Okay… sometimes we play the game "World’s Worst" in our shows… so I figured this would be an appropriate article of which to take notice.

Apparently, they are preparing to auction off a book of poetry by William Topaz McGonagall (no relation to Minerva McGonagall, I’m assuming), expected to go for about 6,500 pounds.  Seriously?  That’s incredible!  Here we’ve all been spending all this time busting our asses, trying to be good at stuff… and we got it all wrong.  So there ya go.  From here on out, I need to find something to just be terrible at.  (Yes, the at at the end of that sentence is okay… by the way)  Then, when I’m dead, my stuff can be worth lots of money.  Sure, while I’m alive things might suck… but just wait until I’m dead and some rich guy decides to spend money he could be donating to charity on buying the evidence of my extreme failure.

Then who has the last laugh?  Huh?

Hmm. 

PS - also worth noting is this fantastically written line in the article: "…dying penniless in an unmarked grave in Edinburgh in 1902."  How considerate of him to go to an unmarked grave to die.  That saved some people some trouble of finding an unmarked grave in which to bury him, eh?  I think someone’s bucking for the world’s worst AFP reporter… hmm…?

Okay… it has been pointed out to me on more than one occasion that I am a crazy person.  But here’s the thing… I don’t care.

When I get started rehearsing for a show, I have to get my script ready.  Now, this is no mere highlighting… oh no.  With pre-printed scripts, I make a copy, cut each page individually, and tape them into a notebook.  With new scripts or Shakespeare scripts that have been edited… I copy the text from the word document into a publisher document which allows me to structure the script like a small book script.  That way usually involves a LOT of spacing issues and editing and making sure the margins and line numbers and page numbers and line breaks, etc. are all correct… and match the page breaks of the printed script that has been handed out to the rest of the cast.  THEN I print, cut and tape the pages into my notebook.  THEN… the highlighting begins.

My intern saw me cutting my pages by hand with scissors yesterday, and he graciously offered to cut them for me in the big paper trimmer, but I declined.  And last night, while I watched LOST, I sat with my double sided tape and set the first 30 pages into their new home.

Time consuming?  Yes.  Old school?  Absolutely.  Insane?  Probably.  But it’s part of my ritual that tells me "I’m in a show now, it’s time to start working."

Any of you out there have rituals like that?  Even if they’re not for theatre.  Just things you do that help you get in the right mindset.

… and possibly make everyone around you think you’re totally batty.