The Great Seating Debacle

I just got back from the midnight showing of Baz Luhrmann's (my gosh I never realized how ridiculous the spelling of his last name is) The Great Gatsby.  This film was visually amazing and the style was extremely over the top, in a Gatsby way.  I mean it's Baz, so we all knew the visuals were going to blow us away.  Leo did such a phenomenal job as Gatsby.  From the moment he made his first appearance I was sold.  There were flaws yes.  For instance, I thought the way the framing of the story could have been better.  They put Nick in a mental institution and didn't really do a good job of justifying that.  There was a weird switch from him talking to someone about Gatsby to him writing about it, which I thought they should have just stuck with from the beginning.  Overall, I liked the film and recommend it to anyone it interests.

Midnight showings of movies are always exciting.  There's usually a full crowd where everyone is into the film.  I did not expect Gatsby to be as packed as it was, but sure enough those seats were full of people.  I don't know if I was more surprised at the amount of people or the fact that they were all under the age of 30!   My mom tagged along with my friends and I because she really wanted to see it, and somehow she was the oldest person there! I guess I underestimated the popularity of Gatsby or overlooked the obsession that is Leo.  It blew my mind, along with the fact that we were stuck in the third row of the movie theater!

One of my biggest pet peeves is being forced to sit really close to the screen at a movie theater.  You're neck starts to hurt after a while and it's just uncomfortable.  Plus God forbid you have to go to the bathroom or get a drink, the whole movie theater watches you leave.  I don't think I've ever met anyone who has liked sitting in the front for anything!  But there we were, stuck in the third row and I was not happy.  We should have gotten there earlier, but honestly we didn't think there would be a full house.  This is The Great Gatsby after all!  The thing that made it a little bit better was the fact that some people were forced to sit in front of us and we were not along in our suffering.  I really need to learn how to be early for these types of things, so I never have to sit in the third row again!

P.S. Is it bad that Gatsby's main butler reminded me of my friend's grandfather?

Life Lessons from Aunt Laurie

One of the nice things about being home is that I get to see my family.  A good majority of my family live somewhere along the East Coast.  Today I went over to my Grandma's house to visit her and my Aunt Laurie.  It was nice to see them after two months of being at school.  My Grandma is a very opinionated person and likes to get her two bits in.  For instance, she's told me on more than one occasion that I should start dating my friend Jimmy, after stalking him on Facebook might I add.  Yes, my grandmother has a Facebook.  Yes, I am friends with her on Facebook.  And no, I will never date my friend Jimmy.  My Aunt Laurie on the other hand is super chill. I often think of her as my Cool Aunt.  I'm lucky that she lives so close by because she always takes me to baseball games, sometimes shopping, and more.  She is not the cool aunt for nothing!

While I was spending time at my Grandma's, my Aunt gave me a belated birthday present.  I recently turned 21 years old, so it was fitting that I received a bottle of some very nice champagne.  I honestly couldn't  tell you the brand name or what kind of champagne it is.  I really don't know anything about this kind of stuff.  Apparently, her husband, my Uncle, was against giving me alcohol.  Mostly because I am one of the babies in the family, but she didn't listen to him (remember what I said about her being the cool aunt).  Anyways, after giving me my present she told me that I should never drink cheap champagne.  Cheap vodka, beer, and anything else is okay, but when it comes to champagne you gotta go with the good stuff.  I thought I'd share this piece of advice with you my fellow readers, because I thought it was funny and random.  My family is full of great random advice.  Some other things they have taught me include: don't be stupid, nothing good happens in the middle of the night, and you can't live without toilet paper. 

P.S.  My Aunt also told me never to drink pink drinks, but unfortunately I've already broken that rule.

Summer Vacation Here I Come!

The school year is finally over for me!  Well, technically it was over last Tuesday, but the fact that I'm moving out and heading home tomorrow makes it official.  My junior year has probably been one of the most complicated, yet amazing years yet.  I feel like things become more crazy and complicated as you get older, at least when you're twenty years old that is.  However, when I say things were a lot simpler last year, they really were.  I know it may not seem like I was on an emotional roller coaster ride from where you readers are sitting, but to be honest I was a mess this year.

Somehow I managed to break a lot of rules.  Not illegal ones, but social ones, which can actually be a lot worse in some ways.  Even with all the chaos, I would not change a single thing.  I was lucky enough to meet and befriend some amazing people, while also getting closer to the great friends I already had.  I felt like I went out and did more things this year, instead of just sitting in my living room and chilling with my crazy roommate (although there was much of that too).  I shared a lot of laughs, memories, and good times.  Here are some highlights from this school year, some of which you probably read about and others that I forgot to mention in no particular order:

1. Band Camp this year was amazing and surprisingly not boring.  Our freshman were kickass.  They somehow managed to carry a huge guy all the way across the cafeteria, which is saying a lot for some tiny Flutes.

2. The Prank War that Nick started was awesome.  I wrote our rasterbating adventure in one of my blog posts, so I won't go into too much detail.  Let's just say Marley and I really took what Nick started to a new extreme.

3. I went to the Compass Bowl with the band in Alabama for the third time this year.  While the bus ride was hell, it was the best out of the three trips there, and just a lot of fun.  We wobbled in the hallway of our hotel room.  It was both fun and drama filled, which kind of sums up the band year as a whole.

4. Getting a Little Sister in my sorority Tau Beta Sigma.

5. Flute Jim, Marley and I's ski trip.  There were so many snow adventuresx (that's right with an 'x') including a safe that doubled as a microwave and Flute Jim flying into a tree (he was fine, don't worry).

6. Having friends in our building.  Marley and I didn't have friends in our building last year so it was different knowing people other than ourselves.  We played pranks, had dinner together, and it was just a good time.  Special shout out to said friends Nick and Cass, thank you for letting us hide in your place when we wanted to avoid our awful roommates and for putting up with our craziness.

7. The highlight of the year is definitely the fact that I kept missing things because I slept through them.  I can't go into detail too much, but let's just say "Becky sleeps through everything" is the new inside joke.

Even though I had such a great year, I am so ready for summer vacation.  I have so many exciting things planned for this summer and I cannot wait.  I'm sure next year will be better than the last, but for now I'm looking forward to sleeping in, hanging out, and taking a break from all this school work.

P.S. Sorry for the extremely long post, I'm just feeling extra sentimental tonight.  This is probably due to the fact that I'm moving out of the building/room I've lived in for the past two years.  It's very bittersweet.

Spotlight

Confession: I absolutely love the spotlight.

Now, when I say spotlight I don't mean being the center of attention.  While that can be nice sometimes, I usually get it when I fall, do something awkward, or basically make a fool out of myself in some shape or form.  What I'm talking about here are actual spotlights that shine on you when you're on stage.  I'm a theatre kid and used to perform all the time.  It gave me such a rush and I just love the feeling when they lights hit you and you know it's on.

I'm in concert band and our concert is fast approaching.  Yesterday, the director put the spotlights on to prepare us for the heat.  That's the only downside I guess, it can get hot with spotlights pointed at you.  I personally don't really notice it, but that's just me.  Everyone started complaining especially when the spotlights were turned on.  Me on the other hand felt great with the spotlights on.  There's one pointed directly at me, which sucks because it makes it a little hard to see the conductor, but I don't care.  I actually love the fact that it is.  It just brings back memories of performing for me.  I remembered the time when a flat fell down during a performance, almost falling when I ran in my heels, dancing on top of an unstable block of wood, and screaming "NO COFFEE" at the top of my lungs (if you get what show this is from, I'll be extremely proud. Hint the song's called "Coffee Break").  That rehearsal definitely reminded me that I was secretly a theatre kid for life.

P.S. The lights weren't hot at all, I didn't even break a sweat.  Suck it guys!

Phoneless...Again

As you've probably gathered, I am extremely forgetful.  It's probably my worst habit and I've been trying to be better about remembering things.  My phone and my school ID are probably the things I lose the most.  However, I'm usually able to find them quickly and I'm good at not leaving them random places.  I mostly just misplace them around my room and apartment.  That changed this year with my phone. So far I've lost it twice.

It's so stupid because I lost my phone the exact same way.  I left it on the seat in concert band.  By the time I realized I had left it behind and head back to the auditorium, it's locked.  This is the second time I've done that this year! It's so sad and I really need to be better about it.  The crazy thing though is that I'm not going to crazy without it.

In this day in age people are practically glued to their phones.  To some, like my roommate Marley, their whole lives are on it.  Marley's phone got messed up one day and she ended up losing everything saved on her phone.  She went crazy!  Most people would go crazy if they lost their phone, but I think it's nice not having it.  It's nice not having to worry about it and just enjoy life without any distractions.  My phone actually gives me a lot of anxiety, especially when I text people.  I'm a terrible texter and I mean TERRIBLE!  I never know how to respond to things and unlike most people sometimes I find it harder to hold a conversation than in real life.  So it's nice not to have to worry about it.  Marley, my mom, and my other friends might not see it that way, but I like it.

P.S. My phone better turn up this time, I can't face another awkward encounter with the guys at the T-Mobile store again!

Misadventures at the Theatre

My college has this really cool program called PittArts.  Basically, you can sign up for an event and you go, sometimes they take you out for dinner.  Did I mention that it's all free? Yes, I said it FREE. I mean, we already paid for it in our tuition, but still.

Yesterday, I went with my two friends Nick and Bri to see this musical called Breath & Imagination.  It's based off a true story about this man named Roland Hayes.  It's okay if you've never heard of him, I didn't either before last night.  He was this African American man who was a famous singer, known for his unique voice and love for spirituals.  It was AMAZING.  Honestly, the actors were wickedly talented. There was so much gospel music in the show and it made me happy.  The best part was that after the show, PittArts had arranged a talk-back.  We got to ask the actors questions and learn more about the show.  The actors were hysterical and true theatre people.  I had a blast listening to them talk.  They kept making all these Dream Girls jokes and most people were laughing, but I'm pretty sure I was the one of the only ones who got the references.

Now, I say "Misadventures at the Theatre" because my clumsiness really kicked it into high gear last night.  I was tripping all over the place, it was not good.  Poor Bri, I not only stepped on her toe as I tripped back to my seat, but I also took out her knee when I fell backwards.  I don't know why they take me places, I only end up embarrassing myself.  The worst by far was when we were leaving the theatre.  The theatre was upstairs, so when we were leaving we had to walk down these stairs. I missed the bottom step and ended up crashing into the wall in front of me, banging into all these posters they had hung up on the wall.  Did I mention that I was leading the pack, so basically everyone saw me. Yup, not my brightest moment.

P.S. My heels were not the reason I had such a clumsy night.  Contrary to popular belief, I can actually walk in them thank you very much. 

Mama G and Her Lectures

There's always that one friend (maybe two) whose mom has become like your second mom.  For me, one of my best friend's mom Mrs. Gera, or as I like to call her Mama G, is that person.  She is Mo-Gera's mom and is one of the funniest people I've ever met.  She's a little crazy, gets excited over the smallest things, always there to talk, and has the greatest stories.  You got to love her.  The only down side of her being like my second mother is her lectures.

I visited Mo-Gera for the weekend and our parents came and met us for dinner.  On the way back to Mo-Gera's campus, we started talking about her relationship problems.  Big mistake, because at a certain point Mama G got fed up and started lecturing her.  Then she threw in a  "Becky, don't even get me started on you."  Which prompted me to tell her that my situation was completely different.  This did not go over well, because then she started lecturing and yelling at me.  It was so funny, just because she got so excited and had some great lines.  A few of them were, "I hope I never meet this guy, I'm going to hit him because he's just so dense!" "You're twenty years old goddammit, take some risks! Do something!  We want grandchildren!" That one was directed at both Mo-Gera and I.  We are notorious for never doing anything.

The kicker was that my mom was driving and had no idea how to get back to Mo-Gera's campus from where we were.  She didn't know where she was going and Mama G was supposed to be giving her directions.  Every once in a while she'd interrupt Mama G's rant to ask if this was the turn.  Mama G always replied, "No Linda.  Becky!!" Car rides with Mama G are always the best.

P.S. Thankfully, my mom didn't end up making any wrong turns and we didn't get lost.

Target Adventures

The people who you shop with drastically effect your shopping experience.  Sometimes you end up buying more than you thought or spend a ridiculous amount of time whatever store you're in.  Maybe both?  For me, when I shop with my friends, especially one of my best friends Mo-Gera, it turns into an adventure of some sorts.

Mo-Gera's friend Josephine picked me, her and our other friend Sabrina up for a quick Target run.  Josephine needed to buy some interview clothes, and tools for her broken bike.  The rest of us were tagging along just to spend time with her.  This quick Target run turned into a two hour adventure.  We ran all over the store doing random things.

First, there was this deal at Starbucks where the four of us all got free coffee.  I'm not a huge fan of coffee but it was free so I figured why not.  Terrible mistake, because while Mo-Gera, Josephine, and Sabrina finished with ease, my cup was like a never ending cup of coffee.  I know some of you probably think that that would be the greatest thing ever, but I died!  Me and coffee just don't mix well.

Then we looked at shoes.  Josephine and I tried on these super high pumps, and walked around like models.  It was like a shoe fashion show.  I may or may not have been sprawled out on the floor demonstrating Mo-Gera in heels.  She claims that's where she'll be if she had tried on the heels we were wearing.  These shoes got us into trouble later when Josephine tried to checkout with them.  There was no tag on them, and it took FOREVER to get a price check on them.  Just our luck, something always happens.

P.S. Don't judge me, but I ended up throwing out my never ending coffee. 

P. P. S.  In regards to my last post, look what I woke up to the morning after I blogged.  Curse you Marley!

Revenge never sleeps I guess.

Rasterbation is Too Much Fun

I'm not sure if you guys have ever heard of "Rasterbator."  It is this site that turns your pictures into vector dots and also blows said pictures up.  It was surprising how easy it was to use, which meant twice the fun.

It all started when Nick had to take Marley's picture for her study abroad ID.  She was being a pain in the ass as usual and he winded up with these terrible embarrassing pictures of her.  I told him that he shouldn't delete them so we could blackmail her with them later.  Later he came up with this great idea to blow one of the pictures up and post it on her door.  We used that Rasterbator site and carried out our plan Friday night when she was at work.  I feared for my life because let's be honest, even though this was Nick's idea I was going to get blamed for it.

Needless to say that when Marley came home she was incredibly pissed.  I'm surprised she didn't break anything.  I was also surprised when she instantly placed the blame on Nick.  She decided to pull the same prank on him to get her revenge, but instead of using an embarrassing picture of him she printed out a picture of a shirtless Korean idol.  We broke into Nick's apartment with the help of Cass and got to work.  It looks great, I must say.  The best part is, I will still not get blamed for this.  We're thinking of hitting up Cass and maybe Flute Jim next, this site has helped start a war.

P.S. While Cass and Flute Jim are in talks for being next, I know it's really me who is next.  I've evaded the blame too much.

Marley's Door

Nick's Door

Trek to Amour

Yesterday, I saw Amour, a French film that's nominated for an Oscar this year, with my friend Trey.  It was very good, I really enjoyed it but I'm not sure 'enjoyed' is the right word.  It was very depressing and incredibly sad.  However, the two main characters were great and the performances were incredible.  I was very impressed.  I was also very impressed that Trey and I actually made it to this film.

They were showing the film at this art house in Pittsburgh, but we had no idea where this place was.  Trey and I are both from out of town, and are complete idiots when it comes to these things.  Hell, I'm still surprised we made it there.  We usually rely on Marley to get us places.  Anyway, originally we were going on Friday at 8, but our friend Nick told us it was a pain to get to. Trey lives far away from campus so we decided to go Saturday at 2 instead.  That failed because Trey missed his bus to campus.  Can you see what I mean about the whole idiots thing now?  So then we decide we're really going at 5 and planned to meet around 3:30ish leaving us plenty of time to screw up.

Trey shows up with directions that say the place is only 15 minutes away.  So much for a pain to get to, I thought this was going to be a half hour trip at least.  We contemplate walking, but caught a bus instead.  Thank God we didn't walk, because it would have taken us at least an hour to get there by foot.  It took us 20 by bus and Trey made sure that the bus followed his directions.  Don't ask questions.  Hell we even jumped the gun on the bus stop and got off a half mile early.  What can I say, we had no clue what we were doing.  It's a miracle we made it, early at that!

P.S. Trey and I were the only people our age at this screening.  For that, we consider ourselves very cultured people.

White Rabbit Kind of Day

I have a terrible habit of being fashionably late.  It's a trait that runs in my family.  We are always the last ones to arrive at parties and events.  Miraculously, we manage to make it on time to concerts and shows, but everything else you can bet that we're late.  I've personally tried to be a little better about it, but everyone once in a while I slip back into the old habit.  I feel like the white rabbit, especially today, because when I'm running late I literally run to wherever it is I have to be.

I take this class that's a good ten to fifteen minutes away from my apartment.  It takes me at least twenty to walk there and seven minutes by bus (it all depends on the lights).  I try to leave a half hour early just to get there, but sometimes that doesn't always happen.  I get really distracted really quickly, sometimes it's unavoidable like when I lose my ID or phone, but sometimes it's really stupid.  Like today, I was working on this piece I was writing and I was one sentence away from finishing it and I was supposed to be leaving for my class.  Me being me decides to take the extra minute to finish, worst decision ever.  The minute turns into seven and it took me an extra three to get out the door. God only knows how it took my seven minutes to write ONE SENTENCE, but it did.  I ran (really walked as fast as I could) down the block to the bus stop and prayed that for once that the buses would be on my side.  They weren't and I was a good ten minutes late...

P.S. I came really close to saying "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date, no time to say "Hello, Goodbye," I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"  Yes, I'm that special...

P.P.S. I also dodged a bullet today, it was awesome and terrible all at the same time.

LNW

My other roommate (not Marley) and her boyfriend, who has become our fourth roommate (he never leaves!), are two of the weirdest and annoying people I've ever met.  For me to say this is saying something, because I am extremely weird.  But these two are weirder than me and in a bad way too!  Not only that, but they leave messes around our apartment everywhere!  There is this pot that's been sitting on the stove for at least two weeks now.  It's disgusting, we hate them.

I recently found out that they apparently whittle!  I have not witnessed it myself, but apparently one night when I crashed early, Marley saw them break out the whittling in our living room.  And by early I mean I went to bed around 1:30AM because I had class in the morning.  First of all who whittles?  I mean you know, I could brush it aside if you did it during the normal hours of the day.  But our roommates subscribe to Late Night Whittling (LNW), because according to Marley they were at it until at least four in the morning.  Oh and keeping in their fashion, they did not clean up after themselves which explains all the wood shavings all over our living room.  God, you can't make this stuff up.  Thankfully, this was more entertaining than it was annoying.  Also, know that when you say things could be worse, they could.  You could spend your Saturday night catching up on your LNW.

P.S.  I miss everything when I go to sleep, this further proves it.

The Buses Fight Back

Alright, so I'm kind of convinced that the buses have decided to get back at me for all my hatred towards them.  Maybe it's karma, or maybe it's just that time of year when Becky loses her ID again.  I swear, this has got to be at least the fifth time that I've lost it since I've gotten to college, and that's not counting all the times I've misplaced it in my room.  If it was, then I definitely passed one hundred a long time ago.  I know, I'm just a little forgetful.

So I accidentally left my school ID on the bus this afternoon and it completely ruined my day.  I've had to illegally sneak into my dorm, I can't use my meal plan, and I can't ride the bus.  Although, I don't think that last one is such a bad thing.  It still hasn't turned up yet, which is upsetting but hopefully my luck will change soon.

P.S. Marley almost killed me this morning when I woke her up so that she could let me into the apartment.  It was 12PM

Awkward Elevator Encounter

I don't even know where to begin with this, boy it's a strange one.  It all started because Marley wanted hot chocolate.  To make said hot chocolate we needed milk, which we didn't have.  We asked our friends upstairs if they would let us borrow some and they complied, but we had to go up and get it.  Marley being Marley was too lazy and stubborn to go and get it, and I didn't really want to go either.  I was real stubborn about it, but Marley was intent on making me go upstairs.  She clearly had some ulterior motives.  What does she do?  Drag me by the arm to make me go.

When I say she literally dragged me, I mean it.  She dragged me across the floor, out of our apartment, down the hallway, and all the way to the elevator.  Ironically, this was a lot more work than just going up and getting the milk, I admit.  That wasn't my problem.  So we get to the elevator, cause thankfully she wasn't planning on dragging me up the stairs (that would have hurt).  The doors open and there were people inside! They must have given us the strangest looks, after all I was sprawled across the floor.  Not one of my brighter moments.  The two of us high tailed it out of there as fast as we could.  Yeah, we're real classy like that.

P.S. Marley's stubbornness continued when ran the vacuum cleaner while our other roommates watched the Superbowl.  We hate them.

Pitch Perfect Ruined My Saturday Night

Wow, so it's been a while since I've blogged.  Totally my fault, winter break just distracted me and I haven't been able to get back on the blogging track since.  Happy New Year everyone, glad to see that we all survived the supposed apocalypse.  I think that's all that I've missed since my last post, not that anyone really cares.  On with the post!

Have you guys ever seen the movie Pitch Perfect?  It's a pretty fun film that's about Acapella groups.  Skylar Astin's adorable and I always hear his parts in Spring Awakening now.   I liked it, except for the fact that it ruined my Saturday night.

Well, I'd like to say that my Saturday night was probably doomed from the start.  I had overlapping plans that I did not do a good job over putting together, but that's besides the point.  There was this acapella concert/competition happening nearby and I was super excited.  I knew a bunch of people going and it was going to be great.  I didn't buy tickets beforehand because I honestly didn't think that it was going to be sold out.  What college kid spends their Saturday night at an acapella concert?

My friend Nick and I get there around 7:30, right when the doors open and it's sold out.  I was so wrong.  The place was packed and it was unbelievable how fast they sold out.  I fully blame Pitch Perfect.  The film was so popular that everyone started getting into the acapella scene, yes there is one.  If this film had not been made, there would be less people and I would have something to do. Ugh.

P.S. I'm so lame.  I promise the next post will be up sooner.