Thursday, October 29, 2009

um, so I haven't had to use accounting fundementals for a while now....

Decided to take some Skillsoft courses to stretch my accounting brain again and debated about whether I really needed to start at the beginning. um, yeah. Here's my pre-test result:



now, a couple questions I missed because I didn't format the numbers correctly, I had the right number but forgot the dollar sign. still. kinda sad.

update: I completed the course tonight and mostly improved.... I like how the General Ledger score actually got worse. and I also hate cash flow statements. on the plus side, I don't plan on having a job where I ever have to make financials from scratch. or do the General Ledger by hand. (I think that's what got me, they insist you learn their order for making an entry by hand and I kept forgetting when the Post Reference was supposed to be done. not like it matters so long as it gets done, but there you are.)



so now I'm panicking because I just realized I have until Wednesday to take the rest of the courses for Accounting 101. It looks like most of them are shorter than this one. I guess we'll see how motivated I am.

Labels:

National Cat Day!

Who knew?

Charlene Butterbean of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee for one. Probably because she fosters a lot of shelter kittens.


I don't have to actually do anything do I?

Labels:

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

now I totally know what I'm getting everyone in my family for Christmas....

It's Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken! although... the Palm Beach Barbie Caftan was very tempting.

via SarahW on twitter.

Labels:

since it's nice, I'll post it....

I think eventually, it will be posted on their website, but for now, I'll just post the whole thing.

THE BUTLER DID IT By Tim Kelly
Mesquite Community Theatre

*REVIEWED 10/24/09

REVIEWED BY Matt Gunther
ASSOCIATE THEATER CRITIC for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

_______________________THE BUTLER DID IT______________________


Do the words `Detective Mystery' and ` Butler ' evoke any kind of immediate response in your mind? Did you perhaps think of Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or maybe Peter Falk wearing his shabby trench coat as Columbo? If you had you wouldn't have come within a thousand miles of the true nature of the show `The Butler Did It' playing at the Mesquite Community Theatre, mainly because there was no detective and no butler, but that doesn't stop it from being a pretty entertaining show.

Don't get me wrong, it does take place during a stormy night on a mysterious island with a group of people that all seem to have something from their past to hide, and a number of figurines on a fireplace mantle that drop one by one, signifying… Well, I'll leave the rest for you to find out on your own. Suffice it to say that the story, albeit thin, is enjoyable and a murder does take place – in the show, not in the audience, so you can relax about going – but this show is not meant to be serious or mysterious, but rather a comedy and the laughs are plenty.

The story revolves around a select group of detective novelists, all dressed and in character as their fictional detectives, invited to spend a weekend on Turkey Island , off the coast of San Francisco . The old adage that says, `Those that can't do – teach' applies directly to this group of characters except in the form of `Those that can't do – write', because this bunch of yahoos wouldn't know detective work if it hit them on the head with a ten foot magnifying glass. The characters these writers play are larger than life and they play their cliché parts well.

Laura Warner is excellent as the commanding and stylishly sly hostess of Ravenswood Manor, Miss Maple. My initial reaction to Miss Maple was game show host on a soap opera. But Ms. Warner infuses her with a modicum of vulnerability as well. She presents a powerful presence with her booming voice and sophisticated air and leaves no doubt about who is in charge, although the hired help, Haversham (Rachel Hall) might have something to say about that.

Ms. Hall takes casual grossness to a new level as she picks her nose and her teeth—sometimes in the same moment—sneezes, blows, and hacks her way through her required duties. It would be easy for these antics to upstage everything else, but her timing is wonderful and so it fits.

Jennifer White plays Miss Maple's stoic assistant Rita with just the right amount of emotional detachment to draw suspicion upon her character throughout the show as she carries around her mysterious hatbox.

The voice of reason in this cadre of simpletons is Peter Flimsey (Steve Iwanski). His straight shooting sophistication is played wonderfully by Mr. Iwanski with an understated English accent. Of all the novelists, he seemed like he could actually think his way out of a paper bag. Think Jeremy Irons mixed with Alex Trebek. I like his thoughtfulness, his style, his movement, and his timing.

Then there's tough guy Chandler Marlow and tough girl Charity Hayes, played admirably by Jim Jensen and Kimberly Anne Cooper respectively. Marlow is comfortable standing on the outskirts of the action, dressed in black, and rattling off a slew of hard nosed detective chatter, while Charity descends upon the group in full Lara Croft leather and pistols ready to lay down some lead and deal with the body count later.

I loved Louie Fan (Jeff Stachowski) with his fake Fu-Manchu mustache and barely passable Asian accent. He spouted one-liner Confucianisms like a bad comedian at a geriatric convention. Mr. Stachowski was great in capturing Louie Fan's ineptitude as he constantly misreads who the killer is, to the point where, in an interplay between him and Peter Flimsey, I thought my wife was going to lose it and pee her pants.

One of the things I like about this piece is that it is filled with characters who are pretending to be real detectives, so it all comes down to the choices the actors make for the choices their detective novelists would make for their detective characters. So if a character flops on stage, is it because the actor didn't give those strong motivations leading to strong character choices, or is it that their characters stunk at playing someone else?

For instance, Father White (Greg Williams) is an Irish priest, but his accent is so thin that it doesn't work well. Mr. Williams plays it well. Does it work? It's hard to say. The novelist's depiction of Father White was just okay.

Jeff Cummings' set design was excellent. Except for a few items where it looked like he may have exhausted his budget, it felt like I could have been looking into a finely apportioned manor sitting room. He paid attention to detail, from the pictures hanging on the walls (well most of them), to the lion statuettes marking the corners of the room, to the little figurines placed in various locations throughout. Plus his use of reds and golds added elegance to the setting. Add a fine staircase and the hidden passageway and this was a visually engaging set.

Costume design (Emily Hunt) was great. I loved the orange and yellow for Louie Fan and that stupid fake mustache. Miss Maple was beautiful and Rita plain, creating a nice contrast.

The director (Byron Holder) is correct when he says in the program, `…the script of this show probably won't win any awards…', but that doesn't matter because he's put together a show that is a lot of fun to watch. Take the time. Spend an evening in Ravenswood Manor. You won't be disappointed.


REVIEWED by Matt Gunther
ASSOCIATE THEATRE CRITIC for John Garcia's THE COLUMN

______________________________

____________________________

THE BUTLER DID IT
Mesquite Community Theatre, 1527 N Galloway Ave, Mesquite , TX 75149

Now Through November 7th.

(972) 216-8126 / http://www.mctweb.org

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays – 8:00, Sundays – 2:30, $8-12



update: different site, same review.

Labels:

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

second week of no work...

only two days in and I feel just as far behind as ever. stupid appointments. Met with the consultant today to talk about what my plans are. And she's all "why don't you do something with you're music degree?" no, I need the accounting work to pay for that. heh.

Anyhoo, she tried to finagle things so I can stretch out my month o' time to close to when I really want to star looking for a job. but she can only put me on hold for a month. In the mean time, I'm supposed to take advantage of their career resource site. I can take a few accounting courses online to refresh my memory. but mostly it looks like I'll be doing the temp thing again and she agrees that's probably the best route for me.

Labels:

Never got a chance to meet him in person....

but Mel will be missed.

Labels:

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Butler Did It... in pictures...

you can find some pictures from the show I'm in here. A friend of one of the cast members took them, and they're really good.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

so as usual, things not as bad as I imagine they will be....

I learned a lot about recent trends in resumes today and also how this company will help with job searching. Funny (to me) part was when we went around the room answering the "What is one of your weaknesses" question and I froze by the time they got to me because I'd been thinking of really amusing (to me) answers. The instructor talked about how when you answer that question you want to be able to also say how you address that problem. Usually when I've been asked that I just say that sometimes I work too fast and either make more mistakes than usual or I'm not able to explain exactly why I did something if someone else asks and it's not always the most efficient method after all.

so, here, in no particular order are things I came up with:

"Lately, I have a hard time staying focused at work, but I have drugs for that"

"I hate answering stupid questions. NEXT!"

"I don't like talking to people on the phone, and if I do my job right, I shouldn't have to. ever."

"I don't do more than one thing at a time. It's an introvert thing, it's not changing anytime soon"

(for mom) "You call it lazy, I call it efficient"

Labels:

Not what I want to hear today, Horoscope!

Here is your horoscope for
Wednesday, October 21: You may have a hard time getting your point across today, especially if your boss or an important client is involved. Authority figures think they know best and just can't be told otherwise.

Labels:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

well, tomorrow should be interesting...

Talked to the lady from the placement firm (former employer is paying for it, so I might as well use it) and I have to go in tomorrow for orientation and to meet with my, um, person that's going to be assigned to me to help me look for work. Things could get... interesting. Maybe not, I probably worry too much about these kinds of things, but I've been a freak of employment for a while now and who knows if they'll be able to handle that.

maybe I should start a pool for how many confused stares I get. I'll go with 2.

Labels:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Glad I made someone laugh on my surprise last day at work...


some of my coworkers were chuckling today because one of them mangled "flamingo" I didn't even think to actually google "Flamingle" just thought of this and decided to go find a picture and do it. And then I emailed it to them saying "I found one!" and so I don't know that they know that I maded it just for them. but they did print it out... in color. so there's that.

Labels:

regrettable choices....

MK: I wore knee-high hose with pants today.

RTO:

MK: It seemed like a good idea this morning

RTO:

MK: cause, I don't know, the weather or something. I didn't want to wear just the footy things.

RTO:

MK: so I know it was totally my choice, but half way through the day I'm like "WTH? I'm not that old and my job is not that dressy"

RTO:

MK: at least they didn't roll down.

RTO: so... your calves are still good.

Labels:

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

well, it kinda worked...

I made this this morning as soon as I got to the office. (the idea popped into my head while I was in the car)


but I never got around to printing it out and then the sun did come out for about a half hour around 4 o'clock. I think tomorrow is supposed to be similar to today and Friday is possibly sunny. finally.

Labels:

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

a pic I never posted from Phantom!

Cause it's been on my phone...


I think this was opening night. The costumer was there and a little bored and decided to embellish a few people. I didn't normally wear the necklace on my head or the huge earrings. Other fun fact, that's not my real hair in the back, although I got a lot of questions about why it wasn't. Who knows?

Labels:

Monday, October 12, 2009

blech


It's raining... again... I think I saw the sun briefly Thursday morning, but other than that it's been raining since forever.

Labels:

Monday, October 05, 2009

still catching up on bloggy things...

just noticed I got a mention for a caption I made at pw. glad I went with the cartoon language instead of something bleepable so I can link it without feeling bad.

Labels: ,

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Mr. Relyea... again...

Finally got around to watching the Met broadcast of La Cenerentola (Cinderella). The story is a bit different than everyone is used to, no fairy godmother, no glass slipper, no pumpkin coach among other things, but it was still pretty entertaining. This clip is the end of the first scene, Alindoro (John Relyea) tells Cinderella (Elina Garanca) that he will take her to the ball.



okay, one more clip so you can see and hear the Prince and Cinderella together. This is when they first meet (he's disguised as his valet)

Labels: