A Fire Escape of Felt
Intensive Arts is kicking my ass…it’s so exhausting, I don’t even know what to do with myself. Whine, that’s the answer that’s winning out, but I’m okay with that for now. Luckily, at dinner break, I remembered the Magic of the Pearls; if I’m having a day where I can’t seem to smile, I put my fake pearls on to paint, and it genuinely makes me feel happier.
Here are some numbers, because the sick part of me has to break it down like this sometimes:
Hours spent on the paint deck this week so far, with fourteen to twenty two hours left in the week: 39
Gallons of Scenic Goop mixed to create texture: 44
PSI on the hopper spraying the Goop: 120
Pounds of whiting (looks like powdered sugar, does what the name says) used today: 18
Gallons of SculptorCoat used today: 15
Time spent sitting down since waking up: 1 hour
Number of square feet covered in grey paint or Goop: 7700
Times I slipped in the Goop today: 2
The exclamation “fuck” was overheard: more than 100 times
Felt strips glued onto mesh netting to create the illusion of interwoven fire escapes: no less than 2 miles
Number of bricks that have been created in paint in the last 3 days: 27,000
Crew members,including designer and assistants: 16
There is a sense of pride and satisfaction that, at the end of these two weeks, we will have successfully painted a solid half of a Very Big Show…meaning, hopefully, the rest of the year won’t necessarily blow donkey balls due to this Officially Sanctioned 50th Anniversary West Side Story thang we have undertaken. I think I am just saying that to try and convince myself of such, but whatever…I’ll hold onto my illusions for now.
The addition of seminars in the mornings to the roster of work for the next eight days is daunting, and I can’t help but be vaguely pissed off…we’re all so tired already. I mean, I’d be more excited about workshops and seminars, I think, if I were allowed to attend seminars outside of my field. It’s not that I’m not lucky to be learning how to create cool crackle textures for cheap, or how to make metal look authentically rusted in under 10 minutes, but the people teaching all of my seminars are people I see every day. It kind of stings that a renowned scenic designer is teaching several days of workshops (lectures, I would assume) that I can’t attend because HoJo is teaching me more about paint…like every other day of the year. I learn a lot, sure, but variety would be exciting. I would love to be able to attend a model building workshop; it’s a requirement of my course work that I build models for class, but no one’s ever instructed me in the construction of models…and I feel like I can’t operate at my full potential in class because I’m shooting blind. Intensive Arts has always been a bit of a let-down for me; I expect that I’ll get to attend exciting lectures given by beautiful, famous people and be wowed by industry reps with new products ready to revolutionize the industry if placed in the right (our) hands.
Instead, there are bricks.
I see the silver lining in this cloud of Human Suffering…we will all be able to paint a brick like it’s Our Business, and that’s a good skill to have in the pocket. There will be weight loss, muscle growth. My back and shoulders will be sore, and my showers will be hotter than usual, but they will also feel better than normal. I will have to devote time to the maintenance of my nails every day, but I won’t bite them because the sludge underneath is too gross to put near my mouth. I will not sleep enough, but Saturday and Sunday morning will feel like birthday presents when I don’t have to wake up before 9. My house is dirty, but it’s nice to let go of cleaning for a week because I have to. HoCakes and I won’t get enough alone time to suit either of our tastes, but the stolen moments between work will be that much more lovely for breaking up the grind of Another Long Work Day. Winter Formal will be a great party, and even though I will be a crazy woman until the doors open, with finalizing plans and catering and decorations, I will have a great time dancing with my hot girlfriend in her hothot dress.
Things aren’t all grey Goop and 2 miles of felt strips, I see that now.
