I spent today researching 16th century English material culture. That is to say, everything Man for All Seasons. Tables, chairs, rope, lanterns, goblets, tankards, banners, tapestries, crests, table coverings, trunks, and much much more! Our period for the show is 1530-35, and most things you can find date from 1550 or later, or before 1400. Which is very frustrating. But I eventually found quite a bit, and I'll find more tomorrow. I'm going in early to help Matt get ready for an important meeting with the director.

Interesting facts I learned: wealthy people in early 16th century England used oriental rugs as tablecloths. They were handwoven and therefore very supple and their patterns were colorful and ornate. They were very popular. Henry VIII's favorite ship was named the Mary Rose and it sank in the mid-15oos. Recently they brought it up and restored it and everything they found onboard. There are all sorts of wonderful examples of rope and tankards and buckets and such from the period.

After work we went out to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I ordered a Mai Tai; I had never had one before. It's a rum and pineapple juice concoction and was quite tasty. A little sweet but good. It was a little awkward at dinner: there were 4 of us, me, Christy, Moody, and our friend Rachel, who is a carpenter in the scene shop. Our waitress mistook Rachel for a guy and called her "Sir" several times as she took our orders. We were all a bit embarrassed, but Rachel was a good sport about it and cracked a joke about us being on a very awkward double-date. We laughed quite a bit about it.

After dinner we played Munchkin at Christy and Rachel's apartment. It's the latest craze here; it's a card game that involved collecting armor and other strengthening cards in order to fight monsters and ganging up on each other in the process. Kind of hard to explain and there are a million cards. It's ok, but I'm not really into the ganging-up part and I've played a lot less than the other 3 and so I don't do as well.

I need to buy a wedding present for Margaret some time this week; her wedding is Saturday evening. It's crazy to think about but I'm really excited for her, and really happy that Matt's letting me go, even though we have our first tech rehearsal that day.