Friday night with the cast!
First of all, let me tell you that I had a weird dream last night. In the dream, I got on a plane thinking I was going to Chicago... because the sign said "Chicago." So I board the plane... and it turns out they didn't change the sign after the Chicago plane left... and the flight attendant didn't check my ticket, she just ripped it and told me to keep going, so I found myself on a plan going to Toronto instead. And I took off in the plane, and had to wait until I landed before I realized that I was in Toronto and not Chicago. Here's the fun part: I didn't have any money to get back to Chicago. I couldn't afford a cab; I couldn't afford a plane ticket; and I couldn't afford to rent a car. I was literally stuck in Toronto with no way to get back to Chicago. Shitty, huh? I hope that if that ever happens, I can call one of you and you'll take me at least as far as Albion or, better yet, KZoo. Right, so if I call from Toronto, you already know what happened.

Friday night, we got together as a cast and rehearsed the lines (sans Brian... who didn't make it because it was his girlfriend's birthday). On my way there, I found the directions that I printed off to be seriously lacking in effectiveness. Yep, I got lost and had to call Chris to ask him where I was. I called Adam and Ken first to see if I could get them to hop on the internet and check where I was... but neither of them answered (bastards)... so I had to call Chris and be a douche. I was hoping that Kim wouldn't be there already to hear that I had gotten lost... but I called him 15 minutes late already, so, yeah, pretty much everyone was there already. I felt like such an idiot.
When I finally arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the space. Not that I expected it to be shitty... but it was bigger than I thought it would be. A lot of places in Chicago are deep but not wide... if you can imagine an apartment extending back away from the street, but not being very wide. Anyway, everyone looked comfy... but Kim was feeling sick. So I felt bad for her... and kind of upset that she probably wasn't going to go out and get a drink with us. Shut up... I really want to get to know this girl better. Leave me alone!
So then, once everyone was there, we ran lines... and we ran all the lines from every scene in the show. Good practice for us... and Chris and I even messed around with some of our lines because we knew that scene really well. As we were running lines, I found myself on the couch sitting next to Kim. I didn't "find myself" there so much as "put myself there on purpose." Anyway, I thought this was kind of weird... there was a few times while we were running lines when she used my thighs to warm her feet. This is not a foreign concept to me... but it is something I normally only get with women I'm dating or someone I know really well (like Rhea or Jean would do it some times). But there were Kim's feet, underneath my thigh getting warm. Am I making too big a deal out of this? Perhaps she's just one of those attractive women who have always used men however they want because they're so attractive that men will do whatever they want? That's possible. I don't know... but I do know that I've talked with three different people about the Kim "situation" and everyone keeps telling me to be myself and whatever. And, I'm sure that's what I'm supposed to be doing (and it's what I AM actually doing with Kim, despite my own thoughts on the subject)... but I don't know about that either. "Myself" is not a very smooth person... nor is he very comfortable with people (women in particular)... and isn't confidence sexy? Where am I supposed to find some of that? I'm getting ahead of myself. My question is simply this: Is it weird that she used my leg to keep her feet warm? Or am I making too big a deal out of nothing? I honestly don't know.
But I do know that we sang through the song a couple of times and I found myself being jealous of Chris. Not simply because he's doing the song with Kim, but because I really wish I was singing that song. It's such a funny song... and it's beautiful in it's own weird/quirky way. And, yeah, I'm pretty jealous that I don't have the lead in this stupid song. So I sat there, jealous, while we sang through the song a couple of times with the CD (the musical director made a CD of him playing the song and singing through it).
After we finished going through the song and the entire song, we headed to a bar in the area. Kim had drank some tea and apparently felt good enough to come with us... so that was cool. We then found a table and played this "Have you ever?" drinking game... where we learn something "new and fun" about each other. I, for the most part, felt like a goodie-goodie (can I even SAY that? who says f--king "goodie-goodie"? What a loser!)... but then I said "Have you ever dated three people at the same time?" And I was the only person who drank. And Kim gave me a look like I was a terrible person. I, of course, refer to the time when Laura and I were just broken up, and then there was the night with someone who will remain nameless (because she hates my guts now), and then the night with Karen... before I realized that I liked Karen a whole bunch, and had to say goodbye to the other young lady. I wasn't technically even dating Laura at the time... I just still felt bad that we had broken up, and I felt that I shouldn't move on so quickly. But, damn, did I feel like a giant DOUCHE! I was able to, at least, get my James Earl Jones story out to make myself feel a little better (and less like the biggest asshole on the planet).
After a little while of that Kim left... and the four of us sat around and danced and talked. Then, of all the songs in the world, Maximillion/Shaggy's Sexual Healing played. I could have shit myself! Chris already knew that I did the impression, because I did it once before rehearsal... but no one else was paying attention for the whole song... and it was too loud to hear me, anyway. Honestly, ever since I was very young, I've always wanted to impress people through song. I want to be singing (or rapping) something and just have people think "Wow... that's talent." I'm not sure why I feel the need to do this SO strongly... but it's one of my most frequent daydreams (particularly when I'm listening to music that I like). There I am, performing some song in front of a group of people, having them just love every second of it. I sort of got that thrill through the Euphonics... but I never felt like anyone was singling me out in particular as being incredibly talented. I think most people thought of me as someone who was fairly talented, performing with a lot of other (perhaps more) talented people. I want my singing to be able to single me out... and I honestly have no idea why. Maybe I'm supremely ego-centric? Maybe I'm so insecure about my singing abilities that I need that kind of reassurance? I can't answer those questions. But singing in front of a captive audience is very high on my list of things I want to do before I die. (Yes, I remember Outer Core... but, let's face it, if we would have sucked they still would have cheered for us. That's not a very good gauge.)