So I'm really sorry for having been so inactive lately. So much has been going on, yet there feels like there's been so little to actually talk about. So here's a brief synopsis of life.
My older brother is almost finished with bootcamp - he graduates later this month. From there, it's off to intelligence training.
Our dog had surgery on her leg because she tore he ACL. She's limping around the house with one bald leg where they had to make incision.
We're in the midst of Production Week at theater, and it is really hitting home to me how difficult Merchant of Venice is to perform, not because the acting and lines are difficult to do or learn, but because for me at least it is tough emotionally. The hard scene is the one in which Shylock the Jew, who has lost his daughter and most of his wealth, comes up and blames my character (Salerino) and his friend Solanio. Salerino and Solanio actually helped steal Shylock's daughter, and what do we do? We taunt him, we mock him, and while Solanio tries to get Salerino to leave, Salerino as played by me actually shoves Shylock and yells in his face. I've known "Shylock" for many, many years. He's been my "little" brother's best friend for pretty much forever.
And I put the fact that I'm a Christian in my bio, sent it in, and THEN remembered that we're performing Merchant and who I am in the play. Oh well, it's just a play. People will understand that.
On the other hand, we have a lot of fun together. When not acting, we dance to each others' music - recorder, fife, violin, viola, etc - or do random cartwheels and stuff. Or we play zombie tag inside or outside if possible. We swish our costumes and use each others' names and each others' characters' names interchangeably. Hey, we've spent a ton of hours around each other, especially this week with seven-hour rehearsals every day. We're tight by now, even those of us who are new, like me.
My college Children's Literature course is also going swimmingly. We read kids' books to our classmates, research authors and illustrators like Robert McCloskey and Eric Carle, and study the history of kiddie lit.
Youth group is also excellent. We just had a short retreat in which we wandered around the city wherein the church is contained being filmed by our youth pastor while wearing ridiculous costumes. I wore a cheese hat, which led to many people assuming I was a Packers fan. We went to a restaurant where they cook what you want right in front of you, and I asked the chef guy to cook my hat. He took it, gave me his hat, put mine on and invited me in to cook. I cooked my lunch and that of this random other customer. And yes, this was caught on video. We also played trampoline dodgeball, soccer in the springtime mud, and went ice skating. I spent all evening clinging to friends' hands (and feeling the love - they were extremely helpful and compassionate) and to stacked milk crates. This because I can't skate.
Also, I stole an idea from Compass and instituted the youth group Smile Card. When someone makes you smile, if you are the holder of the Smile Card, you write in their name with an arrow pointing from yours to theirs, and give it to them. It began in the morning, and by the evening it had changed hands more than twenty times. The magic thing about this card that Sweet n' Spazzy, who started the Compass Smile Card, probably intended, is that receiving the Smile Card makes you smile. It makes you happy, knowing that you made someone else happy. The Smile Card brings still more smiles to the group.
So, looking forward to first performances this weekend (although NOT looking forward to missing youth group for the next two weeks) and to my big brother regaining access to Skype, that's where I am right now.
My older brother is almost finished with bootcamp - he graduates later this month. From there, it's off to intelligence training.
Our dog had surgery on her leg because she tore he ACL. She's limping around the house with one bald leg where they had to make incision.
We're in the midst of Production Week at theater, and it is really hitting home to me how difficult Merchant of Venice is to perform, not because the acting and lines are difficult to do or learn, but because for me at least it is tough emotionally. The hard scene is the one in which Shylock the Jew, who has lost his daughter and most of his wealth, comes up and blames my character (Salerino) and his friend Solanio. Salerino and Solanio actually helped steal Shylock's daughter, and what do we do? We taunt him, we mock him, and while Solanio tries to get Salerino to leave, Salerino as played by me actually shoves Shylock and yells in his face. I've known "Shylock" for many, many years. He's been my "little" brother's best friend for pretty much forever.
And I put the fact that I'm a Christian in my bio, sent it in, and THEN remembered that we're performing Merchant and who I am in the play. Oh well, it's just a play. People will understand that.
On the other hand, we have a lot of fun together. When not acting, we dance to each others' music - recorder, fife, violin, viola, etc - or do random cartwheels and stuff. Or we play zombie tag inside or outside if possible. We swish our costumes and use each others' names and each others' characters' names interchangeably. Hey, we've spent a ton of hours around each other, especially this week with seven-hour rehearsals every day. We're tight by now, even those of us who are new, like me.
My college Children's Literature course is also going swimmingly. We read kids' books to our classmates, research authors and illustrators like Robert McCloskey and Eric Carle, and study the history of kiddie lit.
Youth group is also excellent. We just had a short retreat in which we wandered around the city wherein the church is contained being filmed by our youth pastor while wearing ridiculous costumes. I wore a cheese hat, which led to many people assuming I was a Packers fan. We went to a restaurant where they cook what you want right in front of you, and I asked the chef guy to cook my hat. He took it, gave me his hat, put mine on and invited me in to cook. I cooked my lunch and that of this random other customer. And yes, this was caught on video. We also played trampoline dodgeball, soccer in the springtime mud, and went ice skating. I spent all evening clinging to friends' hands (and feeling the love - they were extremely helpful and compassionate) and to stacked milk crates. This because I can't skate.
Also, I stole an idea from Compass and instituted the youth group Smile Card. When someone makes you smile, if you are the holder of the Smile Card, you write in their name with an arrow pointing from yours to theirs, and give it to them. It began in the morning, and by the evening it had changed hands more than twenty times. The magic thing about this card that Sweet n' Spazzy, who started the Compass Smile Card, probably intended, is that receiving the Smile Card makes you smile. It makes you happy, knowing that you made someone else happy. The Smile Card brings still more smiles to the group.
So, looking forward to first performances this weekend (although NOT looking forward to missing youth group for the next two weeks) and to my big brother regaining access to Skype, that's where I am right now.
Life is busy and every moment is a learning experience. I am so proud of you and all you do!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't ask for a better daughter!
Love you!