No Day But Today

So, I deliberated quite a bit before deciding to go see Rent, but I'm glad I did. Something like that should be experienced at least once in a lifetime. I feel. But really, I mostly went to see Anthony Rapp. And the whole time, I just couldn't disassociate him from Charlie Brown! (Because he was an amazing Charlie Brown.)

Anyway, I was a little more impressed with the actual stage production than the movie (which I did not care for at all). But I'm still a bit hesitant about the whole phenomenon of Rent. What made it so amazing that it revolutionized theater? Why are there so many Rent heads out there? Why does it speak to some people and not others?

(PS: These are all questions I know people ask about Spring Awakening, which is why I'm willing to accept those people who absolutely adore Rent, though I myself am not as appreciative.)

However, my opinions may be changing; I Netflixed the live stage version that was filmed before it closed on Broadway last year, and Ryan and I watched it on Wednesday night. It was much better seeing it up close like that and being able to properly hear the songs. In fact, I'm watching it again right now to hear the songs.

And I'll admit it, Ryan's right: the soundtrack is pretty good. I've had a myriad of those choruses stuck in my head all week.

(But the soundtrack's still not as good as Spring Awakening's.)

Today's Goals

~Finish up all weekend email

~Return Neil's call about Youth Venture snack shop money

~Upload Disneyland and Rent pictures

~Play Halo with the Youth Venture kids :)

~Go running

~Clean my room (how, oh, how did it get so disastrous over the weekend?... Oh, right, I was barely home except to run upstairs, throw some things around, and run back out.)

~Write 1,000 words

~Blog updates about Disneyland and Rent

~Finish registering at Palomar 

Break Time

Time to take a little break from this busy weekend. 

My sister's over here right now. She took her SAT's this morning, and wanted to come here after "so I could finally see High School Musical 3." Ah, she's a cute kid. I like that she wants to come hang out here after a stressful morning. Makes me feel like I'm doing a good job in the big sis department.

Sidenote: Can't believe my baby sister is 18. 

(She's still 10 in my book.)

So we're chilling here, watching the movie, doing some laundry, and generally enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon. 

Last night we went to the free Rascal Flatt's concert.... Meaning, we went to a park on a hill and listened in. It was fun, but freezing! Can't wait to try that again in the summertime. The sound wasn't all that great, but Chris and Ryan swear it's usually pretty fantastic.

Tonight we're seeing the national tour of Rent. I'm not sold on Rent so far. I watched the movie this week and was not impressed, but of course the movie can't be as good as the stage version. So I have hopes that it can still wow me. If not, I still have Spring Awakening to amaze me again and again.

And tomorrow's another photo shoot at Disneyland. We need to come up with a theme for this one soon. Last time it was Gap Day. Anyone have any fun ideas for this time around?

Another sidenote: Someone told me last night that I was a difficult person to please. Which is shocking, because I've always felt I have a very accommodating personality..... Guess I'll have to work on that.  ; )

Joaquin Sedillo commented on my video!

Alternative title: Things I learned about Andy yesterday

1) Andy is a Lord of the Rings nerd

a)All three extended version DVD's? Check

b)Aragorn action figure? Check

c)Can recite obscure LotR quotes at random? Check

d)Has a replica of the ONE ring? Check

2) Andy's dad is a pediatrician and Andy seems knowledgeable on the process of childbirth.

3) Andy is a middle child.

4) Andy can put away quite a bit of alcohol in a two hour time span.

5) Andy will do a lot for $5

Exhibit A:

6) Andy has a very generous heart; he then used that five bucks to buy us cokes.

That Andy. He sure is a character.

And Joaquin Sedillo made a comment on the facebook version of this video! Woot!

Yearbooks

So right now Jenna's in my room and we're looking through college yearbooks. Lots of good memories in those yearbooks. Good people. I can't help but see some of these old friends/acquaintances/sworn enemies and think, "Man, we shared some crazy experiences."

For example: 

Brian White: He helped me get a mattress off my truck once. 

Or Brent Bowen: We ran into a wild buffalo together. And lived to tell the tale.

How about Tim Askew? That's the Tim from the previous bee story. He's also one of the first people I remember back in freshman year. We suffered through honors English together (quite an experience, let me tell you). 

Sara Dillon: She and her husband ended up living in the same complex as us senior year; they kidnapped me from my graduation party to go back to their house and watch Veronica Mars. And I loved them for it.

Tim Addenbrooke: We were ultimate frisbee captains of rivaling (and sometimes violent) teams together.

And, Nick and Eden Morlet: They got thrown into a car with me, Jenna, and Katie on a trip to Disneyland. And we were all no holds barred best friends within five minutes.

And, of course, my beloved roommate Jenna. We used to make a game of stealing toilet paper from the AGO house. Man, that always riled those boys up. Once, they chased us all the way back to our apartment in El Cajon and we barely made it inside to lock the doors and windows.

Such wonderful college years.

A good verse: Job 23:10

But He knows the way that I take; 

when he has tested me, 

I will come forth as gold.

Reminds me of a camp devotion from summers long ago. 7:40am. All of us at Oak Rock. Blankets and Bibles out. Our director sits on the table before all of us and shares a verse like this. It's very peaceful at 7:40am.

I miss camp devotions.

Mystery Solved (With a Bonus Confession)

So I had to change my Saturday Goals to Weekend Goals, but I was able to get everything done (minus the 1,000 words) and even had time to do the following:

* Go on a photo outing to Coronado with Britt, Ryan, and Boy Jordan. Took around 50 pictures. Not bad for me, really. Considering last week there were 170 freakin' pictures to go through...

* Have pie date night with Andy and Ryan, complete with watching a movie in the dark. It was sooooooo romantic!

* Played Halo with Andy until 1:30 in the morning. He beat me, but only because we're playing Halo 3. He'll get his when I get my hands on Halo 2 again.

* Went to Kearny Mesa to try on my dress for Sonia's wedding. It's super cute, in case anyone was wondering. That roommate of mine has good taste.

* Sunbathed by the pool for the first time this year.

* Caught up with Jenna on the various things we did this weekend. She was very impressed with my overall productivity.

Now, for the mystery and confession.

The confession is that I am deathly afraid of bees. Most of you who have spent any time with me know this is a truth fact. I've never been stung, but I have been half stung on three different occasions. How do you get "half stung", you ask? When the stinger doesn't quite make it from the bee to embedded in your skin. For example:

1) When I was nine I sat down in the grassy area at school and jumped back up when I felt a prick on my leg. I'd sat on a bee, and he'd tried to get me but failed to execute all the way. Nice try, Bee #1.

2) When I was a junior in college, a bee somehow found it's way into my car when I was coming home from class. (That, by the way, is my biggest worry concerning bees- that they'll come into my car to get me, and they have done so twice now.) I didn't know it was there until I felt the prick on my sleeve covered arm and Bee #2 started buzzing to make his presence known. Stinger was either stuck on my sleeve or the bee managed to keep it; I never did find out.

3) During a game of barefoot ultimate frisbee I stepped on Bee #3. Bee #3 was successful in embedding his stinger in my foot. However, I happened to step on him just right so that (and this might be gross to some of you, so be prepared) the stinger somehow only threaded my skin instead of puncturing it, so the poison never actually got under my skin. 

As you can see, the bees are clearly out to get me.

And here's where the mystery comes in. 

A year after the incident with Bee #2, a second bee had the audacity to fly in my car window and land on my knee while I was driving. I was stuck at a red light and trying not to hyperventilate when two things happened: the light turned green and the bee dropped to my feet. I made my turn and pulled over on the side of the road, jumped out, and immediately started flipping through names on my phone to see which one of my friends might be close enough to save me from the bee in my car.

Luckily, I'd only made it a block away from school and my good buddy Tim was not only in the library at that moment, but willing to jog down to be my knight in shining armor. With only minimal mocking, I might add. 

So Tim searched my car, even stuck his hands under the seats and did a sweep to try to scare the bee out, but he couldn't find anything. And we couldn't hear the buzzing anymore, so Tim concluded it must have flown out while he was on his way.

Uh-uh. I'd been watching for that precise thing. That bee was still in my car. Waiting. Biding its time until, a week later, it would fly from its hiding spot and sting my ankles. Both of them. Don't ask me how it would sting me twice,  it was the bee's plan. And he was a very tricky bee.

The bee never made it's attack, and I slowly got over my panic every time I got in the car. About a year later, my friend Neil detailed my car for me, and I told him to be on the lookout for that bee, dead or alive (but probably dead, cuz, you know, it had been a year). He never found anything. And I thought, this bee is very well hidden.

About a year after that, which just so happens to be today wouldn't you know, I was cleaning out my car really good. I was throwing things away and wiping down the dashboard and vacuuming and using this amazing cleaner to get rid of some carpet stains... and I found that darn bee.

Dead, of course. But he'd totally been hiding under the driver's seat the whole time, because, if you'll remember, his plan was to spring out and get me in the ankles.

I knew it all along.