So, I went to randomly help out at a show build/load-in today, and it was really fun. While I was there, the designer (who I had only met today) sent me to look for some materials in the theater board's office. I couldn't find it, and I thought to myself, "I'm not a very good finder. There's a reason I'm not a Hufflepuff..." and then I edited myself on the Hufflepuff part when I explained that I couldn't find what I was sent for. Then he said, "I guess you're not a Hufflepuff" and it totally made my day. There were two more Harry Potter references today: a person talked to me about apparating and I had a Moaning Myrtles moment when I decided to use "the bathroom on the second floor...what was Olive thinking? Now this is war" (facepalm!)
Yeah. And last week I had to talk about HP in my religion class. Am I an obsessed fan? A little bit.
In other news, I almost walked into a U-Haul today and I didn't realize that I knew the driver until after it had passed. I killed a midterm this afternoon and got to high-five my Psych professor's dog. I realized that I really like hanging lights. It's mental, physical, and a team job; I'm getting pretty good at it; and it's just fun. That's about all. The show is over, we had strike yesterday, and there will be a longer reflection about that later. I just had to document that somebody else made a Very Potter Musical reference to me without knowing my fandom affiliation.
Today is awesome because of Team Starkid. And lights.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
January 27, 2011
So, it's been a week and I owe you an update.
Opening weekend of the show was AMAZING!! We had a fantastic opening night, followed by a classy gala, and it was just so much fun to celebrate everyone's hard work. I think my proudest moments were:
1. Getting through the show without the team members who had been physically with me throughout the process until that point (they were all watching the show from the balcony). I was really nervous about accidentally doing something that I couldn't fix, but I didn't, and it was great. I felt a sense of accomplishment from the transition of being the complete newbie on the team to being the one on whom the lighting of the show depended, and my ability to execute the position felt awesome.
2. Right before the show, we were in the pre-show light cue that had some stage visibility for the crew and actors and the house lights up. The stage manager asked me if we had a post-show cue that did the same thing, and, after checking, we didn't. I programmed the pre-show cue to become the post-show cue, which is what I thought our designer would have had me do if he had been there. During curtain call, he ran down to the booth from the balcony to solve that exact problem, and I told him what we did. I think it's what he was about to do, and it made me feel like I had really learned something during the process to be able to think of it on my own.
3. After the opening show, our designer said I did a good job and he was proud of me. Now, this sounds like a strange thing to be proud of, a creepy hierarchical hero-worship type thing, but I have legitimate reasons that have to do as much with structure as with the person. This was a similar feeling to when I was asked to work on other lighting teams; I was recognized as being competent and worth working with. First of all, the designer was super-stressed before the show. He had been in the theater for about 2.5 hours trying to finish and perfect the looks before we opened, so he had a lot on his mind. He took five pages of notes during the performance to fix the next day. Second, when he's in cueing mode, he is so focused that it takes some work to get his attention before he can answer. Third, he's really good at what he does. When somebody talented compliments my execution of his vision, of course I'm going to take it to heart. Finally, I was an inexperienced ball of nerves before the show, so to know that I got it right was very encouraging.
The Saturday show was also fabulous; we sold out the largest space on campus. After, I got to hang out with show friends (probably a bit too late at night/into the morning...) and it was really nice to have that time together. Sunday's matinee was a bit disappointing. We had 100 people in the audience (compared to 1000 the night before), and I messed up a cue that I always had gotten right. I'm still disappointed in myself about it, but I know that nobody else really noticed. I just like getting it right. Act 2 was kind of wonky in general that day.
From after the show on Sunday to this afternoon, we were what is called "dark," meaning we haven't even been in the theater. The saddest part of each day has been walking home from class without going into the theater as I pass it. Having a bunch of time in the evenings has be really strange, and I miss both the action of doing theater and the social aspects of working as a team. I joined the student theater listservs the other day, so I really hope to continue working on shows. I'm just super excited for the last four days of this production!!
My classes have continued chugging along. I'm almost through the first wave of midterms (last one is on Monday), and I think everything is going well. I've got two more exams in both Psych and Sociology, a final in Religion, and two more papers to kill in my seminar. All in all, I just need to keep reading, thinking, and studying and it should be a good quarter. These past four weeks have gone so fast!
There's not much else to say...I've been living my show for the past month and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself once it's over. Oh! I did have a revelation yesterday. I need to start taking my schoolwork to public places because if I'm not secluded in my room there is a chance that I'll run into somebody I know. Obvious, I know, but it took a few days of solitude to figure out where to go and what to bring with me. I currently like sitting in a comfy chair to read at the Starbucks in the student center.
Today is awesome because of Coffee and Psych, new flavors of Luna bars, burrito day, and going back to the theater!!
Opening weekend of the show was AMAZING!! We had a fantastic opening night, followed by a classy gala, and it was just so much fun to celebrate everyone's hard work. I think my proudest moments were:
1. Getting through the show without the team members who had been physically with me throughout the process until that point (they were all watching the show from the balcony). I was really nervous about accidentally doing something that I couldn't fix, but I didn't, and it was great. I felt a sense of accomplishment from the transition of being the complete newbie on the team to being the one on whom the lighting of the show depended, and my ability to execute the position felt awesome.
2. Right before the show, we were in the pre-show light cue that had some stage visibility for the crew and actors and the house lights up. The stage manager asked me if we had a post-show cue that did the same thing, and, after checking, we didn't. I programmed the pre-show cue to become the post-show cue, which is what I thought our designer would have had me do if he had been there. During curtain call, he ran down to the booth from the balcony to solve that exact problem, and I told him what we did. I think it's what he was about to do, and it made me feel like I had really learned something during the process to be able to think of it on my own.
3. After the opening show, our designer said I did a good job and he was proud of me. Now, this sounds like a strange thing to be proud of, a creepy hierarchical hero-worship type thing, but I have legitimate reasons that have to do as much with structure as with the person. This was a similar feeling to when I was asked to work on other lighting teams; I was recognized as being competent and worth working with. First of all, the designer was super-stressed before the show. He had been in the theater for about 2.5 hours trying to finish and perfect the looks before we opened, so he had a lot on his mind. He took five pages of notes during the performance to fix the next day. Second, when he's in cueing mode, he is so focused that it takes some work to get his attention before he can answer. Third, he's really good at what he does. When somebody talented compliments my execution of his vision, of course I'm going to take it to heart. Finally, I was an inexperienced ball of nerves before the show, so to know that I got it right was very encouraging.
The Saturday show was also fabulous; we sold out the largest space on campus. After, I got to hang out with show friends (probably a bit too late at night/into the morning...) and it was really nice to have that time together. Sunday's matinee was a bit disappointing. We had 100 people in the audience (compared to 1000 the night before), and I messed up a cue that I always had gotten right. I'm still disappointed in myself about it, but I know that nobody else really noticed. I just like getting it right. Act 2 was kind of wonky in general that day.
From after the show on Sunday to this afternoon, we were what is called "dark," meaning we haven't even been in the theater. The saddest part of each day has been walking home from class without going into the theater as I pass it. Having a bunch of time in the evenings has be really strange, and I miss both the action of doing theater and the social aspects of working as a team. I joined the student theater listservs the other day, so I really hope to continue working on shows. I'm just super excited for the last four days of this production!!
My classes have continued chugging along. I'm almost through the first wave of midterms (last one is on Monday), and I think everything is going well. I've got two more exams in both Psych and Sociology, a final in Religion, and two more papers to kill in my seminar. All in all, I just need to keep reading, thinking, and studying and it should be a good quarter. These past four weeks have gone so fast!
There's not much else to say...I've been living my show for the past month and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself once it's over. Oh! I did have a revelation yesterday. I need to start taking my schoolwork to public places because if I'm not secluded in my room there is a chance that I'll run into somebody I know. Obvious, I know, but it took a few days of solitude to figure out where to go and what to bring with me. I currently like sitting in a comfy chair to read at the Starbucks in the student center.
Today is awesome because of Coffee and Psych, new flavors of Luna bars, burrito day, and going back to the theater!!
Friday, January 21, 2011
January 21, 2011
This blog comes to you in two parts.
Part 1: a life update.
1. The Show. We open tonight. I've spent the last week on headset with the stage manager and lighting designer programming and board opping the rehearsals. It's been really fun, at times overwhelming, and really educational. I really loved being so close to the artistic process of lighting the show. Since I was the one pressing the buttons to make things look a certain way, I got to experience firsthand how the tweaks the designer makes change what the stage looks like. Tonight will be the first time running the show without the designer in my ear, so I'm nervous about that, but I feel like I know what to do.
2. Classes. They're going great so far. I'm halfway through my first round of assessments and I perceive things to be going well.
3. Life in general. I've been continuing to practice the guitar, though I haven't really had time to learn new songs. I miss tae kwon do, but I'm getting the same type of enjoyment from theater, so it's a fair substitution. I practiced all of my forms yesterday, and that was really gratifying.
Part 2: "Outside World" by Lauren Fairweather.
This song is what inspired me to learn the guitar in the first place. Here are the lyrics:
There she was, eating dinner by herself again
Until he walked right up, sat down and then
He asked her where she’d been all year
They had danced one night then she disappeared
She said she felt left out, she felt awkward
When it came down to it, she was just a nerd
The college parties just weren’t her scene
So she’d rather make friends through her laptop screen
Prechorus:
She was out of her comfort zone
Unless she was online
But his smile gave her something else
That she couldn’t quite define
Chorus:
And she was getting lost in his big blue eyes
Her breath caught in her throat whenever he walked by
She told herself it wouldn’t ever happen
Still he must have taken interest for a reason
If she didn’t matter and he didn’t care
It would hurt but still she wasn’t going anywhere
So she made her choice, slapped on a grin
And she’d try to brave the outside world for him
He said i know it’s hard and i know you’re scared
But there are things out here you can’t find in there
Sometime you’ve got to come out of your cave
The friends you’ll find are worth being brave
He knew there was more to her than what appeared
She just isn’t in her element when she’s stuck here
And while he tried to bring her out of her shell
She realized she was under his spell
Second Prechorus
She checks her email and she finds
He has something to say
Now how the hell’s she going to
Get through the next four days?
Chorus
And she was getting lost in his big blue eyes
Her breath caught in her throat whenever he walked by
She told herself it wouldn’t ever happen
Still he must have taken interest for a reason
If she didn’t matter and he didn’t care
It would hurt but still she wasn’t going anywhere
So she made her choice and took a breath…
And I’m still getting lost in your big blue eyes
My breath catches in my throat whenever you walk by
Was your heart behind it every time you’d flirt?
Or am I just a filthy smudge on your clean white shirt?
There are so many things I wish I could say
But the last thing I want is to scare you away
I just don’t know what else I can do
But here I am, in the outside world, for you.
I really identify with this song. Among other commonalities with my own life, I often feel that "there are so many things I wish I could say but the last thing I want is to scare you away." I find that the honesty of these lyrics make it a particularly powerful song. I can't really think of a person who has never felt that they wished they could say something but filtered it because they were afraid of how it would make them look. I've been thinking about this song for months now, and it never stops being true. I'd like to know what you think of this song, so please leave a comment with your impressions, arguments, analyses, anything really.
And with that, today is awesome because of how excited I feel to be part of this production that is opening tonight (not to mention the Opening Night Gala afterward)!!
Part 1: a life update.
1. The Show. We open tonight. I've spent the last week on headset with the stage manager and lighting designer programming and board opping the rehearsals. It's been really fun, at times overwhelming, and really educational. I really loved being so close to the artistic process of lighting the show. Since I was the one pressing the buttons to make things look a certain way, I got to experience firsthand how the tweaks the designer makes change what the stage looks like. Tonight will be the first time running the show without the designer in my ear, so I'm nervous about that, but I feel like I know what to do.
2. Classes. They're going great so far. I'm halfway through my first round of assessments and I perceive things to be going well.
3. Life in general. I've been continuing to practice the guitar, though I haven't really had time to learn new songs. I miss tae kwon do, but I'm getting the same type of enjoyment from theater, so it's a fair substitution. I practiced all of my forms yesterday, and that was really gratifying.
Part 2: "Outside World" by Lauren Fairweather.
This song is what inspired me to learn the guitar in the first place. Here are the lyrics:
There she was, eating dinner by herself again
Until he walked right up, sat down and then
He asked her where she’d been all year
They had danced one night then she disappeared
She said she felt left out, she felt awkward
When it came down to it, she was just a nerd
The college parties just weren’t her scene
So she’d rather make friends through her laptop screen
Prechorus:
She was out of her comfort zone
Unless she was online
But his smile gave her something else
That she couldn’t quite define
Chorus:
And she was getting lost in his big blue eyes
Her breath caught in her throat whenever he walked by
She told herself it wouldn’t ever happen
Still he must have taken interest for a reason
If she didn’t matter and he didn’t care
It would hurt but still she wasn’t going anywhere
So she made her choice, slapped on a grin
And she’d try to brave the outside world for him
He said i know it’s hard and i know you’re scared
But there are things out here you can’t find in there
Sometime you’ve got to come out of your cave
The friends you’ll find are worth being brave
He knew there was more to her than what appeared
She just isn’t in her element when she’s stuck here
And while he tried to bring her out of her shell
She realized she was under his spell
Second Prechorus
She checks her email and she finds
He has something to say
Now how the hell’s she going to
Get through the next four days?
Chorus
And she was getting lost in his big blue eyes
Her breath caught in her throat whenever he walked by
She told herself it wouldn’t ever happen
Still he must have taken interest for a reason
If she didn’t matter and he didn’t care
It would hurt but still she wasn’t going anywhere
So she made her choice and took a breath…
And I’m still getting lost in your big blue eyes
My breath catches in my throat whenever you walk by
Was your heart behind it every time you’d flirt?
Or am I just a filthy smudge on your clean white shirt?
There are so many things I wish I could say
But the last thing I want is to scare you away
I just don’t know what else I can do
But here I am, in the outside world, for you.
I really identify with this song. Among other commonalities with my own life, I often feel that "there are so many things I wish I could say but the last thing I want is to scare you away." I find that the honesty of these lyrics make it a particularly powerful song. I can't really think of a person who has never felt that they wished they could say something but filtered it because they were afraid of how it would make them look. I've been thinking about this song for months now, and it never stops being true. I'd like to know what you think of this song, so please leave a comment with your impressions, arguments, analyses, anything really.
And with that, today is awesome because of how excited I feel to be part of this production that is opening tonight (not to mention the Opening Night Gala afterward)!!
Friday, January 14, 2011
January 14, 2011
Social interaction is a tightrope. This phenomenon can be observed in daily life or through a more academic lens, such as sociology or social psychology. In the recent months, I have been forming numerous new relationships and interacting with completely new people on a daily basis. In this newness, I feel like I have to edit myself to be "normal" and "likeable" so that I can pursue the friendship to the point of being "comfortable" and "myself." I often worry that I get it wrong.
For instance, I have already posted about my participation and love of internet nerd subculture. This ends up being problematic because I'm the only one in my immediate circle (at school; at home we discovered this community together) who knows anything about it and I have to give long and boring explanations about what I'm referencing and why it's relevant. Like when I got excited about wearing a shirt with a mockingjay on it. Nobody else here reads contemporary YA, so I had to explain that it's from a book and it's a really important symbol of freedom and rebellion. Simple, yet it doesn't encompass the full emotional response that a mockingjay will evoke from a fan of The Hunger Games.
After the point of full filtering, you start to feel more at ease around these people. That's when things get dangerous. How much should you open up? How much teasing is appropriate? When is it too soon to make a joke? How deep is the confidence? These questions are impossible to answer generally and depend entirely on the people, which makes it even harder. My issue is that I'll let my guard down long enough to spew a sentence that I'll later regret and agonize over the possible effects on the relationship, only later to find out that it was only a big deal in my own mind.
This analysis of making friends sounds rather bleak, but it's a process that is necessary to be the social beings that we are. I've been thinking about it a lot since making friends at school just because I can't tell what other people are thinking. There's a way to read body language when you share some background, but at a university everyone comes from a different place and being at school together provides the mutual context. I love meeting new people and having friends; I just worry too much about the accompanying uncertainties.
For the record, I am happy and I do have friends. I just find that these concerns never really go away, especially when there is a continuous process of making new friends and reinforcing relationships every day.
Today is awesome because it is CREW VIEW!! And I'm going to be the light board operator (board op) rather than a spotlight operator (spot op), which just sounds so much cooler :)
For instance, I have already posted about my participation and love of internet nerd subculture. This ends up being problematic because I'm the only one in my immediate circle (at school; at home we discovered this community together) who knows anything about it and I have to give long and boring explanations about what I'm referencing and why it's relevant. Like when I got excited about wearing a shirt with a mockingjay on it. Nobody else here reads contemporary YA, so I had to explain that it's from a book and it's a really important symbol of freedom and rebellion. Simple, yet it doesn't encompass the full emotional response that a mockingjay will evoke from a fan of The Hunger Games.
After the point of full filtering, you start to feel more at ease around these people. That's when things get dangerous. How much should you open up? How much teasing is appropriate? When is it too soon to make a joke? How deep is the confidence? These questions are impossible to answer generally and depend entirely on the people, which makes it even harder. My issue is that I'll let my guard down long enough to spew a sentence that I'll later regret and agonize over the possible effects on the relationship, only later to find out that it was only a big deal in my own mind.
This analysis of making friends sounds rather bleak, but it's a process that is necessary to be the social beings that we are. I've been thinking about it a lot since making friends at school just because I can't tell what other people are thinking. There's a way to read body language when you share some background, but at a university everyone comes from a different place and being at school together provides the mutual context. I love meeting new people and having friends; I just worry too much about the accompanying uncertainties.
For the record, I am happy and I do have friends. I just find that these concerns never really go away, especially when there is a continuous process of making new friends and reinforcing relationships every day.
Today is awesome because it is CREW VIEW!! And I'm going to be the light board operator (board op) rather than a spotlight operator (spot op), which just sounds so much cooler :)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
January 11, 2011: I am a resident of Theater-land
I am pretty much a resident of Theater-land right now.
In my last post, I went through how busy my schedule has become, and I'm pretty much following the same paradigm this week, but the rush of work in the theater has calmed a bit since the actors come in at 6:30.
I never realized how much my involvement in theater has meant to me until it was gone and then returned. I took my first acting class as an after school activity when I was in kindergarten, so it's been a significant part of my life. I have spent approximately ten summers at theater camp, been in all the plays and musicals since I was eligible in seventh grade (that's 2-4 per school year), and took up tech when I was 15. My other huge high school activity was forensics, aka Speech and Debate, but as a speechie, I was still a bit in the realm of theater (though oratory isn't quite the same as acting or interp).
Since working on Team Electrics (or, LX as the lazy people write), I have rediscovered how much this type of community means to me. Going to work in that overheated space for hours each day has made me significantly happier at college and has expanded my social circle. I mean, yesterday I spent about three hours in a hot and stuffy office cutting 162 6.25"x6.25" squares of gel (that's eighteen sheets at nine squares per sheet), and though immediately after I was a bit dazed and delirious from the monotony and heat, I felt triumphant for completing the task.
I also feel different about my own personality. Yes, I still word vomit when I'm excited and spew random internet references, but I've taken some risks that I probably never would have if I hadn't been working on this show. For instance, on Sunday we were focusing the lights for the show, and I spent the day either in a genie (a lift used in theater construction) or on a huge ladder (like, really frighteningly large when we had to put it away) fidgeting with sticky bolts on lighting instruments to get them to point at the correct spot on the stage. I'm so used to heights and ladders that I saw a random ladder in an academic building and was tempted to climb it just to see where it went.
Other strangely satisfying things as a result of this work include my scrapes/bruises/marks from gaff tape on my legs and arms, my love of the cove, and the symbolism of the cove. The cove is the area in the ceiling (literally) where we have some lights. I like going up there because it's quiet, you can see everything, and it's the type of place that would have been forbidden a year ago. However, after being sent up there repeatedly, I realized that it's the newest member of the team who has to go there just because of the climb (which isn't actually all that bad). During focus on Sunday, other people were sent there because they were not full LX members, so that was pretty cool. The symbolism is not lost on me :)
It's weird how different I feel just from adding one activity. I think it's also the people, because the team for this musical is just amazing. Everyone is so nice and caring and collaborative, and it is a joy to be spending this time with them.
Today is awesome because I finally got liquid bandage, replenished my fruit supply, and am somehow in control of my schoolwork. <3 Theater-land.
In my last post, I went through how busy my schedule has become, and I'm pretty much following the same paradigm this week, but the rush of work in the theater has calmed a bit since the actors come in at 6:30.
I never realized how much my involvement in theater has meant to me until it was gone and then returned. I took my first acting class as an after school activity when I was in kindergarten, so it's been a significant part of my life. I have spent approximately ten summers at theater camp, been in all the plays and musicals since I was eligible in seventh grade (that's 2-4 per school year), and took up tech when I was 15. My other huge high school activity was forensics, aka Speech and Debate, but as a speechie, I was still a bit in the realm of theater (though oratory isn't quite the same as acting or interp).
Since working on Team Electrics (or, LX as the lazy people write), I have rediscovered how much this type of community means to me. Going to work in that overheated space for hours each day has made me significantly happier at college and has expanded my social circle. I mean, yesterday I spent about three hours in a hot and stuffy office cutting 162 6.25"x6.25" squares of gel (that's eighteen sheets at nine squares per sheet), and though immediately after I was a bit dazed and delirious from the monotony and heat, I felt triumphant for completing the task.
I also feel different about my own personality. Yes, I still word vomit when I'm excited and spew random internet references, but I've taken some risks that I probably never would have if I hadn't been working on this show. For instance, on Sunday we were focusing the lights for the show, and I spent the day either in a genie (a lift used in theater construction) or on a huge ladder (like, really frighteningly large when we had to put it away) fidgeting with sticky bolts on lighting instruments to get them to point at the correct spot on the stage. I'm so used to heights and ladders that I saw a random ladder in an academic building and was tempted to climb it just to see where it went.
Other strangely satisfying things as a result of this work include my scrapes/bruises/marks from gaff tape on my legs and arms, my love of the cove, and the symbolism of the cove. The cove is the area in the ceiling (literally) where we have some lights. I like going up there because it's quiet, you can see everything, and it's the type of place that would have been forbidden a year ago. However, after being sent up there repeatedly, I realized that it's the newest member of the team who has to go there just because of the climb (which isn't actually all that bad). During focus on Sunday, other people were sent there because they were not full LX members, so that was pretty cool. The symbolism is not lost on me :)
It's weird how different I feel just from adding one activity. I think it's also the people, because the team for this musical is just amazing. Everyone is so nice and caring and collaborative, and it is a joy to be spending this time with them.
Today is awesome because I finally got liquid bandage, replenished my fruit supply, and am somehow in control of my schoolwork. <3 Theater-land.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wow things got busy!! January 6, 2011
Wow. I got back to school on Sunday and have not had a free moment since. I immediately unpacked, bought books and snacks, and proceeded to set up my room for the next six months of living. I hung a Harry Potter poster and a Hunger Games poster (which make me very happy in a totally fangirl way--at least it's for books). Sunday night, I helped take the sets out of the engineering building where they were built and loaded them into trucks to be transported to the theater for unloading on Monday. That was basically the reverse of taking the materials into the building, but equally fun because the stuff we were removing was built for the show. I was on the ground team that lifted things up to the people on the balcony so they could be taken outside to the trucks.
On Monday, I woke up early to go to the theater to bring in our sets. However, to our surprise, we had to strike the previous show's sets before we could have the space for our own stuff. It was a lot of fun to axe kick the supports off of the things that shouldn't have been there. We had to unload our two trucks, receive our rented lighting equipment, and organize it all. We worked for three hours in the morning and five hours at night. Once the stuff was in, we lowered the fly rails on which we hang lights and started hanging things. At the night session, my special job was to chalk the rails, which meant that I had to mark the location and label which light was to be hung there.
On Tuesday, we continued hanging lights on the rails and in the box booms, which involved some climbing and holding onto ladders while hanging lights. I didn't really do that. We also plugged in and balanced the weight of all but two of our electrics.
Last night was a lot of labeling and cable-dropping from a third landing on stage. I also got to be on the team that fed cable past the pulleys for the flys and through the dressing rooms to be plugged into outlets on the stage floor without having the cables dangling. That was a fun process.
Over the week, I've learned a lot. I can tie a decent clove-hitch knot (which we use all the time to tie cables to supports), put together a multi-cable (aka "squid"), tell the difference between the barrel degrees of our lights by the color-code, and I analyzed how I feel about heights (in case you were wondering, after much introspection I discovered that I'm fine as long as I'm not hanging over an abyss with a fear of falling. So, if there's a floor to stand on, I'm pretty much fine. And dangling from low heights is fine, too).
I'm definitely the newbie on the electrics team. I'm the only freshman and I have what I perceive to be the least experience. Basically, I feel like a lost puppy. Or Jar-Jar Binx. Completely inept. But the people I work with are apparently impressed with the work I'm doing, to the point that I've already been asked to consider working on other shows. I have no idea why, and I'm not just being humble. I have to ask for detailed instructions on every new task I am assigned, which makes me feel like I'm taking the instructor away from another task, but I just don't want to mess up and be scolded and have to re-do things. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, because apparently it's working.
The thing I love most about working on a show is the team spirit. Everyone has to work together to pull it off, and since I'm working with amazing people, it just makes the process so enjoyable. Life may be crazy right now, but I'm loving every moment of it.
It seems like spending 6-8 hours in the theater would take up all my time, but I've been going to class and doing homework as well. My daily routine has become: wake up, read, go to class, go to the theater, shower, sleep, repeat.
My classes seem pretty awesome this quarter. I'm taking Religion in Human Experience, Intro to Psychology, Literary Fathers and Daughters, and Gender and Society. It's a LOT of reading!! In religion, we are studying what religion is and how it is used, but not specific religious faiths. Intro Psych is amazing. My professor did the "Welcome. Here's what you're doing in this class" lecture for 80 minutes, but it was like a comedy routine. She knows her audience and makes the class entertaining for all 400 students. The lit class is interesting. The professor walked into a classroom of 10 students, didn't take attendance until the very end of the period, and had us do close textual analysis of Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" for 80 minutes. It was a bit awkward that there was no introduction, so we'll see how that goes. The sociology class is interesting. I'm almost done with the first day's reading (this class is ridiculous homework-wise) and it's the kind of topic I really enjoy. I just read a chapter on stereotype threat, a psychological phenomenon I used as evidence in one of my original oratories, so I think I'm going to like this class.
The striking thing about returning to campus was that I actually know people now. I was kind of dreading it at the end of break because I was reveling in the closeness of my friendships of approximately ten years, but I came back and had people to greet and hug, which was so different from when I arrived here in the fall.
In short, life is good. I have a crazy busy schedule of things that I love doing, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd much rather be busy with things I love than feel like I'm not doing enough.
Today is awesome because it's my last day of classes for this week and I'm already a bit ahead on homework for next week!
On Monday, I woke up early to go to the theater to bring in our sets. However, to our surprise, we had to strike the previous show's sets before we could have the space for our own stuff. It was a lot of fun to axe kick the supports off of the things that shouldn't have been there. We had to unload our two trucks, receive our rented lighting equipment, and organize it all. We worked for three hours in the morning and five hours at night. Once the stuff was in, we lowered the fly rails on which we hang lights and started hanging things. At the night session, my special job was to chalk the rails, which meant that I had to mark the location and label which light was to be hung there.
On Tuesday, we continued hanging lights on the rails and in the box booms, which involved some climbing and holding onto ladders while hanging lights. I didn't really do that. We also plugged in and balanced the weight of all but two of our electrics.
Last night was a lot of labeling and cable-dropping from a third landing on stage. I also got to be on the team that fed cable past the pulleys for the flys and through the dressing rooms to be plugged into outlets on the stage floor without having the cables dangling. That was a fun process.
Over the week, I've learned a lot. I can tie a decent clove-hitch knot (which we use all the time to tie cables to supports), put together a multi-cable (aka "squid"), tell the difference between the barrel degrees of our lights by the color-code, and I analyzed how I feel about heights (in case you were wondering, after much introspection I discovered that I'm fine as long as I'm not hanging over an abyss with a fear of falling. So, if there's a floor to stand on, I'm pretty much fine. And dangling from low heights is fine, too).
I'm definitely the newbie on the electrics team. I'm the only freshman and I have what I perceive to be the least experience. Basically, I feel like a lost puppy. Or Jar-Jar Binx. Completely inept. But the people I work with are apparently impressed with the work I'm doing, to the point that I've already been asked to consider working on other shows. I have no idea why, and I'm not just being humble. I have to ask for detailed instructions on every new task I am assigned, which makes me feel like I'm taking the instructor away from another task, but I just don't want to mess up and be scolded and have to re-do things. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, because apparently it's working.
The thing I love most about working on a show is the team spirit. Everyone has to work together to pull it off, and since I'm working with amazing people, it just makes the process so enjoyable. Life may be crazy right now, but I'm loving every moment of it.
It seems like spending 6-8 hours in the theater would take up all my time, but I've been going to class and doing homework as well. My daily routine has become: wake up, read, go to class, go to the theater, shower, sleep, repeat.
My classes seem pretty awesome this quarter. I'm taking Religion in Human Experience, Intro to Psychology, Literary Fathers and Daughters, and Gender and Society. It's a LOT of reading!! In religion, we are studying what religion is and how it is used, but not specific religious faiths. Intro Psych is amazing. My professor did the "Welcome. Here's what you're doing in this class" lecture for 80 minutes, but it was like a comedy routine. She knows her audience and makes the class entertaining for all 400 students. The lit class is interesting. The professor walked into a classroom of 10 students, didn't take attendance until the very end of the period, and had us do close textual analysis of Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" for 80 minutes. It was a bit awkward that there was no introduction, so we'll see how that goes. The sociology class is interesting. I'm almost done with the first day's reading (this class is ridiculous homework-wise) and it's the kind of topic I really enjoy. I just read a chapter on stereotype threat, a psychological phenomenon I used as evidence in one of my original oratories, so I think I'm going to like this class.
The striking thing about returning to campus was that I actually know people now. I was kind of dreading it at the end of break because I was reveling in the closeness of my friendships of approximately ten years, but I came back and had people to greet and hug, which was so different from when I arrived here in the fall.
In short, life is good. I have a crazy busy schedule of things that I love doing, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd much rather be busy with things I love than feel like I'm not doing enough.
Today is awesome because it's my last day of classes for this week and I'm already a bit ahead on homework for next week!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
January 1, 2011
Wow. This is pretty addictive after a while!!
Happy 2011!!!
I saw The Tourist today, and it was a very entertaining movie. I was initially disappointed because none of the previews even looked remotely intriguing, but the film I saw was really good. I liked the plot twists, but there were too few and I didn't feel like the movie was going anywhere until the last 30-45 minutes when all the seemingly solitary events made sense as a whole. I recommend it; cute plot, great scenery, and it's starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp (which is enough incentive on its own). Depp played a character completely different from anything he's done recently, and Jolie had AMAZING costumes!! If you like fashion, especially formal wear, this is the movie for you.
Well, this is it for break. My last bit of laundry is drying, my guitar strings are loosened, and my suitcase is nearly packed. Tomorrow will be a full day of travel, shopping, resettling at school, culminating with the moving of completed set pieces from the engineering building to the two U-Haul trucks that will transport everything to our theater.
Today is awesome because I get to sleep in my fluffy, cozy bed, spend extra time with my family and dog, eat some delicious food, and maximize my last moments of responsibility-free relaxation.
Happy 2011!!!
I saw The Tourist today, and it was a very entertaining movie. I was initially disappointed because none of the previews even looked remotely intriguing, but the film I saw was really good. I liked the plot twists, but there were too few and I didn't feel like the movie was going anywhere until the last 30-45 minutes when all the seemingly solitary events made sense as a whole. I recommend it; cute plot, great scenery, and it's starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp (which is enough incentive on its own). Depp played a character completely different from anything he's done recently, and Jolie had AMAZING costumes!! If you like fashion, especially formal wear, this is the movie for you.
Well, this is it for break. My last bit of laundry is drying, my guitar strings are loosened, and my suitcase is nearly packed. Tomorrow will be a full day of travel, shopping, resettling at school, culminating with the moving of completed set pieces from the engineering building to the two U-Haul trucks that will transport everything to our theater.
Today is awesome because I get to sleep in my fluffy, cozy bed, spend extra time with my family and dog, eat some delicious food, and maximize my last moments of responsibility-free relaxation.
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