2 in 1

So yesterday, I forgot/went to bed too late to blog, and tonight it's 1, and I have to get up at 7 tomorrow. So, again I have stayed up too late. But let me just say that yesterday, I bobbed (manned the box office at my theater) for the kids show there. However the director was there, and she handled a lot of my duties so I could actually see the show, because I hadn't seen it before. There was a birthday party that came, and it was nice to have a more senior company member/veteran bobber there to handle things. When I got home, I washed patio furniture and then we grilled out. Anyway, moving on to today. It was a Monday, which sucked, but I did start in a yet more advanced part of math class. Thinking back on the day, that's really the only thing I can think of of any significance. At 7, I had rehearsal. I walked there, and then stayed until 10:15 for the regular rehearsing (run-thru with stopping + one of the songs), one of our longest rehearsals yet. I then stayed afterwards to help paint. I mainly painted a section of drywall that hadn't been painted since it was put up. Then my mom arrived at the theater and took me home. Wow, that was short for two days worth of activity! But, future Will, that will have to be good enough as this Will is really, really tired.

A better part of my day at the theater

Today, I had to wake up at 10 because I had to be at a burial service for my paternal grandma at 11. It was out in the suburbs, and it was about a 45 minute drive, so we had to leave about 10:15. She passed away Feb. 1, and was cremated. We threw some of the ashes of Peanut Butter Ridge on Ajax Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, the same place where some of my paternal grandfather's ashes are. But the rest we buried today, in the cemetary across the street from the montessori school she founded. After the burial, we went out to brunch. I had a chocolate crepe. Afterwards, my aunt inquired about getting someone to speak to the montessori kids (she now runs the school) about the Department of Peace, which I am promoting through the Peace Alliance. I volunteered myself. She also said maybe I could talk to the high school kids at the high school that my cousins went to. Now I have to find a date between now and their graduation when I can come talk, and prepare something. At about 1, we headed back to town, and we got back at around 2. I mowed my dad's lawn (I had been with my dad ever since he picked me up at my mom's at 10), and then went to the theater for rehearsal at 4. It was possibly the shortest rehearsal ever, with us jut running one song. We were done by 5:30. Nobody's getting used to that though, as tech week is next week. I then walked to my mom's, and played computer games here until 7:20, when I walked back to the theater to go to their hit show that is now closing after 7 years. I think I'm the only company member of the theater that's never been in it. Anyway, on the way there, there was an ambulance and firetruck stopped with their lights on, but I didn't see any action. I got to the theater at 7:40, and waited around until two castmembers of the show that I'm rehearsing for now showed up. The fiancee of another of my castmembers (and a member of the cast of the show we were about to see) was there, and it turns out it was his birthday. This was like the fifth time I've seen the show, but the first in two or three years. It was really funny. When it was over, I hung around a little and talked to a few people (there were quite a few company members and/or castmembers of the show I'm rehearsing for in this show), and then when they all went off to the bar that all the people from the theater always go to after rehearsal/shows, I walked home, as I can't go in the bar. When I got home, I looked at new posts on Engrish.com, one of my favorite websites. It is so funny. It's mis-translations, if you will, of Japanese/Chinese text into English. Now I am too tired to do anything more, so I am turning it in for the night.

Can you say "100 percent?"

I'm writing this so late (1:15 am) that it's actually 4/28/07. But this is the post for 4/27/07, and oh what a happy Friday (isn't that redundant?) it was! The big news: I got a 100 on my Constitution test! Only one out of the 39 that took it. So here's how it went down: A few days ago the Social Studies teacher had about 15 of the 39 graded, and although she didn't want to hand those back, she did let those people come up and hear their score. I didn't go up then out of fear of what my score might be. Then, today, she had all of them done but still didn't want to hand them back until the final person that needs to take it takes it. So, she said people can come up and have their score told to them. I just continued working on an outline I was working on, again, because I was scared. Somehow, somebody had figured out that I got 100 because they asked me. I had no clue what I had gotten. Then the teacher said, "Will, aren't you curious?" and I was like, "Oh, I'm so scared." She then mouthed to me "100." I was so happy. In other school-related news, I found out that a company I have stock in, Wrigley gum, is donating $5,000 to my school. I also have to begin searching for a salsa recipe, as we are having a Cinco de Mayo/annual salsa cookoff/competition in Spanish class. I voluntarily made salsa two years ago, and then didn't last year. But this year, it's required, so I'm trying to come up with a good recipe now. In math class, I began my advanced work, and in language arts, we had our final quiz (there's usually a quiz after each act, or every other act) for Romeo and Juliet. In construction site news, they finished loading all the debris into the dump trucks. We had a few classes in the atrium or library instead of in the normal classroom due to complaints by both teachers and students of a dizzying diesel aroma in the rooms along the back part of the school (closest to the alley). This was caused by the dump trucks being on for the entire time they were being loaded, even though they were not moving. I did not smell anything. When I got home, I pretty much goofed off until 8:30, when I went to see my uncle in the city's improv fest. It's the second straight year I've gone. We arrived 45 minutes late, but it was okay because my uncle hadn't gone on yet anyway, and we came mainly to see him. After the show was over, we got to go backstage, and then got to leave the special actors-only exit. This was because a large crowd had amassed outside for the 10:30 show, and it would have taken forever to get through it. On the way home, my mom and I stopped at a 24 hr. diner and I had ham and hash browns, which was way too greasy for my liking. I picked up an especially funny edition of the Onion, too. It was hilarious. Probably the funniest Onion ever. The Onion was also, by the way, a sponsor of this improv fest I had just been at, along with Chemically Imbalanced Comedy (CIC), a theater troupe that rents space from my theater company. After I got home, I just wasted away time staring at the computer screen, and now am going to stop doing that, and finally go to bed.

Mathematical advancement

Today in school I began working on my own in math (accelerated), and tommorrow I may get placed in an even more advanced group. I was very happy to hear this, obviously. In science, we did a roller coast project where we had a 12 foot long piece of tubing and we had to tape it to the wall to make a "roller coaster." We would then put a BB down it, and adjust it so that the BB had enough energy to get up over the crests of the loops. Whoever had the biggest loops, and still managed to get their BB all the way through, won. We got 2nd place out of six groups. As I predicted, the house was being torn down today, and we watched it in language arts. We then went to the science room for 80 minutes (it has no windows) and the next time we got to a window, the entire frame was down. Those are pretty much the highlights of my day at school. When I got home, I goofed off for a little bit and then had dinner: chinese barbeque ribs, chicken noodle soup, and ham fried rice. Rehearsal was called for tonight, so I didn't start my homework until later. I didn't study for my Romeo and Juliet test, but it's late now and I don't have time. I pretty much had math, and I had to get my Spanish quiz signed. After my homework was done, I Google Image Searched some of the equipment I've been reading about in Black Hawk Down, so I could get a better understanding (Little Birds, Orion, Black Hawks, TOW missiles, M16s, AK47s, five ton flatbed trucks, wide-body humvees, .50 cals, RPGs, 9 mm Beretta pistols, and just general photos of Rangers and Delta Force operators in combat). Of course, the 2007 models of all these things are different than those of 14 years ago, but it was still very enriching. I also got a good deal of reading in tonight. And I finally got that reservation called in for my theater's long-running hit show on Saturday. Now, I am very tired and stayed up way too late (especially since I have band at 7:45 tomorrow, so I have to get there 45 minutes earlier than my usual 8:30 arrival time), so I am going to bed now.

Black Hawk Down

They're tearing the house behind the school down. Today, they only took down the garage, but I'm sure they will be taking down the main frame tomorrow. Needless to say, it did and is going to distract many from their work...Hehe. Anyway, I've adopted a policy of not describing my school day, not because there's anything sensitive there, but simply because it is profoundly boring. Even as I think back, I cannot recall a single event worth remembering. So, moving right along. I was picked up by my mom today, and when I got home, I put up the fluorescent energy-saving lightbulbs that we got at my future high school's green festival. Then I did my homework, which was just working on my research paper on Black Hawk Down. There are 20 notecards due tomorrow, and I got 15 done at home, all from the same source, and then took 5 blank cards to rehearsal at 7 and finished there. I'm very happy I chose Black Hawk down as my topic, because it is fascinating. Anyway, at rehearsal we had a full run-thru. I found out that a fellow company member and choreographer of the show had been taken to the hospital, but we're pretty much in the dark as to what's going on and the severity of it. I've got my finger's crossed that she'll be out as soon as possible. After rehearsal, I had meant to make a reservation for myself for the theater's open-ended, long-running (7 years!), hit show that is now closing due to the burden of keeping it going (finding actors, box office people, etc.). But I didn't, so now I have to remember to make it tomorrow, but tomorrow's Thursday, and the show's Saturday, and it's so popular that it might be all sold out already. After rehearsal, I was picked up by my dad, and got all the way home and in the garage when I realized I'd forgotten my backpack at the theater. I hardly ever bring it, but since I was going from mom's to dad's I had. We went back and got it, and then got back home, and now I'm going to bed.

First Run Thru

So, today I had school, and I'm not even going to talk about it because if it was boring going through it, it's going to be boring recounting it. I will say two things, though. First, I found out that I got my first choice for service, Earth Care. Service is a period (40 minutes) after lunch every Tuesday, and you put down your first, second, third choice, etc every quarter. You can choose from charity drives, drama, choir, Earth Care, computers with senior citizens, memory book, and maybe a couple others I can't think or right now. Earth care basically handles the school's recycling initiative. Second, I got a complement from my Social Studies teacher on a paper I did on gun control, which was nice, considering I did it during class and was actually kind of tuning out on the discussion. Anyway, I came home and did my homework, but didn't have any time to work on my research paper work on Black Hawk Down. That's because I spent a better part of my time teaching my dog a new trick, "On the Red Couch." Basically, it's pointless. Why would we ever command her to get on the red couch? In any case, she now gets on our red couch when you say, "On the Red Couch." I had to go to rehearsal at 7, and we ended up having our longest rehearsal yet, til 10:30. Although once we get into tech week, we usually have rehearsals that you can expect to go to midnight or beyond. The latest tech I've ever done at Corn went until 4:00. It was odd driving by school at 4:15 in the morning, I can tell you that. I even went to school at the normal time, 4 hours later. Anyway, this rehearsal was a run-thru, our first ever full run thru. Everyone was off book, and I only got a few notes. No notes is good notes. After that, I came home, and now am sitting here writing. I'm sure there is more to my day than that, but I am so exhausted that I'm going to leave this post at that. Good night.

Ugh...Monday

So, today was Monday. 'Nuff said. School was school: I can't wait to get out. A month and a half to go. Once school was over, I came home and did my homework. I also realized that for maybe the first time ever, my dad forgot to put a note in my lunchbox. Cheesy and childish, maybe, but I like having that connection to my youth. Besides, it's entertaining. At 7, I had rehearsal. I found out from a fellow company member that I got someone to replace me as BOB (Box office bitch, the person who mans the box office) on Saturday, April 28th. I couldn't do it as I had a brunch in honor of my grandma, who is having a burial service immediately preceding the brunch. The actual rehearsal was a dance-thru, and I worked on my flip at the end of one of the songs. See, there's this thing called 60, which is 60 inches off the ground, and then there's this thing called 30, which is thirty inches off the ground. 60 is above 30, obviously. At the end of the song, I go up from 30 to 60, and then jump into the outstretched hands of my fellow cast members. I am then horizontal (parallel to 30). Those cast members flip me around (So, my body is now perpendicular with the floor), I bend my knees, and then some other cast members come in and grab my back, which is facing the audience, and flip it around (6:00, to 5:00, to 4:00, to 3:00, to 2:00, to 1:00, and finally to 12:00, if you're facing stage right, which is the audience's left). I am now standing on 30, and that's the end of the song. Sound confusing? You're not alone. I didn't even understand what they were doing at first, and I was having it done to me! Anyway, that's the way it was SUPPOSED to be. We had never choreographed it before, and at first I was nervous, but then I developed a trust factor, and it was totally great from there. However, it was ending way too late. So, we decided to scrap the flip up and over. Instead, I would jump into their arms as before (from 60, so I was parallel with the floor) and be flipped so my head was at 6:00 and my feet were at 12:00; in other words, I was upside down. I would then put my hands on the floor as if I were doing a handstand, and tuck my head, pull my legs in, and do a somersault. We got it figured out and it was painless. That was the highlight of rehearsal. Today was really a pretty not-much-going-on kind of day. I think I will go to bed now.

Being Shuffled From One Sermon to Another

I was forced to wake up at 9:00 this Sunday morning, way too early, to go to a Center for Spiritual Living (CSL) sermon that is nondenominational at 10:15. I have gone to church about twice in my life, so clearly I don't like it. I don't like people infiltrating my life. I don't believe in any of the ideas of any of the religions. I don't want to alienate the people of another religion. All religions are right in my mind. I am, in short, a deist. Anyway, the sermon was held at an elementary school, and I suppose it was nice to hear the live music and to feel the energy, but the name God was still mentioned a few times. My dad said that it was referring to God as if God encompassed everything; as if God referred to all Gods. But then I said, "Yes, but a Muslim might be mad that you don't use Allah to describe all Gods, or Allahs, as it were." So this sermon was a deist sermon with a Christian slant. You can see how I have very little faith that religion accomplishes any good, as sects and denominations make themselves apparent even in the most well-meaning terms. As somebody once said, "The only good thing ever to come out of religion was the music," or something like that. Anyway, I think I may have to start going every Sunday, as my parents are making me. I did see an old friend from a show I did at that same storefront theater I talked about earlier, so that was nice. I hadn't seen her in almost two years. Anyway, after the CSL sermon, my mom, my dad, and I headed down to Green Fest, which turned out to be basically just a bunch of vendors selling stuff. The relationship between the product they were selling and actually being green can be summed up in my earlier blog entry, that described the green festival at my future school. There was a hybrid there (Prius), and a vendor selling solar panels ($14k for an installation!), and a police car with flowers in it (it was fun just to look at the police car), but those were really the only interesting exhibits. On the main stage at 1, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a presidential candidate, spoke about being green, and he even mentioned the Department of Peace, a Cabinet-level Department that I have been advocating the creation of with the Peace Alliance. After Kucinich's talk, we went and heard David Wolfe, the founder of Sunfood Nutrition and a raw food advocate. By the time all this was over, I was definitely ready to get out of there. We went to a South Side restaurant, "Nueva Leone," or something like that, and had a really good Mexican dinner. Once my dad and I got home (my mom had stayed at Green Fest), I did my homework and then, at 7:30, we went and got a movie: "The road to Guantanamo," or something like that. It was really good, but really sad and embarrassing. Seeing five armed SWAT military policemen beat up a mentally ill, helpless, innocent civilian until he's so covered in blood you can't recognize him is never something that invokes pride in your country. (By the way, it was a true story.) Anyway, I'm not going to get into that because I could go on forever, but I'm tired and must be off to bed.

High School Scheduling

Today, 4/21/07, was a Saturday, so I was able to sleep in until 10, which still isn't as late as I would have liked to have slept. However, my dad made me get up so we could work on the garden shed or something like that (I was still half-asleep so I don't remember). We didn't get around to it though, as I goofed off for a bit, and then took a shower. By the time all that was done, it was 11, and we had to be at my future high school (I'm in 8th grade now; this will be the school I will be starting at in the fall) at 12:30 for scheduling and registration. We left at 11, though, so we could ride the public transit's bus system and get a feel for which bus I will be taking, etc. We finally got to the school at 12:20, which was actually a whole hour earlier than my scheduled appointment time. We had gotten there early so as to have time to meet my mom and go over some things. But as soon as my mom got there at about 12:35, we went in. It was very loosely scheduled, obviously. First, my parents signed up for the parent network and some other stuff, such as email updates. Then, one of the counselors who was manning the booths took my Social Security number, name, parents' names, and other information. She also signed me up for proficiency tests in math, Spanish, and band. Next, we went to a booth where a lady signed us up for the Snake Road Adventure Center outing, which is a time for all the freshmen to meet each other and "bond." She also assigned me times for my proficiency tests. After some quick organizing, we were done. There was a green festival outside, and because the weather was so nice, we decided to stay. There were a lot of vendors with booths who, it seemed to me like, were more looking for visibility/business than actually talking about being green. For example, there was a booth promoting free trade. Because free trade is really green. There was another booth for the Urban Wildlife Coalition, with people giving you material reading, "What to do if you encounter a dead or injured possum," and "Everything you ever needed to know about raccoons." Now I support being green wholeheartedly, trust me, but you need to show me the solar panels, the fluorescent lightbulbs (Which, by the way, they did have, and were giving away for free. That booth was the ONE good one), the hybrids, the buses running on biodiesel, the fuel cell cars, the Mercedes' with BlueTec diesel, the wind powered farms. These are the things that will produce results. "Yeah, well, you know, free trade supports sustainability, which in turn promotes environmental friendliness" doesn't cut it for me. Prove that! Show me results! Show me action! Anyway, all this resulted in a pretty boring afternoon at my future school. After this fest, I got back on the bus with my dad (my mom left via car) and went home to my dad's to eat a quick sandwich. Then it was off to rehearsal for Don Wisconsin, a show that I'm doing at a local storefront theater that I have been involved with since '03 (a span that amounts to 8 additional shows for my resume), and that I also have been a company member at for one year as of April 18. I had a rehearsal from 4-6, and then a meeting to discuss the Cobbies, which are the theater's version of the Academy Awards, honoring shows done at the theater over the past season(s). After a 20 oz. Iced Mocha at the coffee house down the street, I came home to my dad's and helped bring deck furniture up from the basement. I played around for a few hours, played a game of "Sorry" between my dad, my cat, and my dog (I played for my cat, Dusty, and my dad played for my dog, L.D., which stands for laugh dog because she made me laugh the first time I saw her), which ended in Dusty getting first, my dad getting second, me getting third, and L.D. getting fourth place, and then went to a local Jimmy John's to get a sub for dinner. However, because Jimmy John's was closed (it was now 9:30) we went to a Chinese place, after a quick detour to Walgreen's so my dad could get a prescription. I got two orders of potstickers. I figured I should get two since they were appetizers, and I wanted a full-scale dinner portion. Later, it turned out I would only need one order. On the way home, we saw a Maserati, but I couldn't look at it for long, as the walk light was about to turn to "Don't Walk." As we walked up to the curb, I noticed a guy in a camouflage army jacket. However, I didn't think anything of it, as you can get that stuff anywhere, even if you're not in the armed forces. I have this thing that I call parrot talk, where I will just rattle off whatever comes to mind (i.e. Something I've just read about or seen) to my mom or dad. Well this time, I had been thinking of Cobra II, a really excellent book that I've been reading about the Iraq war. It's probably my favorite book ever, but I've put it on hold for a while now as I have to read "Black Hawk Down" because I'm doing a research paper on the event of the same name. Anyway, I said Diwaniyah, a town in Iraq that inadvertently became a sanctuary for the paramilitary, now-defunct Fedayeen that haunted the supply lines of the Army and Marines in their march north to Baghdad and forced a pause in all northward movement so as to concentrate on eliminating the threat in the rear, a problem that could have been solved if the 4th Infantry Division hadn't been floating in the Meditarranean, waiting for a non-existent front to open from Turkey. When they finally did get all the way through the Suez Canal, up the Gulf of Oman, through the Strait of Hormuz, into the Persian Gulf, and to Kuwait, it was too little, too late, although it's hard to call the Army's most technologically advanced infantry division too little under any circumstances. Anyway, I could go on forever about that, but I need to keep this a diary about my life, because as much as I'd like to talk about what I think about the state of events, I know what my own views are, so I don't need to restate them to myself (Remember: I'm writing this with the idea that my audience is Future Me). Getting back to my parrot talk, I kept saying names of towns in Iraq. When I got to this curb where the guy in the Army camouflage was, I said Fallujah. All of a sudden I hear, "Were you just talking about Fallujah? Lemme show you something." This guy pulls out his Army ID badge. Turns out he was in Fallujah in November '04, but now is out and doing fine, although he did comment on how he still hasn't gotten any benefits. Typical. He said his jacket was an actual, real, authentic jacket, but not the exact one he wore. Turns out he's now a very staunch anti-war guy, which is great to see. Anyway, after that, I got home, ate, and now am here, ready to go to bed. I think that pretty much sums up my day in a nutshell.

Getting back into things

So, I've had a blog on and off for a while, but I've been so busy at certain times that I haven't had time to write in it. I would start it, and then get busy and miss it for a day, and then not do it the next day because I would think "Oh man, now I have to write about two days and I only have time to write about one!" The next day, I would feel even worse, because I would have to do three, and I didn't have the time. Anyway, to make a long story short, I haven't written in my blog in about a year now. I am starting a new one here, and seeing how it goes. I was encouraged to dip back in to blogosphere when I was in Aspen, Colorado at the beginning of April '07 and a friend out there said she was enjoying checking up on what I was doing. The very fact that other people read my blog was news to me, as I had created it basically as a journal/diary for me to read in future years. (I hate writing out journals longhand as there's never enough room on the page for the specific date, and so you spill into the next date, and it throws the whole rest of the year off.) Anyway, that's the way I plan to have this blog, too, and I pity the people that may find my life mundane, but, hey, it's really for me anyway. So, today, Friday, 4/20/07. Hmmmm. Well, I've had a sore throat the past couple days, so I woke up at 8:00 this morning after 9 whole hours of sleep and I felt better! Amazing what a little sleep can do for you. I went to school for a half day, 8:30 to 12:15, and found out that 4 teachers are leaving the faculty for next year, which has no effect on me because I'm graduating. Still, it was surprising: Our Spanish, Art, Music/Choir/Band, and Math teachers are all pursuing other things. At 11, in Social Studies, we observed a moment of silence for the Virginia Tech massacre victims and their families. After school, I went to Blades of Glory. Hilarious! Will Ferrell is my favorite actor, period. I don't have a favorite actress, or a favorite actor in a dramatic role, or a favorite actress in a comedic role, etc. I just have one general favorite, and he was in top-notch form in Blades of Glory. That pretty much brings me up to now, and even though the day isn't over, I think that Future Will (my future self; my name is Will.) has gotten enough information about April 20th. I gave a long introduction that won't be on other posts, too, so that kind of makes up for the lack of descriptive text. Anyway, now I'm going to walk the dog.