Let's discuss: Puppetry.

There's so many instances in my life where I've learned about things when it was almost too late.

That's a little vague. But let me give you some examples.

From the time that I was a precious lil Gollum-looking toddler, I've always loved to sing. If I wasn't having full-length and intense conversations with license plates from my car seat in Bev's horrendous Dodge caravan, I was most likely singing. Or I was quoting anything that I saw was getting laughs from TV and telling them to family members and strangers alike (uncensored, of course.) I was also pretty convinced that I was going to be an actress growing up (Thanks Days of Our Lives,) so I was doing THAT whole thing in addition to taking various dance classes for many years. But it wasn't until I got to high school that I even realized there was a thing called "musical theatre"...you know, a thing where I could act, sing, and even DANCE onstage if the part called for it. Learning that simple fact shaped the entirety of my high school career and was one of the reasons that I went through the pains of "dual enrollment" at Hahnville High and NOCCA, an incredible performing arts high school where I learned the ins-and-outs of this wonderful art form.

Flash forward seven years to now, and here I am on my computer googling such queries as "Jim Henson Creature Shop" and "How does one even learn about building puppets?" and "Puppetry graduate school programs." Most people, my teachers included, are so intrigued with my sudden interest in puppetry...and trust me, I'm just as equally intrigued. But after many hours of my brain feverishly sifting through my heart and trying to make sense of its random passions and desires, this is all I can come up with...

I love working in the scene shop. The steel toe shoes, the ground plans, the crazy and often dangerous power tools, the sense of accomplishment you get when you've put together a complicated piece of scenery that is clearly the brain child of Clinnin or Heil...all of it. I just can't get enough of it. People who've known me since high school also know that I am all about mascots and teaching high schoolers how to embrace the big ball of fuzzy awkwardness that is a mascot suit and make it a character that everyone loves and can't get enough of. And let's not forget that I still love everything about the theatre. All the singing, dancing, and acting that happens...I am alllll about it. 

So why my brain hasn't put 1+1+1+1+1 together until this year, I don't know. I don't know how my brain couldn't process the idea of creating literal hand mascots for the theatre as a mode of story-telling until, oh, about eight months before I'm forced to grow up and graduate. I don't even know. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE scenic design too. (Seriously, I love too many things. It's frustrating and embarrassing.) The challenges that come with creating a semi-practical world in which to tell a story is exhilarating and terrifying and agonizing all at the same time; it's pretty much my form of a roller coaster adrenaline rush, minus the whole being strapped into a scary scrap of metal and being tossed around like the beans inside of a maracca (IT'S THE BEST METAPHOR I COULD COME UP WITH AT 11 PM, LEAVE ME ALONE.) But now I've just gotta keep my eyes peeled for more opportunites to learn about puppetry and see if it's something I wanna dedicate myself to for the rest of my life, while still doing scenic designs of course.

I think at the end of the day, I just wanna be good at a lot of things. My heart is just so big and full of such crazy ideas that I just want to express them all in as many ways as I can. I just want to tell stories. I just want to talk about things that matter to me without using words. I just want to make art, y'all. So sue me.

And so it begins...

Well...I caved.

Having a blog seems like having a glorified version of LiveJournal, minus the fact that I can't (for example) insert an emoticon with a tortured facial expression and let my readers know that I'm listening to "River" by Joni Mitchell on repeat for no very good reason at all...but maybe that's for the best...

I don't know if there's an "about me" section on here since I literally created this about two minutes ago, so I'll just go ahead and give some background information and hope that by the next time I post I learn a thing or two about how to work this thing. OR if you are someone who knows how to do this and make it look a lil bit fancy, then stop reading this and come over and help a sister out. Except not right now 'cause I just worked out and I'm avoiding cleaning my room. So just check with me first.

ANYWAY. My name is Christina. Most of my friends call me Tina. People that don't know me well at all call me Christie, and sometimes I'm affectionately known as Tuna (don't ask, it makes no sense to me either.) I'm a 21 year old muffin of a young woman majoring in Theatre and aiming to graduate college in May. As of right now, the plan is to look for graduate school programs for Scenic Design and hopefully get accepted by one so that I can attend in the fall of 2013. But, as we all know, plans are never permanent (PRAISE THE LAMB) and lately God's been showing me that He's kind of got my whole life on lock and that I don't really need to worry about much. So that's pretty awesome.

Speaking of God, He pretty much plays a huge role in my life. I mean, HUGE. My testimony will be another post (it's kind of a long one,) but I am really hoping that this blog will sort of be my "QT w/ JC" journal. Does that mean I'll probably be pretty sappy and vulnerable on here? Absolutely! Part of opening up like this is accountability. I know that everyday I fall short of being the woman of God that I am called to be (whamp whamp waaah.) But that's why it's vital to be apart of a fellowship of believers, people who can lift me up in prayer when I'm struggling and run with me on this race to pursue Christ and serve His Kingdom.

Sometimes this blog may be a bit of a rant in case I see someone trying to wear UGGS in 65 degree weather (I mean really, at least let it get down to a brisk 50 degrees, and don't think that wearing UGGS without proper pants will somehow keep the entire bottom half of your body warm.) More often than not I'll probably be posting preciously random YouTube videos that I find while doing everything in my power to avoid homework (anything with otters and sloths is pretty much already guaranteed to be in a blogpost, and I'm not apologizing for it.) But at the end of the day, my true fulfillment, joy, and sustenance is in Christ and Christ alone...so that means that He's gonna sort of take the focus here.

Some of you are reading this right now and are thinking "I will literally never read another thing she has to say ever again," and that's perfectly fine. But if you decide to stick around for a bit, maybe you'll realize that some of the struggles you have are the same ones I face daily. Maybe some of the things that God will open my eyes and heart to in the near future are things that you'll be learning too.

I mean, I don't know, but...I think this could be a nice lil blog someday soon.

:)