all our wishes will come true

Just back from a lovely two and a half day break in Disney World... too long, on the one hand, since I have so much to do before May 15th, and too short on the other. The trip itself was great: my mom and I stayed at the Beach Club, spent the first half day eating and drinking around Epcot, and were in bed by 9 that night. Considering that I slept for nearly 12 hours, I guess I needed it. The next day we went to Epcot again in the morning and spent a few minutes at the Magic Kingdom, before feasting for three and a half hours at the Contemporary Resort's The Wave and California Grill. We really took our time with drinks, appetizers, ordering only when we were ready for the food instead of long before. The best and most relaxing meal I've had in ages. Finally, the third day, we went to Hollywood Studios, followed by a stint at Epcot, then watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the observation deck at the Contemporary.

The fireworks show, called Wishes, really is spectacular. I have no words to describe how it makes me feel like anything really can be possible, like maybe there is some magic in the world. Near the end of the show, the Blue Fairy says, "Let us all put our hearts together and make a wish come true." It's silly, but it seems like at that moment, with a million people crowded around you watching the fireworks, all putting their hearts together, that something good might come of it. That all those wishes might come true with everyone concentrating so hard.

(Sunset and Cinderella's Castle)

Anyways, I'm home now and, after the afternoon History Department Picnic I attended today, and seeing the film L'Illusionniste tonight with some friends, tomorrow I begin in earnest on my dramaturgical packet and sorting through Swem Special Collections online. The next two weeks are going to be jam-packed and it doesn't slow down until August.

this is the birth day of life and love and wings

Yesterday was Easter, and a beautiful one, too. I woke up in Philadelphia with one of my best friends, Kay, after a too-short-but-very-lovely visit. I took the train up Saturday morning, met Kay at her cute little studio apartment, and we drank tea and ate grapes and crackers with hummus. We met up with her family and Brian and walked around charming little neighborhoods in Philly, had dinner at a Thai place which serves dishes called "Wonderful Crispy" and "Broken Sea," and then Kay had call for her show so Brian took me, her parents, and her sister to a corner gelato shop where we all tried at least two flavors and I settled for kiwi and sweet Amish milk. Then we all headed over to the theater! Kay was in a one-act double feature of Christopher Durang's The Actor's Nightmare and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All. The plays were fabulous-- especially the former! So funny! And, as usual, Kay was fantastic on stage; her rendition of Amanda in the Private Lives portion of The Actor's Nightmare was one of my favorite bits of the whole evening.

Then Easter! I woke up early, caught a train to D.C., and headed to St. John's for church with my parents. I do love Easter service. It is never quite Easter until we sing "Jesus Christ Has Risen Today." And the sermon was perfect-- about how Easter is the laughter of God, of the universe, and how we should find joy in not only today but everyday with God. He's 'one of the family', someone to laugh with, argue with, talk with about anything. About how on Easter we tell a ridiculous story-- the story that there is no death so final it cannot be overcome, no despair so deep that there cannot be hope.

Then to the house which won't really be home much longer, for ham and baked beans and carrot cake, an Easter basket for the first time in years, and a drive back to Williamsburg for a long afternoon nap, Zan, fettuccine, and a late night of Munchkin.

Hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend!!!

Inspiring

Last summer when I was learning to paint, I came cross this and found it so incredibly inspiring, but I realized I've never shared it. So here! Matisse! Take from it what you will.

(Don't remember where I found this; a painting by Matisse)

It has been a week, I tell you. Hours and hours spent with historical manuscripts (more on that later-- some of it was really interesting and I made a kind of exciting discovery), and some big changes going on, all around. Everything is in upheaval, in a potentially fantastic way. Less than a month 'til my crazy busy summer starts and I find out what the world has in store.

A Smashing Success

Going along with the alliterative "S" from the title of my last post, the weekend wrapped up as a smashing success. I have to admit to you all, I wasn't looking forward to Improvathon very much. (Quick aside: Improvathon is a 12-hour marathon of improvisational theater put on by my undergrad improv troupe with all proceeds going to benefit Avalon Women's Shelter; during the show we sell raffle tickets, water balloons, etc. Each year there is an 'Alumni Hour', during which the current I.T. members eat dinner and watch the alums improvise.) Last year only three alums showed up, myself included, we played outside in the cold April evening air, and we were soaked through with super soakers and water balloons-- which left huge bruises on my legs from the force with which they were thrown. Plus, I wore a white shirt. Just about as bad as it could get.

This Saturday, I went for the first hour or so, cheered on the current I.T. members, then went home for lunch. I tried weaseling out of Alumni Hour, but was guilted into abandoning that idea. So instead, I headed to New Town to meet up with three of my I.T. alum friends, Andrew, Stephen, and Maggie, for some frozen yogurt, then headed to Stack's (another alum) where Mike (yet ANOTHER alum) joined us to set the show. But instead of setting real games, we decided to make up every single game in the 45 minutes we had before we headed over to Improvathon. Then it started thunderstorming, which necessitating moving Improvathon inside, which meant no water balloons!!! Excellent!

I don't remember the last time I had so much fun at an I.T. show. We played "Forest Fire," "Under the Blanket," "Only One Can Live," "P90 Extreme Workout," "Holidays," "Calendar," "Grand Jury," "Close Your Eyes," "Lodge 1 Emergency," and a few others-- all made up 45 minutes before the show. In some cases, even we weren't quite aware of the rules. I haven't laughed so hard or been so energized in ages. After the show, Stephen, Andrew, Maggie, Mike and his wife Raissa, and I all went to the Leafe for dinner and drinks, then back to the last hour or so of Improvathon in the highest of spirits.

And the fun didn't stop! Sunday my friend Johnny came to visit for lunch/general hanging out. The storm had passed leaving behind perfect weather with sunshine and blue skies, so after getting Mexican food, we went for a walk in Colonial Williamsburg and got milkshakes at Retro's. After he headed back to Richmond, I headed over to my friend Lindsey's birthday party. She lives in the historic area, and I always feel so special breezing by tourists to head down the path behind a gate to her back yard. She had tons of Easter goodies and lots of my friends were there and it was so good to see everyone, since lately I so rarely do.

After such a fantastic few days full of friends, I just felt so in love with life and Virginia.

Simply Smarvelous

Two days, two parties, with a total of four old friends and many new faces: what a wonderful kick-off to the weekend!

It started on Thursday night, with a spectacular pizza party at Jason's house. Jason and I were pretty good friends in undergrad, but then he moved to Richmond and we sort of lost touch, but he's back now! Last Friday at Twilight Zone Tuesday on Friday he invited me over for homemade pizza with him, his roommate Nathan (also one of my friends from undergrad) and a friend of theirs named Brandon (the ultimate pizza-maker). I baked a Funfetti cake for the event, and off I went. Jason had an expensive bottle of red wine (he works at a winery) that was definitely a step above my usual three-buck chuck-- the smell was divine, like berries, and the taste so subtle-- and the color looked almost like cherry coca-cola! And the pizza was beyond words: we had pea and shrimp pizza with olive oil and balsalmic instead of tomato sauce and prosciutto and salami pizza. Oh. My. Goodness. I wish I had pictures of this pizza for you. After eating the amazing pizza-of-the-gods, we tackled the Funfetti cake, then played Apples to Apples... fantastic.

Then yesterday was a very quick trip to Staunton to visit Katie for her birthday, and to see the lovely Cass. We had a birthday dinner at Taste of India, where we ate more food than we could hold, and then I headed to Katie's to see my new digs for the summer-- for the record, it's a very cute house, and Asae, the girl I'm subletting from is very nice, plus it's just a short walk and/or drive from the playhouse. Then Cass came over, and Meg, and Asae and we all spent time getting dressed and putting on make-up and lacing up corsets (for Cass and Asae). It was a Back To The Future party so Cass and Asae were from 1885, and Katie, Meg, and I were from 1955, and as people arrived we had a few 1985s and even a flux capacitor! As usual, an amazing party in Staunton.

(Katie and me-- 1955)

(Cass and me-- 1885, 1955)

And today: Improvathon!!!

Who's a Husky?

That would be me! Go UW!

(My first time in Husky Gear)

My Latest Obsession

First of all, it felt like Spring again today and for some reason I was surprised. The weather has been so iffy this year that I am continually incredulous when the sun decides to shine or the temperature creeps up over 59 degrees. And it looks like it might finally be here to stay! Zan and I even went to Dairy Queen today and ate ice cream outside in short sleeves.

But that's not what this post is about; this post is about The Hunger Games trilogy. Has anyone else read these books? They are so amazing. I just devoured these books in a way that I haven't devoured any book since oh, I don't know, early high school. I read each book in one sitting, though granted, I had three cross-country plane rides to give me that kind of time. I've heard a few people disparage the quality of the writing (the books are aimed at teens/young adults, apparently) but honestly, I was too wrapped up in the story, the descriptions of the places, and the themes to really even notice. For the record, I'm 23-- that does not count as 'young adult' to booksellers. I gave the trilogy to my mom to read and we both agreed these were much more intense and just much more than the arbitrary 'young adult' category would suggest (no vampires, for a start).

The books are set in a dystopian future in the place that was once the United States of America, but is now the country of Panem, comprised of 12 districts ruled by the Capitol. Years ago there were 13 districts, but in a great rebellion district 13 was destroyed. As a consequence of that uprising, each year the districts must provide two tributes between the ages of twelve and eighteen to compete in The Hunger Games, a literal fight to the death, televised for the entertainment of the Capitol and as a reminder to the districts that they must not rise up against the all-powerful Capitol ever again. And that's where Katniss Everdeen comes in...

Katniss is the protagonist of the book, a 16 year old girl who ends up fighting in The Hunger Games and beyond during the course of the trilogy. I won't say much more than that for fear of spoilers, but I will say this: these books have become somewhat of an obsession for me. I haven't felt this emotionally invested in a series of books since I don't know when... possibly last summer with His Dark Materials, but while those were good (arguably better than The Hunger Games based on writing quality alone, and with just as adult themes, and probably a better thought out fictional world) they didn't really grab my heart and soul until somewhere near the end of book two. The Hunger Games had me alternately laughing and choking back tears within the first 30 pages. I keep thinking of them, of the way it all wrapped up, what might happen next, what choices should have been made or could have been made, and most importantly, what would I do if I ever lived in Panem? What would I do if I had found myself competing in The Hunger Games? I love Katniss more than I've loved any fictional female character in years. And, of course, I feel in love with someone in the books, too, though I won't say who for fear of spoilers. And perhaps you might fall in love with someone else than I did. I keep picturing it all so clearly in my head-- the costumes that Cinna designed, the glass of the Capitol, the poverty of District 12, the Seam, the Hob, the arenas with all their horrors. I think what I loved most was how easy it was to create everything in perfect detail in my head based on the descriptions in the books. I felt as if my mind was working to make something, like I was in partnership with the books. It would only work if I gave my half to the writing on the page.

Now, perhaps I'm giving these books undue credit, perhaps I was just so relieved to have something all-consuming to occupy those long plane flights, and I'm not saying that there aren't just as good or better series out there to read, but seriously, check these out. They are making a movie of the books, so better read them fast before images from the movie begin to pollute what beauty and terror you can create in your own head.

Still... what I wouldn't give if by some crazy chance the actress already cast dropped out of the production (for happy reasons, I'm not a vindictive person) and they needed a new Katniss... and somehow Suzanne Collins found herself thinking, "Who is this Abigail that writes this blog? She looks just like my idea of Katniss!" And I'd be lying if I didn't say this desire to play Katniss wasn't something I found myself dwelling on five, six, ten times a day... :)

a blue true dream of sky

Finally today feels like spring! Birds are singing and the sun is high and the sky is blue blue blue. Nearly all of the blossoms have fallen off the cherry trees and green buds have taken their place. I'm almost scared to drive up to the colonial area in anticipation of the crowds of people out enjoying this lazy Sunday, even though I think a walk down Duke of Gloucester Street would be pretty divine right now, and/or a limeade from Retro's.

It's been a good weekend, overall. It kicked off with a screening of Rough Draft, the film that Zan was Director of Photography (DP) on this summer. The film turned out really nicely, and was beautifully shot, in my humble opinion. Then, Mike J. came to visit and though things weren't exactly perfect for him over the past few days, we had a great time together. We held a Twilight Zone Tuesday on Friday with some of the old crowd and a few new faces; we ordered pizza and watched "To Serve Man," "It's A Good Life," "Two," and "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." The next day we went to La Tolteca for lunch with Megan, like we used to, and then in the evening Mike, Zan and I watched some MST3K shorts and had a bunch of people over to play Tom's Lord of the Rings game. We came so close to beating it this time, too (upon reading the preceding few sentences, I'm realizing that I'm a little bit of a nerd...). Today was a pretty lazy morning... I read some poetry, read some of The Winter's Tale and made tea, then Mike and I went to lunch and took a walk around the neighborhood. It was a nice walk, but how could it not be with the weather so wonderful?

Also, I officially have a place to sublet for the summer! I'm really happy! One place down, and now just need to find somewhere to live in Seattle.

The Dress Rehearsal

It was raining, of course, when we landed in Seattle. Already I've sent in my deposit and confirmed my intention to attend in the fall; already I've tied myself to four, five, or six years in this city and before Monday I had never seen it before. Never been in the state of Washington, or even the Pacific Northwest. I'd read a travel book, and looked at maps, and made sure they had Trader Joe's, but never really seen it. I'm not sure what I was expecting-- a city like New York? Wide boulevards like D.C.? Something with quirky streets like London or new high rise apartment buildings everywhere? I'm not sure. What it was was unlike anything I was expecting. We didn't make it downtown-- to the Space Needle and all that-- but rather stayed up in the U District, Wallingford, Green Lake, and Ravenna areas. We certainly didn't play the tourist.

Monday afternoon I was jetlagged and the U District is rather slummy and the only good part of it all was going to a pub called Finn MacCool's and getting a Strongbow. No apartments looked nice and the area felt a touch unsafe, like you wouldn't want to go out alone at night. Tuesday was slightly better, at first. The sun actually came out, and my mom and I walked around campus and it has such pretty buildings and cherry blossoms and we had lunch at an amazing Thai place (I'm quickly become a Thai tea devotee). Then I met the head of my program, Odai. He was nothing like I expected, but incredibly nice. We got coffee and talked about the program, and then he drove me around Seattle to the different neighborhoods and I fell in love with the Green Lake area. But, oddly, for there's no reason I should have felt so, I came away from the day somewhat discouraged-- I felt too young, too inexperienced, and suddenly so unsure of whether or not I was making the right choice to attend this program now.

Wednesday started with the discouraged feeling. My mom and I walked up to the Green Lake and Ravenna area and found some cute looking apartments and houses for rent, and the sun came out. Then at noon I got an e-mail from Odai saying that I could attend at class at 12:30. Feeling rushed, I grabbed my things and tried to find the right building, but got caught in a gaggle of undergrads and all of that discouraged horribleness welled up again and I thought I might cry so I called my friend Mike J. and he said, "Absi, think of this as a dress rehearsal. If everything was going perfectly, opening night would suck." Later, I thought on that-- if everything HAD gone perfectly the first day and a half, if I had loved every second, could actually living there and being in the program compare? Maybe those feelings of self-doubt were just what I needed to keep me from being overly confident before some kind of awful crash and burn when I actually move to the city.

But the class was a turning point. Once I found the building and got to the lecture hall, Odai introduced me to several of the other PhD students, and they were all nicer than I could have ever imagined. The 101 lecture that I will be TAing was interesting, and I was happily surprised to find that I already knew most of the contents. Yes, I can teach these kids about the architectural features of a Greek theater and the story of Oedipus. YES. And how fun! After the lecture came a grad seminar with the current grads, which was interesting, too, and then we all headed out to a wine bar for a glass and some small plates.

That was easily the best part of the whole experience. The three girls who I spent most of the day with were amazing and supportive, funny and interesting, and interested in the same types of things I am-- of course, theater-- but also Star Trek (clearly Zan and I can be happy here), Firefly, England, theory, finding things to get excited about writing. I really could not have even hoped for that level of friendship or support in a grad program-- my masters program, other than a few choice people (our 'cruise director'), felt rather isolating. Here are friends, colleagues, and supports. And, funnily enough, one of the fourth year grads that I met graduated from the same high school as me! He even dated my high school voice teacher's daughter! Crazy!

So, a rocky start to Seattle perhaps, but ultimately I'm so excited to start this program, get into the readings, and to get to know these people better and better. I can't wait to return here to live.

A Week in Review

Things have been rather calm since getting back from California. Wonderfully, I've gotten to spend tons of time with Zan! We had a... nice middle-of-the-night roadtrip to exit 104, and a whole day together yesterday. We just watched TV and chilled and got to talk about things, which we haven't gotten to do in awhile, since our schedules haven't been overlapping much except for at dinner. And, of course, lots of Gilmore Girls and DS9 and even some Munchkin and a new LotR game.

Also, I've been doing quite a bit of reading-- books, microfilm. I finished Southampton County Court and Fiduciary Records, which I've been working on for about two months now, so that was particularly satisfying. I had coffee with Cat while she was in town researching for her thesis, and got gifts for my thesis committee members. The Grind changed their blueberry muffins-- a disappointment. I might not get to work on 'Tis Pity anymore due to the rehearsal schedules; they mentioned putting me on Winter's Tale instead, which would still be fun, though less controversial. Though anything is less controversial than 'Tis Pity. Also, I think I've found a place to sublet for the summer (*fingers crossed*)! It would be right in town and only a short way from the theater and not too very expensive and the dates are perfect. I've been kind of freaking out about the next few months, what with all of the moving and none of the knowing. In a month and a half I will have left Williamsburg... forever? It's an exciting thought, though also a bit nerve-wracking. Knowing where I am moving to-- at least for the summer-- would really take a lot of the pressure off.

So that's life, at the moment. And tomorrow starts a new adventure... :)

EDIT: I just noticed that there's a bobblehead doll of my dad sitting on the shelf. Disturbing.