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.