Cimorelli

I just found this band called Cimorelli and completely fell in love. They're not exactly alternative so they're not what I usually listen to, but boy can they sing! It's ridiculous!

Cimorelli consists of 5 sisters, Amy (the awesome 14 year old), Lauren (11 years old and also awesome), Lisa (15), Katherine (17), and Christina (probably the most talented, but also the oldest (19) so she has an advantage). Their brother Michael (20) plays lead guitar while Amy plays rhythm guitar, Lisa plays guitar, Lauren and Christina cover keyboards (although Lauren hopes to soon be upgraded to violin instead of string parts on the keyboard), and Katherine gets to stand there looking cool with a bass. Oh yes, and they all sing... in crazy some times 5 part harmonies which will blow your mind.

Anyway, I'm in a musical mood and they've officially distracted me from the Degrassi soundtrack so I came over to this blog to talk about them. Oh, and check out their Disney's Friends For Change cover of Send It On (viewable on youtube). The song's not that bad when they sing it. It's actually really good.

Cimorelli only has one album available through iTunes. It features six songs, Singing My Song, On the Radio, Delaney, Hello There, Everything Has Changed, and Do You Know. There's all amazing, but my favorite thing from them (surprisingly) has to be their Send It On cover. But regardless, the stuff I can listen to on my iPod are amazing, too.

Before you get excited (or just plan to ignore this), this musical family dwells in one of those states where you can get big if you get discovered. No, not New York. That's right, California. So if you, like I, am an east coast resider, you will probably never actually see Cimorelli in concert for the time being until they're wildly popular with millions of fans. Oh well... *sigh.* Maybe 2010 will hold more eastern Cimorelli as they add more family members to their band (my God, they're like mass producing children! But who am I to complain?).

Well... I guess I'm done talking now so... goodbye. I'm gonna go be stalker-ish and email the band since I've read every page of their website and there's this big link to email them...

...

I didn't exactly know what I should title this post...I just feel like I need to write out my anger and depression towards my parents.

Every year I do a ballet production of The Nutcracker with my dance studio, Coupe. I have been ever since I was in 2nd grade, which is the minimum age to participate in the show. (Added note: JJ's sis is also in this production...just thought I'd say it :D) Me and all my friends live on the stage, and The Nutcracker is basically THE biggest event of the year for all of us. Everyone, dance friends or not, knows this is important in my life. Suddenly today, my mom out of nowhere tells me I'm not allowed to participate in The Nutcracker this year...The only thought running through my head at that point was "WTF??" (and no, F doesn't stand for a curse, it stands for frig. I don't enjoy curse words/ swearing)

Ever since 4th grade, I've gotten really good parts in The Nutcracker. Yeah, I'm not all that bad of a dancer. I've been in above-average roles and some were even solos or principal roles. Even so, my parents don't believe I'm capable of doing well this year, and feel I should just give up. I absolutely refuse to stop performing, so when I told my mom that, she said I HAVE to get a very good role in the show this year or I'm not allowed to do it ever again. She stated that I'm not one of the "Chosen Ones" (our name for the studio director's favorite dancers) and that I'll most likely just get cast aside and be used for some meaningless part that anyone can get. Seriously, mom? I thought you were supposed to be supportive of my decisions!! The worst part is, about a year ago, I asked my parents if Icould go to an art program or something, either during the year or as a summer camp. They said a career as an artist doesn't pay the bills, so classes were out of the question. Just now, right before I started writing my angry rant, my dad said instead of Nutcracker, I should consider some ART CLASSES!!! Oh, so now he supports my artistic ability? Thanks a lot, Dad. Way to back me up at the completely wrong time.

Yes, I know, I'm sorry if my angry rant is annoying. I just needed somewhere to write all my feelings down, and what's better than a blog? Sorry, but I have more to complain about. I'll contain it to one paragraph, so if you're sick of it all, just skip the next section and continue on to the end :)

Anyways, I'm going back to the whole "Chosen One" thing. So my mom believes that I'm not one of the favorites at the dance studio, and I completely agree with her. I'm not super skinny, but I am a pretty good dancer. Just ask my ballet teachers. I'm not half bad. Sure, my arch could use some work, and I should really get my BMI to a perfect 20, but for the body I've been given, I've made the most of it. This year at summer camp (which was at Coupe) I feel like did really well in ballet class (and I was my teacher's favorite...which was good and bad at the same time) and I've improved a lot since I was younger. I was moved up once or twice in pointe class, and I'm in the advanced ballet class. What more does my mom want from me? If that's not good enough for her to consider me up for a decent role in The Nutcracker, than what am I supposed to do? If this sort of thing happened at any other time than now, I'd probably be bawling my eyes out in my room, with the dook locked and no contact with the outside world. However, I'm in a particularly good mood, seeing as I did nothing all day but watch Naruto on the internet and I just ate a chocolate bar. Yeah, great for a dancer. Anyways, my anger is now gone. Thank you blog, for giving me a place to express my feelings :)

So, on that note, I can now write about my day. It's a Sunday, so I went to church as usual. The chuch I go to is REALLY small, and especially small during the summer, when services are an hour earlier (they're at 9:30 as opposed to the usual 10:30). Oh, and those times are in the morning, just saying. I was at church this morning when one of our family friends asked me and my bro to help out with the Summer church school because she was having trouble with the craft (it was a God's Eye/ Dream Catcher thing and she had to have her son explain it to her. I don't blame her, I had trouble making those things when I first started em too). Only two little kids were at church today, so when she left, she yelled out "I need some big kids too!" Then, just like that, all of PYC (Presbyterian Youth Connection-kind of a youth group type thing) that was in the church sprang up and went over to church school. There were only a total of four kids who were supposed to be at church school (two of em are older-ish), and guess how many helpers? Seriously, guess now. Done guessing? Ok, there were seven of us. So, the helpers outnumbered the kids. It was pretty hilarious, if you ask me. Eventually, after the bible story (The one about Jesus rising from the dead, but isn't that supposed to be told during Easter?) two more small kids showed up, so it was six to seven. Still, just imagine it, seven highschool kids (Freshman to Senior) making dream catchers...haha...it was a funny sight. Especially when one of my friends was utterly failing :D

So, yeah. That's my life for now. I use the word "so" a lot, don't I? Oh well. I'm off to bed now to I'll blog again eventually. I get my retainer tomorrow and I have a doctors appointment :( Bye!

Okay, this is JJ who must point out that Basil is not an "above average dancer" she's an "amazing dancer." And just a little note. Basil if, for some strange reason, you don't get a big part in the Nutcracker (which I KNOW won't happen), never stop dancing. It's criminal for someone with your talent to do such a thing. Oh, and take up your Dad on those art classes. I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do with my life and at some point, I realized I kept thinking I was worthy of something better in a lot of situations. But if you love being on stage, then be on stage. If you love writing, than write. If you like art, then be an artist. Don't stop and think you have the potential to be a doctor, because you also have the potential to be an artist or a dancer. And years from now, when you look back, you'll be happy. And who cares if your parents are fuming in the background? They'll come around. They just want to make sure that your future is set in stone. But if it is, then it won't be as much of an adventure. And it's your life. Do what you want, and no matter where you wind up, I think you'll wind up happy. I haven't decided what I want to do with my life, but I think I've decided that when the time comes I'll do what I want. Without fear, without hesitation, without the push of my parents. And I think I've made the right choice.

Back Home!!!

As from the title, you could probably gues that I, Basil, have finally returned home after a week of vacationing in Montauk. I hate to say it, but it's good to be home, in a beautiful world of air conditioning, not broken screen doors and most of all, no small children to wake me up at eight in the morning. Oh, and more than 12 channels of TV. That's nice too.

JJ should really post somehing soon so I can make random comments about it, but she's busy with HHYT so I don't blame her for not posting/finishing her posts and such. I really want to go to her show tonight, but my mom won't let me leave the house since we have to unpack. Also, she probably doesn't want to spend any more time in the car than she already has. Three hour drives really take a lot out of a person. Well, not me because I was sleeping the whole time, but you get the gist.

So,I woke up this morning at around 8:15 but not because of the screaming kids. I couldn't go back to sleep because my left ear was really bothering me. My ear still hurts right now, so I think I have swimmer's ear. Great, just great. I was really looking forward to doing that flip off the diving board sometime soon. The ear drops I've been putting in my ear have been helping with the pain, but not for the rest of my body, since I now have an assortment of bruises and scratches all over my legs. Did you know that it's really hard to judge distance when your head is tilted sideways? I didn't....at least not until 15 minutes ago. Going up and down stairs is hard work with a sideways head.

I'm really going to miss Montauk. Well, not the house I stayed in, but the place itself. The little not-chain shops on ever corner, the bake shop with key lime donuts, the sunny beaches I've grown to love and most of all, the lobster rolls. Lobster rolls are now my favorite lunch food. We actually stopped at this place called "The Lobster Roll Restaurant" with Millie's family on the way home. Needless to say, the lobster rolls there are AMAZING. Especially with iced tea...I put around 5 packs of sugar in mine...hehe. Following the excellent lunch that costed about $180 (there were nine people, so I guess thats normal. $20 each?), Millie was brutally attacked by the automatic sliding door on my mom's car while trying to say her farewells. That door is VICIOUS!

You know what I was thinking today? No? Didn't think so. Well, I was thinking about blogging, and I thought to myself, "What is blogging but a giant, more detailed version if Twitter?" I never really answered this question, but think about it. You write about everything that you're doing, whether people want to read about it or not. It's a way of making a novel of your life that practically nobody will read (happy? I said practically, so that doesn't mean there aren't readers out there :D). Though, it is really fun and a good way to kill some time.

Check it out!

Hello! This is Basil....again. It's been a whole 15 hours since my last post!! Well, I'm bored right now, so I figured I'd tell you (whoever "you" is.....) that I made a very random blog called My Opinion-The JJ and Basil Way. Why? Because I can. The web address is www.myopjjb.blogspot.com. Yeah, all the other web addresses I wanted were taken :( And yah, the title kind of sucks, but I made it...when? Oh yeah, late at night...or was it early this morning? Wow, this just shows the capacity and attention span of my brain.....

The nearby beach was demolished by high tide last night. According to Millie's mom, about 3/4 of the beach just disappeared. Also, the clouds have been doing this really weird thing today. They've been moving so fast it's just abnormal. I'm kind of worried, to tell you the truth. OMG IT MIGHT BE THE APOCALYPSE!!!!!!!! Just kidding, i don't really think that. However, I've heard things about a hurricane approaching Montauk soon, so that worries me as well. Anyway, due to the lack of beachy fun, I've been swimming in the pool a lot, and I learned how to do a flip! I did flips off the edge of the pool, so it'll be much easier when I have a diving board when I return home. I can't wait!!!

Well, I really don't have anything else to write about, so I'll just stop writing to prevent rambling on about completely useless stuff. Sorry for the amazingly short post, and JJ, break a leg tonight!!!....and read the other blog and tell me how bad it is :P Bibi!!

Greetings from The End!!!

Heyyyyyy from the bold font you can probably tell that it's me, Basil here (well, unless you read degrassipwns, then you might think its Mango)!! It's about midnight right now, so I apologize ahead of time for any typos/spelling or grammar mistakes i might type up in this blog.

For the past week, I've been in Montauk, NY (also known as The End) on vacation. We rented out a house with two other families, so that's where I've been staying for the past week. We go to the beach every day, swim, eat, have fun, play Wii, etc (and if you're wondering, for me, etc=watch degrassi seasons 1 through 5 on the internet). Sounds like so much fun, right? Well, it is, but the vacation could do without:
-4 kids under the age of 10 living in the same house as me (one of whom I believe is a demon child)
-A scratched game of Super Smash Bros Brawl (as a result of said children)
-Broken screen doors
-Mosquitos in the house (but I don't have to worry much because like JJ, I'm a walking mosquito repellent)
-No air conditioning
-Only 12 TV channels
So yeah, I'm having a pretty good time despite these minor disturbances.

As said above, I've been watching Degrassi on the internet and I have come to the conclusion that JT is awesome!!!!!! Too bad he had to die....grrrrrrrrrrr Degrassi, grrrrrrrrrr..... Also, I'm always wondering about how some Canadians say "soory" as opposed to "sorry"
...it just really bothers me for some reason.

Along with watching obsessive amounts of Degrassi, I've been bonding with my brother by watching episodes of Wipeout and I Survived A Japanese Game Show. Wipeout is hilarious, if you're the type of person who enjoys watching the failure and pain of others, which I do. Some of the challenges on that show are just so incredibly mean, yet they look like they'd be so much fun (aside from the "sucker punch", a wall that consistently punches you with boxing gloves)! My favorite is in the fourth stage (the "Wipeout Zone") for some seasons, where contestants are literally catapulted into the arena about 20 or 30 feet in the air. It so looks like something I'd do! Sadly, my brother and I ran out of episodes of that to watch, so we had to find some other show (since, of course, he would NEVER watch Degrassi). He chose I Survived A Japanese Game Show (season 2), which turned out to be AMAZING!!!! The challenges are so random and ridiculous that it's the perfect show for us to watch in our spare time. The person I was cheering for (if you watch this show, it was Cathy) from basically the start ended up not losing a single challenge, and eventually winning the whole entire show. That's not something you see every day (except for in Hell's Kitchen, season 2 but that's something else entirely). Yeah, my total time wasters for when I'm not outdoors turned out to be pretty entertaining.

One of my really good friends (I'm going to call her Millie) happens to also go to Montauk around this time of year. Millie and I have been doing a lot of stuff together, like going to the beach, shopping and eating lunch. While on the beach, we coincidentally discussed Helen Hayes Youth Theater, where JJ is currently doing a show. This year, Millie was in two HHYT shows, Seussical and Thoroughly Modern Millie. She was a Wickersham Brother in Seussical and Millie in TMM (Hence why I am calling her Millie). I came the the conclusion tat next summer,not only am I going to attempt to get into the NYSSSA Modern or NYSSSA Voice summer program, but I'm also going to do several HHYT shows, since Millie told me how they were so much fun. Hope to see you there JJ!! Oh, and before I forget, break a leg tomorrow!!!

School starts again soon, and I still have so much sumer work to finish! I have to finish one book, read another, and find 15-17 current events articles in 2 weeks!!! But even so, I can't wait fpr highschool to start! Sure I'm scared of being a freashman, mostly because of the bigger people and "Freshman Friday", but the school drama and musical will make it so awesome. Since I didn't read all of the blogs before this (sorry JJ I forgot) I don't know if this was ever mentioned, but JJ and I already had our first HS musical (no, not the movie) experience when we were in 5th grade. The highschool did a production of The Music Man, and they needed younger kids to be in it. They chose two girls and two boy from our grade, and coincidentally, JJ and I were the two girls! It was one of the best experiences of my life, so I really can't wait to get back into performing. Especially after the horrifying school play experience this year...*shudders*. You don't ever want to know about that.

Oh no! I just remembered that I get my retainer on Monday! Ugh I got my braces off at the very end of July, and I'm enjoying the freedom so much! Now my stupid orthodontist has to go and ruin it again :( Sigh, why can't life ever be perfect?

**NEW BAND ALERT**
My uncle was the first person to recommend Foo Fighters to me and my brother, and they ended up being one of our favorite bands. Just a few days ago, he told me to look up a band called INCUBUS (no , it's not really all caps, I just wanted to quickly emphasize the band name but my font is already in bold). Look them up on Youtube, iTunes, Google, whatever. They're pretty good if you're into the whole rock-ish country-ish type thing. I personally really like them, especially their song "Drive". Look that up and listen to it while you're at it. The only odd thing about them is that the lead singer has this thing for never wanting to wear a shirt while singing. You'll see what I mean.

Again, I'm very sorry for any spelling mistakes or typos or whatever. This site really needs spell check....Oh well. I have to go, considering it's now one in the morning, so as they say on I Survived a Japanese Game Show, MAJIDE!!!!!!! *does weird hand symbol* :D

You know there's a spellcheck function, right?

HHYT, Week 2, Day 3

You know how everyone has a crazy fantasy that's realistic, but you know will never happen? Well, mine is always that the lead will fall off the stage or get sick or just be a total jerk and get fired (it varies based on the company and the actor) and due to my freaky memorizing ability, I'd be able to replace them.(she does have this really freaky memorizing ability...she can memorize a song after only hearing it once or twice...) Now, I never thought anything even remotely similar would happen, but when my friend Alli hurt her back... well, guess who's now playing Monsieur D'Arque? I'll give you 3 hints.
1) This person looks a lot like me.
2) This person has the same roles as me.
3) My time off stage just got majorly reduced seeing as Alli was also the statue and the baker. (ummm....is it.....your sister? :P)
No, it's not Luke... not a PA... I'll give you one last guess. Do you give up? Fine, I'll tell you. It's me! Yes, me, JJ, the one writing this blog. Surprised? Yeah, I was, too.(WHY DON"T YOU TELL ME THESE THINGS????? Oh and congrats!!!) So now I have about as much stage time as Belle or Gaston, I have more lines and a lyric in Mob Song, and I have a featured bow thing. (Yay!!!) I run out with Maurice and the Enchantress and we point towards the Enchantress, then they point to me, then we point to Maurice (it's a stage-point, more of a gesture).


Today we did our first run through in costume. Because I'm like 5 different people, I have about 100 changes. Okay, not 100, but a lot. I start out as Narrator 1, then have just the 8 bar introduction to Belle to change into the baker, then I change back into Narrator 1, then I change into the statue, then I run and change into a villager with sneakers (so I can do my round-off backwalkover), change into utensil, then become Narrator 1 again, then I become Monsieur D'Arque, become narrator 1 again, and then I'm D'Arque until the curtains close.


Today was my day of stupid mistakes. I woke up and went to get my leotard from my drawer and slammed my hand in my drawer when closing it. Then I was walking down stairs, stepped on Nicki's shoebox, and felt it colapse under me. I slid down the stairs, flew into my mom's thumb (yes, poked myself in the eye with someone else's finger), and artfully flipped down onto the ground. It hurt a little, but I laughed it off and felt better in an hour (if Basil hasn't mentioned it already, I'm her "pain tolerant friend" due to my uncanny ability to feel minimal pain)(<-----it's kind of creepy how you can punch her and she feels absolutely nothing). During our rehearsal of Gaston, I backed up and almost knocked down a table which was behind me that I hadn't noticed. And finally, during my round-off backwalkover, I noticed I was about to knock over another table and kick it onto a group of kids, so I forced myself to stop mid-air and fall down, which was just splendid. I figured that was the end. I mean, 4 strikes, I was already technically out. But I figured maybe the two seperate tables would count as one strike. Of course, I was wrong. Because, as you already know, I have many costumes. But I unfortunately changed into the wrong one right after Be Our Guest. The dressing rooms were flooded, so we were changing up in the main lobby, which helped us create a marvelous stage picture. Imagine this: Narrator 1, running down the aisle shouting "Belle ran into the forest as fast as she could" in half of her Monsieur D'Arque costume. The other narrators freaking out because Narrator 1 isn't with them, so the half dressed D'Arque/Narrator cross-breed stands on stage and recites Narrator 2's line. Narrator 2 wondering onstage and staring at Narrator 1. The other narrators coming on stage and continuing the scene. Narrator 1 handing Belle an imaginary prop because she came from the aisle, not the wings, and couldn't grab the prop. Blackout. Yep, it was magical. You're looking at the world's stupidest narrator here. But don't worry, "this is why we have rehearsal." So you can make a fool of yourself BEFORE the people come.

HHYT, Week 2, Day 1

So on Day 1, week 2, my day started when I arrived at the theater. We're out of the studio this week. The first thing we did was finish staging the show, which started with the "Storming the Castle" scene. HHYT has taught me many things. Not only am I a more skilled gymnast than I thought, I'm also a pretty good fencer. Or at least staged-fencer. Because I'm now supposed to fight with Denise in the scene, which is a lot of fun! We finished the staging and were sent off to lunch after getting a tour of the stage (I learned that the curtains seperating the wings are called legs and the light fixtures behind the legs are called boons). We went to Starbucks and then to pizza where Kevin, a PA (that stands for production assistant), stole stuff from my friend Jessica. It was pretty funny. She'd grab her cellphone to protect it and then he'd run off with her cream soda. Nicki was always sent to get it back for her, and because she's so cute he'd return it. To taunt Jessica, Nicki put her Izzie drink in the middle of the table in Kevin's reach, but he would ignore it, then steal her stuff. After lunch, we had our first run through at the theater. And maybe it was because it was the first run through at the theater, but it was god awful. I mean, words cannot describe the lack of enthusiasm we displayed (which means I'm pretty bad at my job of writing if I can't describe stuff). So we got our first ever "If you fail, I look bad, so do it for me. Because I care just as much as you should" speech from John, the musical director. It was new and different, and it actually worked, because when we ran it one last time and everything fell into place better than before. Everyone knew their lyrics and blocking and no one walked into set peices or props... it was a dream come true. But it lasted about 5 minutes, then we fell apart again and were dismissed. But I'm being hopeful. Because I know the show will be amazing. I have faith... I do believe in fairies. I do, I do.

HHYT, Week 1, Day 6 and 7

It's not technically this weekend, but I'm going to write as if it is.

So on day 6, we did a lot of driving. We drove up to my great-grandma and great-great-great-aunt to visit them and celebrate my Nana's birthday. It was fun, and then we went back to the house where we sat around and did nothing due to Nana's paranoia about us breaking something. After the excruciating hour of nothing, we finally left and drove to Connecticut to visit my Dad's friend's family and their children in their new house... which is huge. Like, the size of 5 of my houses. And I have a pretty big house. Once we arrived we got ready to swim, but then it started to rain. There was this single cloud above their house. Everywhere else it was blue and sunny, but we had to wait half an hour for the cloud to pass. Then we did go swimming. We tried playing volleyball, but I apparently hit too hard while our friend Emily hits too soft, so we got all of nowhere. When that became apparent, we switched to diving contests which featured dives from Mancove, Emily, and I, and bizarre leaps from Ethan, Emily's little brother. When dinner time came around, so did every mosquito in the state of Connecticut (not that I minded since I've only been bitten once in my life... I'm a little mosquito repellent... better than bug spray) so we had to turn around and go back into the house. Dinner was directly proceeded by a game Ethan and Nicki like to play in which they pretend to be dogs and Emily jumped in, too. I pretended to be the shelter owner while Mancove was my best friend who helped me. But one thing lead to another and soon there was a ninja fight, an epileptic puppy, a psychotic vet, and an attempted murder... just a side note, if you ever want to play a normal game with me, don't. Mancove and I share runaway imaginations, so things never turn out normal.

After our... creative game, we got in the car for more driving, this time we drove all the way down to Long Island. We spent hours in the car, listening to our iPods (we got a CD to practice from for Beauty and the Beast) and reading our scripts as we rode. That lead to a very excluded Mancove, so we gave her a script and ran lines together with her to promote family unity... just kidding, it was so we wouldn't get a family unity lecture from our parents. We soon arrived in Long Island and I tried to blog, but i couldn't connect to the internet.

The next morning, we woke up and got ready to go to the beach. We drove to Robert Moses beach which was beautiful, despite the tiny, eroded beach which was jam-packed. If you didn't gather my passion for big and wild waves from my Cape May posts, I'll directly state it now. Robert Moses beach was nothing like Cape May. There were minimal waves and if there were any they crashed about a foot from the shore. But the water was practically crystal clear and a beautiful shade of blue-green, a completely flawless and endlessly consistant river of that water you only see in dreams, the water that lets you know it's a dream. The sand, although limited, was beautiful in its own way. It was a deep shade of purple and so thin it would get caught in the tiny creases in the skin of your hands. My sisters, father, and cousin built an awesome sand castle - no, sculpted an awesome sand castle - which looked magnificent. I was shocked that I had actually helped build - sculpt - it. It was one of those crazy awesome things you see on the beach that makes you just stop moving and stare for a bit. Later, Nicki and I danced and practiced in the sand. Nicki then put on a little show for my dad's cousin and her partner and their friends.

After the performance (accompanied by the soundtrack of JJ since Nicki can't harmonize with herself), we packed up to leave. But unfortunately, the fates were not with us on that. You see, there had been a car-crash on the bridge we had crossed to get to the beach and we were stuck. Yes, trapped like... things that get trapped a lot. We were stranded on that island with no exit. So it wasn't until 10 PM that we got home for dinner. And we were so hungry by then we would've eaten garbage, but dinner was fabulous (although there was a NYRA meeting at the same time, so I ate hurriedly) and soon after the meal I had to leave the meeting and drive home for hours.

And the day ended with me going to bed. Which I should do right now.

Degrassi Screening Party

As you should already know if you read my other blog, Degrassi Goes Hollywood aired (in the US) on August 14th, and Mango threw a screening party.(So much fun!!...sort of...oh and JJ, REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR FONT IN ITALICS OR ELSE MY BOLD FUNKY FONT DOEN'T FEEL SPECIAL!!!!) And despite the drama and fights and back-stabbing and secrets that come with my life (it's very Degrassi-esque), it was a lot of fun. Flannie did come dressed like the stereotypical gay person (which was tres awesome, an idea developed at the treehouse building shindig at Flannie's the day I posted about that)(<---I was there too...interesting conversation...) which was the funniest thing EVER. But apparently Mango's parents aren't so big on gay people either so we've still made zero progress. Our good jerk-ish friend Ashley came, and due to her jerk-ish-ness, she insisted upon only watching the commercials, but towards the end, it captured her attention and she stayed in the room.(It did??? I didn't know that!!) We ate (food), drank (soda), watched (Degrassi), and played (extreme ping-pong). What could be better? It was so much fun, I'm not even blogging about HHYT day 5, but the party. During the party Mango texted her friend Alex, who happens to share a name with her swim coach, and convinced Flannie he was her coach (a little payback for his convincing of her that D-Day was when the Japanese attacked Cape-Cod with bayonets last year). It was hilarious (Agreed!!). I learned how to do a front handspring on Mango's lawn, which was awesome (Again, agreed!!). I'm discovering I have many undiscovered acrobatic abilities during this little HHYT performance. Mango was upset and I went to talk to her in the bathroom... and we came out together while Ashley and Flannie were playing miniature air hockey and you could tell what they were thinking... that was also funny, but in a more disturbing sense. (Ugh!!!!! Ewwww much???)

Oh, and guess what Luke told me today! He said he was sure I would be a lead soon and he was glad he'd had the opportunity to work with me! Me! JJ [lastname]. He called me amazing! ME! I wanted to say "I'm honored to work with you! You're amazing!" But I didn't, because that would be awkward and I knew I was blushing, so I just got out of there. But still... me! It's amazing. I'm all dizzy and happy and light. It's like, all those years of just patiently waiting for my time in the spotlight while all the directors ignore me and treat me like some talentless member of the ensemble have just faded away. And now, finally, someone sees me and sees talent and potential and someone amazing. And it's just the greatest feeling in the world.

Okay, now I've gotta go do nonsense summer homework. Kill me now (But if I killed you, I would be down a bosom friend!!), only honors classes get it and it's making me wish I was average (same here...summer work is horrible). Blah. More later.

HHYT, Week 1, Day 4

Okay, technically it's the morning of day 5, but I was too busy last night staring at the summer homework and reading about a page of it until I got frustrated and just watched Degrassi (I'm so productive, right?) so I didn't have time to blog.

But anyway, yesterday we officially fell behind. We were supposed to stage up to page 81, but only got up to 77... I know, what a sin, right? But since today has less dance numbers (yesterday we choreographed Be Our Guest and half of Gaston which are the big dance scenes) we'll hopefully catch up today. Then again, maybe we're behind because everyone seems to like talking (which includes me, but I only do it when I'm NOT on stage unlike some people). Which means we got that nonsense "It's their play, I don't need a clean scene" spiel... again. Which is incredibly effective but just bothers me for reasons listed in the previous post. Well, not previous, since the last post was actually by Basil! Yes!!!!!! Welcome back!

I just discovered I can change the post date, which means I can lie to all of you and make it look like I posted it yesterday. But I won't lie to you.

Anyway, while staging Gaston, Luke decided I was a much better gymnast than I was and told me to go into a round-off back-walkover, which I had never done before. But because I like to think highly of myself, I decided I'd try it... although there was no spotter... and hardwood floor. But then again, I fall ALL THE TIME. Which means I've learned how to catch myself, so I knew if I failed I wouldn't get severely injured... at least that's what I thought.

But as it turns out, I didn't need to catch myself because I did it. It just worked for some reason.

So now I have to go for day 5, more thorough report on today later. Sorry about the lack of description for today... err... yesterday.

Sorry...

Hiya!! This is Basil, if you haven't already figured out by the font that hasn't been used in about a half a month. I sincerely apologize to JJ and all of our many imaginary readers that I heven't really written anything in a while. Between the swimming, hanging out with friends, and finally beating Suikoden 1 with a perfect game, I never really gave this blog a thought. Sorry blog, if you have feelings. I'm sorry I abandoned you

In my last post, I said I would write about my favorite bands...well, I'm too lazy, and do to my lack of knowledge and clear description that JJ usually has, I find it pretty pointless and weird...so I'm going to just write about my life...which might be a bit more exciting...I hope

Unlike JJ, I haven't really been doing much over the past two weeks. Dance camp for me ended on July 31, so since then, nothing productive has really been happening in my life. Yeah, I did parts of the summer homework, but besides that, I'm completely out of shape and I have yet to actually do something meaningful with my summer. Yeah, from the sentence a while ago, dance camp. I'm a dance addict. Ballet, tap, jazz, etc...and I miss dancing a lot during August :(

To JJ, I'm sooooooooo sorry to hear about the whole Lumiere thing :( Why didn't I know about this beforehand?? Oh, wait...I haven't been on the blog...oops...Well, your day to shine will come soon enough, and when it does, I'll be right there in the front row of the theater making funny faces so you'll mess up...hahaha just kidding I'll be cheering you on, of course!!!

Over the time of unproductivity, I've been watching a lot of Degrassi...JJ and Mango, you must be so proud of me. It's not as bad of a show as I thought, and I actually might start recording it on DVR soon, giving it one of the coveted spots on my recorded list, joining the ranks of 10 Things I hate About You, Psych, and Make It Or Break It. Make It Or Break It is the BEST show to EVER be on television... along with Degrassi, of course. Degrassi is a really good show considering it provides a look into the drama of highschool, just exaggerated time twenty. Still, it's a great show. I now understand just why Mango and JJ wrote degrassipwns.blogspot.com...

Two days ago, I felt like making some tomato soup. The recipe said I needed to peel some tomatos, so I did. The result? I cut my nail really badly. Well, not that badly, but enough so I have to constantly wear a friggin band-aid on it all the time so that it doesn't catch on anything and rip off...ugh

Yeah, so there's my update that I owe you guys, and I hope I'll remember to update tomorrow too...but not after that because I'm going to Montauk for a week so I'm handing it over to JJ again to write whatever the heck she wants on this blog that barely anyone is going to read. Hey, don't diss my imaginary readers! Bye! --Basil-- (why do I bother siging my entries? It's so pointless)

HHYT, Week 1, Day 3

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I was a little crushed. You see, as I predicted, I was NOT casted as Lumiere. And I know I said I'd be happy either way, but it was still a little deflating. And since I couldn't take out my unhappiness near Nicki (who was a thoroughly excited Chip) so I took it out on all you imaginary readers. Sorry about that.

Anyway, as you can tell, I was not Lumiere, so the rest of yesterday was kind of a blur... especially since I left early for a doctor's appointment. Oh, and... Denise? If you're one of my imaginary readers, congratulations. You deserved the part. You got it because you had the range for the part, and quite frankly, I didn't... and I was stupid and tried to belt when I knew I should've mixed... but yeah, that doesn't matter, congrats.

So today we ran through the opening number... for about an hour. You see, it turned out that I knew just as much as everyone else. And I left early. Which means everyone forgot/never learned their part. So a very stressed out Luke spent half the day re-teaching the scene (which means I'm basically all caught up). He got so annoyed with the overly talkative ensemble (I wanted to shove my fist down all of their throats but I refrained from such foolish behavior) he gave us the "It's your show, I've lost all patience, you wanna talk? Fine, tell me when you're done. We'll just tell your parents you don't want to do a show. It won't be me making a fool of myself up on that stage," spiel. Which is the most annoying thing ever created, because none of that's true. It's the director's show just as much as it is ours. And when we mess up, it hurts him, too. He's sacrificing his time for US. Sure, he's getting paid, but he's their because he loves what he does. And what he does is theater. So when we fail, he feels like he failed. And I see no point in lying to us about that. Oh, and Luke? If you're one of my imaginary readers, I'm sorry if I was disrespectful today. You're a great director.

Oh, I guess I never told you what my role is! I'm Narrator 1 (which is code for The Most Useless and Annoying Character, but who am I to complain, I've got my first lines! Well, aside from "Pet store!" and "I was the first woman on the moon, and believe me, it's really made of cheese.") and Fish Man (which is code for ensemble). And Nicki is, of course, Chip. But the fact that I have about 5 lines does not mean I don't spend time memorizing lines at night. But since I have this bizarre ability to remember things after reading or hearing them once, I memorize the whole play within a week every time I'm in a performance. So that makes me perfect understudy material if Denise should "suddenly become ill"... Just so you know, that was a joke, I don't want to be sued for poisoning a kid if by some strange stroke of fate she should actually get sick... wouldn't that be the very definition of irony? Anyway, I've memorized most of the lines (most of them word for word, but some more paraphrased much to my dismay), almost all of the songs (except Cogsworth's part in "Human Again" and parts of "Home" which is just an annoying song in my opinion), and a bit of the blocking, but I'll get better with that next week when we take it to the theater.

I guess Luke really did like my French accent, because this morning I was appointed accent coach. Which is a really scary thing since I'm not actually speaking in a French accent, I'm just mimicking the guy who plays Lumiere in the movie. But Denise asked me about some lines and it turns out I do a satisfactory job if I just say the line and then she repeats it. And it's a lot easier to be friends with her than I thought... last night I was afraid I'd feel awkward talking to her, but it was second nature. I don't even know what I was afraid of. Speaking of friends, Nicki has developed quite an attachment to Bridget.

That's all I've got to say today. Nothing interesting has happened in my life. I'm in theater mode. I eat, sleep, and breathe Beauty and the Beast. Which isn't that bad. I love being some one else, someone more exciting and different, the more unlike me the better. Of course, that's more fun when I'm pretending to be Belle or the Beast or Lumiere or Mrs. Potts or Cogsworth or anyone, really. Anyone other than the personality-less narrator. But I'm not complaining! I get to speak on stage! Which reminds me, I better memorize my lines for today.

Belle ran as fast as she could into the woods.

Belle took cover while the wolves turned and attacked the Beast.

Belle knew this was her chance to get away... to go home.

Yup, okay, I'm done.

What, I didn't say I was talking a lot! Three sentences is still words, and that's a step up for me. Sad, isn't it?

HHYT, Week 1, Day 1

I am currently enrolled in Helen Hayes Youth Theatre (which I'm too lazy to write out completely so we'll just call it HHYT) with Nicki. Mancove is spending this summer playing volleyball, pitching softballs, and being lazy, so it's just two out of the three of us. Mancove has insisted that I mention she goes to church... a lot... against her will... to learn things about God... things she doesn't care about or already knows.

Anyway, Nicki and I are both in Beauty and the Beast, the "timeless classic" about a spunky girl who meets a selfish monster and then falls in love with the monster and he becomes a handsome prince... an annoying and consistent logic that when you become a better person you get more attractive. People are people, regardless of their appearance, and when they become good people, they are still people and can look flawed just like every other person in the world!

Today was day one of the 2 week program. It's the most stressful and nerve-racking day, a.k.a. the audition. An audition is sitting around, more sitting around, standing up and singing, then sitting around, sitting around some more, still sitting, standing up and reading stuff, then dancing, then sitting and sitting and sitting. After the initial audition, there was a reading, where individuals get called to read for a part in front of the entire company. Yeah, scary for some, but Nicki and I both love performing in front of crowds so there was no problem for us. Originally, Nicki and I were both aiming to be Mrs. Potts and Chip. But after a girl named... Bridget tried the part, our director... Luke fell in love with her. She was really good, too, so I knew my shot had just been basically demolished. But Nicki landed Chip without a doubt since she read amazingly and sang amazingly and cartwheeled amazingly and- she was just amazing.

I was prepared to settle for the humble role of "Townsperson 2" when fate hit me. You see, I have a terribly mediocre French accent, but everyone in the cast has terribly terrible French accent, and when I read for Lumiere, everyone fell in love with ME... or my french accent, at least. So I got a callback for Lumiere with... Denise, the other girl up for the part. We sang "Be Our Guest" and "Human Again" which was a lot of fun. It was my first callback ever! Congratulate me!

I'm just going to assume all my imaginary readers congratulated me... and now I can discourage you by saying "I don't think I'll get the part." I can only belt up to a C sharp and the other girl belts an E flat, so I don't think I have the range for the part...

But who cares? It got my first callback ever, a major performing arts milestone for me. You'll find out who I am tomorrow, so stay tuned, imaginary people!

Life

Today was a wonderful day but I won't blog about it. You see, Basil said she might try to blog today or tomorrow and it would be terrible for me to blog about a wonderful day I shared with her and then have her sign on and go "Oh no, I've got nothing to blog about" and then sign off. So, due to my excessively hopeful and unrealistic fantasy, I'm going to blog about... life.

Well, that's actually a particularly broad subject. Everything and everyone is living and are all part of the magical thing we call life. And things that are dead were once part of life. When we lose them, it enhances life and adds the feelings of loss, grief, and acceptance to our emotional repertoire which adds them to life. And the mineralic and inorganic substances that aren't technically living have a life of their own, a spirit that can be captured in mysterious and enchanting tales of magic and legend. So I could choose to talk about anything. I could talk about Cheez-Its, the most delicious attempt to make cheddar cheese a cracker. I could talk about how there are more species of mammals that lay eggs than mammals that walk on two legs. I could talk about how friends are the most necessary but the most frustrating people everyone needs in their life. I could even talk about Adamo Ruggiero (who is gay!).

Oh, speaking of gay, on Friday, Mango's throwing a Degrassi Goes Hollywood Movie screening party at her house. Despite the Degrassi controversy amongst my friends (is it a waste of time or heaven in the form of television... obviously the latter), Flannie, Mancove, Basil, Mango, and I are definitely coming. The only problem (other than the Flannie-Mango-Basil-loving-dating-fearing ordeal) is the fact that Mango's parents do not approve of Flannie since he's a guy. They've got this fear that anyone of the male sex is a rapist who is out to kill their daughter. But if you're a girl, their amazing hosts and fabulous people. But unfortunately for Flannie, he's never experienced this delightful aspect of the Mango household.

Yeah, I know you're questioning my connection of gay people to the Mango household, but be patient. To convince Mango's parents that he's not a rapist, we've decided he should pretend to be gay. Which hopefully he'll do. At least he'll hopefully dress and talk as the stereotypical gay person... which isn't all that accurate, because some of the most awesome people I know are gay and you'd never be able to tell. I know an amazing guy who's gone sky-diving twice and he's gay. And I know some other amazing gay people, although the relevancy of this interruption is non-existent. Anyway, I'll tell you on Friday (or Saturday morning) how it went, all you awesome imaginary people who care deeply about my life.

Julie and Julia and JJ and Blogs

I'm back in my humble hometown of - oh wait, internet stalkers, so I'll just call my town... Mars - after a splendid little excursion from reality. But like all good things, it had to come to an end, so here I am, sitting in a chair back at home. Although, despite the lack of tiny pieces of sand caught in my hair and cold water rushing between my toes and even the strange but earthy scent of marsh, I did miss my Mac. Well, my mom's Mac, but I refuse to call my cheap little Netbook my computer, we have an expensive Mac and as long as I'm blogging and IMDb-ing and NYRA-ing, I will continue to call this the family computer no matter how much my mother insists it's hers.

Anyway, upon arrival in my lonely house, my sister plopped down on the couch while I laboriously unloaded the car (since my Dad's shoulder is still dislocated). After I was finished taking in the big stuff and Mancove and Nicki managed to muster the energy to grab a few bags of food and a puzzle or two (I pity them, really, I do), the three of us plopped down on the couch and got caught up on all the television shows we watch that Nicki probably shouldn't see. But her first movie was Star Wars, so as the youngest child, she gets to do things early.

Now since I am a borderline fanatic movie buff (yes borderline; I like to know things but I don't worship them like the little boy worshipped his ferret in Shredni Vashtar or like Daniel Radcliffe's character worshipped horses in Equus, although that was an absurdly sexual relationship so that was probably not the best reference), my sisters and I requested a trip to the local cinema to see Julie & Julia. The movie looked interesting, but even if it didn't I was going to see it. I knew I was going to see it before I even knew what it was about. I knew I was going to see it during pre-production when I stumbled upon it while idly roaming IMDb. Because even if every review said it was terrible, I am legally obligated to seeing all things Amy Adams. And almost all things Meryl Streep (I'd say all things but I can't see too many R rated movies and she's just got so much it's overwhelming, I haven't been alive long enough to see all her stuff, I'd need to devote a year of my life to that and I'm far too easily distracted to do such a thing).

Anyway, Amy Adams inspired me. I guess technically Julie Powell inspired me. But that's why we have movies, to tell the unknown tales of inspiration that few people hear. To recognize the people brave enough to live a life worthy of the screen by telling their story to the world. And actors and actresses? We need them to tell the story. So in all technicality, both Julie Powell and Amy Adams inspired me through their tale of a person who wrote a blog. And it got me thinking... I could do that. I'd just need a purpose. So I sat down and I thought... and thought... and thought... and thought. But I couldn't, for the life of me, come up with a purpose. I got so frustrated, I just wanted to throw something at the wall. I mean, Julie Powell seemed to think of her purpose in seconds. She liked food. She'd blog about food. She'd blog through Julia Child's cookbook. And *BAM* she had a blog.

In a way I did have that moment, back when Basil and I decided to make a blog. But we - or I since it seems Basil has abandoned this blog *tear* (she'll return, I hope) - failed to give this blog a purpose. And if I can't even think about something to write a blog for, what am I living for? What's in the center of my little orbit of life? What do I revolve around, what excuses me from reality for moments when I'm doing it? And as much as I thought, I couldn't think of a thing. I have no mission, no goal, nothing to work towards. And that just leaves me feeling empty.

I was hoping that maybe, while I wrote this post a purpose would come to me. I would suddenly replace that emptiness with a goal and *BAM* I'd have myself a blog. But that didn't seem to go as I planned. And now that's a really sad(-ish) note to end this post on.

Dang.

But then again, who needs a purpose? I mean, it's not like I'm unaccomplished. I'm just starting high school and I've already won the American Legion Award, been elected to the board of a national organization, started writing a novel, experienced loss, experienced love, sang in the All-County Chorus and played in All-County Band, won 3 medals in Science Olympiads (with my awesome partner Basil and best friend Mango), danced in the rain, turned a cartwheel, been to Jamaica, seen a rainbow, had a my eye glued shut by my doctor, performed 3 NYSSMA pieces in the same year, discovered a passion for musical theatre, won the triple jump in a track meet, learned a lot about cinematography and the movie industry, stayed up until 4 AM, cursed in British, worn my clothing inside out and backwards, rolled down a hill, caught (and accidentally killed) fireflies in a jar, painted my hand bright green, flattened a stuffed animal, followed my heart, talked to a stranger, shared a cookie with an old woman, been stung by a jellyfish, seen Mexico, learned to snowboard and skateboard, wrote a song, walked on my hands, skinned my knee, raced a snowplow down a hill, worn mismatched socks, screwed up a friendship and leaned how to fix it, took responsibility for my actions and learned it's okay to be wrong, co-founded the TSO... in short, I've lived. I've lived my movie of a life and I'm planning to keep on doing so. And everyone's life is worthy of a movie... we just have to write our own screenplay.

And my producer says I don't need a blog with a purpose. It's perfectly fine to blog about nonsense. And if you have a problem with that, do what all great people do when they don't approve of a movie: blame the writers. Or the director. Which ever ones' name is easier to pronounce.

Oh hey, I did find my little happy ending. Yay!

The Blobs

Today I joined a gang. Yup, a real serious gang or serious dudes who like to swim in the ocean and build sand castles that look like people. Yeah, that's right, you should be jealous.

Okay, well, this all started last night, when Flannie, his brother Matt and sister Emily, came over to our condo and we watched "Billy Elliot." It's apparently rated R for language, but they characters speak in such thick British/Irish accents that we had no idea what they were saying. It's a pretty awkward movie. It's about a little boy who likes to dance. His teacher's daughter has this really bizarre crush on him and so does his best friend who is gay and enjoys dressing like a girl. His father and brother are on strike in the mines and he doesn't want to be a miner, he wants to be a dancer. At the end of the movie, his father is a strange, aging man, his brother is taking care of him, his best friend has a boyfriend and has seen the world (and bought a man-turban as a souvenir), and he's a ballet dancer.

So anyway, after Billy Elliot, we started repeating some of the awkward things they said (or at least what we heard considering the accents were so thick). The next day, we formed a gang, The Blobs. We're named after an awkward British phrase that contains minimal vulgarity when translated into American. It was originally something else, but apparently it means something really bad in British-people speak and to avoid inadvertedly cursing out British people, we changed it to The Blobs. The Blobs consist of 6 people: Mancove, Squi, Cox, Junior, Bismo, and Almond. I will explain each nickname below.

Mancove: Okay, so you all know of my awesome friend Mango, right? Well, my awesome friend Flannie likes to call her Mangrove (and Mango and a bunch of other stuff, hence the cyber-nickname). So when he told my sister this, she replied with "Mangrove? Like Man cove but with a g-r instead of a c?" And we said "Man cove, what the fish are you talking about?" And her nickname became Mancove.

Junior: Well, Flannie's brother Matt looks just like Flannie. And since my sister had gotten a nickname, we decided he needed one. So he became Flannie Junior which was soon shortened to Junior.

Squi: Flannie has this profound ability to make an awkward squeaking noise. It sounds almost as if he's swallowed a dog toy. He's also managed to train himself to talk whilst creating this noise, creating a unique and original voice. While we were splashing around in the ocean, he started talking in that voice, calling it his squeak. It was shortened to his squi while we were playing microorganisms (That's a game in which we curl up in a ball and are completely merciless to the ocean, just like microorganisms. Flannie has this problem which prevents him from floating above the waves, so he usually winds up with a mouthful of sea water and my sister has a problem which causes her to float out really far, although we can't figure out what either of their problems are.) and that became his nickname.

Almond: My other sister, Nicki, is the tiniest thing you've ever seen. She's 7, but she looks like she's 4. I was talking to my music teacher about how she'd be starting concert choir next year and she thought I meant she'd by starting kindergarten. We decided her nickname would be peanut, but she didn't seem to like that very much. I said, "Well, you can be peanut or pistachio, your choice," and Mancove extended on the nut theme. Eventually, Nicki had chosen Almond and now that's her nickname.

Bismo: While brainstorming a nickname for Emily, Flannie's sister, many options were brainstormed. A series of connections were made. She wanted to be something like "caffeine" but Flannie rejected that. Mancove and I were brainstorming and came up with Pepsi which was changed to Pepto. Pepto was verbalized and then Pepto-Bismol was suggested. After going through many variations of the name and other random ideas which were eagerly shouted out, Bismo was the final name.

Cox: Last, but not least, is yours truly. I am big on movies and actors and such and am a reliable source for basically any movie question, whether it be about Oscar nominees or the status of the newest Disney Channel Movie. There's just something that seems to attract me to that stuff. I think it's the fact that it's one of the few things that belongs to America. We don't have Chinese people or Japanese people or Mexican people make our movies; we have Americans do that. American children want to be movie stars when they grow up because Americans are movie stars. It's something we do and something we do well. Hollywood is one of the world's greatest entertainment empires (although we have competition with Bollywood and such). But anyway, I know a lot about movies. So we were talking about 17 Again and I mentioned the movie with the Mowry siblings (Taj, Tia, Tamara) that was wayyyy better than the Zac Efron and Sterling Knight version, everyone wanted to know who Taj Mowry was (apparently no one remembers him) so I made a Suite Life of Zack and Cody reference which lead my sister to say "All the High School Musical characters have guest starred on that show." Mancove and Nicki are almost as knowledgeable as me because what they don't care enough about to go research, I research and then talk about it. I doubted her and named characters and actors for her to reference to prove herself. At one point, I said "What about Martha Cox" and she knew exactly who I was talking about. But since Disney failed at informing its audience of KayCee Stroh's character's name, everyone but my sisters turned to me and went "Who?!" After I explained who she was (the awkward breakdancing nerd), Flannie couldn't seem to forget her name. He kept saying "Cox." Not that I blame him, since it is a funny name. Since I had introduced everyone to the world of funny lastnames like Cox, it became my nickname, considering the fact that I "capture the very essence of Cox."

And that's The Blobs. We are a notorious fat-free, no-sugar-added, eco-friendly, chocolate-covered gang. We're almost as dangerous as coconut flavored ice-cream. But sorry, we're pretty exclusive. To join, you'd had to have watched Billy Elliot with us.
And yeah, we know you're jealous. Because not only are we awesome, but we have sexy pants. Yeah, we know you want them. But you can't have them, so ha!

Yeah, this blog post is drifting deeper and deeper into the depths of nonsensicality, so I think I'll leave before I drown you in my nonsense.

Goodnight!

Midnight Blogging

I've taken to midnight blogging. I just finished reading one of my friends' blogs (see the blogging inspiration babble in previous post) and decided I like the idea of summarizing the day, so that's what I shall do. Sorry to steal, Steph and Sam!

Okay, so today, I woke up and walked downstairs for breakfast, only to be greeted by my family for some wonderful "centering prayer." Centering prayer is another word for sitting quietly and doing nothing, something that doesn't come easily for someone with ADHD like myself. It really made me crave normalcy and the ability to control th sudden urges to shake your leg and move. But I got over it and then proceeded to eat breakfast. Then my family went to the beach. My awesome sister and I went into the ocean and asked our father to come with us. So we headed out to find the waves to be rough. My Dad decided he'd ride a wave in but he phailed. Epically. He came up and cursed (which he seldom does) informing us that he believed he had just dislocated his shoulder. So after 3 life gaurds (all equally stupid but apparently hot according to my sister) looked at him, it was confirmed... that he'd have to go somewhere else to fix his shoulder. So we said "Gee, thanks Doc," and my mom and dad went to a clinic. Meanwhile, my sisters and I stayed with a family friend on the beach. And by on the beach, I mean in a 5 by 5 plot of land since the people in charge had theorized that the ocean was too dangerous. If we were to venture out of the little shady spot, we had to be directly infront of the lifegaurd (which probably freaked out the lifegaurd). After some time, we all grew hungry and ordered some food which was supposed to be back in 15 minutes. But apparently, in New Jersey, you multiply everything by 3, so 45 minutes later, our food arrived. After eating, we met up with our parents (just my mom really because my Dad was resting) and she relieved us of our quarentine and we spent an hour diving and jumping through waves to make up for lost time. As soon as we came in, Flannie and his family arrived, so we went back out. We then proceeded to build little lumps of land near the shore to see how long they'd last. After a few years of vacationing together, Flannie, his sister and brother and my sister had developed many beach games and the one we played with the lumps involved an intricate system of governments, militaries, agriculture, industry, and trading as we named our countries and traded goods. If a wave knocked down an area of a country or flooded a field or mine, all aspects of the economy and government effected by it suffered. It was actually a pretty intense game that we manage to play at least one each year. After that, we went home and showered and then went to dinner in a restuarant where cellphone usage was prohibited. Flannie, his brother Matt, and I all ordered hot chocolate, despite the fact it was the middle of the summer, and then joked around with my sister since she ruined it by ordering lemonade, referring to it as the "yellow beverage" all meal. We all ordered bowtie pasta with alfredo unintentionally and then we laughed and talked until everyone finished their meal. We walked back to the condo complex when our parents went to see a movie and the kids all went to Flannie's condo where his grandma supervised us as we watched T.V. and hung out, making fun of television commercials and adding our own awkward commentary. Finally, our parents came home, took us home, and sent us to bed. Well, everyone but me, I just get told not to stay up too late. And to follow through on that promise, I believe I will go to bed now. Good night, people of Earth! And other planets where you read in English! Wait, it's not night if you're in another time zone. Oh well, go to bed anyway, I require it.

Oh, and this post made sense! Well... sorta.

Hi, From New Jersey!

Hola people! This is JJ here, and I'm currently on vacation in Cape May with my awesome friend who happens to also be Basil's boyfriend! But no worries, I won't steal him, because today my friend... Jim (sorry, it's late, I'm not being very creative) asked me out! And since we've kinda both liked each other since 6th grade but stupid nonsense kept getting in the way, I said yes! Finally! Yay!

So, any way, I'm in Cape May, as I said. And on the ride down, we did absolutely nothing for hours. And then we watched Finding Neverland. Which is the best movie ever for a few reasons.
a) Freddie Highmore's in it, which makes it awesome by default.
b) Johnny Depp's in it, which makes it awesomer.
c) Kate Winslet's in it, which also increases the awesomeness level.
d) It's just awesome, okay?
So, after watching an awesome movie and doing nothing, we arrived in Cape May. We ate at a diner and then got our house key and I proceded to visit my awesome friend (who we'll call Flannie). We hung out, then my family ate dinner, hung out again, went to bed, woke up, went to an alpaca farm, ate lunch, did a puzzle because it started to rain, hung out again, did more puzzle, went to dinner, hung out, and did more puzzle. Then some of my friends had spazzy emotional break-downs, Flannie and I helped one while I helped the other, then I got annoyed at life, then I got over it, and then I blogged. So far I've really enjoyed my trip to the Jersey Shore, though (despite the fact there's been minimal shore-age).

Oh, and I've learned I'm a trend setter. It all started when I made my first blog, jjflip101.blogspot.com which was followed by 3 more blogs on the same acccount. Then, my close friend (who we'll call... Kroner) made a blog, and we communicated through blogging. Then my other close friend (Mango) and I created a Degrassi blog (degrassipwns.blogspot.com) and then Basil and I created a blog (you're reading it right now) and then Mango and my friend Sam created a blog and now everyone's blogging and I started the sensation, so yay! Not that you cared, but ya know... I'm blogging about nonsense, I can say what I want. Don't question me!

So, now that I've blogged about nonsense for a relatively decent time-frame, I think I can go to bed. Sorry, I was bored and restless and couldn't sleep, but now my mind is at ease...ish. It's sorta eased, eased enough to sleep. Once again, you're not expected to care, but this is nonsense, so I can say what I want. Take that, qualified and dignified people! You might have knowledge and reason and power, but I have nonsense. And sometimes, we all need a little nonsense. A little break from reality. Sometimes, nonsense is the best medicine available. Sure, there's some conditions where you need a doctor and all that sensical, dignified stuff, but sometimes, some eccentric and awkward gabber is all you need to clear your mind. I bet you've forgotten your original intention whilst reading this post. I bet all you're thinking about is the gibberish in front of you. And all the seemingly important things have just melted away. It's just you and my nonsense words.

And sometimes, that's all you really need.

First Post of August!!

Hey, it's Basil. I decided that today I would feel special by posting the first section of August. Yay! Anyways, I've come to write in response to JJ's last post...only problem is that I had basically no idea what she was talking about the whole time, nor did I have the attention span to attempt to comprehend (or thoroughly read, for that matter) what she'd written. Thus, I shalt make my own random post about what's on my mind.

This is sort of in response to JJ's rant about Paramore, since it was basically the only thing I can remember reading in that extremely long post besides the stuff about that James guy (hehe). I'm not much of a Paramore fan myself, seeing as I don't really have any of their songs on iTunes. My taste in music consists mainly of alternative and rock bands, such as Relient K, Every Avenue, Foo Fighters, Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, Panic at the Disco (though I must say, Panic! At the Disco's old songs were much better than the new ones) and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I wouldn't be surprised if you, imaginary reader, hadn't ever heard of Every Avenue, Foo Fighters or Relient K. Well, that was what was on my mind when I sat down at the computer today...so that's what I'm going to write about...next time, cause I spent all the time I had on the computer basically writing an intro =_=...oh well so I'll be back whenever!! -Basilllllllll (yes, I love the use of way to many letters in a word)

On the Last Post...

Heyy, it's Basil here!! Commenting on JJ's last post...that was really random...and you stole my hypothesis about how Panic! At the Disco chose their song titles...Theory stealer!!!!!

Anyways, I'm pretty bored so I'm going to write something on...well, something. I don't know what it will be yet...but it will be something...I'm going to think of the topic in a few minutes...hmmmmm...

It's Late, I'm Bored, I'm Blogging

I'm really bored and have nothing to do, so after going through our previous posts and putting all of Basil's words in Times New Roman to make a clearer contrast, I decided I'd actually type something. That's what blogs are for, anyway. Typing nonsense. Well, at least this one is.

I'm sitting in a chair and swaying to Paramore music. Oh, just so you know, Paramore is heaven put into music. I love them. With a passion. I'm legally obligated to loving all of their songs. Even if the song sucks. Just like I have to see that movie with the creepy trailer because James Marsden is in it. If it were someone else, I would completely ignore the movie's existence, but because it's James Marsden, I have to see it.

You know who else is as awesome as James Marsden? Anne Hathaway and Amy Adams. Have you seen that movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic? The stars of that movie look like they're almost Amy and Anne (will they be offended by my use of their first names?) but they're not. It's kinda frustrating, because I want to love Isla Fisher like I love Amy Adams, but I can't. And the same goes for Krysten Ritter. And Hugh Dancy for that matter, because he reminded me of James Marsden.

I was just watching this video of an insane martial art or something that originated in France. It's called "Parkour" which must be French for "Jumping off roof tops, doing backflips, and performing stupid and life threatening stunts without a spotter." It's ridiculous, these people jump from roof top to roof top, doing front flips while traveling through the air and then tumble rolling instead of sticking the landing. And then they jump like cats or some sort of animal and leap over obstacles like it's second nature. And then they walk over to their porch, look out at the grass and decide "it's a lovely day, I think I'll do a backflip off my second story porch balcony and go frolick in a nearby meadow," so they just flip off and roll and move on with their lives. If I tried Parkour... I'd die. No, I'd already be dead. I'd walk over to the ledge to leap onto a roof top and my brain would tell my body "We can't do that, might as well shut down now" and I wouldn't even get to die doing something awesome, I'd just be lying on a roof top, a dead, pathetic heap.

There's this girl in my school. She's really peppy, like someone gave her one too many chocolate bars one day and the effect never wore off. She's always smiling. Always. At least, that's what she wants the world to think. But every so often, I catch her frowning to herself, just frowning and thinking about something that seems important. Whenever I ask her about it, she plasters her smile back on and pretends it didn't happen, but I've always wondered what she's really like, who she really is. I've always wondered what's behind her mask.

It must suck to be the one at the bottom in the circus. Whenever you're watching the contortionists, there's always one girl doing a bunch of crazy stuff while balancing on another girl's toe or something. And everyone just stares at the tiny one on top, twirling away and bending her body into crazy positions. But no one cares for the one at the bottom. The base, the one who holds it together. In the trapeze acts, there's always the one getting thrown through the air and the one catching her. And everyone claps and applauds the one getting thrown, not the one catching. But all she has to do is trust that she'll get thrown and caught. The ones catching and throwing, they deserve applause. They are responsible for that person's life and they're strong enough to throw the other girl around the arena. But maybe that's in their job description. Maybe there's 2 circus worker applications. One that says "tiny, pretty, light acrobat who is trusting with a great stage presence" and another that says "strong, steady, trustworthy acrobat who doesn't mind being ignored." I think we should all take a moment to clap for the person at the bottom. Because without a base, the whole structure would collapse. And if we don't recognize the people holding us up, someday they might just get bored of it and let us fall.

I was just thinking about the saying "dance like no one's watching." I was at a dance for the last day of my camp and there was this guy who was an amazing dancer. But he wasn't dancing for anyone but himself. There was a crowd of clapping people around him while he danced to "Thriller." But after they dissipated, I looked over, and there was the kid, still dancing his heart out, like no one was dancing. I think he had accepted himself. He stopped thinking about how other people wanted him to dance and just danced. I wonder what that feels like. To stop thinking about the world and what the world thinks and just let go. To accept yourself, and more importantly, accept that other people's opinions aren't what matters... yours are. I wonder what it feels like to dance like no one's watching.

The title of this post kinda sounds like a song title or something. You know who has good song titles? Panic! At the Disco. I bet they brainstorm some catchy sounding titles and then put them in a hat and draw it to go with each song. They are the awesomest but most absurd and irrelevant song titles ever. You know what else is absurd and irrelevant? This blog post.

Introductory Post (Yeah, That's Right, We Use Big Words)

Hi, I'm JJ, you may remember me from my other blog with Mango called degrassipwns.blogspot.com which is an awesome website. I'm sure you've heard of it. No? Oh, that's okay no one has (go there... do it now!). Well, now me and my friend Basil have created this blog. And yeah, we know no one will ever read it because no one reads our other blog, but we don't care. Blogs = fun. I mean, I have like 5. And now this one. They're just that cool. And now I seem like a major nerd so I'll shut up now.
Ummmmm.....hi? This is Basil. Don't ask about the name. Just don't. Yeahhh....as opposed to JJ, I don't have any other blogs so I'm not AS much of a nerd. Oh, and the title was also made by JJ...since big words tend to confuse me so I dislike them with a passion. Except for supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (I sang that whilst I spelled it :D). That's a kewlio word :). So, invisible reader, you can probably tell that JJ's the intelligent-esque person of this blog...and more focoused...Like that time when-OMG the star in the right hand corner looks like a Converse All-Star symbol!!!!!!! You know there's no second "o" in focused... unless you live in Canada. I don't care...oh and btw Trebuchet is pronounced "Tre-byoo-shae" not "Tre-buck-et" Miss Smarty Pants :P You take your "Tre-byoo-shae" and shove it up your- wait, we checked "no" on the adult content thing, remember? Oh, right... dang. Hahahahahaha...I win :P Fine, congratulations :)... the emoticons look ugly in italics In italics in "Trebucket??" :P. Shut up about that and your smiley face looks like it has a mole. **gets ice cream from freezer** Ooh, get some for me! I did :D...but you "blatantly" refused to put the tub of vanilla back in the freezer >:( You bet I did... I'm gonna sit here and type while you haul that tub of ice-cream back to the freezer! Work! Work! Work! I already put it back lolz ( my pretty "z" making it look all kewl and such) and if anyone is reading this, go to imdb.com cuz I am now hopelessly addicted to that website... I got you hooked on that website! And whilst watching you type that I couldn't help but think "And you're also hopelessly unable to spell hopelessly" kjsahdkj I don't know what that was supposed to say, but you're not allowed to confuse our imaginary readers by typing gibberish in webdings! "Gibberish" is an awesome song by Relient K....PWN!!!!!!!! Hello, imaginary readers...music recommendation of the day: Relient K :D No, actually today I'm in a Such Great Heights by Postal Service mood. Ooh they sound good check them out too...and btw I'm in a "Damned if I Do You (Damned if I Don't)" by All Time Low...It's playing in my head over and over and over and over and over and over and ov- Okay, I get it! And the debate over typing "Damned" (JJ was being odd and thought it was spelled "danmed"...all I can say to that is s) got "Damned For All Time" from Jesus Christ Superstar stuck in my head, thank you very much! Anytime, JJ...anytime..ok this is getting really long..hey, wait! Why is this called "Nonsense That Makes Sense" if it doesn't make any sense at all?? So we hafta go now... Yeahs... well, bye imaginary readers! This is JJ and Basil...ummm...[insert clever goodbye saying here]!!!!!