I saw the Producers Sunday evening downtown and got quite a kick out of the show. I haven't laughed that hard in an awfully long time. The seating, as with broadway and san francisco venues, was tight and uncomfortable, but the show was still worth it.
If you're not familiar with the story, it's actually a pretty funny premise- a failing broadway producer discovers through an accountant that he could make more money on a bad show than he could on a successful one. He then takes every effort to make his newest show the absolute worst possible. (The play takes you through the creation of this lousy production, including the hiring of drag queens to perform as nazi's in a grand and spectacular musical about Hitler and how he spends his springtime in Deutchland. It's ridiculous and hysterical.). Good stuff.
We drove up to northern virginia on monday to participate in a training seminar at Nextel. It meant that we had to get up around 4 am to leave for the DC area. We didn't take into account that it was Columbus Day, so we ended up in-town a bit early. I packed a bag on sunday night in case I could sneak away, and as luck had it, I got that chance when we finished up with the seminar. Mom and dad picked me up in the afternoon and I spent the rest of the day with them.
I did some work in the basement, clearing things out. One thing we finally did was prepare the old see-saw for the dump. When we were kids, Dad took leftover parts from a home built in the neighborhood and created an all-wooden see-saw. It was a clever little thing, even with hollowed seats so he could load bags of sand to weigh one side as we got bigger (and heavier) so we could still play with it and not launch each other into the ceiling. It was a weekend project for Dad, but several years of fun for the three of us. It was sad to see it get chopped up yesterday, but it was for the best. They can't move with that thing... It would take a big portion of the moving van on its own.
After the basement work, Dad and I hit some golf balls at the driving range. I'm still slicing quite often, but at least I'm consistently smacking that ball. Now at least, I can focus on correcting my shot. The last shot I took was perfect though...probably the best in a long time. I was aiming for a small patch of dirt way out straight ahead of me, swung back, connected with the ball, launched that puppy 200 yards right into the dirt patch (which was awesome, since it tuned out to be a very pissed off groundhog!) That's what driving ranges need more of – live targets of in the distance. Come to think of it, that might help our overpopulated prison system - let's place some guys out there in orange jumpsuits at50, 100, 150 and 200 yards. Now that's a plan!
After the driving range, I came home to take a nap, watch some West Wing (man, what a great show!) and have a really great dinner (steak, potatoes and apple pie for dessert- can't beat it!). Mom and I saw CSI just like the old days, and just like old times, I found myself intolerant of David Caruso's awful acting abilities. Callie, the southern belle ballistics chick....she can do whatever she wants to do. Gah-rowl.
It was a lot of fun to see Mom and Dad again, and being home was great. It was hard to leave. I slept and ate better than I have in months. So today I was back at Nextel. Big classwork assignment tonight. I hope to survive the calculations and finance problems and still catch up on my TiVo before midnight. Netflix should be bringing me "Supersize Me" and "Escape from Alcatraz" shortly as well, so that'll be nice.
It's going to be a lot of work these next few days, since I'll be out of the office towards the end of the week. Jeff and Olivia will be getting hitched this weekend, so things here at the office will be getting hectic before I take that long weekend to celebrate with them. I look forward to the time away, back at my alma mater, with friends both new and old. This'll be fun.
