I've been reviewed!!

Ever since I first heard of the Utah Theater Blogger Association (UTBA) I have been terrified I'll be reviewed. Family and friends tend to be nice, but strangers don't have to be! I put so much into each show that I do I can't bear to have a stranger tell me -- let alone the world wide interweb -- they didn't enjoy my character. I've been in several plays reviewed by this group (all well-received, luckily), but they've never called out my individual performance.

Until now.

When I saw the review for The Masque of the Beauty and the Beast pop up in my reader feed last night, my heart nearly stopped. But, it turns out, the reviewer and her daughter not only enjoyed the play, but they liked ME in it!

The blonde sister (Smyth) was hilarious with excellent comedic timing.  Her off-the-cuff remarks and use of body language added several layers to their story. 

Hooraaaaaaaaaaay!

Come and see me in this play, and bring a friend or two. I just can't believe that you wouldn't enjoy it (I don't say that about every show I'm in). It's magical and whimsical and fun and cool. Click here for ticket information.

If you don't come, I'll make this face:

So very, very frumptastic. I both love and hate this photo at the same time.

Okay, fine. I'll probably make that face if you DO come, but then it will be in character!

The handsome Prince, carrying his Beast mask

Sisters (Beauty in the middle, and Haughtense on the right).
Funny enough, I'm the tallest one. We all know I'm on the
short side of average, so it always makes me giggle when
I'm one of the tallest girls in a play!

Three grotesques, all ready for another pure awesome performance.

Only nine performances left. Hope to see you there!

Generic v Global

Once of the products at work has the word "Generic" in it. I know this because I've been working on the documentation for this product for the last three months.

During one review early in the process, one of the engineers noticed that some of the screen shots said "Global" instead of "Generic". I was embarrassed I didn't catch it before I sent it for review, but that's what reviews are for! I fixed up the doc, they fixed the product and sent me new screen shots. All is well.

Today, one of the most frustrating people to work with sent me a review of the Release Notes. In it, he crossed out every reference to "Generic" and replaced it with ... you got it! "Global" After a quick mental check to make sure I was right, I poked my head around my cubicle to the guy next to me.

"Just want to confirm that XXX stands for 'Generic' and not 'Global', right?"

"Yep."

It's unkind to revel in other people's mistakes, but considering the way this guy has been putting me off lately, this happening just made my whole day!

And now back to my regularly scheduled work, fixing the rest of the stuff the frustrator sent me to do. To be fair, he DID send me this information three days sooner than he usually does at this point during a release. That feels like a victory, too, and I am very grateful!

I am smiling so hugely right now.

And it came to pass

I live a fairly charmed life: loving family, comfortable home, terrific friends, steady job, plenty of opportunities to play, et cetera, et cetera...

But sometimes I feel sorry for myself, or angry for days at a time. I don't like feeling that way, but unless I lock myself in my room for the rest of my life, it's unavoidable (actually, after spending the bulk of September sick in my room, I can safely say that solution won't keep me from feeling sorry for myself after very long...)

A few weeks ago, my friend Suzanne posted this on her blog:

Opposition in all things, right? I was reading a story somewhere, and the author said her mother would comfort her in hard times with the phrase that went something like, "The scriptures would use the phrase, 'and it came to pass', not the phrase, 'and it came to stay' ". I like that idea.

I like that idea, too! It helps during tough times to remember that I won't always feel that way. Time heals wounds, and troubles work themselves out (or I work them out).

I'm almost healed from the whooping cough and pneumonia (did I mention the whooping cough? That wasn't confirmed until a few weeks ago). My play is open to the public and going well. I got to spend some time this weekend with my brother Aaron and celebrate my sister-in-law with many of her loved ones. I may kind of want to punch and/or yell at people at work right now, but that won't accomplish anything; every deadline is like this and yet everything somehow manages to get done.

Crummy times come and go, but there's always something to look forward to. After all, if I don't have to deal with frustration, pain, and loss, I won't grow... right?

500 Miles with Doctor Who

I discovered this video on Tuesday, and have watched it at least once a day since. It's helping me get through this crappy work week. I love it!! I may or may not want to sing every time I watch. (Keep an eye out for a few random famous people that even we Americans would know -- LOVE!)


Maybe after I finish up the West Wing series, I'll have to finally start in on Doctor Who. My curiosity is officially peaked to the max. Plus, I already have a huge crush on David Tennant from his performance in Hamlet *Swoon*

Not David Tennant, but still funny.

I know what I'm doing Thanksgiving weekend... you know, when I'm not performing ;-D

Opening night tonight! Hope to see a few of you there!!

Still time to submit a Tarantulion drawing!

My challenge to draw a tarantulion wasn't met with very much enthusiasm. In fact, one friend said she didn't even read the post because she was afraid she'd see a photo of one on my blog. I suppose I can understand that; I really hate it when people post photos of spiders. I'm just sayin'.

But until Darby Conley posted that comic strip last week, there weren't ANY references to tarantulions anywhere on the internet. Just think of it: the creative field is wide open! You could be the person who sets what future generations imagine when they hear of the fearsome beast.

After all, the only reason everyone thinks Frankenstein looks like this is because of the 1931 movie.

I also blame this movie for giving people the wrongful
impression that "Frankenstein" is the name of the monster.
It is, in fact, the name of the scientist who created the monster.
There's your literary nerd fact of the day.

It's like the Kenneth Brannaugh version never happened.

Don't you want a hint of immortality? How cool would that be?!! And how cool if I discovered you!!!

If you decide to submit a drawing, e-mail it to me at dizzyblonde78 at msn dot com. I'll post them all next week...

Come on! Don't assume someone else will have the same idea you have... and don't let your believed lack of skill discourage you. If it makes you feel better, you can say your nephew drew it. I won't judge!

And, yes, I'll be posting my own sketch. I'm willing to potentially embarrass myself if you are :-D

Happy Thursday!

Don't think about zebras

The first time I learned of a certain "swear" word, I was probably about ten, and one of my little brothers said, "Hey, did you know [he spelled the word out] is a swear word?" Embarrassed that a younger brother knew something I did not, I immediately countered with "No, it isn't!" Turns out I was wrong, although I couldn't tell you when the "badness" was confirmed to me. To this day I have never used it and never will. But sometimes I wish I was still innocent enough that I'd never heard it in the first place.

Well, in the interim time I've discovered more bad words. Words used in movies that bother me each time I hear them. Words I wish people in polite society wouldn't use, especially when yelling at me.

Even now, I'm encountering new words not to say. The latest was from the movie Easy A, a movie I quite liked and wouldn't mind owning. Now that I think of it, I've heard the word before but never knew it was a bad one. I've probably sung it, snuck into musicals the way it sometimes is. It was the only bad word I noticed in the movie, and I only noticed it because she was sent to the principle's office because of it. Otherwise, I would have had no idea and wouldn't have given it a second thought.

It's probably better they did make such a big deal, because I might have ignorantly used it myself :P I love playing with words! It's so hard to leave one unsaid, especially when it was locked into the forefront of my brain!

A part of me immediately wanted to look it up to find out what it meant. But I didn't really want to type the word into a search engine because 1) I was a little afraid to find out the meaning, and 2) I didn't want it showing up in my history (I know I could wipe the history, but it still feels wrong).

The other part of me -- the part that didn't know yet what it meant -- wanted to use it.

I know what the new word means now -- a friend enlightened me and I'm glad she did -- so I'm less tempted, but it's still on my mind, as illustrated by Ray Romano in the last two minutes of this clip:


In an attempt to distract my mind and focus on stuff I would NOT be embarrassed to say, I've been watching classic movies and reading young adult fiction. I think about it the forbidden words less often now, but now that I've learned it, it'll probably pop up in my brain every once in awhile.

I apologize if through this post I might have inspired you to think of "ugly" words. What do you do to get those kind of things out of your head?