Final Score: 8-4

NOTE TO ALL: Just a warning, this is an even longer post than usual.
NOTE TO CORMACK: This is divided into 6 days, but it may be less than 6 days until I next post, so if you have extra time you might want to double up ;-)

Well, it's been a loooooong weekend, plus four extra days. So I suppose I'd better update and let y'all know what's been going on, huh?

Well, the last time I updated was last Tusday, 10 days ago. Tuesday, nothing happened. Wednesday, nothing happened. Thursday, two things happened.

First of all, we had fencing. Which was, as usual, fun. We had the largest class we've had since I started coming (which is like three times . . . so that's not really saying much). Josh was there, obviously, and me, and David, and Michael came again, and Chris (Michael and Josh's older brother, who is really tall and seems to like picking on me), and Sarah.

They also had two fun new swords (which actually weren't new, but which I'd never used before). Chris immediately decided to be my fencing partner (not unusual or unexpected, I tend to be the tallest person in places that isn't his brother), and offered me one of these swords. I took it, and at first I thought it was cool. It was a lot thicker that the other ones, and it had a cooler-looking hand guard. So I took it and starting fighting with it, and I was thinking, “Wow, this is really cool.” Then, about halfway through the first routine (and only routine I knew at the time), my arm started hurting, and the guard slammed into my hand, rather hard. I suddenly realized that a much thicker blade meant a much heavier sword, and that meant a lot more pain. After we went through the routine a few times, I said, “I don't like these. They're too heavy.” Chris agreed, and said that it was a bit heavy for him (which surprised me . . . I wasn't aware that there was something that would actually make him tired in the physical sense [as opposed to just wanting to sleep]).

In any case, we went on fencing for a while, which was a bit more difficult since there were three pairs this time instead of two. It's amazing how small the stage really is. Chris and I went on the floor, then we were taking a short break and resting our arms and John came in and sat in the front row to watch, so we kind of lost our spot. So we just watched David and Michael working with the belt and a knife. It's really quite amusing. Michael managed at one point to totally tie up David's arm, but still leave his wrist free, so that David just had to do a little flick and the knife went into Michael's head (although he stopped it short, of course, to avoid causing him pain).

Eventually, Chris and I got our spot back, and we starting fighting again, then Michael and David went into the other room to practice flips, and we went back onto the stage with Josh and Sarah. Josh taught us a new routine (in which both combatants die . . . it's awesome). We practiced that for a while, then I went to eat and had a lonely dinner out back. Then I came back and did some more fencing as the Oliver cast came trickling in. Which was my cue to stop fencing and prepare for the Thursday night show. We have one every final weekend.

I don't seem to recall much of what happened during the show, so probably nothing really important or out of the ordinary did. Although before show, our bread vendor announced (as a prayer request, I believe) that she has quite a few relatives who live in New Orleans, which was obviously cause for concern. So we prayed about that, and Wayne also announced that for the last weekend, Lifehouse would be donating one dollar for every ticket sold to hurricane relief. The cast also chipped in a bit, and several audience members also donated to the fund. In the end, Wayne said that Lifehouse donated about $1700 to the Salvation Army for hurricane relief.

On Friday, I don't think much happened, either . . . I mean, we had a show, but nothing really special happened . . . not that I remember, anyway. Oh, wait . . . no, I think that was on Thursday, actually . . . in any case, Steve was telling us about the cast party. He was telling us this stuff, and he said something that terrified me: “I don't want skits.” I was pretty unhappy, since I spent like two or three hours writing a script. And lots more time casting and having cast meetings and talking about it and reading through it and blah-blah-blah. Basically, if he didn't let me do it, it would've meant lots of time wasted that I could've spent just hanging out, rather than trying to maintain control while people like Nick and Melody and Megan are saying stuff and interrupting their director! In any case, he said that he was open to submissions (for him to read and determine whether or not we could do it), but that the answer would most likely be “no.” The reason he gave was that there were very few skits he'd seen that had actually made everyone laugh.

Wayne, however, said, “Well, you should give them a chance, because there are a few people in this cast that I think can pull off something pretty clever.” And people deny it, and I'm not trying to brag, but I swear he was looking right at me when he said that. It made me feel all warm inside. (End Cormack Reading - Day 1. :P)

Anyway, back to Friday. Actually, I think we'll just skip Friday and go straight to Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, when I first got to Lifehouse, Doug was standing in the theater listening to his CD player. Not an uncommon happening. As soon as I walked in, though, he called me over, and put one of his headphone thingies in my ear (he had the new kind where they aren't connected). I asked him what it was, and said it was this one guy's “Musical Tribute to War of the Worlds.” So it wasn't the soundtrack or anything, it was just like what this guy (whose name I can't remember) thought sounded like music for certain scenes. The first one was, I guess, at the beginning, when meteors kept coming from Mars and landing on Earth. It was actually pretty darn cool. And funny at the same time. It started out all spooky and stuff, and there was a guy narrating, and it was all freaky. Then, all of a sudden, the guy stopped talking, and it changed from spooky music into totally cheesy '80s music. It was so random, and so funny, and yet so cool at the same time. And on top of all that, it actually had lyrics, and they were like the worst lyrics ever. It was so funny that it was cool.

Anyway, after that we had our meeting and such. And Steve was there, so right before warm-ups I approached him, clutching a paper. I said to him, “With the knowledge that you will probably say no, I submit this for your consideration.” I handed him the paper. Upon opening it, he discovered that it was my skit script. He said, “Well, you never know. You usually do pretty good stuff, so as long as it isn't too rude to Wayne, I'll probably say yes.” Which was awesome.

So then we commenced with warm-ups, and the show shortly thereafter. And again, I don't remember anything really out of the ordinary happening . . . although Jason danced to the song before the shoe-throwing scene again . . . he actually did every single blighted show after I told him I didn't like it.

Anyway, on to the break. I didn't stay at Lifehouse for once, I went out. Jeremy P. gave me a ride to Togo's . . . that was an adventure. We were riding in his family's “crappy van,” which has no AC. And the middle seat was folded down, and I couldn't figure out how to get it up, so I sat in the very back and had a nice ottoman. Jeremy also got lost . . . so it took us 15 minutes to get there instead of 5. And we went over a crazy dip in the road that has train tracks at the bottom . . . it feels like a roller coaster. It was pretty cool, but unexpected and very scary.

And uh . . . well, no offense meant to anyone, but if you don't already know why I went out to dinner and what happened, you probably aren't going to. It was a serious personal matter. (As a side note, though, I happened to notice that Steve was outside Togo's reading the script for the skit.)

In any case, after dinner and hanging out with some Lifehouse people for a while, Jeremy arrived to take me back to Lifehouse. Megan didn't have a ride, so she came along, too. And since there was a new person in the car, Jeremy had to go over the “roller coaster” again. He told us a story about how he had been in his friend's truck, lying in the back, and his friend had hit the “roller coaster” at 60 MPH, and he flew up into the air. His brother (who was laying in the back, also) grabbed him and pulled him back down (probably saving his life). Fun story.

When we got back to Lifehouse, Rana (who played Nancy) was singing a song . . . which was really cool. I don't remember much about it, but I remember that it was cool. After our meeting we went to warm-ups, and I went up to Steve and said, “So I saw you reading it, what's the verdict?” He said (after a bit more unimportant conversation), “Well, the answer is yes.” Nick happened to be there, and we high-fived.

And I'm totally blanking out on what happened during the show, but I think that something special did. I don't know. Oh, wait, yeah, I remember, but it was just certain conversations. Nothing really important or worth writing about. (End Cormack Reading - Day 2)

Which brings me to Sunday, a very sad day. It was closing day. Mom was working, and Dad was going to the River, so I went to Trinity again. The speaker was different (I managed to catch last time's speaker on his lat day), and he wasn't nearly as good. Because he didn't actually speak. He basically went up, said “You're never alone, God is always with you. Now watch this cool thing we put together so I don't have to be creative and come up with a message!” Okay, maybe I'm being a little harsh on the poor guy. But he didn't actually give a sermon, we just watched a little musical thing about not being alone, and then a clip from The Legend of Bagger Vance that seemed to be a pretty poor example of what he wanted to say, but maybe that's just me. It was pretty cool, though, it made me think that maybe I should watch the movie.

However, while the speaker was better last time, the worship was a lot better this time. I knew a few of the songs this time, and it just seemed to be all-around better this time. This one kid did a solo on his electric guitar before the worship set, and everyone was going crazy over how cool it was . . . I failed to see what was so special about it. It was certainly better than anything I could do, but . . . I wasn't overly impressed. Perhaps I'm just judging by a high standard, but when he played it what went through my mind was “*shrug* AJ could do that without even thinking.” Of course, this kid is considerably younger than AJ, but . . . I don't know. I didn't find it all that impressive.

So in any case, all told, I enjoyed Trinity more the first time I went than this time. It was still good, though. One day I'll probably go back.

After church, Rachel's mom took me home, and I discovered that I had forgotten my key, and Dad was still at the River, and likely to be there for quite some time. So I was in a dilemma as to what to do. So I got out of the car and began looking at the fence. Rachel's mom seemed rather concerned. Rachel seemed to be rather enjoying it. Finally I thought, “Well, I'm tall enough . . . I'll just reach over the gate and undo the lock” (we never actually lock it . . . whoops, shouldn't have said that . . . well, it still works to ward off intruders). So I reached over the gate and began searching for it with my hand. I couldn't find it. I was beginning to feel anger at the stupid lock. Then, as I was withdrawing my hand, I realized why I couldn't find it. It wasn't there. Someone (probably me) had forgotten to put it on. So the gate wasn't even locked. I enjoyed a hearty laugh at my own expense, then calmly pushed the gate open. Rachel's mom finally backed the car up and asked if I could get in. I said yes, and they left. I then spent the next hour or so messing around on the computer (but didn't feel like blogging). Then I ate and went to Lifehouse for the closing show.

It was a sad time . . . it always is. As Steve described it, “You get so depressed about not seeing everyone for a long time, and you decide that you don't want to get depressed again, so you're not going to do a show for a while . . . then you come back a week later and audition, and start the whole thing over again.” How true those words. Wise man.

Anyway, I got there, and as is customary on Sundays, most people weren't there, so I went backstage to see if I could find people to hang out with. I found a group of people huddled around Matt and the electric piano. So I went over. There were five or six people there, and I was hanging out with them singing and such for a few minutes. Then Wayne came back and was walking around. He had asked to see my poem about Lifehouse (if you haven't read it and you wish to, it's on my xanga), and I brought it with me, so I gave it to him to read. He read it, then told me it was really good and asked if he could share it with the cast. I told him that was fine. Then he told all of us to go out into the seats and sit down so we could meet. We did, and it wasn't really anything special, other than the weeping about it being the last day.

Then we did our standard warm-up, and afterwards they told us to stay onstage, because Steve wanted to talk to us about pranks. At Lifehouse, many people enjoy pranks on the last show, because there's no way for Wayne or the director to yell at them. Steve, however, hit us with this: “And although we can't yell at you, we will remember it at future auditions.” So, not surprisingly, there were no pranks. (Although the sound guy did an interesting thing . . . but more on that later.)

After that, Wayne gave his “You're wonderful people and I hope to work with you again” speech. Then he read my poem. Actually, he announced first, “And my friend Mark Harbison wrote a poem about Lifehouse that I'd like to share with you.” Megan and Doug glanced at me inquisitively, basically asking with their faces if it was the poem on my xanga. I nodded. As this was happening, I think Taylor also looked at me, although not so much inquisitively . . . more in an “oh no, what'd he do this time?” kind of way. Then Wayne read it, and afterwards everyone clapped and cheered, which made me feel good. Then Steve said, “And tonight you'll get to see the other side of Mark's writing in his skit at the cast party.” Many people (who have been in shows with me and seen my skits) laughed. Everyone who was in the skit cheered (I had forgotten to tell them that Steve cleared it . . . whoops).

Then we went backstage for the final show. All in all, a pretty normal show. I failed to hit Nick and Megan with the shoes, as I had done all weekend. Final score: Nick: 8, Megan: 4. Hence the title. The really interesting part actually came at the end. You may recall that they're training a new tech guy. Well, he was running sound for us. For those of you who haven't seen it, there are three voiceovers in the show: Oliver's Mother saying “The ways of the Lord are right, remember these words my son, and live by them,” and “The way of the Lord are right, remember these words my son, and know that I love you. Yes, I shall always love you.” And Mr. Brownlow explaining Monks' guilt: “You know of course that your father never made it to Rome. As he was taking Agnes to stay with friends, they were the victims of brutal robbers. He was killed. . . .” It goes on, but basically it's just the story of Oliver and how Miss Monks figures into the story, and why she's evil.

At the end, before the Finale, the one about Oliver's mother loving him is supposed to come on. Well, the sound guy had forgotten to set that up, and so instead we got Mr. Brownlow's. THAT was interesting. Wayne went into his office, closed and locked the door, and didn't come out until after bows. Steve left the theater and went into the lobby and didn't come back. Larry went with him. Eventually, he fixed it, but . . . the finale lost a bit of it's power, I think.

After all that we had a long period of cleaning so that Steve would let us leave to go to the cast party. (End Cormack Reading - Day 3) But finally we did get to go. There was a pool, although I never swam. Many others did. I was standing around talking with people for a while. Then we ate. Ladies were allowed to go first (Taylor suggested, of course, that I should be at the front of the line :P). The annoying part was that all the females got in line, and then all the guys. Then more girls kept arriving, so the line didn't move for the guys for like ten minutes. I was just standing there playing with Jeremy's cheap $5 lightsaber. Which doesn't even have light and sound. It was pretty boring. Eventually, however, the line moved and I got my food. I was walking along the line of people, debating where to sit, and Taylor suggested I sit with her and Justine. So I thought, “hey, why not.” Silly me. Dinner was a long period of Taylor insulting me . . . which I really should've seen coming, I suppose. After that I was just hanging around for a while. Then I was asked when we were doing our skit, and I went to ask Steve, and he said in twenty minutes. So I gathered everyone up for a final rehearsal . . . only to find that Megan was mysteriously missing. As was Rana (although she wasn't in my skit). “No,” I said to myself. “There's no way they're actually doing that . . .” So I went to find them. Turns out my worst feels were realized. They had indeed done it. They baked a cake that looked like a hand and wrist, and had frosted it with stage blood (which is made with chocolate syrup and, I'm told, tastes pretty good). I slapped my forehead, then told Megan that when she was done we were running through the skit.

Eventually she finished (and finished showing it off and grossing everyone out), and we finally were ready to have our rehearsal. And then Zach wouldn't leave our rehearsal spot, so we had to kick him out. Then we finally ran through it, for the first time with all the props and stuff. Melody even found a black feather duster to put in her hair for Miss Monks . . .

Finally we finished, and it was show time. Steve gathered everyone together, and told them we had a skit. The skit began. It's too long to post here, but it went over well (I may post it on my xanga at some point if I'm so inclined). Wayne in particular seemed to like it. Probably because it was a rare skit that didn't make too much fun of him (although we did take one shot at him . . . I just can't let all those reprises go unpunished :P). In any case, it was fun. After the skit, Dave Hurley sang a song (with the help of the cast), then we had a long prayer time.

Then I spent the rest of the night hanging out with Zach, Taylor, Justine, and the Sansonettis out in the front yard. Which would've been fun . . . but Zach wasn't being very nice. Remember how I said he spent most of the opening night party with a napkin in his mouth? Well, he spent most of this time running away from me, because I was trying to shove a volleyball into it. It was alright though. And Taylor finally agreed to do the lifts with me again (I've been wanting to remember how exactly they go for a while). Afterwards, she said “That wasn't as bad as I remembered it . . .” I suggested that perhaps that was because all she remembered was my alleged dropping her . . . which, for the record, only happened twice, and she was about two inches from the ground. Although she'll tell you otherwise.

After that I went home, tired and depressed. (End Cormack Reading - Day 4)

Monday was relatively uneventful . . . until 4:15 or so. At that point, we left to go to Didi's for my dance class' recital. It really wasn't anything special . . . no one messed up too bad, though, so that was good. Then we had a big dinner, then David and Sarah and their family left (claiming to have a “meeting” they had to be at). There was some sitting around talking, then we all left.

However, one other interesting thing happened on Monday. At about 3:30, I got a mysterious phone call from David. It went much as follows:

Mark: “Hello?”
David: “Hi, this is David.”
Mark: “Hi.”
David: “Okay, so my sister wanted me to ask you. If there was a way for you to post-auditionally get into Esther, would you?”
Mark: “Um . . . yeah.”
David: “Okay . . . one moment.”
(barely audible, faces are turned away from the phone)
David: “Okay, so what now?”
Sarah: “Well . . . wait . . .”
David: “What do I tell him now?”
Sarah: “What did he say?”
David: “He said yes.”
Sarah: “Okay, well . . . um . . .”
David: “So what should I say?”
Sarah: “I don't know!! You idiot!!”
(back into the phone)
Mark: “Am I supposed to have any idea what you're talking about?”
David: “No, I don't either. Look, you're gonna see Sarah in like an hour, she can just explain it then, okay?”
Mark: “Okay. Bye.”
David; “Bye.”

So that's pretty much how it happened (although, to be fair, Sarah was a slight bit nicer than that). In the end, it was their father, not Sarah, who explained it to me. I won't go into all the details (mainly because Sarah would probably kill me), but long story short, I'm in Esther! I'm very happy. I wanted to be in it in the first place, but I couldn't audition because of Biola stuff. It had also been indicated that anyone under 16 had a slim chance of getting in. But then for some reason there was a director change, and shazaam, I'm in. How cool is that?

On Tuesday not much happened, although I did start school. So I was majorly bummed. And I also had a math class. Whoop-dee-do. And nothing (other than school) really happened on Wednesday, either. (End Cormack Reading - Day 5)

Thursday (yesterday), however, is a different story. I had my Biola class orientation (online), and Esther orientation. Both were interesting experiences. In the Biola one, the tutor got kicked offline about half-way through it, and couldn't get back on. So he had another tutor come on and apologize for him. But we didn't get everything done we wanted to. So that was fun.

For Esther, they did what they've been doing recently, and sent out scripts to whoever got in before orientation, so they could already be partially memorized. Since I had only discovered that I was in the show a few days before, I had no script. Nor did Sarah, being in the same position. So we got the fun of having no idea who we were, no idea of who was playing who (we had seen the cast list only very briefly), and having to look over someone's shoulder at a script. Fun times.

So now, on page 8, we finally reach the end. I'll probably be starting the DTs within the next week. They'll probably be interspersed between posts about Esther and anything else special happening. Just to let y'all know.

Now, onto comments:
(I'm not going to do comments on “Once more…”)

Rae: Curses . . . why oh why did Megan and Rae have to meet . . . now they're going to be plotting evil things against me, I just know it . . . In any case, didn't you catch my not-so-subtle reference to this worship leader of yours? And no, I've never seen your Yoda shirt . . . you'll have to show it to me sometime.

Megan: Gaah! Crap! I forgot to steal your flip flops! And now it's too late!! Geeraaargh!! There goes the fortune I was to make on eBay! And update your xanga!

David: Non-lethal? Why in the world would they start you off with non-lethal flips? And . . . yeah. I'm out of things to say now.

Rachael: You have a good point . . . who are you to advise me? :P j/k And no, you are not, as of this moment, on my list of people to kill.

Stephen: Who owns the words on my blog? God owns them. Which makes your pitiful ownership of your words far less than my blog's greatness, yet again. (Oh-ho, beat that one!) And Macs are better than PCs. For me, anyway.

(skipping a few)

Cormack and Stephen: Um . . . did I ask about pie? Like, I'm honestly curious as to where the heck those comments came from . . .

AJ: Righto! Pecan beats pumpkin any day. And here you are. A brand-spankin'-new post!

Stephen: Really? Hmm . . . so if something is less than a parsec away, would that be in the same solar system? I really know nothing about lightyears, but I'm curious.