Who put you in charge?

You can only be young once. But you can always be immature. ~Dave Barry So, this was my big free day to do whatever I wanted. Possibly the last one of the semester. I don’t have any classes, and after my shift in the admissions office I was free from noon to 6. But Christy’s son got sick this morning and she had to run out and take him to the hospital. This left the office practically empty because all of the admissions counselors are out at college fairs around the country. So Courtney asked me to stay the rest of the day. So my 2 hour shift turned into 6. But hey, who am I to complain about getting paid more? Staying in the office all day allows for the opportunity to speak with all sorts of people. Young and old, those you think are young but are old, and those you think are old but are young. People call and ask for counselors who don’t exist and high school advisors call insisting that the person who doesn’t exist made an appointment for their school function. Many people call requesting applications. Some call demanding them. I have to admit to far too many people that I don’t actually know anything. “I’m sorry, but I’m just the phone assistant and all of our counselors are gone. Could you call back tomorrow?” and get the hell off my case? Ah well, such is life, and it’s more entertaining than miserable. So I come out on top.

Mead Dreams

In the spirit of acclaimed dream journalist Steve Livengood: I know I’d been dreaming before this but the first thing I remember was being in this large house that was still under construction. Many of my friends were there, but they were all nondescript. Someone was eating pasta out what looked like an orange juice carton, but for pasta. He was apparently displeased and made Beth Leatherman call customer service to complain. At first she seemed to be joking but then became genuinely upset over this boxed pasta. Afraid of a woman scorned, I left. I was driving down a country road in my dad’s truck. I was being generally negative about everything (inspired by Beth, I suppose). I came upon a possum and tried to hit it because I was accusing it of being a bad actor (I guess I’d seen it “playing possum” and had been unimpressed). At this point I realized I was being ridiculous. Then at the side of the road, hiding by a tree, I saw a very Goth chick from the ren fair, muttering angrily to herself. Then she threw a large throwing star at my truck and it barely missed. I wasn’t angry because it turns out she was throwing them at bats. Now I was at the house I grew up in. I was happy the ren chick was taking care of the bat problem, but I was still nervous. Then my dog came out and started chasing bats. She actually caught one and I was very proud. Then she caught a mogwai. Yes, from Gremlins. I could instantly tell that it wasn’t Gizmo and would turn that night because of my convenient unnoticing, so I let her chew on it. Then my little brother started to cry (I don’t have a little brother, for the record) so I made Katie put it down. I had my digital camera and was video taping the scene for nothing more than benign interest. We then went inside and I said hi to my dad. Then I heard something crash, and I knew that it was my iPod. I tried to tell dad they took it, but for some reason he couldn’t understand. At this point I knew that the little bastards were conspiring like some bad kids’ movie from the early nineties; I was the mean older brother and they were the comical child/creature team. Then somehow I was being held prisoner in my house by Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. I think I woke up because it was just too random.

lazy but informative post

In leiu of actually sitting down and blogging, here's a letter I wrote to my mother. So, a lot has happened. Enough to prevent me from being able to tell you because I’m busy almost all the time. 1. Major Barbara For my independent study, I was to stage manage Major Barbara. In order to do this I would either have to have a small part or none at all. But Mrs. Craig wanted me to audition anyway. Drop/Add period ended on September 2. It was contingent upon my independent study whether I dropped Mass Communication (a class I didn’t need) or not. So in the Registrar’s office, I posed my predicament and they seemed to understand, but still I was fairly sure that the SM position would go through. Another important issue was the availability of Opera Workshop, a class that was teetering on existence due to the fact that nobody was signed up. Anyway, it was very complicated. It was a great scene on Thursday night to see me sobbing against a wall while greeks I didn’t know tried to console me. But after my excursion to the Registrar, here’s what we worked out: Rhetorical Communication 3 Creative Writing 3 Film Independent Study 3 Theatre Practicum 1 Guitar 1 Voice Lessons 1 Sculpture 2 Opera Workshop 1 15 I added a credit to Sculpture so now it’s 2 credits instead of 1. They also let me drop my independent study without a “W” on my form. My days are free, but my nights are insane. We had our first read-through last night and we only got through the first two acts because it’s so LONG. But the cast seems good, and I’m excited especially after the Shaw Festival… 2. Shaw Festival Like the transition? We left early Saturday morning, all in College minivans (very classy). I rode with Dr. Dixon and pretty much slept the whole time listening to my iPod and snoozing on my blue squishy pillow. We stopped by the falls for fifteen minutes and realized that was the best possible plan. Normally people come to visit the falls and stay there for hours, watching. “It just keeps falling! It’s not doing anything else!” Then we played car tag by finding different places to meet because we kept getting separated and some of the drivers were inept (only at driving. They all had PhD’s.) The hotel, back to the falls, finally McDonald’s but one of the groups didn’t make it to eat… fun. The first play we went to was “Major Barbara,” which was against Mrs. Craig’s wishes (she wasn’t on the trip and Caitlin and I, the only two who were in the cast and on the trip didn’t plan on telling her. She found out anyway). But really it just made me very excited about the play. It’s very preachy and very Shaw, but the 3 hours flew by and it sparked some great discussion. That’s actually Mrs. Craig’s goal: to spark a lot of discussion on our Christian campus. After dinner in the town (pretty, but expensive) we went to a musical called “Happy End.” By intermission we realized it was named that because everyone was happy that it finally ended. It was set in the 30’s and it was about mobsters and the Salvation Army. The playwright was big on keeping the audience from becoming emotionally involved with the characters so they could appreciate the work, so there were all these strange theatrical elements thrown in that just confused us. It was an hour shorter, but it felt twice as long as “Major Barbara.” Coming back the next morning I rode in Dr. Mrs. Dixon’s car. Big mistake. She’s a psycho behind the wheel. She jerks the car around on the interstate and hits the gas pedal in spurts instead of holding it. At one point, when we were all practically asleep, Dr. Mrs. just screams. “Sorry, I looked up and that man was tailing me.” I sent you a picture. 3. One Acts Monica and I are in trouble with our peers because I’m directing one and acting in hers. You know mine; I made you read it. The other one I’m in, “Wanda’s Visit,” is about a couple who lets the man’s old high school girlfriend visit. But it turns out that she’s pretty much crazy. It’s a lot of fun. 4. Work I’ve been a tourguide for 2 ½ years, they like me a lot, and I have an open schedule, so they hired me as phone assistant. I work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00-12:00 and I still give tours. So I’m working about 8-9 hours a week, which is nice for pocket money. It’s pretty fun. It’s nice to know what offices are like that aren’t Cathy’s. Today was my first day and I made a few mistakes. Somehow I’d done a combination of putting someone on hold and forwarding them to another building, leaving them in limbo where neither I nor the person they were going to could release them, listening to Tom Jones. 5. Class Yeah. I do that too. Guitar – pretty fun. Very entry-level. I was afraid that everyone would be really good and just taking a class, but luckily for me, they’re morons. I may suck, but in that little room I’m a star. Rhetorical Communication – Exceedingly boring. Yet another class with Dr. Brown, I think everyone’s ready to be rid of him. Opera Workshop – We just got our music yesterday. I like one of the songs. It’s a lot like “major general” from “Pirates of Penzance.” Theatre Practicum – the class where you just turn in an hours sheet for work done in theatre. It’s even easier now because I don’t have to set aside time for my Stage Manager independent study. Sculpture – I feel a little behind because it’s a two hour class and I can only go to one hour. So while people are ahead of me, I still have until midterms to finish my clay sculpture. Film – It’s still in “pre-production,” meaning I haven’t started yet. But I have talked to my cast and I’m getting dates put together. Voice Lessons – I had my first one on Thursday. She’s really great. It’s awesome to have one-on-one training. In that first lesson I was able to sing higher and more comfortably than ever. I think she wants me to sing opera, though… Creative Writing – So much fun. I’m reading more and writing a lot and it’s pretty fun. Right now we’re in my element of simple essays. Here’s something I wrote for Friday: Why Wait? “The early bird gets the worm,” but the lazy bird waits until a nice rain and gorges himself at his own personal smorgasbord. Consistently through our education, procrastinators have been belittled and tormented by those who think they have it all figured out. But whatever happened to “good things come to those who wait”? If the world would only listen, it would understand that procrastination has much to offer. While the A-types busy themselves with planners, calendars, expensive hand-held computers and cell phones, procrastinators can spend their time and money more wisely. The procrastinator spends almost all his time doing exactly what he wants. The task-master wastes his day with boring tasks and obligations. The procrastinator then optimizes his evenings by doing his work into the wee hours while the one who finished early wastes his night away, unconscious and oblivious to the exciting world around him. Procrastinators always appear easy-going because they truly don’t have a care in the world. Diligent people appear to enjoy their “free time,” but are actually obsessed with planning when to do their next assignment, monopolizing all their time to a life left wanting. There are other benefits of being a procrastinator. Those who have truly mastered the art actually accomplish a number of important things. As alternatives to doing “work,” a skilled procrastinator is able to occupy himself rearranging his furniture, cleaning out his refrigerator, making up his grocery list, checking all of his friends’ blogs, scheduling lunch dates for the rest of the week and even vacuuming. The so-called hard-worker is not productive. Yes, he may have a stack of papers, spell-checked and on their fifteenth drafts, but is he really better for it? “Luck favors the prepared,” but in order to keep the integrity of its lucky nature, luck favors a plethora. Things will all work out for the best, and just in case, there’s always coffee. 6. Collegian Boring, but looks good on a résumé. 7. My Room My single is very very nice. It’s a little small, but it’s my space and I love it. I just wish it would get cold soon. This warm weather is making it very stuffy in here even though I have the windows open day and night.