After months of hiding, I am proud (well, maybe not proud...) to announce my return to the blogosphere.
The past few months have been busy. And when they weren't busy, I was lazy.
I'm still lazy.
Anyway, since February, I've played a major role in my first university main-stage show, assistant directed my first community theater show, designed a set, seen Star Trek, traveled back and forth between school and home, held my three-year-old niece during a tornado and cooked chicken spaghetti.
Oh, and I finished my second year of college.
Weird, right?
So it's summer break now--at least until Tuesday, when I start my summer class (boo).
Summer means that it's time for me to
1. get some real writing done--I have about 20,000 words on the novel that I started for NaNoWriMo and lots of fun places to go with that
2. muddle my way through a science class--Again, boo.
And
3. find a job.
Exciting stuff.
But, even with that stuff to do, I still have more free time than usual. We'll see if I can match last summer's posts.
It has been raining here all day.
Which means that I've had rather a lot of time to think. And that's never good.
I spent a lot of time thinking about things that I've learned in my life-- especially the really odd things. So, today I bring you a list of (non)vital information for a rainy day.
* If you put thirty-five candles on a cake and light them all, you will set off the fire alarm and the fire department will come and shut down your opening night party.
* Nothing good can ever come from being in a Waffle House after midnight.
* It's a bad idea to wear a tank top and sandals on a late night walk in October.
* There's a song for everything. I mean everything.
* Some people should never have coffee.
* If you play a character that is stoned in a show, you will be remembered as "The Girl Who Was Stoned" or "Pot Girl."
* It's awkward when it's one of your professors who remembers you as "The Girl Who Was Stoned."
* Whenever people come to your apartment, there is a risk that they will fall asleep on your living room furniture.
* There's also a risk that your guests will break your dishes.
* There's always someone geekier than you are.
*Making a good grade in a foreign language class means nothing. Unless it's Japanese.
* Taco Bell is a brilliant idea.
* The bread at Olive Garden is not to be fooled around with.
* Hot dogs are made out of nasty.
* Kids shows will never be as good as they were when you were a kid.
* Calvin and Hobbes is still cool.
* It's always funny when friends who are drunk fall on their faces.
* Even people who love to read rarely have the chance to read for pleasure during the school year.
* It's far easier to sit in a coffee shop and talk for hours than it should be.
* Innuendo is everywhere.
* An hour spent watching YouTube videos is an hour well spent.
* Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Dr Pepper and Lemonade (sometimes) combine to make fruit punch.
* Adding "bitch" to the end of a statement makes it more authoritative.
* Carrying a wedding dress across campus will earn you a lot of strange looks.
* The word "epic" no longer has any meaning.
* The Wii is a dangerous thing.
* It is possible to injure yourself with a butter knife.
* The best stuff in the world hides in five dollar movie bins.
* Staying up all night with friends is, and ought to be, a regular occurrence.
I hope you're able to find some wisdom for a rainy day on this list. Or some random crap that got you to giggle. Either one.
Well, December is here, and that can only mean one thing!
That's right-- finals.
Finals. The bane of a college student's existence.
Tomorrow is Dead Day, and finals start on Thursday. And it's terrible.
So, to lower my stress level, I'm just going to share some of what I've been up to lately.
I've been able to hang out with my friends again. (Wonderful how that happens when you finish a show--the free time eats you alive. Seriously, you have all of these hours and nothing to do with them anymore.) And that's been great.
Also, I've had the chance to read some stuff that's not come from my Lit book. Right now I'm reading Lamb by Christopher Moore. So far, it's pretty great--I recommend it if you're looking for something funny to read. After I finish it, I've got a Bette Davis biography to read.
I'm also trying to branch out into some new music. I'm starting to get tired of some of the stuff that I've been listening to for ages and ages (makes sense, right?). So here's where you can help me.
Suggest some songs for me to check out. Two or three. Any genre, any time period, whatever. I'll give them a listen. And, maybe, later on I''ll suggest some of my favorites for you.
So give me some music. Now. Go.
Hey folks!
It's been a really long time (reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long), but I'm back!
The show went well-- we finished up performances on Saturday. I'm trying to get used to having free time again. It's weird.
Apart from that, I'm trying (trying...XP) to do NaNoWriMo this year. I'm already way behind, but I'll catch up. Or not. I'll give it a go, anyway.
The semester is drawing to a close (which means that I will soon no longer have an 8 o'clock class--yay!).
Well, that's really all I have to say for now. I haven't been able to plan a post-- spending all of my time at the theater and all. But it shouldn't be too long before I have more interesting (or not) tidbits for you.
It's good to be back.
When I was a junior in high school, I took a creative writing class-- it was definitely one of my favorite parts of high school. As part of our final grade, we had to make a portfolio of all of the work we'd done in the class during the semester.
Earlier today, I was reunited with my Creative Writing I portfolio. I've had fun flipping through it this morning, finding some pretty abysmal stuff mixed in with a gem or two.
Since I'm so excited about having my portfolio back, I thought I'd share a piece that I wrote during Creative Writing in high school.
I don't remember the full prompt, but the prompt title that I have on the paper is "Yoknapatawpha," which come from Faulkner, if I recall correctly. I do remember that we were supposed to jump back and forth between time lines.
Enjoy.
Mrs. Annie Potter pursed her lips, her nostrils flaring. Her family owned the damn grocery store, and she still could get no service. She huffed, her wrinkled face fixed in a most unflattering grimace, and glanced at the clock.
"Potter's Family Grocery," her father-in-law, Pops, had said. "The pride of Green City. Or at least it will be."
Momma Mary Potter wrinkled her nose in distaste. Who's gonna want to sell their crops here?"
"Plenty of people," Potter laughed. "It's in the best part of town."
Annie listened as her father-in-law went on about the grocery store and how it would change all of their lives. She didn't think their lives needed much changing-- they were already the richest family in the county; they owned half of the town. But Pops, as the late Granny Potter, now residing in the Potter Family Cemetery, had always said, was a dreamer, fanciful and always in motion.
As Mrs. Potter handed the check-out clerk the money for the bag of potatoes she was purchasing, a teenager bumped into her. "Watch where you're going, dear," Mrs. Potter snapped.
"Sorry," the young girl called back at Mrs. Potter.
"You're late, Taylor," the store manager said to the girl.
"I know, I'm sorry," she replied, tying on a apron that had "Potter's Grocery, since 1937" printed on it. "It won't happen again."
The manager waved Taylor over to one of the check-out counters; she stood behind the cash register and began ringing up an impatient patron's order.
"All done!" Taylor said cheerfully when she had finished ringing up the last item, (a box of Cheerios). "Do you want anything else, Mr. Teddy?"
A stuffed bear sitting in a plastic stroller gazed quizzically back at her.
"Okay, Mr. Teddy," Taylor said. "Have a nice day."
"Can I help the next person in line, please?" Taylor said, leaning on the cash register.
"Afternoon, Taylor," Reverend James Valley said, handing Taylor a jar of peanut butter. "How are you doing today?"
"Eh," Taylor shrugged. "Your total's two dollars and nineteen cents, Reverend V."
Reverend Valley handed Taylor a five. "Have you seen Mrs. Potter today?"
Taylor nodded, rolling her eyes. "She's in a mood," the teen said. "She's always in a mood."
Reverend Valley smiled. "She's had a hard time since her husband passed away."
The reverend cleared his throat and adjusted his collar. He hated doing funerals. But it was part of his job. He glanced across the room at the sobbing Mrs. Potter.
"Reverend," Mrs. Potter said as she made her way out of the store, bag of potatoes clutched in her fist. She paused only long enough to spare Taylor a withering glare before leaving.
"Here's your change, Reverend V.," Taylor said, frowning at Mrs. Potter's back. "Have a nice day."
Well, not really.
My apologies for my lack of content lately--I moved back to school a couple of weeks ago, classes have started, so on so forth, busy busy.
So here's an update on what I've been up to while I've been...not updating this blog.
Like I said, I've moved in to my apartment (which I'm sharing with my darling roommate from last year--thank God we didn't kill each other last year). The place looks beautiful: in the mid-afternoon, the sun comes in through the curtains in the living room, and the whole front room of the apartment is gold. I pretty much love it.
My classes have started. My Spanish teacher is still waiting on her visa (which doesn't bode well for me, but whatever). The freshmen are all bigger than I am.
I have my first audition in a week. It's for The Sugar Bean Sisters, which I know nothing about, but that's half the fun, right?
And I've been writing lately. Some of you (well, only Colby, really) have asked what I'm working on. There's a short story contest with a deadline coming up in November; I've been pulling together something for that. And I've signed up for NaNoWriMo (I'm gonna die...). We'll see how all of that goes--I might post bits of the story here, after the deadline, of course.
So that's what I've been doing the past few weeks. What have you been up to?
My summer at home is about to end: I move back to my school in about a week. And that'll mean course work and shows and all that sort of thing.Anyway, I know I've let this blog slide this month-- there's been other stuff on my mind and, honestly, there hasn't been much worth blogging about. But I do have a couple of posts planned. They should be up soon. Ish. I haven't been blogging, but I have been writing a little bit on something or other every day (except Sundays). If I come up with anything worthwhile, I might post some of it on here.That said, I hope everyone's having a great summer-- even if it is almost over.
So, after much drama, my roommate and I have an apartment for next school year.
Her dad had been giving us a hard time about getting one-- apparently we're incapable of taking care of ourselves without the supervision of a dorm staff. He seemed to be under the impression that, as soon as we got our own place, we'd fall into a life of debauchery.
But that's all behind us now. We've signed a lease and paid a deposit; it looks like we're set, for the time being, at least.
And with that, the school year is wrapping up. I finished the last of my classes today and my last play of the year was last night (and went very well, all things considered); all that's left is finals. Well, that, and moving out (which is going to quite an experience, I think... I can't quite believe the amount of useless stuff I've accumulated over the past few months).
When I leave for the summer, I'll be going home to an 8-5 job and life with my parents (which isn't bad, but it won't allow for the kind of freedom that I've become accustomed to). It'll be different; I'm sure of that.
But, then, variety is the spice of life, right?
....
XP
About a year ago, I graduated from high school. I spent the whole summer worrying about how I would cope with college life. I don't think I can put into words how freaked out I was about starting my freshman year.
There are ten days of class left in my freshman year. It's incredibly surreal--I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I was convinced that I'd spontaneously combust or something before I reached this point.
I didn't (as you may have noticed). In fact, I dare to say that I've thrived in this year.
Weird how things never seem to go as planned.
Even weirder how they work out for the better, even when you're not trying.
The vending machine in my dorm's lobby has something against me.
My roommate and I don't buy Dr Pepper, though I really couldn't say why-- it'd really save me a fair bit of trouble if we did. Anyway, about once or twice a week, I buy a Dr Pepper from the vending machine. And every time, the machine tries to kill me.
The first time this happened, a Dr Pepper traveling at a high velocity collided with my knee. Fortunately (er... I suppose), the knee that it hit is already injured; there's not much more damage that can be done to it.
But it was still scary as hell.
In the past few months, I've probably had more soda projectiles sent my way that any other person. And I've only recently figured out what I have to do to dodge them.
Now, I insert the dollar bill into the machine, press the Dr Pepper button and dive behind the nearest wall until the whirring of the machine has stopped.
I imagine that the machine is now trying to come up with a way around my plans to thwart it's assaults.
The machine will continue to try to kill me.
...Paranoia is an unfortunate downside of an overactive imagination.
Apparently, once a semester, all of my professors get together and decide to place tests, presentations, assignments and practice all in the same week.
This is that week.
Four tests, five hours of research credit, six hours of rehearsal, twenty plus sections of homework, an issue presentation and ninety-some lines to learn all before the weekend.
So, after spending a few hours banging my head against my desk, I've started the work. I've got two tests down, two hours of rehearsal and three hours of research behind me, ten homework sections done and about two-thirds of my lines memorized.
Unfortunately, my brain is now complete mush (not that it was far from that in the first place...). Doesn't look like anything else is getting done tonight.
There ought to be laws against weeks like this.
And, on that note, I'm going to cry myself to sleep thinking about all that there is yet to do.
Goodnight.
I am apparently terrible to live with.
My roommate, social butterfly that she is, has, for the second night in a row, run off to hang around with some boy.
Not to say I've never done the same thing, but....
Anyway, I'm once again sitting in my dorm, watching The West Wing (season three, this time).
In the weeks since I've read Primary Colors and since I've started watching The West Wing, I've become more interested in politics.
Well, not politics, per se, but in what might go on "behind the scenes" when it comes to politicians, their speeches and their campaigns.
For instance, this past week, I was watching a speech given by the president in the Financial District of New York City. Now, I may not agree with the president all of the time, but I have to have some level of respect for anyone who is willing to attempt to run the country.
But the man's not the best public speaker.
During this speech, the president said "... if Congress doesn't act...."
This is not what I heard.
I heard "...if Congress done that...."
And the thought struck me that there should be someone whose job is to whack the president in the head whenever me makes such an error when speaking .
Seriously. It'd be great.
The president uses a double negative.
"Permission to hit the president with my clipboard?"
"Granted."
WHACK!
Think about it for a while.
Well, my roommate has returned (with company, no less), so I'll leave you with this fun quote-- taken from, where else, The West Wing.
"There was a time in the evolution of everything that works where it didn't."
My roommate has gone out of town for the weekend, which means that I am by myself in our room.
Now, my university is not in a big city. In fact, it's a stretch to call the place a city. We don't even have a Krystal's Hamburgers. So, I've been left to entertain myself until my roomie gets back sometime tomorrow night.
There being a lack of diversions in my town, this means that I've been keeping to my room.
This would be a perfect opportunity for me to make some headway on my paper that's due Tuesday or the speech that I have to give Wednesday. But have I done that?
Ha... no, not so much.
In fact, all I've done is watch movies (thank God for Guillermo del Toro, that's all I have to say).
And now, I've moved on to season one of The West Wing.
What an exciting weekend.
This is strange to me.
I started college in August; my first semester went really well. I really didn't have a hard time adjusting to the life.
But, when I came back this semester, it was like a whole new world. Nothing really was different, but everything felt different.
I suppose it was largely because I had much less to do-- choir was canceled, I hadn't heard from my voice teacher, my classes were (and still are) mind-numbingly boring and I hadn't been cast in anything (which, I'm not going to lie, was a bit of a sore spot for me).
Anyway, I finally feel like I'm really back "in my groove," as it were. My voice classes are set up again, my classes are... well, not more interesting, but they are making more sense and I've been cast in a show again (Scotland Road-- I'm incredibly excited).
It's nice to be back on track.
And to think, it only took half the semester!
