movies over the break:

so far over the christmas break (and in recent weeks) i have seen:



The Water Horse was basically free willy meets the loch ness monster. I never need to see this movie again, however the creature reminded us of our dumb little black and white cat. a little slow in the mind, but still cute and friendly. and you can't give him up even if he is handicapped and overweight. ha!




Atonement was a great movie. Again, another one that I don't think i need to see again, but i was glad to see Vanessa Redgrave making a cameo appearance at the end of the film. this movie represents one of my greatest fears. having a false accusation towards me end up causing a huge change in my life that was unneeded and unexpected. great acting though--even from ms. knightly. and mr. tumnus (lion, witch, wardrobe) was great.




Juno just might be my favorite movie from 2007. No that's unfair to my other favorites from 2007. It was a top three though of the year. i would consider this to be the sleeper film like little miss sunshine was last year and sweep up everything it's nominated for at the golden globes and oscars. the little pregnant chick had the greatest comedic timing, not to mention a handful of great one liners. everyone should see this film. period. it's pg-13 so you have no excuse.




Sweeney Todd....sigh....i don't know what to write about this film. I loved it for what it was worth. I hated some of the musical liberties they took. actually i didn't really enjoy a lot of the liberties they took, but tim burton did say that this was the "FILM" sweeney todd and not the stage play and that there would be differences. Toby was my favorite. I really liked that part and how they changed it for a smaller child with a higher register. i also enjoyed a lot of the intricate details that are possible in film, but not on stage. Mainly the production design. the sets where amazing. hands down fantastic. there was WAY too much tim burton blood. my friend kris thought the same thing i did! it's like the scene from addams family where pugsley and wendy cut off each other's arms and the blood sprays out like it's coming out of a pressured hose. there was SO much blood. almost so much that it made it comical and took away from the suspense and horror of the story that is sweeney todd, the demon barber of fleet street. he kills people! it's supposed to be scary! not funny! anyway. see it if you want a lot of blood, but don't get your hopes up if you're expecting it to be like the stage play verbatim.




i'm not going to say much about I'm Not There. It was very artsy. And edited so strange. I understood the overall idea of what the movie was trying to present, but apparently I don't know enough about bob dylan for the movie to make complete sense to me. i feel like i need to research him and his life now. maybe that's what the movie is encouraging? i don't know...maybe it just means i didn't really grow up in the bob dylan era like my folks, and even though i know a hand full of his songs, i'm more aquainted with his son's music talent in the band "the wallflowers." 6th avenue heartache. i still love that song. oh and cate blanchett is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. she is the best thing about this film in her portrayal of dylan--hands down.




I loved I Am Legend...until I saw the creatures. then all i wanted to do was pinch their cute little ugly faces. they were all CGI and completely unbelievable. i mean come on! you're already spending millions of dollars on making new york city look abandoned and destroyed. what's a little more to use real humans and real actors and dress them all up like any other zombie movie like the 28 days later and 28 weeks later. Will Smith is surprisingly really good. it's just the dang "bad guys." they're no good. it did make me ponder though a little about the "what if" of the development of science and technology. what if one day while finding a cure for cancer or some awful disease like AIDS it has a deadly side affect and wipes out most of mankind? it is a feaseable concern i believe. it isn't going to be global warming that kills us--it's going to be the human race. just a thought..... see it if you like sci-fi movies and will smith talking to manikins like they are real human beings. just be prepared to see some cheesy looking night creatures.

things i love about utah:

One of the things that I try to do (and fail miserably at most of the time) is no matter what to find the good in people, places, things, etc. i gripe and moan about living in utah a lot of the time. it has its quirks--no doubt about it. sometimes i have good reasoning to complain, but other times i don't. over the break i've had some moments of "utah is great!" here they are:

1. for the first time since i moved here I went sledding today up american fork canyon. apparently it's this amazing popular place called the bowl. everyone goes, but i never have! so i made everyone get together and go with me. it was great! it was nice snow and not the icy kind at happy jack up the summit in laramie. and then we went on a little wilderness trek through the snow and in some spots it would come up mid thigh. i haven't had that much fun in the snow in a long time--in fact i think ever.

2. salt lake is a clean downtown. been up there both days this weekend. if i were to get a job with #3 or something related i think i would be okay living in the downtown area of salt lake. at least for a while.

3. sundance. had a TON of fun last year. hopefully I will get my hands on some tickets for this year since i spaced signing up for the utah locals ticket sales. i have some sources. i'm not too worried.

4. wasatch front. the mountains are gorgeous. especially right now when they are covered in snow.

5. opportunity. moving to utah has given me opportunities that i know wyoming would have never been able to offer. i figured out what i really want to do when i "grow up" or maybe i should say graduate from college because of what i've been able to involve myself with here. plus i've made some great, great friends because of it.

and the countdown continues: t-minus 1.5 years until graduation.

a new take on christmas eve

yesterday instead of our normal christmas eve tradition of cooking mexican food ourselves, we headed north to salt lake to eat chipotle! a great new tradition that i think we should do every year. less mess to clean up.

also. i went hot-pot-tubbing at 12:30 am last night in lehi. I have heard about said hot-pots but never went. I went with a few friends, and after the freezing walk to the hot-pot was grateful for the natural warmth. so much that i didn't want to leave!

look alikes

this is my favorite picture from the holiday break so far. are we siblings or what?

Collage

Here is my final film project:

for some reason it is really dark on my blog, so you can watch it at this link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ldzDaGi5zc

i'm done!

i took my final test today! and also i got 100% on my final film cut. that makes me happy.


i'm going to celebrate and see sweeney todd. right now.

best of 2007

This list includes both my favorite things of 2007 along with new music artists i stumbled across for one reason or another. It's not a complete list seeing how a lot can happen in 365 days, but here are a few highlights....

HAIRSPRAY!



This may easily be my favorite thing from 2007. I saw it too many times, and my mom even can be spotted dancing to it while it's playing in the house. Stacey even bought me this book as a joke. But i loved it!

MISSY HIGGINS



I stumbled upon Missy while working. A co-worker was playing some of her music and I asked for a copy. She's probably been around a while, but I just found her this year and I love her.

3:10 to Yuma



Everyone needs a good western every once and a while. This movie was brilliant.

Into the Wild



This movie really affected my life, I think. I mean, i'm not really one to get up and move to alaska after college. But I felt like I could compare his wants and desires to my own. After I graduate, I'll probably up and move somewhere. Even if everyone else thinks it's a bad idea or whatever. I'm itching to leave my comfort zone that I've created here in Utah and have new life experiences, meet new and exciting people, and basically grow up. Great flick. Maybe i should read the book?

Spring Awakening



A show very similar to me to Into the Wild. A show about growing up, figuring out who you are, and breaking free of people telling you what is right and what is wrong. This show is also special because it was the first show I ever saw on Broadway. oh! which brings me to my next best thing of 2007.

NEW YORK CITY



What a city...so much energy and so much activity. I think my A.D.D. brain thrives in such a place. The daily chaos of the city ironically is something I really enjoy. I'll live there sooner or later.

Other things without pictures:

2007 was the year I actually began to feel like a college student even though I've been doing this for almost 4 years now. I was accepted into an awesome program where I get to study and learn about media, and can thrive in an environment where I feel like I am talented and can grow in potential in both theatre and film.

2007 was the year that I stopped driving the burb and finally got behind the seat of a nice honda accord to take me to and from school.

2007 was the year I became an uncle to 5 kids.

2007 was the year my teeth finished straightening.

2007 was the year I lost my "freshman fifteen."

2007 was the year I helped get a full-featured length film to play in a movie theater.

2007 was the year I saw nickel creek in concert at Kingsbury hall. and they were AMAZING!

2007 was the year I went to New York twice.

2007 was the year stacey and I drove to vegas on a 24 hr straight road trip for in-and-out.

2007 was the year I didn't buy an iPhone.... sigh....

2007 was the year....

Nutcracker

Come One Come All!!

new year's resolutions

I thought I would crack these out early this year. Just because one of them may actually take some planning. I would also like to mention before starting that Brandon has started a chain reaction with his consume less save more campaign. Some of my resolutions go hand in hand with the campaign. Here they are in no order:

#1 Stay healthy. 2007 was a good year for me health wise. (except for right now because i've had this lame cold for weeks.) I'd like to continue what I've already accomplished so far. Maybe I'll add get buff to that.

#2 Drive less. Ride more. This one entails riding the bus when possible. Next semester I think this is definitely a possibility. I may have to take a hiatus during the summer when I'm running around with my head cut off with Castle responsibilities, but this is at least possible for Jan-May and August-December.

#3 Spend Less, Save more. I like being able to go on fun trips through out the year. Trips for 2008 already look to include New York in May, Illinois sometime, and maybe disneyland with stacey. I spend so much money eating out. I have cut back on this significantly to keep with #1, but I think I can cut back even more. Also, hopefully #2 will ultimately help with #3. By taking the bus I should be saving on gas and car repairs. Not that the honda has needed much beyond some breaks work. The little guy rocks, and does surprisingly well in the snow. (You just have to know how to drive in it! HA! sorry jon...that's a stab at when you guys stayed an extra few days with us because of sliding off the road. we were glad that you stayed though)

#4 Write to eric more often. Granted, i never really wrote to jon either. but since it's an email address i have no excuse.

#5 Read more. I put this at the end because there is a large possibility that it will not happen. but i am resolved at trying atleast. If anyone has any suggestions I'm game.


So there they are in a nutshell. Coming up soon. My list of "best of 2007."

things left to finish by the 21st:

-tell my work that i am changing jobs, get someone hired to replace me, and train them.
-start training at my new job. say good bye to publications and graphics and hello to university communications. (i have a feeling that p&g will never fully be out of my life. especially if i want to use the hvx :) )
-rough cut of 185 project turned in, fine cut finished
-final anthro paper written
-religion class final
-114 final paper
-paper for barta for castle credit


i think that's all.

so i'm putting this out there for discussion.

on sunday i was lucky enough to catch a tim allen double feature on cable.(funny how i actually was kind of excited to watch them...they bring back fun memories from a decade ago.) but then i realized when my mom pointd this out to me that tim allen is the same character in every movie. so true...so true. funny as he can be, there is no depth to his character choices. so i started to think about other actors who fit this mold.

tim allen
chris farley
mandy moore
steven segal
ben affleck
hayden christensen
keanu reeves
sandra bullock
lindsey lohan.


okay those are just to name a few.

a like to have options

so i'm really amazed.

a few months ago i met with the wife of the man I would now call my supervisor at work (mainly meaning if I need anything i go to him, other than that he really doesn't know how or what I do with speeches. but speeches deserves its own post soon.) she's a really nice lady. she works for university communications. i put working for her just because it was a really busy time (not like now is any easier...) but she contacted me last week again and asked if i was still interested in working for her. well i gave her the big shpeal on the whole roundabout theatre hold up, and then asked her about just working/training during the christmas break until I know for sure about the internship. she was so nice about it and said that she thought that was a great idea, and really had no problem with me leaving for the winter term, and she still wants to hire me.

it's one of those nice and warm fuzzy kind of feelings to know that my previous work has impressed her enough to work around my conflicts. "I am interested in having someone become an expert on our system who will work as an editor and also help us with the technical side of the system. I know you have a lot of talents and would be a good fit on both the technical and creative side.."

so yes, it seems as though i will never fully leave "technical support," but its the kind of technical support I don't mind doing because it's CREATIVE technical support if that makes sense. plus i get free training on avid. sweet. sweet.

<><><><><><><><>

i like having options. i think no matter what, speeches will soon be out of my life. sad, but necessary. and! i'm trying to stay positive about the new york thing. if i don't get the internship, I have a few options for working up at sundance in january. so there ya go.

a realization

I'm 22.


if i were to follow the examples of my older siblings i would be married by now.

two weeks and counting

my mom is a genius. this most likely isn't that much of a surprise to hear me say that. but for the second year in a row now we have set up the christmas tree in a matter of seconds. (minus the ornaments.) how you ask? It's pre-lit! no more matching up colored or numbered tree limbs to their correct hole. no more swearing! (well for tree related incidents) no more hatred towards setting up the tree.

pre-lit trees. i think i'll invest.

also i think my vitamin water is a little better than my parent's vitamin water.

internship update

i broke down and called today. here's a blip of the conversation:

"hey allison, i'm just following up with you to see where we stand with the internship. i'm trying to figure out my schedule for next semester and if i should get the paperwork started for the internship or not."

"i'm glad you called! it's been really busy around here with the thanksgiving break. we just finished our first round of interviews, and i've passed your name on to the stage manager. you should expect to hear from them for your second interview (phone interview) within the next couple of weeks."

"okay great, thanks."

"and please feel free to call me if you have any other questions or you don't hear from them after a few weeks."

"thanks allison."

.......

what i wish i could have said:

"another couple of weeks?! that's fine, who needs more than a few weeks to prepare to move across the country? ... not me, i guess!"

.......


so i guess there is still hope.

thanksgiving weekend

i decided the music player was too much, so it is gone. last week at this time i was in central park. that's a fun thought to have!

end of the semester distractions

I have been trying so hard to get my homework done. which i have...just intermixed with episodes of heroes. thanks to ben and melanie and their first season dvd's, i have been able to start the process of catch up.

i've decided that dvd tv is even better than tivo tv. why have i not been a dvd tv guy before?

some other shows i need to netflix:

house
alias
30 rock
notes from the underbelly
ugly betty
project runway
the west wing
the Tudors
Extras
Monk

wow. that's a lot of tv.

really though?

i'm just sayin....

NEW YORK, with a side of thought

i just had a funny thought come to me. it's 1:30 salt lake time, which is really 3:30 to me so i should be sleeping. (mom that goes out to you...) it's kind of a momma stone inside joke. most won't laugh, but i think it's great.

well trip #2 to new york was definitely different than trip #1. i didn't feel like i had to get EVERYTHING in, in fact i had no schedule. not one thing planned besides my interview time. annie and i spent a lot of time talking about living in new york, the experience that it has given her, and the fact that it is possible. i don't want to think much about living there right now since i'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch.

for a while there i was feeling like i lived there. i sat in annie's house watching lost with no desire to go out with that feeling like i was missing something going on in the city. we watched all four last episodes of season one. which on a side note, now i need to watch seasons two and three. i picked up on some things i hadn't paid attention to or didn't think seemed important. plus arzt gets blown up in the last episode. haha. yay!

i think what i really want to say about nyc is that sooner or later i will most likely live there. it may not be now, and it will probably not be forever. but there is something so unique and amazing about that area that makes me so excited. graduation can not come soon enough.

i think that's all i want to say about my trip. i wonder when i'll be back...

NEW YORK!

i smell like airport. you know that stale smell? i volunteered to bump to a later flight. in doing so i was given a refund of my flight plus 200 dollars all put on a voucher for a future flight. not bad! it did mean that i not only was laid over in chicago, but also denver. and the flight attendant from denver to slc was abusing his loudspeaker usage rules. suffice it to say, i'm glad i'm not flying anymore. but free flight here i come!

blogging after a trip is hard. i don't really know how to break it up. i could break it up by day, but i think i'll skip that and just hit key moments that i wrote down in my moleskin.





i think these two pictures sum up my trip. it was fun seeing madison and annie. i haven't seen annie in a think 2 years! they showed me a great time in the city and convinced me of moving to nyc if this internship comes through.

highlights from my trip:

jewish temple service at the 5th avenue synagogue
taco express
the met
the theatre strike
"no music" -- little kids dancing on the train for money.
Monty Q's
Tea & Sympathy
Magnolia Cupcakes
pinkberry

darwin the swan in central park
my interview with Roundabout Theatre
party on Roosevelt Island with Annie
Club Element -- dancing with annie while madison hosted

for the rest of the pictures of my trip visit this link http://picasaweb.google.com/nickcstone

new york in a minute.

i'm still alive! i finally cracked open my laptop late this evening to write a paper quickly and email it to nicole who is going to turn it in for me on campus. i have some fun things to write about, and will post when i can find my usb cord for my camera to post fun pictures.

interview is tomorrow. yay.

well i'm headed back to the city for some fun this weekend. it's interesting how what seemed like a trip which served no purpose other than to have a break from school has turned into a trip with a purpose!

i'm trying really hard not to jump to any conclusions, but i still think it's amazing how i was able to set up an interview for the same time frame that i would be visiting. pretty cool.

the weather should be nice too. cold, most likely, but not nasty cold.

roundabout

http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/

So about a month ago I started thinking that I should maybe try to get an internship either in new york or la. as much as I would like to consider what I do around here professional (which many times it is...) it would be nice to tack a well known company on my resume. i haven't heard back from any of the plays i applied. today that changed, the roundabout theatre in new york called me! so i guess my scheduled trip out to new york now has a purpose instead of just a vacation. haha.

it would open a lot of doors for me in the future after graduation if i worked with them, so we'll see.

a compliment

today i received a compliment. one of my professors wrote a message on a photo assignment returned to us today where we had to take 5 photos featuring different visual elements (ie., color, shape, line, space, etc.) his note reads:

"Nick--

You sure have an eye for creating great composition within the frame. It always intrigues me how sometimes the ones who don't make many comments in class are the ones who really understand what I'm trying to teach. May I recommend you look into taking some other photography classes along with the cinematography classes. I think you will find them fascinating and extremely helpful.

B.U."

i'm not trying to hide his name, that's really how he signs everything. haha. but anyway, i always like when what i do is validated. granted i have an awesome camera, but i don't think i can give it all the credit :)

it wouldn't be a true post if it wasn't one in the morning, or close to it. michelle you can be proud, although i won't be coming north this weekend. i will be patiently waiting to hold annie when you guys come down for thanksgiving. :)

ain't gonna lie...school is busy! i'm frantically trying to finish projects and turn things in early so that i can have a fun "fall break" in new york starting next thursday. i think for the most part i have everything under control.

saw sweeney todd last night in park city. it made me happy inside. i just love that show! hopefully the castle will put it on next october (if i have anything to say about it...which really i don't.) when i got home i crawled into bed and turned on the halloween movie marathon on amc. here i was preparing to go to bed, but was so intrigued by the no name slasher film that i had to stay up and watch it! :) tonight amc is showing alien. not my favorite, so i don't feel like i have to stay up, plus i have class in less than eight hours. yummy.

another thought on school work and dedication. recently i have had a change in thought process when it comes to homework, projects, assignments, etc. and i've wondered if it is just me copping out. maybe a little, but then "carol of the bells" came up on my random playlist on itunes and i took a moment to listen remembering being in the studio with jules as she played while i sat in the booth. i am really proud of that project, and put a lot of effort into it. and who's to say that i shouldn't concentrate most of my efforts on the classes and projects that mean the most to me while making sure that I atleast pass the other classes which are not as important? d's get degrees, and so do c's. haha. what happened to the guy who freaked out if his grades weren't straight a's!? gone....long gone. and i don't think i miss him.

more hot PIES, more HOT, more PIES, MORE HOT PIES! -- sweeney todd the musical

i'm blogging instead of writing my papers. figures.

i spent the weekend up in logan to see urinetown, as well as some college friends. i need to stop going up to logan when it is so pleasant and pretty. a small part of me regrets my decision to come back south, but then i actually compare apples to apples of the actual schooling in my program of choice and know i'm where i should be, plus i have had some amazing experiences, adventures, and opportunities only because of deciding to transfer to the Y. i guess i just need to get up and visit logan more often, it's not so far away and a quick trip if you have someone to talk to on the phone. :)

today is a good day. i haven't exactly put my finger on why i feel like i need to proclaim it. maybe because of the changing leaves? maybe because one of my classes ended? maybe because timp is snow covered but it's not freezing down here in the valley? i don't really know...but today is a good day.

also i'm glad that the jonstone clan gets to experience what season changes are all about! again, i don't know why, but i'm glad they get to freeze during january like the rest of us! mmmm....

byu characters -- library security

i'm starting a new segment on my blog called byu characters. they will highlight people that i run into or just observe walking or working on campus.

today's character is the library's security guards. dressed in a white uniform shirt with dress slacks and usually boots they sport a walkie talkie attached to their shoulder, and (if properly certified) a container of mace attached to their belt. besides looking extremely "intimidating" as people come and go from the library, what do these security guards actually do? ...glorified book return. i'm guessing its actually 99% of their job. correction 95% of their job. the other 5% is to look intimidating.

weekend roundup

I had a very successful weekend. Success, i guess, is a relative word. I would say I was successful because I was able to focus long enough to finish all my midterm assignments along with having some time to have a little fun. griff wanted me to go hunting with him on saturday. i laughed when he asked because i didn't think he was serious -- he was. oh well. I still didn't go. we're not a family of hunters!

stacey and i had an interesting conversation this weekend about global warming. neither of us really know what we're talking about. it's something that i'm really starting to find interest in. what is and isn't true about what people say on this topic?

also i was watching 60 minutes tonight (don't really know why...) and this story http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/17/60minutes/main3378089.shtml (sorry i can't make it clickable right now.) valerie wilson used to work undercover for the cia. her story is about being directly involved years ago when they were making claims about iraq buying uranium from niger for weapons of mass destruction and how what we were hearing from our country's leaders wasn't exactly matching up with the information she was finding... anyway. fascinating stuff i think!

and now i must start preparing for a very busy two weeks as i try and turn assignments and take a test early so i can go to new york without having any worries, and have a personal fall break. haha.

my family is hot

i'm so glad we have an annie in our family!


seth, zane, maryn, jonas, and annie. if we follow this trend, michelle you have to get pregnant again here soon...

lucidity

Here is our 24 hr film. The quality online isn't that great, but you'll get the idea.

24 hrs film festival

it's seven am, and i'm just going to bed.

goodnight! (the film festival video to be posted soon...)

me and my hat.

i've never met a carrot i didn't like. except for this one!

plans for after graduation: work in an equity theatre for a year (mas o menos...that's spanish in honor of eric.) gain enough points to join AEA as a stage manager, then see where life takes me.

"then why am i in the film program?!"

i've been asking myself this question for the past few weeks. the only answer i can give myself is that a media arts degree will only compliment the experience i have in the theatre. graduate in film, work in theatre.




ironic isn't it?

a little bard

i spent the weekend in cedar city as a chaperone for the high school. it was Shakespeare competition, and not surprisingly, american fork took an overall first place in its division. i had the opportunity to see the fall show series while i was down there. as a whole group we saw Henry V. an interesting rendition of the show, but it was mainly SUU students. the following day i saw three shows. the mousetrap, the tempest, and art. all were great shows! the tempest isn't my favorite shakespeare play (ironically it was on my reading list from a few weeks ago) but it was a great production. technically speaking, changing between sets for each show is a NIGHTMARE! i can't imagine having to do it everyday. i went and watched the change over from mousetrap to tempest, and all i can say is that i shouldn't have complained so much about having to set up and take down the speaker system for caesar. it takes 1hr 15 minutes to change sets, change light gels, and then run through the lights and sound to make everything has been correctly set for the change over. insane!

it was nice to get away for a few days. almost so nice that i hated the part where i had to come back and do homework. the desire to continue school is a hard one sometimes. i look at my older brother and wonder how it is that he's been able to keep his nose to the grind and continue schooling. but he has a family to support, and so i know there has to be motivation from them to continue in school. i guess i just get frustrated sometimes because in some aspects i feel like some classes are a waist of my time and money. read this book, write this paper, take this test, rinse and repeat, and at the end of the semester forget everything. just so that at the end of the process i can get a piece of paper that says i'm a well rounded individual and more capable of a job because i took some general ed classes. i've adapted a phrase from julianna (who is one year ahead of me in graduating.) in these classes which fill her life only with extra busy work she says "eh, it's good enough." and i don't know whether i should feel good or bad about adapting such a phrase into my attitude towards school. granted, i put a lot of effort into classes and projects i see worth my time and effort. but as for the others, as long as i pass that's all i really care about.

i guess a lot of how i'm feeling stems from this job i have. i don't enjoy it. i get paid really well, but i don't enjoy it. it adds unneeded stress in my life. i know i've asked for more to do to help the speeches part be acceptable, but i don't think anyone in the department talks about which students they have helping out on which projects. in the last week (on top of usual speeches crap and my computer crashing) joyce has asked me to help her with some alumni house updates, jeff has asked me to help with some music selections and other things for an upcoming spread in the magazine (for the web) about musicians on campus and hunting down different bands, artists, etc who go to byu, jed and i have to do another video segment for the psychology video since when we had them OK the video so we could lock it for editing they didn't have a problem with the fact that there were more men being interviewed than women and now they do, chad wants me to create some video commercials from old footage with new titles that i got from dave which are going to look like crap with the old footage and the old raw footage was from a project from charles which no one can seem to find so i'll have to use the compressed video, and hopefully brandon did the color correction for the marriott school so i can give them a final copy to send to the printer for distribution (which they originally were not planning on.), and all of this while staying on top of my classes and only working 20 hrs a week. what a joke! this is a work load for a full time employee. work that would be manageable during the summer when i don't have school. the secretary for publications and graphics wrote me an email saying that apparently a couple of people (probably old people) have called some byu relations office wherever that is saying that they are frustrated because there isn't always someone answering the phone when they try to make an order. well can they see why!? i do my best to stay on top of it all, but i really just want it all to go away. i feel validated that so many people need my help for projects, but it's like they don't realize that i'm also in charge of speeches and need to be around to answer the stupid phone for the old people.

i guess being in cedar city made me yearn to be somewhere else with a whole new set of problems and a whole new set of complaints. working backstage on a show at a professional theater being fully dedicated in a much more concentrated environment rather than having 6 different people expecting me to cram 40 hours of week into 20 hours a week (oh and not to mention i only work tues, thursdays, and fridays.) as much as i enjoy my pay check i'm still not sure it's worth it. i guess i do know that it was the better choice between staying and doing speeches and going to work for byu broadcasting.

time warp, two years from now. life will be better! and i will be in the position (with a degree under my belt) i want to be to go work anywhere i want! for now i just have to keep telling myself to suck it up (and to frequent the job board byu's website just in case something amazing appears)

the ulcer can go away now

For the past two weeks I have been regretting waking up and coming to work because my computer crashed (not my fault!) and everyday when i come to work I have been trying to figure out how the heck I was supposed to salvage my files. i won't go into detail about how final cut works, but basically my two big project files were missing all their media. Projects which have cost a lot of money! i wasn't at fault, but i was expected to fix the problem (because our programmer has no knowledge of final cut.) well today, two weeks later, i finally FINALLY found a way to make Final Cut recognize all the files again. basically i had to reimport every missing file, and then manually relink them to where they belong on the time line keeping in mind that there were hundreds of files to relink. something that may sound easy, oh no. it took me all day. i've just finished the marriott video, and now it's on to the psych film. oh well. at least it's fixable and the nasty pain in my side can go away.

22 and counting

well i made it to 22. and i still haven't been incarcerated for illegal fireworks! amazing. i've been listening to beyonce today on my ipod pretending like she's singing to me on my birthday. other than that, it's just another day, and actually i'm really okay with that.

also, i'm glad my parents to get married on my birthday :). a tribute to them on this the day of their anniversary.

a funny observation

as i was walking from the hfac to the jsb today (okay i realize that that will only orient a handful of people who read my blog) i noticed a funny thing. the campus is fairly student heavy from about 9-3, which also makes for the pathways between buildings to be congested. funny part is, we create a natural flow of walking to the right of the sidewalk in whichever way we're going. so if this is true, do they walk on the left side of the walk ways at oxford? if anyone knows the answer, please let me know!

blog appreciation day

blogging is great. don't you all agree? i can count on the blog to keep me updated with my friends, even though I don't get to see them much. (which all depends on if they keep it updated!)

with the conclusion of caesar, i've realized that i can have a pretty normal semester. i don't know whether this is a good thing or not. having that extra element which makes the mundane routine of school manageable is almost a necessary element in my life. of course, it does give me more time for evening play time. for instance, this weekend i am going down to st. george to see 42nd street. something i couldn't do if i was involved with a show, so I guess breaks are good. i actually think it will be a large break from a show probably until next summer. more time to focus on my two year goal of graduating.

just as a side note, saturday was strike for caesar, and i had a validating experience. strike with incredibly smoothly! (with the help of neal, and his high school entourage) we tackled the set and had everything locked by 12:04. the validation comes from the fact that i was the go to guy for questions. people were coming to me with what to do and where to put what. it was a moment of, yes, i'm going to school getting the right degree. i have a brain for production, and honestly i'm really good at it. (with a few exceptions which involve my ADD tendancies. haha) if only i could graduate sooner.

some more castle memories

the first two i love, the second two are extremely cheesy!

life turned upside down

What I've dreaded ever since I've started helping up at the castle happened on Saturday Night. Tracey, our lead, went off the back wall of the stage! Now for those of you who have never been up to the castle, it will help for you to know that at the back of the stage there is about a 15-20 foot drop to the lower level. the whole castle is made of rock. horror! i have been in shock for the past few days. miraculously she didn't land on her head, and only broke her elbow!

so now we'll see, i guess, if we will be having three more performances or not!

billy brown -- mika

hooray for friday. i am listening to mika at my office right now at a fairly high decibel because everyone else downstairs has left for the evening. i will enjoy in two weeks when i can leave and go do what i please. i usually hang out here thursdays and fridays until i have to go to my show seeing how it is pointless to go home.

today in the bookstore upon finishing the purchase of the rest of my textbooks, on a whim bought a calendar. in an effort to keep all my reading in check, i am going to write out by hand when all my reading assignments are due. my mom is really good at using a calendar, why can't i? i can do it! (i hope i really can and won't forget about it in three days.)

i also bought a new moleskin notebook. in my other efforts to personally evolve into a wiser, more creative, more spiritual human being i am going to start "blogging" on paper again things i come across (quotes, pictures, random thoughts) on a more personal level.


i'll have to follow up in a few weeks with how i'm doing with these two new efforts.

something something study habits?

so after only the first day of school i can say a few things. there is NO WAY i would have been able to pull off seagull. no way at all, and the class i replaced seagull with is awesome.

this semester, however, i will be doing more reading than i have ever done in my entire life. i guess that's a good thing since i'm in the last two years of college, and feel like i haven't been challenged academically so far.

Here is a run down of my classes and my "beginning of the semester" take on their difficulty.

TMA 105: Media Tools. Okay this class is sort of a joke. Yesterday we learned how to put a battery in a camera and turn it on. Not even kidding you. Exact words "and this is where the power button is located." It's also a first block class which means it's over by october 23rd. I wonder if next week I'll learn how to turn on a computer.

TMA 114: Reading and Constructing Narratives. This class is going to kick my butt in the reading department. There are 2 plays or stories to read each week along with the movie we watch on wednesday. A lot of reading, and a lot of journaling about what I'm reading about. I'm not sure how this class will begin to take shape but I really enjoyed the first day's lecture. Dean Duncan rocks.

TMA 185: Beginning Production. The third class in the required core (other two above.) This class is also going to kick my butt in the reading department. Along with the daily readings and outlining of what I read, there are film projects due throughout the course. The teacher is new to the faculty this year and so far so good. Just a lot of reading.

TMA 187: Producing, Production Management. This class is going to rock! We only meet once a week, for three hours 6-9pm. Besides that nasty factor, and the also incredible amounts of reading to add to the others I really am going to love this class! or at least ti hope.

ANTHROPOLOGY 101: A general ed which covers two requirements. YAY! also a ton of reading. Two books, a pamphlet, a trip to the bean museum, and a crazy russian teacher. not expecting to like this class one bit. Just doing it to get it done.

REL 333: Teachings of the Living Prophets. This class will hopefully be mellow as it seems to be. We are mostly graded by our "journal" and our responses to what we READ. (more reading.) there are only two tests! a midterm and a final. i'm down with that. and having a lady religion teacher will be a nice change.


a busy semester ahead of me, that's for sure. and away we go.

and then there were....still a few

after my last post about needing change in my life, i figured out where the change will happen:

1. i am in the process of getting rid of anything that i have not worn in the last year. on top of that, i have made a pile of clothes to give to jon who will be freezing this winter. i have two big bags for the DI, and as hard as it was to get rid of the 11 pairs of shoes and heaps of clothing, it was time for many reasons. Plain and simple a lot of them just don't fit anymore.

2. i want to paint my bedroom. i'm planning on sticking it out until graduation (yikes!) so making my room an actual room which feels more like mine will help.

3. i'm thinking about taking apart the bed as it is now and buying a frame from ikea.

attack of the hair!

what am i thinking?

.....i'm working towards that party in the back.....

reissue

Dad helped me renew my license by mail. This new nasty pink license will expire in the year 2012. I have taken the liberty of showing you what my license would look like if i would have taken a new picture today. I don't think i look extremely different..the smile is the same. But i'm pretty sure, i atleast look older than the picture that will be on my license until 2012 (i will be 27.) hahaha. that makes me laugh. we'll see how long i can stand my 16 year old picture.

in response to jon's blog

pre-school thoughts

as in the week before school starting thoughts. not that pre-school. my memories of being that young are few and far between, but i actually do have a couple of random memories of pre-school. anyway....

it's been interesting to see how my job here at publications and graphics has transformed into what it is today. the job title on route Y is "Media Production Specialist." which is funny, it should be "guy who will figure out how to do it because no one else has time....oh and does speeches." last year i wouldn't have thought that I would be doing what i am doing now, but it does allow me the freedom i need for school and extra curricular activities (such as julius caesar and random trips already brewing for fall semester.) plus i don't have a boss anymore. that's kind of fun.


this time last year i was really excited to start here at byu--my first semester after transferring from usu. in my mind, i had made the right decision, and at the time i was set on studying electrical engineering and sound recording technology. lucky for me, i decided that would be no good, and very quickly began plans for applying to the media arts program. (a success!) and since last year's credits were mainly audio classes, i have fulfilled much of my "emphasis" of my major. now all that is left is general eds, the core theater and media arts classes (TMA as noted on previous blogs), my religion requirements, and then whatever TMA classes i want to fill the rest of the credit hours with. if i stick on track to what i have planned out, i can graduate in two years. yay! it's nice to atleast see the direction to the light at the end of the tunnel (it will be atleast another year until that light is visable.)

as i am very well aware, i have a tendency to lose focus at the task at hand. i think this has come from a childhood of moving around, and always knowing that in a few years, i'd be somewhere else. in wyoming, after my first two years of high school we moved here to utah. i feel that desire to switch gears yet again. i have two years of school (credit wise) finished and some days feel like it's time to pack up and move somewhere else. it's almost a natural feeling, so the fact that i have to remind myself i still have two more years of school is a challenge for me. on the plus side, i think the fact that i actually have direction in my program and that what i'm learning this year will be a switch in gears will help this problem and mindset i have. i'll keep telling myself that... :)

also i'm an idiot! all this time i should have been getting internship credit for working at the castle. blast!

slap in the face

My Planned Graduation

i'm posting this just so i can reference whenever I need it:

Fall 06
Music 160
Music 251
Music 256
Music 351
Rel 121

9 Credits


Winter 07
Music 160
Music 257
Music 352
TMA 568
Rel 122
Ex 105
TMA 102
TMA 112

14.5 Credits


Fall 07
Anthro 101
TMA 105
TMA 185
TMA 114
TMA 187
Rel 333

15 Credits


Winter 08
Biology 101
Phy Sci 101
A Htg 101
Rel 211
TMA 292

14 Credits


Spring 08
TMA 201
TMA 291

6 credits


Summer 08
TMA 202
TMA 293

6 credits


Fall 08
Rel 324
TMA 391
TMA 477
TMA Elec
English 311

14 Credits



Winter 09
Rel Elec
TMA 498
Rel Elec
TMA Elec
Engl 324

13 Credits

above the law mentality

i must end this above the law mentality. i recieved a message in the mail saying that i have recieved 5 tickets in the past year on campus and that if i get two more i will lose my parking privlages, and if my car is found on campus, they'll impound.

yet i'm still not scared. and i need to still go fight two of them. blast!

the deed is done

well i stepped down from the seagull today. it took a lot of something to push the send button to tracey, but I can already feel the weight lifting from my shoulders. which right now is something i really need.

today tech week continues over from last thursday. i am completely exhausted, as to be expected. tech week's are known for how terrible they are. i think the sound designer is the pain in my side right now. when asked almost three weeks ago if we needed to sit down and work through what barta wanted his response was "no i'll be good for tech." bad news. the thing that takes the cake is his version of being ready. saturday he told me he was "ready." well ready to me should be "okay sound 1 standy, sound 1 go" etc, or something close to that. instead, he has a bunch of buttons on his screen that he's going to push to create a "masterpiece" and basically live mixed cues every night. this concerns me for more than one reason, but mainly because he is really the only one that can run sound. if he were to die tomorrow, we would be up a creek. (well i could probably finagle it to work, but that's beside the point.) yes, this makes me nervous. yes, i lose sleep over this. but, like it always seems to happen, come thursday we will pull through somehow.

for now, i'm in a heightened state emotion.

my new headshot, kind of

i've never had a real headshot taken. a cast member's wife took our pictures for the website. i think they look decent. my bracelet even made it in mine. haha

these are just a few pictures from the weekend. i got asked at the last minute to MC an activity for all the single's wards in american fork. i usually don't go to church activities outside of sunday, so i said yes to fill my quota. haha. it was called "the dating game." basically i stood on stage and cracked jokes while we hooked people up. i would have never put my name in the drawing to be a contestant, but being the one with the mirophone was quite fun. i dressed up in my "east coast" attire and made stacey be the dj. earlier in the day, i had been up at seven am to get breakfast (bagels, juice, etc.) for my cast so that when they showed up at 8am for rehearsal, there would be something to give them a little energy. then after a nasty comment made to me by the production manager, i stayed in the heat of the day (with the help of neal when i called him) and hung all the lights we could for the show. we must have borrowed more than i thought for macbeth. by that time it was about 3 and i was extremely tired. i tried to take a nap, but had too much on my mind to rest. so i showered, and met stacey for dinner at chadders, frantically ran home, and made it just in time for this MC gig.

i do really well in front of people. i may not be the best entertainer or jokester, but i can keep things moving and give people a good laugh here and there. must be the actor in me :)

after the activity, stace and i hit up the movie theater and saw Stardust. i have to admit, it was better than i thought it would be. some have compared it to princess bride. i can kind of see where they're coming from, but not really. so i recommend this film to anyone who wants to be entertained for a couple hours.

theater, life, theater-life

life is a funny word. type it over and over again, and then look at it for a while and then all of a sudden it takes on a new meaning. sometimes this happens to me when i type or look at the same word for a long while. wow--absolutely nothing on topic for my blog.

i enjoy theater. i enjoy all the aspects from the live audience even down to the costume designs. i guess that's why i involve myself in such an artform. but i would like to poll my readers (all two of you haha) on a question that i find myself asking with every production i involve myself with.

is it possible to involve yourself in drama without there being extra drama involved? it never seems to fail that as successful as the shows i've be a part of have been, there is ALWAYS unneccessary drama.

here are a few examples:

music man @ afhs -- two weeks before we open, neal decided he was done and that if our show was "spit* on a shingle" (* edited for michelle) it was our own dang* fault. the show was fun, but pretty much went down in history as a joke. we made seven dollars. granted we bought like 6000 worth of supplies and a new spotlight...so we probably made more than 7 dollars, but that's what neal tells us.

secret garden @ the scera -- first of all the drama with the warby's making an exit (the reason i did the show ultimately because there was a role to fill) one of our leads who we called "the chad" ALWAYS being late. lucky for me i was just acting and wasn't responsible for him :) and my favorite little girl.... SLAGOWSKI!

scarlet pimpernel @ the scera -- this show it was me, sadly, who was part of the drama. this was the nasty time when krystyna and i really started to part ways and she was in the show with me and was my dance partner for most numbers. an effort to save our relationship, nasty ending. mel also reminded me of the awful head butting between neal and mindy for who knows what reason.

macbeth @ the castle -- the whole delemma with strike. not even going to really get into this one. the wounds between me and the people it affected have been fixed and i'll leave it at that.

my fair lady @ the scera -- i don't remember a whole lot of drama happening with the show actually. i think the hardest part was having neal direct his wife and watch how they would sometimes fight. not the best of scenarios i think, but ultimately this show was fairly drama free. and as i remember a lot of fun too!

west side story @ usu -- riff came down with laryngitis. this was kind of fun drama, to be honest. i got to sing his songs into a microphone back stage while watching a monitor showing me the director from the pit. i couldn't see what he was doing on stage. we probably weren't together, but the sound coming from the speakers was GREAT! :) i made some good frineds from this show.

julius caesar @ the castle -- our production stage manager is falling apart as a person, leaving me to pick up the slack. something i ultimately don't mind doing because i want the show to be a success, but this person is also in the show and its affecting her acting and just her as a person. no one really wants to be around her because we're not sure if she's going to snap or laugh or whatever.

seagull @ byu -- haven't had much drama.... so far :) the only drama i see is that this show overlaps with caesar by a week or so. but that really isn't avoidable drama so i'm okay with it.

the rest of the unneccessary drama needs to go.... or does it? is it that drama that us theater geeks thrive on? i think part of me has to say yes. most of the time (when it doesn't directly involve you) it's entertaining to be a bystander. so as much as i really want this unneccessary drama to go away, it probably won't and i think i'm okay with that.

on a side note, film has a very similar unneccessary drama i'll save that for another post.

so two things i want to know from you: 1. is this "unneccessary drama" something that happens all the time?
2. i want examples. it doesn't have to be from a show. it can be any kind of performance. but i know it exists everywhere!

wednesdays

wednesdays are fun days for me to drive to work. from the moment i exit the freeway, there will be cars that will basically be following me to work. this, of course, is because many of these cars are going to the mtc to drop off missionaries. i try to observe the different cars and the emotions that the passengers are showing. some are happy, others are obviously crying, and then there are those cars that look like no one is saying anything. they're all just deep in thought. the best part of this drive on wednesdays is that I turn left into my work's parking lot before reaching 900 east. that's as far as i have to go. :)

audience participation necessary

So i'm in need of some new material to read on a daily basis. Now that I have learned how to utilize google reader properly, i would like some input on websites that you all (the 3 people that read my blog) visit on a daily basis be it for news, technology, music, etc.

help a brotha out.

a few thoughts that have been in my head

couple of thoughts for the day.

another successful 24th of july fireworks show. no cops. and! griff and i jimmy rigged what i bought to set off 8 of the big fireworks (some single some multi shot) to all go off at once. it was a great finale!

aside from that i've been thinking about my friendship ring and how it seems to go through waves of changes depending on what i'm doing with school or work, etc., and also just in general as I get older and grow up. granted i still have my core set of friends like griff, stacey, jules, mel, and ben who i can go days, weeks, or sometimes months (years in the case of griff) without seeing or hanging out with and we just pick up where we left off. i like those kinds of friends. i sometimes get frustrated with people when they say "why are you never around anymore?" "are you ditching us?" blah blah blah. jr. high crap like that. the fact of the matter is right now with a new job, two shows to prepare for, and a new semester of 18 credits to look forward to in the fall, my "me" time is precious because there's not much of it.

i'm really starting to realize who my real friends are. i like that. i'm finding out more and more that as much as i have the characteristics of an extrovert, i'm really an introvert in disguise who would much rather have five or six close friends rather than 20 "friends."

ok and now to the point of the friend thing. i see one of my friends as a huge extrovert, and this person has many different friendship circles, but i see people who are trying to be their friend getting upset because the friendship is more of a "when it is convenient for them" kind of thing. i sometimes wonder if in the past i've done this to my own friends, and i'm 100% sure the answer is yes. it sure is a mean thing to do. and i'm going to work on it, just as i hope my friend works on it as well. wow, those last few paragraphs would be great for a drinking game. a shot for every time the word "friend" is used.

******************

i'm really excited for this job to begin. tomorrow i'm going to go and fill out the official paperwork to be an employee. i'm also being "briefed" to be brought up to speed on the way the office works, what's expected of me, and then i'll just take off from there. yes, the actual show i will be helping to produce is quite cheesy. google: byu broadcasting living essentials. that will be my project for the next few months as we are preparing to shoot the next 12 episodes. (i'm in charge of 6.) i will do my best to take as much cheese out of the programs as possible, but also as I have learned from doing byu speeches, the crowd for day time kbyu programming is the demographic of older people with nothing better to do. so some of the cheese is a necessary part of the programming.

*******************

i went boating with jules and her family down at utah lake today. every time i get in the water i never want to leave. there's nothing better than cruising around in the boat, during the hot summer months, having tube wars. california would definitely be a great place for me to live someday. hopefully i'll have a nice job so i can buy a nice house with enough rooms for all my family to come and stay and visit. depends on what life has in store for me after i graduate in a few years.

*******************

i was talking to jon about this the other day. i think it's a decent discussion to have just to see what others' responses are. okay...the question is:

do you think there is a difference between an r rated book and an r rated movie?

i don't feel like i can accurately answer this question because i don't read for pleasure. haha. i don't read books at all actually. i try. that's a post for another day. so i'd like other's opinion on the question as stated above.

triple threat

well i got the student producer job. i'm really excited! now i'll have experience in theatre, film, and television. word.

some good news

some good news to post:

1. i heard back from byu broadcasting. i am interviewing tomorrow. (well today)

2. no rehearsal for the rest of the week!

3. my 1/2 tuition scholarship renewed itself. so only 960 in tuition each semester!



definitely some good news....

so i have an interview tomorrow for a manager's position. it would be off campus and probably make life school really difficult. if they offer it to me, i'll think about taking it. but then i found this (which i would take before i take the manager's job.)

Student Producer Job ID: 7908
BYU Broadcasting is looking for qualified and capable students with an interest in documentary/informational television production. Students would work as producers for new programs being created for KBYU and BYU TV. This position can provide great mentoring experience working closely with a supervising producer. Responsibilities would include research, contacting content experts, organizing film shoots, budgeting, and script writing. This is an exciting opportunity for any student wishing to gain experience in TV production.
Qualifications:
Qualified applicants will be organized, capable self-starters who can work effectively with a supervising producer, other students, and outside individuals. Applicants must have good communication skills, a desire to learn, and a willingness to work hard. Students must be reliable and available 20 hours/week during fall and winter semester, with the possibility of more hours spring/summer.

so we'll see where life takes me. all i know is that i can only do speeches for so much longer.

amen.

i was an extremely cute child

ain't gonna lie. i was a cute kid--the end. i am putting together a timeline of photos from the early years to the point i'm at now. my awkward years were definitely in the range of 11-21. i told michelle last night, that i think i'm getting better with age. haha. 22 this year and i'm really pleased with how healthy i've been able to be and more importantly maintain since january.

life continues to stay busy. sometimes for me it's restless busyness if that makes sense... basically i'll define that as being busy, but still feeling like you're forgetting something or someone. so yes, i'm busy--but not necessarily the type of busy i normally like to be.

more photos of my childhood to come! yay! :)

4th of July --- Part Two

after my breakthrough this morning...very early in the morning, the production stage manager started giving me more responsibilities and cues for the show (while doing the correct thing, and switching responsibilities so that the idiots were the ones sunning themselves and i was the one doing what they should have been doing without having to bug shari (the prod sm) ). sadly, i could only spend an hour today in the sun doing nothing unlike tuesday where i spent all day in the sun. tuesday was a terrible terrible day. wednesday, the fourth, was a surprising 180 degree turn (after i finally had tasks and a challenging yet doable set of cues!) the show was a success in the eyes of the directors and the main clients who make stadium of fire work.

if they called me again next year, would i say yes? well let's get through this year first. at the end of the night, we all went over to the hotel restaurant and had a great time together as stage managers. shari and tom (the two prod stage managers) told me as they hugged me goodbye to keep them as contacts if i ever need a great resume reference. it just took the stupid breakthrough this morning, and i went from hating it to having a great experience. i think i would do it again if they called me for next year, if only to keep the reference fresh seeing how in the world of entertainment it's all about who you know.

4th of July

Well I have a little time this morning...sort of the calm before the storm, so I thought I'd open up my laptop and write a little about life.

This experience working stadium of fire has been...challening. but not in the usual sense of hard or stressful. it's been a challenge because I'm frustrated. when I was called last week, the lady told me they were in "dire need" of stage managers to help. she also told me that they were three stage managers short. in my own personal opinion, we are three stage managers too many. on monday, i had to leave a few hours early to make it to a dentist appointment previously scheduled weeks ago that i wasn't going to reschedule. (no new cavities! that was enough to make my week!)

and that's where my frustrations begin...

because i had to leave early, i was automatically stamped at the "flaky, incompetent, and unreliable stage manager" and therefore I have basically the least amount of things to do the whole evening. some may think this to be a relief. it just flat out bugs me. i gave up two normal work days, and my own vacation day to be here to help, and i spent most of the afternoon yesterday sitting out sunning myself (i will be doing that again here soon...). i feel like i need to print out a resume to and show these production stage managers to prove myself and say "LOOK! i have experience! what you have given the three idiots who you think do a better job than me responsibility wise (who have missed several cues and are idiots on the radio) i could do by myself without you having to worry or babysit."

i'm trying to swallow my pride. i'm trying to not say anything rude. i did make a small breakthrough this morning. shari, the head production stage manager was making comments to all of us this morning. here's a story.

"you're all doing a great job. if i may make one comment and observation. we haven't had any missed cues and 99% smooth runs from everyone coming from the North West tunnel. if you could all run your tunnels like sage that would be great."

"um what? i'm not in the northwest tunnel."

"yes you are."

"no, i'm not."

"well than who is?"

"nick stone."

"oh. oh. i've missed judged you. you haven't said much during the last few days"

"yes. that's been on purpose. i try to keep my questions to a minimum unless it's crucial as to not bug you and give you one less thing to worry about. but i will get the job done quickly and quietly"

"and for that i thank you. if the rest of you could learn from this example, especially today with it being show day, that I will be extremely busy working out last minute details, and unless it's crucial, don't bug me on headset unless i call for you. thanks nick."

WOW! breakthrough. my responsibilites are over after the first hour or so of the show (hence why i can spend so much of the daytime sitting out getting some sun. so i think since i have this fancy pass that lets me go anywhere, i'm going to snag an empty seat on the grass and listen to brooks and dunn. :)

R.I.P. summer 2007

My summer is officially over. I still will have the heat though, I guess. And saturday nights for a while. But because of stage managing stadium of fire and barta wanting to start rehearsals early, my summer playtime has come to an end.

and i'm in a really bad mood, not helped by the fact i only had two hours of sleep last night. i need something happy to happen...

london?

so after a lunch meeting today, a large spark of interest for BYU's London study abroad program came to me. i've told my dad many times after telling me i need to study abroad that it's too expensive and caters to the wealthy families at school. well the two girls who i talked with about it today proved that wrong.

i know my folks will encourage me to go. my dad has wanted me to study abroad since i graduated and started attending college, so i know they'll both be behind me. the tricky part is coming up with the funds. if i lived at home (gasp) for one more school year and put the money that i would have used for housing into my savings account, i would be really close come spring term. yes--me...saving 300 dollars a month. even i wonder if i can do that! :)

THE PROGRAM LINK

but what an amazing trip if i can pull it off!

pictures

i posted pictures of my trip on jonstone.com


http://www.jonstone.com/v/nick/new+york/


ENJOY

me+the big apple=happyness (spelled the will smith way)

Prepare yourself. this is long. also all of the photos for this blog can be found here... i'll mess around with that sometime when i have time. i just wanted to get something up and posted.

Tuesday:


We arrived in Newark around 4ish eastern time. The flight from Salt Lake was a tad slow because we kept making gigantic loops (one outside of Chicago, and two after Chicago) due to inclimate weather in New Jersey/New York. The captain at one point even told us if the weather didn’t clear up soon we would be rerouted up to Rochester to refuel, and then sent to connecticut, blah blah blah. The weather cleared and we landed with the rainfall just ending and the sun coming out.

The sun didn’t stay long. The clouds took over again as we entered the city through the Holland tunnel. Our joke of a bus driver went some crazy direction and missed a turn or something because it took us until 8:30 to reach our hotel located on 53rd and 7th avenue. (Just above times square and really close to all our theatres!) Maybe it was his first day? I stepped off the bus, and took in a deep breath and just stared. FINALLY!

The evening was at our leisure. Bob (the tour director) gave us tickets to the Empire State Building, and so with nothing else to do, we hopped on the subway and took some awesome pictures at the top. At this point, everything was still a bit surreal to me. I’ve been in large cities; they all kind of smell the same, but as I stood on the observatory deck at the city I said to myself, “holy crap, you have only 7 days to see ALL of this.”

With the empire state building under our belt, we decided to head back uptown towards times square and take around the theatre district to kind of get a feeling for where our shows were. This area of town was SO much different than what I had pictured in my head, including how small some of the theatres are, but how detailed and gorgeous the buildings are. (Brandon, I think even you could find entertainment in seeing a broadway show because of the attention to detail some of these buildings have inside and out.) I’ll elaborate on the theatres specifically later.

The remainder of the evening included some pizza, some talking, some laughing, and some sleeping.

Wednesday:

I got up fairly early on Wednesday to get an early start. I had a hard time sleeping because I’ll admit, I was a tad bit over excited. And with no real responsibility or time schedule (since I didn’t have a ticket for a wed matinee) I headed down the street to the subway. The itinerary for the trip called for a tour guided bus ride around the whole city…4 hrs long. I couldn’t do that! So I opted out (like everyone else in our group did) and began my self guided tour. Just a few days earlier I had watched the tony’s like I mentioned, and was really sad that I wasn’t seeing the best musical of the year: Spring Awakening. I had walked past the theatre it was playing in the previous night, and the itch to see the show kept growing. So I splurged, and got a ticket for that day’s matinee. Lucky me! There was still single seats available but not many! I was fairly close to the front of the line for tickets. So now with an extra show to see for the day, I had more of a time limit of where I could go. I winded up down 30 blocks around the Macy’s area and did some shopping at my new favorite store (not available in utah) called H&M. I bought a new blazer, and some other random cool things I thought were cool. I also found a Steve & Barry’s. I wasn’t planning on going into this store, but Stacey had visited one while she was in Oklahoma and said it was pretty cool, so I headed on in. Much to my excitement, I found Starburys! Starburys are a brand of shoe created by a famous basketball player trying to create good shoes for guys at really decent prices. the whole line is 15 dollars a pair, and they are really well made shoes.

It was time for my first show, Spring Awakening. The Eugene O’Neill theatre was gorgeous. It was relatively small, and a very intimate space. The show itself had a very simple set featuring only chairs and a part of the stage which was raised to be a swing. Spring Awakening was a perfect show for me to begin my week! It was very apparent to me after leaving the theatre why it won the tony for best musical. I am going to write a “thoughts, feelings, and summary of New York” after I finish my day to day. I feel like I was supposed to see this show, and to see it first. 12 cast members, rock concert-like feel and music, stripped set, and GREAT lighting to back up such superb acting. More on this show later.

The second show for the evening was Mary Poppins in the New Amsterdam theatre. Again, this theatre has some amazing attention to detail, but at the same time having it’s own unique characteristics. This was the only show that our whole group saw together. Props to Bert who tapdanced upside down on the proscenium during step-in-time. Disney really knows how to dump money into a show. Nothing was left for the imagination. Mary Poppins even flies out into the house as she departs at the end of the show. So far I Was batting 1000 for shows I’d seen (granted, the number was only two.) We concluded the evening with some cheesecake from Juniors—something which became a nightly meeting spot for post-show hang outs.

Thursday:

Joining the large group all traveling with us to new york, we headed down to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This day really started out as a drag for me. The statue has a cool history, blah blah blah. The sun was not out, and being on the ferry did not help. It was cold! We got in and got, basically. With that tourist trap under my belt, we hit up a cool lunch spot in soho and headed up to Washington park. At this point, I had had enough of the group, and split. On the way up to lunch, we stopped on Canal street and did some tourist shopping. Everyone wanted to go back down, I never want to go there again, and told them all to have fun and I headed up to the village. I found some cool shops including Urban Outfitters and also took a stroll through the area housing NYU. Such a GORGEOUS part of Manhattan. The building weren’t as large, and less tourists were up in this area. From there I headed to the Flat Iron Buliding, where I ran into my first “trouble spot.” Some guy thought I was taking a picture of him (which I didn’t even have the camera pointed at me.) he just kept walking next to me yelling at me. I stopped acknowledging him, and finally he stopped following me. He was with a group of guys, and it seemed as though as soon as he reached a certain distance from them, heckling some guy with a camera was no longer needed and he returned to his posse. I hopped on the subway and headed back up to times square to meet for dinner and headed to my evening show of 110 in the shade starring Audra McDonald. This show was in studio 54, theatre in the round. I love Audra McDonald. She was amazing. Her ability to connect with the character she’s playing is fascinating to watch. It was a little silly at moments since she’s a classically trained singer playing the part of a twangy girl in texas. I loved the show. Not my favorite for the week, but definitely glad I saw it. Still batting 1000 for shows.

Friday:

Friday was the day for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. A definite highlight for me to see original work of Picasso, matisse, legiere, and van gogh. I spent the morning in Met and walked through the park for a while until I met Neal for lunch. His wife heard about a line just released by Jessica parker at steven and barrys and told him to find one. Lucky for me, I was there just a few days ago, so we headed back down to that area of town for some shopping. I then returned to the park to just take in the ambiance. I found the apple store on 5th avenue and purchase a new ipod nano since my video bit the dust a few days before I left. A VERY sad story, but my new nano is a good size and will be plenty for me since I never really used the video part of my video ipod.

Tonight’s show was the Drowsy Chaperone. I went into the Marquee theatre with no knowledge of the show’s plot of music. It ended up being a very funny, entertaining show. The marquee is the Marriot’s theatre, and it’s not very pretty. Just big. After this show I would say I was batting .900. The remainder of the evening I spent with Becca and Neal just hanging out. We ate some more juniors and chatted about the different shows seen thus far, making fun of Fantasia starring in the color purple. Non of us saw it, but we saw her face a lot because our hotel was right next to the broadway theatre where the color purple was located. Ahhh fantasia…such an easy target.


Saturday:

The beginning of the day started with us at a “backstage” look at Wicked. We met some actors from the show, talked about how it’s done everynight, blah, blah, blah. Kind of lame. Haha.

I was trying to figure out if I should see a Saturday Matinee. I decided instead to head up to the Bronx for a subway series game at Yankees Stadium. Seemed like a great idea! How much fun! I got all the way up there, and the tickets were ridiculously priced. So I started back down. The sun was out, and I thought I would go take a nap in the park. I got on a different train, and decided I would take the chance to visit Harlem, which is just north of the park. Well I got off the subway a little too early. Looking at my map, I had a decent walk ahead of me to make it to the park. I was down. Nothing else to do. So instead of getting back on the subway, I started to walk. Harlem is a very different part of the city. I was one of very few white people, and the only one carrying a camera. I took a turn on 127th street to get over from one major road to another major road which would take me right to the park. Bad idea. I’ve never felt the way I did walking down this long stretch of road. Suffice it to say, I walked fast, not making eye contact with anyone, b-lining it as fast as I could. Come to find out later from one of the guys I was in my room who had a sister living in harlem that she never goes past 117th or something because of the danger. I’m glad I knew that! I wasn’t really worried about me so much as I was about my camera…haha.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the park laying down in the great lawn and taking a nap. I met up with the group on 110th and Broadway for pizza at a place which had slices twice as big as a Costco slice for three bucks. We also visited the Lincoln center and the temple (which I didn’t realize is just across the street). This is the other part of town I thought was really pretty and wouldn’t mind living. I returned to the hotel and prepared for my evening show Chicago at the Ambassador. A very cool theatre, inside and out. Very small. The run had Joey Lawerence as their headliner. Best part is that he wasn’t very good. Not the greatest, actor, singer, or dancer. Whatever. The rest of the show was GREAT. I was still batting around .850 for shows after this one. Joey is what dragged it down.

I was in the Virgin Record store earlier reading different new york guides to the nightlife. A few different books/sources suggested a dance club down in the village/Chelsea area. So I spent the remainder of the evening dancing the night away. It was so much fun! Something not really available in provo. The subway line I took down closes from 1-5 or something like that. Figures. So I taxied back up to the hotel. 6 bucks. Not bad at all.

Sunday:

I couldn’t get enough of Central Park! I got up and spent my morning/afternoon in central park just relaxing and watching people. I could have spent a portion of each day in the park. It’s just amazing how big it is, and how long it takes to go from the top to the bottom! (I actually did it…once. I was tired)

My afternoon show was Wicked in the Gershwin theatre. I finally saw wicked. And I really liked it! I was worried just because I feel like it’s a bit exhausted, but I thought it was amazing, and the production values of the show were amazing. Not much more to say about that. Wicked—been there, done that, DIDN’T buy the t-shirt.

I opted out of a Sunday evening show. At this point I was feeling a little showed out. haha. Instead I went and watched the sun set a top Rockefeller plaza a their observatory called top of the rock. What an AWESOME place to be the final evening I was in New York. I started the trip out with a look from the Empire state building, and ended with a view from Rockefeller. I walked up 5th avenue looking at all the ritzy stores, hopped on the subway, and met up with the group for our final dinner together. The remainder of the evening, Neal and I walked around Times Square and the Theatre District taking pictures of all the theatres and their marquees. It took so long! By the time 1:45 rolled around we couldn’t stand it anymore and finished up the following morning. Good times though. I enjoyed the time me, him, and becca spent together laughing and making fun of each other. “and I’m…hhheeeerrree!” (us making fun of fantasia)

Monday:

Neal and I headed back to 5th ave to visit the Disney store and had lunch. Not a lot of time to do much of anything else. We packed all our luggage onto the busses, and headed back to Newark where I am now writing all of this as we fly home. (I’m making good time…as I write, we are flying over Colorado an hour and twenty minutes away from salt lake.

Tomorrow, reality will come crashing down. Back to the grind of work and preparing for two shows. I needed a vacation though. New York will now be a yearly engagement (atleast once a year!)