"Accessorizing" with Kara

I'm in the mood to post about fashion today.
*HUZZAH* 
As the salad would say, LETTUCE commence!
*Insert Laughter Here*

For those of you who know me, see me regularly, or closely monitor my patterns of behavior, you've probably noticed that I'm not really an "accessories" kind of person.

I can only wear two types of accessories:
1. Earrings
2. Scarves


I wear six earrings every day. Just because I have that many ear piercings. I love wearing hoop earrings, especially big ones, but those are usually the only type of earring besides the little crystal ones.
Most days of the week, or most days at all, you'll see me wearing hoops.
I think that hoop earrings are so classy. I stick to the plain silver ones, they match with anything and they pretty much look good with any hairstyle, even some sort of up-do kind of thing.

Another type of accessory that I wear frequently is SCARVES.
I LOVE SCARVES.
SCARVES SCARVES SCARVES.

It's an obsession. I'm not even joking.
I have a hanger in my closet with all my scarves on it, and there's absolutely no space on it.
It's filled. Stacked. Up to the freaking brim.
I think by now I probably have at least 15.

I got two new scarves for Christmas, one from my sister and one from my little 2-year old cousin (it's this Secret Santa thing we do with our family every year, each person gets one person's name and gets him or her another gift, and my ADORABLE cousin had me and got me this super cute tan scarf with a red, blue, and green floral pattern. LOVE HIM)

I think that scarves are so versatile. You can wear them with anything; dress them up with a cute dress, or wear one with a sweatshirt and yoga pants. It works with all kinds of outfits. That's why I have so many. I've never tried it, but I'm assuming that I could find a scarf that I could wear with every single outfit in my closet. 


They're also SUPER COMFORTABLE. I don't feel like I'm "dressing up" when I wear a scarf, I feel like I'm just wearing normal clothes. And there's such a variety to choose from when you're buying scarves, there's not just one you can pick.
I have scarves in so many different patterns; floral patterns, paisley patterns, stripes, solids. I even have a turquoise scarf with rainbow stars on it (that's my lucky one for auditions :) )


So go buy scarves. Because I told you so.
Just kidding :) I hope that everyone feels that they can be free to express their individuality and wear the clothes and listen to the music that they enjoy.
I love that about America. You can be the red apple or the green apple, you get to choose :)

Time for some ONCE UPON A TIME, y'all! See ya! 

Get these off your lawn, please.

My dear holiday-crazed neighbors,
Thank you so much for brightening up our dull little cul-de-sac with your innovative holiday lawn decorations. It's such a thrill when I pull into my driveway at night and am greeted by this:

Or this:

They're my favorite. 
The fact that they GLOW at night just makes it that much better.

It's not like our dinner guests comment on how repulsive they are when they can see them from our dining room window.
Nah, no way. 
They add excitement and flair to the rest of the boring old houses in our cul-de-sac. We all just stick with the regular lights, and we all wish that we were as inspirational and exciting as you are.

It's even BETTER that my house is right in between the two houses that put these up every year. We have a snowman on our right and a Santa on our left.
Perfection.
We may just even have to invest in one of these:

Or festoon our house with some of these:

 


Just to keep up with you guys.

Love,
The Classy Home-Decorator



P.S. Too bad the people in the snowman house moved. Now we just have a Santa to look at. Boo hoo.

No Day But Today

 "What do you say to taking chances? What do you say to jumping off the edge?"
~ Taking Chances - Celine Dion

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
~ T. S. Eliot

 "Don't be afraid to jump then fall..."
~ Jump Then Fall - Taylor Swift

"To be alive at all involves some risk."
~ Harold MacMillan

"There's only us, there's only this, forget regret, or life is yours to miss."
~ RENT

***MRS. CARDONA:  I hope this works as a post! I don't know if there's enough actual writing or not. Let me know if I need to redo this one!
P.S. I was trying to maybe practice for the visual argument, if that helps at all :)

HAR HAR HAR

HOORAY FOR PARODIES. This made me chuckle.

Check it.

P.S. Look at the guy who's holding up the pictures. His faces are PRICELESS.

Singing Songs and Dreaming Dreams

It's not surprising that this post is about theatre again... You could say I'm obsessed. Sort of in a positive fashion. Maybe it's negative, who knows.

ANYWAY,

I just got home from our first all-day Saturday rehearsal of Les Miserables, in which I'm honored to have been cast as Fantine. Fantine was my dream role before this; I'd been singing "I Dreamed a Dream" since I was in seventh grade, wishing I could sing it on stage sometime. Now that dream has come true for me, and I'm extremely humbled and grateful. Singing "I Dreamed a Dream" today was actually an emotional experience.

Today, we did "At the End of the Day" and "I Dreamed a Dream." If you don't know the show, "At the End of the Day" is the song where Fantine gets fired from the factory she works at, pretty much dashing all her hopes of feeding her daughter, Cosette. And "I Dreamed a Dream" is when Fantine is kind of lamenting on how much her life sucks. Which it does.

Before today, I just sort of wrote off "At the End of the Day" as the song where everyone hates Fantine. All the girls are gunning for her to get fired, and the foreman is super mean. I never actually realized what was going on in the scene; the reason why all the women in the factory hate Fantine is that, most likely, she's the only one that's not sleeping with the foreman in order to get her daily pay. And the foreman wants her to do this, so he pretty much sexually harasses her (even though she says no.)

Charlie, our director, talked to us about this before we blocked the scene; people brought to light that these people are doing whatever they can to survive. Whatever. They. Can. It showed me that Fantine, other than being a depressing element of the show, kind of represents the persistence of morals and values in society. Even though she eventually gives in and resorts to prostitution later in the show.

Well, there's my thoughts as of late. EMOTIONS ALL UP IN HERE.
Thanks for listening to me ramble :)

Cracking Open some Memories

I've been reminded of by this posting prompt how nasty and old and full of crap my desk is. My desk, the one I've had in my room since I was six, I haven't cleaned out for years. SO, now that we have to write about the "dumpsters" in our own lives, I picked my desk.

I'm going to rummage around in this big pile of dandy objects and find four or five interesting ones to write about for this RIGHT NOW. Leggo.

1. Japanese Cherry Blossom Room Spray

I don't really know what this says about me, just that I like my room to smell nice, but I remember that I got it for Christmas in my stocking a couple of years ago, so whenever I spray it, it always reminds me of my family's Christmas morning tradition. We always sleep in, all four members of my immediate family are notorious night owls, and open presents when we wake up. We're all in our pajamas sitting around the tree, and it's the best feeling ever to be together. Then we all go eat breakfast, when my sister Sarah makes these delicious apple bundles she learned how to make in FCS in eighth grade. It's the same every year, and I love it :) The spray also smells awesome. I definitely just sprayed it right now.

2. A Birthday Card from my best friend

The second drawer down in my desk is dubbed "The Save Drawer," where I save all my cards/important documents that I never want to lose. With ten years of stuff in there, it's almost full! I  opened it and the first thing I found was birthday cards from last year, MY SWEET SIXTEEN, and I found the one that my best friend Estefania gave me. Estefania's such an important person in my life; I love her so much and I know I can talk to her about anything and everything. We're crazy when we're together, like when we scream at each other from different ends of the hall during passing time. Reading her birthday card just reminded me that we've been friends for two years now, we met freshman year in math class, which is amazing.

3. A Pack of Rubber Bands

Ugh... braces rubber bands. I'm assuming that the majority of people who have braces have to wear them? I know I did and I'm not very educated when it comes to orthodontics. I'm SO GLAD I have my braces off and all my dental procedures finished. The rubber bands just remind me of all the crazy mouth-related problems I've had in my adolescence so far, I had to have teeth pulled, braces, gum surgery, and an addition to a small tooth, and I'm so glad they're done. It was worth it though, I'm happy with my smile now :)

4. A Big Pile of Old Sheet Music

This big pile of old sheet music is from eighth grade I think, back when I was in Chambers at East Middle School and taking voice lessons from Mrs. Baker. This was also when I was in the 7th/8th grade girls ACDA Honor Choir. Ah, nostalgia. The songs in here range from theatre songs, I'm not going to look through all the folded up ones but I think "I Dreamed a Dream" is in there somewhere (which is definitely significant now), choral pieces, and Italian arias. This all just reminds me of how far I've come in my vocal training, and the possibilities of where I have to go. It's exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time, and I can't wait to see what's in store for me.

5. My Diary from Kindergarten

SECRET TIME! My deepest, darkest secrets that I wouldn't want ANYONE TO KNOW EVER are in this diary from when I was a young whippersnapper. Like how I wished I was a princess (I was such a cliche), or how I liked to play with my friend Bridget, or how some kid in my class named Alex was mean, or how I was "in love" with this kid named Joey and we kissed on the lips. Just kidding, they're actually not deep dark secrets, they just show how odd of a kid I was :) I also had really bad handwriting; I wrote my "y's" backwards for years. It's just weird to think that I don't remember any of this stuff that happened, and that I'm so much older now and think so differently.

THAT'S IT, Y'ALL. I actually really enjoyed going through my old stuff, it totally reminded me of my past and showed me how fast time actually goes. Even though all of us teenagers want to get older and be independent, we should cherish the time that we have with our parents and in high school and enjoy every second. 

Later, gators.

REVEALING TIME

Sad. No one guessed my modes...

Shame shame.

Ehh WHATEVER. Here they are!

The suspense was killing you, wasn't it? :)

1. Narration

2. Definition

3. Example

4. Cause and Effect

5. Description

6. Comparison/Contrast

I hope I wrote these right!

'NIGHT Y'ALL.

An AMBITIOUS Attempt at Rhetorical Mode-ing

This actually was an ambitious attempt. I spent most of an hour writing this  :) 

Oops, emoticon. That was bad, I won't do it again. Pinky promise.

1. My teeth were clenched and my fists balled up instinctively as the first notes of the selection were played on the piano. The beauty of the song struck me and, like the forceful rush of water when a river dam collapses, desire suddenly coursed through my veins. This was my dream role; I wanted this part more than I had wanted anything before, and I was going to do whatever was necessary until I would be up on the stage, portraying this character, immersing myself in its beauty and depth, completely surrendering my soul to the role of Fantine.

2. Ambition is an intense desire to achieve some sort of goal or honor, and the persistence to overcome obstacles in order to do this. Ambition can be prevalent in any type of person, and can pertain to any type of goal or achievement. Ambition, if it engulfs one's entire being, can take an enormous toll on one's life, such as causing one to lose the respect of others or to neglect other aspects of life.

3. Rachel Berry, one of the main characters on Glee, shows a huge amount of ambition when she tries to obtain the various theatrical or academic achievements presented to her throughout the course of the show. This ambition, even though it usually yields positive results for her, effects her very negatively. This happened pretty recently on the show, when she decided to run for senior class president because it would help her to get into the college she wanted to go to. She ended up running against one of her best friends, Kurt, which almost ruined their friendship.

4. Ambition is caused by an intense desire for something. This desire can lead to many different outcomes. Since the desire is so strong, the results can be positive for some people. Some can get what they want by simply wanting it. Other times this doesn't work out so well. Extreme ambition can also affect people negatively, such as causing them to inadvertently damage important relationships beyond repair or causing immense sadness if the achievement is not gained.

5. Sweat formed above her brow, her knuckles white from clutching the rope for five endless minutes. The jeers from her classmates and her gym teacher's incessant whistling were blocked out, her juvenile, fourth-grade mind became focused on one task, and one task only...

6. Ambition and enthusiasm are two very different concepts. Enthusiasm takes a copious amount of energy; outward energy fueled by extroversion. Ambition can be kept silent, it doesn't need to be externalized. It can still be present underneath the surface of a person, his or her drive can be invisible.

CABIN TIME.

Ready for some RANDOM RAMBLINGS *so punny* before my educational post from the land of academia?

That's right you are.

SO,

My family and I went up to our cabin for Thanksgiving. It's actually been so relaxing. 

In many more ways than one.

Like, how I've gone without doing any homework for two full days?

Or that I got to go exploring in the woods the other day? (not actually exploring, we knew where we were going, but we found this crazy teepee)

Or that the stress of waiting for cast lists is now done with?

Or that I kind of just get to eat whatever, whenever? Come on, who doesn't love eating brownies and 11 at night, and who doesn't do that on holidays?

*BUELLER, BUELLER*

Just kidding. If I could see you right now, I have a feeling your hand would be raised. Because you're just so interested in my life and I, with all of my amazing mind-reading superpowers, know exactly what you're thinking.

My cabin's also near a cute little town called Walker, where they had this little parade that we went to with my little cousins tonight.

It was really cute, like all of the Christmas lights and the cute little businesses that had their floats, but I actually got candy thrown at me.

Literally, some guy came up to me and threw candy aimed at my body.

It was a tad freaky, and all the candy was gross, but it's definitely something to laugh at.

SO, that would be it.

Time to go write about RHETORICAL MODES. MY FAVORITE.

YAY.

EXCITEMENT.

Adios, amigos.

PSD

"GRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Mornin'!"

I watched "How to Train Your Dragon" for the first time after a show this weekend, and it's SO CUTE.  Even though I could only watch the beginning, up until the point where Hiccup and Astrid were riding Toothless, but still. I loved it and after I finish this blog post I will be finishing it.

Guess what.

My show just ended.

That's right. The Brigz is no more.

And, even though it hasn't hit me yet that we won't rush to the auditorium after school on Monday to cake on our stage makeup and make sure our hair is perfectly curled, I know I'm going to miss it so much.

Brigadoon was my first show at Wayzata High School, all my shows that I'd done before this were at my middle school or at Bluewater. It was such a different experience than either of those.

I was surprised by all of the traditions that we do at Wayzata. I obviously can't write them on here because I don't know which ones are *secret* or not, but I loved experiencing all of them. And I love how everyone gets so emotionally invested in all of the traditions, it shows how much theatre at Wayzata means to everyone there.

I'm so honored to have been a part of that.

I also made so many new friends during this show, and got closer to friends that I already had. It will be so much sadder for me when the seniors graduate this year now that I've gotten close to the seniors who were in Brigadoon. I'm so excited to continue getting closer to my junior, sophomore, and freshman friends, and I can't wait to do another show with all of them.

If anyone from the cast of Brigadoon is reading this, I love you so much and this experience has meant so much to me. I'll miss you all so much.

Well, now I have to go practice for a callback audition I have today for my favorite show ever. And IT SNOWED YESTERDAY. What?

Wednesday Night Playlists

HEY Y'ALL.

Just procrastinating. You know me ;) *cliche winkay face*

P.S. Never use winky faces. Ever.

Because I told you so, that's why.

*DING DING*

Logical fallacy alert. That would be a false claim to authority.

HAH. Look what this class is doing to me.

Who wants a playlist from Kara?

"ME! ME! ME!" *enthusiastic screaming and hand raising ensues*

That's right you want a playlist from me. And you'll get the BEST. ONE. EVER.

Here we go.

1. Crash - The Summer Set

MY FAVORITE BAND EVER. Seriously. Check them out NOW. You can listen to The Summer Set's music FOR FREE on their Myspace page in my bee-you-tiful blog list.

2. Uptown Girl - The Glee Cast

WARBLERS.  Love. Deliciousness. Gah.

3. Drunk and in Love - Brookline Drive

Another good one. Super catchy and fun; definitely a good one to belt out with the windows down. And the "I'm in love with the way you do your hair" part is so adorable. I'd actually scream if a guy ever said that to me and meant it. 

4. Set Fire to the Rain - Adele

Lets face it. Any Adele song is pretty much a super mainstream by now. But that's because she's FREAKING AMAZING. This is actually so fun to just go crazy in your room singing when you're home alone. I definitely have :) 

5. Kiss the Girl - The Little Mermaid

Classic. Anything from Disney is just classic. I've been actually obsessed with this song lately.

6. Your Song - Elton John

Another classic. The lyrics to this song are SO ADORABLE, and Elton John sounds so good singing it. PLUS it's in Moulin Rouge, which makes it 2000x better.

7. Faster - Matt Nathanson

SUPES ADORBS. But actually, this song's another cute one. Guys, if you sing, these are some hints for you if you're ever in a situation that requires singing to a certain girl who shall remain nameless... :)

8. Deer in the Headlights - Owl City

I love Adam Young. His lyrics are so refreshingly random and different from anything else you hear on the radio these days. This is a good one of his off Owl City's new album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful," which is a super schnazzy title for an album, I think.

9. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry

Definitely a crazy pump-up song for parties. Love.

10. Summer Girl - Jessica Andrews

The country girl comes out. Actually, even though I've pretty much lived in Minnesota all my life besides my first three years in Colorado, I actually believe that I should live in the South somewhere. I think I might have lived there in a past life, if you believe in reincarnations of the soul and stuff like that. But yeah, this is a fun song too; another windows-down, hair blowing in the wind, road trip with your best friends kind of song :)

YAY for Wednesday night playlists!

Check them out, though! I promise you'll be glad you did :) 

Procrastination terminated. 

Computers to the eXtreme

COMPUTERS. The little box with the big "X" by it on page 126 of eXtended Language lists a bunch of issues that they have. 

I actually don't think that there's a crazy amount of problems with computers, seeing as that a huge percentage of the information we have today would be accessible without them. And our speedy communication is possible with them too.

If you've talked to your friend on Facebook recently, then you know what I'm talking about.

If you've tweeted about the "BESTEST THNG U & UR BFF DID THE OTHR DAY THT WUZ SEW FUNNAY," then you know that I"m talking about.

If you've sent an e-mail to your teacher with your crazy-long, large percentage of your grade's worth paper that you spent days and days working on *cough* RHETORICAL ANALYSIS *cough,* then you know what I'm talking about.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely know that computer have issues. I totally get that we don't talk face-to-face as much as we type over social networking sites. I know that there's creepers out there that make false usernames and go creep on people. I know that there's a bunch of illegal pornography out on computers.

I just think that computers benefit our society more than they harm it.

People wouldn't be able to go up on the Moon, make great movies, or potentially figure out the cure for cancer without them.

That's all, y'all! :)

Bugs Bunny and Creative Juice

HOORAY FOR OPEN TOPIC BLOG POSTS.

*Applause*

I honestly have no idea what to write about... school and theatre have sponged up all of those creative juices in my head.

 That's such an gross metaphor... creative juices.  I just get an image of this nasty green brain juice sloshing around inside a cranium when a creative thought pops in.

 Or a juice box that you drink out of to magically become creative. I could definitely see that being on some awkward infomercial: 

"Tired of being boring? Have nothing to talk about at parties? Well this is the product for you! Drink creative juice and become creative INSTANTLY!"

I could use some of that right about now.

SO I'm finishing this post tomorrow. Let the awkward pause commence. 

YAY awkward pause over. It's actually tomorrow... I mean i literally started this on Saturday night, couldn't think of anything, and am starting it again 1 hour before it's due.

PROCRASTINATORS UNITE.

I think I'm going to blog about my voice lesson. That sounds interesting.

Well, today at voice, I realized I have a TONGUE of problems! (HAHA! Excuse the bad pun and the awkwardness of me laughing at myself)

Tongue problems.

When I sing, my tongue pulls back, which obstructs the sound.

Which is obviously not good.

So I had to do two fun-a-licious tongue exercises today.

I had to hold a pencil under my tongue and try to sing "AH" while doing it.

And I also had to literally hold my tongue outside of my mouth while I also sang "AH."

They were kind of failures. 

BUT they'll help me in the future, for auditions (T-MINUS 6 DAYS UNTIL LES MIS AUDITIONS) and recitals and performances (T-MINUS 4 DAYS UNTIL OPENING NIGHT OF BRIGADOON) and such.

So yeah. Awesome.

** This passage exhibits ethos through the authors addition of her personal experiences.

Now I have some academic stuff in here :)

That's all, folks!

I actually used to be obsessed with Bugs Bunny as a kid. My sister and I would sit around and watch them on my dad's computer for entire days when we were kids.

HAVE FUN WATCHING!

Distractions, Distractions

Papers. My favorite.

Even though I've never been a fan of papers, I've always been good at writing them. I've never had to prepare that much in advance to write a crazy paper for a class. Even Honors classes in high school, I always wrote the paper either a day or a couple days before the due date and really didn't revise them very much.

This paper was different. I ended up reading the article on which the paper was to be based about two weeks before the paper was due; a record for me. Even though the annotations on the article were an assignment.  I also wrote the first rough draft a week before the paper was actually due. I thought that I was being EXTREMELY productive.

Then came the week before the paper was due. That was also the week that I discovered that Pandora had a Disney station on it, which added to all the distractions in my house. I rediscovered my love for some Disney movies that I haven't seen in YEARS, sometimes at the expense of working on my paper. 

I actually can't listen to music at all while I work. I used to be able to; I could tune out the words and focus. I don't know why, but now I can't. I put on music and try to do any sort of homework, or any work where I need to think a little,  and I just can't focus on both of those things at once. I guess I'm just bad at multitasking, contrary to the female stereotype :)

I was also stressing out about my Halloween costume this week... I had to figure out something low-maintenance and easy to get quickly.

A side note about Disney: the music from Tarzan is actually EPIC. Phil Collins is actually kind of a musical genius... and IT HAS SO MANY KEY CHANGES. And I love me some key changes :)

BUT we got to work on the paper all week in class, which helped A LOT. I think I made a large percentage of my revisions in class, and it was so nice to have my classmates revise it for me. It was nice to have their input, and I implemented almost all of them. I think it made my paper so much better.

DANG. Someone just rode across the street in front of my house with a moped... I wish I had one. 

Oops. Another distraction. 

Hah :)

Ponderings of a Hopeless Not-So-Romantic

Open blog posts aren't very good for those who are the anti-creative, such as ME.

So I have no idea what to write about for this blog. My life currently lacks every kind of excitement, besides the fact that auditions for my favorite musical EVER are right around the corner, so there's nothing really to write about.

I have been pondering something lately, though :)

Last weekend, when I probably should have been doing homework or practicing voice or something equally productive, I watched the Disney movie Pocahontas. Throughout the progression of the sappy, yet sweet, romance between John Smith and Pocahontas, I was starting to feel a little glum about my own love life. That, like the rest of my life at the moment, is sadly stagnant.

And then I realized how unrealistic it is how all of these Disney princesses have their "true loves" walk conveniently into their lives without any female intervention whatsoever. While I watch these movies, I always think, "Aww, that's SO cute. I wish things happened exactly like that in my life."

This makes me so sad, because I know it won't. My "Prince Charming," however hackneyed the term may be, won't magically turn up out of nowhere. I'll probably have to put in effort on my end to make that guy like me enough to enter a serious relationship with me. I wouldn't be angry about that if I eventually got what I wanted, but Disney plants these ideas in the heads of girls everywhere, making them desire to have a guy sweep them off their feet.

 It'd be nice if Disney put a realistic romance in one of their movies for once. Not saying that I don't LOVE Disney movies, but every time I watch them, I always wish that my life could be that way, even though I know it won't.

Which is weird, because I'm not a romantic person at all.

I'll still watch Disney movies, though. They're SO addicting, and heighten my hopes for other things about the world. They make me hope that chivalry is not dead, that love can actually bloom in a short amount of time, and somewhere out there, there is a "Prince Charming" for everyone.

PET PEEVES

- People who think that they're always right and have to correct everything in everyone else that they think is wrong

- People who are overly cocky

- People who think they're entitled to things that they are not entitled to

- People who disregard seniority

- People abuse the seniority that they have

- People who start drama for no reason

- People who tell you their score on a test just because they know it's higher than yours

- People who treat others like they are younger than they truly are

- People who try to act older than they truly are

- People who are in positions of power who abuse it

- People who think they can get what they want by crying about it

- People who punish sensitive people less harshly for the same offenses

PHEW. I have a lot of pet peeves I guess :)

Generalizations and the Importance of the Arts

Does it annoy anyone else that the Arts are never spoken about when students are encouraged to do well in school? And why are so many generalizations used when speaking about the tendencies of Americans?

The first thing I noticed in 2 Million Minutes was the incessant generalizations that were being made about the tendencies and behaviors of American students. The behaviors such as lack of studying, a large amount of socializing, and the inadequate use of time were shown in the two American students. The writers of 2 Million Minutes intended for these negative qualities to be the only qualities shown about Americans in the context used. However, these are not the only qualities American students possess and they are not dominant in the lives of every American student.

I know that in my academic life, I strive to learn as much as I can and be challenged, along with receiving good grades. I also know that my friends feel the same way that I do about education. I know for a fact that the only time that I go out with my friends is on the weekends; during the week, all of my time is devoted to either school, Brigadoon rehearsal, or studying tat home. These assumptions made about American students are generalizations because they definitely do not apply to everyone. 

Another aspect of 2 Million Minutes that annoyed me was that the Arts, or any subjects that were not science, math, or related to either of those, were not mentioned at all. I know that my favorite subjects, and the subjects that I have the most natural aptitude for, are the classes pertaining to literature, communications, or history. Math and science are not the only courses that contain importance for young people, and suitable careers that will assist the world can be made from subjects such as literature or history.

I believe that "I Wanna Be Average" exemplifies this importance when the author, Mike Rose, speaks of his favorite teacher, Jack MacFarlane. MacFarlane was a literature teacher, and he changed Rose's life in unimaginable ways. Rose also speaks of his fondness for literature and the ways in which literature has helped him become an intelligent, driven young man. This shows the importance of literature, and this importance should not be underestimated, especially when speaking of the future of our world.

My Family

"And I'll grow old with these kids next to me, 'cause I know what I've found."

- Brookline Drive

I've found my family.

Seriously. My Theatre Family. 

We're all "theatre kids." The term, "theatre kids" has many different connotations, depending on who you ask. Some will say that "theatre kids" are the most confident people out there, the ones who are willing to put themselves into crazy situations on the stage and embarrass themselves in front of live audiences. Others will say that "theatre kids" are the crazy weird people, the people who sing show tunes all day long, are sometimes willing to fight against their best friends for a coveted role, make up fake families, and hug each other constantly.

I define being a "theatre kid" a little bit differently."Theatre kids" are usually the most extroverted, the most authentic, the most dramatic, and the most intense people in this world. At least, that's the way I see it. "Theatre kids" share a bond with each other that is inexplicable to anyone that has never done a show before. When you're in a show, you rehearse with the same people for weeks on end; perfecting songs and dance moves, sharing your time and sweat to achieve the ultimate goal. "Theatre kids" share this experience together, and this is what makes them so close with each other. I know that some of my very best friends I have met through the shows I've done.

Tonight, I went to a fundraising gala for Blue Water Theatre Company, the company in which I've done five shows now. A video was shown about all the different elements of the theatre company; the directors, the rehearsing process, the traditions, everything. This video just made me realize how extremely lucky I am to be a small part of something that has the power to change people's lives. I know for a fact that theatre has done that for me.

An alumni actor then went up to speak, and spoke about his family at the Theatre Company. I've always thought of my theatre friends as a family, but it kind of just hit me tonight how actually true this is. I am so close to all of my theatre friends; we all have very similar personalities and all experience the same feelings during the course of the show, from the butterflies when the cast list is posted, the drive and motivation felt during rehearsal, the adrenaline-fueled "high" during a performance, and the gloomy sadness felt when the show ends.

I love these people so much. My Blue Water Family means so much to me, and I wouldn't change any of my experiences with them for anything.

P.S. The song I quoted at the beginning of the post was Eighteen by Brookline Drive.

CLICK ME to check it out :)

 

Not your cliche back-to-school speech

When I was preparing to listen to President Obama's back to school address, I was prepared to hear all about the future of math and science. I'm definitely a liberal arts sort of girl; I participate in music and theatre, and I get very annoyed very fast when adults stress the importance of math and science in today's society.

Not Obama.

In his speech, he spoke about the passions of students and how students need to figure out "what makes them come alive."

I absolutely loved that part of his speech, and it was an example of a pathos argument. It was obviously an effective one, because it stirred my emotions and my firm belief of the desire to follow dreams and make things happen.

This shows how effective of a speaker our President is.

Obama's audience for this speech is all of the students of America. He makes this clear when he references to the "peers across America" of the students who are listening to him directly. He speaks in third person, directly addressing all the students as "you." He also relates to the audience by speaking about his experience in school, namely his ethics class in eighth grade and how it helped him make tough decisions about America later in life. This is a very effective way to address and convey his message to the audience because it makes them feel connected and involved. From my perspective, that is a very important feeling to have because it provides the motivation to change the world. 

Obama also uses many different types of appeals in this argument. (SHOCKER :)) Many of these appeals that he uses are emotional, like the aforementioned one about finding the subjects that you love. These appeals are directed at American students to motivate them to go to school and be a success. The authority in these emotional appeals is definitely credible. President Obama, or any prior President of the United States for that matter, knows the inner workings, and the hidden problems, of this nation during the time in which they served their presidency. These Presidents, currently Obama, are the most reliable source dealing with events in America. This information is mostly implied.

Obama also uses factual evidence in order to provide background to his speech along with pathos appeals. One piece of factual evidence that stood out to me while I listened to Obama's speech was when he stated, "60% of jobs in the next decade will require more than a high school diploma." This is an effective logos appeal; it uses numbers to convey a surprising statistic to the audience. I believe that it was put into the address as a scare tactic. Subsequent to the statistic, Obama says, "That's the world you're walking into." I don't know about the rest of America's students, but listening to that sort of frightens me. It shows that the credentials are higher and that we, as students, need to work harder than any prior generation has to gain the positions and occupations that we desire to have for the future. That's scary. 

In short, the main purpose of Obama's speech is to motivate the students of America to be the best they can be and set the bar high for their success in school and in life. He does this using a variety of appeals, including logos and pathos appeals. In my opinion, Obama did an outstanding job of conveying this message to his audience. After all, he is the President :)