the art of being fabulous

End of a Blog

2009-07-17T15:14:00.002-04:00

I'm discontinuing my blog--I've found myself too busy to talk about why I'm busy. There's just too much to say about my life. Which, is good, I suppose. When I starting blogging in eighth grade, I didn't have much to say. I was, I don't know, different. I was super moody. I didn't have many friends--and I didn't see the few friends I had very often. I was constantly and severely upset. My life has changed oh-s0-drastically since then.

And now...

I can't even find a sliver of time to sit down and say hi to you all. And when I do, there's so much to say it ends up not making much sense. I'll try to still and catch up with your blogs, though, I really want to keep in touch. So friend me on Facebook (please!), which is probably the easy way to stay in touch with me. See, I even have to type my very last post out quickly because I told my friend I'm be over at her house ASAP. You see what I mean? Time is not an abundant thing. And, as I've learned, blogging requires lots and lots of time and dedication.

If you want it, my email is: anniethefrazzled@yahoo.com

I wish you all the best of luck--and keep blogging, because you're all fabulous at it.

Love you all,

Annie. July 17th, 3:46 pm

Comeuppance is a dish best served SIZZLING

2009-07-05T11:07:00.003-04:00

Happy Independence Day!

I say 'Independence Day' because 'The 4th of July' is the lamest name for a holiday. Ever. Usually the 4th is pretty boring, consisting of rain, obnoxious parades, more rain, and baseball. However, yesterday was actually oodles of fun. It did start out with an obnoxious parade, consisting of a hundred blaring, wailing firetrucks and people not throwing candy at us because we're teenagers. Then I hung out at Mathilda's for a while, except we were sort of bored, so we texted everyone we knew to get their butts over there--but Natalie is the only one who actually came, which was still fun. We rode down the driveway in Dora-the-Explora tricycles and talked about leprechauns. Then we drove up (in a car, not a tricycle) the winding roads to the top of the hill where everyone's house is more like a palace, and for every palace, there's three 'elite' country clubs. Except on one of these 'elite' country clubs for 'elite' people with 'elite' houses, they were having some not-so-elite fireworks. It was beautiful up there (see above) and we ran amok barefoot around the soft turf, rolling down hills and jumping in sand pits. Golf courses are so much fun except for the golf part. And the fireworks were spectacular (see below).

So right after my last post, the one where I complained about how bored I was and how much I hated Hamlet, I slept over at Mathilda's house with Joanna which was super fun. We lit things on fire and ran around screaming (screaming, running, and fire has been the theme of the week) and then watched The Simpson's Movie (yet again). Afterward, we ran around claiming we'd get comeuppance (I thought it was spelled kummuppets!) on each other. This comuppance consisted of smashing a dead wasp all over each other's belongings. It was most disgusting. The next night I went to the mall with Mathilda, and I spent more money on a smoothie than a shirt. I also got Joanna an AWESOME birthday present, buuut it's staying a secret!

Also, I had a slight revalation, and now I'm super excited about being in Hamlet! Auditions are Thursday and I am doing a monologue from Twelfth Night. Woo-hoo! It's going to be a very interesting play, I think.

--'Tis all.
--Annie

When the Highlight of your day is Cleaning...

2009-07-02T18:27:00.000-04:00

all of the clothes I own. in a mess. on the floor.

I decided to go through my clothes today, which took me three hours. This week has been so boring, I've spent like half of it watching pointless television and eating excessive amounts of ice cream. July has been quite lackluster so far.

Next week (and the following one) I have some sort of writing camp that my mom/Joanna kind of hoodwinked me into doing. And I can't even say anything about it because, frankly, I know next to nothing about it. So your guess is good as mine. I think my nomadic friend Joanna might be crashing at my house a day or two. I don't know--she's the kind of person who 'conveniently' leaves out details and just shows up at my house at arbitrary times.

Oh. Crap. Guess what I just found out? So every summer, since I was 10, the last three weeks of summer is reserved for spending five hours a day working on this massive production with my beloved theatre company. And I just found out, right now, this year's show is Hamlet. Hamlet!?

Ugh. I love Shakespeare. The man was pretty incredible. However, Shakespeare is difficult and frustrating, especially the tragedies. And Hamlet, indeed, is a tragedy. I wouldn't be complaining if we were doing The Comedy of Errors or As You Like It or Much Ado About Nothing; those are all hilarious and ingenious shows. Hamlet, however, is morbid and tedious and everyone dies in the end. I do not want to waste my last few weeks of summer vacation spending hours studying cryptic poetry and then dying. It is summer; I want to do a frivolous, fun show.

Also, auditions are next week. Meaning, I have less than a week to cease the internet and sift though millions of monotone monologues. Of course, I can not perform the awesome monologue I have already imprinted in my brain, because it isn't remotely close the Shakespeare and the monologue should reflect the show you audition for. Meaning, now I have to find some Shakespeare monologue, interpret what it means, memorize it, practice it, perfect it, all in less than a week. On top of this mysterious writing camp.

Ugh. Summer is more work than school.

-Annie

Yesterday was Possibly the Best Day Ever. Well at least this week.

2009-06-28T22:43:00.000-04:00

First off, I'm glad I'm not famous, or else I might be dead. This epidemic is crazier than the Swine Flu. Celebrities are dropping like Egyptian pigs. Which little piggy is next? (Sorry, that was a little weird.)

Acting camp ended with a bang--a party of sorts. Originally, Mathilda and I had planned to gather a large group of our closest friends and conquer the semi-local water park. After mass texting and sending Facebook invites, we were like 'Screw this, we're never going to find enough willing parents to haul seventeen obnoxious teenagers an hour away to spend the entire day running amok in swimsuits." That is when the Sandcastle Water Park dream died. A few days later, we were like "WE ARE SO HAVING A MURDER MYSTERY PARTY!"

We wrote our own murder mystery.T he scenario was that it was a wedding and the groom, Timothy, was found dead at the reception with a cake knife shoved in his back. We spent hours perfecting the characters: one was an alcoholic uncle, another was a crazy sister-of-the-groom with a meth lab in her basement, the best man was a horse jockey on steroids, the brother of the groom was in the mafia, there was a prostitute who was at bachelor party, there was a gay stripper who previously had a 'thing' with the groom and is having an affair with half the characters. So, basically my friends in real life (:

I'm skipping forward in time a few days (I'll go back and explain things in a second) but it wasn't until about 9:30 the night of the party when we decided to actually try the murder mystery thing out. Mathilda and I were very doubtful but everyone seemed excited. Keep in mind these my friends from theatre, not my school friends, and they are more lively and colorful then most people. We just ended up assigning people characters that were kind of like themselves. Sarah was the prostitute named Clementine, Liv was the crazy mother, and, of course, Joey was the stripper, having an affair with Sarah, me, and Mathilda. So no one would know, we put a bunch of slips of paper in a bowl and one slip said "MURDERER!" on it and everyone drew a slip.

So we mingled and everyone was in character and it was so funny. People were getting into random fights and Joey was hitting on EVERYONE--even Nathan who is now scarred for life. At the end, it was getting late and people had to go home but we tried to guess who the murderer was. It was Sarah! DUN DUN DUN!

Here are some pictures from the entire party:

No one formally RSVP'd, so we weren't sure who was coming. The first person to arrive was NATHAN, followed by fifteen of our favorite people ever. While in the front yard waiting of the Pfieffers (who never came?!) Joey decided that we should all do cheerleading moves for the passing cars and eventually he demanded Mathilda go fetch him a pair of heels. But that's just Joey. And strangely enough, he can walk in heels better than I can.

Soon after, he demanded we find him a dress or something so he prance all over my over-conservative town like a crossdresser. And he did, whist complaining that everyone is now going to start comparing him to Angel from RENT.

The blur of everyone before pigging out on pizza

We played a game called assassin and then decided to venture off to the playground

As always, the playground was epic fun. Joanna, the petafile, befriended a small girl and about half a dozen of us discovered that playground poles like like strip club poles and now half my friends are destined to become pole dancer. What a wonderful career choice.

There were these two old men sitting on a distant bench, smoking, and from a distance Mathilda though they were Nathan and Gina. But, There IS something going on between Nathan and Gina. OH BABY! It was getting dark, so, we ventured home

...and that's when we started the murder mystery part. I was going to sleep over at Mathilda's, but I was so tired I couldn't even keep my eyes open. Anywho, yesterday's party was epically amazing and I'm going to miss everyone like an addict misses their heroin. WITHDRAWAL! WITHDRAWAL! SHIVER! SPASM! DIE!

-buhbyes
--<3annie

2009-06-25T21:40:00.000-04:00

Sunshine Sarah and the Nameless Hobo
A children's story

(Disclaimer: I was talking to my friends Sarah and TJ on Facebook and, for some reason, they were begging me to tell them a story. So I did. And this is how it goes.)

Once upon a time there was a drag queen.

Her name was Sunshine Sarah.

And she wanted a new pair of stripper heels.

There was one problem, though; she had no money.

"I should get a job!" exclaimed Sunshine Sarah.

"I need money."

She didn't want to be a stripper, so she needed to find a new source of income.

Sunshine Sarah searched all over New York city for a job so she could purchase her beloved heels.

So she applied for a job at Chick Fillet (or however you spell it).

But then she remembered she was allergic to chicken.

So that escapade was an epic fail.

But Sunshine Sarah persevered. Then, she applied for a job at the wax museum.

But then she remembered that she was allergic to wax celebrities.

So, once again, that was an epic fail.

By now, Sunshine Sarah was kind of pissed off, so she disgruntledly applied for one last job.

This time, at Chuckie Cheese's.

and Sunshine Sarah got the job!

It was her first day of work and she was super excited.

Because what Drag Queen doesn't adore Chuckie Cheese's?

So Sunshine Sarah arrived at work with a smile on her face.

But, turns out, small children don't really like drag queens very much.

Evidently, Sunshine Sarah was fired immediately.

This was not a happy event.

Glumly, Sunshine Sarah was moseying down the New York streets.

There, she came across a hobo.

A nameless hobo.

"Good day," waved said nameless hobo.

"Good day," replied Sunshine Sarah, still glum from the dream crusher that is Chuckie Cheese's.

Just then Sunshine Sarah noticed something very peculiar...

...said nameless hobo was wearing Sunshine Sarah's desired heels!

Then Sunshine Sarah got a despotic idea.

She tackled said nameless hobo and beat him with her purse.

"Stop!" yelped said nameless hobo.

Except Sunshine Sarah didn't stop.

Instead, she stole said nameless hobo's heels. and guess what?

TJ: what

They fit Sunshine Sarah perfectly!

...which made her very happy!

The sun was setting, and Sunshine Sarah skipped away from said nameless hobo lying limply in the ally.

And from that day on, Sunshine Sarah despised Chuckie Cheese's and feared not said nameless hobos.

THE END!

I hope you liked my wonderful story!
Oh--and RIP Michael Jackson

---Annie

Saltworks: Week One

2009-06-21T21:55:00.000-04:00

Week One of Acting Camp captured in Pictures:

Our team, the Terrifying Tumbleweeds,
on Team Color Day:

Me decked out on mismatch day:

Mathilda on mismatch day:

George on mismatch day:

Kevin, Natalie, and Mathilda:

Sarah and Ben dressed like
pirates and cowboys:

A bunch of us. . .whiter than Anthony Rapp:

Me wearing a mustache for our New Works skit:

Mathilda's little sister with a mustache:

Our New Works skit...
It was a fake infomercial called iFriend
Everyone loved it:

Nathan being BLONDE:

A bunch of us:

Sarah and Me:

Performing a scene from Peter Pan. . .I'm Peter Pan!

Olivia's party afterward. Silly String War:

So Week One was EPIC. Everything from theme days to New Works to playing random games to story time about creeper mannequins, it didn't cease to be one of the best weeks of my summer, as always.

At the end of each week after we perform scenes from a select play (this year was Peter Pan) or sing songs, one person from each group is awarded a scholarship for being a good person and other awesomeness. This year, it was me! I broke free from the mob of actors in burnt orange T-shirts to retrieve my certificate. On the way back, I tripped over this disabled girl's walker thing, and everyone was laughing, including myself, at my sheer grace. Might I add that no one was hurt in my little trip. Pssh, that is so me to fall over everything. Earlier, when we were doing a dress rehearsal for Peter Pan, for some reason we were REALLY far downstage, to where the microphones were taped to the floor, and toward the end of the scene I accidentally tripped over one of the floor mics and impulsively screamed "CRAP!" in the middle of Wendy's soliloquy. I wasn't trying to be funny or anything, but everyone burst out laughing and that's all anyone would talk about for a while.

Me? Graceful? I think not.

Afterward, Sarah and I went to King's restruant with a big group of people, and later arrived late to our friend Olivia's party (not to get confused with Joanna's sister, Olivia. Sheesh, Olivia is a really pretty name, but I probably know thirty Olivia's) . I had never been to Olivia's house before, because I'm not that good friends with her, but --HOLY CRAP-- her house is enormous. Her room is probably half the size of my house--she has a large room with a super high ceiling, an enormous walk in closet, a full bathroom, and a staircase leading to a big loft. It's insane. There were a bunch of people there, so we ran around screaming and then we had a major silly string war, which was awesome. When our spray cans ran out, we went inside and made rootbeer floats and Kevin scared everyone in her neighborhood by screaming "I'M A FLAMING HOMOSEXUAL" at the top of his lungs. Then we snuck on her neighbor's trampoline and watched SNL for three hours.
Sarah and I ended up sleeping over. We tried sledding down a snowless hill at midnight, which sadly, didn't work. Then we played hide and seek, which was amazing because Olivia's house has a million rooms and it took forever to find everyone. Hours later, we were half-asleep and telling ghost stories and all of a sudden we saw this flash of blue and I was like "Oh my god, I just thought I saw this weird blue flash" and Sarah was like "OH MY GOD I SAW IT TOO!" and we thought it was like some creepy mysterious inhuman force and it took us like fifteen minutes to realize it was just lightening.

WEEK TWO OF ACTING CAMP STARTS TOMORROW!!!!

-Annie

We're all Orange Except for Nathan's Hair!

2009-06-16T19:05:00.000-04:00

Acting camp is epic (: I'll write a long post about everything eventually, but for now I'll be brief. Each day at camp, there is a theme ( Crazy Hair Day, etc. etc. ) Today just happened to be team color day--and my team color is ORANGE. Which, in my opinion, is a terrible team color because nobody owns any orange. Anyway, everyone at the acting camp goes all out for these spirit days, especially me. Last night I was over at Mathilda's and we were mourning over our lack of orange clothing when we formulated a brilliant plan--we would (temporarily) dye our hair orange. We walked down to the party store, but unfortunately it was closed. So we went to Rite Aid but they didn't have orange hair dye or orange eyeliner or makeup of any kind--it was then we stumbled across the orange poster board. . .and decided to make orange sandwich boards.
So we went back to Mathilda's and decided to print out pictures of orange things to paste on our poster boards that we would make into sandwich boards. Except for both of the printers in Mathilda's home were not working. So someone suggested we walk down to the library and use their printers to print out orange things--so we did. However, at the library, THE COLOR PRINTER WAS BROKEN. We looked down at our black-and-white pictures that were not orange at all in remorse. So we spent two hours coloring them orange--all in all, our orange sandwich boards took us a few hours to make!
We wrote our team name (The Terrifying Tumbleweeds...YEE-HAW!) and glued on orange things (our orange things consisted of the strawberry-blonde Anthony Rapp, Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, Charmander the Pokemon, and a picture of Angel wearing orange clothes) Here was our very orange results:

Also, my friend Nathan whom I haven't seen in a year BLEACHED HIS HAIR BLONDE. It looks so weird. We asked him why he did it and his response was, "I have brown hair--and you can't dye brown hair pink. So I bleached it so I could dye it pink" And he did dye it pink. . .so now it's blonde with a touch of pink. The Legally Blonde joke's I've spewed out over the past two days are endless.
In the afternoon, we break into small groups and we're each performing a scene from Peter Pan. In my scene, I am Peter Pan--only because I am older and more experienced then every other person in my group. All my friends are split up into different groups--the insanity! Last year we did Antigone, and I was older than most people in my group too. It was me and Nathan and a bunch of ten-year-olds.
I'm starting to ramble so I'll write a post about everything one day. Just some highlights for now. Tomorrow is MISMATCH DAY! That is my favorite day of the whole year--I am so excited. Pictures promised.

--Annie

from nowhere to BROADWAY

2009-06-13T16:38:00.000-04:00

I just found out something awesome so I thought I'd share it with you all. It really has nothing to do with me, and I might sound like kind of a creeper, but whatever. I think it's cool.

So yesterday I received the seasonal newsletter in the mail for the acting company I attend (for some reason it took me like five minutes to make that sentence grammatically correct). Anywho, it's just a page or so long, so I skimmed it quickly and came across this article. Apparently, an alumni from my tiny, tiny acting company in the middle of suburban Pittsburgh is in the Hair revival on Broadway and performed at the Tony's last week! That made me suuuuuper happy!

His name is Anthony Hollock. I don't know him, though, he was before my day but I might have crossed paths with him at some event.or somethingrather I just think it's so cool that someone from my barely-known acting studio made Broadway. And to top it off, Hair won a Tony for Best Revival. I was so excited just because I love Hair and it's the mother of all rock operas and I'm constantly singing the songs, but now I'm excited for my acting company, which, by the way, is called Saltworks.

Next week and the week after, I have acting camp at Saltworks which is the highlight of my whole summer, the highlight of my life. I'm beyond excited. So, remember Antony Hollock's name (and mine!) because you never know what amazing things the future behold.

Hearing about his success just gave me so much hope. There's nothing stopping me from being the next Tim Rice (an awesomely awesome playwright who collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber and wrote Jesus Christ Super Star and Chess and Evita and other legendary show). That's going to be me (well one can dream, can't they? Anthony did...and he's now up there on Broadway belting out "Aquarius" and "Good Morning Starshine" and "Let the Sun Shine" and "Hair" Certainly, that's a sign of hope for me and my amazing playwright abilities) Never stop dreaming (:

Let the sun shineeeee, Let the sun shine in, the suuuuun shine in.
--Annie

I totally miss school...not!

2009-06-12T23:49:00.001-04:00

My mom has been pissed off at me all week and I don't know why. Well, I knew why she was pissed, but it's a petty reason to justify not talking to me still. I never know what's going on.

Overall, though, I'm pretty happy. I love the laziness of summer; it's so serene and relaxing. For some screwed up reason, teacher's always pile on ridiculous amounts of work toward the end of the school year. The last month of school, I was up past midnight almost EVERY night crafting chemistry labs and formulating creative writing papers. I didn't get a good night's sleep in weeks. Then, suddenly, all of that was over. I went from staying up all night preparing for vicious (I almost typed viscous, curse you chemistry!) finals to sleeping in all day before finally getting up only to watch television. I went from the most diligent worker (well, the top three probably) to the laziest couch potato in only a matter of hours. There is no balance in the universe.

Also, I think I'm going to a No Doubt concert tomorrow (Saturday) night. I don't know why. Mathilda texted me the other day (I don't know which day, they all sort of slurred together) asking if I wanted to go, and I agreed. I am completely unfamiliar with No Doubt--I thought they broke up in like the '90s. Apparently not if they're still touring. Gwen Stefani's still in No Doubt. Maybe? Oh who knows, I'll probably sleep all evening and miss the concert anyway.

Yeah, that's about it. I went to Sarah's house (again) someday this week, like I said, they all blended together into a nice summer soup. (Did I just say all the days turned into soup? Oh dear, I must be getting tired) And yesterday (I think, maybe the day before) was Natalie's 15th birthday and my friend Kelsey threw her a rather awesome surprise party. Be sure to wish her a belated birthday, if you have not!

I'm evidently sleepy and I want my brother to go to sleep so I can watch crappy 90s sitcoms and whatever else is on on TV in the middle of the night. Ah, summer is a blissful flavor of soup--and now I'm just hungry...

one more thing: ACTING CAMP FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS! ! ! ! !

--Annie

Gangster Library Hermits and Doc Martens

2009-06-09T19:29:00.000-04:00

This is my friend's cat.
His name is Samwise.
Or just Sam.

All I did today is run errands and sleep--and I didn't even wake up until eleven. Classic summer day. I went to the library for the first time in about year. I am not a fan of the library, because for some reason, every time I go in there I feel as if I'm being watched. Also, every single time I have ever been there, there are always these two kids in there on Myspace who think they're 'gangstaaaaaa' or whatever. In retrospect, the idea of 'gangstaaaaa' library hermits is hilarious; it reality, it's quite annoying and rather frightening.

Though librarys aren't my cloud nine, I adore bookstores. They're a whole different species of awesome. First off, they smell amazing. Seriously. If someone were to sell a new book perfume, I would buy it. ( psst--this is my money-making idea. Don't steal it :( ) Bookstores smell like awesome and are pure serenity. They're peaceful and quiet (the good kind of quiet, not the stuffy, awkward, if-I-tap-my-pencil-it-will-cause-the-next-world-war kind of quiet) and they're clean and air-conditioned and filled with stacks of pure white pages. I could so be a bookstore hermit.

So, just a few minutes ago, I was flipping through channels on the television and I came to Disney and saw that Hannah Montana was wearing Doc Martens. Doc Martens? When did Doc Martens become cookie-cutter-teenage-girl-popstar attire? Last time I checked, they were worn by either misfit/punk/skinhead/whatevers or troubled, uptight, lesbian lawyers**. But Hannah Montana? Wearing gaudy-yellow Doc Martens? Because of this, you're going to see thousands of frilly seven-year-old girls stomping around in Doc Martens. What is the world coming to?

**This was a refrence to RENT. I wonder if anyone got it. I was referring to Joanne, if you were curious. (Mr. Jefferson: No Doc Martens this time! and wear a dress! . . . Maureen: I'll kiss your Doc Martens! Let me kiss your Doc Martens! Your every wish I will obey)

When I go to return the library books I got, ( An Abudance of Katherines--John Green, Slam--Nick Hornby. I doubt I'll read either) I bet I'll see the 'gangstaaaaaaa' library hermits rocking Doc Martens as well. Oy vey. (psst--when I do go return them, any recomendations of good books I should read? Thanks.)

---Annie

PS. the time on my blog is way off. How do I change that?

I wrote a poem.

2009-06-08T01:06:00.000-04:00

Jigsaw families break into pieces
that all the super glue and duct tape in the world
couldn't mend
Blubbering rivers cross wrinkly canyons
Your face is a map
of a place I don’t want to go
But I’ll be there with you
bearing Kleenex and cookies
Sticky fingers fiddle with radio dials
gripping the wheel of a broken car
on a broken road
speeding away from a broken home

I don’t know where we’re going
but we’re going there together
because all the misfortune in the world
couldn't stop me from being your friend
Heartbreak is just another piece of your puzzle
So is family
So am I
And all the jagged pieces in the world
couldn't make your puzzle any less beautiful
in the end

(it's about my best friend)
(her life kind of sucks right now)
(and I feel bad)
(because I didn't know)
(until 9:11 tonight)

Tales of a Toaster-Savvy, Budding Playwright with Pippy Longstocking Braids

2009-06-07T15:11:00.000-04:00

listening to: Ragtime (but only act one, because I don't have the second act)

drinking: blueberry pomegranate vitamin water (it was free at the festival)

excited for: acting camp in a week! summer! summer! summer!

(cont. from last post) So after tackling my butthead DVD player, I finally got it to semi-work. So I watched the first ten minutes of Hair, but then it started freezing up every three seconds and would skip forward ten minutes ahead. At these impossible conditions, it was intolerable to follow. There were pregnant hippies dancing then *FREEZE* then it skipped forward to a man riding a horse in Central Park and *FREEZE* it skips to proper people riding horses and *FREEZE* some random man screams 'masturbation' and *FREEZE* there are some drugged hippies dancing under a bridge *FREEZE* *FREEZE* *FREEZE*. Ergo, I decided I would watch Hair some other time.

Thursday

Thursday was my first official day of summer. I don't even remember Thursday. I woke up at eleven and watched Gilmore Girls and then sang the entire score of Spring Awakening at the top of my lungs. Eventually, I got dressed and Joanna picked me up to go to rehearsal. Last summer, I was in a show called the Just So Stories. To publicize my theatre company, we revived some scenes from it and performed them today at a big festival on the other side of the city. But that falls under the 'Sunday' category, not Thursday.

Friday

Friday was Joanna's last day of school, which was a half day, and afterward she came over. We looked up all the spelling words from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee musical in the dictionary and about half of them are real. Syzygy is a real word! Pfeff is not!

Then we started writing a song but kind of forgot to finish it because we went to this awesome Mexican restaurant to celebrate the fact I won first place and got $200 for this writing thing at my school--but I'll talk about that another day. I love Mexican food.

When we got home, we walked over to this exceptionally tiny park right near my house with an even tinier, man-made creek with but a trickle of water. In this middle of this, dare I say stream, is a little man-made island about four feet in the air. It's very small, about fifteen feet long and four feet wide. We climbed up on top of it and stayed there for an hour dancing and singing along to Legally Blonde: the musical and Avenue Q from a portable speaker. Then we sang "Totally Fucked" from Spring Awakening at the top of our lungs--I'm sure that's a first-degree offense in my rustic town. This hoard of guys playing Frisbee shot us strange glances. Then the piano music to a musical called "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" came up on Joanna's iPod and we walked down the center of the street belting it out as loud as we could. We scared a cat, and old man, and my mother. This is why both houses on either side on my home are for sale.

Joanna ate all the food in my house and we watched Rocky Horror Picture Show (again). Whenever I watch movies with Joanna, we always watch the exact same ones over and over again. They consist of: RENT, RENT: filmed live on Broadway, Connie and Carla, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Priscilla: Queen on the Desert. If you haven't noticed, they all have to do with drag queens or transvestites. If you know any other good drag queen movies, please tell me!

Saturday

Yesterday I went to the mall with Sarah. We spent like two hours in Forever 21 trying on random clothes. I got a poofy skirt! It is awesome!

I don't know what I'm going to wear with it, though. I just put it over what I'm wearing right now to take a picture, which happened to be my Pirates of Penzance shirt. It looks very Dorthy with my Heidi/Spring Awakening Braids. It's very theatrical, I would say. Ideas of what I should wear it with?

Sometime while we were at the mall, Sarah lost her glasses. We galloped (literally, we galloped ) all over the mall, asking a zillion store managers if they'd seen a pair of blue, wire-rimmed glasses. No one did. We turned her car upside down looking for them, but had no luck. Dejectedly, we retreated to her house for dinner, which was great. I, evidently, am not a chef. I'm as toaster-savvy as the next poptart-addict, but I can't make a real meal to blade my hunger. I watched Sarah make salad dressing from scratch and something called cous cous and thought, "Annie, when you're finished writing your musical and cleaning your room and organizing your closet and finding an audition piece, you are going to learn to cook."

After dinner, Sarah pulled a Darth Vader mask out of virtually nowhere and I pranced around her neighborhood, proudly wearing it over my head. It was terribly hard to see, for I couldn't view anything below or above eye level. Blindly, I followed her to this field behind her house and there were all these deer surrounding us. I took my mask off to see them, but as soon as I disgarded the Darth Vader mask, they scampered away. Strange, yes.

Sunday

Today was the so-called publicity performance for the Just So Stories revival at a festival at a gargantuan library near the University of Pittsburgh. In July, Joanna and I are taking this writing camp/class/program thing at Pitt. I don't know what to think of it, and will tell you more about it eventually. However, it's held at the Catherdral of Learning:

So, we thought we were performing outside today (well, we really didn't know what to expect). However, we ending up performing inside. The audience was mostly our parents, and I'm not sure if we publicized at all, but I guess it went smoothly.

Tomorrow

...is my Rentiversary. Tomorrow, June 8th, 2009, marks one year of my RENT obsession. I am going to wear my 'La Vie Boheme' shirt, watch both RENT and RENT: filmed live on Broadway, cuss at Range Rovers and not drink diet coke. I'm excited (:

Reminder: The Tony Awards are on tonight at 8/7 c. If you're bored, watch them!!!

---Annie

I have more drafts than posts...

2009-06-06T23:21:00.000-04:00

I guess that's evidence of a social life. I never have enough time to finish what I am going to say. That is why this post is only a teaser. Sorry, dears, I'm a busy person. It still hasn't registered that it's summer, yet, in the scope of my brain. I keep saying, "...when I go back to school on Monday..." before remembering that I have no plans for Monday. I do have plans for tomorrow though, including a fairly strange acting gig. So, I will promise a large post after my so-called "performance" tomorrow and before the Tony's.

Which reminds me, the Tony Awards are on a 8 tomorrow on CBS. Watch!! [title of show] is nominated for Best Book. It better win! One day, that will be one of my creations (in my dreams!). Which brings me to my one and only summer goal: write a musical. A serious musical. I plan on collaborating with Joanna in writing a musical by the end of the summer. I doubt it will happen, but I'm going to try! When I grow up, I'm going to be the next Tim Rice. Sadly, you probably don't know who that is. You probably think Andrew Lloyd Webber created everything himself! Oy vey, you probably don't know who that is either! Google them. and then watch the Tony's.

So tomorrow after my strange performance and before the Tony's, I PROMISE to post, explaining my eventful weekend. It involves singing 'Totally Fucked' at the top of my lungs on a pygmy island in the middle of a creek, scaring live mannequins, and running around my friend's neighborhood wearing a Darth Vader mask:

Now, I'm going to go wrestle with my portable DVD player. Since I turned in my laptop for the summer, I can't watch movies at late hours of the night when I'm bored. I do have a portable DVD player, but it only works when it feels like it. Which is almost never. I want to watch the movie version on Hair now, but I don't know if my DVD player is going to want to. I'm not even sure why I want to, because I'm exceptionally tired, but I haven't seen it and I said I'd give it back to Joanna tomorrow. Oh well, it's just a bunch of hippies.

Check back before 8 tomorrow and a post is promised!

Wish me luck conquering my DVD player.

-Annie

Once upon a time...

2009-06-04T14:08:00.000-04:00

...there was lovely girl named Annie who lived in a rustic hamlet in the middle of nowhere. Annie was very dissatisfied. Why, you ask? It was her very first day of summer vacation and it was but sixty-degrees outside. Grumble.

I was going to formulate a long post, but then realized that I have to have my lines memorized in an hour. So on the scale of importance, memorized lines slightly outweigh concocting a new post. I'm redundantly stating that it is summer vacation, and I will have way more free time, hence way more posts. I'll gush about what I want to say later--I have to find my script now!

--Annie

Farewell Thee, Laptop!

2009-05-28T08:01:00.000-04:00

listening to: Sweet Transvestite, Rocky Horror Picture Show (HAHAHA)

My lovely friend Joanna was suppose to burn me a copy of the Rocky Horror Picture Show album (I even gave her the code on my iTunes giftcard to pay for it!). Last night she gave me the CD, and I popped it in my laptop a few minutes ago. IT WAS THE INSTRUMENTAL VERSION! I am so pissed off. I would send Joanna a disgruntled text message, but last time I texted her during school she got a detention ):

So now I guess I'll settle for my RHPS pandora radio, but I have to turn my laptop in to the school in a few hours. I was up until 1 flashdriving stuff. Yuck. I was also up half the night with a vicious stomach ache. I got up at seven-freaking-thirty this morning. I got ready in 7 1/2 minutes. Not happy, am I.

Farewell Thee, Laptop! I'll see you again in late September!

Spring Awakening

2009-05-27T07:46:00.000-04:00

I'm going to see Spring Awakening tonight (:

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

It's one of my favorite musicals--one of my top three. I just love it.

YAY!

-Annie

I was up until 5 am last night drawing...

2009-05-15T11:48:00.001-04:00

I haven't gotten to bed before 1 am in over a week--my sleeping schedule sucks. Last night, I just simply wasn't tired, so I stayed up all night listening to Once on this Island and [title of show] and RENT. Every so often, I get this weird urge to draw, especially RENT related things (who'd a thunk?), such as the tango pose and this picture of Adam Pascal that looks like a monkey. At like 3 am last night, I started out drawing Idina Menzel, but I can't draw women at all. Weird. So I ended up drawing a picture of Jess L. Martin as Tom Collins:

I don't know. It's just a rough sketch and only took about half an hour. It isn't too terrible, though, for the minimum effort I put into it. It's rough and scruffy--but so is Collins--so it kind of portrays his personality. What do you think?

After I was done, I was still terribly bored and not the least bit tired, so I formulated this marvelous idea. I took a picture of my drawing (seen above) on my computer and uploaded it into Gimp. I spent the next hour or so coloring it, which was a bit more difficult than I anticipated.

And--voila!--here is my finished product, which I finished about 4: 30 am. It's intentionally rough and sketchy and artsy and unnatural looking--that's what I wanted. I think it really captures Collins; he's sweet yet rough. I know it's kind of sloppy, but that is what I wanted and I think it gives it character. I tried to use warmer colors to bring out to his soft side, but I don't know. Maybe I should have shadowed more. I'm not sure why I made the background a purpley-salmon color; I just thought it looked nice. All in all, what do you think?

Yes, yes, I know that it's a bad thing for my life to revolve around RENT. I just love it so much! Jesse L. Martin was surprisingly easy to draw; I love the shape of his cheekbones. His nose is irksome, though. It's a weird shape and was difficult to draw.

Yes, I have no life. For some unusual reason, I am most creative at late hours of the night. What's fair about that?

Have a nice weekend!

-Annie

"If I die with a cheeseburger in my hands, I'm a'gunna die smilin' "

2009-05-14T08:17:00.000-04:00

I have gotten virtually no sleep this entire week. Not fun. Seeing as I was tired beyond belief, I was going to try to go to bed early (which, evidently, didn't happen) and I probably didn't get until until 2 or 3. (Insert frowny face). I couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to do my chemistry homework. I lied down again after I finished, and saw the clock read 1:01 and I was like, "Oh my gosh! That's the molar mass for Hydrogen!" That, my friend, is sure-fire of knowing that summer hasn't come soon enough. TEN MORE CHEMISTRY CLASSES IN MY ENTIRE FREAKING LIFE!!!!! That deserves some partying.

I am hoping you didn't notice that I spoiled my goal of posting every day for ten days by not posting for the past two (oops!). I have good excuse, however, for Tuesday. So, I was watching TV after school and I get this call from my friend Joanna asking me if I want to go to this random concert that night. Blindly, I said yes--ignoring the fact I still had an entire paper to write, not to mention chem homework and 50 pages of To Kill a Mockingbird to read.

The concert was kind of weird. It was some random orchestra thing and people singing in languages I am not fluent in. They were very talented (e.g. there was this 10 minute drum solo that was crazy) but it just wasn't my thing (It was called Yanni...or something, by the way). For reasons unknown, we decided to park like fifteen blocks away from where to concert was...and we basically sprinted through the streets of Pittsburgh to get there. Joanna and I were completely out of breath my the time we got there--our athletic abilities are mutually pathetic. It reminded me of in the movie Connie and Carla, when they're like "Maybe we should work out..." and then they burst out laughing. The movie is about these two show-tune junkies who accidentally witness this mob murder and they are running from these two guys and they need to hide somewhere so they go to LA and pretend to be drag queens. It's like my favorite movie ever. I think that's because Connie and Carla are basically me and Joanna in twenty years. Yes, I can totally picture us pretending to be drag queens...

Anyway...

The concert ended at like eleven and of course we had to sprint the zillions of blocks to the parking garage. So, at eleven when any sensible teenager would be sound asleep after doing all their homework, I was running through downtown Pittsburgh laughing and screaming. I got home at eleven thirty (and thank god my parents didn't really care that I was out late on a school night) with truckloads of homework to do. Joy.

We went to Primanti Brothers before the concert and there was this guy talking really loudly at this table near us. It was so funny. This is what he was saying:

"If I die and all I eat are lettuces and carrots, I'm a'gunna be real sad. But if I eat cheeseburgers, I'm a'gunna be real happy. If I die with a cheeseburger in my hands, I'm a'gunna die smilin' "

That made my day (:

Have a fabulous weekend ( I don't have school tomorrow!)

-Annie

Day Six: Under the Sea...Under the Sea...

2009-05-11T19:52:00.000-04:00

So, in Geometry today we had to walk outside and down the hill to the football field and measure ourselves next to some random object. Amber and I chose this random thing. I have no idea what it is. Anywho, we had to print the picture off our laptops and measure our real heights and our heights in the picture and find proportions to find the height of the random object. Except, Amber and I got bored and took random pictures. hehe.

This was the icky normal one:
Today was pretty fabulous for a Monday. I have been listening to songs from the Original Broadway Cast of the Little Mermaid. Weird? Yes--but it's a chipper break from tragedies like Spring Awakening. I have a new aspiration: I want to be Ursula in The Little Mermaid. Whenever I come across a character with a lower alto-mezzo range and an idiosyncratic personality, I add it to the list of character I want to be one day. I have a lower singing voice with a rough but awesome belt, and a thing for weird characters and I hate that most female leads are boring Sopranos. Yuck. Anyway, here is a list of characters I want to play. Most of aren't leads but rather awesome personalities and voices:

-Ilse in Spring Awakening

-or Marta in Spring Awakening
-Reno in Anything Goes
-Heidi in [title of show]
-Any random ensemble member in Cats
-Florence in Chess
-Lucy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
-Velma in Chicago (hahaha)
-Maureen in RENT
-Or Joanne in RENT. I'm not black, but my voice is closer to hers.

There's way more, I'm just not in a thinking mood. My brain is the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Oh yeah. My friend befriended NEIL CICIEREGA on Facebook (Youtube sensation; Potter Puppet Pals) & he accepted!!!!!

(I blocked out their last names so you can't go stalk my friends)

NEIL! She was looking at his info on Facebook, and he likes Hedwig and the Angry Inch, this play Anthony Rapp was in, and Pee Wee's Big Adventure!

My friend (who is a guy) wants us to take pole dancing lessons with him. He's the one who ice skates and tells us what to buy when we go shopping. Why do I have to make the weirdest friends? (:

-Annie

Day Five: Two of My Favorite Things

2009-05-10T21:02:00.000-04:00

Enjoy this picture of a zebra in New York City:

Day Four: Thank You Mom!

2009-05-09T23:30:00.000-04:00

A stick of meat, a roll of duct tape, and a pygmy apple pie.

Today I over to my friend Mathilda's house and helped her prepare for her eighth grade trip. She's a year younger than me, and I went on in last year. She needed to borrow a dress or two to wear because the first two days of the trip they want you to look nice. I didn't know what she wanted, though, so I brought about thirty, half of which I haven't worn since I was twelve and was unaware I still had.

Then I dueled her brother with these sticks of foam about half the size of a pool noodle. I won, of course, because though he may be the noodle ninja, I am the noodle warrior. Then her friends called and said they were going food shopping for their trip (a concept I find completely ridiculous) but I tagged along and walked over to this teeny grocery store. Mathilda's friends obviously do not understand the concept of sarcasm, because when I suggested they buy a miniature stick of meat and a giant roll of duct tape, I was only kidding.

Later, randomly, Mathilda and I decided that we should try to go on vacation this summer with our friend Joanna. After realizing we had no money and no licensed driver willing to take us halfway across the country, we kind of came down from that cloud. We comprised with our ideas and formulated an ingenious plan. There's this water park near her grandma's house like three hours away and we thought it would be fun to go there some weekend this summer. Mathilda's mom kind of agreed, I think, so the plan is looking hopeful (:

I can't wait until me and my friends can drive. I am not looking forward to the actual driving part (a klutz like me will only triple the number of car accidents each year in this country) but rather the concept of not nagging a select parent to drive you to the mall, or drive you to your best friend's house who lives thirty minutes away, or drive you to a random elementary school in the middle of farm country to see a play by awesome people geared toward ten year olds, or drive your friend Joey home when you're not exactly sure where he lives and your other friends are screaming about Anthony Rapp in the backseat, or drive you home in the middle of the night from your best friend's weird catholic high school where you were stalking this hot guy while you're having a poptart fight in the backseat. Needless to say, I ask way too much of my parents. They're always happy to drive, but I can't wait until they don't have to escort me out of rather idiosyncratic situations.

Unfortunately, you can't even get your permit here until you're sixteen. Joanna and I will be 16 next summer, and Mathilda the following winter. Ergo, it's going to be quite a while until you see me and my friends on the road. I am looking forward to the day when I can drive me and my friends home at 11'o'clock on a school night from my friend's ice skating show where we were prancing around like drag queens and microwaving repulive vending machine cuisine and screaming at adorable yet terrified children dressed like bananas. I'm tired of trying to explain all of my random, nonsensical escapades to my mother.

However, I am very grateful for my mom and all the crap she puts up with. I know she'd be happier if she wasn't driving my impolite friends all over the tri-state area, but she's happy to anyway. I know she'd be happier if she didn't overhear conversations about Adam Pascal's pants from the back seat, but she happily tunes it out. I know she'd be better off if my friends didn't smash Nascar PopTarts into the car's upholstery, or lose teeth in the nooks and crannies, or spill Hot Fries all over the floor. Ok, I did half that stuff, but I'm happy my mom deals with everything.

Thank you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day!

Day Three: Secrets

2009-05-08T22:14:00.000-04:00

PostSecret is possibly one of the greatest ideas ever. If you haven't heard of it, I would suggest going to the website (click me!) and check it out. A bunch of people mail these postcards in, each card an idiosyncratic work of art with one thing in comment: the postcards reveal their darkest secrets. The postcards are published on websites and in books, but of course, remain anonymous. Some of the secrets are witty and humorous, while others are morbid and terrible. Nonetheless, they're tons of fun to read.

I heard about PostSecret a long time ago, but a few weeks ago in Creative Writing class we were assigned to make our own. Of course, no one revealed their darkest secrets to the class--no teenager in their right mind would--so a lot of people made theirs up. Mine wasn't fake though--I admitted to a deep childhood secret: I killed my imaginary friend. (:

True story. He was an imaginary Pokemon, a Charmander to be exact, and his name was Zippo. One day, I realized five-and-a-half was WAY too old for friends of the imaginary sort, so I plagued Zippo with so horrid, fatal disease that only kills imaginary people. Soon after, Zippo the imaginary charmander died. Then I cried a bit.

Secrets are...weird. It's inexplicably easier to admit things to complete strangers rather then your closest friends. I guess there's the factor of judgment to add on. It's easier to gossip about people who aren't standing right next to you. It's sort of like that. I don't really know what I mean.

Do I have a dark secret? No. Not really. Nothing compared to other people. I have tiny flukes of my past that embarrass me, but certainly nothing epic. Most of them are funny, anyway. Like one time I when I was like 7, I was mad at my brother, so I wrote his name in his handwriting on this piece of furniture. My mom got mad at my brother--and he blamed it one me--but she didn't listen to him because it was his name in his handwriting. I doubt anyone else in my family remembers that. But I do. I remember the slightest, insignificant details of everything. It's a vexing quality.

I do have a secret--though it isn't very secretive--that I am still a little embarrassed by. When I was ten, I had a huge crush on this extremely irksome guy. I'm not recalling any of the details, but it would be a cute story if it wasn't so humiliating. Or if the guy wasn't such an asshole. He still brings it up. Isn't that sad? Honestly, it's because everyone hates him and that was probably the most positive attention he's gotten in his life. Honey, I was ten. Move on.

It is weird how casually people can reveal their secrets. I've listened to people I hardly know spill the darkest secrets without a care. The other day in the geometry class, I overheard this girl carelessly spilling her life story to people she really isn't friends with. I only listened for a minute, but she was talking about her dad left her when she was three and now he's like an alcoholic and is trying to get money from her, and how her boyfriend was abusive. I don't know about you, but those aren't things I would tell just anybody. I felt bad for her though :(

One time, I was talking with my friend that I don't see very often online and he spilled this entire story about how he really liked this girl at his school but he was too afraid to ask her out because he'd gotten rejected before. He ranted on and on about how ugly he was and how he was such a nerd and he'd never get a girlfriend. Then I remembered one time I was at this restaurant with my friends and one of them admitted that she thought this guy was going to ask her out, and he was nice in everything, but never in a million years would she ever go out with someone like him. Listening to this guy's misfortune life unravel, I felt terrible but was at loss for words. I had nothing to say because secretly I know a lot of what he was saying was probably right.

Another time my friend told me she used to cut herself. It was buried in an irrelevant conversation, and I'm not sure anyone else realized what she had said, but I did. I never asked about it, and she never brought it up again. It's weird though--she's one of my best friends now and I would never imagine her doing anything like that. I hope she never brings it up, I kind of wish I didn't know, because I know she's kind of had a tough life and wasn't really saying this to get attention. She didn't have many friends before us and I wish we could have been there for her. But we weren't.

Holy crap. This was intended to a short, light post. That was about an hour ago. Oh well, tomorrow's post will be shorter. I apologize for my endless ranting! If you haven't heard, I am posting every single day for ten days to see if I can. Today is Day Three, and so far so good. One more week to go.

So, lastly, does anyone have any humorous secrets they're willing to share? Leave a comment (:

Psst--I think the time on my blog is off. How can I fix that? I don't know what time it says, but I am posting this around 11:45 pm on May, 8, 2009.

Day Two: Shh! I'm not suppose to be on Blogger!

2009-05-07T09:03:00.000-04:00

I have plans for tonight, so I figure I’d post now so I don’t forget. Because, of course, I promised to post every single day for 10 whole days. Even if that means typing this post up in a Microsoft Word document, disguising it as my homework (:

Last night I had to go to my brother’s band concert, and spent like forty minutes talking to my friend’s five-year-old sister. She was talking about how she really wanted to live in the rain forest in a big leaf and then she grabbed a lock of my curly hair and tried to braid it, but ended up tying it in a knot. Oh, little kids make me laugh.

My friend Mathilda, her sister, and me

My performance of a few scenes from the play, The Lion in Winter, is this evening. It isn’t a huge deal, seeing as my lines are barely memorized, but I’m excited. As for manly clothes, I scavenged through my closet last night for something that wasn’t pink or fitted or jeans or sandals. It took a while. I ended up looking more like a pauper then a king, but it will do. Last weekend my friend Sarah organized a script studying party at her house, and most of the ensemble came. The six of us—me, Mathilda, Sarah, Elizabeth, Olivia and Ben—decided to run our lines outside because it was nice. We sat in the middle of the street and began reading the first scene. The next thing I remember is Mathilda and I running around in circles, belting out songs from Rent at the top of our lungs. Huzzah for being easily distracted! So, instead of studying the script, we played Apples to Apples and painted our toenails. So much for being prepared…

I counted wrong yesterday. Now there’s only SEVENTEEN more days of school—INCLUDING FINALS! My plans for the summer are the following:

-Two weeks of Theatre Camp in June, that I’ve been doing since I was eight, and it is absolutely the best place in the entire world. They are basically family (:

Last year...wow do I look different

-(Probably) two weeks in July of this writing camp thing my friend is making me do. I have to wait and see if I get in though. I don’t really know what to think of that yet.

-Three weeks in August inn a show with my theatre company that I’ve been in every year since I was 10. I don’t know what to show is going to be yet, but I’m super excited.

The first show I was in (:

Aesop's Oh-So-Slightly Updated Fables

-And possibly vacation, but I don't know.

…and that’s about it. It’s the usual, except for the writing thing. There are two changes to my normal summer plans: 1.) I’m not working at church camp this year. It has bored me to death for the past couple years, and I’m finally exempted from it. 2.) We’re not joining the pool this year. Ever since I was seven or eight, we belonged to this swim club a few miles away. Last year, though, I went like twice my parents decided that wasn’t worth the money. I don’t really care though, I doubt I would go much, anyway.

I’m starting to get dirty looks from people in my class. I think they are reading this over my shoulder and realizing that it isn’t about The Great Depression or racial segregation. I better go before I get caught (:

-Annie

10 Day Challenge: Day #1

2009-05-06T08:32:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a risk and vowing to post every single day for the next 10 days (May 6 - May 16), to see if I can. I promise to post every single day; unless, of course, something comes up. So check back often!

First, my apologies that this is going to be a lame post because I only have a few minutes of study hall left. My chemistry homework took forever--yuck. My current grades:

-Hon. English: A

-Geometry: A-

-Civics: A

-Creative Writing: A+

Chemistry: F

All A's--except for the dreaded chem. I do ALL my homework and fail ONE measly fifteen point quiz and suddenly I have a 54%. Fair? I beg to differ. I have a few weeks until the end of the year to bring it up. Which brings me to my next point, I have EIGHTEEN chemistry classes left in my entire life. Only EIGHTEEN more hours of chemistry! Next year I'm taking Biology, which will be easier and at my school Physics isn't required (ergo, there is no way in hell I'm taking it) so chemistry is practically the worst science class I'll ever take (:

Our last day of school was June 5, but they moved it to the 4th because we had but one snow day. Our last day of actual school is Monday, June 1st, and the next three days are finals. However, since I dropped out of Spanish in November, I don't think I have to go to school on the 4th because Foreign Language is the only final scheduled for that day. So, I'm 75% sure I get out a day earlier than everyone else! YAY!

Tonight, I have to find some manly clothes to wear tomorrow for the final presentation of my acting ensemble. We're doing a play called The Lion in Winter and it's about European royalty in the 5th century. I play a king called Phllip (who had an affair with king-to-be Richard...haha) and a whiny prince named John. Recently, I realized I have a very feminine wardrobe and am lacking in manly couture. My only pair of pants that aren't jeans or pink or purple or a dress are these old, brown pants so I guess I'll wear those. Any ideas for my costume, though?

I'm so excited for Summer '09 & I hope the feeling is mutual. I am doing this theatre....

...YIKES! I'm late for English--I think we're starting to read To Kill a Mocking Bird today.

BYE!

Tagged (:

2009-05-05T08:02:00.000-04:00

I was tagged by the lovely Hannah and I think it is a great diversion from Geometry homework. Due to my lack of posting topics, here is that fabulous survey:

*The rules*:
1. Respond and rework; answer the question on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, and if you want -add more questions of your own!

2. Tag 8 other people:

What is your current obsession?

-Pandora Radio

-Curling Irons

-SUMMER '09

-Movies about Drag Queens or anything of that sort

(Rent, Connie and Carla, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ed Wood, etc. etc.)

What songs are currently on constant repeat?
For some reason, Written in the Star from Aida. & everything from Spring Awakening. But, I've been neglecting my iPod lately and listening to Pandora.com, this awesome online radio. So, mostly I've been listening to Owl City, The Killers, and The Shins.

What is your favorite food?
-Impossible. It changes constantly. I love Panera Bread, though.

What is your middle name?
-Laurel (:

What are you wearing today?
-a grey New York City shirt

-hot pink pants

-green canvas shoes from Urban Outfitters

Why is today special?
-uh...I don't know. It isn't, really. It's sunny outside, though!

What would you like to learn to do?
-Become invisible. Tough cookies :(

When are you the most inspired?
-Whenever I hear or see or read something really amazing, and I'm like, "Damn, I could do something that awesome." There is also a song from one of my all-time-favorite musicals, [title of show]. The song is called "Die, Vampire, Die" and it's really random (it talks about Shrinky Dinks!) and swears a lot but it's about how whenever you doubt yourself, you have to kill those feelings--or vampires--and stay true to your art. I am inexplicably inspired by that song!

What's the last thing you bought?
-Lunch, yesterday? I bought four pairs of shorts last weekend when it was 90 degrees here, haha

What is your most challenging goal right now?
-I need to work really hard to try and ace all my finals. Wish me luck, especially in chemistry!

If you could have a home totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
-I would love to go to Europe someday, but I'd have to say New York City. I just LOVE it there.

What's your must have piece for summer?
-Like clothing, or like a piece of cake? I want gladiator sandals and key lime pie (:

What would you like to have in your hands right now?
-Adam Pascal (hahaha)

-Key Lime Pie (hahaha)

What would you like to get rid of?
-Swine Flu, Sarah Palin, EDEN ESPINOSA, Prejudices

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
-New York, duh

What are your plans for the future?
-Gosh, I just want to get freshman year over with! 17 more days of real school (not counting finals)! I'm actually really excited for sophomore year, so a number of reasons. One being my best friend is a year behind me, and next year I'm actually going to have some classes with her. I'm siked! I'm just getting good vibes from next year!

Who do you want to meet right now??
-Jonathan Larson will always be my hero, but he died :(

-When Rent was in my town, a bunch of my friends met Anthony Rapp, and said he was mean and icky. That broke my heart, and is the reason why I didn't stand in line forever to see him. It broke my heart. So not Anthony, but Adam Pascal!

Who is your favorite model?
- No idea.

favorite label/shop?
-I don't know my favorite, but probably Forever 21. I spend way too much money there.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
-Wow, thats hard. I don't know, but my favorite T shirt is my 'La Vie Boheme' one (:

If you had 10,000 dollars now, what would you spend it on?
-Clothes. A digital camera. An iPod that holds more than 543 songs. Gladiator Sandals.

Do you admire anyone's style?
-I love my friend Sarah's clothes, haha.

Describe your personal style?
-Crazy. I wear what I like. Also, if i see an item of clothing that resembles something worn in Rent, I buy it. Especially if it resembles Angel, because who doesn't love being inspired by a Drag Queen?

What are you going to do after this?
-Honors English Class! FUN! NOT!

What is the best book you've ever read?
-I NEVER FINISH BOOKS. I read half of Anthony Rapp's memoir, which was fabulous. I also recently skimmed a book called "Art in America" which was great but swore a lot. I read the 'Great and Terrible Beauty' Trilogy by Libba Bray, which is good. Harry Potter, duh. I forget the title, but a book about a kid who tries to kill himself so he goes to this mental hospital. It's really funny. My favorite children's book, by far, is The Phantom Tollbooth. I love it. I read it first in third grade, and was in a play version of it when I was 12. I was the Spelling Bee. Great book.

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Hannah is great. She posts basically everyday, which I admire greatly because I hardly ever post. She always has something interesting to say, with cool pictures, and she's always very honest, which I envy. She has one of my favorite blogs.

So now, I have to PASS THE BATON to...
Whoever is bored. (:

Study Hall is over. Picturesque timing (:

-Annie

Greetings from Study Hall

2009-05-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

I HAVE NOT QUIT BLOGGER!

I AM MERELY TAKING A BREAK!

Also, my home computer is broken (fun!)

I'll be back eventually. 4-5 more weeks of school (:

-ANNIE

Study Hall...

2009-04-14T08:44:00.001-04:00

...is terribly boring, but it's almost over. I've just been sitting here taking pictures of myself for an hour. RENT IS IN MY CITY! I'M SO EXCITED!

This isn't a real post, just an apology for not posting in a few weeks. I promise to post in the next 48 hours! You can have my word.

Eek! Class is over! Time for English...gotta jet!

Buhbyessss

everything from sexy pants to muttenchops

2009-03-29T18:22:00.000-04:00

listening to: "My body's talking to me, it says time for danger"
Daphne Rubin-Vega > Rosario Dawson
obsession of the moment: Wilson Jermaine Heredia (:

Like all my weekends, this one was pretty spectacular. Every year, at the acting studio I attend, there is this mini-workshop called "Play in a Day", in which you go for a couple hours Friday night and all day Saturday and create a pygmy play about...anything. Our play was about boy scouts, and my all-girl group dressed up like men. I wore sported a giant camouflage coat, a zebra belt and some sexy SUSPENDERS! How very manly.

The youngest group's production was titled "Some Nuns and a Rapper", and was about a greedy rapper who got put in a mental institute by a hoard of crazy nuns and a mental patient dressed like a caterpillar taught him the meaning of life. Some people can't help but make me smile (:
|

After the performances, we invaded Eat'n'Park and then Joanna, Sarah, Mathilda, and I went to see the closing performance of Beauty & The Beast at my school. I anticipated it to be pretty good, but it was absolutely fabulous. I was pretty impressed that my lame school has some talent. None of my best friends go to my school *insert frowny face* so it was exceptionally weird seeing Joanna, Mathilda, and Sarah gallivanting down the hallways of my school. I would love it if that were the case everyday, but I do have a lot of other great friends at school to keep me company.

After the performance, we were waiting in the lobby to greet our friend Ben who played Lefou, when we saw this kid who looked EXACTLY like Leonardo DiCaprio, and he was wearing AWESOME striped pants. We spent like ten minutes standing there staring at his pants and talking about how hot he looked in them, and then a minute later he was like "Those girls keep talking about how much I look like Leonardo DiCaprio" so he probably overheard the pants conversation, too. HAHAHA.

Then we spent like an hour talking about his pants, and the guy who played Lumiere's pants, and other hot guys in awesome pants. Then we got bored and started checking out the presidents on dollar bills, and decided that they were all really ugly and pathetic. Especially the guy on the $20. Also, muttonchops is my favorite word ever. Martin Van Buren has some pretty fierce muttonchops. If I was a man, I'd grow muttonchops and wear suspenders daily and be a drag queen.

(Martin Van Buren in all his muttonchop-y glory)

Lastly, I think My Unfortunate Erection won the "Weirdest Song on my iPod" contest, Honking Antelope was a close second.

love, peace, rent, & muttonchops
-annie

Weirdest Song Titles on my iPod

2009-03-25T20:15:00.000-04:00

A Little Priest
A Shtetl iz Amereke
B.Y.O.B.
Boho Days
Break Out the Booze
Calamari
Chess Hymn
Chop Suey
Contact
Cooties
Die, Vampire, Die!
Eating Myself Up Alive
Family History
Filling Out the Form
Frogs Have So Much Spring
Gordo's Law of Genetics
Henry Ford
His Name was Coalhouse Walker
Honking Antelope
I Speak Six Languages
Icky Thump
It's Hairspray
Magic Foot
Mama I'm a Big Girl Now
Monkeys and Playbills
Mother's Gonna Make Things Fine
My Friend, The Dictionary
My Junk
My Unfortunate Erection
One Night in Bangkok
Pirelli's Miracle Elixir
Poor, Unsuccessful and Fat
Pulling Teeth
Sitting Beclamed in the Lee of Cuttyhunk
The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee
The Bitch of Living
The Homeless Lady's Revenge
The Sad Tale of Beauxhommes
The Story of Chess
The Trashing of the Car
The Worst Pies in London
Totally Fucked
Welcome to the 60's
Why We Like Spelling
You Boys are Gonna Get Me in Such Trouble
Your Daddy's Son
911 Emergency!

Which one do you think is the weirdest?

Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim AND Andrew Lloyd Webber

2009-03-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

listening to: sweeney todd

obsession of the moment: Halloween 2009. I'm psyched.

Today, March 22, is the mutual birthday of two of my idols, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Andrew Lloyd Webber, now 61, has composed many brilliant musicals for Broadway and West End, such as The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, and Evita. Sondheim, now 79, has created many classics such as West Side Story, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park with George. Happy Birthday to two of the greatest composers the world has ever known!

Yesterday, I spent six hours at the mall with my best friends. The main reason we were there so long was because my friend Mathilda, who is a year younger then me, was looking for a dress for her 8th Grade Dance. [My 8th Grade Dance pretty much sucked. My friend spent the whole thing crying over nothing, and then left. I wish I could redo the dance, as well as the second half of eighth grade, because there was too much drama for my liking]

the world's ugliest dress.

So, we were well into the scavenger for the perfect dress for Mathilda and we decided to see if Macy's had anything. They had a few decent dresses, and a plethora of hideous, freaking expensive ones. So, while Mathilda tried on her nice dresses, Joanna and I tried on the ugliest ones we could find:

I am modeling this lovely specimen here, I say specimen because I'm the not sure if it deserves the title of a dress. Let's talk about the pattern first. It looks like one of Picasso's painting's vomited oreos all over it. Aside from being two sizes too big, the dress flared out at my knees and made me look like a duck. This lovely pepto-bismo colored, vomit, duck dress can be yours for the measly price of one-hundred and twenty five freaking dollars. (I don't have $125 to spend on a new iPod, let alone the world's ugliest dress.)

gogo boots.

The three of us probably venured to thirty stores, but Mathilda didn't find a dress. I, however, got a purple tube top dress and these gold stappy sandals. Joanna bought the entire mall. Seriously, she spent a ton of money on relatively nothing. I found these chunky white gogo boots and joked that they were totally something a drag queen would wear, which Joanna completely agreed and bought them. I have the weirdest friends ever.

I saw this really, really, really hot guy in American Eagle, and spent like twenty minutes staring at him while I was waiting for Joanna. I wanted to go say something to him, but Mathilda wouldn't let me. So we sort of followed him (and who I assumed was his little brother) out of the store and out to the Verizon booth in the hallway. I couldn't think of anything clever to say though

me: uh, what time is it?
hot guy: what? oh, seven thirty-five.
and then I frolicked away

What an intellectual conversation! I did get a picture of him though:

[but it isn't very good]

halloween 2009.

This is crazy, but I already have plans for Halloween '09. I love Halloween! Last year, me and my friends dressed up as "Drag Queen Boy Scout Strippers in Vegas" and ran around town screaming. This year, we decided that we're going as the cast of RENT (wow, I bet you didn't see that one coming!) Joanna is going to be Mark, Mathilda is going to be Mimi, and I'm going to be Maureen. We still need five more people to go with us, but I'm sure we can recruit. I'm so excited though! See, if we start gathering our costumes now, they'll be perfect. Let's see...I need some leather pants, stripper heels, and a cowbell, and I'm set!

go & celebrate sondheim & andrew lloyd webber's birthday!
-annie

those darn strumpets.

2009-03-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

listening to: Spring Awakening. oh wait, now it changed to Idina Menzel. I totally love her.
obsession of the moment: raspberry iced tea

Huzzah to frequent posting! Anywho, I have obtained some pictures of me and my bizarre friends at Sarah's party from Facebook. Woo!

[til, sarah and me. I'm the one creeping in the back]

So last week was my friend Sarah's birthday and yesterday a bunch of us went over to celebrate, which consisted of overdosing on guacamole (the spell check just corrected me. I thought it was spelled guccimolli) and dressing up like drag queens...which kind of failed miserably because none of us looked anything like drag queens. We ended up looking like a bunch of misfit strumpets. But whatever, I totally love my friends.

So, we eventually we got a little restless from eating chips and guacamole & rootbeer floats (well, not together) and watching wizard rock videos via Youtube, so we decided to walk/bike/scooter/rollerblade/ride in a wheelbarrel to our friend Kevin's house who live's X miles away.

[jo riding her tricycle (:]

[inexplicably, all our eyes are closed in this picture.
Even Gina, who is riding the bike]

[me and my best friend mathilda]

We never made it to Kevin's. We got sort of lost/distracted/tired. And we didn't exactly know where he lived. So we all made it back in one piece, or I guess six separate but whole pieces. But we told Kevin we were outside his house, and he totally believed us.

Then came the arbitrary makeovers.

[me in my strumpet attire. somehow I managed to squeeze into
an xs belly shirt intended for a five year old. why on earth
would a five year old need that? but I love the hat]

So that is a typical day in live of me and my insane friends. Like I said, they're crazy, but I love
them. I'm too tired to talk anymore. Or spell guacamole anymore times. G'night.

Peace, Love & RENT
-annie

Come to Me, Hamburger!

2009-03-14T22:17:00.000-04:00

listening to: Hairspray soundtrack (i haven't listened to this in forever)
obsession of the moment: facebook (add me!)...but the 'new' facebook is death on wheels

Greetings, darlings. I have been exceptionally busy lately--which is an oddity because my typical weekend is staying home and watching RENT. Contrarily--(is that a word?)--I have been out with my friends every single day lately. How fun is that?

So last night, Friday night, I went bowling with my fabulous friends Joanna, Sarah, and Mathilda. Hence, sexy electric-green laced bowling shoes (which matched perfectly with my snazzy pink pants). I have to warn you--we are possibly the worst bowlers in the universe. The first game we played without bumpers and Mathilda won ( I mean TJ. We all typed names of guy's we know into the bowling machine instead of our own) She had a whopping score of 41. Joanna had a score of about 5, being a gutter-ball magnet. Ergo, we used bumpers for the second game and--miraculously--Joanna won with a score of 76. None of us were really into the game, we just ran around screaming and buying icky ice cream from arbitrary vending machines.

ice skating.

Sarah is an ice-skater, and last week we all went to her show. It was awesome, mostly because we all got to see our friend Joey who we haven't seen in like two years. He is a fabulous ice skater! We didn't exactly watch most of the show though (can you tell how easily distracted my friends are?) and we ran around spending all our money on vending machines...again. There was this fancy-looking, electric pink drink in one of the machines that reminded me of drag queens so I made Joanna buy it. I expected it to taste like Pepto Bismo because of the color, but it was DELICIOUS! It was some kind of fancy strawberry flavor.
There was another vending machine with actual (repulsive) food inside plastic bags. Joanna spotted a double-bacon cheeseburger within the machine and decided she couldn't live without it. After wrestling the vending machine, she triumphantly held the prized burger into the air and unwrapped it from it's nasty little package. It was then she realized that the burger needs to be microwaved--and luckily (and strangely enough) there was a microwave right next to the vending machines. The microwave, however, did not have one of those spinney plates in it, so we just put it on a napkin. Joanna stood there, mesmerized my the microwave. When it was done, it was perhaps the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. It was covered in this gross cheese and the 'bacon' looked more like twigs. The patty was covered in fake grill-marks. Despite everything, Joanna eagerly gobbled up the monstrosity. Moral of the story? Resist the temptation of devouring atrocious vending machine cuisine!

sarah's birthday.

My friend Sarah's birthday was last Wednesday! Today, a bunch of us went over to her house. I took a grand total of ONE picture, so I have to wait until everyone else puts their pictures on Facebook. They're so funny--we all dressed up in, um, *interesting* attire and gave each other makeovers. I know, I'm strange.

That's all!
Goodbye!
Avoid vending machines!
Watch RENT!

-annie

a thousand words or less

2009-03-07T23:48:00.000-05:00

hiya, I'm annie

listening to: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: The Musical
obsession of the moment: obscene off-Broadway musicals

Nice to meet you on this lovely day. Sit back in your dilapidated swivel chair and kick your feet up on the messy desk (be sure not to knock over the mug holding arbitrary pens and pencils, and a stray crayon or two). This is my NEW BLOG which is quite fantastic. I had had quite a few blogs over the past year or so, but I'm such a fickle person that I have this urge to change this up every so often. Hence...this glorious tidbit of fine literature! Some of you may know me, some may not. Some of you might bow down in my excellence, some may not (just kidding...please don't bow down in my excellence. Really, there is no need for such bowing. No bowing here. Maybe an occasional courtesy or two--but honestly guys, bowing is a little 0ver-the-top) For those unfortunate souls who have not been blessed with my acquaintance, you may find it useful a know a thing or two about me.

i love the musical RENT

My most dominant personality trait is most likely my overbearing passion for the musical RENT, written by my hero, the great, yet sadly deceased Jonathan Larson. RENT is my passion, it's my life. I honestly can't get enough of it. I could talk on for centuries--or at least a fortnight--about what an incredible, life-changing musical this is, but I will pardon your boredom and just demand you either listen to it, watch the movie, or search it on wikipedia. But really folks, RENT is fabulous. RENT isn't the only musical I love though, I'm very obsessed with quite a few obscure musicals. Some of my other current favorites are Spring Awakening and [title of show], but RENT will always be my number one. If you're interested in musicals, I could probably recommend at least a dozen amazing ones.

i dream of living in New York
One day, I dream of being a starving artist in New York City. Just kidding about the starving part--sort of. My ultimate future would probably involve me living in a loft in SoHo writing remarkably spectacular musicals for my fellow theatre-dorks to droll over. I would also be married to Anthony Rapp. I don't care if Anthony is 22 and a half years older then me--and gay--I would still be married to him. But, as you know, most likely none of this will come true. What can I say? I'm a dreamer. I love New York City more than any place in the world. Going to college there would make me the happiest girl ever. I'm constantly acting and writing and singing. I love it, it's great. The theatre is my second home.

i have the best friends in the world
We're freaking psychotic. We spend weekends running around singing songs from RENT at the top of our lungs or spending all of our money on clothes only drag queens would wear (and freaks like us.) We make movies about how much we hate George W. Bush and tremble in fear of boy scouts and take millions of pictures of us jumping in mid-air. We buy non-alcohol champagne and run around town trying to scare all the pedestrians and go to the store just to buy cool whip or cream of tartar. We befriend vending machines and trees with faces and hot guys named Nolan. My friends are complete idiots, but I wouldn't trade them for the the entire Original Broadway Cast of RENT (:

So, that's me in a nutshell--or maybe a shellfish. I don't really eat nuts. Anywho, that's the fabulous me. Huzzah!

-annie