A weekend in the life.

Why Vassar is the best thing that ever happened to me:

In just this past weekend, I directed and performed in a cabaret, hit up the Acrop diner at midnight with my dearest of friends, invented a rhubarb dance in acting class, learned beautiful Hair harmonies, ate delicious empanadas with my girl Miranda, crashed a cast bonding, learned the (interesting) art of contact improv, took a nap (!), got sushi with the twinsies (Doug and Reeve), watched the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater perform at the Bardovan Opera House in Poughkeepsie, made it over to Jewett's yearly Seven Deadly Sins themed party, popped by a frisbee party, learned a new a cappella song, worked at the Writing Center, read "Mrs. Warren's Profession" by George Bernard Shaw, and even caught Meryl win her Oscar.

Maybe the time management skills picked me.  But I definitely picked the right school.

I found Evernote in a hopeless place...

Organization has been on my mind, mostly because I am currently a crazy person with a lot of organizing to do.  It's funny how magically devoted to organization I become when the organizing is for something I truly care about.  That's why I have always wanted to further explore stage management.  I wouldn't call myself an incredibly detail-oriented person, but when it comes to theater, I care so much about the finished product that I become completely anal about the details that go into it.

Right now I am directing the Future Waitstaff of America's semesterly dessert cabaret, which is themed "We FWAound Love in a Hopeless Place" (c'mon, even if you're not a Rihanna fan, I know you can't resist that beat when you're up in da club).  I know directors have made cuts for this event in the past, but I really felt like I should cast everyone who auditioned.  The cabaret is a fundraiser, so if someone wants to sing and help us make money, I say go forth and belt.  It was definitely a challenge to find a way to showcase everyone and still keep the length of the show reasonable.  This led me to pick a lot of group numbers.  Ultimately, I think including everyone will make for a really exciting cabaret, but it has definitely been a struggle to align people's schedules for rehearsals.  I hate being so preoccupied with scheduling when I really want to be focused on the songs.

I recently downloaded a free (!) application called Evernote which has been extremely helpful to me during my current craziness.  Because I am so stereotypically artsy fartsy, I think on impulse, and thus I wind up writing mini Word documents that become disjointed and get lost in the infinite abyss that is my laptop.  With Evernote, I can still be impulsive and write little notes, but the notes come up in chronological order so I can look at other recent notes that are relevant to what I'm working on.  For the cabaret, this has been particularly useful because I can see all of my tedious schedules and artistic ideas in one place.  Evernote allows you to make separate notebooks for different topics--for example, I could have a "FWA Cabaret" notebook.  Alas, I am too right-brained to be so diligent.  But instead of combating my work style, Evernote works with me! (permission to gag at my cheesy enthusiasm for an online product) Instead of premeditating how I will file away my ideas, I can simply tag the topic(s) in each note.  That way, if I ever want to revisit all of the notes that deal with one particular topic, I can simply click the topic's tag in the side bar.

So:

1. Organization can be vital to artsy endeavors

2. Artsy people are capable of being organized

3. There really is an App for everything.

And if you're a Vassonant individual like me, give Evernote a try!  You might be surprised to find your left-brained self within.

Look in thy heart and write

I know a lot of people start blogs when they go abroad, and I think blogging is a great way to keep family and friends updated from far away.  My study abroad experience is not too far down the road (!) But, as I was saying to some friends last night, I can't help feeling like my journey has already started.  Not only am I in one of my dream musicals this semester, but I am also back in acting class for the first time in a while.  I am so happy that I have opportunities this semester to examine and hone my craft.  This summer, however, I hope to gain perspective on a different realm of theater with a literary or a theater education internship.  And when I travel abroad, I will (hopefully!) have the unique opportunity to fully combine my two majors, English and Drama, through Shakespearean study.  I will also get to look at theater in the context of a completely different culture!  I seriously cannot even believe how much excitement is ahead of me!

I thought embarking on my twenties would feel like a frightening end of an era.  Instead, I can feel myself approaching a really crucial time in my growth as a student and an artist.  Since the semester started, I've been taking it all in, sometimes feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything I'm about to dive into.  At times like this, I always try to remember how much I love to write.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in academic texts and rehearsal scripts that I forget about my own words.  I think they will now be especially valuable to me as I attempt to navigate everything coming my way.

Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows,
And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my trewand pen, beating myself for spite,
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write."

                                        -Sir Philip Sideny, Sonnet 1, Astrophil and Stella