One week down and what a week it was.

Okay so technically I still have one more class to go before I can officially call it a week, but I've got another 2 hours of a total of 6 hours in between the two classes I have today. So I'm going to write this. It's been a blast. I don't think I'll have any hard classes this semester, which is awesome. I don't have any math, science, lecture, or discussions classes this semester. Two of my classes (which both just happen to be theatre classes) are hands on, so it give me a break from German and Rhetoric.
I auditioned for the fall shows last night. They group all of the auditions into one setting so all the directors are there and can pick and fight over who they want in their casts. Now, as most of you know, when ever I've auditioned in the past, it's with 1-3 people watching me, and they are about 100 feet away. Well since our lovely theatre building is still under flood repair, they've moved it to a classroom. I walk into the class room, not only am I 8 feet from the nearest director, but there are about 30 of them watching me. I get to choose my monologues for the first time, and you have to fill 3 minutes preferably with two contrasting monologues. I guess nerves helped, because when I was practicing, I was at three minutes or over. But with the adrenalin, I managed to spit out both in three minutes while still maintaining a good pace. I had them laughing with the comedic monologue, so I left the room on a great adrenaline confidence high. Now I just have to wait a week for the cast lists to go up.
It weird having all this ample time in between classes, instead of just 5 minutes. Normally I go back to my dorm and do homework so I can have evenings free. I also managed to land a job today. I work the the Hillcrest market place (cafeteria) and it's during the morning and/or afternoons so it won't ever conflict with theatre rehearsal, which is awesome. My schedule this semester is super bad ass. I think I can do this whole college thing after all.
Oh I guess my teachers are all right. My German teacher is really young and from England, so she has a crazy strange accent. She speaks only in German unless we don't know the word, so that really helps. She like a mix between Hansen and a small psychotic dog. My Acting teacher is a lesbian first off. That's like the 4th thing she told us in that class. She's very strict, but in a good way. She knows what she's talking about and is willing to help you, but only if you're wiling to work. But the class is only for theatre majors so that will really help. My theatre design class is taught by a temp unfortunately. I have a feeling this class will be a fluff class. But she seems nice, and has let us out super early so far this week. My rhetoric teacher is a grad student and has no clue as to why he's in the class. He's really quiet, and the class will probably walk all over him. Also it's taught in the basement of a majorly flood damaged but repaired building so it reeks of stagnant flood residue.
For those of you who care, Fall Nite is Sept. 18. I'm going back, but it'll be a one day round trip, so I won't have time to do much after the show. Hope to see you there.
~Until Then

Whatever the fuck comes out of your face.

I had my first theatre experience today at Iowa. It wasn't through the university, but actually a part of a joint community theatre effort. It was All in a Day Theatre Festival. A team of 6 writers, 6 directors, and 12 actors were randomly selected and placed together, then given a genre and location for their scene. The writer had until 6 am this morning to write the script from the time they left the meeting the previous night. The actors then had less than 12 hours to rehearse, perfect, and perform the 10 minute scene. A lot harder than it sounds, but a total adventure to take part in.

I was teamed with Lauren (writer), Brian (director), and Kevin the other actor. Our scene was an abandoned mine shaft and our genre was horror. Perfect. I was very excited to start. Kevin was not at the first meeting, so I didn't get a chance to meet him until today. He was eye opening, but not in the way you would think. Kevin is probably in his 40's-50's. When I was around him, I was constantly uncomfortable, and experiencing the highest levels of anxiety I've ever felt. It's not that he was mean, rude, or disgusting. I just don't exactly know what it. He's a great actor, perfect for the role in the scene, but he's very quiet. If it hadn't been for my director (who didn't do much directing) I doubt we would have spoken a word. All day my heart was racing, and I felt like I was going to get sick several times during the day. A few times, I had to sit outside and collect myself. I felt terrible because I probably made Kevin feel awful. Never have I experienced what I felt today. Kevin would talk fine with our director. The only times I felt truly comfortable was when our writer was there. Unfortunately, she wasn't there until the afternoon.

The scene- a girl wakes up in a dark place and moves around stumbling about until the lights turn on. There is only room for to enter and exit, and no matter what door she takes, she will always end up in the same room. It isn't until a few minutes she runs into a man who has been down here for as long as he can remember. The girl asks him questions about why he's here, who put him here, what's he doing now, how did he get here. She doesn't find out much except that he's devoid of a normal human personality. His skin is very leathery, and he works for the devil basically. She starts to freak out because she cannot find a way out of this place. Soon, the guy starts to let out that he knows more than he's letting on. He knows what the girl did, why she's here and what's going to happen to her. The girl starts to flip and tries to run, only to be grabbed by the man and slammed to ground. During the entirety of the scene, the guy is messing with something in his pocket. He pulls it out and it's a knife. They girl asks him what he's going to do with it. He responds he's going to the same thing to me that I did. She tries to run again, only to be pushed back down and cut under her arm. She leaves the room and ends up on the other side. She's in pure panic. The guy grabs her by the throat and slowly leads her across the room saying how's she's arrogant. What was she expecting to see? A party for her? A celebration of her accomplishments? No. The guy stabs her in the leg and she slowly begins to die from massive bleeding. He tells her that she is dying for a second time, and there will be a third, fourth, thousandth time etc. and he will always be waiting there for her. Then she wakes up moments later and stumbles around looking for a light switch, and the whole process starts again. Sweet huh?

Kevin was perfect for this role. He was very intimidating, and there were points in the day were I was actually truly terrified of him. It wasn't acting then, it was trying to save my life. He would pull out this 6 inch knife and threaten my character with it. In the beginning of the day, we used a pen for prop blocking purposes, and later in the day we switched to a dull knife with some duct tape on the sharp edge. No on told me that we had switched the pen for a knife. So Kevin whoops out this huge knife only inches from my face and I was scared shitless. Also he stabbed my leg with it when we were blocking the struggle scenes. He didn't break skin, or even my jeans, but it left a good size bruise. He started tearing up. Apparently, some point earlier is his life, he stabbed himself in the leg with a knife and felt awful for even touching me with. I felt terrible, but I was scared.

The show went great. Packed house and great audience response. All the other scenes were funny and cute, then you get to ours. Starts out awkward, then gets pretty fucking serious. I don't think they knew how to respond to it. But it went well. Overall, good day. Great experience. I'm still working on bringing my anxiety level down. I don't know why I felt so stressed around him, but I did. It was very weird.

College is going well. Just hanging out with people, finding my classes, and getting to know my roommate.

~Until Then

Life as a college student day 1

Got to Iowa City around 9 or so. I managed to lead the way into the campus by car and actually didn't get lost. We unloaded my stuff into my room. It was such a mess. Then we dropped off my car at the storage lot. It looked so lonely just sitting there as we drove off. It feel weird to be staying here as a student now. Normally I would just leave at the end of the day to go back to WDM, but as my mom, sister and Nick drove away, it brought me to tears. Walked around Iowa City for a bit with the family then after they left I went to go unpack my things. Wow, that took forever. I don't think I brought too much stuff, but it'll be a challenge to keep things organized for a while. My desktop in jammed full with my computer and printer, and all the other crap that I need. On thing I've noticed about dorms, is they don't put outlets where there need to be some. They put the tv cable outlet 10 feet away from any power outlet. I also keep hitting my head on the bunk bed when I stand up from my desk.

College life. It's great. There are people everywhere, and there will be even more people this weekend. I went out to dinner 3 times last night with different people and groups. I like the people I live with on my floor. They rock. By keeping my door open, I met about 8 or so new people. One of the groups I went out to eat with was a group of girls getting ready for rush. It was akward being the only girl not doing it, but they were a pleast bucnh of people to sit with. As I was walking last night, I felt strange. I was here as a student. I was going back to my dorm. I'm competely on my own now. I can do whatever I want, and the closest family member is 2 hours away. Woke up a bit disoriented today, wasn't sure where I was. My alarm went off at 12:01 am, and it took me a few minutes to realize what had happened. Oh, and on a girly note. I think I'd be great at yoga if I can shave my legs in the dorm showers.

~Until Then

The Count Down is Over.

I've not been able to sleep all night and I've got a 2.5 hour drive ahead of me. There are no more days on my college count down board. I leave in an hour.

My dad came home this weekend. Strangely, it feels like he's been home all summer in a way. I know that sounds awful. He's flying back to Georgia today. He or I won't be home for 2 months. We've started shutting down the house, because no one (including my obese cat) will be occupying it. It's a little weird and heart tugging at the same time.

I didn't really have any heart felt goodbyes to friends at the end of this summer, maybe because I did all that in March and May. Good luck to all of you who are going away this fall.

I spent yesterday with Nick. We didn't do anything fancy or go out to eat. We played 3 games of Parcheesi, went bowling, and drove the entire length of Ashworth. Waste of gas, yea, but worth it. We got some Chinese food and just sorta laid there. We didn't talk about the what if's and the down the road's, we just talked about nothing really. It's going to be hard for me to be away from him, and I don't know what other variables will be thrown into the relationship equation. I don't want to think about those. Two and a half years, and now I'm leaving.

My family and I haven't done anything really special. My dad doesn't want me to leave. He looked really depressed this morning. My mom and I just were still my mom and I, hanging out and talking. My sister and I are still picking at each other. I hope one day we will grow close.

I just now tried to type things to the main readers of this blog that I want to say, but I can't form the words correctly on the page. Maybe things are just best unsaid. Good luck to all, follow your passions they become your dream. Follow your dreams, they become your actions. Don't forget what we as a group stand for and what we've accomplished in the short years we've been together. As my friends, I've come to depend on you and you've helped when I've needed or asked for it. I hope in ways, I've done the same. All of us are creative in the same ways, and then ways that are unique to our persona. You've been the foundation for my life and the things that I do to enhance it. Keep in touch.

I've got butterflies in my stomach. I've been excited all summer, but now that I'm actually leaving, I feel nervous and uncertain. My car is packed with all my boxes and junk. It's weird to see my life for the next 9 months boxed up in the jeep. Can I do this? Maybe the butterflies are actually hunger. Nope, they're butterflies.

~Until Then

Consolation Prize

So most of you are settling down with a brand new (probably a Macbook/pro) laptop as well all get ready to head off on our college adventure. Well sadly, I am not in that boat due to mother nature's wrath on my mother's business. But, I did receive a consolation prize. My mother felt sorry that I couldn't get my laptop, so she got me a smart pen. And my ipod touch will soon be in hand. It's really neat. The pen (using special inexpensive notebooks), takes over 72 pictures per second and records the audio that is spoken at the time the notes are taken. I can jump anywhere in my notes by tapping them, and the pen will go to the audio recording that matched the notes. Then I can upload them to my computer, and put them on the website. Or I can post the notes to facebook, or even e-mail the audio file to friends. Here is a sample that I tried out while my mother was performing surgery (you won't be able to hear the audio, but you can see my actual handwritten notes). That's my geek post! Yay! And everything was only about $200.

~Until Then