your inner literary figure

AP English prompt of the day: If you could be a character from literature, who would you be? Explain.

A fun prompt, finally! From what I hear, the majority of people would be either Hermione Granger or Elizabeth Bennet. I would’ve chosen Lizzy, but I kind of figured a lot of people would…Katie and I were in Jane Austen moods though. She chose Emma and I chose Marianne. What fun! :)

So there’s your thought for the day, kiddies: Who would you be?

“i’ll exhibit a bill in parliament for the putting down of men!”

On Sunday, Cort, Crash, Katie, and I embarked on yet another Shakespeare-related adventure–this time to see The Merry Wives of Windsor at Sacramento City College. We anticipated it would be a better production than Elk Grove High School’s Much Ado About Nothing 1986 (*shudders at the thought of it*), and our hopes were not crushed. It was brilliant.

Having been a fan of Merry Wives since it brought together my close group of friends during Frosh year, I was excited to see it onstage. This adaptation was set in the 50’s (which makes perfect sense!) and, unlike the horror of Much Ado 1986, the actors spoke the actual text that Shakespeare intended for the stage. The four leads who played Masters Ford and Page and their wives, Mistresses Ford and Page, were very well cast, though the Falstaff could’ve been a bit more over-the-top with his dishonest ways. There were some unfortunate, though thankfully rare, moments throughout the play when it was quite obvious the actors did not know what they were saying because the meaning was lost amongst a jumble of words. But those moments aside, the production was laugh-out-loud hilarious.

One of my favorite moments of the afternoon/evening was intermission though. See, the four of us had arrived a minute late to the show because we got confused about parking and lost on the campus, so it was quite obvious that we were making a late entrance (it was a theatre in the round). And we were also very noticeable because we were laughing so much…because we understood it. The rest of the audience would laugh, but not often, though they could tell something funny was happening. (We had this same problem at Elk Grove High with the bad Much Ado, but mainly we were laughing at their incompetency.) So during intermission, a lady actually came up to us and asked us if we understood what was happening. It was an amusing sight–the four of us high school students explaining Shakespeare to a bunch of adults. It’s moments like those we’re so glad we have Miss Bowers as a teacher. :)

After the show, Crash and I took Cort and Katie on their first trip to TapEx (Tapioca Express) to expose them to the world of Asian hangouts. It was amusing!

And now back to the tick-tock rhythm of school…I think all of us are just ready to graduate and be done with all of the massive amounts of schoolwork! Ah, Senior Year…it’s been quite the fun ride. And there’s still snow/ice on our Lawn…

a dream hit

After a confusing car ride to the movie theatre and an overdose of Pussycat Doll songs from the radio, Mom and I made it to Dreamgirls with our hopes high. (Have you noticed how the really annoying, talkative, loud people always tend to sit behind you in the theatre?) Anyways…

The movie overall was okay. Not great, but pretty good. It’s obvious that Beyonce’s Best Actress nominations and leading credits are due only in part to her name as a music star. Her talent looks amateur-ish in comparison to that of Jennifer Hudson. (If any of you have doubts about the true talent of Jennifer Hudson, go see this movie because it will make you believe that all of the hype surrounding her is truly deserved.) The addition of “Listen” to the movie version of Dreamgirls made Beyonce’s character a little easier to sympathize with, but it almost seems like she is trying too hard to steal back the thunder that Jennifer has on screen. Jennifer’s showstopping rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” left me in awe and tears from the moment she began.

As for the guys, it’s Eddie Murphy who stands out. His role as a fading music star is one of depth and unexpected poignancy. Jamie Foxx does a nice job of making the audience loathe his character, and Keith Robinson is so charming and talented that it makes me forget that he used to be a Power Ranger.

The music is addictive, the costumes are flashy, and the emotional performance of Jennifer Hudson make up this Golden Globe winning film that deserves your consideration for many more awards.

snow in sac town!

Sometimes…I really love being a Senior. :)

The annual Senior Snow Day was cancelled on it’s original date back in December, but we weren’t about to let the tradition pass us by! We planned it for Tuesday (no school on Monday) even though we knew we’d end up being dead tired. On Monday morning, Crash, Em, Salo, and Steph went up to Sierra Tahoe and loaded up three trucks of snow. By the time they arrived back at Loretto, it was the evening and Jill, Cort, Rosa, Mo, Katie Garner(!), and I met them at the lawn to unload the snow. It took about an hour and a half but we got it done (with help from Mr. Tsai!) and we managed to coat most of the lawn with the mass amounts of snow. (In the early early morning, another group brought back snow from Boreal to add.) I spent the night at Cort’s where we watched the Golden Globes and then proceeded to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to get to school by 6. Bad decision because the school doesn’t even open until 6:30 (there were five of us waiting outside of the gates…) and we didn’t even end up decorating like we were supposed to. I spent most of the school day trying not to fall asleep in my classes.

Nonetheless, it’s safe to say that we had the most snow in the history of Snow Days at Loretto! A lot of the snow has melted, but there’s still a good amount on the lawn. Due to the extremely cold weather, most of it has frozen over though! (Take a look at all of the pics on MyPhotoAlbum!)

In other news, we got the CDs of the Christmas Concert today…The recordings came out pretty well. I still have issues about the fact that I messed up on the last chorus descant for “My Grown Up Christmas List”, but that’s okay.

Listen: My Grown Up Christmas List, arranged by yours truly and performed by Harnoor, Cort, Rosa, and me, with Olivia on piano.
(To hear more from the concert, leave me a comment and I’ll post the songs!)

what’s the story?

If you don’t remember Wishbone, then excuse me while I shed a tear. After joining the “No I haven’t read that great literary classic–but I saw the Wishbone!” Facebook group, I discovered that, yes, there are a few episodes available on the wonderous joy of YouTube. So while reading my Shakespeare and AP English homework, I rewatched the Henry IV, part 1 and the Great Expectations episodes…and it was fabulous. Sadly, the only episodes that are online are those two, Northanger Abbey, Jekyll and Hyde, and Sleepy Hollow. Thanks to Wishbone, I gained my appreciation and love of literature–My first interest in Shakespeare developed after Wishbone played Ariel in The Tempest…I chose Northanger Abbey for my Sophomore term paper because of Wishbone…And of course who could forget “Cyranose”? :)

And sadly, Na and I have seen literally every episode. Thank you PBS.

So moving on from a happy and adorable subject…Who knew it woud be so fantastic to see a piece of music in English and rejoice? After singing Latin, Spanish, French, Hungarian, and Old English, receiving three pieces of new Choir music in English is wonderful. Granted, there will be more Hungarian and Latin and who knows what else, but so far it’s alright. Chamber Choir is more work than I remembered it to be from last year…

What are these rumors about a possible snow flurry in Sac? I remember it snowed up in Applegate last February because it was during Junior Retreat. The snow reached the Auburn and Roseville areas, but not Sac…Keeping my fingers crossed, although next Tuesday should be even better…But shh, it’s a secret…