el ártico bar and grill

So. I checked my email a few days ago, and there it was - a glorious offer for a paid acting gig! Hurrah! Yippee! Employed again! Wahoo! Call the fam! And then. Ok. Back on the road again. Deep breath. Grap a pen and a notebook. It's time to start making to-do lists and putting stuff on the calendar. Like stopping delivery of the paper. Arranging to get your mail sent to you. Checking your stage make-up supply. Getting a tenant. I've done this enough that I've gotten very specific about some things: I take my own hot water kettle, pillowcases, French press, and blanky.First things to go on packing list. If I'm going to be living for months away from home, having a few comfort goods is a must. I start gathering the stuff I'll need for work well ahead of time. I get enough meds. Over the next few weeks I will regret not owning a printer as my hiring packet and script comes in. There will be a flurry of emails going back and forth if I'm staying in a ...

Got my flight information on my phone, word that my contract has been finalized, contacted all the groups I volunteer for, and have a house sitter. For those who haven't heard, I am headed back to Douglas Island, Alaska, soon-ish to start rehearsal for Perseverance Theatre's "Cyrano De Bergerac," playing dual roles as Roxanne's chaperon/Mother Superior. I have no clue what I am walking into. It's a big piece, 50 speaking parts, period setting, and moves from big city to battlefield. All I know for sure is where the theatre is located, where the bathrooms and rehearsal room are in said theatre, and where the nearest bar adjacent to the theatre is. And that this beast of script is terrific.This Cyrano is a bad boy, to put it kindly, and has the enemies to prove it (essentially he's Deadpool's great-great-great-great-great grandfather). I do not envy the guy playing him learning the part, but he should have an absolute blast playing him on stag...

Returned a shower bench to Access Alaska - Fairbanks today that my late Mom used. Decided to donate her barely-used walker and cane so someone can use them. Got a ride over with a guy who has dealt with them before (he's the one who came up with the idea of getting her a shower bench). Since he's the one who has experience with them, he volunteered to go inside and inform them of the return and the donation. And that's where things got difficult. Eventually we just left the equipment but I am reminded of how hard it was previously to deal with them, and being told to contact my "contact" within the organization to try to resolve what was not supposed to be a problem, but rather the basic mission of the organization. The need for groups like this is only going to grow and there is no excuse for poor customer service. This stands in stark contrast with donations I have made to other groups, like Denakkanaaga and Fairbanks Resource Agency .    ...

Slowly. Ever so slowly getting prepared for my big adventure. Today I plowed through a lot of paperwork, and failed spectacularly to install a printer. Printers hate me. And the feeling is mutual. Next step ... finding my cell phone!

Packing. Cleaning. Signing my contract. Cleaning. New adventures = Old headaches. Heartaches too. My late Mother attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Washington, DC, and was a huge fan of his "Simple" poems. So much so that her last gift to me was a copy of those poems. Her favorite, tho, was "Keep a-plugging Away." On a day like today, it fits. keep-a-plugging-away