home again

thrown back into class and work and film and such.  was generally ineffective because the sleep schedule is all out of whack.

hello, ohio.

spent all day at the airport.  overwhelming sense of relief to be back home in ohio.

Finals and Awards

We had tons of great news--I broke in POI and Faith Lit, Phill broke in extemp and impromptu, Will broke in prose, and Andy broke in novice prose and POI.  Again we had some time to swim, nap, relax before the first round of finals at 2, and the entire experience was enhanced by the presence of Dan Walton and Annaliese. 

The break down of awards:
Andy--6th in novice prose; 1st in novice POI
Will--6th in open prose
Phill--4th in open extemp; semi-finalist for open impromptu
Alyssa--5th in open POI; 1st in open faith lit

There was immediate joy and amazement, but it was quickly cheapened by unexpected (yet unsurprising) reactions from a few members of the group.

Still, I've made the first varsity first-place victory for Malone at the National tournament.  It feels both fulfilling and strangely inhibiting. 

The longest of the three

Got up super early to make it to the tournament in time for the first round at 8, and the early morning panic was heightened by my inability to locate my black book.  Running, panting, frantically searching led to tardiness for the first round but thankfully, the book was found and i was able to compete.  The day stretched long, but I was glad to still be qualified.

Day 1, Rounds 1 Pattern A and B

We got to be lazy for the first part of the day, swimming and practicing and moseying to the tournament.  We started at 2, first prose run was rough (nerves got the best of me in front of Greenawalt), but first faith lit went well, as did the CA, POI, and duo.  Some mild drama erupted as the team went for dinner at Marie Callendar's, which was discouraging for the first day of the tournament, but it began to settle down once we were back at the hotel--and actually developed into a strange, poetic bonding between the "fab 4" which offered us closure, and contentment in our separate but still inter-influenced lives.

Paramount Pictures

It's always great to have nationals out in LA where there are tons of Malone alumni, because then the team gets to do awesomely fun things like take a free two-hour tour of Paramount Pictures.  Jake Thomas showed us around sound stages, sets, and even brought us to where they were filming an episode of Nip/Tuck. 

It felt amazing to actually be standing where they filmed The Graduate, Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Rear Window, It Happened One Night, Happy Days, Benjamin Button, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Monk, ...

We went to Santa Monica pier, ate cake at Gladstone's, saw part of America's Next Top Model being filmed...

For a second, I questioned whether I had made the right decision to study at Oxford instead of LAFSC.

But I think I'm content to keep my wonder and amazement of Hollywood, which would surely fade if I actually lived here.

in LA

Got up at 6 am in order to leave by 7 and get to the airport in time for our 11 o'clock flight to Vegas (where there were slot machines IN THE AIRPORT!).  After a looooooong, awful flight, and then a short empty flight, we found ourselves outside John Wayne airport with the team.  We had dinner at this elephant restaurant thing, and then practiced the night away.