Joy and Gladness

I rarely blog anymore, but I want a record of the past few months, if for no other reason than to share with Lucy one day, since she's too young to remember. Plus, great stuff has happened, and I love to share that with people.

On closing night of The Sound of Music, 2 years ago, I told the president of SCERA, Adam, that I called dibs on Mary Poppins when the rights came out. Last year, during Les Mis, I found out that it was a favorite show of my stage manager extraordinaire, Crysta, too. I reminded Adam that I called dibs, and Crysta said she'd be in for the project, too. I had it on good authority that the rights for community theatre would be out later that year.

In January, Adam called and said it was a go. I got my script and immersed myself in the world of Mary Poppins. I read all of the Mary Poppins books. P.L. Travers had some fun ideas, but MAN, it was hard to get through the later ones. I grew to appreciate what Walt Disney had done by creating a better story of all the vignettes. I read a biography of P.L. Travers and really grew to dislike the woman. The way she's portrayed in Saving Mr. Banks makes her look much nicer than she really was. It's funny to me that she was so concerned about what Walt was doing to her story, when he was doing so much to help the story and add to the magic of it.

Around the time of auditions, in late March, I was asked to be in a choir for the dedication of the Payson LDS Temple. As a stake music chair, I had submitted my name, along with a handful of others who I felt were good at listening, blending, and learning pieces quickly, as I had been instructed to do. The people over the choir took the names, looked at musical background, prayed about it, and then put together a choir of 19 people, including 4 from our stake. Way to represent, River Stake!

For the choir, we had to commit to rehearsing every Sunday night from then until the dedication on Sunday, June 7. That was a HUGE commitment, but the opportunity to actually sing in a choir AND do it in the celestial room at a temple during a dedication was one I couldn't pass up. So, I accepted.

This meant that Monday-Friday evenings (with some exceptions during choreography nights and whatnot) and Saturday mornings, I was at rehearsal, and Sunday evenings, I was gone for choir. Towards the end, I had to start rehearsing for stake conference as well, so I would go to one choir rehearsal, come home for a few minutes and then go to another. I was still working a full time job and teaching piano as well. It was an exhausting few months.

With Mary Poppins, I hit the cast jackpot. I could not have cast the show any better. Not only was everybody ridiculously talented, but it was the best group of people I've ever directed. There was no ego among the cast. As they worked together, they became a close family.

In the LDS culture, you hear the term "ward family" all the time. I would not call my ward a family. I have very few people in my ward who I believe would care for me in my time of need like a family member would. (Although, as a dysfunctional family, based on the way Lauren and I have been treated by many members in our ward, I WOULD use the term "ward family"...)

I DO love, however, the term "cast family." There's really no better way to describe this group of people. Other than one small problem who was removed, there was SO much love in the cast. And you could feel it radiating from the stage. If any one of them was in need, I would do my best to help them, and I KNOW it's reciprocated.

I could not have gotten through the last few months without this cast.

After about a month of rehearsing both choir and the show, it started to get more stressful. I'm TERRIBLE at memorization, and I had to memorize three songs for choir with no time to practice other than singing in my car. I was getting the notes, but it was hard to get the words without being able to read them.

One Sunday afternoon, I realized I needed to work really hard on memorizing the first of the three songs. While Lucy was napping and Lauren was resting, I pulled out the music and went upstairs to the bedroom where I could not disturb anybody else. I drilled the song until I felt pretty confident, and then went downstairs and sat down on the couch to work on some things for Mary Poppins. At the same time, Lucy woke up, so Lauren went to get her. A few minutes later, Lauren came downstairs and asked what I had been doing upstairs in my temple clothes. I laughed, and she asked if I was trying them on to make sure they would look good for the dedication in a few weeks. I told her we weren't supposed to wear them, and I hadn't been.

Apparently, while I was downstairs, Lauren and Lucy were in the nursery, and Lauren had her back to the door. Lucy said "Hi, Dad!" and Lauren turned around just in time to see the back of "me" walking into the office, dressed completely in white. She thought I was trying to scare her, so she grabbed Lucy, ran into the office and yelled "BOO!" only to find nobody there.

After finally being convinced that I was telling the truth, and I wasn't upstairs, Lauren asked me to go check it out. I did, and found nothing. But there was an overwhelming presence in the area by the office and nursery. I came back downstairs and told Lauren that I found nothing, but didn't tell her what I had felt. She insisted that we look again, because she KNEW she had seen somebody, so we both went up to look. Again, we saw nothing, but I felt a presence. We came back downstairs, and Lauren asked Lucy if she had seen anybody that looked like Daddy. She said yes, and when Lauren asked her where, she pointed at me, rolled her eyes at Lauren and said "Right there." I felt a presence up in that room for a couple more days, then it was gone, and I haven't felt it since. The dogs sensed it, too, as they were barking a lot and getting anxious for no reason, especially in the evenings when I was at rehearsal. Lauren was convinced that it was a family member, but I don't know of any deceased family members that look like me and are built like me.

On Friday, May 22, Lauren and I finally got ourselves to the temple open house. As we walked out of the church on the south of the temple and Lucy got her first view of the temple and Moroni with his trumpet, she yelled "DISNEYLAND!!!!!" Inside the temple, she was in awe as she saw the most beautiful building she's ever seen in her life. After the tour, we went into the visitors' tent, and words can't describe the love/happiness/awe on Lucy's face as she looked at the statue of the Christus. After that, Lauren and Lucy went home and I stayed to play the piano in the tent for 2 hours. Those 2 hours flew. When the next person got there to "relieve" me, I wasn't ready to go. I asked to play one more song, which was a nice little arrangement of "'Give,' Said the Little Stream." Perfectly fitting.

"Lucy, smile for me! Lucy! Look at me! LUCY! THANK YOU!"

About a week before Mary Poppins was supposed to open, and the temple was to be dedicated, I started feeling a cold coming. I panicked. EVERY time I open a show, I get sick the day after it opens, as all the stress melts away and the adreneline stops aiding my immune system. It's typically a cold, and more often than not, I lose my voice.

That week, as it was wet and freezing every night at rehearsal, I prayed like never before that I would be able to stay well until after the temple dedication. However, I got sick. The last Saturday before we opened, I came home from rehearsal and crashed. I laid down on the couch and felt miserable from the time I left the morning rehearsal until the time I went to the evening rehearsal. The next week was really hard, because I was trying to fight off the cold, which never seemed to manifest fully. Just lots of congestion which led to really bad headaches and constant fatigue.

On Friday, June 5, I had a "dress rehearsal" at the temple. I hadn't sung all week, because when I had tried, my voice was squeaky and scratchy. I met with the choir and rehearsed for an hour in the church, and then we went to the temple. It was surreal to let myself in and make my way to the celestial room. We then were instructed on how things were going to go down on Sunday, and practiced each number as well as walking in and out. I still hadn't sung my best in the church, but once in the celestial room, my voice was completely fine. As soon as we were excused and given our parking passes for the dedication, I walked quickly (but reverently) to my car and changed my clothes as fast as I could.

I drove as fast as I legally/safely could to the Shell, and arrived only 5 minutes late for cast meeting. When I walked up to where the cast was waiting, they all cheered, and my stress disappeared. Mary Poppins opened, and it was a beautiful opening night. On Saturday, June 6, I crashed. I felt terrible. The weeks of no sleep and stress and my cold had caught up to me. I went to bed early that night, since I had to be to the temple pretty early the next morning.

I woke up on Sunday, June 7, popped cold meds, and made it to the temple early. I prayed in my car that I would be able to sing, and then I went and met the choir to rehearse in the church again. After a brief meeting and prayer together, we went into the temple and were seated just off the celestial room. As the dedication started, we walked into the celestial room, stood behind President Eyring and Elder Cook, and sang "On This Day of Joy and Gladness." It was beautiful. As we were walking back to our seats, President Eyring smiled at us like Lauren smiles at Disneyland.

After a bit, we went back in and sang "Come, O Thou King of Kings", and at the end of the meeting, we sang "Hosanna Anthem/The Spirit of God." The celestial room was designed as a quiet place of reflection, but the acoustics were amazing. I've never sung so well in my life. And the Spirit felt was amazing.

Because of my participation, Lauren was given a ticket to be in the temple for that session, too, which happened to be the first one, where the temple was actually dedicated. As she was leaving, she bumped into President Eyring, who put his arm around her and told her how glad he was that she was there. I was a little jealous, because all I got from him were huge smiles and eye contact. BUT! If you add in the head nod he gave me at my graduation, then I'm still ahead of Lauren with Eyring encounters....

I got home from the temple and rested, then we went over to visit my parents while my Uncle Brent was there, and my uncles Pete and Eric came, too. It was...interesting...but nice.

Monday morning, I woke up sick. I don't know that I've EVER had such a bad cold. It's been almost three weeks, and I'm still not all the way better. But now I know that if I bargain with God to not be sick until after an event, He'll come through. I did end up losing my voice, and I was a never-ending source of mucus for days. I wasn't able to go back to Mary Poppins for a week, and when I did, I got sicker the next day from being out late in the cold.

Despite still being slightly under the weather, I made sure to see Mary Poppins three more times closing week. I couldn't stand to be away from it.

At the cast party, I was presented with a wooden spoon that had Mary Poppins and Bert burned into it, as well as a shadow box with an amazing design of Mary Poppins by Hayden Evans. I was also given an umbrella from Laura, who played one of the Janes, and lots of pictures, cards, and love from the cast. Have I mentioned how much I love that cast? And Crysta gave me a small collection of momentos from the three shows we've done together. She's going to be a famous stage manager in New York, and I'm really going to miss her.

Picture stolen from Hayden's Facebook page

Closing night, I turned into a blubbering idiot as I tried to express to the cast how much they meant to me as well as the show. If I didn't trust these people as much as I do, I'd be sure someday a video would turn up to blackmail me.

The best part about Mary Poppins wasn't just that the show means so much to me (spoiler alert: the whole thing is symbolic of Christ), or that the cast was amazing, or that the crew/staff worked so hard, or that the show turned out great. It was that Lauren loved it and said it was the best show I've ever done. And also, Lucy loved it. It's the first show she has sat all the way through, and she bonded with the characters AND the cast. For weeks, the best reward for good behavior was telling her she could see the show. When she was naughty, we would threaten that she couldn't see it, and she would ask if we were going to have the evil nanny, Miss Andrew, come. Or when she was throwing tantrums, she'd ask if Mary Poppins was going to come take her toys. To Lucy, Mary Poppins was REAL.

After the show on closing night, which Lucy watched all the way through again, she wanted pictures with her favorite cast members. Lucy won't let most people hold her. She's very stingy with her loves. But when she got to Josie, who played Mary, she wouldn't let go of her. And I almost lost it again, watching Josie being so good with Lucy. She held her for what felt like a long time, but was realistically 5-10 minutes tops. Lucy was on a high from that for a few days. And now she has pictures of her with Mary, Bert, Robertson Ay, and Mrs. Brill, and a program with their signatures. I goofed up by not getting a picture or autograph from Michael and Jane, but hopefully she won't hold it against me.

Popcorn and Poppins - two things Lucy loves!

With the cast of Mary Poppins, I was able to choose my family for a brief period, and boy, did I choose a good one. And to see them merge with my actual family was the icing on the cake. They were all so kind and good to Lucy and Lauren and made them feel welcome.

The last few months have been some of the busiest of my life. There was much stress, but I never felt like it was too much, and it never became negative.

God is good.

Christ is good.

Mary Poppins is good.

Family is good.

Love is good.

Amen.

Love Is All You Need

A few weeks ago, I gave a talk in my ward's sacrament meeting. The topic was Love at Home, and was based on these great talks:

"More Diligent and Concerned at Home" by Elder David A. Bednar

"For Peace at Home" by Elder Richard G. Scott

I despise giving talks based on other talks. I'd much rather write a talk about a general topic or a scripture. Because of this, I usually try to just take the basic idea from the talks, mash them up, and add things to make it personal.

In this case, I had been prepping for a few weeks, and I had the talk totally written by the night before. However, the morning of, I suddenly got the feeling that I needed to shift focus a little bit. I felt very strongly that I needed to focus on an aspect of both talks, which was that we should be showing love at home as an example to people who may not have the same values as us. And the funny thing was, I got a clear picture of a woman from my ward in my head. For anonymity's sake, we'll refer to her as Maude. Not because she looks like a young Bea Arthur (although, she kind of does - just a little bit), but I just like the name.

Here's what you should know about Maude.

Maude was (is?) my wife's visiting teacher. At one point, she also worked with my wife, Lauren, in a position within the church. When discussing the fact that they needed more people to help one night over frozen yogurt, the name of someone else in our ward was brought up, to which Maude essentially responded "But s/he supports gay marriage. I will never work with somebody who supports gay marriage."

After trashing on her/him and others who support gay marriage, Lauren finally said "Maude, I support gay marriage." Maude was flabbergasted and sat there speechless for a moment before declaring the meeting over and telling everyone to go home.

Maude has not been visiting teaching in our home since.

Not too long ago, Maude spoke in sacrament meeting, and turned her topic into a hate-filled rant on gay marriage. Lauren had taken Lucy out because she was fussing (don't blame you, kid!), which left me to suffer in silence by myself. When Maude's husband got up to speak after her and seemed to be following her up, I got up and left. I've never walked out of a church meeting before, but I couldn't stay and listen to what I viewed as hate being shared over the pulpit.

There are many other stories I could share about how hate-filled Maude appears to be, or how she constantly tears down others in our ward, but I think that gives you the basic idea without destroying her anonymity.

When Maude's face kept popping up in my head all day, I decided I needed to go ahead and do what I was feeling prompted to do. I switched the focus of my talk JUST enough to fit the message I felt I needed to share. I decided to talk about my amazing Les Mis cast and how we were able to form a family. I talked about how that family had Mormons, Catholics, athiests, homosexuals, and more - and yet we all came together and loved each other and accomplished amazing things. I talked about how both of the apostles whose talks I was referencing had said that we should be inviting people into our homes. I shared examples I had collected on Facebook of how friends show love within their families. It wasn't the best talk I had ever given, but I feel it got my point across.

When I stood up and began talking, I had a clear view of Maude. At first, she seemed fine. Certainly not captivated, but not disinterested either. I began by saying that the topic of love has been on my mind a lot lately, as I've been working on projects that are all about love, which is true. Then, I dared to have the nerve to say that because of issues like gay rights and the Ordain Women movement, I've been seeing some people I love spew hate towards others that I love, and I'm tired of seeing them tear each other apart and finding ways to justify their hatred.

As soon as I said that, it became obvious that this may not be the talk people thought they would be hearing. I saw some perk up, I saw some tune out, I saw some with no change at all, and I saw Maude dramatically roll her eyes, heave a sigh, and slouch in her seat.

Throughout the talk, I kept an eye on Maude. It was comical; not unlike a 6 year old throwing a tantrum. Now, I could have been reading it wrong. Maybe she was reacting to her children. Maybe she was having a hard time deciding what to make for dinner that day. Maybe I had a massive asteroid of a booger hanging from my nose, and she was horrified that I wasn't feeling it and reaching for the tissues.

I never once declared my support for gay rights. I never once declared support for feminism. All I said was that I was tired of seeing people I love tearing down other people I love. I don't think I did anything wrong, but Maude appeared to disagree.

After the meeting, Maude approached Lauren and said "So...your husband spoke in sacrament today. That was.............fun........."

Fun.

Addressing the topic that is the root of the entire gospel and sharing beautiful examples of people displaying that was "fun." And not even fun, but a sarcastic, eye-rolled fun.

After the talk, I wasn't upset. I thought it was quite comical to see the reaction. I'm still not mad. I am, however, frustrated. There are a plethora of negative stereotypes about Mormons, and it bothers me to see how many people perpetuate them.

How can so many people insist on forgetting the basics of the gospel? How can people claim to be Christian, and yet throw away the simplest way to be like the Savior? If Christ was here today, I highly doubt He would be ranting about how disgusting homosexuality is. I'm pretty sure He wouldn't be slut-shaming anyone. I'm pretty sure He wouldn't be using the Priesthood as an excuse to put down the fairer sex. If we've actually read the scriptures, we know He would do the opposite of all those things. Every person is a child of God and deserves to be treated as such.

Last fall, we had the privilege of attending the first ever Utah County Pride Festival. One of my favorite things at the event was a booth by the group Mormons Building Bridges, which advertised free hugs from Mormons. What a simple yet powerful way to reach out to those unlike us! Instead of focusing on differences as a negative thing, people were putting aside their differences and beliefs and just sharing love.

I don't hate people like Maude. They frustrate me, and they do give a lot of reason to be angry. But mostly, I just feel sorry for them. When they are giving out nothing but hate, I think it may have something to do with a lack of love in their own lives. People like that could probably use their own hug from a Mormon. And as much as I struggle to love people (introvert alert), I'm going to do my best to offer those free hugs. Whether actual hugs, verbal, emotional, or even cyber, I'm going to do my best to give those.

Even to Maude.

October Randomness

Here I am, sitting at work, waiting for an audio recording of a show to be done to send it off to the composer for approve the tempos. This time, it's Nunsense. (I love this show.) This seems to be the only time I can ever find to write blogs. Busy, busy, busy.

I hardly get any blog views anymore. I blame that on two factors: my lack of posting, and my decision to make my blog "permission-only" last year. When my out-laws cut us off just over a year ago, I decided it was best to end ALL communication, and since my mother-out-law used to read my blog all the time, I decided that counted. I took the privacy setting off a few months ago, but it may come back. You never know. In the meantime, I guess they can see all the things I posted to trash on them (that's the reason I supposedly put up the block). Fun fact: as far as I know, I've never trashed my out-laws on this blog (unless calling them out-laws counts as trashing). But sometimes, when I'm being passive aggressive or talk in code...

October is always such a nostalgic month for me. Not only because I love Halloween and all things related (except pumpkin-flavored things - YUCK), but because I love the fall. I love when the days start getting shorter, darker, and cooler. I love the smell of wet leaves on the ground. I love all the edited scary movies on cable. I love that it's the kickoff of three straight months of holidays, and I get to partake in all kinds of traditions and see a lot of my family and friends.

October also reminds me of my Grandma Orton. She was one of the best people in the whole world, and you didn't even have to be her grandson to think so. She treated everybody like family. She even left money and things for her neighbors when she died. Who does that?! She was such a good example of unconditional love and charity. I miss her all the time, but especially in October. Her 98th birthday would have been on October 6 this year, and Halloween marks the 8th anniversary of her death. She was older when she got my mom (oldest of 7), so by the time my mom got me (2nd youngest), Grandma was already pretty old. I'm lucky I got to know her for 23 years. Since I'm starting a family at an older age than the average around here, I hope my kids won't take their time with my mom for granted. She's such a carbon copy of her mother in so many ways.

In just over three months, I'm going to have a baby. A BABY. And she's going to be like a little female version of me. Sorry, Lauren. She is. She already loves The Beatles, Ace of Base, and musical theatre. Now we've got to get her into Batman. I'm not sure how we can do that while she's still in the womb. But as soon as she's born, I'm going to surround her with as many Batgirl items as I can find. Thank goodness my mom has an embroidery machine. Finding pink Batman symbols is HARD. However, finding infant/toddler Batgirl costumes is easy, so guess what she'll be wearing in a year? That's my girl!

Before Lauren got pregnant, we already had two boy names picked out. We were sure it was a boy. That was good, because we could not agree on any girl names. Luckily, 4 days before the gender check, I finally came up with a name that Lauren liked. Then after we found out the gender, we had a hard time trying to find a middle name. We're still keeping her first name fairly secret, but her middle name (and also nickname) is Elle. We were finding that whenever we'd talk about her, we'd start to slip and say her name. We SUCK at keeping secrets. So, I started referring to her as Elle, which is French for "she/her," because it seemed like an appropriate nickname AND we really liked how it went with her first name. For a while, I was worried that once we saw her, we'd decide that her name didn't fit her. There's still a possibility of that. However, her personality seems to fit it really well, so we should be good.

I've gotten back into a slump with church. I hate my calling, and I don't connect with the majority of my ward. On a good Sunday, ONE person will talk to me in church (not counting people who comment when I teach). I get snubbed by my own bishop a lot. At the last ward party we attended, he came and said hello and asked how I was, and he practically walked away before I had finished answering. He has a counselor who I'm 87% sure doesn't even know my name. I know that I could probably reach out more, but it's frustrating that when we do try things, like going to ward parties, only a few people will acknowledge our presence. I used to go to ward choir, but it was really contentious. Everybody argued with the choir director. And even though it's not my calling, every time I go, I get suckered into playing the piano. When I was asked to lead warmups one day, a guy snickered and commented about how weird my warmups are. Apart from a few neighbors that I really like, and ONE guy in our ward who talks to me on a regular basis, church is the opposite of a social situation for me now. (It's a great way to get caught up on others' blogs/Facebook/Twitter between classes, though!) Sorry. I almost made it through a random list without anything negative.

Taking a break from theatre is refreshing, even though it drives me a little crazy. And I get super-productive when I'm not in rehearsal/performance. There are house projects that I've been meaning to get to for over a year that I'm finally getting done. Maybe I can FINALLY post that photo tour of my house for Sarah Culp. (Sarah, do you still read my blog? Miss your face!) By the time the baby comes, we will have painted walls, refinished furniture, replaced a mirror with a medicine cabinet, hung new curtains, added new furniture... It won't even look like the same house.

Also, I don't think I've mentioned it on my blog, but I bought a piano! I've always wanted an antique piano, and I found a 1939 baby grand for $500 on KSL. Couldn't pass that up. It's been in the shop for over two months, getting its guts completely refurbished. Then, when I can save up enough money, I'm going to have it refinished on the outside and painted black to match my black, white, red, and gray living room. I'm excited to finally have a piano in the house. The Clavinova just doesn't cut it when I'm in the mood for some Beethoven, Schubert, or Rachmaninoff.

Another plus to taking a break from theatre is the time I have to actually do things like cook. I made sugar cookies for the first time in 2 years yesterday. And DANG, they were good. I also remembered that 2 years ago, I perfected oven-fried chicken. Got to make that the other day. Pretty soon, much to Lauren's dismay, I'm going to pull out my meatloaf pan. *drool* I love a fancy meatloaf. The last time I made one, it was from ground turkey and chicken and had ranch seasonings. I'm craving a good beef/pork one. Also, I forgot how much I love making soup. There's nothing like a bowl of great soup on a late fall/winter night.

Nunsense is finishing up, so it's time to publish and be done. And it's almost time to go home, where I'll probably tackle something off my to-do list, instead of watching the Presidential debates like a good citizen. I can't get that riled up if I want to sleep tonight. Maybe we'll watch a horror movie off the DVR instead. Saw, maybe? Much calmer.

Instant Celebrity!!!

Content warning: this blog is long and churchy. If you’re not familiar with the LDS Church, you might not understand everything I talk about, and I’m too lazy to make a glossary right now.

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If you’ve talked to me much since I got married, then you know that one of the biggest problems I’ve had in that time has been mine and Lauren’s awful ward.

In the past 13 months, we’ve been officially home-taught 0 times. Lauren has never had an official visit from visiting teachers. (Note: our home teachers AND Lauren’s visiting teachers have reported that they have been visiting us.) We also don’t know our own HTing and VTing assignments. When Lauren has asked the RS Presidency for her assignment, they put her off, but then blame her for not knowing.

Whenever we have to miss Church, it’s REALLY hard to get anybody to agree to teach our Primary class, except for one mother who we feel bad about calling every time.

Many people in the ward will turn their heads and snub us when they pass us in the hall (including Bishopric members). When we went in for tithing settlement, the Bishopric member who was supposed to be there greeting everyone as they came spent the majority of the time talking on his cell phone to his mom, and then came to check the list to see who we were. When he read our names, he turned and walked back into the office.

That’s just a small sampling of the crap we’ve dealt with during our time in this ward.

Well, all that’s going to change now!

After 13 months of being shunned/avoided/ignored/mentally *****-slapped, everyone wants to be our friends now.

About one year ago, I was asked to play the organ in Sacrament one week. Our ward doesn’t have an actual organist calling for some reason, and people just volunteer to do it. On this week, apparently nobody who played was available. So, the music chairperson, whom I’d never met, called and asked me to do it. I obliged, and after the meeting, the chairperson cornered me. She praised my playing and told me that she was basically auditioning me by having me play. She played the organ herself, and she could have done it that day. She then asked if I would ever be willing to perform or help with special musical numbers in Sacrament. I told her I would be willing to do that. Then she told me it would be great if I’d join their roster of organists. I told her that I had a Primary calling, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to do postlude every week. I had both the organist calling and a Primary calling once in 2004, and when I would show up to Primary late, the kids would be rowdy. I told her I didn’t want to do that again. She got a little frustrated, and told me that I team teach with my wife, so I should let Lauren handle the kids.

I decided to be done with the conversation, and I said that if I didn’t have a Bishopric-issued calling, then I wouldn’t be an organist. She got a little more agitated and told me that the way they have the organists set up is great because it gives people a chance to practice their talents and share them when they’d like to. I countered with the fact that I don’t feel the need to share my talents when there are others who do, and if there are already at least 3 organists, then I clearly wasn’t needed. I told her that I would still be willing to help with any special numbers, and if they were in a jam, I would help with the organ again, but I would not become a regular organist.

She became very frustrated and short at that point, and basically told me that she was disappointed in my unwillingness to help.

I never spoke to her again.

She moved around October/November. A new music chairperson was not called until very recently, and shortly after she was called, she asked me to play in Sacrament.

This Sunday, I played a Michael R. Hicks arrangement of “Our Savior’s Love/I Feel My Savior’s Love.” It was a pretty good, though fairly simple arrangement. I didn’t want to do something too complex, since my weekend was spent on the Syd Riggs benefit concert (blog to come at some point, probably). It was impressive enough, I guess, that suddenly everybody in the ward wanted to be my friend. People came into my classroom as Lauren and I were setting up to talk to me. People who JUST LAST SUNDAY rolled their eyes when they walked into a room and saw me were suddenly wanting to shake my hand. Lauren was treated like a celebrity wife by other women in the ward.

I can certainly understand how the Kennedys feel.

It baffles my mind that people can flip that easily. I’ve NEVER been in such a weird/fickle/cliquish/divisive/awful ward before.

But, I took advantage of the opportunity. Since the EQP was talking to me, I confronted him (nicely) about the home teaching situation. AND! I now know who my companion is, and we should hopefully be getting new home teachers.

Lauren now knows her visiting teaching assignment, and one of her visiting teachers added her on Facebook today.

Things are looking up!

If only I would have been willing to share my talents a year ago, and not pissed off some old lady who apparently controlled the whole ward like a drug lord…

Clean Up Batter on a Team That Ain’t a Winner

I had a big birthday this year. I’m officially old.

I remember being around 19 and having friends through theatre who were as old as I am now, and thinking they were SO old.

I remember when my oldest sister was this old and thinking how weird it was to have such an old sibling.

If you bought clothes as old as me, they’re vintage.

If you bought furniture as old as me, it’s antique.

But, you know what? It was a GOOD BIRTHDAY.

Last year sucked, and I’m hoping it had something to do with having a bad birthday (stuck in rehearsal all day, then supervising a school dance all night).

The only sucky things about my birthday this year were having to go to church and then having to go help out with ward choir practice.

Other than that, my birthday was great.

Lauren made me white chocolate blueberry cheesecake, and it was INCREDIBLE.

We had a family dinner and my mom made Mexican food.

We had a Lost marathon.

Two episodes of To Catch a Predator!!!

I was given gifts like these:

And best of all, I got to see lots of people who I love, and I got TONS of birthday wishes through the mail, phone calls, texts, and Facebook.

2011 is going to be a good year.

PS – This is the best song about turning 30 EVER WRITTEN. (I’m not sure if there are any others, but still…) There’s an f word in it, though, so if that bothers you, don’t listen.

LOVE THIS SONG.

Productivity Gets Its Trash Kicked

fI had THE MOST PRODUCTIVE weekend. Scratch that, WE had the most productive weekend. Lauren did as much as me, if not more.

Yesterday, we cleaned the crap out of our apartment. I also did a lot of reorganizing, gathering trash, etc. AND! My project of getting the pictures all hung on the wall? DONE.

After working our tails off all day, we sat down to watch Lost with our nephews.

Today, we had our first week of early church. BLECH. Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike my ward? Well, it’s not any better 4 hours earlier. It was a pretty rotten block today.

But when we came home…we cooked a great Italian dinner to break the fast, played the snot out of Lego Indiana Jones, completely overhauled my iTunes files and settings, spent a lot of time with more nephews and a niece… And Lauren finally saw the movie Clue for the first time (and she squeezed a nap in, too).

I feel like tomorrow, we should take a break from our labors (heh) and just relax. In actuality, we’ll probably just play more Lego games (I also introduced Lauren to Lego Star Wars tonight), and clean/reorganize our craft and office supply drawers.

Tuesday, I go back to recording and trying to actually do “real” work. But dang, this weekend felt good.

Sidenote: I don’t like the direction my blog is taking lately. I need to figure out how to change it.

My Big Book of Grievances

• Another teacher let some kids back into the school after I had kicked them all out when rehearsal was done last Saturday. Guess who got blamed?
• When I was leaving school yesterday, I noticed a door that’s NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE UNLOCKED – and it was unlocked. It’s the kind that you work with an Allen wrench, and I couldn’t find one anywhere. My key to the school didn’t work the outside of the lock, either. I was stranded at the school for almost 40 minutes. God bless fiancées who come and rescue you with sets of Allen wrenches.
• I’m pretty sure several of my students don’t care about performing well at Shakespeare competition, and are just going for fun. Punks.
• Last school grievance: I had another teacher get really ornery with me the other day for something that was HER fault. Blah.
• I have a really messed up work/sleep schedule.
• I hate stupid questions.
• I don’t have any good ideas for Halloween costumes.
• I spaced home teaching TWO months in a row. UGH!
• I couldn’t find Mountain Dew Voltage at TWO places today. It’s Pepsi Blue all over again…
• My knee is sore for no reason.
• I’m already behind on TV, and the fall season has only been going a week or so.
• I finally finished Buffy. I will never again see an episode that I’ve never seen before.
• It’s October. OCTOBER. This is good, because it means that we only have two more months of waiting for a wedding. But it’s really bad, because I feel like I missed September.
• Being busy stinks.

August 5, 2009

Dear Blogary,

I feel like we haven’t talked forever. And forever is WAY too long. I’ve had an amazing month, full of so much cool stuff!

First of all, there’s this super cute girl who I like a whole lot. Like a whole, whole, whole lot. Her name is Lauren. We’ve spent as much time as possible with each other the last month, and I hope we get to spend a lot of time together over the next month. And the next one. And the next one… I like her for lots of reasons. Here are a few:

• She’s hot. Even my 6 year old nephew agrees.
• She’s really smart, even though she says she’s not and pretends she’s not sometimes.
• She’s talented. She can dance real good, and she can sing real good, too.
• She brings me Dr. Pepper some mornings when I’m tired.
• She’s getting over her severe dislike of scary movies in order to watch them with me.
• She’s good at hugging and stuff…
• She’s into religion and stuff.
• She’s getting into Friends with me.
• She comes to church with me sometimes and then she wastes her Sunday afternoon/evening with me, when I’m sure she has better things to do.
• She’s never once tried to control my car stereo.

That’s enough for now. I don’t want to make you jealous, Blogary.

I also have a show running right now. It’s called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and it’s playing at the SCERA Shell. Here are some reviews/write-ups:

http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/article_93ec55c7-7c60-5d51-b792-39bf91ea8f95.html

http://universe.byu.edu/node/1211

http://media.www.uvureview.com/media/storage/paper982/news/2009/08/03/Culture/Welcome.To.Fabulous.Egypt-3753762.shtml

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705320918/Joseph-good-but-he-needs-a-better-technicolor-coat.html

I’m getting ready to start another show called Little Shop of Horrors at the Hale Theater in Orem. Auditions are next week. I’m excited!

I’ve been teaching youth theatre workshops to kids and teenagers this summer, and it’s fun. When else can I find excuses to have kids perform scenes from Night of the Living Dead and Cash on Delivery, and songs from The Happiest Millionaire and Der Glockner von Notre Dame?

My favorite part of summer workshops so far was taking the acting class on a field trip to Macey’s. They had to spend 15-20 minutes shopping in character. It was really fun to see kids trying to stay in character in a public setting. The best part was the girl who was playing a shy character. She looked like she was going to die every time somebody tried to talk to her. When she was making a purchase at the end, the checker looked horrified as Lauren and I were giggling at “Annelle.” She made a valiant effort to pull “Annelle” out of her shell, but it didn’t work. The class did an awesome job!

I’m not really having any luck finding a job, but I’m not too upset. If I have a year off of teaching, I’ll live. I’ll just have to fill it with tons and tons of recording and show work.

I’ve been teaching Gospel Doctrine in Church, and it’s kind of fun. I try to do something different every time I teach, and so far, it seems to be keeping people on their toes and focused. It’s kinda fun.

My friend, Amber, took new headshots of me, and I like some of them a great deal.

Right now, this very second, there is the most insane thunder outside the window! I’m going to go see if it’s raining…

I can’t tell if it’s raining or not. I’ll check again when I’m done talking to you, Blogary.

I went to an AMAZING concert a few weeks ago. It was the Fray, with Meese and Jack’s Mannequin opening.

Holy crap! Lightning just struck RIGHT BY MY HOUSE!!! Also, it’s definitely raining now. I can hear it.

Back to the concert. I still am not a fan of Meese. I hope the Fray can find a new opening act the next time they come. Jack’s Mannequin was pretty good, and of course, the Fray was AMAZING. It was general admission, and we had really good spots. We didn’t really fight with anyone, but a family near us did. Teri and I took their side, and I kind of laid smackdown when a bratty teenage girl almost trampled a poor tween.

I went to the new Harry Potter at midnight with Teri, etc. We wore matching shirts that said “Show me your patronus.” They were AWESOME. We got lots of compliments. The next day, I wanted to die. I didn’t get to bed until almost 5, and then I had to be up by 8. I decided I’m too old for midnight movies. And yet, I’m taking Lauren’s brothers to G.I. Joe this week. Ugh. At least I can sleep in Friday.

I think that’s about it for now, Blogary. Now you’re caught up. I’m going to let you get on with your life now, and I’ll get on with me. We’ll talk again soon, hopefully.

Love,
Jeremy

These Days

I was thinking the other day about how all I ever blog about anymore is student teaching. This could lead one to get the impression that I don't have a life outside of student teaching. That impression would be correct.

I have done a LITTLE bit outside of student teaching in the last month and a half. Let's see how much I can remember:

I went on a trip to St. George and Las Vegas with my family in January. My brother-in-law, Mike, and my nephew, Braden, were running in the St. George half-marathon, so we went to support them. Then we went down to Sin City for a couple days. Everybody seemed to get along pretty well, and I bought some cool new hats (my family seems to think that the best part of vacation is shopping), and lots of new "teacher" clothes. I'm getting a sweater vest collection that would cause Chandler Bing to be jealous.

I had a birthday (in St. George, actually). I feel really old. I got some great presents, though. And my sister's family broke into our hotel room (okay, so maybe they got a key from the front desk, no questions asked - CREEPY) and decorated it all out in birthday balloons and streamers.

Chess came and went, and it was incredible. We got a LOT of positive feedback, and some nasty feedback as well. I can't remember being more proud of a show, and I went as much as I could. I'm having major withdrawals now. Dave Tinney told me to call my sponsor and get them to help me through it, and recommended repeating "Chess is not stronger than I am." It's hard, though! I loved that show.

I've been playing the acting role of a lifetime. Not really, but it's kind of fun. In December, part of my stake presidency approached me and asked me to help with ward conferences this year. They're going around to each ward and giving a presentation on Alma 30 to each group of young men/women. They wanted someone to act as Korihor and someone to act as Alma to reenact the classic battle of words. It's kind of creepy when a member of your stake presidency tells you that you'd "make a good Korihor." Being the slave of duty that I am, I agreed to do it. I helped them with the concept (they originally wanted period costumes, among other weird ideas) and I helped pick the Alma. I've been going to the different wards, and it goes something like this:

• Member of stake presidency starts talking about Church-related things
• I start laughing in the back of the room
• People start getting uncomfortable, unsure of who I am
• SP member asks if I have a problem
• I say I do, stand up, and take the floor from him
• I totally attack the Church and many beliefs of the Church, comparing Korihor's arguments to modern-day issues
  
• Kids are caught off-guard, but gradually catch on
• Some of the adults FLIP and are about ready to leap out of their chairs and give me a piece of their collective mind
• Alma argues with me
• I demand a sign that God exists
• SP member steps up and saves me before it gets TOO heated

Fun, eh? Apparently, I'm not doing to bad. Some of the people have really freaked out. One girl said that I "scared the crap out of" her. One lady had to hold down her friend, because the friend freaked out and was ready to claw my eyes out. Playing an anti-Christ is fun! (Mostly.)

I've also been doing a lot of relaxing lately. By the time I've taught school 5 days in a row, with piano lessons or youth theatre afterward every day, I'm spent. My Saturdays are full of working and teaching piano, too. Fridays and Saturdays I've been too exhausted to even leave the house very much. This is good, though. I'm getting to bed earlier than usual some nights, and I'm catching up on my Blu-Ray collection.

Another "relaxing" thing I've started doing is watching Lost from the beginning. It's been 3 years since I've seen the first 2 seasons, and now that it's giving out answers and recalling previous information all the time, I thought it was a good idea. So, I introduced my sister, Emily, my niece, Kaylee, and my nephews Braden and Jason to the show. They're hooked already. We're going a weekly Lost night, and if people don't keep up due to silly things like Academy Awards, they have to catch up on their own time with the Internet. I forgot how amazing Lost was right from the get-go. However, it's a little frustrating to patiently wait for certain storylines and characters to come into the picture. Not gonna lie- I miss my Juliet.

I'm now harboring not one, but TWO internet crushes. Ugh. It's a disgusting double-standard. I'm totally opposed to meeting people over the Internet and hooking up with them in reality, but if you've met a girl in person, it's TOTALLY okay to secretly pine after her by reading her blog and/or Facebook page. It's also okay to have conversations with her online on a regular basis. Just not if you don't know her in person. Judge me all you want, but at least I know these two girls aren't really hairy, middle-aged men who have a thing for artsy, nerdy guys in their 20s. Now if I could just find time (without cutting into my relaxing or Lost time) to actually ask them out in person... *sigh* It will happen, though. The next time I see one, I'm totally going for it.

That's about it. I guess I really haven't been doing THAT much other than student teaching. At least teaching hasn't TOTALLY consumed my life yet, though.

Oh, one more thing - this blog post's namesake. This Thursday, Teri and I are going to Rascal Flatts. Some people have questioned if Teri is dragging me there. However, it's time for me to come clean. I freaking love Rascal Flatts. In fact, I'M dragging Teri there. Our seats aren't the best, but I don't care. I haven't been to a good concert in a while (Hello, Fray! Time to stop touring Australasia and get your butts back here), and concerts are always best when you're surrounded by drunk cowboys.

Sabbath Poetry

Megan and Aja were in town last week, and the haiku commenced. I promised Megan I'd post these, but there are A LOT, and I haven't had time to post them until now. Technically, I should be working on my portfolio for student teaching, so I don't REALLY have time to post them now, either, but I DON'T CARE. And I stand by my claim that writing haiku in church is okay, as long as there are occasional references to what you're hearing from speakers/teachers.

***

Megan's big problem
Involves love of nicotine.
Darn jitters! Go 'way!

Aja shakes her head
People try to be funny
Sacrament meeting

Christmas came and went
Teri gave me a Batman
In Build-a-Bear form

Remember the part
The guy decapitated
Up and tried to walk?

Taryn is jealous
Of my friendship with Wall-E
He's such a cute 'bot!

Hark! Herald angels
Are singing about Jesus
And not the weather

My nose needs blowing
I feel all stuffy and gross
Snot is not my friend

Remember Holly?
I don't think I do, although
If she'd freaking call...

Remember Heidi?
I think of her whenever
I see a cupcake

Please don't judge me, jerk!
I'm just as good as you are.
Get out of my face!

President Monson
Likes to quote from Music Man
Good thing it's not Hair!

Frosted styrofoam
Would prob'ly taste really good
On a Fast Sunday

Sacrament haiku
I'll probably got to Hell
Just for writing them

Sometimes closing hymns
Are sung in British accents
That makes them the best

Meryl Streep as a nun
Is really quite convincing
And a bit scary

If good comes from God
And evil's from the devil,
Where do I come from?

Sometimes I'm afraid
My phone is going to kill me
Stop talking to me!

Don't blame media
For all of the world's problems
Blame my possessed phone!

If I were a ghost
I would haunt you all the time
Except on Fridays

J'adore le Noel
J'adore donner les cadeaux
Comme l'enfant Jesus

(If you speak French, don't point out that I made mistakes in that. I know it. Cut me some slack, d'accord?!)

My watch is missing
It makes Sunday School so slow
Give me the time, man!

I'm Jeremy's phone
I want in on haiku, too!
The world will be mine!

Jeremy is dead
Address all words to Moto
I'm taking his calls

I am not dead yet
Hurry, someone stop the phone!
Call an exorcist!

Don't listen to him
No exorcism today
Instead, eat ice cream!

Now I want ice cream
If it wasn't the Sabbath
I'd got to Cold Stone

***

You're probably shaking your head at how dorky I am right now, and you know what? I DON'T CARE! HA! Let's see you come up with a better way to stay awake in church.

Favorite Conference Moments

• Uchtdorf, Uchtdorf, Uchtdorf!!! He's seriously one of my favorite apostles of all time. Last Conference, my favorite talk was his "Matter of a Few Degrees" at Priesthood session. This Conference, my favorite talk was his talk about lifting together at Priesthood session. I seriously hope that he will become the prophet someday.
• President Monson: How cool is it to have a prophet who digs theatre? I'll admit that I was fighting to stay awake, but I swear he mentioned both Our Town and The Music Man today. Sidenote- Fran and I were at a performance of The Music Man at BYU that he just happened to be attending once. Ooh! He just now mentioned Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. What an awesome guy. I doubt he'll ever mention any of my favorite shows (The Full Monty, Miss Saigon, Rocky Horror, In the Heights, etc.), but it's still cool.
• Other talks I really enjoyed: Elder Nelson's, Elder Wirthlin's, EVERY Priesthood session talk, Elder Christofferson's...
• Honorable mention: when I dared my 15 year-old nephew, Braden, to blurt out "Oops!" if they talked about pornography in Priesthood. Of course, they did, and when Elder Scott brought it up, Braden looked at me, and I almost lost it. Good thing I was in his stake where nobody knew me. :)

Sabbath Poetry Part Deux

Megan visited today!!!!!

Excitement around!
Megan would like to see Chess.
One night in Bangkok!

Aja lives in York -
The new one, not the old one.
Sometimes we miss her.

Megan teaches school,
Just like Anne of Green Gables -
But without red hair.

Sabbath day haiku
Can really enrich our lives
And keep us awake.

Willa Cather, puke,
Barf, wretch, vomit, up-chuck, hurl.
I've no love for her.

Pierce Brosnan should be
In a production of Chess.
He's "good" at Abba.

Sometimes I miss T.,
My tall artsy girlfriend who
Comes to visit me.

I don't miss Heidi.
We're fighting, but I can't seem
To remember why.

I like to believe
That I am a serious
Poetry artist.

***
When Megan saw that I was writing haiku, she jumped in on the action, too. Here's the best part: she did not see what I was writing about. These were what she came up with on her own. Great minds...

Jeremy, direct!
(A squeaky clean Chess version)
Are there John Wayne fans?

Treat weird people well.
If not, you will squirm and burn.
The prophet said so.

Phantom songs are nice
Unless they are on repeat.
Wait, I've heard this song!

Kleenex box on stand
Only one person used so far.
Are they too rough, huh?

Mission companions
Some can be real bums.
Don't tell their moms, though.

(Modified Haiku)
Heidi's in Dallas
Taryn's in lovely D.C.
Aja's in New York, New York.
Who's in Toledo?

***

Creepy, eh? Then Megan read mine, and came up with some responses to some of mine.

Oh, Jeremy, son.
Have mercy on Ms. Cather.
Blame UVSC.

Jeremy is mad.
Artsy girlfriends run away
To the CIA.

(Re: Heidi)
Call a truce you two
Share a cupcake and then
Chat on Facebook soon.

Irony is fun.
It rhymes with Jeremy, yo!
Pierce Brosnan can't sing.

Gratuitous Gratuity

Things I'm grateful for - right this minute:

1. Edited horror movies on Chiller. I've always wanted to see movies like Stephen King's Thinner and now I'm finally getting around to it. Stupid? Yes. Do I care? No.
2. My EQ Presidency. It's nice to be able to delegate and know that the job will be done better than I could do it.
3. I was finally told something that I've needed to hear for FOUR YEARS from somebody I never thought would say it. A huge burden has been lifted. If you've read all of blog entries, you should know what this is about...
4. The cast of Seussical learns quickly.
5. In a couple weeks, I'll have 1 1/2 full weeks of no piano lessons, no youth theatre workshops, no rehearsals, and no school. Taking a vacation is too expensive right now, so instead, I'll fill my days with things like script-reading, going to the temple, working on Nosferatu, cleaning out my closet, etc. Fun times! Oh, and I plan to watch some Alias, too.
6. Lagoon. I went for the first time since I was 15 the other day. And it was free. My brother bought me a ticket so I would go with him and his kids and there would be an even number of people to ride the "scary" rides. The twins were really good about going on things, other than Wicked, which they only went on after being bribed. Yeah, it's just Lagoon, but it was fun, and it was a nice blast from the past (with some fun new additions). If you go, though, STAY AWAY from Rock U2 the Top. SO flat and horrible. ACK! (Which saddened me, because I knew someone in the cast.)
7. I'm FINALLY on the homestretch of renaming all of my mp3s that I lost in the harddrive crash. When I copied them back to the computer from my iPod, all the names were messed up. I've had to fix them all manually.
8. My summer youth theatre workshops are fun, despite being work. The Advanced Drama class is especially fun so far. I'm finally putting my The Haunting of Hill House script to use!
9. I finished all the songs for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I just have some instrumental tracks to finish. I was going to wait to do them until Nosferatu was done, but I'm going to go ahead and knock them out tomorrow and Thursday, hopefully.
10. Wendy and Julie both had their babies, and they were fine. Julie's unnamed boy looks just like Trey in the pictures, so he's going to be cute and chubby. And according to Wendy's sister's Facebook status, Wendy's girl, Zoe, has fat rolls. I'm very excited to see both babies - tomorrow!
11. It's barely after midnight, and I'm already tired and ready for bed. Yay! Goodnight!

Sabbath Poetry

Today in church, I had a visit from Aja and Megan. I would like to point out at this moment, that they had the choice to sit by me or by Holly, since Holly was stubborn and wouldn't come and sit on the side of the room with the cool kids. They chose me.

Probably the reason that they chose me was that church visits from Megan and Aja mean that my inner poet is released in the form of attention deficit in Sacrament meeting. I wrote 8 haiku for them, and they rather enjoyed them. It got me thinking: "where better to share my poetry than my blog?!" However, Aja has the ones I wrote today. So instead, I'll share the ones I wrote for Megan's birthday last year. I'll have you know, though, that the ones I wrote today were mostly inspired by actual phrases or topics that I heard from the Sacrament speakers. The paranthetical commentary/explanations between some poems is by none other than Megan, too (since I stole them from her Facebook note where she posted to immortalize them last year).

Birthdays are like cake
Well, I suppose not really
But you can eat it!

Birthday cake tango
We dance tonight for Megan
Don't step in the frosting!

Italian sodas
Drink to celebrate the joy
Which is called Megan

Megan makes brownies
I hope they're not "special" ones
It's the Sabbath, yo!

Megan's nice red shoes
Seem to me to be calling
"There's no place like home!"

(For Heidi)
Heidi, red viking
Conqueror of the Arctic
We claim as our friend.

(For Aja)
Aja drinks sodas
And sometimes gets quite tipsy
Dance, you monkey! Dance!

(The next refer to Katherine Hepburn)
Katherine, oh Katherine!
Calla lillies are blooming
Why don't you love me?

Katherine, my love
One day we'll be together
Darn that Spencer T!

(Explaining that the reuniting of the Spice Girls is one of the "signs of the times")
The end of the world
Is soon to be upon us
In the form of Spice.

(And finally, where does he find all the time to write these?)
Jeremy is bad
He has a hard time list'ning
In his Sunday School

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!"

Ack!

Almost 2 weeks ago, I posted this:

I'm stressing about something which may or may not happen in the very near
future. I know SOMETHING'S going to happen, but I don't know the details, and
that in and of itself is enough to drive me bonkers. I'm really worried about
any of the possible outcomes that I can think of.

Well, it happened. And the absolute extreme outcome was the outcome of choice. I've come to terms with it, and I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I'm even starting to get excited about it. However, it's going to be stressful. More information to follow...

Is it bugging you? Are all 4 of you that read this (that I know of) curious? BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Teri and EmDab know. And they have been sworn to secrecy. You could probably torture it out of them if you really tried, though. They're both pretty weak. ;)

Okay, let's list some things that we're happy about, shall we?

• My SAST show was awesome. My concept rocked, my actors rocked, the make-up rocked, the costumes rocked, the lights rocked, the sound rocked....basically, it pretty much rocked. I felt really good about it. I smuggled a camcorder in to the last performance and now I have a DVD copy. If you were not Teri, Dave, Melinda, Matt, Lindsay, Kirsten, Emily, or Heidi and therefore did not see the show (well, there were OTHERS that saw it, but not on my invitation), you may watch the DVD if you'd like sometime. I might even put it up on Youtube at some point. It's really cool.
• Smokey Joe's Cafe is awesome. I haven't been able to see it this week, but when I last saw it, I really enjoyed it. The reviewer that came for the Deseret News sounded like a crotchety old lady at a rock concert, and she doesn't know how to spell "bass," so I disregard her review. Everyone I've talked to has liked the show, including Teri, who didn't like it the last time she saw it (and God bless her - she is honest when she doesn't like something).
• The Wizard of Oz opens this week, and it's awesome, too. I don't know how it always happens, but when I'm working on too many shows at a time, they end up better than some of the shows I do without other stresses. I'm really proud of the music in the show, and I'm even more proud of the kids.
• I got done with rehearsal at 7 PM the other night - CRAZY. It was my first night without a rehearsal or performance in WEEKS, and I hadn't even realized it was happening until a couple days before. I was going to go to Smokey Joe's, but instead I decided to go to the temple. I'm officially not a fan of the Provo temple, and from now on, I'll go to Timp whenever I can. However, cool stuff happened there, and that's all that matters, I suppose.
• My new guitar that works for both Rock Band and Guitar Hero III is supposed to arrive tomorrow! HOORAY! I'll even have time to test it this week! Huzzah for days with no school.
• Speaking of school, this semester is over! I say this EVERY semester, but this was seriously the worst semester ever. I'm not looking forward to the fall, because each semester seems to be exponentially worse than the one before. However, I'm down to just a few required credits, so most of this fall will be fun classes to fill out my scholarship requirements. Note to self: blog about lessons learned this semester after finals are done.

That's it for now. I hope your life is as awesome as mine is right now.

Counting My Blessings

Okay. There was a third option I left out at the end of the last entry. Keep watching Extras and instead of doing homework, try to think of positive things in my life. If I don't, I really will end up turning emo and cutting myself.

#1) Extras: Season Two for $12.99 - David Bowie just wrote a song about Andy being a fat, useless idiot. I love it. Ha! Maggie just chipped in on insults for Andy. Poor guy.

#2) Enchanted on Blu-Ray

#3) Smokey Joe's Cafe is going REALLY well.

#4) I have an AWESOME concept for my SAST show.

#5) Even though I hate the department as a whole right now, there are some GREAT people in my theatre department. There are fellow students who will do things like my scene for directing class and will let themselves go and do whatever I ask them to do. There are teachers who will let me vent and will spend their spring break watching Arrested Development because I told them to. There are other professors who tell me my work is good, even though I know it sucks.

#6) I have an amazing friend who lets me call her whenever I can find a free minute and will just let me vent until that free minute is up. She never tells me to shut up, she never puts me aside, she never judges me, and she never asks for anything in return. I feel really bad that our friendship is so off-balance, but someday, she's going to need to vent again, and I'll listen to her. Thanks, Teri!

#7) I've wanted to ask a certain girl out for THREE YEARS and have been too chicken $!%# to do it. Turns out, there was interest on her side, too -- or at least she's making me think there was. We're hopefully going to be able to sync up schedules soon...

#8) Despite the normal, stupid, little problems, I really do have a good family. For the first time, ALL of the endowed members of my family were able to go to the temple together last weekend to see Traven get sealed to his family. We also got to go to court to make his adoption legal on Friday. I have amazing nieces and nephews. Even the ones who come from the mother I don't get along with. When I was freaking out about my computer tonight, Zach said "It's going to be okay, Jeremy." He's probably used to seeing much worse freakouts, the poor kid. But it almost made me cry. (I did NOT swear in front of him, fyi.)

Tired Traven at Disneyland

#9) I really like the callings I have in Church right now.

#10) I got to take part in an awesome fireside last night.

#11) I'm going to have three new honorary nieces/nephews this year. I'd call them goshchildren, but I'm going to start letting my friends assign their own goshparents instead of just barging in and declaring myself goshfather. I'll make them the offers, but they can feel free to refuse. I am a little stressed that Rhys is going to be born during hell week for Wizard of Oz, though, and I won't be able to see him much. I'm hoping Heather can keep him in for a couple extra weeks, even though she'll curse my name for saying that...

#12) I'm glad I have good music in my life. Lately, I've been addicted to Maroon 5's B-Sides Collection as well as OneRepublic's album. And of course, my remix of "Apologize" makes me giggle every time I hear it.

#13) One month from now, I will only be stressing about one show. Two and a half months from now, I won't be stressing about ANY shows.

Okay. 13 is a good number, right? :)

I really better do my homework now. Thanks for listening.

Tobias is Dead

I knew it would happen eventually. To be honest, I thought it would have happened sooner. He started acting the same way GOB did, by not eating and hanging out on the bottom. I cleaned out the fish tank, and I never plan on using it again. It's a good thing it was only $10. Come to think of it, I wonder if the cheap tank is what killed them. Hmm...

In other news, I got to go to the Salt Lake Temple with Rachel and JD yesterday. Wow. AWESOME. I've never been to a live session, so that was neat in and of itself, but the interior of that place is incredible.

Afterward, we went to Applebee's (Rachel has never been there. Seriously. How could someone who is almost 25 years old never have been to Applebee's?) and the stupid waitress (yes, I called her that. She doesn't deserve the title of "server") dumped water all over the table, and it made a waterfall into my lap. She didn't even act that apologetic, and then we weren't offered any kind of free food or dessert. The only thing we got was pushy service and a check that wasn't split right (despite Stephanie explaining it twice). I was ticked. If you ever go to the Gateway Applebee's and get seated in Ashlie's section, ask to be moved. Seriously.

I'm still stressing about the situation with the casting at school. The morning after I wrote my last blog, I woke up at 6:40 AM because I had a nightmare that I was punished for not wanting to direct a show. I didn't get either of the roles I was up for in Ah, Wilderness! and was instead given the role of "Toviah," which was a bit part and very similar to Tevya in Fiddler.

That's about all I want to talk about right now. I'm tired, and I have cleaning to do before bed.

In honor of Tobias being with Jesus now, enjoy this video.

The Sign

I HATE MySpace sometimes. I just wrote another awesome blog, and I thought it was just going to be a short one, so I didn't bother to type it in another program and import it. Well, it ended up being a longer, really good blog, and when I typed a word I didn't want, I hit "backspace" a few times, and instead of deleting the characters, it took me back a few pages and I lost the whole thing. GRRRRR!!!!!

ANYWAY....I'm recreating it as best I can, even though I'm so angry, that there's NO WAY it can be the brilliant piece of prose that it was before. :)

School ended last week, and I'm pretty sure I got a 4.0. Grades haven't been posted yet, but if I didn't get all A's, then I'll be shocked.

Since I only had a week and a half until fall semester starts, I decided to be totally unproductive this week. I pulled out my Super Nintendo and conquered Super Mario Brothers 1 & 2 (without warping or skipping a single level!) in a matter of hours,  and last night, I started on Super Mario 3.

I've also started watching the first season of Lost. I like it a lot, but I still don't get why to some people it's more amazing than life itself.

I've been staying up late and sleeping in, too. I think that's got to stop, though. Today, I slept in too long, and despite having some CRAZY dreams (one of which I plan to blog about, but I won't share, because frankly, it would make the BEST screenplay), I feel gross now.

And, goshdarnit. As hard as I tried to be unproductive and just watch things, I've gotten TONS of stuff done for fall piano lessons. And as I'm working on it today, I'm watching the DVDs I recorded of Ed when TBS was running it last year. Gosh, I love this show. And I HATE that they stopped airing it just after season 2 started.

Superman rehearsals are going VERY well. We really lucked out with our cast. There isn't a weak link in it, and there isn't one person who gets on my nerves (so far).

Oh, and for those who I haven't told in person already, I'm going over to the light side. That's right. I've FINALLY gotten my act together and I'm going to the temple next month. I've finally decided to accept responsibility instead of fleeing from it. I always thought it would be scary getting ready to go to the temple, but right now I just have a calm feeling, as well as a voice in my head saying "It's about stinking time!"

Well, that's it for an update of my life, I think. Here's a special nostalgia trip for anybody who read through this whole thing to get here, though. I was thinking about this song last night, and all of a sudden, I realized that it TOTALLY sums up my feelings on an issue that for some reason I keep having to deal with. I didn't know it was actually possible for Ace of Base lyrics to have meaning, but lo and behold...