What a Weekend

I seriously had the BEST WEEKEND EVER this past weekend. It's too much to type while I'm at work, so look for it at some point tonight or tomorrow.

But while I have you attention I'd like to note that I think I fly waaaay too often because I took this quiz today and scored 100%

Lunchtime Quiz: Let’s go to the SkyMall
The products gracing the pages of the SkyMall Magazine provide guaranteed laughter, disbelief and audible exclamations of "Who would buy that?" In each question in today’s quiz, one product is actually for sale in SkyMall Magazine; the other is an invention that failed to secure a patent. Can you tell the difference?

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18792


Let's see how you do.

Mondays are the Devil

I had a terrible day yesterday which is sad because I spent the weekend with my sister who came to visit and it was great to see her. I even scored awesome tickets to the Auburn vs. LSU game (4th row in the endzone) and even though Auburn lost it was a fantastic game. The weekend overall was veyr exhausting which didn't help that on Thursday I was up late cleaning and doing laundry only to wake up at 5am for a conference across the state. So clearly I expected Monday to be terrible because I was very tired.Monday also sucked because I was going to miss the How I Met Your Mother premiere due to writing class. Not that I could have watched it at my house since I still don't have cable, but I would have least went to the gym or something to watch it. Plus my writing class pissed me off, but I don't want to talk about it. They are all old people who write boring crap and can't related to me. Luckily I know other fabulous writers like my dearest Star to give me some relevant feedback.

So since I missed How I Met Your Mother last night I wanted to look online today for a synopsis when I found the whole episode on the CBS website! How NPH - Neil Patrick Harris, it was glorious to have you back in my life. Between watching the first 3 seasons of How I Met Your Mother recently, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and Harold and Kumar you have made me very happy.

My other obsession besides NPH is...(say it with me folks because you should all know by now) Americal Idol Winner DAVID COOK! After listening to every song he ever released from back in til now CONSTANTLY I've really been craving new DC music. Well luckily his new single "Light On" is being released tomorrow! Sadly DC didn't write it, but instead Chris Cornell (Soundgarden and Audioslave...who also re-arranged Michael Jackson's Billie Jean which Cook later performed on Idol) and some other rock writer wrote the song. I'm not surprised they want a radio friendly smash hit, so I'll have to wait til November for his stuff when his cd is released. Sadly it's going to be released on the 18th of November, but at least it can be something positive on that otherwise terrible day.

Also the only other thing keeping me sane this week (I figured I'd stick to the few good things in my life right now, than harp on the rest of the miserable things I've got going on) is that Colleen is coming to visit me this weekend and I just got us tickets in the student section for the Auburn vs. Tennessee game!

Budding Novelist

So last night was my first novel writing class. The class was great! The only downside is that the other members of the class are all 40 years old or older, but it's all good I think I'll be less hesitant to be honest in my writing since there won't be some hot 30 year old in class to intimidate me. The class is really fast paced. We spent the first 30-40 minutes learning about a particular aspect of novel writing then we do a quick writing activity and then the rest of the class we'll be reading pages from our novel for others to critique (anywhere from 1pg to 10 pgs). I was nervous when he said up to ten pages, I didn't think I could possibily write 10 pages a week. Plus I have so many ideas and didn't know where to start.

Luckily our writing activity got me started. So much so that when I went home I wrote about 3 pages and started an overall chapter/section outline. I think my genre is going to be autobiographical, but with creative freedoms.

Our writing activity last night was to take one of two infamous opening lines and put on our twists on it without using the words "was" or "it."
The two choices were:
- It was a dark and stormy night.
- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

So basically we needed to craft an opening sectence/ first few paragraphs that would draw people in. It didn't have to reflect the novel we wanted to write, but I figured these exercises would help me focus so I chose to use my ideas for my novel I hope to write.

Please remember this is a rough draft, but enjoy!

4:58PM on August 4th officially marked my 24th birthday. I spent the night with friends in New York City, quite possibly the best night I’d had in a while. Little did I know my 24th year would be full of some of the worst times in my life as well. Looking back I should have known better. In the first few hours of my 24th birthday I had been running extremely late, got a train’s door closed on me (which left bruises by the way), practically missed my birthday dinner all together, broke my friend’s bed and had a hang over from hell the next morning thanks to free box wine at the Chinese restaurant we ate at. Usually my life is chaotic and most of the time I can handle the chaos, but when I couldn’t on stressful days like my birthday that year I had my dad to always calm me down and know what to say to make me feel better. However I didn’t know that by the time I reached my 25th birthday I wouldn’t have my dad anymore to help me sort through life’s ups and downs. My name is XXX, welcome to my quarter life catharsis.


As you can see I haven't chose a name for my main character yet. The character will basically be me, but I want to use different names for most people and places. So I want you to help me name my main character. Post comments with your ideas please!

Oh and I plan on also calling my novel, My Quarter Life Catharsis, which hopefully I can tie the blog in a some point. We'll see.


PS - on a random site note: parking on campus has got waaaay better since it is now a few weeks into the semester. I'm able to park in the lot I had been parking in all summer which is a quick walk and out the outskirts of campus so I don't have to sit in traffic in the morning :)

Rock the Vote

One of the things on my mental to do list was register to Vote in Alabama since I was registered in Connecticut for the last election. For some reason I had it in my head I needed an Alabama license to vote, so I had been planning to get my Alabama license this month. Well this weekend I went to Woofstock with Freddie - a dog festival if you will in a town park. It was cute, but Freddie mostly barked at all the dogs. At Woofstock there was the League of Alabama Women Voters and they were registering people to vote so I asked them about not having my license yet and they said as long as I had an address here and a social security number I didn't need an Alabama license. Which by the way all makes sense because I had a New York License when I voted in Connecticut - I just happened to be living in Connecticut at the time. So yay I registered to vote! Voting is such an important right to take advantage of - despite the mess of the electoral colleges. However I still plan to get an Alabama license this month so I am less "illegal" even thought I still have Texas plates on my car and it's registered in Texas...opps!

9.11.01 Always Remember

My thoughts and prayers to all those who lost their lives or their loved ones 7 years ago today. September 11, 2001 I was 3 weeks into my freshmen year of college. I still remember my dad picking coming to get me to take me home that weekend and when we crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge I saw the gaping hole is the skyline still smoking.

La Vie Boheme

After 12 wonderful years RENT will be closing on broadway THIS Sunday September 7. I love RENT...the music, the story, the characters and Jonathan Larson. Larson wrote RENT and died the night before it went into off broadway previews in January 1996. I first saw RENT in high school, I believe in January of my sophomore year. I had actually gotten the tickets and the sountrack from christmas from my aunt and listened to the soundtrack prior to seeing the show (which is something I RARELY do). Even though I was slightly familiar with the music I had no idea what to expect and I was blown away (I still have much love for Manly Pope and Trey Ellot who were the Roger and Mark the first few times I saw the show). Amazingly the last few times I saw the show had Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp as Roger and Mark (the original Roger and Mark). In total I'm pretty sure I saw the show about 14 times over the course of 10 years (one time I saw it twice in a week because I already had tickets and then I got tickets as a gift and then the last time I saw the show September 29, 2007 I saw it twice in one day). I had flown to NYC with 2 girls I worked with in Texas to see Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp back in RENT (they were only in the show for 10 weeks and I auctualy had seen then on my birthday back in August of that year). Clearly I couldnt resist a 48 hour NYC adventure to see RENT. That day was pretty magical and I got both Adam and Anthony to sign my playbill which I now have framed. That day back in Septemeber of last year I told myself would be the last time I'd go see RENT on broadway for a long long time because it was just such a perfect high that I knew it couldn't be beaten.

So when I heard earlier this year that RENT was going to close I was sad, but I was also okay because I knew I had seen it plenty. Plus there is the RENT movie which is good, not the same as live, but good (minus Adam's Bon Jovi mullet). Plus I had had the chance to see Anthony Rapp speak twice and have him sign my copy of his book AND I met Adam Pascal at a conference and got a picture with him and to talk to him (I sounded like a Tenny Bopper moron) as well as get him to sign his CDs. My insane obsession with all thing Adam Pascal could be a whole 'nother blog post

The powers that be are actually going to film RENT's final performance on Sunday and it will be on 500 screens for abot 5 days for RENT fans all over the country to say goodbye which I think is really amazing. Shockingly one of Auburn's movie theatre's is one of the 500 that will have the movie so I plan on going to say goodbye...I'll be curious to see what special things happen during the show - especially since I knew every beat and action of the show by heart. RENT always did special anniversary shows in April (when it opened on broadway) which were a spectacular from what I've read/seen clips of.

For over 10 years RENT has had a very special place in my heart, but even though it won't be housed at the Nederlander Theatre anymore it's music and impact will forver be alive.

No Day But Today!


here is a video of Adam and Anthony performing "What You Own" at a benefit concert


Here is an OOOOLLLD video of Adam Pascal singing my favorite song of the show "One Song Glory"


And obviously "Season of Love" mixed with another favorite "La Vie Boheme" from this year's Tony Awards

Election Season!

Clearly this year's election has been on everyone's mind for a while, if we're being honest probably since Bush was re-elected in 2004. I must say that the contest between Obama and Clinton was insanely exciting this Spring...I serious loved watched votes roll in and see who would nab the most delegates. I just find it to be an exciting time in politics now. Women and African Americans are finally being taken seriously in the race for Presidency or Vice Presidency.

Even with Palin, it's exciting that she's on the Republican ticket...I have lots of concerns about Palin herself, but at the same time a woman or an African American is going to be in office.

I'm honestly sick of the good ol' boys system and look where it's gotten us. The economy is in the garbage, education is a mess, unnecessary wars, and don't get me started on health care.

Back when I was in college one of the paths I seriously considered was political focused journalism. I'm very wary of politics and I truly believe the media does play an important role in the checks and balances system of the government.

I'm seriously such a news junkie...which has proven difficult since I still haven't gotten around to getting cable yet, but God bless the Internet and youtube. Also in iTunes you can subscribe for free to the DNC and RNC channels to see all the speeches.

I am so excited to vote, I voted in 2004 although I really think that election was choosing between the lesser or two evils. I refer to myself of Liberally Independent. I have some traditional Republican views and some Democratic views. So I really want to do my best to make an informed decision and what I do want is change - and just Bush leaving the White House will help a lot, but is McCain more of the same or can Obama deliver this "change" he keeps talking about...I'm not sure.

Almost 2 months exactly 'til election day...it should be an exciting. I do enjoy the skeletons in the politician's closets (an boy have there been some doozy's lately), but I really look forward to being further educated (hopefully) about what they can do for me.

80 Years Young

Today is my Grandmother's 80th Birthday...80 how crazy is that. That's over 3 times my age. I just talked to her on the phone and we were joking that it was like her 69th birthday or something, but then I remember a little mnemonic device from 3rd grade when I was learning times tables. I will forever remember my Grandmother was 63 when I was in 3rd grade because 9 times 7 is 63 and that was how old she was.

It's crazy how many changes she's seen in her 80 years...I'd be willing to bet it's been the 80 most evolutionary years to date. The technology, medical advances, the tragedies, the war, the peace.

I don't know if I'd want to live to be 80 or not. Part of me would rather not to live long enough to watch everyone around me die. Sorry for being morbid, but it's true. At the same time I wouldn't want to die prematurely like my dad did at 58. So where does that leave me...I guess with a 22 year window, but then again I truly believe everything happens for a reason and you go when your supposed to go. I think that everyone has a fated day they die, but what you ultimately die from more circumstantial.

Ok I'll stop being depressing, but it's not my fault I've been reading a book my secretary gave me about a school shooting - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - that is told from like 6 different perspectives. It's healthy to talk and think about death because it is the only certain in life. I remember in college some of my friends were taking a Death and Dying class, I think it was a Sociology class. My friends always interviewed me for class assignments, I was fascinated. I was actually looking up Spring Courses in the online course catalog for a Death and Dying and/or Bereavement class, but I couldn't find any. I think it would not only but interesting, but also helpful. Again sorry for being Debbie Downer, but I just can't get past how close November is. It doesn't feel real that only last September my dad was alive. Everyone says the first year is the hardest...we'll see.

I'll try and have a more positive post next time, but I did warn you that this blog would be full of ups AND downs. Such is life.

Wake Me Up When September Ends...

I'm really not a fan of September...I've had a bunch of terrible Septembers over the past few years. November is quickly catching up to be more awful. I used to think I liked Fall, but now I find it mostly depressing. The vibrancy of summer is over (yes I know technically Fall starts near the end of September, but for those of us in school or who work at schools - summer ends in late August/Early Sept.

I guess the only good thing about the fall is college football...and I guess working at a Division I SEC school doesn't hurt. I actually went to the game this weekend and it was very exciting. I love all the tradition Auburn has - the eagle circling the stadium, Aubie, tiger walk, Toomer's Corner etc. However tailgating wasn't as fun...mostly because after driving around for an hour looking to park anywhere remotely close to campus I decided to park practically back at my apartment and walk. Luckily as a New Yorker I don't mind walking blocks at a time - but doing it in 95 degree weather was less fun. Despite the parking debacle (what else is new) it was good times. We shut out the other other team and did I mention I sat in the front row...so basically my view was of all the backs of the Auburn football players, but nonetheless good times.

I just really hope my September isn't as terrible as it usually is. At least I have visitors coming for 2 games in September which will be excellent.

Well since I have yet another 4 day work week I better get crackin'!