Time Flies

Geez louise, this week just flew by and I haven't posted a thing. There are pictures transferring from my phone to Facebook right now so I'll have to wait on that to post pictures of the work I've done this week, but maybe tomorrow I'll think to bring my camera to the theatre and get pictures of the set and I'll post them all together. Meanwhile, here are some lovely scenery shots etc...

Dang, I made them too small so if I make them bigger they'll be blurry. Oh well, no time to fix it now. UPDATE: If you click on them, you can see a bigger version.

Right outside my house

These are some metal horses that my boss welded at some point. They're rigged so there is a spring under the "saddle" part. My friend Molly and I rode them during our break time the other day. Needless to say, it was thoroughly entertaining for all involved.

My horse's name is Hank and Molly's horse's name is Wilbur.

Other than working and playing on horses I've just been trying to make the most of my time here. Some video game playing and soaking in the hot tub and enjoying the gorgeous weather we've been having. Pretty soon shows will start opening and the hustle and bustle of tourist season will begin.

It's getting late and I'm a bit tired, but I promise I won't wait too long to post again. I'll do a work post sometime this weekend. It's also a holiday weekend so maybe I'll have some other good stuff too. Until then, giddyup Hank!

A lovely weekend

I worked on Saturday, started at 9am and finished for the night around 10:30pm. It was a long day but we were all in a good mood and feeling a little loopy so it was really fun. We were putting up the set for Spelling Bee because they wanted to start rehearsing on stage Sunday. So, everything is going great, the flats are fitting together and it's all going up rather smoothly. We got about halfway through and we go to put up a 16 by 6 foot flat so two people are footing it and two people (including myself) pick up the other end and hoist it up and as soon as we do, it completely CRACKS IN HALF. I should have taken a picture. But we were all pretty much in shock and then we went into fix-it mode and never thought about documenting the situation. So we're about halfway through our day and probably would have finished by around 6pm but we had to completely rebuild the flat and put in the coffin locks, which is a time-consuming project. So by the time we got that finished and the rest of the set up it was after nine. And then we had to wait for rehearsal to get out at 10 to go over and bring a couple of the set pieces to the theatre from the rehearsal hall. WHAT A LONG DAY.

The good news was that we had Sunday off so as soon as we got off work we proceeded to make the most of the night we had left. So ensued a lot of Rock Band, drinking and dancing at Tommyknocker Tavern and then more Rock Band. It was a fabulous night and I slept for a very long time on Sunday, which felt great. I didn't do much of anything for the rest of the day, but a few people were planning a trip to Alamosa to see Robin Hood so I decided to tag along. It was really good. Action packed, but it the story was also very well done.

That was my weekend. Today was rather uneventful except for the snow this morning. Apparently it will snow through June. Which is not good news for me. I would really like a summer, but I guess it should be nice in July. Anyway, one of the actors who lives in town has a hot tub and has extended its use to anyone who wishes so I think a few of us will take him up on that offer tonight. I know I will.

One last note, I think its already happening but if you get a chance to watch the Bachelorette, do it because a guy from my high school, who is a good friend of my sister's is on it for the first two episodes I believe. I'll be getting someone to download it for me so I can see.

Hope everyone had a good Monday and enjoy the rest of the week!

Schizophrenic Weather

Yesterday was sunny and warm and beautiful, a little windy. I had my window wide open. This is this morning:

And it is actively snowing. What the heck, Creede?

Another day in props land.

It was another beautiful day here and a fun(ish) day in props. I spend the whole day working on these pennants for Spelling Bee:

There are nine of them, in different colors. I cut and sewed them and the picture and writing I'm projecting and tracing onto all of them....it's been rather frustrating and time consuming and tedious but hopefully they'll look pretty cool when they're all done.

This is the podium I made yesterday, or whenever that was...

The base had to look like a steering wheel because at some point in the show they flip it upside down and use it as a steering wheel, apparently. Those are the fun kinds of things you have to deal with when building for the theatre.

So, here's the deal with a repertory theatre. CRT is doing (I think) five shows on the mainstage this summer, but instead of doing them all separately, they do all of them all throughout the summer on a rotating schedule. Honestly, I'm not even completely clear on the whole thing, I'm not even sure how many of the shows are on the mainstage and which ones are in the Studio. So basically there is a different show every day and sometimes more than one a day. Which means after every show we have to change over the set to the next one that goes up. It's pretty crazy. It also means we are building for more than one show at a time. Right now we're focused of course on the first one that opens which is The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I went to the read/sing-through which is where the actors and director etc. get together for the first time and read through the play. It's a musical and it is hilarious. I can't wait to see it all together.

I'm going to try to sneak into the rehearsal hall at some point and take pictures of my table and the posters so I'll post them if I get around to it. Another work day tomorrow!

It's a beautiful day!

The weather here is CRAZY. One moment it will be sunny and warm and the next it will be freezing and hailing. But days like today are the kind I live for. If it could be exactly like this all summer it would be the best thing ever. When I look at the sky, this is what I see:



And it's warm and there's a slight breeze and it's PERFECT. Of course I'm basically stuck inside during the daylight hours these days, but that's just the way it is.

The big deal this week is that the grocery store is closed for renovation and is reopening tomorrow. Today they are paving the parking lot. The great thing is, it's right across the street from where I live! yay!

My roommate moved in last night. As in, strolled in around midnight. Thankfully I wasn't asleep yet, though I was trying pretty hard. She seems nice. She is the costume intern and is still in college. The good thing about that is I think I can safely assume that she is accustomed to living with someone else so hopefully that won't be an issue.

Props are fun! I built a podium today. Joy. And made some sweet "educational" posters which are pretty hilarious. These are for the shows The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and 39 Steps. Tomorrow I'll post about what a repertory theatre is and how it works for those who don't know so you can get a feel for what's going on.

Here's to another gorgeous day in Creede!

Today!

Today was a good day. I'm working with props for the week because the regular props carpenter is helping paint the stage. So today I made a folding table that people have to stand on and be wheeled around on so it had to be extra strong and have casters on it. It was fun...if only I could weld, I would have made the whole thing all by myself. As it was, I had a little help. I'm hoping I'll be able to do at least basic welds by the end of the summer.

The exciting news of the day: We have a burn barrel outside of the shop to burn all our scraps. We could just throw them away, but what fun would that be? Anyway, there is a hole at the bottom of the barrel for wind to come in and stoke the fire. Being the brilliant genius that I am, I go up and am poking around the coals with a stick and all the sudden feel a burning feeling in my toe and announce very calmly "Yeah, I think my foot is on fire." I just happened to put my foot exactly in the hole in the bottom, resulting in a slight burning feeling in my toe for a few moments and the melting of the front of my shoes. Thankfully it didn't melt all the way through, but it is certainly noticeable. Whoops...



Also, I've been eating too much cake this week. We had a potluck on Monday night and since CRT is 45 years old this year, they had cake and after the potluck they brought the cake to the Bordello, which is the common area for the housing and I have been sneaking down there and taking a piece after almost every meal. Large pieces. Mmmmmm

Other than that I've been doing a lot of working and eating and playing video games, so pretty much all is well. Things are starting to pick up and we're getting busier and working more hours, but I welcome it because I've been a little restless lately after work, especially when the weather goes all funky and I can't go outside. So I'll keep y'all updated, maybe take some pictures of stuff I'm building. Thanks for following!

First Solo Hike

That down there is Creede, CO.

I like climbing big rocks.


(Photo Courtesy Nick Moen)
The large, rocky cliff to the right is the one from which I took the previous pictures. The trail comes in from the hillside that is to the right of the cliff. I went, I think, to the second highest point up there.

I don't know how far of a hike it was total, but it took me about three hours. But that includes walking and stopping and exploring and even sitting at the very top and reading in the sunshine for a little while. I plan on getting more adventurous but since I was on my own and still don't have my hiker's card, I figured I would play it safe this time.

Greetings!

So I decided to start this blog so that I can document the adventure that is my life and so that people can keep track of it if they feel so inclined.

As you all know I am living in Creede, CO for the summer working as a scenic carpenter at the Creede Repertory Theatre. In short, it rules. The people are outstandingly nice and generous and welcoming, my job is fun, and you just can't beat the views.

This is the view from my front door.
This is just part of the view from the shop where I work.

Feel free to be incredibly jealous.

I've been having some problems with my camera, which I will hopefully get figured out or I'll have to break down and buy a new one. Until then, I'll just have to post mostly pictures that I take with my phone, which unfortunately are not very good quality.

I'm not feeling terribly inspired at the moment, so I will come back later and share more about what it's like here and what/how I'm doing. So stay tuned!