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Once we got past the earthquake thing, California was great for the rest of the week. The company holiday party was at a fairly local (within about 45 minutes of the office) winery. Our event took place in the "tasting room" which was very nice - with the "casino" in the barrel room (which was kind of coldish). The food was terrific, the music was unobtrusive (and mostly instrumental), the casino games entertained us - and since we were not "playing" with real "money" losing didn't suck - the dealers just gave you more chips to keep you playing and entertained. I understand blackjack, but its kind of boring. Didn't make it over to the table to see the poker going on, and got sucked into the rhythm of craps. I still don't understand it - would probably not play it for real - but the rules were starting to make sense to me when I finally got tired of standing there collecting and losing colored chips (I am still unclear about *why* the dealer paid out what he paid out when he paid it - and how much.).
Getting home was alright - the new NY JFK terminal is sparkly and new - and quite spiffy. I expect the shine to wear off pretty quick, but for right now JetBlue's new home in NYC is pretty sweet. My layover was all of an hour - we were half an hour early from Oakland, so my layover ended up being almost twice as long as it was scheduled to be (35 minutes).
I saw the sun rise over the Oakland airport as we left, and the sun set over the JFK airport - also as we left. It was an enormously long day.
Yesterday was the Players holiday party which was great fun. C and K brought their seven month old son A and I got to make faces and blow kisses and generally act very foolish in the direction of the baby. I guess tomorrow is a big day for them on the path to finalizing the adoption. I'm not sure what other than going into court it all entails at this point, I didn't get a chance to really ask.
Feeling kind of crappy about declining assisting with a show with my home theatre group today. I was right to say no, but I'm still going to feel torn and maybe a little guilty about my decision. But there comes a time when stuff just gets to be too much, and I guess I found where I draw my line. I'm also telling myself it is good to say no once in a while on general principal, and hoping the producers eventually realize it is nothing against them. But I do theatre in my spare time because I love it. And I do it on a volunteer basis. And it tends to give me something back - sense of community, fun, purpose, creative outlet, etc.
I just don't see any of that being true for this show. So I explained pretty carefully *why* I was saying no, but I'm going to feel crappy about it for a while, and I just have to realize that, own that, and be okay with that. I think I will be better off having said no, than having said yes and regretting it. Because I don't think I will ever regret saying no - and that just makes me feel a tiny bit guiltier. Love the catch 22s.
So music. I've been listening (trying to anyway) to other kinds of music lately. My collection is pretty much mostly broadway. I've got a few CDs that are other (kids, classical, folk, country, little bit of rock, more a cappella than I should, some random mix tapes). And Broadway tends to run the gamut from what people think of as typical "showtunes" to country, hard rock, and pop, even stylized near-opera. Anyone out there have a favorite band currently? Because I am realizing growing up in the era of bubblegum pop and metal hair bands did me no favors, because between you and me, a lot of the popular music from the eighties was fucking horrible. And a lot of the stories you see on VH1 and MTV just don't touch me because my musical taste, while wide-ranging in style, didn't make me a rabid fan of any particular band or genre.
My iTunes is completely schizo - and I haven't even loaded all my CDs into it yet.
What are you listening to right now? Why - and how did you get to like them? Rec me something!
Getting home was alright - the new NY JFK terminal is sparkly and new - and quite spiffy. I expect the shine to wear off pretty quick, but for right now JetBlue's new home in NYC is pretty sweet. My layover was all of an hour - we were half an hour early from Oakland, so my layover ended up being almost twice as long as it was scheduled to be (35 minutes).
I saw the sun rise over the Oakland airport as we left, and the sun set over the JFK airport - also as we left. It was an enormously long day.
Yesterday was the Players holiday party which was great fun. C and K brought their seven month old son A and I got to make faces and blow kisses and generally act very foolish in the direction of the baby. I guess tomorrow is a big day for them on the path to finalizing the adoption. I'm not sure what other than going into court it all entails at this point, I didn't get a chance to really ask.
Feeling kind of crappy about declining assisting with a show with my home theatre group today. I was right to say no, but I'm still going to feel torn and maybe a little guilty about my decision. But there comes a time when stuff just gets to be too much, and I guess I found where I draw my line. I'm also telling myself it is good to say no once in a while on general principal, and hoping the producers eventually realize it is nothing against them. But I do theatre in my spare time because I love it. And I do it on a volunteer basis. And it tends to give me something back - sense of community, fun, purpose, creative outlet, etc.
I just don't see any of that being true for this show. So I explained pretty carefully *why* I was saying no, but I'm going to feel crappy about it for a while, and I just have to realize that, own that, and be okay with that. I think I will be better off having said no, than having said yes and regretting it. Because I don't think I will ever regret saying no - and that just makes me feel a tiny bit guiltier. Love the catch 22s.
So music. I've been listening (trying to anyway) to other kinds of music lately. My collection is pretty much mostly broadway. I've got a few CDs that are other (kids, classical, folk, country, little bit of rock, more a cappella than I should, some random mix tapes). And Broadway tends to run the gamut from what people think of as typical "showtunes" to country, hard rock, and pop, even stylized near-opera. Anyone out there have a favorite band currently? Because I am realizing growing up in the era of bubblegum pop and metal hair bands did me no favors, because between you and me, a lot of the popular music from the eighties was fucking horrible. And a lot of the stories you see on VH1 and MTV just don't touch me because my musical taste, while wide-ranging in style, didn't make me a rabid fan of any particular band or genre.
My iTunes is completely schizo - and I haven't even loaded all my CDs into it yet.
What are you listening to right now? Why - and how did you get to like them? Rec me something!
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From:
no subject
Beatles
Across the Pond - compilation of English artists
Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Twilight Soundtrack - I swore I wasn't going to, but I'm really enjoying it
Lenny Kravitz
Barbra Streisand
Better Than Ezra
Billie Holiday
Dean Martin
Black Crows
Casting Crowns
Daughtry
Days of the New
Nickelback
Eagles
Debussy
Gary Allan
Faith Hill
Tim McGraw
Neil Diamond
Simon & Garfunkle
Cream
Journey
Cheap Trick
Purple Lace
Natasha Beddingfield
Kasey Chambers - current favorite
Diana Krall
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Raising Sand - favorite
Bunch of 40's standards
Kenny Chesney
Fallen Angel
Portishead
Whitestripes
Keith Anderson
Judy Garland
Andrew Lloyd Weber - mostly Phantom, with bits and pieces of others
Sia - a fav
Carlos Santana
Duffy - a fav
Tom Baxter - a fav
Ben Lee
Bunch of different Xmas
Harry Connick Jr.
Dolly Parton
Tom Wait
David Bowie
Saving Able
Metallica
Lynryd Skynyrd
Assorted Southern Rock
Elvis Presley
Neil Diamond
Sarah McLachlan
Sara Bareilles
Meshell Ndegeocello
Umm, there's more, but I'll just leave you with this. If you want to hear anyone, I share... :D
From:
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I've got some of this, but not a lot. I'll have to check some of these new-to-me groups out on YouTube.
And delve a little deeper into the artists I know of, but don't know well.
LOL - Andrew Lloyd Weber! I have some (a lot) of his stuff, too - but mostly his more obscure bits on my iPod. I *have* phantom. I may even have it on CD, but it was such a mess of a show I don't listen to it a lot. I love his "Song and Dance" for a concept show it worked really well, even if it wasn't all that popular. And the song "Tell Me on a Sunday" is fucking brilliant for the genre. Also A Beautiful Game - but A Beautiful Game had the added bonus it had a different lyricist and he just did the music.
I really prefer Sondheim and Schwartz to ALW. They are more cutting edge, more clever and thoughtful in their lyric choices. Some of the guys writing now are amazing - the guys that put together [title of show] are brilliant - wish they were out there writing more instead of starring on Broadway, but there you go.
Thanks, bb! Much {hugs}!