Florida 1

So I've been in Florida for a few days now and it has just been awesome. Our first few days we were in Orlando to do the theme park thing. We went to Sea World on Saturday. It was a lot better than I expected. It rained that day though but both times it rained we were in shows and didn't even see it. After Shamu it rained for a few minutes once we got out but it was nice and cool that day. Mom and I went back at closing to see Shamu Rocks America and then the closing firework/laser/water/pyro show. The thing that shocked me, their show as the park closed was so much better than Disney's. It amazed me.

Easter Sunday we went to Universal Islands of Adventure. Rode Hulk, Spiderman 3-D, Dr Doom Freefall, Jurassic Park, Posiden's Fury, and a water ride where we got soaked. It was very nice that day though with the sun out and about 85 that day. I wanted to get a picture with Spiderman so bad but he's only out from 9:30-5:00 and by the time we were heading out of the park he wasn't there yet when we were done with Super Hero Island) he was already gone. That was very disappointing to me. However, the park was incredibly awesome so it's not that big of a deal.

Then we drove down to Bonita Springs to the grandparent's condo. I love it down here. Today I ate breakfast on the balcony, watching the dolphins swimming in the bay. It is so beautiful down here. Today we're doing some shopping and then probably going to the beach this afternoon. I think the plan tomorrow is to hang out around the pool/beach all day. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Dad has to check e-bay and we're leaving in a few minutes so adios!

Footloose

Well, last night I finally saw all of Footloose. It was so great. Everybody did an awesome job.

Melanie and Marren's duet was awesome. They blended together very nicely and started out perfect. I know they were having trouble before on that but they nailed it like no other.

Rachel and Andy did great. They were very believable. I got goosebumps when Tony was going to hit Rachel and Melanie screamed. That was a very well done, intense moment.

Keene, Warren, and Amanda did a great job on "Hero" and "Somebody's Watching" which I still imagine in my head. The scene was so awesome with the background people and it was so well done because the actors ended up right where they needed to be if they came out of the line and went into the scene. That was very well done.

Mike's tech crew did great. The tech was very cool and very well done, contrary to what I was thinking it would be like (just to clear that up, it was the set I thought was going to be a lot worse. It turned out to be pretty good.).

And Melanie's solo was so awesome. She sang perfectly! It was such a moment, with her on stage. The effect was great and Melanie did awesome.

Anyway, I give Footloose "2 thumbs up". It was an awesome show and everybody did great!!

GMail Closer to Launch?

Earlier today, Google put a link up to get a GMail account on their homepage. The only stipulation was you had to already be signed up for another Google service. If you have an account with Froogle (or Blogger, I would suppose) you could then use that user name. Now, though, the link is mysteriously gone. They were doing this yesterday too.

If you have a chance to get a Gmail account, I would highly suggest it. I have one that I'm not using yet, but have been playing around in and it is far better than Yahoo! or Hotmail. I think I'm going to switch soon. Mainly because I get about 200-300 spam/day in my current Yahoo mail.

My New Career

I saw Footloose for the first time tonight, well, at least I saw the second half and it was awesome. I'll probably talk more about it tomorrow after I see the whole thing. Anyway, after seeing Footloose last night, I am so tempted to change my career to Audio Technician. Seriously, was the pit even miked? I heard lots of drums. Lots of drums. Every once in a while, a little piano or bass guitar would spill out. I was only two rows in front of the pit which means I heard a lot of things the rest of the audience didn't. Unless they were miked and I was too close to the stage to hear. Tonight I'll sit further back in the audience and see if that makes a difference.

There were also times when the mics didn't even turn on or were very slow to turn on. During the finale, Warren, Sam B., and Keene went up and started a different song. They sang maybe four lines from it and their mics never turned on. I only heard them because they were about 5 feet from me. Also, when people come by each other, especially when they're singing, they need to be balanced. You can't have them facing each other so the mics are facing each other too. It's disastrous and I heard three spots of feedback that was (very quickly) gotten rid of before it started looping too badly during Almost Paradise.

Anyway, those are my complaints. Not bad considering I think I am super critical when it comes to theatre and I'm turning into an audiophile (which I don't consider a bad thing). Tonight I'll probably rave about how well everybody did since I'll see the whole thing. Plus, it's closing night so everybody should be really good by now ;-).

Worst Haircut Ever

So, today I went in and told the lady, "I like the way it is now but it's getting a little unruly. I just want it shaped up a little." And what does she do? She cuts off half my hair. I feel like I have nothing on top of my head.

I guess that's what I get for getting a $10 hair cut.

Customer Service

Okay, maybe because I'm going into business and at my job I work with customer service this bugs me more than it does most people, but I have to rant.

Today, I was heading to work after a day at the Museum of Science & Industry. I slept on the bus too so I was a little tired (between that still sleeping feeling and walking around for 5 hours). I decided to stop at Dunkin Donuts on 41 to get an Iced Latte. I drive up to the drive through and this is how my conversation with the little box went (abridged):

Box-"OK, can help you?"
Me-"Yes, I would like an French Vanilla Iced Latte please."
Box-"Cold or hot?" (what did he think iced meant?)
Me-"Cold."
Box-"What seige?" (huh? Are we under attack?)
Me- (after I realized I didn't tell him the size and that's what he was asking) "Small."
Box-"OK, lkjadsfl;kjhasdf;ljhasdf;lnacpuinwfgpioahv"

I'm guessing he told me the total and to pull up to the window to pay since that seemed to be the appropriate spot to do it, but I honestly did not understand a single word he said.

I expect to be able to understand people at a place I patronize. Is that too much to ask? Should I have to sit there and try to decipher what somebody said to figure out how much an Iced Latte cost? I really don't think so. If nothing else people, realize that you will stop getting customers because they have no idea what your staff is saying. Like me, since I could not understand half of what came out of the little box, I will probably not stop and go through that drive thru again. It only takes one bad experience. Even if a customer has had several good experiences, this last bad one will be the one to stick out in their mind. I'll still go inside, but if I want something quick (like I did today, on my way to work), it would take too long to stop and go inside.

And to top things off, he didn't ask "Is that all?" which, to me, in a fast food restaurant is unacceptable. Maybe he said it but I didn't understand it.

Body Worlds

Today, we went to the Body World's exhibit for my Anatomy class. This was so cool. So much different than a text-book. To see actual people and only their muscles. Or a family (man, woman, and child) made up of only their blood vessels. Amazing. Maybe I'll post more about it later, but it was absolutely amazing. If you get a chance to go, you have to!

Link

The Footloose Opening Night

So, Footloose is opening tonight in 15 minutes and even though I am not involved, I am still nervous. Break-a-leg to everyone who is involved! You all will rock the house like no other!

Go Mike, Melanie, Amanda, Andy, Rachel, Joe, Sam B, Warren, Marren, and everyone else I can't think of right now!

The Ferrini

Ferrini in the middle stairs in E-Hall:

"Sam, you know tanning kills your ovaries."

Thank you Ferrini, that's why I love you.

Southern California Here I Come

So, this weekend (well, Sunday through Tuesday, whatever you call that) was BPA State competition down in Indy. I love state competition, it's always a lot of fun hanging out with everybody. Anita S. came from last year and went out to lunch with us but I didn't talk to her much then because I was at a different table. I did talk to her and Ashley for a long time in their room though so that was neat. I miss that girl.

We got there Sunday and I took my two tests (more about that below). We were running late but it didn't affect anybody so that's good. Then we went shopping and had pizza back at the hotel. General Session 1 boring, like usual.

Monday was my CTA at 12. Joe and Andy had a contest so the alarm in our room went off at like 6:00 which didn't make Eric and me too happy but we just went right back to sleep. Got up, went to the mall, took my test, did my presentation since I made it to round two, and then had General Session 2. The special speaker was really funny and entertaining.

Tuesday morning had General Session 3 which is when they gave out all of the awards. We had to be packed and everything in the advisor's room by 8:20. Everybody in BPA down there had too (like 1200 kids). Needless to say, when I got in the shower at 7:40 there was absolutely no hot water. That was not enjoyable. But I got over it.

Then to the General Session. I took two tests down there (Presentation Management and Fundamentals of HTML) and got 3rd place in both which is enough to send me to Nationals in both!!! This year Nationals is in Anaheim, CA!!! How awesome is that! I am so excited. It's in the spring which the advisors say it's beautiful down there. I'm so excited. I've never been west of Texas so this is a big deal for me. Kate, Danielle, and Rachel are going which is awesome (although I wish Anita were going). It is going to be so much fun. I think we're planning what to do tomorrow during club. I'm suggesting Laguna Beach/Fashion Island (same thing supposedly), Hollywood Tour, and Universal Studios Hollywood. The special event is Disneyland which will be cool since I've never been there.

Anyway, the whole point of this post was to show how excited I am about going to Southern California (I love saying that) and how much fun I had this weekend-ish!! Congratulations to everyone from BPA who made it to Nationals! Everybody did awesome and I had a great time in Indy. Tomorrow it's back to school. However, on the plus side, I get to take a warm shower. Adios!

Lately

Wow, so it has been a really long time since I've updated this thing. I guess that's cuz not much is going on right now. Well, a lot is going on now but nothing of much importance. Nothing that anybody would want to read about, so stop reading.

The past two weeks have been so full of tests it is absurd. Every single class is involving a test once a week now and I'm not a big fan of it.

Choir had state last weekend. Trebs got an almost perfect and counterpoints got a first. At least the bus ride was fun. Counterpoints were the first first of the day with that judge and we didn't go until like 2:00 so that was encouraging.

BPA State is this weekend. We're leaving way to early Sunday morning and staying until Tuesday. I love missing school when it's excused like that. Anyway, me, Anita, Kate, and D. Should be fun. I guess Nick (Kate's guy) and Anita S. (from last year) are going to join up with us too. That will be extremely cool too since they are both awesome. I have two of my contests on Sunday and one thing Monday. I thought I was free on Monday, but no, stupid CTA she made us take. They're also renting this place called Jullian's downtown for all BPA kids. Now, I know, a bunch of BPA kids at a dance would be a craptacular time. However, you would be surprised. Take our dances at LC and multiply the raunchiness by four. That's the BPA dance. And apparently Jullians is a strip club too (they have the cages with poles and everything) but I doubt there will be anybody utilizing them. I am so excited about that. And I have to win to get to go to Anaheim for nationals. Beautiful southern California (well, I've only heard, but that's what I've heard).

Speaking of Southern California, I am now into the show The OC. While I was sick my sister had the first season from a friend and I watched it (what else is there to do on a Monday at 11:30 besides watch The View?). It is very captivating. I have now watched the entire first season and am attempting to download the second season so I can try to catch up. There are like 14 episodes or something so that might not happen.

Me and Melanie are supposed to go see Phantom of the Opera tonight as part of her birthday present. However, since her sister just had her baby (Go Kathryn Elliot) she might be going over to their house. I can't really blame her. It is her niece. We'll have to see how that goes though.

Well, that's all I feel like writing for now. Adios!