What I Have Learned From Shakespeare and Dr. Seuss...

Well, this week I have been walking over to the church EVERY day to help with the homeschooling group's play practice.

The play is The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet. Needless to say, my Seuss-disliking mother doesn't LOVE this play, but she doesn't hate it, either. Must be the Shakespeare that redeemed it for her.

Little kids are HILARIOUS. And its so funny what they will and won't refuse to do. For instance: the 12-yr-old  Juliet never once refused to kiss the 10-yr-old Romeo (all of it was fake kissing of course...I now know 3 ways to do a fake kiss!), but the one character who must scream as he dies dramatically utterly refused to until his mother made him. (To willingly scream like a girl is a compromise to one's manly pride, you see.)

Their costumes are amazing. And hysterically funny. Liz wins because of her epic wig, and Michael wins for most epic hat.

Nolan wins because for some reason all his parts are my favorite. Terese and Dylan tie for Hammiest Performer. Everyone else wins just because they're amazing.

At first, I just sat in the back and unhelpfully called out my opinion about what the kids onstage were doing (actually, I think the director DID think I was helpful...because she later made me Stage Manager. Go figure).

Than, I asked if the director, Theresa, wanted me to run the CD player for the two scenes that required music. She took me up on this offer, and I was put in a spacious cage where no one can see me but I can see the stage and play three tracks of music, adjusting the sound when people have speaking parts. Aw, such is the life of the lowly sound technician.

Than, we were practising the bows at the end of the play. I was to exit my cage, run around the back of the audience, climb onstage, and bow with the stage hands. I than learned that the dear sweet girl who made the programs put me down as 'stage manager' and wanted to know if I actually wanted to DO this job.

Heck, yeah!

Beats sitting in a cage, for sure.

I'm so excited! The kids are doing great...they just really need me, I guess, because we had about seven incidents of someone running off stage screaming, "I FORGOT MY PROP!!" They've got their lines and scenes 99.5% down, and my job is to help everyone on and off the stage, too.

Its so good to be needed.

This is the first time I've ever taken part in a play (I know, right?), and in moments of madness, I've considered trying out next year it looks like so much fun, even though I'd be the oldest by 2-10 years. Ah, well. The moment of madness may pass, and I'll just ask to be Stage Manager again.

As long as Juliet remembers to stay dead and no one wanders off in the middle of the play (which isn't entirely unlikely), it'll be great no matter what else happens : ).

So here's to Dr. Seuss, William Shakespeare, and Peter Bloedel, who wrote this play.

And to Theresa and the cast and my fellow Stage Hands...thanks so much for this great opportunity! I love you all, and I can't wait till tomorrow...the show is going to be great!

And how was YOUR Easter?

Mine was pretty good.

Hence the cake.

There was fruit (oh, BOY, was there FRUIT!).

There was chocolate (mwahahaha....).

There was egg hunting (I only found 4. My baby sister gave me one.).

There was cake (see above).

There were PIIIIICKLES (mmmmm.....).

There was a $15 Amazon gift card that didn't come in the mail yet (haha...oh well).

There was mirth (!!).

There was sorrow (that was just me...yippee).

Most of all, there was Risen Jesus.

How epic is THAT!?

Hope you had a fabulous Easter day : ).

Alleluia! He is risen!

HARRAY! Out of lack of time, I shall post more tomorrow, but I just wanted to wish everyone a very, VERY happy Easter : ).

Crazy Girl

Crazy Girl

by the Eli Young Band.

Currently smitten with this song.

Can't think of anything better than a love song on the day Our Lord suffered and died the most horrific death in all of time, all for us, all to save us, all out of love.

May these final two days of Lent TRULY prepare us for Easter, when He conquered death and sin once and for all.

Its crazy, but I am a Crazy Girl : ).

Amen.

That's the good part, I guess...

Well, we did it.

We rented Tangled from our local Redbox and my mom, sister, and brother (the only one's who hadn't seen it) finally got to enjoy the spectacle for themselves.

We watched it twice, just to get our money's worth.

I forgot how much I loved it.

OK...that's a lie. I remembered EXACTLY how much I loved it, watching it a second and third time just RENEWED my love for it.

It was really, truly epic seeing the movie in 3-D with two very close friends. But you know what?

It was even better watching it with my family, especially my mom and older sister. I care very much what both of them think of everything I do, say, and like.

Of course, there were cons. Like my little sisters going around quoting the most annoying line in the whole movie OVER AND OVER AND OVER.........

Mom was a little ho-hummy over it. She liked it fine, but it wasn't SO awesome in her eyes.

Anna loved it, too : ). YAY! I was so hoping she would, after I practically spoiled the whole thing for her, having her listen to the songs (taken out of context so they wouldn't ruin it for her...but all that did was confuse her). We had just about the same favorite parts. I was so happy.

Which is lame, right? I shouldn't care so much what people think.

But I do. Its the way I am.

So, what is this post about?

Um....well, my undying love for this epic movie, I guess, and my undying love for my family.

One of my favorite lines in this whole movie is, "Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream."

Watching this movie is awesome to me, no matter what. I laugh, I tear up, I sigh with happiness, I wince in horror and cover my mouth with my hands and just sit there, grinning like an idiot, eyes all shiny because its just BEAUTIFUL.

(You knew I was obsessed, right?)

But watching it with my family, who always chatter and laugh and won't shut up and TOTALLY ruin the most heartbreaking, beautiful moment in the whole thing and than insist on repeating all the funny lines WHILE the movie is still going on and whining that they have to go to the bathroom.....

That's the good part, I guess.

That's the part that really makes it worthwhile.

Thanks, Disney. Well done.

: )

Horvath, Watch Thy Back.....

As you may recall from a previous post, I named my evil alarm clock Horvath.

There he is. In all his evil splendor. Don't let the cutsie dolphin stickers fool you. This hunk of plastic junk is BAAAAD news.

He goes off randomly when the stick-thing is turned to OFF.

*glares evilly*

I really hate this thing. But, i DO need something to tell time with, as my ability to read a traditional face clock is embarrassingly similar to a kindergartners. My brain has a lot of trouble with those three sticks and 12 numbers. Its part of the undermining insanity, I'm sure.

But...

A couple weeks ago, my mother gave me...

A WATCH.

Heavenly music played, the light shone down.

Yeah.

Its darn ugly, really. And IT beeps (one little beep...not at all bad, but still) every hour, because I can't figure out how to turn the stupid chime off.

But I love it.

Its arguably better than Horvath.

And I named it, too.

It was dubbed: DOON.

Yes, Dune. D-O-O-N.

Why, you ask?

Well, if you've ever seen the movie City of Ember, I named it after one of the main characters, Doon Harrow, simply because of the 0.5 seconds of the movie where Sol says, "You've got a big head!"

Doon the Watch, if you noticed, has an obnoxiously large face.

No one else got it, either, don't worry.

All my siblings (and my mother), looked at me, and, with shallow minds, said:

"Its pink."

SO!?

Anyway...that's his name.

Horvath is, if you were wondering, still with us. He hasn't done anything egregious lately...must be playing his cards right.

I told my brother that the next time Horvath goes off at midnight, he can take him apart with a screwdriver.

Step aside, Horvath.

Welcome, Doon.

Things To Think About...

Yesterday, I was extremely touched by a very good friend of mine, Kinzie.

She went on and read EVERY blog post I have ever written, all the way back to November 15th, 2010.

*sniff*

But anyway, this got me thinking about her, and her family, and about how her older sister is getting married soon.

And about how the first dance at her wedding is going to be I See the Light, from the Tangled soundtrack.

And this made me think about what I would want as MY first dance at my wedding.

I narrowed it down to TWO:

Only You Can Love Me This Way, by Keith Urban.

And

1,000 Faces, by Randy Montana.

Both these songs, for me, say everything I know about love in the most beautiful way I have ever heard, and I would love to share either one of them with my future husband as our first dance as Husband and Wife.

Its sappy, yes, but that's what you made me think of, Kinzie : ).

Long Live the Brothers Grimm!

Ah, The Brothers Grimm.

Here here!

Drink a toast (raspberry lemonade, if you please...)!

Do a dance (square dancing, maybe?)!

And write a fabulous retelling of one of their best loved tales!!

....What?

Yes, yes. Alas, for those of you that know me, YES, I have returned to the Fairy Tale Thing, a.k.a. FTT.

The FTT us really cool and fun....its just also INCREDIBLY easy to screw up.

For instance:

The Horrific Retelling of Rapunzel.

*cringe*

I especially hate that thing after seeing Tangled. Disney's ideas were MUCH better than mine, let me just tell you...

For instance:

* No, Clare, the main character DOESN'T have to be cursed. Sheesh.

* The evil witch with a hyper-active sense of sarcasm was freakishly unoriginal.

* The over-emotional prince who swings rapidly back and forth between crying over his dead mother and mooning over a cranky princess.

* The henchmen floating gloves with no real purpose other than randomness.

* The magical cupboard that brought upon such incidents as Wheat Thin slinging, dyeing ones hair with Kool-Aid, and eating Oreos with your boyfriend *covers face in shame, groaning*

* KILLING THE WHOLE THING WITHOUT SAVING AN ORIGINAL COPY!!! *screams in horror*

Yeah.

Door closed.

Moving on.

Arguably, I was like, 12-13 when I wrote that.

Still... *gag*

This time, I'm giving Snow White a go!

I'm older, and a LITTLE wiser now, and I have a very specific idea for it in mind.

There are two things in Snow White that are darn cool:

The Magic Mirror and The Poison Apple!

Putting significant emphasis on these two could make for a very cool retelling.

I also am VERY excited about the dwarfs. Coming from a big family, just the thought of seven bachelor brothers living together is both hilarious and horrifying to comprehend!

And, of course, being ME, I had to do some art to get in the groove right after writing the prologue, which went very well, by the way:

My apologies for the lousy camera quality, but hey, we work with what we have. I borrowed from the incredibly epic Band Perry their amazing song If I Die Young.

I thought it fit pretty well.

All my family members said, "Oh! Its Sleeping Beauty!"

Me: *squinty eyes* "Nooooo...its SNOW WHITE."

"But her hair is long."

"SO WHAT!? I WOULD THINK THE FAIREST IN THE LAND WOULD HAVE FLOWING HAIR, DON'T YOU!?"

Needless to say, they were thinking very strictly DISNEY Snow White.

*sigh*

So. This is just the beginning of a long journey, I'm sure.

I love fairy tales.

I love to write.

Long live the Brothers Grimm!

My friends say the funniest things...

Seriously. Like, roll out of your seat laughing. OK...maybe they aren't THAT funny, but I have realized that I'm only friends with people who make me laugh really, really hard.

CodeNameKara:
Coke- Cause life needs fun.
"Your just mad cause I destructed your pizza with my toe."
"Oh hey...can your computer receive videos via e-mail without flipping a circuit?"

BeautifulBecca:
"If I didn't absolutely adore you, I would kill you right now."
"What's wrong with you?" "Nothing shut up leave me alone HUG ME!!!"

KewlKinzie:
"Don't fall for every guy who gives you 'The Smolder'. Wait until you see how good he is with a frying pan before you see his light."
"ARRRR! Raise the bid or call me a liar!"

SirSteven:
"How is that NOT hilarious!? He just swallowed a cattle prod!"
"You're right, I can't dance. But who said I was trying to?"
"It takes a lot of root beer to get drunk."

ElderSopranoSister:
"Sounds interesting. Maybe you could make that into a disease, and mass-market medication for it."
"Don't you know what clowns DO!? They hypnotize you and steal your soul!"
"You look grumpy--like you need a nap, a hug, and a cookie."

Megz:
"Either do it or don't do it but DO IT!!!"

Kit-kat:
"Now I think I'm going to make a twitter so I can stalk famous people. "

LenOreo:
"Well, Clare dearest, by your logic:

Canadians are cool.
Justin Bieber is Canadian.
Therefore, Justin Bieber is cool. "

And that's just a FEW!

I rest my case.

I love you guys so much. Never stop being awesome : ).

Wrede, Lights, and Other New Things!

I dedicate this post to celebrate NEW things! Or...new to me, anyway.

New things we all love:
Shoes, cookies, episodes of ones favorite TV show, toothbrushes, floss, milk, friends, paper, sharpies, days, weeks, months, years, toilet paper, printers, phones, Snapfish accounts, blog backgrounds, cars, carpet, and songs.

New things some of us loathe:
Fashions, dance moves, TV ads, complaints, worries, movies based on books, third and fourth movies in a series, smelly candles, scraps of paper, Easter lilies (Aaaaa....CHOO!!), Kenny Chesney songs, blisters, Jell-O flavors, and black licorice jelly beans.

Indeed.

Anyway, just last week I found and fell in love with TWO new things:

Patricia C. Wrede, author of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and the Canadian Christian singer Lights.

Wow. I just love them so much. I need to bask in the glow for a few minutes........

OK, I'm back.

I just moved to a new town, and as such, I just perused a new library.

Here's how I choose books:

1. Saunter around trying to appear cool, when all you are doing is DESPERATELY searching for the Teen Fiction!

2. Find the Teen Fiction, and immediately see a book that the title and cover itself make you shudder in fear. (Yes, I have very low tolerance for creepy, depressing, or dramatic.)

3. Start reading titles.

4. BAM! Hopefully...

Bam would mean I saw something that looked cool/awesome/interesting.

What I saw was this: Dealing With Dragons.

Tell me more!

5. Read the back and/or the inside flap to see if its worth a read.

Believe, this one was.

6. Check out.

7. Take home.

8. Read.

9. Relish.

10. Return.

Over all, 10 steps. Dealing With Dragons was FANTASTIC. My only complaint would be that my second favorite character never got a name and ended up not with the main character, but with her friend. Not that this was a BAD thing, just not what I anticipated and hoped for.

Really, it was lovely. I adored it. Every page held something new. It kept my interest and left me wondering what would happen next. Well done!

Next up: LIGHTS!

I hate having to search for a new radio station through the buzz, fuzz and crackle of radio waves. Its boring, aggravating, and so very often, disappointing.

Not so this time!

I found a really cool, awesome Christian radio station that was NOT praise and worship. Don't get me wrong...praise and worship is all fine and dandy! Its just that, for daily listening, i find praise stations almost oppressive, and often, really, REALLY cheesy.

But this radio station was like the evil twin of the one i listened to back home! (Evil because its actually MORE awesome, which is good, trust me.)

And I found this song: Lions!

I. Love. This. Song.

Its one of those songs that speaks to my soul musically, lyrically, and vocally.

Lights (i discovered this IS her stage name) sings in a really high, lilting, childish kind of voice that I love but would grate on the ears of other people, so I understand if its not for you.

But even if I didn't find her singing appealing, I would have stuck it out for the lyrics. This song is just incredible, and I totally love it.

So, here's in celebration of the new...including my new house and the new people we've met.

May something new capture your imagination today!

;-)