A Job Offer I Never Expected

So I am convinced that there is a little magnet inside of me that attracts all of the craziest people. Friday afternoon I was talking to people near the Liberty Bell for the Theatre Alliance. I approached an older lady to ask her if she enjoyed theatre, which she loves musicals. I asked if she would like to sit on our Couch, and talk about what she loved about it, and she was unsure. What she was sure about was my "great personality." She then informed me that her company was hiring if I was interested. Out of curiosity I had to ask, "What do you do?" "Oh, I'm a sex phone operator."

I was honestly taken aback. Not only had I just been offered a job as a sex phone operator, but was this 60 year old lady really what was on the other end of those calls? And is this really a line of work that is lucrative? I mean with the internet, you can get all of this stuff for free, so why pay, like $1.99 a minute?

There was still a bunch of chatting with other people to do. And this lady, whose name I cannot remember, sat on a bench nearby the entire time. Whenever I had a lull in people, she would bring up her work again! She told me she makes good money, and it's easy. I had to know, "What are you making?" "$7.50" "An hour?" "Yeah, I clear about $1000 a month. You could do it."

Now, there is no way I can agree with either of her statements. $7.50 an hour is terrible and there is no way I could do that. Her response? "Honey, I'm 65 and I can do it. Whatever it takes to pay the bills."

Sometimes, the strangest people just want to talk to me and I'm not sure why.

An Evening with the Big Banana

At work, I write a weekly Openings and Closings email that is sent out to a couple hundred theatre goers. While the process is sometimes time consuming and tedious (damn formating), I really enjoy it and it gives me a chance to read over most of the theatre happenings in Philly. Since I took on this theatre challenge, I've been using it as a guide and reminder.

The other week, The Blue Monster caught my eye. Since it wasn't listed as a Family show, I thought, "Hmm, this might be amazingly outrageous." And so you know, I love puppets and masks. Names like The Blue Monster, tend to involve things like puppets, masks, and the supernatural. Obviously, I looked into this show. Here UARTS blurb on the show:

A mystical Blue Monster, a seven-headed Hydra and an evil Knight stand between two young lovers, Taer and Dardane, as they struggle to break an ancient curse. Written in 1764, this rarely performed Italian play, inspired by the characters of commedia dell’arte, blends masks, puppetry and physical comedy in an unforgettable tragicomic fable. Director Aaron Cromie is an award-winning member of the Brind School faculty known for his inventive modern take on the traditions of the commedia.

I knew this was a show to see. Now I only needed to find someone to go with me. Oddly, puppets or masks on their own are a hard sell for most people. So the combination together along with an old-school physical theatre style was near impossible. Lucky for me, I have Jake.

Jake and I have been friends for a yew years now, and one of my favorite things about him, is his love of the arts. Another thing is his enjoyment in the absurd pieces of life. Back in October, I told him I had a pair of roller skates for sale (I bought them for a show I worked on), and he jumped at the opportunity to buy them. Then, he came to my birthday party as a roller skating banana. Amazing!

We already had plans to hang out the day that The Blue Monster closed, I called him up to see if he would want to see a kinda odd mask and puppet piece with several monsters in it, and he said there would be nothing better than that. Afterwards, he had some regrets.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. The set was beautiful, the lighting interesting, and the costumes were good too. This production had an Asian/Chinese theme, which I am always a fan of. This was the first Commedia piece I've ever seen, and I'm not sure how I feel about it as a whole. Jake just couldn't get behind it. I think he enjoyed the technical elements, but is not a fan of Commedia dell'arte as a whole. Funny little side note, his ex was the costume designer, so he was rather judgmental. Definitely a great night.

Living an Urban Legend

Two weeks ago at Starbucks, I had the most random accident occur.  As I was throwing the trash into the dumpster, I felt a little prick on the palm of my hand.  When I looked at the bag to see what got me, I saw a hypodermic needle sticking out of the bag!  What!?!?  So I promptly finished taking out the trash, went back inside my store, and filled out an Incident Report Form.  Macha, who happens to be the best Shift Lead this side of Broad Street, she calmed me down and really helped out.  So I was alright, but really, who does this happen to?  I have never heard of a real person being pricked with a random needle.  My manager, Lissie, has worked for Starbucks for 10 years and she has never seen or heard of this!  Luckily Starbucks is paying for everything since I don't have insurance.  I've head 2 blood tests since then, and started takings Combivir, which has been screwing with my stomach pretty consistently since then.  

Because we don't know who the needle belonged to or what it was for, there was a threat of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV.   Apparently, I was supposed to take the needle with me.  I can see how this would make sense, but I was mostly thinking about getting away from that needle.  Now you all know for future reference, and if I run into this situation again, I will be sure to grab it before I run.  They've done tests and I'm practically immune to Hepatitis B.  Which rocks man, becuase that was the biggest threat.  There is only a tiny chance HIV was still living on the needle (if it was ever) and Hepatitis C is very rare, so I'm pretty safe.  There is a chance though.  So I will be getting blood tests done for the next 6 months.  The bitch of it is, I hated needles before this random event.

What a life I lead...

Welcome To Life

Last week I had an epiphany.

I was laying in bed at about 7:30 am relaxing before I had to go to work. 

It suddenly hit me, that this is "real life" and I'm ok with that.  Not even ok, but happy.  

I'm not going back to school this year and I have better things to do anyway.

I never thought this day would come, and I can't get this little smile off my face.

Oh Me

So today I had terrible stomach pains and don't know why.  

So for a moment I thought "Maybe I have Appendicitis."

Then I remembered I'm an asshole.