hiddenmuse | Guess What

This year, I turned 42 and I made sure that it was a good birthday compared to last year's somber affair.

Last year, if I remember correctly, I had a small celebration in the office with my (at the time) new boss and co-workers; went to therapy that evening and took myself out for dinner the next night. Then again when you're mid-divorce, you're not exactly in a party mood.

But this time around, since I'd been expanding my social circle by volunteering with a local theater group as one of their house managers, as well as attending Rocky Horror Picture Show monthly - and eventually being recruited to join the cast (don't get too excited, my lovelies - yes! I did join, and I'm currently selling the prop kits to the audience...but they do recruit actors from within their ranks, and I could be moving up to Transylvanian in the next year...lol).

Anyways, those involvements had led to a far better - and far less lonely - birthday this year! Friday night, I did my house management thing with the theater group - I'd mentioned to one of the actors the week before that it was going to be my birthday, but didn't think anything would happen. So I was surprised when they called me up to sing "Happy Birthday" to me (the cast - and an audience of about 40something people)! After the show, when I went to purchase one of their T-shirts - the cast member selling them said to me "your money's no good! It's a gift from us!"

The next evening, I went to Rocky Horror Picture Show - being done in Menlo Park - mainly to see how the setup worked, because this particular theater is different from San Francisco in that there is actual floor space allowing for more involved props (like an Eddie casket!) that we don't get for the SF show. Again, I get called up to the front for my birthday (this time, I was aware of it happening) - and get "Happy Birthday" sung to me by about 100 people, as well as a birthday spanking from the co-director. Let's say that the wooden handle of a feather duster - even with my big butt - painful!!

After that show - since it was also a farewell to four cast members - a big group of us went out for breakfast. I sat at an end of the table with some tech people and a couple of the actors, and got to hear talk about theme shows they want to do ("Rocky Horror - Where Are They Now?" - "Charles Gray (the criminologist) is dead, and we've got the skeleton already"), songs that Frank N. Furter should come out to during cast introductions (the "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" theme was put out as an idea - I almost died laughing), and the time that a fellow cast member (who wasn't there to explain himself) had slipped out of character as the wheelchair-bound Dr. Scott and walked onto the stage mid-scene! I laughed at that one and said "Well, our disclaimer does promise bad acting!"

And finally.... as I'd posted on Facebook, this is what 42 looks like: