The Ultimate Christmas Playlist

I was bored this afternoon, and so I decided to consolidate all of my Christmas music into one giant playlist. Of course, then I had to edit it and put it in the perfect order. But here it is, 73 fabulous holiday tunes:

-Opening, The Nightmare Before Christmas (performed by Patrick Stewart)
-Christmas Is All Around, by Billy Mack (performed by Bill Nighy in Love Actually)
-Merry Christmas, by Otis Redding
-Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!, by Sufjan Stevens
-Chocolate (Spanish), from The Nutcracker (written by Tchaikovsky)
-The Twelve Days of Wizard Christmas, by Gred and Forge
-Santa Claus is Coming to Town, by the Jackson 5
-Go Tell It On the Mountain, by the Harry Simeon Chorale
-Someday At Christmas, by Stevie Wonder
-Silver Bells, performed by Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street
-In Like a Lion (Always Winter), by Relient k
-Welcome Christmas, from How the Grinch Stole Christmas - the cartoon)
-Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, by Brenda Lee
-Frosty the Snowman, by Fiona Apple
-Christmas Song, by Jimmy Barnett
-Dick in a Box, by the Lonely Island featuring Justin Timberlake
-Hark the Herald Angels Sing, by the Vince Guaraldi Trio (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)
-March, from The Nutcracker
-Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, by Elmo and Patsy
-What's This?, performed by Danny Elfman, from The Nightmare Before Christmas
-Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, by Burl Ives
-An Epic Christmas Tale, Chapter One: How the Thestrals Saved Christmas, by The Mudbloods
-Up on the House Top, by the Jackson 5
-Greensleeves, by James Galway
-Blue Christmas, by Elvis Presley
-The Christmas Song, by Bing Crosby
-Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy, by Bing Crosby and David Bowie
-Carol of the Bells, by John Williams (for the Home Alone soundtrack)
-Happy Xmas (War is Over), by John Lennon
-Baby, It's Cold Outside, by lady Antebellum
-Medley: Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock, by the Muppets
-Another Christmas Song, by Stephen Colbert
-Arabian Variation, from The Nutcracker
-Xmas Rules, Voldemort Droolz, by Harry & the Potters
-Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole
-Christmas Everyday, by the Temptations
-Little Christmas Tree, by Michael Jackson
-Wenceslas, by Robot Minus Battery
-White Christmas, by Otis Redding
-The Christmas Song (Christmas Don't Be Late), by Alvin and the Chipmunks
-Jingle Bells (Techno version), by I don't know who, because my sister gave me this song
-Spotlight on Christmas, by Rufus Wainwright
-Angels We Have Heard on High, by Sufjan Stevens
-Chinese Variation, from The Nutcracker
-Christmas With the Weasleys (Or What You Will), by the Remus Lupins
-All I Want for Christmas Is You, performed by Olivia Olson, from Love Actually
-Sing We Now Of Christmas Medley, by the Harry Simeon Chorale
-You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, from How the Grinch Stole Christmas
-Do You Hear What I Hear, by Perry Como
-Put the Lights on the Tree, by Sufjan Stevens
-Carol of the Bells/Jingle Bells, by Barry Manilow
-Christmas Time is Here, by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, from A Charlie Brown Christmas
-We Need a Little Christmas, by the Muppets
-Russian Variation, from The Nutcracker
-Making Christmas, from The Nightmare Before Christmas
-Dragon Christmas Rock, by the Hungarian Horntails
-Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, by Judy Garland
-Run Rudolph Run, by Chuck Berry
-O Holy Night, by Relient k
-The Little Drummer Boy, by the Jackson 5
-Dance of the Reed Flutes, from The Nutcracker
-Angels We Have Heard on High, by Aretha Franklin
-O Come All Ye Faithful, by Amy Grant
-I Saw Three Ships, by Sufjan Stevens
-The Holly and the Ivy, by the Roches
-A Holly Jolly Christmas, by Burl Ives
-Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, from The Nutcracker
-Deck the Halls, by the Temptations
-Christmas Bells, from Rent
-Silent Night, by Sarah McLachlan
-Final Waltz and Apotheosis, from The Nutcracker
-Closing, from The Nightmare Before Christmas, performed by Patrick Stewart
-Auld Lange Syne, by the Lonesome Travelers

Procrastinating

It's something I do often. I spend time online, watching youtube videos, reading posts on Entertainment Weekly's website, and pseudo-facebook stalking to avoid doing my homework. Such is the case tonight. (and yes, it has been forever since I've posted, but live with it. I've been either too busy or too lazy to post.)

Anyway, Thanksgiving was this weekend, and it was a fun weekend. Before I share my adventures, though, let me just say that Columbia needs to give us the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. I took the overnight bus home on Wednesday night, arriving on Thanksgiving morning, which was not cool. Now, I picked this particular bus because I thought I would have all my classes that day, and my last class, Biology of AIDS, ends at 6:20, so the 10:30 bus would've been the earliest option for me. As it turns out, we didn't have class that day for Biology, which was probably good, because no one would have wanted to be there. I realize that when I bought my bus ticket I could have just planned on skipping, but that class is not a good one to miss. Anyway, all this mess could've easily been avoided if Columbia would have just given us the day off. Is it really too much to ask? Let's look at how many days we get off. OUt of 30 weeks of class, we get a week for spring break and two days for Thanksgiving. We also have an extra long winter break, but even so, one more day is not going to end the world. Anyway. end of rant.

My long weekend was pretty busy. Obviously I had dinner with my family on Thursday, and it was delicious. I also watched the newest Star Trek movie with my sister, and it made my weekend (more on that in a bit). On Friday I had to go to the travel clinic at Park Nicollet to get shots for my trip to Africa. If you don't already know, me and my sister are going to Botswana in January to go on safari. I am only going because my sister works for a travel agency and we are getting SUPER good deals. Needless to say, I am super-psyched. However, getting five shots and having blood drawn does take its toll. I still have a bruise on my left arm from where they drew blood, and my left arm was so sore on Friday night that it hurt to lift it.

On Saturday I went to ballet, which was both fun and grueling. I loved getting to see everyone that I no longer dance with on a regular basis, but getting up for class at 9:00 in the morning is killer. After class, though, I always feel a great sense of accomplishment.

After ballet, my sister and I went shopping at the Mall of America. It went better than expected. I was nervous, considering we were going to a huge tourist destination, on a Saturday, on Thanksgiving weekend. And while the mall was busy and crowded, it wasn't unbearable, and we got some pretty sweet deals. Example: a buy one get one free deal on sweaters at the Gap. My sister and I were able to get super cute sweaters for twenty bucks a piece, whereas normally it would forty dollars for one. We also got to eat at the crepe place at the mall, which is always good. This place makes both dessert crepes, and crepes that are similar to sandwiches. It had been ages since I'd eaten there, and my pizza crepe did not disappoint.

That was about all I did. I mean, I hung out with my family and ate and watched TV and all (and catsat a super sweet kitty named Emmett, who I love even though he gave me an allergic reaction), but I only went out a few times. I am not the stay out late on a Saturday night kind of girl.

Anyway, going back to Star Trek. I freakin' loved that movie. I will admit, I can be a bit of a geek when it comes to movies. I love superhero movies, and always have. So I wasn't surprised to like Star Trek, but it's become a new favorite of mine. I thought the script was well-written and funny, and all the actors gave excellent performances. It was funny to see Eomer from LOTR (Karl Urban) as McCoy, and Zoe Saldana from Center Stage (and the first Pirates of the Caribbean) as Uhura. And Harold from Harold and Kumar (John Cho, I think is his name) as Sulu (he was also on How I Met Your Mother), although I have a special place in my heart for George Takei. I also thought that the Spock/Kirk relationship was excellent, and seeing Leonard Nimoy was awesome. Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin were also great (as Scotty and Chekhov, respectively). I was just overall extremely pleased and excited by the movie. I especially loved the fight between Kirk and Spock, after Kirk gets up in Spock's face and Spock totally goes off on him, kicking ass and taking names. Great stuff. The movie also has an excellent blooper reel. I would say it was only pretty funny until I saw the last scene, and then it got amazing. If you've seen it, you know what I mean.

The other movie that I've wanted to see for a while, (and am still waiting to see, in this case) is Nine. Not 9, which is an animated movie about little puppet/doll things. Nine is based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which is based on Fellini's film 8 1/2. It's about an Italian film director struggling to make a movie and deal with all the women in his life. I'll spare you the synopsis. I saw the teaser trailer a month or so ago, and have been hooked since. I consider it a good thing that I didn't see the teaser trailer when it originally debuted in May, because a six-month wait would have frustrated me to no end. And, lucky me, I got passes to a free screening next week.

Anyway, I think the main reason I'm excited is that I really like the musical. To be honest, I own the soundtrack (of the revival cast) and love it, and I've seen some videos of some of the performances on youtube, but I haven't actually seen the show. But even so, I think the movie will be excellent. The cast includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard (who I LOVE), Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren and Fergie. I'm most excited to see DDL and Marion Cotillard, because Cotillard is playing my favorite character. From all the early clips I've seen she looks amazing. The rest of the cast looks excellent as well.

So, here's hoping that next week I'll be able to say all the reasons I loved Nine.

Kirk out.

What's not to love about being a dancer?

So, I haven’t been updating as regularly as I planned, probably for two reasons. Reason one: I was bored when I decided to create this blog, and this week I have not had much time to be bored, thanks to Reason two: I’ve had to work a lot this week.

I work at a toy store in Minneapolis called Creative Kidstuff. I’ve worked there for almost exactly four years. It’s an awesome business, locally owned and operated, and I love working there. It’s taught me a lot. I was thinking about it today, when I was at work, and I realized how funny it can be, working at a store aimed towards children. There have been times over the past four years, especially during high school, when I knew the words to every song on the Justin Roberts, Mary Had a Little Amp, and High School Musical CDs and I hadn’t even heard some of the popular songs at the time (and to be truthful, I would have known the words to High School Musical without the toy store). I get to deal with customers who are completely clueless. And of course, I see a lot of kids: kids messing around on one of the sample scooters, kids flinging merchandise everywhere, kids occasionally having accidents involving pee or vomit, and most common, kids having tantrums. I think it’s interesting that parents will often apologize to us for their screaming child because it’s clearly not their fault, and it’s hardly the first time we’ve had a kid throwing a tantrum in the store. It happens, and it’s probably more likely to happen in a toy store than other places.

I find it funny that, during high school, I had not one, but two jobs that involved working with kids, both directly and indirectly (I guess I had three jobs if you count babysitting, but it was so infrequent that I don’t). I worked at CKS, obviously, which involves less face time with kids, but I do meet a fair amount of kids each time I work. My other job was assistant teaching at my dance studio. Now, I find this funny because I’ve never thought myself to be good with kids. I’m not an outgoing person, unless you know me extremely well, as many of my friends and family will attest. An example of this is watching how my sister and I deal with the same family of kids that we used to babysit. My sister is friends with the kids, regardless of the age difference. She knows how to be fun, but also has that air of “don’t mess with me. I know what the rules are and you’re not going to get away with anything.” She knows what to say to make kids laugh and get excited. I, on the other hand, can’t always control the kids, my attempts at jokes are just awkward, and I know that those kids like her better than me. They also know her much better, and the difference between us is not so extreme. She’s not the most perfect babysitter that’s ever existed, and I’m not as socially awkward as I make myself sound. But overall, I wouldn’t say that I’m good with kids, nor do I really want to work with them in the future. I used to want to be a teacher, but I know now that it would be a disastrous career choice for me.
On the topic of career choices, I am a dance major, something that I am very proud of. Some of my high school friends tease me about going to art school, but it’s all in good fun, and I’m a little smug, truth be told, because most of them are either undecided or going into medicine. I’m happy that I’m doing something that I love, rather than doing something that I will earn a lot of money doing. I know (boy, do I know) that I will most likely not make a decent living being a dancer. I will almost certainly have to have another job.

There are a few things that bother me about my career choice, and they involve other people. First, I’m annoyed by people who ask me what I want to do with a dance degree. Sometimes it’s a person who would ask anyone that question, but most of the time it’s a person who has no idea what a dance degree actually requires, and is asking because, unlike a med student or a law student, my future plans are less obvious. Part of the reason why this bothers me is because people expect me to have a concrete plan of what I’m going to do, and being the artistic soul that I am (now that sounds pretentious J), I am not so much a concrete plan type person. I want to perform, and while there are certainly companies I’d love to perform with, I’m not going to have my heart set on one of them, because it’s very possible that I won’t end up dancing for them. This comes from the experience I had auditioning for the University of Minnesota Dance Department. It was my dream to go there and be in that program, and when I didn’t get in, I was crushed. Now of course I love Columbia and wouldn’t trade it, but at the time I was heartbroken. I went home from the audition and cried the rest of the day. And I don’t want to repeat that. I mean, obviously there will be auditions that I won’t get, and I’ll probably cry about them, because I cry at a lot of things, but the devastation that I felt is what I imagine going through an extremely awful break-up is like (it’s only a guess, myself having never been through a break-up, but that’s a whole other topic). So if you ever ask me what I’m going to do with my dance degree, and get a non-committal “I don’t know” answer, know that I honestly do not know what I will do. I know what I want to do, but I am planning on keeping my options wide open.

Another thing that bothers me is when my friends who go to what I call regular schools (not art school) lament how hard their academics are and how easy I have it. It’s true that most of my general education classes are not too difficult, especially after doing the IB program, but I am still taking these classes, and I still do a lot of work to get good grades. Just because my assignments are photography projects or dance pieces and artist’s statements doesn’t mean I’m not putting a ton of effort into them. Also, I am dancing for hours everyday, so I’m dealing with physical stress that most of my friends never have to deal with. That’s the thing about being a dancer: there’s not a day that goes by that you’re not sore or injured in some way. Random twinges of pain from my knees and hips are so common to me that I think nothing of them. Last night I went to bed with my shin throbbing dully, like I had shin splits. Last semester, in my dancemaking class, I hurt my ankle when another girl fell on it. We were studying riot movement, and my group purposely all ran into each other multiple times, and one of those times one of my group members landed directly on my ankle. I wasn’t badly hurt, and as it was my last class of the day on a Thursday, I had three days to recuperate before dancing on it again. I had plenty of time to ice my slightly swollen, very bruised ankle while thinking to myself, “This wouldn’t happen if I were an English major. Man, am I glad I’m not an English major.” If that’s not some hard work, then I don’t know what is.

Finally, one of my major pet peeves about being a dancer is people constantly asking, “So, are you going to try out for So You Think You Can Dance?” No, I’m not. It’s not the only thing a dancer can do with their lives. Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t want to be on a reality TV show. Also, I’m not talented enough. Or rather, I’m not talented in the way you need to be to make it on SYTYCD. I consider myself to be a good dancer; in fact, I consider myself to be considerably above average. I have more than decent technique in modern, ballet, jazz and tap, and I am okay at hip-hop. I have excellent timing, and I pick things up quickly. But on SYTYCD, you have to be flexible in all sorts of ways, and you have to standout in a particular style. The style I feel I do best and most is ballet, but I am still so far from being on the elite level of professional ballet dancers. SYTYCD is about doing tricks and having attitude and personality, and that’s not the type of dancer I am.

Even given those downsides, I love being a dancer. I’ve been dancing since I was five, and I will do it until I cannot dance anymore. So even though this turned into a rant, there are very few negative things about being a dancer, and that’s how it should be.

The picture on the far left is the Red Line stop right by my dorm in Chicago. The Red Line is a part of the El system, but it's underground downtown. The picture on the left is one of the lions outside of the Chicago Art Institute, one of the most amazing places to visit.

This is the beer sign by the Hennepin Ave bridge in Minneapolis. My sister loves this sign, so it's her icon on my cell phone. Every time she calls, I see 'Grain Belt Beer.'

The inaugural post

Hello, all you people out there. I don’t know how you came upon this, or why you chose to read it, but whatever the case is, welcome. If you like reading this blog, because my writing appeals to you or you relate to me or you have a similar taste in books/movies/TV/music, then that’s really cool! I would love to hear from you. If you don’t like this blog, then please, seek entertainment elsewhere. Don’t leave rude or hurtful messages. No one’s forcing you to read this.

I don’t know why I’m starting this, exactly. I’ll be the first person to say it: I don’t have a very exciting life. I’m a college student; I’ll be a sophomore at Columbia College in Chicago this fall. I come from a pretty average family: mom, dad, older sister. I was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. I don’t want to say too much too soon, because then I’ll have nothing to write about. The plan is to write about stuff that’s happening in my life, as well as writing about movies, books, TV, music, dance, and other various pop culture/current events that happen to strike my fancy.

So let me just start with what’s new and important in my life right now. I’m moving back to Chicago in less than a month, and I’ll be living in an apartment! Now, when I think about it, I don’t know why I’m excited about living in an apartment. I’ve lived in an apartment since I was nine. I have my own room here (as I will in the new place), and the amount of space is most likely quite similar.

I think why I’m most excited is because it’s one more step towards becoming an independent adult. Moving to Chicago last year was the first step; going shopping and cleaning and unclogging the toilet (I’ll share that story later) by myself. Not living with my parents. And this year, I’m moving a little farther forward: I’ll be doing legitimate grocery shopping (not just buying Easy Mac and soup), and other things that will prepare me for moving out into the real world.

What’s gotten me so excited is the fact that I got to buy things for my kitchen yesterday. I got pots and pans and a really cool kitchen gadget set that came with lots of good cooking knives and other useful utensils, like a bagel holder (seriously the best thing. Ever.). I’ve been sorting through my cookbooks and staking claims on my dishes that are right now used communally. I was also excited to find plain white cotton dishtowels, like the ones we use at home, because those are the best, and it will provide a little familiarity.

One of the reasons I’m so excited about having a kitchen is that I love to cook. I have for a while; I don’t do a whole lot of scratch recipes besides omelets (which I don’t actually eat. I make them for other people). Mostly I make baked goods from a box, but I still count it as cooking. But now I’m hoping to expand my cooking horizons.

When I was little, my mom worked at a toy store. Well, technically she still does, only at a different location. I now work at the location she originally worked at (It’s an awesome local business called Creative Kidstuff. Check it out). Anyway, she would always find really cool stuff to bring home, and so I ended up with some pretty awesome kids cookbooks.

Now, I’m not ashamed of having kids’ cookbooks. They have easy to make recipes, step by step instructions, and lots of pictures. Plus, the recipes are usually fairly standard, because no kid wants to eat calf brains cooked in wine with some obscure vegetable. However, I have also procured a few grown-up cookbooks as well: a step by step version of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, by Julia Childs. I got that second one after reading Julie & Julia; my mom thought it would be a cool gift, and she was right (that cookbook is, incidentally, where the calf brains came from). So I hope to put those to good use.

I also have a few recipes I got from my grandma to try out: Wild Rice Casserole, Beef Stroganoff, German Spaetzle, and Chocolate Fudge. These are all comfort foods for me, and I want to be able to make them for myself. Now understand: my grandma makes the best fudge in the world. I am not lying; it is the best I’ve ever tried. I’ve almost given up eating any other kind of fudge. The problem is, it’s hard to make. So, when that happens, I’ll be sure to share.

Anyway, I’ve already rambled on enough. That’s something that will reoccur, because I am prone to going off on tangents. Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it.
-Anna