Oh, for the love of all human decency.
Mr. C put me in charge of finding a new Rooney for the play--by tomorrow!--since Alisha's out for an extended time (past the play) for some random undisclosed reason. So I called Melly. She was, well...insulted, sort of. She didn't like "getting in by association and being a second choice". (She claims that she's not bitter that she got cut from tryouts, but I don't exactly believe her.) But she didn't ruddy give me an answer, so I spent all night trying to get hold of her. Couldn't. Bunny got on at ten, and now I know that Melly was with her, and that she doesn't want to be Rooney, but a ruddy lot of good that does me now, since it's too late to call Jamie or anyone else.
...I have to have a Rooney by second block tomorrow. It is simply not going to happen. And Mr. C said twice that he was putting it specifically in my hands.
Argh. Not as great a day. Play practice was a hassle, Jay-Jei was in some sort of mood (his only comment I heard, pretty much at all, was to me, how I used the word "like" too much, then he retreated into his copy of Dracula for the rest of rehearsal), Bunny wasn't even there, it's dark and gray, and I had hours of psych homework and will still be down to the wire. I need to sleep, but I never want to sleep at night; only in the morning, in places like AP stats class (yeah, last class's test? 70 out of 90...and that was one of the better grades in the class, from what I can tell).
...But I did get to watch some VeggieTales, so that was cool. ...And I've got English seminar tomorrow, which I think will be okay in the end, if a bit of a hassle.
-Laurel
10.29.2002
10.25.2002
Today was lots of fun, full of weird, great happenings.
...First one was in AP English, coming in...got a flash of deja vu, 'cause Mr. K went into our classroom yesterday and imposed seat organization on Mrs. W. Apparently our 34 desks in rows were driving him crazy, and our two C-shapes (one within the other) weren't constructive enough a use of space. So he arranged our desks into the same pattern his desks are in, and actually made up a seating chart for us to fill in, instead of the random-grab seating we've been doing for the past eight weeks. Mrs. W seemed more amused than anything else. So was I, pointing and thinking of last year's English ("and Daf sat there...and then over there was me...and next to me was Bethie..."), and getting a funny mental picture of Mr. K trying to impose this somewhat trapezoidal standard on all the classrooms, starting with Mrs. W and moving from there..."Today, the English department; tomorrow, the world!"
::laughs:: I miss Mr. K. Mrs. W is great, and I'm glad no one makes me pick between them, but...sometimes, you know, I think I'd even go through the 83-person study hall all year, just to be able to witness him in action again. Bethie says I should join the MasterMinds team to "get my dose of K--" (that's half her reason for being on it, if I'm not mistaken), and I would, except that I'm already in Leo Club, SFE, and the play. I don't have the time, and I've already committed to the others.
...Then I had play practice. We hadn't been having as much pre-rehearsal fun this past week, but today we finally did. Fridays have been the most fun so far--maybe it's just because we're all in such high spirits at being done with school for the week. So Jordan and Jay-Jei and I went with Jordan to get a soda (he "doesn't like going alone")--only he wanted it from the bookstore, which is across the school, 'cause apparently the vending machines don't vend Code Red. We kept up a steady stream of fast, semi-coherent chatter as we walked there (we understood perfectly, but I'm not so sure a passerby would have)--only Jay-Jei stopped off somewhere on the way, leaving Jordan and me. So we talked about AP English and AP psych, both of which he's planning on taking next year, and which are my two favorite classes. Jay-Jei joined us again on the way back, and when we got back in the room, we joined Bunny, and we all laughed at stuff and talked about VeggieTales.
Then Mr. C said that he was only doing to this one part in the script, and therefore Jordan and I weren't actually needed. ...Right, that's the other thing that usually happens on Fridays. ...So we got sent into the yearbook office to study our lines and help each other memorize them.
...The yearbook office is about half the size of a classroom, maybe a little more, and really is the yearbook headquarters...but it's also, more or less, Mr. C's office. He's the only English teacher with an office, because the old English office got swiped (the teachers are on carts) to be used as a classroom, because we hadn't enough space. (See previous entries for my full opinion on this--my only comment here is: they'd never try that with the math/science/tech people...)
...An office it is, but the difference between the other departmental offices and this one is painfully clear. The MST one is all new computers, big windows, and smooth new tiling; the social studies one is bigger, though not as nicely equipped; the foreign language one isn't quite as big, but it's cozy in its way. ...The English one, such as it is, has no windows, old tiling, old walls, harshish lighting, truly ancient computers, a set of MacIntosh computers from around '96 or '97; one aging microwave; and old crappy chairs that I haven't seen the likes of since the early 90s. And it's covered, virtually every square inch of it, in Mr. C's stuff: overvest-things, remnants of projects he's assigned his class, textbooks, at least three reams' worth, by my estimate, of paper...
...And, over in a corner, yearbooks dating back to 1988.
This last was what caught the attention of Jordan and me. We'd each gone over our lines once, and weren't eager to do it again (he didn't know most of his and didn't really want to sit in a squeaky chair and learn them just not; I knew some of mine, but felt the biggest gack in the world to attempt Irish accent anywhere but the stage room, in a one-on-one environment)--and before long we started looking at them.
It was great. The pics of the teachers...oh, my gosh. Mrs. W with ironed-flat hair and no glasses...young female teachers with long, often-comical maiden names (some of which are still pretty young)...and--one of the best--a pic of Mr. C himself from 1990 or '91. He didn't have a heck of a lot more hair (neither did Mead), but what he did have was still blackish-brown, as opposed to the silver-gray it is now; and it was strange not seeing really thick eyebrows. ...Goodling, however, looked ridiculously, comically young. I couldn't believe he looked like that only ten years ago. ...I mean, all right, so ten years ago, I was in second grade, but you'd expect that kind of change in a kid. You wouldn't expect it in someone like him. ...I kept staring, wondering at how different he was even three years before he came...he couldn't have had any idea that he only had three years left here...
...Mr. C burst in on us around 3:15 or so, causing Jordan and me to clap the books shut in a guilty burst and attempt to hide them (though, you know, we could only have been in that corner of the room for that specific reason, so it's not like we'd really had a chance), but he only asked if we'd worked on our lines--we said, truthfully, that we had, though it'd probably been a good 45 minutes, at that point, since we had--and told us that he didn't mind us looking at them. ...Right, that's because he didn't know what--and who--we were looking at. But we nodded, he left, and we continued.
...We needed a scanner, and not the one in his office (it wasn't hooked up to anything, more's the great pity), but we didn't find one, and are instead biding our time, waiting for our moment to swipe one and photocopy certain photos, creating, perhaps, our own private blackmail stash. *g*
...In the meantime, we have to find a way in there again, because now Jay-Jei wants to see them. We managed to get Bunny in there to look at them, and Bequi, and Tim (though the latter didn't show much interest, and the middlemost only wanted to look for her older sister's yearbook), but I found Jay-Jei by the front entrance (of course!), sitting in a chair, bent over some thickish book (of course!), and there wasn't time by then to get back there. So Part II is coming soon--stay tuned.
Then I went home, watched as much as I could of M*A*S*H before I had to go, then went to a sports bar place for dinner (had wings and played trivia--though my trivia scores were pretty mediocre tonight), then to a hockey game. The twins were there. They're eight now, and the two most adorable little kids I can think of. ...They both loved the game. Jessica (the tomboy of the two) was once again devoted to my brother (she thinks he is, in my mom's words, "the coolest thing since peanut butter"), who played along well, though I think after a while it wearied him a little (he was trying to talk to one of his best friends). The game was easily won by our side--9 to 1, I think--and the fans were as rowdy and wonderful as ever. ...I love college hockey. It so kicks the NHL's sorry, televised butt.
Then I came home, had some hot chocolate and read some David Copperfield, and came down here. Am going to bed in a bit here, so I can wake up in time for M*A*S*H tomorrow--I've got some lost time to make up...*g*
-Laurel
...First one was in AP English, coming in...got a flash of deja vu, 'cause Mr. K went into our classroom yesterday and imposed seat organization on Mrs. W. Apparently our 34 desks in rows were driving him crazy, and our two C-shapes (one within the other) weren't constructive enough a use of space. So he arranged our desks into the same pattern his desks are in, and actually made up a seating chart for us to fill in, instead of the random-grab seating we've been doing for the past eight weeks. Mrs. W seemed more amused than anything else. So was I, pointing and thinking of last year's English ("and Daf sat there...and then over there was me...and next to me was Bethie..."), and getting a funny mental picture of Mr. K trying to impose this somewhat trapezoidal standard on all the classrooms, starting with Mrs. W and moving from there..."Today, the English department; tomorrow, the world!"
::laughs:: I miss Mr. K. Mrs. W is great, and I'm glad no one makes me pick between them, but...sometimes, you know, I think I'd even go through the 83-person study hall all year, just to be able to witness him in action again. Bethie says I should join the MasterMinds team to "get my dose of K--" (that's half her reason for being on it, if I'm not mistaken), and I would, except that I'm already in Leo Club, SFE, and the play. I don't have the time, and I've already committed to the others.
...Then I had play practice. We hadn't been having as much pre-rehearsal fun this past week, but today we finally did. Fridays have been the most fun so far--maybe it's just because we're all in such high spirits at being done with school for the week. So Jordan and Jay-Jei and I went with Jordan to get a soda (he "doesn't like going alone")--only he wanted it from the bookstore, which is across the school, 'cause apparently the vending machines don't vend Code Red. We kept up a steady stream of fast, semi-coherent chatter as we walked there (we understood perfectly, but I'm not so sure a passerby would have)--only Jay-Jei stopped off somewhere on the way, leaving Jordan and me. So we talked about AP English and AP psych, both of which he's planning on taking next year, and which are my two favorite classes. Jay-Jei joined us again on the way back, and when we got back in the room, we joined Bunny, and we all laughed at stuff and talked about VeggieTales.
Then Mr. C said that he was only doing to this one part in the script, and therefore Jordan and I weren't actually needed. ...Right, that's the other thing that usually happens on Fridays. ...So we got sent into the yearbook office to study our lines and help each other memorize them.
...The yearbook office is about half the size of a classroom, maybe a little more, and really is the yearbook headquarters...but it's also, more or less, Mr. C's office. He's the only English teacher with an office, because the old English office got swiped (the teachers are on carts) to be used as a classroom, because we hadn't enough space. (See previous entries for my full opinion on this--my only comment here is: they'd never try that with the math/science/tech people...)
...An office it is, but the difference between the other departmental offices and this one is painfully clear. The MST one is all new computers, big windows, and smooth new tiling; the social studies one is bigger, though not as nicely equipped; the foreign language one isn't quite as big, but it's cozy in its way. ...The English one, such as it is, has no windows, old tiling, old walls, harshish lighting, truly ancient computers, a set of MacIntosh computers from around '96 or '97; one aging microwave; and old crappy chairs that I haven't seen the likes of since the early 90s. And it's covered, virtually every square inch of it, in Mr. C's stuff: overvest-things, remnants of projects he's assigned his class, textbooks, at least three reams' worth, by my estimate, of paper...
...And, over in a corner, yearbooks dating back to 1988.
This last was what caught the attention of Jordan and me. We'd each gone over our lines once, and weren't eager to do it again (he didn't know most of his and didn't really want to sit in a squeaky chair and learn them just not; I knew some of mine, but felt the biggest gack in the world to attempt Irish accent anywhere but the stage room, in a one-on-one environment)--and before long we started looking at them.
It was great. The pics of the teachers...oh, my gosh. Mrs. W with ironed-flat hair and no glasses...young female teachers with long, often-comical maiden names (some of which are still pretty young)...and--one of the best--a pic of Mr. C himself from 1990 or '91. He didn't have a heck of a lot more hair (neither did Mead), but what he did have was still blackish-brown, as opposed to the silver-gray it is now; and it was strange not seeing really thick eyebrows. ...Goodling, however, looked ridiculously, comically young. I couldn't believe he looked like that only ten years ago. ...I mean, all right, so ten years ago, I was in second grade, but you'd expect that kind of change in a kid. You wouldn't expect it in someone like him. ...I kept staring, wondering at how different he was even three years before he came...he couldn't have had any idea that he only had three years left here...
...Mr. C burst in on us around 3:15 or so, causing Jordan and me to clap the books shut in a guilty burst and attempt to hide them (though, you know, we could only have been in that corner of the room for that specific reason, so it's not like we'd really had a chance), but he only asked if we'd worked on our lines--we said, truthfully, that we had, though it'd probably been a good 45 minutes, at that point, since we had--and told us that he didn't mind us looking at them. ...Right, that's because he didn't know what--and who--we were looking at. But we nodded, he left, and we continued.
...We needed a scanner, and not the one in his office (it wasn't hooked up to anything, more's the great pity), but we didn't find one, and are instead biding our time, waiting for our moment to swipe one and photocopy certain photos, creating, perhaps, our own private blackmail stash. *g*
...In the meantime, we have to find a way in there again, because now Jay-Jei wants to see them. We managed to get Bunny in there to look at them, and Bequi, and Tim (though the latter didn't show much interest, and the middlemost only wanted to look for her older sister's yearbook), but I found Jay-Jei by the front entrance (of course!), sitting in a chair, bent over some thickish book (of course!), and there wasn't time by then to get back there. So Part II is coming soon--stay tuned.
Then I went home, watched as much as I could of M*A*S*H before I had to go, then went to a sports bar place for dinner (had wings and played trivia--though my trivia scores were pretty mediocre tonight), then to a hockey game. The twins were there. They're eight now, and the two most adorable little kids I can think of. ...They both loved the game. Jessica (the tomboy of the two) was once again devoted to my brother (she thinks he is, in my mom's words, "the coolest thing since peanut butter"), who played along well, though I think after a while it wearied him a little (he was trying to talk to one of his best friends). The game was easily won by our side--9 to 1, I think--and the fans were as rowdy and wonderful as ever. ...I love college hockey. It so kicks the NHL's sorry, televised butt.
Then I came home, had some hot chocolate and read some David Copperfield, and came down here. Am going to bed in a bit here, so I can wake up in time for M*A*S*H tomorrow--I've got some lost time to make up...*g*
-Laurel
10.20.2002
Was on wordsmith.org's Internet Anagram Server (the anagram for which is I, Rearrangement Servant--how cool is that?) and typed in Colin Mochrie. Got wa-a-ay more anagrams than I ever expected to find. I've copied the best of them here and added the punctuation myself.
The general ones...
Chimeric loon [chimeric means overly imaginitive, plus a few other things]
Hi, Circle Moon
Microinch Leo
He, lorn; I, comic [picture him pointing to Ryan Stiles, then himself...*g*]
Michelin Co., OR [Oregon]
Ochre Limo, Inc.
rhinolice.com
Clinic room, eh?
Nice color, him
Mr. No--CEO, Chili
Musical ones [made all the funnier by Colin's inability to sing]...
I'm choir clone
Me Choir-Colin...
...C'mon, choir, lie!
Och! I'm Colin--re! [getting across his Scottish heritage, then singing]
Lo! I chime corn
...And my personal favorite...
Heroic Colin M.!
...Right. Far too much fun, I know. *g*
-Laurel
The general ones...
Chimeric loon [chimeric means overly imaginitive, plus a few other things]
Hi, Circle Moon
Microinch Leo
He, lorn; I, comic [picture him pointing to Ryan Stiles, then himself...*g*]
Michelin Co., OR [Oregon]
Ochre Limo, Inc.
rhinolice.com
Clinic room, eh?
Nice color, him
Mr. No--CEO, Chili
Musical ones [made all the funnier by Colin's inability to sing]...
I'm choir clone
Me Choir-Colin...
...C'mon, choir, lie!
Och! I'm Colin--re! [getting across his Scottish heritage, then singing]
Lo! I chime corn
...And my personal favorite...
Heroic Colin M.!
...Right. Far too much fun, I know. *g*
-Laurel
10.18.2002
As there's been little on my mind besides the play for the past week or so, I figure I might as well get it all out here.
It's been six years since I was ever in any sort of acting thing that was anywhere approaching as much fun as this. The sixth-grade play, Cinderella Meets the Wolfman, was lots of fun--well, except the time the director yelled at me in front of the other "schoolgirls" (the role I had) for missing three straight rehearsals which I hadn't known about, but whatever. ...Bethie and Nicole and a couple of my favorite teachers were in the play, and we (we sixth-graders, not the teachers) would do the Monster Mash backstage while the people in the last scenes got to do it onstage, and we'd play, or creep into the auditorium and watch the main characters in a sort of awe (they were wonderfully good in our eyes back then--but last December some of the choir people and I watched it at Sam G's house at the Christmas party and begged Sam to turn it off before the first act was even through), or sing our play songs. ...To this day, Bethie and I still remember, word for word, the song I was part of; I remember more of the one that she and Nicole did than Bethie herself does (I haven't asked Nicole about her memory, but I think it'd dwarf mine; it usually does, musically). When the play was originally read through, the three of us sixth-graders each had one line; by the actual performance, however, mine was the only one that had survived, and I delivered it with all the feigned importance of a schoolgirl writing an article for the newspaper: "What's your chief import?"
Eighth grade's production of Annie did have its moments, I suppose--one of them being the time I spent getting to know Ananda a little bit better--but most of my memories are wretched, consisting primarily of being mercilessly bossed around by the ninth-graders (except Ananda and another kind freshman, Kristina V.), especially one called Caitie, who was forever chastising me for stepping the wrong way in movements, or fidgeting, or doing anything without the director's express consent, whether or not he would have cared an iota. ...At our first performance, she lambasted me out in the hall for the shocking crime of waiting silently (and harmlessly) for Melly to come offstage (which others had done before me, I might add!), causing me to make a sarcastic comment about her being my personal babysitter, which only led her to inform me, in high dudgeon, that I'd been making trouble since the first rehearsal. Having suffered through all of Caitie's biting comments for the past million rehearsals, yet never drawn a word of criticism from the directors (oh, except the one time in practice I put my finger in my ear to hear my part during a song), I launched straightaway into a bitter tirade that ended in something about my preference for her never speaking to me again.
In tenth grade, I'd script-read well enough to actually be pitted against bright-star choir elite Lani for the lead role--and then we got to the dancing, and to the singing. Though I've been in and out of choirs and vocal ensembles all my life, my voice decided to desert me, and my dancing was as pitiful as usual, and I was cut outright.
This year, however, I knew I was in for a good time right off. No singing--only reading. This meant I could get a real part, not just some part where I delivered one line and was done with (or, as in Annie, no real lines at all).
And get a real part I did. O'Hara's more of a minor character, but it's paragraphs' worth of lines, sometimes whole tangents, and I have to say I revel in them. I finally have a character with a personality--heck, I've finally got one with a name! It's better than Elaine, the female lead I'd wanted. Elaine's really no more important a character than O'Hara, if you get right down to it: she doesn't do even one thing that's pivotal to the plot. I do. ...They make me swear twice, but outside of that, it's as great a role as you could ask for. I don't even have to show up for Act I rehearsals, though our cast's so fun that I sometimes I wish I did.
Our cast--oh, my gosh, what a wonderfully ragtag crew we are. All kinds, thrown together by this play about two sweet old ladies who poison people, and we come together so much better than I would ever have hoped.
There's Becky--well, Bequi, as she spells it--our resident near-beatnik. She writes poetry crammed with symbolism, is the one leading the discussions in English class (besides me, for a change! *g*), and dresses a lot like Claudia Kishi used to in the Baby-sitters Club books. She plays Abby Brewster (one of the poisoning old ladies). Before rehearsal today, she was the one eating Starburst with me, pretending to meditate, and giggling as we all "levitated" her.
There's Bunny--regular readers of this blog (and how many of you aren't, bare truth be told?) will know her already as the heckler of the waves at our choral/band picnic. She's just as funny, sweet, and hyper as ever, even without Melly at her side. She plays Martha Brewster, Abby's sister (the other poisoning old lady). Before rehearsal, she was the one relaxing by the wall--then jumping up to help us levitate Bequi and be in our dancing circles.
There're Rachel and Tim--they play Elaine and Mortimer (Mortimer's the play's main protagonist; Elaine's his fiancee). They're as close to normal as our cast gets--which fits, as their characters are more or less the most normal of the play. You fully expect them to be popular people if you only look at them, but they're both very nice. ...Neither of them were here before rehearsal, which is just as well, because they wouldn't have partaken of the insanity.
There's Brandon, Bunny's brother. He's always loud, always weird, and a huge classical music geek. His laugh, patterned after Mozart's in the movie Amadeus (and for those of you who've seen the movie, your guess is as good as mine why anyone would want to laugh like Mozart, but there you have it), grates on my nerves, but he's smart and sincere, and likeable when you get to know him. Before rehearsal, he joined in the games, and even improved upon them--making, for instance, a house-form with his arms for the rest of us to sashay under while we southern-danced (as in "swing your partner, do-si-do"). Brandon plays Jonathan Brewster (the play's main antagonist, a very Frankenstein-like character who kills people, too, only for spite, instead of out of "mercy", like the old ladies).
There's Feisel, originally from Somalia. He's only been here a year, but is pretty close to your typical American kid. Today before rehearsal, he described the plot of Juwanna Man to Bequi; southern- and Irish-danced with us; joked around with the pen-flashlight he uses for one of his scenes, pretending he was a car and blinking it as a turn signal before he changed directions in the hall; and called us to attention, general-style, when we stood against the wall to let people by. He plays Dr. Herman Einstein (unwilling lackey to Jonathan).
Then there's J.J., the biggest nerd, but one of the friendliest guys, you could ever hope to meet. ...Actually, he spells his name Jay-Jei, for bizarre reasons of his own (which I will hereinafter do, because I'm already doing that for Becky/Bequi), and his middle name is actually Robert. He was the one making up our new games before rehearsal ("Okay, Irish dance! ...Okay, southern dance!"), informing us of random factoids that I feel could get you money on Jeopardy!, and telling us the real, technical difference between a geek and a nerd ("geek" derives from some word that means "someone who'll eat anything"; that's what one originally was). ...He got a new nickname today when he told us (for the first time) that his middle name was really "Robert"--and accidentally spelled it "Orbert". (Needless to say, I was the one to inform him of the mistake. *g* Why he would even decide to spell it for us, goodness only knows.) Bunny says she's going to make him a shirt that says something like Orbert, King of the Alien Nerds, and he's all for the idea. He plays Teddy Brewster (a clearly insane, but harmless, nephew of the poisoning ladies--he thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt), which means the running gag of his part in the play is yelling "Charge!" and running up the steps (which he thinks are San Juan Hill). He does this at least three times.
And then there's me. The play has done wonders for my quality of life. Before rehearsals started, the year was pointless, and I went to school simply for fourth block (English or psych), and to graduate, so I could someday conceivably get out. ...Of course, now I go to school for the play...*g* My hyper side has full reign at rehearsal, mainly because everyone else's does, too. I laughed more, and harder, in the fifteen minutes before rehearsal began today than I've laughed in the past several days. My remarks probably aren't as amusing to everybody else as I find them at the time, but I keep throwing them out there anyway, and no one seems to mind. I feel sometimes like I annoy poor Mr. C a bit, though (which is probably an unfounded fear--and, if not, I'm probably not the only one who does), so I do make sure I know all my lines and what I'm doing. I play Officer Joe O'Hara (probably Joanne, when all is said and done), as I've stated before--policeman and (mediocre) playwright, somewhat annoying, and not all that bright.
...But I'm leaving out the minor characters, none of whom show up in Act II, which accounts for 90% of the rehearsals I've gone to (I don't show up until then). That's the thing--I wasn't there for the Act I rehearsals, but whatever bond was starting between the main characters, either I got in just in time for it, or it was there already and they just shrugged and let me in on the fun. I'm guessing the second--none of us have known everybody in the play, but I'm almost sure every one of us has known somebody: Bunny, Brandon, and I knew each other; Rachel, Tim, and Bequi knew each other--but Bequi also knew me; Jay-Jei and Feisel apparently knew each other--but I think Feisel also knew Tim.
The thing is, we're more or less the major characters of the play. Of the characters just described, I'm the only one who's not, but mine isn't too far below major--it's about as major as minor gets, if you get that at all. So I've been wondering how the more minor characters--the ones who only have a few lines, like I always used to--will fit into our insane little crowd. I mean, it won't be as fun if one of them doesn't.
Chris'll be fine--he knows Feisel and Tim, and he's easygoing enough to go along with our insanity. Jordan will be fine--he knows me, and probably knows Jay-Jei, too. And Tharin might be all right with it because she's friends with Bequi. And the two Bens'll be okay, maybe, 'cause they know Bequi and Tim, or at least each one knows at least one of them.
...But what about Alisha, who plays the policemen's boss, Rooney? She doesn't show until Act III, and we haven't even read through that yet, so she hasn't been to any rehearsals that I can think of. Worse, she isn't going to think well of our insanity--and especially not Jay-Jei--I can guess from six years of knowing Alisha (and not always getting along with her) that the only person she might think less of than Jay-Jei is Brandon, and that's a maybe. ...Which is bad, because Jay-Jei and I have become friends, more or less, in the past couple of weeks, and even thinking of what she's going to think of him, I'm bristling. ...Bequi and Tharin'll make an effort, though, if no one else (and we all should, but she has to want to talk to us, too...), so it ought to be all right.
...The third act, where Rooney bursts in and clears a lot of the plot up, and yells at the cops (this means Chris, Tharin, and me), is just not going to be a stretch for me. O'Hara is somewhat afraid of Rooney; Rooney is rather disgusted with and by O'Hara. As this is a highly accurate summary of our relationship in sixth and seventh grade (and still might be, for all I know; we're civil now, but we're still not fond of each other), it's going to be interesting.
I don't even know what we're going to do when this thing ends. I'm seriously going to be in major play withdrawal. ...I mean, SFE will take over, after-school wise. There'll be the Ocean Bowl to think about, and Leo Club. ...But what about Bequi and Feisel and Jay-Jei? Bunny and Brandon I'll see--and I guess I'll see Bequi in English. But we won't be all together in our madness.
I mean, c'mon. Today, along with the Irish dancing, southern dancing, meditation, levitation, word roots, Starburst, and all, while we were waiting in the hall (which happened for, like I said, fifteen to twenty minutes; there was a basketball meeting in our stage room), we also put on a five-minute rendition of the play, zipping through it Looney-Tunes-style, with Bequi and Brandon filling in for the temporarily missing Rachel and Tim, while playing their own parts on the side. It actually ended up being about a two-minute rendition. Some main plot points had been accidentally skipped, minimal dialogue had actually occurred, O'Hara hadn't come in at all (Mr. C arrived and asked me a question; when I turned back around, the others were done), and Act III was left out entirely (about half of us haven't read it yet). The only thing Jay-Jei did was come in at thirty-second intervals, say "Charge"--he hadn't felt like shouting it--and walk out (well, that does sum up his character fairly well, really). It was incredibly silly and a little inaccurate--but we laughed the entire time. It isn't so funny in the retelling, but, trust me, it was great.
...Who'm I gonna do that with after November?
'Cause that's the thing. It turned out that Mr. C only wanted to do one scene today, and I wasn't in it. But even if I'd known that, I'dve come anyway. I needed it. We got the news this morning that this kid from study hall last year--a graduate in Ananda's class--had killed himself. ...And the thing is, he had a lot of behavioral problems, and liked to talk about things like government conspiracies and who he'd kill if he could. I hadn't liked him much. ...But today I learned that he'd been in an accident of some kind when he was young, and it'd been partly to blame for his problems.
...Why didn't anyone tell me that before? I would've tried harder to be a friend, or at least I'dve been more patient with him. I mean, I was civil enough on the outside, but inside I'd thought him rude, annoying, and out-and-out frightening. I don't think Ananda remembers, but I tried to explain to her once, coming out of study hall to lunch, half in tears at something he'd been saying (I don't remember it anymore), my confusion at how anyone could think like he did, but I couldn't find the words. I'd never seen anyone so paranoid, or with such a low regard for human life--judging, at least, by the many things he said. ...I never thought he'd apply it to himself.
So many people knew about what was really going on with him. Why didn't anyone tell me? Swais knew I didn't like him. Why didn't he tell me, if so many people knew already? ...Pete didn't know either; we both knew, looking at each other in study hall, that we shared the same opinions, but neither of us knew--he couldn'tve; he'dve tried harder, too. What's Pete thinking? I don't have any classes with him now, save choir, and I wouldn't ask him there.
...But here, after school, in a play about death--well, about murder--just those fifteen to twenty minutes before rehearsal made me forget my sadness--'cause I was sad. It's the first graduate death that I've known the victim of--and it's the first death of someone I've disliked decidedly.
I only flinched once in rehearsal, and that was when we were telling all our schedule conflicts to Mr. C, and the list kept growing longer and longer, and he finally muttered, "Somebody hand me a revolver." I was the only one to say, "Don't say that." ...But I was in the back, and no one heard me.
...He's the kind of kid who would have joined us in our five-minute play rendition, and the Irish dancing, and everything else. And so long as he went with it, and didn't try to add anything twisted, he would have fit in just fine. ...But how could I have seen that, last year?
I had him in study hall all year, and wondered once or twice what such a kid would do with his life--end it never came to mind. If you'd told me that he had less than a year to live...it wouldn't have seemed real, I don't think. It kind of doesn't now. I'm not good at remembering lots of peoples' faces, but I still remember his, frozen in a smile. That was one thing for him--he smiled a lot. He had good points, sure. He was brave, and admired strength and bravery in others. He was at least honest, to my knowledge, though blunt. He was friendly enough, if you wanted to hear him. And he wasn't stupid--he just saw the world as his life had made him see it.
One of the Bens was in my study hall; he was the one the guy talked to all the time, expounding theories. Ben even seemed the smallest trace afraid of him at times, but I've no doubt they got along well. Chris, one of the policeman, was on the wrestling team with the guy. He knew him well, and liked him a lot. He knew about the injury, I'm sure.
...Why didn't anybody tell me?
Anyway, that's a somber side note that wouldn't have been here, had I finished this a day ago.
...But I've said most everything about the play by now, and have nothing much else. The others have the weekend to learn our lines; we run Acts I and II on Monday and Tuesday, and then start in on Act III. It's better fun with each rehearsal, as we get to know each other better, and it keeps me going. Truth be told, I tried out for the part, but now I stay for the people. O'Hara is a role that's only gotten more fun to play--but it's the chemistry we've got that's what'll stay, or so I hope, even when the set is taken down.
...I appreciated that before the boy's death--appreciated my friends, appreciated our wonderfully great cast--but it makes me do so even more.
The wrestling team will try to keep his memory alive, maybe dedicate their season to him. ...Like I said, I didn't like him; it's an odd thought to me, to dedicate a season to a person I remember well, and not as happily as they. ...But in a way, I have to keep him alive in my mind, too. It's the best way for me to remember why I talk to Brandon and Matt when they're being hopelessly dorky, even by the standards of a fellow dork. Because they're people, and they need people who can see their good sides and take the bad with them.
The play is wonderful, and when I say "the play", I often mean the people in it. What we may be saying about death, I don't know. I'm just a policeman, along for the ride, and thankful this thing's been here to make me happy this year.
...I mean, really. When I've got the play on the brain, sometimes I even begin to check myself, lest I start to believe, against my will, that this year will be fun after all.
-Laurel
It's been six years since I was ever in any sort of acting thing that was anywhere approaching as much fun as this. The sixth-grade play, Cinderella Meets the Wolfman, was lots of fun--well, except the time the director yelled at me in front of the other "schoolgirls" (the role I had) for missing three straight rehearsals which I hadn't known about, but whatever. ...Bethie and Nicole and a couple of my favorite teachers were in the play, and we (we sixth-graders, not the teachers) would do the Monster Mash backstage while the people in the last scenes got to do it onstage, and we'd play, or creep into the auditorium and watch the main characters in a sort of awe (they were wonderfully good in our eyes back then--but last December some of the choir people and I watched it at Sam G's house at the Christmas party and begged Sam to turn it off before the first act was even through), or sing our play songs. ...To this day, Bethie and I still remember, word for word, the song I was part of; I remember more of the one that she and Nicole did than Bethie herself does (I haven't asked Nicole about her memory, but I think it'd dwarf mine; it usually does, musically). When the play was originally read through, the three of us sixth-graders each had one line; by the actual performance, however, mine was the only one that had survived, and I delivered it with all the feigned importance of a schoolgirl writing an article for the newspaper: "What's your chief import?"
Eighth grade's production of Annie did have its moments, I suppose--one of them being the time I spent getting to know Ananda a little bit better--but most of my memories are wretched, consisting primarily of being mercilessly bossed around by the ninth-graders (except Ananda and another kind freshman, Kristina V.), especially one called Caitie, who was forever chastising me for stepping the wrong way in movements, or fidgeting, or doing anything without the director's express consent, whether or not he would have cared an iota. ...At our first performance, she lambasted me out in the hall for the shocking crime of waiting silently (and harmlessly) for Melly to come offstage (which others had done before me, I might add!), causing me to make a sarcastic comment about her being my personal babysitter, which only led her to inform me, in high dudgeon, that I'd been making trouble since the first rehearsal. Having suffered through all of Caitie's biting comments for the past million rehearsals, yet never drawn a word of criticism from the directors (oh, except the one time in practice I put my finger in my ear to hear my part during a song), I launched straightaway into a bitter tirade that ended in something about my preference for her never speaking to me again.
In tenth grade, I'd script-read well enough to actually be pitted against bright-star choir elite Lani for the lead role--and then we got to the dancing, and to the singing. Though I've been in and out of choirs and vocal ensembles all my life, my voice decided to desert me, and my dancing was as pitiful as usual, and I was cut outright.
This year, however, I knew I was in for a good time right off. No singing--only reading. This meant I could get a real part, not just some part where I delivered one line and was done with (or, as in Annie, no real lines at all).
And get a real part I did. O'Hara's more of a minor character, but it's paragraphs' worth of lines, sometimes whole tangents, and I have to say I revel in them. I finally have a character with a personality--heck, I've finally got one with a name! It's better than Elaine, the female lead I'd wanted. Elaine's really no more important a character than O'Hara, if you get right down to it: she doesn't do even one thing that's pivotal to the plot. I do. ...They make me swear twice, but outside of that, it's as great a role as you could ask for. I don't even have to show up for Act I rehearsals, though our cast's so fun that I sometimes I wish I did.
Our cast--oh, my gosh, what a wonderfully ragtag crew we are. All kinds, thrown together by this play about two sweet old ladies who poison people, and we come together so much better than I would ever have hoped.
There's Becky--well, Bequi, as she spells it--our resident near-beatnik. She writes poetry crammed with symbolism, is the one leading the discussions in English class (besides me, for a change! *g*), and dresses a lot like Claudia Kishi used to in the Baby-sitters Club books. She plays Abby Brewster (one of the poisoning old ladies). Before rehearsal today, she was the one eating Starburst with me, pretending to meditate, and giggling as we all "levitated" her.
There's Bunny--regular readers of this blog (and how many of you aren't, bare truth be told?) will know her already as the heckler of the waves at our choral/band picnic. She's just as funny, sweet, and hyper as ever, even without Melly at her side. She plays Martha Brewster, Abby's sister (the other poisoning old lady). Before rehearsal, she was the one relaxing by the wall--then jumping up to help us levitate Bequi and be in our dancing circles.
There're Rachel and Tim--they play Elaine and Mortimer (Mortimer's the play's main protagonist; Elaine's his fiancee). They're as close to normal as our cast gets--which fits, as their characters are more or less the most normal of the play. You fully expect them to be popular people if you only look at them, but they're both very nice. ...Neither of them were here before rehearsal, which is just as well, because they wouldn't have partaken of the insanity.
There's Brandon, Bunny's brother. He's always loud, always weird, and a huge classical music geek. His laugh, patterned after Mozart's in the movie Amadeus (and for those of you who've seen the movie, your guess is as good as mine why anyone would want to laugh like Mozart, but there you have it), grates on my nerves, but he's smart and sincere, and likeable when you get to know him. Before rehearsal, he joined in the games, and even improved upon them--making, for instance, a house-form with his arms for the rest of us to sashay under while we southern-danced (as in "swing your partner, do-si-do"). Brandon plays Jonathan Brewster (the play's main antagonist, a very Frankenstein-like character who kills people, too, only for spite, instead of out of "mercy", like the old ladies).
There's Feisel, originally from Somalia. He's only been here a year, but is pretty close to your typical American kid. Today before rehearsal, he described the plot of Juwanna Man to Bequi; southern- and Irish-danced with us; joked around with the pen-flashlight he uses for one of his scenes, pretending he was a car and blinking it as a turn signal before he changed directions in the hall; and called us to attention, general-style, when we stood against the wall to let people by. He plays Dr. Herman Einstein (unwilling lackey to Jonathan).
Then there's J.J., the biggest nerd, but one of the friendliest guys, you could ever hope to meet. ...Actually, he spells his name Jay-Jei, for bizarre reasons of his own (which I will hereinafter do, because I'm already doing that for Becky/Bequi), and his middle name is actually Robert. He was the one making up our new games before rehearsal ("Okay, Irish dance! ...Okay, southern dance!"), informing us of random factoids that I feel could get you money on Jeopardy!, and telling us the real, technical difference between a geek and a nerd ("geek" derives from some word that means "someone who'll eat anything"; that's what one originally was). ...He got a new nickname today when he told us (for the first time) that his middle name was really "Robert"--and accidentally spelled it "Orbert". (Needless to say, I was the one to inform him of the mistake. *g* Why he would even decide to spell it for us, goodness only knows.) Bunny says she's going to make him a shirt that says something like Orbert, King of the Alien Nerds, and he's all for the idea. He plays Teddy Brewster (a clearly insane, but harmless, nephew of the poisoning ladies--he thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt), which means the running gag of his part in the play is yelling "Charge!" and running up the steps (which he thinks are San Juan Hill). He does this at least three times.
And then there's me. The play has done wonders for my quality of life. Before rehearsals started, the year was pointless, and I went to school simply for fourth block (English or psych), and to graduate, so I could someday conceivably get out. ...Of course, now I go to school for the play...*g* My hyper side has full reign at rehearsal, mainly because everyone else's does, too. I laughed more, and harder, in the fifteen minutes before rehearsal began today than I've laughed in the past several days. My remarks probably aren't as amusing to everybody else as I find them at the time, but I keep throwing them out there anyway, and no one seems to mind. I feel sometimes like I annoy poor Mr. C a bit, though (which is probably an unfounded fear--and, if not, I'm probably not the only one who does), so I do make sure I know all my lines and what I'm doing. I play Officer Joe O'Hara (probably Joanne, when all is said and done), as I've stated before--policeman and (mediocre) playwright, somewhat annoying, and not all that bright.
...But I'm leaving out the minor characters, none of whom show up in Act II, which accounts for 90% of the rehearsals I've gone to (I don't show up until then). That's the thing--I wasn't there for the Act I rehearsals, but whatever bond was starting between the main characters, either I got in just in time for it, or it was there already and they just shrugged and let me in on the fun. I'm guessing the second--none of us have known everybody in the play, but I'm almost sure every one of us has known somebody: Bunny, Brandon, and I knew each other; Rachel, Tim, and Bequi knew each other--but Bequi also knew me; Jay-Jei and Feisel apparently knew each other--but I think Feisel also knew Tim.
The thing is, we're more or less the major characters of the play. Of the characters just described, I'm the only one who's not, but mine isn't too far below major--it's about as major as minor gets, if you get that at all. So I've been wondering how the more minor characters--the ones who only have a few lines, like I always used to--will fit into our insane little crowd. I mean, it won't be as fun if one of them doesn't.
Chris'll be fine--he knows Feisel and Tim, and he's easygoing enough to go along with our insanity. Jordan will be fine--he knows me, and probably knows Jay-Jei, too. And Tharin might be all right with it because she's friends with Bequi. And the two Bens'll be okay, maybe, 'cause they know Bequi and Tim, or at least each one knows at least one of them.
...But what about Alisha, who plays the policemen's boss, Rooney? She doesn't show until Act III, and we haven't even read through that yet, so she hasn't been to any rehearsals that I can think of. Worse, she isn't going to think well of our insanity--and especially not Jay-Jei--I can guess from six years of knowing Alisha (and not always getting along with her) that the only person she might think less of than Jay-Jei is Brandon, and that's a maybe. ...Which is bad, because Jay-Jei and I have become friends, more or less, in the past couple of weeks, and even thinking of what she's going to think of him, I'm bristling. ...Bequi and Tharin'll make an effort, though, if no one else (and we all should, but she has to want to talk to us, too...), so it ought to be all right.
...The third act, where Rooney bursts in and clears a lot of the plot up, and yells at the cops (this means Chris, Tharin, and me), is just not going to be a stretch for me. O'Hara is somewhat afraid of Rooney; Rooney is rather disgusted with and by O'Hara. As this is a highly accurate summary of our relationship in sixth and seventh grade (and still might be, for all I know; we're civil now, but we're still not fond of each other), it's going to be interesting.
I don't even know what we're going to do when this thing ends. I'm seriously going to be in major play withdrawal. ...I mean, SFE will take over, after-school wise. There'll be the Ocean Bowl to think about, and Leo Club. ...But what about Bequi and Feisel and Jay-Jei? Bunny and Brandon I'll see--and I guess I'll see Bequi in English. But we won't be all together in our madness.
I mean, c'mon. Today, along with the Irish dancing, southern dancing, meditation, levitation, word roots, Starburst, and all, while we were waiting in the hall (which happened for, like I said, fifteen to twenty minutes; there was a basketball meeting in our stage room), we also put on a five-minute rendition of the play, zipping through it Looney-Tunes-style, with Bequi and Brandon filling in for the temporarily missing Rachel and Tim, while playing their own parts on the side. It actually ended up being about a two-minute rendition. Some main plot points had been accidentally skipped, minimal dialogue had actually occurred, O'Hara hadn't come in at all (Mr. C arrived and asked me a question; when I turned back around, the others were done), and Act III was left out entirely (about half of us haven't read it yet). The only thing Jay-Jei did was come in at thirty-second intervals, say "Charge"--he hadn't felt like shouting it--and walk out (well, that does sum up his character fairly well, really). It was incredibly silly and a little inaccurate--but we laughed the entire time. It isn't so funny in the retelling, but, trust me, it was great.
...Who'm I gonna do that with after November?
'Cause that's the thing. It turned out that Mr. C only wanted to do one scene today, and I wasn't in it. But even if I'd known that, I'dve come anyway. I needed it. We got the news this morning that this kid from study hall last year--a graduate in Ananda's class--had killed himself. ...And the thing is, he had a lot of behavioral problems, and liked to talk about things like government conspiracies and who he'd kill if he could. I hadn't liked him much. ...But today I learned that he'd been in an accident of some kind when he was young, and it'd been partly to blame for his problems.
...Why didn't anyone tell me that before? I would've tried harder to be a friend, or at least I'dve been more patient with him. I mean, I was civil enough on the outside, but inside I'd thought him rude, annoying, and out-and-out frightening. I don't think Ananda remembers, but I tried to explain to her once, coming out of study hall to lunch, half in tears at something he'd been saying (I don't remember it anymore), my confusion at how anyone could think like he did, but I couldn't find the words. I'd never seen anyone so paranoid, or with such a low regard for human life--judging, at least, by the many things he said. ...I never thought he'd apply it to himself.
So many people knew about what was really going on with him. Why didn't anyone tell me? Swais knew I didn't like him. Why didn't he tell me, if so many people knew already? ...Pete didn't know either; we both knew, looking at each other in study hall, that we shared the same opinions, but neither of us knew--he couldn'tve; he'dve tried harder, too. What's Pete thinking? I don't have any classes with him now, save choir, and I wouldn't ask him there.
...But here, after school, in a play about death--well, about murder--just those fifteen to twenty minutes before rehearsal made me forget my sadness--'cause I was sad. It's the first graduate death that I've known the victim of--and it's the first death of someone I've disliked decidedly.
I only flinched once in rehearsal, and that was when we were telling all our schedule conflicts to Mr. C, and the list kept growing longer and longer, and he finally muttered, "Somebody hand me a revolver." I was the only one to say, "Don't say that." ...But I was in the back, and no one heard me.
...He's the kind of kid who would have joined us in our five-minute play rendition, and the Irish dancing, and everything else. And so long as he went with it, and didn't try to add anything twisted, he would have fit in just fine. ...But how could I have seen that, last year?
I had him in study hall all year, and wondered once or twice what such a kid would do with his life--end it never came to mind. If you'd told me that he had less than a year to live...it wouldn't have seemed real, I don't think. It kind of doesn't now. I'm not good at remembering lots of peoples' faces, but I still remember his, frozen in a smile. That was one thing for him--he smiled a lot. He had good points, sure. He was brave, and admired strength and bravery in others. He was at least honest, to my knowledge, though blunt. He was friendly enough, if you wanted to hear him. And he wasn't stupid--he just saw the world as his life had made him see it.
One of the Bens was in my study hall; he was the one the guy talked to all the time, expounding theories. Ben even seemed the smallest trace afraid of him at times, but I've no doubt they got along well. Chris, one of the policeman, was on the wrestling team with the guy. He knew him well, and liked him a lot. He knew about the injury, I'm sure.
...Why didn't anybody tell me?
Anyway, that's a somber side note that wouldn't have been here, had I finished this a day ago.
...But I've said most everything about the play by now, and have nothing much else. The others have the weekend to learn our lines; we run Acts I and II on Monday and Tuesday, and then start in on Act III. It's better fun with each rehearsal, as we get to know each other better, and it keeps me going. Truth be told, I tried out for the part, but now I stay for the people. O'Hara is a role that's only gotten more fun to play--but it's the chemistry we've got that's what'll stay, or so I hope, even when the set is taken down.
...I appreciated that before the boy's death--appreciated my friends, appreciated our wonderfully great cast--but it makes me do so even more.
The wrestling team will try to keep his memory alive, maybe dedicate their season to him. ...Like I said, I didn't like him; it's an odd thought to me, to dedicate a season to a person I remember well, and not as happily as they. ...But in a way, I have to keep him alive in my mind, too. It's the best way for me to remember why I talk to Brandon and Matt when they're being hopelessly dorky, even by the standards of a fellow dork. Because they're people, and they need people who can see their good sides and take the bad with them.
The play is wonderful, and when I say "the play", I often mean the people in it. What we may be saying about death, I don't know. I'm just a policeman, along for the ride, and thankful this thing's been here to make me happy this year.
...I mean, really. When I've got the play on the brain, sometimes I even begin to check myself, lest I start to believe, against my will, that this year will be fun after all.
-Laurel
10.17.2002
10.15.2002
10.14.2002
10.11.2002
Had a lot of time to think today, since we went about two and a half hours away from home this morning for a college visit (was pretty good). Most of my best thinking gets done in vehicles. *g* Sat there, listened to Pavlo (Spanish-Greek music--seeing My Big Fat Greek Wedding for the second time last night revived my interest in the CD) and U2's Achtung Baby (had "Zoo Station" stuck in my head all day--great song when you listen to it once or twice), let my mind wander and hover.
...A lot of it had to do with my English teachers--Mrs. W from this year, Mr. K from last year. See, Mrs. W really appreciates my English talent, and is the most enthusiastic about it than anyone since my fifth grade writing teacher (though, come to think of it, last year's creative writing teacher had some very nice remarks to make early this year, when I got my portfolio back)--but there's a downside to the appreciation.
See, Mrs. W used to work for admissions at Harvard, and therefore considers herself the local college guru...and that means that, for the past week, she's been firing college names at me--"See if this is on the tuition exchange list where your parents work...this place is good...[name of colleges I like] are all right, but this place...", so on ad infinitum/nauseum. ...And I appreciate the concern, but it goes like this: She hasn't been at Harvard for years. My dad has had much the same job for the past 25 years, and has, I think, actually gotten farther than her--which means, quite frankly, that they don't agree. A lot of places that she regards highly, my dad says aren't good anymore. ...And I tried to tactfully(!) explain this to her, the idea that she's not telling my dad anything he doesn't already know, but she seemed not to really believe that his qualifications were as good, since he doesn't work at Harvard.
At least my dad doesn't resent her trying to help--I'd thought that he would see her as sort of a nuisance (an O'Hara, in a way? *g*)--I really do like Mrs. W a lot--I didn't want him not liking her because of it. But he says he doesn't mind the suggestions. He and Mom are more amused than anything else. ...Which is better than I expected, at least.
I still say this is at least half Ananda's fault--*g*--she liked 'Nanda, too, and somebody didn't get around to looking at colleges until, like, February...and since she associates Ananda with me (or, well, probably the other way round)...!
Either way, I've decided that it's rather fun being one of the darlings of the English department. *g* 'Cause, really--Mrs. W has several favorites, but like I said, not since fifth grade, under Mrs. K, have I been called a dream student. Ms. M from creative writing still talks to me, and she liked my writing a lot. And I already knew that Mr. K (wonderful English teacher from last year) and Mrs. W talked about me among themselves, but my mom surprised me this morning by telling my dad just how high Mr. K's regard for me "obviously" was, even now (she watched us talking at parents' night; she's heard my stories about him from when I had study hall with him)--it hadn't been so obvious to me, but I was really happy that she thought so--'cause he's just so great, and I didn't realize how much I wanted his appreciation until she said that. (Other English department favorite is definitely Matt G. There may be more, but definitely him. ...But then, he's currently first in the class--he's the darling of pretty much the school at large, staff-wise--except probably the principal, who he's been bothering about a second AP English class. *g*) ...Play-director Mr. C isn't as cool as the others, but he doesn't scare me anymore, though he's definitely just as nuts as most of the rest of them. I sort of have to try to get him to tolerate me, though, 'cause I'm in his play. *g*
Actually, their talking to each other about me does have its downsides, come to think of it--I was really mad about the principal practically blaming the scheduling problems on the AP students, and I found that out about the time we were doing "The Pardoner's Tale" in Canterbury Tales, and, in my still-blazing-after-three-quarters-of-study-hall anger (not made any better by the fact that that study hall, as oft-mentioned, crammed 83 kids into a 30-person room), I made a twisted-humor remark to Mr. K that the irony of the tale fit our English situation incredibly well, because our principal says so many things about how smart her students are, and then crams us into tiny classes and devotes all the real attention to the flunkies--that she doesn't really care, like the Pardoner doesn't really care whether his parishioners are forgiven or not, so long as he makes the money. ...And I then made the further remark (just to get myself in farther!)--in an obvious not that I will, but I *could*, and I *want* to way--that someone with some English talent could parody the tale (rewrite it, that is, keeping the original iambic pentameter format) to make the principal the villain-figure, instead of the hypocritical Pardoner. I mean, it fit so well. ...I assured Mr. K that I wasn't going to (I knew what'd happened to Dan, in Ananda's grade, when he did something vaguely like it as a sophomore), but that somebody almost should. ...And to this day, I wonder just how much of that remark made its way to Mrs. W, and how much he left out, but next day, in English, came the following remark from Mrs. W during class discussion: "Mr. K was telling me how much you enjoyed this, Laurel. ...Tell us why."
...I didn't think to look and see if she really knew. I'd dropped my eyes and was busy thinking of a response that wouldn't get me in trouble. (Although, quite frankly, the thought of telling the truth crossed my mind for about half a second.) ...Matt'd been there. He knew the real reason why (which still makes me cringe--we don't know each other that well, and that's not quite the impression I like giving on anyone...). So did Aneya, whom I'd told, still ticked off, the night before on AIM. ...I did manage to stammer out something acceptable after my initial, too-caught-off-guard-to-be-stifled "Ohh..." of obvious oh-crap inflection, but I sat there for a while after that, probably with cheeks afire, thinking of Mr. K, and wondering just how many levels of tact he'd employed. I mean, he's sharper than I ever knew, if he set out to show me what a bad idea just saying that to anybody was. I don't know. He hated our English plight almost as much as we did, and certainly it was an idea Mrs. W would have reacted to in the same way as he did (outwardly warning against it, but I can't think that he didn't like the idea even a little): maybe he'd been secretly amused, and had passed it off to Mrs. W--which makes me wonder if she knew, or if he'd decided to amuse himself by only telling her I'd liked the irony, and keeping the other part as his own secret (it strikes me as something he would do), or what. ...I haven't asked. I don't think I ever will. ...But, oddly enough, no matter which it was, I actually came out of that not just with more tact (at least on school grounds), but liking him even better--even as I thought to myself, half-annoyed and half-amused, that was *mean*!
I also heard something this morning that also, bafflingly, made me like both Mrs. F (who advises Leo Club) and Mrs. W better--Mrs. F had been talking to my mom at parents' night about our English problem, and made a comment that my mom had laughed at as being very apt: that Mrs. W is not used to not getting her own way. ...'Cause, the thing is, it's one of those things that I didn't notice myself, but now that I think about it, it's so true--the way she runs my English class, petitions the principal, and corners me in the hall and fires colleges at me--she's so strong-minded. I mean, she's one of the school's older teachers, she's ruddy smart, and she's got more connections than a flight to Hawaii. She's so strong-minded--she fully expects to get exactly what she wants, the way she wants it, and it made me laugh, but it also made me take a second look at Mrs. F, who's about Mrs. W's age herself, and maybe older. She's this semi-strange librarian, and half the time she's so up-to-date, and half the time she's so out of touch--you can never quite figure out what areas she gets, teenager-wise, and what ones she doesn't--I can't imagine her as the activist college student she was, like I can imagine Ananda's mom that way (though, you know, Ananda's mom is considerably younger). But I hadn't thought of her as someone as sharp as Mrs. W is--but she is. She can read people. And like with Mr. K, there are other things she's done and said that make me see that she is, now that I've thought of it. I hadn't noticed how fine a line Mrs. W skirts between guidance and compulsion, but now I do, and it's she who brought to the front of her mind the kind of feeling that's played in the back of mine. ...But, like I said, for some reason, I actually like Mrs. W better, now that I can laugh at that. I mean, I like her, but what that made me like about her was different. ...I don't know why--I don't think it's a power thing--but it's easier to like her better now that I know that she doesn't know as much about college as she thinks, and that sometimes she can seem like a bit of a spoiled brat. Like I said, I don't think it was because she seemed so tower-of-knowledge, and now she's not. ...I think maybe it's because now it's not so serious when she deals with me. I mean, I love her love of my writing, but there's a certain amount of weight involved there, too. She's funny with us sometimes, but she's so much more serious with me--always asking how I like this book we're doing, asking about college, asking about whether I'm going to be on MasterMinds. ...I think knowing the stuff about her brings the seriousness down to a more manageable level.
...I can do what Mr. K maybe did, and keep some of my knowledge back, to amuse myself. *g*
-Laurel
...A lot of it had to do with my English teachers--Mrs. W from this year, Mr. K from last year. See, Mrs. W really appreciates my English talent, and is the most enthusiastic about it than anyone since my fifth grade writing teacher (though, come to think of it, last year's creative writing teacher had some very nice remarks to make early this year, when I got my portfolio back)--but there's a downside to the appreciation.
See, Mrs. W used to work for admissions at Harvard, and therefore considers herself the local college guru...and that means that, for the past week, she's been firing college names at me--"See if this is on the tuition exchange list where your parents work...this place is good...[name of colleges I like] are all right, but this place...", so on ad infinitum/nauseum. ...And I appreciate the concern, but it goes like this: She hasn't been at Harvard for years. My dad has had much the same job for the past 25 years, and has, I think, actually gotten farther than her--which means, quite frankly, that they don't agree. A lot of places that she regards highly, my dad says aren't good anymore. ...And I tried to tactfully(!) explain this to her, the idea that she's not telling my dad anything he doesn't already know, but she seemed not to really believe that his qualifications were as good, since he doesn't work at Harvard.
At least my dad doesn't resent her trying to help--I'd thought that he would see her as sort of a nuisance (an O'Hara, in a way? *g*)--I really do like Mrs. W a lot--I didn't want him not liking her because of it. But he says he doesn't mind the suggestions. He and Mom are more amused than anything else. ...Which is better than I expected, at least.
I still say this is at least half Ananda's fault--*g*--she liked 'Nanda, too, and somebody didn't get around to looking at colleges until, like, February...and since she associates Ananda with me (or, well, probably the other way round)...!
Either way, I've decided that it's rather fun being one of the darlings of the English department. *g* 'Cause, really--Mrs. W has several favorites, but like I said, not since fifth grade, under Mrs. K, have I been called a dream student. Ms. M from creative writing still talks to me, and she liked my writing a lot. And I already knew that Mr. K (wonderful English teacher from last year) and Mrs. W talked about me among themselves, but my mom surprised me this morning by telling my dad just how high Mr. K's regard for me "obviously" was, even now (she watched us talking at parents' night; she's heard my stories about him from when I had study hall with him)--it hadn't been so obvious to me, but I was really happy that she thought so--'cause he's just so great, and I didn't realize how much I wanted his appreciation until she said that. (Other English department favorite is definitely Matt G. There may be more, but definitely him. ...But then, he's currently first in the class--he's the darling of pretty much the school at large, staff-wise--except probably the principal, who he's been bothering about a second AP English class. *g*) ...Play-director Mr. C isn't as cool as the others, but he doesn't scare me anymore, though he's definitely just as nuts as most of the rest of them. I sort of have to try to get him to tolerate me, though, 'cause I'm in his play. *g*
Actually, their talking to each other about me does have its downsides, come to think of it--I was really mad about the principal practically blaming the scheduling problems on the AP students, and I found that out about the time we were doing "The Pardoner's Tale" in Canterbury Tales, and, in my still-blazing-after-three-quarters-of-study-hall anger (not made any better by the fact that that study hall, as oft-mentioned, crammed 83 kids into a 30-person room), I made a twisted-humor remark to Mr. K that the irony of the tale fit our English situation incredibly well, because our principal says so many things about how smart her students are, and then crams us into tiny classes and devotes all the real attention to the flunkies--that she doesn't really care, like the Pardoner doesn't really care whether his parishioners are forgiven or not, so long as he makes the money. ...And I then made the further remark (just to get myself in farther!)--in an obvious not that I will, but I *could*, and I *want* to way--that someone with some English talent could parody the tale (rewrite it, that is, keeping the original iambic pentameter format) to make the principal the villain-figure, instead of the hypocritical Pardoner. I mean, it fit so well. ...I assured Mr. K that I wasn't going to (I knew what'd happened to Dan, in Ananda's grade, when he did something vaguely like it as a sophomore), but that somebody almost should. ...And to this day, I wonder just how much of that remark made its way to Mrs. W, and how much he left out, but next day, in English, came the following remark from Mrs. W during class discussion: "Mr. K was telling me how much you enjoyed this, Laurel. ...Tell us why."
...I didn't think to look and see if she really knew. I'd dropped my eyes and was busy thinking of a response that wouldn't get me in trouble. (Although, quite frankly, the thought of telling the truth crossed my mind for about half a second.) ...Matt'd been there. He knew the real reason why (which still makes me cringe--we don't know each other that well, and that's not quite the impression I like giving on anyone...). So did Aneya, whom I'd told, still ticked off, the night before on AIM. ...I did manage to stammer out something acceptable after my initial, too-caught-off-guard-to-be-stifled "Ohh..." of obvious oh-crap inflection, but I sat there for a while after that, probably with cheeks afire, thinking of Mr. K, and wondering just how many levels of tact he'd employed. I mean, he's sharper than I ever knew, if he set out to show me what a bad idea just saying that to anybody was. I don't know. He hated our English plight almost as much as we did, and certainly it was an idea Mrs. W would have reacted to in the same way as he did (outwardly warning against it, but I can't think that he didn't like the idea even a little): maybe he'd been secretly amused, and had passed it off to Mrs. W--which makes me wonder if she knew, or if he'd decided to amuse himself by only telling her I'd liked the irony, and keeping the other part as his own secret (it strikes me as something he would do), or what. ...I haven't asked. I don't think I ever will. ...But, oddly enough, no matter which it was, I actually came out of that not just with more tact (at least on school grounds), but liking him even better--even as I thought to myself, half-annoyed and half-amused, that was *mean*!
I also heard something this morning that also, bafflingly, made me like both Mrs. F (who advises Leo Club) and Mrs. W better--Mrs. F had been talking to my mom at parents' night about our English problem, and made a comment that my mom had laughed at as being very apt: that Mrs. W is not used to not getting her own way. ...'Cause, the thing is, it's one of those things that I didn't notice myself, but now that I think about it, it's so true--the way she runs my English class, petitions the principal, and corners me in the hall and fires colleges at me--she's so strong-minded. I mean, she's one of the school's older teachers, she's ruddy smart, and she's got more connections than a flight to Hawaii. She's so strong-minded--she fully expects to get exactly what she wants, the way she wants it, and it made me laugh, but it also made me take a second look at Mrs. F, who's about Mrs. W's age herself, and maybe older. She's this semi-strange librarian, and half the time she's so up-to-date, and half the time she's so out of touch--you can never quite figure out what areas she gets, teenager-wise, and what ones she doesn't--I can't imagine her as the activist college student she was, like I can imagine Ananda's mom that way (though, you know, Ananda's mom is considerably younger). But I hadn't thought of her as someone as sharp as Mrs. W is--but she is. She can read people. And like with Mr. K, there are other things she's done and said that make me see that she is, now that I've thought of it. I hadn't noticed how fine a line Mrs. W skirts between guidance and compulsion, but now I do, and it's she who brought to the front of her mind the kind of feeling that's played in the back of mine. ...But, like I said, for some reason, I actually like Mrs. W better, now that I can laugh at that. I mean, I like her, but what that made me like about her was different. ...I don't know why--I don't think it's a power thing--but it's easier to like her better now that I know that she doesn't know as much about college as she thinks, and that sometimes she can seem like a bit of a spoiled brat. Like I said, I don't think it was because she seemed so tower-of-knowledge, and now she's not. ...I think maybe it's because now it's not so serious when she deals with me. I mean, I love her love of my writing, but there's a certain amount of weight involved there, too. She's funny with us sometimes, but she's so much more serious with me--always asking how I like this book we're doing, asking about college, asking about whether I'm going to be on MasterMinds. ...I think knowing the stuff about her brings the seriousness down to a more manageable level.
...I can do what Mr. K maybe did, and keep some of my knowledge back, to amuse myself. *g*
-Laurel
10.07.2002
So it isn't war yet. But it likely will be. ...I mean, c'mon, is Hussein really going to kowtow to the UN?
Was weird, 'cause I had this song Radar sings in this M*A*S*H ep called "The Kids" stuck in my head for lots of today, and now, for lots of kids, it might be true. ...For some people, like my mom's coworker, if she and her soldier husband have kids, it's true already...he got called up today for nine months in an undisclosed location...three guesses what that likely means, before long.
By-low, baby,
By-low, baby,
By-low, baby,
By-low, baby-by.
Daddy still loves you,
Daddy still loves you,
Daddy still loves you,
Though he's gone to war.
...Radar sings it without realizing what he's saying at first...I sang it all afternoon without thinking it would really pertain to us.
-Laurel
Was weird, 'cause I had this song Radar sings in this M*A*S*H ep called "The Kids" stuck in my head for lots of today, and now, for lots of kids, it might be true. ...For some people, like my mom's coworker, if she and her soldier husband have kids, it's true already...he got called up today for nine months in an undisclosed location...three guesses what that likely means, before long.
By-low, baby,
By-low, baby,
By-low, baby,
By-low, baby-by.
Daddy still loves you,
Daddy still loves you,
Daddy still loves you,
Though he's gone to war.
...Radar sings it without realizing what he's saying at first...I sang it all afternoon without thinking it would really pertain to us.
-Laurel
I've found it, 'Nanda. I've found it, I've found it. Behold.
There are 1,239.39 lire in a Canadian dollar.
Thank you, http://www.xe.net/ucc.
-Laurel
There are 1,239.39 lire in a Canadian dollar.
Thank you, http://www.xe.net/ucc.
-Laurel
10.06.2002
I was only awake for eight and a half hours yesterday. Slept from 1:30 am-11:30 am, then from 6:30 pm to 2:30 this morning.
What is wrong with me?
...In other news, turns out my dad did lock his car; it's just that the people who broke into it on Friday night were professionals. It was today that I noticed what I thought were scratches around the passenger-side keyhole. My dad took a closer look and found two puncture marks, straight through the metal.
...If they're such pros, why did they keep a briefcase that only had papers in it? I mean, we figured they broke in to look for either a laptop, a cell phone, or some form of money (cash, check, etc.). They would only have found papers, lucky for us, and not ones that were of any use to anyone but my dad, either. But we've been back to the scene of the crime and thereabouts, talked to the people who ran the sports bar it got stolen from--nothing found anywhere in the vicinity.
Well, at least it's not his fault for not locking the door, which he'd originally thought. If it'd been unlocked, they wouldn'tve jimmied it, or whatever you call that kind of maneuver.
-Laurel
What is wrong with me?
...In other news, turns out my dad did lock his car; it's just that the people who broke into it on Friday night were professionals. It was today that I noticed what I thought were scratches around the passenger-side keyhole. My dad took a closer look and found two puncture marks, straight through the metal.
...If they're such pros, why did they keep a briefcase that only had papers in it? I mean, we figured they broke in to look for either a laptop, a cell phone, or some form of money (cash, check, etc.). They would only have found papers, lucky for us, and not ones that were of any use to anyone but my dad, either. But we've been back to the scene of the crime and thereabouts, talked to the people who ran the sports bar it got stolen from--nothing found anywhere in the vicinity.
Well, at least it's not his fault for not locking the door, which he'd originally thought. If it'd been unlocked, they wouldn'tve jimmied it, or whatever you call that kind of maneuver.
-Laurel
10.04.2002
Wow. Have just read most of my last 100 entries. That took about two hours.
...But I'm much more impressed with them, still, than I ever expected to be. I guess I do have a nice writing style.
...Should read all Daf's and 'Nanda's and Zinni's, too, and Lily's, but I'll save those for other days. You guys should read your own again; I've found it's not nearly as humiliating as I'd expected. 'Course, 100 entries only goes back to June 13th, which leaves out all my angst about over/underachieving, the choral/band banquet with the dancing, etc. As far as I'm concerned, those entries can go away and stay away.
Definitely better than any diary I've ever had, though--I write more here, and more often.
-Laurel
...But I'm much more impressed with them, still, than I ever expected to be. I guess I do have a nice writing style.
...Should read all Daf's and 'Nanda's and Zinni's, too, and Lily's, but I'll save those for other days. You guys should read your own again; I've found it's not nearly as humiliating as I'd expected. 'Course, 100 entries only goes back to June 13th, which leaves out all my angst about over/underachieving, the choral/band banquet with the dancing, etc. As far as I'm concerned, those entries can go away and stay away.
Definitely better than any diary I've ever had, though--I write more here, and more often.
-Laurel
10.03.2002
Here is the result of your 500 Point Nerdity Purity Test.
You answered "yes" to 147 of 500 questions, making you 70.6% nerd pure (29.4% nerd corrupt); that is, you are 70.6% pure in the nerd domain (you have 29.4% nerd in you).
According to the scoring guide, your nerd experience level is: Nerd in Training
Your Weirdness Factor (AKA Uniqueness Factor) is 32%, based on a comparison of your test results with 6628 other submissions for this test.
The average purity for this test is 62.1%.
...Only in training?! I'm actually annoyed by this. ::rubs eyes::
-Laurel
You answered "yes" to 147 of 500 questions, making you 70.6% nerd pure (29.4% nerd corrupt); that is, you are 70.6% pure in the nerd domain (you have 29.4% nerd in you).
According to the scoring guide, your nerd experience level is: Nerd in Training
Your Weirdness Factor (AKA Uniqueness Factor) is 32%, based on a comparison of your test results with 6628 other submissions for this test.
The average purity for this test is 62.1%.
...Only in training?! I'm actually annoyed by this. ::rubs eyes::
-Laurel
10.02.2002
Was subjected today to the most pointless reading-comprehension test of my entire existence. It was terribly written, made a mockery of what it was trying to evaluate, and was completely unworthy of naming its form U-2.
I blow an overall raspberry to the DRP. The test format alone should convince anyone who cares to argue the point that a science board should not put out a test in an English field.
-Laurel
I blow an overall raspberry to the DRP. The test format alone should convince anyone who cares to argue the point that a science board should not put out a test in an English field.
-Laurel
10.01.2002
Mm...October. Woke up to U2 song of the same name this morning. Had it stuck in my head all morning.
Melly and Bunny have taped the lyrics to "Heckling the Waves" to their agendas, and Melly sang it so much today that Scott told me to teach it to her so she could at least sing more of it than the chorus. ...I am officially a success as a songwriter. *g*
Was a day of mild paranoia, between Billy Budd (was it okay that my poem-response was in the first person, like the last one?), random neurosis (yesterday in gym my heart rate went through the roof for no particular reason, which happens in gym every so-many months--thought I heard somewhere that something like that once killed a football player about my age), and all else (pain-in-the-butt psych homework, etc.) ...Did better than I'd expected on my AP stats test (about 87), though it counted for more than most of last year's tests did.
Wonder if my psych needs to be typed. If not, I can do it in school, like I want to...
-Laurel
Melly and Bunny have taped the lyrics to "Heckling the Waves" to their agendas, and Melly sang it so much today that Scott told me to teach it to her so she could at least sing more of it than the chorus. ...I am officially a success as a songwriter. *g*
Was a day of mild paranoia, between Billy Budd (was it okay that my poem-response was in the first person, like the last one?), random neurosis (yesterday in gym my heart rate went through the roof for no particular reason, which happens in gym every so-many months--thought I heard somewhere that something like that once killed a football player about my age), and all else (pain-in-the-butt psych homework, etc.) ...Did better than I'd expected on my AP stats test (about 87), though it counted for more than most of last year's tests did.
Wonder if my psych needs to be typed. If not, I can do it in school, like I want to...
-Laurel