Wednesday night at dusk, I came out of the crafts center where I'd been making pottery for two hours, and there was a purple mist over Lake Susan, the street lamps were glowing golden, and you could still see the green of the mountains. And I thought, "I'm really getting PAID to be here?!"
I also think I need to become a better photographer this summer.
There is a wonderful readjustment to not having internet or phone service in most places. I remember when last semester ended experiencing this physically strange feeling knowing that I did not have to be "on call" at all times. There did not need to be a way for me to be contacted about a show at any hour - I didn't need to leave my phone on at night - I didn't need to check my e-mail all the time in case of last minute schedule changes - I wasn't supposed to send anyone my schedule, or really send anyone anything. I'd spent so much time being available that not having to be was a major adjustment. Going to my room now and knowing that I will NOT get a text message is really nice. I don't have to have part of myself be anywhere else. I think my generation, especially, has put a part of ourselves into our phones and computers. They are so second nature to have that not having them is weird and uncomfortable. We are so used to a part of our brain thinking that we might have a text message. My phone is sitting next to me as I type this, and I still look at it and think it might buzz. My stomach jolts when I assure myself it won't. It's so engrained. Once I train this "cell phone as part of my body" mentality out of me, I think I'll never want to go back. It's also kind of nice because when I walk down to Anderson in the mornings, I get all these Twitter updates that are like the morning newspaper of what my friends have been up to.
Not having constant internet is less of a deal than the phone. I'm still on my computer a fair amount to type out what's happening, as that's more efficent than writing it (and when your wrists hurt from CPR training, typing is much nicer), but there's not a lot of internet time for me and that's just lovely. It helps prevent the "Facebook Loneliness Syndrome" - spending hours constantly refreshing your computer to see if you got a new notification or e-mail - and the disappointment and feelings of isolation when you don't. This is also probably a big development of my generation. (Sometimes, I want to be all Proust-like observing the odd little quirks about my own culture. Things like MyLifeIsAverage.com are golden for that.)
The really delightful thing is it's completely changed my morning routine. I'm used to waking up, checking my phone and e-mail and Facebook and all that. Now, I have significantly less occupying my time in the morning. I've decided to fill that time with some good old morning Bible reading. Tuesday night, when reading Luke, I thought about Paul and how I haven't really sat down to read the letters of Paul and how I really should. So now I'm reading Luke at night and Romans in the morning. Much better than Facebook.
Wednesday night was the first staff craft night. Pottery is really big here, and I had SO MUCH FUN making my first cup. This first one was completely hand-made, but I'm planning on making something on the wheel soon. I'm planning on doing a lot of pottery this summer. When else am I going to get free clay and wheels and tools and training? We're allowed to come in and make stuff whenever we want. I really want to make some awesome chalices. I will definitely be making a lot of Christmas gifts. I was back at the Craft Center today - they were getting a shipment of clay in so the A/V crew, the Aud crew, and the Rangers came over to help out. While we were waiting for the clay, the potters taught us how to trim things made on the wheel. The potters are so earthy, I love it. Both times I've been there, they've been so nurturing and enthusiastic about what they do. They have this quiet, calming joy about them that is just so unique and comforting. When I was on the wheel trimming a bowl today, it was my first time on the wheel and it was slightly intimidating, but the woman helping me diffused my nervous energy. There's a deep spirituality in everything they do that I'm absolutely drawn to. On certain days of the week, they have Prayers from Iona on the porch at 12:15. I plan to be there as often as I can.
The Rangers are also fun. Most of them are well-built men with beards, and then there's this super sweet and relatively tiny girl (Kim) who's a new Ranger. They're strangely zen in a very tough way. Apparently today Kim learned how to use a giant tool similar to an axe to hack her way through the woods. I think the thing about the Rangers is they're so at one with the world. Most of us would freak out upon seeing a bear. The Rangers could wrestle with it.
I am constantly amazed at the openness and generosity of the people here. From the adult staff to my fellow summer staffers. It's astounding.
I've spent the last two days in training. A/V Crew is a blast. It's mostly sound-based, which is great by me. The sound board is huge and beautiful. A few months ago, they had a big break-in and lots of equipment was stolen, which is horrible - but it does mean that most of our equipment is brand new, which is nice. We've organized the tape closet (our equipment room), cleaned the booth, played around with the board, done sound checks, set up portable systems, and checked out the equipment in Upper Anderson and Convocation Hall, which are two other spaces we'll be staffing this summer. The booth (where the light and sound boards are, usually in the back of any theatre space) looks like every other booth I've worked in, only bigger. In pretty much every booth I've worked in, there have been signatures or notes from past crews on the wall. There's some in the Studio theatre, one of our spaces at PHTS... and there were in the old booth in the Linhart theatre, another space of ours. Unfortunately, that space has been completely renovated and the booth was remade, so the signatures are lost. (Of course, it's good that the booth was remade because it was dangerous and falling apart. You either accessed it by a ladder or by going to the top of the audience seating, standing on the railing, and swinging yourself over. It was kind of fun. Theatre people have a strange pride in making dangerous old situations work.) Even the booth at my high school, which is much nicer than my college booths, had random boards supporting some equipment that people would sign. The booth in Anderson is covered with signatures. Signing it is a tradition. The bass player for Limp Bizkit was on A/V crew once, and we found his signature. There are also some time-honored A/V traditions in that booth, which are secrets I shouldn't expose to the whole internet. ;)
The people on A/V crew are great, and we're already starting to develop a sense of comraderie. I noticed it today as we all practiced turning the alarm system on and off. It was trial-by-fire, as we all had to go into the booth and turn off the alarm system within thirty seconds or else the alarm would actually go off and automatically call the police. The A/V crew banter was already starting and I felt quite comfortable with this group. There's one other girl on A/V crew, Rachel, who I hung out with for pretty much all of yesterday afternoon. We had the ultimate bonding experience walking back to our lodge and falling flat on our butts. First her, then me. It was pretty epic, and there's nothing like sharing a good fall for becoming friends. Another kid, Russ, is a year younger than me and also planning on doing Directing. He's at Emory and Henry. Our Directors (older youth supervisors, pretty much), Eric and Heather, are some of the coolest, chillest people I've ever met, which is very nice. We've been training with the DTPs, who are the ones who create and operate those slide shows of songs and the call to worship and all of that. We're also around Aud crew a lot. There's a bit of rivalry between A/V and Aud crews. They say we don't know how to do manual labor. Then we point out that they can't operate a projector. They just got a brand new truck which they're currently bragging about. Whatever. I'll take our old two-tanked, broken-windowed van that has most of the seats removed so we can transport the portable sound system and therefore if we've got the whole crew in there most people have to sit on the floor. It has character. After the talent show at Youth conferences, there's the A/V vs. Aud Olympics which we stage to entertain the kids. I'm pretty much the only person around who hasn't been to a Youth conference here. I'll find out about it soon enough.
I'm going to be so good with microphones by the time I get back to school. That will be so useful. Very few people at PHTS really know how to work with microphones. I guessed at it last semester. I learned the basics of it today, including the basics of equalization, so I've got a good foundation that I will build on a lot this summer. I'll be a beast when I get back. (I'll also be really pretentious about how to wrap cables.) Lighting is much less of a thing here. They said, "We actually have a lot of lights here, we've got about 20," and I scoffed a bit. For the size of the space, 20 lights is plenty for the general wash and all of that... but I'm used to a lot more specials and that kind of thing. The light board is adorable. It's like a newer version of the board we used in Scottsville for the Perceptions Dance Company performance. And Scottsville is a town in the middle of nowhere, VA. It's a dinky little thing, it only has faders, and I think it's impossible to program cues for it. Or if it is possible, it's really hard. The most advanced feature it seems to have is a crossfade. Mostly, it's lights on and lights off. Upper Anderson has more advanced lights, actually, and even has some lights randomly gelled green. One woman for our first conference saw a picture of the green lights and said, "Oh, look, you have colored lights!" Unfortunately, they're pretty much the only colored lights. Eric said we might see if we can find more gels for them, which would mean I would definitely get up on a ladder to GEL SOME LIGHTS! WOO! (For non-theatre people: gels are colored plastic that go in front of lights to change their color.)
Anyone going to a conference at Montreat will be happy to know that all Montreat staff are First Aid/CPR certified. (Including infant CPR.) I feel like first aid training will probably also come in handy at theatre school. (Memories from my first year crew assignment: "Jenn! You have a GIANT GASH in your foot. It is BLEEDING. There is chalk and dirt and blue vaseline all over the floor. You are now tracking blood through the studio theatre. PLEASE SIT DOWN. We can start cleanup without you, believe it or not.")
I've got just enough of the theatre spirit here (crew camaraderie, tech work) to keep me sane, but not so much that I feel trapped by it. I came in after work and just sat in one of our huge comfy chairs in my lodge and realized that I hadn't been this happy in a long time. I am so blessed to be here.
Our first conferences, Proclaiming the Text, and Christian Education, start next week. I hope I'm teching Proclaiming the Text - a former colleague of my mother's, who hasn't seen me since I was in elementary school, I think, is going to be doing something with Proclaiming the Text.
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