Sunday, March 27, 2011

Week Eleven

I have had the roughest weekend ever. Worked 10-2 on Friday and Saturday. Friday I had rehearsal from 5-10 for Camp Adventure Dessert Fest and Saturday night I had to babysit from 5-12. It was the longest weekend ever.

At Camp Adventure training, we have been practicing songs and skits to perform for our parents at Dessert Fest. We do this to show the parents what we will be doing this summer as camp counselor on different military bases around the world. I have gotten to see a few skits that I am not in and the visuals we use are amazing. They do a Nemo skit that is "underwater."



The lighting and scenery they used made it feel like you were actually underwater. With the scene set, it made the whole skit seem believable and interesting and funny.

In high school, I was in the Drama club and I remember always work on build the set for the coming production. If we didn't have a set that matched the play, it wouldn't work at all. A set helps make the audience feels as if they are there, in the scene. They feel connected to the character and are able to visually see what it would look like. It's amazing how visuals can make or break a whole production.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Week Ten

Today I had to leave my family and come back to school. What a drag. It was not fun at all. But I knew I had to come back and start getting ready for the week of school ahead. But at least I don't have a few classes this week because it's participation week.

Before this week starts, I like to watch a few shows like tonight at 7 is Amazing Race. This show has teams racing around the world for a million dollars. This season they brought back teams from former season that hadn't won. When I first saw who was on the show, I freaked out. Three of my favorites teams were coming back to the show. I started thinking back to what happened to them in recent episodes.

One team I love is a mother son team. The son is deaf and uses sign language to speak. He relies on visual symbols for everything.


I started to think about what it would be like if I could only speak with my hands and rely on others to communicate with visuals of their hands. If I had lost my hearing, how would I communicate without knowing the language? I have learned two songs in sign language for Camp Adventure this year but most of those words would not help me communicate in real life situations. I would have to rely on drawing pictures or writing out what I wanted to know and others would have to do the same. But I would get used to it after a while and I would be able to see things through a new light and come to appreciate the little things I hadn't noticed before.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Week Nine

This week I will be home for SPRING BREAK!!! It is finally here and I have been home for 2 days now. It is amazing to come home and see family. It's a great feeling when you walk into the house and your dog remembers who you are. My dog Bailey was freaking out when I walked in and I had to sit and pet her until she stopped whining, and even then we kept following me around.

I don't know if she remembered me from seeing me or if it was the smell of me. I smelt like home and she knew my name when mom said I was home. When I am not able to be home as often, it is great to walk in the door and know she still remembers me. It's a reminder that she still can recognize me.

I love coming home and seeing my dog in the window waiting for anyone to come home. It's even better when she sees me and knows I haven't been there in a while and can't wait to see me. Dogs are the best.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Week Eight

This weekend I did a whole lot of nothing. My roommate left for the weekend so I finished homework and then had to find something to do. So this weekend I decided to rent new movies that just came out and have a movie marathon in my room. I was amazed at some of the cinematography of these movies. I rented Social Network, Life as we Know it, How to Train Your Dragon, You Again, and 127 Hours.

The one with most diverse visuals was 127 hours. It is about a guy, James Franco, who is an appealing visual himself ;), going climbing. It shows all the beautiful landscapes of the area and gets you connected to where he is right away. Then he meets to girls and you see them climbing between two walls, their feet and hands on one wall and their backs against the other. It's a scary moment and you can feel the pressure of them not wanting to fall. And then James Franco falls and the girls are screaming and wondering if he is ok. He yells up to them to fall because he has fallen into a beautiful pool of water below them.

He leaves them and goes off on his own to explore. Suddenly, he falls into a crevice and gets his arm stuck between a rock and the wall.

The next 127 hours are scary and very visual as he see flashbacks about his family and the girl he loves. He has to survive off the water in one water bottle and only some food he has. It gets worse when he finally decides that there is no way he is going to get out and has to face his final choice, which I won't say. The music makes you feel what he goes through and how much pain he is in.

When he finally gets out, he has to struggle with one arm to find his way out. It is a scary and beautifully made movie. It is based on a true story as well. I recommend it to all.