Come See My Show... Please

Ah existentialism...how I love thee so.  If you have looked at my face in the past week or so, you may have made some comments like these: "Damn, Dominic looks really good", "I routinely get lost in that boy's eyes" or "Wait, why does he have a terribly ugly beard all of the sudden?".  Well, those first two are normal and are expected, but if you have heard yourself thinking that last one, fear not, I have a reason for this atrocious clump of facial hair taking over my chin like an unattractive virus: I'm performing in the Performing Arts Academy's production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett!...No? No idea what that is? Well, I guess SOME people missed the "20th Century Absurdist Theatrical Masterpiece" lesson last week!  For those slackers, I will explain the general plot: Two guys...wait for Godot...that's it! I would compare this play to Seinfeld in which nothing concrete happens but instead it focuses on the relationships of four men and the human condition of waiting.  I do not mean to brag (because I have no reason to) but this show is a theatrical masterpiece and should be extra credit to go see (Hint hint Ms. Serensky).  I would really appreciate if some of you guys came to see it, but if you do not then I will...just move on with my life, because nothing really matters in the world of Beckett or AP English for that matter.

This Blog is Just Six Words Long

We will be smart or else

No Day But Today

As the majority of you know, I am a complete loser...wait, no, that's not what I meant at all...what I meant to say was "I am a fan of musicals to the point of embarrassment of my peers and family members". There, much better.  And as a fan of musicals, I have an unhealthy obsession with the Pulitzer Prize winning show, RENT...like more unhealthy than Natalie Portman in Black Swan.  After standing in line for an hour with my dad because we serendipitously stumbled across the opening night of RENT playing at Elon University in North Carolina, I realized that I might not have a problem after all! An obsession with a great work of art or a powerful mantra holds much less "creepy stalker fixation" than say...stalking someone.  RENT, a multiple Tony Award winning show and the ninth-longest running show on Broadway, contains many life-affirmations (and allusions to Pucini's La Boheme) that seem perfectly natural to strive for: "Live each moment as my last", "Measure in love", and "La Vie Boheme".  A break from materialism in favor of love everlasting; I find it hard to believe that someone would argue against that, so is it wrong to have an infatuation with something not commonly accepted, even if underneath the shell of nonconformity a basic truth lies?

I Refuse To Be ... That Guy

If you've ever even been in my vicinity while I was in the middle of one of my signature rants on society (also known as the "what's up with that" talk, I came up with it myself), you've probably heard me say "I don't want to be... that guy."  But who is ...that guy?  Well my fair and faithful fan base (all 8 of you) that guy is a synecdoche (OMG AP ENGLISH) for all of the men who do something stupid or selfish that causes others to look down on them...kinda obvious why I would not want to emulate this persona, but this task always proves surprisingly difficult.  For example, my brother has discovered the blissful freedoms of XBOX Live, an online video-game experience currently unparalleled in the gaming community.  He has used this new freedom to exercise his ability to swear loudly at strangers and repeat nonsensical phrases as if, when the XBOX turns on, he turns into a broken record of Dr. Suess featuring David Mamet. When I first witnessed this, I felt all the familiar symptoms creeping in: Disgust, disbelief, slight loss of appetite...oh no, my brother had become...that guy!  After all I'd worked for, all my sufferings to prevent myself from falling into the dark side, I had lost my brother to the very thing I've been fighting! I'd become ... that guy by accident!  Sometimes avoiding the thing you're scared of the most ends up hurting those around you, has this ever affected any of you?

Oh You Have No Idea

This angry, angry man represents my feeling when someone asks me "What's a college audition? Why would you do that?" Now, I'm not necessarily mad because people are bloody ignorant apes but more because theatre (and acting specifically) remains one of the only careers where you have to prove your talent on the spot before the college even considers you.  A college audition consists of a few standard things:The hours of travel spent re-reading monologues and comic books, the effeminate man signing you in and mispronouncing your last name (seriously, it's Russo...not that hard), hours of waiting before you show off to about one to five very bored professors for about three minutes, an hour of crying in the bathroom, then several weeks of waiting next to your mailbox as you await the result of practicing two monologues a couple of times.  The  real frustration, however, comes from the "Why?" because honestly?...I don't know.  It does not make any sense that I would have to train for hours to attend a college (averaging at about 40 to 50 thousand dollars a year) for a career that typically makes an average of zero dollars a year (discounting waiter's tips or "I told you so" sympathy dollars from grandparents).  Why only actors? I think more socially relevant professions should have to audition as well! Like doctors! Quick! You have three minutes to perform surgery on this guy...then wait three months to find out if he lived! Such is life I suppose, but if I'm not at school, it's a safe bet to assume that I'm going through more stress than most people can imagine...but not you...you take AP English...you understand.

Keep the Blogs!

Seriously, I find it hard to believe that anyone would care to get rid of these marvelous creations that we call blogs.  It shakes me down to my very core, not literally because that would be weird and require medical attention but I think you get what I'm saying.  These blogs give me a form of creative release that I find hard to express sometimes in the rigidity of our class and in the process of timed writings in general.  I also think reading other people's blogs and hoping to get on the blog banter adds a frail sense of purpose to my empty shell of an existence... So yeah, big ups of the bloggios (as the young kids call them).  If the blogs go, I go!...not really, I just wanted to end on a positive note.

A Year in Pictures!

Well, finals are coming up for all you folks who take actually classes besides AP English and WHOA YEAH NORMAL STATS.  So I decided I would make my own little top ten list...wait, we only need eight photos?...My own little top EIGHT list of my favorite photos of the year and what they represent to me in terms of AP English with each one so it doesn't seem like I'm pointgrabbing.

1.This picture of the space shuttle Endeavour silhouetted against Earth's background symbolizes our lifting off from Chagrin Falls High School to (hopefully) greater places...space wouldn't be so bad.








2.These old people know little about politics.  As members of the Tea Party (literally...the Boston Tea Party), they still find themselves confused that the words "black" and "president" can be placed next to each other.  The clever communist logo on that man's poster reminded me of how bothered I find myself when people fail to research something obvious like grammar...or the definition of communism.

3.Oh...my...god...this picture has a lightning bolt striking a volcano while it shoots out hot lava all over Iceland....just add a unicorn and you have the most awesome photo ever...Just like AP English is the most awesome class ever!

4.This picture of a guy with really cool hair at the NFL Draft probably knows more about sport (and hair products) than I'd ever care to know. However, unlike the NFL draft, I know how the AP English Multiple Choice Game Draft works.  Also, unlike the NFL draft, the people who you pick DEFINITELY matter! There will always be a totally stacked team (probably consisting of women), the guys will always segregate themselves into two groups and Carolyn's team will have a dumb slogan like "Toast"

5.Queen Elizabeth scares the crap out of me...I can't explain why.  Maybe it's her cold stare directly into your soul or her power that only affects a certain population of people but I just get the willies whenever I see her...I have no one to compare this to in AP English...There is no high authority figure who I sometimes fear for reasons unknown...Her name certainly doesn't rhyme with Bobinski.

6. These Indonesians have no idea that the determination and strength it takes to hold onto a moving train to get to work simply PALES in comparison to typing a data sheet... I could hold onto a train in my sleep...pansies.

7. Oh hey there Saudi soldier, whatcha got there? A snake! You say you're eating a snake to prove your manliness to the other soldiers? Well have you even penned a timed essay without the use of the book? You haven't! Well then I guess my entire AP English remains manlier than a soldier eating a snake...as par usual

8.Sometimes I feel like a sad, half-naked Asian man carrying my man-purse by my neck in a river of what appears to be urine... oh sure it's oddly specific, but I'm sure you have similar Suessian nightmare feelings such as this one, and only one thing can solve it... realizing you have no finals to worry about! A blog talk?! OH BLESS THE GODS! HAHA ALL YOU PEOPLE TAKING CALC! I'll be scampering off to normal stats (whoa yeah) and enjoying my rest.

9. You're Welcome