My monthly apology

Sorry about the ferver of my BLOG below. I am kinda anxious to get moved. (All of it is true, but I do try and keep it somewhat lighthearted here; perhaps it was more of a topic for anonymous posting on the UNT message board.)

Ah! To be young and care about being drunk and banging chicks

Have you ever had that living situation where you were SO ready to get out of it, you complained about it for months? Me too. Have you ever finally gotten to the last few days of it, then started to feel bad, that maybe it wasn't so bad? Me too. Have you ever then had your roommate do something so annoying that you didnt care you were leaving anymore? Me too.

I spent this past Saturday evening with my lovely roommates, having Christmas before one of us goes to Spain, one moves home with Mom, and one stays right where he is (Where Im sure he will stay for the rest of his life, metaphorically speaking). We met at Ye Olde Sweetwatyre (Home of the Pernicious Harpy Waitstaff). IT was nice, and I had a few, so by the end of dinner I was telling long stories that all ended with me being a genius in some way. My roommates were then going to a weekly UNT theatre party, and I told them as a last hurrah, I would also attend. I hadn't been to a wild and crazy UNT party in a while, and it seemed like it was time. Oh, boy.

I hadn't realized that I was an old man, until I saw the level of fun being had here. People walking around telling jokes about philosophers. People getting into serious, HEATED discussions about how they will change the world. Ten, literally TEN (!) girls walking around with the same goddamn haircut, shouting to the sky how they are different from everyone in the world.

This is a many fingered problem so to speak. These are all college students (geez); all UNT students (ugh); all theater students (GAH); all UNT THEATER STUDENTS (BLEARGGHHH); and all drunk UNT THEATER COLLEGE STUDENTS (gunshot). Good god, I dont know how I lasted so long with such annoying people peppering my party life. Eveyone is so self involved, so sure that they are the top of the food chain, that they will be the ones to go onto replace Shakespeare, or Fosse, or Mikail Barishnikov, or whatever the hell they like and think is the best in the world, but only because no one else likes it. God, I hate people. There is not enough booze in the world to make me see past all these people's deplorable personalities. So, I have officially declared, I have been to my last college party. I know what you are saying. "What if you'll miss these years when they're gone? What if you'll look back and see the best years of your life?" What if you take off your stupid pants and don a pair of what I like to call "Big Girl Panties", and realize Ive hated these people before, and I will hate them forever. My heart is black. Happy Holidays, everybody!

LATER

So, as we trundle loudly towards Christmas, I am filled with a feeling of....blah, kinda. I got into the Christmas spirit early this year, partially because I always do, and partially because of my lovely lady. Now that we get down to it, Ive been done shopping for weeks, and all thats left to do is wait out the actual holiday, I feel like Ive wasted the mood. I will be terribly sad to see Christmas go, but Go it must, as we have to get fully prepared for Groundhog Day (and all that implies). Are any of us prepared in the right way for these holidays? It seems Im either looking forward to it forever and then tired of it when it comes, or laissez faire about it until its gone and Im left holding the bag, a big bag full of regrets and sadness (which I donate to the Salvation Army for a fine Tax deduction.) Do you think we are the only people who feel this way? Are we the only ones who are depressed on the holidays? I guess not. The only ones who actually matter? Sure.

Annual Poisonous Plant Sale

Now, I love Christmas, and everything that goes with it normally (I even sign Christmas cards Merry CHRIStmas). But what's the deal with poinsettias? Everyone always goes APE over them, and give you a thousand ways to get one ("Seventy-five for a dollar!"). Does anybody really care? Does someone somewhere have these planted in their yard, like morons?

Here's my point: with Christmas trees, and poinsettias, and Roses possibly, do you think we have enough products to buy that immediately die? You buy one of these things at the beginning of December to get in the spirit, it's dead by, oh, Thursday. So you buy another. And another. ANOTHER! Every year, until you realize you've spent a zillion dollars throughout your life getting stupid crap nobody cares about!!!!

Off topic, to raise money for Band, we will be selling wrapping paper for $35 a roll.....

AND IM ALLERGIC TO CHRISTMAS TREES! PLEASE STOP GETTING REAL ONES! I realize its nice to go and buy a real tree and have the smell and blah blah blah WHY DONT YOU GO AND LIVE IN A FREAKING CABIN!?!? WOULD THAT GIVE YOU THE "OLDE-TYME" FEELING YOU WANT!?!?!? GIVE EACH OTHER CANDLES AND COAL! QUIT GIVING EVERYONE HEADACHES WITH YOUR FOLIAGE!

(panting).......but anyhow, Happy Holidays, everybody.

My monthly emotion

So, for those of you who I email chat with, you may have noticed I wasn't around on Friday. I was gone to the bright lights of Arlington, for my love Kylie Renee graduated with a BS in Biology from UTA. This was a bittersweet day of sorts, because the day she graduated was the same day she was moving home to live with her parents for a semester or so. Since Terrell is twice as far away as Arlington from Denton, and because she will be living with the 'rents, we will be seeing each other about 5% as much as we were. (For those of you who know, you know this is a big deal; we usually can't go more than a day without each other.) So, for now, not much snuggling (something we were great at), not much making out (something we were good at), and not much bickering because we are the only people around (this actually won't be missed that much).

Last night, we went to a Christmas program featuring her Mom (which was alright), and then dinner. I took her back to her parents house, grabbed some stuff, thanked her Dad for letting me come, and we went outside to say goodbye. Everything was cool, I thought we had gotten used to the idea, when I said, "We'll see each other pretty soon, right?" So, yet again, I made my baby cry. I managed to be the big man, tell her everything would be great, this would be a great thing for us (and also, I entertained her withstrange digestion noises from our mexican dinner). When I left, about 100 kisses and 15 minutes of tight embrace later, she seemed okay. After I got about five minutes away from her house, I was not. (I won't go into this, but I assure you, manly tears are extremely painful in comparison to completely losing it.)

I know that in comparison to some people, this is a paltry problem, and we should just get over it. However, you can't deny that this is the worst test we have faced, and though I'm not afraid of losing her, this will not be known as the salad days exactly.

I think I feel a little better than she does though, because I know that I got her a promise ring for Christmas. While this is not quite as flashy as an engagement ring, it proved to me in my heart that I will use this next year to change everything I need to to make her family love me. And then I will talk to her father, and get his blessing. One day I will make Kylie Renee Palmer into a new person called Kylie Renee Duncan. Because she made me a new person the day I met her.

Until then, good times? I don't know.

Phantom of the Crappera

Ok, so, after getting excited about the Phantom movie coming out, I asked Kathy if I could borrow her copy of the original cast recording with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightmon. I thought to myself, "Yeah, I like that song Music of the Night, and All I Ask of You, and that cool organ riff.

After listening to it, I like those same songs and no others. Is this really the show that launched a thousand theatre kids' little imaginations? REALLY!?!? This stinks! All the music (except for the aforementioned songs) are just singsongy talk! It doesnt even rhyme well! Furthermore, "he kills with a thought?" Two people died in the entire show! I've killed more people with my last bowel movement! Am I really supposed to be afraid of someone who has killed only as many people as Karl from Sling Blade? (Also, just between you and me, Michael Crawford's voice doesnt really strike fear in my heart. Its kinda like being terrified of the echoing tones of Charles Nelson Reilly.)

But, besides all that, forgetting about how the songs kinda suck, and the story is kinda drab, I have to admit:

A LASSO? WTF!?!?

LATER

Now, some of you ALW fans out there may point out the fact that the show is supposed to be about romance, or obsession, or love, or hate, etc. I have to say I dont care. This show personaifies to me the fact that love does NOT conquer all, and a show needs to either be funny or tongue in cheek for me to like it especially. A show can do alright without a great plot (look at Neil Simon) but not without a good followthrough. This show doesnt have great music throughout, and I wont even TALK about the book. ("Go now and leave me?" What else could he have said? "Go now and I'll go with you"? "Go now and carry me"? "You stay, I'll go, then when I get back, Raoul goes, then its my turn again....")

My only point is this: I just got through doing Jekyll and Hyde, and that and Sweeney Todd both make this musical look like warmed over silent movies. (Wait, they all are.) Jekyll and Hyde and Sweeney Todd are exciting, you actually wonder how it will end, the music is very cool, the writing, while prosaic at times, sets the mood. Phantom feels like Cats with people. Time will tell if I really care for Lord Lloyd Webber at all.