One Night Only...

Well I was supposed to get on board the Noordam tonight for a wonderful evening of friends, entertainment, and free food and drink. I was foiled by security though. Evidently someone was on their high horse tonight and shut down the operation about 8pm. No more visitors were allowed on after 8pm. I arrived at 7:55pm. I was frustrated with security and both my friends were inaccessible due to preparations for the shows. I finally got through to my friend Nicole, and she asked to hang around until the end of her show and she'd see what she could do. Well I did, but she must have gone up late and came down late in her show because I didn't hear from her until I gave up and left. I was sad. Security sucks sometimes. There was one guy who was willing to help me out if I could get someone to verify I was on the list, but getting in touch with someone was difficult. The other guy (his boss) was giving no head room. He was definitive in his answer and I was not happy with him. I guess he just had a bad day of drunken and slap happy partying travel agents. My friends said they had problems getting them off the ship this morning, so this security action probably stemmed from that experience. Oy! I'll see her tomorrow possibly and if not at least 3 times in Rome. I'll be working with Chris again so I'll be seeing him soon. However it's the point of it all. I expected to see them tonight and I couldn't. I'm thankful I got to see one of her shows and the skecth group he was helping with in performance. I at least had one night of good times.

Floored by talent...

Tonight I was absolutely floored by incredible talent. I was in heaven all day and filled with energy. My friends from ship life were in town today on the new Noordam. I was thrilled to see my friend and partner from the Zaandam Nicole. She looked great and of course I got to see Chris. It was a great afternoon and I hated saying goodbye after what seemed a short visit, but they needed rest for their shows in the evening and I was off to take class and then see my friend of a friend, Rena, in her one woman show "Spaghetti and Matzo Balls." After class I headed up to the Triad Theatre on W. 72nd St. to catch her cabaret.
It was packed and rightly so. I got in by the hair on my chin all by my lonesome. I sat with a few young guys. I was forced to be social because of the setting. It was tables and chairs a la lounge theatre. Her show opened and ran smoothly without a hitch. She was amazing. She told stories with fluidity and ease and captured every great moment. All true in her life and she's lived an amazing one so far. Hell, she sang in an Italian Mafia style restaurant for the infamous Bill Clinton. She sat at that table every Monday night with famous people including Billy Joel. All true and a fascinating and funny story. After her show was finished I scurried down to port to board the ms Noordam which is making its inaugural sail on Wednesday. All the VIPs from Holland America Line, Carnival Cruises, Stiletto Entertainment, and various travel agents and rich mariners were on board. It was a fabulous party. Open bar, open buffet, and free entertainment (which my friends were a part of). I saw the Vegas show tonight. I'm seeing another show tomorrow (a rock and roll show). My singing partner was amazing and all her fellow performers were superb. Why they're on a ship baffles me. These people need to be doing higher things. The talent was extreme. Crystal clear recording style voices. Flawless dancing and performances. The glitz and glamour were on during this show and it was a showstopper. It was like Vegas in NYC. Then I ran over to the lounge theatre where Chris was performing the Broadway cabaret the production singers will be taking over by Wednesday. The 4 of them were superb. The blend was extraordinary. The singing was astounding and the performances were so natural. It was cabaret style and this show could have fit in ANY of the cabaret scenes in NYC with ease. The cheese factor was high, but that's expected on ships and in cabaret shows. I was so moved by the talent my eyes were seeing and inspired. I'm very proud to have worked with these individuals on my last contract and excited to work and learn from Chris again.

Upon boarding this luxury liner though I was taken aback by what it had to offer. I don't think the glitz of Carnival or the simplicity of some of the other ships compare to this one. This ship was class all the way. The show lounge felt like a Broadway Theatre (although just a tad smaller). Even though it was smaller than a Broadway stage, once the show started it felt so huge. The lounges were all pristine. The guest room areas felt like a real hotel and not like a ship. Even the crew area where the performers are felt like a hotel. It was so nice. Besides all the wining and dining, I felt so weird being on as a guest. Everyone on board was treated like royalty. For a moment I was whisked away into a fantasy land. That will be my life in a month or so. Well, I must get some rest. Tomorrow is looking a lot like how today went. More free food, drinks, and good times. I wish I could share this feeling with some of my NYC friends because words can't describe what it feels like to see your friends after a long departure and then enter this fantasy world where everything is fabulous.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hope this day brings you warmth and love. For me it represents the upcoming warmth of spring where everything blooms into life from the cold and dark winter. I like to remember those who are special to me and keep them in my hearts. It's time to wake up from the hibernation and take an adventure. Happy Valentine's Day and may your love for someone important in your life grow stronger.

Beauty School Dropout...

Well my blonde tips starting fading out and it was time to get a haircut which would cut them off completely. Since receiving so many compliments on the new look, I decided to re-do them and do it cheaply by doing it myself. After all when I got it done on the ship it looked like a simple process of putting the cap on, pulling strands of hair through the little holes, and them caking on the product. A flawless process that doesn't allow room for much error. Or so I thought. So, I go to the store and buy the Loreal kit for $14.00 which is about what it cost on the ship with my discounts and connections. In NYC a cut and color of that nature would run me easily about $75.00. Ching ching!! A savings!! Thanks Phil for instilling the bargain hunter in me. So, I go home with my kit and read all instructions. I've never done anything like this before so this was going to be interesting. To save any embarrassing comments, I did it when no one was around. So, I put the cap on and notice it didn't really suck to my head like the rubber one on the ship did AND this was made of plastic. No bother, it still had the holes and the instruument to pull the hair through. I soon discovered that pulling the hair through was not as easy as it seemed. Sometimes the hair didn't want to go through or I pulled strands in one hole that were already sticking out of another hole. Well, I got all the hair out and thought I was ready to cake on the chemicals. They came in 3 parts. A dry powder, liquid toner, and then the gelling/coloring agent. I opened the powder and the room was suddenly filled with fine dust particles of what was in the bag. I had to leave the room since I was breathing them in and had to wait 'til they settled. Oy!! Then I mixed all the pieces together and started caking them on top. What I soon realized was that plastic repels the gel more so than rubber did. It was dripping off on my skin and onto the floor. Yikes! Once I solved that problem and was ables to get the chemical where I needed it, I sat around for about 40 minutes and waited. Afterwards I washed it all off and got the result. Whoa!!! Really blonde!! It was expected after what I experienced in the salon, but I knew a haircut was going to happen so a lot of those long strands of blonde would be cut off leaving me with the blonde tips. What I didn't realize until after the haircut was that some of the chemical bled through the holes all the way to the root in some areas. Whoops. So, now it's a tad splotchy. Someone did offer to help me fix it though so I hope that works out. Never again on my own though. 'Twas a learning experience.