Hey, Stranger

I haven't blogged in almost a month, which is kind of pathetic. A lot has happened since I last blogged.

I started my second semester at LSU, and I can tell it's going to be difficult. I'm taking 17 hours, which is the same amount as I took last semester. This semester, 16 of those hours are academic classes, compared to the 14 hours of academic classes I took last semester. I decided to drop my music minor because it was such a heavy minor and it was turning music, which I love, into work. This semester, my one non-academic course is a musical theatre class, which I'm loving so far. It's keeping me sane.

Crimes of the Heart opened.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/arts/113616089.html
I have never gotten such an enthusiastic response from an audience before. And it's consistent. Every meet and greet, an overwhelming number of audience members who just can't tell me enough how much they loved the show. I've even had several patrons tell me it's one of the best shows they have seen at the theater! I've also had several people who I have worked with before and admire and respect tell me that they enjoyed the show and are proud of me. Those comments are the ones that mean the most to me.

Well, now that I've written all of that out, it doesn't seem like that much. But it is! I promise. I've been so busy. I'm having a blast, but I'm ready for a break.

And surprise! I got one. Temperatures in Baton Rouge have been hovering around freezing for the past couple of days and we're expecting rain tonight (well, we were actually expecting freezing rain all day, but I've yet to see any of it), so Baton Rouge has pretty much shut down, including LSU. No classes tomorrow! Unfortunately, tonight performance of Crimes of the Heart was also cancelled, which is a bummer. But I decided to turn lemons into lemonade (which, if you're familiar with Crimes of the Heart, you now is a very Babe thing to do). I decided to come home tonight just so I could be a little more relaxed and get the most of my time off. Right now, I'm watching the original The Phantom of the Opera from 1925 starring Lon Chaney as The Phantom. It's on Netflix instant streaming. It's a silent movie, so you really have to pay attention. I'm really enjoying it. It clarifies some gray areas in the Andrew Lloyd Weber version. For instance, I never quite understood the whole "Hand at the level of your eyes" thing, but I do now. I think it's a lot darker than the musical and at some points, I find it downright scary (but I'm a wuss, so that might just be me). If you're a Phanton fan, it's definitely worth a watch. The movie is based on the book by Gaston Leroux, which I've been wanting to read since middle school, but here I am in college and I have yet to get to it.

I think that's it....but I'll leave you with a couple of relevant pictures.


This picture appeared alongside an article about Crimes of the Heart in my local newspaper.


Lon Chaney: The Original Phantom. He does not look like Gerard Butler.


And last, but not least, my perfect kitty, Misty, who is been peacefully lying in her bed next to me all evening.

I hope this post made sense. It's getting late and I'm exhausted. It might all just be complete gibberish.

A New Year

The holidays are over. Brother has gone back to New York. I've had a few quiet days to think. And by "think," I mean watch movie and tv shows on Netflix Instant Watch and play Mario Kart Wii. But as I was climbing into bed at 3:00 this morning, I started to think about what I promised myself I would do last year and what I want to accomplish this year. Here's what I came up with:

Resolution for 2010: Start/Maintain a Blog

I kind of/sort of accomplished this. I thought it was the best way to keep record of what was bound to be a big year. I started a blog on New Year's Day, but I made the mistake of expecting myself to update it regularly. And I found that the only times I wanted to write, I couldn't write on the blog because the things I was dealing with were too personal. Around September, I deleted all of the old posts on the blog, started over, and vowed not to take it too seriously. I think I've kept with it pretty well since. So let's go ahead and call this one accomplished.

Resolutions for 2011: Keep a Journal

For Christmas, I got what I call my Twitter journal. It's a five year journal with a page for every day of the year. On each page are 5 spaces for you to write a little blurb about the day. I love it because it's easy to keep up with, but there's not enough space to write any deep thoughts or anything. I've tried journaling in the past, but I find it difficult to keep with it (Literally! journals are so easy to lose! I'm hesitant to write my private thoughts down in a book that someone could easily swipe and read). So, I Google searched for online journals and found . For free, I can get a basic online journal that isn't visible to the public. I can even password protect it every time I leave it and set it to send me e-mails to remind me to write. It looks promising. I hope I can keep up with it. 2011 is going to be a tough year and I'm going to need an outlet like a journal to keep me sane.

Get Better at Mario Kart on Wii: This one's just for fun, but there are some people that I would like to be able to beat on Mario Kart races :)

Don't Stress Eat: Bad habit. It makes me fat. That's bad.

And my cat is looking at me with eyes that say "Don't forget me!" So let's add "Pay More Attention to my Cat, Misty"

No No No

Yet another video that I absolutely adore because it is cute and makes me smile:



I want a baby.

And Happy 2011. I hope you made a wish on 1.1.11 and I hope you had some cabbage and black eyed peas. I did and now my stomach is filled with good fortune. Yum.

And one more thing. Netflix instant streaming is the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful thing ever created. I have spent the last few days reliving my childhood and watching lots of Rugrats.

A Year in Review

2010 has been a big year.

I graduated from high school and started college.

I completely changed my career plans.

I started the process of leaving home and becoming independent.

I was recognized as an actor among my peers.

I found myself on the edge of an eating disorder and discovered why therapy is important.

I learned what it means to love and I learned to cope with the idea that some things are not meant to be.

I learned what it means to trust a person with all of your being.

I've been hurt.

I've grown a lot as a person this year. But I still have a ways to go. I've gone from being 100% sure of my future to having no clue at all where my life is going, then back to being sure of what I want, but open to suggestions. My whole world was turned upside down and I found myself depending on others to keep me going, whether they knew it or not.

2010 was a really difficult year. But it made me step back, look at myself and my life, think about what I really want, and then learn how to deal with that fact that I am not going to get everything I want. And I never will.

Here's to 2011. May it cause just as much growth, bring just as many tears, bring closure to all of the cliffhangers in my life, and teach me what it means to be happy without caution or boundaries.

I'll drink to that.

Scroogin'

I am trying so hard to get into the Christmas Spirit and failing miserably. I don't know why.

Maybe it's because this year I have time to relax after finals, so I don't really need the anticipation of Christmas to keep me alive or sane? I don't know.

It just doesn't feel right this year. I just can't make myself care. It's really depressing, which makes it more difficult to get into the spirit which makes me depressed which makes it difficult to be spirited and it's a vicious circle.

Well, on the plus side, I've signed a lease and I know where I'll be living next August. But I'm not going to tell you where because you're not supposed to post that stuff on the internet. ;)

I Think..

I jude made a huge mistake.

I'm panicking.

Bieber Fever

We've all seen the video of a 3-year old crying about Justin Bieber (and if you haven't, go find it on youtube. It will melt your heart). Well, her 3 year old dream came true on thanks to Jimmy Kimmel.







On a completely unrelated note, my first semester at LSU is over. 5 A's and 1 B (that really should be an A). Finals week left me for dead, but I survived and it is all over. And those auditions that I was so nervous about? I got the part :). Now I have a 5 week break ahead of me and soon I'll be bored out of my mind and counting down the days until next semester starts. But for now, I'm happy with sleep, family, sleep, Christmas shopping, and sleep.