I: Nothing but good intentions and a bad tendency to explode

"Chemistry" was an underrated song. It was Semisonic's follow-up to "Closing Time" and was not only a clever but incredibly listenable piece of radio pop rock. Maybe it came a bit late. Sadly, in the late 90's, unless you were a Max Martin project, you didn't get a second hit.

As you can probably understand it's been... a somewhat eventful few days for me. With each passing day I say to myself "Man, when I get home I'm gonna write such a blog." But I'm too wiped/distracted to do so. My life has suddenly accelerated to such a pace that I can't even keep up with it.

Obviously the important central factor of it is that Half-Past Eight PM opened today. I can't believe in the time I have been writing this blog (the long, very long time) this is the third version of Half-Past Eight PM I have reported on. People keep saying, joking, noting, that this is the one thing I'll ever do, which is fine because so many people don't even get one, any maybe I've got another in there. Mom asked me what the title of this thing was, and I told her, and she said "Oh... isn't that like your other one?"

But far and away I am most proud of this one, simply because it is at a whole new level as far as writing, as far as production. This isn't the Drama room and this isn't my brother's computer's editing program. Regardless of how good the cast is (and they're excellent) it's just better because it has the capacity to be better, and Lordy is it great.

I went down yesterday, Canada Day, to check out the dress rehearsal. I've been up and down that GO line so many times this past week, it's amazing. And while the dress rehearsal would have been something to marvel at in its own entry, obviously I've seen the show in a packed room by now, which means that's the focus.

I was so bloody nervous all day. Not, like, afraid of it not being good, but just... dealing with anticipation. I never know how to explain it, but as you probably know by now I'm intimately acquainted with my nervousness. I couldn't focus on anything but the show. I didn't go to school, which I'd honestly planned on doing, until I actually started to gather my stuff and head out. I figured, fuck it, this is an important day. I can miss one class.

So rather than taking the GO train in, I caught a ride with Robyn (and her dad, who seemed keen on coming along) while Mom, Grandma, Eric and Brandon went ahead with a map from Mapquest, and I went with the Dalgleishes with a map from Mapquest, and we got there first; quite early in fact, and nearly a half hour went by before I finally called them and found out they were lost.

Long story short... they didn't end up making it. It was kind of a bummer.

But I was immediately cheered up when the lights went down and the play started and the laughs started rolling out. As I've said before, that play is a fucking blockbuster. It's a crowd-pleaser. There were some stretches along the way where there weren't many laughs but by and large, the laughs were all loud and long and hard. And very, very fulfilling for yours truly. Some of the biggest laughs were for things I haven't thought were funny for years. Some were for ad-libs that I love. And some was jsut all in the performance. It's such a great experience, I'm so glad I get to have it three more times.

The room, I ought to note, was packed, and they were turning people away. Chris and Pat, Lauren and her boyfriend, Cassie, and Cary's family were all present. Occasionally I'd be revealed as the writer, and people would ask me things, and I'm very happy to answer, although some questions ("How long did it take to write" have weird answers "Uh... 6 years I guess?") also praise for the expansions of the script beyond what it had been previously.

On the way home, Robyn's dad was very complimentary toward the play's emotional "realness." I'm very proud of the fact that it feels so authentic on that level while also existing on this incredible, impossible level. Cary, in the program, put it quite eloquently by saying it was a play of questions.

The show after was called Cast Party. I'd feel like a dick for criticizing it, because it was a fun play, but I have to admit I'm biased toward mine anyway. There was a certain emotional edge that was (deliberately) absent from Half-Past. Good performances, as all the actors had to slip between two characters apiece. Some very funny stuff, and some "oh, too true" statements about life, the theatre, and writing in general.

But you can't masturbate with a grapefruit. It has citric acid.

Hopefully, with my guidance, mom will come see the show tomorrow. Oddly enough, Jon, an old friend of mine from way, way back when, was there, not knowing I had written the play he was just watching. I guess his girlfriend brought him out. I barely recognized him at first, because of how unexpected it was to see him.

Man. I am pumped.

Part of the theme of the early part of this week - that would've been the more interesting half of a lesser post - was my trials and tribulations in attempting to study for my Poli Sci test. See, I had intended to do some on Saturday night, then I went and saw the Hangover. Then CB gave me a free baseball ticket for Sunday, and that ate up most of that day. (Incidentally, we managed to get stuck next to the one woman in the world who was impressed by the free Burger King giveaway masks. "Them things cover your whole faces!")

Then sunday night I was informed I had a Dentist appointment on Monday, which, honestly, I feel like I should be handling for myself by now. I made the mistake of not booking in advance last time, so coming out of this one I made sure to. It was the usual routine, where the word "cavity" never came up but I guess that's not good enough because they've got to fill something so I'm back in August. Still no word on the possibility of wisdom teeth. Weird.

I hadn't been raining when I took my bike out there, but by the time I got out of the chair it had come down fast. The Jays had gotten 7 strikeouts the previous day, which meant there was a Pizza Pizza giveaway for a free slice, and I damn well intended to use it. So I biked all the way up to Pizza Pizza as the rain stopped and started. I enjoyed my slice and waited, waited for the rain to stop while I drank my beverage slowly. It didn't. Eventually I had to bite the bullet and ride back. It all worked out as the rain stopped by the time I was away from the plaza.

Finally I went over all my assigned readings on Monday night and Tuesday morning. It still wasn't that fresh in my mind and I botched some of the identifications - like last time - and my essay question was a rambling summary of everything I thought I remembered about the judiciary. I expect more or less the same mark as I got on the previous test, although I did actually study for this one so I would hope for at least some kind of improvement, even a modest one.

So, that gets us caught up on this week. Nothing left to do but enjoy my last two days as a hotshot playwright. Sunday I get down to business on the next play. Plus there's plenty of other stuff I swore I'd do when this business was over.

Oh me.

Well, there are worse ways to keep busy.

Keep on rockin'
-Scotto