Picky picky

My jaw is much better now, thank you very much. Tylenol helped last night. I couldn't not sing in church, but I just didn't open my mouth as much. It's weird when you sing that way, but it's better than not singing at all.

I was looking at my nails on my right hand yesterday, and they've been transformed by my musicianship. Well, my left fingers are a given. They have developed calluses. (I always get confused by callous and callus, but I believe I used the correct word.) Anyway, the nails on my right hand have a few faint streaks of white. Where on earth did these come from?, I thought. And then it hit me. I use my thumb and my fingers to strum the guitar because I don't like using picks. Is that pretty rare in the guitar-playing world? I could never get used to them. It's probably because I started on a nylon guitar, and it was just so easy and beautiful-sounding to use my thumbnail. I feel I have better control when I play without a pick. Hmmm.

Well, maybe I'll learn to become comfortable with a pick. (I just tried playing with one though, and it seems so unnatural!) For now, I think I can sacrifice scratches to my nails. I'm not that picky.

Warning: Too much enthusiasm can be hazardous to your health

I can't tell you how many times I've practiced my songs today. I was so excited about them. Well, I still am, but I'm decreasing my fervor for them a bit because I *oversang* today. As in, I moved my mouth so much that my jaw hurts. I kid you not. This is really painful. I have a headache.

Let this be a lesson to all of you with jaws that are capable of popping. Musicians can get injuries. I learned that in my psychology of music class. Now I am living proof.

Owww. I may have to skip all the singing at Mass tomorrow, which will be sad because I love singing at church.

Over the moon

Last night, I had a dream. I found myself in a desert... Oh wait, that's not what I wanted to say. Let me start over. :)

Last night, I finished my second song of the year! It's been brewing inside me for years now, but I finally got my act together and spent the past week really -- and I mean really -- working on it. Everything came together last night. The lyrics lent themselves to the melody. I quickly found the chords on the guitar. It was a pretty sweet process.

I consider myself to be a very slow writer, but this year I've learned that I can be creative any time of the day as long as I believe in myself. I don't know if that sounds like a bunch of baloney to you, but it means a lot to me. First, I didn't think I could ever be creative on a routine basis. Second, I thought I could only be inspired at a certain time of the day. I just dispelled those personal myths. The music will happen as long as I sit down to work on it.

The best part about finishing this song is that I finally feel free about something that's consumed me for so long. I think that's one of the best things about being a songwriter. It's a cathartic outlet. I didn't think I'd be able to finish this song, but -- lo and behold -- I did. *sigh of relief*

Something has changed within me

The job-hunting process got off to a rocky start, I admit, but I've sensed a change in myself over the past few weeks. And now I know what I want. In fact, I want it so badly that all I can see is me going after it until I get it.

I knew the job search wouldn't work until I felt like this, and now I'm just so excited that I can't keep it to myself.

So here's the deal. I'm going to try and make it my favorite city in the world: New York, baby.

I hope you're excited as I am, and I hope you'll all say a little prayer and send some support my way while I reach out to potential employers in the performing arts industry.

I'm going to follow my dreams and my passions. Like I said, Avenue Q is my theme musical now. However, I *don't* want to go back to college. I'm so ready to move forward. As Kate Monster said, "You gotta go after the things you want while you're still in your prime."

I'm going for them. Wish me luck.

And soon, I hope to host this grand good-bye party, so get ready!!!

[March 3 edit: Yes, I changed the title. It's a line that Elphaba sings in Wicked's "Defying Gravity." The title could've been anything, really -- or nothing at all. My other idea was "Start spreading the news." I'll use that one later.]

A TV Watcher's Dilemma

Hello, again, my neglected blog. I would have written more often, but I didn't have all that much to say. I finally have news though: I wrote a song! It took me two and a half weeks to write, but it's finished and I'm so proud of it. :) Oh yes, my diploma arrived in the mail last week.

Today marks the last day of Sweeps. I was VERY happy to see the incredible episodes of "Grey's Anatomy." I enjoyed the Winter Olympics even if that meant not getting to watch "The Office." I've missed "The Amazing Race," "Everwood" and "Alias" though!

But yay! TAR returns tonight for its 9th season. Here's the dilemma:

Gilmore Girls, 8-9 p.m.
American Idol, 8-9:30 p.m.
Scrubs, 9-10 p.m.
The Amazing Race, 9-11 p.m.

I won't have to worry next week because TAR will air from 10 to 11. I said I'd give up "Scrubs," but I can't do it! It's so good this season. I'm going to have to decide what to watch, what to tape and what to sacrifice.

Here's my solution:
Watch: Gilmore Girls, 8-9 p.m.
Tape: American Idol, 8-9:30 p.m.
Tape: Scrubs, 9:30-10 p.m. (will miss the first episode, but I had to give up *something*)
Watch: The Amazing Race, 9-11 p.m.

Phew! Four shows in one night. They need to spread the love. And don't ask me why I still watch "Gilmore Girls." I just do. :)

The Library + The Mall = The Office

Mom and I went shopping at Southcenter yesterday. I stopped by the KCLS branch in the mall. Their movie collection consists of DVDs. It's not huge or anything, but when you consider the fact that DVDs are rarely available at the regular branch (Federal Way Regional), the offering at Southcenter was pretty great.

I borrowed The Office (the original UK version) and Angels in America. Last night I watched all six episodes of the former. Funny, funny show. I'm attached to the U.S. cast and energy of the show, but there's something about the original that's brilliant. Two words: Ricky Gervais. No *wonder* people rave about him. No wonder J.J. Abrams put him on "Alias. "

First, Dwight's bobblehead (or is that bobble head?). Now, Ricky Gervais, five minutes into episode five. You've gotta see it. Especially if you own a certain CD by a certain artist. (It was one of the first CDs I ever owned apart from Disney soundtracks and Miss Saigon.) Hilarious scene. I could watch it over and over again. :)

The more you ruv someone

These Valentines are the best!

Put your mouse over the pictures to preview them. Guess which one I like best!

http://www.avenueq.com/valentines/

More power to ya

We lost power at 7:44 p.m. yesterday. I was looking forward to watching "Will & Grace" & "The Office" and also taping the phenomenal episode of "Grey's Anatomy" that originally aired on Super Bowl Sunday.

Life can get boring without electricity! I wasn't into reading The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket whatsoever.

Finally, power was restored around 8:25, and once I heard the refrigerator roar to life I left the dining room. Ha ha, so did Dad. We scurried out of there faster than you can say "black out's over."

I turned on the TV only to see Grace say, "I'm pregnant" plus the words "to be continued..." on the screen. ARGH! Not cool, man, not cool.

"The Office" was great. Sometimes it gets difficult to watch Steve Carell's character, Michael, but it's all good. Dwight's reaction to his gift (a bobblehead of himself) was hilarious! By far the funniest moment in the episode.

Patience is a virtue

But I don't have it right now!

I'm going to attempt to merge my updated Miss Saigon content onto my original ms.html page. Hope this works. I'll leave the ms_test.html page up, so you can see the differences.


GO SEAHAWKS!

Static/Cling

No, I'm not going to talk about laundry. It's how I feel about my personal Web site. For the past few months, I've considered taking it down. I haven't created new, exciting sections in a long time, and I rarely get the chance to update it.

Truth be told, the program I use to create and maintain my pages no longer works well with the Java on my laptop. It's frustrating because what I see is not what I get.

I was just about ready to give up, but someone (you know who you are) told me to keep the Web site.

I hate that it's so stagnant though. Let's face it. I no longer post pictures of vacations and weddings. That once was the main function of my site. I no longer write musical reviews, although I wish I had continued that. Josh Groban has who-knows-how-many fan sites now, and people are pretty good at finding out what he's up to on their own.

But the one page I decided to update tonight was my Miss Saigon page. Actually, I created a back-up version. Yup, the new Java applet (or whatever it's called) doesn't work well with Yahoo PageBuilder.

See for yourself. Does it at least look decent?
http://www.geocities.com/hullo_kitten/ms_test.html

Compare it to the way things look here:
http://www.geocities.com/hullo_kitten/ms.html

Oh ho ho, there *are* differences. I'm not talking about the text but about the way things appear. You'll see that the spacing is weird. And I can't fix it! Why, God, why this space?

I also realize that if I use the test page to replace ms.html, then I'll lose my counter. Can't believe I've received 8000+ hits. That's not too shabby.

If anyone can recommend a good page-building program, please do. Preferably free or inexpensive.

Ah, I ramble. Don't know if anybody will actually care about this, but I do. An ACab Production's not going anywhere. I just hope I can make it better (visually) and make it interesting (content-wise) again.

New Music

"You and your music,
Singing deep in me,
Making nice to me,
Saying something so new--
Changing everything,
Meaning everything,
Calling my heart to you..."

Gawd, those are great lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

I'm reviving my attempt to write new music. I spent the summer of '03 learning guitar chords and working on music. I kinda wrote a song (one that made me cry, so whoa), but it's not exactly finished. I don't want to return to it because that would involve re-examining old wounds.

If you'll recall (I think I wrote about it here), I wrote a song for my English class. That was amazing motivation. (Kinda wish I had it again.) I tied themes from a novel into my song, which really ended up being about myself. :)

So now, I'm establishing a pattern of writing music. It's a slow, laborious process for me. I have small musical ideas, but I need to work on building on them and seeing things through to completion.

On another note, I've heard some amazing songs lately. If you get the chance, you should listen to Anna Nalick's CD Wreck of the Day, Il Divo's "I Believe in You (je crois en toi)" and "Hasta Mi Final" from their new album Ancora, and Sarah McLachlan's "Dirty Little Secret" from Afterglow. Yes, I'm a little late in discovering "Dirty Little Secret," but wow. It's so good. It's the last track on the CD, and I was attracted to the music, and then the lyrics grabbed me too. I first heard it on January 21, and iTunes tells me I've listened to "Dirty Little Secret" 23 times, so that means I've listened to the song 1.64 times a day. :)

Ah, music. Can't get enough of it.

"Play that melody,
Your sweet melody,
Calling my heart to you."

Wireless ... now that is sweet

I went to Best Buy to purchase a new mouse for Mom. The one she uses now -- well, let's face it -- sucks. The ball underneath sticks like crazy and moves way too slow.

I looked for the optical mouse I have for my laptop, but then I saw the wireless mice. Hehehe. And I said, "Screw it, I'm buying a wireless for myself!"

And I did. *grin*

So Mom's getting my mouse, which I love dearly, and I just started to use the wireless. I love it already! A slice of technological heaven.

Life Goal #52 Completed

In the summer of 2003 I established 100 life goals. I can cross number 52 off the list. Last night I finished writing completely in one journal. I filled 194 pages. It took me six years to do it. (When I was younger, I would start journals but never finish them. Hence, "completely" is the key word.) I'm now re-reading what I wrote, and it's fun to look back.

I found recurring themes in my entries. For example, I talked a LOT about cleaning my room -- and mainly how it's always going to be a losing battle! I wrote about how my penmanship has gone downhill. :) I also talked about my dreams and aspirations, and those entries in particular inspire me today.

I tended to write late at night and talked about messing up the dates in my journal entries. Whenever I neglected my journal and found it again, I'd talk about it. I usually wrote the most around Christmas and New Year's.

Too bad I can't pull a Christina Aguilera and turn my journal material into songs. Perhaps I can make that the focus of my next journal ... in which case, I really won't let anyone read that one! But because I've spent all this time talking about this journal, I'll share an entry (albeit an atypical one) here:

------
Thurs., August 2, 2001

My goodness. Have neglected journal. Will write in style of Bridget Jones's Diary as have just read hilarious sequel.
Miss Saigon closed Jan. 28, 2001.
Saw Aida three times in May!
Camille visited in June/July.
Saw fireworks from Gasworks Park.
Am taking Spanish 103 @ Green River with funny profesora.
Got 6 on IB test!!!
Ended up really enjoying junior year. Over and out. OK, not [exactly] style of Bridget Jones's Diary.

Past the pain threshold

Owwwwwwwwwww. I don't know what's worse: having an extremely weird dream about attending a wedding or waking up & living the day with an intense shoulder pain. Um, OK, maybe the intense pain in my right shoulder. But I didn't feel anything was wrong until I rolled out of bed, so I wouldn't mind going back to my dream state. Gawd, this is killing me. Well, not literally, but I feel like I can't do anything normal (sit, stand, type, etc.) without wincing.

To think, I was complaining about a paper cut the other day. It's weird how when one small thing is wrong with your body, that's the only thing you can think about. Oy.

Sweet Smell of Success

Not only did success smell sweet, my stew turned out to be deeeelish. :) Yes, the crock pot and I could become very good friends. Slow-cooking recipes even caught my eye today on MSN, so I bookmarked that page. Heh heh.

No word on the job front yet. There's another position that opened up, and I'm considering applying for it. We'll see. My stomach is doing a flip-flop. Jeez. Finding is a job is hard work.

Sister, sister (and brother)

Janice conducted her crock pot experiment earlier this month. Now it's my turn to try making beef stew in the crock pot. :) *crossing fingers* The first hour of slow cooking is almost up. Seven more to go. Will let you know the outcome later. I'm prepared to laugh if things go wrong, but I hope it's delicious!

I just read the e-mail the Jason's coming home to watch the Super Bowl with his friends. Heh heh. Good ol' sports fan, that one. :) Now I finally have a reason to watch the actual game -- and not just watch the commercials. Go Seahawks!!!

Oh breathe, just breathe

Heh heh, get it? It's 2 a.m. Like that song by Anna Nalick. :) Great song. So is her new single, "In the Rough."

Anyway, it's 2 a.m., and I can't go to sleep. I had coffee during the first intermission of Die Fledermaus. My mind is racing now. When I got home tonight I checked my e-mail. I received a message about a potential part-time job, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I won't mention anything more right now, but that's what's on my mind.

Oh, and I just spent a great deal of time writing a post for my online friends. Wait. Let me back up and explain that the first Web community I joined was the Miss Saigon Notice Board at Center Stage. That place no longer exists, but a few of us recently started a little group to keep in contact with each other. Very cool. Anyway, here's what I wrote in response to a "what are you up to?"-type thread:

----------------------
I graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington last month. (I finished two quarters ahead of schedule.) Earned my B.A. in communication with a music minor. Commencement will take place this June.

Right now I'm taking a much-needed break. In March, I'm visiting the Philippines for the first time. Yay! I must admit that it's strange not going to school, but I definitely won't miss the endless homework! Not surprisingly, I feel the pressure of searching for a full-time job. I hope that wherever I end up and whatever I do is rewarding and fulfilling. I would love to work in the communications department of a performing arts organization. I just wrapped up my student job and am doing some cool freelance projects with Seattle Opera.

Speaking of opera, I've really gotten into it over the past year. Seattle Opera is known for performing the works of Richard Wagner, and I think I may have caught the bug to become a Wagnerite. I loved the Ring. I heard (and saw) Jane Eaglen sing the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde last weekend, and I just listened to a clip of Parsifal earlier this evening. Wow, Wagner's music is so amazing, moving and memorable. Yup, I'm hooked.

Of course, I am a musical fan through and through. I can't wait to see the world premiere of The Wedding Singer.
----------------------

*yawn* Ooh, I think I'm finally getting sleepy. Buonanotte.

Sudoku Addicts Anonymous

Hi, my name is Allison, and I am addicted to Sudoku. I bought a Sudoku book from Barnes & Noble last Thursday, and I can't stop playing it. Must. Stop. Now. I think I'll have to hide the book and try to forget about it so I can concentrate on other things that don't involve logically putting numbers in squares. To think, I avoided the puzzle craze for so long, but now I'm hooked just like Dad and Janice. Guess it runs in the family.

Bring on the bubbly

I watched the opening night performance of Die Fledermaus at McCaw Hall. This Seattle Opera production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s operetta is amazing!!! It was my first operetta, and I loved it. The cast was hilarious. (Some jokes even referred to contemporary pop culture [think ABC television shows].) Jane Eaglen cracked us all up: "My dress! She's wearing half my dress!" Nancy Maultsby made me laugh with her Prince Orlofsky laugh. LOL just thinking about it. :) Sarah Coburn soared with her awesome high notes.

You gotta love the fact that these singers don't have microphones when they sing, yet can fill the hall with their voices. Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- was superb. :) I'm a hardcore musical fan. I think operetta was right up my alley with spoken dialogue and spectacular music. Sometimes you need a good laugh, and Die Fledermaus provided that on Saturday. I can't wait to see it again this Friday with the alternate cast.

Raves

Happy new year! Yeah, yeah, so I'm late in saying it, but I mean it just the same! I'm so glad it's 2006. A fresh start. Full of possibilities. Instead of resolutions, I have goals. I won't go into detail about all of them, although I do realize it's important to share them with others. Anyway, one of my goals is to read 25 books this year. I'm well on my way to doing that! So far I've read Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident and Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code. I really look forward to finishing the fourth installment, The Opal Deception. (I read the first book in 2005, so that doesn't count.) If you can't tell by now, I love Artemis Fowl! Thanks to my big bro for letting me borrow his books.

Other raves for:

*The great folks at Seattle Opera for letting me return (and remembering me, that's so cool)

*Whale Rider: I bawled when I watched this movie

*Scrubs' return to TV: I'll watch the hilarious show as long as The Amazing Race isn't airing

*Half.com: I finally checked it out after hearing raves about it from my friends (now I can read the next three books in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events)

*Quintcareers.com: my favorite resource for preparing for the job search

It's a miracle

I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time when it comes to Christmas shopping. I never know what to get people ... unless they tell me, that is!

For whatever reason, this year I heard from a lot of people who had begun their shopping in November. Those are the early birds with plans. Good for them. :)

But I? Io? Yo? I didn't start until today. And here's the great part: Although I worried about it for a long time, I managed to start and finish Christmas shopping in one day! I bought gifts from two stores and came home in less than two hours. Yay! :) That's a new record for me. I hope I can duplicate it in the future.

Now, I just need to do a bit o' gift wrapping. At least the hard part's over!

This is it, people

Just gotta turn in my final paper and take my final final exam. Then I'm a college grad! Wow. Almost can't believe it.

It feels like I just started college, but I know a lot has happened since I started college in 2002. Time flies. My memory is just giving me the condensed version of my college years.

Well, I can't wait to enjoy the holidays with friends and family. Plus, I can start to learn how to play the violin! Thanks, Mom! I'm going to read a ton of books and, I hope to write some music. Basically do all the things that I've put on hold. This is going to be sweet. :)

In song titles

One day more!
This is my December.
Standing on the edge.
Something's coming.
A whole new world.
You'll see.

:)

(Les Miz, Linkin Park, Michelle Branch, Stephen Sondheim, Tim Rice, Jonathan Larson)

Snow!

It finally snowed yesterday and last night! Everything looks beautiful and peaceful under a blanket of snow. :)

I woke up this morning and worried about the drive. I've never driven in the snow before. Dad gave me lots of good tips though, and, well, here I am at UW! The traffic was definitely lighter on I-5, and my bus actually arrived at UW 15 minutes early. There's no snow here in Seattle. They missed out!

Senioritis B

For cryin' out loud, these last two weeks of school are killing me. I'm swamped in all my classes.

One of my friends described this time period like the last two weeks of a job: it drags on and on. She's completely right.

Eight class days to go. Frankly, that's eight too many.

It didn't snow last night. Sadness.

Texas-sized Weekend

This was the first Thanksgiving I'd ever spent outside Washington state, and I gotta say I loved the change of scenery, air, weather, etc. Especially the weather. Now I'm freezing. What a contrast. It's supposed to snow tonight.

Funniest thing I heard all weekend? It was on the radio when Jason and I were heading back to Austin from San Antonio:

"What's up, San Antonio? It's 64 degrees -- a little chilly, chilly." LOL! Chilly chilly.

Traveling the day before Thanksgiving was surprisingly smooth. Thanksgiving in Houston was nice. The food was delicious and very filling. I could only eat one plate of food. On Friday, Jason and I saw Rent (AWESOME MOVIE!!!!). Later we had dinner at Hula Hut (which serves tacos, enchiladas, burritos, etc.). After that, Jason and his friend took me around the bars downtown. After seeing Austin, I could definitely tell why Jason moved there. Good choice, bro. On Saturday we went to San Antonio, visited the Alamo and went to the River Walk.

Sexiest Man Alive

Yes, yes, it's Matthew McHoweveryouspellit. It's been covered in the news, and every single time I hear the words "sexiest man alive," I can't help but sing the song from Princesses. "The sexiest man alive is coming to our school. If I don't die, excuse me if a drool." Hehehe. Where's Janice when I need her to sing with me?

"The sexiest man alive will stand ten feet from me. I fainted twice in Hunter Manning Three."

All together now:

"The sexiest man alive
We worship on the screen
Right here at Reardon School in Room 19
Right off the front of People Magazine"

Heh heh. :) I told you Princesses would hold a special place in my heart (and apparently in my memory).

Allison, the former intern

Sunrise, sunset

I must be in the mood for Fiddler on the Roof or something. "Tradition" *was* the last song I listened to on my way home today. My iPod was on shuffle. I love that feature.

Anyway, just wanted to comment that today I drove to the park & ride before sunrise, and I didn't arrive at home till after sunset.

And all I want to do is sleep. Sheesh.

Perhaps the one hour I actually enjoyed today was my Italian class, but we tackled demonstrative adjectives, and that killed some brain cells, me think. I was sitting pretty with the definite and indefinite articles. Perche, Signore, Perche?

I need a change of scenery. Apparently, we have stagnant air here in the Northwest. Gross. The trip to visit Jason is lookin' mighty nice. Austin, here we come!

Senioritis A

I am so ready to be done with school. At the same time, I've never really let up on just how much work I pour into my classes. Ugh. Sometimes I disgust myself with how much I care. Wouldn't it be nice to not care so much? I can't though. That's not me.

Sure, I'll procrastinate, but in the end, I work my ass off. My expectations were set high long ago. It's kinda weird that I put that much pressure on myself, but I do.

It's almost time to pour all that energy into something else. And the thought of not having homework keeps me going, especially when it's tempting to blow everything off. But I won't.

The end of college is near. Eighteen days to go!

When you wish upon a TAR

I didn't know there'd be two hours of The Amazing Race yesterday. At the end of the first hour, I thought to myself, "I wish I didn't have to wait until next week to see the next episode." And my wish came true! :) Ah, I love Sweeps.

TAR is my favorite reality TV show, I have to say. However, there are some things about it -- regardless of the season -- that really irk me. The way that couples (or families, this time) talk negatively behind other teams' backs is terrible. And the way that some couples have talked badly about the places they get to visit just appalls me. Yes, they are free to express their opinions, but sometimes it's aggravating. Hence, the rant!

ANYway, if you watch TAR, have you noticed how the families label each other by geographic location (Cincinnati boys, Florida team) or, more interestingly, by a TV show family? The Brady Bunch. The Desperate Houswives. The Cleavers. At least I think it's interesting.

Quick note about Gilmore Girls: Logan WAS/IS a jerk! And I never thought I'd say this, but I rooted for Jess in last night's episode. I've never rooted for Jess. Glad to see a turning point for Rory.

Top Ten

Sweet. According to iTunes, here are the songs I listen to the most:

"Ice Cream" by Sarah McLachlan ... a true gem of a song, no wonder I play it so much

"True" Ryan Cabrera ... thank goodness for iTunes, I really only wanted this song, and now I have it

"Collide" Howie Day ... doo doo doo, doo doo doo ... radio has its purpose: to introduce awesome songs like this one :)

"Run Away" BBMak ... I haven't listened to this song in a few years. Missed it. Yay BBMak!

"There's a Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q ... my anthem right now, I think. Move over "I Wish I Could Go Back to College."

"Rhyme and Reason" by Adam Pascal ... best song from Model Prisoner, imo

"You and Me" by Lifehouse ... the reason why I bought the CD. Love this song. "Blind" is also a great follow-up (it's the song I would want to write if I could), but "Come Back Down" is quickly becoming my new favorite.

"Runaway" by The Corrs ... a blast from the mid-1990s past! It's an addicting song.

"Believe" by Josh Groban ... I'm excited for the upcoming holiday season. :)

"Wanting Out" Michelle Branch ... of the 10, this one's the one I enjoy singing along with the most :)

Currently

... listening to Lifehouse.

... writing a paper. :[

... typing on my laptop.

... staring at the books I want to read.

... ignoring the books I have to read for school.

... fighting the urge to check my e-mail for the gazillionth time today.

... waiting for Friday to come.

The others

No, I don't want to talk about Lost's "The Others." I mean the other blogs I read. Are you curious about the links I posted in the right-hand column?

Just Janice: My sister Janice's blog. She should update more. ;)

Just A Simple rEflection: My brother Jason's blog. "He so funny!"

When in Rome...: I actually don't know if that's the title of my cousin Alexa's Xanga. 'Cause her name is really cabbageonionrebellion. But I like When in Rome...

Bill Walsh's Blogspot: For the copy editor in me. Read it only if there's a copy editor in you. Otherwise, you can skip to:

Where the Hell Is Matt?: No, I didn't hear about this via e-mail or TV. I heard about this from Matt's sister, Jennifer, who works at The 5th Avenue Theatre. The blog entries are great, but watch the dancing video. It's awesome!! Funny and awe-inspiring.

PostSecret: Warning - the content on this blog is not for all eyes. PG-13, borderline R. It can be a very moving and powerful Web site, but I don't always see things I like or am comfortable with. It pushes me sometimes, so if you check it out and don't like what you see, don't say I didn't warn you. I check it every Sunday. Before I found it, I had seen the All-American Rejects' music video for "Dirty Little Secret." I was impressed by the video and not so much the song. People held up cards with their secrets on 'em. Then I read a soldier's blog (needed to read one for my media effects class) and found a link to PostSecret. Immediately, I was drawn to it because, as it turns out, it was the source for the images in the music video.

A Word About Celeb Sightings

Is it something in the water? Is it purely coincidence? Or, was it fate?

Yesterday I read/received reports on celebrity sightings from three different people. I can't stress enough that this was all in the same day that I read these things. First, I checked Alexa's Xanga, and she met Hanson. Second, Don told me that some of his co-workers spotted Bill Clinton walking around. And Brittany told me about Paris Hilton's new b-f (I didn't know PH had a new one, but it doesn't surprise me) as well as one of her friends standing behind Josh Groban at a concert.

I, on the other hand, have no celeb sightings to report. Perhaps I would have seen "celebrity" of the local variety at the opening night of Sweeney Todd. But I chose not to go last night 'cause I'm going on Sunday. Am very excited. :))

Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking

And by Reuben, I really mean family.

Yes, I've been thinking about The Job Search, but I've also thinking about traveling. As in going to the Philippines early next year. January or February. What do y'all think? Who can come with me?

And when I've finally visited the land of my ancestors, then I'll have the peace of mind that I got to see part of the world I've always wanted to see. Then I'll really focus on The Job Search. 'Cause right now with school, it's mighty difficult to do that.

2003

No, not the year. That's how many songs are going on my iPod. I didn't even load all my CDs (or even all the songs on a single CD) onto my computer! ITunes took some getting used to. For example, it converted all my Windows Media-controlled MP3s, but when it came to the mpga files under Real Player, I ran into trouble. I ended up burning my mpga clips onto a CD, and then I ripped them again with iTunes. Sheesh.

But yay! I made the right choice to buy a 20 GB iPod. :D Hehehe.

Another perk of going through all my CDs is that I rediscovered some long-lost treasures. For example, I listened to snippets from Mozart's Requiem. Yes, I have a recording of the concert in which I performed. :) No, I didn't put the Requiem on my computer. It's over an hour long, and it's just one track. And LOL! I listened to the version of "My Heart Will Go On" with the movie dialogue. Maybe it's not a "treasure," but it was definitely buried and untouched for years! Jason gave me the Back to Titanic CD for my birthday one year. :) I'm currently listening to Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida in Dutch.

I can feel it

Maybe it was the warmth of and smell from the oven...

Maybe it was the seemingly early sunset...

Maybe it's the Christmas music I'm putting on my computer...

Perhaps it's all these things. 'Tis almost the season to be jolly! :)

TGIF

I can't tell you how happy I am that it's Friday. Sure I have two midterms and a paper due next week and sure I have class and work today, but I'm loving that it's Friday. :) And that's all I have to say about that. For now. :)

Okay, I realize I've been talking about Alias quite a bit, so let me switch gears and praise the two best shows on TV: Grey's Anatomy and Everwood. (Although first I hafta mention the actor who appeared on last night's episodes of Alias and Everwood! Ha ha. He played the interrogator on the government committee [whatever it was called] that pardoned Sloan for the umpteenth time and Father Patrick [albeit a little creepily, I have to admit]. I recognized him from Connie and Carla. Yes, Connie and Carla!) So yeah, G's A and E are awesome shows. Yay!

Last night's episode of Everwood was particularly good in that it showed everyone in the cast at some point. Everyone! It packed some punch and didn't run thin. I can't tell you which storyline I liked best; they were all great. Right on, Hannah, for telling off Jake. You go, girl.

Woohoo!

My iPod arrived today! The thing is so dang tiny! Who needs a nano? Not Mini Me!

Woohoo2! I got caught up in the music aspect that I temporarily (as in a nanosecond) forgot I ordered the one where you can store photos on it too. I wanted the color screen and not necessarily the photos, but I'm excited to have the feature! No video, but that's totally OK with me. :)))))

I really want to set up my iPod, but I have other things on my mind tonight, actually. Hehehe. And I don't have my iSkin yet. I'll wait for the plastic protector to arrive before taking this baby for a spin on the 197. LOL!

Plus, I realize I should start putting more music on my computer. I'm staring at my CD collection, and this is going to be a lengthy task. Worth it in the end, I'm sure. I can't even see the priority CDs because they're behind the CDs I bought within the past year or so.

IPod heaven, here iI come!

That's what I'm talkin' about!

I have a free flight from JetBlue!

In the past year (October 2004-October 2005), I've flown to New York via JetBlue three times. And now that my credit card earns points towards the TrueBlue frequent-flyer program, I finally got a free flight!

Maybe this will help if and when I do interviews in New York??? Of course, I'll mix business with pleasure. :)

Practice, practice, practice

My friend Don informed me that Lea Salonga will be giving a concert at Carnegie Hall on November 7. The entire audience that night will be one huge group of lucky dawgs! Wish I could be there.

Anyway, I need to play my guitar more often. Regularly. My poor fingers on my left hand hurt even as I type this message. I'm so excited to be playing new music! I ordered some sheet music online last week, and it arrived a few days ago. I bought some Josh Groban songs, but those are all for the piano. Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway songbook is awesome. I love that I can actually play a few of these songs. And I'm learning new chords in the process. Yay! Ooh, and "Accidentally in Love" by the Counting Crows (is it Counting Crows or the Counting Crows?) is fairly easy to learn and play, too. :) That was one of my favorite songs last year.

Probably the best thing about learning to play the guitar is I can actually sing along when I play music. Can't do that so much on the piano. Not sure why. I guess I didn't wire my brain when I first learned to play the piano back in the day ... first grade!

I still want to learn how to play the violin.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

If you want to read delightful, humorous books, I highly recommend Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm reading the third installment, The Wide Window.

I wanted to read these books after seeing the movie starring Jim Carrey. While the movie's great, the books paint a much richer picture. Of course, of course. There *is* sadness and grief, but the Baudelaire orphans are resilient and resourceful. Sunny's my favorite character 'cause she hasn't quite mastered English yet, but she has a lot of meaningful things to say. :)

Family and friends, you are welcome to borrow my books. :) And I promise to take out the flags that mark my favorite parts (the ones where I laughed aloud upon reading them).

Alias: The New Class

After watching the rest of last night's episode of "Alias," I'm still sticking to my statement that this is not the same show I got hooked on. So Rachel Gibson has a parallel story to Sydney's. Big whoop. I think that's a major mistake. I don't want to watch the same storylines played out with different actors. That was "Saved By the Bell: The New Class." There, I said it.

And when we want more of Sydney's home life, we want her with friends, but even Weiss is leaving for a new show. I mean, Greg Grunberg. :) No Will, no Francie, no Weiss, no Vaughn, no Nadia.

The call to cancel Vaughn's magazine subscription was really sad, but that, too, was already played out when Sydney had to change the message on her answering machine when Danny was murdered.

I had high hopes for this season. I wanted it to top the last one. ABC really does want this show to die. And that's sad. "Alias" reaches its 100th episode this season, and then they'll be good to go for cancellation with benefits of syndication. At least I think that's how it works. I'm still clinging to a little bit of hope that the season will turn around, but I'm not holding my breath.

*yawn*

My sleeping pattern this week is out of whack. After returning from New Jersey on Monday night, I actually didn't go to sleep until past 2 a.m. to finish a paper. Yesterday I fell asleep during "Lost." Yikes. I saw maybe 10 to 15 minutes of the entire episode (yet another reason for TiVo). Then I went to sleep at 10 p.m. and woke up at 3 a.m. to finish a paper. No more papers, please.

On a completely different note, what is up with "Alias"??? This is not the show I got hooked on four years ago. Granted, I've only watched the first half, and I think I'll be awake for the second, but I can't believe how quickly this season has faltered. Maybe I should have participated in the "Save Michael Vaughn/Michael Vartan" fan campaign. Half joking, half serious. :)

That doesn't feel good

My back officially hurts. Ohhhh. Not good.

I have all three of my classes on Thursday, and that means I have to lug all 4 of my textbooks plus notebooks, folders purse, and water around all day long. I tried my best to carry some of them in my arms throughout the day.

But then it started raining in the afternoon, so I had to store everything in my backpack. After getting off the bus, I was carrying my too-heavy backpback, and the pain jabbed at me. Now I'm either still feeling pain, or just thinking of the pain is causing me pain. I'm not going to enjoy Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Does anyone have a cool lookin' -- not to mention functional -- tote bag that I can carry my books in? I think I need one. I'll take a tote bag, but one of those rolly backpack thingies would annoy me.

The eternal three minutes

I got stuck in an elevator today. All by myself. The whole ordeal seemed like an eternity. When I first started working in the ATG building, I was warned by the other student assistant that the elevator was not to be trusted. Oh, I believed her, but nothing happened to me for nearly two years. All that changed today.

As I was traveling up to the sixth floor, the elevator moved up and down, and then it stopped. The doors didn't open. I pressed the "open" button several times. Still nothing. Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.

Then, I had to do something I'd never done before: I called the emergency phone by pressing a red button. It was basically a speakerphone, and I was relieved to hear someone answer. Unfortunately, the connection was pretty bad; the guy kept asking me to repeat which floor I was on. There was no way I could know for sure, but I said the sixth floor. I wanted to tell him I was in the ATG building and would someone please hurry, but I never got around to it. Our conversation was very brief, and it ended with him saying he was sending someone over.

That was slightly comforting. But how long would it take before that someone arrived? I couldn't decide what to do with myself. Should I pace? Should I stand against the elevator wall in case it falls like it has in "Alias"? Should I sit on the floor? Constantly staring at my watch, I just stood still. Meanwhile, the emergency phone was making weird noises before it hung up.

I never actually ended up being rescued in a dramatic way. (I imagined being pulled out between floors or at least climbing to safety with the aid of a helping hand.) Instead, someone had pressed a button to use the elevator. The elevator moved "normally" to the 4th floor, and I was free at last. I warned the person that I just got stuck in the elevator, and he opted to take the stairs.

From here on out, I'm taking the stairs as much as possible.

Consciously or subconsciously or coincidentally?

Are the writers on Alias also fans of Michelle Branch? When Sydney was suggesting names for the baby, she mentioned Owen, Clementine and Isabelle. And as we know, Michelle Branch's daughter is Owen Isabelle.

But when did they shoot the season premiere? Last month? And when did they write the script? Hmmm.... HMMMMMM.... Okay, enough about baby names and possible coincidences or intentional inclusions.

I thought Alias was great ... for the most part. I can't stand the thought of Michael Vaughn not being Michael Vaughn. Not Andre Mishapoopoo. Okay that's not his name, but I don't know how to spell it. And I also can't stand that he died! I almost refuse to believe it. And you know Alias. People we *think* are dead aren't really dead. I hope that's the case. Hmmm... not much of a chance of that though. If we get to see Michael Vaughn in "flashbacks," I guess that's fine but not much of a consolation.

I knew that investigator guy was up to no good! (He played King Amonasro in Aida on Broadway, hehehe. I'll post the picture later, if I remember.) Argh.

Marshall was awesome. What was up with Jack? He seemed out of his game. I almost forgot about Sloane. Too bad Nadia has an incurable infection. She's a good character.

At this rate, it seems that Sydney will never get married. Engaged twice. Now has two dead fiances. Also, in self-defense, had to kill ex-lover, the icky Snowman or whatever his name was. Let's forget about him.

All I have left to say is: Is it Thursday yet?

No love for left-handers

First, Brittany passes on an article that states left-handed women may have a higher risk for breast cancer than right-handed women.

Now, UW is cramping my style. Or giving me a hand cramp. Or both. In all my classes, there are individual desks. One has them bolted to the floor even. And in all three, I couldn't find a left-handed desk in sight. In two of the three classrooms, ALL the desks were built for right-handers. In the third classroom, I didn't get there early enough to tell if there were any left-handed desks and had to sit in the back anyway.

In the past, I was able to scout out the left-handed desk. Now there simply aren't any.

Argh, I feel like I should complain ... to the higher-ups, I mean. Not just here on my blog.

That's why having TiVo would be cool

As you know, "Lost" is on my TV schedule this season. Well, the season premiered last Wednesday. I needed to do some last-minute shopping for a new outfit, so I taped "Lost" from 8 to 9 p.m. Unfortunately, I ended up taping the first-season recap/introduction show. I'll admit that it was very helpful to watch, but that means I didn't tape the actual season premiere. ARGH. Imagine my frustration if you can.

There's a solution to this problem: TiVo. Precious, precious TiVo.

There's an obstacle to this solution. So until I can afford to buy you, I will dream of having you.

Oh TiVo. In your absence, my couch-potato-y heart grows fonder.

The End

Spent my last day as the communications intern at The 5th Avenue Theatre. :) It sure was a memorable one. I wrapped up a few projects, cleaned out my files, sent my last e-mails and said my "see ya later"s. (It's not really good-bye though! I've been invited to future opening nights. Yay!)

Around 4 o'clock, they surprised me with a chocolate and raspberry cake that had "You rock!" on it. :) Mmm ... that cake was delicious. It was from Gelatiamo, which I have seen countless times on my way to and from the Metro tunnel. Now I know they have great desserts!

I'm really grateful that I got to spend my summer at the 5th. I know that I may sound like a broken record by now, but it's true. A big thanks to everyone who made my time there an awesome one. :)

Breaking it down:

66: number of days spent in the communications office
7: number of days I took off during the entire span of my internship (5 for vacation to New York, 1 for family day, 1 for my birthday)
0: number of dollars earned (but the experience is invaluable)
2: number of press/opening nights worked
4: number of musicals I saw at the 5th over the course of my internship
6: number of comp tickets received
3: number of happy-hour outings I went to
271: number of hours logged onto weekly timesheets

I'm not a gamer, but ...

I tend to get addicted to playing a certain game for a period of time. Earlier this year it was Minesweeper. A few weeks ago it was Free Cell. Last week it was Tetris. And now it's Pac-Man. :)

Oh, I accidentally cleared my best times on Minesweeper. I mourned the loss for maybe a minute and moved on. Minesweeper is soooo last June. LOL. No, no. I'm just bitter than I can no longer finish the expert time. What happened?

But Pac-Man though? I'm all about it.

A word about blogs

Time Magazine gave all these tips on how to start a blog and included a point to stick to one topic. Well, that's not gonna happen. I'm not all about just one thing.

So here are a few different things that came about today, September 21:

The morning commute took forEVER. And by forever, I mean 75 minutes. Not that I'm complaining, really. I had tea this morning and couldn't fall asleep until right before I saw a glimpse of downtown Seattle. Then I dozed off. And when I woke up, we were slowly creeping towards UW. Good nap.

Had a good day at work, I guess. Got a call from the Opera, so I'm proofreading tonight. Oh my gawd, I'm proofreading tonight. GOTTA GO!

No time to blog! Oh wait! I guess I do have a theme after all. :)

And how do we feel about that?

Before I watched the season premiere, I saw that "Gilmore Girls" received a 9.6 (out of 10) rating from the TV-show Web site I frequent. What were people thinking?

I don't know about you, but I was sorely disappointed in the premiere. The only saving grace was Paris. Paris had it right on the money. Logan needs to go. I don't care if they made him a regular. He's sucked the life out of the once-great character that was Rory Gilmore. Rory, go back to school. Lorelai and Luke... uh, yeah... okay... Right on, Paris. I hope you get more airtime.

Ooh, it's back

Mid-September means several things:

My birthday is coming up!

Summer vacation is winding down.

The new TV season returns on the WB ("Gilmore Girls" begins its 6th season in a few minutes!)

Here are my shows:
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Gimore Girls
The Amazing Race
Lost (I think I'll start watching more)
ALIAS
Everwood

The Office is pretty funny, too, but it'll air the same time as The Amazing Race. Full TV schedule? Heck yeah!

A year ago today ... in pictures

Sutton Foster sings "Astonishing"


Um, duh...


Jennifer Laura Thompson and Idina Menzel sing "For Good"


The cast of Avenue Q performs "It Sucks to Be Me"


Confetti pours on Times Square


Broadway on Broadway

It's a strange time. Maybe strange isn't the right word. I'm sad for those who suffered and are still suffering from Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. My heart goes out to them.

I'm also very aware that my internship is coming to an end in a couple weeks as I return to school.

Here's another wakeup call: I lose my parents' dental coverage when I turn 22. Yes, I'm happy to turn 22, but whoa. I really AM growing up (I wanted to do that when I was 11, and now I don't want to at all ... go figure). Soon I'll need to get a job that has benefits, and I hope to God that I'll be hired to do something that I love doing.

*sigh* *deep breath* I hope I'm ready for the real world. Part of me thinks I'm ready ... and part of me just doubts it all. I think I now know what they mean when they say that college is the easy part, and you have no idea what you're in store for. Where do they teach you how to prepare for life after college? Where's the reassurance?

ANYway, I don't know about you, but I need an escape. Who's with me?

Dude, that is sweet

Happy Labor Day!

I simply wanted to check my e-mail on Yahoo! and the page took me to a new My Yahoo! page. I've been customizing the content for the past 20 minutes or so. I can't stop raving about it!

Who cares if Yahoo! now knows much more about me? Having the top headlines, my horoscope, TV listings, comics, entertainment headlines, other news headlines, brain teasers and the weather all on one page is pretty awesome!!!

And all I wanted to do was check my e-mail. Silly.

Playbill.com, move on over. I have a new home page.

August, oh August

You flew by so fast. Highlights of the month:

Hanging out with family/relatives

Seeing Siegfried and Gotterdammerung

Seeing Princesses with mi familia

Seeing Princesses with Brittany

Working at the press table on opening night

Seeing Princesses on opening night with Janice

Attending the cast party at Sazerac

Seeing Princesses (the last performance) with Mom

Continuing to do my internship at The 5th

Okay, so I saw Princesses four times. What can I say? :) I like it. And you totally get a new perspective on musical theater working behind the scenes.

March of the Penguins

Saw March of the Penguins yesterday with Mom. I laughed, I sighed, I awwwed, and I definitely got emotional when the moms mourned the loss of their unborn babies or chicks. Emperor penguins are resilient, amazing and way cute. And how about sliding on your belly when you want to give your feet a rest? That looks enjoyable. Waddle waddle. Flop and slide. :)

During the mating scene (yeah, you know), I leaned over and whispered to Mom, "This IS rated G." But yeah, you knoooow. And today when Mom was telling Dad about the movie, she said it was rated X. LOL! Liar liar, pants on fire.

"First, I was inspired...

... now I'm sad and tired." Okay, it's not very often that you get a chance to quote Jesus Christ Superstar out of context, but what can I say? Tim Rice's lyrics once again strike a chord within me.

I got all gung-ho about cleaning my room towards the end of last week. I was excited to de-junk, if you can believe that. I couldn't wait to get home to do it. And for a while there, it felt great to repeat Janice's "in the trash" mantra. It felt really good to get rid of "so much crap" (heh, stuck in a Princesses lyric too). But now I'm all crapped out. LOL! Sorry if you're offended, people. I didn't say this would be pretty.

Two thumbs up

For the Ring and for Princesses

Yup, Wagner's four operas and the new musical comedy get two thumbs way up from me. :) Ain't too hard to please.

Subject line poetry

TGIF

Crash and burn

Don't run for the bus in 80-degree weather

Why did I eat that cupcake at 3?

I have "By Heart" stuck in my head

Will Princesses play at the Neil Simon Theater?

Crash and burn

TGIF

To buy or not to buy ...

... that is the question. Well, what do you think? Should I purchase Romeo & Juliet (1968, dir. Zeffirelli) on DVD at $9.36 from deepdiscountdvd.com, or should I wait? 'Cause who knows? They might release a special edition DVD in three years for the 40th anniversary. Hmmm... decisions, decisions. :)

You heard it here first

And when I say "you," I really mean me. And when I say "here," I mean The 5th Avenue Theatre. Hehehe.

Princesses was great! We saw the very first preview of the world premiere. Woohoo! My favorite LOL moment was:

Kevin Finch: "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"
Dena: "IT'S JUST YOU!"

LOL just thinking about it. Sorry if I spoiled it for you, but I figure (as does Janice) that only our family reads these blogs. Family and a few good friends. You know who you are. :)

Yesterday, I used the restroom in the theater (well, whenever I use the restroom during my internship, it's in the theater) and got to hear the cast rehearsing withOUT their microphones. I noticed the vocal arrangement was different from Tuesday's show, and I have to say, the song sounded gorgeous. The father-daughter duet was enhanced by the girls harmonizng "ahhs." I wish you could have heard it for yourself. And I say "you," I mean you! Maybe they'll implement the change for tomorrow's matinee. I hope so!

This one's for Jason: "Whoa there."

Past hope, past cure, past help

My room's a certified mess. Certified by whom? I don't know. Me, I guess. Heh heh. I've been meaning to clean it this summer, but I just run out of time in the evenings and weekends. And now, my man-made disaster of a room is giving Janice a chance to work out as she jumps over my backpack to enter. Brave sister, that one. :)

Well, I'm determined to tackle the mess. I just have to do it a little at a time. But when do I get to write a brilliant song? When do I get to catch up on the books I want to read? *sigh* So much to do, so little time.

(Ring review and Princesses review to come...)

They're heeeeere!

Jason and Janice! Woohoo! Hi, sibs. Hi, 'rents. Lookin' forward to having pizza and seeing Princesses with you. Wow, it's so nice to have a day off, too!

S-M-R-T

I started listening to NPR yesterday. Hehehe. I have my reasons. Oh, you'd like to know? Okay! Well, the major one is that KUOW is supposed to air the 5th Avenue Theatre's underwriting about Princesses, and I worked on the copy. :)

ANYwho, it's amazing how intelligent you feel when you listen. All things considered, maybe it's just an illusion, a simulated feeling of intelligence, but I'm happy to be informed about things like the extension of daylight saving time. And you know NPR means business when they get it right. Daylight saving time. Not daylight savings time. Now, does this need a hyphen? Not that you can hear that on a radio, but I figure I should know it as a copy editor. I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

Sweet!

I just downloaded the RENT screensaver, and it has a countdown to the movie! Hence, "Sweet!"

Not so sweet: I went to the library earlier. As I was driving there, apparently I was on auto pilot 'cause I ended up driving past the intersection where I needed to turn left. Whoops. I suppose it didn't help I was singing "As Long As You're Mine" while I drove on down 320th. Chalk it up to driving the same route to the park & ride every day. Heh.

I love my internship at the 5th Avenue. I really do. It's so much fun. Got to go backstage and in the theater during rehearsals today. :)

Saturday, good ol' Saturday

No work. No bus rides. No schedules. I love Saturday. I spent the morning catching up on e-mail and reading about Harry Potter on various Web sites. :) I am definitely suffering from HP withdrawal.

Just wanted to post something new 'cause Mom complained that I hadn't updated in forever. So here I am. Not really sure what I should say. Here you go, Mom: Teatro Zinzanni. And happy 28th anniversary (plus one week), Mom and Dad.

Sweet smell of success

Booyah! :) Heh heh, can you read that? H$4,021,261.62. Too bad it's not real. Heck, I'd take 1%!

HSX: An update

To recap, when you start an account at Hollywood Stock Exchange, you get $2 million. Right now, I have $3.97 million. I'm oh-so-close to doubling my fake moolah! :) Thanks so much to RENT, Jennifer Garner, and Robbie Coltrane.

Yay!

My splurge package from Amazon.com arrived! I have a new book and two CDs: Lapsing Into a Comma by Bill Walsh, Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson, and Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. OK, so I'm a little late in buying Linkin Park's CD. I actually wanted to buy the import version for the longest time because it has "My December" on it. However, I was able to re-acquire that song (hehehe) and just decided to buy the cheaper, regular release.

I just read the acknowledgments, introduction, and first chapter of Lapsing, and I'm already intrigued! "I couldn't diagram a sentence if my life depended on it." Right on, Bill Walsh! :) Should be a great read. I also expect I'm gonna mark up this book and place flags all over the place. I really am a dork. But you know, I don't care! :)

If I could be anywhere in the world tonight...

... I'd actually want to be at the Hollywood Bowl. Celebrities and regular peeps like me (OK, they're theater and/or major Sondheim fans... and/or Grobanites) will be celebrating Stephen Sondheim's 75th birthday with a concert.

Here are just a few names:

James Barbour (have never actually heard him, but I've heard much about him)

Carol Burnett (needs no parenthetical explanation)

Barbara Cook (she's legendary in the business)

Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut! Woohoo!)

Josh Groban (*grin*)

Marin Mazzie (just listened to her on Ragtime again. Wow)

Audra McDonald (I have who-knows-how-many CDs with Audra McDonald. She needs to return to Seattle someday and soon)

The list goes on. Dang, that's a great list. So yeah, that's where I'd rather be tonight. Hopefully, someday I'll have more money and time to travel and see these concerts.

Yo, check it out

http://www.5thavenuetheatre.org/staff.shtml

*grin*

I'm a dork

Or, at least I feel a little dorky right now. :) And not that that's a bad thing. Why do I feel like a dork? I haven't blogged in a few days, but I keep coming here (to musicallispeaking.blogspot.com) to check on my own blog. And I *know* that I haven't updated, but somehow I hope it'll inspire me to write something. Hasn't happened.

So let's see about updates: Me? Nope. How about Jason? Nope. Janice? Nope. Dad? Hey! Dad's blogging more than anyone else! Heh heh.

Mo-om... it's your turn. :) I'm in a bloggin' funk. No wit. No clever anecdotes. No stories to tell... other than I'm still deciding on how to spend my $94.45 that I won from gambling. Woohoo!

I *heart* New York

I really do. The trip to NYC was so much fun. Brittany and I saw Avenue Q, The Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Wicked. We had two great stage door experiences.


After Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, we exited the theater through the same doors where we entered. I noticed that many people were standing around and started to wonder if there were any actors around. I turned around and saw Norbert Leo Butz! He won the Tony for best actor in a musical this year. Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow signed our playbills. Then, as we were waiting for Sherie Rene Scott (who didn't come out through the main entrance), I saw Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye and RENT walk past!

We didn't win the lottery for Spelling Bee tickets, but that theater is right next to where Wicked plays. There was an enormous line for the Wicked lottery, and when we went to get dinner, I heard my name: "Alli!" It was Anna! That was great we got to see her.

On Thursday, we went to a CD signing at Tower Records. Sherie Rene Scott, Gregory Jbara, David Yazbek (the composer of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Monty), Norbert Leo Butz, and John Lithgow were all there.

At the Gershwin stage door, there were metal barricades set up. David Ayers (Fiyero), Michele Federer (Nessarose), and Shoshana Bean (Elphaba) signed our playbills. Shoshana Bean rocked as Elphaba. She's an incredible singer.


I also got Sherie Rene Scott and Shoshana Bean to autograph the recently released recording of Hair, benefiting the Actors' Fund. Very cool. They both looked happy to see it. In fact, Sherie Rene Scott said, "Oh, I haven't seen this yet. Have you listened to it?" I told her no (well, I had just bought it and it came out on Tuesday), and she said that it was good. And it is!

Mmmm... bagels at Cranberry Deli. Mmmm... Jamba Juice. Mmmm... Ollie's. Mmmm... Katsu-hama. Hmmm... Seattle Cafe???

Visited Columbia, Barnard, Lincoln Center, Central Park, Battery Park, Ground Zero, the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and oh yes, Times Square (many times).

Musical roots

Wow, what a day! What an afternoon, to be precise. My internship is off to a great start! I got the chance to meet everyone in communications as well as several other staff members at The 5th Avenue Theatre. They were very welcoming. I toured the offices and the theater, including backstage. Very cool! :)

Oh right, before I forget... I know I've mentioned this before to some people, but I just wanted to say that I got hooked on musicals thanks to Mom, who took Janice and me to see Jesus Christ Superstar at The 5th Avenue Theatre. I was six. :) So, I'm returning to the place where it all started, yet I'm a newbie to the world of marketing and communications for musicals. I'm thrilled to be doing what I have envisioned as my goal: to combine my passion for music(als) with my passion for writing/communicating. I'm not sure how long I've had this goal. Definitely before I declared my major. Perhaps it's been brewing for the past 15 years? There's definitely some rhyme and reason for why things happen the way they do.

I'm so excited to do this internship. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. I sat in on a meeting, and it seemed so natural and fun to talk about Miss Saigon and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Also, it's great to be onboard during the preparation of a Broadway-bound musical, Princesses.

Everyone who'll be here in August oughta come see it! That means you! Hehehe.

"What I up to"

LOL! Dad has been working on a family tree Web site, and it's expanding each day. It's pretty cool. I just clicked on my new page, and what you all must realize is that the song *isn't* my future wedding song. :)

"What is the feeling, so sudden and new? I felt the moment I laid eyes on you. My pulse is rushing. My face is flushing... What is this feeling, fervid as a flame? Does it have a name? Yes! Loathing. Unadulterated loathing." LOL! As much as I like the song for Wicked, well, now you can see why I'm laughing. :)) It definitely is a catchy tune. I question the use of the dreary-sounding organ at the beginning... I guess that's why it reminded me of a wedding. Heaven forbid any organist to play dreary-sounding music at somebody's wedding! Or even a baseball game for that matter. Heh heh.

Hey, Dad, do they (meaning, wherever you get your music) have "Defying Gravity" or "The Wizard and I" or how about "Dancing Through Life"? :)

Thanks for picking up the Wicked tickets.

Must sleeeeeep

Perhaps I should play "I Wish I Could Go Back to College" again. I stopped listening to music for a little bit as I continued to work on my paper. Yikes, this is taking a lot longer than I expected. I have since listened to Closer, Romeo et Juliette, and Prince of Egypt. More than once.

I keep telling myself, "I'm almost done." And I am. I just had to go back through and make changes to my verb tenses. Yikes, that was a mess. :) Yikes, it is a mess. :))

I plan to wake up at 7 to finish and also prepare my three-minute speech. Bwahahaha. I'M ALMOST DONE! *grin* (Okay, clearly this is a sign that I should sleep.)

Good night.

November 11: Time for RENT

OOOOOOH. I just watched the trailer for RENT. It looks great! (Well, I question Adam Pascal's hair slightly, but other than that...) I can't wait to see the movie!!!

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/rent/

Listening to Avenue Q

"I Wish I Could Go Back to College" just started, so I thought I'd take a break from writing my paper. Ha! I'm "cursing the world, 'cause I didn't start sooner." :) The paper is finally coming together, but I really *should* have worked on it sooner. Oh well. I definitely thrive on pressure, but I don't necessarily like it!

In two weeks, I'll be seeing Avenue Q with great friends. Yay!

(In case anyone's wondering why I didn't talk about the Tony Awards, there wasn't a whole lot to talk about... except I loved the performance from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and I hope we can see it in addition to Avenue Q, Wicked, and The Light in the Piazza. )

134 equals...

... my new expert minesweeper time! Previous record on my laptop was 153. I'll take it! :) OK, *now* I can work on my papers. LOL!

I think I can handle never getting 101 or 99 like a certain author of a certain lil' series about a wizard with a lightning scar on his forehead. Oh well!

The Saturday before Finals Week

I'm in Suzzalo Library right now. How incredibly fast a year goes by. I remember last year I was writing an English paper about a novel and my first complete song (*grin*), and I was looking forward to my vacation in California.

Now I'm writing history and communication papers, and I'm looking forward to my vacation in New York. Parallels? Yes. Though it's also strange to think that I have one more quarter to go after this one. Whoa.

But I hope that autumn quarter doesn't arrive too fast. After all, I definitely want to savor and enjoy my summer. :)

Somebody help me please. I canNOT stop playing Minesweeper, even if I'm terrible at it. Hey, I used to be somewhat good. The library closes at 5, which means I'll most likely return to my dorm, which means I'll have access to my mouse. Eeep. Curses to the library always closing at 5 on a Saturday! Hmmm. Maybe I'll go to the HUB, although it's nowhere near as inspiring as Suzzallo.

OK. Gotta get back to writing my papers. (At least, that's what I tell myself I'll do.)

It's official!

I'm going to do an internship with the communications department at The 5th Avenue Theatre! Am beyond excited! :) Yay!!! I interviewed for the position on Wednesday and accepted the offer this morning. :)

Ooh, remember when it rained, Goldilocks

It's too hot. It's too rainy. Whatever! When it was scorching hot last week, I wished it would rain. And it POURED today. Now I'm soaked. I wouldn't exactly say I asked for it. At least, I will remember that it rained on Janice's birthday while I was on my way to get bubble tea. Mmmm... the honey milk tea's fab, Jan! :)

I hope it doesn't rain this hard when I'm downtown. *crossing fingers* Not necessarily about the weather, don'tcha know!

"Ooh, remember when it rained
In the water I remain"

You can sing that again, Josh.

Ohmyfreakingawd!

Ow. I hurt my throat screaming at the TV immediately after the ALIAS cliffhanger. OMG, OMG, OMG. My heart, at least, has stopped racing.

When Syd and Vaughn (ack, his name's not Vaughn!!!) were talking in the car, I told Vaughn to keep his eyes on the road. ARGH. And look what happened.

"For starters, my name's not Michael Vaughn." Car crash. This is all too much.

Oh man, I'm so glad I didn't tape this finale. I would be watching it over and over again like I did for season 2's cliffhanger. There's no way I'm going to be able to write a paper tonight...

Whadda season.

Edit: 11:37 p.m.... No, I take it back. Now I'm really wishing I taped this finale. Why didn't I tape this finale? I've made zero progress on my paper. I've read some posts on an Alias message board. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who screamed at the TV. Heh!

Long time, no blog

Whew, I am swamped with work. It doesn't seem right to use the term "homework" though; that seems to have a "busywork" connotation. I don't have assignments in the same way that I used to. Instead, I'm preparing for a research presentation on Tuesday, and I need to write analytic points for my ethnographic paper. Yup, my "to do" list hardly sounds like "homework." It's work.

Ooh la la, I saw Les contes d'Hoffmann/The Tales of Hoffmann today. Speight Jenkins talked before the opera began, and he mentioned that Mayor Nickels was in the house. We sat in the sixth row, center, and Mayor Nickels and Speight Jenkins sat a few rows behind us to the left. The opera was entertaining and a complex story about love(s). The opera ended with the surround sound of the cast and chorus singing, "Through suffering, we learn how to love." Talk about a goosebump-inducing ending. We gave a standing ovation (well, most of us did), and when the final curtain went down, we could hear the cast shout, "Woo!" LOL! It's their last show of the run and of the season. I picked up extra copies of the program, since my name's in it. Hehehe. What can I say? It's pretty darn cool!

The gift shop had a sale in honor of Richard Wagner's birthday. I bought a Seattle Opera T-shirt. Apparently I'm not the only one who likes to buy magnets, and apparently Tales of Hoffmann was a popular success because they didn't have any Hoffmann magnets left! One more thing about Seattle Opera: They're taking the day off tomorrow in honor of Wagner's birthday. Wish I could take the day off...

Back to work I go.

YAY!

Uchenna and Joyce won! Uchenna and Joyce won! I was rooting for them! The Amazing Race 7 had me panicking and screaming at the TV--especially around 10:45 p.m.--but I'm sooooo happy now! Ah, good TV. Good sweeps. :)

"Wow, that's great!"

And I'm not talking about a Red Ryder BB Gun. This Fujitsu C Series Lifebook laptop is awesome! *grin* Yup, Dad bought me a laptop on Saturday. Thanks, Dad! It didn't come with Microsoft Office, which I desperately needed for school. Thanks, Mom!

Now I'm very happy that I was able to import my bookmarks--or favorites as IE likes to call them--without having to type every single URL. That would've been a pain.

I was able to transfer all but my biggest files from my PC to my laptop. I'll just be missing a few JG video clips from my collection. That's OK.

This laptop rocks! It's so fast and has everything I want/need. Ooh, and I now have a color printer. The UW wage statement looks so pretty. I almost forgot it was pay day today. Yay!

One more thing! I bought tickets to the student matinee of The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes d'Hoffmann). My roommate and I are going on the 22nd. Orchestra center preferred, sixth row. Opera is the most expensive ticket in town, so this is such a great deal: What normally would cost a whopping $116 per ticket is just $15 per ticket for students! Yay! I'm going to miss being a student! :) LOL! Or not. LOL!

[Edit: I just looked at Seattle Opera's Web site, and the matinee price for OCP is $95. The person at the box office told me $116, which is the price for some of the night performances. Yowzas!]

It's Christmas in May. Wow, that's great!

Act like you know what you're doing

Those are the words on one of my favorite T-shirts -- from Seattle Public Theater to be exact. And, oh, if only I *could* act like I know what I'm doing. Today in my crisis communications class, we had to roleplay. Yeesh. I don't know how lucky it is to get to be the irate parent of a child who attends a school where there are critical public health violations in the kitchen. Maybe it is lucky; the spokespeople for the school had the toughest task, imo (it's crisis comm. for cryin' out loud), and then the media got to ask a question or two. I got to watch a few people roleplay before it was my turn. And I laughed, even though it was supposed to be somewhat serious. But other people were laughing too.

And when it was my turn to be the irate parent, I started by yelling, "MY CHILD HAS BOTULISM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" And then my professor and some other people started laughing. Then *I* started laughing. Oh brother. Guess I can't act in a drama. At least I wasn't wearing the SPT T-shirt. That would have been embarrassing. Heh heh.

She knows me so well

I've been listening to Chess lately in case you couldn't tell. Yeah, hard to do when you don't exactly quote the song. :)

Anyway, I had dinner with Mom and Dad yesterday and filled them in on the New York trip. :) As we walked back to the car, Mom asked all these questions about which days I'd be in NYC with Brittany. And then she started counting, "One on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, and one on Thursday." *grin* See? She *does* know me so well!

For those of you who are thinking, "Huh?" Here's the answer: 1 + 2 + 1 = 4 = the number of Broadway shows we could see/plan to see.

Can't wait! :)

Anything but that

That being homework. That being papers. That being anything school-related. I wish I could have a second spring break. I could really use some time off. Unfortunately, there's no end in sight until June 8, really.

I do have some good news, and everything associated with it gives me happy things to think about, which keeps me going during the daily grind that is my life. The good news is that I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. No, that's not my good news. Brittany and I are officially heading to New York in June! Yay! I'm so excited. :)

In other news, my computer crashed earlier this week. What a nightmare. I didn't have a backup for extremely important files. And the weird thing is my professor had warned us to have a backup. You can bet that I have one (wait, actually, two) now. Many thanks to Janice and Nestor (and their friends, Peter and Trang) for helping me revive my computer.

Ooh, I should also thank Tita Beata for getting papers for me at my parents' house. They came in really handy. Thanks again. It was really nice of you to do that. :)

OK, I've procrastinated long enough. And pretty soon, I'll get sucked into primetime TV. I better try to finish up *something* before then. Sigh.

Jeez... fake guestbook entries???

For the past few weeks, I've been receiving a steady flow of new guestbook entries. Most of them I delete. They say that I've done a good job with my site, but they refer to me as a "group" or "team." Maybe they think that ACab & Co. is just that. But still, I have my doubts that they actually looked at my site.

A few days ago I received a guestbook entry that suggested I could post more pictures. Well, sure, but I don't have the time. So I kept that entry hidden. Then today I received another entry that not only complained that they couldn't view it correctly in an 800 x 600 setting (hello, it's geared for 800 x 600) but also CITED the name of the person who submitted the last hidden entry! That tipped me off that these entries are fake. They always have a URL, too. I don't always check them out, but the ones I have sell really weird things. Yeaaaah...

Sorry guestbook spammers, but I'm not THAT desperate for entries. Please take yer business elsewhere.

Can you sympathize/empathize with this nosebleeder?

Warning: Don't read this if you get queasy reading about blood. Don't say I didn't warn you...


I get nosebleeds. Don't be so surprised. Unless, you who read this are a stranger. In that case, welcome to my overshare for the day! Btw, when I was younger, I used to call them bloody noses. :) Well, sometimes I'll still call them bloody noses, but anyway!

I've had more than my fair share of nosebleeds/bloody noses, I have to say. It did not help that I got one this morning out of the blue while I was getting ready for class. I didn't see it coming. Usually, I *knooow*. Luckily, I was standing in front of a mirror and noticed something was wrong, and I was able to reach for some tissue in time. But, for whatever reason, I had a difficult time controlling it. Not sure why. And the rarest part was that I got blood on a perfectly good shirt. Yeah, I'm usually a clean nosebleeder, if you can believe it. (Only once in third grade did I get blood on my sweatshirt before school started; I clenched the spot with my fist all day long.) However, there was enough blood--or, too much, depending on how you look at it--that I just ended up throwing it away.

Seeing that I am running out of clean clothes (heh), I ended up wearing my Josh Groban CLOSER t-shirt and had a conversation about Josh and music with someone at work. Good-bye, perfectly good shirt.

Coke with Lime: the verdict is in

I do NOT like Vanilla Coke. One sip and that was that. I haven't tried Coke with Lemon. But Coke with Lime? I had to try. Hearing the ad jingle "You put the lime in the Coke, you nut" was way too catchy, I have to admit. What's the final judgment? It's all right. I definitely taste the (artificial) lime, but it makes me miss the Coke. Go figure.

The ongoing case of mistaken identity

I got breakfast at about noon today. When I went to the cashier at McMahon 8, she said, "Good morning!" and added, "How are you?!" in a friendly voice. Not the usual, monotone "How are you?" that you usually get from stores, cafeterias, coffee shops, and other places where they really don't care how you are but ask because it's part of a script. So I said, "I'm fine, how are you?" And she said, "Fine, thanks."

Then she rang up my food, and here's the dialogue that occurred:

Cashier: "Let's see. Chocolate milk. That's the biggest risk you've taken all week."

In my mind: HUH??? This is the first time I've seen you since finals week.

Me (aloud): "I'm sorry?"

Cashier: "You mean you're a risk-taker all the time?"

In my mind: Well, no, but it's just chocolate milk. I'm so confused, and I *know* that I'm not the person you think I am.

Me: *smile* "I think you've got me mistaken for someone else."

Can't remember what she said, but she didn't address that she had mistaken me for someone else.

I thank her and leave.

Argh, the weird thing is I knew she mistook me that one time during finals week last month. I almost opted to pay at the line farther away, but just as an experiment, I went to her line. And now I know... this isn't the only incident of mistaken identity. It's something I just have to live with. I guess though, looking on the bright side, at least the girl who looks like me is nice, too. Things could be worse.

I have too much to do...

...but I'm not complaining. Yes, I have a super busy schedule this quarter, but I'm very happy. Things are falling into place. Somebody oughta pinch me. Or, I'm aware that things *could* fall apart, but whoever's watching over me, thank ya kindly. :)

I've got a PRSA mentor! YAY! I didn't think the program was going to happen this year, but it is and -- for the sake of Pete na Repeat (lol, that's for you, Janice) -- I'm excited to have a mentor! I haven't met her yet, but I contacted her, and the possibilities are endless. Portfolio review, resume review, information interviews, networking with contacts, attending events together, job shadowing, etc. SO exciting. :)

I attended a Microsoft Excel workshop today. The lady who taught us works at Waggener Edstrom. She was really cool, and I certainly learned a lot. I mean, I can use Excel all right, but now I *really* know my stuff. YAY for autofill! That feature is crazy cool. Forget my earlier resolution to stop using the word "cool." And call me a dork, but the workshop was so fun. Where's the MSN nerd smiley when you need it?

Editing with Seattle Opera is going well. A little too well. I will be paid for three hours worth, but honestly I spent more than three hours proofreading. Apparently I do my best editing at ungodly hours of the night. Something to keep in mind. Either that, or it's a testament to how much I enjoy editing.

Oh right! And I'm doing that thing called going to school. One class rocks my socks, and the other two are pretty good too. :)

Congratulations, Janice, for exceeding your AHA walk fundraising goal!

New York in June! New York in June! Yay us, Brittany! :))))))

Right on, Melinda!

Absolutely loved the performance of The Marriage of Figaro on Sunday. Here's a really good review. :)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2002230608_opera05.html

Silent rage...

...is really unhealthy to have, so I'm going to vent.

SPITTING IN PUBLIC SHOULD BE BANNED. I swear, if I ever get spit on--by accident or on purpose--there will be hell to pay. I *almost* got spit on today as I left Odegaard Library. Remind me to avoid that library if I can. Suzzallo and Allen are much better libraries anyway. Well, I was on my merry way to the bus stop when this guy decided to let his spit go flying everywhere. By sheer instinct, I was able to stop in time, but I saw it all happen too close for comfort. If I had been a second quicker in my stride, I would have been caught in the grossness of it all. I didn't look at him directly, but I made him know I was there--standing there thinking, "YOU ARE INSANE AND DISGUSTING," and then I walked past him. ARRRRRRRRRRGH. FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD, PEOPLE, STOP SMOKING AND SPITTING. AND HAVE SOME CONSIDERATION FOR A PUBLIC SPACE. I'm furious.

No joke

It's almost too good to be true, but I can now say that I'm doing some freelance editing. Today I signed a contract and everything. :) I'm finding that I need to pinch myself, especially since it's April Fools' Day. A big shout out to the PR department at Seattle Opera. They are simply the best. I gladly would have done this for free, but who am I to decline an offer of payment? Hehehe. :)

It's been a week since I ended my internship. For whatever reason, it has felt a lot longer than seven days. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with myself, but yay! Now I don't have to think about that so much. I'm very happy that I get to return to the office, keep in touch, and sharpen my skills.

*jumping up and down with my red pen in hand*