If You Give A Neighbor A Computer...

If you give a neighbor a computer, then they might want to see what fun things you have on it.

Their search will end when they discover photobooth.

But they aren't done yet! Now that they've found photobooth, they'll want to take a picture:

Or two...

Or three...

Until they've tried out all the different styles.

And in case that wasn't enough, then they discover the video option...

And they make just as many videos.


And one of the videos happens to begin an inside joke.



'Cause when you give a neighbor a computer...


Well, you never know what you're in for.

Pictures and Major Happenings From the Choir Festival

I apologize ahead of time for the picture-heaviness of this post, but I figured you'd prefer to see pictures, rather than have me go into lengthy descriptions. 

 

 

 

 

Choir festival 2011:

I was very excited since my choir hadn't gone on a trip since 2007. We'd tried to go to some, but there were never enough people. However, with only 8 singers this year, we still went. Singing in such a small group was a great experience. It brought us closer together and gave us confidence.

I'm not really sure why we flew since it was less than an hour long flight, but I was excited to get some good shots from the plane.

And besides, you don't get pretzels and soda on a bus, do you?

This is where we stayed.

Lovely, isn't it?

This was one of my favorite songs that we sang. And not just because it was catchy. Take a closer look:

This had us laughing pretty hard!

On the second day, we got to walk into town. They allowed us to wander around before our flash mob. We pretty much had free reign as long as we were with a partner.

This is the view from the path leading into town.

I went with a few of my friends to try on accessories. That was amusing.

And then we got food. (My friend, featured in the above photo, was completely oblivious to the cameras as she gazed lovingly at her ice cream)

The clock tower that plays obnoxious music very loudly and for an unreasonably long time.

 We stopped at a very tiny amusement park and since I'm not one for crazy rides, I was the official photographer.

Then we rushed to the location of our flash mob (sorry, no pictures of the actual mob, and my video didn't turn out so great).

After the mob, we were escorted to...

A giant red wagon!

Yes, the handle is a slide.

We took group pictures on the wagon.

And then we made a pyramid.

On the way back to the place we were staying at we stopped to feed these little guys:

That there is a marmot. They like to eat cheerios.

But even more, they like to eat cheerios from our hands!

Other than feeding the marmots, I was also amused by 2 of my friends in particular.

Yeah. You get the point.

Giant rubber bands. They were meant to help us with vowels, phrasing, dynamics, etc. But they also made a great weapon!

My director set aside 10 minutes for me to talk to Dr. Brunner the composer, about, well, composing! I'm actually working on a separate post laying out what I learned. No photos though :(

On our last full day, we had a concert at a theater in town. 

Someone doesn't know how to spell. See the mistake?
 We were laughing pretty hard about that. It's choral, people! Choral!

After the concert, we had a catered dinner which turned into a full-blown dance party, thanks to these two again:

(Love this shot!)

Yeah cameraman! (He had a super cool camera contraption)

Sometimes I wonder...

But I haven't even shown you all the best part yet!!!

The best part: The wardrobes!

My roommate and I kept expecting to open it up and find Flynn Rider inside, knocked out cold by a frying pan while the girls in the room next to us were in search of Narnia.

We went to Starbucks on our last morning, then flew home. It was fantastically clear and sunny.

Phew! Sorry, that turned out a bit longer than I had anticipated. If you read looked at the whole thing, then you deserve a prize. Unfortunately, I don't have one for you. Except that you're finally done with it. Isn't that rewarding enough?

Yesterday, My Year Was Made

Yesterday afternoon my mom and I went with our neighbors to see Mary Poppins at the Keller Auditorium. It was absolutely fantastic!

Actually, it was more than fantastic. It was...

We got shirts that say that. It certainly does sum it up.

This was the second Broadway play I've seen. I'm so glad we got to see it!

They did change the storyline quite a bit, but I think it worked better for the stage. Like instead of the creepy penguins in the "It's a jolly holiday" scene, they had dancing statues. I preferred the statues. And the Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious (wow... I typed all that!?) scene was very different, but tons of fun and full of energy.

One thing I found especially neat was the use of light. In one part, Mary released a bird. When she let it go, they used a light as the bird and made it look like the bird was flying off by moving the light. Hard to explain, but it was really neat. Another neat thing they used it for was rain. It looked incredibly real!

While I was watching, I found myself paying extra attention to things like how they moved and spoke. I noticed that their movements were often completely over the top, but to the audience they looked normal. Sometimes as a performer I'm scared to exaggerate my movements, but I know it's necessary. If you hardly move, the audience won't see it. I also noticed that I could easily hear most of the consonants when the actors spoke. I know that if they spoke like that in normal conversation it would sound strange, but on stage they have to or else it's hard for us to understand them. In some ways it was reassuring to me that even if I think I'm going over the top, it's to help the audience follow the story.

One thing that made me very, very excited was in the very beginning when all I could see was the conductor of the pit orchestra. He had a baton! And he was conducting! An orchestra! Just think... One day that could be me! Yes, that made me quite happy.

If any of you get a chance to see Mary Poppins on stage, definitely go see it! It was an incredible show and if I could, I would totally see it again.

On Science Class, Marshmallows, and Albino Catterpigs

Yesterday in science class, we made these little guys:

That right there is a Reebop. 

Reebops are made of marshmallows, toothpicks, thumbtacks, pushpins, and pipecleaners.

Yes, science class has been, er... Interesting... Of late...

 At least we didn't have to watch any more creepy animations with mind-numbing music.

And this here? Well that's also a reebop. But we thought it looked more like a white catterpillar mixed with a pig. Thus the name it was given: Albino Catterpig.

Oh, and as of yesterday, the word allele is officially pronounced "Uh-LAY-lee" (like ukulele). Courtesy of dear B'Elanna.

Great Wolf Lodge

As promised here is a selection from the multitude of photos I took this weekend at Great Wolf Lodge.

This was the sky on the way there. Unfortunately I only got one good picture of it.

 These are two of the girls who went with us.

This here is the lovely birthday girl!

What you see here is only a fraction of the water park. That bucket on top? The one that says Great Wolf Lodge? Every two minutes or so it dumps a ton of water on anyone and everyone below it.

I don't want to completely overwhelm you with pictures, so I'll leave you with that.