Grease and Theatre Envy

I have very few regrets on my mind regarding the past sixteen (almost seventeen!) years of my life. I feel like that's something to be proud of. Yes, mistakes seem like a huge deal at the time, but five years later, you forget why you cried or that you even did cry. Yet I have to say that one thing I wish I had gotten into when I was younger (haha, I love saying pretentious stuff like that) is theatre.

Every time I see an extraordinary production, I'm always struck with the same jealousy. I'm envious of anyone who gets to be a part of something like that. I know I could look around and try to join something but, at this point, I feel like I've missed the boat. Apart from my one role as Old Sally in a home schooler production of Oliver Twist*, I have no experience.

There was no exception to my envy tonight after I saw Grease at a friend's high school. The show was exceptional and everything seemed to fit perfectly together. The singing and dancing was incredible; the sets and costumes remarkable; and the acting and chemistry was amazing. I smiled the entire time and wished I was up on stage doing the hand jive as well as every other number. With no competition, it was the best high school musical I'd ever seen. I can't stop gushing.

Hannah, darling, if you're reading this, you were absolutely divine. I'm blown away.

I must go to bed before my head hits the keyboard. Farewell, theatre people and non theatre people alike. Know that I am always centre stage with you... in my heart.

*three lines and, honestly, it was a small part. Maybe I'm a small actor for saying that, but it's true. I just wanted to be Oliver. *sigh*

Doctor... who?

As far as Doctor Who fans go, I've done a damn poor job of being one. I specifically direct you towards the distressing fact that I have yet to watch all of 10th Doctor's episodes in order and haven't even made a crack at the 11th Doctor yet. Not to mention that I'm forgoing the 9th Doctor until I've caught up with his two successors. This will bring shame to my family.

I think this was because I previously refrained from watching Doctor Who on a more illegal platform than watching episodes on Youtube and my sister brought most of her Doctor Who DVDs to college with her. Now that my morals have gone lax, however, I've been chugging through Season Two (ignoring the 9th Doctor for now, remember) and I'm two episodes away from finishing it. If you follow Doctor Who, you'll understand the horrors that this presents. You see, I've already seen the last two episodes of this season* (or at least the last one) and even though I don't remember all the details, I know what happens. I'm not looking forward to it, especially having followed these characters in subsequent fashion. I sort of want to cry when I think about it, which leads me to the ever-present "why?" Why do I care so much about a show that, if we're being honest, uses more cop-outy "you wouldn't understand, it's alien" excuses than actual explanations of solutions, that somewhat clumsily inserts the Doctor's epiphanies about the wonders of humankind?

(Did you guess that I was going to answer that question? Did you? I bet you did, you clever little monkeys.) I think it's because, like everything that I truly love (excluding people and other living things... so really, I guess I'm just talking about forms of entertainment) the setting and specifics are secondary to the characters. I don't think I've ever really liked something where I didn't like any of the characters. It's not so much a matter of being able to directly related with them, but I have to at least care about them, and in that regard the sci-fi aspect of Doctor Who is secondary to the characters. It doesn't matter how he manages to escape; it's that he does. It doesn't matter that his internal conflicts and inspirations about humanity are sometimes forced; it's that they exist at all. The best part about the show isn't the aliens that he encounters; it's the Doctor and his companions themselves. Really, I think that the time travel/alien lifeforms/alternate universes, while obviously being an extremely key part of the show, provide a platform for us to more fully explore this wonderful imaginary man.

* "But Vita, why?" you may ask. I didn't watch them to spoil myself, I promise. Medium-length story shortish: when my family goes to England we make a point of following EastEnders and Doctor Who for the duration of our stay; the last episode of Season 2 Doctor Who was on the TV; not following the show other than those brief visits, I didn't feel any qualms about watching it; even though I didn't regularly watch the show, IT BROKE MY HEART. So. This time around should be fun...

something (not very) controversial

I feel like being controversial today but I'm tired, probably due to the four hours of sleep that I didn't get last night, and my brain isn't functioning along its regular speed. I just typed sleep instead of speed. That is nothing but an excellent example of my lack of thinking capacity.

Now, if you'll excuse the half unconscious rambling that is about to follow, I'd appreciate it. I think it's about time for a free-blog.

Lately, I feel like I've been thrown into a lot of situations that I'm not equipped to handle, psychologically. I don't know if this is my own personal barrier or if my life has actually taken a turn in a direction I hadn't prepared for.

I'm constantly wondering what the solutions are but I can never fully come to resolve on a decision. I know there's no three step program answer that's infallible and uplifting. I know this and yet sometimes I want easy answers too badly. I'm confused every time I turn around and the people surrounding me have become ten times more complex.

Is this what growing up is?

Is becoming an adult about maturely disagreeing with your parents and making your own choices for you? Is it about looking at all the problems you face and admitting that you aren't sure what to do? Is it about realizing independence or is it about admitting to codependency?

I know life isn't a piece of cake, or if it is, sometimes the cake is challenging and upsetting and mind whirling. Things get thrown at you that you're not ready for and you have to figure it out. Still, knowing this is a lot different than experiencing it. It's completely different when your expectations are actually crumbling until you don't know what's left anymore. And I don't mean that in a depressing way. I just mean that things aren't always what they look like and people aren't usually who they seem. That's my reality these days.

I always used to think I was ridiculously mature for my age. And I was but now I'm maturing in a different way. It's scary but exciting and frustrating but exhilarating. Teenagers have some difficult stuff to deal with but I think we can all agree that there are some pretty neat-o parts. Shifting mental frameworks and ideas at the speed of thought is one of those things.

The only thing I'm really sure of doing is moving on. I may not know exactly what the right way to deal with the task at hand is, if there even is a right way at all, but I know that tomorrow I'll be okay and I'm going to keep doing the best I can, while I figure out what the best I can even is.

I keep telling myself that I'm enough. I'm hoping that one of these days it'll sink in.

Hello. (hello, HOLA! I'm at a place called Vertigo...)

I've figured out why I haven't been commenting on blogs as much lately; it's so that my blogs can basically be extended comments and I don't really have to think of my own topic whilst still adding. . . something to the blog as a whole. This tactic comes in handy at 11:21 in the postmeridian.

Proof That I Am Still Somehow Culturally Literate

"Blink and you're dead"--Doctor Who (I'm definitely using this for awkward silences now. No one I know will get it, but it doesn't matter. I'll get it, and I shall snicker inwardly at my own cleverness. I tend to make a lot of these sorts of references, though, and most of them aren't understood by company under the age of 30. Both my parents started me young by doing this with song lyrics. Now some phrases have garnered a memetic status, requiring singing by a sort of unwritten rule. Never tell me to whip anything, for your own good. Unrelated but sort of related: I less than three The Breakfast Club. I feel your pain.)

The Circle of Life (volume and exaggeratedness will vary)--The Lion King

Warner Chilcott-- Vlogbrothers

All three responses to stop-- songs. (Oooh sophisticated.)

"Don't go down there Mr. Frodo"-- Lord of the Rings, amirite? I should get around to reading that.

"Girls just wanna have fun"-- The titular phrase of an annoying 80s song.

"VOLDEMORT KILLED MY PARENTS"--HARRY FREAKING POTTER, what else?

"You can't stop the beat!" (Or the motion of the ocean or--ALEX WHAT HAVE YOU STARTED?)--Hairspray

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."--The Princess Bride (more absolute less than three.)

Darn, I was sure I knew more than that. I've heard them, I just can't place where they came from. I might have to Google them. But it's not like this has stopped me before. I love "I AM DISAPPOINT." even though I don't know what it refers to. The preterite is for losers. Also, for sexual sounding comments, in defiance of "No homo." (this seems to have died down, though. Yay.), I've started ending sentences with "...and I mean that in the most homoerotic way possible." "The game." has come out of the Annoying Repetition Valley, too, into the Peak of Awesome. And now I feel like making a flowchart. So I might. Yay.

Re: Title-- There are people who don't say "hello" because the word itself is 4/5ths "hell". They are dead serious.

So...

I'm trying this thing where I actually do what I say I'm going to do.

Don't you hate when people flake out at the last second? It's like, if you don't want to do something, then tell me so I can adjust my own life. If you do want to do something, then do it! It's not difficult and yet I have done an astoundingly poor job of actually following that advice. But. I'm changing.

For example, I said I was going to give blood, and I did, and now I would feel great, except I just got home (well -- I just got home, an hour ago) from a soul-killing Chicago rehearsal and now I am happy/delirious/frustrated/grateful/impatient/ET CETERA. (P.S. I'm not anemic! Meaning that I am yet another Google-search-induced hypochondriac.)

I told myself that if I write this blog post then I can watch 30 Rock and then go to sleep (yes, I prioritize 30 Rock over sleep). And I'm doing that now! It may be a shitty blog post but at least it's being birthed.

There's this other thing when I said that I was going to blog every Monday and Friday and now I'm doing that and I'm going to keep doing that. I really do apologize. Just... yeah. No words, man.

slightly obnoxiously endearing excuses/references

Watch out, Alex is taking over the blog!!! She can't be tamed.

--we will return after these short messages--
Talking about yourself in the third person again? Are your friends starting to think of you of the annoyance that should not, under any circumstance, be invited to social gatherings? Dr. Backterfirst can help you! No, this is not Dr. Backterfirst speaking. This is someone else. Call 1-800-I Can't Think Of Anything Witty.
--and we're back--

*long exhale* I can't explain myself. This is fitting actually, because hayleyghover* posted a video response on YouTube today about excusing your behavior with pop culture references until it isn't funny anymore and then continuing to do it until it is. Funny again, I mean.

I was having so much fun reading the comments of that video that I thought I would bring them over here. Also, I am devoid of original ideas. Also, I thought it would be useful to have a database of excuses that are not only hilarious but also valid. Use at your own risk.

My own idea is from The Breakfast Club. Whenever someone has a general complaint about the state of the world, I'll say, "Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."
I don't think anyone else gets it but I enjoy the reference.


I also explain my more absurd behavior by saying, "Cause I'm hot like that." I think it covers a diverse range of actions.


A lot of other things I say can be traced directly back to Gilmore Girls. Honestly, I've gotten so many of my expressions from Gilmore Girls that I don't even remember where they came from. Except I know they probably came from Gilmore Girls, especially when I'm watching reruns. Thank you, Amy Sherman Palladino. You rock my world.


Now for the rest, curteousy of YouTube. Usernames should be linked, some have been slightly edited for context. I hope this helps you with your random referencing. Tell me in the comments how many of the actual references (rather than the random responses) you got.

Something inexplicable or out of the blue happen? Say:

 "It must have happened because the plot demanded it." ThongManX

Need to distract from a topic? Say:

"Then tell me this, why is a banana radioactive?" ThatAaronWilsonKid 

Awkward silence? Remedies:

Sing the Lion King opening. "The Circle of LIIIIIIIIFE." imnotuniqueimmonique

Say, "Don't blink. Blink and you're dead!" ageeksrevenge

Do you need a strongly vocalize your disagreement with someone? Yell:

"YOU'RE A LIAR!" CatrionaHD or

"Your comment is completely irrelevant." or

"SHE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE!" nerdgrlsquared 

Need a scapegoat? Blame...

Warner Chilcott. Seaphire7 or

..,it on the alcohol. Eiznekcam4

or say:

 "F**kin' Lauren." iamtheveggiemonster 

Did someone just tell you to stop? Say

•  "collaborate and listen," or
• "Hammer time!" or
• "in the naaaame of love." alliekat16 

Confused? Say:

 "WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HEAAAAAHHHHHH?????" tinallama11

Are other people confused because of something you've said? Say:

"Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon!" or 

"I'M NOT AN OWL!" wazzuphan

Need to warn a friend off something? Say:

"Don't go down there, Mr. Frodo." GreenFairyPrincess 

Is someone trying to make you do something untrue to who you are? Scream:

"GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!!!!!" Tree023 

Just want people to leave you alone?

"I'm a child of divorce, give me a break." peridotbaby or

"VOLDEMORT KILLED MY PARENTS!" ohceecee

People trying to get you down? Tell 'em:

 "You can't stop the beat!' nerdygeekydorkygirl 

Need to convince some of your plans worthiness? Say: 

"IT'S FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE." SaoPauloOrBust

Impressed or sarcastic? Say, while clapping: 

Great story. Tell it again. gredandforge7

If a friend does something noteworthy: 

"You go Glen Coco!" Beniqwa 

Feel like expressing anger but not quite sure how? Say:

"My name is Indigo Mantoya, you killed my father, prepare to DIE." FiveFangirlsFTW

Need an epic way to end a story or blog post? Say:

 "And then they made me their chief." HallowsNotHorcruxes7  

*Who, in case you were wondering, was my introduction to the John Green's books (I read An Abundance of Katherines first) and thus the vlogbrothers.