So Very Disney (Part 1)

Hello fellow strangers and people I have pestered to read my blog,

So I have some extremely great news that I've just slowly been getting more and more excited about as the days near. So I'm going to Disneyland to perform in the Diamond Classic 60th Anniversary and dancing in the parade down Main Street, USA. We're going to be filmed and have to do a high intensity, extremely energetic 1 and a half minute loop approximately 20 times down the street and it is going to be the best thing ever! I am honestly so excited.

The costume that our studio has, is a short, turquoise, fluffy dress. Each studio has a different costume but all of us are required to wear tights and white Keds while dancing in 80 degree heat. We've been practicing on the street in 40 something degree heat so we learn to move forward.

"Damn Disney, back at it again with the white Keds"
Quote by Alex, picture from Keds

We're going to be backstage, and have a rehearsal with a lot of other people and it's going to be great. After the parade, in order to get back to our parents, we're going to be able to walk the infamous tunnels under Disneyland. Plus, we're going to be performing for Disney. I am such an immature and Disney loving person that I just can't get over it.

An even better part of this that just adds everything up to be the best birthday present ever is that I get to do it with my friends. I know that me, Taylor, Rachael, Lucie, and Savvy are on the same flight as me. And I know I will never get bored of them because they're all freaking hilarious and amazing and pretty and nice and amazing dancers and inspire me every day (Foreshadowing to a future blog post). Honestly, I don't know what I would do without them because they're just such supportive friends. The age difference between us is a few years and in high school, that is usually a big deal but we just always get along so well.

There are going to be a lot of people at Disneyland, considering California is going to be on spring break as well as us. This might not be too great for people in the parade that have stage fright. Usually this would bother me since we're going to a theme park, but as said, I am not worried at all that I'm not going to be bored at all.

So back to the dancing in the parade part, I am going to leave next Friday and perform on Saturday and Sunday. I'm hoping to learn what it's like to be a member of Disneyland. Plus, if I ever want to work for Disney in the future, this might give me a slight bit of an advantage. Well that's all I have time to write today, but I'll write more after or during Disney.
~Alicia

So Very Hangry

Hello fellow strangers and people I have pestered to read my blog,

Today I will be talking to you about dance competitions. I had one yesterday and the day before and they are stressful. They are challenging and they will make or break a friendship depending on how you react during them. As I have been through many and still have all my fingers, toes, and dance friends, I thought I would make a list of things that I do to help those of you who are just entering the competition world or could use more advice.
Step 1: To avoid stress, make a list

Generic one I found online that has everything necessary. Link here

This is the first year I made a list but my friend made one for our group last year and it was the most useful thing ever. It helps you to make sure that you have everything you need. Of course if you have a list, make sure to include EVERYTHING, from the exact makeup you need to the costume accessories to bandaids and safety pins. This will make it so that you don't forget anything at home and so that you stay organanized. 

Step 2: Get organized and stay organized

This is not particularly my strong suit but recently I've gotten a lot better at this. With the help of your list, organize each costume together. My recommendation is to get a costume bag(also known as a garment bag). I have two for four costumes and they have 4 pockets each (see above). The big one is for your costume and has a hole in the top for a hanger, and two pockets for something like a headpiece or gloves, then a long pocket for stuff like hairspray, tights and shoes.

Step 3: Pack an excessive amount of snacks

There is a reason this blog post is called so very hangry. Dance competitions take up so much more energy than regular classes for whatever odd reason. This may have to do with the fact that there is a lot of running around and adrenaline induced energy, plus multiple dances and warming up, plus more energy is used in each dance, thanks to the adrenaline induced rush. All of this means that you will need fuel, and that fuel is food. Make sure to pack extra in case someone forgot some of their own, plus you might need to eat more than you thought. 

Step 4: Expect tension

There will be a lot of stress in the air, even if you follow these rules, and stress plus occasional hanger will probably mean tension. We can't also forget that dance competitions usually start early and end late, meaning you will be tired. You probably know what people are like when they're tired, hungry, stressed or any combination of them. Try to be as nice as possible toward everyone, but if you do end up arguing, be the bigger person and apologise. You will think back on this and just know that it was the competition. 

Good luck,

Alicia

So Very Admiring

Dear Allie Brosh,
Welcome to my blog that has partially been written based off of yours. Not word for word or blog post per blog post because that'd be creepy, but you have inspired me quite a bit. Your voice is heard really well in your writing, and you always manage to make me laugh. I love your drawings, not because they're comparable to the Mona Lisa in quality, but because they are uniquely yours (Though I suspect your version of the Mona Lisa would be pretty fabulous). I don't really draw on this blog but that's beside the point, we are both really awkward bloggers that are trying to get people to laugh. (I would add a picture but the copyright monster would fight me and I don't want that)

Screenshot of your pageloads at the moment in which I am writing this...

Thank you for helping me push past the boundaries of writing so that I seem like a pretty good person in general and do things pretty well, to writing about my true self, no matter how awkward or strange that person may be. Because of you, I have figured out how to translate my voice into writing. Perhaps my current 800 something page views is not quite as impressive but I do hope you enjoy reading this awkward(ly amazing) blog now that you are here and reading it.

You are a talented and amazing person that blogs well and managed to encourage me to be my true self and introduce me to the world of blogging. Thanks to you, I now spend my free time randomly browsing through the many blogs on the internet making myself laugh, though none of those have made me laugh as often as your blog did. In fact, I distinctly remember reading every single one of your blog posts once I discovered your blog within a week. That took some serious dedication and time out of my hands, but it was totally worth it.

When I was told to write a post about someone that inspired this blog, and someone I would be so proud if they read my blog, and I had no clue who to write about. This was because I write about myself, for my own sake, getting to know myself. Then, I remembered how I first started reading blogs really and I immediately knew who to write about. You are like a cooler, better version of me and are extremely relatable. Thank you for bringing joy into my life for that one week that I actually read your blog and the many times I have revisited it.

Now that you've read some of the most awkward 450ish words I have one more small request to you. Would you mind commenting so that I know you read this blog because that would encourage me so much and it would let me know that you read it and just would generally be an amazing experience.
Sincerely,
Alicia Whitty
PS: You're a pretty witty person ahaha get it?

So Very Annoyed (Part 1)

Hello fellow strangers and people I pester to read my blog,
I have tried to avoid this subject because you guys hear enough about complaints but this is something I am extremely bothered by and I feel like people should know why this is before I bite their head off too much

Picture credits to here

First of all, let me put you in the right frame of mind. Imagine you have depression and have been diagnosed recently so you still have to get used to it and tell anyone you feel should know. You spend days mentally fighting about whether to tell their friends about this revelation then finally come up with the bravery to tell them, hoping they will be understanding and sympathetic and they just look at you and say something like, “Oh yeah, I feel depressed sometimes too.” How would you feel if they compared an illness that you had been clinically diagnosed with to an emotion? This would not only discredit what you just said but make you feel like you are overreacting about something that everyone has sometimes.

Picture credits to here

This is absolute bullshit. (Sorry to anyone who doesn’t like swearing) If this is you and you are one of the 6.7 percent with depression, I’m so sorry. Or one of the 2.3% of the population who has OCD and has to listen to people say, “Oh my gosh that makes my OCD hurt.” Or one of the many others who have to listen to people use an illness as an adjective. To learn more, click here or here or here or here

Picture credits to here

Why does this matter so much to me? Here comes the part I was scared to talk about. I have been diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and depression, so this affects me directly, but I also know people who have told their friends and been told to stop being so dramatic because everyone goes through this kind of thing and just to try to be happier or try to focus (which by the way most of the time makes it harder to focus). When I hear about this, it pains me so much. 

I remember being so annoyed at my mom because she wanted to help me by telling my teachers about my ADD that I didn’t talk to her for a day in more than one word sentences. I was scared that they would think that I had ADHD which is different and judge me based on this but it’s been a week and so far my teachers seem pretty cool about it.

So to summarise, if you are going to joke about feeling so depressed or saying something is depressing, go ahead, just please think about the fact that you are discrediting an actual illness that is the 10th most common method of dying in the United States. If you don’t know if it’s okay, replace the word with a physical illness, and if it still sounds appropriate, go ahead and say it, but if not, please find another word to use instead, at least around me. Thank you for listening. 

So Very Flexible (Part 2)

Hello fellow strangers and friends I have pestered to read my blog,
So Nutcracker ended and is officially over and done with, sadly. I realise I probably should have posted about this earlier, but I was in Sweden and my computer was in the United States, therefore, now is the time that I shall speak about the Nutcracker. It was amazing, it was beautiful and I loved every single part of it. Why? Well first of all, I got to perform for small children, and I enjoy small children a lot. There's a reason I'm a babysitter. Second of all, I got to be with people I love, doing things I love.

School Shows

Me and Savannah, picture credits to my mom.

So the first big thing that happened after auditions was school shows. The teachers choose a few groups to go to schools and perform for children and it was great. Though I was often stressed, I got to high five a lot of people and got to know some of the jesters and other young kids. They are so cute and they reminded me of my days, back when I was prancing around in school, thinking what I was doing then was hard.

We went to four different elementary schools, including the one that I went to, so because we had a little extra time, me and my friend went to see if we could find our old teachers and say hi to them and I did, but only to my kindergarten teacher because I couldn't find any of my other teachers. It was exhilarating, sweaty and amazing.

Dress Rehearsal

About two weeks later, we enter the Eccles Center, wearing enough makeup to survive a month. Our hopes are high and our brains awakening, we get dressed and warm up, it was fun because we were with friends. Then, we get dressed and I figure out a friend who can help me change out of Waltz and into Arabians for the finale, with a 1 and 1/2 minute dance in between the two, and we space our dances for so long that everyone managed to get hangry. My favorite quote was one by Taylor.

"Don't talk to me until the food has touched my blood." And then, after taking artsy pictures with Savannah, we come back and do Secret Santa where I got enough food to feed Luxembourg for a day. 

The Two Shows

Finally, after four months of practice, rehearsing, bonding and bickering, we were performing. (For those of you who don't dance, I'm sorry. Basically, the performance is a jittery day of fun and excitement, plus a lot of stress that causes people to snap.) It went by in a wonderful blur of blue, brown and tan, aka the colors of our costumes. Every performance, I learn something about myself. This one was that I am actually pretty good with children and staying calm. 

Over and Done

It's over now and everything has changed since then, even though it's pretty much exactly the same other than the fact that at any point in time, no matter how warm I am, I can do my splits. I also have a deeper appreciation of dance and I know that I won't stop.

So Very Petlike

Pets are amazing and everyone should have one at least once in their life. If you don't, I'm sorry.
First of all, I'd like to say that I have three pets that are all slightly crazy,

• Leah-She's just a sweet dog who's obedient and kind and always wants attention from humans while completely ignoring other dogs for their owners. 

Artsy Photo of Leah (Photo Credits: Me)

• Timi-Timi is our oldest cat, and though now he's quite nice nicer than before, when he was younger, he was king of the neighbourhood. He always prowled the streets and got into fights with our neighbours' cats over who was the boss of the neighbourhood. In fact my dad loves to tell the story of the time my cat was underneath my mom's car and he went outside to check out the source of mewling and hissing and heard him under the car and tufts of fur were just floating out from underneath. Now that he's older, he is more cuddly and actually lets us touch him approximately once every other Wednesday.

The ferocious Timi (Photo Credits: Cat treats + My camera)

• Cactus-We got Cactus when we came back from Sweden from the person that had been taking care of Timi while we were away. We took Leah with us, even though her ticket cost more than ours combined. Anyway, the person who had taken care of Timi loved him so much that she got a kitten while we were away. Then she moved somewhere that didn't allow cats, so we got both. Cactus' nickname is shadow because in the first two weeks of getting her, the most any of us saw of her was maybe a tail visible from behind the shredder. She started liking me first and I was the only one who could approach her, then eventually pet her and call her by scratching whatever surface is nearby, followed by a mimicking of petting a cat, then she comes over. Our family believes that she had bad experiences with men because she never seems to trust them much, though she's become much more snuggly and is currently lying on my arms while I try to type this. 

A picture of the Cactus I know (Photo Credits: Me and cat treats)

• The three of them combined seem to have conspired so that whenever we sit down, they want out, and they can never go out at the same time. At least we're getting exercise. 

Second of all, I'd like to describe why I am a pet and why that probably bothers people. I am not up for adoption, but if you want to adopt a pet, may I recommend this shelter? Also I don't think adopting a human is legal....
I believe I am most like a dog, but not the obedient kind, who always does as told, but the type that just can't be trained. I believe my mother has figured out this long before I have. First of all, I am asked repeatedly to do the same thing, until I finally do it, and in the beginning, I was rewarded, but now, I just have to do it so I've stopped caring so much for doing it.
Second of all, whenever I get a new toy, I play with it for hours and then forget about it. I don't play with toys anymore, because it's not "socially acceptable" and though often I don't care about it, teenage logic have taught me that I have to be exactly like everyone else, but still be completely and utterly different somehow. Now back to the toy thing. I recently got a new item. It was a curling iron. This is not something to be played with and should only be used when needed, but I wanted to use it! So what did I do. Every so often, I'd go downstairs, plug it in, wait for it to heat up while prepping my hair with a heat protectant, brush through it and curl my hair for a minute, then brush through my hair again so it wasn't so noticeable. Hello mother, yes, I do this... Now for those of you blessed with long straight locks, you may be wondering how no one noticed. Well my hair is naturally wavy/curly, depending on how long it has been since it has been straightened or wet. Straightening makes it straight for about 10 minutes before my hair rebelliously starts to become wavy again, then curl up. Wetting my hair makes it curly aflack. (That is a term I use in my head for AF, don't ask, I didn't consciously do it, my mind is strange. ) Anyway... uh bye?

So Very Challenging

Imagine a sweet and innocent Alicia in 4th period, realising that not only is she not quite the nicest person to others, she isn't amazingly wonderful toward herself. Imagine her talking to her friend about it. Imagine them both determining that they need to change, at least temporarily.

This happened today, and has caused me a dilemma. I enjoy making little jokes that are not the nicest toward myself or toward others, and I enjoy being able to use any word I wish, but sometimes I go a little overboard, then feel quite terrible about it. This happens to me on a regular basis, so I created a challenge for myself to neither swear or be mean to anyone, including siblings or myself. 

I need this book (Photo Credits)

As well as this one (Photo Credits)

Note, if you are reading this blog, there is a large chance that I can stand you. Now, approximately an hour after it started, I realised it is a lot more challenging than you would imagine when you bravely decide to do it with you friend.

Because I am doing this, I decided to write a positive post about things I like about the world, this is also sort of my Thanksgiving post. 

• I like the people in the world, they inspire me every day and make me a better person, no matter what I do. 
• This one is in light of recent tragedies. I love the fact that as soon as terrible things happen, people unite to help those in trouble, and those who are in trouble end up surviving, even though tragedies have occurred. 
• I like that the fact that that the United States finally legalised gay marriage, even though it's long overdue.
• I like the fact that no matter how slowly, developed countries are becoming more accepting of the world. 
• I am thankful that I have caring and kind parents who pay for me. We're expensive.
• I am so thankful for my friends because no matter how much I stray from ideal, they love me no matter what.
• I love the fact that I have found something that gives my life purpose and gives me hope, but it challenges me to aspire for more. 
• I am glad that no matter what, I have hope.
• I love books and reading, the fact that I can pick up something light an dive into an alternate universe or a land far, far away. It gives me an escape and sometimes, when I'm stressed or feeling down, I can just end up fighting to death in an arena being cheered on by people with interesting hair.

I would love to write more because this makes me feel pretty happy about my life, but I have to go be an even better person by doing homework that isn't the most interesting but is still quite important. That kind of sounded nerdy but I admit, I am an English nerd and proud of it. 

PS: The post about how I embarrass myself is on it's way, as well as the blog post that I have written but don't have good pictures for yet.