be vewwy vewwy quiet...

Shhh.... Don't let the universe find out that I have a spare moment here to post to my blog, lest it send me another gig/project/life issue to schedule/turn down/deal with.

I've updated my birdwatching page, which now includes some of my 2008 gigs. I say "some" because several I don't have dates for just yet, or even know exactly what my involvement will be. I will be helping out with one or possibly two Elyria Summer Theatre cabaret-style fundraisers, aside from playing synthesizer for their main show, Little Shop of Horrors. I also plan to audition for Company at Cassidy Theatre, but auditions aren't until May 18th.

Speaking of May 18th, that's also the day of the Elyria Musical Art Society's centennial concert featuring local artist and amazing pianist Spencer Myer. I designed a poster to help advertise the event:



But more imminent is a week from tonight: I'll be donning old-timey garb and playing ragtime music for Main Street Elyria's fundraiser show, They Called It Vaudeville. Aside from my featured number, I will be providing intro and playoff music for the various acts, which include a juggler, a magician, and a few monologues. The second act will be an excerpt from Mighty Goliath Productions' The Pirates of Penzance. This PDF flyer gives more information. My mom will also be participating during the dinner portion, in character as an 1800s elite Elyrian, and possibly singing "The Trolley Song" on, what else, the trolley ride.

(Aside for American Dad fans: "Went the trolley!!.... No, wait! I just like musicals!")

So although it doesn't look like much, the rehearsals and preparations for such events are filling up my calendar quickly. Add to that a few scheduled weekend getaways to the cottage and various amusement parks with friends, subbing organ at several churches, perhaps playing for a wedding, and oh yeah, I forgot I was supposed to be apartment-hunting too.

Anyone need me in 2009? I think I'm available then.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got Easter eggs to color. :D


Edited 3/24/08 to add: If you check out the print edition of The Chronicle-Telegram today (Monday), my picture is in the top left corner, above an article about the vaudeville show. There is also a brief summary on this page (scroll down to "Night out with theater, dinner").

It might also be worth noting that, five years ago today, I started work as a graphic artist for my current employer. I think that means I get a new box of Kleenex.

springing forward

Getting in just under the wire, with today being the first day of Spring I've switched over to the green blog template. Hopefully I'll have time to write more later, but it's been a busy week and Saturday is quickly filling up too. Not to mention my summer... and fall...

cast of characters

In the last few days, I've had two people ask who various people were whom I referred to by name on my blog. Back when I started this in 2004, I was much more anonymous and would say things like "my friend and I went to Cedar Point"; but then it became "my friend Stu and I"; and now it's simply "Stu and I" because I figure my regular readers know who he is by now. But for those of you new to the game, or who might need a little refresher, here's a glossary of people I often refer to by name only:

Justin
Friend from college who was my roommate during junior year. We keep in touch almost daily via instant messenger. Living in Florida with his wife, Betsy, although he will be a college professor in Georgia later this year.

Mandy
My parents' beagle-fox terrier whom they adopted in 2006. Previously, we had Belle, a miniature beagle, and before that, Max, who was some sort of beagle-black & tan coonhound mix. Yes, we like beagles.

Stu
Friend I met from doing community theatre, and probably my closest friend to date (sorry Justin, Tom). Married to Laurie, also a good friend; they have a daughter, Chloe, who's turning two next month. We usually get together on Sundays to watch the Fox animation lineup, but otherwise can be found gallivanting about various amusement parks around the country, or going to shows at Playhouse Square, or sampling Cleveland area restaurants, or just doin' stuff.

Tom
Without getting into a long spiel about my childhood social life, suffice it to say that Tom was my main friend from about third grade on. We both went to Bowling Green for college and ended up in the same circle of friends (see The Cadre). Currently a programmer in Chicago and married to Kristy. I don't refer to them often on the blog, but they have two dachshunds, Sybil and Ruby, otherwise known as "the kids." Like Justin, I talk to Tom rather frequently on instant messenger.


Now then, there are two important groups of people:

The Cadre
Collective term for the friends I most hung out with during college. The term "cadre" came from an e-mail Shawn sent to GT after leaving Bowling Green. Tom and Justin are also in The Cadre. We keep in touch in varying ways and in varying frequencies. Since 2005, we have spent one weekend each summer at my parents' cottage, sometimes with Nick flying in from Seattle to join us. Nick is probably annoyed that I mentioned his name in print here, as he generally prefers to lurk. Then there's Schutze (whom I lived with for three semesters in college), and Dave from Pennsylvania. Oh, and I also forgot to mention Jason. But that's OK because, according to Nick, Jason doesn't count. (This is a running joke.) Kristy has likely achieved official Cadre status, on account of being one of the few Cadre wives who "gets" The Cadre and our unique brand of nerdiness.

Taco Night/Wing Night
Taco Night began just before the close of Cabaret, which I played piano for in 2003. Some members of the cast met at The Rush Inn in Lakewood for $2 tacos on Monday night, and it ended up becoming a weekly event. Denise (Dee) would generally send an e-mail to everyone on Monday with the meeting time and any news of who was doing what shows and/or when people were planning to go see said friends in said shows.

As we all continued doing theatre, we brought new folks into the fold, while others became busy with life and were more sporadic. When Dee became busy with shows and a second job, I took over the reigns of the weekly e-mails. Eventually we got tired of tacos and instead met at The Rush on Tuesdays for half-price Wing Night. Unfortunately, as we have all become busy in different ways, and some have moved to other cities and other states, these meetings have become far less frequent.

Because of the fluctuating nature of the group, it would be hard to list everyone, but as far as people mentioned by name on this blog: Allen, Becki, Breianne (Bre), Dee, Gregg, Laurie, and Stu were all regular Taco Nighters. Like The Cadre, we generally spend one summer weekend at my parents' cottage, aside from various other activities I do with these folks throughout the year.


I think that about covers it. I presume when I say "mom" or "my brother" you know who I'm talking about, so they don't get their own glossary entries. :)

how many Storms Of The Century can you have in a single century?

Part of me wonders if it wouldn't be worth losing the 10 miles per gallon and safety ratings, to trade my Honda Civic for a Subaru Impreza just so I can get all-wheel drive in a small car. Curse you, Honda, for removing the AWD option from the Civic back in 2001. Still, the front-wheel drive is worlds better than my former T-bird's handling on snowy roads, so long as you never need to back out of a driveway that dips down where it meets the road. Not that I could think of any specific examples of such driveways. *ahem*

But then, storms like this only come once a century, or decade, or year. Allegedly. Ones that come to mind quickly:

• 1993: North American insanity storm
  
• 2004: The day of my first chemo session
  
• 2007: Valentine's Day
  
• aaaand even today's storm already has its own Wikipedia article

Fortunately, saner heads are prevailing and most events and happenings in this area are being canceled, including my show tonight. Even our church has canceled its worship service tomorrow, for the first time since 1993. Many cities are instituting driving bans on the roads. Elyria must be waiting until the blizzard is over before plowing again, because I haven't seen a plow down our street since early this morning (and ours usually gets pretty quick service since it's a main road, albeit residential).

I feel sorry for the folks who have no choice but to go to work today, such as at Walgreen's. My parents attempted to go to Walgreen's for some toiletries and essentials (more on that later), and got stuck twice just trying to get into, and then out of, the parking lot. They ended up not even buying anything because they couldn't pull into a parking spot and just wanted to make it home. My Civic's low ground clearance aside, at least it's light enough that pushing it out of the snow is a little easier.


My parents just got back from a week and a half in Florida, where their flight to Cleveland yesterday was delayed, then canceled. Southwest got them to St. Louis, but their connection to Cleveland was also canceled by the time they arrived in Street Louie. In Orlando, they had been told there wasn't enough time to transfer luggage from the canceled plane to the St. Louis plane, but in the ensuing wait and yet another switching of planes due to technical problems, it turns out there would have been plenty of time, had they but known.

Rather than spend two nights in a St. Louis airport hotel with no toiletries or change of clothes, and spending lord knows how many hours at the airport booking new flights and having them canceled again (and losing your chair every time you get up to read the screens), my parents got a flight to Detroit and rented a car to drive home. The interstates apparently weren't that horrendous, and with so little traffic, they actually made good time and got home just after 4 a.m. Who knows how long before their luggage will arrive at Hopkins; hopefully Monday.


But I jest, of course. I'm keeping the Civic.