The Blog of Great Accomplishment (A.K.A the delightful distraction blog)

The Kiss

Yesterday was a lousy day. I had figured that a week out of surgery, I was going to be out running six miles a day, cooking six course (vegetarian) meals, and learning how to tap dance. Not so, as it were. I woke up yesterday, feeling absolutely miserable. I was extremely cranky about this all day, and I didn't do any of the things on my list (Jacob's got me on the master list system---it's really hard for me!)
I did, however, come to the conclusion that I shouldn't be blogging when I'm feeling down. I whine enough as it is. So I made up my mind that I would start an accomplishment entry, one that compiles all of my accomplishments (or what I see as accomplishments, which some of you may think silly).
You see, when all you want is a baby, and you can't seem to make or buy one, it gets extremely difficult not to fixate on that issue. Which, inevitably, will lead to severe depression and sense of worthlessness. I'm very prone to depression; this is another one of my uncomfortable secrets, which is similar to infertility in that a lot of people deal with it, but everyone hates to talk about it. I know I hate talking about it.  I particularly hate it when it gets bad enough that I need to do something about it.
However, over the course of my life, I've discovered some great remedies: art and theater. I could pour my entire life into both of these categories, and be completely happy. Unfortunately, society doesn't pay artists to be artists, so I have to trudge through the world, scraping together whatever skills I can, trying to find something that will pay me money, but won't rip my soul from my being. So the art and theater get pushed to the level of "hobbies." But to me, they're so much more. So much so, in fact, that I'm almost in a frenzy when I do them: I've done eight full shows in the past two years (seven musicals and one straight show), along with numerous little projects and skits here and there. I also started making polymer clay pendants last Christmas, starting with easy little flower and bird designs. Now, I'm recreating Klimt paintings with polymer clay. It's just insane the amount of effort I put into this stuff. Yet, the same can be said for the amount of satisfaction I get out of it.
Alright, so here's the fun part. To keep myself from getting too cranky yesterday, I spent some time compiling pictures of all the cool things that I did over the past few years (I think the play pictures might be fun for some of you, although I couldn't find actual production pictures of all of them.)

Godspell 

 This was my first show that I did in Austin. Aside from doing The Vagina Monologues in college as a fundraiser for women's shelters, I hadn't done any sort of theater since high school (and those who knew me in high school knew how much I enjoyed it then). I happened to be in church one day and they mention that auditions were approaching for the church musical. So it began. What a fantastic, fun production that was. Plus, I actually started to make friends! (I hadn't really done that in Austin yet, despite having lived there for nearly two years).

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

After Godspell,  Jesus came to me and told me I should get involved in community theater. Or, at least the actor who played Jesus. So, I went to auditions for the two musicals that summer. This is the first one I was in. I actually couldn't go to rehearsals until two weeks after they started, because Jacob and I were on our honeymoon. I was ensemble, and I had a lot of fun, making all sorts of new friends and such. Also, many silly pictures were taken.

The Hormel Girls

I actually didn't know I was in this play for a long time. Jerry Girton, the director, had accidentally cast one of my Godspell cast mates in a role, not realizing that she had conflicts, and mistaking her for me. So I got into the show. It was a really different experience for me. I had never been in a show where I had been expected to dance. I'd never had dance before and had always wanted to, so it was thrilling! I played the part of Viola, the geeky, funny girl, in love with a geeky guy. I didn't sing as much as the other girls, but it didn't bother me; I was just so excited to have a part in the show! Unfortunately, I started to have a lot of health problems around then. A few weeks before the show, I'd started taking a weird medication and got really, really fat by the time we opened. So, that was a bummer, but the show still went extremely well. The show was a big deal in Austin, because it had a lot to do with local history, so there was a big to-do, and I got to meet a lot of important and interesting people. Jacob was proud of me, but since I had to kiss another guy in the show, he referred to it as a "whorehouse production."
 It was really, really fun.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

This was a hilarious show. I mean, the script cracked me up. I had to keep myself from laughing every night, it was so funny. Plus, this show has the rare distinction of being a show Jacob actually enjoyed watching. Once again, I was just ensemble, with an itty bitty part as an usherette (and I wore sparkly shorts). It gave me a lot of excuses to learn more dancing and goof around with Samantha backstage. We had too much fun as Alpine maids.

Mame

Mame was a show that I really had hoped to get a bigger role in. I felt that my audition was great, but you know, directors have to choose their leads for a multitude of reasons, and I didn't make the cut. I was cast as Sally Cato, a conniving Southern Woman, and once production started, I decided it was very silly for me to be upset with casting. Very silly. I swore I would never get upset at cast lists again, because just being in a show is enough for me, to be honest. I just love shows.
 I think Mame is the type of show that's confusing and a little boring to watch, but MAN, was it fun to be in. I learned all sorts of choreography (from the coolest choreographer ever, Leslie Weber), and I actually felt confident dancing. I hung out with almost all of my favorite theater people every day, and all sorts of silliness occurred. I just loved it. Also, I had volunteered to do some detail painting on the set, a trend that would land me a little work during later shows!

Annie Get Your Gun

Auditions for Summerset 2011 where actually during the run of Mame. I was feeling hopeful, but not entitled, and was just plain excited to do more theater. Annie Get Your Gun was a show I'd always had a soft spot for, just one of those shows that had charmed me in my youth, so I was excited to audition. During the strike for Mame, the director pulled me aside and asked me if I would be willing to do some painting for the Summerset season, casually mentioning that I would be playing the lead in AGYG. Which floored me. Even in high school, I'd never been a lead. Starting that day, I decided I was going to be extremely efficient and work extremely hard to make it the best performance I possibly could. I started running a 5k every morning, dropped a little weight, learned all of my lines before anyone else, and learned all of my songs before I expected to learn them. That sounds nuts, but my job at the preschool had just ended, and I had a lot of free time. I want to say that I had a fantastic time, but being in a moment of frenzied motivation (sometimes that happens with ADD), I was nervous as hell. Also, little did I know, but endometriosis had gotten out of control and I had a giant cyst, which actually sent me to the emergency room one night from severe pain---all I could do was worry about who was going to take over for me if I died. I also had three dislocated ribs, but didn't figure that out until much later that summer. So, aside from being a hot mess, I think  the show went very, very well. I got a lot of lovely compliments on my performance, along with frequent recognition from the old ladies at church.

Forbidden Broadway

I couldn't find a good picture of this one---this was of Lia.  At the college where I like to do shows, there's an alumni show every year. As you know, I went to Luther College, not Riverland Community College. However, I should mention that Luther screwed me out of a credit, so I did in fact take one course at Riverland. I guess that qualified me to be in the alumni show. I had a fantastic time, because for the first time, I was with mostly older community members, people who were at similar life stages, and it was really educational for me to see how they balanced a love of theater and their own private lives. And the parties were more fun :) But this show was really great---Forbidden Broadway has a number of permutations. Basically, pick a Broadway song. Then, rewrite the lyrics to make fun of the musical or actor who is known for singing it. Then, you have Forbidden Broadway. Perfect for Katie the theater nerd.

Be Aggressive

In high school, I was actually known for doing straight shows. In fact, I only did two musicals in high school. So it seemed odd that I hadn't been in any straight show over at the college. Now, mind you, I had promised Jacob that after the alumni show, I was going to take a nice long break. He tends to miss me if I'm at rehearsal all the time. Well, I was contacted by the [new] director at the college because she was having difficulty filling  a role in her show. After asking three times, I finally agreed. For the most part, I had a good time. It was a fun little role, that of a California housewife transplanted from the south, dealing with a demon-spawn cheerleader for a daughter. I even got to do a crazy cheer. Fun, right? My only issue was that I have a mommy complex and I volunteered to monitor the other cheerleaders, most of whom had very little theater experience. I actually had to stop a girl from going to do her homework in the computer lab during the show. But overall, it was a good production and a good time.

Well, that's all the photos I have. I've done some work with the students' director projects, and I've performed with Stage Left, the GLBT Issues awareness group (I think being from Topeka has encouraged me to "Fight the Fred" wherever I go), and tomorrow night, I'll be participating in a Murder Mystery Dinner. Right now, I've enjoyed a little lull in the theater activities. That alright, because coming this April, I'll be in a production of Rent! I'm excited; I think I've dreamed about being in Rent since I was fourteen years old. And, I'll be my favorite: Maureen. Wow. I feel so privileged.

 A dear friend of mine asked me once why I do shows. She questioned whether I was just bored or if I was addicted to the attention. That may sound rude, but it was a valid question. It forced me to spill the beans about our infertility issues, because truthfully, I don't care for the attention I receive (I run out quickly after every performance, because getting compliments is awkward for me), and when extremely bored, I usually watch tv or go running. The community theater has given me such a fantastic way to escape the absolutely world-consuming struggle of having babies. If I couldn't leave my own brain every now and then, I would probably be committed. And, for a girl with ADD, it's perfect. Work, work, work, one project, one run of a show, and then, on to something new and exciting. Perfect. That's why I do so many shows.

My art, well, that gets complicated to talk about. Perhaps I should save that for another blog, far in the future. There's a lot of pain you can express through the visual arts, whereas with performing arts, the real therapy comes in the escapism. But because you need to give of yourself so much with the creative process, I might have a hard time expressing that to all of you. I can't divulge the entire contents of my soul all at once.

 I will say that my recent habit of making polymer clay pendants has bordered on lifesaving for me. It's helped to stimulate my brain in a very healthy way. And I couldn't really ask for anything more: health.
Why the hell not? Here's some pictures of those. These are by the artist Gustav Klimt, by the way.

The Girlfriends

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I