Shrek the musical (Personal Addition #22)

At the beginning of the month our school put on a production of Shrek the Musical. I was in it and lucky enough to receive the part of Princess Fiona. The musical follows the classic Dreamworks cartoon movie with the music written by Jeanine Tesori and the book/lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire.  I really had a blast putting this show on because it was a real audience pleaser and was suitable for all ages. Plus, our amazing cast became one big family and we were able to play off each other on and off stage. I have participated in all of the musicals throughout my high school career, but this one is definitely a highlight!

This is the trailer from the production in London to show what the show is all about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdulPHjKSz4

Here's a collage of our school's Production

Photo cred: Madelaine Lapointe

Check out more of Maddy's photos at: http://madelainelapointe.blogspot.ca/

Creative Emergency Kit (Personal Addition #21)

A few weeks ago I went to go see my brother's play for is Honours class, "The Killing Game". And as I was standing in the lobby of the Gas Station Theatre, I noticed this piece of art (That's actually on sale!" called an "Art Emergency Kit". This one is specific to women, but it's the concept that I found really intriguing. Everyone has gone through creative droughts so this is the perfect kit to help you get back on track. This kit includes some wine, lipstick, chocolate, band-aids, ear plugs an iPod and much more. This just made me chuckle because I use quite a few of these things if ever I need a creative pick me up.

What do you use when you are going through a creativity drought?

This artwork is credited to: Alerry Lavitt Carpentry by David J. Lane

My Logbook (Personal Addition #20)

Over the past month, I have been keeping track of everything I've done and made it into a book. Looking through it now, it's cool to see what I've been up to over the course of a month. I find it interesting to look back on some days where I had several activities going on versus some days where I only had a couple things to do. A couple challenges I encountered while making my logbook was pictures, if you were to look through every page, you'd find some days there are no drawings and some days there are lots. That probably had to do with whether I was busy or not and had time to come up with mini doodles for each activity. Another challenge I faced was deciding whether an activity was significant enough to add. Lots of my life is spent working on projects or practising for a performance of some kind. Things like that that are routine and daily I often did not add. Also whether I was practising piano or doing calculations for chem I added that in as "homework". I just found it was simpler than actually specifying what I was working on at which points in time of the day. 

This also got my thinking, wouldn't it be really cool to make another logbook in a few years time and when it's done compare it to this one? It's amazing how on a day to day basis you don't notice a lot of changes that happen in your life but they drastically change the activities you participate in. I think I will have to do that, just to compare my current life to my future life. 

Anna Netrebko (Personal Addition #19)

On Friday at my voice lesson, my teacher told me to look up a soprano named Anna Netrebko, and I was sure glad I did!

Here's a video of Anna Netrebko singing O mia babbino caro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0diDwHtATw

Notice how as she sings every note so effortlessly? It feels like every note she sings is from the same place because she has just such good technique. She is quite the singer and is a newfound celebrity to me. Watching her sing gives me so much inspiration to work hard at how I sing now so one day perhaps I could sound something like her. 

Eavesdropping write-up

For this assignment, my friend Maddy and I had to go around the school to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations. We went around the hallways of our school to try and pick up on some of the daily conversations that people were taking part in and came across some pretty strange topics!

1. Talk about the process of eavesdropping: 

a. Where did you go?

We went in the hallways of our school because all the kids that skip class have fairly weird conversations.

b. How long did you listen to conversation?

We listened to about two minutes of each conversation (before they found us suspicious).

c. Who was it between?

Most of the conversations were between about two guys and one girl.

d. How did it feel to be recording the conversation?

We felt like undercover spies!

2. What insights did you gain about the way people speak? 

We listened to two groups containing a couple boys and a girl and another group containing a couple girls. We noticed during the conversations with the boys and girls that most guys are willing to start conversation with girls ( knowing the girl will continue the conversation). They will continue talking even if they aren't interested in the topic. It was funny to see how the guys quickly lost interest but pretended to listen. The difference between the all girls conversation was that sentences were more cut off and it was more fast paced.

3. How can you apply this to your writing?

What we noticed is very typical to conversations between girls and guys. The conversation is slower and the girl is the main focus. Conversation between a group of girls is faster and harder to keep track of the topic because the topic is always changing. ( I now understand why guys tune us out!)

4. How is personality and character revealed through conversation/dialogue? 

We noticed that your personality can be portrayed through the choice of wording you use and how intense your tone is. For example, these two girls were talking about their love for music and you could tell the one girl was a little more tough than the other girl. She was swearing while describing how much she loved music and how she HAAAD to pick up some new beats to have a deeper experience with her music. The other girl was a little more gentle with her words and seemed happier. This reflects their characters as people with only a few words.

5. What happens when more than two people participate in a conversation?

When more than two people participate in conversation, we noticed sentences aren't always finished. The more people there are, the more other people begin to interrupt or add in on conversation. We also noticed that the more people in conversation, the more the topic can change because new ideas are being brought up. Between two or more girls the conversation is harder to follow, but when there is a guy and a girl the guy usually ends up listening.

6. What was the most surprising thing you've learned about the way people converse?

I suppose one thing that really surprised us was that people (high school students specifically) can have long conversations about the most random, general topics. Ones we heard today were music and socks. We know that sometimes we're like this as well when we converse with people, but that just goes to show that as teenagers, we don’t always have a whole lot of interesting topics to talk about on a daily basis. Especially since we talk to the same people everyday. Conversations begin to resort into talking about random things such as socks. (Believe us... they talked for a good 10 minutes about their socks!)

7. What are the differences and similarities between written and spoken conversations?

In our opinion, the biggest difference between written and spoken conversations are that most written conversations are not only more planned out, but have more of a purpose. I know that lots of the things we say do not always have a purpose and sometimes it’s just about the experience of interacting with another person. Usually in a story or wherever else you’ll find written conversation, the author will omit conversations that do not further develop the character or plot of the story. However in spoken conversations in life, one cannot simply omit a useless conversation. Also in a spoken conversation there is more of a visual aspect because you can see the person actually talking and read their body language.

dialogue picture

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/20902086011/465

"Well, would you look at that," Randy said, as he held his camera to his eye.

"I still don't see what's so interesting about a few rocks,"Sandy said.

The two of them had been walking all day, outside under the hot sun. The only thing Sandy wanted to do on her vacation was wander around the air-conditioned resort. But Randy wanted otherwise. 

"It's a magnificent testament to human power!" Randy exclaimed, "Or at least that's what the book says."

"You and that book," Sandy said under her breath as she held her head in her hands. She didn't see the need in beginning an argument. She was way too tired.

"Why don't we go back and have some dinner at the resort?" Sandy suggested. 

"Maybe in a while," Randy said, "Why don't we explore this trail some more?"

"Alright, fine, but were going to go eat after this," Sandy agreed reluctantly. 

Three hikes later nothing had changed. Randy found interest in every hike under the hot sun and Sandy trailed slowly behind him. All she wanted to do was go back and rest her swollen feet. 

"There's nothing like a good old hike!" Randy said. Whether it was due to her swollen feet of dehydration, Sandy finally exclaimed,

"I WANT TO GO BACK!"

Randy looked puzzled, but replied, "Alright, we can do whatever you want! This trip is all about you!"

And the two of them made their way back to the air-conditioned resort. 

        = Dialogue

        = Non-verbal body language 

Imagery paragraph

The Fault in our Stars

John Green

Pages 18 & 19

I glanced around and saw that a tall, curvy brunette girl had Isaac pinned against the stone wall of the church, kissing him rather aggressively. They were close enough to me that I could hear the weird kissing noises of their mouths together and I could hear him saying “Always” and her saying “Always” in return.          

___

His hand reached for her boob over her shirt and pawed at it, his palm still while his fingers moved around. I wondered if that felt good.

    = Visual

    = Auditory

 __= Kinesthetic 

1. I chose this passage as an example of imagery because I thought it had multiple types of imagery. They all add descriptive aspects and you are really able to mentally visualize being there when Isaac and Monica are kissing. It creates a very awkward position for the reader and obviously for Hazel, the narrator. 

2. I feel as though visual imagery is most commonly used in this passage. There are two examples, when Hazel describes what the girl looks like and how they are kissing. This passage also paints a vivid image when Isaac is feeling Monica up. These are both two very effective examples of visual imagery.

3. I think the best snippet of imagery in this passage is: " Isaac pinned against the stone wall of the church, kissing him rather aggressively." Which is an example of visual imagery. I feel like the key words that make this so effective is "kissing him rather aggressively". This is very descriptive and allows the reader to imagine two teenagers making out and it being a very awkward moment for those standing by. 

4. I don't know if I could call this imagery positive or negative, I'd say it's more a neutral description of what's going on. I feel that this is representative of how Hazel feels at this moment. She isn't extremely disgusted as perhaps an older, more mature narrator would be, but it's not like she is enjoying the scene she is witnessing either. The narrator's tone toward this scene is very unprejudiced; not specifically negative or positive.

5. The mood that is being created throughout this passage is that they are creating a very awkward moment. Even if Hazel's tone is neutral in this passage, us as readers are feeling as though we just walked into something we shouldn't be seeing. An example of how this happens is the sentence: "I could hear the weird kissing noises of their mouths together." This shows us, as readers, a very uncomfortable position, as this isn't something that anyone wants to watch or hear.

6. I feel like the purpose of this imagery is to show the very classic depiction of teenage hood. The reason that this is being portrayed is because this classic scenario is not something that the main character, Hazel participates in. Her life is very different, living with cancer, and even though this is a very awkward scene for most of us as readers, Hazel looks at it almost with longing. The only thing she wants is just to be a regular teenager; to partake in regular, normal teenage activities (much like making out with people in public places) but can't due to her physical health. 

dialogue picture

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/61377693601/763-dorothy-vs-alice-update-the-image-is-by

Holiday Spirit (Personal Addition #18)

With the snow falling, it seems as though winter is in full swing. And nothing says winter and the holiday season like the classic Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You. 

Here's  a quick way to get into the Holiday Spirit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY

Mars bars Rice Krispie cakes (Personal Addition #17)

Needing a quick and easy dessert recipe? Then this is perfect for you! Mars bars Rice Krispies are very easy to make and only require a few ingredients. Although the best part is that they only takes 10 minutes!

Here's what you'll need:

-2 cups of Rice Krispies

-4 Mars bars

-1/2 cup of butter

-1 cup of choclate chips

-8x8 pan

Step 1:

Melt butter and mars bars in a frying pan on medium-low heat. 

Step 2:

Once melted, take the frying pan off the element and add the Rice Krispies.

Step 3:

Put the mixture in an 8x8 pan.

Step 4:

Top it off with the chocolate chips and put it the oven on broil for 30 seconds. 

Step 5:

Spred the melted chocolate and place it in the fridge. 

Step 6: 

Let it cool, and there you have it! Simple and delicious squares for everyone to enjoy!


Find this recipe at: http://www.food.com/recipe/mars-bars-rice-krispies-squares-no-bake-72608
And find many more delicious recipes at: http://www.food.com