Broadway Meets Saturday Night Live

I grew up with Saturday Night Live. First, Matt and I became obsessed with Martin Short's Ed Grimley, and from there, we graduated to the Church Lady and Hans & Franz. Even though it's not the same, I still have to watch occasionally, hoping for brilliant moments like Alec Baldwin's Shweaty Balls or the Spartan Cheerleaders. The skit that brought Broadway to SNL can keep hope alive for me for a long while. Hang in there, SNL!

Whew... Another Observation Done!

I just had my observation with my new principal. He came in to watch my 6th hour 8th grade GOAL class. It was a good period to be there because I was introducing our Images of Greatness unit, and that's the biggie of the 3rd quarter. I was nervous about it all morning. I don't really know why either. He taped me, and I guess that added to the apprehension. I've been taped tons before, but it was really only for my own use, in finding lessons for National Boards. I've never had it done as part of an evaluation before. It went well though. I'll be interested to watch the tape. I hate hearing all my little speech tics though. Blerg.

I'm still on Cloud 9 in the boyfriend department. I'm not comfortable sharing a lot about it here on the blog, but I will say that it just keeps getting better and better, every single day. Sigh. ;)

Play practice is also going well. We're not as far along as I'd like to be, but that always happens. I have to say, though, that I look forward to it every day. We have a lot of fun, and so far, the kids all have great attitudes. They're working really hard for me, and it's just been very enjoyable so far. We have a lot of work to do before March 5 & 6, but we're off to a good start. My favorite day so far was choreographing the Sweeney Todd number. They're so cute, singing about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street! HA

My Own Spring Awakening

I thought I was overwhelmed on Tuesday.  I had no idea what was in store for me this week.  I feel like something in me was dormant and is now alive.  New relationships do that to a person, I guess.  Every day this week has been a new blessing.  I feel like a teenager again.  Pretty ironic because yesterday in Des Moines, I went with Heather and Suzanne to see Spring Awakening.  Poor Heather and Suzanne were good sports throughout the day, having to endure stories of how wonderful my life is.  They developed a code... "ER."  That stands for EYE ROLL, and trust me, I got plenty of them yesterday.  But I know they're happy for me.  I'm happy for me too.  We had a great day, laughing, talking, singing at the tops of our lungs to different soundtracks... our "Defying Gravity" was especially incredible.  :)  Then we got to the show.  Wow.  It was so emotional, raw, intense, and beautiful. I haven't been that moved at the theatre since I saw Edges last year. Below are some clips from the tour cast, the exact people we saw. They were phenomenal. I loved the music already, but to actually see the show... well, I'm still having a hard time expressing it. It was amazing. I can't believe the 1st National Tour went through Des Moines.  It's also incredible how a play written in the 1890's can have relevant messages today... teenagers dealing with suicide, their budding sexuality, abuse, and those general heightened emotions that feel like they're going to bust out at any moment... I guess those emotions are why I could relate so well, especially this week!

I've often said that every artist has his/her own medium... clay or oils... mine's Broadway.  Click below and see why...

Overwhelmed

I had no idea how emotional I'd be today. My tears started the moment I saw all those people, with hope in their eyes and pride in their hearts. I cried when all the ex-Presidents came through the door to take their places and witness one who came after them. I cried when Rick Warren prayed. I know many people in our country were angry at Obama's choice to give the opening prayer. To me, it symbolizes that President Obama does not want to surround himself with Obama clones. He wants to reach out to those with different opinions and philosophies. He wants us to learn from each other and pool our resources and gifts. Despite what people might assume my opinion to be, I was inspired by Rick Warren's words. I cried when I heard "Hail to the Chief" played for Obama for the first time. I cried all through the President's speech. I love my country and all it stands for. I love how far we've come. I love the hope and optimism I feel for the future. And I couldn't keep it in. I'm overwhelmed.

Happiness Is...

Waxing Poetic

At a Window
by Carl Sandburg

Give me hunger,
O you gods that sit and give
The world its orders.
Give me hunger, pain and want,
Shut me out with shame and failure
From your doors of gold and fame,
Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger!

But leave me a little love,
A voice to speak to me in the day end,
A hand to touch me in the dark room
Breaking the long loneliness.
In the dusk of day-shapes
Blurring the sunset,
One little wandering, western star
Thrust out from the changing shores of shadow.
Let me go to the window,
Watch there the day-shapes of dusk
And wait and know the coming
Of a little love.

Random Thoughts on Snow Day #5

Yep. Snow day #5. I'm not complaining. I got my grades done at about 12:45 this morning (it probably would have been 4:45 without yesterday's snow day), and then I slept until 10:00. We've only had one day of school this week since we had a work day Monday for the end of the semester. Maybe tomorrow will make it two. We'll see. The wind chill here is -39 degrees. The actual temperature right now is -13. FREAKING cold. I'm feeling very grateful for my warm home, and I'm hoping everyone out there has somewhere warm to go. Yesterday, I had the furnace looked at... it had been doing some weird things, culminating in my house being 40 degrees when I got back from California. The plumber (also known as my friend with the warped mind, Steve) cleaned up a couple of the sensors on the inside, and wanted me to keep an eye on it to see if that was the issue. I'm happy to report that it's been working perfectly since then. I'm very happy that I'm not worrying about replacing a furnace in this cold, cold weather.

I tucked myself in yesterday afternoon, started a movie, and had a great nap. I absolutely love when I have enough time to start a movie with the sole intention of falling asleep to it. I love those naps that happen while falling asleep in front of the TV. I know. I'm weird. Yesterday, it was Waitress. I almost cannot express how much I love this movie. It has romance in it, but it's not really a love story. It's about a woman learning how to love herself and "start fresh." The dialogue is terribly witty, and there are parts where I laugh out loud every single time. There are also parts where I tear up every single time. It's just a great movie.

My favorite line from the movie is where Jenna says, "Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness in it." I love that line. Oh, who am I kidding? I love the whole darned movie! :)

Last night, I found out that the Shakespeare Ensemble isn't going to King Lear or The Merry Wives of Windsor as they had previously announced. I'd really been working myself up for my first Shakespeare show, freaking out over choosing a monologue, just generally freaking out... all that good stuff. Now, I'm kind of disappointed. Looks like I won't be doing a show this spring. Maybe I'll do the FACT show. It's Children of Eden, and I know absolutely nothing about it. I need to research.

Switching gears... I'm counting down. What a scary/exciting/worrisome/hopeful time to be an American.


As you can see, I've been dabbling on the hulu.com site. It's a little overwhelming to me. And, full episodes of the shows I really want to watch, of course, aren't on there... Top Chef, Project Runway, The Tudors, Inside the Actor's Studio, Weeds. At least I can't find them. Maybe I don't know where to look. I'm going to have to do some more investigating. Maybe that's a way to waste another day off school! :)