larkin_marie

I went to my first Color Coding Audition yesterday.

I'm about ready for bed, so despite the fact it's been several decades since I last updated, and I have tons of great pics to post of me and my favorite rodents, I probably won't get to that.

On the plus side, however, the results were already up from the Auditions. While I'm still an Blue/Yellow, I must have bumped something up a little higher, because I can now preference all roles in Fantasmic, Move It Shake It Celebrate It, Mickey's Jungle Jamin' Parade, Block Party Bash, The Adventure Begins, and many more things! You can bet I preferenced most of them, because if I do get trained, that's more hours my way, and I might not have to become a Slide Op again just to make ends meet.

Anyways... I hope I can someday make myself sit down and write a full update, but for the time being I've got to get some sleep. Six days ever week is exhausting.

But I did want to brag a little about my skills. I thought I botched everything again, but I must have gotten a little better. Somehow. On accident. Haha.
 

Work has been pretty awesome, I won't lie. A couple of days ago, I had the most hilarious viking fight with my attendant, and it was all right in front of a guest with a video camera, and I'm HOPING they put it up on YouTube. Because it was seriously amazing. It's hard to describe in just text, because I always just end up acting it out, but basically... There was this kid who had a foam viking sword from Norway, and the shield! I was like, there's no way I'm not going to play with this... So I put the shield on, and I grabbed the sword, but then I was like, well, now I can't fight the kid, he doesn't have a sword. So I looked, and I saw my attendant, this new CP who's fun to pick on in the next section over. So I told the kid to hang on, and I ran full speed at my attendant (which with my stubby little legs isn't that fast, but looks hilarious), lept in the air and landed with my shield up and my sword in the air in a fight stance.

The look on my attendant's face... OMIGOD, I was cracking up. Like, "this was not in the job description!" He puts his hands up and shouts, "I'm unarmed!" So I put my sword down, like, Oh yeah... But, I have a sword! So I'm looking and thinking, and the attendant goes, "Wait!" And he does the Rhino ninja pose, and I'm like YES!!! So I get my sword back up, and we're facing off, and I'm backing up a little, and then he jumps at me, so I'm like, it'll be funnier if I let him win. So I jump and turn to run away all scared... But, well, the Garden Grill is a circular restaurant... and I was backing up in a straight line... and I have no peripheral vision (seriously, put your hands up to the side of your head, that's more vision than I have), so when I turned to run... I ran straight into a wall... Which only made it more awesome.

I bounced off the wall and kept running.

We couldn't have planned something that amazing.

I don't know where to start, but here's what I've got:

• I've been playing in the parks a lot recently. More than I ever have before. I still don't like going to them, but I have my own fun. My friend Jason teases me because I'm a little bit sarcastic, and I get more so at the parks. 
• My German Lover and I actually talk on Facebook IM very often right now. It's pretty exciting/hilarious, I won't lie.
• In real life, boys confuse/irritate/spoil me.
• I think I'm finally about to get a new roommate. I'm actually not very excited for that. I liked having my own room. She had better like the Bedtime Tunes Podcast (bedtimetunes.trash-can.net/ --Check it out, it's my newest addiction.). That's all I have to say.
• I am force-bid at the Garden Grill right now. I've never spent more than 5 days at any one place since I started in Entertainment. But of all places to be stuck, I love Garden Grill. You can go as slow as you like and still see everyone, there are no managers in sight, and the servers and seaters there are awesome. I'm actually okay with only having 30 hours. I'm still gonna try to pick up some shifts elsewhere, but I'm just gonna try to enjoy being at Garden Grill for now. I did have a pretty drama-filled week there last week, but none of it was my fault. Well... one was kind of my fault, but really...  I'll explain that sometime, once the Witness statements are all out of the way.
• Which leads me to my next bullet point: Entertainment is insane. I know it's all theater people... But the drama and the witness statements and the carrying on! Seriously... I think I benefitted well by doing other things before coming to Entertainment. They should warn you about the drama and the hassels before you audition, rather than the heat and physical part.
• My extension is going great. I go out a lot more since the new program started, actually. I love my life down here right now.
• That's about it for now... but next time I write... pictures!

( LOTS of pictures ahead! )

But my roommates disgust me. They really do.

If it takes you half our kitchen to cook a Bertolli meal... for god's sake clean up after yourself.

I guess somehow I became the dishwasher emptier. It was an unspoken thing for sure. And it was no biggie, but the last few days I'm had to work/audition early and I just assumed someone else would empty it.

What a mistake in this house. Of course no one would empty it, except to take out dishes they needed to dirty and then putting them in the sink when they're done.

It's pretty trashed. On top of that, I know there's actually only one roommate, Elizabeth, who cleans the kitchen for everyone else. I keep telling her to stop this and make them clean up after themselves, but she still does it.

They're pretty much disgusting.

Also, my roommate has let her bath towel and hand towel mildew to the point it gags me when I walk into the bathroom. Air freshener doesn't seem to help.

Sorry I'm cranky. It's just now 6am, and I've had to empty the dishwasher. And I refuse to refill it, so I just wrote a note saying, "Clean this up you filthy slobs" and put it in the sink. Niceness doesn't really work on these people. Well, nothing works with these people.

Anyways, in good news...

• I extended my program, so I'm here until May 15th. I'm very happy about this. I'm staying in Entertainment. For all its flaws (and it has many), I love my Chipmunks so much, and I'm very happy to be staying with them. I'm hoping maybe I can learn a show or parade or try for face in the next six months.
• I auditioned for Disney Live. I didn't get it, of course. But I didn't go in there expecting to get it. I did audition decently well, and I noticed one of the main casting directors was looking at me nearly the whole time, and he would lean over and talk to the other casting director and they would pull out my head shot/resume and look at it. They keep you on file for a year, so I'm hoping that was a good sign. So even though I didn't get it, I feel awesome about that audition.
• I'm at Town Square today, and I get to be in the Welcome Show the day they're filming the Christmas Parade. I think that's pretty awesome. I expect it to be packed. But I don't know where I'll be. I guess yesterday they were in TomorrowLand with their flashy space vests... But that schedule said December 5th only... So I don't know where I am today, but I hope it's awesome.

Anyways, it's time for me to go get dressed. Oh, and use my parafin wax. My RA has gotten worse in the last month, but the athletic trainer recommended that I buy a parafin bath, the kind you do manicures with, and use it daily to help with it. It feels amazing, and my hands are so soft! I love it!

It's been nearly a decade since I wrote. Or at least it feels like it.

And I only have 7 minutes to update you on that decade. That or I'll just continue to write when I get off work at Future World at 5pm.

I think I haven't really written because not a lot of College Program-y things have happened recently. Work was pretty plain. I spent a long time at Liberty Tree, which is awesome. It's probably one of my favorite places to be. That and Town Square, which seems to be all I get scheduled, really.  Liberty Tree is awesome because you just have so much time to play. I often find myself in trouble for going to slow, but Liberty Tree is a restaurant where you can do that. It's very small. Almost no one cares if you go slow, except one manager who's decided that she doesn't like me very much and told me that I "don't have time to hug every guest," and this one crazy captain one night, where we had the following conversation:

ME: I go slow, I know it. I've tried to go faster, but somehow I'm not able to. I don't mind. I get good performance reviews in dining because I greet every single guest.
CAPTAIN: Well, which would you prefer, a reprimand or a good performance review?
ME: (shocked) Well, if those are my two choices, I'd rather have the good performance review.
CAP: Well, keep in mind performance reviews don't go on your record card, but reprimands do.
ME: (getting pissed) Well, if they want to give me a reprimand for making the guests too happy they can. I am not bid here, and if they don't like how I am here, they can stop scheduling me here.
CAP:Or they can transfer you to character attendant.
ME: Or they can do that. I've worked attractions before, I've worked food service. You can't threaten me by sending me somewhere else. If they think I'm not good at my job, I hope they put me somewhere where I'm more suited. But as long as they think I'm doing a good job, I'm not concerned.

By the end of that night, three other Liberty Tree people were looking for a manager to talk to about her.

Anyways, I didn't want to end on such a bad note, but that was ten minutes, and I have to go get ready for work. I promise I'll write more when I get home!!

I know, I don't post as often as I should. But I don't always have great stories, like being asked to spoon. Also, I'm pretty much force bid at Liberty Tree Tavern, so sometimes it starts to feel like you're doing the same thing every day, even if the tables are different. Plus I've been meeting some great people, and I'm actually sort of seeing someone, and I've just become more social in general, and I love it!

Yesterday was a long and somewhat stressful day. I guess it started the day before. Actually, I guess it started Wednesday.

Wednesday, we got a surprise inspection. We passed, but... Well, have I mentioned I have pets? Right. Well I have Bernard the Hermit Crab, who's been with me since my 2006 program, and then Echo bought Ding Ding a couple weeks ago. Ding Ding is a gerbil.

Anyways, they waited day to give us a letter for a house meeting. We got that Sunday night. I was nervous, but I kept my mind off of it by going to Clermont to see one of my best friends down here. We had a great time, and I had a couple beers, and then I came home early to get some sleep so I looked nice for the meeting.

So Monday morning was the meeting. If you've never been called in for a housing meeting (which I'm guessing most of you haven't), this is how it goes: They'll give everyone a piece of paper and ask you to write down your statement. Then they'll pull each of you individually and talk to you alone.

This is actually my second house meeting. I had to go to one years ago, on my first program, shortly after moving in, because my first roommates were caught smoking weed. They were a lot meaner at that meeting. It felt like you were on Law & Order or something. They would tell you that if you knew about it and didn't say anything, that's as bad as doing it yourself, and stuff like that. This time, they were much more friendly, and asked me what I named the Hermit Crab.

We got a written warning, and were told to get rid of them. I've already got a home for them, although I'm sure if someone else out there would like a gerbil or a hermit crab, and doesn't live in Disney housing, I'm sure my friend would let you have them.

I pointed out that it's way easier to take care of the hermit crab than it is to keep my Garden up... he looked at me and thought for a second and said, "well, I don't think there's anything against gardens..." I said there wasn't.

Speaking of... My garden just keeps growing. My Broccoli is huge and should be ready to eat by the end of the month! My tomato is giant, and has little yellow flowers all over it. I've also got onions, spinach, sage, basil, two kinds of oregano, cilantro, thyme, tarragon, parsley, chives, echinacea, horse tail (which cures broken bones)... oh and my watermelon. I think my watermelon's not going to make it though. It's looking kind of sickly. I've never grown a watermelon before, so I don' t know what's up with it. My friend suggested that it doesn't have enough space, so I'm thinking I'll get it another pot, and see if that helps. It might just traumatize it though. My roommates joke that I have a jungle on our patio.

Which I think is okay, because we have sience experiements in our kitchen. Ugh... seriously, why can't they do their own dishes?!?! It's not very hard. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but last week, I discovered that someone left a banana in a bag on the counter and let it go bad... Here's something I didn' t know: If you let a banana go really bad... it turns to fucking liquid!!! Omigod! And guess who had to clean that one up?! Yep. I got to throw the drippy bag away... and the smell.... Ugh. I am so embarrassed to have friends over. Every one of them comes in, takes one look at the sink filled to the brim with dishes and says, "Wow. I'm so sorry you have to put up with this." I was so hungry yesterday, but there were no pots to cook with, and even if I cooked, there'd be no way to clean the pots after. I found one pot, and was going to make Ramen, by filling the pot with water from my bathroom, but then I realized I couldn't use the collander because the sink was full and I refused to be like my roommate and perch the collander on top of the dirty dishes to drain her pasta! 

Anyways... Eventually, I made a cheese sandwich. So all I ate yesterday was a cheese sandwich, two organic oreo-type cookies, and some pita chips. I did have two sodas though, which made me very excited. I've been craving soda, but I wanted to get some with pure cane sugar rather than high fructos corn syrup. Yes, I'm weird about the things I put in my body. I'm not a health freak, and I still eat plenty of trash like McDonalds, but I try to also watch what I eat when I can. Yesterday, I found out I had 100$ more than I thought I did, so I went to Whole Foods and bought two plants, soda, friut, and cookies. Haha.

And finally, in my long day... I got to see Matt Nathanson!!

Yay! I've been waiting for this day for weeks! It started off bad, because Google Maps gave me bad directions, and told me to take an exit that didn't exist, but when I finally went into a Publix in an area called College Park, and asked, the woman checking out there was so nice, and gave me perfect directions from here, and just very sweet. She was like, "You're not far off, just take a deep breath and don't worry, you're only about ten minutes away." So there are good Floridians out there. So thank you to the lovely lady at Publix, who also used cloth bags... so she's that much more amazing!

Matt was playing in this tiny little bar called the social... If there were more than 300 people there, I'd be surprised. It was sold out, so I was glad I'd bought my tickets a month ago.

He's amazing in concert. He's hilarious, and he sings great songs, and he loves to cover 80's songs. He sang Take On Me by a-ha, and pulled this guy up on stage. I ended up giving him and his wife a ride back to Caribbean Beach Resort.  They were really cool. They had flown in from Baton Rouge, LA to see Matt Nathanson, and spent 5 days at Disney, but somehow didn't meet the Chipmunks.

After the concert, I got to meet Matt Nathanson, and somewhere along the way, I'd realized that the day I'm flying home to Spokane is the day he's going to be playing in Spokane. So I met him and I was like, "This is kind of strange, but I think I'm going to see you in Spokane." And he looked at me and he was like, "Why!? I mean, that's great, but why?!" So I told him I just happened to be going home for a few days and I'd be there the 4th of November. He was like, "That's great! I'll see you soon!" He's really sweet.

So yes, I'll be in Spokane, WA from November 4th through the 8th. I'm actually very excited. I can't wait to see my kitty. I've heard he's still doing amazing, and is actually doing better than before! I also can't wait to see some of my friends, and now I can't wait to see Matt Nathanson again! I've already bought that ticket.

But for now, I guess I should start getting ready for Liberty Tree Tavern. I came home last night and the sink was empty, so I'm thinking I'll make a nice big breakfast.

Thanks to anyone who actually read this monster of a post. I'll try to post more often, so hopefully they're not so long again!

Yesterday was one of those days that I felt invincible.

First, it was my first day off since last Wednesday, but I chose to set my alarm for 7am, and I went to the Kissimmee Farmer's Market. There were only five booths, and someone was telling me how usually there are more than a dozen, but it's in between harvests, so it should be better again in a couple weeks. Still, it was so wonderful!

I spent 20$ (Well, 23$) and I got so much! Everything was sold by the BOX. Six tomatoes for 1.50$! Everything was like that. So I looked at everything that was available and it immediately became apparent that I should make salsa because nearly everything I needed was right there in front of me. The only thing I had to buy at Target was a can of green chiles and chips.

Well, that was the only thing I had to buy... I bought 70$ worth of stuff at Target that I didn't have to. But some of it makes me overly excited. Like my water bottle, that has a filter in the top, so you can put just plain tap water in the bottom, and it filters it like Brita filters as you drink it. Pretty neat. The water tastes good too.

I also bought a Papaya, but I don't really know what to do with it. And a giant avacado so I can make Guacamole tomorrow. I also bought five more plants, which I'll put up pictures of once I get them in pots. And yes, I'm pretty sure my patio is minutes from becoming a jungle. But it's becoming a healthy jungle, so I'm okay with it. :-)

Then I came home and I got dressed for class, and made myself some coffee. I was so excited to be having White Coffee that I didn't even care that it tasted horrible. So I'm going to have to work on making esspresso. It's been two years since I made it for myself, maybe I skipped a step?

Class was amazing. I'm taking Expiriencial Learning. Not only does the class sound interesting, but the teacher is beyond interesting. When I met her on day 2 check in when I was signing up, she seemed awful. She yelled at me for something that was absolutely not my fault, and I remember hoping I didn't have her for a teacher.

But in class I think she's hilarious, and I noticed she had a heiroglyphics necklace on, so I asked her where she got it and showed her my ring. She got it in Egypt, and we spent the entire break talking about when she was in Egypt and got to meet Zahi Hiwass (I totally just butchered that spelling), and I loved it. She's going to Egypt again in December. So it turns out that she's not only a great teacher but we both share a passion which we both love talking about. If you ever see me at work, and I'm in an unfamiliar place, I'm that geeky girl in the corner translating heiroglyphics. And yes, I'm taking it for a class. And yes, I'm more than willing to talk about what I'm doing if you have questions.

My first assignment is to ride three rides from a specific list and write a short paper (two paragraphs on each ride) about whether they were more educational than entertaining or more entertaining than educational. Yes, that's actually my homework.

Then I came home and started my salsa, while my friend Stuart came over, and then the two of us went to Food & Wine. We came to late to get any food, although I did get to try some Sam Adams, although everything we ordered was sold out for the night, which was terrible. But I did get to stop by the Soarin' managers and I talked to a different manager that I'd never met before, and asked about getting re-certified for Soarin', and she gave me the number to try and get that going. I'm very excited! For one thing, I totally need the hours, and another, I just don't want to lose that training, you know?

Then we drove to Denny's and stayed up talking until 1am. So it's now ten till 7 and I have to be dressed and out the door by 7, so I should go, but I do want to say that I'm having the most amazing couple of days, and Stuart's an amazing guy who lets me chatter on about completely random stuff. If you ever get him as an attendant, you'll be well taken care of.

But like I said, gotta go!

I'm sorry, but our apartment is filthy. It really pisses me off. No one will take out the trash. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person that has since we moved in, and maybe one other person once. And I know I don't contribute the most to the trash. Our sink is always, always full of dishes. And what pisses me off the most about that is that the dish washer will be completely empty! I mean, how much harder is it to lean over and put your damn plate in the dishwasher rather than the sink?! And if the dish washer is full, but clean, they won't empty it. They also load the dishwasher wrong, with the bowls on the bottom, so the water can't reach the plates on the top and they don't get clean. And one girl will take her garbage out of her bedroom and just set it next to the kitchen garbage. I mean, if you have a whole shopping bag of garbage, just take it the 50 feet to the dumpster instead of putting it in our kitchen and hoping someone else will take it out for you. The same girl got two packages yesterday and just piled the boxes in front of the recycling. I mean, take your own shit out! I don't mind taking the garbage out sometimes, I don't mind emptying the dishwasher sometimes, I just hate having to clean up after everyone else. And I understand that sometimes your late for work, and you don't have time to scrub a pan after you use it. I usually wash the pan I cook my eggs in after I get home because it's still too hot by the time I leave. I understand that sometimes you're just tired, and you do it the next day, but sometimes I swear they sit for days, and the dishwasher will sit with just my dishes in it until I've eaten enough for a full load. It's rediculous.

So I finally had to become that girl that writes the notes saying "please put your dishes in the dishwasher rather than waiting for someone else to do it for you. If the dishes are clean, please empty the dishwasher. Please take out the garbage when it gets full rather than hoping someone else will." I mean, the garbage was so high, I couldn't get the drawstring to close on one of them, and I'm pretty sure it was at least two weeks old. That's disgusting. It smelled so bad I almost threw up. And I've done trash at Port Orleans. It smelled nothing like this.

And I admit some of it's mine. I cleaned up the splatters from my dinner I cooked last night, but I also cleaned up some spaghetti which I know isn't mine.

I just get pissed about cleaning up other people's crap. I mean, I don't expect anyone to clean up after me, and I feel like I'm constantly washing the dishes they leave in the sink because I need to use them, and I'm always emptying the dishwasher... And I try to always put my dishes in the dishwasher, even when I'm hurrying to work.

I kind of feel bad for getting so pissed, but I mean, I had to clean up a lot of other people's shit.

I also added a note about how the fridge is shared space and we need to get better at sharing it. I think everyone should know that's directed at just one particular roommate.

/rant.

Ugh. Okay, so yesterday, at 7am, I was moving Dale to Town Square, In my cruddy old Basics, and I pass by this pargo of Engineering people. They're all staring at me with those disgusting grins... I think every girl has had to see this look at one point or another. And if it were just the look, I can ignore than and keep walking, but as soon as I passed, they started whistling. Over and over until I turned around, and when they all started saying, "Yeeeeaahhh," and grinning. I flipped them off and walked away, but seriously, I am soooooo pissed. I mean, I was working, and I don't need to be leered at by some creepy imigrants in a pargo while I'm doing it! I was really seconds from calling a manager and reporting them. I've never been so pissed.

Then, my second to last set, I was running later than Rob, and apparently these other workers, who were not with Disney, asked him where the other Chipmunk was. So then I come running out, and like four of these creep sweaty disgusting men are staring at me, and as I get behind them, the all turn around so they can watch me from that side too. I mean, it's so sick. It creeps me out and makes me mad, and I shouldn't have to deal with it when I'm trying to work.

So you can bet that if they do it one more time, I am completely filing sexual harassment on them. It sounds rash, but I do not take being whistled at lightly, and I am not going to put up with it. I work at fucking Disney, and I deserve to feel comfortable and safe and not be whistled at like a dog.