During the winter months there are of course several things I miss but the number one thing is being barefoot outside. That feeling of cold dirt squishing between my toes is absolutely delightful. Today I was lucky enough to do some gardening in my front yard for the first time since October. Which meant the shoes were definitely off. If I could walk around barefoot outside all day I would. Being barefoot on anything but earth is no fun at all. Unfortunately my career won't let me be barefoot.
Soon I will be starting grad school for Scene Design in Theater. In technical theater, for safety reasons, your feet must always be covered. If you are doing carpentry or metalworking you are usually wearing some time of steel-toed shoes. But last summer I had the luxury of being able to go barefoot or wear flip flops while painting a show. It was only the second time I've held the title Scenic Charge Artist (the person in charge of paint for the entire set) and I was painting under unusual circumstances. I was working for an extremely small children's theater group and I began painting the set on an university campus until I had to move to probably the smallest shop I have ever been in. To accommodate myself and the rest of the scenery I had to (for the first time in my life) paint the set pieces outside which meant I could be barefoot and work on my tan a little too. Besides those two things there weren't really any other perks of that job.
This summer I will get to be a Scenic Charge Artist again except this time for a much more professional, completely indoor theater with their own great build and paint space. No bare feet or sun inside a theater but for me a theater is home and being barefoot is like a nice vacation. So until my new job begins in a couple of months I will enjoy my vacations as much as possible! As should everyone!!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Geeky Giants
As all good diaries should, this one starts with a love story........one of two giants who have, in the past, had to live apart to better themselves and must do so again in the future. I don't pretend to think that this love story is the best ever told nor it is near to being finished. But as many modern couples have to deal with, distance is the evil of this story.
Many years ago while in high school, before they were both giants, these two people enjoyed being in the same circle of friends until the girl realized the boy wanted to be more than friends. At first it didn't seem like a bad idea but quickly and several times she decided that it was. The boy, willing to give her a few tries went along with the roller coaster of decisions until he decided enough was enough after the third try by the girl he said no. This constant state of indecision only lasted a week. To many the story would seem to end there....but fortunately it doesn't.
Years went by while the two giants dated other people seemingly never to see each other with loving eyes again. Then the unexpected happen.......the guy was waiting for her. As the plane landed, after a year long stay overseas, the girl disembarked believing her family and closest girlfriends would be waiting for her. Unbeknown to her one of her friends had invited the guy to welcome her home. All it took was one welcoming embrace to rekindle the feelings from high school.
That summer was spent getting to know one another and falling for each other all over again. But as the summer came to a close the two giants realized they had a problem. They were to attend two different universities, 3 hours apart from each other. After professing their feelings for each other they decided that they would wait and begin dating the following summer when they would be back in the same city.
A week later their plan was thrown out the window. After watching a movie together the girl walked the guy to his car and by a mistake while hugging (that the guy would later call the girl's fault) the guy went to give the girl a kiss on the cheek and instead they became lip locked. From that point on they threw caution to the wind and decided that no matter the distance they would try to make it work.
And that is exactly what they did. A week later they went on their first date and just like their first kiss it became the trend in their relationship for nothing to go as planned......which made it all the more sweeter. Their first date consisted of an ill-fated attempt at eating out; his van wouldn't start after arriving at the restaurant when it was too full. The night ended with them eating his mother's cooking and helping him ready boxes to move back into his dormitory. Not your typical romantic evening but it is never what you do, it is who you do it with.
Seemingly the relationship pace picked up after that (some might think too quickly). It was only a week after their first date that the guy said "I love you" but like the other important firsts, saying "I love you" didn't go as planned either. While sitting in a car, finishing up some ice cream, and listening to Panic at the Disco he looked lovingly at the girl and said, "I have a job." The girl looked at him in stunned, confused silence as the guy seemed to mumble something after that. Immediately the guy got the "oh no" look on his face and asked "did you hear me?" The girl replied, "no, what do you mean you have a job? I know you have a job." As relief swept across his face he said (audibly this time), "I love you." "Oh, I love you too. Why did you say you had a job?" She chuckled. He then explained that an old teacher of theirs had once told him that men say they love women only when they don't have a job so he thought it would be smoother if he prefaced "I love you" by saying he had a job.
I could say the rest was history and that the next four years of undergraduate studies went by without a hiccup. But that would be like saying that the best pie has no texture to it. As a couple of giants living in modern times things such as email, romantic letters, cell phones, Skype, instant messaging, and internet dates helped keep the couple going over the long distance. They managed to see each other every 2-4 weeks but because of jobs and the guy spending a summer in Europe it seemed that their time together lessened as the years went by. Never did they fail to find new ways of spending time together and keeping things fresh but they looked forward to a future in which they were together all the time.
Then three years into their relationship all of their talk of the future had finally become the present. Although not totally a surprise the guy proposed to the girl but not in any normal way you might think. He had the girl chauffeured around their hometown by one of their best friends. With letters that he wrote in hand, she was sent on a kind of scavenger hunt to different meaningful locations in their relationship. At each new place she read one of the letters that spoke of his love and his memories with her at the particular place. Finally the hunt ended when her friend dropped her off at the end of a bridge at sunset. She walked to the center of the bridge and while the sun set and the waves of the river beneath them crashed against the dam he (after waiting for her on the bridge) got down on one knee and asked "Will you marry me?" Of course for once things went right and she replied "Yes!" Knowing they were getting engaged, they had planned an engagement party for immediately following the proposal. It was a wonderful evening that didn't seem to end.
As their final year apart continued she got an adorable dog to add to their future family. But a few months later there slowly appeared to be bumps in the road. They began to apply for graduate schools and unfortunately they were studying two completely different fields so they crossed their fingers but there was a slim chance that they would be able to attend the same school. It was going to be undergrad all over again. After going through a rigorous mass interview process she began to think she would be going to a school near the great lakes. Thanks to the different fields he didn't have to interview instead he had to blindly apply to the different schools. As the phone calls and emails came in he got into his dream school which wasn't hers. She was given the option to either accept an offer to her second choice school or wait a year and get to go to her first choice school. So it became a no brainer, she decided to go to her first choice which would allow her to spend at least her first year of marriage with her future husband.
The rest of the year continued smoothly with them both graduating with honors while planning the wedding. The first half of the summer went by in a blur as they rushed to plan the rest of the wedding especially since they were trying to do most of the work themselves. Everything from designing and printing all of the invitations and programs to making all of the wedding favors and tablecloths. It was a busy summer but it had the biggest pay out. They managed to have the bachelor/bachelorette parties, the wedding shower, the rehearsal picnic, the rehearsal, and of course the wedding all within the same week. It was a whirlwind of fun that seemed to go flawlessly. On the day of the wedding the future wife went with her bridesmaids to a salon to get their hair and nails done before arriving at the location to begin to putting on their dresses. Without a single negative thought in either of their brains the wedding party began the processional to a song from The Lord of the Rings. And when the doors opened on the bride and her father the music seemed to become obsolete and there was only the groom. As the short nontraditional ceremony continued it became even harder for her to listen to the officiant because all she could do was look at the handsome giant in front of her who loved none but her. As they were both very geeky the congregational response "So Say We All" had to be incorporated more than once. And at the groom's request there was not a more fitting song for the recessional then the final song from Star Wars: A New Hope (during the medal ceremony). The day continued with a wonderful reception full of lots of dancing, heart wrenching and funny toasts, and plenty of Futurama-themed wedding cake. After running through a cloud of bubbles the day ended with the bride singing "Skidamarink" to the crowd because it was the childhood favorite of her parents and grandparents.
After the wedding the newlyweds changed and proceeded to their honeymoon which was split between staying at a gorgeous cabin on top of a mountain and a Victorian b&b. After returning from their fun honeymoon they realized that the real honeymoon was getting to move into their first place together. So they quickly planned a trip to the husband's graduate school town. Nothing can go smoothly the first time....of course. They looked at place after place and once they thought they had found the one they were told that they only wanted to rent to one person. Go figure...turns out another guy that had sort of blown off their appointment the day before had another place he wanted them to look at. It was a small 2 bedroom house that was way out of their price range. But because they or at least the husband was a student he cut them a deal. He gave them nearly a 20% discount on the rent. It seemed like a miracle! So only 2 weeks after signing the lease they moved in and their year together began.....and still continues!
So..........although this makes a magnificent love story the bumbs are not behind the lovable geeky giants. Their year together is slowly coming to an end and with only 3 months left together before she moves 12 hours away there is never enough time.
But this story will always have a happy ending no matter how many blunders they have to endure in each chapter. But life, just like in love, is not just about the highs because without the lows we find ourselves empty of knowledge.
For now, the story you have read might seem like an ideal fairy tale but in reality it is my fairy tale and my foe was never destroyed. It was just being detained by time but soon it will be back to haunt me.......distance, someday I will defeat you! Until then these are the ramblings of a giant...
Many years ago while in high school, before they were both giants, these two people enjoyed being in the same circle of friends until the girl realized the boy wanted to be more than friends. At first it didn't seem like a bad idea but quickly and several times she decided that it was. The boy, willing to give her a few tries went along with the roller coaster of decisions until he decided enough was enough after the third try by the girl he said no. This constant state of indecision only lasted a week. To many the story would seem to end there....but fortunately it doesn't.
Years went by while the two giants dated other people seemingly never to see each other with loving eyes again. Then the unexpected happen.......the guy was waiting for her. As the plane landed, after a year long stay overseas, the girl disembarked believing her family and closest girlfriends would be waiting for her. Unbeknown to her one of her friends had invited the guy to welcome her home. All it took was one welcoming embrace to rekindle the feelings from high school.
That summer was spent getting to know one another and falling for each other all over again. But as the summer came to a close the two giants realized they had a problem. They were to attend two different universities, 3 hours apart from each other. After professing their feelings for each other they decided that they would wait and begin dating the following summer when they would be back in the same city.
A week later their plan was thrown out the window. After watching a movie together the girl walked the guy to his car and by a mistake while hugging (that the guy would later call the girl's fault) the guy went to give the girl a kiss on the cheek and instead they became lip locked. From that point on they threw caution to the wind and decided that no matter the distance they would try to make it work.
And that is exactly what they did. A week later they went on their first date and just like their first kiss it became the trend in their relationship for nothing to go as planned......which made it all the more sweeter. Their first date consisted of an ill-fated attempt at eating out; his van wouldn't start after arriving at the restaurant when it was too full. The night ended with them eating his mother's cooking and helping him ready boxes to move back into his dormitory. Not your typical romantic evening but it is never what you do, it is who you do it with.
Seemingly the relationship pace picked up after that (some might think too quickly). It was only a week after their first date that the guy said "I love you" but like the other important firsts, saying "I love you" didn't go as planned either. While sitting in a car, finishing up some ice cream, and listening to Panic at the Disco he looked lovingly at the girl and said, "I have a job." The girl looked at him in stunned, confused silence as the guy seemed to mumble something after that. Immediately the guy got the "oh no" look on his face and asked "did you hear me?" The girl replied, "no, what do you mean you have a job? I know you have a job." As relief swept across his face he said (audibly this time), "I love you." "Oh, I love you too. Why did you say you had a job?" She chuckled. He then explained that an old teacher of theirs had once told him that men say they love women only when they don't have a job so he thought it would be smoother if he prefaced "I love you" by saying he had a job.
I could say the rest was history and that the next four years of undergraduate studies went by without a hiccup. But that would be like saying that the best pie has no texture to it. As a couple of giants living in modern times things such as email, romantic letters, cell phones, Skype, instant messaging, and internet dates helped keep the couple going over the long distance. They managed to see each other every 2-4 weeks but because of jobs and the guy spending a summer in Europe it seemed that their time together lessened as the years went by. Never did they fail to find new ways of spending time together and keeping things fresh but they looked forward to a future in which they were together all the time.
Then three years into their relationship all of their talk of the future had finally become the present. Although not totally a surprise the guy proposed to the girl but not in any normal way you might think. He had the girl chauffeured around their hometown by one of their best friends. With letters that he wrote in hand, she was sent on a kind of scavenger hunt to different meaningful locations in their relationship. At each new place she read one of the letters that spoke of his love and his memories with her at the particular place. Finally the hunt ended when her friend dropped her off at the end of a bridge at sunset. She walked to the center of the bridge and while the sun set and the waves of the river beneath them crashed against the dam he (after waiting for her on the bridge) got down on one knee and asked "Will you marry me?" Of course for once things went right and she replied "Yes!" Knowing they were getting engaged, they had planned an engagement party for immediately following the proposal. It was a wonderful evening that didn't seem to end.
As their final year apart continued she got an adorable dog to add to their future family. But a few months later there slowly appeared to be bumps in the road. They began to apply for graduate schools and unfortunately they were studying two completely different fields so they crossed their fingers but there was a slim chance that they would be able to attend the same school. It was going to be undergrad all over again. After going through a rigorous mass interview process she began to think she would be going to a school near the great lakes. Thanks to the different fields he didn't have to interview instead he had to blindly apply to the different schools. As the phone calls and emails came in he got into his dream school which wasn't hers. She was given the option to either accept an offer to her second choice school or wait a year and get to go to her first choice school. So it became a no brainer, she decided to go to her first choice which would allow her to spend at least her first year of marriage with her future husband.
The rest of the year continued smoothly with them both graduating with honors while planning the wedding. The first half of the summer went by in a blur as they rushed to plan the rest of the wedding especially since they were trying to do most of the work themselves. Everything from designing and printing all of the invitations and programs to making all of the wedding favors and tablecloths. It was a busy summer but it had the biggest pay out. They managed to have the bachelor/bachelorette parties, the wedding shower, the rehearsal picnic, the rehearsal, and of course the wedding all within the same week. It was a whirlwind of fun that seemed to go flawlessly. On the day of the wedding the future wife went with her bridesmaids to a salon to get their hair and nails done before arriving at the location to begin to putting on their dresses. Without a single negative thought in either of their brains the wedding party began the processional to a song from The Lord of the Rings. And when the doors opened on the bride and her father the music seemed to become obsolete and there was only the groom. As the short nontraditional ceremony continued it became even harder for her to listen to the officiant because all she could do was look at the handsome giant in front of her who loved none but her. As they were both very geeky the congregational response "So Say We All" had to be incorporated more than once. And at the groom's request there was not a more fitting song for the recessional then the final song from Star Wars: A New Hope (during the medal ceremony). The day continued with a wonderful reception full of lots of dancing, heart wrenching and funny toasts, and plenty of Futurama-themed wedding cake. After running through a cloud of bubbles the day ended with the bride singing "Skidamarink" to the crowd because it was the childhood favorite of her parents and grandparents.
After the wedding the newlyweds changed and proceeded to their honeymoon which was split between staying at a gorgeous cabin on top of a mountain and a Victorian b&b. After returning from their fun honeymoon they realized that the real honeymoon was getting to move into their first place together. So they quickly planned a trip to the husband's graduate school town. Nothing can go smoothly the first time....of course. They looked at place after place and once they thought they had found the one they were told that they only wanted to rent to one person. Go figure...turns out another guy that had sort of blown off their appointment the day before had another place he wanted them to look at. It was a small 2 bedroom house that was way out of their price range. But because they or at least the husband was a student he cut them a deal. He gave them nearly a 20% discount on the rent. It seemed like a miracle! So only 2 weeks after signing the lease they moved in and their year together began.....and still continues!
So..........although this makes a magnificent love story the bumbs are not behind the lovable geeky giants. Their year together is slowly coming to an end and with only 3 months left together before she moves 12 hours away there is never enough time.
But this story will always have a happy ending no matter how many blunders they have to endure in each chapter. But life, just like in love, is not just about the highs because without the lows we find ourselves empty of knowledge.
For now, the story you have read might seem like an ideal fairy tale but in reality it is my fairy tale and my foe was never destroyed. It was just being detained by time but soon it will be back to haunt me.......distance, someday I will defeat you! Until then these are the ramblings of a giant...
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