Audition for Macbeth

Today I auditioned for a production of Macbeth held at the Boston Playwright's Theater at BU. I read a piece of the Fool from King Lear, the prophecy after the storm, and they called me back to read a side for Malcolm, and asked if I'd be willing to cut my hair. I... think it went well.

I'm not sure this was a good idea. If this is a paying gig-- and I probably should have asked if it was, but I couldn't figure out how to phrase it that wouldn't sound weird --then I guess it's not the worst job to have until I find something actually worthwhile in my field. And I could do something part-time in addition if it doesn't pay much, which I'm pretty certain would be the case. If it's not, it's would probably just interfere with any actual job I could get, which would not be a good idea. Hell, it might do that even if it does pay. So I'm not certain that this is the right thing for me to do. I just thought I'd go out anyway. I probably won't get in anyway and it won't be an issue. I don't know.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get into the Hold Thy Peace storeroom and clean it up. I bought a bunch of storage bags, and I'd like to go through what's there, organize it, pack it up, and make lists of which bag contains what. I think that would make dealing with it a heck of a lot easier. Jared said he'd help me, and I think Emma will as well. I'm not certain that the ICC, where the key is accessed, is still open during senior week, but I've wanted to do this for years, and I think it might be a nice parting gift that I could make to Hold Thy Peace.

New BPAL to play with!

In thanks for letting her store some stuff at Elsinore over the summer, blendedchaitea gave me a bag of BPAL imps to play with. I am not certain, actually, if they are for keeps or just to try out, but either way, it was very generous of her and really made me smile. I am inventorying them and their collections so I remember which ones I got from her:



Ars Amatoria
SALOMÉ
A scent that is both coquettish and sinister. Exotic and lush, brimming with grace and viciousness: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

Diabolus
AKUMA
Devilish temptation, as sweet as sin: blood orange, neroli, and raspberry.

LOUP GAROU
The wild, untamed essence of lycanthropy. Primeval in its raw power and insatiable hunger: juniper, cypress and galangal with the barest touch of eucalyptus.

BLUEBEARD
A scent swirling with dark rage, unbridled jealousy, and murderous intent. Violet, lavender, white musk and vetiver.

A Picnic in Arkham
THE HIGH PRIEST NOT TO BE DESCRIBED
Monastic incense, blood musk, black leather, cypress, pimento, white pepper, and Roman chamomile.

Excolo
GRANDMOTHER OF GHOSTS
Her scent swirls with a high-pitched tumult of laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin and white musk, and is spiked with pale pepper. (A very garden scent, not only the flowers but the rich earth as well.)

EUPHROSYNE
The Grace of Mirth
Gardenia, tea rose, vanilla and jasmine.

OLD SCRATCH
Old Nick, the Devil himself, as seen through the eyes of Victorian New England. A jaunty, dapper scent, deceptively genteel: a lavender fougere with tonka, amber, rosewood and a whiff of diabolical patchouli.

PANNYCHIS
An attendant of the Goddess Venus. She presides over nocturnal pleasure, nighttime festivities, and all the joy and delight that can be found in the darkness. In later ages, it became the name of the all-night festival that closed the Eleusinian Mysteries. Night-blooming jasmine, moonflower, cardamom, sandalwood, black currant, ylang ylang, frankincense and lily.

GAUEKO
Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum.

Ars Draconis
DRAGON'S EYE
A piercing, radiant perfume: dragon's blood resin, lily of the valley, lilac and galbanum.

DRAGON'S MUSK
Dominant, passionate, devastating. Dragon’s blood and five deep musks.

The Mad Tea Party
THE MOCK TURTLE'S LESSONS
Not quite Turtle Soup: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime.

THE DODO
‘Red musk, lemon peel, sugar cane, cassia, white sandalwood, mango, and agarwood.

THE UNICORN
A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs.

Ars Morideni
THANATOPSIS
A meditation upon death. Inspired by William Cullen Bryant's poem. A deep, solomn earthen scent containing pine, juniper and musk.

WINGS of AZRAEL
Azrael is the Angel of Death, marked as the last being to die in the Apocalypse. Though a harbinger of doom, his duties are an act of mercy: he curtails human life before world-weariness and despair destroys our spirits. Warm myrrh swirled with a bittersweet blend of violet, Lily of the Valley, juniper, cypess and cajeput.

Illyria
TAMORA
Amber, heliotrope, golden sandalwood, peach blossom and vanilla bean.

REGAN
A deceptively sweet orchid vanille with a faint trace of stephanotis.

Wanderlust
ROME
Refined, austere and graceful. A recipe gleaned from Classical Rome: cypress, juniper, chamomile and rose.

FLORENCE
The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices.

VERSAILLES
Grand, courtly and robust: a glittering, golden scent that would do Louis XIV proud. Gilded red and gold citrus with amber, ruby roses, jasmine and orris.

Bewitching Brews
LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI
The name translates to "the beautiful woman without mercy", and is the title of an old French court poem that was later revamped by John Keats. A bewitching, seductive scent, rife with mystery and foreboding.

BLACK OPAL
A play of geological darkness and jagged brilliance. Soft and luminescent with flashes of black fire.

JACK
The scent of warm, glowing jack o'lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove.

LAMPADES
Their scent is the crisp, inviting bittersweet tang of cranberry with smoky dark lilies, heady, sensual musk, a tingle of ginger and a brush of Mediterranean spices.

EPHEMERA
The scent of loss, love and the echo of time without end: sorrowful violet and chamomile with muguet, white geranium, calla lily and tea rose with a hint of autumn leaves.

ULALUME
Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note.

Lovely spare bed

Little ordinary things give me a great deal of pleasure sometimes, especially those having to do with the comfort of the home. This afternoon when my parents came to see me they dropped off the bedding I used when I lived in the dorms and had a twin bed. It consists of dark blue sheets, very smooth and soft, and a blue-themed patchwork quilt. I remade the spare bed we have in our basement with these, then I put a heavy coverlet made of this denim-like material over everything. I folded the final spare dark blue blanket longways and laid it across the edge of the bed that touches the wall. The bed is perfectly comfortable to sleep in should we have a guest, and the denim is protective and durable enough that people can sit on it like it's a couch without damaging or messing it. The whole affair is so much more useable and comfortable now, not to mention far and away nicer-looking. Now I feel a lot better about offering it to our guests. I am incredibly pleased with myself for remembering my old dorm stuff, and for arranging things so well.

I know, it's a silly little thing to be so proud of how one has made a bed. But sometimes, my domesticity makes me happy.

Jared's LARP resume

Played:
Nexus - Ivan Tadeov - Brandeis - '06
Welcome to Scearbridge - David Merrin - Brandeis - '06
Elanthia - Prince Edmund - Intercon G - '07
The Awful Truth - Silversleeves - Intercon G - '07
Alice - White Rabbit - Festival of the LARPs - '07
Final Voyage of the Mary Celeste - Johann Volkert - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '07
Divus Ex: Convocation - Anubis - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '07
Fire on High - Sir Joseph Butler - Brandeis - '07
MASKS: Superheroes Have it Damned Tough - Crawdad - Brandeis - '07
Game of Empire - Ahl Yenkowik/Zyph - RPI - '08
Wonderland 2.1 - White Rabbit - Intercon H - '08
Desperadoes Under the Eaves - - Intercon H - '08
Paradox Rides - Floyd - - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '08
Marlowe 2020 - Detective Calvino - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '08
Miskatonic Archaeological Expedition - Warren Delapore - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '08
The Morning After - Winthrop Filmore - Brandeis - '08
Unconventional Odyssey - Horde - Brandeis - '09
Casino Xeno - - Intercon I - '09
Supervillain Academy - Crimson Cobra - Intercon I - '09
League of Extraordinary Hogwarts Students - Percy Longbottom - Intercon I - '09
Paranoia: Research and Dismemberment - Bug-R-Off - Brandeis Festival of the Larps - '09
Miskatonic Class Reunion 2000 - Warren Delapore - Brandeis Festival of the Larps - '09
Oz - Phineas An - Brandeis - '09
A Midsummer Night and the Living is Easy - Nazbok - WPI Gaming Weekend - '09
Redemption: High Noon at the Devil's Luck - Jake "Buffalo" James - Brandeis - '10
Shadow Over Babylon - - Intercon J - '10
Limbo! - Jazz - Intercon J - '10
Nepenthe a Surcease of Sorrow - Father Thomas - WPI - '10

GMed:
Alice - GM - Intercon H - '08
GM Space - Cast GM - Brandeis - '09
GM Space - Cast GM - Intercon I - '09
Alice - GM - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '09
GM Space - Cast GM - Brandeis Festival of the LARPs - '09
Alice - GM - Chicago Fete Fatale - '09
Oz - GM - SLAW - '09
Oz - GM - Intercon J - '10
GM Space - Cast GM - Intercon J - '10

NPCed:
Paranoia: Research and Dismemberment - Acc-U-Men/HK 47 1/2 - SLAW - '09

Written:
GM Space - '09

Edited:
Alice - '07
Oz - '09

Feeling better

Feeling in better sorts after some time without the press of too many other people. Did some studying, did some chores, went out to a nice dinner with bronzite, and came back and chatted with lightgamer a little after the Buffy game. Sleep was welcome and appreciated afterward.

Today is my last day to study for my last final, so that will take priority. Also, my parents will be in town to help my brother pack up his stuff from his room for the end of the year, so I need to be available to see them for a minute. Also, tonight Kindness has very kindly offered to take Marissa and I out to dinner in thanks for modeling for his paintings. As to this, my attitude is "You want to feed me as a thanks for... flattering my vanity? Suuuuuure." :-) He's a very sweet young man.

Also, tomorrow Jared's parents will be here to help him pack up, and I have offered to make dinner for them in the evening. I am in the process of planning the menu, and a trip to the kosher market to buy meat. I am also endeavoring to not stress myself out like crazy for this, as I just want it to be a nice evening. I have a tendency to panic over the impression I'm making.

Crowded

In an unusually grouchy mood today. Have been feeling kind of out of control of my space a lot lately. There are lots of people around all the time, and I know that I invited some of them but it was slightly forced on me, and it isn't my place to say to the others can't be here because I'm not the only one that lives here, but I'm feeling crowded and overrun. I try to make the best of it and be friendly and make conversation with the guests, but mostly there is a brief response followed by the immediate return to whatever they're doing on their omnipresent laptops. It's like the living room is now an Internet cafe. And with the constant seething of people, everything I clean seems to gets immediately messed up again.

In even grouchier news, I'm irritated with how soft I'm getting. I'm starting to look like everybody else.

Accomplished!

Ah, it feels good to get things done. The weekend ended well, with the game ending to the satisfaction of all parties involved. Zachariah made us a lovely French toast brunch Sunday morning, and in_water_writ and 1takejohnny dropped by to see us for a bit. Apparently there's a possibility Jenn might get a job in the area, and that would be absolutely lovely. Especially if she sublets at Elsinore until she found a permanent place. I know nothing's happening yet, but it makes me happy to think about.

I also finished my last paper and handed it in this morning. All that remains is my Latin final n Friday, and I have all week to study for it. So I'm feeling pretty good. I'm going to make a low-key dinner tonight just for my pleasure and relaxation-- I'm trying a Rachael Ray beef and burgundy recipe --and enjoying the feeling of accomplishment.

Exhausted already

As fun as this weekend has been so far, I am already exhausted. I know it may have seemed silly for me to have done so much crowing at how I organized things to get off, but please excuse me because I don't know if it's clear just how hard it was and how much work it took to make sure things happened. I had to make sure all parties involved, many of whom had very disparate needs, got taken care of. A lot of responsibility, most of it unasked for, fell to me, and not only did everything go off, it went off smoothly, on time, and none of my schoolwork got neglected in the process. I cleaned, I scheduled, I shopped, I led the cooking, I balanced the gamers and the non-gamers, I provided the game space, I secured the crash space, I attended to the guest, I organized people's activities, and I took care of all the little needs and issues that arose. I'm incredibly proud of my organizing and hosting abilities, and I'm enjoying the end results, but all that work combined with the focus needed for the game and the homework I have to get done, everything has left me exhausted. I kind of want to curl up and go to bed already. But I'm not done for the day quite yet, and I have one more day tomorrow to make sure works okay. Wish me luck.

Announcement of awesome

I would just like to take this opportunity to point out how awesomely efficient I am.

I woke up at eight and wrote the last page of my paper. Finished by eight-forty-five.

Washed and dressed. Took paper, walked to campus, handed in the paper by nine-thirty. Got breakfast, called my mom on the walk home. She's doing well, by the way, and she sends her best.

Got home. Ate breakfast. Started cleaning house by ten. Cleaned kitchen, bathroom, living room, and basement by myself. Finished by eleven-forty-five.

Met Jared for lunch at noon at his place. Packed him off to class at one. Straightened up his room for Zachariah to crash in and threw in a load of laundry so the guest will have clean towels.

It is now one-thirty. I have my shopping list in front of me for dinner tonight. I will be meeting Bernie to borrow his Dutch oven from him, and at three Elana and Steph and I will go shopping. All the remains is for Jared to get out of class and return my car to me.

My plan is perfect, because I am the master of planning. Bow before my mad housewife efficiency skills!

;-)

Busy Bee II: Electric Boogaloo

Ah, it feels good to accomplish something. I just finished, printed, and handed in my ten-page final for the last class required for my double-major. That's one final down, two to go. But for the moment, I am going to enjoy the feeling of having finished something.

I'm eating breakfast right now, but in a moment I'm going to go and clean the house. Tonight will be Zachariah's game and I'm making dinner for it with the help of Elana and Steph, so I'd like to get everything ready in advance. Hopefully between the three of us, dinner will be ready relatively early, and we'll have a bit of a social period, and then we'll move into the game.