(no subject)

I love beef jerky. It's one of my favorite things. There aren't too many foods out there that you're expected to gnaw. It keeps forever without refrigeration. You can take a piece, sharpen the edge on a rock and gut a fish with it. I offered beef jerky to several people at Ceremony last night, but not too many people wanted any. Weird. Caitlin had never eaten beef jerky before, she tried a small piece and said "Hmmm. Salty." Then she said something that made her my Favorite Person Of The Week, "I was vegetarian for about 9 years, and vegan for like, 2 years. Then I got hungry."

No business like it.

I took Friday off because I remembered that my work gives a discretionary "floating holiday" in lieu of Patriots Day, and if I'm getting laid off soon I'd better Use It before I Lose It. Oh, my job did extend me for one more month, through May. I'm bounced back from Microelectronics Product Group (MEPG) to Circuit Edit & Mask Repair Division (CMD), because CMD has some extra cash in their budget with which to pay me. Perhaps next month I'll go to Building Maintenance and Sanitation. Or the cafeteria lunch line. I'm not sure if I'd rather push a mop and bucket around, or wear a hairnet and make sandwiches. Anyway. On Friday Paisley took me out driving, this is my quest to learn how to drive stick shift. It is exciting, but embarrassing. After an hour and a half I think I was doing ok, but the prospect of Starting On A Hill scares the hell out of me, as does Parallel Parking. Tomorrow I'm going out with a Tiny Chicken and I've a final lesson with Photiq Saturday. I know I'm spending more time that most people do on this Driving Standard thing, but I figure the more practice I get the less stressed I'll be at the car dealer. Also I'll be spreading out the wear and tear evenly among three friend's cars, rather than chewing up the clutch of just one. Paisley is still speaking to me, so I can't be doing that much damage.

And then there was the B&D Ball. It was the smoothest-running of any Ball I've ever done, which was amazing because there were more performances packed into this one than ever before; what with two fashion shows, Sin dancers, Angeldustrial flygirls, Ooze repetitive-motion creepiness, Dita Von Teese with the freakshow-perfect body, and the FantasyFactory 20-minute mega-performance, there was always something going on up on stage, and, more often than not, the something is sexy. Also, Bianca Beauchamp came down from French-Canadia, she was set up in the lounge to do photoshoots all night. She's got the cutest accent, reminds me of Marianne. Those two should get together and, I dunno, do something with maple syrup. Whoa, that wasn't meant to sound dirty. Initially, anyways.

The B&D Ball is the time to wear your finest latex, I had zip-around pants and opera-length gloves. Nothing quite like the feel of rubber. You feel kinda like a water balloon. Or a fetish sausage. But in a sexy way.

I haven't seen the video of the FF performance, but it felt good; no egregiously missed cues, Quang's fencing choreography worked out perfectly, clothes tore away without incident. One of the things I love about the Ball is that it's the only performance I get nervous about. Between Hell and Fantasy Factory, I've done so many performances at ManRay it feels completely comfortable on that stage, like doing charades in a friends living room or something. But...The Ball, that's a big deal. The club is never more crowded, people wear their most exquisitely lovely gear, we have a world famous mistress of ceremonies and months of rehearsals; down in the dressing room there's an electricity like no other time of the year, and in the minutes before we go on, waiting just offstage, my heart's racing and I'm going over my moves and cues, trying to stay relaxed and on edge at the same time, reminding myself to breathe, breathe, breathe.

I love show business.