It's Good To Be Busy...But To Be This Busy?

I am tired.

It's my fault, really. Each time something comes up, I've said I'd do it, I'd volunteer, I'd say yes.

And so I did.

And so I'm tired.

Don't get me wrong--I like being busy. I've been doing it for some time. Back when I got my undergraduate degree, I constantly had several jobs at once while a full-time student. I got married and have been fortunate enough to be employed almost the entire twenty-four years since.

Around the turn of the century, I started doing shows, community theater. Luckily, my kids liked doing the shows with me and it made for a fantastic parent/child experience (at least, for the parent--they kids have said they've enjoyed it too...). But doing a show takes time--a lot of time. You rehearse almost every day, except Sunday, for two months, then the show runs for another month. Once the show begins, that's when you actually get a break--you're only needed every other night. Still, I've made life-long friends and wonderful experiences from these shows. I'd hate to think of turning them down just because I was busy.

Then around ten or twelve years ago, I started writing. I'd always dabbled, but I thought I'd take the craft to a more serious level. Now, being a writer means you're always "busy." You're never not busy because either you're writing, or you feel you should be writing--both can be somewhat stressful. But the rewards can be amazing!

To improve my skills I decided to return to college after fifteen years and get my masters degree. In a couple of years I donned a black robe and was given my diploma. I did this while I worked full-time, kept writing, and even doing shows.

Crazy, right?

Probably.

Since I graduated I've still kept writing (not as much as I want...), worked full-time, and done several part-time jobs. The part-time jobs are for fun and because it was needed. And the shows--there always seems to be another show out there.

So, why am I tired now? Right now, along with my job, I have a part-time job on the weekends. My son and I work at a Halloween show at Lagoon, the amusement park by our house. I'm also in a play we'll put on in December--I'm playing three characters and need to memorize my lines. And each day I need to find something worthy of a blog post as well as post a daily picture, which means also finding something interesting to photograph.

And this is only October. November's going to be nuts!

In November I've decided to write a novel--I'll need to write about 2000 words a day while working, getting ready and starting the Christmas show, and blogging everyday. Thankfully, the part-time job will be done so I should have good writing opportunities on Friday and Saturday.

Again, I'm not complaining even though it sounds like I am. I know I've been busier, but I've never been this busy and a half century old before. We'll see what happens.

Forget The Debate...I'd Rather Watch These Faces

As I write tonight's blog post, I have no idea if the latest presidential debate has ended or not. I didn't watch the first one and I doubt I'll watch the third. Everyone has their own reasons for watching or not watching and that's true with me as well. I can understand the draw, but for me--especially this year--I'd rather not listen to either the candidate or those who believe I'm so dumb that I didn't understand what the candidates said during the debate so I must rely on their intelligence to tell me how I should think.

Instead of getting all worked up over folly, I spent the late afternoon and early evening at Lagoon's Frightmares with a bunch of chainsaw-wielding dancers, Deadeye, Buzz, Stitch, Bones, Meat, Stumpy, Lefty, and Skinner, otherwise known as Hackenslash. The troupe does four shows on Sundays and after the middle two shows, they come on stage and pose for their adoring fans. While they posed, I took headshots of each performer. I love catching their eyes within the masks. They communicate so much through their eyes, which is important since they can't talk while in character.

No, I missed the debate and spent time with a bunch of masked people pretending to be someone else instead.

Deadeye

Buzz

Stitch

Bones

Meat

Stumpy

Lefty

And Skinner

Frightmares...When Not Many People Are There

My son and I weren't sure if we'd even work tonight--it's been raining all day long. The show my son and I do requires a dry stage, as in "dry as a bone" or else anyone trying to dance on it could get hurt and hurt bad.

But, we got the text that they wanted us to show up and we'd see how things would shake out. And so we did. And even though there were very few patrons, it turned out to be a pretty good evening at Lagoon's Frightmares.

My son and I are House Managers at the Hackenslash show. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it's basically dancers with chainsaws. Normally we do five shows on Fridays. Today--none, but we thought it would be fun to have the chainsaw-wielding dancers be available for photo ops and to meet the people. And so we did.

Unfortunately, there were so few people on the park tonight that we cut the evening short. Too bad, because the high rolling clouds made for a really cool atmosphere at Lagoon. I took a few pictures, pictures inside the Opera House, pictures outside. Like I said, it turned out to be a pretty good night.

Frightmares...And So It Begins

Tonight my son and I began a part-time job at the local amusement park that's just down the road. Some would say we're lucky to have an amusement park right down the road--not many can say that. I agree with them. It's been very cool to live so close. Many childhood memories, and teenage ones as well, have come from that place.

Last year I returned after a twenty + year absence. That was weird. I worked a show and my son worked with me. It was his first real job. The season passed and the show ended, but they needed people to help them with their Halloween shows. We applied and got the job. We applied for the Halloween shows this year and got the job again.

Tonight was a run-through of the entertainment that patrons will experience beginning tomorrow night. My son and I are house managers at the same stage we worked last year, but last year's show has been replace by chainsaw-wielding dancers. It's a fun show and the people like it. But I had to ask myself, is it really something a fifty-year old father should be doing? I mean, I just quit another part-time job a month ago because they pay stunk and the hours were brutal. 

This job has advantages over the library job. I work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. At the library I worked Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. It was nice having Sundays off, but that only means I had to fit up to twenty hours in six days, not seven.

But even thought the show is fun and the pay is better than the library, the main reason I came back for another Frightmares is because my son wanted to do it. I probably wouldn't have done it if I didn't. And since he has fun doing it and makes pretty good money for a teenager, I decided to do it, too.

The place has provided many good memories for me. Hopefully, my son will be able to say the same one day.