Footloose

Working on the musical, "Footloose" at The Theatre Company. I'm accompanying and pulling the band together. Having a great time. Some of these songs really rock; and I'm really getting into the groove. 'Course, it has a handful of non-rocking songs and songs that just suck ('Almost Paradise').

Rob will be joining the band as lead guitar. Ben Hester on 2nd guitar. Phil Stuntz on bass. Barrett Hughes (with his floppy bleached hair) on trap. Ken Nelson on percussion. And Pablo Tani on flute/clarinet/tenor sax/bari sax.

This. Show. Will. Rock.

It opens on 24 July... just about three weeks away.

triplets of belleville

An amazing move that Rob introduced me to: Les Triplettes of Belleville. The soundtrack; the animation; the story; the lack of spoken work; the characters... all of it is so unique that they make this movie just amazing.

Well, since Rob is leaving soon, I need to make plans to "replace" movies that he'll be taking with him. He brought a bunch of movies into the house when he moved in. Some of them I've gotten so used to having around that I will need to get my own copies pretty soon. I don't think there'll be more than a couple more that will fit into this category.

So, today I returned the computer speakers that I'd bought from Best Buy with the intention of using in conjunction with a TV, as yet unpurchased, out at the hot tub. Decided not too long ago that putting a TV out there was ridiculous - one doesn't stay in a hot tub long enough to watch much of anything. Besides, the outdoors in the back yard (especially at night) is so beautiful that to put a TV out there could be considered a heresy . So, returning the ~$50 speakers gave me an in-store credit with which I got this movie, and the second season of Futurama, all on DVD.

Man. I'm feeling the pull to pull up stakes and get myself to Portland. *sigh*

going to chicago

Rob decided - for the most part, after visiting Andrea in Chicago last week, to move back there after we close Footloose. The timing is convenient because I am planning on doing a road trip there to help my folks pack up their house for The Big Move to Plainfield. Convenient because it'd be pretty easy to pack all of Rob's stuff in the truck for the drive to Chicago. Then, when I return, I'll be solo.

When he left for four days to visit Andrea, it took me about a day and a half to get over the Empty Nest Syndrome. I realized, of course, how "used to" having Rob around I am. But I soon began to enjoy the perks of living alone again. And, I was glad to see him return.

Of course, he returned with the Moving To Chicago news. I know it must have weighed heavily on him; it took him a couple days of being back before he told me about it. And when he told me, he came at it in an indirect way - talking about how the road trip idea would be great because he could pack all of his stuff up in the truck for the journey to Chicago. So, that was the first word that I got from him about the change of his plans. It wasn't something like, "I think I'm going to move back to Chicago..." Of course, the continual investigating that Rob and I do on the different way our brains work forces me to acknowledge that he may have been trying to give more direct indications about this that I just plain missed.

The way that he told me is really beside the point, which is that the idea of not having him around is really beginning to hit. Nobody else "gets me" like he does. No one else challenges my behavioral and thinking patterns like he does. With no one else do I regularly indulge in smoking the ganj...

This is going to suck.

And then I will grow numb.

And then I'll move to Portland and become more numb and more sensitive all at the same time.

first

So, here is the first journal entry. Why would I bother to do this? It's mostly for myself. I mean, it's cool to have stuff written so that I can look back on them from the vantage point of the future. Not only that, but I may decide to share this journal with other folks in the future - that would allow those folks to learn something about me.

But there's more.

I want to improve my writing. It's no great revelation to understand that the best way to improve writing is to WRITE. So, I'm doing that. The subject of the writing is me. And the rest of the characters and situations all surround me.

I haven't decided how personal I'm going to get with this. It depends on whether or not I consider this stuff to be public, or just for me. I suppose I could always hack some more code to mark an entry as "personal," and not allow non-Gregs to see it.

But for now, I just want to write stuff down.

I have felt for a long time, because of my love of words and language, that I could probably write some cool/fun song lyrics. I sat down one time to do so. To write a song about my own experience of often being the only one laughing.

At a movie. At a play. During a lecture.

I find myself finding stuff really funny that others around me don't. Either they're not getting it (which is what I suspect) or they're holding back their laughter for some reason.

Sometimes I wonder if my mental ability to assimilate or connect information together is different from others. Usually my solo laughter comes as a result of my finding a funny reference. So, I assume that when other people don't laugh, it's because they don't catch the reference. So, did they miss it? Did I catch something that they didn't? Or did I invent the reference? Did it really exist? Did I hear a word incorrectly and make a connection that doesn't exist? Could be. Actually, I know that happens. Sometimes I catch it before anyone else notices that I'm laughing at something that just doesn't exist.

I hope to record some of those instances in here as they come up.

The Theatre Company

Man, what to say about an institution that has become such a big part of my life? The Theatre Company puts on some really great shows. I love managing the orchestras/bands - and love to jam the keyboards on the more rockin' shows. Though, playing "Sweeney Todd" - while not rockin' - was a hell of a challange and was a more energizing experience than I ever thought it would be. Sondheim's scores are notoriously difficult - but, at the very least this score has a unique and cool energy.

The Theatre Company is a place that has been a great artistic/musical outlet for me. I'm glad to be a part.