Klassnaya

Two things happened upon my last posting... many people wrote me belated happy birthdays, and people also said "chin up!"

This surprised me, caught me by surprise. I wasn't aware that I've sounded "low," though the last comment about having a rough year might have brought that out. I have had a rough year, it wasn't self-pity or melancholy. Just a statement of fact, and I've been working on turning that around for a good long while. That mention, it was just me reflecting on the great time I had, thanks mainly to what I'll call the "fearsome foursome", on my birthday.

So, while it is often quite a drudge out here and I could DEFINITELY use the kind of email deluge that last post engendered on a semi-regular basis, I'm okay. I appreciate the sentiment, it's very touching. Thanks to everyone.

This is not my beautiful stapler

Today, another birthday in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.

A night in a penthouse suite in a five-star Russian hotel, off the ship; out dancing and carousing with friends and shipmates at a club where speaking English is a novelty. Coffee at an outdoor cafe with three great friends and no sign of having to do a show until tomorrow night.

Tonight, dinner with some passengers onboard and then who knows.

Sometimes its hard to remember that I'm supposed to be having a bad year.

I have forgotten what life outside of rehearsal is like. We are STILL rehearsing these damnable shows. We opened the fourth and final one last night, and tonight we begin the rotation again. However, we are still caught up in the mechanics of installation. Thus, time off the ship has been limited or non-existent. Today we hit Visby for the third time and were for the third time shipbound. I'm not hugely upset about that.

In a little under a week, our rehearsals will be totally over, a non-issue, and we'll be ready to do whatever the hell it is we'll do when we don't have to worry about being in the theatre every minute that it is free.

The crew bar is a dark, dirty, smoky hole where any drink is $1.50 and we have been taking advantage of that far too regularly. I NEVER came here when I was on before, to protect the voice or whatever. It's very smoky in here - yes, I'm here now, because there's wifi in here. I guess events in the intervening months away have given me either a great sense of apathy, a great need to have a good time and just frickin' let go, or a subconcious desire for self-destruction. Or maybe I'm just in the middle of reading "A Million Little Pieces" and taking it a little too much to heart. Anyway, I have been able to keep myself distracted and out of trouble thus far.

This is disjointed, but so am I...

There is some issue as to whether we'll be able to get off of the ship in St. Petersburg because of the G8 summit. If not, that'll be three fun days of... staring at walls and sleeping, I guess. Write me, if you haven't! Sorry if I've been slow in getting back. Our internet was down for a week, but it should be up most of the time. Going to go shower and get ready for the classical show. I cannot believe I am back here... I cannot believe a LOT of things. I think linear time might not apply onboard the ship. . . developing...

...but I have that within which passeth show...

Bleah. If I were visiting an actor's website for the first time and the initial entry heading was that I would immediately brand them pretensious or overwrought or melodramatic. Maybe all of the above. I might even be right. But, hey, screw you, me. That's there for a reason.

Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs...
Make dust our paper and with heavy tears
write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.

THAT on the other hand IS melodramatic, overwrought, and there for no reason.

I'm in Sweden... or am I, still? Anyway, the trip from Orlando to Miami to Frankfurt to Copenhagen was a LONG one and an adventure I'll one day probably really write about. One thing to remember: Though it may seem a subtle difference, "Lufthansa" and "Luftwaffe" are NOT interchangable words.

We've been installing the shows... again... and training for safety... again... and drinking too much... possibly true. I'm killing time, what can I say. Tomorrow, Tallinn again - and we open the classical show. Probably won't be able to get off the ship, so I have yet to see Estonia this time around.

Yes, I am excited to see some of these places again... but really in many ways its more than a little depressing and I am trying to enjoy it with the great people I'm with now while not diluting the experiences I had before. Ack... not a lot of time right now. Catch you on the flip side, all. HEY! Write me. I could use it. Seriously. Email or snail mail. Which reminds me... my snail mail address through late August is:

Donald Winsor - Crew #923 Entertainer
Regent Seven Seas Voyager
Maersk Broker
Esplenaden 50
Copenhagen, DK-1058 Denmark

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