it's the weekend of the show y'all

Will I EVER not use that title post to open show day or show weekend? Probably not- since Waiting for Guffman is just that good.

I went to the orchestra dress for the other cast tonight to hear some acoustical balance things. Mostly good, mostly they were controlling themselves in this lush French music that is easy to overpower two singers in their middle voices for most of the duets and recits.

Feelings:
Umm, still not nervous (just WAIT until Saturday night and Sunday).

Back hurts and muscles are sore from stress and fatigue probably, but today was my last chance at getting a massage. If I do it tomorrow I'll be too "loose" for Sunday. Yes, this happened before- the first time I sang QOTN I got a gift certificate from a relative for a massage and I felt like falling asleep during the next two days (one of which was the performance). It releases SO much that it's hard to gather that energy back up and use it full force in performance.

Family comes in tomorrow. So does boy. It's always MORE stressful for me to plan out things to do with them while NOT talking to much, NOT making myself tired, NOT eating out too much---before a show. I used to hate when they came to see me, because it would make me MORE nervous for some reason. THIS time I am really glad they're here.

My parents, however, were given directions by me NOT to attend because of a conflict with my youngest brother's FINAL college A capella spring show. It's a big one. He's the music director. He has a senior solo, and speakers that will talk about him...plus I remember my senior show so well and my parents were there and it's really a shame to miss it. We're on the SAME day--same time-- two different time zones--so I told my parents that this is HIS last college show maybe forever--and this is MY first Lakme--something I'm sure they'll see me do again.

And with that, it's before midnight and I'm ACTUALLY tired.
So I'll try to stretch out my back, maybe even put some icy-hot on it (or Vick's vapor rub- same thing, kind of), and get a somewhat decent night's sleep---
because I won't be sleeping much in the next two days if nerves are anything like they usually are.

Ah, tossing and turning and reciting French recit, arias, and duets for 300 pages really can get you through a night.

Probably no more posting (unless I'm really energetically or nervously inspired) until POST- SUNDAY!!!

final run-through

This afternoon my cast had it's final run-through...it was also our FIRST run-through in costumes (for my cast).

The situation is a bit strange because the cast B here never gets an orchestra rehearsal until we're up there doing it, and in our only theater run-through just the principals were in costume, and everyone else could be in street clothes.

It was close to impossible to feel like this would be a show-- especially since I got a late start today and didn't do any warmups besides a few lip trills in the shower.

It's strange how BOTH times when I had important run-throughs and I didn't really do my normal routine for warming up (and was actually running late in general), that the runs went the most smoothly.

Things to remember:
If I can JUST close that fourth wall and only react to everything onstage I have a much more calm perspective about my peformance, what I have to do, and my job out there.

No one is there except for the conductor...and the people onstage with me.

Ooooohhhhhmmmmmmm....

Next: If you're scared of heights don't do this production. Act III is 8 feet up in the air with no walls, creaky floorboards underneath you, and exactly a THREE foot deep and eight foot long playing area.

And lastly: If I ever learn how to walk with trains, long skirts, petticoats, and not feel like I'm about to trip over myself every second, I should get a prize.
Actually, I should get a prize if I can get up and down those stairs from the 8 ft. "loft" in Act III without completely walking "up" my dresses.

How do girls DO it with such ease and how come I always walk into my dresses!??!


And lastly lastly---
Relaaaaxxx guy!

I am feeling more and more confident about Sunday.

spring cleaning!

It's finally nice enough to have the windows open and the nice WARM sunny fresh air seeping through the screens.

I spent yesterday spring cleaning--in between being online and running back and forth from the laundry machine and my room.

I put the coats away in their trunk! I put MOST of the sweaters away. Frankly, I put most of my CLOTHES away (their usual home is on my bed after I've taken them out of the dryer, or on something else in my room that is NOT dressers of shelves).

Then I moved on to the piles of papers.
Tax papers that I haven't filed yet, recommendation letters for YAPs from years ago, records of everything, old planners with audition locations and what I sang.
Of course every year I look at these things while I'm packing or unpacking, and decide to keep them- just in case. And every year I use those things MAYBE once for reference..and otherwise they collect in paper piles in my room, office, and file cabinets.

I did all the dishes, dusted, washed my comforter cover (and put the SECOND comforter that I sleep with away!!!), and today I may even get around to vaccuming.

The strange thing about the beginning of spring is that I have no clothes for it.
I have so many sweaters from winter locations, great summer clothes from my summer vacations and visiting family in the "homeland", and nothing in between.

Today I must have put on 5 outfits before realizing that even though they looked good I had no SHOES to go with them, so I couldn't wear them.
I can't wear my nice heels to rehearsal, I have NO flats (I know, how did I miss that craze, you ask), and my sneaks don't really go with offwhite pants or capris!!

So I ended up in good ole' jeans and a light sweater. Must go shopping. Oh, no, wait- Must wait for hopefully large tax return and then go shopping.

run-through

This morning was my first full run-through of the show will full chorus. All of the "bosses" were there in the company- the prez, the artistic dir. and admins---not that I should have been surprised at this, but they came to rehearsal with the other cast last night, so I thought maybe I'd have a light morning and mark a bit, since I had a full run-through senza chorus yesterday afternoon.

Instead, I warmed up in three and a half minutes, and sang the best show I've sung so far...and got great feedback on the voice and the acting. Conductor said it was at a totally new level today and stay right there for next week's performance. Director had TWO notes on my French and that's it. And all of the staff was congratulatory as well.

Now, I'm not looking for congrats and accolades from these people. They are not my voice teachers or coaches, but they are what matters in this performance, and for my image at this company, and for my future with this company as well.

So I'm really proud of myself. I'm happy with my performance. And I'm even feeling less stressed and nervous about the whole thing in general.

I'm feeling more removed from those "what if..holy crap..oh god" moments with my nerves, and feeling closer to "yes! I am doing this...I love this" moments with the performance, the character, and my commitment.

That is NOT to say that next Sunday I won't be nervous or fear those demons creeping into my performance. But I'm so content right now with what I'm doing and how it feels. It's this euphoria that can make everything better and make this career and the insanity surrounding it all worth it.

Oh, and after the run? I came home and FELL into bed for 3.5 hours.
It felt SO good.

email update

I decided to go the personal route this time for the email notifications of my upcoming performance. I went through my inbox of folders, including summer-yap-last-year, summer-yap-two-years-ago, first-residency, directors, conductors, coaches, a few undergrad professors, and my "Music" folder which holds any music-related emails that can't be categorized. I sent out the emails today during my "nap" in between rehearsals.

And now, I'd like some love from the ladies. I hate how I feel in general the week before that "t.o.t.m." **. Chords just a bit more uncooperative, general sluggish body and energy, thick sounding voice, nothing in the middle is easy, and everything seems and sounds just a bit more muddy- and I'm working harder to keep pitch up because of that fatigue.
And of COURSE this has to happen on week pre-show, and then...show.
Ughghghg.

Not like I haven't dealt with it in shows before, but this one is just..different..and big..and important..and waaaa!!!




** TIME OF THE MONTH!!

If you think it's TMI, T.F.B.(too freakin bad).

24

No, not the show with JACK and his ticking clock- just MY past 24 hours:

5pm- leave for airport
5:25pm- park at airport, go through security.
5:40pm- realize that EVERY flight on every airline that has to go to Chicago is delayed by 4 hours or cancelled. (OH crap goes through mind --how will I get to NY?)
5:47- talk to American Airlines dude and ask him HOW I can get to anywhere on the East Coast by tomorrow at 7am.
5:53- Get a DIRECT flight on Northwest to NYC that evening! Leaving at 7pm!

10:50- arrive NYC.

Sleep very little at a friend's place because the stress of that day, and the upcoming travel stress of the next day woke me up every two hours--out of horrible dreams of missing flights and being fired...etc...

8am- wake up
8:45am- leave apt. on the way to audition.
9am- STUPID audition studio that SAID I'd have NO trouble doing a walk-in warmup room at 9am is BOOKED SOLID until 10:30am- thank goodness I did a FEW lip trills before leaving the house.
9:27am- hide in the Men's dressing room and try to warm up
9:32- get caught by studio guy who says that Equity would have a fit if they knew a girl was singing in the guy's dressing room.
9:32- Tell studio guy I'm not equity, I'm AGMA..and walk out of there.
9:55- Audition. Durch Z and Saper Vorreste.

Thoughts: As I was not fully warmed up, this was no CLOSE to my best, but I don't think bad by any standards either. I can never tell how many other kick ass Durch Z's they hear, with full high E's, great runs up to the E's and A's, and in general fun, good acting.
I could have had better legato, but that really is maybe my only thought about that...plus my general attitude didn't seem to all be there because I was worried about not being fully warm.
Oscar- awesome. Think I acted it the best ever- plus it was the first time I ever offered it...I like it so much better than long 'n boring O luce, and overdone Norina-- so maybe this will stick.

10:07- get downstairs and find Car service waiting.
10:47- arrive at Kennedy.
11:24- flight is SUPPOSED to be boarded and leave, but it's 30 minutes delayed.
2:02- arrive HERE.
2:11- after ridiculous airport run-around I FINALLY find where I parked my car and how to GET there (yes, I was at the right lot but somehow there were no elevators on MY side of the lot--so I had to go to another terminal practically--to get to my car on the 3rd floor)
2:32- ARRIVE AT REHEARSAL that began at 2:30!!!!!
5:30- End rehearsal exhausted, in my "plane" clothes, and go HOME to update blog, check email, and NAP until rehearsal tonight which is in 2 hours!!!!

I made it. It was crazy. And I don't want to have to do it again any time soon. But I did it this time, and luck was on my side.

luck be a lady

In 6 hours I'll be off attempting my 16 hour adventure in the skies.

But first- a run-through of Act I and II this morning. Off to warm up.

contact emails

I spent a good part of yesterday being a "good business-savvy" singer and composing emails to contacts about my upcoming performance.
Of course, it's always easy to keep in touch with the singers-- a mass email to one summer group here, a mass email to another summer group there, reminders of funny things that happened over the summer, and OH, btw- yes, I'm in this show in two weeks.

It's a whole different ballgame when you're emailing the coaches, directors, teachers, agents, conductors from those programs, and from any point in your career.

I have a few lists on my computer (either in old emails, or in actual word documents), of the names, emails, how I know them, how much contact I've had with them.

But it never fails- every time I am writing one of these emails I wonder how professional or unprofessional it is to "mass" email. I'm not talking about putting every person I know in one email. I'm talking about putting all the coaches/directors/conductors from ONE program on a mass email.

In the past I've done both a cut and paste job and made it personal, and I've also emailed a mass group. Sometimes I start with a mass group and then if they write back, I'll of course respond personally.

I haven't decided what to do this time.

And then there is the question of what really to say---because I know that 99.9 percent of them (minus one agent) will NOT come to the performance since
a. they do not live anywhere near here
b. they teach/coach/direct/conduct elsewhere
c. I'm not in NY where you can just get to the performance on a whim of the evening.

And THEY know that I know that, and therefore this "invitation" is just a "catch up"/connection email...and while I'm extremely good at the catch-up/keep in touch/news/press emails, and I know they can never hurt, I still think carefully about how to word these things and hope that they are always appropriate.

act iii roadblock

Act iii takes place in an 8x8 foot playing area meant to resemble a shack in the forest.
It is elevated from the main stage by about 10 inches, and while movement is tight and there are always at least two people (until daddy shows up to yell again) inside there, it's been a challenge to really give up the stage and take the stage in the short ariettas and duets that are found in that act.

But a matter of 2 steps can make a huge difference when the tenor is suddenly ending up singing his love duet upstage because YOU forgot to take 2 steps Down Left for him to turn and admire you.

I got another comment on being an "intelligent actress" today. In a good way- knowing what to do, what to motivate it to do--and then in a way as if to say- now we both know what you want to do, so just let it happen and don't "do" anything anymore.
I am sure I have a tendency in such a small space to want to do more with the "music". To motivate it, and decide on the moments where it motivates me and make them very strong.

But because it's such a "precious" playing area, it's reading a bit too strong. So I have to give up those thoughts and just go with what motivates me in the moment- not having the thought that I "KNOW" what that chord means and therefore I'll have a certain reaction or action.

I will take that comment well, as the director has repeatedly said that in our strange cast A/B situation he knows that once he sees me do it, it's convincing, and I have it, he is not worried about having to repeat it because he knows I'll find the right way anyway.

Cool.

In mild annoyances of the day, I can't sleep in general because I keep thinking about the time constraints of travel next week.
And what will happen if I don't make it.

Back to the roadblock. It's just very BUSY in that little 8x8 box and I feel like I'm thinking more about where I'm supposed to end up, than what my next line is.
I know, it's just one day after we staged it, but I still usually feel more comfortable about it than I do right now.

It'll be fine though.

lucky thing #1

Just found out the schedule is changing for next week and I indeed will NOT be in rehearsal until 5:30 and trying to make a 6:34 airplane.
Rather, I'll be having my cast's run through in the am.

ONE DOWN!!
ONE TO GO!
Need to make that NYC sedan drive like a bat out of hell to get to Kennedy on time AFTER my audition next week!
Pretty please please please.
:)

In other inspiring things o' the day,
the NYT article on acting and opera had a great line in it describing how Ali approached his fights- he never said he was going to beat someone, he was just going to sting them, and fly like a butterfly- etc- so much confidence and belief in what he was about that he just had to do what he did.

That is such a powerful approach I think- very much like the Mojo or the "F-U" approaches that are often discussed on NFCS to deal with stage fright, anxiety, nerves, and just power over others in your performance.

Having above average anxiety and nervousness about the upcoming performance since I get one shot, it's the biggest thing I will have ever sung and done in my singing career so far, and I KNOW that I can and will be great- but still have continuous butteflies in my stomach about it, reading that calmed me down for a second.

I DO know that I can do this. This is what I DO!
So just get out there and do it.
The best you can.
Oh I sound like a sad sad slogan.

Back to the coachings and rehearsals.
After today we will have staged the ENTIRE opera!
Yeaahhh!
Only 40 more pages and then I DIE of FLOWER poison on a small bed in a hidden shack in forest!

test run

Did a test run to the airport yesterday. Let's say rehearsal actually ends on time next week, and I am able to leave at 5:31. I made it through rush hour WITH most of the red lights in 26 minutes. That gives me 48 minutes to get through security and to the gate without the plane leaving without me. YEA!
I will DEFINITELY be on that plane!
Wooo Hooo!
One crazy plane ride accounted for.

Next I have to make my 45 minute connection, get to NY, sleep, kick ass at the audition at a too-early in the am time, and make the other plane FROM NYC back here! Well- we'll just hope that all works out.

more craziness

Ok.

Stress with travel.
Next week.
Have an audition.
In NOT this city.
Have to get from Here to airport-here in THIRTY minutes (in rush hour). Have to make first flight connection in 45 minutes. It usually takes 20 minutes with NO traffic. (13 miles)

Have to get from THERE to airport-there in THIRTY minutes (THERE being NYC- lower west side, and airport-there being Kennedy)..Oh lord please tell me it's possible at 10am with the fastest cab or car driver ever!!!

Have to get TO these flights, NOT be late, NOT freak out AND sing like the damn angels the day before, day of audition, and day of audition after flight back to HERE.

If I have ANY luck/pull/beshert/karma/etc this will all go smoothly and I will LAUGH about it on March 23rd after it's all over (and I kicked ass at the audition).

numb

I just had a coaching with the entire right side of my face and tongue numb. It went pretty well considering when I warmed up with lip trills I couldn't tell if my side was trilling along!

I decided to sing through Act III and work on the high floats in the "death aria(s)", and also work on line in those same arias and slow recit sections.

Rehearsal starts in an hour,but I may take a quick nap because waking up early, freaking out about needles and drills, and almost passing out when said needles were IN my mouth and I could FEEL as first my gum, then half tongue, then whole tongue and side got numb made me tired!

They take your blood pressure at this office before any procedures and mine was incredibly low this morning (I chalk it up to having just woken up). But as soon as that needle came into view my heart was racing.

Ouchie.

headache

What will make me feel better right now--- a mint milano cookie or some Advil?
Well, since my advil expired in '05 (oooops- just saw that one on the bottle) I guess mint milano it is!

Had a work-through of Act I today and it went really well. I got a wonderful comment from the director about my acting and how it was organic and coming across really well- which is why he felt comfortable tweaking more and more.

I can't decide if I want to sing through the whole opera every day from now until opening. I have a coaching tomorrow for an hour, and it would be almost-possible to do most of Act I and II. I know I'd feel better if I can just toss this off like anything else and not have to work at it--so maybe tomorrow when I hopefully don't have my headache I'll give it a try and see how long I can keep it up.

In store for tomorrow-- a trip to the DENTIST!!! Booo! To Xray my impacted wisdom teeth and let me know whether I need surgery this summer or not.

Plus, it's at 7:30am- TOTALLY not cool (but the only thing that fits in my schedule).

lakme/dirty pop

LOL.
I came home after an afternoon rehearsal and decided to go through all of my blocking for Act I (which we completed today), and after I did that (listening to Natalie Dessay on my ipod and of course singing along), I went through the rest of the opera (while baking brownies, checking my email and cleaning my room), and as soon as the last note of the opera was over- what is the next song that pops onto my playlist?
Yup, Jtimberlake, my dancin' singing' beat boxin' bfriend- Dirty Pop.

So I've come full circle from French Grand Opera to-- well, this hilarity.

It puts me in SUCH a good mood! If I EVER feel like I'm getting tired or low energy or too technique/acting/voice focused getting through something in the show again all I'm going to have to do is think about singing Dirty Pop as my encore (in my mind!) during the curtain call and everything will be ok in the world.

I kind of want to have a dance party in my apt. right now.
Love it.

a night out

Last night was the first time in a LONG time (longer than I'd like to admit), that I actually went "out" on the "town". Usually- and I know this is MILDLY lame- I just can't take it after a full day of rehearsal. I've given of myself (I know, froo froo artsy fartsy..but it's true) and I just don't have the energy to do anything else except maybe review what I've coached or staged that day, check my email, update blog, read nfcs and other blogs, and then magically it's 1 or 2 am and I should probably go to sleep.

Well, I saw a MOVIE last night! AND walked around downtown! (First day that the weather has permitted walking outside for pleasure since about November 5th).
It was relaxing, albeit strange to be doing something that had nothing to do with music or staging or current-yap.

I had such a nice energy rush that I ended up going to sleep around 3am (not good). It's now 1:11 and I have rehearsal at 2. AND I'm still in bed. AND I'm not warmed up. AND I want to stay here as long as possible---except that I have to "prettify" for the love duet staging in 45 minutes.

Ok, Ok! I'm getting up.

ps- comment spam? I hate you so much. Now you're going to have to type in that stupid code in those boxes that are too blurry half the time to see what the letter or number is anyway!
Take that!

pps- Chicago Opera Theater's season announcement is great. I knew 2 of the 3 through my all-googleous powers, and I hope that I get to see Adams' work at SOME point in life soon!

Is my singing too Google-icious for you babe?

I don't know HOW this happened to me, but as fate would have it, just FOUR days after I officially published my brand new website online, which is www.firstnamelastname.com, I received an email this morning from an acquaintance in Germany.
No, let me rephrase. I emailed this person from the NFCS forum to ask him a question about singing in Germany about 4 months ago. He emailed back. Basta.

SOMEHOW he googled me yesterday, saw my website, heard the clip of Olympia on it, and emailed me immediately because he was just notified that a certain A theater in Germany was auditioning for Olympia over the past 2 days.

He told me to ask current-yap-boss to call or email the KBB of this house, refer THEM to my website, and see what happens!!!

And so, it's done...and completely out of my hands (although never IN my hands) and if my new website can actually sell me to these people, or at least let them know that I exist in this big universe, AND that my Olympia is kick-ass with all of the high G's and on roller-skates or painted gold or whatever--then great!

How fun. I've been online all day due to an amazing non-crashing of the network that I borrow, and I plan to be on it some more tonight.

Tomorrow in staging: The British Airways/Ghirardeli chocolate/Diamond commercial duet music.

staging day one

In this production, we have a certain number of performances. I, as a resident artist, am getting to sing one performance as the leading role. While this is plenty for me, and an amazing opportunity, sometimes double casting situations can pose problems for directors, conductors, and the singers themselves.

Not in terms of competition and such, but in terms of logistics of staging.
I've been in A and B cast situations where A cast does everything, and B cast is pretty much a "cover" cast that sits there and never gets a chance to do it until it's their time to perform onstage.

I've also been in A/B situations where everything is completely equal, EVEN though everyone knows one is the "famous" cast and one is the "young artist" cast.

Well, my case is even stranger, because the "B" cast is just me. Every other role is single-cast (well, there was supposed to be a B cast Gerald as well, but things got complicated..longer story..for later)... so it's just ME who is out of the "rotation".

So either Nilakantha, Mallika and Hadji get to practice stuff over and over and over, or I don't get a chance to try it.
I thought that the situation would be closer to the latter in this case, since I even have a different conductor for my performance.

But after staging day 1 I'm happy to announce that yes, I let cast A do everything first, and yes, they spent more time shaping it and tweaking it,but for every 2 or 2.5 times that they ran a scene, I got to run it once afterwards, WITH notes about what to change the next time and sometimes even re-doing little sections to work on them.

I am really enjoying this director who comes to us from the previous production (he was the AD), and he IS French/Canadian and said that my French was Grrrreat! How awesome!
And those guys up in Canadaland are supposed to be real sticklers for pronounciation especially.

After a day of Indian-flavoured singing, we decided to continue the evening with Indian-flavoured dinner! (A great new vegetarian find with amazing Garlic Naan.....mmmm) and then of course some ice cream to cut the taste.

And now, sweet slumber.
And a costume fitting tomorrow!

back from chi-town

This morning I woke up at 4:45am again, got my butt to Midway, and flew back to current-yap for the first day of Lakme rehearsal.
I looked great, but felt so so so tired. And still do. Which is why I'm in bed right now, hoping to nap for an hour (even though I haaaate naps) before I have a dinner date with a friend of mine from undergrad.

Chicago is always a fun city, and I ALMOST got to meet GP---but due to impending snow and sleet at current-state, I had to go BACK to midway yesterday and attempt to fly out standby for the evening. Turns out- after I got to the airport FIVE hours after arriving there that same morning- that they don't LET you fly standby the day BEFORE your flight! They wanted me to pay full price plus 60 bucks to cancel my ticket to fly out Monday.

So I decided to chance the snow and stay over for the night. It WAS flurrying in chicago this morning, but my flight was not delayed or cancelled and I got back to current-yap state with an hour to spare to gussy up for rehearsal.

The audition.
Not much to say except that it was a long distance audition with a video camera and no one really officiating from a faculty position. At least that's how it felt. I sang well, was asked for 1 full piece and then 2 halves of 2 other pieces. That's really it. I felt like I had a great rapport OFF-screen- that is, they turned the camera off in between my pieces- and that's when they talked to me and I talked to them and really was myself. But alas, that will not be on the recording which the faculty judges from and will decide whether to invite me for the live final auditions.

Basta.
Tired.

chicago, performance, snow

Ok, in backwards order:

It's still snowing- a lot. Snow is SO much more fun when you have big white and pink fluffy snowboots, and I do!

We had a run-through this morning of the program for tomorrow night. I woke up feeling not so great and felt like I had to mark because otherwise I'd be straining and would feel the effects the next day.
Happily, though, I found that while I was marking my singing, I was not marking my performance. It's been really intimate working with our director on this, especially the Zerbinetta aria, and to get the kind of feedback that I have gotten is really rewarding, because I feel that I have put equally hard work into shaping this character onstage in such a short time.

And finally, even though it's only two days away, I haven't really thought much about my upcoming audition in Chicago on Monday.

I'll be flying in, as usual- extremely early, singing around noon, and flying out VERY early the next day to make it back for the first musical run-through of Lakme here.

My thoughts on auditioning for an "educational" type of program- even though this one is marketed as a young artist program, with a school name to back it up:
Well frankly, browsing through their current singers, it seems as if this particular place is a "holding pen" for talent, that releases its students as frequently as they get any kind of work, as long as the students have one or two roles in their operas each year.
There are many upcoming-big-named singers already here as 2nd, 3rd and 4th year "students", but from their own websites and resumes, most of those singers also seem to be working consistently in other productions throughout the year.

So of course if I were given the opportunity to join a place like this, while I wouldn't jumpat going back to school, I would also hope that my current and possible future engagements would be looked upon favorably outside of the program, and I'd be allowed to continue to pursue my normal, mainstage audition season and performances throughout my tenure there.

snow delay!!!

Opening scenes evening is cancelled tomorrow because of the massive snowstorm that is making its way across our city.
Now we have to wait until Saturday night to put up what I think (after all of my doubts due to few musical rehearsals and staging time) will be a very strong and even fun program!

Nothing else to do but bake banana bread and stay warm and snug with my current boyfriend- the internet (since the real one is so far away), and thursday night tv which I haven't had a chance to watch since I think I made time for it in high school! (But that was when Friends was on thursday nights--and then will and grace--and you just couldn't miss those shows and remain cool in high school).