2010 in Review

Welcome to the third installment of my annual wrap up blog. Bet you thought I wasn’t going to do it since I SUCK at blogging lately! Well, surprise!

Overall, this year will go down as the year that the world screwed me. Life with Lauren was great, but almost every other aspect of my life seemed to fall apart. I’ve been left rethinking my career, rethinking friendships, and regretting way too much.

On the plus side, that means 2011 can ONLY get better, right? That’s how I’m viewing it.

Thank you for your friendship this year. It’s been a really hard one, and I really appreciate it. And if you were the source of any trouble, then when I have some free time in the near future, and I record a cover of a famous song by Cee-Lo Green, consider it dedicated to you!

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experience: Snoopy! the Musical
I taught at Meridian for one year before it suddenly closed the Thursday before the new school year. Out of all the shows and events I worked on there, this one was my favorite. It was with a small class, consisting of ONLY upper school kids who wanted to be there and were willing to work. We threw the whole musical together in roughly 4 weeks, with about 2 hours of rehearsal per school day, and yet the kids really pulled it off. War of the Worlds would have been my favorite, but some fellow cast members who weren’t invested took it down a notch. Same story with Dirty. I loved working with Chris again, but some members of the cast were egotistical and downright rude.

Runners-Up: The War of the Worlds, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Willy Wonka
I just simply didn’t love doing this show. And I only did it for the money, which makes me a whore. I hated aspects of Fantastic Mr. Fox because of some nasty kids from my middle school class, but in the end, it turned out decent, and there were enough hard-working kids to make me proud.

Runner-Up: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: 110 in the Shade at Hale Orem
Audra McDonald 4 feet in front of me. Brilliant supporting cast. Enough said.

Runner-Up: I really didn’t see much theatre this year, and NOTHING compared.

Favorite Movies: Inception, Toy Story 3, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
No need to elaborate. I just loved them.

Runners-Up: Paranormal Activity 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Tron: Legacy

Least Favorite Movie: Skyline
I’ve never hated a movie this much. I still can’t believe it exists. And Alice was boring, poorly acted, and the 3D gave me the only 3D-induced headache I’ve ever had.

Runner-Up: Alice in Wonderland

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None
Nothing really stood out this year. Although, when we went to see Tron: Legacy, Lauren and I were super impressed with the dad who politely shushed his child when he tried to talk. Good for you! Way to start teaching children to not be awful.

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Skyline with Lauren and my sister’s family
The movie itself was bad, but the annoying people who never shut up made it even worse.

Favorite New TV Addiction: Modern Family
I can’t believe I didn’t get into this until after the first season was over. We watched the entire season in three afternoons before season 2 premiered, and the quality has stayed consistent.

Runners-Up: Raising Hope, Ma’s Roadhouse
Honorable Mention: LoneStar

Least Favorite New TV Shows: Hawaii Five-O, No Ordinary Family, Running Wilde, Undercovers
We’ve given up on almost every new show we’ve tried to watch this year. Some of them lasted a month, most lasted a couple episodes. They were just all so lame. Hawaii lasted the longest of these, Family the shortest.

Favorite SNL Sketch: 1920s Party
It was the most quotable, anyway. SNL has really gone downhill this year. I skip through more than I watch anymore.

Favorite Album: Bruno Mars’s “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”
This is the only new album I got this year that I’ve been able to listen to straight-through more than once. It’s not as offensive as a lot of music I’ve heard lately, and it’s just so darn infectious. I will never tire of hearing “Just the Way You Are.”

Least Favorite Album: Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas II You”
She’s ruined her voice. And now she’s ruined “Christmas Time Is Here,” which might be my favorite Christmas song. And she made a sex jam about the Baby Jesus. And her mother has AWFUL teeth.

Favorite Trip: Disneyland with Lauren
Good times. Not too busy. Did everything we wanted to do, including many firsts for me (Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Blue Bayou, Innoventions, etc.).

Runners-Up: St. George for theatre teacher’s conference, Disneyland with Lauren’s family

Favorite Class: Upper School Drama
After a first trimester with too many kids who wanted easy A’s, I was able to weed it down to just kids that wanted to be there. And it was GREAT. So much fun to teach.

Least Favorite Class: Middle School Drama
Too many kids, and most of them had bad attitudes. I gave multiple F’s, and no kids or parents even tried to fix them when they knew that’s what was coming. That’s messed up.

Best Concert: Paul McCartney
Dream come true. A Beatle in person. And he performed for almost three hours straight. BRILLIANT. Loved every minute. And sharing it with Lauren, Teri & Bristol was great.

Worst Concert: Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood
Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Carrie Underwood? Well, it’s a whole lot. And when the fireworks show afterward sucked, it made it so it was even less worth sitting through.

Here’s to an amazing 2011!

2009 in Review

Last year I posted a 2008 in Review blog and said that I was going to try to make it an annual occurrence. Well, it now officially is, except I accidentally published this one over the old one. Guh! Oh, well. Out with the old, in with the new, I suppose…

Best Overall Experience: Dating & Marrying Lauren
Gosh, I love that girl. I can’t believe that we got this far without her being freaked out by me and running. Also, we’ve gotten this far without ever having an actual fight (unless you count play-fights, which I don’t.) She doesn’t feel the need to change who she is for me, and she doesn’t expect me to change who I am for her. She can take care of herself, but she lets me do what I can to take care of her. She’s slowly converting to all my loves (Saved by the Bell, horror movies, Friends, Buffy, etc.). Best of all, she loves me at least half as much as I love her.

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Chess, Little Shop of Horrors
I loved my staff of Joseph, and despite all of the crap that happened with the cast, it was an amazing, rewarding experience to see my vision end up on stage. Chess wasn’t the greatest show I’ve ever worked on, but it was such an incredible personal experience, and I loved almost every single cast member. Also, I have a major man crush on Dave Tinney, and he’s one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with. This also leads to Little Shop. Other than one obnoxious person, I DID love the entire cast. And Dave and the Hales/Swensons were fantastic to work with. Also, the quality of the show was outstanding.

Runners-Up: The Monkey’s Paw

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Stellaluna, Shakespeare Competition
Stellaluna was a nightmare. The music was TERRIBLE. The cast tried their best, but it was just ugly music. Also, the director seemed to not have any organizational skills (and one director left halfway through the process) and my time was wasted a lot. Then, they didn’t get into runs, so I never got to go and actually help polish the music. I orchestrated the music, though, and I made it tolerable (to myself, at least). Getting my kids ready for Shakespeare was ridiculous. They were not committed, not focused, and many of them were just plain lazy. Then to go to the competition and have the kids not get a single award was pretty stinky, although when we calculated rehearsal hours, it was obvious why they didn’t. Blargh.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: Singin’ in the Rain (HCTO), As You Like It (HCTO)
I hate Singin’. HATE. But they did a fantastic job with it. Music aside (which I arranged/orchestrated and even composed some), AYLI was FANTASTIC. I was able to see both casts, and it was really tough trying to choose a favorite cast. Each actor was very well cast. Chris Clark is a freaking genius. Even people I know who usually don’t “get” Shakespeare seemed to enjoy themselves. Except for the horrendously fat people next to Teri and me, who left at intermission. Not that we complained.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Professional Theatre Productions: White Christmas, In the Heights (Both Broadway)
I never really cared for the movie of White Christmas, but I had heard that the Broadway version had been fixed up and made more “Christmassy.” I had to find out. It was true, and it was incredible. It had the feel of a golden age musical, but a modern feel to the pace (not unlike the current Broadway production of South Pacific). The cast was amazing, the choreography was stunning, the sets were to-die-for, and the tech was fantastic. Loved every aspect. In the Heights was almost as good the second time. Most of the leads were the originals, with the exceptions of Usnavi, Vanessa, Piragua Guy, Graffiti Pete, and Kevin (who was SO much better than the original). I would have probably been completely consumed by the story, had it not been for the fact that the audience was less classy than before, and people talked and shuffled throughout.

Runners-Up: None.

Least Favorite Professional Theatre Production: Aida (Tuacahn)
I don’t even want to talk about it because of the post-traumatic stress. It was so much about the spectacle that I forgot there was a small story. The stage-flooding was ridiculous. The camel was just silly. Of the leads, the only one who was consistently on pitch was Aida, and the others were so far off sometimes that it was pathetic. I was embarrassed for the cast, and as my first show at Tuacahn, it left me unimpressed with the company.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Movies: Drag Me To Hell, Up, Star Trek
Drag Me was the return of classic Sam Raimi, and I loved every second. Up made me cry, multiple times. It was an incredible story with very relatable characters. Star Trek was the first time I’ve ever not only just enjoyed a Star Trek movie, but loved it.

Runners-Up: Paranormal Activity (Until the ending), Michael Jackson’s This Is It, Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Least Favorite Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
SO terrible. Even though it was the first movie Lauren and I saw as a couple. It gave me one of the worst headaches of my life.

Runners-Up: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Paranormal Activity (Because of the ending)

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Toy Story & Toy Story 2 in 3-D
Lauren and I had the entire theater to ourselves for the latter, and it was a really nice change of pace.

Runners-Up: Disney’s A Christmas Carol with the Varneys (Do families REALLY all go to movies together?!), GI Joe with Phil & Nick

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None.

Strangely enough, nothing was TOO bad this year.

Runner-Up: None.

Favorite New TV Shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel, Community
Neither of the first two was actually on TV new this year, but I watched them both in less than 6 months, and they were fantastic. Community is fast-becoming as clever as the first few seasons of The Office. I love the characters, I love the situations, and I love the humor. I haven’t really started watching any other new shows this year (which is good), although I really wanted to watch V. I’ll catch it on DVD.

Runner-Up: Parks and Recreation, Glee

Least Favorite New TV Show: Accidentally on Purpose
I tried to get into it because my friend Rachel sings on it, apparently. After a few episodes, I didn’t hear/see Rachel, and I wanted to die over how stupid it was.

Runners-Up: Glee (so hit and miss that sometimes it’s a favorite, sometimes I despise it)

Favorite SNL Sketches: “Say Anything,” “Digital Short: Doogie Howser Theme”
Loved them.

Runner-Up: “what up with that?” with Mindy Kaling as the guest. Her expressions were priceless.

Favorite Albums: Kelly Clarkson’s All I Ever Wanted, The Fray’s The Fray, OneRepublic’s Waking Up, Mat Kearney’s City of Black & White
Even though I don’t love Kelly much anymore, her album was my favorite of the year. It was perfect, except for one song (you know, Matt). I had it on repeat for WEEKS, and it got me through student teaching. The Fray was fantastic. Nothing new, but it was more of the classic Fray sound I love. Same with OneRepublic. Nothing too different (except maybe the children’s choir), but I loved it. Ryan Tedder is a brilliant producer, no matter what Kelly says. Mat’s newest was fantastic, too.

Runners-Up: Rodney Carrington’s Make It Christmas, Jack’s Mannequin’s The Glass Passenger (new to me), Vedera’s The Weight of an Empty Room (also new to me)

Least Favorite Album: None.
I didn’t purchase any this year that I didn’t like.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Trips: Southern California with family, New York honeymoon 
Everyone got along fairly well for once (other than one person, who I “kindly” chastised a couple times) and despite Glenn’s car getting burglarized, and the fact that the San Diego Zoo is boring when you’re not an animal lover, a good time was had by all. New York was great, for many reasons. Most of which, I won’t share, due to the fact I’m a gentleman.

Runners-Up: None.

Least Favorite Trip: St. George/Las Vegas with family
All we did was shop. I DID get some fantastic hats, though.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Class: Student Teaching
Yes, it counted as a class. Yes, I complained while it was happening. However, I learned SO MUCH, and I’ve bumped into some of the kids since I finished, and I DID make a difference in their lives.

Runner-Up: None.

Least Favorite Class: Classroom Management II
Remember the education professor that I NEVER liked? Yeah. He taught it. Enough said.

Runners-Up: None! I only had two this year!

Best Concerts: The Fray & Jack’s Mannequin, The Killers, Mat Kearney & Vedera
The first was amazing because of the music, the second had great spectacle (which fit the music), and the third was the first intimate club-setting I’ve ever attended (also, probably the last).

Runners-Up: Jim Brickman, Rascal Flatts

Worst Concerts: Kelly Clarkson, Lonestar

Kelly sang a short set, and the experience itself was miserable. Lonestar just wasn’t the same without Richie as the lead singer.

 

Here’s to an incredible 2010!!!

My Wish List...

...for this moment in time. If you can provide any of these things, please do. And God bless you.

• A no homework guarantee for the rest of the summer semester. It's all stinking busywork. I hate it. If it was stuff I didn't already know how to do, I wouldn't mind.
• A good role in a good play at a good theatre. With an awesome director.
• A good makeout session with any (or all) of the following: Kelly Clarkson, Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Fischer, Alicia Silverstone, Emily VanCamp, Elizabeth Mitchell, Evangeline Lilly, Yunjin Kim, and oddly enough, Kristen Wiig.
• Songs by the following artists for Rock Band: The Beatles, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, The Rembrandts, The Fray, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, and Dashboard Confessional.
• A Batman trailer hitch plug.
• More free nights.
• Motivation to write.
• More time in New York in July.
• Better seats for South Pacific. So I can actually see Kelli O'Hara.
• To meet Kelli O'Hara after South Pacific.
• Time/desire to read more.
• More time for a social life.
• An orchestra score to follow me wherever I go. Complete with motifs based on the people I see on a regular basis.
• A greenhouse full of plants with googly eyes.

I think that's it for now. I may add things as I see fit.