and I’m on my way - i don’t know where i’m going

Last Saturday, I taught my first dramaschool class all by myself. I’ve been apprenticing with the same Acting for 4-6th Grade class since last fall, and it was finally my turn to design a curriculum and teach a class myself. I’d been wigging about it for a long time, and it went great! After all these months, I know these kids pretty well - and I felt like I was able to bounce around and adapt my curriculum depending on what they were giving me at the moment. At the end, the one little girl I’ve always had a bit of a problem with raised her hand and said “Can you teach class more often?”

Later that afternoon, I went to observe another birthday party, before doing TWO of my own on Sunday. The little kids were so hyper and one of them had obviously just learned all of his potty words. At one point he said (and I quote) “Diarrhea! Diarrhea! It smells like toes but it’s really farts! Shake your booty all night long! Wenises! Wenises!” My friend Leo (who was doing this party) kept shooting me these pained looks, and I was in convulsions trying not to let the kids know how funny I thought they were. Shouts of “Mr. Scientist, can you shrink your weenie into a tiny little weenie?” were totally ignored, but when this little boy pulled down his pants, began spanking himself with a big foam finger, and screamed “Shrink my butt into a tiny little butt!” that was the last straw. The parents were called in to intervene. Before we left, both parents came up to me and said “Well, I assume you’re going to switch professions after today?”

After the party from hell, I finally went and saw Adaptation with Matthew, Sonya, and Daniel. It was … everything I’d hoped. I understood where it was coming from, but didn’t love all of it. There are a lot of really meta comments I want to make about it right now, but just in case any of you haven’t seen it, I’m not going to be a spoiler. I made a lot of connections with it that - while probably trite and self-aggrandizing - really got me thinking. It’s not often that a movie can do that for me.

Afterwards, we went to Broadway Grill and got hammered on Limonadas. (They were on sale.) After awhile, we were joined by the big Z, and we had a damn fine time being loud and annoying. About halfway through the evening, I realized that I felt more comfortable and natural and myself with this group of people on this evening than I could remember feeling in a long time. Later, when Sjet said we needed to do this again, I was right with her.

{Confidential to my parking lot pal: It wasn’t just the jacket.}

Sunday was the big day - not only my first birthday party, but TWO of them in a row, and they were in SAMMAMISH. I was so nervous - I practiced everything for PWe in our living room before I left. Of course, I got completely lost both times, but made it just in the nick of time each time. The kids were perfectly behaved, the parents were nice, everything went better than I could have expected, and I got a couple of pretty huge tips. (Of course, the parents probably wouldn’t have tipped so well if they knew that I was just going to spend their money on a tattoo.) The first birthday boy’s grandmother came up to me and said “Are you a teacher?” When I told her I wasn’t - yet - she said “Let me tell you, the educators in this room have been talking, and we think you’ve got an incredible amount of natural talent with these kids. I think you’ve found your calling, sweetie.” By the time I was done with the second party, I CRASHED. I’d been so high on nerves and adrenaline all day, and once it was all over I sat in my car for about twenty minutes before I could even start driving home. It was the best possible way to start, and I was pretty thrilled. Every little step that takes me farther away from my current day job is a welcome step, and I’m trying to appreciate each step as it happens. On Sunday, I felt like I’d taken a giant leap.

This morning, I’m back in hell. Morningboss is still in Italy. I’m still several days behind - but I had to get this weekend down before I lost it. Back to the grind, I suppose …

Any words of encouragement?