All My Sons

The University of North Dakota’s spring play was All My Sons by Arthur Miller and I went and saw it a couple of different times. Not only just for fun so that I could see the completed production but also for my job as the Assistant Prop Manager I get to go see it plenty of times to make sure that all the props are working and being used and put where they are needed. So after seeing it at least five times here is my review.

I with start with the staging of the play. I thought that all around it was staged really well. I honestly think it would have been better in a proscenium theatre, not in a thrust setting, most because a lot of the staging got awkward to watch and if you weren’t watching it from dead center you got a lot of the actors back, so I guess most of that was just maybe the directions should have been more evenly distributed, I guess would be a way to put it.

I thought the set really fit the time period; everything looked how you would imagine it for that time period. It was very simple and that worked really well for the play, I did find that one of the lines was something along with lines of ‘all the roses are gone,’ there were still roses on the bush the character was referring to, so they should have thought that one through a little bit. All around the set was well done.

The lighting was simple as well, there was a nice lightning storm at the beginning but that was about it as far as complications goes. Everything else was very simple and worked really nice. The sound was nice as well. It had simplicity but it was also very realistic, it had birds chirping and crickets which I thought were a nice touch.

The acting is where it gets a little difficult for me to call it a good production. Now I can look at this play and say honestly, that for the most part it was extremely well acted. They had guest artist Darin Kerr come in and play the character of Joe Keller. I thought he did a really fantastic job. Along with Emily Hogenson and Nick McConnell doing great jobs as Anne and Chris. However as far as the main characters go, I don’t understand the casting behind Kate. Now doubt Chelsea Pollert may be a good actress, I just didn’t find her right for the part. I felt she played Kate very one sided and she always looked like she didn’t know what she was doing on stage, like she was lost. Which I guess could be a strong character choice if she would have played it right, but she just didn’t play it right to make that choice. I just over all wasn’t impressed with her.

I did however think that all the other actors did a great job with each of their parts and congratulate them the entire cast and crew on a job well done. Especially those props, they were fantasticJ

Spring Break 2012

Since I am writing a bunch of blogs on my way back to school from Spring Break, I feel I should also write one about Spring break. Let me tell you, spring break was interesting to say the least. I went home Saturday the 10th at bumfuck hour in the morning because I don’t have a car so I get to take the train home. Which let me tell you isn’t bad and for the most part it is fast but at the same time I would much rather have a car to take me to and from school. As long as the train is running on time and everything is going as planned it is about a ten hour train ride from Grand Forks to my home in Montana. And although it is not always the most reliable mode of transportation train rides are pretty comfortable for the most part.

But the night I got home I immediately felt super loved because waiting for me at home is my 5 month old niece, plus my mom and sister. Seeing them always makes me smile because my oldest sister is pretty much my best friend so it is nice ot be around her most the time and then well, who doesn’t love a good mom hug, right? Not to mention I have a little 4LB dog waiting for me at home who is always excited to see me.

Later that night I got to go my high school’s production of Lord of the Flies with an all-female cast. I unfortunately didn’t get to see the male cast (which I think I would have liked more but whatever). I did enjoy the female cast for the most part. However, there will always be a part of me that goes back to productions and looks at some of the cast members and thinks, “Yea, I could do that ten times better.” But that is mostly my ego talking (although there some people who I know I could do better then.) But afterwards I got to see a bunch of people that I haven’t seen for a long time and who I missed very dearly and it was great to see them. A lot of the younger people who I went to school with basically think I am awesome so getting that ego boost from them is always something nice to experience on your first day of break.

On Monday, I got to see a really close friend of mine which was super amazing because I missed him a bunch. I love talking to him because he just makes me smile and laugh and it is really easy to ignore the suckiness of my life when I am around him, so that was basically the best way to start my week. Unfortunately my afternoon being happy was cut short by the arrival of my annoying middle sister LeAnne.

Don’t get me wrong, I love LeAnne, she is my sister and although I am currently sick and tired of everything about her, she is still my sister and I will always love her. I do however currently hope she gets hit by a bus. Not really enough to kill her or anything to just seriously injure her. But she was down in Helena living and going to school there and decided to come up for the week to see me. Frankly she was being a dumb bitch all week and by Friday I was done.

It started Tuesday and Wednesday when we went to a near-by city to go shopping while my mom had to have a meeting. So I and Katie went shopping and LeAnne came down a little later in the day and joined us in our shopping endeavor. First thing with that is, Bitch didn’t have any money so she will do anything in her power to get what she wants and most the time she gets it just so she will shut the fuck up because nobody likes to listen to her. Then we got stranded. Because of the wind the five of us got to spend the night in a hotel together after spending the entire day together, well of course nobody wanted to be there but we made the best of it including going and getting new swimsuits so we could go swimming which for the most part was fun. But the five month old baby didn’t let anyone sleep past 4:30 in the morning so that sucked. But needless to say, we had way to much family bonding time.

The rest of my week was pretty uneventful until Saturday when LeAnne became an even bigger bitch and pulled the last straw between me and her. The story goes like this.

LeAnne got evicted from her apartment and kept all of her shit in my room for about a month while she slept at her boyfriend’s house and I was at school. Not a big deal and I didn’t really get a say it anyway (I promise if I did she would not have been staying there). LeAnne is one of those people who go by the saying, “what’s yours is mine but if you touch my stuff your dead.” The only problem with that, is it doesn’t go over very well when she stays in my room with a bunch of stuff I left behind while I’m off at college which included a pair of shorts she had of mine in her suitcase that she was living out of for the week. Now she had left a jersey of hers behind and to be a good sister I offered a trade, Her jersey for my shorts and she said fine. Silly me for thinking I could trust my sister so I put the jersey down by her stuff and guess who still doesn’t have her shorts, me. I mentioned my shorts to her again before I left and she got angry at me. Because apparently I was in the wrong with asking her to unzip her suitcase and give me what is mine that I bought with my own money.

Now I know it sounds childish to fight over shorts and be angry over that, but I am just so sick of her attitude and how she thinks she is better than everyone else when in all reality she isn’t. But I won’t go too far into that because that could be its very own post and very well might be sometime in the future. But I let I walked away because once again somebody always has to be the better person and anyone who knows her knows it will never be LeAnne. So fuck her.

One night I had so much one my mind and I just needed to clear it so I went for a walk and I got to the guy mentioned above and it basically made my night 100Xs better which was amazing. I was honestly afraid that my feelings for one night would ruin my entire break, but it didn’t, so that’s a plus.

Then came Saturday, which was originally supposed to be my last night in town. It was also St. Patrick’s Day, my uncle’s birthday and my former high school’s prom. So I got to eat waaaay to much and then go and watch a bunch of my old classmates walk around in pretty dresses at Grand March. I got to see a bunch of people there who love me which was much needed and I was having a really great night, up until I left grand march, which thanks to Kelsey reminded how important I am to my so called ‘best friend.’

The problem with Kelsey is that she suffers from only child syndrome and she really only thinks of herself. Like for the three weeks I was home for Xmas break my best friend of ten years saw me twice and didn’t even say goodbye—her excuse is that saying goodbye to me is too hard on her. HEY BITCH, NEWS FLASH IT’S HARD ON ME TOO!!! Instead of saying goodbye to one best friend every time I leave, I have to say goodbye to all my friends and family so fuck you. She wasn’t going to see me at all this time until I seem to have got it through her head that best friend should actually want to see her. But by that time I was feeling like shit. I did however text the guy who makes me super happy and he was super sweet to me for the rest of the night, which I definitely needed (in case you didn’t catch on, yea this guy is kind of amazing, but regardless we are just friends=)).

Although I was supposed to go home Sunday, something got fucked up in my tickets and so I got to spend Sunday raking up leaves in my yard and jamming with my niece before I went on another walk to enjoy the weather because I was sure that when I got back to Grand Forks the weather would not be nice at all. However I woke up Monday morning to at least five inches of snow that had knocked out the power lines and cell towers, so that was awesome. But now I am on a train back to Grand Forks and now am officially skipping my classes tomorrow because we had to go 20MPH for about four hours because of the storm, so fuck speech tomorrow.

Don't Call Me North Dakota--Call Me Fighting Sioux

Hey everyone, so I know it has been forever since I have posted so since I am on a train headed back from spring break and it looks like I am gonna be on this bitch for a long time, I felt I should write a little bit for you this lovely blog. So here is the first blog that I am going to post.

I go to the University of North Dakota and as you may or may not know our mascot has recently been called out. We are currently the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux and the NCAA made a rule that universities cannot have Indian nicknames for their athletic program. Please Note: I don’t know the exact wording or anything exact about the rule. All I really caught on from it is that they don’t want offend anyone so they are forcing any school with a tribal nickname to stop using said nickname. Currently UND can’t change or stop using the nickname because there is a state law that makes UND keep the nickname.

I think that NCAA is wrong in their request to get rid of the nickname. I mostly think they are wrong because honestly if you get rid of tribal nickname so as not to offend the tribe itself they who is to stop the NCAA from getting rid of the use of any other nickname because it offends somebody?

The way I see it is the NCAA abuses their power of collegiate sports and nicknames are only the beginning of it. I have heard of many athletes from different colleges being investigated or barred from playing for the tiniest of rules. There are two stories that I have read and remembered and I want to re-tell to you.

The first being of a women’s basketball player who originally went to school in the U.K. and took an exam over there that I believe is the equivalent to our ACT(I could be wrong, I don’t know much about the British school system). Then this player came to America and because she didn’t do as well in school as she wanted to she went to an American school and repeated her junior year. This player is now not allowed to play in any of her collegiate basketball games because according to NCAA ruling she had to enroll in college by a certain time after taking her test overseas to qualify to play.

Now on this one, I kind of get it, rules are rules. But Really? Who was the asshole who made that rule?

The next story comes from my school’s hockey team. One of our freshman hockey players was not allowed to join our team this year because he went to an online school that had a paperwork mishap. Now, I’m sure there was more to that story, but that is what I got out of it and I just find both of these to be absolutely ridiculous but nobody is going to stand up to the NCAA because they are the NCAA but come on. There needs to be some lines drawn with the organization themselves so they are checked into power and not completely power hungry.

Ok, so obviously I don’t know everything about the NCAA, in fact I try not to even care what they are doing because in all reality what they say and do has little to no effect on my life. I do know that I am not alone in thinking the NCAA is being a little stupid.
So do you guys have your opinions, stories, and comments whatever? Let me know and remember to look up the facts and everything else for yourself as well, don’t just take my half-assed stories above, do your own reading and let me know.