Days Off

Now that the show is in full swing, and the windows in my house are done, I've had a bit of free time. Free time.On Friday, I used this unexpected furlough to go to the makeup department at Carson's. Surprisingly, nothing caught my eye at the MAC counter, except the brush cleaner that I went in for. They even had their little xmas kits out. Instead, I ambled over to the Clinique counter. I've been a Clinique customer for a long time, even though my aesthetic has been less *subtle* lately. I was quickly whisked into a chair and made over. I love the makeup they sold me, but not the way that the Clinique artist applied it. Why is it that makeup artists must always do one hateful thing that undoes all the wonderfulness of the rest of it? I don't want to have Liza Minelli's eyelashes! I do not like to have crazy, thick eyeliner! I don't need to wear powder and foundation together! Well, that's a series of complaints from separate events, but you get the point. I felt fabulous and lovely, walking around and shopping after the makeover. When I got home, I saw that the mascara had sloughed off into raccoonlike grey circles under my eyes. Very unfabulous. I took it all off and reapplied the Pink Tweed dual eyeshadow combo in a less 80s fashion, then headed off to opening night.

Yes, we're finally open. Of course, I had plenty of problems with the mics on opening night, in front of all of the bigwigs in the company. Sigh. I don't like static, but there is very little that I can do about interference. We're running 22 wireless mics, so somebody's going to pick up something inevitably. Thank god the next show has a much smaller cast. So, a full weekend of shows, then two more days off! Yay! On Monday, I drove into the city and hung out with Lewis. He was so happy when I gave him his much-belated birthday present (it's early for next year, I guess), a striped hat made from Manos del Uruguay. I took the #22 down to Andersonville. A drunk or otherwise socially inept man pestered me at the bus stop until the bus finally arrived. I have two CTA cards: one with $20 on it and one with $1 on it. Which do you think I grabbed when I left the house? I didn't have any change, any cash at all, so I had to ask a woman on the bus for the remaining fare balance. Argh. Several homeless men begging on Clark St. told me how lovely/fine/sexy/beautiful I looked as I strode purposefully towards the bar. Maybe it was the hundred odd dollars' worth of makeup I was wearing, but I'd like to think that my day off happiness was writ across my face. I had dinner with a friend. It was lovely. Today, more errands, and not in any logically mapped out path through the city. I'm looking for the perfect xmas cards. I came across some very beautiful Art Nouveau letterpress ones at Paper Source, but it's awfully hard to justify $1.65/card (before taxes and postage) when I need forty of them. Instead, I bought a print of a fake antique tourist map of Paris for less than $5, and some thank you cards. They're always good to have around.