Sword Fights and Chivalry...Two Long Dead Concepts

                My sisters were fighting with these new light saber toys that they got (granted they are 13 and 15 years old…but their mind set are that of little children’s), and it brought to my mind the Middle Ages. In English class, we had just finished discussing the Middle Ages, as well as I had a discussion with my friend Zach involving the subject. Sword fights back in the Middle Ages, always made me laugh when we discussed it in class because of all of the rules that went along with it. It didn’t even seem like fighting anymore. Chivalry too, is a long dead concept. You don’t really see guys constantly idolizing girls anymore (or at least displaying it openly in public), nor do guys place their jacket on a puddle on the ground so that the woman could step on the jacket and not in the puddle (funny idea brought up by Zach). It’s not practical in the modern day society, but the fact that the concept used to exist is really interesting. The world has changed so much since that time period. I wonder how much the world would have changed from now till…for example 2020, I mean, just 10 years could make such a major difference.  When you think about the concept of the future, kids in the future won’t have the same stuff that we have today. So just like we don’t have sword fights (no matter how interesting they might be!), or chivalry, the future generations won’t have CD players or the ability to play outside because the concept to them is abnormal and uncommon throughout their society. It’s depressing to think about, to think about how much the world will have changed in just such a short span…maybe humanity is too technologically savvy/forward thinking. 

Observation About Black Friday

          In my family, it is a tradition to go Black Friday shopping. I haven’t gone the past couple of years, but I decided that I wanted to go this year; however I had forgotten how hectic Black Friday is. Previous to going shopping, I had been talking to my boyfriend about it and he had been making fun of my mom for making a list of where to go, when the stores opened, and what she wanted to get from each one. If you don’t make a list though, it’s virtually impossible to get to everything. It’s twice as difficult because each store opens at different times and they all have different sales, so you have to walk in knowing what you want and you have to be able to leave really fast before the lines for the cash register get really long. Our family is not hard core Black Friday shoppers (for example sleeping outside the store the night before), but we got up at 2am on Friday. Personally, I love the atmosphere of Black Friday shopping because everybody is all happy and excited to be up and to get what they want/need. However as the day wears on towards the afternoon, people get tired and cranky, and that’s when it becomes obvious that the day’s over. Some people just get really rude, and it spoils the concept of having fun shopping and talking with other people as you wait in line. However the sales are usually alright, but these days the greatness of the sales have decreased, which causes me to wonder why people still continue to go shopping on  Black Friday. I mean, we are in a recession, the economy is down, people are unemployed, and yet everyone is out shopping and spending money. It’s quite contradicting. However, I think that the whole reason that people do it is because they need something happy in their lives, something to look forward to, when all the future seems to present them is uncertainty and sadness. The fact that us as humans do that, to me is like a little glitch in our system, however without it, more people would probably be looking at a bleak and dismal future and they would be left with no room to hope for improvement, so I guess glitches are best for the world! 

Actors vs. Crew/Techies

                In every show, actors can get so particular about various insignificant things. It is an old running joke amongst the crew and techies about whether or not actors could manage without us to help them. It’s a joke because there are some actors/performers who act like they are so much better than us because they are actually in the show and we are not; however we always sit back stage wondering how badly the show would crumble without us. I don’t think that it’s an arrogant way to think because we appreciate what they do and we realize how difficult it is, and that we would never be able to do what they do on their level. However, the actors like to complain a lot about little things, like someone not having a prop that they need when they are perfectly capable of getting it themselves or being tired. The crew and techies build the set, take care of lights and audio, paint and design the set, move it during transitions, and plan everything out to go smoothly.  Crew learns the harsh lesson of blood (you aren’t a real crew member until you have bled on the stage while working and not cared), sweat (if you don’t get sweaty while working, then something is wrong with your body), and tears (alright, maybe not tears because I’ve never seen anyone cry, but it goes with the flow…you should want to cry from annoyance, frustration, and exhaustion by the time everything is done, because everything is never all done). All the actors have to do is to take all of the pieces that we have completed and make sure that they combine it to look as effortlessly as possible, and because that they are able to do that is amazing! To me though, it just shows a difference in talents because I would be hopeless as an actor, but I was able to take apart one of the old six foot tall boxes from Bye Bye Birdie in a jiffy with a power drill, and not many girls know how to use one properly these days. I feel like everybody’s differences make them who they are, and I am who I am today because of stage crew and I’m proud of it! 

Rant About Hell Week

This is delayed. I meant to write out my thoughts about hell week during hell week, but the week was too busy for me, and I ended up not having the time to sit down and write this blog till about a week or so after it. I guess that proves my point of how insane hell week is though. Hell week for theater shows is almost impossible at times. For Noises Off, it was dreadful, but in a good way. During hell week, everybody involved acts like the walking dead because of the sleep deprivation, some teachers cut some slack on assignments but others seem to just stress the due dates more, leaving no lee way. However at the end of our self inflicted nightmare, I know at least I came out with a sense of pride about how the show did and a little bit involving how I handled the drama that always comes with being involved in theater. Drama is always apparent during hell week because for example, I would not go home after school. Instead I would get ready for rehearsal for that night, try to do some homework, maybe eat, and then help everyone else with everything possible. It was insane. Then everyone else would show up at the school and we would all be at the school till 10pm or 10:30pm (occasionally 11pm). Then I would go home and do homework for a couple of hours, and not get to bed till 3am, and then get up again at 5am to finish up my homework. But seeing the same people every night for an extended amount of time, and out of tiredness and sometimes boredom, drama would always flare up. It makes it interesting though. I enjoy hell week because of how busy our lives are, but I was so happy to be done with it just because of my slacking on my grades, forgetting things as my memory became worse, and I was exhausted. Plus I felt like I had accomplished something. However now that it’s done, I almost feel like there is nothing in my life. We have a saying in stage/tech about how we sell our souls to theater, and it is completely true. After shows are completely done and we have been given back our souls and free time as a reward, it’s almost amazing how not busy life is. My boredom level seems to have increased, and I find myself wandering back to the tech booth like a lost puppy. It’s quite disconcerting actually. I am excited to find something new to do with my time though, however it won’t last too long because the musical preparations are starting early this year, so I get to enjoy that as well. 

Topics and Emotions

Coming up with topics to write about in these blogs have gotten repeatedly more and more difficult. I am not really a person who enjoys blogging about my personal life, nor will I ever be. Just writing about random stuff is hard. Unfortunately it is really stretching my mind to continuously do these, although that is probably the point of these. In fact, that’s the point of the class it seems like. The class is constantly causing at least me to look at things from a new perspective. For example, we had discussed last Tuesday, about emotions and how in reality emotions do not exist because they are just how we interpret how our body reacts to various situations. I had never really considered that until it was presented in class, and it makes so much sense to me now.  We had even taken an EQ test in class, and the results were surprising because of how low our class was on the scale. I received a 10/20, which to me makes sense. It makes sense for there to be lower scores because in the modern world, feelings are apparent and we are able to recognize them, however I feel that it is rare for the negative feelings to be discussed in our everyday lives. To me, for our generation I feel that we have been told since we were younger to not display emotions unless we are verbalizing them jokingly. However emotions should not be something that we are embarrassed to display. Emotions should be something to be proud of because it is what helps separate us from others, even if they are not “real”. 

Where Rum Cake Can Lead One's Thoughts

Okay, I had this amazing rum cake at the Old Spaghetti Factory a week or so ago. It was the best thing in the world! However, by eating it, it caused me to pause and wonder who thought of creating such a pastry that involved alcohol. Then that thought process caused me to think of how obsessed the world is, when it comes to alcohol. I mean alcohol is good in small doses, yet it has become a societal norm to drink at parties and social events. Somebody had to have started that trend. Plus drinking alcohol is not good in bulk because of its short and long term affects. Alcohol is legal though, despite its side effects. Because alcohol is legal, there is the debate going on about legalizing marijuana. If marijuana was to be legalized, I feel like the world would become more tumultuous. Yes, it would be legal so that would mean there would be less people in jail and getting in trouble for using it, however more people would start using it, and how would they know when to stop. Plus America does not need to start doing more drugs, which would happen if marijuana were to be legalized. The only reason that makes sense to me when it comes to legalizing marijuana would be for medical purposes. Beyond that though, I don’t see the point on even arguing about it. It should be obvious that we want to increase our country’s intelligence, not decrease it by legalizing marijuana, and causing kids to then think that it’s okay to do it since it is not against the law. However I know that a lot of people do not see it the same way that I do.