Working my way up for air

[bethlakshmi]

Boston Baby Dolls

Show - going well. Not just well - we are good. Pretty damn good. Of course I'm biased. :) But I think we've got a really great gang, and I'm not talking about just me. One comment I hear over and over is how "professional" we are. That one is all new_man - he's kicked our butts, drilled us and then lined up the accompanying systems to make this not just a bunch of good dancers on stage, but a SHOW. Things like fabulous lighting, waitresses with snacks and drinks, a sound system.

Sales - GO BUY SOME DAMN TICKETS! The show freaking rocks - I guarantee you won't have seen something like this before. You won't be sorry.

Cast/Crew - Although I'm enjoying having a whole day off - I gotta say they are a great gang. The gang really, really cares about it being a good show. Folks thinks on their feet, folks are generous and thoughtful, and folks are pleasant. We're very low on the bitchy quality that a gaggle of performing women can develop. We help each other - loaning makeup, jewelry and grooming tips. All in all - although I'm happy for a day off, I won't mind seeing everyone again tomorrow. That's no small feat - I'm pretty independant, I rarely see the same people twice in two nights. Seeing someone three times in a row is nearly unheard of. Having to see people SEVEN times in a row (S-M-T-W-T-F-S last week), when I'm tired, on the verge of sick, and ridiculously stressed out. And not wanting to commit mass murder? WOW!

Allston Prom - did the Rock City Prom last night. Boy did we kick ass. We did "Hell" from the show, and I did a mummy routine only seen before at Axis. When we started, we got lack luster applause, and a certain "blah, when will they be done?" attitude. But after the show, women kept congratulating us/me on a good show. When I got up to do the mummy routine, at the mention of "Boston Baby Dolls" we got a LOT of hoots and hollers, and people squished up close with little prompting. Sweet. And may direct compliments before and after I got changed.

More than with the stage shows, or even Axis - I felt a certain glamour. It's a theory I have - that for shows that don't pay the troupe/performer, the "love" factor is a lot higher. Maybe the expectation is lower (after all, it's something for nothing), or maybe the crowd knows you're doing it for free. But often when the gig pays, then the audience feels fine with not really expressing their enjoyment to you. The Masons are the exception - they both pay, and give "audience love"...


Work

Still going. Writing progresses on time, I'm digging out of the hole. Boss is postponing giving me some useful answers until tomorrow, which makes this feel less urgent, but I do need to keep plugging. Can't wait to have this done.

School

Got what I needed to do done. (for the geeks) I now have a happy little messaging system. One process can send a message to a given process id or to any process, and another can recieve a message from any source or from all sources. The system acts as a match making service - holding a pile of incoming messages, and suspending processes who are waiting to receive something that has not yet arrived. I even worked up a spiffy little suspend/resume logic chunk so that a "recieving" process can be suspended. When suspended, it can't be matched up with any message, and it can't start to execute - until it is resumed. I had to work out a flow chart for it. And I really want to test this logic. The prof's test code isn't really thorough enough to trigger this logic, so I may write a test program for it.

Stuff left to do (this week):
- write up a "high level design document" - since he hates reading docs, this will be short.
- clean up print statements - I have a billion print statements spewing forth, he has requirements for what you print out and how you print it - I need to cut back.
- do a "something extra" - he expects the grad students to take it 'one step farther'. I plan a starvation handling alogorithm - if a process has been waiting to execute for a long while, it will gradually increase in priority until it gets dispatched. Have pseudo code written, just need to implement and test.

Health

Blech. I managed 8 hours a night this weekend, but not more, and I needed more. I'm not "sick" yet, but I'm almost-sick. My throat is tender. Last night, if I didn't watch it, my voice sounded like shit when I spoke (or yelled) at the Prom. Nose is clear, but eyes are a little watery. I'm O.D.-ing on Vitamin C - 2-4 tablets plus a glass of emergen-C - taken throughout the day (not a big Vitamin C overload). Plus tea. I think it's the only reason I've gone this long, as run-down as I am, in this rainy weather. But I don't think I'll be able to forestall it forever. Just. Please. Let me get all my obligations done.

And oh, please, let this not be the barfy-disease. There seems to be two things roving the troupe - one is sore throat, stuffed head, classic cold - one involves stomach upset. Please, oh please, let this be the cold. I suspect it is, given the sore throat.