The end of the end

I know I've been MIA for about a week now, but I was not at all prepared for the explosion that was the last week in Monmouth.

Let's start with my birthday: Thursday, August 15th

It was also Write On day, and I spent from 2 pm until around 7 pm running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Seriously, I spent the hour of Velveteen Rabbit working, then helped change over, then spent until 3 working furiously. From 3 to 5:30 we teched all the shows which meant that I was running back and forth between the booth and the stage, making notes, talking to directors, and performing. At 5:30 I ran to the dining hall to shove food down my throat before high tailing it back to Toad to work furiously from 6 until about 6:45 when I ran over to the theater to put the finishing touches on all the shows plus preshow and intermission music before the house opened at 7. From 7 until 7:30, Hannah did my hair and makeup.

Birthday selfie with Bethy!

Despite (or maybe because of) the crazy day, the show actually ended up great! There was one mishap sound-wise, but everyone was really great about what happened, and I was really impressed with myself. In previous similar situations, I would've been a raving bitch, and while I was frazzled as all get out, there was no bitch to be seen. I'm (finally) learning to handle stress!

Then we went back to Toad and celebrated my birthday for real. You guys. There was so much alcohol. We made what we lovingly called "theatre juice" (see around 4:33 for the inspiration) and it was ridiculous. I've never been so drunk.

Friday and Saturday were normal two-show days, and I spent any down time recovering and/or packing for my trip home. Sunday Amadi, Beth, and I went to Slates for the last time and had a lovely brunch before coming back to do our last Shrew ever.

Afterwards was strike and cleaning for everyone. I stowed most of the sound equipment, restored the old board, took some stuff back to HMH, and then tidied the booth. Monday I helped electrics haul equipment and take apart instruments for parts. The best part was getting to throw old instruments off the fire escape into the parking lot. Destroying stuff is fun.

I had my exit interview at 4 and said goodbye to a lot of people. Then the rest of us sat on the porch and watched cars go by.

The Leftovers

This group (minus Luke because he'd already left) went out to dinner at Margaritas, and then came back and cleaned the hell out of Toad. Our kitchen was disgusting.

Yesterday morning I woke up, put up the fall index page for the website (after AD helped me break into the office because it was locked and Dawn had a meeting) and then got on my way. I'm back in Baltimore now.

I'm going to try to keep putting up personal posts, but those might be few and far between until I get back to Monmouth in early September. I'm not sure how much I'll have going on here. But never fear! There are a lot of beauty posts ready to be written. Next up is my birthday haul, so be ready for that! (I promise it'll actually happen this time.) I enjoyed this summer a lot, but I'm glad to be home and relaxing for a little while, and I'm excited to start doing the marketing thing when I get back!

The beginning of the end

What good is a schedule if I don't stick to it!?

It has been so crazy here. With the end of the season rapidly approaching, there's been a ton of drama and work, and I don't know where it all came from!

So, I'll give you the headlines since ain't nobody got time for everything I have to say.

• Write On - It's this Thursday (also my birthday) and I feel totally overwhelmed. Designing one show at a time is hard enough, but 9 different shows with sound effects and music has just been ridiculous.
• My mom and Doug - they visited this past weekend! They got to explore Portland some, and they came and saw Shrew on Saturday night. We went to Fast Eddies beforehand, and on Sunday morning they took me, Beka, Beth, and Amadi to brunch at Slates. 
• Sound - running the shows has been good except that the monitors have started to cut out during the shows. I think I've identified the problem, but I had to rig the cable and the monitor microphone today. Hopefully I did a good enough job to keep it the way it needs to be
• Marketing - I officially performed my first marketing duty! Dawn gave me the content, but I put together an eBlast and sent it out to the education list we have.
• My birthday! - As I said, it's coming up on Thursday - it doesn't feel like it's time for me to have another birthday yet. I just keep getting older and older!
• Alissa's wedding - My first roommate at PSU is getting married at the beginning of September, and now that I'm staying here, I can go! Now I just have to book a hotel room, buy a gift, and find a dress in three weeks. Whee!
• Date - I went on a date yesterday. Technically Beth, Beka, and I went on a date, but he was there for me. We walked around Brunswick and the Bowdoin campus and got ice cream. It was really fun, and he seems like a really cool, genuine guy. It might be nice to have someone I know once everyone leaves.

I think that's everything! It's been a hell of a couple of weeks. I keep waiting for things to settle down, and they never do! On Thursday I'll be posting the first half of my birthday haul if I don't get super bogged down in Write On stuff. The best birthday present is that it will be over!