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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Just the basics

Well. The Internet I've been using at my apartment got locked this week. Now, along with only 3 channels on tv, I can only use the Internet at work or on my phone. I'm writing this on my phone. Forgive any typos...

This week I feel like I spent a lot of time hearing about things I was missing back home. When everyone is bored and working it's no big deal, but wedding showers and mission farewells make it more difficult.

A few weeks ago when I saw Lost In Yonkers at the Play House they talked about ice cream sundaes a lot. I have been craving a hot fudge sundae ever since then. I can't believe it's taken so long to act on. Someone on facebook suggested the McDonalds dollar menu. I know where I'll be going tomorrow.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Martin Luther King Day

So today was my first opportunity to be a tourist in Cleveland. I did my research for all of the exciting things going on for MLK Day so Maureen and I could make the most of it, and we did.




They had a special today which we definitely had to take advantage of. We arrived early and spent a few hours checking out the exhibits.
Highlights:
Michael Jackson's white glove
The entire Elvis exhibit
Rocking out to the most influential songs with awesome headphones

Original Cost $22 Today $FREE



The House of Blues
I didn't want to lose track of the importance of today so we went to the House of Blues where school kids were singing, dancing, and playing instruments in honor of Martin Luther King. It was actually pretty interesting. A lot of the schools had children of "varying disabilities". We had a good time.

Cost $FREE



University Circle
On our way to find something to eat we passed through University Circle where they were having a milk promotion. They were handing out free gallons of milk! Our only guess of why they might being doing this today was for MLK. Get it? MLK..milk....

Original Cost $2.69 Today $FREE

Mi Pueblo
After all of this craziness we went to a Mexican restaurant where we had full yummy meals.

Cost $9

This museum was really neat and by the time we got here the crowds were winding down.
Highlights:
The Abraham Lincoln exhibit. They had a photograph of Lincoln's second inauguration. I didn't know they had photographs of him. Awesome.
The car and airplane exhibit.
This car is made of stainless steel!


Also made of stainless steel, this is the FIRST Delorean every made. AWESOME!

Original Cost $8.50 Today $FREE

In conclusion, today was a great day. We found great deals, saw everything we had planned to see, and saved a bunch of money! Its the first time I've really spent money at a restaurant since I've been here so I don't even feel to bad about the $9 meal. I am so good at being a tourist. ;)

I had good practice last spring. One year ago today I was arriving in Massachusetts to start my tourist training. Oh the memories.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I think this is working out just fine.

I've been in Ohio for a few weeks now and am starting to settle into a comfortable routine. I've met everyone at the Play House, been to church and institute, and hung out with friends. Its nice to pause in a moment to realize how much fun I am having and how natural it feels to be here. I have talked to my friends about how sad they were I didn't work here last summer, but I had an amazing summer and I went to Greece. So I'm not complaining! Everything works out the way it does for a reason. I find that very comforting.

This is a picture of the theatre before we opened. Notice the original bricks walls and how skinny it is. It is such a cozy space.

This is the fly line that I work on during the show. It's historic. It is called a Hemp Rope system or a "Hemp House". Back in the day when fly systems were new they were run by sailors who just got out of the Navy after the war. This is because sailors know how to get heavy things high into the air. They communicated with each other through whistling (which is why whistling is bad luck in a theatre. If you whistle it means something is going to fall on you.) If you look at the picture you might be able to see the similarity of this system to that of a ship. Its very interesting to me, but that is enough learning for one day. If you want to learn more about Fly Systems check out what Wikipedia has to say. This is the first time I've ever worked with something like this so I've had to learn how to tie knots like a sailor. Pretty cool.
This is a bad picture of Me, Maureen, and Chris. My first night in town we went out for Chinese food then went to a coffee shop to chat. I forgot my camera so I had to use my phone. Taking self portraits with an iphone is really difficult.

I've had fun with these two. Maureen took me on a driving tour of downtown Cleveland, including the West Side Market where I found some food I haven't had since Vanuatu.



And I saw this pig.

We also went together to Lost In Yonkers and the opening night party.

Last time I was in town she was my boss and a lot more stressed out. Now that we are just friends (she works at the Play House too but in a different department) we have a lot more fun together. Its awesome! Thank you Maureen for getting me this job, showing me the town, and hanging out with me all the time. Her quote of the week, "these next 4 months are going to be the most documented of my life because Lizzie is here." This is true.

Finally, here is a video of my dressing room. Yes, I have my own dressing room.


Isn't it so tiny and cute! I considered decorating it with pictures but decided not to since I won't have it for long. After Huck Finn closes and we start bigger shows they won't have a spare dressing room to give to the lowly ASM. That's fine by me, I'm just living it up now! I really hope that when I hit the big time I still get excited about little things like dressing rooms.