Simple Gifts 03/31/14

Simple Gifts
Monday, March 31, 2014

Pixar postage stamps

Dauntless

I like having a 3-day weekend! Today I got some of my steps in by walking to the movie theater to see "Divergent".

• I have respected Shailene Woodley's acting talent since I saw her in "The Descendants".  She did a great job here, too.
• Four.  Hummina.  Hello, Theo James!
• "I don't want to be just one thing. I can't be. I want to be brave, and I want to be selfless, intelligent, and honest and kind. Well, I'm still working on kind."
• Ashley Judd, taking names.  I like that she plays strong characters.
• Tony Goldwyn still makes me think that he's going to have Patrick Swayze killed, so I still think he's sinister, even when he's not.  Sorry, Tony!
• Dude, what is it with this film and the cutting of the hands?!
• I wonder what I would have done in Tris' place when it came to choosing her faction, as well as facing her fears.  I guess I'd like to think that I'd be brave, but would I leave my faction?  I don't know.  
• The way their tattoos were applied, it didn't seem painful.  I know that all of that detail and the very dark, filled-in tattoos actually hurt the way they're done in our current world.
• I guess I have another book series that I need to read.  I really liked the premise, and I'm looking forward to more installments.
• What is beyond the Chicago gates?  Interesting.
• Hey, that's my friend's sister Sophia Lo in the credits! She did digital composition.  Yay, Sophia!!!
• According to the site's aptitude test, I am Divergent, scoring highest for Amity (kind) and Dauntless (brave).  Hey, maybe I *am* brave, after all!
• For the record, in order of the highest scoring faction to the lowest:
• Amity (kind)
• Dauntless (brave)
• Erudite (intelligent)
• Candor (truthful)
• Abnegation (selfless)
• (Erudite and Candor were almost a tie)

Simple Gifts 03/30/14

Simple Gifts
Sunday, March 30, 2014

Hugh Jackman, singing as Wolverine via the music of Les Miz.

Simple Gifts 03/29/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, March 29, 2014

The beautiful, baby-filled belly of my godsister.  

Simple Gifts 03/28/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, March 28, 2014

Another person on my team said that my staff loves me.

Simple Gifts 03/27/14

Simple Gifts
Thursday, March 27, 2014

Happy Hour laughter with some of my favorite co-workers

Simple Gifts 03/26/14

Simple Gifts
Wednesday, March 26, 2014

My favorite part of a rainy day: when the clouds open up and rays of sunshine beam through.

Simple Gifts 03/25/14

Simple Gifts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Perfect weather for a good walk.

Simple Gifts 03/24/14

Simple Gifts
Monday, March 24, 2014

An employee telling me that I'm the best manager she ever had. 

Little does she know how much that means to me at the moment.

Simple Gifts 03/23/14

Simple Gifts
Sunday, March 23, 2014

The ability to stand for 6 hours of volunteering.

Congrats to Monrovia HS Color Guard and Arcadia HS World Guard for placing 1st in their divisions!

Simple Gifts 03/22/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, March 22, 2014

Upside-down pictures of hanging bats = Bat Dance Off

Simple Gifts 03/21/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, March 21, 2014

March Madness Brackets fun spreading to drum corps shows and Disney theme parks

Simple Gifts 03/20/14

Simple Gifts
Thursday, March 20, 2014

The wagging tail and happy sprint of lost dog Princess when she saw her owner's car today.  

Simple Gifts 03/19/14

Simple Gifts
Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Absentees mean that I get to have lunch with a co-worker that is usually with those absentees.

Simple Gifts 03/18/14

Simple Gifts
Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A heartwarming music club meeting, which included an inspirational story of a volunteer being thanked, one by one, by students with flowers and a word that describes her; as well as a thank you from the orchestra director, for the music club's support through his recovery from heart surgery.  Tears!

Simple Gifts 03/17/14

Simple Gifts
Monday, March 17, 2014

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star

Simple Gifts 03/16/14

Simple Gifts
Sunday, March 16, 2014

A nice note of thanks in the church bulletin.  

Simple Gifts 03/15/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, March 15, 2014

A quiet day at home, catching up with some of my shows

DLR LotD 03/14/14

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Friday, March 14, 2014

"I feel like I'm on a Disneyland commercial!" -- girl sitting behind me, on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Simple Gifts 03/14/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, March 14, 2014

Annual Passholder Preview of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's return

Simple Gifts 03/13/14

Simple Gifts
Thursday, March 13, 2014

LEGO Master Builders

9/11 Memorial under construction in LEGO NYC

Simple Gifts 03/12/14

Simple Gifts
Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Girl Time with my sister-in-law

Thanks for a great Spa Day, V!

Simple Gifts 03/11/14

Simple Gifts
Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The nephew wanting to ride stuff with me at the Disneyland Resort

Astro Blasters

DLR LotD 03/11/14

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

"This is a special place." -- Miss O, at the lounge

Simple Gifts 03/10/14

Simple Gifts
Monday, March 10, 2014

Getting Facebook likes on my photos from members of Rockapella when they're not even tagged in or featured in those photos.  

Simple Gifts 03/09/14

Simple Gifts
Sunday, March 9, 2014

Liking most of the teams on The Amazing Race All Stars.

Simple Gifts 03/08/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, March 8, 2014

Strawberry Donuts at The Donut Man

Jean Bon Bon = 24601

O.M.G.  L O V E !!!

"More singing?"

Simple Gifts 03/07/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, March 7, 2014

Making pacts with fellow interviewee friends

Simple Gifts 03/06/14

Simple Gifts
Thursday, March 6, 2014

Chatting with an old friend after our Zumba class.

Chrissy was my very first friend at our elementary school.  I had joined Highland Oaks in the 4th grade, and was a bit scared to meet people on the first day of school.  She doesn't remember the gesture, but that day, she introduced herself to me, and  then proceeded to introduce me to everyone in our class.  It is thanks to her example of kindness that I introduce myself to new members of whatever group I'm in at the time.   

Simple Gifts 03/05/14

Simple Gifts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Drum Corps show announcements time!

DLR LotD 03/04/14

Disneyland Resort

Line of the Day

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

"Fare thee well, my nameless friends." -- Thor, at Innoventions

Carl Howard III, Sheril, and Mawnekah

Simple Gifts 03/04/14

Simple Gifts
Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Being treated to special offerings from the chef at our favorite restaurant. 

Happy Birthday, Cindy!

Simple Gifts 03/03/14

Simple Gifts
Monday, March 3, 2014

The Sarah Michelle Gellar Reddit AMA

"Excuse me, my husband is a JEDI!"  
Also, she chose Angel.  That's my girl.  

Simple Gifts 03/02/14

Simple Gifts
Sunday, March 2, 2014

Seeing my friend on TV at the Oscars

Toujours Belle

Last night, I saw Susan Egan in her "The Belle of Broadway" show at the Arcadia High School Performing Arts Center.  I had seen Ms. Egan as Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles.  I miss that theatre.  I bought my tickets through Goldstar, and my seat ended up being in the 5th row, center.  Nice!

Set List that I can remember (she changed up stuff from that which was printed in the program):

• Broadway Medley-- We were introduced to accompanist Dr. Stephen Cook, whom had an illness recently that led to an ear infection that ruptured his eardrum.  OUCH!  So he was playing with one ear, and the monitor was set up for him to listen on the side with the ear that worked.  Poor thing.  SE talked about working with the Arcadia High School theater students in the past couple of weeks, and that they are the future of theater.  
• My Lifelong Love -- This song was written by one of SE's favorite composers, Georgia Stitt.  SE said that she joined musical theater so that she could meet boys.  I love the lyrics of this song, as she goes through joining the band to be near the smartest boy in class, and at the end, she realizes that it's the music that is her lifelong love.  I loved it so much that I went home and bought the song, sung by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, from Ms. Stitt's CD.  
• Almost There/NYC -- SE talked about going to New York City upon the urging of a teacher.  Songs were from "Princess and the Frog" and "Annie".
• Show People -- from AHS' upcoming production of "Curtains", a show which I've never seen, but SE states is hilarious and an uptake on "Oklahoma", sung by Arcadia Stage.
•  Maybe This Time -- from "Cabaret".  SE states that she was the longest-running Sally Bowles, mainly because the other people whom played the part were big movie stars and had other things to do.  She said that this song means a lot to her because at the time she performed it, she was going through the same things as Sally, being young and looking for love.
• Disney Heroine Medley -- SE talked about how she liked that the more recent Disney heroines didn't wait around to be saved by a guy, and did OK doing their own thing and saving the world on her own.  She talked about "Frozen" and how her girls won't stop singing it.  The medley included Part of Your World, A Whole New World, and Colors of the Wind.  As soon as the intro to Ariel's song started, I beamed, and SE did not let me down.  It was just gorgeous and I cried Sherry-loves-this-song-too-much tears.  I don't think I was the only one who wondered, though, "No Belle song?"  
• I Won't Say I'm In Love -- SE said that Disney actresses had their signature part, like Jodi Benson had Ariel, Judy Kuhn had Pocahontas, Paige O'Hara had Belle, and Lea Salonga had Jasmine AND Mulan.  "I hate her," she said playfully.  At the time that Disney was auditioning for the part of Megara, they were casting someone who could be Barbara Stanwycks' The Lady Eve.  Since SE had seen every old movie from the 30s and 40s, she knew exactly the cadence of speech that they were looking for.  But since she was playing Belle at the time, they didn't want her to audition.  She kept pressing on until they finally let her audition so that she wouldn't annoy them anymore with her pleading.  She walked into the studio and all of their heads were down, looking at the drawing of Meg, not looking up, so that they would only hear the voice that they hoped would match the drawing.  SE recited the audition line, which was Meg's introduction to Hercules.  One by one, each head popped up and they said, "Susan?!"  11 months later, she got the part.  Things take so long in animation that Michael Eisner saw SE on the Disney lot 9 months after the audition and told her that he heard her tape and she was great.  So here was Megara, and she had a great heroine song, but they realized that this wasn't Meg's personality, so they cut it (ooh, I found it!).  Instead, they had her sing a song of being in denial.  Some of the girls from Arcadia Stage joined her as they played the Muses.  
• You Can't Stop the Beat -- sung by SE with Arcadia Stage.  She also calls it "You Can't Stop to Breathe".  :)

INTERMISSION

• Wide Open Spaces -- from "Curtains", performed by Arcadia Stage
• Everybody Says Don't --  from "Anyone Can Whistle"
• Secret of Happiness -- very pretty song, from "Daddy Long Legs"
• If I Only Had A Brain / Lion Tamer  -- from "The Wizard of Oz" and Stephen Schwartz.  I had never heard Lion Tamer before.  
• (a song about pretending to like things that a boy likes because she likes him)  SE: "Remember when I said that I joined musical theatre to meet boys?"  Laughter ensued.  She said that she went out with anyone whom would ask her out just so that she could see if she would fall in love, and she did whatever they did so that she could expand her horizons.  I wish I knew the title of this song, wherein she pretended to like opera, skiing and sushi.  It was funny.
• For Good -- from "Wicked".  SE sang with this with Alana Deblase a senior at AHS.  Alana was dressed in green (Elphaba!), and she was really, really good.  The future of Broadway.  
• Baby Mine / Nina Doesn't Care -- the first song from "Dumbo", the second an original by Ms. Egan.  SE said that she searched the musical theater library and the Disney library for Mom songs, but all she could find was the mom in Gypsy (not a good role model), and one sung by an elephant.  Disney moms either die or are already dead by the time the story starts.  So she wrote her own, about her daughter.  It's funny and touching, and there I went, crying again.  Here's the official video.

• I Dreamed A Dream -- from "Les Miserables".  This was Susan's favorite musical, and she was going to be Fantine on tour, but she also got a television role, and they paid more.  She was hilarious when talking about the role of Fantine, because you start off all depressing, sing your song, die, sit backstage for 2 hours, then come out for one song to tell Valjean that it's great on the other side, and then you get to be 3rd last at curtain call.  I would have loved to hear her sing this in my favorite show.  She shared that the musical theater community was amused when the big deal about the movie was that they were all singing LIVE on camera.  "We do that EIGHT TIMES A WEEK."  
• Seasons of Love -- from "RENT", sung by Arcadia Stage.  One of the girls was clearly upset during this song, but she was fine when it was over and her friend hugged her.  I wonder what that story was all about.
• Belle -- sung by SE with Arcadia Stage.  A video played behind them, which was off-center, then when they finally fixed it and played it again, the song was almost over, and SE talked about the people we were seeing.  APPARENTLY, Burke Moses actually WAS Gaston, because on opening night, he gave her flowers with the note, "It's been your pleasure".  Ha!  This April will mark 20 years since "Beauty and the Beast" premiered, and she will be at the big anniversary in NYC.

ENCORE

• Momsense -- Hilarious, to the tune of the William Tell Overture.

MEET AND GREET

I was in line in front of two theater people, one whom has played Belle and was understandably nervous to meet Susan Egan, and the other whom was just really loud and my ear was still in pain for an hour or two after leaving the theater.  

Ms. Egan signed my program (I kicked myself for not bringing my CD or $ to purchase one there), and I told her that my 4-year-old niece sings "Home" at least twice a day.  She thought that was awesome and sweet, and then she lamented that her daughters had never even heard the song.  I told her that she should really play it for them because it's a great song and she sings it beautifully.  She took a selfie with me (I didn't know how to work it on my phone, so she fixed it for me, and now I know!).  She's amazing in so many ways!  Thanks for such a great show, Susan!!!

Sher Dreaming of Susan singing "Home" with her

Human Interest Story

The last of the 9 Academy Award Best Picture nominees:  "Philomena".

• Judi Dench reminds me of my friend Kathie from church.
• How can Steve Coogan's character not believe in God?  He's Sexy Jesus!
• Loved the performances from both actors.
• I think I cried more during this movie than any of the other 8 films.  Or maybe as much as when I watched "12 Years A Slave".  I laughed more while watching this movie than the other one, though.
• "What about Anne Boleyn?  That's a lovely name, but somebody already had that, of course."
• They did a really good job finding a person who looks like she could be a young Judi Dench.
• The Jayne Mansfield/Jane Russell discussion was hilarious.
• "What if he's obese?!"...."Because of the size of the portions!"
• She has a titanium hip, like my mom!
• Beautiful cinematography.  I was especially impressed with the images of the convent in the winter.
• "F**k**g Catholics."

I'm glad that this was the final movie of the bunch for me.  It was wonderful, and I like finishing on a high note.

Simple Gifts 03/01/14

Simple Gifts
Saturday, March 1, 2014

Live tweet sessions and Meet and Greets

Gimme Drugs

A little fall of rain can't stop me from my quest of seeing all 9 of this year's Best Picture nominees.  Last night, I trekked on to Pasadena to see "Dallas Buyers Club".

• Great performances by Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey.
• They both got so very thin, though.  Yikes.
• Before the thinness, though, Rayon was pretty.
• Dude, that cell phone was HUGE.
• Those butterflies looked like monarchs, but the caterpillar didn't.  
• Interesting to see Ron's perspective about the gay community change during his ordeal.
• "Watch what you eat and who you eat."
• "I prefer to die with my boots on."
• "God sure was dressing the wrong doll when he blessed you with a set of balls."
• So did he go back and do more bull riding later on.
• My favorite part was when he got the house.  Just sweet.

Simple Gifts 2/28/14

Simple Gifts
Friday, February 28, 2014

A brother whom was there with me for all of the first experiences of my obsessions: Rockapella, Drum Corps International, and the Disneyland Annual Passport.

Yup, they're all his fault.

Happy Birthday, Bro!!!

Bro on his Wedding Day