~ Trivia would probably go alot more smoothly for our team if we were awarded 10 extra points every week simply for dressing up. The costumes may get old after a while, but 10 points could be helpful in our current slump.
~ Samhain - which is apparently the festival that Halloween is derived from - can be pronounced 3 different ways (2 of which don't even use any of the sounds the letters actually make) - and I've been mispronouncing it for a very long time. Also, my defense is that they totally said it the way I say it in an episode of Supernatural.
~ In a half time question on serial killers, we were able to name 4 of the 5 correctly. I'm not sure that says anything good about our team.
~ You'd think in an evening that started with the question "Which are the 2 colors that are most closely associated with Halloween? we'd be on fire, but of course 4th place slump hit again. Way too many people know stuff...
~ I learned this evening that if you look in a mirror at your reflection at midnight on Halloween, you'll see your future spouse in the mirror. I'm equal parts curious and terrified to do this.
~ Before pumpkins, people would carve jack o lanterns out of turnips. Just how impressive could a jack o lantern made out of a turnip be? That's a pretty puny little carving. On the other hand, I'll bet it's harder to carve a turnip than a big pumpkin so maybe it would be slightly impressive...
~ In things I've never ever heard of, and most likely will never need to know again - the singer of Monster Mash (the song everyone hears on Halloween) is Bobby Boris Pickett and the Crypt Keepers.
~ And from the weird laws department, silly string is banned in Hollywood on Halloween. Why you may ask? Because it's a pain in the neck to clean up. Though it's a pain in the neck to clean the other 364 days of the year as well, so I'm not exactly sure what sets apart its annoyingness on Halloween.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Happy Monday!
As Mondays go, today wasn't nearly as bad as other Mondays have been. Other than the fact that it's finally chilly - though that does mean I can wear my new winter coat which is fun - tiny little good things happened to turn this Monday around. Hopefully this means that the rest of the week will be lovely as well.
First up, a review I wrote made someone actually go see a show. Last week, I saw Poe and all the Others at Annapolis Shakespeare Company and wrote about just how wonderful it was for BroadwayWorld. And this evening, a friend that loves Poe thanked me for my review after she had seen the fabulous show. Yay!
Then it was the continuation of the Black and White Challenge, which my friend Jennifer won by leaps and bounds. I assumed she wouldn't do the challenge because it's just not her thing. She in fact did choose not to by sending the Cat shaking his head No GIF, and then took a picture of her Cruella Deville leggings, with the tag "These in black and white times 7" Ha! She won the challenge by far!
Lastly, even though I promised not to get all political anymore, it must be said that the best thing that happened today was Paul Manafort being arrested. One can only hope they'll be more arrests imminently and we'll finally get a Presidential President.
Happy Halloween Eve!
First up, a review I wrote made someone actually go see a show. Last week, I saw Poe and all the Others at Annapolis Shakespeare Company and wrote about just how wonderful it was for BroadwayWorld. And this evening, a friend that loves Poe thanked me for my review after she had seen the fabulous show. Yay!
Then it was the continuation of the Black and White Challenge, which my friend Jennifer won by leaps and bounds. I assumed she wouldn't do the challenge because it's just not her thing. She in fact did choose not to by sending the Cat shaking his head No GIF, and then took a picture of her Cruella Deville leggings, with the tag "These in black and white times 7" Ha! She won the challenge by far!
Lastly, even though I promised not to get all political anymore, it must be said that the best thing that happened today was Paul Manafort being arrested. One can only hope they'll be more arrests imminently and we'll finally get a Presidential President.
Happy Halloween Eve!
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center
After years of avoiding The Book of Mormon, I finally saw it in all of its glory today. You see, the show was written by the writers of South Park, which I hate. I also don't appreciate crude humor. So you know, this show had everything I hate. However, after seeing it, I was pleasantly surprised by just how funny it was.
Oh, it's crude and rude, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell for laughing at most of it. But it's also super creative, and super hilarious. And the acting and choreography were amazing! I'm always shocked by the people that enjoy this particular show. There were so many different people there - old and young, democrats and republicans (seeing as we were in DC, I'm making that assumption...) And every last one of them was laughing their heads off at the ridiculousness of the story.
This right here, is why I just love theatre! Also, why I totally loved Book of Mormon - and why I'll have a terribly offensive song stuck in my head for the foreseeable future.
Oh, it's crude and rude, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell for laughing at most of it. But it's also super creative, and super hilarious. And the acting and choreography were amazing! I'm always shocked by the people that enjoy this particular show. There were so many different people there - old and young, democrats and republicans (seeing as we were in DC, I'm making that assumption...) And every last one of them was laughing their heads off at the ridiculousness of the story.
This right here, is why I just love theatre! Also, why I totally loved Book of Mormon - and why I'll have a terribly offensive song stuck in my head for the foreseeable future.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
A Tale of Three Pictures
For the last few weeks on Facebook, there's been this photo challenge. The challenge entails posting 7 black and white pictures of your everyday life - with no people in them - and then tagging a new friend each day to do the same. Of course I assumed I'd eventually get tagged and because I'm a sucker, I knew I'd have to go for it. Today, I'm 3 days in. Now, the other part of the challenge is that you're not supposed to comment on the photos at all on Facebook. But I love the stories behind pictures just as much as I love photos, so I'm going to tell you the tales of the first 3, even if they're not entirely exciting...
Photo 1 - Day 4 of a 4 day Adobe InDesign Class. It was a long week, but it was also pretty great. I learned a lot about the product, which I'm hoping will mean lots of opportunities in print and print production around the corner. And of course, the banana is there because I love bananas and that was half of my breakfast. : )
Photo 2 - The front page of my December Daily album this year. Yes I realize it's only October, but the only way I can stay on top of December Daily is by pre-doing a lot of the inserts. Also, I LOVE the way it turned out. This has been the cutest year so far for this scrapbook - even without any photos added.
Photo 3 - St. Mary's church in Annapolis MD. Such a beautiful church inside and out. I just couldn't resist a fun uppy shot of the steeple!
Photo 1 - Day 4 of a 4 day Adobe InDesign Class. It was a long week, but it was also pretty great. I learned a lot about the product, which I'm hoping will mean lots of opportunities in print and print production around the corner. And of course, the banana is there because I love bananas and that was half of my breakfast. : )
Photo 2 - The front page of my December Daily album this year. Yes I realize it's only October, but the only way I can stay on top of December Daily is by pre-doing a lot of the inserts. Also, I LOVE the way it turned out. This has been the cutest year so far for this scrapbook - even without any photos added.
Photo 3 - St. Mary's church in Annapolis MD. Such a beautiful church inside and out. I just couldn't resist a fun uppy shot of the steeple!
Monday, October 23, 2017
Learning Things
Today was the first day of 2 classes that I'm taking. And after 8 hours of learning things in 2 different classrooms - for the first time in about 10 years - I have to say I'm exhausted. However, I loved both of the classes and I loved learning new things. I'm one of those nerds that gets excited about taking classes. I'm usually all for taking classes in things that have no bearing on what I'm doing right now. Though that gets a bit pricey, so I only actually take classes for my job or a future job.
In today's instance, the first class was on InDesign. This program may help with my job, but the best part is that it will help with a possible new job in Publishing which is something I'd love to get into.
The second class is on Interior Design which is the first in a group of classes I'm taking in Theatre Design. Hopefully this will help in writing about theatre and may possibly take off into a future in the theatre.
The problem is that both classes are super interesting, but neither actually work together in regards to a new job. For now, I'm loving just learning all the stuff. Though, I'm still not sure I'm good at either of the subjects...Fingers crossed, aside from any future jobs, I'll at least do well.
In today's instance, the first class was on InDesign. This program may help with my job, but the best part is that it will help with a possible new job in Publishing which is something I'd love to get into.
The second class is on Interior Design which is the first in a group of classes I'm taking in Theatre Design. Hopefully this will help in writing about theatre and may possibly take off into a future in the theatre.
The problem is that both classes are super interesting, but neither actually work together in regards to a new job. For now, I'm loving just learning all the stuff. Though, I'm still not sure I'm good at either of the subjects...Fingers crossed, aside from any future jobs, I'll at least do well.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
A Night of Harry
A few weeks ago, it was announced that the trivia people that run our weekly trivia games would be holding a Harry Potter Trivia night. Being big nerds we were very excited about the prospect - as was the rest of Baltimore. It turns out everyone in Baltimore seems to be over the moon for Harry Potter because so many people signed up, that they had to draw names from a hat. 4 bars turned into 7 bars, and still teams were turned away. Luckily for us, Team Buy me a Butterbeer First (a fabulous, if I do say so myself, take on our usual name of Team Buy me a Drink First).
Anyway, I learned a few things during this experience. For one, I'm so not a big a Harry Potter fan as I thought I was. In one entire evening, I knew the answer to exactly 2 questions. Well, I'm not even sure you can call it 2 questions - it was more like 2/6 of a single question since it was half time and the question was 6 parts.
Other people, like 2 of my team mates and seemingly the rest of the bar, are HUGE fans. Like, fans to the N'th degree. They were naming patronuses, and lines that people spoke, and spells, and a million other things that I read about and then immediately forgot. Like I said, it was embarassing - for me. I had the nerve to call myself a fan, and yet here was about 100 other people that were blowing me out of the water.
There I was in my Harry Potter gear - a borrowed Gryffindor sweater and Hogwarts scarf (though that was not perfect, since I'm undoubtedly a Hufflepuff), and a custom made wand (thanks to one of the super fans in the group) and I didn't even know the answer to the very first question! Abysmal!
However, even with all of my unknowing, we managed to have a blast. And as it turns out, it was perfectly ok that I didn't know anything because the 2 super fans in the group knew enough for the rest of us and we managed to win. Not even just win. We won with more points than we've ever gotten at regular trivia. It was pretty impressive. Though, for all of our hard work we were gifted with a gift card for the bar we were playing in, and a one piece pair of pjs (just one - even though there were 5 people on the team...) But I suppose the bragging rights were more important. Now if I could just get them to hold a Doctor Who trivia, I may do just a tad bit better! : )
Anyway, I learned a few things during this experience. For one, I'm so not a big a Harry Potter fan as I thought I was. In one entire evening, I knew the answer to exactly 2 questions. Well, I'm not even sure you can call it 2 questions - it was more like 2/6 of a single question since it was half time and the question was 6 parts.
Other people, like 2 of my team mates and seemingly the rest of the bar, are HUGE fans. Like, fans to the N'th degree. They were naming patronuses, and lines that people spoke, and spells, and a million other things that I read about and then immediately forgot. Like I said, it was embarassing - for me. I had the nerve to call myself a fan, and yet here was about 100 other people that were blowing me out of the water.
There I was in my Harry Potter gear - a borrowed Gryffindor sweater and Hogwarts scarf (though that was not perfect, since I'm undoubtedly a Hufflepuff), and a custom made wand (thanks to one of the super fans in the group) and I didn't even know the answer to the very first question! Abysmal!
However, even with all of my unknowing, we managed to have a blast. And as it turns out, it was perfectly ok that I didn't know anything because the 2 super fans in the group knew enough for the rest of us and we managed to win. Not even just win. We won with more points than we've ever gotten at regular trivia. It was pretty impressive. Though, for all of our hard work we were gifted with a gift card for the bar we were playing in, and a one piece pair of pjs (just one - even though there were 5 people on the team...) But I suppose the bragging rights were more important. Now if I could just get them to hold a Doctor Who trivia, I may do just a tad bit better! : )
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Mad About Will & Grace
When I was in high school and college, I would come home every Thursday evening and watch the Thursday night line up on NBC with my mom. We loved Friends and Frasier and Will & Grace. In the last season Will & Grace got a little melodramatic so I stopped watching it. However, those first 6 seasons were hilarious.
When they decided to bring it back this year, I was cautiously optimistic. I thought that it might be just a little too crazy to be good. It would have the sentimental aspect of a well-loved show, but the chemistry and the storylines would no longer be there.
I'm so so so happy to say I was wrong. This show makes me just so darn happy every Thursday. These 4 actors have talent and chemistry in spades, and magic happens when they're together. The show isn't attempting to recreate them at all. They're the same people they were, but they have the benefit of experience and age, which gives them a whole new world to play in.
They can tackle new story lines and new issues in politics and government. In the last 3 weeks, this once-groundbreaking show proved that it can still be current, and still address issues that are important and should be talked about. Tonight's episode was all about the horrendous practice of conversion camps - trying to turn children from gay to straight. It's a disgusting practice, but it was covered in a way that was sweet and funny, and it starred 2 lovely actors who just happen to be gay. It was a tough subject to tackle, but they managed to knock it out of the park.
Each and every Thursday I watch this show, it just makes me smile. It gives me a chance to chat with my bestie afterwards because she's as equally obsessed as I am. It's a tremendous cast of characters, and I'm so happy it's back on my television - for what I'm hoping is a long, long time!
When they decided to bring it back this year, I was cautiously optimistic. I thought that it might be just a little too crazy to be good. It would have the sentimental aspect of a well-loved show, but the chemistry and the storylines would no longer be there.
I'm so so so happy to say I was wrong. This show makes me just so darn happy every Thursday. These 4 actors have talent and chemistry in spades, and magic happens when they're together. The show isn't attempting to recreate them at all. They're the same people they were, but they have the benefit of experience and age, which gives them a whole new world to play in.
They can tackle new story lines and new issues in politics and government. In the last 3 weeks, this once-groundbreaking show proved that it can still be current, and still address issues that are important and should be talked about. Tonight's episode was all about the horrendous practice of conversion camps - trying to turn children from gay to straight. It's a disgusting practice, but it was covered in a way that was sweet and funny, and it starred 2 lovely actors who just happen to be gay. It was a tough subject to tackle, but they managed to knock it out of the park.
Each and every Thursday I watch this show, it just makes me smile. It gives me a chance to chat with my bestie afterwards because she's as equally obsessed as I am. It's a tremendous cast of characters, and I'm so happy it's back on my television - for what I'm hoping is a long, long time!
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