Almost a year!

Well, It has been quite a long time since I've last updated my blog. It's just that so much has happened that I have not had the time nor the energy to write! In true Alex style though, I have come to write a blog entry instead of writing a paper for school. I believe this is what happens whenever I have a big paper for school. Instead of spending time on my word document I mosey on over to blogger.

It is a U.S. History paper and I am loathing this writing process. Sure it is not a difficult paper, it only needs to be 3-4 pages (I'm sure one day I could only DREAM of a 3-4 page paper!). It's just a matter of getting 3-4 pages of words out of my brain and onto the computer keyboard. I have to write a book review and I picked a pretty good book, if I do say so myself. It is called House of Abraham Lincoln & The Todds, A Family Divided By War. The book is by Stephen Berry, who happens to be a history professor at UGA.

I've always known about good old Abe Lincoln, but never gave a thought about his wife and her family. All I have to say is....that poor man. This family was so incredibly dysfunctional. And I don't mean dysfunctional like I did when I told my brother that about our family in 4Th grade (sorry Mom!). This family has a huge split down the middle. Some were for the confederacy and some were for the union (hello..Lincoln!), and when your brother-in-law is the president whom the south hates, let's just say that is a major boo boo. And dear lord Lincoln's wife was a crazy woman! I did relate to her on one level though - she loved to shop! And shop she did when things got better. Stephen Berry says she had a decade to make up for! I would say that is a serious shopping spree.

I also found this pretty great map. It's only great because I did not even think of the expansion until I saw it and realized that the union and confederacy was much more than just the fist 13 colonies (sorry Dad - I'm just not a history buff!).

Anyways, I just keep trying to motivate myself to write this paper by thinking that when I am done with this class i am one step closer to getting into all my psychology courses. However, it also reminds me that I have a bazillion history classes left to take. I wish I could have the determination of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.

I suppose I should be off to get this paper done! I also have to give a 3-5 minute presentation on the book, so index cards need to be done! But first I should finish my book...(whoops!)

It's time...

I've realized lately how naive I am to the world around me. Well i guess I've known it for some time now, but it is beginning to annoy me. I wonder if I had taken another path in life how long it would have taken me to realize this. I've come to value the education that I have been blessed with and look forward to continuing it.

I love the thought of finishing my psychology degree. I want the knowledge. Psychology is always something that has interested me. That is partly the reason I chose Psychology as my major, the other part is because I believe it ties into acting. I definitely want to finish school and get my degree, it is just a matter of when that happens. I want to be a professional actor and make a living do it. I want to make respectable art and I fully believe that I can do it.

I went off on a little tangent there, but now I am back. :)

So the point to this blog is not my passion for acting (this time). It is about my desire for knowlege. I have had the honor of being surrounded by intelligent women this past year and I long for that intelligence. I often find myself in situations in which I can't carry on the conversation or cannot make sense of what people are saying. I hate having to wonder what people are talking about. Especially this past year during the election. I actually think that was when all my desire to know started. So I did a lot of reading and talking to people and I made a decision and I stick to it today. I feel so proud of myself and I want to have those opportunites more often.

So I made a list of books I want to read and I am really excited to expand my knowledge. Hopefully soon I will have a big vocabulary and i won't have to use a word like big in this sentence. We'll see, only time will tell!

Acting

I'm just going to delve right into this....

I LOVE watching the extra features on a movie. The bloopers. the making of, the commentaries...ect. I think from my point of view it's like taking an acting class. Each special feature has something for me to learn from. The bloopers show me how to fix a mistake and improvise - even if the improvisations are crap they can get you somewhere you didn't think of before. And hearing the actors say things about each other you realize that there is this brilliance that an actor has and it is so inspiring. And then you think "oh this actor added this humanity to this terrible character", that is something to keep in mind.

I have this longing to work with all these different people. Some of them from my perspective are just amazing and some are just so so - but I feel like everyone has something special to offer and you can learn that and take it with you. That is another reason I love acting - it's such a learning experience in itself. It's like - the people you meet are just so amazing. I never forget the people I've worked with because of that little something they brought out.

And it's so wonderful - the feeling that acting gives you. For how ever long it's OK to be someone else. And it's not necessarily that you want to be someone else, but it's that you can take things from your character too. Just everything about acting is such a learning experience for me. I have learned things from characters I've played; who I am, who I want to be, and who I don't want to be. And isn't it amazing how you can just become someone else? And make people believe that you ARE that person. I LOVE watching an actor on stage who has forgotten a line or something has happened that is not right and they just role with it. And NEVER break character. They just know what that character would say or do.

There is just so much passion is this art and it blows me away every time I think about it.

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Ahh this thanksgiving is going to be fun! I am cooking a turkey breasts for my mom and I. Landyn is with Luke for thanksgiving. I kind of feel like it's the weekend - having him not be here for 3 days. But I have a project to work on and yummy food to cook.

I realized something a few minutes ago. I'm pretty sure that thanksgiving day is my favorite holiday. Not only do we get to sit down and eat a humongous meal - which I happen to be pretty good at (especially the turkey and gravy) - but we also recognize what we're thankful for. I've never really cared before, but with my new found appreciation for life it seems to be an amazing holiday. How great is it that we have a holiday where everyone can put everything to the side and look at everything they have. What a beautiful day!

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Fun Thanksgiving Activity - The Thankful Tree

Found this at the Rachael Ray website. It looks cute!

Fun Thanksgiving Activity - The Thankful Tree

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So I saw Twilight the other day :0!! I am so happy that it was good. It definitely could have used an extra 30 minutes since it was only 2 hours, but I understand that they did their best. Hopefully the next one will have a little more. I am quite pleased with the movie though. I will definitely be seeing it multiple times.

Vote!

I hope everyone voted today. I felt so good after I did this morning. Like no matter what happens - I made a difference.

almost twenty-one

I'm on the verge of turning 21. I can't believe it - I can't believe I'm actually about to be 21. I can buy a bottle of wine, or have a martini when I'm out to eat. I can even get a beer at a ballgame.

I feel free.