Curious Savage

As I posted a long time ago, I directed a play. And I know it's been a while, but I've been so busy that I haven't had time to blog. And I lost my camera cable. SO here we go. I'm catching up on all my blogs. So there's going to be a few posts in a row.

But yeah. I directed the Curious Savage. And you know what? I was really proud of my play. I was really lucky to have an amazing, very professional, and talented cast. We had our problems, as all casts do. But there seemed to be very little drama and the problems were handled very well. 

So thank you to my amazing cast.

I always knew that directing a play was a lot of work. I knew that. I've assistant directed, costume designed, written plays, I have even directed, but it's never been as hard as doing one like this. The plays I directed were in High School and College and I always had a friend or teacher there to tell me what to do. 

Luckily I had chad.

Now I don't know waht I ever did to deserve a friend like Chad Craner, but I'm sure I'd do it over and over again. He had no obligation to this show, wasn't in it, etc. BUT he was there every moment that he wasn't working, helping me paint, painting, painting, painting. Keeping me sane. Running for Mt. Dew. Running for my house for stuff I'd forgotten. Running to Arby's for dinner, and painting some more. 

We even had to spend the night sometimes at the scary theater. 

One night we decided to watch a ghost movie on my laptop...in the haunted theater...not a good idea.

This is our bed we would make out of various couch cushions, blankets, pillows etc. that we found lying around the theater. We slept on the stage, because we felt like it would be the safest place...and we were scared.

\

But I've spent so much time at this theater, on this stage, that once we turned the lights off and were just lying there, we just stared out into the dark theater, the faint outline of lights reflecting the green exit sign lights. The seats barely visible. etc. And you know what? It was quite peaceful. I will always remember the hours we spent in that theater. I know it isn't as much as some, but I also know it's a lot more than others. I've been in lots of productions there, spent many nights at late night rehearsals. I've been through every nook and scary cranny and room in that theater. I've seen bats and mice and I've seen new paint and old paint and new carpets and old carpets, etc etc, etc. And lying there with the theater dark and quiet, I realized how much Heritage has become a second home to me.

And my play turned out great. I loved my cast and I loved the experience. And I will definitely direct again. But it won't be for a bit. During this experience, and helping with Midsummer's (a  blog post yet to come.) I realized that I need to go back to school and I'm majoring in Theater Education. Yep. Gonna be a drama teacher. Oh brother. But here we go. right? Anywya, for those who took the time to support my cast, Thank you so much for coming to to show. For those who didn't, you really really missed out on an amazing show. Lots of people told the theater it was the best show they'd ever seen there. And I'd believe it. But not because of me, because of my cast. I received a letter from a lady telling me she'd been in the show twice, but she saw my production...and finally understood the show. She understood the characters. And that was quite the compliment. 

And it was all worth it. The pain, the late nights. The hundreds of gallons of mountain dews the hundreds of Arby's curly fries and chicken sandwiches consumed. The hours of sleep lost, the nights covered in paint with no showers. (I had rashes on my arms from the paint!) etc. it was all worth it. Next time? Think farther ahead so I'm not so tired opening night so I can enjoy it more. 

Pretty little flowers, all in a row

If you remember when I posted this blog entry about how does your garden grow? I talked about how I planted lots of bulbs, etc. Well when I got home from New York, all the flowers that Shawn and I worked so hard to plant were in full bloom. I promise these pics don't do justice to how beautiful they all looked! But here are some pics I got of my beautiful tulips and such! 

No wonder I can't lose weight.

I've been weighing myself wrong these 25 years!

Finally! The correct way to weight myself!

Hi, My name is Mandee, and i have an addiction

As most of you know, I love photography. I love it. so much. But recently, about the last year, I've started to get bored with photography. Digital cameras are amazing. We can take a million pictures and not waste any film, just memory space. We can delete what we don't want. Only get printed what we do. Color correct the ones that we believe are slightly "off." We can photoshop the heck out of them, and post them anywhere we want: blogs, flickr, facebook, etc. Digital cameras have turned the art of photography into an art for everyone. Like a color by number for those who don't know how to paint. I see some people who never would have been able to show their true talent if they hadn't been exposed to digital photography. I've also seen people who pick up a camera and point and shoot, not understanding white balance or ISO or aperture or lenses and call themselves photographers and charge poor seniors hundreds of dollars.


I was getting bored with my photography. I was getting bored, because everyone else was doing what I was doing. Even better. Plus, I knew I was one of those mediocre photographers who were allowed to have a digital camera who made their lack of talent come off looking a lot better than it should. I see my sisters' photography and I hang my head in shame, even on some occasions cry.


One of my problems was I never felt that I could accomplish what I wanted my pictures to look like. I couldn't show off the world how I saw it. I wanted to break through and show that part of the world that was dream like. That life really is a passing us by, that this moments are impressionable. Much how I imagine Monet and Van Gogh and Renoir and Seurat felt as they broke through with their painting. We live in an imperfect world and 20 megapixel, perfectly framed, focused and color-corrected photos don't really represent most of our lives. 


Enter the Holga into my life.


Finally. 




The Holga takes pictures exactly what I see the world as. Dreamlike.  Passing momments. Sometimes blurry. Sometimes weird. Sometimes Dark. Sometimes light. Most of the time: imperfect. 
And finally. I found a form of photography where I didn't care. I don't sit and focus my settings and my aperture etc etc etc hoping i get the right picture and lose focusing on what's really happening. I barely look through the eye lens. I just point it at something, set it at my hip, set it above my head, etc, and just click the trigger. Boom. A picture was taken. And then...the anticipation. I get to wait for my film to be developed and delivered. And you know what? It's like waiting for Chrsitmas. Every time. 


Analog Cameras, my holga, have come to save me from the world of being stuck in megapixels and jpegs and raw files. We're numbed to photography, you can't deny it. But my cheap, chunky, almost made all of plastic, camera has been put on this Earth to save me. It opens my eyes, helps me "see the light" so to speak. It spurs my vision and my inspiration. Seeing it fills me with joy. When I thought photography had disappeared forever from my life, it brought me sunshine in a cloudy day of my life. When life took away my perfect digital camera (which i haven't abandoned, because it still gets great shots that only are achieved with technology) and replaced it with my holga, it was like seeing beauty as i always imagined it. 

Live dangerously - go analog. 


And as this obsession with my holga came about, I have also been obsessed with other Analog cameras. And here are the two I am currrently saving up for:

The Fujifilm Instamax Mini 7s

A small polaroid type camera that takes small credit card size pictures.

I love it.

I want it. 

Why? Because although it doesn't take the vintagey, dreamlikepictures of a holga or diana camera...It's a polaroid. Perfect for roadtrips, vacations, hanging out with friends. Want it. Must have it.

And the Lomo Fisheye lens camera.

Exactly what the name entails. A camera that uses 35 mm film to take fisheye lens pictures! Just a camera for lots of fun. I plan on getting this one as well!

Anyway. So this is my new addiction.  And I love it.

My obsessions

First of all! I'm sorry to those who wanted to see pics of New York and Such and I STILL haven't posted...I lost my cable for my camera...yeeaah....sorry. So as soon as I find those I'll post. 

Second of all. I just wanted to share some things with you. Things that I'm currently obsessed with.

I guess some blogs call them "This week's picks." But I don't know if I'm going to be posting every week. Just thought I'd share.

My Holga, Vera. I love her. She never leaves my side.

These adorable homemade scripture cases I found here!

My new Tom Shoes. They're comfy and light and I love the way they look!

Looking at the world through a fisheye lens! 

I barely even put it on my holga, I just look through it! I love it!

The new Frozen Yogurt place on Riverdale Road, Frogurt! 

My super long day

got woken up at 5.
reminded mother i didn't need to by up for another 45 minutes
woke up at 5:45
Got dressed super fast
walked to subway station
took subway to south ferry. 
Waited in lines going to the statue of liberty, 
Walked through over protective security check.
stood on boat over to island
waited in line to get off boat
walked around liberty island
waited in line to go through another security check
waited for proper time frame for our tour
walked around museum
walked up 356 stairs to the crown of lady liberty. 
walked down the 356 stairs
waited in line at food
waited in line to get back on boat
waited in line to get off boat
waited in line at Ellis Island. 
walked through ellis island
got kicked off ellis island when fire alarm went off. 
waited in more line to get back on boats. 
stood on boats
walked to subway
stood on subway
walked to lambardi's. 
Waited 45 minutes to be seated. 
Walked to subway station. 
subway station was closed
walked back to other subway station
took subway up town a few stops
crossed to other platform
Stood on crowded subway all the way to city hall. 
walked across brooklyn bridge.
walked to park under brooklyn bridge. 
took freaking amazing pictures of NY skyline
walked back to subway (uphill) 
stood on crowded subway to times square. 
got off at times square walked a mile through subway stations. 
walked across super crowded times square
waited in line to use bathroom
stood on crowded subway. 
got to 110th. 
Went grocery shopping. 
walked to apartment.
walked up 4 flights of stairs
Ran up 1 flight of stairs. 
crashed on the couch. 
took ibuprofen in hopes swelling in feet would go down
wrote blog
Falling asleep.
Goodnight neverland.

New York, New York

Day 1 in New York. I'm here in the city with my brother, and I just don't know what to say. I've been to New York plenty of times. The last time I was here was the weekend before I flew out to Germany and I felt something that last time. And I feel it again this time.
I belong here. My circadian rhythm just fits here. The fast pace, all the people, the places to eat, the places to go, the things to see, the streets, the apartments, the subways, the west side market, the laundro mats, etc. All of it seems so normal and natural to me. When I was walking down Broadway looking for Ritz Camera, I had this sudden desire that I was actually going somewhere, to my job, to school, somewhere that would establish the fact that yes indeed I did live here. Anytime I get on the subway, it feels like a natural and completely normal form of transportation. I've always wished that Utah had a better transit system. And I miss that about Frankfurt.
I got asked for directions from people.
Something in this city brings me to life. It has killed me to watch two siblings live here before me. Two siblings who never really had the goal or drive to live in NYC. I was way happy for them, but I wish I could be here. I love it here.