Current (and Not-So-Current) Peeves

I opened Windows Live Writer to blog for the first time in months, and I found this unpublished post from a LONG time ago. I’m going to just add to the end.

• People who are REALLY nice to somebody’s face, to the point of making them believe that they’re good friends, and then say awful things behind their backs: this is why I don’t go out of my way to be nice to people.
• Students with smart mouths who are dishonest in order to cover their tracks
• People who cause Lauren stress
• People who try to tell Lauren how to do wedding stuff
• People who make a huge deal about how they expect a wedding invite, but don’t give you their address and won’t respond to a Facebook message requesting it
• OOH! People who finally respond when you send them a text asking for their address, who then slam the fact that your message over Facebook wasn’t “special” enough
• People who offer to help with wedding stuff and then either back out or sit and complain/whine the whole time they’re helping
• People who don’t say “please” or “thank you”
• People who CONSTANTLY expect people to do things for them
• One-way friendships
• People who respond to texts/voicemails on THEIR time
• Deceased grandparents who insist on haunting me – I’m already being followed by Eleanor
• The lack of communication between the rest of the faculty/administration at my school and me
• People who insist on turning right from the middle of the street – WHEN THERE’S A RIGHT TURN LANE

Some things are current peeves still/again. And now the new stuff:

• Watching Will & Grace reruns and remembering how much I was irritated by Woody Harrelson’s guest arc
• Girls that are less than a year away from turning 30 who act like they’re 13
• Said girls treating Lauren like dirt
• Having to wear long pants every day to school
• Feeling like I have to babysit techies
• The weather (don’t tell me that Utah is always this weird in April. It’s not. It CAN be, but it’s not ALWAYS this bad)
• Never having/making time to blog
• Never having/making time to write my missionary brother-in-law
• Finally making time to write a blog, and getting so tired that I can barely keep my eyes open

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!!!

It’s About Time!

I’m having a hard time focusing on anything tonight.

I’m tired, but I know I won’t be able to sleep.

I’m watching Ghost Hunters, hoping that it will relax me.

Then I’m taking a nice warm bath, which will hopefully relax me more.

Then I’m going to lay in bed, but I probably won’t fall asleep for a long time.

So, I’ll watch Christmas TV episodes (last night, I got halfway through Family Guy, so I’ll start there).

There’s a big black bag hanging from my doorknob. It’s filled with nice black clothes.

There are a bunch of centerpieces and whatnot sitting on the floor by the kitchen.

There’s a big relish tray in the fridge.

I should probably shave before bed.

There are tickets to In the Heights, The Museum of Modern Art’s Tim Burton exhibit, and other surprises that Lauren doesn’t know about.

There’s a blu-ray that needs to go in the mail to be returned to Blockbuster while I’m gone. (It’s Batman, in case you were wondering. I was blown away by how the 20 year old movie looked. Bravo, Warner Brothers.)

The tree has several gifts under it, but only a couple are Christmas presents.

There are two industrial coffee makers on the floor that Amber Kaye bought for the hot chocolate. God bless Amber Kaye.

I keep getting messages asking if I’m nervous. I’m not. Should I be?

Maybe Ghost Hunters wasn’t a good idea. I’m getting a little tense. It’s actually kind of creepy for once.

I’ve really gotten to see who my real friends are lately.

My apartment smells INCREDIBLE because of the cinnamon ornaments we made.

I’m going to start getting ready for bed now.

Big day tomorrow.

I’M GETTING MARRIED.

Finally.

To Lauren.

Who was totally worth the wait. And then some.

Random Thoughts on a Thursday Afternoon

*I started writing this on an actual Thursday afternoon. November 19, to be exact. Then, for some reason, I didn’t finish it or post it. When my brother was complaining on Facebook that he doesn’t have anything to do while he’s supposed to be working because I don’t post as much lately, I decided to throw him a bone.*

I need to finish grading some quizzes, but I KNOW that I won’t be able to get them all done before I have to leave, so I’m not going to do them now.

As I’ve been working today, I’ve been watching last night’s Glee. I’m so torn on this show. I started out loving it, but lately, it’s getting more and more lame. Last week’s episode was great, because the subject of special needs kids is something I’m passionate about. This week’s SUCKED, though. The only thing that keeps me coming back to the show is the creative way they use music, but I’m so sick of the over-processed computer voices that I can’t handle it much longer.

My kids in school have stepped it up lately. They’re finally getting it. Also, some of the kids I can’t stand are transferring out of my class next term. WOOT!

Ew. Glee is using emotional manipulation.

We went and saw This Is It the other day, and I’m more of a Michael Jackson fan than ever before. I kind of wish that he would have lived and come to Salt Lake on his tour. NOT a fan of the new “Thriller” segment he was going to use, though. Gag.

I’m getting married in exactly one month. That means we can get our marriage license any time now. It also means I need to hurry and get the announcements to the printer this weekend so they can be mailed next week.

Today is my last day of class until the Monday after Thanksgiving. WOOFREAKINHOO!!!!! I’m going to be SO productive. I’m going to record a show, do a bunch of wedding stuff, start moving into the apartment, clean my car, and try to do as much Christmas shopping as possible to get that out of the way.

The other night at Urinetown rehearsal, I was in the middle of conducting a song, and suddenly, I saw a metal folding chair move a few inches in the middle of the room. I looked around, and NOBODY was looking but me. They all had their faces buried in their music. I was very startled.

The next night, at Disco Inferno rehearsal, Eleanor (the SCERA’s ghost), threw my watch off the piano. It was sitting about 8 inches in from the left side, and suddenly it flew off and landed just left of the piano. CREEPY. People saw that one, though.

I love lighthouses. The real deal. Not decorations. The actual towers. Every time I’m on the coast, I want to visit at least one.

I just sneezed and pulled a muscle in my arm. UGH. Getting old stinks.

***

That was where I left off in the original. Here are more random thoughts, at nearly 2 AM on a Wednesday morning.

I really wish I had a better sleeping schedule. Right now, I really wish I was asleep, but lately I’ve been up working every night until at least this time, so my body does not want to sleep right now.

I didn’t get to half of my to-do list for Thanksgiving break. Don’t get me wrong- I got a TON of stuff done. Just not as much as I had hoped.

I don’t know how people collected addresses for invitations before Facebook existed.

It’s really hard trying to decide who to invite to your wedding reception. I wish I didn’t know as many people and have as many friends. If you had told me in high school that in 10 years I’d be saying that, I would have laughed at you.

The printer couldn’t get the invites done any earlier than tomorrow (EEK!), and this causes stress. We’ll be hand-delivering as many as we can this week to make sure people can get them and have two weeks notice for the reception. And that’s IF they’re ready tomorrow, and not Thursday, as the printer guaranteed would be the latest.

One last invite related thought – today, while I was being uber-productive, I was catching up on SNL episodes and saw a commercial for Blue Boutique. Pretty darn sure the font they used for everything was the same font as our invites. UGH.

Also while I was being productive tonight, I watched The Brothers Bloom. What a lame movie. I usually like independent movies, but this one stunk (despite a great cast). However, there was one exchange that made me laugh really hard, and almost made the movie worthwhile:

Penelope Stamp: [drunk] I think you're constipated.
Bloom: Constipated?
Penelope Stamp: Yeah. You're constipated. In your ******* soul. I think there is a great, humongous wad of poop up your soul's ***.

I know it’s pretty juvenile, but man, I laughed.

I never really liked the movie Major League. However, I LOVE Major League II. Especially the character of Rube.

I cleaned out all of my financial records for the last 10 years, and I now have a basket full of papers waiting to be shredded. This will go well with the shopping bag full of check stubs and receipts that are waiting to be shredded from when I cleaned those out last year.

Oh! I think I’m finally tired enough to go to bed. Going now.

(Happy, Glenn?! :P)

Say Anything (but preferably “yes”)

Remember when I threatened to do do this? (That’s a link. Click on it.)

Well, I did it.

Here’s what you need to know: Lauren LOVES the movie Say Anything. Possibly because I’m the one who introduced her to it a long time ago, possibly because it’s just a really good movie. But in any event, she LOVES it.

The day after Lauren and I started dating, I informed Teri that I knew how I was going to propose to her, should the chance arise. I also told Matt, because I figured if anyone would be able to find a 1980s-style boombox, it would be him. He failed.

Lauren and I have known for a while that we’re going to get married, because let’s face it, you just KNOW. We’d talked about it, we’d even gone ring-shopping. We decided that it was best to wait until Joseph was over, due to all of the crap that was already happening in the cast because of our relationship (ie, “Can you use your relationship with Jeremy to get me a bigger part?). We also decided we wanted to be officially engaged before youth theatre starts for the fall, because being asked a million times “Are you getting married?” was not sounding too fun. That gave us a window of about 12 days.

Lauren knew it was coming, and I STILL completely surprised her.

Here’s a rundown of events:

Sometime in June: I ask Matt to help me find a boombox
Sometime in July: Lauren tells me that she does not want a public proposal, nor does she want her family involved. Drat! There goes my idea, since I can’t stand outside her window. I start brainstorming for other ideas. Nothing works for me, though. I’ve GOT to find a way to make it work. Heather recommends that no matter what, I have somebody there to take pictures of the proposal so that we have the moment recorded.
Throughout August: We go ring shopping to get ideas. Lauren narrows it down to three choices and leaves it up to me to pick the one.
Friday, August 21 (afternoon): I ask Heidi to help me, because Matt was having no luck, and neither was I.
Friday, August 21 (evening): Joseph is FINALLY over. Lauren comes to my house, where the ring had just arrived, and I have to be sneaky in order to look at it.
Saturday, August 22: I show up at Lauren’s house to have a relaxing evening with her family, and when I get there, Say Anything is on, so the idea is fresh in their heads.
Sunday, August 23: I spend the ENTIRE day with her family, and I feel like part of it. I feel like I’m bonding with her dad, which is good, because I haven’t known him like the rest of the family.
Monday, August 24: I text Amber Kaye and ask her if we can have a Rocky Horror night at her house on Thursday, but it’s really a front for a proposal. She is STOKED. What kind of sick freak proposes on Rocky Horror night? ME. Lauren is OBLIVIOUS. Amber is officially in on the plan and goes out of her way to help me. She even joins the hunt for a boombox.
Tuesday, August 25: Wrench! I’m in faculty meeting at school, and I find out that I’m expected to attend back to school night on Thursday. Department Chair tells me that I don’t HAVE to go if I already have plans. Crisis averted. I go to the SCERA costume shop and rent a trenchcoat. I buy Lauren’s dad, Randy, a 2 liter of Coke, because we’re from a culture that doesn’t use champagne/wine for things like this. I sit down with him and ask for his blessing to marry his daughter. He seems genuinely happy/excited and asks when I’m going to propose. I tell him Thursday, but Lauren doesn’t know. He tells me about his proposal to his wife, Emily. We have a genuinely great conversation. Lauren knows that the proposal is coming, but has NO idea when.
Wednesday, August 26: I tell Heather of my plans for a proposal, and she gives me one last big pointer for how to make it more special. Lauren and I go to a good-bye dinner with Heather & David and Wendy & Dave, because H&D are going back to NY in the morning. I show up to get Lauren with a bunch of roses and a card which reads “Dear Lauren, I’ll always be there for you. All the love in my heart, Jeremy.” Lauren gets the Say Anything reference, which also puts the idea of Say Anything completely in her head again.
Thursday, August 27 (morning): Amber texts everyone for Rocky Horror night, letting everyone know that we’re bbqing and watching the movie starting at 7:15. Lauren is planning to go over early to help Amber get the food ready. She invites me, but darnit! I have a meeting with my department chair, and I probably won’t be there until right at 7:15. Also, they still may try and get me to go to back to school night, so we’re crossing our fingers.
Thursday, August 27 (afternoon): Lauren tells me that she’s getting all ready. DOES SHE KNOW?! HAS SHE FIGURED IT OUT?! I tell her that I appreciate that she’s getting ready for Rocky Horror night. I go to my meeting with Department Chair and stop by Teri’s on the way. She likes the ring, and is excited for what’s coming. Her mom also gives her approval, and Bristol and Kiva (sp?) think it’s “pretty.”
Thursday, August 27 (late afternoon): WRENCH!!! Lauren’s brother, Phillip, offers to come and help Amber with food early as well. Amber calls me in a panic. I text Phillip: “Call me right now and don’t let Lauren know, please.” He calls, and I explain the situation. He seems genuinely thrilled, with such exclamations as “nice!” I finish my meeting, run some errands, and then drive around near Amber’s house until I get a text telling me that Lauren is there and they’re ready.
Thursday, August 27 (early evening): I get to Amber’s house and get set up. I never found the boombox, so I have my iPod boombox. Batman is now officially a part of my proposal, since his logo is on my iPod. The Beatles play a part as well, because Lauren mentioned that she loves my yellow submarine shoes, and since I don’t have any white sneakers like Lloyd Dobler, I wear them. I position myself in the middle of Amber’s backyard and text her, telling her that I’m ready. She tells Lauren that she’s got to light the bbq, and comes outside. I crank “In Your Eyes”, but my boombox isn’t very loud! Lauren could hear it, but couldn’t tell what it was. Amber calls for her. Lauren walks out with a puzzled look on her face. She sees me, and gets a MORE puzzled/happy look on her face.

She realizes what’s happening, and grabs the railing to keep from falling over.

She comes to me, and I put the boombox down, but leave it playing softly.

I tell Lauren how much she means to me, how much I love her, and how I want to take care of her forever if she’ll let me.

I pull out the ring, but my hands are shaking, and the pocket on the coat is DEEP. I fumble a little before getting it out. I get down on one knee and open it, and Lauren is overcome with emotion.

I ask her to marry me, and she says “yes” without hesitation. Before I can actually give her the ring, she kisses me.

My shaking hands fumble to get the ring on her finger, but it’s a perfect fit.

We embrace, and after snapping a few shots, Amber BOLTS into the house to give us privacy.

We had some time alone for a while, and then came into the house, where Amber was waiting to take a few more pictures. Chris had arrived by this time, too. He had BARELY missed the proposal. Poor guy.

We called Lauren’s family, and her little sisters FREAKED OUT. Very excited. Then I spent forever trying to get my phone to send a picture of the ring with the caption “Hey- what are you doing December 19?” to my family. It finally went through (darn Amber’s cellular black hole!) and then I started telling friends.

Lauren’s brothers, Phillip and Nick, showed up and when I answered the door, they both hugged me. I love those guys.

We had an amazing dinner (thanks, Amber and Chris!) and watched Rocky Horror. Only Chris and I had seen it. Everyone else was watching for the first time. (Don’t worry, I edited it for Nick.) It was a blast. During the movie, people tried to call me and text me about the engagement, but like I said, Amber’s house is a black hole. I finally gave up on trying to tell friends and was going to wait until the morning.

After the movie, Phillip took Nick home, and Lauren and I showed the photos to her parents. We then took Phil to get slushes and drive around listening to music for a while.

This morning, the news was out. I told Phillip that he was welcome to tell anyone. Nick took the liberty of sharing, too. I’m glad they’re excited. I went ahead and sent the picture out to a bunch of friends, too, and everyone who asked for details was told to wait until I got a blog about it done. So, here you go! :)

I’m so lucky. I love Lauren so much. I can’t wait to be sealed to her forever in less than four months. ACK!!!!! It’s going to be the longest four months of my life, but SO worth it.

Love you, Lauren!

December 19!!!