Well, I have two movies to add, so I�ll start there. #8 is Best in Show directed by Christopher Guest. I have seen this one before, but it has been several years since I had sat down and watched the whole thing. There were so many things I had forgotten, including the horny little pug at the end. Hee. I was in a really pissy mood and I just didn�t want to see anything that could possibly remind me of any of the myriad things that were running around in my head and this movie was absolutely perfect. So funny. WHERE�S BUSY BEE?!?!

Movie #9 is the Corpse Bride directed by Tim Burton. I liked it a lot. I feel like I should say more, but I just can�t really think of anything else. It�s really good, and really beautiful, though it�s pretty much exactly what I expected. I teared up at the end, but I�ve been an emotional mess lately, so that doesn�t really mean much.

I really need to catch up here. It�s already March and I�m only on number 9. I think I need to have a good shut in movie weekend. There really isn�t much in the theaters I want to see right now, though, so I guess I need to troll the video store.

One Act Festival is over, and I think it was a success. We had some good shows, and some pretty good shows and no real dogs, so I think that�s a success. My favorite is a piece called In the End about a man-eating chair. It�s sort of a No Exit meets Little Shop of Horrors. It is really well written and insightful, but still so very funny. We actually managed to sell out one Saturday night. In five years we have never had a sell out. We actually had to turn people away. It was awesome. It was only three weeks this year, which was a good thing in my opinion. As tired as I was at the end, I was still functional and not the complete gooey mess I was at the end of week 5 last year. Strike was a snap. We really are getting better and better at streamlining everything and only bringing what is absolutely necessary to the theater.

My goal next year it to do the same thing for the lobby we have worked out for backstage. The lobby always feels sort of thrown together and I think that is unfortunate, because that�s the place we make the money. I already got a cash box for concessions and I�m going to decorate it with little monkeys or something so we can have a designated, appropriate �cash box� instead of giving folks change out of a ratty envelope like a Tenderloin crack dealer. I also want to build a few simple display units for the books and such. They are always just stacked on the counter which is really an inefficient use of space and rather unattractive, honestly. It feels like, �Oh yeah, and you can buy a book if you wanna.� Rather than �Look! You can get a book with all these great plays in it! No Festival experience is complete without one!� We also have T-shirts that we never sell because we just tack one to the board with a sign that says �T-shirts $10� when we really need a display that screams �Look! T-shirts! They are stylish and affordable! No wardrobe is complete without one!� You know, like when you go to a big touring show and the concessions guys set everything up so it all looks just fabulous. Yes, that is my goal. Lobby fabulousness. We actually have our fundraiser at the end of the summer and I hope to have most of it ready then for a test drive.

Huh, Microsoft Word things �fabulousness� is a real word, yet it tagged �wanna.� Interesting.

I have a cold. I missed my window for Zycam. This one hit pretty quick, though looking back there were a few early symptoms I just wrote off to being tired from the festival. I should know better, this happens every year. I also just ran out of Kleenex at my desk. Suck. Well, I know what I�m doing on my lunch hour.

Do you want to know my new favorite thing in the world? It�s Campbell�s Soup �Soup at hand.� They are lovely. I keep them in my desk drawer and then if I need to run errands at lunchtime, or if I get peckish in the afternoon I have a tasty snack that is better for me than the Doritos at the Shell station on the corner. They are also nice when I run late in the morning (that would be pretty much every day) because I can have one for �breakfast� instead of getting something horrible and fattening from the break truck. I�m trying to take a little bit better care of myself and I�m also being pretty strict about my Lenten fast of no junk food. I started out just giving up fast food, which I eat far too much of, especially when I�m working on shows. I have expanded it to include most of the crap that I eat just because it�s convenient. I think that�s good, not only because I should do that anyway, but because that is sort of the point of Lent for me, figure out what you need verses what you want and what you don�t want or need, but is just easy. This way, ideally, you not only realize how lucky you are to have what you have and remind yourself that many folks don�t have the same, but you also learn to get rid of the unnecessary crap for the long haul. If you give up something for Lent and at the end of the 40 days you realize you really just didn�t miss it at all, and it really isn�t beneficial to you anyway, why add it back in? So far so good, though I am only one week in. I�ll keep you posted. Or not, it is a rather boring subject.

I have many birthdays coming up in my near future. It should provide for some fun parties anyway. One I am especially looking forward to. It is the same night as the post mortem for Festival, though, so I hope the post mort is kept on track. I think there is one other person who will help me with that. When I get to this party I may even give in and sing karaoke for the very first time. We shall see. I�m a big talker right now, but when the time comes I�m not sure if I�ll have the guts. My mom�s birthday is next week. I need to get a good present for her this year. I might get her the same thing I got my dad for his birthday, but I�m not sure yet.

Well, it is 5 and I need to run.