Hey, Y'all!

Oh what a tangled interweb we weave

Every once in a while I take a moment to say a very sincere thanks to God that the internet was not really all that useful while I was in school.  Sure, I had email in college, but I maybe checked it once per semester. I'm not sure anyone really knew my email address, mostly because it was sooooo long.  Seriously. It was something like Jmn002@louisiana.tech.edu.forum.college.mail.  giveusyourfirstbornandwewillgiveyouyourmail.com.

(I am more amused than you can possibly image by the fact that I just had to manually remove an automatic hyperlink from that monstrosity!)

Anywho, I remember enough about what my teenaged and young adult-aged self was like to know this:  I would have been a disaster on the internet.  Sure, it would have made research for school a lot easier, though I wouldn't give up my mad encyclopedia-using skillz for anything, but the social side of it would have kicked my butt.  I would have been one of those people who "said too much" in her status updates.  And don't even get me started on Twitter.  I'm pretty sure I would have put my entire heart, soul and mind out there and it would more than likely have resulted in some comments that broke my heart and spirit and caused me to become a hermit.

Fortunately, by the time I started using the internet on a daily basis, I was in my mid-20's and holding down my first real job.  Also fortunate is the fact that as a stage manager, I generate a ton of electronic and paper communication, much of which is sensitive in nature, so everything I say is very calculated.  Tone is extremely hard to convey in writing sometimes, so word choice is uber-important.  This little lesson has saved me much anguish in this day and age of constant status updates, microblogging and the like.  Before I hit post, I always read and re-read what I've written, taking into consideration who might see it and what conclusions they might draw from it. 

One thing Marcus and I try to drive home to our students and young proteges is the fact that something as innocent as a status update or tweet can play a big role in your life and career.  One of the first things I do when I get a new cast list or find out the name of a new assistant is google them or, at the very least, search them on Facebook.  (I would be shocked if they didn't do the same to me.)  While you're in college, it may seem fun to post crazy pictures of all your Friday night antics. Those of you who are my Facebook friends may have scrolled through my photos and seen lots of pictures of me dressed like a cow for a Halloween party in college or dancing the night away in high school.  And I think that's fine. It shows a bit of my personality and those pictures are not anything I'm ashamed of.  Know what I un-tagged?  Pictures of me attending a white trash party while working summer stock.  Now those, my friends, were some fabulous pictures, and I'll admit that it hurt a part of me to remove them. However, potential employers, particularly those of the academic variety, do not need to see my four-months-pregnant self dressed in a red terrycloth jumpsuit, bra straps a-flyin', sporting a hat that says, "Dixie Darlin."  Some things are better left inside old-fashioned photo albums that can be closed and locked away in a closet.

One of the biggest pitfalls for young folks today is tweeting about work.  Something crazy may be going on that you just NEED to get out. But is Twitter really the best place to air your dirty laundry?  What if the person you're talking about (especially if it's your supervisor) happens upon that tweet?  Would it then be worth the 5 minutes of satisfaction and possible replies you got from saying it online in the first place?  Instant gratification from things like Facebook, Twitter and instant messaging are HUGELY important to this generation of young adults and that's something I have to remain aware of as an educator. I'm also an awfully big fan of that whole Freedom of Speech thing. However, I cringe every time I see a tweet that says something like, "God, I hate my job. Only 3 hours left in this horrible place.  Can't this skanky woman pour her OWN coffee?"  Could you not just THINK that to yourself, rather than putting it out there for the entire world, a world which includes the skanky woman asking you for coffee?

I really have no idea what made  me feel like I needed to hop up on the ol' soapbox about this today, but it's something I find both fascinating and slightly dangerous.  I think steps need to be taken, maybe as early as middle school, to educate kids about using social media in a smart way.  I absolutely plan to talk about all these things with Dean when he starts using the internet in 25 years. (25 because I think he should be internet savvy a few years before he starts dating, you see.)

What are your thoughts?  Are you more on the "It's my Twitter and I'll say what I want to" kind of person or are you all about calculating what you say like me?

You may ask yourself...

Why doesn't Jen talk about her students this semester?

I'm not teaching this semester.

Why isn't Jen teaching this semester?

Well, an opportunity presented itself that I couldn't pass.  I got an inquiry from one of my stage management mentors from grad school asking if I'd be interested in stage managing 2 new plays at Alabama Shakespeare Festival between February and April.  I was interested.

Does this mean you'll never be able to go back to your teaching gig ever ever again?

No way.  In fact, the boss and the big boss were both VERY supportive. Remember, I'm an adjunct professor, which means I'm part-time on a semester-by-semester basis. I basically teach specialty classes, in my case, theatre and stage management, and overload classes that won't fit into the full-time faculty's schedules. I was just slated to teach one section of intro to theatre this spring (my management classes are out of rotation til next year), so they were quite understanding and willing to let me go, with the understanding that I"m interested and availble for next fall.  Not to mention, I'll be doing what I DO, what I teach others to DO.  I don't want to be that teacher who hasn't done her thing in 10 years.  Theatre technology is constantly changing and I need to keep up, lest I teach outdated things to my little whiz kids.  They were also excited that I could offer our students current contacts at ASF, especially since it's one of the only professional theatres in our state.

What does Dean think about all this?

Dean's pretty jazzed that his manny, BJ, is going to be spending a bit more time with him and he's excited about the increased guy time with his dad.  He's also excited that he gets Mommy all to himself all day on Mondays, which will be my day off. 

Is the pay better?

You better believe it.  Let's put it this way (without getting too specific):  I"ll make more in 2 weeks working at ASF than I would teaching one class for an entire semester.  This will allow us to have some much-needed electrical work done to our house and will also help us build our savings back to the healthy place it was when we moved to Montevallo.  And I can get a pedicure. And possibly a latte from Starbuck's.

When does Jen start?

Feb. 15 begins my "pre-production week." That's the week before rehearsals actually begin, when I go to the theatre and prepare things, like paperwork, scripts, the rehearsal studio, etc.  I'm slated to have a production assistant who will help me, but I'm not sure whether or not that person will be on contract during pre-production.  Rehearsals start on the 23rd for the first show.  As soon as the first show opens, we start rehearsals for the second show. That one ends on April 26.  It'll be busy, but it should go by quickly.

Will Jen sleep?

Possibly.  Jen will be coming home as much as she can.  I'll have an apartment in Montgomery for nights when rehearsal goes late and during our long days of technical rehearsals, so I will stay there some.  But the way the schedule looks, I should be able to make it home most nights to spend some time with Dean before bed and to feed him breakfast in the morning.

What does this mean for Jen's blog readers?

Hopefully, I'll still be able to blog about 3 times a week.  I've lined up several guest posts for Comfort Food Saturday (still accepting recipes, if you're interested!) and I'm pre-writing some posts to put up while I'm busy.  I'll probably start doing Wordless Wednesday a little more, hopefully giving you some nice shots of the theatre, which is absolutely gorgeous.  If you've got questions about what I do or my shows, I'm happy to talk about that, too, as much as I can.

So that's what's happening with me.  I'm excited to get back into a professional theatre setting for a while, especially since I'll be working on 2 new plays.  There's nothing quite like collaborating on a play for the first time in its existance to get your creative juices flowing.  And at the end of it all, Dean and I will become "people of leisure" for the entire summer, hopefully sleeping in a bit, working on our herb and vegetable garden, taking swimming lessons and just letting the days go by.

Too Close To Home

I found out yesterday afternoon that three of my theatre majors and two of their friends were in a car accident a mile from my house on Monday evening.  They were travelling to the next town to grab dinner when a drunk driver swerved, struck their car and slammed them into the car behind them.  They hit a pole and knocked down a power line.  My sophomore broke his pelvis, injured his collar bone and suffered some facial lacerations.  The twin freshman guys are ok, one with minor scrapes, the other with a facial cut and concussion. One of the girls is in stable condition, but she's in a halo because there is a suspected spinal injury. She also has a liver injury.  The other girl, an eighteen year old freshman, did not survive the accident.  I met her at 1:30 Monday afternoon for the first time.  She and one of the twin guys were in  Target when I was there and we stopped and talked for a while, mostly about their Thanksgiving plans.  I cannot wrap my head around the fact that 6 hours later, she died.

I got this news via email.  Student Affairs sent me a very brief email telling me one of my students had been in an accident and that his family would be contacting me regarding his attendance for the rest of the semester.  A longer, more detailed email from the public releations office explained the entire situation.  When I read it, I fell apart.

My students are an extension of my family and I never ever want that to change.  I want them to feel welcome in my office, my classroom and my home and be comfortable enough to talk to me. When something is wrong, I want to talk to them about it, maybe even counsel them when I can help.  These guys have a long road to recovery ahead of them. Their physical ailments will heal relatively quickly;  their emotional ailments will take much longer. 

I was able to go to the hospital this afternoon to see one of them.  He was about to work with his physical therapists to learn how to walk on crutches.  I didn't stay long; I just needed to see him with my own eyes to believe he was ok.  And I needed to hug his mom.  Ever since I became a mom, I immediately think of how things like this affect the parents. 

Please send up a prayer for my kids.  They're going to need a lot of love and support to get them through this.

I should be writing an exam

But instead, I'm writing a blog post that would fit into the Potpourri category on Jeopardy!

Have I shared with you the fact that my husband has a special talent for finding the absolute WORST program on tv or the radio and tuning into said program?  Right now, for instance, he is watching a show about Alabama State Parks that he DVR'd. Doesn't sound that bad, right?  WRONG!  It looks like I taped it with my camera phone and the host keeps saying "idear."  Marcus is actually sitting here watching and nodding. I keep looking at him to see if he's serious, especially when they start quoting Thoreau, and he's like "What?" One time when we were driving back to NYC from DC, he was listening to talk radio. Talk radio immediately puts me to sleep.  I can't help it, it just happens.  I tried to stay awake to keep him company, but when this crazy man called into the radio show and started talking about seeing Big Foot three times in a month, NOT COUNTING the time he appeared to him IN A FIRE, I think my body just passed out to save me.  (Ok, now he's bobbing his head along to the goofy banjo music on the state park show.  I'm going to have to leave the room.) 

My class has their first exam next week.  Since there are so many of them and only one of me, this exam will be multiple choice with the possibility of a few true/false questions.  I am not a big fan of true/false questions, so I always hate to throw in too many of those.  I wrote about half the multiple choice section today and can I just tell you how hard it was not to make "Your Mom" one of the answer choices???  It just fit so well in some places!  For instance:

Early Greek theatre was performed as a praise offering to:

A.  Dionysus, Greek god of wine, fertility and festivals                                                                    

B.  Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love

C.  Zeus, King of the gods

D.  Your Mom

(the answer is A, by the way)

(The tv host just said "idear" again.)

Today was the first day in over two weeks that it didn't rain.  Dean and I have had cabin fever, so we jumped at the opportunity to go play at the park.  Orr Park, which is where my "About Me" picture up there in the right hand corner was taken, features some beautiful carvings on some of the trees.  Today was the first time Dean has noticed them.  I showed him an old man's face in a tree and he looked at me and squealed with delight.  Then he stuck his finger up the old man's nose.  I showed him the squirrel and he gave it a kiss.  His favorite was the snake.  He celebrated by making the "sssssssss" sound all the way back to the car.

When we got home from the park, I gave Dean a big cup of milk, which he gulped down quickly . Marcus got home soon after that and we all played on the floor together.  Dean crawled up onto my back and I bent over so his head was over mine and all of a sudden I felt something warm...then I smelled it, then I saw it go SPLAT on the rug in front of me.  Apparently we were playing a little to rambunctiously...and Dean spewed...IN MY HAIR.  It was dripping off the front of my hair onto the rug.  Marcus was on the phone at the time, so I started waving my hands, trying to get him to help me.  He looked over and said "What should I do?"  I replied "Um, get vomit boy OFFA ME!"  Dean is fine, he was just over-stimulated.  After running around in circles gagging for ten minutes, then showering (I washed my hair with a washcloth at first so I didn't have to touch it), I felt ok, too.

You'd better believe that story's going in the baby book.

09-09-09 = FAIL

A short list of why today did not rock:

1.  Dean slept between Marcus and me last night....always a recipe for disaster. He also woke up every hour and a half SCREAMING.  No fever, no obvious pain, just screams.  Sometimes it was because he wanted some juice. (At least I think he wanted it. He stopped screaming when I stuck a sippy cup in his mouth, so Yes! He wanted juice.)  Other times, it was like he was trying to start a conversation.  Dean goes from zero to sixty in no time. He'd be conked out asleep, then suddenly screaming "Daddyyyyyyyyy!  I go!" at full volume.  My favorite wake-up time was when he stuck his monkey Stu's head in my mouth at 4:45.  Good times.

2.  I woke up feeling like sleep-deprived, congested poo.

3.  I was still tripping on cold medicine during my class.  This led me to make bad choices such as teaching them vocabulary words like "pouf" and "pumpkin pants."  What's worse?  There were illustrations. Done by me.

4.  Marcus and I tag-teamed taking care of Dean this morning since we kept him home from school.  He had a doctor's appointment this afternoon at 2:50.  At 2:20, I figured I'd start getting him ready to go.  I got his shoes on, his bag packed and went to grab my keys.  Nowhere to be found.  I texted Marcus, who was teaching at the time.  Behold our conversation:

J:  Any idea where my keys are?

M:  In my pocket.

J:  Nice, Lane.

M:  Sorry? I love you?

J:  Yeah.  I guess I'm cancelling the appointment.

M: Wait!

J:  I'm calling to cancel the appointment.

M:  No!  One of our office workers is on her way with them now!  Did I mention that I love you?

We made it with 30 seconds to spare.  Not that it mattered.  We spent 30 minutes in the waiting room getting infected with God-knows-what.  The best part of this story, however, was when they asked for my co-pay and I discovered that in Marcus's pocket where the keys were living?  Was my debit card.

5.  Once in the exam room, the nurse lifted Dean's shirt to take his temperature and we discovered a rash all over his abdomen.  I, being the cool, calm, collected and mature woman that I am, immediately started shouting something about Scarlet Fever.  You'd be surprised how fast a pediatrician will run into an exam room when she hears "Scarlet Fever" being shouted in a southern accent.

6.  Turns out, it was a heat rash. He'd been hugging me tightly for our entire stay in the waiting room and was blotchy.  We did, however, get to endure testing for the flu (swab up the nose) and strep (2 swabs to the back of the throat), both of which came back negative.

7.  The nurse doing the swab test missed one side of his throat the first time, so she had to swab it AGAIN, which made Dean gag and then barf all over my arm. It will be a very long time before I'm able to see or smell Annie's Macaroni and White Cheddar sauce again.

The moral of this story:  At least we don't have the Hamthrax.

Here's hoping your day was better.

Dear College Students

I'm thrilled to see you return to our tiny little town, really I am, but there are a few things we need to get straight before we can share said tiny town during this school year.

1.  If you insist on driving a vehicle the approximate size of a military tank, PLEASE learn to park it correctly.  Nothing makes me angrier than having to pass up a 3/4 empty parallel parking spot because your assault vehicle is hanging over the edge.  It took me years to perfect my parallel parking and I'd like to be able to show off my mad skillz.

2.  Speaking of driving, it is usually a great idea to look to the left AND right when making a right turn out of the parking lot.  It will often keep you from pulling out in front of people like me and it may just save a squirrel's life.  Just sayin.

3.  Wear clothes that fit.  Save your midriff-baring shirts for the frat parties and wear something respectable to your classes.  Your professors do not want to spend an hour looking at your navel, no matter how cute the jewelry in it is.

4.  If I have a temporary lapse in judgment and add you as my facebook friend, please do not invite me to any Greek activities, bar crawls, poker nights or pig roasts.  I will not come.  I will be at home serving juice to my toddler in an Elmo sippy cup or watching Big Brother with my husband.

5.  Use your words.

6.  Understand that if you try to flirt with me, I WILL laugh at you. I may even snort.  You have been warned.

7.  I will probably giggle if you call me "Dr. Lane," but I will probably not correct you.

8.  Look at my feet.  The fact that there are Clarks on them should clue you in to the fact that I am not one of you.  I appreciate that you think I look young, but I'm much older than you think I am.  Please stop offering me free wireless for my dorm and a t-shirt for signing up for a Mastercard.  I don't want them.  I do, however, want those little free samples of deodorant you're giving out, so keep em coming.

9.  Don't say what you think I want to hear.  When I ask for your opinion, give it to me.  I promise not to tell you you're wrong.

10.  Yes. When enrolled in a theatre class, you DO have to see plays.  Go figure.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Be warned that if you stop by my office during office hours, there is a very good chance my husband and I will be in there taking Facebook quizzes and eating Sweet Tarts.

Luv,

Professor Jen

Please note:  No actual specific college students were referenced or harmed in this blog post.  I ask the same courtesy in the comments section. (meaning don't use names, people!) Thanks!

If you'd told me I was speakin' I'd have washed my hair

Yesterday, Marcus and I (and several of our colleagues from across the state) spent the day in lovely Wetumpka, AL, at the Alabama Conference of Theatres fall summit.  Marcus is the vice-chair of the college/university division and I'm the state auditions coordinator.  We figured we'd be listening to a lot of folks presenting in the big morning session, then talking about our own things in our "break-out sessions" at the end of the day. Imagine our surprise when we registered and got our agendas and saw our names on the list of speakers.  Then imagine Jen at the free coffee station filling her cup to the top while she furiously writes down a few notes to share with the group, all the while praying they don't throw fruit at her.

The impromptu speaking would have been ok if :

a.  I didn't tend to ramble on like a moron when caught off-guard.  I am very used to "winging it" in front of college students, but it's different when you're in front of your peers.  I somehow don't think they found me nearly as amusing or charming as my college students. Or maybe they just needed more coffee, too.

b.  I had not used a new leave-in conditioner that morning.  I had no idea how said conditioner would affect my hair.  It said to smooth it into wet or dry hair to make your split ends go away and your frizzies become tame.  I used it on top of my head to try and tame a cowlick.  It kind of looked like I hadn't washed my hair in 4 days.  I'm sure I'm now known as "that girl in the white sweater who doesn't wash her hair."  Oh, well.  Better than having bad breath or pit stains, I suppose.

No one threw fruit (or veggies, for that matter) and everyone seemed pretty happy with what I had to report, which is kind of a whole lotta nothing until audition registration opens up in a few weeks.

I got to see a lot of old friends and meet some new folks.  I'm thrilled with the results of our elections for new board members and I'm looking forward to getting more involved with the conference.  It looks like I'll be taking some day trips soon to do a few "How To Nail Your Audition" workshops.  I wish there were a better title for it than that...

Classes start tomorrow!  On Thursday, our departmental secretary killed an entire forest copying my syllabi for my 97 INTRO STUDENTS.  Someone hold me.

In other news, my mom has discovered Skype.  If any of you have Skype, you should send me your  usernames so we can chat it up and you can delight in my accent. :)

My Yes To Girlfriends Houseparty was kind of a flop.  Only one person showed up. It was still a fun night, but I wish more people had been there. 

A few folks asked me to explain why saying MACBETH in the theatre is bad luck.  Way back yonder in the days of Mr. Shakespeare (well, after him, actually) if your theatre was in trouble, you wanted to do a really popular play that would pack people into the seats.  That show was almost always Macbeth.  (Now it's Hamlet.) Over the years, that play been associated with bad luck in the theatre. (If you're doing Macbeth, your theatre must be in trouble.) Bizarre things tend to happen during productions of that play.  I worked at a summer theatre in Oklahoma once who had done Macbeth (commonly referred to as "The Scottish Play") as the first show to open their new space.  During the rehearsals and production period, the director fell and broke her hip, their light board fried and a car drove through their lobby.   Many, many people have big-time superstitions about saying Macbeth out of context anywhere in a theatre building.  If you're actually doing the show, you can say it, but not otherwise.  You also can't whistle backstage because they used to counter-weigh scenic pieces with sandbags and the way to cue the sandbags to drop, thus changing the scenery, was to whistle.  So if you whistled backstage, you'd likely get a sandbag dropped on your head. Yay, a little theatre history lesson from Jen. I feel more ready for class already.

Finally, I want to give a big shout-out to Frema who is wrapping up her Parents blog, Parental Discretion Advised, today.  I met a lot of you through the comments section of that blog, so this kind of feels like the end of an era.  Her Parents blog was the first one I ever read that wasn't written by someone I know and was definitely the basis for my involvement in the online community.  So thanks, Frema, for two great years of honest, funny, heart-warming writing, and for connecting so many of us.

 

Birthday Cake is a permanent feature on their menu

The unthinkable has happened--a new restaurant opened in Montevallo!  I was on Facebook this afternoon sending a message to someone when the lady who runs our favorite coffee shop posted this as her status:

Main Street Tavern opening tonight for dinner!  Support local businesses!

Let's just say you don't have to tell me twice!  I showed it to Marcus, we asked the lady where the new place was, and as soon as she answered, we dressed our baby and hit the road.  It's a cute little place right in the middle of downtown.  The bar is absolutely gorgeous.  It's mahogany with very intricate carvings. The owner said it was made in the '30s.  The whole restaurant is decorated in black and white and there are old pictures of the university hung all around. 

The food was great!  I had a Philly Cheesesteak with sweet potato fries, Marcus had Jerk chicken pasta and Dean had penne with marinara sauce because OF COURSE he did.  The staff was friendly and the owners talked to us for quite a while.  It's nice to have a place in town besides the Mexican restaurant where you can have a good dinner that's not served in a basket or a wrapper. (Actually, my sandwich DID come in a basket, but you get my drift.)

I've enjoyed reading your horrified comments about my HUGE intro to theatre class. I've just done another overhaul on my syllabus and I think all 96 of them should enjoy at least a day or two of the class. :)  Seriously, I'm looking forward to it.  Kind of.  We have a couple of freshman stage management students coming in, so I'm really excited about meeting them.  Marcus is directing MACBETH in the spring, so I'll also be helping him choreograph swordfights this semester so they are already set to teach the cast once the show is in rehearsal.  (Can you say MACBETH on a blog? I guess you can.  You know you can't say it in the theatre, right? You have to say "The Scottish Play."  I can tell you why if you wanna know...)

On Saturday, Marcus, Emily the costume designer and I head to lovely Wetumpka, Alabama (yep. Wetumpka.) for the Alabama Conference of Theatres fall summit.  There will be committee meetings and budget discussions. "Lunch will be furnished." (that's what the invitation said.)  I'm sure I'll be bombarded with questions about our state screening auditions (I'm the coordinator.  Go, me.).  My friend Mike, who teaches at Troy State, keeps saying we  should live-tweet the day.

I'm having a Ladies' Night get-together here on Thursday. I wish you could all come. Well, the ones of you who are ladies, anyway.  There are goodie bags, which I'll show you pictures of in a later post.  I'm going to make cupcakes and marinated cheese.  Marinated cheese is GOOD.  Maybe it'll be featured for Comfort Food Saturday.

My segues are really awful this evening, had you noticed? I've also used 5 sets of parentheses. Anyway, I'm off to read a bit before bed.  Make sure you check out Foodie Mama this week. I did a feature on feeding sick toddlers, a subject I've become an expert on over the past couple of weeks, and Ilina has a great article about pizza.  Happy Hump Day!

Students and Teachers

Dean completed his first week of "school."  Monday was fantastic!  He went right in, walked up to a little red-headed boy and stole his pacifier.  (Lettin' em know who's boss right off the bat.)  He made a craft project with rubber stamps, threw his butter cookie on the floor (when will they learn?) and had a good day.  On Wednesday, he cried a little when we turned him over to his teacher, but apparently calmed down as soon as we left.  When we picked him up, his teachers commented about what a good eater he is.  They also giggled a little at his lunch food.  Ya see, Dean doesn't eat like a normal toddler.  He doesn't like bread, so sandwiches are out.  After thinking and thinking and emailing the likes of my mom and Eva for lunchbox ideas, I went with our safe food:  pasta with tomato sauce, string cheese and fruit (nectarines and blueberries to be exact).  He apparently attacked his food with vigor and ate every morsel.  On Friday, he brought leftover meatloaf and peas and a bowl of canteloupe.  The teachers got a BIG giggle out of that one and declared him the best eater in the class. 

Friday's drop-off was a scream-fest, not just for Dean, but for 4 other kids.  The teachers were still in their morning meeting when we arrived, so we waited in the hall for a few minutes.  Dean was all smiles, talking to one of his new friends and such.  The minute the door opened, however, a symphony of toddler wails filled the room as, one-by-one, we parents handed our little screaming darlings over to their teachers.  Mrs. Debbie, Dean's favorite, said this is normal, especially at the end of the first week.  He was still napping when I picked him up Friday afternoon and only started crying when I tried to change his diaper.

So all in all, a good first week.  I feel like they are taking excellent care of him, especially when his eczema gets itchy. (We send his anti-itch cream to be applied whenever he gets uncomfortable.)   I feel SO STRANGE being home without him, though.  It's nice to be able to do some stuff around the house without worrying about waking him up if I make too much noise, but I really miss him when he's not home with me.  It will get better, I'm sure, when I go back to work. 

Classes start on the 31st for Marcus and me.  My syllabus is done and I'm anxious to get started.  At last count, I had 96 students registered for my intro to theatre class. (help me...)  Did I tell you that last semester, my arts management class made up a drinking game about me?  They did it in class, obviously not with alcohol (at least I don't THINK so...), but with their coffee or juice or whatever.  A lot of theatres use the term "the human experience" in their mission statements.  I started saying it all the time, just to get a laugh. I noticed one day that they all drank when I said it.  The next day, they did it again.  I asked what was up.  My one sweet freshman 'fessed up, " We made up a drinking game about you.  Whenever you say "the human experience" or "think outside the box" we drink.  If you mention Dean, we drink twice."  Very funny, kids.  You should have made it whenever I mentioned Lincoln Center, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, said the word "demographic" or got chalk dust on my butt.  THAT, my friends, would have given you a good caffeine buzz!

How's YOUR back to schooling going?

School's Out For Summer (And Now I Go To Work)

I gave my final exam on Tuesday.  It was bittersweet.  A part of me is ready for the school year to be over, but another part is a little sad to bid this semester goodbye.  My arts management class has been amazing.  I know for a fact the students learned a TON, and it was so much fun for me to be back in the classroom.  Next semester I'll be teaching introduction to theatre. I was given permission by the chair of our department to give it a bit of an overhaul and to structure it how I'd like.  I'm very excited about this.  Those classes are often really heavy, concentrating on a lot of theatre history. I want to put a more modern spin on things and treat it like the "theatre appreciation" class it should be.  I want to train and nuture a future theatre AUDIENCE.  My textbook is super cool.  It has lots of pictures and articles from current or recent shows and I even counted 46 people I know who are pictured!  I'm hoping at least half of the NINETY+ people in there will find it interesting.  Needless to say, with NINETY+ students, there will probably not be a lot of paper-writing. (Cuz Mama don't wanna grade all that, yo.)

You'd think now that classes are over that things would slow down. NOPE! On Monday, I head down to Montgomery for a week of work at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the theatre from which I earned my MFA.  I loved the 15 months I spent there as a part of my graduate work at Alabama.  (For stage management/arts management, you spend 9 months, or one school year, at Univ. of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then move to the Shakespeare Festival for the remainder of your time to work for the company as a production assistant.)  It has been a dream of mine ever since I graduated to be asked back.  On Tuesday, I start rehearsals for a staged-reading of a new play. It's a part of the Southern Writers' Project and is being considered for future production by the Festival.  I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and making some new contacts.  The most fun part is that one of my Cornell students is working there and will more than likely be cast in the reading.  Small world.  They're putting me up in an extended-stay hotel suite, so Marcus and Dean are coming with me for the week. I think their plan include fishing in the pond outside the theatre and swimming in the hotel pool.  Sounds like a plan.  My days will wrap up at around 5:30pm, so we'll have the evenings together to play, eat and visit.

The next week, I head to Greensboro, NC for a quick training session at the Southeastern Theatre Conference's central office.  I think I told you that I'm the State Auditions Coordinator for Alabama, so I have to go and learn the software and the ins-and-outs of the job.  I'm excited about seeing the SETC office and learning all the stuff for my new position, but I'm REALLY excited that I may be able to meet one of my blog friends!  Ilina of Dirt and Noise lives close to Greensboro, so I'm hoping we can meet up and say HI in person! This will make me feel better about the fact that I'm missing BlogHer this year. Marcus's 20 year high school reunion is the same weekend and there's rumor of a reunion of his band, Bikini Red, while we're in town.  I musn't miss that.  On a totally unrelated note, (actually, it is kinda related) Marcus was in a different band before Bikini Red. That band?  Was called TYH: Turkish Yak Herders.  Marcus was lead vocalist for both.  When asked to describe their style, he said "Think INXS meets The Cure meets John Cougar Mellencamp."  Um, ok.  I really REALLY hope there are videos of that floating around at my mother in law's house. They are probably hidden in the basement right next to the showchoir tapes.  Anyway, for those of you who ARE going to BlogHer, I expect a full report.  And maybe a text message or two.  I'll give you my number.

Other than that, I'm gearing up for my first super-hot Alabama summer in 8 years.  I went in CVS yesterday to get a card for our Manny, whose last day was yesterday, crrryyy, and noticed they had flip flops on sale buy one get one free.  And so I did.  I now have 6 pairs of flip flops, 5 of which are black. In my defense, one pair has polka dots and another has rhinestones on the straps.  They look good around my fresh spa pedicure. (I mean, if you're paying the Manny to be there all day and you finish your work early, you might as well take a moment for yourself, right?  Plus Mother's Day is Sunday.)

What's everyone doing for Mother's Day?  Or is it a surprise?  I got something neato for my mom, but she reads this blog, so I can't tell you about it.  (MOM! DO NOT OPEN THAT PACKAGE! PUT IT DOWN! IT'S FOR SUNDAY!  We are those people who shake gifts.  We can't help it.  My grandma started it.)