Measure Twice, Cut Once

Two posts in a week, or even a month is almost unheard of for me so try not to get used to it, okay?

Anyway, I spent about thirty minutes today at the local high school. They are getting ready for their annual musical that they use to fund anything but the next musical. This year their main backer backed out (no pun intended) and they had to select a large show that would make them a lot of money and they chose "Dreamworks Shrek: The Musical".




I was asked by the Electronics teacher to come over and look at the sets, lines and mics. As much as I hate the place that made my life a nightmare I willingly walked in and started looking around. Sure I noticed that they had those stupid hanging mics and one of them was a foot higher then the rest and even though they were pointed, one of them was pointed at one of the giant dangerous sets that the director is so disturbingly obsessed with.

As I was going through, the director brought in a fabric she special ordered to look like dragon scales for the giant dragon that they had built. She ordered 16 yards of fabric but they only had 9 so she took what they had. It was then that I realized that she had not measured the dragon ahead of time to know how much fabric she really needed. Which is Dumb. Very Dumb.


I have been working for my family's cabinet shop for over a year now and one of the things that my grandfather always preached was "Measure twice, cut once. That way you don't have to measure, cut, measure, cut and get a new board. It annoyed me to the very depths of my primal brain that this so called director was spending money uselessly and recklessly especially with no backer.

I have been watching this choreographer turned director for four years now. "Fiddler on the Roof" "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" "Little Women" and now "Shrek". Every show gets bigger and more elaborate, but on that little, teeny half stage with those older and older sets and castors and lights that never get cleaned I just see accident after accident happening. I do hope in the bottom of my heart that the school will shut down the program or hire someone who knows what they are doing before someone gets really hurt, but I know that they won't.

The musical is a town tradition that in four nights makes around two to four thousand dollars not including sponsorships. That is enough money to keep it going but not to make it better and that is what the school does best. They are masters of trickery, putting their best readers in classes with the illiterate to throw the curve and make the numbers look good and get money. Put special needs kids on sports teams to get money. Specialized training for dumb students to get money.

They are just in it for the money they get from the government and not in it for the students that would get good things from the project. Seriously screwed up.

bye,
Sarah K

Ugly Duckling Syndrome

When I first saw the Musical "Honk! The Musical" I very nearly cried. The story of the ugly duckling is a lot like my own personal life and it used to be my ultimate dream in life is to be just like the ugly duckling.

The story of the ugly duckling is simple and for those of you who didn't have a childhood or are totally illiterate or had parents/guardians/nannies that hated you I will summarize: Mommy duck hatches all of her eggs and most of them are regular, normal ducklings but one of them is larger, more grey in color, and makes an awful honking sound instead of a gentle quacking sound. All of his life the ugly duckling is made fun of and he eventually runs away.
Through some misadventures the duckling grows and it isn't until he comes home and sees his reflection in the water of the pond that he realizes that he grew up and is now beautiful and accepted by everyone who ever made fun of him. And they all lived Happily Ever After, The End.
Now don't get me wrong, the story is moving and lovely but like most fairy tales, it just isn't in line with the REAL WORLD.
The other day I was at work, making sawdust for a living, and listening to my music when the last song of the "Honk!" soundtrack played. (I keep my music in a random rotation.) As the song went through and the miraculous turnabout that can only happen in musicals and Disney movies happened I thought to myself: "Am I really so shallow that I need the undivided attention, admiration and forgiveness of everyone who ever made fun of me, called me fat, spread rumors about my sexuality behind my back and generally didn't like me?"

I thought about it. I have spent a good portion of my life trying to get away so I could become better. What I didn't realize was that I only wanted to be better than them. I didn't see myself as having faults because they created them.
I don't need my high school peers to accept me. Not anymore. It is time for me to move on. They can stay behind, work at the local grocery store, go to the local community college, get married to each other and raise their 12 children. I am moving on to bigger and better things. I am majoring in a field I love, I plan to travel the world and meet exotic people. I am going to be amazing and hopefully rich and if I find Mr. Perfect and raise my 2.5 kids then Fan-Freaking-Tastic. I am a wonderful person and maybe when I come back they still won't accept me even with my fabulous career and acheived life goals, I will still be the most amazing person I know and that is all I really need.

Loves,
Sarah K