Out Into The Cool Of The Evening Strolls The Pretender
If you're reading this, you probably already know that my Gmail account has hacked sometime early this morning and used to send out a Spam message saying I was stranded in London and please, please call the listed number to arrange to send me money to get home.
Would that I could fly to London for the weekend on a whim, but unfortunately, it's just some scammer in Nigeria "phishing" for a bit of cash from you-all.
My Gmail account is back up, but also unfortunately, the scammers stripped out all of my contact information, as well all the emails in my inbox. So, if you sent me an invite to a show or a social event recently, my apologies for the unsolicited spams.
So, if you get the chance email me with your current address.
Drivin' Home This Evening I Thought We Had It All Worked Out
Spent Sunday at the theatre helping to decide our next season of productions. This is an annual event that, over the years has come to be known euphemistically as "The Afternoon of The Long Knives" (which, despite the unsavory connotation, is actually a much older term than many might realize.
But, the desription is nevertheless fairly apt: after receiving and reviewing some two dozen proposals for productions, we go through a series of "pitch sessions" wherein the proposers are interviewed in-person, and at the end of that process members of the Company lock ourselves in a room for an afternoon and don't come out until we've reached a consensus on what shows we want to do. At times, it can get brutal - the first thing we do is scratch off the roughly 50% of the projects we pretty much know we DON'T want to do - and it can also be somewhat emotional, particularly for members of the Company submitting proposals for the first time. The end result, though, is that, by the time we're done, we not only have mutual agreement, but generally the shows that are selected are ones for which either the entire Company, or at least a significant majority, have some outright enthusiasm for doing.
Of course, this is no guarantee that the actual productions that result from these proposals will always meet our expectations; frequently, they don't. But, taking risks is quite literally part of our Mission Statement ("creating bold new work in an environment of improbability, resourcefulness and risk"), and it's one of the things that separates us from most of the other "fringe theatres" (and some would argue, successfully IMO, from most other theatres, period) around here: the willingness to take chances, to embrace uncertainty, and to nurture the new, the weird, and the unconventional. In short, it's what makes Annex, Annex.
"E" Is The Ensign, The Red, White, And Blue, "F" Is The Fo'c'sle, Holds The Ship's Crew
Took a couple extra days off to bookend the already extra-long weekend to get some very needed boat cleaning accomplished. I've been rather neglectful over the winter and things had gotten to the state that, well, three full days were required just to get the basics accomplished. But, she's now yare topside and below decks, replaced one battery, got the bilge pump switch problem figured out, and ordered a new hatch cover, among other things. Have to bring in a mechanic in a couple of weeks to suss out a recurring engine problem (which I hope won't be too costly), and then in a couple of months I'm hoping to get her hauled out and have some serious cleaning & maintenance done below the water line.
On the plus side, it was nice to spend a few days - and nights - aboard, something I really haven't had time to do recently. And who knows? Maybe I'll even find time to get her away from the dock a bit this summer.
