Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Midnight in Paris

Hi everyone.  I am sitting here taking notes for APUSH and thinking about the 100 other things I need to do...but, amazingly enough, taking notes tonight is not as tedious as it usually is.  And that's because we are currently learning about the 20's, a time period that really interests me.

My interest probably started after watching the movie Midnight in Paris, directed by Woody Allen and starring Owen Wilson.  The movie is about an absentminded writer who travels to Paris with his unpleasant fiancée.  He is a romantic who loves Paris and wishes he could live there in the "old days"; she is a diva who mainly cares about appearances and making money.  During his trip, he takes a midnight walk, and suddenly finds that his wish has been granted: he is still in Paris, but he has somehow been transported back through time to the 1920s.  He meets amazing people like Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Salvador Dalí.  He goes to parties and restaurants and drives around in expensive cars.  He even falls in love (for real) with Pablo Picasso's girlfriend.  The only catch is that these mysterious events can only take place at night, and during the day, he is back to the modern day.

I encourage you all to watch this movie.  Not only is it one of my favorites, but it also gives you an unexpected perspective on people and places from long ago.  And Owen Wilson's longing for the past makes me think: Why do we always look back on old times and reminisce on how great they were, and complain about the time we live in?  Why not try to make right now a time that people 50 years from now will look back on?  Why not try to make our own time memorable?

-Marisa


Monday, March 18, 2013

Memory Music

Hey all you beautiful people! This is Emily Fab. (:

Gosh, I just finished reading all of the recent posts on the blog and they are all so amazing! (Mrs. Green, I actually cried reading your post, with the saddening feeling of the last musical with the most talented seniors still lingering in my mind). I apologize for not posting on my assigned blogging day, March 15 (musical was all that I though about over the weekend).

In life, you make so many memories and meet so many fantastic people. It's hard to imagine that after graduation day, you may never see some of the friends you made in the 12 years of your life in school. I feel like sometimes, we take this time for granted- wishing for delays and cancellations and breaks where we lose time we could have spent with these people. It's so important to stay involved throughout high school and live these years to their fullest because this is where a ton of your memories are made and this is where you learn who you are. Go to football games, be in musicals, play a sport. And I know I'm only a sophomore, but I still think about this all the time. It's a pre-nostalgic feeling I can't quite comprehend, almost like I'm looking back on something that hasn't happened yet.

Music is a way I express these snapshots and memories I make and hold onto in my mind. It's my way of remembering what it was like to be surrounded by these people in this place at that specific time of day. The moment I hear certain songs, I can be transported to the place I was in when those songs were relevant. This is one of the craziest/coolest feelings to me.

I want to share some of these songs with you all because whether or not they have a nostalgic meaning to you, I think they are some of the most brilliant songs ever. Here you go (:

Memory Music:

Boston - Augustana

Kaleidoscope - Joe Brooks

A Face To Call Home - John Mayer

Stay Beautiful - Taylor Swift

Stories to Tell - Dave Barnes

Better Together - Jack Johnson


From the Desk of Mrs. Green- Nostalgia



I just opened the blog because I felt compelled to post about how great the musical was, and lo-and-behold, here is Sam's post. Interestingly, I was not going to post just to say "the musical was great- horray." But instead, I felt compelled to write about the fact that watching the show yesterday- actually watching my QRT students in the show yesterday- gave me the most wonderful nostalgia about high school.

You know that the moment you are in right now will not live on forever, and certain memories will fade, but the spirit of the experience has become a part of who you are. You will have moments when it will all come flashing back to you in a visceral way. It has been more that 24 hours, and I still feel a little bit like crying and smiling and laughing as the songs from your show keep repeating in my head. That is my visceral response.

And beyond that, I hold the image of your faces at the end of the show- that precious moment when you came out of character, and I saw in each of you in the realization- this is it.  Not this is the end, but this is what it is all about.

Quinn, your face was exactly as I felt, exactly how I remember feeling, with my friends at the culmination of my senior year. Sam, you did a little gig with your fingers in the air. It sort of said, "my fingers need to do this or I might start to cry." I was so enthralled in watching that moment. I loved seeing each of you with your arms draped over each other, the weight of friendship keeping your feet planted to the stage, your faces- still young- with so much talent, intelligence, charm, charisma, beauty, love. You were shining.

Thanks for that gift.

My family just came barreling through the door, and the beautiful images of my life after those moments in high school just materialized, so without edits, I am signing off.

Bravo!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Endings

I don't exactly know who is going to end up seeing this post, let alone if anyone for whom it is intended will end up seeing it. That uncertainty, however, makes this space strangely appropriate for this post.

Today, at 5:38 pm, my mom, sister, and I pulled out of the school parking lot after my final FC spring musical performance. Even now, four hours later as I sit in front of a laptop, I have trouble grasping that I will never perform on the FC stage again. I'm a unique case, because I will be majoring in Acting next year. I don't feel the pain or frustration that I will never perform again, but it is nevertheless extremely difficult to cope with the fact that I am leaving such a special group of people behind so soon. In 48 hours or shorter, everything that happened over three months of intensely fun rehearsal will be a memory. In 40 years, what will we have left of this transcendent experience?

In Maya Angelou's words, one may not remember what was done or said, but he or she will remember how someone made him or her feel. That is how I feel about the family that I am forced to leave behind until further notice. At our high school reunions, we won't remember any inside jokes that are now repeated 20+ times daily. We won't remember our tracks in the show, our blocking, our choreography, or our vocal parts. We might not even remember exactly who played which role, or who was on the production team. What we can never forget, however, is how we made eachother feel.

I pity students who have never experienced the bond that is created during a process like ours. Each day, our mutual bond flourished exponentially. Each day, I found new things I love about each person in the cast. Each day, I was reminded why I am pursuing performing as a career in some way, even if the signal was negatively veiled or not readily seen.

I love you all, and the way you made me feel will live in my heart forever.

Sam

Thursday, March 14, 2013

HAPPY PI DAY

Hopefully no one had to ask a teacher or friend what the date was today, because today is a very special holiday.  TODAY IS PI DAY!  Happy Pi(e) day everyone! Happy 3.14159265... and yes, I had to use the internet for those last four digits.  But, this is the tapestry blog and I'm sure that no one wants to know how to calculate pi, so instead, I wrote a PI-KU for everyone (get it??)...


Look in through the glass,
So many pi(e)s to choose from.
Apple costs $3.14.



 Thanks for watching,                                                 
Emily, the Katz edition