Woke up to another beautiful and sunny day. The gardenia flowers in a small vase on my nightstand greeted my nostrils as I wiped the evening sleep from my eyes.
While my morning coffee was brewing, I checked the nearby orchids to see how their flower spikes were coming along. I whispered to them to get longer faster, as I marveled at their continued existence under fluorescent lights and some early morning sunlight.
With freshly-brewed cup of coffee, I proceeded to feed my fish and then turned on my desktop computer. Since it takes awhile for my computer to get going (I have a million of shortcuts on my desktop), I went outside to check out my gardenia and fiddle-leaf fig plants. Finding out that one side of the house got better sunlight, I moved both of them there with the accompanying bucket of Quickrete, a can of paint, and a gallon of windshield washer. These, along with the fiddle-leaf vase, keep my gardenia upright should there be strong winds. I know that there is a more attractive way of shoring the gardenia up or replace the vase altogether, but being a procrastinator, I will make do with what I have for the time being. Although, that just might instantly change if my neighbors and/or the city powers that be force me to get off my duff. A complaint from them or a ticket from the city for violating a keep-house-curb-appeal ordinance will certainly do the trick.
I made a mistake of opening two stock investment portfolio statements. UGH!
I also opted to redeem a T-Mobile free phone wallet and Dunkin free medium latte. And, I might go see “Rocketman” at Marcus theatre for $5 and free popcorn.
At 4 pm, a very personable and reliable mechanic will be performing the scheduled oil and oil filter change on my car.
At around 6 pm, I will have dinner with a good friend of mine who I endearingly refer to as AH2 (She as AssHole 2; I as AH1).
I also might start planning my yearly jaunt to Broadway. Knowing who and what earned a 2019 Tony at the recent TV broadcast has made the completion of my what-to-see-list easier.
Oh, I have yet to call my 3 phone friends who continue to ‘BE THERE” for me. Although. they probably will collectively breathe a sigh of relief once the run of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” is over.
OTHER HAPPENINGS:
Second weekend of performances of our show, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” came and went. The audience receptions continued to be very positive. Having friends, erstwhile co-workers, and family come and see the show was very inspiring. Their presence certainly helped make the performances more meaningful.
Indeed the second weekend of performances is now history, but it almost got marred by a close call. The delivery of my 5-page monologue as “Vanya” on Friday night was a terrifying one. I lost my train of thought for a millisecond when the wrong word came out of my mouth. I blanked out for about 10 seconds. A second of not remembering your line on stage is like an eternity. But, for about 10 seconds? I just wanted to disappear as I mumbled the word “sincere” over and over, groping for my next line. The look of support and concern from actress playing Masha and my strong determination helped me get back in the groove. I finished my monologue as if nothing happened. An applause followed drowning out the mild curses as I exited the stage. Whew!
Delivery of my monologue on Saturday night was better. I made it a point to run the 5-page monologue during the 15-minute intermission. Additionally, imperceptibly mouthing 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be, and 1 Angel of God (knodding the Sign Of The Cross before and after) while waiting for my cue helped me stay in the moment. Indeed, a lot can be said about Divine Intervention. After curtain call, I was pleasantly surprised to see my neighbor and his family in the lobby, especially since I just alerted him of my show the day before while he was mowing his yard. Being a shameless promoter can be a good trait. HA HA HA!
Sunday matinee was my best performance ever. My delivery of the monologue not only was precise, but became so overwhelming that I broke into copious tears as I delivered my last lines as “Vanya”. I ended up sobbing backstage with actress playing my sister “Sonia” comforting me. How sweet of her. Eyes still wet, I entered the last scene with “Sonia” and “Nina”. A performance to remember, definitely. And to add to the memorable occasion, my 2 nieces and friends from work, along with a gym swimming pal were there in the audience. So, heartwarming.
Yesterday, Monday, June 10th, I finished mowing my backyard with a fully charged mower battery yesterday. The cool 60s made the chore less taxing, although the swarms of lawn gnats constantly made attempts to charge into my mouth/nostril as I huffed and puffed. I also checked out my empty vases and planters which appeared to beg me to again make them pretty by my starting to plant annuals in them.
I had interesting text exchanges and phone conversation with a critic who wrote a very favorable critique of our show. It was a very pleasant and productive exercise despite the differences in addressing “Vanya’s” monologue. She did say that she would have included in her appraisal about my being a non-native Filipino/American with ESL had she known about it. We also touched on the difference between “emphasizes” vs “empathizes” since there appeared to be a typo in her review.
I also transferred money from credit union to a nearby bank which is offering 2.25% APY.
