New Show?

So I've been awaiting auditions for this one particular show. It's going to be going on in the summer, so I was anticipating that auditions would be held in May, or April, at the earliest. I've been checking audition notices on the theatre's website out of habit and curiosity, and today... the audition calls for that show are up.
Already.
It's December right now. The end of December.
And the auditions are in the middle of January.
Which is crazy for many reasons.
First of all, that's like TWO WEEKS OR SO before the auditions occur... and usually the calls come out with a bit more time to prepare. Also, these auditions are REAL EARLY.
There have sometimes been two rounds of local auditions (because they go to NYC to hold auditions there, too) so I wonder if that's the case for this as well... if there are, they'd probably be around March. I'm kind of wondering if I should find out if there'll be that second round... because I was SO banking on being able to have basically an entire semester to get trained in dance so I don't look dumb at the dance call, and, possibly, vocal performance, if I have time/money.
But two weeks. I can't - uh...
Well, we'll see. I'll just throw my best shot. I already sent in my submission anyways, so I'm more or less locked into this. I also reached out to a vocal professor and I'd like to take a couple of lessons in prep for this audition. I'm so sure he's gonna be like "girl wat u tryna do" but at least I'm doing SOMEthing.
Basically, I'm not expecting to get in. Mostly because this show has a lot of small parts that are meant for middle aged cast members, and because these roles are small, the actors playing them are definitely going to be ensemble members as well, and that kind of sounds like it would make sense for a large portion of the ensemble to be made up of middle aged actors. That doesn't leave much room for younger performers, and that means that - out of audition young adults - the ones that are real good at dancing are probably going to get offered placement in the cast.
But, honestly, I don't particularly like this musical... I could like it if I tried, and I definitely would if I was a part of it, but it's not like a show I would REALLY REALLY feel like I TOTALLY missed out on a chance to perform if I don't get it. And I know that I'm so at the beginning of this journey, I'm still basically just heading into a lot of rejection, so I'm expecting that, kind of.

It would be absolutely crazy if I got in. But you know what? I have an absolutely crazy God and He can make these things happen. He's already done it before...
I'm promising God that this is for Him. If I get this - if He gives this to me - it's all His. All the glory will be to Him and to nothing else, because, honestly, I myself don't have enough to get this. It would definitely be nothing but Him if I did get this.
So this is for Him, right? And if He doesn't want this, then that's okay. That's nothing taken away from me. And if He does want this, if He wants me to do this for His glory, then that's absolutely fantastic and I'll be entirely endlessly grateful and will try to give back (though I'll never be able to fully and actually do that completely).

So that's that. That's my mindset. This is for God, and He's got the power of giving it to me or not giving it to me. But it's actually not even mine. It'll be God's, once I have it - if I get it - it would be His.

Please Don't Talk To Me

Lots of times, when I get home from a long day, my parents talk to me and ask questions and really just everything, and it completely drains me from what energy I have left. I don't mean to be rude or angsty, but it's really, really just that when I come back from an exhausting experience, I need to be by myself to simply chill and really be in control of how I spend my time until I'm back up for being social.I probably come off as like angry or annoyed (and that's partially because I usually am, at that point) but I don't really mean to. I just really don't need to have to be talking to someone at the moment... If I don't have the energy to carry a positive conversation with you, don't try to "cheer" me up.

And usually it actually does take until I go to bed and then wake up the next morning (not even then, because I actually also hate when people talk to me too early in the morning, before I've been able to prepare myself for facing the world). I know it sounds like you really just can't ever talk to me, but... I promise that's not what I'm saying. You just gotta get me at the right time, if you catch me while I'm out doing said exhausting activity, I'll more than likely be pumped with energy and I'm all yours.
But as soon as I hit the finish line and I'm free to collapse and be alone, that is what I will want to be doing.
Also, I don't expect people to abide by these guidelines. I know that it would be completely unrealistic for me to think that I deserve to be treated in exactly the ways I want... like, that just wouldn't be fair for anyone. But for as long as I have the time I do have to rant about these things... I will.

Don't Gift These

Things not to give to me for Christmas:
1. Chocolate. I know I like chocolate. But don't give it to me for Christmas, because I don't ever eat THAT MUCH, and you're gonna give me THAT MUCH because you'll look THAT STUPID if you give me like just a little. If you give me chocolate, I'm gonna feel obligated to like eat it, and I don't need all of that. I will get chocolate on my own when I want it or when I come across a small amount of it. But it's such a cop-out gift. Please don't do chocolate.
2. Jewelry. I don't wear it, mostly cause I have to take it off to shower, and then I usually just don't bother putting it back on, and it never gets worn. Also, jewelry is either cheap or expensive. If it's cheap, I can't wear it cause it's probably nickel, which I'm allergic to. If it's expensive, I'm just gonna feel bad that you spent money on something I don't even really like.
3. Lotion. Okay, I like soap, but, like, it's gotta be the cool kind, ya know, not like just a bottle of Bath and Body Works. If it's, like, charcoal soap or some cool handmade-looking bar soap, then I will love you, but if it's just cop-out liquid soap, then I mean, I have that already and don't really need more. But about lotion... that's so cop-out, too. That's really all I have to say about it, it's cop-out.

And I know I'm saying that a lot of things are cop-out, and I don't mean to imply that I'm, like, too good to be given cop-out gifts, but the thing is, you can spend that same amount of money on something I'll like. Cause a lot of things I like are things that aren't that expensive. You could literally give me a sheet of postage stamps, it'd cost you $10, and I'd like that way more than a $10 necklace or $10 lotion, cause I can and will use it to send mail to Broadway.
Postage stamps aren't the only thing I like, of course, I mean, there's always good pens, good pens are always welcome, there's good socks, those are so welcome, there's chapstick, I like that, there's SO MUCH.
And if you'd like the BEST cop-out (and this time I mean that in a positive way), Amazon or iTunes gift cards will always be loved and cherished.
Merry Christmas.

Onions?

I don't like onions.
I actually, ACTUALLY truly despise onions. As SOON as ANY amount of onion gets into my mouth, the aftertaste stays there for literally forever, like, it doesn't even matter how many times I brush my teeth and tongue and gums and roof of my mouth and inside of my lips and literally anywhere my toothbrush can reach without making me gag... doesn't matter how many times I do that, the onion taste STILL STAYS, usually even to the next day.
I would be okay if I liked the flavor of onion (I wish the taste of chocolate stuck around in my mouth that long) but I HATE IT so I HATE ONIONS.
Whenever I say that, there's always that someone who goes, "But onions add flavor!"
...okay... but if I don't like that onion flavor... why would I care if it's added or not....?

(Maybe the onion, chemically speaking, brings out the flavor of the other foods in the dish, although I just looked it up and couldn't really find anything on it, although ALSO maybe I didn't look for long enough.)

So there's my spiel on onions. Just don't give them to me, please. I will spit them out.

Manage Your Time

I'm just gonna put this out there - I'm guessing that about 65% of what's going to be on this blog is complaints. Cause I'd rather complain to this empty void than an actual person, because then I would come off as *whatever negative thing I might come off as*.

So here's this one.

Okay, So I don't really understand why some people take so long to "check" their schedules. Like, I'd be like, "Hey, our group is planning on grabbing lunch on Thursday, would you be able to come?" and they'd be like, "Yeah I'll check when I get home" and then they don't, of course, and I ask again and they're like, "I think I can, I don't really know."

I don't understand.

Like... you either are free... or you aren't... and if you aren't... then that's okay, please just tell me so I won't have to waste time waiting on you and planning for you anymore.

I don't know if it's that people don't keep calendars on their phones or anything else where they can write down which dates and times they are unavailable... because calendars are really useful, literally, just put in what day you have something, and just pull it up, and if there's nothing planned, then you're free and you can say, "Yeah, I'm available."

So I'm not sure why people don't do that.

Also... when people don't pull through with their promises, or just make empty promises on a whim... for instance, I say, "Hey, it would be cool to get a group to go kayaking next Saturday" and people say, "Yes!! We should for sure!!" and then, once the time rolls around and we're trying to figure out a time that works for everyone, they whip out the "Oh I don't really know when I'm free" or "I don't think my mom will let me ride into the city without a parent driving"... things that totally should have been detected as potential issues at the start of the entire thing.

I guess... don't tell me, "Yeah, I'm in on that!" if you're not. You're not being polite, you're getting hopes up and wasting my time and effort. If you aren't up for it, just say so at the start. Don't worry about hurting my feelings - you won't, you're not THAT important.

Video Advertisements

And, while we're on the subject, another thing that has really been annoying me lately: video advertisements that play before a video I want to watch. They take up five or fifteen seconds, and like THAT'S MY LIFE RIGHT THERE, I'm spending these seconds of my day sitting through freaking "Pizza at Dominoes is what you've always-"

I live life fast, I have absolutely no time to waste watching these ads. Although, more times than not, the videos I'm trying to watch are time-wasting, but at least it's my decision!! (All right, I wouldn't say that they're time-wasting, but they aren't usually going towards, like, school, and it seems like everything that's not school is labeled as "unproductive").

Also, those ads that pop up over like the WHOLE ENTIRE SCREEN when you go to a website?? Those are incredibly unneccessary and it's so annoying because you have to, like EX OUT OF IT just to see what you want to see.

ALSO, the video ads that just START PLAYING and you're like, "WHERE is this noise cOMiNG fROM??"

I hate ads so much, honestly.
Y'all, I'm an Advertising major.

Look It Up

One thing that irritates me to no end is how, if, over text or messaging or the likes, I mention someone (usually a Broadway actor) to a friend, and they say, "Who's that?"
Like... Google exists. Google it. It's much easier and it makes you come off as more educated and culture, also saves me having to explain.
I PROMISE you, if I toss a name out, it's gotta be someone who - if you Google them - you'll get the results. They are SOMEONE, and saying, "Who's that?" just MAKES YOU LOOK REALLY DUMB BECAUSE IT'S LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME IT WOULD TAKE YOU LITERALLY FIVE SECONDS FOR YOU TO LOOK IT UP!!"!""!"


This will never stop annoying me.

How Astronomy Ended

Hmmm soo.....
I didn't get that A in Astronomy.
There was this project that I got a 4/5 on.
Also, remember how I said if I did that homework I would only need a 62/80 (or something like that) on the next exam? So I got a 63/80 on it, and, basically, if I had gotten a 5/5 on that project, I would be have been SO mad because I would have had like an 88 in the class, which means if I did the homework what one day, I would have gotten an A.

So I missed an A by like a three points, wow. Ugh it's all stuff I completely could have fixed. And it's a little strange that I'd rather have an 87 in this class than have an 88 because (it's the same letter grade anyways) I would have been so angry at myself for not doing that homework.
I mean, I still am. I am still completely in shock about how much weight that held. What even.

Do your homework, kids.

No Idea

I hear it so much, especially being at college.

"I have no idea what I want to do."

That means you don't want to do anything.

Because if you wanted to do it, you'd know.

(But I don't mean you won't find anything. You might find it soon, and you might actually just "want to do it", you might not have passion for it, but you'll be satisfied. And that's fine, as long as you think it's fine.)

(This was really scattered.)

(I might write a more detailed, eloquent post about it later.)

The Years I Didn't Use

So if you dig a little deeper into the early, early years of my blog, you could probably infer that I used to dance. I wouldn’t even say “used” to dance because I still do (more about that in a minute), like, I’m actually at a dance studio right now, waiting for it to be time for class.

But what I mean is that my mom owns a dance company, it’s Chinese traditional dance, which is so different from any other type of dance. I always say that “it’s a cross between ballet and martial arts”, which it is, but there’s more to that. There’s just not a way to describe a style, it’s like trying to describe color. The words that you could use actually don’t describe it at all. And that’s the thing about art, you need it because nothing else will speak for it.

So I grew up doing Chinese traditional dance. My mom says she started me when I was two, which is really crazy because you start remembering things at three, so I don’t remember. I have this one memory in which I had not started dancing yet, but, other than that, I’ve been dancing for as long as I can remember. It’s really just what I did. It was like… it was most integrated into my system than going to school. Cause school started in, you know, preschool or whenever, like I remember my first day of preschool. I was a kid. But I started dance when I was at the earliest stage of toddlerhood.

But it never really was anything to me. I did it because my mom was the director, I was expected to, and all throughout my entire life (even now), people have asked me, “Do you still dance?” And when they say that, of course they’re talking about dancing at my mom’s studio. So yes, I still danced. How could I not?

Honestly, most of the time, I just danced because I didn’t have the heart to make my mom a dance director whose own child quit dance. I didn’t hate dance enough to do that. I tolerated it, I did all the motions, but I just DID them. I didn’t understand that that’s not all. Doing the motions isn’t all that comes with dance. I even hesitate to say that you COULD do the motions fully without the emotional investment. But I’m not a pro, so I’m not sure how much value my opinion holds.

Anyways, it was, what, fifteen or so years of tolerating dance class on Saturday mornings. I think when I was eleven or so, I really started to build a distaste for it, I would dread the moment my dad would walk into my room on Saturday morning and say, “It’s time for dance class, get ready” and I would have to pull on tights…. I despised tights, the way they cling to your legs and feel all restricting. And it was real awkward, wearing tights and a leotard, throughout those middle school years, cause I felt weird about being in really tight clothes. For a couple of years I wore one of those little half jacket things that ties in the front? I don’t even know what to call them, they’re not really an actual clothing item. But I wore them.

(I’m not even sure why I included that. It’s kind of uncomfortable to remember, and more uncomfortable to write about, but it’s honest and I want to be honest. And unafraid. So there’s that.)

I feel like I’m getting nowhere, okay, let me just put this down: at the end of the day, I didn’t like dance.

Until one experience. I know I haven’t talked about this on the blog that much, and it’s because it happened during the void in which I didn’t write on here at all, and that’s because it’s just too much to say. There’s absolutely no way I can just sit down and write EVERYTHING about it. So I think I’m going to just let it come out, with all these stories I tell and all these reflections I have, because it is still very finely and tightly integrated into my life. This said experience was my time in the show ‘The King and I’ at the professional theatre in my city. (Basically, all you need to know is that it’s a really big deal. Lots of people don’t understand what I mean when I talk about it, because they can’t wrap their minds around the fact that I was actually in a professional, Broadway-grade show, and that’s definitely understandable, because I don’t really understand how it happened, either, and I can’t believe it. Still.)

But, yeah. Some of our cast members were from NYC, and… just watching them dance. Watching their rehearsal work ethic, how they would have been dancing for a couple of hours, but they’d repeat things and make changes and never once complained or sat down or took anything less than professionally.

I actually got to understudy our dance captain. She’s doing the show on Broadway now (with most of the NYC members of our cast) but she was dance captain here, which meant she was also swing (she understudies any role, so if any dancer had to step out for a show, she would step in for them and I would step in for her). That was a complete honor, and I’m so glad that I was asked to do that. I never had to actually go on (which was good because I only had one put-in rehearsal where I did the track, and it was so confusing but everyone was being so supportive and helped me through it).

And I didn’t realize it at the time, but watching the NYC dancers really struck something in me. When I went to dance class, I started to work harder. I would do everything the best I could… I’d stretch my splits harder, reach a little further, jump a tad higher…

And it ended up paying off. I began to dance – really dance. It’s different when you put 100% effort into it. You start to get better. Good.

But that happened halfway through my senior year. And I’d almost regret not trying harder earlier on, but, the thing is, I know that I couldn’t have tried harder. It wasn’t in me, and I didn’t know what it meant. There wouldn’t have been a way I could have wholeheartedly given dance my all.

So, waiting here at the dance studio, I watched a little girl run out of her dance class, run to her mom and exclaim, “That was fun, mom! Even at the end!” and her mom led her down the hall as the girl continued to chatter enthusiastically.

That girl wants to dance. And, if she stays with it, if she WANTS to be there the whole time, she’ll be good. When she’s my age, she could be really good.

There’s so much potential in these young dancers.

They still have their futures ahead of them. They can still work so that, when they are young adults, they are fluent in dance and have years of good skill under their feet.

I know I’ve danced for my whole life, but I don’t feel like it. Maybe that’s just because I didn’t ever take up my mom’s offers to put me in ballet, tap, or jazz class. Maybe it’s just that I didn’t try. And I picked it up again, I’m learning those particular styles of dance, because I need to know them, if I want to do musical theatre. I need to be good at them, I intend to be good at them. It’s just that it’ll be harder for me, compared to someone who has really always loved dance.

But that just goes to say that you can’t force art. No matter how long you do it, if your soul isn’t there, it’s coming from the wrong place.

Step One

Right now, the title of my blog is 'The Years Before'. I chose that because it's a description of how I think of this time period of my life that I am currently in: the years before I build all the skills I need and I'm GOOD.
So a couple of things.
During orientation for college, the dean spoke to us, and he said, "You have four years to become the best of the best."
And that stuck with me.
It's set in me a 'game on' attitude. Because these four years at school, these are when people learn things, hopefully set a food in the industry... but, if you think beyond that, if your goals are a bit bigger, then you CAN be better. If you take the steps that other people are saving for later... YOU CAN BE BETTER.
And that's what I'm shooting to do. I'm trying to do everything I can, and it might wear myself out, but I think I have this passion that not everyone has. For as long as I know what I want while other people still aren't sure, I'm going to run with this. And I'm going to do my best so that I can be among the best.

Also, the musical 'Kinky Boots' came to town earlier this semester, and I got really emotionally attached to it, partially because one of my favorite Broadway actors stars in it, partly because - through a mix of seeing the show twice, stage dooring, and sneaking into a put-in rehearsal - I formed small (but existent) bonds with some of the actors, whether that happened because I got them cookies, had a mutual friend, or just talked to them at the stage door when no one else was talking to them... it was like I was so close, though I knew I was so far. Because they were just there for a week. They belonged to our city for one week, and, even then, they didn't really belong to us.
So because that experience meant a lot to me, that musical means more to me than the average show. There's this song from it - probably my favorite - called 'Step One' and it goes, "We may be facing the impossible, we may be chasing after miracles ... but this is step one."
And that's right.
This is Step One.

Before you get anywhere, you need to pound the pavement. Before you get anything, you need to make those steps towards what you want.

So this is Step One.
And that's what I'll be renaming my blog, at least for now.

Eighteen Hours?

Okay, so, for reasons, I have to take eighteen hours next semester.

I'm taking twelve right now.

I don't um. I'm not really sure how this is gonna go.

But it's going to be happening.

I told my friend (who goes to a different state school that's not at all at the high academic level that my school is at... like at ALL) I have to take eighteen, and said friend was all, "Same, I'M taking 17."

Mmmmmm not same.

I promise you that classes at my school are waaaaaaaay more difficult. So not same.

Stop Astronomy Now

I can't stop thinking about this, it's stressing me out so much.
I calculated everything, and if I did that one homework that one time, I would only need to get a 62/80 on the next exam to get an A. But because I didn't do it, I now need to get a 74/80 on the exam.
I just don't understand why one missed homework assignment equals 12 entire points on a test.

Astronomy Update

You guys. You guys you guys you guys you guys you guys.
My astronomy grade.
Right now.
Is like an 88.
That.
That means that.
That means that if I HAD DONE THAT HOMEWORK A LONG TIME AGO I WOULD HAVE AN A RIGHT NOW.

Do your homework, kids.

As long as I get a 74/80 or higher on my final, I'll get an A (assuming that I get all five points on this observation project, which I think I should get all five points on?)

"Randomly Random"

So I just noticed that, at the bottom of my posts, it says something along the lines of "Posted by the randomly random Mia"...
Okay, that's gotta have been something I did in middle school. "Randomly random" come on Mia can't you think of something more descriptive that is the ABSOLUTE FURTHEST FROM RANDOM.
But I can't figure out how to change that.
I think that one time, I just went through all the blog features and got into all the details and changed around little things like that, and now I can't find out how to change it, and it makes me cringe every time I see it.
(Send help pls send help.)

Astronomy (Reprise)...

So I just went and played around with the grading system and found that that one time I missed that one homework assignment is going to cost me 2% of the entire final grade. How is that even right...? I think homework is worth 20% of the final grade... So if, because of that assignment, I lost 10 points on homework... I guess that would translate to and entire two points off my final grade? How is that right, though........??
I'm still not entirely acquainted with how grading and GPA works in college, because I'm just in my first semester, but if things go by letter grades... this BETTER not make me miss a letter grade. I BETTER not miss an A by two points. I BETTER NOT. THAT IS ALL.
(Okay, just I just checked the syllabus and it's divided into A and A- and B+, etc. and if I get a 93, that's an A (90-92.9 is A-) AND WAIT I WANT THAT A. Astronomy is kind of difficult, so I'm not there yet... but... I've got a couple of projects ready to turn in and I hope I did well on them? Also I did this four page extra credit paper that will add 10 points to my next test so I hope I get that A???

Astronomy...

Way early in the semester, I missed this one astronomy homework assignment... so I have a zero for it and it really is disappointing to look at. But if I had completed that, my homework average grade would be around a 97%... and, with that, it's 87%. I wish I could go back in time and do it... I have no idea how I missed it, I just didn't remember to do it, cause it's online. It was the third homework assignment (out of about ten or eleven) and it's incredibly frustrating.... so, yeah. There's that. I can't believe I missed it and it's costing me THAT much.

Bucket List (But Not Mine)

I came back to my room this morning to see a small poster on my roommate's bed. She's got this group of friends (they call each other "fam") and they had created a "Fam Bucket List" of things they want to do in the next four years. It's got all sorts of cute things like skydiving, sneaking into a concert, watch the New Year's ball drop in Times Square, and, at the bottom, really big, it says "GRADUATE."

That's cute. It really is.

And, for the first time, I kind of felt a twang of regret that I don't have friends here close enough to make a bucket list with.

Then again. I'm not looking for friends, honestly. I haven't been actively seeking friends, because I've realized that the best friends are the ones who come naturally. They come to you and you stay together, because you were meant to be together.

I don't try to force friendships. And that's why I'm okay with having like seven friends here at college... I know that freshman year, I'm probably not gonna find life-long friends (though it could happen... though it's not happening, so I'm not worrying about it), and instead of making advances toward finding a friend group, it'll pay off more in the long run if I make advances towards doing things that will actually help my career.

I guess I'm future-oriented? I don't even know if I'm doing this right.

But basically, what I'm wanting to say is that I have like no friends here, and I'm okay with that.

Hair Ties

When I was younger, my mom would tie my hair with those little ties that had balls at the ends, you know, where you would wrap the elastic around the ponytail and fasten them by stretching one ball over the other. I don't know what those were called, but the internet today seems to call them "ball hair ties" so that's what they'll be called.
I had all kinds of them, and the vast majority of them were from Asia. They had little Asian cartoon characters on them, or they would sometimes be flowers, or sometimes just a clump of fancy looking puffballs and shiny beads. Either way, they were always made of bright colors, and they were hard to miss.
Those are what I tied my hair with. And I never thought anything of it until sixth grade, when one morning at Sunday school, we went around the room saying what we appreciate about each other. When it got to me, a girl gushed, "I love how you always have cute little things in your hair!" and everyone agreed how I always had my hair tied with "cute little hair ties."
"Cute little hair ties."
That's not what I thought they were. They were just the norm for me.
And that's when I realized that they were different. These little Asian hair ties that my mom got for me? They weren't the stretchy brown circular hair bands that held up everyone else's ponytails.
I thought about it a lot that day. That's the last time I ever wore them. I got home, pulled them out of my hair, and replaced them with the regular circle kind.

And I haven't really thought about that until now.
Because it didn't seem like a big deal to me back then. It was just an accepting, submissive "this is different about me, I don't want this difference, and it's easy to change, so I'll change it."
I've always thought of myself as fairly indifferent to judgments and expectations. I remember at my birthday sleepovers in middle school, when all of my friends brought their hair straighteners and curlers, I always refused to let them touch my hair with an iron. I liked my hair. I didn't want to change it. I overheard my dad consult my mom with possible concern, "She's not doing her hair like all the rest of her friends." My mom shrugged and said, "She has confidence." And that was the end of that.
So I wonder what is was back then that made me switch those ball hair ties for the normal bands. What was it that made me quietly reject what had been part of my everyday life? And, in a way, they were reflective of my heritage. Ball hair ties were sold in US stores, but the ones my mom got me were made in Asia, and you could tell. Thinking back on it, I'm feeling some nostalgia and a little bit of regret. How did I let the comments - they were even compliments - of my classmates so easily persuade me to change what had more or less been a part of me?

It didn't mean much back then.
So what am I throwing away now? I am making many changes in my life. I do all of these in hopes of bettering myself and my future, but which ones of these changes may I someday regret?

Current Favorites

I feel like I should give a little run-down of my current favorite things... just kind of as an introduction, but also as a landmark, because these will definitely change in the future.
Favorite musicals: Newsies (kinda have to have that one on my list, cause it's what inspired me to start musical theatre), Hamilton (of course..... only of COURSE though), Next to Normal, Rent, Kinky Boots (ever since they came to my city a couple of weeks back and I spent so much time sitting across the lot, staring at the trailer...), Finding Neverland (got to see that one on Broadway after convincing my parents that it was the show to see)... I would probably like Fun Home and Les Miserables if I saw them...
Favorite Broadway actors: Lin-Manuel Miranda (of course... only of COURSE though), Andy Mientus, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Santino Fontana, Tommy Bracco, Adam Kaplan (bless that man), Corey Cott, Jeremy Jordan... of course, Christopher Gattelli, though he's a choreographer (bless that man even MORE)....
Those are the only things I like. Musicals and Broadway actors.
I'm gonna go over the list of who I currently follow on Twitter. It's a very select number cause I only follow those I'm interested in, so I don't have to wade through lots of irrelevant tweets. Or at least, irrelevant tweets from irrelevant people. (Irrelevant tweets from relevant people are okay.) And I know that just sounded really judgmental and unfair, but chill. It's Twitter. It's just that I'd rather my timeline be nice and condensed.
Anyway, here goes, starting from the person I've been following for the longest:
Taylor Groothuis (she's a kid actor, we used to be internet friends, don't really talk anymore, but I don't have it in me to unfollow her for as long as she follows me), Rowan Blanchard (followed her BEFORE SHE GOT COOL AND ON 'GIRL MEETS WORLD' and turned into an intelligent, poised activist), Nicole (best friend, have to follow), Ariana (again, friend, have to follow, she kinda made me do it hahaha), Corey Cott (played the lead role in Newsies when I saw it on Broadway, also Corey is such an inspiration, he's a strong Christian on the Broadway scene and isn't afraid to show and share it at all... if I make it to Broadway someday, I want to be like Corey), David Guzman (while I was watching Newsies, I liked him the best out of the ensemble), Jeremy Jordan (he's just everything), the theatre that I did 'The King and I' at (because that's necessary), this guy I did K&I with (also necessary, for as long as he follows me too), Christopher Gattelli (because he's my Broadway inspiration and yaaaaaas he's everything, even more everything than Jeremy), Greg Zane (worked with him on K&I), Emilio (he's actually on Broadway K&I now, but I worked with him in the one I did, and he was my favorite castmate, wow, he influenced me so much), Jon (he's also in Broadway's K&I, we're internet friends, I got to hang out with him for a second in his dressing room when I went to visit them, but he's my age and he's like currently the only person on Broadway who's our age), Alejandro (ugh wow beautiful), Adam Kaplan (saw him as Davey in Newsies when he understudied the role, also met him when he came with Kinky Boots, which I saw like three times.. but I gave him cookies and he flipped out... and we also have matching t-shirts), Ryan Steele (Newsies, dancer, beautiful as well), Tommy Bracco (Tommy Bracco for Prom Queen... that is all), Amaya (from Broadway's K&I), this filmmaking dude in my city who I met who's important who I should follow (because keeping connections), Michael Fatica (Newsies), Aaron Albano (Newsies, also Broadway K&I, I met him there when I visited), Tyce Green (Broadway but not Broadway guy? We're internet acquaintances, also my friend grew up with him), NPH (of course), Lin-Manuel Miranda (of course... only of COURSE though), Santino Fontana (saw him first in 'Submissions Only' - which, by the way, I am on my third time of watching, it's so great), Stephan Bienske (also saw in Subs Only but he's engaged to Chris Gattelli, so that's important and cool), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (made Subs Only also makes like everything all hipster and cool about Broadway, he's the total trendsetter), Colin Hanlon (Subs Only, but he's great), Telsey + Company (I want to work for them, they're the biggest casting company on the Broadway scene), Andy Mientus (ugh he's perfect, that's all), Sean Grandillo (also basically perfect), Chris McCarrell (also basically perfect), J Harrison Ghee (was Lola when I saw Kinky Boots tour, got to talk to him a couple of times and ugh he's so sweet and humble), Juan (from Kinky Boots, he knows Emilio too because they were both on the West Side Story national tour), Michael (Kinky Boots dance captain, he looked so cool) AND THAT'S IT. THAT WAS SO UNNECESSARY. AND TIRING. But I had to stick it through.
Sorry about that.
Good night.

Changes....

All right, y'all... I changed the layout of the blog... and like... everything about it. I really liked how it looked before, and I shoulda taken a screenshot of it before I changed it, but I made the changes before I realized I was doing it.
I changed the name, too... 'Annasophie Awesomeness' is definitely not descriptive of, like anything. Partway through these changes, I wondered if I should have just made a new blog and left this one as is... but nah. The words are still there, and that's what took years to build up. And this is me. So that's how it'll stay.
Also, somewhere along the way, Blogger must have made some deals with Google cause now the Google profile seems to be the Blogger profile and it doesn't say my name is 'Annasophie' anymore so... I guess I'm really gonna just be Mia on my blog now.
But, yeah. These changes, they happened.

Wrapping Up the Explanation

So here comes where I explain why I'm doing this. Or, I mean, now I'm able to give a more comprehensive explanation, because I've gone over a few things.
Next semester will be so busy. I'm taking, like, fifteen hours at school (only twelve right now) and one of them is REALLY crucial and I need a B in that class for it to count, and it kind of has to count, because it's a prerequisite for like everything and I'm taking my math class. It's Statistics, and I took AP Stat in high school, so I should be good? But still it'll require so much effort, and I need to be able to get myself to do that.
Again, I spend way too much time talking to people, and I actually do type this much when I'm talking to them, so I know I'm literally typing essays here, but honestly when I'm typing to someone, it's essays upon essays upon essays. Because there are responses. And I can't predict how long a conversation will go for. So I'm going to cut down on time with this.
And I need to get time cut down because I have to choose what I need to focus on. Of course, school has to be a first priority... I guess it is, in my mind, but in my heart, school is like "nope" and I just want to do all the arts instead. See, this semester, I've spent lots of time reading plays, working on writing plays, practicing dance in my dorm room... but I can't do all that random extra stuff. I mean I guess I'll probably continue practicing dance stuff and stretching in my dorm, but just less because I'll be taking lessons and ACTUALLY dancing.
So, of course, school. Gotta do that.
Then dance. Will have to do that.
And I think that's it, that's all I'll be able to get myself to do and do WELL.
I might even schedule, like, and hour by hour agenda for myself, and I might not follow it, but at least, if I don't follow it, I'll feel bad about not following it, which will hopefully guilt trip me INTO following it.
I'll give that a shot. But I'm not going to have time for social (I should probably do another post about that) but that's not a problem and it's not really a priority. I'll probably drop out of a couple of organizations I'm in, just for next semester, at least. Which reminds me... that if I do dance classes, I won't be able to do any student plays... which I might get to later in another post... but... oh. That's okay, cause win LOTS, lose some, hopefully. There's one organization I was totally planning on going to, but I've only been to one meeting, so, oops. Then there's one that I've been going to, but it hasn't been helpful, and I have a class next semester that starts right when this organization ends. One of the only reasons why I'm in this org is because it increases my chances of getting a job at the company it's linked with (not like big job, just little stuff but it's still something I'd like to do).
So I'll just not do those organizations... I'll do school and dance and mannn I gotta figure out when I'm going to go to Bible studies and stuff... cause I need a Christian community, just... I have a class during the time they meet as a college group. But there's a Bible study on Sunday evenings with the college girls, and I guess I'll go to that. And church in the morning, of course. I need to be able to figure this out. Cause this should be the number one priority, but it just.. isn't, really, ya know? And it needs to be.

Anyways. Yeah, I think that's it. Basically, I just gotta cut down on the things that aren't my top three. And I'm making lifestyle adaptations accordingly (like this). So let's see how this goes.

(Actually) Me, 2015

All right, we're back here again. Present-day now, mkay, so...
I'm a college student now, I'm majoring in Advertising which is really cool! Advertising is really cool! And I like it! It's a good creative outlet and it's something I enjoy! But! If I could do anything and know I couldn't fail, I would head into a career of theatre performance.
Because theatre is my passion.
I had mentioned it used to be film, I used to be die-hard passionate for film, but once all the theatre stuff happened in my life, I just... I can't stop thinking about theatre. It's what I want to do. There's just something about being trusted with time and a story that's so appealing to me. It's an honor, really, to be a performer, because when people watch movies? They do it cause they're bored. And it costs, like, a few dollars. But for live theatre, they have to physically go to the theatre, buy a ticket that is usually about $50, and commit an entire two or three hours to watching what you're doing on stage. It's so much more of a commitment, but that's how you know they WANT to be there. They've made an effort and have come this far, so you can't give them less than everything you've got. Because you can inspire them, really. People come to the theatre to be inspired.
I can't not do this.
And I know I didn't even do theatre in high school, but, in a way, I feel like people who DID theatre in high school take it for granted. (And I should hold that thought because it's for another post.)
So, yeah, I'm majoring in Advertising, but I'm in the process of trying to get into the Theatre Department at my university so that I can double major with Advertising and Theatre. I did an audition and everything, and I think that went well, but there's a lot that will go into whether or not I get in. A lot of it depends on the incoming freshmen, cause the department has to accept students, the students have to choose whether or not they are actually going to come here, and then they have to choose what, like, "focus" they want to study (performance, directing, playwriting), and THEN the transfers and double majors like me get to see if there's still space for us. So there's a lot. And there's only so much I can do, but I'm gonna do it, because this is something I will actually work hard for. Cause I'm only in college once. And if I can get two degrees out of these four years, I'm going to do it. We'll see. If it's supposed to happen, it will happen. I'm trusting God with this one. And if it doesn't happen, I'll most likely try again next year, and if it still doesn't happen, then I'll just do something else. Cause I know that God will put me where He wants me, and, wherever that is, I'm going to have to be okay with that.
I'm working on becoming a better performer, too. I'm taking dance classes, and because I have to pay for those, I think I'm going to work a job over winter break. I wouldn't normally... last time I worked a job (like actual normal people job, not something related to film or theatre) was senior year when I worked retail for like a month to get enough money to buy a really good camera. But this time I will spend what I earn on dance classes, because it's worth investing in, really. It's going towards career (because you can't do musical theatre without being extremely proficient in all three areas of acting, singing, and dancing). Hopefully I'll get to take, like, three classes a week. Cause I need to get good next semester.
Also thinking about auditioning for a spot in the vocal coaching studios at my university. Apparently you can do that, you can take lessons, and it's included in the tuition cause it counts as a course, so that wouldn't cost extra, and I really need vocal coaching because I have no idea how to sing well. I will work hard to get trained, cause there's no other way to do this theatre thing.

Prequel: Me, 2015

All right, how do you run down an entire high school career and almost half a college semester in one blog post?
Y'all. This is either gonna be really short or really long. And, knowing me, it's probably gonna be real long, but I'll try to keep it short.
Let's see... I remember approximately .9482384% of freshman year in high school, and of that percentage, there's like uh 0% that I actually want to remember, so let's not talk about that. Sophomore year was pretty chill, I started getting into film, and I was like, "Yeah this film thing, I want to do this." Junior year was like, "Ayy I'm good at violin, I made All State Orchestra and I'm Secretary for our school orchestra, but this film thing is real cool, I'm good at it and I have resources cause my dad does lots of film for hobby, and this is what I want to do, because I can do it." I worked as a production assistant on my first film (it was a film made by university students, and I did that so that I would be ahead of everyone in my grade). I'm not entirely sure what I thought I wanted to major in junior year... I don't think I ever honestly wanted to be an RTF (Radio-Television-Film) MAJOR because I wanted to get a major in something that you actually need a degree for in order to get a career. So film career was what I wanted, but I knew I could get experience outside of schooling, so I didn't want to go to school for that. (This is gonna be long, I think. I thought I could keep it short. I'll try. I'll keep trying, hang in there.) Oh, also. Junior year I saw 'Newsies' on Broadway  (on a trip with school orchestra to play at Carnegie Hall) and that changed my life. So hard. As soon as I got back, this is so crazy, and honestly I could talk to you TO ETERNITY AND BACK about this, and it's gonna come up a lot later, but ... as SOON as I got back from NYC, this audition call for 'The King and I' at the professional theatre in my city came out. REAL long story short, I auditioned, got in (still don't really understand how), did the show at the beginning of my senior year... which was crazy... because, you know, professional theatre, so we learned the show in two weeks, had a week of designer rehearsals, then tech week on the mainstage, then we had our performance run... seven shows a week for five weeks. It was the most brilliant, exhausting, inspiring period of my life, and, basically, now.... okay I'm gonna try to rescue any pride I have left at this point (because I thought I could keep this short and I'm gonna cheat a little and split this into two) I'm going to continue from present-day on the next post.

Let's Give This Thing Another Spin

All right, guys... I wasn't really going to do this, but I think I'm gonna make a return to this blog. I mean, probably no one reads it, and that's okay, but the thing is, a lot of times I have to just GET stuff out, ya know? I gotta say something. And a lot of times, when I need to do that, I text someone, but, you know, when you text someone, it's an actual real person, who responds, and then I respond, and then I lose like an entire hour of my day because I'm having a conversation that ends up kind of irrelevant.
So I think I'll just put as many as those spiels on here, just to try to lessen my time spent in conversation, cause that's the biggest source of my procrastination.
And I can't procrastinate. (I mean, I'm definitely capable of it. And I do it all the time. It's actually really bad, and that's the only reason why I'm pulling this middle school blog out of the ashes and giving it another spin.)
Honestly, I really should be studying, but I've got class in like an hour and then I've got the rest of the day (wait actually, I don't, because it's Monday and Mondays are very busy for me) but I feel like if I don't get this thing started right here right now, there's no way it's gonna end up picking back up for me. And I don't know if I'll continue to post, and if I don't, that's because I'm not getting a real-time response (which I'm not expecting) and that probably would discourage me? I like spreading ideas to an audience, and there's not an audience on here, while, when I text someone, there's an audience... of one, but it's still an audience.
Anyways, I'll probably spend the next couple of posts kind of talking about who I am now... because I was kind of all over the place back in middle school, when most of my blogging took place.
Let's see how this goes.

Some Changes, Then....

I changed a couple of things. The layout looks the same, but I changed my profile picture to an actual picture of myself and I also updated my bio a little bit. I mostly deleted the interests, cause those didn't seem too important, and I changed my name from Annasophie to Mia. Mia is actually my name, and the whole Annasophie thing was this deal in middle school where we all had blogs and we all had little code names cause we thought people were going to find out information about us (though our blogs were all private...?) Also, apparently I'm on the author's list of other blogs. I do remember "Sophie's Stories", which I just posted some parts of stories I was writing. I'll have to go back and read them, though... hmm. There's this one story I tried to write that I never finished (cause I realized it didn't even make sense, but it's like forty pages long already) and all I read was the part where one character introduces his cat. The cat's name is Frisky. Mmmm as far as I know, "Frisky" didn't mean other things back when I was writing that. Welp. I mean I could change it, but I also could keep it... I feel like I'm gonna run into a lot of things like this when I read over my previous work....

Change or No Change....

Well, that last post felt good. I'm currently trying to decide whether or not I want to change this layout. I'm thinking not... I like the color and design and everything, though I kind of do feel like I want to change it... but I also want to keep it sort of as an homage to my middle school self, haha... ya know, when I used to write, like, four posts a day on here. Maybe I'll just change some profile stuff and keep the layout the same. I'll do that. Again, we'll just see where this goes.

Return! ...maybe.

So... I haven't been here in a while. I haven't really found the need to, and, anyways, I usually write for the sake of having people read what I write, and since people weren't reading this anymore, I didn't feel like it was going anywhere. Umm... I'm not really sure where to begin. So much has happened since my last post. Lots of stuff... Okay, so I feel like whenever I have something to say, I've gotta get it all out and tell SOMEone. So, recently, I've just been texting people random thoughts I have. But then I kind of realized that I guess I do that for myself, and people probably don't care anyways. And I sort of wish I still had documentation of my thoughts on things as they happened. So I said that lots of stuff has happened. Whew. Umm... I'm not going to get into all of that, because if I'm doing this blog for myself now, I already know everything that happened within the past year. Does that make sense? Like, this past year was life-changing and I now I won't forget it (so I'm not going to explain it). I'm sitting down right now to write a couple of posts. But this one is just to kinda throw it out there that I think I'll be getting back on this more often. I think I'll also open it up to public (though I may not... but it doesn't hurt and probably doesn't matter anyways). So, yea, we'll see how this goes. Onnnnn second thought....... I had been planning on making a video blog... so maybe I'll do that. I got a Canon T5i and everything, I just gotta actually take that initiative and start filming SOMEthing. I'll do it... so maybe I'll do less writing on here and more talking to my camera? We'll just see where this heads.