Finally, after quite a long week at the theatre I got to have a day off today.  I got to sleep in!  Today I just got to relax and it was pretty amazing.  Sure, tomorrow I have to go back to the wind and grind for what will be a very long week, but that makes having a great day off all the better.

The irony of my day off is that I still managed to go to the theatre.  I didn’t go to my theatre, but I went to a show by the University Theatre Department.  The show, Thaed, was really great.  It was a very interesting and moving exploration of a troubled mind.  The cast did a great job with the material and the book was pretty good.  It was written by one of the students and directed by a student as well.  I think that the book needs a little bit of work to tighten up the themes and flesh out some of the characters, but overall, I thought it was very good.

Of course, today was also a beautiful day.  I was really surprised at how warm it was outside.  It is kinda of fun to be able to have some time to have even a little time to enjoy that.  After having dinner with Ruth before her show I came home and was pretty darn happy.  Just in a good mood.  The neighbor (who I have mentioned before) was plucking away on the guitar which inspired me.  I pulled out my guitar and started playing as well.  I think that the fact that I can actually play annoyed him.  I sorta hate to say it, but that was kinda what I was aiming for.  It was fun too.  I should play more in general.

So, time off, huzzah!  Spring is here, awesome.  That’s about all I’ve got for today.

I don’t spend an exorbitant amount of time at home generally, but I spend enough.  Almost a year ago, Ruth and I moved into our current apartment and we have been very happy with it.  Around the time that we moved in, and within the next few months there was a fairly sizable turnover of residents in the complex (two, four unit, single floor buildings).  There were two empty units when we moved in, and I know that at least two others turned over.  The apartment next to us was vacated a couple months after we moved in and sat empty until right before Christmas.

Other than just saying “hi” in passing, I don’t really know our new next door neighbors.  I am pretty sure that they do some work for the landlord as I believe that they shovel the snow and do yard-work and such.  We had one run in with them when they hooked up their washer and dryer and proceeded to flood both of your apartments.  This was not their fault, but it sure was a bummer.  All the rest of what I know about them comes from what we hear through the walls, and boy let me tell you, sometimes it is a lot.

Either our walls are really thin or they are just really loud, or possibly a combination of both.  Sometimes I wonder how happily married this couple actually is because it seems like most mornings they are going at it.  I know that they have at least one young kid as well who gets yelled at a lot too.  It is nice that the shared wall is between our living rooms and not bedrooms!

I am not a parent, but I have to wonder when it seems like all these people are giving this kid is negative reinforcement.  The other day I heard what was probably a computer game or DVD and it seemed like the whole thing was “don’t do this” and “don’t do that.”  Is this really the way to teach kids?  I thought that just saying “No” was one of those things that is less effective.  I know from working at summer camp and for lifeguard training that you should not be completely negative if you want to get good results.  Sure, sometimes you have to lay down some rules with what is not allowed, but not all the time right?

In general I don’t think that the noisy neighbors bother me as much here at my current apartment as at the old apartment.  There I had people living above, below and on one side.  The person above me insisted on blasting loud music on sunday mornings.  It was odd, just one song, and generally they were not bad songs, it was just weird.  I don’t have have to put up with elephants upstairs now either.  I just really wonder about people who spend so much time in apparent competition with eachother.