Think and Wonder and Dream

Yesterday, we were having a bit of a down day.

I hadn’t fallen asleep until around 5 AM, and I was up at 8, so I was exhausted all day. I’m still recovering from my latest cold, too, so I just felt kind of blah.

Lauren was having a rough day, too, so in the afternoon, we decided to go shopping for a little while to try and cheer ourselves up.

We went with my mom to a kitchen store, because she needed a new Bosch mixer. While we were there, we found a pasta-drying rack. I LOVE making homemade pasta, but drying it is always an issue. So, my mom bought us the rack because she loves us that much.

Then, we went to Target, where we found a deep fryer that we’ve been eyeing ON SALE. I bought it as a reward for how hard I’ve been working lately. We’re very excited for all of the amazingly fatty foods we’re going to be cooking now. (It balances out the love of our George Foreman grill, though, so that’s good.)

Then, as if the day couldn’t get any better, we got to spend the night with fun friends. Sidenote: did you know that my friend Wendy can tell how much any hole is dilated with JUST HER FINGERS?! She can. And she’s practicing, so you may not want to get too close to her…

THEN! Today, we went to Church. I still hate our ward with a passion. Primary was AWFUL. None of the leaders or teachers expect respect from the kids, and therefore, they don’t get any. By the end, I had given up on trying to keep our class quiet. I decided it wasn’t fair to make them follow the rules when the leaders weren’t expecting them to do so.

Oh, and the best news of all (yes, even better than a pasta-drying rack, a deep fryer, and great friends)…

Remember that time that I auditioned for Seussical about 6 1/2 years ago, and I was told that I just wasn’t talented at acting and singing, and I needed to just stick with music directing?

Well, I decided to audition for the same show at a different theater. It went against my usual practice of only auditioning for shows when I’m pretty sure I can be cast. I really didn’t have much hope. I didn’t even think I’d get a callback. But I did. And even though I didn’t have much of a voice, and I was running on three hours of sleep, I felt pretty good about my callback.

Thank heavens the Hale and Dave Tinney have lower standards than other theaters! I was cast as Horton, which is one of my dream roles.

I have a lot of work ahead of me. I haven’t been able to sing all winter because of how thrashed my throat has been with cold after cold after sinus infection after cold. But, it’s getting much better, and I’m going to work my butt off and be the best darn Horton I can possibly be.

Oh, and the audition was one of the things I referred to in my last blog that I couldn’t talk about yet. I hate jinxing auditions by talking about them much. But there’s still other stuff that I should be blogging about soon that may be even cooler than being cast in Seussical…

[Insert (attempt at) Clever Title]

I’m really tired, but I’m clearing off my DVR tonight so that it doesn’t get too full while I’m gone for the rest of the week. It’s sad that my priority is TV and not packing. I will probably get to the competition and find that I forgot to pack underwear because I was so tired when I packed. Oh, well. Sometimes TV is worth going commando. In the meantime, I’m watching/recording stuff off my DVR and recording random thoughts.

I wish I was a better writer, like Trash or Julie. My blogs are more lists than actual writings lately, and that saddens me. I used to LOVE to write and always wanted to make it better. Now, I just throw a list together and call it good, like I’m a theatre reviewer for the Deseret News or something.

I’ve had a weird feeling all night. I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t know if it’s about Shakespeare Competition, Urinetown, or something else that’s not as present on my mind. Whatever it is, I’m not liking it, and I wish it would go away.

I also dislike feeling like somebody is bugged by me, and they won’t say why so I can fix whatever I’m doing to bug them. 9 out of 10 times that I feel this way, it’s usually me just being stupid/sensitive. But tonight, I had several moments, and I’m paranoid. It doesn’t help that I’ve had that other yucky feeling.

I’m not going to see Lauren again until Sunday. This sucks. Luckily, though, we live in an age where there are cell phones for texting and calling anytime. I could not have survived in Shakespeare’s time.

I want to be in a show. I want to perform somehow. It kills me that UVU is doing shows that I would love to be in – AFTER I’ve graduated. I know I’m not very good at acting and singing, and that I can’t ever get cast in anything but A Christmas Carol, but I’m dying to be on the other side of the table at auditions for once. I love directing. I like music directing. I LOVE teaching/coaching. I just miss the days when I balanced it better and went back and forth between music directing and acting. Sadly, I don’t see any performing in my future. As long as I don’t have a full-time job, I have to only do jobs where I can get paid, and acting isn’t one.

I don’t want to be sitting on a bus with students for 5 hours tomorrow. I bought some new headphones that are REALLY good at noise-canceling. We’re driving straight from Orem to St. George to see Aida at Tuacahn. Please, God, give me the strength to not kill any children.

I’m missing the following people right now (for different reasons): Grandma Orton, The Culps, Heidi T., Bryan, John, The Masons, Pre-Crazy/Skanky Mariah Carey

Saturday Night Live has not been funny this year. I think I’ve only chuckled a couple times so far. That was pretty funny when the new girl said the f word, though. And that freakish thing that was dancing inside a giant metal atom was pretty laughable. I’m told she’s some famous singer, though.

I think I’ve finally narrowed down my Halloween costume to a few choices. I’m not terribly excited about any of them, which leads me to believe that maybe I should just not dress up this year.

I’ve been blogging semi-regularly for 3 1/2 years, and while this isn’t a huge accomplishment, it’s pretty big for me. I’ve NEVER been good at keeping a journal, so it’s fascinating to go back and read my thoughts on what was going on and how I was feeling months or years ago. When I look back on this post, I’m going to think: “Wow. I was a real downer that night.”

Things I've Learned This Semester

Another semester has come and gone, and therefore, it's time for another installment!

• People can be not only the normal age of college students but can be MY age and still act like they're in junior high. Starting rumors among a department in a university? SERIOUSLY?! Grow up.
• As much as I hate my education department and some of the stupid classes and awful teachers I've had to endure, I feel like I've learned how to teach better than some of the professors in the theatre department. I have one in particular who has the WORST classroom management skills I've ever seen. If he were to set foot in a high school or junior high, he'd be slaughtered.
• Disneyland can be fun with Matt and Melinda after all! You just have to pick and choose who else comes. Lindsay was a good choice.
• There are always going to be people who think they're better, smarter, and more talented than you. Chances are, if they feel this way, it's because they're terribly insecure, and if you give them some rope, they'll hang themselves.
• Apparently, my lesson plans DON'T suck. Even though one teacher keeps slamming them and giving them horrible grades (and gives Laura great grades for essentially the same plans), my other education professors are giving them good grades.
• If I ever find myself describing a show as "brilliant" or "theatrical" it will surely be cancelled. Goodbye, Pushing Daisies.
• Not only am I getting back to being confident in my acting, I'm actually enjoying it again. I took not one, but TWO acting classes this semester that were not required. I loved both of them. I also wanted to be in a show badly enough that I made my life more stressful by doing A Christmas Carol. And I've loved all of the feedback I've gotten.
• It is totally impossible for a female to ever like me as more than just a friend. Unless, of course, she is crazy bojangles. CRAZY. BO. JANGLES.
• If you put off even thinking about Christmas presents until after finals, your brain will be fried and you'll have a hard time figuring out gift ideas.
• Having an arch-nemesis is fun. Especially when they think they're the superhero and you're the villain.
• I'm never going to be able to play Rock Band as much as I want to, unless I somehow find a way to get paid to play it.
• Diet Dr. Pepper really DOES taste like regular Dr. Pepper!
• A flawless profile, a perfect body, the right clothes and a great car can get you far in America, almost to the top. But it can't get you everything.

Completely Random

I'm sitting in the most boring class of all time. ALL TIME. We're doing group presentations, and there's only so much group presentation "goodness" that you can handle in three hours. So, here are some of the thoughts running through my head today.

I'm excited for the show tonight. The Varneys are all coming, as are the Labrums, the Hutchings, and Laura. Hmm. That makes Laura sound lonely. Poor woman. It's her own fault.

Yesterday, in Acting Styles, Laura and I were doing an exercise by either Stanislavski or Meisner. I can't remember which one. Anyway, you bring up some kind of personal issue, and you talk about it by saying "Yes, that's true" or "No, that's not" and then following it up with another statement. Laura, being the horndog that she is (did I mention she met President Monson last night and shook his hand?), started talking about my fantasies, and I said that the only fantasy I have right now involves whipped cream and Thanksgiving leftovers. Elfi was listening into our exercise, and she got so embarrassed that I thought she was going to choke. Her face was as red as the label on the Dr. Pepper that I'm drinking right now. It stayed that way for a couple minutes while Laura and I laughed.

I'm also using this boring time to search for sound effects for my design of Dancing at Lughnasa. It's for a class, so it's not an actual production, but I'm still having fun. It's a great challenge to design a show you hate and make yourself like it because of your design. I have a fun concept involving the radio of the show. It's similar to what I did with Canyon Suite, but to a further extreme.

I'm really excited for Chess, and even more excited that I'm not going to have any shows to stress about next semester other than Charlie Brown. I'm a little sad, because I wish I had something else, but I know that I'll be needing more time to work on lesson plans and stuff.

Power Points are fun, but let's not put EVERYTHING on them and then read verbatim.

I bound my score for Charlie Brown yesterday, and I like the cover I came up with for it. Even more, I like the fact that I made it in less than 10 minutes.

I'm really annoyed that these presentations are supposed to last about an hour, and the first group today took almost two, so this one is all stressed trying to get their presentation done in time.

*****

Class ended yesterday, and I didn't get to finish this post. But now, I'm in the oh-so-exciting "show and tell" day in Lighting and Sound Design class. We're all sharing sounds that we've found for Dancing at Lughnasa. It's boring. So, here are some more random thoughts.

As egotistical as it seems, I'm keeping track of some of the compliments I'm getting for A Christmas Carol. I justify this for two reasons. 1) Because if you follow my blog, you know how much I've needed it in the past. 2) Because I use the blog as my journal, and you know what? You probably write down nice things that people say about you in your journal. Don't deny it.

Last night, I bumped into Bobby Swenson at the theatre. He is the grandson of the original Hales. He's great. Anyway, I said hi to him and then was going to go and get ready, and then he told me that he really knows the show (he must have seen it every year of his life or something...) and he really likes my rendition of Fred. I told him thank you, and he told me again how much he like what I was doing with the part.

Also, last week, the assistant director/production manager/whatever they call him came up to me and said something to the effect of "You're a great music director, but I hope you don't stop acting." Wow. Suck on THAT, [director/producer who told me I needed to not act and focus on music directing]!!!

The other night, the guy who plays Bob Cratchit in the other cast was performing with us. He basically told me that his wife said she had never liked the opening scene with Fred and Scrooge until she saw me. Woohoo! I want to meet her so I can thank her.

Sometimes, all I need in my life is a good conversation with Julie and Trash Ball for a couple hours. They're fun.

Matt and Melinda are coming to the show tomorrow night. Last time I was in this show, they came to see it and Melinda ate corn beforehand. Melinda is allergic to corn and has major reactions to it. As a result, she was miserable and sick during the show, and they had to leave in the middle. Therefore, she is NOT allowed to eat corn tomorrow. No corn at all.

I had a ton of people at the show last night that came to see me. It was very nice. Happy fun time!

I think I'm going to Twelfth Night tonight. I'd rather have a night to just not do anything and relax. Oh, well. After next week, I can find a few nights here and there, I hope.

I'm SO done with school. D. O. N. E. Next week, I have song to perform in Musical Theatre ("My Freeze Ray" from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), a scene to perform in Acting Styles (An Ideal Husband), and a presentation in Content Area Reading and Writing. Then, the next week, I have finals which consist of performing 3 of the scenes I've done in Acting Styles, performing two of the songs I've done in Musical Theatre, and turning in my final sound design. Then, school is over. I'll actually be able to do some Christmas shopping and stuff.

This class is over, but I don't have time to publish this, so I'll come back later...

*****

Last time I edit before publishing, I swear...

Emily and I just got back from Twelfth Night. I wanted to like it so much more. I sure did love Katy and Sara, though.

I'm done with random thoughts for now, I think. I'm going to finish watching The Soup, play Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for a minute (have I mentioned how much I love that game?!), and then head to bed. I have a crazy day tomorrow full of rehearsals, meetings, and performances.

Goodnight!

(PS to Julie G. - I made a special tag for you. I hope you know that shows just how strong our friendship is. I just might add you to MY blogroll!)

I'm Carol!!!

As many of you should know, I auditioned for A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theater in Orem last week. I haven't been in a play (that I claim) since the last time I did CC in 2005. That was the year when I played Fred (the role I had always wanted) and my good friend Trash didn't get cast at all. We were really sad because we wanted to play husband and wife. Don't feel bad for Trash, though. She got a Batman trick-or-treat pail out of it. And she's a Trash Ball.

The next two years, I was so busy with school stuff (Nunsense, Tempest, Ha Wilderness, Canyon Suite) that I was unable to do the show again. It was nice the first year to have a Christmas without worrying about a show, but last year, Trash played Mrs. Fred again, and I was a teeny bit jealous.

Months ago, I decided that if there was any chance my schedule would allow it, I would audition this year. Since my work for Nosferatu is pretty much done, and the bulk of my work for Chess will be done soon, I figured it was a good time. So, I auditioned.

And may I just tell you that I ROCKED that audition? I was going to just sing "Unworthy of Your Love" from Assassins, because that's what I had just finished working on in musical theatre class. However, I didn't know who the pianist was going to be, and it is a little tricky to play. At 1 AM the morning of the audition, I changed to "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2, which is sung by a man in On the Record (and much better, I feel). I had a practice track, so I went through it a few times throughout the day.

My audition time was at the same time as my friend Heidi's, so we got there together and went in. The auditions were running an hour behind, so we got to sit in the crowded hallway and wait patiently for a long time. When I finally got in there, I found out it was a good pianist, so I didn't need to worry afterall. I went ahead and did "When She Loved Me" and focused on the words so much that I didn't act it quite as well as I would have liked. However, I felt REALLY good about it. Then I read Fred's monologue about profit from Christmas (which President Monson has quoted before) and it was easy, since I had it memorized 3 years ago.

After a night and morning that crept by, I got a phone call inviting me to callbacks the next night. Trash got called back, too, so we planned to go in together and show them how fun we are and how much chemistry we would have on stage. (I'm convinced that the reason I got the part in 2005 was because Crocky and I had so much fun together when we read.)

The callbacks were done completely randomly, and Trash and I never read together. We were totally bummed. I was also called back for Topper, so I had to read that as well. The women were excused, and those of us who were up for Fred stayed to read the scene where Fred tries to get Scrooge to come to dinner. I freaking rocked it. I know some people have a warped sense of how good they really are, but looking at my scene as a director, I was blown away. I was the ONLY guy there who had any levels and didn't just stay the same the whole scene. That was Friday night.

Saturday morning, some people were already finding out that they had been cast. I was bummed. Trash found out that afternoon that she was cast, but didn't know her part (although, we really suspected it was Mrs. Fred). By Saturday night, I still hadn't heard anything. I was a little bummed, but I still felt pretty good.

Sunday night, I got the call. Trash Ball and I were officially man and wife. So, we did the most natural step. We changed our Facebook status to show that we were hitched. Several people have congratulated me on the wedding, some have been offended that they weren't invited, and some have caught the joke.

In case you were wondering, here is a rundown of the actual wedding festivities.

Friday night, we prepared by going to Smith's and buying Coke and pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies with orange sprinkles. Then, the actual ceremony, or callbacks, happened.

Afterward, we spent a lovely wedding dinner at Mimi's Cafe with our good friend, Matt. Trash was a little cranky to be spending time with another man while we should have been honeymooning, and she snapped at Matt and scared the waitress at one point.

Saturday, we spent our honeymoon seeing a play, Dial 'M' for Murder at BYU. It wasn't very good. Some of the actors were downright great, but a couple were pretty bad. And the director was under the impression that it was a comedy, when in fact, it's a dark drama with a few little jokes here and there. It was supposedly film noir style, but nothing about it said film noir. And the music....EW. There was modern music with synth sounds mixed with old stuff that was accurate. Hated that part the most.

After the play, we were fortunate enough to spend our second night as man and wife at dinner with the Culps and their families. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Culps? Well, I love them a whole lot. They're loads of fun.

Sunday, we went to our respective wards (at least Trash Ball BETTER have) and then I finished Nosferatu. Oh, and then that night we found out were were married.

Overall, it was a good weekend. If you would like to send Trash and me a wedding gift, let me know, and I'll give you my address. Otherwise, just plan to come and see Christmas Carol in a month and a half.

PS - If you get the title of this blog, you win five hundred dollars. And by "five hundred dollars", I mean the privilege of knowing that I think you're cool.

Hey, It's a Happy Day!!!

My new drive came this morning, with plenty of time for me to install it before school. I quickly got to work, and before I knew it, I had a brand-spanking-new optical drive in my computer....THAT DIDN'T WORK.

I spent the whole day being ornery. Poor youth theatre kids. And it didn't help to see a show at school in the mood I was in. I really wanted to like it, I swear...

I got home tonight and got online with another HP support technician. I decided after the She-Ra fiasco, I needed to speak with printed words. Serenity was very nice, and only said a few mildly Engrish-sounding things. She (I hope) gave me some new steps to try and solve the problem, but they included rebooting at the end. I did them, and nothing.

So, I started speaking to Sunny. I was very excited at first, because I thought that maybe Sunny Watts was moonlighting as an HP online support technician. I love that woman. However, I probably wouldn't trust her with my computer.

Anyhoo, Sunny gave me steps to follow, and when I finished them- the error message was gone!!! I popped the revival recording of Chicago into the drive, and soon enough, the master of ceremonies was telling me about adultery and murder. I then popped in my DVD of Strangers on a Train, and shortly saw Hitchcock in glorious black & white.

I was giddy like a schoolboy. I thanked Sunny and actually said "God bless you!" Sunny is my new hero.

I'm still sending back the old drive, though. I figure that I earned the new one, with a little help from Sunny. And She-Ra.

Other happy thoughts tonight:

• While I was going through the endless steps to try and fix my computer, I watched Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money. The former was just as good as ever, and the latter was even better than last season. Oh, and Ghost Hunters was great, too. Very scary.
• My new favorite line ever from a primetime soap: "I'm going to take a shower and try to wash whatever's left of this marriage off my body. Try not to fall down." (She did, in fact fall down in the next scene.)
• I'm going to audition for A Christmas Carol at the Hale next week. The last time I was in a show (I'm pretending Ah, Wilderness! didn't exist) was CC of 2005, when I played Fred, which was one of my dream roles. I'm super excited this time, because *if* I get cast as that part again, I'll most likely be playing off of Trash Ball as Mrs. Fred. Cross your fingers and pray for us, please. Having a fun acting experience is EXACTLY what I need right now. I just have to hope that they want me enough to work around my few Chess conflicts.
• I'm feeling really good about my musical theatre class. Especially being someone who doesn't "sing or act very well" and should "stick to music directing." I felt really good about my preview performance on Monday- which was while my cold/allergies were bugging me and I had a queasy stomach from taking my pills on an empty stomach. Today, we did a really fun exercise to focus on breathing. Good times.
• I'm almost done buying things for my Halloween costume. It's a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. I hope I have somewhere fun to wear it, because if it's just to stay at home and hand out candy to kids who won't even know who I am because they're too young, I'll be bugged. I put in a bid for the last main part of the costume on eBay tonight. I'll know tomorrow if I need to look elsewhere. And then I need to start constructing the tricky part...
• The semester is about 1/3 of the way over. CRAZY! And yet, awesome. The senioritis isn't so bad right now, but I expect it to kick back in eventually.
• I feel like my Facebook status right now is really clever, because it's not one, but TWO pop culture references. If you get them, you're cool. If not, you're probably Heather. ;) David will get one, though.
• Speaking of the Masons, I GOT TO TALK TO THEM TONIGHT!!! We've played phone tag for over a month, and we finally made contact tonight. Heather hasn't picked up a fake NY accent yet. Thank goodness. Although, if she started talking like one of the sweet, old, Jewish ladies that I met in Rockefeller Center 9 years ago, I wouldn't mind. It would actually make her more endearing, I think.
• My youth theatre kids are harder workers than they were last year. Granted, there are probably 30 new kids, and only about 40 of the same, but still...they're learning better, and some are learning faster. It makes it easier for me to ditch the extra rehearsals if I get cast in CC. :)
• I get to see the Culps next week! And Keisha is supposed to be in town, too. I think she may have called me earlier, but I didn't get a voicemail. I hope she calls back when I'm not in the middle of teaching.
• I have a free night tomorrow (I think). I think I'll have a Blu-Ray marathon while I work on a lighting cue list for Sty of the Blind Pig - a.k.a. the most screwed up play of all time.
• I'm going to Disneyland next month, and while I'm excited about seeing the parks all dec'd for Christmas, I'm mostly excited for the Ace of Base marathon on the car trip down. I think I actually have enough Ace of Base for the entire drive. (Bwahahahahaha!)
• Robin Thicke's new album is In. Cred. I. Ble. If you like him, or even if you don't, check it out. Seriously. So far, I haven't noticed anything too dirty, either. Of course, I didn't notice anything dirty on the last one until my sister chewed me out for listening to such a dirty CD.

And now, I'm going to bed. I have a feeling I'll be up way too early tomorrow because of stupid construction again. In the meantime, hey! It's a happy day!

I'm Free To Do What I Want Any Old Time

Another semester has come and gone. I only had 2 classes, but they had so much homework that it didn't feel much different from spring semester. Both classes seemed like kind of a waste. I expect to get pretty good grades, and that worries me. How come I can't get good grades in the education classes that aren't a waste of time for me? Oh, that's right. The Education department is messed up. Oh, well. This semester, I did the following projects (and got 100% on most): a WebQuest about the validity of doing High School Musical in a high school, a digital story about plot-development and using Wicked as a well-developed plot, a book report on Black Like Me which resulted in my hating white people for a few minutes, an autobiography, a biography of Elfi Panholzer, and a paper comparing my autobiography to Elfi's biography. There were smaller assignments, too, but those were the big ones. And now, I have one more semester of actual classes, and then student teaching. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!!

I also recently took the PRAXIS-II exam. It was a 100 question test about my knowledge of theatre. It was ridiculously stupid. It is designed for secondary education majors, and yet there were questions about elementary school kids' development. What the?! The biggest kicker, which makes me hate the state of Utah right now, is the fact that it doesn't even matter how I score on the test. If I get a 20% or a 100%, they don't care. They'll certify me just for taking it. LAME.

Saturday's Warrior/The White Star is up and running. It was an amazing experience until the end. The last week, the gloves were off, and somebody on the production staff became very selfish and non-collaborative. There are some gosh-awful things about the music that I wish more than anything I could fix, but I was told that my opinion doesn't matter on the issues. The reason that I hestitated to do the show came true there at the end, and the last few rehearsals I went to were miserable. However, I still love the cast, I still love the director, I still love the choreographer, and I'm still glad I did the show. It turned out pretty darn good, too. There are some aspects of the show I don't like (basically all the tech, the manipulative slide shows, the tracks that I couldn't fix), but overall, it's a good show. And it blows my mind to see how many people are going to see it.

If you read my blog, you know that I've been dying to act lately. I actually have some free time for once, and a director has pretty much offered me a great part in a good show, and I would be paid. However, I just can't bring myself to audition. I feel like I need to keep taking a break until the fall. Heaven knows what I'll be stuck doing at school then, and I don't want to go a whole school year without any free time again. If I get a break, it will make that tolerable. For the first time in years, I don't have a show lined up, and while it was stressful at first, I'm kind of enjoying it now. I'm also worried that the second I get involved in another show, the Elders' Quorum will suddenly need more of my attention. I guess I should pray about it, and fast. The auditions are soon.

Happy stuff now:

• I'm watching Alias right now. I haven't really watched it in two years, and it makes me very happy.
• I've been able to have a few scary movie nights with my nieces and nephews. The Eye wasn't as bad as I had feared. Jessica Alba is as wretched as ever, but the movie rose above my expectations.
• Lego Indiana Jones is pretty much the coolest thing ever. I've finished all of the levels, and now I'm going back through to pick up things I missed on the first go-round. It's so stinking addictive.
• It's summer, and that means I'm fully addicted to Otter Pops again. Gosh, I love those little frozen sticks of delight.
• I've been catching up with more friends lately. Last night was Taryn's last night in town, and also the only night she could get together, so we bbq'd with Holly, Tavin, Megan, and Taryn's friend Karen. (I missed Family Home Evening for it. Ssh! It'll be our little secret.) She brought pineapples, and right in front of my eyes, she cut one. And I ate it. And it was amazing. I've never had pineapple that fresh. I've only had it after it's been cut for a while. Oh, and since Taryn has sat by me at Church the last couple weeks, people in our ward think we're dating, which makes me giggle. As if I could ever get a tall, artsy drink of water like THAT!
• I get to sleep in as late as I want tomorrow, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday... I love the last week of a semester.
• I've started recording tracks for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which I'm doing with youth theatre next year. I never knew the show until now, and I love it. I particularly love the chord progression at the end of "Happiness" when Lucy says the title line to Charlie. And I like the creative ways I'm using Schroeder onstage. He'll randomly play on his toy piano, and then it gradually fades into a full combo. Tomorrow, I'm going to record the title song. I'm excited.

That's it for now. Enjoy this funny video that brings me great joy:

High School Tony Awards Honor Nation's Biggest Drama Club Nerds

Things I Learned This Semester

• Don't EVER be working on three shows simultaneously. It's way too much stress.
• That said, it's fully possible to work on three shows simultaneously and have them turn out really well. I was blown away by how good Dinner for Four, The Wizard of Oz, and especially Smokey Joe's Cafe were. I had expected it for the first two, but I didn't expect SJC to be nearly as good as it was.
• Speaking of SJC, it's possible for divas to just be misunderstood, stressed people. "Rosie" pulled me aside, and with tears in her eyes, she apologized. I accepted and promised that she could be on my friend waiting list. As soon as a spot opens up, she'll be back to normal friend status. :) (I told her that to lighten her up, as I was afraid she was going to totally cry.)
• Writers' Strikes are not the worst thing in the world. In fact, they allow you to not spend so much time catching up on TV shows every night before bed.
• Some people are never going to be happy, and to compensate, they try to make other people around them miserable. If you befriend them (which you definitely should do, because they NEED that), don't get too close and don't trust them with any information. Especially if they are very two-faced to their other friends and you've witnessed it firsthand.
• If you have a gut feeling that you shouldn't do a show, and you really don't want to, DON'T DO IT. Especially when other people in your department are actively trying to sabotage it because they're bitter and angry that they're not involved. If your heart is not in a show, don't do it. Let the whiny problem-causers take over.
• If you don't date when you have the time for it, you'll regret it. When you have somebody you want to date, you'll be way too busy to find time to do it.
• It IS possible for a normal, non-freakish, non-ugly, non-deceptive active LDS girl to have a crush on me.
• I'm NOT the world's worst actor.
• I may never get over the need to prove myself to people who have messed up my confidence in the past.
• Evil sisters-in-law may not be around for ever. Treasure each moment with them while they last. hehehe.
• Disneyland is the best place ever for white trash breakdowns.
• Even if you've been teaching kids for 10 years, you do NOT know how to teach kids. Also, even if you're close to getting a degree in theatre, you don't know as much about how to teach theatre as a science teacher does.
• There is a major teacher shortage in this state (and country, for that matter) and yet the Education Department insists on trying to scare off as many students as possible.
• True friends will still be friends even if you have a stretch of many weeks when you have no time to even call.
• Extra special friends will still insist on keeping up with you when you're incredibly busy and will make the effort to call or text as much as they can to make sure you're okay. Or, they'll come to all of the shows that are keeping you busy just so they can see you for a few minutes.
• I'm tired of waiting around for The Fray to release a new album. I mean, come on! They had enough good material for at least half an album when they played Usana last July. What's the hold up?
• No matter what happens, I will always love Kelly Clarkson and feel confident that one day I'll marry her.
• Even if you have a new harddrive- DON'T TRUST IT. Back up everything.
• Some people who work as "techies" for theatre are doing it because they're too brainless to work fast food, and people take pity on them and give them jobs. Even if you're yelling "GO!" in their ear, they can't figure out that they need to push "Play" on a CD player.
• If you get too comfortable in your Church calling(s), or if you vocalize the fact that you wouldn't mind being released because of the stress, you'll end up with a more stressful calling and you'll sense that God is up there laughing and saying "Take that!"