Long overdue updates!

It's ironic that the busier you are, the more there is to blog about, but the less time/energy you typically have to blog. It's an obnoxious conundrum :)

In a nutshell: the 2-minute version.
* Oklahoma closed, rather successfully, as the top-grossing mainstage show the Little Theater has had, I think, in its history. That means better-funded shows for the future! I still have people making comments about the production. It was an incredible experience and I'm so glad I got to do it!!

* I was asked to be the head of the makeup department at a special fx company, called Ethereal Fx. Projects are really picking up, and there's some fun stuff planned. We recently acquired 6 mannequins that I have full liberty to give makeovers, and I'm doing stage crew for a December ballet. It's really nice, because we've been trying to get our foot in the door with these guys, and even though I'm working stage crew, I talked with the Director directly (haha...) and offered to help them with makeup. Her eyes lit up and I had to stop myself from doing a triumphant fist pump :)

* I'll be doing another show! I auditioned for a locally-written piece about the 60's. It's called My Generation and will be performed as a fundraiser. Half of the cast from Oklahoma will also be in My Generation, and I am ridiculously excited to be with some of my favorite people again. I was never a big fan of tye-dye and psychedelic music and whatnot, but it'll be a really good learning experience about some of the themes from the 60's (like what the political landscape was like, the effects of racism, etc.) I don't know what character I am yet, (or music or dance part or whatnot), I think I'll find out on Thursday. I'm hoping to snag a copy of the script this Wednesday night.

*Congrats to Jamie Miller, my sister-in-law, who just had a baby girl! Her name is Anna Miller, and because it sounds so close to Ann Miller, the famous super-speedy tap dancer, Eric and I celebrated the day by watching On the Town. Good times and a super adorable baby :)

*Eric and I visited Vine Street in Paso Robles, where we walked the light-lined homes and saw the fun little local sights. They close off the street, decorate stuff, and have tables of free cider, hot chocolate, popcorn, cookies, etc. with music groups, dancers, and a few famous Christmas characters. My all-time favorite was a reincarnation of Scrooge, this cute little man who dressed up like the famous Humbug and spent 3 hours Bah-humbugging the crowd of probably 500 people clustered around his house. He'd make grouchy comments about people's clothes, yell at them that Christmas doesn't exist, then dart inside his house to the second story porch and continue yelling at people. The crowd (and especially the children) all boo-ed him back, hissing and yelling their own insults, and it was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. I'll have to post a short video I took... it was just delightful :). There was also a guy dressed up as the Grinch, but he wasn't nearly as entertaining.
The other cool thing was that I got to pet a live wolf! They were a pair of rescued and mostly-domesticated wolves, but they were huge and simply beautiful. Highlight of my night :)

More to come... off to make dinner!

Breaking News in Theater-ness

This news broke out last week, but since not everyone's heard about it, I'll break it here too.

Just after the first rehearsal for Oklahoma ended, the director asked if he could speak with me. Out in the hall, he told me he was considering asking me to dance the part of Dream Laurey. (In part of Oklahoma, the lead girl Laurey has a dream about the two guys who are vying for her attention, which later turns into a nightmare. It's a fairly well-known dance piece and is usually pretty ballet-heavy.)

He wanted to make sure it was okay with me, because some of the nightmare scenes/lifts can be a little rough, and he wanted to make sure I didn't get hurt. I had to laugh on the inside as I remembered all the random dangerous things I had lived through in the past decade-- being swung like a pendulum on a pickaxe, hurling razor-edged hubcaps through the air, ducking under real ropes being lassoed in the air, death drops in lifts... and then everything I'd done in jujitsu (martial arts) beyond that (arm bars, pain holds, distance landing, sparring, full-body throws....)

I assured Zach that I was totally fine with rough lifts (and even looking forward to it) and that I would be delighted to dance the dream sequence. 

He looked quite happy. He explained his reasons for asking me-- that I was so comfortable with doing the lifts at auditions, that I looked a lot like the lead Laurey anyway [we even have the exact same haircut], that I was smaller [being short finally came in handy!] and thus easier to lift, and that I had done such a good job at BS-ing the ballet in auditions that I looked like a ballerina anyway. I thanked my lucky stars for having been on Paul Winkelman's ballroom team. I learned so much there, especially about lifts, holding your weight, and trusting your partner. Hallelujah!

-----------------------------

A couple days later, at the end of a different rehearsal, we were all idly waiting for the next rehearsal segment to start, and Zach said, "Hey, MJ, c'mere. I want to try out a lift."  (I've started going by "MJ" here in California-- it's sooo marvelous! Everyone remembers my name so much better, and I don't get confused with other people. Try taking a nickname sometime when you hit a new setting, it's thoroughly refreshing.)

Zach is an awesome dancer himself, so along with directing, he'll also be choreographing the show. He had me jump into an overhead lift, and I can't tell you what a thrill it was to be doing lifts again. I haven't done them for performance since..... man.... since Stadium of Fire in.... 2007?  Long time-- and it felt so good!  Zach informed me that it would be the ending lift that "Jud" would carry me off with. It's gonna be cool. Apparently, we're going to be using a lot of the same lifts that Agnes deMille used in the original Oklahoma, and he's planning some really awesome ones.  Now all we've gotta do is find a guy who can dance the part for Dream Curly......

------------------------------

Knowing that I'll be doing some intense dance work has really helped me focus on exercise more. I realize I do things better when I have a purpose behind them, so I've started swimming to increase my breath support (for singing), aerobic exercise (for endurance, in dancing & singing), flexibility and splits for the lifts, and weight training (also for the lifts). I do a little bit every day, or while I'm reading or watching a movie. I feel great, and have a lot more energy than before. It's wonderful how something so seemingly benign can inspire to do more.

I was reading over the other blog I posted about theater, and realized something. I had been secretly hoping for the part of Laurey-- and in an unusual way, I kind of did get it. I'm dancing Laurey. Funny how things don't always turn out like we think they should, but they still turn out.

---------------------------------

Oh! I totally forgot! During the last rehearsal, I acquired the parts of Kate and Ellen (the stage is very small, so they're keeping the cast likewise small, combining roles and being creative). That being done, I now have some bit parts in singing and some lines. I wasn't expecting that, so that's been really cool  :D

"Contented Sigh" post Demystified

So, in the "Contented Sigh" post, I alluded to a bunch of happy things that'd happened, but didn't explain them, so I will now.

New toy: 
After lots of thought, careful research, and a fortuitous promo, I decided to invest in an airbrush kit. As a makeup artist, I work with all sorts of different materials, and because I've already trained in airbrush, I figured it was a good time to expand my arsenal. Plus, airbrushing is fabulous for photography, which I am working mostly in, and has a list of pro's that compete with traditional makeup's con's.

I got my kit from Dinair, a great company that was one of the original founding/inventing groups of airbrush. The kit consists of an itty bitty compressor that is amazingly powerful, all the equipment attachments, the airgun, 8 foundation shades, glamor makeup stencils (not like tatto-art stencils, n'case you were wonderin' :) ), and some other stuff. It just so happened that Dinair had a promo to get a free set of blush colors when you buy a certain kind of kit---- the kit I was planning on getting anyway. So, with good timing and a lot of giddiness, I ordered my kit and got $50 worth of free makeup. WIN.

I've been practicing on myself, and did a trial run on my photographer last week, so I'll see if I can post those pictures if they get put up somewhere.  It's been delightfully fun to experiment.  I'll probably start offering it as part of my portrait-business stuff here soon. Stay tuned :)



Bucket List:
I owe an enormous thanks to Katie for this one. When she came to visit, I idly asked her one day what kinds of questions she asked strangers-- how she had so many things to talk about with the random human being she'd sat next to maybe five minutes before. One of the topics she mentioned was people's Bucket List (you know, that list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket.)

Some time later, out of sheer curiosity, I asked Eric what was on his bucket list. It was just something I'd never really thought to ask before, and Katie's questions had made me interested.
Eric replied that he'd always wanted to ride a horse on the central coast of California. Turns out he had never ridden a horse, and has been wanting to for a long time. I was surprised, and a bit delighted, because one of the things I'd always wanted to do was to take a horse into a gallop or a canter. (Most places with horse-tours won't let you do anything above a walk, or go anywhere besides the trail, so you spend a good hour sitting like a lump on this animal that has his nose glued to the horse's rear in front of him.)
I proposed celebrating our anniversary by going horseback riding on the central coast (convenient, eh?), and Eric really liked the idea. We found a company that lets you have free reign (haha... get it? Reign? ....meh, never mind....)  with your horse, and you can take it anywhere at any speed along the beach.

BEST THING we have ever done! I cannot describe the feeling of finally being able to be so free... the word 'bliss' is about as close as I can come. We took a trail through some sand dunes for a good half hour before arriving at the beach, and the moment I was able to take Indy (my horse) into a gallop, my eyes closed, breath came in of its own accord, and some sort of nirvana engulfed that stretch of beach.

We paid a rather hefty price for it-- not financially (it was actually quite affordable!), but with our muscles, sore backs, sore butts, and a distinct inability to bend over without groaning. It was kind of laughable, and while it lasted for me for 4 or 5 days, it was SOO worth it. We're looking into doing it again. If we could afford lessons, we'd both be interested in learning to ride better... but all in good time.

SO COOL.

New Calling!

I got a phone message last night asking both me and Eric to meet at the Bishop's office this morning. I was rather thinking they'd officially make us the 15 & 16-year-old's Sunday School teacher, since he said it would only take 5 minutes. But lo and behold.... I am now the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's Presidency!

I couldn't have been more delighted, and the bishopric and YW's kept telling me how delighted they were that I would be in. I've been dying to work with the youth, and haven't gotten to for so long (because of college wards), that this was an awesome surprise.

YAYY!!!!

I'll be working with the Beehives specifically. (I would also love to work with the Laurels, and some of the older kids, but this is pretty dang close. And I get to keep accompanying Eric to the teens' Sunday School class :) )  There are only 2 Beehives in our ward, and a 3rd verging on inactive, but it works for me. They're both super cute and very smart.

Woo!

Theater Update

WOOOO!!!

First rehearsal with the whole cast tonight for Oklahoma-- it's going to be so good! We burned through the music very quickly, and the cast sounds wonderful. Everyone picks up fast, and the music director is talented and very funny. The other cast members are personable, and I can tell some of them will be very close friends.

AND..... the director asked me to dance for Dream Laurie!

For anyone who hasn't seen the musical, there's a part where she has a dream about the two guys competing for her, and the dream ballet has a ton of lifts and really cool stuff. Zach said I had rocked the audition so well, and looked like a real ballet dancer enough (even though I was bs-ing the ballet off of a week-long stint at BYU before I dropped the class) that he wanted to put me in rather than finding an outside dancer. Woohoo!

Accordingly, I will now be singing up for an actual ballet class :D

I'm stoked!

Results of the Monkey Poll

"Have you ever owned a monkey?"

Yes, currently do.	0 (0%)
Of course, I have a house full of them.	0 (0%)
Sortof, I monkey-sit on the weekends for friends.	0 (0%)
No. I find their large nostrils offensive.	0 (0%)
I am a monkey.	1 (100%)

Votes so far: 1

It appears most people do not have sufficient experience with monkeys to have a sustained opinion about them. Congratulations to the one monkey who reads this blog ;)

Love you all!

Marie

August Happenings-- Theater-ness

So, if the last post sounded mildly cryptic, that's because: 1. I wanted it to be, so I could write about the fun stuff in more entertaining detail, and 2. It was late and I while I wanted to put something up, I didn't want to write out said details at that moment. So here are the entertaining tidbits :)

Oy, where to start!

Theater Awesomeness:
So. Marie arrives in California. Marie is bored. She emails a local theater to volunteer, having heard that it's one of the longest running community theaters and runs good shows. Three or four weeks go by, and still no answer. Marie figures that they either didn't like her email, or didn't want volunteers, and gives up the idea of hearing back. Sometime around the next day, an email pops up in her inbox. Theater manager wants to meet. Marie goes to the theater, and instantaneous friendships, adventure, and delight are born.

The manager I met with was Jessi, an adorable girl who is simultaneously friendly, organized, direct, kind, a goofball, and awesome. We clicked instantly and she is an amazing manager, plus a bucket of fun. She showed me around the theater, said she could definitely use some volunteer help, and it was only a matter of deciding where to put that help to use, since there are a ton of productions going on. She broke off in the middle of talking about theater, and said she had permission to ask if I would also be interested in working at a Haunted Maze she manages in October. When she found out I knew airbrush makeup, she was absolutely delighted and informed me they had a paying position as head artist.  Then I was delighted!

A few minutes later, one of the production directors walked in to take care of some business, and so we were introduced. Jessi and I had already discussed how the schedule of the Haunted Maze would definitely overlap with two of the Little Theater productions, so when the director amiably invited me to audition for his show, I thanked him but knew in the back of my head that there was little chance of me even being on stage crew, much less acting in it. But he was cool, and people at the theater were SUPER super nice and friendly. I even met a guy who had been working at the theater since before I was born, an ex-hippie named John who is the dearest little man. He emanates a feeling of care and good-naturedness, and it was so cute to listen to him later as he ran a Light Hang. (For any of you non-theater peoples, a light hang is when the crew adjusts the big overhead lights so they're in the right spots for the next show. It's pretty technical and can take a long time.)

The next week, I got a phone call sometime in the afternoon from Jessi. She told me that there had been some situational changes at the Haunted Maze, and after trying to work out the problems for a long time, she was quitting. She described the circumstances and told me that I was still free to make my own choice to accept the Head Makeup position. She also said the reason she was calling me (before the boss even knew she was quitting, haha) was so I could still audition for the show I was invited to, since she knew I was eager to get back on stage. I was quite touched by the fact that she would go out of her way so much for me. I thought over the circumstances and decided it would be better for me not to take the job. (Not that it was a bad situation or anything, I had just worked with difficult artistic personalities before and wasn't keen on repeating the experience.)
Accordingly, I realized that meant I would be auditioning that night.... and that I needed music, a dance skirt, and to be warmed up, confident and ready to go.

Haha.

Some of you might know about my horrendous auditioning experience in high school, and if you do, you know that auditions still make me nervous. I am gradually getting more comfortable, but I really have to prep to calm myself down and tell myself it's okay if I screw up or don't get in.

After several mishaps with acquiring suitable sheet music and finding a printer that worked, I sang all that day, hoping my voice wasn't too rusty, and scurried about taking care of business. I finally found the church they were holding the auditions at, and was relieved to find that the director was awesome and the other girls were friendly and chill. Even though the dance audition was heavily ballet-style, somehow the week-long class I had taken at BYU was enough for me to look like I knew what I was doing as a ballerina.

Singing isn't my strong point, but the vocal audition was at least passable. My voice cracked during the most dramatic part of the song, and while I was cringing inside, I was proud of myself for pushing through it and not looking awkward. When the director asked me to sing it again, but with a Belt style, I figured, "What the heck", and belted my little voice out. Still not perfect, but I felt good for following through with directions without excuses.

Auditions finished, the director asked me to stay afterward and do some additional choreography. It rocked. He was impressed with how well I followed, and how gutsy I was when I would leap into the choreographed lifts. I was happy that he was such a good choreographer/dancer, and that he knew what he was doing. Things were awesome. As I left, he told me that I didn't need to come to callbacks the next day.

I was quite puzzled at that. However, a few days later I got an email informing me I had been accepted into the cast. Woohoo! Thusly, rehearsals for Oklahoma! start tomorrow night. I can't wait.

Last week, as I picked up my script and got fitted for my costume, I got to ask the director why I hadn't been asked to come to callbacks. He said, simply, "You were hands-down the best dancer at auditions. I already knew I wanted to cast you, and where you were going to be. There was no point in making you come in to read or sing more just for formality's sake."

So there you go :)   I was secretly hoping for the leading part of Laurey, but I think I have to vamp up my voice more for next time. I'm wanting to take some private voice lessons to learn how to sing Broadway style and belt better.  We'll see. I'm also going to audition for some of the upcoming straight plays (shows that don't have singing and dancing, just acting), which I think would be fun. We'll see about that too :)

In other theater news, I was briefed on how The Little Theater's new sound board operates, and invited to their open-mic-kind of performances called "No Shame Theater" (where you can present any performance so long as it's under 5 min and completely original). I'm tentatively working with an old connection of mine to write some music and do some choreography I've had simmering in my head for a couple years. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

That's all for theater news. On to other equally exciting things!

*Contented Sigh* and counting blessings

Can I just say, life is amazing?

Eric and I saw a movie theater today, and as I walked into the breezy evening, I felt *amazing*. I was so happy. So content.

I have a husband who loves me, and makes me laugh. I live in a great city. I work with nice people who are funny and concerned about lifting others up. I am making a life out of doing what I love. A fabulous new toy arrived today :D. A fabulous new project is going to fill my evenings, and I get to dance again. I've been married for a year and will happily celebrate that with my hubby by crossing something off our bucket list. I get to go back and see my family and friends again. I helped a bride feel all glowy on her special day. I understand people with different beliefs better. I feel loved. I feel happy giving love.

Life ain't perfect. Not by a long stretch. There's still the day to day aggra, (um, aggravation, sorry, that's a ballroom term), people who drive you nuts, the dishes you wish you didn't have to do, traits I see in myself that I want to change, and interpersonal relationships to work out. Details are always lurking in the background. But every now and again-- like tonight-- I step back and revel in a moment. It's a lovely moment. The other shoe will probably come crashing down sooner or later, but just for right now, I'm going to close my eyes and breathe it in.

*Happy sigh *

Love you all-

Ps-- I realize that everyone has challenges and icky stuff to deal with, including some of my beloveds who may be reading this, and I hope that this post doesn't come off as pointing out how great one situation is compared to how hard someone else's trials are. Rather, it's recognizing that you can have a moment where life, for a second, is just grand, before it swings back into madness. I'm not discounting your blessings or my trials ('cuz trust me, I still have 'em, and some of these blessings aren't going to stay blessings for long!).... I'm just picking up a moment and holding it :)

Talks in church

*Side note: I know that even though I love my family and friends that keep blogs, I am terrible at following them. To help others overcome this same curse, I found a cool page element that lets you be notified by email when there's a new post, so I added it at the bottom of our page. You can sign up to get email notices if you'd like the update :)

Gave talks in church today, the topic was "The Atonement and how I personally relate to it", or something along those lines. It was a very flexible thing we were given, and Eric and I joked that it sounded a bit like "The Atonement, and how it worked for this grievous sin, and this sin, and this sin..."  We were given the assignment 2 weeks in advance (woo!), and so it was bubbling around in my head for a lovely bit of time. We've realized that my and Eric's way of getting inspiration are a bit different-- my thoughts have to simmer for a while, and I get flashes of insight when I'm not actively thinking about it, and Eric likes to sit down all at once and think it out. Sometimes he'll lay down on the floor and just meditate with his eyes closed, and then suddenly sit up and scribble away. I love that we're not all the same, and both talks turned out well.

I found it easiest and most relevant for me to talk about the Atonement and perfectionism in terms of ballroom metaphors, and Eric talked about the theme from the movie Meet the Robinsons, "Keep moving forward." Our talks actually dovetailed quite nicely, and we had a horde of people come up afterward to say how much they liked our talks and what powerful/engaging speakers we were. I was absolutely relieved that the congregation understood the dance terms I used, and to be honest, I was actually quite nervous to give my talk. It was a bit strange, in the past I would be pretty calm right up until I stood up at the podium, and then be nervous and talk too fast. Today though, I was steadily growing more nervous throughout the morning, and my stomach was flip-flopping, until about 10 minutes before my talk. Then I got up and gave probably the smoothest delivery ever. I wasn't even as practiced with the words as I normally am... I wonder if it was because I was giving a lesson on letting go of perfectionism and I gave myself permission to goof up that I wasn't so worried about actually goofing up :)

Anyway, I'll probably post my talk here or provide some sort of link to it. Have a beautiful Sabbath, everyone!

Senior Portraits!

 Wooo! So, you remember the photographer I met at church, who owns her own business and wanted a makeup artist for her seniors?

Voila.

I have successfully done 3 makeups last week, with another one already booked for this week. It's great! I'll be putting these pictures on my website, but I wanted you to get a sneak peek because it might not be up for a while.

The girls were soo fun and so cute. I have to say, I am super impressed by the teens I have met thus far in SLO. They're so.... level headed. Real, and still fun and goofy. The girls were actually really worried that by getting their makeup done, they would look fake.
I had never heard a Utah girl be worried that she would look too done up and unnatural, but so far that's been almost everyone's main focus. They all just want to be real, and I admire that a lot.

Granted, it helps that the lovely California weather helps with skin problems and acne quite a bit. However, I know that that doesn't account for 100% of it.
There's just something in the water.....

Update on Harry Potter events:
I went back for the "2nd wave" of HP Mania at the Fremont Theater, per the manager's request. It wasn't nearly as crowded as the first night-- on Thursday, the line stretched around 3 sides of the building, and on Friday [gotta get down on Friiiidaaay.... =D ] the people were in the theater before I got there, and trickled in even a little bit after the movie started. There were a few in medium-squee costumes, but on the whole, they were more toned down. The employees said they were actually quite surprised at how few people there were in attendance, compared to last years' numbers.
Anyway, I offered the free facepainting again, set up in my little corner on my little table with my little charming broken chair. (I am normally not one for dinky places, but this theater isn't run-down...it's just... quaint. Very charming.) The theme of Thursday night seemed to be "Get cards and put it on Facebook, advertise advertise advertise", but Friday night was, "Wander over, get a cool painting, and tip Marie really well."

People are COOL. I had set out no tip jar of any kind, didn't suggest anything, told everyone from the get-go that it was totally free... and people were lavishing their little monetary gifts on the newcomer. And it wasn't in a showy way, it was simply, "Hey, thank you, this is cool. This is for you."
[The generous feel is there at church as well. When one sister stood up with a clipboard, only half-full of volunteers to make food for a Soup Kitchen-type event, she said, "Hey, we need some spots filled. Can anyone help?" There was an immediate chorus of, "I can do that." "I can bring this." "I'll do double vegetables."  Something in the water!!] 
I didn't notice until the end, but one person even tipped me with a $20 bill. (Most of the other tips were just $1 bills, but, holy cow!) I wasn't even doing super intricate faces, just 3-line Scar zigzags and some Deatheater marks. I love people :) :) :)

Results of the "Superpower" Poll:

Super Speed	2 (66%)
Eagle Eyes	1 (33%)
Fending Off with Flatulence	0 (0%)
Irritating Interdigitation with Infidels	0 (0%)
None of the above, I'll explain in a comment -0% As a result of this poll, I have concluded that I have an IncrediFamily with excellent legs, excellent vision, and no body odor. ....on second thought, I just realized that the family dogs more than likely didn't vote, so my 3rd conclusion may actually be erroneous.   Thanks for playing and I'll have some more fun polls  in the future! I'm glad you guys play along :)

Potter Mania

Went to the HP midnight premier. Felt the rumblings of the audio system. Heard the screams of possessed fans. Didn't see the movie. Went home happy and went right to bed :)

How the Harry Potter thing came about:

 I was talking to the 3rd senior girl's mom, and when she heard I was new to the area, she said she would definitely tell her friends and get some word-of-mouth advertising going. That was so nice of her. Then she said, "You know, you could go to the Harry Potter premier tonight (her daughter was going), and hand out business cards. That would definitely get some more word-of-mouth out there." Genius idea! Go to a place where people already enjoy dressing up, and advertise for more parties where you can dress up and get fun makeup done.

I didn't actually have any business cards, so I grabbed some cardstock from Staples on the way home from the photoshoot, slapped together a design, printed them off, changed into a HP-esque outfit, and went to the theater.

I took the mom's idea of card-advertising one step further. I brought my face paints, and just started painting for free.  I wasn't sure how the crowd would take it, if they'd be too old or too cautious to be interested in facepainting. I talked to a group of teens near the front of the line, and though they were slightly hesitant at first, I showed them my card, and one guy said, "Can you do the Voldemort Deatheater symbol?" I pulled out my paints, which attracted a lot of attention, and soon I had a whole crowd around me, taking pictures and talking about how cool it was. I really love teenagers, they're so much fun to goof off with. (Kindof funny to be painting mobile, I was using people as my table to hold my paints and tupperware-water :D ) I told them the deal was that since I was painting for free, they had to put the pictures on their facebook and tell all their friends where they got it done, who did it, and how cool it was. Everyone I talked to was more than delighted to do that.

I didn't realize that the theater would let the line into the building so early (at 10:30, I had just gotten there at like 9:45 and thought I had until 11 or midnight to paint). The line moved, and suddenly my audience was diverted. I had this crazy idea to ask the theater management if I could keep painting inside the lobby. I figured there was no way on earth they would let me do that without a ticket, but that it couldn't hurt to try. Youbanfa, right? So I made my way to one of the ticket takers, and nicely and straightforwardly explained my request, and he said,     ......"Sure."

I was shocked. Literally quite shocked. He even gestured toward a little table-and-chair set in the corner of the lobby and said I could use them. I made one announcement to the girls' bathroom (of all places, haha) that I was doing free painting, and had worked the line outside earlier, and after about 5 minutes I had a long line that didn't end until 11:59. Everyone loved it. Furthermore, after the movie started and I was cleaning up, the two ticket-takers were also cleaning up, and both thanked me for what I was doing. They said it was really fun for the guests, and added a lot to the atmosphere. I gave them my card, and asked if the theater ever does any partnerships or special events. It turns out that one of them was actually the manager of the theater, and he said that the company isn't given a budget for hiring out, but that they DO have ways of swapping services. He said they were actually having their second wave of Potter fans the next night, and that I was invited to go back and keep promoting my business if I would like. They would be delighted to have that extra element of fun again.

Some businesses will let you do free advertising, because it benefits them quite a lot, and sometimes you get taken advantage of that in some regards, but these guys were really cool. We talked about how they like to keep their theater small, and being personable is really important to them. The manager was totally unassuming and a mild, cool guy. His office was decorated with movie posters and had a down-to-earth feel to it, not like the business-mogul of Utah's Jordan Commons with steel desks and impersonal everything. They were making no profit whatsoever off of my presence except a fun atmosphere, and I really liked that.  The young ticket taker had told me he'd check the movie times for the 2nd wave, and when I went to the office to see what those times were, the manager handed me 4 free movie tickets. I was delighted. They didn't have to do that at all. And, they want me to come back, and will keep giving me free movie tickets.

People are so cool here!

*Happy sigh*

Two weeks and heavenly choirs:
So, the first two weeks I was here were.... shall we say, not fun. I was sick, I was friendless, and bored out of my mind. I went from designing and directing full-on shows, totally loving it, to being surrounded with cardboard boxes and no incentive to do much of anything. I knew that I would get involved in things in time, eventually make friends, etc, but sloshing through the empty time was not enjoyable.

Then the heavens opened.

That first weekend I was dying to go to church-- to have that structure I've always had (even when I was 6,000 miles away and speaking Chinese). We had sacrament meeting first, and when it was over, a whole family immediately walked over to meet "Eric's darling wife". I'm so happy that Eric is a nice person, because everyone treated me the same way he treats them. They were so kind, so super friendly, and so cool, and I felt at home. After chatting for a bit, Eric and I went to find the bishop to make sure our records had transferred correctly. As we were standing in the bishop's office and doing paperwork, one of the bishopric asked me what my plans were, if I was going to school, working, etc. I answered that I was finishing up school and looking for a job, so if anyone knew of a group that needed an ASL interpreter or a makeup artist, I'd be grateful for any leads. A guy standing in the room perked up and said, "Wait, makeup artist?  My wife's a photographer, she's looking for one."

*Haaaaaaalelujaaaaaahhhh!*

When I got to Relief Society, aforementioned wife walked right up and said, "You must be the makeup artist my husband told me about." We sat next to each other for the lesson, she pointed out who people were and explained when the teacher made references to members' backgrounds or attributes that I didn't understand. At the end of the lesson, her two daughters ran in and climbed on her lap, and she invited me and Eric to dinner at their house the following week.

I was so happy. It was a cautious hope about the venture being successful, because a lot of the time things never seem to get off the ground, or something doesn't work, but I had a glimmer. The rest of the week was still pretty boring, although Eric and I made some really good progress unpacking the house and getting the kitchen, bedroom, and study set up. Nothing much happened with the photography stuff that week, since the photographer (named Kiwi Ashby) was really busy, so I set about finding other things to do on my own. I contacted a few local theaters, photographers, talent indrustries, etc. and found a photographer who was willing to trade his photographs for my portfolio in exchange for a session of free makeup for his subject. (That's actually still in the works, we're going to try to do a photo shoot next week if I can find a couple to be our models.)

We had dinner together the following Sunday, and BAM, things started happening. After dinner we chatted about her business, and talked about how she booked sessions and what kind of people she usually works with. She does mainly high school seniors' pictures, as well as newborn & mom photos. I volunteered to do a free trial-type makeup for one of her sessions, and she had an idea to ask 2 girls who had already booked a session that coming week if they would like their makeup done then. Soon after, she found another client who was interested in having a makeup artist, and willing to pay for one! So this week, I did 3 girls' makeup for their Senior Portraits, and it turned out beautifully. *happy grin *  I was actually really nervous the day of, because I didn't want to goof it up, and I didn't have the regular makeup supplies from Janet's class closet that I normally used. Matching foundation to skin tones can be really tricky, and if that doesn't match, it doesn't matter what you do to the rest of the face, because the whole thing will look weird. I had 3 bottles of foundation, and a couple cakes of creme foundation, and that was it.  After I tried one mixture for the first girl, I realized the color was wrong, and I tried something else, and after that everything went smoothly. Yayyy! The girls are cute, absolutely adorable, and super nice, and their pictures looked great. I'll be posting stuff for you guys to see when I get the final pictures back.

- - - - - - If you're on a time crunch, you can pause here - - - - - - -

Posting:

Speaking of posting..... They'll be posted on my new website! Eric has been working tirelessly to help me build a website to feature my portfolio, and he's done amazing work. It's SO awesome to be married to such a smart guy. He's really dug in and worked out what needs to be done, and how to do it in an organized way. If he doesn't know something, he's super good at finding documentation and teaching himself how to do it. I love my hubby :) . 

Thus, MarieSteckJohnson.com is in the process of being built. Eric is working on the behind-the-scenes programming, and I'll be designing the front end. When it's all done, you'll be able to see the artistic mischief that I've been up to :). (As I was talking to various artists and photographers, everyone kept asking to see my website, so I finally decided I should get one. I started using one of those free template-sites, but the elements they had weren't robust enough for the format I wanted and the amount of pictures I needed.)

In other slightly related news, I have decided upon a mantra: "Good things come to those who volunteer." It's amazing. I've been volunteering to do lots of various kinds of things, and every time I have, good things have happened without me doing anything. Volunteered to do the makeup for the 2 senior girls: Their moms both tipped me. Did another senior's makeup for a reduced price: her mom gave me an incredible idea. Took that idea and volunteered facepainting at the Harry Potter midnight premier: Got 4 free movie tickets and an invitation to come back. So awesome! Eric and I had really been wanting to go see Cars, but decided that we should wait so that we wouldn't push our budget after moving so soon.... and now we can see it for free!

Story continues in the next post "Potter Mania"

There's More to Oz?

I suppose first thing's first, I should explain what the title of our blog means. Word of warning, I sometimes write in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way, so just go with it :)

Backstory:
Most people probably aren't aware of the special connection Eric and I have to The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. When he was in the 6th grade, Eric landed the part of the Scarecrow (beating out the local snottykid in the process, heehee). He loved that role, and to the surprise of his parents, was an absolute natural, a totally charismatic actor, which he had never let on before. That all launched him on his beloved path to theater and all things wonderful. Theater opened up all sorts of doors, molded him into who he is now, and (much to my delight) helped quite a bit in our dating adventure.

Enter Marie. In the process of getting acquainted with Eric, he totally blew my mind by suggesting the improbable: Make plans, take off to LA, and with an utter gamble on luck, go see the Broadway musical Wicked. Such a thing had never been remotely conceivable, financially or otherwise, so when it happened you can imagine my absolute delight. I completely identified with the character Elphaba,  later took on the nickname Elfie, and ended up with a signed copy of the program from Glinda herself. The most salient thing was the fact that Eric had showed me that far-fetched dreams could actually come to fruition... something I'd sorta believed but was usually discouraged from by hard doses of reality.

It conveniently happens that in the musical, Scarecrow and Elfie get together, after a whole lot of finangling. That was us too.

What Oz Means:
Oz is a magical place. Sparkly, wonderful, ethereal. Seems like everybody's trying to get there. For me, meeting Eric is the little Yellow Brick Road: that was my journey with my Scarecrow, that whole dreamy business of going through a bunch of munchkins and apple-throwing trees to find someone to make the journey with, and dodge all sorts of hazards to arrive safely there (meddling ward members, breakups, other guys, 6,000+ miles...). Arriving at marriage was like arriving at Oz-- aforementioned journey complete, we have arrived at that gleaming city of beauty and happiness. And it is happy.

The thing, though, is that the story plunks you back into bleary Kansas, and doesn't tell you what happens afterward-- the place Beyond Oz.
That's what we're here for. We've not only made it to our eternal-ephemeral castle, but we're adventuring past that. We're walking arm in arm, strolling past the cornfields and daisies, fending off chucked apples and haunted woods. The best part is that I get to do it all with my best friend and co-star. We'll chronicle it all for ya. Welcome to the land beyond Oz.


Eric's Take:
Eric says 'Oz' is the English-language first-person collective, spoken with an accent. His version of what "Oz is" might be a bit shorter and more grammatically complex than mine :). I'll let him tell his side of the story.