Thought for the day

Why is it that food always seems to be the source of gathering? That is, why does it seem that people always use food as a way to hang out?A great example is this evening: my friend Kelsey and I went to Steak 'N Shake this evening because 1) I needed to eat something at it was the only place open, 2) she had never been there before, and 3) we wanted to hang out. If food is not the gathering place, then food seems to be present wherever the hanging out is occurring. It makes me wonder why food is such an important gathering point. It seems to me that we can't seem to gather without food...why is that? I'm not saying that I'm complaining.....I love food. But I just find it interesting...

Oh food and your weird ways....

Lots of Love.

New York, New York

Day 1

After getting up, packing, eating, and printing off lots of things, I finally was ready to go to the airport. I left with plenty of time to spare, since it was a holiday weekend and I knew the airport was going to be packed. My first trouble spot came when I had to park in the expensive parking lot. Granted, it wasn't that much more expensive, but still....it was more than I paid for last weekend. Anywho, I arrived at the airport and walked straight to my gate. So much for the airport being packed. I found out that my flight needed bumpers, so I volunteered to do so as long as they could still get me to NYC by 7:00 at the latest. Well, they could, so I almost bumped. However, I found out that the flight I was originally taking didn't actually need bumpers and that it would not be delayed as previously thought. So I ended up taking the flight I was going to in the first place. Once we reached JFK, we waited in the taxi lane for forever because another plane was still at the gate we were supposed to be at. So we waited and waited. Finally, we were let go. I had an hour and a half to get to my show. What show you ask? Mary Poppins! Good news= I made it in time. Bad news= I had McDonald's for dinner....yuck. While at the show, I saw my first transvestite. Very interesting....The show was amazing. I loved it. Ashley Brown was a wonderful Mary Poppins. The dancing was really neat. I admit, I got a little teary-eyed at the end. The plan for meeting up with Maren was to meet somewhere after the show. Since we weren't going to meet until about 11:30, I went to the stage door and got some autographs and took some pictures. Be jealous; I got Ashley Brown's picture and signature :) After a while, I got a call from Maren saying she was on the same street I was. Since neither of us knew what the other looked like, we knew it would be fun to try and guess who we were. Lucky for us, we spotted each other right away...the only two talking on cellphones. After formally introducing ourselves, we walked to Port Authority, where we hopped on a bus that took us to Maren's house. While on the bus, we got into a mini accident. Somehow our bus and the bus behind us ended up hitting eachother. The bus behind us pulled up next to our bus and the drivers started to argue. Cars, of course, were honking madly behind us. Oh New York....



Since it was Maren's friend's friend's birthday, she asked if I wanted to go to a party for a few minutes....mainly so she could make an appearance. I said sure, so I went to my first "drunk party". I put that in quotes because the people were drunk, but not so much that they were loud and obnoxious. I was offered a drink (alcoholic) but I declined (yay morals!). So yeah. The people were pretty cool. I think I could actually hang around them if I had to....hmmm that didn't sound quit right....but you know what I mean, right? Well, I do anyway. At 1:00am we decided to go home. I ended up sleeping on the couch. It was pretty comfortable.



Day 2

Today I did many firsts. I woke up (not a first, but I still did it), rode the subway by myself, rode a train from Grand Central Station by myself, waited for a ferry for an hour, saw Arrio, took a taxi back to the train station, took the train back to Grand Central Station (GCS), took the Subway to Port Authority, took a bus (the wrong one), and walked to Maren's house. Now to tell you most of my adventures of firsts....



The subway wasn't anything new, really. Mainly, I just had never gone by myself. It was quite a walk, but I didn't want to chance missing my stop so I took the train that went straight to GCS.



Taking the train was a bit scary, but fun as well. I felt kind of special knowing that I was riding out of GCS. Kind of a dream of mine, I guess. So yeah. It was really neat. However, I didn't know what gate to leave from...since it didn't say on my ticket. I asked information and found my gate. I met a lady at Starbucks who was going on the same train. We took the first half of the ride together, before she got off. One stop before mine, I called a taxi to take me to USMA. They said they'd be there, however, they weren't there when I got off the train. So I called them after waiting for 10 minutes. They rudely told me to take the ferry.



Had I known about the ferry, the next hour wouldn't have happened. I missed the ferry by ten minutes (and it only goes back and forth according to the train schedule...so basically every hour.) I didn't know this until way later, so to waste time I called just about everyone I could think of. Finally, Arrio called me and he told me that the ferry was on its way as soon as the Captain came back. Little did I know what awaited me on the ferry.....Arrio! We don't really know if he was supposed to be on the ferry, but no one stopped him, so he greeted me on the ferry instead of on the West Point side. I didn't recognize him at first. He looks good! Definitely a lady killer. Anywho, we walked around a bit and then grabbed some lunch. After lunch we walked around some more. Basically, we walked the whole 5 hours I was there....but we had a fun time. We talked about everything. You know, it felt kind of weird walking next to him while he was in uniform. I guess I just felt out of place. I mean, it was kind of frusterating because he could do cetain things because he was in uniform. Like besides hugging, the only thing he could do was escort me. So no holding hands, piggy back rides, rolling down hills....nothing like that....which of course made me want to do it even more. I really, really wanted a piggy back ride, but no. Also, the only way I could wear his hat was if he was standing still and not moving. I definitely took advantage of the hat wearing when we went off base and had some ice cream. I have a picture to prove it :) After ice cream, we decided to go bowling. He beat me pretty badly, but I don't care. We had a lot of fun. After bowling it was time for me to take the ferry back to the train station. Unfortunately for us, the last ferry took off 10 minutes before we got there. So we called a cab....which didn't pick me up until an hour later (due to some misunderstandings on their part). Arrio had to be back in his room by 7:00, so I was left alone waiting for my taxi....I told him he could leave if he really needed to. I was still on base and in plain sight of the security guy, so if anything happened, he'd see it. I didn't really want to see Arrio go, but of course I didn't want him to get in trouble. So we said our goodbyes and decided that we need to hang out again sometime soon. And since Jetblue flies to JFK a lot with cheap prices from Columbus, I see this as a big possibility :)



The taxi finally came, however I missed the train I had wanted to take. So I waited in a shop until the next one came. Not much happened after that until the bus ride back to Maren's house. I guess there are two sides to Port Authority that have different bus routes but go to the same city. I, of course, took the wrong bus. I took the one that goes in the opposite direction I wanted to go. I didn't know this, however, until we started to head toward the town and away from the river (maren lives really close to the river with a beautiful view of NYC). So I figured I would just get off at 49th St (where I needed to get off anyway). However, the bus didn't stop there, so I stopped at 54th St. instead. I knew I needed to go towards NYC and the river, so I headed in that direction. I made it safely to Maren's house, but I called her and let her know about my adventure. This was when she told me about the different buses....it would have been nice to know this ahead of time, but whatever. It was a nice (and needed) walk.

Now I am at Maren's house. I can believe I audition tomorrow. Wow. What a fun trip this has been. I definitely need some sleep now.



Day 3

I didn't sleep that well...which is unfortunate...but oh well. I woke up, packed quickly, and headed out for my audition. I was going to take the "cheap" bus, but I didn't want to be late, so I took the bus that cost 55 cents more. This bus took me to Port Authority (where I needed to go) however it was a different spot than the bus yesterday. So I was a little turned around. I made it out to the street, after getting a Jamba Juice (yeah, they have them in NYC). I met a girl on the elevator to the studio I was auditioning at. She was going to the same audition. In the end, I was dancer 18, didn't get a call back, but the girl I met on the elevator did (and she used my hair tie too). Yet again, I helped someone get a callback (even though this was a very small gesture). Maybe someone should do something for me...and then maybe I'll get a job? Anywho, my singing auditions went pretty well. I was number 1 (though the dancers who were called back got to go infront of me....so I was then number 4 instead of number 1). I sang "Home" from B and B. For everyone it was an in and out thing...you go in, sing, and go back out. We'll see what happens.

After the auditions, I had a rediculous amount of time before my plane took off....so I attempted to find the Disney Store. I failed....mainly because I didn't want to carry my big bag around the city. Lazy...I know. So I took a cab to the airport. Due to Columbus Day, it took twice as long to get there. However, I got to see parts of NYC I ddin't think I would. So that was pretty cool. Once at the airport, I attempted to get on an earlier flight. Note to self: don't try stand by again unless you want to pay $75. Also, JFK is the worst airport ever. Don't go there unless you apsolutely have to. I waited at the airport for about 5 and a half hours...due to my plane being delayed due to traffic. I guess JFK has lots of traffic problems. However, I finally got on the plane and am now back in the dorm room....about 2 hours after I should hve been. Oh well.

I had a great time this weekend. I will definitely need to check out plane tickets so I can visit Maren and Arrio again!

I can't wait for tomorrow. Elizabeth and Nathan think they will be here tomorrow evening!!!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!

Lots of Love.

Atlanta Fun

Well....it's over. My first Disney audition...I had so much fun. It was basically stress free, even though I didn't get cast. But, you know...I'm ok with that. I went in expecting to have fun and not expecting to get cast, so that's exactly what happened and I'm fine with it. But let me tell you all about my Atlanta adventure.

I called Brooke and asked if she wanted to come with me....mainly because I didn't want to go by myself. After much back and forthness, she was able to come. Yay! So we met at teh airport and then headed for Six Flags. Thta's right....straight from the airport to Six Flags. Crazy? You bet. We only spent 5 hours at the park, but we had so much fun anyway. We went on a stand-up rollercoaster (not as exciting as we thougth it would be), Goliath (the tallest coaster in the Southeast...it was amazing!), Deja Vu (it goes backwards and forwards....fun stuff), Batman (we rode this one in Texas, but it was yellow in Texas), Ninja (kind of rough, but not too bad), Calypso (at least I think that's what it was called....it was really, really rough. Most people came off holding their heads), a smaller kiddy coaster (it had a few surprises though), Mindblaster (a cool coaster), and, my favorite, Superman (you rode the coaster on your stomach....flying like Superman. It was awesome!). We had so much fun. I'm really glad Brooke was able to come. I know I wouldn't have liked Six Flags as much if Brooke hadn't been there. Unfortunately, they closed at 8:00pm so by the time it was time to eat, everything was closed except pizza...not too good for my diet...but what else could I do? So yeah...that was the only "bad" thing. After Six Flags, we headed for the hotel...The Georgian Terrace Hotel. This hotel was amazing. Not only was it a historical landmark, it was huge too! Even though our room was pretty small, it was really nice. Brooke and I were pretty tired from our long day, so we didn't explore much.

The next day, we woke up late, had room service for breakfast, and watched TV. Then we decided to get some essentials (like deodorant....since both of us had traveled with just carry-ons, we couldn't bring any deodorant we had from home...so we bought some at CVS). Then we walked back to the hotel and went swimming and worked out. The pool was really cold, so we did 4 laps and called it good. However, the veiw was amaxing. The pool was on the top of the hotel. We could see all of Atlanta from the pool. After that, we tool a quick shower and ate lunch at an Italian restuarant. While walking back to the hotel, I was called at by some guys driving by in a car. They said they loved me...but really, who doesn't? lol. Yeah, that kind of freaked Brooke out a little...so she decided that she never wanted to leave the hotel again...so we didn't leave the rest of the night....however we didn't have anything else to do out in Atlanta anyway so it worked out well. We had room service for dinner, watched mroe TV, stretched, and went to bed early.

Today, I woke up at 7am, ordered room service for breakfast, adn got ready for the audition. We were out of the hotel and at the theatre by 8am....the auditions weren't supposed to start until 9, but the sign ups started at 8:30. I thought someone would have been there....I was wrong. So Brooke and I went to Starbucks and sat around for a while. At 8:30 we went back to the theatre only to discover that no one was there....a lady was standing outside the doors. She asked us if we were looking for the Disney auditions. We said yes and she said that she was too. She made a phone call and found out that no one would be there until 9:00...so she said I should probably go get some coffee...little did I know this was the casting director. Too bad, right? So Brooke and I went to Starbucks and sat around again. Then we went back to the theatre at 9am and sat around for another hour....I signed up for the audition (the first one!) and stretched some more. And I actually talked to some people. For the audition, we did a ballet combo first...then people were cut...but not me (the numbers went from like 30 to 15)!!!! Then we did a jazz combo. It was really fast...not hard, just fast. I was cut after this, but there were only 8 people left. These people were taped and some acted afterwards. In any case, teh casting director said that we were all amazing dancers and that she wanted us to know that she was trying to fill certain parts, so that is why some of us got cut where I did. I knew they were casting for the bird in Lion King...but darn me being 2 inches too tall. Anywho, I had a lot of fun at that audition. Then Brooke and I ate lunch at Chick-fil-A. We met Marcus there (a guy I talked to at the dance audition). We then headed back for the theatre for my singing audition. I signed up as number 16...I would have gone first, but I didn't get in line in time. So, I waited and waited. I met some new people while in line. We had a lot of fun. I even helped the girl in front of me and behind me with their callbacks. I was not called back, but I still had a fun time helping them....one was auditioning for Dory (she had never seen the musical so she didn't know the song or anything) and the other girl was auditioning for Flora from the Hoop Dee Doo Review (she had never seen the show or heard the song...however it was "Red River Valley"...you know the old American Classic Folk song? Yeah, I knew you'd know it). So I helped her learn it in the short amount of time she had. both girls were very appreciative. And I figured I might as well help since I was down there and I knew Disney like the back of my hand :) After helping, Brooke adn I took a taxi to the airport, where we arrived with no trouble anywhere and at the gate 2 hours early. So we found food and ice cream and then it was about time for Brooke to catch her flight. Lucky for us, Brooke's and my gates were right next to each other. How cool, huh? Yeah. So once Brooke was gone, I sat around for my flight. I called some people to update them on how the audition went and then got on my plane. And now I am back at Otterbein.

Even though I didn't get cast for anything, I still had a blast. I am very thankful for this experience. I know this will help me with my next audition....oh that reminds me, I met someone who will be in New York next weekend...so I'll know someone at the audition! Anywho, I can't wait to go to NYC...and see Arrio. Yeah, that's right. I get to audition for Disney and see Arrio! And spend the night with Cindy Ucker's daughter and 2 Turkish guys she met a month ago when she moved in. It'll be a lot of fun.

For now,it's back to class. I have a lovely quiz on Renaissance Polyphony I need to make up :( However, my choreography project is almost done! Yay!

Lots of Love.