Friday, September 21st
All hail the equinox as we start the inexorable march towards winter. It's beginning to feel like fall, finally, after the long hot summer of our discontent. Some clouds, some rain and temperatures in the 70s and 80s rather than a heat index of 110. We are all grateful.
Work is continuing on the house. The floors are laid on the top two floors. Tile is coming. Sheetrock is in. The building permit for the new storage area is in the works and, when that comes through, we can empty the third floor so the rest of the floors can be laid and they can do the sanding and staining and cause the huge mess that that entails.
Both Tommy and I have been zonked the last week or so. Work/school/home to catch up and then collapse in front of the TV. Working our way through the complete 'Upstairs/Downstairs', 'The Sopranos' and moving on to 'Smallville'. TV DVDs are nice in that you can fall asleep to them and not miss much.
A personal triumph this week. I finally got a character all the way through Diablo II extended edition - all five acts. I expect some sort of prize but it doesn't seem to be forthcoming.
Still no theatre for a while. We're off to the opening of 'Bye Bye Birdie' at MCAT this evening and have to usher for 'Moonlight and Magnolias' next week.
Tuesday, September 11th
Another sunny Tuesday morning and what a difference six years makes. On 9/11, I was asleep at my brother's house when my sister-in-law yelled up the stairs that I had to come down and watch CNN. I think I got there somewhere just before the collapse of the south tower and was riveted for most of the rest of the day. While it was a pretty unforgettable moment, I think its time to let it rest along with the Lusitania, the Maine and other such unforgettable moments of their time and we should look forwards, not back in fear. '
It's too bad we're not in the process of writing another 'Politically Incorrect' at the moment. The Larry Craig tap routine alone would be worth it. Not to mention the fun we could have with the Petraeus report and the stalemale in congress. I really wish the dems would grow some cojones rather than worrying about what the republican spin machine is going to do next election cycle. But that's just me.
The logjam on the house is starting to break free. The electrician is dealing with the alarm issue this afternoon. The drawings for the storeroom building permit are supposed to be ready in the morning and the hardwood floors are starting to go down. Of course they got some of them wrong, but they're supposed to be fixing that later today.
We had a benefit weekend. The Virginia Samford Theatre opening gala last Thursday (various friends singing show tunes backed by orchestra). Quite good with people being in fine voice. On Saturday, the black tie Symphony gala. Had to dig through boxes to find my tux but did eventually unearth it. Still fits, but for how much longer? I'm about twenty pounds heavier than when I bought it. I seem to have put on ten of those in the last six months and a bunch of my dress shirts and pants are getting a wee bit tight. I'm the last person that needs to diet so maybe my metabolism is finally slowing down. The symphony high point was Justin Brown, the conductor, both conducting and playing movements II and III of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. Quite a feat.
I've had a cold that's become a bit of bronchitis so I'm a bit under the weather but I think it's starting to lift. It's about time.
Wednesday, September 5th
Tommy and I headed to New Orleans for the long weekend for a couple of days of R and R before plunging back into remodel land. Did the galleries and the antique shops. For the most part, prices haven't come down any post Katrina. Saw a few pieces we liked but most were out of our budget. We do have good taste. I got a viral stomach thing on Sunday night mixed with my usual GI issues which resulted in some rather spectacular upset stomach but I managed to get over it by Tuesday. While there, we got 'Death at a Funeral' which was one of those mordant British Black comedies, directed by Frank Oz of all people. In this one, various upper crust British twits gather for a funeral at which everything that can possibly go wrong, does , helped along by a bottle of hallucinogens disguised as valium. A couple of very funny scenes, especially Peter Dinklage emerging from a coffin and some very nice shots of Alan Tudyk's naked tush.
We're in 'hurry up and wait' mode on the house. There is a dispute between the building inspector and Brinks security on the smoke alarms which I am trying to broker and should be solved this week. Sheetrock cannot proceed until this happens. There is also yet another delay from the architect on the drawings for the storage room. We can't finish emptying the house for the floors until this is done. Grrrrrrr. On the good news front, refinancing closes tomorrow.
No theater at the moment while all this gets sorted out. I do have a commission to write an original one act which I have more or less set up in my head. Now I have to write the bloody thing. I have to have a treatment done by the end of the month. I'll have to knock off all the hours on Diablo II - even if I am getting characters to the end game finally...
A number of work melt downs are ongoing. They are upsetting the balance of my life at work so I wish they would stop. Alas, it doesn't look like that's about to happen.
