Getting the hell out of Dodge.....
So here i am stuck in Texas of all places.... Houston- my cousin lives here and his gf works for one of the hotels out by the airport. My whole family practically is here, its kinda nuts. Hurricane Katrina wasn't THE BIG ONE that it could have been- a cat 5 hitting N.O. directly would have leveled it completely but looking at CNN, it still looks pretty bad.
As far as i know, all of my family and friends are alright and from what i understand my apartment should be in decent shape because that part of the city was relatively spared. We're not sure when we can go home, though. New Orleans is under martial law and they're not letting anyone in yet because of all the flooding, etc. I'd imagine the water and debris will be cleaned up in the next couple of days, the next problem though is the lack of power. They're saying it could be weeks before the electricity comes back on. We have extended family up in Dallas so we might drive up there if we have to...
This whole thing was so last minute though. Friday night i went to the Saints game after work and when i went Saturday afternoon to my parents' house to do laundry i was surprised to find them packing to leave. They talked me into going with them of course but as someone who doesn't pay much attention to the news really, i didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. I have like three outfits with me and that's about it. Everyone has been very generous though. Stephanie and Kat offered for me and whoever to come stay with them in San Antonio, as did Robin in Shreveport and a few others.... i think i'm stuck with the fam, though. I may go insane.
Anyway.... my cell can't receive calls but i can get text messages and i have periodic access to the internet.
If anyone actually still reads this little blog of mine..... if you are from n.o., i hope you are okay. if not, good.
Ohh.... and i ended up getting a stage managing position with the Actor's Theatre of New Orleans..... hope the theatre is still there....

Use it or Lose it.
So my theatrical career has pretty much been at a standstill these last several months. After the rejections of Memphis and St Louis plus the stress of the stupid office job, i had kind of lost the desire to perform.
Lately that desire has come back some, though. I'm not ready to move to New York and try to cut it professionally or anything yet but i do miss being involved. I've been buying showtune soundtracks and going to see really bad community theatre. I even concidered directing. There's this theatre i used to do shows at what seems like a hundred years ago that i want to try to put on a show. Still may happen but no immediate plans. I've also had a few auditions. One was for Rivertown- it BLEW!! The piano was playing one song, i was singing another-- it was horrible. Its not quite like riding a bike where you never forget how. I'm out of practice. I suck now. Gradually it comes back, though. I had another audition yesterday for Actor's Theatre of New Orleans. I'm not sure there's a role for me in the show they're doing but the audition went much better- kind of like languages. Part of it always stays with you if you just get back into the swing.
Otherwise in Taryn world.... (i haven't updated this blog in months) things are pretty much the same as they were in April, though. Barrister (the stupid office job) is slowly draining the life out of me. It feels like i live there and its starting to affect my personal life- even when i'm not there i think about all the stuff i'm going to have to go back to. I dunno, i like most of the people i work with, i like being in charge, i like knowing my job backwards and forwards but i do not like all the stress that is involved with this. I don't like the carry over. With Dominos for instance (which i am still working a few nights a week to pick up extra cash) no matter how busy you are on any give night, by the time you come in the next day you get to start fresh. With Barrister, that's not the case. If i leave early, all of the work that's still there is going to pile up. I think i need to have a job that has closure. Unfortunatly no immediate plans of getting a new job. I am planning on getting a new car though. Probably either a Nissan Sentra or a Toyota Corolla.
Otherwise.... same ol same ol. Hanging out with friends, we've seen a lot of movies lately for some reason. My life is kind of boring. I'm not complaining though. For so long i was going at hyperspeed (namely for the 8 months i was with the airline) that i'm willing to invest a solid year of being the most uninteresting individual on the planet just to unwind. Soon though i'm going to need something else. Rebecca and i made a pact that if nothing extra ordinary happens in the next few months, we'll pack up and go work for the cruiseline. I don't know if i need anything else that extreme but we'll see...