An X-Tremely Stupid Title

Well will you look at that! Here it is Sunday and I’M UPDATING!!! Rejoice. Throw a party. Invite me.

In any case, it really hasn’t been that long since I updated (since my last update was on Tuesday night), so you’ll probably get an update that isn’t a tome for once (special thanks to David for originally calling my posts “tomes”). Enjoy it. Revel in it. Because if it’s not that long, you don’t have any excuse for not reading it. Gwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Anyway, I guess I should get started. Wednesday is the first day that has yet to be chronicled here. Not a whole lot happened, really . . . at least not that I can remember. There was a rehearsal, I know, at night, but I think that was it. Altogether a good day, as memory serves.

For the rehearsal, we choreographed (well, Dustin choreographed, we learned) The Mob Song, which will be really cool. And it’s actually not terribly hard . . . except for one part that’s quite fast. But it’s cool.

The most interesting thing at rehearsal was during the break, when I went over and sat up against the wall (or a table laid against the wall, actually). Sarah came over and plopped down next to me to write down the choreography (I was too lazy to do so). Lucas decided to join us, so he made a big show of running up and stopping right before hitting me.

In the end, he actually came really close to hitting me because he tried to stop too quickly, and almost plunged head-first into me. Thankfully, however, he caught himself. Anyway, he sat down next to me and we started talking. He began to sing the song, but he changed the words to: “Grab your swords, grab your knives, we’ll kill Dustin and . . . his . . . wives?”

This, of course, got us onto the topic of King Solomon. Go to my Xanga if you want to hear his musings.

The next day was Thursday. Oh, accursed Thursday. This was not such a good day. School and class happened, and then Mom decided that we should go shopping for a sportcoat (for the end of year banquet at Biola on Friday). Yippee.

But it gets better. We went to Gottschalk’s at got me shoes and socks (the shoes are niiiiice), and then charged on over to the coats, tasting the sweet flavor of victory. But it was not to be. We discovered fairly quickly that my coat size is 40 Long, and we looked at every single coat they had (even the hideous, greenish-brown ones), and there was not one 40 Long. We asked Mr. Help Person, and he said, “We don’t have any 40 Longs.”

So we heaved a bitter sigh and left. Our next stop was Mervyn’s. We searched high, we searched low, we searched side to side, but we could not for the life of us find any coats. So we asked Mrs. Help Person, and she said, “We don’t carry coats or suits.” We heaved a bitterer sigh and left.

Next stop: The Inland Center Mall. Specifically Macy’s. We went in, we looked around, we found the coats. We searched and searched, and all hope had begun to fade — then we saw it. A tag on a coat that said “40L.” The coat was navy blue and quite nice. Our hearts pounding, we hurried over, took it off the rack, and I tried it on. It fit.

We began to rejoice. Our efforts had not been in vain. Then the fateful moment came . . . the moment when mom looked at the price tag. “$495,” it said. The death knell of our dreams sounded. There was no way mom was going to pay 500 bucks for a coat I’ll probably wear a grand total of once and then outgrow it.

We heaved the bitterest sigh yet and went to Sears. Nada. In her despair, mom said, “Let’s go get a drink.” So we went to the food court and did just that. Then Mom’s cell phone rang. It was Bev . . . Uncle Ted had arrived from Indiana, and they were at Starbucks. Mom decided that her and I should leave the mall and go home, so we began to walk back to Macy’s (where we were parked) while she talked on the phone. Eventually, as we stood at the place in Macy’s where the path branches off into like six different ones, Mom hung up.

Then began the great door fiasco. “Which way did we come in?” Mom said. “This way, I think,” came my reply. “No, it wasn’t that way,” she said. “I think it was over here.” “But I don’t remember coming in at the corner of the building,” said I. “Well maybe it was this one,” said she.

So we went out that door, and quickly concluded that no, this was not the door we’d come in by. We went back into Macy’s, and looked around, and then Mom proclaimed, “I remember! It was this way!” We went out that door, and sure enough, there was our car.

I looked back at the door and realized something. “That was the door I originally said we came in,” I said. We heaved yet another bitter sigh and went back to Redlands.

We went to Starbucks and met up with Uncle Ted and Bev and hung out with them for a while. Uncle Ted told us horror stories about his secretary (Carl Jung apparently underwent a sex change at some point in his life and changed his name to Carol Fung).

Then we went home and Mom took my measurements and decided she’d order a coat from Land’s End online. Finally, it seemed, the answer had come to us.

But things are not always what they seem. Land’s End, it turns out, does not have Long sizes. We heaved ANOTHER bitter sigh and gave up for the day.

After that things started to look up, and when Dad came home from work we went to Red Robin and met up with Ted and Bev for dinner. It’s gonna be fun having a Red Robin just down the street. If any of you have never been to Red Robin, you’re terribly deprived and must go (we had one in Colorado, and we used to eat there all the time).

Anyway, after that we came home and basically did nothing and went to bed. Friday dawned, a bright new day with bright new promise.

And a movie coming out. This movie was entitled X-Men: The Last Stand, and it starred such people as Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellan and John Nowa— er, Patrick Stewart. But you all knew that.

Sarah had invited me to join her, David, Dr. Mr., and Seth to go see it, so I did. After dance, David took us to Seth’s, where we acquired him, then to their house, where Dr. Mr. took over control of the operation.

Seth gave Sarah a downloaded copy of FMA 8, and throughout the car drive she made many whimpers and groans while reading it. It was quite frightening.

Eventually we got to the Krik, and they told us we couldn’t go in yet (the show was at 1:00), but that there was no one ahead of us in line. As it was 12:08 by my watch, I couldn’t believe either of those things.

But they were both true. So we stood in line for a while, having pointless discussions and listening to various excerpts from The Lexicon of Stupidity. We noticed a guy carrying The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a VERY nice edition. “It looks like a Bible,” Sarah said. “Well, to some people,” I replied. “To totally crazy people . . . unlike me . . . because I don’t have a towel in my backpack, noo . . .”

Then they let us in, and discussion turned to where we should sit. In the end we let Dr. Mr. decide, and he picked seats right around the center of the theater. Several interesting discussions were brought on by the various advertisements on the screen.

Then finally the trailers started. Nothing that really caught my eye except Ghost Rider, and that not because I necessarily want to see it. That one just caught my eye because Nicholas Cage is the title character, and he REALLY doesn’t strike me as a zombie-type.

Then the movie itself finally started. On the whole I liked it a lot, and I’d give it a fairly large thumbs up. The acting was pretty much all very good (Ian McKellan rocks my world), the special effects were quite good, etc. etc.

My biggest problem was actually the new main-ish character, Beast. I didn’t like him at all, and when he fought I thought, “If there was a battle on Sesame Street, this is what it would look like.” My other big problem was the new character Angel, who was utterly pointless. They had a whole subplot with him, but they condensed it to about ten minutes, and his interaction with the overall plot was very nearly zero and he could’ve been replaced easily by already existent characters or even non-characters. Sarah tells me his point was as a symbol, but whatever.

But the movie really was very good, and a lot of fun to see. I recommend it. But don’t believe the title. I don’t believe for a second that this is truly the last stand, and the ending supports my view. (Oh, another thing . . . if you go see it, STAY UNTIL THE CREDITS ARE OVER. THE MOVIE ISN’T OVER YET.)

So yeah, that was basically that. Then I came home and schooled for a while, then went to fencing, then came home and ate pizza and watched Moonlighting.

On Saturday, I managed to waste pretty much the entire day, although I did go to a Bible study at Lifehouse at noon, which was cool.

Then today we had church as usual, and then Rachel invited me to go see Heidi with her. I had no particular desire to see the show again, but I figured what the heck, it’ll be fun anyway to go with Rachel. So I did, and so it was.

The cast party was also today, and Rachel told me that I should go, but I declined. So I hung around for a while with Rachel and other peoples, and then Uncle Ted took me home, and I updated my blog.

And that, as the bard really wouldn’t tell us, is the rub.

Comments;

AJ: 1: I’m doing Scrooge, and yes, I’m happy about the other two (although I won’t be doing them). Ruth . . . well, they have to have a Biblical musical every season . . . and actually they have two, so who knows . . .
2: Well, for one thing, 0 is a value that something can be more than. 4 is more than 0. So if I had a female-ness of 0, and a girl had a female-ness of 4, that girl would be more female than me. So your comment isn’t mathematically correct in its implications. But yes, I am somewhat female . . . haven’t you heard?
3: I didn’t mean ALWAYS. Just USUALLY. And I was hoping for some unusuality with War of the Worlds.

Stephen: “Stem and leaf plots • Measures of central tendency • The normal curve • Standard deviation.” That’s what the chapter’s thrilling title is.

Rae: Welcome back! And the difference between this and homework (hopefully besides the entertainment factor) is that nobody is making you read this . . . and as we all know, it’s only work if someone makes you do it. And I don’t expect to be John Smith, no . . . I’d imagine someone a bit more John Smith-y in appearance and age will get that part . . .

(I guess this was pretty long after all, huh?)

I know what you're thinking

You’re thinking “Ha-ha, Mark and his broken promises . . . ‘I’ll update every Sunday’ . . . Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.”

Well I’ll have you know that I fully intended to update on Sunday. But I was busy, and didn’t have a chance. So I’m making up for it by updating today instead.

And so we come to the age-old question: what happened this week?

Well, Monday was, all-around, a pretty normal day. I can’t even remember what was due in school on Tuesday, so I’m not entirely sure what I did for school that day. I could, of course, go check, but that would require my getting up, and that’s boring. And requires physical effort. Which I don’t like.

But we DID have rehearsal. I remember because I remember standing outside waiting for rides with Sarah afterwards and saying to her, “I don’t want tomorrow to be Tuesday.” And we choreographed what will undoubtedly be the coolest number in the show (okay, maybe not, but it’s the most fun one that I do so far): The Fight.

I’ve never been involved in a dance fight before . . . obviously, I’ve done stage combat before (even some to music . . . which you’ll hear ALL about), but never a fight that was actually a dance in disguise. It’s awesome. Dustin is a genius.

And one thing I never thought I’d hear from someone choreographing a fight: “We’re can-can dancers, people!!” But yes. Y’all must come see Beauty and the Beast at the Bowl this summer . . . it will rock. Because you’ll get to see me getting beaten up by a napkin.

After learning the fight, we reviewed Belle . . . which pretty much all of us pretty much completely forgot. Which kinda sucks. But we relearned it and I think it’ll be okay . . . Dustin never ceases to amaze me . . . even when he’s extremely frustrated, he’s still a lot more amiable than some people I know are when they’re perfectly happy (NOTE: this is not referring to anyone who reads this [as far as I know]).

Then came Tuesday, which I did not want to come. Why didn’t I want it to come? Because I hate Tuesdays. Why do I hate Tuesdays? Because they suck. Why do they suck? Because they have both Torrey class AND Algebra class. Torrey class really isn’t bad at all . . . but the assignments usually due on Tuesdays are. As the TA blogring on Xanga says: “Our nightmares are filled with précis.”

But it really wasn’t THAT bad . . . because at Algebra, Mr. Burton actually admitted that one of the chapters in the math book was completely useless! This is a big deal, because he’s a math teacher, and a strong advocate of algebra’s practicality. Not only that, but he also revealed that we only had one more class before it’s over (not that this was a big secret . . . Jenna’s been counting down how many we have left for months now).

And then I’m thinkin’ we had rehearsal, but I can’t think of what we did . . . unless I somehow got my weeks mixed up and that rehearsal that I thought was on Monday was actually on Tuesday, and the time that I told Sarah I didn’t want the next day to be Tuesday was some other week. I think that’s the case.

So yes. Just transplant everything that I said about rehearsal to here.

Ahhhh!!!! I remember! It WASN’T rehearsal on Monday! It was fencing! HA!

Okay. So the Broadway Expressions Dance Recital was on Satuday, right? Right. And Josh wanted us to do a fight for it, right? Right. So we had extra fencings to make sure we were ready. One of these was on Monday.

Right. Okay. And also something else out of the ordinary happened on Monday, and for some reason I was under the impression it had happened on Thursday. But now the mist is clearing, and I can see again.

So yes. On Monday my aunt arrived from Indiana. My aunt’s name is Bev, and I can never bring myself to call her “Aunt Bev.” I have no idea why this is. It’s not because I don’t like her or anything . . . on the contrary, I like her very much. It’s just that somehow the term “Aunt Bev” doesn’t seem to fit her. So she shall be called Bev from here on out.

So I got home from fencing on Monday night and she was here, and I was talking with her and Mom for a while. She had noticed earlier that my room was clean, and was inquiring as to how this had come to be. Her first thought upon seeing my clean room: “Did he get a girlfriend or something?”

Now, jumping back to where we were: it is Wednesday. Wednesday was a big day. Because it was on this day that Josh, David and I were to show Brenda our fight routine and see if she thought it was okay for the dance recital. So we went to Broadway Expressions and practiced it for a little while (David liked landing the floor . . . it was a very nice floor). Gabe (er, pardon me, Chipper the Moose) also showed us his mad falling skillz. And called me David about ten times.

So then we showed it to Brenda, and she said “You’re gonna scare all the little kids . . . good job, boys.” So we got to do it for the recital. Yay.

And actually, I think the recital is the next significant thing that happened . . . yeah, it was. So we’ll skip ahead to Saturday.

I got up far too early for a Saturday, and went over to REV. Distressingly, I got there before David, which meant that I was pretty much the only person there who had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Thankfully Emilie got there the same time I did, so I was able to follow her to know where I was going, but then I was completely lost for a few minutes until Josh came out from the depths of backstage.

He then proceeded to show me around, then told me to drop off my stuff in the dressing room and warm up with him. These things I did. Then finally, right as Brenda started talking (giving the standard director’s pre-last-rehearsal spiel), David walked in. Josh showed him around (with me in tow), then we all went out and sat down behind everyone else and listened to Brenda explain the rules (including “[the swords and knives] belong to Josh Milligan, and if you touch them I will give him permission to beat you up”).

Then they started re-spacing the dance numbers (since the REV stage is gargantuan), and David, Josh, and I stretched and all that fun crap. In the aisle. With people stepping over us constantly. It was quite annoying . . . so then we moved, and people changed their courses to step over us.

Then the rehearsal finally started. I watched a fair amount of stuff from the wings, and was wandering around and such when Josh summoned me to help warm David up by flipping him a few times. Then it was our turn to rehearse the fight.

My GOSH, it sucked. The tone was set by the sound guy forgetting to turn the music on, and so we walked out and were standing there looking menacing for about three minutes only to hear an “Oh, sorry, my bad.” So then we went back and started again. This time the beginning went pretty well . . . but when I disarmed David of his knife, it flew straight under the curtain and was lost forever. The flip was horrendous. Then I died, and Josh and David had to skip the entire beginning of their fight because the knife was gone. And part of their fight wasn’t so great, either.

So then we went backstage and collapsed in the dressing room, telling one another how terrible we’d done. Josh went out for a little while, then came back and told us we’d made a little girl cry. David and I high-fived each other.

For most of the rest of the rehearsal, I stood in the hallway talking to Katrina and Josh. Then came the Great Bowing Fiasco . . . initially, none of us had considered the idea of David and I bowing. Then, as the music of the final number began to fade into oblivion, Josh turned to us and said “hey, you want to bow?” I didn’t, but David decided we might as well. So we went out and totally messed up the entire group’s bow because neither one of us knew what was happening.

So we did it again, and it went a little bit better. Except that as we were walking backwards after bowing (where the curtain would be closing in the actual show), Megan told me to dance, and grabbed my arm to make me do so. In grabbing my arm, she accidentally pushed me into someone else . . . someone else who happened to be the one person in the entire group that I didn’t know. Sigh.

Then there was a fair deal of waiting, and a little bit of warming up the wrists with the rapiers, and a bit of complaining that the sun was too bright, and a LOT of watching two younger folks battling each other to the death. It was amusing for about five minutes, then it got mildly annoying, then it got fairly annoying, then it got quite annoying, then it got REALLY annoying and I left the room.

Then the show began to happen. I watched most of the first act from the wings, up until the song right before the fight, at which time I went to find Josh and David and get into position.

To be honest, I was quite nervous . . . probably the most nervous I’ve been performing something on stage in a long, long time. Just because it was the first fight I’d ever performed, I suppose . . . but in any case, the fight went MUCH better this time. The knife still went beneath the curtain (all the powers of fate be cursed), but we had Katrina at the ready to kick it back onstage.

The only real problem came after the fight was over. Before Josh was killed, he took note of where the swords were so we could take them off in the blackout. But when the lights went away and he leaned over to pick them up, horror of horrors . . . they weren’t there.

Then the lights started coming up again, so he just booked it offstage. The next song, of course, had to be a soulful ballet solo. My parents got great amusement out of seeing two swords slowly disappear behind a curtain during this song. SIIIIIGH.

For the second act, David and I secretly went and joined the audience until near the end, when we came down to bow. The second act was quite good indeed . . . although the fight had apparently gone SO well that the dancers felt that they had to steal from it. Michael did two shoulder rolls, and Hanni did a little punch-kick combination. But everything was pretty good . . . except the music for Michael’s song. Because all I could think of through the whole thing was “all this music is is a cheap imitation of U2.” They used the same musical style, a lot of the same musical effects that U2 uses frequently, the same vocal technique . . . everything. Except that it was all quite inferior. But the dance was good.

One of the things even had some magic tricks in it. ‘Cause the younger Team Broadway was doing sections from Seussical, and Aaron played the Cat in the Hat, and he turned a silk into a cane. It made me happy.

Then we left to go back and bow, which actually didn’t go too horribly. After standing around for a bit, I went home and took a shower and changed into more comfortable clothes (“more comfortable” meaning “not long pants”).

I had discovered during the recital that the older BE crew (like Brenda and Jay and them) were performing You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown that night, so I decided to go to that since I had nothing better to do with my life.

I’m running out of time, so I won’t make a full review, but it rocked. Jay was awesome (I was trying to talk to him for like literally ten minutes after the show, but he was constantly swamped by other, more female adoring fans). He was Snoopy, by the way.

So then I went home and to sleep. The next day just happened to be Sunday, so we had church as usual, then Seth stayed for the afternoon and we hung out. Then we went to Lifehouse for the Season Celebration, in which the 13th season was announced and Wayne was put on trial by Lifehouse villains (no one really cared about what the season was).

It was very clever and very well done, and very funny. Although the end portrayed Wayne as the almighty ruler over Lifehouse, which (while I suppose is true) was kind of cheesy and annoying. But there were thunder and lightning effects and Dr. Mr. was actually the one who saved the day, so it was all good.

Then they talked about where Lifehouse might be going in the future, and different things they might like to try (Bethlehem Marketplace took a prominent role in this section). Then they awarded the first ever Lifehouse Scholarship to Josh Lomeli, and then they announced the season, which is to be the first season ever with nine shows.

They are:
Pinocchio
Love and Laughter
Scrooge!
Shadow Lands
The Wizard of Oz
The Story of Ruth
Pocahontas
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Noah and the Ark

So that’s exciting. You can expect to hear about my horrendous auditions for several of those.

Then we came home and watched an episode of an old TV show called Moonlighting, starring Bruce Willis, which I had never seen before. If you’ve never seen it, and you happen to have the opportunity to watch it, don’t pass it up. It’s hilarious. It’s a detective show, but it’s a comedy, and it rocks.

Nothing really significant happened on Monday . . . well, technically it did, but not for me. The Alias series finale was on, but Mom and Dad were both working so we taped it and haven’t watched it yet. You can expect to hear me wailing about that in the next update, most likely.

Which brings us to today. Today was a day of great joy. Why? Because IT’S OVER!!! IT’S FINALLY OVER!!!!!!! Yes. We took our Algebra Final today. *does happy-happy dance*

Rejoice with me! Rejoice with me! For the tyranny is over! WE’RE FREE!!!! (“We’re ointment!”)

And on that happy note, we shall end. On to comments:

AJ: I think you took that comment a little bit too seriously. I wasn’t referring to Shakespearian tragedy . . . just to a general sense of sorrow underlying the otherwise happy ending. Because Hollywood likes to give us happy Disney-style endings, and that’s annoying to me. When you have a character die, why can’t you just leave him dead? That’s all I was saying . . . not that I wanted War of the Worlds to be like Hamlet.

Stephen: Which is precisely why I just used the Star Wars curse I felt like using. If there isn’t one that works, use whichever of the non-working ones is the most fun. Or something like that.

Three Birthdays and a Wedding

Alright, well, as you can see, rumors of this blog’s death were greatly exaggerated. Well, okay, maybe not greatly, but it appears to live in some shape or form at the moment. And I want to start off by saying the following: I have resolved to update every Sunday from now on, either with an events post or a DT or whatever else I feel like talking about. ‘Cause I usually have a fair amount of time on Sunday afternoons, and if I’m in a show Sunday nights (if that changes, I’ll change the day, but I’ll still try to update once a week).

So. Happy Mother’s day to all you mothers out there. Hope it’s goin’ well for ya.

Now that we’ve gotten the formalities out of the way, let’s get started. First off, I want to express my pride at my successfully sitting through War of the Worlds without squealing, throwing up, screaming, or gripping the arm of the person sitting next to me. I thought it was pretty good . . . Dakota Fanning was really good, Tom Cruise was okay (although . . . I thought Bono couldn’t sing . . . wow) . . . I was pretty disappointed at the end, though. Why can’t Hollywood actually let main characters die?! I don’t care if he lived in the book or not (I don’t know . . . I’ve never read it), but let him die!! Give us tragedy!! Make us bawl in sorrow! Make us hate you forever! But let a freakin’ main character die every now and then!!

But I actually saw that on Friday, so I guess I should go back to events that happened shortly after my last post. Now that I’ve taken my shots at Megan, that is.

Okay. So the first big thing that happened since I last updated was AJ’s big show at McClain’s. Mom was working, but Dad and I went. ‘Twas very good . . . he had a brand-new song which is no longer brand-new, and it rocks. And then Concept6 played after him, and they of course are amazing, so that was good.

Sorry to breeze through that, AJ, but there’s not really a whole lot to tell about that . . . concerts are like that. You’ll just have to get over it.

Then the next day Hannah got married. Which, naturally, was a pretty big deal. The actual ceremony was really short . . . had some nice slide shows, though (one of Hannah, one of Grant, and one of both of them) . . . even a picture of AJ back when he had dorky short hair. Afterwards they released some doves (of which AJ got some GREAT pictures), and then had the reception. The reception was catered by Chipotlé, which AJ dubbed “the greatest idea ever.” Much of the remainder of the reception was spent wandering around aimlessly with AJ, Seth, Indy, and the Von Helfs. David showed up at one point (decked out in his Hiding Place costume pants and makeup), and then we all left. So yes. Hannah is now married. Yay for Hannah.

Sometime after that, I received the letter in the mail I had been nervously waiting for. A letter from Mr. Wayne Scott. A letter that said “congratulations on being selected as part of the cast of Beauty and the Beast.” Sarah received the same letter. So yeah, we both got in . . . happy days. Rehearsals for that have been going well . . . Dustin is, as always, an awesome choreographer (although he caused me to have multiple bruises on my lower back . . . and I get to do that on cement for the show, what fun!), and Nolan and Jeff (his assistant, I suppose) are fabulous music directors. Especially Jeff. He’s amazing. To read fun quotes from rehearsals, go to my Xanga. And when July rolls around, come see it. It’s going to be überly awesome.

The next big thing was my mother’s birthday. It just happened to fall on the same day as the University Singers’ recital at CSUF . . . of which AJ is a part. So we all headed up to Fullerton for the afternoon. It was Saturday, April 22, 2006. There had been some wondering as to where we would go to dinner, but in the end AJ decided that we should go to California Pizza Kitchen, where Jessica works and could be our hostess.

We did so. But when our little buzzer thingy went off to inform us that our table was ready, Jessica was on the phone, and some stranger dude stole us from her! She was very upset. But she came to visit us at our table, so it was all good. She even recommended food to us. We ended up getting what she recommended, and it was REALLY good . . . I can’t remember what the pizza was, but Dad and I (and I think AJ, too, but I’m not sure) also got BBQ Chicken salads . . . they were amazing.

And after we were done, Jessica suddenly appeared with a free sundae for mom. In a cruel twist of ironic fate, she actually couldn’t eat it because of her diet, but it was a nice gesture. And it was nice for AJ, Dad and I, because we DID get to eat it. Yummy.

And then, of course, there was the recital . . . it was very good. They did some stuff from Carmina Burana, which AJ says is something everyone should listen to before they die, and it rocked. The entire second half (after intermission) was all one piece, which was a bit different . . . very long. But it was in English, so I could actually follow it (and they had the words in the program, too, which was nice).

Then we went home and to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream . . . I’m not sure when exactly that happened, but I also saw Hamlet with Mel Gibson . . . that was really good. I might even have mentioned it in my last post, I don’t know. I’m too lazy and my internet is too slow to go check. But yes.

So after that it was MY birthday (a week after that, that is). AJ came down. The party-ish thingy was actually the day after my birthday, but AJ came down on the actual date to celebrate. That was not intended to rhyme. But anyway, yes. I’m sixteen now. Yay.

On the actual day, I received a number of books from AJ (Passion & Purity, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, and Morning and Evening), an electric shaver from Dad, and a video camera and accessories from Mom and Dad.

The next day, we had church as always. The Von Helfs stayed for a little while afterwards and AJ put on a mini-concert for them . . . I got a recording of a song on my brand-new video camera. He also played a new song that no one had yet heard, which wasn’t as good as the new one at the show, but it was still good. Forgive my terrible grammar.

Eventually, they left. Lunch happened afterwards. My party was supposed to start at Lifehouse at 1:50. Sarah and David weren’t to be there, ‘cause they were going to Crafton instead and meeting up with us later. So it was supposed to be myself, AJ, Seth, and Megan. Seth needed a ride, so he came to my house a few minutes early, and went with AJ and me to Lifehouse.

We were about five minutes late, but in the end it didn’t matter ‘cause Megan ended up being half an hour late and barely made it in time for the show (some lame excuse about “traffic” . . .).

Oh, ha-ha, I should probably mention what the show was, huh? ‘Twas Heidi. This show is not the highest in my esteem, and I have bad memories from it (the show itself, not the cast). I believe it was one of Wayne’s earlier shows, and . . . well, it can be summed up in three words: “The Oom-pah-pah Song.”

Megan described it as “the most entertaining Lifehouse show [she’d] seen in a long time.” I’m inclined to agree with her, but the important thing to note is that this entertainment was not intentional. Let’s go to the play-by-play:

During a big, villainous song, the spotlight on the antagonist is off and her head is cut off.
Later in the same song, there’s a complete blackout, and when the lights come up again they’re on the wrong side of the stage.
During the lunch scene, someone misses a line and Heidi goes of on what is apparently a tangent completely unrelated to the current discussion.
Peter’s voice holds a wonderful amount of emotion, but his hands, face, feet, and every other body part don’t move for the entire show.
The singing of certain people is . . . well, let’s just leave it at that.
In the last scene, one of the goats has a very visible icepack coming out of his head.

So yes. Great fun there. After that, we met up with David and Sarah at the Gourmet Pizza Shoppe on State St., and spent about half an hour deciding what to get. Then we sat down at a picnic table, and Rachel complained that there were three conversations going on at once, so we moved to a round table. Then we got the pizzas, and the cheeseburger one didn’t have any lettuce on it. So AJ asked a passing waiter to give us some, and he did. More than some. A giant bowl full of it. So we gave Megan the honor of sprinkling it upon the pizza, which she did with unmatchable finesse (until she got fed up with the amount of it and just dumped it out in the center of it all). David then christened it “happenin’ lettuce.”

After much intelligent and thought-provoking discussion (intelligence: AJ and David converse in Latin; thought-provocation: Megan hears AJ and David converse in Latin and says “how did I become friends with you people?”), we went back to my house for cake. Mom had made an Oreo Cheesecake, and all of us but AJ (who was full) ate it. My mother is a very good cook.

So after a while of eating and discoursing, it was declared time for presents. Rachel was given the job of filming it. AJ was given the job of playing Happy Birthday (the opening chords had a “sense of foreboding,” according to David), and everyone else the job of singing after just eating a piece of oreo cheesecake. It was quite . . . um . . . interesting.

Anyway, after that I did open my presents. Actually, Rachel didn’t get me one ‘cause she was strapped for cash, Seth had given to me earlier, and Megan’s is a special one that I haven’t gotten yet (*pointed look at Megan* Finish it, woman!), so I was just opening Sarah and David’s. I also already knew what Sarah got me, because at Dance that Friday, David had told me that she bought it, thinking she had bought it for herself. But it all turned out alright in the end because it rocks. I’ll get back to it in a minute. David got me two things: a book the two of us had been laughing at in a bookstore a while ago, The Tao of Pooh, and a Mark Lowry DVD that I actually forgot about until now and still haven’t watched yet . . .

But anyway, back to Sarah’s gift. What was it, you ask? It was All That You Can’t Leave Behind, an album by the band U2. I had recently seen a U2 song in an Alias episode, and it made me realize “Hey, I’ve always rather liked U2, but I never got any of their CDs . . . maybe I should pursue that . . .” and pursue it I did. I downloaded Best of 1990-2000 from iTunes, and absolutely loved it. I therefore asked for this CD for my birthday, and ended up getting How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, another of their CDs, from Seth. I am now officially obsessed.

If there are any of you poor souls out there reading this who have never had any extended exposure to U2, I pity you. They’re amazing. They’ve overtaken even Weird Al on my all time favorite musical group/artist list. I hope you all have a chance to listen to at least one of their CDs at least once all the way through (with the words in front of you) before you die. In addition to becoming my favorite band of all time, their song Walk On (from ATYCLB) has taken the top spot on my all-time favorite song list.

So anyway, we then hung out for a while and one by one all the folks were carted away (except for David, who carted Sarah and Seth away). And so the artificial lighting was turned off on the end of my first full day as a sixteen-year-old.

Nothing really exciting happened the rest of the week, and on Saturday it was Seth’s turn to have a birthday party. Basically, it was a giant Super Smash Brothers Festival, with a few card games and some eating thrown in here and there.

Sarah didn’t come initially, ‘cause she had too much school, but after we ate we called her and told her to come over, which she did. She started playing SSBM with us, wailing pitifully about how she hadn’t played it, or even a real-time game, in ages. Then, of course, she goes and clobbers Indy, Seth, and I, the accepted champs of the group. *Sigh* Girls are so weird . . .

Then some other stuff happened for a while, and Seth opened his presents and got lots of money and giftcards and a shirt and hat. And an iPod, and electrical tape. We then got the idea that we should play tapeball. We were doing so, but it was far too dark for such a thing, and after ten minutes or so we lost the ball, gave up, and went back to SSBM. Then I went home.

After church the next day, Seth and Indy stayed for a few hours and played MORE SSBM . . . in which I discovered that Jigglypuff rocks, and Seth discovered that Zelda/Sheik rocks.

Then . . . let’s see . . . I don’t think anything really significant has happened since then . . . well, AJ and I rediscovered William Steig, but you can read all about that on HIS blog.

So welcome back to my life. And expect more updates from now on. Now, to comments:

AJ: Oh yes, of course . . . if Matchbox 20 uses the same phrase, it’s all okay . . .

Stephen: Well . . . I suppose, but I don’t think that’s how they’d use it. From my experience, the term “Sith” or “Sith Lord” (when used as an expletive) is usually kind of a substitute for the B-word, whereas Sithspawn is more the S-word or, more appropriately, crap. That’s my reasoning. You, however, have far more experience in this issue, so I might be wrong . . .

David: Well, hey . . . I had to take some kind of shot at you, and the piano lent itself to that rather well . . .

Stephen Again: Yeah, I noticed that . . . I figured it was just some glitch. But I’ll remove it now. Is your old one back to being existent?