School starts again in a few days

My last semester.

or, at least my last at UPS. Not gonna let myself get all nostalgic quite yet, but I really can't believe how fast the last three and half years have gone by.

I'm excited for things to get going again. It will be nice to have people on campus again and be able to call someone up when I am lonely and bored and not rely solely on my laptop for companionship. I am taking three classes for credit, as well as auditing the 310 fight lab and STF (my thesis) of course. So in total that makes five classes, work and once we get going, rehearsals. Woohoo, welcome to real life once again. No more sleep for Alyson! Nah, I like it better that way. I get so lazy when I sleep in. I have not done anything productive for weeks now, its time to get back to normal.

On top of all this, I have fully completed my graduate school applications for The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Now, I wait. I have a better chance of getting into UA, though DePaul is perfect. So perfect in fact, that they only accept two people each year. And I'm good, but damn. So Tuscaloosa it is. Guess I better learn how to like football, apparently its like air to them down there. So much for never being dragged to another game against my will ever again.

In the meantime, to take my mind off of admissions committees scrutinizing my applications and resumes, I am in full research mode for Terra Nova, the show I am working on for STF.

Soon I will be a walking encyclopedia for all things Robert Scott and the South Pole. Penguins, seals, sled dogs, ice floes and burgs included. Ship and Royal Navy procedures as well. Oy.

I am excited for this thing to stop being research and start being a show though. I can't wait for auditions and then rehearsal. I need to be involved in something again, I'm going a little stir crazy.

I still think of London often. My friend Katrina is there now and I am devouring her blogs and photos like crazy. It just stirs up in me the renewed desire that I have to return. Take the West End by storm perhaps. Wouldn't that be something.

sigh.

time for bed

So, after days of anxiously waiting to get home to Tacoma, I am finally here and now wondering what to do with myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving being back in my own space (and bed), but there is nothing to do. I've been swearing up and down that starting Monday I will lock myself in the library and go into serious Terra Nova research mode, but that still leaves this weekend and me with nothing to do. Ugh. And I thought things were supposed to be more exciting now that I have my own place and have turned 21.
I already cleaned, changed out all the burnt out light bulbs and deChristmasified (meaning to take down the decorations). My laptop has basically been on since I woke up this morning, but even it can only hold my attention for so long.
I was so desperate to get away from my family (that makes me sound like such a horrible person) and come back home I didn't think about the fact that I would be totally alone. At the time that sounded like the best thing in the entire world. And its not like I haven't done it before, I lived alone this summer. I'm now remembering how lonely that was. At least I had work everyday to at least relieve some of the boredom.
Oh well.
My time in Portland was quite nice. I got in the day of the freak snowstorm and stole outside once it got dark to snap some shots.





If you like these, be sure to check out my deviantArt page, where I keep all the stuff in my portfolio. scarletsaigon.deviantart.com

Happy new decade!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Lived entirely by myself. No roommates, no parents, just me. It was lonely at times, but nice to know that I can be completely on my own and be ok.

02. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I've decided I am no longer going to be in the habit of making specific resolutions, but instead generally try to improve on the things I already do on a regular basis. My last years resolution however, was to be less boring. Not sure if I actually achieved that or not, you'd have to ask my friends.

03. Did someone close to you give birth?
nope

04. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. RIP Heather, you are continually loved and missed

05. What countries did you visit?
Since I went country hopping in 2008, I took 2009 off.

06. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
I would like to have a lack of depression in 2010

07. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Oh man, there were so many. I returned home from being abroad on New Year's eve last year, so that was pretty momentous. Others include doing Celtic Cross, my directing class one-act, turning 21, wandering the streets of Seattle with my intern family, wandering the streets of Seattle with Bryan, buying my car and signing the lease on my apartment.

08. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
Getting out of my after-abroad funk. It took awhile, but I finally feel like I am back to myself again.

09. What was your biggest failure(s)?
Not being more bold. I need to just suck it up and take more chances sometimes.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
oh yes. i had a crash course in Living With An Incurable Disease 101. not great fun I'm afraid.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My car

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Well this is hard because so many people have done such wonderful things for me but I must say Michelle Jones, fearless leader of the PBL crowd has been one incredible influence on my life and the lives of those around me.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My dad, but that's no surprise.

14. Where did most of your money go?
rent, utilities and my cell phone bill

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Everyone coming home after a summer in Tacoma alone

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
oh goodness, so many. Sons and Daughters I think, it was a summer anthem for Megs and I and then used for Skin. or anything by Kate Nash

17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
100% happier.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
i wish i had been more spontaneous

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
worrying what everyone else thinks

20. How did you spend Christmas?
my mom, dad, brother, grandmother and uncle. it was nice and low-key

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I did not fall in love, but I did love.

23. How many one-night stands?
none, and its gonna stay that way. just not a one-night stand kinda girl

24. What was your favorite TV program?
How I Met Your Mother, hands down

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope

26. What was the best book you read?
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Once soundtrack

28. What did you want and get?
A better grasp on what's to come next

29. What did you want and not get?
respect from a few people

30. Favorite film of this year?
Up In The Air

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I spend the day before my birthday at Sasquatch with Whitney and then spent my actual birthday driving to and from Spokane, though I did get to have lunch with the wonderful Matthew Jackson.

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not falling into depression after coming home from abroad

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I got slightly more fashion conceious after living in London, but still mostly jeans and hoodies

34. What kept you sane?
My amazing group of friends, I love them so much

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I'm pretty taken with Jonathan Rhys Myers, I have to say

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Prop8

37. Who do you miss?
everyone who's not with me now

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I would have to say Emily Leong or George, i pretty much adore them both

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Just because you’re good at something it doesn’t mean that you are passionate about it. Always follow your heart. Thanks PBL

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

Hello Seattle, I am a manteray
Deep beneath the blue waves
Ill crawl the sandy bottom of Puget Sound
And construct a summer home
Hello Seattle, I am the crescent moon
Shining down on your face
I will disguise myself as a sleeping pill
And descend inside of you a

or

sitting in restaurants
thought we were so grown up
but i know now that we were not the people that we turned out to be
chatting on the phone cant take back those hours
but i wont regret cause you can grow flowers from where that used to be