Things I did on my vacation (last week):

Played frisbee in Ojai on Easter Sunday with various excellent friends (one of whom did not show up like a complete douchebag even though we never see him and he had 2 weeks notice). Then went and got homemade ice cream before going back home for Easter dinner.

Cleaned out my gradparents storage shed. Ended up with some of my grandma's china and silver, an awesome pendulum clock, and a pencil drawing of my mom when she was 10.

Hung out with various members of the extended family, some of whom I hadn't seen for six or so years.

Hung out a lot with Cj's family, lovely as always.

Went to Disneyland and got silhouette portraits done, pictures will come when I am not insane, whenever that might be. Forgot how "without resolution" end of the Snow White's Adventure ride is.

Went out with both current and future sisters and got bridesmaid dresses. Also bought possibly the shortest skirt I have ever owned. (picstocome)

Worked on the quilt a bit before I remembered everything I had to do.

Hung out on a boat with the parents of the Lovely Miss Allison Whom I Hung Out With Much In High School, and ate a ton of her Mom's scrumptious apple crisp.

Finished my grant application. Oh yeah, I'm doing one of those. Won't know whether or not I get it until July 21st. I'm applying for it in the event that I don't get in to CalArts (see below), as it will allow me to work at a company without them having to pay me out of their own pocket.

Drove back to Ojai to visit with Cj's grandpa.

Drove home, then checked the mail.

Got waitlisted at CalArts.

They'll let me know somewhere around June 1st if a spot opens up. Yyyeeearrrrgh.

SO,

Drove over the hill to drop off my portion of the grant application, then drove back and got a sad, sick little Cj some dinner, nyquil, and orange juice.

By the way, Cj got a tattoo. And it's really cool.



p.s. I've retired my old icon of cate for one much more suitable.

Got a rejection notice by email from UCSD. Knew I wasn't going to get in after that interview.

Where I'm at:

Brown (Waiting on Admission Decision)
CalArts (Waiting on Admission Decision)
Sarah Lawrence (Waiting on Admission Decision)


So far I have been rejected from:

Yale
University of Washington
UCSD

[I didn't make the second round of auditions at Brown, so I'm either on the wait-listed or I've been rejected.]

So it's all down to CalArts or Sarah Lawrence. :/

Last week I flew to New York for the last of my grad school interviews.

After that first night when I was all mopey and worried, the trip was good. I woke up Friday morning early for a day of orientation and sitting in on classes with about 10 other applicants, most of whom (excepting one) were substantially older than me.

There are some major things about this program (which I won't specify here) that I'm not sure about, but the way they organized the day was really great because I got to chat with the other applicants about their process, what they were looking for in a grad program, etc. and I feel like I actually made a few professional allies that I can be in contact with in the future. I saw a play directed by a grad student who had never directed anything before, which was a red flag, although there were some good actors in it. I snuck into a dance concert afterwards to see how the dancers were (they're good). I took a cab back and sat in my hotel room and thought really hard about the program itself.

On Saturday I got up and had my interview, which went really well. It felt more like a casual conversation than any of the others I've had so far, and the panel (yes, there was more than one person this time) was very interested in my aesthetic and goals. I talked to others that had had their interviews before me and it became even more clear how well mine had gone, even though I'm not sure what I'll decide to do if this is the only place I get in. The fact that New York City's right there is great, but honestly I'd really like to go to a school on the West Coast and intern at a professional East Coast company to get my contacts on that side of the country.

After the interview I went out to a lovely upscale italian lunch with two other applicants (Oh, did I mention they were all female?) and we had some really good, in-depth conversations about theater, grad school, and just life in general. One of the girls even offered to wait with me for my cab back to the hotel because she wanted to chat more. We exchanged business cards and called each other when we got back to our respective abodes. The whole day really made me feel like a part of the young professional set, rather than just a random girl bumbling her way around the professional arena.

I was so tired, though, after all the scheduled activities that I didn't make it into the city to see any plays. I had real trouble sleeping the entire time I was over there, partly because of the time change and partly because I was in a big bed by myself for the first time in quite a while. That being the case, I guess it's not totally surprising that on the day Daylight Savings started, when I was supposed to wake up at 7:00 for an 8:20 shuttle pickup, I... didn't.

Or not on time, anyway. I didn't wake up when my alarm went off. I didn't wake up when the front desk called. I didn't wake up when the shuttle company called. I only woke up when the front desk AND my dad called to say that the shuttle was leaving in 5 minutes, with or without me. Luckily I'd packed the night before and just had to rip off my pjs, throw on clothes, and run out the door. I just barely made it.

But I had a nice plane flight back, went out to dinner with Cj and my parents, and have had tons of wedding planning practically non-stop since I got back. Things are exciting here, no matter what happens.

Rejected from Yale. S'ok, was kind of expecting it.

Where I'm at:

Brown (Second Interview?)
CalArts (Admission Decision)
Sarah Lawrence (First Interview - Date?)
UCSD (First Interview 2/27)

I sent UCSD the following email last night after completing my Brown Application, and got the following one in return.

( Emails I sent to clarify )

I'm sending the rest of my app in anyway. Apparently they fudge the deadlines a lot of the time for qualified applicants. It doesn't do anything good for my chances, though. Thank god I got started early, or I would be so screwed right now.

So Kacey came and went, and we did fun things like going to a winery, playing miniature golf, and seeing Flogging Molly (which rocked). I might go down and visit her in a while to get a look at CalArts and see the show she's working on, but that's a ways off yet.

I had a meeting today with Anais Mitchell to chat about theater (specifically the musical kind). I saw her open for Ani Difranco a little ways back and she had mentioned she's working on a folk opera called "Hadestown". I really liked the song she played so I contacted her manager to see if she was looking for somebody to write the book. She said she had already gotten to the point that it'd be odd to have someone new come in, but that we should get together anyway and see what's what.It was a nice meeting - it's always fun to talk about theater with people - and even though there's nothing immediate coming out of it you never know what'll happen in the future.

She's great, by the way. You should buy her album.

I really need to start working on MFA apps, though. Time keeps ticking by.