Last Monday we got the results from the auditions of the week before. I did audition for the Wicked Witch of the West. Alas, didn't get that one. Brigitte and Larissa get to play the Siamese twin Witch, though they have to convince the director that two heads is better than one.

Was I disappointed about not becoming the Witch? A bit. But I found the Siamese version hilarious so I wish Bri and Larissa lots of luck and fun with the part. However I was sorely disappointed that I did not get my second or even third choice. Apparently Toto was given to Pieter from the first day of this new season. So I could've skipped that one while making my top three... And I didn't get one of the energetic by roles either. Say WHAT?!?

So what did I get? I got the 'tin man'. Yes, it is one of the leads, why should I be disappointed, right? Well, because I explicitly stated in my top three that the Wicked Witch was the only lead role that I could take seriously. I didn't (still don't) see much in the other lead roles. So hearing my name, followed by 'tin man' was quite a shock. Made worse by the director tactlessly adding 'nobody else wanted this role. Somebody has got to do it'. Say WHAT?!? I get a left over role? That's IT?!

Then we had a break to mingle and chat about the casting. I broke down and cried after three people asked me 'are you happy with the tin man'. I was tired from the Moots and so very disappointed. The 'somebody has to do it' had hit hard. So I fled from the kitchen to a staircase where Matthijs brought me my abandoned tea. He tried to put perspective on things and I just cried. I felt like a grade school kid again, damn it!

After I dried my tears and went back to the break room the director came to me and apologized for her impolitic words, she hadn't meant it like that. The reason I got this role was that I'm a strong player, able to do anything, and she needed a strong player for this part. She had seen me play the tin man once (when we were just getting familiar with the script, switching roles once in a while) and apparently I made an impression then. Aside from that she had once played the part and thought that everybody would like this role because she knows what fun it can be. After Su had her say her partner Dorien came to me to hug me and tell me how glad she is to have me besides her (she's the Scarecrow). It made me feel a bit better and I was able to clean myself up a bit and participate in the rest of the evening.

I'm still a bit set back by all this and I truly hope we'll make something special out of the tin man. After last year in the baggy cleaning outfit I wanted a somewhat more flattering costume. I really do not want to become a walking cat food can... Oh, and did I mention that the song of the tin man is AWFUL?! "Lubricate my joints...that feels so good".. right...

Well, we'll see what we'll make of it. Now I need to rehearse my belly dance performance once more (already did about 10 times today) and think about what outfit to wear. Oh, and get something to eat and rinse out the wool that I've been dyeing today.

We have new neighbours, a couple around our age perhaps a bit older. They have three cats. This seemed to me as as improvement over the stressed little white barkers (west scotland white terriers, you know, from the Cesar commercial) that our previous neighbours had. Unfortunately our first meeting didn't go very well.

We were quietly working up stairs in our work room when we heard a loud cat screech from down stairs followed by a smash. When we went down to investigate we found our two cats with puffed up tails in the livingroom and a plant pot smashed to bits on the floor of the kitchen. The plant that was in the pot is now missing half its roots and some of the offspring is broken too.

What had happened? Two of the three cats from the neighbours had entered our yard and one of them had the balls to get to the window and scare Lina. Our Lina is a bit of a wimp so she probably freaked out, shoved the plant out of the windowsill and got a bigger freight when that pot hit the floor. Earth everywhere! While I cleaned up the mess Matthijs tried to catch the cats and put them back into their own yard. That took some effort and in the end one of the cats proved that our fence with the anti-escape construction will not hinder a cat much if she really wants to leave the garden.

Now we will have to see what the future will bring. The neighbours have already told us to scare away their cats by throwing a bucket of water over them. Perhaps we will, if that is what it takes to keep them out of our garden. But for that you'll need to spot them in time and actually get close enough and aim right... I really do hope that our cats won't get in a fight with their cats and that our Lina and Melisse do not get any ideas about going for a stroll around the block. However, we'll have to wait and see. Until we know, installing a pet door is out of the question as far as I'm concerned.

I really think that people should take responsibility for their pets and take into account the other people living nearby. Yes, it is nice that your kitties can go explore the world and live happily and free outside.(1) Why the **** did you get them as pets? Ever considered the danger they might be to the traffic, or the irritation they might bring to the man a bit further down the block who takes absurd pride in his garden? (He has already asked us if we have a tiny kitty that always uses his garden to relieve himself) And what if the cat gets trapped in somebody else's shed and starves to death there? Or what if the cat just decides that somewhere else is a better home for him/her? Nobody would agree to dogs walking around free, why can cats?
(1) Our neighbours do not necessarily hold to this opinion, but I know people who do and this incident just got me started again.

We have taken special care to keep our cats inside our garden. That is as far as they are allowed to go. So far (a couple of months now) so good. However, we do have an interesting garden with actual plant life an frogs, butterflies and birds. Compared to the tile-display garden of our neighbours this must be heaven. So I can understand why other cats might enter our garden, that does not mean that I like it or approve of it. Saying "oh, they'll be back when they get hungry" and explaining that it is not a problem for you is nice, but have you ever considered how I feel about this transgression? And I guess it's ok to tell people "just throw a bucket of water over her and she'll go away and learn from it" but I do not like tormening animals and I know what kind of stress a cat can experience. I do not want to be the one to evoke that kind of stress. Aside from that, it might be that in the future we will 'baby-sit' the neighbouts cats and then I don't want them to be scared of me. It's hard to teach a cat to be scared (and thus not repeat) something he did (enter the garden) instead of the person that doles out the punishment. It takes a lot of exact timing to get the right results. Teaching the cat "It's ok to be in this garden as long as the humans are not around" is not the goal.

As I wrote earlier we'll have to wait and see what happens next. But this weekend, when we're gone, the plants will have to be put on the table instead of in the windowsill because I don't fancy coming home to earth and shards everywhere because our cats got spooked again.

Got a call from V&D today that they have the swap frames again. I had them put away 3 for me to pick up later and I just got back from the store with 3 new frames. Yay!

For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get a 50 x 70 cm swap frame (wissellijst) without fancy edges. At V&D they sell these for only € 7,50. These are perfect for puzzles of 1000 pieces, which I like to make and hang on my walls. But the f*ckers here at the V&D in Amersfoort do not seem to have a schedule for ordering goods that are out of stock. Every time I go there they have to sell me 'no'. They never know when a new order will arrive so they can not help me... Today I tried to get them to order the things for me, but they can't. "It might be that we have some pallets with them in the back. But I can't check that or get them for you." says the clerk... So I wrote down my name and phonenumber and asked them to call me when the things were finally lying in the store again. I'll be surprised if I'll ever hear about it...

My audition for the Wicked Witch of the West went rather well. Even while playing the required part I didn't quite know what 'edge'/quirk to give the witch so it may have been a bit bland. But I got all my text and I think I showed enough enthusiasm in my playing. The song went well too though I forgot a few lines. I was able to pick up again at the end of those lines to at least get the rhyme right. :p

There were three other 'contestants' for the role of Wicked Witch. One auditioned via a video because she couldn't make it to the auditions themselves. The two others played a Siamese twin witch. It was hilarious. I haven't seen the video audition but Larissa did great. Brigitte forgot all her song text because she had heard me sing in Dutch first and she wanted to sing in English. So she ended up doing lalalala instead of the lyrics. That's no big deal as long as you sing good enough, so she didn't do a second try even though they were offered.

Next week we'll hear whom gets what role. My second choice was Toto, who will be an arrogant poodle but I think that one is already given to Pieter. My third choice was any extra role with lots of physical activity, like dancing or jumping around as a flying monkey. We'll see. I'm not nervous (only got nervous during the song) and got other things on my mind. Yesterday we learned a new bit of dance at streetdance and on the 27th I'm doing a solo performance for our bellydance goodbye of my former teacher. I still need a lot of practice for that one....

W00ps, long time no blog, even though there was quite some stuff to blog about. Let's see. I started with streetdance at A-Dance in September, got into bellydance lessons with Gunesh (Annet) after some searching and try-out lessons. Amersical also started again, we're playing Oz this year. You know, with the yellow brick road, the brainless scarecrow, heartless tin man and cowardly lion. I'm auditioning for the Wicked Witch of the West today. Unfortunately it's more like a gradeschool musical than an adult one, but we'll see what we'll be able to make of it.

We went to see the musical The Little Mermaid (fun!) had a lovely balfolk with the Gonnagles (more fun!) met up with the old board of Matthijs' study, worked some more on the attic (all insulation is in place now) and had a meeting with the Paja Dhani group (Vortex). Matthijs went to Spain for some days for work, I enjoyed the get-to-know-each-other evening with Amersical and we both went to the Glee night in Enschede. Lots of fun! Last Friday we went to the Efteling with Cora and René and slept at their place. The Saturday was for feeling a bit hungover (though there was only little alcohol involved) and yesterday I had another day with the Sibbe. I think I'm officially a prospective member now.

So, today auditions for Oz. Tomorrow streetdance, Wednesday bellydance, Thursday packing up for the Moots, Friday - Sunday Moots and then on Monday a normal week again with in the evening the results of the auditions. Fingers crossed!