What an Amazing Discovery!

I have discovered that the computers at work have Google Earth on them. Google Earth is a computer program that lets you put any location, city name, zip code, whatever, and it will whisk you there in high-definition, so you get the sensation of flying over whatever you're looking at. You can move around, zoom in and out, and even "tilt" the screen so you're looking out over the city--although that gets weird as the skyscrapers remain obstinately two dimensional. Ashwaubenon is not rendered in the highest definition, so I haven't quite figured out where Skilark Lane is. London, however, is captured in perfect clarity, and when you type it into the search engine, it plops you right at Trafalgar Square. Or maybe that's just because it's me.

I am enjoying this wayyy too much. It's like I'm walking down my favourite streets again, almost. I can fly over to Covent Garden and pat the Tube station with my mouse cursor, or zoom down the Thames to Greenwich and have a look at the National Maritime Museum. It's almost as if I'm haunting the city. Oooohh...

Yesterday I was reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu which is a collection of short stories by Susannah Clarke, the woman who wrote Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Normally I don't like short stories, but I would read this woman's grocery list if I could get ahold of it. Seriously. Her books are so good that I almost don't want her to write more because I'm afraid she can't live up to her own standard. What was I talking about? Oh, right--I almost fell off my train seat yesterday, because one of the stories contained a passing reference: "Mrs. Purdicks milk should be sweet and strong, because she is very fond of eating and puddings, is she not?" "Oh, yes, miss, little Horatio Arthur is a very healthy child." Obviously this woman had named her kid for the two heroes of the day, but you would not get that unless you were me, and therefore a geek.

Rehearsal has been sort of frustrating this week--mostly I think due to the fact that everyone has other jobs (and sometimes two or three) and we're all a little squirrelly and tired. I know for my own part I have been having to keep Mr. Temper on a very short leash, but that hasn't stopped him from barking occasionally. We're working on transitions, which is hard enough when you're training stagehands what to do, but when you're asking actors to emote while they're moving heavy blocks around it sometimes seems impossible.

This weekend I'm going to a wedding in Appleton. I'm really looking forward to it, for a number of reasons. Mostly because I'm excited about seeing my family who I haven't seen in a looong time. Also I bought new shoes, which are very cool and grown up and I'm looking forward to showing them off. But mostly it's excitement about seeing the family. After the past couple days playing desk jockey, I cannot wait to get out of the office.