Announcing the Engagement of Bruce Pichler and Robyn Hans

October 17, 2009 will be the date of Bruce and Robyn's wedding in northern Georgia. The two of them have been together since October of 2007 and are happily in love with one another. Between them they have 7 children, but none of them will be living at home come next fall.

I can't believe that my dad is getting married! It's weird for me. Your parents are supposed to get married before you're born (in most cases.) I'm going to have a step mom whom I absolutely adore with two incredible step sisters to hang out with when I'm in Georgia. He told me last night, and was really nervous about my reaction. I flipped out! I told him I was wondering if it was going to happen and that I was really excited for him. He proposed to her up in Canada last month, after a few glasses of wine and a beautiful sunset. He just has to tell Alicia, but he's not sure how she's going to take, she'll probably be told when the two of us come back down here for Christmas.

Robyn is the best thing that has ever happened to him. He loves her with all of his heart, and I've never seen him happier. She's kicked his butt into shape and they enjoy going hiking, scuba diving, kayaking, rafting, and biking together all throughout the southern United States. I couldn't be happier for the two of them, I can't wait!

~Until Then

It takes me back

So this past Saturday I went and watched a dress rehearsal of my sister's mime show at Indian Hills. As I was sitting there for about 20 min before it all started, I was thinking (something that I try to do on occasion) and realized that this is where it all started for me 5 years ago. Sure I did some theatre stuff in 7th grade, but it wasn't until 8th grade when it really took off. I met Joanna, Thomas, Jordan, Mary, and Brittany during mimes. These people I still consider to be some of my close friends. I felt awesome hanging out with all of you and just creating a show. You guys were the basis to my theatre foundation for the rest of my secondary education. I felt like I fit in with you all, and that's something that I never really found any where else before. I was excited to see my sister up on the same stage where I was only a few years prior wearing mime white, a leotard and pants, with the same boxes from way back when. I was exited, this is where the rest of her life starts. That moment for me, defined everything. I really hope she gets everything that she can out of what she does.

The skits were cute, not thought provoking at all. There were some skits that were similar to the show that I did for Silent Majority. Chaotic Classroom, Tug oh' War, and a few others that I can't really recall off the top of my head. It was weird being back at Indian Hills at 9 am on a Saturday morning. I miss those days, what a blast. I was so proud of her when she was done, I really hope that she sticks with theatre and finds her own place.

~Until Then

Back in WDM, but it no longer feels like home.

I'm going to post on my SISTER's mime show later. I'm so proud of her.

~Until Then

I am not an Actress.

I enjoy acting, but I am not an actress. I enjoy costume and makeup, but I am not an actress. I enjoy speaking with other characters on stage, but I am not an actress. I enjoy becoming part of a bigger picture, but I am not an actress. I enjoy taking a bow, but I am not an actress. I am not an actress, I am a mime. I am not an actress, I am an improver.

I do not care to think about the subtext, I am an improver. I don't enjoy searching for hidden motivation, I am a mime. I don't like having a secret objective, I am an improver. I don't enjoy being organic on stage, I am a mime. I am not an actress. I am out of the ordinary, I am physically expressive, not mentally expressive. I do not search for a deeper meaning, or think of the "what if's", I just do. I don't think about it. I act and speak without thinking. Thinking gives time for reaction for the audience. I don't want that. I am an improver and a mime. I am a physical presence, I am here to be seen and heard. I am not an actress. I never wanted or want to be an actress. I am a performer. I live in the now, not the past, not thinking about the future. Now. I am not an actress.

I perform. I am an improver. I am a mime. I am not an actress.

~Until Then

It's 6 months till I turn 19!

This past week has been a whirlwind of fun and excitement. I don't even know how to untangle everything that's happened to me this week. I guess that I don't really want to. My mind is preoccupied with positive things, that I can't really focus on much else. Every minute, I find myself distracted from what I should really be doing. I need to be busy, this is really bad.

For the first time in a long time, I'm genuinely happy. No, I wasn't depressed or anything like that; I just didn't realize how happy I could be until this past week happened. I'm positive that this is where I'm supposed to be, and this what I should be doing. I can't really write anything, I don't know how to explain it anymore.

See you all Saturday, I'm so excited to meet up with everyone. :)

~Until Then

I should really invest in a helmet

So I had yet another wonderful head injury while at practice for something in the theatre department. Something about my head and theatre just don't mix. I've hit my head during all three of my solo mime skits at some level of competition because I get really physical, I've run into stuff doing tech stuff while up on the cat walks and failing to notice where they put the new water pipes in, then there's the famous golf club incident, and there are probably a few others that I'm forgetting at the moment. Well, I can now ad an improv head injury to the list.

Sunday night I was at PBR practice and we were playing 185, but they call it 186 for some weird reason (Sorry Joe and Darin, I've always done it as 185) and I was jumping out to say something. The place in which we practice has tile floor, and before PBR got to practice, there was another group down there and somehow they had gotten parts of the floor wet. Well, so I jumped out onto the balls of my feet and the next thing I knew I was on my back and had smashed my head into the ground. I think this was worst head smash by far. It all happened in a split second, and when I sat up I saw blue stars. I also recently dyed my hair blue, I wonder if there was a correlation between my hair color and the color of the stars. Luckily, it was nearing the end of practice, so I just sat down at watched the last few minutes of 185 and worlds worst after everyone was doing asking if I was okay.

After practice, I noticed that my vision was going in and out of focus, so my friends walked me to the hospital and had my checked out by a doctor just in case. After about an hour of sitting, my vision became clear again and I was examined by the doctor. He told me that I was just going to have a very large goose egg, and some nasty headaches to deal with the next day, and to come back only if things got worse.

So two of the members from PBR take me home and stay with me until I fall asleep. The next day is filled with splitting agonizing headaches, but overall I'm fine. I stayed home Monday and Tuesday except for my last class today. My friend Darin stayed with me most of Monday to make sure I didn't injure myself further. Which needless to say, I managed to bang my head at least 2 or 3 more times. I'm still sore, and my neck is tense, but I think I'll pull through. I really think that I should get a helmet, or switch to a business major....NO! See you all in 2 weeks!

~Until Then

I officially feel like a college kid

That's right. I do feel like I belong here now. Last night, and I guess early this morning, I finally did the last thing on my list t (not that I actually had a list) that now allows me to feel at home here. Last night I went to The Mill (it's the bar/restaurant where all the theatre kids go to hang out and also has a really cruddy dance floor in front of a raised stage) to listen to a band that two members of PBR are in. Kevin, is the leader of the band doing vocal and guitar, and Mike plays the wash board. That's right, the fucking washboard with a couple of spoons. The Mill hosts this music fest every Tuesday night and three bands play and it takes about 3 hours, somehow, I don't know how though but it did. The bathrooms in The Mill are a step above a porta potty. One of them didn't even exist, it was just a hole in the ground. Also the only working faucet out of three sinks was the cold faucet. About half of PBR was there to support Kevin and his band Broken Spokes which consists of 2 other guitarists (one does back up vocals), Kevin, Mike, a girl who plays the fiddle, and a guy who plays this. It rocked. My friends Paul, Darin, David, and myself got up to dance in the "mosh pit." They played a few covers including "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly and some others that I didn't recognize. They also had some of their own songs, with a notable favorite "Drinkin' Whiskey and Pissin' Beer." I walked home hoarse and on such an energy high.

So I've...
Slowly become a night owl, and hating myself for having an 8:30 class five days a week
Stayed up talking with another person for three hours about absolutely nothing
Found a drama family
Gone on a road trip with nothing but my toothbrush
Had cold pizza for breakfast for more than 3 days
Questioned the milk, then drank it anyways
Walked to my dorm barefoot
Taken a nap on Pentacrest
Skipped class to sleep in
Hung out and people watched
Gone to a bar concert
Hit up 4 or more coffee houses in one day
Taken multiple naps per day
Crammed onto the bus system with about 100 other people
Gotten lost on the West side of campus
Cursed under my breath while walking into the wind because it's so f'ing cold


~Until Then

I feel all grungy, I love it!

This weekend my improv troupe went to the great world of Chicago for a night. We managed to see some free long form at the I.O last night. That's right, we've got the insider connections. It was a lot of fun to really see the base of long form improv and watch people who do what a lot of us want to do, perform improv for a living. There are 13 of us in the troupe, and we also met up with 3 former PBR members. I had forgotten how beautiful Chicago was, and I only wish that I was able to spend more time. We didn't get into Chicago until maybe 4 on Saturday and then left around 12ish. So a short trip, but full of bonding. To save expenses we stayed at one of the former member's apartment... a one bedroom one bathroom apartment. The current 13 members all stayed on the floor in the living room, lets just say we bonded in more ways that one can think. We got up the next morning, ate left over chicago style pizza, cupcakes, and beer for some of us. No one showered, a few of us (inclucding myself) didn't even change clothes while we were there. We left cramed into 3 cars and drove back.

It's hard to believe that I found a home here at Iowa City. I'm going to be working with these awesome people for the next 4 years. Just hanging out with them and playing I've never, truth and dare, and just talking was a blast. As much as I love these guys, I love showering and my own bed with no one else in a 5 foot diameter of me a little more.

~Until Then

Look out

Indianola: 2 near death experiences in 3 hours

#1 I went down to Indianola to see my grandparents. My mother asked if I would drive since her car was full of equipment. On my way down, I was driving on 65/69 and I was about 40 or so feet behind a truck hauling farm materials. We go to drive up a hill when the something flies out of the back of the truck. It's a giant metal bin and lands in front of my about 20 feet away. There's a car behind me and a motorcycle to the left of me. I have no choice to swerve. Luckily I managed to keep control of my jeep and not hit anyone, but not even on ice have I ever swerved that badly before.

#2 We were pulling out of gas station in Indianola, and I stopped my car at the drive entrance and got out of my car because I saw that I had left my gas cap off. I get back in my car and proceed to pull out. Out of nowhere comes this girl on a bike and I hit her with the front bumper of my car. Not hard enough to knock her over, but strong enough to maker her stop and restart her bike ride. I freaked out and got out of my car and yelled if she was okay, but she kept on biking away. It was a good thing I was only just starting to move, it could have been so much worse. But what can I do if she didn't stop?

I don't want to go back to Iowa City.

~Until Then

Video Post??

Wow, I look away alot. Hmmm. Sweet. Maybe next time I'll do something creative.

~Until Then

An experiment

I decided that I would try to become a vegetarian for at least 30 days. I've always heard that the first month of vegetarianism is the most difficult. With all of the options that they serve at our dining halls, I figured that it would be fairly easy. It was. As the month progressed, I slowly became more and more sick of the food. My original thought that I would be able to maintain it because there were options, but those options really turned our to be pasta with marina sauce and grilled cheese. I began to miss real food, but I was determined to make it. I did, but I don't think I could be a vegetarian here because I can't make my own food because I'm bound to meal plans. I can't go out everyday and have a wide variety of food choices. I'm proud of myself for doing it, and I think that I'm going to only eat very limited meat choices here. Because some of the things that they have out are really gross looking and I've observed that 90 percent of our food here is frozen before they cook it. It was a fun experiment.

My performances were this weekend, and it went well. I played a production manager for a film. It was the first time I really felt connected to my character, and because of that, I was able to really devote myself to my character. My family came up, it was nice to see them all. The weekend went by in a flurry, but I enjoyed it. Now I have all this down time. That's why I love theatre. You work and work to no end for a week, and then as soon as the production is done, you have all this awesome free time and don't know what to do with it. I audition next week for the castings of the spring shows. I won't have any other performances this semester unless I get cast in a community theatre show, so I can devote myself to my improv troupe.

On a more personal note, I am single for the first time in 2 1/2 years. Nick came up this weekend and we had a mutual agreement that it wasn't working out. My priorities have been reshuffled and he's not on top of the stack. He realized that maybe we were going to same destination, but how we each got there was very different. We're still friends, legitimately. I care about him, but I care more about him being happy.

I bought myself an iPod touch today. I'm very excited to have it. It's sort of a pick me up, congrats on doing a show, and doing well in college present type thing. It's all shiny. I'm coming back this weekend, so if you're in town, give me a buzz.

~Until then

I Eat Breakfast Twice a Day 5 Days Out of the Week.

I auditioned for a group called the Paperback Rhinos. They're the other improv group on campus besides 5th City Improv of which I am a member. I decided that I wanted to try to audition for the group to see if I would be accepted again for my talent after not really having auditioned for 3 years to get into an improv group. Let's face it. After freshman year, auditions were just a formality for the spring improv show. I auditioned with about 12 other people, and was unable to make the second night of auditions due to the fall nite o'mime. I was called back on Sunday to do more scene work and some long form stuff. There were 10 of us at call backs, from the 20 or so who auditioned I'm guessing. After call backs, they told us that we would know if we made it sometime between Sunday night and Monday night.

Cut to 1:30 in the morning. I've been asleep for a few hours now, and my roommate has just fallen asleep as well. All of the sudden loud banging occurs at our door. Both Emily and I bolt upright and stare at eachother, then the door, and the back to eachother. She asks if it's drunk people. We wait some more. The pounding gets louder. We wait again. Who's ever knocking is almost breaking down the door. I get out of my bed, trying not to hurt myself in the process. I creep over to the door and unlock it so I can peek out. I see 8 faces peeking back at me. "Fuck!" I yell. I shut the door and unlock it all the way and open it back up and stare at them. I'm half asleep and don't have my glasses. I'm a bit disorentated. "What the hell?" I ask.

"Hi Pichler." Joe Meyer says.

"Uhm, can I help you." I ask again.

"No, not really. But you can take this." Joe says. He hands me a piece of paper. I look at it. There is a picture of a baby in a rhino outfit.

"Really?" I say sort of excited.

"Really!" Joe says way too enthusiastically.

"You guys are psycho." My roommate yells from back inside my dorm.

"No, we're improvers" Joe yells back. "Okay, bye then." And then him and the rest of the improv troupe leave Currier. Katie (the girl across the hall pokes her head out of her room.) and gives me a look of 'WTF is going on at 1 in the fucking morning?' I jump up and down and say yay! Then I go back to bed.

*****
So I have a job on campus at the Hillcrest Market place doing various things depending on the day. Tuesdays I work in the salad room working and prepping fresh produce, Thursdays I'm in the bakery with Pat. She's like the grandma I never had and together we make cookies, cakes, pies, treat bars, etc except in mass amounts. Then Saturdays I work as cook's help in the morning then switch to whatever they need me to do in the afternoon. I really enjoy my job. Except lunch rush on game days. It's like the calm before a storm. It will be nice all morning, just a slow stream of people coming in to eat, then around 2 or so a flood of black and gold gushes into the Market Place. It's crazy! Constantly having to restock food and make sure that things stay clean. I can't tell you how many times I've been burned by reaching into the food warmer and having my arm touch the shelves. It's like playing operation in hell. It's all fun though.
*****
On a more serious note, in my acting class my teacher assigned us to do an action objective scene. It's hard to explain, but I'll do my best. Someone you care about is in a life or death situation. You have to save them, but there has to be a strong chance that you WILL fail. There is no acting or planned actions allowed. You have to come up with all the details to the back story of your scene, but cannot speak. It's all about being in the moment. Also, the scene has to take place in an environment that is familiar to you. All of us had to bring copious amounts of things from our dorm room and set up our space. Most of us set up a bed room space since that was the easiest.

My scene involved me trying to save Nick from putting a bullet through his head. He had been drinking at a party he through and had gotten drunk even though I made him promise me that he wouldn't. I call Nick and he flips shit. He thinks that I've found out that he's drunk and am going to break up with him or yell at him. He locks himself in his room with the gun that his brother bought him for safety since his apartment is in a rough neighborhood. His friends can't call the police because they're all underage and are drinking, and he is threatening to shoot himself they do. His friends call me and tell me to get back from Iowa City to Des Moines ASAP.

Now for the second half. My mother had bought me a small lock box to keep my personals in when they weren't in use. It has a 4 digit lock code, that I had never bothered to change from the factory setting (which was all randomized) because I forgot about it when I set it up. I wrote down the code on a small piece of paper and put it away safely amongst my personal items. Now I have to frantically search for it five weeks later. I don't remember where it is. It could be anywhere. I tear through my scene. In my space I have a box full of personal letters, a journal stuffed with pieces of paper and more letters, books upon books, and all of my school materials. I rip through everything. I'm getting more and more upset as time goes by. I have to get to Nick. I can't let him do this. But I can't find that paper with the code to the safe which has my car keys. I go through everything and fail to find it. I don't know what to do. In one last attempt I grab the lock box (which is attached my my chair by a cable which can only be undone by opening the box) and try to pry it open by messing with the combo. It's a less than great quailty box, and somehome I managed to pry it open. In shock I grab my keys and leave. That's how the scene went. It's hard to fully explain. But there were moments in my scene where I felt like I was going to be sick. I was crying and my hands were shaking. It was hard to concentrate on what I was doing. This excericse was incredible.

~Until Then

I may be a pirate

But for those of us who have so many questions about surviving on campus. Enjoy.

~Until Then

Pepper spray and Soviet Jackoven-urface.

I auditioned last week for all the fall shows and managed to land three callbacks- Hidden in this picture, Iron Hymen (the musical), and Sex with a Censor/Katie and Frank. Call backs we're nothing like those in Valley. I was only actually reading for 10 minutes or less and then I could leave. The director(s) didn't talk much to the call back-ers, and didn't say much after. I managed to to get cast as Ruby a production manager in Hidden in this picture. It's a one act, maybe shorter, directed by a graduate student. It's a 4 person cast about filming the last 11 minutes of a movie (similar sounding to Tropic Thunder) and there are cows standing in the field. I haven't read the script yet, but it sounds really great. I was really pleased that I got cast as a freshman.

I went to the Iron Hymen call back and that was about the most unusual experience in theatre I've ever had. There were five of us, and each person was given a character from the script to read, monologue style. The director picked out 5 or so lines from the script and the reader had to animate them. There was no actual dialogue in the call back. Also we had to sing happy birthday (however we wanted to interpret that) to a stick figure named Fred on a whiteboard. Fred wasn't having the best of birthdays, and we needed to cheer him up. Lets just say that there were some interesting renditions of Happy Birthday. Oh, before I forget, the parts to be cast in Iron Hymen include Skinny, Tubbers, Whorebot Lindsey, Queerbag McGee, and my favorite...Soviet Jackoven-urface. That's call backs at Iowa!

On a completely different note, last night at Dirty Burge (our dining hall on the East side) some douche bag decided that it would be awesome to spray pepper spray in the middle of the dining area. I was out to eat with 5 of my friends, and in about the last 5 minutes of my meal experience, I noticed that a lot of people behind me were coughing. I didn't really think much of it. Then my nose and throat felt irritated and I tried to suppress it, but I couldn't. I started to cough along with the entire dining hall. It wasn't a 'clearing your throat' cough, it was a "fuck shit I'm chocking' cough. I left the hall, and as soon as I cleared the barrier between the hall and the eating area I was fine. But I stayed for a few minutes talking with a few girls about what happened, and during so more and more people emerged from the exit with red eyes and they were coughing like mad. God, I love the people here.

~Until Then

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

Eventful Night

So my intelligent boyfriend has a wonderful idea to fulfill before his buddies and I leave for college land. That wonderful idea would be to brew his own bear. Long story short cut to Nick, Erik Clark, Paul Coursen, and myself driving around all over central Iowa looking for bear supplies and ingredients. Nobody has anything, or has any idea on where to get stuff. We finally come across a brewery shop in Valley junction, too bad they're closed. So we come back tomorrow.

Well we then decided to drive out to Jordan creek to see if we could find some malt extract, and low and behold sitting at the Red Robin parking lot, what do we see? Nothing else than the GIRLS GONE WILD bus. We drive around it, and all the windows are covered up and no one is coming or going, but the bus is running. So we take a picture of it and leave.

Now to our final stop of the evening, Buffalo Wild wings. Now most of you have heard of the blazin' challenge. 12 wings 6 minutes. Sounds easy right? No. Super-fucking-melt-your-face-off sauce on top of the most disgusting wings you've ever had in your life. Well, the boys wanted to do it again. Paul had beaten it in the past and just wanted another t-shirt, Nick wanted to try again after coming just 4 wings short of the goal and Erik wimped out and had a cheeseburger instead. So I decided that I would give it a try. The wings finally come out. The boys are freaking, but I have no prior experience so I don't know what to expect. The official timer comes out and we dig in. It's awful. Not the heat of the sauce, I didn't mind that, but those wings. They were awful, but I had to eat them. I had to beat Nick and show up Paul and devastate Erik by having a girl beat him; and I did. I came in barely beating the clock at 5:53. Covered in sauce they snap my picture. I didn't get a shirt because they didn't have my size. I'll go back in a week or so. Forgive me while I go puke. I vow never to touch another hot wing ever again.

Oh and to top off the evening we rented a movie about 4 Amish people deciding not to be Amish anymore and discover the world of sex, drugs, and alcohol.

So overall my evening consisted of beer, girls gone wild, and buffalo wings. Awesome.
~Until Then