Open Ended

So... in the organization of my glorious new walk-in closet, some things occurred to me:

1) due to my many years working retail, I often blame my desire to have my closet color-coded on those years spent organizing clothing racks according to the fashion color wheel... but the truth is my closet isn't in the color wheel... and it's not even really in rainbow order either, which is odd, given my often neurotic insistence that things like crayons (you should see my 96 Big Box of Crayolas) and markers be in rainbow order... it goes in the order that sort of makes sense to me... black, grey, red, pink, purple, blue, green, brown-tan-khaki, beige-cream-off white, white

Now, notice what colors are missing. Orange--of which I actually do own 3 shirts, but both are in the wash at the moment, and I suppose they'll go between grey & red, and Yellow--because I have no yellow clothes! Ok, that's not strictly true. I own one yellow sleeveless t-shirt, that I think I've worn twice, and it's not because I don't like the color. I do. I think it's lovely. I think there are actually several shades of yellow in the butter-buttercup-lemon chiffon type area that look good on me... but yet I have no yellow!! This is a situation that must be remedied!!

2) also, the colors in my closet are not proportioned the way I would think. Obviously black takes up the lion's share, because of pants & cardigans & suits & things that must "go with everything", but the next biggest space-taker-upper isn't purple, like I would have thought (it being my favoritist of colors for as long as I've been able to pick it out of a line-up)--but it's actually blue! Which is fine, I like blue. And the 3 denim skirts take up some space, so that's fair. But next in line (and if you include t-shirts takes the spot of top spacial-displacement) is Red!! Now, I like red (obviously), but I never would have considered it a favorite color. Heck, it's usually not even in my top 5. But yet there it is... 10 red t-shirts, a hoodie, 2 dresses, and more shirts than I bothered to count. On the long arm of my closet (roughly 5' or so) are the colors black, grey, and pink*. Purple, blue, green, etc. all are contained on the short arm--3'. How bizzarre.
*I have only 3 pink shirts hanging up. I have 3 more that are folded. I feel like I have a lot more pink than that, but it must be contained in my Faire stuff... go fig!

3) I have WAY too many t-shirts. On my shelves, I have 1 shelf entirely devoted to t-shirts. They're stacked 3 across & 12-15 high. And then there's another shelf just for long-sleeved t-shirts, stacked 2 across, and one of those stacks is just for turtlenecks (not even my sweater ones--those have their own shelf) & long-johns. And that's not counting the 6-9 solid colored t-shirts/polos that are set aside for "layering" or work.

all of this to say that soon there will be a closet purge, and a clothes-swap party to follow!!

WIL—Memorial Day Weekend
1. I do not know any coherent harmony to “America, the Beautiful.” This will not stop me from singing at joyfully tearful veterans.
2. I can handle cast members crying as we sing at them without joining in the tears. I cannot handle my daddy waving at me. Not even a little bit. Pride and joy and all that good stuff just come bursting out.
3. I can sing & cry at the same time—Diva gave me the cheat: don’t try to hold back, just relax & let it go. Fairly good advice for lots of things, really.
4. Having friends who are mimics is an incredible gift. I got to see me… as the world sees me, or pretty darn close to it as my darling doppelganger & I indulged in a last-hour costume swap! I’m… ridiculously pink! Seriously, I’m still learning that.
5. Having my nieces & nephews (with their parents) come to see a show was really neat. Watching the wee ones finally recognize who I was: adorable! Having the littlest niece come up to Lisha-in-pink later and struggle to figure out what the heck was going on: priceless!!
6. Knowing that the end is near makes a lot of unbearable things bearable. We’re tougher than we look. We endure with grace in public and with commiseration in private.
7. Oh, how I love brine! I don’t like sports drinks, but I will gladly take a pickle or olive to rebalance my salt needs… and I didn’t think I liked olives. The jury is still out on black olives (other than the occasional kalamata), but nice, firm green olives at the end of a Faire day do me no harm!
8. Sugar scrubs make me a happier human. Well, baths in general sort of improve my overall attitude, and staying in town makes taking a bath at the end of the day possible.
9. So, allergies were way worse this year, but I suffered much less from mosquito bites than last year… don’t know if I like the trade-off or not.
10. The All Chandler’s Wife Show was once again a hit—and still fun for us. We just get gigglier as the show goes on, and we even managed to avoid quite a few train wrecks!
11. Wearing “The shortest skirt in the history of skirts I’ve owned” in public daylight was… scary. But our cast gives great support and responds with enthusiasm when we want to get silly just for us.
12. End-of-the Year awards were super exciting for me this year, since this is the first time I’ve gotten to put in my votes for the folks who make Faire worth it to me.
13. Pigtails are more complicated than they look—and taking them out at the end of the day will feel just as good as getting out of my bodice.
14. The moving we do on stage and my desire to talk (and sing) with my hands means that my shoulders are usually the sorest thing on me at the end of the weekend.
15. I love the willingness to share everything we have with our family of choice. Whatever you forgot, someone has a spare—collectively we are prepared for anything.

1. Being sick and voiceless makes me feel useless as a performer. I am so glad that I learned physicality so I could be “visually exciting” while I was “vocally absent.”
2. Hearing that I was missed in parade made me smile. Being told that I was a bright enough presence that my absence on the stage would be missed made me glow.
3. Remember that thing about hats last week—yeah, still true. A new hat leads to a new Flora—the sassy “adore me” kind.
4. Seeing a friend shock and awe the crowd while on the shelf always makes me proud and happy to be a part of that experience.
5. Even if I’m not hungry, even if I’ve got enough energy to get through, I should eat before the Tart Show, because if I don’t, Parting Glass will become impossibly long as I stand and dream of food.
6. More bows! More bows! I don’t see enough bows! I need bows up on every costume!
7. Plotting things with my friends is exciting. I hope everything turns out as well as I think it will.
8. My new Bath Junkie conditioner smells fabulous, but isn’t condition-y enough for Faire use. Sad.
9. “Tube of Juice” is just fun to say, and it is not a euphemism. “Sympathetic sphincter” is just funny no matter what.
10. So… I was sitting quietly on one of our little plastic potting thingies, when it decided to crumble… and it made a rude sound, and so did I, and then there was the insane giggling and all the will-power we possessed to keep us from busting out laughing like mad witches because there was a show in progress on our stage…so, don’t sit on plastic breakable things. Just don’t.

1. Sneezing sucks the life right out of me. Sneezing during a song makes me feel like a heel.
2. I miss the Nunnies and I miss Darren. They were such a joy to share the stage with.
3. There are so many good things that I can say about the women I sing with. This week, I was reminded of what good examples I have for the benefits of choosing a better attitude and doing what needs to be done without being asked. I want to be better at both of those things in all areas of my life.
4. Having people request songs is awesome. My favorites from when I wasn’t a Lace are still some of my favorites to sing as a Lace, and that’s awesome too.
5. Steak on a stake, chips from the Fish & Chips booth, and a cabriolet ride back to the stage… yeah, it was the best lunch ever!
6. Trying on hats is a very pleasant way to spend a morning. Getting to play “aspiring Diva” and draw people into a shop—hooray!
7. I like hats… big hats, little hats, feather hats, silly hats, jaunty hats… all the hats!!
8. I like seeing the folks I played with in the morning still hanging around in the afternoon. I like the call-back jokes & checking in on them…as long as I remember what it was I said to them.
9. I love my Dr. Marten’s Mary Janes—even after trekking high & low, my feet are still happy at the end of the day!!
10. Sometimes a shower is the best part of my day.

1. Hooray for new bodice! Hooray for Pendragon & MB being able to take a passing idea and make it a reality in less than 15 minutes! Hooray for lapels & tails!
2. I want a new hat—one that matches the new bodice fabric… or at least has brown in it instead of black.
3. I need more jokes. Thankfully, there is the internet, and that’s awesome. Prepare yourself for jokes about volcanoes, houses, trampolines and eggs!
4. Trust Bill McC. He will not lead you astray. Even if he’s taking a silk scarf & wrapping it around your face—trust Bill. In the end, he will make you look like a rock star! Ok, so that’s a very specific example, but the trust part is true!
5. This is the year of forgetting. I’ve forgotten skirts, shirts, pants, earrings, keys, and contacts… thankfully never more than one at a time.
6. It makes me giggle that the folks at the drink booth between Victor’s & the German booth know that every day at about 4, there will be a Lace or two coming to get a Dr. Pepper to share… they see us coming & get the Pepper ready! Woot!
7. I love our puppets!! It makes me smile to see puppet-less people still respond to our puppets with their hands!
8. Where you sit/stand makes a difference in the performance. Being in the front row next to the Diva is not where I belong… that’s Sharon’s spot—but there were stools & she can’t sit because she has a drum. It was bizarre.
9. Lights in my eyes make performance more difficult. I didn’t realize how much I’d gotten used to reading the crowd.
10. The mundane world isn’t used to our level of tart—likewise, being “tarted” in the mundane world felt very strange.

1. A spoonful of cookie dough can make any morning better
2. Sometimes taking 45 minutes to just sit, frown, and let the snot flow is just what I need to go out and make a scene that stops traffic.
3. Sneezing in the middle of a song is frustrating on about 13 different levels.
4. New lipstick can revive a slow afternoon.
5. “I’m Flora.” “I’m Fauna.” “Mistress Merriweather.” And some of them get it!
6. I need to find new ways to “bingle jang”
7. Giving gifts makes me happy.
8. Garlands can be a lot of work—I don’t have enough hair to hold them on
9. Still adjusting to being the favorite of little girls—it’s so very cute though!
10. Seeing others lounging in the lanes makes me miss my time on the Wall of Sloth. Taking a few minutes to lounge outside Pendragon will make me feel better.

WIL
1. Remembered: Playing at Front Gate makes my days awesome. I think it’s because I start at the beginning, and then feel energized enough to carry me through the morning slump until my natural rhythm kicks in at about 11:30.
2. I am clumsy, as the beautiful collection of bruises on my shins can attest to as I stumbled UP the stairs at Pub Sing and the fact that I can’t manage a parasol. It makes me appreciate the Diva’s skills at managing a mug, a sign and a parasol all during parade.
3. A well-timed rant against the injustices of auto-flush potties will revive a dragging Sunday evening.
4. I found the joy in all the parts of Faire—from spectacle (look at me!) to scenes (play with me!) to patron conversations (talk to me!), and on Sunday did them all. Thank you to all my fabulous performers who help me step outside of my natural tendencies to do new things.
5. When Inkspot, Mistress Blacke and Flora meet up with Darby, Rochford & the Rom… the world trembles, the lane clogs and the shopkeepers scream… no seriously, it all happened… except maybe the world part.
6. 3 women on the road to become leisurely actually do a lot of work—I think we talked to every human being in our path
a. I love how many women of all ages wear pink—oh does it make my life easier, but I want to be more than just the pink one… in an extension of “My character is more than their job” I want to be more than my costume… which is hard, because it’s LARGE!
7. Visiting cast members who hit the street with a vengeance are a great energizer!
a. Watching the women of Foxglove mug for EVERY camera the WHOLE PARADE ROUTE… was actually exhausting. Entertaining , but exhausting.
b. Oh yeah… “Roses are red, your dress is pink, I’d like to see you later…wink” Yeah, seriously, I can’t wait to use that at Pick-up Line Monday!!
c. Many thanks to “Skippy”, a scrawny young thing from CO. who endangered life and limb while inviting me (in all my pink fluffiness) to leap into his arms—the resulting kerfuffle and spectacle were perhaps the most fun I had all day… and I think 2.5 patrons enjoyed it too!
8. My friends are strong and dependable—especially Patrick, who kept me from foolishly falling on my hiney after a not-so-well thought through idea .
9. My foot will reach all the way to rest upon HeyDan’s shoulder, without kicking him in the face… however, without something to hold on to, I will lose my balance. (See above)
10. Having family come see what we do for the first time is exciting—having them enjoy it enough to volunteer to come back is even better!

1. The time to priv is BEFORE the Tart Show
2. When singing on the balcony, just sing my song. Don’t push. Trust gravity to let the sound go where it needs to.
3. When a small child asks you for a favor, if you don’t have one, a jingle coin from your jingly butt scarf will do in a pinch.
4. Singing inside Pendragon’s shop is awesome—we sound so much better because we can hear ourselves
5. Singing Blackbird in the shop is super-duper awesome, because having surround-sound Lace zmm-bdm-bdms is incredibly cool
6. Knowing that a song has brought our audience to happy tears is a wonderful feeling
7. There is nothing so re-energizing as laughter—and fizzy soda & pasta help too
8. People who actually laugh at my stupid jokes make me really happy
9. It still surprises me that I am the magnet for little girls—shy & bold alike.

1. Much like scenes, it’s the beginning and the ending that make the most impact. My brain tends to gloss over the stuff in the middle.
2. I am getting better at handling my morning crankiness—but forgetting my skirts or breakfast still throws me a little.
a. When I need my face to be on, but I’m cranky, a quick bit with willing patrons will help me get back on track.
3. I have no groove yet. I’m not sure how my days go.
4. Getting to play is a great feeling. Hide & seek with a shy little girl may have been the highlight of my Saturday.
5. Being asked to play is a great feeling. An offhand comment from one actor to another can lead to a great patron bit of accusation & bartering. Hooray for the nay-sayer friend who kept escalating the conflict!
6. Elbows can drive a scene—Inkspot & Flora both walk like little teapots.
7. Even the tiniest piece of birthday cake can make me feel super-duper full after having already had second breakfast. This still will not stop me from making a trip to the Pepper Lady to eat and endorse chutney.
8. Removable jiggaflern is fun, but I want to make a few adjustments for next weekend.
9. Flora may want to be the Diva, but I do not!! Singing by myself, at the front of the stage is freaking intimidating. Thank God it was the Tart show, where people come for the dinking & not the musical prowess, because… well… “look at me”
a. Remember last week the note about getting complacent about music? Right, let’s not do that.
b. For the hymns, just because I know my part in the first verse, doesn’t mean I’ll remember it in the 2nd or 3rd.
10. Hawking a show is hard. I don’t know what to do or say to entice people to come see us. Especially from the stage. I have some ideas, and I have to remember that the majority of our audience isn’t at every show, so I can repeat it and it’s ok.