Tues. Oct. 8: Start With An Empty Studio

Photo by Devon Ellington

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Still dark out!

Good morning. I was in my studio by six a.m. for my first day.

My new band name is 12 Bags and a Chair, because that’s how much I lugged over to the residency.

Yesterday morning had more going on than I would have liked, but that’s just the way it does. Pro tip: When you get an “out of office message” from someone who has told you FOR MONTHS they would be out of office this week, sending additional messages saying, “Can’t you just?” – no. I met every deadline before this week started. I am out of office, and, as that message clearly states, “Do not expect to hear back from me until Oct. 15.”

I did two of the goodies for the reading, which need to chill in the fridge. One of them is a Patrica Wells recipe for honey-almond-fig-chocolate bites; the other is for a coconut lime treat. I used the petit four cases for them. Both turned out well, and are in containers that will travel well. When I get home tonight, I just have to make the dip, and do the little cards that say what things are. Everything else for the reading – plates, cups, napkins, soda, etc. is packed.

Packed the car and headed over to the museum. It was so good to see everyone again, and meet the new people! We had an orientation, and then headed over to the apartments. I’m in the same apartment and same bedroom I was assigned last year – only this year I’m actually sleeping in it.

Dumped that set of bags, then went back to the residency building to unload all that stuff and start setting up my studio. Yoga/acupressure corner set up, meditation cushion out (not sure where it will wind up), reading corner set up, my work corner set up. I’ve started pinning images on the wall. I might do manuscript pages on my other wall. We will see. It’s a work in progress, but I at least got enough set up so I can make a start.

Took the final set of bags for the apartment over (and up all the stairs) and took a breath before we headed out for dinner.

Dinner was a Nara Sushi, which is only about two blocks from where I normally live. It was lovely, and it was nice to talk and catch up with people, and talk with some of the newer members of the collective.

Put my car in the overnight lot (a few blocks away from the apartment) and headed back there. My flatmate and I hung out in the living room for a bit.

Meanwhile, the director from the show in LA, who has known since August that this is the ONE week I am not available on that project for anything, is scheduling the first rehearsal for this Wednesday, during the time our collective has our public reading. On top of that, rehearsals are likely to start at 8 PM LA time, which means 11 PM my time. I’ll be ZOOMing into rehearsals in my PJs. But not THIS week.

The late night is not a problem; I’ll take a nap early in the evening, and attend rehearsal until 3 AM or so my time (wearing headphones, so as not to disturb the neighbors), turn around whatever revisions are necessary, and sleep in on the following day. And I’m not surprised that the first rehearsal is scheduled for this week, but I am..disappointed? More like rolling my eyes. We had talked about doing the first rehearsal/read through before the 7th. But it didn’t happen, so we deal with what we have.

It’s only until mid-November.

It took me a bit to get to sleep last night. The bed is amazingly comfortable. Had weird dreams; not bad ones, just weird.

The alarm got me up at 5 this morning (no cats to use me as a trampoline). I started the coffee maker (I’d set it up last night). Oh. My. Gosh. Loudest coffeemaker ever. I’m sure they could hear it in Topeka. I was so worried I’d wake my flatmate, but she was already awake, and working on her first poem.

Had a quick breakfast, washed my dishes, filled my travel mug, hoisted my bags, and headed over to the studio. The museum is closed today, so our first day will be relatively quiet.

I was so happy to unlock the door and be in my studio!

I love my office at home, but having a studio is also great.

Managed to get my computer to make friends with the cranky studio printer. Printed up the programs for tomorrow’s reading. Printed out some other material.

I decided not to bring in the poem I plan to read tomorrow to today’s workshop. While I can turn around scripts quickly, poetry takes me more space and time. So I’m going to work on a poem that started percolating as I listened to others read a couple of weeks ago. I was thinking about it, off and on, for a couple of days, and then again last night as I was falling asleep.

I will start drafting this morning. I hope to also get some work done on VICIOUS, and maybe start a scene from the adaptation of I WILL BE DIFFERENT. Which, of course, I’m starting in the middle.

Have a good one!