Yeah.........SO?

Yes people I know it's been almost two months. Clearly I am spending too much time at school.

Working was a lovely success. Doyle's for coming to see it. It is always lovely to see them. I wish our houses had been better, but I guess it's what I get for choosing a show that will fit the talent I have as opposed to a show that the mass populous knows and will come to see whether it's any good or not.

Beginning of May was our Spring Dance Concert. Again there was a student lighting designer, but I did design the senior piece. I just liked the piece and what Nancy, our dance instructor/choreographer, did with it.

And then began the testing. While that was happening, the senior directors were working on their directing projects, and I was putting together our last show of the year. Also we were inducting new Thespians, planning for the CFPA Arts After Dark clusterfuck, running tech for the varying senior showcases for the other Artists in the program(vocal, instrumental, creative writers and visual artists. theatre kids do a one person show earlier in the year so as not to contribute to the longevity of the month) May is a very crazy time. The testing really takes a toll on the students and we did it all online this year, so that made our IT departments really nuts. All sorts of crazy things with the computers were happening. And it really screwed the daily schedule for 2 full weeks. My office looks like a bomb hit it. It may take me all week to get back some semblance of order.

Our last show of the year happened this past weekend. It was "The Innocents" which is based on Henry James' "Turn of the Screw". It was delightfully creepy:) And rather well attended for a June production. One of our alumni who is majoring in lighting design came back to design lights for the show. I think she did an excellent job. It's nice to not have to worry about doing it all yourself and have alumni come back and do things. We may run it again at the beginning of next school year to sort of kick off things and get people (mostly the freshmen) to see what type of expectations the theatre department has of them. I wish I could just come in and direct the kids and work on sets and things and not have to worry about the whole curriculum thing and dealing with ...........well the other bs. Well, whatever, it's a gig.

And I did get a contract for next year. Somebody really screwed up somewhere;) I thought for sure they were going to cut me loose. I rattle the cage alot and the administration doesn't really like that. But everyone needs a rabble rouser I suppose. We're getting a new principal next year. Several people are very optimistic about that. I'm not. He isn't really interested in the arts and isn't very impressed with the CFPA program. That's kind of the schools specialty and he's our leader? wow. And someone thought he'd be best for this gig ....why?

Bud is still loving working at the middle school. Loving it even more NOW that he doesn't have exams to give and grade! He has time to work on the yard and his garden. This year we are growing tomatoes(we're from Jersey, I think it's a law that we have to grow them every year), eggplant, squash, cucumbers, green peppers, and corn. He's very excited about the corn, he grew it from seed. And we have many a bird in our backyard. We have feeders in the front and back. We also have a young hawk that hangs out. He's not looking for seed I don't think;) It is a little like the wild kingdom some days. Apparently Bud says we have moles in the yard too. I will take his word for it.

Next week he's going to be at George Mason for their Jazz master series(I am soo totally making up what it's called because I don't know). He's going to be playing with and studying jazz for an entire week.

In between all the craziness at school I did find some time to help Sabra move to NYC and visit some friends in Connecticut. Sabra has a great apartment, but had WAY too much stuff:) It was a ton of fun..........hard work, but lots of fun. (Can you hear the drums Fernando??) I'm going to try and go back up and visit her again soon, hopefully before theatre camp hell begins.

Well, I guess that's enough of an update for now. Hello my friends I never get to see. There will be the Christmas in July party on the last Monday in July. Please try and see if you can come.