Tomorrow!

First rehearsal of our two-week long journey into sci-fi parody land begins tomorrow! Don't forget to pray for us. With a thousand and one details, there's a lot that can go wrong, or at least get forgotten.

Shop! Shop!

The people of Abaddon in These Are the Voyages love to shop. We got in some of our own shopping yesterday. So many black ankle boots - but which ones fit? Which ones don't come with 3-inch spiky heels? And can you dance in them?

We took in 6 actors and found 4 pairs that fit. Guys are harder to find black boots for than girls. I will be conducting more tours of the Goodwill shoe department soon.

Meanwhile, I noticed yesterday that our wonderful acting coach and choreographer has also purchased black ankle boots. Hm. I might get myself a pair, just to fit in.

We're now a two-car family again!

After months of mostly not looking punctuated by spurts of research, and confused by dithering over whether to get a gas-saving sedan or a multiple-teen-carrying second minivan, Randy and I finally bought a second car yesterday!

We also got a lesson in how different we are in our approaches to shopping, especially for big ticket items. In short, Randy goes for the first car that fits all his criteria, while I have a burning need to check out all the other possibilities.

In the end, I may have spent months off and on researching, but when we saw the listing Monday night that fit the bill - the next morning we went in, checked it out, and bought it. By the way, 2005 Hyundai Sonata.

And all this while I'm trying to get publicity going, working on blocking notes, making props, shopping for props and set stuff . . .

But now we have a second car - and this one has air conditioning!!!!

Radio Shack, what happened to you?

We went to Radio Shack today to get some electronic parts for Aaron to make the beacon with. He drew up a design and figured out the lights and all that. When we got to Radio Shack, an employee showed us where the LEDs were and resistors and other little things like that. Aaron examined them all and was figuring out what he needed, but having never designed a multiple-flashing light + moving platform-all controlled by a couple of batteries and wires he was putting together himself . . . he was not quite certain if he had everything needed.

So we asked the nice Radio Shack employee for help. He came over, took one look at Aaron's assortment and froze. When Aaron asked him his question, the employee stammered out, "Uh, I don't really know much about this electronics parts stuff."

So much for the days when Radio Shack was staffed by people who knew about electronics! He'd obviously never even put together one of their kids' snap-on circuits toys. Now, they only know how to sign you up for DISH Network and cell phone plans.

Speaking of DISH Network, the entire time we were there in that parts alcove, 4 TVs featured two perky DISH Network hosts telling us the wonders of DISH Network. It reminded me of the Kurt Vonnegut story (Harrison Bergeron) in which the society tries to make everyone equal, so the smart people have to wear earphone helmets that transmit a constant stream of noise in order to break up their concentration. And Aaron was supposed to figure out electronics circuitry in this environment?!