One Act Festival 2012 pt. 2

     The morning of the festival our bus got to our school about an hour late. You know what that means? We missed Grant perform. You know what that means? I missed Drake (see earlier post) perform. As soon as I got there however, I found all of my theatre friends from other schools. Over the past few years being involved in theatre competitions, showcases, and festivals will make you quite popular. I got to see a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Her name is Alyssa and she goes to Cullen. She is incredibly pretty and talented. She absolutely killed it onstage at this festival too. I saw Cris, who goes to Grant but is a good friend of mine from the playhouse. I missed his performance but I bet he killed it too.
    So on the way to the Harbor Playhouse I promised myself that I would do my best to ignore Drake. The last thing I needed was to fall for him again. But that was easier said than done. When I got there he texted me "Where are you?" and of course I spotted him but hid away. I could see him but he couldn't see me. For the first half of the day I went out of my way to stay hidden but he kept looking for me. He sat in the second row and without thinking I crossed the first row to get back to the Baker section. I didn't see him until he jumped over the first row of seats and snatched my arm.
     "Hey, you aren't going to say hi to me?"That was the first time I actually had a good look at him. I immediately remembered why I fell for him in the first place. Wow, he was extraordinary. He wasn't a cookie-cutter, good looking boy. He had imperfections; some of my friends didn't think he is good looking at all. But to me those imperfections make him irresistible. He is just so adorable.
     "Are you not going to hug me either?" he asked with his arms open. Of course my earlier promise evaporated into thin air and I hugged him. Damn, he even smelled good. After a little small talk he came to meet the rest of my cast. Some of them had already met him but some had only heard of him and his reputation.
     "This is the guy we have to kill?" muttered one of the younger kids.
     True, it was really hard having to say goodbye to Drake but I knew I had to. I can't be his friend, it's just not possible for me. So he went to go sit with the rest of the cudas and they swarmed him; asking who I was. I wonder what he told them? The truth or "just a friend"?
    The schools are supposed to stay in the auditorium and watch the other schools perform but Baker is a special school. We are more awesome than them. We (our teacher included) went to the watergardens and just had a party. We ran around, took pictures and played in the water. Holden, he plays Neptune in our play, decided to Tebow for a picture in the middle of the water but soon faceplanted. So the guy that plays the god of the sea had to walk around dripping wet. Fail!
     Once we actually went back to the playhouse Cris and Alyssa ended up ditching their schools and hanging out with me and the rest of my Baker cast. That says something about us and how well we get along. Each one act cast is a new and very different generation of talented kids. Last year we made lasting friendships and this year I believe we have too. All we could hope to do is pass on our theatre spirit, Red Tide. Red Tide has a mascot unlike any other. Our mascot is a rubber fish named Aids Diabetes Hopkins. We take it everywhere with us because it is our good luck charm. It's a good luck charm because it can calm anyone down right before a performance. How does it calm you down? Well, when you hold it; you have Aids. Hehe.
     So after the festival a couple of friends (I won't name names) told me just to take Aids with me for good. I just couldn't though. I know next year when those kids are competing they are going to need Aids and Aids needs to be there for them. I know for a fact now that the next generation will carry on Red Tide.

One Act Festival 2012 pt.1

Sunny, Doug and I backstage about to perform at the One Act Festival 2011

Last year my favorite memories from school came from the annual one act festival. The picture to the left is from that day. It was my first time ever performing on the main stage of my local theater. It was a huge deal for me. It doesn't sound like much, but trust me it was. So the cast was about ten people and 2 of which were from lower grades and I was one of them. Our one act was The Butler Did It (a suspense/comedy about a murder on an isolated island). So in it I was one of the main characters and at the end was revealed to be the murderer. It was an awesome introduction into (what I thought was) "big" theatre. I made friends with all of those older students and as I type this I am backstage at rehearsal watching one of those older kids perform. His name is Brant and we are still friends to this day. Heck, this is our third show together!
At the festival all the schools in the district go and perform. It's called a festival because it's "not a competition" but there are always winners and losers. Our performance went without a hitch and was a major confidence boost.
Last fall was the annual speech tournament and my school always does well. What we didn't expect was the Grant Barracudas. The cudas are known for their sports. They dominate and everyone knows it, no one cares, but everyone knows. When they beat us at the speech tournament we took extra offense because they are our rival school. Adding insult to injury there was a boy involved (but that's a later post).
So this year we needed our one act to cream theirs like it did last year. This year we are doing Gallathea and it's a hot mess. Our leads just got replaced, some people barely know their lines, our costumes are basically just bed sheets with safety pins, it's just a train wreck. Don't get me wrong, our talent is great. It's just that we have all sort of just given up on the whole show. It's kinda sad actually.
Our festival is in two days. We aren't ready. I have to see the boy again. I have to try and give it my all.
The festival was so much fun last year so it should be fun this year. Right?......

Creeper Pictures

The best thing about my iPhone 4S is not any of it's fancy features. It's the great camera it has. I am always snapping pictures and putting them on Instagram. At first most of the pictures I took were of still life. Now my stream is filled with people. I take pictures of people when they aren't looking; these pictures are called "creeper pictures". I take these pictures when I think someone is feeling a strong emotion. The picture attached to this post is of my friend, Eli. Eli is our pianist for our play at the Harbor Playhouse. When I took this picture, the altos were all gathered around him and he was teaching us our harmonies. I could tell he enjoyed this very much. Eli is really talented and he really got into the part he was playing. So when our director asked us to record Eli playing I couldn't help but snap a picture. He doesn't know I took it, but it's a good picture of him.
 This is why I like creeper pictures. They show what the world misses. Here lately I've been taking a lot of these pictures. I've had my phone out everywhere and now have pictures of friends, strangers, even a substitute teacher. It's really addicting to see what you can find if you look really closely. You have to ignore the person who is the center of attention. We all see that guy. We're all tired of that guy too. Find the person who is often ignored, or thinks they aren't being watched and watch them. Try to figure out what they are thinking. Are they thoughtful? Are they shallow? Are they graceful? Are they clumsy? Are they who you thought they were?

This Whole Writing Stuff...

Hi world. I'm Mireya. I have always been a writer. People just don't know that I write. I write about friends, family, me, whatever comes to mind. I have a big stack of notebooks that eyes besides mine have never seen. They are partial journals, diaries, thought processes and worksof fiction. I've told only my closest friends about these notebooks. I come across as a very normal girl at school. I'm fairly popular, not necessarily ugly or pretty, I make straight A's and am always involved in whatever our theatre department is doing. If you ask someone what my most unique characteristic I posses, they would probably say my confidence. I credit my time spent onstage. I really don't care what people really think about me. I'm not afraid of boys. I can go up and give a speech in front of all America in my pajamas. This is because I know myself very well. Most teens can't say that but I can. I know myself because I write down what I think. It makes everything so clear to have it down in balck and white. So one of my closest friends has read some of my work and liked it very much. I decided to make a blogger so that someone (anyone) can read what I write and maybe be entertained, provoked, or even inspired. Just a thought. I haven't told anyone about this. I plan on keeping it a secret but if someone I know finds it, I won't be mad. So here's to hoping this isn't an absolutely terrible idea.