ahhhhh. . my first big shopping trip of the summer for the opera was thursday. it was hot in my car, and i had to hit all the familiar stopping points. it was home depot, which has become venomous in my mind, that actually redeemed itself slightly by the end of the day.

after spending about twenty minutes waiting for someone to unlock the tools so i could purchase a new 14.4 v DeWalt drill. . . i went about the rest of my day, got back to the opera and didn't notice till i opened it that the guy who had finally opened the tools for me, had handed me the wrong drill. . . and i didn't realize! ahh. . .another fun trip in my hot car to the other side of town to deal with these 'not the sharpest knives in the drawer' people. dave, my boss, suggested that i call first and make sure that they were in stock. i explained the situation, the right drill was in stock, and i then asked them if they wouldn't mind bringing the right one to the return desk where i would soon be. (though i doubted that would happen)

i think i was on line at retuns for over a half hour. i could tell the guy behind the counter was having just as much fun. i was also privy to a conversation between two middle aged men in front of me, complaining about the line, then discussing piercings, and how low today's female standards in a man -as far as attractive qualities and apparently piercing go- have become. like hello! pierced, dyed, and tattooed. . . right next to you! assholes. . .

then the first of them got up to the counter. . . . this is when my day starts getting better, thank you karma! he only brought his receipt and explained that he was charged the wrong amount. the guy behind the counter needed to see a sku number or something, not just a receipt. . . so, after waiting for over half an hour, flapping his jaw, the guy says he'll run to go get the sku numbers, and takes off. . . so the next guy in line makes a quick return, and i'm up. knowing as soon as my transaction begins this ass clown will show back up with his sku numbers, and he does. yelling about how it's his turn and he's been waiting here four hours. so i step back a bit but not out of the way exactly. after ringing through the sku numbers, it turns out that the guy was charged the wrong amount, not more - as he thought. . . but less. he had to fork out another $300 dollars on the spot. . . and then his charge card didn't go through twice, my smile widened. finally he broke down and wrote a check, and walked away. suddenly, some guy appeared out of nowhere with the right drill to exchange and annouced that, 'this is the one she wants.' ahhh. . . the clouds completely parted and i swear i heard harmonious angelic voices. my transaction was complete, i thanked the dude with my drill and the dude behind the counter and walked away.

could've been worse, eh?

hmmmm. . .

kind of a quick one i think, but i did feel that two of my past projects deserved a space online.

my last week, correction, my last official week in the scene shop was filled with welding. there are a number of windows in don giovanni. . . all with wonderful mullions (sp?). my task was to weld the mullion supports onto the window frames and from the point on, someone else was in charge of the actual molded wood pieces that were attached.


this past week was my first back as an electrician. . . . and it started with my boss, dave, telling me about this dream he had of us making a slow motion entrance into the electrics shop all slow motion (right stuff, or resevoir dogs style) and walking over to this amazing and wonderfully huge shelving unit. . that of course didn't currently exist. he started making cad drawings. and i found myself back in the scene shop with a router and a bunch of wood. it was halfway through the project that i wanted to make sure all his measurements were correct and that this monsterous thing would make it through the doors. he said it would all work out (though at first he forgot that on it's side it was 7'6" and 18" wide not just a 7 foot 6 2 dementional line). . . and it did. actually getting it to stand up in place was a little tricky, but it all did work out and we immediately emptied as much counter space as we could into it's shelves. . .


oh yeah. . . and it's bright yellow. . .lemon zest to be exact. we figure if we paint all our stuff yellow, no other department will try to make off with it, without us noticing. . . and according to some idiot "yellow is the color of electricity". . . whatever. . . .

anyway, there it is.

wow. . . . i'm here, at the sfbc. completely comfortable, working computer, or, sort of working computer. . . and i have nothing to blog. seems when i'm driving or working there's always something that comes to mind that i wanna get down. . . but with the opportunity in my grasps, nothing.

ummmm. . . yeah, my bosses for electrics are in town. we'll have two apprentices for the next two weeks and then the other 6 arrive. oh yeah. . . i'm am now officially off scene shop duty, and full time assistant master electrician again. . . *sigh*

i like the shop, and the people. . . i'm just not that adept a carpenter. i feel much so much at home with a wrench in my hands, opposed to a hammer, or staple gun. though i did learn some really neat tricks and methods. who knows. . .

i was gonna post a couple of pictures of the last few projects i've been on. . . lots of welding, and i'm sort of proud of the turn out. . . but i haven't downloaded them yet, so it'll have to wait.

i guess this could be the official warning to all those who like to contact me. for the next four months it will be difficult to get a hold of me. . . but patience is a virtue, right?

ok. . . till i come up with something more interesting. . . .

also, another quick post. . . .

with the summer season coming very soon. . i thought i'd share some pictures from last season, and no, no more sheep. . . actual production photos. . . ready?

here's 'la belle helene' . . . i got to run this show from backstage, including the pyro sequence.


then there was 'cosi fan tutti'. . . this was one of my shows off, so i got to actually see it from the audience once. the first act was a little boring, the set didn't change till almost 2/3rds of the way through the show. . . but when it did, it was beautiful.. ..

third was 'intermezzo'. . . where there was far too much changing of scenery. i was glad not to be a part of it, but this was also i show i ran from backstage. . . . it was rather boring i thought, but it gave me and my crew a chance to watch a handful of movies between scenes. . ..

fouth was 'katya kabanova'. . . . i ran the lightboard for the show, and i think it was one of the more beautiful shows. duane schuler was the lighting designer, and though i knew he was really great, i didn't think i had a chance to see what he could do till this show. it was really stark, and the set was amazing . . . and because i loved the look of it so much. . . i'm gonna load up 2 pictures. . . .



the last show of our season is usually a new piece, and somewhat experiemental. this was 'madame mao' last year. rick fisher was the lighting designer, and he did a really wonderful job with the geometric set. i myself had a lot of fun making mao's portait glow, as well as the double ring of fluorescents on the floor, and the rings of cold cathodes (the neon looking stuff). . . thank god i didn't have to do it all alone! but there were some fun toys to play with. . .



and in a week, i'll be back to doing my electrician gig. . and i hope to have great pictures from this season.

so, i mentioned i had some catching up. . . sadly i won't be doing too much of it, but here are some pictures of a powwow i went to a couple of weeks ago. it's the 'gathering of nations' and it's the largest in north america. much larger than any i've been to.

here's the grand entrance of the dancers. . .

here is a womens' dance. . . i love the long leather fringe and how it moves with their movements.

and lastly. . . . the men's dance. they definately have the most colorful attire, and the most fanciful dance. . .

so yeah. . that's the quick of it. . . hope you are all well.