oh, look. it's christmas! well actually, it felt like christmas during the entirety of november. it's like everyone in america forgets about the pilgrims or whatever, and instead celebrates the jolly fat man who goes "ho ho ho". anyways, thanksgiving break was short. like, criminally short. most schools give their students/staff the entire week off, which is especially nice after the stress of midterms and all that. but my school? for whatever strange and unfathomable reason, it feels the need to add 2 whole days to our calendar.
i swear, no one thinks this is a good idea. everyone just wants to leave, including the damn teachers! why feel the need to put more work on yourself rather than getting to spend more time with family, etc etc. i literally bombed my chemistry test on tuesday, yet i didn't give a sh*t. why? because i don't want to be here. give us our stupid break already.
well, those three (+2) days of break i got were somewhat eventful. thursday was thanksgiving, which is that one holiday that comes after halloween, but before christmas. crazy, right? thanksgiving is a pretty forgotten holiday, only being remembered for giving us a week-long break and having your entire family come over to eat some good food. ah, well. no one can remember thanksgiving when all your poppy, ad-ridden radio stations are constantly playing christmas songs in november. i mean, what would a thanksgiving song even sound like? what is there to sing about? turkeys? the pilgrims? nah.
on friday, i went fishing with a couple family members. my mom didn't tag along, probably because she thinks nature is gross and boring. i, like usual, didn't catch any fish, and neither did my family. we probably just get unlucky with the spots we get, or maybe everyone else is using actual crack as bait. at least we got to sit back and enjoy the sounds of the lake.
so... you're probably wondering when i'm gonna get to the title of this blog post. y'know, the non-theatre theatre kid. well, i'm getting to it now! i've mentioned before that i'm in a play. or, i was. from november 22-24, i joined my fellow castmates and performed in front of a live audience. now, i wasn't exactly breaking into any new territory with this experience.
i used to star in these little productions my middle school would throw together. as a bonus, i'd usually get a lead role or a solo, if it was a musical. i had basically no problems with performing back then, and i'd get all excited whenever it was announced that i'd be playing a major role. the highlights of those days were my roles in "I Love Lucy", "Charlotte's Web", and some other misc. stuff. so yeah, i was the biggest theatre kid i knew back then.
unfortunately for me, i'm now in high school. i already knew that there would be infinitely more theatre-like theatre kids roaming around. y'know, kids who actually watch musicals and listen to their soundtracks. what, you think i go around listening to the freaking Hamilton ST? anyways, school. to set the stage (get it?) for how i got into the fall production in the first place, i need to talk about last year.
if you aren't already aware, my freshman year of high school was... complete and utter garbage. instead of having friends, interesting classes, and positivity keeping my sanity in check, the year was plagued with loneliness, depression, and a completely lack of school spirit. whether it's my fault or my school's fault, the year sucked, and forever tainted my perspective on school-related things. i never bothered joining any clubs or trying out for anything, i just rotted away sitting at the exact same bench for 9 months straight.
then my sophomore year started. it was looking the same as it always does, except now i had to deal with classes like Chemistry and whatever the hell Paschal Mystery is. (it's some religious thing.) (yes i go to a catholic school, despite the fact that i might as well be athiest.) however, as soon as september started, i decided to audition for my school's fall production. all i had to do was recite two monologues by memory, and i had a couple days to get them down. so, on september 5th, auditions started, and i was one of the last kids to go on. after i gave it my best shot, the two guys sitting in front of me said thanks and allowed me to go.
the next day, callbacks were emailed and hung up on the wall of the director's classroom. i saw my name beneath two of the characters, so i headed over to the theater after school and read a couple lines, even acting out a conversation with another student. once that was done, we waited a couple days for the official cast list to be posted. when i saw the list for the first time, my name was, very surprisingly, second on the list. it took me a couple moments to realize that... i was in the play. and so began my two-month theatrical journey.
over the course of the next two-and-a-half months, my fellow castmates and i rehearsed every day after school, going over our lines, blocking, costumes, and later down the line, makeup and mics. despite going home much later than i was used to, it didn't bother me much, probably because i was actually doing something with my life. i even made my first high school friend, which is probably the most depressing thing i've written on this blog (so far).
skipping ahead a few months, the last week of rehearsal had come and gone. it was now friday, november 22nd, and it was time for my first performance in years. i was shaking and nervous about literally everything, kinda like everyone else in the cast. fortunately, all three performances went off without a hitch, and the production was a great success. then the post-performance stuff happened- we took pictures, congratulated the people who lettered, etc. after the last show, the cast went to denny's, and i somehow ended up with the name "the milkman" after some odd, yet hilarious shenanigans. don't ask.
so that about wraps up my journey through the fall production. i'm extremely happy i decided to get off my ass and do something at school, and it certainly paid off. despite still feeling lonely and isolated at times, i'm in a better place than i was half a year ago. i met people, contributed to a big project, and even got some service hours! which, albeit not being a particularly exciting reward, frees me from having to do more useless, unimportant crap than i'd have to do normally.
to anyone out there struggling with loneliness or anxiety, just... do stuff. while it may seem dumb or a waste of time, just trying to do something can lead to better results than just doing nothing about your situation. trust me, i didn't learn that lesson for an entire year, and if you've read up to this point (or maybe even the Old Blog), you'll know how it affected me mentally.
sorry if that whole theatre section was a lot to read through, i figured i might as well tell the whole story instead of half-assing the details, like i usually would. plus, it made for a decently lengthy blog post.
with that out of the way, thank you for reading, and i'll see you next month after (a well-deserved) Christmas break.
i know i said "save [my games] for next month", but i kinda had to talk about this. i mean you did get a G1R update in the meantime.
i swear, no one thinks this is a good idea. everyone just wants to leave, including the damn teachers! why feel the need to put more work on yourself rather than getting to spend more time with family, etc etc. i literally bombed my chemistry test on tuesday, yet i didn't give a sh*t. why? because i don't want to be here. give us our stupid break already.
well, those three (+2) days of break i got were somewhat eventful. thursday was thanksgiving, which is that one holiday that comes after halloween, but before christmas. crazy, right? thanksgiving is a pretty forgotten holiday, only being remembered for giving us a week-long break and having your entire family come over to eat some good food. ah, well. no one can remember thanksgiving when all your poppy, ad-ridden radio stations are constantly playing christmas songs in november. i mean, what would a thanksgiving song even sound like? what is there to sing about? turkeys? the pilgrims? nah.
on friday, i went fishing with a couple family members. my mom didn't tag along, probably because she thinks nature is gross and boring. i, like usual, didn't catch any fish, and neither did my family. we probably just get unlucky with the spots we get, or maybe everyone else is using actual crack as bait. at least we got to sit back and enjoy the sounds of the lake.
so... you're probably wondering when i'm gonna get to the title of this blog post. y'know, the non-theatre theatre kid. well, i'm getting to it now! i've mentioned before that i'm in a play. or, i was. from november 22-24, i joined my fellow castmates and performed in front of a live audience. now, i wasn't exactly breaking into any new territory with this experience.
i used to star in these little productions my middle school would throw together. as a bonus, i'd usually get a lead role or a solo, if it was a musical. i had basically no problems with performing back then, and i'd get all excited whenever it was announced that i'd be playing a major role. the highlights of those days were my roles in "I Love Lucy", "Charlotte's Web", and some other misc. stuff. so yeah, i was the biggest theatre kid i knew back then.
unfortunately for me, i'm now in high school. i already knew that there would be infinitely more theatre-like theatre kids roaming around. y'know, kids who actually watch musicals and listen to their soundtracks. what, you think i go around listening to the freaking Hamilton ST? anyways, school. to set the stage (get it?) for how i got into the fall production in the first place, i need to talk about last year.
if you aren't already aware, my freshman year of high school was... complete and utter garbage. instead of having friends, interesting classes, and positivity keeping my sanity in check, the year was plagued with loneliness, depression, and a completely lack of school spirit. whether it's my fault or my school's fault, the year sucked, and forever tainted my perspective on school-related things. i never bothered joining any clubs or trying out for anything, i just rotted away sitting at the exact same bench for 9 months straight.
then my sophomore year started. it was looking the same as it always does, except now i had to deal with classes like Chemistry and whatever the hell Paschal Mystery is. (it's some religious thing.) (yes i go to a catholic school, despite the fact that i might as well be athiest.) however, as soon as september started, i decided to audition for my school's fall production. all i had to do was recite two monologues by memory, and i had a couple days to get them down. so, on september 5th, auditions started, and i was one of the last kids to go on. after i gave it my best shot, the two guys sitting in front of me said thanks and allowed me to go.
the next day, callbacks were emailed and hung up on the wall of the director's classroom. i saw my name beneath two of the characters, so i headed over to the theater after school and read a couple lines, even acting out a conversation with another student. once that was done, we waited a couple days for the official cast list to be posted. when i saw the list for the first time, my name was, very surprisingly, second on the list. it took me a couple moments to realize that... i was in the play. and so began my two-month theatrical journey.
over the course of the next two-and-a-half months, my fellow castmates and i rehearsed every day after school, going over our lines, blocking, costumes, and later down the line, makeup and mics. despite going home much later than i was used to, it didn't bother me much, probably because i was actually doing something with my life. i even made my first high school friend, which is probably the most depressing thing i've written on this blog (so far).
skipping ahead a few months, the last week of rehearsal had come and gone. it was now friday, november 22nd, and it was time for my first performance in years. i was shaking and nervous about literally everything, kinda like everyone else in the cast. fortunately, all three performances went off without a hitch, and the production was a great success. then the post-performance stuff happened- we took pictures, congratulated the people who lettered, etc. after the last show, the cast went to denny's, and i somehow ended up with the name "the milkman" after some odd, yet hilarious shenanigans. don't ask.
so that about wraps up my journey through the fall production. i'm extremely happy i decided to get off my ass and do something at school, and it certainly paid off. despite still feeling lonely and isolated at times, i'm in a better place than i was half a year ago. i met people, contributed to a big project, and even got some service hours! which, albeit not being a particularly exciting reward, frees me from having to do more useless, unimportant crap than i'd have to do normally.
to anyone out there struggling with loneliness or anxiety, just... do stuff. while it may seem dumb or a waste of time, just trying to do something can lead to better results than just doing nothing about your situation. trust me, i didn't learn that lesson for an entire year, and if you've read up to this point (or maybe even the Old Blog), you'll know how it affected me mentally.
sorry if that whole theatre section was a lot to read through, i figured i might as well tell the whole story instead of half-assing the details, like i usually would. plus, it made for a decently lengthy blog post.
with that out of the way, thank you for reading, and i'll see you next month after (a well-deserved) Christmas break.
i know i said "save [my games] for next month", but i kinda had to talk about this. i mean you did get a G1R update in the meantime.