Friday, May 11, 2012

Of Shining Stars, Church Groups and Museums


It's been awhile again, I know. I'm finding that my beard directly reflects my level of stress and free time. The longer it gets the worse things seem to be at work. I don't have the time or energy to shave. Oh well.





Last Thursday the arts department took the entire freshman class to visit the Rhode Island School of Design and their museum. It was a surprisingly good experience and none of our problem students were an issue which is nice. They have quite a collection there spanning all over the world. Their current exhibit features a former grad student of the school who was inspired by Monet's work and "painting air". It was a nice day off for all the freshmen.

At the moment I'm trying to balance everything that is going on, I've found this part of the year to be more difficult than having big shows to deal with. All these little things with their own needs has been pretty hectic. That same thursday I had a lower school performance in the evening. Basically May seems to be too busy for everybody it's always overbooked and full of too much work. The focus in my life now has shifted to what Saint Andrew's calls the Night of Shining Stars. This year's event is a black and white old Hollywood theme and features a Frank Sinatra style band. This event is the big money raiser for us. All of it is paid for and donated by people in the community so we have no expenses to cover. Every person buys a ticket and all the money that is raised goes directly to financial aid for students to attend the school. This is how we are able to help students who can't afford to pay tuition to come to the school. I guess the goal this year is just shy of a million dollars and I have to say I'm glad that the biggest event goes directly to helping people who can't pay still be able to come here.

BUT it's a pain to set up. Part of the night is in my theatre, then we move outdoors to a tent which needs to be lit, have 2 projectors playing slide shows and have a live band with all their sound. And truthfully we don't really have the gear to be able to easily do portable outdoor type stuff, but we'll make it work. The upside is I get to attend for free, we get free catered food out of it, and it's an open bar. So as long as I keep an eye on my student workers and can still fix stuff should something go wrong I get to relax and hang out a bit and just monitor what's going on. Of course we have to strike EVERYTHING that night after the event ends at midnight, but hey, it's part of the life.

Tomorrow I have to be in to the theatre at 7 am to help a church group who's using our space to pick a new bishop. At least my commitment is short and I'll get some extra cash in pocket for it. Thus far I still haven't heard for sure where I'll be living on campus for next year other than that it's down to one of two places.... I should be finding out in the next week or two which is good at least. So that's the mess I've been in for the last few weeks, busy busy, oh, and we've got about 20 days of school left. Thank God.