June 20th: MUSICAL!!!!

So remember a while ago, when I said there was a new project that I was working on?  But I made you wait before I mentioned anything about it?  Remember how it happened after the Musical Improv workshop?  And then remember how a long time ago I had this crazy idea to write a musical, until I realized that I didn't know the first thing about writing a musical?

Well guess what!  I'M WRITING A MUSICAL!!!  Now I'm sure you're thinking, "But Alison, you don't know the first thing about writing music, let alone a full musical.  How on earth are you going to pull this off?"  EASY!  The fact that I am working alongside two very intelligent and ridiculously talented folks who do know something about writing a musical ... as proven by the fact that one of them actually has written not a musical, but 2 musicals!  Now that's cred!

So this is still very early in the process, but it is happening!  And it's going to be awesome!  And you're hearing it here first.  Because I'm not even posting it to any of my social media pages yet until we have a better grasp of what it is going to be about.  Tonight we came up with a great idea, with a great brainstorming session, but there's still a lot of narrowing down to do.  So once we've narrowed, I will let you know.  But what I can say is that the fact that this Musical is in fact going ahead - is flipping AWESOME!  Thank you Peter and Jenn for helping to make this dream a reality!

June 19th: Done, done, and DONE!

I am a total nerd.  It's official.  I am that ridiculous person that gets excited about board meetings that go well.  Especially when it's a board meeting that encompasses pretty much every major project we could possibly bring to the board.  Strategic Plans, Budgets, and random new (and absolutely huge) ideas we are hoping to explore.

Want to know what the sweetest word in the world is? Approved!  It's the sound of a very productive evening, and peace and comfort in the morning.  And that, my friends, is awesome!

June 18th: Encouragement in all the right places!

Well it's a little appropriate that I haven't posted an awesomism since June 18th, as what happened that evening was the beginning of a very busy new project.  Remember when I talked about how this summer would be really quiet and I'd have lots of time off and I'd be able to catch up on some long neglected projects?  Yeah well - I may have gotten a bit ahead of myself.

But despite of having a new project to work on this summer, what I can say is that it is pretty awesome to hear such encouragement from the people who could easily tell us we're crazy and need to stop.  It's nice to be surrounded by excitement, encouragement, and the occasional moment of "Are we insane?" ... I guess we'll find out.

Sorry for the vaguery but until things are a bit more settled, that's just the way things are going to have to be.

June 17th: Short Long Ferry Rides

So in order to get between Vancouver and Salt Spring there are a couple of options.  You can either go through Swartz Bay (the Victoria ferry terminal) and then head over to the island, OR you can take one of the two daily ferries that go straight to the island with a few stops to the other islands along the way.  Either way, you're looking at about 3 hours of ferry time.  

Normally three hours would feel like a long time, but when your'e passing the time playing charades and would-you-rather with friends new and old it actually goes by fairly quickly.  The scenery doesn't hurt either.  After a great weekend a peaceful fun ferry ride home was the cherry on top!  

June 16th: WEDDING DAY!!!

I love weddings!  Always have, always will.  Love and commitment is something worth celebrating, especially when it involves some dear friends who really were meant for one another.
And what a wedding!  Sure it was a bit wet outside, but that just meant that we had to take things inside where we were able to have a much more intimate ceremony.  And of course, as is usually the case with West Coast weather, soon after the rain came the sun.  Which only means one thing: RAINBOW.  As if the day couldn't get anymore beautiful!

And oh the reception.  Delicious food, great conversation, and epic dancing!!!!  Oh and the homemade wine and beer - amazing!  AWESOME DAY!  Congratulations Mike and Lauren!  I wish you a very happy loving marriage!  EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!

June 15th: Camping on Salt Spring Island

Living on the west coast definitely has it's perks.  Particularly when friends force you off the main land to enjoy some time on one of the many islands in the surrounding area.  And I'm not talking about Vancouver (though it is extremely beautiful as well).  I'm talking about the Gulf Islands that provide the West Coast with a these secluded getaways with some of the best scenery this world has to offer.

I've been honoured to have made my way to a few of the smaller islands on the West Coast, but the only time I had made my way out to Salt Spring Island was on a short one day trip.  It was an amazing time with Luke and his parents, but it was really nice to be given the chance to stay overnight and camp out.

I wish I had some beautiful pictures to show you, but my camera hates life and is hiding from me right now, so I don't have anything to show.  What I can say is that it was among the more beautiful campsites I have been too.  Decent distance between one site to the next, all in a cathedral of trees, with gorgeous trails that led into town.  Not too shabby!  In fact - AWESOME!  If anyone is looking for a place to camp - I might suggest Garden Faire on Salt Spring.

June 14th: Concordia Rez Flashbacks!

I often miss the University days.  The group of friends I had in University were all such amazing people.  I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends during such a pivotal time in my life.  But since those glory days we have all moved to different places around the world and therefore we don't see much of each other.  Fortunately one of these friends had decided to get married, which provided the perfect opportunity for a reunion.

Because this wedding was happening out here on the west coast, I was honoured to play host to some friends.  I cannot express just how awesome it is to come home from work, and open my apartment door and pretty much experience those exact same feelings back in residence when you went to a friends room and found that there were a few of your friends already chatting away just waiting for you to join the conversation.  The only difference was this time we had 6 years of growing up between us.  Maybe 6 years of aging is the more appropriate term, as it's clear that there really hasn't been too much growing up - which I think is a good thing.

It was so nice to go for a walk with these friends to a nearby park, and upon seeing a hill we had the idea that we should roll down it.  So roll we did!  No hesitation.  Just lots of laughs!  Just like good old times.  Oh Concordia - how I miss you!

June 13: Moonrise Kingdom

So I think I have a new favourite movie.  It's called Moonrise Kingdom.  It's a great story, with hilariously awkward characters, beautiful and unfortunate relationships, and it involves amazing kids.  What's not to like?

I don't really know what to say about this movie other than the fact that it is pure awesome and that more people should go and see it.  Wes Anderson is brilliant.  That's all I'll see.  If you haven't seen the trailer for the movie yet, then check it out HERE.  Beautiful.  Just beautiful.  And downright AWESOME.  

June 12th: Patience is a Virtue!

I'm getting this weird sense of Deja Vu!  I feel like I've written about this before, but I can't seem to find a record of it.  But it is an important message so a little bit of repetition is in order.

Alright - so we had a Pinning Party part 2, and it was very weird timing for me.  I had made a plan to make a certain dish, and work on a craft project that would be applied as a gift for an upcoming wedding.  But I hadn't quite prepared enough in advance.  I still had to purchase my craft supplies and I never looked up how long for me to make my food. AND I had to leave work a little later than I had originally wanted.  Recipe for disaster!

But I pulled through.  I bought my craft supplies (not making it a Pinning craft - but still a necessary one), and then I made my way home to start cooking.  I'm already not the best cook in the world so to rush a recipe that I had made slight adjustments to was really stupid of me.  But I did my best.  And I learned a lot, namely: Patience really is a virtue!  In my rush to get things done so that I could get to the party on time, I was not able to follow certain aspects of the recipe (such as allowing time to drain the liquid out of my veggies) which meant that it ended up taking me much longer in the end, and with a less desired result.

It was awesome to learn that if something tells you that you need to take time to do something, that you really should take that time!  I don't know if it's quite sunk in with me yet, but at least I now have the hard evidence (or at least the some what soggy evidence) to prove to me why I sometimes need to slow down and take the time needed to get a job done.  That's pretty awesome, right?

June 11th: Awkward Love Stories

I've talked at length about how much I love Musical Improv.  I cannot get enough of the workshops.  They're soooooo much fun, and you can get some really awesome stories out of them.

Having moved past fundamentals, we decided to apply what we've learned and do a 20 minute improvised musical.  What we really did was 20 minutes of what should have been a 60 minute improvised musical, because the story we were getting into was just that intense.  Which is I guess to be expected when you're dealing with a bunch of teenagers at a LARPing training camp!

For you newbs out there, LARPing is Live Action Role Playing.  Oh yes - it was as awkward and awesome as you would expect, with weird swordplay, and love triangles galore!


I was so excited at the end of the night, not just because of the awesome night of improv but because of a potential project in the works.  What project, you ask?  Oh - keep reading.  I'll get to it eventually.  

June 10th: Tony Awards!

For claiming to be a theatre person, it is pretty shameful that this was my first year ever to watch the Tony Awards.  I don't know why it's taken me so long.  Maybe it's just been an issue of availability and timing, or maybe I just hadn't been informed well enough, or maybe I just didn't care enough.  But it doesn't matter anymore, because I have finally made my way onto this bandwagon and I'm so glad.

Neil Patrick Harris is just flat out awesome!  If you haven't yet realized this then you're silly.  Just watch a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother.  Or if that doesn't do it for you, then watch some Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog.  The man is epic.  Epic and awesome.  And the host of the Tony Awards.  Therefore the show was awesome.

Now, not having been to New York in several years, I obviously did not get to see the shows that were nominated.  But I happened to appreciate some familiar faces in the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.  And having just watched the movie Once I was quite proud when it was named Best Musical.

Clearly I need to keep up this trend.  Thanks Shay and Lois for making sure I watched the Tony's this year, as well as the Broadway education.  Much appreciated!

June 9th: S&Mprov

Oh yes - it happens!  I suspect that no one would expect to see comedy improv and sadomasochism combined, but having seen the show I can tell you that it's awesome.

Take the desire for pain, remove the sex, and add in the improv and it makes for a pretty amazing show. Shackles, marshmallows, mousetraps and a bucket of water can make for an extremely amazing and entertaining show.  And I think there's something really wrong with me because I cannot wait to try it out.
I want to taste a bit of that pain.

Know what else is awesome about S&Mprov?  It's going to be taking place on the second Saturday of every month.  I can't wait for July!

June 8th: FANTASTICK!

It's not every day that I make my way to Abbotsford to catch a show, but Friday was one of them.  Gallery 7 was opening their show The Fantasticks!  I have always wanted to see this show.  I also happen to know, love, and work with the choreographer.  And I happen to know this guy who lives in Abbotsford now.  So when I was invited to see the show, obviously I went.

Here's what I learned from the show.  Silence truly speaks volumes.  Don't get me wrong - the performances were great, the music was awesome, and the dialogue and lyrics were hilarious.  But I kept being distracted by the character who played the wall and was silent the entire show.  I want to give that guy a high five.  He wasn't exactly a show stealer, because he knew how to share the stage and not pull focus.  But he was just so epically awesome that I needed to make mention of just how great his silence was.

I was thoroughly impressed by the show.  Well done Gallery 7!  What a way to end the season. 

June 7th: Universes Colliding!

I'm sorry okay!  It's hard to keep up with a daily blog when I'm spending too much time enjoying the awesomeness of days rather than writing about them.  I apologize.  But I always catch-up eventually.  So here we go:

On Thursday I went out to go see an acquaintance of mine perform.  A while ago I seemed to be going to a lot of concerts, but recently that hasn't been the case.  So when Adaline came back into town, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to enjoy the music scene, even if only for the night.  What I didn't expect was for universes to collide.

So I have this friend Andrea.  Andrea has a friend Katie (who I don't know if I can yet call a friend, but she's certainly an acquaintance).  Katie has a friend or co-worker Chantal.  Chantal has a friend from Adrienne.  Adrienne is in a choir called the VOC Sweet Soul Gospel Choir.  .... Yes - the same choir I am in.

What's weirder is that she was the fourth choir member that I had randomly run into that week.  One came by the Pacific Theatre office, another I ran into at a Starbucks where I had scheduled a Jessies meeting, the third ended up being the host of the crazy awesome Loco networking event, and then there was this situation.  It was awesome!

Normally universes colliding wouldn't be an awesome thing, but in this case it certainly was.  Next time I'll have to run into a choir member while hanging out with some improv buddies.  Or run into improv buddies while hanging out with work folk.  Or run into Jessie folk while doing some improv.  Really - any other sort of friend collision would be great.

June 6th: Pajamas by 9!

I've always been a little bit envious of those people who would get home from work and immediately change into more comfortable clothes.  Sometimes even pajamas.  I was never that person.  I don't know why.  On those days when I know I have no plans of leaving the house once I get home, I don't see why I wouldn't get out of the jeans and at least put on something a bit more comfy.  I guess I just felt that there was always a chance that I would need to be properly dressed.

Well today I changed that.  I didn't get into my comfy clothes right away, but after making dinner and sorting through some clothes I decided it was time to change.  Off came the jeans.  On went the coziness.  And it was AWESOME!

I know myself better than to say that I am now going to make this a habit.  But if for some reason it became a habit, I think I'd be okay with it.  So long as people knew that they could still send me those late night invites.  I'd be more than happy to put those jeans back on for a little bit of socialization.  I'd also have no problem with walking out in public in pajamas when heading to a friends place late at night.  Actually, that would be a trend I'd love to start.  Imagine being a bus with a bunch of people all gussied up for a night out at the club, and there you are sitting in your pajamas on your way to go to a friends place late at night to drink some wine and vent. ... AWESOME!  Friends, keep this in mind!

June 5th: Crazy Random Happenstance!

I'm not usually one who likes a change in plans, but tonight it was absolutely welcomed.  Instead of attending an event that would have involved spending time mingling with the theatre crowd in Vancouver, I changed plans to hang out with Andrea at a networking event for local Vancouver businesses.  I had no idea what I would be getting myself into, but I figured it would be fun.  If nothing else I'd at least get to meet some new people and learn a bit more about some local businesses.  Turns out I was in for so much more!!!

Yes - I met lots of awesome new people and found out more about the local businesses.  And now I know that I have to make a field trip to Earnest Ice Cream, and that I really want to somehow get involved with eatART and their awesome creative engineering projects.  I'm a creative helpful person. There has to be something I can do.

The thing that happened that I wasn't expecting is that I ran into some people who I kind of knew, but either never officially met, or hadn't seen in several years.  It is really awesome to go into a networking event and within the first few minutes of arriving having someone bee line it for you because they recognize you and know you need to meet.  Turns out that Louise from Recycling Alternative who was hosting the event is a fellow member of the VOC Sweet Soul Gospel Choir. It's hard to get to know everyone in a choir of more than 100 people.  So finally we were able to exchange names and get to know a bit more about each other.

Then later I saw someone who was in a show I was in 6 years ago.  So after establishing that the whole purpose of these events is to have a 'mark' - you know, someone you intend to meet and talk to at the event, I decided to make him my mark.  Not only was it awesome to catch up and see what we were both up to now, but I found out that he is now doing stand-up comedy (how convenient considering what I was up to last week) and that he happened to have a show that evening at a venue fairly close by.  So obviously that had to be added to the to do list for the evening.

Once the networking event started winding down, Andrea and I made our way down to the comedy show.   And since we were in the area, we invited friend Natalie who was also in the show with Travis.  Amazingly, she was actually available and came out as well.

Such an awesome random evening that spawned from a slight change in plans!  Thank you Andrea for the invite.  Any time you need someone to accompany you to events like this, I hope you extend the invitation my way again.

June 4th: Passing the torch!

I love being on the Jessies board.  It's a great to be a part of the greater professional theatre community, but I've been a bit crazy with how I have been involved.  This past year I think I had about 4 job titles, and some of them were significant and took up a lot of time.  So, it was really nice today when I met with the people who will be taking on the most time consuming job.

I have taken a lot of pride in taking on the position of the JRC Chair, but after 3 years in the position it has been a lot to handle.  So I am thrilled to pass the torch on this one, as I take on a new position.  Don't worry - the new position is not nearly as demanding as the one I've passed on, so even if it seems like I'm maintaining the same level of commitment ... trust me - I'm not!

Hooray, I can't wait for this coming year when I just take on the roles of VP, Sponsorship Committee, and Statues Officer.  Special thanks to Steven and Diane who are going to take on the position.  It's going to be a good year!

June 3rd: Goofy Mornings!

Okay - this is going to be a really mushy, throw-up-in-your-mouth kind of a post, so anyone who doesn't want to hear about stupid little gross lovey-type stories can stop reading now.  Seriously.  Just stop! ... NOW!

Alright, so I really love cuddling.  And fortunately Luke does too!  Often times, when we fall asleep we start off cuddling but at some point we part ways as things get a little too warm and uncomfortable and we need our space.  But in the morning times we get back to that cuddling position as we ease ourselves out of that peaceful sleep.  (Are you throwing up yet?)  And as we start to wake up we start talking to each other.  And in talking with each other, the banter starts, and the laughter ensues.

It is really awesome when you literally start your day laughing.  I don't know what it is about us, but it seems that at some point even in our calm, pleasant, cuddly moments one of us turns something into a joke and the other ends up laughing uncontrollably.  And I love it!  Who wants boring romantic stuff when we can collectively enjoy the simple and ridiculous things in life. Isn't that what love and life are all about?

I'll always love the cuddling.  But if I can add some laughter and goofiness to that cuddling, then it is AWESOME!  Thank you Luke for adding a little goofiness to our love.

June 2nd: Early Morning Saturday

I'm not usually one for waking up early on a Saturday morning, but when it involves a conversation with a good friend, then I'm all for it.

I'm not always very good at staying in touch.  Things are a lot easier with things like Facebook, but otherwise it's easy for me to lose touch with folks.  Fortunately these folks all fit into that category of people who I could potentially go months without speaking to, and the moment we start talking again it's as if no time has passed.  But when a person lives in New Orleans, and I would normally only see them maybe once a year, it's nice to get in some conversation time in every now and again. Even if it means waking up early on a Saturday morning.

Hearing that alarm go off didn't sound nearly as daunting as it usually can.  I was excited to talk.  Still very tired, but excited and thrilled.  Love you Jenn!  Thanks for the catch up session.  Looking forward to the next one!

June 1st: Doug, Doug Pitt!

After a surreal evening of comedy, I had an even more surreal daytime on Friday.

So - our choir was booked for this commercial that will be shot in Australia.  I didn't know much about it.  So I just got into my clothes and headed off for the shoot.  Then I get there only to be handed the lyrics of the song we would be singing in the commercial.  They seemed a little odd but figured, 'Hey, they just have an awesome sense of humour.'  The lyrics were something like:

Doug, Doug Pitt

He's Our Man

Second Most Famous Pitt - Yeah

He's Our Man

Doug Pitt (repeated in several variations)

Every Doug has his Day

So you might be wondering, "Who's this Doug Pitt fellow?"  Well, it's quite simple actually.  He's this guy!

Doug Pitt on left with brother Brad Pitt.  Photo from 417mag.com

Yeah - did you know that Brad Pitt had a younger brother?  He totally does.  And he's a very handsome though ordinary type of guy.  Just an epically awesome, funny, charming, good-looking, and really nice kind of guy who just happened to be the star of the commercial that we had been booked for to sing about him!

Even though our choir was only called to be on set until 1pm, we ended up being there until after 4pm. But that was fine by me.  I'm in summer mode.  I rarely take days off unless absolutely necessary. And I spent the day singing, filming and hanging out with Brad Pitt's younger brother.  ... Not a bad Friday if you ask me.  What an awesome random day!

Again - the commercial will only be airing in Australia but it will probably be online in 3 months or so.  I'll be sure to share it once it becomes available, because based on everything that I know about it and saw - it's going to be awesome!

May 31st: Stand-Up for your Rights!

I did it!  A month ago I accepted the challenge of doing stand-up comedy, and finally I have accomplished it.  And the best part is - THEY LAUGHED!!!!  There were some legitimate laughs.  And there were some pity laughs as well.  But hey, a laugh is a laugh.

I cannot express just how nervous I was to do the stand-up.  And then an hour before the show when I met all of the other comedians and heard some of their stuff I became even more nervous.  Their sets were mostly just jokes.  Some jokes based on story, but mostly just jokes based on being funny.  Basically what you would expect of a stand-up comedian. I felt a wee bit out of place. I essentially just kept my mouth closed until it was my turn, and then made my way on stage as I took a deep breath and then started talking.

I am so relieved to have done it, and for it to have gone as well as it did.  Am I ready to do it again? Absolutely not!  Will I ever do it again?  Possibly.  I might even say probably.  But it's going to take some time.  My confidence was definitely shaken prior to doing it, and even though it went fairly well, I'm still trying to tighten up those pieces that came loose during the whole preparation process. But, we'll see what happens.  Maybe I'll do it again.  Maybe I'll leave it to those who seem much more comfortable with it.  Who knows?

What I do know is that that one time of doing while absolutely frightening, was really really AWESOME, and I want to thank Andrea and Luke for being my very needed support group that evening.  I can't thank you enough for being there to cheer me on!  I'm a lucky gal!

May 30th: Partying on a school night!

Growing up we were never allowed to stay out late on weeknight's for the simple reason that it was a "school night."  As soon as I left for University I was thrilled to put those days behind me.  Who cared if it was a Tuesday and I had a class at 8am on Wednesday?  I wasn't going to miss out on the 80's night at Cafe Campus where they had pitchers on for $6.  I had priorities. ... Sometimes.

Generally I'd say that since living in Vancouver I have more or less grown past those weeknight partying days.  I'll still go see shows until 11pm on a weeknight but midnight would generally be my limit.  Not on Wednesday though!

Once you start getting into really good conversation it's really hard to get out of it.  Especially when there is still wine around.  And some times it can go past 1am.  And then you could end up spending much of your commute home, walking in the rain.  But it's okay, because you've still got some wine in your system to warm you up and make you somewhat oblivious to how long it is actually taking you to walk home.

I'm not saying that I'm going to make this weeknight partying a regular thing, but every once in a while it's nice to go back to the University type behaviours.  If nothing else, it at least makes me think that perhaps not too much of time has passed since that time in my life.  Oh denial - you're awesome!

May 29th: Killing Gorillas! .... figuratively of course

You know when you have this project that has been weighing you down and stressing you out for a long time?  You know - those big monkeys on your back type things.  Well when you spend a day finally tackling and completing those projects,  Ron and I like to call that 'killing gorillas'.  And that's exactly what I did on Tuesday.  And it felt soooooooooooo good.  And what better timing.

Our final show of the season closed.  We're just wrapping things up with all of the shows and getting everything ready for next year, and already I've got a decent head start on things.  Contracts are signed.  Money has gone out the door. Subscriptions have been coming in, and going out.  And best of all ... we have a decent cash flow for the next year.  Obviously it's a working document which will constantly be updated.  But boy does it ever feel good to have it done!  Sorry, not good ... AWESOME!

May 28th: Pitch granted!

So ... I have had this idea for a long time.  I really like musicals.  I really like creating and working on new shows.  And I really really like working with awesome people.

I've had this dream for a potential show for a while.  But I know where my talents lie, and more importantly where they do not.  And so, this little project has been on the back burner.  That being said, I came to realize at a workshop a long time ago that I know other people who have the talents I lack who could help bring this idea to life.

So I pitched it to them ... and they seemed interested.  Nothing's absolutely confirmed yet, but the fact that it's even in the realm of possibility again is pretty amazing.  Especially since it has been on my mind ever since working with Rick Maddocks on THE MEAL. .... Fingers crossed everything comes through.  But just having some support, encouragement, and enthusiasm from the people who could make this happen is awesome!

May 27th: Piano Time!

I love a little down time.  That's why after a weekend of house and dog sitting it was really nice to just have a day to myself to catch up and clean up and do some things that I hadn't done.  I caught up with some movies that I've always wanted to see.  Caught up with some reading.  And most importantly - I reacquainted myself with the piano.

I never had piano lessons.  I think I can thank my brothers for that.  But as long as I can remember we always had a piano or keyboard of some sort in our home.  Well with Dad being a musician and everything it was kind of necessary for any of the jam sessions he'd have with friends and family.  But no one in the family played.  We enjoyed having friends come over who did play the piano when we finally got to hear it played well.  Otherwise it would just be us playing around on it.  I did my best to teach myself a couple simple songs when I was back in high school.  But that was a long time ago.  Could I remember them now?

Give me a keyboard and a house to myself, and apparently I can.  It took some time but it was really nice to get back to the keys and teach myself a song that I could sing along to.  It wasn't exactly beautiful, but it was awesome.  And it felt so good to feel like if I ever have a house that I wouldn't have to feel guilty about having a piano in it ... because hopefully I would at least at some point put it to use.