Think Positive

I was going to try to post a positive blog every night this week, but so far, this week hasn't been too wonderful. So, I'm going to post to remind myself all the things I'm thankful for. Be careful, though. Some of them are really things I'm bugged about but masquerading as things I'm thankful for.

Tonight, I'm thankful for:

Queer Eye. I'm about to start watching the final episode, and I know I'm going to tear up. I've loved this show from the beginning, and it always makes me happy when I'm pissed off. It's a good thing I've been recording it for Teri, who doesn't have Bravo. I'm going to copy the discs before I give them to her. Also, on tonight's episodes, they've made references to both Punky Brewster and Amy Grant. Nice.

Great theatre. I've been reading scripts like crazy the last two weeks to find scenes for my directing class. I'm obsessed with Take Me Out, The History Boys, and The Guys. I ended up picking Take Me Out for my scene. The Guys was my first choice, but since I was one of two people in the entire class (of a whopping six) that prepared more than one option like we were supposed to, I had to switch to a scene with three people. I got all of my first choices for casting, though, so that's good.

Stupid horror movies. There have been TONS on TV this month. The best way to watch stupid old horror movies is edited for TV. I watched Children of the Corn 2 last week, and loved it. I have probably 10 more to watch on my DVR, but I've been too busy. I've decided that I'm going to be brave and get through Hellraiser for the first time this year. In the past, it's made me feel too creepy to get through it, but by gosh, I WILL make it through.

Nieces and nephews. Gosh, I love those kids -- even the ones whose parents I don't always get along with. I've had fun watching scary movies with them in the few spare hours I've had this month. I'm crashing tomorrow night and hanging out with them all evening.

Non-blood nieces and nephews. I love my friends' kids. Bristol talked to me on the phone tonight and was SO excited that he gets to come trick-or-treating to my house tomorrow. And he promised he'd hug me, and then he told me he loved me. It was adorable. After seeing him for a minute last night, it got me thinking about how much I miss seeing Julie's and Wendy's kids. What kind of goshfather am I when I let school get in the way of my duties?

Shrimp Fajitas. Enough said.

Friends. I got to spend Sunday evening with the Pollocks, the Broadbents, Kimber, and Stephanie. It was great. I made incredible clam chowder, too. Then last night, Teri and Quincy came to my show, so I got to see them.

Nights off of my show. First Sunday, now Halloween! Even though the problems I had been having have pretty much completely disappeared and parties involved are acting like they never happened...I still am not enjoying the show. Tonight, we had a surprise photo call. I should have been home by 10, but instead, I got to stay for an extra hour. Guh. If this were professional theatre, I would have been breathing down the Equity deputy's neck BIGTIME.

Free songs on iTunes. I'm so broke right now that I'm not going to be buying any music anytime soon, but I've been storing up those free downloads, and I've started listening to them this week. Dang! There's some good stuff on there for free. Check it out.

Michael W. Smith Christmas albums. Thanks, Kimber! The new album sounds like a long-lost soundtrack to a Home Alone movie. I'm especially thankful that it's closer to the second Christmas album's orchestration than the first Christmas album's synth-pop feel.

Cars. They get us where we need to go. They run on gas, which gives us a great excuse to blow money. They get bad alignments which cause our tires, which are only 18 months old, to go bad. They cause us to blow $300 that we don't have on new tires. They require us to pay for registration and inspections every year. God bless them.

Homework. I sure do love spending every minute that I'm not at school, teaching, or at my play by working on research papers, studying for tests, and reviewing scholarly journals.

Kids who threaten to kill themselves for attention. Guh! I'm not a public school teacher, and I still had to talk to one tonight and try to convince him that it's not the best way to express himself.

The cast of Young Frankenstein performing on The Today Show. I'm stoked. I set both my DVR and my DVD-Recorder to tape it just to be safe.

New York trips that include lots of shows that only cost $850. What a bargain. It sucks that there's a $200 payment due this week, but I'll deal.

I've been writing this for over a half hour, and I'm about ready for bed, so I'm going to quit now.