The snow is slowly falling outside the large windows, the sky a milky grey. The flakes drift through a new air brought on by a new year. A fresh start. The air is chilly, but familiar like an old friend. It's reminiscent of winters long gone: of sledding down hills, skiing across open countryside in the colorful dusk, snowball fights, and warm afternoons with hot chocolate. It's also the snowfall of new adventures and memories yet to come. 2011 was quite a year, definitely busy, and it was full of amazing memories and good adventures.
It was a very stormy winter in haunted Converse and Megan as an R.A. at Quarry (aka The Q). There were lots of treks across frozen tundra and cold walks.
I received one of the most epic birthday cakes of my life shaped like the Doctor's TARDIS. Thank you Kendra!
Twelfth Night was an awesome and fun show to be a part of!
I was a part of the Catamount Singers and took an amazing improvisational movement class which changed a lot of my views of performance and opened myself up to new possibilities.
Megan and I started a brand new adventure as a couple.
UPlayers had a very successful semester this spring with an awesome bake sale , cabaret, and scavenger hunt!
I got a new job at UVM this summer and got to live and explore in Burlington during a beautiful summer. And I saw things like waterless toilets. Weird.
Megan and I took a trip to Cape Cod to see Ashley after her epic semester in Ireland.
The Doctor, his Roman Goddess, and the Gypsy had an epic and classy Halloween weekend.
I had ovaries.
HAIRSPRAY! happened after all that hard work and a debilitating bout of bronchitis...
I also flexed a technical muscle in designing the lights for Toys this year. AND I was a teacher's assistant this semester, something that I loved doing and it confirmed my drive to be a theatre teacher. This summer I also started a "Ryan Performs in Places" segment on my blog which has been a lot of fun and a great outlet. I'm hoping to expand on it this year and possibly make a new blog for performances and writing. Hope to see you there!
I got my Dad a hoodie-footie for Christmas. Winning.
Iris had a good Christmas.
Finally, this Christmas and New Years was a lot of fun and full of Christmas cookies, family, and friends. The New Year concluded for Megan and I in Barre/Montpelier Vermont with one of our good friends Rosie. We went to the First Night dance party and then saw them release these beautiful paper, fire-lit lanterns into the night sky.
The forest smelt of spice and moisture settled on fallen leaves. The air filled with the murky dusk which settled like an ominous force upon the earth. All around were the noises of nature created a perfect harmony with the song which drifted on the evening wind. Drop, drop...a gentle rain cried upon the layer of mud and leaves, and over in the tallest tree sat a lone mourning dove whose throat gurgled in sadness. The birch trees showed their thick, white skins, radiating the reflected light from the cloudy atmosphere. In an act of surrender, the trees reached their branches to the sky. Along their bases drifted the misty lights of several fireflies in a vain attempt to illuminate the dusk.
From the darkness, the witches emerged to play. Their tiny feet pranced and trampled atop the matted forest floor, dancing between and around the trees, smacking the trunks with their calloused and withered hands. The slaps extended in the cold air to reverberate above the dark arms of the sky. It was a gathering, a nightly meeting consisting of numerous witches whose cries of joy and celebration filled the air. Their skin was several shades of green and brown, and they were covered in warts. Their grey hair flew up in fading locks around the brims of their pointed, crumpled black hats.
All at once, their singing grew into a chorus which shrieked over all the trees and the hillocks and the noises of the forest. Each yellowed smile of the witches joined into the jubilee, making the ruckus into a party. They danced closer to a dilapidated cabin which was overgrown in underbrush and forestation. It was very small, maybe no bigger than a closet or a doghouse, but it had a tiny window and a shingled roof which made it almost homey. The witches moved closer, sniffing the air and embracing the dusk. Each holding the hands of her nearest sister, the witches formed a circle around the cabin.
One of the hags stepped forward and grasped into the inner blackness of the cabin. With a grunt and wrench of her poor old arms, the witch pulled an enormous black cauldron from the depths of the cabin. Together, the witches brought the cauldron into a nearby clearing as the sky grew darker. One of the sisters bent down beneath the cauldron and exhaled upon the molding leaves upon the ground. Slowly the leaves dried and sparked so that the fire burned heavily to heat the cauldron.
As the firestarter stepped back in to the circle, another came forward placed her hands above the cauldron. A pool of green liquid began to form at the base of the cauldron, bubbling and boiling upwards until in was level with the brim. The witches cheered as the fireflies circled overhead, dancing and mingling the sparks from the fire so that they seemed one and the same. Bluish-green smoke rose of the hot liquid and curled to meet the tree branches. The witches were pleased with their work, and raised their arms in appreciation of the night, of life, and of creation. With a sweep of their arms, all of it disappeared. They vanished, and all that was left were the trees and the noises of the night.
This year I am totally into the Halloween season. This October seems so incredibly creepy especially with the rainstorms and constant black clouds we've had in the sky. I've been smelling pumpkin spice and drinking hot apple cider for the past month, and I can't wait to unveil my Halloween costume this weekend. I've made this awesome Halloween playlist this year to get me even more into the mood. Enjoy:
"Helter Skelter" from Across the Universe
"Spoooky Mormon Hell Dream" from The Book of Mormon
"Bloody Mary" by Lady Gaga
"Cannibal" by Ke$ha
"The Woman's Dead" from Curtains the Musical
"Slipping" from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
"Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
"Monster" by Lady Gaga
The whole soundtrack from Rocky Horror Picture Show
"Thriller/Heads Will Roll" from Glee
"Battlefield" from Cirque du Soleil's Ka
"Be Prepared" from The Lion King
"Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors)" from Little Shop of Horrors
"Run Like, Um...Hell?" from Lost
"Monsters Are Such Interesting People" from Lost
"El Tango de Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge
"I'm Alive" from Next to Normal
The whole soundtrack from The Phantom of the Opera
"Rude Boy" by Rihanna
"The Dark I Know Well" from Spring Awakening
The whole soundtrack from Sweeney Todd
"E.T." by Katy Perry
"Thriller" by Michael Jackson
The whole soundtrack from Wicked
"Disturbia" by Rihanna
Hope you have a rocking start to your Halloween. Be spooky, be kooky, and have fun!
1 Pink Bob Wig
1 White Vinyl Bow Headband
1 Pair of Aviator Glasses shaped like the theater masks with Lace tied to it taken from the UVM costume shop scrap box
A Shit Ton of sparkly eye, face, and lip makeup - made for hookers
1 Piece of sliver, shimmery fabric used as a necklace; also taken from the scrap box
1 Women's Leopard Print Bathing Suit Top with gold chains
1 Navy Blue Suit Jacket
1 Pair of Pink Tiger-Striped Booty Shorts
1 Pair of Rubber Winter Boots
2 Strips of Crim Scene Tape
Bobby Pins
Rainbow Nail Polish (done by Ashley)
1 Pink Dishwashing Glove
Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!
These random raven/crow/bird things were swarming Champlain campus on Halloween day. Creepy.
