bitten me again. I was pretty wiped out after making costumes for My Fair Lady, which will end after this weekend's performances in Livermore. But now that I've had a "break" (if you could call it that) from sewing while I worked as a dresser for a month, I now want to pick up my old projects and finish them. I think my sudden joblessness has something to do with this...once the show is over, I'm only working 10 hours a week at the JCC. Until I find another job, I'm going to have a LOT of free time. Quite a mixed blessing, I think. Free time will be nice, but queue the flailing arms over lack of employment. *sigh*

My first order of business is Ivy's dress. She commissioned me earlier this year and I didn't have time to work on it until now. We went fabric shopping two days ago and had way too much fun at the Thai Silks store in Los Altos, even though we didn't find what we're looking for...you wouldn't think it would be so hard to find a pale blue taffeta at a reasonable price. (And so, I turn to the internets for help!)

Second order of business is my double breasted winter coat, which my mom keeps bringing up over and over. I can't blame her, she paid a lot of money for the nice wool fabric. It's hard to work on a project like that when it's so hot out (it is HEAVY wool) but I need to get cracking on it, or Mom will never forgive me. :P

Thanks to the latest episode of Project Runway (THANK GOD IT'S BACK), I have learned about a nifty little technique called lattice smocking. It's gorgeous and I really want to learn how to do it. Thankfully after all my hard work on My Fair Lady, my hand sewing is much better than before. I need to think of a good project for this!