| Long time no Journal |
[Jun. 21st, 2004|11:18 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Avenue Q Theme | ] |
Haha, it's been awhile since I've written in this old puppy, so I have a lot to say...let's start with a paragraph summary of the last three months.
So, March comes around, and big change happens. My father left to Viriginia to live with my Mom, and I moved into my Aunt and Uncle's in Bells Corners. (I think that's about where I stopped making entries). Right after that I auditioned for Orpheus' Annie Get Your Gun (and to my great suprise, got in) and that's when my life started to get a little bit hectic. I went to all three levels of Sears Festival with the Antigone crew (thanks a lot you guys, you're all wonderful, and I had a great time), did 3-5 rehearsals a week with Orpheus, which was an incredible experince (During our 9-night run in June we showed to at least 900 people a night), and of course all the various little things, like school, and vocal groups (Dinner Theatre was an awesome experience, mostly because I got so much good feedback on "Bring Him Home"), got a job at Starbucks, and all sorts of other stuff. So in any case, it's been a busy, but very rewarding time.
I've grown a lot in the last three months. First of all, with all the exposure to singing and acting, I know that's definitly what I want to pursue in the future. Also, I think that not having parents (or really any sort of "immediate" family around) has made me mature a lot too, though I definitly have to give kudos to good friends like J.T. and Jason Abedelhadi (who were always a good outlet to talk to), and of course Ali, whose more than I ever could have asked for. When you lose family (or at least when they move far far away) your close friends tend to replace them in a way, and you become more in need of them than ever. So thanks to everyone that's always been there for me!
I can't believe the year is actually over! These last three years, which have certainly been the most important to me so far, have seemed like a flash in the pan. I try to hold those memories close...but it's weird how they all drift away so quickly. Anyways, it was a great year, and I think next year will be even greater! First semester I have Drama, Mod. West, Law and a spare, and than second sememester I have Vocal, English Lit., Writers Craft, and a spare! Woo hoo! Of course, strewn along that will be school musical, and hopefully a couple Orpheus shows and Sears, but we'll have to see!
This week on Justin's calendar:Prom, and lots of work. Woo hoo! Anyways, people that I've fallen out of touch with, call me so we can hang out!
As the hungarian say: 'Zis iz all.
Justin |
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| Uh!? |
[Feb. 21st, 2004|05:04 pm] |
I had an incredible day yesterday.
First period Adam and I presented "The Box" in Drama, and it was by far the best performance I've ever done. Everything just fit together, and the two of us pulled it off really well. The class loved it, and PVA said we were "exceptional." And I wore Moses-like apparrel.
Aw yeah.
The rest of my day whipped by. Peer Tutoring-Same as usual. Lunch-Bell Idol, which actually went quite well. Who would've known Shauna had such an amazing voice!? English-Went by quickly, which is all one can hope for. Math-Got back a test (89%, woo hoo!) It frightens me that I'm doing so well in Math, considering I didn't get a mark over 60% last year. I think perhaps it means the world is going to end. Once again we had Sears rehearsal after school, which went alright. It was good because we'v now completely blocked the entire show...unfortunatly, everyone seemed really worn out, so none of us were really as good as usual. After that Ali came over to my house, where we talked and watched American Beauty and listened to music and basically had a wonderful time, as per usual.
So as you can guess, I was in a pretty stellar mood.
Two minutes after Ali left, however, my Dad came in. (this was around midnight, he had just gotten home from the airport...he's been visiting my Mom in Virginia for the last couple weeks.) This was all fine and dandy, until he gave me the rather suprising news that he could be leaving for Virginia as soon as March 15th. Yes indeed, not fall, not summer, but in less then a month. To say the least, I was dumbfounded.
So what now? I'm more confused then anything. Because on one hand I'm pretty damn happy because everything in my life is going pretty well. On the other hand, that whole life is about to be turned completely upside-down. I'm sure I'll be able to find a place to stay...but damn. It's going to be a lot different.
Happy, sad, frightened? I have no idea what I am. Kind of excited in a way, I guess. In some cases (like if I end up living with Adam), I have the potential to have a pretty good time. It's still scary though...mostly because it's happening so quickly.
Ah well, no need to dwell on it now. I'm going to end this entry with a little cite passage from American Beauty...I love the writing in it, and...I dunno. It's just good. These are the last lines of the film.
"...it's hard to be angry when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes, I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and I can't take it. My heart swells up like a balloon that's about to burst. But then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold onto it. And then, it flows through me like rain and I feel nothing but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry. You will someday." |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 19th, 2004|10:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  relaxed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Finale-Les Miserables | ] |
Things are best described in two words: overwhelmingly busy. My life is full of lots of concerns right now, those mainly being: Math, English, 8 million things to memorize in Drama, Antigone, vocal groups, Students Council, and of course, vocal stuff outside of school. *phew*
Not that I'm angsting or anything. No, seriously.
Because even though I'm super busy, life is treating me pretty damn well. Other then the fact that my courses are loading on the work, I really enjoy all of them. Antigone is an incredible experince to be a part of, and though at times I tend to find vocal groups tiresome, I enjoy the people that I get to hang out with there, and it's good practice. (even though I broke my voice and can't sing at all right now). The only problem with being so busy is that often I find myself not getting enough sleep, and this makes me extremely moody. And when I say extremely, I really mean it. In one period I can go from realitive happiness to complete unhappiness...and vice versa. So kids, the lesson of the story is: Getting lots of sleep is the key to happiness.
It really pisses me off that I hurt my voice. I love singing, it's like my thing...and not being able to do it is definitly a huge annoyance. Ah well, all wounds heal with time. And at least I can still act, which, though I don't like it as much as singing, is certainly up there with things that make me content. Another source of happiness: musical soundtracks. It makes bus rides so much better. Some day I'm going to be an artistic director...It's almost like a hobby, I listen to the musicals and then choreograph what I think should be going on on stage in my head. A strange hobby...but a hobby none the less.
Really, the more I think about it, the more I have to be happy about. Even the things that make me stressed (school, ect.) are things I enjoy doing. I have great friends, and through things like vocal and Antigone I've become closer with people I wasn't before. I also have an incredible relationship with a girl that I find myself falling for more and more all the time, which is really a pretty special thing. (Yah, mushy, I know, shut up, I'm a hopeless romantic.) I can't say how lucky I am to have great friends like Adam and J.T., and countless others, and a girlfriend like Ali. And course, the people I've been speaking to more lately, like Jason. I love being able to share my love of things like opera and musical theatre with someone.
Ah, I know. Silly sentiment.
Well, that's all for now.
Oh, and I was so wrong with my pre-judging Les Miserables before-the Original Broadway Cast Recording is absolutly gorgeous.
And on that note...farewell, les amigos. |
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| What, Justin posting!? (this is a long one) |
[Jan. 27th, 2004|10:47 am] |
SEMESTER ONE IS OVER!!
And with that little outburst over, yes, I am actually posting in my journal for the first time in over three weeks. (I'm sure Laurie will be happy).
So someone tell me, what exactly happened to the time? I don't mean the time between my last post and this post...I mean, what exactly happened to all of Semester One? Looking back, it seems like ages have passed, but it's all gone by so quickly I can hardly remember half of what has happened. I can't even begin to comprehend all the changes that have happened in my life, or how much I've really changed too. Looking back a couple years, I can't believe what I used to be like and what I'm like now. Spikey haired, punk-listening, baggy-clothed, obnoxious Gr.9 into quite normal haired, classical listening, collegiate dressed, semi-quiet Gr.11. What happened in between to create these changes? Don't ask me, I can hardly keep track.
But anyways, staying on track, this past semester has been an incredible time for me. Though it got off to a rather rocky start (as periods of change generally do)I can truly say that there is nothing I've done this school year that I really regret, and I think that everything that has happened to me has really only contributed postively. But then again, I'm lucky to have all the good things that have happened to me. Oliver (just like Fiddler last year), was an incredible experince that really enriched my life. In September I realised how much I love singing and acting, and how I definitly want to do something that relates to them in my post-secondary education life, whether that be performing on a stage or teaching in a classroom...or mabye both. I've made a new best friend (that I couldn't see going without now) to go with the other four that I call my best friends (JT), and I've made some new friends that, though they aren't best friends, are certainly people I'm very glad to know. (Chris M., Frank, Ameera, Trisha, Sam, ect., ect...the list could go on and on.) I also now find myself in a wonderful relationship with Alison, when in October I was sure I would never go out with someone in high school again. I didn't think I had it in me anymore to have a great relationship...but it just took the right girl to come along. And I really couldn't be any happier. We have great talks, we're super comfortable around each-other, and whenever we hang out I always have an awesome time and leave feeling really great. Who could really ask for anymore?
My exam week went pretty well. My English exam was terrifyingly long, but I think I probably did ok on it. I killed my vocal exam (96%, what!?) and ended up doing my performance exam in Instrumental, despite all my misgivings. (Thanks to Laurie, Chris, and Ali T. for bullying me into doing it. ;)) And I got 76% on it, which is much better then the 0 I was going to take. My Law exam was harder then expected, but I studied like a demon for it, so I should do ok on it too. And yesterday...I saw Andy Creeggan again!! Ameera and I were driving out of the school to go around the block and listen to music, and right when we were turning out of the Bell parking lot we both looked to the left, and there was Mrs.Sutterlin pulling into the school with Andy in the passenger seat. We both said "Hey, that's Andy!!", Ameera pulled a crazy U-turn, and we drove right back into the school after him. He gave me and Ameera hugs (aw) and then I watched for a bit as Mrs.Sutterlin, Mr.Stanutz and him recorded a couple songs. I really miss that guy...but he's probably coming to our Coffee House in the spring!
Plans for next semester: The all consuming Sears Festival, two vocal competitions (Kiwanis, NATS...and well, a third, if you consider auditioning for Canadian Idol a vocal competition), Students Council, all the vocal groups at school, and a pretty good line up of courses. (Gr.11 Drama, peer-tutoring Gr.10 Drama, Mix Math, and Gr.12 English...I really hope there's some Gr.12's I know in that class).
And so ends my long-winded update. I should probably right more often...then these things wouldn't be so long. :|
Good luck next semester everybody!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 3rd, 2004|10:00 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | peaceful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Peaceful silence. | ] |
( Getting old quick? Oh well! )
Well, long time since I last posted...
Things are going really well with me. New Years Eve was...well, interesting ha ha. I think the main thing people in my grade need to learn is when to stop. Mabye it comes with age. Went to Kyle's before and after Jenn's party, and that was super fun. The pictures are...well, a little frightening, but funny none the less.
This week I've taken it pretty easy. On Monday I saw Trisha Smith's musical "Aladdin" with a bunch of Grade 12's (I was with Ali (girlfriend Ali)), which was actually really really good. It was a musical for little kids (the audience was supposed to boo when the bad guys on stage and the like) but it was well done. On Tuesday Ali (once again girlfriend Ali) came over and we watched Jekyll and Hyde and Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was also really fun. Things went really well. We talked a lot, and communicated really well. We've definitly progressed from the whole "this is the first week of our relationship...what's it going to be like!?" phase and moved on, and as far as I can tell things seem to be going super good.
I already briefly covered New Years Eve...I enjoyed my time with the "boys", I definitly feel very lucky to have such good companionship. I don't think it's going to be often that I find friends like them.
I still haven't done any homework, and we're back to school in two days. Oh well. That's what Sunday night is for!
I believe I'm going to buy Ben Folds "Rockin' The Suburbs" tommorow. I've wanted to buy it for over a year, and never gotten around to it.
Well that's it from me...audios amigo's, we'll see you all on Monday! |
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| Three cheers for David Hasselhoff! |
[Dec. 26th, 2003|11:24 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "Thanks That Was Fun."-The Barenaked Ladies | ] |
This series of questions is really awesome, it helped me reflect on the past year...in a very generalized way anyways. Thanks Ali T. and Bri.!
( Reflections )
My Christmas this year was really nice and relaxing. I got to see my Mom (yay!...except she didn't bring our short legged cat...bah!) and both my brothers, whom I don't get to see very often.
Presents: Parents got me Jekyll and Hyde:The Musical on DVD (wooo!!!...starring David Hasselhoff!?), lots of socks and boxers (exactly what I asked for), a couple muscle shirts (oo, so sexy), cologne, and some money. (nothing better then good, cold cash). One brother got me an HMV gift card (perfect...Michael Buble, here I come!) and my other got me this really nice huge 2 DVD edition of West Side Story. It comes with the entire screen play! That was a really nice suprise.
Other presents included random clothing/choclates ect. from aunts, uncles, ect.
Weirdest presents: From my grandparents. A flashlight that opens up into a tool box (!?) and an emergency wind-up radio. Yah, that's what I said too. :|
Over-all it was a great Christmas, and I feel very lucky to have been able to spend it with my family. One should not take advantage when they are lucky enough to get nice presents and have a good time with their siblings and parents. Not everyone is that lucky.
Trisha's musical on Monday! Woo hoo! And I get to see Ali too! Yay!
I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays, and I hope you all had awesome Christmases!! |
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| Damn my shattered memory! |
[Dec. 20th, 2003|03:44 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | content | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "Light my Candle"-Rent (so much Rent lately...ahh) | ] |
I need to update more...I forget things far too quickly.
Things that stand out paticularly in my head this week:
Wednesday-School wise...I can't really remember. Watched Liar Liar in Law, which is, though entirely stupid, a pretty good movie. After school I went to Ali's and we hung out and had a really awesome time. Watched Trading Spaces, watched a guy from the new Degrassi rap about AIDS, wrapped presents, ect. Her Dad made us a super tasty dinner...and I ate meat for the first time in three months. It was very strange, the tiniest bit of turkey filled me right up. However, it also made me feel really good and healthy...so I'm back to eating meat again, even if in small quantities. That night was the concert, which went suprisingly well considering how unorganized it was. Sang "Fields of Gold" for the last time...*sniff sniff*, and talked to some Bell Alumni. Woo hoo!
Thursday-Sang some Christmas Carols with the Creeggan-ator in the morning, and also moved some large potted plants. *woo hoo*. In Vocal I quickly threw together an order for "Holla-Day '03". At Lunch J.T. and I finalized most assembly related things. In the afternoon my law class finished Liar Liar (aw, the ending is so cute), and in English we played "literary pictionary." Though it sounds quite boring, it was actually a ton of fun and chaos. Especially when Alana attempted to draw Barbie on the board (all I can say is good thing no teachers other then Mr.Risk were present in the room...yikes). After school J.T., Kyle and I all cleaned up Mr.Van Allen's room (and found some really cool stuff...florescent pink fedoras!) and then went Christmas Shopping, which though slighty unproductive (it took us three hours) went really well, and I got all my Christmas presents save one.
Yesterday-Ah, I love the school day before Christmas Break. The whole morning mostly comprised of hanging out. In Vocal Dan Tarof did his "master class" (he's not in our vocal class), which was a rousing rendetion of "Damnit Janet" from Rocky Horror Picture Show. I got to say Janet, Brad, and Andy (Dan wrote a verse specially for him) at all the right points. Fun! In the afternoon I M.C'd the Christmas Assembly with Gemma and J.T. (once again, it went really well, considering it was organized the day before) and then hung out at the school for a bit afterwards. I was very over-whelmed by how friendly everyone was. Dave Cambell got me a really nice necklace and chocolates (completely unexpected), Ali got me Starbucks coffee, a Starbucks mug, and some really nice AE boxers (once again completely unexpected) and then Mr.Van Allen, in a sudden bout of super good mood, waited in the parking lot while he sent me down to his room with his keys and let me borrow his "Jekyll and Hyde:The Complete Works" special edition 2 CD boxed set. So, in other words, it's all good. On a side note: Andy...gone...nooo! As a high school we were super lucky to have Mr.Creeggan with us, and I think I learned a lot from him (musically and not-musically) and he was a great inspiration. He helped me a long performance wise, and seeing how comfortable he was just being himself made me realise that's the only way anyone should be. Anyways, I think we'll all miss him, but nothing good lasts forever, and we should be thankful for the time we had with him!
After school I went to Bayshore with J.T., where we met up with Adam, who shortly left after. I got a really nice jacket from Old Navy, and then J.T. I just wandered around drinking coffee, and I finished my Christmas shopping. Woo hoo!
I went to my work party at 7, and it was completely nuts. The people I work with are crazy! My secret santa got me some really cool ceramic Tiki mugs (for those who don't know, I'm a Tiki God collector of sorts) and a bunch of crazy stuff happened, including the appearance of jack-off glove and a butt-plug. Gaaahhh! That's right, at the dinner table! Anyways, I didn't drink at all, and suprisingly, though everyone was drinking a lot, no one really got drunk, even a former tattooist who drank over 9 pints of Guiness. So anyways, that was a little nuts, but fun none the less.
Today has been my take it easy to the maximum day, and I've enjoyed it thorougly.
Let us all be thankful for the grand vacation ahead of us. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 16th, 2003|06:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  lazy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "Another Day"-Rent | ] |
Ah, only 3 days left until Christmas Vacation. Thank God!
I feel so tired...everything I do takes extrodinary amounts of effort. This is probably one of the main reasons I haven't updated for a good number of days.
I am filled with fear at the thought of Christmas shopping. I still have 5 people to shop for, and I have limited time and resources. And plus, I have a strange phobia of shopping malls and large crowds of shoppers. Especially since all the rednecks from outer lying reigons seem to crawl out of the woodwork around this time of year. Ahh, so intense!
School wise things have slowed down to a crawl. Classes drag on for eternity...but thankfully all homework has come to an abrupt stop, which makes evenings a good deal more fun.
Life wise everything is A-Ok. Once again, being drained because it's so close to vacation makes me pretty lethargic and quells my out-goingness, so I haven't been extra-chatty with friends of late. That's all right though...we have a big break coming up soon where I'll be able to regather all my energy.
Things with Ali are going very well. Even though we're still in the first week phase of the "learning what this relationship is going to be like" period, converation comes easily and we both seem to be happy!
Had a really good talk with Laurie today. Her and I have conversations on a level that I don't have with many people. And they usually seem to be in the music room. How strange is that? And even stranger...it's usually in Mr.Stanutz office!
Dan A. is a really great guy. I hope him and "random girl" get together.
I got a candy cane from Jen in Law! Woo hoo!
Anyways, that's it for now. Christmas Concert tommorow! Time to go grocery shopping with my Dad...*damn busy shopping malls*. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 9th, 2003|06:54 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "There's a Light"-Rocky Horror Picture Show | ] |
The last few days have been excellent...everything is going super well right now.
I think yesterday was good...for some reason my memory slips me on most of what happened. It was pretty average, and it went by really quickly, which is always a bonus. The strangest thing was the dream I had the night before last.
I dreamt I had died, and I was in the after life. The after life itself was very desolate...there were stone ruins all over the place, tree's and lots of green hills, and it was overcast and raining. I was talking to some friends who were there too for whatever reason (they weren't dead or anything) and they were telling me about what was happening now that I was dead and such, and then they had to leave, and I was left there alone. It was so strange...I was left feeling lonely , sad (thinking I would never see any of those people again), and distanced...It was so bizzare. When I woke up I still felt like that for a few minutes until I realised it was all just a dream.
Strange how sometimes one's over active brain can really make one appreciate the friends they have and the people they know.
Today was excellent. In the morning Vocal Class and Senior Band went to DA for a "look what I can do!" concert. It was really fun, and the solo I do with Trish went really well. DA looked so small compared to how I remember it...Times keeps on slipping by, it's already been 2 and half years since I've been there. That was pretty weird. Band sounded amazing, especially for Chicago, and Vocal Class sounded quite good too.
Lunch='ed mullet='ed good times had by all. Everyone involved went all out, and the crowd was super responsive. M.C'ing is a ton of fun! Except for the fact that I completely shot out my voice and then had to sing in front of Stephen Boudreau (super-talented piano player accompanyist man).
I kept falling asleep in English, Law was...well, Law.
I've been listening to Rent a lot lately, it rocks out. (thank you Alison Tebulba!! you rock too!!)
Music is beautiful.
Mullet is beautiful.
Girl is beautiful.
Life is beautiful.
I don't feel there's any point in worrying about the future will hold right now...I'm going to enjoy the happiness while it is here! That's all for now...ourvoir. |
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| Among the fields of gold... |
[Dec. 4th, 2003|07:21 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  ecstatic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "Fields of Gold"-Sting | ] |
I have "Fields of Gold" by Sting stuck in my head on permanent replay. That's alright though, I love it to death. Good ole Sting, and SATB arrangements of things by him.
Today was one of the best days I've had in a long time. It was just...I dunno, nothing really went wrong. Or mabye I should say everything went right. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the perfect day or anything, but it was just right.
Morning was good, everyone really got into Strut Zone (putting up streamers/lights/and such) and my morning classes were pretty good. Instrumental is always interesting when Mr.Creeggan does it, and in Vocal I got a solo I really like.
Baritones at lunch: Excellent to the extreme. Andy's an incredible vocal director, and the song we're doing in Baritones is really fun and jazzy. The only piss-off about Baritones was the fact that there were about 10 girls there that are definitly not tenors. GRR. *shakes fist* I'm definitly going to join Bell-Tones, just to spite them all! Ha ha!
English was pretty good, we didn't really do anything, which always makes an academic class that much better. In Law I got my unit test back...92%!!! Woo hoo! My marks have been super good this semester! That's probably because I don't have any sciences or maths. Oh well, I won't worry about that right now.
After school I hung out with Barrie for a little bit, and then JT, which was a lot of fun. I have good conversations with JT, he's a good bud, even if he's a better Spirit Head then me. ;)
Anyways, tonight I have made a final decision on something I should have done a long time ago...Thanks to a couple people. Thank you friends! It's been a matter of protest within myself for a couple weeks now, and I'm finally going to act on it! Woo hoo! I'm really nervous...but it'll all be good tommorow!
Well, I'm going to go now, and I didn't get anything I wanted to get done yet tonight, darn MSN and Live Journal for their distractions! I've got to analyze a score for Music (Neil Diamond in Concert...weird? I think so.) and I should practice my vocal stuff! This is Justino, signing out... |
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