Hats

Fellow theatre students will understand my reference to hats in this post. Let's just say a certain faculty member enjoys using the metaphor to express their tendency to need to fulfill many different roles at any given moment. As you switch roles, let's say from director to actor, you're wearing another "hat" At the moment, I feel like I'm wearing so many hats that it is going to permanently disfigure my head.

Here's my running list:

Playwright (5 hours a day)
Actor (5 hours a day)
Teacher (8 hours a day)
Fiance
Friend
Roommate
Daughter
Daughter-In-Law
Sister
Puppy owner
Zombie enthusiast
Interior decorator
Wedding planner
Blogger

As a direct result of the first three, there is extremely little time for the others that follow it. This is why I very rarely have any contact with the outside world anymore. This also may or may not be why I'm currently writing this post while supervising children in the computer lab. Don't worry, I can multi-task. I've learned that the key to my success is a white chocolate mocha. And sleeping in my car on my lunch break.

Speaking of Impulse Buys....

This is Leo, a.k.a Leonardo Dipuppio or Leonardo Dipuppi when he is feeling like a man of the renaissance, a.k.a the cutest dog in existence. Now accepting applications for potential dog sitters while Eric and I go on vacation in July. I'm sure he'll be in high demand.

We ended up buying him off of Craigslist after a failed and misguided attempt at getting Ziggy. Eric and I drove all the way up to New River, AZ only to find that the woman who was selling him would not answer her phone or come to the door. We offered to drive out again the next day and were then informed that he had already been adopted. We were kind of devastated/ eager to exact our revenge on her by flagging all of her craigslist posts. We didn't. Instead, we went out at 8:30 at night and purchased Leo from a man in a Safeway parking lot. It was all very street, which was good because Eric and I have ample street cred. Turns out Leo is a New Year's puppy and the man who bought him was having trouble raising two puppies at the same time. He's the cutest thing and so sweet. I've already decided he's going to be a lion for Halloween... No I won't be one of those people who dresses up their dog... except on Halloween. Obviously.

Speaking of Halloween, already found my zombie bride costume at the Mesa Thrift Store. Eagerly anticipating our Halloween party rehearsal dinner where Eric and I will dress up as a zombie bride and groom and eat Chipotle. Hope everyone is already planning their costumes because it is going to be eppppiiccc. BTdubbs the Mesa Thrift Store is probably the best thrift store ever, for future reference. We found a few wedding decoration items, a Paul Mccartney biography for Eric and , a penguin coffee mug for me (can you ever have enough penguin coffee mugs?). No. It's not possible. P.S., I want our wedding to look like everything on this website.

www.greenwedddingshoes.com

P.S.S. our wedding venue, which is also a coffee shop/yoga studio (I promise we aren't really pretentious jerks in real life) has leash and latte nights. Bring your dog and get 20% off. This may be we bought Leo. And picked that venue.

The other night we had a pretty awesome parrrtttayyy (does anyone still say it like that? It's really the only way it should be said) with the roomies, our new engaged friends Zac and Dom, this cool guy whose name I can't remember but he was really cool, Michael and Amber, and Carl's significant other (who by the way is my new favorite person). We played Tony Hawk pro-skater, which is a game that I am good at because all you have to do is press buttons in no particular order or sequence. The night ended with us at Denny's, which is really the only time anyone should eat at Denny's, coincidentally. Also, just don't eat at Denny's. You will always feel sick afterward. Even though double hashbrowns sounds like a good idea, it just isn't.

Ikea=Poverty

I made a mistake... I have discovered that it is virtually impossible to go into Ikea without making an average of four impulse buys. I went into Ikea looking for a bed frame and came out with:

1 office chair
1 decorative "mood lamp"
2 ice trays that make your ice come out in shapes like hearts and flowers
1 tool kit for Eric(who suddenly likes tools but only if they come in kits)
1 shelving unit to put the afore mentioned "mood lamp"
1 coffee table
1 picture frame
1 tray to put your silverware on and...
1 bed frame

Epic fail.

But in my defense....


Yeah. Like I'm not gonna buy this chair. Come on.

It should be noted that while this picture was being taken I was convincing Eric that Obama must want me to have this chair, since he just gave me such an awesome tax return. It was not one of my best moments. And that was how I spent most of my tax return at Ikea. Oh well. We needed at least 70% of the items we purchased anyway. Okay. Maybe 65. But our new apartment is gonna be soooo awesome.

So this is the newest object of my affection.


I consult the VJ Ranch website daily (a rescue shelter) for no other reason than the fact that I really, really love looking at cute little dogs. This little guy's name is Ziggy and Eric and I have become way too attached. We've already decided that should we become his owners, we will refer to him as Ziggy Starpup. This is why I need to stop looking at dog websites.

Also, the quest for the perfect latte is complete. I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this.



This picture is actually Eric's hot chocolate, but the point is that Echo Coffee is our new hangout spot. We found it by accident, after deciding that we were just gonna drive around until we found somewhere cool to hang out. The coffee is great, its just down the street for the apartment and... they draw pictures in your drink... How can you beat that? You can't, really. We were thoroughly entertained by Eric's hot chocolate for quite sometime and sat in big comfy chairs while listening to some slightly pretentious, but all and all pretty decent, "hipster" music.

On this same outing, we went to our favorite park again, mostly to look at ducks... and harass this guy



This bird just seems like a pretty rude guy, and we've made it a point to follow him around the park and bother him until he flys away. He always has this super annoyed look on his face when we come near him, so we decided that the best use of our time would be running up next to him and laughing at the disgruntled look on his face. He's become smarter now, and flys away anytime we are within a thirty foot radius. We still find enjoyment in it.

On Why I Love Working With Kids

I was pretty stoked to start a new job this week. Being out of school is not all it's cracked up to be and I was bored out of my mind... to the point of obsessively cleaning my apartment (just to have something to do) and watching HGTV. Needless to say, it was a rather low point in my life. I applied for a couple of jobs, but the one I really wanted was a job at the Boys and Girl's club as an instructor and low and behold... I got it. Awww yeah. As a result, I basically get to spend the entire day playing with kids for money.

When I first got there, I was a little freaked out because all of the staff has basically grown up together (having gone to the club as kids themselves) and everyone else has the advantage of already knowing all the kids. I was beginning to question whether or not I was going to be the creepy loner guy standing in the corner forever, when all of the sudden a cute little girl skips up to me and says "Hey, are you new? Will you come play jump rope with me?" And there you go. Why I love kids. If only us adults still had the same social skills the world might be a much better place, in my humble opinion.

In other news, it's zombie time! Our piece (The Zombie Play: Or What To Do When the Dead Live) was officially accepted into the Fringe, and I'm working with a great ensemble. Rehearsals have been beyond fun so far (how could they not be, really?) and things are looking bomb. I think next on my list of writing endeavors will be finally tackling the novel I've been talking about forever. It's gonna happen. Still waiting for inspiration to strike, though Stephen King would argue there's no such thing as writer's block. Just lazy people. Duly noted Steve, I'm working on it.

Goals

This is a list of my goals for the future... in the hopes that the online public will hold me accountable... if anyone actually reads this thing.

Goals for the furture (in no particular order)

1) Get my homework done so I can graduate already. One 3 pg paper, one 7 pg paper, and one reflection and poster is all that stands between me and an entire year off of school. Alleluia.

2) Graduate

3) Look for a job... A good job. A job that doesn't make me feel like I've wasted my life as a theatre major.

4) Start saving up money to pay for my wedding (I'm engaged, by the way) Read all about it on our wedding website. Speaking of which...

5) Finish the wedding website and start planning... Dress, venue, invitations, pictures etc.

6) Read a play a week. This is going be difficult with all the other stuff going on but it is extremely necessary. This one is a musssst.

7) Work on my piece for the Fringe Festival... Oh yeah. It's a zombie play...

8) Start building my playwright's portfolio and resume.

9) Attend the SCC film program... try to get an internship somewhere.

10) Start applying for those gradschools. And stop being a wimp and ask for those letters of recomendation. Professors aren't nearly as terrifying as you think they are.

11) Get a new apartment.

12) Get a dog. A funny looking one.

13) Enjoy yourself :) You're getting to where you want to be.

Senioritus Extreme

I have been doing a terrible job of being a cool blogger... In my defense, however, I did write a blog a couple of months ago but due to my hatred (the feeling is mutual) of technology, my computer decided to delete my blog before I posted it and I thought eh... oh well. I'm so not writing that again. It was a good blog though, believe you me. Epic. I have found a new reason to blog however... avoiding my homework! That's right. I have me a mean case of senioritus and the only cure is more cowbell. Or more blogging. I will go to any lengths to avoid homework, including spewing random factoids about my life.

I've been horrified at the lack of effort I've been putting into things lately. Last night I had an assignment due at midnight and I turned it in at literally midnight. It was pretty awesome but also pretty dang ridiculous. College has beaten me down into a zombie-like state and after being an overachiever for most of my life, I think I've finally gotten it knocked out of me. At least for the time being. Instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I've developed some kind of weird affinity for TLC reality shows... I know. It's really really that bad. I guess most of my lack of effort has to do with the fact that I'm ready to just start my life already and stop worrying about my grades which aren't going to matter much at all in about two months anyway. What I especially don't want to do is work on my capstone play anymore and that is becoming a big problem. It's a chapter of my life that I'd like to put behind me and continuing to obsess over it and edit it is soooooo not how I want to be spending my time.

My play didn't end up being exactly how I'd envisioned it and the reviews were a little less than stellar. I know that's just me being hard on myself, but to make it in this business you have to be great... I hate to admit it but it's really made me reluctant to get back into writing again. I'm not feeling particularly confident anymore in my abilities and not trying again is a lot less scary then failing is right now. I know this is starting to sound like a lifetime movie, but what good are these online bloggy things if not for complaining right? I'm going to get over it eventually, but for right now I'm just not feeling it. I have a couple of promising pieces that I'm working on though, and I know with just a little more time I'll be back to my old self again.

Luckily, I have Eric who is my constant support system and tells me everything I write is the best thing he's ever read... Whether or not that's condusive to my betterment as a writer is questionable, but the sentiment is sweet and something I can always count on. Another thing I can count on is having Chelsea and Carl there to make me laugh and give me advice which is always wondeful. I love our little clan, and is it immature if I think we should all just live together forever?? If only we could clean our apartment once in a while... Oh well. Totally worth it.

As for now... should probably do my Shakespeare homework that's due tomorrow. Aggg. Shakespeare. Yet another thing I used to love that college has made me despise.

Rituals, rituals, rituals

I am currently enrolled in Lance Gharavi's capstone class, and as part of the curriculum we are reading Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit", a book which I highly recommend to everyone whether they are an artist or not (really we are all artists aren't we?). The book plays with the idea of "creation" and how to be creative. Is creativeness a gift that a select few are endowed with from birth ("a kiss from God") that some are blessed with and some are not or is it something that can be worked at and eventually achieved. For my sake, I greatly hope for the latter... People who know me know that I'm an extraordinarily hard worker.... obsessively so. When I'm working on a piece of writing, I tend to become a virtual recluse, barricading myself in my room and coming out only for some coffee (preferably a pumpkin spice latte :)))) It is my hope that eventually all this work will pay off and somehow I will turn into a writer with my own unique style. My goal is that when someone sees a play or movie of mine they come out thinking "Wow. You can really tell that was a "Madolyn" original"... and not in a bad way. Twyla's book advocates using a ritual to spark creativity. If you repeat this ritual regularly before you attempt to be creative it will link the two events in your memory and eventually the ritual will equal creativity (think Pavlov's dogs).

So here is my ritual... I hold you all accountable for keeping this ritual going. I am going to need help, especially when I hear Say Yes to the Dress calling out to me (How many times do I really need to watch this show? Come on. They buy the dress or they don't. It's hardly interesting... and yet...) Anyways here it is...

I start by going outside and reading some good literature. Writers that I admire, to really get some inspiration. Then I come inside, listen to some music on Eric's record player, whatever strikes my fancy, and just dive in with some quick writing, writing down whatever comes into my head. After that I do the whole barricade thing until I feel "done" with whatever I am working on for the day and try my best not to get distracted (i.e. not being connected to the internet). Hoping this will stick!