OS

"Once upon a time there was a girl.  We'll call her Ana for now.  Ana knew a girl – her name is Kaitlyn – whom she idolized in every way.  Ana loved Kaitlyn with all her heart and just wanted Kaitlyn to feel the same.  Ana and Kaitlyn also knew a boy named James, but Kaitlyn hated him, for whatever reason. Ana, being so enamored with Kaitlyn, knew that Kaitlyn would never truly accept her unless she too was mean to James all the time.  So Ana was.  And Kaitlyn later abandoned Ana, but still, perhaps in some hope of regaining Kaitlyn's friendship, was a royal B-word to James."

This part of the story was told to me last night.  I feel the need to add my own part.

When Ana and James first met, Ana seemed to really like James.  However, after about a year of knowing each other, Ana met a boy, we'll call him Gary for now.  However, James and Ana continued to talk, and were probably closer friends at this point than they had ever been before.

However, Ana started to change.  When Kaitlyn left her, you could tell that she was willing to open herself to other friends, but still was not as happy as she was with Kaitlyn as her best friend.  

Ana is one of the only people who ever judged James.  If it weren't for her, he would have gone through life thinking everything he did was completely normal.  And James liked Ana.  She was nice, and the two had a lot of the same interests.  They were good friends.  James liked that.

Last night, Wednesday, Ana texted James.  She said she wanted to tell him the reason that she's been "insulting and not taking to [him] much for years now".  

Frankly, there was no reason for such.  If Ana had tried to be a "royal B-word" to James, then she hadn't done a very good job.  Ana was one of James's best friends, and hoped to remain that way.

Tonight, Thursday, the two saw each other.  They shared one of the nicest hugs there ever was.  It was a hug of true friendship.

-NM

Response to a Quote 2/26/13

Rehearsal today, but rehearsal hasn't actually started yet.  Everyone's talking with each other.

I just got done doing some homework.  I decide it's time to try and venture into conversation.

I try, without success.  No matter where I go, I just can not seem to get involved.

The sad thing is that this is typical.  It happens almost every rehearsal.  Everybody around me is having a conversation, and I'm the one who has no idea what they're talking about.  Or, I go up to people, and everyone looks at me like, "Why are you entering this conversation?"  It's just so annoying.

So, after a while without saying a word, I just go to about halfway back in the auditorium.  And I just sit there.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Maybe someone would just come and start talking to me.  I just sat there for about five minutes, and didn't do anything.  JR passed by, and didn't say anything.  I think that was the tip-off that no one was going to talk to me ever if I just sat there.  KK's advice was ringing in my head.  So I went back to where everybody was.

Within a few minutes, MF said hi.  She started a conversation.  The conversation she was previously in just kept going on like I wasn't there, but she started talking to me.

I sat down.  We had some small talk, and then she said this.

"I really like talking to you."

To my dismay, rehearsal started shortly after, but I don't think I need to elaborate on how much that meant to me.

-NM

First Drive

After school, I came home as normal.  The plan was that I would take the car and drive up to rehearsal. From there, I would go straight to dance, and get myself home from dance.

It was to be my first drive alone.

The first thing I noticed was that I could leave whenever I wanted to.  There was no waiting for my parents, it was just me.  So, as soon as I finished my homework, I left.

I did the dramatic slow walk to the car, and a tinge of nervousness came over me.  I told myself I could do this, but something in the back of my mind told me that something was going to go wrong.

Nothing did.  I made it to the high school fine.

After rehearsal (which was as bad as ever), I drove to WDA.  I had to hurry a little, just because I only had a half hour between the end of rehearsal and the start of dance, but I managed to make it barely on time.

The only problem was I didn't choose the best parking spot at WDA.  After class ended, I had a lot of trouble getting out and back onto the road.

The ride home was interesting.  I finally started to realize the joy and happiness of high beams.

The best part was when I came in the door to greet my family.  I entered the kitchen to applause.  I could have half-expected that, but it still felt great.  Like I had accomplished something.  And they wanted to hear every detail.  I loved that.  They care about me.  And I found out later that my mom had contacted a few parents who were at WDA, just to make sure that I arrived there safely.

Doing something great is one thing.  Doing something great, and sharing it with your favorite people is another.

-NM

Driver's License

The story begins around 9:30, when I got the following e-mail from AccuWeather:

"SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE REGION
TODAY...PERIODICALLY CAUSING WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON. VISIBILITIES COULD DETERIORATE TO NEAR ZERO IN THE
MOST INTENSE BANDS AND UNTREATED SURFACES COULD BECOME SNOW
COVERED AND SLIPPERY. TAKE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING AND LEAVE MORE
SPACE BETWEEN VEHICLES."

That is not what I wanted to see, with a Driver's test at 1:00.  At least they gave me a word of advice in the last sentence.  But for the few hours between this and when I left school, the nerves just went up.

The drive was about 40 minutes to the center, and I did it myself.  There was a little snow, but the biggest issue was maneuvering the construction.  Not to mention that I had no idea where I was going.

When I arrived, I waited my turn.  When my turn came, disaster almost struck.  Sometime during my duration, I had laminated my Learner's Permit to protect it.  This was apparently illegal.  I would have to get a new one, which could be done right away, but that would delay my test.  Fortunately, one of the guys working at the desk was able to take me out right away, and all that caused was a delay of sorts.

In fact, I may have gotten a break by that.  The snow had started hard for a brief period of time at 1:00, but by the time I actually took my test it had stopped.  Also, the guy that examined me seemed a lot nicer than the guy I was going to go out with.  I made one mistake (I didn't come to a complete stop on a right on red), but he passed me anyway.

And I have it.  I am a driver.  Once my dad gets a new car (I get the old one), a new era will have begun.  I will be frequently driving myself back and forth between places.  This is the first step towards independence.  It's a little scary, but it has to be done.

-NM

Jellicle Ball

So, for MG's musical theater class, he is doing a choreography project.  Each individual or group has to prepare a combination, and in successive weeks each group will teach their combination to the class.

It was practically decided from the beginning that I would be going alone.  I was okay with that, I did have choreography experience.  And it took me about two minutes to decide what song I would be doing.  I would be doing the "Jellicle Ball" from Cats.

I was going to go last week, but then there was 1776, so I told MG that I had to cancel until the following week (today).

I prepared it all on Sunday.  Just took a little less than an hour out of my day and did it.  I looked at videos for the original choreography, but couldn't find it.  I did find one video with some good, doable choreography, and used some of that.  However, the great majority of the choreography was my own, and I was worried that it would be too hard.

Today was my day.  I was a little nervous, but not really.  However, by the time we got through warm ups, a lecture on professional auditions from MG, abs, and a brief description about how much MG hates Cats, I only had about a half hour.

Success.

From the beginning, everybody was into it.  My fear that it would be too hard was unreasonable.  Everyone seemed energetic, and really enjoyed it.  By the end, even though we didn't get a chance to finish, SD was just asking, "Can we do it again?" "Can we do it again?"

MG seemed impressed.  I got congratulations from almost everyone as we went to the car, and again as I was dropped off at my house.

This was really nice! I love Cats.  It would be so much fun to do.  And I successfully gave it fun, doable choreography.

-NM

MM

This is a story...

A while back, I think it was in October, I was invited to her birthday party.  Not by her.  It was to be a surprise party, and MM wasn't preparing her own guest list, RH was.  As close of friends the two are, this made sense.  However, I realized that MM would have not invited me to that party.  So I declined.

Now, looking back, if the party was today I would have likely said yes.

Because since then, we've began talking.  I see her a lot.  She sits right next to me in AP Calculus, and we both eat the same lunch in the chorus room.  I wouldn't call us great friends, but it's reached a point where I'm comfortable calling her a friend.

When was the first time I realized she noticed me?  When she came up to me and said (maybe not word for word, but this general idea),

MM: [N], do you have a Facebook
Me: No
MM: I think that's why you aren't invited to things.

She probably doesn't remember this.  But I had a serious thought about it that day/night, even though I still don't have one.

Today we had a short conversation.  Nothing much, but it seemed to flow naturally.  It was nice.

-NM

A Tale of Two Enthusiasms

Part 1: 9:30 to 11:00 AM

I met KR and BF in town today.  We had a great time.

We started by hanging out at B, and me and KR got something to eat.  Then, we seemed to be going around town, like we normally do, but found to our dismay that at lot of places were closed either due to President's Day, the fact that it was Monday, or that it was too early in the morning.  We didn't hit a lot of places.

At S we had the most awkward experience.  We were sitting on the comfy chairs, when this guy come up to us and looks as if he's about to say something.  Then, after an awkward silence, he gives a hand gesture to me as if he's Spiderman webbing me.  Then, after a brief period of laughter, he goes to shake my hand, and webs me again.  Then he actually shakes BF and KR's hands, and then he webs me again.  Then he left.  We just laughed after that for a while.

Then I had to go and get ready for rehearsal, but I had had a great time.  It was nice to feel like someone's friend again.  I wish they, and a lot of others, could be with me all the time.

Part 2: 12:00 to 4:30 PM

There was no school.  Naturally, that means there are at least five hours of rehearsal.

So, from the moment we started, I knew it wasn't going to be a great day to do things.  When attendance was taken, about 10 people were missing.  That put MG in a bad mood to begin.

For the first three hours or so, we reviewed "Blow Gabriel Blow".  Sure, we made a few changes (which took forever because MG hadn't planned them out at all), but the bulk of it was review.  And it still looks terrible.  I don't see it getting a lot better, either.  After that, we ran through "Anything Goes" for a while, and MG spent most of the time yelling at the people on the platform.  The tappers were told that we didn't look good, but he didn't really give us a lot of corrections.  We were let out a half hour early, except for the few people in the one section of "Blow Gabriel Blow" that still needed choreographed.

I hardly had any social conversation with anyone the entire time.  I was never challenged with the dance steps, got very few corrections, and was annoyed quite frequently with everybody else.

In summary...

The beginning of my day was so much better than the second half.  We're talking two different worlds here.  One is a world in which I am excited, I have fun, and feel like a part of something.  One is a world in which I get annoyed, am bored frequently, and hardly talk to other people.

I've told several people the following statement lately, and I feel it is fitting to put it on my blog:

Sometimes I wish I could quit the High School Musical.  I won't, because I've already made a commitment, but if this were earlier in the rehearsal process I would have a serious decision to make.  I'm bored in rehearsals, and I feel like I don't belong.  The excitement that came freshmen year of being the best male dancer has worn off.  And I blamed my social inequality with the fact that I was an underclassman, but nothing's changed.

-NM

1776

So, last night was the group trip to see Mr. V in 1776.  His first show in a long time.  As a consequence of him being in, rehearsals have been scarce for Anything Goes, but Mrs. P got group tickets for the cast to go see him.

Before the show, we got a tour of the theater, including briefly backstage.  The tour guide kept on telling us how little room there was.  Meanwhile, there was a ton of room compared to what we're used to working with.  After the tour was dinner, and then the show.

The show was really good!  It really gave a whole different perspective on what the signing of the Declaration of Independence was like.  It made John Adams appear obnoxious and disliked, Benjamin Franklin appear like an old fool, and Thomas Jefferson appear like the biggest ladies man there ever was.

The actors were all great.  The entire ensemble was really into the cast.  Mr. V, who was the only representative from North Carolina, played his part very well.

Another great aspect of the night was seeing the returning alumni who came to see it: AF, BT, and JM. I hadn't seen BT and JM since last year, and I was glad I got the chance to say hi.  They stayed for the Q and A afterwards, though they didn't ask any questions.

The Q and A was interesting.  Mrs. P was asking most of the questions, as one would expect for her, but I managed to get a question in.  I almost embarrassed myself in the process, and I'm not sure whether it was worth asking, but I'm glad I did.

And after the show was the return home at 11:00.  Fortunately, in one of my greatest coups ever, I had managed to get my work done in lunch that afternoon, and didn't have any to do.

-NM

Clark, I Hear the Harps Eternal!

That was fun!

But there really isn't a lot to say.

Morning rehearsal went smoothly.  Ran through a lot of stuff, but not everything.

Afternoon rehearsal was where I started to feel that my voice was losing it.  I actually started marking.  Though we did get to sing the alternate lyrics to "Hark, I hear the Harps Eternal".  That was worth it.

The banquet was interesting.  I was completely underdressed.  I'll have to remember that for regionals.  We got our pins!

The concert went really well.  It wasn't too short, which was good.  Too short would have ruined the whole experience for me.  We did sing the original lyrics during the actual concert, but when he told us that we were going to do it again for an encore, it was practically assumed that the alternate lyrics were necessary.

After the concert we got our music for Regional Chorus.  I looked at it as soon as we got home.  One of the first things I noticed was that the TTBB piece is another Emily Dickinson poem.  That has to be one of the biggest coincidences there ever was.  In all, there are more songs in different languages, and the director's asking that most of them be memorized.  Most Anticipated: "How I Discovered America".

I'm excited for this.  I really am.

-NM

P.S. I know, I used my a name for the first time in the title.  I justify that by the fact that I don't know him personally, and an initial would have lost the effect.

PMEA District Chorus Day 2

This is where all the fun began.

So we learned pretty early on that the directors knew who was into Regionals.  However, there was some confusion with the dates, so they couldn't finalize the lists.  Likewise, they couldn't make an official announcement.  So it was a matter of nagging the directors.

Eventually, we tied down Mr. B long enough for him to tell us the results.

And I couldn't believe what I heard.  I had tied for second chair among first tenors.  I had not only gotten into regionals, but I was among the best tenor ones there!  I wasn't the person who only got in because we were the hosts, I was now the person who was a serious contender to do well in the next rounds!

And, QV as a whole did extremely well!  Out of 14 people who did District Chorus, 9 are into Regionals (KM, HS, RS, RS, RH, KD, JR, JD, and myself), and 2 more might get in depending on how this date thing works out (SF and RG).  To top it off, JD and RS both got first chair in their section!  Last year we only got five people into Districts!  Now we have nine people going to regionals!

Now to the actual rehearsal...

Amazing.  Phenomenal.  So much fun.  I don't want to go to regionals because it proves I can sing, I want to go to regionals because it means I get to do all of this again.  Mr. C clearly loves the tenor section, but that doesn't even matter.  He's so energetic, and knows what he is doing.

And everybody sounds really good!  This is going to be one of the best shows I have ever been in, maybe the best.

I love all the pieces now.  There is not a single piece that I am tired of.  Of the pieces that when rehearsing alone I thought weren't going to be so good, all my doubts have been proven wrong.  We could have put on a pretty good show tonight.  Tomorrow's going to be even better.

I am so excited for tomorrow.  You have no idea!

-NM

PMEA District Chorus Day 1

And on top of everything, PMEA starts.

This morning, I learned something interesting. Well, two things.

• Our region is comprised of only two districts.
• Because our district is the larger of the two, 2/3rds of the people auditioning today will be going to regions.

So, now I'm thinking I have hope again.

After school is the waiting period.  I mostly just milled around, hung out with the people I knew, occasionally practiced a song or two.  Ate dinner when the time came.

Then the auditions came.  Then they called each section into their separate rooms and told them what song they would have to sing.

As soon as they said it was "The Sea of Sunset", I just fell into a state of happiness.  That is quite frankly the easiest song they possible could have selected.  And, the section that they had us sing only goes up to an Eb, and it is extremely repetitive.  I was convinced that they were going to give us something with an A, or at least a G, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was extremely weird.

I nailed the audition.  If I don't get into Region Chorus, there was nothing I could have done to change that.

Then came the fun part.  When we actually got together with the choir and started singing.  It sounded really good! The biggest surprise: "Lay a Garland".  I had no idea what to expect from that piece, but I was impressed.  

I felt like my voice didn't matter.  I just blended in with everyone else.  I loved the feeling.  I was worried coming in that I wouldn't fit in, that I would be the terrible singing who clearly didn't deserve to be in, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

The only thing that worries me is that now I have hope.  So many times before I have had hope, and hope just led to disappointment.  I pray that this isn't the case.

-NM

Response to a Recommendation 2/5/13

So, I had musical theater class last night.  MG ran a normal class.

When I got home, my parents called me into their room.  They asked if MG had asked talked to me about anything with the CLO.  I said no.  Apparently, the CLO was looking for additional tappers ages 15 and up for their production of 42nd Street, and he thought it would be a good idea for me to try out.

How did I feel? Honored!  This would be so much fun! Even though it would only be for one number, and I wouldn't be paid or anything, this would be the chance of a life time!

The auditions are next Thursday.  I don't know how I'm going to wait that long.

Do I stand a chance?  Probably not.  I don't drive, school would be a major conflict, and I've never done anything at this level before.  But it would be so much fun! And a great experience!

I am stressing out already.  So much is going on.  PMEA, Anything Goes, College Fair, and now this.  I need to calm down.

Maybe this says something about my talent level.  I know that I can tap, but can I really tap on this level?

I guess I'm going to find out next Thursday...

A

Today was an exciting day.  Our whole family was excited.

So after almost a week of incredible suspense, she finally heard back from C Dance Intensive.  A few weeks ago, she auditioned.  And was pulled aside at the end to do a combination with a group of four or so, which made it seem like her chances were pretty good.  During this past week, the e-mails of acceptance/rejection were starting to come in.  By Thursday, all but three people from WDA who auditioned had heard one way or the other.

She remained incredibly calm.  But only A can be that calm.  She can also be really excited.  It depends on who she is with.  With V, she is "Maw"ing and can't stop talking.  With some of her friends, she is extremely quiet.

However, lately she's been tending more towards the quiet side.  As she goes to school more (Middle School now), I feel that she's spending more and more time with her friends.  V is not getting any calmer.  She is still bright, and always happy, but rarely speaks unless she is spoken to.  And is perfectly fine with speaking when that does happen.

Not to mention incredibly talented.  Her dancing is amazing.  She's been dancing since around age 3, and much longer than I have been.  She's probably a better dancer than I am, and definitely is in ballet.  And she sings.  And has one of the most beautiful singing voices I've ever heard.  When she sang in the church choir, the other sopranos (all adults), were really impressed.

The problem is that the two worlds are diverging.  She can't get the quality dance training while still participating in musical theater, and the dance always (as it should) win out.  This is her first year en pointe, and she's loving it.  She couldn't do the Little Mermaid because of dance.  She won't be at PAC this year.

I got a text from her after school today (with the standard signature: "Dance your <3 out!").  She got into C.  She'll be going there for three weeks this summer.  She's excited.  Everyone's excited.

And as she went to bed tonight, she looked completely calm.  As if nothing ever happened.  Only she could pull that off.

-NM

2/3/13

So, Sunday was my mom's birthday.

She didn't really want any presents, she just didn't want to have to do any work.  She didn't do any work, and even went shopping with A and V.  In the morning, we all went to St. J's church, in her honor, and afterwards we went for lunch in town.

While the girls were shopping, J had baseball practice.  My dad had to take him, so I was alone in the house for a few hours.  During this, I texted a lot, as well as reviewed for PMEA (which is this week!), and did some practice.  I had to put the phone down after a while.  I think I'm getting addicted to texting.  Eventually, when my dad came back, he realized I had nothing to do, and decided to put me to work helping organize receipts for tax purposes.  After that, I was in charge of preparing part of dinner.

Dinner was simple.  Cheeseburgers on the grill, with baked beans and salad.  The whole dinner was dedicated to my mom.  Afterwards, was followed by dessert and the few presents that she got anyway.

Then it was 6:30.  Time for the Super Bowl.  I had decided that I was going to root for the 49ers, even though it would have been their 6th Super Bowl.  I can't stand the Ravens, and the 49ers kind of remind me of the Pirates in a way (both teams that were historically good, but not so much lately, though they are starting to make a recovery).

Me, J, and my dad went over the the Ps to watch the game.  They had a ton of food out.  I had to resist as much as I could, considering the fact that I had just eating dinner and cake.

The game was really exciting.  One of the best I've seen in a while.  Although I hated the halftime show.  I did predict that the power outage would be a turning point for the 49ers.  And the moment they missed the field goal I knew that even though they made the next one, the momentum was lost, and the comeback just became 5 times harder.

I went to bed late.  Crazy day.

-NM

38??

So, as my faithful readers may have noticed on the side, I took a census of my readers.  I know that the majority of my readers are not actually "followers", but I was curious as to how many readers I had.

I estimated I had around a dozen or so.

But the result was 38!!!!

I can't believe it, and I'm not going to.  What must have happened was that people kept on voting multiple times, and that resulted in bad results.

If you did this, confess in the comments.

As you can see in the side, I am resurveying the population, but asking a question this time.  I urge you, DO NOT ANSWER MORE THAN ONCE.

And answer honestly.  The results I get are anonymous, so there's no real reason to fake your answer.