So here's a link to this song I absolutely LOVE by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The video is really thought-provoking too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
9/11
This isn't really theatre related, but it's emotional, so anything emotional can be theatre related, and I feel like this is just something I need to write.
Every time I looked at the date today, I was reminded how significant today is. Twelve years ago, on September 11, 2001, one of the most tragic events in our country's history occurred. Everyone will remember what happened and everyone will remember what they were doing on that day. I know my age is probably the youngest to be able to at least vaguely recall what happened that day. I remember being excited because I didn't have school. I remember sitting in the basement with my grandma, thinking something wasn't right. I remember finding out more as the days, weeks, months, and years passed. I remember honoring those who served our country so bravely, not just on the anniversary of this day, but every day, as I recite the Pledge to the Flag, and silently sing along to The Star Spangled Banner. I remember going with my mom and dad to begin the project to plant trees at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA. I remember seeing the families of victims of the Flight 93 crash working along with me to plant trees, as they too tried to bring nature and beauty to the place where their loved ones' bravery could be honored. I remember hearing about how these regular people made the decision to fight back to try to protect more lives, even though they knew it would mean the immediate end to their own lives. I remember the horror I felt as I really began to understand what 9/11 meant. I remember thinking what if it had been my sister, my dad, my mom? How do you even go on? How do you accept that someone you loved, someone you thought you would spend the rest of your life with, was gone due to some senseless act of violence? It's these questions that really make me reflect on this day. This day is for love, not hate. This is not a day when we should blame a group of people for what happened. This is a day when we should be thinking: what can we do to make sure something like this never happens again? This is a day when we need to be preaching the message of love. Forgiveness. Compassion. And most importantly, peace. This is not a day when we should be thinking about revenge, but a day we should be thinking about mending relationships and working together toward a common goal: peace. I know world peace is probably an unattainable goal, but that does not mean we should not strive for it. Too often, this day turns into sadness and bitterness about the past, when we really need to take it as a lesson for the future.
Every time I looked at the date today, I was reminded how significant today is. Twelve years ago, on September 11, 2001, one of the most tragic events in our country's history occurred. Everyone will remember what happened and everyone will remember what they were doing on that day. I know my age is probably the youngest to be able to at least vaguely recall what happened that day. I remember being excited because I didn't have school. I remember sitting in the basement with my grandma, thinking something wasn't right. I remember finding out more as the days, weeks, months, and years passed. I remember honoring those who served our country so bravely, not just on the anniversary of this day, but every day, as I recite the Pledge to the Flag, and silently sing along to The Star Spangled Banner. I remember going with my mom and dad to begin the project to plant trees at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA. I remember seeing the families of victims of the Flight 93 crash working along with me to plant trees, as they too tried to bring nature and beauty to the place where their loved ones' bravery could be honored. I remember hearing about how these regular people made the decision to fight back to try to protect more lives, even though they knew it would mean the immediate end to their own lives. I remember the horror I felt as I really began to understand what 9/11 meant. I remember thinking what if it had been my sister, my dad, my mom? How do you even go on? How do you accept that someone you loved, someone you thought you would spend the rest of your life with, was gone due to some senseless act of violence? It's these questions that really make me reflect on this day. This day is for love, not hate. This is not a day when we should blame a group of people for what happened. This is a day when we should be thinking: what can we do to make sure something like this never happens again? This is a day when we need to be preaching the message of love. Forgiveness. Compassion. And most importantly, peace. This is not a day when we should be thinking about revenge, but a day we should be thinking about mending relationships and working together toward a common goal: peace. I know world peace is probably an unattainable goal, but that does not mean we should not strive for it. Too often, this day turns into sadness and bitterness about the past, when we really need to take it as a lesson for the future.
Conserving Energy
Today, at the end of the school day, our principal, Mrs. Baumgartener told us that the school was being asked to conserve energy, so they were supposed to shut off a lot of the lights. Then, when we were walking through the hallway, it was much darker, but I thought it was a lot nicer. I liked it because it felt calmer and the lights were blaring into my eyes, stressing me out, and giving me a head ache. This made me think that maybe it'd be nice to have more subtle dim lighting during a production. It just makes things a little more low-key and I think it's more comfortable for everyone.
XC Meet
Oh my gosh we had a cross-country meet yesterday when the heat index was over 100 degrees! It was probably the most awful I've ever felt during a race--one kid even had to get taken away in an ambulance because he got such bad heatstroke. It was ridiculous! But it also kind of reminded me of theatre because it can get really friggin hot onstage, especially if you have heavy costumes on. Also, I had a splitting headache after the meet, and I often get those after strenuous periods of acting because you're just exerting so much energy. I guess the heat just isn't pleasant for anyone...and then it was 109 today, no big deal.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Dress-up
I came back from Colorado a week before my mom and sister, so I stayed with a family friend. She is a historian who does presentations for schools, so she has basically her entire basement devoted to her costume collection. She often uses me as a guinea pig to try stuff on, and I often borrow costumes from her for various school projects. She's basically my second mom and I love her to death! On August 16, 2013, she had me try on this new dress she'd gotten, which I think is absolutely gorgerous! I didn't even think about putting it on here until we were talking about how journals can include costume/color ideas. I can totally see myself using this costume in a play...kinda wish it was still in style :)
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Journal Sharing
Today, September 5, 2013, we shared our different journals. Gwen went first, and her journal is interesting because she has an online component and hard copy. The URL for her site is www.gweniferrr.tumblr.com. I actually thought it's good idea to have these two different mediums for journals because I sometimes struggle to find the time or computer access to update my online version, so maybe this year, I will need to be more open to a physical journal.
Tristan had a mini-journal, which I found interesting because he said the large journals prove too intimidating, and I can definitely relate to that feeling, even with this journal because there's a whole page of white space here that I feel like I need to fill!
Josh shared his journal which he said is somewhat bare because he prefers to write in his personal journal, which I found interesting because I've always wanted to keep a personal journal, but I never feel like I have time or it just falls off after a few days of writing in it.
Maddie uses a sketchbook so she can use as much space as she wants and it makes it easier to draw sketches without lines getting in the way, which I find interesting because I also don't like drawing sketches on lined paper.
Natalie uses her journal for a lot of analysis and then connects it to theatre at the end, which is something I like to do because I often find my life has connections to theatre.. She also likes to write critiques of plays.
Tristan had a mini-journal, which I found interesting because he said the large journals prove too intimidating, and I can definitely relate to that feeling, even with this journal because there's a whole page of white space here that I feel like I need to fill!
Josh shared his journal which he said is somewhat bare because he prefers to write in his personal journal, which I found interesting because I've always wanted to keep a personal journal, but I never feel like I have time or it just falls off after a few days of writing in it.
Maddie uses a sketchbook so she can use as much space as she wants and it makes it easier to draw sketches without lines getting in the way, which I find interesting because I also don't like drawing sketches on lined paper.
Natalie uses her journal for a lot of analysis and then connects it to theatre at the end, which is something I like to do because I often find my life has connections to theatre.. She also likes to write critiques of plays.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Theatre Games
School restarted on August 26th, which meant we were back to theatre class! It was really fun because we started off with a theatre game called Yes! Mrs. Burke said we're going to be doing more theatre games this year, which I'm really excited for. We've done Yes, which is where you have to make eye contact with someone and they say yes and make eye contact with someone else, before switching places with the person they just made eye contact with. We also played Oooahh Ooo watn tatn (spelling???) which is where you sing this song that's really just sounds and not really words. You also make the beat to the song by slapping hands around a circle like slapdilioso. Can't wait for some new games :)
Metatheatre
We are currently reading Hamlet by William Shakespeare in IB English. Today we were watching a movie version of the play. It was interesting to see how much the differed from the script. It was especially significant because in Act 1, Scene 2, it's intended that Claudius and the Queen are speaking to Hamlet in front of the court, but this was a personal conversation separately. After the scene ended, Mrs. Emerick said that they'd been practicing metatheatre, which is when actors show that they know they are only acting. We kind of talked about this in theatre, with breaking the third wall and showing that you know the audience is there. metatheatre seems pretty interesting, and it might be a cool topic for an RI or IPP.
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