Of Actors and Auditioning

I had an audition on Friday evening to be in the play It's a Wonderful Life, the production by a local church. For my audition I found a really cute little poem I read aloud (and need to memorize):

“A Puzzle”, by Margaret Eytinge

Old Nathan was out in the garden
One beautiful flower-sweet day,
When Dorothy, golden-haired maiden,
Came pensively wandering that way.
“And isn’t this very fine weather?
I never saw finer,” said he,
But she made reply, “Why, I think it
As cheerless a morn as could be.”
“As cheerless?” repeated old Nathan,
Half in doubt he had heard her right,
Then he muttered, “She’s daft,” for he knew not
She had quarreled with Robert last night.

The day was departing; its sunshine
Had vanished; the wind whistled shrill;
The birds hurried home to their nestlings,
And the air grew quite heavy and chill.
The gardener hastened to shelter
His tender young plants, when again
Dolly passed him – this time with light footsteps –
And she called in the merriest strain,
“Oh! isn’t the weather just lovely?”
While her face fairly shone through the mist.
“She’s daft,” said old Nathan – he knew not
The lovers had met and had kissed.

Yes. Completely adorable. Well, a friend of mine (who auditioned soon after me) is good friends with the director, who is apparently the father of his best friend... and he says the director said that he "enjoyed me", which, despite its capacity for double entendre, is a very good sign. I should hear back within the next week on whether or not I got a part, though I've been informed that "there's a good possibility", which is heartening.

As for the audition itself, I believe I really do have a bit of the acting bug, so to speak. I almost expected myself to be entirely nervous about auditioning, but, quite honestly, I was merely excited. I wanted the opportunity to take my neat little poem and go to the front of the room and show it off to my three-person-audience. I was really very happy about it. My body still shook while I was performing, but the reaction didn't reach my emotions... as a matter of fact I was annoyed at my body for betraying what I considered a positive and fun experience.

Anyways. In short, we'll see how this pans out. I'm really very happy about this. Even if I don't get the part, I liked auditioning so much that I'm willing to try it some more.

As a completely irrelevant side note, my birthday is in 69 days. For the first time in years I find myself counting down the days. I think someone should throw me a party.

Great Moments

A list I composed back in June, but didn't share. I'm not sure why. But here, you can have it now.

Feeling the heat of the sun on your body
The earthy smell of ripe blackberries in summer
Having a really good picture on your driver's license
The feeling you get right after finishing a really good book
The closed-in feeling of driving down a country road in the dark
Getting enhanced nightvision right after it snows
Sliding down banisters
The word "snazzy"
Tipping a chair backwards and getting that perfect balance
Walking along a trail in the woods and realizing you're the only one there
Having whatever's in your head come out perfectly on paper
Listening to a great surround sound system
Painting your bedroom the perfect color
An entire stack of the books that you love
Figuring out all the shortcuts on your cell phone
Customizing all the shortcuts on your cell phone
The clean, abrupt smell of permanent marker
Movies that leave you breathless
People you can watch those movies with
Dangly earrings
Summer days, in February
A perfectly sharpened pencil
Old TV shows nobody remembers
Knowing your cat's body language
Watching a movie on YouTube over and over
Old radio broadcasts from the '40s and '50s
Having all your laundry clean at the same time
An equalizer preset that does exactly what you were looking for
Playing hide-and-go-seek with small children
The sight of a herd of deer in a meadow
Estate sales with huge collections of baubles
The little wiggling thing cats do before they pounce
A candle lit for the first time
Getting personal letters
Glass bottles of ink
Small silver charms
Real, old hardwood floors
Floating on a lake in the bottom of a boat
Ancient vine-covered concrete that reminds you of ruins
Having a dragonfly land on your arm
The smell of water lilies
A completed sudoku board
Old chandeliers
Getting a perfect cadence to your words
Doing something childish and not caring who disapproves
The feeling you get after completing a really long essay
The moment when you've got the inspiration, right before you create something amazing

Give it a thought. When was the last time you noticed, and enjoyed, those kinds of (almost entirely superfluous) moments in your life? No one else will enjoy them for you.

Footnote: This is my 200th post to this blog.

Self-Decoration

It was a D&D game, and my character hadn't been introduced yet. I officially despise being a mere level 1 char.

Swoosh

Moral of the story: Don't go to bed with wet hair.

Of Birthdays

I'm seventeen today. Old enough to not expect much on my birthday, but not so old that I don't get excited at being a year older. Actually, I hope I never lose that excitement. A year longer to live is too much opportunity to become bored over.

I'm planning on going to see Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, which opens in theatres today. I'll come back later with a review.

But tell me, do I look seventeen?

Rather spring-ish shirt for the Winter Solstice, isn't it?

Such A Bloody Seattleite

I had a day in Seattle with some friends. It was a lot of fun.
As pictured, I went to Borders and found a near-lifesize cardboard cutout of Michael Buble, and was happy.
Also we went and had tea and crumpets with Nutella and went about the Pike Place Market a bit, then went to several clothing stores, because we are teenagers and thus idiots.

Can't say I didn't enjoy it, though.

Severely unflattering photo, innit?

Haircuts and Acne

Check out my new hair... Much better suited to summer.