Guess what I did today?
Cried on camera.
Without expecting it.
And without doing horribly.
In an improvised thing for a class, because I had to.
See, my drama class is shooting a film noir movie, and to help us build up to the actual shooting (developing character and stuff), our teacher is having us do this thing where we go into her office (either alone or with someone our character would normally talk to) and she would film us talking (either to her, if we were alone like I was, or with the other person). My character had some issues with the person who died (we were sisters), and so when I was talking about said issues, I just started crying. Because that's what my character decided she would do.
So I did.
And my teacher wasn't mad; she was actually really happy that I had finally gotten to the point where I could cry and make it look and feel normal, because I was just feeling it. After all, most people don't intend to cry, but they do. I wasn't intending or expecting to cry when I went in and started the thing. But I did. Go figure.
Apparently, not a lot of people in the class would let themselves get to the point where they would cry, on camera or off, in character or not.
But yeah. I did it.
I think it was easier because I was alone (instead of with someone else) and could actually talk about the issues that I wasn't allowed to talk about with anyone else, because that's the way the movie works (everyone has their own experiences, and there was a confidential bit in the info email that we got telling us what our specific, forbidden-from-informing-anyone-else-about experiences were).
In all, it was actually really fun.
Really.
Crying on camera - or crying at all, for that matter - is not usually fun for me, but afterwards, I just felt kind of liberated. I think it was, again, because there was nobody else around and I (or my character, whatever) was able to get the stuff off my chest (or my character's chest) that I was not allowed to talk about normally (or would not let myself talk about normally). My character doesn't really have any friends, you see. She's kind of a loner. Well, she has a few friends, but none of them are in the movie.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Nashville and Stuff!
We got back from Nashville yesterday at around 5:00 in the morning. My mom and I promptly went home and slept. I was asleep for five hours and had a very strange dream that I could fly and do a lot of weird stuff. It was weird.
Anyway, the epic thing that happened on the trip was I met someone who is (going to be) famous. She's not famous yet (I don't think so, anyway), but she's GOING TO BE, because she's AWESOME. Her name is Mallary Hope, and she is a REALLY good country singer. We saw her perform at the Grand Ole Opry, and I really liked this one song she did called "Black Widow Spider". You should look it up when the album comes out.
But the REAL epic thing that happened was that we saw her come down a side aisle a while after she went on, and I would've gotten a photo with her if my camera had decided to actually take the photo (but it didn't want to take the photo, so the photo doesn't exist). Then most of the rest of our people noticed her, and... yeah.
Anyway, aside from singing renegade at the Grand Ole Opry, and seeing the Grand Ole Opry, and going to Dollywood (which was okay, I guess; it would have been better if it had not been raining all day and my shoes had not been soaking wet by the end of it), and doing some workshops with college professors at Vanderbilt, and seeing the "Parthenon" (or the replica of it, anyway) and touring the Country Music Hall of Fame, and touring Studio B (the Studio of a Thousand Hits, which has, indeed, had a thousand songs go to the Top Ten or Number One, I do not remember which, and has recorded over forty-five thousand songs total), and seeing the Ryman Auditorium, and doing some other cool stuff (not necessarily in that order), we did not really do much.
Except for get bored sometimes and sleep.
Yes, I DID just summarize basically everything that happened on the entire trip in a single (albeit long) paragraph, in case you were wondering about that.
I will go into detail about the trip at another time. I cannot do it right now because I have to go to class in ten minutes and I do not want to be late because I have to turn something in.
Oh, yeah. Another random thing that happened that is worthy of being noted: we had a lot of bus trouble on this trip.
Well, not 'we,' the senior bus, but 'we,' the music department.
What do I mean by this?
Well, we, the seniors, had to share with some freshmen and eighth graders on the way to Dollywood and on the way to dinner the day before, because first the battery on the freshman/ eighth grade bus died, and then its wheel popped the next day on the way to Dollywood. And then that same day, the junior bus wound up in a hole. No, I do NOT know how that happened, and I am not sure that I want to find out about it.
Also, the senior bus was the best, because there were not many people on it, so you could get a set of two seats to yourself. It was rather awesome.
And I actually SLEPT on the bus! I did not sleep WELL, nor did I sleep very MUCH, but I got some SLEEP, and it was AWESOME. I am pretty sure that has never happened before. True, on the way back I did not sleep as well as I did on the way down, because there were movies playing LOUDLY and prevented sleep from being possible.
Anyhow, I have to go now.
Farewell.
Anyway, the epic thing that happened on the trip was I met someone who is (going to be) famous. She's not famous yet (I don't think so, anyway), but she's GOING TO BE, because she's AWESOME. Her name is Mallary Hope, and she is a REALLY good country singer. We saw her perform at the Grand Ole Opry, and I really liked this one song she did called "Black Widow Spider". You should look it up when the album comes out.
But the REAL epic thing that happened was that we saw her come down a side aisle a while after she went on, and I would've gotten a photo with her if my camera had decided to actually take the photo (but it didn't want to take the photo, so the photo doesn't exist). Then most of the rest of our people noticed her, and... yeah.
Anyway, aside from singing renegade at the Grand Ole Opry, and seeing the Grand Ole Opry, and going to Dollywood (which was okay, I guess; it would have been better if it had not been raining all day and my shoes had not been soaking wet by the end of it), and doing some workshops with college professors at Vanderbilt, and seeing the "Parthenon" (or the replica of it, anyway) and touring the Country Music Hall of Fame, and touring Studio B (the Studio of a Thousand Hits, which has, indeed, had a thousand songs go to the Top Ten or Number One, I do not remember which, and has recorded over forty-five thousand songs total), and seeing the Ryman Auditorium, and doing some other cool stuff (not necessarily in that order), we did not really do much.
Except for get bored sometimes and sleep.
Yes, I DID just summarize basically everything that happened on the entire trip in a single (albeit long) paragraph, in case you were wondering about that.
I will go into detail about the trip at another time. I cannot do it right now because I have to go to class in ten minutes and I do not want to be late because I have to turn something in.
Oh, yeah. Another random thing that happened that is worthy of being noted: we had a lot of bus trouble on this trip.
Well, not 'we,' the senior bus, but 'we,' the music department.
What do I mean by this?
Well, we, the seniors, had to share with some freshmen and eighth graders on the way to Dollywood and on the way to dinner the day before, because first the battery on the freshman/ eighth grade bus died, and then its wheel popped the next day on the way to Dollywood. And then that same day, the junior bus wound up in a hole. No, I do NOT know how that happened, and I am not sure that I want to find out about it.
Also, the senior bus was the best, because there were not many people on it, so you could get a set of two seats to yourself. It was rather awesome.
And I actually SLEPT on the bus! I did not sleep WELL, nor did I sleep very MUCH, but I got some SLEEP, and it was AWESOME. I am pretty sure that has never happened before. True, on the way back I did not sleep as well as I did on the way down, because there were movies playing LOUDLY and prevented sleep from being possible.
Anyhow, I have to go now.
Farewell.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Music Trip!
Well, tonight, about a third of the school is going on a bus to depart for Nashville, where we will make music, sleep on a bus, and (probably) hear more country music than any of us wants to hear ever again.
I'm kind of excited, to be honest. I mean, there was this annoying thing about the rooming this year (I signed up with one friend, but since nobody else signed up in our room, we got split up. I don't mind; my new roommates are reasonably cool, as are my friend's roommates, so it could be a lot worse). I know some of my friends aren't very excited, but I am. See, epic stuff seems to happen on the music trips, simply because it is the music trip.
A recap:
Year One (Atlanta): I found out I passed my black belt test. And the Aquarium was REALLY cool. And we went to the Coca-Cola factory, where I had to give up my Lenten Sacrifice (no soda) in order to participate in the international tasting room. It was worth it.
Year Two (Philadelphia): We went on a Ghost Tour of Philadelphia, which was REALLY cool. I also ate too much of food that had expired and threw up for the first time in a few years. But I got a really good book called Stupid History.
Year Three (Disney World): It was Disney. Need I say more? Also, we sang Vivaldi's "Gloria" (sans the solo bits), which is epic just on its own (if you have never heard it, look it up, even though it's like half an hour long).
I predict that the most epic thing that can happen is that we meet Dolly Parton at Dollywood (she's scheduled to be there the day we are). However, since I'm not a huge country music fan (I'm middling; I don't hate it all, but it's not all I listen to), I may not be able to appreciate it as much as some other people I know. But who knows? Something epic and totally unrelated to Dolly Parton could happen. (I don't know what that might be, since it hasn't happened yet, but whatever).
It's going to be AWESOME. And if it's not, I'm going to be very disappointed, because it's my last year on the music trip. I DEMAND AWESOME!
As a side note, on the topic of Awesome:
I had to do a group poem project thing with a few friends on Monday. Our poem was one by Tolkien: "All that glitters is not gold." When I was doing a bit of research for a biographical perspective, I found out that Tolkien was inspired to write the Misty Mountains when he went trekking, starting in... wait for it... INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND.
That was about an hour away from where we were staying in Adelboden. We visited one day.
So, my wondering why Lord of the Rings was not filmed in Switzerland?
Totally justified.
Just saying.
I'm kind of excited, to be honest. I mean, there was this annoying thing about the rooming this year (I signed up with one friend, but since nobody else signed up in our room, we got split up. I don't mind; my new roommates are reasonably cool, as are my friend's roommates, so it could be a lot worse). I know some of my friends aren't very excited, but I am. See, epic stuff seems to happen on the music trips, simply because it is the music trip.
A recap:
Year One (Atlanta): I found out I passed my black belt test. And the Aquarium was REALLY cool. And we went to the Coca-Cola factory, where I had to give up my Lenten Sacrifice (no soda) in order to participate in the international tasting room. It was worth it.
Year Two (Philadelphia): We went on a Ghost Tour of Philadelphia, which was REALLY cool. I also ate too much of food that had expired and threw up for the first time in a few years. But I got a really good book called Stupid History.
Year Three (Disney World): It was Disney. Need I say more? Also, we sang Vivaldi's "Gloria" (sans the solo bits), which is epic just on its own (if you have never heard it, look it up, even though it's like half an hour long).
I predict that the most epic thing that can happen is that we meet Dolly Parton at Dollywood (she's scheduled to be there the day we are). However, since I'm not a huge country music fan (I'm middling; I don't hate it all, but it's not all I listen to), I may not be able to appreciate it as much as some other people I know. But who knows? Something epic and totally unrelated to Dolly Parton could happen. (I don't know what that might be, since it hasn't happened yet, but whatever).
It's going to be AWESOME. And if it's not, I'm going to be very disappointed, because it's my last year on the music trip. I DEMAND AWESOME!
As a side note, on the topic of Awesome:
I had to do a group poem project thing with a few friends on Monday. Our poem was one by Tolkien: "All that glitters is not gold." When I was doing a bit of research for a biographical perspective, I found out that Tolkien was inspired to write the Misty Mountains when he went trekking, starting in... wait for it... INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND.
That was about an hour away from where we were staying in Adelboden. We visited one day.
So, my wondering why Lord of the Rings was not filmed in Switzerland?
Totally justified.
Just saying.
Monday, March 12, 2012
The Awesome Stuff You Learn At School
Okay, I admit I was kind of creeping on some of the physics kids outside at lunch today. Why? Oh, for the simple reason that they are using whips for their physics fair project, and they were learning how to use them today. One of our teachers was showing them how, because she used to work at a Renaissance Festival.
I got a lesson on how to do it. And it was awesome.
Okay, my technique was rather off at first, so I kind of whipped my hair (not back and forth) in the back, but whatever. I eventually got the hang of it, which felt really cool.
Apparently, the whip is less of a muscle weapon and more of a movement sort of weapon. With things like swords, you have to put some grunt behind an overhand if you want to do any real damage (and if you want to move the sword at all, in some cases), but with whips, you just have to get your arm movement right, and then people with very little arm muscle can knock someone over from six or eight feet away. And trip them up. And stuff.
Apparently, tripping people up is really easy because the whip is designed to wrap around stuff it gets flung at. Our teacher demonstrated (gently) on one of the people there. Even though the impulse in her arm was very light, and she was using an eight-foot whip, and it still went around the kid's legs a few times. If he had been running from her, he probably would have been tripped up and done a faceplant.
Anyhow, that cracking that occurs when a whip is at its full extent is a breaking of the sound barrier because the thin, whippy end of the whip is moving so fast.
Anyhow, it felt REALLY cool to learn how to use a whip. Definitely writing that into something one of these days.
And I'm probably ready to just quit school and become Indiana Jones.
If that were legal.
I got a lesson on how to do it. And it was awesome.
Okay, my technique was rather off at first, so I kind of whipped my hair (not back and forth) in the back, but whatever. I eventually got the hang of it, which felt really cool.
Apparently, the whip is less of a muscle weapon and more of a movement sort of weapon. With things like swords, you have to put some grunt behind an overhand if you want to do any real damage (and if you want to move the sword at all, in some cases), but with whips, you just have to get your arm movement right, and then people with very little arm muscle can knock someone over from six or eight feet away. And trip them up. And stuff.
Apparently, tripping people up is really easy because the whip is designed to wrap around stuff it gets flung at. Our teacher demonstrated (gently) on one of the people there. Even though the impulse in her arm was very light, and she was using an eight-foot whip, and it still went around the kid's legs a few times. If he had been running from her, he probably would have been tripped up and done a faceplant.
Anyhow, that cracking that occurs when a whip is at its full extent is a breaking of the sound barrier because the thin, whippy end of the whip is moving so fast.
Anyhow, it felt REALLY cool to learn how to use a whip. Definitely writing that into something one of these days.
And I'm probably ready to just quit school and become Indiana Jones.
If that were legal.
Friday, March 9, 2012
stuff and stuff
Well, guess what I did today?
Today, I wrote a paper.
That's about it.
Also, I waited for half an hour for my government teacher to show up. Turns out he has not been around all day, and we, the class, only found out about it after half an hour of waiting for him, when someone called another history teacher and asked him where our government teacher was.
And that's about it.
Well, I also sang some, and did some stuff about the Great Banks Cod Fishing Collapse, and studied some integrals and stuff.
But that's it. Yeah. Really boring, I know.
I think that is partially why I have not been posting as much as I used to - I am really busy, and the stuff that makes me busy is just standard high school stuff, unworthy of reporting across the wide Internet. That, or I just plain do not have the time anymore. And big stuff has not really happened.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to post here. I got rejected from theatre school. It sucks, I know, but I know I am not brilliant, and theatre is ridiculously competitive, especially for girls.
But whatever. Moving on.
You know what would be a really cool job? Choreographing stage fights. You get to fight, except not beat anyone up for real, but still feel awesome, and make people look really badass. And it is a very valid excuse to stay really active. Doing martial arts. And fencing. And stuff.
I just did a google search for fight choreographers, and wound up discovering that Pirates of the Caribbean may or may not be becoming a musical. Which is rather ridiculous, just saying. WHY ARE THEY TURNING PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN INTO A MUSICAL? It is rather unjustified, just saying. It would probably be really hard to pull of an epic PIRATE MOVIE on a STAGE. It will probably suck, but I will probably wind up going to see it anyway, if it comes to my area and does not close in previews.
Still.
A musical out of "Pirates of the Caribbean"? WHY?
Today, I wrote a paper.
That's about it.
Also, I waited for half an hour for my government teacher to show up. Turns out he has not been around all day, and we, the class, only found out about it after half an hour of waiting for him, when someone called another history teacher and asked him where our government teacher was.
And that's about it.
Well, I also sang some, and did some stuff about the Great Banks Cod Fishing Collapse, and studied some integrals and stuff.
But that's it. Yeah. Really boring, I know.
I think that is partially why I have not been posting as much as I used to - I am really busy, and the stuff that makes me busy is just standard high school stuff, unworthy of reporting across the wide Internet. That, or I just plain do not have the time anymore. And big stuff has not really happened.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to post here. I got rejected from theatre school. It sucks, I know, but I know I am not brilliant, and theatre is ridiculously competitive, especially for girls.
But whatever. Moving on.
You know what would be a really cool job? Choreographing stage fights. You get to fight, except not beat anyone up for real, but still feel awesome, and make people look really badass. And it is a very valid excuse to stay really active. Doing martial arts. And fencing. And stuff.
I just did a google search for fight choreographers, and wound up discovering that Pirates of the Caribbean may or may not be becoming a musical. Which is rather ridiculous, just saying. WHY ARE THEY TURNING PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN INTO A MUSICAL? It is rather unjustified, just saying. It would probably be really hard to pull of an epic PIRATE MOVIE on a STAGE. It will probably suck, but I will probably wind up going to see it anyway, if it comes to my area and does not close in previews.
Still.
A musical out of "Pirates of the Caribbean"? WHY?
Monday, March 5, 2012
Harry Potter v Twilight
So, I just found this post online that's completely bull**** about how Twilight's better than Harry Potter and how Harry Potter sucks. Well, no offense to any twi-hards out there, but I don't think that's very true. (the article can be found here).
to refute that, I'm making a list of my own.
WHY HARRY POTTER IS AWESOME:
1. It has a plot. A good plot. It follows the Hero's Journey, in fact. I think. The point is, they have a quest, and they are on it. And they go forth and conquer.
2. It has reasonable character development. The main trio had the chance to surprise you, as did most of the supporting cast. Like Neville.
3. No character is totally perfect. If someone is beautiful, they have a messed up home life (like Draco). If they're really nice or smart, they're probably not attractive (like Hermione).
4. There are themes - friendship, bravery, doing what's right even when you're heartbroken. That's something I didn't really learn from Twilight.
5. It actually has humor. And good villains. (and by 'good villains,' I mean 'villains that are developed, have motives, and who I want to punch in the face at times.' Unlike the Volturi, who were a threat in theory and not in reality.)
6. I nearly cried when Dobby died. Though I did feel kind of depressed when Bella threw herself off a cliff, I think it might have partially been because she didn't die.
7. Dumbledore. Not much more needs to be said. He's brilliant. And who says elderly gay dudes are creeps? I know no creepy gay dudes. I know no creepy gay people, period.
WHY TWILIGHT ISN'T BRILLIANT:
1. Bella doesn't act; she reacts. The one time she acted she did it for love (to stop Edward from going out in the sun and bugging the Volturi), which is noble and all, but it was sort of like... why? Jacob made her happy. Why couldn't Edward have come back and had there been tension while she had feelings for both of them.
2. Edward. Ew. Sure, he's hot, but he's... I dunno. Sketchy? Creepy? Obsessive? He watches her in her sleep, for crying out loud. Sure, I mean I guess that's romantic, but I wouldn't want a boyfriend doing that. I might not be able to sleep if that happened.
3. The Volturi were cool, but they didn't pose much of a threat. I mean, they didn't really DO anything. They didn't really pose any threat, and they didn't have any annoying rules that Bella had to get around until the end of the fourth one. Which brings me to my next point.
4. The end of the fourth book. Ew. It could have redeemed a good chunk of the series with its epic battle and the desperation to make sure everyone good came out alive, and probably could have had some tragic, tear-inducing deaths. But it didn't. It was just Edward and Ari having a thought-discussion. Bella wasn't even in on it. AND THEY HAD AMASSED A FREAKING ARMY. WHY DIDN'T THEY DO ANYTHING WITH IT?
5. There could have been some tension with possibly introducing any of Bella's human friends into the supernatural world. One of Bella's human friends could have had an idea and have tried to get in on it and stirred stuff up. Edward even specifically said that Carlisle could barely pass for the age he was claiming to be - why wasn't someone outside of Jacob's community suspicious of it?
6. Most of the characters, with the possible exception of Jacob, are completely flat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione can surprise you. They have depth. Jacob was the only one who actually was pained by any decision he or anyone else ever made.
In short:
HARRY POTTER: Plot, characters, surprises, action, crying.
TWILIGHT: some action, bending of rules of grammar and supernatural beings.
to refute that, I'm making a list of my own.
WHY HARRY POTTER IS AWESOME:
1. It has a plot. A good plot. It follows the Hero's Journey, in fact. I think. The point is, they have a quest, and they are on it. And they go forth and conquer.
2. It has reasonable character development. The main trio had the chance to surprise you, as did most of the supporting cast. Like Neville.
3. No character is totally perfect. If someone is beautiful, they have a messed up home life (like Draco). If they're really nice or smart, they're probably not attractive (like Hermione).
4. There are themes - friendship, bravery, doing what's right even when you're heartbroken. That's something I didn't really learn from Twilight.
5. It actually has humor. And good villains. (and by 'good villains,' I mean 'villains that are developed, have motives, and who I want to punch in the face at times.' Unlike the Volturi, who were a threat in theory and not in reality.)
6. I nearly cried when Dobby died. Though I did feel kind of depressed when Bella threw herself off a cliff, I think it might have partially been because she didn't die.
7. Dumbledore. Not much more needs to be said. He's brilliant. And who says elderly gay dudes are creeps? I know no creepy gay dudes. I know no creepy gay people, period.
WHY TWILIGHT ISN'T BRILLIANT:
1. Bella doesn't act; she reacts. The one time she acted she did it for love (to stop Edward from going out in the sun and bugging the Volturi), which is noble and all, but it was sort of like... why? Jacob made her happy. Why couldn't Edward have come back and had there been tension while she had feelings for both of them.
2. Edward. Ew. Sure, he's hot, but he's... I dunno. Sketchy? Creepy? Obsessive? He watches her in her sleep, for crying out loud. Sure, I mean I guess that's romantic, but I wouldn't want a boyfriend doing that. I might not be able to sleep if that happened.
3. The Volturi were cool, but they didn't pose much of a threat. I mean, they didn't really DO anything. They didn't really pose any threat, and they didn't have any annoying rules that Bella had to get around until the end of the fourth one. Which brings me to my next point.
4. The end of the fourth book. Ew. It could have redeemed a good chunk of the series with its epic battle and the desperation to make sure everyone good came out alive, and probably could have had some tragic, tear-inducing deaths. But it didn't. It was just Edward and Ari having a thought-discussion. Bella wasn't even in on it. AND THEY HAD AMASSED A FREAKING ARMY. WHY DIDN'T THEY DO ANYTHING WITH IT?
5. There could have been some tension with possibly introducing any of Bella's human friends into the supernatural world. One of Bella's human friends could have had an idea and have tried to get in on it and stirred stuff up. Edward even specifically said that Carlisle could barely pass for the age he was claiming to be - why wasn't someone outside of Jacob's community suspicious of it?
6. Most of the characters, with the possible exception of Jacob, are completely flat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione can surprise you. They have depth. Jacob was the only one who actually was pained by any decision he or anyone else ever made.
In short:
HARRY POTTER: Plot, characters, surprises, action, crying.
TWILIGHT: some action, bending of rules of grammar and supernatural beings.
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