Goodnight, Sweet Ladies

Sadly, this week saw the close of Hamlet with Theatre Downtown in Birmingham. It had been over a year since my last show, so I was glad that the experience was a very positive one. I got to work with some of my favorite people and some new ones that have quickly become my favorites. It was a beautiful show that had a high level of professionalism that can quite often be missing in community theatre and life in general.

Before I get into the show’s final weekend and my birthday, I’ll talk about the few things that have happened at work recently. Firstly, Mike got a job as the Station Manager for Service to Armed Forces with the Red Cross at the Marine Corps base in Twenty-nine Palms, California. We’re all so excited for him, but it’ll leave a big void in the office. I don’t know what I’ll do when I only have to share this tiny room with one other person. Thursday, we had a national conference call with Gail McGovern, the head of the American Red Cross. This call provided a plethora of meme material for me as we listened to someone at the very top level of management talk about things that are not applicable or true for us on a chapter level. She said some awesome things like talking about this being a naked year and Red Cross getting cool on facebook. Regardless, it was cool, in a nerdy way, to be on the phone knowing that people across the country were listening to the same thing at the same time. I guess television and radio work the same way, but it’s not as entertaining.

Friday was a wonderful day in Tuscaloosa for many reasons. The first thing was Cody getting me a birthday card that everyone eventually signed and a flower in a can that is now growing on a desk. We had another conference call that was nationwide as well but only specific to volunteer services. I spoke in the call. While I only said “Yes,” when prompted, it was still one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. After reaching this milestone, the rest of the office surprised me with a cake, chips, and most importantly sweet tea. While we were eating these treats, the main staff got together to choose winners for the volunteer recognition awards. Since the awards haven’t been given out yet, I don’t want to leak any spoilers since I’m sure SOOOOOOOO many people involved in the event read this.

Now I’ll move on to the closing weekend and my birthday adventures. Thursday night was a small crowd, but Jessie and Tommy came to see the show on their way home for spring break. They got to see it the night I fell up the stairs in my Player Queen outfit because Taylor decided that the final weekend was the time to mix things up and add a new little bit with the recorders. His idea worked and got quite a few laughs. My tripping actually can’t be blamed on that, but I’ll go with it anyway. Friday night was the slated evening for my party, which Julie agreed to host at her house on Clairmont. My friends Alex, Karissa, Ashley, and Amanda all came to the show that night. I only had one little mess up that night during which I said that Laeretes’s ferret was unfellowed instead of his merit. This also could have been one of the many nights I died in front of the door Susan has to enter and exit through or the pin holding my pants together popped undone. After the show we went to Julie’s house with a cookie cake provided by me, dips provided by Julie’s mom, and leftover beer via Bates. Thankfully, the ninety people Julie invited did not all show up. The people who were there were perfect. Even GOP Martha took a break from primary season to join us, and Samuel, the beer thief mentioned in a post this summer, brought me yet another six bottles of Wild Blue. The party involved a lot of nostalgia, drinking, laughing on the floor, table tennis skillz, and food. My college friends laughed at old stories spanning five years of knowing each other. Taylor realized that my table tennis abilities are routed in solid tennis ground strokes. Julie’s house was a great venue, so I hope she’ll continue to have people over. I am thankful for all the people that were involved in making that portion of the day so special. It didn’t end until 3:30 or so when Julie finally found Taylor’s glasses that he had lost as he walked up to the party hours before. I wasn’t being too helpful due to both my insistence that he didn’t wear his glasses in and also my inability to not freeze while looking outside. I was stranded until he could drive, so I suppose I could have been more helpful.
 Amanda Maddox
 Karissa
Taylor
Saturday I was tricked yet again into another rendition of “happy Birthday” right after I got out of the shower. My mom asked me to come and reach something for her in her room. Luckily, I decided to put some pant son before I did that, or else my family would have sung to me wet and in my underwear. After that Amanda Coppock and I had an early dinner at Rojo. It was a little too early because even after walking around the park across the street and seeing all of the dogs enjoying the beautiful weather we got to the theatre fifty minutes early. We filled this time with watching old youtube videos from yesteryear including Kittens Inspired by Kittens, Show Me Your Genitals, and Brorape.
Natalie
Amanda Coppock
The show was one of the best runs we ever had, in my opinion. Sarah, Natalie, and Jordan Dewitt all came to see it. Before we started, JJ and Jason gave me some chocolates, and Susan, the other summer beer thief, got me six bottles of the same blueberry beer. This will last me months with my drinking habits. Sarah changed her twitter name to @myfriendsarah just for my birthday. The show was also particularly exciting for the cast because before everyone showed up one member of the theatre community stopped up a toilet in the most major way. It was described as yoohoo, corn, and beef tips. Instead of having a word of the night, Billy Ray chose a moment to work that person’s name into the play within a play scene. I won’t be so crass as to reveal his or her name. After the show, Sarah and her family gave me a wonderful birthday card that played the Mexican Hat Dance song, and Amanda, Natalie, and I went to midnight sushi at the restaurant formerly known as Pacific Rim. We really liked the new format they have. The servers come around with trays that have a three, five, and seven dollar roll on it. Then your table selects which if any you want from the tray. We split three rolls and edamame for less than ten dollars each.
 Sarah

Sunday was our last show. I have really enjoyed this production so it was sad to see it go. I got to wear some great costumes and have fun on stage with four different characters. It was definitely a challenge, and I am so grateful that JJ gave me the opportunity to tackle it. The cast and crew were so professional with just the right amount of fun. Good night, sweet ladies.

Tuesday night Sean Randall and I went trivia at Steamers under the name Electric Mayhem. We did well enough to get us into third place going into the last round but fell from grace with a question about putting 80s songs in order. They had a really good Buffalo Chicken Po-boy. Michelle and I are trying or hand at Willhagen’s tonight. I would love to win some free food.

Last night I taught a class to forty college students who chose to go on an alternative spring break to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They were from Texas, Indiana, and Iowa. Two of the groups had helped us out during the week to completely clean out and re inventory our old building and the pods in the parking lot. They also made hundreds of comfort kits with supplies we had over there. I had dinner with them last night and then trained them all to be Red Cross shelter workers. I tried to make it as fun as possible even though the air conditioner was out and the subject matter isn’t thrilling. There were plenty of them that seemed to really appreciate it. I think it’s cool to become a certified shelter worker. I wish that I had known about it in college so that I could have been more involved. I hope they enjoyed sitting in a room that epitomized an Alabama summer while learning the dos and don’ts of sheltering.

It’s currently spring break, so most of my friends are out of town. Stephanie Spires, a friend from high school, and I are going to the fair in McFarland Mall parking lot tomorrow night. I’ll write about that next week as long as I am not stabbed or shot. There are precedents.

10 Important March 10th Facts:

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered in 1997 in the United States with its first episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
2.Harriet Tubman died in 1913.
3. Volver starring Penelope Cruz premiered in Spain.
4. Chuck Norris was born in 1940.
5. It's the 69th day of the year in non leap years.
6. In 1804, the official ceremony passing over the Lousiana Purchase from France to The United States took place in Sain Louis, Missouri.
7. In 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus.
8. In 1922, Mahatma Ghandi was arrested in India and tried for sedition.
9. In 1969, James Earl Ray plead guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.
10. It's Tibetan Uprising Day!

 Cutting the cake with Martha