You want me to do what?!?!

Tonight was the read-thru for the play. This is going to be a highly entertaining next month and a half. It was so wonderful to be in the circle of actors and directors onstage reading the script, laughing at the staging directions and surprises hidden in the script. I've missed the theatre and am uber-excited to be involved with it again. We've always had a little flirtation going on- I'd choreograph a musical, land a part by a fluke as a last minute replacement, or I'd be cast as an improvisational role. But this, this is different. This is going to be fun. Well, most of it...

I found out tonight that my character frisks a grown man. Y'all, jewelry commercials make me blush. It is going to take some practice to keep my composure and not be embarrassed to the point of turning purple. But then, I guess I should just remind myself that I don't have it as bad as some of the other actors. Let's just say that we all get our fair share of embarrassing scenes. I'll leave it at that, so as not to give anything away in case any of you ever see the show at some point in your lives.

Ok, moving on. In regards to task completion, i have decided to nix any memorization-oriented tasks until after the show. I've got a few weeks to memorize my lines, plus all the loads of psychological information I have to store in the ol' noggin, as well. So, I'm going to try to complete Task 2 again. (Eat a rutabaga.)

Okay, dear readers, here's the question of the day: What is the most embarrassing thing you had to do whilst performing?
So far, my most embarrassing onstage performance has been taking off a guy's jeans in front of an auditorium full of school-aged children. However, that may soon be trumped.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

So... I might possibly have another animal bite to add to my list (For those of you who don't know, I have been bitten by MANY animals, so might say too many. It is a burden I must bear, I guess.). Doctor appointment tomorrow will tell, hopefully. If I start being able to shoot webs out of my wrists, it will be a definite answer to my question. And an explanation to why I have had zero energy.

Remember that I mentioned I auditioned for a play as part of Task 11? Weeeellllll...

I GOT THE PART! The one that I wanted. The play is The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 and I have been cast as Nikki Crandall. I'm sure this goes without saying, but I am extremely excited. It would show more if I had energy. Stupid spider or virus or whatever is making me sick.

So far, the votes are tied (See previous post). And I've only gotten two, or possibly three, votes on what task I should attempt to complete this week. Come on, people. This is your chance to be decisive! Maybe this video will urge you to take action and vote. (Please be warned, it's not G-rated, but it makes a good point. According to its description on YouTube: "You're neighbors are voting. You're not. That could be a problem.")

Vote!

Dear Readers,

I'm dumbfounded.

Really. Aren't you supposed to feel rested after a week of doing practically nothing???? Then why do I feel like I haven't slept in a fortnight? That's right. A fortnight. Lack of sleep brings out my fondness for old words.

So, I need to start on a new task. And for this week, I have decided to let you, my readers, vote. We live in a democracy, do we not? Here are the electoral candidates:

Behind Door #1: Memorize the entire Animaniacs Country Song (Task 23).
Behind Door #2: Smile at a stranger (Task 13).
Behind Door #3: Eat a rutabaga (Task 2).

Obviously, this means that you have to vote. Exercise your right to vote. Let your voice be heard.

But... if you're typically one to follow the crowd, you might enjoy this little video.

The Cutest Food I've Ever Eaten

Spring Break proved to be a productive one, even though I was determined to do nothing but stare at the wall. I caught up on sleep, grocery shopping to stock up on my organic food supply, and family/friend time. I got my fill of Thai food, Cajun food, and sushi. Speaking of sushi...
I completed Task #49: Eat a piece of sushi previously thought of as revolting with the help of my friend Kat. I ordered the caterpillar roll, which is basically eel and avocado and ate a piece of Kat's Raindbow Roll, which is the California Roll covered in various pieces of raw fish. I had raw salmon. I'm still shocked, but I a) did not throw up and b) kind of liked the taste. However, the texture was a little gross. As for the Caterpillar Roll, that was the cutest meal I've ever eaten in my life! And it didn't taste too bad either. Eel is a lot chewier than I expected.


Also, there was some debate about whether I should can my spontaneous purchase of a fangirl shirt for my favorite musician fulfilled Task 19 (I keep getting emails that my shirt is on back order. I've heard, "We will ship it to you in no more than 30 days" twice over the past 60 days.) Anyway, I officially fulfilled Task 19 last week. That's all I'm sayin'.

Aaaaaaannnndddd... Last night I ventured out into the local theater and therefore can mark Task 11 off my list. I auditioned for a show called "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940." Actually, I'm still in the auditioning process. I'm going back tonight. I'll let you know how things pan out.


I have officially completed 10 tasks: 9, 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, 22, 24, 39, 49.

My poor, pathetic rutabaga

My rutabaga died. It's a ROOT vegetable. Aren't those things supposed to last forever? I blame my current location (as I blame everything else on, as well). Today I almost was sunburned. It is March and I came super-close to looking like I'd spent the week at a beach in JULY. So, I blame it on where I live.

In happier news, Task 10 (Go without eating fast food for a month) and Task 31 (Volunteer), and Task 17 (Learn how to play a new game) are DONE! I made it through the entire month of February without going to a fast food restaurant. I have now more than caught up on my fast food intake, but plans are underway to maybe go on a hiatus yet again. As for Task 31, I volunteered at the International Folk Festival for a total of about 12 1/2 hours over two days. I worked at a booth selling logic puzzles the first day. There was a part of the booth set up for the students to play with the different puzzles and logical toys (you know: Get the loop off the really-absract looking piece of metal, fit these blocks in a wooden cube without getting frustrated, etc.). What was so funny was the fact that I was thrown behind that booth without so much as a clue how to solve any of the puzzles. So, when asked the solution or even the goal of each puzzle, I simply made it up or shrugged my shoulders. Is that bad??

The second day, I worked for the judges of the International Inventors Competition, which was a TON of work, but really fun. There were about 18 student inventors from Taiwan and the Phillipines and one inventor from the U.S. The inventors were amazing and made me feel academically inadequate. They were all about 14 years old and were smarter than many 50 year olds I know. Needless to say, it was intimidating. But I really did enjoy volunteering and working with them. They were all so kind and polite and friendly. Oh! And there was a folk dance competition, which I got to see bits and pieces of. If you know anything about me, you know how I felt about that. (P.S. Creaves, Kabhi Kushi Khabhie Gham next week??)

Task 17 was completed this past Friday evening while I was at a party hosted by one of my professors and his wife. It was technically for the program he is the chair of, but he invited my program out of pity. He and his wife have such a cool, antique house right on the edge of campus. Upstairs is a room full of games: a pool table, pinball machine, shock machine (I can now literally say I have shocked one of my professors. I can also now say that a professor cheated on a game in order to shock me as well. So funny, but another story...), and on and on. Anyway, I learned how to play Boccer Ball. It's like a mix of soccer, fooseball, marbles, and pinball. Here's a video, even though these guys don't play it the way I was taught (One marble per hand, the soccer ball begins in the exact middle of the field- I was taught by a statistics professor). It is strangely addicting and my professor definitely won all three rounds.

Have any of you, dear readers, ever played Boccer Ball before?

So, a quick recap:
Tasks 9, 10, 14, 17, possibly 19, 22, 24, 31, possibly 39 are all done!