The chaos before the conflagration
Trying to think of how to catch you up to the state of my brain. Not that you asked, it's just what I do on this here LJ. But all I can come up with is an image of a smashed pumpking. I feel like some irritating younguns took it upon themselves to remove me from my comfortable perch and heavy me onto a black top, perhaps in the way of traffic and let gravity and physics do the rest. Want to talk about my day but all I can think about is being smeared over the street.
There was staying up way fucking late to get some documents types and sent out for the theatre. There was getting up again two hours later to go to brunch (director paid at least) for paper tech. Paper tech is where the sound and light designers and the director talk about their choices, where it should go and give me the cue numbers. I jot them down in my book (also known as my copy of the script but when it has as much extraneous info in it, it's called a book) and try not to look too bored when the designers and director disagree. I also try not to run off on a tangent when the sound guy and I have musical tastes in common. that's just purely to stay on task. Paper tech always takes a painfully long time. And today still managed to set the record at over six hours. Six hours for "brunch." Yeah we ate. Boy did we eat. Sleep is typically the major loss during tech but diet is right on its heels.
Ran off to find a cafe with wifi - so yet more calories for me, yay - and there fielded a bunch more phone calls, texts and emails for the play. Then headed to the Luz de Jesus Gallery where Dave McKean was signing. Sadly there was hardly anyone in there talking with me. But fortunately that meant I could say everything on my mind. Which wasn't all that much really, anyway not much that related to Dave. But it was a tremendous pleasure to hand him my copy of Cages and watch him break into a smile, caress it and call it his baby. And then thump the thing on the table. The thing must way in at a good 15lbs. He drew a kitty as I breathlessly told him I love his work and was really grateful to get to take my time with Cages and discover more things with every read and really sink into the things it doesn't - can't - say. He signed it and asked my name. I told him and spelled it out as I always do. And he misspelled it as people in a rush normally do. Ah well.
Dave McKean misspelled my name. }:D I also got a couple of pictures with him. I told him I wished I could be at his gallery opening tomorrow but I'll be stuck in tech. He understood.
Then I was off again. I thought I would hit two wine bars, thereby killing the evening and heading home after the traffic. As a plan, that one wasn't too bad. I won't have time to hit bars next week and I think the Examiner people won't like that. But... I know it's going to sound terrible but the simple fact is I went to a wine bar that was merely ok and the phrase "you're no better than you are" came to mind. Without context that sounds like such a bland phrase, I mean how can anyone be better than they are? But in context it's sort of like "it is what it is" only with a derisive connotation. It's only used in a context where something or someone is suboptimal and so what're ya gonna do? I think I really dislike "it is what it is" but probably because I hear it more and nearly always with the context of futility. "You're no better than you are" may be uttered while looking down on someone but that at least has some character to it. Negative character, but something interesting. Ah well, tangent aside, the bar wasn't that exciting and I came away thinking it was because the operators set their bar low and cleared it with room to spare. which made me feel bad because the barkeep was nice to me and the patrons seemed to be having a good time. But I can't otherwise explain the desire to skip the second bar and just come home and start drinking.
Hit the road and found a ton of traffic despite it already being 10pm. Blah. Stupid tired and I'm still up. Manifestly not getting shit done. Bad stage manager. I have to get up early again tomorrow and Sunday for a pair of 12 hour days.
The funny thing is, the only thing that's really worse than working like this is NOT working like this.
Now if I could just earn a livable wage....
I keep meaning to do an entry about Slaughter City itself but keep getting distracted. And right now the brains are about 18% power and fading fast.
There was staying up way fucking late to get some documents types and sent out for the theatre. There was getting up again two hours later to go to brunch (director paid at least) for paper tech. Paper tech is where the sound and light designers and the director talk about their choices, where it should go and give me the cue numbers. I jot them down in my book (also known as my copy of the script but when it has as much extraneous info in it, it's called a book) and try not to look too bored when the designers and director disagree. I also try not to run off on a tangent when the sound guy and I have musical tastes in common. that's just purely to stay on task. Paper tech always takes a painfully long time. And today still managed to set the record at over six hours. Six hours for "brunch." Yeah we ate. Boy did we eat. Sleep is typically the major loss during tech but diet is right on its heels.
Ran off to find a cafe with wifi - so yet more calories for me, yay - and there fielded a bunch more phone calls, texts and emails for the play. Then headed to the Luz de Jesus Gallery where Dave McKean was signing. Sadly there was hardly anyone in there talking with me. But fortunately that meant I could say everything on my mind. Which wasn't all that much really, anyway not much that related to Dave. But it was a tremendous pleasure to hand him my copy of Cages and watch him break into a smile, caress it and call it his baby. And then thump the thing on the table. The thing must way in at a good 15lbs. He drew a kitty as I breathlessly told him I love his work and was really grateful to get to take my time with Cages and discover more things with every read and really sink into the things it doesn't - can't - say. He signed it and asked my name. I told him and spelled it out as I always do. And he misspelled it as people in a rush normally do. Ah well.
Dave McKean misspelled my name. }:D I also got a couple of pictures with him. I told him I wished I could be at his gallery opening tomorrow but I'll be stuck in tech. He understood.
Then I was off again. I thought I would hit two wine bars, thereby killing the evening and heading home after the traffic. As a plan, that one wasn't too bad. I won't have time to hit bars next week and I think the Examiner people won't like that. But... I know it's going to sound terrible but the simple fact is I went to a wine bar that was merely ok and the phrase "you're no better than you are" came to mind. Without context that sounds like such a bland phrase, I mean how can anyone be better than they are? But in context it's sort of like "it is what it is" only with a derisive connotation. It's only used in a context where something or someone is suboptimal and so what're ya gonna do? I think I really dislike "it is what it is" but probably because I hear it more and nearly always with the context of futility. "You're no better than you are" may be uttered while looking down on someone but that at least has some character to it. Negative character, but something interesting. Ah well, tangent aside, the bar wasn't that exciting and I came away thinking it was because the operators set their bar low and cleared it with room to spare. which made me feel bad because the barkeep was nice to me and the patrons seemed to be having a good time. But I can't otherwise explain the desire to skip the second bar and just come home and start drinking.
Hit the road and found a ton of traffic despite it already being 10pm. Blah. Stupid tired and I'm still up. Manifestly not getting shit done. Bad stage manager. I have to get up early again tomorrow and Sunday for a pair of 12 hour days.
The funny thing is, the only thing that's really worse than working like this is NOT working like this.
Now if I could just earn a livable wage....
I keep meaning to do an entry about Slaughter City itself but keep getting distracted. And right now the brains are about 18% power and fading fast.