Well, Micheal Jackson is dead. It's a sad day, indeed.
As a Blogger, I'm unofficially obligated to write an entry about this. Most are writing tributes, expressing their shock, fondly reminiscing on the influence the infamous prince of pop had on their lives. The world of Blogging is basically nothing but a long series of obituaries, touching eulogies written by people who never actually said a word to him in his life.
Which is my major problem. Michael Jackson has had virtually no influence on my life. I mean, yes, we used to do jazz warm-ups to "Beat It" and "Thriller" back when I took dance, and I always sort of associate at least "Beat It" with Holly Jane Dance Center's old North Hampton studio. Oh, and I suppose I remember being in a play once where we had a dragon randomly breaking out into a rather out of place rendition of "I'm Bad". Oh, and then there was the time my cousin Miriam tried to do the entire thriller dance at a family party, and the time someone lip-synced to the scary spoken part at a friend's birthday party, and the time I saw a documentary on him when I was little and thought he was a woman...
Yeah ok, I lied. Despite wanting to claim that Michael Jackson had no influence on my life, he clearly did. It was small, it wasn't particularly significant, but it was there, lurking in the tiniest details, forgotten about until he made national news. Again.
But, if I can claim even the tiniest bit of significant influence from him, than can't everyone? Micheal Jackson has, as creepy as it is to think, in some form or another, entered the lives of everyone. And I mean everyone, as CNN is currently telling me. The world is mourning Michael Jackson, it doesn't matter where you're from, who you are, whether or not you've heard of him, whether or not you liked him, you're still mourning him.
He really was everyone's favorite child molester.
It's funny how the news is currently portraying him. He was a bit of a joke up until now. He's gone from this deeply disturbing, hopeless, frightening person, to a "tortured genius" His molestation trials are being glossed over in favor of listing the amount of Grammies he's won. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I mean, we all know he's a scary child molester, we all watched the trials on TV when they happened, it's not like we really need to be reminded that's he's not perfect, right? It's obvious. It's just...interesting. It's interesting how quickly public opinion changes when a person dies. His influence on the music industry had been all but ignored in favor of constant mockery and ridicule, but when he died, he went right back to being the "Prince of Pop". We're, for some reason, absolutely terrified of insulting the dead, and as a result we make saints out of the deceased, no matter what kind of person they were.
Public opinion appears to not be entirely swayed. I put out a request for comments on Facebook asking for opinions on the death. I received the following:
"i find it really weird i didnt think he could die lol thats odd but idk all the plastic made me not think of him as a person (dont mean to sound mean)"
- Wynter Rachel Jordan
"The news broadcast said "Michael Jackson dead at age fifty."
My first thought was "He's fifty?! Oh dear GOD!"
The news of his death was less of a surprise."
- Miriam Rimkunas
"The real shame of it is, he was a real good looking fella."
- Judy Dufour
And, what is quite possibly my favorite, if in somewhat bad taste:
"He's pretty much the biggest creeper I can think of."
- Casey Morrill
So basically, unlike what CNN seems to be saying, people seem slightly unsure of how to react to this. I mean, he was talented, he was the Prince of Pop, but...he was really creepy. Like, really creepy. How do you mourn that? Do you honor him or do you continue to make fun of him? I mean, he's probably the easiest comedy target on the planet, but can you really keep targeting him now that he's gone.
Or is it just that random human fear of insulting the dead talking?
Personally, I think the best way to deal with this is to listen to a copy of "Thriller", and move on. You don't have to do much to honor this guy. Considering how loud and eventful and controversial his life was, how full of mocking and abuse it was, I think the best way to honor him is to take a moment and not insult him. Listen to "Beat It" without making a joke about child pornography. Think of him as a person, and not as a joke. Just for a moment.
Oh, and also take a moment to remember Farrah Fawcett, since she's sort of been getting the shaft for happening to die on the same day as Michael Jackson.
And so, whether you knew him as a charismatic, horribly abused, high pitched, ten-year-old, a talented, chart-topping, flamboyant pop star, or a creepy, eccentric, child-molesting, lawsuit-inducing joke, we bid farewell to the infamous Prince of Pop. Dear Michael, you shall be somewhat inconsistently remembered forever more.
Try not to break Google,
*Nelly*
About Me
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Milestones
So I’ve graduated. And turned eighteen. All in one week. I am now a high school graduated, college bound, legal adult.
It is now officially pathetic for me to still watch cartoons.
Despite it being a somewhat monumental birthday, I have to admit, I almost forgot about it. It’s sort of like when you have your birthday right around Christmas, there’s so much going on, and everyone’s scrambling around and buying presents and planning these big events, that your own birthday kind of falls to the side. I mean, it’s not every day you go through a major life transition. Birthdays happen every year, graduation only happens once. Well, high school graduation, at least.
It’s weird, a part of me wants to write this really in-depth, ultra-introspective, sentimental piece for this, like the sort of thing I usually write when major things happen in my life, but for this, it just seems…redundant. I’ve been listening to deep and meaningful speeches about the transition from high school to life, adolescence to adulthood, all those things, for weeks now. Everywhere I went, Six Flags, York Beach, class day, NHTP, the graduation itself, my church, even my sister’s dance recital, everything seems to love to remind you that you’re moving on. I’ve been honored and recognized and handed certificates all week, and now, with everything ending, and all the pomp and circumstance finally over, I feel like everything’s already been said.
I am immensly glad to be done with high school. It hit me on the post-grad boat (a really cool Boston harbor cruise) how utterly releived I am that it’s finally over. After the hellish experience of senior year, the planning, the plotting, the identity issues, the self-deprication, the loss of confidence, the demonic teachers, everything that I’ve been going through this year (which is, admittedly, not that much…) I finally realized that I never have to worry about any of that ever again. It was kind of like achieving an inner peace, except with a bunch of freezing, sleep-deprived teenagers on top of a boat. Everything’s finally over. It’s done. I’m done. I don’t have to worry about any of the stupid things I’d been worrying about throughout this year, I can finally just calm down.
That being said, it’s only beginning to really hit me that I’m no longer a high school student. Everytime that realization has creeped up on me, so far, it’s been a really nice feeling. But for the most part, it still feels like I’m going to have to go back to Wheeler-Smith’s room first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll still have to deal with my intense inadequacy issues while singing next to certain people in Honors Choir, I’ll still have to question my identity in Psychology, I’ll have to endure another pointless assignment in Sci-Fi, and sit through a bunch of jocks refusing to broaden their horizons and actually watch a decent movie in Film Studies. It’s all so familiar, the idiocy, the cruelty, the tediousness, everything I hate about high school. I can’t picture my life without it. Can it really be over? Have I really finally reached that point where I’m able to go leave the stupidity of high school, take away the good things, and move on with them? That’s impossible, it’s unfathomable, It’s…unreal.
How the hell did this happen?
My diploma is sitting on the table in the dining room. It’s simple and elegant, unadorned with any sort of awards or pins or honors society stickers. It just sits there, quietly official. It lacks the sort of accessories associated with someone a bit more high achieving than me, but still acts as a symbol of someone who achieved. It’s a reminder that despite all the angst, all the chaos, all the running and worrying and lack of direction, I somehow still managed to do it. I passed. I finished.
And trust me, though it’s small, that’s an achievement in itself.
And so, as the clock strikes twelve and my birthday officially ends, I’m left sitting here doing what most newly graduated, eighteen-year-olds do, wondering what comes next.
To every graduating senior out there, congratulations. Be proud. You did it. It’s over.
Till next time (which will hopefully be sooner than last time),
*Nelly*
It is now officially pathetic for me to still watch cartoons.
Despite it being a somewhat monumental birthday, I have to admit, I almost forgot about it. It’s sort of like when you have your birthday right around Christmas, there’s so much going on, and everyone’s scrambling around and buying presents and planning these big events, that your own birthday kind of falls to the side. I mean, it’s not every day you go through a major life transition. Birthdays happen every year, graduation only happens once. Well, high school graduation, at least.
It’s weird, a part of me wants to write this really in-depth, ultra-introspective, sentimental piece for this, like the sort of thing I usually write when major things happen in my life, but for this, it just seems…redundant. I’ve been listening to deep and meaningful speeches about the transition from high school to life, adolescence to adulthood, all those things, for weeks now. Everywhere I went, Six Flags, York Beach, class day, NHTP, the graduation itself, my church, even my sister’s dance recital, everything seems to love to remind you that you’re moving on. I’ve been honored and recognized and handed certificates all week, and now, with everything ending, and all the pomp and circumstance finally over, I feel like everything’s already been said.
I am immensly glad to be done with high school. It hit me on the post-grad boat (a really cool Boston harbor cruise) how utterly releived I am that it’s finally over. After the hellish experience of senior year, the planning, the plotting, the identity issues, the self-deprication, the loss of confidence, the demonic teachers, everything that I’ve been going through this year (which is, admittedly, not that much…) I finally realized that I never have to worry about any of that ever again. It was kind of like achieving an inner peace, except with a bunch of freezing, sleep-deprived teenagers on top of a boat. Everything’s finally over. It’s done. I’m done. I don’t have to worry about any of the stupid things I’d been worrying about throughout this year, I can finally just calm down.
That being said, it’s only beginning to really hit me that I’m no longer a high school student. Everytime that realization has creeped up on me, so far, it’s been a really nice feeling. But for the most part, it still feels like I’m going to have to go back to Wheeler-Smith’s room first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll still have to deal with my intense inadequacy issues while singing next to certain people in Honors Choir, I’ll still have to question my identity in Psychology, I’ll have to endure another pointless assignment in Sci-Fi, and sit through a bunch of jocks refusing to broaden their horizons and actually watch a decent movie in Film Studies. It’s all so familiar, the idiocy, the cruelty, the tediousness, everything I hate about high school. I can’t picture my life without it. Can it really be over? Have I really finally reached that point where I’m able to go leave the stupidity of high school, take away the good things, and move on with them? That’s impossible, it’s unfathomable, It’s…unreal.
How the hell did this happen?
My diploma is sitting on the table in the dining room. It’s simple and elegant, unadorned with any sort of awards or pins or honors society stickers. It just sits there, quietly official. It lacks the sort of accessories associated with someone a bit more high achieving than me, but still acts as a symbol of someone who achieved. It’s a reminder that despite all the angst, all the chaos, all the running and worrying and lack of direction, I somehow still managed to do it. I passed. I finished.
And trust me, though it’s small, that’s an achievement in itself.
And so, as the clock strikes twelve and my birthday officially ends, I’m left sitting here doing what most newly graduated, eighteen-year-olds do, wondering what comes next.
To every graduating senior out there, congratulations. Be proud. You did it. It’s over.
Till next time (which will hopefully be sooner than last time),
*Nelly*
Monday, May 04, 2009
Wolverine: A Review-ish Type Thing
Right.
So last Friday I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the new Wolverine movie…kinda. I’m not going to lie, I only went because I got invited by my prom date. Although I love the X-Men movies, and really, just the X-Men in general, I didn’t have high hopes for this one. The idea of taking the most popular character out of a series that is itself massively popular and giving him his own movie, to me, just seemed kind of contrived. Like it was just a way for the studio to suck as much money out of the franchise as they possibly could. A little research revealed that Hugh Jackman, Wolverine himself, was apparently all for this movie, and it’s been carefully in the works for a while. Go figure. I still probably wouldn’t have seen it in theaters had I not been invited by the guy taking me to prom.
That being said, the movie itself is…decent. It’s not bad. It’s strength is definitely it’s action sequences, which combine kick ass special effects with some pretty cool uber-action music, all of which never really gets boring because they usually blow something up about halfway in. The only issue with these otherwise cool and epic scenes, is the fact that nine times out of ten, they feature the immortal, indestructible Logan, AKA Wolverine, fighting for his life against the also immortal and indestructible Victor, AKA Sabertooth, neither of which, being the nature of immortal and indestructible things, can be hurt or killed. What are we supposed to worry about?
Sabertooth: HA! I have given you a mortal wound with my visually impressive martial arts abilities!
Wolverine: Oh no! Hold on a second…
[Five Seconds Later]
Wolverine: It’s ok! I’m all better! I shall now give you a mortal wound with my equally impressive, though slightly sexier martial arts abilities!
Sabertooth: AH! Ow. Geez, hold on a second.
[Five Seconds Later]
Sabertooth: Ok, I’m all better! I shall now give you yet another mortal wound with my still visually impressive and high choreographed martial arts abilities! HA!!
Wolverine: AHHH!
And thus the cycle continues for about twenty more minutes till someone comes and blows up a building and we run away towards the next part of the plot. Hooray. A totally tension-free action fight scene. I just love having no concern whatsoever for any of the characters I’m supposed to be rooting for.
I mean, even in the final battle, when we add the apparently deadly Weapon X into the mix of fighting, we end up with not two, but three immortal, indestructible people battling it out while millions of dollars worth of special effects try to make us worry about it. Seriously? Who thought this would work? Why should we care that they’re trying to kill each other when clearly none of them will be able to do it since none of them are able to die? Why?!
To their credit, they tried to write it off by implying that if you chopped Wolverine’s head off he would, actually, be dead. But they never really make that clear. They show Weapon X being ordered to decapitate him, but they never really outright tell you that it will kill him. Maybe this is because I’ve only read about two of the comic books, but is it common knowledge that decapitation kills Wolverine?
Watch it have been in the previous three X-Men movies. That would be just my luck.
Anyway, aside from the dramatically under-dramatic action sequences, the film did, in fact, have a plot. Or at least, it tried to. We open in some non-descript roughly nineteenth century-ish time period that Wikipedia states is 1845, in which some remarkably boring family drama is going on between this sickly kid, this taller kid, some guy who’s not sure how to make himself sound old fashioned without trying to be British, and a bunch of loud people downstairs. The scene gets a bit better when we go downstairs and the sickly kid sprouts skeletal claws from his knuckles and kills someone who just before dying informs him he’s his father. This somehow makes the two kids, sickly-claw-sprouting kid and needs-some-more-lines kid, brothers, which apparently bonds them together forever. Cue some internal anguish, a montage of them growing up throughout history, and of course, the opening credits.
The film kind of glosses over his childhood, as it didn’t include Hugh Jackman, and cuts to two brothers being offered a job on some special mutant taskforce thingy. As with most special mutant taskforce thingies, Hugh eventually comes to the realization that they are EVIL, and tries to get his brother to leave with him, else he succumb to his deep, dark, animalistic nature and become a monster. Or something. Naturally, finding evil much cooler than what is apparently the alternative, becoming a lumberjack in Canada, Hugh’s brother refuses and the two part with just a hint of animosity between them.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Hugh the lumberjack, now going by “Logan” leads a happy, peaceful life with his new, hotter-than-hot, mythology expert girlfriend who not only likes to constantly remind him that he is “not an animal” but likes to tell him ancient native stories that totally don’t foreshadow his eventual alias. She is then killed by his brother, who just to bring back that whole “animal” thing again, kills some sort of woodland creature as well, and we are thus treated to another moment of internal anguish.
The rest of the movie is basically him trying to get revenge on his brother. I think. This involves turning your skeleton into metal, running naked through a barn, stealing a dead farmer’s motorcycle, fighting your brother, going to a bar, meeting Gambit AKA: THE BEST FREAKING CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE, going to an island, meeting your ex-boss, freeing a bunch of mutants, fighting your brother, discovering that your hotter-than-hot girlfriend deceived you and is still alive, fighting your brother, fighting some evil mutant thing, fighting with your brother, fighting your brother, missing Patrick Stewart’s cameo, getting shot, getting your memory erased, and eventually walking off into the distance with Gambit who despite being amazing is never seen in this franchise again.
And yeah, that’s pretty much it.
But seriously, why didn’t Gambit get more screen time?? He was easily the best part of the movie, certainly the most interesting character. They should have given him his own movie! I mean, look at this! Is this not the epitome of epic?!
YES. YES IT IS.
Anyway, so all and all, it wasn’t a terrible movie. It wasn’t the greatest movie I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t terrible. The effects were good, and Hugh Jackman was good, as always, as well as whoever played Gambit. The story could have been a bit more interesting. They tried to throw in some deeper meaning with the whole “am I an animal or am I a man?” conflict, which never really made much sense to me as it seemed to come out of nowhere. I mean, yeah, their mutations kind of made them look like animals, sort of, but where does it say that dooms you to have the nature of one as well? I mean, it’s not like anyone ever told him “Logan, you’re an animal” and by about halfway through the movie, he’s pretty much put the conflict aside anyway and just focuses on revenge. So why did they need it? It clearly didn’t have that much of an effect on him, since he never mentions it himself. It’s just other people telling him “you are not an animal” every five seconds. It’s like the writers wrote the script and then went “Wait! We have no inner conflict! Let’s add one in at the last second!” and just sort of stuck it in there. But whatever. It didn’t hurt the film, it just got annoying after a while.
And there you have it, my thoughts on Wolverine. Join us next time when I review my latest prom-date-related movie spree, Star Trek.
Remember, you are not an animal,
*Nelly*
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Shakespeare Day
“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscious of a king.”
Well, today is Shakespeare’s birthday. Or at least, we think today is Shakespeare’s birthday. Apparently, no one is really sure when he was born, only that he was baptized on the 26th, and at some point someone just randomly decided to celebrate it on the 23rd. Go figure. It also happens to be the day he died, which makes the 23rd a handy all around life-and-death-of-Shakespeare celebration. Convenient, no?
Shakespeare was born in 1564…probably. Which would make him around 445, and would cost a fortune in birthday candles. I have a feeling I’d be pretty tired if I was 445, tired and a bit grouchy, so if you haven’t seen him around lately, you’re probably not missing much. After all, “Crabbed age and youth cannot live together,” according to my Shakespeare quotations book, so if you ever happen to see him, give him some space.
Last year I spent the day at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, which was more awesome than words can really describe. Seeing shows, watching swordfights, checking out an authentic first folio, reading a monologue onstage, MEETING DEREK JACOBI, it was a good day. If you want to hear about, scroll through my entries from last April, I believe it’s called “ZOMG TEH YANA MASTER!!!”
This year, I’m celebrating by driving around southern New Hampshire. I have a show at Newfields Elementary at around one, followed almost directly after by a show at the River Run Bookstore in downtown Portsmouth at three. This was after I met two of my friends for an utterly random “lets-make-pancakes-and-talk-about-prom” moment, and before I have to somehow make it to the Senior “Movie-and-Free-Chinese-Food” Night at my school. I know the latter two don’t really have much to do with Shakespeare, but you know, its not my fault the world doesn’t seem to realize what day it is.
I’m really excited for the two shows. The first one’s being done for elementary school students (I think, like Kindergarten – 5th Grade, maybe?) so it’s focusing mainly on Shakespeare’s comedies. I’m playing Antipholus of Syracuse in a scene from Comedy of Errors (“Why, but there’s many a man hath more hair than wit!”) and Robin Starveling AKA Moonshine in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“All I have to say is, the lanthorn is the moon, I the man’o’the moon, the thorn bush is the thorn bush, and the dog is the dog!”) I was supposed to do Lady Macbeth as well (“Unsex me here, and fill me from crown to toe, top full of direst cruelty!”) but the principle vetoed it. It would have been alright if I didn’t start evoking the powers of darkness to “come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall” about halfway through. But you know, whatever.
The second show, oddly the more lighthearted of the two, has a much broader focus and touches on drama just as much as comedy. It’s also a series of scenes, but it’s more…rehearsed? We have a full script with individual parts separate from our scenes, which is basically just witty banter to keep the energy up. It starts with this professor coming in to read a ridiculously boring paper on Shakespeare to the audience at the store, only to be interrupted by a group of rowdy, hyper, young actors who decide to show her how Shakespeare should be presented, through performance. It’s fun; I get to do a lot of jumping around and making loud noises with a horn. And I get to be Lady Macbeth, which is pretty awesome.
So basically, I’m celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday by running around and performing his works. It’s appropriate, I think, and a hell of a lot more fun than sitting in school and writing a paper on him. Which is what I did yesterday. But we won’t go there.
I’ll leave you with this:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”
- As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
Go see some Shakespeare, people. If not, read it aloud. Just do something.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends,
*Nelly*
Well, today is Shakespeare’s birthday. Or at least, we think today is Shakespeare’s birthday. Apparently, no one is really sure when he was born, only that he was baptized on the 26th, and at some point someone just randomly decided to celebrate it on the 23rd. Go figure. It also happens to be the day he died, which makes the 23rd a handy all around life-and-death-of-Shakespeare celebration. Convenient, no?
Shakespeare was born in 1564…probably. Which would make him around 445, and would cost a fortune in birthday candles. I have a feeling I’d be pretty tired if I was 445, tired and a bit grouchy, so if you haven’t seen him around lately, you’re probably not missing much. After all, “Crabbed age and youth cannot live together,” according to my Shakespeare quotations book, so if you ever happen to see him, give him some space.
Last year I spent the day at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, which was more awesome than words can really describe. Seeing shows, watching swordfights, checking out an authentic first folio, reading a monologue onstage, MEETING DEREK JACOBI, it was a good day. If you want to hear about, scroll through my entries from last April, I believe it’s called “ZOMG TEH YANA MASTER!!!”
This year, I’m celebrating by driving around southern New Hampshire. I have a show at Newfields Elementary at around one, followed almost directly after by a show at the River Run Bookstore in downtown Portsmouth at three. This was after I met two of my friends for an utterly random “lets-make-pancakes-and-talk-about-prom” moment, and before I have to somehow make it to the Senior “Movie-and-Free-Chinese-Food” Night at my school. I know the latter two don’t really have much to do with Shakespeare, but you know, its not my fault the world doesn’t seem to realize what day it is.
I’m really excited for the two shows. The first one’s being done for elementary school students (I think, like Kindergarten – 5th Grade, maybe?) so it’s focusing mainly on Shakespeare’s comedies. I’m playing Antipholus of Syracuse in a scene from Comedy of Errors (“Why, but there’s many a man hath more hair than wit!”) and Robin Starveling AKA Moonshine in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“All I have to say is, the lanthorn is the moon, I the man’o’the moon, the thorn bush is the thorn bush, and the dog is the dog!”) I was supposed to do Lady Macbeth as well (“Unsex me here, and fill me from crown to toe, top full of direst cruelty!”) but the principle vetoed it. It would have been alright if I didn’t start evoking the powers of darkness to “come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall” about halfway through. But you know, whatever.
The second show, oddly the more lighthearted of the two, has a much broader focus and touches on drama just as much as comedy. It’s also a series of scenes, but it’s more…rehearsed? We have a full script with individual parts separate from our scenes, which is basically just witty banter to keep the energy up. It starts with this professor coming in to read a ridiculously boring paper on Shakespeare to the audience at the store, only to be interrupted by a group of rowdy, hyper, young actors who decide to show her how Shakespeare should be presented, through performance. It’s fun; I get to do a lot of jumping around and making loud noises with a horn. And I get to be Lady Macbeth, which is pretty awesome.
So basically, I’m celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday by running around and performing his works. It’s appropriate, I think, and a hell of a lot more fun than sitting in school and writing a paper on him. Which is what I did yesterday. But we won’t go there.
I’ll leave you with this:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”
- As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
Go see some Shakespeare, people. If not, read it aloud. Just do something.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends,
*Nelly*
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A Quick Note...
I don't really have time for a full entry, expect something more later. But for the moment...
Doctor Who.
Sting rays.
OMG.
I would have posted a picture, but I honestly couldn't make it through the first page on Google Image Search. I hate stingrays. I've always hated stingrays. I will never like stingrays, and nothing can ever change that. The fact that they showed up on my favorite show as deadly, flying aliens with giant razor sharp teeth that could devour you in seconds is not helping the fact that I hate/loath/am-utterly-terrified-of anything resembling a stingray.
*shutters*
Just so you know, I will be having nightmares about this. Seriously, whatever happened to the days when Doctor Who aliens were just guys running around in poorly made rubber suits?
*shutters again* I hate stingrays. I just needed to say that.
See ya,
*Nelly*
Doctor Who.
Sting rays.
OMG.
I would have posted a picture, but I honestly couldn't make it through the first page on Google Image Search. I hate stingrays. I've always hated stingrays. I will never like stingrays, and nothing can ever change that. The fact that they showed up on my favorite show as deadly, flying aliens with giant razor sharp teeth that could devour you in seconds is not helping the fact that I hate/loath/am-utterly-terrified-of anything resembling a stingray.
*shutters*
Just so you know, I will be having nightmares about this. Seriously, whatever happened to the days when Doctor Who aliens were just guys running around in poorly made rubber suits?
*shutters again* I hate stingrays. I just needed to say that.
See ya,
*Nelly*
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Youth Behavior Survey
...in which I am reminded just how boring an individual I really am.
Seriously, I just spent ten minutes checking off "I have never had sexual intercourse" on at least twenty different questions. It's great that somewhere, someone is interested in really understanding teenagers, but to be honest, there has to be a better way to do this. We may seem like we're all drugs, alcohol and sex, and know that some of us really are, but for the rest of us, tests like this just make us angry, and annoyed, and embarassed that this is what the world thinks of our age group.
So, in light of this, if I were to create a youth behavioral survey for the type of people I hang around with, here's a sample of how it would go:
1.) About how often do realize you have two papers due on the same day and rehearsal till 9:30 PM?
A.) Never
B.) Rarely
C.) Sometimes
D.) Kind of occasionally
E.) OMG I DON'T HAVE TIME TO ANSWER THIS!!!
2.) On the average day, how often do you actually pay attention in Science Fiction class?
A.) Always
B.) Mostly
C.) Occasionally
D.) Rarely
E.) I take Science Fiction?
3.) About how often do you doodle on important educational documents? (also called notes, tests, worksheets, health forms, rubrics, and dead trees)
A.) Never
B.) Rarely
C.) Sometimes
D.) Frequently
E.) I can't answer, I'm drawing a puppy...
4.) Out of the following, what best describes the type of doodling you have partaken
within the last 30 days?
A.) Spaceships
B.) Aliens
C.) Cute fuzzy animals
D.) Funny pictures of your friends
E.) Didn't I just say I don't doodle?
The following questions refer to your individual interests in regards to popular culture.
1.) About how often do you watch American Idol?
A.) ALWAYS
B.) Frequently
C.) Sometimes
D.) Rarely
E.) What's American Idol?
2.) About how many times did you see The Dark Knight?
A.) 0
B.) 1
C.) 2
D.) 3
E.) I lost count at 50
3.) Are you aware that Hannah Montanna and Miley Cyrus are the same person?
A.) Duh
B.) No kidding
C.) Couldn't care less
D.) I've never heard of either
E.) MY LIFE IS CHANGED FOREVER
4.) About how often do you engage in Twilight-related activities? (reading the books, watching the movie, fangirling the internet, stalking the actors, ect.)
A.) Never
B.) Occasionally
C.) Sometimes
D.) Why do I care?
E.) I WANT TO HAVE EDWARD CULLEN'S BABIES!!!
And...as the bell's just rang, that's all I can give you. It's just a sample, but I think it could be quite effective.
See ya,
*Nelly*
Seriously, I just spent ten minutes checking off "I have never had sexual intercourse" on at least twenty different questions. It's great that somewhere, someone is interested in really understanding teenagers, but to be honest, there has to be a better way to do this. We may seem like we're all drugs, alcohol and sex, and know that some of us really are, but for the rest of us, tests like this just make us angry, and annoyed, and embarassed that this is what the world thinks of our age group.
So, in light of this, if I were to create a youth behavioral survey for the type of people I hang around with, here's a sample of how it would go:
1.) About how often do realize you have two papers due on the same day and rehearsal till 9:30 PM?
A.) Never
B.) Rarely
C.) Sometimes
D.) Kind of occasionally
E.) OMG I DON'T HAVE TIME TO ANSWER THIS!!!
2.) On the average day, how often do you actually pay attention in Science Fiction class?
A.) Always
B.) Mostly
C.) Occasionally
D.) Rarely
E.) I take Science Fiction?
3.) About how often do you doodle on important educational documents? (also called notes, tests, worksheets, health forms, rubrics, and dead trees)
A.) Never
B.) Rarely
C.) Sometimes
D.) Frequently
E.) I can't answer, I'm drawing a puppy...
4.) Out of the following, what best describes the type of doodling you have partaken
within the last 30 days?
A.) Spaceships
B.) Aliens
C.) Cute fuzzy animals
D.) Funny pictures of your friends
E.) Didn't I just say I don't doodle?
The following questions refer to your individual interests in regards to popular culture.
1.) About how often do you watch American Idol?
A.) ALWAYS
B.) Frequently
C.) Sometimes
D.) Rarely
E.) What's American Idol?
2.) About how many times did you see The Dark Knight?
A.) 0
B.) 1
C.) 2
D.) 3
E.) I lost count at 50
3.) Are you aware that Hannah Montanna and Miley Cyrus are the same person?
A.) Duh
B.) No kidding
C.) Couldn't care less
D.) I've never heard of either
E.) MY LIFE IS CHANGED FOREVER
4.) About how often do you engage in Twilight-related activities? (reading the books, watching the movie, fangirling the internet, stalking the actors, ect.)
A.) Never
B.) Occasionally
C.) Sometimes
D.) Why do I care?
E.) I WANT TO HAVE EDWARD CULLEN'S BABIES!!!
And...as the bell's just rang, that's all I can give you. It's just a sample, but I think it could be quite effective.
See ya,
*Nelly*
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Delaying Tomorrow
Right, so I have vast, unending amounts of homework I should be doing, so naturally I’m completely ignoring it to watch something stupid. I won’t mention what stupid thing I’m watching, exactly, but anyone that knows me well enough will know it’s one of two things they may or may not be thinking.
…that whole paragraph made a lot more sense in my head.
Anyway, I spent the weekend in a car, which despite being sort of uncomfortable was a hell of a lot more interesting than watching Gundam SEED. It basically consisted of my mother and myself desperately trying to navigate through three different states in an attempt to get to Massapequa, only to discover the complete lack of turn signals on Long Island. We also discovered that pretty much all roads end up leading to Jones Beach, but that no amount of obscure modern swing music can disguise how unbelievably lost you are. Especially in Long Island. Because everything is more confusing in Long Island.
It was Admitted Students Day at Hofstra where they basically gather us all into a big room and try to impress us with their powerpoint skills. This is followed by an actual information panel, in which they congratulate you, try to confuse you, scare you, make you feel all proud of yourself, scare you again, show you some video which is supposed to inspire you to “find your edge” and then finally, mercifully, tell you where the bathrooms are.
It was here my ADD started to kick in and I found myself desperately wanting to doodle on the official Hofstra memo pad they gave us in our official Hofstra backpacks. I’m not sure why I didn’t, as they did include an official Hofstra pen as well as plenty of official Hofstra promotional material with pictures of official Hofstra students to draw equally official Hofstra mustaches on. I guess I was trying to behave.
So then I decided it would be nice to actually learn something about what I intend to study, as the focus of Hofstra appears to be on the Honors College which I am not only painfully under qualified for, but also completely and utterly uninterested in. So I trudged across campus to a random building next to a parking lot which turned out to house this really nice little black box theater on the second floor. The theater department seemed really nice, lots of friendly people, but who weren’t afraid to not sugar coat exactly how challenging, not just the program, but the field itself really is. I have a feeling I’m going to like the department a lot, and considering all my misgivings about life in general as of late, it was nice to have a good feeling about where I was going.
After some rather extensive navigation in which I managed to find every building on campus except the one I was looking for, I eventually managed to reunite with my mother. This was after I was hounded by about three different sororities and a group of sports players (I’m not sure exactly what sport they represented…lacrosse, maybe?) all of which I managed to somehow escape from fairly quickly. It’s a very aggressive school, Hofstra. It seems likes there’s someone trying to recruit you around every possible corner. I suppose that’s normal, for a college, but still…I’m already going there, do they really need to try and convince me further?
Oh look, it’s already midnight. I don’t really want to go to sleep yet because I don’t really want tomorrow to come anytime soon. Again, I did absolutely none of my piles of homework due tomorrow, and despite the fact that I have almost three free periods, I’m unbelievably lazy. Chances are, I’ll try to get some work done but end up talking to my friends and doing nothing. I have so much due and nothing done, and well…why would I want it to be tomorrow? I know I can’t really stop tomorrow coming by not sleeping, and I realize I’ll eventually have to deal with the fact that I’m an unbelievable procrastinator who would rather watch stupid YouTube videos than actually do what I’m supposed to do. I know I’ll have to face up to it all, but for the moment, I’m good just sitting here and enjoying the bit of my weekend that wasn’t spent sitting in a car.
Also, I’d like to publicly state, once again, that I am not interested in Twilight. I realize that I’m a teenage girl, and that every law of the universe states that I should want to have Edward Cullen’s babies, but…I don’t. I thought the constantly being asked if I wanted to pre-order the DVD would stop once the movie finally freaking came out, but now I’m just getting asked if I want to buy it right at that moment. I mean, honestly, if I really wanted to buy Twilight right at that moment, don’t you think I would be buying Twilight and not the Doctor Who book I’ve clearly got in my hand, with the money to pay for it right in front of you. Seriously, I’m not stupid. I’m not so blinded by my undying love for Edward that I can’t find the unreasonably large Twilight display at the front of the store. If I really wanted it, I’d have it.
It’s one of those moments I really resent being in the target demographic.
So, now it’s nearly one and I’m still awake. I’m supposed to get up at five tomorrow, but I think I’ll sleep in an extra hour to get a grand total of five hours of sleep as opposed to four. I know, big difference, right? But my psychology class is keeping a sleep chart right now, where we’re supposed to record how many hours we sleep every night. I’m hoping five hours will look slightly better than four. Maybe.
I should probably stop Blogging and go to bed.
Night everyone,
*Nelly*
[UPDATE: Ugh...it's two days later and I'm only just reading this again, I'm already into my third time at the edit button. Always proofread your entries before putting them up at one in the morning...]
…that whole paragraph made a lot more sense in my head.
Anyway, I spent the weekend in a car, which despite being sort of uncomfortable was a hell of a lot more interesting than watching Gundam SEED. It basically consisted of my mother and myself desperately trying to navigate through three different states in an attempt to get to Massapequa, only to discover the complete lack of turn signals on Long Island. We also discovered that pretty much all roads end up leading to Jones Beach, but that no amount of obscure modern swing music can disguise how unbelievably lost you are. Especially in Long Island. Because everything is more confusing in Long Island.
It was Admitted Students Day at Hofstra where they basically gather us all into a big room and try to impress us with their powerpoint skills. This is followed by an actual information panel, in which they congratulate you, try to confuse you, scare you, make you feel all proud of yourself, scare you again, show you some video which is supposed to inspire you to “find your edge” and then finally, mercifully, tell you where the bathrooms are.
It was here my ADD started to kick in and I found myself desperately wanting to doodle on the official Hofstra memo pad they gave us in our official Hofstra backpacks. I’m not sure why I didn’t, as they did include an official Hofstra pen as well as plenty of official Hofstra promotional material with pictures of official Hofstra students to draw equally official Hofstra mustaches on. I guess I was trying to behave.
So then I decided it would be nice to actually learn something about what I intend to study, as the focus of Hofstra appears to be on the Honors College which I am not only painfully under qualified for, but also completely and utterly uninterested in. So I trudged across campus to a random building next to a parking lot which turned out to house this really nice little black box theater on the second floor. The theater department seemed really nice, lots of friendly people, but who weren’t afraid to not sugar coat exactly how challenging, not just the program, but the field itself really is. I have a feeling I’m going to like the department a lot, and considering all my misgivings about life in general as of late, it was nice to have a good feeling about where I was going.
After some rather extensive navigation in which I managed to find every building on campus except the one I was looking for, I eventually managed to reunite with my mother. This was after I was hounded by about three different sororities and a group of sports players (I’m not sure exactly what sport they represented…lacrosse, maybe?) all of which I managed to somehow escape from fairly quickly. It’s a very aggressive school, Hofstra. It seems likes there’s someone trying to recruit you around every possible corner. I suppose that’s normal, for a college, but still…I’m already going there, do they really need to try and convince me further?
Oh look, it’s already midnight. I don’t really want to go to sleep yet because I don’t really want tomorrow to come anytime soon. Again, I did absolutely none of my piles of homework due tomorrow, and despite the fact that I have almost three free periods, I’m unbelievably lazy. Chances are, I’ll try to get some work done but end up talking to my friends and doing nothing. I have so much due and nothing done, and well…why would I want it to be tomorrow? I know I can’t really stop tomorrow coming by not sleeping, and I realize I’ll eventually have to deal with the fact that I’m an unbelievable procrastinator who would rather watch stupid YouTube videos than actually do what I’m supposed to do. I know I’ll have to face up to it all, but for the moment, I’m good just sitting here and enjoying the bit of my weekend that wasn’t spent sitting in a car.
Also, I’d like to publicly state, once again, that I am not interested in Twilight. I realize that I’m a teenage girl, and that every law of the universe states that I should want to have Edward Cullen’s babies, but…I don’t. I thought the constantly being asked if I wanted to pre-order the DVD would stop once the movie finally freaking came out, but now I’m just getting asked if I want to buy it right at that moment. I mean, honestly, if I really wanted to buy Twilight right at that moment, don’t you think I would be buying Twilight and not the Doctor Who book I’ve clearly got in my hand, with the money to pay for it right in front of you. Seriously, I’m not stupid. I’m not so blinded by my undying love for Edward that I can’t find the unreasonably large Twilight display at the front of the store. If I really wanted it, I’d have it.
It’s one of those moments I really resent being in the target demographic.
So, now it’s nearly one and I’m still awake. I’m supposed to get up at five tomorrow, but I think I’ll sleep in an extra hour to get a grand total of five hours of sleep as opposed to four. I know, big difference, right? But my psychology class is keeping a sleep chart right now, where we’re supposed to record how many hours we sleep every night. I’m hoping five hours will look slightly better than four. Maybe.
I should probably stop Blogging and go to bed.
Night everyone,
*Nelly*
[UPDATE: Ugh...it's two days later and I'm only just reading this again, I'm already into my third time at the edit button. Always proofread your entries before putting them up at one in the morning...]
Monday, March 23, 2009
My Evening With Gundam
Yeah. That Gundam.
I recently had the interesting experience of being asked/told/forced to watch the first two disks of Gundam SEED, which is apparently the ninth incarnation of the Gundam series. That’s right, there are nine of these, and apparently, there’s more where that came from. They all sort of center around these giant battle robot things called, you guessed it, Gundams, which are used to fight various wars throughout the unbelievably long run of the series.
Basically, Gundam SEED goes like this:
- Shy, genetically engineered college student Kira (not to be confused with “Kira” the murderer from Death Note) lives a peaceful life in some random neutral colony where they have apparently managed to remain blissfully unaware that an epic robot war is happening all around them.
- Kira and his two friends, whose names I conveniently forgot, go to school only to discover that, yes, there is in fact an epic robot war going on, and that it has finally come to get them.
- There is a lot of panicked running from robots, during which Kira spots some random girl in a hat, assumes she’s a guy, and decides to run through the warzone to go after her.
- Her lack of hat suddenly reveals she’s a girl.
- In a startling moment of rather fantastic sexism, Kira insists she be allowed to enter the shelter rather than him because she’s “just a girl,” despite her being around the same age as he is, if not older. Clearly, his testosterone gives him the power to defy giant robots.
- Kira does a lot of running.
- Kira finds a random woman in the rubble who immediately gets injured and drags him into a giant Gundam. Why she does this, we may never know.
- The woman, despite apparently being a highly trained army officer, has trouble piloting the Gundam for no adequately explained reason, leaving Kira to pilot it in her place. Needless to say, he is inexplicably gifted at flying it.
- Kira does some epic robot stuff, during which I wander off to get an apple. I believe there were explosions.
- Meanwhile, in a completely different part of plot, there’s a bunch of people on a spaceship that looks suspiciously like the Death Star. Some woman with really short hair takes command, and some guy who I suspect to be the Phantom of the Opera tries to “feel” things. A good time is had by all.
- Kira discovers that his long lost friend/lover/life partner Athrum has become a soldier for the opposite site of the war. The two must fight each other, but for some reason, don’t.
- A lot of stock footage is thrown around, and Kira has a flashback.
- Highly trained Earth officer woman goes psycho and insists that Kira and his nameless friends stay with her at all times since they’ve seen the Gundam. They are no longer allowed to leave where ever it is they are. Why she doesn’t just kill them, we may never know.
- The giant robot does something.
- More things explode.
And…um, that’s basically it. For now. I still have a two more episodes and a whole other disk to get through. God help me.
Watch out for the robot,
*Nelly*
Monday, March 09, 2009
Of Letters And Plushies
Psst...I’m not dead!
Once again, I have managed to ignore my Blog for a rather unbelievable amount of time….or, like a month. Really, I’ve failed to update for far longer, but I actually got a complaint this time, so I figured I should probably get my act together and throw something mildly interesting up.
So here it is.
What have I been up to in my rather-long-but-not-really-all-that-long absence? Well, a lot has, in fact, happened, to the point where I think I started avoided posting purely because there was so much to say. So, because I’m lazy, here’s a nice little list of my life since my rather vague and not particularly noteworthy Yu-Gi-Oh entry:
1.)Joseph And The Amazingly Long Title – Despite nearly three quarters of the cast falling ill over the course of one tech week, the play managed to turn out to be pretty freaking awesome. I mean, I hope it was awesome, It was unbelievably fun to do, and even now, a month later, I still miss it. It was the play that sort of restored my confidence in myself, which I had pretty much lost over the course of the school year. I mean, it did for a little while, then I lost it again, regained it again, lost it again, and eventually sort of got it back enough to write a relatively pointless blog entry. But we’ll get to that later.
2.)The Emo Notebook of Death – I managed to become addicted to Death Note over the course of my vacation. I read all twelve volumes in four days, then I started watching the anime, and now I really want an L plushie. Or a Ryuk plushie. But that’s mainly so I can claim I have a stuffed Japanese death god. Seriously, how cool would that be?
3.)I Attempt to Take Manhattan – And ultimately, I fail. Basically, I ran out of time and my Marymount audition suffered. I had only one song, a monologue that was woefully unrehearsed, and a completely random inability to dance which is especially odd since I did take ten years of dance…but anyway, it didn’t really work out. I got into the school itself, though, which was also odd considering my grades are rather atrocious. Despite this, this would be the moment my confidence died. Again.
4.)Very Something Auburn Hair – In my utter despair at not getting into the Marymount drama department, I fled to my friend Natasha’s (freaking out my parents, who apparently thought I had gone to jump off a bridge or something) I would like to publicly thank Natasha for putting up with me, and for giving me an alternative to jumping off a bridge; dying my hair. Yes! No longer am I the blond I have been for the past two years, I am now “Very something Auburn” (We can’t quite remember what the actual color is…) All and all, I’m not sure about it. I like the color, Natasha did a fantastic job dying it, no one’s told me it looks ridiculous yet, but…maybe I just need to get used to it. A part of me misses the blond. A part of me now wants to dye my hair green. Go figure.
5.)Safety School Reject – Around this time, I discovered that my safety school, U Maine Orono, which two of my cousins go to, both my parents went to, half my aunts and uncles went to, really the school I had more connections to than any one person without billions of dollars should have had decided they didn’t want me. Despite having been technically accepted academically to my top choice “reach” school that all odds said I shouldn’t have been able to get into, this still managed to make me feel more than a bit inadequate.
6.)Disney Musicals Are Surprisingly Cool – Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I managed to catch The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Why isn’t this further up on the list near the rest of my New York trip? I forgot. Anyway, it turns out that despite my initial reluctance to see yet another movie turned into a musical (seriously, they have a Shrek the Musical, Shrek the freaking Musical!) it turned out to be really good. The sets were amazing, the different ways they managed to convey being underwater…it was just really cool to watch. And I want to play Ursula. Like, really. Really, really. Really, really, really. So…um, there.
7.)Epic Existential Crisis Is Epic – Meanwhile, my internal crisis apparently dubbed “existential” by my cousin Miriam continues to be annoying. Seriously, as light hearted as I’m making it sound, I was fairly depressed for about a week or so there, especially after the Marymount thing…which was then followed by the whole Orono thing. I was just generally not feeling particularly great about myself. I was pretty sure I was terrible at everything; anything I used to think I was even remotely good at I decided I had been wrong about. It was basically an extension of the lack of confidence I’d had for most of the school year, but randomly magnified.
8.)Facebook Experiences This Blog – I finally got around to uploading this Blog to my Facebook profile. Not really a big feat, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
9.)Red-haired Wonder Woman – Around this time, school started up again, and with school came auditions for the senior play. Fortunately, I rather miraculously had enough time to do it, unfortunately, the audition was entirely improv games. I don’t usually mind improv games, I’m somewhat decent at them in general, but when I’m in school, with the rest of the school’s drama department watching me, I’m more than a bit useless. Really, it was terrible. I just…I don’t know what it is, I just freeze up. Somehow, I did manage to get a part, I’m Queen Amazane of the island of Amazonia…basically, I’m Wonder Woman. I don’t show up till the very end of the play, but I get to be an Amazon queen, so it’s still pretty awesome. Unfortunately, because I’m an idiot, this did nothing to help my lack of self-esteem, and I briefly slipped back into my emo/existential crisis/WTF mindset.
10.)The Impossible Begins – Casey gets accepted into Johnson and Wales with a $5,000 scholarship! As a culinary arts student, this is apparently the equivalent of getting into Harvard. She had previously only applied to see if she could get in, not actually expecting to, and was planning on simply framing the letter if she did. However, SHE GOT IN!!! =D =D It was a truly epic moment, like really. CONGRATULATIONS CASEY!!
11.)The Impossible Continues – Shortly after Casey’s EPIC NEWS OF EPICNESS, or at least, about ten hours later, I happened to receive a small, thin letter from Hofstra University. Expecting it to be some sort of rejection letter, or yet another letter alerting me that they had received my transcripts, I rather uncaringly opened it while my parents were watching 80’s music videos. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was not a rejection letter, or another pointless transcript alert, but an award.
Yes, somehow I have managed to receive a $5000 academic scholarship to Hofstra University.
ZOMG WTF???!!!!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
*lots and lots of excited jumping and things falling over*
So, basically, despite all the angst, and the emo-ness, and the existential crisis, and the rejection, and the acceptance, and the continued rejection, and the singing mermaids, and killer notebooks, and the Amazon queens, and the spontaneous red hair, and the continued lack of a Japanese death god plushie, I have, in fact, gotten into college.
I’M GOING TO COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
And that’s where I’ve been. =D
Till next time,
*Nelly*
Once again, I have managed to ignore my Blog for a rather unbelievable amount of time….or, like a month. Really, I’ve failed to update for far longer, but I actually got a complaint this time, so I figured I should probably get my act together and throw something mildly interesting up.
So here it is.
What have I been up to in my rather-long-but-not-really-all-that-long absence? Well, a lot has, in fact, happened, to the point where I think I started avoided posting purely because there was so much to say. So, because I’m lazy, here’s a nice little list of my life since my rather vague and not particularly noteworthy Yu-Gi-Oh entry:
1.)Joseph And The Amazingly Long Title – Despite nearly three quarters of the cast falling ill over the course of one tech week, the play managed to turn out to be pretty freaking awesome. I mean, I hope it was awesome, It was unbelievably fun to do, and even now, a month later, I still miss it. It was the play that sort of restored my confidence in myself, which I had pretty much lost over the course of the school year. I mean, it did for a little while, then I lost it again, regained it again, lost it again, and eventually sort of got it back enough to write a relatively pointless blog entry. But we’ll get to that later.
2.)The Emo Notebook of Death – I managed to become addicted to Death Note over the course of my vacation. I read all twelve volumes in four days, then I started watching the anime, and now I really want an L plushie. Or a Ryuk plushie. But that’s mainly so I can claim I have a stuffed Japanese death god. Seriously, how cool would that be?
3.)I Attempt to Take Manhattan – And ultimately, I fail. Basically, I ran out of time and my Marymount audition suffered. I had only one song, a monologue that was woefully unrehearsed, and a completely random inability to dance which is especially odd since I did take ten years of dance…but anyway, it didn’t really work out. I got into the school itself, though, which was also odd considering my grades are rather atrocious. Despite this, this would be the moment my confidence died. Again.
4.)Very Something Auburn Hair – In my utter despair at not getting into the Marymount drama department, I fled to my friend Natasha’s (freaking out my parents, who apparently thought I had gone to jump off a bridge or something) I would like to publicly thank Natasha for putting up with me, and for giving me an alternative to jumping off a bridge; dying my hair. Yes! No longer am I the blond I have been for the past two years, I am now “Very something Auburn” (We can’t quite remember what the actual color is…) All and all, I’m not sure about it. I like the color, Natasha did a fantastic job dying it, no one’s told me it looks ridiculous yet, but…maybe I just need to get used to it. A part of me misses the blond. A part of me now wants to dye my hair green. Go figure.
5.)Safety School Reject – Around this time, I discovered that my safety school, U Maine Orono, which two of my cousins go to, both my parents went to, half my aunts and uncles went to, really the school I had more connections to than any one person without billions of dollars should have had decided they didn’t want me. Despite having been technically accepted academically to my top choice “reach” school that all odds said I shouldn’t have been able to get into, this still managed to make me feel more than a bit inadequate.
6.)Disney Musicals Are Surprisingly Cool – Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I managed to catch The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Why isn’t this further up on the list near the rest of my New York trip? I forgot. Anyway, it turns out that despite my initial reluctance to see yet another movie turned into a musical (seriously, they have a Shrek the Musical, Shrek the freaking Musical!) it turned out to be really good. The sets were amazing, the different ways they managed to convey being underwater…it was just really cool to watch. And I want to play Ursula. Like, really. Really, really. Really, really, really. So…um, there.
7.)Epic Existential Crisis Is Epic – Meanwhile, my internal crisis apparently dubbed “existential” by my cousin Miriam continues to be annoying. Seriously, as light hearted as I’m making it sound, I was fairly depressed for about a week or so there, especially after the Marymount thing…which was then followed by the whole Orono thing. I was just generally not feeling particularly great about myself. I was pretty sure I was terrible at everything; anything I used to think I was even remotely good at I decided I had been wrong about. It was basically an extension of the lack of confidence I’d had for most of the school year, but randomly magnified.
8.)Facebook Experiences This Blog – I finally got around to uploading this Blog to my Facebook profile. Not really a big feat, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
9.)Red-haired Wonder Woman – Around this time, school started up again, and with school came auditions for the senior play. Fortunately, I rather miraculously had enough time to do it, unfortunately, the audition was entirely improv games. I don’t usually mind improv games, I’m somewhat decent at them in general, but when I’m in school, with the rest of the school’s drama department watching me, I’m more than a bit useless. Really, it was terrible. I just…I don’t know what it is, I just freeze up. Somehow, I did manage to get a part, I’m Queen Amazane of the island of Amazonia…basically, I’m Wonder Woman. I don’t show up till the very end of the play, but I get to be an Amazon queen, so it’s still pretty awesome. Unfortunately, because I’m an idiot, this did nothing to help my lack of self-esteem, and I briefly slipped back into my emo/existential crisis/WTF mindset.
10.)The Impossible Begins – Casey gets accepted into Johnson and Wales with a $5,000 scholarship! As a culinary arts student, this is apparently the equivalent of getting into Harvard. She had previously only applied to see if she could get in, not actually expecting to, and was planning on simply framing the letter if she did. However, SHE GOT IN!!! =D =D It was a truly epic moment, like really. CONGRATULATIONS CASEY!!
11.)The Impossible Continues – Shortly after Casey’s EPIC NEWS OF EPICNESS, or at least, about ten hours later, I happened to receive a small, thin letter from Hofstra University. Expecting it to be some sort of rejection letter, or yet another letter alerting me that they had received my transcripts, I rather uncaringly opened it while my parents were watching 80’s music videos. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was not a rejection letter, or another pointless transcript alert, but an award.
Yes, somehow I have managed to receive a $5000 academic scholarship to Hofstra University.
ZOMG WTF???!!!!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
*lots and lots of excited jumping and things falling over*
So, basically, despite all the angst, and the emo-ness, and the existential crisis, and the rejection, and the acceptance, and the continued rejection, and the singing mermaids, and killer notebooks, and the Amazon queens, and the spontaneous red hair, and the continued lack of a Japanese death god plushie, I have, in fact, gotten into college.
I’M GOING TO COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
And that’s where I’ve been. =D
Till next time,
*Nelly*
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Stress, Insomnia, and Yu-Gi-Oh
So tomorrow I to write a huge paper for AP Lit, I have a doctor’s appointment, and rehearsal till 8:30. I also have to complete a giant Psychology packet and somehow finish reading my book for Sci-Fi as well as finish my script for Film.
Yeah, story of my life.
Anyway, it’ll get finished…somehow. I always manage it. Sort of. Kind of. Actually, there are quite a few occasions when I don’t pull it off, but I’ve never missed an AP Lit paper, so I’m sure I can finish everything else as well. I hope.
At the moment, I’m completely ignoring all of it, and watching Yu-Gi-Oh. For some reason. Really, don’t ask me why, it just happened. You know how sometimes you just suddenly have an inexplicable urge to do something really random and probably stupid? Well, that’s me. At the moment, some random person who looks about my sister’s age is staring in amazement as Yugi (or Yami, it’s pretty vague) manages to draw a really powerful card at a critical moment. Apparently that’s only something really impressive people can do. Personally, I’d chalk it up to dumb luck, but since I don’t actually believe in luck, and Yugi’s probably done some vaguely mystical Egyptian thing to make it cool, I should probably just be quiet and keep writing.
Oh great, now they’ve stolen some random other guy’s soul. Damn.
So apparently, the Superbowl was tonight, something I rather spectacularly managed not to realize since I’ve been spending most of my time in a church trying to remember 28 different colors in perfect sequential order. I’ve come to the conclusion that Tim Rice hated actors, and decided while writing the Joseph lyrics to punish them by writing that stupid color song. Don’t get me wrong, I love this play, I love the part I’m playing, and I love pretty much every song in it. But seriously? 28 colors? And they’re really weird colors like ochre and fawn. What is fawn? I thought it was a deer. Clearly, I was mistaken.
Oh, but I was talking about the Superbowl, wasn’t I? I honestly don’t have much to say about it. I don’t even remember what teams were playing. How sad is that? I know they weren’t the Patriots, which is probably I didn’t hear about it. I’m not exactly a football fan, so I only ever know when it’s on through word of mouth, and when no one’s talking about it because it’s New England and the New England team isn’t in it, I guess I don’t hear about it.
Why did I mention it then? I don’t know. I just did. It was mainly to bring up something to talk about, since I really don’t have much. My life’s in pretty much the same place it was last time I wrote, I’m just a bit calmer about it. I think. It’s hard to tell. One day I’m calm, the next day I’m a complete mess. I suppose it comes with the territory when you’re seventeen. Still, at least I’m not playing a card game with myself, like Yugi appears to be…I think. God, there really is no end to how bizarre, confusing, and stupid this show is?
So why am I still watching? God knows.
Oh, I get it. Ok, one of the Yugis is Yugi’s dark side, so he’s fighting his inner demons or something. Wow, deep. Kind of. Not really. I mean, it would be deep and thought provoking if they weren’t playing a children’s card game in the middle of a random desert somewhere in the Midwest.
But, since I’m bored, I’m going to make this thought provoking anyway. If I was forcedto fight my inner demons in some way, how would it happen? What would it be like?
Well, it definitely wouldn’t involve Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Let’s start with that.
It could involve different cards, I suppose, like Uno cards, or something. Yeah, that might cool. A really epic game of Uno. No…wait, that might get a bit boring after a while. I’ve played really, unbelievably long games of Uno that essentially lead to nothing. Not really the kind of thing you’d want when fighting your inner demons. I’d probably end up doing it mainly with words anyway, if I had to use cards, we’d abandon them after the first minute or so. If my inner demons are as ADD as I am, there’s no way we’d have the attention span for Uno.
So, I guess, a verbal duel with my own dark side would have to go something like this:
Me: What the hell?
Dark-Me: I’m your inner demons. Hello.
Me: Hello.
Dark-Me: I’m the part of you that’s sure you’re not going to get into college, thinks you suck at life, constantly compares you other people, and constantly questions everything you thought you knew about yourself.
Me: Dude, that sucks.
Dark-Me: I know, it’s a pretty annoying gig, to be honest.
Me: I would imagine.
Dark-Me: So…um, you fail. At everything. How’s it feel to know that?
Me: Well, I…er, wasn’t exactly aware of that before now.
Dark-Me: Oh, really?
Me: Yeah, I was pretty sure there were a few things I didn’t entirely suck at.
Dark-Me: Oh…well, I guess you’re right. Maybe. Sort of.
Me: Yeah…
Dark-Me: So…
Me: Can I go to rehearsal now?
Dark-Me: Oh yeah, go right ahead. I’ll just go back to living in the back of your mind, or something.
Me: Sounds good.
And that’d pretty much be it. Pretty anti-climactic if you ask me. Nothing like what happens in anime, which is probably a good thing. It must get tiring shouting all the time and invoking bizarre, over-dramatic poses. Not that I don’t do that kind of thing on a regular basis anyway, but it’s usually for more of a purpose than to announce that I’m leaving to go to the supermarket or something.
But…so, yeah. That’s pretty much what’s up with me now. I’m in a weird time right now. I’ve got this very thin veil of being ok on right now, with all that uncertainty and angst churning underneath it. I’m slowly getting better, but I think it may take a while before I’m fully ok again. I’ll let you know.
For now though, I think I’ll go to bed. I may not sleep, but at least I’ll be in bed. Remember, never agree to duel yourself in a children’s card game, and on the off-chance you do, never accidentally steal someone else’s soul. Ok? Good.
Happy Superbowl Sunday, everyone. May whatever team you’re rooting for win.
*Nelly*
Yeah, story of my life.
Anyway, it’ll get finished…somehow. I always manage it. Sort of. Kind of. Actually, there are quite a few occasions when I don’t pull it off, but I’ve never missed an AP Lit paper, so I’m sure I can finish everything else as well. I hope.
At the moment, I’m completely ignoring all of it, and watching Yu-Gi-Oh. For some reason. Really, don’t ask me why, it just happened. You know how sometimes you just suddenly have an inexplicable urge to do something really random and probably stupid? Well, that’s me. At the moment, some random person who looks about my sister’s age is staring in amazement as Yugi (or Yami, it’s pretty vague) manages to draw a really powerful card at a critical moment. Apparently that’s only something really impressive people can do. Personally, I’d chalk it up to dumb luck, but since I don’t actually believe in luck, and Yugi’s probably done some vaguely mystical Egyptian thing to make it cool, I should probably just be quiet and keep writing.
Oh great, now they’ve stolen some random other guy’s soul. Damn.
So apparently, the Superbowl was tonight, something I rather spectacularly managed not to realize since I’ve been spending most of my time in a church trying to remember 28 different colors in perfect sequential order. I’ve come to the conclusion that Tim Rice hated actors, and decided while writing the Joseph lyrics to punish them by writing that stupid color song. Don’t get me wrong, I love this play, I love the part I’m playing, and I love pretty much every song in it. But seriously? 28 colors? And they’re really weird colors like ochre and fawn. What is fawn? I thought it was a deer. Clearly, I was mistaken.
Oh, but I was talking about the Superbowl, wasn’t I? I honestly don’t have much to say about it. I don’t even remember what teams were playing. How sad is that? I know they weren’t the Patriots, which is probably I didn’t hear about it. I’m not exactly a football fan, so I only ever know when it’s on through word of mouth, and when no one’s talking about it because it’s New England and the New England team isn’t in it, I guess I don’t hear about it.
Why did I mention it then? I don’t know. I just did. It was mainly to bring up something to talk about, since I really don’t have much. My life’s in pretty much the same place it was last time I wrote, I’m just a bit calmer about it. I think. It’s hard to tell. One day I’m calm, the next day I’m a complete mess. I suppose it comes with the territory when you’re seventeen. Still, at least I’m not playing a card game with myself, like Yugi appears to be…I think. God, there really is no end to how bizarre, confusing, and stupid this show is?
So why am I still watching? God knows.
Oh, I get it. Ok, one of the Yugis is Yugi’s dark side, so he’s fighting his inner demons or something. Wow, deep. Kind of. Not really. I mean, it would be deep and thought provoking if they weren’t playing a children’s card game in the middle of a random desert somewhere in the Midwest.
But, since I’m bored, I’m going to make this thought provoking anyway. If I was forcedto fight my inner demons in some way, how would it happen? What would it be like?
Well, it definitely wouldn’t involve Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Let’s start with that.
It could involve different cards, I suppose, like Uno cards, or something. Yeah, that might cool. A really epic game of Uno. No…wait, that might get a bit boring after a while. I’ve played really, unbelievably long games of Uno that essentially lead to nothing. Not really the kind of thing you’d want when fighting your inner demons. I’d probably end up doing it mainly with words anyway, if I had to use cards, we’d abandon them after the first minute or so. If my inner demons are as ADD as I am, there’s no way we’d have the attention span for Uno.
So, I guess, a verbal duel with my own dark side would have to go something like this:
Me: What the hell?
Dark-Me: I’m your inner demons. Hello.
Me: Hello.
Dark-Me: I’m the part of you that’s sure you’re not going to get into college, thinks you suck at life, constantly compares you other people, and constantly questions everything you thought you knew about yourself.
Me: Dude, that sucks.
Dark-Me: I know, it’s a pretty annoying gig, to be honest.
Me: I would imagine.
Dark-Me: So…um, you fail. At everything. How’s it feel to know that?
Me: Well, I…er, wasn’t exactly aware of that before now.
Dark-Me: Oh, really?
Me: Yeah, I was pretty sure there were a few things I didn’t entirely suck at.
Dark-Me: Oh…well, I guess you’re right. Maybe. Sort of.
Me: Yeah…
Dark-Me: So…
Me: Can I go to rehearsal now?
Dark-Me: Oh yeah, go right ahead. I’ll just go back to living in the back of your mind, or something.
Me: Sounds good.
And that’d pretty much be it. Pretty anti-climactic if you ask me. Nothing like what happens in anime, which is probably a good thing. It must get tiring shouting all the time and invoking bizarre, over-dramatic poses. Not that I don’t do that kind of thing on a regular basis anyway, but it’s usually for more of a purpose than to announce that I’m leaving to go to the supermarket or something.
But…so, yeah. That’s pretty much what’s up with me now. I’m in a weird time right now. I’ve got this very thin veil of being ok on right now, with all that uncertainty and angst churning underneath it. I’m slowly getting better, but I think it may take a while before I’m fully ok again. I’ll let you know.
For now though, I think I’ll go to bed. I may not sleep, but at least I’ll be in bed. Remember, never agree to duel yourself in a children’s card game, and on the off-chance you do, never accidentally steal someone else’s soul. Ok? Good.
Happy Superbowl Sunday, everyone. May whatever team you’re rooting for win.
*Nelly*
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Amazing Disapearing Reapearing Blogger
Well, it's about time.
I was, I promise, going to write a really, ridiculously epic entry for the new year. Like, really, I had it planned! I was a long, brilliant, thought provoking, shiny new entry going through the months of 2008 and stating my general observations. I even did research. It was going to be brilliant, really, I promise.
You see, it all started when I got home from my New Year's excursion to Maine. I was just about to head to the computer when these GIANT FREAKING ALIENS showed up out of nowhere! They were all "take me to your leader, human scum," and I was all, "which leader, the current one or the leader elect?" and they were all, "which ever one we can deliver a message of the destruction of earth to," and I was all "well, the leader elect has better communication skills," and they were all, "sweet, lets go." And that's when I found myself on this epic chase to track down Barack Obama with an entire hoard of aliens, only I didn't want them to get to him, since they were planning on killing the earth and everything. So I partnered with a bunch of human slaves and a few dinosaurs from Future War and together we staged a full-scale rebellion on our alien overlords, which culminated in me having to press a deadly button that would destroy two worlds at once and leave me the last living human being in the galaxy. So, rather than do that, I decided to become a hitchhiker, leave the aliens and the dinosaurs to kill themselves, and find my way back to Earth the old fashioned way.
Needless to say, that took a while. And now I'm here.
THIS TOTALLY HAPPENED.
...well, maybe not.
But the real reason for my lack of available blogging time is exciting!
Rather than acting as a double agent aboard an alien spaceship, I've been at rehearsal. What else is new, right? But! What rehearsal was it? The answer is simple, at first. In December I auditioned for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a show in desperate need of a catchier name, and despite all my misgivings about my singing ability, and my recent rather spectacular collapse in confidence (thank you Wheeler-Smith) I somehow managed to get in. And, not only did I manage to get in, but...
I'M THE NARRATOR!!!!
Well, I'm half the Narrator. As is apparently typical with this show, the role of the narrator has been split in two. But you know, I could care less, because seriously, I'M THE NARRATOR!!! I have wanted this part since I saw the Donny Osmond movie version when I was around seven. My friends remember sitting there watching it with me while I, rather wistfully, said "I would love to play that part someday..." And now...I've got it. It's bizarre, and spectacular, and slightly scary. But...OH MY GOD I'M THE NARRATOR!!!
So, um...needless to say, I've sort of been spending every free moment of my life at rehearsal for that. And studying for midterms. And applying to college. And trying to not fail Spanish.
Oh! And while I'm announcing exciting parts, I also recently got my role in Hamlet. I'm Rosencrantz! As in, like, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern! Not a huge part, but a fun one, so I'm equally as excited about it. I haven't started rehearsals for that yet, so there's not much to report, but I'll keep you posted.
As for the whole New Year thing, it's wierd. January brings me frighteningly closer to my college application deadline, and the closer I get, the more my grades seem to be dropping. It occured to me only minutes after midnight that it was 2009, which I've been told my entire life would be the year I would graduate. It's strange, 2009 was always this sort of mythic year, the year we were told our lives would change, the year my baby sister turns ten, the year our president changes, it was always so far away. And now, here it is. Here I am. A high school senior looking towards college. Nearly 18 years old.
When did that happen?
It's terrifying. I am absolutely, legitametly terrified I won't get into college. My grades are not the greatest, some are decent, and some are very, very bad. I've never been very good at managing time, constantly over-booking myself, constantly out of focus, a procrastinator. This reflects itself in my GPA, which I thought I would bring up this year by not taking any math or science courses, which are typically what bring down my GPA. But, this year has been insane. AP Lit, Advanced Spanish, more enrichment classes than I probably need, combined with a play that nearly killed me and an evil radioactive spider demon for an AP teacher...I just, I haven't had time. For anything. I haven't been able to put all my energy into one specific thing. Everyone around me says "give this your all," but you can't do that when you're trying to do the same thing everywhere else. You end up with pieces of yourself scattered around, half-finished assignments, effort-lacking papers, barely memorized lines, still unfinished applications. A little bit of you is everywhere, but you're never able to stand in one place.
And I can see this effecting me. My acting is suffering, despite the dream role in Joseph, I'm just not feeling it as much. I can't get fully into a part because somewhere, a part of me is still off trying to figure out what leadership qualities I'd bring to Keane State University. I'm simultaneously defining the Buddhist interpretation of the afterlife, memorizing a sonnet, writing a paper on the theme of isolation in the works of Hawthorne, worrying about my GPA, yelling at myself for not doing that Spanish project, trying to learn 28 consecutive colors in perfect sequential order, building an enchanted rose, and somewhere, someone is telling me to give it my all.
Nothing in my life is consistant. Half my SAT scores say I'm decent, my math scores say I'm an idiot. One director thinks I'm great, another one can't remember who I am. I don't know what I am. I don't know if I'm smart, if I'm average, if I'm talented, if I'm mediocre, I don't know. And that scares me, because colleges want people that are exceptional, they want people who are different from the average, people who stand out, and I...I can't even stand in one place.
This year is terrifying. Some fantastic things are happening, but at the same time there's this unbelievable fear hanging over it. This might not be happening. I may not get to leave my home this fall, I may still be in the same place I am now, desperately trying to scrape my way through community college to get to where I want.
It's like It's A Wonderful Life. I may end up like George Baily, perpetually stuck in the same place, watching as everyone he knows gets to go off and see the world, while he remains in Bedford Falls. And, yes, I know the point is that George lived a great life despite this, but...it's not the life I want. I don't know why, it just isn't. And, I'm sure it's just me being young and restless or something, young and stupid, but I don't want to be George Baily.
Everything's so uncertain right now. I have no future, nothing to look towards, nothing to make me excited for the end of high school. And as my grades keep falling, I keep worrying. Even at this moment, I should be finishing comparative religions terms, looking up monologues for my college audition, finding songs, filming a Spanish project, finishing Metamorphosis, and...I don't even know anymore. I just wish I knew where I was going. I wish I could go and do one thing without worrying about seven others as I'm doing it. I wish I could pull it together.
And I started this entry on such a happy note.
I apologize to you, those who read this Blog, for pouring out all my angst unexpectedly like that. And, in general, on this Blog. I should be immensely happy right now, I have a part I've always dreamed of. Thousands of people go through this, millions of teenagers. Everyone gets over-booked, and has too much to think about, and yet...other people seem to handle it fine. Why can't I seem to handle anything?
Again, I'm sorry for the angst. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Happy New Year everyone, may it be an improvement on the old one.
I was, I promise, going to write a really, ridiculously epic entry for the new year. Like, really, I had it planned! I was a long, brilliant, thought provoking, shiny new entry going through the months of 2008 and stating my general observations. I even did research. It was going to be brilliant, really, I promise.
You see, it all started when I got home from my New Year's excursion to Maine. I was just about to head to the computer when these GIANT FREAKING ALIENS showed up out of nowhere! They were all "take me to your leader, human scum," and I was all, "which leader, the current one or the leader elect?" and they were all, "which ever one we can deliver a message of the destruction of earth to," and I was all "well, the leader elect has better communication skills," and they were all, "sweet, lets go." And that's when I found myself on this epic chase to track down Barack Obama with an entire hoard of aliens, only I didn't want them to get to him, since they were planning on killing the earth and everything. So I partnered with a bunch of human slaves and a few dinosaurs from Future War and together we staged a full-scale rebellion on our alien overlords, which culminated in me having to press a deadly button that would destroy two worlds at once and leave me the last living human being in the galaxy. So, rather than do that, I decided to become a hitchhiker, leave the aliens and the dinosaurs to kill themselves, and find my way back to Earth the old fashioned way.
Needless to say, that took a while. And now I'm here.
THIS TOTALLY HAPPENED.
...well, maybe not.
But the real reason for my lack of available blogging time is exciting!
Rather than acting as a double agent aboard an alien spaceship, I've been at rehearsal. What else is new, right? But! What rehearsal was it? The answer is simple, at first. In December I auditioned for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a show in desperate need of a catchier name, and despite all my misgivings about my singing ability, and my recent rather spectacular collapse in confidence (thank you Wheeler-Smith) I somehow managed to get in. And, not only did I manage to get in, but...
I'M THE NARRATOR!!!!
Well, I'm half the Narrator. As is apparently typical with this show, the role of the narrator has been split in two. But you know, I could care less, because seriously, I'M THE NARRATOR!!! I have wanted this part since I saw the Donny Osmond movie version when I was around seven. My friends remember sitting there watching it with me while I, rather wistfully, said "I would love to play that part someday..." And now...I've got it. It's bizarre, and spectacular, and slightly scary. But...OH MY GOD I'M THE NARRATOR!!!
So, um...needless to say, I've sort of been spending every free moment of my life at rehearsal for that. And studying for midterms. And applying to college. And trying to not fail Spanish.
Oh! And while I'm announcing exciting parts, I also recently got my role in Hamlet. I'm Rosencrantz! As in, like, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern! Not a huge part, but a fun one, so I'm equally as excited about it. I haven't started rehearsals for that yet, so there's not much to report, but I'll keep you posted.
As for the whole New Year thing, it's wierd. January brings me frighteningly closer to my college application deadline, and the closer I get, the more my grades seem to be dropping. It occured to me only minutes after midnight that it was 2009, which I've been told my entire life would be the year I would graduate. It's strange, 2009 was always this sort of mythic year, the year we were told our lives would change, the year my baby sister turns ten, the year our president changes, it was always so far away. And now, here it is. Here I am. A high school senior looking towards college. Nearly 18 years old.
When did that happen?
It's terrifying. I am absolutely, legitametly terrified I won't get into college. My grades are not the greatest, some are decent, and some are very, very bad. I've never been very good at managing time, constantly over-booking myself, constantly out of focus, a procrastinator. This reflects itself in my GPA, which I thought I would bring up this year by not taking any math or science courses, which are typically what bring down my GPA. But, this year has been insane. AP Lit, Advanced Spanish, more enrichment classes than I probably need, combined with a play that nearly killed me and an evil radioactive spider demon for an AP teacher...I just, I haven't had time. For anything. I haven't been able to put all my energy into one specific thing. Everyone around me says "give this your all," but you can't do that when you're trying to do the same thing everywhere else. You end up with pieces of yourself scattered around, half-finished assignments, effort-lacking papers, barely memorized lines, still unfinished applications. A little bit of you is everywhere, but you're never able to stand in one place.
And I can see this effecting me. My acting is suffering, despite the dream role in Joseph, I'm just not feeling it as much. I can't get fully into a part because somewhere, a part of me is still off trying to figure out what leadership qualities I'd bring to Keane State University. I'm simultaneously defining the Buddhist interpretation of the afterlife, memorizing a sonnet, writing a paper on the theme of isolation in the works of Hawthorne, worrying about my GPA, yelling at myself for not doing that Spanish project, trying to learn 28 consecutive colors in perfect sequential order, building an enchanted rose, and somewhere, someone is telling me to give it my all.
Nothing in my life is consistant. Half my SAT scores say I'm decent, my math scores say I'm an idiot. One director thinks I'm great, another one can't remember who I am. I don't know what I am. I don't know if I'm smart, if I'm average, if I'm talented, if I'm mediocre, I don't know. And that scares me, because colleges want people that are exceptional, they want people who are different from the average, people who stand out, and I...I can't even stand in one place.
This year is terrifying. Some fantastic things are happening, but at the same time there's this unbelievable fear hanging over it. This might not be happening. I may not get to leave my home this fall, I may still be in the same place I am now, desperately trying to scrape my way through community college to get to where I want.
It's like It's A Wonderful Life. I may end up like George Baily, perpetually stuck in the same place, watching as everyone he knows gets to go off and see the world, while he remains in Bedford Falls. And, yes, I know the point is that George lived a great life despite this, but...it's not the life I want. I don't know why, it just isn't. And, I'm sure it's just me being young and restless or something, young and stupid, but I don't want to be George Baily.
Everything's so uncertain right now. I have no future, nothing to look towards, nothing to make me excited for the end of high school. And as my grades keep falling, I keep worrying. Even at this moment, I should be finishing comparative religions terms, looking up monologues for my college audition, finding songs, filming a Spanish project, finishing Metamorphosis, and...I don't even know anymore. I just wish I knew where I was going. I wish I could go and do one thing without worrying about seven others as I'm doing it. I wish I could pull it together.
And I started this entry on such a happy note.
I apologize to you, those who read this Blog, for pouring out all my angst unexpectedly like that. And, in general, on this Blog. I should be immensely happy right now, I have a part I've always dreamed of. Thousands of people go through this, millions of teenagers. Everyone gets over-booked, and has too much to think about, and yet...other people seem to handle it fine. Why can't I seem to handle anything?
Again, I'm sorry for the angst. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Happy New Year everyone, may it be an improvement on the old one.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A Holly Jolly State of Emergency
Well, this is indeed another moment where, like the title of this blog, the world is, in fact, very strange.
You may have heard about the recent state of emergency in New Hampshire. The ice storm that hit was fairly traumatic, my mother didn't sleep the night it hit, all she could hear was wind and trees crashing down. It was frightening purely because she was afraid she'd end up pinned beneath a fallen tree and need to go to the bathroom. Never mind the fact that she's most likely be dead (the pine trees around our house are rather impressively large) apparently the need to pee is a fear far greater than death itself.
Anyway, so that hit. That was a fun night. Lots of noise and tossing and turning. Good times. I awoke the next morning at 8:30, sure I'd overslept and my mother hadn't noticed and that any second she was going to burst into my room having seen my car still in the driveway, and demand to know why I wasn't at school, declare I'd better get to school, and give me a series of chastisements the likes of which can only be compared to Maleficent turning into the giant, fire breathing dragon at the end of Sleeping Beauty.
It got up somewhat frantically, reached for the light over on my nightstand and...
Oh. Right.
No power.
The events that followed where a saga of days, far too complex and uninteresting to detail in basic prose, therefore I now give you a TIMELINE OF MY STATE OF EMERGENCY.
Friday: My mother, sister, cats, birds, and me sit around the non-heating woodstove purchased purely to look pretty and read books. At around noon, sister goes to friend's house, mom and I get bored, we head to Newington where they have power and go out to lunch and do some Christmas shopping. I get new pair of earrings, mom gets progressively more exhausted as her lack of sleep the night before starts to hit her. We arrive at home a few hours later, and after a quick trip to get batteries and Oreos, my friend Natasha ends up at my house. We stand eating double stuff Oreos for a moment till my father, in a spectacuarly epic move, pulls up in front of my house in ambulence and declares it's time to pack up and go North, it's only going to get worse, we need to escape while we can. In response, Natasha turns to me and informs me that "This is the most epic thing that's ever happened to me..." I then remember I have a show the next day, and therefore must stay in New Hampshire, I then hang around with Natasha debating whether or not to search out a place to stay or go to the shelter, we opt to go to Amylee's where there's a woodstove, but not before we end up in Epping searching for food.
There are very few ways to describe Epping at this point. It was the only town with power in area, short of Newington, which meant that everyone and their dog was trying to get food, gas, provisions, and batteries. It was similar to one of those movies where the aliens are about to destroy the earth, and everyone's rushing through the streets to try and pick up any last minute things they may need as the world ends. It was chaos, pure utter chaos. Tasha and I end up eating Chex mix for dinner, and eventually end up playing Harry Potter Clue by candlelight at Amylee's.
Saturday: I awake at Amylee's only to discover that my father has come by to inform me that we now have power. The nice thing about living in the downtown area, people get power. Amylee is still without power, and thus begins preparations to shower at her grandparents. I wonder on the status of my show that evening, as Natasha ponders the amount of people that will be living in her house. My father is the only one home, and I soon come to the upsetting conclusion that my mom and sister will not be home in time for my show. It's ok, it's not their fault, I still have Dad. But no! He soon gets called away when a tree comes down somewhere, and the whole mess that started on Friday starts again. I go to my show anyway, forget only one of my lines, and end up on the list of people preforming at the NHTP Holiday Jubilee the next day. I invite my parents, they agree to come, and everything's dandy.
Sunday: We go to church. The service that was once going to be about the dark and cold, and the "Blessings of the Earth and Sky" has been changed to one about the word "wow". Coincidence? I think not. We then go the Holiday Jubilee, something which turns out to involve far more shmoozing and fancy clothing than I originally thought, where I meet Wine Lady. Wine Lady is a very nice older woman who seems to like my friend Eli and me, and who never seems to be without a glass of wine in her hand. She tells me I need to get out of New Hampshire, I grin at my mother, who missed the comment, and has no idea why I'm grinning. I get chinese food, and bizarrely, end up at Casey's playing Clue and Apples to Apples. How that happened, I'm still not sure.
Monday: After discovering there's no school, I decide I desperately want to see The Day The Earth Stood Still and end up dragging Natasha and Sarah. I love it, Sarah likes it, Tasha's just glad she only paid the matinee price for it. I come to the conclusion that our state's current situation is the product of a sort-of-peaceful alien trying to save the earth from humanity, I also decide I want a giant robot named Gort. We end up at Sarah's house - still running on nothing but a generator - and naturally, decide to watch Firefly.
Tuesday: There is, once again, no school. I go out to lunch with Valerie. We discuss the fact through most of this state of emergency, we've had full power and heat, which really puts a damper on the extremity of it all. She got her power back Friday afternoon, far earlier than anyone else I know. Her Dad works in some job he's not allowed to tell anyone about (I'm pretty sure he's a spy...or an assasin.) I'm sure he had some strings he pulled somewhere. After lunch I end bored at home, and partly out of desperation, and partly because I genuinly love it, I rent A Muppet Christmas Carol and watch it twice. I get a call around five from our school system alerting us that there is, in fact school tomorrow, a fact I'm almost happy about until discovering that my evil-radioactive-spider-demon-AP-Lit-teacher has apparently assigned a paper due the next day. As we missed the class she was supposed to tell us about it during, I decide to ignore it, and watch more Muppets.
You would think this would be the end of it, oh no. This is New Hampshire, nothing is as it seems.
Wendsday: I get up at five in the morning to get ready for school. I'm showered, dressed, and in the process of locating my AP Lit book when I get a call from the Automated School Board. "DUE TO CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS, SCHOOL WILL CLOSED WENDSDAY DECEMBER 17, 2008."
Yep. After five straight days of no school due a power killing, more annoying than terrifying ice storm, school is cancelled again due a snow storm.
I love New England.
Anyway, that's my state of emergency. No, I'm not trapped in my house freezing with no power, though I know quite a few people still are. At the moment, I'm sitting on my bed, in my pajamas, watching the snow come down through my window. Maybe later, I'll watch the Muppet Christmas Carol again. Or maybe I'll watch Doctor Who. Who knows? The day's open...again.
Gotta love natural disasters.
Happy Ice/Snow/Sleet Days,
*Nelly*
You may have heard about the recent state of emergency in New Hampshire. The ice storm that hit was fairly traumatic, my mother didn't sleep the night it hit, all she could hear was wind and trees crashing down. It was frightening purely because she was afraid she'd end up pinned beneath a fallen tree and need to go to the bathroom. Never mind the fact that she's most likely be dead (the pine trees around our house are rather impressively large) apparently the need to pee is a fear far greater than death itself.
Anyway, so that hit. That was a fun night. Lots of noise and tossing and turning. Good times. I awoke the next morning at 8:30, sure I'd overslept and my mother hadn't noticed and that any second she was going to burst into my room having seen my car still in the driveway, and demand to know why I wasn't at school, declare I'd better get to school, and give me a series of chastisements the likes of which can only be compared to Maleficent turning into the giant, fire breathing dragon at the end of Sleeping Beauty.
It got up somewhat frantically, reached for the light over on my nightstand and...
Oh. Right.
No power.
The events that followed where a saga of days, far too complex and uninteresting to detail in basic prose, therefore I now give you a TIMELINE OF MY STATE OF EMERGENCY.
Friday: My mother, sister, cats, birds, and me sit around the non-heating woodstove purchased purely to look pretty and read books. At around noon, sister goes to friend's house, mom and I get bored, we head to Newington where they have power and go out to lunch and do some Christmas shopping. I get new pair of earrings, mom gets progressively more exhausted as her lack of sleep the night before starts to hit her. We arrive at home a few hours later, and after a quick trip to get batteries and Oreos, my friend Natasha ends up at my house. We stand eating double stuff Oreos for a moment till my father, in a spectacuarly epic move, pulls up in front of my house in ambulence and declares it's time to pack up and go North, it's only going to get worse, we need to escape while we can. In response, Natasha turns to me and informs me that "This is the most epic thing that's ever happened to me..." I then remember I have a show the next day, and therefore must stay in New Hampshire, I then hang around with Natasha debating whether or not to search out a place to stay or go to the shelter, we opt to go to Amylee's where there's a woodstove, but not before we end up in Epping searching for food.
There are very few ways to describe Epping at this point. It was the only town with power in area, short of Newington, which meant that everyone and their dog was trying to get food, gas, provisions, and batteries. It was similar to one of those movies where the aliens are about to destroy the earth, and everyone's rushing through the streets to try and pick up any last minute things they may need as the world ends. It was chaos, pure utter chaos. Tasha and I end up eating Chex mix for dinner, and eventually end up playing Harry Potter Clue by candlelight at Amylee's.
Saturday: I awake at Amylee's only to discover that my father has come by to inform me that we now have power. The nice thing about living in the downtown area, people get power. Amylee is still without power, and thus begins preparations to shower at her grandparents. I wonder on the status of my show that evening, as Natasha ponders the amount of people that will be living in her house. My father is the only one home, and I soon come to the upsetting conclusion that my mom and sister will not be home in time for my show. It's ok, it's not their fault, I still have Dad. But no! He soon gets called away when a tree comes down somewhere, and the whole mess that started on Friday starts again. I go to my show anyway, forget only one of my lines, and end up on the list of people preforming at the NHTP Holiday Jubilee the next day. I invite my parents, they agree to come, and everything's dandy.
Sunday: We go to church. The service that was once going to be about the dark and cold, and the "Blessings of the Earth and Sky" has been changed to one about the word "wow". Coincidence? I think not. We then go the Holiday Jubilee, something which turns out to involve far more shmoozing and fancy clothing than I originally thought, where I meet Wine Lady. Wine Lady is a very nice older woman who seems to like my friend Eli and me, and who never seems to be without a glass of wine in her hand. She tells me I need to get out of New Hampshire, I grin at my mother, who missed the comment, and has no idea why I'm grinning. I get chinese food, and bizarrely, end up at Casey's playing Clue and Apples to Apples. How that happened, I'm still not sure.
Monday: After discovering there's no school, I decide I desperately want to see The Day The Earth Stood Still and end up dragging Natasha and Sarah. I love it, Sarah likes it, Tasha's just glad she only paid the matinee price for it. I come to the conclusion that our state's current situation is the product of a sort-of-peaceful alien trying to save the earth from humanity, I also decide I want a giant robot named Gort. We end up at Sarah's house - still running on nothing but a generator - and naturally, decide to watch Firefly.
Tuesday: There is, once again, no school. I go out to lunch with Valerie. We discuss the fact through most of this state of emergency, we've had full power and heat, which really puts a damper on the extremity of it all. She got her power back Friday afternoon, far earlier than anyone else I know. Her Dad works in some job he's not allowed to tell anyone about (I'm pretty sure he's a spy...or an assasin.) I'm sure he had some strings he pulled somewhere. After lunch I end bored at home, and partly out of desperation, and partly because I genuinly love it, I rent A Muppet Christmas Carol and watch it twice. I get a call around five from our school system alerting us that there is, in fact school tomorrow, a fact I'm almost happy about until discovering that my evil-radioactive-spider-demon-AP-Lit-teacher has apparently assigned a paper due the next day. As we missed the class she was supposed to tell us about it during, I decide to ignore it, and watch more Muppets.
You would think this would be the end of it, oh no. This is New Hampshire, nothing is as it seems.
Wendsday: I get up at five in the morning to get ready for school. I'm showered, dressed, and in the process of locating my AP Lit book when I get a call from the Automated School Board. "DUE TO CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS, SCHOOL WILL CLOSED WENDSDAY DECEMBER 17, 2008."
Yep. After five straight days of no school due a power killing, more annoying than terrifying ice storm, school is cancelled again due a snow storm.
I love New England.
Anyway, that's my state of emergency. No, I'm not trapped in my house freezing with no power, though I know quite a few people still are. At the moment, I'm sitting on my bed, in my pajamas, watching the snow come down through my window. Maybe later, I'll watch the Muppet Christmas Carol again. Or maybe I'll watch Doctor Who. Who knows? The day's open...again.
Gotta love natural disasters.
Happy Ice/Snow/Sleet Days,
*Nelly*
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Life and Sexy Vampires
Life is strange.
You can think you're in one place, going about your typical routine, eating the same sandwich for lunch, going to class, coming home, just another day in the life.
And then come the vampires.
I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. I know I was in the hallway, just outside the art room...I think I was looking for my car keys...but suddenly, with no warning, my friend appeared out of nowhere to inform me that she had bought me a ticket to the midnight premiere of Twilight, and that despite the fact that I have never read the books, no virtually nothing about the books, and have no general interest in the books, that I would, in fact, be going to the premiere.
Um...yeah. Good deal.
So here I am, Thursday night, sitting at home long after everyone else has gone to bed waiting to be picked up to see a movie I know next to nothing about with a bunch of people who know pretty much everything there is to know. It should be pretty cool, I guess. Who knows? The one time I had any exposure or experience with the Twilight series was the time I accidentally ended up in Barnes and Nobles two hours before the last book came out. Yeah, that was pretty fun, trying desperately to get from one end of the store to the other in the middle of a bunch of crazed fans, none of which will tell me what's going on, why they're all dressed like vampires, and what the hell is the deal with the specialty Godiva chocolate bar with a "Twilight apple" on it. I remember coming home late that night to my mother:
"Where have you been?"
Me: "I'm sorry mom, Barnes and Nobles was full of vampires."
Mom: "What?"
Me: "Vampires."
Mom: "Vampires? Please call next time, ok?"
Me: "Yeah, mom."
So naturally, after this somewhat traumatic excursion, I'm apparently going to the oppening of the Twilight movie. Why do I always seem to end up at all the big Twilight events when I'VE NEVER EVEN READ THE FREAKING BOOK???
Seriously, here is what I know about Twilight:
1.) A random girl meets a sexy vampire after noticing that he runs fast and has cold skin.
2.) Random girl and sexy vampire fall madly in love.
3.) Sexy vampire leaves random girl and she meets sexy warewolf.
4.) Sexy werewolf and random girl fall in love.
5.) Sexy vampire returns to random girl, who ditches sexy werewolf to marry sexy vampire.
6.) Random girl and sexy vampire have highly ambiguous, non-graphic sex. Remember, it is a teen book.
...and that's about it. Needless to say, I'm in for quite a night.
God help me.
Going to the movies,
*Nelly*
You can think you're in one place, going about your typical routine, eating the same sandwich for lunch, going to class, coming home, just another day in the life.
And then come the vampires.
I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. I know I was in the hallway, just outside the art room...I think I was looking for my car keys...but suddenly, with no warning, my friend appeared out of nowhere to inform me that she had bought me a ticket to the midnight premiere of Twilight, and that despite the fact that I have never read the books, no virtually nothing about the books, and have no general interest in the books, that I would, in fact, be going to the premiere.
Um...yeah. Good deal.
So here I am, Thursday night, sitting at home long after everyone else has gone to bed waiting to be picked up to see a movie I know next to nothing about with a bunch of people who know pretty much everything there is to know. It should be pretty cool, I guess. Who knows? The one time I had any exposure or experience with the Twilight series was the time I accidentally ended up in Barnes and Nobles two hours before the last book came out. Yeah, that was pretty fun, trying desperately to get from one end of the store to the other in the middle of a bunch of crazed fans, none of which will tell me what's going on, why they're all dressed like vampires, and what the hell is the deal with the specialty Godiva chocolate bar with a "Twilight apple" on it. I remember coming home late that night to my mother:
"Where have you been?"
Me: "I'm sorry mom, Barnes and Nobles was full of vampires."
Mom: "What?"
Me: "Vampires."
Mom: "Vampires? Please call next time, ok?"
Me: "Yeah, mom."
So naturally, after this somewhat traumatic excursion, I'm apparently going to the oppening of the Twilight movie. Why do I always seem to end up at all the big Twilight events when I'VE NEVER EVEN READ THE FREAKING BOOK???
Seriously, here is what I know about Twilight:
1.) A random girl meets a sexy vampire after noticing that he runs fast and has cold skin.
2.) Random girl and sexy vampire fall madly in love.
3.) Sexy vampire leaves random girl and she meets sexy warewolf.
4.) Sexy werewolf and random girl fall in love.
5.) Sexy vampire returns to random girl, who ditches sexy werewolf to marry sexy vampire.
6.) Random girl and sexy vampire have highly ambiguous, non-graphic sex. Remember, it is a teen book.
...and that's about it. Needless to say, I'm in for quite a night.
God help me.
Going to the movies,
*Nelly*
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Huzzah!!
Well, we did it.
What a night that was. Seriously, I was up till at least one in the morning with my mom, switching between the news and the Daily Show, waiting for the results. It was John Stewart that eventually gave us the news, to which we proceeded to scream and frantically change channels like two giddy girls at a sleepover. My sister woke up just as it was announced, continuing her rather remarkable affinity for waking up the second something big and historical happens. She woke up for the Millennium too, which is even more impressive as she was only about a year and a half old that time.
But seriously. Barack Obama is President Elect. OH MY GOD. BARACK OBAMA IS PRESIDENT ELECT!
All is right with the world.
Well, for the most part. Kinda. Ok, not really, but it's looking up. There's hope. Just look at the sign.
Congrats everyone,
*Nelly*
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blog Action Day: Poverty
And so, because I fail at life, and had no time to write a proper entry, I filmed myself rambling, and have forced it upon you. Have fun! I warn you, it's rambling, melodramatic, and really achieves nothing. It does address the topic, however, so there you go.
Bon Voyage,
*Nelly*
Bon Voyage,
*Nelly*
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Once Upon A Time
[Note: This is my one-hundreth entry, and I actually have a much cooler entry planned for it, but as I recently got into Beauty and the Beast (again) as the Enchantress, and my life has been Disney lately, and my writer's block is ever-increasing, I give you this instead. Enjoy]
[Oh, and John Johnson's the actor playing the young prince. Yes, that's really his name.]
So I’m ranting about Beauty and the Beast because my cousin told me to. Hopefully, this will form a plot, or a story, or just something I can put into words that is relatively coherent and not complete gobbly-gook.
If gobbly-gook is even a word.
So, there was this prince, long ago in a galaxy far, far away or something (or was that Luke…?) who was really spoiled, really arrogant, and looked a bit like John Johnson. He was sitting in his castle one night, minding his own business, when this little old beggar woman shows up at the door and asks for a place to stay. She was poor, obviously, by definition old beggar women randomly appearing at people’s doors have to be poor, it’s a rule. Due to this, in return for the shelter she hoped to acquire from him, she would give him a rose. Basically, give the woman a place to stay, some food, and maybe some water, and she’d give you a pretty rose.
Right. The prince? So not having that.
Turned her down flat.
Ever persistent, she tried again. One rose in exchange for shelter from the clearly bitter cold, because just as old fairytale beggar women have to be poor, the weather when they arrive must be as cold and oppressive as possible. Trufax.
Once again, he denied her. He was completely repulsed by her haggard appearance, and sneered at the rose. Much in the same attitude as the prince, the old woman was also so not having that, and warned him not to be judged by appearances, for beauty was found within.
He still didn’t get it.
So in response, she threw off her cape, stepped out from behind the scrim, and revealed herself to, in fact, be a beautiful freaking enchantress.
Damn.
The prince fell to his knees and begged frantically for forgiveness like a small, immature, whiney child similar to my little sister. He prayed, he kicked, he screamed, he listened to Hannah Montana, he pretended to have a crush on the Jonas Brothers, he danced, he ate mass amounts of Chinese take out, and finally, he groveled before the feet of the not-particularly-impressed enchantress.
Despite the fake crush on the Jonas brothers, she could see that there was no love in his heart. How she could see that, exactly, we may never know. It has something to do with waving your arms threateningly at John Johnson in the hallway next to the chorus room. It may also be one of those stupid fairy tale mysteries you’re not really supposed to know the answer to. The world may never know.
As opposed to shrugging her shoulders and deciding this idiot wasn’t worth it, the enchantress, probably bored and a bit PMS-y, cursed the prince by transforming him into a hideous, ugly beast, doomed to remain so until he could learn to love another, and earn her love (or his love, let’s be politically correct here) in return. Deciding she was on a roll tonight, she also cursed the castle, and placed the now-enchanted rose up in the prince’s super-secret club house he liked to call “The West Wing”. The rose would bloom until the prince’s 21st birthday, conveniently dooming him to remain a beast for all eternity just around the time he hit the legal drinking age. At least he can drink.
But of course, what’s a drink when you’re lonely? For who could ever learn to love a beast?
[Oh, and John Johnson's the actor playing the young prince. Yes, that's really his name.]
So I’m ranting about Beauty and the Beast because my cousin told me to. Hopefully, this will form a plot, or a story, or just something I can put into words that is relatively coherent and not complete gobbly-gook.
If gobbly-gook is even a word.
So, there was this prince, long ago in a galaxy far, far away or something (or was that Luke…?) who was really spoiled, really arrogant, and looked a bit like John Johnson. He was sitting in his castle one night, minding his own business, when this little old beggar woman shows up at the door and asks for a place to stay. She was poor, obviously, by definition old beggar women randomly appearing at people’s doors have to be poor, it’s a rule. Due to this, in return for the shelter she hoped to acquire from him, she would give him a rose. Basically, give the woman a place to stay, some food, and maybe some water, and she’d give you a pretty rose.
Right. The prince? So not having that.
Turned her down flat.
Ever persistent, she tried again. One rose in exchange for shelter from the clearly bitter cold, because just as old fairytale beggar women have to be poor, the weather when they arrive must be as cold and oppressive as possible. Trufax.
Once again, he denied her. He was completely repulsed by her haggard appearance, and sneered at the rose. Much in the same attitude as the prince, the old woman was also so not having that, and warned him not to be judged by appearances, for beauty was found within.
He still didn’t get it.
So in response, she threw off her cape, stepped out from behind the scrim, and revealed herself to, in fact, be a beautiful freaking enchantress.
Damn.
The prince fell to his knees and begged frantically for forgiveness like a small, immature, whiney child similar to my little sister. He prayed, he kicked, he screamed, he listened to Hannah Montana, he pretended to have a crush on the Jonas Brothers, he danced, he ate mass amounts of Chinese take out, and finally, he groveled before the feet of the not-particularly-impressed enchantress.
Despite the fake crush on the Jonas brothers, she could see that there was no love in his heart. How she could see that, exactly, we may never know. It has something to do with waving your arms threateningly at John Johnson in the hallway next to the chorus room. It may also be one of those stupid fairy tale mysteries you’re not really supposed to know the answer to. The world may never know.
As opposed to shrugging her shoulders and deciding this idiot wasn’t worth it, the enchantress, probably bored and a bit PMS-y, cursed the prince by transforming him into a hideous, ugly beast, doomed to remain so until he could learn to love another, and earn her love (or his love, let’s be politically correct here) in return. Deciding she was on a roll tonight, she also cursed the castle, and placed the now-enchanted rose up in the prince’s super-secret club house he liked to call “The West Wing”. The rose would bloom until the prince’s 21st birthday, conveniently dooming him to remain a beast for all eternity just around the time he hit the legal drinking age. At least he can drink.
But of course, what’s a drink when you’re lonely? For who could ever learn to love a beast?
Sunday, September 07, 2008
The Begining of the End
So...I'm a senior.
Whoa.
It's interesting walking into the building behind a freshman. The SUV their parents drive pulls up to the edge of the walkway and stands silent for a few brief seconds before a scared, short, obviously awkward kid steps out and says goodbye. Though they turn away from the car, they will inevitably end up standing in the exact same position they're currently in till their parent's car is at least halfway up the road from the school. Whether this is an unconscious action or not can be debated, not one freshman waits alike. Many appear visibly scared as they stand, perhaps hoping the car will return to take them back to the safe, un-intimidating middle school they still see as their true educational establishment, while others simply take it all in. There's a long intake of breath as they stare at the school they've heard so much about, the epitome of the teenage experience staring them directly in the face.
There's another breath, a hiking up of pants, a fixing of hair, and the freshman takes a step forward.
Meanwhile, sauntering in forty minutes before first period, armed with nothing but a small, black bag and an iced coffee, is me. The senior. It's the fourth first day of school I've experienced as a student of Exeter High, and at the moment, the realization is only just hitting that it will be the last. There's a fair amount of contemplation going on, similar to that experienced by the freshman, only in reverse. They're scared of the future, the beginning of this new era, whereas I'm worried about the end of it.
This particular freshman, a boy about half my size who probably only recently turned 14, and still doesn't entirely think of himself as a teenager yet, is walking quickly, carefully and slowly. It's odd walking behind him, trying to put myself in his place. Watching the pavement, avoiding eye contact, wondering if anyone else looks like he does. My freshman year was three years ago, and was so marred by failing grades, teenage angst, and out of control weight that it's difficult to remember what exactly I was thinking that first day. It seems like such a long time ago, now that I think about it. I'm only seventeen, three years is a long time.
It's incredibly bizarre when you realize that past from what seems like forever ago is the present of the person in front of you.
I don't know a single person in this year's freshman class, which is the first time this has ever, ever happened to me since I started High School. Even the juniors, of which I know most, seem to know a few of them. Logically, this would make sense. High School is the only place in our school system that lasts four years as opposed to one. I've gone to school with the Juniors and Sophomores for a least a year of every school I've been to, but the freshman, I've never seen. It's jarring that suddenly there's this class of complete strangers wandering around, that there's a good chance I've never once laid an eye on the boy walking in front of me.
It's a bit like Brecht again. The alienation effect. You walk along thinking nothing has changed till you're suddenly, alarmingly reminded that it has. You don't belong anymore, you're nearly done.
How bizarre is that?
It's been interesting, and weird. I have free periods, interesting classes, and am allowed to leave. I'm generally treated with a higher degree of respect from the administration, aside from the guidance department, my teachers speak to me like I'm an adult. It would be so easy to slip back into the previous routine of attending school, but I can't. Not really. It's all too different.
And yet, I still have a major paper due tomorrow, one which I am procrastinating heavily in actually doing. The entire experience is the same, but different. I'm a High School student, but...I don't really feel like one anymore.
In about a year from now, I'll be 18. It's not just my last year of High School, it's my last year of childhood. I've been given this whole "coming of age" stuff my entire life, I turned ten and came of age, I turned 13 and came of age, I turned 16 and was suddenly sweet, and now, I'll turn 18 and will suddenly be an adult. This is year is so big, it's so weighty and epic, a part of me feels like it will eventually crush me. Deep down, I know it won't, but between all that's supposed to happen, all that has to get done, all I have to remember, and uphold, and perform, and eventually do, I wonder, I really wonder, how the hell am I going to do this?
I have a feeling the freshman in front of me is thinking the same thing. High School is a beast of a time, it's constantly talked about, constantly referenced, and has achieved a level of near legendary status among kids and teens of lower grades. It's a time of your life that seems impossible to get to and once you're there, seems almost impossible to end.
And so we walk into school in the morning. The freshman and the senior. One at the beginning, and one at the end. Both are scared, both are tense, both have no idea what on Earth they're truly up against, and both are wondering how the hell they're going to pull this off.
It's a weird, weird time. And I have a feeling, it's only going to get even weirder.
See ya later folks,
*Nelly*
Whoa.
It's interesting walking into the building behind a freshman. The SUV their parents drive pulls up to the edge of the walkway and stands silent for a few brief seconds before a scared, short, obviously awkward kid steps out and says goodbye. Though they turn away from the car, they will inevitably end up standing in the exact same position they're currently in till their parent's car is at least halfway up the road from the school. Whether this is an unconscious action or not can be debated, not one freshman waits alike. Many appear visibly scared as they stand, perhaps hoping the car will return to take them back to the safe, un-intimidating middle school they still see as their true educational establishment, while others simply take it all in. There's a long intake of breath as they stare at the school they've heard so much about, the epitome of the teenage experience staring them directly in the face.
There's another breath, a hiking up of pants, a fixing of hair, and the freshman takes a step forward.
Meanwhile, sauntering in forty minutes before first period, armed with nothing but a small, black bag and an iced coffee, is me. The senior. It's the fourth first day of school I've experienced as a student of Exeter High, and at the moment, the realization is only just hitting that it will be the last. There's a fair amount of contemplation going on, similar to that experienced by the freshman, only in reverse. They're scared of the future, the beginning of this new era, whereas I'm worried about the end of it.
This particular freshman, a boy about half my size who probably only recently turned 14, and still doesn't entirely think of himself as a teenager yet, is walking quickly, carefully and slowly. It's odd walking behind him, trying to put myself in his place. Watching the pavement, avoiding eye contact, wondering if anyone else looks like he does. My freshman year was three years ago, and was so marred by failing grades, teenage angst, and out of control weight that it's difficult to remember what exactly I was thinking that first day. It seems like such a long time ago, now that I think about it. I'm only seventeen, three years is a long time.
It's incredibly bizarre when you realize that past from what seems like forever ago is the present of the person in front of you.
I don't know a single person in this year's freshman class, which is the first time this has ever, ever happened to me since I started High School. Even the juniors, of which I know most, seem to know a few of them. Logically, this would make sense. High School is the only place in our school system that lasts four years as opposed to one. I've gone to school with the Juniors and Sophomores for a least a year of every school I've been to, but the freshman, I've never seen. It's jarring that suddenly there's this class of complete strangers wandering around, that there's a good chance I've never once laid an eye on the boy walking in front of me.
It's a bit like Brecht again. The alienation effect. You walk along thinking nothing has changed till you're suddenly, alarmingly reminded that it has. You don't belong anymore, you're nearly done.
How bizarre is that?
It's been interesting, and weird. I have free periods, interesting classes, and am allowed to leave. I'm generally treated with a higher degree of respect from the administration, aside from the guidance department, my teachers speak to me like I'm an adult. It would be so easy to slip back into the previous routine of attending school, but I can't. Not really. It's all too different.
And yet, I still have a major paper due tomorrow, one which I am procrastinating heavily in actually doing. The entire experience is the same, but different. I'm a High School student, but...I don't really feel like one anymore.
In about a year from now, I'll be 18. It's not just my last year of High School, it's my last year of childhood. I've been given this whole "coming of age" stuff my entire life, I turned ten and came of age, I turned 13 and came of age, I turned 16 and was suddenly sweet, and now, I'll turn 18 and will suddenly be an adult. This is year is so big, it's so weighty and epic, a part of me feels like it will eventually crush me. Deep down, I know it won't, but between all that's supposed to happen, all that has to get done, all I have to remember, and uphold, and perform, and eventually do, I wonder, I really wonder, how the hell am I going to do this?
I have a feeling the freshman in front of me is thinking the same thing. High School is a beast of a time, it's constantly talked about, constantly referenced, and has achieved a level of near legendary status among kids and teens of lower grades. It's a time of your life that seems impossible to get to and once you're there, seems almost impossible to end.
And so we walk into school in the morning. The freshman and the senior. One at the beginning, and one at the end. Both are scared, both are tense, both have no idea what on Earth they're truly up against, and both are wondering how the hell they're going to pull this off.
It's a weird, weird time. And I have a feeling, it's only going to get even weirder.
See ya later folks,
*Nelly*
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Half-Hour Entry
Right, so I have a half an hour till I have to leave for work, and since I can't think of anything better to do apart from sit and listen to my sister and her friend talk about Hannah Montana, I decided to write a Blog entry.
Have you ever noticed how half my entries all seem to be written as I'm running out the the door?
Anyway, let's see, what's new with me...I, er, got a new Coldplay CD. Viva La Vida. It's cool, I still haven't listened to it enough to memorize all the words yet, like I did with the Keane CD I got for Christmas. They're sort of similar, actually, Keane and Coldplay, except I think Coldplay uses a bit more guitar than Keane (who doesn't use any) but for the most part, they've got this sort of cool...um, style-that-I-can't-quite-describe-at-eight-in-the-morning going on. (Seriously, this is why I'm not a music critic) There are a few songs with definite Beatles-influences, which is pretty cool, and the actual song "Viva La Vida" which I do, in fact, know all the words to because it's been on the radio all summer, and is a seriously awesome song.
I tried to get tickets to see their concert in Boston in October, but I couldn't. Darn.
Anyway, so that's cool. I went to Barnes and Noble's to get it, and had a fun conversation with the cashier.
Cashier: I'll take you down at the end.
Me: Are you, like, not allowed on any of the other registers, because you're always at the end, and there's like seven empty registers between you and the other cashier.
Cashier: They want me by the door.
Me: Oh.
Cashier: You know you're here like, every other day.
Me: Yeah, it's kind of sad.
Cashier: Not really, I'm here every day.
Me: You work here.
Cashier: True.
Me: At least I'm not like, off...er...
Cashier: Being a delinquent?
Me: Yeah, at least I'm hanging out in a bookstore instead of over by the movie theater smoking pot or something.
Cashier: Good point.
Me: So, see you in two days.
Cashier: I'll be here.
I then proceeded to walk away, get an iced tea, go home, go to work, and come back two days later to buy Amadeus on DVD. It was kind of inevitable, really, I mean I am there a lot, and who am I to back down on a promise like that? I'm not sure why, exactly, I'm in Barnes and Noble's every two days or so, it takes a lot of gas to get there, and half the time I don't actually buy anything. Usually I go looking for a new Doctor Who book or end up haunting the theater section for two hours, or hanging out in the Starbucks trying to figure out if I want a tall iced vanilla late, or a grande iced tea (I usually go with the tea, I'm not much of a coffee drinker) I did finally manage to master the art of ordering at a Starbucks, so if I feel like I haven't accomplished anything this summer, I now know I have.
Wow, I only have 15 minutes left. But that's not a big deal. I wrote a whole entry in 15 minutes once, and it was sweet. Well, no, actually it was kind of weird. But then, most of my entries are a bit weird, you know?
Anyway, school starts next week. Wendsday, actually, I'm ridiculously excited. I know I complain about school an awful lot here, really I complain about pretty much everything here, but I really, really utterly loath summer, so I can't wait for school to start. It's my senior year, this year, so it should be pretty cool as I'm actually taking classes I'm at least semi-interested in as opposed to forced to take. I only technically needed one semester of English to graduate, so I, of course, promptly took five. I also got out of having to take math, which means I finally had enough room to take Comparative Religions. I'm also taking Shakespeare, Science Fiction, Film As Literature, Psychology, Stagecraft, Advanced Spanish, and AP Literature and Composition. The AP class is my greatest fear at the moment, since I've only just started my AP homework, I hope I manage to get through it without dying or anything. That would be bad.
Oh, and I made it into Honor's Choir this year! So, hopefully, there won't be that long, endless stream of months about mid-February where I end up spending chorus in the library trying not to get caught Blogging by the librarians. I'll still probably have that problem, of course, since I was forced into keeping at least one period a semester open and I don't want to waste the gas driving home. Except more "Library Musings" entries as the year stretches onward.
Well, unfortunately, it looks like I should probably start getting ready to go to work. Josh, the other cashier, isn't here today, neither is Logan, our new cashier, so I'm completely on my own today up at the front on register for nine solid hours. Should be a blast. But you know, things are looking up. Tomorrow is my last Sunday, and after that, I'm leaving for Gorham for three days.
That's right, I'M ACTUALLY GOING SOMEPLACE OTHER THAN NEWINGTON!!!
Life is good.
Adios amigos,
*Nelly*
Have you ever noticed how half my entries all seem to be written as I'm running out the the door?
Anyway, let's see, what's new with me...I, er, got a new Coldplay CD. Viva La Vida. It's cool, I still haven't listened to it enough to memorize all the words yet, like I did with the Keane CD I got for Christmas. They're sort of similar, actually, Keane and Coldplay, except I think Coldplay uses a bit more guitar than Keane (who doesn't use any) but for the most part, they've got this sort of cool...um, style-that-I-can't-quite-describe-at-eight-in-the-morning going on. (Seriously, this is why I'm not a music critic) There are a few songs with definite Beatles-influences, which is pretty cool, and the actual song "Viva La Vida" which I do, in fact, know all the words to because it's been on the radio all summer, and is a seriously awesome song.
I tried to get tickets to see their concert in Boston in October, but I couldn't. Darn.
Anyway, so that's cool. I went to Barnes and Noble's to get it, and had a fun conversation with the cashier.
Cashier: I'll take you down at the end.
Me: Are you, like, not allowed on any of the other registers, because you're always at the end, and there's like seven empty registers between you and the other cashier.
Cashier: They want me by the door.
Me: Oh.
Cashier: You know you're here like, every other day.
Me: Yeah, it's kind of sad.
Cashier: Not really, I'm here every day.
Me: You work here.
Cashier: True.
Me: At least I'm not like, off...er...
Cashier: Being a delinquent?
Me: Yeah, at least I'm hanging out in a bookstore instead of over by the movie theater smoking pot or something.
Cashier: Good point.
Me: So, see you in two days.
Cashier: I'll be here.
I then proceeded to walk away, get an iced tea, go home, go to work, and come back two days later to buy Amadeus on DVD. It was kind of inevitable, really, I mean I am there a lot, and who am I to back down on a promise like that? I'm not sure why, exactly, I'm in Barnes and Noble's every two days or so, it takes a lot of gas to get there, and half the time I don't actually buy anything. Usually I go looking for a new Doctor Who book or end up haunting the theater section for two hours, or hanging out in the Starbucks trying to figure out if I want a tall iced vanilla late, or a grande iced tea (I usually go with the tea, I'm not much of a coffee drinker) I did finally manage to master the art of ordering at a Starbucks, so if I feel like I haven't accomplished anything this summer, I now know I have.
Wow, I only have 15 minutes left. But that's not a big deal. I wrote a whole entry in 15 minutes once, and it was sweet. Well, no, actually it was kind of weird. But then, most of my entries are a bit weird, you know?
Anyway, school starts next week. Wendsday, actually, I'm ridiculously excited. I know I complain about school an awful lot here, really I complain about pretty much everything here, but I really, really utterly loath summer, so I can't wait for school to start. It's my senior year, this year, so it should be pretty cool as I'm actually taking classes I'm at least semi-interested in as opposed to forced to take. I only technically needed one semester of English to graduate, so I, of course, promptly took five. I also got out of having to take math, which means I finally had enough room to take Comparative Religions. I'm also taking Shakespeare, Science Fiction, Film As Literature, Psychology, Stagecraft, Advanced Spanish, and AP Literature and Composition. The AP class is my greatest fear at the moment, since I've only just started my AP homework, I hope I manage to get through it without dying or anything. That would be bad.
Oh, and I made it into Honor's Choir this year! So, hopefully, there won't be that long, endless stream of months about mid-February where I end up spending chorus in the library trying not to get caught Blogging by the librarians. I'll still probably have that problem, of course, since I was forced into keeping at least one period a semester open and I don't want to waste the gas driving home. Except more "Library Musings" entries as the year stretches onward.
Well, unfortunately, it looks like I should probably start getting ready to go to work. Josh, the other cashier, isn't here today, neither is Logan, our new cashier, so I'm completely on my own today up at the front on register for nine solid hours. Should be a blast. But you know, things are looking up. Tomorrow is my last Sunday, and after that, I'm leaving for Gorham for three days.
That's right, I'M ACTUALLY GOING SOMEPLACE OTHER THAN NEWINGTON!!!
Life is good.
Adios amigos,
*Nelly*
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
In Memory of Nickelodeon
AKA: The longest Blog entry I've ever written. Be warned. Get popcorn. Make yourself comfortable.
Now, I know what you're thinking (well, I don't, but I can pretend I do); how can you memorialize something that very clearly isn't dead? Well, in most situations, you can't. However, when I say Nickelodeon, what I really mean is classic Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon as it was during the mid-late nineties, back when All That was still all that and Rugrats wasn't all grown up. Back when orange soda could make you laugh, a camp fire could scare you in the dark, and things were still filmed at Nickelodeon Studios.
That's right, apparently, as of April 30, 2005, over three years ago, Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida officially closed it's doors. The last program ever to be shot there was Nick Splat! in August 2004, in May 2005 the iconic slime geyser was removed from the front of the building, and finally in January 2006, the giant orange Nickelodeon splat sign was removed from the top of the building. As of 2006, it stood empty and abandoned, still bright lime green with splats of orange, but lacking any of the iconic items that made it what it once was. It has since been remodeled and now serves as a venue for, of all things, the Blue Man Group.
Now, I realize it's 2008 and I'm a little late with this, but honestly, I had no idea this happened till just this morning when I, out of complete and utter curiosity and boredom, decided to wiki Nickelodeon Studios only to discover that it no longer exists. Seriously, nobody tells me anything.
I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers watching Nickelodeon in the nineties and constantly hearing "_____ was filmed in front of a live studio audience in Nickelodeon Studios, Florida" after every live action program. Even with Nicktoons, there was always something that said it had been produced there. It was a constant presence in my life, that studio, despite the fact that I had never actually been there, and now, never will. It's closing is sad, and I think, marks the end of an era. Nickelodeon really came into it's own in the 1990's, and though it started in the mid 1980's, it didn't really mature to the familiar channel we all know and love till the 90's.
Despite having been only nine when the nineties ended, I'm still old enough to remember the classics. Nickelodeon was my life when I was little, I would constantly imagine being on a show like The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, or Clarissa Explains It All, I watched Nicktoons almost religiously, and I have vivid memories of doodling Rugrats characters on my papers in second grade. I am not ashamed to say I was addicted to television as a child, mainly because it was good television I was addicted to.
And so, in honor of the now-defunct Nickelodeon Studios, because it's never too late to honor something so important, I now give you a tribute to 90's era Nick. Nelly's Guide to Classic Nickelodeon, my thoughts on the golden age of children's television, show by show. I'm going to include a few Nicktoons in here, even though most of them weren't actually produced in the studio, but the list would just seem incomplete without them.
Here are my highlights:
Clarissa Explains It All - I LOVED this show. Granted, it was probably aimed more at teenagers or pre-teens, but seriously, it was funny enough to appeal to anyone. It stared Melissa Joan Hart as the quirky Clarissa as she battles typical teenage problems like crushes, school, zits, family, and friends. I remember Clarissa liking to break the fourth wall a lot to let the audience in on her inner thoughts, which, living in an era before the vast amounts of interactive children's TV we have now, I thought was the coolest way ever to tell a story. The fun opening theme consisting basically of "na na na na na" was always fun to get stuck in your head during spelling the next day, and her best friend breaking through her bedroom window to the same iconic guitar rift as she greeted him with "Hi Sam" was fun to watch despite it happening every single episode. All and all, the show was fun, light-hearted, and quirky, and just the sort of thing I liked when I was seven.
The Mystery Files Of Shelby Woo - I don't know how many people remember this show, it's entry on Wiki is a tiny, tiny stub, and it only lasted about 40-something episodes, but I completely adored this show. I'm a big fan of mystery shows, detective stories, whodunnit kind of things, and the fact that a a kid, a modern, not-nearly-as-cheesy-as-Nancy-Drew kind of kid could solve mysteries like a real detective was just about the most awesome thing in the world for me. I remember liking to pretend I was Shelby Woo, or rather, a character much like Shelby Woo, and would frequently be seen running around my house on a mystery solving adventure. It's sad how little love this show got, and I really wish it had lasted a bit longer.
All That - In complete contrast to the last show, who doesn't remember All That? Seriously, SNL-like sketch comedy for kids. It was a brilliant idea, executed perfectly in the beginning, and despite it's sort of dodgy last few years, continues to hold a place among the greats. I remember my favorite sketch was always Vital Information with Lori Beth Denberg, and later Danny Tamberelli, where they'd basically sit a desk and give you random little life-lessons like "You say potato. I say potahto. You say tomato. I say look at us, we're two idiots talking about vegetables." The humor used on the show was perfect for kids, it was effective, quick, clever, and delivered perfectly from every actor involved. It had it's golden era during the first few seasons, before it vanished for a year, only to be re-launched with an entirely new cast and different sketches. The re-launch was ok, it wasn't terrible, but really, everyone knew the older stuff was just a bit better. It's not the fault of the new cast, they were all very good, it's more the fault of an audience that had gotten so attached to the old stuff it simply couldn't accept the new. For me, All That will always be the classic stuff, since by the time the new stuff came about, I'd gotten just a bit too old for Nickelodeon, and sort of lost interest. Despite this though, All That was another one of those shows I always used to dream of being on.
Legends of the Hidden Temple - I swear to GOD, no one could ever put together that freaking silver monkey! It was so simple! There were only three parts! They always got stuck in that one room, the freaking Shrine of the Silver Monkey, they always ran out of time there because they could never assemble a three part monkey!! Although, I suppose if you're running on a clock inside a really dark, somewhat eerie temple with really scary temple guards ready to jump out and grab you around every corner, assembling a three-part silver monkey to unlock a secret door to the room with a lost, prize-wining artifact, might be a bit more difficult. Seriously though, I'll still watch re-runs of this show, I'm not a game show person, but this one just owned.
Double Dare - I didn't watch this one much, despite being able to remember it pretty vividly, I was never really into it. I liked it, but I think after a while I got bored of it. It earned a spot on this list because really, you can't deny that it is a classic of children's game shows. Whether you liked it or not, it kept coming back as Super Sloppy Double Dare, Family Double Dare, Celebrity Double Dare, and the rather short-lived Double Dare 2000. So clearly, someone must have watched it more than I did.
Figure It Out - I SO wanted to be a panelist on this show. Like, seriously, I knew I wasn't nearly talented or cool enough to be a contestant, I never invented any awesome labor-saving device, or trained my cat to do math, and honestly, that didn't really bothered me. Being a panelist always seemed like so much more fun, and I honestly preferred solving the puzzle to actually seeing any of the contestants do their thing. I know that sounds cruel, but you know, kids are cruel sometimes.
Kenan and Kel - A spin off of All That that just totally rocked. They were hysterical, their hijinks never got annoying, and despite my passionate hatred of orange soda, made me want to drink it anyway. Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchel had such great chemistry together, the way their very different characters managed to bounce off each other so well, and the way, no matter how much trouble they got into with each other, they still managed to remain the closest best friends on television. I really hope they put this show on DVD sometime, I'd love to watch it again.
Rugrats - The first of the Nicktoons that I shall be mentioning, it's hard to not mention this one. This was the show everyone watched, even if it was only once while channel surfing at your grandparents house, you knew what it was and what it was about. Early Rugrats was brilliant, the simple, clever, creative way of story telling, the cute characters with their own personalities, even the adults were fully realized with witty banter and subtle humor that you have to be just a bit older than the target audience to really understand. The sheer amount of imagination that went into this show was amazing, the things they managed to do with such a simple concept; if babies could talk, what would they say? And who could honestly forget Reptar on Ice? Or just, Reptar in general. This is one of those shows that will continue to hold a place in your heart, and is one I would willingly go back and re-watch. The early years occasionally re-run really early in the morning, go back and just listen to the dialogue from the adults, appreciate the voice acting, really, just go back and give this show a bit of love, because whether you liked it or not, it is, pretty much, the cartoon that defined it's generation.
Doug – The second of the great 90’s Nicktoons, not quite as popular as Rugrats, but in my somewhat bias opinion, just as good. It told the story of Doug, this awkward, imaginative, introspective boy who kept a journal and doodled in class. He was basically a sort of quiet, normal guy thrown in the middle of a crazy family, bizarre friends, and an overall quirky town. I loved Doug for how he just seemed to go with things, how he moves to a town obsessed with beats and just goes “Ok, beats are good.” And that’s the end of it. As with Rugrats, it coined a lot things I still vividly remember and will reference in everyday conversation. The Beats, were one of them, their hit song “I need more allowance” telling the story of basically every kid I’ve ever met that got an allowance. Quailman was another. Seriously, how can you forget Quailman, the “strange visitor from the planet Bob” who wore his underwear outside of his pants? I’ll still have conversations with my mother that will involve one of us going “I am helpless and stupefied.” God, I loved Doug. When it moved to Disney, I cried.
Hey Arnold – Ok, before you start yelling at me, this is a 90’s Nicktoon. It first aired on October 7, 1996, in it’s current form, though it did spend about a year or so beforehand as a claymation cartoon on Sesame street. Hey Arnold is quite possibly my favorite 90’s cartoon ever. It may be the city setting, I have a thing for cities, it may be the opera episode, I don’t know. I just absolutely love this show. I love the way the different characters are set up, the way every character has their own place in the society of the school, everyone plays a specific part, yet the show was not afraid to constantly break that part. There was always a grey area, you never knew who the bad guy was, even the bullies were constantly portrayed as sympathetic characters, which was such a different way of doing it. Most shows about schools always had such division, the popular kids, the bullies, the good kids, the nerds, but on Hey Arnold, they all mixed and matched and were never confined to one label. The plots were new and interesting, they were clever, they were well written, and well performed. Real kids played the kids on the show, which made it a bit more authentic than most kids shows. Watching it now reveals the allusions to pretty much everything, the hysterical yet actually touching Romeo and Juliet episode, the BRILLAINT opera episode (“My names Don Arnold, please have a carmel, do you like my pants? They’re made of satin, the cape’s pure Latin, I had it tailored in the South of France” to tune of Carmen), and of course, the episode that is pretty much an elementary school re-telling of 12 Angry Men. I also loved the whole “Helga-hates-but-loves-Arnold” thing, which has been done so many times in so many different things, but only few have done it as effectively as this. Taking out a locket and launching into a passionate, poetic soliloquy of unrequited love only to have it suddenly ruined by the heavily breathing presence of Brainy behind her, who then gets punched immediately after, it never seemed to get old. Really, I could go on and on about this show, and still not say enough.
As this is currently surpassing four pages on a Word Document, I think it’s probably within everyone’s best interest if I stop here.
We shall forever miss you Nickelodeon Studios, despite the fact I only discovered you were gone this morning, we shall forever remember the glory and splendor that was 90’s children’s television filmed in your studios. It is indeed a grave loss to society, and to the world in general. I hope to God the Blue Man Group appreciates their new venue.
Farewell Nickelodeon Studios, and farewell to the Golden Age of Nick.
Arrivederci,
*Nelly*
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