and counting....

Okay, 2 nights in a row - this is getting serious. I am alert, nearly what one could call "happy" rather than surly. I ENJOYED my shower, rather than having it be something necessary to wake me up.

I can't WAIT to see what's going to happen after Tuesday's visit.

You are getting sleeeepy....

No, not really.

Here's the thing. Hypnotism is cool - very cool... but if I had to describe it to you, it would be very difficult. You "wake up" remembering everything that happened - but that's because you're not "out"... you ARE actually conscious and aware the entire time. You are NOT under the control of the practitioner, and what you do or don't do is entirely up to you. You will not/cannot participate in anything that goes against your grain or that you find morally or ethically repugnant.

My practitioner did plant a post-hypnotic suggestion that did actually allow me to ignore (or accept) the snores beside me last night, allowing me to have a great sleep! Yay! But I woke up with my daughter's persistent cough (boo). S'okay. Anything's better with a solid 7 hours under your belt!

Conclusion? Hypnosis works. I'm going again on Tuesday to work some more on relaxation techniques... she's going to teach me to self-hypnotise!

Happy, happy, joy, joy

And for those of you that DON'T enjoy Ren & Stimpy....

Today's the day! I am getting hypnotised at 4pm. I'm excited, and nervous and interested and loads of other things... but mostly anticipating how I'll feel after a great sleep tonight.

Oh, and also? Thanks to Lisa, who reminded us of this little affair....


but for those of you that don't have dogs, I was reminded of another birthday with a very scary picture...


Happy 60th Birthday, Iggy. Luv ya, ya freak!

The funniest thing anyone ever said to me...

I've been known not to sleep. I've been known for my problems getting to/staying asleep. It's been going on for YEARS. Yes, that's why I look tired and yes, that's why I'm grumpy sometimes. I'm hoping that hypnotherapy can help me overcome that, as well as other issues. Saturday's the day, folks! I'm excited, and a bit scared, actually - it's a scary thought, letting someone roam around inside your head! I wonder if she's going to tape it?

Right. The funny bit. Awhile ago, Leon got up before me and took the girls out - so I didn't wake up; not until they got back several hours later and he woke me up after 14 - yes, 14 straight hours of sleep! His words to me? Well, it's great to see that the bags under your eyes are gone.... but they've left stretchmarks.

Update: my Saturday session has been cancelled by the therapist. Why? She has a crush on Leon and feels that working with me would be a conflict. Damn Hottie Husband!

To our American neighbours....

who are also supporters of the NRA


Sincerely, me

Update!

For anyone planning on helping out on the w'end of the 28th (fencing), the date's been changed to the w'end of the 12th. Thanks though!

PS - we're still on for the deck on the w'end of the 5th!

Before his time?

Came across this while reading last night...

When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy: neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners;my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want; the taxes are not oppressive... When these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and its government.

This was written by Thomas Paine. In 1793.

Busy? Not busy. Busy?

Well, we're coming out of a period of BUSY which entailed 6 shows, rehearsals at our place, planting a load of cedars, landscaping, humpty-humpty lifty-lifty, AND all of the usual activities. Now we're slowing down a wee bit before picking up again. This week we're doing 4x Tae Kwon Do (2 for Leon, 2 for Casey), softball (2 games), an end-of-the-year BBQ (weather permitting) for some of Leon's students, soccer practice plus the mini-world-cup 2-day event that will mark the end (finally) of the soccer season for this year and 1 softball practice. Also included in this week will be the building of the lattice fence around the garden and the planting of the garden... and, my favourite, sweetpeas, honeysuckle and jasmine to climb the lattice!

We need volunteers! The weekend of the 28th will be fence building and the weekend of the 5th (my birthday, incidentally) will be the Building Of The Deck. That will mostly put us in good stead for the rest of the summer, with the only remaining projects being the completion of the landscaping and my laundry room. Dates TBA!!!

All I can say is that after a solid year of renos (which followed 2 years of bits and pieces), we will all be breathing a pretty huge sigh of relief in our practically brand new house!

Dear McDonald's

Now, you KNOW I'm not a big fan of fast food. You also know that I really have no appreciation for your company refusing to remove trans fats from its foods because of the "negative effect" it would have on taste... if KFC can do it, anyone can.

My problem with you today, however, comes from some reading and research I've been doing.

How IS it, McDonald's, that you can supply Sweden with nothing but organic food in edible or 100% biodegradable packaging (removing horrible things like feed lots for raising the beef - the environmental impact ALONE with THAT move really ought to make you think)? How is it, McDonald's, that you claim that you can't serve vegetarian options when in Geneva you do, in fact, serve up a Vegi Mac?

It just plain pisses me off, McDonald's, that you can't offer North American consumers (or in my case, non-consumers) healthier and (likely) tastier food.

Okay, folks.. here it is!

Three things you may not know about me, but may find interesting (if not, oh well...)

1. I have travelled quite a lot and speak 4 languages fluently (read AND write 3 of them).

2. I tend to have scarily accurate (demonstrated) premonitive/precognitive abilities.

3. Although I have some pretty clear ideas, I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Things on the list? Forensic Psychologist, Sign Language Interpreter (well, a little anyway), Arts Lobbyist and (as those reading the blog know I'm already working on...) Project Food for Thought. There's also Blue Peanut's initiatives - I could never NEVER give up the arts.

3a... okay, maybe this is cheating just a wee little bit, but it's related to #3... and I KNOW that no one knows about this because I've never said it before. I've never said it before because it's too close to me. I've never persued it BECAUSE it's too close to me and I'm afraid to try and fail. So, here goes. I would love to sing again. Perform, that is. For people. There. I said it. It's out there.

So there you go. That is all.

Oh, for crying out LOUD!

Okay. Here's the thing. If you want to produce theatre, produce theatre. Don't whine about losing a space, or lack of money, or anything.

When I was in Vancouver working as the Business Mgr/Administrative Associate with Theatre M.O.M. (Theatre Modular Organizational Management Society), I had over 80 small and mid-size theatre clients. They ALL, without exception, managed to find space in which to produce. Some worked out of theatres, some in a tent in a park, others out of the basement of a pub or back workspace of a bookshop. Each and every one of them received funding - federal, provincial, municipal and gaming.

What matters is the work.

In the town that I live in, there are many such spaces. In fact, Blue Peanut is producing in one right now - an Art Gallery. Now, at the risk of pissing some people off, I have some things to say. There is an AD in town that has just chosen to cancel his entire season (07/08) because the venue that he has been working out of (which, in my opinion should have been condemned long ago for health and safety reasons) has been sold and requires much work before it can be used again. I would really like to see the minutes of the General Meeting during which this decision was made. Not really though. My point? Stop whining and do something about it. Instead of using your energies to rant in the local newspaper, over e-mails and on the backs of programs, Create Space. There's no one to fight here. We, as the arts community need to ALL come together to make space happen, or look at other options instead of acting singularly. I would refer anyone listening to See 7, the brainchild of Theatre M.O.M. Many years ago it started out as a marketing initiative for 7 companies that couldn't afford either space or marketing individually. It grew. Audiences grew. It incorporated on its own and still continues to grow, attracting both new audiences and producing companies. As theatre professionals, we can't afford to ignore one another, but must instead work together.

I propose AARTS Nanaimo. It's an initiative of Blue Peanut that I've been working on for a year or so now. The idea is to form a collective of arts professionals and/or people that WANT to be in the arts. Collective admin, collective marketing, etc. - and I'm willing to help ANYONE that needs administrative advices. I'm also working on setting up something akin to Vancouver's Alliance for Arts and Culture, but for Vancouver Island.

If there's anyone out there interested in learning Arts Admin and increasing their individual effectiveness and/or apprenticing, let me know. I'm here and willing to help.

A day early?

Apparently I'm getting lazy. 1 post a week - that's it!

Blue Peanut's show seems to be going well enough. Leon (the AD) chose a terrific group of people to participate and the audiences, although on the small side (the venue is tiny) are quite appreciative.

Now here's the thing. I've been tagged for a meme, but I have no idea what to say. The topic is 3 things that people don't know about you. I have no idea what people don't know about me - or what people may be interested to know about me.... so, what do I write about?