The Magic Violinist: April 2019

I'm dreadfully behind schedule when it comes to my reading challenge for this year. I'm going to blame the business of getting ready for college/applying for scholarships and being overly exhausted from rehearsals for "Mary Poppins Jr." I have never been involved in so much choreography before, and while I'm having a blast, I'm definitely tired. And behind on everything, it seems. I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things with reading/writing/blogging soon!

FEBRUARY

Books I Read

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12543.Bird_by_Bird

4/5

An excellent book on writing! It lived up to its expectations, maybe even a little more than On Writing did, for me. I never agree with everything an author has to say about how you should approach writing, but I love getting new ideas. If nothing else, it inspires me to keep working. I appreciated her ability to be honest without being too cynical. It was a quick read, and I'd recommend it to any writer.

Movies I Watched

3.5/5

This was super goofy, but a lot of fun. It was pretty predictable, but that didn't necessarily take away from the enjoyment of it. I was surprised to find that it didn't feel as dated as I thought it would be. Even though it was cheesy, I liked it.

5/5

What an impressive person! I loved finding out more about her life and hearing the perspectives of people around her. One of my favorite parts was probably learning how much she loves opera (so much so, she actually made a cameo appearance in an opera once!).

4/5

Despite its heavy subject matter, this movie was pretty funny and light for the first half or so. The beginning was enjoyable, but probably a little too long and repetitive in some parts. After the halfway point, you can't help but feel a sense of dread. I knew the ending was headed nowhere good, but I couldn't tell exactly how it would end, so it kept me paying attention. I liked it a lot.

Quotes I Wrote

This section will probably be pretty bare for a while since this year I'm mostly focusing on rewrites. Should I rewrite anything good, though, expect to be the first to hear about it!

Obsessions I Acquired

Nothing new to report.

Pictures of the Month

@midnightbookgirl_ did a review of Instructions For Flight on her bookstagram, and the photo was so pretty!!

Saw our friend Amelia perform in "Mary Poppins Jr." as the titular role. She was "practically perfect in every way!"

Jane Banks from our "Mary Poppins Jr." cast was in the ensemble in this production.

We were able to see the show with some of our "Mary Poppins Jr." castmates. It made us even more excited for our show!

Saw my friend Tyler (who was the other Captain Hook in "Peter Pan Jr.") as Roger in "Grease." I ran into my "Beauty and the Beast Jr." directors there, too!

Went out with friends to see a production of "Chicago." It was amazing! We saw it at a regional theater, but it was Broadway levels of good.

Homeschool group Valentine's Day party.

Saw friends in "Into the Woods!" The entire cast was fantastic.

Post-show family selfie.

That same production of "Into the Woods" had to find a last-minute replacement for Sleeping Beauty since the original one had a family emergency. I did three shows for probably a grand total of seven seconds onstage, but every second onstage is a second well spent. It was tons of fun to get to know the cast, even in that short amount of time, and see the show several more times. Here I am with Snow White, who taught me how to put on a wig for the first time.

My friend Trin also played Sleeping Beauty one of the nights I wasn't able to be there.

With my vocal teacher after the show.

The whole cast and crew of "Musicville" did such a great job putting on a fun show! I had a blast working as the student music director and getting to watch these kids grow, especially those who had never done theatre before.

With the leads. They did awesome!

With the kind and patient director. She made every single actor feel important and confident in themselves.

With the musical director, who was also the music director for "Lion King Jr." I always love working with her!

With the student stage manager and a castmate from "Charlotte's Web" who was cast in her first big role in "Musicville."

After one of the shows, a bunch of the student directors went out to eat. It was late and we were all exhausted, so there was a lot of giggling.

Time for Scout pictures! Photo evidence that she likes licking my hand the same way someone might lick an ice cream cone. What a weirdo.

How was your February?

MARCH

Books I Read

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22082082-our-own-private-universe

4/5

This was the perfect book to keep me company on the plane this past month during vacation. It had such great bisexual rep, especially for those in the early stages of questioning/labeling themselves. It was fun and easy to read and had a great voice. My only criticism would be that there were times that things felt a little disjointed. There were some good subplots, but they didn't weave together very smoothly. And because of that disjointedness, we'd sometimes get huge chunks of paragraphs of Aki's inner thoughts, which would come across as preachy or overwrought since it wasn't sprinkled throughout the book instead. I definitely still recommend it, though.

Movies I Watched

4/5

I really enjoyed this! It's a great start to her character. I loved seeing Nick Fury again, too. I was entertained the whole time and I'm excited to see where she goes from here. The curse of origin stories is that there does have to be a lot of setup, and I didn't get a great sense of Carol's personality, but it's also hard to get to know a character who doesn't have her memories sorted out. I've heard a lot of people comparing this to "Wonder Woman," but in my opinion, "Wonder Woman" was way better. This was good, but not amazing.

3/5

I loved this concept and the general creepiness of the whole situation, but the execution left something to be desired. Based on research on how this movie came about and the difference between this version and the original one, I probably would've liked the original a lot better. The feminist themes it handles are great, but the ending was rushed and too tidy. I wasn't a gigantic fan. This definitely seems better suited as a horror movie than a dark comedy.

3/5

This is such a hard movie to rate because if I'm rating it based on the movie alone, then yes, it's a 3/5. It was super weird. I liked it, but I also felt like I was watching someone's hallucination. But if I'm rating it based on the experience of seeing it in a movie theater with a couple dozen other people who are all shouting commentary at the screen and dancing and singing along, then it'd be a 5/5. It was tons of fun watching it in a group, especially since I'd never seen the movie before. Luckily, I was able to go with a friend who knew what to say at all the right moments, so I feel like I got the full experience. I would go again just for that group aspect. And next time I'll be more prepared to join in!

Quotes I Wrote

Once again, not much I can say here. I am making good progress on my rewrites, though.

Obsessions I Acquired

Nothing new here, either. I'm still deep into binging "Orange Is the New Black" and really enjoying it.

Pictures of the Month

This was the month of attending high school musicals, so there are many pictures . . .

Saw a bunch of old castmates in "Anything Goes!" Their set and choreography was especially impressive. Everyone did so well.

Went to see friends in "Sound of Music" along with my vocal teacher and a bunch of her students.

Family vacation to Jamaica! It was such a fun trip. It was my first time out of the country and I loved the whole experience (minus my terrible sunburn).

Getting to swim with dolphins was probably the biggest highlight of the trip. They were so sweet. They're like the puppies of the ocean!

Sad selfie taken on the day we had to leave.

We weren't too sad, though, because we got to visit Harry Potter World on the way home! It was as magical as I remembered it from years and years ago.

There was a fearless squirrel who actually came running over when it was called. I'm pretty it thought we had food. We were all slightly nervous it was going to attack . . . xD

"Newsies" was one of the best high school shows I've ever seen. The cast was PHENOMENAL. It didn't feel like a high school production one bit! The choreography was so intense, but everyone seemed to have mastered it. And as far as ensembles go, not much could beat this one. They brought tons of energy to the show.

Just a bunch of crazy theatre kids at a birthday party.

Friends in a production of "The Pajama Game!"

Once we realized we had all four houses represented between us, group pictures were a must.

Got some much-needed time together with an old friend on the first day of spring.

. . . and then we were photobombed by a hyper nine-year-old.

Our Bert from "Mary Poppins Jr." was also Rooster in his high school's production of "Annie," so naturally he had a gigantic "Mary Poppins" cheering section.

I am no longer a "Rocky Horror" virgin, as I was so clearly singled out when I first walked into the theater.

I got contacts! The poor woman at the eye doctor who trained me to put them in was so patient. We must've been there for half an hour. I definitely don't wear them every day, but they're nice to have on hand for things like auditions, performances, and choreography rehearsals.

My friend Josh invited me to see his old high school's production of "The Little Mermaid" and we snagged a picture with our vocal teacher, who played keyboard in the pit.