Sabotage?

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Fridays at ComedySportz are always a little weird. Saturday houses are generally good, but Fridays are iffy. Tonight, just to make things even weirder than usual, we had only five players, playing 2-on-2 with a “designated jokester.” I was on the Red team and E was my captain. BigE reffed. S and BabyJ were the Blue team, and our director was the DJ.

We opened with the worst-ever game of Doo Rap. I don’t think we made it past three people before we had to start over, and then, when it was down to three people, the name we were supposed to rhyme was “Meg.” S started, but for some reason she had the name “Sue” stuck in her head (it was a suggestion not taken), so when she was told we were starting with her, she used the name “Sue.” I was next. I knew the name chosen was “Meg,” but I also knew that I was going to be called out either way. If I corrected the name, I’d be told I didn’t rhyme, and when I DID rhyme “Sue” I was called out for using the wrong name. As our director put it during half-time, “You were pretty much screwed either way.” The audience thought it was funny, though.

We ended up winning that game anyway, and our next game was SlideShow, with two volunteers. It was an okay game. Blue played Arms Expert, and literally soaked the volunteer, who was pretty good at answering questions, but, per director, had hygiene issues. Blue won that round.

Blue then played Changing Styles and Emotions, which was funny, but no one really knew who was who. Ditto our game of blind line. I stupidly began by denying our director, and then I corrected, but the whole scene was just off. The audience liked it, but they liked Changing Styles MORE, so Blue won that round also, and got to play Five Things. During this game, BabyJ was miming giving birth in order to convey to S that her football was a baby, and our DJ emerged from between his legs, AS the baby. It was …original.

We played Dance Party as a catch-up round, and I forgot to unfreeze. Story wasn’t our best, but I won that, so at least I felt like I’d redeemed myself somewhat, and 185 seemed to last forever. Blue won (no surprise), but notes weren’t that harsh, as everyone had had fun.

We came straight home after, watched Smallville on TiVo, and now Fuzzy’s doing last minute work foo, and I’m about to fall asleep.

As to Sabotage? That was a referral to something I said in notes, about me and S trying to sabotage the match…I was kidding. Really.

Friday’s Feast 0705.11

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Appetizer
Tell about a time when you had to be brave.
I don’t think I’ve ever had to be particularly brave. I mean, yeah, I watched the plate-glass windows crumble one by one during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and yes, I’ve recently had tornado warnings here, but you can’t control that. You’re there. You’re stuck with it. Bravery, to me, implies a choice. Friends have said it took bravery to audition for ComedySportz, that it takes bravery to go on, but…again…bravery isn’t really the accurate term for that. Confidence? Yes. Bravery? No. And do could I possibly compare my safe little life to that of anyone who lives in a truly life-threatening environment?

Soup
Which upcoming movie are you excited about seeing?
I can’t pick just one. The latest Harry Potter offering, of course, as well as Hairspray and the newest installments of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Fantastic Four rank up there, as well, I guess.

Salad
Name an item you try to always have on hand.
Pasta. Even plain it’s a meal if there’s nothing else, and it’s quick and easy to make.
In non-food items? Toilet paper.

Main Course
Imagine the most relaxing room you can think of. Now describe it!
Cool ceramic tile the color of beach sand forms the floor, and the walls are a warm coffee-and-cream color below chair-rail height and a wash of watery greens and blues above. Window sills and doors are painted clean white, with a hint of a gloss. Blinds are the opaque horizontal ones that look like paper, allowing light to filter through, but not allowing outside gawkers. The tub, for this is a bathroom, is an antique claw-foot cast iron model, with lion paw feet, and a rack for holding soap and a book. There is a soft bath pillow attached to the up-swept end.

Sinks are colorful ceramic bowls sunk into a marble counter top. Wooden cabinets are the color of warm cherry- or pear-wood. Faucets and pulls are brushed nickel. A cobalt blue vase of flowers is on the counter between the pair of sinks, and a collection of blue and green beach glass resides in half of a shell on the windowsill behind the tub.

Across the room is the shower, a spa-type shower with bottle-green glass, and room for a bench to hold hair towels outside the spray’s reach. The shower walls are the same warm beige tile of the bathroom floor, with cobalt and teal squares inserted randomly for color.

(The toilet is in a nook of it’s own, with a frosted glass door to allow light, and a built in book-shelf.)

There is a chair between the two sinks so that area can be used as a vanity, and a lit make-up mirror can be plugged in when necessary, otherwise there is an oval mirror above each sink, and there is art on the walls – beach scenes, mainly. The linen closet is full of extremely soft cotton bath sheets, smaller towels ideal for wrapping long hair, wash clothes, and extra stashes of soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. A cd player also resides here, and speakers are mounted in niches in the walls.

Dessert
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being highest), how spiritual or religious are you?
It depends on the day. At times I’m an 8 and at other times I’m a 2 and most of the time it varies between them.

Thursday Thirteen – 0705.10

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Thirteen Things about MissMeliss
Thirteen Things that Begin with “F”

  1. Faeries

    O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
    She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
    In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
    On the fore-finger of an alderman,
    Drawn with a team of little atomies
    Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep;
    Her wagon-spokes made of long spiders’ legs,
    The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
    The traces of the smallest spider’s web,
    The collars of the moonshine’s watery beams,
    Her whip of cricket’s bone, the lash of film,
    Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat,
    Not so big as a round little worm
    Prick’d from the lazy finger of a maid;
    Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
    Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
    Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers.
    And in this state she gallops night by night
    Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love;
    O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court’sies straight,
    O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees,
    O’er ladies ‘ lips, who straight on kisses dream,
    Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
    Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
    Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier’s nose,
    And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
    And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig’s tail
    Tickling a parson’s nose as a’ lies asleep,
    Then dreams, he of another benefice:
    Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck,
    And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
    Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
    Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
    Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
    And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
    And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
    That plats the manes of horses in the night,
    And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
    Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
    This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
    That presses them and learns them first to bear,
    Making them women of good carriage:
    This is she—
    Romeo and Juliet – Mercutio Describing Queen Mab

  2. Fall My favorite season, with crisp temperatures, crunchy leaves, and the anticipation of winter evenings.
  3. Family Even when they drive you crazy, they still love you unconditionally.
  4. Fedoras Quite possibly the perfect hat, and wearing one can make you a journalist or a spy, or just really, really stylish.
  5. Fennel Chopped up in pasta sauce, it gives an extra kick. It may look like celery, but it has the kick of anise or licorice. Definitely an acquired taste.
  6. Festivals I like country fairs but I love festivals, and it doesn’t matter if they’re celebrating arts and crafts, improvisational theater, or pumpkins. They’re always fun, and often filled with hokey charm.
  7. Fiction Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. — Carl Sagan
  8. Flames Whether they’re crackling in a fireplace, flickering at the top of a candle, broiling the perfect burger, or coming out of one of those tiny kitchen torches used for caramelizing sugar, flame is magic.
  9. Flowers I love flowers. I have vases in the breakfast nook, living room, and on my office, and I’m constantly refilling them. Fuzzy is even in on it – he brings me bouquets every time he goes to the grocery store.
  10. Fog It softens the edges of the world, and makes mystery out of the mundane. It’s the perfect inspiration for someone with an over-active imagination.
  11. Footwear I like shoes, and boots, yes, but I also like funky tights and seasonal socks. Pretty much ALL footwear, really. Even galoshes.
  12. France I really believe part of my soul originated in Paris in the 20’s. Or at least spent some time there. But I love other parts of France, as well – Languedoc, Carcassone, Nice. MUST get back there soon.
  13. Friends I am lucky to have diverse friends who provoke, inspire, support, edit, listen, and amuse.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Almost like a Real Writer

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So when I wrote a piece about trends in purchasing hybrids on Thursday night, I thought I was writing a draft, a spec piece, for a company my boss wanted us to link to. Today, he sent me an email with this link, and while it’s cool to see my name attached – makes me feel almost like a real writer, you know? – I’m cringing at the fact that they posted the draft without editing or tweaking or anything.

It’s one thing to have typos in the blog. I mean – it’s a blog. It’s raw. It’s supposed to be organic. But having glaring grammatical errors in a “published” piece feels like I just flashed the world.

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Rain

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Dark and Stormy Night

The lightning storm began just as we were trying to fall asleep around 12:30 this morning. Normally, such things don’t bother the dogs, but tonight they were agitated, asking to go out, then refusing to do so because it was wet and rainy. Very rainy. The above picture was taken around one AM by me – standing in the doorway of the kitchen, leading out to the deck – it’s nothing amazing, just silvery rain falling in sheets with the treeline in the background, but I think it’s mysterious even so.

And now, to sleep. No, really.

Thank God You’re Here, Captain Obvious!

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Today, I received a phone call from a cousin I’ve never heard of, but I didn’t have time to call him back. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA, and I got the biggest kick out of how delightfully snarky his voice on the phone was. I like Texas, mostly, but I miss the fast paced speech of the East Coast.

It was an invitation to a reunion, separate from the reunion in mid-June in SoDak. This one would be in Ellwood, at the actual old home-site. I’ve never seen it, and I want to, but this would also be at the END of June, and I don’t know that we can swing two trips that close together.

This evening, I went to workshop, and while it wasn’t my BEST work, I had fun playing Superhero (I was endowed with being Hippie Chick, which was cool), and didn’t get a chance to play Calvin Ball, but I’ve played it before, and I understand how it works. I didn’t go first for anything, but I didn’t fade out, either. And the notes during scene layups were directed at my scene partner, not at me.

I still feel like there’s some “click” that hasn’t engaged yet, but I think I’m getting closer to it. And I’m having fun.

Went to dinner after workshop, Fuzzy joined us part-way through.
Need to drag him to bed now as he has an early meeting.

Old Friends

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I haven’t really read a comic book since I was nine or ten, until a friend told me about the new Buffy season eight in comic book form a couple months ago. I read the first two, and was hooked, though, admittedly that has more to do with Joss Whedon’s writing than with the medium.

Today, we went to Lone Star because Wednesday was when Buffy #3 was released, and we hadn’t had time to get it then. Jeremy had informed me via IM that today was also Free Comic Book Day, which is apparently an annual event. I didn’t feel entirely stupid, as Fuzzy hadn’t ever heard of it either, and he’s got several thousand dollars of X-Men comics in boxes in his den.

We came home with the Buffy books we’d gone there for, plus two game books for Fuzzy (never mind that he doesn’t actually PLAY tabletop games. If it makes him happy to have the books, he should have them). We also snagged four selections from the table of selections for Free Comic Book Day: DC’s Justice League of America #0 2007, Dark Horse’s Umbrella Academy Zero Killer Pantheon City 2007, IDW’s Transformers the Movie Prequel # 1 2007, and Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man Swing Shift 2007. Over dinner at Cracker Barrel, we each read the free books – Fuzzy read Spider-man while I visited with the Justice League…and I do mean “visited,” because after all this time, catching up with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman again, as well as about twelve other DC heroes, some I didn’t recognize, was like spending time with old friends.

I’m not planning to start buying old issues, or anything, but it was a nice journey, made even more so because it was free.

Go ahead, laugh!

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gURL.comI took the “The Nine Muses“ quiz on gURL.com
My muse is…
Thalia
Thalia is patron goddess of comedy, may be the reason. Her name means “The Flourishing” because she brings fame to those she favors. She is often depicted with a comic mask and a cane (perhaps to drag un-funny people off stage…). Read more…

Who is your muse?

In all fairness, the second time I took the quiz I picked other answers that were equally appropriate and got Calliope.