9.27.01

i’m back from my road trip to salt lake. i seriously have a new flat spot on my ass from spending so much time in the car, but otherwise survived the trip intact. hung around the pioneer theatre where my friend jeff works, saw their production of Three Musketeers which was cheesy but technically it was amazing. turns out that salt lake is a beautiful city. who knew? i somehow thought it was just sort of a larger version of pocatello or twin falls – bleak tract housing on high country desert hills – but in reality it’s this big, spread out city nestled against some spectacular mountains. up by the university, where i was spending most of my time, there are blocks and blocks of tree-lined streets with charming old houses, sort of like a bigger version of boise’s north end. well, since i might end up working in salt lake in the next year or two, it’s a good thing i was so surprised by its pleasant appearance.

the purpose of the trip was to interview with the olympic games committee (i love that their acronym is SLOG). the two hours leading up to the interview went about as badly as possible: traffic jam between salt lake and provo (the interview site), got lost about 18 times because of the damn coordinate system that utah towns use in place of street names (i was trying to find a place called 1515 N 200 W), had to call the interview scheduler and ask him where the building was because i was 30 feet from it and still couldn’t see it. i had planned on changing into my interview clothes in a gas station, but the first station i stopped at didn’t have restrooms, and the second had just had an emergency flood in the women’s rest room that was pouring out into the store. i got dressed in my car, much to the surprise of the mormon family who tried to park next to me. then i discovered that my interview clothes (black) were covered in my cat’s fur, no lint roller to be found. then i realized the interview was half an hour earlier than i had thought, which ate up my get-there-early-and-collect-yourself time. all things considered, i was a bit flustered when i got there and discovered that it wasn’t just MY interview, but that 34 other people were scheduled for the same time. however, as luck would have it, the interview went fabulously. i was assured that i’d have a job as a sector coordinator (basically I’d be managing a work crew of about 25), but more importantly the interviewer, upon learning that i’m a stage manager, promised to pass my application on to the opening/closing ceremonies folks. now that would be cool if I got to do backstage work for the opening ceremonies.

this is good news, since my interview with the theatre in Buffalo didn’t go so well, so maybe i won’t be on the east coast this winter after all. what this boils down to is that by the time i leave for europe (1 week from today), i will STILL have no idea where i’m working when i get back. i might be in SF (1 theatre there is interested), i might be in buffalo, might be in salt lake, or maybe iowa city. ah, the joys of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants employment.