Running Low

Today, mom and I got up early. Dad left for opening weekend of the Virginia Renaissance Faire (the volunteer cast of which he is a member). So, mom and I got up and walked two miles to try to make up for the lack of exercise we did the past two days.

Then we did a little bit of the gardening. The lavender at the corners of the house needed to move to make room for the oak leaf hydrangeas, and I got up another big root that was once part of my maple. That was just the front yard! Then we headed to the back; mom mowed the lawn (we have a little non-electronic push mower) and I sprayed down the deck with weed killer and chucked the bits of root I had dug up into the backyard woods. Whew! Then it was off to my grandmother's for lunch and to take my aunt to the airport. That took quite a bit of our day because airports aren't exactly close and, of course, she flies from the one of three that is furthest away. It was a short visit before we sent her back to her husband in Park City. I did learn that she will next visit sometime in October.

After that it was home and nap time. We were both so beat! We slept a little longer than we had intended, but still got to a decent showing of Spider-man. People still reacted to the same part; one scene that hushed all the movie theater chatter.

You know, it's instances like this that made me want to go into acting. I think it's too easy to be on stage. You've got the audience right there, reacting to you, and you can adjust your performance if they don't seem to be reacting the way you intend. The camera doesn't give that kind of instant feedback. You must do your thing and hope you got it right the first time, because the camera won't tell you if you need to adjust your performance. That's more of a challenge to me. I wanted to be the person on that screen who, when doing something, made the audience gasp or cry or react to me even though I wasn't really there in their presence. I think being able to do that is what a screen actor should strive for. You're not just there to say your line and walk your part. You're there to connect, and you'll never know if you actually did it. It's not impossible.

So, eh-hem. Back to my day! After the movie, which my mother thought was very well-done, we went to Panera for dinner and came home with yummy lattes. I called Fox to confirm tomorrow's plans and heard the most dreadful news.

A year ago tomorrow, I wrote a brief blog entry congratulating some friends on their much-anticipated nuptials. These two people are long friends of my father, and friends of mine from my work at the Renaissance Festival. I learned tonight that Deanna's mother passed on a few days ago. Apparently, Fox told dad, and confirmed with dad that he would let me know, but no one let me know.

I'm disappointed in my father for not sharing this important news about a woman who is my friend. And, Dee, I'm so terribly sorry. Times like this makes the day to day seem rather unimportant.