Doug Paulson

After how ever long its been of my insisting that I was done with social networking sites and would never EVER join another, I have fallen to the pressure of Facebook.  I will immediately post a message on my Myspace page to notify my friends there that I will be cancelling that account.  I cannot have more than one at a time.  Too many obligations that way.  Must consolidate.  And so, Myspace goes the way of Friendster, and Facebook has won. 

Damn you Facebook.  Damn you to hell.

If you want to find me online, now you know where to look.  Most likely I’ve already asked you to be my friend, but in case I don’t know that you read this blog and I’ve overlooked you (entirely possible), and you want to say hello, please do. 

In other news….ah crap, I joined Facebook.

My mom and I are about to leave the smoke filled air of Paradise and journey to a (hopefully) cleaner climate. Fires have been burning in and around Butte County since early last week. Paradise isn’t in any immediate danger, but the air quality is so poor that they canceled the Shakespeare in the Park production of King Lear I was going to go see last night for the actors’ and audience’s lung safety.

My brother lives in San Francisco and we’re going to drive down to spend the night with him. It should be about two and a half hours in the car getting there if the traffic is clear and my mom lets me drive.  For those of you following since Idaho, I have replaced my driver’s license. It was the first thing I did yesterday morning after waking up and showering.

So, on to more travels, and further updates in the near future. I hope all is well with whoever is reading.

I’m sitting in the Boise Airport waiting to board my flight to Sacramento. I left McCall around 1pm and drove down to Boise with my friend Matt, who was also an actor in the conference this year. We had a breif lunch at the Bistro before hitting the road, where I said my goodbyes to the staff who has fed me and gotten me drunk these past 14 days, and to whom I have grown very close.

It wasn’t, though, nearly as tearful (read: blubbering) as my goodbyes at the theater this morning after our final company meeting and load-out. I was just tired enough (and, yes, hung over from our company party the night before) to have absolutely no emotional walls up. I held it all together pretty well as people trickled out, one by one. However, when my time finally came to leave the theater and everyone who was still in town, the tears started to flow. I can be quite the cry baby.

Yesterday was a blast, and the perfect way to spend my final day off. I woke up late, threw some laundry into the washing machine, cleaned up the kitchen, sat on the deck in the sun and had food. At 2pm I attended the second to last conference reading and then headed over to the Bistro for a beer. I waited for Derek, one of the staff members there who I’ve become friends with, to end his shift so we could head out to the local golf course where we hit a few buckets of balls at the driving range. I don’t think I’d picked up a golf club in about 15 years. Surprisingly it went well. The balls went far away, and high up, and sometimes in a straight line. Go me.

After that he and I headed back to the theater for the final reading, and then back, yet again, to the Bistro for the closing party, where I proceeded to get really drunk and kiss people. I also managed to belt out a few standards at the piano. There are pictures. I’m not sure I want to post them. You understand.

I’m looking forward to my week in CA with the fam, but I’m really so sad to see this wonderful experience come to an end. In the past two weeks I worked on 4 new plays in staged readings, rehearsing two a week, most usually from 10am to 10pm. I made a slew of new friends and a ton of great contacts. It’s a bit weird sitting at the airport alone. This is the first moment of solitude I’ve had in the past 14 days. It’s funny, because I usually crave it. In this moment though, I miss them all. I miss the chaos and companionship. I miss the theater and the Bistro. I miss new pages and the conference bell.

In 20 minutes I’m going to miss Idaho too.

It’s about 40 minutes before my last call time of the conference. It’s been a great two weeks. I feel like I’ve fit six years into them. New friends, great plays, WAAAAY too much drinking, even a night of karaoke. That’s right, karaoke. Last night a group of about 20 of us ended up at one of the new bars in town and let it rip. I sang Total Eclipse of the Heart with my buddy Evan, and Stop in the Name of Love with one of our student playwrights, Mike. The picture below is of me and Mike. Amy was graciously our back-up singer/third supremem though she passed on the opportunity to use a microphone.

The other pictures are of the rest of the group, and though I know you may not know the folks involved, perhaps you can enjoy them anyway and get some sense of how many blow job shots I did off the bar with my hands behind my back. Yeah, I said it.

Who would’ve thought that a bunch of theater people would enjoy getting plastered and performing for each other?  Indeed.

Last night was the annual 7 Devils scotch tasting.  Mmmmm-mmmm!  Not like I haven’t tasted my fair share of scotches before, but the evening is organized by one of our company members who happens to be a representative for the Laphroaig distillery.  He also happens to be Scottish.  Lucky us.  The evening consists of a power point presentation that teaches us the process of scotch making and introduces us to the different regions in Scotland where the distilleries are.  We learn how the different methods effect the taste of different scotches and then we blind taste 6 different types and have to match them up with the correct brand.  Last year I nailed 4 out of 6 and won a bottle.  This year I just got drunk, guessed and came up with nothing.  Still, it’s a blast.  If you’re curious, the title of this post is the title of a drinking song we learned last night that we’d sing before the toast before each tasting.

Amazingly enough I was still able to get up this morning and head to the gym.  Its my day off today from rehearsals which are going really well this week, on the second mainstage play I’m a part of.  I’m also doing a student show that techs in about 40 minutes and goes up tomorrow night.  The mainstage goes up Fri night and then I have Sat off.  I leave Sunday evening and head to CA for a week and then vacation is over.  Back to the grind.  I’m still finding no problem in fully enjoying myself and my time out of the city.

Sorry for the lack of pictures included with this post.  I’m trying to be better about taking more, and when I do, I’ll pop ‘em right on up here.  I have to finish my chicken cesar salad right now and haul my ass to tech.  Then I’m off to watch the first reading of this week’s schedule.  I’ll let you know how it goes, and more about each play I’ve seen/done in the past two weeks (12 total), when I remember to do so.

Until then, keep an eye on your own troosers!  Cheers!

It’s Monday morning.  I came into town early because I haven’t had the time to sit down and write/post anything.  It’s so weird not having Internet access at home any time I want it.  Technology has spoiled me.  In any case, a few things to report from the field.

Sat night’s reading was a huge success.  We had a packed house and the audience loved the show.  It was funnier than we thought it would be, of course when you’re working on comedy, after the first few times through it you always forget it is funny.  We had a great time and got tons of really lovely compliments, which are always nice to hear.

For those of you who remember that I lost my driver license, fret not.  My passport is set to arrive via express mail this afternoon.  I had my roommate send it to the local bistro/bar where I hang out more than any other place in town.  Funny, no.  “Just send it to the bar.” That is after all, where I would need it, if they bothered to card me.  It’s been three years.  They know me now.

So yesterday was my only day off so far.  I had all day to do whatever I wanted.  A big group of us drove up the mountain a bit, to the hot springs.  Ahhhhhhh.  Let me tell you there is nothing like floating around in a hot hole in the ground pool of lithium rich mineral water seeping into your skin.  The place is crazy rustic (read: there are chickens and turkeys walking around!).  See pictures below.  Let me say it again … ahhhhhh.

After getting sufficiently goofy on spring water we drove back down the mountain to town and bought groceries for a little on the deck grilling party.  We had to stop though on the way to capture a picture of this beautiful waterfall off the side of the road.  It ran under the road and into the river on the other side, the same river that winds it’s way up the highway from Boise. The ladies in the picture are my two stage managers.  On the left is KJ who worked on the show with me last week, and on the right is Anjee, who I start work with today, in about 20 minutes, on my second show.  Anjee is also one of my housemates.

After hitting the grocery store on our way back to the house, KJ convinced us to stop along the lake so she could run off the end of a pier and jump in.  A tradition she started a few years back.  Keep in mind the temperature of the melted snow ice cap run off water filled lake is about, oh, 40 degrees at most.  After calling her crazy five times, she convinced me to join her.  Unfiortunately, my camera battery died right beforewe took off so I have to wait for Anjee to send me a copy.  I’ve never jumped out of water so quickly in my life!  And as soon as I did, Anjee said “If you want to make sure you have a good picture you should do it one mor time.  KJ was about to say no, and I was already running toward the edge again.  she soon joined me and we were back in. A terrible mistake.  I thoght I was going to die that water was so damn cold.

KJ and I had meant to get into a pretend argument right before hand so she could tell me to go jump in a lake (a favorite expression of my mother’s) and then I could tell her to go jump in a lake, and then we would both say “Okay!”  and jump.  We forgot.

The deck party was a huge success.  The six folks at the house each pulled out our iPods and shared new music with each other.  Incredibly fun and informative.  I have a list of things to go out and buy now.  To name a few: Adele, Southern Culture on the Skids, Swamp Dog, and many many more!!

So now it’s off tomy first read through of the new play.  I’ll try to keep you  all posted as much as possible this week.  If you’re still reading anyway.  Enjoy the pictures!

So the past couple of days have been nothing but rehearsals which are going very well. We do our staged reading on Saturday night and then I get my script for the next show Sunday. This morning I got to sleep in, go to the gym and hit my tech at 1:30pm. I’m now having an iced tea at the Bistro waiting for my 7pm call to read the student play I’m in tonight. Fascinating, I know. But honestly, this job rocks.

Somehow in the past few days here I’ve managed to lose my driver license. Don’t ask me how. I have no idea how it got out of my wallet. I was trying to buy a bottle of scotch for my evening after rehearsal yesterday, and when she carded me I figured it out. Gone. Other than the fact that I can no longer drive the company car around town and must now rely on rides from my roommates, I was flipping out over not possibly being able to get on a plane out of here when the conference is over. Thankfully my incredible roommate was home when I called this afternoon, went through a few boxes in my bedroom (which I began packing up for my move before I left town) found my passport and is sending it to the Bistro via FedEx tomorrow. So, I’ll be able to finish my vacation in CA after all. My stress level has dropped dramatically. I owe him big.

Anyhow, last night was the first time I was able to go out and get a little tipsy on wine with the other company members. The pictures tell the story. It was a blast.

I admit my daily writing habit has been a lot less consistent these past two days, but that was because most of my time was spent going through my backpack and suitcase over and over and over trying to find my damn license. Now since that’s on the way to being taken care of, I may find a bit more time to write in greater detail.

Hope all is well with you, my faithful readers. If you’re still out there…and reading. And hey, if you are, don’t be shy. I love to get comments.

Here’s what I woke up to this morning….(click the pics for a bigger image, then your back arrow to return to the blog)

I mean really?!?! In JUNE?!?

On some level it’s quite fun to see, ya know, since it isn’t in the filthy city, and we didn’t get so much snow this past winter…but still, c’mon.

I’ll post more about the goings on of days 3 and 4 in a bit. Check back tomorrow. Rest assured that rehearsals are going extremely well and I’m having a friggin’ BLAST!

Love and snowmen to you all.

Day 2

I maybe had the easiest first day of any member in the conference, it seems. I woke up around 10:30am to the smell of sausage lofting up from the kitchen where my house mate was preparing biscuits and gravy. One of my favorite meals. I took a long hot shower and headed down to gorge myself. After breakfast I took the initiative to clean up the grill out on the deck and prepare it for the two weeks I have planned of grilling steaks, chicken, ribs and burgers. Oh yes. Beer, whiskey and meat. In the mountains. I am man. Hear me belch.

When my ride showed up around 2pm I drove over to the gym and negotiated a deal with the manager at the front desk for the conference members. She remembered me from last year (helped along by my company name tag we’re encouraged to wear every place we go) and is a fan of the conference. See, everyone in town knows when we show up to do our crazy theater thing. As a result we’re all getting a fifty percent discount on the day-rate to work out while we’re in town. Score. I ran few miles on the treadmill, which is quite a different task in this elevation: 5,000 ft!! I thought I was going to pass out after twenty-five minutes for lack of oxygen, so, I stopped.

After that I did a little shopping. Picked up some groceries for the house and a few essential toiletries I chose not to try to get through airport security. I drove down to Bistro 45 (our unofficial company hang out) and had lunch. So far, a great day, wouldn’t you say?

At 5pm I finally had to be at the theater for our first full company meeting where we were told how things roll for the length of the conference. Rules and regulations. Then the equity members met backstage to elect our deputy, a position I held last year and so volunteered to do again. I’m now responsible for ensuring that all union rules are enforced and all rights afforded union members are met. If anyone has a problem, they bring it to me. I’m the man.

Finally I headed off to my first rehearsal from 7p-10p. It’s a play written by a local high school student as part of their playwriting class, which is taught by one of the board members of the theater that donates the space to the conference. Anyway, in this piece I play a gas station clerk more interested in my game of solitaire than the customers who are stealing Slurpees.

I was the first one back to the house, which I admit was a little creepy. Bering alone in a huge house in the forest with nothing but the sound of the river running through the backyard, with no phone service and no internet is a little unsettling. I was sitting on the couch trying to forget every Friday the 13th movie I’ve ever seen when I noticed our chipmunk friend again in the corner of the living room. This time, he came out to look at me and then bolted up the stairs to the second floor where my bedroom door was left wide open. Fucking great right? All I need is to wake up in the middle of the night to a chipmunk gnawing off one of my big toes hanging over the side of the bed.

I went in search of a broom but found none. I settled for the extension tube to a vacuum cleaner and went around banging every piece of furniture in hopes that it would scuttle out from under something and run back downstairs so I could sleep easy. I was walking down the stairs wielding my vacuum weapon in hand when one of my roommates walked in. I must have looked like an idiot. He asked, laughing hysterically, if I actually thought I was going to get raped or something and I said no, just chipmunk hunting.

Chuckle chuckle. Doug’s afraid of chipmunks. Well, aren’t they like the rats and cockroaches of Idaho? I mean assume they’re not domesticated or anything which to me means disease ridden at ll, so why would I want to sleep with one in the room? I’m convinced he never leaves the house. We’re picking a name. We haven’t decided on Chip, Dale, Avin, Simon or Theodore. I’m pulling for Francisco. Thoughts?