Goober Bits

I Hate Everything
This morning, I wanted to take MARTA to work so I could read my book, but I had trouble getting out of bed, so I was running late, so I had to drive, and that sucked.

I was supposed to go back on Weight Watchers today, but then someone brought hot Krispy Kremes to work, and maybe someday I'll understand the psychology behind my certainty that mindless eating is the best way to deal with a bad mood, but that day is not today, and so I ate three doughnuts, and that's 15 of my flex points for the week gone already, and I have no self-control, and that sucks.

I was also supposed to go to the gym at lunch today (as part of the diet/exercise program), and I got as far as slinging my gym bag over my shoulder and walking outside, but then I got hit by a freezing cold gust of wind, and I hadn't brought a coat to work, and I turned around and came back inside. I went to the fridge to get a Coke, but no one had re-stocked the fridge this morning, so the only non-diet caffeinated drink available was Vanilla Coke, a.k.a. Drink of Satan, and usually when that happens, I go across the street to the BellSouth building to buy a can of Coke, but see above in re no coat, so I just drank a nasty Vanilla Coke with my lunch (if you drink it with food it's not nearly as bad as trying to drink it on its own), and that sucked.

After three doughnuts, I wasn't really that hungry, actually, but the volunteers who relieve me for my lunch breaks come right at 12:00, and if I'm not ready to go to lunch yet, they stand over me and shift impatiently until I hand over the headset, so there's no point in stalling. Also, they're volunteers, so I try to be respectful of their time; the sooner I leave for lunch, the sooner I get back and they can go home. So I heated up my Healthy Choice lunch, ate the pot roast and the carrots out of it, and then decided that, after the Krispy Kremes, I really wasn't in the mood to eat the frozen Healthy Choice apple cobbler dessert. So I sat there trying to figure out exactly how many Winning Points (TM) the apple cobbler dessert is worth out of the 6 Points (TM) total assigned to the whole frozen dinner. As if it could possibly make a difference given that I'd already eaten 15 Points' (TM) worth of doughnuts. Plus, I was sitting there all alone eating, and if I'd brought my book, I totally could have gotten some reading done, but I didn't bring my book after all because I didn't take MARTA, and that sucks.

I really don't know why I'm in this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mood today, but it took hold of me last night, and I haven't been able to shake it off yet. I think I'm just at the point in the run of the Ren Fest where I'm a little bit sick of it and I just wish, more than anything, that I could have just one day to sleep in. Sunday was a really good day at the Renaissance Festival, despite the rainy start, and we had a really fun Pub Sing. Still, as Kelley and I drove to Zabbe Le's to get warm, wonderful coconut soup (they were closed; that sucked), I started to sink into a funk, and I just couldn't get out. Kel and I ended up at Thai Chili, which also has coconut soup (as well as their signature salmon curry, yum), and I was glad it was just the two of us because there are few people on the planet who can listen to me bitch for two hours about really petty shit and still like me at the end of it.

So I guess I should quit it, huh? Yeah, OK. I shall now exit bitch mode.

It was a good weekend at the Ren Fest, despite the rain. Saturday's rain really wasn't bad at all, and it turned into a good day. Unfortunately, once it rains a little (or even if it just says "chance of rain" on the weather forecast"), we're already doomed in terms of patrons coming out. Most people decide to stay home and wait for a nicer day. But I can't complain, not at all. A "light day" for me is still pretty good, nothing like my first couple of seasons as Joni Minstrel when I would make a total of $5 in tips on a rain day. I had fun on Saturday, too, partly because my boy was there and partly because

droid18 and I had planned a scavenger hunt for Matthew and Dolph for their birthdays, so I got the amusement and intrigue of monitoring their progress. I had done one of those for Matthew a couple of years ago that was, like, 9 clues that he had to find, hidden all over the festival. This year it got a little more involved; they had to actually do things like play games and ride rides. (Matthew: "Have you ridden that barrel ride?" Lindsay: "No." Matthew: "It's intense!" Fast-forward two hours to Lindsay and Derik on the Barrel of Bedlam ride. Lindsay: "Derik? We have to go sit down now." Derik: "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Lindsay: "No, for real, dude. I'm serious. I have to go sit really, really still for a while.") At the end of the day, King Richard (thanks, Bryan!) told them that they'd won a kiss from each other. I honestly didn't know what they would do, but I thought it would be a funny thing to spring on them. (I also didn't know it would happen at Pub Sing in front of everyone, but I am of course thrilled that it worked out that way.) Being the consummate performers that they are, they rolled with it, going backstage and then coming back out with Johnny Ozbourne. Pretty funny. Of course, since it was all unscripted, there was really no ending for the bit, so I was suddenly standing there wondering how the hell we were going to make a transition from that back into our regularly scheduled Pub Sing. Oops! But, as I keep telling Rivka, that's why people come to Pub Sing, anyway, because you never know what's going to happen. People will forgive some lapses in organization as long as they're entertained.

I think we should do another scavenger hunt next year and make it even more involved. Get more cast members involved, include more challenges and make them harder, make the clues harder to figure out. We could even make it last a whole weekend. I would really enjoy doing that. However, I know myself well enough to know that it probably won't ever happen because I'm just not that organized and always end up doing stuff like that at the last minute.

Sunday wasn't quite as fun, just because, while one rain day is actually kind of fun, two rain days in a row isn't, really. I get worn out; trying to stay energized and give just as good a show to six people as I would give to twenty is a little bit draining. Although, I have to say, the rain day patrons who do show up are great. They're the ones who love being there, who love the music, who love the whole idea of the Renaissance Festival. The people who are just there for the beer and the cleavage generally don't show up on rain days. Also, rain days give me a chance to wander around the festival a little bit, see things I haven't seen yet. I got to go visit the Chess Boy, and I love talking to the Chess Boy. If I weren't already taken, I would totally try to get him to ask me out, so it's a good thing I'm taken because he's, like, ten years younger than I am. He's just so lovably geeky. He told me a great quote from renowned physicist Richard Fineman (whose autobiography I've actually read; I'm a geek, too): "Physics is like sex: there may be practical results, but that's not why we do it."

I also visited the fine folks at Maple Valley Fibers this weekend, I got to chat with Richard at the coffee shop about history and politics and the Civil War (I always act like I know way more about those things than I do. Why do I do that? I always get called out eventually), and I got to see part of the Lost Boys' all request show. You know, I have seen those guys do their thing so many times and for so many years that I've lost count, and I still laugh at every joke, every single time. It is just impossible not to love them. How many times have I seen Clarence do his "Ai-yi-yi-yi" at the end of his solo during the "To Be Or Not to Be Blues"? How many times have I seen him do his "pillow smother" during "Desdemona"? How many times have I seen Matthew race towards the stage, fiddling furiously, during "Ode to an Unfetter'd Fowl," and then do a flying leap onto the stage before ending the song? Yet I laugh every single time. I will admit that there have been times in the past when I've been jealous of their success, but dude, how could I have been? They earn every single laugh and every scream of adoration that comes their way.

Sometimes, I must admit, I miss the early days of Joni Minstrel. The act was so new that I was always coming up with new things to do, and everyone was eager to help. A lot of the things you think are mine weren't my ideas at all. I remember a long phone conversation with Schuyler (formerly of The Phoolish Phweasome) right after I'd first come up with the idea for the character (I told him I'd had the idea of being the Village Protest Singer, and he said, "Now, that's an idea that is definitely rich with possibility"), and we talked about what her name would be and what all I could do with the character. (Originally, I wanted to come up with a play on Joan Baez but then settled for Joni Minstrel when I couldn't come up with anything.) In fact, he and Brandon and Jen all helped me so much with ideas and implementation of same during that first season that I wish I'd thanked them on the CD; I just didn't think of it in time. Schuyler helped me with my concept of "donor levels" and, when I told him that no one wanted me to kiss trees in their honor, said, "Oh, insist on it! Don't give them a choice." Same thing with the protest songs. I started out going up to people and saying, "I be Joni Minstrel, Village Protest Singer, blah blah blah, would you like to register a protest?" Everybody was saying no, and I was very discouraged, and it was Mikey, I think, who said, "Why don't you change the question? Rather than asking them if they'd like to protest something, just ask them, 'What would you like to protest?'" I came up with "the sign of the ram," but it didn't stand for anything until someone at rehearsals (I don't even remember who), said, "What if RAM were an acronym for something? You could be the head of an organization, like The Revolution Against Monarchs or something like that."

That was just a really creative period; the character was constantly evolving over those first two seasons. I played "Burn the Bodice" at Pub Sing expecting to do it once; suddenly, it was the hit of the season, and Fiona was calling on me every day. Because I played for audiences of 0-6 people most of the time, it was very gratifying to have a "hit single" that everyone knew the words to. I was playing for the Maypole with my little kazoo (totally lame, but it kept me busy), I had to drag that damn box all over the festival, and I was always running around kissing trees and fairies and kicking the king. I love that, last year, Danny finally had security guards who actually prevented me from kicking him. That was such a challenge, and I don't think I even got one kick in, all season long.

It's odd to be nostalgic about something I'm still in the middle of, but I think Joni Minstrel needs a new challenge. She has gotten too predictable, in a way. I like the new song for that reason; you sort of see another side of her. When I created the character, I resolutely wanted her to not be a party girl and to not be very interested in sex, just to distinguish her from all the other characters at the festival. Now that she's running the Pub Sing with Three Quarter Ale, though, it makes sense for her to explore the topics of sex and drinking a little more. I need to think of some new challenges for myself out at the festival; I need something new to accomplish. Dolph thinks we should all make guest appearances in each other's sets more often, and I'm all for that. I get tired of the sound of my own voice, so I can only imagine how bored the regular patrons must get.... I just feel like it's gotten to the point where I know what my day will be like before it even starts, and that's no good. More than ever, I love the Pub Sing because I never know what will happen at the end of the day; I never know who's going to have the best "Move Over" verse or who's going to get slammed hard or what the "hit song" of the evening is going to be. Speaking of which, the new song went over very well, and thanks to

psychemarlies and CAJ for saying so. I was also really proud of

lasarigue and her friends for the great job they did with "Health to the Company." Bret recorded that song on his new CD, and I'm glad because it means I get to listen to it today. I've had it in my head since I heard it at Pub Sing.

My favorite thing of all so far this year is the same thing that was my favorite thing last year. All last week, I had a single white rose in a vase on my nightstand, and now I have a red one as well. They're from

droid18, who has made a ritual of having a rose delivered to me every day that he's at the festival. He could just buy them and hand them to me, but he knows I love it when Molly or Maggie has to come and find me to deliver it special, along with a message of love. Every morning when I wake up, the roses are the first thing I see, and it makes me feel all warm and happy inside.

Oh, plus, deep-fried Three Musketeers bar = Best Thing Ever. (Dolph disagrees, but what does he know?) Alas, I'll never have another; I'm back on Weight Watchers (Krispy Kremes notwithstanding, and I am definitely going to hit the gym after work).

Now my lunch break's long over, and I've really gotta do some data entry. I feel like this was kind of a downer of a post, though. Maybe I'll post more later. This one's already kind of long, though. Maybe I should just stop. I'm still very conflicted about what this is supposed to be. Is it really a journal, a place for me to record my thoughts and the events in my life? If so, why am I keeping it on the internet for all to read? Is it a newsletter like The Goober Diaires? If so, why do I write down all the borning minutiae that nobody cares about? Is it a way for me to keep in touch with friends and family who live far away and whom I don't always have time to call? If so, why have I made it public, thereby forcing me to be very careful about what I say? I dunno. Lee says she likes the journals that actually keep you up to date on people's lives and that she can't deal with the ones that are fiction or random ramblings (and when I told

droid18 that, he vowed to start talking about Lee in his journal so that she would have to read it. Which begs another question: if these are our personal journals, why do we care whether other people read them or not?), but I kind of like the ones that mix politics or some other interest with the mundane daily details.

pacotelic's journal is completely unintelligible half the time, but at least it keeps me caught up on stuff I wouldn't normally think about. I just went to

psychemarlies's journal this morning, and there's some interesting stuff on that one, too.

But I'm not feeling political these days, and I'm certainly not feeling interesting. So I guess that's that, then.

Current Mood: grumpy
Current Music: Bret Blackshear - Fingers, Frets, and Fire

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