I Dream of Jobs
A friend inspired me to list off all of the possible careers I’ve looked at from age 1-18. In that order, it would be….
Astronaut
Mars Astronaut (XD)
Actor (3rd or 4th grade)
Cop/Detective (6th-7th…Catholic school killed my creativity)
Lawyer (7th-8th)
Psychiatrist/Therapist (Started in 9th)
Actor (10th)
And now….
The world’s first Thespian Psychologist Civil Rights Lawyer! (I’m stuck between careers right now…XD)
Michael Jackson, Ferrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Billy Mays
All in one week we lost these four entertainers. I felt the need to post something quick, I’ve just been so frenzied the past few days I haven’t been able to get on to do anything. Hopefully sometime this week I’ll calm down long enough to put up some posts about all four.
Senior Year…on the way/Limbo
I can’t bring myself up to writing my final high school blog yet. It could be laziness…it could be nostalgia…either way, I promise it’ll be coming soon.
What I really wanted to talk about today is this particular summer. I have a lot of time to myself to think about things, and I was wondering if this summer is similar to all summers for college-bounds. The summer of Limbo…of Purgatory…of the Monkey…the summer where you are no longer a high school student, yet not a college student. The summer where you take road trips with your friends, or by yourself, for self discovery, or the summer where you hibernate in your home, in wait for the Spring that will last you at least the next four years of your life.
I don’t like this Limbo business. It makes this particular summer drag on for what seems like an eternity, which may not particularly be a terrible thing.
Coming Soon….Senior Year!
I’m really trying to reflect upon everything that has happened this school year (and what happened in the past few days), so my promised final entrance into my high school series will be coming soon.
It’s Comin’ Up Fast
In a short three days from today, I will be standing up, walking in a line from the back row I have been given, stand anxiously offstage, and be picking up the empty diploma case which my principal will hand me (we pick up our diplomas at school over the summer).
There was honestly a time in my life where I couldn’t see myself saying that sentence. It was a weird time when I thought either I wouldn’t graduate, or I wouldn’t live to see that day (not in a suicidal or terminally ill way). I just didn’t see myself going up to that stage and moving my tassel to the right. And now, it’s almost here. That day is coming upon me, and…I’m kind of mixed about it. Part of me is completely terrified, part of me is apathetic, and part of me is incredibly excited to be starting a new section of my life. It is a smorgasbord of emotions which are familiar to me. A smorgasbord I encounter right when I’m about to walk out on stage to perform for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people (haven’t quite gotten to the millions yet).
Am I ready for it? My final bow out as a grade school student? You bet. Just have to wait out the darned 3 days.
TGPO
So I just had the most amazing conversation with a perfect stranger. I had just signed onto my uStream.tv account, just to mess around with my webcam, when this unknown person comes into my room. His name? Just four letters: TGPO. At first, I thought this person as a threat, due to my frequent spam attacks on that account, but after getting to know him a bit, I discovered a 25 year old married man with a young daughter who is into Hardcore Punk, A Clockwork Orange, and is a fan of Bruce Campbell…..yes….THE Bruce Campbell. This is a man who likes some of the same music as I do, MANY of the same movies as I do (although, he beats out my 7 DVD collection with his 450), and even knows of the dreaded movie simply titled TEETH. Then, after a few minutes of playing the movie connection game (where, by memory, you connect two actors in Hollywood, for example, Zach Braff and Charlie Sheen) and discussing my family a tad bit, we parted ways. This was probably the most interesting conversation I have ever had with a perfect stranger, and I urge all ten of you who view this blog to check out his page (which he updates as frequently as I…XD) at http://www.tgpo.org/.
PS: He is a graphic designer who does work for local websites, and if you need any pointers, or for whatever reason you need the assistance of a graphic designer, The Great Pat-O is your man!
Moving On….
Yesterday marked the last day of high school classes I will ever have to take. I don’t feel anything yet, perhaps a normal feeling toward incoming graduates? I hope this is so.
2009 Fine Arts Student of the Year
Shock and Awe
This was the clearest I could get it to be.
Shock and awe was what I felt this past Thursday, April 2nd, 2009, at approximately 9 PM. The Fine Arts Student of the Year is a major award in Osceola County. It is the major overall $3000 award you get amongst the $2000 dollar awards for different Arts categories (dance, instrumental music, vocals, and theatre). You get the Student of the Year for being the best out of all the students who audition for all categories.
Which is why I was shocked when my name was called.
Some of these kids were so amazing (one guy, William Daniels, who played Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Etudes-Tableaux Op. 39 #6 in A Minor” like he was channeling the spirit of Rachmaninoff right on that stage) that they should be out there doing what they do professionally. I mean, don’t get me wrong, when I get out on that stage or infront of those judges or whomever, I give it my all. I try to put everything into my performance, but in no way did I see myself in the same league as these other guys.
At the end of the night, they started to announce the scholarships. When it got to the Theatre category, I was crossing my fingers with my girlfriend. Then, I heard it, “Rosalina Smith!” My heart sank, and I couldn’t hide it. Amber just hugged me really tight, then I got over it quickly, albeit with my usual downward look. Then I just started talking with her about something else when the Fine Arts Student of the Year announcement came about. Then I heard a familiar voice: Mr. Rupe. When he said “I have the honor of announcing that one of my students has won this award, which I won just 4 years ago,” or something to that effect, my ears perked up. “I would describe this student as the Charlie Brown of the class,” a line frequently used by him in my reference letters. I jumped out of my skin for joy. I kissed Amber and hugged her tight, headbutting her in the process. I could not believe it.
The curtains opened, and I went out on that stage, shaking the hands of every person I passed, hugged my old Music teacher (Debbie Fahmie), and, of course, hugged Mr. Rupe, the one who got me on that stage in the first place. Then, I got that plaque, the one I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off of since that night, and after another minute or so of awkwardly standing on the stage waiting until the woman on the podium was finished speaking, it was over. Unfortunately, I had to leave fairly quick after the show, so my evening ended fairly swift after that moment.
I am so happy to have gotten this award, and I do have to thank my parents for actually pushing me into theatre, Mr. Guiltner for seeing my potential, Mr. Rupe for bringing about my potential, and teaching me to stop “Acting” in order to be a better actor.
And I will use this same speech once I win my first Tony or Oscar…XD.
I’m Yours [Junior Year]
- The beginning of a beautiful relationship.
(Hopefully this sets me off for more frequent posts)
Another quarter over with…which means another year of high school to go over. Junior year was such a loaded year, and yet, as I’m finding with most of my memory, it just seems to be drifitng away from me, so forgive me if this post seems to be a bit sporadic.
The first thing that pops out at me about Junior year is, of course, Amber. April 19th, 2008 is the day we first became official, although we started talking for a few months before that, so she totally encompassed the latter half of 11th grade for me, which I am perfectly fine with. It’s an attraction which would baffle most, due to our intense differences (political views, general personalities, etc.) but one that has lasted us through a year of tumultuous times. Worth it? Well, you know the answer to that one.
Along with Amber, of course, State Competition ‘08 comes to mind. I didn’t get to perform at this one, which was bittersweet for me because I didn’t get to make up for last year, but also good due to the lack of stress placed upon me. This year at competition brought many memorable moments (incredible migrains, bugs in the butt, dolphins, and **** you, Luis, to name a few), but somehow I think Competition ‘09 will beat this one out of the water.
Junior year also saw the first year with Mr. Rupe. Due to my insecurities of Guiltner and Bonner being gone (as well as some negative comments about Rupe from a few now unreliable sources), it took me a little while to warm up to the new teacher. As a matter of fact, I let my…”opinions” be known to the world in a MySpace bulletin, which eventually made its way back to him, and I got a good talking to about it. Surprisingly, I felt intense remorse for the bulletin, something that I rarely felt at the time because of my big headed closed mindedness. After this incident, I quickly grew fond of Mr. Rupe, and am glad to say that he will go down in history as one of my major mentors, and probably one major reason why I’m where I’m at now both as an actor and as a person.
I had one more major moment in Junior year, but I can’t think of it right now. I’ll edit this post once I can come up with the lost memory.
3 quarters down, one to go. I just can’t believe how fast this year is going…I’m almost done. Just 5 more weeks.
Well, that plan didn’t work…
About a month ago I wanted to try shorter, more frequent blog posts, but due to recent events, I haven’t been able to post anything at all in about a month. New, more extensive updates will come soon.
