the Terminal...HA! Like a terminal CONDITION! This is a bad place!

Hello friends! Thanksgiving has come and gone and I don't feel like blogging! Instead, I invite you all to check out my newly created BEBO! I've been uploading pictures like crazy, so I especially invite you to check out the various albums. Click on the link below and have fun!

Liz's BEBO

PS: I'm still in the process of adding and updating albums, so keep checking back!

Just a little food for thought today...

I've been on sort of a poetry-reading kick lately, and since my own creativity fails me tonight, I thought I'd share with you someone else's.

O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,
gimme a break before I die:
grant me wisdom, will, & wit,
purity, probity, pluck, & grit.
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,
gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind,
and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice--
these little blessings would suffice
to beget an earthly paradise:
make the bad people good--
and the good people nice;
and before our world goes over the brink,
teach the believers how to think.

--Philip Appleman

A simple, pleasant little poem, but as Hayley would say, "Think about it, won't you?"

I found this on the floor. It's circular so I thought it might kill people.

I don't know what it is about this picture, but it makes nuclear warheads look really attractive. Maybe it's the radiation. Mutations always make things more attractive.
I am pleased to announce that opening night of "Savior of the World" went wonderfully! It was pretty scary, and I didn't really eat much that whole day because of nervousness, but because of the combined forces of the Lord, the Priesthood, and a lot of cast and crew cooperation, we did it! I'm feeling a lot more confident about all of it now. I'm still getting my footing, but at least now I have some at all.
Biggest announcement of the day! (Actually, I found this out yesterday, but it will be the announcement of the day for today...shutup, Liz. You're a retard.)
JD AND CHRISTIAN MADE FINAL CALL-BACKS FOR "SPELLING BEE"!!!!!!!!!! They're being flown out to NYC for the final audition in front of the director there!!!!!!!!!! I can't quite grasp the idea, and I don't know all the details yet, but I'll update you as soon as I know.
I had this bizarre realization today, as I was walking home from English class. For some reason, I had "The Ants Go Marching One by One" stuck in my head, so I was softly singing it to myself as I strolled through campus. All of a sudden, it struck me as a really strange song. I'm not sure if I can explain exactly why, but think about it...it's weird. Most of us have been singing it since we were tiny, so I guess we're desensitized to it. But who sings about ANTS!? Marching in certain numerical formations? Ants don't even do that. And the actual music is in this weird minor key--a sort of war-chant. Our society is really freaky sometimes. Or maybe it's just me. "There's nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so," as they say. The same probably goes for weirdness. I prefer to see the world as bizarre.

Why'd they always have to give the ethnic kid the sissy power?

Okay, this is really weird, because this just occured to me, and my roomates are going to question me, but Tyler looks really attractive in this picture. Even though he's very compacted. And holding a razor. And pretending to be a gargoyle. It must be the fridge. Domesticity makes men attractive. If you ever read this, Tyler, "all morality issues aside," you look really good. =)
I'm back, as you may have gathered, from my blogging haitus. Except I just might have to take another one, because listen to this...
The First Presidency requested last year that we perform "Savior of the World" this fall. It's been a huge process, and a very sacred and powerful one for all involved. I was working nights the first half of this semester, so I didn't have the opportunity to be involved. However, I'm now free nights, and my friend Kristi (the stage manager) asked me last Friday if I'd be willing to come help with costumes, and a few quick-changes, etc. I jumped at the chance, and went to my first rehearsal on Friday night. I was grateful to be involved, but after just the first night, I knew I'd be bored. I had NOTHING to do the whole second act, and only 4 costume changes in the first. Well, be careful what you pray for.
Tonight was final dress rehearsal, and about 2 minutes before curtain, Kristi comes up to me and says "Jillian, the assistant stage manager in charge of stage right just quit. Can you be on headset?" I said "Uh...yes, of course." All of a sudden, I am now ONE OF TWO ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS OF "SAVIOR OF THE WORLD." We open tomorrow night. By that time, I am in charge of and must be knowledgeable on the following things:

All of my origonal responsibilities as a costume mistress and dresser (checking out and in costumes and doing 4 quick-changes, 2 of which involve putting on pregnant belly pillows)
Being on headset for trouble-shooting at all times
Orchestrating the traffic backstage right
Knowing and orchestrating all scene changes from stage-right
Knowing and setting all props stage-right
Full charge of the angel chorus, which consists of roughly 30 people, though triple cast, so the entire angel chorus is of about 100. I'm in charge of sending all communication from the director to them, knowing their cues and entrances and exits, and making sure they're all there.
(All of this is done in cooperation with a cast and crew totalling roughly 260 people.)

I don't even know everyone's names. What an adventure this is going to be. I feel honored to have the privelege to be involved in this sacred show, and I'm very grateful for the experience I have that allow me to take this position. I'm also really scared. But aside from the one girl who hates my guts (who is frustrating but I'm able to laugh it off because she's just ridiculous), the cast and crew has been very supportive and very cooperative. Like Nephi, I trust that if the Lord wants me to do this, He will help provide a way. Keep me in your prayers, and I'll do my best to live up to them.
That's sort of overwhelming most of my thoughts right now, but it has been a pretty exciting week. Let me share just a few of the highlights.
We got the first Rexburg snow of the winter--horrah! If it's going to be cold, there might as well also be snow.
I went and saw the movie "Elizabethtown," which I LOVED. I thought it was wonderful...well-written and well-done. And yes, Kirsten Dunst and even (it kills me to say this) Orlando Bloom began to redeem themselves.
We attempted a prank on our FHE bros. that turned into a hostage situation, but that's much too long and exciting a story to tell here. But we were pretty proud of it.
Two major accomplishments!
I finally got the courage to play with Shaun's hair. For those of you who don't know this about me, I've got a thing for curly hair. Sometimes it turns into a thing for guys WITH curly hair, but mostly it's just curly hair in general. And Shaun's is perfect. Everytime I see it, my fingers literally itch to run through it, but I've always felt that maybe we weren't good enough friends or that he'd be creeped out. I was just too shy. But yesterday, things reached a climax.
(Um, I really hope that Shaun never reads this; or that if he does, he won't be freaked out. NOTE: I'm dramatizing things in this story for comedic effect. The basic point of the story is that I really like Shaun's hair, which he is aware of.)
He was sitting in front of us during church, and he kept sort of playing with his hair, including the one curl that always just sort of falls onto his forehead, and I just watched. I sat on my hands for a full 30 minutes to keep them from reaching out of their own accord. Later, we were at their house, and he was sitting down on the floor. I went to put some sunglasses on his head, and his hair was right there. I couldn't help myself. My roomates just laughed and told him that I've been waiting to do that for MONTHS, and as weird as that was, I confessed that it was true. HOw could I deny it? We all laughed and then settled down to watch a movie. Jenny was sitting on the end of the couch and me next to her. Shaun was sitting on the other couch perpendicular to ours and closest to Jenny. But he started playing with his hair again and I couldn't concentrate on the movie. Jenny noticed my face, gave me a look, and said "Wanna trade me places?" I just said "Yeah," and moved and started playing with his hair again. Shaun laughed and asked what I was doing, and I said "I just can't watch you do that, it's too stressful." He didn't mind at all (who would?), so I definitely just ran my fingers through Shaun's beautiful, perfect curly hair for like 45 minutes.
Nobody is allowed to judge me for telling that story. I'm not creepy. I just like curly hair a lot.
The next story necessitates photographic explanation, but it's a funny picture anyway, so please examine for a moment.

That's Shaun. (See, how could anyone resist those locks?) And the Orb. It's a giant excercise ball that looks like a germ. But we call it the Orb, and it provides hours of entertainment. For example, in this picture, the boys attempted to fit both Shaun and the Orb in...the Rameumpton. That's what we call the podium that they found in a dumpster and saved. It's now in their apartment, and it also provides hours of entertainment. (B.T.W., that's a pumpkin on top.)
Last night, I was sitting in the Rameumpton, just listening calmly to the conversation, when all of a sudden, three of the guys slammed the door closed, and spun me around so that the door was facing a wall and I was trapped! That little dark brown flap thing at the top opens up, though, and so they just talked to me through it and taunted me a lot. It only opens about 2 and a half inches, but Tyler and Shaun asked if I thought I could catch some M&M's in my mouth if they dropped it through the top. (I don't know why, it's just how these boys' minds work.) So we tried it. And I totally did it! It was awesome. But the real accomplishment was this: As a joke, Tyler got a bottle of water and threatened to pour it on me. Then we decided to see if he could really get it in my mouth, and if I could really catch it. Ladies and gentlemen, it was totally successful! And it made this really cool noise too. We were pretty proud of ourselves. =)
I just realized how hard it is to tell that story in an understandable way. I hope that it made sense. Maybe you'd have to be more familiar with the structure of the Rameumpton. Oh well.
Hey, it's 1:30 am. I think I'm gonna go to bed. I hope you've enjoyed this odd little entry. I love you all.

I thought we were going for the tuba player, not Stevie!

One of the main reasons I love Jim is because every now and then, we'll notice that he hasn't said anything in awhile and look over at him. Almost always he's doing some whacky thing just for his own amusement, like in this picture. Notice that no one else in the picture is paying any attention to the guy on the far left making weird kung fu gestures. That's Jim for you.
After that rant-y last entry, I thought I'd dedicate this one to all the guys I know who are really great and considerate. My FHE brothers are some of them. This picture is of a few of them. From left to right, you've got Jim, affectionately known as "Awkward," Shaun a.k.a. "Bazooey," Scott nicknamed "Corky," and if you look closely you can see Travis ("Ariel") ducking behind Jim.
Another great guy I know proved once more how great he is for me tonight. I was talking with my friend Christian between Comic Frenzy shows, and he was telling Cindy and I more about his audition for "Spelling Bee." He paused in his story and the following conversation took place...(I'm too lazy to write out he said she said blah blah blah so we'll do this in script form)
Me: Gosh, I SHOULD have auditioned!
Christian: (with a sympathetic look) Yeah.
Me: I'm just kicking myself for not doing it. I was THERE. I was in San Fransisco and I DIDN'T audition!
Christian: You were THERE?! Oh, Liz, you should have auditioned; you would have been GREAT!
Me: Thank you. That means a lot to me. Although it also makes me more angry at myself.
Christian: Oh...well, then...you wouldn't have been great.
Me: Uh, don't say that either.
Christian: Well, maybe it just wasn't meant to be. The Lord just seems to have a different path for you.

It was so nice to be comforted in such a...I don't know, a casual way? In a non-I'm-so-sorry-for-you way. And Christian is one of the most talented people I know, so it really meant so much to me for him to say that I would have been great. And for some reason, it never occured to me that perhaps the Lord needs me elsewhere, and not necessarily in the cast of "Spelling Bee." It was just a nice reminder.

I also wanted to let you all know that I think I'm going to take a small haitus from blogging. Not long, just maybe a week or two. I love you all, and if you read this, especially you, Christian!

I'm taking my heart and I'm getting me out, cause love is something that I wouldn't want to live without

Hey. No picture today, flickr's down. So I know I said that I'd tell you about the adventures had in California this blog, but I lied. I don't feel like telling about those adventures. And it was actually a pretty mellow weekend. I didn't audition for "Spelling Bee," which I don't want to talk about, because I'll regret it for the rest of my life. JD, Ben, and Christian all made call-backs, which is incredibly exciting, so we'll see how that goes. I don't know when they find out. But I'll let you know as soon as I do.
Instead I would like to say this. I need THEATRE! I've learned something about myself in the last couple of years, and that is if I don't involve myself in theatrical productions in some way, after about three months, I start to fall into a mini-depression. Maybe depression isn't the right word. I just feel sort of...bored with life? And very unfulfilled. And I feel like I'm just sort of meandering through life day by day without really fulfilling my purpose fully. I feel unproductive, and it's harder for me to fully appreciate all the other aspects of my life if I'm not doing theatre. There are some student productions going up next month...I know one of the roles isn't cast yet. I missed auditions because I was sick, but I'll see if the part is still open. If I get it by some weird chance (it's actually written for a man, but it doesn't have to be), I'll be directed by Christian and co-starring with Andy Donkin, which would be such a thrilling experience. We'll see.
Okay, I'm going to warn you before you read the rest of this blog. This is a full-blown, all-out, hands-down, angry RANT coming up. If you want to be uplifted, don't read this next paragraph right now. If you are a girl who is frustrated with the opposite sex, read on, although you might be offended.

All girls who fit the following criteria should officially be outlawed from attending BYU-Idaho:
18 years old or younger
blonde
big blue eyes
expensive magazine-y clothes
large breasts or curvy figure in general
Here's why. As long as THEY are all here, the rest of us don't stand a chance. How are we supposed to compete with that?! Here we are, spiritual, intelligent, individual, funny, beautiful...we are girls who KNOW who we are and are trying to be what the Lord wants us to be. But are we the girls who get dates? NO! It's the ditzy blondes who all look, act, and think (if they do at all) in the exact same way. IT BLOWS MY MIND! It seems like by their early twenties, boys would have stopped thinking with their hormones alone and started also employing their hearts, minds, and spirits in being attracted to someone.
Tonight, some guy friends were talking about how difficult the dating scene in Rexburg is, and how it's so much harder for guys and how girls don't take dating seriously. Like my friend Sarah said, B.S. Rexburg is one of the few places in the world where there are THOUSANDS of single LDS young men and women in one place. And check it out: around here, GUYS are the askers. So which is harder: to ask? Or to sit around and wait to be asked and to feel like there's NOTHING you can do about it when no one asks you? Hm. And as for girls not taking dating seriously, I don't even know what they mean by that.
I have now been in Rexburg since August 2004. I have lived here for over a year. That's more than 356 days. And know how many dates I've been asked on in those 356 days? ONE. What's wrong with me? In what way am I deficient as possible dating material? I can't see any problems with me, therefore it must be the guys.
I suppose I should apologize to those of you boys who are really good and know how to recognize an amazing daughter of God when you see one. I'm a little bitter, and one boy has ruined your entire species for me for a little while. If that angers you as much as it does me, feel free to turn on him and ruin his love-life for awhile like he has mine. No, that's just pure enmity. I don't really wish that. I just wish I could make him see...ME. But I'm done pushing all the ditzy blondes out of the way so that he'll actually focus on me. Screw that.
Back home, I had something called the "Sorry You're Single Club" with a few friends. It was me and another girl and three guys. It was our way of shaking our fists at the dating world and get the better of it. The purpose was to always have someone to go on a date with if you wanted one. Whether you just felt like going out that night, or if everyone else around you had a date, you would too. The only rule was to keep it all casual and no physical affection allowed. It was so nice, though...to just have a few really good friends who you can just call up for a date and you know that they'll say yes as long as they're free. Then you could go out and complain about being single to eachother, and end the night with new resolve to be happy with being single until circunstances change. I would really like to start another one of those clubs here. I just don't know who to start it with. I don't have any guy friends close enough anymore. Maybe I'll rope in some of my FHE brothers. They're pretty cool. Of course, I'm still getting to know them, and the idea may freak them out a little bit.
Gr I am so impatient!