Dishwashing Mania

I want to fall into a mountain of freshly washed sheets.

I finally have an official, real job: washing dishes at Rey Azteca. Thanks to Alaina's dedicated mother, I feel like I joined the mafia. There's no turning back.

I actually like the job although it is pretty down and dirty, hard work. Driving around town, I now think of all the other teenagers and down-on-their-luck twenty somethings silently washing dishes in the small corners of kitchen restaurants. Maybe I'll start a club. These are the real champions of society.

Track has started and the countdown to summer has begun. One thing is blocking my way - Ayn Rand. A couple of months back during my scholarship craze, I decided to enter The Fountainhead Essay Contest. Might as well. I read the book and surprisingly enjoyed it. But I need to get this essay done. That's my goal for the week. And then I will be free baby.

Other than that, I need to start writing my summer lists. I have two of them - Things I Want to Do This Summer (like go camping and head to the drive-ins) and Things I Need to Learn in Order to Survive in College (like I'm embarrassed to admit I can't tie my ties very well... or at all).

How are all the other high school seniors feeling right now? I don't know if I'm ready to leave my life as I know it. But it's time. I've had a good year. Now, I just have to go out with a bang.

And oh. I spent part of my weekend making this video for one of my teachers, Miss Rice. She wants to win a trip to England. Watch and share if you haven't already!

Send Miss Rice to England!

Bye Bye Musical

After three months of Conrad Birdie influencing my every move, running from place to place, and living off of ham and cheese sandwiches, I woke up this morning and it was all gone.

The last performance of Bye Bye Birdie was yesterday. Although the whole ordeal got off to a rough start, I really enjoyed the whole experience and wish I would have gotten involved in a musical sooner. It was nice to bond with the cast and make some new friends. Plus, I just like creative endeavors. Putting on a show was rewarding.

At the cast party afterward, I finally realized that I'

m headed to college in five months and that I'm going to miss everyone. I filled out my housing application for Chapman last night, and it felt weird. I hope I make college friends quickly.

Oh well. I'm on to other things already. Track is in full swing, and I still have some end-of-the-year projects to finish. I can't think of anything huge I'm looking forward to other than graduation and prom (I suppose). I guess I should come up with a "cute" way to ask Alaina.

Hello World.

I've been gone for quite awhile. I know I said I wouldn't blog again until Monday, but a friend brought me out of hibernation a little early.

I've been busy trying to fill my days with both track workouts and musical practice. In fact, I'm leaving my house in about five minutes for our last rehearsal. Opening night for Bye Bye Birdie is tomorrow. I'm excited for musical weekend and my first track meet next week.

The time is flying by. I have made my final college decision: Chapman. I wasn't accepted into USC. I can't say I was surprised. In fact, I think I might have been leaning toward Chapman all along. I don't know what it is - I just know it's the school for me.

Enough about me. What brings me here today is my friend Sara. Like myself, she is still working on scholarships. She wrote an essay about the importance of free speech and individuality. Both Sara and I have found these essential during our senior year as we prepare for college. Our generation needs to fight for our beliefs. After all, no one wants to live in a world where Big Brother limits your every move. Individuality is a beautiful thing.

To Sara, good luck. And to everyone else, have a nice weekend.

Check this out:

"Thousands of people stand around me, angrily shouting and thrusting their signs into the air. As the mass marches toward the Capital, I realize that these people are all standing in the frigid January temperatures in order for their voices to be heard and to exercise their rights under the first amendment. In response to the video, “Lukianoff on Free Speech,” censorship on college campuses is wrong; higher education should be promoting the education and dissemination of serious topics to further prepare students for life after school. Both national and international issues need to be discussed because younger generations will not learn to have a voice about serious issues facing our world in the coming years.
In my senior year of high school, I am taking a morality class in which we often get into debates about heavy moral issues such as abortion, capital punishment, and marriage. Before the year had begun, I had somewhat understood my views on these subjects, but was unable to fully defend my beliefs. As the year has progressed, my eyes were opened to the views of others who actually understand their views entirely and have defended them up until the end of each class. Through free speech, others have helped me to further formulate my personal views on global issues of importance, and I have found that I have become a well-rounded person. Instead of only speaking to those of my own generation about the hottest fashions and the newest songs, I can now speak to anyone; I am better able to understand and discuss my views. It is vital that we instill the values of open discussion and debate in our young adults before they enter the working world without ever having expressed themselves. Debating in classrooms and helping young adults to understand the various views of the world needs to be a higher priority for colleges. Colleges should be encouraging debates that allow students to express themselves and explore their own opinions. Without the right to free speech, students will come to believe that having a voice is inconsequential, along with the idea that one cannot be an individual. Everyone should have an opinion, along with the liberty to express that opinion, especially in a college setting where one is taught to question, examine, and discern.
In conclusion, censorship on campuses is a problem; one should be able to freely express his or her views and practice the use of his or her voice like the people I witnessed marching toward the Capitol. If students can engage in an open debate with the guidance of a professor, it may help some of the students to refine their own opinions. Colleges should stop ignoring and making light of the first amendment and start educating the future of the world, because without it the nation’s voice will become obsolete. Society needs to break the silence and make some noise to prevent a lackluster future for the land of the free."

Temporary Break-Up

Please don't be alarmed. Alaina and I are still going strong. Rather, I am breaking up with this blog... just for awhile.

You see, we just need to take some time off. I know that I've had to do this before. Between all of the commotion going on this month - musical, track, homework, scholarships, and random film projects - I'm having trouble finding the time to blog. And blog about things that are actually interesting.

The last performance of McCort's Bye Bye Birdie is on April 3rd. So on April 4th, I promise I'll be back.

Until then, I am going to try to get some work done. Spring is pretty much here, and a lot of exciting things are going on. Next month will be a big month for me. In less than two months, my college decision will be complete. Scary.

All you seniors out there, get it together. See you soon!

Hold the Phone!

I have a bunch of things I could write about, and because I probably won't have a chance to blog again until next Saturday, I will try to briefly cover everything.

This was a pretty crazy week including things like hipster shows in a renovated church and a 70s mafia fire hall, long musical group numbers, a Mexican dinner late at night, and a canceled religious retreat. After this dramatic week, I just have to say, "Thank God for the weekend!"

Of course, because musical and track have taken over my life, I'm spending most of the weekend getting caught up on "Chad" projects with a little Saturday Night Live mixed in. And no matter what happens, at 8:00pm tomorrow, I will be sitting in front of my television watching the Oscars.


I've been working with my friends to create a Summer To-Do List (it will be here before you know it). One of the items involves the drive-ins. However, I realized a sad fact recently. There's really no movies that I'm excited to see this summer. Every single film is a sequel or comic book movie.


That being said, I finally got to read a great GQ article by Mark Harris today. "The Day the Movies Died" talks about the decline of the movie industry and the lack of original movies (Top Gun 2 is coming into existence). Inception - an actual non-adaptation and non-sequel movie - has caused a stir. Hopefully things will start shaping up.

I am excited for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II and Super Eight. So, I'll find something to watch at the drive-ins.


Speaking of sequels, I guess I'll end with the big news of the evening...
Spy Kids 4!

That's right! The world is not ready. Embarrassing as it is, Spy Kids made me want to go into filmmaking. I was obsessed with the movie as an eight-year-old. When I watched a Behind the Scenes Feature on ABC Family one Saturday morning, I realized for the first time that movies weren't real. I fell in love with images of the backlot and bam! Magic.


Spy Kids 2 was pretty good too (although strange). The third one was stupid. I actually can't say that I'm stoked for this new one. Jessica Alba is involved. Although she may be pretty, I'm not a fan because all of her movies are dumb. Robert Rodriguez should be trustworthy.

Spy Kids 4 will either allow me to relive my childhood or destroy it. The movie industry may be in trouble after all.

Friends are cool.

Yesterday was one of those days where I couldn't bring myself to do anything productive. It was a long week. On Friday night, I partied it up in celebration of Christina's and Ian's birthday. I have cool friends.

Saturday contained the falling action as I read, aimlessly searched the internet, ran, headed to the Corner Coffee Shop, and hung out in Altoona. I attempted to get some work done today.

I'm not even sure if I'm fully recovered from last weekend. Alaina and I had a lot of fun exploring Pittsburgh. First, we headed to AMC Theaters to watch The King's Speech. It was a great middle-of-the day movie. The cast was particularly awesome. I loved watching Helena Bonham Carter in an actual serious role, and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush deserve Oscars. Overall, it was a great movie. Although, I'm not sure I'll be in a hurry to watch it again. The Social Network remains my favorite of the year.


In between films we headed to Ikea which is the equivalent of Disneyland. I walked through the store in utter awe. I look forward to the day when I can travel to Ikea with a real purpose - like furnishing my house.


As night settled in, we headed to an extremely creepy theater to see Blue Valentine. Blue Valentine really wasn't depressing like I thought it would be, it was just sort of unhappy - not in a bad way. The movie was painfully, yet beautifully real. We watched the two characters falling out of love interwoven with the story how they fell in love. Some parts of the movie were so real and private that it was hard to watch. However, I felt like I walked away with something - a really important message about life. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were great as expected. The best part of the movie was the ending - the climaxes of the falling-in-love story and the-falling-out-of-love story met in the middle. The cuts were heartbreaking and devastating.


Finally, Alaina and I ended the night by dining at Mallorca (the Cheesecake Factory was overflowing). We made friends with the hostess and ate a delicious Spanish dinner.

Mallorca!

March is already approaching. It kind of scares me. Focusing on college has made this year fly by. I'm having a blast, and I have a lot of things I want to accomplish before the fall. I guess I would have to say that I've settled into a kind of peace or contentment with whatever happens. It feels weird typing this, but I just feel a sense of hope lingering in the distance.

Alaina, Christina, and I discussed Radiohead over the weekend. I never really got into them, but Alaina was right. This one is good.

Tough Yet True Love

Track conditioning has started right when musical is heating up. The school year has reached that limbo period when winter activities blend with spring activities in order to create a month without sleep.

In the midst of the excitement, I hope to still find time to blog on the weekends. Tonight, I am staying up late in order to accomplish a few things - one of which is quite daring.

I am currently uploading a photo album of embarrassing Ryan pictures to Facebook. You see, as much as I love Adam and Ryan, they've been acting like two gossiping bitter old women lately. In addition, Ryan has initiated a number of small attacks on me throughout the year. I've warned him countless times that I was going to get my revenge.

The day has come. Although really, I don't believe in revenge, and I don't see this action as such. In reality, I simply find the pictures hilarious and believe that they need to be shared with the world. It's about time everyone met the real, not-so-innocent Ryan.

I'm sorry Ryan, but it had to be done. You will gain more fans in the long run thanks to this. And although we often fight and lunge at each others' throats, we will always love each other. I might actually miss you in college... just a little bit.

In other parts of the world, Alaina and I had a wonderful Pittsburgh trip on Saturday. I'm looking forward to another fun weekend because our good friend Christina is coming to Johnstown from Philadelphia. Her birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday EM! We're in for an extravaganza.

I'll write about that as well as Pittsburgh soon.

One last thing, thank you to Alaina for introducing me to this song.