Kat Goes Geeky

It's time for a non-theatre related post! Crazy stuff, huh? Here's a list of a few geeky-girl things I'm obsessed with right now:

1) My iPod Shuffle. It's not the brand new one with the controls in the headphones (horrible idea, personally. I like having buttons to press!); in fact, I'm pretty sure it's 2 generations old. It's the small rectangular one, in a beautiful sea green color. I bought it with Christmas money a few years ago, always intending to use it at the gym (which didn't seem to happen, considering how often I go to the gym these days!), but since I never seemed to make it, it just sat at the bottom of my bag. Until recently, when I saw someone carrying it to walk around. In that moment, I realized I could use it as my new primary iPod. It's super lightweight and portable, fits in my pocket without a problem, clips onto whatever I'm wearing and holds enough music to last me a good long while--definitely enough for a day's outings. And when I come back, I can load it up with new music and new podcasts, and have fresh new listening material for the next day.

I really, really like the fact that I can put podcasts on it, because I can listen to stuff on the way to class or while doing my theatre costume shop hours, without it taking up too much room in my limited purse space. When I load up my Baby iPod, I just make sure to put podcasts first, then my hour long track of "ocean music" (fantastic to study to-it makes great white noise), then music. Right now it's a combination of Sutton Foster's new album Wish, Kelly Clarkson's new album All I Ever Wanted, and the new Best of College Acappella--BOCA 2009. Reviews coming up soon, I believe. It's perfect! I love it I love it I love it. Yay music. Yay podcasts. Yay study "tunes."

2) Another technology-related thing, though it's not something I love: the new Facebook. Or should I say the New New Facebook, since the prior version was the "New Facebook." Well, whatever. I'd seen the warning post on Facebook earlier this week, so I was more prepared than most, but it definitely was jarring--at 12pm today I was using the old New Facebook, and at 3:30 it was something completely different. It's interesting, but it's definitely something to get used to. I don't think it's horrible though. I just think it's hilarious that people are so passionate about it--so many status' are complaining about how ugly and annoying it is.

But honestly? You guys got used to the old New Facebook. You complained, bickered, tried to get the old Old Facebook back, and joined groups to petition a change back to how it was. And eventually, you got over it. You learned the new system, and you liked it. Well, you must have liked it, considering how many of you are now complaining about getting the old New Facebook back. But just give it time. It's only the first day! You'll learn how it works and eventually you'll grow to love it. And if you don't... It's just a website. Not the end of the world.

3) Speaking of first days... Spring Break has officially begun! (This is not gadget-related at all, btw. But that's ok, haha!) I flew back home from school on Thursday night, then had to send in a paper about Artaud and Brecht by 5pm on Friday, so until about 4pm I was still in semi-school mode. But now I'm totally free, and I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest! Dorothy said it best: There's No Place Like Home.

4) Twitter. I got a Twitter a while ago and never used it, but the other day I decided to give it another go. (I'd been talking with a friend about it, and she convinced to give it another try.) I like it! It's the style of Facebook statuses without feeling embarrassed about changing it too often. If you have one, find me as onehappykat, or go to twitter.com/onehappykat. Hopefully I'll find some friends of mine to twitter about with!

Being an Actor is No Excuse

I don't do sports. Partially because I've never enjoyed them, partially that my lack of athletic skills makes me suck at them, and partially because I'm an actor. I dance onstage, I don't run. I enjoy bouts of yoga far more than sprints or goals.

But last weekend I realized that being an actor is no excuse for not being in shape. I was filming a student film with my friend. In it, my character was chasing after this guy who stole a purse. We were running all over campus, shooting short chase scenes in at least 5 or 6 locations. And each time we changed locations, we'd shoot it at least 3 or 4 times, just so that our director had a good shot.

Well, after all those locations and sprinting as fast as I possibly could (the guy I was chasing was ridiculously fit and incredibly fast! It was just insane!), I was sore for the entire week. We shot both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday, I was pretty sore, but Monday and Tuesday? Horrible. It hurt to stand up, it hurt to sit down, it hurt to walk and it hurt to move. Made the dances in our acappella competition exhausting, and Furies rehearsal also rather painful.

Moral of the story? Being an actor is no excuse for being lazy. I gotta get going to the gym more often, dance even more, try a bit of yoga once in a while. And maybe, just maybe, try running on the dreaded track. Because honestly, I don't want to have to go through all that again! It just hurt too much. =(