The Closing of the Year

As 2005 comes to a close and the new year looms, it is time to tie up the loose ends I've left dangling here on the blog.

There was never a diagnosis for the ongoing medical issues, and the Water Nazi was relieved of duty when my temporary stint as Stage Manager came to an end.

If I cannot bring you comfort, then at least I bring you hope...

My roommate and I are dissolving our association to each pursue separate goals in 2006. In the mix, Delilah the cat was sent to the pound. Though I will not miss her personally, I hate that Joseph lost his dear pet and hope that someone with more patience than myself will give her a good home. In the meantime, Joseph's good home will be found aboard a posh cruise ship that will be visiting some of Earth's most beautiful destinations. Mine will be found for a time in my return to San Diego for an audition there.

The new car, iPod, and laptop were all purchased toward that end. The car to make the cross-country drive, the iPod to keep me company during it, and the laptop to relieve a great deal of frustration during the times my mother and I are both in the San Diego digs with designs on using the internet.

On the way to California, I will be stopping for gas only at well-lit stations, primarily during the day.

We all must learn from small misfortune count the blessings that are real...

The hooded and bloodied man who attempted to steal my new car is, as far as I know, still behind bars. I've heard nothing since the preliminary hearing, but enough evidence was presented there to bind him to a grand jury. His spree began in the Vanderbilt area where he -- unreleased -- exited the hospital, stole an idling Domino's Pizza delivery vehicle, and sped into Bellevue where he crashed into a car carrying a mother and her two small girls, fortunately without major injury. He fled the scene to Kroger, where he approached a girl who immediately ran from him when he asked for her keys. Then he found me at the BP, where I flummoxed him and had him apprehended. All four victims were able to positively identify him. He was additionally accused of driving on a suspended license and charged with his 4th-plus DUI. Within the next 6-8 months, I may be subpoenaed to appear in the criminal trial.

My old car, the Dodge which refused to be sold to a needy buyer, has been freed from its graveyard parking spot. It was given freely to someone with the means to tow it away and given new life. It is running again and, I hope, making someone very happy.

The rain I've missed so much while gone from Nashville has not been cooperative since my return to it. It seems to rain now only at night while I am asleep or, more inconveniently, driving. I'm still holding out for a bang-up thunderstorm.

And I'm only weeks away from boasting a year smoke-free. Almost completely. There have been cheats in certain company, but there is a vast difference between having a few cigs over a beer occasionally and having a pack every day, under any circumstance.

I'm still packing a few more pounds than I'd prefer, but it's a fair trade for the workout I gave up in late night hacking and coughing. I don't miss that; though I'm reminded of it currently by way of a nasty sinus infection that settled in just in time to greet Brian's return from Florida. Hiya, honey.

Brian once told me that the life of a traveling actor was crazy. It'd be tough, he said, but we'd figure it out. That was when he was the only one traveling. In 2005, with both of us traveling -- each gone 20 weeks or more, not always overlapping -- we spent precious little time together. Now that he's got Nashville work lined up for early 2006 and I'm the one leaving town, will figuring it out become that much harder?

The next year holds a lot of questions, and 2005 is almost gone.

But all in all, it was a pretty good year.

This is a time to be together
And the truth is somewhere here
Within our love for people
At the closing of the year

-- Wendy & Lisa, The Closing of the Year, Toys Soundtrack