Where Has He Been?

Well, he's not dead. He hasn't been captured and held for ransom. He hasn't left the country. He's just in good ole Lyndonville, back to the hometown. And in that hometown in the old homestead he has lived in his whole life, there is no internet. This blog post is coming to you from the nice little Lyndon State College just down the road from where he lives. He had to hole himself up here for internet access. Oh well. He hopes you had a fantastic Christmas and wishes you an awesome New Year! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Peace out!

Going Home/The Misadventures of Velvet, Ashley, and Ryan/Lunch

I'm looking at that suitcase over in the corner of my room and I know it has to be packed...but I really don't want to do the work. All my focus right now is going into what's going to happen tonight. Tonight is the Christmas gift exchange at 308!!!! It's going to be amazing. We all got each other presents and out them under this really puny fake tree Ashley brought from home. It's pretty excellent. And as I said in an earlier post, my present for Megan and everyone else is amazing. I can't wait to see what happens tonight!

Speaking of Christmas gifts, yesterday Velvet, Ashley, and I all hung out and ran around Burlington trying to finish our shopping and packing routines. I had one thing I had to do while Velvet has a list a mile long of Christmas gifts to get. Ashley has a couple things to do. Here is my list of reasons why not to wait until the day before the exchange to go Christmas shopping: (I say these things because this is what ACTUALLY happened)

1. You might end up gallavanting all over the city of Burlington in freezing cold weather.

2. You might end up being stuck on a bus and not being able to get off because people won't move out the way, leaving you stranded away from your shopping buddies.

3. You might have to go into Victoria's Secret with Velvet and have her spray perfume all over your hand because she can't find the little papers.

4. You might lose Ashley in the mall.

5. You might drag Velvet's HUGE packed suitcase down the sidewalk because she has too many shopping bags.

6. You might have to unpack everything out of said suitcase in order to find the key to someone else's dorm (308) to get in and out of the freezing cold.

7. You might drop dead on Church Street from extreme hypothermia.

8. And yet...despite everything....you might just find what you're looking for

Also yesterday was my last final. Yay! I'm officially done with my first semester of college! The only thing is, it was my acting final and as amazing as it was, I was sad that the class was over as was basically everyone there. We had all grown so attached to each other that it was hard to think about not having class all together, especially acting class. So we all had lunch together. Granted, it wasn't like going to Dobra Tea or anything, it was just Cooks Commons, but it was nice having everyone together for just one more moment. Although, most of us are in biology together next semester, so I can't wait for us to see each other again! Have an awesome Christmas guys!!!

Peace out!

Success!

We did it! (well...Megan did it...) We (Megan, I was really of no help) beat Spyro! We finally defeated that stupid boss and saved the dragon kingdom. Now we're trying to get all the gems we might have missed in all the other levels. Granted, I put in a cheat code that gave us 99 lives, but we still beat it! Thank you, Playstation, for your countless hours of fun, profanities, and a feeling of success.

Some other things have been very successful as well. For one, exams have gone pretty well for me. I got an 88 on my sociology exam giving me a 91 average for the semester! I'm not sure about my other exams yet, but the religion one wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess those 8 hours of studying paid off. I was very proud of Megan too. She got an awesome grade on her final project. She'll probably post something about it on her blog: http://308maple2.blogspot.com/

Basically, things are going well. My parents got a tree at home, so I'll be all ready to decorate it when I go home on Saturday. Can't wait!

Peace out!

Spyro: An Excellent Adventure

Last Tuesday when we had our Music Makers concert and our families came to hear our beautiful voices, Megan's Mom brought over a very old-school Playstation given to Megan by Luke, her boyfriend. That's right folks, take a jump back to the beginning of the millenium, we have a Playstation! The only game we have found really worth playing (besides Tony Hawk Proskater, we're getting there!) is Spyro the Dragon.

For the past week, we have been playing Spyro and minus the occasional whoop ass handed to us by weird creature magical thingys and multiple GAME OVER's, we've been doing well. Megan stayed over this past weekend at good ole Jeanne Mance again (only this time it wasn't a sick weekend) and we had a party time. This included playing Spyro for SIX HOURS down in the common room. We hooked the old-school Playstation up to the old-school TV down there.

We got to the second to last level, and gave up. But not forever. We will succeed! Spyro, here we come!!!

(Maybe once finals are over)

Peace out!

Think About It

Sorry it's been awhile Three days to be exact. I've been thinking a lot about a lot of different things lately, and I've been quite busy. That seems to happen around this time doesn't it? There are finals, and Christmas, and concerts, and social gatherings. Everything needs to be maintained and everyone needs to be pleased. I am very excited for Christmas this year mostly because I have the money to buy my friends and family actual presents. But I still feel like I'm mostly going to make them except maybe for my parents. I guess what I really want to do is share with you what I'm getting everybody. OK, here goes:

THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY THE CHRISTMAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA.

Awesome ideas, huh? Yeah, I basically can't wait until next Friday when it has been decided that 308 will distribute their gifts. It's going to be a good time.

But that's not really what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about is how people seem to hate anything sad. What has been brought to my attention lately is how people hate any cathartic and how they put side blinders on to block out anything sad or depressing that may be going on in the world. My mind has been completely opened this semester to all these kinds of things, but especially last night at the Festival of Lights concert that Music Makers sang at. There were so many different cultures talking about all the different holidays celebrated during this time, but there were also stories of people who have had horrible things happen to them, and have recovered. They use this time, this holiday season, to reflect upon these things. I think it's time we take a more optimistic outlook on life. Those times when things are bad are the things that can only make us stronger. I'm tired about people complaining and pitying themselves. It's time to take control, learn, and grow. So watch that dramatic movie and cry, listen to the "Christmas Shoes" song and feel something for that boy, and most importantly, don't put side blinders on to the world.

Those are my words of wisdom for the day.

Peace out!

Concert

"HAHA!" roared global climate change. "I control the weather now!"

"No!" cried Mother Nature, her shriek shattering the tops of the trees nearby. "I will not let your evil reign!"

And with that, Mother Nature pulled out her battleaxe and battered global climate change down, letting the clouds rip open and the soft snow drift to the ground. The winds blew and flung the snow around, plowing it to the ground.

It's snowing again today. I was so happy when I looked out the window this morning. It's a storm. A rip-roaring noreaster whose fury can destroy even the greatest global climate change has to offer. I mean, it's coming down. Everything is covered in white and shines in the semi light. The trees are highlighted by the white covering provided to them by Mother Nature. It's perfect. Winter is perfect.

Anyway, I bet you're wondering how the concert went last night. I was able to overcome this cold enough to the point where I was able to get out the notes I needed to for these songs, but that's it. I'm working on the rest though. This weekend was exactly what I needed and I think I'm doing a good job taking care of myself. It's not the first time I've had to do a concert sick. One time, I sang at one of our Select Choral Ensemble benefits sick. I had a solo too. My sophomore year, I played every show of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown sick. I was Charlie Brown. Good times all around. Powering through a cold is hard, but it can be fun at the same time. Lying around and taking cold medication. Fun.

I'm really happy to be a part of Music Makers. I'm really happy to be a part of a music group at all. Singing is just too much fun to not partake of it. Especially at Christmas. I think this is the beginning of a great relationship with Music Makers. Can't wait till next semester!

Peace out!

How To Fight A Cold

Here are my top things to have on a weekend when you are trying to fight off a nasty winter cold:

1. A good friend :)

2. Meds (my top faves include Advil cold and sinus, NyQuil, Suddafed, Robitussin cough cyrup, and Ricolla cough drops)

3. A computer with internet (trust me, it gets pretty boring in bed)

4. Food and candy

5. Tissues, tissues, tissues!

6. A comfy bed with pillows and blankets for warmth. Inlcude sweatpants in this category.

7. Trips downtown to go see New Moon or go make your own ice cream at Champlain College. Bring a jacket. And a scarf. And gloves. It's cold out there.

8. A phone to report a crime.

That's for real. Megan and I were just walking home from making our own ice cream at Champlain only to find a truck with it's front window busted. We called Velvet, our very own personal Criminal Justice major to see if we should report it to the proper authorities. With her blessing, we called the police. It was the first time I had ever been witness to a crime scene. It was weird but sort of cool. I felt like I was on an episode of CSI or something. Anyway, I'm feeling much better than I was yesterday, but there is still much progress that needs to be made before the big concert on Tuesday. Will keep you posted!

Peace out!

Anyone Got Any Meds?

I'm sick. It's actually the first time since I've been at college that I've gotten sick. My throat is all sore, I have phlegm in my throat, and my nose is starting to run. These symptoms are bad and I don't like them. Especially when the Music Makers concert is Tuesday and right now my voice sounds like a 50 year old chain smoker (Angela!).

What's pretty cool is that Megan came over tonight because my roommate had to go home and she will be staying for the weekend. We get to have an awesome cold medication party! Break out the Sudafed, Nyquil, Vicks, cough drops, and water! We're gonna kick this sickness out of here!

Also, tomorrow is Deck 5 Day. Megan and my offical holiday on December 5th so we're going to a Holiday Bazaar and attending an afternoon matinee of New Moon. Should be fun! I just hope I can get better this weekend because exams are coming up too. My first college exams AHHHHHHHH! I don't think they're going to be that hard though. The lecture ones will probably be crap but we must get through these things in life especially when trying to reach an education.

Tonight I also got to star in another movie! Not that this was probably a great thing seeing how sick I am. It was for Sarah's final project (remember Sarah is Jess' friend who is a film student see http://ryhowland.blogspot.com/2009/10/makin-movies.html) and it was pretty awesome. She's putting it on facebook so I'll let you know when you can see it.

Hopefully this cold goes away and I can make it through to this concert. I'm so excited to sing again! Performing, performing, performing!

Peace out!

10 Things That Happened to Me Today

1. I decorated my room to the dismay of my roommate. He didn't want me decorating the room for Christmas so I decorated my side.

2. I decorated the theater for the Christmas show going on this weekend! Of which I am ushering.

3. I evaluated my sociology class.

4. I aced my Spanish oral exam.

5. I had a killer headache and had to take meds to have it go away. I think the latte I had this morning was too strong.

6. I had lunch in my room because I didn't feel like fighting off a crowd to eat a decent lunch today.

7. I went to Glee night (with my pillow!).

8. I found out that Jess' brother Dylan made awesome progress and is starting to talk again!

9. I wore my scarf.

10. I found out (to my dismay) that Glee won't be back until April after it's midseason finale next week. It's a sad day...

But it's also happy! Spread the optimism!

Peace out!

Snow

It snowed this morning. I was so excited. I stepped out of class and saw the beautiful, tiny flakes falling from the sky. Megan texted me, "It's snowing!" and I felt like dancing. Snow is one of the most gorgeous natural wonders in this world. The absolute purity of it and how it seems to transform everything into a cake with icing on it astounds me.

That picture is from last winter. I can't wait for everything to look like that again. It's a great season, really, winter. There's Christmas and New Years and my birthday and everyone is so cheerful. It's a time for everyone to take the time to recognize how much everyone means to them as they proceed into another section of their life. It's just as transforming as that snow on the trees.

I hope you jump for joy as the snow falls wherever you are. Just curl up in the warmth of your home with some hot chocolate and good music and watch the snow gather outside. It's a good start to the winter.

Peace out!

Did You Have a Good Thanksgiving?

I'm back in burly world! Back to the land of internet, TV, homelessness (as Megan just pointed out to me), noise, and class. Oh boy. The good news is I drove here so that was fun. I didn't kill anybody either. Joe was pretty scared, but I think after awhile he relaxed. The thing about my driving is I'm not really defensive, I just play it safe. That sort of sounds like a metaphor for my life. Kind of funny when you think about it.

Seriously...how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was pretty low-key. I actually cooked the dinner this Thanksgiving. My mom had to go in for surgery on Tuesday, the same day I came home so she wasn't able to. She fine now, by the way, and she seems to be healing pretty well. I just get nervous.

I was pretty proud of how well I was able to get everything together. My dad and I worked on Wednesday to prepare everything to be cooked on Thanksgiving day. I peeled the potatoes, baked a pumpkin pie, and cooked the stuffing. My dad washed the dishes. I guess he didn't really want to get his hands dirty.

Thanksgiving was a day where I got to pull out my inner Julia Child and rock out the home cooked meal thing. It was good too. Everything came together perfectly. The turkey was juicy, the potatoes creamy, the pumpkin pie spicy yet sweet, the squash yummy, and the gravy full of fat. Yep, the perfect Thanksgiving. Megan and I were also able to pull off our plan of bringing Velvet Thanksgiving. We weren't able to bring her to Lyndonville because Megan's gram didn't want us pulling off two trips to Burlington but we brought her a whole bunch of yummy Turkey Day food.

A good day. A good vacation. Now we're back.

Peace out!

Happy Thanksgiving

I danced the Single Ladies dance in my theater professor's living room Sunday night at our cast party. Our show finished its run this weekend which means the end of the rehearsals, the tech rehearsals, the dress rehearsals, and the last minute rehearsal calls (did I mention rehearsal?). Wow...what am I going to do with my time? Go to rehearsal! After Thanksgiving break (I leave tonight!), Music Makers is rehearsing for its concert, a concert I am to be a part of. Exciting things are in the works for the end of the semester and I can't wait to get involved!

This break is going to absolutely fantastic though. I can't wait to go home, see my kittens, and eat REAL FOOD! Also, sleeping in everyday is going to be amazing!

The only qualms I have with the whole thing are the facts that at my house there is no TV because my dad refuses to put our antenna back up on the newly finished roof and there is no internet because my mom refuses to have it. I can't win. So for five days there will be no status updates, no tweets, and no blog posts....sad....but I hope we can all take this time to spend with our family and friends. It's Thanksgiving, let's be thankful.

Plus...Megan's bringing Velvet back to Lyndonville to have Thanksgiving with us because Velvet doesn't have the means to get home for this break. So we decided (well, mostly Megan decided) that we're going to give Velvet a good (home-country!) Thanksgiving. I think Velvet deserves that.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace out!

This Really Happened

One of the funniest experiences happened to me today. My roommate Joe and I were walking down the sidewalk in the central campus of UVM today. We were talking about the name of the main character in Assassin's Creed 2, the awesome new video game Joe just got and has been playing religiously (for lack of a better word). His name is Eccio, and I thought it sounded a lot like the word Accio, the summoning spell from Harry Potter (SEE BLOG ENTRY: I'm A Nerd).

So then Joe and I began naming off random Harry Potter spells. I believe I won with Avada Kedavra, the killing charm. This then reminded me of the end of the seventh and final Harry Potter book. Here is the account of what happened:

SPOILER ALERT!

ME: I don't know, I think the end of the seventh book was kind of anti-climatic when Harry killed Voldemort. I mean, it was just, "Avada Kedavra, Expelliarmus!" Dead.
JOE: Yeah...
RANDOM GUY BEHIND US: What!? Harry kills Voldemort?!?!
ME: Umm...yeah...
RANDOM GUY BEHIND US: Watch where you fucking say shit like that!
ME: Okay...

Yeah, so neither of us could believe that that just happened to us. I mean, read a book. I think the guy was just messing with us, but still...It was hilarious anyway. One of the best moments ever.

Also what happened today...I registered for classes! That was very stressful and I have been basically forced to take 17 credits this semester because the only class I could only take was the spanish class which is a four credit class on top of the 4 credit theater lab I got (YAY!). But I guess I can handle it all. I am going to keep checking in and see if anything else opens, because it's kind of ridiculous. I have to replace it with something because otherwise I'm not going to have enough credits, but as of now, nothing is open. Awesome.

Peace out!

Dobra Tea

Okay, I'm going to put it im simple terms: if you are physically able to, go to Dobra Tea. This place rocks! Tonight, Megan and I decided we wanted to go on a sibling date, and I was paying because I owe Megan a lot for all the times I mooched off her in high school. Now that I'm rolling in bank, it's my turn to treat her. So I decided to take her to Dobra Tea. I had heard a lot about this place from tons of people, and I had seen the outside and heard lingering Buddhist awesome soothing music coming from the front door, but now I wanted us to experience the awesome ourselves.

We entered the Dobra Tea with high hopes. I mean, how can you go wrong with awesome loose-leaf tea and Buddhist asian atmosphere? You can't. So, we were seated in the back on this platform with pillows and a small low-sitting table in the middle with a solitary candle providing a beautiful aura (yeah, I'm getting fancy now). We ordered a Chinese green tea (I can't pronounce/remember the name), a Jerusalem pita (basically middle eastern fried dough but with a pita), and Czech honeybread (really good!). It was a delicious and enlightening experience.

And now onto something BIG...registration is tomorrow. I'm scared and nervous. It's so hard for a freshman to get into ANYTHING so this should be interesting especially because all of the classes I want are filling up. I have already had to come up with like four backups because all of these classes are being filled. It's ridiculous. I have learned a couple of things from some helpful theater kids though:

1) The system may crash halfway through registration (why are
there no freshmen?)

2) I need a backup for my backups for my backups (great...)

So it's pretty scary. Wish me luck!

Peace out!

Nightmare

I had a nightmare last night. It was about the end of the semester and I was going home for Christmas break. I had to go back there. Back to the sweaty, greasy, shitfilled hell of despair and torment that was my workplace. McDonald's. Yes, I work at McDonald's. It's a job, OK? Don't judge me!

Anyway, in my nightmare I went to the back and told my boss that I was available for all of Christmas break (Which is what I'm planning on doing at this time in the real world, not the dream world), and that was when my boss nodded his head and wrote on a piece of paper my hours for the next day (Mind you, he didn't speak this whole time, it was very weird. The only time he did say something was when he said hi to me. Weird.) and I saw them: 6:30 am-9:30 pm. I woke up in a cold sweat. I'm not kidding, this really happened last night.

Needless to say, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. I like the fact that working gives me my own money to spend and save, and it has helped me to build a pretty solid account, one that I'm proud of. I like my newfound financial freedom, even though I've found that I'm pretty stingy. I don't like where I work. At all. Not only is it usually 105 degrees in the grill where I work, but I also have to watch out because one of the drug dealers that works there might just shank me to steal my cell phone and sell it for cocaine. It's a scary workplace and I don't think I was built for it. But alas, here I am.

Christmas break is going to be pretty crappy with all of this, but it's nothing I can't handle. And I'll have the next semester to look forward to. Summer is going to be awesome, however because not only am I going to be working and making money, but I'm also going to be a leading role in a musical over the summer. This theater company that I have worked with before in Derby, VT wants to cast me as the lead. SCORE! I'm pretty excited to actually give my boss availabilities for once. I have a life! I won't be a slave to the man!

Hells yeah!

Peace out!

Jake's Weekend

This was an interesting weekend. So many things happened that I think I may have to delve into my planner to remember all the exact details so I can relay them to you, the blogsphere. For starters, Jake came over Friday afternoon. As I said before, Jake and I have been friends for a long time. It all started when Jake saved me from a bully (at least that's how we think the story goes). Jake and I live about two houses away from each other in the wonderful world of Lyndonville, and we have basically stayed together our whole lives. We rock. Basically. In high school, we made these movies called The Woods Conspiracy. They rock too.So anyway, between my three performances this weekend my roommate Joe and I hung out with Jake. A lot of that hanging out was centered around food. We went to Al's French Fries, went to Ben and Jerry's, ordered pizza, ate at the dining hall, etc. We had a really good time. It was awesome to have Jake here seeing how it's been FOREVER since we had seen each other. Also, a highlight of this weekend was POOL. The game, not the water fun place. We all basically kicked ass at pool at weekend. It was epic.

Now I come to today and my Godspell audition. I didn't get in. I didn't even get a callback. I thought I'd at least get a callback. Oh well. In an effort to try and make myself feel better about the matter, here are the reasons why this could be a good thing:

1. I can take the musical theater class! This is a very good thing. I am happy about this.

2. I can still be involved with tech crew by taking the scenery design class and building the set.

3. I can go to music makers!!!

4. I can make plans and not have to worry about rehearsals

5. There's always GLEE and next semester...LOST!

So all's well that ends well!

Peace out!

Anticipation

Anticipation is one of those emotions that makes you giddy and want to jump around like a little school girl. It also can be damaging, but we won't go there. What I want to talk about is the good kind of anticipation: the anticipation of a vistor, the anticipation of performing, and the anticipation of work (although that one isn't really as good).

This afternoon, my best friend Jake is coming over to hang out this weekend. Jake and I go way back. I think it was second grade we met and we've been friends ever since. Jake is awesome and I can't wait to see him because it's been a pretty long time since the last time we saw each other. He goes to Castleton State College and he is a technical theater major (lighting design, pretty awesome, why are we all not involved in theater?). I just hope we find some stuff to do, but it's going to be hard seeing how much I have to do this weekend with performances and such.

How about those performances? With opening night last night, we are beginning a ten performance run (I'm pretty sure it's ten, haven't done an official count) for two weekends. I'm stoked. It's so much fun performing in this theater because it's a black box, not what I'm attuned to. Also this Sunday are auditions to be in the musical Godspell. I'm really nervous because I have to sing and this theater hasn't really heard me sing yet. It's nerve racking. But I am going to sing "Purpose" from Avenue Q so that makes it worthwhile.

Along with the performances, and Jake coming over I also have to deal with all this work coming at me before Thanksgiving break. I have a test, a project due, a paper to write...yeah. It's okay, though, I got this!

The biggest anticipation I think I have right now is for Thanksgiving break. I can't wait to go home and eat FOOD! Real food, not the crap they serve here.

Well, right now I'm anticipating my laundry to be coming out of the dryer. Better go handle that.

Peace out!

I'm a Nerd

So I think it's official and everyone knows: I'm a nerd. It's totally true. I can quote Star Wars, I can spell Lando Calrissian, I know the titles to almost every episode of Lost, I wear glasses, I dress like a prep, and my hair is just...weird. But the thing I want to know is why every theater teacher/director I've ever known wants to highlight the fact that I am a nerd.

Jesse Culp: I got beat up on stage as a chorus member.

Erin Galligan: Where do I start? Henry in The Rememberer, Charlie Brown (!), Horton the Elephant, and John Jr. in The American Crisis. Erin did give me a chance, though. She cast me as Aaron McKinney, the murderer in The Laramie Project. She also cast me as Stephen Mead Johnson, the nerdy Unitarian Minister...

Sara Romero: Little Shop of Horrors, Seymour Krelborn. Need I say more?

Bess O'Brien: Danny, a nerdy freshman who is harassed into suicide. That was the best role I've ever played though, so that's okay. It was also the most powerful and the most connected I've ever felt to a character.

Finally, here I am in college and my professor (and director of the play I'm involved with) gave me my final scene for class yesterday. The play is entitled The Nerd. Guess who I am? You guessed it! THE NERD!

It's not like I'm not grateful for all the roles I've received or that it's not fun to play (and overplay) a nerd, but I would just like to do something else. I would like to be someone else. Playing Aaron McKinney in The Laramie Project showed me that I can be anyone and I can do anything on stage. It showed me how much I've grown as an actor and how much I can still mature. I would like that again.

Once again, maybe sometime soon!!!

Peace out!

P.S. Yes, those pictures are from high school!

Theater

The theater is an awkward place. It always has been, and it always will be. It is a place of immense artistic, intrinsic, and emotional value but it's also a place of awkward chats and sexual references. It is also the place where relationships can start, end, build, and be destroyed. It's where magic can happen or disaster can strike. The theater can strengthen and it can humble.

My theater (well, my high school theater) was my home for the past four years of my life. Now I'm facing wicked withdrawal and separation anxiety. I'm not saying that this theater here at UVM isn't awesome, because it is. I just...I'm not...I don't know what I'm trying to say. I think it's just because I'm not totally submersed in it yet. I need to do more. Right now, I feel very stagnant.

This theater has many promising qualities. There are many opportunities to get into productions here, and I found out yesterday that a theater major puts in more credit hours than a medical student here. That's kind of ridiculous but awesome at the same time. I have so much theater to look forward. But that's the point. Look forward. I want to do it now!

Maybe someday soon...

Peace out!

Tech Rehearsal...So Tired

I woke up at 8 am today. I was at 308 Feeley House. Now, I have been having this crazy week like I have told you before and the sleep I have received has been slim (about 5 hours a night). This combined with my overly complicated workload and constant rehearsals of which I am only needed for about 5 minutes creates a big, steaming broth of crap. Yay!

I guess that's what comes with college. But not only is all this overload of work coming down upon all of us and the time crunch of horribleness (I'm damn sure that's not a word), but the drama going down around 308 is thick. I mean, you could cut it with a knife. This whole week has been filled with fights and drunken stupors, and people running away, and tired zombie walks and dorm skipping and running down sidewalks and just...

Yeah, so that's what's going down around here. I'm trying not to be involved but I don't know how well that's working out. We're all a big family all of us at 308 and the surrounding area (of Vermont). We all have to be coherent, and these things happen. I love all of you guys! Peace! I don't know how well that's going to work...

On a lighter note...my family came over last night, and I got to go to a cast party. I ended up dancing the entire Single Ladies dance for them. They enjoyed that.

Until next time,

Peace out!

Youtube

I absolutely love Youtube. That is my statement for the day because it's completely true. Last night at rehearsal, we had an enormous break (what's new?) between having to actually do stuff. I don't know, maybe this is because I'm only in the play for 5 minutes, but whatever. A few of us got to watch some awesome Youtube videos, including the preview for next week's new episode of Glee where Kurt and Rachel are going to sing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked. Takes my breath away...



Here are some of the videos we watched:

Now, you're going to wanna laugh, but don't just listen...


This one's hilarious!


Totally reminds me of my cats!


Then I found this one on my own:


So I pretty much love Youtube! It's been pretty busy lately. The play is next week and I have a project due and I have two tests on Friday so if I don't post in awhile don't worry. Tomorrow I'm going to get my haircut for the play. I'll show you how it looks!

Peace out!

Spooky Time (Part 2)

Halloween=spectacular. Not only was this the first Halloween Megan & I had ever spent together in the seven or so years we've known each other, but I had a wicked awesome costume and I got to spend my first Halloween here in Burlington. So, overall, this Halloween was epic.

I was Sweeney Todd, Megan was Mrs. Lovett, Ashley was a fallen angel, Velvet was a bat, and Joe was a vampire (with very natural looking fangs). After Megan and Ashley returned from Lyndonville (LI won the game!), Joe and I walked over and got our costumes on then we went out. We decided not to trick-or-treat because nobody would give college students candy. So then we went to Church Street and the surrounding downtown area. Between dodging random drunk people who wanted their fucking pirate cups and sketchy people with their weird Halloween costumes, we were able to get some awesome pictures.

Then we went to see if we could find this theater party I was invited to. We walked all the way to Winooski to find it, and it was pretty much impossible. Epic fail. But we checked out Winooski and realized how beautiful it was. On the way walking back to Megan's dorm, we encountered some more weird people including a drunk Waldo who only wanted to be referred to as "Baldo" because he was a balling Waldo. Velvet thought that was interesting.

Then today I went to the musical theater workshop here at school where I got to meet the casting director of the Broadway musical Billy Elliot, the musical I got to see in January with my dad. You can only imagine how excited I was to sing in front of her and have her tell me that my singing was beautiful. One of the best things in my life.


What a great Halloween!

Peace out!

Lost!!!

Well, kids, I did it! I just watched the season 5 season finale of Lost. This concludes my rewatch of every episode of Lost ever aired. Some of you may think this is sad. I find an accomplishment. I am very proud of myself. If you find this creepy, I do not care. The only problem I have now is that I must wait 82 days until the season 6 (the final season) season premiere. But until then, Joe and I have decided to watch every episode of the original season of Digimon. And, of course, there's always Glee.

Peace out!

Spooky Time (Part 1)

BOO! It's Halloween time and I AM PUMPED! Halloween is just so much fun, and seeing how this is my first Halloween here in Burlington, we are going to have fun. The other night, the Me and the Feeley Three went to a haunted house in a dorm on Champlain campus. That was pretty awesome. I screamed a couple of times, but not as much as Megan. She wailed at this girl who was sitting on the stairs. I mean, we saw her, but then she made some kind of demon sound like Samara (you know, from The Ring?) on helium. That was scary. The whole place was made to look like a mental institution, but I don't think anything can feel as much like a mental institution like my old high school...good ole LI.

Then last night I went to the Halloween dance at Champlain. That was wicked awesome. I didn't get to go completely full out on my costume as I wanted to because I had rehearsal that ran late, and I had to change in the theater bathroom. Story of life. Anyway, the dance was pretty cool especially when Megan and I did our awesome dance rendition of Single Ladies. That's epic stuff right there, and yes I know the whole dance. I also did a Michael Jackson impersonation when Thriller came over the speakers, and that surprised everyone.

Tomorrow night is going to be epic as well. Once I'm done with rehearsal, and once Megan and Ashley get back from Lyndonville (I wish I could go!) we are all going to go trick-or-treating, going full out on our costumes like we couldn't do for the dance. Then after we're going to a theater kid Halloween party. (That's right, you heard me correctly.) It's going to be a fun night.

I'll keep you posted!

Peace out!

Big Doings

There's a lot of stuff going down here in the big, bad burly world (I did not coin this phrase...Jess did.) so I figured I would list them below:

1. I went home this weekend. I had a delightful time what with having a massive Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' house and finally getting to sleep in my own queen-sized bed. I also got to retrieve some new headphones. They're actually not new, they're just a spare I was keeping... But they replaced my old ones that almost KILLED me.

2. I got a huge collection of books to start research for this stupid religion project...AND I found another one of my group members. I informed them about the idea of individual research and then putting it altogether. She didn't enjoy this idea...obviously it's too much work. WELCOME TO COLLEGE, PEOPLE!!!

3. I signed up for the musical theater workshop here at UVM on Nov. 1st. This is also the informational meeting for Godspell auditions which are coming up soon! Now I have to prepare 16 bars from an uptempo musical number. Good thing I have a repertoire!

4. The monologue jukebox fundraiser that I was so psyched to be a part of was rained out today. But we still have Friday! You wanna know what else was cancelled? My costume fitting! Now I still have to wait to see my epic costume. Damn.

5. This monologue that I have to do for my theater class is really hard to memorize. WHY CAN'T HE JUST SPEAK CLEAR ENGLISH??? Well, because he's a hypochondriac... I DON'T CARE!!!

6. I found out I have rehearsal Thursday night. The same as the awesome Halloween dance party at Champlain. Good thing Megan came to my rescue. My rehearsal should be out in time, and we'll just go later. Along with this, I still have rehearsal on Saturday making it impossible to go home. AND Jess has to work until midnight so those Halloween plans fail. But we're just going to go trick-or-treating, watch some scary movies, and call it a night so it's not too bad.

7. I am officially a member of Music Makers! Thanks to a certain Velvet Williams who wonderfully asked Becky (the director) if I could join Music Makers, the kick ass singing group at Champlain, I am now a member! Starting next week, I get to go to all rehearsals! The only thing hinging on me performing at the concert is the fact that I haven't learned any of the music. but what Becky doesn't know is that I was in Select Choral Ensemble, I can do anything with music!! (not really...)

8. And on top of all that...there's no Glee tonight. Crap. All there is is the stupid World Series. Who needs that? Pssshhh! Oh well. We'll just have to find some other way to entertain ourselves at 308 tonight.

Peace out!

Monday Morning

*YAWN* I'm awake! I swear! It's Monday morning, and thanks to my teacher getting the flu (I hope she's OK!), I didn't have class this morning. So I got to sleep in until around nine o'clock and now I'm blogging. The sun is actually out today (The Beatle's song Here Comes The Sun comes to mind) and although it's cold, I think I can live with it seeing how fall is always beautiful in Vermont with sunshine.





I went home this weekend if only for one night. I had rehearsal on Saturday which kind of put a damper on my going home plan. I did that night though and yesterday my grandparents made a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Their going back to their winter home in Florida soon, so this was probably the last time I was going to get to see them before they left. So it was good family time before I had to be rushed back to the big bad Burly World.

It's okay though because the theater and my girls were there to welcome me back. We hung out last night, and because of our new fascination with the paranormal (see previous post) we tried out a ouija board in my room. It didn't work. Kind of an EPIC FAIL. Oh well, maybe we'll try again on Halloween.

Anywho, this coming weekend's plans have kind of been shot. I have rehearsal on Saturday which means I can't go home with Megan and Ashley to see our old high school's annual football tradition and see all of my friends, but I digress. I wanted to be in this play, and now I'm paying the consequences...

Peace out!

Paranormal Activity

Go see this movie! In fact, bring all your friends. Go as a HUGE group. This movie was amazing. I just went with the Feeley House Three (Megan, Jess, and Ashley) on an outing to a movie I don't think I'll ever forget. That movie was some shit!

Let me begin this story at the beginning...I was planning tonight to go to Nightmare Vermont with my roommate Joe and a few people we met at UVM, but that plan was epic fail, besides, why would I give up a night to spend time with my girls at 308? So after going to Jess' house to meet her brother Dylan, her Mom, and her step-Dad and grab the keys to the car, we went to Williston to the Majestic 10 theater (there's an escalator in there!).

After getting snacks we sat down for the movie...the lights went dark and the previews ran all the way through...then the fun started. I don't want to give anything away, but that was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life. I also thought it was done with such artistry and creativeness. It was great. Scarriest friggin' movie ever.

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think I was going to make it through this movie, but in the end I was so proud of myself. Good work, Paramount Pictures all those involved in that movie. Also, thanks to the audience we were watching this movie with. They were awesome, some of the best commentary and reactions I have ever seen with a horror movie.

Peace Out!

Teim

When God created the universe I believe He wanted the spelling of "team" to include an "I" like "teim" or the Spanish version "equipo". But humans, especially Americans, rebeled and changed the spelling to facilitate a meaningless phrase: "There's no I in TEAM!" This is definetely not the case in my group for my religion project.






Our task is to design a wiki on the college's Blackboard site about Chinese Buddhism's architecture, art, and music. Does that really sound that hard? Throw in a dysfunctional group of 5 and you got yourself a party! Not only did I have to watch today as one of my group members just walk off in the middle of a discussion. "K! I have a class at 4!" BUT I also have to deal with not knowing two of our group members. So I guess the only helpful one of the bunch is going to be the one who is failing the class. Great. At least someone's helping.

But at least we've got somewhat of a plan. We're all going to do independant research and then we're going to put it all together when we can finally meet. Sometime.

Anyway, I'm also unhappy because I found out I have rehearsal on Saturday which means I can't go home Friday night like I wanted to. Oh well. I'll just go after rehearsal. At least I get to have dinner at my grandparent's house! Seriously, that means awesome. If you've met my grandparents, you would totally understand. They're awesome and they cook wicked food. But this means I am probably going to go with Joe and a couple of friends we met here at good ole UVM to this interactive haunted house thing called "Nightmare Vermont". I get a reduced price ticket through the school, so this should be fun.

Peace Out!

Glee Night! (Again)

It's Wednesday which means it's Glee night! I'm so pumped. I'm here at 308 Feeley House with 35 minutes to go until Glee time. I wonder what's going to happen tonight. In real life, not too much is going on, kids. The only thing rocking and rolling is the grand webisode idea which has been approved for all audiences by the ladies at 308.




The basic synopsis that Megan gave for it is that it's sort of like That's So Raven only white, so it's going to be awesome. I have the first two episodes written and everyone has lots of ideas so once Jess gets all better (she's had a fever for the past 24 hrs. it's pretty bad) we are ready to film. More info (and backstage photos) to come...

So yeah, that's pretty much it except rehearsal was awesome last night. The set is almost done wich is awesome and I'm so excited to be doing stuff in this show. This can only lead to bigger and better things. This is really exciting, all of this acting stuff I've been doing because I really feel like I'm doing it all to move forward in my career and do something with my acting. Who knows? Maybe soon I'll get paid to act.

We can only hope!

But for now, peace out!

Actors Get Around

Wow, I haven't done a post in 2 days...sorry! It's been kind of busy! Between doing my homework and keeping track of everything for theater, most of which still isn't done, I'm just working on keeping up. Plus, last night Jess and I went back down to City Hall Park to film another movie! This time it was for Brittany and it was epic. Nevermind just screaming profanities at each other in the middle of the park in front of little children, but I also had to dump an entire cup of cold water into Jess' lap. And it's the middle of October! Sorry Jess... She's an awesome co star though and she's a kick ass actress.

On Sunday, I went to audition for the University Players improv troupe. It was fun, and after I stayed for the meeting of the UPlayers. Things are finally starting to happen around here and I'm finally getting to do all the acting and theater stuff I want! This is great! The only weird thing about Sunday was that every senior theater member there was completely hungover from this apparently rocking party that happened the night before. It was pretty hilarious watching them all almost puke everywhere as we play the sound/motion energy pass game.

And now...my new idea! So the girls at 308, my roommate, and I have decided that we want to get creative what with all the filming and acting we've been doing and make a series of webisodes that we write, direct, and film. We'll have one every week or so and we'll post it here, facebook, youtube, etc. So that'll be really fun.

Anywho, that's all for now. Hope you have a good Tuesday.

Peace out!

I Miss Everyone, I Use Up A Lot of Headphones, and I Am A Klutz

I'm sort of homesick again. I need to get over it, really. But that's okay because after a conversation with my grandparents and my parents (I think the whole parents angle is covered...) I believe I am going home next weekend back to the luxurious and majestic Northeast Kingdom. Who am I kidding? But seriously, I think it'll be a good weekend after this really long and busy week I have lined up here. Tengo muchas cosas hacer including a Spanish oral exam (it sounds like I'm going to the dentist). Also, I really miss a lot of people including my brotha from anotha motha Jake and last night I realized how much I miss my other friend (and sista from anotha mista) Thelmaleta. I won't be able to see Thel next weekend seeing how she's going to Texas for college, but maybe there's a chance I'll get to see Jake.

On another note...I lost another pair of headphones today. My precious cool blue headphones that I love so much died today. Well, they didn't really die but I think that when your earbuds start to electrocute your inner ear, you have a problem. So I threw them out. There seem to be a lot of technical difficulties lately. First my computer crashes, then Megan's, and now Ashley's precious MacBook is on the fritz. It sort of looks like the screen shattered, but it totally didn't. Weird.

And finally on the list, I am a klutz (and possibly a putz). This is because I almost wiped out twice today in front of my dorm on the stupid rocks. Wow. Oh well. Tonight will be fun. Joe and I are going to the UMall once he gets back from racquetball to go get some Halloween decorations!

Just so long as I don't break a bone along the way...

Peace out!

Makin Movies

I'm just sitting here in Feeley House listening to old "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" songs (An awesome musical we did in high school. I was Charlie.). We're trying to warm up after spending three hours filming a movie for Jess' friend Sarah's film project. ADD ONE TO THE RESUME!

It was soooo much fun and acting with Jess was awesome! I love her acting! This chilly movie making experience was combined with random passerbys walking around, staring at us like we were friggin Hollywood actors. It was pretty great except for the cold. But I guess I can't complain as a Vermonter, at least that's what Jess said.

On the way home after a pee break at the mall, we all saw this street performer jumping through a hoop of fire. It was epic, only the guy was kind of stupid. But that's what makes the whole experience worth while.

Tonight's going to be a different kind of night here at Feeley House. Normally I sleep on the couch in their common room, the couch I firmly declared MINE. But tonight, the other roomies have a friend over which I guess is fair seeing how I'm ALWAYS here. So I'm going to sleep on the floor of the bedroom or on Megan's bed curled up like a cat. Oh well...

See you in the morning!

Peace out!

P.S.

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My Fight With A Washing Machine

I decided to do my laundry today because my hamper was overflowing and I'm not going to have time tomorrow what with filming a movie and all (I read the script, it's awesome. I'm playing a hitman. Woot!).

So I carried my epic amount of laundry down the stairs to the laundry room where I found that not many people do their laundry on Thursdays. Almost all the machines were opena nd there wasn't anyone in there. I guess this is a good thing seeing how what happened next would not have fun with someone watching...

I loaded one of the machines, poured my detergent in, shut the door, swiped my card, and "started" the machine. Nothing happened. The water ran, but the machine wasn't going. I was baffled. Why wasn't the machine sloshing and moving and making noises like it was going to eat me? Needless to say I got very impatient with the machine so I stopped it and threw my sopping wet clothes into the machine next to it, spreading soapy water all over the door and all down myself, and started that one up. The water ran, and nothing. So now I have two machines going, one empty and one full. I decided to just let it go.

When I came back, the laundry was all clean and dandy. It just goes to show that patience is a virtue...a virtue I don't have.

The moral of this story: leave the washer alone. It'll do its thing if you let it.

Until next time,

Peace out!

How Sue C's It!

We just watched Glee. Amazing. I cried. And peed my pants. This show is brilliant in every way. The music is inspiring, the acting is beautiful, and the storyline has me on edge. We here at 308 Maple LOVE this show.

So this week has been very good. Everything has gone well and normal. I really feel like I've gotten a routine down here at UVM, and now it's just rolling along. My classes are going well, and God seems to be helping me along. I think I'm finally really happy where I am.

And today is Wednesday so that means Glee/Eastwick night! After trying to go to a meeting with my acting teacher that was perpetually cancelled, I met Megan and Velvet for dinner and then we came back to the dorm. Megan and I took about 5 million pictures for our awesome new facebook album. We haven't taken many this year, and we really wanted to show how much fun we were having at college. :)

This Friday I get to film a movie! I'm meeting Jess and a friend of hers who is a film major @ Champlain to make an awesome movie. I don't know what it's about yet, and I haven't read the script yet but I know this is gonna be awesome. I'm so excited for Friday! I'll keep you updated.

This was the best song in this week's episode: (Hopefully this whole embed thing works, if not then you're gonna have a whole bunch of 0's and 1's and computer code to look at hahaha)

Project

The weekend is over. The epic weekend full of contra dancing, laughing, movies, 308 Maple St., and other totally amazing adventures is over. Now I'm back in weekday life. Kinda sucks. I realize just how much crap I have to do, what I'm behind on, what I missed, what I have to work extra hard for now, and what needs to be organized. Damn.

I was so organized with my schedule before I came to college. Now I feel completely disorganized. My planner is being used, but I get so confused because of everything happening and the weird scheduling conflicts and times. It's really awkward.

I have this group project in my religion class that I have to do. Now, failure is not an option and my group members don't seem very motivated to work. Maybe it's just me not being able to trust other people when it comes to school work, but I am NOT gonna fail. Even if I have to do all the work myself.

Peace out!

Another Great Amount of Business!

So this has been an amzing weekend, and with tomorrow being Sunday, that means it will soon come to an end. Unfortunetely. But our plans for the month will be amazing, especially Halloween weekend where I think we're planning on coming home for the epic St. J/LI football game @ my old high school. But for now, I gotta get back to working and this once again appears to be more than I can bite off, chew, and fully digest. But hopefully I can get it all done tomorrow if I can get some time.

You see, today I spent most of the day with Michele, a friend from high school who's birthday is this weekend. I like Michele, and sometimes she can be a good friend, but she's incredibly overbearing. So when she asked if we could hang out tomorrow for a little bit before she left, I just...well I'm bad at saying no, let's say. But I think we're just doing lunch so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, and then I can meet my crew in the Champlain library for a homework party. Hopefully all of this can get done, but really it's my fault.

There's just so much crap going on lately. And I feel so bad for Megan. I love you Megan! Keep on keepin' on, even through all the bullshit. *sigh* there's just so much to be done, and so little weekend for it all to happen and still have fun in the process.

Peace out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqMPDEGEAeA

Contra Dancing

CONTRA DANCING IS THE MOST EPIC DANCING EXPERIENCE EVER!!! I just had the best time of my life. First of all, I had an awesome time with my mom and i was so happy to spend time with her, because with rehearsal for the play and everything there may not be time for me to come home.

AND THEN...Ashley's family was here and took me, Ashley, Velvet, and Megan to this church on Flynn street where we were the participants in the most epic dance experience ever. Contra dancing. Yes, contra dancing. It was AMAZING!!! It was like a dance party except everything was coreographed and everyone knew the dance moves. We all switched off as partners and rocked out the dance floor! It was the best! I felt like I was in a musical and was a character banging out the whole dance floor in a fit of raging awesomeness.

Yes, that's my description of contra dancing. There's a video of it below. It may look kind of weird and dorky, but it's incredibly fun and great exercise. Try it sometime :)

Peace out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9L0dz3qmsc

Compute

Hey ya'll! What's up? Today was a pretty chill day. My theater class was cancelled so I went with a couple of my new theater buddies to the cyber cafe to watch Glee yet again. (This was the second time) and now I've just watched it a third time with Jess. (Why do I not love Glee?)

So I'm here back in 308 Maple St. where I'm pretty much staying for the whole weekend. The beva feva dance last night wasn't as much fun as we thought it was going to be, but we made it fun anyway, especially when Single Ladies came on (I love those moves!) And tonight, we're just chillin' cause tomorrow I'm spending the day with my mom. I'll let you know how that goes. :)
I'm actually pretty excited because I miss her. As much as I don't really want to admit it, I really miss my family. It's kind of hard being over here and not with them, but I'll get over it. I have to.

So anyway, that's what's going through my mind right now. We're going contra dancing tomorrow night on this weekend full of fun so I'll write about that tomorrow!

Peace out!

I Got Felt Up

So for today's adventure, I had to go to my costume measurment -taking thing for the play. I was wicked excited because it means that things are finally starting to happen with me and the theater group here.

I went at 4:00 p.m. my scheduled time and went down into the basement of the Royall Tyler theater where the costume shop is. I was mildly nervous seeing how this was the first time I was going to meet the costume director and plus I'm not very good with body measurments. I get sort of self-conscious. But anyway, I went and we started doing the measurments.

Boy, did he get a little personal with the inseam! I was like, "Whoa, buddy!", but he was extremely professional.

All in all, I'm so happy that things are finally starting to look up for me here at UVM and in the theater department. At the end of our session, the costume director asked me if I was a first year, and I said that I was. He said, "Good. Great to meet you." And he smiled. I think it's a good sign.

ALSO...tonight's festivities are gonna be off the hook! There's a dance at Champlain tonight and Megan has invited me to party all night long! It's the beava feva dance (for those of you who don't know, the Champlain mascot is the beaver) and I'm pumped. I get to pretend I'm a Champlain student tonight. Can't wait! And it's Glee time! All good things rolled up into one!

And with that I say Peace Out!

WOW...Am I Psychic Or What?

So...as soon as I type "can't wait till tomorrow...can't wait for something to happen...can't wait for anything" as my facebook status, meanwhile sighing into my sadness over being sad (is that a double negative?) I check my UVM email. There is awaiting me an email from the stage manager for the play I'm in here at UVM. Apparently, I have rehearsal tonight. And apparently, I was supposed to come to a costume fitting at 3 this afternoon. I have class until 3:45. Damn. I was supposed to respond to the email about whether I could go or not by 10:30 a.m. It was 10:40. Damn. So I responded as fast as I could, saw the stage manager later, and got the whole thing straightened out.

The thing I learned was that maybe I shouldn't be so sad that nothing's happening or feel depressed that I'm not doing enough theater. Because, really I am. I should be happy with what I do have. It's like freshman year of high school all over again. If that's true, then I'm sure something great is coming on the horizon.

But I still can't wait until tomorrow night!

Peace out!