Odd Blonde Out

This summer I am enrolled in STI (Summer Theatre Institute) as part of my BFA program. Basically this is theatre Boot Camp and since I am a tech major this is double trouble for me. One of the classes I am involved in during the day is a tech class where I must learn such things as rendering, lighting, sound design, stage management, house managing, costuming, etc etc.

This upcoming week are doing what is called "The Project". For acting students learning stagecraft, they have a set project planned by the Tech Director. For us techies, we have more freedom. We are free to build what we what as long as it is useful to us, transportable, and can be finished in a week. Go freedom!

My project is going to be a bookcase. Three feet tall, two feet wide. The perfect size to fit in the last little wall space I have in my dorm room. There is something to be said for doing such a project completely on your own. While some may decide to get a cut list from a website and just follow someone else's exact project that they found online (not that going that route is bad because it is successful) I am feeling a special satisfaction from starting from scratch. Not to say I haven't done my research. For nearly a week now I have been measuring my space, debating shelf size, researching building techniques, wood types, finishing methods, fasteners, and shelfing solutions.

Today all that research went into practice with my trip to Lowe's. Since no one here has seen a picture of me allow me to provide a visual. I am a 5'5" female with long blonde hair and a fair complexion. Not that it matters horribly, but when a female of my stature is alone in the lumber section of a Lowe's she gets an abnormal amount of attention. Some people talked to me and asked question out of curiosity (what are you building?), some of friendliness (finding everything?), and some purely out of confusion (need help figuring out what you need?).

Lucky for me all that research made me pretty knowledgeable of what exactly I needed and what to look for in each product. I only had to ask a couple questions about aisle numbers and screw size for the L brackets I had selected. I was very happy with all of my choices and as I was standing in another man talked to me out of friendliness. This was my moment of pride today because of the first thing he said to me: Are you building a bookshelf?

There is nothing more satisfying than someone immediately being able to tell what you are building based on the lumber in your cart. I had obviously gotten my selections right or it would have been much harder to guess my project. He even gave me a little more information on the birch backing I had decided on and complimented me on the quality of lumber.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you are feeling down or unaccomplished go out and do something no one expects of you. If a blonde female can successfully transverse a Lowe's and impress a seasoned building veteran then anything is possible.

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