This is what Vegas is supposed to be like!!

The last four days have been AWESOME!!!! REALLY AWESOME!!!

Courtney, one of my best friends in the world made her way to Vegas with her family on Thursday. So after a lengthy design meeting on Friday, I made my way to the strip to hang out with her. Great times! We went shopping at Planet Hollywood, I took her to my apartment so she could see the new digs, and then we went to the Ron White show. It was actually pretty funny. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. On Saturday we went to Mandalay Bay for some more shopping and then we split and I went on a date with a film major, Alex.

BEST FIRST DATE EVER!

We met at Mandalay Bay, and went to the Killers concert. If you ever have the opportunity to see them live, I highly recommend it. It was so fun and the band was amazing. So after the concert Courtney met up with us at a bar called Minus 5. You basically go, wait in line, and they give you a huge coat and some boots and go in a room where EVERYTHING is made of ice, including the cups. It was reallyreally fun! It was sooo cold but we had a blast. And then Alex took us to Crown & Anchor, which is an English pub near campus, for some bar food. And then around 3:30 AM he drove us back to the hotel. Great night!!

Courtney and I got up Sunday and went to New York, New York for lunch. And then I went back to my apartment for a much-needed shower and got ready for the first read-thru of The Way It Has to Be, the show I'm stage managing. It went really well. And after that I did some homework and watched the Emmys. Great show. So happy for Kristin Chenoweth and 30 Rock. I wish Tina would have won, but Toni Collete is pretty amazing in The United States of Tara, so.... I'm trying to move past it. So yeah, great weekend.

Monday came way to soon. Classes were fine. Alex and I went to see Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret. It was intense, but really cool. I got my book signed! Yay! And then I wrote a post card to Frank that said "Thank you for signing my book, it will be on Ebay later tonight". Its not true but I thought it was funny and hopefully it will end up on the website or something.

And that has been life for the past 4 days. Woohooooo!!

In case you were wondering...

I did not sit at my apartment alone on Saturday night. I ended up sitting at my apartment with Brandon, Sandy, Will, and Erica. So yeah, it was a tame weekend.

This week has not started great. I can't put my finger on why it has not been great, I think it's just a bunch of small irritations that are building up. The main one being the sign that was hanging in the shop when I went into work this morning. The contents of this sign were something like "Grad Work Call... this Saturday... 9-5 PM" AKA my Saturday is SHOT!! I fully expected for my free-time to be non-existent once I started grad school and normally I would not be mad about this work day buuuuut...... COURTNEY will be here this weekend!! And this work day is taking a huge chunk of time that I could spend going crazy with her. It will be okay. It's probably good that last weekend was tame because this weekend will be full of crazy antics. Maybe by Monday I will actually have some pictures of Las Vegas to post.

Annnnnnnnnnyway, I'm considering going to spinning at 6:30 AM so I should probably hit the sack.

the boredom post

It is Saturday night. In Las Vegas. I have no plans (yet)... there is still a tiny bit of hope.

You might be thinking, "What did you do last night Katy? I mean, last night was Friday, a great night to go out on the town, right?" Well that is what I thought, but apparently not. Because I did nothing last night as well.

The most eventful thing that has happened this weekend is that I went to the theatre for an hour to dress the set for Reasons to be Pretty. That was it.

Annnnnyyyyyyyyway.

Labor Day Weekend!

I'm so happy it's labor day weekend. Friday night was kind of weird and here is why:

My friend Michaela is in Vegas, well she was, she left this afternoon but anyway. I texted her when I got out of school to see what she was doing and she texted me back like 5 hours later saying "Come to Tao". Huge nightclubs are not really my cup of tea but I was uber bored so I threw on a dress and headed to the Venetian. I seriously live like 3 miles from the strip and it took like 40 minutes to get there and park. Irritating. So I go in and find Tao and let me just tell you... the line to get in was a mile long and I was definitely not dressed slutty enough. And there was a funny smell which I guess was the clap or something, I don't know.

So I said screw it and called my friend Brandon and walked for like 30 minutes to meet up with him and his Mormon friend Tara at Treasure Island. We ended up at Denny's. It was an experience.

Yesterday was fantastic, mostly. My refund check FINALLY came in so I went and opened an account with Bank of America. And then I went shopping, the Target here is lame by the way. I was extremely disappointed with it. Then I went to Planet Hollywood and got some things at Urban Outfitters and American Apparel. I'm very proud of myself because I did not go crazy. It just feels awesome to actually have money. And then I walked back to the parking garage and completely forgot where I parked. I seriously walked around for probably 30 minutes trying to find my car. I finally found it, in section 3M, I could have sworn I was in 2E but I guess not. So yeah. We were supposed to karaoke last night at a dive called Ellis Island but then Sandy (SM MFA 3rd year) texted me about a party at Kenn (Directing MFA 2nd year) and Griffin's (Acting MFA 3rd year) house so I went to that. It was kind of awkward because I don't really know people that well yet and I'm not that friendly. But it was okay.

And then today I slept until noon, layed out at the pool, went grocery shopping, took a nap, aaaaaand that's about it. It has been awesome. And the best part, I don't have school tomorrow. YAY!

On another note, I have been getting ample amounts of drunk dials from my undergrad friends who will be starting school on Wednesday. I'm actually kind of sad that I'm not there with them. Is that awful? I'm living in Las Vegas and I am slightly upset that I'm not in Ruston, LA. SERIOUSLY?! Anyway, I think I might go see the Bodies exhibition at the Luxor tomorrow. If that really happens, I will write about because I want to be a better blogger. The end.

gRADuate school.

So being in grad school is kind of like having a 9-5 job with homework. Until you start rehearsals and then it's like a 9-11 job with homework.

I have to say, things are going really well. Classes are great, professors are awesome, TEAM AWESOME (the MFA stage managers) is REALLY AWESOME. Working 20 hours a week in the props shop.... i'm trying to stay optimistic. No, I have not been to the strip since school started.

So week one is over, kind of. We have callbacks tomorrow for the New Play Festival. I'm stage managing one of them. After callbacks are over, I will feel confident in saying that I survived my first week of grad school.

honestly, why do i bother?

I really do want to be a good blogger, I just forget about it.

A lot has happened since the last entry.

1. I graduated from college!! My last few days in Ruston were so weird. That is the only word that can describe it. I spent every waking moment with my friends that I ended up my apartment with my dad, mom, aunt, and sister 2 hours before graduation. I was covered in sweat by the time I got to the TAC and since I forgot to leave my black heels out of one of the boxes, I ended up gathering my diploma and shaking the President's hand while sporting my black Toms. It was a political statement really. The only part that really sucked was that BOBBY JINDAL was our commencement speaker. yeah.

2. I got into grad school! I know, right? I am starting grad school at the University of Nevada... LAS VEGAS!! It is very scary and very exciting. I even got an assistantship which kicks ass. The fam and I went last week and I found an apartment and met with the stage management professor. My assistantship assignment is with props. I was a little scared when she told me at first... like I almost puked on her desk, but now it's sunk in and I am looking forward to learning another aspect of theatre.

3. I worked for five weeks as an assistant stage manager in the hell hole known as Greenville, North Carolina. I would go into the hairy details but you never know who is reading these things. I will just say that I have never been more miserable in my entire life. No exagerations. And it's weird because last summer I was gone for like 3 and half months and I mean, of course I missed people, but it wasn't unbearable because I was surrounded by awesome people and I loved it. I was in NC for five weeks and I was literally counting down the hours. It felt like I was there for 10 years. What I am trying to say is... it's funny how you realize how lucky you are when you are stuck in a miserable situation. This will probably be lame to some of you, if anyone even reads this, but I went to Ruston after I was done in NC. I was only gone for 5 weeks and I felt the need to go back and sit at the Frothy Monkey and Sundown like old times... or five weeks prior. Whatever, it was great.

4. Thats pretty much it. I'm in Oklahoma for a few weeks and it has been great being home. I'm trying to find furniture for my apartment and such. Good times.

I'm also going to share a secret that you probably already know about. It's called swaptree.com and my friend Josh told me about it. Anyway, you can list your old books/CDs/movies/video games that you don't want anymore. Then you list things that you do want and the website sets up trades for you. It's awesome. I joined like a week ago and I have already done 2 trades. I've got 2 basically new books, and all I had to pay for was shipping. And my new television addiction is Big Love on HBO. It's about polygamy and Mormons. It's really interesting.


Thats it for now!

It's almost over....

It has not sunk in that this is my last quarter of my undergraduate career. Probably because I'm currently the production stage manager for 2 shows! It's crazy.  And typically if I have a lot to do, I just try to take life one day at a time, but you really can't do that as a stage manager. It's all about anticipating.  Gah! Anyway, for those who care, my last quarter consists of:

SPANISH 3: How thrilled am I to be done with Spanish 2? Very thrilled, in case you were wondering.  This class should be better because I'm back with my amazing Spanish 1 teacher.  I'm sooooo happy.

COMBAT: Broadsword! Those bitches are heavy.  But Guinn says I'm a natural because it's just like swinging a bat.  Thanks.

PROMOTIONS:  OMG. I had no idea what to expect for this class.  We have an ongoing project of cutting out ads in magazines and writing what we like or don't like about them.  It's tempting to cut out every tampon/condom/lube ad out there, but I'm trying to keep it clean.

STAGE MANAGEMENT SEMINAR: This will be my 4th stage management seminar with Cherrie.  I thought this one would be like the other ones, meaning I go in, we talk about how the show that I'm working on is going, she tells me how to handle different problems, and we're done.  NOT THIS TIME!! This time, we are writing a text book.  

So those are my classes for the last quarter at Tech.  

In other news, I recently went to SETC in Birmingham.  SO FUN. And I have to say, I was probably the best dressed person at that convention.  It was so great to see the TWV people.  We all got together and was like no time had passed at all, I loved it!!!!  I spent way to much money on sushi and other delicious food/drinks.  It was worth it.  And I did some great interviews and I got a job for the summer!  I will be stage managing at ECU/ Loessin Summer Theatre.  One show (Big River). Five weeks.  I'm pretty excited because I will get to spend some time at home this summer, before I start grad school, or whatever the hell I decide to do with my life.... not completely sure yet.  Anyway. I think that's all for now.

I can breathe again!

Hello world.

It's been awhile.  You would think as a senior, this year would be easy.  It has not been.  This quarter has been definitely been one of the most draining times of my life.  The feeling that I'm about to graduate and leave the comfort zone that is Louisiana Tech is really scary most of the time, but then I realize that everyone is freaked out about the future which makes me feel a little better.

I had boards yesterday, and it always makes me sooooo nervous.  BTW, boards is where you basically do a mock audition/interview with the faculty and they judge you and tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are.  I don't know why I get so nervous because it's always fine. It was fine yesterday, I think the most critical comment I got was something like, "Katy, you constantly have this cloud of sarcasm and smart-assness that follows you around, and while I quite like and appreciate it, it might scare some people.  And you don't need it."  So needless to say, I was worked up about nothing.  

Not much else is new. Spanish is sucking out my soul.  Spinning has become a great stress reliever.  My directing project, the skin of our teeth, is going fabulously.  We start Parallel Lives rehearsals on Monday, SO EXCITED.  And I guess thats it.

SWANN OUT!

A Recipe for Jen

OREO TRUFFLE BALLS

1 Package of Oreos, normal ones, not double stuffed.  You can also use the reduced fat ones, and they are still good.

1 Thing of Cream Cheese.  I don't know how many ounces it is, I think 8, it's the small one.

1 Package of Baker's Chocolate.  The amount depends on how thick you want the outside chocolate coat to be, one is usually okay for me.

TO MAKE THEM:

Mix the oreos with the cream cheese.  I find it very effective to run over the oreos with my car(it tends to make them crumble up better).  Mix it with your  hands, or do whatever works for you. Stick the mixture in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes, it's easier to work with if it's cold.  Roll it up into small (or large, it don't matta!) balls and lay them on some wax paper.  Melt down your bakers chocolate and dunk your balls into it.  Once they are all coated, stick them back in the fridge for a bit.  You can choose to end there or if you wanna get really crafty, you can ground up almonds and sprinkle them over the top, or melt down some white chocolate and drizzle it over them (my personal favorite).  

It's a little messy but they are delicious and they will make you so popular!! 

Here's to you, Budget Cuts!

Thanks to you, I will not be stage managing As You Like It, directed by guest director Scott Gilbert.  I will now be stage managing Merry Wives of Windsor, and a re-vamp of Parallel Lives.  I'm not mad about stage managing Merry Wives, I'm sure it will be great, it just blows that we have to make so many sacrifices and the football team gets a budget INCREASE!  Bullshit Ron!!

I'm actually pretty excited about doing Parallel Lives again, because that show was off the chain. For reals.  Anyway.

Hey! This is my first post of the new year! Happy New Year!  I just watched the Golden Globes and was, of course, ecstatic for 30 Rock.  But where the hell did Slumdog Millionaire come from?? They tore it up.  And what was with Drew Barrymore's hair?  And HOW ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH did Meryl win NOTHING?!?  

Well, here's a micro update on my life so I can get back to figuring out what to do for my directing project (which has to be proposed tomorrow).  

1. Spinning is still kicking my ass.  Our teacher asked us (while were sweating bullets) if we had seen any good concerts lately, and no one said anything. So my smartass said, "I haven't been to any good concerts but I saw and awesome drag show the other day." ...... I. Got. SO. MANY. LOOKS. I forget sometimes that I'm in Louisiana.

2. Spanish. Oh Spanish. Satan spoke spanish. I'm certain of it.

3. I have a new love. And his name is Mickey Rourke.

That's it.