BEDA #30: Owls?

There is literally and owl hooting outside my bedroom. It's the weirdest thing. I've never heard a legit owl hoot in my life. I think it's really cool actually =]

SO TODAY'S THE LAST DAY OF BEDA! It's surely been a crazy month. I've honestly really enjoyed writing on the blog everyday, so much that I know I'll keep up with it more often, just to check in and such. It's remarkably therapeutic at the end of the day to either do a write up of my day or talk about something that was on my mind. I'm kind of going to miss it, even if I did fail just 13 days in xD

So, true to my fashion, I'll give you a summary of my day and then maybe do something I haven't done in a while... You'll see =]

So I got up at 6:30, took Tiger Transit in to campus, was the first one in Foy so I had a nice little chat with Jeri's daughter, Jenna, and had a wonderful jazz class. We started learning a routine where we have partners and one of us mugs the other. Kelly Davino mugged me. It was great =P

Voice and Movement told me some new things about my body, but honestly, I love that class. Just learning the whacky anatomy that we have is enough to simultaneously freak me out and fascinate me.

I had my voice lesson at 12:30 for the first time, and I think I might want to switch back to my regular 3pm, provided I can get Ben to switch with Kelly instead of me. He wanted 3:30 anyway.

So I rushed from my voice lesson to the science classrooms for my lab section of Concepts of Science. I walk in... there are no lab tables. I was like, what kind of lab is this?

Interjection: So I just realized that the reason why my blog compositions have been in the HTML format was because it had accidentally been switched to the "Edit Html" tab instead of the "Compose" tab. Which I JUST FIGURED OUT! I've been suffering through not being able to change my font size or kind for a week now! *STUPID*

Back to regular programming.

So I sit down at the table, and our GTA gets started, and he's this really southern geologist guy who seems really passionate about his classes, which got my attention, and then I realized that I hadn't done half the homework.

FML.

So I felt really stupid and unprepared (because I was) and I'll tell you now, I HATE feeling unprepared. It's like, the worst feeling to me to walk into a class and not have my work done. It just makes me feel like a failure, and I'm not exaggerating about that. I feel disappointed with myself FAR more than the professor could ever make me feel. So that's how I was feeling, and I just couldn't wait to get out of there and escape the never-ending reminder that was my stupidity.

I rushed straight from there to Piano Skills, which was easy, as usual, but I love Dr. Vauth, so it makes up for it to be able to spend 2 hours with him a week. It was so cute! I was standing outside Joey's office before my voice lesson, and Dr. Vauth's office is right across the hallway, and he was in there and had his door open, and he said "Hello" to me! I was like, "OMG!" So adorable.

So I went up to the theatre office to wait for Kelly to get off work so she could take me home, when I ran into Sarah-Jean in the green room. So Sarah-Jean gave us a ride to Kelly's apartment where Kelly gave me a ride home. How lazy are we? =P

So I went over my callback music, showered, dressed, ate leftovers from last night and went back to the theatre for my Fantasticks and Machinal callbacks! I was really excited that I'd gotten a callback for both productions. Fantasticks was first, and overall I thought it went pretty well. Very strong. Except for the crazy high Cs in Round and Round. I thought my throat was going to close on me. Not good.

Machinal was short (I was called back for a pretty minor roll, but I'm ok with that. We'll see if I'm on the callback list for tomorrow, too) and I finally got home just before 9pm and now I'm exhausted and sitting here, listening to the Light and the Piazza soundtrack, typing this all for you.

I guess now I'll do the not-so-typical Madeleine portion of this post: A Myspace Survey! That's right, I'm going old school, just for you guys, in honor of my last BEDA post. Now the trick is to find one...

I stole this from Anna, who does these a lot and posts them as Notes on Facebook xD

1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:30am

2. How do you like your steak?
medium rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Inception

4. What is your favorite TV show?
BONES! So excited for the season premier Thursday, September 23!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I would go everywhere I want to first, then decide. I couldn't possibly know yet since the only places I've been other than the U.S. are Canada (which almost didn't count) and France.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Cheerios

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Probably Italian. It's just so comforting and delicious. But I do love sushi, so Japanese is up there too.

8. What foods do you dislike?
brussel sprouts, yams, squash. wow that sucks, since they're all so good for you.

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Oh goodness, everyday kind of stuff, Moe's is up there. Special occasions? I've found that Warehouse Bistro is fabulous.

10. Favorite dressing?
Caesar

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
N/A

12. What are your favorite clothes?
the ones that I feel flatter me and the ones that are comfortable.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
The list is endless. New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Norway, England... basically all Western and Eastern European countries, extending to Romania and Turkey. All the places that are visited in the book The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
full

15. Where would you want to retire?
NYC or around friends and family

16. Favorite time of day?
night

17. Where were you born?
DC baby =]

18. Bird watcher?
nope, but I have a friend who is.

19. Are you a morning person or a night person?
night

20. Pets?
Dog Gennie and cat Willy. But we just call him Cat.

21. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share?
Uhh... nope, the earlier portion of this post sums it up rather nicely =]

22. What did you want to be when you were little
It changed a lot. Vet, Doctor, Dentist, Astronomer, idk, there were more.

23. What is your best childhood memory?
there are too many to choose from

24. Are you a cat or dog person?
dog

25. Are you married?
no

26. Always wear your seat belt?
always, always =]

31. Been in a car accident?
does the hood of the car flying up and crashing into the windshield count?

32. Any pet peeves?
there are a lot, but I can't think of specifics right now. My brain isn't really functioning.

33. Favorite pizza topping?
meat

34. Favorite Flower?
ohh goodness. I'll say snapdragons as an AVPS joke, but I don't actually know what they look like xD

35. Favorite ice cream?
anything chocolately, less caramely.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Wendy's

37. Apparently Anna accidentally deleted this question before reading it. So I can't answer xD

38. From whom did you get your last email?
School: My lab professor. Personal: Modcloth

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Barnes and Noble, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
... Not... yet? Hopefully something soon. We'll see.

41. Like your job?
I do. I like making things in the costume shop.

42. Broccoli?
yum

43. What was your favorite vacation?
France, by far. But ASoA was pretty much on par, if you consider that a vacation. I view it more as a trip.

44. What are you listening to right now?
AVPS

45. Do you play the Wii?
nope

46. Favorite color?
green and purple

47. How many piercings?
2

48. Coffee drinker?
Not avidly, no.

49. How many children do you have?
0, thank the Lord.

50. How many siblings do you have?
0, sadly.

I would say Till tomorrow, but it's not necessary anymore! Until next time, then! =]

HPRT: My new friend Ben and I quoted AVPS between readings at the Fantasticks callbacks. It was amazing. And I'm fairly certain we freaked a few of my friends out in the process. Even better =]
Current Book: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese I
Current Song: Say It Somehow from The Light in the Piazza

BEDA #29: Intensity

Dang. The episodes of The Closer and Rizzoli and Isles tonight are INTENSE.

There's something super comforting about coming home from a really long, intense day and turning on the TV and watching shows that you really love. I've had a long standing love of Kyra Sedgwick and The Closer for a while now, and I truly believe that she deserved her Emmy (that she just won last night, btw). I just love her kick-ass, Southern charm and uncanny ability to solve crime. It gives me hope =]

Today was long, despite the fact that my 8am Ballet class was canceled. Japanese was fun, as usual. A little confusing as always, but fun. Math was... yeah.

Science was full of sciencey things, but I do like my professor. He seems reasonable and he makes funny jokes that work most of the time. And he's got this superb German accent. Adorable =]

I almost finished an apron at work today! The pocket I put on was adorable. I was very excited that my pocket turned out so welllll and it's this really cute, light yellow cotton material. I was pretty proud of myself =]

I went home after work and my daddy made tuna casserole (yum!) and then I went into school early to work on my monologues and song. Kelly and I droned on with random stuff for my video... It's a very strange video, uploading now xD

So Marge called me about 20 minutes before my first audition time because they were getting really ahead, so I ended up doing both my auditions at least 15 minutes before I'd signed up for it. Ultimately... I'm glad. I just wanted it to be over, and overall I felt like they went pretty well. I was totally solid on both my monologues. The song... didn't go as well as it had in lessons and stuff, but I still think I have a shot at Lousia. Hopefully. I'm not getting my hopes up too much. I'm now sitting at home, watching the end of Rizzoli and Isles, and waiting for the emails to go out about callbacks tomorrow and Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed!

Only one more post of BEDA! It's been a rockin month.

Till tomorrow!

HPRT: Everyone seems to post the Literal Harry Potter trailer on my wall. I love how I'm the first person people think of to show all things HP to =]
Current Book: None. Still. I'm boring.
Current Song: Much More from The Fantastiks

BEDA #28: The Emmy's *spoilers*

I'm just sitting on my couch watching the Emmy's right now. I'm kinda pissed about the fact that Lost didn't win for ANYTHING it was nominated for. For starters, I'm sorry, that guy from Breaking Bad has already won the Emmy 3 times. Matthew Fox deserved it sooo much more. Second, I understand that both Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson have won Supporting Actor before, but once again, Breaking Bad beat both them out when that show is still on the air, and Lost is over. For good. WHY???

It just made me extremely sad. But Clare Danes is on right now, so I can live with that. I kind of love her. AND Jane Lynch won for Glee. So deserved it's not even funny.

I spent all day doing homework and memorizing monologues. My Fantastiks audition is pretty solid, but I'm having some issues with my Machinal monologue. Maybe it's because it's so much longer, or that it's heightened text, I don't know. I know the lines, it's just the order. That and the flow of some of the lines as well. It's a little frustrating.

Interjection: Jewel's song for the In Memorium portion of the Emmys was beautiful. I still can't believe that Rue McClanahan is gone. Crimes.

Anyways, auditions are tomorrow, and I'm slightly nervous. I really want to get in a show this semester, but at the same time I'm completely swamped with my 18 credit hour schedule. I don't think I'm ever going to do another 18 hr schedule ever again. No more. It's already ridiculously stressful.

So. Auditions. Right. I'm excited for the shows this semester. I have a feeling that a lot of my friends will be in shows this year, and I want to see them shine and have their moments. Sarah-Jean is already ripping it up in The Birthday Party, and I'm super excited to see how that one turns out.

Another big deal this semester is the SETC screening in October. I don't for sure know what I'm doing, but I think I'll be doing a 1 minute song, 30 sec. monologue. Singing is truly my strength, and I hope that some production companies see that. We can only hope! *fingerscrossed*

A really fun development over Thanksgiving break has occurred recently. Nothing is permanent or certain, but there is a very good chance that Jennie, Kelly C and I will be going to the New York City Wizard Rock Festival in Brooklyn on November 21st!! We'd be going up just for the weekend, since the event itself is on a Sunday, and hopefully we'd be getting home the next day on the Monday of Thanksgiving break. No telling, but it's looking good, and we're all ridiculously excited and anxious for it to happen.

Interjection: CLARE DANES JUST WON! YAY!

So that's what's going on at the moment... We'll see how things unfold this week and in the weeks to come.

Till tomorrow!

HPRT: I made it so that my laptop background is changing pictures of my ASoA trip. Hooray for high-def images of Darren Criss, the Joe(y)'s, and wizard rockers galore. Hopefully I'll be getting legit videos and pics of them on stage in a few months time!
Current Book: The Sciences (I hate Concepts homework)
Current Song: Looking For Trouble by The Remus Lupins

BEDA #27: The end draws nigh...

Not of anything drastically important, of course. I was just being dramatic =P

The end of BEDA is approaching, and all in all I think I've done a pretty decent job of documenting my days through this wonderful month of August. It's been hot as hell, humid, muggy, gross, buggy... but it's also been the start of some new adventures that I'm honestly pretty excited about.

I'm a sophomore now, which in itself is a strange concept to entertain, but what's even weirder is that we're not the new kids on the block anymore. There are new, fresh faces, who I can't wait to get to know, and I came back to campus for a new year actually knowing wonderful, talented individuals whom I've come to love and adore. I'm taking totally new classes, some of which are boring as all get out, but others that interest and challenge me in ways that I've never encountered in my life. I guess that's the thing about college. You have the best times of your life entwined with the most boring/frightening/stupid/painful times, too. And honestly, I'm so happy to be where I am with the people that I'm with.

Last night was the theatre 80s party. Just look at this picture for an example of how much fun we had. That's Jennie on the left, Sarah-Jean in the middle, and of course me on the right. Fun times =]



Till tomorrow!

HPRT: Last night, before the party, I printed off a whole bunch of pictures from this summer on Jennie's new photo printer. I got ones of me and Alex Carpenter, Jason Munday, Darren Criss, Joey Richter, Joe Walker and Mark Jennings =]
Current Book: none. I don't have time to read. That's actually a lie, I'm just watching Buffy instead.
Current Song: Days of Summer from A Very Potter Sequel

BEDA #26: Exhaustion runs rampant

My day was just so long. Gaaaahhh. And it's not over.

Voice and Movement lab was super cool, even though it seemed to drag on, and she even let us out 30 minutes early! My Japanese quiz was ridiculously easy, and I think my professor likes me because I raise my hand in class a lot and I even went up to the board today. Yay!

Math was... crazy. As usual. I couldn't understand my professor, and he didn't even notice when 4 people got up in the middle of class and left. I just don't know how we're all going to pass this class if we can't understand him.

I also worked almost my full 3 hours today. It was just a lot of quilt patch making and searching in costume storage. Totally tiring.

So now I'm sitting on my couch watching Man vs Food, waiting for my friend Jennie to pick me up to take me to her apartment to get ready for the theatre 80s party tonight =]

I feel like there should be some hilarious story that I could tell to make this blog... I don't know, worthwhile? Worth reading? Lately my posts have been super boring. I expected to have lots more to talk about once school started, but I've just been so exhausted that I can't even function, let alone write a meaningful blog post. Perhaps my meaning was all used up with what happened with Esther. All of my inspiring words were usurped by this week's occurrences... which I'm still reeling about.

BUT! Hopefully, as the month draws to a close, I can find something good to say =]

Look at this awesome new poster for Bones Season 6! SO EXCITED!

HPRT: I ran into the director of the show I was in this summer in the Theatre office, and we had a fun conversation about Harry Potter and its wonderfulness. I then told her about the NYC Wizard Rock Festival, and she said, "You really are a geek!" It made me laugh xD
Current Book: Nothing. I wish it was Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, though T_T
Current Song: Battle of Hogwarts by Ministry of Magic

BEDA #25: Nothing to talk about.

I literally have nothing to talk about. I apologize profusely. Maybe this weekend I will, but I think I need a mental day off from blogging. I'm just so exhausted from this first full week of classes that I... can't stand to think xD

Have a video.

Till tomorrow!

HPRT: Today in the green room, we had the most intense Harry Potter discussion. We were debating everything from what houses we'd all be in to whether or not Neville was a BAMF. It was great.
Current Book: The Sciences
Current Song: 1000 Shiny Subscribers by Kristina Horner

BEDA #24: Rest in Awesome, Esther Earl.

Today a lot of crappy things happened. One of them was my math professor changing again to someone I can't understand at all. But probably the most important was that at 3am this morning, Esther Earl, 16 year old nerdfighter and overall inspiring individual, passed. All day I've read tweets and watched youtube videos from countless people paying tribute to this wonderful girl.

From what little exposure to her life story and her personality I've had, I could tell that she was much, much more than a girl with cancer. She was an amazing person full of life and and love. She had such a passion for life and for those with whom she was close, it breaks my heart to see her family and friends mourn her loss. Even I, who did not know her personally at all, have found my thoughts straying to her all day. I was horribly depressed when I woke up and read on her website that she had gone. This depression lasted through the day, and probably made me even more upset about my math class than I would have on a normal occasion. As I was walking up the hill to the theatre, I thought about what I had read last night. She was planning on dropping out of high school to work on getting her GED so that she could stay at home and get better. Just two days ago, she was tweeting about the funny moments she'd just shared with her mother and sisters. I walked up that hill on my college campus and I just couldn't believe that she would never get the chance to go to college, to move away from home and use her amazing energy to work toward her future.

Just as my depression had hit its worst, it hit me. Esther would be ashamed if we dwelled on all the things she would miss out on in life. As Matt Maggiacomo said in his blog post today, she understood her humanity, her mortality. She knew that she was horribly sick, and she accepted this fact. She kept loving and shining, even through her darkest moments. She would never want us to stop living simply because she had gone on. We have to live in her memory, actively practicing the inspirational lessons she taught the world: stay close to your family. Live life to its fullest. Never stop loving and giving. And most importantly, never forget to be awesome.

Thank you so much Esther Earl for your incredible gift to nerdfighteria.

Till tomorrow.

HPRT: I've been listening to Ministry of Magic and Harry and the Potter's songs entitled "Phoenix Lament" and "Phoenix Song" all day. They both start off mournful but end hopeful. I can't help but realize that these songs correspond to life lessons that Esther taught us all. Life throws events our way that seem unbearable. But we must fight on despite these difficulties. In the words of Harry and the Potters, "It's we who will decide when to stop the fight and get on with our lives."
Current Book: The Sciences
Current Song: Phoenix Song by Harry and the Potters