home, home, home

I haven't put any more of my travel pics online yet - I will some day soon though!  Home is nice and Return of the King is awesome.  That's all that's new!  ;)

2 days to go

In two days I'll be sitting in Heathrow airport waiting to board my plane.  It feels like a long time from now - but the fact that there are some people leaving TODAY, who are already AT the airport, is soooo strange to me!

Things have been fantastic.  I did a little more Christmas shopping, saw His Dark Materials Part 1 (the books by Phillip Pullman are quite good), went out to the Ministry of Sound for Jeni's 21st birthday, had all my last classes (and finally got that damn Directing project out of the way), and yesterday Ian McKellan shook my hand at the London RotK premiere :) :) :)  Our last London Theatre play was poo (Sweet Panic), but Mourning Becomes Electra was amazing - it rivals even The Pillowman! 

Tonight is our last big bash at the Student Union, and then tomorrow is going to be full of packing!  If I had AIM, I'm sure my away message would say "Packing my life away" for the majority of the day.

Have I mentioned I can't WAIT to get all my digital pictures online?  Oh, and I have housing for next semester!  Danielle and I are living in a Macgregor suite with Jen and Debbie - it'll be good times!  Trailer park, here we come ;)

As my last thought in this Journal while in London - pray it doesn't snow so Lydia has no problem getting to my house to come see LOTR with me!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The time when I update my wish list on Amazon and share it with you ;)

2 more weeks!

I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks left in London. Crazy! I kinda wish I could come back here again on January 12th rather than going back to Muhlenberg...
I think it's been two weeks since last time I wrote, so it's kinda hard to remember what I've been up to. I know that I saw The Straits with London theatre the week before last, and went to Stratford upon Avon last Sunday. Other than that I know I worked on my papers quite a bit, and watched Elizabeth with Danielle. Don't know what else.
This past week my mom and sister were visiting, so that was really nice. I was in Stratford when they got here, so I didn't see them until Monday, when I met them for breakfast at their hotel EARLY in the morning! Over the course of the week we saw the Tower of London, Madame Toussaud's (sp?), Harrod's, the Tate Gallery, Covent Garden market (a LOT), Tell Me on a Sunday, The Pillowman (best theatre I've seen in London - so GOOD), Jerry Springer the Opera, and the movie Mystic River. Plus of course Leicester Square, Trafalger Square, Piccadilly, and they did some tour stuff while I was in class Tuesday morning and Wednesday. On Wednesday I saw Jumpers on the West End with London Theatre, but I wasn't overly impressed by it. Club Sandwich was reall fun that night though. Thursday was Thanksgiving, so mom's friend Linda came in from Birmingham to visit. Now that they're gone I'm SO tired; I seem to have a major sleep debt that I need to catch up on, and I've been doing so whenever possible. Last night Danielle finally saw The Matrix for the first time, and liked it, and tomorrow night we're going to see Mourning Becomes Electra at (where else?) the National Theatre. We need to make the most of our last two weeks here! We have Jeni's birthday, our last London Theatre play, a trip to the Theatre Museum, the London LOTR premiere, our two last Club Sadnwiches, and His Dark Materials planned... we'll see what else comes up!

the past week...

Hmm, let's see what's new.  On Friday I saw His Girl Friday with Jen and Phil which was really good and light fun - Zoe Wanamaker (Madam Hooch in HP1) was great, and so were most of the other actors.  And a good deal - we got to sit instead of doing standing room for only 5 quid ( we stood in the returns line).  On Sunday as I had mentioned Jen, Jeni and I went to see Matrix Revolutions, which I quite enjoyed, so don't listen to the reviews.  I'm not saying it's the best thing ever, but if you've seen the first one or two you should see how it ends.  Monday I don't really remember so I assume I did work all day - I have two papers and a big project due in the upcoming weeks, as well as a scene for Shakespeare - I'm sure I'll have one for Acting, as well.  So it's getting a bit more stressful.  The rest of the week was class and work and a trip to the theatre, of course (Loyal Women - v. good - wrote my London Theatre paper on it), as well as a trip with Shakespeare and out to dinner with Danielle's parents, at a very good Italian place called Galileo's.  I ate a lot.  Yum.  :)  On Friday I went to Covent Gardens to try and get some Xmas shopping done, but I wasn't very successful, and then went to Matrix again, but Tim treated so its okay, and then hung out various places at night.  Okay, Saturday.  I worked on my paper by day and watched Bend it Like Beckham for the first time by night.  Sunday.  More worky worky on papers, then to the Love Actually premiere at night, and then to see the movie itself.  The premiere was pretty cool.  We had nice close (but short) clear views of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, and also saw Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, and Simon Cowell as well.  Hugh Grant signed a lot of autographs, but unfortunately not ours - he paid the most attention to the fans though.  Today I've been working on my paper all day so this is what I like to call procrastination! 

a FEW pix from Florence, Italy

Group on the steps

...And on the bridge

Gelato on the bridge

It's Legal!

Fiesole by night

Team Berg

Relocation

continued from below

On Tuesday we left for Salzburg, where we stayed in a hostel that was much more like a B'n'B - very homey and nice, and we had eggs with our breakfast on Friday! We went on a Sound of Music tour, toured the fortress and the Residenz staterooms, saw a rock-ballet (GOOD but confusing), toured Mozart's home, and spent a lot of time just shopping and eating and doing all that touristy stuff. I love Salzburg.
Now I'm back in London. Last night Jen, Phil and I saw My Girl Friday with Zoe Wanamaker which was a great light play, and today Jen and I are seeing Matrix Revolutions. Go Keanu! In fact, it's time to get going for that. Mwah!

update-ness

Okay, umm, this seems to be a LOT to update... So let's see. Paris was wonderful and Danielle and I had a great time seeing everything (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the Pantheon, the Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, etc.,....we even passed by the Lapin Agile), and we especially enjoyed that whole eating thing ;) It was pretty col, especially when we were stuck on the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower for an eternity, but a great long weekend.
Back in London Tuesday through Saturday morning: saw an AWFUL production of Romeo + Juliet by an Icelandic company who apparently thought the show was a circus on Tuesday with my Shakespeare class, but on Thursday I saw an EXCELLENT prodoction of a Howard Barker play called 13 Objects with my London Theatre class. Club Sandwich was, as always, a good time, and on Friday night for Halloween I went to a party at Tim's (not Gross) with Danielle, Jeni, and Nick. Classes were good, although on Friday I was late for Shakespeare by accident and no one showd up to my Directing class except like, 4 of us. No one seemed to care though. Such is life (in London). Oh, and I registered for classes, so I'm taking History of Drama II, Shakespeare II, Women Writers, Classical Acting, and Beginning Jazz Dance. Cool.
Reading Week: On Saturday Jen and I set off for Austria! We started in Vienna, where our hostel was situated on a hill overlooking he city (great view), and right next to a 5 star hotel which we liked to joke was where we were staying. It was nice - we had a 4 person room all to ourselves... Ahh, the joys of traveling off-season! So we spent a lovely day with Liz and her family - they showed us around Baden bei Wien, then for the rest of our time in the city we saw an opera at the city opera for €4 (!!!) which was AMAZING, toured two castles and the opera itself, climbed to the top of Stephansdom, and saw all the other sights of the city, of course!

just another manic... Wednesday

I'm getting really excited for the trip of this weekend - Paris! Danielle and I FINALLY have our hostel booked - more expensive han I'd prefer, but a bed is a bed. Yesterday I saw a production of Midsummer Night's Dream with my Shakespeare class, and it was excellent and funny and we all enjoyed. Today is my day 'o class, but all I have left is London Theatre, so that's lovely. We're seeing a play tomorrow night for that, so tonight is free for Club Sandwich as it should be!
I feel much better this week (knock on wood), hooray for that! Tomorrow I don't have class, but I have a trip to go on with the Shakespeare class, and of course I'll need to pack and whatnot for Paris - we leave after class on Friday, and come back Monday NIGHT :)

the sickest bunny

This week was boring, mainly because I spent the majority of it in bed. Thursday and Friday especially, I just slept my life away and tried to not be sick anymore. I'm getting there, I guess. Yesterday I spent most of the day up and moving around and it wasn't a problem, and today I just have some congestion, no sore throat or fever or headache...
Anyway, Amy was here visiting this weekend, so that was cool. We went out for dinner on Friday night with two of Jen's friends who were also visiting - we coudn't find Wagamama's though, so we ended up going to an Italian place which wasn't half-bad. On Saturday we went to Portobello Market, which is HUGE, but I liked it. We couldn't decide whether to see a show or go eat or find Mel and Lesley, so we ended up eating at Garfunkel's, which WAS half-bad, then wandering and coming upon the Reduced Shakespeare Company just in time to see a show. I wasn't so keen on seeing it at first, but I laughed the whole time and enjoyed it (Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged). THEN we found Mel and Lesley, as well as Jen and her friends and Cynthia, so we headed back to eat cake and go to the Union. It was no Club Sandwich, but fun anyway. Afterwards Jen made us all go eat chips and Jeni made it off the waiting-list and is now accepted to Muhlenberg for finishing hers ;)
And today I slept in then came here. Good times.

I bet you thought I'd never get around to it...

But I did. Sorta.

PIX! --> http://photos.yahoo.com/rebl1231
WHEN I can get this computer to upload pictures to the internet....click on the Junior Year album to see selected pictures from Italy, London, and Scotland. Out of the 115 I took I'm putting about 50 online, but if you want to see some more of a specific place send me an e-mail saying so (ex. "Hey Becca, I want to see more of your Rome pictures" or "Hey Becca, I want to see more of your Jason visit pictures" or "Hey Becca, I want to see the pictures that turned out badly") I don't know why you would want to see that last bit, but whatever floats your boat I guess. So check out the pics as I slowly add them to my new album. :)

continued from below

This past weekend Danielle, Jeni (Danielle's flatmate - she's an adopted Berg student) and I went to Edinburgh, Scotland, which was a wonderful weekend trip. We left after class on Friday and got back around 1 (13:00, that is) today. The train ride was about 4 hours going and 5 hours coming back, so we got in Friday evening and dropped our stuff at the hostel, then found us some food and went to a pub called Shakespeare's to try some Scottish beer. We're not huge fans, but that's ok. On Saturday we spent a good part of the day at Edinburgh castle, which has some great views and we got a tur with the price of admission so that was cool. Afterwards we walked down the Royal Mile window shopping and stopping in some sights along the way (the chapel and the Children's museum (crack baby!)). Then we met Jeni's H.S. friend and her friends for dinner and nightlife. Sunday: Holyrood Palace, which is where the Queen stays when she goes to Edinburgh, and where we got an audio guide with the price of admission; The Queen's Gallery, where they had a Faberge exhibit going on; The National Gallery - free!; a Ghosts & Ghouls tour, where hey told some ghost stories and historical stuff and took us down into the vaults below the city - of course I was a bit spooked. Anyway, I highly reccommend it as a weekend trip,and the scenery on the trainride is breathtaking at points.
Today I need to find a hostel for Danielle and I when we go to Paris for a weekend and figure out some more Austria stuff for Jen and I when we go during Reading Week. It's a hard life...
Send me e-mails! I like e-mails.

update time

I'm sleepy. Now that I have that out of the way, I suppose I should update everyone on my life. Since last time I wrote, I've seen two plays for London Theatre. The first was called After Mrs. Rochester and was about the life of the author of Wide Sargasso Sea (a prequel to Jane Eyre). It was very interesting and well-done, and I liked. The second was called The Happiness Compartment, which was playing in a fringe theatre in Greenwich smaller than Theatre Outlet, but it had a nice restaurant/bar downstairs. The play was actually written by my London Theatre teacher, but I found it meh. I love the teacher though, and I also love my Shakespeare's London teacher. They're both opinionated and funny and seem to know some stuff; always a good thing.
On Friday Jason came and we had a WONDERFUL weekend and I miss him now. We walked around and saw some general London sights (including David Blaine and the London Eye), saw a great Lord of the Rings exhibit at the Science Museum, saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, walked through Greenwich, and had a really nice time. And then on Tuesday morning he left :( So that was last weekend. TBC.

So how am I liking London?

London is great so far... I live in a flat with seven others, and we all seem to get along well from the times I've hung out or gone out with them. There are 4 other girls (2 Brits, another American, and one from France), and the guys are from Israel, Mexico, and India. Beat THAT diversity! My room is a single with my own small bathroom (!), and then we as a flat have a nice-sized kitchen and eating area. I'm 2 minutes or less away from all those other Berg people, so I see everyone often (Lesley just came up behind me, actually).
Hmm, what else? Orientation was very boring. From Sunday Sept 21 (when I arrived) until yesterday, Monday the 29th, I had a whopping total of two meetings to be at, neither of which was too exciting. I had to change a class because one of them conflicted with Shakespeare's London, which I want to take here, so I switched out of a sorta basic stagecraft course into a level 2 course called Drama production 2, because I was told I could focus specifically on stage management in that course. Well, I had my first class today, which was that class, and of course Stage Management is NOT on of the focus areas, so I went for directing instead. Uh, sure, why not? Tomorrow I have meetings for London Theatre and Acting in London, and then on Friday I have my first Shakespeare class (and Jason arrives!!).
Other than being bored, I've done a whole lotta food etc. shopping, seen Ned Kelly (Orlando's newest movie), seen a David Mamet play starring Kenneth Branaugh (Sp?), called Edmond, for a whopping £6, walked around Leicester (pronouned Lester) Square quite a bit, and seen the London premiere of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen from afar (I saw Shane West, as well as where Sean Connery was standing, but there were boards blocking my sight so I didn't actually see him. Suffice it to say, I was stnding maybe 40 feet away from him. It's been a good time... and now I'm sick.

Yes, I'm alive!

I know I told many of you I'd e-mail you as soon as I got to London, and here it is, my third day in London and you haven't heard from me yet. Well, I am alive and well, but this is the first chance to get online for free since arriving from Italy..
I have my room phone all set up, but of course I forgot to bring the number with me, and Jason seems to be having problems with it, so I'm not even entirely sure that it works right yet. I've also purchased my new cell phone, which is currently waiting to be set up on the network but should be running by tomorrow, so I'll have TWO phone numbers to give people! It should be noted that for ME the cheapest and easiest way to get messages from anyone will be text messages, and it's probably cheaper for all of you than calling me overseas anyway, so think about that before you leave me a voicemail message ;)
So a mass e-mail will be coming some day soon to a computer near you, and until then I am well and alive and London is pretty great so far. :)

Europe Day 2 (September 12) - One Long Day

Off the plane.
Then we needed to head over the Goldsmiths on the tube to hand over a piece of luggage, which was an uneventful but very painful trip for my arms. We dropped off our bags at the International office, where we were of course warned not to get pick-pocketed in Italy, then got backon the tube to head to Stansted airport, which is where our flight to Rome was out of. On the way we got some very overpriced Burger King, but it was worth it to me at least! Then onto the Stansted Express, and then time to kill at the airport. I called home to leave a message for mom to let her know I was alive, and did the same for Jason, although it wasn't a message - he picked up :) The flight to Rome was fine as far as I remember; I fell asleep for a little bit (I needed it!), we lost another hour, and a child cried. A lot.
After the plane ride, trying to get to the hostel was a bit of a fiasco. Off the plane onto a shuttle, which took us to pick up the baggage, and the child continued to cry. Then we need to take a bus, which was not well-marked (we just kinda followed the crowd of English-speaking people) and the ticket machine for which would not accept anything other than Eurocoins, and of course we only had banknotes, having just stopped at the ATM. We discovered by following people again that we could buy tickets at a snack change inside, but they didn't have correct change to give back to us - oh well, we just paid too much. Off the bus to Anagnina station, where we needed to take the metro to Termini station and the ticket machines (surprise!) would not work. These are some very finicky ticket machines, and only will take exact change, which is tough to come by. The security guy eventually just let us all go on without buying tickets. After that it wasn't bad getting to the hostel. Ours (Hotel Romae) is nearby Termini, but still, my arms wanted to fall off,and the feet weren't too happy either.
Outside the hostel - we couldn't figure out how to get buzzed in. Some guest let us in. Went in, paid, couldn't get our key to our door to work! Got let in by our hostel-mates, who were of course sleeping (at 11:30?) so we had to get situated in the dark being quiet. Into bed, and couln't sleep, because it was only 5:30 pm at home! A looooooong day was over though, and I was now in Rome.
:)

Europe Day 1 (September 11)

Off to Europe!
Tim and I planned to leave arounf 11, as we were sure there would be heavy security for flights on 9/11, so I told him to call me when he left - and of course that was around 12 noon instead ;) We had quite a while before our flight, so we went to get something to eat with our moms, which involved much wandering around trying to find a place to eat that wasn't behind security (so our moms could come). Our first flight was just to Chicago O'Hare (nice back tracking, right?), and then we had about 20 minutes between flights. The plane was kinda dinky to Chicago, and at times felt like a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but oh well. Our next plane - to London (Heathrow Airport) was pretty nice. Each seat had its own monitor, and you could choose which movie you wanted to watch (or there was alsoa choice of some TV programs). I watched The Italian Job (how appropriate!), Tim watched The Transformers, and the other choice was Frida. So yeah, good flight, although I got about an hour of sleep and was real tired when we got in, which was about 3 am back home, but 8 am in London.

Last Journal entry in America (I think)

To those of you who I won't talk to before I leave, here's an FYI of my schedule:

Sept. 11 - depart Philly

Sept. 12 - arrive London Heathrow Airport, go to Goldsmiths and drop off one piece of luggage, depart London Stansted airport and arrive in Rome, Italy

Sept. 13, 14th - explore Rome

Sept. 15th - explore the Amalfi coast

Sept. 16th - travel to Florence, where Tim and I will meet Jen, Danielle, Jess, Adrienne, and Danielle's friend from home for dinner.  We'll spend the next day exploring more of Florence, of course!

Sept. 18th - travel to Venice and explore it until the morning of the 21st, when Tim, Danielle and I fly back to London and move into Goldsmiths!

If I don't talk to you before I leave, I'll be sending out an e-mail with all my info (address, cell phone #, how the trip went, etc.) once I get settled into Goldsmiths, so check your e-mail and here to see if I have interesting things to say ;)

One day (soon) I'll fly away...

One more day at home, then I'm off to London (quick stop to drop off a bag!) and Italy.  Eeek!

My trip to Muhlenberg last week didn't exactly go as planned.  For one thing, I was STILL sick from the week before (the sore throat just wouldn't go away).  For another, I woke up on Friday morning with pink eye.  Yes, the day I'm going up to school to visit my friends, I happen to get pink eye, which of course is the worst possibe thing to have when you plan on spending time with Lydia!  So, I went to the doctor, and he gave me prescriptions for both my eye and for my throat (finally), and then I decided to still go up to school after all after talking to lydia on the phone.  Of course, I didn't get here til 5 because of the whole doctor/pharmacy/traffic thing, and for a few minutes at least I thought maybe I shouldn't have bothered coming up.  But it ended up being a nice fun night (as some of the new pics I have online show) and I'm glad I went.

So, the next day Jason, Lydia, and Lori came over for dinner, and that was nice as well (although Jason was being VERY odd...hehe).  Then I said bye to Lydia and Lori and that makes me sad, and Jason and I spent the rest of the night playing SNES, good times.

Sunday mom and I went to the beach!  It was a beautiful day, but very windy, so if you weren't just laying in the sun it was chilly (and later on in the day it was chilly even if that's all you were doing).  I caught up on sun and naps and just being at the beach though, and later that night went over Jason's house where we watched a movie and, of course, played PS2.  And then I had to say bye to him too :(

Monday was pretty boring, but Danielle left for Europe (!!) and mom and I picked up my dead computer.  It looks like I'll be buying a new one come December, minus the stuff that still works.  It's nothing special because we had to go for cheap, but it's just as good as my old computer with a few updates and its a Dell Dimension 4600, so it's pretty nice. 

Today I got ready all day - yeah.  Packing is such a daunting task!  Wish me luck.

a link

Updated Pics  These latest pics get to be a part of Summer 2003 rather than Junior Year because, well...  my summer hasn't exactly ended yet!

Yesterday was 8 months. Time flies!

I can't wait for tomorrow - my last trip to Muhlenberg before leaving next week!  The countdown to Europe has begun . Am I ready?  Of course not!  The past few days I've been doing a few things to get ready...  Tim and I have booked our hostels, my credit card is all set up, my computer's at Best Buy (hopefully) being fixed, I started the immense process of cleaning my room...  Let me tell you, I had one HUGE bag of garbage, and my room currently looks messier than it did when I started cleaning it!  A few things I'm selling on ebay, but most of it went to the trash.  I've also been working on a present for a friend, and that's been taking up a lot of time. 

And I'm not healthy yet!  It's been over a week now, and I STILL have a sore throat.  Not a minor one, but one that really bothers me.  Today, for instance, I made myself tea.  *I* made something *for myself* - *twice*!  It didn't really help though. 

Tomorrow I hope to get myself an ISIC at the abroad office while I'm up at the Berg, and then, who knows what we'll do, since our original plan of going to Dorney is shot (It's not open tomorrow OR Saturday to the public.  Poo on that).  Can't think of much else to say right now, so I'll stop boring you ;)

My new digital camera is working!

I thought I'd make it know that I chnaged my mind - I WILL still be using my Yahoo pictures page to show off my pix to the world.  It seems easier than AOL pix program.  So, after my visit to Muhley-world tomorrow, I'll put new picture online, and they'll be on my Yahoo pictures page.  Capiche?

I'm not a thief

Lori has this song in her away message tonight, but I lovelovelove this song and used to have it in MY away messages at the end of Freshman year, and now I'm putting it here too because it always applies in my life (and yours too).

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong
That I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

~The Luckiest, Ben Folds

owww my earrrr

Visiting the Berg was great, but made me very jealous of my friends and their living accomodations and getting to spend all semester with eachother, which is silly, because I'll be off frollicking in Europe and having tons of fun.  I didn't do too much while I was there other than spend quality time with my lovies, but Danielle and I DID go to the gym...twice!  :O 

This was supposed to be a long journal entry, but AOL won't let me fit the whole thing in :(  So...

Wednesday night, got sick on the way home.  BAD headache, which turned into a bad headache and sore throat on Thursday, accompanied by a fever.  Friday it stuck around some more.  Saturday, I got an ear ache to go with it...

Currently, my headache and throat soreness are bearable (especially when not moving and/or talking), and my ear isn't so much a pain as before, although I can't hear out of it.  Mom and I were originally supposed to go to the beach tomorrow, but b/c of my health and the weather forecast, we're gonna go find me a purse and a digital camera instead...

Lori is sending me drunken IMs which are kinda hard to decipher.  For instance:  psrnhhhgin s i lo8iek ur idon  I took that to mean she likes my new icon.  Shrug.  I'm gonna go to bed soon.

Happy Birthday Sam!

I am SO ready to go visit Muhley-world tomorrow.  I'll be back maybe Tuesday night, or maybe not!  It might be kinda boring to not have classes while everyone else does, but their classes seem to be few and far between and there are enough people I need to spend time with that it won't matter.  Plus, there's Danielle, for example, who won't have classes like me!  It's going to be weird having to PAY for meals!

Yesterday mom and I went to the beach.  It was THE perfect beach day, hot and beautiful with nice water temperature... still coulda been more waves though.  It was a real nice day, and we went to our seafood restaurant afterwards and it was yummy :) 

Today I did stuff which added up to a whole lotta nothing again, but then at night Jen H. came over and we watched Zoolander and enjoyed it muchly, as always.  I can't wait for tomorrow!  Well, except that whole dentist thing..  Ick.

I'm gonna go to bed soon since I have to wake up early.  Let's hope there's no spooky white light in my room tonight...  :(  :(

"I wanna fly, never come down, And live my life, And have friends around."

a deep conversation

deathbycstand: am i not special?
deathbycstand: do i not deserve mention?
deathbycstand: when you cut me, do i not bleed?
deathbycstand: when you poke me, do i  not laugh?
RebL1231: when i poke you you'd probably yell and slap my hand away, lol
deathbycstand: this is true

And I am right once again.  :)

hooray! :D

From Variety:

Just two weeks before the Dec. 17 release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" -- the final installment of the Peter Jackson-helmed epic trilogy -- the first two "Ring" entries will be unspooling worldwide.

In memoranda sent to exhibitors on Wednesday, New Line laid out a game plan to promote the third film by refreshing filmgoers' memories with "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers."

Starting the week of Dec. 5, the extended DVD cut of "Fellowship of the Ring" will be released in some 100 or so theaters in the U.S. and in 20 theaters in Canada.

Then, the week of Dec. 12, sequel "Two Towers" will unspool, just a month after having preemed on DVD, leading up to a worldwide Dec. 16 daylong marathon, during which all three films will be shown back-to-back. Exhib guidelines call for a 3 p.m. showing of "Fellowship" followed by a 7 p.m. screening of "Two Towers" and then an 11 p.m. screening of "Return of the King," which will carry over into Dec. 17 -- the day of its global release.

What's your pirate name?

Your pirate name is:

Captain Bess Rackham
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!  What's yours?

there is no sleepy mood option, but that's what i am

This week has been nice and relaxing and stressful all at once.  Stressful because of all the things I need to do before leaving, and relaxing because, well, it's home.  Since my last entry I've seen Jen Herman (hence the quotes from the other day), seen Jason a bit since he's leaving me for school :(   (might I add - I discovered on his brother's PS2 that grand theft auto Vice City is a GREAT game!), gotten together an Italy itinerary and Italy plane tickets with Tim, gone to the beach with Jen V, and played The Sims a lot (what else did you expect?!)

Some good stuff: ~Pasty and the children at the beach~ Sydney Krupnick ~the insane man stealing the umbrella in Le Divorce~ the random ending of Four Feathers ~living longer than 5 minutes while playing Vice City~ memorable quotes ~Jason's new car~ scooping melty ice cream for old people ~

And some not-so-great ones, including the three-day long fight with mom, Stacey's attack on my leg and my subsequent attack on HER, having a piece of glass pierce my foot, the fly that wanted to be a vampire, and... scooping melty ice cream for old people 

On the plate:  get my credit card, book hostels for Rome, Florence, and Venice, set up the exercise thingy and USE it and lose some weight, clean my room (i.e. throw stuff out), find a digital camera (any suggestions?), knit and decoupage (sp?) my life away :)

Left is the opposite of right, believe it or not

"Right." - Jen Herman

"Right." - me

"Right.  Correct." - Jen

"Left." - me

"What's left?"  - Jen

"The opposite of right." - me

My wisdom astonishes even me!

 

"You said right, then I said right, then you said right, then you said correct, then I said left, then you said what's left?, then I said the opposite of right." - me, a bit later

Try saying that one three times fast!

random things that make me laugh

"I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they don't want anybody walking in and lying down in the crash stuff, then, when somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, 'What was THAT?!'"

cont'd from below

This wouldn't fit in my previos entry.  Poo on that!

Today:  did a lot of stuff which added up to nothing, and slept a LOT!  Tonight Jason and I are going out for dinner and then I;d guess doing something else but I don't know what. 

This week should be busy but good, since I have people to see and places to go, and of course more Europe stuff to get ready!  I'll be up at Muhlenberg on Monday afternoon following my dentist appointment, and I'll stay through the MTA meeting on Tuesday and drive back home when I feel like it, so make sure you see me while I'm up there if YOU'RE there as well!  Or if you're home, make sure I see you before you go back to school.  Time to go continue getting ready...

my first week at home :)

I love being home!  A run down of my week:

Monday: went to my gradparents' for lunch and had a nice visit, followed by a stop on the way home in Lydia's coffee shop...  Her face when i walked in the door was PRICELESS!  Tuesday: Headed down the shore (Silver Lake - very nice).  It was, of course, cloudy and cold, so we didn't spend too long at the beach that day, but we had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, then drovearound the area a bit and went for a walk on the boardwalk.  Wednesday: a BIT of sun and warmth, followed by clouds and cold.  We spent a while at the beach though, then went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant (very good), then went to see Pirates of the Carribean (my third time).  Johnny Depp is great :)  Thursday:  Sunny and hot!  Spent the day at the beach and pool, and got a nice tan, finally.  We stopped at Pizza Hut on the way home, and by the time we actually got home I was exhausted, so my sister and I just played Princess Maker 2 for awhile.  Friday:  Went to see Seabiscuit with Jason, which I really liked, then out to dinner with mom, Beth, and the Davidsons (my cousins) at Mrs. Robino's in Delaware.  Afterwards, my sister and I again spent our time playing Princess Maker 2.  Saturday: drove Beth to the airport with Mom, then Mom and I shopped at REI and bought me a travel backpack and towel.  Afterwards, I hauled out some travel books from the basement and researched Italy.  I can't WAIT, but there are soooooooo many places to go and not enough time.  Tim and I are gonna hafta get toegther real soon to actually plan out our itinerary.  But, I found out all the cell phone info I need, as well as where the Ryan Air flights are available in Italy.

Happy Birthday Jen! :)

Last show done, strike over, and I'm home :)

Gushing is not my style. 

The end!

That would be sad, but not, like, banana sad.

Yesterday was quite the interesting day.  As I was getting out of the shower, Katie was leaving me - loading all her stuff into the car and moving out :(  I had told Anna I would help her return the finale costumes from Chorus Line to the place in Bethlehem, so we had a little adventurous journey into Bethlehem, where we learned that 4th Ave. is NOT the same place as 4th St., and we should have in fact been looking for 3rd St.  Bah!

And then there was the show.  Let's just say it was a great show and the audience loved it, and they were also very understanding when we started at 8:30 rather than 8.  The adrenaline was rushing though, lemme tell ya.  After the show I went to Dr. K's.

Today I packed, and then packed some more.  The show was "eh", which is a shame since my mom and sister were here to see it today.  acting-wise, it was great, and it was a good audience, but we had some issues with the Harlequin drop (and therefore the moon), the harp, missed props, an added line, and a (rightfully so) furious harpist.  After the show, I went to Friendly's, of course, with Beth and mom, and it was lovely and happy and I can't wait to go home. Packed some more, got a call from Lance around 1:30 saying to come hang out, so I did and it was nice... and we discussed the demise of bananas.  (Hence the above quote, said by a certain Steve Hoppe)

Tomorrow - show, strike, free food, HOME!

Happy Birthday Danielle!  :)

3/19 to go!

"Where do snakes pee?" - Zoe, as Katie's snake slithers around in her lap

"In your lap." - me

Actually, Zoe wanted to know where they actually pee FROM... but I feel that makes it an even better answer :)

So, today.  I woke up later then I meant to, and fifteen minutes later Lydia arrived.  We went out for coffee (at Northern Lights...it's a bit sketch), drove around a lot, and then went out for dinner at Outback and Katie joined us.  I ate LOTS.  Katie is leaving me all alone in the room tomorrow, which obviously makes me real sad.  Poo on that.  Zoe says I need to expand my vocabulary (I refer to too many people as "interesting"), so let me rephrase.  My roommate, Katie, is evacuating the premises of Martin Luther dormitory to relocate to her home in New Jersey tomorrow afternoon, while I will be left all on my lonesome for the remaining nights here at the college.  The thought of being alone makes me mournful, distressed, depressed and cheerless.  This is an unfavorable situation.

Moving on.

The show went well again tonight, the result of which was our first standing ovation.  Finally!  Meanwhile, I started knitting a nice ribbed scarf.  Oh, and the Lav Lounge now has computers in it.  What's with that? (The Lav Lounge, BTW, is the Green Room for the theatre I'm working in.  It's Lavender, not green.)

After the show Katie and I went over to Zoe's apartment and talked and played with Voldemort (the snake) and Poe (Zoe's cat).  Good clean fun :)  Sleepy time!

"I'm ready anytime; if you'll take me, I'm ready to go!" - Luisa, The Fantasticks

There really need to be more choices for mood.  Sad, annoyed, content...these would be good additions to AOL's list of moods.

So today I slept LOTS.  Got up, went to the computer lab, made myslf Ramen, watched a Lifetime movie (The Man with Three Wives or something...quality...), got dressed, went to work, then came back and knitted in Kim's room.  And now I'm back in the computer lab and it's time for bed.  The show went rather well tonight, everyone seemed pretty happy with it, although Kim and I almost had a heart attack at one point when she couldn't get the trap back open.  This would have been a bad thing, trust me.  But she eventually did get it open, with plenty of time to spare, and we could all breathe again backstage, in the trap, and in the booth.  Oh, and a certain actor told me he can't be at strike, which is funny since it's IN THE CONTRACT.

Lydia's coming up tomorrow, so we'll do dinner and I don't know what else before then.  Something nice and exciting, I hope. 

Then Friday comes, which means I'll help Anna move her stuff to Bethlehem and then do a show, and on Saturday I'll pack and then do a show which mommy and Beth will see, then go out for ice cream, and then it will be Sunday so I can do a final show, strike for the second time this summer, go to the closing night party, load up the car, and GO HOME!  I' m excited, can you tell?  Only 4 more shows (out of 19) to go!

...and the computer is dead again

So, my computer died again...  Surprise, surprise.

Tonight's show was ok - not great, but not bad.  Dinner at Hunan Springs was good, but very filling.  I love Wonton soup.  After the show I watched Virgin Suicides with Kim, David, Zoe and Anna, and then Phil Levesque came in after the movie was over I think.  It's so nice when you realize that there actually IS human life in the dorm - you just have to go searching for it.  I also saw human life just a few minutes ago - a bunch of T-rashed interns.  They make me smile though :)

The "e" key on this keyboard does not work very well.  Ugh.  

I don't have anything lined up yet for tomorrow.  Maybe I'll work on my computer some more, or sleep some more.  Now that Mel has ALSO left me (as of this afternoon) I'm even MORE alone, poo on that.

Yesterday I spoke to Regina online, which was odd since we speak so rarely that when we do speak we have years to catch up on.  Faina's engaged, Nate and Sarah are married as of Sunday I believe.  Weirdness in my life.

What to do next spring?

I forgot to add this in my entry earlier: I recently ran into Bill Sanders (actually, he came to see the show) and he asked if I'd like to SM Jesus Christ Superstar under his direction at Civic Theatre in Allentown next spring. I would be paid $800, I believe. So, do I go for that or go for a mainstage like Measure for Measure at Muhlenberg? There are pros and cons to each, I suppose. I don't have the energy to list them all right now though. Bah.

My computer is working

So, my computer is strangely deciding to work today, but I'm sure it will stop soon.  I decided to do the whole journal thing finally, especially since I'm barely ever online anymore and can't talk to people on AIM constantly. 

The Fantasticks is going really well, and closes on Sunday, so if you want to see it, you better hurry up and buy tickets cuz it's selling out for the end of the run.  Chorus Line ended yesterday, so the dorm is pretty lonely right now.  :(

Due to the fact that my digital camera is dead, I've decided to discontinue my pictures page on Yahoo!  I'll still keep the link to it, but from now on I'll just add any digital pics I have to this journal.  Other than that, I just can't wait to go home!  Lori and Jen were here this weekend, so that was a good time, and Tim and I bought our tickets for London last week (we leave Spt. 11th), and Lydia might visit me on Thursday!

I better go get dressed now - I think Kim and David and I are gonna go to Hunan Springs for dinner, just because.