awww heck

 The curtain came down on Tuna, Texas, today

    I have to say it is bittersweet.  TC and I have done 4 of these shows, the entire Tuna set.  It has taken over 20 years to do it, but we have.  We have, we have.

    Renee has directed all 4, so we have been a team throughout the Tuna saga.   Jeanie and Sally have been dressers for all of the shows, if I remember, and Wendy has been on hand for technical support..building space ships and all sorts of crazy stuff.

    They all make a great team and it is a pleasure to have worked with them.

    Some newby dressers joined us this year, Will and Chris, and with the exception of Chris pulling my underwear down accidentally, all went well.  At least I think it was an accident.  And Johanna and Kimberly did awesome jobs with lighting and sound.

    No matter how many times I say this, people still have a hard time accepting it:  I am sort of an introvert.  If I know you, you won't think that.  But put me in a room of strangers and I will find a corner and sit.  Put my in a role  on stage and you won't see it either.

    Being on stage fills an inner need for me.  I think it allows me to be someone else for a while.  I am not Terry out there, I am Arles, or Petey or Didi.  They can say things I can't and I sort of enjoy that.

    I do have to admit it felt amazing when people my age came up to me and said they could never do what I was doing.  They didn't have the energy or memory skills anymore.  That is like a tonic, hearing that about me.  Suddenly, I don't feel 74 and sore all the time.

    And so I face the final curtain, as Old Blue Eyes sang.

    Another item of noninterest:  This blog now has 250,108 views during its life time.  I am deeply honored and humbled at your interest in my boring life.

    I do have a problem, though.  When I post it, I can't see it on my newsfeed!  I don't know what I did, but it is not there.  If it gets posted a couple of times it is because I did not see it the first time......so I hit it again.  And again.  I won't continue to do that.

    Now to rest.

Peace and Love

1 to go

 One show left

    I am relieved and sad.  I enjoy hanging around with TC and Renee and the backstage posse, but I will be glad to be done.  It is tiring.

    I am proud of what we have done.  Especially me.  It is not easy at my age to remember a lot of lines, but I have done well for the most part.  TC is a youngster, so it is a lot easier for him.

    I sometimes don't hear entire conversations, but I thought I heard TC was now the age I was when we did the first Tuna.......back in 01.  Time for him to start looking for a new sidekick if they bring the first show back!

    Last night was weird.  I posted my blog, but I could not see it.  It was not on my home page, not on my news feed, not anywhere.  So I posted it again.  And again.  And again.  Linda said I posted it 4 times, but I still have not seen it!  What am I doing wrong?

    Our clothes drier has been acting up.  If you put it on normal dry, it turns off in about 10 minutes.  Same with delicates.  The only way it runs completely is on the timed dry setting.

    We had it looked at 2 weeks ago and the nice young man cleaned out the vent, checked connections and said he hoped that fixed it.  It did not.  When he came back he said it was the computer board that controlled the sensors.  Good news, easy fix.  Bad news, the drier is 10 years old and that part is no longer made.

    So....guess we will be looking for a washer and drier in the next few weeks.  In the mean time, I guess we will just keep running it on timed dry.  It's a pain, but I don't want wet clothes.

    A final note....I felt like crap most of the day.  I was up until about 3.  No matter where I tried to sleep, I could not.  I woke with a tremendous headache and a little dizziness.  We had planned to go to a memorial service for a dear lady, but I just could not.  I ended up going back to bed, sleeping until 10:30, then taking an hour nap in the afternoon. 

     My head feels better now, I just hope it does not come back.  Pretty sure it was weather related.

    And that's my story.

Peace and Love

2 to go

 What a great time tonight

    I love it when the audience is large and loud.  Tonight they were both.

    Plus, I got to see a lot of friends and visit with them afterward.  Thank you all for coming.....I hope you enjoyed the show as much as TC and I enjoyed performing.

    What's funny is I get moments when I don't think I remember what my lines are.  So I have a script back stage that I check before act one and during intermission.  But, I know my lines.  I know most of TC's lines.  He knows my lines. We have done this so often, yet I always do a little panic that I don't know it.  Funny, huh?

    And I heard a great compliment after last week.  A local woman came with a friend.  She loved the show and said it was the first VCCT show she had ever seen.  She was so impressed, she can't wait until One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in the fall.

    I guess that is what sometimes amazes me.  VCCT has been around since the early 80s and there are people in town who have not tried us, some don't even know about us.

    I think they are missing out on a lot of fun and some damn good performances.

    With our own theater, the future should be even brighter.  If you have not seen a show, come to this one and check us out.  You will like it.

    You will, you will.

Peace and Love

oh, really?

Sometimes I am clueless 

    We had a pick up rehearsal tonight for the final three shows.

    I have a great deal of trouble with a line in the play.  I said it perfectly tonight, but tomorrow may be a differe nt story.

    When we were doing a different Tuna, I believe it was A Tuna Chrismas, I had a line that was:  "I have had it up to my ass with this sorry excuse for a town, and somebody is going to pay."

    I said it during rehearsals.  But the first night, I get to it and it comes out   "I had it up to here, and I am not going to take it."

    Every night after that I said it different.  TC said I would come out, hit that part, my eyes would roll up into my head, sweat would bead my forehead, and something strange would come out.

    Same problem this show.  I won't tell you the line, because I intend to get it right.

    And tonight, I have another line as Didi  that is "I am Pearl's bodyguard."  Renee and TC both said I have said "I am Didi's bodyguard."  3 times last weekend.  They didn't tell me because they knew I would get flustered for the rest of the show.

    It's hell getting old and remembering things.

    But the truth is, I have always inverted lines.  If the line is: he dropped off the film and washed his car I will say: he washed his car and dropped off he film.  Same actions, but a little different time line, maybe.

    I will never be able to change that, as hard as I try.

    Big moon tonight!  It was lovely.

    I tried looking for meteors last night, but no luck.  I will try again tonight but with the brightness of the moon, they may be hard to spot.

    Stay safe.

Peace and Love

on line

 We have been having internet issues

    Several times  day the connection will disappear.  Once in a while we also lose phones and tv.

    I thought it was the lines, but I finally had the signal resent.  Nothing improved.  I had it resent again, or reresent, still nothing.  

    Digression:  resent, looks like resent.  As in, I think I resent that remark.  So should  resent be hyphenated?  And, mouth and south rhyme,,,,but youth doesn't.  Just saying.

    Back to my internet.  I finally called a human named John at Xfinity.  He ran some checks, resent (re-re-re-sent) the signal but the issues remained.  He said the likely problem was the modem, so  today I traded in the old for a new one and so far all seems ok.

    Jackie had a doctor appointment in DeKalb, so it was not just a trip for a modem.  I try to combine trips whenever possible to save money on gas.

    Perseid meteor showers tonight....but with the big moon and house lights, it might be hard to see a lot in the northeast sky.

    And finally.....278 views until I hit 250,000 for this blog.  That's a lot of love people, and I appreciate it.

Peace and Love

Surprise

 I got a surprise in the garden today

    First off,I am terrible about picking cucumbers.  They get the size of footballs before I remember them.  Jackie said they are not good when they get that big.

    So I went out today and found some smaller ones.

    And this.

    I  may not be a terrific gardener, but I know this is not a cucumber.  There are two of these in my plot.  I only planted cucumber seeds, so my guess is the compost I used had some melon seeds.  

    And speaking of compost, my bin seems to have fallen apart.  The top no longer connects to the bottom, mainly because the bottom is no longer round and the top is.

    I am not sure what to do with all the refuse in the bin.  I guess I will find a new bin and transfer all the composting leaves, fruit and other stuff, but I really dread doing that.

    I had thought of building my own, but that never seems to work for me.  It becomes more of a mess.

    Anyone with suggestions?

    

    I mowed today instead of taking a nap!  That is a major accomplishment for me these days.

    And next week I plan to start riding again....enough of my own excuses.

    Stay safe.

Peace and Love

rainy days

I enjoyed not rehearsing tonight 

    For the last 7 days, I have been gone every evening and one day for rehearsal or the show.

    I did not realize how tired I was.  I went to bed, had a tough time getting to sleep because my back and hip hurt, my toes itched, and I could not get comfortable.  I slept in my recliner until about 3, when the weather alarm sounded.  I went to bed then and it went off again at 5 and again around 6:30.  

    Jackie was tired too....that is my excuse for not getting out of bed until 10:30.

    Honestly, I don't know how people do theater when they have to work too.   Well, I do know because I have done that and it was exhausting.

    Anyway, this is a picture night.

    Stay safe.

Peace and Love

First off, some of my native plants.

Our retention pond was pretty full today

These people are all Dickows!

My nephew, wife and two sons......visiting from Switzerland and driving a vintage Chevelle.