Yesterday I got my new camera, which was super exciting. I believe this is the first thing I've bought with money that I earned from outside the family. I liked that feeling, and I hope to do a lot more of it in the future. Now, I wish I could say that I spent the rest of yesterday filming cool things to go on YouTube, but unfortunately, I can't. I did film a lot of things, but it was all just my family doing silly things, and I don't know their feelings about me putting them up online. My dad might not object so much, he has his own channel.I did get to posting a video yesterday of me acting like a Hannah Montana-obsessed 6-year-old. That will most likely be the last video I put up that was filmed on my still-frame camera. Woohoo, Hi-Def FTW!

I've been trying to adjust my sleep schedule to something that will reflect my school schedule more, so that when I start classes, I won't be running on no sleep at 8 AM. At least know I've proven to myself that I can be up and ready to go before 8. That's good...

The linens for my dorm bed came today. They're pink and stripey and they came in a humongous box. And I got a nice fluffy pink bath robe and towel set. Yay. I am seriously angsting about my room assignment though. I really, really, really, REALLY want to know my room assignment and roommate. My ideal living situation wold be on a second-floor room in Prado with a really nice roommate who is understanding of all my neurotic quirks and won't make fun of me for filming myself all the time. Perhaps that's a little too much to ask for...

I'm starting a counter here at the end because a) everyone is doing it and b) I feel like my blog entries don't have very good closure at the end, so this would be like a "final thought" sort of thing.
So:

Days until I leave: 22
Books I've read this summer: 17

Also, quick edit: I got to my dentist appointment on time, tired but okay, and I hadn't flossed enough since my last appointment. :-P

Going Dental

I am actually going to try to sleep today before 3 AM. The reason why? I have a dentist appointment tomorrow at 8:30 IN THE MORNING! GAH! Why did I say yes to that? Oh yeah, because I'm an IDIOT.

Well, at least it will get me up, and then maybe I can actually be productive tomorrow. New camera should be coming, yay!

Gosh I hope I've flossed enough since my last appointment...

Survey stolen from hayleyghoover

I just spent the past hour filling out this survey. I didn't really have anything else to do.

1. What author do you own the most books by?

Lemony Snicket (all 13 in A Series of Unfortunate Events). Second place goes to Roald Dahl (12), and then J.K. Rowling (10). I also have 10 by Carolyn Keane (author of Nancy Drew) but that became a penname for many different people writing the series(es). And if graphic novels count, I actually have 21 by Rumiko Takahashi (InuYasha). [I also just realized that my sister and I have 43 American Girl books, but I don’t think any one single person writes all of those]

2. What book do you own the most copies of?

I have three copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but one of them is in Spanish.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

No, I never really got too grammatically intense with prepositions.

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

Haruka Tenoh (aka Sailor Uranus). Although, that’s not much of a secret.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?

I’ve read the first four in the Harry Potter series at least 20 times each, so I’m going to go with those. I started reading the series right after Goblet of Fire came out, and I’m the type of person that has to read a series in order from beginning to end every time I read it. So in the three years between GoF and OotP, I read those first four a lot. Funny enough, the last three are my favorites.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?

The Harry Potter series, as it existed at that time.

7. What is the worst book you've read in the past year?

I’m torn between Heart of Darkness and Sorrow of War. It’s not that they were bad books, it’s just that they were nearly impossible to get through, and I was being forced to read them.

8. What is the best book you've read in the past year?

That is very difficult to determine because I have read a lot of good books this year, particularly this summer. I just finished reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, which was excellent, so that stands out to me a lot right now.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?

1984. Or The Stranger, I liked that book too.

10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

At the moment, I’m saying Paper Towns, although that’s pretty much because I know John Green is working on the screenplay, and I am the very image of Margo Roth Spiegelman as she is described in the book.

11. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?

I don’t know. I see every book I read as a movie in my head, especially if I’m a good type for one of the characters. And I’m always too optimistic about Hollywood producers not murdering a book in its movie before I actually see the movie.

12. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.

One time I had a dream that I was Harry Potter, but I went to my school (Elementary at the time), and I was running for some school representative position at the time. And then Ron and I went back to our dormitory and started undressing, but instead of genitals, there were big black ovals in front of our crotches with a number on them (mine was 23). And Hermione walked in at some point, I think.

13. What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?

Probably, the Twilight series. I liked them, but it wasn’t the best writing I’ve ever read.

14. What is the most difficult book you've ever read?

The Scarlet Letter, hands down.

15. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?

I’m not sure what you mean by “obscure,” but if I’m interpreting it correctly, then I’d say As You Like It, or All’s Well That Ends Well. A Winter’s Tale was pretty obscure too. Conversely, the most overdone Shakespeare play I’ve seen live was Romeo and Juliet, but that was done really well, so it was worth seeing.

16. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?

That’s difficult. What if I chose my favorite one of each? Albert Camus and Anton Chekhov. Ha!

17. Roth or Updike?

Sadly, I’ve never heard of wither of them…

18. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

I’ve never read either of them, and I haven’t heard of Dave Eggers, but I keep meaning to read David Sedaris. My parents have at least five of his books.

19. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?

Shakespeare. I have been in love with Shakespeare almost as long as I have been in love with Harry Potter

20. Austen or Eliot?

I don’t think I’ve read anything from either of them, but I’ve heard more about Austen

21. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?

All the authors mentioned above that I hadn’t heard of or read.

22. What is your favorite novel?

I like so many books, it’s hard to pick!

23. Play?

Classical: Twelfth Night because it was my introduction to Shakespeare, and I got to be Viola, and it involves cross-dressing and love-triangles, which I love.

Contemporary: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead because I love me some existentialism and absurdism. I also got to co-direct it Junior year. I also realize that it was taken from Hamlet, which is another Shakespeare play I like. Second favorite is Endgame, for the existential absurdistness!

24. Poem?

I really like Phenomenal Women by Maya Angelou, and The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

25. Essay?

I don’t really read essays apart from peer edits, although my English teacher last year did give us an essay to read about the importance of shitty first drafts. That was a life-changing essay.

26. Work of nonfiction?

The Diary of Anne Frank.

27. Who is your favorite writer?

J.K. Rowling, definitely. I’ve also become a big fan of John Green. And, of course, Shakespeare.

28. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

I’m gonna have to agree with Hayley on this one…

29. What is your desert island book?

That is an impossible question. Twelfth Night so I can perform it with myself on the island.

30. And... what are you reading right now?

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Last day of what will REALLY feel like summer.

Tomorrow is my sister's first day of high school. It's also the first day of school for every school I have ever been to, and I'm not going to school tomorrow, because school for me doesn't start for almost another month. She's enjoying her last day of freedom by spending it with horses, something she loves more than breathing. I am spending the day enjoying that it's not my last day of freedom before school starts.

I did get something in the mail vaguely implying that I would get my first assignment on September 4th or something, but I'm not actually sure if that's what it meant. It was for this back-up service my school endorses, and they mentioned something about ordering before then so you could have the service when you got your first assignment. I don't know. The whole thing was rather disappointing, really; I got this really thick envelope from the housing department today, and my mom thought it might be talking about which dorm I'm in and my roommate, but no. It was just stupid information I didn't need or already knew (they sent me an order form from a linens company that I already ordered my linens from! Talk about a waste of paper!).

It's gonna be weird tomorrow, not going to school when my sister is going. This will be the first time ever that she's going to school and I'm not, but I'm not sick. Although, some day (or maybe a few days) before I go off to college, I'm going to visit my old teachers, especially my drama and chorus teachers. And my best friend and I have already decided that we want to arrange a day when we go to school with our sisters (who are conveniently the same age) so we can wreak havoc. It'll be fun ^^

Also, I just wanted to acknowledge that today is August 25th, and I have 25 days left before I move to Irvine. I just thought that was a cool coincidence.

CRAP

I just realized that my audition is in exactly a month, and so far all I've done for it is say I need to read the plays and watch or listen to the soundtrack of the musical. I haven't thought of which monologues I want to use, what song fragment, or even what to wear. And my voice is so not up for anything big and important right now. And I've been overindulging the past couple of days, so I definitely don't feel like I'm in very good shape right now. I have a vague idea of what I want to wear, but the problem is that I don't currently own it. AAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!

Okay, panic mode over, now time to plan the problem solving:

1) We're planning to go shopping tomorrow. I can get what I need then, and even go by the bookstore to pick up copies of the plays. I can order the soundtrack to Threepenny Opera online, and whatever books I don't find.

2) Cut back on the indulgence. It's time again for the "purge" part of the cycle again, so start it. Also, you're* getting up earlier again, so use that time to exercise, like you used to. If you don't feel like DDR, go on a walk or something. Especially when school starts for Allie, walk with her sometimes (like on days you want to visit).

3) Read some of the plays in the big drama textbook you stole last year (before you return it of course). Find a monologue/monologue fragment in there. Check out the soundtrack to Cabaret and try and find recordings of The Kurt Weill Songbook to find a song, if there aren't any you like from Opera.

4) Drink tea. It's relaxing and therefore helps. Especially drink it while singing along to Christina Aguilera and Evanescence, that'll help with the voice thing.

5) That oughta do it. Just relax, move, and be a success. Alright.

Good, I feel a little better now.

*At this point I start referring to myself in the second person. I noticed it, but didn't change anything because I felt like it looked better that way anyway, like I was giving myself orders. Which I was.

A Belated Update

The show closed on Sunday, almost a week ago. I actually went to the closing party, where I finally got to talk to some of the actors. I still felt out of place because I hadn't bonded with them as a fellow actor during the run of the show. I don't want to let that happen again, so I need to get my ass in gear for my mega-audition at school. I know, talk is cheap, but whatever.

I also got paid, and after depositing the check (cheque? or is that only how Brits and Canadians spell it?) I immediately spent it on a new video camera, which should be arriving next Thursday. I may or may not make another video before then. We'll see.

The past two days my life has been free of parents because they were off doing other things. Yesterday I was completely home alone all day (why didn't I take that opportunity to make a video? Oh, right, because I'm lazy.) and today I spent the day with my sister while our parents went on a hike in San Francisco. We each had half a pie and most of a can of whipped cream. I really hope I have time to exercise tomorrow.

It just sank in that I ate half a pie today, in the span of about three hours. Oh my god. I am such a glutton.

Or so it seems.

I did end up sleeping today. I finally fell asleep around 7, and I woke up at 3. This is what my life has become.

I only have to sit through 4 more performances of Wizard of Oz, and then I'm done. Hopefully that will also mark the end of my days as a spotlight operator, because this position is seriously killing me. Argh.

Okay, well, I have to get ready for work and have dinner and everything.