I’ve had 11 friend requests on myspace from last night to this morning, because I’m really really amazingly popular. So when I go to find out who they all are, I discover that each and every one belongs to a webcam girl offering to show her bewbies to me! I know what you’re thinking - “sweet!” right? Of course, since they can’t just take off their clothes for any old fellow, I’ll have to give them each my credit card number so that they know they can trust me. Hang on while I get my wallet…

Anyway, how is summer treating you all? It’s treating me well, although I’m still unemployed. The good news is that the lack of job has given me plenty of time to scooter around town and enjoy the sun.

Anything fun going on this weekend that I should add to my calendar? Better let me know quick, before all of my time is booked by webcam girls.

“What I really am is sad!”

Anyone who understands the above quote wins 10,000 points.

So, now I’ve been home for one week, and what do I have to show for it? Stories and pictures!

The first story comes from Wednesday and Thursday, when I went to Olympia to help my brother Jeremiah pack and to watch his movie in the film festival. And I also helped him battle a giant bird head that was causing mayhem:

Jeremiah VS the Giant Bird Head” width=”533″ height=”400″>

He lives in Olympia, but we were packing up his things so they could be stored in Federal Way while he is in Europe. For those that don’t know their state capitals, Olympia is the capital of Washington, and so it is the home of the Capital Building:

Friday I went back around to the places that I had applied to work at on Monday to see if any of them wanted to hire me yet. None of them did yet, but I was told by the hotel that I should come back next week, and Starbucks said that they usually take at least a week and a half before they look at applications, so I should wait and come back at the end of next week if I still haven’t heard anything. And Marie Calendar’s (where I hadn’t applied) said to come in on Wednesday at 3pm for a group interview type thing.

On Saturday morning I went with my parents and grandma over to Bremerton to visit the Forest Theater to see and cook for the show “Ann(e?) of Green Gables.” It was a fun time. Here are a couple pictures from the first day:

Now, normally when I go out there I sleep in the camper, or in the van, or in the cabins. But this time, we had no camper, and because Rachel decided she didn’t want to drive out after all, we didn’t have the van, and since we didn’t have the van, we didn’t have the sleeping bags that I had packed in the van to sleep in the cabins with. And so I did something I have never done before (out that way) - stayed in a hotel!

Whenever we drive up there, we always pass this big fancy looking hotel, and I’ve always wondered about it, but since we always camp I’d never seen the inside = until tonight, for that is where we would be staying. I was prepared for the most breathtaking hotel I had ever seen, but when we walked in, boy was I in for a surprise. Apparently, while it was at one time a very nice hotel, it has since fallen into disrepair.

In the lobby, there were some lights on near the front desk (where there was one person wearing a t-shirt working), and the rest of the lights were turned off. There was also somebody who appeared to be important talking to someone else, and we overheard him mention that there was only one cleaning person working there that day (and it is a very large hotel) so they didn’t have many rooms ready. But I figured that they were probably just conserving energy and manpower, and other than being dark things seemed nice enough. So while my dad was talking to the lady at the desk, I walked around and read the postings. A few of them said “NO (underlined three times) we DO NOT have public bathrooms! So PLEASE DO NOT ASK!!!” and below those there was a poster sized paper with the Hotel Policies written on it. It was a lot of writing, and I didn’t memorize it, so I can’t type it all here, but the gist was that there were tons of rules, and if you break any of them you’ll be kicked out without a warning. And it was worded in a way that made me say “how rude!” in the voice of Stephanie from ‘Full House.’

But you can’t really blame them for having such strict rules - I imagine that with all the rowdy sailors nearby they must have some trouble with parties and things (since that was what most rules were concerning). Anyway, we ended up with two rooms, because all of their roll-away beds had been stolen. And so I got my own room in what-was-at-one-time a sweet hotel. My room:

And in case you doubt that it was a nice hotel, here are some pictures of the view from the balcony:

I settled into the room, and checked out the TV, and then recalled the sign I had seen downstairs that said the pool closes at 11 (this was around 9), so I said “sweet! A pool!”, put on some shorts (I didn’t have swimmin’ trunks so I just wore boxers) and went down to the lobby to find out where the pool was located. As it turned out I didn’t have to ask, because there was a big sign with an arrow that said “POOL.” So I followed the arrow down a set of dark and spooky stairs. You know how I mentioned the lack of lights? The darkness got even darker as I went lower, because the lobby is on the ground floor, and so from this point in the story on I’m actually underground. Unfortunately, since I did not know the adventure that was waiting for me when I left my room, I did not bring my camera along, so you’ll just have to use your imagination to see the pictures for this part.

So, I go down this dark and spooky staircase, and I pass through a hallway full of rooms that have hints of fancy to them, but if you look in the windows you can see that they see very little use. There were even some windows with artwork etched into the glass, figures of women dancing and things, but because of the dark and abandoned-look to them, it just added to the creepy atmosphere of this lower level. I continued through the hall, until I came across a restroom, and so decided to stop into it.

When I opened the door, I was shocked at how nice it was - the floor looked like stone, and the mirror was well lit with more stone around the sides, and I was thrilled to see that not ALL of the hotel was grimey - until I turned the corner to where the toilets were. The urinals were so yellow it looked like they hadn’t been flushed in weeks, and one of them also appeared to be clogged with hair. The stalls were no better, and one of them had a condom floating in. I opted not to use the restroom, and continued on the quest to go swimming (although the thought of swimming was not as appetizing after seeing that restroom).

The next arrow led me through a skyway that took me out of the underground. It was a long hallway of glass, and out the sides you could see the dome that housed the pool, and trees, and the rest of the hotel. Once again the lights were off, except for a little overhead light at the far end of the hall (and it was a FAR end) showing that there was an elevator waiting for me at the end of this trek. I arrived at the elevator, and pressed the down button (the only button available), and the door slowly slid open. I stepped in and the floor shifted slightly. I held onto the hand rail tightly and pressed the button for the bottom floor. The door slowly slid closed.

One of the walls of the elevator was made of glass, with a row of lights all around, but these two were turned off, so I rode in darkness down to the first floor. When the door opened, I stepped out into almost complete darkness. I had to squint in order to see where I was going, but I had made it this far, and so did not want to quit. I made my way through the dark hall until I reached a door leading to the outside. There was another arrow to the pool here, so I walked outside and down a little walkway until I got to the domed building. Inside it was dark, but I could see the pool. So I took my room key card and slid it into the card slot, and it blinked red. I tried again and again for a couple minutes, but no matter what I did it would not grant me entrance, and so, since I didn’t want to stay outside just wearing my boxers and a shirt in this area which was surely filled with murderes and werewolves, I hastily ran back throught to the darkened hall way, up the creaky elevator, through the glass hallway, past the bathroom, and up the stairs to the lobby, and then back to the hotel room where I safely locked the deadbolt. (actually the deadbolt came a little while later, after what appeared to be the sound of a man screaming in agony somewhere in the halls.)

Safe inside the room I turned on the TV to see what sweet channels we had. Most of them were fuzzy, but they did have Starz and HBO. So I alternated between watching “Breaking Point” on Starz and “Madagascar” on HBO. I had a pounding headache, too (probably from evil spirits that inhabit the hotel trying to posess me), so I couldn’t fall asleep through the movies. So I stayed awake and watched Saturday Night Live (which I’ve decided should hire me as a writer because whoever wrote that episode is lousy - in fact, some of the sketches were “Mad TV” bad, and that’s saying something). I still couldn’t sleep, so I watched some Jerry Springer, a show about the porn industry on HBO, some more Jerry Springer, and then pretty much everything on was infomercials, so I turned off the TV to try and get to sleep. Eventually I succeeded.

This morning we got up, checked out of the hotel, and then it was back to the forest theater. Here are some more pictures from there:

We only stayed long enough to serve lunch, and then once we had a chance to eat and set everything out for the cast, we headed home. And now that I’m home, I wrote this thrilling true story for you all to read.

The End (or is it? bwa ha ha ha!)

EDIT: Missed a couple pictures, so here’s three photos for your enjoyment.

And now it’s time for the long awaited sequel to my last post.

Before actual prom was the pre-party at Random and Jessilee’s place, so those that couldn’t drink at actual prom would be able to have some drinks before arriving. That lasted for a little while as people arrived, had drinks, took pictures of all the fairy tale costumes, and enjoyed being done with finals. Then was one of the most fun parts of the evening - the parade from their apartment to the Dreamspace (home of Theatre Prom). We had a very large group of people, all dressed as various fairy tale characters, marching through downtown Bellingham, and cars would honk, and people would wave, and one man stopped us so that his daughter could have a picture with us for her birthday.

Once at the Dreamspace we all dispersed to mingle and get drinks at the bar (for those that were old enough), and I took a bunch more pictures. The most exciting part of actual prom was that, for the first time in my life, despite all of my efforts from middle school through highschool, there was an end-of-the-year dance with a live band. I’d been trying to get a live band at the end of the year dance ever since I was president in 8th grade, and finally it happened, thanks to Theater Prom and Naked Twister (the band). It was a pretty sweet dance, and the skit was quite humorous (tho it made me wish I had seen more of the shows so that I could have gotten more of the jokes) - I got most of the skit recorded on my camera, so if anyone wants to see it you can ask.

The bit that caused the delay in writing this post is that I spent most of dance with Lacee - more time than I intended, and more than I probably should have (at the dance, and after the dance). That part of the evening was fun while it lasted, but afterwards I was all bugaboo and conflicted about what to do about it - there was regret mixed with enjoyment, and fear of pain for all. What I settled on was that rather than regret that it had happened, I’ll keep the memory of enjoying the time, and let it stay at that. Since it was a Fairy Tale Prom, this song lyric seems appropriate: “This was just a moment in the woods. / Our moment, / Shimmering and lovely and sad. / Leave the moment, just be glad / For the moment that we had. / Every moment is a moment / When you’re in the woods…” If you’re reading this, Lacee - sorry about anything/everything.

Next day after prom I started packing up things - didn’t get much done because of lack of sleep Theater Prom Night. That night I had thought I might go out to celebrate my last night in Bellingham, but didn’t feel up to going out, so instead I rented the Wallace and Gromit movie and ate a bunch of pie and drank a bunch of apple cider (I was trying to finish it off before leaving the next day). I went to bed right after the movie (before 11pm) so that I could get up early and pack before my dad got in, but I didn’t wake up till almost noon, so when he got there to pick me up there was still quite a bit of packing to do. But we got it all packed, and drove home.

Since then my time has been filled with cleaning up my room and getting rid of things so that I have room to unpack all the stuff I brought home from school (it wasn’t until this afternoon that there was room on my desk to set up my computer) and trying to find a job. Most of the job hunt time has been spent filling out the exact same unicru online application over and over for different places. But, on Monday, I took the scooter out and rode all around looking for “Help Wanted” signs. During the job hunt, I went to starbucks to see Donna Condell from choir, and she said that they were hiring too, so I filled out an application and she said she’d put in a good word with the manager. Haven’t heard back from anywhere I’ve applied yet, though.

And that’s that.

Close up on that second picture:

Last night was the 2006 WWU Theatre Prom, and I used my fancy new camera to take a bunch of pictures of it.

I’ll have an extensive entry about the Prom (and pre- and post-prom) once I’ve had time to sort it all out in my head - a lot happened last night, and I want to let it settle before I write about it.

This morning and afternoon I had my last two finals - theatre history at 8am, which went rather well considering the review guide didn’t give much help at all, and musical theater at 1, which also went rather well considering the only review guide was Jim saying “anything we’ve watched, read, or mentioned in class may be on the test.” Overall I’m happy with this Finals Week - no tests came out of the blue, I had some time to study before each of them… good times.

After the tests I went up to Value Village and got a green tie and considered getting one of the most amazing hats I’ve ever seen, but ultimately decided against it because it was $20 and it didn’t go with the costume. After that I had a late lunch / early dinner at Old Country Buffet (why do I keep going there? Because I never learn) and then back home. I rode the bus from the mall to downtown, and then scootered it back up, which was wildly difficult because there was the combo of uphill and crazy winds (so windy that I had to kick hard in order to go fast even on a downhill slope, against the wind).

When I got back I finished putting together a little cartoon starring my costume renderings, called “A Murder Most Foul.” It’s a thrilling murder mystery. Can YOU figure out who the killer is? I bet you can’t, because of the secret twist ending.

It’s super.

Why do applesauce jars have so many ridges inside? Here I am at the end of this jar of delicious applesauce, and what do they do - the put ridges and ledges all over the inside so that I have to use crazy spoon spelunking skills to try and maneuver around them and get to the applesauce that is still there, mocking me, until the time I eventually give up trying to get the last bits from all the wedges. Why do you do this to me, Seneca? Why?

I’ve got two finals tomorrow, and then I’m done. Friday is Theater Prom - I was planning on wearing my green long-coat suit and going as the Frog Prince (it’s a Fairy Tale theme), but then yesterday when I told Greg that, he told me that that’s what HE’s going to be - and his costume is pretty much exact same as mine, except for a gold edge around the coat. Grrr. So tomorrow after the finals, I’m going to go to value village and see what other fairy tale costumes they have. If I don’t find anything, I’ll wear the same costume and just say I’m something else. What other fairy tales would look good in that suit? Ideas?

Naku Tsuru is officially over! This morning was the last performance (a good one), followed by a relatively quick strike. Following that, it was to the costume shop to pick up scrap cloth to finish my costume renderings, then it was to rite aid to get colored pencils, and then to the apartment to actually color and finish the renderings. It took me till after 11 to get them done, but just look at how well they turned out:

After finishing those, I went down to Abe’s house for the Naku cast party, which had already been going on for hours. When I arrived, almost everyone was beyond drunk, and things were winding down. Add to that that I was so tired from the long day and lack of sleep last night (I was up till three working on the renderings) that it all added up to not a good time. A big thumbs downer to the Naku Cast Party.

But, in other news, I was reminded of a life lesson last night - tell the people that you care about that you care about them now! There’s a story that goes along with that lesson, but it’s not one I wish to tell to the internet. Ask me and I’ll tell you in person, though.

And now I’m going to sleep. Gotta get up early so I can go to campus and print off the rest of the stuff for my costuming project, and study for my geology midterm that is right after costuming. Joy for finals week.

Goodnight!

When I think of college parties from the movies, it seems that “toga” is a common theme, and yet after four years of college, I had never been to one - until last night. Nick threw a toga party to commemorate the first toga party he went to his freshman year (including a touching tribute to that party by playing the song “Shout” which nearly resulted in the total destruction of his shelves). I had planned on wrapping myself up in a sheet, but couldn’t find any fasteners around with which to keep a sheet in place, so I just wore the graduation robe that I had from the Snape costume, with my new fancy underpants underneath (much to Jake’s disappointment).

The party was a fun one - a lot of good music and fun people (including some giant intruders - one of the guys had to be at least 15 feet tall; so tall that nobody wanted to ask him to leave even though everyone wanted them to). I had more to drink that I should have, which impaired my dance skills, so I didn’t dance at much as at other parties. Towards the end I spent most of the time sitting by the couch resting on Amalia’s leg (which turned out to be a treacherous place to be, for as I was sitting there along came Charlotte with her camera on a strap, and when she sat down it swung and hit me in the face, so now I have a little bruise below my eye.)

And speaking of cameras, yesterday I ordered a new extra-fancy-schmancy camera from the internet. In order to recoup some of that money, I’m trying to sell my current camera, so if you or anyone you know needs a nice digital camera, I’ve got one to sell. It’s an Olympus C-4000, 4MP digital camera; the same camera I used to take all these great pictures. I got it and a memory card for it two summers ago for around $300. I was asking $150 for it, but am expecting that’ll be haggled down. Make me an offer, folks, it’s a sweet camera, and it was owned by me, so you know it’s extra good.

In other news from yesterday, my parents and sister and grandma drove up to see Naku, and we all went out to dinner at On Rice beforehand. They all said they liked it, and it made my mom cry. For those of you who have yet to see the show, there are only two performances left - tonight at 7:30, and tomorrow at 2:00. Don’t miss out!

I deliver a real update, as promised.

Things have been non-stop excitement up here in Bellingham. When last I posted, it was a couple hours before the start of the first performance on Naku Tsuru and the Samurai. Since then, we have had six performances. All of the crowds have been small (except for the Friday morning show, which was used as a field trip for close to a thousand (so I heard) kids from elementary aged to middle school). The kids performance was by far the most fun - since it’s a kids show, it was nice to have our target audence present. The kids were loud and excited - when the tenshi first stepped in to the theatre for our hanamichi walk, the kids screamed and applauded - it was like we were the Beatles or something. And I heard one middle school aged voice off to the side say “booo,” and I said “Oh, middleschool…” And then afterwards all the kids were out in the courtyard, and they recognized us as we left after changing out of costumes, so they asked questions and things as kids like to do. That was a fun day.

There has also been a three day weekend, although I didn’t get much time to relax. Every day this week I’ve had major things due - Tuesday was the final paper for musical theater, Wednesday was the pile of little papers and vaudeville performance for my dance class (I sang and danced to “Toot Toot Tootsie” in classic vaudeville style. I was a little disappointed because I messed up on it a bit, but everyone else enjoyed it), and today was my costume rendering of Tartuffe (as posted earlier). For those unfamiliar with Tartuffe, he’s the title character of the play “Tartuffe,” by Moliere. He’s a sleazy guy that pretends to be pious in order to swindle Orgon out of all of his money and seduce his wife. For the drawing I set it around 2003, and made him a neocon pundit type - so if you look at the rendering, you’ll notice the American flag and Support Our Troops ribbon, a WWJD belt buckle, militaristic colors, and false physical enhancements (shoulders, shoes, crotch) designed to hide the sleazy guy he is, but if you look at his tie and vest, together they form a giant arrow pointing straight to his crotch, as a hint to his true character.

Tomorrow we have two more performances of Naku, another kids one at 10:30, and a regular one at 7:30. My parents and sister are coming up for the night performance, and we’ll all go out to dinner beforehand. That’ll be nice, as I haven’t seen them since winter break.

In other news, I was offered a part in Pirates of Penzance, but had to turn it down. I told Deb (the director) that the only way I could do it is if she could convince the people running summer housing to let me stay in Birnam Wood. She said she’d see what she could do, but wasn’t optimistic. I really wish I could do the show - for one, it’s Pirates of Penzance, and for two, it’d mean I could stay in Bellingham, which was my original plan before I didn’t get into summerstock. So we’ll see what happens with that, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

Tomorrow is the last day of class for the quarter, and next week is finals week. And after that, unless something happens with Pirates, I’ll be coming back to Federal Way. So if you’re in the FW area, let me know so that fun and excitement can be had once I return.

There’ll be a real post soon, I promise. Till then, here’s my costume rendering for Tartuffe: