Okay, maybe "anarchy" is too liberal a use of hyperbole, yet life here is getting a bit more chaotic. The work load has increased a bit, but it's nowhere near "anarchy". More like "mild lawlessness." Think old serial bad guys (complete with goofy mustaches and mostly harmless evil plans) and you've about got it.
As far as Man Born to Be King goes, I'm both surprised and pleased and scared that the play did not get canceled. Due to scheduling conflicts with the musical *shakes fist*, we lost some of our best actors, including Jesus, and have been left with two weeks to put together the show from scratch. I'm told (and I believe) that this is the first time Covenant has ever had such trouble with a play. Instead of canceling the show, however, we've decided to change it entirely. Now we're doing the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, with Jacob Corbett taking over the role of Jesus, and myself changing from Herod and Judas to the apostle John (not a villain! yay!).
Thus we set out on an intrepid quest to do something even crazier (and yet somehow just as cool) than putting on Caucasian Chalk Circle with less than a month's preparation.
Speaking of, we had both the cast party and the critique session this past week for CCC. Both went extraordinarily well. The cast party was probably the most fun I've had in a long time, and I laughed so hard my sides still hurt. The critique was also funny, for different reasons (Peter Slavovsky, Prof. Slav's 8-month old, kept "upstaging" Prof. Hallstrom, who was giving the critique. Made all the worse by the fact that Prof. Hallstrom's cries of "stop upstaging me Peter!" were all recorded by her tape machine.) Overall we got good comments, I have a few things to remember and work on (no, Mom, speed wasn't even mentioned. :) ) I also was paid one of the most meaningful compliments in my life when the notoriously hard-to-please Prof. Hallstrom told me that I was not allowed to graduate but would instead spend the rest of my life acting in her plays. A kind, if TOTALLY nicer response than I deserved. I know my acting skills, and they are not that good. If I get into Lucifer for next semester, I'm sure I'll get more of the flaying and constructive criticism I was expecting going into that critique.
Beyond that, life goes on. My room continues to be filthy, despite repeated attempts to get Brandon to clean up. In addition Brandon has now taken to sleeping through most of the day. Gotta' love him, but still, it's a little excessive. I got to Wal-Mart on sunday, where I purchased two boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, despite the fact I have no milk. Still, I'm glad to be able to eat on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have 8 am classes. I can now use verbs in Arabic, so I can say things like "I live in America.", "I work in the United Nations" (actual vocab sentence), and "My mother is Palestinian." Apparently, though ,the Bahraini (I think that's how you spell it) work-study assistant is doubtful that the girl who talks to us on the DVD is actually Arab, because she looks too pretty. (his words, not mine.) :)
So that's it for this episode of my life. Tune in next time so the studio execs don't cancel it! Das Vedanya!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Family, Friends, and the Newsoleum
This past week was Fall Break here at Covenant, so I got to fly home for a few days. Friday afternoon I caught a flight to D.C., where Mom, Dad, Em, and my friends Josh and Adam Bernitt met me at the airport. It was really good to see everybody again, and catching up with everybody at Fuddruckers was awesome! Josh and Adam stayed over Friday night, and then we headed out to see Surrogates (and get me a much-needed haircut). Surrogates was a fairly decent movie starring Bruce Willis as an FBI agent in a future when no one leaves the comfort of their bedrooms. Instead, customizable robots known as "Surrogates", controlled from Matrix-like chairs, hit the streets for them. The Surrogates manufacturers advertise them as the ultimate way to live life to the fullest without fear (if a Surrogate is destroyed, the owner simply wakes up back in their home and buys a new one.)
Trouble starts when people start getting killed when their Surrogates die. Someone has invented a device that kills both the Surrogate and it's operator. Overall, I liked the movie, but didn't feel like it would change the world or anything. 3 1/2 stars, maybe 4 (out of 5). After that we went back to the Bernitts house for the night where we feasted on Mrs. Bernitts fantastic cooking and played Halo 3: ODST late into the night.
Sunday evening I went back home and got to catch up with the Joneses (missionaries to Quebec, Canada who happened to be in town at the same time I was.) Turns out Mr. Jones studied under both Dr. MacDougall (my brutal-grading OT prof.) and Dr. Davis, the head of philosophy here at Covenant. Hanging out with my sister after she got back from re-enacting was a lot of fun, and my dog decided that because I'd been gone so long I owed him about a hundred games of fetch.
Monday Dad and I headed out to the "Newseum" otherwise known as the museum of journalistic history. You may wonder why I call it the "Newsoleum" in the title, and it's not because the Newseum was no good. In fact, I thought it was really cool and very well done. No, I call it the Newsoleum because of a video in the Newseum of Stephen Colbert talking about the opening of the Newseum, wherin he names it the "Newsoleum" since only old and useless things end up in museums. Obviously then, we must be "over" the news, and no longer need it anymore.
Similar humorous tidbits hid amongs historical facts and profiles of famous journalists, things like a big picture of Bart Simpson writing "The First Amendment does not include burping" over and over again on a chalkboard in the exhibit about the First Amendment rights made me laugh. I also have to mention the video about the First Amendment, where the section on "Freedom of Religion" had MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" playing in the background. Classic.
Anyway, after the Newseum we headed home and relaxed, or at least I did. Emily teaches a cooking class on Monday nights, and tonight was Fried Chicken night. Last year I had to actually cook. This year, I just got to relax and kibbutz as the rest of the group fried up chicken, made biscuits, rice, and veggies. Delicious food, made all the sweeter by the fact that I hadn't been involved to mess it up.
Tuesday I mostly just relaxed at home, but Mom and I did make a truckload of cookies to take back to campus (by "we" I mean "she". I just put them into the oven.) At the end of the day we had somewhere between 6-10 dozen cookies (I think) boxed up and ready to go. I'm surprised I could bring clothes back.
Wednesday I had to head home. On the plus side I was protected once again by Providence from having to get a flu shot in Safeway. I don't object to the shot, it's no big deal, but the Safeway pharmacists around us don't inspire a great deal of confidnce.
I got back about 4:30 on Wednesday and found that I'd locked myself out of my room. Oops. Thankfully, my RA Will Young gave me a hand getting back inside. It's been an adjustment getting back into the swing of actually having to do things, but I'm managing.
Well, that's it for now. Until next time: Zai Jain! (It's Chinese, I ran out of ways to say goodbye in foriegn languages I knew.)
Trouble starts when people start getting killed when their Surrogates die. Someone has invented a device that kills both the Surrogate and it's operator. Overall, I liked the movie, but didn't feel like it would change the world or anything. 3 1/2 stars, maybe 4 (out of 5). After that we went back to the Bernitts house for the night where we feasted on Mrs. Bernitts fantastic cooking and played Halo 3: ODST late into the night.
Sunday evening I went back home and got to catch up with the Joneses (missionaries to Quebec, Canada who happened to be in town at the same time I was.) Turns out Mr. Jones studied under both Dr. MacDougall (my brutal-grading OT prof.) and Dr. Davis, the head of philosophy here at Covenant. Hanging out with my sister after she got back from re-enacting was a lot of fun, and my dog decided that because I'd been gone so long I owed him about a hundred games of fetch.
Monday Dad and I headed out to the "Newseum" otherwise known as the museum of journalistic history. You may wonder why I call it the "Newsoleum" in the title, and it's not because the Newseum was no good. In fact, I thought it was really cool and very well done. No, I call it the Newsoleum because of a video in the Newseum of Stephen Colbert talking about the opening of the Newseum, wherin he names it the "Newsoleum" since only old and useless things end up in museums. Obviously then, we must be "over" the news, and no longer need it anymore.
Similar humorous tidbits hid amongs historical facts and profiles of famous journalists, things like a big picture of Bart Simpson writing "The First Amendment does not include burping" over and over again on a chalkboard in the exhibit about the First Amendment rights made me laugh. I also have to mention the video about the First Amendment, where the section on "Freedom of Religion" had MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" playing in the background. Classic.
Anyway, after the Newseum we headed home and relaxed, or at least I did. Emily teaches a cooking class on Monday nights, and tonight was Fried Chicken night. Last year I had to actually cook. This year, I just got to relax and kibbutz as the rest of the group fried up chicken, made biscuits, rice, and veggies. Delicious food, made all the sweeter by the fact that I hadn't been involved to mess it up.
Tuesday I mostly just relaxed at home, but Mom and I did make a truckload of cookies to take back to campus (by "we" I mean "she". I just put them into the oven.) At the end of the day we had somewhere between 6-10 dozen cookies (I think) boxed up and ready to go. I'm surprised I could bring clothes back.
Wednesday I had to head home. On the plus side I was protected once again by Providence from having to get a flu shot in Safeway. I don't object to the shot, it's no big deal, but the Safeway pharmacists around us don't inspire a great deal of confidnce.
I got back about 4:30 on Wednesday and found that I'd locked myself out of my room. Oops. Thankfully, my RA Will Young gave me a hand getting back inside. It's been an adjustment getting back into the swing of actually having to do things, but I'm managing.
Well, that's it for now. Until next time: Zai Jain! (It's Chinese, I ran out of ways to say goodbye in foriegn languages I knew.)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Full Circle
Chalk Circle has officially closed. We had an amazing last weekend, with both shows going very well and lots of people attending on Saturday. I'm both glad that we're done, and sad that there will be no more rehearsals or performances with the group from Chalk Circle. On a side note, as soon as production photos were over, Mitch shaved off his beard. I still have problems recognizing him from a distance. Never have I ever seen such a marked contrast in appearance between a guy simply because of facial hair.
Though Chalk Circle is over, my thirst for thespianism has not abated. Tonight we have the first read-through for The Man Born to be King a play about the birth, baptism, and last supper of Jesus Christ. Peter Upton, a fellow Brethrenite, is playing Jesus, while I adopt the roles of Herod and Judas Iscariot (I think I'm getting typecast). All kidding aside, I'm extremely grateful to be allowed another opportunity to participate in theater, and another excuse to hang out with the drama crowd. (we had a two-hour lunch Sunday afternoon which played host to one of the most amusing conversations I have ever been a part of.)
Fall Break is fast approaching, which means that classes are either ramping up or calming down around campus. Everyone's rushing about due to midterms, which I have none of. This affords me the opportunity of standing back and watch everyone else run around like chickens recently parted with their cabezas while I observe the mayhem. My flight arrives in D.C. somewhere about dinnertime, so I'm looking forward to seeing everybody back home.
On another note: Brethren is dying. This week we've had three people sent to quarantine, and I have a feeling more will go. Part of it may be the nurses paranoia, but nonetheless I'm glad Fall Break gives us an excuse to evacuate until the germs die.
Yesterday Mike, Jesse, and I headed into Chattanooga to study off campus. We went to Rembrandt's, a little coffee shop in the arts district which has awesome biscotti and turtle mochas. After a couple hours studying Old Testament history, we headed off to Mellow Mushroom for pizza. All and all, quite an evening. We also learned yesterday that the solution to the messy counter space area (those people who cook or drink tea often leave dishes in our sink, we are male after all) is simply to wait until Caledon's sink malfunctions (or "malfunction" it ourselves) thus prompting those girls who like/have to wash dishes to come wash them in our sink. Inevitably, the female instinct to clean will take over, and our dishes will get washed. (Thank you, Caroline). Anyway, I don't own a cup, so it's really only an issue for me because the sink smells.
Class was canceled this morning because my professor is ill. I feel both happy and guilty because I am happy. On the one hand, I get to eat breakfast today. On the other, I get to eat breakfast because someone is too ill to come up the mountain. Oh well. In any case I got to eat breakfast this morning.
That's all for now, adios!
Though Chalk Circle is over, my thirst for thespianism has not abated. Tonight we have the first read-through for The Man Born to be King a play about the birth, baptism, and last supper of Jesus Christ. Peter Upton, a fellow Brethrenite, is playing Jesus, while I adopt the roles of Herod and Judas Iscariot (I think I'm getting typecast). All kidding aside, I'm extremely grateful to be allowed another opportunity to participate in theater, and another excuse to hang out with the drama crowd. (we had a two-hour lunch Sunday afternoon which played host to one of the most amusing conversations I have ever been a part of.)
Fall Break is fast approaching, which means that classes are either ramping up or calming down around campus. Everyone's rushing about due to midterms, which I have none of. This affords me the opportunity of standing back and watch everyone else run around like chickens recently parted with their cabezas while I observe the mayhem. My flight arrives in D.C. somewhere about dinnertime, so I'm looking forward to seeing everybody back home.
On another note: Brethren is dying. This week we've had three people sent to quarantine, and I have a feeling more will go. Part of it may be the nurses paranoia, but nonetheless I'm glad Fall Break gives us an excuse to evacuate until the germs die.
Yesterday Mike, Jesse, and I headed into Chattanooga to study off campus. We went to Rembrandt's, a little coffee shop in the arts district which has awesome biscotti and turtle mochas. After a couple hours studying Old Testament history, we headed off to Mellow Mushroom for pizza. All and all, quite an evening. We also learned yesterday that the solution to the messy counter space area (those people who cook or drink tea often leave dishes in our sink, we are male after all) is simply to wait until Caledon's sink malfunctions (or "malfunction" it ourselves) thus prompting those girls who like/have to wash dishes to come wash them in our sink. Inevitably, the female instinct to clean will take over, and our dishes will get washed. (Thank you, Caroline). Anyway, I don't own a cup, so it's really only an issue for me because the sink smells.
Class was canceled this morning because my professor is ill. I feel both happy and guilty because I am happy. On the one hand, I get to eat breakfast today. On the other, I get to eat breakfast because someone is too ill to come up the mountain. Oh well. In any case I got to eat breakfast this morning.
That's all for now, adios!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
28 Weeks Later... Sort of...
Well, this week's the week to get sick, I guess. I caught a cold (though I'm mostly over it) half of the cast of Chalk Circle had to miss rehearsal due to illness, and my roommate was quarantined for a day, due to intense anger, hair loss, foaming at the mouth, pupils dilating, iris's turning red, and suddenly developing an intense hunger for the flesh and brains of his roommates. Not really, he just had a cold and they were afraid it was the flu. But still, little overreaction there.
Classes are starting to get a little tougher as tests and such begin. For the most part things are fine. I like my accounting class, but Old Testament is proving really killer. It will require a new level of thoroughness which no one who knows me would ever believe me capable of. They say college stretches you. I hope I have flexible brain cells.
In a better note: Chalk Circle opened last Thursday! We had an awesome three shows, and we have two more this weekend. I was really pleased with how well everyone performed, and I was surprised that nothing major went wrong at all. I liked being in Chalk Circle so much that I auditioned for the next play The Man Born to Be King, which is a radio drama about Jesus which we are doing in a set that looks like a radio station. I get to be King Herod! I guess villains are just my thing. I exude infamy. Anyway, I'm really grateful to the director for letting me do this one, and I'm really glad for another excuse to hang out with the theater gang. Over fall break I'm totally going to put the King Herod song from our Child of the Promise soundtrack on my iPod. Psych-up for a psycho, anyone?
I'm finding it very hard to get off of the mountain to get a haircut, so I just decided to wait till fall break. "Mountain Man" chic is apparently cool here, so I get the plus points of appearing like I have some idea of what my hair looks like. (or not) It's not too long, I'm discovering that once it hits a certain point, my hair kind of stops growing. It's trained too well. I'm hoping to teach it to roll over and play dead before Christmas.
I'm discovering that Third Lobby, the main lobby of Founders Hall, is an awesome place to study if you are bored. I say this because usually rather than getting any studying done, you'll get involved in a conversation with someone. The books just make it so that you don't have to awkwardly explain why you're sitting in the lobby by yourself. If I really want to study, the library's a great choice, but nothing beats my room. I'm the only one ever there during the day, or if my roommates are there they're usually pretty quiet. We can hear the freshman girls upstairs sometimes though, when they're having one of those loud giggle-fests girls sometimes have. Either that or they're arguing. I can never tell the difference between mirth, fake anger, real anger, and fake mirth when it comes to girls.
Anyway, I'm out of stories and updates, (I never really seem to have any world-shattering news, do I? By the way I'm having a tattoo of a walrus emblazoned on my thigh.) So I'll talk to you all later, either in person on campus or back home over fall break. Saiyonara!
Classes are starting to get a little tougher as tests and such begin. For the most part things are fine. I like my accounting class, but Old Testament is proving really killer. It will require a new level of thoroughness which no one who knows me would ever believe me capable of. They say college stretches you. I hope I have flexible brain cells.
In a better note: Chalk Circle opened last Thursday! We had an awesome three shows, and we have two more this weekend. I was really pleased with how well everyone performed, and I was surprised that nothing major went wrong at all. I liked being in Chalk Circle so much that I auditioned for the next play The Man Born to Be King, which is a radio drama about Jesus which we are doing in a set that looks like a radio station. I get to be King Herod! I guess villains are just my thing. I exude infamy. Anyway, I'm really grateful to the director for letting me do this one, and I'm really glad for another excuse to hang out with the theater gang. Over fall break I'm totally going to put the King Herod song from our Child of the Promise soundtrack on my iPod. Psych-up for a psycho, anyone?
I'm finding it very hard to get off of the mountain to get a haircut, so I just decided to wait till fall break. "Mountain Man" chic is apparently cool here, so I get the plus points of appearing like I have some idea of what my hair looks like. (or not) It's not too long, I'm discovering that once it hits a certain point, my hair kind of stops growing. It's trained too well. I'm hoping to teach it to roll over and play dead before Christmas.
I'm discovering that Third Lobby, the main lobby of Founders Hall, is an awesome place to study if you are bored. I say this because usually rather than getting any studying done, you'll get involved in a conversation with someone. The books just make it so that you don't have to awkwardly explain why you're sitting in the lobby by yourself. If I really want to study, the library's a great choice, but nothing beats my room. I'm the only one ever there during the day, or if my roommates are there they're usually pretty quiet. We can hear the freshman girls upstairs sometimes though, when they're having one of those loud giggle-fests girls sometimes have. Either that or they're arguing. I can never tell the difference between mirth, fake anger, real anger, and fake mirth when it comes to girls.
Anyway, I'm out of stories and updates, (I never really seem to have any world-shattering news, do I? By the way I'm having a tattoo of a walrus emblazoned on my thigh.) So I'll talk to you all later, either in person on campus or back home over fall break. Saiyonara!
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