Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Friday Fripperies

Okay, okay... I know it isn't Friday. I said I was going to do a FF post last week and didn't and I don't have much of consequence to say so please allow me the use of FF on Wednesday.

Shall we proceed?

  • Two performances of Mr. Eliot's Cats down, and three more to go. Make-up, costume, body mic'ing twelve 7, 8 and 9 year olds, feeding Paul sound cues, herding kids back to class to get out of costume and to clean up make-up. I am sure that a birds-eye view of these shenanigans would make for some great You Tube footage. Can I say that herding 33 kids is like trying to hold water in your hands?
  • There haven't been any new reports of The Stomach Bug. I'm not foolish enough to think this means I've escaped it for the entire season, but I less than 48 hours to go and the play is over. Then... well, I still don't want to get it but at least there will be less to have others manage if I do.
  • In my best Jerry Seinfeld impersonization: "What's the deal with cigarette butts and ashtrays?" The last few times I have been to my neighborhood Starbucks, there are at least a hundred--I kid you not--cigarette butts littered around 7 or 8 tables. Each of these tables has an ashtray on it! Is there some reverse magnetic effect I don't know about? Truly, walking through the gauntlet of butts is not pleasant.
  • Audience Participation: I have a holiday newsletter question for you all. Where do you stand on them? Do you like getting them? Whether or not you like getting them, when you get one, how much detail do you like the sending family to give you? I am in the process of writing one for our family and it is only the second time I have ever done it. I'm not sending Christmas cards, because, Duh, school doesn't let out until the 22nd and I have no life until Marley gets out of school at 1:15 on Friday afternoon. What few presents I am buying for the kids, what housecleaning I have to do, what family gathering preparation I need to do--all this has to wait until Friday at 1:15 p.m. So, I'm not sending out Christmas cards. Instead I thought I'd do a newsletter in Publisher and save it as a PDF file and send it via email. As I'm looking at it, I realize I'm on my third page. Now, this includes a brief, "Hey, it's Christmas message, a few paragraphs about each of us and here's what we're up to for Christmas. The layout has lots of white space and room for pictures so it isn't like I'm sending out a single spaced, paragraph free, run on sentence. But I don't know. Should I bother? What kind of information should I put in it. Help me, Obiwan Bloggers! You're the only hope of those who will receive the newsletter. They need you!
  • Over at Toddled Dredge, Veronica put a link to a HI-larious You Tube video. If you are a parent, you will appreciate and understand this video. I also posted it over at So-So Cal Cinema if you want to go there.
  • As I mentioned in Monday's SWB post I was recently traumatized by Boromir's death--yet again--while watching The Fellowship of the Ring on TV this past weekend. With our Lord of the Rings appetite whetted, we pulled out our extended version DVD's and have been watching them one after the other for days. While I was getting mouse make-up on Marley this morning, I heard someone say, "Look! She has Eragon!" I heard "Aragorn" and I looked up to see Aragorn who? Aragorn where? That's when I noticed a copy of the book Eragon next to me on a desk. I have Lord of the Rings on the brain right now!
  • I have realized recently again just how much of a visual person I am. I love blogging but I want pictures to go with everything. And buttons. I want buttons for EVERYTHING. Sleeping with Bread buttons, BSE buttons, Friday Fripperies buttons (don't have one of those. Need one.) I think I need to take a chill pill and R-E-L-A-X!
  • Peppermint Bark candy is yummy. Very yummy.

Okay, I think I've fripperied enough for today. Thanks for indulging me!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL I stopped by today specifically to see if there were any play / life survival notes from you ... (Not to be confused with play-life or play-like real-life) ... so I'm forgiving you for doing a ff but i'm totally confused as to what an ff is except that it's delightfully rambly.

Glad life is progressing in a progressively successful manner!

ttyl,
pam

Anonymous said...

oh wait ... and about newsletters ... I say do it. There's always going to be a mixed bag response ... mostly out of jealousy ... always remind them that if they feel they were cheated they can print the last page and fold it in half -- or course then you'll have to make it so. Tell them you're exploiting the latest in technology to their benefit.

But I must remind you ... you have not missed the twelve days of Christmas until AFTER January 6.

ttyl,
pam

atypical said...

I quite like the holiday letters (especially when they are from people I don't get to talk to often or who live far away. In the printed format, it is always nice if they are just front and back of a page, but in email version, I don't think it would need to be as space conscious.

I just finished writing up one to send to some of my more extended family members. Obviously, it is unlikely to get to them before Christmas. Well, if I get off the computer, finish stuffing envelopes, and put stamps on them, some of them might make it to their destination before Christmas.

I hope the play continues to go well and that you are all still healthy.

BTW, while browsing your church website the other day, I came across another strange similarity we have. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.

-t

P.S. Just a curiosity question. I always loved Aragorn in the book, and while I thought the casting was good for the most part in the movie, I still always pictured someone else as Aragorn (even though I do like who they chose). With the sci-fi aspects of your personality, did you ever see Babylon 5 (if so, it was Marcus Cole, the Ranger)?

Sandra said...

Hi Mary ... I always like getting holiday newsletters ... but I hate writing and sending them...I never no how much to write or if I should skip the "Bad news" events of the year. A few years ago when we had 12 months of bad, horrible, rotten news I stopped writing them. But I suppose I could start again ... now I am too lazy :)

EnnuiHerself said...

It's Friday and it's after 1:15pm so this may not make a difference at this point. Because, obviously, you would have done exactly as I said.

Anyway, I love getting Christmas cards. I'm one of those sentimental saps who saves all cards. I don't mind getting Christmas letters - I enjoying hearing what's going on in my friends lives (I'm bad at emailing and calling so I need annual recaps).

However, if a Christmas email is all you can manage because of your busy schedule, then that's nice too. I would rather get a well-crafted email (with pictures and such) than no hear from a friend. And, if it's in a PDF format, I could just print it out and put it with my cards. :)

EnnuiHerself said...

Oh, it's only noon in California! Yay, my comment counts!!