Work: more mail. The international stuff has gone out. 19 out of 40 people have solved the "we can't mail to Black Hole" issue. I'm surprised at how many of them ARE STILL LIVING IN THIS TOWN and yet wanted them mailed internationally. Seriously, it could be sooooooo easy for it to not be lost if you'd just gotten it here!

Other than that, it was a Big Deadline Day and I spent the rest of the time trying to work on last minute quickie shit before it becomes more of a problem. I didn't get through everything. In particular, I had covid testing this afternoon (five days after being exposed to certain people who may still be infectious...) and then oh shit, I forgot I'm supposed to do a total last minute thing once a season that can only be done between 4-5 p.m. I did not finish it. They don't want me to work late, so it's not done. OH WELL, LET SOMEONE ELSE FIX IT because I'm out tomorrow. Whatever, it doesn't matter if I do a good job or not here, still gonna get all 1's on the review.

As for testing, they have announced that mandatory testing ends after next week. Supposedly we'll still be able to get tested optionally after that, but they don't know anything about how that'll happen, so greaaaaaat. EVERYBODY BACK TO NORMAL, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE RATES GOING UP! IT'S ONLY A FOUR DAY HEAD COLD!!!! In related news, the entire region I live in has high enough rates of infection that the CDC is giving "guidance" that everyone mask indoors.

Also, one of my work cronies in another office sent a DELIGHTFUL RANT over email. It's about one of the Special things: specifically, people doing something at another GiantOrg and then transferring their stuff over here.

Let's see, what did he say...

* This process "was designed to be as inefficient and labor intensive as possible" and the steps everyone is required to follow are an example of straight up sadism.

* "You don't need this context but it's an atrocity I have to share."

* He notes that people have to print information out on paper, send it via snail mail, have people open the snail mail and scan/upload all of the stuff and manually put it into the computer systems.

* That none of this stuff is anyone's priority process.

* That the offices involved, especially mine, are super short staffed right now.

* Then he said he hoped the "small rainforest" of unneeded paper was recycled...which it's not. LOLOLOLOL. I wrote him two fangirl emails saying I'd be fired if I was that honest here, but this was brilliant.

Hopefully nobody like, reported on him for that or anything. I certainly would be reported on...

At lunch, we had Zoom yarn hangout with Yemi and Dawn, during which Yemi and I yakked on about romance novels and what's bad vs. what's good.

Tonight I saw the show "Death and Harry Houdini," a "musical in development." The composer, Keaton Wooden (who was there tonight, I was siting pretty close to him and his girlfriend, WHO ALSO KNIT THROUGH THE SHOW, we talked about doing that and how we love it afterwards), loved this original "Death and Harry Houdini" play that ran for 20 years, and during the pandemic, got the idea to turn it into a musical...he said the same guy played Harry for all that time and that guy was a 5h generation magician.

I note that here we had local actors and they admitted that they've only figured out some of the tricks Houdini did, other ones they are just...y'know, indicating, like they "empty out" bags while glass sound effects play and he supposedly walks barefoot over glass. They also showed video of the original Harry's various escapes, and there's one video from the original play of the water tank. They show these in lieu of the actor doing them IRL, which worked for me.

The cast, except for Harry, was all girls playing various parts, both of guys and girls (Emeri would approve of the cross casting). One played his brother Theo, another played his wife Bess, another played his mother AND a French ripoff magician named Hilmar (more on that later). One character played a hype/agent-type dude/ringmaster...and then in the second act is revealed to be Death herself, taunting Harry and looking forward to a much more interesting death than he actually ended up with. (Seriously, his appendix burst after a kid test-punched him? DISAPPOINT. Even sadder than The Crocodile Hunter being taken out by the wrong creature.) I note that Death herself is quite upset at the lameness of it all.

There was a bunny! The bunny (named Patch) was sitting on the stage next to a hat when we came in and I was all immediately "THERE'S A BUNNY!!!" and got all excited. Alas, Patch wasn't in the actual show, though he was brought out at the end and he had a bio in the program.

FYI, here is the bio: "Patch (playing Himself, he/they) has appeared in the pre-Broadway tryouts of Harvey: the musical, Bunnicula! the musical, Peter Rabbit! The Musical, and Easter: it's not just for Christians Anymore. In addition, they made the final callbacks for the Broadway casts of Song and Dance, Beauty and the Beast, Chicago, Titanic, and Dracula, the Musical, but some lady named Mindy* kept getting cast just ahead of them. They're clutching their lucky foot and hoping this is the big one! Patch is also available for touring productions of Spamalot."

* presumably the Mindy that runs the theater stuff 'round here. She was in the audience saying her husband was exposed to Covid and they were supposed to be having guests over...good luck there.

Other notable moments:

(a) The opening of act 2 features a French ripoff artist who claims to be Harry's protege. The kid doing the narration for the act is speaking in the most bored voice possible while the rest of the girls are in hootchie skirts flashing their bums to the audience. Then Harry comes out and the kid is all "oh shit," and Harry handcuffs the dude and makes him say "c'est impostaire." LOL.

(b) Harry's mom is both cranky and refuses to speak English around Bess--they say she speaks some kind of home mishmash language only the kids understand--and later in the show the mom is yelling at Bess in that language and refusing to speak English. Bess decides to be all "Oh, you're asking me to dance? I love to sing and dance," and does a cheerfully obnoxious rendition of "I'm A Little Teapot."

(c) Later, Harry gets a dress that was intended for the recently-dead Queen Victoria, and Bess is all happy---until Harry is all "um, it's for Mom." (Then why did you hand it to your wife to open, doof?) Audience is all OOOOOOOOOOH NOOOOOOOOOO and then Bess pulls out a gun, the ringmaster narrates what it'd be like for a bullet to hit, and then Harry pulls a bullet out of his mouth and says he doesn't want to rehearse right now.

(d) At the mom's birthday party in which she wears that dress, people blow kazoos at her. She does not seem to be the type to enjoy that sort of thing.

(e) I asked after the show about the whole "code word after Harry died" thing and the composer said the song "Believe' was based off that, because the code word was Believe, but in some kind of magician cant (I did not write it down) that the lyrics of the song started with. COOOOOOOOL.

I loved this. I hope they take it great places. This is a really cool idea.

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