It's Friday afternoon, so it must be time for Madeline to write a blog post. I'm not going home this weekend (for once, it seems), so I actually have a big chunk of time to do things.
School continues to just be school: fairly interesting and super stressful. I'm now working on my second Collaborative project. This one has been more interesting to think about than the previous one, even though I don't really like the play, because it's a comedy so it has more dimension than a farce. The play is The House of Blue Leaves, and it's about a bunch of people who think their lives are completely falling apart and they're all pursuing these really unrealistic fantasies: "If only [such and such] would happen, my life would be perfect!" My team has decided to use reality TV for our concept, because of course reality shows (at least in the Real World/Survivor/Big Brother sense) are completely unrealistic, and I think a lot of people watch them to feel better about their own lives. It's a schadenfreude thing, almost. Because of our concept, we have to move the time period of the show from 1965 to 1995, so it's been kind of fun updating the dialogue. For example, any reference to Jackie Kennedy is changed to Madonna, and one character's "transistors" are now hearing aids. I'm doing scenic design for this show, which is definitely not my forte, but at least I'll have costume design for the final show of the semester. I'm going to try to incorporate reality TV into the set design by having boom mics and TV cameras visible in the scene.
Have you ever been in a library with only one other person? It's awesome! (Sorry for the random topic change.) I was in the library from 11:30 to midnight last night with my friend Annika, doing Collaborative research (we're in the same group this time), and no one else was in there!! So we got to talk to each other from across the room and be really goofy and it was so much fun! It felt like we were being really rebellious or something.
The reason we were in the library so late was that last night Annika and I drove to Cuyahoga Falls, about 45 minutes away, to see the Triple Rainbow Awesome Tour!!! 3RA, as it's been dubbed on Twitter, was the fall tour for ALL CAPS, Alex Carpenter, Skyway Flyer, and Mike Lombardo, all of whom (except maybe Alex?) are DFTBA Records artists. Annika and I hung around at the end of the concert and waited for all the high schoolers and their parents to leave, and then we got to really talk to everyone!! While we were waiting, we met another girl who goes to B-W! Her name is Jessica, she lives in the dorm across the street from mine, and she knows another Nerdfighter on campus, so now there are at least four of us!! I got the chance to ask Alex and Kristina if I could use a couple of their wizard rock songs in a school project, and Alex convinced Annika to get a Twitter account. I bought a poster, which everyone signed, and everyone also signed Annika's DFTBA shirt. We also got to watch Hayley, Mike's girlfriend, film her entire 5 Awesome Girls video, and then Annika asked Mike about learning to play one of his songs, and Hayley and Mike took us upstairs to use the piano in the sanctuary to show Annika the chords! (The show was in the cafe at Hayley's church.) It was really a completely fantastic night, and definitely the most fun I've had since the HP-Ohio Crystal Ball in January.
I recorded the last part of "Don't Unplug Me" by ALL CAPS, so I'll put that below. Now I'm going to go back to rocking out to my new Skyway Flyer album and wondering why there are two pairs of sunglasses on my desk and to whom the extraneous pair belongs. My life is unpredictable, if nothing else...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Drowning in the Ocean of College
Finally, at the end of the fifth week of school, here is my post about how school is going this semester. That's a pretty good indication of how school is going. In short, I feel like I'm drowning. As soon as I finally feel I've got a bit of a handle on things and I can get my head up to take a breath, the current of senior year pulls me back under and I just wind up with a burning mouthful of salt water. I've carved out about two hours on Friday afternoons (aka, right now) to just give myself a break and do whatever I want, but I spend the whole time feeling guilty that I'm not doing schoolwork.
A brief rundown of my classes this semester:
Collaborative Studies in Theatre - This is affectionately known as the class from hell in the Theatre Department, mostly because of the amount of work it requires. Over the semester, we have three projects on three shows, and we work with different people for each one. Currently, I'm the "director" for a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and I have to work with my "scenic designer" and my "costume designer" to choose a spine (the main action of the show) and a concept (we're doing Cirque du Soleil) and then do all the research that our "job" requires...so I'm researching Forum (its history, significant productions, its authors, dramatic criticism), directing musicals and farces, Ancient Rome (with particular emphasis on slavery and women), social history of the 1960s (when Forum was written), and anything about Cirque du Soleil that I can get my hands on. Then I have to use my "scenic designer's" sketches and outline the blocking for the entire show. Everything has to support our spine and concept and the playwrights' intentions. For someone who hates group projects, this class is a joy.
Tap III - I love this class, it's just exhausting!! My tap technique has really suffered over the last couple of years, so I'm getting the chance to go back and review some basics. It's taught by the new dance teacher, Greg, who is completely wonderful. I sweat buckets every time!
Seminario español - This is a really interesting class so far. The focus is on immigration and everything that that entails: the decision to leave home, the journey itself, adjusting to a new world, cultural and subcultural identity... We get a very interesting perspective on it because the professor, my adviser, grew up in Puerto Rico and came to the U.S. for grad school in the early '80s. The class is very small and I'm friends with everyone in it.
Dance in America - One of my least favorite classes ever. It's like dance history for non-dancers, and I'm in it because I missed the Dance History class required for my minor while I was in Ecuador. The teacher is odd and super-pretentious and tries so hard to be politically correct that he often comes off as racist. At least he'll admit he's a snob about what constitutes "good dance," though. It's super boring and the teacher picks on my friend Loee and me all the time because he knows we're dancers.
Ballet IV - Another class that kicks my butt every single time, but I'm loving it! It's also a return to basics for me, in a way, and the teacher is really wonderful about making corrections, explaining things, and answering questions. I'm now regretting most of my high school years, when I put way less effort into my ballet classes than I should have.
Dance Production and Performance - This is another class taught by Greg, the new dance teacher. It's a lecture class, but he gets sidetracked all the time into awesome stories of the years he danced with the Rockettes or various national tours he's been on. We have one project for the semester that keeps building and building on itself. Each person has to act as the producer for a show (a dance concert, a recital, a musical, whatever they've chosen) and plan the entire budget and logistics. It's really interesting so far, although it's a bit frustrating because I usually don't have time to call places like hotels and rental companies during business hours.
In addition to all that, I'm working in the scene shop in the theater four hours each week for Backstage Experience credit. I get to do everything from putting together spiral staircases to taking seams out of curtains to painting sets to bringing lights down from the catwalks. It's fun some days, but it's also exhausting and usually dirty, sweaty work.
I also have my senior Honors thesis, which I haven't really started on because I'm feeling kind of lost about it. My project is essentially developing a business plan for a small dance company, because my sister and I have a dream of starting our own company someday and neither of us knows anything about business. And that's the issue with me getting started: I don't know anything about business. And because the thesis is not something that's due immediately, I never seem to find time to work on it, so I feel like it's constantly looming over me. It's just so frustrating. I joke about wanting to drop out of school all the time, but there are days when I really wish I could.
To end this post on a happy note, something fantabulous happened on Wednesday. I was packing up my things after Collaborative and I heard one of my classmates, Annika, whom I don't know very well, talking to someone else about a book called Looking for Alaska. I freaked out and asked her if she'd read any of John Green's other books, and she said no, but then she said something about being a Nerdfighter, and I shouted, "You're a Nerdfighter?!?" and then she said, "YOU'RE a Nerdfighter?!?" and it was completely fantastic. Everyone was staring at us like we were nuts, and we just kept babbling on about John and Hank and YouTube and pizza and LeakyCon and everything. That was most definitely the highlight of my week!!
A brief rundown of my classes this semester:
Collaborative Studies in Theatre - This is affectionately known as the class from hell in the Theatre Department, mostly because of the amount of work it requires. Over the semester, we have three projects on three shows, and we work with different people for each one. Currently, I'm the "director" for a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and I have to work with my "scenic designer" and my "costume designer" to choose a spine (the main action of the show) and a concept (we're doing Cirque du Soleil) and then do all the research that our "job" requires...so I'm researching Forum (its history, significant productions, its authors, dramatic criticism), directing musicals and farces, Ancient Rome (with particular emphasis on slavery and women), social history of the 1960s (when Forum was written), and anything about Cirque du Soleil that I can get my hands on. Then I have to use my "scenic designer's" sketches and outline the blocking for the entire show. Everything has to support our spine and concept and the playwrights' intentions. For someone who hates group projects, this class is a joy.
Tap III - I love this class, it's just exhausting!! My tap technique has really suffered over the last couple of years, so I'm getting the chance to go back and review some basics. It's taught by the new dance teacher, Greg, who is completely wonderful. I sweat buckets every time!
Seminario español - This is a really interesting class so far. The focus is on immigration and everything that that entails: the decision to leave home, the journey itself, adjusting to a new world, cultural and subcultural identity... We get a very interesting perspective on it because the professor, my adviser, grew up in Puerto Rico and came to the U.S. for grad school in the early '80s. The class is very small and I'm friends with everyone in it.
Dance in America - One of my least favorite classes ever. It's like dance history for non-dancers, and I'm in it because I missed the Dance History class required for my minor while I was in Ecuador. The teacher is odd and super-pretentious and tries so hard to be politically correct that he often comes off as racist. At least he'll admit he's a snob about what constitutes "good dance," though. It's super boring and the teacher picks on my friend Loee and me all the time because he knows we're dancers.
Ballet IV - Another class that kicks my butt every single time, but I'm loving it! It's also a return to basics for me, in a way, and the teacher is really wonderful about making corrections, explaining things, and answering questions. I'm now regretting most of my high school years, when I put way less effort into my ballet classes than I should have.
Dance Production and Performance - This is another class taught by Greg, the new dance teacher. It's a lecture class, but he gets sidetracked all the time into awesome stories of the years he danced with the Rockettes or various national tours he's been on. We have one project for the semester that keeps building and building on itself. Each person has to act as the producer for a show (a dance concert, a recital, a musical, whatever they've chosen) and plan the entire budget and logistics. It's really interesting so far, although it's a bit frustrating because I usually don't have time to call places like hotels and rental companies during business hours.
In addition to all that, I'm working in the scene shop in the theater four hours each week for Backstage Experience credit. I get to do everything from putting together spiral staircases to taking seams out of curtains to painting sets to bringing lights down from the catwalks. It's fun some days, but it's also exhausting and usually dirty, sweaty work.
I also have my senior Honors thesis, which I haven't really started on because I'm feeling kind of lost about it. My project is essentially developing a business plan for a small dance company, because my sister and I have a dream of starting our own company someday and neither of us knows anything about business. And that's the issue with me getting started: I don't know anything about business. And because the thesis is not something that's due immediately, I never seem to find time to work on it, so I feel like it's constantly looming over me. It's just so frustrating. I joke about wanting to drop out of school all the time, but there are days when I really wish I could.
To end this post on a happy note, something fantabulous happened on Wednesday. I was packing up my things after Collaborative and I heard one of my classmates, Annika, whom I don't know very well, talking to someone else about a book called Looking for Alaska. I freaked out and asked her if she'd read any of John Green's other books, and she said no, but then she said something about being a Nerdfighter, and I shouted, "You're a Nerdfighter?!?" and then she said, "YOU'RE a Nerdfighter?!?" and it was completely fantastic. Everyone was staring at us like we were nuts, and we just kept babbling on about John and Hank and YouTube and pizza and LeakyCon and everything. That was most definitely the highlight of my week!!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Labor Day baseball!
I love Labor Day, because I'm lucky enough to go to a college that still takes the day as a holiday, so it's like a Monday that's not really a Monday. This year I stayed at school for Saturday and Sunday and then drove to Pittsburgh on Monday morning for an afternoon Braves-Pirates game.
It's only about two-and-a-half hours to Pittsburgh from school, and I was a little nervous because it was my first time driving out of state by myself, but I was fine until I got into the city. This was my third time going to Pittsburgh, and the previous two times my dad got totally confused on the way out because of construction and closed streets and other nonsense. This time, I got lost on the way into the city. Apparently they've just re-numbered all of the exits to coincide with miles on the actual road, rather than distance from the city limits, as they used to be. My GPS, Lucille, was telling me to take exit 7A, and there was neither a "7" nor an "A" to be seen on any of the signs. So I just drove around for a while, totally lost, crossing the river to the wrong side and winding up in residential areas, while poor Lucille worked really hard to get me back on track. The problem with Pittsburgh is that there are so many places where you have to make a turn from the far right lane and then half a mile later you have to make a turn from the far left lane and it's just not possible!
I survived, thank God, and finally made it to the stadium. I allowed myself almost an hour of extra driving time, so I still had a while to wait in the parking lot for my family.
My dad, my sister, my grandma, and my aunt drove up from Central Ohio and picked up my cousin Matt at his fraternity house. (He goes to Carnegie Mellon University.) We had all had to laugh, because my dad, my sister, and I all had on our Braves hats (of course), Grandma was wearing her Tigers hat (because she's from Michigan and we took her to a game in Detroit last summer), Matt was wearing a Giants shirt (because he's from the San Francisco area), and Aunt Kathy forgot her Braves hat so she bought a Pirates one to keep the sun out of her eyes. It was too bad my sister hadn't worn her Cubs shirt, since they're her other favorite team!
PNC Park is really a beautiful stadium, and we had fantastic seats (between 3rd base and home, about fifteen rows back). The weather was perfect, probably the best baseball weather I've ever experienced. It was a good game, but the final score was a disappointing 3-1 for the Pirates. They're already eliminated, and we totally should have beat them! There were at least two occasions where the Braves had the bases loaded and were unable to get a run in. Our up-and-down offense has been the biggest issue this year, and we're really going to need to pick it up if we're going to make the playoffs, let alone win the division. The Phillies scare the crap out of me, and as of today they've taken the division lead by a half game.
Matt and I spent the whole game talking about every aspect of baseball, from the "battle royale" that's coming with this postseason, to great bloopers that we've seen in person or on video, to reminiscing about games we've been to together. He told me about the NLCS game where the Giants clinched the pennant in 2002, which he attended. SO COOL! We watched the right field scoreboard for other games obsessively, glorying in the Phillies' loss to the Marlins. (Matt also wants the Phillies to crash and burn, because the Giants are in second place in the Wild Card race.) Unfortunately, the Phils and Marlins had a double-header that day, and the second game didn't turn out to our liking.
Matt, my sister, and I also had a blast gauging the trajectories of the balls flying into the crowd. I'd never seen so many fouls into the stands before! Early in the game, a ball landed about five rows in front of us, and two guys dove for it. One came up with the ball, and he shook hands with the other guy and gave him back his hat, which had been knocked off. Then the guy who got the ball noticed the other man had three little girls with him, and he gave the ball to the girls! Our whole section applauded his generosity, and the dad bought the nice guy a beer when a vendor came around. Maybe two innings later, a ball went way up into the first deck, right above us. I was watching my left side to see if it would come back down, and it came down on my right side and bounced away! Matt was like, "BALL!", but I didn't see it before it was gone. It went forward, though, about five rows, and wound up with the guy who had given up the first ball!! That's karma for you. It was an awesome thing to see!
I'll write again soon and talk about how school is going. I desperately needed to write about something happy, today, though, so you got this instead. (That should give you an idea of how school is going.)
It's only about two-and-a-half hours to Pittsburgh from school, and I was a little nervous because it was my first time driving out of state by myself, but I was fine until I got into the city. This was my third time going to Pittsburgh, and the previous two times my dad got totally confused on the way out because of construction and closed streets and other nonsense. This time, I got lost on the way into the city. Apparently they've just re-numbered all of the exits to coincide with miles on the actual road, rather than distance from the city limits, as they used to be. My GPS, Lucille, was telling me to take exit 7A, and there was neither a "7" nor an "A" to be seen on any of the signs. So I just drove around for a while, totally lost, crossing the river to the wrong side and winding up in residential areas, while poor Lucille worked really hard to get me back on track. The problem with Pittsburgh is that there are so many places where you have to make a turn from the far right lane and then half a mile later you have to make a turn from the far left lane and it's just not possible!
I survived, thank God, and finally made it to the stadium. I allowed myself almost an hour of extra driving time, so I still had a while to wait in the parking lot for my family.
My dad, my sister, my grandma, and my aunt drove up from Central Ohio and picked up my cousin Matt at his fraternity house. (He goes to Carnegie Mellon University.) We had all had to laugh, because my dad, my sister, and I all had on our Braves hats (of course), Grandma was wearing her Tigers hat (because she's from Michigan and we took her to a game in Detroit last summer), Matt was wearing a Giants shirt (because he's from the San Francisco area), and Aunt Kathy forgot her Braves hat so she bought a Pirates one to keep the sun out of her eyes. It was too bad my sister hadn't worn her Cubs shirt, since they're her other favorite team!
PNC Park is really a beautiful stadium, and we had fantastic seats (between 3rd base and home, about fifteen rows back). The weather was perfect, probably the best baseball weather I've ever experienced. It was a good game, but the final score was a disappointing 3-1 for the Pirates. They're already eliminated, and we totally should have beat them! There were at least two occasions where the Braves had the bases loaded and were unable to get a run in. Our up-and-down offense has been the biggest issue this year, and we're really going to need to pick it up if we're going to make the playoffs, let alone win the division. The Phillies scare the crap out of me, and as of today they've taken the division lead by a half game.
Matt and I spent the whole game talking about every aspect of baseball, from the "battle royale" that's coming with this postseason, to great bloopers that we've seen in person or on video, to reminiscing about games we've been to together. He told me about the NLCS game where the Giants clinched the pennant in 2002, which he attended. SO COOL! We watched the right field scoreboard for other games obsessively, glorying in the Phillies' loss to the Marlins. (Matt also wants the Phillies to crash and burn, because the Giants are in second place in the Wild Card race.) Unfortunately, the Phils and Marlins had a double-header that day, and the second game didn't turn out to our liking.
Matt, my sister, and I also had a blast gauging the trajectories of the balls flying into the crowd. I'd never seen so many fouls into the stands before! Early in the game, a ball landed about five rows in front of us, and two guys dove for it. One came up with the ball, and he shook hands with the other guy and gave him back his hat, which had been knocked off. Then the guy who got the ball noticed the other man had three little girls with him, and he gave the ball to the girls! Our whole section applauded his generosity, and the dad bought the nice guy a beer when a vendor came around. Maybe two innings later, a ball went way up into the first deck, right above us. I was watching my left side to see if it would come back down, and it came down on my right side and bounced away! Matt was like, "BALL!", but I didn't see it before it was gone. It went forward, though, about five rows, and wound up with the guy who had given up the first ball!! That's karma for you. It was an awesome thing to see!
I'll write again soon and talk about how school is going. I desperately needed to write about something happy, today, though, so you got this instead. (That should give you an idea of how school is going.)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Esther
Early this morning, a beautiful soul went home to be with Jesus. Esther Earl, a sixteen-year-old from Boston who was fighting thyroid cancer, passed away, surrounded by her family. I never met her, and I first heard of her only a few months ago, but her strong spirit, love of life, and commitment to awesome touched me deeply.
Esther was a Nerdfighter and a Harry Potter fan of the highest caliber. She truly cared about people and she had a passion for decreasing worldsuck. Though I'm sure she was often frustrated and in pain, her tweets and her videos were always upbeat and never self-pitying. She faced her illness with strength and grace (Grace was her middle name), and she reached out to other people and vigorously supported great causes, such as the work of the Harry Potter Alliance. Her Make-A-Wish Foundation request was for a gathering of close friends and her favorite author, John Green. John told Esther that for her birthday, which was about three weeks ago today, he would ask Nerdfighteria to make videos about any subject of her choice, and her choice was love and family.
I've celebrated many fantastic events with the Nerdfighter and Harry Potter communities over the past year and a half, but this is the first time I have mourned with them. From the moment I woke up, my Twitter feed has been full of messages in her memory and prayers and wishes for her family and friends. Two beautiful songs have already been posted to YouTube about Esther, and I'm sure more will follow. People have been saying "R.I.A." for "Rest in awesome," and they've been reminding each other of Albus Dumbledore's wise words about life and death. We are all saddened to say goodbye to Esther, but we will continue to honor this brave girl who inspired so many people to make the world a better place.
Heaven holds just a little bit more awesome today than it did yesterday. Rest in peace, Esther.
Esther was a Nerdfighter and a Harry Potter fan of the highest caliber. She truly cared about people and she had a passion for decreasing worldsuck. Though I'm sure she was often frustrated and in pain, her tweets and her videos were always upbeat and never self-pitying. She faced her illness with strength and grace (Grace was her middle name), and she reached out to other people and vigorously supported great causes, such as the work of the Harry Potter Alliance. Her Make-A-Wish Foundation request was for a gathering of close friends and her favorite author, John Green. John told Esther that for her birthday, which was about three weeks ago today, he would ask Nerdfighteria to make videos about any subject of her choice, and her choice was love and family.
I've celebrated many fantastic events with the Nerdfighter and Harry Potter communities over the past year and a half, but this is the first time I have mourned with them. From the moment I woke up, my Twitter feed has been full of messages in her memory and prayers and wishes for her family and friends. Two beautiful songs have already been posted to YouTube about Esther, and I'm sure more will follow. People have been saying "R.I.A." for "Rest in awesome," and they've been reminding each other of Albus Dumbledore's wise words about life and death. We are all saddened to say goodbye to Esther, but we will continue to honor this brave girl who inspired so many people to make the world a better place.
Heaven holds just a little bit more awesome today than it did yesterday. Rest in peace, Esther.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Playing summer catch-up
Hello, faithful blog readers! (I'm pretty sure there are two of you.) I have been quite remiss in my blogging duties lately, so I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on with me lately...which isn't really that much, now that I think about it.
This is the first summer that I've had a real job. I'm working at the local middle school doing a day camp-type program. Some days I hate it, and other days it makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. I like my two co-workers, and a few of the kids are sweet, but I really hate the middle school age group, and I really can't deal with all of the disorganization and lack of people explaining things to me in advance. I keep being told, "Well, you know we're in a new room this summer and we're all busy and sometimes you've gotta just roll with the punches".....but come on, it's well over halfway through the program. I shouldn't still be searching through haphazard piles to find the folder for the old attendance sheets. It pays well, and I occasionally get to see my good friends who work at one of the elementary school sites, but my hours keep getting cut because we don't have enough money to pay two staff people when we have seven or fewer kids. At this point I'm just trying to grit my teeth and get through it, but August is going to be killer: a trip to King's Island and an overnight lock-in at the school. To be perfectly honest, I was grateful when I woke up this morning and threw up multiple times, because it meant I didn't have to go in to work.
This summer hasn't been all bad, though. I've gotten to see two wizard rock shows with my sister and our friend Maddy. We saw the Parselmouths, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Lauren from the Moaning Myrtles and The Whomping Willows (who together make up Armoured Bearcub), and ALL CAPS play in Akron, where I got to meet Kristina and Hayley of YouTube's Five Awesome Girls. Barely a week later, we drove down to the world's largest YMCA in southern Ohio to see Skyway Flyer, Tonks and the Aurors, the Remus Lupins, and Witherwings, who happens to be my friend Mandala. In addition to Mandala, I got to see several other wonderful friends from the HP-Ohio group, whom I hadn't seen since the Crystal Ball in January. In other Potter-related news, I'm all registered for LeakyCon 2011!! Maddy is registered too, since I'll be her chaperone, and my sister will register soon. Now we're just trying to figure out the rooming situation so we can book a hotel room!!
The best and most exciting thing that's happened lately is the Wilson family reunion that took place this past weekend!! It only happens every other year, so it's always a true joy to get together and catch up with everyone. We had about 40 people this year who came in from across the country. It was my branch's turn to plan it this year, and since central Ohio hasn't really changed much in the past eight years, we went to a state park lodge down in Hocking Hills. There was a nice swimming pool, a beautiful lake, hiking trails, basketball courts, and more. We had a campfire one evening and made s'mores, and we all sat around and talked for hours (and rearranged the furniture in the lobby multiple times!). I had so much fun catching up with all of my cousins. I talked all about B-W with my second cousin Anna, who was up there in June for a music theatre workshop, and I know I'll be seeing her in November when she comes up to audition for the MT program. Other events included analyzing "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly"; obsessing over Major League Baseball trades and making postseason predictions; having fun with physics on a see-saw with my sister; measuring the precise distances between horseshoes (and making up the rules for "cornshoes"); singing Beatles songs with my honestly brilliant two-and-a-half-year-old cousin; looking at scrapbooks of family photos that go back to the 1800s; and hearing the story of how my aunt and uncle met. I am truly blessed to have such an incredible family!!
This is the first summer that I've had a real job. I'm working at the local middle school doing a day camp-type program. Some days I hate it, and other days it makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. I like my two co-workers, and a few of the kids are sweet, but I really hate the middle school age group, and I really can't deal with all of the disorganization and lack of people explaining things to me in advance. I keep being told, "Well, you know we're in a new room this summer and we're all busy and sometimes you've gotta just roll with the punches".....but come on, it's well over halfway through the program. I shouldn't still be searching through haphazard piles to find the folder for the old attendance sheets. It pays well, and I occasionally get to see my good friends who work at one of the elementary school sites, but my hours keep getting cut because we don't have enough money to pay two staff people when we have seven or fewer kids. At this point I'm just trying to grit my teeth and get through it, but August is going to be killer: a trip to King's Island and an overnight lock-in at the school. To be perfectly honest, I was grateful when I woke up this morning and threw up multiple times, because it meant I didn't have to go in to work.
This summer hasn't been all bad, though. I've gotten to see two wizard rock shows with my sister and our friend Maddy. We saw the Parselmouths, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Lauren from the Moaning Myrtles and The Whomping Willows (who together make up Armoured Bearcub), and ALL CAPS play in Akron, where I got to meet Kristina and Hayley of YouTube's Five Awesome Girls. Barely a week later, we drove down to the world's largest YMCA in southern Ohio to see Skyway Flyer, Tonks and the Aurors, the Remus Lupins, and Witherwings, who happens to be my friend Mandala. In addition to Mandala, I got to see several other wonderful friends from the HP-Ohio group, whom I hadn't seen since the Crystal Ball in January. In other Potter-related news, I'm all registered for LeakyCon 2011!! Maddy is registered too, since I'll be her chaperone, and my sister will register soon. Now we're just trying to figure out the rooming situation so we can book a hotel room!!
The best and most exciting thing that's happened lately is the Wilson family reunion that took place this past weekend!! It only happens every other year, so it's always a true joy to get together and catch up with everyone. We had about 40 people this year who came in from across the country. It was my branch's turn to plan it this year, and since central Ohio hasn't really changed much in the past eight years, we went to a state park lodge down in Hocking Hills. There was a nice swimming pool, a beautiful lake, hiking trails, basketball courts, and more. We had a campfire one evening and made s'mores, and we all sat around and talked for hours (and rearranged the furniture in the lobby multiple times!). I had so much fun catching up with all of my cousins. I talked all about B-W with my second cousin Anna, who was up there in June for a music theatre workshop, and I know I'll be seeing her in November when she comes up to audition for the MT program. Other events included analyzing "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly"; obsessing over Major League Baseball trades and making postseason predictions; having fun with physics on a see-saw with my sister; measuring the precise distances between horseshoes (and making up the rules for "cornshoes"); singing Beatles songs with my honestly brilliant two-and-a-half-year-old cousin; looking at scrapbooks of family photos that go back to the 1800s; and hearing the story of how my aunt and uncle met. I am truly blessed to have such an incredible family!!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Beautiful Montreat!
First off, I'd like to ask anyone reading this to send up a prayer for my friend Clay. He had some serious surgery yesterday, and he's in a LOT of pain and will have a long road to recovery. He had to have two ceramic rods inserted into his back, and he had to go all the way to St. Louis to have it done because there isn't a doctor in Ohio who can/will do it. Prayers and good thoughts are greatly appreciated!!
Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.
I'm coming to you live from Montreat, North Carolina, this week! It's a beautiful little town up in the Black Mountains, and its main claim to fame is a Presbyterian college and conference center, which the Presbyterian Association of Musicians is using this week for their annual worship and music conference. This is my ninth year here, and let me tell you, it is glorious to be back!! My days are spent in choir rehearsals, handbell rehearsals, and a liturgical dance class. In my free time, I get to hang out with friends and family. We climbed Lookout Mountain on Monday, which is only a one-kilometer trail, but it sure kicked my butt. It's a beautiful view from the top, though, and we could see our amazing house. The house where we've stayed for the past seven years holds twenty-two people, but we only have eighteen this year. It's nice to have my dad here, since he hasn't come in a very long time.
The coolest thing that has happened so far was this morning's worship service. The sermon was incredible and exactly what our church members at home need to hear during our current transition period. I got to perform the Lord's Prayer with part of the liturgical dance class, and a big yellow butterfly flew in one of the open windows and was flying around -- definitely the Holy Spirit at work.
Well, I'd better go now...My friend Maddy is waiting to steal songs off my iTunes. That's another great thing about this week...
Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.
I'm coming to you live from Montreat, North Carolina, this week! It's a beautiful little town up in the Black Mountains, and its main claim to fame is a Presbyterian college and conference center, which the Presbyterian Association of Musicians is using this week for their annual worship and music conference. This is my ninth year here, and let me tell you, it is glorious to be back!! My days are spent in choir rehearsals, handbell rehearsals, and a liturgical dance class. In my free time, I get to hang out with friends and family. We climbed Lookout Mountain on Monday, which is only a one-kilometer trail, but it sure kicked my butt. It's a beautiful view from the top, though, and we could see our amazing house. The house where we've stayed for the past seven years holds twenty-two people, but we only have eighteen this year. It's nice to have my dad here, since he hasn't come in a very long time.
The coolest thing that has happened so far was this morning's worship service. The sermon was incredible and exactly what our church members at home need to hear during our current transition period. I got to perform the Lord's Prayer with part of the liturgical dance class, and a big yellow butterfly flew in one of the open windows and was flying around -- definitely the Holy Spirit at work.
Well, I'd better go now...My friend Maddy is waiting to steal songs off my iTunes. That's another great thing about this week...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The magic is real!
I've written here before about my frustrations with people who don't understand the hype Harry Potter, but I'm going to write about it again.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the newest portion of Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, is now up and running, and it will have its grand opening on June 18th. Tonight NBC aired a half-hour special about the making of the theme park, and of course my whole family watched. Even though I'd seen most of the footage and heard most of the information before, I still cried. When I watched the videos (here, here, here, and here) that the PotterCast trio posted after their visit last week, I cried. I understand why some people think my fellow fans and I are ridiculous, but we don't appreciate being treated like we're immature or insane.
Imagine that somewhere in your imagination exists a universe that is the most beautiful, incredible, elaborate, thought-provoking, magical place that anyone has ever known. You've gone there to mourn, to celebrate, and to simply find refuge from the frustrations and fears of everyday life. You know every detail of this place -- top to bottom, left to right, inside and out. It represents most of the major turning points in your life, and it symbolizes the greatest good you've ever known and a triumph over the darkest evil. Beyond all of this, the most glorious part is that your best friends know this place too. It exists in their imaginations, and together you have explored it, analyzed it, excavated it and created new dimensions. You've wept, celebrated, and taken refuge...together.
Then imagine that one day, someone invents a way for that place to become REAL. You can go with your friends and physically explore it together -- see it, hear it, taste it, smell it, feel it, live it. It is the greatest fantasy of your life, your life-long dream and deepest desire come true.
This is what the Wizarding World of Harry Potter means to me. I won't make it there this summer, but I'll be there 401 days from now. I'll drink butterbeer and eat cauldron cakes, fly on hippogriffs, send owls, breathe in the steam of the Hogwarts Express, and have a conversation with a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw. I'll probably cry when I walk under the stone arch and enter the village of Hogsmeade, but I know I won't be the only one. I'll be there with my sister and friends who have become my family, and we will all, finally, be at home.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the newest portion of Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, is now up and running, and it will have its grand opening on June 18th. Tonight NBC aired a half-hour special about the making of the theme park, and of course my whole family watched. Even though I'd seen most of the footage and heard most of the information before, I still cried. When I watched the videos (here, here, here, and here) that the PotterCast trio posted after their visit last week, I cried. I understand why some people think my fellow fans and I are ridiculous, but we don't appreciate being treated like we're immature or insane.
Imagine that somewhere in your imagination exists a universe that is the most beautiful, incredible, elaborate, thought-provoking, magical place that anyone has ever known. You've gone there to mourn, to celebrate, and to simply find refuge from the frustrations and fears of everyday life. You know every detail of this place -- top to bottom, left to right, inside and out. It represents most of the major turning points in your life, and it symbolizes the greatest good you've ever known and a triumph over the darkest evil. Beyond all of this, the most glorious part is that your best friends know this place too. It exists in their imaginations, and together you have explored it, analyzed it, excavated it and created new dimensions. You've wept, celebrated, and taken refuge...together.
Then imagine that one day, someone invents a way for that place to become REAL. You can go with your friends and physically explore it together -- see it, hear it, taste it, smell it, feel it, live it. It is the greatest fantasy of your life, your life-long dream and deepest desire come true.
This is what the Wizarding World of Harry Potter means to me. I won't make it there this summer, but I'll be there 401 days from now. I'll drink butterbeer and eat cauldron cakes, fly on hippogriffs, send owls, breathe in the steam of the Hogwarts Express, and have a conversation with a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw. I'll probably cry when I walk under the stone arch and enter the village of Hogsmeade, but I know I won't be the only one. I'll be there with my sister and friends who have become my family, and we will all, finally, be at home.
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