Friday, December 31, 2010

Stop worrying where you're going, Move on

With New Year's Eve here, it seems like a good time to become reflective about 2010. It's been an interesting year where I ranged from feeling the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Many big things have occurred throughout this year. Here is a list of them (this includes some of the more negative ones):

1) Fell In and Out of love
2) Did college auditions
3) Had Mono induced Hepatitis
4) Got rejected from all six schools I auditioned for
5) Got into UC Riverside and Catholic University
6) Spent three weeks in London
7) got stuck in London because of Eyjafjallajökull
8) Lost/gained friendships
9) Went to Prom (which for the inner romantic comedy inside me is a big deal)
10) Graduated from High school
11) Had a summer job
12) Moved to Washington DC ALONE
13) Started Catholic University
14) Finally read Vanity Fair
15) Started a blog!
16) Spent Thanksgiving without any family members, and wasn't sad in the least
17) Witnessed DC's first snow of the season
18) Solidified my relationship with my father (not in a good way)
19) Got myself back to California without any help
20) Turned 19

I know that was an exceptionally long list of "big" things but hey, it's been 365 days of many other things that are just as big. 2010 was a rough year in many aspects but had some shining moments to it. Every year is going to have its problems and in the long run, none of the things that I found detrimental are going to seem like anything. The most important thing I'm going to judge a year by is if I find myself happy in the last moments of it. Because what life is worth living without happiness. In these last moments of 2010, I find myself quite happy sitting in my room surrounded by my books and knowing that even if things fall apart back at home, Washington DC is waiting to greet me in a week. Here's hoping that 2011 will be a better year!

Happy New Year everyone reading!

Bye-Bye!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

And in the end.......

I'd just like to say a belated Merry Christmas to everyone reading! The holidays are always quite hectic because of there is always a lot of family around because my birthday is the 22nd and my cousin's is the 23rd. Then there is Christmas Eve and Christmas which are projects on their own. It's a little bit like herding cats.

My birthday was quite fun by the way. My mom and I plus two of my cousins and two sets of aunt and uncles went to a concert in Berkley. It consisted of a 1960s-style girls band called The Coverlettes. My four-year-old cousin Rose was definitely part of the entertainment because she was pretty enthused about the concert.

Then on the 23rd, My family went into San Francisco for my cousin Timmy's 23rd birthday. We went ice-skating and ate Chinese food.

Then the 24th and 25th consisted of family parties at our house and my aunt and uncle's house. There was a White Elephant and I scored by getting the Awkward Family Photos book. YES!!



And now the Christmas season is over, which makes me sad. The problem with coming back from school so late is that you don't really have the time to enjoy the build-up to Christmas at home.

Two more weeks at home and then back to school on the 8th, which might not happen because of the crazy snowstorms on the Eastern Seaboard. Hopefully it clears.......

Until then, Happy Holidays!

Bye-Bye!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Been away so long I hardly knew the place, Gee it's good to be back home

So I finally got home two days ago. I had a full day of travel on Saturday because I left Washington DC at 10 am and got to SFO at ten pm Pacific Standard Time. My flight out of Dulles was on time but my flight out of O'Hare was delayed an hour and a half because the plane was coming from Munich which had terrible weather. I was trapped sitting with a bunch of whiny people in the airport who I really just wanted to hit in the face so they would stop moaning about why the delay sucked.

The plane finally took off and I had a four hour journey back to San Francisco. I was a terror on the plane because I kept accidentally tripping people because I was stretching my legs in the aisle. Neither flight was too bad because I just listened to The Beatles the whole time and read for the first time in months. When the plane was flying over the city, I was internally squealing about seeing my home for the first time in four months. It was so strange to be home and it was so warm outside!

Now my mom and I are relaxing in Sonoma before we go to see It's A Wonderful Life at the old movie theatre that is in the plaza. Everyone was instructed to dress in 1940s style which I am all about, if it would stop raining.

I do miss Washington DC and all of my CUA friends but I am so happy to be home!

Plus my birthday is the day after tomorrow!!!!!

Bye-Bye!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Snowflakes in the Air

So in the middle of Drama 101 today, someone sitting behind me announced that it was snowing outside. After class, I walked out of the room and looked outside and.......

IT WAS SNOWING!!!!!

I walked back to my dorm and was so excited. Many people asked me if I had ever seen snow, which I have. I've just never lived in it.

I believe that it has stopped snowing now but even still, I'm now officially in the Christmas mood!

Only eight more days till I go home!

Oh and I had an audition yesterday for Cymbeline. I'm not sure if I got a callback or not, I shall find that out later.

I hope everyone is excited for Christmas too!

Bye-Bye!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Under Pressure, pushing down on me

I'm going to be going home, back to good old California, in 12 days. I can't believe that it accualty is this close. It will be so strange to be home but at the same time, I am super excited to go.

But, before I can go home, I have to run the gauntlet of school work. This week (and I know, it's only Monday!) is already completely over-whelming. It feels as though all my teachers forgot that there were more assignments and when they remembered, decided to make them all due this week. As of right now, I have:

3 English assignments
3 Drama papers
An Astronomy Project
A Spanish study guide
Philosophy (Not that there is anything big, the class just happens to exist)

So I'm a bit "Under Pressure".On another note, The Beatles (My homework savior) have been saving my day for about a week now.

But there is only 12 more days!!!

I realized that I never posted anything about Thanksgiving. I went to a family friend's house, the Norths, that lived in Tokyo with us (they now live in Alexandria, VA). I was best friends with the son, Riley from the time I was two until the family moved back to the US,when I was at the age of five. He now goes to the University of Virgina (UVA). It was nice to accualty be in a house for a change instead of these strange dorm rooms.

On Thanksgiving, I went with the North's and their relatives to a ice-sculpture exhibition that depicted scenes from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas as well as two ice-slides similar to the ones in A Christmas Story. It was quite cool(both literally and metaphorically). It was stated that everything was made out of ice but as the North's daughter Shea stated "The turkey is made out of plastic" (Que deadpan voice). Then we had a great meal at one of the realative's houses and went back to the North's house that night. The next day, nobody participated in Black Friday and instead, Shea and I watched a marathon event of I Shouldn't Be Alive, the Animal Planet show about survival in life and death situations, like being stranded on the ocean for 76 days.

Nothing that eventful happened on Saturday and Sunday other then Shea reading the first four chapters of Pride and Prejudice to me because I could help her with her homework.

And since Break, I have had my nose to the grindstone in an attempt to pass all my classes.

But there is some good news in this: I've been cast in a production of Troy Women (I play Chorus 1/5) and it's being directed by one of the seniors who is using it as her senior thesis project. My first rehearsal is today and I am super excited. I also saw the Shakespeare Theater Company's production of Candide yesterday and it was amazing. I love living in DC.

And this has been my life for the last few weeks. I turn 19 two weeks from Wednesday and that is crazy.

And I'm going home in 12 days!

I hope all of you have a great few weeks before Christmas. Enjoy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Or even Festivus!

Bye-Bye!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Believe in the magic that can set you free

Last night (Or technically early this morning) I was at the midnight premiere of Harry Potter 7. My little group arrived at the Georgetown movie theater at about ten and waited in the theater for two hours. I've never been to a midnight premiere for anything in my life and it was a great experience. The audience reacts a lot more to things, mainly because basically everyone was a college student. The whole day, I was acting like Kristin Wigg in the SNL sketch "Surprise Party" and attempting to do my work in class was a fail.

Let's just say, David Yates finally got it right. Everything about the movie was quite good with the exception of some of the crazy-cheesy lines about fire within ones heart. The cinematography was the best it's ever been for any of the movies. I mean, it was absolutely incredible. Everything in the movie was strangely exactly how I had pictured it when I was reading the book which hasn't happened with these movies since the first two. Yates included a lot of what I would consider literary and societal metaphors with the ministry and it's similarities to 1984 and the Nazi regime.

My childhood was complete with this movie (Hence I referenced one of favorite songs when I was six, Do You Believe in Magic). I realized that the first book came out when I was six and the last movie will come out a few months before I turn twenty. Harry Potter has been my childhood and Yates, you did well.

Now, onto Summer 2011!

Bye-Bye!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Ride like the wind at double speed

So it is about a week until Thanksgiving which means that December is a lot closer then one would think. That means that I will be going home a lot sooner then one would think. I've already busted out some Christmas music, on November 7th (I soon realized that it might be a little too early for that).

I'm in the throws of school right now and am procrastinating right now from writing an English/ Drama essay and study for my philosophy test. How does one exactly study for something that they don't understand? Enter in how I feel about Aristotle and you have your answer: not studying and instead planning where to go eat when I go home in December. Right now I have about sixteen places on the list. They consist of:

1) Joe’s taco lounge
2) Café del soul
3) Juanita Juanita
4) Mill valley market (for Sandwichs)
5) D’Angelos
6) Hunan
7) Grilly’s
8) Pizzeria picco
9) The red grape
10) Della santini
11) Pearl’s
12) Stefano’s
13) Bungalow 44
14) Toast (I wonder if Jimmy still remembers me, this was the diner across from where I worked over the summer)
15) Thep lela
16) Whole Foods

Let's just say, I will have my work cut out for me. This list is what I daydream about when I get bored in class (Cough, Philosophy).

Along with all my school work, I am also working on a project for the TA for my drama class. He is a second-year MFA Directing student and needed a bunch of us to act in this five-minute piece that he is directing. It's been a constant ray of sunshine in my life over the last week mainly because every rehearsal has been so entertaining.

Today, I had to make a run to Target to get basic stuff for the dorm and went to Marshall's to get some costume things for this project. Along with those purchases, I made one quite good and hilarious one. Christmas socks. But not just any old Christmas sock. No, these have ice-skating cats on them and are the equivalent to the bad Christmas sweater. Needless to say, these socks made me even more excited for December so that I can wear these crazy socks.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Bye-Bye!

PS: That last Glee episode has made me want to listen to "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones pretty much every ten minutes. That's the blog title.

Monday, November 1, 2010

We are the Champions

THE GIANTS JUST WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!

Of course, they had to go to the World Series the year I move back East. It makes me homesick for back home. I'm super happy to see a Bay Area team doing well. It makes California look awesome.

I was never really into Baseball before this, but now I really like it (because I can understand it)

I hope everyone is as happy as I am about this!

Sorry Texas Fans

Bye-Bye!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Insane in the membrane

Today was the day where I realized how much I love living in Washington DC. As many of you (probably) know, today was the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Keep Fear Alive. It was run by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and was really meant to be a rally to ridicule all other rallies. I decided to go to the rally just because of the sheer strangeness of it.

The day started out with a bang. The Metros were completely jam-packed, so much so that you couldn't even move your feet. It was fun though because the people that I was stuck around were all mellow and were just enjoy the hilarity of the whole thing.

We arrived at Union Station and made our way to the rally, which was also an insane crowd of people walking around with ridiculous signs about everything.
My friends and I managed to get up to one of the barricades on Constitution Avenue and could see part of the screens they had set up and could hear parts of it. It didn't matter that we couldn't see the stage, the best part was just being there.

The rally ended at three and it was like the whole world was attempting to leave.
We ended up getting back to CUA at six after the still-crowded Metros decided to act insane on our way back.

Now it's onto Halloween Weekend, which should be entertaining. I hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Bye-Bye!

P.S: My mother visited me this week and it was really nice to see her. We started a new rule that we must see each other every two months, nothing longer then that.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Pack up all my care and woe

So right now, I have become completely obsessed with the new HBO show Boardwalk Empire. It's a show about Atlantic City starting on the first night of Prohibition and talks about the gangs/ politics (because they are basically interchangeable at this point) of the time. The reason why I wanted to start watching this show was for two reasons: I love historical anything and the pilot was directed by Martin Scorsese, who is also the executive producer.

Part of the reason the show is so good is that it is on HBO which basically means that the writers and director can do what they want with the show. Half of the subject material wouldn't work anywhere else and therefore the show would be bad.

The show is already crazy and it's only been five episodes. I was more excited by the end of the last episode of this show then I was about the Mad Men season finale (which was still a good cliff-hanger like they always are). I literally re-watched the last scene of Boardwalk Empire at least twenty times because I was so happy about it.

The actors are all amazing but the best are, obliviously, Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson and Kelly MacDonald as Margaret Schroeder. Whenever they have scenes together, it's incredible.

The soundtrack is another great part of the show. It's a mix of contemporary music and period which is a nice mix. Let's just say, I've been humming a lot of it while organizing the prompt script archives at work (well, also Neil Young and Piano Man)

In my life, Tech is over and Freshmen Showcase has finally arrived. I will not be sad when that is over. My mother is coming out to DC next Tuesday so I will get to see her soon!

The weather is perfect here and it's Friday, what could be better then that?!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Bye-Bye!

P.S: The post title comes from the 1920s song Bye, Bye Blackbird. I thought it was fitting.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Today was a Fairytale

Tomorrow is the last show of Another Part of the Forest and even though I've only been involved with the show for a week, I'm going to miss it a lot. Everyone in the Drama department is great in their own way and together, it just makes for a hilarious and great atmosphere. It makes me not miss CTE as much as before.

Today was just the cherry on top of the cake because every ten minutes, something hilarious was happening. To be truthful, I was terrified of some people (mainly the grad students) at the start of Tech because I felt so incompetent in everything compared to them but now, I'm feeling less like that now.

Plus it doesn't hurt that according to the program, I am a Theater Assistant (this is so because I work in the front office).

Again, Come see the last performance of Another Part of the Forest tomorrow at 2 pm in the Hartke Theater!

Bye-Bye!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Everybody is working for the weekend

So, I'm on costume crew for the first show of the year here at CUA: Another Part of the Forest (If you live in the DC area, I suggest you come and see this show, it is absolutely amazing). This weekend is Tech weekend so today I had a 12 hour rehearsal. I don't do that much considering I'm not an actor, but it is still tiring. My job consists of lacing all of the women's corsets and helping with costume quick-changes, as well as helping them dress. I'm enjoying it.

I finally made it down to the Mall on Wednesday, which was the first time I had been there since I moved here. Chelsea and Danielle needed to go find a painting at the National Art Museum and I decided to tag along because I was bored. Walking around the Mall was giving me flash-backs of my eighth grade trip I took to DC and it was a bizarre feeling to think that I ended up going to school in that city I was so excited to see. The weather was perfect when we went there and the weather has been getting nicer each day. It's cooling off which means I get to wear my favorite outfit: a thick sweater and jeans.

Well it's late here and I'm going to relax for a bit before tomorrow when I have to be at one. It's getting down to wire with this show!

The dates are October 14th-17th. Be there, you'll love it!

Bye-Bye!

Friday, October 1, 2010

I'm on the pavement, thinking about the goverment

I've had "Subterranean Homesick Blues" stuck in my head for a few days now, which is bad because it's a hard song to just belt out when you feel like. Then I saw the Google Instant ad which uses this song to show how fast it works. That's a new low.

So yesterday was a monsoon here. The night before, DC got about four to five inches of rain and yesterday during the day, we must have gotten the same amount. Everything flooded and I think the shoes I was wearing are ruined because they got so wet. My rain boots are being sent today from home so hopefully it will rain once they get here. The fall weather has finally settled in here and it makes me happy because all my clothes are for fall weather.

It's Friday and I have astronomy in about an hour. I love that class. I also love my philosophy teacher because he allowed me to write a paper about Mad Men and how Don Draper has injustice in his soul (the idea is from The Republic). I think the paper turned out well.

I also had to go to CUA's library which is amazing mainly because of the Stacks, which is about four floors of nothing but shelves of books. The way to get to the next level are these narrow, metal stairs that look like they are out of Hogwarts. I want to go back there and take pictures.

Hopefully I'll be able to eat a good meal today. I'm thinking Italian.

I hope you eat a good meal today too!

Bye-Bye!

Friday, September 24, 2010

I get by with a little help from my friends

Many of my friends here at CUA have discovered this blog and would like to be mentioned in it. So I decided to set out a list of characters (I'm a theater major):

Danielle: My ginger haired suitemate who is from Oyster Bay, New York (Long Island). She thought that Chelsea hated her the first few weeks, but this was not so and now everyone loves her. She'd like everyone to know that she is not a race

Chelsea: My suitemate from Floral Park, New York (Long Island). She loves 30 Rock and Summer Heights High. She also loves classic rock like Billy Joel and Queen. She likes to tell me how entertaining she finds me. Her family and mine drink the same kind of tea and we have been friends ever since finding that out.

Linda: My room-mate from Massapequa, New York (Long Island). She is a cheerleader here at Catholic and enjoys to listen to hard core rap, much to the entertainment of the rest of us. She has pictures of her cousins around her side of the room like they are her children.

Mary: A fellow drama major from Annapolis, Maryland. She is a liberal and wants to go to law school after college. She also plays rugby here at Catholic which is very funny but awesome. Her boyfriend goes to Georgetown, so the first few weeks, we went there often.

Katie: She comes from Rochester, New York. She reminds me of my mom because they both lived in Rochester, have red-hair and were/are engineering majors. She is one of our favorite people and is over every night, way past curfew. Katie completes the circle that is "The Ginger Group".

Victoria: Lives above me in Engelhard and is from Delaware. She is loud (in a good way) and loves to find ridiculous YouTube videos. She is an architecture major who has one of the best decorated dorms I've seen.

Kerri: Victoria's room-mate who is from Oyster Bay as well. She plays softball and is a blunt person, but a perfect combination with Victoria, making them the most entertaining room-mate combo in Engelhard.

Jill: Mary's room-mate and is from Woodside, New York (near Queens). She also plays softball and enjoys to do her own thing. Every time I go upstairs, she is just about to start her Humanities homework. She is an amazing artist and should be study art here as well as architecture (which she is her major right now).

Sam: A fellow drama major from Virgina. She is one of the most friendly people I have met and dresses perfectly no matter what. Yesterday, she was wearing a Bumpit in her hair and was perfectly confident about it. I'm very happy to have met her.

Camille: A fellow drama major from Tampa, Florida. She is tiny and is in my astronomy class as well. She and I have a good time in class laughing about Hubble and the fact that he needed "glasses". She understands my hatred of East Coast Mexican food.

Sebastian: Also known as "Sea-Bass" from ROP (Right Outside Philly). He likes the 1960s and likes a lot of the same music as me. Mary and I met him on the Georgetown Excursion and have been friends ever since. He has a strange affinity for Jorts, which will hopefully end once it gets cold.

Claire: A fellow drama major who is from Sacramento, California! (though she moved to Maryland last year) She is a figure skater who loves Frank Sinatra almost as much as me. She is tall and has short brown hair, which looks great on her. Also understands my hatred of Mexican food here because she is originally from California.

Max: A fellow drama major who is from Maryland. He has no qualms about being himself, which consist of wearing a vest with a tie and button-down, while smoking a pipe. he loves Shakespeare and is a great actor. He was in the same version of The Three Musketeers as me and we bonded over that.

Well, that's basically the gist of all the people here. I am missing a lot more but I just want them to know that I like them as well.

Have a great day!

Bye-Bye!

Monday, September 20, 2010

I got sunshine on a cloudy day

So, Today I got back my first essay that I wrote for Drama. Our TA for the class, Sasha, told us that he is very harsh in grading on the first essay. I was figuring that I would be lucky to garner a C on the essay because I had incredible trouble attempting to write this essay. I got the essay back and I got an A-! It felt good, but I can't let it get to me because I have another essay due on Friday.

Speaking of classes, I had Astronomy today and the guest teacher we had did not understand the idea that once she finished reading a slide, it did not mean that we were done writing down the information. Our class had to yell out a few times to make her go back. I ended up writing four pages of notes in 50 minutes. Fun.

I also have joined many clubs here at CUA. For example: Fencing Club, CUA Ballroom dance team, and the Town and Gown choir. Basically, I'm never free at nights. Plus, I have Freshmen showcase for Drama in October. I'm excited about that.

Oh also, I am involved in a reading of a new play. There are three of us who are going to read the play and have it recorded for the playwright. This is done so that he can hear how the play sounds.

On Saturday night, My suitemates and I, along with our new favorite person Katie, went to a party at the Baseball House. It was kind of lame, very hot and crowded. We had to bring along guys with us because the house is off-campus and two out of the three guys were weird. They were room-mates and they were equally weird. One, Bill, didn't seem to have a grasp on thinking and the other Kyle, told us how he wanted to shoot all the Gay people in the world. I was incredibly offended and had to leave so that I didn't punch him in the face. Avoid that fun duo. The other guy Kevin was totally fine, just quiet.

Now I'm sitting in my room listening to my 1960's playlist on itunes and am quite happy. Chances are I'll re-watch Mad Men, who knows? Have a great day!

Bye-Bye!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

It makes you feel like your life has just begun

So I just finished my second week of classes and today is the first football game! I'm very excited because I've always been the type of person that secretly has a lot of school spirit and something about football games is very 1950s to me (which I love). I'm super happy being in college and am ready for what the next four years will bring.

Then at two, I have an audition for an A Capella group on campus called Redline, which named after the Metro line we are on. So I only get to watch about a half-hour of the game but still I'm going. Chelsea and I are going to go early because they are handing out free t-shirts and we want to get good seats.

Catholic University is really into two things: free food and free t-shirts. More the t-shirts then anything. It's kind of hilarious but you end up being into it as well.

Oh yesterday, I finally got a trench-coat. I've wanted one since the first time I saw Casablanca and I loved the last scene so much. I've been searching for awhile and now I'm super happy. And Fall is starting to arrive which I love because all my clothes are made for Fall weather because that's all we have in Mill Valley.

On another note, I can't believe that 9/11 was almost a decade ago. It seems just like yesterday.

Now I have to go wake up Chelsea. Have a great day!

Bye-Bye!

P.S: The title comes from the song "Mill Valley". It makes me happy all the time.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

You should wear some flowers in your hair

So, I'm into my second week of college classes and have a break right now between philosophy and English. Yesterday (Labor Day), All of CUA seemed to be stuck inside doing homework. But that didn't mean that we couldn't have a good day.

The night before, I had gone out to a club/bar for a friend's eighteenth birthday and when I got back to the dorm, I desperately needed a shower because many drunk people jumping off the bar had spilled beer on me.

My room-mates were laughing at me because I would turn the water off when I was putting soap on. They have now decided to call me "Flower Child" being that I'm a hippie from San Francisco because I conserve water. I explained that I do this out of habit because we always had droughts in California.

Last night, we decided to watch 13 Going On 30 and at around ten, one of the girls from the Animal House-room came over to tell us to "be quiet because they were trying to sleep". Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. If I remember, they are generally the ones that enjoy to scream at two in the morning. But whatever, we closed the door and all was better.

Now I'm listening to a CD my suite-mate Chelsea made for me. It was so sweet of her, I've never had anyone make me a CD.

Well, I have to go run and print out my English paper. Already had one of those, Fun. Have a good day.

Bye-Bye!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

It's lonely out in space....

So, last night I had to watch Apollo 13 for astronomy. In class on Friday, our teacher told us that she also wanted us to research the 12 men to walk on the moon.

Then she went on to tell us how nice a person Buzz Aldrin is, along with telling us that she met most of the men who walked on the moon. She works for NASA along with being a professor at my college.

How cool is that?

Just wanted to tell you this.

Bye-Bye!

P.S: Gary Sinise's (Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump and also in Apollo 13) daughter and I are getting the same major here at CUA. Ella is very nice and it's nice to have someone from California in the major.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Don't pass me by

So I auditioned for the fall semester shows this year at CUA about two days ago. The two shows are Another Part of the Forest by Lillian Hellman and Whales by one of the grad students. I was nervous about the audition considering I was a freshmen auditioning against grad students. The audition went fine and I was so happy about the fact that when I left the room, one of the seniors told me that I sounded great.

The next day, I discovered that I had gotten a call-back for Another Part of the Forest as the part of Laurette. So had six other girls, so I figured that I wouldn't end up being cast (which I wasn't) but I had never been to a call-back so I was extremely happy.

The call-back was about two hours long and I only was in the audition room for about five minutes. I had to read one of the scenes with one of the grad students, Chris, but I found it great to act with someone who has had a lot more experience then me.

Plus it's rare for a freshmen to be called back for the first show because they are so new, so my self-esteem just got a little better.

The gist of this long tangent was that I find myself extremely happy to be at CUA. Last night, I spent the whole night hanging out with some girls in my dorm and then stayed up to celebrate my friend Mary's birthday at midnight on the steps of the Basilica.

It's cloudy here because of hurricane Earl. Cloudy weather is normal for me so I love it. I have one more class then it's a three day weekend!!!

Hope you all have a good Labor Day holiday and thank you for reading!

Bye-Bye!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

You're riding high in April, shot down in May

So today is my second day of college classes. I am loving the schedule I have. I'm down everyday before 3:30 and have three classes a day, many of which I have hour-long breaks between(right now is one, for example). I should be reading The Republic right now, but instead I'm blogging.

On Sunday, we had our last day of orientation which consisted of an "excursion" to some part of Washington, DC. I chose to go to Georgetown because I had seen everything else. There was a massive group of us and once we got off the Metro in Georgetown, everyone broke up and went off with different people. I spent the whole day with two kids: Mary (who is in my major) and Sebastien (who kind of just ended up with us. Our first stop was Georgetown Cupcake, which had a line around the block which I related to Sprinkles in LA. The long line was totally worth it and Mary and I decided that we would be going back there a lot throughout the semester. We then wandered around Georgetown and went and visited the college's campus. People assumed that we were students there, which was quite a compliment. Georgetown has beautiful buildings and a great neighborhood but CUA accuately has a campus with room.

The first day of classes was overwhelming but I had this strange feeling that I was still in high school. I got lost on my way to Astronomy and when I asked for help, the man I asked found out my major and began to tell me about how there was a government project that drama majors were good at because they take direction well. Nice to know, but not all that helpful at the time.

Later that day, we had a barbaque for Drama so that everyone could meet each other. Everyone was exceptionally nice and I was amazingly happy to be in that major. We took pictures which will be displayed in the main office of the drama building. Auditions for fall shows are tonight and I am slightly nervous.

Later that night, Linda (my room-mate) and I had a visit from Fr. Jude, who was stopping by to see how our first day went. Fr.Jude is in one of the highest positions on campus, at the same level as the President. The visit made me feel exceptionally happy to be at CUA. Then I had to go out and do my Astronomy project, which consists of studying the moon's position every night until October 1. I sat by the Pryz (our student center) and drew the moon while marveling at the sheer beauty of the campus at night.

I know that I have talked enough for many posts but I felt like telling all. Thanks for reading!

Bye-Bye!

P.S: The title comes from the Sinatra song "That's life". I was really stressed before I came to school and now I feel a lot better. Now the title makes sense to you.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Some people choose the city

So I'm in my third day of orientation at CUA! Just one more day to go of orientation before classes start. I really would have been fine with orientation being about two days because now I'm excited for classes to start.

After never having seen the campus and not knowing anyone, I had multiple panic attacks that I wasn't ready to go to college or that I would hate it or fail out of school. Once I had moved in, I felt totally better. The campus is as gorgeous as the pictures and everyone here is friendly. The partying-room mate issue is not an issue in my dorm and my major is small enough that I can feel comfortable with everyone.

But it's still college and the girls in the two rooms across the hall have decided that they should get a head-start on the Animal House lifestyle. The first night, my room-mate and I were ready to go to sleep and one of the girls loudly stated that she'd "never been so wasted in her life." Great to know.

But it's only been two days and I'm excited. I'll keep you updated throughout the year.

Bye-Bye!

P.S: I decided to quote Philadelphia Freedom because it's about a city, a good song, and half the people at CUA are from there or as I learned, ROP (Right Outside Philadelphia)

Monday, August 23, 2010

Goodbye until tommorow

So tomorrow is going to be my last day in Mill Valley and California. I fly to DC early on Wednesday so I have to get all of my goodbyes and visits done in the next 48 hours. It's really weird. I've been packing all day and cleaning my room which has put me on the verge of tears all day.

I also visited my high school drama program CTE, because school started for them last Wednesday. I sat in on their Monday Meeting which had always been my favorite part of Advanced Drama because normally something really funny happened and all of Advanced Drama was there. It felt like I hadn't graduated and so normal that yet again, I was a bundle of emotions. It made me want to go back to Junior year so that I could repeat Advanced Drama again.

I'll definitely feel better once I'm in DC and all settled. I'll be part of a new Drama program which is apparently awesome. Goodbyes are always the hardest part, like pulling off a Band-Aid.

(The title for this post comes from the musical The Last 5 Years which follows a couple's relationship. Tomorrow in my case is really three months)

The next time I write, I'll probably be in DC! Hope all goes well.

Bye-Bye!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Keep on the Sunnyside of Life

So the last couple of days, while at work, I've been rocking out (as much as one can) to the soundtrack from O Brother, Where Art Thou. I'm not generally into bluegrass or country that much, but there is something I really enjoy about this album.

Our summer reading for our "First-Year Experience" at CUA was The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou is the Coen Brothers southern interpretation of that story. I have to say I prefer this to Homer's version.

I would post a video, but I can't figure out how to, so I'll just post a link.

The song is Man of Constant Sorrow.

Bye-Bye!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I am what I wear and how I dress

Since my trip to London in April, I've had this infatuation with British designers. Maybe it was the fact that every person I saw in London was dressed how I would love to dress, but I came back with this immense hankering to buy lots of British clothes.

ModCloth has been able to appease my desire for British designers, though the prices are a bit steep due to shipping and what not. Anyway here are some favorites:

1) Vivien Of Holloway

2) Criminal Damage (the tattoos ain't my thing, but the dress is)

3) Gonsalves and Hall ( no images, but I found them at Spitalfields market)

4) There was also lots of killer vintage stores in London, really need to go back to those someday

But for anyone going to London, my absolute favorite places to finding anything was Spitalfields Market and the Camden/ Buck Street market (which appears sketchy but isn't that bad)

There are many reasons I want to do a semester or year abroad in London, one of which is fashion.

(The title is in reference to "My Strongest Suit" from the musical Aida, not my personal philosophy)

Bye-Bye!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Wait, Do you see my heart on my sleeve?

I'm sitting at work, which I've been at for about twelve minutes. Only five more hours! My boss made sure to tell me that I can set an ambiance for the store by playing music, it should never be silent. So I'm listening to Adele, who is an amazing singer/songwriter and Billie Holiday. So it's not that bad right now.

I got back from Tahoe on Friday and my mother brought me back to reality by telling me that I leave in a week and a half for DC. I'm stressing out a lot about. The notion that I'm moving 3000 miles away in eleven days is finally dawning on me. I went dorm shopping yesterday which helped me calm down a lot because now I'm excited to decorate my dorm. I also found out who the person from Marin was that is going to CUA. She went to Marin Catholic and won Miss US Jr. Teen. I've never met anyone whose done pageants, especially in Marin. College will be interesting.

I'm definitely going to miss Mill Valley and Marin. Here's a list of things I'll miss:

1) The eccentric people of Marin, mainly people like the old hippies
2) San Fransisco
3) The ocean
4) lack of a winter and humid summers
5) Mill Valley Market
6) Conservatory Theatre Ensemble (my high school drama program)
7) knowing lots of people
8) Tam High teachers (we have some crazy ones)
9) My house (of course)

It's a short list but that was all I could think of. Well, time for new experiences.

And on a different note, here are some of the pictures I promised from Tahoe:


Emerald Bay


The most adorable four-year-old ever


The amazing Bathing Beauty swimsuit from ModCloth

I'm generally never comfortable in a swimsuit because I always had to wear bikinis because you could buy two separate sizes but a Mad Men quote summed up how I felt about that:

"A bikini is underwear you wear to the beach"

So I finally found a one-piece that fits! Yeah!!!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this long post. Thanks for reading!

Bye-Bye!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bye-Bye Miss American Pie

So tomorrow, my mom and I are going to Lake Tahoe until Friday. It's just going to be me, her, my aunt, and my mom's boyfriend Hugh(a one-eyed cowboy) for a whole week. Fun.

The last time I was at Tahoe during the summer it was with lots of family when I was in middle school. My family did that for a long time. We would spend the fourth of July up there for many years. It was loads of fun. Truly one of the most "All-American" summers I experienced.

The Water of Tahoe is bone-numbingly cold and I'm not sure if I'll be able to swim in it this year. I used to when I was younger but we'll see.

I'm going to see if I can put pictures up after the trip, but I'm going to be offline for a few days, just to let you know.

Bye-Bye!

Friday, August 6, 2010

No H8

I forgot to put this in my last post but I think that this topic deserved a whole new post because it's so important.

Prop 8, California's ban on gay marriage, has been revoked! I'm incredibly happy about this because gay marriage is an issue that I was willing to fight to the death about. I believe that banning gay marriage is moving backward in history. It seems to show that America was almost forgetting about the not-so-long-ago Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the Stonewall riots.

I have a good friend who came out this year and it would have killed me to think that he and his boyfriend, if they wanted to, wouldn't have been able to get married even though they were just as much in love as say, John and Sue, who could get married.

Well not anymore!

Sadly, Prop 8 could come back into existence but for now, California celebrates equality! Yeah!!!

Bye-Bye!

Dynamite with an electric beam

I've been listening to Queen's song "Killer Queen" a lot the last few days. At first I thought that the song was about nuclear weapons or the atom bomb, because of the references to Kennedy and Kruschev. Turns out, not so much. Oh well, to each his own.

Today was one of the days where I was looking forward to going to DC mainly because it's quite cold here and I want some summer weather. I know that I'm going to regret that statement after a few days of mind-numbing DC heat.

Today was a good day for reading which I did a lot of because I was at work. We sold nothing today. That's normal for us........

On a better note, I got a new laptop for college considering my Dell was behaving much like an elderly person: slow, tiring out easily (running out of battery quickly), and random health problems. I got a MacBook Pro and it is proving to be a cool new toy to play around with. I happy about it.

Also, I've been having this obsession with oxford-style high heels and want to buy some before I leave for DC. I would put up some pictures but I can't figure out how to save images from the Internet with this new computer. I'll figure it out.

A rather uneventful last couple of days. Hoping that sunny skies will appear here.

Bye-Bye!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Brush Up Your Shakespeare...

Start quoting him now!

So I just got back tonight from Ashland, Oregon where the famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival (hence why I used the Kiss Me, Kate song as the blog post title) takes place every year. This was actually their 75th anniversary! In the course of two days, my mom and I saw three plays: She Loves Me, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice. The shows were incredible, especially the lighting and sound on Hamlet. Oh, I almost died of amazement! If any of you readers have a chance to go to the festival, do it. You will be completely amazed.

While up in Ashland, I met a girl who is going to be a freshmen as well at CUA. The story is rather interesting how we came to meet. She actually works at the Bed & Breakfast that my mom and I stayed at. Pure coincidence! She proved to be a very nice girl and I'm glad that I got to meet someone before I go back.

Now that our little trip is over, I have to get back to the grind of work and preparing monologues for fall show auditions. Luckily, I get plenty of time to read my new book, Through A Glass Darkly at work after having finished Wideacre a few days ago.

Now for a literature tangent. Wideacre has got to be one of the most horrifying books I have ever read. The main character Beatrice is what is described as an anti-hero, which is someone who is the main character and lacks heroic qualities. Victor Frankenstein is an example. Beatrice is a combination (in my mind) of my three favorite literary characters: Scarlet O'Hara, Rebecca Sharp, and Milady DeWinter. Except that Beatrice goes above and beyond in the path towards being morally reprehensible: she commits incest, with a completely lack of any guilt. I know this is a major spoiler of the novel, but I feel that it is necessary to put out so that anyone who plans to read the book may prepare for this. The book is quite good and a page-turner, but I felt dirty reading it and that I should bathe in Lysol after I finished. Good book, but not for the faint-hearted, like Titus Andronicus.

End literature tangent.

I can't believe that I leave in about three weeks for DC! I still have so much to do! But more on that later.

An exceptionally wordy post today, I'm sorry. I just felt a need to talk about a lot of stuff after being MIA for a few days. I hope you enjoyed it!

Bye-Bye!

P.S: I watched the movie Ed Wood on Friday and let's say it is quite hilarious,Tim Burton did a great job. I suggest that you watch one of Ed Wood's actual movies before this because it makes it even better. I'd seen Plan 9 From Outer Space (What happened to plans 1 through 8?)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

He'd let us in, knows where we'd been

"Octopus's Garden" is one of the Beatles songs that instantly makes me happy. It's a song about nothing other then someone's desire to live in a garden owned by an octopus.

The reason I bring this up is that today I'm quite happy (and I was listening to the song in the car). Today I picked up a paycheck from work, ate a good sandwich, and got to go to Barnes and Noble to buy "textbooks" for Drama. These textbooks are actually just copies of scripts for plays such as August: Osage County, Doubt, Fences, and Rent (which I find slightly odd). The weather was also halfway decent here which was nice because it's been foggy and cold for about a week.

Also, I've been searching for clothes for next year like coats and sweaters online which I find fun. Etsy proves to be the most amazing place to find things, I'm obsessed with it. Also, everyone who has a store on their is super nice and has good customer service. Here, take a look:





Aren't they gorgeous?! The coat is from Porches Place and the dress is from Ruby Chic Boutique. Hit them up.

Also I been scouring on ModCloth, truly one of the coolest online stores. I've been looking at them for dresses and coats as well. I actually just bought a pair of shoes from them yesterday. Here are some of my favorite things (not to sound like the song):





And the amazing shoes I bought!


I've also been looking at Urban Outfitters a lot. I have a love-hate relationship with UO. Right now, I like it because they have various styles of cigarette pants which are amazingly fifties.


An extremely visual post today which is what I like. I forgot to mention that I also watched reruns of older Project Runway seasons. That show is so amazing.

Bye-Bye!

Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

So I put briefly in my "About Me" section that I was an avid lover of literature. Reading has always been something that has been a big part of my life since I read my first chapter book: Charlotte's Web. It took me about three months to read it and I remember being so proud because I was in the more "advanced" reading group (I was in first grade). Since then I've been devouring books like there's no tomorrow and have a long list of books that I want to read. Here it is:

-The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
-Les Misérables- Victor Hugo
-The Virgin’s Lover- Philippa Gregory
-Wideacre (I'm reading it right now, it's horrifying)- Philippa Gregory
-The Favored Child- Philippa Gregory
-Meridon- Philippa Gregory
-The Phantom of the Opera- Gaston Leroux
-Sweeney Todd penny papers
-The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Victor Hugo
-Emma- Jane Austen
-This Side of Paradise- F. Scott Fitzgerald
-The Other Queen- Philippa Gregory
-The Scarlet Pimpernel- Baroness Emmuska Orczy
-The Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas père
-Twenty Years After- Alexandre Dumas père
-Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
-Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
-Animal Farm- George Orwell
-Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy
-The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne
-Atonement- Ian McEwan
-Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert
-The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver
-Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
-Through a Glass Darkly- Karleen Koen
-Now Face to Face- Karleen Koen
-Dark Angels- Karleen Koen
-Forever Amber- Kathleen Winsor
-Lady Chatterley’s Lover- D. H. Lawrence
-The Man in the Iron Mask- Alexandre Dumas père
-Les Liaisons Dangereuses- Pierre-Ambrois-Francois Choderlos de Laclos
-One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest- Ken Kesey
-Bleak House- Charles Dickens
-Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady- Samuel Richardson
-Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded- Samuel Richardson
-Candide- Voltaire
-Moll Flanders- Daniel Defoe
-The Dress Lodger- Sheri Holman
-The Wild Rose- Jennifer Donnelly
-Antonio’s Wife- Jacqueline Dejohn
-The Last Crossing- Guy Vanderhaeghe
-Little Dorrit- Charles Dickens

Extremely long, now isn't it?

Many of these books, about six or seven, are patiently waiting on my shelf to be read so I'm well on my way to make a dent on this by 2011.
Now to explain, I don't want to be a writer (well, not really). I've written a One Act but I hardly consider myself a playwright now.

Anyway, any thoughts on the list? Loved one, hated one? Tell me about it, I'd like to know.

Bye-Bye!

Read the Printed Word!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Time may change me but I can't change time

So today is July 25th. To many of you, that means absolutely nothing. But to me, it's an important date.
A month from today, I'm going to be getting on a plane and flying back to Washington DC to open a new chapter is my life: College.

I'm a mix of emotions at this point. I'm not quite ready to leave Mill Valley considering I feel like I FINALLY settled in. Having moved around a lot while in elementary school, living someplace for seven years is a very long time. I finally know all there is to know about my small town and know a lot of people. Don't get me wrong, I'm also quite excited to go but I feel like I need closure before I leave.

One of the main things that is making me reluctant to go is leaving my friends. I'm going to miss them terribly and hate the feeling of not knowing anyone. Luckily, CUA is a small school so knowing people will become easier.

Moving around has made me lucky in one regard, I've learned that there will always be people that I can become good friends with. I believe the term "BFF" is so overrated and completely impossible because you have many best friends over your life. Also, people I've claimed to be my "BFF" can fade out of your life pretty quick. Trust me, I had that happen a lot within the last year. It hurts to lose friends but that's why you have more then one really good friend.

So as the clock ticks down the time until I leave, I'm just going to savor everything Mill Valley offers. Things like the entertainment I experience everyday at my job at Timeless Treasures, Mill Valley Market sandwiches, the eccentric people that live here, and my friends (some of which I have some topics that need closure).

And Hey, it's not like I'm dying! I'll see Mill Valley and friends three months later and we'll be back to our old behaviors with one another pretty quick.

I hope I didn't bore you with my rant. Thanks

Bye-Bye!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I still recall the thrill, I guess I always will



Somebody once told me that my singing voice sounded like Judy Garland. I had to resist hugging them and starting to cry and/or cheer because that is the biggest compliment I have ever received. Plus, I was singing a Garland song: "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart"(which is what the title of this post came from).To make a long story short, I love Judy Garland.

I'm far from being a normal 18 year old. The celebrities I most want to meet all died sometime in the '90s because their hey-day was from about 1940-1960. All my favorite musicians are from that time as well. Elvis, Bobby Darin, and Jerry Lee Lewis are just a few of my favorites. Here are some others:



Talk about an amazing movie. Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong are my absolute favorites. I have more Sinatra songs on my itunes then anything from the year 2000 onwards. My infatuation started around Freshmen year and has turned into almost an obsession. I was always afraid that people would make fun of me for it, but I've yet to encounter anyone because most people agree with me that Sinatra is amazing.

Grace Kelly is also an amazing actress who I idolize. When I was in London, they had an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert which was all of Grace Kelly's clothes from her movies and her time as a princess. I went back to the museum four times and finally got in on the fourth attempt. It was well worth the effort. She had such gorgeous clothes.



Gene Kelly makes me want to cry. His dancing is so beautiful and elegant and just incredible. Since about fourth grade, after seeing Singin' In the Rain , I had wanted to take tap and learn to be just as amazing as Gene Kelly. I just started learning so the dream is not too far out of reach!

And last, but not least, the most graceful actress and the most humble:



Just wanted to share with you things that are important to me. Thanks!

Bye-Bye!

P.S: I just finished reading Thackeray's famous satire Vanity Fair and if you consider yourself to be literary, I would jump on reading it. It gives interesting insight into the time that he is writing about and into the time which Thackeray is writing in.

Monday, July 19, 2010

I get by with a little help from my Friends

So I have a few good friends that have blogs. The two I know of are slightly different from mine. I decided that I would post the URL so that you can see for yourself (the blogs are pretty good)

1) My good friend Lila has just finished her first year of USC film school, a feat which I still marvel at. She also is an accomplished playwright (seriously her shows are what I try and achieve when I write) This summer, she decided to start a blog where she would review movies that she wanted to see. The blog is just as witty and great as Lila is.

http://franklymydearlila.blogspot.com/


2) If you'd like to read about the dramatic life of a musical theatre student at Boston Conservatory, then Sarah's blog is for you. She writes about her life (like I'm trying to do)and posts her photography, which she is accualty quite accomplished at.

http://ohmanthisstarsarah.blogspot.com/

Enjoy! I hope you are having a great day! The weather is amazing here in Mill Valley which makes me happy. Hope your weather is good too.

Bye-Bye!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Campus Happy





I figured that I should show you pictures of my college so that people could get an idea of where I'm going. It's a gorgeous campus, isn't it? Strange enough, I've never accualty SEEN my campus in person. I was supposed to in April, but couldn't because I got stuck in London due to the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano.

I realized I forgot to tell you my major. I'm going to be a Theater major so expect shameless plugs for our shows throughout the year because they look incredible!

Bye-Bye!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

You say Goodbye and I say Hello

Hello All!
So considering that I created this blog about ten minutes ago, chances are I have a very slim readership. I'll just start by introducing myself.
Hi, I'm Tara Costello and I hail from San Francisco, California!
I'll explain to you the objective of this blog. I graduated from high school in June and much to the dismay of my family members, I decided to go to college at The Catholic University of America (kind of an epic name, isn't it?) in Washington DC. So I'll be living on the East Coast, they on the West Coast. To keep them updated on my new life, I decided to create a blog (the modern form of writing letters)
Next, I'll explain the title. It has three reasons for being the title:

1) I have red hair, which covers red
2) My family and I are extremely proud of being Irish and the expression for that is that someone has a "green heart". So that covers the green.
3) My birthday is December 22nd, three days before Christmas

So there you go!

That's it for now! I hope that I haven't bored you to much with this posting. I'll try to be wittier in my next posts. Keep reading!

Bye-Bye!