Not just any Monday

Finished my last final! I was much more prepared for this final than my music midterm. I probably even overstudied the listening examples. Still, there were a couple part II (written exam and multiple choice) questions that totally stumped me. When did Buddhist music begin? Uhhhh... my mind went completely blank. Multiple choice: What is the oldest music performed in Asia and when did it begin?

Yeesh. I don't even think I have this information in my notes. Then I started thinking, "Didn't we learn this during the first half of class? I thought the test wasn't cumulative. Is this a trick question? It's a trick question. So I better not answer *that* way. Answer: B. Well, guess: B. Hmmm... waaait a minute. Erase visceral answer. I'm answering *that* way. It's probably wrong, but I'm gonna answer *that* way anyway. Ooh, it's tricky. I'm going to write that on my test -- 'Trick ?' -- just so they know that I think they're messing with me. Answer: A. I give up." Oh well! And now I think I read the question incorrectly, but what can you do? Smile and blog about it. :)

I can tell you about other things though. For example, the Nepal national anthem is pretty cool. There are three bands playing at once, and they are playing incompatible musical scales. Sure, you've got to get used to the reality that it's out of tune (and you may even wince), but that's what makes it cool. :)

I'm looking forward to next quarter but not until I make full use of my Christmas break... starting NOW!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Am definitely feeling the Christmas spirit today... and also the commercialized spirit too. Did a bit o' shoppin' at the U Bookstore. Again, can't tell you what I bought 'cause that would ruin the surprise for someone. :) Ate chicken teriyaki at Tokyo Garden. That's probably my favorite teriyaki place on the Ave. I stopped by Bartell's afterward and almost bought bubble tea from Yunnie's, but by 4:30, I felt like I had to head back to the dorms 'cause it was so dark already! Now, at 7 o'clock, I feel like I should be sleeping. It could be that I didn't get enough sleep last night (watched all of SNL [even the frightening performances by the musical guests]) and woke up at 9 this morning just to watch Love Actually on HBO. Regardless of my weird sleeping patterns, early darkness makes me long for summer. Easy livin', easy livin', easy livin'.

!Feliz navidad!

All things shall perish from under the sky.

Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live never to die.

I sang that in 6th grade. This is my mourning period for my Panasonic portable CD player. *sigh* I bought it 14 months ago, and it was a good little CD player. It survived a drastic fall to the laundry-room floor last year. It survived days and days of bus rides and strorage in my backpack. It always provided me with great music.

In my preparation to take things home for the holidays, I took out a CD from the player and shut my middle drawer. A few minutes later, I opened up my top drawer and couldn't close it. Why? My flashlight revealed that I forgot to close the CD player shut, and the top half was stuck between the two drawers.

Argh, I am no MacGyver -- as cool as that would be. I tried pulling out the top drawer. Even attempted to reach it with a pen. But the only way I could ever shut my drawers completely was to sacrifice the CD player. *sigh*

Goodbye, Panny.

Mourning period over.

Should I get another portable CD player or should I get an MP3 player? Hmmmm...

Hey hey, ho ho, these wisdom teeth have got go!

Oy, I have a headache. Okay, it may not be wisdom-teeth-related, but you never know. I think it is though. I've noticed the warning signs: discomfort in the mouth, weird nasal problems, and headaches.

Or, it could be that I've been sitting in front of a computer in the library for heaven knows how many hours. I'm studying for my music final.

I plan to see Unleashed (UW's a cappella singing group) tonight at the HUB. One of my clustermates is in the group. Should be a nice Saturday-night break from the stress of studying.

No day but today

Ooh, it's pay day today! I just remembered. :) Finally started to shop for Christmas gifts. It's as simple as clicking on a couple of buttons. But I'm not telling you what I bought. Nope. Sure, you can figure it out, but don't ruin the surprise. C'mon now.

Classes are over!!! Yay! No more papers to write for the rest of 2004! Heh! I've got one final on Monday, but I decided to take a break from studying tonight. My roommate and I watched Back to the Future: Part III, dubbed in French. Hey, she's taking her French final tomorrow. It was amusing. You notice just how much they say Doc, Marty, Clara, Tannen, Seamus, and Jennifer.

Ooh, as much as I love Christmas lights, I suck at putting them up. Definitely not my forte. (I am much better at cutting out snowflakes from coffee filters, FYI) :) It was my job to hang the lights up at work today, but I ended up with too many unused lights and no good place to put them. Well, they'll probably fall down sometime this weekend, so I'll just rehang them on Monday.

Had one amazing musical moment today when I made up this melodic blip with a cool sounding (in my head) piano sequence. It came out of nowhere as I headed out of McMahon 8. But argh! I forgot it already and didn't record it in any form. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, but you never know... Too bad I got distracted.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me. I can relax (somewhat) for the next two and a half to three weeks. Yay!

Btw, I did not see Blade Trinity. Although I feel like I should have, considering Jason and Janice saw it. Back to the Future: Part III dubbed in French with English Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired is the next best thing. :)

Maybe I'm brainless, maybe I'm wise

Whew, I am tired. Just took my final today. I am not a fan of tricky multiple choice. "Pick the most accurate statement." They all seem pretty damn accurate to me! But no worries though, I still feel good about the test. 'Cause hey! It's over.

I planned to write my last paper of the quarter tonight, but that's not going to happen. I definitely need a break.

Something has changed within me, something is not the same. LOL! I'll just keep borrowing lines from Wicked (I sometimes wonder if I can write something completely out of musical quotes -- not just Broadway musical but songs in general. Movie quotes would work too, but I know lyrics better than movie quotes). Wonderful. :)

Anyway, my wisdom teeth definitely need to be taken out... and soon. The sooner the better, but I'm not looking forward to pain and a swollen mouth. I am now going to spare you the pain of reading my spoof on "Defying Gravity." Why? It doesn't work with wisdom teeth. And I didn't actually write one. I thought about it, but just couldn't. On the other hand, "Defying Cavities" has much better cheese potential. Don't worry, I won't go there either. :) I really ought to write original songs again... I have to go.

Know your limit

Okay, don't read that the wrong way. I just checked out the FOJG presale for Josh's concert in Vegas. $120.75 for one ticket. And that doesn't even include the $15 (I'm guessing and probably not even overguessing!) "convenience" charges. Yikes. Too expensive, considering I'd still have to pay for transportation and hotel. So no spring break in Vegas. No winter 2005 concert for me.

My Live at the Greek CD hasn't arrived from Amazon.com yet, but I caught the PBS Great Performances version yesterday. I say version because "Vincent" and Lucia Micarelli's solo were not aired. Oh, and "Believe" wasn't either. Oh, and "My Confession." But is "My Confession" on the DVD? Not sure. Anyway, it was a great concert. Brought back memories of January and August. During one of the pledge breaks, I got a kick when Warm 106.9 DJ, Daryl Summers, recalled when Josh visited the radio station. She mentioned that some ladies in the parking lot called her up on the phone. LOL! Hmmm... I wonder who those people were. :)

Huge sigh of relief

I got the internship! :) December has been kind to me. Happy holidays everyone!

Hey, ya blog! Yeah, you! Move over!

Hey, and what's happening?

I've lost my blogging streak, that's for sure. But I thought I'd pop in, just in case *you* popped in. I thought now would be a good time to say something new.

*sigh* and *sigh of relief* I am in limbo right now. For those of you who visit dictionary.com, that's the fourth definition of the word, not any of the first three. I had my interview for the internship this afternoon. Mom can tell you that I was really nervous. Anxious. I could hardly concentrate today.

The interview was good. I think. I mean, now I can look back and analyze (and overanalyze), but really, the one thing I can't do is do it again. But considering just how nervous I was, I'm glad I can't do it again.

Bottom line: After getting the chance to talk to the people who would supervise me, I'd *love* to intern there. There's so much I could learn and so much experience I could gain. I really hope to get the internship. *knock on wood* Cross your fingers, send the good vibes, pray, think happy thoughts for me please. I should hear back next week. Obviously, there are two possibilities: I get the internship. Or, I don't get the internship. I'm not sure I'm prepared for the second possibility. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Until next week...

Entrepreneur? Moi?

I read the chapter on entrepreneurship and starting a small business in my business textbook. It was a decently interesting chapter. I mean, I did read it after all, and I was able to answer one of my TA's question during his lecture.

At the end of the chapter, there was a test to see if I'd make a good entrepreneur... or not. Well, I took the test and here's my rating:

6-10 Things look pretty doubtful for you as an entrepreneur. It would take considerable rearranging of your life philosophy and behavior to make it.

*chuckles to self* I kinda had the feeling this would be true. And now I know. :) I mean, take a look at The Engineer from Miss Saigon. His outlook on life definitely doesn't match mine. And now I have "If You Want to Die in Bed" stuck in my head.

Hmmm...

Josh Groban's official site just announced new U.S. tour dates in early 2005. No Washington, Oregon, or California dates. No love for the West Coast. I hope that changes. So I just checked my final-exam schedule for winter quarter. My last final is on March 18, and Josh will play Las Vegas on the 19th. The 19th marks the beginning of spring break for me. Spring break in Vegas? Hmmmm, indeed. I'm also hoping more dates are added that week.

I'm excited for The Amazing Race! It'll be the first time for me to watch the entire series. Tuesdays at 9. I'm there. :)

Not exactly rear window but very close

We have balconies here at McMahon. My clustermates and I had our balcony opened as soon as we could. Unfortunately, housing made the decision to close all the balconies after The Incident a few weeks ago. What was The Incident?, you ask. Here's a summary of what I read in The Daily:

I guess a few musicians (starting with a trumpet player, and later accompanied by other instrumentalists including a violinist) played "Tequila" over and over again, and as more and more people heard the music, they joined in shouting the lone word of the song. The noise attracted the police, and then apparently people threw objects at them. Throwing major objects off the balcony is a *major* violation of the rules, and that's why all the balconies were closed.

Well, I missed out on observing The Incident first hand (The Daily had a pretty funny article about it). It happened on the other side of the building, and I was out at a birthday party that night.

Fast forward to today: Our balcony is still closed. We need to have a five-minute meeting with our RA, but there hasn't been a good time when all clustermates were present. I miss not being able to go out there.

A guy cluster on the floor above us managed to have everyone present for the reopening meeting. For the first time, I saw them out there, and it freaked me out. I was in my room when they were looking over the side, and while they weren't exactly looking directly, I didn't want them to do that. Sooooo, I closed the curtains. Little did they realize that my windows were open, and I could hear them say, "That room just closed their curtains! What do they think, we're spies?" And then they started laughing. No, I don't think you're spies 'cause spies are supposed to be stealthy, but I do think you're freakin' me out.

OK. Maybe I'm just bitter 'cause our balcony isn't open. But I will say this: Thank goodness for curtains. And I'm not afraid to use them.

The Grobanite in me

I haven't been keeping up with news about Josh Groban in a while, but I'm getting back into the excitement of being a fan. (Wow, I guess I just had more time on my hands when I was in high school, but I think I get to say that because I'm not *in* high school any more. Does that make sense? These days, I feel like I'm super busy.)

Just renewed my FoJG membership and bought The Polar Express soundtrack last week. I will watch Conan O'Brien tonight (yeah, can you believe it? He'll be on Conan!). Oh, and I definitely can't wait for the Live at the Greek CD/DVD & PBS special. Ah, music to my ears. It's good to be a Grobanite. :)

To blog or not to blog

Hey, I feel like I haven't blogged in a while. I mean, so much has happened since Tuesday night. And I feel -- no, I know -- that I have been censoring myself. After all, I haven't blogged about the election results.

Well, let me tell you, I was depressed on Wednesday. How could I not be? After waiting soooo long to vote for the president the first time, it was just really depressing to know that I chose and I lost. Of course, America is a republic and a democracy. A little over half of the voters (barely a majority) got their way, and now a little less than half (hardly a minority) are in shock.

Back to choosing or losing and voting or dying, young voters apparently didn't rock at all. Less than one in ten of us voted, according to NBC. I hate being a young voter. I can't help that I am one, but I just hate when anybody older than the young voter says that we don't vote. It's frustrating. I don't think I'm ever going to hear a good explanation as to why my peer group doesn't vote. No wonder Drew Barrymore got so frustrated when she was filming her documentary. I vote, my friends vote, my clustermates vote. The people I know... they vote! What about everyone else? I really hope John Kerry will be right when he said -- during his concession speech, actually -- that one day our votes will change the world (okay, so I don't remember exactly how he put it).

Beyond the young voter absence from the polls (maybe they just don't know that we all [or most of us] vote by absentee when we're in college), I'm disappointed by the outcome of the electoral votes (and that system altogether), disappointed by the outcome of the popular votes, disappointed about it all.

And I'm still censoring myself. Argh.

Waiting...

Okay, today would be a poor day to say that I have nothing to say. It's Election Day, but I don't think it's sunk in yet. I voted by absentee, so maybe that explains why it hasn't sunk in. I usually vote at the polls. Everywhere on campus, people are talking about voting. On the HUB lawn, in classrooms, at work. One of my clustermates just voted at another dorm.

Now I'm watching the TV coverage. They can't say all that much yet.

I have a bone to pick with The Today Show's advertisement. It said to join Katie and Matt for the "historic day after." Come on. It MAY be historic, but we don't know it WILL be because it's in the future! Hello, hasn't happened yet. Well everyone, tomorrow will be historic, and NBC knows it.

Happy Hallowicked

I may not be a fan of Halloween, but I'm glad that The View had Wicked on their show today. Meredith Vieira dressed up as The Wicked Witch of the West and Star dressed up as Glinda the Good. I'm soooo glad I turned on the TV and found out about it! Meredith Vieira interviewed Idina Menzel and Jennifer Laura Thompson. Then they sang "For Good." Good times.

So this week I saw three songs performed live and one on TV. I should just see the show again. Anybody wanna come with? :)

Happy Halloween everybody!

Laundry List

I have a "to do" list that is incredibly long. I have a ton of laundry to do, but the catch is that there are only 4 working machines out of a possible 7. How on earth do these commercial washing machines break so often and so easily and when you need them most?

We may hire a new student at work. I could use the extra help. Today, for instance, I had two major projects to take care of (billing charges and the weekly seminar schedule), but I had to push both aside for a task that took even a higher priority. Phew! It's just busy around here, but I hope I can catch up with everything tomorrow.

I'm looking for an internship. My professor/club advisor informed me of one. Don't want to jinx it, but cross your fingers everybody. I hope I can get my foot in the door.

These kids are so much smarter...

...than meeeeeeeeee.

Let me back up. I'm watching Jeopardy!, and the players are in junior high/middle school. They could answer questions (you know what I mean) that I didn't know!

And I'm stumped on the final jeopardy. LOL! Go Emily!!!

I wish I could go back to Kilo,
Life was so simple back then*.
What could I do to go back and view
My junior-high years again?

I wish I could go back to Kilo,
At Kilo, you know who you are.
You head to assemblies, and think, "Well at least
we didn't get kicked out so far!" (inside joke for the class of '02)

How do I go back to Kilo?
I don't know who I am anymore.
I wanna go back to the lunchroom
And tell the beggars, "Ya better stop askin' me soon!" Whoa oh ah oh.

I wish I could just get a hall pass
Or play the piano,
Avoid the mile
and go to PAW, ya know
I badly want a seventh period to blow

We could be sitting in Steinbornia
2 p.m. before the final bell will ring
Cursing the boy who sneezed so peculiar
And spending the rest of the time giggling

I wish I could go back to Kilo
How do I go back to Kilo?
Ah ah ah ah
I wish I had taken more pictures* (can't change that line)

But if I were to go back to Kilo
Think what a loser I'd be:
I'd walk to assemblies, and think, "Wait, at the very least,
These kids are so much younger than me."

And smarter. And taller. Heh!

Sorry, Avenue Q creative team! I couldn't resist. And I couldn't help but butcher your great work. I'll try to make it better next time.

Signing off,
Weird Alli

P.S. I should mention that I don't *really* wanna go back to Kilo. :) Although I enjoyed revisiting my memories of the awkward, early teenage years. ;) And I have to admit I had to do some digging. Eep, I am getting old.

Dry Spell

Just when I had nothing to say for an entire week, now I can say that McMahon has a deafening fire alarm. Yup, the fire alarm went off while I was typing my last blog entry and watching Avril Lavigne on DVD with my headphones. The sound of the fire alarm pierced my ears. Owwww. I left my room as quickly as I could (well, duh, but still).

It was madness trying to get back upstairs. Apparently there's no access to the outside stairs (the door is locked), so I had to back track, avoid the massive crowd surrounding the elevators, and run up the inside stairs. Yeah, I ran to keep pace with everyone else who was running. Rainy, winded, and fire free.

Go Boston

Honestly, I'm not really interested in major league baseball during the postseason if the Mariners aren't playing. But I just happen to hear about it, and man, people sure loathe the Yankees. Loathe? I'm being nice about it. They *hate* the Yankees. Example one: Jason. Hehehe. Well, there was nothing good to eat at McMahon 8 this evening so I walked to the HUB and grabbed a sandwich at Subway. Ha! Yes, they did raise the prices. Booooo.

Anyway, I noticed a crowd in the TV lounge, and the only TV event that attracted more people was the third presidential debate just last week. A bunch of guys were glued to the TV, and one Red Sox fan -- decked in red clothing and a baseball cap -- kept pacing during the very long extra innings. Many of them looked so serious each time something wrong happened (Johnny Damon's pop up, the called out when that one guy [don't know his name] slid into second, etc.). Meanwhile, I keep thinking Johnny Damon needs a shave and a haircut. Two bits! Well, even though they're not the M's, way to go Boston!

Proof

Watch out, Romeo & Juliet. You just got bumped from the long-standing reign as "last play seen."

I headed to the Bathhouse this beautiful and sunny afternoon for the matinee performance of Proof. It was soothing to see Green Lake and walk the path to the Bathhouse again. A few minutes after I arrived at the theater, Steve (the managing director) and Shana (the artistic/education director and lead in the play) said hello. That was pretty cool. I wasn't expecting to see them, but I did.

Because I'm a subscriber, I got to choose my seat before anybody else. Seriously, I was the only subscriber who arrived early, and a nice usher let me have my pick of the house. It was a little strange, but I had fun taking the second row, center.

The Bathhouse is an intimate theater, mind you, so anywhere you sit, you can see everything, hear everything, and feel part of the action on stage. I reread the play over the summer and enjoyed its humor. But I seemed to have forgotten how serious it can be. How dramatic it really is. Talk about an intense performance. I give it two thumbs up, and maybe I'm biased because I already liked the play, but I enjoyed seeing it again.

Wine Madness

One really cool reason to take music classes is that you get to see live performances from incredible musicians during class. Yesterday, three Chinese musicians demonstrated and played the gu zheng (21-string zither), qin/ch'in (7-string half-tube zither), pipa (a lute), erhu (2-string spike fiddle), and xiao flute. I loved listening to the program music because once you know the title, you can really imagine what the musician is playing. You can mentally picture the story and feel the music viscerally, emotionally. It's... I can't fully explain how awesome that is.

Anyway, our first listening example is called "Wine Madness," and we were treated to a live interpretation of it. The CD example has a four-beat pattern and slower tempo (which evokes a sense of drowsiness) while the video version we watched earlier in the week has a three-beat pattern and faster tempo. Madness. The live interpretation matched closer to the faster version. Why? The performer said he agreed with the video version because the CD version is "is just drunk, not mad." OK, so maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.

If I could learn to play one of the five instruments I heard yesterday, I'd choose to learn the gu zheng.

Mother knows best

After I talked about my charlie horse here on blogger, Mom told me that muscle cramping is due to a lack of potassium. Well, I admit that I doubted her at first...

... and then last night on Saturday Night Live, Debbie Downer (Rachel Dratch's new hit skit from last season) said something like, "Does anyone have a banana? If I don't get enough potassium, I wake up in the middle of the night with crippling leg cramps." LOL!

So, Mom, you were correct. :) Thanks for the bananas.

Timing is everything

*patting self on back* I found out that I get more than half of December OFF. :) I picked three classes such that I only have one final during finals week. The other two exams take place the last day of class. When does my final occur? Monday the 13th. That means I can come home any time after that, and -- lol -- I'm already looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong. I think this is going to be a good quarter. A busy quarter. But still, yay!!!

Where'd the time go?

I can't believe I just started my third year of college. While I was waiting for my first class to start, I wasn't ready for it. I remember during Freshman Convocation, our then-president said that he respected the freshmen for starting the school year with the freshest eyes, the most enthusiasm. No longer am I that fresh-eyed enthusiastic freshman... but I still enjoy going to college and will hold onto my remaining time while it lasts. Best part of all? No homework so far. Phew!

ahhhhHHHHH freak out!

I have spent the past 90 minutes in panic why-must-everything-be-so-upsetting mode. When I first moved in, I had a really tough time opening my dorm room. Yesterday, the key got stuck for five minutes. Today, it got stuck really badly. I had to call the front desk three times. After the second call, two people came up. They were able to get my key out and they left. I thought that was that.

It wasn't. My door knob wouldn't budge. So if I closed the door, I'd be locked in. If I left my room, I'd be locked out. So then I called the front desk again (I never got the same person twice, so they all had various levels of helpfulness), and they told me I had to place a work order myself. The lady who took my order over the phone, thankfully, was really nice about it, and she had the lock shop get in touch with me. The lock shop called me back, and I had to explain my situation again. Finally finally finally somebody from custodial services came to fix the door lock. Apparently it was really "gummed up." Gross. I had Josh Groban playing and my browser at joshgroban.com when he was spraying the lock, and he said that Josh Grow-bon had a really good voice. Ah, now I can open my door w/o playing tug of war, now I can calm down, and now I can listen to a little Grow-bon in peace.

Monday, Monday

I haven't decided if it's so good to me yet. Too early to decide such things.

I moved in yesterday with help from Mom and Dad. The DAWG volunteers weren't around, so we had to haul things up ourselves. In the end, it all worked out because Mom stuck around the front desk to get a cart. I still have some of my stuff in boxes... not quite sure where to put things. Can't find things when I want them. But I plan to keep my space nice and neat. We'll see about that. :)

My roommate is pretty nice. We watched "American Dreams" together as well as the movie, Head of State. Then I turned on MSN Messenger and im'ed with Brittany and Erin. And thennn, a couple of my clustermates came to our room (the door was open) and we discussed the musicals Rent and Chicago and the movies Goonies (yeah, it's The Goonies, but who calls it that?), Harry Potter 3, and Chicago. Fun times.

My bed is okay. It's a little high for me. The mattress makes up for that minor complaint. I had a fairly good night's sleep, except for the fact that I got a charlie horse in my right calf in the middle of the night. That hasn't happened in a long time. Ouch. There's really nothing you can do but wait for the muscle to stop tightening. You try to relax and stretch it, but it doesn't work. Anywho, sorry if this is making people squeamish or whatnot. I have empathy pains when I hear about these things, so I'll stop writing.

Am starting my new work schedule: noon to 4:15 today. Have to go buy my textbooks and a few supplies. There are always things I forget/neglect to take with me when I move. I guess you could call today "Mundane Mundane."

Two-buck Chuck

After work today I decided to spend some of my hard-earned money. ;D

First, I bought Mean Girls widescreen edition on DVD. I haven't opened it up yet, but it comes with a Burn Book. Heh heh. Can't wait to watch the movie again.

Then I stopped by Trader Joe's to fulfill the one thing I said I would definitely do when I turned 21: buy two-buck Chuck. Well, it's $2.99 these days but still! That's so cheap! Hehehe. The cashier carded me and noticed, "Oh, you just turned 21." So I explained to her what I wanted to do, and she was like, "Right on." :) The elderly lady who stood behind me in line had grabbed a bottle without hesitation and asked the cashier, "How much is it and is it any good?" The cashier said, "Oh yes, you'll be back for more."

I'm no wine aficionado. I know that wine tasters swirl, swish, and spit. I wasn't quite sure which one to buy either. Alexa? Suggestions? Let's see, from what I remember they had chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon (pardon moi if I misspell), merlot, shariz, etc. I ended up buying merlot.

A pair of slippers: $1. Touristy New York T-shirts: 6 for $10. Cashmere scarf: $10. Unexpectedly finding Josh's billboard while walking the 7th Ave. Street Fair: priceless. 

There were a lot of cool lookin' apples around the city, similar to the cows a few years ago. Seattle copied NY (I think) and did the pigs a couple years ago, too. This one's too cute. You'll notice that I'm covering up Squidward though. Oh well. :) 

Pier 17 at South Street Seaport.  

The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all

My first time gambling on slot machines was both a failure and a success. :) Mom, Dad, and I went to Muckleshoot Casino last night. We rode the shuttle that gives you $5 for free if you spend $5. Well, I tried the Party Pooper (or whatever it's called) slot machine because Mom and Dad both like it. I watched them both play, and then Mom gave up her machine. Though the actual seat was warm, the machine was co-o-o-old. I lost $10 in a matter of minutes. So I definitely pooped out, but I purchased a $10 ticket and played another slot machine. I have no idea what it was called. I won and lost but earned a whopping three cents. Trust me, I was very happy about it, so I returned to the Party and watched Mom play again. Trying to figure out which machine I should play next, I turned around to scan the other players on other machines when lo and behold, someone was waving. At me.

It was Auntie Crystal! :) So I went over to say hello and told her I'd just turned 21. Hehehe (btw, I was carded at the door and exactly as I thought, the security guy assumed it was fake and asked to see a "hard license"... argh for lame temp licenses! Luckily I had my expired license in my wallet and the security guy happily approved).

The slot machine next to Auntie Crystal was unoccupied. It was called Penny Pigout, and she said it was a really good game. Then, she handed me one of her tickets and let me play; we'd split the winnings. Oh my gosh, the pressure was ON. She told me to shake things up a bit and bet 200 credits or 300 credits. Heh heh. At first, we won. Then while I was still playing Penny Pigout, I saved her chair so she could get more tickets for her game. I was on fire while she was away, more than doubling her money. When she returned, she told me to win big.

Unfortunately, it was a downhill slide from there. And (*blush*) I lost all her money. How embarrassing! I knew I should have stopped, but of course we get to say that in hindsight. The house won. I inserted my $10.03 from earlier and pretty much lost all that too.

Then, Uncle Albert came over to get Auntie Crystal so they could leave. They congratulated me on turning 21 and left. But then they came back to give me more money to play on, which was really nice considering my bad luck! Turns out they rubbed off some good luck! My biggest win was $30, and I walked home with $50.90. I pressed my luck a little bit after the big win, but I told myself I'd stop at $50.

Long story short, I still managed to get $5 for free. :) Thanks to Uncle Albert and Auntie Crystal!

It's true: The house wins, and gambling makes you thirsty. Fun times.

Woohoo!

We're gonna party like it's my birthday... 'cause it is! :) Janice asked me if I felt different, and this morning I answered, "I feel happy." And a few hours later, I still feel happy. Nope, I don't have alcohol in my system just yet. Muahahaha.

Oh! Thanks Jason for reminding me that I can gamble! I TOTALLY forgot about that aspect of turning 21. YAY! Hmmmm... where to gamble...

Right now my driver's license is a boring piece of paper. I renewed it yesterday not knowing that I would only be issued a temp card. Oh well. It still says: Age 21 on 9/16/2004. :))

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and presents!

We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral the day we arrived in New York City. I don't recall ever taking a picture inside, but I could be mistaken. So beautiful. 

Mmmm... there's the cake that Janice baked for me. It was soooo good! Yellow with chocolate frosting. Thanks again, Janice! 

Give my regards to Broadway

I'm home now. Wow, what a vacation. I had an amazing time in New York City. Hmm... that is such an understatement. I can't get enough of Broadway musicals. And that's the truth. Wicked was incredible. I'd see it over and over again. I loved watching Fiddler on the Roof. Mom told me it was the first Broadway musical she ever saw. Avenue Q is freakin' hilarious. I love the show. I had a smile on my face practically the entire time. Or, when appropriate, the music tugged at my heart. Really, whoever said "get people laughing and you can tell them anything" is right on the money. Use puppets and you can get away with so much more. I don't want to give away too much in case you see it, so just go see it! Non-puppet related: Christmas Eve's wedding dress is a riot! :) Oh, and I saw Rent. The energy of the cast was unreal. I got major goosebumps watching the show.

Kristin Chenoweth was spectacular at Carnegie Hall. She is really funny and is such a versatile singer. Gotta love that she did three encores. The first one was popular ("Glitter and Be Gay"), the second was emotional (a song for her dad), and the third was a wind-down, happy ending, hum-on-your-way-home tune ('Till There Was You). Ooh, and Kristin sang "Popular" from Wicked. Rosie O'Donnell was in the audience. Concert highlights: "Bill" from the Jerome Kern medley, "Popular," "Taylor (the latte boy)," polaroid pictures (that's how we knew Rosie was in the audience), getting to sing along for one song, and all the jokes I can't remember.

Got to see Broadway on Broadway, the free concert in Times Square. Wow, that was yesterday. Sixteen musicals performed one song each. NBC recorded it, so Wayne Brady and Avenue Q had to sing their numbers twice due to sound problems. Not that I minded! :) Highlights: Sutton Foster, "What You Own" sung by Jeremy Kushnier and Drew Lachey, "It Sucks to Be Me," Jennifer Laura Thompson & Idina Menzel.... and Eden Espinoza. Everyone watch out for her in Brooklyn. I'd never heard her sing (and that probably goes for the majority of the 50,000 people in Times Square), and she was incredible. I had heard that she brings down the house at Wicked when Idina Menzel doesn't perform as Elphaba. It's cool that she's in a new musical. Loved that the people around me sang along to "What You Own" because then I could too without looking foolish. :) We got showered with confetti during the finale.

Got to meet up with friends and family. Toured Radio City Music Hall and saw Usher and Dave Navarro rehearse from the private viewing booth. Got drenched in Wednesday's downpour on the way to Live With Regis and Kelly. Attended that taping as well as the taping of Tony Danza's new show. Ate at Gray's Papaya. Went to South Street Seaport and Chinatown. Ate soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Visited Ground Zero, saw part of the tribute on TV, saw the tribute in lights in the night sky and cried inexplicable tears...

More stories to be told in the form of select pictures... I need to upload all of them first. Nearly 150 or so.

Greetings from Syracuse!

Okay, so I said, "Would you like to hold?" but this isn't a telephone conversation. :) Plus, Janice has a cool computer where I can go online and watch TV at the same time. :) Yes, that's right, I have the TV in the top right corner as I type my entry.

Janice called me "hom bow girl" as we hugged hello. I was eating one in the car when we arrived at her apartment complex. The hom bow was kinda gross, so I'll stick to hom bow from Mon Hei Bakery in Seattle's Chinatown.

Anyway, Janice's apartment is spacious! I like it. Syracuse felt hot and muggy today. We went grocery shopping at Price Chopper. I took a picture. Hehehe.

We also went to the New York State Fair. What makes it better than the Puyallup? Free french fries, free Spam sandwiches and an excellent parking system. What makes the Puyallup Fair better than the NYSF? Free milk, availability of scones, availability of Cow Chips and the room to walk around freely (there were a LOT of people at the NYSF).

The red-eye flight has worn me out. I kept taking naps in the car, and I fell asleep on the floor in the living room. Heh heh. Sleepiness aside, it's been a fun day.

OOH, Janice celebrated my birthday! Yay! She baked me a delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Mmmmm. She sang "Happy Birthday" to me, too. Thanks, Jan!!

Would you like to hold?

Well, I've done it. I spruced up my phone etiquette at work today. :) Mom and I had this conversation about answering phones at work. St. Francis showed employees a video, which instructed them to identify themselves (I say the caller should do that first, after all, they called!) as well as told them to ask the caller if they'd like to be placed on hold. Bunch o' weirdness, if you ask me. So because I don't agree (or maybe it's not so much disagreeing but thinking it's a little over the top where I happen to work), I still refuse to say "Atmospheric Sciences, this is Allison." Just can't do it. BUT, I asked a professor from the U. of Michigan, "Could you please hold?" and he happily replied, "Sure, take as long as you need to." I needed to look up a phone number.

All that just to segue into this: Would you like to hold? I'm going on vacation, so no new blog entries 'til I get back. Until then, enjoy your Cinnabons, enjoy your dreams about Cinnabons, and enjoy the places where you buy Cinnabons while they still remain open for business.

Buh-bye!

Carded and Discarded

Wow, I had to sit here for five minutes to think of something to write. September has been pretty uneventful, so let's turn back to August for my story about (almost) getting carded... yes, carded for ginger ale.

I've been craving Canada Dry ginger ale for a while now, but I was too impatient to wait for Saturday night's flight. Whoever said it (on a message board) was right, why must we wait until an airplane flight before enjoying ginger ale? So Mom dropped me off outside a grocery (which I will not disclose but perhaps you can guess which one). I picked up a box of 12 cans and went to the express checkout. When the cashier scanned the box, she asked for my ID. Without thinking too much of it, I said, "Sure!" Then I thought, "Wait, the ID doesn't matter because I'm buying GINGER ALE." So then I said aloud, "Sure, you can see my ID, but it's non-alcoholic." I never got around to whipping out my driver's license, which clearly expresses that I'm not 21, although really, I would have gladly shown it. Don't ask me why! :)

The cashier kind of apologized, but I was amused that we both were caught off guard for a few seconds. The guy behind me overheard our conversation. He joked, "The box *does* say ale." Even I'll admit that Canada Dry's box looks like it could contain alcohol.

Well, the ID thing won't be a problem in a couple weeks. Heh! Argh, that reminds me that I still have to go renew my license.

Hmm... this all reminds me of one of my classes. Yikes, I can't remember which one, but somebody was drinking an energy drink in a really tall can, and the instructor asked if the student was drinking beer. LOL! At 9:30 in the morning in a classroom?

In case you were wondering, "Carded and Discarded" is one of my favorite Freaks & Geeks episodes.

Cinnabon? Cinnagone.

Mom and I were at Sea Tac Mall yesterday -- excuse me. The Commons. She pointed out that Cinnabon had closed. *gasp* It's so sad. I have memories of being a little kid, standing on the ramp ('cause I was too short, of course) and watching the people behind the counter make those delicious Cinnabons. Mmmmm. Roll the dough, spread the butter, sprinkle the cinnamon, roll, measure, discard the ends, slice, stick 'em in the pans, bake. :) Add frosting.

We walked by the closed stand, and I noticed a plaque. I never knew it was the first Cinnabon stand ever. Wow, Federal Way is famous for something, yet the place is closed! Well, I guess FW isn't famous because Cinnabon opened four years before FW became a city. Anyway, it's true. That Cinnabon stand at the mall that was formerly known as Sea Tac was the first ever.

Man, now I really just want a Cinnabon. :) The center is the best part. Hehehe.

Couldn't be happier

Wow, less than 24 hours ago I was sitting 12 rows away from the stage at Josh Groban's concert. Got to reunite with many great Grobies, including Megan, the Erins, Kathi, Trish, Kelly, Carol, Nancy, Nancy (yes, two different Nancys), Janeen, and others.

It was an amazing, amazing concert, I can't even fully describe how ecstatic I was to see him perform live again. Highlights? So many. I spent maybe a good 20 to 30 minutes typing out the details since they are still fresh in my mind. But surely you don't want to read four pages worth of notes. :)

Here's the set list plus condensed highlights (or at least an attempt at condensed highlights):
Oceano: incredible beginning, brought back memories of Seattle and Portland
Per Te: signaled a new set list, love this song
To Where You Are: Josh nailed it
Mi Mancherai: Lucia's performance was awesome, loved how Josh sang the word "mancherai" *swoon*
Mi Morena: still *swooning*, brought back memories of Portland, Josh was really into this song
Alejate: caliente
Canto Alla Vita: Loved everything about this song, including Josh playing the DRUMS!
[Lucia's solo] Nocturne/Bohemian Rhapsody: She and the band (so it's not really a solo solo) played a version similar to the one on her CD. Lucia poured so much emotion into her playing, and she completely deserved the standing ovation that we gave her. :)
Alla Luce Del Sole: The band was rockin' on this song
My December: Awesome, awesome, awesome
Caruso: Again, brought back memories of Seattle and Portland. I'm glad Josh felt the need to record this song to "get it out of his system." It's a beautiful song.
Remember When It Rained: Josh and the piano -- no better combination than that
Vincent: I sighed when he said that he used to listen to this song when he was younger and didn't understand what it meant but he does now. *sigh* See?
Remember: Surprise of the night. He sang Remember from Troy! :)
You Raise Me Up: Great way to "end" the concert, lucky choir members were from Chief Sealth High School, we waved our pen lights
[Encore 1] America: I had been waiting for this song for months now. Wow. It was just Josh and the piano. No band. No orchestra. No flashy lights. No screen images. Just Josh and the piano. Again, there's no better combination than that. Wow, it was such a beautiful, emotional cover of Simon & Garfunkel's song.
[Encore 2] Never Let Go: My favorite line from the song is "hold onto what brought you here." Believe me, I will.

Thanks Josh and Co. for another incredible concert. :) Not just the music but also the laughs. For example, Josh said, "There' s nothing going on in the tour bus. We can stay here all night!" And when we cheered like crazy, Josh had to take back his words, softly speaking into the microphone, "I lied." LOL!

Closer

The Josh concert is TOMORROW! Ahhhhh! Finally! :) Yes, I wore my Closer t-shirt today, and it's friggin' huge. If we were living in the early '90s again, it'd be a great t-shirt. Heh!

I've been compiling a list of where many of the oldies-but-goodies PNW Grobanites are sitting at White River Amph. Hopefully we can say hi to each other since most of us are in the first five sections (gotta love the FoJG presale).

My movie-watching streak continues. Today I watched The Prince & Me. The prince was cute at times. The accent helped, even though he had a British accent (he was the prince of Denmark). Yup, the accents could have used some work... as in, uniformity. I think the actress playing the queen did the best job, but then she stood out for not speaking in a British accent. I give it 3 stars out of 4. And while I liked that the prince quoted Shakespeare, did he have to quote Juliet? Of all the quotes, he picked Juliet. Didn't seem like a very good way of apologizing, but whatever. 'Cause see, if Julia Stiles' character knew... what'shername... oh yeah, Paige. If Paige knew Shakespeare, she would have known that was Juliet talking to her father, only *pretending* to mean what she said. Not the same thing as apologizing for being a pig. A drunken pig. Turns out Paige didn't know squat about R&J, so the apology meant nothing. Either way, it would have backfired. Worked out for the plot, I guess. Oh, and the Othello analysis leading into self-reflection was very cheesy. Can't imagine my sophomore English teacher letting us get away with that. Heh! Nitpicks aside, I liked it well enough even when it got sappy (in some parts) and predictable.

Hmmm... I can't seem to find my RENT songbook anywhere. Where is it??? I've been attached to my guitar all week despite the fact that I can't really sing due to my throat irritation. I want to memorize "One Song Glory." Had a nice musical session on the piano. Since I couldn't find RENT, I went through several of my musical piano books and started playing some of my favorite songs. Then I realized, "Hey, I can play that on the guitar!" Well, I'm working on it. It's really a relief to know that G, C, A, D, E, D/F# and some of those minor chords are frequently used. It's just a matter of coming up with fresh melodies if I ever get around to writing new material.

Did I ever mention that my tape deck is awesome? It's a gigantic box, but it dubs pretty quickly. Am pleased. Alexa, you were right. :)

If I just breathe

I am stuffed up. This is really annoying! I don't know what's and/or who's to blame. The weather? The air quality? Polluters? Smokers? Mold? Mildew? Trees? As far as I know, I'm not allergic to trees. Nice trees. But jeez, this is really irritating. Literally, irritating.

I watched Mystic River today. I finally know what Dad was talking about with his play on the title. I didn't exactly like how it ended, but it was still a very good movie. Two thumbs up for the performances by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Marcia Gay Harden. And I'm impressed that Mr. Eastwood had a music credit. I kept thinking that the music was very haunting and appropriately thematic.

TWO DAYS, baby, YEAH! :) Simply cannot wait for the concert. I have no idea what I'm going to wear, but I know it'll be casual and comfortable. And I'll bring along a jacket or sweatshirt, since the concert starts at 8 p.m. *staring at closet* Maybe I'll wear my Josh t-shirt tomorrow at work. Er, that is, one of my Josh t-shirts. :D

The best of both worlds

Woohoo! I crossed my fingers, and everything turned out just fine. If you popped in yesterday or earlier today, then you noticed I was having a debate on whether to use Blogger comments or Haloscan comments. I weighed the pros and cons of each system, but now it looks like the pros of both are working together: 1) comment link lines up with my name and posting time, 2) all readers are welcome to post without membership/anonymity issues and 3) all previous comments have been restored. Phew! Thanks Haloscan! Thanks Blogger! :)

Just one o' dem days

"that a girl goes through, when I'm angry inside..." LOL! I just wanted to use the first line, but I could help continuing. I was never really into that song (don't take it personal, Monica!), but I have to admit: it's pretty catchy. ;)

Three days 'til the Josh Concert. THREE. Wow. My big Josh poster from Barnes & Noble currently is in the living room while I do some irregularly scheduled room maintenance. I just have no idea where to put everything, so all my stuff (hey, not all of it is junk!) is receiving the Allison shuffle. From the floor to the desk. From the desk to the floor. From the floor to the bed. From the desk to the bed. The permutations go to infinity. Sorry to offend any mathematicians out there reading this. :) I may have taken calculus and I may have studied -- oops, what's that topic called now? -- number theory! But I just liked the words and not necessarily the correct usage of them in pure mathematical sense. :)

Where was I? Oh yeah, it's just one of those days... went to the dentist, went to the library, checked out Public Relations Writing (yeah, NOW it comes in after my class is over) and A People's History of the United States (one time I tried having a meaningful conversation [um, OK flirtatious conversation {LOL, I can't believe I'm divulging this for all to see}]) about this book without having read the entire thing so here's my chance to read it), found no good DVDs to borrow (yeah, I *almost* borrowed Seven Brides for Seven Brothers but just couldn't do it [ugh, I think that's a worse admission than above! yes I considered borrowing that movie]) , came home, and watched Memento (whoa there) and Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights (what a combo, huh?). Did you all follow that? I wasn't trying to pull a Marcel Proust. I didn't even come close, but I realize the list of a sentence -- or sentence of a list? -- became rather long (due to my parenthetical tangents, which I'm fond of at the moment [replacing my fondness for ellipses]).

Seasons change, feelings change

Every so often, I like to do a tribute to the music of the '80s. Just kidding! As some of you already know, though I was born in the '80s, I'm certainly not a child of the '80s. I'm a child of the late '90s. This has nothing to do with VH1's I Love the '80s and I Love the '90s (although I did see episodes from the latter series recently... very funny).

ANYway, what I'm really getting at is change. Thanks to Jason, I found out that Blogger now supports its own comments. This was not the case when I joined just months ago. So I think I'm going to phase out the old comments. I'm kind of sad about it, but it's going to look dorky to have two places to comment. Not only dorky but confusing.

In other news, I am sick and I don't really know why. I'd prefer to deny it, but I feel rather crappy at the moment. Had a runny nose yesterday, sore throat this morning, and now a headache (probably 'cause of the sinus pressure or whatnot). The weird thing is that one of my supervisors asked me yesterday if my allergies had been acting up lately. I happily told her no and that I hadn't taken Claritin for a couple months now. I don't know what's going on. Maybe I was so busy this summer that my body wouldn't allow me to be sick, but now that I can ease up a little, I'm sick. That makes no sense and perfect sense at the same time. Bleh.

Mmmm... mango peach milkshakes from Yunnie's are very good. :) I had one yesterday, and it was my freebie. Buy 9, get the 10th drink free. :)

Last but not least, this week's blog entries are not complete without a Josh countdown. *drum roll please* (hehehe) FOUR DAYS! OMJ. Wow. I saw a commercial for his concert while watching I Love the '90s, and today "Evening Magazine" gave away free tickets. You had to answer the question -- but I object to its vagueness -- "Name the show where Josh made his big break." Um, duh, Ally McBeal, but trust me: to a Grobanite, that question is vague!!! I was wondering if they really wanted something more specific like 20/20 (huge impact in CD sales) or Oprah (again, huge impact) or The Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics (huge exposure... can we say billions worldwide?). Anyway, I got mad at the busy signal, but I know that I shouldn't worry 'cause we have awesome seats! And even if it rains, we still have awesome, covered seats!

That's it for now... for those of you so inclined, please start commenting by clicking on the line next to my name. :)

If I were a rich woman...

yeh duh yeh duh yeh duh yeh duh yeh duh yeh duh dum. :)

If only the Hollywood Stock Exchange were real... Did you guys ever join this starting around, oh, four to five years ago? I remember Rosie O'Donnell promoted the Hollywood Stock Exchange on her show. http://www.hsx.com. Anyway, it's like owning a piece of the celebrities and movies. You can buy starbonds and movie stocks plus you can purchase movie options for movie openings as well as blockbuster warrants (although I think these are a bust). This is the extent of my knowledge about stock markets. :)

Well, you start off with $2 million. Wish that were so in real life. I stopped "playing" for a few years, but my account has been active all this time. A few months ago, I picked up where I left off. Now I have $3.6 million!!! Thanks so much to the following actor and actresses over the years (I don't own the same stocks any more, but still: need to give credit where credit is due): Robbie Coltrane, Leelee Sobieski, Jennifer Garner, Renee Zellweger, Natalie Portman and Julia Stiles. RC and JG are still the big moneymakers for me. Ever since the Harry Potter franchise began, I've been rolling in the dough thanks to Mr. Coltrane. My starbonds for JG increased in value after Daredevil, and it helped to buy a lot while the price was relatively low. It hasn't plummeted at all yet. I *have* invested in some busts over the years. Oh well. Can't believe I've made $1.6 million. If only Hollywood $$$ were real... :)

"No, you're not hardcore...

...unless you live hardcore. And the legend of the rent was so hardcore!"

LOL! Now I feel like watching School of Rock. Anyway, I finished my scrapbook! I can't believe it. Took me half a year (including the time I couldn't work on it all during spring quarter), but I did it. :) Now y'all are free to take a look. Big thanks to Josh & Co. once again for *everything*. Those were amazing concerts in January, and I won't forget them. Ever.

Finished editing the projects for SPT. When I did that, I didn't look at my professor's notes in my portfolio, but I'm pretty sure I covered everything she suggested. Will look it over later, but I can relax now.

Oh wait. My room's still a ruddy mess. (*grin* Yes, I've been reading Harry Potter again.)

Allison's tip o' the day: Do not leave your green-tea bag in your mug long after the tea has steeped. Bitterness galore. :[ LOL! I meant to type :p, but :[ will do!

Allison's plug o' the day: Reading my favorite quotes is a good way to feel better when things aren't going smoothly. http://www.geocities.com/hullo_kitten/quotes.html

Allison's excitement o' the hour: JOSH in ONE WEEK! OMJ! YAY! :D

Allison's music o' the moment: "Tuesday Morning" by Michelle Branch

Allison's descriptions o' her room at the moment: disaster, dirty, dreadful

I'm going to Disneyland!

No, not really, but I already used up Genie's "I'm free" line when spring quarter ended. WOW, that quarter seems like ages ago. Summer school is o-vah! YAY! I already received my writing portfolio back, too! Let's just say, forget about the grade (although, *grin*)... I'm just in a state of blah right now. Good blah. My professor... she... should I say it? I don't want to jinx it, but it's there in writing on a post-it. OK. If you want to know, you're going to have to ask me in person! Ha! Or e-mail. Or phone. That's "in person" enough. :)

Now I need to give my projects to SPT, but before I do, I want to make some changes. I received some good suggestions on how to improve the little things. :)

My presentation for PR and Society was good. I stumbled over a few words (typical Allison for ya), but I said everything I wanted to say, and I also got to play a clip from Avenue Q that the class seemed to enjoy. :)

Doo da doo, what else... does anybody know how to use Adobe GoLive CS? Teach me! Please? :) I installed it on my PC at work so I can help update our department web site. It seems really confusing. I guess UW has a really good deal with Adobe, so we didn't get Dreamweaver.

Can't wait to go home and just... relax. I'm a fan of ellipses today... if you couldn't tell. ;)

Home stretch

One more day of school, and then it's summer vacation time, baby! Okay, summer break II. But summer break I was not long enough even though I had a blast in California.

We presented our portfolios today. I went last. Last but not least. And in the process, I was able to explain to everyone how Cabellon is pronounced. Nope, I didn't use the AP format. I said, "If you need to remember how to say my name... (pregnant pause) rebellion." And then I heard, "ohhs." So it worked! :) Well, let's hope it works. :)

Due to my work for Seattle Public and my paper on theater PR, my professor now knows just how much I love theater. :) She used me as an example for doing what you love to do in your job; otherwise you won't enjoy working. I find that comforting and inspiring. It also makes me think that I should really consider going to the PRSSA conference in NYC this October. Yes, I'd miss a few days of school, but maybe a visit to the NY agencies will really help me get my foot in the door. At least a big toe? Preferably the entire foot. You know what I mean. :) (Here I go with my wordiness again. It's something I need to work on for my PR pieces, especially the news release. I guess I just love to ramble.) Anyway, I should look into the agencies that we're allowed to visit. I found some good ones during my research on Broadway and PR.

Am really excited about New York in September. Vacation! Seeing Janice! Seeing Broadway shows! Seeing Regis and Kelly. Yup, our letter of admittance arrived in the mail today. Hehehe. I guess the people who process the postcards really do read what you write because I asked them to send us tickets ASAP. Last year, we received the letter, but it arrived AFTER Mom and I left for the Big Apple.

Josh at White River in TEN DAYS!

Ooh, I felt musically inspired last night. I didn't write any new material, but I re-recorded my song, "More to Me." My window was open when I recorded the song, and a car alarm went off! Argh! But I didn't stop. Luckily, my tape recorder didn't pick up the car alarm, and I'm very happy with how the new version turned out. That's really saying something considering how many times I've *tried* recording the song -- only to stop in frustration. That's one thing about not having a recording studio. Heh! It's fun to play a song live, but when you're recording for posterity and whatnot, live recordings can be a pain. For this new version, I improved my guitar playing, that's for sure. However, if I could do it again, there'd be two spots on guitar that I would fix, but that's not bad at all! I love how the chorus the second time around turned out as well as how the bridge came across. I have to dig down emotionally to sing the bridge with meaning, and honestly I don't always do that. I don't know if I could just 'cause it's pretty powerful. I hope I can tap into that musical inspiration again in the coming days. My mind has been wrapped around other things, of course, but I'm hoping to come up with new stuff soon.

Oh yeah, since nobody I know has cassette-dubbing equipment, I went ahead and ordered a dual cassette deck from bestbuy.com. It should arrive in a few days. Took a chunk out of my paycheck, but it'll be worth it. I still owe my English instructor a copy of my song, and it'll come in handy for when I'm ready to share my music with the world (read: family and friends). :) Maybe, ONE day the world...

OK! I need to work on my theater presentation.

As much as I love Josh...

... I think I'll pass. (Thank gawd for amazing Grobanites who share links for our viewing pleasure. :) )

"JOSH GROBAN's BROADBAND ROCKS CONCERT Josh Groban’s Broadband Rocks™ concert was recently broadcast live from Los Angeles for AOL® for Broadband members. On August 27th, participating Wal-Mart stores will air this concert for shoppers. AOL® for Broadband and Wal-Mart invite you and your family to see this event at a participating Wal-Mart location near you." -latest news at joshgroban.com

The wrath of Alli

That's it. I wrote a letter to customer service. I was extremely frustrated by my experience printing today. On the one hand, the printed color copies look terrific, but it was not worth my wasted time and money. ARRRRRGH! I need to do a primal scream or something.

I need a color printer

Wow, it's way too expensive to print color copies at Kinko's! The stupid color printer in the computer lab section wouldn't work, so the guy told me to send my print jobs to a different printer. Now I have to wait for them, and I'm wasting time (getting charged) here at a computer until I know I get all my printed copies!

Argh. It's enough to make me want to write to customer service. I just might.

Otherwise, we desperately need a color printer at home (and for school).

need... more... sleep...

*yawn* Well, I'm operating on less than four hours of sleep. Good morning, world. Rise 'n' shine. Yeah, as you know, I went to Brittany's house, and we scrapbooked for a couple hours. Then we both had enough (although we both made good progress, I'd say). We ended up talking, and then I think it was after midnight when we tried writing a song. :) Still workin' on it. I'm pretty sure I'm not jinxing it by mentioning it in its early stages.

Gotta go to work!

Sweet deal

We had two class presentations today, and then my professor let us out an hour early. Yay! Time to relax for a little bit. Today is going smoothly. I don't have to prepare my Power Point slides today as I originally thought. Now I get more time to think of how to be creative. I wonder if I should play any music or show part of the Tony Awards? Hehehe.

Anyway, I have plans with Brittany tonight. We're scrapbooking. LOL! It sounds cheesy, but I'm looking forward to it. Her mom has a lot of supplies that Janice and I don't have. Now I get to make oval picutres without any fuss. LOL! It really does sound cheesy, huh? But whatever.

My supervisor mentioned that I only had a week of school left, and I said, "I know! It's crazy!" I know *I* mentioned that in my last entry, but I can't get over the fact that school's winding up. It really didn't feel like "regular" school. I liked the relaxed atmospheres of both classes, even when I did worry at times. :) It's all good.

Ahhhh, I feel the weekend upon me. Yay! Well, I do have to do another car wash, but now I know: bigger hat (if I can find one that's not dorky), more sunscreen applications, more water inside a cooler and not the hot car), and maybe a run inside the grocery for ice cream afterward. :) Sounds like a plan.

I have a lot on my mind at the moment, so I'm just going to ramble:

Finally looked up the song "Accidentally in Love." I have heard it on an independent radio station on occasion. It's probably my "new" favorite song, even though it's been out for a while now. It's catchy, and whenever I find it on the radio, I *always* listen to it (another song I do that for even though it's overplayed: "The Reason" by Hoobastank. Love saying that. Hoobastank!) . Anyway, I didn't realize "Accidentally in Love" was played in Shrek 2! I might have to get the Shrek 2 soundtrack or something. In my online research, I came across a message-board post that had the guitar chords. Apparently it's pretty easy to play. Gs and Cs and Ds. I think I saw As and Ems. Cool!

I'm still sad that Janice moved away. Hi, Janice!!! :) Thanks for the e-mails!

Had a good day in class. In the first part of the class, we rewrote our mock news release, and my professor came around to see the revised releases. When she read mine, she didn't find anything wrong with it! I'm pleased. :) She really wants us to be good writers and always finds something to improve. Instead she suggested that I could put it in my portfolio. Well, yay! I'm getting the hang of it! Am happy about that in case you couldn't tell. ;) Am not so happy that I forgot my extra project at home and had to reprint it again but what can you do? Can't believe that this quarter is almost over. I learned a LOT in just 8 weeks.

Now have to think about my other class, PR and Society. Hmmmm... what should I present? I don't really want to think about it now, but I guess my group's going to create a Power Point presentation tomorrow. (Told ya I'm rambling.)

I like attending UW in the summer. There are a lot less people, so I always have access to a computer. That's definitely not the case during the school year. It also helps that we didn't have any midterms and have NO finals!!! Down side(s)? Lack of variety/places to eat on campus. Lots of places are closed and those that are open aren't very appealing after you've had them week in and week out (that is, for the past year). The heat. Ah, yes, the heat. Yuck. Oh yes, this has been my busiest summer... ever. Of course, I'd've loved extra time to rest, compose music and work on my scrapbook, but I'll have more time on my hands in less than two weeks.

Ticketmaster sent me an e-mail saying that the Wicked tickets have been printed. Woohoo! Now I'll be on the lookout for a white, unmarked envelope. Then again, I don't get the mail, so Dad, I'll leave that for you. It'll have your name on it anyway. Hehehe! Thanks again!!!

The bus was late this evening, but surprisingly we still arrived in FW in less than an hour. Woohoo! On I-5, I think a car cut off our bus, so our driver had to hit the brakes really quickly. I flew forward and out of my seat and my knee hit the seat in front of me. My backpack moved all the way to the seat in front of me. It would've gone farther had there not been a pole-type-thingie to block it. At least we're OK.

Had a dream that I could play the violin the very first time I picked it up. Heh! In your dreams. Exactly!

"Why you want to leave me?"

And that's my My Big Fat Greek Wedding tribute to Janice. Good luck, Jan! Have fun in New York. I'm jealous, but jealous in a good way. :)

Good grief, I need to write a two-page paper, but there's no way I can narrow down my topic: theater public relations. Then it's like, what to write about? I keep finding interesting things that don't flow together.

Had a weird day at work. Let's just say I'm not fond of answering phones. I mean, I never have been, but yeah, today is one good example of why I don't like to do it when I don't know who's calling. Hmmm... other than that, work was pretty good. Pay day tomorrow! Woohoo!

Oh right. I better get back to the paper I already detest. Sigh.

T-minus 3 weeks

'til Josh sings at White River Amphitheater in Auburn! Woohoo! :) I'm so excited, can'tcha tell?!?

Whoa, I just got carried away with my amazon.com wish list. :) I admit, it was pretty fun updating it. *hint hint* *wink wink* ;) What I'd *really* like is a new guitar. And a violin. :) Can't really put those on amazon.com, huh?

Was listening to Lucia Micarelli earlier. Now am listening to Avenue Q. Hehehe.

Oh yeah! Have I talked about Kurt Elling's Man in the Air? Am too lazy to open up a new browser and check my past few entries. Anyway, it's a really great album. Kurt Elling has an amazing jazz voice -- just an awesome voice in general. I love "Never My Love" and "Higher Vibe."

Brittany and I went to the Seattle Art Museum yesterday. We saw the special exhibit "From van Gogh to Mondrian" on loan from a museum in the Netherlands. We must've looked at Cafe Terrace at Night for at least 10 minutes (in two sessions). You definitely can't beat seeing a painting in person. Reproductions can't capture the texture and bright glow of van Gogh's masterpiece. Brittany and I both had a laughing fit in the museum. I laughed because a man had absolutely no museum etiquette, and Brittany laughed when I imitated her little cousin: "Sor-ry!" LOL! Like I said yesterday, "Who says you can't have fun in a museum?" :)

Ten bucks is ten bucks is ten bucks!

Woohoo! Score one for participating in an educational study. I totally forgot that I'd be receiving a $10 gift certificate to University Bookstore. Yay! Hmm... when to spend it and what to spend it on... maybe a map of Seattle. I don't own one, and I think it'd be helpful. Then maybe a magazine. And there's the $10 for ya. :)

Ohhh, the burning continues. Remind me to never feel this way again. Owwwwww.

My tickets to Kristin Chenoweth's concert arrived in the mail today! I love mail. :)

Ooh, and I also received a driver license renewal notice. Cool. Hopefully they'll take a new picture of me.

ch

Yes, that's an extension from yesterday. Owwwwch. Ouch. My back muscles are recovering quite nicely, thank you very much, but my face feels like it's still burning. Don't get me wrong. I felt just fine on Sunday and even yesterday, too. But today, my upper left cheek and the area to the right of my nose got super red, itchy, and taut. The skin sensation is icky. Argh, and I wore a hat (guess I should be glad my forehead isn't suffering), but my cheeks are feeling the burn. A rant for too much sun exposure.

Today at work, I was the only person manning the office for about an hour and a half. It was a little strange and way too quiet.

Hey, Jason's home! He told a funny story, but what made it funny was that mom could not stop laughing. My stomach and throat ended up hurting from laughing too hard.

Luckily I worked on my portfolio yesterday. Now I've got to finish up one more project and call it a day. Yes, yes, in the back of my mind I know I need to work on my 444 paper, but I can't help it. There's always the weekend.

Owwww

Pain, horrible horrible back pain. Ah, to not have to walk around would be nice. To not have to bend down and pick things up would be nice. To not have to move until my back feels better would be nice. Kinda makes you think twice about doing a car wash for five hours.

Well, I had a great two-hour nap. Started out reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in paperback. Then I set my alarm for forty-five minutes later. Then an hour more. So now I feel well-rested. And reading HP always puts me in the mood to drink tea. I am probably doing it all wrong. I added sugar (fine) and milk (that is, our nonfat milk that is far from condensed as you can possibly get). We didn't have any cream. But mmm.... tea. :) Jolly good.

I'm working on my portfolio now. I need to get it done before Wednesday's in-class critiques. In other writing news, the article turned out really well. I'm pleased, and the staff of SPT seemed to like it, too. I'm glad! They're really awesome people to work with.

Long Day

It's August 1st. Can you believe it? Sunday the first. I just flipped my calendar to the brand new month. Ron has a really funny face in Prof. Flitwick's class. Yes, I have a mini-Harry Potter wall calendar posted on my bulletin board. :)

I woke up early this morning -- well, early for a Sunday morning. 7:45 a.m. or thereabouts. Had to get ready for the car wash at Burgermaster. Man oh man, we raised a lot of money for PRSSA! Well, it's to send people to the national conference in New York. I don't know that I'm going, but it does sound great. One of the speakers will be Donald Trump. Anyway, we made a lot of money, and by we, I mean, four of our officers. We could have used more help because the cars just kept coming! My back is probably going to be sore tomorrow, but I got a nice workout lifting the buckets to and fro. Annnnnd, my car looks really nice now! :)

I'm trying to relax and unwind. I sat outside for a while, reading The Seattle Times. It was nice, but then a pair of bees came to taunt me. They flew dangerously close to my legs but didn't sting me. My heart was pounding as they wouldn't go away. I drew in my knees and kept moving but was cornered pretty much -- if not doomed especially if I made the wrong move. They kept hovering, so then I made a run for the door. Leave the papers behind! Leave the papers behind! I've never been stung by a bee. I wish to continue life that way. :) Well if it happens, it happens, but I just hope somebody's around to take me to the hospital in the event that I'm allergic to bee stings. Let's hope not! Hmmm...

Anyway, I saved the papers 10 minutes later.

Relax and unwind, eh? I guess Mom had cut up some watermelon before she, Dad and Janice left for Seattle. Mmmmm. Good stuff. So were the nachos. Hehehehe.

I *finally* watched Big Fish in its entirety. In San Diego, I saw most of it, but I fell asleep before the ending. A few days ago, I started it again, but I was too tired to watch. So today, I finally got to see the ending. Good movie. Maybe a little confusing at times, but I liked the stories, especially the romantic one involving Edward's wooing of Sandra. Oh yeah, that movie made me really thirsty, so I'm going to get some water...

Good mouse

Wow, J.K. Rowling's best time at the expert level of Minesweeper is 101 seconds. That is impressive. Jeez, my best time now pales in comparison: 140. Although, I might have an even better time (but not 101!) on Dad's old computer. Guess I won't know any more.

Anyway, I'm having fun clicking around and reading Ms. Rowling's official Web site: jkrowling.com. :)

LOL! Hermione's original surname cracks me up! And now I have the urge to visit a cafe and write.

There's stuff about HP6 (that is, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) if ya know where to look!

Two more words

Customer service.

Warner Bros. Records is making up for the manufacturing goof.  Yay!  I'm going to request my replacement CD tomorrow.  That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.   :) 

Oh my JOSH.  I just heard the entire clip of Josh singing "Maria."  WOW.  Tony, Tony.  *swoon*  All those Grobies named Maria should consider themselves extremely lucky.  When are you ever going to hear a Broadway showtune named "Allison"?  Or, a non-depressing song named "Allison"?  Elvis Costello's song, frankly, is a bit depressing.  Catchy, but gloomy.

Gotta write an article.  The pressure of working under a deadline is ON!  "The pressure's on, AlliSON!  And thing's are not going swell!  But still by midnight, the writing goes on -- a burning oil as weh-yeh-yeh-yeh-yell!"  (Wow, I haven't parodied in a long time)  *grin*  Pardon me, Messrs. Boublil and... drawing a blank, Maltby! You rock, Monsieur Schonberg!

Yours truly,
Weird Alli

Fun with the AP Stylebook

Okay, maybe I'm a dork, but I enjoy flipping to random pages in the Associate Press Stylebook. 

New pronunciation guide for my (our, if you're family reading this) last name!
Cabellon (kuh-BEL'-yuhn)

Judy Kuhn apparently doesn't need a pronunciation guide for her last name.  Hehehe.  Now I feel like listening to Les Miz and Chess.

But, I'm listening to Music From a Farther Room.  Wow, on the bus, I have to turn up the volume, and the engine drowns out pretty much all the noise except Lucia's soaring violin.

Gotta go to work!

Two Words:

Quality control.

Lucia Micarelli's debut album, Music from a Farther Room, was released today.  My copy arrived from amazon.com today.  Yay!  Well, mostly yay.  The music is so beautiful.  I've listened to it one and a half times already. 

Unfortunately, quality control was not a high priority.  Track 5 is supposed to be "To Love You More" by David Foster, but instead it's only "Nocturne."  Track 12 *is* the bonus "Nocturne/Bohemian Rhapsody."  Apparently, this error has occurred on all the CDs distributed so far -- well, that we know of, and I *do* know of quite a few since Lucia fans have been posting about it on the message board.  Well, at least I've got a collector's item on my hands.  Heh heh.

Rants... and raves

A rant for people who say they rant and rave about something (that is, one particular thing)when, in reality, they should either be doing one or the other but not both.  Did that make sense?  For example: A rant and rave for the delicious food!  Why would you rant about delicious food?  It should be: A rave for the delicious food!  Anyway, feel free to rant about people or blogs that don't make sense.  Address your concern to Blog c/o musicallispeaking.blogspot.com.

A rant for not being able to find my purple UW folder ANYwhere.  It's not so much the folder I care about -- but the contents inside: my notes from last year's PRSSA meetings, a business card and my certificate of membership.  Seriously, why couldn't somebody return it to me?  I checked with the lost and found at the HUB -- twice, mind you -- as well as two offices in the Communications Building.  Oh, and the undergrad library.  I really hope somebody didn't throw it away, but I also hope somebody didn't take it for his/her own benefit. 

A rave for today's visit with the PR director at Seattle Sonics and Storm.  Wow, they have a nice building to work in, and the director was very informative.

A rave for people who hold doors open for you.

A rave for no sales tax when you buy sheet music online from California -- online, of course!

A rant for being a Washington state resident who loves amazon.com. 

A rave for thinking of sales tax and remembering what it was like to meet Josh Groban because of it. 

:) 

Ukelele Update

My cousin Gigi plays the ukelele, and she taught me how to play a few chords.  Thanks, Gigi!  Apparently, the X-Files Ukelele is pretty much supposed to sound like that.  My dog has fleas.  That's how she knows how to tune it.  I'll study the instrument further when I have more time.  Oh, that'll be after Aug. 18 and before Sept. 29.  :)  Still haven't finished my scrapbook, simply because I haven't had time to work on it.  We're getting closer and CLOSER to Josh's return to the PNW!  Yay!

The X-Files Ukelele

:)  Yup, Blog, that's my title -- don't wear it out.  Mom gave me a ukelele from the Philippines.  I have no idea how to play it, but I took it out of the case today and started strumming... then plucking.  No, The Music Man method didn't work on me, so I couldn't miraculously play songs on the instrument.  Clearly the strings are out of tune, but now I hesitate to tune them correctly because they play the beginning of the theme for The X-Files .  1, 3, 2, 4.  1, 3, 2, 4, 1.  1, 3, 2, 4.  1, 3, 2, 4, 1.  Heh!  Very real dude! (<--only Mr. Johansen's 8th grade class will get that)

I have a lot of writing to do before Wednesday.  It's crazy.  I keep thinking about it, but I don't do it.  Maybe I just need to sit down with a pad of paper and a pen. 

Did you see Jeopardy! last night?  Yup, Blog, I'm going to talk about the quiz show and Ken Jennings.  It helped that I saw Shakespeare in the Park yesterday.  :)  So I got the final Jeopardy Q/A right.   What are Hamlet and Julius Caesar?  Macbeth and Richard III too.  I'm not familiar with R3.  Ken Jennings is unstoppable, man!  He's just that good.  We have to wait 'til September to see just how long he'll remain champion.

 

Just play it cool, boy, reeeeal cool

Yeah, I sang "Cool" in my head this morning, but as much as I tried to stay cool, it's just too friggin' hot here!  Walking across campus was pure torture, not to mention I walked along the Ave. to grab a bite to eat.  Yum... teriyaki.  :)  Anyway, I saw the Bartell's Drug sign... the one with the temperature.  86 degrees.  90 degrees.  93 degrees.  TORTURE for this Washingtonian!

Ooh, I saw Shakespeare in the Park today.  The actors in the week-long youth program class were great!  Funny, dramatic, expressive.  I'm so impressed.  Go Seattle Public Theater!  :)  One of my favorite scenes was the witches' scene from Macbeth.  Instead of a cauldron, they had a Cuisinart mixer thingie.  LOL!  Love the improvisation and their making fun of their high-tech cauldron -- looking for a place in the tree to plug it in.  :D  In go leaves, Cheerios, litter... but what about the pop can?  "It won't fit!"  Hmmm... maybe you had to be there.  :) 

Well, I'll be glad when the weather goes back to the 70s.  And it's not like that's a pic-a-nic for me either.  But 90s?  C'mon marine air!

Btw, we are New York bound in September!

Break

I need a break.  If only for a little while.  That's why I'm not doing any homework.  See, I don't have school tomorrow, so I'm just going to put my writing projects aside. 

So, we are ohsoclose to going to New York in September!  I'm excited.  Jason, you should join us.  Here's your chance to actually go somewhere -- and not have it be for a wedding!  ;)  We haven't booked anything yet, but I really want to soon, so I can buy tickets to Kristin Chenoweth's concert.  Avenue Q, here I come!  *grin*  (I'm listening to "Schadenfreude" right now.  That song makes me always makes me feel better -- and sticks in my head a lot.  So does "For Now."  I think I mentioned that before.)

Ah yes.  My web site!  I've been blogging more than updating An ACab Production.  The main problem was that I didn't have Java around here, but now that my computer's connected to the 'Net, I'm all set to go.  So check out my web site!  Hehehe, I haven't created new pages, but I'm working on the appearance of the pages.  What do y'all think?

I can't believe it's already been five weeks since L.A. and Miss Saigon. Good times. Love that show. 

Political, political!  Let's get political, political!

LOL!  Have you seen jibjab.com like millions of others?  I have!  I saw a little news story about it on TV this morning.  Today in class, my professor asked us if we'd seen it.  She's seen it ten times already.  Wow.  It *is* pretty funny.

"What'd I do?"

Josh sings to life!

Wow, I'm watching the Intimate Concert for the first time right now.  Josh is singing a solo version of "Canto Alla Vita," which means he sings the English part!  Pretty cool.  More violin time for Lucia, too.  Oh my gosh!  Josh on drums!!!  YAY!

What a day

Forget the snazzy title.  I can't think of one.  The bus stalled on the off-ramp of I-5.  No biggie.  It was interesting to hear people react.  Luckily, I was in no hurry.  :) 
 
I spaced out at work.  Spaced out in Atmospheric Sciences you could say.  See, I thought today was Wednesday.  I was working on an Excel database and planned to bring up the mail at noon.  At ten 'til noon, one of my supervisors asked me, "Allison, don't you have class at noon?"  I looked at the clock, and it donned on me that today was not Wednesday.  LOL!  Wow.  So I left immediately and made it to class on time.  Phew!  Thank you, Connie!  Now they're teasing me at work.  Oh well.  :)
 
Yay!  Dad put Ethernet on my computer.  I got mad that my computer was on, blaring The Monkees on Launch Music.  But Dad said that I have Ethernet, so that makes up for it tenfold!  This is great, but it could also be bad.  For instance, I have to write my backgrounder for my class tomorrow.  But I ended up checking my e-mail, and I've been reminded that Lucia Micarelli's CD comes out next Tuesday.  YAY!  I can't decide whether to buy it online (I'm sooo tempted) or buy it in stores.  Will stores have it in stock???  If Josh predicts the way things are distributed from Warner Bros., then  no, it won't.  At least, not on the day of.  But who knows?  I think it'd be more exciting to buy it in a store.  Then if the cashier asks, "Who is this?" I 'll say, "That's Lucia Micarelli, an outstanding violinist whom I met by chance in January."  Well, no, I wouldn't say it like that.  Whom?  C'mon now.  But she IS an outstanding violinist, and I can't rave enough about her talent.   

I'm meltinnnng

It's sooooo hot outside!  I'm now sitting in air-conditioned Allen Library, but just so you know, I'm still burning up.  I walked down to the Starbucks in U-Village.  Fine, but walking down means I also walked back UP to campus.  UW's on a hill, don'tcha know!  Or U-Village is down in the valley.  Whatever you like to call it, I certainly had a workout in the middle of the afternoon.  Not exactly prime time.  Yikes.  I didn't bring a backpack today, but I have this messenger bag type of dealie 'cause I needed to put my binder and a few other things in it for the officer meeting.  Our professional adviser came (yay, she's nice), and so did my professor (our academic adviser).  The former said she couldn't pass up a meeting at a Starbucks.  Heh!
 
Well, we won't be having a car wash fundraiser tomorrow after all.  I hope this BBQ thing works out next Saturday.  Man, I have too many things on my mind on a Friday afternoon.  Class stuff.  Similarly, Seattle Public Theater stuff.  PRSSA stuff.  Family stuff (good stuff though).  Meanwhile, thank gawd for Avenue Q.  That show puts it all in perspective.   
 
I guess I wanted to post this blog just to say that on my way down to U-Village waiting at an intersection, a car was coming into UW, and I heard someone shout my name.  It was Auntie Lidge, plus Uncle Jessie in the Pilot.  Some of our relatives are here visiting.  Talk about coincidence and perfect timing!  I jayran (lol) across and said hello to Uncle Peter and Auntie Auxie (sp.). 
 
Oh yes, holding a meeting at Starbucks allowed me the opportunity to buy the We Are the Future CD and a nice vanilla frappuccino.  Yum...  can't wait to listen to the CD.  I guess I could do it now, but I'll wait 'til I ride the bus home. 
 
If you're reading this, send some relaxation vibes my way.   

Oh. Hi. I haven't been neglecting you, Blog, really, I haven't. The same goes for my site on Geocities. There's no adequate Java in this household! Only my computer has Java that works with Yahoo Pagebuilder. But my poor computer has to go without the Internet until school resumes. So I'm stuck. No updates there. As for this blog (aren't you, the reader, glad I stopped addressing my blog directly?), I usually think of at least one thing to write about each day. I mean, something happens, and I'll think: that would make a great blog entry! But then, I don't get around to it. Sorry. :)

Where does the time go? I return to work on Monday, which means by then that five weeks have passed since I last walked into the ATG building. I look forward to returning because 1) the people in the atmospheric sciences department are awesome and 2) I could really use some $$$. Ink cartridges are expensive. It just seems that all I do is spend money on this and that. Where are the best things in life?

Ah, today, I "rediscovered" how much I love libraries. I spent time in three of them today. LOL! Yup! Odegaard, Suzzallo, and Allen. I researched theater and public relations today for my PR and Society Class, but then I also found a book called "The PR Bible for Community Theatres." :) I'll pick it up tomorrow.

I'm completely smitten by the novelty phase of burning CDs. Yes, yes, I'm behind the times, but we just didn't have one before April, and now that I've time on my hands (well, I *make* time), I've been making mixed CDs. Hmm... that doesn't sound as good as saying "mixed tape."

Classes are going well. It feels good knowing I can help out Seattle Public Theater while I'm learning how to write PR projects. I can sense a change in how I think about writing. I know that how I think about writing doesn't translate into good writing all the time, but it's good to learn, practice, practice, and practice some more.

I haven't written any new songs yet. The goal for the summer is two. If I can do that, I'll be set. Now, I could use some inspiration... To the piano I go.

If at first you don't succeed...

What an afternoon! I'm taking the Writing for Mass Media Class this summer. We must ask a not-for-profit organization if they need a student-in-training (in PR training, not training to become a student!) to create public relations projects for them. Yesterday I did massive research on a local theater group. I was so excited about creating a campaign plan that I became overconfident in gaining their approval. They would say yes, right? RIGHT! Wrong. This morning, I had growing concerns. Well, when I called them, the man on the phone was very nice. However, he said that due to financial crisis, next season was up in the air so he didn't want to say yes and give me false hopes. I'd have to contact him in August. Yikes. My class *ends* in August. I was crushed. He said he would normally have taken me, but he turned me down. Hmmm... sorry I couldn't help him with the financial crisis thing since he said no to the PR projects. What next? I logged onto Janice's computer... searching the 'net once again for local theaters. The big ones (i.e. Paramount, 5th Ave., Seattle Rep) don't NEED my services. They have communication departments and PR professionals already. I searched and searched. I almost called the Bremerton Community Theatre, but they are a little too far away for me. They *are* seeking a promotions/publicity/advertising volunteer, however. Then, I don't know how, but I found the web site of Seattle Public Theater in Greenlake. (Is that one, word, btw? It's right on Green Lake, for sure) I called them up, wanting to speak to the community coordinator who talks to potential volunteers. She wasn't there, so I spoke to the artistic director, and when I told her what I wanted to do, she immediately and enthusiastically said yes. They asked me how much time and energy I could commit to this. I'm not quite sure yet, given the fact that I will start working again on July 12. I wonder how much time students in the past dedicated to their NPOs, so I've asked my professor. Well, it's thrilling to know that I'm wanted. I'm willing to commit to this theater community. They've got a cool youth program going on this summer. I was also informed that a music festival is in the works.

I seriously thought I would have to drop this class if I didn't find an organization. I'm so glad I can work with something I believe in and am interested in. Maybe this'll get my foot in the door, or maybe I'll get to see what I really can do for and in the theater. :) I have a meeting with the artistic director (and possibly other staff members) on Tuesday. Wish me luck everyone!

I'm back! My summer class starts tomorrow, so this is my last day of freedom. Wow! This past weekend in Washington seemed way hotter than California's dry heat. Ah, California! It was great seeing my cousin Jesse graduate from high school. Went to Legoland and took a lot of pictures of the minicities.

Hanging out with Brittany was so much fun. I met her friends/roommates. On Monday, we toured USC's campus and saw Harry Potter 3 at The Bridge. Spent Tuesday at Disney's California Adventure. I finally got to see Aladdin. :) Rode Tower of Terror, too. Let's see... oh yes, on Wednesday, we all went to the Warner Bros. studio and saw a very cool Harry Potter prop exhibit! They had just put up the HP3 stuff the previous Friday. Quidditch costumes. A Knight Bus Bed. Ron's various wands. The candy cart (which will be shipped back to England soon). Neville's grandmother's hideous apparel that the boggart, as Snape, wore. After the stop at the museum, we rode around in a tram and saw the exterior set of Gilmore Girls and ER. We saw where "Friends" was taped. The sets have been torn down, but the "Joey" sets are in place. We went inside the sounstage for "Gilmore Girls." :)

On Thursday, we spent time at Hollywood and Highland. The subway stops right across the street from the Pantages Theater at Hollywood and Vine. Yes, L.A. has a subway system. Who knew? The press could pick up media passes for Miss Saigon, so I wonder if we saw opening night? Perhaps the night before was a preview. Anyway, "opening night" signs hung from the building. Miss Saigon was amazing. Before the show started, an announcer said that Jennifer Paz would play Kim, and many people -- myself included -- cheered. She now ranks among my favorite Kims. :) You know, I don't just have one favorite actor/actress for the principal roles. Jon Jon Briones is a hilarious Engineer. Alan Gillespie has a big, booming voice with a good range too. He can hit the low notes of "Sun and Moon," and I love that probably because I love the song. Jennifer Paz did complete justice to the reprise. I can't wait to see the show again next May. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. As I watched the show, I kept telling myself, "I can't believe I'm actually seeing this LIVE again." So hopefully I can get over that and absorb the show even more. Yes, it's possible to do that. :) I was interested in the different staging and sets and so on and so forth. It was really cool to see a "fresh" interpretation. For instance, during the overture, the spotlight shines on Kim. They toned down the show lyric-wise and expletive-wise, I noticed. Instead of singing, "The girl is smart. She'll understand," they sang "Kim is smart..." Ooh, the "Telephone Song" did not take place on the telephone! Heh. Chris and John stood face to face! "John, listen fast, you never saw me at all." I could go on and on about the show. I'm trying to remember all the details. Jennifer Paz held onto the 317 paper throughout the song and threw it on the ground at the very end. We applauded for the orchestra during the entr'acte. :) I loved being in an appreciative audience. We clapped a lot, even after the Fall of Saigon flashback. I liked that the Wedding Ceremony took place in Dreamland. They decorated the bar area in red. The tiger and dragon fight during "The Morning of the Dragon" is a really good addition to the show. Hope Jennifer Paz will be in the show next May. Her voice is sweet yet powerful.

On Friday, we tried Carls Jr. hamburgers. They're pretty good. That makes three hamburgers in one week. Yikes!

So now I'm home again. Am trying to clean my room but it's just too tempting to go online or watch DVDs.