Day 355/365 (August 8, 2009)

looking at my blog trying to work up motivation to write about today with my sad headphones

i went to bed so late and had to get up so early for my apple genius appointment. i basically got a little over three hours sleep and i was NOT a happy person. i made my way to the apple store on 14th street. just before i got there the right ear bud of my headphones decided to stop working which would have been fine if my phone was under a warranty but alas it is not so no replacement of headphones would happen for me and i will now have to suffer :(

anywho i really thought there was nothing wrong with my computer but it turns out they have to fix the back light and replace something on the mother board! so i have a couple of days to organize everything and back it up before the parts come in and i have to drop it off for them to fix it. The apple guy loved me though and it paid to be nice to him because even though my headphones werent under warranty he tried looking around to see if there was a pair he could just give away. sadly there was not so that was a fail but at least he tried :D

i came home and ended up beginning to watch a lot of tv and krysta eventually left and i instead of getting my act together to go work on my computer i ended up falling asleep and getting a nap that helped me but i will regret since it is almost midnight as i type this and i am not tired.

anyway i finally woke up because krysta had come home and discovered that Pip had Peed on her clothes and ironing board (should have closed her door before she left like i have been trying to do but i guess not everyone gets the point). so i worked on cleaning that all up by washing everything by hand so the pee wont settle in until it gets put through a washing machine. eventually she ended up making cookies and i ate a bunch of those.

i am really hoping i get some sleep before i head out for my plans tomorrow... and tomorrow begins the 10 day countdown to my final 365!

Day 349/365 (August 2, 2009)

today it rained a lot and since i didnt have anything major i needed done i opted to stay inside. even though i went to bed about 3 i woke up on my own around 11 which meant i slept for 8 hours which is pretty fab so i thought i was fine... nope i ended up falling asleep for about 3 hours. this will not be good later on.

anywho today i watched a lot of tv and saw legally blondes on abc family, legally blonde 2: red white and blonde, and confessions of a teenage drama queen amongst other things. um i forgot about the song at the end of drama queen that i love and lost when my first ipod died and couldnt replace the music since it is part of the thousands of songs that went missing when my mother lost my CD case :(

pip is super duper cuddly and i keep finding him curled up in different places next/on me when i wake up... this morning he was nestled there, and later in the day he was sleeping with his paws crossed and well i couldnt help but think god put the rhythm in him (a la altar boyz)

and emma also came by recently for a petting session and poor pip was crazy beside himself because i dare to give her attention and not him, but he handled it well and kept eating a bone when he realized i was not going to pet him, but 'tis ok because he gets a good amount of petting from me during the day.

also it has been pretty awesome the last two nights because tucker has been sleeping at josh's. in fact krysta came back earlier and packed up his crate because tucker is spending the whole week there. i should feel bad but i dont since i am sort of done dealing with him for a little while. i just cant understand why he is so mean to me even though all i have ever done is be nice to him. i am confused at how he can be so sweet and then so vicious. i mean the other day he was jealous of pip and came over and plopped himself on top of me to show pip that i belonged to him essentially and i was like oh he really does like me, but then he turns around and tries his best to hurt me, so i am going to look forward to a few days without fear and without having to pick up his poo or worrying about stepping in his pee if i dont see it first.

Day 316/365 (June 30, 2009)

today wasnt a good emotional health day... i dont remember much of what i did besides laying on the couch and not wanting to get up (and watching lots of tv)... i did catch up on the episodes i had missed of Paris Hilton ??? BFF show... guilty pleasure much?

Day 315/365 (June 29, 2009)

what are the odds of this fruit snack assortment? i opened up a little packet and did what i always do: eat the ones i dont like first. after eating only one grape and one orange i looked down to see what else to eat:and i was left with one pink and NINE reds! craziness! too bad there werent any peaches in there... of this brand they are my favorites! (and the only ones that actually taste like a fruit)

i cuddled with emma, played and snuggled a bit with tucker, picked up tucker pee, baked banana bread, had grilled pb and j sandwiches, had the fruit snacks, and watched lots of tv. i also chatted briefly with judith on gchat. i did a ton of dishes in between and was on a bit of an emotional roller coaster for myself. On one of the shows i watched today (The Closer) Barrett Foa ended up being on it (yay) and it resulted in my happiness at him being able to show a really emotional side of his acting and once again thinking he should be singing on some stage in NYC.

as far as my emotional state i was happy at some points which resulted in my cleaning out my scary inbox and stuff, but i was also unhappy in other ways that resulted in not good things (did you see what i ate today?) and thinking about things in general. i have always known i didnt want to physically live in NYC  for the rest of my life, but not that i have any idea where i would be willing to live. today (and yesterday too kind of) i wished i were some place else. i know i am a long ways away from leaving the city because i am not at a point in my life where i can just go someplace else. i am not ready to part with the friends i have close by, and dont feel like making new ones... so hopefully this feeling passes since i do not know what i want out of life any more... i am just sort of floating through with no aim or direction and that scares the crap out of me... i used to be so ambitious, and have so many plans, and now well i have nothing... i just cant deal with certain things anymore and am sick of keeping up appearances ya know? i need something but i just dont know what? there is so much going on in this head of mine that i just cant express... partly because i dont know how to and partly because i dont have anyone i am willing to unleash it all on... not because i dont trust but i just dont want to open that can of worms... though i am midly by this very public post, oy!

Day 307/365 (June 21, 2009)

emma has been my cuddle buddy since i got back, especially today! she just kept curling up all cute like on me! anywho last night i actually got in bed before midnight and was asleep by 12:30ish which was monumental! this resulted in me waking up around 9!

the morning started off quite nice with yogurt, and yummy sausage made by krysta. we watched way too much tv and all that jazz.

eventually i got myself together and headed to run an errand and meet up with the family. i met my cousins (paula, clare, and winnie, and their awesome Aunt Ming) at Vynl for lunch. it was nice hanging with them in "the city" and they enjoyed the food and restaurant, because duh it is amazing! clare and winnie kept going to check out all the bathrooms. then after we finished i escorted them over to see wicked, and then headed to the NWS box office to buy my AA Day ticket. then i went to the courtyard and read for a bit. while there i checked my twitter app and saw they were still looking for phone banking volunteers for the marriage equality bill in NY State. so i said i was willing to help. it was quite fun and kayla was there! (someone pointed out how humourous it was that everyone who was doing the phone banking were single and we were calling about marriage! the interesting thing was the day really turned out wonderful complete with clear blue skies and white fluffy clouds...

well as i was walking from the courtyard to the human rights campaign office it all of a sudden turned gray and not so pleasant looking. it began to rain just as i got the building (it was mere droplets when i went in). well i was in there we could see out the window the downpour that began... then just before i ended up leaving the rain stopped! i was able to get home without rain, and then when i got home it started opening up again! i was a pretty lucky girl for sure!

ended up having chinese food for dinner and feeding tucker more peach than i intended! i also worked on fixing the next to normal audio someone sent me and creating album art. i didnt fix the bad splicing, but i did put the songs in the correct order, AND give them all the same type of nomenclature. though i feel i should add a little something special to some onf them, but we will see if i ever do that. oh yea i also did a bunch of dishes...

also i woke up in the morning having the strangest dream... it was about my dad, which is kind of fitting on father's day EXCEPT in my dream my "dad" was kind of a non-formed being (as in i never saw him even though i was looking at and speaking with hom... and to make a long story short he told us we were moving to brooklyn and i in my dream i started to cry because i didnt want to move to brooklyn and i was freaking out about how long of a commute it would be to get back and forth from manhattan and brooklyn... then i woke up

Day 306/365 (June 20, 2009)

i got up early, and made some pancakes for breakfast... they didnt hit the spot i was looking for... then i went out for the rainbow rehearsal/meeting.

it was in a lovely room and i helped with rehearsal and then we had the initiation... wow there are so many differences from MA rainbow it will take some getting used to but everyone did a great job and at the end they did this friendship circle thing that i loved so very much!

then i left pretty quickly because it ran late (started late) and i was meeting Zina... but sadly she had already left to go home... i was sad but i knew i could have some fun with sasha and marty...

so i headed up, ran into some altar boyz flyer-ing TKTS area while i was walking... then went and got some subway and hung with sasha, marty, fred, and pip for a bit. i ate some interesting pickles (one was a cinnamon raisin tasting one) and we watched an interesting theater documentary thing on "the golden age"

then i went to path mark and did some grocery shopping and came home. the night ended (after much tv) in krysta helping me change my lightbulb in a death defying set up since we do not have a ladder... the sight of her getting off the two chairs, two speakers, 2 taped together shelves contraption was HYSTERICAL... she dove onto the mattresses/clean laundry pile near by to get off... 

oh also there are harry potter movie posters everywhere in the times square subway stop! like every where and it made me all crazy excited! and at some point i did a crazy cleaning of our living room and my bedroom floors.

Day 297/365 (June 11, 2009)

so the day was pretty good, tucker, emma, pip, and i all hung out... we went on walks (well not emma) and they played so beautifully together... pip is pretty strong and beat tucker at tug of war by pulling him across the floor repeatedly.

unfortunately this ast week was one of tamra loses everything and i couldnt find my metrocard and it really pushed me over the edge of life and was upset  i couldnt go to karaoke that night with kim and susie. i did end up finding it quite sometime later wedge between the kitchen table and wall... really? destroyed my life just a bit! i ended up watching lots of tv of course and i dont remember what else but i was having so much fun with mr. pip and i loved the bed he had made for himself in my room.

oh yea pip and i took tucker to meet krysta at penn since she was taking him to jersey... yea i am really too pro at two dogs on the subway!

Day 293/365 (June 7, 2009)

i woke up and cleaned my room hardcore! i also bought the final supplies for making of the cake, and bought some drinks and chips for the party. then i waged war! i made the rice krispy treats for the medallion and then the rest for us to just eat. i cut the cake and frosted it. I wrapped the wire in super awesome gold ribbon and when the rice krispy was hard enough i wrapped the ribbon over the parts of the dowel that would be exposed. then i frosted the treat and sprinkled the glitter sugar on it, and then after it refrigerated to firm it up i used the glitter gel to do the details... then i waited. ps i succeeded greatly because my bad boy cake never actually fell over! it did fall apart because the rice krispy treat medallion broke in half after 25 minutes (it got real hot and i think the marshmallow in the treat loosened up and SPLIT!). but i said i would be happy if it lasted at least 5 minutes and it surpassed that greatly!

i did so many dishes throughout the course of the day to keep the place clean and watched lots of tv until our guest arrived. we ended up with so much food and we ate a lot! there was amazing fruit (watermelon especially) and veggies and chips with onion dip, and raspberry iced tea, and i dont know what it was but fruit on some spongy thing with ice cream, and duh rice krispy treats, and my cake!

sasha, amelia, and her roommate nicole came to celebrate. we watched the TONY's which was pretty not great... the performances were weird (especially the opening number) and the sound was terrible, as in someone wont be working this event next year! billy elliot took almost every thing they were nominated for which was so freaking wrong! no way should the three billys have one best actor in a musical! and sieber lost best featured actor... CRIMINAL he is the best part of shrek and just embodies the character so well, not to mention the psychical aspect of it. Neil patrick harris did a great job hosting,t oo bad they didnt let him onstage/screen more!

anywho after the show ended krysta and i did a quick cleanup and i didnt go to bed because i am a fool, but i caught up on the last four days worth of blogs!

Day 286/365 (May 31, 2009)

i love how emma always curls her tail up on her body like that when sitting or laying down.

anywho this was not a good day for me. i was in a really depressive mood, like one of the worst i have been in a long while. i know what came over me, and i wish i had someone to talk to and i know what i need but cant get it. (calling this life woes in my tags). i am thankful krysta had volunteered the night before to help sasha and autumn get the little mermaid student tickets because really the thought of getting out of bed (ok well off the couch) for more than a few minutes was painful... enough that i didnt even go to path mark because it was "too far away" i meant to go down eventually and hang for a bit, but well emotionally and mentally i couldnt even though i am sure hanging would have helped.

i spent the day watching lots of tv, including the cute maneater on lifetime. i also finally cleared my inbox and even paid lots of bills... boredom in the highest.

at one point i went grocery shopping and bought some stuff. i made a real dinner of terriyaki beef and yummy mashed potatoes. i ate a lot but it was good. i also did a bunch of dishes

Day 266/365 (May 11. 2009)

The day started off with me being excited that i wasnt going to do anything tonight. i watched a bunch of tv and ignored my email. Then i got a call from Diane and ended up making plans to go see Broadway's Leading Men at Birdland which was a benefit for BC/EFA.

Later on i got ready and headed out. First i made a quick trip to Sasha's and picked up her camera and gave Fred and Pip a little love, then i headed to Birdland. I dropped Tucker off with Krysta then headed in. we got a great seat right in the front circle in the center and had some yummy food. the evening was so nice. everyone sounded great and it was just enjoyable. 

Michael Kadin Craig sang a new song by Michael Patrick Walker and it was really cute and funny. i wish i had audio. it was about this guy that liked this girl but she liked someone else so he was trying to convince her he was better, and my favorite lyric was "he's edge and i'm 3G."

I had forgotten that Groff was to be a part of the evening so that was a pleasant surprise and he sang a medley from the sound of music and the main element was the goat herder song, and he yodeled with his heart and made me so happy since that is still one of my favorite dance recital songs.  I was also amazed by Kevin Earley. i had ever seen him sing before but what a voice! my eyes literally popped at one point because it was that good and that doesnt happen often! One of the pictures above was the producer, Wayman, blowing out his birthday candles and i thought it looked nifty so i included it.

This was day 2 of running into Jo Ann. which was nice since its been so long since i have seen her! so she, diane, and myself hung out and chatted after and failed at speaking with Groff since our waiters took too long with our checks, then we headed home. I also chatted with Mark for a bit on the phone too.

Day 257/365 (May 2, 2009)

The day started off as a lazy day. Me and the puppy spent quite a bit of time playing and keeping each other company, whilst watching a lot of tv. Finally i realized i needed to swing by my apartment even to drop off my laundry so i could be able to bring home my pizza making stuff easily on sunday. Even though i was in a weird mood i got up and headed out. It should not have taken that long to get home, but alas between the subway running local this weekend, and the construction happening around columbus circle, it took close to 45 minutes just to get from 14th st to 59th st! once past there we zipped along at a normal pace.

Going home ended up being the worst thing. between the long uncomfortable ride home, my already weird mood, my OCD in full effect, and severe discomfort at the clothes i was wearing, walking in and seeing the place a complete and utter disaster while smelling right foul of animal urine just sent me on overload. there was new furniture we dont have room for strewn about with other furniture like things, and a BIG mattress on the floor in my room interfering with the air mattress set up for our guests, and blocking the walkway to my bed leaving barely any floor space, and i couldnt get in my closet to put my laundry away. instead i made my bed and laid the clothes out on bed to get them ready for hanging when i can get in. stressed was an understatement, and a tizzy i was in!

this all sent me into a downward spiral of an emotional mess. i just wanted to get my pizza dough, get to kim's, and make pizza and crash. Well i got out at 28th to go to Whole Foods and the only dough they had left was frozen solid which meant no pizza for me and then i got to kim's and was starving! i ended up ordering a very yummy cheeseburger and onion rings. After more puppy time and tv i finally fell asleep. On the subway back i eneded up randomly listening to Scott Alan's Dreaming Wide Awake and it helped me calm down a little, which was nice.

Day 252/365 (April 27, 2009)

look i finally got a band shot!!!!

Oh what a day! i had a really hard time sleeping, even harder than usual, and ended up really only getting good sleep from like 8:30 until 11! The majority of the day was spent with playing with tucker and giving love to the kitties... especially Fred since Sasha was coming to pick him up.

i prepped the dinner i was planning on having and it ended up being alot more work this time around, and of course lots of dishes were involved. Krysta came home eventually and i filled her in about the specifics of yesterdays happenings and then i got myself ready to go out and about.

Sasha finally came and after we gave her a band-aid our first failed attempt at getting fred happened. It was funny for a cat that is always try to escape out the front door he failed at a prime opportunity. He was in his carrier and Krysta was coming through the door as the carrier fell to the ground (not zipped correctly) and he had this look of panic on his face until he landed, then he made a run and ran back inside the apartment! I went in after him and picked him up and then failed attempt 2! he climbed up on my back, which is usual... but then he launched himself like crazy... so then Krysta went after him and was successful at getting him back.

We dont usually have too many legitimate cabs in our area and yet usually it is hard to get one if we do, and by some amazing miracle there was one coming down and he hopped in it without waiting at all! I felt a little left out since i was the only one without a pet on her lap.

We got dropped Krysta off at Petco and then went to Sasha's. After fred had a tiny chance to roam around i said my goodbyes and then then i headed to meet karolina, karen, and diane by madison square garden. We made our way to The Annex (by rockwood music hall) and let me tell you... eww! it was the worst venue by far as far as comfort and stuff... the sound system was astounding though! we sat through an interestingly strange guy and then finally Frisco Verdes. They were great as usual. We hung around for a tiny bit after then bounced out!

I swung by Josh's to pick Tucker up before heading home, and then we made our way home in his swanky new bag. i watched Chuck (amazing) and Gossip Girl, then time for bed! However it was quite sad because when i walked in the door i forgot for a moment and was expecting to find fred right there, but he wasn't! i know he is happy to be back with his momma, and she is even more happy to have him back but my heart is broken just a little!

Day 247/365 (April 22, 2009)

I had originally planned on getting up early and heading to rush 9 to 5, but I had been up so late that I decided there was no way I could rush it. So I set about my usual daily activities. I should also note that when I woke up Emma was curled so cutely next to me.

 The best part of the early part of the day was watching Fred and Tucker. They played so well with each other and it was just so cute to watch them chasing each other, and licking each other, and tucker trying to bite Fred, and Fred gently telling him who was boss and that biting was a bad idea!

Eventually I toyed with the idea of rushing the night show of 9 to 5… I flipped back and forth if I should, or waiting until Sasha was back from CA since she hadn’t seen it yet either. Finally I decided that I wanted to see it, even if that meant going by myself, and that I should do it when I was in the mood. I got ready real fast and went on down. I have no idea what the rush crowd is like so in true “Tamra form” I got myself there a good two hours before the tickets were going to be on sale. I was of course the first one there and as I got ready to take my spot to wait a woman at the window asked what the best seats they had available for next Monday were and when the BO guy told her like 8^th row center I was pretty upset since he had told me the last time I was there so not the same thing! I then decided I should just see what they had for best available since I still have the code printout sheet. He told me 4^th row center! I was like “um buys it please!” It cost more than rush seats but at least it wasn’t partial view and it was super close!

 

I then saw how much time I had and decided I was going home before the show, and since I had so much time I was going to be able to bake Neil some brownies for his birthday. (Which was a few days ago.) I was so pleased in the grocery store because I found the most perfect yummy large avocado. So I picked that up and some tomatoes.

 

I then headed home and made the brownies right away and while they baked I did the dishes, ate my tomatoes and avocado, and made a card. I really do quite enjoy arts and crafts… which reminds me my cousins birthday is soon I should make him a card.

 

Anywho then I headed back downtown to see the show. They let us into the theatre wicked late, and I hate waiting! My seat was perfect… I wasn’t front row but because the seats are slightly raised my row was sort of the perfect spot so I never had to look up, I could just look straight ahead. If I had been in the front row (which I had wanted) I wouldn’t have been able to see al the way to the back of the stage.

 

The curtain is really all kinds of awesome and innovative. It is a bunch of phone cords dangling, with random phone headsets strewn about, and then it has really pretty colorful lights on it. The show also started way past usual start time, and finally as the lights went dim “the voice of god” came on and I was like what emergency understudy is going on? But the voice was all like “please welcome Dolly Parton,” and well she came out from the side and walked to the front. She was so tiny and my first thought was Hannah Montana (I should be ashamed I know!) but anywho she just wanted to give us a little welcome, and told us that today was administrative aide day (formerly secretary’s day), then she said they would never let her on the stage and she had to leave so the show could get started… every was all excited!

 

I had never seen the movie and only knew the bare minimum basics of the plot line so I had no idea what to expect. The show was pretty fun and entertaining and some great costumes and choreography. I didn’t feel like one person in the cast was a weak link, which I usually have at least one or two in large casts. I thought everyone from lead to ensemble did well. If it weren’t for Dolly coming out and speaking beforehand I would not have realized just how dead on Megan Hilty nailed Dolly’s accent. There were moments when I kept thinking Dolly is speaking now. It was nice to see Neil do some crazy dancing, and he was so spot on! I just wish he ya know had even a teeny tiny speaking and singing part!  However it is my best guess that he is not miked and that is why he doesn’t get to say boo even when he is the cop and listening to the detective.

 

So while I was waiting to be let in, whilst waiting in crowded “lobby” who should plow into me?  One of my “favorite” people ever, and by favorite I mean someone I despise very much and the right people know whom I am talking about. My only satisfaction in seeing her is knowing that she is probably as repulsed to see me, as I am to see her vomit much? (though I never did anything to deserve her hatred.)

 

Intermission was quite eventful! Instead of staying in my seat I decided to go walk around. As I was leaving the doors I heard a man very angrily say “I didn’t hit her!” and a woman was all “he did hit me, he should be removed from the theater” and I looked over and saw them with security… I wanted to know what was going on but realized it was best to just keep moving! As I did so I saw more security coming towards! Then as I went into the hotel area I ran into Luther (and Jared), then I kept walking and playing with my phone and ran into Gary who is I guess my new stalker… I guess if I am going to have a stalker its nice to not have him be someone I don’t like! (as an aside for anyone who knows who I am talking about I recognize he is not actually a stalker and I am just saying that because of something else). Then I kept going and who did I run into? Nick! It turns out he rushed the show… so then we, and his friend, chatted the rest of the time.

 

It was wicked crowded at stage door but I had a good location next to some random really nice people. I took that picture with Neil myself but it came out pretty badly so someone else took a better one, but this one amuses me because I look like I am 10!  I miss him over at ABz, but I am just glad he is being put to good use here and that I liked the show so it won’t be painful to see again… like les miz. Um Megan is entirely sweet… I took a picture with her with me and it came out bad and she was like we can take another and I was like no its ok I don’t want to be that annoying person but she was like no its ok, so a stranger took it for me. Stephanie was also helpful in helping the stranger take a good picture of us by removing the camera strap from the lens. I am also happy Maia is in the show since she was always (excluding Gwen who is in a league all her own) my favorite soloist in Rent.

 

I got home and finished the leftover brownies here since it turns out my roomie didn’t realize I left them for her, and I wrote this long thing, while watching TV, and made plans with Judith for tomorrow…. Which I hope actually happens! This means I need to be heading to bed so I can get up and get ready… sadness I am not sleepy!

Day 246/365 (April 21, 2009)

The first part of the day was spent doing alot of job applying, and watching fred and tucker play so well together until tucker decided today was his day of sleep. I prepared my dinner for the night... homemade mac and cheese and i added onions to it and it has monteray jack cheese in it as well as the usual cheddar. I just ate some and it was yummy! (this also means i did a bunch of dishes.)

eventually i got dressed and headed out (with tucker) to sasha's just to hang. It is pretty fun walking with tucker since everyone is basically fawns over him. When i got to sasha's i was pleased to find mackenzie and matthew there as well as krysta. AFter krysta took hom out and the rest of us talked and watched some youtube videos. eventually the boys left and it was just sasha and i. as much as i love going out and doing things it really is my favorite to just hang out and talk and stuff.

Finally it got late so i headed home since i had to actually cook my dinner. I found krysta here already which shocked me and we ate some of the mac and cheese and i have been watching tv and playing online.

At one point sasha and i were talking and she was like all people are not the brightest bulbs and i was like but i am pretty brought most of the time and she was all yea but i dont really count you as a person.. ROFL! (not completely verbatim since it was a little while ago but funny nonetheless!

The picture above is me with her High School Musical Gaby bear. i was chilling on her bead and asked Gaby a question and she didnt answer me, and i was like Gaby is just here for moral support... we laughed, and i cuddled with the bear and that is where this picture came from.

Sasha also told me about this water game assassination thing that i REALLY want to do, like it sounds beyond amazing!

Day 245/365 (April 20, 2009)

Today i paid lots of bills, and finally finished cleaning my room. i also had to puppy proof it since tucker can now get over all my well crafted blockades and that meant moving the cat food once again to on top of my heater. he also had more accidents on the floor, so there was alot of cleaning but he seems to be doing it right again which is nice!

I then cleaned all the dishes and stuff and just worked on organizing my life!

eventually i finished my cheese soup which was still as yum as ever and if you cant tell one of my favorite things to eat! there was lots of tv watching, and cleaning up after tucker, but we are making progress!

eventually i headed, in the pouring rain, to see the broadway beauty pageant. it was really quite a fun awesome thing! The host was Tovah Feldshuh and let me tell you she is absolutely hylerical! the judges were charles busch, beth leavel, seth rudetsky, and ana gasteyer. each one added such an amusing unique touch to the night!

the contestants were just um wow! i'll talk about each of them... but it in general the pageant went like this Opening number (which was cute and done by all the contestants), talent competition, interview, swim wear competition, then past winners performed, then marty thomas performed. in between there was voting and speeches.

Tony James (Mr. Lion King) did a stunning modern dance with a partner and he moved so beautifully and gracefully (and his partner) and made perfect lines and movements, what i rememeber from his interview was that he has been in TLK for about 9 years on and off. His swim wear (which he made himself) was done to i just cant wait to be king and he had a lion king towel to start off with.

James Brown III (Mr. Little Mermaid) also did an incredible modern dance with a partner. Once again i just cant get over the agility and gracefulness and control had over his (well their) bodies. his partner looked like he could be his twin. Sadly right now i dont remember anything from his interview, herumph! His swim wear was done to kiss the girl and he totally played to the audience and judges!

David Larsen (Mr. Billy Elliot, the first ever straight contestant in 3 years) oh his talent! he gave a brief synopsis of BE and a little story from the rehearsal process. He said this inspired the song and he wrote it and gave it to his cast on opening night (thankfully not the young ones) it was an original song about margaret Thatcher that had quite the catchy scandalous chorus! His interview caused him to recite the pledge of allegiance in the accent used in BE and he said his happiest moment ever was marrying his wife... awwweeee! His was the best swim wear! he came out in coal minor garb, complete with head light. then he cued the lights off took the stuff off and when the lights came on he had "super short shorts" that had a sparkly union jack on the front and a star on the back. (I dont know BE music so i dont know what song it was)

Adam Fleming (Mr. Wicked) he sang a song and danced with 4 girls that they choreographed. It was super fun and really got the energy of the crowd up! he was dr. feel good or something like that. yay for him dancing so well! What i remember from the interview was that he got his equity card when he got hairspray and wicked is his 2nd broadway show. His swim wear involved green and he came out with "green elixir" and pretended to be drunk while stumbling... his song started with have yourself a little drink my.... then turned into popular for a hot second.

Anthony Hollock (Mr. Hair) wow! is talent he came out dressed as a girl playing the trumpet (fame) then started singing... pushed away the band, took over playing/singing a song at the piano, freaked out... had band play again while he sang some more, had some crazy flips, and was just over the top amazing! his interview he spoke about how freeing it was to do the nudity in hair and it was his first broadway show and how he wasnt equity or anything when he waited for hours at an EPA and was able to be seen that got called back, and got the part and said it can happen. For the swim wear he started out with an american flag wrapped around and i was so afraid he was going to be nude... but thankfully he was not and i think his song was hair.

Then after they left there was some a performance by the previous two winners Frankie James Grande and Marty Thomas (with some help, one of which was Jacob Ben Widmar... spelling?) It was a cowboy themed number that included some tap dancing and a very glittery chest. It was funny and had lovely singing too. Then there was some filler time that got us a 42nd street tap dance from Beth Leavel because she still remembered it and did it in crazy high heels! Then Marty came back out in a super snazzy sparkly coat and sand a beautiful rendition of i will always love you that i regret not taking a video of! (seth was nodding in what i can assume excitement at him sounding so great.) then he had to do some filler while all the votes were being tallied. (which by the way you could have your vote counted as double or triple if you attached a ten or twenty to your ballot... you could buy this election!) this resulted in him sharing his i beat britney story and he sang the song he sang on star search with some very dramatic stage direction and narration... loved it!

then they announced the winner who was Mr. Hair! (well irst the runner up mr. little mermaid (i think) who raised the most money online) and marty sang a song while he was crowned... it was just a really awesome way to raise money for a really great organization! i am so going next year!

i also noticed my last post had a bolded paragraph and i was having technical difficulties trying to fix it... i failed! i also ate a TON of celery left over from when i made the soup... i love crunching celery so much!

Links:

http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/upstaged/2009/04/photo-gallery-broadway-beauty-pageant/

http://www.popnography.com/2009/04/a-trip-down-memory-lane-at-the-mr-broadway-pageant.html

Day 236/365 (April 11, 2009)

Continuing in the pattern of nights passed i had a hard time falling asleep and then to make matters worse when i sleep over at my mom's i get the worst sleep once i do because the bed is so incredibly uncomfortable and i toss and turn as my back wakes me up in pain. the night before i had asked my mom to wake me up by a certain time because i had a personal errand to do, and then i set my alarm because i figured she wouldn't wake me when i wanted because she never does. she of course didnt wake me and i accidentally set my alarm for a pm wake up instead of an am wake up. well by the time i had woken up not only was it much laer than planned she had forgotten i had said i needed the car and of course made chaffeur plans since she is the official family chaffuer which i think is wrong since she is being taken advantage of. if i had gotten up as planned i could have done my errand and been back for her to play door mat, but i wasnt and of course when faced with family guilt the needs of everyone else comes above her daughter that she is lucky if she sees three times a year... but why should i be put first?

anywho eventually i ended up over at my uncle's house for the first birthday party and was surprised at how many of the family came to it and the ones from the father's side of the family i didn't know. there was this one little girl that i didnt know and she was just soo incredibly cute, and i got quality time with tessa, the birthday girl, and leilani, and my aunt kathy.

after lots of time, cake, and hoodsies we ended up back at my moms place and i got dinner made even though we werent hungry. later we did eat and i watched lots of tv and once again couldnt sleep!

Day 224/365 (March 30, 2009)

i didn't get much sleep and ate a ton of the yummiest purple grapes (ok technically red but i call em purple) ever!  i also watched lots of TV... then finally i got ready for the day and headed over to Lincoln Center to see The Music Of Bobby Cronin.

i met mark outside and we headed in to wait in line and get out of the cold, eventually carina came in and joined us. slowly everyone else started to trickeled in. (Krysta, Michelle, Lynette, Michelle, diane, karolina, nicole.)  Mark and i had run into andrew as he was leaving sound check, and then we all saw michael come in but logan was with him so i chatted with him for a bit. eventually we all went in and took seats in the front.

I had never heard of Bobby Cronin before and just knew that there were a ton of people that i love to see perform participating in it. Aside from the people who were all great let me tell you he is such a talented song writer! i enjoyed each of the songs very much, especially the understudy song and music from BRATT Camp. Michelle, Nicole, and I were maybe going to leave during part of it to go to something else but shortly before the time we were going to leave i had decided i wanted to stay and continue hearing the songs which was a great decision!

they were just really well written, played, and performed! the host guy was funny because he kept referring to in the heights as into the heights. The first song of the evening was sung by michael kadin craig, andrew call, marcus paul james, and jared gertner... i was quite excited because they are some of my favorite performers and i was like 3 of my favorite shows are being represented on stage (note that MPJ represented Rent for me). then michael sang another song, and andrew ended up in two more, and kate pazakis did some killer vocals and it was nice seeing her sing again since i had been absent from mostly sondheim for so long!

afterwards the group of us chatted for a bit and eventually parted ways, i was about to go home when mark was like lets do something so we walked down to vynl and i got the BLT sandwich again, and then we headed to TOL and enjoyed part of open mic night before heading our seperate ways.

Day 218/365 (March 24, 2009)

i got up early from my "sleep over" on staten island and then karolina and i headed out (her to work, me to home.) when i got back even though i didn't get much sleep and was sleepy i decided not to go back to sleep and ended up watching lots of TV. i also made a trip to NWS to buy some tickets for altar boyz so i could get good seats for neil's last performance for myself, mary, devon, and karolina. i also made a stop at the post office and bought some much needed stamps to make mailing things easier... not speedier because i still have a hard time following through with that whole putting envelopes in a mailbox thing.

i left my coat on the table and this was the first time in a long time i hadn't hung it up and Fred took full advantage of this because he has always loved to sleep on my coat.

Day 203/365 (March 9, 2009)

i slept in so late! i woke up at 12:40 which in theory is bad since at one point last week i had been doing really great, but the weekend and lack of sleep finally caught up, and i will get back on track... i will! I spent the day at home feeling not so good because sometimes being a girl just plain old sucks!

the day was spent doing this:

job hunting

tv watching

paying bills

balancing checkbook/calling bank of america

figuring out basic schedule for the week

putting away my now wrinkled laundry

dance class research (that is a picture of one of the schedules)

dishes, lots of dishes

quality kitty time

p.s. Sasha named her new puppy Pippin, and Pip for short... can't wait to call him his name to his face

Day 182/365 (February 16, 2009)

So i got up relatively early, (especially since i had gotten no sleep really) and brought my mom to Port Authority so she could catch her bus back to MA. I then headed to the Staten Island Ferry to meet Michelle and Nicole. The main soundtrack of my travels was the Zanna Don't cast recording. When i got to the ferry i ran into Abraham Lincoln, and that amused me more than you could know! (though he was much shorter than i would have thought!) When i got to the ferry i saw my old apartment building and got a little nostalgic, but the big thing that made me happy/sad was seeing the Statue of Liberty. She is one of my favorite things about New York and i miss seeing her every day when i would leave or enter my apartment building. She represents alot for me. After i first moved into that apartment i was so excited to finally be living in Manhattan but after a quick amount of time i began to take it for granted and got a little jaded. Then when the new year came (2008) i had tol myself i needed to remember what was so special about living in NY and the statue of liberty became that reminder since looking at her would make me remember how far i had come in ife. Living in Harlem i obviously dont get a chance to see her everyday anymore and i take such joy when ever i do get to see her :D

Michelle and Nicole picked me up and we went on an arts and crafts store trip. It was nice to be in a Michael's and an AC Moore, and i was ale to buy the needed cake decorating supplies for a super cool cake i hope to make, and stuff to transport it in. I also bought a 3-tiered cooling rack since i make so many cookies. We just perused the aisles and had fun. Then we went to the Staten Island Mall so Nicole could check out Payless, and i went to the pet store and looked at the cute puppies and such what. Then we got some yummy chicken terryaki, and had fun people watching all the lovely way people looked with poofy hair and ugg boots and animal prints and mini skirts and tacky leggings and velour suits... good times! After a quick stop at Barnes and Noble they dropped me off at the ferry and i made it home in record time. (however i was frightened that i fell asleep on the ferry for at least 18 minutes of the trip.

I then spent the rest of the night watching TV, and was lucky enough that my roomie made me dinner, pancakes and pasta!