we got through the final "working" production. i think everyone pulled together the play very well. i was skeptical when i first showed up for tech, but they proved me wrong and i'm really proud of everyone. greenroom today was very hard, the last one for the seniors and all the tears and choked up faces that come with that. but the show was great, and while i'm thrilled to have it out of the way (much as i enjoyed doing it, it was a huge stress in my life this week), i'm going to miss it.
i think i've settled a lot of frustrated feelings and lingering resentment with mike through this experience as well. he went on a run for me tonight, i was desperate for a buyer, and he had already gone on a run, but he still came down from up north, picked me up, and bought for me. and we've had a bit of time to talk recently, and although obviously casual talk, i'm trying to get past the "he was a prick to me" thing to realize that he's human, he didn't handle things particularly well at the time, but a lot of time has passed and i will, much as i hate to admit it, miss him next year. he's pretty good people.
so now i'm preparing for an evening of partying like a rock star and having fun. i think i've earned the right. :)

i am frustrated and unhappy. and the fact that i am frustrated and unhappy makes me frustrated and unhappy.
vicious cycle.
it'll all be better monday.

so yeah. i showed up to "working" last night and i heard from casey that they had offered the job of TD to devlin, which means, in all practicality, louns is out. he cancelled his class yesterday afternoon and didn't show up to set up the show last night. i don't blame him, but i sincerely hope he's planning on at least coming back to either A) finish his courses this semester or B) say goodbye.
people here are frustrating the hell out of me. i want my friends back and i want people to get over themselves. it is a constant process here of dealing with people who think they're so amazing. sure, in many respects, they are amazing people, but they are also hurtful and immature, and i think it's time to grow up.

asuka's gone, and it looks like louns is gone as well.
all within 12 hours.
fuck.

baz and i went downtown this afternoon following the tv fiasco and shot photos of glass blowing at a shop at the corner of church and maple. it was a fascinating experience--to see the fire and the glass melting into teardrops. we watched one man take a large egg-sized drop of glass and stretch it into a foot long oblong piece--cobalt colored. it was amazing...then a woman took a small globe of melted glass and shaped it into a flower with open petals. it was definitely cool to chill and watch them work, and we took some cool shots. i finally got to take a cool reflection shot with one of the mirrors.
just outside the studio was an iron workshop--i had my picture taken with the knight that was there, fashioned out of rusted metal. i thought it was amusing because the school takes such pride in the "st. michael's knight", complete with 10-foot-tall knight in full glistening armor, and here was one fashioned out of scrap metal. i preferred the latter.

yesterday, wandering the umall with rhonda and baz, i walked into the gap and saw someone who looked awfully familiar. we both did the "hmm...is it really? it's been awhile, i'll see if he/she recognizes me" cock of the head and stare, and sure enough, it was chris from my phs days. he graduated the year after me (i had a horrible, massive crush on him during my early years of high school), and now he's up at uvm, and he works at the gap. i hadn't seen him in three years, so needless to say, it's odd, trying to figure out how to catch up on what's going on...especially since college changes things so much...
so we chatted about the families, who's doing what and what we're up to--he's going for elementary education, which i think i'd been told before, but it still surprised me...he's a pretty good guy, so it was good to see him. but it was just plain odd. i don't at all feel like how i did in high school (well, in most respects) and we didn't even talk a hell of a lot then (you talked to everyone back then because there were only so many people around).
but it was good to see someone from back home.

anyway, my asuka is leaving today--returning to japan, and i'm not dealing particularly well with it...i haven't been able to spend as much time with her lately as i might have liked, and i wish i could have...plus the fact that louns is leaving, plus the stress of my every day life, and i'm freaking a bit.
i got a much-needed email last night, and i'm very happy to have seen some friendly words from a wonderful person.
made me happy.

so i was on tv today. ohmigod frustrating experience. i wanted to be able to say things. it was about sports, and hell, i have ample sports knowledge. but i was asked two questions, if that, and most of the time was spent talking to joel and hilary reed from the free press. the thing that frustrated me about the joel thing is that, while he's a great sports writer and an obvious fan, most of the time was spent talking about the echo. great, but the echo isn't all sports, hell, it's one column. we have three pages of sports every single week! i'm not an idiot, i know sports, and i can talk sports pretty damn well, if i do say so myself...

oh my god am i exhausted. i left the lab yesterday at 5 a.m. i felt horrible for rhonda, who had to finish stuff and got out at nearly 6, but it wasn't just me...rhonda, sue, and i were there all night finishing up stuff. certain editors, who shall remain nameless, left numrerous errors on their pages. we're talking errors in headlines here. and were in bed by midnight, while sue, rhonda and i were working our asses off to try to make sure everything got covered. i'm glad it happened, i'm very proud of the paper this week, and i'm psyched that paul liked my story about peter worrell, because i was worried. and i figure if i was able to get through staying there until 5 with the insane scedule i had yesterday, i deserve a pat on the back. and since i already got one from paul and rhonda, i'm happy.
working opens tomorrow...
i want to go home and sleep. :)

i've been idle at my home screenname for 14 hours, 30 minutes
fuck yeah.

holy schnikies. today has been hell.
i woke up early so i could actually go to tv news, and bob told us that sports isn't "real news". so today i spent busting my ass to get shit done for my non-news section and running sound at rehearsal.
i haven't been home since 11 this morning, and i've been going non-stop. exhausted me.
but i think i managed to get everything done. for this issue, i wrote a news story, a concert review (matt nathanson), and...hmm...thinking about this...the men's national basketball final, the women's national bball final, three other short national stories...my column...so yeah, i wrote eight pieces for this week. and i have photos from sister helen, matt nathanson, and "working" running. i think i was rather busy...but hey, another vickie welch issue isn't too bad a thing. kind of amusing, even. :)

i had the most fantastic day yesterday--which was good, considering the days before that had been a living hell...
it was an impromptu day of self-indulgence...i went to the lab to do work, and baz was there...after rocking out to alanis ("you outta know"), making a poor coatrack the despicable prototype of a much hated man, we decided to go tanning, since we'd been saying we'd go sometime. so we went, and on the way, we picked up some hairdye, so we figured we'd dye our hair when we got back.
first of all, i love tanning. i was scared of it initially, but it's quick, relatively painless (i'm a little red, but that's expected, i went again today, and i hadn't been in the sun in eons), and rather relaxing.
after that, we decided that haircuts were in order. so i chopped it. :) back a chin-length bob, and i couldn't be happier. i enjoy short hair so much more than long. i also bought a visor (FINALLY) and we went on a victoria's secret run. :) then we went to a movie...it was such a damn good day.