Good by Gator. I'll miss you.

I just cant get my head around writing something.

Since the last post at the beginning of June a little bit has happened, nothing earth shattering but here it is.

June saw a lot of prep on Shauna's part for her trip to Australia with her dad. Because of how the last plans fell through I was holding my breath for most of the time. She said that she would believe she was going once she saw the plane tickets, but I think she was already gone mentally the moment she knew she might be going. She planned and packed and planned some more and unpacked and repacked and planned again over the days leading up to her leaving in July. She left on July 20th for her first stop in Hong Kong and it sounds like she was in awe of everything that happened from the moment she got on the plane in Winnipeg (who wouldnt be).

From Hong Kong she went to Malaysia (langkawi to be exact) and stayed there with her uncle for a few days and on to Australia. She called while in Australia and for the first time I think the stress of traveling and her dad had gotten to her. She called about midnight our time and was almost crying the moment I picked up the phone. She broke down and sobbed for a few moments and told me about a fight she was having with her father. She was very upset and talked about coming home. I talked her into staying for a little while longer and seeing if things got better once she got to her grandmothers place in Melbourne (she was calling from Sydney). We talked for a little longer after that and she seemed sad but not broken and then we said good bye.She phoned back two nights later and said that things were much better and that she was now staying at her uncles place. As of writing this she is staying with family and enjoying her time in Australia immensely. I think she begins her homeward treck on the 15th or 16th and gets home on the 20th in the evening. I cannot express how much I miss her.

The big thing in July (for me) was of course the Winnipeg Internation Fringe Festival. This year was the festival's 20th year and my 9th with the fest. A fair number of the people were back from last year (both techs and actors) and there were new faces as well. This year I had a new partner (only my 5th partner in 9 years), a female tech/actor/dancer/personality, named Ntara. It was her first fringe (as a tech) and was super eager to see and do as much as possible. We had to split the shows in the venue by time (her in the mornings and me in the evenings) and because of that, I had more interaction with all of the groups in my venue then ever before.

Note: For those who dont know, The Winnipeg Fringe Festival has two technicians per venue (there are currently 11) and it has been the norm for the two techs to split the shows in the venue in half. One will do 5 and the other will do 5. What this can do is cause one person to be there more often then the other.

This year, for the first time ever, I think I can say with all honesty that I enjoyed working with everyone on the venue. There wasnt a single show that I dreaded doing and there were several shows that I looked forward to doing. I made the usual number of friends and fringe friends (people who you like but only see once a year) and I look forward to staying in touch with most of them if not all of them.

After the Fringe this year I had only a couple days off before coming back to the help desk and getting back into the grind. I can honestly say that every year that I do this, the mental change over I need to do when I switch back to my regular job gets harder and this year wasnt any different. While Shauna is away I am trying to clean the apartment and get rid of some of the junk sitting around. So far, it isnt going so good. In fact the apartment appears to be actually less clean then when Shauna was home. I had said to her that while she was away I would spend most of my time at the gym trying to get into shape, yea, that hasnt happened either. In fact, it appears that shes the only reason I do anything. Who knew?

I will try and write more but I can promise anything.

We talked last night and she thinks that now is the time for us to start with a baby.

A baby. A child. A smaller version of me.

I'm not freaked out at all. Not at all.

I want a baby. I do. But I have never felt more 9 years old then I do now.

I will stay here for a year and then move back into Theatre after next years Fringe. For the next 365 days I will try and work as much as possible and when I am not working, I will try and spend as much time hanging out at MTYP as possible. I can only hope that if I spend enough time hanging out there, that Wayne will hire me when one of the other guys leave.

When I do get back into theatre I want to do anything. I dont think that there are too many people like me. I want to write and direct and do tech work. I dont care if I load a truck or take tickets. I honestly enjoy it all.

General:
Weather is wet. It's been raining on and off for weeks now.

I am trying to get into the Wheel of Time Series again. I know that the last book is coming out late this year or some time next year and I cant remember anything about the story.

Watched Lady in the Water last night. Very good movie.

Game is going well.

Family is ok. The inlaws suck.

I am glad I did. The guy is very approachable and very friendly. He is more then willing to try and help me out and get the time to work the Fringe Festival.

I am very glad that I spoke with him.

I will try and write more about things later.

Getting back into theatre makes me kind of happy. I could look forward to lighting calls and stage managemen gigs and all of the other things I could do. In fact I would want to do it all. I enjoy working in all forms of the theatre from front of house to on stage.

Sigh. I dont feel like writing anything more.

Its raining today, lots. It stormed lots last night, but I fell asleep and missed most of it.

Tatum our cat was so stupid this morning.

Reading: Micheal Palins diary, Les Miserables, and a couple other books.

Watching: BBC Tv series, Robin Hood

Sleeping lots.

Waiting for summer to really start.

Maybe more later.

Met up with Chris Hadley at the Toad last night for drinks. Chris is one of those people who you knew when you were younger and then left the radar of your life only to reappear in a very small world ish way. Chris and I went to school together for a large number of years before we lost track of each other. Then out of the blue about 4 years ago, Chris came in and joined the Fringe Festival staff. Last night was his birthday party for his 32nd birthday (which is actually today). It was a small but nice gathering and lots of beer was had.

I am still killing myself trying to figure out what the hell I am going to be doing this summer. If EDS says no to letting me work the Fringe am I going to quit?

I put down all the books im reading now. Cant help it, I'm book jumping again.

Right now I cant think of anything other then whether or not I should derail my computer career and get back to what really seems to matter to me. Cash and security on one hand and friends and my heart on the other.

Sigh

Weather this week has been getting nicer and nicer and tomorrow the temperature should go up to 31. I plan to sit on our balcony as much as possible and enjoy the sun. I have reading to catch up on (jumped back to Gods War by Christopher Tyerman) and there are some nice cold Keith's in the fridge.

Work has been kinda busy for the last few days.

Work is busy now. Sigh

Looking forward to my days off.

I'll try and write something today.

I'll come back later.

Don't go anywhere.

I started reading Les Miserables this weekend and while its a little slow going, I am enjoying it. I suspect that because if its size and weight, I will be working on the thing for a while now. Long Way Round is half way done and proving to be a very good read and Michael Palin's autobiography is turning out to be a good read as well.

The weather has been absolutely fantastic in the last couple of days and I wish I had been out there enjoying it. However, I do have two days coming to me and I will make sure that I spend as much time outside in the sun reading as I possibly can.

Game is going well, but I am getting tired of it right now. I am looking forward to the end of the huge plot we are running so that I can take a bit of a break.

No new movies in the last couple of days.

I think the final episode of Heroes is on tonight. Should be very exciting.