Excitement=Scott, Nathan, and Possibly No Calc 2

Today was great fun. My first excitement was running into Mr. McKee without having to make an appointment with him. I asked him about dropping Calc 2 and he said to drop in on Monday to really talk about it. My mom had also called him and they had a conversation which ended in Mr. McKee saying he'll see what he can do to allow me to drop it. So my day will hopefully be a lot more stress free because I'll have time to do my homework during 5th and not get a bunch of math problems instead.

After play practice (which wasn't too bad, but yesterday was better), Ermine threw a surprise birthday party for Nathan and I was invited. There weren't many people there and there wasn't supposed to be. But the plan to kidnap Nathan backfired because we got out of play practice earlier than Ryan had told Ermine. So Nathan wasn't kidnapped, but he still wasn't suspecting a party. It was quite enjoyable. I was the only girl and that's fine. Those who came were Ermine, Nathan, Ryan, this kid named David, and me...James was supposed to come but I left before he came (if he ever did). I had a fun time at Nathan's party.

After being at Ermine's, I left for the long awaited visit with Scott. Dad drove me and it was crazy. Traffic was horrible! It was raining like no other. I was really glad Dad drove. Anyway, we finally got there. I had a great time. I miss seeing him everyday in zero period. We watched a bit of Paddle Your Own Canoe and Beauty and the Beast. That was good times. Then his roomate pretty much took over the room so he took me on a tour of his school. Then we called Michelle, but she didn't answer so we left a message and sang "Hot Cross Buns", though we stopped pretty much as soon as we started because we were singing 2 different tunes, not pitch, tunes. And as of right now, Michelle still hasn't called Scott back yet to request a different song because we told her to call and give us a different song to sing to her. But now that is too late for us to sing together, but for the next time (if there is one) we can sing the song of her choice...providing both of us know it.

These were pretty much the highlights of my day. Adieu!

Stress, No Stress, Stress, No Stress, Irritation...

This morning wasn't too bad. Actually my whole day wasn't too bad until math. But I'll start from lunch because I generally enjoy lunch the most out of all my classes, besides drama. Well, I had lunch in Sil's office, as usual. Amber came in and helped me with looking at reviews of my character. I'm really bad at that kind of thing, so having her there helped a lot. I decied to do a Jennifer and give Sil M&M's. My reasoning...1)she was dying for chocolate the other day, 2)she wouldn't necessarily have to suffer with line problems becuase she'd have M&M's to keep her company, and 3)she couldn't hate me for possibly not knowing all my lines because I gave her chocolate. Then I went to History, where I pretty much did nothing. And when I say nothing I mean I worked on making our poster look pretty. Then drama came. We worked on our scenes and Emma and I tested eachother on lines for the play. Then the trouble started. As you know, I was frusterated from not really getting the homework last night and I knew Allnutt was just going to pile more homework on top of this one. So we learned new stuff (finally away from vectors) and then he gave us homework. So I spent the rest of the time doing last night's homework. He handed back the quiz we took Friday and that's when I lost it. I had gotten a D...the worst grade I had gotten on a test since 7th grade when everyone failed the test so it didn't matter. I wasn't too bad until everyone else started to complain about missing 8 problems. 8 problems! At least their grade wasn't a D!!! I was so saddened that I started to cry...something I haven't done in a very very long time. I couldn't concentrate on the assignment and I couldn't bring myself to look at my overall grade. So for the last 15 minutes of class, I was in tears (though I tried to hide it). Then I loked at my grade on the way out...an A-. Not bad but it will only go down from there. The new stuff we were learning was logs (were logs?). Anyway, I remember doing them, but I am a little shaky on them. So I went to play practice in tears. Sil saw me as she was leaving to go to her office before practice started and Amber, Christina, Emma, and Ryan gave me big hugs and listened to me and gave me comfort. What would I do without them? Then Sil came in and called us to practice. Before we started however, she gave me some M&M's. Play practice started adn all thougth of math was erased. I had a glorious hour and a half, where my lines were pretty much solid. I only laughed at one part (when Josh mimes to me what I'm supposed to say), but everyone was laughing so I didn't feel too bad. After play practice, Sil, Amber, Emma, and I had a talk about my problem. Sil says to talk to Mr. McKee about it. She also asked if I wanted to get this credit for math or go for the full IB diploma. Well seeing as how I have to do the diploma and frankly I really just don't like math right now, I said the diploma. She then said that I shouldn't kill myself over a class I don't even need to take. I totally agree. Actually, I didn't even want to take the class. I just wanted math in my brain. But I can't stand not knowing what the heck we're doing. And I'd ask Mr. Allnutt for help, but I can't stay after because of play practice. Yes, I know that's an excuse, but I just really hate the class. So I'm going to talk to Mr. McKee and see if I can drop it...after talking to Mr. Allnutt about it first of course. See what he thinks I should do.

So what would I do with the spare 5th period? Either go volunteer at Brown Middle School in the choir or be a teacher aid. The latter sounds better to me so then I could do homework.

Anyway, so I came home kind of depressed. I tried to do some math, but ended up yelling at teh book and throwing it on the couch. Yeah, I didn't understand how the book got the answers it did. So pretty much my last half of my paper is question marks. I didn't go to 2 dance classes because I felt rotten and I needed to get homework done that is due tomorrow.

I planned on going to RCB because Gavin Larson from OBT was coming to teach. I loved the class. It was a great outlet for me. Miss Elizabeth even took class. Gosh, I really miss dance. I can't wait unitl Saturday when I have Musical Theatre!!!!!

Since I still had a few more things to do before my homework was complete, I finished what is due tomorrow, with the help of my parents. I'm so glad they are willing to help me. I guess all those years of not letting htme help has paid off.

Michelle called tonight. I'm glad she did!

Dad made Wicked on a tape so now I can listen to it in my car (yes my car is lame and only plays tapes). The quality isn't that good but I'll be singing to it all the time so it doesn't matter.

Night all!

Play + Homework = Stress and No Dance

I felt very depressed/stressed all day today. I had so much on my mind. First off, I'm getting homework like no other...I expected it from Denny, but Allnutt is giving page after page, problem after problem. It's a never ending cycle of math problems that I don't understand! I almost cried because I was so lost...something I haven't done for a very long time. And no I didn't ask for help from Mr. Allnut because a few seconds later Alison helped me figure out teh problem. But then I came to another rode block and the tears almost came yet again. I just don't get vectors. It's a fact of life. I don't understand what they are asking me to do and I don't know how to go about solving the problem they ask me to solve. I can get it when I'm talking it out with someone, but when I'm by myself and not talking...forget it. I get lost.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to have Act 1 memorized. I tried to do so today...it wasn't horrible, but I was really choppy. We were also supposed to do a character sketch thing and mine was horrific. I tried to find reviews of my character being played by others, but I couldn't find any...I know Sil would be able to find them, but she's skilled like that. So my character sketch was horrible and I was already in a bad mood from math. I feel a tremendous amount of pressure with getting my lines memorized too because I am a senior actor (in this case senoir means experinced). So people look up to me as an example and I feel really bad for not knowing my lines really well. I really want to pull a Devin and have my script with me even though we aren't supposed to...don't try to defend him, we all know he did that pretty much all last year (mainly thinking of Into the Woods). Anyway, I went over my lines with Mom and they weren't too bad, but I know they'll be worse tomorrow because everyone will be off script so it'll be very very choppy.

You may be wondering why I was in a bad mood this morning. Well, I wasn't in one before school because Breakfast Club was awesome! There were so many people! Then I got to school and I made sure Ms. Butler got the check for All-State and then went to English. Well, I don't understand Shakespear too well, so I really don't enjoy thinking about what the character's are trying to say. I like having Ms. Denny tell me what's going on...yes I know, I should be thinking for myself, btu I only get the lower level thinking stuff...not the deeper meanings. And we are supposed to do a commentary on the "To be or not to be" sililoque. I dont' really understand what he is saying...yes I get some, but not all, and I have finding characterization and symbols and similies, etc. Pretty much I like English because I like Ms. Denny and I like reading books, though as I commented a while ago I hate highlighting. Physics was ok. I'm not really understanding waves too well. I kind of get it but not really. It's the same situation with math, I get it when I am able to talk it out with other people, btu when left alone, I get lost. Lunch was fun...it always is. In history I worked on the poster for our presentation on Friday/Monday. It's pretty much done and we are in the library for the rest of the week. So while I was working on the poster, Jake helped me memorize my lines. Drama was fine...it always is, though my Confrence of the Birds assignment wasn't too great either. Then math happened. The play practice.

My day got better when Charlotte went to my aunt's house to get measured for her dress. That was fun. I like Charlotte.

Then I came home feeling depressed because I knew I had a lot to do. I called my mom and she said to make a list of everything I have to do and then prioritize. So I made a list of all the assignments that I knew of and put them in order from most important to least. Dad and I also decided that I shouldn't go to dance so that I could work on the assignments and get as many done as possible. I started at about 6:30 and ended at 10:30. That's right...4 hours of homework, and I only did 3 assignments...however the ones due tomorrow are done and one out of 3 due Friday is done (are done?).

I felt a lot less stressed doing the homewrok instead of going to dance, but I really feel like a slacker not going to dance. Not only am I not assisting this year (due to my busy schedule I hope), but I'm missing out on a lot of things. I'm jealous of how close certain people have become with Heather because they are there all the time and I feel like I'm getting farther away, which I don't want. I feel my dancing skills have become much worse 1) because I didn't dance all summer and 2) because I'm not at dance all the time. I hate missing my dance class on Mondays. I'd sometimes rather be there than at Chorale. I really hope the new teacher understands my situation and won't punnish me (like putting me int eh back of the dance) because I wasn't able to be there all the time and so she doesn't know how I dance. There are times I wish I didn't do teh plays, but I feel I need to be more obligated now more than ever since Michelle, Jennifer, and Missy are gone. And I really don't want to not do the plays, but I really miss dancing. I hate how I have become a lesser dancer because I'm not there 24/7. I just don't know what to do!

To add to my stress, I have the Extended Essay I still need to write, the TOK Essay, the History Presentation, Sililoque for Hamlet, write a better character sketch, memorize Act 2, fix the Research Commition from last year, fix the Critical Review from last year, write my drama project thing (directing a one act), SAT Nov 5, college stuff in general,fix the 2 English papers from last year, oh and not suck at acting! I feel like a complete failure because I didn't do my extended essay over the summer, I didn't fix all the papers I was supposed to fix (except the english ones...I fixed them but they need more fixing), and I didnt' look at college stuff over the summer (visiting the 4 colleges doesn't count because I really didnt' know much about them before I went).

So I am feeling very stressed. I want to cry. Jennifer, Michelle...I wish you were here! I could use your hugs and laughs and everything.

And on that happy note, Happy Birthday Kirsten! I hope your day was wonderful!

48 minutes!

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how long Michelle and I talked. Oh yes, now she holds the record for talking to me the longest. Anyone want to challenge that?

I saw Brittany Speer at Oregon Chorale tonight. She auditioned for it and is singing 1st Soprano with me. I was pretty excited to see her. And being a 1st went better today. I was actually able to sing more full voice than last week because I was more confident.

I made an All-State tape with Ms. Butler. It was surprisingly better than the one I made with Karen...not recording tape wise, but my sounding good wise. So that's the one I'm sending to All-State.

Jennifer called pretty much right after Michelle did. Geez I'm popular. It was nice to hear her voice. I talked to her for 25 minutes and 35 seconds...longer than Devin! She wins!

Well, I should go study for physics now...night!

Not Much

Pretty much not much happened today. I went to church, had a potluck, and am now at Dad's school. I did some homework. Yeah, that's pretty much it. The end.

Michelle, call me at any time. My cell phone is on.

Night all.

Footloose!

I am pretty much in love with my musical theatre class on Saturdays. Today we danced to Footloose. We will continue with it until the song is done or we get bored dancing it. I love this dance so I don't think I'll ever get bored. It's extremely cheezy and so much fun! Of course, Bubba is my partner so that makes it so much better. We learned to do a flip over the back thing and it looks pretty nifty. We were going to do a kartwheel something or other but we both decied that the flip over the back was safer. Michelle, we both thought of you while we were dancing. It is totally a dance you would'd get in to. I can still see you dancing it. You too would love this class. Once we're done with Footloose, we're going to dance to something else...whatever we want to. So it'll be like a choose a musical and/or song and we'll dance to it. And, it's most likely going to be in the recital! I can't wait!

Yesterday we had the Community Dance Festival. It was ok. There weren't a lot of people, but it wasn't just out parents either. We have the same show tonight and more people are supposed to come....last night was a football game so people were going there instead.

Today we have Grinch practice so I must be off.

Irritation, Excitment, and stuff

I would like to vent first so that I can get it out of my system. So, you know how in Encore everyone is a sophomore or higher...no freshmen no matter what? Well, apparently Ashley's little brother is in Encore now. He's a freshman. Excuse me, but that's not allowed. Even if we are short of guys, he shouldn't be allowed in. It's not fair to the others who tried out and the class description says 10, 11, 12...not 9, 10, 11, 12. I know some of you don't care...but I do. Ms. Davis didn't let freshmen boys in my sophomore year. She had girls sing tenor...and yes that isn't the best for your voice, but at least she didn't break the rule! Yes, acceptions can be made, but he shouldn't be let in. More and more people are going to drop out of choir if word of this gets out...and it will get out. Gosh! This makes me mad!!!!

Anyway...on a happier note...Michelle called today...tonight. We didn't get to talk much...but we'll talk more on Sunday. Tonight she called for business reasons...though I won't say incase the person in question should hear about it through my blog. Anyway, it was nice to hear her voice.

On Wednesday evenings, there is a Pas/ballet class at NCD. I would really like to take it, but I have a dance class in the middle of the the Pas class. My sister is in this ballet class. So I'd feel bad about leaving her in this class to go to a Pas class, but I would love to take a Pas class...since we don't have any Pas classes at my studio. I'm kind of in a dilemma, but I'm planning on taking one class at NCD to see if I like the class.

Tomorrow is a calc test on vectors, play practice, and a dance festival. Good night.

Excitement!!!!!

You should all be insanely jealous of me. Today after school an unexpected guest came to Hilhi. I know the suspence is killing you...it was none other than...David Larsen! Yes ladies and gentlemen that's right. David Larsen graced us with his presence. I was really happy to see him, since I knew he was back in town for a bit. At first, however, I wasn't sure if it was him. Sil, David, and his girlfriend were at the back of teh stage and the rest of us were on the floor infront of the stage. Amber and I had a wonderful discussion about whether it was him or not.

Me: That looks like David Larsen.
Amber: No, I don't think so. He looks too Californian to be David Larsen.
Me: Well he was just in a play with beach boys!

After about 5 minutes of wondering whether or not it was him, I decided to take charge. I said that we should probably start setting the stage 1) so Sil wouldn't have to tell us to later and 2) so I could see if it really was David. I was setting up the piano (near where they were standing) and I look over and David waves at me. I thought, "Yay! It is David!" And we hugged and talked....like we were old friends. He had to leave soon after, but it was really nice to see him. Before he left, he wanted to see the costume room. So Sil took him to se that while I returned to the group. Of course the people who really cared asked me who he was and i replied with, "David Larsen". Emma was disappointed that she didn't get his autograph. I said that she still could, but she didn't want to so she shoved her script at me and I went to get it for her. Also, since people saw me talking to him, they asked if I had shook his hand and when I replied with I hugged him, they hugged me...getting the "dead skin cells" as one person commented. Once he was truely gone and Sil came back, we didn't start rehearsal for about another 15 minutes. Instead, we had a David Larsen talk. It was fun. That was definitely that most exciting part of my day. He might be at the studio tonight too...but he might not. I'll let you know if he was there tonight. That's about it...

Yay!!!! I saw David Larsen!!!!

Can We Say Exciting?

I went to Oregon Chorale tonight. My situaution is this: I am allowed to miss one rehearsal a month...so I can go to the pointe class. Anyway, while singing there, I was placed in the soprano section. Not just the soprano section...but the 1st Soprano section. Yes that's right...1st Soprano. I haven't sung 1st Soprano since Freshman year. And, I haven't sung properly all summer so my voice is pretty out of shape. The 2 songs we sang today had a G and an A...the G became easier to sing as I became more familiar with the song, but the A...I pretty much didn't try too hard to hit it. I'm sitting next to a lady who is really, really good at sight reading languages and notes. I feel really lucky to sit next to her....and she's really nice. I'm pretty excited to sing with Oregon Chorale. You should all come and see me sing in December!

I'm dreading Friday because I have a Clac 2 test on vectors. I don't know how I'll do. I understand when I can talk to others about the problems and then sometimes I get it on my own and then sometimes I'm just lost. I hope I do well, because as of right now I have an A.

That's pretty much my day. The end!

Insanity Subsided

This morning was a little crazy. I went to bed at 2:00 and some of the girls didn't go to bed until about 4:30. Anyway, I got up to go to church at 8:30 and the girls were up before me! How that works...I don't know.

So church was fun. In Sunday School we broke glass that was surrounding a candle...and by broke I mean the candle was lit and the glass broke from the heat. We had written a sin on a peice of paper and put it in the flame to burn it away and the glass broke...I guess those sins were pretty bad! Just kidding. I also saw Pastor Mark and his family. Gosh I miss him.

We went to a Lazerport type place...the one in Milwaukee. It was pretty cool. It had 2 stories. I think I like Lazerport better however because there you get to choose your name and there are only 2 teams and you have to reload when you run out of ammunition. This one was kind of confusing. However, the teams were creatively themed. There were Star Wars characters, Harry Potter characters, and Super Heros. On our last game (we only played 2), I was ranked second.

On our way back home, Courtney, Dad, and I went to Papa Murphy's to get pizza. While Dad got the pizza, Courtney and I visited Lenny at Coffee Rush. There was no one there so we had a nice chat.

Sorry about the 2 posts that are almost the same. When I went to post the first one, it said error so I wasn't sure if it had posted. So I wrote another one similar to the first.

Brooke's party ended about 5:30...it was supposed to end at 2:00. It took forever to get people out of our house. Courtney said that we were this crazy when we were her age. I don't think so. But she's probably right. Well I should do some homework so goodnight.

Going Insane!

So I was going insane until about 8:50 when Charlotte came online. We got talking and I invted her over to pull me from my insanity and to just hang out. She said yes, and so she came over and I had a blast. We played Disney Scene It and watched State Dance Team (she requested it) and attempted to watch a couple of other choir/ paddle own canoe/ kindergarten tapes, but the portable DVD player didn't want to play them. Anyway, I was really excited to spend time with Charlotte. She makes me really happy. But she had to leave so I'm back to the insane girls. I realize I'm using the word insane a lot...but there is no word other than insane to describe this party. I don't think I was this hyper when I was her age....but I could be wrong.

More info on homecoming. Apparently the counters discarded all the ballots with the 1st 25 slots shaded and the ones that had patterns. So I guess the results were more fare than we thought.

Anyway, I'm glad I had a few insane free hours. Thanks Charlotte!

Going Insane!

So as of right now, I have become insane. These 13/14 year olds are crazy and annoying. I wish I had someone my age (or near there) here to drag me out of my insanity. I'm glad Courtney will be at Lazerport tomorrow. She would have been here tonight, but she's seeing the Lion King. Brooke has some really energetic friends. Too energetic if you ask me. They won't be sleeping at all.

More info on homecoming. So apparently the counters threw out any voting sheets that had the 1st 25 slots shaded and any pattern to them. So I guess the results were pretty fare.

I'm really excited for church tomorrow. Not only is it church, but Pastor Mark (our previous intrum) is coming to visit with his new baby. I can't wait to see him. I've missed his sermons, however he won't be preaching tomorrow. In anycase, I'm really excited to see him and his baby.

That's about it.

A Coffee Rush Sort of Day

So I went to Coffee Rush this morning to visit Lenny before school started. He was there so I finally got to visit him...if you're confused see a couple posts ago. Anyway, school was ok. We solved the problem of the no encore thing. I am taking Independant Study, which includes seeing a live concert, coming to rehearsal whenever possible, and helping at choir concerts...the ones I can attend. Although I don't need to do much work, I'm still not singing in the choir all teh time, but at least I'm enrolled.

Exciting news...I am on the homecoming court. I'm pretty excited. However, I think I was placed there by default. Why? Well, the girls names stopped at P and the boys stopped at Q...I mean the top 26 of both were called and the 26th name started with that letter. Why is that weird? Because there are a lot of people who's last names start with S and T and all those letters who should have been on court and some who start with B and C and the rest who shouldn't be on court. We discussed this in 1st period and came up with that either a lot of people voted for the 1st 25 people because they didn't care or they didn't know anyone and so voted for the 1st 25 people. But don't worry, I do know I got at least 15 votes because people told me they voted for me all day today. Other than that weird occurance of events, I'm pretty excited to be on homecoming court.

Voice lessons were ok. My voice is very out of shape however. But it'll soon kick back into action...I hope. Instead of singing 4 songs, I am now back down to 2...which I feel better about because the homework situation killed my time to practice at all this past week. I'm singing one of the songs she gave me last week and a new Itlaian one that is pretty cool. It has all these runs and nifty things like that. The accompaniment doesn't help the singer much either so it'll be harder to learn.

After voice, Kirsten and I stopped at Coffee Rush on a whim to visit Charlotte. And I mean a whim because we were at the stop light by Coffee Rush and I said, "We should visit Charlotte. Look! There's Charlotte's jeep. Do you want to stop and visit?" And Kirsten exclaimed, "YES!" So I turned at the next light (for the light had turned green by this point) and we had a lovely conversation with Charlotte. As opposed to the Chai tea I had this morning, this time I had a delicious Strawberry and Banana smoothie.

From there, I went to Kirsten's house for some Into the Woods goodness. She still had the computer program on her computer and we were supposed to sing to it the last time I was at her house, but we ran out of time. So, we sang this time and had a blast. We sang pretty much the whole show...with a few songs not sung because we either couldn't remember it or we didn't want to sing it. Overall, it was a fun time trying to remember the words and remembering what a hard time we had trying to remember which Into the Woods we were supposed to sing.

Well, that's about it. Tomorrow I have a DT pop can drive, Grinch auditions, and Brooke's birthday party. Bye.

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

We found out who was who and the cast stands thus:

Helsa Wenzel-Maia Kozcy
Elsa Von Grossenknueten-Me
Michael Kelly-Aario someone and Josh Bateman
Patrick O'Reilly-Kyle someone and Ben Noyes
Ken De La Maize-James Nelson
Nikki Crandall-Emma Larkins and Christina Parson
Eddie McCuen-Nathan Daniels
Marjorie Baverstock-Charlotte Smith
Roger Hopewell-Ryan Lum
Bernice Roth-Amber Kraft

Some may ask why Sil double casted and why the heck Bubba didn't make it...well, first off, Sil decided that having only one junior girl in the show wasn't exactly a great idea and Christina read really well too, so she double casted Nikki. As for the rest of them, she wanted to give these people more experience. So that is the reason for the double cast. Secondly, Bubba didn't auditon so, he didn't get casted. His schedule is really busy and his paretns said no, so he didn't audition...though he really wanted to. Overall, I'm really excited for the show. It's even better hearing it read aloud as opposed to hearing it only in your head...reading it to yourself. I know this will be a great show...though I suppose this means that Amber and I will have to become the Drama Nazis...though neither of us are as scary as Devin :)

Beofre I go, I would like to say that I hate getting chocolate on clothing. I just did that...not very happy. But oh well. Thinking of the play makes me happier.

Auditions

Well, today I had auditions for "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940". They didn't go so badly. There were a fare amount of guys who auditioned...and most of them could do a decent Irish accent. I, on the other hand, did a horrific job at an attempt of a German accent...many people said it was fine but I sounded more Sweedish than German. The best German accent was done by Maia, and Emma came in a close second. Nathan was by far the best Irishman, but I don't think that's who he'll be. I'll let you know who who's tomorrow...for we find out tomorrow. I'm so excited!

So, I'm doing this college application thing and I'm wondering how to audtion for the musical theatre programs. I know that you have to audition by singing, dancing, and acting and I understand that each school is different, but I would like to know what you guys did to audition...yes, I guess I should really be asking Devin and Elizabeth, but I am in the process of doing so. Hopefully, I'll get some more info soon.

Kind of exciting news...Ms. Butler said that I could sing with Encore. What made her change her mind? I believe I owe my thanks to my mother. She emailed Ms. Butler today...along with Karen's letter. I believe that Ms. Butler might have had some pressure from other teachers as well. But in any case, I can sing with them...so there for I can try-out for All-State. I'm not enrolled in Encore yet, but I will be soon...if Mr. McKee gets on top of things (he hasn't been at school recently). So yeah, that's it.

Along with choir...Mr. Kuehn asked if I would like to sing with Oregon Chorale this season (winter). Well, of course I'd like to...however, I have a dance class that takes up an hour of Chorale. I know some of you are going to say, "Drop the dance class!", but I have been dying to take class on Mondays, and it's a new teacher, and we're actually going to do a pointe class every other week. I haven't done a real pointe class in...who knows how long. So I'm really, really excited for this class. I'm planning on talking to Mr. Kuehn about it. I hope to be able to sing with Chorale and take the class. How would I achieve this? I would show up late to Chorale...Brooke and I drove past Centuray with an hour left of Chorale practice, so I would only be an hour late. And if Mr. Kuehn does let me sing but feels I probably shouldn't sing in the concert...that's fine, at least I'm singing in a choir. I hope this all works out.

And I've just realized that I need to talk to a lot of people...and pretty soon!

Responsibility

On our way home from Bend, we were talking about responsibility…such as putting it on children’s shoulders. Dad asked would it be more irresponsible to (for example) forget to take attendance or to place the responsibility of remembering to tell him to take attendance on a student. Auntie Cathie replied with it would depend on how you handled the situation…asking them to help you remember or telling them to help you remember. We came upon this when we got around to talking about me making sure that Heather and Bradien had everything they needed for the Community Arts Festival…so to avoid last year’s events. And by me making sure she really didn’t mean putting the responsibility on me to make sure….but just keep an eye out…you know, a slight difference between giving me full responsibility and only having a bit of it. Auntie Cathie had a real problem with Sil asking me to avoid last year’s problem…even though she knew what happened. She believes fully that teachers shouldn’t put responsibility like that on kids. Dad came back with the example above. We talked for a long time on this subject, each person making valid points. What do you think?

Sophia, the baptized baby, is so cute. I got to hold her. I love babies.

My cousin Breanna looks almost exactly like Becca except Breanna has blonde hair. It was so weird seeing her and thinking it was Becca.

Well, I should do some homework that is due tomorrow. Night!

Lion King

This show was amazing. I mean AMAZING!!!! The costumes, the acting, the choreography, the lighting...oh my gosh! It was so amazing that it was overwhelming. I am not afraid to say that my whole family cried at the first song, when the giraffes came on stage (they were the first animals on). Kind of pathetic I know, but it was such a great feeling to be there, watching this show. I really can't describe it. Go see it if at all possible.

In other Broadway coming to Portland news, there are 6 other shows coming this year, and I might go see all of them, depending on if Mom gets season tickets for Christmas or my birthday. Anyway the shows are: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Little Women the Musical, Mamma Mia, Cats, Peter Pan (Cathy Rigby's last tour...yes she is playing Peter Pan), and Hairspray. The ones we're most likely going to see if we don't get season tickets are: Cats and Peter Pan. I'm really excited.

The journey to Lion King wasn't as pleasant as the show. Dad had to go to church to do some stuff and didn't get home until 1:08...the show started at 2:00. No porblem, right? Well, Mom, Brooke, and I were freaking out because we weren't goign to make it. Well we finally got on the road, picked up Aunty Bette and headed on our way. Traffic hit and cost us about 10 minutes. This trip reminded me of going to Wicked with elan. We ended up getting to the show with 10 minutes to spare...but we were pretty tense getting there.

Well, I'm in Bend now. And yay for the hotel with High-Speed Internet Access.

Happy Birthday Brooke

Well it's Brooke's birthday today. She is the big 14. We're going to go see the Lion King and then go straight to Bend for a baptizm. So I probably won't be posting until tomorrow night. One of Brooke's presents that I am most excited about is Harry Potter Scene It. Well, the Lion King is pretty exciting too, but we'd be going whehter or not it was Brooke's birthday. So, thast's it. Bye.

Highlights

Well today was pretty blah...except for a few highlights. First off, I made and appointment with Mr. McKee today, so hopefully this whole Encore thing will be sorted out. Lunch was great...me telling Sil about last night's stories and us talking in general. From here, the day was eh...we had a Socratic seminar and I actually talked..something new for me. Then the pep assembly happened. First off, dance team performed. I did fine, but apparently some of the freshmen were just standing there...yeah, not good. But before that, Evy sang the National Anthem...or should I say tried. Now don't get the wrong impression...she didn't even get to start. The microphone died or something so the band ended up playing instead. I felt bad because I think this was her first time singing it in front of the whole school...correct me if I'm wrong. It was kind of ironic though because as interested as I was to hear her rendition of it, I was scared to hear it. I guess that'll come at a later time. So then I went to Calc 2 and found out that instead of having 4 girls in the class, now only Alison and me are left. And there are about 12 people total now. I feel slightly depressed because I'd rather have early release, but I'm taking this class so I can remember math before SAT time and so that it looks good on my transcript...the catch is I don't want a B in this class. If it looks like I might be getting one, I might be really tempted to drop the class. Yes this would leave Alison to fend for herself, but she's smart enough to represent the girls on her own. But don't worry; I'll stick with it as long as I can. Oh you may wonder why I could drop this class....well I already took the SL test so I'm only taking it to refresh my memory...therefor getting a B in a class that isn't required would really irritate me.

Anyway, after school I had voice lessons. Lessons went well...I have 4 songs to learn...2 I've heard of and 1 of the 2 I've sung before (just to see if I liked it for NATS), but ended up liking another song instead. But I found out interesting things at voice lessons. First is that Ms. Butler gave out a syllabus for the classes....not horrible, but something we're not used to. Well in it, she stats what to wear, concert stuff...the usual...except for a few things. Well, she is requiring students to go on retreats and go to a classical choir concert at least once every tri. What I got from Sil was that you can't force students to do either one. You could get in major trouble for doing so. Also, I found out that the Christmas Concert is the same time as my cousin's wedding in Missouri. So not only will I be missing a DT practice...but also a choir concert, which she won't be happy about. So all in all, this encore year is going farely well.

Ok, interesting info number 2. Aloha is also doing "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940". Weird huh? And get this: they were going to do "Once Upon a Mattress" until Karen told them that we were doing it and said they really shouldn't do it. I guess they're just copy cats and jealous of the cool plays we get to do. Oh well.

I vistied Lenny this morning...or tried to. He told me when he was working so I went to Coffee Rush this morning and...he wasn't there. He was working, just not at the one he usually does. I might try to visit again tomorrow...but it depends on how much sleep I want.

Well, that's my day. The end.

Oh the Drama

Well first off, I went to Betsy's house tonight. It was great. We talked for about an hour and a half, then she had to go to bed. I'm going to miss seeing her every day.

Here is where the drama starts. Apparently, there are some who are perfectly fine with me not being in encore. I'll let you decide who they are....but most of you should know who the jealous few I'm talking about are. If you really want to know...IM me. Anyway, I hate it how they are all like, "Crystal shouldn't be able to Encore as an independent Study"...just because they're afraid I'd get all the solos. Well let me tell you, that wouldn't be the case. Ms. Butler doesn't exactly like me and I think it's because I wasn't in Encore to begin with (well first tri), so she was kind of irritated...probably because I didn't put enough effort into getting my schedule changed so I could have it. Ms. Butler is an interesting character...I wish Ms. Davis was back. The drama would be not as bad AND I'd be singing with encore...whether or not it fit into my schedule. Why? Because Ms. Davis would have mercy on me. Well, now I'm not sure eif I really do want to go back into Encore...what am I saying...of course I do...it'll help my voice and it'll help with colleges. I'm going to talk to Mr. McKee about it...and am making an appointment tomorrow. I just wish that we could all love each other and not be glad that one person is out because of scheduling issues...though I'd be glad if anyone of the people who are glad I'm out was out...so I guess that makes me a hypocrite. But, you know...I'm kind of irritated...and so is Sil. Oh man, don't get her started on it. But I did make her happier by telling her that Scott Tume (or however you spell his name) is going to listen to me sometime soon. He can't take me as of right now because he's booked, but he's at least going to listen to me...yay for another opinion on my voice. I might have said that already but...I'm saying it again.

Anyway, I love drama...and I don't mean the class! Good night.

Happiness

So my day got progressively better. It started out ok...I was tired but it was fine. Physics came and went in a flash...I think it's because we were so excited that it was Science in the News Day! In Advisory, we did pretty much nothing...though Taylor (the new Encore guy) is in my Advisory. Then lunch happened and I talked with Ms. Thomsen about my IB paper and I feel better about it now that we changed the objective a bit. Then I walked into Sil's office and she had apparently just heard that Ms. Butler isn't being flexible with me because Sil was irritated when I walked in. She suggested talking with Ms. Bertelli and Mr. McKee about it because I should have the right to try out for All State, but as of right now I can't because I'm not in a choir. Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm going to get an appointment with either McKee or Bertelli or both and talk to them about the Encore/TOK thing. So then Drama happened and things got better. I love drama in general so my day always gets better. School finally was over and I didn't have a lot of homework.

Good news on Betsy...so it turns out that she told her mom to tell Becca and Courtney, but she wanted to tell me specifically. Unfortunately, Betsy didn't get the chance to tell me...but I feel a LOT better knowing she want to tell me personally. So I win! I'm planning on visiting her tonight after she gets back from dance. Oh and really exciting news about this...she's on a full ride scholarship to dance there. A scholarship for a free ride isn't something OBT usually gives out. So that is really exciting.

Today, I asked Sil if I could borrow the script to "Musical Comedy Murders of 1940", and she said I could. So I'll be reading that over the weekend. I'm excited!

And I started "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and really enjoy it so far.

Pretty much my day has gone really well.

The Last Day of Happiness

Well, today has been up and down. My first day of school wasn't horrible...but every teacher except Denny decided to give me homework, and our books are beastly this year. The title corresponds to school because I have decided that I don't enjoy 6 periods. Now you may be saying to yourselves, "Crystal, you've had 6 periods for 2 years already" and I know that, but I've had to think in maybe like 3 of them. Last year= encore, french, drama, and TOK for my pretty much no thinking classes. I mean really, as hard as the classes were...I didn't need to think in them...yes sometimes I did but you know what I mean. Now, I have 6 thinking classes. And having TOK zero period just throws me off, well drama 4th does the same. And, like I said, the books this year are beastly. I mean they are humungous and they weigh like 20 pounds each! ANyway, overall classes went well, but I wasn't too happy with the homework already.

In other news, my friend Betsy is going to be dancing with Oregon Ballet Theatre for the rest of her time in Oregon...I'm assuming she's going to stay there and dance while she lives in Oregon. Now this is both great news and depressing news. Great for her...bummer for me. She goes to Glencoe and was on the dance team...guess she won't be doing that anymore. Also, she won't be taking classes at New Vision anymore because OBT is so demanding. I pretty much won't see her anymore because she doesn't go to my school and I'll be so busy with dance and so will she that we won't get quality time together. Also, she didn't tell me about it, but somehow both Courtney and Becca knew. This makes me really sad because I'm a good friend to her too...at least that's what I thought. I would think if she told them, she would tell me...but somehow that didn't happen. Now not only will I be short a friend at dance, but I'll be short a dancer in my dance I choreographed. I know that is not as important, but I'm at a road block. I had her and Bubba doing a Pas de Deux (duet) and now that she's not dancing it I don't know who to put there. Sure I could dance it, but that would seem cocky to those who wouldn't know I was dancing in Betsy's place. And since we're perfoming this at a student choreography thing, everyone is going to know I choreographed it, so it wouldn't be like a teacher saying that I got the duet in the first place. I could have someone else dance it, but quite frankly, I can't see anyone else dancing it...no one else would do it the way I would want it done...Betsy would and she'd probably make it better. I know I should probably use who I've got, but it troubles me that I don't think anyone else is good enough to dance the Pas....I could use Brooke and I'd be fine with her, but then it's like "Ph she's my sister so that's why I'm giving her the part" and that's not the case at all. I'm going to ask my dance teacher what I should do. I'm planning on taking Betsy's spot up until the Pas partner is needed and I'll see what Miss Elizabeth says.

Try outs for the fall play are Monday and Tuesday. Soon I know, but we do perform at the end of October. Yicks!

Well, I should get a move on with my homework. That's it for now.

Link Crew and Stuff

So the first day for freshman was today. It wasn't too bad. These freshmen were really good...compared to last year's. They were pretty energetic. They were involved...well most of them. And my group put up with my loopiness...I had had only 3 hours of sleep...but more on that later. After doing the Link Crew thing, Courtney, Kirsten, Emma, Charlotte, and I partied in Sil's office. It was great. We talked on a variety of topics. I'd like to give a shout out to those who tested in theatre last year...Congrats! Great scores!

I went to DT after school. We went over the dance for the pep assembly on Friday and our other dances as well. And yes, I did remember all of the dances I was worried about remembering. That relieved me.

I got a super cool postcard from Michelle. Thanks a lot! I really enjoy it!

Matt stopped by today to get a copy of Kindergarten, but I wasn't home and Mom and Dad didn't know where the copy was, so he left. This makes me sad because I wanted to see him...but instead his Mom came and picked up the DVD once I was home. I had offered to drop it off, but she said it was no problem and would rather pick it up, so as to not inconvenience myself.

You may be asking yourself why I only had 3 hours of slepp. Well to start off, I didn't start to go to bed until about 12:00...not unusual for me. Then I proceeded to read Inherit the Wind. I wanted to finish so that 1) it would be done for extra credit by Wednesday and 2) so I could start on The Perks of Being a Wallflower. So I finished it...ended up really liking it...and by this time it was 3:30...3 hours later was the time I woke up to get ready for this fantastic day.

I found out that tomorrow it is NOT academic seminar...but regular schedule. Now whether this means zero period or not...I don't know, but we were told to go to it anyway...just in case. Lame, I know. I was looking forward to sleeping in a little. Oh well. Good night all.

Real Quick...

while it's still in my head...I was just informed that the new guy, Taylor, in Encore was a prince in his school's production of Into the Woods. So we might actually have hope of singing gentlemen this coming year. Yay! The pressure can be slightly taken from Brian...but not by much. I just hope this kid is into theatre.

Oh and once upon a time ago I mentioned about jennifer's going away party. Well I forgot to say that Michelle and I sang together (What is This Feeling and As Long As You're Mine) and that Michelle sang The Kool-Aid song at exactly 10:13. Maybe I did already say that, but in case I didn't I'm saying it now. Well, that's it. School starts tomorrow...for the freshmen. Then it's off to Dance Team.

Memory Lane

Early this morning (about 1:00 AM), I took a strole down memory lane. I have been dying to look at past yearbooks, but we had moved them into the attic when we were giving me a bigger closet. Finally, I looked for them and found them. It was interesting to see the changes people have gone through. I started with my 7th grade year book. I saw people I didn't know had gone to Brown. I also saw how little we all looked. It was amazing how much we have changed. From 7th grade I contiuned forward until I got to the present time. I also read what people had written to me. It was interesting who I used to know, who I still know, and who I've met throughout the years. The comments of some people have gotten longer too. My favorite part was looking at the pictures. I saw little Jennifer, Michelle, Scott, Neil, Matt, Charlotte, Dustie, and Elizabeth...to name a few. Oh how cute you all were...well still are but you all looked so little!

Today was an up and down day. I woke up at 1:30 PM, which was very nice. Then I did laundry, which was good, but in the process I broke a lamp. It was knocked over by a piece of wood as I walked by it. Then I did yard work for about 2 hours...it didn't seem that long but it was 5:15 when we stopped. Then we ate dinner and watched Quest for Camelot...Dad hadn't seen it all teh way through because he kept falling asleep. He tried watching it about 4 times before, but finally he made it through. Oh and I'm reading Inherit the Wind for extra credit it English. I like it so far...though hi-lighting is still one of my least favorite things to do. And no Jennifer, I haven't read The Perks of Being a Wallflower yet. I've been really tired all week and was going to read it now, but Mom said I should read a book on the list for extra credit. So as soon as the extra credit is done, I'll be reading your book.

My senior pictures came today. They don't look too shabby either. I really like them. I'll post some pictures on myspace for your viewing pleasure. I don't know when that'll happen, but I'll put them there eventually.

As for school starting, well, I am excited but that also means the homework will start to pile. I really dislike homework. School starting again also means the realization that my college bound friends are not here with me, but I kow we'll keep in touch. And I'm nervous for the plays...mainly the musical. But I guess we have some promising talent...mainly a certain Brian Massey and that's fine. Well that's it for now.

English Continued

Well, I'm done re-writing my paper and now will take a break and then start the tantalizing task of editing...which I know it'll need a lot of. Anyone want to help? I wouldn't usually ask out loud like this because I hate having others edit a paper I know is horrible (I don't want people to think that is how I always write), but how else is it going to get better? So if anyone would like to help em in my quest to create a better paper...let me know. I'd appreciate it...and feel free to rip it apart. WARNING: I might become depressed and angry if it comes back with a bunch of corrections, but that's only because I really, REALLY dislike writing on this topic. So please do rip it apart...kill it...do whatever you have to do to help me make it better. Thanks...

We're going to Dad's school to help him with his room. I'm excited because this means I get to watch Disney channel. Well, that's it for now.

Let the games begin...

English and Its Weird Ways

I know I posted mere minutes ago, but I am facing a challenge that has haunted me for the whole summer...the re-write of an IB paper. Now I have already done one and I like it much better than the first time I wrote it. This next paper, however, is one I have no will to write. I had no will to write it the first time I was faced with writing it. Why? Well, it was a topic I didn't get to choose...well not really. This paper was the one I was taking a French IB test while the rest of the class chose their topics. And IB, being the lovely organization they are, does not let students write on the same topic. So, me being the lucky one I am, didn't get to write on the topic I wanted, but finally came up with one that was close. Let me tell you though, that whole week of writing it was depressing. I didn't want to write it and I knew the paper was going to be horrible. Well, it wasn't graded as bad as I thought it would be, but it still wasn't a great paper. So, I get to re-write it and become depressed once more. I didn't like the books I'm writing this paper on, but have no other choices of books because I really didn't like any of the world lit books we read and these were the only ones that I could use...wow, what a run on sentence that probably only made sense to me. Anyway...Neil, if you'd like, I'd be mor ethan happy to let you write this for me :)...just kidding. I should really get started re-writing this. I don't even remeber the books, so it'l be interesting.

Sleepover

So we had no internet because Dad was doing ceiling work, so sorry for the inconvenience. Anyway…

Yesterday I went to Kirsten’s for a sleepover. It was so much fun. We watched old tapes…including a dance tape from 1995! We also went to say goodbye to Elizabeth. That was great. I really enjoyed watching those tapes with Kirsten. We watched the Variety Show from this year and the DVD started to skip towards the end, so the screen looked as though we had only taken pictures of the show. So we watched “The Many Faces of Devin McNichol” as well as “The Many Poses of Crystal Carlisle and Scott Smith”. Devin’s was hilarious…as some of his facials are. Scott’s and mine were great pictures…and by great I mean pretty hilarious as well. One frame stopped and we were walking toward each other. In the next frame we had walked one step. This happened for a bit until the sound resumed, as did the movie. Then it stopped again and we watched pictures again. One of my favorites was when I was singing and it looks like I am about to eat Scott’s head. We were laughing pretty hard by this time. Once we both sang together, our singing looked really synchronized…meaning our expressions and our mouths were shaped the same. The ending frame was us singing the end of “return” but it looked so funny. Kirsten and I were hardly able to control ourselves. We stayed up until 6:30 AM. Yes this means I haven’t gotten proper sleep for 2 days now.

At 10:20 we woke up and headed over to Hilhi to help Ms. Butler move into the choir room. She’s really nice. I like her. She reminded me of Ms. Davis a bit…scary I know! Anywho, Ms. Butler has some discipline things going for her. I can tell she will be strict in her rules. We moved a couch into her office because she wanted the choir room to be the “Work Room” and her office to be the “Relax Room”. Also, the fridge and microwave went into her office as well. Things will definitely be different, but I’m sure she’ll do a good job.

From here, we went to my house and we watched a bunch of old choir tapes (ones from the school vault so we hadn’t seen them last night). Michelle, you would definitely love these tapes. They were the ones that were from when you were a tenor and we never learned any new songs. Yeah, these tapes were winners. I’m thinking of keeping them until you see them, which is fine with Ms. Butler.

I really don’t enjoy not having any internet…but that’s fine!

Sleeplessness

So I couldn't sleep...can't sleep. Anyway, it's 4:30 and I'm just not tired. I became not tired about 2:30...after tossing and turning and thinking of things I could send to those far far away. So I decided to do just that...make lovely little gifts for those people who are away from Hillsboro. This means that anyone who has given me their address or has posted it somewhere where I could find it should be expecting something in the mail from me. So for those who aren't sure if this means you:

Jennifer, Michelle, Scott, Neil, Lisa, and Kara...you should be expecting something from me. If you don't get this something within a week...then the mail is wierd and I don't know what happened. But I do hope you get my mail!

The end. Hopefully sleep will claim me now that I have made exciting somethings for these people.

Senior Pics and Stuff

So pictures went really well. I had a great time taking them. I know Liz (the family friend taking the pics) was nervous because these were for my senior pics and not random pics, but I know they'll turn out just fine. Can I say that Rood Bridge Park is gorgeous? I think it is my new favorite place. By the way, if you want senior pictures done by this family friend, don't ask me for the price. 1) I don't know it and 2) she asked for people to ask her for her prices. Anyway, to get prepared for my pics, Brooke, Mom, and I went to Nordstroms. Brooke had her first ever make-over and of course she looked fabulous. She was so nervous...it was hilarious.

Margaret came over for some great fun. We watched some Power Rangers, Joseph, Beauty and the Beast (yes the musical theatre style), and Wee-Sing in Sillyville. I must say that from watching Beauty and the Beast Margaret now really wants to take the class. And she might get to, which would be awesome! Well, that's about it. Good night!

Yesterday and Today

So yesterday the internet was ding something weird. But it's fine today...I really don't understand computers.

Anyway, yesterday I woke up really late. It was nice. Then Brooke and I went to my aunt's school to help make it kid presentable. We stayed there for 3 hours! Then we went home...me in hopes that my dance tapes had come. My hope was not met, but they should be here today instead. So Brooke, Mom, and I went shopping at Washington Square. We bought some clothes and some jewelry. Then we went home and had a fashion show for my aunt and my dad.heir job was to choose their favorite 5 outfits, since that is the amount I can bring. After much diliberation, 5 outfits were found. Then we called it a night.

This morning, I woke up late again. Well, actually I woke up like 15 minutes ago. Today, Brooke, Mom, and I are going to Nordstroms to get make-up done for the pictures, then going to Rood Brigde Park for the pictures. Then Margaret is coming over for a bit and we're going to watch some Joseph and whatever else we feel like. Hopefully, my dance tapes will come today. That's it. Not real exciting, but I'll let you all know how pictures went.