red hair and black leather

I am frustrated that our household cannot donate more than a few paltry dollars here or there to help with recovery from Katrina, and saddened to know that there will still be a need when we can do more (and we will). I remain unsurprised by the brutality and the extraordinary grace shown by a lot of people down there, and horrified by the federal government's response.

I have new hair color(s) - burgundy and scarlet. The scarlet is too close in tone to the burgundy to be very noticeable, but it's there and it's pretty. The hair is also very short now, too. Not to fear, hecubot, there will be pictures soon. My nails are also French manicured with black & scarlet. I love DIY beauty.

You Can't Take It With You is going very well, indeed. I haven't enjoyed socializing with a cast so much in a while, and the actual work we do is pretty fun, too.

My grandparents are in the process of moving to Eugene, OR. This means that my parents now have 3, count 'em 3 houses on their property. 4 if you count the cabin, which doesn't have running water. They're selling off one chunk, and will be renting the cabin and my grandparent's old house. This is harder on me than I thought it would be - the divvying up of the land. It's purely a remembrance grab, because I sure as hell do not want to live up there. It's just such a charming place, and chock-full of memories.

I swear to you all, I am staying HOME the week after the marathon. Up until then, I'm booked up with You Can't Take It With You previewing on the 16th and opening on the 23rd, the Ivey Awards on the 26th, Debbie Does Dallas opening the 30th, a marriage celebration for my friends on the 1st, and the marathon on the 2nd. From the 3rd through the 7th, I am staying home and watching everything Netflix sends us, dammit. I'm very glad I have such a full life, but girl needs some down time, too.

I thought I was all the way back from my head injury. Changed a little, of course, but fully functional again. The headaches had almost completely subsided, I was much more on my game, everything seemed to be clicking along...

Yeah. The headaches are back. I'm losing words again. Fnargh. Doc says this is normal and expected, and she understands that I'm worried, but since the CT scan and the bloodwork showed nothing unusual and I've been under a lot of stress recently, she's not concerned about this backslide. Since I trust her implicitly, I'm not concerned either. I reserve the right to be frustrated, however, and plan on exercising that right a lot once I have time.


Tech is going fantastically, actually. Even though the TD has gone AWOL after he built a platform wrong, I'm really happy with where things are. I hope this keeps up.


Shallow fashion details: I have the opening of Richard III on Friday and Z's birthday party on Saturday, both of which are prime dressing events for yours truly. I had originally planned on wearing this dress to the opening (after I got it back from the tailor's, as I am no longer that freaky-skinny and I had to have the bodice let out in order to avoid bisecting my boobs), but it doesn't quite fit with the the show or seem very Shakespearian. So I think I'll wear that one on Saturday, and a slinky maroon velvet column dress with a black velvet cape on Friday. The velvet seems much more apropos for a show about everyone being murdered. There will, of course, be pictures of outfits.


In the realm of hard learning experiences, I offer two personal examples:

1. This job has given me a lot of practice at being around conflict and dealing with it. My boss is not the most patient of women, and I often overhear loud and heated conversations in which errors discussed at length and declared unacceptable. Other times, I'm the one she vents to. So, I'm better at managing my reaction to conflict and anger. This is good, even if the circumstances are not.

2. I think I've become better at setting my boundaries and staying there. My instinct is to bend over backwards and give in and not say anything that would upset someone (until, of course, the inevitable blow-up). Now, I think, I'm better at speaking up earlier and in a non-confrontational manner, and also at saying "these are my boundaries, this is what I need".

I still need to be better at cultivating friendships. I often feel that that will take away time from something else - running, rehearsal, or sleep. I need to make time.


I gave in and purchased eye cream that promises to reduce puffiness and the dark circles underneath my eyes. Normally, I'm a fan of treating the cause and not the symptom - when I started gaining weight back and feeling bloaty, I drastically cut my alcohol consumption. When I started feeling awful every day at work, I stopped staying out and drinking until 1 a.m. every night. Due to all of this, my life is now as ascetic as I can stand, and there's no way I can get as much sleep as my body demands or reduce the amount of stress I live under without giving up theater. So, I embrace the eye cream and hug it to my puffy eyelids. Mmmm, eye cream.


One of the reasons I (usually) love tech week - I lose weight. I do eat, but I'm so energized and up and focused that I tend to drop a pound or two. Now, if I could just get it to stay away, I'd be golden.


Party on Saturday! Yay!!

Actually, NSM 'fashion', for I am tired of my clothes and feel slovenly in them, but I am quite pleased with the rest of my grooming.

I've redyed my hair a brighter red, so it has this nice burgundy/red shimmer to it (minim_calibre, I am taking what you said about a mahogany under consideration, but I've at least two more dyeing cycles to go through before the wedding).

I do need to remember to wash my hair every other day - no more, no less. More, it gets brittle and tangly. Less, it gets floopy and limp.

My hair is just at the length where the wave scoffs at the blowout. It may have to go a few bits shorter. We'll see.

I went on an eyebrow-grooming rampage, and am mostly pleased with the results. I may still get them done professionally at least once.

My fingernails now have a gothy French manicure on them - black w/silver tips. It looks very pretty, except that some people may think that I'm just overly excited about the Raiders starting training camp. (They are starting training camp, aren't they?)

My toenails will never be allowed to get long enough to have a French manicure on them, so they are just a pleasing darkish bright red.

I need a bright red lipstick.


I hope the manicure isn't too hard to keep up. I really like it. Nothing like freshly-done nails.

I just got a good look at myself in the mirror. I look like I've been on a three-day bender, what with the frazzled hair, sallow and oily-as-fuck skin, and dark circles under my eyes that even pro boxers would flinch from.

Also? The traditional response to wearing foundation has occured - pimples are cropping up left and right.


Mothers, don't let your children grow up to be actors. Glamorous, my ass.

I could go as Eddie Izzard.

I have the clothes.

I have the DVD's.

My legs are not quite up to par, though.

Hmmmm.