Sunday, September 23, 2012

Dear Charlie:

I don't have cable, so I don't get to indulge my penchant for ghost hunting shows very often. My beloved sister sometimes DVRs me some episodes, but that's really about it.

That's probably a good thing. I get kinda frustrated watching those shows because it's clear they can hear things that the cameras don't pick up, that they see things before the camera can swing over to them, that they feel changes in the air, touches, cold spots, etc., that we, as an audience, simply can't experience from our cushy armchairs. Episodes like that make me wish I could go there myself, experience those intangibles.

Heck, I haven't even gone to the Crescent Hotel, and it's only like an hour or so away. If it didn't cost to stay there, I'd be there every weekend. Man, if I were independently wealthy....

But anyway, as I said, I don't get to watch these shows very often, but last night I rented a couple of Ghost Hunter discs and popped them in. The first one was from an asylum, which is always creepy, and they found some  pretty interesting stuff, whether you believe in the paranormal or not.

However, this time, I found my dissatisfaction wasn't from not being able to experience those things for myself. Okay, MOST of my dissatisfaction wasn't from that. It was from all the stupid graffiti on the walls and all the pointless destruction of the site. Why do people feel the need to break into abandoned buildings and just be pointlessly destructive?

Whether or not you believe in supernatural events, that was an historic building with a century of perfectly mundane but still fascinating stories to tell. Preservation of that history is difficult enough for an investor to buy into, but when stupid brats (I could use a stronger word, but these little rodents are too pointless to earn a cuss word) have tagged every single wall and broken windows and kicked down doors and sliced up paintings and wall hangings, it's that much more difficult to talk anyone into spending the money to bring the place back to its prime.

The more I watched, the more I was just disgusted by all the stupid crap scribbled all over the walls and just the trash and mess. Just a bunch of disrespectful, brain-dead brats with no sense of history, no respect for either the dead or the few poor patients who did manage to escape and hopefully recover even a piece of their sanity, no concept of the suffering of others, and absolutely no care for how much more difficult they make saving these places.

With a piece of history right down the road under constant threat of demolition -- the Steffleback Bordello, which I'll be talking about in my part of the "Legends of the Ozarks" haunted history event in October (in tandem with the Strangler's Grove haunted trail) -- I might have a bit more sensitivity to the issue than these little brats, but still. It just burns my butt to see all that stupid crap scribbled on the walls. If I were a ghost haunting the place, I'd be pissed, too.

Please, people. A little respect for the past?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Quickie Sidebar:

Just a quick fly-by to say....

ARRR! Ye better've talked like a pirate today, mateys! I didna lift a mug and I be fresh out o' rum, but I shivered me timbers and hoisted me colors. While I didna go full fathom five and dress meself out in style, in me heart, I did me best.

Now, though, it be time to douse canvas and hit the hammock. Until next year, ye land lubbers, avast!

Also, I didn't get the Sally award, but our play, The Foreigner, took four of the seven categories. I call that a helluva lot of win! Hopefully, after ghost tours and DickensFest and a wee break in January, I'll audition for something come February. I can hope, right?

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Dear Charlie:

By Jove, I seem to have blinked and missed August. I've been a busy little bee, but geez!

Ghost tour preparation is starting up, so that's pretty much September and October, there. After that, we'll start the work-up for DickensFest, which will take up November and December. I'm covering another lady at work (she had back surgery - yikes!), and the fund sources I've temporarily taken over are like four times my main one. Luckily, if I really need it, I can get overtime, so I'm trying not to stress too bad.

Been writing up a storm, but never for very long on any given project. I've been spazzing around, flitting from this to that to the other like the immortalized Wounded Bee. It's netted me a lot of pages, but very little forward progress toward finishing any one project. Gah!

On the other hand, I'm up for a Sally Award. What's a Sally Award, you ask? Well, it's like the Oscars, but for community theater over at Stone's Throw. Heh. The play I did back in February/March is up for an award in every category, and -- lo and behold -- someone nominated me for Best Supporting Actress for my portrayal of Froggy. Awesome!

Of course, I know the competition, so I won't be upset if I lose to them. We really do have some good local talent. But it's pretty cool to see your name on that list. Woot!

Um... I think that may be it for now. I'm in a fantasy football league for the first time in years, but I have a feeling I'll stink at it. The guy who usually wins got all my good picks. Luckily, again, I won't mind too much. It's been a good decade since I did traditional fantasy football, though I usually rule at regular picks.

Anyway, this one's just a quick drive-by to acknowledge that, holy crap, it's SEPTEMBER already. How did that happen??