Wicked

I FINALLY SAW WICKED!!!!!

Last night, Phil and I traveled to Tampa to see the national tour of the Broadway hit, Wicked. I absolutely loved it. This musical has now taken the place of my long-time favorite, Miss Saigon.

Wicked is the untold story of the witches from the classic book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The viewers are giving the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda, Glinda the Good. I've read the book (one of my favorites), but went into the theater knowing not to expect the same story line. Even though the events in the musical were different, the essential message of "wickedness as a choice or being thrust upon someone" was the same.

Everything about the production was amazing! The sets and costumes were so imaginative and colorful. The vocalists were pretty good (no one takes the place of Idina Menzel). The character of Galinda was perfect. The incorporation of the original story of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was very creative, expecially the scene with Dorothy and figuring out how the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow all came about. I particularly enjoyed the songs "Popular" and "Wicked Deeds Don't Go Unpunished." My favorite scene was "Defying Gravity", when Elphaba flew on her broomstick. The creativity behind that!!!!

I do have one complaint: the ending. I won't give it away, but I did not like the feel-good ending of the plot. Even though I've read the book, I still like the tragic ending Gregory Maguire crafted in his novel much better than the ending I viewed last night.

I highly recommend this musical. It truly is a magical exerience.

Tag! You're It!

My friend from S.Florida, Alice, tagged me with the Questions of Fours.

I am enjoying my day off of school in honor of MLKJR. I should be cleaning, creating FCAT preparation folders for some colleagues, doing homework, scanning some activities for my reading class, getting ready to watch Oprah announce the high school essay contest, and getting a jumpstart on my next book. Instead, I'll procrastinate with this questionnaire:

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. 1994-1998: Enter the World of Retail: began as a clerk in a little design shop in downtown St.Cloud, FL. I did anything the boss wanted me to do: dust, clean, organize, ring up customers, answer phones, sit there and do nothing. Moved on to working as a cashier and office person at Winn-Dixie for a few years. Then, worked as a cashier and associate floor manager at J.C. Penny.
2. 1999: Was a librarian at the St. Cloud Public Library. Go figure!!
3. 2000-2001: Worked to help pay the bills first as a photographer at Sears Photo Studio and then as an office-clerk at Applied Concepts.
4. 2001-2003: Working as a Journalism and English teacher at South Fork High School in Stuart, FL. 2003-current: Working as an English teacher at Freedom High School in Orlando, FL.

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Beaches-Reminds me of my college girlfriends and makes me cry my eyes out.
2. Office Space-HAHA!! "Did you get the memo...?"
3. Mean Girls-I am the teacher in that movie.
4. Crash-My favorite movie.

Four places you have lived:
1. Connecticut (Waterbury, Willimantic, Naugatuck)
2. St. Cloud, FL
3. South Florida (Lantana, Port St. Lucie, Jensen Beach, Stuart)
4. Orlando, FL

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Sex in the City
2. One Tree Hill
3. Dawson's Creek
4. American Idol

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Bahamas (senior trip in high school)
2. Chapquidic Island (an island next to Martha's Vineyard, our family rented a cottage for two weeks)
3. Shelby Farms, TN (for OneDay 2000)
4. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (Passion '99)

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Various blogs updated by friends (and my own)
2. WeatherChannel.com (Florida's weather is too unpredictable to dress accordingly in the morning)
3. The homepage for whatever online grad course I am taking (this semester it is Developmental Reading)
4. My Wamu (my banking activity)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Sushi-a new-found love
2. Wings and cheap beer-I can't help it, I live across the street from an Ale House.
3. Any type of veggi
4. ICE CREAM!!!

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In bed-It's going to be a long week so I have a feeling I won't be visiting my bed very much this week.
2. Australia-I really, really, REALLY want to visit Hillsongs in Sydney.
3. England-One of my dreams is to visit The Globe Theatre.
4. Sitting on a beach-I think I need to relax a bit, away from everyone.

I tag my closest friend Melanie, my former roommate and dancing partner (we need to go out soon) Katie, and my newest friend Janice. I should try to go get some work done before having to endure on hour of Oprah to just find out about this essay contest for my students.

The Part of Teaching No One Warned Me About

At the start of my lunch today I received a phone call. One of my students passed away. I didn't know how to respond. My first words were, "Wow! What happened?" All I was told is that there were medical complications. After hanging up, I didn't know what to do, so I emailed Phil, my mom, and Tracey. Phil was busy so he couldn't say much. My mom offered her thoughts and prayers, and Tracey shared with me a story about when she had to deal with a similiar situation.

I have gotten teary-eyed, but haven't cried...it feels weird to cry at school...

Students have begun to hear the news, and have come to talk to me. I have the "privilege" to talk to my 6th period class (the class in which this student was in) about the death. What a way to end the day...

This is difficult.

Etiquette Addendum

Ok, so Phil and I went to the movies the other night to see The Producers. We went to one of the theme park theaters, to a 7:10 showing. It was very quiet--PERFECT!! Granted, it's an adult movie whom no one wants to see, but we noticed the fact that it was quiet.

Yesterday, Melanie and I went to see Memiors of a Geisha. Again, perfect crowd. In fact, a child began fussing about one hour into the movie (the child actually turned out to be related to Melanie-hahaha!). The mother was very respectful to the movie-goers around her:she got up and took the child out of the theater until the child calmed back down. YAY MOMMY!!

Ok, I'm done. :-)