Wednesday, December 31, 2014

A Year in Review

I haven't blogged much in recent years, that's been no secret.  I'm so busy, it's hard to find time and it's not like I'm really writing for an audience anyway.  But I guess I just want to take the time to go over my year.  Since my party plans were spoiled by a mild concussion, it's something to do (though it's made harder by a dog and a cat and a laptop trying to fit in my lap).

January- Working one of my favorite shows. It was tough show just because it was so mechanically difficult, at this point, I'd already been working the show for almost two months.  The city transfer was super rough, but I got through it.  I had the flu for the first time in my life, but managed to get it while everyone seemed to be busy, so I suffered through it alone.

February- The show from before finished up. I went to Canada for Valentines Day, which was really fun.  I started rehearsals as stage manager for two shows: and original staged reading and a famous Disney kid's show.

March- Kid's show continued, keeping up with two rehearsals is tough.  The stage reading went over great! I was super impressed with the musical the teenagers who were writing it managed to create (certainly better than another new work I saw in March).  I adopted a six month old puppy named Argos.  He's Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua mix and is the speediest thing on the planet.

April- Three tech weeks in a row: the staged reading at the end of March, the kid's show which ran for three weeks, and then another show as props at the theatre I normally work at.  On opening of the kid's show, a scenic element managed to break my pinky finger...that was fun. The last of those productions was probably the toughest track that I had ever run (and certainly the toughest up until that point). The crew was absolutely amazing. I miss them.

May- Opened the show.  Boyfriend broke up with me after six and a half years.  I'm fine now.  I was mostly fine then.  The hardest part was actually the schism that was created between my other friends and I, made worse by the fact that I wasn't sure what I'd done or how to fix it.  I moved out of the apartment, taking Argos with me.  My parents were incredibly gracious and supportive and let me stay with them for three months (the rest of the show run plus a bit) till I found an apartment.

June- Continued running the show in the first city.  Tried not to mope too much.  I spent a good deal of time biking.

July- Transferred the show to the second city.  I was only there for the first week, during which time I was training my replacement.  I got pulled to asm a small Equity show (my first as a stage manager), so I wasn't available anymore.  I did get to fill in for the asm the previous show one day though, because the normal asm was sick.  That was fun.  Started rehearsals for the show I was asming.  Became rather close with one of my coworkers, he's still a good friend.

August- I nearly amputated my left index finger and crushed my middle finger.  I managed to slam it in a heavy metal framed window that was propped open and shouldn't have been (see a previous post).  I ended up with five stitches in my finger.  I was lucky that for once, as asm, I wasn't allowed to touch scenery while backstage.  The production process for that new work was a bit of a bitch, but I loved the show, and it turned out pretty nicely.  I moved to my new apartment at the end of August.  I now live with more fish than I care to admit, my dog, and my cat (who had been living with my family for two years because of my roommate's allergies).

September- I had no shows immediately, which hadn't happened to me since I started theatre.  I refereed high school volleyball, though it wasn't the same.  This month was really hard because theatre had been my buffer since my breakup.  As long as I kept busy, I didn't have to think.

October- I stage managed a small fundraiser, which was high stress, but low time commitment and continued refing volleyball.  The last month of October we started flight rehearsal because in my current show, we're flying people.  I'm props again, but since our crew is small, I help with almost all the flying (it is both a cool and as dangerous and as difficult as I expected).

November-  I basically ran the show.  I don't get along with the crew on this show as well as most at this theatre, there are a bunch of new people.  I have a very difficult track, but it's fun, and keeps me from getting bored (which is one of my least favorite things ever).  I started hanging out with my coworkers more.  We go out the the bar after the last show Sunday.  It's fun.

December-  First, the good: I'm applying to a production management job with the children's theatre company that I work with frequently.  Now, the bad: My youngest sister ended up in the hospital with terrible head pain.  They thought it might be something life-threatening.  I think that's probably the closest I've come to missing a show.  Luckily, it ended up being a terribly migraine (which she'd never had before).  She didn't have aura (the black spots and neurological symptoms) so doctors were extremely confused.  But hers manifest the same way mine do.  Migraines suck, but I'm so glad it was relatively minor. Exactly a week later, my dad ended up in the hospital.  A massive bloodclot in his leg, broke off and made it's way to his lungs causing a pulmonary embolism.  At first my family told me it was relatively minor, but the more the doctors probed, the worse they realized it had been.  He was lucky he didn't die.  It hasn't exactly been a good month.  Today, I managed to minorly concuss myself while running a complicated props handoff sequence.  

So, here I am, sitting at home on New Year's Eve, not able to drink.  It's not that big of a deal honestly; it's just so typical of this fucking year.

Here's to a better one.  I hope with everything I have that it will be better than this one.

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