A Response

I feel like I keep repeating myself about how busy I am--it's delightful, really. I am actually loving having this many opportunities to perform (on one hand) but I do feel a bit like I need a bit of a break. There's not one in sight until the summer, so I guess I have to just keep on truckin'.

I have to keep reminding myself that in this economy, having too much work is nothing to complain about. But it is definitely a mixed blessing.

Costume class is amazing. I am nearly finished with a whole vintage-style halter dress (we're fitting it tonight), a new g-string and a bullet bra for It's Martini Time! The bra & g-string have some lovely contrast stitching and everything was made from my very own hands. It's glittery and fantastic.

It has been nice to learn some sewing techniques and to get a TON of practice. I'm getting very fast at doing little projects and I now know how to make certain things (sewing fringe) take MUCH less time. And it's been very cool to unlearn some of the anal-retentiveness I was taught (that made me HATE sewing) as a kid. The whole experience has freed me up to learn how to use it to really create, which was the point.

In other news, I had a rehearsal for Thursday's country show and it was amazing. Lots of really tight, solid acts closely on genre. I am feeling so pleased with the people that I have chosen to surround myself with--and I'm really happy that I exorcized the ones who were really negative for me. It has been great to keep the people around me--even re-connecting and solidfying relationships with some--that have been there since the old days and to create some great relationships with some new really amazing women.

All right. Gratitude gives way to the realization that it's time to go to ye olde day job.

On that note: It's been mentioned to me (OK, hurled at me) in recent weeks that I'm not doing "what I was trained to do" by some unmentionable persons. I was thinking about that and it's pretty funny to me that this person would say that because everything I was trained to do (schooling and with my professional experience) has primed me to do both of the things that I'm doing now.

To wit: The advanced degree in new media (+ the two years at a large internet marketing corporation) gave way to the directorship of a marketing department that was in great need of help with its online strategies. And the artistic side of my work directly correlates to the part of the advanced degree that dealt with dance, choreography, installation, design, and performance art. Not to mention the undergrad degree in sculpture, which is useful for creating set designs & conceptualizing performances as a whole piece with component parts that all agree. And the years of non-profit management and arts volunteerism for festivals and events? All feeding into a general ability to be organized, delegate to others, and develop audiences.

I always feel like every bit of experience I have had, professional and volunteer/avocational, has prepared me for what's ahead. It wasn't ever part of a master strategy, but I think that trusting my gut, going with my strengths, and working hard have stood me in good stead. Yes, sometimes I wish that I didn't have to go downtown and work all day--but really, in this economy, I am lucky to have the option. Not to mention that this job has helped me make great headway on one of my largest goals, which was to learn to take care of my finances. Which is well in hand these days.

Off to my "day job" (where I get perspective on the bigger picture--we work on race & poverty issues at work...good for remembering what really matters in life and for feeling like I'm doing something that's not shallow--and get to interface with smart, talented people all day)...

Mas later, Bitches.

Phew. Internet Reinstated.

OK. Now I'm sitting in my new office in my new home (Special Lady T's pretty condo) which is painted raspberry pink. All is finally right with the world.

Not having internet for two weeks at home made me very antsy.

This morning was great. The RCN guy showed up (at 8:45!) and set me up by 9:20. We have digital cable, a DVR and high speed wireless internet (thanks to a new wireless router I bought and installed this afternoon after a very cute & domestic Target trip.

Pause to chitchat on the Facebook IM with a theater director I know who lives in NOLA...

T is sitting on the couch presently, watching the Final Four basketball game in HD. Gotta love a woman who can adapt so well.

Life is swimming along. I've actually got a weekend off this weekend and we're taking the opportunity to just chill right now. Tonight, we're going to see a show at the Annoyance--a really cool local theater just down the street from us. We got some comp tickets from a friend of a friend. Tomorrow is going to be insanely busy (class, rehearsal, meeting, going to see another friend in a play) but fun. Then we have only a four day week next week.

I'm in the crunch time for a show I'm really excited about right now. It's up in Wilmette (a northern suburb) and it's a classic burlesque show. I just got some really cute shoes for it that I broke in today at burlesque class (really high heels, red satin uppers. Very 40's Hollywood) and a few crinolines and 10 gross of red crystals to iron on.

Add to that some construction that is still left to do on the costume (but I sewed it myself! Progress. The costume class I took was well worth the money) and a video that I have to finish and it's going to be a VERY busy week. (Not to mention that I have a show on Thursday...)

But I think that the act will be a big hit there. I'm reprising my act "It's Martini Time!" which is always a huge crowd pleaser.

All right. Speaking of that video project, I need to get to it.

xox,
Ms. Bea

Rewrite/Old Poem

It is 45 degrees
on April 3
air snaps
and I am
renewed
the birds are back
and there's gonna be trouble
hey la;
purple crocuses shoot
shoots through layers
of melting snow;
and trees push buds
forth from branches
displaying new leaves
like the proudest parents
of the cutest babies
on the block
as we shed layers
like sleepy bears
and Persephone emerges
mouth red and wet
with pomegranate juice.

No Home Internet: Day 8

yikes.

I've been doing the cable-and-internet-company "dance, fucker, dance!" for two week now. It's so frustrating.

To bring you up to speed, first, I signed up for RCN. No fuss, no muss. It was great--they sent me a confirmation right away, set up a time and sent me a nice welcome email instantly. Then the day of installation came.

Nobody showed up.

I called them at the end of my four hours of waiting at home and they said "The technician came, but nobody was home." Um, excuse me? They didn't RING OUR BELL OR CALL. I was instantly done with that.

Next up was AT & T. Special Lady T suggested this one, because she got a flier in the mail for a 19.99 a month service. Great. I called them and set it up. They sent me a modem via UPS and told me to set it up on March 24. Nobody needed to come inside--they would just set it up outside and I needed to plug in my modem after 8pm on the 24th. I did so.

Then I called them on March 28 because there was still no service. Between March 28 and March 31:

• I spent four hours in the evenings on the phone with tech support in India with people who couldn't hear me or I couldn't understand
  
• I spent two hours on the phone with local service here in Chicago, during my lunch breaks, who assured me that the service was working on their end and that someone did, indeed come to set it up.
  
• I was told to call the "Provisionary Department", which does not seem to exist.
  
• I was told that my modem just needed re-setting (10 times).
• I was told that perhaps the technician did not come out and set it up and I needed to call back during the day.
• I was hung up on five times by the automated system.
• I was transferred the wrong place four times and placed on hold each time for about twenty minutes.
• I asked for a Mac technician and received a Windows technician three times (which was discovered after they checked my account info and gave me the general troubleshooting schpiel).
• I was called BACK from India after hanging up in frustration, with the guy repeating many of the bulleted items above.
• I was hung up on three times trying to CANCEL the service.OK. So, last night was the last straw with AT&T. They told me that maybe my service hadn't been set up at all and that I needed to call back during business hours again, and perhaps "have someone at home" in case we needed to look at the modem. I packed up my modem to go back to them this afternoon. (And called to cancel just now and got hung up on AGAIN.)

Sigh.

So, then I called Good Old Comcast to see if I could transfer over my service from my old apartment (I had not cancelled it yet). Comcast said, yes, they would be happy to help me for the low, low price increase of DOUBLE what I was paying at my old place (from $70/month to $140). And the woman on the phone tried to sell me phone service, which I told her I did not need and then she tried to tell me that she was "saving me money".

So, last night I went BACK to RCN and told them that they really needed to be sure that someone showed up this time. It's scheduled for Saturday...

We shall see.