Nothing Rhymes with Kiosk.

Short post today, but one with a horrible dilemma.  
Nothing rhymes with the word 'kiosk' (Lame!).  Really?  This is the current speed bump I've hit for what I'm writing at the moment.  Hopefully, if it works out well, I'll be able to show you guys soon what it is I'm working on, and I why I need *something* to rhyme with kiosk.  


And I found a great quote that is totally unrelated to what I just wrote, but I have to share it:

"I could not sit seriously down to write a serious romance under any other motive than to save my life; and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and never relax into laughing at myself or at other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first chapter."

 - Jane Austen

"There was a star danced, and under that was I born."

     I forgot I even had this blog.  How about quick catch-up on the past couple of months?  No? Too bad.

     

     *Booming voice: "Meanwhile, back at Cumston Hall..."

[Okay,  I didn't spend all of these past two months at Cumston Hall.  A good part of it was spent in E. Winthrop. ]

     This year,  SMASH (The Southern Maine Association of Shakespearean Homeschoolers - Yes, it's a mouthful)  put on William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.  And it was possibly one of the best performances we have had since I've joined.  If you don't know what the play is about, I suggest you go and read it.  It's now one of my favorites!
     Anyways, this year's SMASH season I got to assume the role of one of the Assistant Directors and Stage Manager, along with do what else needed to be done.  Even though it was a pretty big job (especially since our group doubled, so we had two casts!), it was possibly one of the best jobs I have ever had and I'm definitely hoping that I'll be able to use the skills that I've learned someplace else. I had two awesome co-assistant directors, Amanda and Evan, on the team with me as well and they were FANTASTIC! And I managed to mostly not lose my sanity, so there's another perk.  The only bad part? It's my last year.  But let's not think about that.
     To also add to the craziness of SMASH, I was able to throw a kind of spontaneous trip to Pennsylvania. What happened? Here is a list some of the things that happened during said trip: 
     Long van rides in a 15 passenger van with 11 people, scavenger hunts (Can you believe we didn't see a single ambulance during the whole trip?), Shakespeare Retold videos, PT (Perpetual Torment) Cruisers, crazy conversations where you have no idea what you're talking about, Just Dance,  Tanks, Krispy Kreme donuts and the ever awesome Estes. (Insert 'something' nice about J.E.)
   So along with SMASH, road trips, doing media and music for church, trying to get some school done, and a Nerf War, (If you ever get the chance to go to one, do.) I've been busy. 
     And now what am I doing? Psh, that's easy, I'm doing SMA - Oh.... :'(
     I should probably go read Petra's post on Signs and Symptoms P.P.D. or P.T.S.D. I've found myself singing 'Sigh No More' and some of the other songs from this year's play.  I need help. (Note: If you find yourself suffering from these symptons, schedule a SMASH get together.)

Here are some photos!  They aren't mine though.  I barely had any time to take photos.

Cast A!
Photo by Renditions Media.  Please DO NOT use or copy.  Thank you.

 'Hey look! A guitarist!'
'So this is what they call a mandolin player...'

Yeah, that's me with the guitar.
(This photo and the next two are from Corrie D.)

 Seth and Colin as Don Pedro of Aragon and Claudio.

 John as Antonio.

Some of the ladies from Cast B.
(Photo by Charlotte MacDonald.  Her blog.)

College - Wait, whaaaattt?!

Yeah, the title surprised me too. 


I'm graduating in (hopefully) two years. And only until today did I think "Oh, I should probably look at colleges sometime soon." 
So after looking a few, I finally decided to stop for now and go eat some pudding. I very glad that I have a little more time before I need to go off and decide where I'm gonna go earn that piece of paper in a frame that says I completed my school work.
Possible candidates are... Oh I don't know... 


I should probably go eat some more pudding. 
Tell me what you wanna do for college and where you wanna go! :)


And now for your random photograph of the day

"All the world's a stage..." - Or whatever that line is.

     On Monday, SMASH had auditions (or the process WE call auditions) for A Midsummer Night's Dream. The process went differently than last year (but it was the same way we did it my first year with SMASH). Auditions are always fun. Our director, P. Sam, chose us randomly for reading lines.  After every had a turn, he had us put in requests for parts we wanted. Then he and all the parents went and chose the cast. But I'm not gonna say who I was cast as - not yet at least. I'll tell you at the end of the post. 
     I was definitely nervous. But auditions for me weren't as bad compared to my first year. My first year with SMASH we did Love's Labour's Lost. I had NO clue what the play was about, who I wanted to be, or even how to read Shakespeare out loud. Sounds terrifying, doesn't it?  I ended up being cast as Boyet, as womanizing french soldier. I got to wear a ridiculous hat, had an awesome scar painted onto my face, and my favorite part, got to carry a sword around. 
     The next year, we did The Tempest. That was was the best one so far. I was cast a Prospero, the former duke of Milan and a wizard. Unfortunately, I dropped the part due to scheduling conflicts.  Thankfully, I was sharing the part with another guy, so I just handed it over to him. He was SO grateful. ;) I took a smaller role as a Reaper and did some backstage work. 
     My favorite part about SMASH is all the people. It sound sappy, but it's true. It's a great group of people who are Christians and love to act without compromising their beliefs. We all have amazing parents who invest a lot of time in this group as well. They let us stop our schoolwork, drive us all around, and help with the sets, costumes, and anything that needs help with. 
    I've come to the end of this post, so I guess that means I need to tell you what role I got. *sigh* Here we go. 
Drum roll, please.... No? Oh fine.
I will be playing Titania, Queen of the Faeries, in this year's production of a Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm still wrestling with the fact that I have to be madly in love with Bottom, who has a donkey's head on. But it should still be fun!


Oh, and on a side note, I start Driver's Ed tomorrow. 

A puzzling question