01 December 2010

There once was a man from Rederring
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	3:05
	The blog	3:04
	Mundane activities	2:47
	Reading books	1:49
	Comics	1:15
	TV	1:10
	Gamer Mom	0:49
Too inclined to forget who he was
Notes:	The blog was mainly brainstorming, and then finally the ideas started coalescing into writing. All blog activity this month is going toward the Ruddigore post, entitled "I Am...". It will be one of the larger posts on this blog (which is saying something), so you will see much time going into it without any visible updates (other than these daily reviews). I beg your patience.
Performance review:	This declaration of priorities provides a strong contrast from earlier ones. (See the first day of October, for instance.) There are fewer activities, with Ruddigore on top and Gamer Mom on the very bottom. There are also no videogames played. These changes, combined with the strange opening and closing, indicate that I'm playing a different character this month. The reviews are going to be scored on the basis of that character, not my usual one. The reading is strategically placed: on many days I won't have any time for entertainment except for bus rides, and that's either DS games or reading. I'm going to stick to reading, because games would confuse the character more. The one oversight in this list is that I forgot to include Wii Fit, which I do intend to continue.
Score:	10/10

02 December 2010

So he wrote up a poem which daily would show 'im
Time allocation:	The blog	3:40
	Comics	3:07
	Mundane activities	2:47
	Ruddigore	2:29
	TV	2:19
What sorts of things such a man does.
Notes:	The work on both the blog and the play was important and illuminating. As far as comics, I edited an entire crossover (granted, a minor one) plus some other organizing stuff in addition to reading a few new issues. I watched the series finale of Caprica, which in retrospect I can now recommend to any fans of Battlestar Galactica. It's a fine prequel.
Performance review:	I think the whole pacing is a little bit different with this character: there are always going to be fewer activities, but each one is perhaps meatier. There's also going to be less variation, I expect, since this is a relatively specific character. But honestly, the blogging and the play work still seemed new and fresh today. If I can keep finding new ideas in these activities for a whole month (which is a big if), I don't see any problem with the repetition.
Score:	9/10

03-04 December 2010

His story began when he detailed a plan
Time allocation:	Mundane activities	4:14
	Ruddigore	3:13
	TV	2:31
	Going to a lecture given by Eli Ehrman	1:50
	Comics	1:23
	Learning to barbecue	0:23
And the pace, upon starting, was slow
Notes:	I wrote out a long paragraph which tells me exactly what the character arc of my character in the play is. The time wasn't the writing, it was figuring out what to write. I now have a much better understanding about the character, and am rethinking much of what I'd been doing to fit the new paragraph.
Performance review:	Too much wasted time. But Ruddigore, in a new light, is on top, and this is a pretty interesting day otherwise.
Score:	6/10

05 December 2010

But then he succeeded: the plan was completed
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	9:04
	Mundane activities	2:28
	Rewatching the movie Scott Pilgrim vs the World	1:58
	Reading a book	0:27
	The blog	0:25
	Fixing a problem in Linux	0:23
	Wii Fit	0:13
With plenty of time left to go.
Notes:	I wrote out detailed directions for every scene in the libretto, based on the paragraph I wrote yesterday.
Performance review:	Very well done. I'm liking this character.
Score:	9/10

06 December 2010

He braided his wig and polished his shoes, when presenting his work to the crowd
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:34
	Mundane activities	3:17
	TV	1:37
	Reading a book	1:17
	Wii Fit	0:25
But few people came, which was unwelcome news, for completion could not be allowed.
Notes:	I identified and fixed all the most major problems with my performance, in anticipation of the first full runthrough. But too many people were missing at the rehearsal, so it was postponed. I was stuck on a bus in a traffic jam, and did a lot of reading.
Performance review:	Don't beat yourself up about it; it couldn't be helped, and you're still ready, no? So you'll just be more ready. The day is not interesting, but the character's still going.
Score:	6/10

07 December 2010

I'm breaking character, to spend a day with my family. We'll be doing a bunch of things in Jerusalem, ending with going to see Tangled (which I'm really looking forward to).
Time allocation:	Our Family-Outing Adventure	11:44
	The blog	1:41
	The tail end of games night	1:21
	Mundane activities	1:04
	TV	0:23
Tangled was awesome, and we went to the botanical garden where I learned that elkhorn ferns are seriously weird. The day seemed at first like it might be a bust, but it was great. I tried to sneak in some progress while I was out of character, but I was too exhausted.
Notes:	We were in Jerusalem all day. Botanical garden, then sitting around together in Miriam's apartment playing "GHOST", then a restaurant, and finally the movie. At home I started writing a fifth post for "I Am Not Myself Today".
Performance review:	Nice work, and it's impressive that I managed to be a little bit productive without touching this month's usual behaviors. I like that the commonality is the blog, because it supports the whole "brought the blog with him wheresoever he went" bit.
Score:	10/10

08 December 2010

Disappointments not deterring this young fellow from Rederring
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:24
	Mundane activities	5:08
	Comics	2:15
	Wii Fit	0:23
	A phone call	0:07
He corrected, but expected more than he could demonstrate
Notes:	I carefully reviewed the notes from last rehearsal, and tried to fix all the problems. Then we did a runthrough of act 2, in which my singing was mediocre due to dehydration and lack of diaphragm support. I read the hundredth issue of Fables (containing a hundred pages of content, including all the extra stuff they threw in), which was not as good as I expected but certainly unpredictable and surprising.
Performance review:	Five hours? Come on, now.
Score:	3/10

09 December 2010

So again he made corrections to his latest imperfections
Time allocation:	Mundane activities	6:18
	Comics	3:05
	Watching a movie	1:31
	TV	1:10
	Ruddigore	0:19
	Gamer Mom	0:03

Notes:	I read a lot of old Spider-Man comics, watched the mediocre movie Despicable Me, and threw away a few hours improvising on the piano.
Performance review:	My god. Okay, this is a problem. In one day I'm going from a month's average (so far) of 7.5 to 6.6. This is a complete and total break from the character, without any reason. I could have stopped this. When I woke up, I knew that I didn't have the energy to hold on to the character. I should have gone right back to bed then and there, and not come back until I did. Or I could have exercised and written things and shocked my brain into starting. But what I did was the absolute worst possible choice. I immediately indulged my laziness with TV shows. That starting moment, where I needed to define the day and decide to stick with it, that's where I messed up unforgivably. I can't ever do that again. If I'm tired, either sleep more or wake up. Those are the only two options. Now, the month can still be salvaged but it won't be easy. TV and comics need to be kept to a bare minimum, because there's just not enough time left for them. I need to start getting really serious, not just about the play, but about the blog as well. And passivity must never, under any circumstances, be indulged. Tomorrow, we do this day over.
Score:	0/10

10-11 December 2010

Again he made corrections to his latest imperfections
Time allocation:	Mundane activities	3:51
	Ruddigore	2:49
	The blog	2:44
	Playing games with Moshe	2:19
	TV	1:30
	Comics	1:24
It went fine, though wasted time impaired his duty to create.
Notes:	I fixed up the worst of the problems from the last rehearsal.
Performance review:	"Duty to create" is maybe a bit strong. The idea is to live inside the play, not to feel an obligation to force myself to work. Three point oh, Mory. Three point oh.
Score:	8/10

12 December 2010

"Away with all distractions! Away with all addiction!
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:18
	The blog	4:56
	Mundane activities	2:33
	Reading	0:31
	Wii Fit	0:17
I'll take the satisfactions of a life with zero friction!"
Notes:	Many hours were simply rearranging thoughts.
Performance review:	It's an ambitious direction for the rest of the month, I'll give it that. If I turn to TV or comics in the next two weeks or so it'll feel like a cop-out.
Score:	9/10

13 December 2010

Upon this cry in vigor, he examined all with rigor.
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	8:10
	The blog	4:07
	Mundane activities	2:14
When he wrote, he found (go figure) that there still was much to do.
Notes:	I went over the entire play on my own, and then we went over the entire play in the rehearsal.
Performance review:	Good focus, but the performance is starting to get overly repetitive.
Score:	8/10

14 December 2010

There yet were tales to tell
Time allocation:	The blog	6:33
	Games night	4:46
	Mundane activities	2:25
	Reading	0:11
Codes to crack, ideas to sell. To convey these meanings well, he would need the morrow too.
Notes:	I wrote a significant part of the post. Then I decided it wasn't strong enough and needed to be completely rewritten, so I spent two hours writing down notes to sort my thoughts.
Performance review:	It's a good and interesting day, marred only by the lack of Ruddigore. I can't afford to take days off. A half hour, taken from the wasted time, would have been appreciated.
Score:	8/10

15 December 2010

A balanced mind is hard to find
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	6:10
	The blog	6:10
	Mundane activities	3:13
	IM chat with Deirdra	1:00
(It helps to stay up late.)
Notes:	We had our first full runthrough with costumes, which went very well. I made significant rewrites to my blog post, and still had difficulty fitting all the ideas in. I had given Deirdra Kiai a copy of the Gamer Mom script, to get her feedback. She doesn't like the characters, so she won't like the game. But I don't think that means I've done anything wrong.
Performance review:	Not bad, though having to stay up late to make the activities equal (I was up until 4:22 AM.) shows a distinct lack of foresight. In what is supposed to be a tightly-controlled day, you don't waste so much time!
Score:	9/10

16 December 2010

A sorted thought is widely sought
Time allocation:	The blog	7:51
	Ruddigore	2:36
	Mundane activities	2:23
	TV	0:44
(One needs to contemplate.)
Notes:	I made huge steps forward with the blog, and refined my facial expressions for the play. Dena was watching an episode of Being Erica which I believed to be the season finale, and I joined her. It turned out to not be a finale, exactly (that would be last week's episode), but rather a particularly terrible holiday special that was tacked on to the season.
Performance review:	The TV show was a moment of weakness. We can't have those.
Score:	7/10

17-18 December 2010


Time allocation:	The blog	7:38
	Mundane activities	3:16
	Ruddigore	1:33
Don't miss a beat when you repeat (The pressure is too great!)
Performance review:	I'm bored.
Score:	4/10

19 December 2010

But lately I think focus
Time allocation:	The blog	7:41
	Ruddigore	6:00
	Mundane activities	2:06
is the most endearing trait.
Performance review:	The blog has been massively overshadowing Ruddigore, and it's time to push the balance back in the other direction. If that means simplifying the blog post, simplify the blog post. But that's for tomorrow. Today is about keeping mundanity down, and two hours isn't bad though it would have been much more impressive if it were under 1:30. There's still wasted time- why is that? Maybe because the performance is too repetitive to hold my interest. Tomorrow absolutely needs to be fresher than this.
Score:	7/10

20 December 2010

The crafty man assessed his aims
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:33
	Mundane activities	5:57
	Linux	0:37
and turned them into simple games. But when the time to use them came, he was too tired to do it.
Notes:	I didn't sleep well last night, and I did very poorly at the rehearsal because of it. I tried to connect my computer to the printer on the network, but gave up. I wrote out rules to follow backstage that'll keep me in character better onstage.
Performance review:	Blecch. If you're tired, go back to sleep. We've been over this.
Score:	2/10

21 December 2010

So much to do, so much to fix!
Time allocation:	The blog	6:22
	Ruddigore	4:35
	Mundane activities	2:47
	Recording an audio file for the blog	0:53
	Playing music for a young woman who owes me lyrics	0:37
So let's throw more jobs in the mix!
Notes:	I had my first opportunity to sing with our 15-piece orchestra. They sound amazing.
Performance review:	We're getting a little bit off-character here, what with the extra half hour of music. And acknowledging the nonsense of approaching a day with much to do by focusing on new things does not make it less nonsensical. But still, this is quite engaging. So I'll let it slide.
Score:	7/10

22 December 2010

Today he'll have more focused picks:
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:48
	The blog	4:19
	Mundane activities	3:33
Prepare for the ones who might boo it. But that was not the case - they laughed and smiled through it.
Notes:	I ran through the whole play on my own, and then we had a full runthrough in full costume. Present at this runthrough were the Feldmans, including Harel and their friend Eva (the girl who owes me lyrics), so this was my first opportunity to present the show to any people outside the cast and crew that I wanted to impress. It went great. The blog post is turning into a really strange story (It's always exciting when my blog posts surprise me.), and I can't wait to share it. I've cut back my ambitions for it slightly (read: there will not be a long interactive dialogue in it), and it should be ready to publish within a week.
Performance review:	The month is beginning to pay off. These last few days are crucial: don't lose focus, ever. This close to the deadline, there's no time for any distractions. So basically, keep doing this.
Score:	9/10

23 December 2010

At last he reached that fabled place
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	6:12
	The blog	6:12
	Mundane activities	2:27
where balance is the norm
Performance review:	Normally when a day is like this, it's because I carefully planned for it. That is not the case here: the precise balance is entirely accidental. And that is awesome.
Score:	10/10

24-25 December 2010

Where days begin with confidence
Time allocation:	The blog	10:13
	Mundane activities	2:57
	Ruddigore	0:37
And keep a solid form
Notes:	Really close to finished now.
Performance review:	I'm not happy with the quality of work today. There's lots of it, but much of it seems poorly-considered and it'll need to be edited heavily tomorrow. I think this was dangerously close to burning out.
Score:	6/10

26 December 2010

And where there is no nagging shout: "This is not real! You must get out! "
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	5:55
	Mundane activities	5:17
	The blog	4:41
	TV	1:05

Notes:	When I came home from the rehearsal, I didn't have enough energy left, but it seemed too early (11:17 PM) to go to sleep. I sat around mindlessly browsing the web for 2 hours and 52 minutes. If I had built up some energy and immediately gotten to work on the blog, the blog post might have been finished by now. I made another exception to the "No comics or TV" rule, for a fantastic new episode of Doctor Who.
Performance review:	There was an obvious move here, and I missed it. Reading. I set that up so that I'd have something to fall back on when I lacked energy. Don't worry about the blog post not being done yet- I've been living in it, and it'll be done when it's done. Let's not get all Mory 2.0 here. But I could have read a novel, and instead I wasted time. It's out of character. The blog work, once I got around to it, went too late (4:12 AM): I need to get eight and a half hours of sleep each night, or I'm just making my life more difficult than it should be. On a related note, there needs to be a closing statement each day. If I'm up that late it's right to go to sleep and leave the summarizing for tomorrow, but I should never be up that late.
Score:	3/10

27 December 2010

Escaping from reality into a complex fantasy
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:12
	Mundane activities	4:45
	The blog	3:14
Is tough when old temptations (such as music) hurt the plan, you see.
Notes:	I spent over three hours composing variations on the Ruddigore songs. I kept trying to get to the things that mattered, but kept going back to the piano. The rehearsal in the theater went very well.
Performance review:	We've been over this. Use headphones and minimalist music to block it out. Seriously, it's like I've got no experience at all!
Score:	5/10

28 December 2010: Opening night

But when it mattered, he was sure who he was meant to be:
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	8:48
	The blog	4:08
	Mundane activities	2:12
A singer lacking nervousness - that character was he!
Notes:	I'm very happy with my own performance, which was as close to perfect as I have any inclination to strive for. It's hard to say how the show was overall, since I stay very focused on what I'm doing. But I think it was a good show. I also finished the blog post.
Performance review:	Good work.
Score:	10/10

29 December 2010

The song was clear, the song was sad
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:07
	Mundane activities	4:31
	Watching an online video	1:01
	A phone call	0:06
It spoke of lives he'd never had
Notes:	The second night was even better than the first. I have yet to receive a single criticism of my performance, and everyone else did well this time too. The audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show. I watched an interview of a bunch of film directors, where they talked about their approaches to directing. It was interesting to me because a lot of what they said fit in with thoughts I'd had from the blog post. Tamir saw the show and said the blog post doesn't hold together in the end. I'm inclined to agree, but I'm not sure I'd want to change anything in it.
Performance review:	I don't seem to know what to do with myself without the blog post to work on. I might have expected this. When something finishes, there needs to immediately be something to replace it. So the question is what will fit the character without just dragging out a subplot that's already been wrapped up. Hmmm. My first instinct (which I should trust) is Bit.Trip Fate, because it requires a similar precision, but that hinges on finally getting a new TV. My father took the TV two weeks ago, to replace it with a slightly less broken one, but the guy who was selling that "new" used TV hasn't given it to us yet. It seems to me that we've been ripped off, but my father trusts this guy so we'll see if it's just simple incompetence. Let's say we don't get that by tomorrow, though. What then? Reading has already been set up this month, but maybe not the novel. I don't think another world to escape into is necessarily a good idea in the middle of performances. Better to get back to the philosophy book, and keep my mind sharp. This may be a moot point, because the month is almost over and tomorrow brings two performances (not leaving time for much else).
Score:	6/10

30 December 2010

And hidden in a quiet hum
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	11:03
	Mundane activities	4:29
	The blog	0:18

Notes:	Doing two shows in a row made me exhausted beyond my capability of basic functioning. 3 hours and 16 minutes of the mundanity was after I got home. The shows went really well, though -both of them. I very slightly edited chapter 8 of the blog post, to increase clarity.
Performance review:	You know there's something wrong when there's no closing statement. Congratulations on the show, but as soon as I got home I should have gone to sleep. Seriously. I've never set any rule that I can't go to sleep until after 3:00, that's just a habit that's formed. And in the case of this day, it was inappropriate. I'm very unhappy with this behavior, which goes against everything I've set up in the blog post. If upon getting home I'd immediately written a good closing statement and gone to bed, this would easily have been a ten-pointer. And it's a real shame, because this low score means the month can't be won anymore. It was really close.
Score:	5/10

31 December 2010 - 01 January 2011

were hints of stories yet to come.
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	4:50
	Mundane activities	4:39
	Reading	0:57
	IM chat	0:54
	Composing	0:43
	The blog	0:41
	Trying to install World of Warcraft	0:34
	Helping to set up a TV	0:29
	Bit.Trip Fate	0:24
Soon he'd change, but here before
Notes:	I got my costume ready, and ran through my entire performance, making changes where needed. I read some more of Eli Ehrman's philosophy book. My father made a very stupid deal, whereby he gave in our very old and crappy TV, paid 200 shekels, and in return (two weeks later) got an even older and much crappier TV. We set it up. I'm worried that he's just going to leave it like this, and I feel like we've been scammed. But what does he care?- he doesn't ever use the TV. Only I do, for my games.
Performance review:	If mundane activities were two hours shorter, this would be a mildly appealing day. Now, I'm going to do something new: I'm going to prolong my December reviews until January 6th. The reason for this is that I'm going to need to keep up the character until the end of the show, and I'd like to start January with a fresh start. (The fact that I've been losing this month, and this gives me another chance, was also considered. But I'll need to get a 10 every day.) This makes this whole day a little bit premature, because it's not actually the end of the month. But Ruddigore's still on top, so it's not too bad.
Score:	4/10

02 January 2011

He stayed himself for four days more.
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	10:18
Time allocation:	Mundane activities	3:23
His lofty standards weren't met
Notes:	We did a show in Ra'anana. My performance was passable.
Performance review:	Overly simple and wasteful, but it gets the job done.
Score:	6/10

Okay, now the month can't be won even with the extra days. Blah. Let's wrap it up:

December 2010

Average score:	6.64/10
The month in review:	I decided that I'd live inside the process of being in Ruddigore. I basically did that, but couldn't keep it fresh enough from day to day. Also, with all the energy expended I found it difficult to control myself, for instance: I should have gone to sleep immediately upon getting home some nights, even though it was early. Halfway through the month I did away with distractions, and I mostly managed to stand by that decision. And the results speak for themselves: a decent performance and a decent blog post. But with just one character to play, I'm paying closer attention to the nuances of it and those were lacking. There's nothing inherently wrong here; I just need to put in more effort and detailed planning each day.
Verdict:	TRY AGAIN

04 January 2011

But with more time, he'd show 'em yet!
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	10:04
	Mundane activities	4:43
	TV	0:23
	Wii Fit	0:21
Enough it was, a well-played game, to shrug off cause for crippling shame!
Notes:	I gave a really good performance, as did most of my co-stars. At some point on stage my fly apparently got unzipped. Stupid pants. I only found out a while later (after my big solo), when getting offstage. Thankfully my shirt was very long, so I doubt anyone saw anything.
Performance review:	Wow. That's not a good situation. I'm glad it can be dealt with with good humor, though. (I'm going to score this normally, just because it seems like the thing to do.) Too much wasted time, again.
Score:	7/10

05 January 2011

There once was a man from Rederring
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	7:29
	Mundane activities	6:40
	TV	0:42
	Wii Fit	0:21
	Reading	0:11
who'd have liked to live on for much longer
Performance review:	Holy cow, that's a lot of wasted time. I guess this is what happens when scores don't "count".
Score:	4/10

06 January 2011

But he knew that in giving the next man his living,
Time allocation:	Ruddigore	10:32
	Mundane activities	2:06
	Comics	1:42
the story they told would be stronger.
Notes:	After an exhausting two shows today, Ruddigore is over. It's been quite a ride. I kept up a fairly consistent level of quality in my performance, despite slightly varying circumstances in real life from show to show.
Performance review:	Low mundanity, but I'm not sure comics are the best choice for a symbol of the new month. I think something game-related would be better. Actually, I've just downloaded a whole bunch of pirated games. Playing one of those for an hour would have been a better choice.
Score:	9/10