One Thousand, Two Hundred, and Ten Percent Effort- January 28-29, 2014

I've been led, in the past few days, to a shocking yet obvious epiphany about myself:

I am not made out of 1,210% of anything. Trying to give that much effort during a day is not going to work.

Let me explain: Yesterday (Tuesday), I was pretty gosh darn worn out, but still feeling pretty ok with myself for getting all my work done. Well, I showed up at my Writing class and soon found out that I didn't turn an assignment in the right way, and now it was too late. On top of that, we talked about the assignment in class, and I learned I didn't do it right. Stress level went up.

Well, I stayed after class to talk with my professor about what to do about the assignment, and how I could fix what I did, since I still felt like I was struggling with it. I got the answers I was looking for, but she also gave a very genuine show of concern for my mental, intellectual, and physical health. She told me how it's clear how much effort and energy I'm putting into these assignments, when really, I don't have to. Essentially, I'm working too hard and being too much of an over-achiever, as well as thinking too much. Keep it simple. If I put too much effort into everything I do, I'm going to blow myself out.

It was really sweet of her, and very unexpected too. I thought I was struggling to keep up and barely getting by... looks like I'm overcompensating or something... I think quite highly of her now. She always had my respect, as a professor, but this was like... TKA teacher level, and not what I originally perceived this professor to be like at all. In the moment, I felt a little taken aback, upset, and exhausted.... but I also felt touched. That's what I feel thinking back on it now... I'm glad she told me.

At the same time, how am I expected to cut back on what I'm doing? I want to be able to do everything with the best of my efforts, and do as well as I can. But, as my professor pointed out, sometimes "good enough" is actually good enough. So that's what left me confused... and continued to leave me confused for the rest of the day...

The rest of the day... I just felt tired. So incredibly tired. All day I was exhausted and run-down. It's very likely that part of that had to do with going out for Sneha's birthday the night before, but man- I could hardly function!

Mark Study way later that evening was nice, but they've got some strict rules about attendance, so I'm worried that when the show starts up I won't be able to go more than twice, and then I'll get kicked out... I don't want that to happen, but there's only so much I can do to control when I'm supposed to be in the theater and when I'm free. We haven't even started rehearsals yet, so at the moment I have practically no control.... We'll see...

Today, I felt even more exhausted than yesterday, if not just as exhausted. It didn't hit me until later in the day, though. At first I thought it was just unhappiness, and it partially was. I did another presentation in my Scene Study class that I wasn't fully prepared for, but kind of just had to throw together and do. I could've done better, and I felt really self-conscious about it. So that kind of threw off the rest of my early afternoon mood.

Although... remember what my writing professor told me? I talked to my Scene Study professor after class for a minute or so, just to clarify what his main feedback on my presentation was (I was a bit confused). He told me a lot of the same things she did, just in a different context- things don't have to be perfect, the assignment isn't a make-or-break deal, just him getting to know us a bit better and getting us to explore being natural and realistic in our actions, etc. But he said he was getting the sense that I liked everything to be just right, and I like knowing that I'm doing things right. I didn't have to overthink things. Well... yeah... that's true. I like everything to be just right, and I like aiming for things to be perfect, which was part of the reason I didn't feel confident about the presentation. But the fact that he noticed that too... huh. I still felt crummy about the work I did afterwards, perfection or not. I could've done much better....

But maybe I'm overthinking.... And I thought about overthinking on my way back to my dorm. Then I started thinking about the things I think about and what I think.

I think I think too much.

By the way, I'm currently reading "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," and I realized something about my reading schedule today- I'm sneaking time in to read this book literally every waking moment that I can. It's like I'm squeezing time into my day for this book when I think the clock isn't looking so I can have some moments to enjoy it... huh. Maybe I am working too hard...

Anyways, after lunch I finally got to see Thomas again!!! We caught up for a few minutes before I had to head to class again.

At my voice lesson, I was pretty distracted most of the time because my legs were constantly shaking. It was as though no matter how I stood, they were going to collapse at some point. 

And then my Voice teacher brought up the same themes the other two professors were talking about! Overthinking, working too hard, don't try to control (my voice) too much, let it go, get some rest, take things slow, things take time, etc. 

I think God or the universe or both are trying to tell me something...

Well, I haven't left my dorm since I got back, but I did take quite a bit of time to just chill and watch Youtube videos before finishing my homework... so I kind of relaxed, right?

Am I really working too hard though? I came up with the percentage at the beginning of the blog because I counted up 11 things that I would like to be spending time investing 110% of my energy in... so the comment from my Writing professor about blowing myself out actually worries me a bit... But I don't know how to calm down. I don't know how to not work towards my best work anymore, and I feel rotten giving only half my effort into something and passing it off as good enough... 

I need help. How do I not stress myself out and invest too much time and energy into everything, but still do my best with everything I do?

I think I need sleep most of all... I want to go home.... College is overwhelming... Man I'm exhausted...

My daydreams lately have involved a sequence of me getting a good, healthy (but great) dinner, fresh and clean from a shower afterwards, bundled up in a blanket on a big couch or chair in my pajamas with a hot cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie or two (or three) that I can eat slowly, listening to calming music while I just snuggle and read my book... and read and read with no interruptions until I hit the perfect spot to stop and go to sleep.... And waking up the next morning feeling energized and healthy and refreshed....That sounds like the best thing in the world....

Help? and Fight on, friends

Story Time!!!- January 27, 2014

Every single thing I'm going to talk about in today's blog could probably have a blog post of it's own.

Story 1: To start it off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE RALAINE!!!!! I miss you tons and I wish I could've seen you today, but I hope today was as beautiful and charming as you are!!!!

Story 2: Today started out a little slow. My Scene Study class was a bit of a make or break point for me today though. I finally volunteered to do my Truth/Lie exercise assignment, so I presented that to the class along with four other of my classmates.

I don't know if I explained it before, but we were given an assignment to find an object that contains a lot of significance to us. Then, we'd have to tell the class, in just 3 minutes, why it's significant, and what the story is behind it. The more unbelievable (yet true!) the better! Except, half of us were assigned to make the entire story up. The class had to try to decide, from each performance, who was telling the truth and who was lying.

I've been quite a naive sucker for all the presentations: I've said the stories were true for practically every single one.

But mine was a lie. I decided to tell a story of how I got a tiara I had in my room. Long story short, it involved me having a quincenera themed sixteenth birthday party, but not having a tiara. I wanted one, but didn't want to go to the trouble to ask for one, but my mom figured it out, so she and my older sister went on a big adventure all throughout town to find one for me just in time for the party, because they love me dearly.

I admit, some of the details were based in truth- my parents do love me dearly, I do adore the idea of being a princess (especially on my birthday!) and I did really like the idea of a quincenera when I was in middle school (not high school, and I knew from the start I would never have one. It was an absurd idea, even for me at the time).

I know that this is totally absurd, but I couldn't help but feel like I would have failed in my goal if the class thought I was telling a lie. This is a pretty bad objective to have when telling a story, in retrospect, "Believe me! Believe me! Believe me!" Wow. I'm going to make a lousy actress. Anyways, when the class was asked if they believed me, I crossed my heart that they would.

Luckily, they did!!! Haha, suckers!!! My ex-boyfriend gave me that tiara, not my mom! You all fell for it!! Muahahaha.....

Ok, I didn't have that big of a reaction (on the outside....), but I still felt pretty good about myself for being able to pass off the story as believable.

Story 3: The next item on the agenda today was a writing conference with my Writing 150 professor to talk about my thesis statement for the upcoming paper. The conversation left me feeling frustrated and a bit manipulated... but at least I'm writing about what I'm *supposed* to write about... right?

The problem with the writing class is that race is a touchy subject. If you have any one idea that is in any way new or a bit out of the box, you're wrong. Well, that's what I learned today. I was also practically laughed at for having an idealist belief. It was a, "Awww, you're so cute. I used to think that way, but now I know better" vibe that I got from my professor. I'm sure she meant well... but ouch.

So, it inspired me to write the following short rant. (WARNING! ASCENDING SOAP BOX! IF YOU DON'T WANT MY OPINION THEN SKIP DOWN TO THE OTHER CAPITALIZED LETTERS!)

(There is a soap box and microphone downstage center. Rachel enters, stage right, takes a slow look at the audience, and sighs. Then crosses to soap box and ascends.) 

There is a time and place for idealism. It's true that if you're consuming rotten food that, in the moment, idealism would do you no good. It's true that if you did absolutely no studying for your final exam on the class that's going to make or break if you graduate, firm idealist beliefs will not help you. Idealism will never lead to a sudden epiphany that will change the world or a sudden miracle that happens if you just pray and believe (unless either God answers your prayer very specifically or you're really really lucky).

But in spite of all these scenarios, idealism has it's time and it's place. Where would we be without the idealism of the American colonists in 1776, who believed that it was possible for a little new country to defeat the mighty powers of Britain all for some unattainable dream of a freely governed land? Where would we be without the idealism of Abraham Lincoln, who believed in a strong, united country where brothers helped each other, not fought each other? Where would we be today without the idealism of people like FDR, who knew that America did have a bright, beautiful tomorrow at the end of the great depression? What about him and Winston Churchill, who believed it was possible not only to defeat the deafening powers of the Axis alliance, but to end all wars somehow? What about artists and inventors like Thomas Edison or Walt Disney who pursued new goals and boundaries of science and the imagination when the world told them it was impossible?

What about people like Martin Luther King Jr? His dream was ideal, but here we are living it.

It is idealism that keeps people dreaming, and it is dreaming that gives them hope, and it is hope that keeps them motivated to fight for that dream and that ideal way the world ought to be for them. There is not a single one of these situations I just listed where these people did not have hope that their crazy ideas could actually be a reality, and so they didn't give up.

If we're going to continue to tackle problems like race today, we're going to need this type of determination. And we're going to find this determination in the hope that someday, we can have an ideal situation where all men (and women!) are treated equally.

So don't you dare tell me not to be idealistic. Don't you dare tell me that these dreams and ideas aren't worth my time. Because if everybody that cared about this cause had these same dreams, then honey, we'd be moving mountains. Pass me a shovel and then pass them around. It might take a couple of days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes, but it can be done if we all believe in what we're doing. You don't get that belief unless you've got an idea to believe in. I've got one, and I think it's a great one, so I'm already one step ahead of you. Want to hop aboard? Then grab a dream of your own and lets get going.

Because, as Walt Disney once put it, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

Thank you.

(Rachel again breathes a large sigh, steps carefully off the soap box, and exits, stage left. 
Black out)

END OF SOAP BOX RANT.

Judge me as you will. That's what I think about it.

Story 4: I made a funny joke in Sociology class.

We were talking about family values in the 50's, and I mentioned that, contrary to the previous comment, not all of the men's actions in the film depicted that women needed to depend on them for every single thing. For instance, the men pulled out chairs for the women not because they couldn't do it themselves, but because it was polite. Politeness and cordiality were highly emphasized in the video.

Professor Biblarz said, "Very good point!" and as he was taking notes, decided "We'll call that... chivalry."

He began to type it up, and then said, "I don't know how to spell chivalry...."

"Well that just proves that it's dead," I responded. Ba dum, tish.

The girl in front of me cracked up. Professor Biblarz said, "Good one."

Boo yah.

Story 5: The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully until around 7 or so. A huge group of us girls got all dressed up, then took a cab to Beverly Hills for a Korean food dinner!!

Because it's Sneha's 20th Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNEHA!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I got to be there with you today to celebrate your 20 years of living!!!!!!

The food was pretty good, but the company was wonderful. I just felt bad because we were the last people to leave the restaurant after closing since there were complications with how we paid for our food. But it all got straightened out and we left as soon as we could, thanking the workers profusely.

It felt like a Friday, since we went out. It was so much fun though!!! We laughed a bunch and enjoyed ourselves and ate food that wasn't cafeteria. I hope we get the chance to do it again!!!

Since I've gotten back, I've finished homework and now here I am. Whew. Today was an adventure. Let's see what tomorrow holds!!

Fight on, friends.

Double Birthday Evening- January 26, 2014

Oooh!!! We're halfway there
Woah! Livin' on a Prayer!

No symbolism in the song lyrics today. It's just what I'm listening to at the moment and it's my guilty pleasure song. It makes me really happy :)

Most of today was pretty uneventful. It took me a bit to get back in the 45 minutes of work and 15 minutes of break routine, but once I did, I succeeded in getting done all of my homework that's due tomorrow!!! I'm still not completely caught up in some of my classes, but I've got done what I'm going to have to turn in tomorrow, and that's a great accomplishment!! So I'm pleased with it!!

I did have to miss MTR's production of Merrily we Roll Along in order to get it all done though. I regret that- I heard it was a great production, and I know I'll be sad when I hear other people talk about how great it was.

However, I got to go hang out with Sneha and Kieryn tonight free of homework worries!! Today was Kieryn's birthday!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIERYN DARLING!!!

We stuck around the room and had a suprise ice cream cake from Cold Stone, and then had a Youtube party and hung out until midnight struck!!! And then it was Sneha's birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNEHA!!!!!

Isn't it cute how the two roommates' birthdays are only a day apart? We love them for it :)

Yay for birthdays, and Yay that the weather is finally getting cooler here! I'm super glad it's not 80 degrees anymore. It's starting to feel like winter for once.

On top of all this, all of us that went to see Rent still have all the songs spinning in our minds. The music is awesome, but listening to the Broadway and movie versions of the songs... it doesn't quite cut it. USC beat Broadway and the Movie in terms of quality, in my opinion. I wish I had their voices on a recording instead!! But oh well, the songs are still great :)

*sigh*. It's been a good day.

Fight on, friends.

Rent Brought me Friends- January 25, 2014

I thought today wasn't going to be anything too special. Turns out it was one of the best days of the week.

I slept in this morning and felt much better when I woke up than I did last night. I guess I was just overtired- but thank goodness and thank God and thank you if you prayed!!

Once I had breakfast and got ready to actually start the day, I read my Aunt Patti's comment on my last blog. She had some really good advice on how to schedule out time to get stuff done, and I decided to try it. So I didn't leave the dorm room for the next few hours, but I worked in 45 minute increments, and gave myself 15 minute breaks in between each of those work sessions. With this method, I both caught up on and finished my upcoming Theater History homework. I also started on my Writing homework, but there's still more to do tomorrow for that class. Thank you Aunt Patti!!!! That really helped a lot!!!

I took one longer break to go for a run, and later in the evening went with Jinny, Kieryn, and Nina to see Rent. I was super excited to go!! I've never seen Rent before, even though I auditioned for it and know some of the songs. Plus, my awesomely incredibly talented friend Tyler was playing Roger.

As we were on our way in, I suddenly saw a familiar face. Guess who was there?

David, Mark, and Priscilla- friends from high school!!! Not only friends, but my good friends!! They were there to see Tyler too!!! I almost cried I was so excited to see them!!! We were sitting in different areas during the show, but I promised to meet up with them afterwards.

The show itself... Wow. If you haven't seen Rent, it's a powerful story with even more powerful music. I think the music and the talent was what affected me the most. The entire cast was incredibly talented, especially vocally. The set was beautiful, Tyler did a fantastic performance, and now I want to get some of my favorite songs on iTunes. My favorite character though... I actually think Tyler's character was my favorite. Tyler or... whichever character was Angel's lover. I don't remember his name, but I liked him a lot too.
What I liked even more than the characters was the base moral of the story- There's no day but today, so live and love to the fullest with every moment you have. You never know when your time is going to run out.

The show made me a bit sad at the same time... I can't lie- I wish I had a voice that good. I'm really jealous of people who have that kind of strength and stamina in their voice, or who can belt really well in general. I just have to work harder to get my voice up to that level... but at the same time, everyone's born with a different voice type. There are some things I can't change, so I may never be able to sing like them. I wish I could... I really wish I could.

Anyways, after the show I discovered that even more TKA alumni were there than I thought!!! Mark Burnside, Katya, Tim McDonald, Austin and Nikki (they go here, but still!), Hannah Bucko, Sidney Wilson, and of course David and Mark and Priscilla. A big group of TKA kids that now go to school in Southern California, basically.

We all congratulated Tyler, of course! I saw a couple of other people I knew too that are friends from SC, but I mostly just hung around anyone from TKA. Didn't really join many conversations... just kinda clung to people and was there. That's all that mattered to me though. I could just take in everyone at once and be happy that everyone was there. I can't believe everyone was there. It was so amazing and surreal and cool!!

I followed them out as they left campus, but didn't go too far because I didn't want to have to walk back into campus by myself when they all got to the Lorenzo apartments. I was sad to go... I wish I'd had more time with them, and I just hate saying goodbye in general.... I cried a little on my way back.

This may all sound like I'm overreacting, but I miss my TKA family so much. They really are family to me, and it doesn't matter how often I see them, I'm always happy when they're around. I miss them so much... College will never be the same as high school because...well... the people just aren't the same. Don't get me wrong, I love my college friends so much and I'm so grateful and happy that they're in my life now!!! But at the same time... there's nothing like old friends. I guess I just miss them a lot... I didn't think about it much until I saw some of them... but I really do miss them all. I wish I'd had more to say to everyone. I wish we were all still going to the same school...

If you're reading this, then thanks, Tyler, for your talent. Without it, we wouldn't have all had a reason to meet up again to come and collectively support you and be proud of you. I know I'm super proud of you. I also know I didn't have any part in your success, but to know that somebody in my TKA family is doing so well, and has been doing as well as you have been makes me really happy and proud and excited for you. I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone else when I say this too.

I got back to my room to find the hall pretty empty. Jinny, Kieryn, Corona (who met us there), and Nina had come straight back to the dorm because they're going out tonight. I didn't really want to since I've been really tired recently, so now I'm just...here... in my room... about to go to bed.

I wish I was half as talented as half the people in this school. It's crazy how many incredible people are here. There's a lot of incredible people that aren't here, too. I miss you, TKA!!!

Fight on, friends.

PS: Sorry if a lot of this sounded like rambling or didn't make a lot of logical sense... It's hard to write late at night

Pray for Productivity, Please?- January 24, 2014

Either it's just the lack of sleep catching up with me, or this weekend is going to be a lot slower-paced than I thought.

I've felt off all day today. I wouldn't mention it if it didn't make a difference in my day, but today it did.

I woke up 20 minutes for class and barely made it over there in time. When I got back to my dorm room, I messed around on my computer for a bit, but felt really tired, so took a nap.... a half hour nap that turned into a 2 hour nap... Whoops.

Well, the most exciting part of my day is that I made it over to Bovard Auditorium and got to watch Commedus Interruptus (the improv troupe that my friend Tyler is in) perform for more than just last 10 minutes!! I didn't make the whole show, but next Friday, I think I will.

While I was there, I got to say hi to Tyler and his parents! They're here for Rent this weekend (the show that Tyler's in). Also, Austin Welsh is finally back on-campus!! We went to lunch at Pizza Studio, then came back and talked and caught up for a while. It's really nice to get to talk to him and hear about all his adventures in Scotland and the UK last semester. I really hope I get to study abroad too, at some point during my time here!

That is literally the most exciting thing that happened today. The rest of the day has been me, in my room, on Youtube or attempting to do homework or on the phone with either my friend Will or my family (mostly my family).
My conversation with Will was really nice though! I haven't talked to him at all since about mid-Christmas break (I went back to school before he did), so catching up with him was a nice treat.

I'm really making an effort to get more sleep tonight, but it's already later than I wish I was going to bed, and I'm very worried that I'll wake up tomorrow not feeling any better. It's hard to study when you're not feeling 100%, and because I got nothing done today, I really need the time tomorrow to get my work done!

Please be praying for rest for me in this upcoming week, despite the workload.... I could use prayer for time management and completion of the workload as well. Thank you.

Fight on, friends

Your Daily Report- January 22-23, 2014

Past few days of news reporting for duty, folks.

Yesterday was Wednesday, and a busy one at that, as usual. I had my only Scene Study class of this week, checked out the Farmer's Market, and then had my Sociology class. I seriously love how we have a Farmer's Market come here every Wednesday. It makes me really happy, and it's also nice to know that real fresh fruit is only a week away if I'm ever truly needing it!

After my Sociology class, I went to the Health Center and got a flu shot. This wouldn't be significant, except I was actually fairly terrified to go. I've had some good experiences with the Health Center so far since I've been here at school, but every now and then I'll hear someone complain about something that happened to them there (getting tested for Mono, but they messed up the test), or I'll remember how their hours can be ridiculous sometimes.... then I start to wonder if I'm in good hands.... Nevertheless, I mustered up my courage and marched right in.

Then I was informed that the $25 fee couldn't be billed out to my insurance, and also that I had to get the gross type of shot with preservatives and egg and what not in it... which makes me nervous.... The nurse giving me the shot seemed pretty old, and had a rough quality to her voice when she called me in. "Great," I thought, "I got the grouchy old lady to give me a shot that I don't even want to be getting." It turned out to not be that bad. I was honest with her and told her I was nervous, and she seemed to pity me a bit. She even sat and talked with me for a few minutes after the shot, while I was still a little dizzy, and took my blood pressure to make sure I was ok. So she turned out to be quite nice :)

I got my script for Fortinbras, and met some of the cast and the stage manager at a really quick meeting, then it was back to the dorm and dinner and etc.

Homework can go and die. I was on a good track and thinking I was actually going to finish my writing 150 homework on time for once.... Nope. I was up waaayyy late again and I'm not happy about it... At least it's done, though I wish I'd done a bit better...

But the biggest news of all is that I finally got my posters yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm happy with them and they make me happy :)

Today was pretty similar to yesterday. I got up early and had to stimulate my energy with tea... I was pretty tired during my Writing class. I've decided that I really like my professor though. She's fun and you know that she knows her stuff. She reminds me of Miss Doyle, actually! Except she's not cruel, heartless, and evil ;) (If you've had Miss Doyle's class, you'll get it)

....Actually... she is kind of heartless. So much homework... ugh :P I like her anyways.

My time between classes wasn't too exciting, except that's when I put my posters up!! I'll post pictures at some point when I'm not tired and it isn't late.

Theater History 1 is getting better. I've learned that if I sit nearer to the front, where people aren't talking, and take furious notes, I stay pretty engaged on the topic. I don't know if I'm learning anything new yet. I feel like at this point I'm just absorbing the professor's words and I'll sort them out later.

Today, near the end of class, I was starting to get a bit bored. I take notes on my laptop, so I snuck on Facebook during class. Turns out my friend Peter, from home, was on Facebook too, and a full-out poke war commenced. I really hope no one noticed how I was trying not to laugh as I pressed the "Poke Back" button on Facebook millions of times in a row. Unfortunately, class ended, so I had to close my computer and surrender the war. Next time, Mata. Next time...

I had my first discussion session for my Sociology class today! It's in a Multi Purpose room behind the Ground Zero cafe, which is a bit odd. My TA is... pretty dull.... I was drifting off a bit during the section. But at least it's only for an hour, right?

Hit the gym, hit up EVK, and then finally made it out to Intervarsity's Big group meeting.

Let this be my announcement- I've decided that I want to make IV my on-campus Christian fellowship of choice. It's the community of people there that I love. They are all so focused on Christ and on loving each other, regardless of background or personality. It's easy to talk to people, even easier to meet people, and the talks during big meetings are challenging and thought-provoking. Tonight's talk was really convicting for me. It was about being angry and arguing with other people around you, and how we, as followers of Christ, are actually instructed to handle these issues in the Bible. This is a case where the Bible trumps culture, and I learned that I'd been buying into the culture's ideas of how to deal with disagreements, and had forgotten many important verses about the subject. I'm planning to apply this to my life. If, as a Christian, you don't know how to forgive and apologize, how can you fully appreciate God's forgiveness to you, and the power of your apology to him?

Since I've been back in my room for the night, the good news is I finished a subject of homework, Theater 130, since it wasn't long. The bad news is I'm still going to bed late.

I'm in for quite the weekend again. It's looking to be one with a heavy "Work Hard, Play Hard" theme. How's your weekend looking? Can you believe it's the last weekend in January already?? Where does the time go...

Fight on, friends.

I'm Thinking Too Much- January 19-21, 2014

How is it the 21st already?

Sorry for the clumping of days into one blog again. I've been busy as anything, and still am busy as anything. Nevertheless, I shall try to give a full report-

Sunday and Monday were work days. More work got done on Monday, but still, those were the primary focuses.

Regardless, these two days did not pass without adventures.

Sunday I slept in for quite a while and got a late start to the day. Because I was so tired, naturally, I found it quite tempting to begin my "Fellowship of the Ring" book from the library. In addition, it was an absolutely gorgeous day outside. These two reasons are the likely cause of how little I got done.
I did go to the philosophy library again to read though. Man, it's a great place for that. If only it were a little bit brighter... still. It's pretty.

Ok, folks, my obsession with Lord of the Rings is going nuts. All I want to do all day every day nowadays is read this darn book. I just can't get enough of it!!! I'm sure I'm grinning like a maniac every time something happens that I recognize... i can't help it. I love this book. I love this story and these characters and... everything!!!

Monday I woke up late, but this time I was mad about it. Late start to the day, and then a mad rush to start on work. What ended up happening was a morning stressball- I couldn't find the chapters online I was supposed to read for Writing 150, and my printer was out of ink and I didn't have any left. Luckily, I found the online chapters, but it was necessary for me to print the articles that I was supposed to read for class, which I couldn't do without black ink.

So I went on a Target run adventure. By myself, on the Metro. Yeah, I felt awesome.

I considered doing a bit more exploring than just Target, but then realized that there was only so much money I wanted to spend. The entire trip turned out to be highly productive, and I was in a much more pleasant mood on my way back to school.

A quick anecdote- a lot of people came up to me asking me for money. Since I can't give money to them all, I of course had to say no. One man came up to me and looked really business-like. He had a clipboard, and asked me if I was over 18. I'm flattered he couldn't tell, but was too busy shoving a pretzel sample down my throat (there was a Wetzel's Pretzels nearby) that I didn't really answer immediately. I used this to my advantage, and asked him before taking another bite why he wanted to know. I didn't quite get his answer, but it seemed like it mattered to his cause how old I was. So I said, "Sorry, I turn 18 next month." He said, "Ok, thanks" and went away.

Yeah, I lied. I didn't really feel like being solicited though- especially in an underground Metro station near Downtown Los Angeles. No thanks.

On a completely different topic, an interesting thought came to me on the ride back to school. What if the secret to solving the world's problems was hope? I mean, when you think about it, almost all of the bad situations people get in is because they lose hope of some sort- in themselves, in their dreams, in society, in others' love for them, whatever it is. If we all had a little more hope, we'd all have something more to work for. And if we're the ones giving other people hope, we're giving other people something to work for. It can even be applied with the government, but I did consider during this train ride how the government wouldn't always be able to deliver hope. But there's got to be a way it could still do it's best and give people at least the hope of hope, right?
Only in an ideal world...

Anyways, I was up really late last night finishing my Writing 150 homework. I'm not even fully satisfied with my work... I plan on going back and doing more work on it either tomorrow night or this weekend, whenever I have time to go back and do some refinements.

I woke up from my glorious 3.5 hours of sleep today for my 8am class. Woot.

It's been a pretty slow, stressful day. I've got all my work loaded on my mind, plus minor things that always seem like big deals when you're running on hardly any sleep and have a lot to do.

My classes are all very work-heavy. They all require a lot more work than I've been used to, but one reason they're so work-heavy is because they're very thought-heavy. I am required to do much more critical thinking all at the same time than ever before. It's getting a little old. I miss busywork.

However, I think I'm going to start keeping a notebook with all my questions about the controversial topics that we're raising in my classes. Or questions about anything, for that matter. Or observations! Like the one observation I made about hope on the train. It'll be a good resource to go back to when I want to actually look up answers to the questions I had, or think back on ideas that I had once.

Anyways, the best parts of my day were right after my Writing 150 class and later this evening.

After 150, I went to the DRC to check if the cast lists for the shows I auditioned for had been posted yet, and sure enough, they were! And turns out I got cast!!!
I know, right? Looks like all that hard work and stress actually amounted to something!!! It's a very small role, but that's ok. I'm still excited. So yeah, I'll be playing Polish Girl 1 in USC's production of Fortinbras. Huzzah!

Later this evening, I decided to take some risks with getting my homework done and being up late in order to go to a program Intervarsity started this weekend. It's called Mark Study. We'll be going through the book of Mark as though we were reading it for the first time, with only the Old Testament, historical context of Mark, and our current culture as references. People say that it can be transformative, so I'm very excited. Even after one night, we ended up deeper than I ever thought we could get from just one section of the Bible, even though I've read it and heard it plenty of times before. It felt like the leader had a planned sermon (and maybe he did have a plan, but I don't know!) except we were discovering it in the moment. I can't wait for next week.

I really want to make going to IV a priority this semester. Things are going to be really tough with classwork, and with a show now that I've been cast in it, but I neglected time studying God and with my Christian brothers and sisters more than I should have last semester, and I regret it.

Ah shoot... I had more to say... but what was it...?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS!!!!! (well, it was yesterday now, but still. Hope it was an awesome day!)

Anything else? ....hmm.... I don't remember.

OH! Now I do!!! One of the reasons I've been stressed out!!! Remember when I ordered those posters and I was super excited about them? I SITLL DON'T HAVE THEM. I don't know why this is bothering me so much. Maybe because it was a week ago and the website emailed me telling me that I should have received them by now. Ugh. Then I did the shipment tracking online and learned that they are literally being held in the Campus Postal service right now and just haven't been brought to Pardee yet. They are a mile away!!! I'm so excited to get to put them up!!! *sigh*....

Well,  it's 12:40am and I'm just starting to get ready for bed now. It's going to be a long semester, folks.

Fight on.

The Day that will live in Infamy- January 18, 2014

Today has been one I will always remember.

First of all, I need to clarify- when I say "we" or "the group of us" in this blog, I am referring to the lovely girls I spent all day with today: Jinny, Sneha, Ana, Jacqueline (Jack), Jessie, Corona, Shulin (my new friend!!), Kieryn, and Nina.

Second of all- HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!!!!!!! I know this message is coming a bit too late, but you should both know (and I hope you already do know) that I am so grateful that God gave me you two as my parents. You are an adorable couple, and you have taught me so much. Thank you for never giving up on us or each other, and here's to 21 more years!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night, Jinny and I heard that the SAG awards would be happening right across the street from USC at the Shrine Auditorium. So this morning, all of us except for Ana and Jack went over to the Shrine super early to scout out the area and ask if people would be allowed to stand outside to watch for celebrities later that day. Turns out, yes, there were places for us to watch across the street from the Shrine. We decided to continue with our original plans for the day, and to come back closer to the red carpet time.

The red carpet was all out and ready!!

That being said, everybody had breakfast at EVK, and we all headed over to the Natural History Museum!!! It was SO much fun!!! Also, we learned that USC students get into the museum for free!!! We had a grand time roaming the exhibits, playing with what interactive stuff we could, and observing everything. Here are some pictures I took:

There was a HUGE collection of gorgeous gems and crystals!!!

A ball of pure, flawless crystal

I saw this and thought his eyes totally say
"WHAZZ UUUPPP?!?!"
hehehe

The girls playing with bones
From left to right: Jessie, Ana, Jinny, Sneha, Corona, and
Jacqueline

Kieryn's a black belt and Ana doesn't like it

Shellphone. Get it? teehee

This picture makes sense if you've read Lord of the Flies.
Jinny has the conch!!!! ;)
Left to right: Shulin, Kieryn, Jessie, Ana, Sneha, Corona, Jinny
Jacqueline

Man, we had a blast. I wish we'd gotten to stay longer than we did, and I'm definitely going back, even if I go alone.

While we were there, we came up with our own little sorority- We are now the Pi Pi Pi sisters, or Tri Pi for short. It's pretty tight. ;)

Our hand signal. It's a long story and an
inside joke why this is our hand signal. I don't
actually like it myself, but have conformed
because I admit, it's funny. Sorry for the no
explanation, but trust me- you don't want
to know

We went back to USC at 1:30ish for lunch at Parkside, and then headed over to the Shrine to see what we could see around 2!

We got great spots- directly across from where cars would be dropping off celebrities and right in front.

Our view!!! Isn't it pretty?!?

We had to wait about an hour until people started showing up. Even then, the whole first hour was people from TV shows. The big celebrities came starting around 4 or so, but we stayed for a long time to make sure we could see as many people as possible.

My pictures stink, and I didn't get too many of them. The best ones I got I posted to my USC Facebook album, but here's a list of (almost) everyone we saw that we could recognize in the moment:

-Most of the cast of Modern Family
-Most of the cast of Breaking Bad
-A few people from Arrested Development
-The Blonde girl and Raj from Big Bang Theory
-Oprah Winfrey
-Morgan Freeman
-Julia Roberts
-Kate Blanchett
-Amy Adams (I am still so excited about her!!!!)
-That really short guy named Peter... not sure who he is exactly
-Matthew McConaughey
-Matt Damon
-Jeremy Renner
-Jennifer Lawrence (She is GORGEOUS in real life!!! Also, still freaking that I saw her)
-Sandra Bullock
-Meryl Streep
-Carrie Fischer
-Mariah Carry
-Bradley Cooper
-Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts... oh my goodness... Have you heard already? Probably.

Julia Roberts is the reason that my friends and I are now plastered all over the Internet. That's right- you can now find my face, and the faces of many of my friends, on CNN, E!, Buzzfeed, Perez Hilton, Daily Mail, Tumblr, and I'm sure a few other websites.

When Julia came, she waved to all the fans, and then actually walked over to us. Like, walked in our direction. Directly at my friends and I.

She proceeded to shake our hands and say hello. The noise was insane.

Remember how I mentioned that we were right at the front? Well, everyone behind us wanted to be touched by Julia Roberts, so there was a huge movement forward from behind, and the barricade that held us didn't last too long. So we all fell forward, Jinny hit the ground, and we knocked both the trashcan and the barricade over. The security guys were quick to pull Julia back, and we were quick to pull the barricade back up, but the incident is now all over celebrity gossip news.

As proof, here's the CNN Video:

And yes, you can see my face in it. I was on TV.

Now, the incident is both embarrassing, and really cool. It's really cool because when we got the barricade up, I did get to hold the hand of Julia Roberts. And she was totally cool about it, and she asked Jinny if she was ok. It's embarrassing because we almost spilled trash all over a very famous actress, and if you see my face during the video, it looks basically the same the whole time, and it's kind of stuck in a pretty stupid position.

I was partially star struck, but I was registering everything that was happening, honest. I also did reach to help pull the barricade up, but didn't get a good grip on it before it was up again, so it looks like through all this, I'm still reaching for Julia's hand. In addition to that, it looks like I'm the one that made my friends in front of me fall over. I can PROMISE you I was not. I got a huge shove from behind, and so did the people next to me. Group effort.

There's a gif of us on Tumblr. Holy cow.

It feels simultaneously embarrassing and totally awesome. We came back to the dorm room after we were certain that everyone was getting seated inside just so we could collect ourselves and register everything that happened.... wow.

We learned that we had missed Benedict Cumberbatch (which made Jinny and Sneha super sad) and Tom Hanks (which made me sad). Benedict had slipped inside pretty quickly, and Tom had arrived during the Julia Roberts incident. Oh well.

Another thing that hit me while we were back was that I realized how... odd seeing celebrities made me act and feel. Why is that? I feel almost... guilty. They're just people, after all, so why do I feel like I saw demigods or something along those lines? Isn't that idolatry? You hear all the time not to make idols of celebrities, because they are just people after all, but in their presence... it's a hard thing not to do, and I can't explain why. It's not like they're any more or less important than any other human being... they're just... of a higher rank, or something... I don't understand it. All I know is it was a really cool experience, and the most celebrities I've ever seen all at once ever!!!

So, the girls of Tri Pi went to get dinner, and then met back in Sneha and Kieryn's room to actually watch the SAG awards. It was then we realized there were a couple other celebrities that we saw, but didn't recognize at the time. I also learned the actual name of the actress who played Anita in West Side Story, because she won the Lifetime Achievement award. Good for her, wow!!!

SAG stands for the Screen Actor's Guild- a union for actors. As an actor, I've heard it can be pretty important to be a part of a union, and the entire awards ceremony was about the performances of the actors- even the "best movie" type category was for the best movie *cast*. As an aspiring actress... it was really inspiring. The actors will often share a bit about how hard they worked to get to where they are now... and it sounds exactly like what I heard the life of an actor would be like. The fact that it's possible to persevere and be able to make something great and beautiful like a movie or play despite the difficulty is encouraging. It gives me hope, and has also made me re-motivated to keep achieving my own dreams. If they could do it, why can't I? I don't have to be a Hollywood A-Lister to be happy, but I also know that, if I don't stop believing and keep working hard, it's not impossible either. And that is really, really cool. But even if I never do, you don't have to be an A-Lister in order to make something impactful- one of those stories that can really reach people and spread a message or show something about reality. And that's even cooler. I can't wait to be an actress.

The rest of the evening, we've all been hanging out and laughing and sharing stories and talking. These girls are starting to become like my girls back home, which makes me really happy. It's just so easy for the group of us to have a good time, and I have a good time when I'm with them!! :)

But I am exhausted- we stood for 3 hours straight after roaming a museum for 2 hours and it's nearly 2am now. Wow. What a day. What a city. Long Live Hollywood.

Fight on, friends.

Life is Beautiful Today- January 17, 2014

I started my blog earlier than normal today.

After my class, I came back to my dorm room and worked out and took a shower... Then, I made the following observation, so I wrote this down in the moment to revisit it tonight:

Life is beautiful today. I can't quite explain it... The way the sun is hitting the trees and buildings outside, the people around me, seeing the faces of people back home up on my wall... everything feels vividly real. It's one of those days where I just feel alive, but I'm happy to be alive. Life is beautiful, and not just to look at. Life is beautiful  deeply, profoundly, and below the surface of appearance. How is that possible that out of everything that exists here on this earth, there's hardly a single thing that lacks beauty completely?

I don't understand how people can look at life on a day like today and not feel like they're part of something greater, or that life is something intricately incredible. I don't understand how people can credit this type of profundity to mere chance or evolution. I don't understand how God came up with all these amazing ideas for how the world should be either. You hear people talk a lot about how great and good and wonderful and powerful and loving and merciful God is... but our God is a creative, artistic God that never fails to make a masterpiece.

I don't know, maybe I'm just in a great mood, or maybe God actually is grabbing this little portion of Earth today and giving it a big hug and a little touch up of paint.

Later I added:

On a completely different note, I could listen to the Frozen soundtrack all day. It makes me really happy :) Except the Fixer-Upper song.... Still not sure if I like that song. Tangled's "I Have a Dream" was much better.

For real though. Frozen. Yes.

Unfortunately, I didn't go outside much today. I've been in my dorm getting organized and chopping stuff off the to do list. On the bright side, I now only have 2-5 things I actually have to do now!!! So it was a productive day.

I went to dinner with Jinny, Jessie, Sneha, Kieryn, and Corona. It's so fun talking with them and spending time with them. We had a lovely conversation at EVK, and then came back and were joined by Anna and Jacqueline. We laughed and talked for a good long time. It made me really happy :)

I should've gone to bed earlier tonight, since I had the chance. Oh well. Today was filled with life and the beauty of it. My friends are beautiful. My campus is beautiful. Life is beautiful, and I'm grateful for that today. I'll worry about stress some other time :)

Fight on, friends.

Auditions and Callbacks and Work, Oh my!- January 14-16, 2014

Ten points to Gryffindor for the Wizard of Oz reference. And an additional five for the Harry Potter reference.... can you tell I'm tired?

Anyways, just in case anyone was wondering, college auditions are physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. All at the same time.

But before I get into that, Tuesday introduced the rest of the classes that I'll be taking this semester! Intro to Production is the same... but this semester I'll be on the crew track instead of the shop track. The differences between the two will be interesting, and I'm excited to see which of the two I can say I like better.

Right after Intro to production, I go upstairs in the same building to my Writing 150 class. Ho boy. I like my professor a lot, but she outright told us that this class is going to require a bunch of work. I'm not excited for that. However, our topic for the class is Race and Class in America. It's nice to have an open environment to discuss these types of topics and issues. Plus, the class make-up is very diverse, so we're sure to get a lot of interesting discussion out of it.

I had a larger gap between this class and the one after it, which is a shame, because it's in the same room that Intro to Production is in (in the same building. If it had been a little sooner to the time, I could've just hung out in the same building all day, but oh well.

Theater History 1.... will probably be my least favorite class this semester. It's odd... You know that feeling when your high school class is doing presentations in front of the class, and there's always that one kid who goes above and beyond and makes everyone else jealous, but that the teacher is absolutely blown away by? And the kid that does that knows it and is super happy with him or herself and super "professional" about it while everybody else is fuming because they know their projects are going to stink now? ...That's the impression I got of my professor. It's like... she's trying too hard... but she doesn't look like she's trying hard.... and her lectures feel a lot more like presentations than lectures.... and I wish she'd just get to the point and stop trying to make us think critically about theater history until after we'd learned it. The other weird thing about it is... The class is boring... but I'm not bored when I'm sitting in it.... Well, I am... I think I want to be bored, but I can't. I'm forced to pay attention to boring material being overly enthusiastically given to me. *sigh*... I think I'm more excited for what we get to read in the homework for this one.

The rest of Tuesday I spent getting ready for auditions. And yes, I had a bit of a mental breakdown trying to decide what to use to audition and because of all the stress I was feeling with homework, starting classes, and pulling everything and nothing together in order to audition. What helped a lot was I went for a long walk around campus to work on some homework (for scene study) and to memorize a monologue and to work on my songs. The weather's been really warm here, and it was a beautiful, warm night. I enjoyed my time walking around and talking to myself :)

Yesterday, Wednesday, was a day much longer than I ever would have asked for. My scene study class was first, and I think this is going to be my favorite class this semester. I really like the professor and my fellow classmates. I also really like what we've been doing in class warm-up and exercise wise.

The problem with Wednesday was that the Involvement faire and the Farmer's market were both going on. I swung by the Involvement faire for a bit, but most of my time was spent either worrying about my auditions or attempting to practice for them while I wasn't hurridly doing homework for sociology.

Nothing to report on Sociology, except that the professor does know what he's talking about, he's just very focused on the track that he's taking the class in so he's not taking time to elaborate more on what he knows when people bring up observations about data in class. He's still a super nice guy though. I can't wait to go to his office hours and hang out with him!

More audition practice, my first voice lesson of this semester, then rushed back to my dorm so I could go to a job interview. I won't elaborate on that unless I get the job, which I find out tomorrow.

Dinner, and then to auditions.... again. Ho boy.

The first show I auditioned for was the musical, Grand Hotel. I was quite honestly the closest I've ever been to being so nervous that I downright walked out and didn't audition. I was feeling shaky, self-conscious...panicking. I was panicking. There were at least two other girls who sang one of the same songs as me, everybody was mega super talented, it was in the Bing theatre which is a big place to audition in in general, and on top of that, John Rubenstein was in there. He originated the role of Pippin on Broadway. On top of THAT, everybody else seemed to be super confident. I know they probably weren't 100%... but nobody else seemed nervous....

Needless to say, I felt like I did an awful job on that audition and left almost in tears.

I decided to go through with the second audition I had in mind, even though I felt like the last thing I wanted that night was another ordeal. The play is called Fortinbras, and is basically a parody of Hamlet. It turned out to be a pretty nice experience. It was definitely the weirdest audition I've ever done.

There was only one person in the audition room, who I assume was the director. I did a contemporary monologue first, and kinda slid my way through most of the beginning because I messed up words. Pretend like it was what you meant and move on. No big deal. For the second monologue, we were asked to prepare something stylized.... Stylized? I don't have anything stylized.... So I performed "Of the Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles..." by T.S. Elliot. I memorized it years ago when Cats was my favorite musical, and the poem tells an obscure story about dogs and cats. So... I acted it out. Surprisingly, she really liked it, and I could tell... So that's kind of cool. I still don't know what to make of it. Who'd've thunk?

After all those auditions, you'd think my day would be done, but I stayed up til 2am working on homework with Jinny and Kate. Doing homework with other people made it more fun... but that was way later than I wanted to be up.... ever.... especially after the ordeal that I went through that day.

Today was much calmer, which was nice. Back to Writing 150 this morning, with nothing new to report besides the fact that we have our first big paper assigned to us already, and I learned that a stereotype for white people is that white people are serial killers. Huh. I never noticed that serial killers tended to be white....

Stereotypes about my own race fascinate me. I feel like white people hardly ever get mentioned in conversations about race without being considered the "domineering, powerful race who thinks they're the best and hates everyone else." That bugs me though... but maybe I should go into this topic on a blog that's not mostly about auditions and callbacks.

Callbacks!!! I actually got called back for both shows!!! I know!! What the heck?!?!

I got a dance callback for Grand Hotel, which was a shock since I was fairly certain I bombed the entire thing, and I got called back for a very small, but funny, role in Fortinbras, which is super cool. Yay!!

I was late to my history class since I ran into a friend at EVK and ended up talking with him for too long, but nothing new to report on the class. It's still annoyingly trying to get us to be super excited about every single little detail that we don't know about yet.

Came back to the room, worked out, talked with mom, and got an early dinner before rushing to get ready for the callbacks.

I wasn't half as nervous about callbacks as I was auditions. That's odd for me. I'm used to the opposite... maybe this time, it was because I had the assurance that they liked me enough to ask me back, and that justified any stupid thing I might do while I was actually there. We learned two dances- one was jazzy, more Charleston style, and upbeat and fun. The other was short, slow, and more ballet-like. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow. I did well though, and I'm proud of myself.

Right after that callback, I rushed over to my second. There were 3 other girls called back for the role that I was called back for, so we went over the side together before we went in. Each of us performed it twice, but with a different person each time. It was really fun!!! The character is actually two characters who are very similar- Polish girls who don't speak Danish (English). In this particular side, Fortinbras learns that they did pick up a little Danish/English while they were... well... spending some time with his palace guard, if you know what I mean. It's a bit vulgar, but not graphic, and very funny. I had a good time :)

Since then... I've been too worn out to try to do anything else tonight. I talked with some friends on Facebook, bought a ticket to see Rent next weekend on campus, and hung out with Jinny, Jessie, Corona, and Kieryn. I'm super tired now though... Plus, I refuse to be up super late again tonight. Take THAT piles of work to do!!! I have the weekend to get you done!! HA!

I don't know when cast lists will be posted, but even if I don't get in either show, I'm glad I made it through the auditions. Next time, I'll know how to be better prepared- material wise, of course, but more importantly, emotionally and mentally.

Fight on, friends.

Velocipede Victory- January 13, 2014

Welcome to second semester. Or, the first semester of 2014. Whichever perspective you wish to take.

By the way, a velocipede is an early form of bicycle. I used it in the title for alliteration purposes and because come on- velocipede is an awesome-sauce word. It sounds like your bike is a dinosaur or something. Sweet.

I feel a bit like a sophomore, to be honest. I know that I'm not, but there are people here newer than me (the spring admits), I already know my way around pretty well, I already have friends, and I'm much more used to how life on a college campus works than I was coming in last semester... So, it just feels like I've been here longer than I actually have. But maybe that's a good thing?

One thing I already love about second semester is I don't have 8am classes for three days in a row!!! Today, I woke up at 8 instead. It feels so, so nice to get up at 8 instead of 6:30. I absolutely love it. Also, I have plenty of time to get to my class at 10. I even got to go to breakfast with my friends. :)

My first class is the next acting class that I'm taking: THTR 152- Intro to Scene Study. I've decided to just call it my scene study class. Today's class was a very basic introductory, and getting to know both our professor and the other students in the class. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and already have some new friends!!! However, it's going to be very challenging. That's ok, I want to be challenged... it's just that the problem with being challenged is that it makes me very vulnerable. The problem with being vulnerable is it opens me up to judgement. In particular, it's going to be painfully obvious that I'm not the world's greatest actress, which I already know, but I'd like to give off the illusion that I'm fairly good. Oh well... bring it on.

After my first class, I scurried back to my dorm to pick up a package, and then waited a good half hour or so to send it out. I'm sending my Philosophy textbook back to Amazon. Good riddance.

The next item on the to do list was to finally fix my bike- picking up where I left off yesterday. I already had the too-small wheel attached to the bike, but since the brake was in the way, the wheel wouldn't turn. So I wheeled my bike, upright by the back wheel, all the way out to the DPS office, losing my balance quite a few times in the process. Also during this journey, I went past many people who I knew thought I was totally crazy. I imagine their conversations behind my back went something like this:

"Oh my gosh, don't look now, but there's a girl doing something totally weird with her bike."
"Wait... what? What is she even doing?"
"There are two wheels on the bike! Why can't she just walk it? Or ride it?"
"She's going to kill somebody with that thing."

.....shut up, guys.

Though I admit, I saw Kieryn as I walked past the bookstore but didn't say hi out of shame. Also, I didn't want to embarrass her by making her acknowledge that she knew the crazy girl with the bike. I told her about this later (in the presence of Jinny and Sneha) and they all thought the situation was quite funny. I agree.

Actually, I thought it was quite funny in the moment too. It makes for a good story, at least.

I made it to DPS at last, and had to explain my situation and wait for an officer who actually knew the bike tire stash of which I was speaking. By the time we got over there, I only really had about a half hour or so until my next class. So it was a 10 minute scramble to find a tire among the mess that was actually the right size. I only found one- and it didn't have the right middle that I was looking for... but I took it anyways. Something was better than nothing, and hey! It was the right size, right?

I ended up locking the bike and the new tire up at the Drama Center before rushing over to my classroom. It's my Sociology GE class, and guess what? It's in the exact same room as my Philosophy class was. Trippy experience. Luckily, a friend of mine (named Michael) was in my Philosophy class with me, and is also in my Sociology class now. We got to joke about it a little bit.

This is the class that I spent a long time stressing over getting into, by the way. I think it was worth it. The professor is very engaging, but is also very... dad-like? I know that he knows what he's talking about backwards and forwards, and that he's done a ton of research in his field... but the way he spoke at times made it seem like he was getting new information in a caught-off-guard type of way. I guess only time will tell. My other worry about the class is that I'm not sure exactly what it is we'll be learning... I know what we'll be looking at and examining and studying... but learning? I guess we'll see. But the subject is fascinating, so I'm excited for that. Also, I met the professor afterwards and he was really nice!!! I'm going to go to his office hours at some point to chat with him and learn more about him and his work.

Then it was time for me to go and retrieve my bike. After I signed up to audition for 5 plays all on the same day (Wednesday). Yup. It's gonna happen. Wish me luck.

Back to the bike. I realized that I might be able to take out the mechanism in the middle of the tire and replace it with the quick-release system that I needed, but the nuts were on the bolt too tight for me to do alone. So I wheeled the bike (again. Less humiliating this time since the front tire was actually missing so it made more sense why I wheeled it the way I did), but this time to the Set shop. I figured they'd have tools that I could hopefully borrow to help my situation. Turns out my situation was better than expected. There's a worker there named Mike, but nicknamed Whiskey. He invited me to bring my bike in, and then walked me through step by step to evaluate how I can fix my bike problem. He got a wrench and tried to undo the middle thing for me, then explained why that wouldn't work. He then said that all I really needed was another nut. I wouldn't be able to keep the tire on the bike with the quick-release, but I could fasten it on with just another nut because of how the system worked. He tried to find one that would fit, but didn't have one. Instead, we put the tire on the bike as much as we could (even though it wasn't secure on one side) and also fixed the brake up for me so that it would work properly with the new tire. He then advised me to go to the bike shop to get the nut I needed, and I thanked him and left. I owe him cookies. Seriously.

I actually biked (despite the one nut missing and flat tires) to the bike shop, where they not only replaced the nut, but pumped up my tires, and it didn't cost me anything. I biked all the way back on my bike that felt good as new.

Summary- A lot of amazingly nice people assisted me in the journey of replacing my bike tire so much so that I gained a lot of new knowledge about bikes and everything that I needed to get my bike back to working order all for free. Praise God.

In celebration, I went to a lovely dinner with Sneha, Jinny, and Jessie at Cafe 84. Since I got back, I finished reading a play that I started, read the entirety of another play, and I've been chatting with Michael again as I type up this blog and try to figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow. More specifically, the order in which I'm going to attempt getting more things done. I'll make a schedule or something. We'll figure it out.

*sigh*... how was your day? I'd love to hear about it.

Fight on, friends.

The Great Bike Fiasco (and other errands)- January 12, 2014

I'd like to start out this blog with some observations I had about my campus today.

1) There are some stupid people here. Why do they go to USC, let alone college? I'd like to know.
2) Remember how the grass smelled awful because of the fertilizer the school put on it the week before we left for Christmas? Now it's very green, and a bit longer, but not very thick. I give it two weeks at the most before it's dead again.
3) The construction never dies.

I had plenty of time to make these observations today, as today was full of me running around all over the place. Quite literally.
I woke up fairly early and actually made it down to the dungeon gym. After I got cleaned up and got food, I left the dorm (1) to go straight to the bookstore. Got my books and school supplies, then went straight to DPS (though I took the long way) to ask them what I should do about my bike tire that got stolen.

And thus begins the fiasco known as "Rachel tries to fix her bike." Turns out, the DPS officers have a collection of front tires from people who got all but their front tire stolen. They're also super nice, and said if I came back with the bike information that would help me find a tire, they'd let me look through it and see if any of those tires would work for my bike. Awesome sauce.

So I went back to the dorm to drop off the bookstore stuff, get my bike information, and say hi to Jinny because she's back!!!! I'm very happy to see her. I've missed her!!!

So I left the dorm again (2) to try to bring a package to the mail stop so I could send a textbook to Amazon, but it was closed, so I came back to drop it off. Left again (3), but this time to go to CVS to pick up some more stuff I needed. I got a bag to carry it all in, but it ended up getting quite a few rips so I was struggling to carry it when I was in the library picking up tons of plays as well as Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Turns out library people are just as nice as the DPS people. They searched around quite a lot for me in order to find the Lord of the Rings book!!

Because of all the books I had and the fail of a CVS bag, I went back to the dorm to drop the stuff off. Left again to get lunch (4) and then walked back to DPS, now with bike information, to get a tire. Found a tire I thought looked just right, but then through a conversation via text message with my dad, I found out it was missing some parts. He did some research into it while I went upstairs and got the dorm cleaned up a bit. He found out what was missing, so I left to go back to DPS with the tire (5). The same officers were there, and they helped me take the part I needed off of another abandoned tire. So, mission success, right? I put the tire on the bike, and felt pretty gosh darn awesome. So I went upstairs to get my bike pump, and came back out to pump the tire up.

Guess what? I thought I'd fixed my tire (almost) on my own and for free, but the tire's too small. The brake got in the way.

AAHHH!!!!

So I locked the bike up and brought the pump back upstairs. I'm going to continue fixing it tomorrow.

Since then, I haven't really left the dorm building. Thank goodness. I counted 5 times leaving the building just now, but in between there were a couple coming ins and going outs that were very quick because I was talking to my dad and trying to fix my bike. I came in and out so many times that the guy working the finger print station at the front door recognized me enough to let me in without making me finger print. I obviously live here.

So I've been getting the dorm room a little more cleaned up, and getting ready for tomorrow and all, which is nice. What was nicer was watching the Golden Globes and ordering in dinner with Jinny, Sneha, Kieryn, Nina, Kate, and my new friend who's Kate's new roommate and I don't know how to spell her name yet.... don't judge me. I'm sorry. I'll learn it soon! We had fun though, and I'm very, very happy that Frozen won best animated feature. It should've won best original song too, but oh well. That's what the Oscar's are for, right?

Since that ended, I've been working at getting audition material prepared for auditions coming up this week. It's paid off though- I've got my work cut out for me as far as what I need to prepare and what I need to read and what I need to practice. Now it's just making sure I do all that work. I have plenty of time tomorrow, so that's what I'll be doing when I'm not continuing the bike fiasco. Oy vey.

Oh, and that's right. Classes start tomorrow for second semester. Haha... I hope I'm ready for those.

On the bright side, I bought Lord of the Rings posters for my room. One of them looks like this:

It's my four favorite characters. And Pippin is front and center. And there's Elvish surrounding it. So. Flipping. Excited. Plus, it was only $3. Score.

I should probably sleep.... it's been a long day and I really am tired. Plus there's classes tomorrow and all.

Wish me luck! And Fight on, friends.

I'm Back!- January 11, 2014

Happy New Year!!!

I hope that each of your holiday celebrations were safe and joyous. Welcome to 2014!!! I don't know about you, but to me, it doesn't feel like a real year. It feels like 2013 still... but it doesn't... I don't know. It's weird.

Anyways, as you might gather from me posting this, I am now back in Los Angeles. That's right, at this very moment, I am sitting in my dorm room, typing up my blog, just like I used to.

I feel like I should give a recap of my Christmas break, but to be honest, so much happened that I'm not sure where to begin!!! It started out with me getting to see a lot of faces from TKA, since I went to an alumni luncheon, and I also got to see Frozen with some of my close friends, which was a real treat. Later that week, I slept over at Abbey's house with my girlfriends after we got manicures and pedicures :) It was truly one of the happiest times of my 2013 that I've had.
I went to Montana with my family for Christmas, where we played in the snow, went skiing, and spent time with all my family up there. I've missed them a lot, so it was really wonderful to see everyone!
After Christmas, I came back and spent lots of time with my friends at game nights or just hang outs and etc. During this time, I started looking around for summer jobs and was lucky enough to find one! There's a restaurant in Downtown Mountain View who hired me for the summer, but started training me and having me work for my last two weeks of Christmas break. I started work there the day after I got the position, New Year's Eve. I'm a hostess, and so far, I like it! I'm getting the hang of it, at least. It's true that now I won't be back until summer, but hey- it was a good start!
Speaking of New Year's Eve, I got to go to my friend Kayla's house after working to bring in the New Year with all my close friends. It was a wonderful time, and I'm very glad I got to start off the New Year with such friendly faces.
Since New Year's Eve, I've just been working, hanging out at home and with friends, going to the dentist (fillings suck) and reading. Oh! I've been reading!!! I read The Hobbit, and absolutely LOVED it!!! It's weird. I love Lord of the Rings, I read the Hobbit, and I still feel like I need more Middle Earth in my life.
But the biggest lesson I learned from Christmas break was if you have a cold, take care of yourself. Don't let it sit, or you'll have to go to the doctor for a sinus infection. Yeah... that happened. But now I know better.

I've been pretty tired the past week or so in general. I know for instance that right now I'm going to bed waaayyy later than I should, but hopefully a new year and being back at school will motivate some new habits. That's what I'm hoping, at least. I definitely didn't get a good start on habits back at home, but a new environment might help do the trick.

Regardless, I'm not completely happy to be back. I miss home... and my family, already. I miss clean bathrooms and good food and being among those I love... It's so weird to be back.

I was sad to leave today. Dad and Melissa actually came down to LA with me! Dad wanted to show Melissa the campus, plus they wanted to be able to bring stuff back home that I wasn't going to need for second semester, which was super helpful. We flew down together, I showed them my dorm, and we got dinner together after I moved in, but then they left again pretty quickly for home. I miss them...  :(

Since I've been back, I've put all my stuff back where it goes, met some new people on my floor (yay for Spring Admits!), and talked to some of the people that are already here, like Hannah, Kate, Sneha, and Corona. Since Jinny isn't back yet, my room felt pretty quiet and lonely... so since I finished dinner I've had Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring playing in the background as I clean and organize and talk to people. Don't worry, people got my full attention as I talked to them. I admit though, I was constantly aware of what part of the story the movie was on.... Whoops. Like I said, I need Middle Earth in my life.

It's still playing as I write this blog, actually. I've decided to use it as a timer- I need to go to bed before it ends. Or at least, as it ends. Right now, ****SPOILER ALERT*****

I'm at the part where Boromir is dying. Poor Boromir... you hate him so much but you can't help but feel bad for him. I feel especially bad for Merry and Pippin watching the whole thing... Gosh I love Hobbits. Hobbits are my favorite things ever. I want a Hobbit for my birthday.

...Sorry... You're probably more interested in how I'm doing and what I'm up to than what's happening in Lord of the Rings.

Well... I'm lonely and I've got a lot to do tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to people coming back. I'm not sure if I'm excited for classes yet or not... I'm not fully excited to be back in general, so that doesn't help.

Also, someone stole my bike tire. I have no idea how to get a new one or where... but I'm going to have to figure that out soon. I feel really embarrassed for not locking it up like I should have... but it could've been worse, right? They could've taken the whole bike, but they didn't. I still have the frame! So... yay...

Well. Welcome to second semester. We'll see how it goes.

Fight on, friends.