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.