Friday, December 30, 2005

Ahhh so maybe one day i'll tell you my secret, you know the one that will change your life and you're dying to know, ahh but i still don't know if ...

Ahh I love the holidays. Being with family and friends.
So this Christmas was the Christmas of DVDs and movies. I now have DVDs of some of my favorite old cartoons and some not so old cartoons too. I have the first two collections of Batman: The Animated Series, Family Guy Vol. 3, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, and Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers. It is great. I am set with mucho horas of entertainment. There will not be a dull Friday night at Westmont for a good while.
I also got my parents old TV for my room and I bought a small DVD player for my room too.
I am so content.

I look forward to going back to Westmont because I miss all my friends. I miss the craziness of Page. I miss ... Westmont. Mind you I don't mind not having any school and work...That I don't miss.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I still need to finalize my plans for the evening. I am going to do something with my best friends, for sure!!

PS- the title of this post is just randomness. I have no secret to tell you. Disappointed? Sorry.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Gotta love it!!

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Christmas Eve!

So yesterday Tess and I tried to meet with Morgan and see Narnia. We tried because, we arrived late to the theatre and did not see Morgan anywhere. Then the showing of Narnia was sold out!! So we purchased tickets for a close in time showing of King Kong which we both have already seen. Once inside we checked the theatre for Narnia and saw why it was sold out. The room was packed and there was no way we could possibly find Morgan in there if she was in the theatre. So we went to watch some of King Kong until it was about the time that Narnia was supposed to get out. And when Narnia did get out we did not see Morgan. We still do not know what happened to Morgan, but it was a mini adventure. Later last night we did get to see Narnia and I rather enjoyed it.

Today is Christmas Eve and I am very excited. My mom's side of the family we come over for dinner tonight and we shall open gifts from them tonight. Speaking of presents I still need to wrap the gifts I purchased for people. Which I will probably do as soon as I am done posting this blog.

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Christmas is Coming!! Christmas is Coming!!

I can't believe how close it is to Christmas!!
It is the 21st already! I am shocked at how fast it came up on me this year.
Usually it feels like forever until Christmas will be here and we can just laze about the house as a family and enjoy each others company.
I love Christmas eve and day with my family.
Christmas Eve my mom's side of the family either meets at my house or my cousins' house. This year we're meeting at my house. We gather and have dinner and open presents.
Then on Christmas morning my family has the morning to ourselves.
My brothers and I are usually up a long time before my parents and we have to wait for them to enjoy opening our gifts together. Then we enjoy a great Christmas Breakfast. Then later Christmas evening we get together with my dad's side of the family and have dinner.

I can't wait for Christmas!!!

By the Way:
My first semester grades were posted online in my student profile today.
I was very happy with the results.


Composition:A-
Ballroom/Latin Swing (Men):A-
Life & Lit of New Testament:C-
Elementary Spanish II:A-

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

King Kong, Rent, and oh I got sick...

So I am home for the holidays. When I left Westmont it was Wednesday of finals week and I had finished all my finals. As I left I felt like I was ditching school or something because all my friends still had finals. I also felt kinda rude to my roommates, because I couldn't do much of the "Before you leave" checklist because they would still be there for a few more days. So I did what I could and left us a fridge. Some family friends of my family live in Santa Barbara and were getting rid of a small fridge so they gave it to me. Now when we return from break we will have a working fridge!!

And as I was home for a few days I really missed my Westmont friends and new life. At Westmont to have fun all I need to do is step out my door and run into some group of people playing some game and then join in the fun. Or just call up Monique, Helen, and Vanessa. I really miss everyone. And I was just getting more involved with those on my floor too. I mean I love my South Pas. friends but here they are still in high school and haven't gotten out for break yet.

But I have had some fun already. I saw King Kong with my brothers and my best friend. And a friend of my friend, because he had a car and could drive us. Which brings up the fact that I hate not having my license. And I have also finally seen Rent. I saw it with Stacy and we both really enjoyed it.

Then to top it all off, Sunday morning in church I was not feeling well. And then in church my grandmother felt my forehead and said, "You have a fever." And sure enough I had a fever, and I have been sick since Sunday. Today was the first day I have felt much better.

Right now my mom is trying to figure out how to work the VCR recording thing to record today's episode of Dr. Phil because a close family friend and his family will be on the show today.

Well that's the update!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Done!

I'M DONE!!
I am now officially done with finals and are free to go home.
I am so tired though, because my final was at 8am and I didn't sleep too well.
I think I am getting sick too.
SO now all I have to do today is pack to go home, take care of stuff in the room, and pick up the fridge that the Jacobsens are giving me. I need to do my part in cleaning the room because I am the first to leave for home and I don't want to leave a ton of cleaning and work for my roommates.

I'M GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK!! I'M SO EXCITED!!

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Writing...

So this last semester I took a composition class and loved it! The class was basically just writing and learning skills to write on a college level. I ejoyed this class and want to share some of my work. This class has awoken the potential writer within me and has inspired me to work on my writing. I even started writing a paper just for fun.

This paper was the first paper i wrote in this class and thought the writing skills in it needed work when I first wrote it, I work hard on its revision and in the end earned a "B." The topic of the essay was of a personal nature in that we had to write on our territory, the place where we feel at home.

Enjoy!

When The Curtain Rises

“Act well your parts for there all the honor lies.” On that note actors flee behind the curtain and the house is open. As the audience fills the seats, nervousness and excitement boil. Behind the curtain, light is scarce. The shapes of the set linger in the darkness. Stretched voices of actors in mid-warm up can be heard from below stage. As an actor I am addicted to the anticipation, the thrill, and the sheer blissful freedom of the stage, but even more to the communal connections with fellow actors and the audience.
At an hour before the house opens the theatre is alive with anticipation. Actors sprint around setting up props and finding the missing piece of their costumes. Groups flock to the piano for a final warm-up, their voices echoing through the empty seats. The stage crew setting up is yelling back and forth between balcony and stage. The chaos continues below stage like an ant busily restocking for the coming winter. Watching from the sidelines would make bystanders feel unhelpful and need to find a job within the chaos.
I live for the thrill of pre-show excitement. The feeling of knowing that all the weeks of rehearsals and long nights are going to pay off is invigorating. The odd sense of thrill that even the weirdest costume brings is inspiring. I feel empowered even as I walk across my high school campus spruced up as a scarecrow to the auditorium for the evening’s performance of “The Wiz.” I’m spruced up in my rodeo clown attire. It amazes me how a pair of old-fashioned plaid golf shorts with knee-high black socks, suspenders, and a shirt of patches of odd fabric sown together, with a kid’s straw cowboy hat to top it off, grants such a thrilling feeling. I feel a bounce in my step as I feel the knee high socks hug my legs and the suspenders hike my pants up in an awkward but unusually comfortable position. I feel like a rodeo clown on a mission.
The anticipation and nervousness lingers until my first moment on stage replaces them with sheer blissful freedom. When the curtain rises to step into the character and tell his story. As I step on stage I take that final step through the door into the character’s world. The wave of freedom engulfs my body as I feel myself open, welcoming the character to tell his story through me. When the curtain rises so does the bars on my spirit’s cage. My soul, mind, and body are united, indulging in an empowering freedom. I am at the top of my game, enjoying the gifts received from the blissful freedom.
The blissful freedom combined with a unified state of soul, mind, and body makes me feel that I could solve any problem that arises. During a performance an actor forgot a line that was to cue the beginning of a new scene. I and my fellow leads had to continue conversation that would trigger the line from our fellow forgetful actor. It felt so great to know that we survived a scene that was going off track because we were aware enough to think on our toes. This heightened sense of awareness is just one of the many side affects the stage can cause.
The best side affect is the blissful freedom itself. For a short two hours the pressures of this world are lifted off my shoulders. I am freed from the stressful petty problems high school brings. Indeed, high school isn’t even a part of the world I enter when I walk on stage. I am no longer myself, but a vessel in which a character’s story is told. When I step on stage in my “rodeo clown” attire I become the Scarecrow and I seek to fulfill the needs of the Scarecrow. The great social pressures of being myself are peeled away, leaving the freedom of being someone else for a brief blink of an eye.
Along with the personal emotional adventures the stage brings a spectacular communal side. A community forms like a chemical bond, it is in the nature of the particles to be attracted to one another. People who might never normally communicate outside the theatre are brought together and strong friendships are sown. These friendships are the kind that will last beyond the graduation ceremony on the South Pasadena High School football field. In this community we affect each other, we learn from each in unspeakable, indescribable ways. We in becoming our characters to tell a story learn so much about ourselves and each other.
The audience should also find a home in the community. One of the most important reasons the theatre is to tell a story, but what good is a flock of usually dressed storytellers if they have no one to tell the story to? Just as the actors performing together bond and learn from each other, the audience must bond with the characters and learn form the actors. As the vastness of a seashore sunset inspires contentment so does the ability to touch an audience’s heart. If the heart of just one person in the audience is touched then the actors have accomplished their task of sharing a beautiful story with another soul.
The community young actors feel in the theatre at South Pasadena High School is evident in the traditions of pre-show preparation. I walk into the little theatre to find at least a dozen people already here; we wait until the cast assembles to hear from the director. Ms. Tucker speaks to us of the successes and failures of the previous evening’s performance and lays out our tasks for the coming performance. With great excitement and glee we are dismissed to slip into costumes, apply make-up, warm voices. I, the Scarecrow, walk with the Tinman, the Lion, and Dorothy to the auditorium.
An hour before the house is open to the eagerly waiting audience we gather holding hands in a large circle of smiles. It is my night as a senior to speak to the cast. “I want to thank each and every one of you standing here, for making this the best show of my high school career. This show is so very special to me and I am so thankful to be a part of it. I know we can make this the best performance yet. You all mean so much to me and I will miss you all next year,” I say holding back a tear. Following my little speech the director proclaims, “Act well your parts, for there all the honor lies.” And we know we are doing just that because when we feel the anticipation, the thrill, and the blissful freedom. We know when we reach the place where the honor lies because we touch the hearts of each other and the audience.

Monday, December 12, 2005

The Barn Burner




So this weekend I was home from school to see my girlfriend's show Arabian Nights. It was the fall play at my old high school and all my drama friends, who are still in high school, were in it. It was amazingly well done.

Then on Sunday my family and I went to a eatery we had never eaten at before. The eatery was entitled The Barn Burner. It was a Texas-style BBQ place and was really good. I would eat there again. (The Pictures are from the Barn Burner)

Now I am back at school and need to prep for finals. Only two days and two finals and then I go back home for a lovely Christmas Break!!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

First Post!!

YAY MY OWN BLOG!!
NOW I CAN POUR OUT MY HEART TO THE NATIONS!!
um how about not...
This blog is basically what the name says it is, a bunch of ramblings.

Catch ya laterz homie-g i gotta bounce!!