Amy Lu's View

I basically missed New Year’s this year. We were deeply immersed in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” rehearsals and even had (much needed) rehearsals on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

So I’ll use Chinese New Year’s as an opportunity to do a little reflecting and pondering. One month into the 2019 calendar year, resolutions or goals just don’t seem like the most useful approach. Rather, 2019 is inspiring many questions, including:

• What will running look like for me in 2019? In 2018, I ran TWO marathons and logged 1700 miles. That makes me feel pretty bad-ass, and a little sad because I just don’t think that’s feasible (or even physically and mentally healthy) for 2019. There’s no question that I’m going to keep being “a runner” (barring unforseen calamity) but how will that play out? I was hoping I would have decided on some goals by now, but I’m still trying to be open to how things unfold. I do have a goal of running at least 1200 miles this year, which is only 100 miles a month, and I’m definitely on track for that. But do I want to run the TC Marathon in October again? Maybe more half marathons? Just try to figure out the Doctor Who running club or just get my past medals properly displayed?
• How awesome will it be to get to play the character Claire again in the new, full-length version of “Broken Hill”? In June I get to reprise the role of Claire, which I’ve played in three different iterations of “Broken Hill” by local playwright and friend, Jim Lundy. Claire is a character near and dear to my heart (she’s hyperactive and talks a lot and has dead parent issues), so I’m terribly excited, and nervous, to bring her to life again. It’s always so hard to say goodbye to a well-loved character, so the opportunity to play Claire one more time is wonderful and a little terrifying. What if I’m not as good at being Claire as I was before? What if having Chad be my director and play my love interest causes too much backstage drama? Should I crimp my hair again to play Claire, and can I still find my 1980’s-era hair crimper? What if I’m just too old to be Claire again? Mark your calendars for June 13-15 so you can catch a performance and find out for yourself. (And Bonus: I also get to act in another, brand new, Jim Lundy script and play Laura at the end of this March!)

• Should I have a “party” to commemorate the 10th anniversary of my participation in community theater? This is an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while…actually, my first non-high school theater adventure was in 2007, when I was in our church’s production of “Our Town,” but obviously I missed the boat on celebrating in 2017. And I think I can justify a 2019 celebration by saying that’s the anniversary of my first non-high school, non-church production (with Duck Soup) and that’s when I really started this theater thing in earnest. I definitely need to celebrate and take stock of this milestone in some way…perhaps just myself with some good wine and bourbon and some blogging, and/or some type of communal activity. If I go the social route, I want it to be a fun acknowledgement of all the awesome people I’ve met through theater, without being a big whoo that is in anyway stressful for me or participants. But as theatrical endeavors make me so wiggy because I have very little control over them (that is, I can’t make people cast me) and full of self-doubt because I never know how good I really am, I think stopping to appreciate what I have done will not only be fun but a good mental health exercise.
• Speaking of self-doubt…what about this new job, promotion thingy? And can I SFW blog about it?
• Will I become a successful pet owner with a well-trained, sleep-through the night puppy and cats who aren’t hiding in the basement?
• Will I ever use Babbel regularly enough to learn at least a little Spanish before we go to Costa Rica in April?
• Will I ever remember that Chad and I DON’T have the same Chinese zodiac sign, and that he is NOT the Year of the Dog? He’s the Year of the Rooster.
• Will I ever stop consuming so many empty calories from chips? I don’t consider wine/bourbon/any alcoholic calories to be empty–they always at least have a story. (Actually, a bag of chips usually has a story, too).