On hair.

 No, not the musical. My actual tresses. Rapunzel-like, to some. For years-

"Holy cow, your hair's LONG!"
"Why don't you cut it?"
"I could never have hair that long!"
"It's so pretty!"

 And so on. I, in fact, have never cut my hair. Shockers. Yep, it's been growing for 15 1/2 years so far, and I never intend to cut it. It really makes me upset when people tease me about cutting it. I love my hair. I would be devastated if you cut it all off. It's kind of a part of me, and you would not believe the things I can do with it. It's a scarf, a whip, a shawl, a decoration. I love it. 

There are a few disadvantages, though. The tangles I wake up with aren't pretty, to say the least. Yowtch. We're talking pain. And it gets really bushy after a shower. (Every time I say that, I think of Hermione. I guess I should be flattered. But bushy hair can get annoying.) Another thing is how LONG it takes me to wash it. I talk to Friend Adam, who describes 20 minutes as a long time to take a shower.

Me-I wish I could take a shower in 20 minutes.
Adam-How long does it take you?
Me-A good half hour, for a relatively quick one.
Adam-*Dumbstruck* Really? YIKES!
Me-Yeppers.


But it's a religious principle of ours not to cut our hair. E-Mail me, I can give you passages and points. It's been something I grow up with. Luckily for me, my friends have their own religious principles that I don't question, so they totally understand. I'm not ridiculed for my skirts and long hair or for the way I speak. Which I enjoy.


But seriously, I love having long hair. It looks princess-y, I think. Right now, it's hanging in 7 different braids, getting wavy for tomorrow. Keep an eye out, HELP kids, it took me a while to braid my hair to make it look good. But it is worth it.


You just need a heavy-duty hairbrush, that's all.
Me

The contents of my iPod. I have a feeling a lot of bored people will read this.

 So, yeah. I have a passion for music. Seriously. I need it. My day half consists of going outside just to snatch precious moments of sibling-less bliss on the tree swing with my iPod up so high Dad has to call me thrice. But hey. You can be in your own world that way. EMBARRASSING CONFESSION:I choreograph songs in my head while I listen to them. Sometimes. A lot of the time. It's just me. From pop to showtunes to country......."Wow. There is a stage performance I could do with this song." I mean come on. Just listen to the Jellicle Ball from Cats the Musical. 9 minutes of spine-tingling rock music.The possibilities are ENDLESS.

But. Anyway. The main point of this is, I haven't written in a while. And I've told a few people that they will keep away from my iPod if they knew what was on it. Grownups and teens and kids alike. So here we go. Don't judge me.

Carrie Underwood-All-American Girl
Carrie Underwood-Just a Dream
Colbie Caillat-Falling For You
Colbie Caillat-Begin Again
Colbie Caillat-Bubbly
Cats-The overture
Cats-Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats
Cats-The Naming of Cats
Cats-The Old Gumbie Cat
Cats-The Rum Tum Tugger
Cats-Grizabella the Glamour Cat/Memory
Cats-The Jellicle Ball
Cats-Macavity the Mystery Cat
Annie-Maybe
Annie-It's a Hard Knock Life 
Annie-I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
Annie-N.Y.C.
Annie-Tomorrow
Annie-I Don't Need Anything But You
Hello, Dolly!-Put on Your Sunday Clothes
Hello, Dolly!-Dancing
Hello, Dolly!-So Long Dearie
The Little Mermaid-Part of Your World
TLM-Poor Unfortunate Souls
TLM-Kiss the Girl
Hercules-Long Ago(Spoken Word)
Hercules-The Gospel Truth Part 1
Hercules-Zero to Hero
Pocahontas-Colors of the Wind (End Title)
The Lion King-The Circle of Life
TLK-I Just Can't Wait to be King
TLK-He Lives in You
The Phantom of the Opera-The Phantom of the Opera
Balto-Reach For The Light
Oliver and Company-Once Upon a Time in New York City
Titanic-Rose (Instrumental)
Titanic-Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave(Instrumental)
Titanic-My Heart Will Go On
Babe-If I Had Words 
1776-He Plays the Violin
TLK-Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Aladdin-A Whole New World (Peabo Bryson)
Beauty and the Beast-Beauty and The Beast (Celine Dion)
Seussical the Musical-Overture
STM-Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!
STM-The Jungle of Nool/Biggest Blame Fool
STM-How to Raise a Child
STM-It's Possible
STM-Alone in the Universe
STM-The One Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz/Amayzing Mayzie
STM-Amayzing Gertrude
STM-Monkey Around/Chasing the Whos
STM-Notice Me, Horton
STM-How Lucky You Are
STM-Egg, Nest and Tree
STM-Mayzie at the Circus/Solla Sollew
STM-All for You
STM-Green Eggs and Ham
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron-Rain
High School Musical-We're All in This Together
Celtic Woman-Someday
Kyle Massey-Underdog Raps
Whitney Houston-I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Rick Astley-Never Gonna Give You Up
Miley Cyrus-The Climb
Erica Rivera-Let Your Baby Go
Heather Small-Proud
Fiddler on the Roof-Tradition
FOTR-Matchmaker
FOTR-If I Were A Rich Man
FOTR-Sabbath Prayer
FOTR-To Life
FOTR-Miracle of Miracles
FOTR-The Dream
FOTR-Sunrise, Sunset
FOTR-Wedding Dance
FOTR-Now I Have Everything
FOTR-Do You Love Me?
FOTR-The Rumor
FOTR-Far From the Home I Love
FOTR-Chava Ballet Sequence
FOTR-Anatevka
Bianca Ryan-I Believe I Can Fly
Bianca Ryan-I Wish That
Bianca Ryan-I Will
Bianca Ryan-Superstar
Bianca Ryan-Awake
Justin Bieber-Love me
JB-Baby
JB-Eenie Meenie
JB-Overboard
JB-Up
JB-Runaway Love
JB-Never Say Never
JB-That Should Be Me
JB-Somebody to Love
Beyonce-Halo
Lucas Grabeel-Go the Distance
Nicole Nordeman-Brave
Michael Buble-Everything
Vanessa Hudgens-Sneakernight
Vanessa Hudgens-Say Ok
Jordan Pruitt-Ever Ever After
Lady Gaga-Just Dance
Lady Gaga-Paparazzi
Big Time Rush-Any Kind of Guy
Anberlin-Paperthin Hymn
Hayden Panetierre-Cruella DeVil
Keke Palmer-True To Your Heart
Mitchel Musso-Stand Out
Miley Cyrus-Let's Dance
Miley Cyrus-7 Things
Miley Cyrus-Fly on The Wall
Miley Cyrus-Can't Be Tamed
David Archuleta-Crush
Ashley Tisdale-Crank it Up
Ashley Tisdale-Suddenly
Ashley Tisdale-He Said She Said
Owl City-The Saltwater Room
Owl City-Vanilla Twilight
Barry Manilow-Mandy
Barry Manilow-The Best of Me
Barry Manilow-Looks Like We Made It








I may have forgotten some. This may be edited later. So be shocked. I apologize for my miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and congratulate myself for my showtunes, Lady Gaga, and Carrie Underwood.

On the scent of men.

 Don't laugh. I'm sure you've noticed it too. A guy walks into the room, and all the girls turn around. HEL-lo! And it's not because he's hot. It's not because they need a date for the dance. It's because guys smell so stinkin' GOOD.

My friend Cassidy and I were just discussing today how guys smell. There are 3 guys in our Musical Theatre class that we anaylzed. Let's call them Guys 1,2, and 3. Now, guy 1 has a scent that makes you feel safe. Guy 2 has a scent that makes you feel ok to be yourself. And Guy 3? He just has this really intense scent that DRIVES ME CRAZY. Yow. :)

 What is it about guys that makes us go crazy?! And how much time do they put into smelling like a men's cologne sample, only better? Hands up....how many girls have just stood next to a guy and smelled him. It made you happy, right? Oh, ladies......I don't think they know how much the scent of a guy makes us feel.


Bet if they knew, they'd be happy...........

On Titanic

 Of all the movies you can think of, I dare you to find one more epic than Titanic. The ship sinking into the ocean and thousands of people sinking. The betrayal. The romance. The danger. The laughter. The ultimate happy ending. It just tugs at my heartstrings.

 First, there's the sinking. It absolutely kills me. I've seen LOTR, I've seen Star Wars, I've seen Star Trek, I've seen Ben-Hur, and still, the sinking absolutely makes me horrified. Movies don't usually make me cry, but this gave me an open mouth and a broken heart. I didn't need tears. All this, on top of the heart-breaking shots of people preparing to die and my ultimate fear of the ocean, just is a horrible spectacle. The people were unprepared. They were scared. And the ultimate straw is the scene where the sailor dude shoots Tommy and Fabrizio starts screaming in anger, but still takes the bloody life jacket off his dead friend.He didn't have time to mourn. He didn't have the resources. He didn't want to die. He had to do it, throwing honor and respect for the dead aside. And when the sailor saw what he had done.....he shot himself. 

 On a happier note....let's have a big hand for Leonardo DiCaprio. SO DELICIOUS. I mean, the guy was 21 or so, and he pulled off this amazing performance. You HAVE to like Jack Dawson, or else, how can you like the story? It's a complete fairy tale....instead of money, Rose goes for the guy she really wants, even if he is penniless, following in the tradition of Fiddler on the Roof, Little Women, and Aladdin. Let's face it, Jack is an ever-lovin' hunk. And he has a sense of humor. Go, Rose!

 Possibly the most important note of all......the MUSIC. I buy instrumentals and actually listen to them. James Horner has done amazing, tear-jerking work. It's such a joy to listen to. I actually have a secret wish to vocalize Rose or Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave onstage, or sing My Heart Will Go On in front of an audience, who I hope to have in tears. Ah, you just can't say enough about the music. And the grand spectacle, the utter romance, the undisputable most unusual love story ever, the amazing adventure that is Titanic.

Sorry Avatar....
You'll never match up.

Piano ♫ ♪

 Yep, I wish I could play saxophone. And drums. And the guitar. But hey.....the piano is right there, and I'm actually rather good at it.

 I've been playing the piano for years, my first teachers being Mr. Song(wow, was that really his name?!) and Dan Egan, a.k.a Dan the Man, whose catchphrase was "SWEET!" and who taught me an 8-page song by my ear and his remembering it. I wasn't even a preteen yet, but away I went.
 That song is forgotten now, and I have a new piano teacher, Barb Krueger, who is quite agreeable and nice. So on I go learning the classics as well as showtunes (WIN) and old songs such as Night and Day, Embraceable You, and Summertime. I love those old songs, they're so simple and beautiful. Fun to play, too, and I get to swing some of them-and I'm a sucker for swinging things. It's just natural for me to learn something in a swing rhythm and then get told, "Rachel, this isn't actually supposed to be played in a swing rhythm."
Oops.
And all the learning of this jolly music brings me to one thing I absolutely LOATHE about piano-recitals. The bane of my existence. They're so formal-it just screams "DORKY!" right in my ear. I mean, dude! A few parents are dressing their kids up so they can play a modified version of the Sonata in C before a bunch of smiling grandparents?! CRINGE. 


But all in all, I adore the piano. I can pull off some pretty neat stuff and I have been known to sing while playing background, with songs like Razzle Dazzle, On the Street Where You Live, If I Had Words, Beauty and the Beast, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Memory, and My Heart Will Go On. Ah, lovely. Music is food to teenagers and grownups alike, and the piano is just plain fun. I laugh out loud sometimes just because I'm so happy I'm learning such a cool song so well. 


And come on........


Everyone likes a good showtune.

On the Loch Ness Monster.

 Currently, I believe in the Loch Ness Monster. You're going to laugh, you really are. "Whoa Rachel! I knew you were a little bit crazy, but you may as well just believe in the Yeti or Santa Claus!" But really, I keep up this crazy belief. I mean, logically, it's provable. 

Here's a theory.

So God made dinosaurs. Plesiosaurs came into being. They swim in water, right? They're big and monstrous, right? So they go extinct. Years later, Some explorer/archeologist/awesome dude finds the bones. "Oh! Sweet! Here's a big creature! It looks like it lived in the water!" So they start a theory. Fast-forward to the 1600's. People have made it into legend. Fast-forward to this century. The Scots have long since made it a fairy tale, and that's how people think of it. 
Silly museum curators....
They don't realize that those bones are the Loch Ness Monster.

Someday, I should make a Loch Ness Monster Awareness Society.

Because it did exist, even if it might not now.

LNMAS........hmmmm.

Telephoning.

  Ah, the telephone. Another staple of modern-day communication. People can't live without their cell phones, and have you noticed that in an emergency-the first thing people do is pick up that phone and call I-X-I-I?! Personally, I wish I had a cell phone. I wouldn't mind having one, calling my friends and texting people-connecting to the Internet, possibly? 

But here's a secret-phones used to make me nervous.

 Don't ask me why, I'm just weird like that. Dad wants me to call the vet's office-"Please, Dad, can't Mom do it?"I want to call a friend, so I start getting upset. I dial the number and hang up on their answering machine. Crisis over.

 But lately, phones haven't been that bad. I've had people call just to talk to me, and I have actually called other people. Usually I have a reason, but sometimes I just need to spill my guts. I go alert when I'm expecting a call and the phone rings, then get disappointed when it's not my call. I talk to people for hours on end.I have the weirdest conversations, and overall, have an amazing time. The shy, preteen me has been shrinking into a more mature teenager-one who can talk to her friends, who has chased her brother to give her the phone when HE picks it up, one who has actually called the vet's office-GASP!-to make an appointment for sweet Ary.

 Don't think my nervousness has left, it's still a little awkward. But hey.....I'd rather talk to my pals than freak at the sound of a ringtone.