Fate

It's kind of funny how things fall into your lap all at once. And I don't just mean bad, sucky things like research papers and BFA outcomes and Wardrobe Mistressing for a show and auditions to prepare for and NaNoWriMo to finish/win. I also mean the good things. the unexpected things that help you with your stress. Things that quite literally come right out of the blue and you had no way to anticipate them or prepare for them. The generosity of other people and opportunities you never thought would come your way. Even if nothing comes from it, at least you realize the people who really were your friends all along, and you appreciate them so much more because of it.

It's been one of those crazy up-and-down days you guys. It's just been one of those days. And I truly am thankful for my friends.

HPRT: Listening to Warlock's Hairy Heart again. Man, that opera gives me chills, in both the good and the bad ways.
Current Book: Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (for my World Lit class)
Current Song: "Even Though" from I Love You, Because... 

NaNoWriMo and Halloween

Sorry it's been so freaking long since I last posted! This semester has literally killed me more than once socially and mentally, and I've just been incredibly busy, and continue to be such.

La Bete was fantastic, and was a lot of fun. We had a great run, and a couple really amazing audiences, so it was a great way to end September. I went to my cousin's wedding earlier this month, which was beautiful and so worth the 14 hour drive my mother and I had to take to get there and back. It was so wonderful to see my family again, how I've missed them.

Lately I've been drowning in school work, however, and I'm gearing up for a highly busy and hectic November. I plan on doing NaNoWriMo again this year, and while I do NOT expect to win, I thought I'd give my 2009 story idea another go, starting all from scratch. It's an idea that I really like, and even if it might have been done before or might be cliche, I don't care, I'm gonna attempt anyway.


Before then, though, I have Halloween, which is going to be a lot of fun, I reckon. I decided to make my own costume this year, literally from scratch, by buying the fabric and accessories and completely constructing a pirate coat. A whole group of my friends and I are going to the theatre party as characters from Peter Pan, and I'm Captain Hook, which I am highly looking forward to. I just started my coat tonight, and unfortunately the party is tomorrow night (yikes!) but I'm starting to think that I might be in a place by then where the coat is wearable, which is very exciting. Pictures will come, I promise!


After this weekend I have a book report, a research paper, 2 scenes for BFA, a TV show performance and a show to be the wardrobe mistress for, so hopefully I'll have time to eat, sleep and breathe between everything I have going on. I hope your lives are truly wonderful right now, as mine is stressful and chaotic, but happy nonetheless.


Night everyone!


HPRT: I listened to End of an Era today, a couple times actually, and thought immediately of my LeakyCon family, and how much I miss everything still.
Current Book: Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
Current Song: "A New World" from Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown

And the Sorting hat says...

SLYTHERIN.

Yeah, I had no idea that was coming xD

Pottermore is incredible so far. No spoilers (10 points to your house if you read that in River Song's voice =P), but I really am just blown away by the detail and the sheer brilliance that Jo Rowling possesses. The information on the wand woods, hatstalls and MINERVA FREAKING MCGONAGALL have so far made the entire website worth it for me, and I'm not done with book 1. Not even close.

The real joy was getting my wand and getting Sorted, of course. I totally agree with my wand based on all the information given about the cores and woods, and I'm even okay with being a Slytherin after a lifetime of believing I was in Gryffindor. Go figure, huh? Maybe being Pansy in TFB rubbed off on me a little bit =P

Anyway, I just thought I'd check in briefly. School started this week, and I'm already drowning in work load and stress, but it's a good stress that I think, for once, I'm excited for. I'm not particularly dead on my feet (I've only had 3 days, after all), and I'm so pumped for La Bete and BFA and even Rep class. You heard me. I'm even excited for Rep class again.

Anyway, it's my BFF Emily's last night in town so we're gonna sleep and then hang out ALL TOMORROW before taking her back to the airport in the evening. I'm gonna miss that girl far more than she knows.

Night all <3

HPRT: Emily and Jennie and I went to see DH2 after rehearsal last night. It was my fifth time. I have now officially broken my record for most number of times seeing a film in theatres, and I can't think of a better film to hold the #1 spot!
Current Book: Trojan Women (the Greek play, I can't recall the playwright).
Current Song: Girls and Boys by Good Charlotte (It's random, I know, but it's been stuck in my head all day!)

My Cleverbot Experience

Everyone has one, right? And if you don't, go now!!

Anyway, two nights ago I went to the Cleverbot website, after having seen a couple screen shots of people's conversations on tumblr, and I wanted to try it out myself.

So I typed in "After all this time?" I was trying to get it to say "Always," like in the Prince's Tale, but it wasn't picking up on the reference, because it gave me this response: "Yeah I think it is time to sleep for you." It was around 3am when this happened, so that was valid xD

But anyway, I decided on my third try to just keep having a conversation with it, and I asked it if it'd read Harry Potter. It said some of them, so I asked which ones. It said the first four. So I told it to read Deathly Hallows and it asked me how. I said there were probably audiobooks on iTunes or something. So then it said, and I quote. "Thanks! What does this have to do with Pepsi, though?"

And I was like... "I didn't mention Pepsi." And it said, "Neither did I." And... well...

Let's just say I had a childish argument with an AI. Yup.

HPRT: Pottermore is SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT.
Current Book: I guess I'll read another play today. TBD.
Current Song: Get Back to Hogwarts from AVPM

LeakyCon Day 5 - ALL WAS WELL

Here it is. Sorry it's been a long time coming, but I couldn't bring myself to finish this series of blog posts. LeakyCon was one of the best things of my life and finishing my posts is kind of like having to go through leaving all over again, but I think it's time I sucked it up and just wrote it.

LeakyCon Day 5:

I was so happy to be able to sleep in even a little bit Sunday Morning. TFB people were all to meet at 10am to eat brunch together, so I got there at 9:30 to go through the Vendor room before the closing feast started.

When I got to the Royal Pacific at 9:30, it turned out the Vendor room wasn't even open until 10, and I hadn't eaten ANYTHING (and we all know Madeleine turns into a demon when she doesn't eat breakfast), so Gwen and I just decided to get food then and find a table, hoping the other TFB people would find us.

Cereal, sausage links, fruit and a small muffin later, a few Final Battle people had congregated at our table, including Fiona and her mother. She and I discovered that we both wanted to make one last trip to the Vendor room, so at 10 we left our stuff at the table, asking the others to guard it for us, and went across the hall with only our wallets.

I hadn't anticipated buying as much as I did, but honestly, I don't regret any of my purchases. I am now the proud owner of a legit, metal Privet Drive street sign, two bumperstickers professing my love for both Neville and Snape, an owl watch necklace, a Gryffindor prefect badge, Dear Mr. Potter and much more. I believe I also bought two temporary lightning scar tattoos, which I will save for a later date.

I also had possibly my biggest fangirl moment of the entire convention that morning as well. I was headed over to the Whimsic Alley side of the Vendor room to buy the Privet Drive sign when I saw Melissa Anelli headed toward me. I hadn't had the opportunity during TFB to ask her to sign my book since basically I stayed backstage the entire time, so I knew that this was my one chance to do so! Someone behind her called out to her asking her to sign their yearbook, and I'm assuming it was someone she knew because she told them she'd get to it later. Even though she rejected the first person, I didn't think it was likely that I was going to see her this close in person again, so I sucked up all my courage and asked if she'd sign my book. I held out my copy of Harry, A History to her, she paused, looked at it for a second, and then said, "I can't not sign a copy of my book. Hand it over."

I just about died.

So I am now the proud owner of a signed copy of Harry, A History, a book which I love and will probably always cherish, because it truly is an incredible read.



So after that beautiful con moment, Fiona and I hauled our loot back into the ballroom right in time for the closing ceremony to start. I took my stuff from the TFB table and went to find where Kelly, Sarah and Shauna were sitting, and joined them.

The closing was... Ugh, it was just so emotional. I hadn't intended to cry, but when Team Starkid came out and sang Days of Summer and Melissa launched into her closing words, saying how LeakyCon was always going to be a part of us, that we would never forget our time here, and that we could always come back to Hogwarts, I just lost it, and I know Kelly and Sarah did the same.

When the ceremony ended, I went around to the various Final Battle tables and got everyone who hadn't already to sign my yearbook. It was a glorious last few moments of the con, just hanging out, laughing about memories from the last four days and signing every yearbook that we came across. I could live in those last moments forever. (Not like that's sappy or anything... =P )

So it finally came time to leave the ballroom. I didn't want to hang around too long because I knew if I didn't I'd never want to leave because I'd just want to find everyone and hug them all again. Shauna and I just stood at the exit to the ballroom for a minute or so, scanning the room, soaking in as much of the atmosphere as we could. We just stood there together, trying not to cry, and finally turned and left the room.

My goodbye to Fiona was first and very difficult for me to come to terms with. BUT IT ISN'T GOODBYE. NOT REALLY. T_T

Girl, you better come visit me.

So Kelly requested that she take a nap before we headed over to Wizarding World, so Shauna, Gard and I made a run to Kelly's car to drop off some of my things so I wouldn't carry them around all day and then to pick some stuff up for her. That took about 30 minutes, and then we headed back to the Royal Pacific, where we'd left Kelly sleeping in Shauna's room. Which turned out to be a difficult situation because Kelly sleeps like a rock (not a bad thing) but we were locked out of Shauna's room for a while xD

Gard and I passed the time by singing Tribute by Tenacious D until the wall of exhaustion from the past week finally hit me all at once and I fell over on the floor of the hotel hallway and nearly passed out myself. That's when Kelly finally heard Shauna's knocking and let us in.

I crawled into bed and had a bit of a nap myself, so we didn't actually leave Shauna's room until around 2, but we were going to at least spend a couple hours in Wizarding World, so we wasn't in any rush to get there. When we got to the lobby of the hotel we ran into Sequoia, who was about to leave herself, so it was great to get one last hug from her. Sarah, who had gone to Wizarding World with her mom and who we'd planned to meet there, came up to us then and told us that she and her mom were leaving too! So we were really sad that we didn't get to hang out in Hogsmeade with her, but we understood. EVEN THOUGH IT STILL HURTS.

After saying our goodbyes to the final LeakyCon people we came across, we headed on the hot, sticky walk over to Islands of Adventure. I'd never actually walked into Wizarding World from the front gates, because I'd always wanted to go to Jurassic Park before hand, just to get it out of the way, so walking through the gates to Hogsmeade with Kelly, Shauna and Gard was just... It was breathtaking. I don't think I'll ever not get chills when I walk in that place.

We went on all the rides, ran into Mitchell and got to say a proper goodbye to him, and so much else. I'd decided to go around the park that day talking in a British accent, just to practice, and Shauna said it was very convincing. I was quite proud of the fact that all the workers at the park believed I was from England and didn't think twice about it. In fact, we had a right chat with this lovely woman in Owl Post where all the wands were sold. She's the one who explained my birthday wand to me, which I ended up buying (I now own 3 wands. Not gonna stop any time soon xD), and then we just talked about everything with her. She totally thought I was British. It was wonderful.

So somewhere in there we went to Honeydukes where I bought myself a Chocolate Frog (I got the Godric Gryffindor card) and some Fizzing Whizbees. We then went over to the Three Broomsticks to buy a frozen Butterbeer in our new commemorative mugs and snapped this super cute picture!



Definitely the best part of going through the park with Kelly, Shauna and Gard was just knowing that we were all there, in Hogsmeade, in our own magical world, brought together by the love of the fandom and of the books, and I honestly just wished all the LeakyGirls could have been there with us, but the bond we had, the four of us, that day was just huge. I wish I could just go back to that moment in the Three Broomsticks. I really do.

Anyway, we had basically accomplished everything we wanted to by the time 7 rolled around, so we left the park, albeit a little sorrowfully, and piled in Kelly's car. My hips. My ankles. They were just so dead.

We decided to make a quick grocery store run for Shauna, since she promised a friend of hers that she'd buy him some boxes of Lucky Charms (do they not have them in Ireland??). When we were in Wal-mart, Gard and Shauna just were astounded at the size (it was a Super Wal-mart, after all) and how ridiculously packed it was, even for a Sunday night. And then they saw the giant marshmallows. Apparently they don't have those in Europe either xD

Kelly and I couldn't stop cracking up over their reactions to everything we had that was just... not available where they lived. I will honestly never forget that. I can't wait to go to Ireland or Norway and experience that for myself!

After Wal-mart we headed over to Downtown Disney for dinner, and walked our way all the way around Marketplace, I believe it was, to eat at Earl of Sandwich. I WAS SO HUNGRY I DEVOURED MY SANDWICH. Seriously though, that place was fairly cheap and really good.

It was nice to rest our feet, since mine were falling off my legs, but it was over far too soon. After exploring the Lego store and the biggest store on Disney property, we took Shauna and Gard back to the Royal Pacific.

I just... I can't even talk about my goodbye to Shauna. I JUST HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS <3

Literally though, ask Kelly, I was crying in the car as we drove away back to my hotel.

And that's all I'll say about that.

The next day my parents and I packed up the car (finding a place for my Privet Drive sign was tricky xD) and headed over to Denny's for a wonderful, all-American breakfast of pancakes and pork products, and then we hit the road back to Auburn. I tried to sleep pretty much the entire way home because I was almost dead from lack of sleep. A week without sleeping is just... not a good idea. My parents were kind of worried about me, actually. They'd never seen me so intent on something and so dedicated to getting up at ungodly hours to go hang out with other crazed Harry Potter fans, so focused on everything that was happening. I think it was kind of an eye-opening experience for them. Like, you can ty to explain the atmosphere and the friendships formed at cons, but nothing, no amount of eloquent speech is going to make anyone understand what it's really like unless they take part in it. And I think my parents saw that that weekend. That in itself was such a relief for me, that they saw it and understood. Besides, they're intelligent and open-minded people, I wasn't too worried about them =P

Arrival in Auburn was bittersweet. Sleep awaited me, but so was the horrible, isolating sickness that is Post-Potter Depression, and the knowledge that I wasn't going to see probably any of those people again for a long, long time. AND I CAN'T EVEN TEXT SHAUNA. STUPID INTERNATIONAL FEES.

Anyway, I'll leave you all with this last picture. It's the cast picture of The Final Battle after the show. You guys are all my family. I love you all. <3



See you all on the other side!

HPRT: I've seen Deathly Hallows 4 times now. Still gotta fit in my 5th time with Emily when she gets in town!
Current Book: I read Uncle Vanya by Chekov today.
Current Song: Sonorous Love by Ministry of Magic

Would it be cheating if I just posted my VEDA videos?

I'm just gonna say no =P
I probably won't keep up with both BEDA and VEDA, so we'll see what happens...
But anyway, here's my VEDA video!

HPRT: I think I'm gonna go see DHp2 again tomorrow with Kelly. 4th time! So excited!
Current Book: I read The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl today, and I might read another play before today is over.
Current Song: End of An Era by Oliver Boyd and the Rememberalls

LeakyCon Day 4

LeakyCon Day 4:

Saturday began at 7:30am, which was a heck of a lot better than the last two nights, seeing as I got in earlier the night before. I was at the Royal Pacific by 8:30, and dropped my dress for the ball off in Sarah's room. Together, we made our way to meet up with Fiona in line. Kelly and Shauna joined us soon after, and we slowly made our way into the ballroom. Fiona and I were the only two who were Rockstar pass holders, so we pushed our way to the front of the room to join up with the other Final Battle people, who had reserved seating in the front 3 rows.

The Warlock's Hairy Heart was performed to an entirely packed house, and I am unashamed to say that I cried when the actors cried and loved every second of it. Tom and Sunny and Gwen, Megan, David, Thomas and of course Lena were all incredible, and I just wish that more people in that audience appreciated what they saw. Starkid fans are, unfortunately, not always the most patient people, and I know that a lot of people were only at WHH to get good seats for the Starkid event immediately after. But Fiona and I loved it to pieces, and getting to see it with our TFB friends was great. Fiona and I are desperate to do a cover of "Trust This Man." (Seriously, HOW DO WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN?)

The Starkid event was next and, as usual, it was incredible, and so, so funny. I couldn't believe Joe Walker performed "Stutter"!! That made me incredibly happy =]

I won't go into detail about the show itself, because you can probably find a million videos on youtube from that day, but I will say that the visit from Firenze Our Centaur Friend was one of the most unexpectedly brilliant things I've ever witnessed. Jim Povolo. How I would just love to stand next to that man so for once in my life I could feel small, and not like an amazon woman xD

The pictures with the Starkids was... well, not as messy as it surely was last year, but it was frustrating enough. At least since Fiona and I were sitting in the third row, we got a picture fairly early on.

We had to extend the pictures almost an hour past when the panel was supposed to end, so the Luna, Percy and the Kids panel didn't start properly until 1pm. This was probably one of my favorite events the entire weekend. We started with the seven young actors first, Young Snape, Lily and Sirius, and James II, Albus Severus, Rose and Hugo.

They. Were. PRECIOUS.



Seriously though, they were all so well-spoken (especially the girl who played Rose, she was basically Hermione, next generation, as she should have been). My favorites were definitely James II (Will Dunn) and Young Snape (Benedict Clarke) because they were the oldest, so they knew the most about the books, but they were so perfectly nerdy about it all, and they couldn't wait to show the world their Harry Potter knowledge to the point that they called out Evanna Lynch early to have a trivia marathon against her, with the audience answering the questions! Even though it was technically for Will and Benedict to be against Evanna, Chris Rankin (who played Percy Weasley in all 8 films) and Rohan Gotobed (who played Young Sirius) were the clear winners of the trivia game. I think it took Evanna, Will and Benedict aback a bit, since they're known for their HP smarts =P

The rest of the panel was great fun, and again, Fiona and I were early on for the picture. I stood behind and between Benedict and Will, and before I walked offstage I told them both "Never stop being nerdy!" They both laughed and thanked me, giving me thumbs up, and I was perfectly happy the rest of the day.

This was when things got a bit messy organizationally. Since we were Rockstars, Fiona and I thought we'd try our luck by getting in line for the Starkid signing. They'd told us that Rockstars would get preference, but what they neglected to tell us was that we had to line up first BEFORE the signing started, we couldn't just jump in the middle of it. Since we didn't know this, we decided to ask one of the volunteer workers if it was possible for us to get in line for the Starkid signing and... yep. We were basically shouted at to get out of the hallway. No answer to our question. Nothing. Just a really rude response to what was a simple question that could have been answered quite easily. It's not like if she'd told us the truth we would have attacked her or anything. We're understanding people. Yeah, we would have been disappointed, but she could have dignified us with the opportunity to be disappointed instead of making us offended and angry. Whatever.

Since we couldn't get into the Starkid signing, we got in line for the HP actor's signing, which, honestly, meant more to me of the two, since I'd gotten most of the Starkid's signatures last year at Infinitus. How often am I going to see 7 adorable children, Evanna Lynch, Chris Rankin and Scarlett Byrne? Yeah. Not nearly as often.

Somehow Fiona and I got separated and I ended up in the first holding room with my good friend Londa, who was in TFB with me. We were in Pacifica 5 (which by then had been cleared of all things TFB related) where they were showing Half-Blood Prince. We waited for probably close to an hour before we were herded across the hall and into the signing room. Luckily, Londa and I were in the very first holding room, so we were in the first group to get signatures. I spoke a little bit with Scarlett, and I told her that I played Pansy in TFB. She laughed and wrote me a little note in my yearbook (which was all I had for them to sign), and was overall really super nice. I wish I could say I had anything articulate to say to Evanna, but I was slightly starstruck, so I just asked her how she was liking the con. She was very sweet in her reply, but I could tell she was exhausted. How could she not be? Every single other person in that convention center was dead on their feet as well.

I also joked around with Will, Benedict and Rohan again. Arthur (who played Albus Severus) and Benedict were shoving each other around playfully, fighting for a spot behind the table to claim as their own, and they were just super sweet kids. All of them.

By the time I was out of the wait line, it was just after 6, and I rushed over to Jake's restaurant, where Sarah's mother had made us a reservation earlier in the day, just to make sure that we all ate! I met up with Kelly, Shauna and Sarah and it was just then that I realized how much I'd missed them all day, since I hadn't seen any of them since before Warlock's Hairy Heart at 9 in the morning. I sent a quick text to Fiona telling her where to meet us, and the five of us settled down to enjoy a really fantastic meal. The sandwich I got was on coconut bread. COCONUT BREAD. WHO MAKES THAT? It was delicious.

Fiona left early to get ready for the ball back at her hotel, and a couple minutes later Gard showed up at the table. We stuck around so he could at least get his food, but Sarah left to get ready soon after that. As Gard ate, he, Kelly, Shauna and I all had what turned into a super deep conversation about our country's politics and the differences in culture between the US, Ireland and Norway. It was incredibly fascinating, and it was finally so wonderful for Kelly and me to be completely honest about the way we view our country with people who had no idea what it was like here. It was similarly wonderful to be exposed to what Shauna and Gard experience every day and compare how wildly different our lives are in relation to theirs. We certainly didn't anticipate the conversation going in that direction, but we spent probably a solid 30 more minutes talking about literally everything.

We said goodbye to Gard to go over to Sarah's room, which was where all 5 girls congregated to change and put on make up. We took a group picture and flounced back through the halls to the ballroom for the Esther Earl Rocking Charity Ball.



And it was truly a great evening! I went around the room, getting pictures with every Final Battle person I found, and even forced my way up to the front of the crowd against the stage with Shauna. The HP kids came out and went around the crowd giving high fives and were generally super adorable. We rocked out to everything from Lady Gaga (for which Mitchell and I did the Bad Romance dance in the center of the TFB circle) to the Pokemon theme (for which Kelly and Sarah did not know the words and it was cute) to Total Eclipse of the Heart... 3 separate times. It was great the first time, kind of funny the second time and then... well... Whatever. It was a great time. At about 12:30am, Melissa Anelli came out on stage and tried SO HARD to end the ball, but every time she said goodbye, the crowd would come up with something else to chant to keep the night going.

She lost it on two separate occasions. The first was when, after the second play through of Total Eclipse of the Heart, the crowd started chanting "Esther!" after the wonderful girl the ball was named after. Melissa broke down into tears and said, "Fine, one more. For Esther!" and put on Alex Carpenter's HP version of Tao Cruz's "Dynamite." I remember we were dancing right behind a couple of the Starkids, Julia Albain, Brian Holden and Brian Rosenthal to name a few, and when I sang the lyrics to Alex's version, (which include saying "Lumos," telling people you're a Gryffindor and raising your wand for Dumbledore rather than saying "Ay-o," letting go, and lighting the club up like dynamite,) I think I saw Julia turn around and look at me with a highly confused look on her face, but then she just went with it. It was rather amusing.

The second moment of the night when we filled the room with so much awesome that Melissa couldn't handle it was after all music had stopped, the crowd started linking arms and swaying, bringing back the song from the previous night, the Whomping Willows song that had brought the house down.

"We're wizards. We'll party forever. This night will never end!"

I was standing with Shauna on my right, and Richie on my left, harmonizing and swaying back and forth, letting the moment soak in. It really kind of hit me in that moment that even though LeakyCon was going to end the next day, the memories that I was making and would carry with me the rest of my life from that one weekend were immeasurable and irreplaceable. I'd made so many incredible friends that, even though I'd barely gotten to know them, I knew I would keep in touch with all of them, and miss them terribly.

And in that moment, I almost joined Melissa in the tears.

Final installment coming soon! Thanks so much for reading =]

HPRT: I saw Deathly Hallows Part 2 again two nights ago. Seriously. The amount of sobbing I've done in the last two weeks cannot be healthy. Give Alan Rickman his Oscar already!
Current Book: I finally finished Harry, A History, and am now working on my BFA summer assignments. Next play up is Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare.
Current Song: It All Ends/All Was Well by Jimmy Wong

LeakyCon Day 3

LeakyCon Day 3:

Friday was the day of the show, y'all! In fact, I cracked that Waiting for Guffman reference in Pacifica 5 that morning when everyone was getting ready and only Fiona and Maggie responded. Ah well.

I woke up at 7, far better than the morning before, to be at the Pacifica at 8, and we spent the 2 hours before curtain getting into costumes and make up, and then ran a few scenes. The show ended up not starting for about 30 minutes after 10, but the show ran so smoothly we almost couldn't believe it.

Soon enough the show was over, and I felt an enormous wave of relief and sadness wash over me. I no longer had to worry about the performance, so I could go to any programming I wanted without missing any for rehearsal, but now I didn't have set time every day when I could see the incredible TFB people. We had to find each other to hang now.

After the show I went out to meet my parents, Kelly and Sarah, but I was really just trying to find Christian, who was in town for a family reunion and left it for the morning to come see TFB! He told me back in February that he was interested in coming to the show and followed through with it, and I was so stoked to spend the afternoon with him!

After the show I gathered my stuff from Pacifica 5 (it was a lot of stuff, unfortunately =/ ) and we watched the majority of Pottercast with Evanna Lynch, Scarlett Byrne and the Leaky crew talking about the final film. It was so wonderful to hear Evanna say **SPOILER ALERT** that she was happy Neville and Luna got together at the end of the film, even though it wasn't in the book and even though she thought it wouldn't last into marriage or anything. I just have always felt that Jo got that one wrong, that they should have ended up together, they're just so adorable. I don't know. I may just be the only one xD **END SPOILER**

After Pottercast was over, Christian needed to leave, and my mom decided to go as well, so we parted ways after many hugs, and rushed back in to the ballroom for the Pottermore presentation. At the start, they asked us to turn off all cameras and not to take pictures, because the preview was just for con-goers. No spoilers! ...Ok, maybe just this one:



Pottermore is seriously going to be incredible, guys. I wish I could tell you all about it but honestly, it's better if you just experience it yourself, and I know a lot of people who will read this were in that ballroom, seeing the same preview I did, so I don't need to tell you twice how awesome it will be, but just in case you were not at LeakyCon, the information on McGonagall alone is going to be worth that site. Just saying.

(Let's just say, there's a reason she's a bad ass.) (As if we needed proof.)

Pottermore ended and me, Kelly, Shauna, Sarah and Fiona headed over to Pacifica 11 for my first EVER Nerdfighter gathering! It was so great to be able to go to one, since they're almost never held anywhere near me, and even though John had to go home for health reasons, it was hilarious with just Hank and all of Maureen's twitter high-jinks. Throughout the entire 2 hours, she tweeted for us to do random things like stand up or shout things at Hank, or lay down in the aisles, or get up and leave and come back and Hank got SO CONFUSED as to what was going on that when he turned around and saw Maureen's phone out he immediately suspected she was behind it all. She adamantly denied it of course, but he eventually stole her phone and there was the proof he needed. It was fantastic.

There was, of course, a singing section, where Hank played some classics like the Anglerfish song, Strange Charm and other selections from his CDs, and a couple Q&A sessions with the audience. One guy asked him to show us his sweet fighting moves with two swords and Hank proceeded to dance up and down the center aisle with them. It was pretty great.



Toward the end of the gathering, Hank's wife, The Katherine, read the whole first chapter of John's new book, The Fault In Our Stars, and it was so tough and heart wrenching because I couldn't help but think of Esther the entire time she was reading. I almost wondered if the book isn't, in some ways, biographical of her life. John and Esther were friends, good friends at that, and I'm sure they had philosophical conversations about death and love. What better way to do her life justice than to write a book? This is purely speculation and I could be completely wrong, but there were some undeniable parallels between John's main character and Esther Earl.

Anyway, the gathering as a whole was hilarious and so much fun, but we were all positively starving by the time it ended, so Shauna and I went on a quest for food. We tossed around the idea of ordering room service, but upon going up to Shauna's room we realized it was going to be hideously expensive and we'd have to charge it to someone's card, neither of which we wanted to deal with. That's when Shauna's lovely roommates offered to drive us off Universal property on an adventure to find fast food, and because they were so kind to offer, we accepted!

SHAUNA'S FIRST BURGER KING EXPERIENCE! YES! WE'LL MAKE AN AMERICAN OF YOU, YET! =P

By the time our adventure for Burger King came to a close and we'd gotten back to the ballroom, we'd missed the Parselmouth's set of the wrock concert and I believe someone else's as well. We came in halfway through Hank Green's set, so we got to hear the end of his newest Harry Potter song. He ended with "Accio Deathly Hallows" (always a classic) and as soon as he was done with his set I rushed over with Shauna to get a picture with him and pick up Ellen Hardcastle for Jennie. He was so frazzled from the fans surrounding him, but it was so cool to get a picture with Hank.

After checking out the left side of merch, we ran over to the right side of the ballroom so I could get The Prince's Tale by Lauren Fairweather. I'd been anxious to run into her all day because I took over the role of Pansy in TFB from her, and Mallory had told me after the show that she'd spoken to Lauren who'd told her she thought I was adorable and loved the show (insert fangirl squeal here). When I approached her merch table I smiled and waved at her and she recognized me from the show (I'd decided to stay in costume all day because I loved my robe). We got an adorable Pansy's picture and I bought her CD.



Gred and Forge, who played after Tonks and the Aurors while I was merch-hunting, came off stage just then, so Kelly, Shauna and I got a picture with Jarrod Perkins. His wife, Stephanie, happens to be the author of Anna and the French Kiss, which I had borrowed from Jennie as well and taken down to Orlando with me. She also just happened to be sitting at Gred and Forge's merch table with a friend. So I may have booked it to my bag to dig it out and have her sign it.

As I came up to the table, Stephanie's friend, who had just been on stage with Gred and Forge and is in her own wizard rock band, recognized me from TFB and told me I'd done a great job. When Stephanie asked her what she meant, we both explained what TFB was and Stephanie thought it was really cool and was sad she missed it! So as I told her who to sign the book for, I told Stephanie that I did NaNoWriMo in November and won, and she seemed genuinely really happy for me. Seriously one of the coolest moments of the con for me, since I adore her book.

By the time the Draco and the Malfoys set started I was done with merch. I love Draco and the Malfoys, so I was relieved that I could fully enjoy the set, which was hilarious, as always. It was even more incredible when he sang Pansy (You Are the Girl of My Dreams) and Scarlett Byrne (Pansy in the films) came out on stage for him to sing it to! She looked slightly embarrassed but I think she enjoyed it.

The Whomping Willows was next to last, and as per usual, Matt brought the house down with his crazy rock know-how. Seriously, that man is one of the greatest entertainers I've ever had the pleasure to see live. His songs are so catchy, he always puts on a great show, and the atmosphere of the fans is irreplaceable. One of the most memorable moments of the entire conference for happened at the end of his set. His last song was one from his newest CD called "When the Lights Go Out," and the refrain of that song is "We're wizards. We'll party forever. This night will never end." And he taught us these words to sing along with him, which repeat a lot at the end of the song. We shouted and sung the words at the top of our lungs until the song ended and he started deconstructing for the next set, but the crowd had decided they weren't done with it. We took it upon ourselves to continue singing the refrain for a solid 5 minutes after the end of the set, over and over again, and the sheer beauty of that moment, in hindsight, really pulls the feel of the entire conference together for me. It was that moment when we truly were joined as one, in a massive yet crowded ballroom, all sharing our love of the same music, the same people and the same story that captured us all from the beginning. It was a singularly fantastic moment and I don't think I'll ever forget it.

The only thing that could have made us stop singing, as you can see in the video I linked above, was Harry and the Potters.

The first ever wizard rock band was our closer for that night, and it was my first time ever seeing them live. Let me tell you. It was an experience.



They played my favorites, "Save Ginny Weasley," "This Book Is So Awesome," and others, and their energy was so ridiculously infectious that it powered me through the end until Kelly, drooping with the exhaustion I knew I had as well, asked if we could leave early. I knew I needed the sleep too, so I said yes, only slightly upset when we learned on the walk back to the parking deck that Evanna Lynch had gotten up on stage to play bass for their last song. I knew that the next day was going to be even more full up, so I didn't regret the decision at all.

Day 4 coming soon!

HPRT: I just got back from Disneyworld last night, and on the drive home, my friends and I listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audio book to keep ourselves awake. It was so much fun!
Current Book: Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli (I know, I still haven't finished it!)
Current Song: Neville the Hero by Alexandre Desplat from the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soundtrack

LeakyCon Day 2

If I don't write this now, it won't get written until after my Disney trip, and I don't want to wait that long and risk the details escaping from my brain. So here it goes!

LeakyCon Day 2:
Thursday morning I woke up at the crack of &*^#@*$& (also known as 5am) and woke my poor, poor father up to drive me to the Royal Pacific. 6am tech rehearsal = no fun for anyone. It was our cue-to-cue, and we only got most of the way through Act 1, so needless to say, by the end of the two hours, I was a little bit nervous about the shape of the show. Previously I've had almost an entire 10-out-of-12 to get through cue-to-cue and then do a run-through of the show, but since our con activities didn't allow that, I know I was definitely out of my comfort zone.

At 8am, our rehearsal was over and we collectively went to get in line to pick up our movie tickets, ensuring that the cast would be in the same theatre. Kelly and Sarah caught up with us at that point, and I'm gonna be honest and say that the two hours we were in line were kind of a blur. I was already totally exhausted that nothing went in, but before we knew it, we'd gotten through the line and had our wonderful, beautiful Advanced Showing tickets! I think Kelly and I each had 2 separate heart attacks when we thought we'd lost our tickets for one reason or another. And this is our daily lives xD

We hit up the vendor room again, and this time Shauna and I got the last two pairs of these adorable lightning bolt earrings this one vendor was selling. Beautiful. Shortly thereafter, we headed in to the ballroom for the Finding Hogwarts showing. I honestly knew next to nothing about the documentary when I went in, but I was really pleasantly surprised by it. Each of the people involved in the project seemed to have taken something different but equally as powerful out of their shared experiences, and I can only hope that one day I'm able to traipse around England and Scotland with a few of my closest friends and find Hogwarts for myself. (Kelly, Fiona, Shauna, Sarah? Maybe a trip such as this one is in our future? =P)

After the Finding Hogwarts showing was the live Potion Master's Corner, with the ever brilliant Joe Moses from Starkid filling the role of our favorite Potions Master. I only really remember laughing very hard at the preposterous-ness and hilarity. We stayed in the ballroom after it was over for the live Potter Puppet Pals showing, which was adorable and included my favorite song about Snape. It even had the Mysterious Ticking Noise!!

As soon as PPP was over though, the entire cast and crew of TFB had to rush out of the ballroom and into Pacifica 5, where we received our costumes (if we didn't bring them) and cleared the room as much as we could. We had the main ballroom for cue-to-cue that morning, but since programming was held all day in that room, we were trapped in the much, much smaller Pacifica 5 room, with full orchestra and another taped off stage. We had from 3-5:30 essentially to get all the way through the show, no stops whatsoever, before Lena and Mallory had to get to the IMAX showing of Deathly Hallows at 6.

And guys. It was good.

By the end of the run-through, I think everyone pretty much breathed a huge sigh of relief. We not only got through the show, but we got through it with very minor bumps, and things went really smoothly. It was about that time that I forgot about my lack of sleep and started to get super excited to perform the show with all these incredible people. We finished up at about 5, much earlier than we'd anticipated, so I texted Kelly to find out where she and Sarah had run off to, and they'd already headed up to Citiwalk to get dinner with Gard. Shauna, Fiona and I quickly packed away our costumes and high-tailed it out of the resort.

We met at Moes, which was nice, since it was a little bit of home. We had no idea that we'd be introducing Shauna to her first ever burrito, and she was continually floored by the American sizing for drinks (which is apparently so much larger than in Ireland??). It was quite adorable to watch!

We gulped down our burritos and then headed downstairs to the giant cineplex at Citiwalk, which was to be the scene of what was about to be one of the most heartwrenching and emotionally draining, yet beautiful experiences of my life. We quickly shuffled in to the theatre and took seats a little closer to the front than we would have liked, but as more and more Final Battle people came in, we realized we'd be able to sit all together since the entire front of the theatre was unoccupied. Right before the film started, I asked Kelly to get everyone in a giant Final Battle picture, which turned out beautifully and hilariously. That's Shauna, Fiona and I in the back =]



As the time drew nearer and nearer, one of the greatest things happened: some kids in the back started this massive Starkid sing-along and before we knew it the entire theatre had broken out into Get Back to Hogwarts, complete with all the lines in-between sections of the song. It felt great to just belt out some Starkid with at least 100 other devoted Harry Potter fans right before the final film.

Then the film started.

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to form coherent words on why it affected me so profoundly, or what my feelings were going in and coming out because honestly, I was completely numb by the end. I'd cried away all my feelings to the point that I felt almost gutted in a way that had never happened before from simply watching a movie. I can also say with certainty that I have never, ever, cried that much in a movie before. I would like to take this time to publicly apologize to those unfortunate souls who sat around me at advanced showing because I'm quite certain that my audible sobs were disgusting and foghorn-esque. I really, truly am sorry if I wrecked the film for anyone else. It just was that good, guys. It really was.

After grabbing some TCBY, effectively introducing Shauna to fro yo, we slowly made the hot, sticky trek back to the Royal Pacific to continue in our epic Thursday adventure and end the night with the first Wizard Rock concert of the con. We were all so exhausted by the end of the walk that we sat outside for the first couple sets, laying around in the lobby and signing yearbooks and reading and the like. We walked in for Lauren Fairweather's set first, which was awesome, and then proceeded to rock out to Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills, Ministry of Magic (who just made my life) and finally the very last Remus Lupins set ever.

Alex Carpenter had announced a few days earlier that LeakyCon would be the last live performance of the Remus Lupins, so the fans had steeled themselves, but I think all our efforts didn't matter in the end because we could feel the abounding love in that room for the music and the people on stage at that moment. By the time the last song, Looking for Trouble, was over, every single person in that room had reached up their arms and formed hearts with their hands. Every. Single. Person. It was so difficult not to get emotional in that moment. And we wouldn't just let Alex leave on that note, so we started chanting "One more song!" He eventually come back out to play Alone on Valentine's Day as his encore, and with that, it was over. It was such an incredible feeling to be in that room Thursday night.


More to come after the weekend. But for now, I'm beat. =]

HPRT: Went to see Deathly Hallows again today, on Deathly Hallows day, which seemed appropriate. Cried almost as much as the first time. Although my sobs weren't audible this time. I didn't want to scare the poor Muggles, did I?
Current Book: Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli
Current Song: Severus and Lily by Alexandre Desplat from the Deathly Hallows soundtrack

Wizarding World and LeakyCon Day 1

I keep trying to think of things to say in this blog, but honestly, I have no idea where to start? The entire week I was gone was probably the best week of my life. I met so many incredible people, and nothing was ever awkward. It felt a bit like coming home to people who really understood me and never judge me for any of my emotions. They share in it all. You have no idea how that felt coming from a place where for whatever reason I feel constantly judged for my love of Harry Potter. I don't find shame in it, I never would because I'm so proud of my love of this series, but the feeling that people don't really understand gets old. So let's just start from the beginning I suppose.

My parents and I drove down Monday, a long 7 hours, most of which was taken up by me plowing my way through as much of Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History as I could. We got there at about 5:30 East-coast time and quickly settled in to our hotel room. The concierge at the hotel had made us a reservation at a restaurant just down the road that specialized in seafood surf and turf. I quite possibly had the best sushi I've ever had in my life that night. It was a great way to start off a really awesome trip.

The next morning my parents and I woke up and headed over to Universal because we were spending the day at Islands of Adventure, now famous for housing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We went through each of the parks before finally coming to Wizarding World, since we wanted to get the full park experience but end up there. We decided to go through the Incredible Hulk ride, which was really awesome! My mom hated it because it unexpectedly sped up super fast at the beginning and it shocked her so badly that she panicked slightly. I think she determined that she doesn't like roller coasters anymore =[

We then spent time in Jurassic Park, where we got lunch and went on the water ride there to cool off some. It wasn't nearly as scary this time as it was last summer when I went on it the first time with Amy and Caitlin.

After stalling for about as long as we could, we finally headed into the park of my dreams, my true home! It was my parents' first time there, and it was only my second, so I took my dad on the Dragon Challenge and we forced my mom on to the Chinese Fireball side. We got frozen butterbeer, discovered Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom, finally got in to see Ollivander (He chose this adorable little boy who had glasses just like Harry's!), saw the Bullfrog Choir, Durmstrang and Beaubatons shows and ate in the Three Broomsticks for dinner. Last but not least, I took my parents on the Forbidden Journey of Hogwarts ride and they both agreed it was the best ride they'd ever been on. I was so happy that they enjoyed the park, even despite the disgusting heat and my mom's small sunburn.

We went back to the hotel that night with sore feet, me with my adorable new Pygmy Puff named Harold, and I attempted to sleep as much as I could for the coming days.

The next morning, Wednesday, was the first official day of the conference. It was Lit Day, which I knew Kelly was going to, but for me it was my all-day Final Battle rehearsal! I got there at 8am, hoping that I could register before rehearsal started, but already that early, the registration booths were disgustingly packed and the lines so long that I gave up in favor of meeting people before our run-through. I quickly made my way over to Pacifica 1, where I met Fiona for the first time! We shared a customary hug and walked into the room together.

I didn't really know what to expect that day, and I'll have you know I was extremely nervous, mostly about just meeting people. Upon entering the room, I was greeted with a fantastic sight that just reminded me of why I love doing shows. The orchestra was setting stands and getting out instruments, stage management was taping off the stage area, my fellow actors were milling about singing snippets of the show, practicing choreography and greeting each other after having not seen one another in a year. It simultaneously alienated and engulfed me. I knew that this was just the beginning of my friendships with these people, and I couldn't wait to get started!

Fiona and I set our stuff down on the chairs and went around introducing ourselves. I met Sequoia, who I'd talked to some online, Shauna, J.P. and Richie Gagen, Rachel, Mallory, Lena, Mitchell, Cole, Katie and Londa. Over the course of the day I was introduced to pretty much everyone else, and had a ton of fun just chatting with random people. The easiest place to do this was over in one of the aisles, someone had bought a giant dinosaur coloring page and brought 100 or so crayons, of normal, metallic and glitter variety, so all the cool kids and newbies sat over there when we were off stage and gave dinosaurs pink scales and yellow mountains. I took a picture of my blue and green T-rex and sent it to Sarah Jean, since she loves dinosaurs so much.

Rehearsal went okay, it lagged a bit since we really had to work every scene, and over the entire 7 hours we rehearsed we only got through the show once. We actually ended rehearsal an hour early, after 6 hours, because there wasn't anything really we could do with that time. As we cleared the room and transported everything to Pacifica, 5 which was our show holding room for the weekend, Fiona, Shauna, Cole Sequoia and a couple others and I were all sitting around when I got a text from Jennie back home, informing me that we now have our apartment for the fall, a 4 bedroom, all to ourselves, which instantly cleared up a whole bunch of drama for us! I was so excited I couldn't wait to tell someone so I told the group. They all seemed genuinely happy for me, and I think it was then that I realized the power Harry Potter has in all of our lives. It brought us all together and instantly, because we have that initial similarity, we automatically care about each other's lives. It was such an amazing feeling, to have an instant support group in people I'd met not 7 hours ago. I could tell then that I was in for the week of my life.

After receiving the OK to leave, setting up a meeting time for the next morning to go and get movie tickets together as a cast, and finally getting my registration (by the time I got there, the Rock Star booth was almost deserted. I was through it in 2 minutes), I headed over to Pacifica 11, where I was FINALLY to be reunited with Kelly. I snuck in to the back of the room with my new red wristband and sat down next to her for the last panel of the day, "I Was A Teenage Author." I was just in time to hear Libba Bray read from a childhood story of hers, which was spectacularly bad, and it eventually got so bad that Libba had to pass the book off to John Green to finish reading because she couldn't read from the laughing and crying she was doing.

After the panel ended, Kelly and I went to explore the vendor room, which was only open for 2 hours before the Opening Ceremony of LeakyCon. I immediately bought a necklace with a tiny vial of Felix Felicis in it (gold glitter) because it was too adorable to pass up. We then went to wait in line for the VIP reception for Lit Day. Upon entering, we ran into Cheryl Klein, one of the young adult novelists who was part of Lit Day, and talked to her for a while about the influences of young adult literature on our lives, and even talked a bit about how Twilight isn't literature at all. It was really cool to hear from real authors. Before the end of the hour we'd met Maureen Johnson, who mostly organized Lit Day, and writes Young Adult novels herself!


We then got some food and then came back to our table to find a tall guy in full Hogwarts dress standing there. We introduced ourselves to him and found out his name was Gard and he was here all the way from Norway. We got to talking and a few minutes later a girl came up to our table named Sarah. We all kept together until the reception was over and decided to go to the Opening Ceremonies together.

We sat in the front row on the far right side of the ballroom and prepared ourselves for the impending awesome. The whole affair was really really cool. They'd prepared a video full of interviews with the Leaky Cauldron staffers, like Melissa Anelli (the mastermind), Frak, John Noe, and even Mugglenet webmaster Emerson Spartz. They combined the video (containing information about the rise of the HP fandom, a lot of information of which I'd just read in Melissa's book) with small acts from special guests such as Hank Green, Team Starkid, Potter Puppet Pals and Harry and the Potters. But the act that stole the show, by far, was the very first thing. Melissa started the ceremony by announcing that they had a special announcement and asked if this girl could come up on stage. She didn't look like a Leaky staffer, or anyone involved in programming at all.

But that didn't stop us from realizing what was about to happen.

The girl steps out on stage and the girls all across the room all had a hunch, which was only proven by the fact that a guy stepped out on stage and took a microphone and all the girls went crazy. He took his girlfriend's hand and talked about how she had made him read the books and watch the movies and how it had changed his life and then HE PROPOSED. I turned to Gard, Kelly and Sarah and said that that was the way I needed to be proposed to. In front of 3,000 Harry Potter fans at a conference. Boom.

But seriously, it was precious.

The ceremony was over too soon, but we hadn't eaten pretty much all day, Kelly and I, so we exchanged numbers with Sarah and Gard, planned to meet up the next day, and then walked to the Universal parking deck to meet up with my parents for dinner. We ended up going to an Uno's and got pizza. Our server was around Kelly's age and the three of us talked about the conference and he wished me luck on my show. By the time we got back to our hotel, I was dead on my feet and crashed into bed.

So much happened the next 4 days that I'll have to continue later. Promise a post soon!!

Until the very end <3

HPRT: My parents and I talked about Snape and Lily at dinner tonight. I love philosophical conversations about Harry Potter.
Current Book: Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli
Current Song: Trust This Man from The Warlock's Hairy Heart, written by Lena Weinstein.

Revelations. And not the apocalyptic kind.

There are times in life when you just have to sit back, relax, and not stress about anything. And my reaction to that is...

WTF? O_O

Most people who know me well know that this is a difficult concept for me to wrap my head around, since I am a chronic stress-er (about just about everything) and not only do I over-analyze, but I will occasionally stress myself into illness. It stems from my childhood; I used to get really bad stomach aches when I was scared, upset or stressed about things. This last spring semester I had a terrible stomach ache that lasted two days straight (from just one class, Theatre History) and I believe that this phenomenon has gotten so bad that it happens even when I don't realize I'm stressed.

I have had on-again, off-again head and body aches for about 5 days now. It started around the time the mini-mester ended and I was getting geared up to study for two finals that, in all honesty, I wasn't really that worried about, grade-wise. Nonetheless, I put myself to bed early Wednesday night in the hopes that the aches would be gone by the time I woke up.

They weren't.

In fact, that night I was shivering AND achy, and when I woke up my headache was, if anything, worse. While the body aches have dissipated, the headache has remained ever since.

But here's where I'm starting to have a revelation in life.

Finals were over Saturday, and I celebrated by watching Finding Nemo with Kelly and just generally being silly. It was a great way to unwind after a day feverishly trying to cram in all the last facts I needed to know about Sartrean Inauthenticity, Emerson's non-conformity and the differences in views on practical rationality. I went home determined NOT to wake up until ABSOLUTELY necessary, and was largely successful. This morning I woke up, took my time getting ready for the day, lay in bed a few hours reading and then headed to the pool for an all-day love-fest with Kelly, KDav, Sarah Jean and Benjamin. We swam around, lay out, got pizza at Mellow Mushroom, got caught in a raging storm, finally got home and baked cookies and watched True Grit and Angels and Demons, both of which we rented from the Red Box at Walmart. All in all, it was a pretty fantastic day.

None of which was interrupted by my 5-day, persistent headache.

DO YOU SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING? Even when I DON'T think I'm stressed about things, I really am. And see what it's doing to me? It's turning me into a bundle of pain and discomfort, neither of which I really want to be. Today was the first day in 5 weeks I've had to just do whatever I want without worrying about getting work done afterward. I genuinely forgot about all the work I have left for this summer (because trust me, I have a disgustingly long laundry list of things to do before LeakyCon and school starts in August). I actually allowed myself a day free of worry.

And I don't remember the last time I had a day free of worry.

So I guess I'm slowly coming to the realization that I have to make some changes in my life. I simply cannot afford to make myself sick over things that ultimately will change nothing. Prioritizing is a good thing. Nay, it is a great thing. One that I am not yet good at and will need to work on mastering, of course, but what is it they say? Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to fixing it? Or something like that? That may be the generalized version, but whatever xD

It's not going to be an easy process. Already at the mention of the impending work load I have for the coming weeks, the twinge in my left temple signaling my headache is back a bit. I think breaking some of these habits is going to be some of the toughest work on myself I've ever done. But in the long run, it will only make me a stronger person. And I, for one, can't wait to meet the improved, stress-free me =]

HPRT: 18 days until I see the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 Advanced Screening for LeakyCon attendees. Everyone else in the country has to wait until the midnight showing, but NOT US!!! >:]
Current Book: City of Ashes by Cassondra Clare. I'm re-reading the whole series so I can finally read City of Fallen Angels.
Current Song: Adele Medley by Alex Goot, Justin Robinett and Michael Henry

The End of an Era

I'm warning you now: This post will get a little sappy. And I don't like sappy at all, so that's saying something.

It's only very recently hit me just how close it's getting to the end of a lot of things. Some things are really small and short term like the end of this weekend. The end of this mini summer semester of school. But there are other things that despite being close at hand have a whole other kind of magnitude that make them seem so much larger and more important. The end of my time as a teenager is 3 months from today. The end of waiting patiently (and more often than not impatiently) for LeakyCon to happen is July 13. The end of this fantastic journey I'm taking through Lena Gabrielle's beautiful and heart-wrenching music in The Final Battle is July 15. But possibly the most important thing happening this summer that signifies a real End of an Era (to quote the incredible Oliver Boyd and the Rememberalls song) is the final Harry Potter film.

Yes. That's right. This entire post is about Harry Potter. What else is new? =P

Seriously though, do you even know how long this phenomenon has been a part of our daily lives as a society? 13 years is well over half my life, and while I didn't read HP1 right away as a 6 or 7 year old (in fact, I wouldn't even touch the first book until I was 9) it's been in my environment almost as long as I can remember. I've been soaking it in through osmosis since it came out in '98, and the spark of magic that's lingered in the air since its burst onto the literature scene has never faded in all this time. Between the next book or a new movie, a wizard rock tour or that huge summer con, something new has always been around to revitalize it.

And while this is all well and good, I can't help but feel like something is about to end with this last movie. Yes, there will probably be more wizard rock concerts, there will probably be another con, but it's the last time something of this magnitude will be brought to the attention of not just the UK or the US but the entire world. It's the last time Harry will truly be the center of attention, as he should be.

On July 14 (yes, 14th. Be jealous ;P), when I step into that enormous theater in Orlando with thousands of Harry Potter fans as enthusiastic as I am, when we sit down as one, hours before the vast majority of the world, to watch our hero embark on his last adventure, something irreversible and inevitable will change in all of us.

Harry Potter won't fade away. That's not humanly possible for people like me who have dedicated so much of our lives to this phenomenal series. The Boy Who Lived will always live on in our hearts, in the pages of our books and in the disc drives of our computers. His message will forever be carried out and honored by the exemplary Harry Potter Alliance and the good works it does worldwide in his name. Hell, thousands upon thousands of people step right into his world daily at the theme park in Orlando. But something will change in us as the last film ends.

We'll forever be bonded by the story of our childhood and the knowledge that the weapon we have is love.

See you at LeakyCon =]

HPRT: The newest promotional posters for DH2 are bad ass. The Neville one especially is my favorite =]
Current Book: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Current Song: I Wanna Go- Britney Spears Hunger Games Parody by WinterSpringPro and Luke Conard. You can watch the hilarious video here, and I suggest you do =]

Adventures in Wisdom Teeth Removal

I'm back, everyone!

I took a nice, 9 day long break from my blog, but now I'm ready to come back to it. I actually really did enjoy BEDA this April, even if it didn't seem like I did. It was just the end of the semester, and things were getting pretty crazy, but now that finals are over, the next step in my year is about to begin.

I'm getting my wisdom teeth out.

Ha! Fooled you, didn't I? I bet you were thinking I was gonna say SUMMER VACATION LET'S GO CRAZY WOOOOOO, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU? Well. You were wrong.

Ok, not entirely wrong, but I don't get to start my real summer vacation until after June is over, when I won't be in summer school anymore. The real next step for me actually is getting my wisdom teeth out.

Now, I don't know if most of you know this, but I hate pain. Like, any kind of pain. Even little things are like, record-breaking pain levels to me. I have no pain threshold of any kind, so the prospect of surgery, even a minor one like this, has got me nervous to the point where I don't know if I can handle it.

I wouldn't be so scared if I knew I was going to be put under for the whole thing, but they're only giving me local anesthesia. Not OK. I really hope I don't get a shot in my gums, I don't think I could handle that. I might literally die over this. *so scared*

But, in order to calm my nerves about tomorrow morning (at 9am! Ew! I've been going to bed at like, 2am, getting up at 8 is gonna suck!), I have decided to make myself a playlist of music to listen to to drown out the sounds of saws and whatever other dental tools they'll use to rip my mouth open T_T

Madeleine's List of Soothing, Happy, Upbeat Wisdom Teeth Songs:

1. Trainers in Love (Acoustic) by All Caps. Something about the sexual tension between Ash and Misty always intrigued me about Pokemon. I mean, really guys? It was obvious. And this acoustic song by All Caps is just precious.

2. The Human EP by Darren Criss. All 5 songs just fill me with the greatest joy every time I listen to them. Darren's voice is so sexy and the acoustic guitar is the perfect pairing with it.

3. Teenage Dream, Raise Your Glass and Misery (Glee Versions) with Darren Criss. I mean, naturally. There's nothing that boy could sing that I wouldn't want to listen to.

4. Legends of Archery by Driftless Pony Club. I'm actually a huge fan of WheezyWaiter's band, and this song is my favorite of that CD.

5. Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine. You've seen me talk about this song plenty of times on this blog, but there's something about the soothing yet powerful vocals of Florence matched with the epic drums that makes this song one of my favorites to date.

6. 503 from the Angels and Demons soundtrack. Hans Zimmer, man. When he gets a film score right, he gets it right. This piece never fails to make me want to cry. In a good way.

7. Runaway Car and Fire and Rain by Mat Kearney. I've been a loyal fan of his for years now, and his honest lyrics and upbeat melodies always make me smile.

8. Resistance and Undisclosed Desires by Muse. Still kind of on a Muse kick. These two are probably my favorites of what I have of theirs.

9. July by Ryan Seiler. That guy has a voice that can cure cancer. I love his acoustic, chill sound with religious undertones and always the sincerity that makes you want to go out and be a better person. This song is incredible.

10. A random smattering of Sara Barellies songs, mostly from her newest CD. The chill sounding ones. Like The Light and Let the Rain.

11. Winter Song by Sara Barellies and Ingrid Michaelson. This song is so precious and I love everything about it. The fact that it journeys from sad and almost despairing to hopeful and joyous at the end... The music video actually helped me understand the journey of this song better than just listening, but nonetheless, this song always makes me happy.

12. Mountain and the Sea by Ingrid Michaelson. It's another one that always makes me smile. It's just so darn cute!

13. the Weapon by Harry and the Potters. Honestly, who doesn't love that song now that it's become so hugely important to the Harry Potter fandom? Between being the HPA's theme song to having a whole new connotation after the loss of Esther Earl, it's a touching song that weighs heavily in our hearts, but always with gladness.

14. A whole BUNCH of Ministry of Magic songs. I mean, come on, who doesn't want to listen to Snape vs. Snape, Goodbye Privet Drive, Lightning Struck Tower and On the Other Side while getting teeth ripped out of their heads?? =P

So that's the main gist of it. I originally had 52 songs, but seeing as the surgery isn't long, I paired it down to just these. I figured I'd stick with just the ones that make me happiest =] I also deleted the ones that would make me wanna laugh since, you know, laughing in the middle of oral surgery is probably not the best idea xD

I hope your days tomorrow aren't filled with as much discomfort and pain killers as mine will be! May the odds be ever in your favor.

P.S. Nerdy blog post endings FTW! (10 points to whatever house you're in if you can tell me what that last line is from!)

HPRT: 63 days until LeakyCon. Dying.
Current Book: I finally finished Anna and the French Kiss, so I think I'll go back and try to finish The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Current Song: Fire and Rain by Mat Kearney

BEDA Day 30

Well, here it is. The moment of truth.

LAST BEDA POST FOR APRIL WOOOOOOOOO!

Yeah, I don't know why I'm so excited about this, but I did my sappy, heartfelt post last night, so I'm just gonna have fun with this one.

This month in April I:

-Finished two major assignments for Theatre History, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when they were over. Through this I learned that I have the ability to push myself through a tough situation, even when I'd rather be doing ANYTHING else.
-Had my first experience as costume crew for a show. I learned that I loved it. And now I'm dying to be Wardrobe Mistress for a show every semester I have left at Auburn.
-Was cast in my first play of college, and let me tell you, I'm SO excited to start working on that!
-Realized what things in my life truly are and aren't important. Grades in non-theatre classes have unfortunately slipped into the latter category...
-Rediscovered my love of Sudoku. Seriously, I've been playing on my iGoogle for probably the last two weeks straight. It keeps my mind constantly focused, and I love it.
-Figured out that I make a pretty scary zombie, as do some of my friends... =P
-Got to see in my opinion, one of the best films made from a book in a very long time (yes, it does just so happen to be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1... I'm obsessed, ok??)
-Visited an old teacher and through it was reaffirmed in my belief that I'm right where I ought to be.
-Officially signed up for Lit Day as part of my Rockstar package for LeakyCon. IT'S OFFICIAL. I WILL MEET JOHN GREEN THIS SUMMER. I LITERALLY AM ABOUT TO DIE FROM HAPPINESS.
-Discovered my love of iCal. It's seriously revolutionized my life.
-Fell in love with my friends time and time again as they taught me what it is to be a good actor and, above all, a good human being.

So. I think those are all some pretty important lessons and realizations about myself. What did you learn in the month of April, world?

Thank you so much for being my constant outlet this month. It's gonna be weird not to have to write a blog post at the end of every day anymore, but I'm almost positive that I'll be doing BEDA again in August.

And thus concludes my second BEDA ever. Thanks, internet, for always being there =]

HPRT: 73 days until LeakyCon. Just saying.
Current Book: I really should just finish Anna and the French Kiss so I can give it back to Jennie...
Current Song: Oh crap... I've forgotten the title of it, but it's by Journey, and it was in Tron: Legacy, which I just watched tonight xD
Just looked it up. It's called "Separate Ways" by Journey =]

BEDA Day 29

It's hard to believe how close we are to the end of BEDA. Some really fun and important things have happened this month, and I'm sorry if I've somewhat neglected my posts, or made them short or half-assed them. I guess we might be able to attribute it to me feeling that real life is more important than writing it all down...?

In any case, it's been really nice to return to this blog every day and relive each day as it happens, even if the events were less than pleasant. It's important to reflect on things as they happen, and even later on to gain perspective.

I watched a really important vlog from VEDA this month from Alex Carpenter from the Remus Lupins, and he talked about how just because something is amazing and incredible doesn't mean that it should last forever. Sometimes things that are these awesome experiences are better to remember than try to force to last. He was talking about wizard rock and the Harry Potter fandom, and cons like LeakyCon which is coming up oh so soon. I think I'm referring to school years and college experiences.

I had my last voice lesson of the semester yesterday, and my voice teacher and I were reflecting on the past two years of my life that I've spent at this school and with him. I've made some really important decisions and had some important growth experiences, even in the last four months, that have completely changed my life. If you had told me at the beginning of freshman year that I was going to be in the BFA program, have played Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza, and was about to have the most incredible summer ever, I probably would not have believed that any of that was possible.

Really, what it comes down to is confidence. There was just something about the knowledge that we were going to do Piazza that brought something out in me that I almost didn't know I had. I had almost this obsession with getting what I wanted that nothing was going to stand in my way. And that was the chance I needed to show everyone what I am capable of. I just needed one shot to prove that I can do this, that I can live this life, and thanks to Joey, I got it.

I have so much to be thankful for, especially when it comes to this semester. When Piazza ended, I was so depressed. I wanted it to last forever. But now I'm starting to realize that it's more important that it ended, because it taught me that all great things come to an end, and that I can learn from the experiences that I had through it. I grew closer to some amazing people, I figured out some important things about myself, I was moved by beautiful music and a beautiful story every night for almost two months, and I'll never forget any of it. I think I've finally come to a point in my life where I'm starting to realize who I'm going to become as an actor and as a person.

And that's really exciting.

I hope April has brought some great realizations for all of you!

HPRT: Still trying to stay away from the DH Pt. 2 trailer. It's harder every day.
Current Book: N/A
Current Song: N/A

BEDA Day 28

I've been really wanting to do a picture post all month but I haven't had time to upload all the pictures, but I believe that today is now the day!

These are all the things on my mind:

I took this picture myself from a cool, touristy spot in Paris where it's easy to get amazing pictures of the Eiffel Tower =]

I think that's enough for now! So, I'm gonna go keep watching Bones, and I think tonight I'll try to catch up on either Youtube or TV shows.

Hope your Thursday nights are good!

HPRT: I'm really starting to get freaking excited about LeakyCon!!
Current Book: None at the moment.
Current Song: Resistance by Muse

BEDA Day 27

Ha. Wow. Would you look at that? 45 whole minutes with which to write this blog post!

I truly am sorry for how crappy the last couple posts have been. This week has just about killed me, and I honestly just have to get through tomorrow afternoon and I am done with classes. All I'll have are finals. Which, don't get me wrong, are going to suck, but at least classes are officially finished!!

Yesterday was hectic between trying to find time to eat amongst all I had to do. I don't even know if I mentioned the fact that I had my first mandatory audition as a BFA student on Monday, but I did, and it was for the first fall show next semester, called La Bete. I ended up getting a callback, which was last night, so between that and my Theatre History assignment, I was stressing pretty hard last night.

Turns out I got cast in La Bete, too, so we had our first company meeting after classes ended for the day. I'm really excited for this play! I was talking to my friend Garrett, who got cast as well and is in my BFA class, and he said that (referring to our characters) we have just enough lines to make our parts worth the effort, but so few that we can really concentrate on just having fun with the show. Everything about this cast is making me excited =]

Back to Theatre History though... I was lucky for my Godot assignment because of how much work I got done on it on Friday that I only stayed up until 12:30 last night. SO MUCH EARLIER than past Theatre History assignments. I put some last minute touches on it this afternoon and submitted it to Blackboard. It was like someone lifted an enormous weight off my shoulders, to see the other side of that assignment xD

Both my Jazz and Tap outcomes were this week, and I think all dances went really, really well! I have truly loved the dances we've done in my classes this semester, and all were really fun to learn and work on. I really have learned a lot this year, and I'm excited to keep going with my dancing through college.

So now I'm sitting in bed on the eve of my last outcome for the semester (MT Acting) and I'm loading some YouTube to catch up on (I'm SERIOUSLY behind. The amount of videos in my sub box is kind of scaring me...) and I'm pretty sure I'm fighting off some sort of upper respiratory illness but it's not in like, any kind of stage, I can just feel my lungs like, ache every time I breathe out... I'm sure that's not a good sign, but I haven't been sick all semester (*knocksonwood*) so I'm hoping that will continue until after finals and after I get my wisdom teeth out early next month. Being sick for that would SUCK.

I realize even this post wasn't that interesting, but all my creative juices were poured into that awful Godot assignment, so hopefully I'll be feeling more creative as the month draws very nearly to a close. Hard to believe April's almost over!

Hope your Wednesday's were all good!

HPRT: Apparently the trailer for DH Pt. 2 came out today, and I'm avoiding it like the plague. No spoilers, please!
Current Book: It's a play, but La Bete by David Hirson
Current Song: I Won't Say I'm In Love from Hercules (My friend Mallory sang it at the Senior BFA outcome that I went to tonight.)