Saturday, July 31, 2010

Sketch

Watch this:


Hilarious.

I may be a little bit in love with Wesley Taylor right about now.

Monday, July 26, 2010

By Doing Hard Work

Yes, the simple and mostly unimaginative lyric in the title says it all folks: hard work is key. The only way to get what you want out of life is to work hard every single day of your life. That is how you find success.

Alright. We already know that's a lie don't we?

Look at all the people in the media who get fame and fortune from doing just about nothing - here's looking at you Paris Hilton. Reality T.V shows make already rich people even more successful (apparently Kim Kardashian makes around 14 million a year . . . wowza) and many people nowadays who are in the public eye really have very little substantial talent to their name. They do have a truckload of money though. Jealous much?

Of course there are people who work hard, find out they're insanely talented at something and reap the just rewards. Actors like Johnny Depp, Matt Damon; general genius's like Bill Gates and the lucky guy that invented Facebook. They work hard, I'm sure, and are rewarded for that. They're acknowledged with a couple of million here and there and live full, debt free lives.

The saddest thing here is that the bulk of the hard workers - the ones who work day in day out, pushing themselves, trying again and again - go unacknowledged for the most part. Not everyone makes it big. Not everyone finds the success that they may be promised they'll get if they put enough effort into it. it just doesn't work that way. Success is %30 talent %20 ambition and %50 luck.

Growing up in a family thoroughly tied up in the volatile career of performing arts has taught me one thing - that you can't expect drive and passion to get you success, you just can't. I've grown up knowing that a life in the media does not guarantee success, and that previous success does not guarantee stability. The career I'm picking - and the career I've grown up observing -relies so heavily on the opinion of others that sometimes, your own talent and hard work aren't even contributing factors. Sad thought, huh?

That being said, hard work is not irrelevant. It is still important. It would be stupid to accept that sometimes hard work doesn't mean success by quitting and waiting for some sort of opportunity to fall into your undeserving lap.

I'm working hard. I feel like I am anyway. I'm trying to better myself, and if I want to make a go of this career, there is a lot of myself to better.

But here's the thing that gets me. Hard work isn't about the result sometimes. Don't you ever put a lot of effort into something and just enjoy the fact that you're doing all you can?

Sometimes, as corny as it sounds, hard work is it's own reward.

Remind me that I said that at the end of the year, okay?

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Calm


I'm feeling a little bit frazzled at the moment. I just filled out my NIDA application, and my BAPA one which is yet to be sent in. I wrotea To-Do list to try and organise everything, all the monologues, songs, audition dates, applications and what-not. It sure does feel like a lot to deal with right now.

Once I've got everything organised it'll be great. Once I've chosen everything and got all my dates and figured it out I'll be right. Until then I'm just going to run around like a headless chook frantically trying to To-Do list my way into calmness.

Isn't it beautiful?





Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Disney











I love disney.












Saturday, July 17, 2010

Frown Quota

Hello there,

So lately I've been getting into terrible moods for no particular reason - TEENAGE ANGST ATTACK! - and as usual it got me thinking.

FIRSTLY, I don't get how sometimes we can be quite happy to be unhappy for a little while, you know what I mean? Occasionally, when we're fed up with being optimistic, happy, cheerful, friendly and so on and so forth, we give up and let ourselves wallow in whatever miserable thoughts come our way, just for a little bit. Eventually we stop, because really when there's nothing that great to wallow about we're just wasting time.
But isn't it weird? Perhaps not everyone is the same, but every so often, I get sick of being cheerful. Which is probably terrible. But hey, no body's perfect.

A while back I read this portion of a book that my grandma gave me. It was all about understanding how people fall into depression, how they get that far, and it said something like this:

"People have trouble letting go of negative feelings, or unhappiness, because they start to feel that it is a part of them. And to let those feelings go means to abandon part of yourself and leave yourself vulnerable."

So I paraphrased, and kind of rewrote it completely but it had that general gist. And it stuck with me. Because I really think it's true. We do, as much as it sounds ridiculous, enjoy having something to be negative about because it seems to add another dimension onto who we are. Something maybe a bit more dramatic, you know, 'no one can understand my tortured teenage soul-esque' kind of thing. And that's fair enough. Let's face it, a life with eternal cheerfulness would get a little bit dull every now and again.
Maybe we need negative things - problems and dramas and all that jazz - because they challenge us, and test us, and possibly even improve us as human beings.

Whatever the reason, we need some frowns to balance out the smiles, and I reckon that's okay. There's a difference between wallowing for a little while and getting over it, and letting those dramas consume you.

SECONDLY!

... well actually there is no secondly. I had a second topic but I'll save that for later as it is late, and I want to leave a nice cliffhanger to bring you all back for more.

To be continued.... *dramatically eerie music*

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Discovery of Risk

While we're on the topic of catchups, I have another one to update about.

Just the other day I finally had the games/picnic day that I had been promising to have. Unfortunantly some of the people I miss couldn't make it (ice cream and douser), but spot, dan, giggles and student (not sure if this codename is certain yet... we'll see) were all there for plenty of cookies, cupcakes and a few classic board games.

First of all, I cannot believe how many cookies were eaten. And I thought I'd made too many!

Second of all, a momentous discovery was made, and that is how much fun the game Risk really is. It's the game I think a lot of people (myself especially) bypass because, lets be honest here, it is one of the longest games in the history of long games. It took us a good 40 minutes just to get through the instructions. But we were dedicated and eventually the game began. The next five hours were ridiculously intense and insanely fun. The best part of the game is most certainly the alliances we form. Spot and I had a good one going, while our enemy team student and dan fought against us and giggles decided that she was too morally sound to take sides.
And we played and played and wondered why no one was any closer to winning until dan realised that we'd been playing the rules wrong in an attempt to make the game shorter but by doing so had ended up making the game impossible to win.
Fail!
Nevertheless, we had to choose a winner and it went to giggles who dominated a good %60 of the world through relatively honest (and yet very sneaky) tactics.
And I have now decided that Risk is a game of epic proportions and deserves another games day dedicated entirely to it and it alone.

Now Risk wasn't the only thing I intended to talk about. I also wanted to say how it was incredobly lovely to see these people, all of whom are finished with YABC forever and therefore not going to be seen on a weekly basis, as much as I'd like it to be otherwise. It's a bit sad really. These were the people who were so welcoming to me when I became a triple, they invited me into their group with smiles and promises of nachos. Thank you guys!

After Risk was finished, and student had gone home, the rest of us cracked out the Cranium set for some more fun and then set up the beds so we could relax and have those sleepover chats we all love so much. We spoke of embarassment, moral codes, boy troubles, aspirations and all the usual stuff and eventually we went to sleep.

The next morning us girls got up and had breakfast, eventually having to drag the boys out of bed for a game of Disney trivial persuit, and then they were off. Overall it was a wonderful night, and like I keep saying, it was great to see them. I really have to be thankful for these friends that I've made the past year. In school it was always so different, because most people seemed so different than me, but this gang share so many things in common and other than that, we just get along incredibly well. It's quite wonderful.

So there you go, those are my cheerful catchup updates done! Stay tuned for more posts, I've really been whipping them out quite regularly lately, pat on the back Emily.

Goodnight!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Twister Mayhem

A couple of days ago I had a wonderful catch up with the YABC gang.

It's insane that it had been three weeks since I had seen them. It felt like months. When you see a group of people every day for two weeks, spending so much time together, you really truly miss them. And so I was unbelievably excited to see them again.

I caught the train and met up with both polka and shming which was like old times. I think I missed these two the most, because they were the ones I spoke to on the train every single day, not just chatting during the shows, so it was wonderful to see them again and catch up, tell ridiculous stories that take far too long and joke around.
Once we were in the city, we waited at flinders, bumping into another YABC person who was on his way to work. What are the chances? Then other half and manfred turned up and we decided to spend some time in the city. We dragged the boys down to this little photo place where you can take photos and decorate them and have them as stickers. We really did NOT know how the whole thing worked but after much falling around and hastily posing we got some photos and decorated them before heading down to Degraves for some dinner. A plate of pasta and a cup of mini mnm's later we headed back to manfred's place where preston joined us for some hilarious rounds of Twister.
Why has this game been forgotten about people? It had it's golden days but since then it's been gathering dust in my games cupboard. Time to rediscover it, bloggers, because it was a ridiculous amount of fun. Let me tell you that both shming and preston are too good. They are indestructable in the realm of Twister. Never challange them to a game for you shall lose.

After we had our fill of Twister, and after our bodies could just simply take it no longer, we chilled with some 2AM pizza and eventually snuggled down for some spooning and sleep.

I was so cheerful after that catchup. It felt so good so see those people again, because you really bond with people during shows and then those bonds fall away quite quickly if you don't do anything to keep them there. And they really are wonderfull, talented (although showing off that talent in the early hours of the morning is not preferable, *cough cough* other half...) and incredibly fun people. I got to brush up on my pick up line skills with shming as well as get thrown around the loungeroom by a rogue mattress cover with manfred - see, you never know what's going to happen when you catch up with these guys!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

So Anyway...

Hello there,

So I meant to finish that last questions blog but got a little bit sidetracked by events and other things that I now want to blog about more.

First of all,
TOY STORY 3!

I loved it.
I think with a lot of movie series' it's really easy to ride on the coat-tails of the success of the previous movie, and this makes the directors and all those other important people kind of neglect the movie in a way. They just don't seem to be as desperate to make it good, and so it generally isn't.
Toy Story 3 was not like that at all. It was it's own movie completely, with heaps of new characters and it kept true to the past two films without overshadowing them. I must say I am a big fan of Ken and Barbie (I am a fan of any character Jodi Benson voices anyway, who wouldn't? She was Ariel for christ's sake!) I also laughed a ridiculous amount everytime Woody ran. Did anyone else find his run hilarious?
And I must admit that there were tears... three sets of tears to be exact. How can a kids movie make me cry so much?!

So yes, in summary, fantastic movie that I would see again, of course. And although it is finished, I wouldn't complain if they made another one because really, they're on a winning streak here.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!

Hello there,

So I've been really trying to find ways to spice up this blog the past few days. I wanted to put something interesting on here other than my usual rants, something a little different.

This is what I came up with. A couple of simple questions (not very imaginative I know), but it's something different. Something to read and maybe learn something new about me. If you want to steal it for your own blog, do! Go ahead! Then we can all learn about our fellow bloggers.

So here you go:

1. The book I am reading at the moment is...
A book called Jezabel. I'm not too far into it at the moment so no judgements formed yet. Often I find that I read a really terrific book, and then the next book I read seems pretty damn awful. It has to compete and just can't live up to my high literary expectations set from the last book. That's why I always expect little from anything I read after Harry Potter.

2. The last film I saw at the cinema is...
Hmmm... I actually can't remember. Ok, now I do. It was Nanny McPhee. A bit sad? Not at all! Who doesn't enjoy a good kids movie every so often? I am seeing Toy Story 3 tomorrow which I've heard is absolutely amazing, and if that's not originally a kids movie I don't know what is.

3. The last CD I bought was...
I believe the last CD I bought was the soundtrack for the movie Coraline. It's the kind of music I can actually have on in the background while I write, and I don't try to sing a long too much. It's just got a really nice, playful/haunting kind of ring to it, and I really enjoy it.

4. The last time I had a good night out was...
Just the other night when I went to Eve with the girlies. It was a great night out, as it always is with those gals.

5. The car I drive is...
Boy does this question make me sad. I don't drive yet. *sigh* I got my L's late, and as my dad is driving me it's annoyingly difficult to organise some lessons. It'll happen one day! With my limited knowledge of cars, I have no preference really, although ever since I used to play Midtown Madness on PC I've wanted an Audi TT. Strange? Most certainly.

6. The best program on television at the moment is...
I had to think about this one a little bit. There's a lot of shows I love, and some of them are finished, so do they count? At the moment, I'd have to say 'How I Met Your Mother'. I love it. In terms of my all time faves? Definitely 'Pushing Daisies'. That show was amazing.

7. The newspapers I read are...
*awkward cough*. None. I don't read the paper. Shame on me. I do the puzzles in the sunday paper? Does that count?

8. My favourite building is...
A theatre. I'm not being overly specific, because every theatre is my favourite building. I could live in the theatre quite happily. They just have an atmosphere you can't find anywhere else.

9. My mobile ringtone is...
Just the good old guitar strum that the iphone provides me.

10. My favourite word is...
Sesquipedalian. Pureply because it's impressive to use in a sentance.

11. My dream sandwich would be filled with...
Avocado, chicken, capsicum, black olives, cucumber, carrot and lettuce. Yum.

12. My last holiday was to...
Sorrento for schoolies with the girls. It was an amazing holiday, filled with far too much Gossip Girl, sunburn, cooking, drunken jenga (the best kind), borrowed boats and picnics.

*alright, there's a pause in this blog. Good T.V has started and I don't want to miss it! The rest of the questions will be answered later!*

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Day by Day

Hello there internet users,

I realise that I use this blog for big rants the majority of the time (and please don't take me too seriously in these rants, I try not to) and I don't really let people know what's going on on a day to day basis. Possibly because most of the time it's terribly dull, but I thought I may as well give you all a little insight into how I spent my week. Here we go!

Seeing as it's holidays for all those stressed out school goers and cool uni students, it was the week to catch up with some unintentionally neglected friends. Monday I saw someone who I have not seen in faaaar too long (and who I intend to give a codename but at the moment, I cannot for the life of me figure one out). It was absolutely lovely to see her. We spent some time in the city, gossiping and sharing our woes about boys and awkward situation stories, which was great fun and therapeutic to know that someone else is in the same boat as me. Another person from YABC who I haven't seen basically since last semester met up with us for a slightly over cocoa-ed hot chocolate in a trendy little cafe. Overall, it was lovely.

Next catchup was with ice cream, who clearly hasn't appeared in this blog for far too long. We also met up in the city and chilled, eating, discussing sim playing techniques, watching street performers and then being very sophisticated and checking out the art gallery. There were plenty of 'meaning of life' chats on the way, which seem to me to be quite rare. You have chats like this with people, but you rarely get to have one where you actually are both genuinely befuddled by life, and that always makes for good conversation.

The next event in my week was an incredible WAAPA workshop with addams and yonah who have not appeared in my blog before. AMAZING. It was basically a masterclass on how to audition for them, and for professional shows, and it was so worthwhile. We spent the three hours talking about everything you need to know about auditions, seeing example auditions, asking questions and the such. We also did a little acting thing which addams and I volunteered for. We pretty much just made fools of ourselves on stage but it was so much fun. A little bit of dance added to the end and we were set. Overall, it was really quite encouraging. For some reason, being told about the exhaustion, and the ten hour days, and the hard work it takes to be a WAAPA student only made me want to get in even more. Fingers crossed, right?

Now we move on to the party section of my post. I went to my first club (yes, first club experience ever) with the girlies: lemon, corks, and screws. We primped at screws' place (and she, of course, styled my outfit) and then headed out to 'seven'. In the line we bumped into some old HPS crew and a couple of Sandringham people that corks and lemon knew. So we stuck with them, but ended up being turned away from the club by unnecessarily mean bouncers because we weren't on a guest list, and general admission wasn't till ten. They then yelled at us to hurry up and get in a cab and go somewhere. Meanies.
So we headed to 'Eve' instead, which had far friendlier bouncers and had quite a fun night. I realise that it really doesn't matter what we do, if I'm with the girlies I'm bound to have a brilliant time. We danced, talked, laughed, took pictures and danced some more. I was uncomfortably reminded of a bit of a social conundrum that I'm preoccupied with at the moment, but the girls made me forget it. For a first club experience I would say it was quite good, there weren't too many awkward situations, although I did get slapped on the butt by an overly friendly stranger. Funny stuff.
After we had our fill of dancing, we got some early morning maccas and went back to screw's to squeeze uncomfortably into one bed (lime got her own mattress, lucky thing) and sleep, interrupted by corks' hilarious snoring.

Don't worry, the week is nearly over!

NEXT - I had work the next day. Was pretty out of it, but I haven't been to work for about three weeks so it's understandable for me to have almost forgotten the security code.
I came home to a bunch of Xena's friends, including two fellow bloggers who are soon to be travelling overseas. We made homemade pizzas, and it was good to see them and say goodbye before they go!
Monkey and I had a spontaneous sleepover, but were too exhausted by the moving of mattress' that we fell straight asleep.

And finally, today I did very little. I played a fantastic game of Sims, and then went over to hogwart's house for her birthday with Mum and monkey. I haven't seen her or her family in yonks so it was nice.

And that's it? Sufficiently bored everyone?
Well I believe I've fulfilled my quote of day-to-day information. I guess I can go back to blabbing on about whatever topic jumps to mind. Hooray!

Hope all is well for you all.

p.s. As you can see I decided to mix up the design of my blog. Keep or not? What's the general opinion?