Finding blogworthy moments in unblogworthy times

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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Contacts and braces

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?

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

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:

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

What terrifies me

- 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

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!

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

- 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