Currently, there is an air of air of promise floating around my bedroom. This morning I woke up feeling fresh and excited for the day. Sure, this week has sucked, but I wasn't thinking about the bad. I was happy because my dad hadn't come in to make his morning phone calls while sitting in front of the computer which just happens to be in my room. I had lost no sleep. So I woke up, showered and dressed, feeling sexylicious in a smaller shirt size than I've been buying since I've lost +/- 15 pounds this year, and headed off to the hospital where I ate lunch with my mom and the other nursery nurses. Nice. Pleasant.
Then I drove home and when I turned into Ridge Park and attempted to cross over that huge hump that looks like a ghetto 20 foot long Rodeo Drive, I lost accelerator power. I coasted half way down the street before I lost power steering and then came to a slow stop to side of the road in front of a neighbor's driveway. Thinking I could have been out of fuel (the excursion is always close to empty and there's no telling what the fuel gauge will say) I walked down the street to grab the 5 gallon tank of diesel we have in our garage. I fueled the car and tried to start... no go. It's out of oil. No oil at all. Em-T. Yeah.
So my mom came and steered while I pushed that damn thing out of the way of the driveway in the 110 degree sun. Now I'm home and I can't wait to leave. The excursion is waiting for oil from my dad halfway down the street.
Anyway, the air of promise from earlier today is coming back now. I've had a really lame 2 hours but things are getting a little better. Still... I need to get out of here.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Hewwo.
Quick update on my life:
I'm up to my eyeballs in theater, and it scares me so. Ryan's "Heart of the Macabre" which includes a short Opera, short Play, and short Musical (idk why i capitalized them) premiers THURSDAY! And I have parts in each, major ones in the Opera/Play. I'm very scared, but I'm trying so hard to learn it all. I have play rehearsal today and then all three throughout the week. I'm just so happy to be performing original work! Ryan is so generous in trusting me with his material. I truly feel honored. Maybe that sounds like a lot of smoke being blown, but whatever. This isn't B-town/IV/Shitstain/The Armpit of California anymore... though I will always love that place... This is college- no. This is UCSB, one of the top theater school in the nation, the only UC with a BFA, the only UC and possibly only college with anything like the College of Creative Studies, and it fucking rocks. I am honored to be presenting this work in this place. I'm struggling with it, but that feels so good because I know the end result will be something I can be proud of.
Not only is this original work, it's my first Opera, first college straight play, first stage killing, first gay character (Opera), first TRIPLE BILLING... and I'm the first ever to bring these three people to life.
Aside from Ryan's thing, Urinetown is flowing along as well, though not so smoothly. It's a bitch, actually. And I need to be off book today. I'm not worried what with my small percentage of lines in the total show. That's one thing I like about musicals: an hour or more is taken up with singing, so you have less lines!
I'm gonna cut this short, but I'll just quickly say that last night I walked into a fat tree branch that made me really disoriented and weird for an hour or so. Later, I had a late-night pool (the kind with balls and the green table) and Legally Blonde sangin' sesh with my chica Christie. As I state on facebook just now, SO THERAPEUTIC.
I'll tell ya how Ryan's show goes!
-Big D
Quick update on my life:
I'm up to my eyeballs in theater, and it scares me so. Ryan's "Heart of the Macabre" which includes a short Opera, short Play, and short Musical (idk why i capitalized them) premiers THURSDAY! And I have parts in each, major ones in the Opera/Play. I'm very scared, but I'm trying so hard to learn it all. I have play rehearsal today and then all three throughout the week. I'm just so happy to be performing original work! Ryan is so generous in trusting me with his material. I truly feel honored. Maybe that sounds like a lot of smoke being blown, but whatever. This isn't B-town/IV/Shitstain/The Armpit of California anymore... though I will always love that place... This is college- no. This is UCSB, one of the top theater school in the nation, the only UC with a BFA, the only UC and possibly only college with anything like the College of Creative Studies, and it fucking rocks. I am honored to be presenting this work in this place. I'm struggling with it, but that feels so good because I know the end result will be something I can be proud of.
Not only is this original work, it's my first Opera, first college straight play, first stage killing, first gay character (Opera), first TRIPLE BILLING... and I'm the first ever to bring these three people to life.
Aside from Ryan's thing, Urinetown is flowing along as well, though not so smoothly. It's a bitch, actually. And I need to be off book today. I'm not worried what with my small percentage of lines in the total show. That's one thing I like about musicals: an hour or more is taken up with singing, so you have less lines!
I'm gonna cut this short, but I'll just quickly say that last night I walked into a fat tree branch that made me really disoriented and weird for an hour or so. Later, I had a late-night pool (the kind with balls and the green table) and Legally Blonde sangin' sesh with my chica Christie. As I state on facebook just now, SO THERAPEUTIC.
I'll tell ya how Ryan's show goes!
-Big D
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Don't Say That, Of Course You Were Meant to B-F-A.
Don't say that of course you were meant to have children! -Into the Woods.
Christie made that hilarious little ditty you see as my title a few weeks ago. And she was right. Ladies and Gentlemen, I got into the Bachelors of Fine Arts acting emphasis major. The audition was yesterday and I got in. I got in. I can't stop thinking about it.
My monologue was from McDonaugh's THE PILLOWMAN, a wonderfully disturbing play that you should know about. I did a piece as Michael Katurian, the young, fucked up brother of Katurian Katurian. I don't want to ruin the play for you guys, so I can't tell you what my audition was. Although McDonaugh loves twists, so you would probably still be gripped if you heard this piece. Hell, you'd be gripped anyway by M's fucking brilliance.
I won't go into detail about my audition, but I will say I read it the wrong way initially. I did not think I would get in based on the exercises they made me do. In fact, while walking back to the theater at 5 o'clock yesterday, I was trying to think of monologues I could prepare for the secondary fall audition.
So, my life has very much changed. It's so mind blowing to think of how much this changes things. My schedules from now on will be very planned out, and my number of GE's decreases. I have to be careful not to get cut from the program though, but I have pledged to work harder than my hardest to make sure that doesn't happen. Being in the BFA is special for so many reasons. For one, I idolize a lot of the upperclassmen in the program to the point of fandom. Christy Escobar can tell you all about that. I don't even know most of them because I'm too intimidated to introduce myself. Now, however, I am one of them. Sure, I'm not automatically just as brilliant, but I have now been told that I have the potential to be. It's a wonderful feeling.
Summer is peeking over the Santa Ynez mountains and cannot get here soon enough. This year has been eye opening and thrilling in the best and worst of ways, but I'm ready for a little break. Fucking MCP has had me scrambling to find more and more to enroll in and I need some time to relax. That being said, I'll be back up here by July 18-ish to start training for FSSP RA-ing. The actual program runs from July 31 to September 13. Then I'll have about a week of being back in Brawley before fall quarter starts. Still, I have 5 more weeks of instruction (including one more midterm) and then finals week after that. Like I said, summer cannot get here soon enough.
I just planned my skedge for fall, and of my 18 proposed units, 8 are three BFA theater classes, 1 is modern dance which I have to take for the BFA, 1 is voice lessons, and the remaining 8 are two GE fulfilling classes. Scary as fuck, but so exciting. I may just kick out one of the GE's and save it for winter. Wait, I'll be in a BFA lit class then along with another 8 units totaling 12 already and then it would be 16 with the GE, plus voice is 17 and then the second dance class is 18 plus BFA required fencing is 18.5.................. You see how my skedges are all so much more plan-needing now? I'll have to rethink winter quarter eventually.
That's enough for now I suppose. I'll speak to you non-existent readers later.
-Big D
PS:
I was humped by a drag queen Friday night. And will someone please tell me if Sage Parker-Lang is getting fired or just leaving for a year???? I hear there's a petition to keep her that's going around. WTF? What's going on? Oh, and please bomb the OLT so that Urinetown is cancelled. That is all.
Christie made that hilarious little ditty you see as my title a few weeks ago. And she was right. Ladies and Gentlemen, I got into the Bachelors of Fine Arts acting emphasis major. The audition was yesterday and I got in. I got in. I can't stop thinking about it.
My monologue was from McDonaugh's THE PILLOWMAN, a wonderfully disturbing play that you should know about. I did a piece as Michael Katurian, the young, fucked up brother of Katurian Katurian. I don't want to ruin the play for you guys, so I can't tell you what my audition was. Although McDonaugh loves twists, so you would probably still be gripped if you heard this piece. Hell, you'd be gripped anyway by M's fucking brilliance.
I won't go into detail about my audition, but I will say I read it the wrong way initially. I did not think I would get in based on the exercises they made me do. In fact, while walking back to the theater at 5 o'clock yesterday, I was trying to think of monologues I could prepare for the secondary fall audition.
So, my life has very much changed. It's so mind blowing to think of how much this changes things. My schedules from now on will be very planned out, and my number of GE's decreases. I have to be careful not to get cut from the program though, but I have pledged to work harder than my hardest to make sure that doesn't happen. Being in the BFA is special for so many reasons. For one, I idolize a lot of the upperclassmen in the program to the point of fandom. Christy Escobar can tell you all about that. I don't even know most of them because I'm too intimidated to introduce myself. Now, however, I am one of them. Sure, I'm not automatically just as brilliant, but I have now been told that I have the potential to be. It's a wonderful feeling.
Summer is peeking over the Santa Ynez mountains and cannot get here soon enough. This year has been eye opening and thrilling in the best and worst of ways, but I'm ready for a little break. Fucking MCP has had me scrambling to find more and more to enroll in and I need some time to relax. That being said, I'll be back up here by July 18-ish to start training for FSSP RA-ing. The actual program runs from July 31 to September 13. Then I'll have about a week of being back in Brawley before fall quarter starts. Still, I have 5 more weeks of instruction (including one more midterm) and then finals week after that. Like I said, summer cannot get here soon enough.
I just planned my skedge for fall, and of my 18 proposed units, 8 are three BFA theater classes, 1 is modern dance which I have to take for the BFA, 1 is voice lessons, and the remaining 8 are two GE fulfilling classes. Scary as fuck, but so exciting. I may just kick out one of the GE's and save it for winter. Wait, I'll be in a BFA lit class then along with another 8 units totaling 12 already and then it would be 16 with the GE, plus voice is 17 and then the second dance class is 18 plus BFA required fencing is 18.5.................. You see how my skedges are all so much more plan-needing now? I'll have to rethink winter quarter eventually.
That's enough for now I suppose. I'll speak to you non-existent readers later.
-Big D
PS:
I was humped by a drag queen Friday night. And will someone please tell me if Sage Parker-Lang is getting fired or just leaving for a year???? I hear there's a petition to keep her that's going around. WTF? What's going on? Oh, and please bomb the OLT so that Urinetown is cancelled. That is all.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Spring Update
Hello all. It's been quite a while. And there's lots to say.
Monday starts the fourth week of Spring Quarter, which means my midterms are only a week after that. And that's a really sucky time for me. Why? Because BFA auditions are the 2nd of May. My midterms are the 27 of April - 1 of May. Bad bad timing. And I don't really know what I'm doing yet. My goal is to know by Monday so I can work on it with a few people.
If this quarter goes the way it's being planned in my head (no telling what will happen realistically) I will be super busy. I already am. I have 15 units right now, and that may sound minimal, but I have six classes in all. Three 4 unit classes and three 1 unit classes. My skedge is:
AsAm5: Intro to Asian American Literature 4
Verdict: It sucks.
RgSt19: Gods and Goddesses of India 4
Verdict: Interesting but very hard to grasp. The Indian way of thought is diametrically different from our western process. It's a joy and a chore to read and understand everything.
Geol7: Dinosaurs 4
Verdict: This class rocks. I learn something new and mindblowingly intersting at every class. Labs are a little annoying but worth it for the lectures.
Mus20C: Voice Lessons 1
Verdict: Fun, but not long enough. I'm working on The Impossible Dream and Non T'amo Piu.
INT94DN: Race and American Law 1
Verdict: So boring. I know it all.
Thtr29B: Lighting Lab 1
Verdict: Very interesting and fun, especially the bucket lifts and the airline cable grid we get to work on. But this one takes up a lot of time. It's a total of 4 hours a week, more than all of my other classes, but only 1 unit. Lots of work, some sweating, tiring.
There you have it. I'm going to have to end this because I have a Urinetown rehearsal at 5. I'm playing the villainous Mr. Caldwell B. Cladwell. Love the show, love the character, not so much the process. But I must not talk negatively. If I do, I will accumulate negative karma and I will never be able to escape my samsara through moksa. A little bit of Hinduism for ya there!
I've also decided to help my buddy Ryan Kerr out with his original musical On Angels' Wings. It's just ensemble, but that's lots of work. I'm also in his opera in which I play Alan, a man in love with a male prostitute who doesn't give him the time of day. Ooh! It's five. Thanks Storke Tower! In short, I also auditioned for a one act today. I'll keep you posted.
Oh and I got crunk last night with Maggie and Erika. And I mean crunk sincerely. Crunk.
-Big D
Monday starts the fourth week of Spring Quarter, which means my midterms are only a week after that. And that's a really sucky time for me. Why? Because BFA auditions are the 2nd of May. My midterms are the 27 of April - 1 of May. Bad bad timing. And I don't really know what I'm doing yet. My goal is to know by Monday so I can work on it with a few people.
If this quarter goes the way it's being planned in my head (no telling what will happen realistically) I will be super busy. I already am. I have 15 units right now, and that may sound minimal, but I have six classes in all. Three 4 unit classes and three 1 unit classes. My skedge is:
AsAm5: Intro to Asian American Literature 4
Verdict: It sucks.
RgSt19: Gods and Goddesses of India 4
Verdict: Interesting but very hard to grasp. The Indian way of thought is diametrically different from our western process. It's a joy and a chore to read and understand everything.
Geol7: Dinosaurs 4
Verdict: This class rocks. I learn something new and mindblowingly intersting at every class. Labs are a little annoying but worth it for the lectures.
Mus20C: Voice Lessons 1
Verdict: Fun, but not long enough. I'm working on The Impossible Dream and Non T'amo Piu.
INT94DN: Race and American Law 1
Verdict: So boring. I know it all.
Thtr29B: Lighting Lab 1
Verdict: Very interesting and fun, especially the bucket lifts and the airline cable grid we get to work on. But this one takes up a lot of time. It's a total of 4 hours a week, more than all of my other classes, but only 1 unit. Lots of work, some sweating, tiring.
There you have it. I'm going to have to end this because I have a Urinetown rehearsal at 5. I'm playing the villainous Mr. Caldwell B. Cladwell. Love the show, love the character, not so much the process. But I must not talk negatively. If I do, I will accumulate negative karma and I will never be able to escape my samsara through moksa. A little bit of Hinduism for ya there!
I've also decided to help my buddy Ryan Kerr out with his original musical On Angels' Wings. It's just ensemble, but that's lots of work. I'm also in his opera in which I play Alan, a man in love with a male prostitute who doesn't give him the time of day. Ooh! It's five. Thanks Storke Tower! In short, I also auditioned for a one act today. I'll keep you posted.
Oh and I got crunk last night with Maggie and Erika. And I mean crunk sincerely. Crunk.
-Big D
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Dylan and Jason Got Bitched Out at Footloose!
ATTN: All of the statements in this blog are marked in red so they stand out... or something. It's like all the stuff Jesus says in the bible, except it's not Jesus.
Jason, a cast mate and friend from Joseph, invited me to catch the opening night of the 10th Anniversary Tour of FOOTLOOSE: The Musical at the Granada in downtown Santa Barbara. Of course, we were the youngest people in that theater by a good twenty to thirty years. But I never expected the old people there to be such senile assholes.
We were very excited for the show and we knew it was the type of show where cheering was appropriate. Just like Mamma Mia and Rent, the actors in Footloose feed off of the audience reaction to their stage work. So, Jason and I were fully prepared to support these recent college grads in their professional debut. And they deserved it.
So, we sat down in our Row U seats which were actually very good. When the houselights went down and the music started, Jason initiated what became a very raucous opening applause. He even "wooed". The show started and the cast was phenomenal. The first female soloist in the title song set the bar for the show very high. She got some applause and a woo from Jason. The end of that song also got good applause and a Jason woo. Totally appropriate. But every time the two of us applauded or Jason wooed, the bitch sitting in front of us turned around to scowl. Also, the people sitting next to us on my side moved to the end of the row to get away from us because we were being "too rowdy".
The first act went on and I began to join in the wooing when it was due. At the first act finale, we cheered as a crowd normally would, and we were not the only wooers this time. However, the above-mentioned bitch turned around and said, "I know you're excited because you're young and you've got friends in the cast, but it's too much. It's very rude and it's right in my ear." She looked like she was in her forties to fifties with black hair and looked like an old Demi Moore, kinda, which is weird since another person looked like Demi Moore at Joseph. Anyway, Jason said, "We don't have friends in the cast. We're just excited and we like the show." And the bitch replied, "Well, you need to tone it down." So, we got up for intermission and I said, "Okay, I want to switch seats." I wish we had been seated next to the ladies at the end of our aisle. When we passed them, they said, "Oh, if you're by us, you have to be fun. Are you gonna be fun?" Good sports, you two!
So we got up because Jason needed to pee and smoke. On the way out of the aisle, I overheard the ancient couple who had moved away from us talking. The woman said, "Those two young men should be thrown out." WHORE!! Of course, she didn't know I was right behind her, and her husband looked embarrassed. One of the younger ushers heard the remark and smiled at us as if to say she thought the lady was being a bitch.
I was just so pissed because the show was all about the generation gap and how young people should be allowed to be energetic and have fun. So, we asked the nice usher if we could move seats because people were bothered by us. She said, "Don't worry about it. I can't kick you out for being excited, but you can move to the other side or back a few rows to any available seats. It's an energetic show, so there's no problem with how your acting." So nice! So we moved back one row and away from the bitch, only now we were closer to the old couple who then started to talk about us again. Then, the bitch, who was going back to her seat, turned to us to say, "Thank you for being thoughtful and courteous." AKA, thanks for moving, assholes. "You can be excited back here." I quickly said, "No, we can't because they don't want us to be," motioning to the older couple who looked embarrassed and angry. BTW, in the second act, we did tone down our already low cheering and noticed that there were lots of cheers coming from elsewhere. Still, I felt my heart rate speed up every time I clapped.
Why in the world were there so many old people at a young people show like Footloose? They were probably old when the movie came out! And at a show about letting young people be free-spirited, they were completely trying to shut us up. We were not being distracting. We only cheered when there was applause. We didn't randomly yell stuff. We wooed when we thought it necessary when a song was OVER. I don't go to the theater just to go. I don't go to the theater and clap my hands ten times after each song because that's polite. Especially not at Footloose.
So that's my story. Here are some highlights of the rest of our night:
During the "Answer the train" scene, when Ren yells about his father (I HATE YOU!!!!), it was a very dramatic moment and somebody in the audience said, "... whoa...". It was so funny. Jason and I were stifling laughs like crazy. Good thing we had moved AWAY from everyone else.
Lol, afterward, during the Exit Music, I asked an usher where the stage door was, and Jason started singing along to "I Need A Hero" in girly falsetto. The Usher said something like, "That was good! I'm sorry you two didn't enjoy the show!" and laughed. And she was old! The ushers there rocked.
When we first got to the theater, Jason asked, "Where's the restroom?" and the usher answered, "The Ladies room is to the right." Then, she realized he was a guy and said very quickly, "And the mens is to the left." So funny. Jason loved that.
We were the only ppl at the stage door and we waited for like half an hour, but the cast was getting notes. So when they finally came out to get on the bus, they ALL came out at once and we were so scared! We had expected to be able to talk with a lot of them one on one as they came out, but it was a line of them! So we tried to call out our favorites, but our girl ignored us... "KARA!!! KARA!!!!!" However, we were able to talk to the actor who played Ren. Jason was gushing, and later felt so embarrassed at how he'd acted in front of his future husband. "You're a star, Eric!" Hahahaha! Such a great night.
I can't wait until Mamma Mia, when I will be cheering no matter fucking what. Look out Ancient Bitches of Santa Barbara! There WILL be cheering.
Jason, a cast mate and friend from Joseph, invited me to catch the opening night of the 10th Anniversary Tour of FOOTLOOSE: The Musical at the Granada in downtown Santa Barbara. Of course, we were the youngest people in that theater by a good twenty to thirty years. But I never expected the old people there to be such senile assholes.
We were very excited for the show and we knew it was the type of show where cheering was appropriate. Just like Mamma Mia and Rent, the actors in Footloose feed off of the audience reaction to their stage work. So, Jason and I were fully prepared to support these recent college grads in their professional debut. And they deserved it.
So, we sat down in our Row U seats which were actually very good. When the houselights went down and the music started, Jason initiated what became a very raucous opening applause. He even "wooed". The show started and the cast was phenomenal. The first female soloist in the title song set the bar for the show very high. She got some applause and a woo from Jason. The end of that song also got good applause and a Jason woo. Totally appropriate. But every time the two of us applauded or Jason wooed, the bitch sitting in front of us turned around to scowl. Also, the people sitting next to us on my side moved to the end of the row to get away from us because we were being "too rowdy".
The first act went on and I began to join in the wooing when it was due. At the first act finale, we cheered as a crowd normally would, and we were not the only wooers this time. However, the above-mentioned bitch turned around and said, "I know you're excited because you're young and you've got friends in the cast, but it's too much. It's very rude and it's right in my ear." She looked like she was in her forties to fifties with black hair and looked like an old Demi Moore, kinda, which is weird since another person looked like Demi Moore at Joseph. Anyway, Jason said, "We don't have friends in the cast. We're just excited and we like the show." And the bitch replied, "Well, you need to tone it down." So, we got up for intermission and I said, "Okay, I want to switch seats." I wish we had been seated next to the ladies at the end of our aisle. When we passed them, they said, "Oh, if you're by us, you have to be fun. Are you gonna be fun?" Good sports, you two!
So we got up because Jason needed to pee and smoke. On the way out of the aisle, I overheard the ancient couple who had moved away from us talking. The woman said, "Those two young men should be thrown out." WHORE!! Of course, she didn't know I was right behind her, and her husband looked embarrassed. One of the younger ushers heard the remark and smiled at us as if to say she thought the lady was being a bitch.
I was just so pissed because the show was all about the generation gap and how young people should be allowed to be energetic and have fun. So, we asked the nice usher if we could move seats because people were bothered by us. She said, "Don't worry about it. I can't kick you out for being excited, but you can move to the other side or back a few rows to any available seats. It's an energetic show, so there's no problem with how your acting." So nice! So we moved back one row and away from the bitch, only now we were closer to the old couple who then started to talk about us again. Then, the bitch, who was going back to her seat, turned to us to say, "Thank you for being thoughtful and courteous." AKA, thanks for moving, assholes. "You can be excited back here." I quickly said, "No, we can't because they don't want us to be," motioning to the older couple who looked embarrassed and angry. BTW, in the second act, we did tone down our already low cheering and noticed that there were lots of cheers coming from elsewhere. Still, I felt my heart rate speed up every time I clapped.
Why in the world were there so many old people at a young people show like Footloose? They were probably old when the movie came out! And at a show about letting young people be free-spirited, they were completely trying to shut us up. We were not being distracting. We only cheered when there was applause. We didn't randomly yell stuff. We wooed when we thought it necessary when a song was OVER. I don't go to the theater just to go. I don't go to the theater and clap my hands ten times after each song because that's polite. Especially not at Footloose.
So that's my story. Here are some highlights of the rest of our night:
During the "Answer the train" scene, when Ren yells about his father (I HATE YOU!!!!), it was a very dramatic moment and somebody in the audience said, "... whoa...". It was so funny. Jason and I were stifling laughs like crazy. Good thing we had moved AWAY from everyone else.
Lol, afterward, during the Exit Music, I asked an usher where the stage door was, and Jason started singing along to "I Need A Hero" in girly falsetto. The Usher said something like, "That was good! I'm sorry you two didn't enjoy the show!" and laughed. And she was old! The ushers there rocked.
When we first got to the theater, Jason asked, "Where's the restroom?" and the usher answered, "The Ladies room is to the right." Then, she realized he was a guy and said very quickly, "And the mens is to the left." So funny. Jason loved that.
We were the only ppl at the stage door and we waited for like half an hour, but the cast was getting notes. So when they finally came out to get on the bus, they ALL came out at once and we were so scared! We had expected to be able to talk with a lot of them one on one as they came out, but it was a line of them! So we tried to call out our favorites, but our girl ignored us... "KARA!!! KARA!!!!!" However, we were able to talk to the actor who played Ren. Jason was gushing, and later felt so embarrassed at how he'd acted in front of his future husband. "You're a star, Eric!" Hahahaha! Such a great night.
I can't wait until Mamma Mia, when I will be cheering no matter fucking what. Look out Ancient Bitches of Santa Barbara! There WILL be cheering.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Compliments and How to Use Them
Hello all. I know it's been a long while, but I've decided to blog again. This is mostly due to the fact that my short-lived video blogs were met with heinously horrible comments from total strangers.
I've decided that I'm going to address and issue in each of my new blogs. This time, that issue is the art of complimenting.
How long has it been since you've been complimented? Think very hard. I'm not looking for a simple, "Nice haircut!" or "Cool shirt!" although those do feel wonderful to get. What I'm talking about is the real deal. Has anyone ever told you something like, "I think you are a natural public speaker," or perhaps, "Your creativity is really amazing. Keep it up." When I asked myself this question, my answer was, "Not enough." Then, I began to analyze the answer. In reality, I most likely got more of those kinds of compliments than "cool shirt, nice haircut." Just look at the archives of this blog and you'll see how much I did that warranted these praises. So... am I greedy? Why do I think I need more of those when I've already outdone most of my high school senior class?
It is because I am different now. In my freshman year of high school, I walked into drama class, cowbell in hand, and performed OVER THE MOON to great acclaim. I owned that piece. Now that I am a freshman at UCSB, I've done nothing so rash. I'm too afraid of what people will think. Somewhere I lost that confidence of "I don't care what anyone else thinks." Now, I care more than ever. But is that beneficial?
Some would say no, because I want to act and I should showcase my talents, but do I really need to? I don't want it to have a negative effect. Here comes my first point and lesson:
1.) Do not actively seek out compliments.
If you are one of those people who hear a show tune and start singing along to it only to hear what people have to say about you, stop. Even if it is only to hear the sound of your own voice, stop. When I'm singing along to something, I have a completely different sound compared to when I'm performing that something. People even assume I'm making fun of songs when I sing along to them because it's a little ridiculous sounding. You don't have to sound ridiculous, but don't do it for yourself. Do it for fun. If there's a piano in the room, don't play it because there are other people with you. Would you play it if the room were empty? If yes, would you play the same way? Now for point number two...
2.) Give heartfelt, sincere compliments as often as you can.
Nothing feels better than to have someone else tell you that something you did was a good thing. This is not to say you should give out compliments like you give out your vaginas and/or penises on a Saturday night. However, if you think to yourself that something was good, tell the person who did it. Or applaud if the moment calls for it. And now point number three...
3.) Don't laud people who are purposely trying to show off for compliments.
The only explanation I have for this one is: If INSERT NAME OF SHOW-OFFY PERSON HERE is at the pianola, 90% of the time he/she is looking for compliments. Don't give it to them unless they really touched you with their talent. You should always give the talentless credit for trying, but do not give the talented credit for using you.
Be warned! If someone is fooling around at a rehearsal or something, they usually AREN'T showing off. Showing off is when someone gives a performance when there's no venue, no marquee, and a reluctant audience, AKA, you.
This concludes my blog on compliments. I probably won't stick to this format because that was really boring. I suck.
-Big D
I've decided that I'm going to address and issue in each of my new blogs. This time, that issue is the art of complimenting.
How long has it been since you've been complimented? Think very hard. I'm not looking for a simple, "Nice haircut!" or "Cool shirt!" although those do feel wonderful to get. What I'm talking about is the real deal. Has anyone ever told you something like, "I think you are a natural public speaker," or perhaps, "Your creativity is really amazing. Keep it up." When I asked myself this question, my answer was, "Not enough." Then, I began to analyze the answer. In reality, I most likely got more of those kinds of compliments than "cool shirt, nice haircut." Just look at the archives of this blog and you'll see how much I did that warranted these praises. So... am I greedy? Why do I think I need more of those when I've already outdone most of my high school senior class?
It is because I am different now. In my freshman year of high school, I walked into drama class, cowbell in hand, and performed OVER THE MOON to great acclaim. I owned that piece. Now that I am a freshman at UCSB, I've done nothing so rash. I'm too afraid of what people will think. Somewhere I lost that confidence of "I don't care what anyone else thinks." Now, I care more than ever. But is that beneficial?
Some would say no, because I want to act and I should showcase my talents, but do I really need to? I don't want it to have a negative effect. Here comes my first point and lesson:
1.) Do not actively seek out compliments.
If you are one of those people who hear a show tune and start singing along to it only to hear what people have to say about you, stop. Even if it is only to hear the sound of your own voice, stop. When I'm singing along to something, I have a completely different sound compared to when I'm performing that something. People even assume I'm making fun of songs when I sing along to them because it's a little ridiculous sounding. You don't have to sound ridiculous, but don't do it for yourself. Do it for fun. If there's a piano in the room, don't play it because there are other people with you. Would you play it if the room were empty? If yes, would you play the same way? Now for point number two...
2.) Give heartfelt, sincere compliments as often as you can.
Nothing feels better than to have someone else tell you that something you did was a good thing. This is not to say you should give out compliments like you give out your vaginas and/or penises on a Saturday night. However, if you think to yourself that something was good, tell the person who did it. Or applaud if the moment calls for it. And now point number three...
3.) Don't laud people who are purposely trying to show off for compliments.
The only explanation I have for this one is: If INSERT NAME OF SHOW-OFFY PERSON HERE is at the pianola, 90% of the time he/she is looking for compliments. Don't give it to them unless they really touched you with their talent. You should always give the talentless credit for trying, but do not give the talented credit for using you.
Be warned! If someone is fooling around at a rehearsal or something, they usually AREN'T showing off. Showing off is when someone gives a performance when there's no venue, no marquee, and a reluctant audience, AKA, you.
This concludes my blog on compliments. I probably won't stick to this format because that was really boring. I suck.
-Big D
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