W00T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My two big tests are OVER for this week. True, I've still got a French quiz, an outline for my History Paper, and various other loverly homeworks and whatsits, but now my stress level has decreased significantly from what you read a few posts ago. Thank God.
Although I haven't actually finished my Science test......erk.......but I get to study more for it. You know, the funny thing about my Science class is that the teacher is GREAT--he goes through everything you're confused about, explains things wonderfully, and is hilarious on top of it all (I'll have to do a quote of the day in honor of him. Heh heh...). BUT: his tests are super-hard!!! And he's not even one of those teachers you know right away has another side to him--no, you get his first test and are like, Shit this is hard! But having him there to help makes it all better.

Now I've just got an outline for my paper on midwifery and the church's persecution of them in 1200's England (what a mouthful) to do. Yeeeeees. At least my computer background makes me happy! --->


~Josie

In a Lifetime

1. Smile

2. Learn

3. Listen

4. Have faith

5. Try

6. Laugh

7. Cry

8. Sigh

9. Pray

10. Understand

11. Feel

12. Create

13. Scream

14. Grieve

15. Kiss

16. Talk

17. Flow

18. Decide

19. Don’t regret

20. Remember

Quote of Ze Day

Mind you, this is not a new thing I'm starting--there are countless quotes around, I know, but I was inspired and decided to add a little something for your enjoyment....

So my friend S.E. is working with me on her History study guide, and she pauses thoughtfully in her writing and says,

"You know, I would abbreviate 'culture' with 'cult,' but that would just confuse me."

For anyone who is not in my History class..............the despair rains down upon thy face, I know. Thou art missing out.

~Josie

Beautiful Words, Beautiful Heart

This was written by Violet Trefusis to her best friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. It was one of those things you just happen to stumble across, and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. Wouldn't you love for someone to write something like this to you??? It saddens me that the days of writing like this in an everyday fashion are out the window and far from home...Ah, well. We can always revisit that era. I know I love to. :-)

~Josie

October 8, 1910

excerpt
Violet was sixteen at the time she wrote this letter...

I am in the act of asking myself if I ought to reply to your question? A question furthermore most indiscreet and which merits a sharp reprimand. Reply, don't reply, reply! Oh to the devil with discretion!

Well, you ask me pointblank why I love you....I love you, Vita, because I've fought so hard to win you.... I love you, Vita, because you never gave me back my ring. I love you because you have never yielded in anything;' I love you because you never capitulate. I love you for your wonderful intelligence, for your literary aspirations, for your unconscious (?) coquetry. I love you because you have the air of doubting nothing! I love in you what is also in me: imagination, the gift for languages, taste, intuition and a host of other things.....

I love you, Vita, because I've seen your soul.

Stripper Names Make Me HAPPY

We all have to come up with names for ourselves in Cabaret as the Kit Kat Klub Girls, and here is the list I've compiled--for myself I really like Contessa, but I just love all the other ones so much.....*giggle*

~Josie

-Agna (means "chaste, holy" in German)
-Amalia
 (means, appropriately, "work" in German)
-Aphrodite

-Ava

-Bijou
-
Brigitte
-
Conradine
 (means "bold counsel" (HA) in German)
-Diabla

-Duchess
-
Esmé

-Empress

-Ernsta (means "serious business" in German)
-Eva

-Faina (means "light" in Russian)
-
Giselle

-Godiva

-Gypsy
-
Iantha
 (means "violet flower" in Greek)
-Irina
-
Jazz
-
Jezebel
-Karla (means "man" in German (!!!))
-
Korina
 (means "maiden" (HA))
-Mitzi (means "rebellious" in German)
-Mirage
-
Moondance
-
Mystique
-
Natalya

-Olga
-Ruby

-Sapphire

-Scarlett

-Yuliana

-Yvette
-Esmeralda
-Kayla
-Yvonne
-Ursula
-Natasha
-Olga
-Minnie
-Verena (means "to respect, to fear" in German)
-Viola
-Violet
-Macy
-Mack (for MacKenzie)

From Good to Crappy to Great!

Isn't it wonderful when teachers get A) lazy, or B) considerate of sick people/stressed people, and move things like TESTS AND ESSAYS AND PAPERS to days when it works for everyone?!?!? It's just so great. This week began pretty well, but on Tuesday morning my stress level skyrocketed when my good friend S.E. reminded me that--OH--we've got a science test on Friday! And a mousetrap car contest on Monday! Then the thoughts of my World History exam flooded into my mind, followed by the memory of this big research paper we've got due TUESDAY on which we haven't had any guidance whatsoever....*sigh* Needless to say, my stress level went from here to HERE in about five seconds.
BUT...
On Wednesday, my Science teacher, who has been just under the weather lately, announced that he was moving our test from Friday to Tuesday of this upcoming week, and that we'd have a movie day on Friday, mainly because there had been so many people gone, etc. etc. So I felt a little better--I love Science this year anyway because of this teach; he is awesome in every way. But anyway, then today my History teacher moved our exam to Tuesday instead of Monday, so now my mood is wünderbar. (Mostly because I get to go take off my skirt and put on my three-inch-heel character shoes for some slutty dancing!)

~Josie

Theatre Survey--yessssssssssssss

In honor of a certain new follower of mine, and fellow theatre freak, I give you this Theatre Survey. Yes, FINALLY a fun questionnaire relating to the great wide thing we call a STAGE. w00t. So although it will take up a lot of space, I know, here goes......

Enjoy, my pretties!

~Josie

LAST SHOW ADDED TO YOUR RESUME?

Museum (look up Tina Howe), but I'm currently working on Cabaret (finally!)

LAST SHOW YOU AUDITIONED FOR?

Cabaret

LAST SONG YOU USED AT AN AUDITION?

"Tomorrow Belongs to Me" from Cabaret

FAVORITE MUSICAL(s)?

Crazy For You, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked!, Man of La Mancha, Gypsy, White Christmas, A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, Sound of Music, Rent, My Fair Lady, Notre Dame de Paris, and on and on and on....

FAVORITE PLAY?

Romeo and Juliet....eh, anything Shakespeare, really. OOH, and this one called The Butterfly about the Holocaust...very good.

FAVORITE ROLE(S) YOU'VE PLAYED, AND FROM WHAT SHOW(S)?

Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Follies Girl in Crazy For You, Kit Kat Girl in Cabaret, Shoesaleslady in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, drug addict rockstar babe in our "teen issues" play Addict.....heh heh......jk

FAVORITE ROLE OVERALL THAT I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY?

Elphaba from Wicked!, Juliet, Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha, Roxie in Chicago, Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Esmeralda in Notre Dame de Paris (yes, the French version)

SUPERSTITION?

Having good rehearsals during Hell Week, definitely. Baaaaaaaaaaaad sign right there.

YOUR GOAL IN SHOW BUSINESS?

Do it for as long as I can and be good at it!!!!

FAVORITE DIRECTOR YOU HAVE EVER WORKED WITH?

Mrs. B., of course. And Ms. Mac. Yes.

WHAT WAS YOUR VERY FIRST SHOW?

Not counting little class plays at my school, I was the Shoesaleslady in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in sixth grade. :-)

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A DANCE SOLO?

Well, not really.......eh, no. Danced with small groups.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SINGING SOLO?

Yes! In Alexander...(NOT writing out that name again)

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THE LAST PERSON TO TAKE A BOW?

No, but I was third-to-last in Museum (w00t)

HAVE YOU BEEN TO NEW YORK?

*tear drips down nose* Never.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO LA?

Nope

WHAT'S THE SCARIEST PART OF AN AUDITION?

Wondering if your voice will crack because you're a teenager, hearing someone really good go right before you.

WHAT'S THE BEST PART OF AN AUDITION?

If you do well!!!! And if you know the director(s), that's always made me feel better.

NAME A SHOW YOU WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN.

Dandelion. Oh hell no.

NAME A SHOW YOU COULD DO FOR YEARS.

Crazy For You, (probably) Cabaret, Alice in Wonderland

WHAT ARE YOU AUDITIONING FOR NEXT?

Whatever show comes my way! I don't know any yet...

DO YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH PAST CAST MEMBERS?

Why wouldn't I?!?!?

HOW IMPORTANT IS GETTING PAID?

Well, right now not terribly, because I've never gotten paid for a show before and I still love doing it. But, I imagine that if I make a career out of this then it would become increasingly more vital...

*(thanks for that one, Moi!)

SOMETHING EMBARRASSING OR UNEXPECTED THAT HAPPENED TO YOU WHILE ON-STAGE?

Well, this was for ballet (slightly off-topic, I know): my chef's hat fell off as we were bowing, and I was at the end of the line (seeing how short I was and am), so I just picked it up and carried it off on my hand like it was on a tray. :-) And various bows and such falling off my tap shoes is CFY...

WHO IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PERSON (ON STAGE OR OFF) THAT YOU HAVE EVER WORKED WITH?

MPA-goers, you know her. Thank God she's not in Cabaret, I am sorry, but......

EVER BEEN NAKED ONSTAGE?

No, but I will nearly be for this one!!! Hot stuff, baby!

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN KILLED ONSTAGE?

ALMOST--when I was that drug addict Kendra, I set myself on fire smoking a bong pipe or something, and I totally mamed myself. I had to wear this cut-up bald cap over my face to make me look deformed. Maybe sometime I'll attach that picture...heh heh. Give y'all nightmares forever.

BEEN DRUNK ONSTAGE?

Oh heck yes. Crazy For You tavern scene--AND in Sweeney Todd, during God That's Good.

PLAYED SOMEONE HALF YOUR AGE?

Hmmmmmmmmmm.......dunno the ages of some of my characters....

PLAYED SOMEONE TWICE YOUR AGE?

Loads of times. Mostly being a floozy, druggie, or ditzy dancer of some sort....

CRIED?

Nope. I wish.

FIRED A GUN?

Been right next to one being fired, twice. That's it.

BEEN DRENCHED?

HUH?!?!?!?

BEEN IN A DREAM SEQUENCE?

Erm, nooooooo...........unless you count Museum, which was pretty much the entirety of the play....or A Midsummer Night's Dream.

BEEN KISSED?

Not YET.....*blushes* Maybe sometime in the near future. Hopefully not before my true first kiss, however.

Fishnets and Garters and Dancing my Thighs Off

Yes, I know, I already mentioned fishnets and garters, but that's only because my brain is hooked on them (HA definitely no pun intended)--we haven't seen our costume plans for the Cabaret Girls yet, and I am simply itching to get at them.
But meanwhile, we learned a small part of the dance for Wilkommen today. !!! By "small" I mean we haven't even gotten to the part where the girls sing yet--yea, it's a tiny bit. But even now my thighs are KILLING ME. I haven't danced like this since the show two years ago, Crazy For You, and that didn't consist of über-sexual rubbings and brushes and and *blech*!! But anyway, this dance. Is. So. Hard. I mean, I'm a dancer myself, but this totally shows what happens when all you do is ballroom once a week for a year without ever stretching, writhing around on the floor like an animal, etc. etc. We begin with right after our little fanfare-type thing, and are in the groove right away. We kick, we lunge, we spin, we dig into our hips, we grope people in places just borderline for a high school.....
So I'm excited as hell.....but really nervous.
Of course the funner fun (yes, I know it's not a word) starts when we get costumes--can you tell I've got a bit of a showgirl-costume hang-up for this play???--and when we sing with the live pit. This seriously is my dream show, or at least one of them; hey, Kit Kat Klub Girl, Telephone Girl, and Lady #1 in Two Ladies isn't bad for my freshman year!!

~Josie

p.s. What do you think of the bigger font? It was pissing me off that it was so tiny, but I'm wondering if this is too big to look nice....

Happy Valentine's Day 2009

Some people choose to be cynical; some people choose to be sappy. I lean a little towards the sappy side, but I just want to send my happiest vibes out there to all my friends and people I adore. You all mean waaaaaaaaaay too much to me. :-) Love ya.

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xoxo,

Josie

Heeeere we go!!!

"Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome! Fremde, étranger, stranger...Glucklich zu sehen, je suis enchanté, happy to see you--bliebe, reste, STAY!"

"The fuuun has arriiiiiiiiiiiived."

"Free at last! Thank God almighty, I'm free at last!"

Cabaret has finally started, and I can't contain myself. Literally. It's all fishnets and garters from here, baby. :-)
~Josie

#7

GTABW List #7: We can see something truly magnificently beautiful, cry over it, and understand why we're crying. AND we don't have to feel like we're total saps.

Can't catch my breath

Have you ever witnessed something so breathtakingly beautiful that you can't quite accept what you just saw? That you think it can't be real because it was too....astounding, too perfect??

My mom told me it was a full moon tonight, and I love to go outside and look at the moon when it's blindingly bright and round, so tonight my parents and I stepped outside into the rather balmy (for MN) night air, and watched the clouds roll over that huge moon. After a while they left, but I stayed out to gaze at it; this thing was so flawless and white I couldn't help but be completely mesmerized. The clouds were rushing across that moon like flocks of birds, blotting it out and then breaking to show off the perfect brightness....

And then the stars! I took a trip to the Boundary Waters a few summers ago and had my first night paddle. It was amazing--we laid back in our canoes and just watched the sky change, observing all the stars and constellations (as well as seven shooting stars). I have never seen as many little twinkling dots in a navy sky as I did in that one night; tonight wasn't even close, but this is the most stars I've ever seen this close to a city. I think I saw Mars, glinting red way off in the distance, and a few other stars that literally twinkled--you haven't seen the night sky until you've stared into the blue-blackness and seen little pinpricks of light flickering on and off, like lightening bugs up in heaven. Train whistles echoed through the darkness, and with the wind rustling the bare branches of trees just enough to be calming and not creepy, I couldn't stop my eyes from sucking up every detail of the night. It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen in my life. I can see why some people are drawn to the night; I know I am.

~Josie

Cast Party

So I went to my first cast party two weekends ago (the 31st to Feb. 1st, in case, like me, you are date-challenged). I've been in Upper School shows since seventh grade, but it was never really appropriate for me to go, especially as a seventh-grader in contrast to a bunch of seniors....yea. So this was my first one, and it was AMAZING!!!
Understand that I mean that in not a completely positive nor completely negative way. There were both good and bad aspects to this shindig, but the bad pieces were really trivial. It was definitely worth it.
Bad parts: Me getting pissed off at a sophomore kid who....well, he's quite immature, and doesn't know WHEN to STOP--he makes a huge deal out of things, and then will blame other people for making a mountain out a frickin' molehill. And he was just being especially obnoxious during Blazing Saddles, which made ME upset because A) he would not shut his megaphonic trap as I so kindly asked him to; B) he was directly aiming at me at one point, and C) I LOVE the movie Blazing Saddles, dammit!!! (I left because he brought it to a point where I truly believe from the bottom of my cold-towards-obnoxiousness heart that I would have slapped him had I not left.)
Good parts: Watching Blazing Saddles in the basement of C.'s house; having a venting session with two awesome people, a junior and senior, after the infuriating incident with that sophomore kid; being comfortable in my pajamas and slipper socks for the entire night; eating junk food whenever I wanted; playing Taboo, underclassmen against upperclassmen (we beat the seniors' and juniors' asses!!), and Imaginiff (if you have never played that game, you are seriously missing out on LIFE). And yes. It was just a great time.

So I'm done now. MUCH MUCH more to come today to update y'all on my life (yes, it still is in existence....). There is so much to tell, dahlings!!
~Josie

#6

GTABW List #6: We can hug our friends without wondering if either of us is gay.

Time for a new post

As the title of this suggests, it is most definitely time for a new post on my part. You know, I got this thing to actually WRITE in it at least once a week or so, but I have been so bad with it......*sigh* I just don't know what to do with myself. Argh.

So basically, I shall be updating MORE and adding to my GTABW List (yesssssssss), and just telling you about my life more. Yes. :-)

~Josie