Original title, I know. I just feel like I’m having a lot of it lately!
Like two weeks ago, one of my really good gal friends ran into my high school Ex and told me he looked really good. Who did I talk to last Monday and on Saturday via Facebook and SMS? My high school Ex.
And the weekend before, I ran into 2 other guy friends from high school, one of which I had a monster crush on during my senior year and ending up hanging out with him several times after high school but stopped after he tried to set me up with his friend. And now he wants to hang out next Tuesday.
And then last week, my sophomore high school crush added me on Facebook and we’ve talked ever since. We were flirt-texting all through the Super Bowl. He even says he wants to see me when he comes home in a month. And truth be told, his photos say he looks better than he did in high school.
What is with all the guys from high school wanting to hang out? All at once? Is the universe trying to play some sick joke on me? I’m still not sure what to make of all this…
The best blast from the past? I hung out with my BFF three times over the weekend just like we used to when we were like 16. We even listened to the Lizzie McGuire movie soundtrack like we used to in the car… So much fun!
What kind of blasts from the pasts have you had lately?
Filed under: Try
Skinny jeans have never been my favorite. I never thought they really looked good on anyone, let alone myself. I have those somewhat thick athletic calves, not the svelte ones that can pull off skinny jeans the best.
I’m going to blame this “trying” experience on my mother. ”Express has new jeans that are way cute.” Of course, they just have to be Express, which happens to be my favorite store with my favorite jeans. Which inevitably led me to try them on tonight.
The light shade was awful… But the dark wash?
HOT!
Like an OMG-I-Can’t-Believe-I-Didn’t-Realize-It honest to goodness sexy. Right now, you could not tear them off of my body even if I wanted you too. I’m already that attached to these jeans. Tonight, I’m rocking them with some red heels.
Tomorrow I plan on rocking them with bronze heels that I haven’t worn in two years because I never had anything to wear them with. Well, I do now. And I couldn’t be happier! They actually make me want to wear heals, which hardly ever happens since I prefer to be close to the ground since I’m already tall (5′9″). Guys will just have to deal with a six foot chick now probably. 
I think I’ve been converted to the skinny jean trend. Never thought I’d see the day.
What trends are you into?
Remembering dreams is easy for me. Well, normally. On average, I remember about 3 dreams a week. But last nights dream was just so odd that when I woke up for the fifth time (just so I could try to figure out what the motives behind the dream were), it was hard not to wonder where on Earth these images come from! (It’s long, I apologize.)
The parts I remember the most vividly involve the Jew Nazi, Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Walz’s character in Inglourious Basterds). Basically, it just seemed like he wanted to kill everyone. He carried a gun and wasn’t afraid to use it. I remember that there was a reason he was after all these people. I want to say there was a reason, but that part of the dream is a little hazy. Finally, he cornered me, my mom, and another person. There is a wardrobe next to me that my mom is standing in front of and the other person is on the other side of the wardrobe next to a door leading into a hallway.
The Jew Nazi pulled a bending bullet move (like the ones from the movie Wanted) with his gun so we couldn’t tell who he would shoot and kill. The other person fell to the ground. Somehow, I knew I’d be next. As soon as he fired, time slowed down monumentally and I pulled some really awesome body moves off to dodge the bullet which seemed to have a target mechanism because it tried to follow me but I was always one step ahead of it. Once the bullet “died”, the Jew Nazi decided that he had better plans for me and dragged me kicking and screaming out of the room. I remember yelling, “I love you, Mom!” except I watched myself being dragged out of the room instead of feeling it. Only that minute was like that in the entire dream.
Thereupon, the Jew Nazi dragged me into another room and set me next to a closet where I could hear breathing behind me. I tried to feign sleeping and breathing loudly so he wouldn’t hear it. I didn’t want whoever was behind me to die. He just kept talking to me as though I were a friend. Then I blacked out!
There was a period that went completely hazy in the dream. I was back to my near normal life (as normal as you can get with a dream), and I learned that it was my mom in the closet and that she attacked him when I opened the closet. But… the Jew Nazi wasn’t done. He was trying to hunt me down. I had to keep my cell phone and laptop off so they couldn’t give away my location (because apparently they can)… If I remember correctly, I even Twittered in my dream. He was tracking me by everything I did… So I finally went to this warehouse where nothing was so he couldn’t find me–but as it turns out it was the place where he had set up camp to find me. Lots of running around ensued. Time no longer slowed when he shot his gun. I spent a lot of time in a van ordering people to take me elsewhere but he always seemed to find me.
Yeah so that was as much of the dream that I can remember. Again, sorry so long. Dreams just always baffle me and so I wonder if they ever mean something more… Or how certain images show up in dreams, you know? It’s so random and crazy a lot of the time!
Or maybe this means I shouldn’t play Tekken right before bed…
I have been wanting to do this for a long time but coming up with a TMI story from my life has been a struggle. I think I finally found one… I know it’s totally off-color for what I usually write about so bear with me here. I’m sorry if this grosses you out.
If you don’t know what TMI Thursday is, here is LiLu’s description:
***Alright, folks, you know the rules. Join us all in humiliating the crap out of yourself every Thursday by sharing some completely tasteless, wholly unclassy, “how many readers can I estrange THIS week??” TMI story about your life. Or hell, about someone else’s!
Back during my senior year of high school, my hot tub was a hot place for me and my friends to hang out. When I say friends, it was usually just my Ex (we split right before Junior year) and a couple of our mutual friends. More often than not, I was the only girl present. And again, more often than not, we played Truth or Dare.
Let me preface this by saying that we do some really weird things when playing this game.
One night after a good snow, we were inevitably playing Truth or Dare. Now, the way we play, there is no chicken. But if you absolutely refuse to do a dare, you have to do some set task for a certain amount of time. That night, it was stand outside of the hot tub… in the snow… for 5 minutes. Yeah, not exactly cool for someone who hates the cold (ME!).
My turn comes up and the boys are debating over an original dare since all our others were wasted out.
One of them finally blurted, “I dare you to lick Ex’s toe. Like a full on lick, like licking a long popsicle.”
I figure, WTH? We’ve been in the hot tub 2 hours with chlorine so it should be clean… right? (That and I did not want to get in the snow.) They honestly didn’t think I would do it, so when I reached down to grab his foot, Ex got a little nervous–”I didn’t agree to this!”
“Just close your eyes and it will be over before you know it,” his friends said.
So I did it… I licked my Ex’s chlorinated big toe. Really it just tasted like chlorine so it wasn’t that bad since we were all inhaling it anyways.
It’s what my Ex said next that totally grossed me out.
“Actually, that was strangely arousing. You should do it again.”
And then the other two guys wanted it done too.
It’s like “Um, excuse me? I’m a person… not a DOG!”
They haven’t been back in my hot tub since.
I’m scared… I think. I’m not quite sure what to think. It’s very conflicting.
Over the weekend, someone asked me what I want to do once I graduate college (which is about 16 months away, mind you). It’s not a very rare question–it happens almost once a week. A very vague plan has always been my answer:
Move out-of-state. Preferably California or New York. Or England (in my dreams…). Find a job in writing/editing/publishing–anything along those lines. And while working, audition for gigs, musicals, recording things… anything that will give me an opportunity to perform.
“Isn’t the competition going to be tough?” — this person asks.
Imagine my brain and ego as a huge balloon completely deflating, releasing that awful squeal as though someone were pulling the opening in opposing directions.
Not once had the thought of competition cross my mind. The first reason I wanted to move out-of-state is because there are hardly any opportunities to perform. We have a very limited pool here in the bubble.
Solution: Move some place where those opportunities are much more abundant.
Hitch in the Solution: Everyone else is doing it too!
Oh, boy… I have no doubts about my abilities, but there are lots of other good people out there as well. Jumping into that harsh world of criticism and more rejections than acceptions while acclimatizing to a new place, without my family or friends, just seems terrifying at this point. Whatever happened to living “in the moment”?
Can I please just survive through college first without having to worry about all this?
Is there anything in the future that scares you? What are you going to do so it doesn’t psych you out?
One of the curses of having vocal training for almost 15 years–you know the difference between a good singer and a great singer. You can tell when someone has the right technique and when they don’t. When they yell or when they are using their head voice. There’s a lot that you pick up on (which is why so many of us become such good vocal coaches) that no one else does.
There are particular singers out there that really just make it all seem so easy when it’s actually a very tough skill to develop and even harder to instill in every single performance. These are singers like Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Amy Lee, and the young Lea Michele from Glee. This brings me to a huge question: how much of their skill was raw talent and how much came from training (along with what kind of training they had).
As for me, I was born with a good sounding voice. A natural, or so a few of my teachers have said. I was a good singer in the sense that no one cringed when I sang but applauded when I finished. I had the raw talent in order to become great singer. It’s taken years of training to get me where I am today and I still don’t know if I’d call myself a great singer. If I hadn’t had training, odds are I would have sung my vocal chords completely raw. It’s the lessons that have made me a better singer, teaching me the ways to use my voice so that I don’t wear it out but can sing anything my heart so chooses.
Despite having so many years of training, I know I still have a lot to work on. For singers, our voices are a constant work in progress–there’s always something to fix or change.
Which is why I’ve started up voice lessons again! Last night was my second with Johnny Ahn. He’s perfect for what I’m trying to do now–which is to keep my voice in shape so I don’t fall back into bad habits. He’s able to recognize that even though I sound good, there are little things that I can do to make it great.
And I want to be great!
A question multitudes of people have asked and my mind goes about four different directions: what genre would you like to sing?
And I hate that I have no idea. I just enjoy singing so much that it usually doesn’t matter what I sing. The other hard part is that I’ve heard I’m good at classical singing… and country… and musical theatre… and power pop. Everyone tells me something different so I have no idea which I’m best at. I’d like to think I’m good at punk rock (think Paramore) or symphonic metal (Evanescence) but honestly, I have no clue. UGH! Yes, it’s a trying dilemma for almost every aspiring singer. It doesn’t help that I love so many genres.
Hip-hop, R&B, rap, etc doesn’t exactly work on my voice… and I wouldn’t like singing stuff like that for the rest of my life. So that’s the one for sure no. And I have too rich of a voice to really pull off something like Regina Spektor or Natasha Bedingfield.
How would you figure something like this out?
Looking back on this year, a lot has happened. Thinking about it is almost overwhelming! It all flew by… but it was definitely a fun adventure Here are just a few monumental times from this year.
January
- I decided it was time to be aware of what I was putting into my body and time to also start being more active.
- I graduated physical therapy for my jaw– and it’s still looking pretty good.
- Tried yoga for the first time–I was hooked from the beginning.
- Watched Grey’s Anatomy for the first time. Addiction waiting to happen.
February
- Introduced to Skype… enough said!
March
- Reached 100 subscribers on YouTube
- Saw and met one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult
- Officially fell in love with Adam Lambert and his amazing voice (yes, that’s momentous to me!)
April
- Got accepted to do the Cambridge Study Abroad & won the abroad scholarship!
May
- My step brother got married
- Saw Miss Saigon for the first time… Amazing!
- My uncle passed away after battling cancer for a year =(
- Started reading Dan Brown’s books
- Discovered Jillian Michaels!
June
- Someone blogged about me!
- Helped my mom start up her website for her business. I also designed her business card and logos.
July
- Disembarked on my study abroad to England! Visited London first…
- Attended school for the following 6 weeks at Cambridge University… Perfect little idyllic English college town.
- Witnessed the most perfect production of Les Miserables in the West End
- Experienced the delight of English chocolate! I was so spoiled
August
- Continued my Cambridge Education with Term II
- Traveled Ireland for a week! Sang in a pub, even.
- Had my $500+ Irish claddagh stolen out of my baggage
- Started my Junior year of college.
- Recorded my absolute favorite song of all time… and it’s my best recording ever too =)
September
- 2 hockey players joined the ranks at our house
- Updated my portfolio
- Fell in love with blueberries, my new favorite fruit
- Joined an online choral group, Elysium
October
- Discovered which families I descended from… i.e. Baron Percy’s and King Henry III
- Got my grades back from Cambridge!
- Turned 21 and celebrated in Vegas over Halloween weekend.
- My mom’s birthday gift to me was the claddagh ring I wanted! =)
- Attended my first college football game… Go Utes!
November
- Elysium’s debut single Weep No More was released
- Reached 200+ subscribers on Youtube! Yay!
December
- Went skiing for the first time in nearly 5 years in Sun Valley… where we also saw Greg Kinnear
- Participated in JRRFilm’s Karaoke Secret Santa
- My other step brother got engaged
- My dad moved to Vegas =( Miss him but it gives me more incentive to go there, for sure.
See it’s a lot this isn’t even half of it! My shell has also slowly been chipping away so I’ve been able to get out of my comfort zone and have more fun. Isn’t that what life’s all about?
I’m ready for you, 2010!
Filed under: On Stage, Singing | Tags: blondekel13, christmas, cover, faith hill, grinch, live singing, mikael, song, where are you christmas, youtube
Last year I spent much of my time recording around this time of year making a Christmas CD… so I feel bad because I haven’t been able to this year! Also, this time last year I was using my old built-in Macbook microphone. ICK! I desperately wanted a high quality version of “Where Are You Christmas?” so I figured I’d do it live this year with my Samson CO1u! Check it out below =)
Text w/ Video~
Download MP3-
http://www.4shared.com/file/176958738…
Yes, I did this song again this year. In my defense, I love this song and I really wanted a higher quality one than the one I made last year with my old mic. And it’s live this time so it’s totally different 
Just a little reverb was added in though so it would sound a tad more professional.
Enjoy! And happy holly-daze! =)
The rights to this song belong to it’s proper creators. I claim nothing but my voice. This was made for critique, demo, and entertainment purposes only. No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Filed under: A Little Me, Dreams, On Stage, Singing | Tags: all i ever wanted, audience, bobby mcferrin, change a life, from the heart, katie earl, perform, sing
If I could touch one lonely soul
If I could heal and be so bold
To be a spark, to be a light
Set one heart on fire
That’s all I ever wanted
If I’m not much mistaken, that is what every performer wants to achieve besides being able to do what they love. If they don’t, then they are most likely in the business for the wrong reasons (aka: money, fame, power, etc).
This past spring, Bobby McFerrin performed at Kingsbury Hall in downtown Salt Lake City. Various music majors at the University of Utah got the opportunity to meet with him and perform at his concert. I was literally kicking myself for stopping my music degree (for reasons completely out of my control… partly) and missing out on an opportunity like that. Luckily, having friends still in the music program gave me a chance to talk to them about what went down during that momentous occasion in their lives. Something he told them came back to me today while I listened to Kate Earl’s “All I Ever Wanted”.
He said that he may be performing for hundreds if not thousands of people, but he does it to touch the one person in the audience that either needs it most or is open enough to really experience the performance. If he touches someone, then he feels he has done his job. He feels like he succeeded in bringing the music to life if just one person allows it to penetrate them… to change their life.
As it happened, I absolutely loved his concert. He’s a truly inspiring musical artist and he did things that still blow my mind. Could I have been one of those people during his concert? As far as I’m concerned, there has only been one show where I honestly believe I was that one person–during Celine Dion’s concert when I was 19. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life and I wonder if I’ll ever experience it again. Her concert completely reaffirmed my dream of becoming a singer.
All I know is that I want to be able to do that for someone too. If I can manage to touch more than one… I just can’t even imagine at this point. But it’s a dream of mine to touch people through music. It’s all I’ll ever want.
