Score: Rachel: 1, Cat: 0.

My cat is too smart for his own good. Somewhere along the way he discovered the surest way to get mommy's attention in a hurry is to claw the furniture. At first he'd amuse himself only from time to time, I'd throw a pillow, douse him with water, or throw him outside. Lately I'd noticed that he only clawed on the furniture once: at 5:30 am. I'll be darned if the cat didn't figure out that the easiest way to get let out in the morning was to claw on the couch and Mommy would come rushing over to boot him outside. No stupid cat is going to train me.

This morning, 5:30 he started clawing on the chair. He paused and waited for me to rush over.

No response.

He clawed again, more seriously this time.

Nothing.

He shook his head to ring the bell on his collar. Twice...

...

He jumped on the bed and sat on Chloe who started growling and hissing. He clawed the bedspread.....Luckily I'm going to replace it soon...He jumped on top of Mommy, the stuck his nose in her face to see what was wrong. She was still breathing. He sneezed twice and rattled his bell.

Nothing

He tried variations of the same tactic; more clawing, bell ringing, sneezing, and annoying Chloe.

Finally at ten to 6 my alarm went off and I could get up and let the darn cat out. But I'd proved my point for one night at least. Rachel was not going to be dictated to by an animal that licks his own bottom.

Six and one-half hour audition

More on this later, when I'm not so completely drained. To sum up. It was really a long time to become best friends with total strangers for one day. I met some awesome people and teriffic performers. We did a LOT of drama games. The purpose was to: 1) watch us act under pressure and on our feet; 2) To see how we reacted with the other members of our group. I simulated belly crawling across a smoke filled room, walked to a point in the room with purpose, use a chair as various improv props (a cocktail waitress' tray, the result of a misfired nail gun, and Miss Universe's crown), sang nonsense sylables to various people trying to simulate "positive energy," and became various parts of a noisy machine working at double, triple, and half speed. It was fun and WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of my comfort zone. I haven't done an acting class since "acting for non-majors' freshman year at Baylor. The singing part was of course the easiest. I can read music and wasn't learning by rote. They picked a song with LOTS of tricky intervals and key changes......

Some common mistakes I saw in the "get up and perform something you prepared" portion:
1.Young people choosing monologues that were too hard. An 18 year old has no business playing Hamlet.
2. Choosing a monologue that is too old for you. Always stay within your current steriotype.
3.Kids choosing songs that are too high or too low to show themselves off. Some of the kinds sang ok, but would have done themselves more justice if they'd stuck to speaking. IMNSHO. Most of the kids were increadibly talented for their age. For any age. One guy did a monologue about kissing a girl in the bathroom at a junior high party, and it was really good. Another girl/guy... I'm pretty sure she was a girl...Though I thought she was a young guy for most of the morning...that may have been the reason she showed her bra strap off during her monologue about wanting to be a boy. She had written it herself...apparently someone (unidentified) had molested her sister, maybe her....and how if she were a boy her little sister would be able to say "my big brother is going to beat you up. And really mean it." It was very well written and powerfully done. I don't know whether doing a piece like that helps her chances or hurts her...and the t-shirt with the logo "ambiguous." Would a company hire her for male roles or female? Or maybe just to play children? Je ne sais pas.

Ok, this may be slightly crass, but has anyone else noticed how many commercials and pop-ups there are for sexual stimulants, enhancements, and the like. It used to be just the junk mail on my email accounts, but now its on tv and on websites that one can't imagine WHY they'd pick it. (Kind of like the trailer they picked to open the Passion. WHY?) And they choose the worst times to pop up. Like at work for instance. You'll have the screen hidden in the toolbar and it will have been inactive for half an hour or so, and be checking someone in and BAM! There's a picture of some random couple staring deeply into each others eyes, with some glib metaphorical reference. I hate pop-ups. One would think that you would only find enhancement ads on particular types of websites ... but NO...All over the place. Can't avoid them. And since when is Ebay hurting for business enough to need pop ups? I hate them right now.

You are the Tomb of King Maussollos!

Private and reclusive, you just want to be left
alone. Although you do enjoy good
conversation, you tend to avoid confrontations
and keep an emotional distance. As the Tomb of
Maussollos, you are very precise in your work
and daily living and strive to keep out of
other peoples business. Youre a good listener,
and you strive to find logical solutions to
your own and other persons problems. Very
indecisive, you tend to analyze yourself into
inactivity.


What Wonder of the Ancient World are you?
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The Passion
Alright, I finally went to see the Passion. I was beginning to feel like the last person in Christendom who hadn't. I think this blog sums up my feelings nicely, but I'm going to put it into my own words what I thought. Just what we need, right? One more person's opinions on the subject...

1.I didn't cry. I wasn't even that shocked. Is that horrible? I've seen my fair share of crucifixion films, and this one was pretty much like I'd always pictured it. We had a sunday school teacher at my church who would come in for our yearly pre-Easter shock the kids with the true story of what being crucified was really like. The first year it was shocking. The third or fourth year into it, it was old news. I was expecting the whips with bits of glass and metal, the roughness of the cross against a mutilated back. The fresh opening of the wounds after the blood had stuck to his robes, the hematadrosis, the thirst, the irregular heartbeat as result of dramatic blood loss...etc, etc. It didn't make it any less horrific, but I wasn't "shocked into instant understanding of what Christ suffered."
2. That being said, did you guys notice the heartbeat sound effects right before the "it is accomplished" line?
3. The teardrop from heaven was powerful.
4.I really liked Jesus seeing the dove as God's way of reassuring Jesus that his suffering was not in vain.
5. The flashback scene with Jesus and his mother was probably the thing I took away from the film. We forget sometimes that he was only a preacher for a short time. It was nice to see him as a real person. And the reference to tall tables was great if you knew that people then mostly reclined at a low table to eat.
6.The scene with Claudia(Claudius?) giving Mary the shroud.
7. Why were they mopping up blood after his beating? Was it grief? Is there a Catholic tradition I'm not aware of? I know there were lots of stations of the cross moments of which I caught only a handful.
8. Did anyone else think Jesus fell a few too many times. I know it probably happened. . And why did they make him carry the whole cross when the other two only had the crosspiece. Did anyone else find it incredulous (rightly or wrongly) that Christ was able to carry the cross that it then took a roman soldier and Simon to hoist? He was in terrible shape. Adrenaline can do amazing things, and he was in shock. I'm not saying it's inaccurate or wrong, I just had the thought cross my mind of, "there is NO way." All those stairs. My GOD all those stairs. How did he ever make it up them?
9.I'm glad they showed the whole beating. And the beatings before and after. I caught myself trying to cover my ears, and then thought "The least you can do is have the decency to watch it all." Jesus Christ Superstar, by the way, also did them all.
10. The transitions from Latin to Aramaic didn't bother me. In a country that small its entirely likely that the Romans (though I doubt they'd stoop to it often) knew it, and also that the natives could speak some Latin. Pilate had been there for some time, and the country had been occupied for...mumblemumble...years.
11.The pieta pose at the bottom of the Cross I liked.
12. The demonology was interesting. I think it would have struck me more had the violence towards Judas been more mental than physical, but that's just me. That would have creeped me out more than nasty little exorcist children screaming and biting.
13. The one thing I wish they were able to show was the mental, or spiritual agony. The moment when God separated himself from Jesus, and his wrath dumped on him. How would they do that? I have no idea. Then it would have been more than about some poor, hapless man who got caught in the political cogs. To me that is. I would have liked to get a sense of it. I guess I'm a Christian, I can fill in the gaps. It was an amazing film. I wish there was some way to show that...

So, um, I've run out of things to say. Actually I haven't. Anyone who knows me knows that I often get very verbose, especially after the rare drink....poor Ben who got an entire lecture on the merits of C.S. Lewis and how amazing his Space Trilogy is...I still think its a darn site too bad that we will never see Perelandra on stage or screen. Though, I think it ought to be done as a "secular" work ... Christian genre movies leave a lot to be desired. Why is it that the quality goes down as soon as you try to make a "religious" film. Not referring to the "Passion" of course. But did anyone actually see the Left Behind series? I'll admit I'm biased. I hated the books. I read the first couple, then couldn't stand it anymore. My mother is so end times I think I got my fill of it. You can read The Third Millinium and get all the main plot points of the left behind series in 300 pages. Better written, and less of a marketing sell out. Wait, I got off topic here.

The reason, of course, that Perelandra will never be made as a Christian production is the nudity. Since the characters are in 'eden,' only one character wears clothes. And there is a violent fight...and on stage at least it would be hard to represent the water...You could do it with wires I guess.

Hypothetical question:
Which is the lesser of two evils? Getting up at 4am to let the cats out, or getting up at 4am to chase the raccoons out of the apartment because you left the door open...

I found this to be the most informative article I've read in a while. More on that later.

I believe you belong in Pride and Prejudice; a
world of satire and true love. A world where
everything is crystal clear to the reader, and
yet where new things seem to be happening all
the time. You belong in a world where your
free-thought puts you above the silly masses,
and where bright eyes and intelligence are
enough to attract the arrogant
millionaire/prejudiced young woman of your
choice.


Which Classic Novel do You Belong In?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ah, what a wretched couple of days. After being quite diestressed about my job, things came to a head the night before last. A bellman stopped by with a note from the housing director informing Drea and I that this was our final notice before eviction. I am $70-some-odd behind in rent. BUT, we were told that they would roll it over or defer it until we were working again (like they do with everyone who lives on the ranch during slow season). I had been in to talk to him twice in the last week. Both times we came to the agreement that he would take my entire next paycheck, and if that wasn't enough to cover it, I would write him a check once I got paid by my other job.

Then the letter appeared.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well the night before last. I was so angry I had to drive to the beach in Carpenteria to cool down for a while. I was sure we were being "let go" without being formally fired.

So, I went into my boss yesterday and showed him the letter and my abysmal schedule and asked him to explain it. He was flabbergasted. He assured me that I will be working more when hours pick up in two weeks (spring breaks) and that I never should have had my housing threatened. He took a copy of the letter to the General Manager who said the same thing. So it looks like I will be staying here for a few more months at least. Unless they change their mind. I'm going to be auditioning as much as is humanly possible to try and get a job. At least this buys me some time to get a great gig, instead of needing to take the first one that comes along.

For my sister, this was the redwood log that broke the camel's back. She went into the office after I got out and quit. She'll be moving into an apartment as soon as she can find one. I decided that I'm not committed to staying here long enough to justify all the deposits and start-up fees. So I'm staying put, she's moving out. Funny how life makes right hand turns sometimes.

On the plus side, I will have the room to myself!