Blog Me About It

I just wrote my first post for the Seattle Rep blog. It's a short "get to know me" piece mixed with a cupcake investigation. You just have to read it to understand.

Seattle Surprises

1. Did you know that 10 Things I Hate About You takes place in Seattle? Yeah, I didn't know that. I watched that movie last night with some friends from work and we figured out that the house Bianca and Kat live in is probably in Queen Anne somewhere. We've already made plans to find all of the locations in the movie and photo document the event. Consider yourself warned, Facebook. We also cracked open a bottle of wine to drink while watching the movie. I do not recommend the game take-a-drink-whenever-you-miss-Heath-Ledger. You'll only end up with an empty bottle and a little hole in your heart. 

2. So much for trying to be a classy professional. I've only been at work two weeks and I'm already organizing a bar crawl. They apparently have never heard of the concept and are surprised that the idea came from an Iowan. The hard part is going to be figuring out where to go and what design to put on the shirts. The two higher ups are named Ben and Jerry so I might milk (bad dairy pun) that theme. Kurtzy is going to help me figure it all out and hopefully it'll be a good time. Basically you can take the girl out of Iowa but you can't take the party planner out of the girl. 

3. This actually isn't a surprise, but more of a happy shift in attitude. Mollie and I are doing really well living together. She works 8-4:30 and I'm more of a 9-6 girl. So we completely miss each other in the mornings and by the time I get home she's already had dinner. But we've been bonding a lot. She'll sit with me while I eat dinner and we'll talk about our work days and the stuff that we want to get done in the apt. (We're still working on the cable and internet.) One night I was watching something in my room and she had a question for me. She stood in my door way, looking as if she felt like she was intruding or interrupting. Girl needs to learn that I have very small personal boundaries. I invited her in and we sat on my bed and chit-chatted the night away. Very Babysitters Club of us, but it was fun. I think we'll get along really well and won't be needing that roommate contract after all. 

4. I actually liked the movie Tropic Thunder. Kurtzy and I were in giggle mode after a particularly stressful day at the Rep. So we hauled it to the movie theatre to do the two things we love most: relaxing and paying for overpriced tickets. We didn't have time for dinner so I ordered a small pizza at the theatre and they delivered it to me during the movie. Now that's just cool. Unfortunately you could barely find a pulse with the audience we saw it with, but the two of us were dying the whole time. I completely recommend it if you want something light and frothy to watch. Thinking was not required for this one. On our way home we saw that that day was also the opening of the H&M downtown! We went in and explored the two store mecca complete with purple blazers and a trashy chick DJ playing euro-techno. It was pretty much the best way to end any day. (Mental note: I'm not allowed to go to that store until I have an actual paying job for fear that I'll spend my rent check.)

5. People in Seattle think "oxtail" is something you eat. I mean, I know you could put raspberry chipotle sauce on pretty much anything to make it taste good, but oxtail? Jury is still out on this one. 

6. I've finally decided to stop complaining about the government and to stand up and do something about it. Fran, Kurtzy and I have been given the go ahead to organize a booth where people can register to vote in the lobby of our theatre. You have to register by Oct 4th in WA so we're going to be making our effort for about a week as we go into previews for The Night Watcher (starring a woman who was on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I kid you not). I hope that we can get a lot of people to sign up so that we can make some changes around here. But I swear, our efforts are non-partisan. To a point. 

7. People really mean it when they say Ask and Ye Shall Receive. Mollie and I asked for some stuff for the apt from SRO, our volunteer organization. These people came through like gangbusters. We got: a tv, lamp, laundry basket, 12 white hand cloths, spoon, spatula, salad spinner (?), grater, stir fry pan, and the piece de resistance, a cast iron pan. We've made out like bandits (that's what she said) and it's all for free. I might as well ask for a Wii and a Jaguar just to see what their limits are. 

8. The thing at the Rep that I'm most looking forward to working on is, drum roll please, managing their internet image. I'm going to be blogging, creating Facebook groups, and updating their MySpace page with the help of Andrew, a fellow intern. I'm so excited that the things I do voluntarily and incessantly in my free time, they want me to do at work. It's like paying me to blink or make sarcastic comments.  Once I get rolling I'll be sure to post the link so you can read whatever dish I come up with. This is such a beautiful thing. 

9. And finally, in a completely unsurprising turn of events, it has started to rain here. It's been overcast and chilly since Thursday and today it decided to stop threatening rain and just go all out. To be fair, it's not like we're Tina Turner to some Hurricane Ike, but it is coming down pretty hard. 

Too soon?

The Old Man Across From Me Smells Like His Nurse Forgot the Sponge Bath

No seriously, this guy smells terrible. I'm trying to only breathe out of the corner of my mouth so that I don't pass out or throw up. I would move but this is the only chair left in the place that is unoccupied. That's a lie. There is one next to a man in all camo that talks to himself really loud about God knows what, so I try to give him a nice 50ft radius.

But the good news is that Mollie has divulged that she too would like internet and cable. So once we get a tv we'll look into our options. Once I can blog from the comfort of my own bed, I'll be a happy camper.

Right, so Mollie. The new roommate. She got here on Saturday morning. I rushed down to the street to help her move her 80lb suitcases up the cement stairs. I only took one, and let her heave the other two. Then we assembled our death futon from Target. I know for a fact that this futon is uncomfortable and will fall apart in a mere week, but I let her take charge of it and will keep my mouth shut. So then we chatted for awhile and I made us lunch. Great roommate award, over here. Then she went into her room to start getting settled in. And that's where she stayed the whole weekend. Door shut, in her room, and quiet. Whenever she does seek daylight we get along and talk a bit. I've been making a point to keep my door open and watch my movies or read my books in the living room. But she doesn't come out. I feel like a freshman again, trying to get my next door neighbor to play with me. The whole point of living together, at least for me, was so that I could have someone to talk to. So that the apt wasn't so unbearably silent. We're still working on that I guess. I'm just trying to give her some space. It might feel like it is more of my apt since I brought a ton of stuff and had been living in it for a week. Hopefully once she gets more unpacked and settled we can start bonding. Fingers crossed on this one, guys. There are no roommate agreements to fill out so I'm gonna have to wing this thing. Oy.

Work picked up considerably in the last two days. Tomorrow night, Fran, Jessica and I are going to a reception at an Art Gallery with the cast of the two plays that we're putting on. It will be a great chance to get to meet a lot of Equity actors and hopefully make a good connection with the Gallery owner. I'll be wined and dined so I'm all about it. We also have a Company Meeting tomorrow. This is where we all get together, and I mean everyone, to talk about all of the new stuff that we're working on at the Rep. The Audience Development department has decided that we will illustrate our points by creating a series of carefully crafted tableus, and thereby winning the Biggest Losers award. Whatever, we're geeks and we know it.

Every time I have a meeting, that person takes me out for coffee. Which is fine, and great, and I'm happy that I never have to pay for it. But, seriously, I'm not a committed coffee drinker. Not yet. Today, I got so wired that I didn't eat lunch until 4:30. I was twitching my leg under the table so much that I'm sure everyone thought I was on something. Next time I'm getting a smoothie and calling it a day.

I don't think I've mentioned it, but the Rep is so quirky. For instance, when I log on to my computer I choose between the Dagohbah or Tatooine systems. Star Wars may have just put out a really crappy movie, but these guys couldn't care less. Also, one of the women on staff is named Christy Carlson. For anyone that has ever seen Even Stevens you'll know how to complete that thought. And my personal favorite, at 4:00pm on Friday the market across the street was giving away free Cupcake Royale cupcakes and the Rep practically shut down so that we could all go over there and feast. That's just plain baller. PS those were the best cupcakes I've had in my entire life. And that even includes Funfetti, which is really saying something.

The projects I'm working on are all really varied. I'm going to start blogging for the Rep, I'll be organizing a lot of initiatives for the fellow interns, I'm leading a lot of Marketing and PR work for events that we're putting together, and there's a lot of envelope stuffing. I haven't gotten coffee for anyone yet and I've only done a bit of copying. I'm just glad to be doing real work and building that portfolio. I've also somehow been appointed as the resident grammar expert so I proof read a lot of stuff. I'm sure Konrady is twitching somewhere at the thought of it. But as a huge BONUS they are going to train me to become a House Manager during performances. I'll make $12.50 an hour and will hopefully pay off all of my flights back and forth to Iowa. I'm like the Donald Trump of Seattle. But with better hair and a complete lack of authority to fire someone.

Here's a link to the two shows we're putting on: The Night Watcher and Three Musketeers. I'll let you know how those turn out. I can't take pictures of anything because of Equity rules and, you know, job security. But if I can get my hands on anything I'll be sure to post it.

The old man is still here, and I'm tired of holding my breath. Till next time.

I now have business cards?

First week of internship: done and done-r. I'm absolutely amazed at how much I love this internship. Coming in to work everyday is like always having your favorite songs play on the radio while you drive. It is familiar and comfortable while also being fun and exciting. There is also just a lot of singing going on around the office, which is an obvious plus.


So here are my responses to those teasers that I promised you!


1. When Kiki Met Fran

Fran Kao (last name pronounced "gow." it's like cow but with a "g") is the name of my boss. When I was applying for the internship in March I had to do a phone interview with her and immediatly knew that we would be like Thelma and Louise, but without the cliff. Our 25 min interview lasted at least 45 mins with all of our laughing, dishing, name dropping, and theatre ramblings. We had been in contact over e-mail all summer and for some reason I was really nervous to meet her. I wasn't supposed to get to work on Monday until 10. I was outside of the theatre at 9:30. Then I bought a water and it was 9:32. Then I paced around the main door and probably had people inside the theatre watching me do a mini freak out. At 9:45 I couldn't wait any more. I walked in and headed straight to where my desk was. Fran saw me and gave me the biggest hug ever. She gushed that she was hoping I'd come in early and was finding it hard to wait until 10. "I'm so glad that you're finally here." I'm already loved at this place. Fran is just amazing. She has a great sense of humor, is one of the most genuinly kind and outgoing people I've ever met, and we just really click. I like her so much I'd even do her dry cleaning. But hopefully she won't ask me to.

2. I'm not above Kurtzy-ing

When I was interviewing last March, I also had to talk with Jessica Kurtz. She was the Arts Management intern last year and is now a staff member for the Rep. She sits with Fran and I in the Audience Development Pod of cubicles and is pretty awesome. She's really great at filling me in on all of the people and events that I need to know about. She'll explain why something is funny in a meeting. And best of all, she'll give me the dirt on everything going on in the Theatre. She is fabulous. We've become really fast friends. She's already taken me out to lunch, and one night we went and got dinner with a friend of hers and saw Shrek: The Musical (more on that later). We're talking about campaigning for Obama together and seeing as many free shows as possible. She's a complete "gets it" and it's nice to have someone closer to my age to be around everyday.

3. HOLD MY CALLS I'M IN A MEETING

On my first day of work, Fran sat me down with a calendar and started giving me my schedule until mid-October. I have, ahem, meetings to attend. I'm that important. Typically once a day I'll have a meeting with the education dept or the audience development dept or the whole company will get together and crack jokes for 3 hours. It's awesome. Most of the time I have no idea what is going on. Names and acronyms are flying by my head and I usually make a list so that I can ask Jessica what they all mean later. But I'm trying to take detailed notes and pretend to have something to contribute. Like when I was in a meeting with our volunteer organization I noticed that they were all at least 65 and wrote, "The color pallete is very muted with this group. When dressing for this meeting in the future, think Easter." Professional.

4. ...and how is this different than being an RA again?

I've come to the kind of crazy realization that I'm a bit more prepared for this job than I realized. My RA training will actually come in quite handy. For instance, Fran asked me to print copies of all of the intern's pictures and to glue them to a huge map so that people could get to know their names and titles. That sounds eerily like a bulletin board. Another time we were outlining the events that we're throwing and talking about all of the numerous ways that we want people to hear about it and how many we want to attend. Hold the phone, is this a program we're talking about? If she mentions anything about "outcomes" I'm crying foul. All I need is Kate Fitzgerald actually running this theatre too with her neon green fleeces and crew-cut-of-love. But luckily for me I actually do like this kind of stuff. On day one she had me making buttons for a huge kick off event that night. Little did she know that Molly, Katie and I made buttons by the mass in high school to promote our plays. But don't worry, I wasn't making buttons for long. Eventually I trained Jarred, the recently released from prison guy who was looking for easy community service and decided that pounding out buttons was his new license plate making. I wish I was kidding.

5. Shrek: The Musical ????

Like I said, I'm pretty important. So of course I was invited to go for FREE to the premeire of Shrek: The Muscial. There were photographers everywhere. A green carpet was laid out in front of the doors. And who knows how many almost famous people I saw. It was a really fun night. I don't want to ruin it for people that want to see the show in the future, but here are my 2 cents:

Kiki's Critique Corner

I think that this play is going to be a major success. It already has the recipe by milking one of the biggest cartoon movies of all time and packing it with A list talent including: Sutton Foster, John Tartaglia, and Christopher Sieber. Not to mention Pulitzer Prize winning author David Lindsay-Abaire, and my current obsession, wrote the book and lyrics. The play did everything it needed to. It delivered the scenes that are everyone's favorites from the movie and did the dialogue verbatum. It tapped into the areas that were brushed over in the movie to have them explode in different directions on the stage. It didn't recycle all of the old material and instead brought new and hilarious insight to the characters, storylines, and fairytales in general. It also related to the new audiences by making fun of musicals in a hilarious and unpredictable way. The sets were amazing, and were half constructed by the Rep. Those sets will go all the way to Broadway which is quite the acheivement. They also did amazing things with special effects including 3 different turntables which rotated in all different directions. It was truly amazing. The one down side: the actor playing Donkey had zero comedic timing. I know playing a part originated by Eddie Murphy is a daunting task, but this guy phoned in the whole thing. Overall, I can't remember the last time I had that much fun at a musical and can't wait to see it again once it's gone through it's final tweaks and cuts.

And here are a few side notes that I thought you all would enjoy:

1. On my way home from work a woman yelled out "Go Hawkeyes" when she spotted my Iowa hoodie. Gotta love that Iowa pride.

2. Also on my way home from work, two women were sitting at a table asking for donations for a battered woman's shelter. After I politely declined, one of them (who sounded either drunk or Australian) said, "Yeah, well you look like a battered woman." You know what, I'm tired and circles under my eyes happen from a lack of sleep and not "walking into a door" thank you very much.

3. (mom, don't read this one b/c it'll just get you worked up) I was going into the market to buy food for a party we had today. On my way in a man ran into me, almost knocking me over. Then he sprinted outside and was followed by two men in green aprons and white polo shirts. I started looking around the store to see if anyone else was noticing what was going on. Nobody had a clue. Eventually the two guys were pulling this insanly skinny guy back into view. He was struggling so hard that they started taking off his shirt because he was trying to get away so forcefully. Eventually the fatter one sat on the guy and got him to calm down. Then they picked him up and ushered him into the back offices of the store. And no one around me was watching. They just went about their day while I stared, open mouthed at the whole thing. The craziest part was how quiet it was. There weren't noises of a struggle or the yells of profanity into the air. Just three guys wrestling. It was wild. I've never seen anything like it. It's just my small town Iowa coming out.

4. And finally, my Mom once told me that she needs signs to help her make big decisions. And they have to be big. Small stuff will just pass her by. She needs something loud and in her face. Well, I was in a room today that had a bunch of posters from years past and I came across this play. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is.

I miss you all like crazy. You're the Timbaland to my JT. Call often.

Lifestyles of the Poor and Sassy

Here is a link to the video that I took of my apt. I tried to actually load it onto blogspot, but the file was apparently too big. This was very distressing for me to find out when I tried to upload it on Sunday at 8:00 pm while I was getting eaten alive by killer mosquitos. I'll bare the scars of that unfortunate night for years to come.

VIDEO!

I would also like to apologize about the number of times I describe something as "cute little..." or how often I say "swoop." They just kind of slipped out.

My internship started on Monday and, shocker of the century, I'm absolutely LOVING IT. But, as work should, it has absolutely worn me out. I plan to do a much longer post later on detailing my first week there. But to leave you hungry, here are some trailers to entice you for more.

1. When Kiki Met Fran

2. I'm not above Kurtzy-ing

3. HOLD MY CALLS I'M IN A MEETING

4. ...and how is this different than being an R.A. again?

5. Shrek: The Musical ????