You have made thy point!

I like to make a point of going to all the shows my grandpa directs. Sometimes I'll drop in on a few rehearsals first, and track the progress of the cast from auditions to opening night. This evening, I attended the three act that just opened in the little theater at Orem High: Sight Unseen. I thouroughly enjoyed the play due to the script, the cast, and the way it was presented. It made me proud that this year at Orem got off to such a great start. Everyone is still a little shaken about the passing of our beloved friend and drama teacher, but this was a great way to pay respects.

The show Sight Unseen was an unfamiliar one to me. Usually I read a few scripts and help select the three act that will be performed, but this time it was a surprise. The script was intended to be funny and it certainly was. Even though the show was about ghosts (and lets fact it: what's scarier than ghosts?), it was written in a way so it was hilarious to watch. The medieval language the ghosts used and the situations they found themselves in were enough to make you chuckle.

The cast playing the ghosts was one of the best casts I've ever seen perform there in the little theater. Even though they only had a month to pull this show together, they were perfectly poised and made no mistakes. No obvious mistakes, anyway. The actors worked very well together. Being in such close proximity to the actors allows you to see their detailed reaction to everything, and the actors did a very good job of displaying proper reactions.

The costumes, lighting, and the set helped to create the proper feel. You could almost feel as if you were right in Barndsley Manor, and when they lights turned down for the seance you could feel the creepy feeling. The costumes of the ghosts worked along with their medieval language. These three elements combined worked right alongside with the actors and the script itself.

When you have the perfect combination of actors, the right set, and the right script, you can pull off a show that will be unforgettable. A lot of work goes into directing and producing a show, and the best part is taking your final product and putting it on display for all to see.

Grand Attachments

The Grand Canyon: wonder, magnificence, awe; sweat, blood, tears. My sweat, blood, and tears. So why am I so attached to the Grand Canyon?

Prior to leaving for Arizona, I was not a very happy camper. I fought to stay in Utah for all I was worth. The only thing that even slightly interested me was that my best friend, Amanda, was going. But regardless, I did not feel like spending the first week of my summer hiking around in the bottom of a very hot hole.

The hike was long. My backpack was heavy. The company was good, but it was so hot. I was not used to getting up early in the morning, eating MRE's for breakfast, and hiking miles with a load on my back. I was prone to complain. Luckily, I had Amanda. We composed songs, became junior rangers, and made up stories about John Wesley Powell, the man who discovered the Grand Canyon.

During the week we spent in the Grand Canyon, we learned a lot about nature and more about each other. One of the reasons why I feel such a connection with the canyon is because I was able to spend a lot of time with my dad, my brother, and my best friend. To become Junior Rangers, we had to learn many things about animals and different plants, and we also had to learn more about how we could preserve the Grand Canyon and other national monuments. When you learn more about things, you feel closer to them.

Looking back, the thing I remember most about the Grand Canyon is all the fun I had with my family and friends. I don't vividly remember being very uncomfortable, even though I know I was. Good memories temper the bad ones. I can't recall the Grand Canyon without recalling very fond memories from years past, and when I feel good about things that happened in the Grand Canyon, I feel good about the Grand Canyon.

I left behind my sweat, blood, and tears in the Grand Canyon. I also left a piece of my heart behind, and in it's place brought back a piece of the canyon. The canyon and I became one the day I set foot on the Kaibab trail. Oh yeah. I'm a Grand Canyon Chick.

Defying Gravity

I’ve been listening to the "Wicked" soundtrack recently and the song Defying Gravity really stands out in my mind. Now, I’ve never seen the show or read the book so I don’t know for sure what’s going on, but I do know that Elphaba is thinking about becoming wicked in this song.
She mentions that she’s through playing by the rules of someone else’s game, and that something within her has changed. By that she probably means that she doesn’t want to be nice anymore because something happened that has altered her way of thinking. When she says something is not the same within her, that leads us to believe that she has had a negative experience that changed her mind about things.
Elphaba asks Glinda to come with her, but Glinda obviously thinks that Elphie is just having “delusions of grandeur” about how nice being wicked would be. Glinda wishes her luck and tells Elphie that she hopes she’ll be happy, and with that the friends part ways.
In this song, defying gravity is not necessarily a good thing. It’s one of Elphaba’s final descents into wickedness, but defying gravity can be a good thing. It’s important for each of us to defy the gravity in our own lives that’s bringing us down. We need to make our own decisions and not let others influence the way we act. Defying gravity is like overcoming obstacles we each face in our lives. As in the song, there will always be two sides to every story, and we need to decide for ourselves which is the right path for us to follow. Sometimes we'll have to choose a different path than our friends, but it's for our best interest.
The term "defying gravity" implies something hard or almost impossible, and defying gravity certainly is hard, but we can't let anyone or anything bring us down from reaching our full potential.

Defying Gravity lyrics: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/wicked/defyinggravity.htm

On being leggy...

Apparently I'm leggy, leggy meaning either having disproportionately long legs or having attractive legs. Which definition fits me best? Yes, I do have long legs, but they aren't freakishly long. And attractive legs....I think I'm lacking in that category. Am I really leggy? Yes. Just because I want to be and I like that nickname.
but ...since giraffes have long necks, are they necky? And are orangutans army? How about elephants? Would they be considered nosy? Maybe. But maybe not.