I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

My one---and only--stint at playing anything even remotely Shakespearian, was when my Acting II class did an in-class play, The Fifteen Minute Hamlet. It was a blast! As usual, I was dead-awful, but still, I threw myself into it with gusto, as always. Learned to make an arse of myself in public a long time ago!

Here we are in our first run-through. I'm wearing the goofy hat, because I figured since I was playing a guy, I ought to sort of look the part. The prof liked it, so the hat stayed in for the remaainder of rehersals. I found out the hard way, that old wool boating hat could get very hot, when they finally turned on the stage lights, two weeks later..

I read, today, that actor David Tennant has been nominated as "Celebrity Spectacle Wearer of the Year." Congrats to David, you go guy! (From one eye-glass wearer to another)

A lot of people, when they visit Egypt, only think of the great pyramids and temples of the past. Many fail to see the simple yet complex beauty of the many mosques.

They are wonders of geometric detail, the mosques. And, there's something incredibly soothing, about relaxing in the middle or end of the day, to the sound of the singing, broadcast from loudspeakers, all over the city. I had one wonderful experience, sitting on the desert sand, literally at the edge of the Fayoum Oasis, and hearing the singing floating up from the far-distant town by the water. It was a monent filled with peace and traquility.

THE CITADEL, CAIRO

New scam, lovin' it: Got another e-mail in my box, extorting the wonders of my writing and wanting me to shell out money for publishing my stuff. This time, to the tune of $2100 dollars! (Roughly, a little over a thousand pounds), that's about double my monthly salary!!!! Nutters, thinking all Americans are rich. We may be stupid, but we ain't all rich!

If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to be a jockey--here's your chance. Filmed at historic Saratoga Race Course.

Feeling better, glad to say.

I do have an infection, but have to wait till Saturday to get the meds, as 1. I'm nearly broke, after paying the rent, and 2. I have to work 10 1/2 split shift, Friday, no way I'm going to spend my lunch hour hanging around the druggist, waiting for my script to be filled. I only have to work five hours Saturday, so it can wait 'till then. I'd go tomorrow, but have to spend the last of my spare cash at the laundromat, as I'm near out of clean clothes again. I miss my car so much, when it comes to little things like laundry and shopping. It takes so much longer to do simple chores and errands, when you've no car--cabs, buses, even walking...can take one an hour to two hours longer just to do ordinary stuff that way. But, it's not like I have a choice, do I? No use grumbling about it. I just have to face it--I'm a prisoner to the cab and bus companies.

Well, rainy day here--a good kind of rain, the kind we've been needing. Most of our rain, for the past month and a half, has come from storms--quick bursts of heavy rain. We've not had a good all-day soaker in quite some time. Some of the creek beds up north, I'm told, are nearly dry. So this should be good. Raining pretty good out there, right now. I'd rather the rain any day, then that gosh-awful tropical heat and humitity we had, before. That just zaps the very life-force out of you, that sort of weather.

I have to go out later--she groans. I'd rather take a nap--rainy days are good days for catching up on one's lost sleep, or, in my case catching up on my sleep AND recuperating my health. But, not today, alas. Have to go to the office supply store outside of town, and fax some stuff to my student lenders. Long afternoon ahead--it's only a mile away, but it can take half an hour just to get there, by bus. And another 45 minutes--standing around in the rain, getting back, because this is moronic Glens Falls, and there's no bus stop on the other side of the street--means I have to get on where I got off, travel in the opposite direction of where I live--ride the bus to the end of the line, and wait for it to head south again. That totally sucks. Totally. There's only two bus shelters in the entire transit system, as well--one downtown Glens Falls, and one in Queensbury at the Wal-Mart store.

So, yeah, gonna' get just a little wet, this afternoon. Oh, I don't mind much. Heck, if I could work outdoors all day with a 60 below ( minus 51 C) wind chill blowing in my face, I can handle getting wet. Outside of the tropical heat, and thunderstorms and ice storms, when it comes to weather, with me, it's six in one, half a dozen the other. Rain, sun, cold, snow, sub-zero temps, raging blizzards, pouring rain... whatever--no big deal. I'm a northeasterner...most weather's not going to stop me. Geez, this area has even held parades during snow storms...weather's weather, not much one can do about it, ey? I've even had people, at the amusement park, when I was running the rides, go on rides when it was snowing/pouring rain. Just another day, to us. Don't know why some people fuss so much about normal rain--now, last June, that was different. We were ready to start loading up the ark, ha-ha. Heaviest rainfall ever, in western NY state, since the 1860's...it poured down buckets of rain for three weeks straight! That was a bit of a drag--especially since the windscreen wipers on my car had ceased working! And I had a 35-mile drive to my job at the racetrack/casino. That was...a bit of a challenge, I must say.

I like the rain. Rainy days seldom get me down--except when mum and I had the flea market business...bit of a drag, selling in the rain and mud, that was.

Well, I'll be off in an hour or so, so must get on, make lunch and tidy up a bit. Cheers.

Another unfinished piece of fan fiction that I'd begun--and completely forgot about. I wrote in January...but oddly barely remember doing it. I mean, yes, I remember writing it, but for some reason I just let it go and pushed it out of my mind. No idea why, but now I reckon I'll have another go at it. It's probably a lousy story, if I "forgot" about it, but maybe I can salvage it...we'll see, I suppose. I've some ideas for an all-new story, with the Doctor and Donna, but have to watch RB a few times, to get a better feel for Donna's character, before have a stab at writing her. Anyway, here's the first chapter of "Killing Frost," such as it is. Playwrite27 (N.)

Doctor Who: The Killing Frost

CHAPTER 1: Mystery in the Park

The night was still and cold. In the park, the grass bore a heavy rime of white frost, and the trees glistened with it, their interlacing branches looking like giant crystals. Colourful flowers were bowed down with the weight of it. A light icy mist clung to the ground in some places. A skim of ice covered the nearby lake, as ducks and geese burrowed their heads deeper into their feathers as they slept. Suddenly, with a great squawk, some of the birds took wing into the night. A wheezing and groaning noise ripped apart the hushed scene, as a blue police box materialized under some trees near the lakeside.

You know, doing telemarketing long enough, and sooner or later, you will get someone who's truly, genuinely, totally, bonkers--I mean sectioned-city.

The Door is open but nobody's home, a few fries short of a Happy Meal, Several bricks short of a load, the lift doesn't go all the way to the top, jumping without a parachute, his/her racket's un-strung, The tyres are spinning but the car's not moving, bowling without a ball, several eggs short of a dozen, the road doesn't go all the way to the end, a few swallows less than a pint, one beer short of a six-pack, not playing with a full deck, A few slices short of a loaf, all frosting and no cake, the train didn't quite make it to the station, the stuffing is missing from the pillow, golfing without clubs, his/her book is missing some pages, the ocean doesn't reach the shore, not all the nuts are in the candy bar, fruiter than a fruitcake, fiddling without a bow, squirrel food, his/her bucket's got a hole in it, some of the animals are missing from the zoo...go ahead, pitch in at any time...

I got this woman on the phone tonight--asked for some guy--and the lady starts bawling her eyes out! I thought okaayy...now what? Then she, between sobs, says that I have a wrong number, and I apologize, but before I can ask if she's okay, She says, crying harder, can she ask me a favour--well, I'm thinking she wants me to ring an ambulance or the police, right? Wrong. She wants to know if I'd mind telling her, if I'd "accepted Jesus." Huh???

Okaaay--then. "Erm--yeah, I guess I have." Is all I think I managed sputter out--well, I was bracing myself to spring into action, had my pen out, and was already madly scribbling down her name, address and telephone number, so the boss could ring the police...wasn't quite expecting the conversation to swing in a religious direction, was I?

So, after more crying and some more rather incoherent praising of Jesus, I finally managed to end the call--almost.

I thank her and bid her a good night, when she blurts out--and I'm NOT making this up--"It's 8:14, Wal-Mart time, thank you for calling."

Er?

Am I missing something? Has Wal-Mart's become so big, that they have their own time-zone now? Now, when you enter a Wal-Mart, do you have to re-set your wrist watch?

Will K-Mart, Sears, Target and Asda all have their own in-store time zones now?

Man, like I said,

The ski-lift doesn't go all the way up the mountain, only rowing with one oar in the water, a few chips short of a chippy, the gun is missing some bullets, mad as a March hare, crazy as a loon, too many nuts in his/her nutloaf, the gourd is missing some seeds, fell off the 'tater wagon, the driveway doesn't go all the way to the road, bats in the old belfry, half a bubble off plumb, a few fish shy of a full string, a sandwich short of a picnic, odder than a three-dollar bill, knitting with only one needle, playing basketball without a basket, driving without a steering wheel, his/her barn door is un-hinged, only 13 lines in his/her sonnet, the boat's got no tiller, got a hole in his/her bag of marbles, got a few toys in the old attic, sewing without a needle and thread, waltzing without an orchestra, the cupboard is empty, not enough apples left on the tree....