On July 18th, my friend Alice came out to visit me for 2 weeks. She brought along her roommate, Carol and the 2 of them spent a week here on Whidbey Island with me. Alice has another friend, Elizabeth, who lives in Seattle, so for the second week, we all went down to Seattle to hang out with her. We were joined by another of Alice's friends, Jan, while we were in Seattle. It was tons of fun, and I have to admit that as someone who gets really anxious when meeting new people, I had a great time and absolutely loved Carol, Elizabeth and Jan. I have a lot of stuff to write about the entire vacation (yes it was my vacation too even though I live here), but since it will take a long time, I thought I'd write a quick overview of our fun, and then write blogs about each event separately.
So this is what we did:
Saturday, July 18: Late night pickup of Alice and Carol from the Sea-Tac airport
Sunday, July 19: Slept in a little and then we went on the obligatory visit to Deception Pass, followed by watching a beautiful sunset at Washington Park in Anacortes
Monday, July 20: Visited San Juan Island and enjoyed a beautiful ferry ride through the San Juan Islands to get there. We explored the small town of Friday Harbor, and went to San Juan National Park.
Tuesday, July 21: The Olympic Peninsula - lunch in Port Angeles, afternoon in Olympic National Park, and dinner in Port Townsend before catching the ferry back to Whidbey
Wednesday, July 22: Back to the Olympic Peninsula to visit Forks and La Push, home of Twilight
Thursday, July 23: Spent the day on Whidbey Island, exploring Fort Ebey State Park and Coupeville
Friday, July 24: Early visit to Fildalgo Island/Anacortes to see the view from Mt. Erie, then it was back to Whidbey to explore Fort Casey State Park and the Admiralty Lighthouse
Saturday, July 25: day trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to visit Stanley Park and Lynn Canyon park
Sunday, July 26: A relaxing day that ended in Seattle as we said goodbye to Whidbey and went to go see Elizabeth in Seattle. We ate dinner that night at a fun little bar/grill called the Pig and Whistle.
Monday, July 27: Tour of the Seattle Underground
Tuesday, July 28: I came back to Whidbey to babysit for the day, while everyone else enjoyed a fun sightseeing day in Seattle
Wednesday, July 29: The hottest day EVER in Seattle's history - 103 degrees. We saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in IMAX 3D at the Pacific Science Center, then spent time playing around at the science center. That afternoon/evening we we wedding dress shopping with Elizabeth, who just got engaged, and then ate Indian Food (which I had never eaten before) at the Tandor Hut in Seattle.
Thursday, July 30: A visit to the Seattle Aquarium, the very first Starbucks, Elliot Bay Bookstore, Pike Place Market, and Piroshky's Russian Bakery (thanks for introducing that place to me Mrs. M ;-)), then touristy shopping at cheesy gift shops
Friday, July 31: Day trip to Mt. Rainer National Park
Saturday, August 1: The morning was spent helping Elizabeth out at a homeless shelter/church that she works out, the we visited the animals at the Woodland Park Zoo, and celebrated Jan's birthday that night with dinner at the Space Needle.
Sunday, August 2: Jan left early to fly home to Kentucky and the rest of us spent more time at Pike Place Market and went on a Harbor Cruise in Elliott Bay. Then I went back home to Whidbey and had to say goodbye to my vacation and hello again to the reality of the real world :-(.
I'm going to try to write a blog about each day, so hopefully that won't take me forever to do, and hopefully it will be more interesting to read than just a list of things that I did :-).
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Opinions on Babysitting
I don't know why I am having such a hard time making decisions for myself lately, but here's my latest dilemma. I have been babysitting for a lady in town every week, usually 2-3 days a week. She pays me $10 an hour which is what she offered, but its also what I would typically charge anyway. She called me today to ask if she could refer me to a friend of her's. The friend has a 4 month old baby girl, but she can only afford to pay $6-$7 an hour. The lady I babysat for said she wasn't going to recommend me right away because she didn't know if I would be ok with that kind of pay. It would only be an on-call type job - maybe a few days a week, maybe nothing at all for a week. After dealing with the $3 an hour babysitting lady I am a little apprehensive of anyone wanting to pay me less than I usually charge. That might just be because I had a bad experience though.
In this case it seems to be an issue of not being able to afford to pay me more, not that she's just cheap and clueless. I am much more sensitive to that. I typically charge $10-$15 an hour and in every place I have lived so far, I have met people who are unwilling to pay that much, but at the same time I have always ended up with a steady job from at least a few people who are more than willing to pay what I ask for. Also, her baby is only 4 months old. I know that in many ways, infants need a lot more care than older kids do. But at the same time, while they need more care, I'm not exactly going to be overexerting myself chasing a kid around, dealing with an attitude problem, etc. I'm thinking of saying yes to the job. I don't like the idea of working for less than minimum wage ($8.55 in Washington state), but $6-$7 could be worth my while. At $3 an hour, I feel like my time is better spent at home keeping things organized and under control here. But $6-$7 seems reasonable if its all that someone can afford.
Sooooo take the job or not? I'm leaning towards yes.....
In this case it seems to be an issue of not being able to afford to pay me more, not that she's just cheap and clueless. I am much more sensitive to that. I typically charge $10-$15 an hour and in every place I have lived so far, I have met people who are unwilling to pay that much, but at the same time I have always ended up with a steady job from at least a few people who are more than willing to pay what I ask for. Also, her baby is only 4 months old. I know that in many ways, infants need a lot more care than older kids do. But at the same time, while they need more care, I'm not exactly going to be overexerting myself chasing a kid around, dealing with an attitude problem, etc. I'm thinking of saying yes to the job. I don't like the idea of working for less than minimum wage ($8.55 in Washington state), but $6-$7 could be worth my while. At $3 an hour, I feel like my time is better spent at home keeping things organized and under control here. But $6-$7 seems reasonable if its all that someone can afford.
Sooooo take the job or not? I'm leaning towards yes.....
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wedding Picture Opinions Needed
After a long, stressful day, I may be going to bed feeling happy :-). But I need your opinions first...
If you know me well, or heck, if you know me a little, you've probably heard me whine and complain about our horrible wedding photographer. A year and a month after our wedding, I may have finally been appeased as far as my wedding pictures go.
The one picture I wanted more than anything was our sword arch picture. I didn't care about anything else in the wedding. I just wanted the sword arch (and yellow daises). So of course, we ended up with the world's worst wedding photographer who scoffed at Mr. V when Mr. V made a suggestion. The photographer was trying to set up the sword arch looking INTO the sun. I'm far from being a professional photographer, but even I could have told you that the sun should be behind the camera, not in front of it. However, when Mr. V pointed this out, the photographer made some obnoxious comment like "I KNOW what I'm doing." Well...no she didn't. Our picture came out horrible. (and it should be noted that the picture was taken in a courtyard with 4 identical sides, so turning us around in the other direction should not have been an issue.)The one picture I wanted more than anything was the worst looking picture of them all. The entire sword arch is in a giant shadow (which shouldn't have surprised me, but it was still upsetting to see). I tried lightening the picture on my own. I tried going to a professional camera store to see if they could lighten the shadow. But nothing worked. All that lightening it did was lighten the entire picture. So the front of the picture and the sword arch looked a little better, but in contrast to the background, it still looked bad. The entire picture was lighter, but the shadow was still there.
I finally spent some time googling photo restoration companies and I came acorss Yesteryear Memories. I have been emailing back and forth with "Bob" from the company and he may have just solved what I consider to be a problem, with my picture. I wanted to know if there was a way to basically repaint the picture to remove the shadow. There is, but that would make the picture look weird, according to Bob, because the sunlight is already in the background and removing the shadow completely would take away the natural feel and the natural shadows of the picture. He told me he could remove the shadow 90% from the people, to make the people look normal, while leaving the shadow on the ground (removing it slightly though).
I had 2 pictures that I have been having a problem deciding between and Bob solved that problem too. Picture #1 is the better one in general, in my opinion, because all of the sword bearers are facing in the same direction. Picture #2 looks better because Mr. V and me are closer to the front of the arch and its slightly lighter than the first one, but the guy in the front has his head turned towards the camera.
Meanwhile, both pictures look horrible because of the awful shadow. Bob has been very patient with me as I repeatedly ask questions about how the completed photo will turn out. Today he sent me an example to look at it. Its half of the picture (I guess so I can't steal the whole thing) but I think you can see the difference. Bob even went above and beyond what I originally asked him to do, which now makes me love this company! I sent him both of these pictures. In his opinion, the second picture is better, because Mr. V and I are closer to the front of the arch. However, he pointed out the guy facing the camera, which I hadn't noticed at first. Once he pointed it out, I noticed it and didn't like it. So I asked him if he could just focus on the first picture.
This is the result. Bob took the second picture, and replaced the head of the guy with his head from the first picture...so I get the picture of us closer to the front of the arch, and every guy is still looking in the same direction. It never even occurred to me to ask if that could be done, so I was pretty happy that he suggested it! This is what he sent me to look at.
I can still see the shadow, but I do think that the people look much brighter and whiter and clearer. He suggested enlarging it to a 16x24 and no larger, but possibly smaller.
So...now I need opinions. Should I shell out the money to have him fix my picture? The biggest reason I'm asking for opinions is because I'm not convinced that I have the color set on my computer properly. The original picture was already printed darker than I thought it was, so I feel like I need a few more eyes to tell me if this is going to be worth it. And please give me your honest opinions.
I should also note, that I would love to contact my photographer and point out that the price of this picture is going to equal the price of a photo needing "severe restoration". (They do minor, moderate and severe.) I'm fine with that, because at this point, any price is worth it for me to have my dream wedding picture. It just irks me to no end that this woman insisted she knew what she was doing. Yet to make her picture look good enough to frame, I have to pay for severe restoration. To me that doesn't equal knowing what she is doing. Rest assured though, that I already left her a very unhappy review on a few different wedding websites :-).
If you know me well, or heck, if you know me a little, you've probably heard me whine and complain about our horrible wedding photographer. A year and a month after our wedding, I may have finally been appeased as far as my wedding pictures go.
The one picture I wanted more than anything was our sword arch picture. I didn't care about anything else in the wedding. I just wanted the sword arch (and yellow daises). So of course, we ended up with the world's worst wedding photographer who scoffed at Mr. V when Mr. V made a suggestion. The photographer was trying to set up the sword arch looking INTO the sun. I'm far from being a professional photographer, but even I could have told you that the sun should be behind the camera, not in front of it. However, when Mr. V pointed this out, the photographer made some obnoxious comment like "I KNOW what I'm doing." Well...no she didn't. Our picture came out horrible. (and it should be noted that the picture was taken in a courtyard with 4 identical sides, so turning us around in the other direction should not have been an issue.)The one picture I wanted more than anything was the worst looking picture of them all. The entire sword arch is in a giant shadow (which shouldn't have surprised me, but it was still upsetting to see). I tried lightening the picture on my own. I tried going to a professional camera store to see if they could lighten the shadow. But nothing worked. All that lightening it did was lighten the entire picture. So the front of the picture and the sword arch looked a little better, but in contrast to the background, it still looked bad. The entire picture was lighter, but the shadow was still there.
I finally spent some time googling photo restoration companies and I came acorss Yesteryear Memories. I have been emailing back and forth with "Bob" from the company and he may have just solved what I consider to be a problem, with my picture. I wanted to know if there was a way to basically repaint the picture to remove the shadow. There is, but that would make the picture look weird, according to Bob, because the sunlight is already in the background and removing the shadow completely would take away the natural feel and the natural shadows of the picture. He told me he could remove the shadow 90% from the people, to make the people look normal, while leaving the shadow on the ground (removing it slightly though).
I had 2 pictures that I have been having a problem deciding between and Bob solved that problem too. Picture #1 is the better one in general, in my opinion, because all of the sword bearers are facing in the same direction. Picture #2 looks better because Mr. V and me are closer to the front of the arch and its slightly lighter than the first one, but the guy in the front has his head turned towards the camera.
Meanwhile, both pictures look horrible because of the awful shadow. Bob has been very patient with me as I repeatedly ask questions about how the completed photo will turn out. Today he sent me an example to look at it. Its half of the picture (I guess so I can't steal the whole thing) but I think you can see the difference. Bob even went above and beyond what I originally asked him to do, which now makes me love this company! I sent him both of these pictures. In his opinion, the second picture is better, because Mr. V and I are closer to the front of the arch. However, he pointed out the guy facing the camera, which I hadn't noticed at first. Once he pointed it out, I noticed it and didn't like it. So I asked him if he could just focus on the first picture.
This is the result. Bob took the second picture, and replaced the head of the guy with his head from the first picture...so I get the picture of us closer to the front of the arch, and every guy is still looking in the same direction. It never even occurred to me to ask if that could be done, so I was pretty happy that he suggested it! This is what he sent me to look at.
I can still see the shadow, but I do think that the people look much brighter and whiter and clearer. He suggested enlarging it to a 16x24 and no larger, but possibly smaller.
So...now I need opinions. Should I shell out the money to have him fix my picture? The biggest reason I'm asking for opinions is because I'm not convinced that I have the color set on my computer properly. The original picture was already printed darker than I thought it was, so I feel like I need a few more eyes to tell me if this is going to be worth it. And please give me your honest opinions.
I should also note, that I would love to contact my photographer and point out that the price of this picture is going to equal the price of a photo needing "severe restoration". (They do minor, moderate and severe.) I'm fine with that, because at this point, any price is worth it for me to have my dream wedding picture. It just irks me to no end that this woman insisted she knew what she was doing. Yet to make her picture look good enough to frame, I have to pay for severe restoration. To me that doesn't equal knowing what she is doing. Rest assured though, that I already left her a very unhappy review on a few different wedding websites :-).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Murphy's Law Take 2
A quick update on my life during deployment...
Apparently writing about the bad/annoying/really inconvenient things that have happened to me is apparently an open invitation for more bad things to happen.
First...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, has an umbilical hernia that looks like it will probably require surgery long before his owner comes back home to take him back. Of course it figures that the one cat that has something wrong with him is the one cat that isn't mine. Caring for him has now become a conversation between me, Mr. V and Larry's owner...while all of us are in 3 different places and 3 different time zones. It makes for some hard decision making.
Second...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, is apparently determined to drive me insane. Not only does he have a hernia, but he also likes to run out the door at every chance he gets. And he's FAST. Almost every single day, I find myself running back and forth in front of the house (I only had to crawl underneath my neighbor's porch once so far), trying to catch him. I still haven't figured out how to keep him from running out the door. Having 9 cats already, I thought it was simple to keep them inside, even when they wanted to go outside. But Larry is quick and even when I think he isn't near me, he still manages to dart out the door in the 5 seconds that I have it open. I bought him a collar and a name tag, which he promptly took off and hid somewhere so I can't find it.
Third...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, broke my finger. Sort of. A few days ago, in one of my desperate attempts to keep him from running out the door, I slammed the door on my thumb. Needless to say, Larry still escaped and my thumb quickly swelled up and turned a nice shade of purple. Running after a kitten, while trying hard not to scream in pain, wasn't my idea of a fun time. That day I thought that I just badly bruised my thumb. The next day I woke up to a thumb that was even more swollen and more purple. That was yesterday. I debated going to the doctor, but in the end I decided to just try to splint it on my own at home. I think thats the only thing a doctor can do for a broken thumb anyway. As of last night though, I'm not sure if its actually broken. I think it might be dislocated, which sounds better, but for some reason that creeps me out even more. I hate medical stuff and I hate when pieces of my body do things they aren't supposed to do. Last night my thumb was still purple and swollen but that was going down a lot. Then when I tried to move my thumb it started making a popping sound. I don't know why, but that sound just made me queasy, because my thumb isn't supposed to sound like that! Today, the swelling is almost all the way gone and the purple is starting to go away. Its still making a popping sound though and it still hurts like hell when I try to move it. I'm going to give it another day or 2 and then go to a doctor if it won't pop itself back into place on its own.
So needless to say, this cute little kitten is determined to drive me out of my mind, while hurting me in the process!
On a happy note though, I talked to my friend Alice today for about 2 hours. She's coming out to visit in 8 days and I am so excited! Its really starting to get lonely being in this house all by myself. I feel like I need a connection to my life before Washington, so Alice will get here at a perfect time!
Harry Potter is also coming out next week, and this Sunday the movie theater on base is showing a sneak preview of it for free! Mrs. S and I are going to try to go. We're just hoping it won't fill up right away and we'll be able to get seats.
So in a world where Murphy seems happy to visit me almost every day, I have some happy things to look forward to :-).
Apparently writing about the bad/annoying/really inconvenient things that have happened to me is apparently an open invitation for more bad things to happen.
First...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, has an umbilical hernia that looks like it will probably require surgery long before his owner comes back home to take him back. Of course it figures that the one cat that has something wrong with him is the one cat that isn't mine. Caring for him has now become a conversation between me, Mr. V and Larry's owner...while all of us are in 3 different places and 3 different time zones. It makes for some hard decision making.
Second...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, is apparently determined to drive me insane. Not only does he have a hernia, but he also likes to run out the door at every chance he gets. And he's FAST. Almost every single day, I find myself running back and forth in front of the house (I only had to crawl underneath my neighbor's porch once so far), trying to catch him. I still haven't figured out how to keep him from running out the door. Having 9 cats already, I thought it was simple to keep them inside, even when they wanted to go outside. But Larry is quick and even when I think he isn't near me, he still manages to dart out the door in the 5 seconds that I have it open. I bought him a collar and a name tag, which he promptly took off and hid somewhere so I can't find it.
Third...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, broke my finger. Sort of. A few days ago, in one of my desperate attempts to keep him from running out the door, I slammed the door on my thumb. Needless to say, Larry still escaped and my thumb quickly swelled up and turned a nice shade of purple. Running after a kitten, while trying hard not to scream in pain, wasn't my idea of a fun time. That day I thought that I just badly bruised my thumb. The next day I woke up to a thumb that was even more swollen and more purple. That was yesterday. I debated going to the doctor, but in the end I decided to just try to splint it on my own at home. I think thats the only thing a doctor can do for a broken thumb anyway. As of last night though, I'm not sure if its actually broken. I think it might be dislocated, which sounds better, but for some reason that creeps me out even more. I hate medical stuff and I hate when pieces of my body do things they aren't supposed to do. Last night my thumb was still purple and swollen but that was going down a lot. Then when I tried to move my thumb it started making a popping sound. I don't know why, but that sound just made me queasy, because my thumb isn't supposed to sound like that! Today, the swelling is almost all the way gone and the purple is starting to go away. Its still making a popping sound though and it still hurts like hell when I try to move it. I'm going to give it another day or 2 and then go to a doctor if it won't pop itself back into place on its own.
So needless to say, this cute little kitten is determined to drive me out of my mind, while hurting me in the process!
On a happy note though, I talked to my friend Alice today for about 2 hours. She's coming out to visit in 8 days and I am so excited! Its really starting to get lonely being in this house all by myself. I feel like I need a connection to my life before Washington, so Alice will get here at a perfect time!
Harry Potter is also coming out next week, and this Sunday the movie theater on base is showing a sneak preview of it for free! Mrs. S and I are going to try to go. We're just hoping it won't fill up right away and we'll be able to get seats.
So in a world where Murphy seems happy to visit me almost every day, I have some happy things to look forward to :-).
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Murphy's Law
Since Mr. V has left lots of stuff has gone wrong. I think I jinxed myself. While other wives were talking about all the bad stuff that happens when their husband deploys, I sat there and said "Nothing bad has happened to ME yet!" I spoke too soon.
Since Mr. V has left:
~a shelf fell down in the closet
~our lawnmower doesn't work
~I have a cat peeing all over the house and with 9 of them its nearly impossible to figure out which one it is.
~The "system failure" light came on in my car, followed by the maintenance required light. My car isn't due for any maintenance and I have no idea what a system failure light means.
~Our dishwasher is dead. It started just by not working right. Now its dead.
I still have many months to go...what else can go wrong?
Since Mr. V has left:
~a shelf fell down in the closet
~our lawnmower doesn't work
~I have a cat peeing all over the house and with 9 of them its nearly impossible to figure out which one it is.
~The "system failure" light came on in my car, followed by the maintenance required light. My car isn't due for any maintenance and I have no idea what a system failure light means.
~Our dishwasher is dead. It started just by not working right. Now its dead.
I still have many months to go...what else can go wrong?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
RENT the Broadway Tour in Seattle
Approximately 14 years ago, my mom took me to see a new musical that had recently opened on Broadway. The show was RENT. My mom is very big into theater so over the years she has taken me to probably over 50 shows on Broadway (some of them I have seen 2 or 3 times). My mom instilled in me my own love of Broadway and one of the things that I hate about living away from New York is that I can't just hop on a train to see a show whenever I feel like it. When RENT first opened on Broadway it became an instant overnight success. Tickets were sold out for months in advance, so when my parents were finally able to get tickets, I was ecstatic.
Not only did we have tickets, but we had 3rd row seats, which is sort of the first row (The first 2 rows were only sold on the day of the show, so a third row ticket is the closest you can get when you buy ahead of time.) The day of the show my 2 friends, and my cousin met my mom and me at our house in the morning. I remember the events of the day so clearly. My dad was upstairs watching the news and right before we left, he came downstairs and we had a conversation that went like this:
Dad: "Say hi to Bill for me!"
Me, Mom, friends and cousin: "What?"
Dad: "Its Chelsea Clinton's birthday. The president is going to be in New York City today to celebrate her birthday!"
That was all. Just a simple conversation that we forgot about moments later. NYC is HUGE, so who really cared that the president was going to be there right? There was no way we'd ever see him.
Apparently, we were wrong with that way of thinking. We arrived at 41st Street where the Nederlander Theatre, home of RENT is, and the street was barricaded off so that no one could get on it. We were a little worried because we had tickets to see a show and the street looked like there was no chance in the world we were getting onto it. So my mom asked a police officer who was guarding the street what was going on. His response? "The President is going to see RENT." Now, maybe I'm just a huge nerd, but whether or not you like Bill Clinton, we thought that was pretty unbelievable. Especially since we kind of ignored my dad when he made the comment about the Clinton's being in the city that day. So needless to say, we were still allowed on the street, but only if we had tickets to the show, and only after we went through a series of metal detectors, purse searches and my mom had pepper spray taken away from her.
Once we got to our seats, the theatre was just abuzz with noise as everyone waited for the president to come in. We assumed that he would sit in a box seat, or at least be secluded from everyone somehow, but we were wrong again. We noticed that the 3 rows behind us were empty and we actually sat there talking amongst ourselves saying "There is NO way he's going to sit right behind us." But he did! 2 rows behind us. The row directly behind us was filled with secret service agents, the row behind them had Bill, Hillary, Chelsea and friends, and behind that was another row of secret service agents. I am going to have to dig out my pictures from that day, because we got some good ones!
So the show started and it was quite possibly the greatest show I had ever seen on Broadway. I had already memorized the soundtrack before seeing the show, and had already fallen in love with the characters of Mark and Roger. I was so determined to meet and get autographs from Anthony Rapp, who played Mark, and Adam Pascal, who played Roger. My mom and I always waited by the stage door after shows to get autographs and pictures of the cast. We have done it at every show so it was always assumed that we would do it for any future shows. When we headed into NYC that day, I was determined to get Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal's autograph. Well...that wasn't going to happen. Apparently, when the President of the United States is in the theatre, that means that every single patron is ushered off the street as fast as possible after the show and no one is allowed to wait by the stage door. During intermission of the show we were able to get up and shake the president's hand. We also had Hillary Clinton sign our RENT playbills. So after the show, when we were ushered off the street, my friends and I were soooo disappointed that we didn't get to meet the actors that we adored. We spent the rest of the day whining (we were only 14 or 15 years old), saying things like "I can't believe I couldn't meet Adam Pascal." To which my mom would respond: "Girls...you met the president! Quit whining!"
For the next several years I whined and complained about how I didn't get to meet 2 of my favorite actors. It killed me because so many of my friends from school had gone to seen the play and had met them. So I admit...I was horribly jealous. Then Adam Pascal reappeared on Broadway in the musical AIDA. When AIDA opened, my mom gave me tickets for my birthday. I remember the card because it said something like "I don't know what this play is about, but Adam Pascal is in it, so maybe now you can quit whining!" It was the best birthday present ever :-). I did get to meet Adam Pascal FINALLY after going to see AIDA. A few months later I also got a "job" working for Adam Pascal. He has a few CDs out that are produced through an online only record company. Their website was looking for volunteers to hand out postcards advertising the albums after AIDA let out each day. So I volunteered. I spent about 4 weekends handing out postcards (I think this was in 2000), which also earned me the right to be personally introduced to Adam Pascal in the process. I also saw AIDA 2 more times before he left the show. So I have several nice pictures of Adam Pascal, some with me in them, one is autographed and others are just him. For the moment, I was appeased because I got to meet one of my favorite actors.
That still didn't completely stop my whining though. I still wanted to meet Anthony Rapp. RENT was still playing on Broadway but the cast had changed several times since the original cast left. It figures that once I moved to Corpus Christi, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal revived their roles in the play for a few months. It just wasn't possible for me to get home during that time, so I whined about it. Then the movie version of RENT came out which I cheerfully went to see, but then I spent a few days whining afterwards because the movie stared the original cast, and once again, I was annoyed that I had never met Anthony Rapp.
So fast forward to this past weekend. RENT had a 12 year run on Broadway but it is officially closed now. The Broadway tour is still running though and it came to Seattle this past weekend. The big hype about the Broadway tour? Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp came back to revive their original roles again. I was soooo excited when I heard this. This is apparently a huge deal that they are back too because the show is being advertised as "Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp in RENT the Broadway Tour". The original show never had any "stars". No one person was advertised in the advertisements for it, so I was pretty excited to see their names on the marquee.
We went to the 2:00 matinee showing this past Saturday and I had a blast! I felt like a little kid because I was so excited to see my favorite actors live on stage again! I also realized that it has been 14 years since I first saw the play on Broadway! I didn't realize it had been that long, but I do feel kind of pathetic that I have been whining for 14 years about not being able to meet Anthony Rapp. So of course, when the show was over, I raced out of the theatre to find the stage door. My friends followed but I am convinced that they think I'm crazy. I was shocked at the huge crowd that gathered at the stage door. I just wasn't expecting 2 Broadway stars to have such a huge fan base on the West Coast (although they were in the movie version), but everyone waiting out there was waiting to see them.
So now I can finally say, that after 14 years, I finally got the autographs that I wanted! Not only did I finally get an autograph from Anthony Rapp, but I added another Adam Pascal one to my collection too. Even that one was exciting to me because I became his fan because of RENT and now I finally had his autograph on a RENT playbill.
I don't think my friends were as excited as me and I don't think they really understand WHY I was and still am so excited! But I am thankful that they humored me though, and one of them even took pictures for me. All in all...it was a great day. Now I can say that I met the President AND Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal :-)!
(Yay for Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp getting their names on the marquee!)
(Adam Pascal signing my playbill...thats the back of my head and I look really far away in this picture but I was only about a foot away from him.)
(Adam Pascal)
(Adam Pascal)
(Adam Pascal)
(Anthony Rapp signing my playbill - FINALLY! :-))
(Anthony Rapp)
(Anthony Rapp)
Not only did we have tickets, but we had 3rd row seats, which is sort of the first row (The first 2 rows were only sold on the day of the show, so a third row ticket is the closest you can get when you buy ahead of time.) The day of the show my 2 friends, and my cousin met my mom and me at our house in the morning. I remember the events of the day so clearly. My dad was upstairs watching the news and right before we left, he came downstairs and we had a conversation that went like this:
Dad: "Say hi to Bill for me!"
Me, Mom, friends and cousin: "What?"
Dad: "Its Chelsea Clinton's birthday. The president is going to be in New York City today to celebrate her birthday!"
That was all. Just a simple conversation that we forgot about moments later. NYC is HUGE, so who really cared that the president was going to be there right? There was no way we'd ever see him.
Apparently, we were wrong with that way of thinking. We arrived at 41st Street where the Nederlander Theatre, home of RENT is, and the street was barricaded off so that no one could get on it. We were a little worried because we had tickets to see a show and the street looked like there was no chance in the world we were getting onto it. So my mom asked a police officer who was guarding the street what was going on. His response? "The President is going to see RENT." Now, maybe I'm just a huge nerd, but whether or not you like Bill Clinton, we thought that was pretty unbelievable. Especially since we kind of ignored my dad when he made the comment about the Clinton's being in the city that day. So needless to say, we were still allowed on the street, but only if we had tickets to the show, and only after we went through a series of metal detectors, purse searches and my mom had pepper spray taken away from her.
Once we got to our seats, the theatre was just abuzz with noise as everyone waited for the president to come in. We assumed that he would sit in a box seat, or at least be secluded from everyone somehow, but we were wrong again. We noticed that the 3 rows behind us were empty and we actually sat there talking amongst ourselves saying "There is NO way he's going to sit right behind us." But he did! 2 rows behind us. The row directly behind us was filled with secret service agents, the row behind them had Bill, Hillary, Chelsea and friends, and behind that was another row of secret service agents. I am going to have to dig out my pictures from that day, because we got some good ones!
So the show started and it was quite possibly the greatest show I had ever seen on Broadway. I had already memorized the soundtrack before seeing the show, and had already fallen in love with the characters of Mark and Roger. I was so determined to meet and get autographs from Anthony Rapp, who played Mark, and Adam Pascal, who played Roger. My mom and I always waited by the stage door after shows to get autographs and pictures of the cast. We have done it at every show so it was always assumed that we would do it for any future shows. When we headed into NYC that day, I was determined to get Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal's autograph. Well...that wasn't going to happen. Apparently, when the President of the United States is in the theatre, that means that every single patron is ushered off the street as fast as possible after the show and no one is allowed to wait by the stage door. During intermission of the show we were able to get up and shake the president's hand. We also had Hillary Clinton sign our RENT playbills. So after the show, when we were ushered off the street, my friends and I were soooo disappointed that we didn't get to meet the actors that we adored. We spent the rest of the day whining (we were only 14 or 15 years old), saying things like "I can't believe I couldn't meet Adam Pascal." To which my mom would respond: "Girls...you met the president! Quit whining!"
For the next several years I whined and complained about how I didn't get to meet 2 of my favorite actors. It killed me because so many of my friends from school had gone to seen the play and had met them. So I admit...I was horribly jealous. Then Adam Pascal reappeared on Broadway in the musical AIDA. When AIDA opened, my mom gave me tickets for my birthday. I remember the card because it said something like "I don't know what this play is about, but Adam Pascal is in it, so maybe now you can quit whining!" It was the best birthday present ever :-). I did get to meet Adam Pascal FINALLY after going to see AIDA. A few months later I also got a "job" working for Adam Pascal. He has a few CDs out that are produced through an online only record company. Their website was looking for volunteers to hand out postcards advertising the albums after AIDA let out each day. So I volunteered. I spent about 4 weekends handing out postcards (I think this was in 2000), which also earned me the right to be personally introduced to Adam Pascal in the process. I also saw AIDA 2 more times before he left the show. So I have several nice pictures of Adam Pascal, some with me in them, one is autographed and others are just him. For the moment, I was appeased because I got to meet one of my favorite actors.
That still didn't completely stop my whining though. I still wanted to meet Anthony Rapp. RENT was still playing on Broadway but the cast had changed several times since the original cast left. It figures that once I moved to Corpus Christi, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal revived their roles in the play for a few months. It just wasn't possible for me to get home during that time, so I whined about it. Then the movie version of RENT came out which I cheerfully went to see, but then I spent a few days whining afterwards because the movie stared the original cast, and once again, I was annoyed that I had never met Anthony Rapp.
So fast forward to this past weekend. RENT had a 12 year run on Broadway but it is officially closed now. The Broadway tour is still running though and it came to Seattle this past weekend. The big hype about the Broadway tour? Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp came back to revive their original roles again. I was soooo excited when I heard this. This is apparently a huge deal that they are back too because the show is being advertised as "Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp in RENT the Broadway Tour". The original show never had any "stars". No one person was advertised in the advertisements for it, so I was pretty excited to see their names on the marquee.
We went to the 2:00 matinee showing this past Saturday and I had a blast! I felt like a little kid because I was so excited to see my favorite actors live on stage again! I also realized that it has been 14 years since I first saw the play on Broadway! I didn't realize it had been that long, but I do feel kind of pathetic that I have been whining for 14 years about not being able to meet Anthony Rapp. So of course, when the show was over, I raced out of the theatre to find the stage door. My friends followed but I am convinced that they think I'm crazy. I was shocked at the huge crowd that gathered at the stage door. I just wasn't expecting 2 Broadway stars to have such a huge fan base on the West Coast (although they were in the movie version), but everyone waiting out there was waiting to see them.
So now I can finally say, that after 14 years, I finally got the autographs that I wanted! Not only did I finally get an autograph from Anthony Rapp, but I added another Adam Pascal one to my collection too. Even that one was exciting to me because I became his fan because of RENT and now I finally had his autograph on a RENT playbill.
I don't think my friends were as excited as me and I don't think they really understand WHY I was and still am so excited! But I am thankful that they humored me though, and one of them even took pictures for me. All in all...it was a great day. Now I can say that I met the President AND Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal :-)!
(Yay for Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp getting their names on the marquee!)
(Adam Pascal signing my playbill...thats the back of my head and I look really far away in this picture but I was only about a foot away from him.)
(Adam Pascal)
(Adam Pascal)
(Adam Pascal)
(Anthony Rapp signing my playbill - FINALLY! :-))
(Anthony Rapp)
(Anthony Rapp)Monday, June 22, 2009
Dear In-Laws
Dear Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law,
Since I can't say this to your face without starting a major family fight, I decided that a blog that you will never read would be the best way to vent my frustrations.
There are a few things that you need to know and understand:
1. I am not Mr. V's secretary. I don't know where he is 24/7. He's deployed. He's not here with me. However, even if he was here with me, I still don't keep track of his every move. If I did know where he was at all times and what he was doing at all times, I still wouldn't feel like giving you a running commentary about his life.
2. When your son tells you "Don't send any mail to this address after *insert date*, that means *gasp* Don't send any mail to that address after that date! Please re-read his instructions before calling me in a panic wondering where to send your 10th care package.
3. Mr. V has email access. He has a computer. I understand he is in another country, but he still has daily access to a computer. In fact, he has a computer with an internet connection in his room. If you have a REALLY important question, you are perfectly capable of emailing him and asking him. There is no need to call me in a panic because you don't know how to get in touch with him.
4. I am perfectly capable of sending my husband toothpaste if he needs it. I am also capable of sending him snacks, razors, soap or anything else he might need. If you want to send him care packages, FINE. But stop calling me, telling me that if he tells ME that he needs something, then I should call YOU so you can send it to him. I am an adult. I have a car. I live in a town with stores. I am perfectly capable of getting into my car, driving to the store, buying some toothpaste, putting that toothpaste into a box and then driving to the post office to mail it. I'm his wife. I don't need his mother to do what I am perfectly capable of doing myself.
5. If you can't figure out how to fill out a customs form, go to the post office and ask for help. Being clueless about a customs form does not warrant 3 text messages to me explaining that you don't know how to write on the form.
6. I don't care if you are on vacation somewhere. Your travels have no effect on my life. Please stop texting me to tell me that you are in Missouri, then Alabama, and now you're back home. If you feel the need to keep your entire family informed of your whereabouts then email Mr. V and tell him. There is absolutely no reason why your travels to Alabama are important enough that you NEED to tell me about them.
7. Please stop asking me for my mailing address. I've given it to you 3 times already. If you lost it, thats your problem. I personally don't think that you lost it and you're just looking for a reason to talk to me, but if you ask me again, I'm not answering. I have more important things to do with my time, than give you the same information over and over again.
8. Please stop asking me for Mr. V's mailing address. I don't believe that you have really lost this address either.
9. If you don't hear from Mr. V in a week, there is no reason to panic. If something happens to him while he's deployed, I promise you that you will know. I'm also not sure why you feel the need to call ME when you haven't heard from him. Did I mention that he has email? Ask him yourself if you're so concerned.
10. No, I do not need you to get on a plane and fly out here to help me or keep me company. I have my own parents if I need parents to do something for me. I also know how to read a phone book and use Google so I am capable of calling a professional if I need something fixed. I also don't want your company. I have friends and a life. They keep me company. So thanks for the offer, but no thanks. (P.S. My own mother was a little insulted when you called her to inform her that you will come out here to take care of me. She has every right to be insulted since I would call MY parents if I need parents!)
11. When your son writes emails to you, don't ignore the things that he tells you. If you ignore what he says, he's going to stop contacting you. Since contact is what you want from him, then it would probably be helpful to pay attention to the things he says.
12. Stop calling me to ask me if I'm doing ok. I am doing fine. Well...that is, until you call. Then I become stressed and irritated. If I don't call you back right away, then you will text me and email me until I do respond. Please stop. If I don't respond to your "We are in Alabama now" text message, that does not mean you have to follow it up with a question that I HAVE to answer, like "whats your mailing address?" As of today, I will no longer answer any stupid questions from you.
Thank you!
Brooklet
Since I can't say this to your face without starting a major family fight, I decided that a blog that you will never read would be the best way to vent my frustrations.
There are a few things that you need to know and understand:
1. I am not Mr. V's secretary. I don't know where he is 24/7. He's deployed. He's not here with me. However, even if he was here with me, I still don't keep track of his every move. If I did know where he was at all times and what he was doing at all times, I still wouldn't feel like giving you a running commentary about his life.
2. When your son tells you "Don't send any mail to this address after *insert date*, that means *gasp* Don't send any mail to that address after that date! Please re-read his instructions before calling me in a panic wondering where to send your 10th care package.
3. Mr. V has email access. He has a computer. I understand he is in another country, but he still has daily access to a computer. In fact, he has a computer with an internet connection in his room. If you have a REALLY important question, you are perfectly capable of emailing him and asking him. There is no need to call me in a panic because you don't know how to get in touch with him.
4. I am perfectly capable of sending my husband toothpaste if he needs it. I am also capable of sending him snacks, razors, soap or anything else he might need. If you want to send him care packages, FINE. But stop calling me, telling me that if he tells ME that he needs something, then I should call YOU so you can send it to him. I am an adult. I have a car. I live in a town with stores. I am perfectly capable of getting into my car, driving to the store, buying some toothpaste, putting that toothpaste into a box and then driving to the post office to mail it. I'm his wife. I don't need his mother to do what I am perfectly capable of doing myself.
5. If you can't figure out how to fill out a customs form, go to the post office and ask for help. Being clueless about a customs form does not warrant 3 text messages to me explaining that you don't know how to write on the form.
6. I don't care if you are on vacation somewhere. Your travels have no effect on my life. Please stop texting me to tell me that you are in Missouri, then Alabama, and now you're back home. If you feel the need to keep your entire family informed of your whereabouts then email Mr. V and tell him. There is absolutely no reason why your travels to Alabama are important enough that you NEED to tell me about them.
7. Please stop asking me for my mailing address. I've given it to you 3 times already. If you lost it, thats your problem. I personally don't think that you lost it and you're just looking for a reason to talk to me, but if you ask me again, I'm not answering. I have more important things to do with my time, than give you the same information over and over again.
8. Please stop asking me for Mr. V's mailing address. I don't believe that you have really lost this address either.
9. If you don't hear from Mr. V in a week, there is no reason to panic. If something happens to him while he's deployed, I promise you that you will know. I'm also not sure why you feel the need to call ME when you haven't heard from him. Did I mention that he has email? Ask him yourself if you're so concerned.
10. No, I do not need you to get on a plane and fly out here to help me or keep me company. I have my own parents if I need parents to do something for me. I also know how to read a phone book and use Google so I am capable of calling a professional if I need something fixed. I also don't want your company. I have friends and a life. They keep me company. So thanks for the offer, but no thanks. (P.S. My own mother was a little insulted when you called her to inform her that you will come out here to take care of me. She has every right to be insulted since I would call MY parents if I need parents!)
11. When your son writes emails to you, don't ignore the things that he tells you. If you ignore what he says, he's going to stop contacting you. Since contact is what you want from him, then it would probably be helpful to pay attention to the things he says.
12. Stop calling me to ask me if I'm doing ok. I am doing fine. Well...that is, until you call. Then I become stressed and irritated. If I don't call you back right away, then you will text me and email me until I do respond. Please stop. If I don't respond to your "We are in Alabama now" text message, that does not mean you have to follow it up with a question that I HAVE to answer, like "whats your mailing address?" As of today, I will no longer answer any stupid questions from you.
Thank you!
Brooklet
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