whups, i missed it

Let’s backtrack a few days, shall we? Back to the time when my show wasn’t yet over and the “reading” I was “directing” wasn’t even cast yet. Back to the days when I was I was a bouncing stressball.

Yes, that’s right. Back to Friday.

1. How are you planning to spend the summer?

Teaching “Illusions” and “Potions” at Ye Olde Children’s Theatre with this guy. This involves hours and hours of role drama, playing upwards of ten different characters, and yet still hanging out at Ye Olde Science Center for free and dissecting stuff. Favorite quote of the week: “Oh my god, tell me that is NOT sheep brain in my hair!” (Luckily for her, it wasn’t. It was just sheep skull shrapnel.) Today we got to do plaster cast masks of all the kids’ faces. Tomorrow we’re going on virtual roller coasters. Occasionally, I can’t believe I’m getting paid for this.

2. What was your first summer job?

I worked for a telemarketing company the summer after my freshman year of college, taking incoming calls for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. (No, I did not live in Michigan.) You would not believe how riled up some people get when they don’t get reservations to their favorite park for certain dates. Favorite quotes included people who couldn’t even SAY the name of the park. For example, “Cheboygan” /= “Cheboogiebum”. Seriously.

3. If you could go anywhere this summer, where would you go?

God, where would I go. I’d take a road trip across the country, like Ida is doing. I’d go down through California and visit Lori and Nonoko and Kris and Mitch, and then I’d head up through MO and visit Ernie, and then I’d hit Chicago and visit [name removed] and Sarah and Libby and Liz and then up to Milwaukee to visit Casie and then I’d go back up to Mpls to hang out with Moros and Townie and then I’d visit Tommy in Boston and Brooke in New York and Nate somewhere on tour and Megan and Ryan wherever they land when they return from overseas and a bunch of other people in between. I’d just keep working my way east, and then maybe I’d come back through Canada. Plus, if anyone that I visited decided to tag along, that would be even better. I’d end the summer with a the-goose-and-the-golden-egg caravan trailing behind me. It would be glorious. I would skinny dip in bodies of water from sea to shining sea.

4. What was your worst vacation ever?

I haven’t taken many vacations in my life. Most trips my family took were TRIPS … labored pilgrimages to visit more extended family. They were never really fun per se, but they were always necessary. I don’t think I ever had a vacation that was bad - although there were certainly bad parts to most of them. Getting burnt to a crisp while on vacation at the Jersey Shore with Bill’s family. Feeling unwanted while visiting Mitch. Being sick while I was in Minneapolis. But the good pretty much always outweighed the bad …. oh. OH. There was that trip to North Dakota shortly after my parents had discovered I was a smoker. They (not completely intentionally) managed to turn my little brother (who was still pretty little) against me, which culminated in him bursting into tears in front of my entire extended family and saying “You love cigarettes more than you love me!” That was terrible. That trip definitely wins.

5. What was your best vacation ever?

My “vacation” to Minneapolis over Memorial Day Weekend. I saw two very dear old friends agree to spend the rest of their lives together. Not only that, but I got to spend at least a little quality time with just about everyone. Aside from being sick, there was nothing bad about that entire weekend. Nothing.

Okay, that should do it. Good night, my public …