Nail Art Fun

    

Random design

     One of my favorite things to do is create nail art. On YouTube, I am always watching nail art tutorials. These are two of my favorites: Cutepolish and HannahRoxNails. They are very talented young ladies, and I get my inspiration from them. They always say that practice is the only way to get better, and you can't expect to be perfect the first time you try something. You can practice on paper, yourself, and your friends too! I simply love painting my nails because it's complete self-expression. I can do whatever I want on my nails and no one can tell me otherwise. It's kind of like a tattoo, but less permanent. 

Minions for clone day

For Homecoming, I did galaxy nails 

    Nail art is a great way for me to relieve stress. I also love the excuse, "I can't do that; my nails are wet!" I'm right handed, so naturally that means that my left hand will look better, but sometimes, I mess up my left and I take more time on my right hand.

Fun nails for the Katy Perry concert

Hairspray, Wow!

Singing around the piano

     I am currently in Hairspray at the Duluth Playhouse, which I have mentioned in a previous blog post. My character's name is Judine and I'm one of the Dynamites. It's such a fun role to play because I get to be extremely sassy, and that is so hard for me to do! ;) 

Having down time

I remember when I first started rehearsing in January, and I was feeling nervous because I didn't know what to expect from the Playhouse after taking a break for 4 years. Things have changed with the Children's Theatre Program, but they've changed for the better. I'm actually learning so much, and I enjoy a great majority of the practices. It's a lot of fun to be with kids from all over the Twin Ports area. 

     The show is fun, but it has really important messages about how one should treat other people. The issues in this show are black and white: there is segregation and discrimination, but with the power of music and dancing, everyone can come together for to create the future. 

A theatre kid's night sky

     There are so many great songs, and I get them stuck in my head all the time! There's never a moment when I don't have Hairspray on my mind! And that goes for a literal sense as well; we have to use so much hairspray to keep our hair in place! It's so great to see everything coming together. 
      It's such a great thing to be a part of! I'm making so many new friends, but it's also sad because there are more people that I'm going to miss when I get to college! Make sure you attend! It runs March 13th through the 29th! 

Drake University, Here I Come!

Here's the yarn

      I was at Michael's (the craft store) because I wanted to start a new knitting project, and I could not decide what to pick because of all the yarn that they have. My sister, Kara, pointed out one that was dark blue with white stripes, and said, "Hey! This has your new school colors!" so I went with that one! 

Making progress

     I wanted to give you an update of my college plans since I haven't really talked about it too much on my blog. I will be attending Drake University in the fall, and I cannot be more excited! My major will be Environmental Science, but I'd like to double major with Biology, so I can do Marine Biology. I'd also like to minor in French, Music, or Theatre, or maybe all three! I'm so excited to start the next chapter of my life. 
     I recently joined a Facebook group for the class of 2018, and I had to post a little paragraph about myself, basically so I can start to make some friends. For me, it's so nerve-wracking to make new friends at this age! I was so nervous to even post, so I didn't for about a week. I finally got the courage to put myself out there, and a girl actually liked my post! And so did another boy! 
     I was really happy when the girl added me and started Facebook messaging me. Then she gave me her number and we've been texting nonstop for about 4 days now. She is so cool and fun, and we have a lot in common. We like a lot of the same music, which is very important. If she wants to, I'd love to room with her, but I don't want to come on too strong, so I'll wait until she asks. 
     I'm really looking forward to my next visit to Drake, which is over Spring Break for an Admitted Student day. I love what Drake has to offer, and they even send out a schedule of all the things you can do in Des Moines while you're there. I know that I'll want to go shopping! There are so many options and things to choose from. 
     So those are my college plans, and I'm so excited that I got into my first choice and I got a great scholarship! 

Mid-Winter Break

Snowy roads at my Grandma's House

     I've decided to take my blog in the creative direction. To be honest, I don't consider myself to be that creative, although I love doing art projects or making things. 
     Now when the weather looks like this, you're going to be stuck inside for a while. I decided to do something I've wanted to do for a long time: bake macaroons! 
     This was before I got really sick, but I was inspired by a YouTube video on how to make macaroons. The lady in the video made it look easy, so I said to myself, "Why not?"
    
 You only need a few things:         For the frosting you just need:
Three egg whites                           a stick of butter 
1/4 cup of white sugar                   and powdered sugar
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 cup of almond flour
and a pinch of salt

     I didn't really know what to expect, so I just went for it. The first thing you have to do is sift the powdered sugar and the almond flour to get rid of all the lumps, which at first I didn't think was necessary, and then I saw how many chunks were left, and I was very glad I did it. 

Sifting the almond flour

Left over almond remains

   

Getting fluffier!

Mixing the egg whites

     After all the dry ingredients are combined, you can move onto the egg whites and sugar. I have never done this before, so I was nervous that I'd mess everything up, but it said mixed for eight minutes, so I did. 



     I added pink food dye because I thought it looked pretty. I was worried that my macaroons wouldn't be perfect circles, so I traced the bottom of the salt on the parchment paper, and then flipped it over so none of the graphite got on the cookies. The perfect circle thing didn't turn out so well, but that doesn't affect the taste!

My attempt to be neat

Not so perfect

Lookin' good; all 19 of them

     After the cookies sat for 30 minutes to form a skin, I put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 300˚F. I made the butter cream for the filling and that was so easy, and it tasted great! I let the cookies cool for about an hour before I touched them because I was nervous that they would break. I paired up the ones that were similar in size. And of course, I accidentally made 19 instead of 20, so I didn't have perfect 10, I had to settle for 9. 

The finished product was so beautiful that I didn't want to eat it! I shared them with my family, and they were very impressed with my first try making macaroons! I was too, to be honest. I needed to be a bit more confident in my baking abilities. And that was how I spent one of the days on Mid-Winter Break, of course I should have been doing my homework, but this looked like more fun!

Reaching the Summit

     For this post, I thought I'd talk about a place at which I spend a lot of time: Summit School, my second home. I love this building a lot! The only thing that would make it better is if it had Wifi!
     Here's a bit of history about the place.

Here's the logo from my sweatshirt

     In 1909, a cemetery had to be moved to build the building, so all of the bodies were exhumed. Thomas Feigh was a wealthy philanthropist who built "Thomas Feigh's Hospital for Crippled Children." He cared so much about kids that he wanted them to live a full life because he was born with a "club foot" and couldn't walk. Most of the kids that came there had Tuberculosis.        Throughout the 100 years that the building has existed, it's been lots of things: a home for unwed mothers, a home for wayward girls, and a safe place for children.
     I actually attended school there from 1999 till about 2003. Some students who attend Marshall also went to Summit, too! My mom had volunteered at Summit for many years, and then she became the Executive Director in 2006. She's been working there for 8 years, and I can honestly say that she is an amazing person. She spends so much time there working and making sure that it's safe and up to code. My mom also tries her best to make miracles happen. I admire my mom so much because of the things she has to deal with on a daily basis.

A view of the snow from the Toddler Room window

      I also wanted to talk about some of the things that happen at Summit. I say that Summit is haunted, but I wouldn't say that it's bad. I believe that it's by good spirits, considering that the bodies that were moved were nuns and priests from St. Scholastica. Sometimes my family and I hear kids running up stairs. I think that's because they weren't able to when they were alive. Occasionally, we hear talking, singing, whistling, and keys jingling. A lot of the children that attend Summit look past the adults that work there to say hello to a man. When the adults turn around to see the "man," nothing is there.
     One event in particular has stuck out in my mind. My mom and I were leaving Summit one evening, at about 5:30pm. As we were approaching the door, I saw a white flash, about the size of a person with their arms open, but just from the waist up. Both my mom and I stopped. "Mom, did you see that?"
     "Yes, I think so," she said quietly. We quickly ran out of the building and didn't look back. Every time I think about it, I get goosebumps. It was so scary, but I don't think that it was supposed to be scary, looking back. Maybe the spirit wanted us to embrace it.
     A lot of interesting and wild things have happened at Summit, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Acting Out

     Dr. N wants us to write an independent blog post, so that we feel like our blogs are more of our own. I think this is a great idea because then these blogs won't seem like they are solely for English homework! 
     I'll be talking about what I wrote my college essay about: theater. 
     I love acting, as many people know, and I'm currently in a musical called Guys and Dolls.

Here's a picture of the poster

The songs always get stuck in my head at the most random times; they're all so catchy! It's basically about gambling in New York in the 50's. I play a tough mobster from Chicago; his name is Big Jule. Yes, you read that right; I'm playing a man, again! This is my second time being a man in a Marshall show. We have seven rehearsals left till opening night. I can't wait until it all comes together. We're nowhere near ready for an audience. We'll get there hopefully by the end of this week. November 14th, at 7pm is our first show!
     Marshall Drama has been going through some changes, but I'm hoping that my last year as an actor for Marshall will be a good one, as all of the others have been! 
     Also, I haven't done a show at the Duluth Playhouse for about 4 years, but I got the awesome opportunity to be in Hairspray! I'm one of the Dynamites; her name is Judine. I received an email from the director with my script attached to it,

Here's a screenshot of my script

and I can't wait to start. I love the important message of this show. It's about equality and it takes place in the 60's.  It goes up in March, and rehearsals don't start till January! I have to my lines memorized by the first practice! I'm apprehensive because these kids that do Playhouse stuff are from all over the area and they're all super talented! I'm looking forward to learning a lot. 

What I Learned from my Shawshank Presentation

      My Shawshank Redemption and Rita Hayworth project was about Solitary Confinement. I worked with Julia and HanVit. It was a really interesting topic because I didn't really know much about it, just that one is alone in a room with little to no contact with anyone. It's pretty much just that, but there's more to it: a lot of psychological damage can be done. I always imagined the Security Housing Units, or SHUs, as dark, dank, and dreadful; and they definitely used to be (it's nicknamed "the hole,") but now they are bright, white rooms that have an eerie, sterile feeling. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the psychological repercussions are similar. I think that when you can't talk to anyone, you're going to be thinking a lot, and probably feeling a lot of emotions, like anger or sadness. Suicides are most common in the SHU.          
     This helped me understand the novella better because I realized that how horrible the prisoners feel about going in there. A lot of the prisoners that go in are not the same when they come out. Some are different though, like Andy, a character in the novella. Red, the narrator of the novella, says that he doesn't "think solitary was the hardship for Andy that it was for some men. He got along with himself" (King 36). Doing this project helped me realize that freedom and time are a privilege that should not be taken for granted.