No Pictures for This

I can't believe it's already March 15. I've been very preoccupied at school with the autistic boy that I'm 1:1 with. Let's call him X.
A typical day in an autism classroom exposes one to yelling, grabbing, and the occasional kick or punch. It can get worse. These last couple of weeks X has been in rare form (the family is going through some stressful stuff.) I've been subjected to spitting, hair pulling, pinching, kicking, and punching. After several extremely brutal days, during which time two pairs of my glasses were broken, I'd finally reached my limit and told the teacher I needed to be away from X, and she readily provided me with another student to sit with. I sat down with E ( an autistic girl) who decided to windmill her arms in my direction.
Well... after taking care of my bloody nose I had to stop and really think about continuing - not just the day, but the job! The thing about autism is that bad behavior is rarely pre-meditated, nor is it very long lasting. In fact, even after X displays behavior I would never tolerate from one of my own children, and says he hates me and wants me to leave, he'll calm down, re-group, and come to me, wanting to hold my hand and have me play with him, or help him do work. The brain is a funny thing. I thank God every day that my children, and now my grandchildren don't have to deal with this kind of hardship.
I'm staying in my job. I won't get rich there, but I do feel needed.

Funny Costumes

Well, the latest batch of costumes for Reedley have been finished. Three women's costumes (to be worn by men) and one duplicate costume for a woman. This is the "Dale Evan's"-ish costume I told you about in an earlier post. I've built other dresses for this same guy as the character of "Fanny Feastyoureyes". This is the latest play in the series "Blossoms Up"



This is a small bit of the closing number.

Happy Birthday Dad

Everything I ever knew about how to be crazy, when to eat spam, how to rub backs, and why you should never "ooze out", I learned from my father.
He would have been 83 tomorrow, February 12th, and as much as I rolled my eyes, laughed with my brothers and sisters, and spread the tales of Mr. from Hawaii, he helped make me who I am today.
Hau'oli lā hānau Papa

My Life

Yes, this is me with BareNaked Ladies. I was a runner at the fair this year so I got to drive them all over. They stayed at the Sheraton right around the corner from my house so I was able to give them some good suggestions on things to do while they waited for the show. It turns out that the highlight of their stay was a trip through Manchester Center. They even wrote a song about it that they sung at the show.

From October through May my schedule does double time because that is the time of year I do the majority of theatre/production work - The Big Fresno Fair, Fresno Grand Opera, River City Players in Reedley - in addition to my 9-5 job. I didn't take any pictures at the fair (although I did get this picture of myself with The BareNaked Ladies from the fair photographer.) And now that I have my own camera - thanks again kids for the best X-Mas present - I was able to get some fun shots of the last opera. I'm currently building a Dale Evans-ish costume for Reedley to fit a very large man. It'll be pretty funny so I'll have to post that picture when I finish. Meanwhile, hope you enjoy these shots.


It was a men's chorus with only a few female supers.


Rigoletto (with a deformity on his head instead of the classical hump on his back) and Gilda.


This was the Wig/Make Up artist, James Geier with Gilda again.


The tenor (also the villian) Raul Melo





This picture didn't do the man or the costume justice. He looked so good I had to get a picture with him.
Andrea Bocelli performed in Fresno in December. We were one of only 8 shows he gave in the United States this year, and it was the third time I've worked back stage on one of his shows. I've never had my picture taken with him :(

XLIV

Yay New Orleans!

New Year - New Post

Well, it seems the Blog Gods have been against me. Twice I've tried to post, but when it came time to add pictures everything was deleted. I'm sewing up a storm today to try to finish some costumes for Reedley, and I've got the Super Bowl on in the background. I'll try to post again with pictures in a few days.

Wish me luck!

I am NOT sick

I helped a friend hang a new door today (one of his dogs are a bit too enthusiastic about getting in and out). It's been pretty warm today, and more than half of the job required being outside on the unshaded steps. Other than getting hot and sticky, not to mention getting a fair share of sawdust and drywall dust on me, I was feeling alright. In fact, in the past few weeks, when everyone at school has been coming down with one bug or another, I've remained healthy.
I've also been a bit smug about it.
So it serves me right that on the drive home - looking forward to a well deserved shower - my throat started feeling scratchy. By the time I stepped into said shower my neck felt achy and my throat was burning. So it's hot tea with honey and lemon, and early to bed for me.