Tales of the Mad Hatter

Oscar Predictions

2010-03-07T12:52:00.004-05:00

It's finally time for the Oscars to come around, and since I've actually seen a couple of nominated movies, I'm fairly pumped. You all know what that means, though?

PREDICTION TIME.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Supporting Actor: Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious (Though I'd be perfectly fine with Sandra Bullock, too, since she won a Razzie for Worst Actress last night. It'd be one interesting acceptance speech)

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious

Best Animated Film: Up by Pixar Animation

Best Art Director: Avatar (I'll be up front and admit that Avatar will win some awards, and I'd be totally fine with it winning something like Art Direction. I'd be totally fine if The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus won, though)

Best Cinematography: Not Harry Potter: Half Blood Prince (I personally think The Lovely Bones had some AMAZING cinematography, but it's not nominated. Honestly, I'd be fine with any of the ones nominated besides Potter winning)

Costume Design: The Young Victoria (Nine or Coco Before Chanel also seem to be very good contenders. It always just seems that if you make some really good royal garb, you've got the award.)

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Documentary Feature: Food, Inc. (This movie turned be into a flexitarian-almost-vegetarian overnight)

Best Documentary Short: No preference. Anything is fair game!

Best Film Editing: District 9

Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon, Germany

Best Makeup: Star Trek

Best Original Score: Up

Best Original Song: "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart

Best Animated Short: Wallace and Grommit: A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Live Action Short: No preference

Best Sound Editing and Mixing: No preference

Best Visual Effects: District

Best Adapted Screenplay: Precious

Best Original Screenplay: The Messenger

Best Film: Precious

If I can get more than 7 (My record last year), then I'll be incredibly happy. In the end, if none of these win, but someone besides Avatar wins the category, I'll be satisfied. Avatar is a joke of a movie.

In the end, just don't let Avatar win Best Picture. Yeah, I don't think The Blind Side deserves it, but just ANYTHING. If Avatar wins, then my analysis post will be markedly nasty.

Screen Actors Guild Awards: Predictions

2010-01-23T15:01:00.000-05:00

I officially believe more in the Screen Actors Guild more than the Golden Globes. Avatar wasn't nominated for anything, and HALLELUJAH, neither was The Hangover. How either of those were noticed for what they were is beyond me. Anyway, I'm predicting:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Georgoe Clooney, Up in the Air

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Mo'Nique, Precious

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nine with Daniel-Day Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, and Nicole Kidman (Though I'd be perfectly happy if it went to Precious. I just figure anything with Daniel-Day Lewis, Penelope Cruz, and Sophia Loren in the same movie is bound for great thing.)

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Star Trek

I could care less about Primetime TV. The only one I'm going to wait for is Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy, for either Glee or Modern Family. Hopefully Glee, though.

A three-day-weekend

2010-01-18T20:51:00.002-05:00

Is the only thing I love more than a regular weekend.

The only thing I love more than a three-day-weekend is the four day week that comes after that. Thanks to the calendar, we have FIVE of those left this quarter. Out of eight. And that makes me very, very happy.

A: What have I just about lost faith in?

2010-01-17T23:16:00.002-05:00

Q: The film industry of today.

I paid little attention to the TV part of the Golden Globes (Except Best Comedy Series---yay Glee!) and instead waited for the film categories. At the beginning, I was doing fairly well...then it went downhill.

Best Supporting Actress was pretty much given. Mo'Nique was incredible in Precious, and that paid off. Her speech was a wonderful way to start the evening, with a check mark for "WON" on my predictions sheet.

Several more accurate wins went my way---Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia, Up for original score and animated feature, and The White Ribbon for best foreign language film. All was well. A couple losses ("Winter" by U2 for Original Song, "Inglorious Basterds" for screenplay) and I'm going down.

Suddenly, EVERYONE is losing. Best Director, Jason Reitman? Goes to James Cameron and Avatar. Stanley Tucci for supporting actor? Carey Mulligan in drama actress? Morgan Freeman for drama actor? DANIEL DAY-LEWIS for comedy/musical actor? All lost.

The Best Picture awards really made me believe they pick the winners out of a hat. Out of Nine, 500 Days of Summer, The Hangover, It's Complicated, and Julie & Julia, guess who won Best Movie Comedy/Musical?

The Hangover. Yes. Really. No joke. That just about made me cry at how low our standard have sunk that THAT prevails over something like Nine or 500 Days of Summer. I don't even know how it was nominated.

I don't want to beat around the bush, so out with it: Avatar won Best Picture: Drama. Box office success? Yes. Nominated? Oh, certainly. Better than Precious and Up in the Air?

Not so much. It's Pocahontas in blue wash. The story is paper-thin. It's not original. Nobody accomplishes anything (except someone gets his legs or something). It's just James Cameron trying to prove what he can to. It'd be really impressive for a talent-dump, actually. That's pretty much what it is: a mixture of good stuff without much purpose and without much drive.

If the Oscars go like this, I'm going to be writing some very angry letters.

Golden Globe Predictions

2010-01-17T00:24:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow will be the first time when I can watch the Golden Globes without worrying about how late I'll be getting to bed. It's a three-day weekend, and with Monday off, I don't care HOW late they run. Therefore, I'll definitely be watching them.

Much like I did with last year's Oscars, I have my predictions set for who's going to win what. Of course, considering my limited viewing of a lot of movies and TV shows, I could be totally wrong on all of these, and some are simply who I WANT to win, which I'll indicate.

Anyway, for movies, I'm thinking that:

Best Drama: Precious
Best Comedy or Musical: Anything except The Hangover. I'd love it if it went to Nine but anything will do. Just not The Hangover.
Best Actor in a Drama: Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Best Actress in a Drama: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy: Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy: Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Best Supporting Actor: Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious
Best Director: Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Best Screenplay: Inglorious Basterds
Best Original Score: Up
Best Animated Film: Up
Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon (Germany)
Best Original Song: "Winter" by U2 from Brothers

There's very few that I'm sure of, but the two that I'd be terribly surprised if it didn't turn out would be Mo'Nique and Stanley Tucci. I saw both Precious (Early December) and The Lovely Bones (last night), and their performances were the standout points in both films. Mo'Nique was extraordinary, and Tucci was perfect in every way. There was an ominous feeling throughout the entire theater whenever even his eyes appeared on screen for just the briefest moment.

As for TV...these are even less accurate, if that's possible. Just hope that Glee wins all four it was nomminated---Best Comedy, Best Musical/Comedy Actor (Matthew Morrison), Best Musical/Comedy Actress (Lea Michele), and Best Supporting Actress (Jane Lynch). Oh, and please, please, PLEASE don't have True Blood win Best Drama. Seriously. Please let it be Dexter.

Golden Globes begin on NBC at 8 PM EST on January 17th. Can't wait!!

Why I should be a diplomat

2009-12-21T12:57:00.003-05:00

I have no idea what they said, and it was probably spam. Whatever it was, though, I thanked them and gave them a smiley.

Little tidbits like this

2009-12-01T20:33:00.004-05:00

Actually remind me why blogging is fun:

I also re-found this video on YouTube that I've probably blogged before, but always puts me in a December mood (Read: not agonizing about the upcoming holiday smash).

There's only ONE Raoul.

(What would have been) NaBloPoMo: Day 30

2009-11-30T18:20:00.003-05:00

Today's the last day of November, and if I had gutted through NaBlo for 10 more days, then I would have been able to put up the satisfaction sticker. I didn't though, and I can't say I regretted it. Blogging hasn't seemed nearly as exciting as it used to: life's been going fairly steadily, and that which hasn't (Which made all the good material in middle school) I really don't want to tell the entire world.

So I might pick this up again, but it's truly a distraction in my ever-going quest to break my internet addiction. I'm trying to par down on my accounts and am starting with MySpace. In the end, I want to be left with an active FaceBook with a DeviantArt on the side. I'm probably not going to delete this, per say, but I'm probably not going to write.

And who knows? Maybe after all the insanity of the semester is done (3 weeks, 3 weeks, 3 weeks...) and winter break runs it course, I might decide I want to start fresh and do another Blog365. Maybe. I'm just taking things as they're thrown at me.

I think

2009-11-19T22:21:00.003-05:00

I'm just going to go back to blogging when I feel like it.

No, I'm not in some manic depression that is making me not want to write. The truth is, nothing's going on, and it's getting annoying to have to post that.

Blogging

2009-11-18T23:18:00.001-05:00

Is really starting to get old.

I'm not looking forward to the final almost-two-weeks of NaBloPoMo, as I keep posting stuff like this at around this time. Blah.

APUSH homework

2009-11-17T23:40:00.002-05:00

Is done.

German homework isn't even started, but that can wait until Encore.

Before midnight is actually a fairly early night.

Silver Lining on a Passing Storm Cloud

2009-11-16T20:39:00.002-05:00

Knowing my wonderful time management skills, last night was another wonderful all-nighter. It was spent on APUSH, no surprises there, more specifically on a main idea log and John C. Calhoun report. My teacher never said anything about the report, but I figured that if it were on the syllabus, I better do it anyway.

Last night was actually one of the better all-nighters that I've had. My friend Meghan was online in the same time crunch that I was in, so we kept one another company in the early hours of the morning as it turned from November 15th to 16th. We had a rather nice discussion, to include fascinating subjects such as Special K bars and Glee, and the homework finally ended for both of us at 3 AM. We told each other to have a nice 3-hour nap and that we'd see each other in English in a few hours.

Report and MIL in hand, I went into 5th period APUSH after dragging through English and nearly falling asleep in German to discover something extraordinary:

The Calhoun report's due date was randomly changed to Wednesday. Great news for everyone who didn't remember it, but I had stayed up all night to discover that I had two extra days to work on it.

Even though I wasn't totally pleased with how the paper turned out, I turned it in anyway. I just wanted to get rid of it. I suggested to Meghan that we make cookies while everyone else does their summary, but it sounds like she has other commitments. I wonder if there's any brownie mix for Mom and I to celebrate with, though.

Bad News: I've had 7 hours of sleep in the last 50 or so hours

Good News: I'm apparently ahead in APUSH and have devised a plan to stay at least one assignment (hopefully soon to be one chapter) ahead in case another scenario where I need to stay up all night comes around.

The most important silver lining of the cloud, though, is that I've made it through another thunderstorm and am still able to see the cloud and try and prepare for the next one.

Review

2009-11-15T16:54:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I still have a ton of stuff on my to do list (actually only 4 things, but it includes 2 papers and a main idea log, so it isn't the quickest), and I have a few spare minutes I'm granting myself before going onto my next English paper. Not much happened today, as I was working on another paper all day, so here's a review of a movie I watched yesterday.

I took a nap yesterday afternoon, at after finishing my German homework at about 1 AM, I still wasn't tired. Figuring I'd just watch a little bit of The Crow to put me to sleep, I went on YouTube only to find that I couldn't immediately find the movie watching channel I usually referred to. Thus, I turned to Wikipedia, and after a bit of clicking around, found myself on Vincent Perez's page (He was Ashe Corven in the second Crow movie). His filmography was pretty impressive, though most of them were in German, Spanish, French, or Swedish. Apparently, he's multi-lingual.

The only other movies in English that I could find were Queen of the Damned, I Dreamed of Africa, and Swept from the Sea. I watched the trailers to all three and read up on the synopsis and figured that, though it seemed the most well-known and probably best, Queen didn't sound like a movie I wanted to watch at 1 in the morning. I Dreamed of Africa, though it seemed interesting, had horrible reviews, and even won the Razzie Award for Worst Actress. That left Swept from the Sea, which had favorable enough reviews, and a synopsis consisting of "Someone is shipwrecked knowing how to play chess, not how to speak English."

I really was surprised at how good it was.

The music, one of the first things I noticed, was phenomenal. It was by John Barry, who also did Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves. The cinematography was wonderful, and the location (Cornwallis, England) was complete eye candy.

The acting, of course, is what sold it. For a good third or half of the movie, Vincent Perez's character, Yanko, speaks Russian or nothing at all. Even without subtitles or lines, he managed to portray someone completely lost and alone in somewhere completely different. This was the first Rachel Weisz movie I've seen, and I'll probably look into others. Anything with Kathy Bates or Ian McKellan is bound to be amazing, so putting them both in the same movie (and often in the same scene) was cinematic perfection.

I'm currently looking for it on DVD, as it instantly became one of my favorites. Though the title originally threw me off (It reminded me too much of a certain "By The Sea"), it was a prime example of how you can never judge a book by its cover.

Flashback

2009-11-14T23:45:00.000-05:00

Nothing happened today besides rehearsal and homework, and homework will happen more tomorrow. Therefore, here's a moment from Thursday's German II class that made me giddy:

One of my friends was trying to convince my teacher to raise her grade to an A+, and therefore decided to draw a picture on the board. It was the typical cutsy-stick-figure-outside kind of picture, but it really surprised me when she drew the sun.

It was blue, and she announced "That's a blue sun."

I have no idea if she knows it, but she totally just quoted one of my favorite movies (The Crow: City of Angels). Of course, pretty much nobody else has seen that movie (The Crow is sort of a cult movie franchise), so I didn't say anything. Still, after two tests in 1st and 3rd and one coming up in 5th, that did make my day.

I wrote love on my arms

2009-11-13T19:04:00.005-05:00

Did you?

Today was the official "To Write Love on Her Arms" Day. TWLOHA is this totally amazing non-profit educational organization that helps spread suicide and self-mutilation awareness, especially "cutting". Though I probably gave myself lead poisoning (and broke a ton of dress code rules by drawing all over my arms), I figured I could participate, as "love is the movement."

Draw a little heart on your arm and take a picture of it right now---it still counts.

(Note: my webcam is really the only method I had of taking pictures when I was. It's illegible on my arm when it isn't backwards anyway, but basically I wrote the "To Write Love on Her Arms", "LOVE", and several synonyms. And a purple heart. Can't forget that.)

EDITED TO ADD: See? Mom's getting in the spirit:

Better late than never

2009-11-12T22:25:00.002-05:00

Maya convinced me to join NaNoWriMo along with NaBloPoMo.

Let's see how long it takes before I go insane!

Another late night

2009-11-11T22:52:00.002-05:00

I hatehatehate all nighters, especially when I've worked the majority of the day before said all nighter. But tonight seems to be doing rather well in the stay-up-studying department. Tonight, I have to finish THIS:

- Annotate "A Modest Proposal"
- Study English tone words
- Finish packet on fragments (Yes, I hate it too)
- Study German
- Study APUSH by typing up review and knowing I know everything on it

My contacts are getting crusty, so I have to go take them out. I'm glad my bed is made and therefore I can't get under the covers---I might wind up studying there.

Tomorrow I have three tests all in a row: Vocab for English, Chapter 11 for German, and Unit 4 for APUSH. If Environmental Science put the chapter 3 test off for today, I think I would have to make myself sick.

So for now I'm just listening to a mix of Hayley Westernra, Ragtime, Avenue Q, and Glee as I work. I've noticed that background noise actually helps me a lot---as long as I don't have to keep clicking over to change it.

Speaking of Glee: tonight's episode was AMAZING. Probably the most intense one yet, and a real turning point largely for Kurt, Sue, and Artie. If you're not a Gleek, then you'll have no idea what I'm talking about...but otherwise, tell me what you thought! Was the entirety of "Defying Gravity" amazing, and the ending insanely sad?

Oh, and what is UP with Finn? I'm never sure whether or not to like him.

NaBloPoMo: Day 10

2009-11-10T22:45:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to branch out in other styles of art other than portraits. I want to try photography again, branch into sculpting...but right now I tried landscape with paint. Here's the result, "Northern Lights":

On a brighter note

2009-11-09T18:54:00.002-05:00

The right size of my new Level 27 hoodie finally arrived:

Thank you mommy!

Protest

2009-11-08T00:00:00.004-05:00

I am currently protesting against James Cameron.

Those of you who know me know I'm completely for artistic appreciation and protecting other people's art. I try and refrain from bashing movies (There's always going to be at least one redeeming feature, even if I don't like the movie), but I have exceptions.

Ever since 6th grade, I've been working on a fantasy story-turned-novel. It was truly an allegory, reflecting on most of my middle school career. In a nutshell, it was about Humans coming onto a previously-unknown alter world (Darhoumnd) and trying to colonize it to better help people on Earth, Elves and people called Trovens already live there and pull the "Hell no, I won't go" card, war breaks out. I had shown several people, and a few of those said that if I finished and edited it, it could have publishing potential. As I hit high school and was both

a) Not as miserable as I was in middle school and
b) Didn't have as much time as I used to.

From there, I casually chipped in bits and pieces when I had time. Largely, I spent time in easier classes just wondering what it'd be like and if it ever could be published. From the urging of my friend Aubrey, I posted the prologue on my DeviantArt to get some critique and inspiration to keep writing.

I saw this trailer this afternoon and nearly cried.

He called it "Pandora" (Which, mind you, is both Greek and an online RADIO STATION), and painted his people blue. I can't help but imagine that he found my DeviantArt, read the prologue (Which, truly, is the only part that is copied), altered some quotes and made the people blue.

Even if this is a huge coincidence, it kills me knowing that if I had only kept writing, turned it into to someone sooner, then apparently it'd be a huge commercial hit. Seems it'd be made into a movie.

Whenever I write, I cast my characters into what they would be if they were a movie. True, my ideal movie wouldn't work, as I cast my protagonist as Brandon Lee. But I hate not seeing Laura Michelle Kelley as my leading lady. Where is Ed Saunders? Why isn't this a Peter Jackson movie?

To top it off, Cameron is flaunting this to the world with various articles on how "original" he is:

"One aspect of Avatar that seems to have gone pretty unnoticed amongst all the praise and hype around the visuals and the technology invented for the film, is the fact that it’s a completely original script. This doesn’t have decades-old stories (e.g. Lord of the Rings) or an existing fan base (e.g. Harry Potter) to play off of. Although Cameron will undoubtedly have been inspired by sci-fi films of the past, when it comes down to it, this is a newly created entity that’s about to be unleashed on the movie going public."

"Cameron goes on to talk more about the very true fact that he won’t be letting a massive amount of people down if they don’t like Avatar – no one (by that I mean the majority audience out there) knows what Avatar is, no one has been able to read Avatar the novel, or the graphic novel and the majority of people will be going in with a blank slate, free of worry that it won’t live up to the source material… because there ISN’T any."

"It’s actually really refreshing to see an original project like Avatar making its way to our movie theaters. So many movies nowadays are based on existing material in some form or another – not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. But I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to not having any comics, books, TV shows or past movies to hold up against Cameron’s latest effort.

What about you? Are you glad to see a through-and-through original movie of this scope getting made? Do you think it will help or hinder the movie at the box office?"

I'm this close to getting rid of my copy of Titanic. Nevertheless, there is no way in hell anyone will catch me at a movie theatre to see Avatar.

Actual post in a few minutes...

2009-11-07T23:57:00.002-05:00

I know I've been cheating you all, but it's three minutes until midnight.

"Quantity over quality."

NaBloPoMo: Day Six

2009-11-06T22:26:00.001-05:00

You know something sad?

I just wrote "Day Five" just after looking at my calendar. Yeah, I'm tired.

Goodnight. Mockingbird review tomorrow.

My geometry project

2009-11-05T23:17:00.002-05:00

Wouldn't it be cool if that were a wallpaper?

Now gotta fill out the three questions that go with it, draw a mini-square on some graph paper, do my geometry packet, and transpose some chords into bass clef. Not an early night, but tomorrow's Friday.

NaBloPoMo: Day Four

2009-11-04T22:12:00.004-05:00

I'm considering redoing the format of my Blog. Probably not this month, though, since I'm already going through with this NaBlo thing.

But anyway, I've lately been on this huge journey of self-organization. I've tried for months to keep my room clean and schedule under control, but often find myself throwing clothes in front of the bathroom door and procrastinating on homework with things such as FaceBook, DeviantArt, Blogger, etc.

In all desperation, I decided to face humiliation at school by carrying THIS around:

Obviously, I don't look like a very cool reader (Unlike my friend Mark, who's currently carrying around Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club) but I have to admit, it's been working. I decided to not procrastinate today, and though I didn't get EVERYTHING done, I got everything totally important done, and it's only 10:20. I'm giving myself 10 to 20 minutes to finish my laundry and clean up/get ready for tomorrow, and then I'm calling lights out. 10:45 might not exactly be considered "early", it's a better deal than the going-to-bed-at-Midnight deal that I've been doing for the past few weeks.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"[If you see someone with gum], stop everything and go tell a trusted adult."

Interupting the regularly scheduled APUSH-doing

2009-11-03T00:26:00.003-05:00

To say that I took a 15 minute nap and bought the Glee: Season One CD. I'm listening to it as I'm working and it's pretty much wonderful.

Sleeping in my contacts was a mistake, though. My eyes feel disgusting.

Gearing up for a late night

2009-11-02T21:23:00.002-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I was up until four in the morning doing the most insane amount of APUSH homework known to man. I thought I learned my lesson about checking the syllabus and staying on top of things and getting ahead.

I'm getting ready to go on another one of those homework binges, exactly two weeks after the first one.

This so cannot become a fortnightly tradition.

It Can't Rain All the Time

2009-11-01T21:58:00.003-05:00

So I joined NaBloPoMo in an attempt to re-start blogging. Huh. Let's see how it turns out.

Lately, we've been having some genuinely nasty weather. A nice handful of people believed that Halloween would be rained out, and when it turned out not to, the lines at Wal*Mart and Target were insane with people trying to buy last-minute bags of trick or treat candy.

As it has for the last four years, though, the weather on Halloween Night was fairly decent, not as cold as it could be. This year, I chose my costume a la Brandon Lee from The Crow:

If you understand the title, you'll get the costume and vice versa. For those of you know aren't familiar with the movie, here it is on IMDB.

And here is the song:

Finding blogworthy moments in unblogworthy times

2009-10-12T21:29:00.002-04:00

I've noticed that the reason I was able to blog so much last year was because my life was a huge chapter in Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club. I wasn't the happiest in 8th grade, and though suffering does make for some good blogging, and I do sometimes miss those posts, I don't miss them enough to make myself miserable.

On the contrary, being in high school this year has been a well-needed breath of fresh air. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the second quarter, and I have yet to proclaim my scheme to drop out of school. That usually happened in the first two or three weeks for the last two years. Halloween was always the limit where I tried to adjust by, but now it's just another milestone.

Even in the better days, there are some moments that are worthy to go online, and today seemed to be one of Those Days.

Ever since Beauty and the Beast, I've had this bottle of liquid foundation that, though too heavy to smear all over your face, is perfect for concealer. Well...was, anyway. I was using it today and was putting it away and completely missed my makeup caddy on the door, and it fell SMASH on the floor.

Naturally, it sprayed out a fair bit of Classic Ivory all over the floor. Trying to clean up foundation is like cleaning soap or paint---if you get it off one surface, it sticks onto another. It got all over the sponge I used to clean it off the floor, then on the sink when I picked up all the pieces...on and on.

I tried to salvage some of it, nicking myself on a piece of cut glass in the process. I found an empty travel soap box and used a Q-tip to scoop gops of the foundation in...it wasn't worth it. If there's any glass in it, I'm going to be seriously mad.

Time to get new concealer!

Recap

2009-09-07T21:54:00.003-04:00

I realize I haven't blogged in forever, and I do feel guilty. I've had several things that I've meant to post but have largely forgotten. I miss having my big archive.

So let's just go over this weekend.

Friday- Nothing happened on Friday, really. Fort Knox had a football game, which we lost (but scored a nice 36 points, which is a record for us) and I went to. Hung out with some of my freshman friends, who I never see anymore.

Saturday- Amanda's Quincenero!

I know, I need more practice with a camera. Still a lot of fun!

Sunday- Homework day. Blergggg.

Monday- A little more homework and then messing around with my theatre makeup:

Took about an hour to put on, five minutes to take pictures, and ten minutes to take off. Pretty happy with the result.

I'm still alive

2009-08-09T22:16:00.002-04:00

But that's just because AP hasn't killed me yet. School has been INSANE, and I haven't even had time to go on IM more than maybe twice this week. I apologize to anyone who thinks I'm avoiding them---I'm truly not trying to.

I'm altering my schedule this week to give me some extra time to get homework done, so I'll hopefully have more spare time in the near future.

Scarlet Letter

2009-07-26T23:32:00.003-04:00

Well, if I were Hester Prynne, then my scarlet letter would be "P". I'd have these amazing thoughts on how to make it the most epic "P" ever seen in Boston, but then five minutes before the public shaming, I'd have forgotten to make one. Thus, I would totally cut one out of a piece of felt and safety pit it onto my shirt. "I'm ready, Mr. Dimmesdale!"

Aside from the prologue, which I've heard to read last, I finally finished The Scarlet Letter at around 10:30 tonight. For as much moaning as I did about it, I have to admit that it was actually a pretty decent book. Actually, once I got into it, it was rather good. Good in a strange, almost non-English type way, but good anyway.

I believe the only way I survived was LoudLit.org, who have a podcast on iTunes (Podcast=free) that is completely just chapter after chapter of Scarlet Letter. I would listen and read along with it, and it clarified things so much better than trying to just do one or the other. Best of all, I would get a chapter done in 20 minutes clean.

For the longest time, I had to suffer my way through by trying to imagine the libretto for the non-existent Broadway version. By the end, I came to thinking, and have decided that the music would be written by Rogers and Hammerstein, who, aside from Sound of Music, write some of the dullest show music I've ever heard, to go hand-in-hand with the dullness that encompasses much of the book. When it starts getting interesting, they can go to Sound of Music mode.

Patrick Wilson can be Dimmesdale, Philip Quast as Chillingsworth, and Judy Kuhn ought to be Hester. Just because we can, Bernadette Peters will be Mistress Hibbins. As for Pearl...Elle Fanning. I know she's not a singer but I've run out of names.

Fireflies

2009-07-21T01:04:00.003-04:00

I've been trying to figure out how to post about Wizard of Oz Strike from Sunday night for about a day now. On a totally unrelated note, I also sign onto iTunes every week and download the free Single of the Week, usually without listening to it. It's free, to why not?

Last week was "Fireflies" by Owl City. I listened to it on the pilates today, and I immediately knew that it would be the perfect basis for a post. Naturally, I've listened to it about twenty times now.

"You would not believe your eyes
if ten million fireflies
lit up the world as I fell asleep.
Cause they fill the open air
and leave teardrops everywhere."

One thing that was true at this Strike as well as the one for Beauty and the Beast was that the Marsee's yard, which is where we have the Strike Party (The Marsees are the presidents of YTHC) is filled with fireflies during the summer. Seriously---there's tons of them, and when it becomes dark and hugging circle starts, people sometimes try and catch them. It'll be completely dark and then, suddenly, a spark of light will briefly appear before fading to black again. Fireflies always remind me of Youth Theatre.

"Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
from ten-thousand lightening bugs
as they try to teach me how to dance."

Hugging circle. With fireflies. And I can't really dance, thanks to my turned-in ankles. Add one and two together and we'll come up with song meaning.

"To ten million fireflies
I'm weird cause I hate goodbyes.
I got misty eyes
as they said farewell."

The end of Strike was, as expected, fairly traumatic, since it does mark the end of that particular season of YTHC. The seniors will move onto college, people will move, and new people come in, but no particular season will be exactly like the one before it or the one afterward. This seems to be the case with most people, though, so I doubt that I'm "weird cause I hate goodbyes." This particular year was hard, having not been in the show and therefore not only not being able to meet some of the new seniors (and non-seniors!) but also not seeing some of my best friends every day like last summer.

It was raining after giving out the Nerd awards, so several people (particularly newbies) went up to the center of the tent we were all sitting under and gave their sort of "Thank the Academy" speeches. I actually went up myself, explaining to the people who didn't know why I had to duck out why I did and thanking everyone for keeping me as part of the YTHC family despite my absence onstage. And yes, I was half-crying at that point.

I'm trying not to look at this as the end of Season 38, but rather the beginning of Season 39 (much as our director would say). It sounds like this will be my last year at Fort Knox and Kentucky, so I'm hoping to make this year the best out of any of what will be the five here. I plan on joining SALUTE!, which is YTHC's touring group during the school year, start taking dance lessons, survive AP, become more social, finish my book, among other things. It's kind of inspired by Chris Crutcher's Deadline, which I haven't read but know the plot of. Look it up---it's a fairly long explanation.

Just to wrap things up, I'd like to say a final thank you to YTHC and everyone involved in it. I love you all so much!

Back to Oz

2009-07-18T00:38:00.002-04:00

Though Mom and I had already seen Wizard of Oz last week, we decided to go again with my friend Janelle tonight. It was just as wonderful as last time, and our seats were really good---middle, few rows behind the crossover aisle. I ran into numerous YTHC alumni (and other people I hadn't seen in a year) that I was friends with, and they were more than happy to sign my "Shirt of Love". The shirt is the T-shirt I got for going to the Wizard of Oz workshops. It's largely white, and since I didn't have a signed poster like last time, I decided to get all my friends, YTHC or not (anyone at the show, really) to sign it. After tomorrow night, which is closing night (I'm going again) the shirt will be my new pajama top.

Into the Woods

2009-07-14T15:08:00.002-04:00

I auditioned for it last night.

Seems I'm coming out of the woods before even going into them, if you get my drift.

Yeah. I didn't get in.

Over the Rainbow

2009-07-11T23:55:00.000-04:00

I'm seeing Wizard of Oz with my friend Janelle on the 17th. However, we weren't doing anything tonight, so I appealed to my mom to take me to see it tonight as well.

It was absolutely incredible. Toto was an actual dog, and he was completely adorable and terribly well trained. I tried to imagine Ginger doing that and couldn't (Sorry, Ginger). In the scene where Toto escapes and Dorothy cries, "Run Toto, run!" Toto ran off Stage Right. If Ginger did that, I suppose she'd also have a nice dose of FRAP and run around the entire stage.

I didn't FaceBook that I was coming, so at the Meet-n-Greet I took my friends by surprise. I hadn't seen most of them in two months, some six, some a year. Mom took pictures, though they're still on her camera. I'll post them tomorrow.

My friend James pulled his typical Poor Young Lad to ask my mom if I could join the cast at Shoneys for their tradition post-show dinner. On the condition that I vacuum the entire house tomorrow, I was allowed. I accepted.

Words can not describe how I felt tonight. I haven't felt that loved and immersed in people like that in so long. Granted, I haven't been miserable at all, but to be part of the YTHC family again and go out at the late hours of night, all the bright lights of the street and theatre against the black sky was just great. Best of all was seeing all my friends again, some of the greatest people I've ever met.

I'll end my poetic and sappy interlude there. I'm really tired (contacts are killing me) and I got four hours of sleep last night. If I'm to vacuum the house, I'm going to bed.

Home again, home again

2009-07-11T00:05:00.003-04:00

One French movie (I've Loved You So Long), a disk of Two Towers appendices, most of Life of Pi, 16 hours, and two days of driving later, we're home from Florida. Time there seemed to rush past, and now I notice that there isn't much summer left. How that that have happened? I still remember the last day of 8th grade, walking out of the building and having two months ahead of me. Now we're down to less than one.

Hopefully the school year will go that fast? I still have a nice chunk of summer work (Scarlet Letter, moments sheet, and four chapters of German) but I have officially decided to make room enough to read the last two Lord of the Rings books before summer ends. It's too late to learn to play guitar before school starts, but I want to accomplish something.

Inspire me

2009-07-06T14:50:00.004-04:00

It's obvious that I've given up on the 2009 Blog365. Ever since Jamaica, I've been behind in a lot of my Internet-type accounts, especially MySpace, DeviantArt, and Blogger. I've actually been on FaceBook quite a lot, just not for status updates.

As proven before, it's hard to stop blogging and then start again. I've been finding significantly more and more things that I would normally blog, though less and less desire to do so. Therefore, I ask your opinion: should I keep blogging?

You don't even have to post a comment. I have my SiteMeter put up, so by just seeing that you were here (and what your operating system, browser, and resolution were) for say, a minute to read this post, that'll be adequate. If you're still reading me ramble on, you're helping the cause! (If you hate this blog, then close out of it so as to cast your vote too).

Thanks!

2009-06-28T22:29:00.001-04:00

Slow internet. Cell phone blogging. Saw "Up" and "Stand By Me" today and both were great. Hopefully internet works tomorrow.

Harvey has something to say

2009-06-27T22:38:00.000-04:00

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Contacts and braces

2009-06-25T23:52:00.002-04:00

What this post was supposed to be about, but my mom already mentioned those. She didn't say, though, that the world through contacts is kind of like HD TV except its the entire world. I'm still getting used to them, and they're quite strange...and the braces just plain hurt.

However, I suppose now I should say that, as everyone seems to know, today was not a good day in Celebrity World. To think that Farra Fawcett and Michael Jackson are dead is just completely unreal. I mean, one of the originals on Charlie's Angels and the King of Pop? They're like Steve Irwin, supposed to stay alive because tabloids can't stop posting about them.

I do realize that Jackson got himself into several...precarious situations, but it bugs me immensly when people talk about how the world is a "better place" without such a "terrible person". He was an American Icon with more talent than almost anyone on the music scene today, and was also among the first to really raise awareness of problems such as AIDS and famine in countries like Ethiopia ("We Are the World", anyone?) There were actual reasons behind the change in his skin color and his nose.

We're leaving for Florida/Fort Benning tomorrow and I really do hope a lot of the "celebration" has died down. Until then, I'll probably be taking Motrin and drinking milkshakes in the car.

Blog365?

2009-06-24T23:53:00.003-04:00

One might notice that I've kind of given up on that idea. Therefore, when there is something to blog (like today), I will. If I blog it and it turns out to be 1:32, I'll just publish it with that time, probably. Maybe not. It'll all just depend on what I feel like.

I spent the large majority of today in the basement, where Maya and I recorded three lovely songs:

The Confrontation

Angel of Music

Macavity

It took the better part of the afternoon, and in the evening we (meaning Mom, Dad, and me, with Mike staying at home) headed over to a neighbor's house for a going away party. I was able to talk to/get to know some people who I've known for about a year, though never really "knew knew". Apparently, we have a lot in common, from Addams Family to musicals to Little Miss Sunshine. I went over to her house and we watched Edward Scissorhands (a favorite of both of us) until elven.

Though it sounds totally stupid, I'd like to point the sudden changes to Yes Man, which we watched the other day. I've sort of tried to start my own YES program for myself to open myself up to the neighborhood and make the most out of the last year at Fort Knox.

Jon and Kate

2009-06-22T23:02:00.001-04:00

I have a strict policy on myself for not posting smilies on my blog, but I think that it can all be summed with one.

D:

2009-06-21T23:51:00.001-04:00

Got nice little chunk of summer homework done, and forgot about blogging till now. Cell phone post...sorry.

What terrifies me

2009-06-20T23:40:00.002-04:00

- Fires
- Spiders, cockroaches, and other such crawlies
- The THX Certified...certification preview
- The idea of AP classes

I really need to find my sheets for Plymouth Plantation so I can get that over with and start on Scarlet Letter. Between that comes 8 chapters of German, and typing up 14 chapters of German Vokabeln.

Why my blog is boring as of late

2009-06-19T23:54:00.002-04:00

It's dawned on me that most of my interesting stories happen during the school year, when I can write about things such as being sent around the school a la Animal Crossing or accidentally getting hit in the jaw with a half-full Propel bottle. In the summer there isn't much for me to write about, because there is little going on. Mom seems to be covering Jamaica, so that leaves me with just about nothing.

I could talk about how we set up my bed (I traded my daybed for my dad's old double bed), but, really: do you honestly want to hear about it? I'll blog that when I have a comforter instead of makeshift sheets and all, but right now it isn't that blogworthy.

My blog is at it's best when it's like a never ending version of Idiot Girls, and whether the kind of post would fit more in Flying Tantrum of Death or Action Adventure Club doesn't particularly matter. When I'm cool with it, I like talking about strange things that happen to me throughout the day.

I'm trying to think, and the only thing that hits mind is that, in response to the loud hum of the vacuum, Harvey, who I was holding, did a nice little number on my arm---three inches across and drawing a little blood, to be precise. I tried calming him but he kept trying to claw himself away until I had to just grab his feet and toss him on the bed in the next room.

Now I look completely emo. I wear jeans during the day to cover up the scabbed bug bites from Jamaica (and my non-shaven legs because I'm afraid to shave over so many open wounds"), and now I have a line down my arm. Good time to be wearing jeans and hoodies---the newspaper today boasted something along the lines of "Humidity rises temperatures in area by at least three to seven degrees all week!"

There. If I could blog that on a daily basis, maybe I'll get somewhere. On other days, I suppose I'll lament about the blog. Either that or share random, stupid facts about something I did that day (Like put up a bed or cheer on the wrong actor in Matrix just because I knew who Hugo Weaving was and I didn't have the foggiest clue who anyway else was).

New logo!

2009-06-18T23:22:00.002-04:00

I realized that my old logo (and layout) was incredibly outdated, for I had short hair and was incredibly pale. A week in Jamaica and a year just about anywhere changed that up. Therefore, I spent my evening sprucing up the blog with a fresher vibe.

What sayeth thou?

What makes me sad

2009-06-18T21:58:00.001-04:00

- Roadkill on the dog-walking route
- Depressing Facebook status updates
- Not being able to eat because of the spacers...
- ...and thus having to skip out on eating Indian with everyone else and settling for chewing up lettuce with my front teeth

Orthodontics

2009-06-17T22:33:00.003-04:00

I disapprove of it.

I'm getting braces in a week, and to prepare myself for such a daunting endeavor, I got spacers put in. Two, actually, one on each side my mouth, bottom set of teeth. They hurt like nobody's business, and I'm having non-fond recollections of when I had my oral surgery. However, with the surgery they gave me Amazing Happy Drugs (that were NOT crack before anyone gets ideas) that made the world seem a lot better. The most they suggested here was Motrin.

I took Motrin a couple hours ago, and it helped about as much as eating a stack of paper would. Reread that a few times if it doesn't make sense, because it isn't supposed to.

On a better note, Mom and I went to the (new and larger!) music store next to the Indian restaurant where we had lunch, and I found the piano sheet music to selections of the first to Lord of the Rings movies. I haven't really gotten into the second one, but so far I have four songs played through in Fellowship: "In Dreams", "Lament for Gandalf", "Many Meetings", and "May It Be". I want to get into "Isengard Unleashed" (or at least the selection for "Haldir's Lament" for reasons I'm sure many of you are aware of) in the second one, but I'm taking it a song at a time. It's nice to have some new sightreading and sheet music, though.

New baby

2009-06-17T00:11:00.002-04:00

Meet Harvey:

The next week's posts are cancelled

2009-06-09T21:12:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be in Jamaica for six nights starting tomorrow, and while I'm taking my computer (movie watching and writing purposes only---not Internet) there will be no blogging. I'm going to be keeping track of what goes on and taking pictures, though---on Tuesday when we come back I'll bring everyone up to date by posting on the appropriate dates.

And on a side note---Happy 15th, Karen!

Blogging Lull

2009-06-08T23:32:00.002-04:00

I have recently been in a huge thing about not feeling particularly bloggy. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but each night at about thirty till midnight, I wind up slapping some video up rather than posting actual words.

I think that I've been using all my Writing Energy on this fanfiction. I've gotten a nice little bit done on that, but here...no comment.

Vitamin String Quartet

2009-06-07T23:39:00.001-04:00

Is officially my new favorite group.

Bask in their epicness:

Putting on the fake house

2009-06-06T23:10:00.002-04:00

With Dad (and my grandparents) coming tomorrow, a large chunk of today was spent getting the house in enough order so that it looked like we were mostly on top of things (in other words, the "fake house"). The rest was at Kohls, where we finished up our shopping for Jamaica. I got a lighter hoodie (as in not black or teddy-bear-fur-lined) and several camis, which, after the long trip to New York and Company, was all I really needed (and a coverup for the beach, which was actually from Wal*Mart).

We are (for the most part) READY!

Blast to the past

2009-06-05T23:42:00.002-04:00

I'm going through an Animaniacs obsession. Until recently, I hadn't seen it for years but now that I understand a lot of the cultural references it's amazing.

Here are some of my favorites:

They don't make cartoons like this anymore!

From yesterday

2009-06-04T23:14:00.001-04:00

I got my hair darkened and highlighted:

Request #1

2009-06-03T23:09:00.003-04:00

More photography

The cake is a lie...

2009-06-02T21:56:00.002-04:00

...but at least the brownies were okay.

I suppose that many of you have read my mom's unfortunate case that has left her prisoner in bed. I've spent a nice bit of the day running up and down stairs getting things like the ice pack, her purse, pain killers, etc.

She made an odd request this afternoon: "You know, brownies would really make my ankle feel better :)"

Many of us know that brownies do NOT possess the magical powers to heal sprains. I couldn't say no, but was still rather nervous. She was asking me, who can't even cook a can of microwavable soup without ruining it, to work the oven and make brownies by myself. I think those painkillers must have had some sort of if-you-feel-high-you-feel-great kick to them.

I didn't kill myself, burn down the house, or, worse, the brownies. I couldn't cut them after spending a nice hour or so making them, though. They were like rubbery little bricks. Eventually, I gave up and told everyone (meaning Mike, who was getting Mom's stuff on a plate so she wouldn't have to get out of bed) to grab a hunk of brownie, because cutting them into was NOT going to happen.

Several more trips downstairs to do things such as microwave the brownies, retrieve forks, and box up pizza, we began eating brownies at about 9:40. Everyone else really liked them, but after ~~wasting~~ spending all that time on them, they just weren't as good as I thought they could be.

Time to ask the readers

2009-06-01T22:14:00.002-04:00

I've been in a lull of blogging lately, and I'm not entirely sure what to write. Therefore, I'm asking you, my lovely readers, to tell me what YOU want to read.

Seriously. I'll do pretty much anything. You want movie reviews for a week? I can make that happen. An essay on the music of Danny Elfman? You got yourself an essay. A random file on my computer, a picture...whatever.

Dancing Queen

2009-05-31T23:39:00.000-04:00

Isn't Maya epic?

A spin off of "Name that Tune"

2009-05-30T23:51:00.001-04:00

Rather, it's "Name this Cat":

Help? (After "Sweeney" was shot down, I'm rooting for Boris. Suggestions are welcome.)

Oh my god

2009-05-29T10:47:00.001-04:00

I'm done with middle school.

YESSS!!!

School Countdown: 1 day

2009-05-28T19:16:00.004-04:00

I can't believe that I'm actually writing this, knowing that next time I blog (unless I do so at 6:20 in the morning when I'm eating breakfast) I will officially be done with middle school. Like, not just done with that one particular year of middle school. Done as in DONE done.

While at times it has been a really long year, for the most part (and considering the length of a year), it truly has gone by fast. This is one of those times when I'm not getting all sentimental-"Slipping Through My Fingers", though.

Rather, here's a better one:

So to kind of sign off...thank you, readers, for putting up with my rants this year when you probably had better things to do. Be ready for some posts tagged with "Summer"---this is the final "Spring"!

School Countdown: 2 days

2009-05-27T21:28:00.004-04:00

Today was the final orchestra concert. To get an idea of how several of them went, heres recordings from three of them:

"Under the Sea"

"Finale" (Beethoven's 5th)

"Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme"

"Pink Panther" (My bassoon demonstration. This was today)

School Countdown: 3 days

2009-05-26T23:34:00.002-04:00

Two orchestra concerts today. One tomorrow.

Griped about the dress code for a nice chunk of the evening. Probably what's most frustrating is that there is no way that hasn't already been approached to change the code. I used to be all passionate about can-we-wear-hoodies, but now if we could just untuck our shirts I'd be the happiest camper ever.

School Countdown: 4 days

2009-05-25T21:39:00.003-04:00

And two of them (tomorrow and Wednesday) are Orchestra Concerts, so I won't even be there.

I feel insanely on top of things, as I have plans for the first week of summer to be completely set aside to getting my life back in order. I'm using my trusty Remember the Milk! to make lists of things I need to do, and I honestly can't wait.

Only four more days until I have to start writing "Summer" as my tag instead of "Spring"!

Blissful Nothingness

2009-05-24T23:04:00.002-04:00

I feel terribly guilty, as every night before I go to bed I realize I haven't blogged. I dread doing it, and then smack a video or LOLcat in and call it content. True, there is no oath for this year that it making me blog, but I know that if I stop doing it then I won't ever start up again.

So I'll report what happened today: nothing. You all know that that means something. A full day with no commitments? That's a rare treat at the old Taylor place.

For the first time in ages, I slept in. REALLY slept in---the dog woke me up at 10:30. I piano-ed for most of the day, digging out sheet music from years ago to songs such as:

and

Happy Richard Shufelt Day!

2009-05-23T22:52:00.001-04:00

That wasn't supposed to make sense. It's a Musical Theatre joke.

Speaking of which, the final recital was tonight, and the only thing that stands between me and the end of the school year is three orchestra concerts and the final two days of school.

From algebra class

2009-05-22T23:54:00.001-04:00

"Kaitlyn loves to draw :3"

Making my spot in the world

2009-05-21T22:29:00.003-04:00

I went to about ten minutes of the final school board meeting today, and they went over the results of the schools for the QAR (some school test-thing that proves that yes, we are a school). I was given a golden ticket forever ago to go and talk to them, and I did. I told them greatly about how there was a rather limited source of different levels of education and that I was typically bored in class.

One of the recommendations for Scott was "provide different education through differentiation." That's me right there, readers!

Upon finding this out, I did the usual victory-slam (like in Mean Girls where one arm is a sling and you fling the other arm into it).

Thing is, the slamming through the other hand/fist up...into my face.

Oh, and my German video got first at State! Mike got second, as we were, again, the only people to do videos. You'd think there would be more Berlin Film-Fest hopefuls in Kentucky.

For those of you who missed my movie, Schwimmen!, here it is:

Events on an eventful day

2009-05-20T21:36:00.003-04:00

First orchestra concert where we go to the schools
Went with Mom to say "hi" to one of her friends who worked at the school
...and gave an impromptu bassoon concert in the Special Needs room.
Attempted to put hair in bun
Failed
Went to rehearsal
And stayed their an hour longer than it said we would be there
Wasn't able to go to Joana's to pick up my character shoes (Sorry, Joana!)
Planned to look over my agenda for tomorrow

As for Aubrey---I was totally, totally, TOTALLY going to write Vagrants today. Insanity is what insanity was, sooo that didn't go over. But I really wanted to, believe me.

What I might be ashamed to say

2009-05-19T22:04:00.002-04:00

Last year, around this time, I prided myself in being an almost-vegetarian. Today I wound up eating three turkey sandwiches.

I can't be completely blamed for the first one---it came with the school lunch for the field trip, and it was paired with a thing of orange juice and some apple slices. From there, I couldn't find much around the house, and so another sandwich.

For dinner after the dress code meeting? Guess.

From the files

2009-05-18T21:58:00.003-04:00

Ice cream with Julianna in Carlisle:

A little rock figurine I drew in Sketcher:

Never thought I'd be saying it

2009-05-17T21:55:00.003-04:00

But I ducked out of YTHC this season. It's been an insane year, and I haven't exactly had a break from anything. With Dad deploying and Jamaica and everything, I don't think I could have balanced everything out.

I might be working backstage in July, though. I really just need to take June off and breathe.

My life

2009-05-16T23:43:00.002-04:00

Is terribly uneventful right now.

Well, yes, I have recitals and concerts pretty much all of next week, and today Mom and I went to Louisville to get some shopping done and listen to a concert by a friend of ours. But everything seems to be covered on Mom's blog.

I feel the need to still post here, though. That way, if something comes along, I'll post it rather than viewing it as no real importance.

Blog365: Day 136

2009-05-15T23:27:00.003-04:00

Nothing terribly exciting happened today, but perhaps you can find some interest in my mom's blog. (I'd like to take credit for the sweater issue, as Mom stole that bit of shenanigans from my dress code survey. And yes, Mom, that is the third time I've said "shenanigans" today. That was my fourth.)

2009-05-14T15:10:00.001-04:00

Cell phone blogging. On my way to Etown for another exciting adventure. Real post tomorrow. Sorry.

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-05-13T21:13:00.003-04:00

Put it the order they occured:

- Not having German homework
- Rereading Phantom of the Opera for the third time (This is a beaten up copy---pages are tornish and edges curling, not to mention today it went through the rain)
- Having 11 days of school left
- Studying for the science test...
- ...but Mom picking me up just before my teacher gave out the test
- Splitting a Hershey's bar
- Watching the Pilates group lesson
- Having my own Pilates lesson (Including the AMAZING Cadilac---I felt like I was jumping out of Cats. It's amazing.)
- Lunch at Whole Foods
- The last Musical Theatre rehearsal
- Diablo
- Taking out DanceDance Revolution and being beastly at it
- Going to bed early (Well this WILL occur in several minutes)

All in all, a splendid kind of day.

Thanks, Papa!

2009-05-12T21:23:00.000-04:00

For sending me this:

"I AM your host!"

2009-05-11T21:37:00.003-04:00

I got to play Drama Department MC for the chorus concert tonight. I actually only got to read announcements, but I'd have loved to pull a real Joel Grey, excessive makeup and all:

So

2009-05-10T22:05:00.003-04:00

I'm having second thoughts about this school talent show thing. I really don't know anything that I haven't already played that's a huge audience pleaser (such as Ice Dance or Sorcerer's Apprentice).

Anyone have an idea for something I could whip together really quickly on piano? I guess I could do something on bassoon but I've been doing so much of it lately. Besides, everyone in that school knows that I play bassoon and that I play it pretty well, so it isn't the huge surprise factor that I'm going for.

And now everything is fine

2009-05-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Because I found my socks.

Socks: MIA

2009-05-08T23:27:00.002-04:00

My lucky socks are missing. Like, we checked the band room AND the gym. And in just about every other place they've been. They're gone!!! So I've been spending some time trying to find them...please send Good Sock Hunting Vibes!

Power to the purple socks

2009-05-07T20:10:00.004-04:00

One of the lovable (read: strange) things about me is that I have a pair of purple-striped knee socks that I wear every Thursday. I don't even care WHAT I'm wearing---those socks will go with it somehow. Everyone seems to love those socks, and so Thursday is typically one of my favorite days of the week.

This week, those socks were dirty. I figured that I could go a day without them. After all, how terrible could it be?

I was sadly surprised. Let's just say the day started out with my reed cup spilling IN MY PURSE and my best reed almost breaking and then went downhill.

Tonight was the band concert, so naturally I was freaked out that the absence of the socks would throw me off. Mom did laundry and threw them in, but with the dress code being black pants, white shirt, I couldn't very well slip purple socks past the band teacher.

So, in hopes that it might work, I threw those socks into my bassoon case and took them with me. Yes, readers, you might call me a geek but I NEEDED those socks. Badly. The solo was that night and I didn't need any more misfortune. (When I had to leave the case in the band room, my mom threw the socks in her purse so as to keep them near).

My reed fell to the floor twice, but thankfully we were in the gym---rubber floor! It bounced several times as I yelped "NOBODY MOVE!" and blew it off. It didn't break or even crack. I had a sense that the socks were beginning to work their magic.

Did they do a good job? I'll let you be the judge there: here's the video of me playing "Sorcerer's Apprentice", my dream piece since 5th grade (as well as the piece that made me want to play bassoon in the first place).

I'd like to say that I'm pretty beastin' there, if I do say so myself.

For the second year, I won the award for "Most Outstanding Musician: Female". I find it interesting that I've gotten it on two different instruments---last year I played oboe, and this year bassoon. Here I am with...pretty much everything:

And here's me with my amazing band director ("I love you Mrs. Redmon!!!"):

I think tonight was a very appropriate final gig for that bassoon; the high school is wanting their instrument back. I'll still have the other bassoon, though, so I'm not quitting---you'll be able to hear about plenty more bassoon drama later. I need a couple days to focus on something else, like piano.

BEEEAST!!!

Penultimate concert evening

2009-05-06T21:43:00.002-04:00

The middle school concert is tomorrow, so I'll be able so show off some wicked bassoon (Sorcerer's Apprentice, as I've said more than ample times) and hopefully it'll all go well. I'm kind of hoping that the rehearsal doesn't go AMAZING, because that's what happened with the high school concert: our rehearsal went bad, but the performance was nothing short of epic (for what our 23 members can do, which is quite surprising!)

Of course, there is the other music, but I'm not terribly concerned about it, as I can play it fairly easily. It's not terribly hard music, but with everyone coming together (and with PERCUSSION! I haven't played with percussion in middle school since forever ago) it sounds much better.

Then it's dashing off to Youth Orchestra, which I'm kind of nervous about. It IS just rehearsal, but I've been neglecting my music since I've been going insane on this bassoon solo.

Oh, and I totally love my accompanist and band teacher. They helped my mom and I schedule a get-together with the accompanist to practice without a bunch of people listening in as I learned what the piano part was---I had never heard it until this afternoon. He was rather friendly and helpful, and even let me record him playing it so that I could run through it a few times at home (which I have taken full advantage of).

One concert down

2009-05-05T21:37:00.002-04:00

The high school concert is down, and in two days is the middle school concert. Tonight went surprisingly well, despite me not really practicing my music (and only seeing the final piece this afternoon). We played us a mean "Heron Bay" and "Mission: Impossible", and "On a Hymnsong by Philip Bliss" went really well as well.

Oh, and my new nickname is apparently Hannibal Lecter. Inside joke from band with "Annabelle" somehow sounding like "Hannibal". Thus, Hannibal Lecter.

Now I'm working like a mad hatter (HAH HAH HAH) on "Sorcerer's Apprentice", all my orchestra music, and what I'm planning on doing for the end-of-the-year Talent Show. My song of choice (played on piano and hopefully singing as well?)

Bullet statements

2009-05-04T22:28:00.003-04:00

Mom let me sleep in late today because I knew I wasn't doing anything in first through third period (and it turns out I wasn't). It was nice to actually sleep for the first time in several days.
The piano player for "Sorcerer's Apprentice" didn't show up today...again. I'm getting a little anxious about it.
I'm not entirely sure what to do for an upcoming school talent show.
The first rehearsal for Wizard of Oz was tonight, and despite being in a rather nasty mood about it beforehand, I'm really excited now.
Maya sent me this:
The high school band concert is tomorrow, so I practiced some of my music for that (and Sorcerer's Apprentice). Looks like I'm a beast on Apprentice and somewhat adequate for high school music.
I really wish I didn't have to go to school tomorrow. We're not doing anything as far as I know. Hopefully, we'll finish Sound of Music in German.

2009-05-03T20:02:00.001-04:00

Blogging from the road. 20 more minutes and we're home... And then only 45 more minutes of weekend. So not ready to go back to school tomorrow.

Carlisle: first and last day

2009-05-02T22:21:00.003-04:00

If today had a theme song, it'd be "One Short Day" from Wicked. Everything today was just bang-bang-bang, because one can only fit so much stuff (and so much food!) in one thirteen-hour period.

The day started out with breakfast at this really cute diner that Dad and I actually had breakfast at when I came up. It was a tough call, but I chose blueberry over chocolate chip pancakes at the last minute simply because B comes before C in the alphabet. When all else fails, go to the tried-and-true alpha-beta.

We met some of our "invisible friends" for coffee (actually hot chocolate and a couple sodas) this afternoon, so I got to chat up with my friend Julianna for the first time in about two years. Naturally, we discussed everything that nobody else at the table would understand, so we got ourselves our own small island so as not to confuse everybody. (We also met for ice cream, which was delish as well).

After watching the Derby (which started at 6:30 rather that 6:05) it was back to the feedbag for meeting some of Mom's college friends for dinner. Again, more great food that I probably should have restrained myself on. Then again, why not go a little all-out? It's the weekend.

All in all, a really good day. Too bad tomorrow is going to be 10 hours of driving.

Surprise!

2009-05-01T23:55:00.000-04:00

We aren't in Alabama. We just had to write that so as not to reveal to Dad that, actually, we were going to Pennsylvania to surprise him for his birthday. Aren't we good at lying? (Even though we were all close to bursting by the end?)

Oh, and Mike, some of the kids at the party, and I all went to see Wolverine at 9:30 this night. It wasn't quite as epic as the trailers made it seem, but a night out with friends to see an overrated movie later that we should is good for you every so often.

Happy Birthday, Dad! (Even though your birthday is tomorrow.)

Sweet home Alabama

2009-04-30T16:09:00.002-04:00

We're finishing packing and will (hopefully) soon hit the road! Next time you hear from me will either be from my phone or from the infamous Dark Office.

When you think 8 measures is hard

2009-04-29T21:45:00.002-04:00

Apparently, there are no places to breath towards the end of "Sorcerer's Apprentice". This means that, in that 24-measure sequence, I have to do it all in one breath. Granted, it's 3/8 and piano, but the jumps from note to note are absolutely insane.

I think this piece is going to kill me before the end.

Cell phone blogging

2009-04-28T20:36:00.004-04:00

Today was adorable until I started my algebra homework...and now I mostly feel like a numerical idiot. I'm so OVER this algebra crap. It's supposed to be easy but it doesn't make any sense. And I still have to bassoon after this.

So today wasn't adorable

2009-04-27T22:19:00.000-04:00

At least I got some stuff accomplished.

"Listen, my adorable friends...!"

2009-04-26T21:49:00.003-04:00

A*dor*a*ble:
adj.
Inspiring great affection; delightful; charming

That was the word for today. Everything was, in one was or another, adorable. It was slightly unsettling.

That's okay, though! Cause next week will not be adorable (tomorrow will be filled with homework due Tuesday that should have been done over the weekend) and last week was not. A chill, adorable weekend isn't too bad.

Much improved

2009-04-25T23:32:00.002-04:00

Mom told me to "make today yours" since it started out kind of on the low side (Still post-audition pessimism)

So today I did absolutely nothing. I took a nap this afternoon, called Maya for two hours, updated a couple things online, etc.

I'm in a much better mood. Sadly, tomorrow is going to be my Get Stuff Accomplished Day, but it's been a while since I've had a weekend where I didn't have to go ANYWHERE.

Auditions

2009-04-24T21:39:00.001-04:00

I'm in my typical post-audition pessimistic mood. For anything serious, best wait until tomorrow.

One of those I-wish-I-had-a-dance-company moments

2009-04-23T20:47:00.002-04:00

Every so often I'll get hooked on a certain song and try and choreograph something from it (For example, last summer it was "Maison de Lunes" from Beauty and the Beast). Granted, I've tried to figure out a couple things for "Jitterbug" (Wizard of Oz) but recently I found this little wonder on my iPod:

So I have this piece on my head that's fully done, and I think it's pretty good (yet fairly complex, involving ropes and a lot of stage combat).

Since it's like that, I can't exactly find anyone to perform it...very sad, really.

My type of procrastination

2009-04-22T20:26:00.002-04:00

Isn't completely useless...I think. Instead of practicing "Sorcerer's Apprentice" like I should be doing, I'm listening to classical and ragtime on YouTube. Is that considered time wasted?

I promised myself to get off at 8:30. That's in three minutes. Time for one more song!

Don't fight the river

2009-04-21T21:47:00.004-04:00

I think I found that out today, with the river being everyday hassles (Middle School being a perfect example). This morning things seemed to be going downhill, but they magically seemed to pick up as I let go of some long-time grudges. Okay, so maybe they're not complete grudges. And maybe I'm not completely over them. But it's a start, and it felt good.

It also feels good knowing that I'm on the right track to becoming a complete beast on "Sorcerer's Apprentice" for bassoon. It's like living out my 5th grade dream.

Since Mom brought out things from the files, I'm going to send you off to some "blodder" with a link. Enjoy my DeviantArt with some photography from various colleges.

Passing it along

2009-04-20T20:47:00.003-04:00

I got two videos today that demanded to be passed along.

Well...I grant them their wishes.

And I finally posted the video of Karen and Alicebelle Show: Episode II.