Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish after a long day, listening to music, having eaten almost nothing but wretched foodstuffs. I gotta tell you. Let’s just talk about the food, shall we? I got back to the Valley after finishing the album mix – it was around seven. I thought to myself, “Myself, I suppose I could go sit somewhere and have a nice meal, but I’m tired of spending thirty bucks every time I eat at a restaurant, no matter WHAT restaurant it happens to be. Or I could go to In N Out and get a couple of cheeseburgers for eight bucks.” So, I drove by In N Out and it was jammed. So instead I went to Gelson’s and figured I’d get a few things, a potpourri, as it were.
I went to the deli department to perhaps get two chicken enchiladas. They had some, but they looked like they’d been made in July. They did have fresh-looking turkey enchiladas. Now, the thought of turkey enchiladas was kind of nauseating, but I decided to try two. I also got mac-and-cheese, and two chicken tenders. I bought McConnell’s toasted almond chip ice cream and some ketchup. Total cost for all items: thirty bucks. I may as well have gone to Hugo’s or Jerry’s. I came home and began with the turkey enchiladas. Quite simply, they made me want to vomit on the ground. I tried three bites then threw it in the trash. I moved on to the two chicken tenders, which are usually okay. They were not okay. I’m not quite certain what was wrong with them, but they simply made me want to vomit on the ground. So, those went into the trash with the turkey enchiladas.
I then moved on to the mac-and-cheese, and even that made me want to vomit on the ground. Since I hadn’t actually eaten anything, I ate the mac-and-cheese – it wasn’t a huge portion, but I had to eat something and I wasn’t going to spend another thirty bucks. So, my main meal was some toasted almond chip ice cream and a bit of Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream. All rather inane, if you ask me, and I shan’t be getting anything from Gelson’s for quite some time to come.
Now, let’s get in the Way Back Machine and go back to the beginning of the day. I actually fell asleep by one-fifteen or so. But I woke up at four and was up for an hour. Then I went back to bed, fell asleep and slept until the alarm went off at eleven-thirty. That bought me a little over eight hours of sleep. I got up, answered a few e-mails, and then I moseyed on over to the theater around one-fifteen. We ended up with quite a large house – seemed like around seventy-five to my eyes, and it included several walk ups. I think they were ready to really laugh and have fun. And I think they did have fun, but the energy was a little weird and off from a few cast members, and that kind of thing takes its toll pretty quickly. The audience did enjoy it and the reaction was fine, but I like when it’s firing on all cylinders, which it wasn’t. I like when it’s tight, energetic, paced perfectly, and everyone is timing the lines correctly. But this kind of thing happens – it’s live theater. I’m not sure we’ve had a performance where someone hasn’t gone up on a lyric – if it’s dialogue it’s still not good, but few notice. If it’s a lyric it’s VERY noticeable, can change the intention of a line, and can wreak havoc with the rhyme scheme. Any lyricist who cares about the craft, which I most assuredly do, is not going to be happy when someone mangles all that effort.
I hung out for about fifteen minutes, then went to my engineer’s house and finished the mix – it went pretty quickly, a little under two hours. Now he’ll get it all together and Dropbox it to me so I can hear it one more time in case I hear something I need to adjust. Once I approve, then it goes right into mastering.
Then I drove back to the Valley and you know the debacle of the foodstuffs. I’m still a little nauseous. I listened to music, sent notes to the three or four performers who needed them (I try to be nice, always, but in this set I was a little stronger because I’ve given these notes several times now). Today, at some point I’ll write the entire company, too.
Today, I’ll be up by nine-thirty. I have to prepare for the first staging rehearsal for the little musical revue. I can’t do anything elaborate because I think the performers already have enough to grapple with, with all the parody lyrics they’ve had to learn. So, just a few simple things, but mostly figuring out who is where for what, and making sure the performances are sharp and fun. We rehearse from noon to four, then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, eat some GOOD food, and then come home and relax.
The following two days are more of the same and I see a show on Wednesday night, then it’s Thanksgiving. Perhaps I’ll go get some turkey or something, just to feel in the Thanksgiving swing of things, or maybe I’ll just make some pasta or something fun. Friday I’ll relax, and then Saturday we have a matinee and evening show, and our usual Sunday matinee. I’m told there are few reservations, which I understand, given it’s Thanksgiving, but hopefully that will pick up by later in the week.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse, hopefully pick up packages, eat, and relax and perhaps watch a DGA screener. Today’s topic of discussion: What are some of your bad food experiences? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, wishing I hadn’t had The Debacle of the Foodstuffs.