Michelle Pfeiffer is very nice...tips well too. And Jennifer Aniston has very nice parents....

Oh where, oh where did all of my faithful followers go? (all three of you!). Is it because the comments don't work? Or is that just at other peoples' sites? I'm BACK!

I'm alone at work! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I can check my email to my heart's content. Unless my boss walks in and catches me...in which case, I can go back to checking my email at the library.

Bloody Bank.

I deposited $600, some in cash, some in the form of a check, into the ATM. Someone decided that my handwriting didn't look like myself and sent the check to me in the mail. In the meantime, the money had shown up in the account, and I promptly opened another acount and transferred the total into said account. So now I'm overdrawn in my savings. with a fee to boot. So i go to the bank, freshly mailed check in hand, and tell them to deposit the check and take off the overdraft charge. I thought it was all taken care of. Suprise Suprise. The teller deposited the money to my CHECKING account, instead of into my overdrawn savings. So, the quandry is this. Just suck it up and absorb the overdraft fee, or waste another 15 minutes worth of gas to go back to the bank and get her to fix it.

And why aren't comments working anymore. Teri, if you read this, I've been trying to comment on your webpage, but it won't ever show up when I refresh.

On a sidenote, why can't broadway write a lead for a freaking soprano once in a while?

Yesterday I made a rather rash purchase of a CD just because I liked the title. "Jane Eyre: The musical." Have I mentioned how much I love that book? Probably only a hundred times to my nearest and dearest (not to be confused with 'Gone with the Wind:' which is not my favorite, merely an annual tradition). A few months ago I splurged for a CD of "Jane Eyre: the opera" for the same stellar reasoning as the binge in question. What have I discovered? There must be SOME WAY to hold the two together, shake REALLY HARD and combine them into something that resembles the actual story.

Allow me to explain. Starting with "the opera." The opera is very modern. It makes Marc Adamo's Little Women pleasing and melodic (another editorial comment here -- I LOVE that opera, and think it is very pleasing, and melodic when it should be. My sister says it drives her crazy). This is so modern that there doesn't appear to be a melody present in the entire two hours. It abandons the plot entirely, focusing on the section from Jane's entrance and Thornfield, and ending, well, at the end -- with several major leaps...it relies heavily on the hope that someone out there has actually read the book. The libretto consists mainly of instrumental cacophany, Jane singing frantic atonal recitatives, and Mr. Rochester staggering across the stage doing glissandos to the tune of "Jane." Even the happy moments with Adelle are underscored with tension. In fact, really, the whole point of the show seems to be -- lets make this show darker and more mysterious. Question: If the subtext is on top, doesn't it negate the mystery?

So, on to Jane Eyre: the musical. I like this better of the two...at first. It at least opens up more of the plot, introducing Jane at Lowwood school, and all, and starting with an orphan scene that tries it's best not to be the all female cast of Oliver. Kudos to the composer for giving Helen Burns a song to herself. Jump ahead to Thornfield, and introducing Mrs. Potts as Mrs. Fairfax (even Andrea thought that this role was obviously written with Angela Lansbury in mind). When she started going on about tea, and how her head was all muddled it just SCREAMED beauty and the beast...but maybe only in my twisted little head.

I love the song given to Blanche Ingram. I intend to sing it once I buy the score. Written for a coloratura soprano. The lady in the recording wasn't bad. I think I could do it justice. The only think I didn't like was that after a while all the music started to sound the same. And it failed to move me in the opposite way of the opera. It was all light and playful, and only once even tried to switch to a minor key. So where the first one was all subtext on top, the second had no subtext at all. It's like if you had "Titanic: the opera -- which played everything off kilter for the whole show, making it slightly more sinister than nightmare before Christmas; and then Titanic the musical (I am aware that there is one which is NOT like the comparison I'm making) that played everything happy, even with a nice "it's a little nippy in here' chorus when they're all in the water. Combine the two and it would be just about right. But that's only my 6am opinion.

It is false dawn now. Outside looks like 10am on a Yakima winter's morning -- all of you natives know the look. The light is a pearly gray. Almost too dark to even be called light. If there were snow on the ground it would almost be perfect.

Oh heavens. Morning came FAR TOO EARLY! Actually -- if it isn't light out, it's not morning. But here I am at 5:37 at work, standing in the lobby, typing on the computer. Because no one in this whole hotel is up at this hour, and we have 24 hour concierge service. The night auditor had to go early to catch a flight. Isn't that fun? I'm allowed to anything I want to except sleep. Oh, and get this. My original shift was suposed to start at noon. So, I'm wondering, am I supposed to be working both shifts now. If I am, will anyone mind if I simply take over a room for a couple of hours? We have a few free. I don't know if I can find enough to type to keep myself awake at this hideous hour. I shall try back later.

Another fabulous night at the Alisal. One of the cocktail waitresses is often dissappearing to talk on the phone, or taking long breaks, or doing everyone else's job but her own. Anyway. So last night she spent 20 minutes in the kitchen searching for jalapenos for her burger, then another 15 minutes in the barbeque line (which we can't figure out, since burgers are located at the kiddie table -- apparently she was getting plates for bussers). So then she wanted to sit down and eat in a leasurely manner -- but Tiffany told her, sorry honey -- you already wasted your 20 minutes getting food. Go put it on the grill to keep it warm if you like. 10 minutes later she was still standing by the grill talking to the cooks. I walked by and said "Hey, get busy." Her response..."Sir, yes sir."

So, the managers told us to let them know when she takes long breaks like that, and we haven't been because we'd rather not have the hassle. Last night, enough was enough, and we grabbed a manager. He chewed her out. I found her later to deal with the whole "sir, yes sir" thing. It didn't go as planned. She's now out to get me -- told me I'm a slacker worse than she is, take longer breaks, and never do my job. Ok -- all of you know me. Does that sound a little suspicious? Yeah...she must be very desperate to accuse me of slacking off. Oh, and her parting shot was "People only like you because you go to their table and brag about what a great singer you are." Hmm....the sprouts of jealousy are rearing their ugly little heads.....Anyway -- still hate to think about how tonight is going to go. She's the type who is going to get desperate as she senses her empending state of unemployment.....Jason says I should hand her rope and let her hang herself -- figuratively speaking, of course

Adams, Samuel (1722-1803), American patriot, one of the leaders of resistance to British policy in Massachusetts before the American Revolution.

Oh, the not-so-amusing part of the evening. Drea came into the bar, and guys instantly swarmed around buying her drinks and begging for attention. Later, when I was about to clock out, I told one of the bartenders that perhaps she should be making her way home. He said, "She can stay - -she's selling drinks and you aren't." Ouch.

I was in the bar last night...it was so much fun. At first. One of the bartenders was inventing drinks, which of course had to be tested before he could market them to the public...my job. There were some really cute guys at the bar...most with their bimbo hangers-on. One girl was a genuine exhibitionist with delusions of being a stripper. She would mosey her way to the center of whatever crowd had gathered, and start dancing. They would within a few minutes all migrate to another part of the room. Eventually she would notice that she was alone and bob over to the group again. She chased them from one end of the bar to the other and never caught on. Later on Tiffany made a sarcastic comment about how bad a dancer she was, and the girl overheard. She she climbed up on the bar and challenged Tiffany to a dance off. We could not get her off the bar. Finally a guy coaxed her off by offering a drink. She climbed off and began giving lap dances to every guy that was sitting down. Then she walked over to where all of the employees had congregated and told Jeremy, who made her get off the table and turned off her music, that he was all talk and no "action." She then grabbed a guy at random and told him to prove that he was better than Jeremy. It was a very strange night.

An Englishman walks into a bar and orders a 'Samuel Adams.' Ironic?

My first 8-hour shift. I am so tired. This is my third double in a row, and instead of being double 5 hour shifts, it's a double 8 hour shift since I close in the bar tonight. Probably I'll get off work at 2am, and I came on here at 7 this morning. My eyes are so red. Must get some visine on the way home. Luckily I have 3-6 off...naptime!

The second job is working out Beautifully! Tomorrow is my first full shift alone. Let's hope I don't screw up too many reservations.

My cat's are so freaking annoying. Caiaphas only sleeps for an hour or two at a time, so at 2 and 4 in the morning he's playing with my toes. Chloe has finally decided that she might not mid having another cat around -- she even went so far as to lick his ears the other day (younger men -- how shocking!), but when he gets hyper she feels the need to beat him around a bit.

Drea is all into the wedding planning. She's lookin at reception sites, churches, florists, dresses, etc etc etc. I'm supposed to be making both the wedding dress and the bridesmaids' dresses.

Alright, so I've got a second job. I won't give a name, because if I end up complaining about it, anyone searching the internet for illegal references to this place can find out what I'm saying. And I don't want to be fired. So anyway. I am working front desk at a Four diamond Hotel 10 miles from the Alisal. Does that count as a conflict of interests?

Weird customers today. I thought the Alisal was the only place to get the rich and discontented. Nope. Same Clientel here. Had one lady that got mad because she said we confirmed their reservation by calling their house, and it was supposed to be a suprise (we never call unless asked...usually we fax confirmation). So she got an upgrade at not cost to our biggest and best room. Then, the spa doesn't work -- so she wants an extra $50 off. So, grand total, this woman got $150 off her room. And she till left lots of little comments like "Oh, it would have been so nice to sit in the lobby and listen to a piano or quitar every night." Strange lady. And I got sent running for 15 minutes by guests who wanted their room service breakfast to be served on the patio instead. And the needed sugar. And another napkin. And some tea bags. Anyway. It's a kick, really.

Alright, I'm somewhat back to the land of email and stuff. Nice huh? I'll be talking to you guys soon!