R.I.P. Facebook, Hello Life

Today, I permanently deleted my facebook account.  So far, it's been a very liberating experience.  No longer do I come home from work(at which I had been on facebook for hours) and sit on facebook instead of being productive.  I came home from dinner, had a snack, changed over my laundry, and then did some reading and smoked the hookah on the balcony with Matt.  Deleting my facebook account is something that I've wanted to do for quite some time, but the catalyst today was this blog post that I saw on digg.com today:

http://www.rocket.ly/home/2010/4/26/top-ten-reasons-you-should-quit-facebook.html

While I agree with this blogger's stance on facebook's lack of ethics, the post really only acted as a catalyst, fanning the flames of my already burning desires to do away with facebook from my life.  I spent entirely too much time on facebook, and I cared entirely too much about other peoples' perceptions of me on facebook.  The one thing that I will miss out on is the chance to "network" online with other theater professionals, but.... NEWS FLASH ::: The world went 'round before facebook ever existed, and my world will continue to turn now without it.  

I've decided I need to spend more time living my life instead of projecting my life onto others via social networking.  I'm going to continue to use Twitter, because the character limit and sheer stupidity of the majority of its user-base severely limits my ability and desire to project myself onto other people.  Coupled with my blog here, I'm pretty sure that I'll obtain a healthy dose of internet socializing while not allowing myself to get sucked in or carried away.  Life needs to be about life, not about facebook, or how other people perceive you (especially on the internet).  I already feel like I am spending my free time better, and it's only been roughly 10 hours since I deleted my account.

Now, on to more fun matters.  I've made it a daily task to check the theatre job websites at around noon when the new listings arrive each weekday.  In fact, on weekends, very often I am sad that I can't compulsively look for any openings for audio positions.  I've been sending out plenty of resumes, cover letters, and applications, and I have a feeling that it will pay off for me soon.  Staying in Delaware wouldn't be the end of the world, but it's time to get out.

However, when I'm working on productions like this on(http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010305020011) it becomes harder to say goodbye to what I recognize as the place where I am beginning my professional career.  The REP's production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is quite possibly the best production of the year, and even though there isn't very much sound from a board operator's perspective, I still find great joy in providing my services to the production in making sure that the communications and monitoring systems are up and running for each performance.  Do yourself a favor and come see it if you are around or can get to Delaware easily.

Ummm, Dear Diary, that's all for now.  Whatever.

Things that have happened. to me. recently. maybe.

I'll just leave this right here...

There.  It's out of my system.  I feel better now.

So.  I went to see Avatar with Erinn.  It was... surprisingly entertaining.  Erinn was seeing it for the third time, but the first time in true IMAX.  I was amazed by how quickly I was immersed in the terrible story.  The 3D effects were really very amazing.  I want to see it again.  Maybe on drugs.  Just kidding(?)

The State of the Union address was uneventful.  I would have rather watched Jersey Shore.  No, seriously.

No, I'm kidding.  It was on in the background while I ate produce and played video games and talked about the Master Cleanse with Lauren and other people.  I am always entertained by the idiots like Chris Matthews and other stupid pundits and TV journalists who say ridiculous things like "I forgot he was black".  It's so painful to watch, yet so much fun to realize that people listen to these idiots as if they were speaking fact and not opinion.  From what I gathered, the speech itself mostly entailed Obama criticizing people and outlining some plans or something.  I'm not even sure.  Does that make me a bad person because I was more interested in making fun of pundits than listening to the speech itself?

Anyway, I'm currently sitting in tech doing what Erinn calls "sitting around for credit."  It's a bit different than my normal "sitting around getting paid" that I usually do.  However, this show apparently runs around 4.5 hours.  With no set.  Fun.  It does have some pretty awesome costumes, makeup, and masks. If you like Shakespeare and good acting from our graduate students, you should come see it.  If you like plays that are short and action packed, (ACTION PLAYS!!!!) maybe it's not for you.  You should come though.  Please.  Thanks.  The more shows you come to, the more likely it is that I make money eventually.

We're about to get hit with another snow storm thing tonight.  I shall, as per usual, make an epic journey into the center of New Jersey.

Now that we're approx. 15 pages into this play through 4 hours of tech, it's time for dinner.  Adios friends.

Greetings, internet.

Greetings, internet.

This Christmas, I went to Colorado to ski.  While I was there, it made me think quite a bit about what the future holds.  There is a part of me that wants nothing more than to get the fuck out of here and live in the mountains, working in some simple job at a ski resort as a lift operator, or restoring hiking trails somewhere, or something like that.  There were so many people in Colorado who were young that seemed extremely happy with their lives.  Maybe it was their dream to run the lifts in Steamboat.  Maybe it was their dream to cure cancer or contribute something in the more traditional sense.  I couldn't really tell.  I've always thought one must follow his or her dream to be truly happy.  I am beginning to see that's not the case.

The ultimately important conclusion is that the people/workers in Colorado were happy then, in that moment, doing what they were doing.  Happiness in existing.  There is something extremely basic and extremely beautiful in that idea.  More people need to find the happiness in their everyday lives instead of dwelling on the bullshit that happens.  That said, if I actually start writing in this blog again, I'm sure I'll use it to complain about all the fucking nonsense that happens to me as I finish this final semester.

This idea of happiness in existing every day made me realize why I enjoy theater.  I have always seen in art a great importance, but I believe that theater has a unique chance to speak to people and relate the plays and narratives on stage to their own stories in their own lives.  Good theater can speak to so many different kinds of people on so many levels, but because it is different every time it is performed, only the great theater rings in the minds of the audience.  It's not like a painting or a movie or a song that you can go back and get literally the exact same experience with the work.  That is, it is an identical piece of art.  Nothing within the artwork has changed.  Theater, on the other hand, is completely different every single night, every single performance.  When you go see a play, it's a 100% unique experience that you will never experience again.  One can see how this can be both a gift and a curse for theater as an art form.  Shows come and go very quickly because it takes a very special quality of work to stay with the average audience member for a long period of time, and even more to make him or her want to return to see the same show again.  However, it makes revivals and remounted productions very interesting for the audience member.

Okay, you might be wondering, "What the fuck does this have to do with the idea of happiness in existence and Colorado and people who operate ski lifts???"

The interesting dynamic of a different performance every night makes it very enjoyable for the performers.  Actors/stage managers/technicians often are asked, "How can you run the same show over and over again!"  It doesn't really occur to them that in good theater, it offers a completely different artistic dynamic every single night.  Especially in the world of sound, the temperature and liveliness of the audience each night directly affects the way you mix the show.

Even as I sit in tech for a play as the board operator, typing this blog, I can still appreciate the idea that each night feels different, and in turn offers a different experience completely dependent on the character of the audience that evening.  I can't think of a better job than facilitating such a unique, important art form.  As a sound person, I have a lot of responsibility in making sure that all the backstage elements come together (i.e. setting up/maintaining the communication system, video feeds, etc).  I feel like there are plenty of people in theater who don't really enjoy that aspect of it.  I, however, embrace the idea that I am using technology to facilitate art, and I like to believe that I make every effort to approach what most would call the tedious uninteresting tasks with the patience and grace of the artists that I am supporting.

Maybe that's why the people in Colorado were so happy.  Maybe they realize that they were facilitating the enjoyment of all the guests on their vacations.  I could certainly find happiness in existing in that type of environment.