The Life and Tides of Me

The Great Move of Ought-Nine

2009-07-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogger friends!

My blog is still active, (Albeit after a short 7 month period of inactivity, also known as SLACKING....) but has now moved to another blogging tool that seems a bit more efficient than Blogger. (No hard feelings, Blogger! Wow, I just apologized to a program...)

This new site is a Word Press site, and you can still leave me fun comments (which I love!) even if you're not a Word Press member, so it's all good!

So please, if you are linking to my blog to keep up-to-date on my and Levi's wild adventures, please update your links to:

www.selenaonthesea.wordpress.com

See? It's easy, you just have to replace the word "blogger" with "wordpress."

Wow, now this company is probably REALLY upset with me. I'll log off before they come after me through my computer screen or something.

Blog on!

Love,
Selena

What I've done for FUN!!! Part III - March 2, 2009

2009-03-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

So, after surviving my sketchy night at a rest-stop motel (see last blog…) I continued on my solo journey to Arcosanti, an urban experiment in environmentally friendly architecture.

Coolest basketball court ever!

The place is really interesting (read: nerdy) and I really enjoyed it! (Read: nerd). After touring the buildings, I continued up the road to my ultimate destination, Sedona.

Welcome to Sedona!

Selena in Sedona!

Bell Rock

A cathedral carved out of the rock!

Sedona is an absolutely GOREGOUS area between Phoenix and Flagstaff that has all the orange and red bands of sand and cliffs of the Grand Canyon without the giant whole in the ground. I only had the day to tour around, so I drove to every rock formation I could find on the map, had my nails done in red-rock colors to commemorate my trip, and watched the sunset from the top of a ‘vortex’ mountain, which is a mountain where certain energies are concentrated… or something. Whatever it was, it was beautiful!

I went back “home” to the Four Points Sheraton in Tempe and had another week of rehearsals (this was the second week of January) before I had another day off for fun! I had another two days off because of the Obama inaguration on the 20th, so for my fun that week I went to visit Biosphere 2 with Kendra and her parents. (Warning: If you didn’t know I was a nerd, this will forevermore solidify the fact for you. So if you would rather just think of me as normal little Selena, skip this next paragraph… hehe)

How I saw the Inauguration!

The Election-Day Specials at the hotel! haha!

A scary sign I saw on the drive to Biosphere! Don't worry- I didn't even slow down! haha!

I remember studying about Biosphere in school when it opened, and of course the Pauly Shore classic “Biodome” was a middle school must-see, so it was a no-brainer when my dad mentioned that it was only 2 hours from Phoenix. I barely made the tour at 3, and actually had to be personally chauffeured in a little golf cart out to meet the group in the Biosphere, which was funny!

Kendra, Kendra's parents, and me at Biosphere 2!

The tour was really fun though; they took us through all of the biomes, from the rainforest to the desert to the savannah. We even saw their ocean, which I was most interested in. Basically I just geeked out the whole time, not believing I was actually inside the legendary Biosphere 2. We ended the fun day with an amazing Mexican dinner at a very authentic-feeling resturant, since apparently we were very near the Mexican border! (Ok, so I’m NOT a geography nerd apparently…)

Mexican and Mariachi! Yum!

The next day, I went to Taliesen, Frank Lloyd Wright’s school and home in Scottsdale, which is basically a suburb of Phoenix. I had just read “Loving Frank,” a story of his affair with a married woman from Chicago that ended with a murder and a fire (quite dramatic, I won’t give it away, but you should go read it!) so I was interested in Frank Lloyd Wright not only for his architecture, but for his interesting life in general. The facility is absolutely amazing- he truly was a visionary, and I hope to someday hire one of the many students that study there to design my mansion! (Yes, still planning on Levi getting that elusive record deal and getting us that dream mansion!) I LOVE how he used natural light- super energy efficient, even before it was trendy… and it is so interesting how some doorways and entryways are designed to be VERY small, so that you want to travel further into the room, which is his intention in the first place! Genius!

Inside a room where FLW still orders you to sit!

At the desk in the gift shop was a nice guy who revealed, once we started talking about my camera, that he was a photographer who taught at the school! He also invited me behind the scenes to see a display of his work in another part of the school, which was really cool, and then invited me to join him and a friend that night at the Phoenix Art Museum, which of course I readily accepted. (I’ve always talked to strangers, much to my parents collective horror…)

Before the Art Museum, I had a few hours to kill, so I went to Cosanti, which was also designed by Paolo Solari, the architect of Arcosanti which I had visited last week. Once again I was fascinated with the strange, beautiful and different architecture. I even got to SEE Paolo himself, now in his 90’s, shuffling around the facility, as it functions not only as a visitors center and bell shop, but his own home! It was so awesome to see him, even in passing, in person!

More classic Paolo Solari architecture!

Awesome gift shop dinosaur architecture!

That night Quincy, my friend from Taliesen, took me and another one of his friends, Sarah, to the museum, and it was so much like a movie I couldn’t help but love it. Apparently, he goes to this museum so often that every docent and security guard knows him by name! So ever display we went to calls of “Hey Quincy!” rang out around us. He was like a VIP, and he was giving US a tour! Hilarious. We got to see some amazing pieces, and I especially liked the work of a sculptor and large-installation artist (whose name escapes me, of course) who had a few pieces in the museum. Currently, though, he is working on a HUGE project, and when I say HUGE, it doesn’t even begin to do this project justice. He bought one of the huge craters out in the Arizona desert and is building a MASSIVE installation that will use the light of the sun to create different effects within the crater and the art center that he is building within (and below!) the crater itself. The sunlight, during certain times of the year, will bounce around this art center in the crater in certain ways that will create light shapes and formations around the art center. Amazing, right? Quincy was a great guide, and the night was so interesting, informative, and (my favorite) artistic! It was great!

Sarah making some art of her own

Sarah, Quincy and me being artistic!

What I have done for FUN! - Pt. II - February 12, 2009 Now with Pictures!

2009-02-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

How I have Fun, and my first day off.... continues here!

~ ~ ~

Now don't let my whining fool you, we DO have days off, and during my rehearsal period I was given quite a few extra days, thanks to various circumstances, such as the inauguration. (I was already happy that Obama was elected, but this sealed the deal- a day off thanks to him! wooo!) During these select days (usually Monday, but during rehearsal I sometimes had Tuesday too!) I would take the chance to TRAVEL! (Since once I started the show, I wouldn't be able to have more than one day off at a time any longer!)

My first Monday off I was invited to a lovely brunch with Kendra and her roommates, Ian and Michael. Trista was there as well as Electra and her mom and Kendra's parents too. It was SO nice- it felt like a really nice restaurant or hotel or something! We went out on the boat their rental house came with (a tiny little battery powered boat, which actually ran out of juice on the way back! We had to paddle back in! Classic...)

Yummy Brunch!

Kendra and her Dad

Kendra's mom, Michael and Trista

Electra and her mom

A toast!

Ian Cruising...

Me and Electra

Nice houses!

Duckies!

Paddling back!

Then I set off for my own adventure.

I decided to go up to Sedona and Arcosanti for the day and a half I had off. Arcosanti is a huge urban design experiment out here in the desert. Paolo Solari was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, who has a school out here called Taliesen. Solari wanted to explore if humans could live harmoniously with nature, and is a pioneer in urban planning in that he wanted to have as many people living in as little a space as was comfortable, all the while still living in harmony with the land and utilizing it's natural resources in a responsible way.

The architecture itself is striking, and the purpose of the experiment is a vein of environmentalism that I regard very highly, so I was really looking forward to visiting this place. But since I had just had a lovely, lazy brunch followed by a boat ride, I got on the road a little later than expected and found myself outside of Arcosanti around 8 pm, well after they closed for tours, obviously! So I had to find somewhere to stay. (If I had gotten there earlier, I could have stayed in Arcosanti, which would have been fun, but it was not meant to be. Besides, it wouldn't make half as interesting a story as it was!)

So just outside the gates of Arcostanti is Cortes Junction, which basically consists of a truck stop-like gas station, as far as I could see. But I had spotted a motel among the Mac trucks, so I set off in my tiny rental to find it. It was behind the gas station, and the only way to get to it was a dirt road... but there was more than one. The first one I explored was the wrong one, and ended near an abandoned structure straight out of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Flustered, I turned around, headed down another steep, dusty road and found myself in front of a little motel.

I checked in with a skeptical motel manager ("Just you?" he said with one eyebrow raised…) and checked out my room. Fluorescent lighting and painted cinderblock walls greeted me in a room straight out of... well another horror movie that takes place in a motel. To make matters worse, there was no deadbolt on the door. So... I improvised. (I think MacGuiver would be proud.) I dragged the little fridge in front of the door, and then put a chair on top. Therefore, if anyone decided to 'check in' on me, the fridge would slow them down, and the chair balanced precariously on top would make some sort of alerting racket.

My High Tech Security System

(I know, when I told everyone this story they all had the same reaction you're probably having now. -As in "What were you THINKING??" haha. I'm used to it.)

~ ~ ~
Coming up, after these messages.... More blogs of FUN!

The final installment of "A (rehearsal) day in the life of Me!" AND "...for Fun, Pt. 1!"

2009-02-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

So here’s the final part of my average day in rehearsals…. followed by what I've been doing for FUN!

~ ~ ~

7:30 pm- SHOWTIME! I catch a ride from my hotel shuttle to the show every night, since it’s already dark by then. Of course, I’ve talked to at the front desk and knew them all by first name by the second week! Haha! (Well I figure they’re kind of like roommates, they just ‘live’ in the lobby and answer to my every need! Great roomies!)

So my friend Patrick gives me a ride and I watch the show usually from the sound booth or somewhere interesting like that EVERY NIGHT. (I just recently found out I don’t even need to watch every night, but it is really such an amazing show, that even though I’ve seen it over 10 times now, I still see something new every time. I love it!)

I sometime watch from the audience, but I mostly sit in really interesting places most people can’t sit in. I really love sitting in the sound booth! Kevin, one of the sound guys, found out my music background (I was a DJ for three years in college and mixed lots of live sound.) so he lets me do little things like open the second act and close the second act. Oh, and the all-important act of rolling fabric over the sound boards after a show. (Really tough stuff, I know!)

By the end of my rehearsals I had sat in EVERY place there is to sit in the theater, for real! I watched the show from the sound booth, as mentioned, lighting booth, rigging platform (30 feet in the air!), the stage manager booth (also 30 feet in the air!), auto fly platform (a whopping 50 feet in the air!). Everyone teased me that soon I would have other jobs in the tech realm! Haha! But for those of you who know me, this is very typical. But I’m used to having 8 different jobs at home, so I really liked learning the show inside AND out! I learned SO much about how much goes into running this show. There are SO many people involved in making it run and run smoothly that you’ll never see. It’s truly amazing.

Everyone in the show should have to see all these people working as hard as they are behind the scenes. Dressers, makeup artists, stage techs, lighting techs, sound techs, puppet masters, electricians, stage managers… and that’s the short list! It really made me have such a respect for the immensity of the show and it’s sheer scale!

~ ~ ~

So now that you've been through the typical rehearsal day with me, I can finish updating you on the LIFE I've had OUTSIDE of work.

Oh wait.

I didn't really have one during rehearsal.

Four hours a day doesn't sound like a time-consuming beast, but combine that with the lack of a car (which meant lots of time hoofing it to and fro) and watching shows every night (which meant getting home and to bed sometimes north of midnight) you find yourself with little time FOR yourself or anyone else for that matter!

Everyone was really awesome my first few weeks though. And even though I whine (see paragraph above) I had SOME fun...

During my first week a few people were on their way out, such as one of our Hair ladies, Cheryl, who was making the move to Mary Poppins on Broadway, and Celise, our Dance Supervisor, who was making the move to Vegas, so we had some awesome going away parties. Cheryl's was kind of low key but emotional at a really nice hotel bar called Mission Palms. People made speeches, toasts were had- heck, it was my first week, I had JUST met the lady, and even I was in tears! (But those of you who know me know that it doesn't take much more than a Hallmark commercial to put me there... haha)

Celise's going away party was a much more raucous affair, complete with impromptu singing and all! We were at Bocca, a local wine bar, and we were having ourselves our usual good time, when suddenly you heard a beat.... a beat emanating from someone rapping on a turned-about chair. Then, rising out of the amazingly talented throats of the singers surrounding me, a chant/song, beautiful and rhythmic. Before I knew what was going on, people were on their feet, stomping, clapping, singing, dancing and generally having a fantastic time. It was like a scene out of a movie! It was amazing, pretty much my dream come true. I've always wanted to burst randomly into song and dance with a group of talented people!!!

(Needless to say after our scene died down people approached the table for autographs. I kid you not. It's pretty obvious after hearing these people sing that they knew what they were doing.... and with our theater not two blocks down the street, the people of Tempe were SO onto us...)

So during the week we would sporadically go out for drinks to celebrate someone's birthday, a going away party, and lately, my very first bachelorette party! (I would blog about that, but we were all sworn to the all-powerful "What Happens at the Bachelorette Party, STAYS at the Bachlorette Party" oath... sorry!) I will say it, and all the other times I've gotten to hang out with the cast, have been 100% fun!

~ ~ ~

As always, to be continued!!

Put in Rehearsal Day (YIKES!) & A day in the life of Selena on Tour! (Pt. 2) - January 30, 2009

2009-01-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

Sooo... today is my BIG put-in rehearsal, (my opening day is February 3rd) which for you Disney kids is like our approval night, only I can't really be "disapproved," since they already moved me across the country and all....
Anywho, we do the ENTIRE show with JUST me in costume!!! Talk about some pressure!!

I'm SO nervous right now. I'm going to surprise everyone (I hope none of my new cast is reading this...) by getting them a spread of goodies from Costco, like fruit and bagels. =) I kinda feel bad they have to do the entire show today JUST for me, then do it again tonight for real! haha. Oh well, they all seem to think it's pretty normal, and it looks like I have two coming up for other new people in my very near future, so I'll get to put in my time too.

Everyone has been so sweet about it all though. When I thank them for doing a show just for me they all say they had one too, and it's normal. Oh, and they're getting paid for it, so whatever. Hahaha! I love this cast. =)

Oh! And Levi gets in tonight to visit for the weekend, so that's my big reward for getting through this process alive. Weee!!!

Well, I miss you guys a lot, but my stomach is doing more gymnastics than I physically can myself, so I'm gonna run. Here's the last part of that blog I started last week. Enjoy!

~ ~ ~

My Daily Routine, continued....

12:00-3:00 or 4:00 pm- Dance Dance Dance! Usually I’m sweating my little hiney off at this point of the day because we’ve been either learning the show, in my earlier weeks, or running the show over and over, which is the point where I am now. Learning the show kicked my butt! The choreography isn’t necessarily HARD, per se…. but it’s so different from what I’m used to, and utilizes such a different side of my technique from what I’m used to, that my body revolted a little. It’s Garth Fagan choreography, so a Garth Fagan dance recipe would look kinda like this:

Ingredients:
- 2 cups Modern dance
- 1 bushel African dance
- 2 cups Contemporary dance
- 3 tablespoons Acting
- 5 cups Technique
- 3 tablespoons Dynamics
- 2 oz Puppets

Take your base of modern dance, mix in the African dance and stir. As you’re stirring, mix in the contemporary dance. Put your mixture in a blender and while it’s on “whip,” add dynamics and acting quickly! Take the mixture out, and sprinkle with the 5 cups of technique, mixing to distribute it evenly. Garnish with puppets. Rehearse for four weeks. You should be sore for most of this time; that is natural. End product will entertain thousands, if not more.

So whenever anyone asks me how I’m doing in rehearsals, I just say “Sore…” It’s hard to gauge how I’m “doing” because I’m the only person joining the tour right now, so I couldn’t tell you if I’m doing well or not. I learned the show by the end of the second week, which I felt good about, but I think that’s normal… All I know is, I’m doing the best I can! It’s definitely making me grow as an artist and dancer. I’m not used to these dynamics, these techniques, and these styles, but they’re all a new challenge, and I’m always up for that!

The hardest part so far has been incorporating the puppets! I’ve been dancing for 20 years and I’ve never had really any props! (I was mostly in ballet growing up… not too many props there!) So putting these different puppets on throws off your balance more than you would really expect! Not to mention the acting! You’ve got to make these puppets look ALIVE by moving them a certain way, and then acting with YOUR face too! (they can see both, I keep reminding myself..) In the Lioness Chant, for example, we are KILLING a gazelle, not playing with it, not hanging out with it. We are HUNTING. So we have to be FEROCIOUS! It’s actually a lot harder than I thought it would be!

3:00/4:00-5:00 pm- THEN we have to SING on top of all of that too! During this late afternoon time I’m usually at vocal rehearsal with the associate conductor, Jason, or Angela when Jason was on vacation to Mexico. (Apparently it’s really close to here! Let’s hear it for my lack of geographical knowledge! Haha) I’m usually really nervous for this part, because I’m NOT a natural singer. Jason told me the first day that the track I’m learning wasn’t originally in the show, but was added later to supplement the vocal tracks, which is why I’m not in as many dance parts as the other girls. It’s because I’m mostly singing different harmonies and weird things that a singer would know what it means. (I don’t!) At one point in the show there’s only three people on stage hitting a certain harmony, and I’m one of them! Isn’t that the scariest thing you’ve ever heard?? Well, it is to me! I told Jason, “I don’t really know what I’m even doing here, my voice cracked in the audition!! Why in the world am I in this ‘singing’ track?!?!” haha!

Anyway, like I said earlier, these rehearsals are where I record my track vocal parts on a little tape recorder so that I can sing along with them later as I make my mini-trek to work each morning. (It’s funny, the kids walking around ASU totally think I’m insane, singing South African and Swahili as I walk by them in the morning. It’s hilarious) By practicing along with my tape, I can try to remember what note I’m supposed to be parked on while 50 other people around me are on another note entirely. For singer, this might be cake. For a self-professed-non-singer like me, it’s a nightmare. But I’m getting better every day. Like I said, all I can do is my best-est! haha

5:00-7:00 pm- After vocal rehearsal, I go back to the hotel and take get ready to go to the show that night and make dinner. Now, like I said earlier, I’m kind of living this quasi-college kid lifestyle here. There were no microwaves left when I came, because a lot of people from the cast are in this hotel and probably asked for them all right away. So I was lucky to get the little fridge I do have! But after the fridge came, I didn’t really know what to do to heat up food, so breakfast and lunch were taken care of, but unless I wanted yet another fake-meat baloney sandwich (I’m pescatarian, meaning the only meat I eat is fish!) for dinner, I was going to either eat out or starve.

UNTIL, that is, I pulled a little MacGyver thinking out of my back pocket! I thought about it and the ONLY thing I have in my room to heat things up with (besides my light bulbs, but that would be a little TOO ghetto..) is the in-room coffee maker! GENIUS! So now, I subsist solely on noodles that can be heated up with a coffee maker and various sauces, salads, and sandwiches. It’s not a lot, but I’m not dead yet from malnutrition, although my mother still insists that it’s just a matter of time…. Haha.

NEXT- 7:30 pm- SHOWTIME!! (*To be continued...*)

A day in the life of.... Selena on Tour! (Pt. I) - January 22, 2009

2009-01-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been two entire weeks since I've started my tour-adventure and SO much has happened! (I've been a slacking blogger/friend... I knew I needed to update people when four people texted me in one day saying they needed updates!)

~ ~ ~

Before I joined the tour, I was NOT ashamed to admit that I had absolutely NO idea what I was getting myself into, and most of the first week of rehearsal was no exception.

My first week I mostly felt like I was either back in school and shuffling from class to class, or that I was being trained to be an assassin, like in the movie with Angelina Jolie called “Wanted.” The trainee assassin goes from specialty to specialty though out the day. To learn how to shoot, he goes to the gunsmith, to learn how to use knives he goes to the butcher, etc. I felt like I was being trained to be a Lion King assassin or something!

So the first week, I rehearsed for one day with the Dance Captain, Keisha, who is leaving to get married. Kendra, the girl I’m replacing, is moving up to take Keisha’s place. The rest of the first week I was with Celise, the Dance Supervisor. For all you dancers out there, this show isn’t run like other shows. The Dance Captain is a swing and helps teach and give notes, but above her is a Dance Supervisor, who is the end-all-be-all for these sorts of things.

Our Dance Supervisor, Celise, is awesome, but she’s leaving too, to open the new Lion King in Las Vegas. (In fact, lots of people are leaving to open Vegas, such as Jay, our conductor!) Celise was awesome to rehearse with though. She kicked my butt! She’s a tough cookie. If you get it REMOTELY wrong, she makes you do it again, immediately. But I love that ethic of work. Pound it out!

My first week was a blur, just shuffling from fitting to rehearsals and vocal practice, and by the end of it my body was really looking forward to a few days rest!

~ ~ ~

My daily routine that first week was (and pretty much still is), generally:

9:00 am- Get up, make breakfast from my little fridge from my hotel, usually PB&J or cereal (Thank goodness for my fridge!). They didn’t have any microwaves, so I’m living like a poor college student. (Probably worse, actually!) You’ll see what I’m talking about at dinner-time…

11:00 am- Walk to rehearsal studio or theater, depending on what I have scheduled for the day, usually singing along with my vocal rehearsal tape (see my 3:00/4:00-5:00 timeslot for an explanation of this.) I’m staying at the Four Points Sheraton about a half a mile away, which is a nice 15-20 minute walk. It’s not so bad, actually. I thought it would be torture, since I’m so used to my car, but since it’s a college campus, people are walking around all the time. (Well, my first two weeks they were still on break. Now they’re back. It was really cute to see the campus ‘wake up’ from break. I saw some freshman with their parents and siblings moving them back in, and friends reuniting after the long holiday break. I’m just glad they’re back because that means the Quizno’s on campus is finally going to be open! YES!)

My very FIRST day I had a wardrobe fitting at noon, and it was really exciting. (Everything was really exciting the first week, naturally!) Most of my costumes are being customized for me, since Kendra, the girl I’m replacing, is just moving up to become the Dance Captain/Swing, so she needs all of her costumes. Ever wonder what it is like to have something custom made for you? Well, all you need to do is stand in one place moving your arms up and down out of your ‘costumer’s’ way. (For your costumer you can use a friend, parent, or force a younger sibling to help) Now have them pin a piece of cloth to you with about 100 stick pins and/or safety pins. Now walk around and feel like a porcupine for a few minutes. Then spend the rest of the hour unpinning. There. That’s pretty much what getting a custom costume fitted to you feels like.

I also had a wig fitting the next day. I was fitted into something called my “bubble.” This is like a mold of my head, which is sent out to London, of all places, for all of my wigs and head puppets to be fit to! Now, to re-inact this for yourself, all you have to do is get some saran wrap and clear packing tape. (I kid you not!) Now, wrap your head just above your eyeballs and OVER your eyebrows all the way to the crown of your head. Now, tape the saran wrap all around your head really, REALLY tight. Draw your eyebrows and ears on to the clear tape, so the people molding your wigs to know where they are. Sit like this for around 20 minutes, until you’re feeling sufficiently disoriented from looking through wiggly saran wrap and a little claustrophobic. Cut a little slit up the back of the bubble and slip it off your head. Now, you have a clear bubble the exact shape of you head! Weird, huh?

~ ~ ~

Stay tuned for the second half of my average day, my first weekend off, and my second week of rehearsals!!

Christmas, Packing, Leaving on a Jet Plane, and Staring a New Life...

2009-01-07T08:39:00.001-08:00

January 6, 2009

Well, here I am, my first "official" day "on tour."

Isn't that funny how I feel the need to put "on tour" in quotes? I feel that way because I haven't done a single thing today.

Ahhh, touring life.... (?!?!? right? I don't know yet!) haha.

Well, let's go back a little bit, to Christmas and the following weeks, which turned out to be, at the same time, the most fun and sad week of my life!

~ ~ ~

First of all, Christmas was a blast! Levi came back in town to celebrate with my family and I, and since he was all I wanted for Christmas, I was happy!

That is until I started to throw up.

ew.

Well, Christmas morning, I wake up as excited as a kid on Christmas... wait a minute... anyway, this year I was really good at getting everyone's presents early and I thought they were pretty good. (I LOVE giving gifts, even more than getting them, as cliche as that is. It's true!) I sit in bed a minute anticipating the contents of my stocking and what everyone's faces will look like when they open their presents when that awful feeling swept over me.

You know the one.

The feeling that a 300 pound person just sat on your stomach and is poking at your jugular.

Ew.

So I got sick. Then I went back to bed. I thought it was just a one time thing, a parting gift from the wine at my sister-in-law's dinner the night before. But after 3 more times of illness, I realized I was sick.
My family went over to my brother's house to watch my niece and nephew open presents, and I decided it was safer for me to not only stay home, but to lay down outside, where my sickness wouldn't offend the carpet's creme sensibilities.

EW!

Levi was so wonderful the whole time though, sitting with me (but not too close), trying to shield me from my crazy aunt (everyone's got one) who kept trying to give me a massage (?!?) and talking to me until my family got back.

When everyone got home, I laid down in front of the tree, planning on limpidly pawing at my presents until the wrapping paper eventually ripped. But then, a true Christmas miracle took place. As we opened presents, I gradually felt better and better, until the last present was opened, and I felt 100% better! I even ate a huge Christmas lunch with my family! I was so grateful for that one last Christmas present- being healthy enough to enjoy it with my family!

~ ~ ~

Quickly after lunch, we always pile in the car and drive up to Georgia to see my Nanny (my Dad's mom) and Uncle Phil's family and farm (Dad's brother) in Cuthbert, Georgia, where my Dad grew up. But this year was going to be special- Levi was coming for the first time!!!!

We had a great time all around. I LOVE Georgia and seeing everyone up there, and it was so great for my Nanny and family to meet Levi. The one most hilarious part of the trip, though, was where Levi and I stayed. Since Nanny's house was full, I booked us into one of the three hotels, excuse me, MO-tels in the town. (This is a town with exactly one stoplight, mind you...) When we pulled up, we both looked at each other and laughed. It looked just like that strip motel in that movie with Owen Wilson and Kate Beckensale where the people are trying to kill them. In short, it was a squat, 50's style motel that hadn't been renovated since then, complete with yellow lighting and peeling paint.

In short, it was AWESOME.

We also got to drive our family ping-pong table back home, which was fun and adventure in itself. Instead of a tying a rag to the end of the table, which hung off the end of the truck, we attached the only thing handy- a Tide box top. Hey, it's orange....

~ ~ ~

Levi left all too soon after that, and the preparations for me leaving had to begin. (Even though I was still deeply, DEEPLY in denial that I was leaving!

So instead of packing, I took a copious amount of head shots (see my previous blog) and am still editing those as I sit here... "on tour."

I did a lot of things "one last time.." Pearl Diving (with Daniel, which meant it was so fun!), Capone's (Where I did a line in a Chinese accent, much to my show director's dismay... I"It's just allergies, I'm not contagious or nothing!" turned into "eet jus alluhgy. I no contajous or noting." -Thanks to Angela for the spelling!), and of course, my last day at FoLK, where I didn't cry.... until my PITCH in the last show!!!!

My last day was January 3rd, and I had two shows with Patrick. We signed in my family and my friend Brian, who drove all the way from the Keys to see me! (He's a whole 'nother blog in himself... we met on my cruise ship two years ago maybe a total of 3 times, and have managed to keep in touch all these years! He happened to be in the Keys on a business trip, remembered that it was my last day, and decided on a whim to drive up!!! On a WHIM to drive 8 hours EACH WAY! Now that's my kind of friend!!)

I came in to everyone giving me hugs (I adore that stage and everyone there...), my FoLK poster all signed with goodbye wishes, my makeup station all decorated, and Gio's cake for my party, which is AMAZING and I will tell you about later!

The shows felt beautiful, since Patrick is just the most amazing partner, he managed to keep me together while I felt like an emotional and physical wreck! I was convinced the last shows would be a hot mess!
So the last show starts, and everyone is really hyped and full of energy. I loved shows like that. We had them often. Sometimes, it just feels like there's an electricity in the air. Every member of the cast feels it, players, puppets, singers and stilts. This was one of those shows. Everything is going ok, at least I'm not crying yet. But my body is getting away from me, I'm feeling that sinking loss of control feeling as I approach the flying portion of the show. Yet I still don't think I'm going to cry.

Then, I go up for the pitch... and the theater explodes. EVERYONE is cheering and clapping, I can hear every player, singer, stilt, even probably the puppets and crew! They are all soooo loving and supportive and I was just SO overwhelmed with their support I burst into tears IN THE PITCH!!! I was SO scared I was going to miss it! (If you haven't seen the show it's the part I go upside-down!) But I managed to make it, and came down with tears streaming down my face!

So we finished the show, I cried and cried as Patrick held me, and then, with on last deep breath, I left the stage for the last time.

~ ~ ~

But I had other things to focus on at the moment, so I tried to think of my Going Away Party that was taking place that night and all the preparations. As a surprise, I had decorated the entire house with pictures of everything I've ever done at Disney and Orlando for the last two years- Dream Along, FoLK, Capones, Pearl Diving, various gigs, as well as pictures of me growing up and dancing, recitals, trips to Disney, auditions. It ended up being over 200 pictures, and then as a party favor, the guests could take them home! I also had video of my first recital and other embarrassing videos projected on the wall!

The party was SO amazing and special. (the pictures can be found at www.selenamoshell.com/goingawayparty) Thank you to everyone who came and everyone who sent their regrets. (I know it was sooo far to drive!) Everyone was so funny- I had forgotten to tell them that we live on 10 acres of property in the swamp, so everyone would call as they were turning into my driveway, very unsure of where they were going to end up!

SO many people I love were there, and there was TONS of food! And the CAKES!! Let me tell you what- if you EVER need a cake, I know two amazing people who will HOOK YOU UP. Kristy and Gio made two of the most amazing cakes ever. Kristy made a gorgeous four layer cake with some spectacular colors and a beautiful quote and stars, and Gio made... well he made ME. I asked him to make a Lion King cake, and he did... he made ME at the Lion King. He swiped a picture from my dressing table of me in costume and made me into a cake. It was astounding. He showed it to me at work in a big 'reveal' kind of thing with everyone standing around and my face must have been priceless. (The one on my body. The one made of icing is priceless in a different way....)

But really, the cakes were just the icing on the... cake. Whatever. The people who were there made that night so special and unforgettable. I love you guys so much more than I could ever say. Thank you all for making my last night with my friends so special.

~ ~ ~

The next day, I finally had to face reality and start packing. My flight was at 5.30 the next day and my two big suitcases (generously given to me by my good friend Erin) were still gaping at me, empty. My friend Brian was still up from the Keys and didn't want to leave, and I didn't want him to leave because we were having so much fun, so I just leisurely packed and hung out with him all day. He left at 6 pm (I felt so bad, him driving all that way in the dark!) and then my family and I went to the new T-Rex Cafe for dinner.

I had given the dinner to my nephew as a Christmas present, but I don't think he understood. I had wrapped a menu hoping he would get it when he opened it, but when I reminded him of it later, he said "Oh yeah, didn't you just give me the menu?" Right. There's a dinner attached to that....
The place is really fun, even for non-dinosaur obsessed adults. My favorite part was my cotton candy martini (yum!) and then panning for fossils with the kids. (I got some trilobites or something...)

~ ~ ~

I stayed up until 2 am packing, and then Monday morning got up and rushed around like a chicken with some important part of her body chopped off getting stuff together for my flight. I moved my rabbit Dover to my brothers house, reviewed how to deal with Copeland to my Dad, and shipped off my remaining Christmas gifts. (Better late than later, right?)

Shannah, Justin, and Isabella volunteered to take me (for some reason my parent's didn't want to take me... maybe they would have cried?) and I got away with NOT crying as I said goodbye to my family. In fact, I didn't cry when I left Shannah and Justin either. I only started crying a little in the airport waiting to board the plane, talking to Levi. (People who know me that me crying this little is quite a feat!)

It just hit me as I was about to board, that this time, I'm really leaving home. I left home once for Canada for my first year of college, but this just felt different somehow. I think I had been in denial of everything for so long that the reality of the situation hit me all at once then.

Once I got on the plane, I wanted to cry again... but not for the same reason. The girl next to me (who had with her an adorable Shih-Tzu named Bella in her carry on!) commented that she didn't see any place for the overhead TV's to come out, and I noted that this was a brand new plane, so they had to have them. Their would be a riot otherwise, right? So the screens were probably just well concealed.

SO well concealed in fact.... they didn't exist.

That's right kids. US Airways doesn't offer movies OR MUSIC on their flights anymore. (Oh, except to Hawaii and Europe.)

WHAT??????????????????

Well, I was wrong about the riot, but Kim and I were about to start one ourselves.

~ ~ ~

Despite my lack of music or a TV, I got to Tempe ok.

I checked into my hotel, got my script and binder, and met up with my friend Kendra (who I'm replacing and who is becoming the dance captain) and her parents who were visiting from Canada. It was SO nice to talk to them my first night. As I was unpacking before I met up with them I was feeling jittery, nervous. Excited, but in an anxious sort of way. I just kept wondering if this was the right thing to do... leaving home, all of my friend and people I love, and my dream job at Festival.... but after talking to Kendra I felt SO much better. Yes, it was a hard decision to leave, and actually leaving was even harder than that, but we talked about what being on tour was like, all the places we're going to see together, all the sights we were going to visit together, and how fun the show itself is, and I felt better.

While I still miss home, and everyone there, I'm finally feeling a little bit more ok about being here.

The one pivotal moment when it all really HIT me though, was when I paged through my binder (with all sorts of cute letters that said "Hi Selena, welcome to the Gazelle tour!!") and found in my script binder the page that read "Disney Presents, The Lion King, The Broadway Show."

It really kind of took my breath away.

~ ~ ~

The next day I had the entire day off until my call time of 6.45 (which when my manager called to tell me the call time a few days ago, I responded "In the morning?!?!?" to which he laughed at me. Turns out not ONE of my call times this week for rehearsal is before 12) So I stayed in the hotel tending to some photo shoots on things I had to still edit from home and finished unpacking.

I went downstairs to have some breakfast buffet from the hotel, a $20 mistake I won't be making again. Wendy's across the street is calling to me now. I also made the mistake of calling it a buffet with a hard "T" like at Capones. It was so a part of my vocabulary that when I asked where the buffet was, I said BUFFETT and the guy looked at me funny. Whoops. Old lines die hard...

I walked around Arizona State University's camps, which is beautiful, scoped out my theater, the Gammage, which is a huge and really round, pretty building. The concrete on the outside around the windows are shaped like curtains, which is pretty. Then I went to the bookstore where I got some things I needed. It was really nice to walk into a University bookstore and NOT need to look at the textbooks. This time, since I've already graduated from college, I could just revel in the most fun department- OFFICE SUPPLIES!!!

I got back to my hotel in time to get ready to go to my first show and my friends Amaya and Kellen picked me up. They danced with me at Disney a few years ago before they got the call to join the tour from the last round of auditions that went through Orlando in 2006. I got to the theater and met about 1,000 people who I know I'm going to see again today and draw a blank on their names, but everyone tells me that's ok.

The managers were really cool and the cast was SO welcoming and sweet. Everyone kept saying "Welcome to the Family!" I guess being a part of the Lion King show, no matter what cast, brings you into this Lion King Family. One girl even has in her bio in the Playbill, "Yay, I'm in the LK Family!" I met the kids who are young Nala and Simba and they were JUST adorable! Precocious, talkative and intelligent, they were curious about me and where I was from. SO cute! I met lots of people that used to work at Disney that I was 'supposed to meet,' Dionne, Maia, Mauricia, and others, and they were all so sweet. Most had heard that I was coming through one way or another and gave me big hugs! I love these people already!

I watched the show through a wall of tears- I cried the whole time. (Not surprising, right?) The show is even more beautiful and spectacular that I remember. Even our 'scaled down' version for the sake of traveling on the tour has all the elements- Pride Rock doesn't rise out of the ground, but glides on stage majestically, the water in the drought still drains through the floor, the stampede gully is huge and overwhelming for Mufasa's death scene. I hope all of you can come see it!

After the show, I snuck backstage flashing my "All Access Pass" like the nerd that I am (You KNOW I'm keeping that!!!) and told everyone how amazing they all were. Kendra drove me back to my hotel (which is kind of like living "Zac and Cody's Suite Life," even though I've seen the show twice... I'm just guessing) and we had a drink and did some more catching up. I cannot overemphasize ENOUGH how grateful I am that she is here with me. She's like having a big sister built in. It was so nice to see her, Kellen and Amaya's friendly faces my first day.

~ ~ ~
January 7, 2009

So this morning, I'm running some quick errands before I start my first official day of work! I have a wardrobe fitting at 12, then dance rehearsal for a few hours, then my first vocal rehearsal. *gulp!* The dancing I'm not HALF as worried about as I am about the singing! (Reminder- my voice CRACKED in the audition! So hopefully they're not expecting much... hehe*

I'm also nervous because I'm the ONLY person joining the tour right now, meaning ALL of the rehearsals are just for ME. I almost feel bad about that- when I have my put-ins, everyone is going to have to get all dressed and do a whole show, just for little old me! And during rehearsals, there's not going to be someone else to run the scene as I take a water break. No no, just me. YIKES!!!!!

So I'll let you know how it goes, obviously. I really didn't mean for this post to be so long... but I never do. There's just so much to say!! The most important thing I want to say is that I miss all of you so much already. I have an awesome digital picture frame one of my best friends Jenni got me and I already have stocked it with soooo many pictures of everyone from home!!

So each and every one of you are all with me out here!!

Christmas, Packing, Leaving on a Jet Plane, and Staring a New Life...

2009-01-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

January 6, 2009

Well, here I am, my first "official" day "on tour."

Isn't that funny how I feel the need to put "on tour" in quotes? I feel that way because I haven't done a single thing today.

Ahhh, touring life.... (?!?!? right? I don't know yet!) haha.

Well, let's go back a little bit, to Christmas and the following weeks, which turned out to be, at the same time, the most fun and sad week of my life!

~ ~ ~

First of all, Christmas was a blast! Levi came back in town to celebrate with my family and I, and since he was all I wanted for Christmas, I was happy!

That is until I started to throw up.

ew.

Well, Christmas morning, I wake up as excited as a kid on Christmas... wait a minute... anyway, this year I was really good at getting everyone's presents early and I thought they were pretty good. (I LOVE giving gifts, even more than getting them, as cliche as that is. It's true!) I sit in bed a minute anticipating the contents of my stocking and what everyone's faces will look like when they open their presents when that awful feeling swept over me.

You know the one.

The feeling that a 300 pound person just sat on your stomach and is poking at your jugular.

Ew.

So I got sick. Then I went back to bed. I thought it was just a one time thing, a parting gift from the wine at my sister-in-law's dinner the night before. But after 3 more times of illness, I realized I was sick.
My family went over to my brother's house to watch my niece and nephew open presents, and I decided it was safer for me to not only stay home, but to lay down outside, where my sickness wouldn't offend the carpet's creme sensibilities.

EW!

Levi was so wonderful the whole time though, sitting with me (but not too close), trying to shield me from my crazy aunt (everyone's got one) who kept trying to give me a massage (?!?) and talking to me until my family got back.

When everyone got home, I laid down in front of the tree, planning on limpidly pawing at my presents until the wrapping paper eventually ripped. But then, a true Christmas miracle took place. As we opened presents, I gradually felt better and better, until the last present was opened, and I felt 100% better! I even ate a huge Christmas lunch with my family! I was so grateful for that one last Christmas present- being healthy enough to enjoy it with my family!

~ ~ ~

Quickly after lunch, we always pile in the car and drive up to Georgia to see my Nanny (my Dad's mom) and Uncle Phil's family and farm (Dad's brother) in Cuthbert, Georgia, where my Dad grew up. But this year was going to be special- Levi was coming for the first time!!!!

We had a great time all around. I LOVE Georgia and seeing everyone up there, and it was so great for my Nanny and family to meet Levi. The one most hilarious part of the trip, though, was where Levi and I stayed. Since Nanny's house was full, I booked us into one of the three hotels, excuse me, MO-tels in the town. (This is a town with exactly one stoplight, mind you...) When we pulled up, we both looked at each other and laughed. It looked just like that strip motel in that movie with Owen Wilson and Kate Beckensale where the people are trying to kill them. In short, it was a squat, 50's style motel that hadn't been renovated since then, complete with yellow lighting and peeling paint.

In short, it was AWESOME.

We also got to drive our family ping-pong table back home, which was fun and adventure in itself. Instead of a tying a rag to the end of the table, which hung off the end of the truck, we attached the only thing handy- a Tide box top. Hey, it's orange....

~ ~ ~

Levi left all too soon after that, and the preparations for me leaving had to begin. (Even though I was still deeply, DEEPLY in denial that I was leaving!

So instead of packing, I took a copious amount of head shots (see my previous blog) and am still editing those as I sit here... "on tour."

I did a lot of things "one last time.." Pearl Diving (with Daniel, which meant it was so fun!), Capone's (Where I did a line in a Chinese accent, much to my show director's dismay... It's just allergies, I'm not contagious or no-ting!), and of course, my last day at FoLK, where I didn't cry.... until my PITCH in the last show!!!!

My last day was January 3rd, and I had two shows with Patrick. We signed in my family and my friend Brian, who drove all the way from the Keys to see me! (He's a whole 'nother blog in himself... we met on my cruise ship two years ago maybe a total of 3 times, and have managed to keep in touch all these years! He happened to be in the Keys on a business trip, remembered that it was my last day, and decided on a whim to drive up!!! On a WHIM to drive 8 hours EACH WAY! Now that's my kind of friend!!)

I came in to everyone giving me hugs (I adore that stage and everyone there...), my FoLK poster all signed with goodbye wishes, my makeup station all decorated, and Gio's cake for my party, which is AMAZING and I will tell you about later!

The shows felt beautiful, since Patrick is just the most amazing partner, he managed to keep me together while I felt like an emotional and physical wreck! I was convinced the last shows would be a hot mess!
So the last show starts, and everyone is really hyped and full of energy. I loved shows like that. We had them often. Sometimes, it just feels like there's an electricity in the air. Every member of the cast feels it, players, puppets, singers and stilts. This was one of those shows. Everything is going ok, at least I'm not crying yet. But my body is getting away from me, I'm feeling that sinking loss of control feeling as I approach the flying portion of the show. Yet I still don't think I'm going to cry.

Then, I go up for the pitch... and the theater explodes. EVERYONE is cheering and clapping, I can hear every player, singer, stilt, even probably the puppets and crew! They are all soooo loving and supportive and I was just SO overwhelmed with their support I burst into tears IN THE PITCH!!! I was SO scared I was going to miss it! (If you haven't seen the show it's the part I go upside-down!) But I managed to make it, and came down with tears streaming down my face!

So we finished the show, I cried and cried as Patrick held me, and then, with on last deep breath, I left the stage for the last time.

~ ~ ~

But I had other things to focus on at the moment, so I tried to think of my Going Away Party that was taking place that night and all the preparations. As a surprise, I had decorated the entire house with pictures of everything I've ever done at Disney and Orlando for the last two years- Dream Along, FoLK, Capones, Pearl Diving, various gigs, as well as pictures of me growing up and dancing, recitals, trips to Disney, auditions. It ended up being over 200 pictures, and then as a party favor, the guests could take them home! I also had video of my first recital and other embarrassing videos projected on the wall!

The party was SO amazing and special. (the pictures can be found at www.selenamoshell.com/goingawayparty) Thank you to everyone who came and everyone who sent their regrets. (I know it was sooo far to drive!) Everyone was so funny- I had forgotten to tell them that we live on 10 acres of property in the swamp, so everyone would call as they were turning into my driveway, very unsure of where they were going to end up!

SO many people I love were there, and there was TONS of food! And the CAKES!! Let me tell you what- if you EVER need a cake, I know two amazing people who will HOOK YOU UP. Kristy and Gio made two of the most amazing cakes ever. Kristy made a gorgeous four layer cake with some spectacular colors and a beautiful quote and stars, and Gio made... well he made ME. I asked him to make a Lion King cake, and he did... he made ME at the Lion King. He swiped a picture from my dressing table of me in costume and made me into a cake. It was astounding. He showed it to me at work in a big 'reveal' kind of thing with everyone standing around and my face must have been priceless. (The one on my body. The one made of icing is priceless in a different way....)

But really, the cakes were just the icing on the... cake. Whatever. The people who were there made that night so special and unforgettable. I love you guys so much more than I could ever say. Thank you all for making my last night with my friends so special.

~ ~ ~

The next day, I finally had to face reality and start packing. My flight was at 5.30 the next day and my two big suitcases (generously given to me by my good friend Erin) were still gaping at me, empty. My friend Brian was still up from the Keys and didn't want to leave, and I didn't want him to leave because we were having so much fun, so I just leisurely packed and hung out with him all day. He left at 6 pm (I felt so bad, him driving all that way in the dark!) and then my family and I went to the new T-Rex Cafe for dinner.

I had given the dinner to my nephew as a Christmas present, but I don't think he understood. I had wrapped a menu hoping he would get it when he opened it, but when I reminded him of it later, he said "Oh yeah, didn't you just give me the menu?" Right. There's a dinner attached to that....
The place is really fun, even for non-dinosaur obsessed adults. My favorite part was my cotton candy martini (yum!) and then panning for fossils with the kids. (I got some trilobites or something...)

~ ~ ~

I stayed up until 2 am packing, and then Monday morning got up and rushed around like a chicken with some important part of her body chopped off getting stuff together for my flight. I moved my rabbit Dover to my brothers house, reviewed how to deal with Copeland to my Dad, and shipped off my remaining Christmas gifts. (Better late than later, right?)

Shannah, Justin, and Isabella volunteered to take me (for some reason my parent's didn't want to take me... maybe they would have cried?) and I got away with NOT crying as I said goodbye to my family. In fact, I didn't cry when I left Shannah and Justin either. I only started crying a little in the airport waiting to board the plane, talking to Levi. (People who know me that me crying this little is quite a feat!)

It just hit me as I was about to board, that this time, I'm really leaving home. I left home once for Canada for my first year of college, but this just felt different somehow. I think I had been in denial of everything for so long that the reality of the situation hit me all at once then.

Once I got on the plane, I wanted to cry again... but not for the same reason. The girl next to me (who had with her an adorable Shih-Tzu named Bella in her carry on!) commented that she didn't see any place for the overhead TV's to come out, and I noted that this was a brand new plane, so they had to have them. Their would be a riot otherwise, right? So the screens were probably just well concealed.

SO well concealed in fact.... they didn't exist.

That's right kids. US Airways doesn't offer movies OR MUSIC on their flights anymore. (Oh, except to Hawaii and Europe.)

WHAT??????????????????

Well, I was wrong about the riot, but Kim and I were about to start one ourselves.

~ ~ ~

Despite my lack of music or a TV, I got to Tempe ok.

I checked into my hotel, got my script and binder, and met up with my friend Kendra (who I'm replacing and who is becoming the dance captain) and her parents who were visiting from Canada. It was SO nice to talk to them my first night. As I was unpacking before I met up with them I was feeling jittery, nervous. Excited, but in an anxious sort of way. I just kept wondering if this was the right thing to do... leaving home, all of my friend and people I love, and my dream job at Festival.... but after talking to Kendra I felt SO much better. Yes, it was a hard decision to leave, and actually leaving was even harder than that, but we talked about what being on tour was like, all the places we're going to see together, all the sights we were going to visit together, and how fun the show itself is, and I felt better.

While I still miss home, and everyone there, I'm finally feeling a little bit more ok about being here.

The one pivotal moment when it all really HIT me though, was when I paged through my binder (with all sorts of cute letters that said "Hi Selena, welcome to the Gazelle tour!!") and found in my script binder the page that read "Disney Presents, The Lion King, The Broadway Show."

It really kind of took my breath away.

~ ~ ~

The next day I had the entire day off until my call time of 6.45 (which when my manager called to tell me the call time a few days ago, I responded "In the morning?!?!?" to which he laughed at me. Turns out not ONE of my call times this week for rehearsal is before 12) So I stayed in the hotel tending to some photo shoots on things I had to still edit from home and finished unpacking.

I went downstairs to have some breakfast buffet from the hotel, a $20 mistake I won't be making again. Wendy's across the street is calling to me now. I also made the mistake of calling it a buffet with a hard "T" like at Capones. It was so a part of my vocabulary that when I asked where the buffet was, I said BUFFETT and the guy looked at me funny. Whoops. Old lines die hard...

I walked around Arizona State University's camps, which is beautiful, scoped out my theater, the Gammage, which is a huge and really round, pretty building. The concrete on the outside around the windows are shaped like curtains, which is pretty. Then I went to the bookstore where I got some things I needed. It was really nice to walk into a University bookstore and NOT need to look at the textbooks. This time, since I've already graduated from college, I could just revel in the most fun department- OFFICE SUPPLIES!!!

I got back to my hotel in time to get ready to go to my first show and my friends Amaya and Kellen picked me up. They danced with me at Disney a few years ago before they got the call to join the tour from the last round of auditions that went through Orlando in 2006. I got to the theater and met about 1,000 people who I know I'm going to see again today and draw a blank on their names, but everyone tells me that's ok.

The managers were really cool and the cast was SO welcoming and sweet. Everyone kept saying "Welcome to the Family!" I guess being a part of the Lion King show, no matter what cast, brings you into this Lion King Family. One girl even has in her bio in the Playbill, "Yay, I'm in the LK Family!" I met the kids who are young Nala and Simba and they were JUST adorable! Precocious, talkative and intelligent, they were curious about me and where I was from. SO cute! I met lots of people that used to work at Disney that I was 'supposed to meet,' Dionne, Maia, Mauricia, and others, and they were all so sweet. Most had heard that I was coming through one way or another and gave me big hugs! I love these people already!

I watched the show through a wall of tears- I cried the whole time. (Not surprising, right?) The show is even more beautiful and spectacular that I remember. Even our 'scaled down' version for the sake of traveling on the tour has all the elements- Pride Rock doesn't rise out of the ground, but glides on stage majestically, the water in the drought still drains through the floor, the stampede gully is huge and overwhelming for Mufasa's death scene. I hope all of you can come see it!

After the show, I snuck backstage flashing my "All Access Pass" like the nerd that I am (You KNOW I'm keeping that!!!) and told everyone how amazing they all were. Kendra drove me back to my hotel (which is kind of like living "Zac and Cody's Suite Life," even though I've seen the show twice... I'm just guessing) and we had a drink and did some more catching up. I cannot overemphasize ENOUGH how grateful I am that she is here with me. She's like having a big sister built in. It was so nice to see her, Kellen and Amaya's friendly faces my first day.

~ ~ ~
January 7, 2009

So this morning, I'm running some quick errands before I start my first official day of work! I have a wardrobe fitting at 12, then dance rehearsal for a few hours, then my first vocal rehearsal. *gulp!* The dancing I'm not HALF as worried about as I am about the singing! (Reminder- my voice CRACKED in the audition! So hopefully they're not expecting much... hehe*

I'm also nervous because I'm the ONLY person joining the tour right now, meaning ALL of the rehearsals are just for ME. I almost feel bad about that- when I have my put-ins, everyone is going to have to get all dressed and do a whole show, just for little old me! And during rehearsals, there's not going to be someone else to run the scene as I take a water break. No no, just me. YIKES!!!!!

So I'll let you know how it goes, obviously. I really didn't mean for this post to be so long... but I never do. There's just so much to say!! The most important thing I want to say is that I miss all of you so much already. I have an awesome digital picture frame one of my best friends Jenni got me and I already have stocked it with soooo many pictures of everyone from home!!

So each and every one of you are all with me out here!!

A party, reactions, and an FAQ! - December 27, 2008

2008-12-27T05:54:00.000-08:00

FIrst, before you read this, you must know that one week from today is my last day flying at Festival of the Lion King, and also my BIG Going Away Party! If you're reading this, your invited. (I want everyone I've ever known in Orlando to come!!!) So check out my flyer at your stage (I sent it around to all the Disney stages) or my invite on my MySpace or Facebook and COME SEE ME ONE LAST TIME!!!!

Ok, you may now continue with the blog...

~ ~ ~

Ten of the funniest, most memorable, or common reactions to my "life changing news" found in my last blog, in no particular order....

(Or, if you don't want to scroll through one of the longest blogs in all creation, it is that I am joining the national Broadway tour of the Lion King in January. But it's said in a much more clever and witty way in the blog. At least I'd like to believe that it is...)

~ ~ ~

10."AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" or *shreiiikkkk!* or *screams!!" (Usually accompanied with running in place, jumping up and down, and widening of eyes)
- Various people, including but not limited to Rachel, from Capones.

9. *SLAP!* "Shut up! Are you serious?"
-A slap from a new player at FoLK, resulting in a small, faint bruise on my thigh.

10. "WOW. Wooow. Wowwwww. Wwwwooowwww. Wwwow. wow."
- My brother David

"I am SO excited for you! I've already told my parents!"
-Various people, even people I don't know all that well, and to whom I definitely don't know their parents.

"Hi, nice to meet you, I am SO happy for you!"
-Various people at the various holiday parties I've been to lately that somehow knew the news before I even met them.

"Are you the girl that just got Lion King?"
-A waitress at a local restaurant who also works at Disney who somehow found out before I even sat down at her table to eat.

4.

A picture that Sean, Levi's manager and owner of Axis Magazine, a magazine I wrote for briefly in high school, made me!

3.

A cookie bouquet that my best friend Megan sent me!

2. "Well if you didn't take it I would have fired you. That way you would have had to take it!"
- Andy, a stage manager at Festival of the Lion King

1. Congratulations!!!! *next breath* I need headshots before you go!
- Various people, also one of the most common reactions

~ ~ ~

Other than fielding these common reactions, there is a standard set of questions people are asking, so I thought a normal FAQ on my situation was in order.

Common Question #1: Where are you going?
Answer: All over. There is only one national tour now, Gazelle, which used to be the East Coast tour. Cheetah, the west coast tour, closed a little while ago. So we cover the West and East Coasts, even a little bit of Canada and Alaska!

Common Question #2: Are you coming to Orlando?
Answer: Unfortunately, not for the foreseeable future. We are booked though to 2011, and the closest we're coming is Norfolk, VA. When I get permission from my managers that it's ok to let you know where I'm going, I'll post my schedule on my blog.

Common Question #3: How long is the contract? How long will you be gone?
Answer: That's a hard one to answer, because the contract is indefinite, meaning it doesn't technically end until I want it to, which is great and scary at the same time. It's been weird to say that I don't know when I'll ever see anyone again, since I don't know when I'll be done with the tour!

Common Question #4: What will you be doing in the show?
Answer: I will be a gazelle! I'm actually replacing one of my friends who used to dance with my sister in Hubbard Street, and she will be becoming my dance captain!

Common Question #5: Are you excited?
Answer: Another hard one to answer. I'm excited, yes, but also nervous to be doing something I've never done before, and sad to be leaving Disney, which has been such an amazing 2 years of my life. I'm actually a little heartbroken to be leaving my role as a Bird at Festival of the Lion King and all my friends there. They have all made me feel so welcome into the family that is there at the stage that leaving them is quickly becoming a very difficult thing to do!!

Common Question #6: When are you leaving? When is your last day at FoLK?
Answer: My last day at FoLK is January 3rd, so everyone better come see me while they can! My flight is on January 5th.

Common Question #7: Where do you go to rehearse? When is your opening day?
Answer: I fly straight to Tempe, AZ to join the tour right away. We rehearse for four weeks out there in whatever theater we're performing in, then I have my debut February 3rd, 2009!

Common Question #8: What does your family think, what did Levi say?
Answer: Well, that's a funny question: You would think that since I've moved back in with my parents they would be a LITTLE sad to see me go... their reaction? "GO! See ya! We'll visit!" haha. Levi's was the same. He's in New York anyway, so he's been flying down here to see me every month. So now when comes to see me, we'll be in a different city every time! It's like he's going on tour too! So of course he's ecstatic.

~ ~ ~

If there's any other questions that I didn't answer here, of course you can write me. (Goodness, I feel like one of those awful Microsoft FAQ's- feel free to contact customer service with any other questions you may have...)

Other than reactions and questions, my life has exploded in that I'm so busy I don't know what to do with myself. The #1 reaction on the list up there is no joke- I've booked 5 head shots in the last few days! Working right up to the end at FoLK too! (I'm not going to give up days when I am not really ready to leave in the first place!) But I will say to all those people I won't be able to shoot, 1) My family lives here so I'll be back every few months, so I can do head shots when I'm here (And no, I won't mind doing it when I'm visiting!) and 2) There is a great photographer at Nemo named Jim whose work is really maturing well. I worked with him at Sea World and he's really doing well with his photography. Also, there's another Nemo-er named Hayden who is just starting up as well. There's TONS of great photographers around, just go find one that fits what you're looking for! And if you still really want me to shoot you (to which I would be so flattered!) we can do it in April when I'm back to visit! =)

Anywho, like everyone, I just got sick (fighting it with every vitamin C product I can find!), I'm wrapping presents like it's my job, and I haven't started packing a lick. So we'll see how the week after Christmas goes! If I survive and make it out to Tempe with any luggage packed, I will be AMAZED!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

The Final, Long Update, and Life-Changing News!

2008-12-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, my mind is so scattered right now that these last few months I need to update might be completely non-sensical, but you'll understand why when you read the "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!"

(Oh, and pictures of most of all the events told in my blog can be found in my pictures on my MySpace!)

~ ~ ~

June.... Well, with some May in there... - (The Month (s) of Transitions...)

I can't finish May off without another BIG announcement, although most everyone knows about this one by now...

A few days before my birthday, I got a phone call from Disney giving me one of their Million Dreams that we gave away this year... although I don't know that they saw it that way. I'm pretty sure they just saw it as another job offer. I was offered my dream job, a job I have wanted so badly, an amazing, beautiful role that just amazing- I was offered a Bird role at Festival of the Lion King.

It was literally my dream come true.

Sadly, I had to leave my family, my Castle family, who had been with me through so much. It made me sooo sad to leave, but I knew I had to take this opportunity. (words that would all too soon come up again... in a completely different context...) I cried and cried, both happy and sad, for the transition would take me away from everything and everyone I knew and loved, but it was something that would challenge me artistically and technically, and also be so fulfilling and an amazing experience. Which, over the next 6 months, it has proven to be, and so much more. I am so happy at the stage, and while I miss my Castle show and family so much even today, I am so grateful for the time I've had at FoLK. The casts are all amazing, my partners are a joy to work with, and it's been such a privilege to be cast here for the last 6 months. I'm happier than I ever imagined I could be!

Before I left, Sonya asked me out to have dinner at PF Changs, and when I arrived I thought it was a little strange to see my friend Cara Carper at a table before I saw Sonya.... so I went over to say "Hi! What are YOU doing here?" when I realized with here were more of my favorite people- Bryan Manley, Erek Galloway, Eric Yow, and Shannon Bates. Oh, and Sonya, of course! It was a surprise Birthday/Going Away party for me! I was absolutely floored!!! It was SO much fun!!

So, June 15th was my last day at the Castle, and it was absolutely perfect. I was thankful when it rained my last three shows- because the last show before lunch I was starting to get emotional, so the last show I would have been a wreck! The cast even soaked me in water, a tradition for anyone leaving that we used to to religiously to people who moved on from our cast! It was SO awesome!!

June was mostly consumed with Bird rehearsals with three amazing new boy Birdies, JD, Kai and Dante. JD was to be the new full-time birdie and Kai and Dante were going to be subs, but JD got a call soon after rehearsals ended to go join the cast of Dirty Dancing in Toronto, so when he left, Dante became our newest full time Bird! Rehearsals with Patrick and Christina, our dance captains, was so much fun, as usual! And finally opening full time was truly my dream come true! I even got to partner with Patrick the most during the week, which was truly a privilege!

At the end of the month, I shot another wedding with my sister, a beautiful affair in Chicago, and then, suddenly, it was JULY!!!

~ ~ ~

July- (The Month of Jumping out of Perfectly Good Airplanes!)

Well, with a title like that.... I bet you can guess what my brother Danny and I did on the 4th? Yep! SKYDIVING!!!!!! Weeee! It was SO much fun! We went to Space Coast Skydive and jumped. I had an instructor named CHIP STEELE! (No joke- I can't make something that good up!) And it was his 17 Year Anniversary of skydiving that day! He informed me that he was going to go out and drink AFTER our dive! (I was really glad he said AFTER and not BEFORE!!! haha!) It was amazing a beautiful! I could see clear to the coast, even to the Kennedy Space Center was visible! I'd recommend it to anyone! (Well, anyone that doesn't have a fear of heights!

I also got to do a super-fun special event at Disney for Tara, our awesome show director at Lion King. We were flappers for a party for this millionaire family- no joke. These people have so much money they literally RENT OUT the parks! Well, this family wanted to have a Fourth of July Party, so Tara, in her typical Tara way, planned this AMAZING three day party with Red, White and Blue theme. The night I performed was the White night, and we were flapper dancers in "Club Cool," a completely white tent outfitted as a kind of casino and speak-easy! (Disney-style, of course! hehe) After we performed, though, they shot off $100,000 worth of fireworks, officially the MOST EVER SPENT on fireworks at one time on Disney property! I was, literally, the most AMAZING display I've EVER seen. I really don't ever need to see fireworks again, I felt like I had seen it ALL in that show!!!

July was also the month when we started rehearsals for the dance company I joined, Yow Dance! My friend, Eric Yow, started this amazing little dance company and I got to be part of the first performance, which took place in October. It was a great time, and his choreography was always SO much fun to perform!

~ ~ ~

August (The Month of Weddings!)

The first thing that happened in August was a big enough to deserve it's own detailed blog on it's own, so someday I'll get around to that someday, but for now.... The first thing that happened was that Levi's little sister, Mallory, got married!!! And I got to shoot the wedding!! It was such a fun week with Levi's family in Maine and Boston, and SO much fun and funny things happened that I really am going to have to write a whole different blog for it! But I had a great time, his family is SO great and I met so many people I've heard so many stories about from Levi- it was like meeting celebrities in a way! It was beautiful and wonderful, though, and a great way to start the month.

The week I got back from this wedding, though, I worked for one day and then had to fly to Chicago to shoot another wedding with my sister! Like I said, it was the month of weddings! This wedding was a gorgeous wedding on a yacht, overlooking the beautiful city of Chicago as fireworks burst overhead- it was really magical for everyone, especially for the bride and groom, as I can imagine. (Some of those pictures can be found on my website!)

At the end of the month is my mom's birthday, and my sister, being so sweet and creative, thought of the funniest thing we could do for her- give her a "roast!" It's kind of like the Friar's Club roast, where Dean Martin used to kind of jab fun at his friends. Well, we put together a musical roast for my mom! Dancing and singing included! It was hilarious to see my non-dancing brothers and dad singing, doing choreography, and kicking in a kick line!!!

~ ~ ~

September (The month of Beginnings and Endings...)

At the beginning of the month we got news from Levi's agent that his band had received a sort of record deal and that they needed to move to New York City by the end of the year! It was quite a shock, but great news, so we prepared all month for Levi to move up in the middle of October and for me to move back in with my parents. (Woo! No more rent!)

I also began to teach at my friend's Amanda and Api's studio, In Motion Dance Project. I had the 5 and 6 year olds, who were so sweet and cute.... but terrifying! I had subbed quite a bit over the years, but never had my own class to myself! They were typical 5 and 6 year olds- full of energy, overflowing with noise, and running around like puppies! It took the first few weeks for me to get my bearings and to get a hold of the class, but once I did, they were so sweet and wonderful! I choreographed the cutest little Holiday Show dance for them to Sleigh Ride (in ballet) and Frosty the Snow Man (in jazz) that they loved. Whenever class started they would ask "Miss Selena, can we do the dance?"

~ ~ ~

October (The "Scary" Month!)

Before Levi moved away, we decided to take one last little mini-vacation to Tampa. It was soooo nice, and exactly what we needed before he made the big move to NYC. The first night we stayed in St. Pete Beach, playing paddleball on the beach (I won! And the winning hit bounced off his tummy and fell on the ground- it left a welt! It was hilarious!!!), swimming in the ocean, and watching the sunset over dinner. It was beautiful! We went to Lowery's Zoo Boo that night, which was really cute, but really for kids. (Although I was a little scared in the haunted houses!)
The next day we went into Tampa and visited the Dali museum (amazing!) and the MOSI Science Museum (I'm a nerd, I know...). That night we stayed in the stunning Belleview Biltmore Hotel. If you ever have a chance to stay there, you absolutely MUST! It's over 100 years old, all antique and beautiful, and it's the world's largest enclosed wooden structure! (It's massive!) There was a luxurious dining room where we ate our awesome buffets, and two pools (one indoors in the spa, with a stained glass ceiling!) and a little ice cream parlor inside the hotel! We even got to stay in a haunted room! (1301!) The one that Robert the Doll, a famous haunted doll from Key West, stayed in- the only time he's ever left the Keys! The room didn't feel too haunted, although our air conditioner was acting decidedly strange (when I asked Levi to turn it off, he replied that he already HAD turned it off... yet it was still blowing. Yikes!) I was so freaked out it that it took me close to an HOUR to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night! haha! It was such an amazing and perfect weekend- we couldn't have asked for more!

Levi flew to New York on the 12th, and I cried so much that day that during shows with Ivan later, my contacts were foggy from salt! Pathetic... hehe. But I didn't have much time to grieve, the next week was our Yow Dance Premier, which went SO well! It was so nice to do some beautiful contemporary work, something so different from what we do every day at Disney. His choreography was so great and felt great to do! We also had a fundraiser Gala at my parents house earlier that month that was really fun too. And my photography of the company was in the Orlando Sentinel twice! Once for the Gala and once for the actual show! We had SO many friends come out to support us, which I am so thankful for. It meant SO much to me to see all the people I loved come out and support us!

Halloween was super fun, as usual. I worked Halloween Horror Nights again, which is always a blast! It's weird how addictive and fun jumping out and scaring people can be! I went trick or treating with my niece and nephew the night of Halloween (She was a rapper-gangster, complete with gold chains and backwards hat, and he was Darth Maul from Star Wars, complete with red face paint and light saber!) I was supposed to go to 6, count them SIX Halloween parties for people at work throughout the week, but I only made it to 3. (Two of them I was Juno from the movie, although some people thought I was just really pregnant... and the big Monkey party I was the fire-flower from the classic Mario games!)

~ ~ ~

November (The month I didn't think I'd have a lot to report on...)

November would have been a quiet month, had my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT that is coming up not began in November! My dad and I made a trip to Savannah, Georgia for a conference for him where his students won an award for the computer animation he showed! Savannah was beautiful and fun, and it's always nice to spend time with my Daddy! We had a blast.

To be honest, not much else happened this month... I went putt putt with my niece and nephew, which was always fun, I did another super-fun special event with Tara, my show director, and some really awesome people from my Castle family, I auditioned for Lion King on Broadway and made it to the end of the audition, where my voice cracked as I sang, so I didn't expect a call, and I saw Garrison Keiller speak with my Dad at the Bob Carr theater. (He was hilarious, of course) That was really special. We grew up listening to a Prairie Home Companion for so long, and to see him speak, with the person who introduced me to him was really great.

I accidently got a new job in November too. (I seem to

Levi came home for Thanksgiving, which was really great. My family had flown to Houston to be with my aunt and her family, and I stayed behind to work at Capone's, because you're required to work on holiday a year, and I figured that since they would be gone anyway, it would be a good time to work! But seeing Levi, even if it was only for a day and a half, was the highlight of my holiday!

~ ~ ~

December (The Month of Surprises!)

And now, this brings us to this week... and the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!

Well.... How do I even do this? I'm having a hard enough time figuring out how to tell people on the phone, telling people over the internet is so much harder!

Ok, so this week started out totally normal.. Went to work, tried out a new place to volunteer and picked seeds for the Nature Conservancy, turned in my application to take some post-baccalaureate classes at UCF in January... and then got a phone call Wednesday afternoon.

Well... remember that little audition I went to in November? Well... I had been getting phone calls from Levi from New York ever since he got up there, and the first couple of times it made my heart jump, thinking it might be this casting agent. Well, this time, it was another New York number, so I thought it was Levi.

It wasn't.

"Hi, can I please speak to Selena?"

"This is she?"

"Hi, this is Mark Brandon from Bender Casting... we met in November at the audition?"

*My body goes completely numb*

"Oh... y-yes! Hi! How are you?" I bumble...

"Good, thank you. Look, I'm just calling see if... s ( ^sd& %$...

*this is where my ears stopped working. I already knew what was happening..*

...sdD* touring company div%$f*^ Lion King National Tour. Are you interested?"

*By now I've regained some control of my body and have stumbled downstairs and run to my Mom, hugging and shaking as she says "Well, I hope this is something good...."*

~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * *
So, my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT is... that after lots and LOTS of tears and thought, I will be joining the national tour of the Lion King on January 6th, with my debut on February 3rd as a Gazelle in Tempe, Arizona!
~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~ * * *

The last two days has been such a blur. I had to drive to work literally 15 minutes after Mark called and do shows!!! I was a wreck the first show trying to keep it in, so finally I told my partner, Dante. It felt better to let such a secret out, you know? I also told Deidre, a singer at our stage who has done the show before and is going to join the cast again in Las Vegas! A few other people in my dressing room had to be told, otherwise they would just think I was crazy- tearing up and crying for no reason! Eventually, everyone has found out, whether I've called them or by rumors. But I wanted to write this an let everyone know officially. And please forgive me for not calling all of you personally- I'm trying to call everyone I can, but this is so much faster!

I called Darla, Disney's casting agent, earlier today to officially 'quit,' in a way, one of the harder things I've had to do. I cried, naturally. Telling Patrick, my dance captain and partner was the hardest call to make for sure. He's quickly become one of my closest friends, and the thought of not partnering him for much longer makes me cry a little every time.

It honestly has been a heart-breaking decision for me. Getting Bird at Festival of the Lion King was literally my dream come true- I LOVE the role, I LOVE the people I work with, I love everything about it. I was only here for 6 months, and it has truly been 6 of the most amazing months of my life. Leaving Disney, all the people I adore, and my family, for an indefinite amount of time will be the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do in my life. But hearing people's reactions, how happy this is making people I love, knowing that this is the time to do these things, with no husband and kids to worry about (beyond my kitty and bunny! So sad to leave them too!), knowing that I got out of a lease JUST before all this happened, knowing all this just leads me to believe that God kind of made this all possible, and is making it possible, if not easy, to leave.

I have learned so much and grown so much from my time here at Disney, and it will always have the biggest place in my heart. Everyone here will. And I hope that I will see all of you, somewhere out there on the road.

Right now I'm scared, I'm overwhelmed, I'm sad and happy. The last few nights I've been so preoccupied I couldn't work on the hundreds of little projects I usually work on at night (Not having a TV does this to people... hehe) I also had to start doing my Magic Show that I was rehearsing for in November for the first time last night. I'm SO surprised I got though the show- I'm so distracted! I even got offered another job that night- as a rider at Arabian Nights, another job I've wanted for years. I had to turn it down, of course, something I never thought I would have to do! (Everyone who knows me knows I have a billion jobs... when in actuality if I had taken that job it ONLY would have been Job 8....)

There's so much to do- so much going on. I feel like it's so loud in my head all the time, ever since I got the call. I feel like I'm vibrating and I can't stop even to collect my thoughts or catch my breath. Hearing my friends and family freak out has been so cute. Today two of my very best friends texted me and asked when my opening day was... hopefully they'll make it. Hopefully you all will make it to see me! I will be posting my tour schedule on this blog!

SO, I know this was RIDICULOUSLY long, but I'm glad you stuck though it. And I'm glad I wrote it. I feel like a little of the crazyness has been lifted from me, and I feel a lot better having let everyone know the "official" truth.

I hope I get to see you all soon- either before I leave or somewhere out there on the road!

The Summer of Selena! - October 15, 2008

2008-10-15T11:23:00.001-07:00

So here we are, at the last installment of our thrilling Year-Long-Blog. Then we'll be all caught up with the trials and tribulations of Selena, your favorite little Asian, and I can regale you on my latest saga of Levi moving to.... oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.... let's backtrack to, saaaay...

~ ~ ~

June - The month of Transitions!

Well, something I left off in my last blog, that I thought would be worthy of leading off this blog was my life-changing news! A few days before my birthday, I got a call from casting at Disney. Not thinking much of it, since our contracts weren't up for a few months, I answered casually as I perused a JoAnn Fabrics for supplies for my Wii-Themed birthday party (In May of my last blog). It was actually NOT a casual phone call, but a phone call I've been waiting for for literally YEARS. Shelby of Contracts at Disney called to formally offer me a contract at my dream show in my dream role, flying as the Bird in Festival of the Lion King!! I immediately started crying (my natural reaction to good news) and freaking out in the middle of JoAnn Fabrics. (I can only imagine what the scrapbookers around me thought the news was...) I eventually accepted the contract, of course, but was very, VERY sad to have to leave my family at Castle. When my last day came I cried and cried as if I was moving across the country and not across property!

So, back to June, I was freshly 25 after my birthday on May 26th, and starting a new chapter of my life as I prepared to move over to another stage at Disney. I felt like everything was going to change so much, as it naturally did, and I just felt like this was going to be a huge transition in my life. Little did I know it would be a huge transition in more than one way!

Changing stages was a huge transition, of course. I went through rehearsals with two new boy birds (they didn't hire any new girls, so they just used me and the other full-time Birds) who were my two friends, Kai and Dante. They were wonderful new Birds, and we had lots of fun in rehearsals.

Another huge transition, though, was the announcement that Levi and his band had decided to move to New York City! After the Florida Music Festival in May, an A and R Rep for Universal approached them very interested in representing them. But the band was already in a demo-deal contract with another company, so they had to see that contract though and make a demo. After the demo was completed, it was sent to Columbia Records, who passed, so the band moved on to see what Universal's new subsidiary had in mind for them. And what this Rep had in mind was moving to New York City! So they all began preparing to move, and I began preparing to live alone. *Sniff* I decided that if Levi was moving, I would rather move home with my family and not pay rent, so we began to prepare for that, with the estimated date of leaving near the end of September.

At the end of June I went to Chicago again to shoot another wedding with my sister. I had been going up about every other month this year so far to shoot weddings, and this was just another in that loooong series. I absolutely love shooting with her though, and I eventually plan on moving up there to start a photography business with her. But that is another big transition for another time. For now, moving stages and moving my boyfriend across the country was enough to wrap my head around!

~ ~ ~

July! - The month of Fireworks and Freefalling!

July started off with a bang (ha-ha) this year in a bigger way than usual. I know everyone watches fireworks on the 4th, but this year, I got to watch $100,000 worth of fireworks shot off at one time! I was booked for a special event for a wealthy family at Disney. They spent around a million dollars putting together a special 4th of July weekend for them, and one night was a flapper night. They asked a few dancers from around property to be flappers, and I was lucky enough to be one of them! We performed a really fun, fast roaring 20's dance, and then filed outside to see what was going to be the most fireworks Disney has ever lit at once on property! And it didn't disappoint! I've seen Orlando's fireworks, Chicago's fireworks, Universals and Sea World's fireworks, but I tell you.... NOTHING will ever compare to that night's display. Cast members who weren't even working the event lined up on the beach adjacent to the Grand Floridian where the event tent was pitched because the news of these fireworks was so big on property! It was the most amazing display I've EVER seen.... and after seeing it I declared that I never wanted to see fireworks again, because nothing would ever top that show!!

The day before the Fourth, I decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

Really.
Well, ok, I've been planning on this (against my parents most fervent worried looks) since i was 21. It was my brother Danny's birthday present to me, and it only took him four years to follow through. *sigh* haha.
So yes, we got strapped to our instructors (Mine was named Chip STEELE!!!!! BEST. NAME. EVER. And it was his 17 year anniversary skydiving, so I felt really safe!) we got in a plane, went waaaay up in the air, and jumped! It was the most AMAZING feeling ever. I thought I loved being an aerialist and flying that way... well I realized that what I loved about it was that it was really like skydiving- my new-found love. It is the most free feeling, with nothing around you and the world rolled out below you like the most amazing carpet.... I could see clear to the Kennedy Space Center! It was absolutely worth the 4 year wait, but I won't wait that long to go again! We almost went last week!! I'm seriously considering getting certified, so I can dive on my own!!! (And maybe changing my name to something awesome, like Chip STEELE!!!!!! haha)

I did some really awesome photoshoots in July as well, including some of my friends jewelry from her new jewelry shop, and my friend's drum act at the Holy Land (yes, I said the Holy Land....)
But by far, the photographic and overall highlight of my summer was Levi's sister's wedding in goregous MAINE!!!!!!

(Which, unfortunately, needs to be a blog all to itself....)

So, tune in next time for the ever exciting continuation of my blog, featuring a gorgeous wedding, my new life at Lion King, and a GALA! Not to be missed!
haha!

The month of FUN! (Update continued.... - September 24, 2008

2008-09-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

As requested by my favorite (and #1) Duck.... the summer blog continues...

~ ~ ~
May (The Fun Month!):
May has always been my favorite month for the obvious reason that my birthday lands on the 26th, so I always make the entire month my "Birthday Month!" (much to Levi's dismay, as most of our conversations in my resolve with "... because it's my Birthday Month, that's why!")

I started the month off with a little mini-vacation with my sister to St. Pete Beach. We drove down there without much of a plan other than spending three days on the beach laying out and playing pro-kadima. (or attempting to play this paddle-ball game. I was terrible!) We drove around asking for rates of hotels, but one in particular kept catching my eye. It was perfectly round and completely kitchy-looking. I loved it right away. So we stopped in for a rate and found that the normally $300 per night beach-view room that we wanted was on sale for $150 a night! So we snapped that right up and checked out our room.

A beach view it was, even if it was partial, but it was clean and spacious and had a big bed, so we were happy! We spent the first night eating at a really cute sushi restaurant and watching Rattattoui with Cheryl's friend, who came to visit. The next morning, we found the most local-looking diner we could (and it was packed with locals, which means it has to be good!) and had a delicious breakfast. I had forgotten my ATM card in the ATM the night before, so we went to the bank to get a new card, because the last time I left my card in the machine, they shredded it. (Yes. I am air-headed enough to do that twice!) But to my delight, they saved my card since it was the ATM attached to the building! (Our luck was holding out!)

We spent some time on the beach, walked around a beautiful old fort, and had some dinner at the bar where we made friends with the bartender. (Naturally) He said we had missed all the action the night before- there was a wedding where the bridesmaids all got into a fist fight! Glad we weren't there for that....

The next day we tried to take a ferry out of Ft. Desoto Park to an island, but we (well, I....) had read the sign wrong the day before, thinking it had said "Ferry runs 11 am TO 2pm," when in fact it read "Ferry runs AT 11 am and returns AT 2 pm." (Ok, so I guess I can be a little air-headed about signs too...) So, not to be deterred from having fun, we rented some canoes and kayaked around the mangrove kayaking trail all afternoon. Cheryl got burned to a crisp due to the antibiotics she was taking, but all in all it was an awesome, relaxing trip!

A few weeks later was the Florida Music Festival, a huge music festival that Levi plays in every year down town. Every year since we've been together, someone has visited for the big event. This year was Mallory, Levi's little sister's turn. We were extra excited for her visit because it would be the last time we would see her as a single person, since she's getting married in August! While she was here we saw Levi play an amazing show at FMF and went to three out of the four Disney parks in one day! (A feat in itself!) It was so great having Mal here and I'm SO excited to shoot her wedding in August!

That night, my really good friend Eric Yow and I had a Wii-themed birthday party where everyone dressed up as their favorite Nintendo character. It was SO much fun and quite honestly, my favorite birthday since my infamous boy-girl skate party of 1992. (Hands were held, gossip ensued... hehe) I came as Toadette first, and then later surprised everyone by changing into the Japanese characters in the Wii commercial who come to the front door and say "We would like to play..." with my good friend Sonya. It was hilarious and everyone was so surprised! Later, since we all were Wii characters ourselves, we made life-sized Wii games. One game we played was from Mario Party and the objective is that you have to spray paint a geometric shape onto paper. Whoever spray paints the most shapes most accurately in 30 seconds wins. (We had to use silly string instead of spray paint, of course) It was hilarious!

The next week, on my actual birthday, Levi got the day off from work and we went to Silver Springs, a classic (read: cheesy!) old theme park in the heart of Florida. It was SO kitchy, with their panther and bear shows and gator jumps and of course, their famous glass bottom boats... but I loved it. I absolutely live for stuff like that- roadside attraction type things, so I was in heaven. (And in the vein of all things cheesy, we HAD to take a picture in the lucky Horseshoe Palm, which our boat driver said was such a special anomaly because of the way it was growing in a circle, and whoever takes their picture in the circle gets five years good luck! We couldn't pass that up!)

Our favorite animal exhibit was the bear exhibit. Apparently, they have the largest bear exhibit in the nation! It was really awesome seeing a Kodiak bear that close! We watched him for a long time sniffing around, finding food here and there.... generally just being a bear. Next we saw the panthers, who reminded me sooo much of our own slightly feral kitty. Finally, my personal highlight of the day was feeding a giraffe! They had two giraffes in a really tall 'giraffe barn' and sold little crackers that they slurped up with their long, purple tongues! It was amazing! That night for dinner, we went to Salt Island Chop House, a really nice place on I-Drive and I fell in love for the first time..... with turtle cheesecake!!!!!!!! Wow. Why have I never had this most amazing cake before? I feel so deprived. It's my new favorite. (Although Levi says his Mom makes the most amazing cakes and pies ever, so until I have those, I'll have to reserve my judgement on my favorite cake!)

The next night was our 3 year anniversary. Unfortunately, Levi couldn't get the day off, but I managed to drag him out to a really nice dinner in Canada.... Epcot's Canada, that is... It's a REALLY nice place called "La Cellier" (French for the Cellar) and it takes around 3-6 months to get a reservation there! No joke! Levi didn't believe me last time we were at Epcot, so he ran up to the reservations desk and they informed him that the next available table was in about 180 days! So in December, I made sure to reserve our table for May 27th, our anniversary. We rode the new SpaceShip Earth in the Epcot ball (They re-did the ride and it is SO fun! You get to 'make your own future' and little do you know they use the picture they snap of you earlier IN the animation! Levi had kissed my cheek to be cute RIGHT before the picture was snapped so I was laughing! The animation was hilarious!) and then went over to Minnie's Butterfly Garden that was set up for the Garden Festival. (It was Levi's first time in a butterfly garden!)

When we arrived at La Cellier and checked in, the cheerful receptionist asked if it was our anniversary like the reservation said, and we responded accordingly. "Well where are your buttons?" She chirped. Buttons? That's right.... Disney likes to honor anniversaries and birthdays with a special button so that everyone can wish you a Happy -Insert Holiday Here- type of thing. Well, we didn't have any- YET. So she cheerfully poked two "Happy Anniversary" Pins on our shirts. And Levi turned the exact shade of red that the button was.

Beyond the slight embarrassment, the night was near perfect. The food was AMAZING. Literally the BEST I've ever had in this town. It might take six months to make a reservation, but I'm TELLING you, it's worth it!!! So make your dining plans accordingly.

Another BIG highlight of May came on the very last day of the month. My best friend Shannah had been getting, shall we say, a BELLY. Like a HUGE one. For like, 9 months or so, it grew and GREW!! (Ok, it helped that she was pregnant! hehe) So finally, and on the night she was going to take me to our favorite Wine Room for my birthday, what does she have to do but go ahead and go into LABOR!!!!!! (I would like to think she just didn't have a present for me, so she had beautiful baby Isabella for me instead!) On May 29th, Shannah went into labor and May 30th, the world welcomed it's newest member, Isabella Faith Winn. She's beautiful! (There's evidence of this in my MySpace and Facebook albums) She was tiny but pretty well behaved every time I visited. Shannah, on the other hand, was SO drugged up the first time I came by (About four hours after delivery) she kept nodding off! Rude! (hehe, just kidding) So now I have a baby version of my best friend. And I couldn't be happier!!!

~ ~ ~

June... coming soon....

The great update, continued... - September 17, 2008

2008-09-17T07:10:00.001-07:00

The great update continues....

~ ~ ~
March (My work in "China" and Chicago):

So randomly, I have a friend I went to college with named Andy, and a little known fact about Andy is that his dad is the contractor for the acrobats that perform in the China Pavilion at Epcot. Well, recently we had regained contact after a few years of being apart, and he found out I was performing at Disney right next to where he was working with his father's acrobatic troupe. He was working on the troupe, trying to get them to be a little more balletic in their movements, so he hired me to teach them dance classes every week, as well as choreograph a new hoop act for one of the girls. Mae Wong, the hoop girl, was so incredibly talented, and we had SO much fun working together, despite a VAST language barrier. (Andy served as our interpreter)

So, armed with the music he chose, and little to no experience with hoops, I set to work, and we created a gorgeous hoop act! (When I get the video, I'll post it) Not to be immodest, but she performs it so well and is so beautiful, I can't help but be proud! I had SO much fun teaching the little acrobat boys as well. They didn't understand a word of what I was saying, but would follow anything I did loyally. At one point, during a break, I saw a boy, just messing around, do a turning leap that I never taught him, just for the joy of the movement! It was so cute!

I also flew up to Chicago to shoot a wedding with Cheryl. Since January, my photography business has really picked up, and while I was in Chicago I worked on my website with my friend and webmaster, Corey. I also got some business cards designed, so I'm feeling pretty official now! (Although my website STILL isn't up, as of June... *sigh*)

~ ~ ~

April (The Audition Month, and my first Magazine Shoot!):

The month started and ended with auditions... the first one was the most comical (and difficult) audition of my life! First, was a cruise ship audition for dancers who would like to be trained as aerialists. It sounded like the perfect audition for me! (Although I wasn't sure that I was interested in going on another cruise ship...)

So we show up and are instructed to put on heels. To begin, also, there were only 9 people there, so it should have gone quickly, or so I thought. They had us do, one by one, some turns and kicks and some really easy steps... if you weren't in heels. But since we were, they were really difficult. (For example, next time you're in your character heels, try to penche and let me know how far you get) Then, we did the usual two combinations, then there was a cut, which left four of us behind. Then we did some improvisation, the same two dance combinations again, but this time, they wanted us to pick one of the judges out and make eye contact with them the whole time. (What??) Then... we SANG.

Now, NOWHERE on the audition flyer did they mention singing. No no, just dancing. So not only do they spring the singing part on us, they knew we hadn't prepared anything, so they gave us a song to sing. What song, you ask? None other than the STAR SPANGLED BANNER- one of the hardest songs to sing, even for a trained singer.

So, we struggle though it. One girl wasn't even from the US, so she sang her national Australian anthem. (She could have made it up, for all we know...) By this time, a few hours after we arrived, we figured this was it. No no, there was more. The head person had us come out and stand in the middle of the dance floor and NOT MOVE. "Don't move.... don't you move..." he kept saying.... nerve wracking... Then, he asked each of us about our aerial experience, then said..... "Ok, get down and give me 25 pushups."

WHAT?!?!??!

I guess this is normal for aerialist auditions, but I didn't expect it in the LEAST. And little did I know that, under the right circumstances, I too could do 25 push ups, followed by V-Ups (really hard full-body crunches), a handstand, a back bend, and different stretches in various positions to test our flexibility all at one audition. I couldn't believe I even survived.

And on top of all that.... I ended up getting the job. (Hilarious) They ended up calling me a month later and offering me a position on a brand new cruise ship out of Europe! But I had to turn it down for a couple very important reasons... (reasons to be revealed later....)

The next auditions were in Chicago for three dance companies, Luna Negra, Melissa Thodos, and River North. They were all great, and were challenging and fun, but I came to a very important and life-changing realization that weekend. I realized that all my life I had wanted to be in a dance company, but now that I had been immersed in the world of commercial dance for so long at Disney that I was truly happy where I was and what field I was in. I loved that artistic field of dance companies as well, but my heart and talent was more comfortable now in the commercial realm. This was a really hard realization to make, but at the same time a really satisfying one. I realized that I was completely fulfilled and happy where I was at Disney, and while I still need to push myself to the next level of dance, where ever that may be, a dance company was not my end-all-be-all as I always thought it would be. (Sooner then I ever would have imagined, the next 'level' of my career was upon me.... but that also will be revealed... later...)

(Oh, also, while in Chicago, I shot a dance company for my sister called the Leopold Group to be published with their article in Dance Spirit Magazine! It was in the August edition, and it was a couple pages featuring pictures by me and my sister!!!)

~ ~ ~

Alright kids, stay tuned.... we're ALMOST caught up.... sort of. We gotta get through the summer and we'll be done!!

A blog a year in the making.... (AKA a year late...) -September 1, 2008

2008-09-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finally here. My Mid-Twenties.

And I must say.... lots has changed.

I'm now around 5"6, blonde, and blue eyed!

Ok, not THAT much... but a few things.... let's see, the last time I blogged... I had just gotten back from Puerto Rico?!?! Wow, that was a while ago. Let's see... this will take a few entries I think.... (Since someone recently said to me that they think my blogging is funny because when I do get the time to update everyone, it takes up the entire Live Journal Friends page!!! How rude of me....) hehe

~ ~ ~

October-December (That Scary Season of Joy!) :

Thanksgiving and Christmas were wonderful, as usual. During Halloween I did Halloween Horror Nights again, and scared people half-to-death, which has turned out to be one of my favorite things to do during that season. (Is that bad? Oh well.) I also performed in Disney's Halloween Show (Although, to my dismay, it didn't involve scaring people.... shocked, I know) called "Villains Mix and Mingle." We had the MOST fun and got to perform with all the scary Disney Villains on the Castle stage, so that was awesome!

~ ~ ~

January (Viva Las Vegas!) :

For New Years, I got to perform with Jimmy Buffet, Donna Summer, Little Richard, Bono, and Elvis!! (Ok, so they were impersonators, but still! They were awesome!!!) It was a really fun gig in North Carolina where we were back-up dancers for all of these impersonators. They were absolutely amazing- Little Richard later transformed into BONO!!!!!! (Just try wrapping your imagination around THAT one!)

I also flew out to Vegas and LA to audition for Cirque du Soliel and a Broadway show with a really good friend, Janelle. We had SO much fun, and I even won $100! (Well, not of my own money... ok, here's the story... we met this group of guys who were older and married, so we felt ok talking to them. They were really nice, so when one of them invited me to watch him play blackjack, I did. At first, he was losing, but when I joined him at the table, he started winning- and BIG! He figured I was his lucky charm, so he asked me to play, but I didn't have any money, so he let me play, with HIS chips!! At first, I lost a lot... but then, we started winning. And winning. And winning!!!

Eventually, everyone at the table was convinced I was lucky, and the typical Vegas stand-by "Old-Lady-In-Leopard-Print" lady was next to me, declaring in a loud voice how lucky I was and how she wanted to sit next to me! It was HILARIOUS!!!!
Finally, my nerve left me, and I said goodnight, but before I could leave, he offered me the winnings- ALL of it. It was somewhere between $300-$500!!! I couldn't take his money like that (and how would I explain the windfall to Levi???) So I tried to beg off, but he kept insisting, so finally I compromised and left with $100. Not bad for not putting a penny down, huh?

~ ~ ~

February (A Soggy Romance):

Oh February, the month of love... Valentine's Day was Levi's turn this year (I planned our anniversary later this year) so I let him plan the whole day... and he did a great job! He instructed me to get in the car and didn't tell me where we were going. I LOVE surprises like this, but when he passed all the Orlando exits, I kinda got nervous. I had kinda figured that he would just take to me to the parks or something, but when we whizzed past Universal, Sea World and Disney, I was thoroughly confused. An hour later, I finally had figured it out- He was taking me to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa!

It was SO beautiful, a great facility, with lots of fun animals like penguins, sharks, and otters! We finished the day at a really cute Steakhouse outside a mall we found. (I had to find a mall for some jeans, I wasn't prepared for the night chill!) The next day, when I got back to work, I told all my friends about my super 'romantic' day, and they all laughed, declaring that he must really love me.... taking me to an aquarium and all! (I'm such a nerd! That an aquarium is romantic to me... hehe! But it was!!!)

~ ~ ~

Ok, that's enough reminiscing for the moment, I'll keep updating you until you've reached present day! (It's like a time machine! haha...)

Stay tuned....

Levi's Big Birthday Extravaganza Slideshow!

2007-11-14T18:56:00.001-08:00

Levi's Big Birthday Extravaganza Blog! - November 14, 2007

2007-11-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

(For more pictures of all the fun, please go to:

http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/Seena150/Levis%20Big%20Birthday%20Extravaganza/

Enjoy!)

Levi has had an interesting 25 years on earth. But for this quarter-of-a-century birthday, we didn't do anything huge.

So this year, for his 26th, I decided to throw him the birthday of a quarter century. I planned a three day extravaganza consisting of a tour of the Kennedy Space Center, including lunch with an Astronaut and a NASA Up-Close tour, followed by a dinner at a really nice resturant. Then the next day, another birthday dinner with friends, followed by a surprise bowling party! Then, (the piece de resistance) later in the month, we would go see the Shuttle Discovery Launch live!

So first, we spent the day of his birthday at the Kennedy Space Center, where we had lunch with a real-life (albeit retired) astronaut! We got to hear him speak about his experiences flying in space, then ask him questions of our own. Levi asked "What is the biggest problem with the space shuttle and space flight today?" and he replied that the lack of funding and public and political support. We even stayed after to speak with him personally and he said he had spent some vacation time in Saipan! (The tiny island in the Pacific where Levi's family live!)

We toured the facility and saw got to see, among other fascinating nerdy things, like the crawler and mobile launch pad, the Shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. We got to see everything pretty close up too... after all, it WAS the NASA Up-Close tour... The Apollo Center was full of amazing historical information, and including a real Saturn rocket, which was larger than life! After the Space Center, we went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame which actually had a walk of fame featuring all sorts of famous Astronauts and simulators, like one that simulated the earliest orbiters, which Levi sat in. (Please see the pictures to experience all the fun...)

That night, we went to a really nice stake house, Salt Island Chop House. The service was the slowest on the planet, but in a way it was nice, becuase we got to spend some quality time together. (And quality time with our dirty plates too, since they took forever to clear the table...) The coolest part of the dinner, though, was the FREE steak he got just for it being his birthday! So his Mom did all the work, and he gets a free steak... hmmmm... birthdays never really made sense to me like that. Oh well.

The next night, we went to Spice, a really nice steak house (sensing a pattern here?) on Park Ave, a really nice are around Winter Park. Then, as nonchalantly as possible, we said we all wanted to go bowling. He didn't suspect a thing, even when we walked in and saw the first of the surprise party guests! (He just thought it was a coincidence or something! haha) Eventually, when all of his friends ended up there, he caught on... and we bowled the night away!

A few weeks later, as promised, we went to see the Space Shuttle Discovery launch. And not only did we get to see the launch, but we got a fully coordinated tour (all over again...) of the Kennedy Space Center, AND THEN we got to see the launch from the CLOSEST point that the public can view from.... six miles away. But it was plently close enough. Apparently, shortly after a launch, a dangerous cloud of gas forms around the launch area of hydrochloric acid and floats around, so no one can really get that close. Oh, that, and the million degrees of heat I'm sure that those rockets give off when they're firing. The launch was absolutly overwhelming and beautiful. All you could think about watching it was all the history of the space program, how far we've come, and how far we are going to go in the future.

So all in all, Levi's 26th birthday went off without a hitch!

Now, I'm not really sure how I'm going to top this next year.... *sigh...*

A Q&D Update and the Great Puerto Rico Blog! - November 6, 2007

2007-11-06T05:21:00.000-08:00

So... it's been a while. (As one of my dearest friends, Kristen pointed out... June, to be exact...)

And lots has happened that you've missed.

Here's the quick and dirty update.
(What does that even mean??)

-July: I opened Lion King in June and had my family and Levi come. It was absolutely amazing! I love every moment of that show. The aerial work is where I really feel free. I'm trying my hardest to be there as much as I can right now.
I started working my other free days at Sea World in the Elmo show to cover for the full time girl who left go dance in Germany. (I was a dancing pirate, not a cute red monster) I finished out the summer working a solid 6 to 7 days a week every week. Exhausting, but fun.

-August: Spent half of the month in Chicago at the River North Intensive and the other half closing the Sea World show. Both were exhausting, but rewarding endevours. Chicago was beautiful, spending that much time with my sister was awesome, and dancing every day at River North was amazing, to say the least. Broke my body to bits, but was worth every strained muscle.

-September: At the end of August we had our Disney contract negotiations and I found out I had a job at Disney for another year, so that was awesome... and I also found out that in October I would be performing in the Villans Mix and Mingle, the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party's show at the Magic Kingdom! Rehearsals were in September and the performances started soon after. (Disney believes in starting holidays SUPER early. It's only November 5th and I think Christmas shows start next week!)
My best friend Kristyne and I also went to Puerto Rico for a few days, but more on that later.

-October: Spend most of the month at Disney, performing day shows as a cute Dream Along with Mickey dancer, and performing night shows as a scary Villans dancer! Fun, but confusing...
Villans was SO much fun to perform though. The cast (made up of the Queen of Hearts, The Queen from Snow White, Cruella DeVil, Frolo from Hunchback, Jafar, Captain Hook, and Malificent) were just amazing performers and great people, and my fellow Villans Dancers were so, so, SO much fun every night! It was a great experience.
And I would have had a great time closing the show, but I was struck with a severe bacterial infection on Halloween day! It was so bad, I was out of work for four days! I had a 102 temperature and was just feeling the worst I've felt in years. Literally.

-Now: All healed from my week of sickness, I'm feeling productive again and getting things done, like posting this blog from Kristyne and my vacation to Puerto Rico! I'll warn you, it's long. But it's super interesting, and (dare I say it) even funny at times.
So, without further adeu, I give you....

Puerto Rico 2007!

Sunday, September 16, 2007
We departed the sunny shores of Orlando for the sunnier shores of Puerto Rico early in the morning. Too early for a real breakfast, (unless you count Krispy Kreme… hey! We were on vacation!), too early for real traffic (no security line, yes!) and too early for the grumpy stewardesses (or should I say stewards?) that harassed us the entire flight. (Although is there any good time of day for a snotty stewardess? Or steward? Whatever)

At any rate, we were having a nice beginning to our vacation until it was rudely interrupted by two male stewards, who were pushy about everything. The final straw was when we were landing, Kristyne was holding a napkin to throw away. Walking by for a final inspection, full of more self-glorified power than a parking meter maid, snipped at her "Don't even think about putting that trash in the pocket in front of you, ok?" Apparently, the ESP installed on stewardesses (stewards, whatever) is severely lacking; she was holding on to the napkin to throw it away later. So there.
But nothing, not even snotty stewardesses (or whatever they call themselves) could stop us from having an awesome vacation.
We landed in San Juan and were promptly picked up by our amazing and gracious host, Manny, and his brother Hector. Manny worked with me at Sea World and Disney, and conveniently for Kristyne and I, grew up in Puerto Rico. His parents would be our cordial hosts for the week, allowing us to bunk up (literally) on Manny and Hector's bunk beds of youth.

The first thing we did after landing was go straight to Old San Juan, probably the most famous part of Puerto Rico. It's the oldest civilized part of the island, so I understand, and it was absolutely gorgeous! It was almost like old European streets, cobble-stoned and tightly spaced, yet splashed with vibrant hues of cyan and pink, like Miami on a sunny South Beach day. It was so full of character; some balconies spilled over red blooms and yellow flowers, and chatter floated out of small touristy stores crammed with Puerto Rican flags, hats, shirts, bottle openers, and anything else that could fit the flag could be printed on.

br>
Downtown Old San Juan

We walked around, absorbing our first glimpses of Puerto Rico for a little, including a beautiful vista of the whole island before stopping in a cute local seafood restaurant for some lunch. We got to know Hector a little more, even though a small language barrier. (He didn't speak English, and we didn't speak Spanish, so Manny was our unofficial translator, as he was during the rest of the trip!) Hector had a new two-week-old baby boy at home, whom we met later in the trip, and who I'll always remember as the smallest little baby I've ever seen.
After our delicious lunch, where I tried (and fell in love with) plantains for the first time, we toured around Old San Juan a little longer, making a pass by Manny's old art school, and ending up at the large imposing fortress at the end of the island. In fact the fort had been surrounding us during our entire visit to Old San Juan, we just didn't see it! The walls made up the perimeter of the old city, and blended in with the cobblestones and character perfectly.

Old San Juan Fort

The fort was incredibly interesting, and was actually undefeated until the Americans came to claim the island in 18-something or other. (Please see Wikipedia for all factual data…) One of the actual original cannon balls from the Spanish/American encounter was still lodged in the wall in the basement of the fort! After feeling sufficiently educated, we made our way back to Hector's car (which he generously donated to us all week!) and were walking across the lawn of the fort when Kristyne noticed a few swarms of what appeared to be gnats. This wasn't anything strange, until she walked through one. Then it was funny, and gross. Until we realized that it wasn't just a little isolated swarm of gnats. No. This had to be the largest congregation of the small flying insects this side of the Amazon. Perhaps it was a regional breeding ground for them. Maybe there was a gnat conference going on that weekend. Or maybe we have the funniest –slash- worst luck in the world to find all of these gnats buzzing around our faces all the way across the 5 acre lawn. It's really hard to say. At any rate, we ran, screaming, to our car, and locked ourselves in.
We drove to Manny's parents house in the small town of Corozal and met his mom and step dad. We settled in and planned out the rest of the week online, thanks to Google Puerto Rico! (So amusing to me for some odd reason) We decided we were going to hit all the important spots around the island in a whirlwind 4 day tour.

While we settled in, his mom made the most incredible dinner of marinated salmon, rice, and salad. We ate in their beautiful outside patio/dining room where they entertained people, complete with outside bar, grille and TV! It was a super unique dining room, to say the least.

A Yummy, Homemade Puerto Rican Dinner

After dinner, we decided to venture out to see some authentic Puerto Rican nightlife. We drove back into San Juan and found the most popular place in town: Shannan's. An Irish bar. Oh yes. Very authentic. Apparently, this multi-level bar was the most popular place to go, so we parked, took a taxi van to the club itself, and…. Danced? No. Watched the Yankees/Red Sox game. Again. Authenticity through the roof. Apparently most of Puerto Rico are huge Yankees fans due to the amount of players from the island. Go figure. But it was a fun night anyway, despite the ironies. And the strange shuttle service to and from the club…

An "Authentic" Night Out

Monday, September 17, 2007
The next morning we woke up to a breakfast of Lucky Charms (blast from the past!) and a quick car ride to pick up another one of our friends who happened to be on the island at the same time, Tomas! I worked with Tomas at Sea World as well, and he was visiting his family at the same time we were there. He also lived right by our first stop on our itinerary, El Yunque, the rainforest of Puerto Rico!

El Yunque Rainforest Waterfall

We made our way up the mountain through windy roads that rival the twists of any San Francisco road any day. We found our first waterfall of the day right off the side of the road, and climbed down into it for a closer look at the icy water.

Then we went on a little hike down the mountain a little ways, with Tomas leading the way. He grew up going to these particular falls all his life, so he was quick and sure-footed down the slippery stone steps. So quick, in fact, we would lose track of him for a moment, and he would use the opportunity to jump out of a nearby bush and scare us all. (I kept thinking, "You know, this is how scary movies start… unsuspecting young adults venturing into the woods, jumping out to scare each other like it's a game… until the monster turns their fun game into a frightening one… coming to theaters this summer…")

The long (and somewhat edgy) hike to the waterfall was worth it though; the waterfall itself was beautiful! It also had formed a great pool at the bottom for swimming, which we quickly took advantage of. We even climbed up into the waterfall al little ways, bribing a fellow tourist to take our picture in exchange for helping his wife into our spot for her picture.

We stayed and played and relaxed at the waterfall, and we left all too soon. By the time we climbed the ump-teen stairs that we had practically slipped down just that morning, we decided that we were professional stair climbers, since we were amazing at it there, and we also had a billion stairs to climb at Disney too. At the top, we were exhausted, but not as exhausted as another guy we found sleeping in a car close to ours.

Next on our itinerary was a beach day, so we found the closest beach, but found it closed due to some kind of pollution concerns. This didn't stop many locals from swimming anyway, but we decided to steer clear of the water. Behind the beach was a small restaurant featuring lots of traditional Puerto Rican food. Apparently, according to Manny, traditional Puerto Rican foods are greasy, fried, and then fried again. This little stand featured all kinds of this 'traditional' food, including my new-found love, shrimp tacos. Basically, it's fried dough wrapped around spiced shrimp, and it was absolutely delicious. (So good, in fact, we had to go back the next time we passed the stand to get some more!)

The beach that the little restaurant was found was interesting in so many ways. There was a few Tarzan slot machines plonked right in the middle of the seating area, playing obnoxious (yet apparently enticing) music to every passer-by. A few yards away from the seating area was another little building, with sounds of cheering from a TV and shouting from the real people inside. We eventually figured out that it was a small racing hut, for lack of a better word, and locals (mostly old men) were watching the latest horse race. (And apparently it was a close one!)
Also a few yards away was a small white tent with a pick up truck backed up underneath it, with buckets and coolers popping out of the tailgate. We walked up, curious, and found fresh oysters and clams for sale. On the table in front of the truck was salt, lemons, and every kind of hot sauce they could find in the local market, apparently. Curious, and hungry for more "traditional," yet not fried, local food, I plopped down and ordered a few of each item on the limited menu. After a few oysters reaffirmed my memories of strange textures and not so appealing tastes, I tried the clams… and fell in love. I didn't really know raw clams were eatable, much less delectable, so I ordered some more and doused them with a little of everything on the table. It was delicious!

Clams, Clams, Clams! (Yum!)

We went back home, exhausted, and Kristyne and I found out that we have something in common with not only one another, but every 1 to 5 year old in the world- car rides instantly induce sleepiness. After a nice car ride/nap, we ate a second helping of the incredible salmon dinner and watched movies (King Kong, I believe it was) on the outside patio all night.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The next morning was our earliest morning of the entire trip, and would end up being the longest as well. We were planning on going to a beach called Culebra, a beautiful beach that was located on another small island near the main island of Puerto Rico. To catch the earliest ferry, we had to leave somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 am, and drive for about 2 to 3 hours to the ferry. We had planned on picking Tomas up to join us, but when we got to his house, he wasn't ready to go, and if we had waited we would have missed the ferry, so we had to run. We felt awful, and Tomas wasn't to happy with us, but he understood.

We made it to the ferry in time to learn that the ferry port's internet site did NOT update their ferry times, and that we missed the ferry to Culebra for the day. But, all was not lost, because another beach-filled island had a ferry leaving a few minutes after we arrived. (Or so we were told) So we decided to redirect to that island, even though it meant that I missed my one diving opportunity. (It turned out ok, I saved $100, and we still got to snorkel!)
We waited, and waited, and waited for this other ferry, which promptly filled up before we could get on, so we had to wait for the second ferry. It was now somewhere around 10 am, and we had been traveling for 4 hours or so… but we were still optimistic that we would be at a beach by 12.

We finally boarded the second ferry and waited another half an hour for it to leave. Then, finding the underside smelly and confined, we spent the rest of the trip (1-2 hours) topside, enjoying the sun and sea breeze. Finally, when we arrived at the port on the island, we found no taxis lined up, waiting for us. It was 12 and we felt no closer to a beach than this morning.

While trying to wrangle a taxi ride, we met some fellow stranded tourists from Washington DC. After chatting, we found that we had pretty much the same itineraries for the rest of our trip. We shared a taxi to the beach with them, and ate in the same little beach café, albeit at separate tables. We would later see them at the Arecibo Observatory too! After a quick lunch, Manny and Kristyne rented snorkel gear and we hit the beach, snorkeling under a dilapidated dock, and found a plethora of sea life for me to point out (and then subsequently geek out about) to them.

A Green Moray Eel

We had a great time at the beach, but didn't get out without some injury… Manny's snorkel was a little tight, and ended up leaving a mark on his nose for the entire next day!

We shared another taxi back to the port with the DC tourists. At the port, we had a super healthy dinner from a vending and waited for our slow ferry home. I made the mistake of feeding one of the stray dogs at the pier. He accidentally fell in love with me he followed me around for a while. I decided that if he was my dog, I would have no choice but to name him "Shadow."

Finally our ferry pulled up, and instead of the people/car ferry that went 1 mile per hour that we rode on the way there, we found ourselves with what we thought was a gorgeous sunset cruise-liner (comparatively…) for the way back.

We stayed out on the back deck the entire ride and watched the sun put on a spectacular lightshow for us all the way back to the mainland.

Our Sunset Cruise

When we got back, we didn't have much time until our next scheduled activity, a night-time kayak through a lagoon in Fajardo called Grande Lagoon (or Laguna Grande) inhabited by bioluminescent dinoflagellates! But first, we stopped at a restaurant with lots of character in the town of Fajardo, where our tour would begin. The grille was outside, and there seemed to be little to no other kitchen to speak of. The only covered area was taken up by a pool table, and the other tables were stone patio tables with benches covered by patio umbrellas. The floor was wooden boardwalk or stone patio pavers. The server was a typical hippie-like young American girl, who you would pin to run away and live on a small Caribbean island just for the heck of it. The food was amazing, and we ate it at light speed to make our tour on time. We raced to the park to find large groups suiting up in life vests and awkwardly armed with long yellow paddles. I was disappointed about these large groups until I discovered that the one we chose only had one other family in it!

We were told that we could fit three to a kayak, but it turned out that we could only fit two, so Manny had to paddle alone, leaving Kristyne and I to try it together. I had never kayaked before, so I was a little apprehensive, and they put me in the front, letting the slightly more experienced Kristyne steer. Throughout the trip, though, we discovered that we were both amazingly natural at kayaking, and decided that we were definitely Olympic Team material! We made our way through a marina surrounded by yachts and sailboats and into a narrow natural mangrove canal with ease! At some parts it was so dark you could barely see three feet in front of you, and it was all you could do to focus on the blinking red light of the kayak in front of you to navigate.

Kristyne Truzzolino, Part I of the Olympic Kayak Team

As we approached the lagoon itself, we noticed some strange things in the water. It was so subtle, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, or that it was just a reflection from the moon, but the paddles of the kayak in front of me began to make little trails of color as they hit the water. Soon, we realized that we were rapidly approaching the lagoon, which contained these tiny, glowing animals. They feed on the blue-green algae abundant in the enclosed salt-water lagoons, and glow when they're disturbed for unknown reasons. Every time we touched the water, whether it was with our hands, paddles, or just the bow wake from the front of the kayak, a blue line of color would appear. When you dipped your had into the water and took it out again, it looked like a thousand little blue fire flies were crawling down your hand. It was simply surreal, almost like watching a real-life animation. (I tried several times to capture all of this on my waterproof camera, but all that came out, unfortunately, was pure blackness.) Once we reached the lagoon itself, the guide did something that he said isn't' really allowed or condoned: he let us jump into the pitch-black water ourselves to experience the glow all over our bodies!

Selena Moshell, Part II of the Olympic Kayak Team

It was a little intimidating, I'll admit, to jump into water that dark after seeing darts of fish lighting up the water a few feet below us and hearing (and seeing!) the glowing splashes of fish jumping by the mangrove bank. But he pointed out that this was a once in a lifetime chance, so I had to take it. Slipping into the water quietly was a main point, as to not attract attention from the other tour groups around the lagoon. Once in the water, you felt like a real-life Tinkerbelle, with every motion of your arms and legs glowing in the water around you. At first, Kristyne was absolutely against getting in the dark water, but after I was in the water for a few minutes, she relented. We all agreed to make the water glow around where her entry point would be, so she wouldn't be so scared. And in her attempt at stealth, splashed and flopped into the water like a fish on land. It was hilarious. But at least she got it. (Albeit hyperventilating almost the whole time…) No, she was a trooper, and after a few moments of glowing, we all got back into our kayaks and reluctantly paddled back to reality.

The Kayak Group Leader (And Olympic Team)

After the tour, we collected our dry things and made our way back to the car, but not before the guide asked Manny which of us were his girlfriend! He laughed, saying neither, and that we were both happily attached back in the states. (This was hilarious to Kristyne and I! I guess we flattered the guide too much while enjoying his informative tour… whoops!)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
On our last morning in our Puerto Rican paradise, we got to "sleep in" (if you can call 8:30 sleeping in… but after our 7 hour commute to the beach starting at 6 am, 8:30 was late!) and were treated to a "servi-carro" breakfast at Burger King. (Or Burguer King… that's Spanish for burger! And Servi-Carro is Spanish for drive through! Yeah, we were pretty much fluent by the end of the trip. We figured out that any word can be translated into Spanish by putting an "-o" at the end. Television-o. Car-o. House-o. See? Haha)

Arecibo Observatory, Magnet for Geeky Tourists like Myself…

We munched on our French Toast sticks as we drove to Arecibo Observatory, the worlds largest radio satellite (or something like that… we kept calling it all sorts of different things throughout the trip and after!) It was a special trip for us for a couple of different reasons. My dad was fascinated with radio satellites when he was a kid, so much so in fact, that he built one when he was younger! (Albeit a smaller one that Arecibo…) He originally wanted to go to school for astronomy and dreamed of studying the Universe and beyond for intelligent life using the very same technology they are still using at Arecibo today. (Which shows how dated that technology can be… but still valuable nonetheless...) It was also special for Kristyne for a completely different reason. Her boyfriend, Rob, is obsessed with the television show the X-Files. (Good man… if anyone knows me well…) This very satellite was featured in an episode (third or fourth season, I can't be sure) so it was a big deal for her to visit. I believe her exact words in quoting him were "You'd BETTER go!"

So "go" we did. Driving up the mountain to the natural Karst formation (read: sinkhole) that created the perfect dish shape for the satellite, we would catch occasional glimpses of the soaring towers that supported the massive dish, which would draw gasps of "Wow!" and "It's so big!" from all of us together. When we arrived, the sheer overwhelming scale of the satellite was, well, overwhelming! As we drove up, I stopped at the "Space ATM" for some Earthly currency, and we took the usual touristy pictures at the signs. One sign, though was particularly disconcerting for me and my fellow techno-phile Kristyne. Apparently, all electronic mobile communication devices (nerd-speak for cell phones and Sidekicks) were banned due to their interference with the research being conducted! So, for a brief and scary moment, we had to turn off our electronics. Also, there were the most random signs, one about a Pina Colada stand ahead (which was empty, to Kristyne's dismay) and others about not running, not to make loud noises, and reminders to drink 7up. (Apparently a big scientific sponsor…)

Earth Money from a Space ATM

Kristyne gets Cut Off from Society

The Pina Colada Let Down

7Up's Space Sponsorship

7Up Reminds us not to run or make loud noises...

In visitors center and movie we learned lots of very educational things, such as how the satellite worked, the scientific advances that have been achieved through the Arecibo research, and what movies have been filmed there. (Contact and 007, Goldeneye. No mention of the X-Files, disappointingly…) We learned lots of other interesting educational things, (Aren't your proud Dad?) and finally got to walk out to the viewing area to peer over the imposing bowl. It was huge. Huge doesn't even begin to describe the size. Pretty much one of the largest, if not the largest man-made structures I think I've ever seen. And that's only the bowl. The towers hum hundreds of feet over your head and are strung with support cables coming from everywhere, or so it seemed. It was imposing, and inspiring. And reminiscent of sci-fi movies everywhere.

The Arecibo Radio Satellite

We reluctantly left arguably the nerdiest (and surprisingly fun) portion of our trip to more traditional tourist fare: natural cave formations. As we drove, we saw huge storm clouds accumulating all around us, but miraculously, it wasn't over us. Happy about this fact, I mocked the clouds and the lack of rain, happy that we would have a dry visit to the caves. But I spoke too soon. Not 15 minutes after I mocked the racing rain clouds, they were upon us, soaking everything with torrential rain. Including the caves. We arrived at the security gate to see the owner of the caves closing the gate up, who explained to Manny that the caves flood during the rain and therefore, they were closing up for the day. He braved the rain though, to give us a pamphlet, which I assumed, outlined the beautiful caves that we would be missing out on. Instead, it was a menu to the restaurant at the caves, which would still be open, rain or shine.
Disappointed, and cursing at myself for bringing the rain upon us with my taunting, we made our way home to pack for our flight later that night. We didn't leave Puerto Rico, however, without one last venture into their native foods. Manny took us to his favorite local restaurant, which featured in the foyer yet another, smaller, horse-race betting venue, equipped with a small TV blaring rapid-fire Spanish play-by-plays of the races and a small, glass enclosed bookie station. We went to the back of the restaurant to escape the noise and found a small, unlit room with a non-operational stone fountain and a smattering of dining room chairs. After a little bit of searching, Manny found a switch. (The server didn't even know where it was!) We got our menus, which Manny had to translate for us one last time, and listened to the rain outside while we waited for our food. I ordered a mufongo, which was the Puerto Rican equivalent to a Shepard's pie, with camarones (shrimp) instead of beef, of course. And once again, it was amazing! (People told me before I went to Puerto Rico that the food was amazing, and I took it in stride, but now, looking back, I can honestly say that everyone was right, and then some! I feel like I just ate and ate good food the whole time!)
Finally, after saying goodbye and many thanks to Manny's family, he took us to the San Juan airport for our flight home. We found the airport eerily empty, for some reason, and found this hilarious, coming from the bustling airports of America and being used to bumping into someone at every turn. Our flight home was uneventful, and thankfully, not populated by stuffy stewardesses that took pleasure in yelling at us, but we did have to keep a little baby in front of us entertained so that he wouldn't cry! He would look back in between the seats and smile at us, and we figured that as long as he was smiling, he wouldn't cry!
All in all, it was an amazing trip. The island of Puerto Rico is absolutely beautiful, contains tons of delicious food, and is home to some of the most welcoming people I've ever met. It was the perfect vacation, and we saw so many interesting (an educational!) sites! We got to relax on beaches, climb waterfalls, learn about astronomy (I know you're proud Dad!) and become fluent in Spanish-o! (That's Spanish, for Spanish!) It was exactly the vacation Kristyne and I needed, and was absolutely amazing in every way.

Welcome Back Moshell - May 6, 2007

2007-05-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Wow.

It's been a while, huh?

You know once you don't do something for a while, and you kinda feel guilty about it, so you put it off more and more, and then you realize it's been five months since you've updated your blog?

Ok, well maybe yours is less specific... but you know what I mean.

~ ~ ~

Welcome to the beginning of my 24th year of life.

I turn 24 on the 26th. But I'm telling everyone I'm 24 now. That way, when I turn 25, I won't be so shocked and go through that typical "Oh Gosh, I'm 25 and freaking out" stage. Instead, I'll think "Hmm, it's about time. I've been 24 for 15 months now..."

~ ~ ~

Ok, so let's just get into it.

January: Started out the year with the best of intentions. Natch.

(Seriously, pausing to pull out my planner and see what the heck I was doing back then...)

Apparently, I was still at Disney, Tatame, and my million-and-one other jobs. (Oh, and I had a family garage sale. Woot)

~ ~ ~

February: I had a few auditions.

And landed them.

Double woot.

Now, I was working at Sea World and Disney. (And seasonally, Universal)

Quickly moving up to conquer all of the theme parks in the world... apparently.

Oh and, we had a baby.

Haha, just kidding. Sort of...

A baby..... bunny!

Named Dover Guinness.

The cutest rabbit ever. (Pictures to come)

~ ~ ~

March: Flew up to Chicago to audition for a few companies and was asked to come back for River North's summer intensive. It was the first company Cheryl danced with and essentially one of my dream companies. SO excited. Going back in August. There's a perfomance at the end, a la "Center State" where important people come to watch... blogging that one to bits, to be sure...

Oh, and I cut my hair off.

Oh, and I worked for 41 days straight through.

(Opening the Sea World show)

Whew. March was hard.

~ ~ ~

April: Finally got back into a slightly normal schedule.

Shot lots of headshots. Business is picking up for sure.

Pearl diving at Sea World too. Busy busy busy....

~ ~ ~

May: (Now) Got offered another job. If I take it, it would take the job count up to 8.

We'll see if that's even humanly possible.

~ ~ ~

Tons more random things have transpired. Too many to play catch-up-blog.

But more are to come I'm sure.

(Both random events and blogs)

Oh, and the most pivitol event of 2007 so far has been my aquisition of a SideKick.

Yes, I'm now "One of Those People." Whoever they are...

(I'm not really sure what that means, it's just what everyone says to me when they find out I have one...)

A Christmas Story - December 24, 2006

2006-12-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!
(Or, Happy Hanukkah, everyone!)
(Or, Happy Kwanzaa, everyone!)
(Or, Happy Festivus, George Costanza's Dad!)

Anyway, since the obligatory Holiday greetings are over, here's a LONG overdue blog.

Or, as Kristen would put it:
"ahem.. update please :)"

As stated in the last blog, life is still crazy... and while I thought I was getting hold of it, Life was just winding up for another gale of insanity.
Disney kept me hopping with 3 full days a week of fun and work, while Tatame kept me up with 3 full nights a week of fun and photography. Meanwhile, Capones and babysitting kept popping up to keep my schedule as irregular as possible.
My photography even picked up pace and I did 3 or 4 photo shoots in the last 2 months!

Whew. Just typing that wore me out.

At any rate, my blogging fell to the wayside... sadly...

But now it's the Holidays, that time of year when you promise yourself that you'll do ridiculous things for the next twelve months, even though you sort of know you're magically off the hook in February when the next Holiday rears it's pink, heart-shaped head and you're scrambling to buy the biggest box of chocolates to keep you company that you swore off of only two months before....

(Or maybe that was just me two years ago...)

Anyway, one of my resolutions is to blog at least once a week.
(Or month.)
We'll see how that goes...

Christmas and the Holidays has inevitably added to my schedule, and everything kind of slid away from me. (Oh, and everyone on my list can expect their Christmas cards in early 2007...)

None the less, all through me missing Levi dearly (but happy that he's with his family for the first time in years), through my lack of Christmas cards and of one full day off, and through all the holiday hustle and bustle, I love Christmas and that beautiful Christmas Spirit, and so I have a Present, in the form of a heart-warming Holiday story, just for you.

(You. The one reader I have left after my impromptu blogging sabbatical....) =)

* * *

My Dance Captain Erik was watching our Dream Along with Mickey show at the Magic Kingdom where I dance and taking notes one day when a woman next to him tapped him on the shoulder.

"Aren't you in this show?" She inquired. He replied in the affirmative, and she explained that she and her daughter had watched the show yesterday.

Her daughter was a young paraplegic girl in a wheelchair who could not move any part of her body. She could not walk, talk, smile, or even laugh, and could only use one finger that could control her wheelchair and type on a keypad.

The mother was happy to meet a member of the cast and explained how much her daughter had enjoyed the show yesterday. She told Erik about how her daughter had typed excitedly on her keypad all though dinner the night before about how wonderful the show was, how much she liked the different aspects of the show, and how she wanted to see it again today.

But the most beautiful part about the story, and what really made me instantly appreciative of all of my amazing job, my health, and all of my blessings, was what the daughter actually wrote about the show itself.

She had typed out that since she had seen our show she knew what it felt like to smile for the first time.

* * *

The joy of brightening a child's heart creates the magic of Christmas.
--W. C. Jones

* * *

Happy Holidays Everyone.

May your every day in 2007 be beautiful, blessed, and bright.

Love and Peace to you and yours,
Selena

Levi's Day at Disney

2006-11-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still going crazy, but it's becoming a little more manageable.

Or maybe I'm just getting used to it.

Halloween at Tatame was a blast, naturally.
(photos here: www.maggielee.com/~selena/halloween)

But hosting Levi at Disney was the unequivocal highlight of the past few weeks.

Levi, so you know, has NEVER BEEN TO DISNEY IN HIS LIFE.

Now, this, for an Orlando native who has frequented the parks her whole life, like myself, is hard to comprehend.

Ok, his childhood made it a little challenging to get down here. I mean, he IS from Maine, after all. His family had a large barrel, as I understand, that was the Disney-fund, of sorts, and when it got full of the family's spare change, they would all go together. But apparently they would always dip into it for movies and such, and alas, never made it down here.

But, now that he's lived here for for 3+ years, how has he never made it to Disney? How has he avoided this unavoidable fate for so long? I'm not sure. Perhaps uncaring friends in the past who didn't take the time to take him, or no one thought it was that important...

well it is. Or, well, was.

We had the best day ever.

We started with him watching me in my first three morning shows. I had gotten the afternoon off, but I wanted him to see me dance in the morning. And get this, he actually loved the show! (Not that surprising, everyone I talk to seems to absolutely love it... but boys generally don't like watching dance as much as I like performing. Leave it to Levi to prove me wrong...)

After lunch, we went out to explore the park, and when he was asked what rides he wanted to ride, he had no idea what to say. That's right, folks. He is SO unfamiliar with the parks he didn't know what rides to ride.

So cute.

So, to give him a brief history and background of the parks, I took him on all the 'boring' rides.

(And the lines were shorter...)

We visited the Carousel of Progress, Spaceship Earth, and Innovations, the educational and traditionally yawn-inspiring rides...

And he actually enjoyed them! (Well, I guess I did too...)

See, he's never seen anamatronics like the ones at Disney, he's never been on such intricate rides, he's never been in such an immersing theme park. So nothing was 'old news' to him, like it was for all of us Orlando natives. Everything was fun and new.

And of course, he really enjoyed Space Mountain, Mission: Space, and the Haunted Mansion quite a bit...

We ended the day perfectly with a quick run-around Epcot's Food and Wine festival, since we were exhausted from our big day in the park.

The food was AMAZING, especially the escargot, much to Levi's disgust and dismay.

Yum.

All in all, it was such a perfect day, I don't know how we'll ever top it.

And the lesson for all you kiddies is: if you ever have the chance to host someone who's never been to Disney, do it. It is so great to see Walt Disney World anew in someone else's fresh eyes.

It'll make you fall in love with Disney all over again.

Talk about a long week.... - October 23, 2006

2006-10-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have a good excuse for my lack of blogging.

I really do.

I'm going crazy.

Ok, we all already knew that, but really, it's finally happening.

I've been working for the past 11 days. Straight.

Insane, right?

No.

It's called poor.

haha.

But my student loan is shrinking as my insanity grows, if that's any consolation.

(You're right, it's not)

It's made me a bad friend (please excuse my lack of calls) and a bad blogger.

And for that.... *sob* I'm sorry.

(And over dramatic, as usual....)

~ ~ ~

Speaking of being over dramatic, Levi is in Iceland.

Therefore, another reason my life is at an absolute standstill.

*whimper*

Yes, he's been gone for about five days now and I have no idea what to do with my minuscule amount of free time.

You see, when he's in town, I spend every free moment with him, naturally.

Now that's he's been gone, I've been seeing a lot more of my kitty, Ocean. (Who is really appreciating Levi's absence for that reason, I'm sure.)

*sigh*

Somebody send me a day off.....

Now appearing at the Magic Kingdom... ME!

2006-10-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

Ok.

It's official.

I have the BEST job on the planet.

My opening day on Thursday was AMAZING!!!!!!

I love my cast.
I love my stage.
I love my crew.
I love my costume.
I love my wig... on certain days.
And I LOVE Dreaming Along with Mickey. (Otherwise known as my show.)

Ok, cheesy enough for ya? Well get ready for some more.

We were all really nervous and excited for our first day. Amazingly, I got through the first shows without much incident.

(Different story for the other days though... goodness. We have to learn two tracks in the show that have two sets of different blocking and patterns to follow on stage. It's like a big choreographed train wreck for me sometimes...)

But nothing could stop me that first day. I swear I must have glowed on that stage, I was so happy. So many thoughts ran through my head.

I thought about my sister dancing on the same stage so many years ago. (I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate my disclosure of how many exactly...)

I thought about the big-wig execs and bosses that came to our shows. (and got even more nervous...)

I thought about the cast members throughout the park that would swing by on their breaks to watch us.

And I thought about the guests. A lot.

It's really an amazing feeling to run out on that stage and dance to a sea of smiling faces. It's such an amazing place, Disney. A place where people come to be completely happy and escape all reality. Watching us up there, I swear none of them are thinking about bills or rush hour or anything. There is no way they would be smiling that big if they just thought about how much they just spent on that park hopper ticket or that ice cream in their hand melting on its stick. No way.

And as predicted, I cried the first day. Well, almost.

It really hit me when, during our first day, I was looking down into the audience to ask them what their dreams were, and I saw this little Asian girl standing alone, looking shy.

(Why is the Asian part important? Well, it's not. But Levi and I talked about why the entertainment industry casts the way they do, and how someday, some little girl might look on stage and identify with me, and say "Hey! She looks like me!" and really feel like she could do what I do up there someday.)

At any rate, this cute little girl was a few feet away from her parents and not smiling. Then, I looked down at her and asked if she wanted to be a princess.
Her face lit up like the sun.
I felt like I had never seen such a sweet and genuine smile in the world.

It was so amazing that something so small as that would make me tear up. But it did. I, and our show, affected her in a positive way. Made her believe in something bigger than herself. That she could do anything. Be anything.

Or, BUY anything, for $29.99 and up in our stores....

But seriously, it's so great to see how much people love our show. On Saturday there was the boy who came to every single show. And a couple of shows the day before too. He came so much that by the end of the day, he was doing choreography with us. (And spurring yet another tear in my eye... so cute!)

Hey, the dance world always needs more boys...

~ ~ ~

At any rate, the bottom line is, I love what I do, I love where I do it, and I love who I do it with.

Hmmm... I think that came out wrong....

Almost Showtime... - October 4, 2006

2006-10-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well, in less than 10 hours I start my career on stage as an official "Disney Cast Member."

And I can't wait.

~ ~ ~

Oh, and ps-by-the-way, I think I got approved, 'cause I'm on the schedule for tomorrow, so thanks for all of your good thoughts and wishes. I'm so excited about it all!

~ ~ ~

This morning we had rehearsal at 5 am at the Kingdom and there were bunches of people there for the first "Dream" that was coming true. One family won an online drawing to be the first VIP family in the park for our year long campaign, and as part of the presentation, they hid something like 2,000-6,000 employees on Main Street and had them all jump out at once. (Can anyone say heart attack?)

Anyway, I met a really nice guy on the bus to the Kingdom who was from MGM. (Well, everyone is nice at Disney, for the most part. I heard from another dancer at rehearsal that there was some woman on her bus saying a VERY cheery "Well, Good MORNING!" to everyone on the bus. Yikes.)

Anywho, he was really sweet and very excited when he found out I was a dancer in the new Castle Show. We talked for a little bit about how his daughter loved the princesses in the shows and such, and when we got to the Tunnel he got kinda quiet.

"Do you mind if I tell you something?" He asked shyly.

Of course, I didn't.

"You know how that guy went into the school house last week and shot those girls, and all those terrible things that are happening all around the world right now? Well, seeing dancers really makes me feel like there's hope the for humanity. Like what you're doing up there is really what the human spirit is all about. It's really great, what you do."

Or something to that effect.

Whatever he said, it definately made me tear up.

(Either that, or the fact that it was 4:30 am and I had only had about an hour of sleep...)

At any rate, tomorrow I'll be on that stage, in the sweltering heat, dancing my little butt off...

and having the time of my life.

Surviving overnights, and Approval Night Looms - September 28, 2006

2006-09-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

So, I've been surviving. And it's not so so bad.

I should be sponsored by AMP by Mt. Dew by now though. It, and sour Skittles, are the only thing keeping me up all night.

Rehearsals are 11-8 am right now. After hibernating all day, I've been dancing all night long.

(I never thought I would mean that literally....)

But it's fun. We get giddy, we explore the dark park, we tried to sneak over to other rehearsals during our lunch break (from 3-4 am, and try eating pasta at that time.... ech.), and we take funny pictures of each other (like my new profile picture).

But mostly, we just try to stay awake.

~ ~ ~

Well, this is it.

Tonight I find out whether I'm truly worthy of the Castle stage.

After a month of grueling rehearsals, two never-ending overnights, and 20+ hours of driving to and from Disney, I find out tonight if I'm really going into the show.

Yes, I did make it past the auditions to be here, and no, I haven't been getting page after page of notes after each run (Even though Kevin and I know we deserve it... haha. After every run, Robbie says "Ok, Cast out for notes please," but Kevin and I hear "Ok, Kevin and Selena, we'll be emailing you a PDF of your multiple pages of notes...") but I'm still somehow nervous about tonight.

It's essentially "big-wig" preview night. All the big bosses are coming to see the show in it's entirety, with wigs, costumes, heads and feet, for the first time.

Tonight it's a big red or green light for everyone.

Wish us luck.

(And pixie dust!)

"Fearless," and hibernation... - September 25, 2006

2006-09-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am, still awake at 3:30, trying to prepare my body for the potential hellaciousness (spell check?) that will be overnights.

I'm combining two techniques to accomplish my 9 hour overnight rehearsal at the Magic Kingdom. One, I'm staying up as long as my body will let me tonight and two, I'm taking a sleeping pill when I get tired. I'm going to try to sleep until about 4 pm tomorrow. (So if you're planning on calling me... don't.)

Then, I have to go to Capones for work at 6 until 10, then high-tail it to the MK at 11 pm for rehearsal until 8 am.

Yikes.

I might not make it.

Catie (bless her sweet, big-sisterly soul) is bringing me 'drugs' to keep me up... those being the ones you get at 7-11 for $2 next to the register. I think it's just straight caffine. Oh, and we'll drink some Rockstars, an energy drink that should sponsor Catie, since she drinks it pretty much every day I see her at rehearsals.

And more often than not more than one.

I told Levi I felt I was going into hibernation and I had the urge to stuff leaves and fur up my bum. ('Cause I think that's what bears do when they go into hibernation, but I could be wrong, since Levi cracked up and said he can't imagine a bear going around the forest shoving large amounts of foliage up his butt. And now that I think about it neither can I...

I think they eat the leaves and fur and branches and stuff... but whatever.)

But anyway, into hibernation I go...

~ ~ ~

And on a side note, if you haven't already seen Jet Li's new movie "Fearless," you should. It's amazing.

I actually didn't know how much I liked martial arts movies until this one. I realize being asian and watching them with my oldest brother and grandfather all the time growing up kind of requires me to like martial arts movies automatically, but I didn't realize I did until now.

It's just such a great movie, and Jet Li is amazing in the marital arts sense, and his acting has grown and matured signifigantly since "Unleashed," the last martial arts movie I watched and realized that I liked them. Again.

Anyway, I love the movie, which follows the true story of a Chinese man who basically fought for the country's honor in the early 20th century.

I loved it because it really showed how beautiful China is as a country and as a part of the Asian culture.
And because it really showcased the asian culture and highlighted the nobility and values of that culture.
And because it really was emotionally evocative, without involving some cheezy Hollywood romance.

And because it really made me wish I was Asian.

Wait a minute....

Dancer in the Dark... Speaking Latin....

2006-09-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

"excuse me.. blog update please :)" - Kristen

Funny, I was just thinking this fuzzy morning: "I should really update everyone... it's been a while..."

And then there was Kristen, my conscience in human form.

So here I am.

~ ~ ~

My Disney experience is still plugging along. Rehearsals are almost over, but we're about to enter the hardest part: Overnights.

:Cue Dramatic Music:

:Dun dun DUUNNNN!:

That's right. Although Disney doesn't like to put EXACT dates on when things will open, (just in case we don't) to be safe, we're scheduled for a certain day soon. And that's about all I can say, I think... (Again, still paranoid about getting fired and all... hehe)

But we still haven't danced on the stage that we'll be performing on for the next year.
Not once.

And, to be honest, there's a really good reason for that.

We just can't.

You see, right now, yes right NOW, there are tourists crawling all over Disney World, gulping in all the syrupy-sweet sights they can see at once.

And right now, we can't be one of those sights.

We can't just go out on the stage in the middle of the day and rehearse. Can you imagine? A bunch of sweaty dancers in sweatpants and ripped up shirts going though this random show a few times, marking it a few times, Goofy sitting down and eating snacks on break, Minnie laying around and stretching, Mickey lounging about in his rehearsal gear... all in front of the 'magical' castle and in front of guests?

"I paid $100 to see grubby dancers rehearse?" they would whine.

Banish the thought.

Therefore, we get to dance on that stage from 11 pm to 8 am three times next week.

That's right.

11 post meridiem to 8 ante meridiem.

Just call me a vampire.

'Cause I'll be passed out during the daylight hours all next week.

Cheese, Mouse-style...

2006-09-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official.

I'm now a full-blown Disney Cast Member of the Brand-New Castle Show. (I'm not sure that I'm allowed to leak the new name... and since I don't want to lose this Brand-New Job, I won't.)

And I'm loving it.

LOVING it.

Amazing, huh?

Didn't think I would, did ya?

Well, neither did I, to be honest.

After a lifetime of lothing Disney to a certain point, I am now finding myself swept up in all that magic and pixie dust.

Weird feeling.

We started rehearsals yesterday for the new show, opening in October. It's so cute, featuring the usual cast of characters, and an awesome, sweet cast of dancers who I already love. Everyone is really nice and funny, which is a blessing, since I'll be working with some of them for the next year.

And to add to the schmooze, I'm rehearsing in the same studio I danced in when I was 9 doing Silhouettes, a JCC community project when I was little, and I'll be dancing on the same stage my sister did over 10 years ago in front of the castle when she was a Kid of the Kingdom, which I believe is what we're referred to as well.

How great is that??

And, on top of all that, Catie, my awesome friend from Capone's, asked to be in my cast too! Then, when I walked into rehearsals, nervous as a school-girl on her first day of sixth grade, I recognized another girl from high school, and then another girl from my studio days. Then ANOTHER girl recognized ME from another dance studio!

Magic. All around.

(Cheesy enough for you yet?)

Anyway, long story short, I'm deliriously happy. I was in pain after dancing for 8 hours on concrete, then working at Tatame for another 4 hours, but still smiling...

weird feeling.

So, just to round out the update, I turned down Sea World (I'll be at the Kingdom Thursday-Saturday, so it conflicted...) and am attempting to be an Active Backup at Horror Nights. (Universal... ohhh... rivals.... hehe)

But I still have four jobs right now.

Woo.

Life as a starving artist.

Just a glamorous as it sounds......

haha.

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

What it feels like to fall off the face of the earth- August 28, 2006

2006-08-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am.

Questions of "Where have you been?" and "What have you been up to?" will attempt to be answered.

If there's anyone still left to read this...

~ ~ ~

So, I'm home.

Home now for something like three weeks or so.

The shock of coming home didn't sink in for the first 24 hours. It all felt surreal, really. When we first drove away from the ship to the airport, I was ok. Nathan and I requested early departure, for some odd reason. My reasoning must have followed that old band-aid adage- the quicker it happens the less it will hurt.

But after a few hours at the airport, a nagging feeling of "I really should be getting back to the ship now" crept quietly over me.

After a few more hours, on the plane home, a nagging feeling of "Where is everyone I know?" slipped over me.
I tried to sleep to pass the time.
And pass that lonely feeling.

When I landed, a horde of butterflied converged in my stomach. Why I was so nervous to see the one person I had been missing and daydreaming the most about in six months will never be fully explained to me, but seeing Levi again after so long was like meeting him all over again in so many ways.

Driving home felt like watching tv. In fact, the first week felt entirely surreal. Seeing my parents, outside of their tiny picture frame they used to inhabit on my desk in my cabin on board, was overwhelming. Seeing my unchanged room felt like walking into a museum for someone who had departed, dearly. Holding my cat and feeling her warmth left me feeling completely detached. I felt like I was controlling my body from afar for about a week.

The new arrangement of the city didn't help the feeling. Driving around town, reaquanting myself with the city I had spend my entire life in, I found new buildings cropping up in unexpected places. Later, when I tried to find my way, I found that the interstate had mysterously lost onramps and sprouted new exits. Who new a city could change so much in a few short months?

The most unsettling feeling of that first week back was the lack of those oh-so familiar faces. My roomate, my cast, my friends in the cruise division, even those random crew members who I didn't know so well but said hi to anyway... especially those too-friendly security guys. Every time I left my house I half expected to see them at the gangway... Every time I walked around in public, I expected to see people from the ship like we would in port... Every time I walked into my room I half expected my roomate to be there, or at least Nathan, sitting on the floor with his laptop... but it was all to no avail.

I really miss my cast and shows. The first Thursday back, especially. I felt like an amputee must feel after losing a limb. I felt a phantom show going on somewhere in my body, with refrians of "Rock on Broadway" lingering somewhere in my muscles.

~ ~ ~

The strangeness has faded somewhat.
Everything feels comfortable again.
But it's still hard to look at the pictures. And I'm not sure why.

The shock of leaving everything I've known so intimately for six months, especially my cast, was, and is still I guess, something to recon with.

And my lack of reliable internet hasn't helped either...

Excuses not withstanding, here I am.

To conclude, and fully update, I got a job the first day I got back. I walked into my friend Maggie's sake lounge to ask about my photo show later this year and she promptly offered me a job doing "PR" work... which basically encompassed walking around the lounge and making sure everyone was having a good time.

Easy. And Fun.

And I get to hang out with her, and my friends, and get paid for it.
Fantastic.

I'm back at Capone's as well, dancing while tourists chew with their mouths open in amazement.
It's not as glamorous as it sounds...

I'm also babysitting, in my tradition of having 18 jobs at once.
And writing for a couple magazines. (Or trying to, at least.)

I went to four auditions and landed them all, amazingly.

And last Friday, every theme park in Orlando (except, noteably, the Holy Land) called and offered me a job in their park.

These included:
1) Role: Jellyfish Show: Spooktacular Theme Park: Sea World
2) Role: Zombie Show: Halloween Horror Nights Theme Park: Universal
3) Role: Animated Character Show: Streemosphere Theme Park: Universal
4) Role: Substitute dancer Show: New Castle Show Theme Park: Disney

Then, a few hours later, Disney called back.
With a new offer.

4.2) Role: Part-time dancer Show: New Castle Show Theme Park: Disney

(Oh, and Royal Caribbean offered me the Vision in March to Alaska for four months... so we'll see about all that...)

So, I'm sort of employed. I start at Disney next week.

wee.

But I miss the ship, I won't lie. I miss my friends the most.
My cramped room and bad food never had much of a draw.
(Although Katie and I did make the room super cute, especially with her curtain...)

~ ~ ~

Part of me still can't believe it's over.

A bigger part of me kind of feels like it never happened.

You could easily convince me the entire ship experience was merely a long, drawn out dream.

Tick tock.... - July 28, 2006

2006-07-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

The final countdown is on....

I'm only on board for a little over 24 more hours...

and I haven't even began to pack!

~ ~ ~

I can't believe I'm leaving. It really hit me hardest today, walking away from Cozumel for the last time. I had just had one of my favorite port days in Cozumel ever with my new (best!) friend from Del Sol, Brian. I was all happy about my day snorkling with him and Anglea when I looked back and realized this was the last time I would walk the gangway from a port. The last time I would hear the engines whirr to life below me. The last time I would be off the ship until I began my journey home...

I can't believe it's over.

There's no way to summerize my experience, no way to quanitfy what I've been through. I might make a feeble attempt to do so later when I'm at home, but now, I just need to feel what it's like to leave. Leave this ship, leave my friends, leave these experiences and move on.

I need to soak in these last moments and enjoy them to the fullest.

Reflection will come later.

Ahhh, the irony... - July 25, 2006

2006-07-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well,

we're quickly coming to the end of this odyssey.

Only 99 more hours left until we all go home.

And after spending the last 6 months with some of the most amazing friends I've ever had...

I get to go home to an empty house.

(well, I must admit, my kitty is there... but still)

(Hmmmm... this is not unlike the ending to my month-long backpacking trip around Europe two years ago... I got a cab home to an empty house, since my parents were out of town. Turns out I didn't pack my keys, so I had locked myself out, and climbed into my top window of my two story house via a HUGE ladder. Hilarious. Even funnier when my Dad called and told me a hurricane was coming, and to bring all of the 60 potted plants in the courtyard into the house.
I thought he was joking.
Little did I know that
A) he was not, and
B) it was the first of FOUR hurricanes that year...

but anyway....)

Levi's working, and my parents are going to be out of town. As if this wasn't bad enough...

they asked me to drive the truck they leave at the airport home for them to save them money.

*sigh*, the irony.

Everyone here in my cast thinks it's hilarous.

They also think everyone at home is planning some big surprise for me.

I told them it really wasn't their style.

Mostly, everyone thinks it's funny.
And I must admit.... I kinda do too.

(Right, the idea of me lugging my HUGE bags full of my life for the past four months through an airport, into a car parking lot down the street from the airport, into the truck, then driving myself home to an empty house, and then lugging them upstairs is a real laugh riot.)

The Big Update, Part 2 - July 23, 2006

2006-07-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Great Engine Tour of 2006! - May 30, 2006

When I signed on to the ship, my little adventurous and maniacal brain thought “I want to go everywhere on this ship. I want to go to the very highest point. I want to go to the very lowest point. I want to go to the farthest point front and back of the ship. I want to go everywhere that ‘normal’ people just never get to go.”

These extreme and random thoughts are actually normal for a girl who, when she was 9 and in Rome on top of a very high and ancient Roman Aqueduct. HAD to go to the VERY edge of the 110 ft lip of the roof… just to do it… much to the distress of her mother and father, who still protest at the idea of her skydiving, which she will be doing when she gets back to Orlando with her older brother…

… anyway, these random thoughts of going to extremes on the ship were quite normal for her.
(Her being me….)

At any rate, early on in the contract I made friends with Christian, a very nice French-Canadian engineer officer cadet who was roommates with m good friend Ryan for a few weeks. During that time, I managed to get him to promise Catherine, the very nice French-Canadian singer in my cast, and myself to an exclusive engine room tour.

Now the engine room is no place for tourists. In my mind’s eye, it was a place with spinning turbines, pumping engines, and whirring motors. And it turns out I wasn’t too far off!

We began our tour in the parts department, where Catherine found the world’s largest wrench...

and we encountered our first engineer, who was astounded to see girls in the smelly, dirty engine department. (Engineers are easily amused by the mere appearance of women, we quickly found out) You should have seen the scene we caused on the engineer bridge, like the captains bridge that steers the ship, except there are no windows and lots of attention-starved engineers in coveralls instead…

Christian took us throughout the length of the ship’s bowels, showing us more engines, pumps, turbines, and tanks than you could shake your fist at. (Although I’m not sure why you would want to do that in the first place…)

And, I did manage to get to the highest and lowest point on the ship. Christian actually took us from below deck 1 (and below sea level!) to the highest deck, deck 10, by way of LADDERS.

That’s right. Ladders. (Who uses those anymore anyway, right????)

(And we complain when we have to take the stairs 3 decks! Not anymore, let me tell you what! After climbing 20+ ladders, I felt like quite the trooper!)

I laid down on the lowest deck and pressed my ear to the floor to hear the ocean rush by, and then when we reached the top, actually climbed up INTO the smokestack, which bears the famous Royal Caribbean insignia! (And for the record it was smelly… but worth it.)

The most amazing and disorienting part was when we would pop out random doors and be back in our familiar crew areas. It was like finding an entire new world within a world you were already familiar with. It was like opening your closet and walking down into the core of the earth, seeing the geothermic inner workings of your planet, then opening another door and finding your linen closet. Yeah, kind of like that.

At the end of the tour, we popped out into the laundry, which we had never been in anyway, so we were still amused. We saw HUGE dryers and washers, and a few oven looking-things that had the funniest signage I’ve ever seen. For example, if you climbed into this one ominous oven-looking contraption, they had devised the perfect sign to let you know where you would end up….

All in all, the tour was amazing, and we enjoyed it immensely.

We actually found out later that we really weren’t allowed anywhere he had taken us that day… he actually could have gotten in lots of trouble for what he did… liability and all that…

So turns out I did get to go where others rarely get to go after all!

Broken...

2006-07-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

Why don't my side links work on blogspot anymore??

It's ok.
I'm going home in 196 hours....

The Big Update, Part 1- July 19, 2006

2006-07-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

The Big Update, Part 1.... - July 19, 2006

Ok, so I promised you a big update, so here it is, starting from three weeks ago....

And sorry about the lack of pictures. They're on the way...

~ ~ ~

Well, the week of June 26th started off with a bang when I planned an excursion to River Tubing in Jamaica! It was really fun (and cold!) 10 people came along! (My excursions are becoming notorious...)

We met our driver, Mickey and English ex-pat, and he drove us around the island a bit before bringing us to the mouth of the river, where we recieved our innertubes. (Basically big black rubber things with plastic strapped to the bottom so you don't fall out!)

The river was swift and cold, so we had an exhillirating and quick ride. Every time it turned and twisted we would scream and hoot and holler like we were going to run aground (and a few times we did!) It was hilarious.

Halfway though the ride, randomly, in the middle of the jungle, the river got shallow, and there was a Jamaican standing there with a really nice digital Nikon camera, taking our picture! We got out of our tubes and on the bank was a bar and a line of flat-screen computers with our pictures for sale! In the middle of the jungle! Again, hilarious.

There was a 20 ft. cliff for us to jump off of (we always find those in Jamaica!) and we took turns on the rope swing. Some people were alternating between that and the little bar that ONLY had Red Stripe beer. (figures...)

Then we hauled our tubes back in the water, next to a Jamaican woman washing her clothes (Who we later found out usually washes ALL of her clothes at once... even the ones she's wearing!) and her adoreable children (who I played with for 20 minutes because we all know I can't resist children!) and we were on our way.

Afterwards, we ate in this awesome all-you-can-eat resturant with a waterfall in it called the Ruins, which was owned by a Jamaican-Chinese guy. (Figures...) hehe.
He was really cool though, and told me how his family, and most Asians in the Caribbean ,came to live there for generations because their great-great grandparents came over to work on the Panama Canal! (Then moved to other islands, obviously, since the canal's not in Jamaica...)

~ ~ ~
Then, on Friday in Cozumel, we went Jeeping with Xavier, Matt, Angie, Judy, and Katie. Xavier and Matt drove the jeeps, and since they're typical boys, they wanted to off road, so the first dirt road X found, we were on it, bouncing out of our seats. It was nauseatingly hilarious.

We toured all over the island, played in some BIG waves, and found a resturant called Coconuts on top of a bluff overlooking a beautiful view. Cozumel is a pretty desolate island, if you go to the center, because it's all a nature preserve, which I especially appreciated...

But the weather reminded us that it IS an island.... it started to POUR at one point and we stopped to rush and put the tops up on the Jeep... only to have the rain abruptly stop once we had secured all the canvas flaps....
~ ~ ~

Well, now that I've written a small novel and feel that you're well on your way to being fully updated... I'll go.... for now.....

The fastest way to a mutiny on board, or "Mutiny on the Rhapsody" - July 15, 2006

2006-07-15T15:10:00.001-07:00

Ok, want to know how to overthow a cruse ship?

Here's a step by step:
-And if any RCCL officers (or terriorists, or that matter) are reading this, I'M JOKING.-

But kinda not.

Anywho, step one:
Take out the crew satellite. The one that supplies the crew, who are stuck on board for MONTHS at a time, with outside lines to phone and internet. You can do this simply by sneezing in it's general direction, having a butterfly land on it, or by having a cloud whisk by at a slightly brisk pace.

Step two: Don't tell anyone for a day or two.

Step three: Post a sad little sign outside the crew internet cafe that reads
"Internet broken."
"Try again later."
(And this is the kicker, don't forget this part.)
"Sorry for the inconvienence"

(Then snicker at your lack of sympathy, because in reality, you're not sorry. You are planning a munity, after all.)

Step four: Watch the mutiny begin on it's own, probably led by the entertainment division, which contatins singers and dancers who do little else than sit on the internet for hours at a time.

Voila! Instant mutiny.

Or, rather, what's been happening for the last week on board.

Levi thought I was dead.

(And interestingly enough, my family barely noticed... hehe)

It's been a rough few days on board, to say the least.

~ ~ ~

But on Sunday, expect a blogging extravaganza of some sort. Tomorrow, a boring ol' sea day, with NO internet or phones to speak of, of course... I'll be working on my 'Adventure' blogs. I've had a few adventures that I didn't want to post without pictures, so I'm pulling all that together for you,
the few,
the faithful.

And as a teaser, I'll let you know that I almost DIED this week.

(And no, it's wasn't from a disgruntled, internet-less dancer attacking me with spikes from the shoulder-pads of her "Tommy" costume...)

Finally! I'm blogging! - July 9, 2006

2006-07-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been a while.

Sorry...

Goodness, so much has happened, what to update you on first!

Well, the new pictures and slideshow tell a lot of the story... but I have some specific blogs that I will be posting later this week, like my awesome Engine Tour (I went to the LOWEST point of the ship AND the HIGHEST!) my 23rd Birthday in Cozumel, Diving, Key West, my next ship, swimming with dolphins, Dunn River Falls, Swimming with Stingrays, River Tubing.... and Levi's visit in Key West!

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin...

Well, I'll tell you this much- my life is about a TRILLION times better with my NEW laptop! That's right folks, I've finally gotten my 12" Powerbook. And she's perfect. And cute. And smart. And cute. And fast. And cute. (Did I mention cute?) I sold my 14" ibook about a month and a half ago and had been lost without a laptop for 30 whole days! (I know, can you believe it?) So I just got this one two weeks ago and my whole life changed.

So now it's back on track. Working on my photography (I made two new composites!) and writing away... next week I'll have some more pre-prepared blogs for you....

(Like people actually are interested.... haha.)

Anyway, I guess today I'll write about July 4th, by far the best day of my contract so far. Why is that, you ask? Well, Levi came to visit! It's been about two and a half months since I've seen him, which is far too long, so I had a litany of surprises lined up for him.

When we pulled into the port, I had me and 8 other friends make posters saying "Selena Loves Levi," and we all ran up to Deck 5 (Promenade Deck) and waved them for him when we pulled in.

He was surprised.

Then, we watched the sunset (a Key West must!) and had a romantic, dimly-lit dinner at a cute little Italian place. We were sad when he left, but I must say I was proud of myself for not folding into a little ball of tears.

My last surprise was a note or present for EVERY day from that day until the day I come home, which is only like 22 days away now! So he has 22 little presents to open until then!

So now he'll be surprised 22 more times before I get home!

~ ~ ~

Oh! And earlier this week we went to Hell. That's right. Devil, brimstone, Hell. Well, Hell, Grand Caymen, that is. Katie, Judy, Kristen, Catherine and her friend and I went on a tour of Grand Caymen and we went to Hell, which is basically a cute little road side attraction complete with quirky locals dressing up in costumes! It's really just a rock formation that oddly resembles volcanic rock, even though we're no where near a fault line or geothermic activity, and a little hut full of souvineirs and a man who dresses up like the Devil every day for tourists. My favorite kind of place!

Then we went to the Turtle Farm, where they raise sea turtles for either research, release, or food, we're not entirely sure.... It was fun, though, I got to hold a sea turtle! (See slideshow...)

~ ~ ~

Well, we've got a lot to update you all on, so expect some more back-dated blogs this week!

My Slideshow!

2006-07-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

Slacker.... - July 2, 2006

2006-07-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...

it's been forever and a day...

but don't fret! I haven't lost the blogging-bug!

(Just the spending-money-I-don't-really-have bug!)

You see, since we're in the middle of the ocean, connecting to the internet is a little tricky, to say the least.

Therefore they charge us an arm and a leg to get online. (jerks...)

And therefore, I put off blogging until I get to free internet on Sunday.

But this week I was busy... talking to Levi!!!! (See? How much more worthy of a cause do you need?)

Because he's coming to SEE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that's right- He's driving 8 LONG hours from Orlando to Key West to see me for 8 short hours, then spending the night alone in Key West before driving another long 8 hours back home....

now THAT's Love!!!

So needless to say, I'm breathless with excitement and preparations.

I'm getting him a tour of the ship, not to mention planning our night in Key West, and making all sorts of fun surprises for him to take home with him! (To be revealed later... see? That's how I keep you coming back. Cliffhangers. hehe)

Blue Hole - June 19, 2006

2006-06-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well, Joesph informs me it's been a week since my last blog, so here goes.

~ ~ ~

Not much to report, actually. We went to the Blue Hole last week in Jamaica, which was fun and interesting to say the least.

Blue Hole is a local hang out, not well known to tourists at all. In fact, I'm not sure how we even found out about it. (Monster Matt from Youth Staff was our original tip-off) It's so secret, some taxi drivers won't even take tourists there. So all in all, considering the Jamaican gurellas and machete-welding robbers waiting in the treetops, Blue Hole wasn't such a safe idea to begin with.

So we all naturally jumped at the chance to go.

I put it up on my Excursions board outside my room, since I'm now known as the Excursions girl for the cast, and ten, count them, TEN people waited outside my door that morning. We all piled into a bribed taxi van together and headed into the jungle.

The bus drive was interesting, since they drive on the "wrong" side of the road to us Americans, (Who have arbitrarily decided that whatever WE do is right, and everyone else is backwards....) It was also crazy becuase our driver would whip around corners like no one was coming the opposite way, even though he didn't know that for a fact...

Then we turned in the jungle and onto dirt roads. Gareth was having little fits in the back from nervousness, and it didn't help when random Jamaicans started to chase the bus, knowning we were going to Blue Hole and wanting to make a quick buck being our 'tour guides.' Our bus driver actually let one of them on the bus for a ride and I thought Gareth was going to pass out.

Xavier and Jerry, two musicians, and my best friend Anglea went two weeks before and loved it, so they were our unofficial guides for the day. (And thank goodness we were there, because the bus driver missed the entrance to the secret location! And he was a local!)

We arrived to a glorious scene: A perfectly crystal blue hole of water with waterfalls tumbling into it from all sides, jungle trees and vines creeping in from all sides framing the perfect picture. Above one of the waterfalls were two rope swings, and we all took turns flipping and falling off the waterfall, whooping and hollering all over the place. (Generally being the idiots we are...)

Then, our guides decided to take most of us up to the "BIG" waterfalls... but I really like the idea of leaving all of our stuff alone in the Jamaican jungle, so Angela and I stayed behind, with Ryan staying as our 'muscle' too. (Anglea and I are intimidating, to be sure, but a six-foot Newfie bridge officer is good backup for us anyway....)

We layed out in the running water and sun for a little, girl-talking while Ryan slept (He works a terrible 4 am- 8 am shift), then Angela and I waded upstream a bit and found a fun whirlpool-ride that would sweep us around a bend of rocks at an alarming speed.

Danger + Speed = Fun, apparently.

When the group came back, they had a fresh batch of scars to show us from the "BIG" waterfalls. Everyone jumped off a thirty foot waterfall, but Mike was the only one to jump off the 75 ft. fall.

So all in all, a great day.

(Right, a great day... great idea for pretty much the ENTIRE revue cast to go jumping off waterfalls the day before a show....

Rock on Broadway was the next night!

Hilarious....)

~ ~ ~

Maybe I should change the name on my board to Selena's Super DANGEROUS Excursions... (Ltd, of course)

A demand granted... - June 11, 2006

2006-06-11T00:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it's offical. I love blogging. I love that people like my blogging. I love you people.... but here's a true fan....

"I'm obsessed with reading your blog. You write well. It's also a lifestyle I would never lead (seeing as I'm a guy, never been on a cruise, and dance like Elaine Benes from 'Seinfeld').

Thanks,
Joseph"

Hi Joseph. This one's for you.

~ ~ ~

Cozumel. A hot day in Mexico.

To set the scene, Ryan, Katie (new Girl 2 singer and roomie) and I are walking down the sweltering streets of Cozumel. Katie suggests a cute resturant down the street from the pier. So off we go.

Or so we think...

We walk for a while, and since Cozumel is devastated from the hurricanes of last year (or Hummer-canes, as Gilligan would say) there is construction going on everywhere.

And what comes with construction but construction workers?

And their cat calls....

(It's like they've never seen a woman before?!?!)

So we hear it all.

"Hey bonita chica!"
"Hey pretty girls!"
"What are you doing toniiiight?"
"Hey beautiful!"

Ryan is getting more and more upset... every guy who calls gets an eyeful from our six-foot friend and officer on the bridge, Ryan.

But Katie and I blissfully ignore the Construction-Worker-Cavemen calling us. We immerse ourselves in some useful girl talk of our boyfriend (by me) and boys who would like to be boyfriends (by her).

Then, cars and scooters get into the game.

-Honk Honk-0
"Hey American girls!"
-Honk Honk-
"Hey pretty!"
-Honk Honk-

Ryan by now is FUMING. He's ready to punch out every other Mexican construction worker who stops working to check us out and every driver slowing down to honk at us...

...when....

-Honk Honk-

- BAM!!!!!!!!!!!! -

A scooter, honking at us, rams in to the back of a van.

The two guys on the scooter are not in good shape. One crawls across the sidewalk in front of us grabbing his knee....

Katie and I are confused and try to help this poor guy out, until Ryan points out to us that it was US that caused this hideous scene.

"US???" I ask, incredulously.....

"Yeah!" Ryan replies. And adds to the driver of the scooter "Next time, keep your eyes on the road, eh?"

Turns out, these poor gents were honking at us, and rammed into a bus...

And that's the day I learned I could stop traffic.

~ ~ ~
Fin.

(For Joseph.... and everyone else....)

One down, two to go... - June 2, 2006

2006-06-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

I've done it.

Well, part of it, at least.

The whole point of this job was to save money, right? (Well that, dance, dive, and have fun... but whatever)

Well, because of my injury (and my lack of will power to say "no" to any shore excursion that anyone thinks of...) I haven't saved much money.

BUT- I did do one great thing.

I paid off one of my three credit cards.

WOO HOO!

Ok, so it was the $300 one, and I still have two others with slightly bigger balances, but you gotta celebrate something, right?

Well, to celebrate, I'm getting a new laptop.

haha, yes. You read right.

I sold mine. (It was possessed by the devil or some evil spirit that liked to crash it anyway. I sold it for a really nice price to a guy on board) And now I'm getting a cute new 12 inch Apple Powerbook in two weeks.

How's THAT for a celebration? (I celebrate saving by spending.... hmmm)

A major costume malfunction, an expensive present, and the best-est birthday ever! - May 28, 2006

2006-05-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

Presenting.......... a three-fold post.

~ ~ ~
A major costume malfunction...
~ ~ ~
I just got put into the Billy Joel number "Only the Good Die Young," a fast and furious dance with us in sparkly tops and huge and heavy golden skirts.

The piece is fun and technically challanging at times, so it's really enjoyable. Well, I had a little too much fun that night, apparently.

The whole piece was going well. I was hitting my turns and blocking nicely, for the second time I've done it, ever, when, near the VERY end, I do a tour (to-ur, verb: a turning jump in the air) and I circle my arms around, and clip the front button on that heavy, gold skirt. (Oh yes, did I mention that some brilliant costume designer decided to keep these skirts on with BUTTONS? Yeah. Great)

thrrrrrrip!!!!!! My skirt whirrled off of me in one fell swoop.

And ironically, my two best friend on board, Ryan and Anglea, were RIGHT in front of me to see it all.

(I'll never live THAT down...)

But they said I ran off stage gracefully, at least. I don't quite remember what I did, to be honest. I just bolted.

Matt, my partner, ran off stage after me. He found me doubled over laughing in the wings. "Aren't you gonna put it back on?" He asked, breathlessly.

No. Way.

But the show must go on, so I changed into the next section's costume (Stevie Wonder) and danced like nothing had happened.

~ ~ ~
An expensive present
~ ~ ~
I've never been one to buy myself birthday present. Daddy always does that. He buys himself that radial saw he's always wanted, wraps it, and addresses it to himself, from us.

Clever.

So, this year, I took a few pages from his book.

I found this BEAUTIFUL antique necklace at an antique store in Galveston that made my heart stop. An original, from the 30's or 40's my friend at the store said. I had to think about it for a week, but I said if it was there next Sunday, it was meant to be mine.

And what did you know? It sure was.

I didn't wear it until the 26th, though, so that was good of me...

But what I did next wasn't.

I will NOT under ANY circumstances reveal the price of this, my most expensive birthday present... but let's just say it made Levi speechless for a moment...

I finally got myself a digital underwater camera.

*silence*

Ok, here's my logic. I live ON THE OCEAN. I'm in the water EVERY WEEK. And I'll be diving FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

That being said, it's an amazing camera.

8 megapixels, complete manual control of shutter speed, apature, exposure, etc... and you can take it out of the casing (which is HUGE since it's designed to go to 120 ft!) and it's a tiny little thing when it's out.

Anyway, it's my largest semi-impulse buy (if you can count something I've wanted for 2 years now an impulse...) and I couldn't be happier.

My bank account on the other hand is hurtin' to say the least....

~ ~ ~
The best-est birthday ever (The only thing missing was all of YOU Orlando people! THEN it would have been the most perfect-est birthday ever!)
~ ~ ~
It started innocently enough. I put my birthday plans up on my now-infamous whiteboard. (I'm like the Excursions Desk for the Dancers. I plan all of our little outings now. Fun with a capital F!)

Playa Mia during the day (a beach in Cozumel) then the Windjammer for dinner (a passenger area restraunt) and then Viking Crown at night (the disco on board).

To be honest, I kinda just expected the dancers to come. I invited everyone from the Captain down to come, but you know, they all say "Yeah, we'll be there!" and then don't show up.

Well, that didn't happen.

Most everyone I invited came to one of those three events.

So. Much. Fun.

The morning was great, people jumping on me, running into my room screaming birthday wishes. Chris, my shopping guide boss, got both Judy and I (her bithday was the 23rd) bubble blowers, which we made great use of at the beach.

Playa Mia was goregous. We went snorkling, played volleyball, ate great Mexican food, and a real-live mariachi band sang Happy Birthday to me! Then, we tackled the ice berg.

Now, you wouldn't think Mexico would be famous for ice bergs, but these are legendary.

They're inflatable.

And way too much fun.

But ANYWAY, we all piled on top of this one and took hilarious pictures. I even got a ride into the beach from the rescue boat! (How I talked him into that I'll never remember... but it was funny at the time)

After the beach, we all took disco naps (what my sister calls it when you sleep before you go out. -Again, in our cases) and then dragged ourselves out of bed to the Windjammer. The WHOLE cast was there (except Franchesco, who slept... he was on the bad list for a little bit...) and we took some great pictures. Ryan even arranged for the kitchen to make me a cake! (A feat which took him most of the morning to accomplish!!) Then everyone sang to me again and we feasted on the beautiful, and delicious, cake!

Then, another quick disco nap, before the main event... the Viking Crown! This was where everyone who was working during the day ended up showing up. SO many people were there, and we had SO much fun taking hilarous pictures and dancing the night away to 80's music. Drew, our cruse director (and kinda my boss) even came and took me to the Solarium for pizza! (Usually a big no-no, but with Drew, everything's A-OK!)

Eventually, I made it back to bed for the longest disco nap ever...

And recovered for most of the next day.

Whew!

Who knew turning 23 could be so tiring?

Pictures, finally.... (Thanks Angelo!) - May 21, 2006

2006-05-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, there has been a demand for pictures, so here you go...

This is my "home" for the next few months... pretty, no?

This is my cast! We're in costume for our Finale in Piano Man. We dance to "City Rhythm," a Barry Manilo song.

This is from the first time we ate in the Windjammer, a passenger cafe. Usually we're not allowed to eat there unless we get special permission, but when we have a show while the Crew Mess (that's where we eat and yes, it is as bad as it sounds...) is closed. So Piano Man days, we get to eat there. This was back when we were all excited about that. Now, I rarely go because you have to be in uniform, wear a nametag, and look nice for food that's not that much better than the Crew Mess anyway.

These pictures go back in time a little bit. This was our first day departing from Galveston. We were all really excited and happy to be on board.

This is a composite I made of my goregous friend Gareth. We had a little mini photoshoot one day for our bios that run before each show, and Gareth and Kristen and I stayed after for our own little photoshoot. (I love photography, and all my friends here are just so beautiful, it would be a waste not to take pictures of them!

This is Kristen's composite. These are just mock-ups of what a real composite would look like. In a real composite, however, the inset pictures would be different "looks," like casual, fashion, glam, etc. This was just for fun. I showed the cast, though, and now everyone wants one!

A date with myself - May 20, 2006

2006-05-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

So, in between dancing (also known as "work." haha, riiiight) and having a generally good time, Saturdays strike.

And they stink.

Saturday is the last day of the cruise. It's a sea day, 'cause we're hauling tail from Cozumel to Galveston, and therefore there's NOTHING to do.

I kid you not.

Laundry looks FUN on a Saturday.

Nathan and I were discussing canceling all Saturdays all together... but we decided we like them when we're not on board, and it would generally mess with the entire world order as we know it (calendar companies would go under, the economy would fail, etc. etc.) so we decided against it.

But anyway, on top of such a boring day, I got some bad news last night. Levi can't come visit on Tuesday when we're in Key West. It's Judy's birthday that day, and my birthday is three days after that (the 26th), AND Levi and my one year anniversary is the day after THAT (the 27th).

And I won't get to see him.

And I don't know when I will again, since we only go to Key West every other week.

In reality, I probably won't see him until August.

*sigh*

So I was really sad, and cried a bit last night and this morning (Pride and Prejudice was on, which didn't help. Darn romantic movies...) so after languishing in bed for a bit in my own little pity party, I got up and asked myself out on a date.

I do this every once in a while. I go to a place alone and do whatever would make me happy. Once I took myself to the beach and photographed all of the jellyfish that had washed up on the shore, then treated myself to ice cream. (My dates usually involve sweets and photography... two things that make me very happy)

Anyway, I went to Deck 5 where it's open to the sea and pulled up a chair. It was a beautiful blue day and the sea was rolling by quite happily. I read my book, (Excellent book, by the way. Daddy sent it to me. It's about evolutionary psychology, which is basically evolution applied to psychology. ..... Yeah, you can say it. I'm a nerd.) wrote in my journal, and took pictures of the ship and the sapphire blue water around me.

Oh, and I treated myself to Ben and Jerry's, of course. =)

So, feeling much better, I decided to look at my situation a little differently. Instead of being super sad about Levi not coming (which I still am a little) I saw it as an opportunity to hang out with my very good ship-friends, especially Judy, the birthday girl, and have a great time in Key West with all of them, because in ten weeks, this life that I've really become accustomed to (and actually sort of love?!?!) is going to come to an end, whether I'm ready for it or not...

Dunn River Falls: DONE! - May 18, 2006

2006-05-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Oh boy.

Where do I even begin???

Well, at first, we all hated Jamaica. It's sketchy, to say the least. There's people with no legs or arms (not at the same time, of course) begging for change, there's children tugging at your sleeves for quarters, there's apparently hookers and drug dealers, but they didn't talk to me. (They bothered the boys instead... fruitless, naturally, since all my guy friends on board are gay.)

Last time we were there two weeks ago we walked around and quickly got back on board. But we heard that it's more fun if you plan an excursion, so, being the little Student Government girl that I am, I wrote on my whiteboard outside my room (now known as Selena's Excursions) that we were going, and a group of 10 congregated in our hallway later that day.

We headed to Dunn River falls, Catherine, Matt, Kelly, Franchesco, Stacey, Mike, Matt (another one!) Jerry, Xavier and I, and had a great cab driver named Wilson, a true Jamaican. Every time we asked him to take e a picture of us, he would say every stereotypical Jamaican thing in the book. "Arie, ya mon, no problem, Jamaica, Cheeseburger in Paradise!" We cracked up every time.

The falls were AMAZING! We held hands in a long chain and navigated our way up slippery rocks and cascading water, and only fell a couple of times! We got tired of staying in line with older, slower people, so we moved into the middle of the falls and goofed off most of the time, screaming "Rhapsody of the Seas!" and "Reblock of the Seas!" (The dancers loving nickname for the ship, at this point) over and over. We were that obligatory loud, fun, young crowd that everyone else in the group laughs at but secretly hates. haha.

The best part was, we got it all on DVD! They had a cameraman with our group the whole time and filmed every funny moment, from Franchesco putting his leg in a hole, to us posing for the camera, to the biggest waterfight of all time- we have it all! We all chipped in and got one to copy for everyone and watched it that night. Hilarious.

After the excitement of the falls, we went to Margaritaville, which once we were inside, made me forget I was in Jamaica and think I was in Key West! There was a school field trip (yes, school field trip... in a bar...) of 5th or 6th graders, and the DJ put on a little dancing contest for them and let me tell you- I've never seen children move like this! (And I'm not sure I ever want to again!) They were doing things adults wouldn't' do in clubs! I guess it's part of the culture here, but it was entertaining, which I guess was the point.

Then, after a lovely meal and wonderful Margarita, Mike, Catherine, and eventually Matt found the slide and the pool that was contained within Margaritaville (yes, the slide went OVER the bar!) and went down the twisty waterslide in every way possible. We felt like we were 12, but it was so fun. We went face first, head first, feet first in a train, backwards in a train, and then Mike and Matt would go first, stop somewhere in the tube, and then Catherine and I would come barreling down and slam in to them, then try to climb back up the tube, only to slip and slide back down in whatever position we ended up in, ending up in the pool in one big pile of singers and dancers at the end. Again, hilarious. (As I'm sure it was for everyone watching us too.)

So, now we like Jamaica. At least the falls and the Margaritaville part of it...

The Great Address Exchange of Ought Six - May 16, 2006

2006-05-16T17:01:00.001-07:00

So, as we all know....
I'm in the middle of the ocean.

Things get a little boring around here once in a while.

And my birthday is in 10 days.

Therefore, everyone's been asking for my address, so here it is.

Selena Moshell
2109 Post Office St. #025
Galveston, Tx. 77550

Send me random stuff and I'll send you some stuff too.

'Cause there's really not much else to do out here....

The Phillipino Mafia - May 15, 2006

2006-05-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Funny things happen to me every day.

But the rate of hilarity seems to speed up when Nathan's around.

Case in point: The Phillipino Mafia.

Phillipinos make up the majority of the crew on board. Therefore, the joke is that they run the ship.

(And the real joke is that it's not a joke at all. They really do.)

Anyway, the Phillipinos on board, like to speculate as to whether I am Chinese, Phillipino, Japanese, Thai... the list goes on and on. They like to believe I'm Phillipino somehow, and sometimes send me interesting Phillipino dishes while we're all eating dinner. (Once they sent over some shiny chicken legs... and even though I tried to explain my vegetarian tendancies, they insisted I take it. So I did. And handed them out to my friends.)

At any rate, I'm kind of a big deal around here. (Haha, just kidding. Anchorman was on TV last week. Hilarious)

So I'm kind of the mystery girl- is she Phillipino, is she Chinese, but she's American, right?

And as a result, I get stared at. A lot.

This is compounded by the fact that I'm a girl.

And this usually angers any guy I'm walking with. (And rightfully so!)

Ryan has taken to walking behind me when guys stop in the hall to watch me walk by.
Matt mutters under his breath about how he'd like to get his hands on those guys one day and.... well, you get the idea.

And Nathan, well, Nathan takes it to the next level.

"WHAT are you STARING at?" He shouted at them one night. "It's RUDE!" He laid it out for them.

I ran away embarassed, but cracking up.

Other times, he's suggested to them: "Take a PICTURE! It'll last longer!" and that I should just hand out my headshots as I walk down the I-95. (The main hallway on the ship.)

I don't think that would be the best idea.

At any rate, Nathan is hilarous when he defends me. (And he's hilarious generally all the time as well.)

I know all the staring and questioning is just in good fun. And so is Nathan. (Most of the time...)

Gossip - May 15, 2006

2006-05-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

Gossip around this place spreads like wildfire.

Except to you, I guess. Since you're not here if you're reading this with interest.

Gossip point (or GP) 1: Michelle, my roomate and Girl 2 singer, left to go home. She had personal reasons that she didn't want to share. She said she'd be back in one week.

GP 2: Our manager said tonight that she won't be back due to the fact that she didn't ask permission in the 'right way' to leave.

GP 3: I now have my own room.

GP 4: I'd rather have her back than a room of my own.

GP 4.5: We're all really sad about this turn of events, if it turns out to be true.

GP 5: On a brighter note, I bought myself a beautiful 1930's vintage necklace for my birthday. (Making it the most expensive piece I own... so far...)

GP 6: My birthday is in 11 days, Judy's is in 8, and Levi and my One Year Anniversary is in 12.

Of course, not all of these gossip points are pertinant or interesting to the rest of the ship... but they are to me, and all I've been talking about for the last few days.

So now, you're all in the loop.

Favorite quote of yesterday- "Yeaaa! This is so fun!" -May 10, 2006

2006-05-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Alright, I have a confession to make.

I've lived in Florida for 20 years. I've been to Disney, I've seen Gatorland, yes, I've done it all.

Or so I thought.

In all those years, I have never, ever....

ridden on a jetski.

*collective gasp!*

So, yesterday, a SLEW of people (led by Broadcast Bart, our video guy, and followed my Wildke, Matt, Kelly, Mike, Ryan, Angela, Shannon, and random members of Judy's family who are visiting from Michigan) went jetskiing.

And I've never had so much fun being so scared.

Throughout the entire time, Catherine and I kept saying "Yeaaa! This is so fun!" About EVERYTHING. We got to sign some papers. That was fun. We got to get lifevests. Again, fun. We got to get on our jetskii. Look at how much fun we were having. And when we took off, well, I don't need to tell you that we were freaking out.

We just kept screaming the whole time, and yelling "This is so much fun!"

Hilarious.

Ryan came late from a surprise man overboard drill (he's a deck cadet and has to do a lot of stupid things like practicing Oscar drills -man overboard- Like that ever really happens, right? haha) and had to ride with Mike, so Catherine and I felt bad for them having to ride with another boy (although I'm sure Mike didn't mind.. haha) so we switched and I rode with Ryan.

Big mistake.

Ryan is from Newfoundland and not only does he ride snowmobiles, but he owns one. (With a matching jumpsuit, naturally. hahaa) And he was hell-bent on scaring the daylights out of me. (Whatever that means) He kept doing donuts and turning really fast to splash me. But he wasn't half as bad as Mike was to Catherine.

We took off shortly after switching and we got to do some freestyling. Mike took that to heart, and whipped around so fast Catherine flew off the back! Ryan and I stopped to help, and she was bobbing in the water lamenting the loss of her new $20 sunglasses.

Truly a priceless moment.

Apparently, Kelly got thrown off by Matt three times! (Ryan KNEW better than to try that with me)

I even got to try my hand at driving the thing, and let me tell you what, it's addictive. Bart goes EVERY SINGLE Key West. He's obsessed.

Anyway, if you haven't tried it yet, I HIGHLY reccomend it. Especially if you're in Florida, 'cause you know every other person seems to own one at home.

And the worst part of this job is.... - May 6, 2006

2006-05-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well, another week has passed on the Rhapsody of the Seas.... Let's tune in and see what's been going on this week!

I've been spending lots of time with my newly formed "Post It Club." (Ahhh, high school all over again...) It is comprised of Anglea (Art Auctioneer from South Africa) and Ryan (Bridge Cadet from Newfoundland.) We leave post-it notes on each other's doors whenever we want to see one another, which I pretty much every day.

We went to the beach again in Cozumel and saw two more stingrays and a brittle star. (Oh, our friend Xavier (Musician, El Paso, Tx.) came too, but he's not in the post it club... yet...) Whenever I go snorkling now people follow me about, waiting for me to stick my hand under yet another rock and reveal yet another little animal for them. (I should start charging...) It's like Selena's Snorkling Tours, LLD. (Whatever that means) I've gotten a few more people addicted to snorking too. (Ahhh, my plan for world domination beginning with snorkling fans has begun!!!!!!) *ahem* nevermind.

We laid out for a while too, and Ryan and Xavier were joking around about the 'worst' parts about this job, such as the fact that we were getting paid to lay around on a beach and drink margaritas, snorkel and see stingrays, and check the dancer (that's me) to make sure she doesn't have tan lines. (It's in my contract- NO TANLINES. An impossibility for me, but my friends watch my back -literally!- for me anyway.) Yeah, it's a rough life, right? haha.

Oh, and the Rhapsody started to go to Jamaica for the first time this week. (We go every other week now, alternating with Key West. It was, well.... Jamaica. Not as pretty and nice as other places, but it has it's moments. We taught Franchesco (Dancer, Rome, Italy) how to play blackjack and roulette at Treasure Island, a casino near the port, and he won $30! *beginners luck...*

Not much else is going on. I guess we'll proceed to Monday of our tour of what ship life is like. (When we last left off on our tour, it was Sunday night and we had just finished our Welcome Aboard show. (See "Week One: Done" for the complete entry about our Sundays)

~ ~ ~
Well, now that we're alternating between Jamaica and Key West, it's a little different, but I'll do a Key West week, for an example.

Well, Monday, around noon, I usually have flying rehearsal with Dee and Miles. (Our dance captain and vocal captain) I get to fly around in my halo harness for 30-45 minutes and it's so so so so SO fun.

After that, I grab a quick bite and then sometimes have to go to teach Swing class to the guests. I taught a class for the first time today and it was SO fun! The guests come in a really good mood, ready to learn, and we teach them really basic stuff that they can usually pick up. (Although some don't... and get into little tiffs with each other. It's kinda cute.)

After class, we have a few hours off until tech run for Piano Man. A tech run is like a dress rehearsal for the technical crew. (Sound, lighting, sets, etc.) We dancers don't have to wear our costumes unless it's our first time in the piece (so this week I had to wear all my costumes to rehearse my quick changes) and we dont' dance 'full out' (which means we don't do all the moves with the energy we would that night. It's called 'marking' it.)

Then we go eat dinner, and sometimes have to do Captain's Cocktail. (Which hopefully we won't have to do for much longer....) It's just when we get dressed up in formal-wear and welcome people to a cocktail party where the Captain comes down and greets the guests. (Read: boooring. Although last week we thought of a hilarous game where the four of us stand on either side of the door, two by two, and then say "Hi!" in a circle as fast as we can when guests come in. It confuses the guests a little, and it's funny to us. Once we each said one word in the sentence "Hi" "How" "Are" "You?" It was like surround sound. Haha!)

Then, we have "call" at 8 pm for the 9 pm show. ('Call' is when we have to get to the theater to warm up. We have to be in make up and wig caps already, so we can stretch and warm up our bodies for a full hour) Then, we dance our little hearts out for about an hour, take a 40 minute break, then do the show all over again.

But that's not all. No, our night isn't complete until we go to the Viking Crown Disco (the top deck of the ship) and perform Abba. This performance is what we call a 'theme night.' It's a 70's disco party for the guests that we have to get started by performing a cheezy Abba medley.

Then, and ONLY then, can we peel off our fake eyelashes and go to bed.

*whew*

And that's our Mondays, generally. Definatly our busiest day of the week...

It's the little things... - April 30, 2006

2006-04-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's the small victories in life that make me so happy.

For example, I just struggled with this stupid internet connection at the coffee house for 20 minutes.

We wrestled and wrestled, it rejecting my connection over and over until....

I won.

~ ~ ~

My mini-philosophy is that if you let the little things in life bring you joy, then you'll always be happy.

Then, when the big things come along, you can feel EXTRA blessed.

3 sea cucumbers, 2 pipefish, and a yellow spotted stingray in a pear tree... - April 28, 2006

2006-04-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

It might as well be Christmas in April!

~ ~ ~

Yesterday and today were SO much fun!

Yesterday we were in Grand Caymans, a port we have to tender into port, (ten-der: a verb: to be shuttled back and forth from the main land to your boat in little boats, taking so much longer than really neccessary and generally being a hassle all around) so that was a pain.

Judy, Matt from Youth Staff (AKA Kid Wranglers), and I went to Seven Mile Beach, the only beach in Grand Cayman that wasn't completely destroyed by Wilma. It's a beautiful stretch of what I'm assuming is seven miles of white sand and crystal clear blue water. I, of course, brought my snorkel, because frying myself silly on the sand doesn't much appeal to me. (AKA laying out)

I didn't see much, but it was beautiful. I did see a bristle worm, two dead conchs, one containing a tunicate of some sort with bristles, and a diadema urchin with long, banded spines. (I could get really nerdy and explain all of what that was, but I won't bore you with the details)

Then we came back for Rock on Broadway, which went fine. I'm in over 50% of it now, so next week I think I'll be back in all of it, or so. I'm not feeling 100% dance-wise because I've been fighting a cold since I got on board (it's winning- I sound like a man) and my back's been angry with me for ever dancing again. (So it's decided to hurt all the time right now. grrrr)

Today, after a little bit of rehearsal, we met Gareth, Catherine, Judy, Dario, Franchesco, Matt and Kelly at Paradise Beach, which was beautiful. Oh! And I finally got to live out my dream of sipping a margarita on the beach! (It's just as wonderful as I imagined!) Angela, my friend from South Africa (who we've decided I'm going to go visit and swim with a great white shark while I'm there someday, my #1 thing I must do before I die...) came, and we split some nachos too.... yum. Today, I like guacamole, just so you know. Most days I don't, but some days I do. Today was one of those days. (That kills Levi- he can't make heads or tails of my on-again-off-again liking of things... heheh, gotta keep them guessing!)

Then Gareth wanted to borrow my mask, so I taught him the basics of clearing his mask and off he went. Fifteen minutes later he came back and was GLOWING. "I love this so much Selena!" he said in his perfect Essex accent. "No, I really, REALLY love it!" So he was hooked. He wanted to buy a mask right then and there, but there weren't any for sale, so he rented one and he asked me to go with him.

Sooooo.... I did! We saw a bunch of great stuff. Impatient sea cucumbers, french grunts, doctor fish, two spotted boxfish, feather duster worms, a parrot fish, lots of little wrasses, a school of about 30 fish, and lots of mermaids bottle brushes. I pointed it all out to him, in between him draining his mask of water. (It didn't fit him too well since it was a rental) Gareth had a blast! He even saw a snake eel on the way back in himself! He said it was so much more fun with me. (Look Ma! My geeky, life-time obsession with the ocean and that $100,000 education finally paid off!)

We got back on land, and I couldn't resist buying some jewelry. (Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for unique shell jewelery!) $40 later, Angela rented some snorkel gear and we went into the water again. (She got excited by how much fun Gareth had!)

We saw a lot more than Gareth and I did. After teaching her the basics too, we saw another cucumber, and bristle worms, french grunts, doctor fish, some blue tangs of some sort, two pipe or trumpet fish, a brittle star, a baraccuda, and what I thought was an octopus turned out to be a beautiful yellow spotted sting ray! (In my defense, it was buried, and when I just saw his siphon and eyes, it looked like an octopus, but then I touched it and it unburied itself! Shhhh, don't tell my professors!)

(And all the while I'm thinking: "So THIS is what ship life is about.... or at least what it's going to be about for me!")

Week One: Done -April 26, 2006

2006-04-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

Only 14 or so more to go....

~ ~ ~

Not much to report here. Same old, same old...

Wait. I'm living on a cruise ship. So I guess you wouldn't know what was involved in the daily routines, huh?

Right. I guess it's my job to inform and enlighten then.

I guess I'll try to fill you in on a few aspects of ship life every blog. I'll start on Sunday. In the morning we're in port, so I get off in Galveston and go to an internet cafe, or TARGET, my favorite place around! I also talk to Levi most of the time, since it's one of the only places to use my cell phone. Meanwhile, the ship is picking up gobs of passengers in the Galveston port. When we get back from our morning off, we have to have a passenger boat drill. Boat drill can be fun, but a little tedious.

When all the passengers are aboard, we get them on deck with their life vests on and everything. (So they all feel funny together) I'm a muster station leader. (A muster station is where they go to get onto their life rafts. Don't be like one passenger, though, and ask me why they call it a muster station... -Goodness, the questions these people come up with...-) Anyway, the company chooses entertainers to be the leaders because if there's a real emergency, we have to do what we do best- entertain! (Otherwise, within two hours, people lose the will to live. Or so we're told. No pressure, right?) We count how many people are here, and then listen to the captain mumble things to us over the intercom.

Then we tell them to come here if they hear the emergency signal. (horn blasts seven times and one more loooong blast to finish) Then we tell them to have a nice cruise and not to drink too much. (But they never listen)

Sunday afternoon, right after boat drill, we have a Sail Away party on the pool deck. Sometimes I have to go up with a few other dancers and lead the guests in silly line dances. (Mostly they just watch us do them and sip passively on their drinks that we warned them not to drink too much of, though.) It's hot and sweaty, since we have to wear our "uniforms." (Bright blue, heat retaining jumpsuits. Yuck) Then, that night, we perform in a Welcome Aboard show in the theater. That's pretty fun, and the guests seem to like it. We give them a peek at all the activities in the upcoming week, and we dance a little thing, a few bands play that will be on board, etc. etc. So that's pretty much what I do on Sundays.

~ ~ ~

There's nothing much to report really. Everything's really strict right now because there's someone on board from the corporate office who's checking up on everyone. So all the departments on board are really minding their p's and q's. (whatever that means... they're doing it) So we all are behaving this week, probably a reason why there's not much to report....

My Top Three - April 20, 2006

2006-04-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

Due to a clerical error, this blog is brought to you by the fact that I was supposed to be in stupid new hire training today, but I wasn't on the list, so I pretended like I had already had that part of training while I was on board before. Yesss.....

~ ~ ~

My favorite things about coming back:
1. My WELCOME HOME post-it notes on my door from my cast mates, who all missed me, apparently.

2. Random people welcoming me back as I walk around the halls. (I don't even recognise some of them!)

3. Starting to dance again.

My least favorite things:
1. The fact that those cute post-it notes were supposedly a "fire hazard" and were torn down by some cleaning person and thrown away. (Stupid flammable pieces of paper..)

2. Getting the "Welcome Back" stare-down by random crew. One word: Eww.

3. Feeling my body begin to ache all over from stiffness and out-of-shape-ness.

But all in all, I love being back. I miss Levi a lot, and we're having technical difficulties in talking for some reason. His texts aren't working on his phone, or something... so that's tough.

But I love hanging out with my castmates and getting comfortable on the ship again. It's happening much faster than last time, naturally. We watched tapes of American Idol that Kristen's mom tapes for her and sends every couple of weeks. It's so cute- they try to avoid seeing the outcomes on the internet or in supermarkets when we're in port, but when the next American Idol is crowned, I think it'll be hard to avoid seeing who it is before her next installment of tapes arrive...

We swam in the pool today too! We can only swim when there's less than 5 guests in the pool, so Grand Caymens day is the only day we can do it. (Everyone is off ship in this beautiful port)

And we have our first show since I've been back tonight! I get to do Hair and Rent, so that's cool. Not my old track though, so that's a challenge. I'm glad I"m going in gradually, though, seeing as how sore I am already...

Well, as my friend Dan put it so perfectly, "On with the show!"

Back in the saddle again... - April 19, 2006

2006-04-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it'll take me a little while to get my sea legs back, that's for sure...

~ ~ ~

I'm finally back on board, and while part of me feels like I never left, another part of me felt like an intruder from the moment I stepped on board.

I arrived in the Keys and got a taxi from the airport to my ship with an interesting character. (Aren't they all interesting in Key West?) He said that he spent half of the year in Thailand with his girlfriend, and the other half here in the Keys driving taxis. Fascinating life, I'm sure.

But I wasn't there to mingle with the locals, I was there to get on with my own interesting life.

I arrived at the pier and immediatly started to recognise people. A guy from the Crew Office actually picked up my cab when I got out and was the first to officially welcome me back. Then, I ran into a few crew members, some security guards, and Catherine, our Girl 1 singer, and Fransisco, our new Italian dancer who replaced Todrick.

This was all exhilirating and all, but the real excitement began when I ran into Judy, one of my closest friends on board. We tackled each other with our usual fervor, but she was in a hurry to catch a jet-skiing trip with her friends. (Ahhh, that's the life, huh?)

I signed on board and reclaimed my ID card and key, and began the process of moving back into my room. I had to check in with the medical staff, who all knew me by first name by now and were happy to see me, and met a new doctor from Columbia.

Now Levi would be mad and want to punch this guy's lights out if he knew how much this guy blatently hit on me, so I won't go into too much detail, but he did ask me point blank if I was married. ("No..." I replied, "but for all intents and purposes, and as far as you're concerned, I might as well be." I clarified for him...)

Anyway, after clearing the medical, I unpacked, with no sign of my new roomie, and changed to hit the town. (I must admit, I did look at her passport to see what she looked like. She's a pretty blonde from Utah, and that's about all I got out of that passport. Snoopy ol' me...) I saw Dee, my dance captain, and her fiance Miles, our vocal captain, as I unpacked, so I attacked them and she updated me on the shows and everything. She said that my track would change drastically, and my heart sank. I'm not sure if that means I've lost my duets, but she was hinting at something like that. Sad. But then she mentioned switching off, so I hope she at least lets us do that becuase I really loved my parts and had worked so hard on them all...

Anyway, I walked out of the ship to catch some dinner in Key West when I ran into more of my favorite people: Kristen and Gareth were just coming to the ship from shopping. It was another energetic reunion, with promises of meeting up later at a club.

I had dinner alone at the Hog's Breath Pub, a famous Keys establishment. It was pleasent enough, with live music to keep me company. Then I hit the local CVS to re-stock on essential ship-board supplies (like a pop-light for my dark upper bunk!) and headed home to change and hit the town with my friends.

I found them at a bar in the Keys called "Aqua." Appropriate, since we're always surrounded by water, I guess. There was a drag show going on, so that was funny. I got to see another one of my most favorite people there too- NATHAN! (Our boy 2 singer) He's my friend who makes me laugh the most, so that was nice to see him. We had a few drinks and headed home as to not miss the boat- literally!

Everyone went to the crew bar, but I was beat and I was starting to have a sore throat, so I headed in for the night.

Today we ran through some of Rock on Broadway and Dee put me into a few pieces, so I think I'll get to dance a little in tomorrows show! How exciting! Then Judy and Mike and I had our own little class in the gym to work out a little, so once again, I'm beat.

So, that's been my first 24 hours on the ship, pretty much minute by minute. Not the most hilarious blog ever, but I kinda feel out of practice. I didn't write nearly as much while I was in therapy.

I still kinda feel weird and awkward at times, like I"m not supposed to be here still, but it's fading. I mostly miss Levi and my family and friends. I'm trying to get a hold of Levi now, we're trying to work out a cheap way to chat on his phone, but Cingular is bound and determined to make us pay for every sentence of converstation we have together... grrr...

Oh well.

It's at least nice to be back and dancing again.

T-Minus... - April 17, 2006

2006-04-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

The wait is over.

And the 'hurry' is on.

I have 22 hours left here.

To those I didn't get to see, forgive me. I love you and you know it.

To those I did, I'm so glad I saw your faces. I love you guys too, and you all know that as well.

~ ~ ~

Such a strange feeling, leaving one home for another.

I'm still sad to leave my friends, my family, and very, very sad to leave Levi again.

But this time it's different.

It's not exciting.

It's not nerve-wrecking.

It's not anxious or scared or nervous.

It's a relief.

The waiting game, pt. II - April 15, 2006

2006-04-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

SO-

My passport officially arrived.

My "Fit For Duty" note was officially sent in.

but...

My bags are officially NOT packed.

Grrrr... going through the goodbyes and packing rituals again is testing my procrastination talents to the extreme. Any day now they could call and send me back on the ship, but I haven't packed a stitch yet. I just left my bags packed from when I came back.

*sigh*

Once again, torn.

So excited to return to life on board, to my wonderful friends, to my tiny cabin and new roomate, to my shows that I love, to the flying that I miss...

yet so sad to leave again.

I'll admit, this time is a smidgen easier.

And a little harder too...

But life rolls on, and me with it. I'm sure I'll feel better once I'm there.

But for now, the waiting game resumes... only this time in reverse.

She's ok, folks... -April 7, 2006

2006-04-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well, in the ongoing saga of.... me.........

not much has happened.

I've been in a wrestling match with the federal government concerning my identity. (I'm winning, but only because of my signature WWE-worthy moves...)

Let's see:

License, check.

Passport, in the mail.

Social security card.... next week.

Vet appointment... today.

Yes, in my ever eventful life, the big event of today was traumatizing my cat a little more by taking her to the vet.

I'm so cruel.

But she's fine, in fact, better than fine. She's as healthy as a geriatric cat can be. And that's great.

I realize that most of you don't know about her, but she's my best friend, my confidante, and the darn-best lap-warmer this side of the Yangzi River.

She's about a foot tall, around 8 pounds, and as round as a football.

And she's the best cat in the world.

Yes, I know this claim is made my people around the world, but I have UNCONTESTED PROOF that she, in fact, is the best, most amazing feline to ever grace our presence. (When she feels like it, of course...)

"Why is that, Selena?" You probably aren't thinking at all, but I'll assume that you are anyway...

Well, to begin, she's a survivor. Her name is Ocean Cat, a name given to her by the Humane Society where I got her 13 years ago, when I was a wee lass of nine...

She was huddled in a tiny cage in the corner. She had arrived the day before. "Was plucked from the ocean." The gruff Humane Society attendant explained. (Hey, they're not all little old ladies working there, ok?) "She was found paddling her little paws for her life. A couple found her in knee deep water in New Symerna Beach and turned her in here. We think she was in a bag with her other brothers and sisters, but we never found the bag. She's got some salt in her eye, and it'll be black and water for the rest of her life. But she's a scrapper, that one. Aye." He explained. (In this version, the worker is Irish too... just go with it.)

But none of that mattered. The moment I saw her, I knew. Dad forsaw the medical complications of adopting a water-logged kitten and asked if I wanted to look at the other cats first. "Sure," I replied. "But I want this one."

Ever since, she's gone on to prove that she is, in fact, the best cat in the world.

For example, she follows me around the house. She's always got to be within two feet of me at all times. How cute is that?

Secondly, she's a great paperweight. Whenever you work on homework or taxes or something, she's always right there, on top of your work, lest an errant breeze rips through your house and mix up all your work.

Thirdly, she's a great distraction from all that homework or tax work you don't want to be doing anyway. I mean, who can resist not petting her football shaped head when she's just sitting there on top of all of your work? No one, that's who.

Finally, she's always sticking out her tounge. Yeah, always. She sticks the tip of her tounge out of her mouth at the world all the time, as if to say to all the other inferior cats... "Nayah... I am clearly the best cat in the world. So there."

So there you have it.

Undeniable proof that:

A) My cat is the best cat in the world

and

B)I have little to nothing else to do with my time off the ship, now that I've tracked down my own identity, finally sent off my passport application, and aquired my license,

but sit around with my cat.

Goodness, from being too busy to breathe to being bored beyond belief.

Someone.

Anyone.

Call me.

Let's have dinner. Lunch. Dog park, whatever.

I'm obviously spending WAY too much time indoors.

With my cat.

I yam who I yam... April 5, 2006

2006-04-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

Aquiring all the documents to prove who I am again is a tricky business.

To get a passport, I need a licence.

To get a licence I need a passport and social security card.

To get a social security card I need a passport or licence.

To prove that I am who I am... I need little pieces of paper that essentially prove nothing, since anyone could steal these from me too.

AND, on top of all that, to get back on the ship... I need all of those things...

*sigh*

~ ~ ~

I've been home for a few days, but it's felt like seconds.

I've been busier than I've been since I was in college.

(And those of you who knew me then, you knew me as "That Blur" that whirred throughout Rollins on a daily basis...)

But I'm getting things done... s l o w l y....

Revelations - March 19, 2006

2006-03-19T00:50:00.000-08:00

I'm missing an interesting episode of Smallville to write this, so you know it must be important.

(If anyone knows me, we know that this is ridiculous- I don't really watch tv, much-less Smallville, but this one is actually somewhat interesting. I'll have to ask Alan, the biggest Smallville fan I know, for some backstory later...)

Levi has changed my life in many ways, one being the way I view certain situations. For example, he once bought a bike but no chain to lock it up on purpose. He said if anyone stole it, he knew that they must have needed it more than he did.

Sage advice, right?

Wrong.

Well, at least at first, I thought this was ridiculous.

I mean, why would you just give your stuff away like that?

But eventually, I got it, and now after my own theft, I really get it.

The next day, after much soul searching (and phantom-purse searching... it's like I kept forgetting it was gone and kinda kept looking for it thoughout the day) I tried to imagine the thief. It was most certainly a girl, since we were in the ladies dressing room.

I tried to imagine how she must have needed it more than I did, since I can afford to replace it and everything inside of it. I tried to imagine her being happy to find such nice things, like my Coach wallet and rings and watch. I thought maybe she had a daughter she could give the purse to, or a friend who would recieve the watch. I imagined her happy with my former items, and her needing them more than I did.

And I felt so much better.

So, instead of lamenting my loss, I'm now kind of glad it happened. Everything happens for a reason- why did I take my phone out at the last moment? Why did I not slip my iPod into it this morning like I usually do? Why did I take out my FAVORITE necklace from Barbados moments before leaving that morning? Because my purse was meant to be stolen. And so, I knew the faster I made peace with that fact, the happier I would be.

And I was right!

Now, I kind of see it as an inadvertant act of charity on my part. No, I would not have given away my entire purse if asked, but the situation didn't ask me, so by releasing myself from the worry and anxiety of being a 'victim,' I kind of am 'giving it away.'

So, to the thief who took my purse, while I would like my planner and ID's back, since I'm a little lost without them, I sincerely hope you enjoy the purse as much as I did. I hope that you give the little trinkets away to other people who it would bring joy to, and I hope that you take good care of 'my' things. You really must have needed them more than I did.

~ ~ ~

Another theory of mine is that bad things happen so good things can happen. (Kind of the whole "you don't know light until you know dark," thing)

Well, the good news is that my physical therapist said I could go back on the ship next week if I wanted to. That I've built up muscles that weren't holding my back together to a strong enough point that I can go home.

And so I will, the 27th.

~ ~ ~

And another inadvertant reward from my purse being stolen: I get to spend at least two weeks at home with Levi and my family while I order another one!

~ ~ ~

One last twist:

We went to a club on Friday, and I got in on a photocopy of my passport. (Amazingly...) But what is interesting is that the bouncer pointed out that my passport expired a few days earlier... meaning that if I had still been on the ship, uninjured, I probably wouldn't have noticed this until I had to show it to a port agent... who would have thrown me off the ship wherever I was at the time.

So that's why I had to get hurt, to get sent home, to come to therapy to get strong, to go to the club, to find out that my passport was expired.

See?

A reason for everything...

Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER leave your purse alone. Ever. - March 15, 2006

2006-03-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

Especially in Chicago.

~ ~ ~

I was helping my sister decide whether she was going to buy the dress or not.

My purse was in our dressing room.

We were no more than ten feet away.

We were gone for no more than two minutes.

We assumed that was safe. We assumed no one would take it in a dressing room.

We were wrong.

~ ~ ~

My passport, social security card, ID, credit cards, debit card, planner, diving card, my watch, my favorite rings, recipts, EVERYTHING is gone.

And now I'm stuck in Chicago until my wonderful parents can get at least five forms of proof that I exist to me so that I can get a new passport.

~ ~ ~

I cried and cried and cried.

I shouted to everyone in the store we were in that it didn't have any money, the cards were cancelled, and I just needed my planner and passport. That if they left the purse somewhere, I promised not to press charges.

Sympathetic looks were all I got from anyone.

~ ~ ~

I could take this hard.

I could look at this as one more thing in a line of very unfortunate events in my life right now.

And to be completely honest, I kind of am.

But I'm really, really trying not to.

I'm trying to tell myself that now I can get a new, really cute wallet. A really great purse. A new watch, cute rings, a new planner to fill with new events.

Everything happens for a reason.
Even the bad things.

~ ~ ~

My friend Todd told me "Hey, at least you were looking for stuff to write in your blog, now you have it."

Blogging slacker, future bridesmaid! (And the McGyver Adventure) - March 13, 2006

2006-03-13T16:44:00.000-08:00

Wow. And I was doing so well....

Well I hope I haven't lost my "fan base" due to my lag in blogging... hehe. Oh well, the loyal ones always come back (read: Family).

Anyway, I'm still in Chicago. I've been pretty busy amusing my baby cousin with my sprained-back antics during her visit. She's at BU and was here for her Spring Break. (Which is funny becuase usually college kids go to Cancun or Florida... where do we go? Freezing Chicago. Ha. Ha. -Yeah, I didn't think it was funny either.)

Therapy is going well. I get prodded and poked every day by doctors and therapists, then do exercises until my muscles burn, walk to the car in the freezing weather, and then go home to lay down on an ice pack. (Ironic, no?) But, on the up side, someone somewhere finally decided that massage is a kind of 'therapy' (Bless them, whoever they are) so I think I get to have a massage every time I see a certain therapist. (yesss....)

But hopefully I'll be coming home soon. Big news from home is that my best friend Yadhira, is engaged (but that's not the new big news...) and she asked me to be a bridesmaid! How exciting is that?? (As long as the dresses aren't pink lace or something...)

Anyway, while I have been slacking, a few funny things have happened to me.

One being that I met McGyver.

No, not the actor with a mullet.

The REAL guy.

Well, at least the guy that McGyver is based off of, sofar as we can tell.

It all started at the self-checkout line in the local Jewel...

*Cue wavey lines, indicating a flashback*

I was happily scanning my items, fufilling a secret childhood dream of being a register girl at a supermarket, when my bank card slipped out of my hands...

and into a TINY crack in the self-checkout desk.

I looked everywhere, thinking that it COULDN'T have REALLY fallen into that tiny crack, I mean what are the chances? But after careful examination, I saw the gleam of Bank of America peering out of the dusty darkness.

Darn.

So I called over the register girl. Slightly jealous of her job, I ask her if she can open the desk so I can slip my hand under the crack and get my card. No can do, she replied. (Although she did fiddle and prod at the desk in a futile manner for a few minutes first.)

So I'm about to walk away, card-less, when a guy appears out of nowhere in a green vest. First, he tries to sell me some program where you can pay with your fingerprint and hands me a brochure for it. I thank him and promptly fold the brochure into a skinny apparatus to fish out my card. (With no luck)

Seeing my predicament, he fumbles with the problem himself. (By now I've attracted a crowd of a few shoppers and register girls. I muse briefly about jumping on one of their registers for a joy ride, scanning the shoppers groceries with that ever satisfying 'beep!', but quickly dismiss the idea.)

Then, in a stroke of genius, he pulls out a piece of gum. "Let's try this," he says gallantly. I start to consider buying his fingerprinting product...

He fishes around in the dark for a bit, then curses under his breath.

My hope starts to flag and I start to thank him for his effort when...

he stood up triumphantly, card in hand.

~ - ~

McGyver, everyone.

A Strange (Old) World... - February 26, 2006

2006-02-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, I can't lie.

I could say being home is hard.

That the adjustment is difficult.

That the memory of the ship is a painful one, and I wish I was back there now...

But like I said, I can't lie.

The ONLY reason I want to go back RIGHT NOW is becuase I miss my cast mates so much. (And I really do.) It makes me sad to think about them, yes, because we have so much fun together, but thinking about the tiny ship, my miniscule room, and my aching back as I roll into my top bunk... no, don't miss all that ship stuff so much. Just the people.

To be honest, being home is wonderful.

I've spent time with my dad cutting up a tree that fell across a path in our property, I watched my cat wander around the house for an hour and then took a nap with her in the sun, I've cleaned and reorganized Levi's apartment while he was at work (perversely, that's actually really fun for me...) I've had dinner with my dad and made friends with the Chinese waiter, I got to hang out with my best friend Cindy at the dog park with her puppies and then at Lowes (where they dont' know how to work those fork lift things... beware...) and I have gotten to spend every waking moment (when he's not at work) with my favorite person in the world, Levi.

And he's also incredibly greatful for my unexpected return.

Like two-dozen-roses greatful!!

(They were waiting for me when I got home in a vase, although a little wilted because he had gotten them a few days earlier, during his first flush of excitement after he had first heard I was coming home. Trust me, I didn't mind. They were still beautiful!)

He's also kind of sad too, because he knows how badly I want to finish this contract, and the fact that I'm leaving again in a few days to start physical therapy in Chicago. But he knows it's what I have to do... me not being able to dance is like him not being able to sing, I explained to him.

So on Wednesday I get to start my new adventure in PT (also known as Physical Therapy.) And you'll never guess who I get to do it with...

The Reverand Jessie Jackson.

(And my sister..)

But yeah, THE Jessie Jackson. He tore his ACL in his knee like my sister and is getting therapy RIGHT NEXT to her. Literally. On the next table over. They see each other every day. In fact, yesterday he asked for her email.

Hilarous.

My life is hilarious.

So, off I go again, on another adventure.

I feel a lot happier now that I'm firmly on the road to recovery. I had let myself get into such a negative, sad place on the boat because of all of the pain and waiting around. I had a realization recently, though, that I'm completely in control of my attitude and of this situation. As Levi says, it could be a lot worse. I could have really damaged something, but instead, I'm going to start looking at this as an opportunity to strengthen myself, to get myself not only back to where I was, but further.

I am completely in control of my attitude and how I'm going to deal with this situation, and from now on, I'm going to tackle this and more, with a much more positive outlook.

Home again, home again... - February 23, 2006

2006-02-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm on my way, at least.

I'm in an internet cafe in the Grand Caymens.

My flight isn't for another two hours, so me and another guy who is getting signed off (who is German and has an unpronouncable and hard-to-remember name) went back to the city to have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Did you know that there's over 100 locations of that place all over the world? Fascinating...

Anyway, I woke up so excited to see Levi that my tummy actually hurt.

Good times.

So home for a few days, then Chicago for as long as it takes to get me all better.

My cast was so sweet and really sad to see me go.

So was I.

Leaving the ship on the tender boat, I looked back one last time and actually felt a pang of something related to home-sickness.

I guess we'll find out in a few weeks if it ever really was my home, and if it will ever be my home again....

Trapped - February 21, 2006

2006-02-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not going home tomorrow- who knows when I'll get to.

Thursday, at the earliest.

Now that I know that I'm going, I just want to go. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family, my kitty, and of course, Levi.

Especially since he'll be taking care of me for the next 4-6 weeks.

*Awesome!*

But right now, I'm in limbo. And I have to watch everyone do the shows I worked so hard on for six weeks and now can't perform in.

This is some sort of perverse torture....

Goodbye Rhapsody, for now... - February 19, 2006

2006-02-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

Well, the doctor in Galveston confirmed it.

A sprain.

2 weeks of absolutely no work.

4 to 6 weeks of physical therapy.

And a one way ticket home.

~ ~ ~

Hopefully, I'll come back to the ship after therapy, but it's really not up to me. I told Dee, the dance captain, to relay the message to the casting agency that I ONLY wanted to come back on THIS ship during THIS contract period- but I guess I don't have much to bargain with.

A sprained back is no good to a show...

So I'm going home for a few days to see my family and Levi, then I'm going to go to Chicago for therapy for a week or two. (And I get to see my sister, a big bonus) The therapists up there really know how to work on dancers, so I'll be in good hands. Hopefully Levi will come up for a few days too- the more people to take care of me (and my ailing sister, recovering from knee surgery), the merrier, I suppose.

~ ~ ~

I wanted to thank everyone who has been reading my blogs, and those who have responded with encouraging words. I loved signing on to see that people were not only interested in my weird life, but really cared about me too.

I'll be ok, and I'm bound and determined to get back on the ship after I'm healed, and I'm sure therapy will provide some funny blogs, so the adventure is far from over.

It's just been put on pause for now.

So stay tuned....

Diagnosis - February 17, 2006

2006-02-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

I'm so sick of being sick.

I'm so fed up with the constant pain and immobility.

I would NOT do well as a parapalegic, I know that much.

~ ~ ~

So, after a week and a half of near inactivity, I set out today in the wild alleys of Cozumel to see a doctor.

Yikes.

Well, we should start at the beginning...

~ ~ ~

Last night, my manager came and told me that if I didn't go to the flying rehearsal tomorrow morning, I would be banned from flying for the rest of my contract. Horrified, I told her that I had the doctors appointment, to which she stared at me and said "Well, it is what it is." She promised to do all that she could, but she said it was out of her hands.

So last night, I got to worry myself to sleep about whether I would be allowed to fly, which is something I've been training for, looking forward to, and falling in love with for about three months now. I was crushed at the possibility.

This morning, I went to the doctor and hoped they had booked me an afternoon appointment so I could fly, and once again, to my horror, it wasn't- it was for that morning. I burst into tears, feeling the dream of becoming an amazing aerialst slipped away. The nurse asked what was wrong and my manager explained the situation, leaving out the fact that I would be doing something very hard on my back. (She called it 'training') He said I could go for an hour, so I squeezed in the rehearsal, and I think (but am not sure) they'll let me fly.

Anyway, a port agent came (an hour and a half late) to pick me and another sick person up to go to the doctor. We drove around Cozumel lost for a bit, and I got to see some of the destruction from the last hurricane. The tiny concrete houses were in shambles, some tacked together with corrugated metal, but the poverty there was apparent, and clashed with the gauche flamboyance of the 'strip' in front of our ship, which was gorged with overstuffed American tourists.

We found our doctors office and sat around for about three hours. Then, I got an x-ray from a machine that looked straight out of 1963 and met with the doctor. He asked me questions in broken english and told me that I had actually suffered a back sprain and not a muscle spasm. He said I would be ok, but didn't mention any therapy or anything that I should do to heal.

Then we looked at my x-rays....

And looked....

And looked....

He seemed perplexed and when I asked what was wrong, he showed me my own spine.

~~ Looking at the inside of yourself gives you the most actue sense of vulnerability... ~~

At any rate, he pointed at my saccral region (or my lower, lower back) and pointed at something that looked like a vertebrae, only it was attached to my hip.... and it was sideways.

"I don't know what that is." he muttered. "And you have scoliosis." he said, tracing the soft curve of my spine.

Two things I had no idea about.

So, he referred to a spine specalist, since he's an orthopaedic doctor, and has only been in the field for ONE YEAR.

Yeah. Mexican doctor, one year of experience, no therapy suggestions- this was going really well. (At least he was very nice about everything...)

So I re-boarded the ship expecting to go though rehearsals slowly like I had been doing, only to be stonewalled. "Nope, you're unfit for duty." my manager told me briskly. So, teary eyed, I watched yet another run of "Piano Man" with two other people in my parts.

~ ~ ~

I'm so tired of the pain.

I'm so sick of all the beauracratic run-around.

Todrick put in his two weeks notice yesterday. So another boy is leaving.

I'm starting to think that's not such a bad idea...

Leaving on a Jet Plane? - February 14, 2006

2006-02-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess every adventure story needs some drama...

As we all know, a so-called "donkey kick" has taken me out for the past week or so. I've been on pain killers and muscle relaxants, and getting gradually better. (Slowly but surely)

Now, I have an appointment with an Orthopaedic Doctor in Cozumel. (Yeah, they're sending me to a doctor in Mexico... shady? Yes.) And my doctor on board said he might send me home.

Ok, now it has to be said that part of me does want to go home.

A lot.

I left a lot of things I miss back in Florida. Levi, my family, my cat, the steady sensation of being on dry land instead of on the water and my equilibrium....

But another part of me wants to stay so much.

I came here for a reason. I was sent here to learn something about life, about myself, about my art.

Now, it all might be cut short.

I guess if he sends me home, though, it's for good reason. They don't just send people home for no reason. It would mean that I have a serious problem and need therapy to fix my back. Everyone keeps saying it's not worth ruining my career in dance just for one contract on a ship. Everyone keeps emphasizing that this is my instrument and I have to take care of it.

But it's up to Dr. Whoever in Cozumel, Mexico, I guess.

So say a little prayer for me, one way or the other.

(Oh, and I have an eye infection, so pray for that too!)

Thanks.

So maybe I'll see be seeing you soon...

(Unless my eye infection gets worse. Then I'll only see you in mono instead of stereo....)

Watch your back.... - February 8, 2006

2006-02-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

So, this story involves a 'donkey kick.'

And, for the dancer-illiterate, before I begin, I must clarify what, exactly, a 'donkey kick' is.

It is NOT:
A) A mammal with four legs, fur, and a grumpy disposition.
B) The newest fashion craze sweeping the nation
OR
C) The latest virus sweeping the internet.

It is, rather, a dance move involving your hands on the floor and your body weight on your hands, your legs kicking out in both directions, and landing quickly.

This, in a nut shell, is a donkey kick.

And this, in a nut shell, is how I earned my first major injury.

---

We were rehearsing at 9:00 pm or so in the gym. We're having really, REALLY long days right now, from like 10 am to 10 pm, and one day from 8 am to 10 pm. Anyway, we were learning this really intense theme night dance to "We will rock you." There's a really physical sequence in it involving jumps, splits, and, of course, a donkey kick.

Well, it's really hard on your back, to say the least. I had been fine all night, and we were going to run it one last time, and Heather, our choreographer asked us to do it "full out" (dancer for: as hard as you can) So, I did.

And when I came up from my last donkey kick, a small native man jumped out from a bush howling with rage, stabbed me in the back with a long, sharp, silver spear, and darted away with alarming dexterity.

Well, that's what it felt like, at least.

In actuality, I stood up and went to our final pose, and felt a very, very sharp pain in my lower back. Heather asked if I was ok, to which I groaned "noooo..." and she told me to lie down. So I did.

And found that I couldn't get back up again.

So I started crying. It was such an extreme pain, and I had never been injured before, so I started freaking out. As usual. *ahem* Aaaanyway...

They kept working, with few people noticing me in my little micro-cosm of pain. Todrick asked if I was ok, and Mike looked concerned. Todrick saw my tears and said "Awww, honey, you're making me sad!"

Yeah, I was making me sad too. *sniff*

Anyway, Heather kept working, and then noticed my absence, asking where everyone was. Todrick murmered "Well, Selena's still on the floor..."

Then began the 'very special episode' of ER or something. Everyone rushed over, being the sweetest cast on the seas, like they are, and were really concerned. (Gotta love 'um) I thought if I just laid still for a little I'd feel better soon, but Heather insisted we call 911, which we did, and I was quickly wisked to the medical center, where the sleepy looking doctor prodded my back for a moment and gave me some muscle relaxants and pain killers.

Then the credits rolled and I went back to my top bunk *scoff* and hauled myself in.

*applause, applause*

I'm feeling slightly better today. (About a 6 on the pain scale, down from a 7.5, if you're wondering)

We think it was just a back spasm, and it's nothing serious, but I dont' think I'll be in the opening night on Friday, which stinks. I dont' think they'll send me home (I hope not!) because they're already sending one dancer home, Mike, for his hip injury, so that stinks.

But I kept a positive attitude the whole time. (After the little freakout/pity party earlier with the crying and whatnot) I just thought about my best friend Yadhira and what she went through with her injury, and Jeremy, my flying trainer who broke his neck cliff diving and was told he shouldn't have survived, and only four months later was a beautiful aerial artist, and my amazing sister who just tore her ACL and was told she'd be out for six months but she says she gives it three at the most.... I look at all of that and realize how lucky I am.

And how strong I can be.

All Aboard! - February 7, 2006

2006-02-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am. On the majestic Rhapsody of the Seas.

Majestic? Well, I wouldn't go THAT far...

Anyway, our office run (where we show the office staff at Royal Caribbean that we do, in fact, know these shows) went really well. My favorite part was that I got to spend about four days with Levi visiting and seeing everything that I was doing, so that was awesome. I felt really insecure about our first show, Rock on Broadway, and my nerves were really getting to me, but Levi gave me a little pep talk in between the two shows, and Piano Man was fine.

My parents came, which was really nice, and so did Cindy, my best friend, with her new puppy Sebastian. Unfortunatly, the drive down took 5 hours instead of 3.5, and the puppy pooped in the crate during the show while we were gone and he was at our apartment.. oh well. He was cute enough to get away with it. It was so awesome to have her there, though. (Cindy, not the puppy. He was cute, but I'm really glad Cindy was there.) Apparently the drive back was bad too, but I haven't been able to get the full details on that yet... now THAT's a best friend. A girl who would drive five hours both ways to see me dance for a few minutes and grab dinner with my family. She's awesome.

Ok, so now, ship life. What you've all been waiting to hear about.

Well, to begin, everything looks the same in the crew area. It's all white metal walls everywhere. We can't go into the nice passenger area unless we're dressed up. (There's lots of funny rules like that) My room is MINISCULE. I mean TINY! Unreal how small it is. My roommate Robyn almost cried when she saw it. Really, really small. And I have the top bunk. Yuck.

We're also dancing about 10-12 hours a day, which is also a yuck. It's just for the first two weeks, but it's INTENSE, to say the least.

But it's not all bad. The people on board are nice. It's more of a UN than my rehearsal period was! Everyone is from the Phillipenes, Puerto Rico, Russia, Canada, etc. etc. But they're all cool. The theater is really nice too. So there's many positive points.

We're in Key West today. The boat isn't rocking much now. Sailing out of Galveston on our first night and day, though, was really bad. I didn't get sick, but felt very ill. It rocks you to sleep at night, though, so that's nice.

Well, that's all for now. Even though I could type a LOT more about ship life, I have to go eat before MORE rehearsals. (That's right, from 8-10 pm we have rehearsals. YUCK!)

I miss all of you, and dry land, already!

Purpose - January 31,2006

2006-01-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

*Note: I accidentally posted one blog twice as I was backlogging -is that a verb? Dad's been complimenting me on my writing *hilarious, since all these interesting things happen, and all Dad can notice is how my writing is maturing... cute* and I don't want to ruin my good streak with bad grammar...- SO, after that digression within a digression there... January 17th's post is changed.*

I'm having a hard time breathing tonight. I'm not sure why. (And no, this isn't for dramatic effect- you wanted my real life and here it is... Bodily functions and all...) Dee says it's because we had a hard day (What, a 9 hour day is hard?? No! Ya don't say!) and my lungs got a work out. I'm not sure what it is, but I thought if I were to die tonight, I should at least write a good blog about it.

Ok, enough morbid humor.

The week has been routine enough.

Or not.

Todrick, my partner in the duet, had a problem with his passport so had to go home to Texas until we get there on Sunday, so he'll miss the big office run on Friday, which creates a huge blocking problem (dancer-speak for: arrangements of dancers on stage) for our directors and our poor dance captain, my very own roommate (at the moment) Dee. She's currently poring over stage diagrams figuring out where we should go now that we're missing a body on stage. (Poor thing.)

So Gareth, Todrick's understudy, (and coincidently, his boyfriend) is getting a crash course in Todrick's track. He's stressed, to say the least. (Poor Gareth)

And I cried for at least ten minutes on the ride back from home this weekend. (Poor me.)
---

This weekend was so great. I love every minute I'm at home. Ocean Cat is always extra snuggly, my room is always clean *I'm never there! Of course it's clean!* and seeing Levi is always so much fun! For the last two weekends we've had dinner with my Dad, which is always a treat. (Sushi, of course) This week was particularly fun for some reason, and I have some funny memories of laughing so hard wasabi almost shot out of my nose. (Well, not really, but it's a funny image, no?)

Emily and Gilligan (AKA Davey AKA David) finished their little blue canoe (AKA John) and we all took it for a test drive. (You can see pictures at www.regmaster.com/boat) They were so cute! But when I said I had to leave for six months I thought they were going to cry. (I thought I might too!) It was so sad! But I told them they're not allowed to grow an inch while I'm gone.

Before I left, we went to see Alan and Cindy. Levi's been helping Alan with his new computer, so while they tinkered, Cindy and I made cupcakes. Every time I've left home it's gotten harder and harder. Cindy and I baked cupcakes (cakes that will fit in a cup, get it?) until 10 pm, and then I left a little tired, but hyped up on confectionery sugar and frosting.

Levi and I didn't cry as much as last time, he didn't really cry at all, but of course I did a little while he was there. I always wait to get in the car and put on a really sad song to really, really cry. (The Copeland CD got me this time, last time it was the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack.) But this week, something was different about me crying on drive back.

(And it wasn't the fact that it was super dangerous, since I was going in excess of 70 miles per hour both times. Yikes. And Dad thinks talking on the cell phone is dangerous....)

Last week, for some reason, as tears rolled down my face, I wondered why I was doing this. Why in the world was I leaving everything and everyone I loved? Why was I missing out on half of a year with my family, my kitty, my niece and nephew, time that I will never get back? The thought that most dominated my teary reverie was "Why am I doing this to Levi?" As if me working on this ship was something I was DOING to him, as in "Why am I hitting him over the head with this rubber mallet?"

(Ok, a little bit of a dramatic comparison, but same basic effect)

Well, this week, as I cried my little tears of self-pity, I didn't have those thoughts. I didn't really wonder why I was doing this. I feel like during the past week, though working with Lamar, I've realized that I'm here to learn and grow and achieve something. Not just mastering the choreography, but mastering something within myself. I'm really here to learn how to rein in and focus my energy as I dance; I'm here to learn how to perform.

I'm here for me.

And I realize that's selfish, self-centered, blah, blah, blah. But I'm 22. Now's the time. It's truly now or never. In a few years, I'll have so much more responsibility. I'll have so much more to worry about. A career, an apartment, a serious relationship and everything... Now is, albeit not the perfect time, probably the most ideal time.

Besides, Levi said if I really had to go dance on a ship and be away from him for six months, might as well get it over with now.

Quick. Like a bandaid.

Well, this time next week, I'll be on 'said' ship. My home for the next half of a year. The Rhapsody of the Seas. Setting sail in T-Minus five days.

I can't wait.

January 24, 2006

2006-01-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

Passion

"You're making it look too easy."

"Get more into it."

"You're being too pretty."

"Stop being pretty."

These are the notes (that's dancer speak for "corrections") that have plagued me my entire life. (I blame it squarely on my ballet upbringing, but whatever.)

My sister puts it like this:
"Selena," she says, "You need to get a fire in your belly when you dance."

What?? Why? I thought pretty was good?!?!

Well apparently, not so much in these days of contemporary dance.

Anyway, today, Lamar, our guest choreographer for the next few days, commented on not just me, but all of us; about how we don't look like we're trying, or even that we're enjoying ourselves.

(In our defense, it's hard to really feel 'into' a piece you run at least 10 times a day every single run, but he's right, really....)

"Remember that Broadway show you saw when you were little? Remember how those dancers made you feel?" he asked us all. "You thought, 'That's where I want to be. I want to do THAT.' Well, make ME feel like that NOW. Own the stage, let it go, let me see the passion, let me SEE that you love to dance."

So we did.

And he's right. Something flipped, something clicked. He said we were right there, we were great. And even more than that, he was very complimentary of the girls. "You four danced as a unit. You were all dancing as one." (That's pretty awesome for us... and I think the friendships growing have helped...)

I now feel like I understand what everyone has been saying to me my whole life. I mean, I've understood it all along, but for some reason, today something clicked.

I feel like I've been dancing in the back half of my body for a while. Like I haven't reached my full potential artistically or emotionally.

And that's an exciting feeling.

To know that I have something to grow into, something more than what I am now, something to work on, something to achieve....

---

"There's a very fine line between being great and being a legend," a very wise person told me tonight. "All you have to do is cross it."

Where's your line?

January 17, 2006

2006-01-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

Levi-sickness sets in....

Forget home sick, I'm Levi-sick.

(Or, if Levi is my home, then homesick...)

It's really starting to feel like a job now. It's still fun to dance every day, but goodness, working 6 days a week is starting to wear on me mentally and physically.

Not to mention only seeing Levi once a week.

But I shouldn't complain. It could be (and will soon be) much worse. Once I'm on the ship I'll only see him once a month.

*sigh*

The price I pay for my art.

January 13, 2006

2006-01-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

A funny thing happened on the way back from our physicals...

It's been a great week, if not a tiring one. (Ok, I'm not sure what that phrase means exactly, but I've seen it in books, so it's gotta be right, right?) Right.

Anyway, we've finished our first show, Piano Man. We learn two complete shows and then perform them four times per week. (Twice per show)

Wednesday, we had to go to some mandatory physicals at the doctors office. All in all a hilarous experience. Picture seven dancers and four singers in a doctors office waiting room, goofing off, laughing, joking around, and singing and dancing our different songs and pieces around that waiting room so that we get some 'homework' done while we're away from the studio.

Now imagine the looks we got from the hard-core South Floridians that were there for check ups.

Now imagine the look on the boys' faces after their physicals... haha, just kidding, don't. I'll post pictures later. Gareth was the first to come out and he was pale and violated. He just kept shuddering and muttering "She did it! She really did it! The baaad one!" It was priceless.

So we had taken this van to the office in the morning for the check up, but when they came back to pick us up, they got lost and we ended up sitting around for an hour waiting. Finally, we called and cleared up the confusion, and our ride rolled up.

Our white, stretch Hummer ride.

We freaked out.

No WAY was this our ride?!?! We climbed into the limo in disbelief. I was cracking up and snapping pictures the whole time.

Rolling up in the parking lot of Royal Caribbean Productions was a sight to be seen. When we piled out, one of the office guys ran out and gasped "Did ya'll just hop out off that thing?"

We all laughed and said yes. And I added "Yeah, that's right. That's how the Rhapsody rolls!" (That's the name of our ship and, therefore, our cast.)

Unabashed, he replied. "Well, it's coming out of ya'lls per diem then!"

"Right, well, did the Voyager cast tell you that it was their treat? Cause it was..." I backpedaled.

---

If that's the way Royal Caribbean rolls, we should all go for physicals more often...

January 7, 2006

2006-01-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

Thank God it's Saturday...

Finally! The last day of our work week.

Yes, it's six days a week, eight hours a day of dancing.

Yes, my body hates me.

Yes, I'm having the time of my life.

But I miss Levi a bit too much, so I get to go home tonight to see him!

We got one of our new girls. (Two girls from our cast didn't show up... odd.) Her name is Judy and she's really sweet. She's from Michigan but had just moved to NYC to make it as a dancer when she got this call. Get this- her birthday is May 23rd! (Another Gemini in the house... awesome!)

Anyway, the show has been going great. I love all of the pieces and our cast. We learned a really fun, fast piece yesterday that I love, but is pretty intense.

You all should really come see it for yourselves on the ship!

We all can't wait to ship out. All we've heard are stories of sitting around on board and laying out in the sun, getting off at port to go shopping, diving, jet skiing, snorkling...

Oh yeah, and dancing in the occasional show....

January 3, 2006

2006-01-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

The First Day

Well, I survived!

The girls and I got up for orientation and met 'our' boys- a set of very, very sweet boys. (I can say 'boys' because they're all younger than me! Wow! A first!)

They're awesome, and we were all really excited to start. Orientation was the usual rules and such, blah blah blah. Then we ran for a quick lunch (Miami Subs, yum!) and then hit the marley. (That's dance floor material, for the un-dance-enlightened.)

We learned a Stevie Wonder piece that Jeremy, my 'flying' trainer choreographed. It's so fun and very stylized- I love it! We partner a lot with the boys, and that was interesting because I was the only girl dancer! (Robyn helped out a little, she can dance too!)

The two other girls are missing in action, and eventally we found out they weren't coming. Hmmm... so they called another girl and are having her come in Thursday. (Imagine that call. "Hello, stop your life and come dance for us for six months. Be here in two days." Yikes... two months to leave was bad enough)

Anyway, it was really fun, a little tiring, and I know I'll be sore for it....

We all piled into my truck to hit Target after work, always a fun experience. Then we heated a little dinner and Miles and D finally came! (She's the one I 'flew' with in Vegas) So we have half of the dancin' girls....

Any girl out there want to dance for RC?

(juuuuust kidding. Unless you auditioned. You should call them if you have...)

So I guess we'll catch D up tomorrow... looking foward to more 'work' tomorrow...

I can't believe I'm getting paid for this...

January 2, 2006

2006-01-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first day of the rest of my life

Here I am.

Not-too-many-miles-from-home, Hollywood, Florida.

I arrived at our apartment first and alone. No one was there with the fan-fare I expected. Adeliani, my fellow 'flyer' is still in Hawaii, but I'm saving a room for her. (Mine!)

I wasn't sure what room to take- the tiny room with no space, the slightly bigger rooms with not-attached bathrooms, or the largest room with an attached bath and walk in closet.

So I called Adealiani. So I wouldn't feel guilty for doing the ineviatable.

And took the big room.

I ate a lonely dinner of egg drop soup and sardines. (Sounds gross, really isn't.)

I'm really living that 'starving artist' life- I have around $100 to last me three weeks or so.... hmmm...

Anyway, I indulged in a few hours of mindless MTV before my first roommate came- Katheryn. She's very nice, French Canadian from Montreal. A singer. Sadly, a slightly sick singer- she came in with a cold!

We chatted and I finally began to unpack.

Then, another knock, and in came Robyn, my next roommate from Grimsby, "straight opposite from Manchester, where the pilgrims are from," she says.

Very cool girl, seems that she will be the life of this party. Another singer, but she is also a dancer.

I'm still the baby so far, it seems. D (Adealiani's nick name) is 26, Robyn is 25, and Katheryn is older, I believe.

Another girl came to visit looking for her friend. Her name was D- something. Nice girl, from Australia.

--It's been a regular UN in here...--

She's worked a bunch for RC and gave us the low down on dress codes, rules, and the shows we're doing. Piano Man is amazing, apparently. She thinks I'll love it.

I already am.

Backlogs....

2006-01-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, here's some of my personal entries from when I was getting ready to go, and from when I first arrived, starting from January 1st:

---

Packing purgatory

Alrighty, leaving in t-minus 15 hours... and not done packing.

In fact, I'm in packing purgatory.

My room looks like my dresser caught the stomach flu (or drawer flu, in it's case) and threw up all of my clothes on to the floor.

But thanks to my amazing sister, my incredible best friend Yadhira, and my helper monkey of a neice, Emily, I'm starting to making sense of things.

Still not done, but on my way...

A New Blog!!!

2006-01-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

Well, here is is, finally!

My OFFICIAL blog site!

This is where you would want to go to get the latest on my cruise experience!

Lots of posts, pictures, and periodicals (? I needed something with a "P...") to come!!!

Stay tuned!!

The Life and Tides of Me

The Great Move of Ought-Nine

What I've done for FUN!!! Part III - March 2, 2009

What I have done for FUN! - Pt. II - February 12, 2009 ***Now with Pictures!***

The final installment of "A (rehearsal) day in the life of Me!" AND "...for Fun, Pt. 1!"

Put in Rehearsal Day (YIKES!) & A day in the life of Selena on Tour! (Pt. 2) - January 30, 2009

A day in the life of.... Selena on Tour! (Pt. I) - January 22, 2009

Christmas, Packing, Leaving on a Jet Plane, and Staring a New Life...

Christmas, Packing, Leaving on a Jet Plane, and Staring a New Life...

A party, reactions, and an FAQ! - December 27, 2008

The Final, Long Update, and Life-Changing News!

The Summer of Selena! - October 15, 2008

The month of FUN! (Update continued.... - September 24, 2008

The great update, continued... - September 17, 2008

A blog a year in the making.... (AKA a year late...) -September 1, 2008

Levi's Big Birthday Extravaganza Slideshow!

Levi's Big Birthday Extravaganza Blog! - November 14, 2007

A Q&D Update and the Great Puerto Rico Blog! - November 6, 2007

Welcome Back Moshell - May 6, 2007

A Christmas Story - December 24, 2006

Levi's Day at Disney

Talk about a long week.... - October 23, 2006

Now appearing at the Magic Kingdom... ME!

Almost Showtime... - October 4, 2006

Surviving overnights, and Approval Night Looms - September 28, 2006

"Fearless," and hibernation... - September 25, 2006

Dancer in the Dark... Speaking Latin....

Cheese, Mouse-style...

What it feels like to fall off the face of the earth- August 28, 2006

Tick tock.... - July 28, 2006

Ahhh, the irony... - July 25, 2006

The Big Update, Part 2 - July 23, 2006

Broken...

The Big Update, Part 1- July 19, 2006

The fastest way to a mutiny on board, or "Mutiny on the Rhapsody" - July 15, 2006

Finally! I'm blogging! - July 9, 2006

My Slideshow!

Slacker.... - July 2, 2006

Blue Hole - June 19, 2006

A demand granted... - June 11, 2006

One down, two to go... - June 2, 2006

A major costume malfunction, an expensive present, and the best-est birthday ever! - May 28, 2006

Pictures, finally.... (Thanks Angelo!) - May 21, 2006

A date with myself - May 20, 2006

Dunn River Falls: DONE! - May 18, 2006

The Great Address Exchange of Ought Six - May 16, 2006

The Phillipino Mafia - May 15, 2006

Gossip - May 15, 2006

Favorite quote of yesterday- "Yeaaa! This is so fun!" -May 10, 2006

And the worst part of this job is.... - May 6, 2006

It's the little things... - April 30, 2006

3 sea cucumbers, 2 pipefish, and a yellow spotted stingray in a pear tree... - April 28, 2006

Week One: Done -April 26, 2006

My Top Three - April 20, 2006

Back in the saddle again... - April 19, 2006

T-Minus... - April 17, 2006

The waiting game, pt. II - April 15, 2006

She's ok, folks... -April 7, 2006

I yam who I yam... April 5, 2006

Revelations - March 19, 2006

Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER leave your purse alone. Ever. - March 15, 2006

Blogging slacker, future bridesmaid! (And the McGyver Adventure) - March 13, 2006

A Strange (Old) World... - February 26, 2006

Home again, home again... - February 23, 2006

Trapped - February 21, 2006

Goodbye Rhapsody, for now... - February 19, 2006

Diagnosis - February 17, 2006

Leaving on a Jet Plane? - February 14, 2006

Watch your back.... - February 8, 2006

All Aboard! - February 7, 2006

Purpose - January 31,2006

January 24, 2006

January 17, 2006

January 13, 2006

January 7, 2006

January 3, 2006

January 2, 2006

Backlogs....

A New Blog!!!

What I have done for FUN! - Pt. II - February 12, 2009 Now with Pictures!