Better Late than Never...

Sorry about not writing yesterday, but unfortunately I've ended up with some really strange sleep patterns this last week and a half. Two to Four hours of sleep is a no go due to causing nerve problems (you get jumpy, you shake, and you can't focus)and a think capacity no better than a puppy. No bueno people! So unless we all wanted a two paragraph entry that could be summed up with a good old *durp-de-durp* we get to wait a day.

Now, moving on...


Chris Colfer/"Kurt Hummel"

Another thing that could fall under better late than never is my new found love for Glee. I've slowly been converting due to the music and some of the performances. Am I a die hard fan, gotta watch every episode? No, in fact half the characters annoy me to no end. Are the teenage dramas real. Yes. I remember people doing some of these things in high school; there was no remakes of favorite songs involved, but we can't all have a musical life. But the character that's really starting to drag me in, and I want to see more of is Kurt (played by Chris Colfer). That's right, like half of America, I have faller in love with the gay boy of the show. And like everyone else who's been watching this season, I've fallen in love with his story line. It's rather hard not to really.
It stands to say that everyone loves the idea of a quintessential, flamboyant, gay, guy friend. And Kurt has fulfilled that. But the part that everyone is loving about him is that he's real, in a way that Will and Jack - of Will & Grace fame - will never be.
For those that don't know, this season the writers have begun to focus on Kurt as a main character and primarily the bullying and depression that can come from being a gay student in a more conservative atmosphere. What I'm loving is that this show doesn't just point out that the bullying and suicides earlier this year were horrendous, they show it using Kurt. Granted Kurt is not killed off, but we do see the scarier side of being an openly gay teen. I can honestly say I never saw this at my high school, but then again I was in the theater crowd and a lot of the male stars were very gay. But just because you don't see something doesn't mean it isn't there.
What I especially love about this story line is that they have introduced the idea of hope. Anyone that has been watching knows that Kurt not only makes a friend that is also openly gay (Blaine - as played by Darren Criss) but ends up finding a way to stand up for himself and that sometimes leaving a situation is the best possible option. I'm looking forward to seeing what the writers do with this story arch in the future, excuse me while fangirl and say that I hope they end up making Kurt and Blaine a couple (those are two very good looking boys who would be very pretty together, and two characters that seem to need each other), but sadly we won't know anything until the Super Bowl episode in February. I'm kinda hopeful though.

Darren Criss/ "Blaine"

In other news: Yesterday for class, my Visual Merchandising class went on a retail walk to see different visual set ups in stores, and the last store we went to was P.O.S.H. If you live in the Downtown Chicago area and like vintage stores, go here. It's kind of awesome. But I had some money for my birthday, and have a bit of a love affair with vintage hats... so I may have ended up walking away with a new accessory. A vintage French Naval Barret. It actually reminds me of a picture I found awhile ago. Sadly I don't know the info behind the picture but I do remember getting off of Google. This might seem a bit off topic, but we all seem to need a pick me up once in awhile, especially after some heavier info and insight (please see above). Plus, I'm rather happy with my new purchase.

p.s. my internet is giving me problems so I will upload the picture later... stupid web connection.
*EDIT* Here's the pic

STORY TIME!

Once upon a time there was this little girl who wandered off the path...
No this isn't a retelling of little red riding hood; I don't have a red cape or coat for starters. The path I'm actually talking about is the religious one. You see a lot has happened in my life in the past year, and coupled with the amount of ancient history and religions I've studied you start to loose focus, and in some ways, your faith. But I've been told since a young age that "The Lord works in mysterious ways" so when I ran across St. Peter's Catholic Church, just off Madison Ave, I went in. The chapel itself was stunning, minimal in frivolities (it's run by Franciscan friars) but they had these statues and reliefs... it was stunning. And rather small. If it hadn't been for the doors I wouldn't have noticed it - odd considering the crucifix on the front, but I wasn't looking up. Chicago, winter, wind... need I say more? Anyways, for whatever reason I decided to look at the mass schedule, and ended up going to 11:40 mass today. And I feel better for it. I think I missed believing in something... I missed doing something so natural to my state of being. Granted I have never claimed to be a good Catholic, for many reasons, but at the same time it's what I believe.

Moral of the story: Do what your gut tells you; do what you believe.

Now that I've taken the time to tell you all my religious story let's get to all the stuff you want to hear about. First off: I'M SORRY I DIDN'T WRITE LAST WEEK!!! But since everyone was dealing with Thanksgiving and black Friday (I had work at 6am), I don't think I'm in too much trouble.
Also, starting about two weeks ago, I broke down and started watching The Nutcracker. This is a ballet that is near and dear to my heart, always has been, and always will be. I've read the book almost every Christmas season since middle school; I've performed in the ballet multiple times (No, I don't have any pictures that I can show you, otherwise I would); I used to watch the cartoon when I was little; and I have a collection of at least 10 of varying sizes that continues to grow every year. So when I ran across two new ones on youtube (new for me at least), I was excited.
The first one is performed by The Australian Ballet, and I know the choreography (Peter Wright's, for anyone who knows repertoires by choreographers) so that wasn't terribly intriguing, but the sets and costumes were. They're like a watercolor kaleidoscope!






And the other one was by the Mariinsky Theatre for the 2007 season, with choreography by Kirill Simonov. OMG! I have always thought that the Waltz of the Snowflakes was a bit erratic sounding at the end, more like a blizzard than anything, and I gotta tell ya, this production saw it my way!


Their Waltz of the Flowers was pretty spectacular as well.

Not to mention, the Sugarplum Fairy costume reminds me a bit of a design I created awhile ago...perhaps I'll upload my old nutcracker designs sometime. Regardless, this production makes me smile all the way around.