Awkward and Awesome Thursday: PUSHing Through

Still image from a summer shoot with PUSH

Okay, so I've been fairly vocal on here about the fact that I'm pretty overwhelmed what with all of my classes, my internship, work, Muse, being married, being a sane person, being an at least somewhat nice person, and the like.

Basically I've hopped over to Nine to Phive long enough to complain about everything that's going wrong, all the while being a bit hazy on everything that's going right.

One of these such things is my simply fabulous internship at the local film studio Envision Productions. Paul, my supervisor, has taken me on all sorts of adventures with him, one of which involves filming a documentary about PUSH Physical Theatre. More on them later, but for now, suffice it to say that I am loving my job. Any day that I get to spend watching them work makes my own work seem worthwhile--and not nearly as exhausting as it could be. These guys work up sweat!

However awesome this crew may be, whenever there's a lot of sweat, there's a chance for a lot of awkward . . .

Awkward:

• I get to work with these people . . . GAAAAAHHH . . . NOT . . . WORTHY . . .
• I don't vaccuum. Ever.
• My hair keeps falling out.
• The previous two items added together means little red dust bunnies strewn around the living room carpet.
• Professor No. 1: Read the next four chapters of the book by Thursday. Professor No. 2: Read the last three chapters of the book by Thursday. Oh, and also these two chapters of this other book I forgot to tell you to buy. Me: AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
• Making bacon-raisin empanadas this weekend. Don't knock it 'til you try it. 
• That stupid Roll-Up-the-Rim-to-Win business on Tim Horton's coffee cups. I have to use my teeth every time.

Awesome:

• Even though I "made up my mind" to pursue a degree in communication and an internship in film, I still get to spend time in the theatre. You don't know how good that feels :-)
• Being in the bathroom and overhearing my supervisor talking about me: "She's great. She knows what she's doing. She knows how to shoot, how to edit, how to light . . . It's great." *Blush*
• Hosting our first Couchsurfer!
• The rim-rolling paid off! We won two free drinks. The cup says free coffee or latte, but they actually let you get any drink any size.
• Theatre dates with my love <3 Can't wait to see The Whipping Man in a few weeks.

Back from the Abyss

I know what you're thinking. How dare I come back after such a long absence and post another Awkward & Awesome and think that everything will just go back to normal? I understand your hurt. Unlike more successful blogistas such as Sydney over at the renowned Daybook, I did not have the courtesy to let you know that I would be taking a break from blogging for half of forever.

Well, that's because I never meant to. I had no intention of staying away from Nine to Phive for so long, or at all . . . Every night when I came home from work after being in classes all day, looked at the clock and thanked God that Josh and I were used to eating dinner on a European schedule, looked into the fridge and asked for our "loaves and fishes" to be multiplied, and looked at my lonely laptop with the broken keyboard, I said to myself "When was the last time you posted? Don't you have time to whip something up tonight?"

The answer was never "yes."

All that to say, I got kind of tired of being a victim to my crazy schedule, and I made up my mind (just today, actually) to take back my life and my blog.

So here I am! Hope that all is forgiven and that we can look forward to a lot more posts together in the future. Since we last spoke, and I mean before I started babbling about Yom Kippur and TobyMac and Spanish art museums and actually talked about what was going on in my life, I have been up to quite a lot.

• I have begun my final year of college. If (and it's a big 'if') I get into a course offered at a sister campus next semester, I should graduate right on time! Can't believe it's happening already.
• I have started two new jobs as a writing lab tutor and ESL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher. Love both of them! I feel more like a therapist than a tutor at times, but that's what makes it interesting.
• Josh and I have been really focused on keeping our marriage strong. Like saying 'no' to work and school commitments to spend more time together and all that mushy gushy stuff <3
• I have enrolled in a digital video production class. Changing. My. Life. I don't know why I didn't take this course ages ago. I was meant to do this, and I'm loving every minute. I love the professor. I love my camera. I love HD. I love have card-swipe access to the Mac lab. I love everything except the stupid program we have ot edit in . . .
• I have been in the process of directing a student-written theatrical performance set to debut in November. Muse Creative Arts Ministry is a campus organization (of which I am now the president) that groups creatively-inclined students together on projects to impact the campus and community. Our pioneer performance, "The Chains," is an exploration of the many ways that slavery and bondage manifest themselves in the human experience. It is going to be absolutely beautiful, but it is a lot of work.
• I have written a feature-length screenplay that will get produced in the summer of 2014. Did you read that correctly? I am going to be a produced screenwriter and director. I am so utterly excited, I can't even think of anything else to say on this topic . . .
• I'm looking for an internship. As if I don't have enough to do.

So there's a run-down of the stuff you can expect to hear about on Nine to Phive from now on, because every single one of these things is trying to dominate my attention. Stick around for the ride, and you might see something cool!

Awkward and Awesome Thursday: School Days

Awkward:

• Registering for my Spring semester classes of my senior year. Where on earth has the time gone?
• Performing "Some Nights" in ASL at Homecoming. (picture above)
• Being an instant away from sending an "I love you :-*" text meant for hubby to Stryker.
• Presidential debates. Enough said.
• I was so excited to take my required Persuasion course at RIT and, you know, graduate on time. They told me in July that it was too early to register and to come back the first day of classes. They told me the first day of classes that the class was full and I couldn't get in. Fail.
• My dear friends from Messiah Theatre had their senior showcases recently, and I couldn't get out of work commitments. Saddest of days :-
• A garbage bag left in the trunk of our hot car. Blech.
• Working on my abstractions project for Video class. Turns out I'm not an abstract enough thinker. Well, there's a problem I've never had before . . .
• Avocado pits. Slippery balls of evil standing between me and my healthy-fats-filled goodness.

Awesome:

• Fall is here :-)
• Going for a drive with all of the windows down to air out the garbage stench.
• Having my family right around the corner. Well, 15 minutes away. Close enough.
• Free Dinosaur Barbecue. Our class council is awesome.
• Muse Creative Arts Ministry is busy as can be preparing for our fall performance, "The Chains." Rehearsals just started last night!
• Volunteering as a photographer for campus-related and personal events and getting "paid" with concert tickets and free wine tours.
• Kristen's boyfriend (and Josh's buddy) Neme moved to the US last month! It's been so great having him here.
• Progressive dinner at professor's homes. I love these faculty couples :-)
• Josh and I got an incredible deal on our class's senior cruise . . . and we decided to go! Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to us! What a fun and relaxing and not-at-all-like-our-experience-in-Europe this will be.