This Really Burns My Biscuits

I got sucked into Bravo's Top Chef last season, and have been watching this season from the very beginning. From episode one, I really liked Richard -- he seems very down-to-earth and genuinely nice (something a lot of the other competitors, past and present, have seriously lacked.) Plus, Richard lives in Atlanta these days, and I have to root for the guy who lives in my neck of the woods.

The last few episodes have been very frustrating to watch. There has been one competitor who has consistently been in the bottom rung on almost every elimination, and who has managed to squeak through. This is not all that unusual, as the judges tend to send home those who make really egregious errors, and pass over those who merely did not shine. It so happens that this year's "skate by on the skin of my teeth" contestant is Lisa.

What really grates on me about Lisa is that she is completely unable to accept criticism. In every episode, when she's brought before Judge's Table, her body posture is so defensive and rigid. She refuses to take anything the judges say to heart, which will ultimately lose her this competition. She also has the nasty habit of throwing the other contestants under the bus in order to save her own skin. In front of the judges a few episodes ago, she basically tattled that another contestant had not followed the letter of the challenge, despite the fact that she'd done the self-same thing the episode before that! This, to me, was inexcusable. I mean, I know it's a contest, but that's beyond the pale.

It seems, by reading the blogs associated with the show, that most other people feel the same way. Dale was another contestant who was eliminated in episode 11, and should not have been. Lisa should have been eliminated first, though I hold on deep love for Dale. Dale was abrasive and fairly open about the fact that he wanted to win, but he's a damn sight better chef than Lisa. Dale, at least, won some of the eliminations and quickfire challenges, AND got lots of compliments from the judges. Lisa hasn't been anyone's favorite that I can recall.

Not that this is that earth-shattering a topic, but it was on my mind.

The Verdict

Opening night went pretty well, except for me flubbing an entrance. One of the other cast members, however, knocked over what is supposed to be a stationary urn. I figure my flubbed entrance did no damage to the actual set, so I should be grateful that I wasn't MORE embarrassed because it could have been a lot worse.

Did pretty good in the dance that I generally screw up, so it was a give-and-take sort of thing.

Glued my left eye shut with false eyelash glue and that burned like a son of a gun, and I had to redo the makeup on that side of my face.

Didn't fall over, didn't hurt myself, and didn't step on either of my dance partner's toes, so it wasn't too hideous.

Offspring and Juggling Freak came, which was nice. My mother and a couple visiting from England (friends of the family) may come sometime this weekend, so that will be nice.

Now, we're one down, twelve more performances to go. I'm tired, and probably will be for the next three weeks or so....

Wish Me Luck!

Back from my self-imposed quietude to say:

My show opens tomorrow! Tonight's dress rehearsal was pretty good -- I had been messing this one dance up for freaking FOREVER, but I actually was pleased with my performance in it tonight.

We had a professional photographer there tonight, taking pictures, and at the end of the run, we are all presented with a disc of all the pictures. If there's a picture of me that doesn't look like a total doofus, and you all are interested, I'll post it. (Among all the other pictures that I've promised to post, and haven't yet gotten around to. So....look for it in about October, I guess, if I don't scrap the whole darn blog by then.)

So, wish me luck. In theater, we traditionally say "break a leg", but I did that last year, and I wasn't too thrilled with the result of that, so I'll just ask for good luck wishes, and all that bad theater karma be damned.

Trickle Down

Since posting has been rather thin and spotty of late -- mainly due to school, rehearsals, and, oh, that pesky "real life" thing -- I'm planning on phasing out this blog.

There are other reasons as well. I feel like my metaphorical well has run dry, and there's not many of you here to read the few things I post anyway. It's not all about the stats, though. If I was writing stuff I was happy with, it wouldn't matter. And I'm just not. I think that, almost three years in, that I've said almost everything worthwhile I had to say.

That having been said, I will still stay on as a Wednesday Whine moderator and still keep on reading my blogroll. I've made such wonderful friends through this blog (and others) and I don't want to lose that.

I may have a few more posts left in me before the flow slows down to more than a trickle. Thanks. For everything.

Hilarious, And Sad, All At The Same Time

Went to rehearsal last night, where I find that the choreographer has inserted me (and three others) into a dance number in which we were not previously included.

Very scary.

I'm most definitely *not* a dancer. Most of the moves are within my grasp, but my timing is atrocious. I turn half a second after everyone else, and I'm gallumphing around like a maddened wildebeest.

I'll just try to stay in the back and not kill or maim my dancing partner.

Pray For My Sanity

I'm headed off to the beach today, with my rambunctious little charges in tow. Everyone pray that no one drowns. Or that I have the urge to drown anyone.

Edited to add:

Back from the beach. No one died, though we did end up leaving two students behind at school who thought they didn't have to actually *do* the work we assign in class. Little did they know! Kids got soaked and sandy. I got a parking ticket. Hoo-freaking-ray. We saw little crabs and bivalves in the tidal pools, and watched a lifeguard chuck a jellyfish over the jetty to keep it away from nosy little fingers.

So, no one died, and no one got hurt. All in all, a successful field trip.