Recent Obsessions

I’m a sucker for monthly favorite posts/videos. If I see those on YouTube you best believe I’m clicking on them. I’m definitely not interesting enough to write about things I like every single month, I’m barely interesting enough for this post! But here I am.

There are two musicals I’ve recently fallen in love with, the first being Waitress. I’ve wanted to watch it for moooooonths, hopefully I’ll get to watch it some time soon! Literally 5-10 seconds in the first song I was hooked. ♪ Sugar, butter, flour ♪

I usually don’t listen to a soundtrack until I see the show (so far Hamilton and Waitress have been the exceptions) but with how much more expensive Broadway tickets are getting, that’s probably not realistic. Sara Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for the show and she did an EXCELLENT JOB. I hope she continues to work more in the theatre world because I need more show tunes from her. I recommend listening to the entire album (seriously) but if you just want a little taste (♪ it only takes a taaaaste ♪), I recommend listening to: “When He Sees Me”, “Bad Idea” and “She Used to Be Mine”–those are currently my favorites.

Jeremy Morse, Molly Hager, Jessie Mueller, Aisha Jackson and Stephanie Torns (Photo: Joan Marcus)

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The other musical I want to talk about is Dear Evan Hansen. I’ve been hearing about it a lot lately and what finally made me decide to look into it was Tyler Mount’s video where he talked about his top 5 musical songs. “Waving Through a Window” was #2 on his list so I figured it was time. I listened to the song once and then I listened to it again. And another 10 or so times. What I’m saying is that I have it on repeat. I have only listened to this one song but it’s more than enough for me to love the show. Along with Waitress and In Transit, this show is at the top of the list of shows I want to see. You can listen to “Waving Through a Window” here.

If what I have to say isn’t enough for you to be interested, here are some extra tidbits:

• Michael Greif is the director. He directed other shows such as the original production of Rent (!!!!!), Next to Normal and If/Then.
• Alsoooo, Alex Lacamoire, the music genius behind Hamilton and In the Heights, among other shows, did the orchestrations.
• In addition to Dear Evan Hansen, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul created the music/lyrics for the James and the Giant Peach musical which is spectacular. Okay I’m done now.

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This year I discovered the genius that is Brandon Sanderson and so far I’ve read 12 of his books.

1. Elantris
2. Mistborn: The Final Empire
3. The Well of Ascension
4. The Hero of Ages
5. Alloy of Law
6. Shadows of Self
7. The Bands of Mourning
8. Mistorn: Secret History (novella)
9. The Way of Kings
10. Words of Radiance
11. The Emperor’s Soul
12. Warbreaker

I love all of them, especially the Mistborn books, but give me a moment to talk about The Stormlight Archive series. There are only two books out now (The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance) out of the 10 Sanderson is planning to write. The books are beasts but soooooooo worth the time it takes to read. More people need to read them because I need more people to talk to about it!!! My friend, Joff, has been an absolute saint and put up with my many messages on Twitter; I needed to get my feelings out somehow! Such a great series, SO GREAT. Great.

On more than one occasion I was quite literally on the edge of my seat. Sanderson is the master of plot twists and emotional torture and I love him for that. I check his website often to see if he’s made any progress on the third book and it’s currently at 73%!! I’d give you a brief summary but I’d butcher it so just look it up. It’s a great series. Thought I’d remind you.

From Patrick Rothfuss’ blog

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I only have one more thing to talk about and that’s the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics! Words cannot express how much I love the show and how it inspires me, it’s just the best. I read The Promise ages ago but only recently read the rest and I’m more than ready for North and South! I’m not going to spoil anything but finally learning more about Ursa, Zuko’s mother, lifted a giant weight off my shoulders. The art throughout the stories is beautiful just like in the show and seeing the Gaang grow up and go through more adventures makes me happy. And I know there’s going to be comics for The Legend of Korra, I need more of this world!! How great would it be to get comics about past Avatars? I hope people continue to create more Avatar products because I’m not done with this fandom.

“Smoke and Shadow”

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Obligatory question: what things have you been loving lately? Comment below!

Tolkien Book Wishlist pt. 1

We all should know by now that I have a book hoarding problem, specifically a Tolkien book hoarding problem. Even after years of collecting there’s still so much more I’d like to one day own (this will be the case for many years to come, I’m sure). Here are some books that are on my collection wishlist:

The Hobbit Illustrated by Alan Lee

ISBN: 978-0547928258

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The Silmarillion Illustrated by Ted Nasmith

ISBN: 978-0618391110

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The Lord of the Rings Folio Society, 2002

Infinity Dreams Award

I was nominated by Maria and the Traveling Geek Show for the Infinity Dreams Award.

Rules:

• List seven dreams. They can be personal or website related.
• Nominate seven other bloggers/authors/dogs for this award and notify them.

Meet my Middle-earth News Family

I have already met the U.S. members from Middle-earth News (you can read about it here), but that was so long ago and I desperately want to see them again! Not only them, but the European peeps too! We all pretty much talk to each other everyday and I can’t even begin to imagine how much fun we would have together. Our LOTR marathon would be epic and hilarious!

Theatre Designer

Some of you probably already know this but I’m a graphic design major (hopefully graduating soon!!) and I love watching Broadway shows (mainly musicals). Since I’m not an actor or singer, any dreams of starring in a musical are unrealistic. I’d still love to be able to work in the NYC theatre world as a designer. Making ads for musicals/plays, developing logos, do marketing…this is my dream job.

Become a Tolkien Scholar

While I love all things relating to Tolkien and hoard too many books, I’m no where near becoming a scholar but it’s something I hope to accomplish one day. I want to be that person who can drop trivia at any time, answer people’s questions, speak Sindarin, and know how to write in Tengwar. I have a lot of study material (too many books, haha) at my disposal, so it is a possibility for me. I just need to find the time and determination to really get down and learn as much as I can.

Collect, Collect and Collect!

A big dream of mine is for my Tolkien Collection to keep growing. Hopefully when I get a place of my own, I’ll be able to really get it set up nicely. Imagine a room of Middle-earth. There are so many book editions, action figures, statues and movie memorabilia that I want to own. It would be a dream come true to have a good job and home where I’m able to focus on collecting.

Cosplay

I’ve always wanted to cosplay but it’s basically an impossible dream for me because I don’t sew at all. I’m so envious of cosplayers, they get to be their favorite characters! I wish I had the talent and drive to cosplay, and I hope that one day I will. My friend Rachel makes fun of me because I want to cosplay as the most random characters: Cabbage Man from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Matchmaker from Mulan and Old Bilbo (Grey Havens scene). I also want to be a Kyoshi Warrior and Eowyn (have you seen her dresses???)

Read

I’m the type of person to start something and never finish it, and this relates mostly to all the books collecting dust in my bookshelf. Reading is FUN, but I’m a horrible person and always put it off. There are currently five books I need to finish and I can’t even begin to count the number of series and books I want to start. There are so many great stories out there, worlds I want to explore and what happens? I don’t read. I suck.

Attend More Tolkien Events

HobbitCon, RingCon, MythMoot, OxonMoot…I want to go to all of these events! If it’s Tolkien-related, I want to be there. Especially if that means there will be tons of other fans and scholars to talk to. And I know this isn’t exactly Tolkien-related, but I want to go to a Renaissance Fair. I am filled with lots of shame because I don’t know the joy of a giant Ren Fair turkey leg.

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I don’t really know who to tag, so if you’re reading this and it sounds like something you want to do, I nominate you!

The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition – SPOILERS!!!

I saw the extended edition of The Battle of the Five Armies last night and….

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SERIOUSLY, DON’T CLICK READ MORE UNLESS YOU WANT TO READ SPOILERS

Tattoos I Want to Get

Obviously I would want a Tolkien-themed tattoo, possibly more than 1! I have this dream of getting the Tengwar symbol for 9 tattooed somewhere on my body like the LOTR cast. At first I thought it would be kinda weird to get the same one but I’m sure there are fans all around the world that have done the same.

There is also, of course, the Tolkien insignia, a classic! If I get that I think I’d want it on my arm, possibly near my right shoulder. I’d also need a hobbit-themed tattoo but I don’t know what type of hobbit tattoo to get. I don’t think I want a hobbit door, or if I did I’d like it to be in the classic tattoo style like this. That entire Instagram account is dangerous because it makes me want to get ALL THE TATTOOS.

There is a huge cherry blossom tree (Kanzan) in my backyard and it always blooms near my birthday. Cherry blossoms make me think of home and happy times so I’d like a small tattoo of one (flower modeled by Sauron shown below). Nothing fancy, no branches or leaves, just one flower.

I’ve talked about this a lot, so many of you probably already know, but my favorite musical of all time is Rent, and I would like to have the lyric “no day but today” tattooed. I have such a difficult time picking a typeface to use in projects so I don’t know how I will choose one for a tattoo. I’m leaning towards the old-style typewriter look.

A few years ago, I passed a man on the street with tattoos of all the nation symbols from Avatar: The Last Airbender and it looked AWESOME. I’m not saying that this random guy made me realize I wanted an ATLA tattoo (though it would be fine if he had), I’ve been wanting one for years. ATLA is another one of my big fandoms, and I’d love to have a tattoo that represented that show. I imagine my tattoo would be just in black ink and without borders, unlike the image below.

So as of this moment there are 6 tattoos I’d like to get, there will probably be more.

What tattoos do you have/want to get? 🙂

The Musical Theatre Tag

I found this musical theatre tag post and felt a very strong need to do it too. If you don’t already know, I love musicals, soundtracks and scores are some of the only music I listen to and it’s a shame I’m an absolutely horrible singer otherwise I’d sing all the time around everyone.

1. What was the first musical you ever saw?

Either 42nd Street or Beauty and the Beast, I can’t remember which came first. I’m like… 76% sure it was 42nd Street.

2. What was your favorite musical growing up?

Rent!!! I first became a fan in 5th grade when my music teacher had everyone in my grade sing “Seasons of Love” for a concert and it still is my favorite musical.

3. Were you ever in a musical?

Only the ones I was forced to be in in elementary school. I don’t act, sing or dance, it’s a travesty.

4. What was the first musical you saw on Broadway?

*see question no. 1*

The Epic Disney Tag!

Yup, I’m doing another tag post because who gets tired of those? You can find the original Disney tag from Smilingldsgirl here. I’ll probably include some Pixar as well.

1. A scene in any Disney movie you wish you could experience?

There are a bunch and let me just say this right now: expect me to give multiple answers to each question, it’s too hard to just give one!

I wish I could experience the moment in Tangled when Flynn and Repunzel are on the water and sitting beneath all the lanterns, I bet it would be breathtaking.

Another scene would be in Tarzan when he takes Jane up in the trees to all the birds during “Strangers Like Me”.

Honorable mentions:

• Riding alongside horses on the flying carpet – Aladdin
• Jumping over a waterfall – Pocahontas
• Walking into the Beast’s kick-ass library – Beauty and the Beast
• Looking up to see Zeus creating a constellation in the sky of Hercules – Hercules
• Seeing all the animals in the lights (sorry that doesn’t make sense haha) – Brother Bear

Broadway Musicals I’m the Most Excited For

The 2015-2016 Broadway season is practically here and there are so many shows I want to see! I enjoyed last season a lot, Fun Home was especially amazing and you should go listen to the soundtrack on their site. Trust me. Here are some of the shows I really want to see this season:

Allegiance

“Inspired by the true-life experience of its star George Takei (“Star Trek,” “Heroes”), Allegiance follows one family’s extraordinary journey in this untold American story. A mysterious envelope leads Sam Kimura (Takei) back 60 years to a time when he (played as a young man by Telly Leung — Godspell, “Glee”) and his sister Kei (Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga — Miss Saigon, Mulan) strive to save their family from the wrongful imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Sam enlists in the army to prove the Kimuras’ loyalty, but Kei joins draft resisters fighting for the rights of their people. Their paths take them from the lush farmlands of California to the wastelands of Wyoming to the battlefields of Europe, and their divided loyalties threaten to tear them apart forever. But as long-lost memories are unlocked, Sam finds that it is never too late to forgive and to recognize the redemptive power of love.”

I can easily see this winning Best Musical, it sounds so good and I would love the chance to see Lea Salonga again (I saw her about 8 — I think — years ago as Fantine in Les Miserables). Also, George Takei stars in it which automatically makes Allegiance great. I wish it came out this summer and not in the fall because I want to see it now!

Harry Potter Questionnaire

I saw this questionnaire on the Traveling Geek Show blog and wanted to do it as well. Enjoy~

1. What is your favorite book? Why?

I’ve only read the series once and that was about 6 (?) years ago so I don’t remember exactly how I felt about each book but I think I’m going to have to go with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It felt the most exciting to me, I love the beginning when everyone comes to bring Harry to 12 Grimmauld Place. And I love Tonks. I hope I’m remembering everything correctly, haha.

2. What is your favorite film? Why?

A tough question but maybe Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (I should actually say Philosopher’s) because I’m a sucker for the first in any series. It was also my introduction to the Harry Potter universe and everyone looks like such a baby and cute and ahh. Babies.

…..But I also really like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because Lupin. That’s enough of a reason to choose that movie as a favorite, right?

3. What is your least favorite book? Why?

Hmmmmmm. I don’t know if I have one. I’ll have to do a re-read to figure that out.

Hey Hey

Hi guys! Well I haven’t posted anything on this blog for about two weeks, my bad, I still need to stick with some kind of schedule. But knowing me, there’s only about 30% chance of that happening, haha. I don’t really have any particular “thing” to talk about so I’ll just ramble on for a bit, hopefully you don’t mind.

It’s officially summer vacation for me which I’m SO HAPPY about, this past semester seemed so draining but I managed to make it out with a 3.5 GPA so at least I didn’t fail any classes. What kills me is that I could have had a better GPA for the term if I wasn’t so lazy, but ah well, it’s over. I signed up for a summer course this June, so I only have tomorrow left of doing absolutely nothing before I’m back to commuting and doing school work, ughhhh. It’s a web design course so hopefully it’s fun for me, I don’t really have any experience with it. Crossing my fingers it isn’t too difficult!