Dog Sees God

So I'm enrolled in an acting class at the university I attend, and what we do is select short monologues from plays of characters similar to our age and/or persona. We have to pick two over the semester. For the first one, I chose a brief speech from the book Tweak by Nic Sheff. When I was trying to find a suitable monologue for me to use, I had so much trouble I was getting severely frustrated.

But this time around, for my second speech, I think I've found just the right source.

Dog Sees God: Confessions Of A Teenage Blockhead is a play written by Bert V. Royal. It's a parody of Charles Schultz's Peanuts comics but the characters are grown up and are teenagers in high school. The characters names are changed but hold influences from the original comic. CB (Charlie Brown) is the main character in the play and is grieving over the death of his dog. CB's sister (Sally) has gone goth and constantly changes her philosophy on life. Van (Linus) still offers much philosophical wisdom but is a complete pothead. Matt (Pig-pen) is an OCD neat freak and has internalized his dirtiness; he's a sex maniac and extremely homophobic. Beethoven (Schroeder) is the school outcast because he was sexually abused by his alcoholic father and finds solace only in his piano playing. Peppermint Patty and Marcie's doppelgangers in the play are the two partying, mean girls/fugly grotsky betches.

The play deals with themes concerning drug use, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion, sexual identity, and suicide.

I've skimmed through this play. And I like what I'm seeing. There's a vibe of that typical high school scenario and characters, but they're warped and disturbed and so fascinating.

I'll have more to say once I read the play in depth.

The Apple iPad

So Apple revealed their latest and greatest iPad.

Apparently, it's been on the news all day. I, however, fail to keep up with current events. How on earth did I miss the headline, even on the internet?

Anyways, I found out about it in an email from Apple. At first, I thought it was a joke because of a video I saw earlier. A friend of mine posted this vid. Hmm, maybe that's why he posted it with the attention the actual iPad is receiving.

Ah, MadTV--so ahead of the times, ain'tcha?

Two-thousand and ten:

Here's to a new year. May it be prosperous and kind to all.

"2009: Jan 1, 09 - Dec 31, 09. RIP."

To Save a Life (2010)

I watched the trailer for an upcoming movie, To Save a Life, when instead, I should be studying for my Mythology final that's in 4.5 hours.

Yeah yeah, another movie that exaggerates the cliques of high school. But evidently, this movie plans to add a bit o' twist to the usual recipe of such a film. That little added bit is suicide, and reaching out to others.

Now, the "reaching-out-to-others" bit isn't so new either, but mixing it with teen suicide creates a new concoction. And the theme of this movie has me stunned, quite frankly.

Watching this trailer brings back memories of my sophomore year in high school. Maybe there weren't characters and situations in my school that even remotely mirror those in the upcoming film, but the theme of suicide definitely stirs something within me.

I do believe I'll add this movie to my to-go-see list.

dreams.

Earlier this past semester, I had two rather peculiar dreams.

In the first dream, I killed someone.

Now, this was no accident. I had a plan, I had the intent, and I carried through. Long-story(dream?)-short, I woke up remembering the distinct sensation of fighting and grappling with another man, wrestling him to the floor, and attempting to slice his neck open with a razor as he laughed in my face, calling me too weak to take a life.

He was wrong, of course. I finally felt his skin give and the blade punctured his vital arteries as easily as sticking a sewing needle through cotton.


Interestingly enough, a few nights later, I dreamed I was the one being murdered. I was in a room, attempting to defend someone from a gunman. He grabbed me and dragged me out the door into the hallway and threw me down. As I looked up at him, he pointed his pistol at me, and next thing I knew, there was a dreadfully loud "BANG" and I felt a rather blunt force hit me right in the face and then everything went white. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, but I could still hear him, laughing at me. Then I hear a couple more "bangs" and a few more blows to the face, as if someone wrapped a hammer with a towel and was dropping the head on me.

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For some time afterward, I wondered if those dreams were connected in some way.

In one dream, I took a life.

In the other, my life was taken.


Hmm, spooky.

the night.

It's almost 3AM. I walk outside and I'm greeted by a cool fog that gently blankets the ground. The street light blaze dizzily through the thick mass, attempting to illuminate the sidewalks, but the gentle, grey, beast yawns and simply hugs the light, too.

I bike down the street, roll down a hill and cut through the mass that surrounds me, but the fog does not resist. It yawns again and parts to let me pass.

I pedal across the bridge and look to my right and see the gentle giant has also made a bed out of the stadium. The night is silent, and I am alone with the beast. He sleeps, and I hurry along to get back to my own bed.

I say, there is nothing more peaceful than being alone and biking across that bridge at 3AM where all that accompanies you is the great expanse of that stadium and the silence of the night.



What, or where, do you find peace with?

Lyrics for the Night

"'Cause all of the stars have faded away,
just try not to worry, you'll see them someday.
Take what you need, and be on your way, and
stop crying your heart out."

"Stop Crying your Heart Out" by Oasis