Overwhelmed

The past few days have been a whirlwind.  Here's why.  OK.  Let me do a little prefacing.

As you may know, I'd decided not to go get an MFA in Directing when I finish the Storytelling program.

As you may NOT know, the Storytelling program is set up so that I could take no classes this fall and spring, take classes in the summer, and graduate then.

SO- OK, I'll make a long story short.  On Saturday morning I was told by an old friend that Florida State may have an opening in their MFA Directing program for next year.  The head of the program wasn't sure what he'd do if the last accepted person declined.  Then he told my friend, who had mentioned me, that I should submit a resume.  I just want to point out here that I've never contacted the school, not even for a brochure.

So I sent a resume.  Yesterday morning, I got an email saying that if it turned out there were an opening, they'd be contacting me in the next few days.  I got a phone call this morning... and I'm going to Florida next week to meet with them on Tuesday afternoon.

So- I know I'm starting every paragraph with so: bite me- um, one of the best schools in the country for what I've ALWAYS wanted to do with my life basically contacted me out of the blue, and if all goes well, I'll be moving to Florida in August.  Eric would stay here till next summer to finish his degree, I'd come back to finish my current degree program,  sell or rent the house, then he'd come to FL to join me.

SO- I've got a lot to do.  Gotta get letters of rec, apply to the university, get transcripts sent, take the GRE on FRIDAY (no time to waste), replace a bent wheel on my car, all sorts of things.  There's a lot of kismet going on. Every time I start to freak out about some aspect of this, something IMMEDIATELY happens to negate the freaking out.  For instance, I said, "I'm not completely sure I can afford to go to Florida next week!  Gas is insane!"  God said, "Oh, I didn't tell you, but I just had citibank increase your credit limit.  By enough to finance FOUR trips to Florida. Try not to use it." I'm just shocked and overwhelmed.  And EXTREMELY excited.

Wish me luck. Cross your fingers, and hope for orange juice, hurricanes, and palmetto trees.

Decent food, FINALLY

I'm so excited.

I've finally found a GOOD restaurant in the Tri-Cities. Not a decent one, not a good-enough one. A GOOD one. Before, we made do with Carabba's, the Italian-esque chain. It's not bad- actually pretty tasty, but it's heavy and kind of expensive and the service is AWFUL (I do like to get caesar salads for take out).

The place I found is (I think) called "Volcanoes Bakery." At least that's what the little sign says to make checks out to. The banner out front says something like "The Real McCoy Tamales Tortas Tostadas" Painted on the side of the tiny little cinder-black building are the words "Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's Gallery." Huh?

Anyway, they have two tables outside. Inside, there's one table, but it's pushed up against a wall so only 2 sides are usable. There's also a long bar-shelf on the long wall with stools. Opposite the bar is a display case full of fresh-made pastries, a cooler filled with ice and Mexican sodas (no Coke here), a table which appears to be used for food prep, and a small case with desserts inside and the cash register on top.

They make the best tamale I have ever had in my life.

I was having my brakes done at the Meineke next door ($353- oof!), and had been meaning to try it out. The reviews are fantastic: check out the Roadfood.com forum discussion on the place.  The chicken tamale I had was the best tamale I've ever eaten.  The tostada de tinga (a tostada covered in chicken and onions in a red chipotle sauce, lettuce sour cream, cheese, and a slice of avocado) is hard to describe.  It's a wonderful mixture of crunchy and soft, hot and cold, oh, it's just wonderful.  So I'm happy happy happy.  And I'm going back tonight.

He's a demon on wheels

Can I just tell you how excited I am about the upcoming Speed Racer movie?

Speed Racer IS my childhood. I don't know it for a fact, but I probably watched reruns of it as a little bit in Japan (I know I watched Kamen Rider. Anyway, after a year and a half of Japanese TV as an infant, when I saw Speed on TV back in Tennessee, there was something familiar and wonderful about it. This show, which began airing in Japan in 1967, has been a major cultural touchstone for me. I absolutely love Speed Racer.

So then they began making a movie, and I was scared. It could be great, but it could also be AWFUL. Seeing the trailers, I'm so excited I could DIE. I watched a 4-minute trailer on the film's website today and almost wet my pants. They even had Speed in the bizarre arm-across-the-chest pose from the TV show's title sequence. I'm a bit worried about the introduction of the Mach 6... but we'll see on May 9.

Everybody's Job

With a title like "Everybody's Job," I bet you think I'm going to talk about saving the planet, or the children, or something. No, not at all. I'm going to ask, "Why do I know how to do everybody's job better than they do?"

So for the past couple weeks there's been a little crack in the topcase of my MacBook. Aspreading crack. Now, I already knew MacBooks are prone to this. It was just a matter of when to get to Knoxville to have it repaired, for free, of course. So, after some of my past experiences is dealing with the Apple Jeenyuses at the Genius Bar, I called AppleCare. I was hoping they'd be able to check inventory at the store (for the needed part), and let me know whether or not the Knoxville store does repairs onsite, since I can't really afford to have my computer missing for days and days. The AppleCare guy was good, but they can't check store inventory. He did take down everything that happened, and assigned me a case number, so the store would know what was going on when I got there. And they'd know that I'd already contacted Apple.

So I called the store- because I wasn't going to drive to Knoxville if the part wasn't in stock. She gave me the canned answer that no one was around to check the stock and that even if it were in stock, the repair would take 3-7 DAYS because I'd be placed in a "Repair Queue."

First instance of me knowing a job better than the person doing it: When someone calls to ask if you have a part in stock, because they live two hours away, and it costs $20 in gas to get there and back, you find someone who CAN check the stock, and then you might even ask if there were a way to get the repair done quickly. And if there's no one around to answer those questions, you get the customer's number and call them back. I don't care HOW you've been trained to brush people off. It makes a difference, and even if your manager doesn't recognize it, I promise that the manager above that recognizes it- especially when they get letters and emails saying what a good job you did.

So I decided to risk it and went to Knoxville. I knew that if they had the part in stock I could get it fixed. The repair itself only takes a few minutes, and I've read numerous forum posts from people saying they got theirs repaired in no time. And if they didn't have it in stock, I'd ask them to order it and call me when it came in. And if they wouldn't do that, I'd resort to the tactic that I've had to use to get good service at that store before- throw a fit and fight with them until they do what they ought to do just to get rid of me.

Here's a little story about that- Eric bought a MacBook there about a year and a half ago. When we got to the car, we opened it up and discovered there were two dead pixels in the screen. So we went back in to exchange it. The manager told us that a couple of dead pixels weren't reason enough for an exchange. I said it was. That went on for a few minutes, during which I told her that I understand pixels go dead sometimes- however it is perfectly reasonable to expect a pixel or two to die over time- but there's no reason to expect dead pixels to begin with. Back and forth. When we got to the point of "If you opened a new monitor to put it out on the floor as a floor model, and found it had two dead pixels, would you leave it on the floor as an example of what a new monitor should be?" When she said that no, she wouldn't, she agreed to exchange the computer. We opened it right there in the store to verify the monitor. The whole exchange took three-quarters of an hour. And I knew she only did it to get rid of us, as my voice carries quite well in a small store, and customers were leaving in droves.

Anyway, so I took it in to the store at my allocated appointment time. The guy pulled up the stock, discovered they had four topcases, then went to the back to ask if they could fix it right then. Guess what!? They COULD! He said it would be an hour, and they'd call me when it was done. So I walked around the mall for an hour. An hour and fifteen minutes. An hour and a half.

So I went back to the store, where I was greeted with Smiling Smug Apple Lady.
"Hi!!!!!! Can I help you?!?!?!"
"Yes, I'm here to see if my repair is done."
"Did they call you?"
"No, but they said it would be about an hour, and it's been over an hour and a half now."
"Well, if they didn't call you, it's surely not done yet. They're very, very good about calling as soon as repairs are done!"
"Well, I was thinking they might have gotten busy and forgotten to call, or it might have gotten lost in the shuffle."
Instance number two of me knowing a job better than the person doing it: When this happens, you get on that handy high tech headset you're wearing, and ASK IF IT'S DONE.
She said, "well, if you really want to be really sure..." she said this as though I'd asked her to vote for Hitler for President... "you can go back and ask one of the people in the blue shirts at the Genius Bar."

So I went to the back, sat down, and looked at the Genius Bar for a few minutes, knowing that eventually someone would come to ME to ask if I needed help, because I didn't want to fight my way through the crowd.

Dude said, "Are you waiting for something?"
"Yes, I wanted to see if my repair is done."
"Did we call you?"
"No.
"Which repair was it?"
"Cracked topcase."
"What was the name on that?"
"Curtis Y."
"Let me go check."

Guess what? It WAS done. They'd put it on the top shelf and the person who makes the phone calls NEVER NOTICED IT.

I made sure to tell Smiling Smug Apple Lady that on the way out. Her smile faded.

New Title

If you know not only the name of the movie it's from, but also the name of the character who says the new title of my blog, put it in comments and maybe I'll, like, send you a Holiday World postcard.

More fun in Theme Park World

Today, I took my friend Marjorie to Dollywood, and we had a blast. Marjorie is 65, a grad student studying Storytelling, known all over Michigan as Mother Goose (complete with costume), and quite enamored with the notion of retiring to East Tennessee.

We got a late start, so we didn't make it to the Apple Store in Knoxville, but went straight to Pigeon Forge. On the way, I discovered that not only had Marjorie not been to Dollywood, but she'd never been to the area at all. So after taking my shortcut from Sevierville all the way around Pigeon Forge, we headed up through Gatlinburg and into the National Park. It was a misty, misty morning, so the views were pretty limited, but the Park itself is glorious no matter what the weather. Turns out Marjorie is a kayaker! We came back around and considered having lunch at Pancake Pantry, but for some reason, Gatlinburg was absolutely packed, so we hit the bypass and headed to the Theme Park, which was really only about half full. After picking up a Q-bot and reserving a show, we started looking for lunch, and, of course, ended up at the Giant Delicious Super Wonderful Hot Dog stand. I wasn't sure if Marjorie was a Ride Person, but after taking one look at the Thunderhead, she said, "Well, I've GOT to ride THAT!" We pretty much walked on, and had a nice chat with a ride attendant who asked me about the Voyage since she noticed my Holiday World t-shirt. She asked if it was really a better coaster than the Thunderhead, and I told her "I hate to say it, but yes." We chatted a bit about Holiday World- the ride operator said she really wants to go check it out. She said she thought the reason Holiday World beats out Dollywood was because of the free sodas. I said, "May be." What I wanted to say was that it's the free sodas, the ticket price that's $20 less, the included water park, and the fact that it's so clean you could lick the sidewalk if you wanted to. I wanted to say, quite honestly, that it's just a better park. As much as I love Dollywood, Holiday World really is just a better park. What I did say was that the two are similar in a lot of respects, and that Dollywood is the only park I would compare with Holiday World.

Anyway, Marjorie had a GREAT time on the Thunderhead, and yelled her head off. She told me she hadn't been on a ride of any sort in about 15 years, and I said that she couldn't have picked a better one to start back up on. So it was drizzly and chilly. The Timber Tower wasn't running in the morning, and Mystery Mine was a bit much for her- I made sure she knew about the 2 93-degree drops before she even considered riding it. We headed up to River Battle- and since it was rainish and chilly, no one was riding- except one lone family: Mom and Dad and a little girl. I made sure to blast them with a water cannon, and they sprayed me right back. Big smiles all around. On around to Blazing Fury, which had a 10 minute or so wait. Behind us in line were two little girls, so excited about the ride that they were talking excitedly to strangers (us) about it. "We've been on it six times in a row! After five, we said only one more but we have to do it again and THEN we won't ride it again and I love Blazing Fury and Mom bought me a necklace and do you like the Thunderhead and I like it when Molly says she's going to jump and Luther says he has a bad back!"

We caught a few minutes of the Zambian Vocal Group show, discovered that the Dollywood Express wasn't running today, and caught a show of Heartsong, one of my favorite things in the park- a multimedia paean to Dolly's love of the Smokies. It's really well done and emotionally manipulative, and gets me a little choked up every damn time. Marjorie loved it, of course. Then the 65-year-old grandma and I hopped on the Dizzy Disk, had dinner at Aunt Grannie's (and the sky opened up and it poured for the rest of the day), then saw the Russian National Theatre show (which is much better this year than last year). At one point four of the women came into the audience, picked out male partners, and had them dance onstage. One poor guy, a big guy in his early twenties, really experienced some Plumber's Crack Showing every time he bent over. The audience giggled, and I thought, "Oh, Lord, his family will be talking about that at Thanksgiving and Christmas for years." "Remember that time at Dollywood when you showed your ass to the whole audience?!?!?!"

After that, we hit the Chasing Rainbows museum, and saw the Coat of Many Colors, which Marjorie hadn't realized was REAL, and she announced she could spend all day in there studying the construction of Dolly's costumes. And then we headed home. It was a really nice time with someone who is pretty darn cool, and she really loved the park. She decided that a trip to a theme park is a NECESSITY when you're in the middle of a really stressful time- like during the crunch at the end of a semester at grad school.

So that was my fun, wonderful, quite low-key day. It might have been better had the weather been a little more cooperative, but it didn't stop us from having fun, and probably helped, since we had no push to make the water rides, which meant a more leisurely stroll around the park and not having to find time to fit them in.

One other thing stands out. We went into a woodcarving shop I'd never been into before, and they have the most wonderful custom-carved mantles for over fireplaces. They're carved and painted with thin paint or stain, just lovely. They start at $800, and if I were in a house I was planning on settling in, I'd absolutely find a way to get one. Most were plain rectangles, with scenes carved in bas-relief. One was a mountain scene with a peaceful little cabin. The carver told us that if you ordered one, you could give him a photo of your house, and he'd replace the cabin with YOUR HOUSE! Isn't that great? And there was one that was not bas-relief, but full 3-D, from the top and the front, of a stream, complete with trout, and pebbles, and a life-sized raccoon on top of the mantle reaching into the stream. It was spectacular. The same shop had a coffee table, and the top was about 4 inches deep- a 3-D stream bed, as though looking down into the stream, with fish, a turtle, and even a discarded fishing reel, all covered by a plate of glass. While it wasn't they style of a place I would probably furnish, it was absolutely lovely. And at $799 (more than I would ever pay for a coffee table), it was much less expensive than I had expected. I'm sure they could sell it for $1200 and still find buyers.

So that was today at Dollywood with a friend. Next weekend, if I have my schoolwork done, I may actually head back, since Dolly herself will be touring the park. Another friend wants to go. While three weekends in a ROW at Dollywood is probably overkill, I do love to get my money's worth for that season pass, and I sure would love to have Dolly wave at me as she passes in the parade. Kinda like the Pope, you know, but very, very different. :)

Ribs, bitch!

I love to barbecue. I love pork.

And I've figured out good ways to do it in my gas grill, using LOTS of soaked hickory chips. I'll usually smoke a pork shoulder for about 12 hours. And it's better than any restaurant- well, better than any restaurant around here, anyway. I'll never best Tops or the now-defunct Three Little Pigs in Memphis. Today, I thought I'd try my hand at ribs. So I put them in about 4:30. I didn't think they'd take too long because they're so, well, THIN. Five hours later, they're still not done. I think another half an hour, maybe a full hour, and then I'll be eating WELL. I also made some homemade barbecue sauce, and it's turned out ALMOST just the way I like it. Good time.

Tomorrow, I'm taking my friend Marjorie to Dollywood. She's a fellow grad student, retired and very cool. It's my chance to FINALLY see the shows, because Eric has no interest in the shows and he's not coming. So tomorrow I get to hang out with a cool friend in one of my favorite places, have another gigantic, delicious Dollywood hot dog, and see some sides of the park I don't often get to see.

Speaking of Memphis, I never thought I'd say this, but GO TIGERS!

Bible Stories

So I'm taking a Group Storytelling Class this semester. I took it last year, too. Last year, we made a little "story theatre" piece out of a bunch of Jack Tales and "youngest daughter tales." This time, we're working on stories from Genesis. We're trying to focus on them as stories, but dogma seems to be getting in the way for a lot of people. When I told my version of Joseph and the coat and the pit, and named his brothers Bobby, Peter, Greg, Cindy, Jan, Marsha, Keith, Laurie, Danny, and Rueben, there were a few looks of consternation. Anyway, my prof wanted me to co-direct this year. And I was up for it. I was expecting to really CO-direct the show. And I had expected my part would be to focus mainly on the visuals, staging, and imagery, since that's what I'm best at (and most interested in).

It hasn't turned out that way. We perform this thing in three weeks. And I'm just now figuring out that when he said "co-direct," my prof apparently meant he'd work in an advisory status. He's a forceful guy. I'd expected to be the advisor, the right hand, the second. Seems he was thinking that was his position.

So I've spent the past few days trying to bang out a script, using what the rest of the class have written. Combining them into something. But there are a number of stories we're working with that the class didn't write down- they extemporized. So I did what I could. And now I'm exhausted. I ended up not just compiling, but actually writing about a third of it, which is really not what the class is about. And the script that I turned in has a few holes in it. Things that no one wrote. I don't think any more of it should be my words. That's not what this class is about. I've had a few ideas beyond the stories I was originally assigned- my favorite of these is Noah's sons as the Three Stooges- but I can't conceptualize new versions of half of Genesis in a week. And though the class lends itself well to my own Pop sensibilities, well, I'm not the whole class.

Anyway, tomorrow morning- in 6 and three-quarter hours, actually- we'll be reading through what I put together from what people provided to me, and what I added. I don't think it illustrates the themes we're work with: scattering and reconciliation. But I think once I hear it read I'll be able to take that and re-write to draw out the themes. And then there will be a scant few hours of class time and a few extra rehearsals to actually stage it. So that's all I'm going to be able to think about for the next few weeks. Of course, I have another, very intensive class on educational research methods that is absolutely KICKING MY ASS. Luckily, most of that work is done now... I hope. We'll see how that professor responds to my rough draft. If it's positive, then I can devote my time to the Bible Show. If not, well, I'm fucked.

In other news, my mortgage goes adjustable in the middle of June. Time to find out how to refinance with mediocre credit and no cash on hand. And Friday (if she's free) or Saturday, I'm taking another Mental Health Day and taking my friend Marjorie to Dollywood, dammit! Eric's not coming- so we'll get to see the shows. I've been trying to see the shows for two years, but Eric won't see them. So we're going without him. HAHAHAH!

They've done it again

You know, I'm not a big gamer. I love old school video games, you know, where the story is short and you can't save and all that. Today, they call those "platformers." Today's platformers have more in-depth stories and such, but it's a very, very rare game that captures my attention enough to play it all the way to the end (I really miss the days when games didn't have ends).

Anyway, I love the Playstation 3, for its beautiful graphics and mostly for its Blu-Ray player. But so far, not a single game on the PS3 has kept me interested for more than an hour or two. The Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, is pretty great.

I mentioned a few months ago that Super Mario Galaxy ranks up there with the best games ever created. Prior to it, the only modern games I'd played all the way through were Final Fantasy VIII and Kingdom Hearts, and really, I'd lost interest in both of them by the time I was done. I just finished them because I'd already put so much time in.

Well, Nintendo recently released Super Smash Brothers Brawl. It was their present to me, because it came out on my birthday. I didn't get it for my birthday. But I got it as an Easter Bunny present for myself and for Eric. And it's FANTASTIC.

For those of you who don't know, the Smash Brothers games take characters from the most popular Nintendo games, like Mario, Pikachu, Kirby, and Zelda, and put them into a fighting game. It's a Nintendo-fied fighter, though, because there are all sorts of bizarre "weapons" that you can use. New for this edition is the "Superspicy Curry," which will make your character breathe fire for a few seconds. There are 35 characters in all, and a number of them have to be unlocked. Plus, for the first time in a Smash Brothers game, there are some characters that aren't owned by Nintendo, like Sonic the Hedgehog (I haven't unlocked him yet).

In addition to the fighting game, there's a platformer with a story featuring all the characters that will take probably 10 hours to play. I'm about 8 and a half hours in, and it's loads of fun. I haven't tried it yet, but it also has online play, so you can battle against people all over the world.

Like I said, it's loads of fun, and you don't have to know the original games the characters are from to enjoy it... I certainly don't know all of them, and there's even one playable character who is from a game that wasn't ever even released in the U.S.

So the Wii is just wonderful, even though it isn't in high def (it will support 480p as its highest resolution) and even though it has virtual surround sound (Dolby Pro-Logic versus true 5.1), it has absolutely the best games. After the dominance of Sony's Playstation 2 for years, I'm really glad to see Nintendo on top again. The Wii outsells the PS3 four to one in Japan, and apparently they're still hard to come by here in the States.

If you've got one, go get Super Smash Brothers Brawl. You won't be disappointed.

The Future

Today, I'm thinking about The Future. I'm starting to think that, as much as I would really love to teach theatre at the university level, I'm not so sure I want to go to school anymore. I'm already really in debt from student loans, I'm 36 years old, and, honestly, I'm kind of tired of school and work as my entire life. So I'm thinking about what kinds of jobs I could do with a BFA in Theatre and an M.Ed in Storytelling. Really, there are lots of things I could do that would be useful to lots of companies, but the problem is the companies don't realize that this position would benefit them. I could create training programs. I could motivate. I could work in creative advertising. I could do all sorts of things.

If I'm not working directly in the theatre (oof- no stability) or in education (oof- no opportunity), my dream job would be to work in the theme park industry. With my love (and deep understanding) of what makes rides and park shows work, along with my grasp of pop culture, imagery, and most especially, my knowledge of Story- and I mean DEEP Story, I could head teams that would turn the ride and attractions business on its EAR. in fact, I just had an idea for a show/ride attraction for Dollywood what would really, REALLY be popular. I'm not going to say what it is. :) But how do I get into that line of work? Most of the parks don't actually create their own rides. The attractions are contracted to various companies, who are remarkably nameless. I've found one company, Thinkwell Attractions, that I've been planning to put together a proposal to. They're based in LA (which would be great weather for Eric).

The only other company I've found that deals directly with this is Disney Imagineering. Another dream job, and one I would really be quite perfect for. But for the life of me, I can't seem to find any inroad there except internships- and that's something I really can't afford to do.

The point is that I would be extremely valuable- if only someone else had done it first! I've always wanted to Make My Own Path- but damn, figuring out how to do it is a bitch.

Spring Planting

Yesterday, it snowed for about 3 or 4 hours. Didn't amount to much because it had been so warm earlier in the day, but there was enough of it to dust everything. Judging from what was on the table on the deck, must've been about a quarter inch. It was still there this morning. But today, Spring is here. It's so beautiful out that I did a little planting. I bought some iris and tulip bulbs in the fall and never got around to planting them. 50 tulips and 40 irises. I figure they won't grow, but I might as well try. Turns out the packages say now is the time to plant them, but I'm not sure. They've been under the deck for the past six months, and all the tulips have sprouted; so have about half the irises. So I planted them all, and let their little green tips just barely stick out where they could get some sun. Just BARELY. If you know better, let me know. I also planted 50 caladium, the edges of the raised beds and in front of the boxwoods along the front of the house. I'm sure they'll grow. I love planting. Actually, I hate planting, but I love plants. And I do not have a green thumb. Plants die when I simply get near them. But since we moved here, I've gotten better. My pansies bloomed through the whole winter outside and are still thriving, even though I killed my palm plant. It didn't like being inside over the winter. Anyway, the buttercups are coming up all over town. I just wish there would be some buds on the trees. After last year's late (very late) snow and freeze, followed by a really bad drought, I worry about them. I'm afraid my dogwood may not come back at all, and the rose of sharon looks pretty piddlin'.

So that's the news from here. My jaw still hasn't unlocked ( haven't been able to eat a hot dog without a fork since January), so I'm going to have to go to the dentist for it. I can afford to go to the dentist- but I can't afford the TMJ treatment. I've tried some stuff myself- massage, magnesium, glucosamine and chondroitin- but I still can't open my damn mouth. Which sucks since Spring makes me want to sing!!!

Be good.

My Tennessee Mountain Home

I wasn't going to buy Dollywood season passes this year. I really can't afford it. But about a month ago, when I got the email telling me to Act Now And Save Money Before Prices Go Up, I just couldn't resist. I really love Dollywood and since it's less than 2 hours away, I love being able to go down on a Friday or Saturday on the rare day I have time and/or just need a break. So I did it. A Gold Super Pass for me, which gives me free parking and a discount on food and at the shops, and a Super Pass for Eric. Usually he buys his own. But he couldn't afford it this year either. And if he doesn't have a pass, there's no reason for me to have one. So I got them for both of us.

When I was young, I was always jealous of people who had season passes to Opryland. Season passes are expensive, you know! But these days, park admission is expensive, too. A single ticket to Dollywood is almost half the price of a Super Pass, and the Super Pass will get you into Dollywood and into the water park, Splash Country. In fact, if you're going to go to Dollywood twice- and they're open through December 30- you're only $18 shy of the Super Pass. And the water park is almost as expensive. So it's really a good deal. Plus it got me a great discount when I took my friend to Biltmore. I think I saved about $20 on those tickets because of it.

So, guess what? It's opening weekend at Dollywood! But I had lots of homework to do. Guess what? Screw that! I went to Dollywood, and had a great time. And I needed it. We rode all the big rides, Thunder Road is back in the simulator theatre, and the new River Battle is GREAT. Little kids (and big kids) will go CRAZY for it. It's a gentle boat ride, except you don't face forward. You face off the side, 4 people on each side sitting back to back. And you have a water cannon that you fire by turning a crank. There are lots of targets to hit that make things happen to get you (or someone else) all wet. And the "course" is laid out so that three or four times you come face to face with the people on another boat- and you work your darnedest to soak them with your water cannon. And there are even more water cannon set up for people not on the ride, but watching. It's very gently, wet (but not too wet), I've never been on anything like it, and, like I said, kids will LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Associated with River Battle is another big change at the park I've been looking forward to for years. Originally, the park was laid out sort of like a Y, or like a tuning fork, with an entrance area, and then two long "fingers" leading to Craftman's Valley and up to the Country Fair area. A few years ago, they added a third finger. It's not quite trident-shaped, but that image works well enough. If Craftsman's Valley is the "middle finger"-haha- then then the newer finger is on the far left. It leads you to the Thunderhead, Timber Tower, Mystery Mine, and River Battle, in that order. And now, it continues past the River Battle and connects with the end of Craftsman's Valley, just past the Tennessee Tornado. It makes the park much more maneuverable and really cuts down on traffic on some of the older paths that weren't wide enough to handle all the traffic.

So we had a great time, pretty low-key, and ate some food I've been craving: Miss Lillian's fried chicken and the giant 1/3-pound hot dogs (we split one). I needed to do the homework, but I also needed to have some fun before I could DO the homework. So I took a Mental Health Day and rode roller coasters. Eric was very pleased with the looks he got now that he's skinny and hot, and wants the water park to open. Not that he's into the water park, but now he'll look good in trunks.

I took a lot of video with our little HD camera- and I found out (when we got home) exactly why I've had problems getting it to focus. There's a switch on it that moves you from close up to more distant focus... I didn't know about the switch, so it's always been in close up mode. I'd planned on putting together a little trip report video to upload, but 90% of it's out of damn focus. Guess that means I have to go back. As soon as possible.

Oh, and I was happy to see that Ghost Town in the Sky didn't fold after last summer. There's a big billboard for it on I-40. Their coaster should be running this year, and I can't wait to try it out.

Be good!

Oh, and...

I told my office time and time again that the problem with our website was a firewall at the server. Of course, the people who own the server swore that wasn't it. They finally got it fixed. Guess what? I was RIGHT.

Little Friends

So when we got this house, there was a washer and dryer under the back deck. The "office" was apparently an addition, and it juts out of the house next to the deck. There was an electric range under there. The washer and dryer were gotten rid of after a few months, but I kept the range. I kept saying I was going to bring it inside to see if it works. It's actually a nicer range than the one in the house- it has a ceramic glass top- and when you spill on the stove as often as I do, that's wonderful. It's a Frigidaire. The one in the house is a Hotpoint. The Frigidaire is all pristine white. The Hotpoint is white and has a black door and the coils are all crooked and it's kind of ugly. And the thermostat in the oven is off by like, 25%.

So today I finally brought that range inside. Guess what? It works just fine! The oven thermostat is a little off, but it's closer than the current oven. I was really happy. I spent about 5 hours cleaning it (God knows how long it had been out there- we've been here a year and a half), and it looks really good! But... one of the things I cleaned out was a rat's nest on each side of the drawer. It was no problem to clean out. Of course, it's all sanitized and stuff. And of course, when it gets hot in the oven, you smell- you guessed it- mouse pee.

Now, I had a mousy-smelling oven once before, in Murfreesboro. I managed to get rid of the mouse, and after a few days, the smell went away. I don't think this smell is going to go away. I've got to open up the back of the range and clean it out. That's not too big a deal. If the insulation is soaked, I can actually replace that. I found a place online that sells it (I'm a little worried that the website doesn't show prices).

So then I started thinking... what if there are mice in there right now? The last thing I need is to bring mice into my kitchen! I'm sure the cats would be pleased. But I wouldn't. So I lugged the thing out onto the deck and it's staying there overnight. Anyway, wish me luck with my new (free) range. I feel like I was on The Price is Right! "What's Curtis won, Rod Roddy?" "A NEW RANGE!!!"

Plus, I have a friend I think might need a new range herself. She told me that she cooks on the woodstove at home. Now, if she cooks on the woodstove because she wants to, that's one thing. But if she's cooking on the woodstove because she needs a new range and can't afford it- well, hopefully I'll have one to give her soon. If she doesn't want it, I'm sure it'll just end up on the curb for a passerby. I can't imagine selling it quickly through the classifieds.

That's all. Be good!

On being a Good Student

Being a Good Student entails more than just getting everything done excellently. It involves more that doing Everything That Is Assigned to the best of your ability. It also involves being able to say, "Fuck that! It's unrealistic and I'm already doing better than everyone else in the class!"

Nerd Post

OK, this is going to be a Nerd Post, so I beg indulge. And if any of the people who read this blog - either of you - have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

As you may know, I work from home. My job involves downloading large pdf files from a server. Over the weekend, my company moved its service from a company in St Louis to a company in Minnesota. My company's website and the pdf files are located on two different servers. I can access the website just fine, but the pdf files now take FOREVER. I mean, like half an hour for what used to take a few seconds. My IT dept is busy putting out all kinds of other fires that the move has created, so they're too busy to help me.

I talked to Charter, my ISP. They weren't any help. Twice they put me on hold and hung up on me. Once, I tried their online chat. They couldn't help either, saying they tried to ping the server I need and got no response. They couldn't trace it, either. I can't trace it, myself.

I went to campus and tried to access the server using the school's network, and it was just as slow. Eric's computer is just as slow, even when running Windows through a virtual machine. I'm tempted to install Windows using Boot Camp, but I'm sure I'll have the same problem.

Here's what I think. I think the new server has some sort of firewall to block Charter IP addresses. I've had no problem at all with any other sites/servers on the web.

What do you think?

Good music

I'm currently loving Lily Allen's "Alright, Still."  Check it out, if you haven't already.

Now in cinemas

I was just thinking about the movie industry, and then I realized the Oscars are this weekend.  Chalking it up to serendipity, I thought I'd write was I was thinking about.

I've been wanting to see Cloverfield. I was very very careful to avoid spoilers.  I know nothing about it, really, even though I did happen across a photo online of a prototype collectible action figure of the monster.  Dammit.  I hit "back" on my browser real quick.  I'm hoping it wasn't real.  


Anyway, since I don't work on Fridays, and Eric does, and since he never wants to go to the movies, I thought I'd go see it today.  Either that or U2 3D.  I had my mind made up for me when I discovered that Cloverfield isn't playing in Johnson City any longer.

How long has that movie been out? Like, a month?  What is it with the Opening Weekend Phenomenon?  Has DVD really made such a difference that movies only run for a few days before being pulled from the cinemas?

I think back to the '80's, and even the early '90's, the heyday of the VCR.  Movies still played for more than a week then.  I used to see movies I liked more than one time.  I think I saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off seven or eight times at the cinema.  As late as the '90's, I went to see Pocahontas at least three times.  You can't do that now- unless you see it twice on opening day and once the very next day.

Anyway, it's not about seeing things multiple times that I'm writing.  It's that I wish the distributors would allow things to play a bit longer, so that wishy-washy people like me, who don't decide to go see something till they've heard about it from others who have seen it, will actually have the chance to see the movie!

Oh, and I didn't see U2 3D.  I was productive and painted the kitchen cabinets instead.

I love these kids.

Gosh, I love my meds. Day 13 now, and I'm back to myself as of yesterday. Drinking much less- OK I don't have to get up early tomorrow. Shut up! Going to school this morning wasn't difficult. Staying up to read homework last night wasn't difficult. This morning, in fact, I was up a half-hour before I needed to be.

Eric has a new permanent job that pays decently, so he thinks we might ought to stay here a little longer than planned. We'll see. I think we need to get me that MFA and get me teaching. Professors don't make a lot, but they make a lot more than I do now, and a lot more than he does now. I think it's best for the future to do that. He's afraid he won't be able to find a decent job when we leave, but honestly, neither of us have ever had to search for more than a few months to find a decent job, and he'll have a degree by then. He says he was lucky. I say he's marketable and a good worker.

In other, more boring news, I got rid of the satellite TV service in a money-saving effort. Got rid of the DSL, too, and the phone. Moved it all to cable. Was going to save, like, $50 a month. But I wasn't happy with the cable TV. And I realized that probably 50% of what I watch is on broadcast since we got the HDTV. And the few cable-network channels I watched aren't worth the huge amount I was paying for them. So now we have cable internet, no pay-TV, and no home phone, and I'm saving, like $100 a month. And though I miss Doctor Who and Trading Spaces, that's about it. Yay economizing! I have huge antenna on the roof- that's enough.

That's all. Be good.