I have a meeting for a gig this weekend that makes me a little nervous. It seems like the folks I will be working for are rather unorganized. I could be wrong, maybe this one department just got a little out of hand somehow, but it is still rather crazy sounding. The basic tasks sound easy, but it sounds like there is a lot of people involved and a limited amount of time to deal with everything. Well, we shall see. Worst-case cinario I go to this meeting, listen to what they have to say, respond with �Bitch crazy!� and leave. I hope it works out, though. It�s a new company and while I am sort of violating my �Summer of No Theater� contract by taking the job, it is not in lighting and it is only two shows and a rehearsal. I will just be a technician, not a designer, and it�ll give me a reason to buy pretty new things. Also, if this goes well word will get back to folks with the ability to hire me for other, more profitable gigs.

I have finished two more books. #15 is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. The story is told from the perspective of an autistic 15-year-old boy. I don�t want to give the story away, but it is really good and I love how it is really empathetic to his situation without letting that excuse his behavior or other people�s.

Book #16 is I�m Not the New Me. by Wendy McClure. This is an author I found through her blog which I always liked. The book is really good as well. It reads like you are having a conversation with the author rather that the writer creating a story to be presented at a removed distance the once they are finished. I like that. I think it really works because the book is more or less a memoir and it feels like she is owning her experience and choosing to share it. Blah blah, literati rhetoric about active voice etc etc. Basically, I stayed up until 3 in the morning just so I could finish the book all in one go because to put it down until the next day felt like I was telling someone on the phone you had to finish the conversation later. You can do it, but you don�t really want to.

Ah, yes, I do have book # 17. It�s actually a play I�m working on for the fall, and I wasn�t originally going to count it, but, dammit, I�ve read it three times already and I don�t even have my floor plan worked out yet, so I�m counting it. One Flew Over the Cuckoo�s Nest by Dale Wasserman. I haven�t read the novel since High School and I�m going to try to read it again, but I really want to focus on the play and not get distracted by the differences. Well, we all know this is a classic and for good reason. As I�m going through it it reminds me not only of the drama that�s going on, but also of some suspense films as well, like �The Birds� by Hitchcock All of them trapped, by choice or force, in one place just waiting for someone to lose it. It�s like a teakettle starting to boil. I�m looking forward to the show.

I still have quite a ways to go to read 50 books this year, but I�m doing all right. Falling behind a little, but I�ve had more time lately to just read for fun and that�s helping.

I am adding a new goal to my Summer of No Theater. I want to figure out where I want to be in six months, because one thing is for certain, I do not want to still be at my job. I want to figure out some sort of game plan, though. I�ve been sort of listlessly looking around for other things to do, but so far nothing has come of that. I think I need to be a bit more proactive on this and at the very least figure out a direction to start really looking. It doesn�t need to be fancy, but it does need to pay better and have benefits. I�m just tired of this place sucking my soul. It doesn�t matter how hard I try, it is never good enough. Add on top of that they are auditing the books so the higher ups are asking me about stuff that happened over a year ago and I have no idea what to tell them, but that isn�t good enough either, apparently. I�m just tired, and now I�m sick so I�m cranky too. Grrrr.

I wish I had something to talk about other than all this crankyness. I�m sort of at a loss right now, though. I just find myself wishing right now that things could just be simple for a little while. That isn�t going to happen, though. I�m even bummed because my place I used to go for lunch when I was feeling a bit down (World of Wraps on Market at DuBose. I know it isn�t exciting, but it was always fast and quiet and painted a lovely shade of light green.) closed a while ago so I don�t have anywhere to take myself today to make me feel better. Yuck.