Small Town Celebrity

When I first started doing shows, it was fun when people would recognize me. I loved it when people would ask me if I had been in a show. It made me feel important. Now, I hate it when it happens.
Today, I went to Barnes and Noble to get some new books. I hate going to stores this time of year if I don't have to. I couldn't get down any of the aisles, and people kept bumping into me. Finally, I found 2 books that I wanted. I went to buy them.
As I was checking out, the man behind the counter gave me a funny look. It made me a little uncomfortable because I wasn't sure if there was something hanging from my nose. Finally, he said to me, "Weren't you in that show?"
I knew immediately what show he was talking about; Rocky Horror. For whatever reason, I remembered seeing him in the audience one of the nights. I didn't respond, but turned bright red. He then said, "Rocky Horror, right?" I told him I was, and I was really embarrassed that he was asking me about it since my costume was so trashy(I will never live that show down, I'm sure of it). I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
He told me how he loved the show, etc. I said thanks, and my face became more red. I couldn't wait to get out of there. Next time I do a show, someone remind me that my costume needs to completely cover me so I don't run into situations like this again.

The Newbies

For some reason, getting my oil changed on my car always causes anxiety attacks. There's something about sitting in my car while people work on it that makes my blood pressure rise. I put off getting my oil changed for as long as I possibly can because it's such a horrible experience for me. It's actually humorous since there is no reason for me to feel like this, but I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack every time I'm driving to get it done. I got my oil changed today, and when I got to the mall 10 minutes later to do some Christmas shopping, I was still shaking. It's like I have some odd, inexplicable phobia.
Anyhow, I always want my oil change to go as fast as possible so I can get out of there. When I arrived today, there weren't any other cars waiting, so I figured it would be a quick in and out visit for me. It would have been, but I had a new person working on my car. He was being trained, which was fine with me, but it made it kind of awkward.
His trainer was pretty much walking him through everything as he did it. I guessed I was one of his first cars. I had my window down on my car so they could talk to me and I could pay. When everything was done, the trainer up to my window and stood right next to me. He told the new person to tell me to turn on my car so they could see if my oil gauge was working. After he told him to tell me to turn it off, he told him to tell me to turn my car off.
It was really odd because I obviously heard the trainer telling the guy to tell me what to do. The trainer was standing closer to me then the new guy. I didn't know if I was supposed to act like I hadn't heard the trainer and wait for the new guy to tell me what to do, or just do it when I first heard what was going on. Whatever, I have 3 months before I have to deal with that again.

Discounts, Pictures, and Urban legends Exposed

I wish I were a Bronner. I want discounts at the world's largest Christmas store, and to have my picture displayed in the entry way of Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. Dietrich Bronner, grandson to Wally Bronner, and one of the managers at the Temple told me tonight he can get me a discount on Christmas ornaments if I want. Score! One problem solved, only one to go.
He also told me that if I got my picture taken with a famous person and he was in the picture too, they would hang it up at Bronners. As luck would have it, Jim Brickman, pianist extrodinare was playing at the Temple tonight and was having a meet and greet after. Christa and I went to find him so I could realize my life long dream of having a picture in Bronner's. Somehow, in the confusion, we lost Dietrich. I'm sure it was an accident on his part.
Anyhow, a month or so ago, I was told a story about a secret slide in the Temple. No one has ever seen it, it's supposedly located behind a locked door that doesn't have a key. The story itself is pretty funny. The alleged slide was used during drunken initiations from the Shriners years ago(the Temple was built/used by the Shriners early on...I'm not really sure what they had to do with the theatre, but they were a big part of it).
Everyone knows where the locked door is. It's in one of the back hallways on the second floor. Legend has it that the slide leads to the stage. Anyone with common sense would say, "Why has no one ever seen the slide if it goes onto the stage?" Well, as the story is told, the slide is actually very short, and there is a big drop at the end of it. Did anyone die using it? Why is it such a secret? What padded their landing? Does it really exist? These were my thoughts when I first heard the story. Then, I realized it can't be true. There is no reason for there to be a slide in a theatre, and if there was, people would know about it.
As Christa and I were passing the door, I asked her if she had heard about the slide behind the door. She said that she not only knew about it, but had seen it. I knew she was lying, no one knows where the key is to unlock the door. We decided to open it anyway.
The door has a bar across it, and is padlocked. However, one of the hinges the bar goes through is loose, and I was able to maneuver it enough to get it open. I about peed myself. There really is a slide in the Temple. It really is short, and it really does lead to the stage. It was blocked off with a wall, so we decided to figure out where the slide actually comes out. We went downstairs into the theatre to "clean." We pretended to sweep so we could find the opening.
Backstage, in the brick wall, there is a section of bricks about 15-20 feet up that are a slightly different color then the rest of the bricks. On the bottom of the patch, you can see hinges. I'm so excited about this. I never really thought the slide existed, and neither did anyone else. What kind of crazy things were the Shriners doing back in the day? I need to find a huge pillow, put it under the slide and try it out for myself. I can't wait to try it.

Kids

I really don't like little kids. I know, I'm a horrible person, but I can't help it. I grew up in a family with 8 children, so I figure I paid my dues when I grew up and don't want to ever have to take care of someone else's kids if I can help it. The exception of course is my nieces and nephew. When it comes to children I'm not related to, I want nothing to do with them. They are whiney, dependent, and have snot coming out of their noses; things that I don't want to deal with.
Despite how much I can't stand children, I found myself babysitting this afternoon. As a favor to my older sister, I helped her watch about 20 kids at my church today. Even though I go out of my way to ignore kids whenever possible, they love me. I've never understood it.
One thing I will NEVER do under any circumstances is change a diaper for someone I don't know. That is the nastiest thing I can think of. Like I said, when it comes to family members, it's completely different, but not some random person from the streets kid. This was the predicament I was in today.
I had been babysitting for about an hour(about 59 minutes too long for me), when one of the kids wet himself. He had a younger brother and older brother there. I was sitting with my sister and my brother in law when it happened. The older brother told us the middle child needed to be changed. I asked him if he was going to do it. He's about 12, he should be able to. He said no. Sucks for the kid, because I wasn't going to do it.
Anyhow, there were 5 adults there. Of the 5 of us, the younger brother, who can't be more then a year old, brought a clean diaper and wet wipes to me. He tried to hand them to me, pacifier in mouth and all, and I looked at him like he was crazy. When he didn't pick up on my body language, and continued to hold the toiletries out to me, I decided to be a little more direct with my approach. I looked him in the eye, and said no.
He had a confused look on his face after I said this, so I repeated myself. I figured it was time this kid realized the world doesn't always go out of it's way to help him. My sister told me I was a horrible person, so I told her to change the diaper. She refused. And what? It seems I'm not the only one not willing to get hepatitis from a stranger, especially when I'm volunteering my time.

Quotes

Today, I had the day off, so I did a bunch of Christmas shopping. I was proud of myself. I only bought two things for myself. One of the things was new music for Katie and me to play on Christmas Eve, so it didn't really count.
Anyhow, I also needed to shop around for car insurance. I wasn't really looking too forward to that. One, I didn't want to have to pay a lot for insurance, and two, I have no idea what most of the insurance terms are actually talking about. I was actually pleasantly impressed with Matt, my insurance person who did all the work for me to get me a cheap quote.
The thing about Matt that I liked was his complete disregard for professionalism. He was asking me if I had any accidents, DUI'S, tickets, etc. I told him no to everything(surprisingly, I've managed to keep a clean driving record, despite my inability to follow any sort of traffic laws). He then asked me if I had a something 22. I hesitated, then said no, then said, well maybe. See, I have no idea what the 22 thing that he was asking is.
He laughed and asked me again. Again, I hesitated, then, I told him I have no idea what it is. He laughed and said, if you don't know what it is, you don't have one. For the record, I still don't know what it is. Hopefully I don't really have one. I'm assuming it's something bad, in which case, let's just hope I don't have one and if I do, the insurance company doesn't find out about it.
He continued to take my information. Mid sentence, he stopped and excused himself. I hadn't heard him burp or anything, so I just assumed he looked away from his computer and lost his spot. Nope, he told me he had just hiccuped. Good for you, I just want my quotes. Rather then continue with our phone call like a normal man would, he went into a brief discourse about how he hates it when he hiccups on the phone. He even asked me if I hated it when I did it. Now, I'm sure that at some point in my life, I've had a hiccup when I'm talking to someone, but I don't remember it. Instead, I just said yes. I figured it was easier that way.
He finished by asking me if I wanted him to sign me up for the insurance he had found. I told him I wasn't ready yet, I still needed to check with a few more places. He told me to make sure I call and let him know either way, or he will be calling me every day. Matt, where I come from, that's called stalking, and that isn't legal. Whatever, he found me the cheapest insurance, so I'll probably be calling him tomorrow.

Too Much Time

For four months straight, I worked almost 80 hours a week between my jobs and shows. Factor in a few hours every night going out with friends, and I was constantly on the go. The last few weeks, things have slowed considerably. It was fun at first, but now I'm just bored.
If I spend one more night renting a movie, sitting in front of the computer, reading, or writing in my journal, I think I may go crazy. I have never felt as unproductive or lazy as I have the last few days.
It isn't that no one wants to go out with me, I just don't feel like going to bars as often as I used to anymore. I'm growing up, what can I say. I've promised my friends to put my sobriety on hold and join them at the bars this week.
I want more though. I need a new hobby. Any suggestions? There aren't any auditions in the near future that look interesting to me, so that's out of the question. I hate cold weather, so winter activities are not an option. Perhaps I will start a club of some sort and hold nightly meetings. Perhaps not. I need some suggestions or else everyone will be subjected to my boring blogs because I no longer do anything exciting.

Christmas Time

Break out the tinsel and holly, Christmas time is approaching. Tomorrow is the kickoff to the Christmas season for me. No, I'm not going to begin shopping for presents, that's something I do the week before. I've already bought Christmas cards, although they are still sitting in my car, waiting to be filled out. The Christmas preparations don't really begin with me until I break out the trumpet and start practicing carols.
Tomorrow, Katie and I have our first Christmas Carol rehearsal. I haven't touched my trumpet since last Christmas Eve, so it will be fun. Hopefully my lungs and lips will hold up for our rigorous rehearsal tomorrow. I can't lie, the first time we practice each year, we end up playing for about 5 minutes before I'm physically incapable of squeezing my lips tight enough to produce any notes anymore.
Perhaps I should spend some time tonight looking for my trumpet and sheet music. I have no idea where they are. There was talk tonight at dinner that Katie and I may even dress alike on Christmas Eve for our concert. Regardless, I hope to improve my posture this year. Don't think I forgot about the comments you all left on my blog last year saying my posture was horrible while I was playing. I will remind Amanda and Dustin of their promise to buy me a music stand. Still waiting for that one.