Well, actually, that's a lie. I don't. My car does.
See, last week when I was at home, Mom & I realized that I had accidentally taken her car's registration and proof-of-insurance sticker a few months ago. (Her car is named Burt, and mine is named Charlotte the Carlette. We like to name things. It's fun.) When I got back to LA, I sent back Burt's registration. I also wrote a little somethin' somethin'...
[There's a lot of my family's inside-jokes in here, so if Carlette makes some strange references, that's why. Just warning you.]
Dear Burt,
I am writing this letter to you because I have a most painful confession to make. But first, let me just say that I miss you deeply. Our time together six long months ago have been some of my most treasured memories. Those thirty minutes of conversation while merely standing there in the garage have inspired so many fascinating thoughts. I have had many a fine conversation in a parking lot, but the things we discussed in that spacious garage have stuck with me far more than any other conversation with another car has!
But, as I said, I do have a confession to make, and it is both an embarrassing and painful one. After I was booted out of the garage and back on the sidewalk, I grew lonely. I felt such pain, such sorrow. Knowing that you are having such meaningful conversations with Felix II makes me ache with jealousy. So last month, when I was back at the house, I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to you again! Yet we did not see each other. I was, once again, relegated to the loneliness of the outdoors, with only a stupid bird with a fear of shiny objects to talk to. And did you do anything to bring me indoors? No, you did not.
Perhaps our conversations meant nothing to you. Perhaps I was just a simple distraction, a ruse to get away from talking to that ridiculous motorbike. (Does he ever speak in full sentences?) Or perhaps you have these conversations with any old car. I cannot know. Regardless, it is clear to me that our talks meant far more to me than they did to you.
Knowing this has caused me such pain these last few weeks. And I was so angry when you didn’t even try to see me again, that I stole something of yours. Something important, something vital to your well-being: I took your registration and your proof of insurance sticker.
I know it was wrong, but I needed to make a statement, to make sure that you heard me loud and clear. But apparently that was not the case, for you have gone six months without either of the two. Perhaps you are far less intelligent than you seem: if you have truthfully not noticed these vital components haven’t been there, then maybe I overestimated you. Or perhaps you do not care. I cannot know.
But I am the bigger car in this situation (not literally, I know you are far taller than I, but I am emotionally the bigger car), so I am returning these things to you. I would love to hear back from you, but knowing how little you care about me, I am not expecting a response. I hope you have a nice life and wish you the best mileage.
Sincerely,
Charlotte T. Carlette
....Yes, this is what I do in my spare time.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
One Healthy Kat
For the last few weeks, ever since I got back from Toronto, I've started paying more attention to my health and general well-being. It's not like I've turned vegan or anything like that (hah... me. Vegan. That's a funny thought. I like chicken nuggets way too much to be vegan!). But I did a lot of walking in Toronto, just to get from place to place (the three flights of stairs to get to the 3rd floor bedroom was just the kicker), and I started feeling a little better about myself. I didn't drink so much soda, and I actually ate a vegetable or two.
Thing is, I know I'm not the healthiest person. I eat a lot of junk food and I never exercise. When I was in high school, I'd be dancing all the time at PYT or for my PE dance classes. And I never worried about my weight or how I looked. I was short but I felt OK about myself. But in LA, I kind of lost track of that. I never go to the gym, I don't enroll in dance classes through SOT because I want to use those units elsewhere, and all the exercise I get is from biking to and from class. Which, needless to say, isn't much. So nowadays I'm feeling like there's a lot for me to work on. I'm not fat, I'm not saying that, but I'd like to feel better about myself. I'm not approaching it as a numbers game (I don't have a "lose 10 lbs" goal or anything like that-I don't even own a scale!), but I'd like to simply feel healthier.
So now that I'm back in the States, I've started working on that a little more. I paid the summer gym membership and went to the Lyon Center (that officially makes 3 times in 3 years--clearly fitness has not been my priority!), I've tried a couple of workout videos from Netflix Instant Watch, and I take the stairs instead of the elevator at home when I can. And if I feel like I've been sitting all day, I try to take a walk or something, just to get out and get moving.
My primary effort has been on eating better. Before Toronto, I would go through a fast food joint every couple of days. I actually don't eat a ton of sweets, despite my gigantic sweet tooth, but I do have a lot of fried food and soda. Coke is my downfall, I'll admit that. But since I've been back, I've done a little better. Haven't had much soda at all-actually bought myself juice a couple of times, and I'm not usually a big juice fan!
I've started making smoothies-I learned how to make them in Toronto and they're super-simple! I just put in yogurt, 100% juice, and fruit and I feel really healthy drinking it. Lots of fruits in one easy sip. And I haven't had a lot of fast food. In fact, the two times I've had a seriously fast-foody meal (last week at In-and-Out and today at Wendy's), I've felt kind of sick afterwords. Not ill, per se, but my stomach isn't totally thrilled with me. Maybe because I overate, or maybe because I'm starting to adjust away from it. I also had 2 Cokes today, which I definitely didn't need. One at lunch and one at dinner. But the one at lunch was so yummy, so I really wanted another one! But I still feel gross now, and it's been four hours since I ate it, so tomorrow's going to be a water and juice day.
Anyway, I feel like I'm on a decent path when it comes to eating. Now it's time to work on that fitness. I'm really lazy when it comes to that kind of thing. I want to find good dance classes in LA, but I don't really know where to start! I'm enrolled in yoga class for the start of the semester, since it's only 1 unit which'll make a full 18 with my 3-unit Costumes class, but I might drop it depending on if I get other classes. But I did an hour-long workout video from Netflix tonight (I love Netflix!) and I'm planning on going to the gym tomorrow morning.
I also joined the website Habit Forge. It's all about helping you create new habits by sending you daily emails asking you if you did such-and-such that day. If you click "yes" 21 days in a row, you win! Well, sorta. If you don't click "yes," it starts you over. I guess the idea is that after 3 weeks of doing the activity daily, it turns into a habit. So my new habit is "exercising for 30 minutes a day." I feel like that's reasonable.
Wish me luck as I begin my journey of being both OneHappyKat and OneHealthyKat!
Thing is, I know I'm not the healthiest person. I eat a lot of junk food and I never exercise. When I was in high school, I'd be dancing all the time at PYT or for my PE dance classes. And I never worried about my weight or how I looked. I was short but I felt OK about myself. But in LA, I kind of lost track of that. I never go to the gym, I don't enroll in dance classes through SOT because I want to use those units elsewhere, and all the exercise I get is from biking to and from class. Which, needless to say, isn't much. So nowadays I'm feeling like there's a lot for me to work on. I'm not fat, I'm not saying that, but I'd like to feel better about myself. I'm not approaching it as a numbers game (I don't have a "lose 10 lbs" goal or anything like that-I don't even own a scale!), but I'd like to simply feel healthier.
So now that I'm back in the States, I've started working on that a little more. I paid the summer gym membership and went to the Lyon Center (that officially makes 3 times in 3 years--clearly fitness has not been my priority!), I've tried a couple of workout videos from Netflix Instant Watch, and I take the stairs instead of the elevator at home when I can. And if I feel like I've been sitting all day, I try to take a walk or something, just to get out and get moving.
My primary effort has been on eating better. Before Toronto, I would go through a fast food joint every couple of days. I actually don't eat a ton of sweets, despite my gigantic sweet tooth, but I do have a lot of fried food and soda. Coke is my downfall, I'll admit that. But since I've been back, I've done a little better. Haven't had much soda at all-actually bought myself juice a couple of times, and I'm not usually a big juice fan!
I've started making smoothies-I learned how to make them in Toronto and they're super-simple! I just put in yogurt, 100% juice, and fruit and I feel really healthy drinking it. Lots of fruits in one easy sip. And I haven't had a lot of fast food. In fact, the two times I've had a seriously fast-foody meal (last week at In-and-Out and today at Wendy's), I've felt kind of sick afterwords. Not ill, per se, but my stomach isn't totally thrilled with me. Maybe because I overate, or maybe because I'm starting to adjust away from it. I also had 2 Cokes today, which I definitely didn't need. One at lunch and one at dinner. But the one at lunch was so yummy, so I really wanted another one! But I still feel gross now, and it's been four hours since I ate it, so tomorrow's going to be a water and juice day.
Anyway, I feel like I'm on a decent path when it comes to eating. Now it's time to work on that fitness. I'm really lazy when it comes to that kind of thing. I want to find good dance classes in LA, but I don't really know where to start! I'm enrolled in yoga class for the start of the semester, since it's only 1 unit which'll make a full 18 with my 3-unit Costumes class, but I might drop it depending on if I get other classes. But I did an hour-long workout video from Netflix tonight (I love Netflix!) and I'm planning on going to the gym tomorrow morning.
I also joined the website Habit Forge. It's all about helping you create new habits by sending you daily emails asking you if you did such-and-such that day. If you click "yes" 21 days in a row, you win! Well, sorta. If you don't click "yes," it starts you over. I guess the idea is that after 3 weeks of doing the activity daily, it turns into a habit. So my new habit is "exercising for 30 minutes a day." I feel like that's reasonable.
Wish me luck as I begin my journey of being both OneHappyKat and OneHealthyKat!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Birthday Weekend
I'm back in Los Angeles after an awesome long weekend at home! It was supposed to be just a casual weekend at home, but it ended up being an extended birthday celebration, leading up to my actual birthday. I'm 21 today, hooray!
Thursday night I flew into San Jose airport and headed home. Ate some sushi, made fun of my family (in the best way possible), and watched the first half of SYTYCD on the huge TV. I saw myself a couple of times!! It was nice to see the whole dances, and I filled in Mom+Mel on some cool tidbits from the taping.
Friday I had lunch with a friend, then went shopping! Considering that I'm not a big shopper at all, I sure bought a lot. Got a bunch of pairs of shorts, some skinny jeans, and another dress. It's super cute though. We had dinner at Maldonado's (yummy pasta) and then went over to PYT for Mel's rehearsal. I was watching their last runthrough before tech. I'll still be in LA for their actual performances, so this was my chance to see the show. And it's good! I highly recommend it-lots of crazy dances, but they're dancing it well. Footloose. PYT. Be there. I won't, but you should. After the rehearsal I made smoothies for my family, which they all enjoyed quite a lot. They were also yummy.
Saturday was lunch with another friend from USC, then I went with my parents to see Inception. I really enjoyed the movie! It seriously messed with my mind, but in the best way possible. Then we went over to see Anything Goes at Foothill, which was also very good. Loved seeing my friends on that stage. They were zany and having tons of fun with this ridiculous show, ad-libbing lines left and right. But it was hilarious. My favorite was during "Friendship," a verse about killing and removing eyeballs and such, and one guy said "This is a violent verse!" in a mock-horror voice. It totally cracked me up!
Unfortunately, that night I couldn't sleep. I laid in bed for hours, unable to sleep. A major problem, because we were getting up early Sunday to go white water rafting! I fell asleep after 4am, and got up at 5:45. No joke. It was bad. I napped in the car, but not much. Luckily, it didn't matter too much, because I managed to collect enough energy for the day. And it was awesome. The rapids were great, and I even went in the kayak for a while. Such a good workout, too. After that, we stopped at Fenton's in Vacaville for dinner. Delicious crab salad sandwiches and sundaes!!
Slept in today, and it was so nice! Got up, read a while, and went to a birthday lunch at BJ's with Mom and a friend. I got my first drink! Good times, good times! It was OK, but I really liked the Root Beer drink my mom ordered for me to try. Then we went to pick up Mel from Theatre in the Park and I saw a few of my former TIP students! They didn't see me though, but that's OK--I'm not 100% sure I remember their names, oops. Dropped Mel off at tech and finished packing, then off to the airport and now I'm back to LA.
On another topic, I was just wondering if anyone actually reads this, other than my mother? (I love you Mom!!) Maybe as a b-day present, if you read this blog ever (and clearly you do, considering you're reading this now ;)), just leave a comment? I'd appreciate it!
Thursday night I flew into San Jose airport and headed home. Ate some sushi, made fun of my family (in the best way possible), and watched the first half of SYTYCD on the huge TV. I saw myself a couple of times!! It was nice to see the whole dances, and I filled in Mom+Mel on some cool tidbits from the taping.
Friday I had lunch with a friend, then went shopping! Considering that I'm not a big shopper at all, I sure bought a lot. Got a bunch of pairs of shorts, some skinny jeans, and another dress. It's super cute though. We had dinner at Maldonado's (yummy pasta) and then went over to PYT for Mel's rehearsal. I was watching their last runthrough before tech. I'll still be in LA for their actual performances, so this was my chance to see the show. And it's good! I highly recommend it-lots of crazy dances, but they're dancing it well. Footloose. PYT. Be there. I won't, but you should. After the rehearsal I made smoothies for my family, which they all enjoyed quite a lot. They were also yummy.
Saturday was lunch with another friend from USC, then I went with my parents to see Inception. I really enjoyed the movie! It seriously messed with my mind, but in the best way possible. Then we went over to see Anything Goes at Foothill, which was also very good. Loved seeing my friends on that stage. They were zany and having tons of fun with this ridiculous show, ad-libbing lines left and right. But it was hilarious. My favorite was during "Friendship," a verse about killing and removing eyeballs and such, and one guy said "This is a violent verse!" in a mock-horror voice. It totally cracked me up!
Unfortunately, that night I couldn't sleep. I laid in bed for hours, unable to sleep. A major problem, because we were getting up early Sunday to go white water rafting! I fell asleep after 4am, and got up at 5:45. No joke. It was bad. I napped in the car, but not much. Luckily, it didn't matter too much, because I managed to collect enough energy for the day. And it was awesome. The rapids were great, and I even went in the kayak for a while. Such a good workout, too. After that, we stopped at Fenton's in Vacaville for dinner. Delicious crab salad sandwiches and sundaes!!
Slept in today, and it was so nice! Got up, read a while, and went to a birthday lunch at BJ's with Mom and a friend. I got my first drink! Good times, good times! It was OK, but I really liked the Root Beer drink my mom ordered for me to try. Then we went to pick up Mel from Theatre in the Park and I saw a few of my former TIP students! They didn't see me though, but that's OK--I'm not 100% sure I remember their names, oops. Dropped Mel off at tech and finished packing, then off to the airport and now I'm back to LA.
On another topic, I was just wondering if anyone actually reads this, other than my mother? (I love you Mom!!) Maybe as a b-day present, if you read this blog ever (and clearly you do, considering you're reading this now ;)), just leave a comment? I'd appreciate it!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Storytime!
So let's preface this story by saying that I cannot lie to save my life. I really can't. Maybe in a pinch, for something serious... but silly lies? White lies? Little fibs that, in the end, don't really matter? Nope. Not me. Not at all.
So today at my internship, I'm given a task of calling up a few magazines pretending to be a client interested in advertising in the 'zine. Can we get a few copies for free for research? Of course our actual product is already featured in this magazine, but we want some free copies in order to send to the client. But the people on the phone don't need to know this.
The first bunch of magazines I just leave voicemails. No biggie, I can fake it talking to a machine. But the last one I call... someone answers.
Well great.
I do the standard spiel, how we're interested in advertising, want details on pricing, maybe get a few copies of the magazine for research... you know. Stuff like that. And she says OK.
And now it's where things get tricky, and I seriously wish I had better improv skills instead of just FREAKING. OUT.
What's the name of the company?
Ummmm...... well great. I'm not listing the actual name of the company since they're already in the magazine, so I make one up. I see a post-it note on the table, which is pink, so I say Pink... East. Pink East. Because that's the first word that pops into my head.
what the...
And the conversation ensues, where I just try to make stuff up. I give her an actual email address (should have just made one up), but in the end she says she'll send us a few copies of the magazine. And I take notes on pricing, because if I were actually this person, that's what I'd do. So now I know that a 2/3 page advertisement in a major magazine costs arounjd $153,000. Good to know.
Anyway, that's my story of the day. Maybe next time I'll actually have some of those other random details figured out before I call... And you'd think studying to be an actor would help me with this kind of thing!
So today at my internship, I'm given a task of calling up a few magazines pretending to be a client interested in advertising in the 'zine. Can we get a few copies for free for research? Of course our actual product is already featured in this magazine, but we want some free copies in order to send to the client. But the people on the phone don't need to know this.
The first bunch of magazines I just leave voicemails. No biggie, I can fake it talking to a machine. But the last one I call... someone answers.
Well great.
I do the standard spiel, how we're interested in advertising, want details on pricing, maybe get a few copies of the magazine for research... you know. Stuff like that. And she says OK.
And now it's where things get tricky, and I seriously wish I had better improv skills instead of just FREAKING. OUT.
What's the name of the company?
Ummmm...... well great. I'm not listing the actual name of the company since they're already in the magazine, so I make one up. I see a post-it note on the table, which is pink, so I say Pink... East. Pink East. Because that's the first word that pops into my head.
what the...
And the conversation ensues, where I just try to make stuff up. I give her an actual email address (should have just made one up), but in the end she says she'll send us a few copies of the magazine. And I take notes on pricing, because if I were actually this person, that's what I'd do. So now I know that a 2/3 page advertisement in a major magazine costs arounjd $153,000. Good to know.
Anyway, that's my story of the day. Maybe next time I'll actually have some of those other random details figured out before I call... And you'd think studying to be an actor would help me with this kind of thing!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
So You Think You Can Dance Taping
So today, I went to the live taping of SYTYCD. Which was amazing. Such a fascinating experience! I'll write up the whole story and my observations, and then I'll actually go watch it on TV. Because it's late, and I'm tired, and I don't want the watching of the episode to change all these initial reactions.
So lets start at the beginning. I hear from my friend who's staying with me that her friend got tickets to the taping. My friend and her sister are going with her, and would I like to join them? Well, yes. Obviously! I'd love to!! But then my friend + sister can't make it... so sad!! But I still want to go, and the girl still has the tickets, so even though we've never actually met... I'm going to So You Think You Can Dance with her!! Yayyy!!!!
She got in line around 12:30 and I joined her a little later, around 1:30. We sit and chat and whatnot for an hour and a half, which went by pretty quickly! Then some people checked came by to check that we all had tickets. And then we got to go inside!
Well, sort of. They sent us in through the gates and past security to a holding area. There were two sections of benches: the first section was where they held the--how can I put it... the people they didn't want featured on TV (mostly older folk, not the teens/20-year-olds). The second section was where the rest of us went, myself included. But they sorted us onto the benches with some sort of logic. The first bench had a lot of really pretty girls and a couple of TV-worthy boys, the rest were sorted fairly randomly onto the other benches. I was on the 3rd bench, which kind of sucked since we were there so early, but it really didn't matter at all because we still would be pretty close to the stage.
After maybe another hour, we got to go in! The space is really really cool. It looks SO MUCH SMALLER than it does on TV-obviously! But it was so cool to be able to see everything and watch some of the technical stuff that goes on. You can read all the facts of how it happens, but it's way better to be there in person.
Which I was.
And you (probably) weren't.
Teehee.
Anyway, we got put in spots all the way on the end, house right. So I was the opposite side from the judges, but we were right next to the lip of the stage. So whenever Cat Deeley was on the stage left side talking into the camera, or the dancers were there before they danced their solos, we were literally inches away from them!! The girl I was with actually talked to Cat for a few seconds and she seems SOOOO SWEET!! Ahh I love her. I blew her a kiss... she didn't see me, but that's OK. I saw Lauren at one point during Robert's solo-she was waiting behind the audience to get onstage. My friend told her she loved her (and who doesn't? She's so sweet!) and I blew her a kiss!! And she "caught" it!! Hehe that might have been the highlight of the evening for me!
Even though we were standing for a good 2 hours, it went super fast. I didn't realize it was almost over until they were telling us there were just 3 more routines before the review videos. Of course, the fact that I lacked both my watch and my phone made it hard to keep track of the time. They took our phones away from us, which was expected. I'd had an interesting situation earlier though.
So we're told not to bring purses, which is fine. I brought a bag to sit in line with, which had my book, some snacks, my wallet, things like that. I figured I'd run to the car before we went in and put it away. But we got checked in and then were told that there wasn't enough time to actually run to the car and put it away. So I'm stressing because I have all my stuff and I'm not supposed to. Will they confiscate it? Will we be forced in the back of the room because we aren't supposed to have it? Oh noes!!! Turns out we can just hide it under the bleachers and grab it before we go. So it's literally no big deal. I didn't need to stress at all! Silly Katherine.
We were standing in the "pit" for a little under an hour before the show started, so there was a lot of time to look around and observe. I watched a good number of the people walk in. We had a good view of the seated audience, so I saw a lot of the SYTYCD "celebs" come in. Kherington from 2 season ago (I think) was there pretty early, with her mom (I assume). We saw many of the choreographers, which meant we knew the genres of many of the dances. We saw Alex, Alexis and Courtney, and they seemed to be really relaxed and having fun. And then I saw Billy, who's in the show right now... and I realized there was ANOTHER injury! Sheesh, what's up with this season?? So I knew beforehand this tidbit, which is cool... I guess.
When the judges entered, it was also very amusing. They were having a grand old time and seemed quite relaxed and friendly. Adam Shankman seems super goofy and I want to be his friend. Just saying. I liked watching the judges who weren't speaking when another one of them was talking. Basically, during the show I just tried to watch the stuff that isn't shown on TV, since I won't have this experience again anytime soon. Unfortunately I was too far away to really see the judges at all, so I spent much of the critiques watching Cat and the contestants. Actually, I mostly ended up watching the All-Star, since they were on the end and that's all I could see. That and the top of Cat's head--she's very tall. Hehe!
Because I'm so short, I had a really hard time seeing a lot of the dances, which actually was really frustrating. I was behind this group of kids who were there for one girl's birthday. During one of the commercial breaks they played some music and two of those girls actually danced some hip hop. They were so adorable!! They left after that, so I had a front-row view and could see absolutely everything onstage, which was amazing. Alas, it was only for the last 3 numbers, but whatever. I was still happy.
So usually I watch the show and am not a huge fan of the solo numbers. I just never get as engaged watching them. But being so close to them and seeing it live was definitely an amazing experience. Instead of waiting for them to be over, I felt much more engaged in their dancing. Seeing it live definitely makes a huge difference. Not to mention all the energy in the crowd makes it so that you really WANT them to do well-whereas on TV, you aren't quite as invested in everyone's performances. You root for your favorites and enjoy the rest. But in person, you really want to see them do well.
A few of the routines really stood out as amazing to see live: the contemporary piece that Jose did, the hip hop routine that Ade did and the stepping dance that Kent did. Jose's contemporary piece was amazing just because I could hear them breathing! They took such deep, intense breaths that were truly heartfelt. When you can hear them connect with the breath like that... oh, it's just so intense. The dancing was lovely-what I saw of it-but their breathing was what caught me.
Ade's hip hop was one that I could tell would be really strong just from the opening video. And for what I caught of it, I was really moved. It was strong, hit hard, and the emotion was so overwhelming! Alas, SO MUCH of that piece was stage right... which I could barely see at all. So I'm going to have to watch that one on TV for sure. But at the very end, when Comfort was on my side of the stage, the pain stretched across her face was enough to cover for that whole piece.
Kent's stepping number was also really fun. This was one of the few that I could see really well, and I'm so glad I did! I loved being able to hear the a cappella section, all the hits and thumps and sounds they made. It was fast and intense and awesome. That was just a lot of fun.
Lets see... I'm trying to think if I'm forgetting anything. Well, I'm sure I am, but anything noteworthy?? Kenny Ortega was there as a judge, and he just seemed like the biggest super-fan of this show!! Haha. Commercial breaks went by quickly. They usually told us to move around, either to keep within the blue lines or adjust for the set pieces they moved in for Cat to stand on or for the dancers to dance on, through the middle of the audience. Whenever those occurred (I think it was twice), I literally could not see a thing. In fact, in one of the recap videos I said "I didn't know they did that!" because I hadn't seen it! Haha. Commercials were actually amusing, because they had an entertainer guy there to talk and tell us to bend our legs (to avoid passing out, you know. Actually, while sitting on the benches we talked to one girl who fainted at one of the tapings last year. So that was amusing). He was a funny guy. He gave out Chipotle gift cards to the rowdiest audience members, and my friend won one. =)
It was the 150th episode!! Sheesh, that's insane! They didn't do anything special, as far as I could tell, but it's cool nonetheless.
During each commercial break makeup folk would come out and make sure everyone was looking good. I found it amusing, for some reason. It's a lot of work to look this pretty!!
I think that's pretty much everything... I'll edit the post if I remember anything. Anyway, that was my So You Think You Can Dance experience!!! All in all, a really good time! HOORAY!
So lets start at the beginning. I hear from my friend who's staying with me that her friend got tickets to the taping. My friend and her sister are going with her, and would I like to join them? Well, yes. Obviously! I'd love to!! But then my friend + sister can't make it... so sad!! But I still want to go, and the girl still has the tickets, so even though we've never actually met... I'm going to So You Think You Can Dance with her!! Yayyy!!!!
She got in line around 12:30 and I joined her a little later, around 1:30. We sit and chat and whatnot for an hour and a half, which went by pretty quickly! Then some people checked came by to check that we all had tickets. And then we got to go inside!
Well, sort of. They sent us in through the gates and past security to a holding area. There were two sections of benches: the first section was where they held the--how can I put it... the people they didn't want featured on TV (mostly older folk, not the teens/20-year-olds). The second section was where the rest of us went, myself included. But they sorted us onto the benches with some sort of logic. The first bench had a lot of really pretty girls and a couple of TV-worthy boys, the rest were sorted fairly randomly onto the other benches. I was on the 3rd bench, which kind of sucked since we were there so early, but it really didn't matter at all because we still would be pretty close to the stage.
After maybe another hour, we got to go in! The space is really really cool. It looks SO MUCH SMALLER than it does on TV-obviously! But it was so cool to be able to see everything and watch some of the technical stuff that goes on. You can read all the facts of how it happens, but it's way better to be there in person.
Which I was.
And you (probably) weren't.
Teehee.
Anyway, we got put in spots all the way on the end, house right. So I was the opposite side from the judges, but we were right next to the lip of the stage. So whenever Cat Deeley was on the stage left side talking into the camera, or the dancers were there before they danced their solos, we were literally inches away from them!! The girl I was with actually talked to Cat for a few seconds and she seems SOOOO SWEET!! Ahh I love her. I blew her a kiss... she didn't see me, but that's OK. I saw Lauren at one point during Robert's solo-she was waiting behind the audience to get onstage. My friend told her she loved her (and who doesn't? She's so sweet!) and I blew her a kiss!! And she "caught" it!! Hehe that might have been the highlight of the evening for me!
Even though we were standing for a good 2 hours, it went super fast. I didn't realize it was almost over until they were telling us there were just 3 more routines before the review videos. Of course, the fact that I lacked both my watch and my phone made it hard to keep track of the time. They took our phones away from us, which was expected. I'd had an interesting situation earlier though.
So we're told not to bring purses, which is fine. I brought a bag to sit in line with, which had my book, some snacks, my wallet, things like that. I figured I'd run to the car before we went in and put it away. But we got checked in and then were told that there wasn't enough time to actually run to the car and put it away. So I'm stressing because I have all my stuff and I'm not supposed to. Will they confiscate it? Will we be forced in the back of the room because we aren't supposed to have it? Oh noes!!! Turns out we can just hide it under the bleachers and grab it before we go. So it's literally no big deal. I didn't need to stress at all! Silly Katherine.
We were standing in the "pit" for a little under an hour before the show started, so there was a lot of time to look around and observe. I watched a good number of the people walk in. We had a good view of the seated audience, so I saw a lot of the SYTYCD "celebs" come in. Kherington from 2 season ago (I think) was there pretty early, with her mom (I assume). We saw many of the choreographers, which meant we knew the genres of many of the dances. We saw Alex, Alexis and Courtney, and they seemed to be really relaxed and having fun. And then I saw Billy, who's in the show right now... and I realized there was ANOTHER injury! Sheesh, what's up with this season?? So I knew beforehand this tidbit, which is cool... I guess.
When the judges entered, it was also very amusing. They were having a grand old time and seemed quite relaxed and friendly. Adam Shankman seems super goofy and I want to be his friend. Just saying. I liked watching the judges who weren't speaking when another one of them was talking. Basically, during the show I just tried to watch the stuff that isn't shown on TV, since I won't have this experience again anytime soon. Unfortunately I was too far away to really see the judges at all, so I spent much of the critiques watching Cat and the contestants. Actually, I mostly ended up watching the All-Star, since they were on the end and that's all I could see. That and the top of Cat's head--she's very tall. Hehe!
Because I'm so short, I had a really hard time seeing a lot of the dances, which actually was really frustrating. I was behind this group of kids who were there for one girl's birthday. During one of the commercial breaks they played some music and two of those girls actually danced some hip hop. They were so adorable!! They left after that, so I had a front-row view and could see absolutely everything onstage, which was amazing. Alas, it was only for the last 3 numbers, but whatever. I was still happy.
So usually I watch the show and am not a huge fan of the solo numbers. I just never get as engaged watching them. But being so close to them and seeing it live was definitely an amazing experience. Instead of waiting for them to be over, I felt much more engaged in their dancing. Seeing it live definitely makes a huge difference. Not to mention all the energy in the crowd makes it so that you really WANT them to do well-whereas on TV, you aren't quite as invested in everyone's performances. You root for your favorites and enjoy the rest. But in person, you really want to see them do well.
A few of the routines really stood out as amazing to see live: the contemporary piece that Jose did, the hip hop routine that Ade did and the stepping dance that Kent did. Jose's contemporary piece was amazing just because I could hear them breathing! They took such deep, intense breaths that were truly heartfelt. When you can hear them connect with the breath like that... oh, it's just so intense. The dancing was lovely-what I saw of it-but their breathing was what caught me.
Ade's hip hop was one that I could tell would be really strong just from the opening video. And for what I caught of it, I was really moved. It was strong, hit hard, and the emotion was so overwhelming! Alas, SO MUCH of that piece was stage right... which I could barely see at all. So I'm going to have to watch that one on TV for sure. But at the very end, when Comfort was on my side of the stage, the pain stretched across her face was enough to cover for that whole piece.
Kent's stepping number was also really fun. This was one of the few that I could see really well, and I'm so glad I did! I loved being able to hear the a cappella section, all the hits and thumps and sounds they made. It was fast and intense and awesome. That was just a lot of fun.
Lets see... I'm trying to think if I'm forgetting anything. Well, I'm sure I am, but anything noteworthy?? Kenny Ortega was there as a judge, and he just seemed like the biggest super-fan of this show!! Haha. Commercial breaks went by quickly. They usually told us to move around, either to keep within the blue lines or adjust for the set pieces they moved in for Cat to stand on or for the dancers to dance on, through the middle of the audience. Whenever those occurred (I think it was twice), I literally could not see a thing. In fact, in one of the recap videos I said "I didn't know they did that!" because I hadn't seen it! Haha. Commercials were actually amusing, because they had an entertainer guy there to talk and tell us to bend our legs (to avoid passing out, you know. Actually, while sitting on the benches we talked to one girl who fainted at one of the tapings last year. So that was amusing). He was a funny guy. He gave out Chipotle gift cards to the rowdiest audience members, and my friend won one. =)
It was the 150th episode!! Sheesh, that's insane! They didn't do anything special, as far as I could tell, but it's cool nonetheless.
During each commercial break makeup folk would come out and make sure everyone was looking good. I found it amusing, for some reason. It's a lot of work to look this pretty!!
I think that's pretty much everything... I'll edit the post if I remember anything. Anyway, that was my So You Think You Can Dance experience!!! All in all, a really good time! HOORAY!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Super-Mini Update
So I'm super tired and want to go to bed now but it's been forever since I actually wrote something here so I'll do a super-mini update:
1) Spider Baby tour was awesome. A major learning experience, both as an actor and as just a person in general. I feel so lucky to have worked with this group of people and feel like I learned a lot about living and being a person, all the good and bad that comes with it. I'm glad to be home though. There's no place like home, it's true!
2) Of course, the minute I get home I start to get sick. I don't have a fever or anything, just a lot of congestion and a touch of a sore throat, and my head feels all woozy. And somehow, I've been super insanely busy since I've come home so I haven't had much chance to rest. But I'm unpacked, at least--well, my suitcase is, at least. I haven't touched my backpack yet.
3) I'm drinking Airborne right now. Happy Mom? =) And I had a yummy smoothie for dinner! Super easy and I didn't have to buy it from Jamba Juice or something. Which is good because if I bought the exact same thing, it'd probably be a good $6-I made a very large smoothie. And I still have extra ingredients to make more.
4) Going to the beach this weekend! Hope my cold goes away!
1) Spider Baby tour was awesome. A major learning experience, both as an actor and as just a person in general. I feel so lucky to have worked with this group of people and feel like I learned a lot about living and being a person, all the good and bad that comes with it. I'm glad to be home though. There's no place like home, it's true!
2) Of course, the minute I get home I start to get sick. I don't have a fever or anything, just a lot of congestion and a touch of a sore throat, and my head feels all woozy. And somehow, I've been super insanely busy since I've come home so I haven't had much chance to rest. But I'm unpacked, at least--well, my suitcase is, at least. I haven't touched my backpack yet.
3) I'm drinking Airborne right now. Happy Mom? =) And I had a yummy smoothie for dinner! Super easy and I didn't have to buy it from Jamba Juice or something. Which is good because if I bought the exact same thing, it'd probably be a good $6-I made a very large smoothie. And I still have extra ingredients to make more.
4) Going to the beach this weekend! Hope my cold goes away!
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