Oh Shenandoah, I Long To Hear You

Hi there blog!  It's been a couple of weeks but I've been quite busy preparing for Halloween (which you should know by now is my absolute favorite :), and for Angela and Zac's wedding, and also for my trip to Virginia which I am going to tell you all about!  (The rest will have to wait for a later entries namely because I owe you more entries since I have been absent for so long.)  (You should know I have been writing though!  750words.com is my new favorite habit!  You should check it out).  Anyway, in preparation for our trip (and also because it was just time to trade in my dad's truck) my Mom got a new car!  A 2011 Hyundai Tuscon fully loaded.  It is pretty bad ass.  It a built-in touchscreen with XM radio and GPS which I love.  But my favorite feature has to be the double sun roof.  It extends into the back seat so it makes the car feel really sunny and open which if you know anything about me, you should know that I love love love tons of natural light.  Hopefully, though, we never roll it because we would be screwed.

Anyway, we left for Massanutten on Saturday the 23rd.  Massanutten is in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia which was gorgeous this time of year.  My Aunt Sandie traded in her timeshare in Texas so that we could go to this resort which was really really beautiful.  I have to say overall, it was a little boring because most of the activities in the valley were geared towards old people (there were a TON of old people btw, which my aunt claimed was only because they were the ones that could afford to go to such a resort). (Being a poor actress who lives with her parents, that does seem like a pretty reasonable explanation to me.)  We got in late Saturday night so we couldn't really see much of the resort or the valley.  But the next morning, I woke up super duper early for the first time in a really long time and this is what I saw.

A Massanutten sunrise

Definitely a beautiful way to see the valley for the first time.  We didn't do much that day other than explore the resort a bit.  In the afternoon, the guys went in search of a sports bar to watch the Steeler game and we gals drove way up the mountain and went for a short hike.  Here's a view of the valley from up on the mountain.

 We took turns leading the hike only stopping if we found a good spot for pictures.  Mom was overly concerned about running into bears most of the time.  But overall the hike was a great way to start off the trip, introducing us to the landscape of the valley colored by the fall foliage.  We hiked til sunset.

Walkway leading to The Chapel

Monday we planned a trip to the Lauray Caverns about an hour away from the resort.  I have to say I have never seen anything like that in my life.  I am not sure that I have the right words to describe the experience of being in the caverns so I will tell you a bit about the tour.  It was my first semi-self guided audio tour which was a bit strange.  You have this individual discovery of the history of the caverns juxtaposed with the shared experience of being led through the caverns - but I don't think I would have had it any other way really.  It was almost like being able to discover the majesty of the formations by yourself with all the comfort and security that comes along with being in a group.  Anyway some highlights of the caverns aside from the awesome formations were the cool, incredibly clean air and a stalag-pipe organ that was engineered to strike different stalagmites and stalactites with small rubber mallets to create different pitches.  The room that the sound filtered into also used to be used for balls and is still often used for weddings.  (It's nicknamed The Chapel.)

However, despite the awesome beauty we found in the caverns, Tuesday proved to be hands down my favorite day of the trip.  We went zip lining which was incredibly enhanced by the beauty of the changing leaves (and not to mention the beauty of our handsome guide, Logan. ;) I'm not going to lie, it was pretty sexy the way he never told me to brake so that I could come flying into the next platform for him to catch me.  Definitely didn't hurt the experience at all. :)  Plus this course had these cool little connection obstacles that you had to do to get to the next zip like a rope bridge and a wooden

Logan clipping Mom off the zip

bridge with missing planks.  No worries though, we were clipped in at all times so there wasn't any danger.  Also, the way you got down from the final platform (which was at least 40' high) you had to helicopter down which is always so much fun (and a bit scary :).  But the highlight had to be having the group sing an early 'happy birthday' to me atop that late platform tower.  With the spectacular view, the excitement of the zip fresh in my blood, and the sweet serenade of people I love (along with a sexy guide), I'd have to say that moment is pretty high up there on my list of favorites. :)

Wednesday was super rainy but despite the less than lovely weather Mom, Aunt Sandie, and I went in search of a winery - we were, after all, in the wine country of Virginia.  We ended up at the Barboursville Ruins and Vineyards about forty minutes away where for just five bucks they let us taste seventeen wines (and some of them twice!:)  Needless to say, it was well worth the trip plus the wine was pretty fantastic.  We each ended up walking out with three bottles each and a serious buzz.

Thursday was our last day.  We spent a good deal of time relaxing and reluctantly packing up.  But before leaving we went go-kart racing and played a round of mini-golf which I won! (Quite possibly the only round of mini-gold I have ever won).  Guess those high school golf lessons paid off.  :)  

  

Forever and ever et awesome trips,

Cara

Favorite Songs of the Road Trip:  

Yankee Bayonet - The Decemberists

Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars

Miss Murder - AFI

Anna Molly - Incubus

Sway - Voxtrot

View of the golf course and mountain ridge - Massanutten Resort in Virginia

Dress Your Family In Tortoise Shells and Pumpkins

In case you live in a hole - this is David Sedaris

And now for the epic finish to the great couple of days that I had.  Monday, Carrie and I had tickets to see David Sedaris - hands down one of our all-time favorite authors.  He was hilarious!  I'd seen him read two years ago when his last book When You Are Engulfed in Flames came out and loved it but wasn't able to stay for the meet and greet afterward because I had rehearsal. (Blast!)  But since my friend Angela was able to stay, I had written him a short note expressing how Naked, my favorite book of his, had helped me learn to laugh again after a rather hard time in my life.  In my copy of Naked he simply wrote "Thank you for the kind note," at which I was quite overjoyed. :)  So Carrie and I resolved that we had to stay no matter how long it took to meet him.  (She had never met him or seen him read).  Towards the end of the show he mention that he had a friend who cuts hair at a mental institution and how it seemed like there was real potential there for a hilarious hair salon name.  All he could think of was "Hair Brains" though.  He also mentioned that he collects jokes from people in the meet & greet lines.  Carrie also had a couple of misogynistic jokes to tell him but since anytime I am put on the spot to tell a joke I choke like a baby on a button. (Booya - offensive simile joke.  Ah but the pressure's off now.)  So I pulled out my moleskin and resolved to present something I could handle - creating a list of possible mental institution hair salon names.  This proved to be an excellent idea as it passed the nearly two (yes TWO) hours we spent waiting in the sheeple corral and helped diffuse our nerves a bit.  The list we ended up with included:
- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
- Electro Shock Hairapy
- Freudian Snips
- Wrist Hair Cutters
- The Shampoony Bin
- Loony Trims
- and Nuts About Cuts, Cuts for Nuts, or simply Nuts Cuts

He loved The Shampoony Bin - my spin on the Loony Bin. :)  I was so proud.  I asked him if he wanted the list and he was thrilled to take it.  David Sedaris has a page out of my moleskin notebook!  How surreal!  He was even still chuckling and muttering it under his breath as we left, smiling our faces off with pride.  "Make someone famous for their humor laugh" was not on my bucket list, but I think I just might add it and cross it off because I was so proud of that accomplishment.  Like I said, he taught me to laugh after a time when I really didn't think I could anymore, so I think it was kind of poetic that I was able to give him some laughter back.  And guess what he wrote in my book this time? :)

Carrie and I ended our night celebrating with some beer and hummus at one of my favorite Southside bars The Library - quite apropos, eh?

And finally yesterday (Tuesday) I went to Hozak's Farm with my good friends Elaine and John for our second year of pumpkin picking.  Last year we went to Reilly's Summer Seat which is hands-down my favorite pumpkin patch.  The scenery is spectacular and they really have it all - hayride to their authentic pumpkin patch, farm dog, boo barn, corn maze, caramel apples, scarecrows, and even the Great Pumpkin from Charlie Brown! (What more could you ask for really?)  Only bad thing was that last year we visited the last weekend before Halloween and there were about three pumpkins left in the field.  Also, Reilly's is a bit more expensive and I wasn't sure if they have hayrides to the patch during the week because Mr. Reilly talks you in circles on their automated answering machine.  So, I decided that we should try Hozak's where my family gets our Christmas tree since I found out that their hayrides are free (fist pump!) and they have the best old gift shop with stuff that you could only find in the attic of your great-aunt Beulah.  We all had a blast in the gift shop finding everything from several books that were over a hundred years old to some demonic Easter bunnies to a giant tortoise shell!  The pumpkin patch itself was hilarious.  It was less of a patch and more of a forest of strategically placed pumpkins.  John said that the heavens must have opened and chosen this spot to dump these pumpkins.  We did find some winning pumpkins in the magical pumpkin forest and the best part was that they were cheaper than both Janoski's and Reilly's!

By the way, here are some of the treasures we found in the gift shop:

Demon Bunny

Book Published in 1902

An Ancient Cash Register - apparently no on had more than $6 when this was made

What I didn't know before this trip was that Janoski's was on the way to Hozak's so I decided to stop and show them their giant selection of different gourds and cute farmer's market.  We ended the day with a little wine tasting at their new Volant wine tasting room before heading back to Robinson and parting ways.  Oh yeah, almost forgot, we began the day in Robinson having lunch at the Ikea food court where I had a gargantuan plate of Sweedish meatballs.  Overall quite a successful couple of days, I'd say. :)

Forever and ever et magical pumpkin forests,
Your favorite loony toon - Cara

Halloween Film of The Day: The Shining

My prize pumpkin

This Year's Halloween Playlist (less Halloweenie than the other one - I kind of used up most of the staple songs last year):
1. Abracadabra - Sugar Ray cover
2. Ghost Town - Shiny Toy Guns
3. Victor's Piano Solo (from Corpse Bride)
4. This Is Halloween - Panic at the Disco cover
5. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
6. Teeth - Lady Gaga
7. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
8. Monsters - Funeral For A Friend
9. Blood - My Chemical Romance
10. Boris The Spider - The Who
11. I Put A Spell On You - She & Him
12. Of Moons, Birds, & Monsters - MGMT

13. Decode (from Twilight) - Paramore
14. Hello - Evanescence
15. On The Rise (from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) - Neil Patrick Harris & Felicia Day
16. Miss Murder - AFI
17. I Never Told You What I Do For A Living - My Chemical Romance
18. Spooky - Classics IV
19. The Piano Duet (from Corpse Bride)
20. My Boy Build Coffins - Florence & The Machine
21. Purple People Eater - The Neanderthals cover
22. Monster - Lady Gaga
23. Zombie Jamboree - Rockapella

John inspecting the magical pumpkin forest

My Wicked Weekend

B Positive - my type and my mantra

Well, hello there blog!  Much has happened since I last wrote in you.  I've been quite a busy girl hence my absence.  I donated blood and had the absolute BEST phlebotomist I've ever encoutered at Central Blood Bank.  I can't tell you how many times they've dug a needle around in my arm because they lost the vein.  But this girl was in and out, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am style.  It was awesome.  Plus I got a ten dollar gift card to the mall.  Shazam!

Not at all cheesy

Then my wonderful weekend was sprinkled with all sort of fun fall activities.  I'd like to think I'm a sort of connoisseur of Halloween-type adventures especially those of the haunted nature - fear is, after all, my catharsis of choice.  Friday mum and I ventured up north to Cheeseman Farm in Portersville - by far my favorite haunted house around.  It starts you off with a haunted hayride that takes you to a haunted corn maze.  Is there anything better than that?! (Well, maybe if they'd thrown in an old mansion or an asylum, but let's not get too picky now :)  The actors on the hayride were so slick though.  Half the time you didn't even know that anyone had jump on the wagon until you felt them breathing down your neck!  It was wicked cool. 

The infamous Pumpking beer

I also got to try Southern Tier's Pumpking Ale which sadly was not my favorite beer ever as I had hoped it would be.  It was very fragrant.  My mum said she thought it tasted like a Yankee candle and I'd have to agree with her on that one.  It was a lot like potpourri for your palate, which didn't sit well with either of us.

It was so badass even lions

& storm troopers showed up

On Saturday, my friend Carrie and I took a trip out to Janoski's farm to pick up some pumpkins.  I chose a medium sized one that I have yet to carve as well as a small white one.  We also stopped in their farmer's market and got some apple cidar and pumpkin butter.  Carrie also made me try hot pickled cauliflower which was surprisingly good.  After Janoski's, we ventured out to Zelienople for their Fall Festival which was adorable.  They had bunches of delicous fair food, craft booths galore, and even representatives of the PA Mountain Men society (it's okay, I didn't know they existed either ;).  Not to mention the (very cute) acoustic guitarist they had set up in a gazebo who's 90's/early 00's tunes drifted throughout the town via emergency broadcast speaker system. (How did he know I love 90's/early 00's acoustic music?  That's what I want to know.)  Anyway, we decided to live the festival to the fullest but buying some Halloween themed princess crowns and scarfing down some gyros while listening to his intoxicating versions of "Wonderwall" and "Swing Life Away" and even "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" (my personal karaoke favorite).  Our crowns ended up on the heads of some lucky little girls and we both agreed that the festival was well worth the drive up there.  Later that night I carved my white pumpking into the pumpkin king himself - Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas (which I have always wanted to do since the moment I found out albino pumpkins existed!)  I did this while watching Pet Sematary which I DVRed.  Actually I DVRed the entire Stephen King marathon that AMC had that day so that I'd have more Halloween movies at my disposal. :)  I also bought this electric carver a couple of weeks ago which was a Godsend!  It only took me about ten minutes to carve my pumpkin!  TEN MINUTES!  It took longer to gut it than to carve it!  I was so impressed.  I can't wait to carve the other one.

Look at all of that haze!

Sunday, I went with my mum and her two friends to Kennywood's Phantom Fright Nights which I have been excited for since Kennywood closed for their regular season.  Oddly enough, it seemed like we were the only people there over the age of fifteen. (Do adults not do fun Halloween things anymore?  If that's the case, I have absolutely no interest in being an adult).  Anyway it was so much fun!  We made it to all of the haunted houses (I think there are seven total) except for one which luckily was the one that I went to every time I've been to Fright Nights.  We also went on the Jack Rabbit and (my favorite ride in the entire park) The Exterminator! :)  Sadly, we didn't get to ride the new coaster the Skyrocket (Afternoon Delight, anyone?) but perhaps another time.

I'll have to write about Monday and Tuesday later today or tomorrow because I have to get going.  But if you can believe it, they were even MORE epic than my wicked weekend. :D  Stay tuned.

Forever and ever et Halloween,
Cara

Halloween Movie of the Weekend: Pet Sematary
My (newly ;) Traditional Halloween Playlist (created last year):
1. Bad Things (True Blood Theme) - Jace Everett
2. Time Warp (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
3. Moondance - Michael Buble cover
4. Magic Dance (Labyrinth) - David Bowie
5. This Is Halloween (Nightmare Before Christmas) - Marilyn Manson cover
6. Haunted - Evanescence
7. Sally's Song (Nightmare Before Christmas) - Danny Elfman
8. Beetlejuice Theme - Danny Elfman
9. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.
10. Halloween - Dead Kennedys
11. Monsters - Matchbook Romance
12. The Bird & The Worm - The Used
13. Black Magic Woman - Carlos Santana
14. Thriller - Michael Jackson
15. Exploration (Coraline) - Bruno Coulais
16. I Put A Spell On You (Hocus Pocus) - Bette Midler
17. Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
18. This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman
19. Moondance - Van Morrison
20. End Credits (Coraline) - Bruno Coulais
21. Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
22. Shewolf - Shakira (What?  She howls in it.  That totally makes it Halloween worthy.)

Longing To Belong

Fabulous Scarves

Help blog!  I'm having a pre-early-to-mid-life identity crisis, I think! Today I went shopping for clothes (which, I hate hate hate to do) (more than I hate that icky sensation when your pant legs get wet in the rain and stick to your calves).  I was trying on clothes in the junior section and nothing was fitting, which is not out of the ordinary.  But what was out of the ordinary was that I realized the reason nothing was fitting - I have hips!  (Where the hell did these come from? No seriously, where?)(And can I return them?)(Or at least get store credit?) Surprised and frustrated, I ripped the clothing from my body, carefully replaced it on the hanger and ran flailing through the store until I bumped into the petites section.  Only to be greeted with matronly prints and high-waisted pants sneering maliciously at me! (The horror!)  I tried slowly backing away bumping into a harvest themed sweater glaring at my indecision.  Just when I was sure I would be bored to death by all the old lady clothing slowly surrounding me on all sides, a sales lady woke me from my stupor with a, "Can I help you miss?"  I screamed unintelligibly and ran as fast as I could until I was safely in my car panting and wondering - what the hell?  Where was my section?  Where is the twenty-two-year-old-with-hips section?  Where do I belong?  I don't know what the heck I'm doing with my life right now and now compounded on top of that I don't even know what kind of clothing my age bracket wears?  I am by no means any sort of fashionista.  If it were left entirely up to me, the office dress code would be something akin to purple hair and leopard print pants and that's just for starters. (I secretly want to be a rock star, if you didn't know).  So I kind of have always relied on the social signs to point me in the direction of what I should be wearing so I don't stand out like a plum in a pear stand.  And, well, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that.  But that's sure how it felt.

**Disclaimer - Currently Fully Clothed!

I should be more specific really.  I don't hate all shopping.  Just clothes shopping (which I hate more than fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt.)(Disgusting!)  In all fairness, I love shopping for shoes or underwear or hats or jewelry or presents for other people or scarves.  And speaking of scarves, I did make some good shopping purchases today.  I bought two (fabulous) scarves and a Halloween apron which matches my other recent Halloween-related purchase of a candy corn themed spatulas! (I know what you're thinking.  And, yes, I too agree that it was a brilliant decision.)  I cannot wait to make delicious fall treats again this year!  And even if my big hips and I will fail to be clothed due to some designer's oversight, at least I will have this fabulous apron to cover my nakedness while I bake.

(Let's just hope my parents don't accidentally come home before the pie is done ;)

Forever and ever et nakedness,
Cara

Song of the Day: You Can't Always Get What You Want -- The Rolling Stones
Halloween Movie of the Day: Let The Right One In (Saw this today since it was discount Tuesday at the movies! Hooray! :)

Creature of Habit

So... much... shiny... ooo....

Hello blog!  It's been awhile!  Actually, it's been a month and a day which should probably be restated as quite awhile.  As you have probably guessed I'm not the best at being consistent.  But, really blog, I'd like to write in you more.  In fact, I'd like to do a lot of things more instead of just sitting around at home surfing the internet for jobs I could maybe do.  So I made this!  ----> It's my good habits checklist, inspired by a chore checklist I had when I was little.  Except this one has things like "run" and "blog" and "clean"(well I guess this is technically a chore).  I even bought the old school foil star stickers as motivation to complete said tasks.  And let me tell you, nothing motivates quite like foil star stickers (except maybe pumpkin cheesecake ice cream from Brusters! Mmm!)

Speaking of pumpkin flavored things, here is what I've missed telling you about whilst I was away:

Ali, who played Hero, afraid of the LARPers

- Hey it's fall!  Woohoo!
- I was in my first Shakespeare show - Much Ado About Nothing - which I did with Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks and got to spend a lot, I repeat, a lot of time in parks (which I love! Hooray!)  (Except for the stink bugs. Boo!)
- Stink bugs attacked Pittsburgh. (Hide ya kids, hide ya wife) Ah!!  But we survived. (Barely).
- Wifey aka. my good friend Carrie finished her dissertation and came home from her year in London. Hooray!
- My mom went on a cruise and didn't take me (Boo.)
- I got a sex change (Just kidding!)

Delicious bat & pumpkin cookies I made last October

Okay, so I guess you haven't missed that much in a month, because I haven't done a terrible lot.  But, not only is it fall but it's OCTOBER!  (Or as I like to call it, Rocktober... Why you ask? Because it rocks, of course!)  If you haven't guessed October is my favorite month because of the following reasons:
1. My birthday!
2. It's falls in my favorite season - fall
3. Pumpkins = Jack O' lanterns

One caught the swine flu. :(

4. My birthday!
5. Pumpkins = Pumpkin flavored things (Like pumpkin cheesecake ice cream!  Double mmm!)
6. Leaves changing
7. Halloween = Costumes! Scary movies! Haunted things! Oh my!
8. My birthday!

As you might have noticed, I mentioned that my birthday is in October.  It is the 29th, in fact which is deliciously close to Halloween.  And although today is not my birthday, (it is, in fact, my unbirthday) it won't be long now until it is my birthday!  I don't know if you know this, blog, but on your birthday, you can do whatever you want!  For example, you could dance the macarena, or rob a bank, or eat pumpkin cheesecake ice cream (which I plan to do) and no one can say anything because it's your birthday!  (Well, they might say something if you rob a bank, but if you're in your birthday suit when you do it, most likely they will be rendered speechless by your beauty/bingo lady arms.)  Just a little foreshadowing for what is to come this month.

Oh and blog... I'll see you soon.  I promise. ;)

Forever and ever, et pumpkin cheesecake ice cream,
Cara

Song of the Day: Jump in the Line - Harry Belafonte

Halloween Movie of the Day: Beetlejuice

"Okay, I believe you!"

An Object in Motion

As we have already established, I am afraid of most things.  And like most humans, change is one of those primary things.  I've been thinking about momentum a lot lately.  In rock climbing, momentum is key and, unless you maintain it, you won't be able to make the next move much of the time and consequently end up falling off the wall.  I fear that I may have fallen off the wall, so to speak.  See, I've realized over the past couple years that I am happiest when in motion.  For whatever reason, if I don't have a plan of what show or job or class or what not lined up next in my life, I get stuck in a nothing rut real fast. 

Life is a blur.

After graduation, I had a break for a month but was content in the fact that I had a plan once the month was up (travel to Europe to visit my friend Carrie in grad school.)  So my break had an expiration date even though it was a lot of time off.  (Enough time to make an afghan, in fact.)  Even so, it was hard to get the momentum going to again to start my travel frenzy (- two weeks traveling in Europe with less than 24 hours turn over to begin a week-long road trip to California then a month in Camarillo before coming home and starting Much Ado About Nothing rehearsals).  I remember my fear of the unknown getting the best of me and having a mini freak-out during the week before leaving for London.  Because as much as I knew it would be so much fun and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I knew it would be hard, that I wouldn't get enough sleep at times, that I probably wouldn't get to shower everyday and that we had to be responsible to follow our strict time table to make the trains we needed otherwise we'd lose money and have a hard time getting to where we needed to be on our tight schedule and little money.  Compounded on all of that there would be language barriers, four new cities with four new transportation systems to navigate as well as a whole unfamiliar inter-rail system to figure out.  And with too much downtime to mull these things over, I was seriously considering canceling the Europe trip because it would have been easier than having to deal with all of these problems even though it was a paid for, once-in-a-lifetime trip and I'd be seeing beautiful places and people and spending time with one of my best friends. 

Walking along the Berlin Wall.

Of course, I ended up getting over myself and going because I didn't want to be an ungrateful lame-ass.  But, I've come to the conclusion that for me, too much downtime can be a hindrance.  I get too much in my own head, having too much time to think about everything that could go wrong.  Anywho, after the Europe trip then the road trip then California and now the play, things are beginning to slow waaaaay down again and I'm finding myself getting to that point again.  I know that I want to get a job so that I can make enough money to save up and move to New York.  But I also want to be able to do shows at night, get enough sleep, have a social life, do volunteer work and have a job that I don't absolutely hate and that makes enough money that I don't have to worry.  But I'm already worrying.  I haven't even started yet and I'm worrying.  It's crippling and I don't know how to stop.  Which I why I'm thinking that Newton really did have it right - an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force AND an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.  I need to be my own outside force right now.  Because otherwise I will remain at rest and watch my life pass me by.  It would be so easy, but not at all fulfilling.  If I had given into my worry and passed up the Europe trip, I would've missed out on the satisfaction of successfully navigating four new beautiful cities in countries where, although I didn't speak the language, I still found ways to communicate.  I'd have missed the comfort that came afterward with the knowledge that if I return to any of these places, there would now be some element of familiarity there.  I want to have that with a job.  So I must maintain my momentum.  Because I have found that there is happiness in motion.

Forever and ever et cetera,
Cara

Happiness in motion.

Song of the Day: The Wind -- Cat Stevens

Quotes of the Day:
 "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." -- Newton's First Law of Motion

"You can't be too careful anymore, when all that is waiting for you won't come any closer - you've got to reach a little more"-- from Careful by Paramore

Surreptitious Superstitions

My black cat Jinx.  No, really.

I have recently noticed that over the course of the last several years I have somehow adopted a few superstitions.  I can't say I've never had a superstition before this, but I don't think that I really believed they worked or felt that the ritual did much to sway the eventual course of events.  I've always been a bit of a fatalist in that department, thinking that life will play out however it sees fit and that chance and circumstance have the greatest effect on where our lives end up.  That's not to say I don't also think that it is our responsibility to do as much as is in our control to drive our lives in the direction we wish them to go.  But I still think ultimately if we do get to wherever it is we hope to go, much of the success of the journey there must be attributed to chance.  And I don't suppose believe is quite the right word either for what I have in these weird superstitions I've adopted.  They've always been a sort of game for me, a way to amuse myself internally.  Plus, being in theatre for so long, one can't help but adopt a few as part of the culture (i.e. never saying the name of or quoting from The Scottish play unless you're working on it, no whistling in the house, etc).  Yet despite all of this, I am certainly beginning to feel a sense of unease if the ritual of my acquired superstitions isn't followed.

For example, when I'm driving and listening to music, I skip songs that have to do with car crashes.  (One of my favorites, Car Crash by Matt Nathanson, gets passed over regularly now.)  Many other people that I don't know probably do this as well.  But I don't know what made me personally begin to think that for some reason playing such tunes while driving would suddenly throw cosmic focus in my direction and cause me to swerve into a semi fulfilling some sort of ironic destiny.  I've never even been in an accident while driving (knock on wood ;) so there isn't even a logical excuse to justify this behavior.  Yet, before, I can even think about stopping the urge, my nervous forefinger has already pressed the next track button in anticipation of hearing those first fearfully beautiful chords strike up.

The other day i found that same twitchy finger skipping a different song that had nothing to do with preserving my mortality but an entirely new subject matter - cops.  As if saying the word out loud would summon the dementors themselves.  In my defense, I was speeding generously so my nerves were a bit more heightened that usual.  Well, in truth, I always speed.  (Who doesn't?)  Five over is the general rule but that's if I'm not in a hurry - and I'm pretty much always in a hurry.

Sometimes though, if I'm feeling particularly defiant (or just a little pissy) I'll play one of these songs purposefully breaking the superstition.  Not that I want a fiery chariot to by my end or anything, I just think it's important to challenge what I fear (within reason of course).  I tell myself this to keep me grounded so that these games don't actually gain any footing on what I actually believe.  But I think some part of me still thinks I'm somehow sticking it to the cosmos.

Perhaps this whole superstition thing is just my neurosis kicking in.  Or maybe my conscious just has a funny way of telling me to slow the heck down.

Forever and ever et cetera,
Cara

Quote of the Day:  "I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudo-science and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive." -- Dr. Carl Sagan

A laser gaze from my other black cat Gizmo.

Songs About Superstitions (all from musicals, I might add):

• "The Gospel According to King" from My Favorite Year

• "You Never Say 'Good Luck' on Opening Night" from The Producers

My Current Driving Playlist:

• Everlong ^ -- The Foo Fighters
• Careful ^ -- Paramore
• Yankee Bayonet * -- The Decemberists
• The Few That Remain ^ -- Set Your Goals
• Monkey Wrench ^ -- The Foo Fighters
• Brick By Boring Brick ^ -- Paramore
• Typical ^ -- Mutemath
• The Kids Aren't Alright (a capella cover) ^ -- MIT Logarhythms
• Oh! Sweet Nuthin' * -- The Velvet Underground
• A Sorta Fairytale * -- Tori Amos
• Misguided Ghosts * -- Paramore
• Wonderwall (a capella cover) * -- U. Georgia Noteworthy

^ good for speeding
* good for cruising
* good for cruising at night