Well my hair is glued my face is caked and I have 20 minutes.

So naturally I will comply with Kimmmmmmer’s request and fill out her little survey.

(and by the way, New Moon is fabulous. I want to see it a million times.)

1. Where is your cell phone? On my left leg, plugged in to charger.

2. Your hair?Hairsprayed withing a last inch of it’s life.

3. Your mother? Coming to my show tonight.

4. You father: Also coming.

5. Your favorite food: Steak or cheeseburger, or MY enchiladas.

6. Your dream last night: Don’t remember.

7. Favorite drink: Hot cocoa or ginger ale or peppermint tea or licorice spice tea.

8. Your Dream/Goal: Pay my bills and enjoy life while doing so.

9. Room you’re in: My school bedroom.

10. What’s your hobby?: What ISN’T my hobby? Well apparently not crocheting. I tried to learn last night but apparently I pulled the knots too tight and broke the crochet hook. Maybe I’ll stick to knitting.

11. What is your worst fear?: Working a job that has nothing to do with my major, not being able to live on my own, not being able to pay my student loans, not being able to pay for grad school.

12. Where you were last night: Midnight Sun theatre, then Lacey Regal Cinemas!

13. Something you are not: Fake.

14. Muffins: POPPYSEED!!!!!!!

15. Wish List Item: Digital camera, serger, sewing table, CAR.

16. Where did you grow up?: Sheldiggety Dawg.

17. Last thing I did: talked on my phone with my mother.

19. Your TV: Is silent.

20. Your pets: Mr. Fishy is very fine, thank you.

21. Your friends: Are pretty sweet. Some are pretty varied. From all different cliques and groups.

22. Your life: Complicated, busy.

23. Your mood: Currently? Peaceful.

24. Missing someone?: Yeah…it’s really weird getting ready for a SMU show without Schwickie!

25. Your vehicle?: my feet.

26. Something you’re not wearing: tank top . I’m getting quite a view, yikes…

27. Favorite store?: Barnes and Noble, Charlotte Russe.

28. Your favorite color: Pink.

29. Last time you laughed: Around 3:40 in Acting For Singers, when it looked like the Count was about to motorboat the Countess in the finale of Act 4 of Marriage of Figaro.

30. Last time you cried: Last night/this morning at the 12:01 showing of NEW MOON.

31. Your best friend: I’m lucky enough to have a couple. Unfortunately not here at SMU; while I do have some pretty close friends at SMU I’m not sure I would classify them as a best.

32. Place you go over and over: KRIEILSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I should just move my bed over there.

33. Guilty Pleasure: Lots. Pop music, Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl, Angel, Buffy, ….

34. Favorite place to eat: A kitchen I can cook in.

35. Where do you want to be in 6 years: In Grad school. Hopefully in a relationship. If I’ve still not been out on a date by then I’m gonna punch somebody. Really hard.

That was for you Kimmi.

 

Welp, it’s getting to be that time again.

Opening night went extremely well, I hope tonight is even better!

Sincerely,

Emilie

 

Tonight was the final dress rehearsal for the show I am currently acting in, The Dining Room. It opens tomorrow at 7:30 pm, at the Midnight Sun. The run goes through Sunday, with evening shows each night at 7:30 and 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday.

Enough of a plug–to the juice!

To those of you who are not used to tromping the boards, notes are when, after the conclusion of the evenings rehearsal, sits everyone down and tries to decipher his own handwriting of these he wrote down during the play–usually of things that the actors and technicians need to fix.

Well this evening was just like every other, when the ASM (assistant stage manager) decided it would be  a good idea to randomly ask, “What happens if the power goes out?” We all laughed and the director responded by telling us to freeze, then panic, and then get some flashlights. (The panic part was a joke.) So the director moves on to the next note and less than a minute later, BOOM, then lights go out. (yes, lights go boom.)

The first thing out of anyone’s mouth? “DAMN IT KRISTINA!” (the name of our asm)

The LX designer jumped over to the door, “looks like its the whole grid!”

The SM (stage manager) jumped up, disappeared into the blackness of backstage, and then we heard a strange whirring sound. A light came toward the actors, followed by the SM. Turns out we have a hand-crank flashlight.

The Props designer goes backstage and comes back out with our dining room candlesticks and lights them.

Notes resume.

 

On the drive home, things got even scarier. First off, while walking out to the car lightening is flashing in the distance and we can hear thunder. Wind is blowing leaves everyone.

I don’t know if you drive around in downtown Oly at night time, but the stop lights are rather curious. They blink on and off, different colors.

Usually it is quite festive but tonight it was just eery. On the way to the freeway exit, my driver literally stopped about 4 inches away from hitting a slow-moving pedestrian, and then he zoomed off again. I did not at that time put all the signs together.

It is a rule generally known that actors are always hungry after a show (and usually before) (and just about always) so we decided to stop by Mcdonald’s. But on exiting the freeway the driver got on the wrong side and so was directed to Jack in the Box instead.

When we got to Jack-In-the-Box we pulled about three feet into the drive through until we saw orange traffic cones ahead. The driver stopped just short of knocking them over (tapped one) and backed out. The lights were on but the restaurant appeared deserted.

So we then resolved to hit up Taco Hut (It’s a taco bell, and a pizza hut, together, at last! haaahHh!) and we did so.

While sitting in the drive-thru the wind started to pick up even more and the streets signs started waving violently. We high-tailed it out of there.

But on going around a round-about we suddenly found ourselves in a completely blacked out neighborhood. Even the street lamps were extinguished. The leaves were blowing, we again saw lightening, and there was NO ONE around.

Then the street lights two blocks down started changing colors and flashing back and forth.

The signs started to come together.

Slow, almost non-moving pedestrians in the middle of the road…

Lightening, thunder, blackness, signs swinging….

A fast food restaurant being shut down…

No power in half of the city….

WE WERE IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE WORLD!!!
There had been a zombie apocalypse during play rehearsal and the cast and crew of The Dining Room were the lone survivors.

(And you said my degrees would be worthless…well take that ‘rents!)

Full of this dreadful knowledge we sped back to the university.

In the parking lot I ran to my building (the only one who lives in the building out of everyone in the car) and on my way lightening flashed nearby, thunder rolled, leaves flew, and BRANCHES FELL a few feet from me. When I finally made it inside my residence hall I knew that I would have to be prepared. So I went to the restroom, barricaded myself in my room, and am now waiting with only a laptop, sewing scissors, and Mr. Fishy to protect me.

So if I make it through this long night, and if our grid doesn’t lose power (and then subsequently our generator) come see my show this week!

Sincerely,

Emilie

 

(p.s. this story is entirely true. Well….I can’t prove that pedestrian was a zombie, but I mean, come on.)

 

Sorry I’ve been so incommunicado this semester–my life is crazy currently.

This is a hasty post, but I really feel as though I’ve been cheating you out of the lovelier parts of my life.

First off–since I seem to always forget to show people, here is a crappy picture of the dress I made. (All of those sewing tweets–this is what they were about)

I will try to get someone to take a picture of me in it.

This is for my performance of Le Nozze di Figaro, in which I play Marcellina. We were required to provide our own costumes so I made this. It was a great experience and I am extremely happy with how it turned out. I also wore it on Halloween, although I didn’t go anywhere since I was on duty (BOO!).

Another little project, which I just made today, is an iron cozy.

My expensive Rowenta iron came in a cardboard box, but I use it so much that the box was deteriorating. So today I decided to use some of the pre-quilted fabric my Grandmother had given me and made an  iron cozy. It is snug and padded, so the plate won’t get scratched, but there is enough room in the cozy for the iron, the warranty, the cleaning oils, and the soft cleaning cloths. I am extremely happy with it, and I expect to use it for years to come. I made the pattern myself.

The picture is at a funky angle, but you get the idea. Inside the fabric is white with red polka dots.

 

Coming up soon, is the play I am acting in called The Dining Room.

It is the 19-22, and both Sat & Sun have matinees as well as evening shows. I would love if you guys could come out. Want more information? Let me know.

Also, THIS WEDNESDAY is the Sacred Music Concert. It is St. Martin’s Chorale’s first concert, all sacred music. It is beautiful, is performed in the Abbey Church and would also be great for you to attend. It is at  7 I believe.

 

Well, enough with this advertising.

I am off to bed, and I hope to give  a more detailed and interesting post sometime in the (hopefully) near future. It’s always hard to tell with me.

Sincerely,

Emilie

Check the title.

Tomorrow is the big 20!

That is all.

Sincerely,

Emilie

I work, as many of you may know, in Campus Ministry. Usually this place is filled with loud fun hungry people. This week however has proved to be quite the exception. There is one person sitting in here, a nice guy, but he is doing his homework and not talking. All I can hear is the ticking of the clock and my own typing. I’m kind of tempted to jump up and do a crazy dance just to lighten the mood.

I let you all know that I am writing for my school’s newspaper, The Belltower, now so I thought it right that you all get to read my first article.

We decided to put out a special Halloween edition, writing about crazy things.

A friend and I got the assignment of writing about the people who believe in lizard-men that rule the world. He was to write an article explaining why they are correct, and my article is why they are crazy.

‘Nuff said.

Does anything ever seem spookily similar to you about the most popular political figures of the times? No, it isn’t the rhetoric, the identical outfits, or the broken promises that are most alarming. These are probably just misunderstood customs shared by the political figures as, according to a very small number of conspiracy theorists, occultists, and ufologists; they all come from the same place. Outer space. That’s right, the connecting thread between Jesus, Bush, Ramses, Elizabeth II, and Hitler isn’t their radical ideas, it is their genesis as blood-drinking, shape-shifting aliens.

Wait a minute, “ufologists”? So the people who study UFO sightings are also the same people who are telling the world that we are controlled by evil vampire lizard aliens? I’m just saying…

The most outspoken supporter of the “Anunnaki” (the name of the vampire lizard aliens) is David Icke, an ex-pro football player and politician. I suppose after retiring from football, and getting nowhere in politics, the best way to stay in the public eye is to become a conspiracy theorist. It certainly seems to pay well.

Other than drinking blood, and wasting their time bossing around lousy earthlings, what is it that these aliens do? Well I found scores of purported evil plans on David “Icky” Icke’s site to destroy the human race ranging from 9/11 to swine flu. That’s right; swine flu was engineered in a lab, and spread to the human population so that they can be “culled” and 9/11 was a warning from the extraterrestrials.

The only “evidence” supporting this lizardmen theory? Some poorly photoshopped eye-witness photos and drawings, and books written by ex-politicians. The photos I saw were generally of two different varieties: the first were pictures of political figures snapped in the middle of speeches so their eyes were open and tongues slightly out. The second were painfully primitive mash-ups of politician’s faces on lizard’s bodies. And the eye-witness drawings? They looked an awful lot like the doodles Jake Kinderman was working on in class last week. I couldn’t find anybody on campus who thought that the pictures looked real or who agreed with the reptile-alien theory. I did, however, find a Facebook group that supported Icke’s theories. So I guess I must have judged too soon, because anything on Facebook must be real.

Icke has, I fear, overlooked the tiniest of flaws in his theory. If these aliens really are controlling humans, and are evil, then I am sure they would not want their plans to be exposed by someone with as much clout as Icke. Unless, of course, the aliens are just planting these doctored photos and conspiracy theorists as red herrings to turn the mass public away from the truth. I guess we’ll never know. Touché, reptilian humanoids, touché.

Jake is the guy writing the other article. So while this isn’t really journalistic writing, it was fun, and a nice welcome to staff. Next one will be far more serious.

On another front.

I have this amazing friend who I have done shows with before but who just came to SMU this year, and he is going to be a pop sensation we’ve decided. His most famous song at our school right now is “Booty Call.”

He’s a genius.

We’re forming a band. His name is G-Force, mine is Mama Schnabs, and our third member’s name is Duchess.

I’m writing a song as well. It is a jazz/pop mixup and is sufficiently trashy to be a hit, but not too bad to be embarrassing. I’m pretty stoked. When I’m done I’ll upload it.

That is all.

Sincerely,

Emilie

7 days until my 20th birthday.

Sincerely,

Emilie

What do all of these people have in common?

Galileo

Henry VIII

Joan of Arc

John Proctor

Abigail….?

Dr. Faustus

Antigone.

Lots apparently.

I kind of feel like I’ve been reading the same play all semester–they have so many common themes. Sometimes (like on Passage IDs) some of the speeches blend together. Oh well.

Well trouble comes in multiples.

In addition to recent troubles, my phone has been acting up. It started slowly–the cover started coming off, then I couldn’t type letters without the phone freezing. Well I woke up today and now none of the buttons work, and I cannot dial out.

I can answer phone calls when I see them but that is all.

So at some point today I got a voice mail, 5 texts, and another missed call. I know not who any of them are from as I could not click on the pop up message. I couldn’t read the text messages or dial the voice mail. So I hope that they were  not that important… I guess we’ll never know.

My Campus Ministry boss said that he thinks he has an old T-Mobile phone I can have so hopefully I will be contactable again.

Soon.

Classes are going well. I have an A+ for my midterm in Psych, none of my other grades are in yet. I think that Intro To Drama will be the only non-A.

I took my trash out today. That is a positive step.

Keep praying for me.

Time to finish A Man For All Seasons.

Sincerely,

Emilie

First off–no i do NOT have swine flu. I have absolutely no fever whatsoever.

What I do have is a heinously sore throat and cough.

I started feeling strange in psych 101 (around 2:30) yesterday, and then in my voice lesson things were sounding really strange. But it wasn’t too bad, just funky.

Well when I woke up this morning for class I couldn’t breathe very well, and my throat hurt and I had a cough.

So immediately I think, “shi–, I have the swine flu!” So I took out my handy dandy swine flu packet that they gave me from RES LIFE, and use the thermometer to take my temperature. (for those of you who have not been briefed, we are counting anything from 101.5 up as swine flu whether it is or not.) Yeah my temperature was 99 degrees. Which is only .3 above what is considered average. Just to be safe (because I had extra) I decided to take my temp again. The same result. So no worries, this is not H1N1, it is just me getting sick. (Which I am rather upset about actually.)

So please pray I get better for my recital.

PLEASE.

And I think this may be due to an unexpected concert, but I cannot be certain. I was going to blog about that today, but unfortunately I am not feeling it.

So while it has been nice to know that people miss me, I am not dead or skipping.

I also cannot text people back to reassure them as my broken phone always freezes when I try to text.

Also–to the well-meaning soul who came to my room I am sorry I missed you. I was still in my pajamas (aka braless) so I had to go grab a sweatshirt. And of course I couldn’t find one for a minute. So by the time I opened my door you were gone. So sorry, I am alive, but I feel kind of like death.

And I will only reiterate once more: I DO NOT HAVE SWINE FLU.

So get over it.

Sincerely,

Emilie

Just finished editing my paper for Intro to Drama. My thesis is: Joan (of arc) had to die.

Gah me legs be tired…

I went to practice my flute today (since my recital is in one week AHHHH!!!) and I went first to the Burton Addition (a study room attached to the apartments). I practiced for about a half hour before some band came in saying they needed to rehearse there.

So I went to the Arts building. Music majors are supposed to have 24/7 access to the music building but the head of the music department has yet to send in the access list to Security. And they REFUSE to let us in until they get the new list, which is silly because the same guards let me in all the time last year. So I go over there thinking that I will just have to practice outside, but luckily the community orchestra rehearses there on Sundays so the building was open. The practice rooms, however, were not.

Where else could I go?

I ended up practicing 3.5 hours in the bathroom. It was quite the experience, especially when orchestra members came in to pee.

I got several compliments.

And while my Bach is not perfect (by any means) or up to ideal tempo, I think I shall be able to make it through.

Thank goodness.

Then I went to dinner, then student LIT.

I just finished reworking my paper and I hope that it does well, but I am not entirely certain.

I now am going to read Antigone as a refresher, then St. Joan. Then tomorrow morning I am going to reread Dr. Faustus.

I have my first passage ID test tomorrow. Basically my prof is going to pick random segments of dialogue, I have to identify who is speaking and to whom, where it occurs within the plot of the play, and what significance the passage has to the overall theme of the play. YIKES!

So wish me luck, and I hope that you had a splendid weekend.

Sincerely,

Emilie

Go see FAME.

It is absolutely fabulous.

My life is very strange right now.

I am super busy so my room keeps getting worse. But I am going to clean for one hour after I finish this post, then to bed.

It’s weird to think that my recital is in a week. Scary. Really scary. Before now it’s always been this thing looming in the future. But now it is actually happening. And I hope I will be ready.

At the Dollar Tree I bought this album for a dollar called “Secret Superstar.” I had no clue what it was. Turns out it is a bunch of Miley Cyrus (and other Disney Phenoms) songs, but covered by these random people called “The Hit Crew”. It is very strange. And strangely addictive.

Next Saturday I will be attending WICKED with my mother. I cannot wait. In order to celebrate I bought a green shirt which I am going to embroider “Wicked Popular” on. I cannot wait. This will be the second non-regional show I’ve ever seen, the first being Hairspray with Alanna when it came to town. I am prepared to be amazed.

Did I tell you? I am going to be writing for the school newspaper now, so that will be very exciting. I also forgot to mention that I was cast as “Actress1″ in The Dining Room. It will be an exciting play to act in because each actor plays about 6 roles. That will go up in November.

The search for a play for me to direct is still ongoing, but nearing an end.

That is all for now.

Sincerely,

Emilie