From the Inside Out

Yay, I finally got to catch up on some of the sleep I lost this week! That is why Saturday is one of my favorites — it’s the only day I can sleep late on a regular basis. It’s amazing how good you feel when you get a decent night of sleep. I really should try it more often.

Sometimes people make fun of me for sleeping until noon on Saturday, but according to Wired magazine, sleeping late is smart. Here are three reasons why:

1. You may need more sleep than you think.
   Research by Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders Center found that people who slept eight hours and then claimed they were “well rested” actually performed better and were more alert if they slept another two hours. That figures. Until the invention of the lightbulb (curse you, Edison!), the average person slumbered 10 hours a night.
2. Night owls are more creative.
   Artists, writers, and coders typically fire on all cylinders by crashing near dawn and awakening at the crack of noon. In one study, “evening people” almost universally slam-dunked a standardized creativity test. Their early-bird brethren struggled for passing scores.
3. Rising early is stressful.
   The stress hormone cortisol peaks in your blood around 7 am. So if you get up then, you may experience tension. Grab some extra Zs! You’ll wake up feeling less like Bert, more like Ernie.

First, I have to say that I’m sorry for the lapse in blogging. I’m still adjusting to the new 3-hour rehearsal schedule at night, plus I’ve been working after practice. It’s exhausting. After such a long day I don’t have much to say, except that I’m tired — and that doesn’t make a compelling blog post.

Tonight, we focused on the remaining blocking for the first half of the play, then we got into the fun stuff…the chase scene! Our stunt coordinator choreographed the routine tonight. It’s going to be hilarious. Think Benny Hill and craziness. Fun stuff!

Below are a few pics I snapped with my cell phone of the historic McKinney Theatre where we’ve been practicing this week and where we’ll be performing in July.

Getting ready for the fun

Gary and “Ma” — kicking off the crazy, action-packed chase

“Sahara” receiving instruction from the chase scene choreographer

Looking towards the back of the multi-level theater — yes, those are authentic hard wood chairs and floors.

It’s a neat facility with lots of history.

Short blog tonight — still recovering from the dreaded Colonoscopy — but I do have a treat for you. I’ve finally uploaded pictures from the drama (The Prison) last week.

Check out the Photos section of the blog and enjoy!

For me, day two of VoiceCon started with the Cisco keynote given by Padmasree Warrior, Cisco’s Chief Technology Officer.  I watched the session from my hotel room via Cisco’s virtual event portal and sent out live Twitter updates about the keynote.  Isn’t technology great?

Padmasree talked about the future of Collaboration and provided an interesting demonstration showing how doctors could use collaborative technology to provide remote healthcare to patients.

Immediately after the keynote, I ran (well, fast walked) to the booth to start my 6.5 hour shift.  The foot traffic in the exhibit hall was much busier than yesterday.  That was a relief.  There’s nothing I hate worse than being on a booth with no customers. 

A few issues arose with our video blogging portal, so I left the show floor in the middle of the afternoon to get things back in order.  Since I hadn’t eaten anything all day, I also grabbed a quick bite to eat.  Fueling your body is so important, but it’s such a hassle when you’re busy!

After booth duty, I met with our vendor to select the top video blogs of the day.  Everything was going smoothly until we realized there was an issue with the audio/video synch on the videos which would require the vendor to reload all 300 videos onto YouTube…argh!  We decided to make it happen late tonight, but then YouTube took their site down for maintenance.  It’s almost 1:30 am, and it’s still not back up.  I’m sitting here waiting on it so I can fix broken links and set-up the voting area for today’s videos.  I may just have to give up and fix it in the morning.

I didn’t have time to take pictures today, but here’s a short video with some shots from yesterday.

free video player & video platform - interactive video, online video solution: video player, video editor - kaltura
wordpress video - wordpress plugin for integrated video on video blogs, and video tools  

One of the saddest times of the year is when I gather up the Christmas decor and place it back in the closet.  There are no more lights, nativity scenes, nutcrackers, or Christmas cheer.  The house seems empty.  It’s the last sign that the holiday is officially over and work is about to begin again.  I always find it a little depressing.

This year the holiday has come and gone way too quickly.  I wasn’t able to properly savour it, and I’m not ready for it to be over.  Alas, I don’t have a choice.  Life continues to move forward at a breakneck speed.  It doesn’t care whether I’m ready or not.  As I pondered those thoughts today while packing everything up, I was reminded of the words to ”Boxing Day”, a song from Relient K’s Christmas album:

Take it all down, Christmas is over
But do not despair, rather be glad
We had a good year, now let’s have another
Remembering all the good times that we had

Oh, no more lights glistening
No more carols to sing
But Christmas, it makes way for spring

That song always seems to lift my post-Christmas blues.  Yes, Christmas is over.  The lights are gone; the carols won’t be sung again until December, but there’s still a reason to be happy.  Winter is coming to an end.  In only a few short months, we’ll soon see the grass turn green, and flowers will begin to bloom again.  Christmas makes way for new life and a new year.  Rejoice, it makes way for Spring.