Turtle Transportation

I thought I would share this funny picture from when we struck the set of Shipwrecked. We went into work at 3 last Saturday and worked until about 10 before heading over to theatre. The turtle was one of the last things we brought over, strapped to the back of Doc's pickup. We got some funny looks from other motorists on our trip back to the shop.

Addiction

So, I've had my iPhone for a couple of weeks now and I can safely say I'm addicted to the applications store. I currently have five pages of applications (including the page of apps that came with the phone). I figured I would write up a little list of my top five applications, and why they are essential to me (not in any particular order):


1.) Tumblr
I post to Tumblr a couple of times a day, and since the iPhone does not support MMS messaging, this application is extremely useful for uploading pictures and one sentence blurbs that occur during the day (that I just have the urge to send to the strangers in internet land). It's faster than connecting to the site online, and has options to send your multimedia and a number of ways. It also lets you view your following list without having to continually zoom in to see it. Price: Free


2.)Flickit
I have a paid Flickr account because I use it as an indepth props portfolio that future employeers can see without me showing my actual paper portfolio. I use it all the time, and have tons of photos uploaded. Sometimes when I don't have my camera with me, I take pictures using my cellphone (which come out pretty decently no matter what type of phone you have). This application allows me to upload pictures from my phone, and automatically sends them to Flickr, even when I'm not by the computer. Price: Free


3.) Pandora
I know, everyone recommends this one, but it's true what they say. It's awesome! This internet radio lets you find stations in the genre you like, or you can customize by searching artist you love. I normally have this playing while I'm online, which is extremely helpful because it doesn't eat up bandwith/memory while browsing sites. I have never been one for internet radio until I downloaded this app, and I can say I'm addicted. Price: Free


4.) EasyWriter
Do you write a lot of e-mails on the iPhone? This app is for you. EasyWriter, when launched, brings up a sideways keypad which you can type your e-mail quicker and easier than using the keyboard upright. After you are done typing the message the app sends it to your e-mail account where you can then put the subject and person you are sending it to. Price: Free


5.) Lose It!
Ever use Weight Watchers? This app is basically the food journal portion of the program (minus the point system). This application allows you to keep track of the food you eat each day, in addition to how many calories you have consumed. It estimates based on your weight, goal weight, and how long you want it to take to reacht that goal, how many calories you need to eat per day. As someone who is trying to lose weight, this application really does put things in perspective, especially realizing how many days I go without eating even half of my calories (which is just as damaging as eating more calories). Price: Free

Here are some serious contenders that didn't make it into the top five list:
-Subs
Price: $.99 Allows you to view your subscriptions list on Youtube
-Ocarina
Price: $.99 Coolest game application ever, especially for those who loved Zelda
-iHandy Level
Price: Free. I'm a techie, even though I'm surrounded by hundreds of actual levels a day this is just AWESOME
-Shakespeare
Price: Free. Read full Shakespeare script on your iPhone!

The Past

Since I created this blog, I've been thinking about all the missed posts I could have done if I had just created it sooner. I've had a livejournal for years, but I've sort of giving up posting in that, and I regularily update my Tumblr, but even that really isn't a "blog". I don't go to Tumblr to write huge paragraphs in detail about what happened to me that day. I see Tumblr as more of a scrapbook of my life, a condensed version of what happens in life. It's convenient because I can just send on picture with a caption on it and that will be my post. Here, I have to sit down and take a good couple of minutes to figure out what I want to say in my crazy head.

I do these things as a place for me to remember what I did, and have a place I can look back into the past. It's one of the only reasons I don't cancel my lj or even myspace. I like having something that I can look back on and remember how I felt during that time.

I've been thinking that to make up for the awesome events that have occured, that I would do "flashback" posts. Blogs about things that happened in the past. They will be sporadic, and probably only when I have a good amount of time, but I figured it was a good way to have some documentation about the things that I did that made me happy and that I want to remember.

WorkWorkWork

It seems like that's all I do these days! It's been hectic the past couple of days at the shop. We've been going full speed for the techs of both Slasher and Absalom. I will say, this is NOTHING compared to what I had to deal with at school or during the summer when I was at Brevard Music Center. They were much more stressful. Working at ATL is still hectic and a lot happens, but when you have a crew this size (and a budget the size we do), the little things that you are forced to stress about tend to get pushed aside.

The juggling babies are done, finally! I finished quilting a blanket that three of the dolls were being wrapped in (the girls). Yesterday I ran around doing errands for the most part. After lunch I went over to the theatre to make some scripts for Slasher. Doc had gotten all of the stage managers to set up boxes for people to dump the old versions of scripts in so that we could then use them to make these scripts for the show. The script was being torn every night, so this helped with us having to photocopy 20 scripts, and also a great way to reuse some paper. It took a while because I had to piece through everything (not to mention the trash that some people dumped in there) but I got it done.

Afterwards I went back to the shop where I did some odd things, and then we all got out early. There was a Humana kick off party happening at the theatre, but I was so tired I just didn't want to get ready for a party so me and Heather decided to grab some beer and pizza and we headed back to her place to watch some TV with her boyfriend Brad. It was relaxing and definitely better than having to go through the hassel of going to the party.

Blood Making Supplies in the Prop Kitchen

Today everyone was at the theatre for most of the morning. After helping Doc with some Slasher notes, we split up and half of us went to go do some set dressing for Absalom. The boys worked on putting branches and apples in the tree (one of the actresses climbs up the tree and picks apples during one scene) and Taj and I were given the task to glue moss into the cracks of the downstage apron.


It took us most of the day, minus a lunch break (where Mark provided us with City Cafe sandwiches and got to hang out in the beautiful 60 degree weather) and some errands. While I was there, I found out that Evelyn, the BFF, got some amazing grad school call backs from some schools at SETC. I wish I was there, but there would have been no way to be able to get out of work to drive to Alabama to go to the convention, it just wasn't happening this year. It's supposed to be in Lexington next year (which is like an hour away) so if I'm still in the area, even if it's Humana time I can head over there for a couple of days.

I had to go pick up some different colored duct tape for Under Construction, one of the other Humana shows opening. The show has very little props, just some construction site things (cones, tape, hard hats...). Then later in the day me and Elliot headed out to pick up one of the neon signs for Slasher, where we played with the GPS on my iPhone!


We stayed a little later to wait and see if Doc needed anything before we left, and Heather and I were able to use the time to finish up the moss just as the run crew and stage managment was setting up props for the tech run.

I get tomorrow to sleep in, and then will be heading back to work on Sunday to get some props for Hard Weather Boating Party started.

A (Hopefully) Quick Post Before Bead

Today was gorgeous out! It began cold and then ended to the perfect sunny crisp day.

I began the morning today by running some errands around town, a stop at Big Lots for more babies and a Kroger run followed by dropping things off at the theatre. Half the shop was over at the theatre for the load in for Slasher (which began tech today). I got a call from Heather and ended up going back to the shop to pick up some more things and then another trip to the theatre. By the time I came back it was almost lunch time and I began working more on the babies.

The notes I made yesterday got a new rehearsal note about how they were supposed to be typed so I ended up having to redo them, which is fine. Such the life of a props artisan, make 30 versions of the same prop. I finished out the day making a quilt for the last three babies I have, since we didn't have anything in stock that worked to wrap the babies.

We got off work normal time today because it was the opening of Ameriville, but by 5:30 Doc was calling the shop stressed beyond belief and asking everyone to stay late. We picked up some food for dinner and then worked for a couple more hours. I didn't end up getting home till after 9pm.

I leave you with more baby pictures, because they are the most photogenic :)

The Day I Became the Crazy Corn Syrup Lady....

Today was hectic. And it wasn't because of the stress of Humana looming over the shop.

Today, driving into work, my tire blew. This is the second tire that I have gone through since being here. I have horrible luck with tires, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but it made my day a little more hectic. Doc helped me during lunch getting my spare on, and both Mark and Doc made sure I had a ride to get back to work after I dropped off my car, and a ride to go pick up my car. It was conveniently during trips to and from the theatre. Can I just tell you how much I love my coworkers and how amazing people they are??

My poor car :(

I began work finishing up some projects left over from yesterday, and afterwards I was at a standstill of things to do. Mark had to pick up some things for me to the projects I was assigned today so I ended up taking the van to Kroger to pick up some things for Slasher.

And by some things, I mean 20 bottles of corn syrup and three jars of pickles.


The thing is, we normally buy out most of the corn syrup in town during October when we run our annual production of Dracula (corn syrup=fake blood...see?) and it's a normal occurrence for them then, but when it's March and someone buys out almost the entirety of the two cheapest brands of corn syrup you get funny looks. To top it off I had to buy some pickles (a pickle jar gets thrown so we needed to make a plastic jar, but the plastic jar is much bigger than the normal glass pickle jar so I had to get more to put in so it didn't look weird).

The thing is, nobody asked me why I had what I had in my cart. I had the perfect, best excuse ever "You see I work at Actors Theatre, and I'm making fake blood for a show that we are doing that is set on a slasher-horror film shoot" As someone who once worked as a cashier (for many, many years) I would have been curious, but I guess that's just me.

The day ended with me making another trip out, this time to pick up a light and stand from a light company and making more of my bean bag babies.

Humana Madness

Today starts our month and a half (roughly) of overtime in preparation for the Humana New Play festival. So far, it has been too hectic and the pace seems kind of slow right now. I'm sure it will pick up once more of the shows go into tech, but so far so good.

A little about the Humana festival (told by a person going into it for their first year). The festival is essential a play competition where new works our picked from a pool of thousands of entries to be staged at Actors Theatre as our final shows of the season. 33 years ago, (or maybe it is 34? I don't remember) Humana gave a grant for Actors to produce these new works, and they continue to help fund the event every year. I compare the festival to be the mini version of summer stock for a regional theatre. There is a new show going into tech and opening multiple times per week and we are in overdrive to make sure all of the props get produced as needed in the short time span we have. The Humana Festival is so huge mainly because of it's track record in brining in prize winning playwrights, such as Marsha Norman (Night, Mother) and Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart) to name a few. A lot of these shows get funded to make runs in bigger theatres, and eventual some make it to Broadway.

My bosses, Mark and Doc, have a small festival blog that they are writing for the Courier Journal (Louisville KY's newspaper). It is a great insight into what we are doing, and especially because it's from their viewpoint. Check it out at http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/humanafest/blog.html I love reading it, and I work in the department! But in all honesty, it does go into things more, especially things that happen during meetings, rehearsals, or while we are all in our own corners of the shop working on our own projects.

Speaking of projects, today was a pretty light load. I began the day cleaning some props from Humanas past for the Humana kick off party on Thursday, and then after our morning meeting I worked on a few hand props. My first assignment was for the show Slasher where I had to create a document that looked like an injunction. The fun thing about working on paper projects is filling in what needs to be written. I really like making stuff up, especially when it's me pretending I know what I'm doing, but also another thing that I love is making up things that are totally insane. The beauty of props for the stage is that only the actor really can read what it says. As long as you got the layout of the document correct from an audience standpoint everything else doesn't matter. After I started cleaning a diaper bag that is used for Absalom. It is only a set dressing, so tomorrow I will fill it up with some things to give the bag some weight and bulk.

After lunch, Alice our overhire props master, gave me an assignment for the apprentice company's show Brink. The apprentices are basically the acting interns at the theatre. They help run crew for the shows, get cast in smaller roles, get to partake in some classes, and also help the departments during work hours. Their show is crazy, and none of the props make sense. Last week I had found five babies and wrapped them in birthing blankets for a scene in the show. The babies were going to be used for juggling purposes. After a week with them, they decided that they didn't like the babies that they had, and my task was to take the heads of the babies, and make a muslin "hacky sack" filled with a pound of beans.


I found that one of them had a voice box, and so I went around the shop with the headless body of a baby doll pressing the button to make it talk. I felt like the next door neighbor in Toy Story, the one who would take apart all of the dolls. It was hilarious. After a few frustrating attempts, I finally was able to get the bag on the head, so that a.) beans wouldn't spill out and b.) It could be thrown without coming apart. I sewed the new hacky sack baby into a new blanket and put him with the other props for Brink.

My final project of the day was one that I took from Heather, the soft goods artisan. She was busy working in sheer curtains so I decided to help her out since I had no other projects on my list. For Absalom I made a box that would house a stack of dishes that would be used during the show. I had to put some blue foam at the bottom to make it look like it was a bigger stack of plates, and then I put some brown craft paper over it to hide the company logo and delivery stickers.