day 12: whatever tickles your fancy

I like the reoccurring "whatever tickles your fancy" on this blog-a-day. It's like, structure, structure, structure, structure, GO NUTS!, structure, structure structure, GO NUTS AGAIN!, structure, structure... Just the way I like it.

What's tickling my fancy this morning? Well it might have been those wheat crackers with cheese, except those are gone now. Honestly, some tickling of my fancy is due to the fact that we're getting CABLE TELEVISION again next week, but that's suuuuuuuuuper boring to talk about so publicly. My fancy is just really being tickled by Mr. Ames Bell. It's been a few months since my last Ode to Ames blog, so just keep reading, okay?

This is Ames last week when UVU hosted the Utah Theatre Association conference for Utah (and some Wyoming) high school students. There were like 2000 of them there. Ames managed to be extraordinarily helpful and look decent in those "safety green" color shirts (which were, in actuality, AWFUL). Luckily for everyone, he's wearing a cool Urban Outfitters green stripped cardigan in this picture, which is much less retina-melting than safety green.

Also at UTA, he emerged as a huge rock star, since our show Urinetown was ALL THE RAGE! and about 12987318276872561294 screaming 15-year old girls fell in love with him. Maybe a few boys too. You don't know-- these are theater kids, come on.

But my point is: Urinetown has filled the extracurricular void for us together since October 12. Can I tell you how phenom that has been for me?? The entire time we have been together, Ames has been rehearsing and performing shows in which I was not cast. And I mean, whatever, that's fine. But in this four-month rehearsal process and ten-performance run, I am so glad to have been able to work with Ames every night. So, so grateful.

My favorite thing lately has been coming home at the end of an 8+ hour work day, followed by Urinetown till 10:30pm, when we're both exhausted and stumbling around our own feet, to just dive under the covers and take a deep breath and fall asleep watching Chocolat instead of playing the usual we're in a show let's celebrate at Denny's every night with the entire cast we're so funny and hilarious omg awesommmmmmme game. That's a fun game too, but I like going home to our little house and our pajamas and our television set and just being us.

And lately I've had a series of (annoying/obnoxious/embarrassing/painful) injuries (since this is a legit dance show), for which Ames has been taking very good care of me. He always makes sure I'm not hurting, and lets me lounge around with my elevated, icing foot while he does the dishes etc., and makes sure to hold my hand and walk much more slowly than he would walk so my ankle doesn't go bendy.

Also he tells me if my outfits are good, and sometimes what clothes I should try on/buy, so he's really handy to take shopping.

Also we like to get DVDs like Michael Jackson's This Is It and the Glee soundtacks and we are starting to have a really nice little put-together house with matching-ish furniture.

Also we have lunch together almost every day and he pays for me every time like it's a date because it is.

Also he is my favorite snoogle pants, so I guess that works out pretty well too.

day 11: a photo of you taken recently

This is me, in my costume for Urinetown the Musical, taken three or four days ago. You're seeing this correctly: pregnant suit, filthy face, (fake, made out of wood) cigarette. My parents are so proud.

In the show, I wear that belly, (fake) smoke that (fake) cigarette, sing, and jump rope, all at the same time. I'm SUPER gross in this show, as evidenced by the picture. I mean, I know sometimes people strike some kind of pose for pictures, but really-- this is what I look like in the show, only a little more cutthroat and bloodthirsty. I sing a song about killing the female romantic lead. So, there's that.

Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Urinetown the Musical
Jan 21 - 30, 7:30 PM
Ragan Theater -- UVU Student Center
Order tickets:
801-863-PLAY or the online box office

day 10: a photo of you taken over 10 years ago

Items of note:
1. My hair, which is in fact a mullet.
2. Elizabeth's sobbing (duh).
3. Elizabeth's randomly grown teeth.
4. Rebecca's uncomfortable look.
5. How over it I am.

day 9: a photo i took

Hampton Court Palace

day 8: a photo that makes you angry/sad

In this case, sad-- like, sad-nostalgic.


That's all.

day 7: a photo that makes you happy

Truth: photos of myself don't thrill me lately. I'm struggling to knock off the little weight I gained over Christmas, on top of the few extra pounds I've kind of always had, and so lately I kind of look at myself and go YEESH.

Stop. I know. I do not base my self-worth upon my looks, and my looks are not even bad. Don't remind me, I already know it. But it doesn't change the fact that I'd like to feel better about myself, and so I'm going to.

I like going through pictures though, to find a single one that makes me happy. That's difficult to do, since I have so many that make me happy. Here's one of my very favorite happy photos:
This is me and Ames about to board Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. We had been married approximately 45 hours. See that pin on Ames's shirt? It says Just Married, with a picture of Cinderella and her prince. I'm not going to draw any sappy parallels between myself and Cinderella, but I invite you do draw some for me.

I sure love that Ames Bell.

day 6: whatever tickles your fancy

Turns out I'm really bad at the blogging-every-day thing. I used to be awesome at it, back when I was single and sat around on my computer well into the wee hours of the morning. Honestly, I'm starting to blog only from work these days, which explains why I didn't blog much last fall... These days, if I don't have time to blog at work, I don't feel like it much after rehearsal, when I'd rather put on my snuggle pants and fall asleep watching Prince Caspian. Am I right, ladies?

But the benefit of this blog-a-day is that it's getting me thinking about blogging again and I actually care about it. I guess I'll keep plugging even though maybe it's boring and maybe no one reads it and maybe it doesn't even matter because I'll be a famous blogger someday even if that day is not today.

Currently tickling my fancy:
I bought this yesterday at IKEA. I saw it at IKEA months ago in October, and I would think about it now and then, and then the other day I thought how darling it would be on my kitchen table, so yesterday I just bought it. I did. I went nuts, and it came home with me.

Now I know what you're thinking, those who know me well enough to know that I don't really, you know, bake. It's a frivolous purchase and what will I do with it, really? I'll tell you what I'll do with it. I'll use it as inspiration to make me bake. I mean, I don't care if it's brownies out of a box, they'll look eighty times cuter stacked in this little glass case than in the 8"x8" Pyrex I usually leave out.

On a related note, I'm totally making over our little apartment. It's going to be bomb, you guys. Believe it.

belated day 5: favorite quote

Yesterday was technically day 5: favorite quote, but I was a little tied up with this:
This is my baby sister Bizzy and her brand spankin' new husband Spencer. They got married yesterday, and she wore a pretty dress, and we carried around large poofs of baby's breath flowers, and it wasn't even that cold when we were taking pictures. Once, Spencer and I went on a date when we were 18-years old. I'm glad they're married. So that's what I was doing yesterday instead of blogging about my favorite quote. I'll catch up quick, I promise.

Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.
--Charlie Chaplin

This is the quote that I submitted to the yearbook my senior year. It has been my favorite quotes for years and years and years. I know that people tend to have favorite quotes that are all inspirational and uplifting, like from a church leader or Gandhi or a Founding Father or Emerson, and it's usually something that's like "Do better because you can, and if you don't live up to your own potential, you suck."

I don't live like that.

I know I have potential. I know I'm capable of whatever I put my mind to (within reason). That doesn't matter to me so much as being fearless to be myself. And frankly, I'd rather listen to Charlie Chaplin's advice than quote Hamlet to death and ironically spout the words of an entirely self-unaware man who said "To thine own self be true."

As an acting hopeful, and even as a budding writer to some extent, it's vital to be willing to make a fool of yourself. Example: I'm currently playing Little Becky Two-Shoes in Urinetown, in which I jump rope, wear a pregnant suit and sing my guts out-- all at the same time. I also spend some time smoking fake cigarettes, in an effort to teach "Do as I say, not as I do" (another good quote, but not favorite). I am ridiculous in this show-- and in some ways, the entire show is ridiculous-- and the only way to make it read is to be fearless. Or at least try to be fearless.

And I like that quote because it takes courage to make a fool of yourself, but also to fail. The courage to put yourself out there with the knowledge that you might fail is scary-- but also unimportant. The effort is what matters.

Thumbs up, Chuck. You're wise as you are a physical comedy genius. Who knew?

i have back fat

Gross, right? But guess what. I also have stomach fat. And arm fat. And chin fat. Fat fat fat all around.

I mean, I get it-- I am not a Fat Girl. I know this. I know that people don't look at me and think, Geez, look at that fatty. I've recently arrived at the conclusion that, even though I may have to buy a Large cardigan at Forever 21, it is because Forever 21 is made for 13-year olds and a Large cardigan does not make me a Large person.

That said, I'm a little round here and there, let's just be honest. While I'm not a fatty, I'm also not a skinny little thing with skinny pants and skinny shirts and skinny skinny. The reality is that I do have to buy Large cardigans at Forever 21. It's a truth. And, having been thinner in my past, I know it's a reality to be thinner in my present. No amount of layering and distracting the eye with interesting headbands will change the fact that I could stand to lose a few, if for no other reason than to make myself feel better about myself.

So. LET IT BE KNOWN. I am resolved to lose 15 lbs by the end of March, after which I will reevaluate and, depending on how we feel about things, proceed for another 5 lbs by the end of April. By then, I'll be healthy, hydrated, less jiggly, and maybe a little more on my way to looking like this:

Because I think she is about the epitome of femininity and elegance and being perfectly healthy and not stick thin. Also, if I look more like this, I bet I'm also one step closer to winning an Oscar. Win win win.

day 4: favorite tv show

You know those people who are always like, "I don't watch TV"? And you read their facebook profiles and under "Favorite TV Shows" they actually write "TV is a waste of time." And those people who are like "TV is crap, I watch movies snoot snoot snoot." Or people are even just kind of indifferent about television, which is fine, but still makes you feel kind of like maybe you're 8 years old again, stressing over whether to use your 1 hour of allotted television time a day for Doug and Step-by-Step or Clarissa Explains It All and Pete and Pete. I was a child of Nickelodeon. What about it.

But about a year ago, as I was frantically catching up on weeks of The Office, Ugly Betty, Gray's Anatomy, America's Next Top Model, The Tudors, etc., I stumbled upon the realization that I like TV. I like it. I do. A lot. TV is not always the crap people chalk it up to be. I mean, sometimes it is crap. There's lots of crap. But there are also a lot of crap movies, making film no better than TV, frankly. Good TV is good, and I like it, and I do not apologize for it.

And because I like TV, I don't think I can choose a cut-and-dry "favorite." I just bought Doug season 1 on DVD because I think it's just about the greatest cartoon series of all time. I follow a lot of shows. I'm really fond of Ugly Betty, even though I haven't watched any of season 6 because we haven't had cable and didn't have the internet for 9 weeks (a story for a rainy day). Since this blog is supposed to be about favorites, however, I'll mention a few.

Okay I admit it. I'm one of the Arrested Development posers who came onto the scene after the show was canceled. In fact, it had been canceled for YEARS. In fact, I only ever saw the credits of the first season while it was actually on TV because I recall it airing around the same time as Seinfeld reruns, which is what I was actually watching. Having that confession out of the way, Arrested Development is absolutely up there on the top of the Favorite TV Show list. C'est hilarious in every single way. I think Gob and Buster are my favorite characters, but the beauty is, you can never really choose a solid favorite because they're all memorable. Highly quotable, this show. I still need to get my parents into it, now that I think about it.

This is how Ames and I spent our Christmas vacation. Praise the heavens for Netflix, you guys. We watched all five seasons in about three weeks, and you'd better believe we'll have cable before the final season starts in February. LOST is the kind of show I knew I wouldn't be able to handle watching week-to-week, simply because I know I would have been frustrated having to wait every week for the next episode. And what would have happened during the writer's strike?!?!?!?!?! Watching it rapid succession has lead to many interesting conversations and will benefit us watching season six because we know everything that has just happened. It's really very engaging. But then-- everybody knows that. And hopefully season six will answer the question that is killing me at this point: why the hell doesn't Richard ever age?

You had better believe that I would own every season of Wishbone if it were available on DVD. And I'm not just posting this for nostalgia's sake (though I'm sure that has something to do with it). The fact is, Wishbone is the primary reason I was an English major. I actually read most of the books featured in each episode. And if I didn't as a child, then I read them in high school and even college (I used Wishbone in a paper about Victorian crime literature, no joke). I am living proof that this television show did exactly what it intended to do. And I had the biggest crush evar on Joe, you guys. David bugged the snot out of me, but I wanted to BE Sam. Oh Sam and her allergy to peanuts.

So basically what it comes down to is this: I have a college degree because I watch TV. Take that.

day 3: favorite movie

Now in reality, this is the most boring post ever because day 3: favorite movie is...


...exactly the same as day 2: favorite book.

Wah wah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

But for real. I have seen this movie 1209892857123 times. I used to play Little Women with my sister (who's name is Elizabeth, so she was always forced to be Beth) and my friend Katelyn (who was usually Amy because she had blondeish hair, and I was always Jo so that was off the table for Katelyn plzkthnx) the way other girls played House. I mean, I played House too, and I probably didn't even play Little Women that much, I just think I did. Though I do have vivid memories of it.

Anyway, Little Women the movie. Perfection. I have an enormous, movie-sized poster of it that used to hang above my bed before I got married and I decided maybe it was time to redecorate (it's still in the back room-- it will probably be hung eventually. I'll let Ames pick out a movie poster too and then we'll be even). This is my favorite movie soundtrack EVAR, by Thomas Newman the Brilliant.

I've fallen in love with it more and more through the years, too. I didn't like young Amy when I was little as much as I liked old Amy because old Amy was sooooooo sophisticated-- not so. Samantha Mathis is kind of as interesting as paint, truth to be told. And I didn't really love Beth, maybe because she died and I just didn't want to think about it. But Claire Danes really is just lovely, even if she is like a foot taller than Winona Ryder, who is so perfect I could die. And BALE and Eric Stoltz (my boyfriend) and Gabriel Byrne who is actually Irish not German. Faint faint faint. There couldn't be a better adaptation. I really honestly believe that to be the truth.

Also the 1947 Elizabeth Taylor version is good too, with June Allyson the 37-year old woman playing Jo.

This intrigues me, but I haven't seen it, so can't offer my opinion on The Partridge Family's Susan Dey and WILLIAM SHATNER as Jo and Professor Bhaer.

day 2: favorite book

It's quite possible this is the most boring answer to any "what's your favorite book" question ever asked because the answer is so completely predictable if you have spent any length of time with me at all.

My favorite book is:
Yep. Kind of a stock answer. I get it. It is true, nevertheless. My mom got me a copy of all three books (did you know the March family has three stories? I bet you didn't. Well then.) when I was eight, right after the movie came out (which is a post for another day) and I read them all. Frankly I never stopped reading them. Which is why Little Women is my favorite. Duh.

Of any character written in literature, I always thought I related to Jo most of all. In a lot of ways I think I still do, but being in the musical version in 2008 changed it so I just love each character differently. They're all my favorite. Even sad little Beth who wasn't my favorite at all (sad confession, I know).

A close second on the Favorite Book list is:

A family friend got my parents a stack of "Emily things" when I was born, including this book, which is also a set of three. It's by the same author as Anne of Green Gables, but more interesting, shorter, and starring a heroine who is far more interesting/less dramatic. It became a Canadian tv show (just found season 1 at Walmart recently what the what!) which isn't really very good and doesn't stick to the story very well, but the books are great, and Teddy Kent was my first literary boyfriend.




I'm a boring blogger.

Day 1: Favorite Song

If I hadn't already committed to doing this 30 Days of Blogging thing, I'd just turn around and give up right now. Or maybe that magical list is just getting the hard stuff out of the way and it'll get easier from here? Let's hope, because I just sat here for the last ten minutes, trying to decide on my favorite song.

Favorite.

Not semi-favorite. Not probably favorite. Not one that you just listen to a lot.

Favorite. Clear and cut. Pick one and that's all you're allowed to blog about.

According to iTunes, I've most listened to "The Beauty Is" from Light in the Piazza, but that's because I basically had it on repeat when I was wandering 546876585 art museums in Europe.

Swinging the pendulum in the complete opposite direction, I've got dozens of listens to every 30 Seconds to Mars song on my iPod. This is because Jared Leto has the most perfect rock star voice in existence.

"Almost Lover" by Fine Frenzy is on about 80 of my various playlists, so it pops up a lot. Favorite, though?

"Love Me Like the World is Ending" by Ben Lee. "The Hand of Fate Part 2" from Signs, which isn't so much a song as it is a brilliant orchestral piece. "Valley of the Shadow" from Little Women. "My Skin" by Natalie Merchant. The entire "Do You Feel" album by The Rocket Summer.

Well I'm breaking the rules because I just can't pick. Do not make me. Okay? It's too difficult. I'll just make you a mix instead and you can pick a favorite for me, yeah? Go to.

30 days

I used to blog a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Like, sometimes I would purposefully not blog because I felt like I had been blogging too much (as if there's any such thing). That's how I am with Twitter lately. Sometimes I save tweets to tweet later because I feel like I've been tweeting too much.

But blogging.

I think it's because I used to be stimulated ALL THE TIME during college about all things. It's easier to observe and write when you bounce around from class to class to work to rehearsal to homework to your friends to late nights with a bottle of Diet Coke AND an energy drink you shouldn't have. But then I graduated, and all I had to think about was payroll at Seven Peaks and planning a wedding-- both topics not so interesting to the general public (or anyone, in the case of payroll) for months on end. And then that end job, so I was kind of bumming around working part time and not really doing anything with my life, which is boring. No stimuli = no blogging.

In an effort to start making this blog more hoppin' (I hate myself for saying things like "hoppin'"), I begin this 30 Days thing so I'll be forced-- downright FORCED-- to blog every day for a whole month. Maybe then I'll be more inspired again.

Day 01 → Your favorite song
Day 02 → Your favorite movie
Day 03 → Your favorite book
Day 04 → Your favorite television show
Day 05 → Your favorite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobby of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy