2001-08-31
feeling kinda
whee! *little happy dance* good things are happening for my friends. yay! ChicaBean and her girlfriend just put in an offer on a house, not too far from here, and it looks like it's going to work. and they both have new jobs in the works. so maybe the Florida things didn't work out for a reason - because good things were waiting for them here. *twirls around*
that's pretty much the most exciting thing going on around here. it's been a pretty schlumpy week. i'm still running on empty, feeling behind, not finding much motivation, and wanting to sleep more. plus, the ragweed count has been thru the roof, and i've felt like my head was going to explode pretty much every day. my eyes have been all itchy and teary, not to mention bloodshot because i keep rubbing them. pretty look, huh?
oh, how much of a spaceshot am i? in case there was any question, let me tell you. stopped by the drugstore the other night to pick up some dry food for the cats. they only had the large jug, which i don't like to get, because i prefer to keep stocked up on Iams or something like that. but i got it, as it was all they had. a few days later, stanz follows me into the bathroom in the morning. she never follows me anywhere. but this particular morning, she pads in after me, and very neatly sits down by the shower. and she's still waiting there when i get out. she isn't acting sick; she's just trying to tell me something, and i'm not getting it. so i follow her, out into the kitchen. she walks over to her bowl, looks at me pointedly, and sits down. the bowl isn't empty, but i figure she wants some more kibble anyway. i take out the jug. and just stare at it. i had bought dog food for my cats. the sad part is, i remember thinking in the store, 'geez, all they have is Butcher's Blend; that's not the brand i like to get them.' duh.
rudy was very funny about that story when i told him. he's still amazed that i talk to my animals, and they talk back to me (as much as they can). he had driven me home one night when i was puppy sitting, and was surprised when the dogs came to the window (truthfully, almost thru the window) when i called out to say i was home. he says it's all a revalation to him.
rudy is one of the guys i work with at the Pavilion; i've nicknamed him The Duke. you know, if i told you who i work with there, you'd think i worked at a nuthouse. Frick and Frack, S & M, Pretty Shoes, Big Mamma, The Duke, Mr. B, Man Mountain - sounds like a wacky cast list. and i will never, ever be able to remember Pretty Shoes's given name. rudy told me the nickname first, and that's what stuck.
i worked two shows this week, and thankfully they've both been easier than the VH1 show. thursday was kd lang and Tony Bennett. mom called me right before i left to work for that show; she said she called because i sounded said. that kind of threw me, because how could she know i sounded sad before she called me? see, i'm telling you - the sixth sense thing runs in the family. i wasn't sad, just kind of worn out, between allergies, and work, and generally feeling like i'm running behind. we talked for a bit, and she was so excited when i told her what the show was going to be. and maybe that's why she had to call. :)
it was a great, great show. kd opened, and man oh man, has that girl got a set of pipes! she was funny and open, chatting with the audience. and she did a lot of Porter/Gershwin sort of tunes. she was dressed all in black silk, and came out barefoot. it worked. 'custom shoes', she joked, when someone teased her about it. her bass player looks a lot like Stanley Tucci. (neither here nor there, just thought i'd throw that in.)
and Tony... he still sounds great. mid 70s, and he puts on a great show. i wish the sound guys had gotten their act together, tho. he was way undermiked; if you were at the back of the tent, you could just hear him over the band. and it was only a three piece. it's apparently the same trio he's been playing with for decades. don't remember the bass player much. the piano player looked like he's been sitting on a piano bench for so long that he's in a permanent keyboard hunch. he plays wonderfully, tho. and the drummer did a stunning solo, nearly 5 minutes. i adore percussion, when done well. john complained that he hates drum solos only a little more than bass solos, but it made me happy. the things that guy was doing - i've never seen anyone handle sticks like that.
i missed this little moment, but Tony sang one song on request. a guy in the audience had asked for it; he brought his girlfriend down front by the stage, and when they had danced to the song, he got down on his knee and proposed. *grin* how wonderful is that? (and she did say yes.) i couldn't even tell you what the last song Tony did was, some Sinatra standard, i think, but it had me in tears. happy, happy girl, standing under the full moon, with a salt breeze cooling the night, and Tony singing his heart out.
oh, and i got the plates for my car! my agent is such a sweetheart. brought all the papers and stuff down to the show. so now i have plates and insurance, and haven't even had to go into the office yet. ;)
odd thing - three or four ushers thanked me for working the VH1 show. it was sort of unsettling, as i had no idea who some of these people were. and i tried to downplay it. i mean, we all worked our asses of at that show. but for some reason, they saw fit to thank me. huh. of course, i passed all that along to my boss. ;) and it seems that if i want to come back next year, i might get a promotion. who knew?
tonight's show was Yes. i have to say, i don't think i could name a single song of theirs. and i didn't recognize much. but it was a great set. they came out and did one straight set, nearly two and a half hours, no intermission, with a symphony backing them up. i heard from my friends in the audience (one of whom is a die hard Yes fan) that it was The Show to see if you like the band. i'll take your word for it, scott. *grin*
one thing that made me a little unhappy was the indiscriminate use of strobe lights. they have set off migraines for me recently, and i had to keep walking away to avoid that. of course, towards the end of the set, i decided to walk down front to help keep the aisles clear. and? strobe lights all over the place. i felt like i was walking into the Gates of Hell. hey, i never said my timing was any good. ;)
since tomorrow is a play day, we all went out to the deck afterwards. or at least, we tried to go to the deck. for some reason, they were snarky about letting us up there. it all worked out well, tho. we ended up with the back room to ourselves, with a table next to the open window. and somehow our waiter finagled a huge tray of apps out of the kitchen. i swear, we didn't order that much food! and certainly, we didn't ask for a huge scoop of lobster salad in the middle of it. *munch, munch* much hilarity, and far more booze than we paid for, plus good munchies. i'm tired, and wiped out, and looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, and happy that we all went out. good start to the weekend.
