Hyperventalation Ensues

Theatre is different this year in the fact that Lori will no longer be just handing out parts and saying, "Okay, get memorizing." This time we'll have to actually try out for parts. Lori has decided we'll be doing I Hate Hamlet, a play in which there are only 6 parts. However, we're to have the play over a course of 4 nights in November, so Lori's going to try this thing called "double casting." That means, two people will play the same part, but on different nights. *Shrugs* But that still means that only about 12 of us will get parts, out of about 22 people who almost all want to act. So crap. The play goes like this: Andy Rally's a TV actor whose girlfriend, Deirdre, thinks he's hot stuff... but she still refuses to have sex with him, or anyone, much to his dismay. When Andy's show gets canceled, TV producer Gary decides to cast him as Hamlet in Shakespeare in the Park, but he... well, isn't a very good actor. So his real estate agent Felicia, his talent agent Lillian & his girlfriend Dierdre, have a seance to bring back the ghost of famous Hamlet actor, John Barrymore (Drew Barrymore's great-great grandpa) to coach Andy so he can play Hamlet well. Sounds good, no?

Wednesday was Script Reading Day in theatre, so we all gathered ourselves into groups of six containing 3 girls and 3 dudes, so that we could read the play together for the first time. In our group, the likable & easily amused Danny played Andy, shy & quiet girl Ashley was Deirdre, good ol' Kyle played Barrymore, cutie-pie Monica was Felicia, the walking pick-up line Ben played Gary, and I was Lillian. I have to say it went quite well, except that Danny seems to be very near-illiterate and Ashley doesn't seem able to say the word "sex" or make out with anyone on stage, as her part requires. Kyle kept helping Danny pronounce words & Ben asked Ashley who turned on the sensors. During this reading, I decided that I very much want to try out for the part of Lillian. She's all old & won't quit smoking... She has hilarious lines, and although Leah will probably also want her part (and may be better at it, seeing as she is a chain-smoker & I'd never touch a cigarette with a 10-foot pole), I REALLY want to be Lillian. I can do a smoker's voice quite well though & perhaps Leah and I can both do the part. I'm not very excited about competing with Leah, as she's my kiddo, but... sigh. I know one thing-- I don't want to do technical work or makeup or directing or... anything other than acting, so over the next week, you can watch me hyperventalate. *Fishes through purse for inhaler* Look, Nick & his wife had their baby and he brought him to class! His name is Jay and Leah seemed to go even more nuts for him than I did.

Mom and I went to Great Lakes Crossing yesterday to look for the I Hate Hamlet script in their bookstores, since Lori didn't make enough copies for everyone, and I must practice before trying out. But they didn't have the script there, or at Borders, or at the Borders here in Flint, or anywhere else. While at the mall, we were bumped into by many foreign people who apparently felt the need to yell things back and forth across the mall to each other in Yugoslavian. In other, completely off-topic news, OH NO, JOHN RITTER DIED! I loved that guy! I had just recently started watching Three's Company reruns and 8 Simple Rules was my favorite show! I watched a special about his life, and Mom and I thought it was quite neat that, when asked what he would do if he wasn't an actor, he replied that he wouldn't want to do anything but act, as that's what I always say... *Hugs for Angel-version of John Ritter as well as his family, friends & cast-mates*

Holly

*Gasp* A Serious Entry? From Holly?!

Hey everybody! Is FOD actually going to let me post this? That would really be somethin', wouldn't it? I wrote bunches of entries and saved them all in Wordpad while FOD was being mean and not allowing me to post. *Grumbles* I might post those entires later, but right now I'd like to say what I think about the War on Terrorism. Over the past few days, I've been repeatedly shocked to hear some people say that they don't think much of George W. Bush, and that they think we (U.S.A.) are just being bullies for no reason. Well, I don't understand those folks' reasoning. I don't like war either, but I'm afraid it's necessary right now. My mom introduced me to a song by Darryl Worley, and I wholeheartedly agree with the lyrics, so I thought I'd post them here.
Have You Forgotten?
By Darryl Worley
I hear people saying we don't need this war
I say there're some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground?
We didn't get to keep them by backing down
They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start preaching
Let me ask you this, my friend
Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside, going through a living hell
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it's too disturbing for you and me
It'll just breed anger, that's what experts say
If it was up to me, I'd show it every day
Some say this country's just out looking for a fight
After 9/11, man, I'd have to say that's right
Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have your forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside, going through a living hell
And we vowed to get the ones behind Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
I've been there with the soldiers who've gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they're fighting for
Have you forgotten
All the people killed
Yes, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost
And those left to carry on
Don't you tell me not to worry 'bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Remember to keep our soldiers in your prayers. *Hugs for everyone*

--Holly

The Town is Somewhere Under That Pile of Snow

We have just a bit of snow here. A tall guy might be able to go outside and keep his head about snow-level... maybe. It's nice to have a butt-load of snow, though, if you ask me. If you ask all the people driving 2 and a half miles an hour on the express way, however, they might not think it's so great.

Remember last week when I wrote about that house around the corner from mine where they had that standoff with police about how that guy threatened to kill his wife? Well... apparently, they didn't keep him in jail long enough. Friday night, Zach and I followed a couple of ambulances home. My dad had a date that night with a woman in Detroit, and Zach had to go to work. So, it was 11:30 at night, and I was sitting in the family room, watching Everybody Loves Raymond reruns and eating peanut butter crackers when the phone rang. I was nervous anyway because I don't like being home alone, and when the phone rang, I jumped 12 feet into the air and broke the remote control to the Christmas tree. My grandma Shoup was on the phone. She said, "Holly, is your dad there with you?" I told her he wasn't, and she said, "Well, there was a murder in that house that's right by you, and they haven't found the guy who did it yet."

To say the least, I was a bit freaked out beyond belief. I paged my dad, and he called me back, saying he was on his date in Detroit, two hours away, and they hadn't even ordered their food yet! I told Dad what was happening, and he didn't think there was anything to worry about. He said, "Holly, people don't just go on random killing sprees. You'll be fine." Well, geez, I'm sorry, but I don't know how a psycho's mind works! Besides, those sniper guys did go around, killing random people! I went to spend the night at my grandma's house, 'cause I sure as heck wasn't sticking around. The police have caught the guy who killed his wife by now, but I'm still kind of weirded out.

Well, to lighten this entry up, I'm going to take a song survey and show you all this Christmasie Harry Potter fan art! Woo!

Name the song that...
Makes you think of happy things: "1980 Me"--Darren Hayes
Makes you cry (or gets ya close): "Sweet Jesus"--Gary Chapman
Makes you laugh: "Albuqurque"--"Weird Al" Yankovic
Makes you want to dance: "The Macarana"
You never want to hear again: Every song by Eminem
You love that you wouldn't have known about if it wasn't from a movie: "You Belong to Me"--Jason Wade (Lifehouse) from Shrek.
Makes you think of being alone: "I Love a Lonely Day"--Amy Grant
Makes you just feel good: "Take Me Away"--Lifehouse
Makes you feel Christmasie: "Welcome to Our World"--Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith
Makes you feel sexy: "I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt"
Makes you get shivers: "Two People Fell in Love"--Brad Paisley
Strangely Relaxing: "Naked"--Avril Lavigne

--Holly :-D

Cops Out Front, Snipers in the Bushes

Zach woke me up for school this morning at 8:00, and I was pretty dang tired, and didn't really want to get out of bed. But I ate my peanut butter toast nevertheless, and got ready to go to school. I walked out to the living room and started putting my shoes on, and Zach opened the drapes. As soon as he did, we saw a couple of cop cars in front of our house, and the cops were holding huge rifles, and blocking off the road. Zach went out to ask them what the heck was going on, and they said, "There's a situation behind your house; stay inside." So... we did, while Zach decided to open all the shades in the family room so he could see what was going on back there.

Zach walked out of the room with the phone so he could call my grandparents, who also live in this neighborhood, but I stayed in the family room. I heard a knock, and saw a guy all decked out in army garb with a big-arse rifle, knocking on my sliding glass door. I didn't think I should answer the door to this dude, so Zach went out front and asked the cops if we should open the door to this army guy. They informed us that he was a cop too, so we opened the back door, and the army cop was like, "Hey, there's a man with a gun right around here, so don't be getting up in the windows, and stay inside." We began shutting the blinds as we spotted a sniper hiding between the bushes in the back yard.

At this point, I was seriously freaked out, and Zach was calling my dad at work, my mom at her house, and our other grandparents and friends. We went down the basement so we wouldn't get shot through the windows or anything, but nothing really happened, so we came back upstairs after a while. We saw a few more snipers hiding in our next-door-neighbor's stairwell when we peeked out the window. Soon, the guy who lives across the street from us was cleaning out his camper, and the next-door-neighbors were outside, talking to the cops, so we settled down a bit. After about 3 hours, the snipers, army dudes and policemen all went back to their cars and left. We just saw on the news that the situation had been about this guy who was threatening his wife with a gun, but the cops arrested him, so I suppose everything is okay now. So... I guess I have a pretty valid excuse for not going to school today. "The cops wouldn't let me leave my house." *Nods* Okay, later.

--Holly :-O

What Do You Mean, "No More NC-17"?!

Dude. Duuuuuude! Dude. Fanfiction.net is no longer accepting NC-17 rated fics! Now, don't get me wrong, I think porn is gross. But these fan fictions were so not porn. I mean, who can read the Harry/Hermione fic, "It Was You" and think it's dirty? It's like, the sweetest thing I've ever read in my entire life. *Throws a large gob of hair gel at fanfiction.net people*

I showed up to my 7:00 P.M. theater class wearing my "9/11/01" shirt, which features NYC firemen raising an American flag out of a pile of ash. *Shakes head* I can't believe it's been a whole year since the 9/11 tradgedy. *Glares* Stupid terrorists. All I can say is, thank God that Bush is in office. He's an awesome guy, and a great president.

Theater is a super class. I was mucho proud when the cool skater girl, Leah, told me I was hilarious. *Beams* The professor, Laurie, had us partner up, and do exactly what she said. My starting partner was Leah, but Laurie was like, "Back to back, toe to toe, thumb to thumb, sholder-to-shoulder, switch partner!" She said this all very fast, 5 times in a row. Larry, the 6'5" dude, stepped on my bad toe twice, heh. Yeah, ow. The partner I had in the end was Kyle, the volunteer fireman/class hottie.

Laurie then instructed us to study our partners. I was actually assigned to check out the hot boi. *Grins* I think I got an A+ on that one. Then we had to turn our backs on each other and change 3 things about the way we looked, then turn back to each other and spot what the other person had done to change their appearance. We did that like, 12 times in a row w/ the same partner. *Shrugs* What can I say, I like that class! Then we did some really fun pant-a-mime stuff... or... something. It was like, acting without talking. As we walked to the parking lot, though, I noticed that Kyle has one bad flaw-- he smokes. *Cries*

*Quickly recovers* That's okay, 'cause guess who I met?! I actually met a guy in Intro to Theater who IS A VEGAN! He wears an animal rights shirt every day! Today his shirt read: "FUR IS DEAD". Woo hoo! *Points and laughs at all family members & friends who said I'd never meet a vegetarian guy*

Tonight, I went to Samantha's birthday party. It was quite the jovial event! I really missed Sarah and Samantha! I hadn't seen either of them in like... well, a very long time! Good times, good times. Well, it seems that I am rather dead on my feet. So I shall see you all at a later time. G'bye!

--Holly Rachael ;-D

Annual Amy Grant Christmas concert tomorrow!

Time: 10:32 P.M.
Song in my head: "Christmas Can't Be Very Far Away" by Amy Grant.
I last ate: Soy Delicious vanilla ice cream.
I'm wearing: Mis-matched floral P.J.s and fluffy blue slippers.
_________________________________________________________

Woo HOO! Tomorrow night is the Amy Grant Christmas concert! I go every single year with my mommy, and sometimes, other people. But this year it's just Mom and I, which is great with me. I hardly ever get to hang out with just Mom anymore! She's pretty mad at Mike because he won't go, since Billy's playing hockey that night, and he wants to see that instead. The Christmas concert is going to be *SO MUCH FUN*, though! It always is! She's bringing her hubby, Vince Gill with her, and I hope she brings her newest baby, Korena. What a little cutie! Amy always dresses in these really cool ball gowns, and she usually has her best friend, Michael W. Smith with her (what a hottie!). I don't think Michael's coming this year, but I'm still REALLY looking forward to the concert!

Mom cut and colored my hair earlier while we were watching news coverage on that stupid-head, Bin Ladden. What a moron, he was all laughing about all the horrible stuff he did... butt-hole! Anyway, though, about my hair, Mom must have cut off like, 4 or 5 inches of hair! Boy, is Sarah going to be mad... she gets quite angry when I cut my hair without telling her. Ah well. And my hair's back to brown, too! No more highlights, 'cause they were uneven and freaking-looking.

Okay, see ya.

--Holly Rachael :-D

What a day for America

Good Lord... I was sitting in American Government today when the principle came over the P.A. and asked the teachers to turn on the TVs, and told us there was a national emergency. I've been completely shaken up ever since, but I can't even imagine what the people in New York must be going through.

A lot of people at school seemed really disrespectful about everything going on is the U.S. today. Some kids were actually saying crap like, "Oh, cool! I wish *I* could blow something up!" While they were acting like idiots, I started tearing up, and everyone was like, "What's wrong with you?" Geez. Stupid kids.

I thought Bush's speech was really great tonight. It's great to know that we have such a good man in office right now, and that he plans to get back at whoever did this to the U.S.A. I can't wait to find out who did this so we can start kicking their arses.

Mom and I just got back from Grandma and Grandpa's house, and from getting gas. The D.J.s on 102.5 were making speeches, and saying prayers, then they played that "Proud to Be an American" song. My mom started crying and I just sang along.

I'm going to give blood in Saginaw tomorrow, and my dad said he's going to give some at work. I hope everyone decides to give their blood, I guess they really need it.

Well... God bless everybody.

--Holly :-(