The following has absolutely nothing to do with anything I write on this blog. I am officially straying from the topic. Maybe that's a good thing and all of you will welcome it with open arms. Here goes: I am officially obsessed with Jane Austin's life and her literature. My sister and I went and saw Becoming Jane the other night and I cried. Why did I cry? It was when Jane's sister's fiance died; Jane and the mom were in the bedroom with tears in their eyes as they tried to slow the sobs of their sister/daughter. I could some how feel their pain and anguish and I could see the story unfolding of how Jane and her sister came to live together the remainder of their days in a little house in Hampshire, England. It was fascinating to me to see how there was a specific time in their lives where the course was changed and all ideals could never be. Jane never married but look what she did with her life. She wrote the most amazing stories. I can read or watch the movies about them over and over again and never tire. I can only hope that I can become such an accomplished woman. I love doing hair and makeup etc. But why can't I go on to learn photography, writing, art, music? So much to learn and do, and our lives our so short!

It's been a star studded couple of weekends for me. This girl from Holland, Katja Schuurman, came in to the theater with a film crew and was going to be in the show Saturday night. Apparently she's totally famous in Holland. I just googled her and found all of these pictures of her and the stuff she's done. Anyway, I had to do her hair and makeup for the show. I was pretty nervous because I didn't want to screw up for one and for another, I had to scrounge make up together by temporarily stealing from Hans and digging for whatever makeup I had left from my school kit. Awesome. So I get all ready for her and then she tells me, oh my camera crew is going to be in here and they are going to film me getting ready. The adrenaline started and I felt like I had drank 50 diet cokes because I was trying not to shake! Not only was the camera in there, but the cameraman, Francois, held it about a foot from her face. We're talking extreme close up on my makeup application skills and it's going to be spread all over Holland television. My career is over! Not really. Katja was actually more nervous than I was...not because of me! She was terrified that she was going to mess up on her tricks, I mean Illusions. So the more she rattled on in Dutch to the camera and did her deep breathing exercises, the calmer I became. Eventually, I finished and she actually looked pretty dang good if I do say so myself. She thanked me after the show for making her look beautiful. aahhh.

It was kind of lucky that I made her up that weekend because this last weekend, my co worker was too sick to come in to work and she does Hans' makeup and hair! Hans and I don't have the best history...we got off to a bit of a rocky start I think. I also think he thinks I'm 12 and doesn't really respect my talent. So my boss told his assistant that I would be getting him ready that night and his assistant sounded a bit wary of that. So my boss told him that I had done Katja the weekend before and loved me etc. This quickly put his mind at ease and he must have told Hans because he was totally cool to me and was even joking around with me a bit. My boss told me that he looked good that night which was a total relief. At the end of the day, all that matters is what she thinks because she is the one that is going to keep me working!

so I just got an email from Pamela Anderson on her iphone. She wanted me to have her email address, you know, just in case I need to get a hold of her. What???? So funny. I just got this picture in my head: shopping together and going out for a drink after work. ha ha. I hope I have a reason to use it at least once before this is all over.

It rained in the theater tonight...pipes were leaking so ceilings were near collapsing and walls were soaked. The water triggered the fire alarms at the end of the first show. We started the second show and it was all going fine until the emergency lights flickered on and they couldn't figure out how to turn them off. If the lights are on, you can see how some of the illusions work=bad news for Hans. So Hans called the show and went out on stage to tell the audience. Pam came out and together they had an awkward conversation about how they wished they could keep going but the show was over.
On a different note, I had to buy Pam some Kerastase shampoo/conditioner today. Karen, my boss, said that I should just go and give it to her myself. I didn't want to but I did it anyway. Karen reintroduced me as if Pam hasn't seen me and talked to me a hundred times so I felt really lame! ha ha! She liked what I had bought and told me what other stuff she wanted. So back to the store AGAIN. I shopped for hair product for three hours today. Who knew that it would take so long to get stuff for HAIR. I really wish that there was a beauty distributer in Vegas that carried every brand. I had to go to Sally's, Maly's, West Coast, Armstrong McCall, and Diva Studio, all on opposite ends of town. Ok ok, I'll stop crying.

This is Gemma. She keeps us entertained back stage while Pam is doing her bit and the dancers are waiting to go on....

All of the cast and crew were invited to celebrate Pam's 40th birthday at a private lounge area in the casino. I got there about 1am (our last show ends at 1130 and I had work to do). Pam arrived about 5 or 10 minutes after I did. She opened some presents and they brought out a big pink cake with sparklers for candles and we all sang happy birthday. We were led by Tommy Lee...no, they aren't dating. It was almost like being at a birthday party at chuckee cheese only there were no games or mice. There were gay men and strippers that were drunk and dancing about to a really great dj so it was almost like chuckee's stage show. After about 30 minutes, I didn't see Pam again. She totally dissappeared but Hans was there still so I got a picture with him. Good times.

Having a tender moment but no matter what they say in the stupid tabloids, THEY ARE JUST FRIENDS.

this is to prove how close I got to Tommy Lee...

this is me and Sophie....I look like Satan

Vicky and Gemma...funny funny girls

Since there are so many difference dance routines in the show, the dancers all get very tired and joke around that I should just step in for them. At the beginning of the show, when they are all on stage, me and the dressers stand there and watch them and try and copy some of their moves. I am hoping that by the end of this, I'll have all of the choreography memorized--just because I think it would be funny. Last night, Gemma, one of the dancers, didn't go in for the Tango because she hurt her back a couple of weeks ago doing it. So we were standing on the side watching and I started doing the moves like I do with the dressers. However since Gemma actually knows how to do it, she started showing me and doing it with me so I could follow her. During the second show, we did it again but this time I had an audience....all of the stage hands turned around and saw what we were doing and started clapping. And just my luck, the resident dirtector came walking around the corner, saw what was going on, and stopped to watch. Had there been any light, they would have seen how red my face was.

Opening night was on June 2nd. The mentor was my date which is funny on so many levels but that's another story. Anyway, we had fun but I've never felt more like I was in highschool. First of all, it was a total VIP party...I mean what party with Pam Anderson wouldn't be, right? We walked in on a path of white carpet covered in red rose petals, sheer curtains billowing around us like we were walking through clouds. When we got outside there were tons of people, loud music, and showgirls covered in feathers posing on tall platforms around the pool. We had some food and drinks--at least my date did and we walked around and said hi to people. I realized there were two levels of the party and you had to have a wrist band to go up to the other level. The other level was where Pam, Sylvester Stalone, and Amy Whinehouse hung out. What I couldn't figure out was why they would put two separate parties next to each other. If the famous people didn't want to hang out with the group, then why did they even come? It was so stupid and it made me feel like the nerd that wanted to hang out with the popular kids. Even if I was in the same party as the famous people, I probably wouldn't have talked to them because I obviously don't really know them. Keeping me isolated from them was saying that if I was to go around them, I would paw at them and ask them to be the godparent of my firstborn. What they didn't know was that all I would have done was run up to Sylvester and yelled Adrienne! in my best Rocky voice and then moved on to Amy and said Rehab might not be such a bad idea for you. But they didn't even give me a chance to show how cool and calm I can be around celebrities.
Speaking of which, I finally got to meet Tommy Lee the other night. He's totally hot in real life and when he came walking down the back stairway from Pam's dressing room along with several other guests, I couldn't help but look up and smile at him while I said, Hey you're Tommy Lee! He was totally cool and nice and said something like nice to meet you while smiling back at me with an awkward grin like ya that's me. When I met Pam she was kind of the same way like ok you know who I am so what are you going to do? Are you going to get all crazy and act like a total retard? Of course I didn't and so when I hung up balloons in her room she talked to me as if she'd known me for a year.

It's finally opening night and I can feel the stress starting to drain from my pores. Last night we had a preview which means we had a live audience. The show was rolling along fine but I was totally on cruise control--wig off, wig on, wig off, wig on. Pam doesn't come out until about half way through the show and they kind of make it a big deal with big music and fireworks or whatever. So the music is on and she is walking out--big blond hair, tall heels, and shiny short shorts--a siren goes off and all of us look around at each other like, did they change the music? Is this new? Then a woman's voice comes on saying, "A fire alarm in the building has been triggered." I start to look around a bit frantic and all I could think was wait we haven't had a fire drill yet! Is this a fire drill? NO it can't be--we're in the middle of a show! So we just waited as the siren kept blairing overhead and Pam and Hans stood on stage looking around, not sure what to do but almost trying to go on with the show. I wandered back to the wig room and saw that there were two men trying to get in to the pyro room which is right next door. The physical therapy guy said he had heard a loud pop come from that room. Sure enough, they opened the doors and smoke came rushing out. It filled up the backstage area and they cancelled the rest of the show. I got a sudden rush of energy knowing that there wasn't any damage so I still have a job but the night was over! Wig off.

I thought I would be hot in Vegas but I'm really just cold. Everywhere I go they blast the a/c to compensate for outside! So I am constantly walking outside to warm up. Today I am avoiding this guy that I've been crushing on because I found out yesterday that he is in a relationship. This makes things a little awkward for me because he's been flirting with me like mad. For example, yesterday he walked in to my work area to tell me that I looked really good. It wasn't but a few minutes later that he was telling me that he had a child with this girl that he's been with for five years. When I left that day he did a construction worker call at me. What a dirt bag!

My job is so Hollywood. Carmen Elecktra bailed out of the show and Pam Anderson stepped in. (I got to help do her hair the other day!) So when David Hasselhoff showed up on Monday it felt like a bay watch reunion. All three have been at the theater now in the past month. How silly is that? I've also seen Bruce Willis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osborne, and Jerry Springer. Tomorrow we have another photoshoot which I'm excited about. They are my favorite thing to do so far because once we have them ready to go, all we have to do is touch up. I had one a few weeks ago and I was in charge of hair and makeup for 16 dancers. Half of them were boys so I didn't have to do really anything at all to them. The girls however needed constant primping--combing and blotting etc. Once we were done shooting them I helped with the stars of the show which was even more work but it was fun making them look perfect for every shot.

The wig and make up room has been the place where everyone hangs out. They all bring in their lap tops and get on line and chit chat. The best part of today was when the Dutch people started talking about horny emails. One guy mentioned that he had to check his email and everyone kept asking him if they were horny emails. His reply was that he had to write himself horny emails because no one sends those to him. This older woman offered to write him horny emails because she felt bad for him.
The other thing that happened was I was sitting in the back of the room making a list and the next thing I knew all of Hans’ team had filtered in, sat down and they were having a meeting about all of the different illusions they were planning. I wasn’t sure if they wanted me to hear what they were talking about but I had no idea what anything meant so I don’t think they cared. There was talk of doves though which made me very happy because of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OysVaCCUAHA

Monday was my first day. I didn’t have to be in until 11am but I left at about 1015 just to be sure I would be on time. It’s a good thing I did because I was more than a half hour late! I thought I knew where the theater was but due to the construction, I couldn’t see it and I drove down the entire strip. Finally with the help of Ben on map quest, I found the parking garage. I was so frazzled by that point that I couldn’t think clearly. I was driving around looking for a parking space and it was so full. I kept circling around thinking, oh I will just go up to the top level. But the more I drove around, the fuller the lot seemed to be. Finally I realized, Tracy, you are not getting any higher in this parking garage. Sure enough, I looked at what level I was on and realized I had driven around level three about ten times.
When I finally got there it was very chaotic and Karen was in meeting after meeting so there wasn’t a whole lot for me to do. I wandered back stage to comb out a couple of wigs and there was Hans. He was lying in one of his contraptions and I could only see the upper half of his body and it took me a while to figure out where the rest of it was. Everyone back there was Dutch and they were all chattering away in Dutch but sometimes they would throw in an English word or two. This is going to be a crazy show.

It was only three weeks ago that I got a call from Karen Stevens, Production Supervisor for Phantom of the Opera Las Vegas. She left me a message telling me that she had received my resume from Ben and wanted to talk to me about a project she had coming up. I met with her about three days later in Las Vegas. There is a new show coming to town, an illusionist from Holland named Hans Klok is doing "Faster Than Magic" and he’s bringing in Carmen Elektra...to look pretty? Karen offered me a job to do wigs and hair for it. She wants to mentor me along and bring me in to the business. She’s won Emmy Awards and hires for a lot of the theater productions in Vegas. So once the show is up and running I will be working Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. But until then it’s pre-production so I work everyday.

can you cut black people's hair?
I'm in Arizona and today I cut and colored Deanna's and Liz's hair. We were standing in line at Chipotle, waiting to order our burritos when I heard a man behind me talking to Liz and complimenting her on her haircut. Deanna pointed to me and said, "She did it!" I was surprised to turn around and find a black man standing there. He looked at me astonished and said, "You did??" He complimented her hair a bunch and then he asked, "Can you cut black people's hair?" I said yes (even though I had never cut a black man's hair--only black women's but same thing, right?) and he offered me $20 to cut his. I laughed and said ok but I didn't have time really as I'm leaving tomorrow, I don't live here, and I don't have anything with me. He said we could go to his house as it's only two blocks away and I could use his clippers. I agreed as scary as that sounds and he introduced himself as Jules from New York. He told me that I had better not mess up and accidently cut a hole in his hair cut. I said that if I did I would just shave my name into his head. He liked that idea. He called his brother somewhere between finishing his food and meeting us outside. He handed me the phone and said I had to talk to his brother because he was saying he was crazy for having a white girl cut his hair. (I can't say that I don't agree.) His brother told me that Jules wouldn't pay me and that I should be prepared for that. Having watched Jerry Maguire that day I said, "Oh do I need to have him show me the money?" Everyone was laughing now. His brother then rephrased and said that Jules would pay me but it would be in trade. I asked, "trade for what???" Jules was still laughing and grabbed the phone away saying his brother was crazy. So we followed Jules and his friend Sean over to their condo. Liz stayed in the car and called her friend to tell him where we were at just in case something bad happened. As I was cutting his hair, he couldn't seem to let the idea of me shaving my name in his head go. He kept bringing it up saying that if I did he would have to be my boyfriend. He kept saying stuff about how he is 'real' and it's probably been a long time since I've been with a man that is 'real'. He also kept saying how beautiful he thinks I am and how we met for a reason. I kept saying that I live in Utah so it couldn't work and he finally said, "Have you seen my house? I can fly anywhere I want! See, that's me being real!" He wanted to know how he could see me again and I told him he could find me on my space. ha ha

Well it's official...I am a beauty school graduate! I finished my hours on Monday and signed up for the state board exam for the end of February. So now it's time to go back to the real world where I get to work and make money every day. It's been a nice break but I've missed having an income to waste on the frivolities of life. I'm assisting a girl in making dresses for the runway show at a hair convention in Vegas. I'm hoping this will lead me to some amazing job. This week I've felt anything but pleasant from stressing over my next career move. I'm breaking out in rashes and my skin is horrible. I don't sleep at night sometimes and I've been having dreams about weird stuff--for example I had a dream that No Doubt was playing at a work party and they wanted to audition a new singer. All of my coworkers and I wanted to try but the only songs I knew were Gwen Stefani. Either I've been watching too much of The Office or I am a closet Gwen fan--or maybe both?

So my friend at work told me that she was walking on campus the other day when she heard a girl talking on her phone. The girl said something about Paul Mitchell so my friend listened in. This is what she heard. "Ya get Tracy... I don't know! I don't care what her number is just request her! She did my hair and she's GOOD. You HAVE to get HER... I'm telling you! ...Just call Paul Mitchell and ask for Tracy Green... Yes." After weeks of feeling pretty insecure about my abilities due to a chain of events that I won't go in to, I have to say that makes me feel pretty awesome.

Today was 'ugly Christmas Sweater' day. It was soooo awesome. We all wore the ugliest Christmas sweater that we could find and had to act like it was no big deal when our clients came in. We weren't supposed to let them in on the joke but I couldn't help myself when this ultra chic client of mine came in. I was wearing a red sweatshirt with Christmas teddy bears surrounded in puffy paint. Oh the mutiny! I couldn't bare anyone in the world thinking I would wear such an atrocious beast on purpose. So when she asked if we were having some kind of a Christmas themed day, I let her in on the secret. One of the students actually complimented all of us on our sweaters and said she thought they were all cute and would actually like wearing one. There are just all kinds in the world...

I'm sorry my blog has been so boring. I just read back and wow--booooring.
I forgot to write this the other day. MJF came to teach a class the other day for the first time in months. I was sitting in the back near this girl and she leaned over and said, "Hey, don't you think he looks like Michael J Fox?" I froze--had she found my blog? Did she know everything I've written??? Had I written something about her? UH OH. So instead of giving myself up I started to ask her questions, "Have we talked about this before?" etc. After probing and discussing things I too realized as she had, MJF was wearing this one jacket that day and his hair was cut a different way and well, he really looked like Marty Mcfly more than ever. I felt a certain connection to my friend because she was the first person to see what I have seen all along.

Perms, perms, and more perms.
I had to perm this lady's hair the other day--she wanted a really tight curl so we used the white and grey rods for a spiral perm--fun. I was trying really hard to look at her in the eye during the consultation but it was painful because it was full of blood. Ya, ew. I didn't say anything about it but as I put the cape and towel on her she said, oh sorry about my eye, I poked it with a needle the other day. (what?) She wasn't sure how she had done it--she was walking down the hall and just poked herself in the eye. It was so hard to act like it wasn't a big deal and that I had people come in all of the time with bloody eyes from accidentaly poking themselves with needles. Then it was butts up when we went to rinse out her hair--she couldn't handle laying back with her head in the sink so she kneeled on the chair with her back side out in full view for the world...or at least phase two.
The week before I permed this other lady's hair who had dimentia. She repeated herself so many times that I decided to respond differently to each repeat so that I wouldn't feel like groundhogs day...wait that is what Bill Murray did. I really wanted to start saying totally insane things to her because I knew she wouldn't remember but there are other people around that can hear. It was cute because after we put in the perm solution she was so worried about her hair being wet and kept telling me that she couldn't leave with it wet. By the time we were finished, it was as if she had forgotten that her hair was wet and was mesmorized by the curls we had made that day. I really think that she forgot she was getting a perm.