This is where I post the 750 words I write everyday. They range wildly in subject, but if you have some time to kill check out the subjects that interest you.
Some silly part of me thought that having internet in the car meant that I would blog everyday, but you, invisible readers, know me better than that. We've been on this journey for 4 days since my last blog, oops.
We had shows in Pittsburgh (which I just learned has an "H") and New York with The Next Great Adventour. Plus a show in Prince Frederick, Maryland with Grace of Snidget. It was a serious blast all of it, and I'm only a bit sad about not blogging. It's been terribly hot and muggy, but every show is worth the sweat. I've met some seriously awesome people, too many to possibly list here, and saw a ton of old friends. Especially all my NYC friends, like Miryam.
I was planning to make this blog eloquent and full of wisdom and funny thoughts, but we all know how things go when I plan things...so I'll just leave you with a link to my tour vlogs.
Today was the first day of the Love Will Prevail Tour and thus far it's been an absolute blast! There was a lot of work to do, packing the van, rolling shirts, cutting and wrapping frog cards, but it was worth every minute. The first show was in Buffalo and it was a success. There wasn't the biggest crowd, but they were happy to be there and it was a really neat venue. If any of you invisible readers live near Buffalo, NY please take time to check out Talking Leaves...Books. It's a really neat independent bookstore and they were totally awesome to us.
Besides selling merch at the show itself, I spent a fair bit of time in the van with Lena. We listened to some music and surfed the web (having internet in a car is fun) and just generally laughed a lot. Not much changed when we picked up Tianna. I love these girls so much, and we have a serious good time.
We spent the evening at Rachel's (Hermione in TFB) house and her parents made us a delicious dinner. I'm trying to be vegetarian on this tour and it's off to a pretty good start, but we'll see. After dinner Rachel took us to a milkshake place where they had outdoor seating that was giant rocking tables. The milkshakes were great and we had a blast just sitting and talking.
After the ice cream we returned to Rachel's house and I shot a tour vlog. It's not the most interesting, but feel free to watch it.
I wish I could better explain the hilarity that occured today but instead I will leave you with these thoughts. They might not make much sense, but they will make me smile.
"I thought that was a water bottle, but it's a bird." "Those aren't real curly fries. They're curly...fries." "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard." "Have you ever had a bad day where your friends ignore you and make it worse? This song is about that." "Welcome to the Accio Bodyguard Tour...except it isn't."
I'm betting we can all agree that it has been WAY too long since my last blog post, almost a year actually. So the question that must be on your minds dear nonexistent reader is "why now?" Well the simple answer is, because I felt like it. The longer answer will follow.
I've had a crazy wonderful life this year. Since meeting Lena and spending all the time with 730 I've been to Wrockstock, seen a ton of Wrock shows, and co-written a musical based on the last 200 pages of Deathly Hallows with Lena. I'm directing the show and it will be performed at Infinitus next month. The musical is called The Final Battle and I'm very excited about it. The entire production is a new experience. Casting, rehearsals, design, choreography, costumes, all of it happens over the internet. The roughly 70 people who make up our cast, crew, and orchestra won't see each other till the Wednesday before our Friday performance. Sometimes this scares the crap out of me, but most of the time it just makes me realize how wonderful the internet is and how blessed I am to be a part of this.
Outside of the Potter world I finished my fourth (of what will be five) year of college. I still love Econ and I still love college. I had a performing arts major as a roomie and she got me back into acting and all sorts of theater things. I'm rooming with her again next year and it promises to be an absolute blast. I've also found myself with a large crush (he's a Potter boy) that I'm hoping goes somewhere. Long distance is hard, but we've been surviving thus far and I have faith.
Now we come to the reason why I'm blogging again. As part of the build up to The Final Battle Lena decided to have a tour (her last Wrock tour) in July, and I'm going to be her merch girl. I get to travel to all of these places I've never been before and I'm going to have internet everywhere (my dad is letting me use his Verizon card). So buckle up kids because Wild July Adventure Volume 2 is about to get underway and it promises to be even more exciting than the first one.
Honestly that is where I quit blogging everyday. Life and lack of internet caught up with me and this blog once again lived up to it's name. So here's a quick summary of what you missed.
I basically all but moved into Room 730, where I met some of my greatest Potter friends. There are memories there that will last forever. We had late night readings of dirty fanfiction, crazy singalongs, and created our own movie commentaries. James agreed to go with me to the ball (as friends) which made the night wonderful and stress free. I went with Lena to get her tattoo, which is amazing. I feel in love with Sally's humor and Sara's face. Susan and I talked long about nothing and Anna provided enough entertainment for all. I adventured with them around the hotel and around San Fran. I really can't wait to see them again.
Still the fun of Azkatraz had to end sometime. After I cried goodbye to friends new and old my cousin came to pick me up. She was in San Fran for a break from her missionary work in Yemen so it was nice to see her and her family. She has two sons and we had a lot of fun playing around in the park. They flew out the next morning and my aunt and I drove north to my mom's parents.
I spent the next week with my mom's parents. Grandpa and I hiked everyday and I saw a lot of the ocean and the redwoods. It made me really miss seeing it every summer, like I used to. We had fresh fruit every night and lots of delicious home cooked meals. The only bad thing about the entire time was that they only had dial-up internet. I really don't know how people used to survive.
Next it was time to visit my dad's parents. The time with Gram and Granp was spent creating art from the sea shells I had collected and visiting the zoo and Great Grandma. I learned to make fudge and once again ate a lot of delicious home made food. This was obviously to make up for all the crap I ate while in San Francisco. Then they drove me to Sacramento where I boarded the train that would take me home.
The train, as always, was an adventure in itself. A wonderful two day journey which I mostly spent reading and talking to the guys sitting next to me. One kid taught me to play poker, and I promptly beat him. The guy behind me told me all about how he had hoped on the train in order to escape going to jail. He was leaving his girlfriend and heading home to his mom while he figured out his life (the guy was about 40). He was a "free spirit" and just wanted to travel. I wasn't exactly sad to get off the train.
My brother picked me up when I got home and we went out to eat. It feels wonderful to be home and able to relax for a couple of weeks before heading back to school. Which reminds me I should pack for college.
Yesterday was an adventure in Wrock, at least for me. I woke up early and listened to Andrew Slack talk about the Harry Potter Alliance. I ate at the welcome lunch and then an adventure in Wrock began. First I went to Lena's acoustic show which was a lot of fun. She asked me to sell merch for her. Mostly I just sat there with my mouth open and listened. Got to hear a lot of new songs that I fell immediately in love with. I spent some time hanging out with Lena in the afternoon. I helped her move things around and really met everyone in room 730. Then I headed off to the Mina Gallery only to discover that the show was 21 and over only. Tyler even had to stand outside when he wasn't playing, which was ridiculous. So they decided to play in the common room as well. The room was packed and I had a fantastic time. Even though I had already seen them play I really never get tired of it.After the common room show I helped Lena set up for Fair Fortune. This is Lena's wrock opera and it was even better live than it was on the CD. I sold merch during the performance, and that has become my favorite job. I got to hang out with Jeremy Jennings, the MoMmerch guy, and he made it all even more fun. I enjoyed the performance and everything that went with it. Lena said that I can sell merch for her again at the ball. I'm more excited than I should be.
So I must have done something yesterday morning but I don't remember what it was. This is because it was quickly washed from my mind by Wrock Around the Rock!!!! That's right I was on a boat! It was incredible! There were performances by House of Black, The Whomping Willows, Ministry of Magic, and the Remus Lupins. Not to mention that I got to hang out with a ton of friends; new and old, and dance till my legs didn't work. I also met StarKidPotter (you must know them) and Chris Rankin (who I didn't recognize at first). It was one of those occasions that is too awesome for text. Describing it requires lots of squees and much waving of the arms. Since neither of those things translate well to a blog I will just have to post a lot of pictures. Enjoy!
Yes, that pizza place is real. Sadly I did not eat there. Also the picture of the pier was taken on fireworks setting so just chase those thoughts out of your head.
As you know yesterday morning we arrived in San Francisco. We watched the sun come up, the fog roll out, and traffic appear, all long before we could check into our hotel. This wait left us with only a few options, so we decided to walk the streets. We saw crammed houses of every color, countless fire escapes, and more than a few plant collections. Oh and you can't forget all of the "trash" on street. Among so called trash we found a nice office chair and a coat hanger shaped like a tie. Sadly it was determined that these were not transportable items (although I was really gunning for the tie coat rack). Still, this is San Francisco and there was still much more to discover! My two favorite things are what follows.
Seriously who can honestly say they've never wanted a Transformer as their car? Wait, you can? Then why are you reading my blog? Honestly I took one look at this car (this is the hood) and thought Why haven't I done that? So Suze, Jenny,Earl, and I geeked out over the car, but our fun wasn't over yet, because just around the next block we ran into this.... Who knew that Whomping Willow lived on the west coast? And who knew that he and Jenny had such an interesting relationship. I suppose that's between her and the tree. There was an entire row of these trees and as soon as we saw them we all started yelling. It's a good thing that it was 6am or someone might have noticed the crazies and chased us away with "trash".
Eventually the hotel opened and Suze got her room. She and I chilled and wandered more commercial parts of San Fran while we waited for people to arrive. Eventually the hotel filled with Potter people and registration opened for us to get our HBP not midnight release tickets. Shortly after that I got a text from Anna. At the time we had never met but I was buying Ravenclaw robes from her. I went up to her room and spent the rest of the afternoon with Anna,Lena, and Erin. We had a complete blast just talking and being silly. Then we all got dressed up and went to see HBP again. Aren't Anna and Lena adorable?
As far as the movie goes I liked it just as much the second time around, but as I had done most of the driving I was exhausted. I found myself drifting so I will definitely be seeing the movie again.
It's been terribly hot and muggy, but every show is worth the sweat. I've met some seriously awesome people, too many to possibly list here, and saw a ton of old friends. Especially all my NYC friends, like Miryam.
