Back in the Saddle

So I had an audition today...for musical theater. Yes, I know it's been a few years since I've done that, but just because I got a tad intimidated by the NY audition scene doesn't mean the Philly scene is as nasty. And I had a very good experience, despite my misgivings. I'm not right for any of the roles in the show, of course, but it was good to audition for the producer in case something else might come up.

So thanks to Steph for bullying me into it. She knew I really wanted to do it anyway but was trying to find excuses not to go. I still hate auditioning; it's just good to get back in the saddle again.

Jehovah's Witnesses

So this morning at around 11:30 or so, the doorbell rang. I certainly wasn't presentable to be receiving any guests, but anyone who had the gall to ring my doorbell on a Saturday deserved to see me in my PJ's with stubbly legs and pits and, worst of all, bed hair. I opened the door to find...

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES! (cue scary music)

Yes, the JW's were making the rounds again. They've been to our house before on several occasions, and I've always been very polite. The first time they came around, it was one woman. I told her that nobody in our house was Christian, and she had this really blank look on her face, like she didn't really know what to say to that. She blurted out a, "Okay, thank you, good day," and backed down the driveway. That made me chuckle.

The second time they came by, there were two of them, a man and a woman, who before they had started pulling out their copy of the Watchtower, started telling me that they were starting up a Bible study class. I told them that we had no use for a Bible class, since nobody here was Christian. I don't think the woman heard me, because she said, "That's okay. We just want to talk to you about some of the things in the Bible." I smiled and said, "Thank you, but I don't believe in the Bible, so I don't think that would help me." She gave me this blank, puzzled look as if I had just given her a lecture on calculus. I smiled again and said, "Thank you very much," and closed the door.

They must not have spread the word around to the other JW's about us, because this morning they were back again. One would have thought my unkempt appearance would have stopped them short, but I suppose if you're on a mission from God, or Jehovah or whomever (hey, why don't they call themselves JHVH's Witnesses? Or Yaweh's Witnesses?) little things like my smelly just-out-of-bed smell wouldn't bother them.

I opened the door, saw the two of them (a man and a woman, but both different people from last time), saw the woman holding a stack of Watchtower pamphlets, and rolled my eyes. "Hi, we're from--" "I'm sorry, but we're not Christians here. Thanks." I had no time to quibble, not when there was some serious hygenic issues going on with me. I had the door halfway closed, when the man said, "Wait, you're not CHRISTIAN?" His eyes were opened really wide, and were kind of bugging out of his head.

Yes, moron. There are some people still left in this country who are not Christian. I know it doesn't seem like it the way our President talks, but we are still out here. "No. Thank you."

Once again, I start to close the door, and he blurts out again, "You mean, you don't believe in Jesus Christ?"

I paused, trying to think of the best way to answer this. Do I believe that there was a guy named Jesus back in the day? Probably. Do I "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten of the father...for my sake was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried...ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father?" Not particularly. Do I accept him as my personal saviour? Definitely not. But I didn't really want to get into it with this guy. The poor man's eyes were going to pop out for sure.

So I said, "Nope, sure don't. Thanks!" I closed the door quickly this time, but not before I heard him say, "Well, I'll be sure to come back."

Oh, great. That's the last thing I need, a Jehovah's Witness who wants to convert me to Christianity AND bring me into his cult. I need a better way to get rid of them. Should I invite them in and offer to perform a hex on their enemies?

Happy Equinox

So now that the nights are officially longer and Persephone has gone down to spend the winter with Hades and eat pomegranates, we all can celebrate the second harvest and hunker down for a long winter's nap.

Of course, it's still 80 degrees outside and I'm not even wearing jackets yet, except for in the office, where they've got the air conditioner going at arctic temperatures. Global warming, I suppose...maybe there is something to that whole link between the rise in global temperature and the fall in the number of pirates since the 1800's. I think we should start breeding pirates.

But seriously, I'm starting to look at this coming winter with a small chill in my heart. Two of the four Philadelphia Singers concerts have been cancelled, including the one that I got the solo for (talk about a BIG bummer...I went drinking that night). I didn't get into OCP and I haven't gotten any calls from New York to do stuff, so I've effectively screwed myself by being loyal to TPS. I guess now is the time to beat the bushes and come up with something. Anything. It's hard not to just wallow in self-pity, though...really, really hard.

I'll be okay, though...SuperMaren has been through worse than this. I'm just thankful that I have my home and my family, my health and my cats. And that's really all I need.

Working Out

So I joined a gym. Every time I say that, I feel like I'm apologizing for something. The thing is, I have this prejudice against gyms, and I think I always have. Every other gym I've gone to has really done nothing but try to take my money and not pay attention to my actual fitness.

Well, this gym is a little different. They still want to take my money, but they are committed to helping me achieve my fitness goals. I get one free personal training session a month, as well as a consultation with a nurse every six weeks or so. It's not like getting a personal trainer every day, but really all I need are some small goals to work up to.

Anyway, I had my nurse appointment today and my measurements taken. Nothing I'm surprised about...I knew I was overweight; I could feel it, but now I have it in black and white. And it's just a little more motivation for me.

But what surprises me (still) is the overwhelming amount of pushiness in the sales tactics. I felt like I was buying a used car. The woman at the front desk didn't give me any prices, and when the salesman started showing me around, belittling my knowledge of the body, and then he pulled me into his office to "find out more about me and my fitness goals," i.e., how much money he could squeeze out of me. About halfway through the meeting, I pointed out how much this felt like I was buying a used car, and the salesman got very defensive. Did I strike a nerve? So I pulled the "I'm a dumb girl and I can't make a decision without my boyfriend" move and told him there was no way I could pay the amount of money he was asking, and I'd have to leave and come back at a later time with Ray (I almost wish I had done that, just to see Ray bully this guy around).

That's when I really started to see this guy sweat. He didn't want me to leave without signing anything, so I got a trial membership with a discount offer good for a week. I talked it over with Ray, and we both decided it actually WAS worth the exorbitant amount of money they were asking for (especially with the discount), and I came back today to pay the rest.

They also gave me a free visit to their "sports doctor," who, as it turns out, is actually a chiropractor. I was treated to a neato massage in this heated water/jet/bed thingy (very nice), and then ushered into a room to watch a 4-minute video about subluxation (you know, if you don't have chiropractic treatment now, you could suffer all sorts of painful things, even DEATH). The chiropractor then came in, asked some questions, and then pronounced that I did, indeed, need a chiropractic adjustment. Since I don't have insurance, she said, she'd give me a discount and only charge me $32 a visit.

What a crock!!! Granted, maybe I DO need a chiropractic adjustment. I'm not completely closed-minded to the possibility. But to use such scare tactics as that video and posters in the exam room saying "injury, pain, death" with a picture of a crooked spine on the wall is completely reprehensible. If you have to resort to that kind of a sales technique, you must think I'm entirely idiotic. And I promise you, I am not. Not entirely, that is.

Pretty Things

So this morning I was waiting for a FedEx package that was supposed to arrive by 10. Apparently, the FedEx guy showed up at 10:51, but didn't bother to ring the doorbell (he's done that before, so I wasn't surprised, just annoyed). However, I really needed to have that package so I could do some work today.

That was fine, I thought. I'll just do some sewing...I'm making a duvet cover for a friend, and he's giving me a few bucks for it, so the day won't be completely lost, right?

Wrong.

My sewing machine has been on the fritz for the last month or so. Yesterday, I took it into the repair shop and the guy opened up the bottom, sprayed some WD-40 into it, and said, "That should make it better." I took it home and it seized up again. Ray and I took it mostly apart and found a little plastic gear at the back of the bobbin that was causing the whole problem. I took the machine back today, and the repair guy started futzing with it and said he'd have to take it and look at it, but it wouldn't be ready for a few days.

Great. So now, although I've got plenty of housework and chores and other stuff to do, but no income. I'm needing the income right about now. And my church still hasn't sent me a check for the solo I sang back in July. To be fair, none of the soloists have gotten checks for their summer stuff, but that still doesn't make it right.

Anyway, when everything in the world was going wrong and pissed me off, I looked out my window and saw the most amazing thing: one of my waterlilies was blooming. They only bloom during the day and close back up at night. So I raced out with my little camera phone and took some really nice pictures. Here's one. Isn't it pretty? Somehow, simple, pretty things make everything all right again.

Auditions

So I had a good audition last night. I was auditioning for a solo in an upcoming performance, and I think I actually sang well. It's amazing what happens when you really prepare for something, isn't it? I'm not holding my breath about the solo, though, because SEVERAL really good mezzos auditioned before me and besides, I got the last solo in the Lord of the Rings Symphony. At least I know that whoever ends up doing it will definitely add to the beauty of the piece.

I did get a little nervous in the middle of the audition, but then I took a friend's advice and imagined myself in my underwear. That made me feel much better.

Not Much Now

Of course I have to run off to work and such, but I thought I'd give a little summary of my weekend. The bottom line is, I love children, but when you get a two-for-one day at the Renaissance Faire and the theme is Children's Fantasy Weekend, you're in for trouble. There were way too many hellions running around with little or no parental supervision, and I was getting ready to drop-kick a few of them.

On a happier note, I test-drove a new spinning wheel that I want. Oh, this thing is nice. I had a few problems with the tension, but that was mostly because the wood was expanding due to being outside for three days. Well, we'll see if I can afford it.

On A More Serious Note

So I've been hearing on the radio (I'm not watching TV these days, thank goodness) about all the horrible things going on in New Orleans, what with the riots and the looting and the completely unsanitary conditions. I won't go into any details...if you're not living under a rock, you know what's been happening.

And I, like many Americans, am confused as to why, in such a wealthy nation as this, with an actual disaster response infrastructure, living conditions have degraded to such a point where police on the streets are outgunned and afraid for their lives. I know that these things take time...I have this picture in my mind of this behemoth government body that slowly strides halfway across the country, stopping a few times to catch its breath. But I suppose that's how this country is. Have we as a country, like our selves, become so obese with our own greed and wealth that we don't have the energy to help ourselves quickly?

I don't have a whole lot of money, but I did send some to America's Second Harvest. I also encourage anyone who is within 300 miles of the devastation to open your homes to some of the displaced families. You can find more information at www.hurricanehousing.org.

My dad is in Thailand doing relief work for the tsunami that hit back in December, and he tells me that there are still people living in tents, nine months after their homes were destroyed. One of the things he's working on is a database that will help stop redundancy between different charitable organizations. Will the same problem happen here? I remember lots of people who weren't eligible for money after 9/11, even though their jobs and workplaces were lost. I also remember that so many people gave money to the Red Cross for 9/11 that they couldn't handle that much money and they ended up distributing it to other areas.

I guess I wish I could be more hopeful about this situation, but seeing the degradation of society and the emergence of the raw ugliness of human nature in such a short period of time upsets me. I'm just waiting for the hope at the bottom of Pandora's Box to appear.

Touched By His Noodly Appendage

So I realize that some people in cyberspace think this is old news, but Cousin Mike just sent this link my way this morning, and it brightened up my entire day. In response to the Kansas School Board's decision (so far) to allow the teaching of Intelligent Design, Bobby Henderson, a college graduate and follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (who, he asserts to the Kansas School Board, has created all things), has asked quite politely to allow equal time in science class for discussion of his theory of Flying Spaghetti Monsterism. He's gathered quite a following, and I, for one, am inclined to support his ideas. All he wants is what's fair: "One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence."



Seriously, though. You have to go to the web site. It's hilarious.