Exceptions to "Thou Shall Not Kill."

We were having a discussion in humanities, and by the title of this post... of course it sounds heavy and serious. haha. It really wasn't. At least, not too much. We were talking about how the fact that there are exceptions proves that there is a rule. In apologetics, its hard to get past the moral argument, because everyone in the world has exceptions to the same moral law.

For example, one of our exceptions is war. It isn't considered murder to go out and kill people in the heat of battle.
Another exception is self-defense. If someone is coming at you with a huge butcher knife intent on stabbing your brains out, no one will put you in jail for defending yourself and killing them.
Capital punishment is also a socially acceptable exception.

And then... one guy in the back raised his hand to add an exception to the list. You know what he said?
Trespassing in Texas.

Free at last!

Free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!

haha. It is the first Monday in May, and I do NOT have to go to class. (Especially accounting!) So I slept in, and I'm still sitting in my comfy, QUEEN-SIZED BED with memory foam. True, my room looks like a disaster area. I think a mini-tornado came through and one of my suitcases exploded. I don't think this whole "summer" thing has sunk in yet. Since I was such a home school slacker I never really had summer breaks because I always had some sort of school work to do. heh.

Ooh. I will never be a freshman again! My next huge accomplishment will be getting my dad on board with the study abroad thing. He's not ready for me to apply yet, since there's an application fee. :-/ I admit it is a pretty steep fee, but I do have to apply early to be eligible for scholarships....

Anyway. Happy blog post. ^________^ I'm blasting music and don't have to worry about who I'm accidentally waking up. Although going back to only child from living with 30 of some of the loudest girls I've ever met might get a bit boring now and then.....

Good News, Bad News

Warning: NerdAlert!

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news? I usually go for the bad news first to get it out of the way. Then the good news can cheer me up. So, lets go with bad news:
The best/most convenient Borders in Tulsa is closing! :-( I love to go there and buy a book and sit and drink one of the free coffees I've racked up over my many, many visits. Plus, I'm even closer to it now that I live at ORU! So, that is the bad/sad news. I know... I'm tearing up over Borders. But I have such fond memories of the place!

So, now that we're all depressed lets go with the good news:
BORDERS CLOSING SALE. I got two books for 25% off, and one for 30% off. Of course, all of the LotR trilogy books were already bought up, but I got a cheap copy of the Hobbit since I've been wanting to re-read it! And I paid a couple extra bucks to get the Jane Eyre with the cool, gothic water-color original cover art! haha. :P I also got Animal Farm, which I've been wanting to read for awhile. That wasn't on sale, but it was an impulse buy because they had the stack of Animal Farms in the check-out line. (Darn marketers! I'm learning marketing basics in class and yet I still fall for their tricks!)

Anyway, yes. I walked out of that store a happy, happy girl. Even though I'm really sad I will never get to call that Borders again asking them to hold a copy of the newest SNC CD back behind the register for me to pick up the day it comes out...

Beauty and the Beast

I'm taking advantage of my coffee induced urge to chatter. This blog post is going to be the rough draft of an extra credit assignment I'm turning in for humanities class. Of course, I'll probably make it a little more formal before I turn it in and I'll format it correctly, blah blah blah... Oh, and actually proof the grammar/spelling. Anyway.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!
Rating: 9.5/10

I went to see the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, March 2nd. I was excited for months in advance because I love the Broadway season at the PAC, and Beauty and the Beast is one of the ones that really gets hyped up. The musical follows the Disney version of the story, so I knew most of the songs they sang. I loved the live instrumental versions of the music I've enjoyed since I was little watching the movie. My favorite songs were, “Belle,” “Gaston,” “Be Our Guest,” “The Mob Song,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” It was probably because these were the ones I already knew from the movie. I wasn’t as impressed with the new songs, although they did add something to the performance.

Belle's voice was really great. She reminded me of Bell from the movie, which is always a good thing when they're re-creating such a well-loved movie. The one voice I wasn't sure I liked was the beast's. He had this amazing, deep and booming speaking voice. However, I didn't think he sounded as great while he was singing. I did like the very last song he sang, but other than that I could have gone without hearing his solos. They completely created a song for Beast, which is probably to be expected for making a Broadway musical out of a movie.

My absolute favorite character was Lumiere, and Lefou was my runner-up favorite. Lumiere was energetic, wild, and perfect. His accent was over the top and it really made his character pop. I felt like he really carried most of the castle scenes. Lumiere got the most laughs out of the audience and out of me for sure. He also got the loudest applause at the end of the performance. Lefou was the source of the physical comedy. He was one of the most flexible men I've ever seen. He was always tripping and somersaulting across the stage, landing in awkward heaps of arms and legs. I also enjoyed the fact that his speaking voice and singing voice were both spot on from the movie character's voice. It really enhanced his character.

I really enjoyed all of the brightly colored costumes. The castle cast members were all wearing some very creative things. Cogsworth the clock was very obviously a clock. And Mrs. Pots had a great tea pot costume as well. Belle had a beautiful gold ball gown for the end scenes. I thought the beast’s costume was really well done. It stood out from the stage to me, and I was all the way up in the balcony. All of the villagers and other supporting cast had on vibrant, interesting outfits as well. I couldn’t find anything bad to say about this area of the production at all.

Overall, I gave the production of Beauty and the Beast a 9.5 out of 10. It was entertaining all the way through and only one of the newer songs made me feel like it was dragging on. Whenever intermission came I was disappointed that we had to wait for the second act. I know the audience, which included a lot of little girls in cute little sparkly dresses, loved it just as much as I did.

Thinking about joining Procrastinators' Anonymous...

...sometime later next week. Probably.
Seriously, this is bad. I won't have time to write this paper tomorrow or Tuesday, and it is due Wednesday. My New Testament paper over the portraits of Jesus in the four different gospels. Really, it is an easy paper. And I have my broadest, most general outline done, but that's it. I think the problem is that this paper is so easy it's just tedious. I mean, it is moderately interesting, and I'm glad I won't have to spend too much time on it considering I have a bunch of other stuff to do with my other classes, but yeah. Just annoying. Like one of the girls down the hall said, this paper needs to write itself.

Oh, and a disclaimer for the post below... I was feeling snarky, and that was the only thing remotely interesting that happened to me that day... So that is what I decided to snark about. I am seriously not hiding under my bunk bed in the fetal position wondering when my dorm is going to get blown up. I promise. :) It is still a sobering, scary thought but I am not paranoid.

I'm wanting After Dark Live to start soon (I got THREE twitter updates about ADL to my phone. Thanks, Jason. I don't think I'll forget it now) so that I have further opportunities to procrastinate until later this evening. Although my goal is to get to bed early so I won't be wanting to chuck my cell phone (read: alarm clock) at the farthest wall and hear it break into a million pieces before rolling back over and falling back asleep. I so miss being a morning person.

Anyway.. slightly pointless post. No real reason. Except procrastination. ^_______^

Romantic & Modern Humanities Was Invented to Terrorize College Students

(WARNING. THIS POST MIGHT INDUCE LARGE SCALE PARANOIA FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL SAFETY.)
...Seriously.
Yes. I need to somehow inject sunshine and rainbows into my bloodstream after that class. This is the third time we've watched a video (or a "film" as Mrs. Buckles calls it) about extreme Muslim groups. If the first couple times weren't bad enough (it was so long Buckles split it up into two class periods)... This time today was worse. And the first time included the knowledge that 98% of all peaceful Muslim organizations in America are just fronts for extremist Islamic organizations that want to kill all Americans.

Today, we watched a video that was creepily relevant to the turmoil in Egypt right now. Since the whole thing started, I've been reserving judgment on what I think about the situation. A lot of people are celebrating with Egypt since Mubarak stepped down, but just because a dictator leaves doesn't make the country automatically a democratic nation. Now, we have to worry about the Muslim Brotherhood taking over. This video made clear that while Mubarak was in charge, he made a fertile environment (not my words) for the Brotherhood to grow. And now, they probably see this as their chance to wipe out the copts, or Egyptian Christians. And even though Mubarak was a not-so-nice dictator, he kept the peace between Egypt and America, and my dad told me that he kept certain people from invading Jerusalem.

But anyway... Radical Muslims, I've learned, are a real and immediate threat. At the start of class today, Buckles said that she hoped this video would, "open your eyes to the real horrors that are out there in the world today." Gee, thanks. Now I'm going to be hiding under the bottom bunk in my room for a month wondering why ORU didn't make bomb shelters in the basements of all their dorms.

Anyway... I almost cried in class. And I don't cry. I literally had to blink back tears as this woman broke down on camera telling the story of this little four year old boy in Egypt. The parents were Christians (copts), and the doctors were Muslim. They used this little four year old for medical experiments, and then they wouldn't give him any blood infusions while he bled out from a head wound. The parents kept yelling for help, and they finally told the father they would give the boy the infusion he needed if the father would step into the next room to sign paperwork. When he left, they ripped the boy out of his mothers arms and restrained her while he spent his last minutes reaching for his mother and crying for her. All because the mother and father were Christians. (Isn't that uplifting? And today she didn't even read a Psalm before we started class!)

There were more stories about mothers forced to behead their own sons, or watch their own daughters be raped repeatedly. Every time a woman broke down and cried on camera I had to blink back more tears. I even sniffed once. If you don't know me that well... it takes a lot to make me cry... Unless I see someone crying right in front of me.

Those were the heartbreaking stories. The disturbing, terrorizing, traumatizing part of the video, was all of the footage of Islamic leaders and Muslim rallies with subtitles. They showed a massive crowd chanting "Death to America!" over and over, for what felt like an hour. I felt chills go down my spine. I might take a comforting blanket to class next time. An Islamic leader said, "whoever says 'I don't hate' is not a Muslim." He said that Muslims must hate the infidels. And when Muslims "hate" people, they usually go attack them. (With bombs, guns, or.. I don't know... airplanes.)

The saying "First comes Saturday, then Sunday" kept repeating throughout the video. It means, "first we kill the Jews (Saturday is their sabbath), then we go after the Christians (Sunday is our sabbath.)" America is now in the sights of the Muslim world, and they want to bring us down. I think a lot of people are either mislead about Muslim intentions, or they just want to ignore the problem. Right now, in countries where Islam is the official religion they rule by the sharia, which is basically the laws in the Quran. (And they are scary, scary laws. Islamic countries have dress code police for women, and those guys are WAAAY more scary than the dress code police at ORU. At least you don't get shoved into the back of an unmarked car to go who knows where at ORU.)

So now, everyone in the class is dead silent, watching women break down telling these horrific stories, and watching mobs of Muslim men wish death and destruction on us. And as we leave the room, my mind goes into worst case scenario mode, and all the way back to the dorms I'm envisioning the second 9/11, with extreme Muslim terrorists taking over the country (though they'll probably try to take over Egypt first, then attack Jerusalem, then come after us) and forcing sharia law on us all.

Can you imagine the field day Muslims would have with Tulsa? With ORU? I live not only in the BIBLE BELT, I live in the BUCKLE of the BIBLE BELT. And ORU is like a nice sparkly rhinestone in that buckle. This class is feeding a paranoia I never knew I even had! I sit next to one of my brother wingers in that class, and even he was a bit disturbed. His words were, "Its a sobering thought." I thought that was a slight understatement.
My mother refuses to let me tell her what I learn in humanities class now. Half of a conversation about the first video I saw was enough for her.
And did you know that Muslim schools even in the US are indoctrinating our young children with these ideals? And that American Muslims who say that Islam is a peaceful religion are either lying to us or are being lied to by whoever their religious leader is? We saw AMERICAN Muslims telling cameras that America is corrupt and needs to be brought down. AMERICAN Muslims that wanted the country to be run by sharia law. That law strips women of all rights and privileges. That law gives Muslim men the right to go on murdering sprees if those killed are infidels.



I think I might need some anti-anxiety pills by the time I take the final for this class. Much more of this and I'm going to turn into one of those little old cat ladies (but with dogs, not cats. Sorry cats.) that dresses like Umbridge from The Order of the Phoenix and passes out cookies with pink M&Ms in them to all the neighborhood kids to try and block out the horrible worst-case-scenarios that hound my every waking (and sleeping!) moment. Oh, and I'll have a bomb shelter. That's hidden. Because there were lots of stories about Muslims raiding bomb shelters that Christians were hiding in and making parents do horrible things to their children...

I'm just going to stop now..
I think it might be time for my daily devotional. Though I found myself doing a lot of praying in that humanities class. I don't think I've ever been so happy to remind myself about the love of God. At least its Valentine's Day... I'm getting lots of candy with pink, frilly wrappers. Eating on that while reading some Psalms might make me feel better.

Oh, and I apologize for any paranoia I may have just caused.

Big, Fun, Scary List!

So, since I failed NaNo this year even more horribly than last.. haha. I decided I would still try to participate in the Big, Fun, Scary goals that lots of Wrimos are doing for 2011. The idea is to do somethig big, fun, and scary... obviously. I've heard of people getting new jobs they actually liked, or learning to dance, or traveling to China... wow. I don't think I'll do anything expensive.. haha. But, I do have some ideas rattling around in this college-kid brain of mine that I'd like to write down and see how far I get.

BFS List

1. Take swing-dancing lessons. (Found a place 15 min away where the first lesson is FREE and every lesson after that is $7! Talk about cheap! :P)
2. Finish reading ALL of Jane Austen's books as well as Gulliver's Travels & Alice in Wonderland. (Well, they ARE all laying around my house. I'm halfway through Travels and have 1.5 of Austen's down..)
3. Run 3 times a week, every week, no exceptions. Unless I have a fever.
4. Finish at least all the scrapbook blank pages/refills I have this (2011) year.
5. Write on my NaNoNovel a little bit each week. Even if its crap. And even if its just 50 words.
6. Be more disciplined about writing in my prayer journal.

Aaaaand, there you have it. I don't know if any of these things by themselves are scary, or big. But altogether, at the same time, that is a HUGE, scary list to tackle. But I suppose once it becomes habit, it will be very, very fun. :-) Especially to look back and see how far I've come..

Anyone wanna do a BFS list with me?

Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Well, I only have 10 minutes until I have to leave for class, so here is my "quick and dirty" HPDH1 review! haha. My Rating: 8.5/10 I have a smaller list of disappointments this time! Woohoo! My 2 disappointments: **I wasn't too ecstatic about the soundtrack. I dunno, I guess I could have been distracted by the actual action in the movie to hear any variations of Hedwig's theme, but it just doesn't seem like a complete HP movie if I don't hear/notice some arrangement of that score the first time I see it. **Kreacher didn't "accept" Harry! Kreacher and Harry need to become friends. They MUST become friends. How else will Kreacher and the other elves coming to the trio's defense with kitchen utensils if Kreacher doesn't even LIKE or RESPECT Harry in Part One? They have to rectify this pretty soon into Part Two for me to be happy about this one... LOVELOVELOVED: **Word-for-word dialogue from the book. I was recently re-reading DH, so I recognized quite a few word-for-word conversations! That made for a very happy Tina. **George, with the toothbrush where his ear used to be, catching Harry & Ginny kissing. The only thing I can say to this is.... Pahahahaha! **The Harry/Hermione dance. Awww! **The Ministry scenes! They were great! I was on the edge of my seat (even though I knew what was going to happen), laughing, and cringing all within a couple of minutes. **The 7 Potters! The twins (heehee. Word-for-word!)... Fleur (baha.)... **Malfoy Manor. Creepy and perfect! **Bathilda Bagshot! Okay, I'll admit. I jumped a little bit. But at least I didn't scream and almost hit the roof like Kate did. Paha. Love you, Kate.

NaNoWriMo Time!

Well... National Novel Writing Month has come around once again... This year it is going to be even more difficult for me to make time!

As evidenced by the fact that it took me three tries to complete those two sentences without stopping in the middle to do something else. As of right now, I'm a day and a half behind (I only got 425 words in on the first day), but I'm not done writing for today. My fingers are sore from pounding on my keyboard, and half of what I've written already is crap. (But only half! woohoo! haha.)
Being a college student is exhausting. If NaNoWriMo was in December, then we'd be in business. Finals week ends the 10th, and I could easily write two times the needed amount every day for 10 days if all I had to do was go to work 3 times a week and decorate the house with Christmas-y stuff.

Anyway... getting ready to leave my dorm and go home for some free, non-cafeteria food, accounting help, and to hunt down my novel outline book! (I've already written over 2,900 words that I'm not sure were in line with my plan! Oh no! That's probably why I'm convinced they are crap. But its NaNo time, where perfectionists force themselves to fly by the seat of their pants and not delete anything! Auggghh!

I'm going to be SO happy when December hits!

Straight No Chaser!

Sooo, it took me for-freaking-ever to get this post typed up. But I couldn't just let it sit here unfinished. This concert was even better than the May 8th SNC concert! ^_________^

I met up with SJ for the Meet & Greet before the show, and also met Tina G, Pati and Esther! Since I'm writing this almost a month after the fact, I'm so sorry if I forgot anyone! :/
Anyway. Meet and Greet! The M&G beforehand really made my night. Really, EVERYTHING individually would have made my night, so I guess this made my month. :P I met SJ at the door to the theater after being in town for a couple of hours. We wandered awkwardly into the room, and had some lovely conversation before the guys showed up sitting at a little table in our library voices. :P haha. There was a big veggie tray set out, as well as cookies and rolls, and pretty much no one was eating from it. There were also little bowls of candy on the individual tables where people were sitting, and few people were eating out of those. Then the guys all come in, and swarm the food table. I think it was Ryan that made a joke about being starved, and then Walt picked up the veggie tray and started circulating it around the room.

SJ & I were sitting in amazing front row seats.. the only problem was the gigantic speaker sitting right in front of me. I remember sitting all the way back in my chair, then leaning forward and stretching my arm out to touch the stage. THAT is how close we were! It was fun. I was able to take pictures and video without even zooming in! I was so happy I was able to catch facial expressions, since when they came to Tulsa my tickets were so far back the zoom on my camera could only catch blurs of tan suits. :-P
Video links!
Billie Jean/Poison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q01-N--7ZyE
Chicken Fried: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd5zOVYYtkE
Lion Sleeps Tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMnoqFVuyY
Miss You (a new favorite!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqe9KuhNAss
Come Together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eV0LN234-Q
Hi-De-Ho: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtXQwNOqeZ0 *****My favorite video of the night. ^____^
12 Days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFS7uo1uOfE
In the Still of the Night (no mics): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akwIKF2FO9o
GAGA MEDLEY (!!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6_VuYvBFKA
Okay, I can't go through the whole concert, but I have highlights that especially stood out!
Gaga medley -SOOOOOOOOOOO much more amazing in person! It was absolutely hilarious, the choreography was genius, and of course their voices were perfect as always.
Rolling Stones' Miss You - It was the first time I'd heard it, and it was fantastic. Of course, I was feeling the #basslove during this song, but that's not the ONLY reason I loved it. :-P I really wish they would record this one and put it on an album!
Hi-De-Ho - Being five feet in front of Charlie, Walt, and Tyler while they sang it was amazing. A-maze-ing. Dude, its even more of my favorite song now. I could barely fit just the three of them in the shot, and my camera wasn't zoomed in at all. Listening to this song from five feet away = #basslove HEAVEN! And the tenor training wheels did a fantastic job as well!
Chicken Fried - A country song! haha. I have to enjoy it, if nothing else then for the fact that it is country, and it helps other people appreciate country just a little bit more. ^___^ But I did really, really like the arrangement! (So thanks for that, Tyler! Didn't he arrange it?) Though I still think Charlie would kill a Josh Turner song. Any Josh Turner song.
Also, I FINALLY got to see 12 Days in person! The first time I saw the 12 Days video was when it was FIRST going viral. In the Still of the Night was pure magic without mics, and everything else was just perfect! (I'm running out of adjectives...)

Waiting for the M&G line afterwards was hilarious with all the chasers... Especially Mila! When the line went down and we finally got to the table, Mila actually got up on it. haha. Watching the guys with her was adorable. I helped Mila down off the table and then started distributing my gifts... (http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs124.ash2/39522_1472503659734_1447920356_31228462_830865_n.jpg) The ornaments with penguins on them! And 5 Snickerdoodles for each guy. I loved Charlie's reaction when he realized the ornaments (which had been wrapped around the bags of cookies) were actually Christmas ornaments. And I got my winter tour shirt signed! Haha. The shirt made it down the table before I did. I felt kind of scatterbrained while I was going through the line, especially when 2-3 of the guys are asking you different questions at the same time. But then most of them came up to me after they got out from behind the table and thanked me for the ornaments/cookies again and I got lots of hugs! (I LOVE hugs. haha.) I got an individual picture with Randy & then a big group picture. Now I need to go back to another concert and get more individual pictures!

Its been sooo long since this happened, I wish I could recall actual conversations, but I can't. :-( Anyway, it was a lovely, lovely night and I began uploading pictures and videos immediately when I returned to the hotel room where I was staying with my parents. I had so much fun with all my subsequent notifications and such. haha.
Well, it seems like an abrupt and/or awkward spot to end this post, but that's all folks! haha. :-)

Well, at least they tried..

So, ORU tried and failed to help me out on this one. haha. We had to take this personality-type test (yes, it was required) so that we could write a "Whole Person Assessment paper." Since it can be NO longer than two pages, double spaced... it is a joke. Also, I've already exhausted every personality test I could find, because I'm cool like that, and so I didn't really care about this one. haha. Yeah... I just went through it as fast as possible, so my results were only about 80% correct.


Although, my "personality strengths and weaknesses" really cracked me up. Partly because I don't 100% agree with the strengths, and partly because the weaknesses were spot-on and the way the results were worded just made me laugh. So I thought I would share.

Strengths
* Relies on logic more than emotions and enthusiasm.
* Focused and succinct in speaking.
* Comfortable operating alone rather than depending on group support.
* Likes to be thorough and precise; good with details.
* Quick minded; able to grasp abstract concepts.
*Clever in crafting solutions and responses to problems.


Weaknesses
* Can come across as being too serious and unenthusiastic.
* Stressed by having to make small talk with strangers.
* Uncomfortable in group social activities; can appear unfriendly.
* Can have unreasonable expectations for self and others.
* May have an attitude of superiority.

Actually, it just hit me why the weaknesses make me laugh. It sounds like they're trying to describe the downside to the personalities of certain breeds of dogs...

Also... I HATE small talk (Hit that nail on the head..). Unless its about certain things I know a lot about. Additionally, I've been told that apparently I'm intimidating to talk to because I do appear unfriendly when I become uncomfortable in large group situations. And, I always have unreasonable expectations for everyone, myself included. That's what having a 4.2 GPA throughout most of middle/high school will do to you. People used to call that optimism, though. :P I used to hyperventilate when I got B's on my report card.

I was also told that "balance is key" for me to be happy in my "when I'm all grown up" work environment. ahaha. I wish they could see me in my work environment NOW...

And apparently I would be very fulfilled if I picked up the career of being a rabbi.

Road Trip!

Yay! Today is going to be my first college road trip! Can you guess where its to? haha. BRANSON! Two girls on my wing, Sarah and Kali (kay-lee... yeah, it confuzzled me too at first) are coming with me. We have two free nights at the Hampton Inn on the strip! Going to see the Cat's Pajamas on Saturday... Who else would we go see? haha.

I was wanting to see Jeerk, but they had a scheduling FAIL and are not having any shows that match up with our schedule.

Sorry in advance, Jason, for not staying on a Sunday night! This was a last minute trip and Sunday night just didn't fit in. I was thinking either during December or in May, when I'm going back for my birthday for sure! :)

Anyway... expect fun updates! ^_____^ Kali just now got off of work, so I'm just waiting on my mom with my car, fresh out of the shop.

COLLEGE!

Ahhh! This is my first college post! I moved in to my dorm, the Claudius Roberts Hall [aka, Claudius] on the 7th! I'm now a student at Oral Roberts University! It is insane. Today was my fourth day of classes. I'm faring better than some of the other girls on my hall in the homework area, and have only had accounting homework so far.

Even though accounting is absolutely kicking my butt.... I love ORU. :-) I love my wing, too! Yeah, Standard! All the girls have been super easy to get to know, and my roommate is a soccer player. Apparently she was flipping out and trying to stalk me on facebook because she was the only player without another player as a roommate. They were all afraid I was weird. :-P

I have a feeling I'm going to get really close to a lot of the girls on Standard, especially after soccer season ends and the soccer girls are actually on the floor half the time. haha. The only thing that would make it better would be my bestest friend EVER, Kate, living on Standard with me.
Oh, and our brother wing rocks, too. haha. Their name is Fred Creek. And a lot of the mens soccer team is on Fred Creek, so we're making shirts that say Fred Creek raises the Standard to wear to their games. I'm really getting into dorm life. haha. :P

Anyway, yeah. I've been meeting a zillion new people, and I've actually been okay with it. Even though I'm going home to crash without people around tomorrow night. haha.

I'm such a girl.

I have major crushes on fictional characters. No, NOT on Edward Cullen. I like Emmett better anyway. But already, I digress.
I realize that I like fictional characters so much because they are fictional, and written to be perfect. Nevertheless, there are still four fictional characters I cannot get over! At all! And I would marry them in a heartbeat if they asked [and if they had stronger morals, of course. The one area where fictional characters are NEVER perfect].

4. Seeley Booth. [seasons 1-3 of Bones.] FBI agent. Ex-sniper. Threatens to kill gang leaders for the safety of his crime-fighting partner.
3. Ty. The Heartland book series. He was Amy's boyfriend, and worked on Amy's equine rescue facility. I read those books when I was in 5th - 7th grade.
2. Mr. Darcy. P&P. Of course.
1. Andrew Paxton. The Proposal. Played by Ryan Reynolds. Give the man [Andrew] some Christian morals and I would hang a "perfect" sign around his fictional neck.

Yes, I realize how sad this post is. haha. :P And still, I wrote it anyway...

The Cat's Pajamas

Oh. My. Goodness.
This is my new favorite Branson show, hands down. :)

Lovelovelovelovelovelove them!

Me: Can I give an 11 out of 10? :-)
Favorite Songs: Some Kind of Wonderful, I Can Live with That, Pretty Woman, Hooked on a Feeling, Radio/Video Medley, The Joker, You've Lost that Loving Feeling

Kate: 9
And, I didn't ask what her favorite songs were. Oops. But if I had to guess, I'd say Love Potion Number 9. ;)

Anyway. I had been telling mom that I wanted to see them for a good couple weeks in advance of our Branson trip. I had heard Jason, Rose, and Kim saying great things. And since my Straight No Chaser kick, I've always been up for finding really good a cappella groups. Well, Monday when Kate and I were getting ready for the 12 Irish Tenors, The Cat's Pajamas came to our hotel to sing a couple of songs. Mom fell in love. Grant pulled her up to dance with her and sang Pretty Woman to her. Then she got pictures, and they held her sideways! Mom said it was their idea, too. But of course, if a group of performers is good looking and my mom or grandma gets to participate... the performers usually love them. :P
Mom and dad got tickets to go while Kate and I were with Jason at the tenors. Grant pulled her up on stage again for Pretty Woman. So mom fell in love all over again and got a free CD out of it. Mom's favorite is Grant now, of course. She told me that night that she just knew I'd fall in love with the bass singer.

Kate and I got to go Wednesday night. :) We were in the front row, which was awesome. And mom was right. I LOVE the bass singer, Brian Skinner. The other guys in the group are Grant, Nate, Marcus, and Chris. They all have FANTASTIC voices. And a great stage presence. They're all supremely energetic and entertaining. The first song was Some Kind of Wonderful. I fell in love with the Cat's Pajamas with that first song. This is definitely my kind of show. And I'm not gonna lie... I cheered. A lot. Loudly. :) The crowd wasn't too big so I felt that they deserved a bit more cheering. Plus, mom has really started rubbing off on me lately and that is just what we do in situations like that. :P

The second song was I Can Live with That. I think its one of my top 2 songs. I just love it to pieces. :D It really shows off their personalities and their different musical style. I really like them because they're such an obviously amazing a cappella group, but they still have their own sound. Also, they can dance! haha. If you've been following my other Branson posts... they have MUCH better choreography than the 12 Irish Tenors. And it looks much more natural. You can tell they're having fun with it!
The one thing that made me laugh was that their version of adding a country song to the show was Uncle Kracker. When the Sun Goes Down. It was very well done, but I just had to laugh because I don't consider Kenny Chesney, especially with Uncle Kracker, very country.

During intermission I bought a t-shirt and made the rounds to get it signed. I also got individual pictures. Mom would have killed me if I hadn't introduced myself as the daughter of "the woman from the Colonnade & monday night's show..." So I did. Of course, they remembered her! We stuck around again afterwards for the group picture opportunity and we talked with them again. I was actually surprised at how much they remembered from the obviously long conversations with my mother. She told them I was 19, about to go off to college... and single. Of course. [Dad told me Monday night that she offered me up as the sacrificial lamb to any of the Cats that would take me.] Marcus said, "Guys, this is CINDY'S daughter! Oh, she told us to embarrass her!" They all seemed upset that they had forgotten to do that during the show. But I just told them, "I've lived with my mom for so long its pretty hard to embarrass me now." Really, I would love if they had tried to embarrass me from the stage. I find that kind of thing fun now. :P

And, if you have been looking at the pictures along with this blog post.... those are all from the SECOND night we went to see the Cat's Pajamas! Yes sir, we went Wednesday night AND Friday night! They remembered us, of course, and by the end of Friday night they even remembered our names! [Not that Tina & Kate are hard to remember... when one of us has flaming red hair. :P] I love them even more now, though. They're very nice to the fans and make an effort to be personable.

Anyway... I had been thinking about mom's fun picture since Monday night. And it took me those few conversations during Wednesday night for me to kind of warm up to them... so by Friday morning, I had a plan. We took mom's camera to the show, which gives better quality pictures than my camera. We got more individual pictures during intermission and talked with them all some more. Marcus told me he had tried to convince Grant to take me up for Pretty Woman, but you know how Branson works. It was one of the not-so-young women from the audience that night. Even though FOUR women had denied Grant when he tried to pull them up, and I think if any more had said no he might have come back to me. :P haha. Hey, we WERE on the front row.

Speaking of the front row... they sang to me! haha. It was after intermission on Friday, and when they sang the last half of The Joker, they were all looking at me. They all made eye contact, actually, as they crouched at the edge of the stage right in front of my chair. It was fun. Kate got excited on my behalf. haha.

Anyways, after Friday's show we waited until most of the group pictures with other people had been over.... and I went up and said, "So, you guys did a really fun picture with mom, and picked her up. Can you help me one-up her? I want a better picture!" They said, "sure!"
I turned to face Kate with the camera, and without warning I'm picked up to about Grant's shoulder height. His shoulders are definitely taller than I am when I'm flat-footed on the ground. So I grab onto Grant's and Nate's necks, trying to not flail. Then the rest of them grab me and turn me sideways. It was fun! Another reason I like this group. :P I hear Brian say, "I guess I get the feet," and then when I look at the camera screen... it looks like he's biting me. haha. And Marcus' face makes me laugh too. I think its safe to say that this is the best group picture I've ever had taken with a singing group I like. :P

So, I made sure to push Kate into all the pictures because I KNEW she wanted pictures, but she's still to shy to speak up for them. I had to threaten her, actually. And I hit jackpot with my threat, because I could have sworn I was almost on the receiving end of a full-body tackle before she almost literally jumped into several individual pictures. ^_______^ I love you, Kate!

And so, with a last goodbye, [I could almost hear Kate thinking, hoping they didn't think we were stalkers. I said pssssh. They remember you better if you're a nuisance. :P That's mom's philosophy.] we promised to come back again, and rode the really-really-really-great-show high all the way back to the hotel. Not getting caught in 76 traffic by using the back roads helped keep our spirits up too.
And mom and I are planning on getting away from dad's parents' house during one of the days following Thanksgiving to go back and see them! ^___^ And since my freshman college classes will be completely over by May 1st or so, I'll be able to go see them for my birthday on May 9th! Or one of the days around there, since my birthday will probably fall on a day that they aren't performing...



Anyway... if you made it through that WHOLE ramble then you are either 1. very, very bored, 2. my new best friend for life, or 3. as big of a fan of the Cat's Pajamas as I am. So good for you. :D Closing statement:
You MUST go see them if you're ever in Branson.

Buckets n' Boards

Wednesday morning we went to see Buckets n' Boards. It was hilarious! Both of the guys are really, extremely talented! I had to sit on one of my legs to see over the people in front of me [there wasn't anyone directly behind me, so I felt alright doing that. haha.]

Me: 9.5
Kate: 9

They were drumming on buckets, empty propane tanks, and squeaky toy turtles. They could also tap and play the guitar. Oh, and sing. I was really surprised at how well they could sing! I loved it.

I was highly entertained throughout the whole show. It seemed to pass by too quickly. Some of my favorite parts were when they were playing with the squeaky toys and of course the buckets. And when they were tapping, at one point they sang "Singing in the Rain," with thunder and rain sound effects and a frilly umbrella included.

After the show, I bought a Buckets n' Boards t-shirt and had them sign it. That day if you bought a shirt you got a free, pre-signed poster so I have that as well now! And it was VERY crowded where they were selling their stuff and taking pictures, so I got a very nice mom to take a picture of us with my camera, instead of taking two individual ones. It was just as well, because my camera literally died about 2 minutes after the picture was taken.

I would definitely recommend going to see this show! Its awesome, hilarious, and there's never a dull moment. The two of them play off of each other and the crowd so well, its fun to watch.

Branson, Day 3

Wednesday!
We woke up for a morning show. It was Buckets n' Boards, and we met up with Jason & his friend at the theater. It was really good! [Another review is coming!]

Thennn... we went to the Landing again.
And got rained on. Again.
The third day we tried, we finally got to Charlotte Russe! haha. Never mind that there's several in Tulsa. Kate got a pretty sweater and new jeans! I got a pretty necklace that reminds me of my old locket necklace I can't wear anymore... the silver turned. :/ And it reminded me of the locket from Harry Potter, so I was excited to find another one.
We ate at the San Francisco Oven... It was really good! If we had one of those in Tulsa, I would never go to Starbucks again, whether or not I really like my normal barista. That Chocolate Hazelnut blended coffee was AMAZING. I think Kate had Raspberry Mocha. That was mind-blowing too... we switched cups to try each others. :P

Then we went to see The Cat's Pajamas! Finally. :)
It is my new favorite Branson show, hands down! The review for that is coming as well! And its going to be a long one... haha.

Branson, Day 2

Tuesday!
We slept in a little bit since... you know... we'd been up at 6:45 am the morning before. :P We actually slept in so long that when we got up and dressed it was time to go to the Landing to meet Jason and Rose at Shorty Small's for lunch.

Office lunch with After Dark Live is fun! I was bummed I wouldn't be able to stay long enough to be on the show. I promised that I would stay on a Sunday night next time I came into town.
Kate introduced Jason to Miley Cyrus' "Can't Be Tamed" music video, and I have no clue why I didn't get out my camera to take a picture of the look on his face while he watched. We also helped him come up with the next buzzword punishment [which was Nemo inspired! "Fish are friends, not food."], which is already in line to being used by both Jason and Rose, apparently. :P heehee. Two buzzwords in one night! We got an 'exclusive sneak peek' of Rose's Singing in the Rain video at the restaurant as well. haha.

This was followed by more wandering around the Landing. Then we went to Silver Dollar City with mom and dad! I was disappointed that the first vendor once you walk through the entrance wasn't selling my most favorite cream cheese filled pretzels any more. But we rode all of the dry rides [plus Fire in the Hole], except for Powder Keg. I love that ride, but the line was so long we didn't feel like waiting. And one of my favorite conversations from SDC was about Fire in the Hole.
Mom: "Lets go on FITH!"
Me: "But I don't want to get wet!"
Kate: "Come on, I've NEVER gotten wet on FITH!"
......one ride later.

......walking out definitely wet.
Kate: "I swear, I've NEVER gotten wet BEFORE!"

haha. I think I'm a water magnet. It rained every day we were there except for the day we left.


Anyway... fun day. We had dinner at Olive Garden after that. And then I introduced Kate to the first act of A Very Potter Musical. Her reaction to the opening song was, "Genius!"


Underneath these stairs
I hear the sneers and feel glares of
my cousin, my uncle and my aunt.

Can't believe how cruel they are
and it stings my lighting scar
to know that they'll never ever give me what I want.

I know I don't deserve these
stupid rules made by the Dursleys
here on Privet drive.

Can't take all of these muggles,
but despite all of my struggles,
I'm still alive.

Im sick of summer and this waiting around.
Man, its September, and Im skipping this town
Hey Its no mystery, theres nothing here for me now

I gotta get back to Hogwarts,
I gotta get back to school.
Gotta get myself to Hogwarts,
where everybody knows I'm cool.

12 Irish Tenors

Me: 7.5
Favorite song: Glen Miller/Sinatra sections & Scarborough Fair

Kate 7.5
Favorite song: Scarborough Fair

Overall, I liked it a lot. I would probably want to wait a couple months before going back to see it again [as opposed to seeing the same show twice in one week... *cough*]. I wasn't disappointed.

The show started out a bit rough. While I know that shows are scripted, the good ones make you feel like you're seeing something completely natural for the first time. The first 15 minutes felt a bit stiff to me. And the choreography in the first few songs made me bite my lip to keep from laughing. Granted, I came to hear singing instead of see dancing, but they had choreographed putting their hands on their microphones at the same time... in a very dramatic way.
One of the tenors had long blonde hair, and the first thing that came to mind was... If the Weasley twins ever went blonde, this is exactly what they would look like! I told this to Kate & Jason and they agreed.
I could definitely tell that there were some tracks in the show, and I'm not the greatest at picking up on those things. But it didn't detract from the experience for me that much.

Kate and I loved Scarborough Fair! They sat on the steps of the stage and I'm pretty sure they sang it a cappella, with the exception of one drum played by one of the guys. It was very pretty. This is a good accomplishment for me, because when listening to slow songs live I have a tendency to get bored unless the vocals are really good. I wasn't bored with it! So good job, 12 Irish Tenors for that one.
My other favorite sections were the Glen Miller & Sinatra sections. I adore Frank Sinatra. I really do. So as long as you don't royally mess up a Sinatra song, I will enjoy it. :P haha. The choreography for these two sections were much improved as well.
Oh, and I did actually burst out laughing when they announced they would be singing some "West Side Story" songs. hahaha. It would have been impossible for me to not laugh. :P

So, overall it was really entertaining and enjoyable, even if it isn't necessarily the best show I've seen yet.

Branson! Day 1.

We woke up at 6:45 am to drive into Branson! It took us exactly 2.5 hours from the lake, which was nice since it usually takes around 4 to drive from Tulsa. Then again, Mom adds on a good 30 minutes with all the stops she likes to take, so it probably would have only taken Kate & I an extra hour from home.

Anyway. We got to the hotel at 10:30 am. I think that was a record for me for the earliest time arriving in Branson... ever. haha. We dropped our luggage off at the Colonnade [where we had a HUGE king-sized bed! ^___^] and went to the Landing for lunch. We wandered around the Landing for a couple more hours [we seriously went to the Landing EVERY SINGLE day we were there, except for Saturday when we left].

OH! And we got an old time photo taken! :D Kate and I went tourist. It was fun!
Thennn.. we got ready for the 12 Irish Tenors!

We met Jason at the theater [which was literally 60 whole seconds from our hotel. How convenient!] and Kate was introduced. We had a really awkward picture taken before we walked to our seats. That I didn't go look at after the show.
It was pretty good. Kate & I both gave it a 7.5 out of 10. I'm going to have a separate post for my show review. :-)

The rest of our night after the show was filled with waiting on angry IHOP employees to feed us and then falling into bed. Our nice, comfy king-sized bed!