Day 14: The Prince is Giving a Ball!

Cinderella is just about ready for an audience!

Random fact: Did you know that the introduction of the glass slipper into the Cinderella story actually happened as a result of a mistranslation? In a French telling of the story, written in 1697 by Charles Perrault, Cinderella wore fur boots. But when the story was translated to English the French word for fur (vair) was mistaken for glass (verre). Without this mistake, Cinderella wouldn't be what we know it to be today!

The Cinderella story is very interesting to research with the earliest telling dating all the way back to the 1st Century BC with the Greek legend of Rhodopis. Rhodopis was married to the King after an eagle took her slipper while she was bathing and flung it into his lap.

My personal favorite version of the Cinderella story is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. He tells the story from the perspective of Cinderella's (or Clara's) stepsister Iris and completely reshapes the way you view the story and its characters. It's a must read for any fan of Cinderella!

So that's my Cinderella tangent! The photo today is of one of our own ugly stepsisters Ms. Ashley Campbell who I promise is actually incredibly beautiful! Although the makeup, hair, and costumes in this show really don't flatter her too much.

And one last thing before I end tonight's blog, I wanted to share the lyrics to a song I have just finished. If you didn't know that I write music, now you do! I'm still hammering out the melody and everything although it's just about set. I may record it and post the actual song on here soon. This was a two day project and it was really nice to get behind a piano again. As it's put in the Broadway musical Next to Normal "And you play, and you play, and you play. And everything else goes away. Everything else goes away." That's a very true statement and it's very refreshing to find that place every now and then.

So here they are:

No Glass Slipper

Like the Prince in Cinderella
Who was left a lonely fellow
When the clock striked twelve
And the pretty girl had to run,
I'm sitting here alone
And wishing you would come back home
We had one single day
And then it slipped away.

Now you're gone again and I just don't know what to do.
Unlike the Prince I don't even have that godforsaken shoe.
No glass slipper to hold onto, to bring hope of your return.
So in the dark I'll be wishing that someday I will learn.

We talked about collisions
We talked about division
We talked and we knew
This wasn't made to last.
But I still had to try.
I didn't want to say goodbye.
Even though I knew
I couldn't hold onto you.

Now you're gone again and I just don't know what to do.
Unlike the Prince I don't even have that godforsaken shoe.
No glass slipper to hold onto, to bring hope of your return.
So in the dark I'll be wishing that someday I will learn.

I'll learn how to let go.
I'll learn not to try so hard.
I'll learn to wish for real things.
I'll learn to play fair cards.

I'll learn to free myself
From the chains that hold me down.
So I won't waste another minute
Wishing someone else was still around.

Because now you're gone again and I just don't know what to do.
And unlike that Prince I don't even have that godforsaken shoe.
No glass slipper to hold onto, to bring hope of your return.
So in the dark I'll be wishing that someday I will learn.

No glass slipper to hold onto, to bring hope of your return.
So in the dark I'll be wishing that someday I will learn.

Day 13: I Kind of Get the Feeling Now

What can I say about today? It was a day where everything came together. I called for a hair appointment at 12:30 and Bobbie (my hairdresser) had an opening at 1:00. I head to my wisdom teeth consultation at Dr. Pennington's office right afterwords and it goes very well. I really like her and I got great vibes and feel a lot more comfortable about the surgery now. As I'm leaving I get a call from Amanda Rector who wants to meet at Chick-fil-A in costume to do some PR for Cinderella at 5:00. It's 4:00 now but sure I can make that! That was a lot of fun and we got some great publicity (THANK YOU CHICK-FIL-A!!). Then of course was rehearsal. And at the end of rehearsal I got invited to dinner and absolutely couldn't refuse given the company!

Everything today happened right as it was supposed to happen and it all just flowed right on by. I LOVED it!

I must confess that I forgot my camera at home and didn't capture a picture for today. Although it most definitely would have been of dinner with Mr. Hampton Dixon and the Kraack family. These are some of my absolute favorite people in the world! Hampton was home from New York for two days and is flying to Dubai tomorrow to do student work so I felt really lucky to get to spend at least a little bit of time with him. He attends school at Webb University where he studies Naval Architecture and is entering his senior year. I have a personal goal to provide entertainment one day on a cruise ship that he has built. If it sinks I know who to blame personally!

So rehearsal today kind of got things rolling for me in a way that hasn't really come before. I felt a little bit more compassionate towards the Prince and it changed some of the ways he came across in a few scenes. It was interesting to play and I enjoyed rehearsal because of it.

So that was today. Truly a day of coming together! From the events of the day to emotions being tied together at rehearsal that's really the only way to describe it.

I just wish I'd of had that stupid camera!

Day 12: A Day with my Mammas!

So the first part of my day today was spent shopping in Jacksonville with my mom.

Let me tell you something!

They might as well resize EVERYTHING. Mediums should become the new smalls, larges the new mediums and so on and so forth. Because NOWHERE sells smalls! NOwhere. You know what I think? I think I am a very healthy human being. I have a healthy weight and I stay in generally good shape. Therefore one would think that I should be able to find clothes that fit me. But guess what? I can't because everyone else is fat! If you're an offended fat male you should leave the blog now because I'm about to keep going (or you can just skip the next two paragraphs).

I'm not just talking about t-shirts. That's only the beginning of my frustration. Pants are even worse. Why is it that they sell an abundance of 40 x 29 and not a single 30 x 30? I am of the opinion that if your waste is 40 inches and your legs are 29 inches you should have two options. 1) Custom order your clothes to fit your disproportional body or 2) LOSE WEIGHT!

The problem with obesity in America is not that we overeat, overindulge, and sit around and watch television all day. The problem with obesity in America is that we've made it acceptable to BE obese. If we go back and start making living with obesity a challenge like it used to be, I can assure you we would see a shift in the statistics.

Enough about that!

The next part of my day was going for my college physical. Way too many shots for me! My arms and finger are still sore and it made dancing very very painful at Cinderella rehearsal.

That was the next part of my day with my OTHER mamma Mrs. Amanda Rector who is playing the Queen in the show. My favorite scene in the show is a scene we share together after Cinderella has disappeared and can't be found anywhere in the kingdom. Rehearsal kind of lasted forever it seemed but maybe that's just because I was so tired from shopping.

Tomorrow has barely any plans so we'll just see where the road takes me. I hope you enjoy the picture today of my two lovely dogs, Chessie (an incredibly overweight beagle) and Scooter (a shaggy mut who is the closest thing to the love of my life).

Day 11: 4th of July with the Fam

The photo today is of the newly elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Basically, she's like a Presbyterian Pope! Congrats to Elder Cynthia Bolbach for being elected last night!

So today I spent the majority of my day with my family down in Florida to celebrate the Fourth. It was a good break from daily routine life.

It's good to know that all the injured hands in the Douylliez family are being healed. We had a week about two months ago where three hands ended up being severely hurt. First my Uncle Kevin got his hand stuck in machinery at work and almost completely lost it. Then my Aunt Denise got her hand caught in a lawn chair and almost cut her finger off. And then my Aunt Helen did something to hers (I think she fell on it but I'm not really sure). It was funny though because they were all in bandages and casts at my graduation party. The only one still in the cast is Uncle Kevin, but he's getting better every day.

I was reminded today of my passion for Star Wars as I watched a marathon on television. It's just so good! I love irony and the story is so full of it it's not even funny. I think my absolute favorite thing about Star Wars though is the genius behind R2D2. There is something incredibly artistic about giving a nonspeaking droid a personality. I'm always blown away by the amount of character the little guy has. He's sassy and vibrant and energetic and I just love him!

So that was my day today. Tomorrow is college physical day. Don't you know I'm just so excited about that!

Day 10: I Like the Ones That Go "Kshshshsh!"

Ugh! I HATE cue to cue rehearsals. I mean... I know they're necessary and everything, but in my ever so humble opinion I don't think the full cast is necessary. All you really need is the principle characters who are on stage the whole time and the running crew. All other people are only going to be a distraction. Especially the children! They have no concept of the importance of what's going on and they're bored and whiney and loud!!! And then the running crew can't hear what's being called so they keep missing cues and it's just a mess and takes way too long. And to the running crew: PLEASE LOOK AT THE SPIKE TAPE! It's there for a reason.

Okay. Enough ranting. That really isn't too bad of a rant for a cue to cue rehearsal though. Most of the time I'm the crankiest person in the world by the end of them.

So on to tonight!

I went to the fireworks with the lovely Ms. Rebekah Martens and got to finally meet her boyfriend of 8 months who scored incredibly high on my approval rating. We had a blast and it's very rare for me to get to see Bekah because she's ALWAYS in Americus. We laughed pretty much the whole time and agreed that the fireworks that after the pop make that fizzle 'kshshshsh' sound are definitely our favorites. Although Bekah got a tad bit indecisive when she commented a few minutes later that the ones that shower down are her favorite. We dealt with it though. It's funny how sometimes you don't realize how much you really miss someone until you're with them.

I'll close with this thought. The Saint Marys Police Department should allow people who live on Nancy Drive to get onto Nancy Drive after the fireworks. Yeah I know some people use it as a shortcut to get to 40... but I LIVE on Nancy Drive. Like, you know, my house is...right there! Please let me get to it.

Day 7, 8, and 9

I have a confession. I am addicted to Black and White 2. The past couple days have been nonstop playing with a few breaks to eat. I did take a short break yesterday to see The Last Airbender with Aaron Silva, but other than that I have been consumed entirely. I have been intending to blog every day but when I realize that it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm still playing this stupid game I say, "Oh darn, I forgot to blog. I'll do it tomorrow." Well I will not let this happen more than twice in a row, so I'm blogging now.

My thoughts on the game: It's ridiculous how much freedom you have in this game. It's very user friendly, very easy, and very very fun! I am NOT a gamer by any means of the word. I have no gamer tag and I rarely play video games. This is really the first one since two years ago when I got some stupid Spyro game for my xbox. So I'm really enjoying myself and I've gotten almost to the end so I'll have my life back shortly.

My thoughts on The Last Airbender: Don't waste your money! It was a good summary, I'll give it that, but they could have crammed so much more into it if they hadn't had the forty-five second clips of them practicing water bending every two minutes. I know they want to highlight the martial arts and everything, but it slowed the movie down to a snail's pace and took up WAY too much time. I guess the moral of the story is there and it was touching and all, but you can get all that from the good old fashioned cartoons. Really the only part I thoroughly enjoyed was when Ang was airbending and the sound was pretty epic. It was this really cool woosh that rumbled the whole theatre. But other than that, I wish I hadn't wasted my nine dollars. So if you do go, pay the matinee price.

Closing thoughts: Glozell Green is my hero. Youtube her and watch my two favorite of her videos, 'Apple' and 'Sandwich.' Her song translations are pretty much spot on too.

And of course I wouldn't be doing my life any justice if I didn't mention real quick that Cinderella opens next week July 9th and runs through the 11th. Call the box office to reserve your tickets now! 912-729-7463

Day 6: It'll be Charming When we Get the Dance Right

Front page of the paper is always exciting, especially when it's for a show. And our local paper does a phenomenal job of promoting every one of our shows. It always makes for great scrapbooking!

So other than the excitement of being on the front cover with my counterpart Kayla Berrie (pictured yesterday), today was rather dull. I didn't end up going to Savannah as planned which is probably better anyways because I really couldn't afford the gas.

A few things are worth mentioning about the day though.

For one, I broke down and treated myself today by ordering a video game I've wanted for four years. I'm not a big gamer at all, which is why it's taken me four years to make this purchase. But I've looked at Black and White 2 for what seems like forever and today I said, "To heck with it, I'm doing it!" And I had it rushed so it'll be here tomorrow!

Even more exciting than that, I found out that Emily (the one I blogged about a few days ago) and my other very very very close friend from church camp, Austin, may be coming to see Cinderella! I was blown away when I got the news. I have the best friends ever and I love them to death.

However! This adds some intensity to the show. I have more motivation now to make Cinderella as amazing as it possible. I am fully confident that we will pull this off and it will be absolutely wonderful, I just need to learn how to waltz well! The paper mentioned a "Charming Scene." Well it'll be charming once I get those steps down!

Day 5: The Texas Boys at Sonic

Yes! I got my adventure today!

The picture is of some fun we had during Cinderella rehearsal. Prince Charming felt like immersing himself in Cinderella's hair. It was AFTER rehearsal that the fun began.

One of my besties Ashley Campbell and I went out for some ice cream at Sonic. We've been pretty tight for several years and always have a blast together. So we pull up and she's about to hit the button to order when she notices a bunch of navy guys (one being in uniform) sitting at one of the tables outside. We decide to ditch the car in the parking lot and see if we can score a number for her.

So we go to order and luckily, the ice was broken for us by a ridiculously loud intercom on the order board thing. It made us all jump. So we laughed it off after placing our order and started talking.

So the guy in uniform had these huge dorky glasses on. My guess is that he is one of the mechanical or computer savvy guys. Another was in a cowboy hat and was a TOTAL dweeb. The third guy was a little bigger than the others and had kind of an ego, but the fourth guy seemed pretty cool. He had a cowboy hat too (which made sense after we learned he was from Texas) but rather than wearing it like the dweeby guy he kept it on his knee.

He did most of the talking and was really nice. And yes, Ashley got his number right before we left.

I wanted to get their picture for the blog, but I didn't want to be 'that guy' so I opted not to. We may be seeing a little bit more of him though so a picture in the future may not be out of the question.

The other picture I really wanted to get was on our way to Sonic when we saw a drag queen in a parking lot. But there was no way I could have gotten that picture without the flash and that would have been SUPER awkward.

Anyways I'm headed shopping in Savannah tomorrow. Hopefully that will make for another exciting adventure to blog about tomorrow.

Day 4: The Day Without a Clever Name

Today was pretty great. Nothing really exceptional happened today, but nothing horrific either.

I went to church this morning and was very moved by the standing ovation given to our former youth director Elizabeth Thomas when she was recognized for her service as Director of Youth Ministries. It was very sweet.

After church I watched an episode of Stargate Atlantis (best television show EVER) and then went to Brunswick with one of my closest friends Aaron Silva and my brother to take care of some stuff at the office for work. We ate at Five Guys and played around in Target for a little bit too. It was pretty great spending time with him because it's been over a month because SOMEBODY had to go to California!

Anyways the picture is of the restaurant right next to Five Guys. We have a friend that we've nicknamed Skinny Pete so it's kind of a shout out to him. By the way, that's Aaron in the picture. Not me. We hear all the time that we look like twins so I thought I'd clarify.

So no real adventure today, but maybe tomorrow will be more exciting. Who knows?

OH!!! I was on the front page of the paper for Cinderella. That was pretty cool.

Day 3: Me and my Emily! :D

So...everyone meet Emily! One of the best things that ever happened to my life. I didn't mention in the Day 2 blog about the best part of yesterday, which was surely walking up to the pool and trying to sneak up on her when she whipped around, saw me, and attacked me with one of the best hugs I've ever gotten! I wanted to feature her today because she is definitely one of the most special people in my life.

It was very tough leaving camp this afternoon because I've been going since I was two years old and for the first time in my life I can't tell you when the next time I'll be able to go back will be. And of course, leaving Emily was a toughie. I always hate saying goodbye to her. But alas, life must go on!

So I came home and went to see the Summer Theatre for Camden Day Camp production of Aladdin Jr. I was amazed by these kids. Kudos to the direction staff (headed up by my personal hero Mary Kraack) for working some true theatre magic with these kids. And the kids were SO cute out in the lobby! Shaking our hands and saying, "Thank you for coming!" That professionalism aspect of our program starts early I tell you, early!

So not as exciting of a day as yesterday, but still a very good day! That's it for now, I'll make sure to blog Day 4 tomorrow!

Day 2: The Day the Lightning Struck

Oh my goodness. What a day yesterday was. I apologize for not blogging, but you'll understand in a minute.

I was asked to come up to help out with my Presbytery's summer camp yesterday so I went up and spent the day and last night there. Everything was great. We had a great time with the kids and everyone's spirits were up.

So we're eating dinner when a thunderstorm rolls in. A very very very loud thunderstorm. Some of the kids were getting a little upset but for the most part everything was under control. Until the entire room lit up and a crack loud enough to burst eardrums knocked all of us out of our seats. Followed immediately by a true horror movie shrill from one of the younger camper girls. Chaos ensues as the coffee pot in the corner begins to smoke. Yes...the camp coffee pot was struck by lightning...right in the middle of dinner...right in the middle of the mess hall. Somehow we still had power though. STUPID STUPID me (and I must admit I was pretty amused by the whole thing) starts chanting, "Again! Again! Again!" Well.... I got my wish! Not five seconds later another flash, another crack, another horror movie scream, and no more power! And just to seal the deal...one more flash and one more crack. I guess the girl didn't have it in her to scream anymore. Or maybe she passed out. Who knows...we couldn't see a thing. I think this was the most excited I've been in a long time. I found something very very cool about the whole thing.

The kids however...did not. Emergency power kicked on which was the equivalent of a few flood lights over a few of the doors. Kids are crying EVERYWHERE! Luckily we have a great counselor who started singing Peace Like a River. Thank God for that! It's amazing how quickly turning the focus on Christ made all the kids forget about the storm still wreaking havoc outside the windows. In a matter of about thirty seconds all eyes were dry, they were all on their feet, and they were all just singing praises. It kind of reminded me of the disciples and their own storm. When they wake Jesus up from his nap scared for their lives and as he calms the storm he asks them, "Do you peeps still not have any faith? What gives, foo's?" Our kids were the opposite and I'm thankful for that. There's also a lot we can learn from that, I think.

Anyways... GA Power was called and they made sure to put us as a priority seeing as we had fifty some odd kids in the dark. When the storm calmed down we moved the kids to a building with more windows and doors so we could keep them a little bit cooler and in a little bit more light. We played some games with them there and prepared for the worst should the power not be able to be restored quickly. This preparation included getting buckets to fill with pool water to poor in the back of the toilets so we could continue to flush. Wouldn't that have been fun??

Luckily, power was restored in about an hour and a half and we were able to get the kids to bed safely. What an adventure! All the phone lines in the camp were completely fried...hence no wifi and no blogging. Incredibly though... the coffee pot still works! Get that!

The picture is a random snapshot I took while the power was out, but I think it truly captures the little bit of chaos we experienced. One of the other councilors jumped in front of the flash as i snapped the photo and BAM! It turned out pretty cool.

So that's Day 2! Day 3 will follow later tonight.

Day 1!

So this is the first day and the first picture. I promise it won't always be me taking a picture of myself...but this was a catastrophe. I, along with three other cast mates (Camden Cabaret), were providing the entertainment to a black tie affair tonight....and I lost my black tie!! So I'm sitting in the parking lot freaking out because I'm mortified that I'm about to have to not only walk into a room of people, but perform in front of a room full of people without my freaking tie! Luckily, my director had an extra tucked away. I still had to walk inside though. So I went in through the back door and walked sideways facing the wall to our dressing area. In hindsight, I probably looked more stupid walking that way than I would have without the tie...but that's life.

The show was great other than the fact that I messed up the words a little bit to Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera. But it was a minor glitch that no one knew about but me. We got two...count 'em two...standing ovations which was pretty exciting. Everyone had a great time and was asking if we'd be able to come back next year. The year before they had a hypnotist as the entertainment and the year before that they had some crappy comedian that nobody liked.

So it was a fantastic evening and well worth all the work we've put into the show. Shout outs to my Cabaret cronies Stephanie House, Brittany Bingham, and Matthew Humphrey. And if anyone sees a black bow tie laying around Kings Bay Naval Base somewhere near the Convention Center...please give me a call.

The Purpose

So I wanted to start chronicling the events that make me who I am so I decided I would start a blog and take one picture a day. At the end of the day, I'll upload the picture and talk about it a little bit. I wish I could say what direction I'm going to take this in... but I have no idea! We'll see what these pictures end up being and maybe I'll learn a thing or two from them. Who knows? So buckle up. It's One a Day Through Work and Play.