So yesterday was the Big Day Off, and I really do feel a great deal better, more relaxed. I have a lot of tense friends who I think would benefit from a day without deadlines. I ran errands, but never had to be anywhere at a certain time. Bliss.

So yesterday I slept in and puttered around and thought about the fact that I really should leave the house and get some props and so on, then Omar called and we talked for forty-five minutes or so.

Something had happened to him that morning at one of his jobs, something very upsetting. He didn't bring it up right away, and he tried to play it off that it wasn't so bad, but then he dropped his facade a bit and I saw how much it upset and hurt him.

I thought two things. One, that I was so proud that I was the one that he called and talked to when he was unhappy and in need, and two...there is something about him that turns me into a mama lion--if anyone hurts him, I want to hurt them. And if anyone hurts him twice, I will kill them with my bare hands.

Finally, around 3p, I left the house. And ended up with a bit of a deadline after all, since the place where I was going to rent the log from closed at 4.30p, but it didn't spoil my Day of No Deadlines.

First I stopped at the post office to send a package to my Mom, a package that she needed to get before she sent me my Dad's knife, which I need for the show, then went to the rental place. Yes, in NYC you need to rent logs. I found a good one for $25 for the week.

Then I went to Kate's Paperie and Lee's Art Supply to find paper to make the paintings out of.

You see, a major plot point of the show is the dead woman's paintings, about 70 of them, paintings of everyone in the town. Now, of course this has to be representational, you cannot actually have 70 actual paintings without a budget of millions--in former productions they used sheets of coloured lucite, another time they used empty frames. I decided to use coloured paper pasted onto cardboard, because I have 70 sheets of cardboard.

Man, pretty paper sure is expensive! Especially when you have to buy so many sheets. I ended up finding some that were pretty enough at 30¢ a sheet and some more at 34¢ a sheet, then I got big cardboard and big paper for the three larger paintings and some rubber cement for the pasting of the paper onto the cardboard.

Then I went home and did the pasting. In case you ever need to do this in the future, one bottle of rubber cement isn't enough to paste 73 sheets of paper onto 73 sheets of cardboard. And neither is it enough if you happen to have two glue sticks, you'll still need tape for the last big sheet.

Also, more mail had arrived! Two cigar boxes and the fabled gas can! I'm still waiting on the patching kit and the chewing tobacco and the soap box and the other cigar boxes, and I have to buy all the food props and make eight cakes and find a couple more wooden boxes. Where do you get wooden boxes?

Five days until opening night. These bastard actors better have learned their lines.

Today's horoscope:
As someone that understands the situation, Virgo quickly responds to any change. If you were wrong, be the first to check in with a simple, graceful apology. Your upbringing has prepared you for times like this.

One year ago today:
And, as Fran said after reading that, "Are Winni and I the only two people on earth who DON'T want to fuck Omar?"

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Last Updated Sat 15 November 12:14:09 2003