From Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill

That “Partridge in a pear tree” song, the only bit we like of it is that, ( singing )"Five gold rings!" People go berserk at that point! People come running in from other rooms, ( singing ) "Five gold rings!" The rest of it, we don't know; above that, it's just, ( singing, uncertain ) "Twelve… monkeys mating, eleven… donkeys dancing, ten pigmies farming, nine… socks… a swimming… ( certain ) five gold rings!" This is a human thing. We only like to learn a little bit of a song. We can't be bothered, yeah.

In honor of the season, 'TIS, one of the best Christmas pages. Also linked to Little Red Boat as she is one of the authors.

Look everyone at my new guestbook which I've just added! Feel Free!

Good morning everyone!

The headache that was plaguing me all day yesterday is gone, and the day looks brighter...except for the cloudcover outside.

It is so difficult to get into the Christmas Spirit when one has all of this working to do.

Things that Dampen the Season...

1. Elevator Christmas Music. Both Jobs.

2.Christmas parties. Drunk people that get riled up and won't go home.

3. Cats that pull down the lights in the window. And again once you've just put them back up.

4. Ditto the aforementioned cats pulling down ornaments, garland, lace, and chewing on the sides of all the packages.

5. Did I mention that all bows are looking the worse for wear?

6. Too little sleep.

7. Too little eggnog!

Things wonderful about the Season!

1. The obvious and ensuing birthday celebrations. (No, not mine)

2. Godiva and Hot Chocolate!

3. My first Christmas tree on my own. Sort of. Drea's here too.

3.Eggnog. The real stuff.

4. The Muppets Christmas Album. Which I don't actually have, but can sing from beginning to end (except for the one about the Christmas Tree). Including all 12 days of Christmas.....FIVE GOOOOOOLD RINGS.....(ba dum bum bum)

5. Ditto The Mannheim Steamrollers Christmas CDs, Barbra Streisand, and the Oakridge Boys.

6. And the Beach Boys.

7. The Final Lord of the Rings is out in theaters. Not particularly Christmas-ey but still a reason to Celebrate!

WHY OH WHY OH WHY is a night person working a 7am job? "Good freaking morning" is the best I can do...

I'm in a bit of a slump recently (or perhaps its more a panic). I've officially been out of school for eight months now. I haven't practiced in so long I can't remember (oh wait, I sang my something-or-other off the week before the Magnificat), have no immediate plans for any auditions. I want so badly to be doing a show this summer. I'm not sure if I can audition asking for a week off in the middle of the run to go to my sister's wedding. So is it better to just put it off for a while? I fear if I put it off much longer I'll stay out permanently. I don't want to look back over my life and regret that I never tried...Oh, yeah, except for singing for Renee Flemming in the end of January....(hence the panic). I know I've been saying I'm going to sing for her for a long time...but this time the tickets are bought, and it's too late to back out now........ARRRRRGHGHG!

I saw a picture of myself from the christmas party....boy do I need to start working out. Somehow my self image is still stuck in high school eating disorder mode, and thinks I weigh 100 pounds. When I see actual pictures I tend to panic. Sure, I'm rather thin-ish, but from the lack of working out combined with sitting around all day for at least one of my jobs (I do walk a LOT for my other) I ...... lack definition. There's a good way to put it. Being in singer mode for four years was a GREAT excuse not to work out. "Don't lift weights, you'll start grunt reflexing! Don't do sit ups, you'll tighten muscles that need to be loose to breathe!" Except for a rather long stint of yoga. I think I must go back to it. Nice work out, not a lot of sweating and spitting and huffing.....Must not eat chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, must drink water! (Actually, having been on that pseudo-diet with Andrea for months, I've not been craving a lot of Pepsi recently. I think I only had one last night at work -- yay for abstaining!)

I'm taking a break to go refil my water bottle....

GACK! I've never ben a "water bottle snob." This is terrible water back to back. Almost sweet. Ah well, for the sake of clear skin and, you know, health I can do it......ack ack ack...

We had the most atrocious people in the restaurant last night! They came in hours before we open with about a dozen children who'd been cooped up in planes and cars all day. The parents couldn't remember exactly how many children they'd brought with them, and so kept re-rering until poor Wendy was going out of her mind. They were screaming, knocking over the display train, touching the gingerbread sign less-than-subtly labled "DO NOT TOUCH" and running into the bar and the tennis club party in the other room. I hid in the bar for most of the carnage. Then the parents came in, and how I longed for the children. Their table was reset, and reset again. "One long one, no two round ones!" "17 people, no 10 and 8 children, no 12 and 4 kids, and two highchairs, and a booster seat......" and on and on. They belched. One self styling actress bored us to TEARS with her performance of the Vagina Monologues (not the play itself, just her commentary on how groundbreaking it is....hasn't that show been out FOREVER now?).....ack! Waited a while and the water is still bad....Anyway, I was laughing at Wendy's bad luck to have to deal with them, and I was beckoned with "Oh, Nurse..." I was in shock. I actually went to the table and took his order (the belcher). They left me a slight tip, but they had a huge bill. The matriarch wouldn't speak above a whisper, nor request anything with actual words....."Excuse mblblblb....I'd like some mbmbmbmbmbmbl (indistinct gesture in the general direction of her wineglass)." Oh yes, they were peachy!

Everyone, check out THIS new blog I've found. He's apparently started a book deal off his blog, and I've found the website at least to be very entertaining. It's nice to know that people with performance careers can be "real people."

I had posted a rather long rant about the information on this website. While looking online for more information (and some definitions) on this article, I have found several other websites of people who think this article MUST be a hoax. This website hopes that it is a hoax, but isn't sure. Some of the links in the site seem to be geniune. Some seem to be conglomerations of Saturday Night Live Sketches. I'll keep poking around. What do you think? Real or not?

A woman goes to the post office to buy stamps for
her Christmas cards.

She says to the clerk, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps?"
The clerk says, "What denomination?"

The woman says, "God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic,
12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptists.

I want to take this moment to do a plug for my favorite bookshop in the world, the inspiration for my webpage, and the best resource for the collected works of Inkings Authors....The Inklings Bookshop. While searching for links to the Inklings, I came across their webpage, discovering that they also provide online sales. Please do your book shopping with them, instead of with large scale franchises! Small bookstores are going out of business right, left, and center -- and I'd really like to keep this one around!

..We now interrupt this Lord of the Rings tribute (extended edition) to bring you another rant by Rachel...

I want to cry! I am too tired, and working too hard....the weather changed so of course that precipitates all sorts of lovely "face" issues -- girls, you know what I mean...that dry skin, deathlike palor until your skin adjusts again..Why is it that wet weather makes your skin dry out?

So two days ago, my plan for this weekend was to: work, finish my dress, Sunday night run to Santa Barbara for some shoes and tights, and after work monday get a manicure and rest....Today my schedule has been amended to: work, finish dress, maybe take short nap...or perhaps even: work, go home and determine that dress is good enough as is, take 3 hour nap then pull self together for party....right now that sounds pretty good to me...

I am soooooooooooooo tired. I was supposed to have today off completely except for the company party, then someone at work just 'had' to switch shifts. I'll stop whining one of these days.