ok kiddies

i'm going to my grandparents house this week until tuesday night. on purpose, i'm not bringing my laptop or whatnot because there are so many other things that i want to get done and my level of productivity at their house is very high, so i do not want to be distracted. they have a computer, but i think i'm staying away from it.

that's all. :)

i'm peachy.

sigh of relief

so, i still kinda mean what i said in my last post. but after a lunch with the fam, i feel a little less passionate about it. i still want to be done having summer breaks here. there's just a lot of stress in this house, and lately we all feel that everyone's stress means nothing and ones stress should own all.

that's all. i'm probably going to go visit paigey today and do some organizing.

mmm...pizza grille. next time any of you visits me, i'll be taking you here for lunch. it's fantastic.

i'm peachy. :)

done

i need out of this house. now. immediately.

i'm 20 years old and i act like it. but i'm treated like a lazy 12 year old. it gets old.

i'm not living here next summer. i guarentee it. there's no way.

not peachy.

Being Christine

so, to start things off, i'm overdue for a journal about my recent outing with "the usual suspects" + james dilts, but i actually just made a movie out of it, and as soon as i can get it uploaded to youtube, we'll be posting that here as well. it's my first movie, so keep that in mind when you watch it. but all in all i'm exceedingly proud of it.

second point: last night, i was so bored that i went over to james' house just to watch some people play "dungeons and dragons". they all made verbal note of this halfway through my visit. it made me realize that i need to go on vacation and go back to school as soon as humanly possible. i did get to gorge myself on peanut butter candy and reeses pieces. and starburst.

third point: sara allen is going on vacation and i will more or less be without a venting partner for the next week plus. sigh.

fourth point: last night, i had the coolest dream. i was performing in my old high school "theatre" and we were putting on a very interesting version of phantom of the opera. john was somehow both male leads (he got to fight himself...), lindsey was that primadonna woman (which is funny to those who know lindsey because she is the most modest and talented singer i know), ryan and pat were mrs. andre and ferment, and i was christine. i only figured out that we were doing phantom because i sang "wishing you were somehow here again" at one point. it also seems that i was going on for someone who needed an understudy, i was an instant sensation. and i got kissed by various boys. for no reason. it was interesting. i also was wearing point shoes throughout the dream and my dress had an issue staying up, especially when the phantom kidnapped me during "don juan".

fifth point: i should talk to paul tsikitas more often...and continue working on my script.

sixth point: i'm in a rut at home. time again to return to school.

seventh point: tomorrow i work, then i go to my oma and pappy's for 2 days. yay!.

i'm peachy. and a tad lonely. not terrible...but you know.

by the by...

my parents have 4 tickets to hersheypark for 23 dollars a piece. my family and i are going on the 10th of August and if you would like to come with, call. you have a place to stay in the mcgee home. you can also contact me if you're simply interested in buying the tickets from us. but i would love to have a friend or three along on that day at the park.

pwease?

pretty please?

i'm peachy.

I may be a Jewish woman...

So, in reading a number of people's posts, I too would like to post a post of self-deprecation.

1. I constantly feel that I fall short of my potential.
2. When I like someone, I show it too eagerly and I feel like I push them away.
3. I feel that boys don't like me "that way" because I'm more of a sister than a potential girlfriend.
4. I act differently around people I don't know that well than around my friends.
5. I have 2 life dreams, but they pull me on different paths.
6. I take my parents opinion on things too seriously and don't live for myself.
7. I would like to move to New York after graduation.
8. I'm too sensitive to people around me. I let perfect strangers get to me in a bad way.
9. I don't like to sleep alone, but If there's someone else in the bed, I can't sleep.
10. When I like a person, I feel like I have to act like a little kid and can't stop myself. It's really annoying.
11. I could be all wrong about how I come off to boys and now they know what I'm thinking.
12. I can be really lazy
13. I wish I could be more like other people.
14. I wish I could tell people how I feel about them. The only people I think who truely know are John and Sara.

i'm peachy

The Soundtrack to my Life: Survey and Real

so, this was survey thing on paul's myspace and i wanted to do both the random version and what i would really make the soundtrack of my life.

Opening Credits: Welcome to the Jungle - Guns 'n' Roses
Waking Up: This Night - Billy Joel
Falling in Love: Sue Me - Guys and Dolls
Fight scene: A Mighty Fortress is Our God - J.S. Bach
Breaking up: In the City - The Eagles
Getting back together: Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? - Rod Stewart
Secret Love: The Night Is Still Young - Billy Joel
Life's okay: Sparkling Diamonds - Moulin Rouge!
Mental breakdown: Mellow Yellow - Donovan
Driving Flashback: Summertime - Mae
Partying: Oompa Loompa (Augustas Gloop) - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Happy dance: Don't Panic - Coldplay
Regretting: September - Earth, Wind, and Fire
Final Battle: For Me and My Gal- Judy Garland
Death Scene: I Love You 'Cause I Have To - Dogs Die in Hot Cars
End Credits: Lay Your Hands on Me - Bon Jovi

so, here's what I would REALLY pick for my soundtrack of life.

Opening Credits: Everybody Loves You Now - Billy Joel
Waking Up: Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Falling in Love: Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
Fight scene: Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
Breaking up: Immortality - Saturday Night Fever, the Musical
Getting back together: Dream On - Aerosmith
Secret Love: Lucifer - Jay-Z / Say Yes - Elliott Smith (maybe i have more than one!)
Life's okay: High Flying Adored - Evita
Mental breakdown: World's on Fire - Sarah McLaughlin
Driving Flashback: This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore - Elton John
Partying: Judy is a Punk - The Ramones
Happy dance: Something Celtic
Regretting: Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk - Rufus Wainwright
Final Battle: Adiemus - Adiemus (it's on the Pure Moods CD)
Death Scene: Lonely - Tom Waits
End Credits: I Want to Break Free - Queen

I realized while i was doing this, I could do an entire soundtrack with just the beatles, or queen, or ben folds...or even various showtunes.

Please comment. i'm curious to see what people think.

i'm peachy!

i heart NY

so, i've decided that i'm moving to new york as soon as possible.

i love it there. i love the atmosphere. i love the theatre. it's hard to explain...but i love it.

today will and i got up and we had lunch at this great pizza place on 50th street that's supposed to be frequented by celebrities...and i can see why. it was amazing pizza. fantastic. and fairly well priced as well.



we then decided to venture out and find central park and strawberry fields (one of my personal meccas). central park is so beautiful. designed by fredrick law olmsted to give the people of new york a place to relax and have recreational space, it absolutely took my breath away. it's so green and picturesque.



we finally found strawberry fields, after going to the opposite end of the park where we needed to be. it was like being in church...it was so quiet. everyone was just there to think and such. today, someone had decorated the "imagine" plaque with a peace sign design, made of flower petals and strawberries. it was truely quite a sight.



then will and i did some serious shopping. i bought some amazing drawings of broadway to decorate my room at school with and some presents for my family. i also got my mom's birthday gift. we also found the Hershey's store and Colony Music, where you can find every soundtrack and libretto ever made. no kidding. no exaggeration. it was amazing.




will and i also let our theatre kid side show. i took sooo many pictures of theatres and such. see below.









we had lunch at a quaint little deli in midtown, then went back to his apartment in spanish harlem, where we went to the grocery store from hell. the only reason will took me was because sometimes they do annoucements over the loudspeaker and the man ends them with "cha cha cha"...but no annoucement. just the smell of meat and the stench of people. i felt like was living upton sinclairs "the jungle". ew.

will took me down to the train station and i had dinner there. my train was delayed about 20 minutes and i ended up getting home about an hour late...but the trip was well worth it.

i did make an interesting observation about new york city. this is the first real trip i've taken there since september 11th (i visited a college there and i went on a cruise that left from there, but i didn't do any sightseeing). this is not meant to be disrespectful or rude, but i think that they haven't come to terms with the fact that the world trade towers aren't there anymore. i couldn't find a postcard of manhattan without the twin towers on it. i bought a neat map of the city, and the twin towers are still there, but there's a note indicating that they were knocked down in the attacks. many photographs being sold still have the towers in them, or they superimpose the towers over a picture of the beams of light...like ghosts. in drawings, the towers are drawn in very lightly. it's a little creepy. will and i also found a bib with the towers on them (it must have been old merchandise because in the corner of the picture about 2 inches from the towers was a jet plane...seriously). as a person who is very interested in the 9-11 attacks, it was interesting to see how the people of new york are dealing with it 5 years on.

you can see all the pictures that i took on facebook.

i'm peachy!

ps: please do not text me anymore, unless there is NO OTHER WAY you can communicate with me. my text bill was high this month and i don't want to pay that much for texts. i get charged for sending AND receiving...sigh. thanks in advance.

"can i have your attention please?"

in reference to the title, i feel like everytime i get on the subway, some weirdo asks that same question, then tells us their sad story.

so, here i am in new york city. the city that doesn't sleep. i just woke up. i decided that i should probably write about my first day now, since it was jammed packed full of fun things and nice events. eventually, this will be re-edited with pictures of the events, but since will had his camera and mine still wasn't working for the first day, he took all the pictures.

my train left very early on saturday morning, so i had to be up around 6 am. of course, i was getting all my electronics, which had been charging all night together and i realize that my ipod isn't working. sigh. i ended up having to reformat it, which was a pain. anyway, after that, things went off without a hitch. my train was nice and quiet. i watched "when harry met sally..." and "love and death" on my laptop and it made things go very quickly. i arrived in new york, and my first objective was to find william holly, my host and friend. fortunately, that was his objective as well and we found each other quickly. i bought my metro card (one of two, i think), and took my first ride on the new york subway, which might i add, is cleaner by far than the philadelphia system. it is also a lot busier. so shame on septa. anyway, i got to the apartment where will is staying in spanish harlem. very nice apartment and his roommates are lovely. i changed and we took will's laundry down to the laundramat so he could partake in the laundry service they have there. we then left for 42nd street. we at first tried to find food, but then decided to buy our tickets for 'avenue q' for that evening. well, they were loadiing people in for the matinee at that point, and we didn't specify 'evening', so we ended up getting matinee tickets, which fortunately we realized and just decided to forgo lunch and see the show.

AVENUE Q IS AMAZING. we laughed more or less then entire time. the couple in front of us made out more or less then entire time. after the show, we went to the stage door and got some pictures and autographs from 'brian', 'chrismas eve', the guy who played princeton / rod, and the guy who played 'trekkie monster', nicky, and one of the bad idea bears. sigh. that show was amazing, and the guy who played princeton and rod is pretty adorable.



at this point, will and i were starving. we ended up eating at the new york hard rock cafe, which i had never been to. another one off the list. i had a lovely steak and all was well. we went back to the apartment at this point and i took a nap (i know, i know...grandma). after the nap, will and i went to the restaurant which was the exterior shot for that diner in seinfeld. they look nothing alike inside, but they have all this seinfeld memorabelia on the walls. they make a delicious milkshake. we went back down to the broadway area and almost went up in the empire state building, but then we realized how long the line was (at 9:30pm!), and how expensive it was and my paranoid clock went off a little, so we decided to scratch that. we took some nice pictures of it though. i did a little souvenier shopping (a "i heart ny" shirt and postcards for sara and me.). we then walked around a bit, but there was nothing to do really, so we went home. we looked at pictures from each other's shows and i watched some of the video of his school's 'into the woods' (amazing! they also have bob mackey designed costumes...). we watched some 'youtube' and went to bed.

that's really it for now. i need to get ready and do stuff.

i'm peachy.

That's Boss.

the title is a tribute to john, who returned from camp just in time.

so, today was pretty good. work went by very very fast. i also became an official key holder, which is pretty cool, considering that i've only worked there since the end of may. i can open the store and get stuff going in the morning. i'm pretty psyched about the responsibility angle too. hopefully i don't do something silly, like forget to open the gates.

when i got home (and promptly changed my clothes, since it was 90 billion degrees today...actually, only about one hundred...but still...with the heat index you know). we had a classic summer dinner of BLT's (or BT's in my case, since i feel that lettuce only belongs in a salad) corn, and iced tea. mmm. my family drinks more iced tea than we drink any other drink. we make probably 2 to 3 pitchers a week. anyway, i did my crossword puzzle, which was pretty easy today (and some people actually thought i only did the nytimes puzzle at the table...please.). i also talked to my wifey. yay. then my mom asked if i wanted to lowlight my hair tonight. i did. it looks subtle, but really neat. john called just as i was about to start the process, and he came over after i was done. we played with my computer and played the "i have severe musical ADHD game". he told stories about camp, i told him stories about the week, and we drank yoo-hoo. it was delightful. we're hanging out again tomorrow night too, since we didn't get to hang out tonight until 9 and we both work in the morning.

my big news is that i'm going to NYC this weekend to visit my friend will. we've been friends since first grade, when we had miss campbell (john's aunt) and from then until 6th grade, we had class together. in 6th grade, he moved to florida. boo. but we've tried to see each other as much as possible. my parents suprised me with a visit from him in disney world for my birthday in 7th grade. in the summer between 10th and 11th grade, he came and stayed with me for a few days, in which he, sarah, and i all proceeded to get violently ill. oh well. now, we reunite again. woo! we hope to see avenue Q and go to a sex museum, which is our plans right now. these are subject to change. i'm also riding the train, which i see as glamourous. i'm so pathetic.

so, today was good. tomorrow could be better. i work from open until 5 (again), but john and i are hanging out in the evening, so at least i have something to look forward to. wednesday is my day off from work and dance class. i'm going to die...again. oh well...it's free. and trish is teaching and there's the slim chance that amanda is coming to class with me, because she and trish work together at hersheypark. i'm pretty excited. great week ahead.

final note: what is your take on decorative bed pillows (shams, boyfriend/husband pillows, throw pillows, body pillows)? comment.

i'm peachy!

from a new locale

it's been a few days since i last posted, mainly because i have been so very busy. on friday i worked from open until 5, then my parents took me out to dinner at this neat restaurant called "the elephant and castle". it's mainly british fair, and i got steak and chips, which were delicious. oh, my macbook came too that day. haha, you think i'd leave THAT out!? i really like it. it's a great little machine and i'm already more organized because of it. after i worked on my computer for an hour, i went to the albrights and swam in their pool. lovely evening.

saturday might have been the longest day of my life. i had a hair appointment at noon, which went well. then i worked the hallmark ornament premiere from one until ten pm. people are sad. there were people who, even with the 20% discount we were offering, spent more on ornaments than i did on this computer. that's pathetic. and they weren't even thinking...they were just buying. one woman (the most expensive order that i rang up personally, at around $600) confessed that she doesn't even put up a tree. what the hell is she doing with these ornaments anyway? whatever. after that, eileen came over to keep me company while my parents were gone overnight. i'm not a fan of staying by myself in the house overnight, so she slept over. we started to watch "i heart huckabees", but we couldn't concentrate. i couldn't sleep most of the night. i thought maybe it was because eileen had fallen asleep in my bed and was taking up my side of the bed, so i slept in my sister's room (she's in san antonio until tonight). i fell asleep, only to wake up at 7:20 this morning because i didn't feel well. damn. the one day i can sleep in, and i didn't.

today i want to do a bunch of things. i need to continue working on the masque induction records, the masque tree (i really want to have it up in the green room), my alumni mailing (this is the most overwhelming item), and my honors project. does anyone know of any program that would help me on my mac to do a tree. i'm also working on a script about crystal pepsi and other cola's that were marketing bombs. (thanks jess and fred). hopefully, it'll be funny.

i'm watching the 1950's version of "little women" on TCM, and i realized that i cry no matter what version of this film that i'm watching when their father comes home and when beth dies. i can come in the middle and recognize the scene as the one where beth dies, and start crying, even if i don't stay on the channel. i have the 1994 version on VHS and i watch it all the time. the 1930's version has katharine hepburn, so obviously i love it. however, the 1950's version is full of good actresses: june allyson (who just passed away, which why i think they are showing the film), margaret o'brien (of "meet me in st. louis" fame), elizabeth taylor (who, like me, should never have blonde hair), and janet leigh (from psycho).

a few things you might not know about me:
1. my favorite musical is "on the town".
2. my favorite book is "gone with the wind".
3. my favorite children's book is "the pushcart war".
4. i'm a big fan of barry manilow, barbra streisand, and 1950's pop.
5. i love to dress up in gowns
6. although my favorite character in a book is scarlett o'hara, i think i am most like jo march from little women.
7. the train is my favorite way to travel. i think it's glamourous.
8. my favorite names for children are old lady names...think what we suggested for gwen's cat.
9. one of my biggest pet peeves is when people don't use proper english, especially in IM's and text messages.
10. when i'm at home, i'm happiest sitting either in my yard, or in my bed with a book.
11. when i'm homesick, i miss my cats the most.

that's all. i have to shower and get things done today!

i'm peachy!

ouch.

i'm currently physically exhausted. i worked from 10 to 5, then had a quick dinner before going to dance for 3 and a half hours. we did a neat little lyrical jazz combo to "fever". and the lights went out as i was doing a front handspring. that's not scary...haha. anyway, i'm beat.

in other news, i did the new york times crossword puzzle today (a wednesday!) in a half an hour with no help. go me.

no macbook. sigh.

i'm peachy.

ahhh

this layout is much better. i used the green version for my movie blog and i liked it so much, i'm using the blue one here.

that's all.

the macbook still hasn't arrived. boo.

i'm peachy.

so, i'm a nerd...and so is my best friend.

so, this weekend i saw pirates of the carribbean: dead man's chest...twice. i really liked it. the first time i saw it with my family at the employee showing where my sister works. woo hoo for perks.

the second time was for my best friend at home's sister (get all that?) and her birthday. well, we were supposed to see it all along, but her sister pooped out at the last second (and by last second, i mean we didn't know if she was going to get there or not until the previews were over...). me, amanda, brandon (lab partner 4 life), and ian (one of amy's friends...poor ian) all stayed and watched.

to say it bluntly, amanda and i are movie nerds. well, nerds and general, but film is our specialty. we are huge fans of the star wars trilogy as well, and in our viewing of pirates (she has seen it twice too), we noticed some distinct parallels between pirates and star wars, especially with dead man's chest and episode 5: the empire strikes back. if you have not seen both films, stop reading now and go to the movies, or to blockbuster (although, if you haven't seen the star wars trilogy at this point, you probably should just be beaten repeatedly with a copy of the VHS trilogy until you do). SPOILER ALERT WITH BOTH FILMS

Character parallels:
william turner (orlando bloom) = luke skywalker (mark hamill)
elizabeth swann (keira knightly) = princess leia organa (carrie fisher)
captain jack sparrow (johnny depp) = han solo (harrison ford) *double swoon*
bootstrap bill turner ( stellen starsgard) = darth vader / anakin skywalker (james earl jones / david prose)
davy jones (bill nighy) = emporer palpatine (clive revill)
pintel (lee arenburg) = r2-d2 (kenny baker)
ragetti (mackenzie crook) = c3po (anthony daniels) (please...his eye keeps falling out and c3po is falling apart throughout the entire film.)
these are stretches...mr. gibbs is equivalent to chewy, and tia dorma is somewhat equivalent to lando. these come mainly from their association to captain jack sparrow and the other characters association to han. loose...forgive us.

more similarities: well, there's the obvious that will is trying to save his father, bootstrap, in the same manner that luke was trying to save his father in episode 6: return of the jedi. both fathers are good men at heart, who simply made some poor choices that they have become physically and mentally disfigured by. another similarity is the ships. captain jack's black pearl is extremely important to him, as han's millienium falcon is to him (he looks like he's going to vomit in episode 6 when he lets lando, who was the original owner, fly it to destroy the new death star). also, both ships were gained through somewhat scandelous means. the flying dutchman is equivalent to the death star, in ways i need not explain. classic epic of good versus evil where the good guys are kinda bad and bad guys are very bad, blah, blah, blah. finally to end out both films, jack and han's fates are unknown when the credit's roll. han is frozen in carbonite to be sent to jabba the hutt as a piece of home decor, and jack may or may not be in the belly of the craken (kraken?). the craken also looks strangely like the sarlac from return of the jedi.

all we need for "pirates of the caribbean: at world's end" are some cute and cuddily creatures and a fat worm. woo woo.

check out the "olivia dehavilland" link for the original concept, created by my best friend from east penn, amanda smith.

check out our joint blog "spoiler alert!". we'll talk about movies. it's what we do anyway. the link is on the side as "pseudo-siskel and ebert".

i'm peachy.

argh!

i need to get back to school.

this has nothing to do with my friends, my parents, my hometown. the thing is that i have all these projects to do (masque stuff, honors project) and i don't have the time / space to do them. i'm also having issues with alumni stuff because i don't know how to mail all the postcards out and then how to get the alumni to subscribe to either email or snail mail newsletters. also, i have to interview people for my honors project, but i need people who are from places other than enola. i know what i need to do, i just need to find out how to complete each task.

i'm doing these things now to avoid being overwhelmed in august and for the entire school year, but i ended up overwhelming myself in the summer.

i can't believe i'm saying this, but the summer is going too fast. i have to visit sara at her house at some point, and i have to visit new york. sigh.

i'm peachy.

Long Time gone...

sorry all, not that anyone is that annoyed, for not posting since earlier this week. i've been busy selling my soul to hallmark. i also ordered my computer and have since received my office for mac software and the free ipod, which i gave to my dad.

life has really been about work and talking to my wifey lately, so nothing interesting or tell-able to report.

i'm done with trivial pursuit for now. here's the final scores

Doug: 8
Dan: 8
Sara: 6
Melissa: 6
Mark: 3
Kate: 2
Gwen, Jo Anna, Pam: 1

Thanks for playing.

i'm way tired because i went into work today at 8am to help out, which turned into me being there until 1pm. sigh. it was good to come home.

Ornament premiere is next week. Ugh.

high hopes.

i'm peachy.

To the Beach! To the Lally!

So, this weekend was fabulous.

Friday: work until 5...it was the longest 7 hours of my life. I got home and finished packing, before having a lovely spaghetti dinner. mmm. i went to the train station, and who should be there but john. how funny. it was great to have someone to ride the train with though. i always like riding the train with him, because it always proves to be a good time. Jess picked me up at 30th st. station and we went back to manayunk (who thought i would ever spell that word this much?). we walked to wawa (one of three trips total that weekend). we watched bad tv. we went to bed.

saturday: we got up far too early (7:30), but we got going right away and left the house in a timely manner. then we picked up amy (family trip!) and sara. another wawa stop and we were on our way. "to the beach". i have to interject here how happy being in ocean city makes me. the calm i feel is like no where on earth. it was also fabulous to see everyone again. it was like we had just seen each other, but at the same time, like we hadn't seen each other in years. i can't remember the last time i laughed so much. we constructed towns, played with the biggest beach ball known to man, burned the outer layer of skin off of our bodies and got sand in places that don't even see the sun. all in all, a great day at the beach. great weather, great people. what more could you ask for? when we left ocnj, i promptly fell asleep most of the way to lally's. as soon as i got out of the car, i was like a 5 year old with sara. we ran out back to the trampoline and jumped for a while with amy, and as soon as dave and tricia got there, amy, dave and i got in the pool. how old am i? we ate hot dogs and hamburgers at the picnic tables and had lovely beverages. the rest of the night was having deep talks with friends, e talk, kids in the hall, my final wawa trip (with a pimp sighting!), and halo. sleep came too early.

sunday: within an hour, we were all awake and soon ready to depart for the allen's. breakfast was GREAT. also, i love sara's family, so it was like being halfway home already. more funny stories (oh jess and her hamsters...), and far too soon it was time to leave. :( we got back to philly in good time and it seemed like 2 minutes later i was home.

well, i have to go put aloe on my back because despite constant reapplications of spf 50 sunblock, i still managed to get burned on my upper back. alas.

i'm peachy!

ps: 3 days until i order my macbook. i now understand why jo anna was so excited about it.