I finished something!
You have no idea how good it feels to be able to say that. One of my favorite experiences in theatre was always closing a show. Even if it was a show I was going to miss, it always felt as good to close it as it did to open it. It meant we'd done the job and (usually) had done it well, and it was time to move on to the next project. I like that feeling. (Probably why I was always addicted to boss battles in video games. Enough mindless level patrolling, the music ramps up, you fight something huge and scary, and then you have the sense that you've accomplished something afterward) I think that's part of why it's been such a tough transition for me from working at the theater year-round to, well, not. Every day is kind of the same, though with some occasional exciting variation. Get up, feed the baby, put the baby to bed, eat, feed the baby again, put the baby to bed again,do a chore, feed the baby again, take care of the kids while Kim makes dinner, put the kids to bed, shower, read, go to bed. Oh, and there are meals in there, too. It's good to have regularity, but the only Big Project I've had to deal with at home has been this move. And I'm still not all the way unpacked, either, so that's been kind of a drain.
Now, however, I've finally reached two finish lines in the last week. You have no idea how much that simple fact has rejuvenated me.
First, there's the fall carnival at church. It's a lot of planning and a TON of work the week before, and it's one of my favorite events at the church. The day of carnival, I was at the church working for twelve hours straight, much of it with Isaac in tow. For dinner, I popped into my office to take a couple bites of food between refilling candy stations around the sanctuary. I was SO TIRED by the end of it. But it went very smoothly, and it was satisfying to pack away the last bounce house in the closet Wednesday night.
Now, I've got bags full of leftover candy in my office. I spent the entire month of October not eating a single piece of carnival candy while it sat on my desk in its brightly colored wrappings. I like to think of the leftovers as a reward for my steadfastness over the past four weeks.
Second, I finally finished a new script. Did you know it had been over a year since I finished writing anything? Play, novel, short story, anything aside from a blog post. I think it's even been more than a year since I attempted a poem. This particular script I agreed to write for a friend back in August. At the time, I figured I'd get it done pretty quickly, mostly because I read, conceptualized, and wrote Pinocchio within 8 days, and before that I wrote both Teammates and The Girl Who Wore Golden Clothes in the same week. I wasn't taking into account the move, my trip to Chicago, the fall carnival, or the fact that October isn't as far from August as it seems. I set deadlines for myself on three separate occasions to have this script done, and in reality it really should not have taken me as long as it did. The friend in question was far more gracious to me than I deserved. Finally, it was her graciousness (and the impending deadline of auditions for the show next freaking week) that motivated me to get r dun. I stayed up late just about every night the past week and a half (except the weekend of carnival) working on the script. It felt good to be writing. It felt better to be done.
This week, I actually let myself be a little bit proud of me. Honestly, it's been awhile since that's been the case. Oh, and not the sinful, unhealthy sort of pride, because that actually comes very easily to me. (I was reflecting earlier today on how I can tend to be both proud and lazy, and how that's just dumb)
I also finished in time to get cracking on my NaNoWriMo project. Unfortunately, now that I've finished that script, I'm really hungry to get cooking on another playwriting project, not prose. Since I'm still a little on the rusty side, I may just have to go wherever the motivation takes me for the time being. On the other hand, it's time to get cracking on the "self-discipline" stuff, too. So we'll see.
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Other tidbits:
*Today's blog title is a lyric from this album. This is Isaac's latest sleepytime CD. I'm very glad you can stream the whole thing online, and when I've got some cash I'd like to actually buy it to support the band. It's probably the best rock and roll/metal album based entirely on Mega Man 2 that I've ever heard. Not that I've heard any other. Still, it's a cool concept and well-executed. And it's got a surprising amount of emotional pull for a video game album.
*It looks like Tarvis and I will be having a Most Excellent Road Trip Adventure up to Plano next weekend to see a middle school perform my play. Robbie will be going with us, too. This is the stuff bad family road trip movies are made of, folks!
*Hey, remember last year when I was talking about former Aeros and official FOMW-favorite Josh Harding and his year-and-a-half of terrible luck with injuries? How about a comeback story where he returns from torn ACL/MCL surgery after missing an entire season and beats the Red Wings twice in a row before holding the defending Conference Champ Canucks to one goal in another big win? A fourth straight start for Hards? Yes, I think so. This just makes me smile. So happy for the guy.
*Speaking of Aeros, went to Dollar Hot Dog night with Dave and Tarvis. That shoulda been its own blog post. Dollar hot dogs = both excellent and evil at the same time. Kids playing hockey at intermission = always awesome, especially the one really tiny girl with the pink stick who barely moved her legs and seemed to skate by merely shifting her weight and willing herself to go in a certain direction. Five kids choirs in one night = a lot of off-key singing. Also, during the second intermission, we saw a group of about fourteen kids in tae kwon do uniforms taking the ice with hockey helmets on. I commented to the guys, "I can't imagine any way this will not be awesome." Then, they proceeded to do a choreographed routine to a pop song. Suddenly, I could imagine a way that kids in tae kwon do uniforms wearing hockey helmets would not be awesome. Then they almost got run over by the Zamboni. Finally, Dave and I discovered that you can put the lyrics to any rap/ hip hop song with this track and it works. Tag Team, Carman, whatever. (I imagine the same can be said of just about any dance mix track)
All right, that's enough outta me. Adios, kiddos. Enjoy the weekend.
