What could be more amazing than a musical? (Free thread)
September 9, 2024 1:34 PM Subscribe
"You're doing a play, got something to say So you sing it? It's absurd!" In honor of finishing Something Rotten, one of the best musicals I've ever been in (and guess what song is still rolling through my head today), here's your free thread.
Suggested topics: musicals! Love 'em? Hate 'em? Watch them? Scorn them? Perform in them? Or ignore the topic altogether and talk about cats and birds and finding jobs or whatever the heck you feel like.
Suggested topics: musicals! Love 'em? Hate 'em? Watch them? Scorn them? Perform in them? Or ignore the topic altogether and talk about cats and birds and finding jobs or whatever the heck you feel like.
We just watched a local production of Evil Dead: The Musical this weekend. Loads of fun! We did not sit in the splash zone. Yes, this musical has a splash zone for the fake blood that gets sprayed everywhere. This particular production wasn't too bad. We saw another about a decade ago in Martinez, CA that had SO. MUCH. BLOOD. The actors all had squibs on, plus hoses to spray towards the audience. Crew members also sprayed from the wings. At some point, someone literally dumped a bucket of blood from the rafters. The splash zone was SOAKED in red. But anyway, it's a hilariously crass musical that you can't play too broadly. Even my wife, who hadn't seen the movies, and isn't into horror, thought it was hilarious and a load of fun.
posted by mrphancy at 1:51 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
posted by mrphancy at 1:51 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
During COVID recovery last October I discovered YouTube has hundreds of full shows of musical productions by High School music and drama departments. Some of these kids are fantastic.
posted by Czjewel at 1:51 PM on September 9 [4 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 1:51 PM on September 9 [4 favorites]
Ironically I just discovered a new musical thing to do. There's a folk/roots music venue in Brooklyn, and I recently discovered that they have monthly group singalongs in their bar next door. I finally tried them out last night; everyone takes turns leading the rest of the crowd in a song, and there's usually some very casual theme. If you don't want to sing when the host asks if you want a turn you can pass or make a request instead. And they're pretty loose with the theme - last night's theme was "space and time", and we had everything from sea chanties about long nights at watch to Cat Stevens' "Moonshadow"; someone even lead the group in Monty Python's "Galaxy song" and another person went for "Star Trekkin'". I opted for "Swinging On A Star" first time around, and then Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changing" a couple hours later.
Next month's theme is "skin and bones". I'm going to come armed with My Thing Is My Own on the grounds that....well, the thing they're singing about has skin on it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:57 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Next month's theme is "skin and bones". I'm going to come armed with My Thing Is My Own on the grounds that....well, the thing they're singing about has skin on it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:57 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Owing to growing-up in a home where my mom played nothing but musicals (original cast recordings!) every. damed. day, I have a fairly permanent block in my head against musicals. I just can’t.
Wayyyy back in the day, we were gifted tickets to see Cats (the musical, not the movie) when it was in Chicago. We left at intermission. Just, nope.
Sorry.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:07 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
Wayyyy back in the day, we were gifted tickets to see Cats (the musical, not the movie) when it was in Chicago. We left at intermission. Just, nope.
Sorry.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:07 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
I got to vent this somewhere, so two days ago we have a new waitress and she asked me for an extra sauce because she dropped hers, I give her the new sauce and she comes back limping, to give credit the boss helped her, and I thought maybe one of the waitresses would help her out. I go back 2 minutes later she's sitting in the dark with their cell phone, no charger, crying her eyes out cuz she knows she broke her ankle and not one f***** did anything to help her so I did and the head cook looks at me like I'm wasting time and I gave him a look like you'll be cooking by your mother f****** self all m************ week you heartless m************.
I hope she she was the s*** out of the place.
I cannot stand when someone is injured and people put money or their self-interest first without helping that person, I think this is epitome what's wrong with The human condition.
thanks, and sorry for the rant.
posted by clavdivs at 2:27 PM on September 9 [12 favorites]
I hope she she was the s*** out of the place.
I cannot stand when someone is injured and people put money or their self-interest first without helping that person, I think this is epitome what's wrong with The human condition.
thanks, and sorry for the rant.
posted by clavdivs at 2:27 PM on September 9 [12 favorites]
This past Saturday night was Karaoke night -- my wife's coworkers and friends had been planning it for a couple weeks, given we're all adults with responsibilities it's tough to find a night we're all able to stay out late without causing problems.
One of our group is a local performer a little older than me -- he was a "friend of" Tigger and Prince Charming (among others) in the late 80s at Disneyland -- and he kicked off the night with "Wilkommen" from Cabaret; later did the "if I only had a..." medley from Wizard Of Oz, and lastly "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid. He was first up and after he did a couple songs it kicked off the night for everyone, people of all ages, but there was only one more showtune, "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables, by a young woman with a very good voice. Karaoke nights when the musical theater kids show up are a mixed blessing; usually lots of good singing, but it sets the bar high for people like me.
My theater background means I've worked on a bunch of musicals, but never performed in any, I'm not that strong of a singer even though I was in choir in high school. I like musicals OK, but not to the point where I'd listen to Original Cast Recordings or anything. We did The Wiz way back in the 80s, and there was a area backstage with an array of microphones for the 'chorus' to be heard when they're not onstage for 'Ease on Down The Road' and the backstage crew who were not otherwise occupied were encouraged to join in the mass of voices if we could hold a tune. I doubt anyone ever picked me out of the group, but singing showtunes with a group of strong performers (some of which went on to Broadway) is an experience.
As I said, I'm not much of a singer, so for Karaoke Night I did some songs which require very little in the way of singing: The Distance by Cake, Paper Planes by MIA, and Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani. By the last one I had a huge group standing and dancing in front of me, ready to spell the word 'bananas' -- apparently a 50-year-old dude with browline glasses and a gut doing some fast raps by talented women is the right tone for karaoke night.
I was supposed to do Hollaback Girl with my wife's boss -- who actually has a really good voice, but he is riddled with self doubt. Hollaback Girl was assigned to him as my partner just to get him behind a mic. He seemed frustrated all night, and didn't sing anything, then went home early (partly because he had an appointment Sunday morning). The next day my wife said, while I was whipping my way through The Distance, he wondered out loud how I could "do that", just get up in front of people without worry and just do karaoke. I think the next time we go out, I should wrangle him into a duet earlier in the night to pique his confidence before he spirals into uncertainty.
On the other end of the spectrum, a woman we invited, an artist we've only recently met, and we're learning she had a rather shitty life up until recently but something 'clicked' after her kid left for college and she is just trying to do all the stuff she has never done before. She got crazy with her songs -- the most enthusiastic version of Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams are Made Of This" by a middle aged woman you've ever seen -- and the next day she texted my wife to thank her for including her, and for accepting her for who she is.
Karaoke Night is apparently far more complicated than one might think.
Tiny film student update: as I mentioned last week, I have a short film I'm working on this coming weekend. I was originally signed up to do lighting duties; it has since come out that they do not have a camera, so I volunteered mine as long as I got promoted to camera operator. I also found out that -- after I signed on -- a replacement cinematographer was also recruited, so if you can imagine there's a film being shot in a matter of days by a camera operator and cinematographer who have also only been on the project for...a matter of days...I'm getting a bit nervous about this trial by fire. The cinematographer is the director on the better-organized film I'm also camera operator for, so I've spoken with him several times but haven't worked on set with him. He seems pretty easy to work with, I hope that plays out this weekend, since there's a lot of opportunity for it to quickly turn into a shitshow. That said, I love working in film :)
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:30 PM on September 9 [9 favorites]
One of our group is a local performer a little older than me -- he was a "friend of" Tigger and Prince Charming (among others) in the late 80s at Disneyland -- and he kicked off the night with "Wilkommen" from Cabaret; later did the "if I only had a..." medley from Wizard Of Oz, and lastly "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid. He was first up and after he did a couple songs it kicked off the night for everyone, people of all ages, but there was only one more showtune, "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables, by a young woman with a very good voice. Karaoke nights when the musical theater kids show up are a mixed blessing; usually lots of good singing, but it sets the bar high for people like me.
My theater background means I've worked on a bunch of musicals, but never performed in any, I'm not that strong of a singer even though I was in choir in high school. I like musicals OK, but not to the point where I'd listen to Original Cast Recordings or anything. We did The Wiz way back in the 80s, and there was a area backstage with an array of microphones for the 'chorus' to be heard when they're not onstage for 'Ease on Down The Road' and the backstage crew who were not otherwise occupied were encouraged to join in the mass of voices if we could hold a tune. I doubt anyone ever picked me out of the group, but singing showtunes with a group of strong performers (some of which went on to Broadway) is an experience.
As I said, I'm not much of a singer, so for Karaoke Night I did some songs which require very little in the way of singing: The Distance by Cake, Paper Planes by MIA, and Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani. By the last one I had a huge group standing and dancing in front of me, ready to spell the word 'bananas' -- apparently a 50-year-old dude with browline glasses and a gut doing some fast raps by talented women is the right tone for karaoke night.
I was supposed to do Hollaback Girl with my wife's boss -- who actually has a really good voice, but he is riddled with self doubt. Hollaback Girl was assigned to him as my partner just to get him behind a mic. He seemed frustrated all night, and didn't sing anything, then went home early (partly because he had an appointment Sunday morning). The next day my wife said, while I was whipping my way through The Distance, he wondered out loud how I could "do that", just get up in front of people without worry and just do karaoke. I think the next time we go out, I should wrangle him into a duet earlier in the night to pique his confidence before he spirals into uncertainty.
On the other end of the spectrum, a woman we invited, an artist we've only recently met, and we're learning she had a rather shitty life up until recently but something 'clicked' after her kid left for college and she is just trying to do all the stuff she has never done before. She got crazy with her songs -- the most enthusiastic version of Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams are Made Of This" by a middle aged woman you've ever seen -- and the next day she texted my wife to thank her for including her, and for accepting her for who she is.
Karaoke Night is apparently far more complicated than one might think.
Tiny film student update: as I mentioned last week, I have a short film I'm working on this coming weekend. I was originally signed up to do lighting duties; it has since come out that they do not have a camera, so I volunteered mine as long as I got promoted to camera operator. I also found out that -- after I signed on -- a replacement cinematographer was also recruited, so if you can imagine there's a film being shot in a matter of days by a camera operator and cinematographer who have also only been on the project for...a matter of days...I'm getting a bit nervous about this trial by fire. The cinematographer is the director on the better-organized film I'm also camera operator for, so I've spoken with him several times but haven't worked on set with him. He seems pretty easy to work with, I hope that plays out this weekend, since there's a lot of opportunity for it to quickly turn into a shitshow. That said, I love working in film :)
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:30 PM on September 9 [9 favorites]
I saw Suffs for the second time and Once Upon a Mattress for the first on Saturday, and both were excellent. Suffs is like Hamilton in that one person, Shaina Taub, wrote the book, music, and lyrics and plays the main character, so I feel fortunate to have it seen it with the original Broadway cast.
Sutton Foster is a delight as always in the campy romp that is Once Upon a Mattress and brings tremendous energy and vaudevillian physical comedy to the role. Michael Breaker gives a standout performance as the Jester, with wry humor and some deeper characterization in a show that is, for all its many good qualities, not exactly full of complex characters or story arcs.
posted by jedicus at 2:32 PM on September 9 [6 favorites]
Sutton Foster is a delight as always in the campy romp that is Once Upon a Mattress and brings tremendous energy and vaudevillian physical comedy to the role. Michael Breaker gives a standout performance as the Jester, with wry humor and some deeper characterization in a show that is, for all its many good qualities, not exactly full of complex characters or story arcs.
posted by jedicus at 2:32 PM on September 9 [6 favorites]
Musicals are the very best, and live on-stage musicals even moreso. My kiddo is a major musical theater kid, and has been on stage performing for the majority of her 16 years of life at this point...while I was a fan of theater before she came along, the last decade has sucked me in and made it my hobby as well. I could just fill this comment with nothing but YouTube links, but I'll try to keep it to just a few:
In short: musicals rule!
posted by griffey at 2:34 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
- I directed a local community production of Cabaret a few years back which I was really proud of. NSFW! I tried to make it directly relevant to modern fascist movements, so the finale is a little pointed.
- Earlier this year I directed a production of Little Shop of Horrors that came out great...we built our own puppets, and IMNSHO they rule.
- Because I'm terrifically proud of her, here's the kid performing Vanilla Ice Cream from the musical She Loves Me at an event this past summer.
In short: musicals rule!
posted by griffey at 2:34 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
Also I saw Something Rotten on Broadway back in 2015 and it was excellent.
For my money, Groundhog Day is the best musical I've ever seen, though. It significantly improves on the source material, and the set design and production were amazing. Tim Minchin's music and lyrics are fantastic, and it's a shame it didn't go on tour in 2018.
posted by jedicus at 2:45 PM on September 9 [5 favorites]
For my money, Groundhog Day is the best musical I've ever seen, though. It significantly improves on the source material, and the set design and production were amazing. Tim Minchin's music and lyrics are fantastic, and it's a shame it didn't go on tour in 2018.
posted by jedicus at 2:45 PM on September 9 [5 favorites]
Co-opting the free thread to piss and moan about my life.
My parents are visiting me for the first time in twelve years. Drove the 1000 miles and arrived on Friday. Please note they didn't come for me, they came because there's a reunion in their home town four hours south of here. (The last time there was a reunion they asked me to meet them halfway for lunch to spare them the drive, then when the day came and I asked where we were meeting they said Geneva, which is a town 1 hour in the opposite direction of me from where they were coming from. Yes, they drove a full round trip day out of their way to avoid staying with me under the guise of not wanting to drive so far.) They also refused to share the date of the reunion (originally scheduled for July) or their travel plans with me for some unknown reason so they have been stringing me along all summer with an anxiety tummy ache/dread portent of their arrival. Anyway as you can probably imagine, I am not having a normal time about this in any way.
So they arrive on Friday. Among other things during a reasonably pleasant greeting, they chastised me when I told them I had just got my flu and covid boosters the week prior. (Because the covid booster causes heart failure, of course.) Mom woke up yesterday morning with covid, dad is sick now, too.
Right now I feel fine, on the covid side of things at least, and I'm testing negative, but still I am SO ANNOYED at everything, the visit is a disaster, even in the midst of everything else my mom managed to lift her head off her apparent and death bed yesterday long enough to say "I can understand how that was traumatic for you, but you have to understand it was never traumatic for me" because she was eavesdropping on a conversation I was trying to have with my dad, AND they're flushing unflushable baby wipes for some reason and refuse to stop, insisting that I'm being dramatic. The vibes are atrocious.
posted by phunniemee at 3:00 PM on September 9 [11 favorites]
My parents are visiting me for the first time in twelve years. Drove the 1000 miles and arrived on Friday. Please note they didn't come for me, they came because there's a reunion in their home town four hours south of here. (The last time there was a reunion they asked me to meet them halfway for lunch to spare them the drive, then when the day came and I asked where we were meeting they said Geneva, which is a town 1 hour in the opposite direction of me from where they were coming from. Yes, they drove a full round trip day out of their way to avoid staying with me under the guise of not wanting to drive so far.) They also refused to share the date of the reunion (originally scheduled for July) or their travel plans with me for some unknown reason so they have been stringing me along all summer with an anxiety tummy ache/dread portent of their arrival. Anyway as you can probably imagine, I am not having a normal time about this in any way.
So they arrive on Friday. Among other things during a reasonably pleasant greeting, they chastised me when I told them I had just got my flu and covid boosters the week prior. (Because the covid booster causes heart failure, of course.) Mom woke up yesterday morning with covid, dad is sick now, too.
Right now I feel fine, on the covid side of things at least, and I'm testing negative, but still I am SO ANNOYED at everything, the visit is a disaster, even in the midst of everything else my mom managed to lift her head off her apparent and death bed yesterday long enough to say "I can understand how that was traumatic for you, but you have to understand it was never traumatic for me" because she was eavesdropping on a conversation I was trying to have with my dad, AND they're flushing unflushable baby wipes for some reason and refuse to stop, insisting that I'm being dramatic. The vibes are atrocious.
posted by phunniemee at 3:00 PM on September 9 [11 favorites]
Oh and now that they're sick I have no idea when they're going to leave. I'm going to have to autoclave my whole house. I went down to the basement and looked at my sump pump and it looked back at me like this. Help help help
posted by phunniemee at 3:02 PM on September 9 [11 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 3:02 PM on September 9 [11 favorites]
So, my SR update: we both opened and closed on the same weekend, Thursday/Friday/2 shows Saturday/Sunday matinee. I found out there's reasons for this: (a) they pay $410/hour to rent the building and (b) the last time they rented the theater--I think it's the only theater in town available--it was $18,000 for a week. (And apparently they were already booked on the weekend after this.) This theater was EXTREMELY BIG AND EXTREMELY NICE--HUGE stage, 500 seats, huge communal dressing room with individual lights and mirrors, two bathrooms (a curtain in between if you want, but there's a strict no-nudity rule after they caught techs filming dancers changing). Fanciest one I've ever worked in and my mom's boyfriend raved that this had the best production. To which I was all, "money." (Meanwhile, my castmate has a techie dad who totally disapproved of the sound, but my impression is that he's the sort to disapprove of everything.) Apparently the director has some because he was privately funding this and was hoping to break even--he said they were about 50 tickets short of doing that, so not bad. It's their first big show/musical.
Suffice it to say it was very tiring what with a 7 hour rehearsal Labor Day, 6-10:45 rehearsals after that and only two days of tech week with costumes after the first day. Our costumer designer got allowed about two weeks and $800 to costume everyone, including finding egg costumes, and she pulled it off. The eggs were like, Spirit Halloween Easter Eggs they flipped inside out. That took some doing, y'all, because there is like, one set of egg costumes that are rented across the top of the state and who the heck knew where those were and that's too hard to DIY. I really like the costume designer, I hope I run into her again someday.
People kept saying they wished it ran longer, and a lot of people I know couldn't see it, but who knows how many would have turned out for just me anyway. (I kind of like having an excuse of "they're all in another show" rather than feeling slighted when they could and did not.) A few of my theater friends did come--about four--and I think my past and current director was in the audience too, will have to check tomorrow. Yesterday's people weren't waiting around after so I didn't get to check for sure. A disabled friend of mine who normally doesn't make it through watching shows came and was riveted and enthusiastic afterwards--I think it was all the dirty jokes :P (Her: "You played the witch, right?" Me: "Yeah?" Her: "Keep being a witch." Me: "Not a problem.") My mom, who doesn't like my acting and apparently zoned the hell out when she previously saw SR elsewhere, said this was the best show I'd ever been in, and some people actually said I did great. I enjoyed having three lines and bit parts in this one, which is something that normally doesn't happen for me at my regular theaters.
The director said he wants to pay people, but AB5 is an issue they haven't figured out yet. So they had people go out and ask for tips and then we split the tips--I made $75 and that was split around 24 people or so.
Some people had wondered if it was a "cursed show" since a lot of people got minor injuries (sore knees, rolled ankles, cat bite, a few covid cases) during rehearsal and two girls had it at the start of tech week and then recovered quickly, but everyone made it through all week and none of the understudies had to go on. And then...people started coming down with covid right after the show. I got it for the first time around the start of the rehearsal schedule, which I was grumbly about at the time (masked up for a long time so nobody else got it off me after the first day when I had no idea that my post-show tired was more than that), but now every time someone gets covid, I'm all, "I have temporary immunity right now! I don't have to freak out about this and test every day! Muahahahahah!" It's very freeing to have gotten it over with and not have to live in daily fear, which is not something I would have imagined my feeling after my 4 year streak of immunity ending. Go figure.
I'm really hoping the poor girl who rolled/hurt her ankles gets some rest. She was downright sad wobbling about in heels every day. But she said she has more theater classes going on at school today, so no rest yet. I did try to friend people online since odds of my running into anyone in this bunch are low, we'll see. I really hit it off with a girl who lives an hour away, so that'll be a stretch, but we'll see. I may be in her area in a weekend or two. I may come back in the spring since my cousin just got engaged and set a date at a time that means I can't do shows at my usual theaters, so maybe a place that only runs for a week will work out.
Today, I got about four hours of sleep despite going to bed early (whyyyyyy) and obviously having an exhausting week. I got fed up and downloaded my sleep logs for the last year and they have ALWAYS been jagged and up and down and up and down like an EKG from hell, I can't consistently sleep 8 hours for more than a few days at best, and I thought "pot gummies, no pot gummies, taking all these sleep meds...nothing really solves this problem, does it?" I think I'll just get used to being tired. I have one rehearsal for the next show tomorrow and otherwise nothing much set in stone yet, but being able to get home sooner than 10:30 and having some me time will be nice. I have really missed Me Time since I've been working then immediately rehearsing all night and getting home late. The next show has an easy schedule, only 2.5 hours and 3 days a week starting next month and not too many this month, woot.
==========
Okay, on to responding to the rest of the thread:
During COVID recovery last October I discovered YouTube has hundreds of full shows of musical productions by High School music and drama departments. Some of these kids are fantastic.
Ah, yes, these are very helpful for figuring out if you want to see a show. The weird code words "slime tutorial" (why this?! No clue) will also help.
he wondered out loud how I could "do that", just get up in front of people without worry and just do karaoke. I think the next time we go out, I should wrangle him into a duet earlier in the night to pique his confidence before he spirals into uncertainty.
Karaoke audiences are very sympathetic and most people singing aren't pros. They will cut you slack and support you!
I really wanna see Suffs, it'll probably be like 5 years before it hits the other coast.
I have sung "Vanilla Ice Cream," it's like a combination of speed talking and straight up opera.
For my money, Groundhog Day is the best musical I've ever seen, though. It significantly improves on the source material, and the set design and production were amazing. Tim Minchin's music and lyrics are fantastic, and it's a shame it didn't go on tour back in 2018.
Oh, I loved the slime tutorial of that, I wish it was more popular. I use a segment of "One Day" (the "prince may come but it doesn't seem likely") segment for auditions.
phunniemee, you have my sympathies with drama-bombing parents, and they get sick at your house to boot. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:05 PM on September 9 [4 favorites]
Suffice it to say it was very tiring what with a 7 hour rehearsal Labor Day, 6-10:45 rehearsals after that and only two days of tech week with costumes after the first day. Our costumer designer got allowed about two weeks and $800 to costume everyone, including finding egg costumes, and she pulled it off. The eggs were like, Spirit Halloween Easter Eggs they flipped inside out. That took some doing, y'all, because there is like, one set of egg costumes that are rented across the top of the state and who the heck knew where those were and that's too hard to DIY. I really like the costume designer, I hope I run into her again someday.
People kept saying they wished it ran longer, and a lot of people I know couldn't see it, but who knows how many would have turned out for just me anyway. (I kind of like having an excuse of "they're all in another show" rather than feeling slighted when they could and did not.) A few of my theater friends did come--about four--and I think my past and current director was in the audience too, will have to check tomorrow. Yesterday's people weren't waiting around after so I didn't get to check for sure. A disabled friend of mine who normally doesn't make it through watching shows came and was riveted and enthusiastic afterwards--I think it was all the dirty jokes :P (Her: "You played the witch, right?" Me: "Yeah?" Her: "Keep being a witch." Me: "Not a problem.") My mom, who doesn't like my acting and apparently zoned the hell out when she previously saw SR elsewhere, said this was the best show I'd ever been in, and some people actually said I did great. I enjoyed having three lines and bit parts in this one, which is something that normally doesn't happen for me at my regular theaters.
The director said he wants to pay people, but AB5 is an issue they haven't figured out yet. So they had people go out and ask for tips and then we split the tips--I made $75 and that was split around 24 people or so.
Some people had wondered if it was a "cursed show" since a lot of people got minor injuries (sore knees, rolled ankles, cat bite, a few covid cases) during rehearsal and two girls had it at the start of tech week and then recovered quickly, but everyone made it through all week and none of the understudies had to go on. And then...people started coming down with covid right after the show. I got it for the first time around the start of the rehearsal schedule, which I was grumbly about at the time (masked up for a long time so nobody else got it off me after the first day when I had no idea that my post-show tired was more than that), but now every time someone gets covid, I'm all, "I have temporary immunity right now! I don't have to freak out about this and test every day! Muahahahahah!" It's very freeing to have gotten it over with and not have to live in daily fear, which is not something I would have imagined my feeling after my 4 year streak of immunity ending. Go figure.
I'm really hoping the poor girl who rolled/hurt her ankles gets some rest. She was downright sad wobbling about in heels every day. But she said she has more theater classes going on at school today, so no rest yet. I did try to friend people online since odds of my running into anyone in this bunch are low, we'll see. I really hit it off with a girl who lives an hour away, so that'll be a stretch, but we'll see. I may be in her area in a weekend or two. I may come back in the spring since my cousin just got engaged and set a date at a time that means I can't do shows at my usual theaters, so maybe a place that only runs for a week will work out.
Today, I got about four hours of sleep despite going to bed early (whyyyyyy) and obviously having an exhausting week. I got fed up and downloaded my sleep logs for the last year and they have ALWAYS been jagged and up and down and up and down like an EKG from hell, I can't consistently sleep 8 hours for more than a few days at best, and I thought "pot gummies, no pot gummies, taking all these sleep meds...nothing really solves this problem, does it?" I think I'll just get used to being tired. I have one rehearsal for the next show tomorrow and otherwise nothing much set in stone yet, but being able to get home sooner than 10:30 and having some me time will be nice. I have really missed Me Time since I've been working then immediately rehearsing all night and getting home late. The next show has an easy schedule, only 2.5 hours and 3 days a week starting next month and not too many this month, woot.
==========
Okay, on to responding to the rest of the thread:
During COVID recovery last October I discovered YouTube has hundreds of full shows of musical productions by High School music and drama departments. Some of these kids are fantastic.
Ah, yes, these are very helpful for figuring out if you want to see a show. The weird code words "slime tutorial" (why this?! No clue) will also help.
he wondered out loud how I could "do that", just get up in front of people without worry and just do karaoke. I think the next time we go out, I should wrangle him into a duet earlier in the night to pique his confidence before he spirals into uncertainty.
Karaoke audiences are very sympathetic and most people singing aren't pros. They will cut you slack and support you!
I really wanna see Suffs, it'll probably be like 5 years before it hits the other coast.
I have sung "Vanilla Ice Cream," it's like a combination of speed talking and straight up opera.
For my money, Groundhog Day is the best musical I've ever seen, though. It significantly improves on the source material, and the set design and production were amazing. Tim Minchin's music and lyrics are fantastic, and it's a shame it didn't go on tour back in 2018.
Oh, I loved the slime tutorial of that, I wish it was more popular. I use a segment of "One Day" (the "prince may come but it doesn't seem likely") segment for auditions.
phunniemee, you have my sympathies with drama-bombing parents, and they get sick at your house to boot. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:05 PM on September 9 [4 favorites]
Oh and I made green curry for them for Friday night after their long drive and when my mom had a headache the next day she blamed it on the "strange food" I made them eat. It's rice and vegetable sauce for chrissake and your headache is from covid.
posted by phunniemee at 3:28 PM on September 9 [8 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 3:28 PM on September 9 [8 favorites]
Just popping in to say, after growing up knowing next to nothing about musicals, I discovered them in my early adulthood and now I LOVE musicals, and I am very very very lucky that I have gotten to see so darn many excellent productions, including winning the $10 Hamilton lottery in San Francisco which was one of the most fantastic performances of my life.
Also wanted to share my love of meta theatrical numbers via the opening number from Urinetown, and also this absolutely fabulous thing the Hamilton cast did for the Broadway Cares Easter Bonnet competition.
jenfullmoon, I love reading everything you post to MetaFilter about the shows you're in (and the shows you're not in), and especially your terrific comment above about Something Rotten.
Thank you for this thread! Yay musicals!
posted by kristi at 3:49 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
Also wanted to share my love of meta theatrical numbers via the opening number from Urinetown, and also this absolutely fabulous thing the Hamilton cast did for the Broadway Cares Easter Bonnet competition.
jenfullmoon, I love reading everything you post to MetaFilter about the shows you're in (and the shows you're not in), and especially your terrific comment above about Something Rotten.
Thank you for this thread! Yay musicals!
posted by kristi at 3:49 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
@phunniemee, this can hardly offer any consolation but what you describe is epic to me
like, cinematically bad. I can't believe you're dealing with that, I'm sure people are dealing with worse in the world but there's just something about how you describe your parents and everything and I can't believe how shitty that is in a very specific way. Good luck
abusing the edit window to add: is this so bad it's funny? I'm a returning MeFite so maybe it's because you're funny but this is so bad it's good, but again: sorry
posted by ginger.beef at 3:51 PM on September 9 [5 favorites]
like, cinematically bad. I can't believe you're dealing with that, I'm sure people are dealing with worse in the world but there's just something about how you describe your parents and everything and I can't believe how shitty that is in a very specific way. Good luck
abusing the edit window to add: is this so bad it's funny? I'm a returning MeFite so maybe it's because you're funny but this is so bad it's good, but again: sorry
posted by ginger.beef at 3:51 PM on September 9 [5 favorites]
phunniemee...I would have stuck to something more basic and well known when feeding a sick parent. Curry is unknown in our household growing up, so it would be considered exotic... We're blue collar folk (growing up)...I made my folks a quick once in the mid 80s and they looked at it long and hard before asking what is this we are eating. After that I stuck to beef and potatoes for them...I've actually never had Curry.Is it spicy?
posted by Czjewel at 3:53 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 3:53 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
about musicals, I just want to say in high school kids do not need encouragement to focus on the worst things and when my drama teacher had us do a Breakfast in America-based thing where all the youth are dying to suicide and drug overdoses etc. it all felt Very Important at the time
a year later: new drama teacher, and they're doing Little Shop of Horrors. Too late for me alas, but man did it look fun from the audience
posted by ginger.beef at 3:55 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
a year later: new drama teacher, and they're doing Little Shop of Horrors. Too late for me alas, but man did it look fun from the audience
posted by ginger.beef at 3:55 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
Green Curry Meatballs recipe:
cube up a sweet potato (or 2) and start roasting it (or air fryer)
thumb size piece of ginger
head of garlic
jalapenos (much as you like, I use 4-6) [for parents: 2, it will not be at all spicy]
bunch of cilantro
blend in a food processor
put half aside for sauce
mix other half with 1 lb ground meat (turkey?)
bread crumbs
brown off the meatballs and set aside
throw 2 cups of water in on the meatball crusties
add a bunch of lemon grass and simmer
add the jalapeno mixture
add fish sauce, soy sauce, chicken bouillon, etc to taste
let simmer some more
throw in the sweet potato chunks
simmer some more
(I like to take out the stalky lemongrass)
turn heat way down
add 1 can of coconut milk
add meatballs
let sit for a few mins
squeeze some lime juice on top at the end
serve over rice
posted by phunniemee at 4:37 PM on September 9 [6 favorites]
cube up a sweet potato (or 2) and start roasting it (or air fryer)
thumb size piece of ginger
head of garlic
jalapenos (much as you like, I use 4-6) [for parents: 2, it will not be at all spicy]
bunch of cilantro
blend in a food processor
put half aside for sauce
mix other half with 1 lb ground meat (turkey?)
bread crumbs
brown off the meatballs and set aside
throw 2 cups of water in on the meatball crusties
add a bunch of lemon grass and simmer
add the jalapeno mixture
add fish sauce, soy sauce, chicken bouillon, etc to taste
let simmer some more
throw in the sweet potato chunks
simmer some more
(I like to take out the stalky lemongrass)
turn heat way down
add 1 can of coconut milk
add meatballs
let sit for a few mins
squeeze some lime juice on top at the end
serve over rice
posted by phunniemee at 4:37 PM on September 9 [6 favorites]
I'd eat that in a hot minute whether I was sick or well!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:55 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:55 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
for ginger.beef:
- Parents wanted to go to the Art Institute. Since Taste is this weekend and my parents abhor a crowd and are scared of Chicago on its best day, I suggested saving the Art Institute for Monday, and we could get a nice dinner downtown. Mom also wanted to go to the zoo, so that's what we decided to do Saturday. Remember this for later.
-Friday night with zoo plans in mind, while eating the curry that mom said she was "surprised" tasted so good 🙄, she asked how much zoo tickets would cost. I said Lincoln Park Zoo is free! She said she wanted to go to Brookfield Zoo. Okay no prob. She complained all day Saturday while we were having an otherwise very nice time at the zoo about how expensive it was. Okay. Then when we got back home she looked at TripAdvisor and read out loud all the reviews of people saying Brookfield Zoo is trash and that Lincoln Park Zoo was so much better, and that she was disappointed we went to the wrong zoo. Okay.
-Next morning: mom sick. So sick. Now, important thing to know is that for my entire life, mom has always been sick (or "sick") the day after an all day event. Dad and I attend to her but are otherwise unimpressed. She refuses a thermometer, she refuses a COVID test. Over the course of the day becomes obviously very sick. Still refuses a COVID test. Has a temp of 101°.
-I make my mom a baked potato, her being sick comfort food. She says "oh thank you so much, you know a potato always helps to bring me out of a funk." She refuses to eat the potato.
-6:30 pm Dad eventually says "I am going to come in there and cram this thing up your nose myself if you don't cooperate. The COVID positive stripe lights up within seconds of hitting the fluid. Then Dad takes a COVID test, too. I go to the bathroom while it's percolating and he calls out to me "oh no, it got me too!" JK actually it was negative he just wasn't wearing his glasses.
-So at this point, my mom is writhing in the guest bed expressing variants of "I feel like I'm dying" and "I am going to die" and when I ask if she wants me to call around to urgent cares to find her paxlovid she says "NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!" Dad decides this is the correct time to go on a walk to the Aldi and get her some chicken noodle soup. "Dad, I have soup!" I call out, but he's already got his shoes on and is leaving skid marks.
-Mom immediately begins to throw up. Between vomits she says to me "do you have any suppositories" and I'm like..? ?? no? And she's indignant about this. I bring her the gardening pad to kneel on and a cool cloth. When Dad finally comes back I say, "she asked for suppositories, is that something people normally have??" and he very seriously turns to me and says "oh yes, Jennifer." We won't take paxlovid but we're happy to shove someone else's drugs up our butt. OKAY.
-Mom woke up feeling much better today but she's still been in bed and sleeping most of the time. Dad has respiratory symptoms and keeps blowing his nose into my kitchen sink. Now Dad is refusing to take a covid test. I made them congee and lied about what it was so that they would eat it.
-Dad refuses to let me make him a bed on the couch. He insists on getting into the sick bed with my mom. Dad enters the chills phase, mom enters the heavy sweats phase. They are very sick and arguing with each other about the temperature. Dad refuses a blanket. Mom refuses an ice pack. Arguing continues. They've been married 47 years.
-Mom accepts half of a banana and a cup of tea and feels well enough to sit up. Dad decides the best way to get over the chills is to put on a hoodie and go for a walk in the 83° weather. I go and sit in another room to have some peace. Mom is well enough to be browsing her phone now and I guess is looking at Art Institute news. She's speaking loudly enough to be audible but quiet enough to have plausible deniability that she's just talking to herself saying "damn" and "what a shame" and "really wanted to see that." I take the bait and call in "you okay?" She says "oh all of these wonderful things at the art institute that I will never get to see now." And I say "sorry." And she says "oh of course I'm not blaming you for talking us out of going on Saturday." 🙄
...
posted by phunniemee at 5:04 PM on September 9 [12 favorites]
- Parents wanted to go to the Art Institute. Since Taste is this weekend and my parents abhor a crowd and are scared of Chicago on its best day, I suggested saving the Art Institute for Monday, and we could get a nice dinner downtown. Mom also wanted to go to the zoo, so that's what we decided to do Saturday. Remember this for later.
-Friday night with zoo plans in mind, while eating the curry that mom said she was "surprised" tasted so good 🙄, she asked how much zoo tickets would cost. I said Lincoln Park Zoo is free! She said she wanted to go to Brookfield Zoo. Okay no prob. She complained all day Saturday while we were having an otherwise very nice time at the zoo about how expensive it was. Okay. Then when we got back home she looked at TripAdvisor and read out loud all the reviews of people saying Brookfield Zoo is trash and that Lincoln Park Zoo was so much better, and that she was disappointed we went to the wrong zoo. Okay.
-Next morning: mom sick. So sick. Now, important thing to know is that for my entire life, mom has always been sick (or "sick") the day after an all day event. Dad and I attend to her but are otherwise unimpressed. She refuses a thermometer, she refuses a COVID test. Over the course of the day becomes obviously very sick. Still refuses a COVID test. Has a temp of 101°.
-I make my mom a baked potato, her being sick comfort food. She says "oh thank you so much, you know a potato always helps to bring me out of a funk." She refuses to eat the potato.
-6:30 pm Dad eventually says "I am going to come in there and cram this thing up your nose myself if you don't cooperate. The COVID positive stripe lights up within seconds of hitting the fluid. Then Dad takes a COVID test, too. I go to the bathroom while it's percolating and he calls out to me "oh no, it got me too!" JK actually it was negative he just wasn't wearing his glasses.
-So at this point, my mom is writhing in the guest bed expressing variants of "I feel like I'm dying" and "I am going to die" and when I ask if she wants me to call around to urgent cares to find her paxlovid she says "NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!" Dad decides this is the correct time to go on a walk to the Aldi and get her some chicken noodle soup. "Dad, I have soup!" I call out, but he's already got his shoes on and is leaving skid marks.
-Mom immediately begins to throw up. Between vomits she says to me "do you have any suppositories" and I'm like..? ?? no? And she's indignant about this. I bring her the gardening pad to kneel on and a cool cloth. When Dad finally comes back I say, "she asked for suppositories, is that something people normally have??" and he very seriously turns to me and says "oh yes, Jennifer." We won't take paxlovid but we're happy to shove someone else's drugs up our butt. OKAY.
-Mom woke up feeling much better today but she's still been in bed and sleeping most of the time. Dad has respiratory symptoms and keeps blowing his nose into my kitchen sink. Now Dad is refusing to take a covid test. I made them congee and lied about what it was so that they would eat it.
-Dad refuses to let me make him a bed on the couch. He insists on getting into the sick bed with my mom. Dad enters the chills phase, mom enters the heavy sweats phase. They are very sick and arguing with each other about the temperature. Dad refuses a blanket. Mom refuses an ice pack. Arguing continues. They've been married 47 years.
-Mom accepts half of a banana and a cup of tea and feels well enough to sit up. Dad decides the best way to get over the chills is to put on a hoodie and go for a walk in the 83° weather. I go and sit in another room to have some peace. Mom is well enough to be browsing her phone now and I guess is looking at Art Institute news. She's speaking loudly enough to be audible but quiet enough to have plausible deniability that she's just talking to herself saying "damn" and "what a shame" and "really wanted to see that." I take the bait and call in "you okay?" She says "oh all of these wonderful things at the art institute that I will never get to see now." And I say "sorry." And she says "oh of course I'm not blaming you for talking us out of going on Saturday." 🙄
...
posted by phunniemee at 5:04 PM on September 9 [12 favorites]
Oh and on Friday when I was out unloading the car with my dad he handed me a duffel bag full of pills then opened the center console and pulled out a hand gun and a stack of what appears to be $2000 in cash money and I said jesus dad you look like a drug dealer and he said haw haw I guess I do!!! And I don't have any further explanation to offer on this, this is just my dad operating at his base level regular approach to the world.
I've been keeping a very supportive friend of mine updated and she's been really encouraging and validating, and she also said that if I submitted any of this to a sitcom writing room that I would be laughed out of the joint for implausibility.
You guys I am so tired.
posted by phunniemee at 5:09 PM on September 9 [14 favorites]
I've been keeping a very supportive friend of mine updated and she's been really encouraging and validating, and she also said that if I submitted any of this to a sitcom writing room that I would be laughed out of the joint for implausibility.
You guys I am so tired.
posted by phunniemee at 5:09 PM on September 9 [14 favorites]
On impulse at the supermarket I like better than probably any other I’ve ever been to, I bought a pound of fresh (i.e. raw) Ginkgo nuts in the shell — the shells are like unto pistachio shells — and a pound of fresh Barhi dates, which look kind of like tiny green pears.
Anybody have any advice about what I should do with either one before I try to eat some?
posted by jamjam at 5:29 PM on September 9
Anybody have any advice about what I should do with either one before I try to eat some?
posted by jamjam at 5:29 PM on September 9
I love musicals. I was raised on musicals (my mom had almost all the Rogers and Hammerstein movie soundtracks). My early adulthood was devoted to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I made my wife sit with me through the credits of La La Land just to hear Emma Stone hum.
Saturday night the whole family watched The Greatest Showman, which I can't believe I haven't seen until now. Gosh, Wolverine is so talented!
posted by lhauser at 5:33 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Saturday night the whole family watched The Greatest Showman, which I can't believe I haven't seen until now. Gosh, Wolverine is so talented!
posted by lhauser at 5:33 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
phunniemee, you need to write a movie of this.
posted by lhauser at 5:38 PM on September 9 [6 favorites]
posted by lhauser at 5:38 PM on September 9 [6 favorites]
Musical comedy kids grow up into some of the best, most engaging and likable (when I'm able to get past my feelings of being an outsider looking ln) adults I know.
posted by jamjam at 5:41 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
posted by jamjam at 5:41 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
phunniemee, you need to write a movie of this.
Perhaps make it A MUSICAL!
Sorry that you are having a time, phunniemee! Sending strength to you and yours for a speedy recovery!
I like a musical here and there, but my wife isn’t that into them. I did get her to go see Grease when Flashback Cinema played it on the big screen awhile back.
“I got chillllsss, they’re multi-ply-in…”
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:46 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Perhaps make it A MUSICAL!
Sorry that you are having a time, phunniemee! Sending strength to you and yours for a speedy recovery!
I like a musical here and there, but my wife isn’t that into them. I did get her to go see Grease when Flashback Cinema played it on the big screen awhile back.
“I got chillllsss, they’re multi-ply-in…”
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:46 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
phunniemee. Sounds like they're well set in their ways. You won't ever please them. Keep a distance.
posted by Czjewel at 5:53 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 5:53 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
Sometimes the only good you get out of hell parental situations is to tell the ridiculous stories about them afterwards.
It's so irritating! Like, you're always in the wrong and they're acting crazy and in a different reality, but it's all YOUR fault, except the entire game is rigged that you not only can't win, you have to lose! The entire point is that you lose!
Rant all you need, we'll be here for you.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:57 PM on September 9 [4 favorites]
It's so irritating! Like, you're always in the wrong and they're acting crazy and in a different reality, but it's all YOUR fault, except the entire game is rigged that you not only can't win, you have to lose! The entire point is that you lose!
Rant all you need, we'll be here for you.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:57 PM on September 9 [4 favorites]
Re: musicals: Yes! Hadestown, Hedwig and the Angry Inch in an absurdly intimate low-budget production (Hedwig was played by a guy whose brother I knew in high school), Hamilton, Wicked, Into the Woods in an absurdly intimate low-budget production. My school did Sweeney Todd last year but I missed it. I am pretty much immune to cringe if the story is strong and the music is decent.
Your General Life Update for this free thread is that I am finally trying to buy a house. I saw one on Saturday that was pretty much perfect, but was definitely going to sell for more than my budget; then I saw one on Sunday that was in pretty rough shape but wasn't a definite no until I went down to the basement and had to crouch down to get to the washing machine. The real estate market here is quite competitive (though, it must be said, at MUCH lower prices than the big coastal cities) and I think it's going to be challenging to find a good place and have an offer accepted on it, but I am hopeful that - in the words of another cringe and/or problematic-fave musical - we're not going to pay next year's rent.
posted by Jeanne at 5:59 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Your General Life Update for this free thread is that I am finally trying to buy a house. I saw one on Saturday that was pretty much perfect, but was definitely going to sell for more than my budget; then I saw one on Sunday that was in pretty rough shape but wasn't a definite no until I went down to the basement and had to crouch down to get to the washing machine. The real estate market here is quite competitive (though, it must be said, at MUCH lower prices than the big coastal cities) and I think it's going to be challenging to find a good place and have an offer accepted on it, but I am hopeful that - in the words of another cringe and/or problematic-fave musical - we're not going to pay next year's rent.
posted by Jeanne at 5:59 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Have you ever felt like a certain song was following you, somehow? Suddenly, out of nowhere, you go from “oh I haven’t heard this song in years!” to hearing the song multiple times a day. (And I don’t mean algorithms brought the song to you, necessarily, but then again who knows?)
I’m two weeks into this song-haunted experience with a delightful tune ya’ll may have heard before: “Electric Feel” by MGMT. Fortunately, I adore this song. So much so, that maybe 2 days ago, I noticed it started getting dark and realized I hadn’t heard the song yet. I was bummed and pretty sure it meant the streak was over. Then a car pulled up along side mine… guess what song was playing on their car radio?
I hope this little real life musical starring just one song only continues to play out in my daily life. I’ll be sad when I stop hearing “Electric Feel” in the elevator, on the loudspeaker before the 5k race, in the grocery store…
posted by edithkeeler at 7:36 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
I’m two weeks into this song-haunted experience with a delightful tune ya’ll may have heard before: “Electric Feel” by MGMT. Fortunately, I adore this song. So much so, that maybe 2 days ago, I noticed it started getting dark and realized I hadn’t heard the song yet. I was bummed and pretty sure it meant the streak was over. Then a car pulled up along side mine… guess what song was playing on their car radio?
I hope this little real life musical starring just one song only continues to play out in my daily life. I’ll be sad when I stop hearing “Electric Feel” in the elevator, on the loudspeaker before the 5k race, in the grocery store…
posted by edithkeeler at 7:36 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
An Evening of Senility (Bruce Fraser, 1996) was an odd delight that I caught by accident with my sister. It had a couple of musical numbers, but I don't think it was entirely held together by music. Basic premise was that a youth theatre group (played by, with startling postmodernity, a youth theatre group) were rehearsing a variety event called An Evening of Serenity but the posters had the date printed a month too early. The audience (that's us) had showed up at what was supposed to be a rehearsal. An increasingly frantic stage manager tries to make something of the night for the audience, and quite a show arises from the chaos. It was fun.
I just got back from VCFMW, aka a vintage computer festival near Chicago. The nerdiness was strong (six of us piled into an RV with licence plate S100 BUS and drove down from Toronto) and I met some great folks and saw some delightful old tech. High point was seeing a somewhat probbo retrocomputing youtuber (I won't name names, but he's That Guy in this field) dashing out of the main hall to go for a pee and getting collared by a fan for a selfie. One of the most awkward and pained selfies of all time ensued.
posted by scruss at 7:49 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
I just got back from VCFMW, aka a vintage computer festival near Chicago. The nerdiness was strong (six of us piled into an RV with licence plate S100 BUS and drove down from Toronto) and I met some great folks and saw some delightful old tech. High point was seeing a somewhat probbo retrocomputing youtuber (I won't name names, but he's That Guy in this field) dashing out of the main hall to go for a pee and getting collared by a fan for a selfie. One of the most awkward and pained selfies of all time ensued.
posted by scruss at 7:49 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
Have you ever felt like a certain song was following you, somehow?
Most definitely.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:28 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
Most definitely.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:28 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
I wrote a month ago that I had unexpectedly been invited to return to teaching. I've had two weeks now in front of students. It's like I've returned home. (The sensation that I have returned home is amplified by the coincidence that they have assigned me my former office, with three of my four office-neighbors unchanged.)
I am somewhat anxiously awaiting my delightful former wife's next effort to sabotage my relationships with our teenage children, because my teenage children and I have been getting along grandly. On Sunday the sixteen and I went on a day trip to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville --- a trip that I've been trying to take with him for a year, but that she has permitted him to talk himself out of several times. (He had a grand time; that museum was built especially for him and his interests.) While we were getting ready to go, the eighteen texted me out of the blue to say how excited she is that she and I are going to enjoy a couple of movies together over the next few weeks. She didn't realize that I was downstairs, and raced down to hug me.
I don't think I can explain what a turnaround this is from even a few months ago.
I have more happy things to say, but I'm going to sleep instead.
Oh, also musicals are awesome. I'm looking forward to having a work schedule that will let me enjoy the theatre again.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:14 PM on September 9 [5 favorites]
I am somewhat anxiously awaiting my delightful former wife's next effort to sabotage my relationships with our teenage children, because my teenage children and I have been getting along grandly. On Sunday the sixteen and I went on a day trip to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville --- a trip that I've been trying to take with him for a year, but that she has permitted him to talk himself out of several times. (He had a grand time; that museum was built especially for him and his interests.) While we were getting ready to go, the eighteen texted me out of the blue to say how excited she is that she and I are going to enjoy a couple of movies together over the next few weeks. She didn't realize that I was downstairs, and raced down to hug me.
I don't think I can explain what a turnaround this is from even a few months ago.
I have more happy things to say, but I'm going to sleep instead.
Oh, also musicals are awesome. I'm looking forward to having a work schedule that will let me enjoy the theatre again.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:14 PM on September 9 [5 favorites]
We may have wrapped up this evening on a positive note.
My dad has been getting progressively sicker all day, and was wrapped up on the couch in a hoodie and blanket after dinner, coughing. My mom was feeling well enough to join us in the living room and my dad points at the TV and goes "you got any knives out on that thing?" So we all watched Glass Onion together.
As I was putting them to bed just now, ice pack to one side, heating pad to the other, mucinex pm for all, I said: "not to rub it in but if I make it through all of this and still don't get sick would you consider getting your boosters?"
"YES" my dad growls. Hardly even finished the sentence. Said "yes" again. Coughed some more. Declined a second blanket. Good night.
🥴🙏
posted by phunniemee at 9:37 PM on September 9 [12 favorites]
My dad has been getting progressively sicker all day, and was wrapped up on the couch in a hoodie and blanket after dinner, coughing. My mom was feeling well enough to join us in the living room and my dad points at the TV and goes "you got any knives out on that thing?" So we all watched Glass Onion together.
As I was putting them to bed just now, ice pack to one side, heating pad to the other, mucinex pm for all, I said: "not to rub it in but if I make it through all of this and still don't get sick would you consider getting your boosters?"
"YES" my dad growls. Hardly even finished the sentence. Said "yes" again. Coughed some more. Declined a second blanket. Good night.
🥴🙏
posted by phunniemee at 9:37 PM on September 9 [12 favorites]
phunniemee I'm so sorry for your tribulations - epic tribulations - but from the other side of the ocean I see enormous potential for a comedy-musical. A truly glorious spectacle.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch we saw at the Old Sailor's Home (?)/ Theater in the far west village when came out. It fucking rocked. It still rocks: Saw it again about 15 years later (...ouch...) here, in Berlin with a fantastic "Hedwig" - Sven Ratzke.
Also had the perplexing experience of seeing the first act of Cats in the 80's in NYC - it was incomprehensible to my teen-age brain and we skipped out to go smoke pot at Columbus Circle. My conception of the whole production was later skewed even harder by a girlfriend who had been an under-study of... one of the cats, an important cat she let me know... at around the same time. Written by TS Eliot... and then the movie... the whole thing is almost bottomlessly foreign, always has been and I suspect always will be. Which is kinda nice, in a way. But limitlessly foreign.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:31 AM on September 10 [2 favorites]
Hedwig and the Angry Inch we saw at the Old Sailor's Home (?)/ Theater in the far west village when came out. It fucking rocked. It still rocks: Saw it again about 15 years later (...ouch...) here, in Berlin with a fantastic "Hedwig" - Sven Ratzke.
Also had the perplexing experience of seeing the first act of Cats in the 80's in NYC - it was incomprehensible to my teen-age brain and we skipped out to go smoke pot at Columbus Circle. My conception of the whole production was later skewed even harder by a girlfriend who had been an under-study of... one of the cats, an important cat she let me know... at around the same time. Written by TS Eliot... and then the movie... the whole thing is almost bottomlessly foreign, always has been and I suspect always will be. Which is kinda nice, in a way. But limitlessly foreign.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:31 AM on September 10 [2 favorites]
I don't know much about musicals. But I remember being very pleased with myself when I recognized Daniel Ingram's Art of the Dress, from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is a parody of Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together, from Sunday in the Park with George. Lookit me! I'm cultured!
posted by SPrintF at 7:14 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 7:14 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
Welp, someone bumped my car this morning (same gas station as the last incident) and drove off, so I've had a THIRD car incident. It looks mostly scraped with one tiny crack and I canNOT go back and get an entire half of a car redone AGAIN and I can't prove innocence, so I am going to let it go. Still seems drivable. What isn't so drivable is I had to drive through a shit-ton of broken god-knows-what to get home yesterday and guess what, a tire's low so it's probably punctured. I have to get new tires at this point anyway, so...There's a tire place near my work, I'm hoping they can just take me.
I'm so exhausted. I'm so sick of "I can't do ANYTHING during work hours without it being a huge issue/potential docking of pay and rigamarole crap." I have until December to go at this.
Also I just cannot sleep more than 6 hours despite going to bed ridiculously early last night (8:45!!!) and I looked at all of my sleep graphs for the last year and every one of them is jaggedy and irregular, no matter what kind of sleep treatment I was getting. Nothing works.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:47 AM on September 10 [3 favorites]
I'm so exhausted. I'm so sick of "I can't do ANYTHING during work hours without it being a huge issue/potential docking of pay and rigamarole crap." I have until December to go at this.
Also I just cannot sleep more than 6 hours despite going to bed ridiculously early last night (8:45!!!) and I looked at all of my sleep graphs for the last year and every one of them is jaggedy and irregular, no matter what kind of sleep treatment I was getting. Nothing works.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:47 AM on September 10 [3 favorites]
I'm not a Musicals person, but last year I got to see a local production of The Drowsy Chaperone, and I thought that was meta-genius and quite touching.
posted by ovvl at 8:36 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 8:36 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
Also had the perplexing experience of seeing the first act of Cats in the 80's in NYC - it was incomprehensible to my teen-age brain and we skipped out to go smoke pot at Columbus Circle.
Ah, I see your problem. You did it in the wrong order.
posted by jedicus at 8:59 AM on September 10 [7 favorites]
Ah, I see your problem. You did it in the wrong order.
posted by jedicus at 8:59 AM on September 10 [7 favorites]
Last night I dreamed I stayed up until 5am; it was so convincing that when the alarm rang I briefly thought I'd have to call out of work due to lack of sleep.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:29 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:29 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
Also, I've decided that I might want to get a chip implant - for the specific reason of being able to Google things in dreams. When I'm dreaming I can't read anything; the letters fade and twist no matter how close I get to them. But with an implant I should be able to get info beamed straight into my brain without having to try to read it. I'm nearly serious about this.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:30 AM on September 10 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:30 AM on September 10 [2 favorites]
Although musicals often get looked down upon as too mittleklasse, I think there's a place for them in the entertainment field. Tourists flock to them still. I like an occasional Sondheim piece...he is the master still. The big glitzy ones and the overly sentimental ones I'll leave to the tourists.
posted by Czjewel at 9:40 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 9:40 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
@phunniemee
I am pretty sure Larry David is authoring your life. I mean, you are literally authoring your life in this thread and I agree with the others: make it a musical! damn
posted by ginger.beef at 10:33 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
I am pretty sure Larry David is authoring your life. I mean, you are literally authoring your life in this thread and I agree with the others: make it a musical! damn
posted by ginger.beef at 10:33 AM on September 10 [1 favorite]
In addition to Billy Joel's final residency show at MSG back in July, which was the main reason for our trip up there, we also caught performances of Hadestown and Stereophonic, going into both mostly blind. The studio musician in me loved Stereophonic, but I was truly surprised by how good Hadestown was. Seeing that made the recent Netflix show Kaos even more fun.
posted by emelenjr at 11:28 AM on September 10
posted by emelenjr at 11:28 AM on September 10
The soundtrack of my childhood was country music and showtunes as my dad was a big fan of both. I have not seen a musical in years and have not really kept up on the new shows. I should probably add attending a few to round out my goal of seeing more live music.
The next live thing is Judge John Hodgeman, which I am very much looking forward to seeing. Cyndi Lauper and Sixpence None the Richer are in the future.
phunniemee I send you strength. May your parents recover swiftly and you reclaim peace in your home soon.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:14 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
The next live thing is Judge John Hodgeman, which I am very much looking forward to seeing. Cyndi Lauper and Sixpence None the Richer are in the future.
phunniemee I send you strength. May your parents recover swiftly and you reclaim peace in your home soon.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:14 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
They left! I gave them a pack of masks! Will they wear them, who knows! They're still planning on going to their school reunion! Ha ha neat! I feel insane!
Aside from the mental health, I am still feeling healthy and still testing negative, so I double masked and went to my scheduled haircut and trauma dumped at my stylist who I think has always been a little sad that my usual life updates are so boring, so they ate this shit up.
In the 10 minute window between my parents' exit and having to leave I filled up two laundry hampers and used half a can of Clorox wipes, and there's plenty left to do waiting for me when I get home, but it's over.
posted by phunniemee at 12:31 PM on September 10 [19 favorites]
Aside from the mental health, I am still feeling healthy and still testing negative, so I double masked and went to my scheduled haircut and trauma dumped at my stylist who I think has always been a little sad that my usual life updates are so boring, so they ate this shit up.
In the 10 minute window between my parents' exit and having to leave I filled up two laundry hampers and used half a can of Clorox wipes, and there's plenty left to do waiting for me when I get home, but it's over.
posted by phunniemee at 12:31 PM on September 10 [19 favorites]
*knocks wood* I'm so happy they've left! THE RELIEF!!!
(she says, as she plans a parental visit this weekend that will inevitably be stressful.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:30 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
(she says, as she plans a parental visit this weekend that will inevitably be stressful.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:30 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
Hooray, phunniemee!
jenfullmoon, I send the same wishes for you.
There are some very good reasons spouse is 100% responsible for hosting his parents in our home (and they only live an hour away). Because of that, they visit rarely and I make a point of being out of the house on most of those occasions.
But I have some great stories.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 1:51 PM on September 10 [2 favorites]
jenfullmoon, I send the same wishes for you.
There are some very good reasons spouse is 100% responsible for hosting his parents in our home (and they only live an hour away). Because of that, they visit rarely and I make a point of being out of the house on most of those occasions.
But I have some great stories.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 1:51 PM on September 10 [2 favorites]
I feel for you, phunniemee.
I also am in the throes of family: I took my brother to the cardiologist this morning - accompanied by my other brother, so a whole story there too - and while the doctor was trying to suss out exactly what is going on he dropped the "oh and this is a genetic condition" bomb. Genetic is a word you most definitely do not want to hear while with a sibling at a cardiologist. My other brother and I, who were beginning to slump in the general gloom of it all, noticeably straightened right up. Now I have to reach out to my pcp and fight with the health insurance to get tested, what fun.
Re: musicals: I loved them as a child - I was a child in the age of the great British inexplicable musical movies, hello Oliver! Let's all dance about starvation, thievery and child exploitation! - and young teenager, became much too cool for them by the age of 18, remained too cool for them through my 30s, have been steadily getting less cool ever since, so I should be able to tolerate them again soon. However, I am also back to where I was in my 20s and 30s where I was only allowed to watch G rated movies since I basically never watched a movie without the company of someone under 8, and so I am watching stuff like Barbie: Mermaid Magic! which sure has a lot of terrible singing in it but I am not sure counts as a musical.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:51 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
I also am in the throes of family: I took my brother to the cardiologist this morning - accompanied by my other brother, so a whole story there too - and while the doctor was trying to suss out exactly what is going on he dropped the "oh and this is a genetic condition" bomb. Genetic is a word you most definitely do not want to hear while with a sibling at a cardiologist. My other brother and I, who were beginning to slump in the general gloom of it all, noticeably straightened right up. Now I have to reach out to my pcp and fight with the health insurance to get tested, what fun.
Re: musicals: I loved them as a child - I was a child in the age of the great British inexplicable musical movies, hello Oliver! Let's all dance about starvation, thievery and child exploitation! - and young teenager, became much too cool for them by the age of 18, remained too cool for them through my 30s, have been steadily getting less cool ever since, so I should be able to tolerate them again soon. However, I am also back to where I was in my 20s and 30s where I was only allowed to watch G rated movies since I basically never watched a movie without the company of someone under 8, and so I am watching stuff like Barbie: Mermaid Magic! which sure has a lot of terrible singing in it but I am not sure counts as a musical.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:51 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
phunniemee, that was something to read, and no doubt much more WTF? to deal with. I hope you remain healthy and your parents recover quickly. Thinking about everything, it's probably for the best that my dad passed a few years before 2016. I think it would have been the breaking point of an already strained relationship.
I've somehow seen very few musicals in my life. It just wasn't a thing for my parents, and I never really got exposed to them elsewhere, unless The Muppet Show and variety shows as a kid counts. My spouse was aghast I had never seen The Sound of Music before we met. I've remedied some of that. If we're including musical movies, I can say that 'Singing in the Rain' is pure joy to me.
posted by mollweide at 2:51 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
I've somehow seen very few musicals in my life. It just wasn't a thing for my parents, and I never really got exposed to them elsewhere, unless The Muppet Show and variety shows as a kid counts. My spouse was aghast I had never seen The Sound of Music before we met. I've remedied some of that. If we're including musical movies, I can say that 'Singing in the Rain' is pure joy to me.
posted by mollweide at 2:51 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
Kiddo is well into teenager now and I’ve noticed that being home when he is done with school leads to some really nice conversations. I have to be in office three days, but the length of time is not mandated (yet) so I think I am going to make a habit of slipping out around noon so we can chat when he gets home from school.
(politicsFilter) I had a nice moment with him today in which I showed him the Kamala Harris debate Bingo cards and pointed out that he was getting a preview of her talking points this evening. Seeing him light up with understanding made me feel all warm inside. (/politicsFilter)
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:07 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
(politicsFilter) I had a nice moment with him today in which I showed him the Kamala Harris debate Bingo cards and pointed out that he was getting a preview of her talking points this evening. Seeing him light up with understanding made me feel all warm inside. (/politicsFilter)
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:07 PM on September 10 [3 favorites]
Somewhere out there are blurry VHS tapes of me performing poorly in various musicals, but so far most of them have not come back to haunt me.
posted by JanetLand at 4:59 PM on September 10 [2 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 4:59 PM on September 10 [2 favorites]
I was never a musical fan. Though I think Fiddler on the Roof and The Music Man impacted me. First child loved Cats, and I know all those songs, but never saw a performance.
And, when I was in High School, we did The Music Man. I was the first tenor in the quartet. They didn't think we could actually do the quartet, and were going to hire some adults to fill in, but we were awesome. I hit "ICE CREAM" every night. And that was after our second tenor got hit in the throat, and sort of lost his voice for a while, and they wanted to put a guy in to replace him, who we all hated.
Musicals make no sense. When was the last time you were in a situation where everyone around you started singing and dancing? So fun...
posted by Windopaene at 5:47 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
And, when I was in High School, we did The Music Man. I was the first tenor in the quartet. They didn't think we could actually do the quartet, and were going to hire some adults to fill in, but we were awesome. I hit "ICE CREAM" every night. And that was after our second tenor got hit in the throat, and sort of lost his voice for a while, and they wanted to put a guy in to replace him, who we all hated.
Musicals make no sense. When was the last time you were in a situation where everyone around you started singing and dancing? So fun...
posted by Windopaene at 5:47 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
@jenfullmoon
Ask the gas station if they'd look through their surveillance videos (because those places have more cameras than CNN) and see if they'll give you a copy of the clip showing when you got hit.
posted by sardonyx at 5:55 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
Ask the gas station if they'd look through their surveillance videos (because those places have more cameras than CNN) and see if they'll give you a copy of the clip showing when you got hit.
posted by sardonyx at 5:55 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
And in an unrelated to the topic comment...
Have been growing cucumbers. And have been making refrigerator pickles, (not competent to make real pickles). And they have been pretty fucking awesome. Had a couple of years where all the cukes were curled and weird, but this year, got some good ones. And they have been awesome.
Currently going with Serrano peppers, garlic, mustard seed and red pepper flakes. Some coriander seed would be good, but don't have those. Child three was here the other day, tried one, and said how good they were. Might get another jar, but those are really small and may not make it.
posted by Windopaene at 5:58 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
Have been growing cucumbers. And have been making refrigerator pickles, (not competent to make real pickles). And they have been pretty fucking awesome. Had a couple of years where all the cukes were curled and weird, but this year, got some good ones. And they have been awesome.
Currently going with Serrano peppers, garlic, mustard seed and red pepper flakes. Some coriander seed would be good, but don't have those. Child three was here the other day, tried one, and said how good they were. Might get another jar, but those are really small and may not make it.
posted by Windopaene at 5:58 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
I love musicals so much, and I’m hope-hope-hoping that Illinoise comes to SF (as I have heard quietly rumored).
posted by kwaller at 6:09 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
posted by kwaller at 6:09 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]
I didn't grow up with musicals and know zilch about them but there again, I didn't grow up with opera and I absolutely love opera, almost obsessively. A girl friend in my young 20s constantly played Verdi's La Traviata which wormed it's way into my ear and later my soul. Since then Verdi, Vivaldi, Puccini, Mozart, Wagner but above all my greatest love, Handel. Why? For his endless exquisite, lyricism and simple melodic beauty. Which prompts a question, What's the difference between 'musicals' and 'opera?' Seriously. Opera has these utterly crazy highbrow, 'intellectual' associations. Why for heaven's sake? Handel's story lines are often ludicrous, often fun too and sometimes deadly in earnest. When I first met Mrs. Rick, she thought I must have 2 heads or something until I descarified it for her and now she loves opera - like mine her family wasn't musical. Sounds like it's time for me to check out some 'musicals.'
posted by dutchrick at 3:22 AM on September 11 [2 favorites]
posted by dutchrick at 3:22 AM on September 11 [2 favorites]
My father worked in education, and one thing he did that I am proud of him for was browbeating his school district into starting a music program. Because of that, my family and I were obliged to go to all the musicals. So, yeah, I definitely have mixed feelings about musicals. On the one hand, I was obliged to go, and so many of them were very amateurish productions, but on the other hand, much of the music is quite fun and catchy.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:15 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:15 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]
I saw an interview with Laurie Anderson, which happened to be during the height of Hamilton-mania. She was asked if she liked the show. She did not. She explained that she did not like musicals, but every few years one friend of hers or another would convince her that some musical or other was not like other musicals and she would really enjoy it. Each time, she would, within minutes say to herself Goddammit, this is still a musical and I still hate it.
I am glad for people who find things they like. And I recognize the artistry of musicals enough that I have sort of come to appreciate hearing about musicals second-hand. (There's a guy on TikTok who recounts failed Broadway shows while holding an old school iPhone mic to his mouth and I find him delightful, but more because I appreciate charming and funny smart people telling me about things they are interested in than out of any wish to see these trainwrecks.) And I actually didn't hate Hamilton... at home on TV. But dang, every experience I have ever had going to see a musical in the theater was exactly as Anderson described: panic and frustration setting in as I learned at great expense yet again that theatrical musicals are not for me.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:49 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]
I am glad for people who find things they like. And I recognize the artistry of musicals enough that I have sort of come to appreciate hearing about musicals second-hand. (There's a guy on TikTok who recounts failed Broadway shows while holding an old school iPhone mic to his mouth and I find him delightful, but more because I appreciate charming and funny smart people telling me about things they are interested in than out of any wish to see these trainwrecks.) And I actually didn't hate Hamilton... at home on TV. But dang, every experience I have ever had going to see a musical in the theater was exactly as Anderson described: panic and frustration setting in as I learned at great expense yet again that theatrical musicals are not for me.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:49 AM on September 11 [3 favorites]
When was the last time you were in a situation where everyone around you started singing and dancing?
Come hang out with my friends sometime. We have so many musicians and poets and actors in the group. Spontaneous singing and dancing happens on the regular.
posted by cooker girl at 9:25 AM on September 11 [2 favorites]
Come hang out with my friends sometime. We have so many musicians and poets and actors in the group. Spontaneous singing and dancing happens on the regular.
posted by cooker girl at 9:25 AM on September 11 [2 favorites]
Hm, next time I'm over there, we'll see...it was on the edge of the street, so not sure if it would have been caught. I didn't get gas today but I'm over there about 2x/week.
My tire turned out not to be punctured, thank goodness, so the issue wasn't forced on me to deal with today and the light hasn't come back on again. My mother has offered to buy my tires for me when I'm in town over the weekend, which is both good financially and because I've never replaced a full set of tires before, but also there will be emotional drama.
This morning I got onto the freeway and it went from an estimated 30 minutes to 1.5 HOURS due to accidents. Thankfully it only went ONE hour and I was only a half hour late to work, but seriously I was parked on the freeway for 25 minutes reading. On a related note, telework was brought up in the meeting--"maybe" in 6-8 months--I'll believe it when I see it.
Back on the topic of musicals: I started my new one last night. It was the first online musical I've ever done, a homegrown show (Robin Hood with song parodies shaped to Sherwood Forest), and now it's IRL so I can see how that's done. They've added in new songs and characters and much to my surprise, there's a ton of kids/teens in this show. I know they said 12 and up and we got a few kids auditioning for R&J last time, but I wasn't expecting like most of the ensemble to be around 12-ish. Some of them are hilarious and I adore one kid already. However, there's a song called "Tuck Be A Lady Tonight" about him cross-dressing to sneak into the palace, and there's lines in it about, ah...a lady and her drawbridge and her moat and it's very innuendo-y and I, a person who has no clue on The Proper Age At Which Kids Find Out Dirty Words And Sex Stuff (my dad was...well, I learned all the dirty words by mid-grade school), was all, "Um...how are their parents gonna feel about hearing them sing this?" The kids seem just young enough to not quite get what it's referring to but enough to get that it's "something dirty."
So discussing the topic of sex ed and when it's held in school and at what age kids can start watching Deadpool at work morphed into a coworker of mine telling us about a nursing class he took in college which turned into sex ed, with (a) a sex shop worker coming in, (b) the teacher announcing she's a sub (I don't mean "substitute teacher") and her dom was going to come into the class and her whole demeanor changing, and (c) the time she wore a vagina costume made out of pillows to class, which I got to see a picture of. What did he learn in the class? "How to set up a Kahoot and to not wear a vagina costume to class."
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:56 AM on September 11 [1 favorite]
My tire turned out not to be punctured, thank goodness, so the issue wasn't forced on me to deal with today and the light hasn't come back on again. My mother has offered to buy my tires for me when I'm in town over the weekend, which is both good financially and because I've never replaced a full set of tires before, but also there will be emotional drama.
This morning I got onto the freeway and it went from an estimated 30 minutes to 1.5 HOURS due to accidents. Thankfully it only went ONE hour and I was only a half hour late to work, but seriously I was parked on the freeway for 25 minutes reading. On a related note, telework was brought up in the meeting--"maybe" in 6-8 months--I'll believe it when I see it.
Back on the topic of musicals: I started my new one last night. It was the first online musical I've ever done, a homegrown show (Robin Hood with song parodies shaped to Sherwood Forest), and now it's IRL so I can see how that's done. They've added in new songs and characters and much to my surprise, there's a ton of kids/teens in this show. I know they said 12 and up and we got a few kids auditioning for R&J last time, but I wasn't expecting like most of the ensemble to be around 12-ish. Some of them are hilarious and I adore one kid already. However, there's a song called "Tuck Be A Lady Tonight" about him cross-dressing to sneak into the palace, and there's lines in it about, ah...a lady and her drawbridge and her moat and it's very innuendo-y and I, a person who has no clue on The Proper Age At Which Kids Find Out Dirty Words And Sex Stuff (my dad was...well, I learned all the dirty words by mid-grade school), was all, "Um...how are their parents gonna feel about hearing them sing this?" The kids seem just young enough to not quite get what it's referring to but enough to get that it's "something dirty."
So discussing the topic of sex ed and when it's held in school and at what age kids can start watching Deadpool at work morphed into a coworker of mine telling us about a nursing class he took in college which turned into sex ed, with (a) a sex shop worker coming in, (b) the teacher announcing she's a sub (I don't mean "substitute teacher") and her dom was going to come into the class and her whole demeanor changing, and (c) the time she wore a vagina costume made out of pillows to class, which I got to see a picture of. What did he learn in the class? "How to set up a Kahoot and to not wear a vagina costume to class."
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:56 AM on September 11 [1 favorite]
Quick recap: I was laid off in June by Company A. They gave me severance and I collected unemployment, having a pretty chill summer on their dime. Now they would like me to come back.
I verbally agreed to go back to Company A. However, at the same time as their offer came in, Company B who had been interviewing me has come forward with an offer about 10% higher.
I told Company A they should see if they can find some more money.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:07 AM on September 11 [6 favorites]
I verbally agreed to go back to Company A. However, at the same time as their offer came in, Company B who had been interviewing me has come forward with an offer about 10% higher.
I told Company A they should see if they can find some more money.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:07 AM on September 11 [6 favorites]
They caved. I'm not only rehired, I'm rehired with a substantial raise. So basically, I got paid to have the summer off and a raise when I go back.
This is some weird luck and I wish I could bottle it and share it with anyone here who might need it.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:39 PM on September 11 [17 favorites]
This is some weird luck and I wish I could bottle it and share it with anyone here who might need it.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:39 PM on September 11 [17 favorites]
Once in a GREAT while, that luck happens. Congratulations!
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:54 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:54 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]
I also figure that, given that part of the reason I was rehired was likely to encourage "See! We aren't a failing company after all!" vibes, I will be essentially impossible to let go of a second time.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:02 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:02 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]
I have tickets to see Les Mis in a few weeks. This will be my second time. The first time I went was in my late teens.
I somehow slept through 2 alarms and woke up at 715. I made it to work at 743 with 2 minutes to spare. My boss would have been fine if I were a few minutes late. This is why I get everything ready the night before. Water bottle filled, protein/coffee shake made, lunch packed and clothes laid out.
Tomorrow is meet the teacher night. I stay until 6 today trying to get shit done. I don't think I'll be taking a lunch tomorrow because I have teacher stuff to do on my plan period. I'm so nervous. I'm brand new there. I'm not 100% comfortable with the curriculum. I have social anxiety and a heavy dose of perfectionism. Kids are easy. Parents are hard.
We had grandparents tea last Friday and I crashed hard Friday night and most of the day Saturday. I wish I could be one of those people with enough confidence in myself to not GAF.
posted by kathrynm at 5:58 PM on September 11 [3 favorites]
I somehow slept through 2 alarms and woke up at 715. I made it to work at 743 with 2 minutes to spare. My boss would have been fine if I were a few minutes late. This is why I get everything ready the night before. Water bottle filled, protein/coffee shake made, lunch packed and clothes laid out.
Tomorrow is meet the teacher night. I stay until 6 today trying to get shit done. I don't think I'll be taking a lunch tomorrow because I have teacher stuff to do on my plan period. I'm so nervous. I'm brand new there. I'm not 100% comfortable with the curriculum. I have social anxiety and a heavy dose of perfectionism. Kids are easy. Parents are hard.
We had grandparents tea last Friday and I crashed hard Friday night and most of the day Saturday. I wish I could be one of those people with enough confidence in myself to not GAF.
posted by kathrynm at 5:58 PM on September 11 [3 favorites]
Oh DirtyOldTown, that's fantastic news! I'm so happy for you!
posted by gentlyepigrams at 7:28 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]
posted by gentlyepigrams at 7:28 PM on September 11 [1 favorite]
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posted by soelo at 1:41 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]