-From the gate this week was about Getting. Work. Done. I
drank a smoothie and had half an hour of pool time in Cozumel, but, MAN, did I
first sit for hours at Starbucks scheduling gig dates, writing queries, finding
teaching work for fall. By night, I had a better concept of my calendar for the
rest of 2016, and I floated on the knowledge of shows to hang my hat on when
I’m back to reality.
-I’d been outlining my solo show for the past two weeks. Enough
was enough. I started the draft Tuesday. I WILL be done by May 18th
when I debark.
-After last week, I needed some adventure. ZPill and I went
ziplining in Honduras! It was $50 to get driven a few miles away from the ports
and into the jungle for zippin’. It pattered rain, so we were the only two on
the whole course. Our two guides took us up a rickey as heck hill in a truck.
We bumped the whole way, and the guide kept saying, “This is the last ride in a
car you’ll ever have” etc. We laughed when we got to the top. Holy cow. We were
high. High high high. We hooked in and leapt. It was incredible. I was soaring
over the jungle. The ACTUAL JUNGLE. I saw a paca (fat butted rodent)! We zipped
all over the place, and on the last one I flung backward and did an almost
handstand in the air. We came down spattered in rust and mud. I did not care.
We bought $1 bags of orange juice from the woman who brings all the zip bros
lunch. It was too sweet to finish.
-Wednesday night Say was featured in the production show (a
janky version of American Idol) because the usual singer was ill. We hollered
for him from house left, and the night seemed to be filled with a puff of
celebration. I was invited to go out to late dinner, which would assuredly turn
into more hijinks…but I felt shell-bound. I went to crew mart for soap and diet
7UP and also got a can of French onion dip Pringles, which I devoured while
watching the Jonah Hill episode of SNL.
-There are days the soft serve is good and days when it’s
lackluster. I don’t know what makes it so. Sometimes the mix-in is creamier I
guess—and sometimes the chocolate has been watered down. Maybe too much ice to
flavor ratio? Friday was A+. The chocolate was a deep brown and the rainbow
sprinkles were out.
-My roommate has a tumbler she pretends is coffee but fills
with vodka so she can carry it around the ship and drink openly from her own
supply. I borrowed it for the first time to smuggle milk back to my cabin for
some afternoon Captain Crunch.
-The illusionist duo on board have a three-year-old
daughter. Luckiest kid on the planet—for her birthday she went to a starfish
beach, did ariel tricks on the production hoops, and had a big party with a
bunch of 20something performers giving her wads of attention. The birthday cake
was vanilla with strawberry icing garnished with a large chocolate shell
magician’s hat. At the end of the night a dancer asked, “so is that hat hollow
or what?” All the cake had been carefully eaten around it. A guy took the giant
knife and started hacking at it to reveal a rich fudgy chocolate center…and all
the dancers and comedians LITERALLY SCREAMED IN JOY. We swarmed, taking
fistfuls of cake and wolfing them down. After several hunks devoured, a teeny
blonde Brit whimpered, “I feel like Bruce Bogtrotter.”
-Having other crew friends is a tricky line to walk. Some
people blatantly dislike entertainers—especially the comedians who are
privately contracted through our own company. I’ve come to love the port-shopping
guide—probably the classiest, richest peer I have. She wears diamonds every day
and totes a big ol’ prada purse. She’s allowed to do everything and be
everywhere, so we can easily grab gal’s dinner. But my lil busboy friend sees
me for a moment, we small talk, and then he has to scurry away. I often don’t
have anything to talk about with him because the longer we talk the more
obvious our extreme difference in privilege is. And yet sometimes we find ways.
Maybe we talk about family or the school systems of our respective countries.
This is the world in a microboat.
-Our Friday show felt like pushing a boulder uphill. We had
a trio girl’s dinner, and our fabulous friend told us about a recent kidnapping
that affected her and I could barely focus. I was replaying fake make-up scenes
to songs. I felt disgusted with myself, but what can you do?
- I cracked open the Easter Peeps Saturday and avoided
finishing my first draft all afternoon by turning my tongue pink and watching
Rick and Morty. (But I DID finish my first draft at about 7 PM, writing on the
floor of my cabin!) Out of boredom four of us went to a restaurant for dinner.
We were served late, and when the pile of desserts came (bananas foster!) we
had four minutes until call time. I announced we had 2 minutes to eat and two
minutes to run. We did, leaving a soppy pile of vanilla ice cream behind.
-In the Adult Show I created a game where when an ensemble
member asked a question in a scene (an basic alleged improv no-no), they would
have to take off an article of clothing. Oh boy. Folds went all in and asked
seven questions off the bat. By the end, he was in a tiny pair of bright blue
boxers.
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