Just got a great email

It got blocked by my school's quarantine thing but every now and then I have to go check 'cause sometimes that stops Facebook. Anyway, this is the email I just got...

From:	"Joy. Baby"
To:	undisclosed recipients: ;

Hello Dear
How are you today my new friend, My name is Miss JOY.
Please i need relationship with you as my future partner ,i am a lady with good regard for relationship that is our culture as i got person like you so please put your mind on me,
I have allot to tell you also give you my pictures for you to know whom i am immediately i see your reply in my in-box, Pleases contact me to enable me send more of my pictures for you to know whom i am
Thanks Miss JOY...................


I definitely think I should respond...

UPDATE: 4/7/11 I got another email from Miss JOY, worded exactly the same way, and a slightly different one:

Hello
my name is joy and my contact adderss is:iam a beautiful young girl with full of love and carely, well i saw your profile and i love it, i think we can click together. please i will like you to contact me through this my email adderss thus please contact me with my email adderss i will like to show you my photo and at desame time you will know more about me.once again please contact me true my email adderss.dont send it to the site,the will not allow me to read your reply dou to i dont have any access their.so please email with my address.
thanks for your understanding
joy

An Open Letter to the Weather Gods

Dear Weather Gods,

Remember how nice it was last week? You were spectacular. Especially on Friday. That nice, warm, sunny, beautiful weather was fantastic.

I'd really love to keep going with the springy/summery weather. I love it. It's really great.

I thought you were just being temperamental at first. I mean, it wasn't particularly cold over the weekend, it just wasn't warm. But then this week came.

Yeah, ok, so it was reasonably nice ish most of the day on Tuesday, but it wasn't warm.

But Wednesday? That sucked.

And I just checked the weather for today (or is it tomorrow? It's 2AM Wednesday night/Thursday morning... I don't know what day it is anymore....). Chance of snow in the morning.

Screw you, Weather Gods.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a New England girl. I know I had a snow day on April 4th in middle school once.

But I'm not in New England right now.

I can handle snow in March in New England. But this is Pennsylvania for goodness sake. At the end of March.

You gotta make up your mind. Either be spring and I'll pack up my winter gear and mail it to my mother or stay as winter and I'll just be grouchy.

Please stop changing your mind every week.

And if you're trying to decide which way to go, it'd be great if you kept in mind just how much I loooovvvee nice warm springy weather.

Sincerely,
Wendy

UPDATE: There's frost on the ground. I don't think I'm on speaking terms with the Weather Gods right now.

The Phantom's Bad Luck

If you haven't seen the Phantom of the Opera movie and are not interested in spoilers, don't read this. I'm writing this as though you've seen either the movie or the show. I'm just kind of referencing things....

At the end of the Phantom of the Opera movie, the Phantom (Gerard Butler) smashed all his mirrors. He has three mirrors, he smashes them each twice. The final smash shatters the last mirror completely.

Let's give the Phantom 7 years bad luck for each smashing and an extra 7 years for that final smash (especially since there's a bit of a continuity issue with that mirror. He smashes it once and the camera zooms in and you see two spidery places where he hit it.... So let's count the incontinuity and utter shatterage as a third hit on the final mirror.). Two smashing per 3 mirrors plus the extra one. That's 7 sets of bad luck. 7 sets of 7 years of bad luck is 49 years.

Now, the black and white bits of the movie are set in Paris 1919. The colored story (which is technically a flash back. Although I'm pretty sure there's a fancy word I can't remember for when the entire story is set in flash back...) is set in Paris 1870. That's 49 years later.

So... 49 years after the events of the story, the Phantom leaves a rose with Christine's ring on the ribbon tied around it on Christine's grave.

I wonder if the movie people did this on purpose. Like, his bad luck has finally run out and he leaves the ring and rose on her grave?

'Course, if you think about Love Never Dies, this means absolutely nothing since other than loneliness the Phantom has pretty decent luck... But (if I recall correctly... I've only seen it on stage once and it was two years ago....) he also doesn't smash mirrors on stage....

OY FREAKING VEY HULU

Dear Hulu,

The reason you have an ad tailor is so people don't get pissed at seeing the same ad over and over.

So how many times do I have to tell you that ads for Geico or All State are not relevant to me???

Not only am I not interested in buying any type of auto insurance (or motorcycle, RV, or any other insurance for something with wheels...), I also have no intention to buy a Robot Roomba or any type of dog food. Similarly, I have a cell phone and have no current plans for a new phone or ditching AT&T.

I'd really really appreciate not showing ads for things I've already clicked "not relevant" for.

The only ads you ever show me that ARE relevant are the ones for JC Penney. 'Course, I still click not relevant for those because I just want to not see the same ads over and over.

I'm going to tell you that no ads are relevant to me because I don't buy things based on ads. If I see an ad multiple times, it'll just annoy me. So I say nothing's relevant. Please show me new ads.

And seriously, I hate the old guy in the Geico ad. He drives me crazy. While I agree the music that comes up with the disco ball in the one with the "technical difficulties" is catchy, the line "let's keep rolling" is really not necessary. And the one with the gecko T-shirts and water bottles and things? The guy is freaking clueless.

Clearly, I've seen the Geico ads too much. Don't even get me started on the "did the little piggy cry whee whee whee all the way home?" ("wheeeeeeeeeeeee! wheeee wheeeee wheeeee wheeeeeeeeeee!") one. That may be the most annoying ad I have EVER seen.

And the only plus side to the All State ads is that the guy who plays Mayhem is the guy who played Cassedy on the first season of Law and Order SVU. And I loved that guy. I pity his career, but he's kind of gorgeous.

Anyway, my point is STOP SHOWING THE SAME ADS OVER AND OVER. I clicked not relevant 'cause a) they're not relevant and b) I want new ads!!!!!

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Wendy

PS The lady in I forget which dog food (Purina diet weight loss something or other maybe?) ad whose dog's name is Winky (or something like that) drives me crazy. She's an idiot. She goes on and on about how convenient prepackaged food is, since you don't have to measure anything or whatever. Dude. That's the point of prepackaged food. Get over it. That has nothing to do with Purina. That has to do with food companies (human and pet, in fact...) all over the world who understand how lazy people are.

Has Arizona read the Fourteenth Amendment?

It was pointed out to me in the comments on my last post that the amendment I was looking for is the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified July 9, 1868 (once again, this is coming out of my copy of Great Documents of American History):

"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and Subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

There it is, spelled out in black and white. You can't get it any clearer.

I was right.

The Constitution says if you are born here, you are a citizen. No ifs, ands, or buts. That's it.

Not only that, but read the rest. Do you see the number of times "any person" pops up? "Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," know what that means?

Maybe I'm misinterpreting that, but to me that means that until they can prove someone is here illegally, they are subject to the same protections as everyone else. Which is really just common sense if you think about it, I mean, what if they really ARE here legally and you assume they're not? You go treated them all suspiciously and try to get them deported and then they wave a passport or citizenship papers in your face.

Considering we're the land of the free and practically everyone was originally an immigrant (once again, lemme point out that the Native Americans should have had the right to have us all deported), we have a really lousy view on immigrants now.

My point is, not only is this bill that Arizona just didn't pass unconstitutional, so is what I call the "Rock Paper Scissors" law (as in, "if a cop asks for 'papers' and I say, 'scissors,' do I win?"). People do not have to hand over their papers without a warrant (btw that one's not just in the Constitution, that's in the Bill of Rights {Fourth Amendment. "The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" etc... Also please note it says "persons" not "citizens." This law pertains to not citizens, and not just people here legally. If they meant only legal residents, they'd have said so.}... So you can't even make an argument that the Founding Fathers wouldn't have agreed with this... I disagree with that argument, but I'm sure there are people who don't think anything after the Bill of Rights counts...). I'm pretty sure "due process" is not seeing that someone is hispanic and requesting their papers. Americans are not required to keep their papers on their persons. Americans are not required to hand them over just 'cause a cop asks. A judge has to sign off on it and there has to be probable cause.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE IS NOT PROBABLE CAUSE WHEN THE CRIME IS IMMIGRATION STATUS.

Actually, there is pretty much no CONSTITUTIONAL way for Rock Paper Scissors to be enforced....

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment. Plus some thoughts on citizenship

So I was flipping through my copy of the Constitution trying to find something and discovered something funny.

According to the footnote for the 27th Amendment, "Congress submitted the text of the Twenty Seventh Amendment to the States as part of the proposed Bill of Rights on September 25, 1789. The Amendment was not ratified together with the first ten Amendments, which became effective on December 15, 1791. The Twenty Seventh Amendment was ratified on May 7, 1992, by the vote of Michigan."

Huh... I'm going to assume that 200 years is the record for the longest time for an amendment to be ratified....

And in case anyone was wondering, the reason I have a copy of the Constitution (to be specific, I have The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History, 1785-1865, edited by John Grafton) is that I'm taking an American politics class right now and, as my prof said in her email requesting we all obtain a hard copy of the Constitution, on the first day of class we "took a leaf out of the Republicans' book" and read the Constitution.

And what I was looking for is anything about natural born citizens. I just read an article my aunt posted on Facebook talking about how Arizona didn't pass a bill that, among other things, would stop granting automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born on US soil. I think it says somewhere in the Constitution that if you're born on US soil you're a citizen, end of story. But I can't find it, so I may be wrong.

However, whether or not I'm wrong, the instant anyone says "anchor babies" will no longer get citizenship, I say everyone who's ancestors were undocumented upon arrival here (so pretty much everyone who's all "my ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War!") should get shipped back to Europe.

Your ancestors were illegal immigrants (and screwed the current inhabitants a lot worse than anyone coming in illegally now... At least no one's being given smallpox now...) and you just decided that the children of illegal immigrants should not be granted citizenship.

I got Rapiscammed

Maybe I better go back to the beginning of this story...

Thanksgiving 2010
You may recall that everyone was all up in arms about the new Rapiscan backscatter thingamobob last November and November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving, aka the biggest travel day of the year, was "opt out day." Like everyone else in the world, I was planning to fly home that day. I had the perfect plan.

Due to my teeth which my orthodontist doesn't like, I have had more X-Rays than I care to count. Actually, I doubt I COULD count them. Between that and the amount of flying I've done in my life (not a small amount, although it is not a particularly impressive amount...), I think I should probably not be exposed to more radiation that necessary. At this point, "necessary" is pretty generous, obviously I do still fly, and on Friday my orthodontist did another X-Ray.

But the backscatter, when functioning properly, is apparently the equivalent of a couple of minutes in flight. Especially now that I'm flying back and forth between Philadelphia and Boston a few times a semester, those couple of minutes may add up. And that's when functioning properly. It's not clear the TSA techs actually know how to work it and know when it's acting up... Which is very worrying...

So. My plan. A) I was very much in agreement with the sentiments of Opt Out Day and although I had zero desire to be felt up by a total stranger, I decided I'd prefer that than to be the one to screw up the boycott. B) I wanted to limit my radiation. That simple. I figured opting out made a lot of sense. I decided the extra radiation might cause some serious badness as opposed to the brief discomfort of a stranger groping me.

Between the delays my mother told me to anticipate thanks to OOD and the fact that the airport would probably be very very busy, I decided it would be good to get there early, so I arranged a very early ride to the airport from my lovely roommate's lovely father. And I do mean very early. My flight was shortly before 9pm. I arrived at security around 5:30. That's early even by my mother's standards.

So, there I am, boarding pass and license in hand, walking toward the line for security when I realize something.

There are approximately 5-10 people in line in front of me and not a single backscatter in sight.

That was really weird because I'd gone through that exact security a month or so before when I went home for fall break and I'd seen backscatters then. But I shrugged it off and moved through the line.

I'm not even kidding, I spent more time taking my belt and shoes off than I did in line...

I figured getting through security a good 3 hours before my flight meant the end of the Rapiscan story.

I was wrong.

The story continued on the way back to school at the end of spring break.

Once again, there was zippo line for security. Seriously, the lady checking tickets and licenses waited for me...

So there I am, unpacking my laptop and taking off my belt (and trying to keep my pants from falling down) and the TSA lady helping people with bins and things starts talking to me and the people behind me.

"Please make sure your pockets are completely empty. No tissues, coins, or anything. Please take off your belts. We are using *ramumblemumble* technology today. Your pockets must be completely empty. Please take off your watches."

I had no idea what the mumble was. I checked if I needed to take my bracelets off, fed my stuff onto the conveyer belt and looked at the lady to tell me where to go.

She ushered me into something that I suddenly realized was the dreaded Rapiscan thing.

"Oh crap." I think to myself. "She mumbled 'Rapiscan technology'! And now I can't even opt out!"

Swearing to myself, I put my hands over my head like they told me.

It was relatively painless and only lasted a few seconds, but I was still totally fuming.

After they let me step out of the machine, they told me to stand on one of those footprint mat things. This TSA guy mumbled something at me. I stared at him.

"Huh?"

He repeated it, barely louder and no more coherently.

I tried to politely ask for another iteration.

He wound up saying it 3 or 4 times. Eventually, I discovered he was telling me to stand on the mat for a few seconds. I dunno why they wanted me on the mat, but I think they tell everyone to stand on it for a few seconds after stepping out because they had the people behind me do it too.

Then this TSA lady comes up to me and tells me she's gonna pat down my hair. In retrospect, I think it was 'cause I had forgotten to take my hair clip out and that probably screwed up the picture the same way tissues in your pocket would. It hadn't occurred to me to take it out 'cause I HADN'T REALIZED I WAS GOING IN THE FREAKING BACKSCATTER.

Then she sent me on her way.

I'm not gonna lie, it was very very efficient.

But seriously? It really really worried me.

What if I had been pregnant? (My mother and grandparents and other similar people read this so I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you, no I'm not pregnant. Nor am I even worried about the possibility. THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL.) The TSA people didn't know I wasn't pregnant and hadn't told me that I was entering a machine that would blast me briefly with radiation. Technically, I'm sure it wouldn't have hurt since obviously I was about to fly (wow. I'm seriously confusing my hypotheticals here.... My point is, if you're going through security, you're about to get on a plane. Unless you're meeting an unaccompanied minor.........), but what if the machine was malfunctioning?

I've had enough X-Rays in my life to know that X-Ray technicians have to ask you EVERY SINGLE TIME you have one done whether or not you're pregnant. Although the lovely women at my orthodontist have kind of stopped asking me. Actually it's funny. They were really good about it for years and years. I'm pretty sure I remember them asking me when I was, like, 10. But since I was about 16 they've kind of slacked off. Huh.

Anyway. Back on topic.

Imagine I had been pregnant. I was not given the chance to keep my unborn child from being born with multiple heads or limbs. Or any other birth defects that can be caused from prepartum radiation.* I was not even WARNED. Only once was I told what kind of technology was being used and it was mumbled.

I'm still pissed. Sometime this week I'm going to write a very angry letter to the TSA. I understand their need to use this machine although I am under the impression that it won't do much good. From what I understand, if terrorists are at the point of dealing with security, there's nothing the guys with the X-Ray machines can do to stop them.

I'm not mad about the machine.

BUT SERIOUSLY, TSA, TRAIN YOUR FREAKING EMPLOYEES. People who work with people need to be able to ENUNCIATE and speak in such a way that the travelers don't feel they are being yelled at.

When I asked if my bracelets were a problem, the lady snapped at me.

Two of the three people I dealt with during my encounter with what I am now calling the Rapiscam spoke completely incoherently about vital information.

If you ask me, I should have been told, very briefly, exactly what I was about to be examined by. Maybe not explicitly told "you have the option to opt out" but at least given the chance to say that I was opting out.

Grrrrr.

I feel I have been scammed by the TSA. The term "Rape&Scam" crossed my mind, but I decided it wasn't invasive enough to warrant the full term. However, if I wind up opting out at some point in the future (which I probably will. Not only to decrease my radiation but also to be difficult to ill trained TSA workers. I know it's not necessarily their fault, but I'm still mad at them.) I may change my mind to calling that. From everything I've heard, it may be invasive enough.

When I have time and am not tired, I will recount more of my travels from Boston to Philadelphia. It was quite uneventful, but filled with the possibility of abduction.

At least, it was filled with the possibility of abduction if you watch a lot of Law and Order (esp. SVU). Which I do.

But it's a story for another time.

*Would you call something that happens before birth prepartum? That's my best guess.... Or would it be prenatal?

An Open Letter to my Light

Dear Light,

I understand that you are very excited when you are turned on, but the singing has got to stop.

I'm sure you've noticed that I've been replacing you lately by opening my shades and using my lamps. It makes me feel more green, but it's a lot less convenient.

It's ok at first. I walk into the room and flip the switch and then go to work.

But then it starts. At first I don't notice it. But then it gets louder.

And louder.

Sometimes I think it has stopped but then you decide it's time for an encore.

Please stop with the singing. Seriously, it's ridiculous. I would appreciate silence when I'm working. I play music or whatever, but that your music isn't quite what I'm looking for.

If you can't try to stop the singing, I'm going to stop bothering to turn you on for long periods of time. You're only going to get turned on for long enough for me to get other lights going.

Consider yourself warned.

Sincerely, Wendy

PS Don't go crying to your other owner about this. I know your singing doesn't bother her, but she understands it bothers me. She might keep using you, but she doesn't mind when I switch to lamps and turn you off, so it won't make a difference if you complain.

My Favorite Show

You could say my childhood was defined by musicals: Peter Pan, Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, the King and I, My Fair Lady, the Music Man... The list is pretty long, but figure it's mostly Rogers and Hammerstein, a little Lerner and Lowe, and generally "classic" stuff. In other words, all stuff my mother loves.

Especially when I was little, my siblings and I were all really into Peter Pan. I had an obvious reason, but I don't know what the pull was for my siblings. The point is, we all loved it.

When I was maybe 6, my whole family went to see Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan in Boston. We had seats right at the front of some balcony. I don't know which one, I just remember feeling like we were really far back, so part of me thinks it wasn't the mezzanine. Either way, I should probably mention here that the beginning of this story is about my brother, not me.

My brother was about 3 at this point. He knew the show, but I guess he didn't know what to expect. My mother watching him says that as the overture started, he levitated to the front of his seat. He sat up perfectly straight and you could tell he suddenly knew what he was there for.

Now comes my part of the story, just remember the whole levitating-straight-up–to–the–front-of-the-seat thing.

My junior year of high school, I went to see Phantom of the Opera in London. I'd never seen it on stage before and haven't seen it since.

Before this, I never really had a favorite musical. At this point, I considered Phantom and Les Mis to be among my favorites, by I wouldn't have picked one.

Phantom of the Opera starts very slowly, both on stage and screen, because it has a prologue before the overture. There's an auction and the last item the audience sees auctioned off is the chandelier sitting on the stage. The auctioneer says, "This is the very chandelier which figures in the famous disaster." He goes on about lighting for a bit and finally says, "Perhaps we can frighten away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination! Gentlemen!"**

Then the chandelier starts lighting up and lifting off the stage as the overture starts and the scene rewinds to the height of the Paris Opera House (by the way, this sequence is really cool in the movie....).

At the age of 17, I sat on one side of Her Majesty's Theatre in London on some random balcony watching the auction (My seat kind of sucked actually. But it was totally worth it.). As the auctioneer said, "Gentlemen!" I sat straight up. I moved to the edge of my seat. I was utterly transfixed on the chandelier now rising off the stage and the big awesome "duhm duh duh duh duh duh duduh..." (sing it, it's totally the tune...)

I had the same response as my three year old brother.

Now, I'm not saying that Peter Pan was Teddy's favorite show (although it might have been...), but suddenly, when I realized the reaction I had had, I realized I was kidding myself. I love Les Mis, really I do. And I love all the other shows I considered among my favorites. But I suddenly realized I do have a favorite show. And that show is Phantom of the Opera.

I'm not the only one with this reaction to the chandelier.

Last October, the production of Phantom in London celebrated its 10,000th performance and its 24th birthday. In honor of the occasion, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Crawford joined the cast for curtain call (by the way, if you don't care about the whole video, ALW comes on at about 1:30 [technically it's later, but the orchestra does something totally fitting for his entrance, so just start there....], Michael Crawford comes on at 3:40, and he says what I'm talking about at about 4:42):



Ok, so maybe Mr. Crawford's reaction doesn't mean it's his favorite show. But I had the same reaction to something as Michael Crawford!!!!! That's really exciting for me... He's one of my idols. He's amazing and awesome....

As for the rest of watching the show in London, the guy who I saw playing the Phantom was Ramin Karimloo. That's the guy who, less than a year later, would originate the same role in Love Never Dies.

Wait, does that count as originating the role? I mean, he's not originating the character, but he's the first person ever to play that part.... Huh... Confusing...

I haven't seen Phantom since then, other than the movie and lots and lots of YouTube (both of it and LND), but I can still feel like I'm sitting in that seat. I can still feel like I'm there. My reaction when the chandelier went up only scratches the surface of how I responded to finally watching the show on stage.

**These lines are from Phantom of the Opera but may not be exactly word for word the lines. I am remembering them and writing them as I remember. I am also punctuating them as I see fit.

An Open Letter to Southwest

Dear Southwest

Ever since Fall Break, I have been faithful to you. I fell in love with you over the ease of getting to your flights and the free checking.

I admit, at first I was little fearful of the open seating, but now I've even embraced it. I like it now. I can sit down wherever I feel like. It's lovely.

But now, right when I'm counting on you, you cancel on me. At the last minute. I was all dressed and ready to go and you TEXT me to say sorry can't make it?

Not cool, Southwest. NOT COOL.

I'll stay a loyal flier, because really what choice do I have? But I don't trust you anymore. You don't even give a reason. And the weather is lovely, so there are no reasons obvious to me.

Consider yourself warned, Southwest.

Sincerely,
Wendy

UPDATE: What now, Southwest? My daddy got me on a US Airways flight. So there. I'm going home IN SPITE OF YOU.

Dear Blogger

Dear Blogger,

I checked. My user profile clearly states my location as being in Massachusetts. While this is moderately incorrect, Massachusetts is in the same time zone as Pennsylvania. Many things are different between the two states but time is not one of them. I am not located anywhere on the West Coast. I would like the time stamps on my posts to reflect the fact that I live in the Eastern Time Zone.

Please remedy this.

Thanks,
Wendy

PS Yes location can be moderately incorrect. While I realize on the surface this appears as an "either or," that assessment is false. I am in college and therefore have two homes. My homey housey home certainly is in MA and while I am not currently located there, that is a frequent location for me. My schooly dormy home is in PA. Yes, that is where I am currently located, but that changes periodically. Since I have Blogger keep that information private (although I don't know why I do since I just said it....), there is no reason to change it every time I switch (oh. That's why. It's another way I can be lazy sneakily...), especially since THEY'RE IN THE SAME TIME ZONE.

UPDATE: I checked and I lied. My eyes apparently went all kerfluey reading the edit profile page and my location is definitely not private. So I took the town off 'cause I'm thinking I'll keep that secret. Maybe it'll be like a guessing game since I know me and I'll say stuff that tells where my hometown is.

And of course, it's obviously a secret where Bryn Mawr College is... I mean, what school is named after the town it's in? No one knows where it is.... Shhhhh...

UPDATE 2: My mother lied to me. She said to edit the Blogger profile and put in my state, which was already done and clearly didn't help. But I figured it out. Under settings on the edit the whole blog page there's a formatting tab. Scroll down and you can select your time zone.

I win.

I like pink

I like girly colors. And girly things. Which explains the back ground. I'm not thrilled by it, but I'm having trouble deciding on something better. So this is what you're stuck with for now. The other things I like all look funny with words in front of it and since that's kinda the point.......

My inspiration

Lately, I've been writing a lot of really long statuses (stati?) on Facebook. Unfortunately, there's a 420 character limit. So I publish them as notes... But really, that doesn't do them justice 'cause I know I don't read notes that show up on my news feed and writing notes is the most boring thing in the world. Well, ok, there are more boring things, but you get the picture. My point is, while I doubt I'm making the reading of my lovely thoughts LESS likely, I could make it MORE likely AND have more fun writing them. So, I'm switching venues.

This is the note that inspired my new venue, copy and pasted straight from FB:

OHMYGODWILLINEVERLEARN. Note to self: if you spend too much time watching videos on YouTube of Andrew Lloyd Webber creations, doesn't seem to matter the show or what's actually in the video (reviews, interviews, actual performance, whatever...), you will wind up reconsidering your life plans. You will likely forget your previous decision that show business probably wouldn't work out for you. The same thing goes for listening to the songs. Those tend to be limited to just Phantom, Love Never Dies (but only as a stand alone... Still can't make an opinion as a sequel...), and the Woman in White. But it doesn't matter what songs. Even the songs I would never sing in my little fantasies. Seriously, I'm not gonna sing Music of the Night, Til I Hear You Sing, or Evermore Without You or I Believe My Heart (that one is slightly more likely... But I think I probably more of a Marian than Laura.... Plus than I can be all dramatic and "IIIIIIII close my eyes and I still see his face......" [and if you know the part I'm talking about, which I doubt you do, you'll know that I actually just wrote that PERFECTLY considering how it gets sung...]). So why do these songs make me go all "West End, here I come!!" And wait, since when did I decide I wanted the West End and not Broadway? I thought I wanted to be a lawyer in New England? Why do I want to move across the pond??? Being Christine and/or Marian. Why do I want to be these women? The arias. Right. I want to sing Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, All For Laura, If Not For Me For Her, and Love Never Dies. And not just like perform them, but in character. I don't know why. Just do. And with a voice teacher I *think* I could. There have been times when I had all the relevant notes.... But no... I doubt I will ever learn....

Oh, and wanna know the worst part? This was brought on by a musical theater star who I THOUGHT was safe. I was looking at Idina Menzel's website and outside of a random dream I had a gajillion years ago, she's never been in an ALW (She was Madame Giry. Really not sure she'd make a good one, but it was a dream...), so she shouldn't make me go all "yay show business!!!"... But then I was curious about the London Wicked 'cause it say the Apollo Theater. I was like, wait, isn't that where LND is playing? So I kept clicking and found myself on a "Theatreland" website, scrolled through the shows and realized no, it's the ADELPHI... But by then I was on the official LND website watching videos.......