Cast of Characters

I realize I have talked alot about my work here recently. Now that is largely a part of why I am here, but that is not the only reason I am here. I do want to foster new relationships with in the challenge of also being committed to a community life. That is a HUGE challenge for me since I do not feel like a community with Mary half of the time.

I have however made friends with people in the area. The JVs for instance live in Mexicantown. Not too far from corktown, but far enough away to be escaping a little. During the world series, I spent alot of time over their house watching the depressing games as the tigers did not come out on top. Together we also have wednesday nights at the Mercy house (which started out as project runway for all of you who remember girls nights) and on occasion Monday nights (half price Martini nights) at Proof. We helped each other come up with halloween costumes, go to movies together, and ingeneral chill out. Josh, Shannon, Tim and Paul are the ones who frequent our company. I think we all enjoy the time we get away from our individual communities, because its not that we dont love who we live with but rather we take it for what its worth and get away from time to time to not burn out.

Through Josh we have met several people he works with over at Crossroads... dont ask me what it is because i forget, but i do know that it is always interesting to hear what he does. Some of the people he works with are former volunteers, like his supervisor and then some are jsut there to fill in spare time like Bob from maine. Bob from maine is certainly less crazy than Mary, so i can therefore conclude that all people from Maine are not crazy lunitics. But then he is also closer to my age and applying to medical schools... so maybe just all old people from maine are crazy. I dont know.

One of the other volunteers in the area that came to us all through Andy and Leslie is Tyler. He is from Alabama and a Methodist Volunteer here for two years and working at the NOAH project. The NOAH project has this big soup kitchen/ lunch line that is run out of Central United Methodist Church about a block away from Comerica Park. I dont really know much more about the project or this kid than what I have just said.

In and out of town have been Nile (Anita's Boyfriend), Jessica (Pauls Girlfriend), guy who is pauls friend, and a plethora of other cameo appearences from friends of the volunteers.

Andy and Leslie are former volunteers who are now married. They live in the cutest loft off of michigan and are probably one of the cutest couples in the world... almost as cute as mary and mike rodihan. Leslie is a former mercy and Andy a former JV, they met in their year of service (which i happened to visit during), fell in love and were recently married. How adorable. But after Anita found out that Leslie went to my school, she now jokes that I will Marry a Jesuite Volunteer... no offense to any of them but its not likely.

From my Left hand

So in an effort to make myself fully ambidextrous I take free time to just basically write with my left hand in a stream of conscious style. Here are some results:

Here in Detroit is where i now live. I miss Virginia but not enough to go back. I am trying to teach myself to write with my left hand and to teach myself Gaelic. It was sad when the tigers lost the world series, but they are a young team and there is always next year. Mary is getting aggravating. Monday Anita and I went to a bar with Josh, Shannon, and Paul to meet up with some of the people Josh works with. They are fun and I had a long talk with one named Bob. Yesterday was Halloween and I got stuck in a Laundromat like corduroy the bear. Anita and I are not speaking to Mary right now. she said she was not willing to compromise so we walked out of the room and spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what went wrong.


And there you have it, a story worthy of a first grader.

This place is starting to get to me

As much as I enjoy my work and the city I am in, Life here is starting to get to me. By that I mean that home life is starting to get to me. By that I mean that Mary is starting to get to me. I don't mean to single her out, but she is not an easy person to live with. Half the time she doesn't listen to what Anita and I are actually saying, which causes miscommunication, which I in turn try to fix (because i stupidly put myself in as a mediator), which is starting to frustrate me since it doesn't seem to be helping and Mary still seems to not listen, which is causing me to be impatient. I suppose I shouldn't have stepped in as a mediator in the first place, but if I am the one who can see there is a problem and is willing to take the time to try to work through it, then I will. But again, it gets tiring when Mary doesn't seem to realize that there is a problem and Anita has become so frustrated with it that she just doesn't want to try anymore.

is it sad that last week I wanted to be at the theatre, being given a hard time by one of the actresses, rather than be at home alone with Mary while Anita was at her Med school interview?

Personally, I think it is extremely sad. I don't want to get to the point where I avoid going home, but at the same time if being at home causes me more stress than being at work, then I would rather be at work.

Furthermore, Mary will often talk about things she doesn't understand. The play for example, Mary started telling Rita Mary (the nun she works with at the Bishops office) that I was working late nights last week for the play. I told Mary from the beginning that show week was going to be crazy, but that Matrix would compensate for the extra time I spent there. And yet I have Rita Mary approaching me at mass saying she is sorry I have such long hours at Matrix. I was just like wait a minute, I don't want you to get the wrong idea here, I was there willingly... no one forced me to be there.... that is part of the show, a part of the show that I love being part of.

As far as communication goes, I feel like I have tried and tried and tried with Mary and yet nothing works... sooner or later I am going to just stop trying. I can already see my frustration coming out in other situations... like that actress who says I do nothing, I wouldn't be surprised if part of my problem with her is as a result of communication road blocks at home. I hate to be one of those people who cant separate issues at home from issues at work... but at the same time, you know that it is really starting to get to me if i can no longer maintain that separation...

Life in the Fast Lane

The past couple of weeks have been a blur. I suppose that is what happens when you're getting ready for a show. On the one hand, Costumes were 100% complete for opening night. My first professional show, with A LOT of responsibility and A LOT of detail work, was a success. Oddly enough none of it really seemed like work to me. I had fun making the costumes, though i was afraid to use chiffon since I had never used it before. I had fun rummaging through thrift stores hunting out costumes that could fit the time period. I had fun making sure the characters looked good next to each other when they needed to and clashed when they needed to. And I certainly had fun creating my baby... this white dress that started out looking like a choir robe. We took the bottom layer out of it and used it to make a sash. We took the dress in to fit the actress. We took of the sleeves and made a hat. Add a boa, shoes, and gloves and you have a fabulous Easter dress. I am blessed to have an opportunity like this just out of school... especially when I didnt study it per se.
It has been a pleasure working on this show, and I am going to be sad (and relieved) when it is all over. I have met quite a few awesome people, maybe I can keep in touch with them. I have gained alot of hands on experience. And, more importantly I like to feel like Ive made a difference. Maybe one day I can head up a theatre as cool as Matrix, with such an amazing mission. Im not going to lie, it is HARD WORK... quite a bit harder in many ways than I have ever done before. It was worth it though and despite everything I feel like I have grown as a result of it.
What can I say, a little bit of hard work, intuition, ingeneuity and dedication and you can accomplish anything.

Thank you Boomtown, Thank you Matrix

Easily Amused

Today as we left the house, I climbed into Mary's jeep and saw a little burger king toy on my seat. I picked it up and looked at it, thought it was a voice recorder and asked Mary if i could open it. She said sure, so i did. It wasn't working as a voice recorder, but as i read the instructions i discovered it was rather a little radio. Well imagine my amusement when i hit the scan button and it fell upon my favorite radio station here. In my amusement i distracted Mary and she missed the turn for Mercy Ed... twice. Not once but twice. I didn't actually think i would have to direct someone to the work site we go to EVERYDAY. Even so, the miniature radio is my new favorite toy.

Much to my amusement, Mary and I walked into Mercy Ed in hysterics. Rose, Toni and Shannon looked at us like we were crazy, so I explained. Rose was so amused by the radio that even though she hates fast food, she is going to go to burger king just to get that toy. For once fast food has created something useful.

Surrealism at its best

Life in Detroit is Surreal. This week at Our Lady of Guadelupe one of the girls fathers died. He didnt just die, but he was killed in a gang related incident. Just hearing Anita talk about how she and the other extended day staff were specifically told to go to the wake in a group during daylight sent chills up my spine. They have to be so cautious though because of the gang involvement, well really it is more like the mexican mafia, but you catch my drift. She described the funeral as chilling. She had to feel for the family and be there in the moment, while also keeping one eye alert to possible incidents that might occur. To be at a funeral and have to be thinking of the best way to get her girls to the floor if a gun were fired must be one of the most nerve racking things to experience. Anita said that it was even more of a shock and tear jerker to see just how well the girl was taking the situation. The girl came in one day wearing her father's teeshirt. She looked at Anita and said she liked the way it smelled like her father. Just hearing that is absolutely incredible and insane to think about. I cant even imagine what i would have done.

To be quite honest, I am very happy here. Its not for any one reason, but for many little things. Mostly though, I think I just needed a change of pace. I love Virginia Beach and Harrisonburg, but they had become to routine and I was bored with them. I need something new for a while and Detroit is it.

I still find it hard to believe that in so many ways, Detroit seems dead. There are less cars on the road in Detroit at 8pm than there are in Virginia Beach at 3am. You think I am kidding? I'm not. As a result of my being costume mistress for Boomtown 1925, I have researched 1920 Detroit quite a bit. I think there were more people on the road in 1920 at 3am than there are in Detroit now at 8pm. Its quite an interesting difference to see. I mean for a city to be big and bustling, really the place to be, in one decade and like a ghost town 80 years later is uncanny.