Samantha - Happy Les Mis Day

So, since today was The 27 anniversary of Les Miserables; we all dressed up! It was super fun. We also invited some of our friends over too - Maddi, Ani, Andrea, and Delia, who is Ani's friend. All of us really like Delia, she's Ani's other best friend, and Lilyanna really likes her, too, but we don't know her that well because she's really shy. We want to get to know her better. She made a very good madame thenardier!

I, of course, was Eponine. I rather like the way my costume turned out. I know that she doesn't wear a shawl in the musical; but she does in the book, so I decided to add it in to my costume. I used a piece of string for a hair band, even though you can't see it in this picture. Anyway, I think I look great! Melanthe said I look exactly like Samantha Barks! I think that is just so awesome. I adore Samantha. Plus; we have the same name! How cool is that! 

Melanthe decided to dress up as Javert. She said she didn't want to end up as Madame Thenardier. I really love her costume, especially the hat. I don't know if she looks stern enough, but I think she rocks as Javert!

Rebecca dressed up as Cosette, of course. A lot of people have this extremely mis-informed idea that Cosette has blonde hair; but they're wrong. Cosette has auburn curls, and large blue eyes. I think Rebecca looks remarkably like her. Now, the costume was the best we could do. We don't have very many old-fashioned dresses, so we dug up this one. I think it looks alright. 

Lilyana, naturally, was Fantine. I think she makes the best Fantine ever! She just looks so sweet and innocent. We decided to put her in Fantines nightgown, instead of her blue dress, because we couldn't find a blue dress that would work right. I think she looks perfect; and even Rebecca had to agree with me. 

Here we are; the four mizzies! Who do you think looks the best? 

Finally, our friends arrived. Andrea came first, dressed as Enjolras; which we all though was pretty funny. I think she looked great, of course. Or, as great as a girl playing a boy CAN look. I just love her red vest! 

Maddi came dressed as Marius. It's OK, but hey, I would have no idea how to dress up as Marius. 

Ani came as Grantaire; which we all though was the funniest thing ever! Grantaire is a crazy alcoholic given to long, drunken, speeches, and Kanani is the shyest person ever. Still; her costume was pretty good; I thought. 

This is Kanani's friend Delia, who is kind of a bitch. Kanani had the idea of inviting her, and I didn't want to say no. It was really funny to see her dressed up in a sort of dirty costume, because Delia's really neat! She made a good Madame Thenardier! She's ugly anyway, so it was alright. Honestly, I hate her . . . but she's Kanani's friend so I guess I'll have to deal. 

HAPPY LES MISERABLES 27TH ANNIVERSARY! 

For more pics go to my photo - bucket at 

http://s1297.beta.photobucket.com/user/Samantha-Parkington/library/LesMiserablesDay

Blogger award!

The wonderful Sayoko Tachibana (http://truetomoko.blogspot.com/) awarded us with the Versatile blogger award! Here are the requirements:


1. Must State Requirements (Well, thats a bit obvious, and unworthy of being number one, but we shall obey, oh royal blogger award.)

2. Thank the Person Who Awarded You
Thank you so much Sayoko! You are wonderful!

3. Pass the Award on to Five Other Bloggers
Okay.....
1.Frankie
2.Kiki
3.Charlotte and Zoe
4.Emily
5.Anne Lee Mercedes            


3 1/2. Notify the Awarded Bloggers by Commenting on Their Blogs (Done. What, is there something wrong with having five parts to this thing; do we really need a three and a half? Lol.)

4. Share Seven Unusual Things About Yourself. ( Well, there are four of us, so if you are easily bored do not read this.)

Samantha:

1. I bite my nails a lot; even my toenails.
2. I HATE strawberry icing on anything. It is revolting.
3. I am way to attached to my stuffed animals - I have, like, thirty.
4. I have never been on a roller coaster.
5. When I was six years old; my kindergarten teacher thought I was a boy.
6. I had to have an eye operation two years ago; and I am very paranoid about my eyes ever since.
7. I think a lot of Eponine fangirls are really, really, dumb.

Lilyana:

1. Before I moved to Montana, I was terrified of horses! Now, I love then, and want to teach riding to disabled children when I'm older.
2. I always wear my hair up because it gets really, really, frizzy otherwise.
3. I feel really left out when the other girls talk about theatre - I'm the only one who's not a theatre freak.
4. I always feel very shy when I wear bright colors.
5. My mother doesn't let me comment on youtube videos. It took a lot of convincing to let me blog on here with Samantha.
6. My little sister Melanie goes to a boarding school for opera singers - and she's only eight. I feel really talentless next to her and my cousin.
7. I have kept a diary for almost six years.

Melanthe:

1. Once I ate an entire tub of chocolate frosting. I am a chocolate-addict!
2. Ogunquit Beach is my favourite place in the world - my family has a beach house there, and we go every summer. I love it more then anything.
3. I have dyslexia, but I don't like telling anybody because a lot of people see me as a 'Dumb-airhead-brainless-cheerleader-clothes-obsessed' type. That just makes it worse.
4. I struggle with the compulsion to shoplift. I do it a lot, and I've never been caught. I never feel guilty, either.
5. I write fanfiction. RENT, Bunheads, and sometimes Glee.
6. When I was little, I wanted to be an olympic swimmer.
7. Licorice makes me gag.

Rebecca:

1. I had really horrible relationships with both my parents - I'd happily never see either of them ever again - especially my father. He has done things to me that you could never imagine.
2. I've wanted to be a ballerina since I was three. But if it wasn't for the fact I was offered a full scholarship at the dance academy, my parents would never had let me. I'm not even sure why they wanted a kid.
3. I've never had anything like a best friend in my life until I met Angela; an autistic girl who went to school with me back in New York. She was an artist, extremely talented, but really shy; kind of an outcast like I am. We got along so well; she's basically the only thing I miss back home.
4. I'm terrified of learning to drive.
5.  I want to live briefly and brightly.
6. I get restless so easily; it's like a constant ache inside me.
7. There are many things you don't know about me.



Thank you and goodnight! Happy Sunday everybody, and we are all looking foward to Les Mis day tomorrow!


Samantha, Rebecca, Melanthe, Lilyana

Rebecca - Pageant and dancing

I'm really glad I did this pageant, I guess. It was nice to win. I love how it feels when everybody is clapping for me. It makes me feel as though I belong, like I'm 'Part Of It All' like that song says. It's a wonderful feeling. I wasn't nervous at all. I don't really get nervous a lot. Years of performance can do that to you. I'm glad I choose Learn To Be Lonely as my guitar piece, it is such a touching song. I feel that if there was one song to describe my life; that would be it. It is so pretty and so fitting. I feel such a connection to it, an when I play it onstage, it feels very magical. Like I'm up on air, and there is nothing but me and the music, all unhappy thoughts and bad things go away. Thats what I want to convey to the audience in my song. Thats the part of me I want them to see on stage.

I was fairly surprised when they called my name as the winner. It was like this feeling of elation ran through my body. As they hung the medal around my neck, I thought ; This is it. This is the big moment.  I felt so happy, so high. It was wonderful. It's like I've been up on air for the past two days, flying and flying. I can do anything, be anyone.

What I want to do is dance. When I dance, the pain and sadness I often feel just lifts away and withers in the air, and I feel free. Free and unencumbered and alive, like my soul is bare o the world and every feeling is perfect and raw. It is the most wonderful thing ever when I dance. Last night, while Samantha  and Lilyana got their stuff ready for school on the tenth, I went up to the roof and danced. The night air was cool and fresh against my skin, tingling as if it was alive. Like the night was alive, breathing in the warm days and expelling them as perfection. I stood on the edge of the roof, my toes griping the sides. I felt like I could fly. Dancing on the roof, I felt free. Free, and perfect, and astonishing.

Melanthe - On the pageant

I'm super glad I did the pageant! It was just so much fun. I loved being onstage. I love the spotlights, and the applause, and the people. I thought is was great! It was such a blast to go out and play my flute. I'm pretty sure people like it; they clapped a lot when I was finished. The question and answer part was fun to. I'm a pretty good public speaker, so I found that round really fun. It was also interesting to listen to what other people said. There were some pretty funny answers. One girl said that she was content to die right now if only she won. Everybody laughed and laughed. She didn't win, but she was a runner up! So, good for her! Another girl said that the thing she hated most about the world was hamsters. Er..... That was kind of weird. But funny. Funnily weird.

I'm glad that I won forth place. It was really such a shock to have my name announced like that: "Melanthe Rose Willins!" I was utterly astounded! It was the best feeling ever to walk forward while everybody screamed and clapped. Well, except Samantha. I'm kinda glad I didn't win, because a little part of me thinks that Samantha would have killed me and buried me in the backyard. She is SO competitive. When Rebecca won, she got angry and yelled a bit, and stomped around for a while. Then she went to talk to Andrea; who calmed her down, I guess. She says that he's not angry at Rebecca, but who knows? I still expect to wake and find her bed empty, Samantha bludgeoning her to death in the backyard. :) Just kidding. Samantha is more a pistol person. :)

Another thing I love about the pageant is that I met so many people! The girl who won third, Christina, is actually super nice! So is Diana Sinclair, and another girl named Leanne, who didn't win anything, but did a funny dance routine in talent. Actually, Christina invited me to the movies with her and some other girls, so bye! Gotta run!

Ciao,

Melanthe Rose Willins, esquire.

Lilyana - pageant, the final part! (mostly pictures)

Okay guys, this last section of the pageant was for beauty....so this is mostly pictures. Let me tell you, watching 50 girls walk around in pretty dresses gets super boring....I wonder how the judges stand it?

Anyway, here goes. 

And finally, the judges went off in a huddle to talk and add up scores.....and we waited, and waited. Here are some pictures of the girls waiting backstage.

.........

Lilyana - Pageant part three

The third section of the Pageant is Question and Answer. In which the judges ask four questions of each contestant, and they answer.

First up was Rebecca!

Q – How to you imagine your death?

A – I want to live briefly and brightly. I want to live a passionate, exciting life that inspires others, and leaves its mark on our planet forever. But I want to die as I am winding down, not exactly in the middle of glory, but on the downward arc. I want to be remembered, I do not want to be just another meaningless life. I want to die while listening to music, alone under the stars at night. I shall not be buried.

Q – What do you regret?

A – I regret a lot of things, not I don’t want to talk about them today. If we spend all our lives thinking about what we should have done, we will never do anything, or be anyone in life. I want to look forward, not dwell on the past.

Q -  If you could take away either hate or war from the world, what would it be?

A – A lot of people might say hate, because hate is bad, and starts the wars which cause hunger, but I disagree. Often, it is fear and ignorance that starts wars, not hatred. It is hatred that grows from war, as hunger and poverty does. It would be wrong to end hatred, because it is one of the things that drives people, and makes them passionate, makes them do things. And a lot of times, hatred spawns goodness. Hunger is something that can be controlled, really, something we can really do without, and we need hatred. We can’t always control hunger and poverty, but we can learn to control our hatred. We can learn not to use it for bad. Hunger, however, causes so much problems in the world.

Q -  What have you learned from life? What do you want to learn?

A – I have learned that nothing turns out the way you expected – and you have to live with that. It’s a fact of life, and nothing we do can change it. We have to muddle along and try and make the best out of what we’ve got, no matter what. Everybody has problems, and everybody deals with shit in their lives. But that’s not who we are. Not unless we make ourselves so.

Samantha

Q – What was the happiest moment of your life?

A – When I first found out I had gotten into Sutton, I was ecstatic. It was all I ever wanted.

Q – Are you ambitious?

A – Yes, I am, and I see no harm in that unless it gives harm to others. I want to go somewhere in this world, and I want to work hard to get there!

Q – What is your biggest fear?

A – My biggest fear is fire. I am deathly afraid of burning to death on my bed!

Q – What trait to you like in yourself? In others?

A – In myself, I like that I’m a pretty dependable person. I try to be there for my friends. In others, I like honesty. I hate being lied to!

  

Q - How would you like to be remembered?

A – I want to be remembered as somebody who liked to live, as somebody who took pleasure from life and thrived on excitement and love. I want to be remembered as somebody special, but not fantastic, somebody ordinary who made her life count.

Q – How do you imagine death?

A – I imagine death as nothing – simply nothing; like falling asleep. No heaven, no anything like that. I don’t believe in god. But, like all matter is the same matter that was here from the start, we are ‘recycled;’ we are reborn, in a way. Not as ourselves, but as somebody else. In us right now, we have a million lives.

Q –  What trait to you like in yourself? In others?

A – In myself, I like that I am optimistic. I like being able to find the good in a situation, and see the laughter in something embarrassing. In others, I like friendliness; because i love making friends. I like people who are open to others; I have no patience for the people that back away; when you step forward, you get the light!

Q –If your friend stole something and you were there; what would you do?

A – I pride myself on being a loyal friend. I wouldn’t tell on her right then; in the store, but when we got out of the store; I’d tell her that I knew what she had done, and that it was wrong. I’d tell her that she had to stop, or else I would tell, because she could get in trouble.

And the score stands........

Samantha - 8.3

Total - 26.8

Melanthe - 9.6

Total - 28.4

Rebecca - 9.9

Total - 29.8

To Be Continued Tomorrow...................

Lilyana - Pageant, part two

Here we go with part two - Poetry!



First up was Rebecca, in a floaty pink dress with a soft skirt and flower embroidery, her curls framing her face, who recited 'The Highway Man.' The poem was about a highway man who goes and sees his lover, Bess, the landlord daughter. He tells her that he's 'After A Prize Tonight,' and will be back before the next midnight. Tim, the ostler, who also loves Bess, listens to this, and rats out the highwayman to the Kings men. They come and wait in ambush at the inn. Bess sacrifices her own life to save him. Once he learns what she has done, he gets killed in a futile fight for revenge. He dies with her love knot on his chest. At the end, it says that the ghosts meet again on spooky nights, "When the road is a  ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor." That poem is so sad, it makes me cry. It made one of the judges cry to, I think. It was a perfect choice for Rebecca; who does tragedy so well. She said it perfectly, and one could not help but imagine her as the dark-haired Bess. I was sobbing when she finished, her voice railing off on "Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair..." 

   

"And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, 

                               When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas..."     

Next up was Samantha, her dark hair pulled back from her face, wearing a simple blue dress with flowers on it, who recited 'Eldorado.' I'm not that big a fan of this poem, but it's one of Rebecca's favorites, she said, and she suggested it for Samantha. It's about a gallant knight who travels for his whole life in search of the fabled 'Eldorado', but a specter appears and basically tells him that he's wasting his time. Rebecca said that it was about how impossible it was to obtain true happiness and wisdom in life, and that those who spend their whole life looking for it will be wasted. I don't agree with that, because I think we can be happy, but that's just one of the ways Rebecca and I disagree. Anyway, Samantha said it fairly well. Although she did tell me that she doesn't really agree with it, it sure sounded amazing!

"Gaily bedight, a gallant night, in sunshine and in shadow, journeyed long, singing a song, in search of Eldorado."

Next was Melanthe, wearing a short red silk dress, her long red hair loose around her face, who recited the famous - but never old - poem; The Raven. I love, love, love this poem! It is utterly spooky and extremely sad. I feel so bad for the man, and I always wonder what happened to Lenore. The poem is about a man, sitting lonely and remembering the loss of his love, Lenore. He hears tapping at the window, and opens it to find a raven, who can talk. The bird keeps saying 'Nevermore,' indeed, it is the only word it knows. Basically, he gets really angry at the raven, who sits forever on this bust over his door. It is a really, really, depressing poem. Honestly, why can't people read Happy poems at these pageant? I just don't get all this gloom-and-doom stuff. Melanthe, however, likes gloom-and-doom, and therefor adores this poem. She said it really eerily, too. The audience clapped and clapped!

"Quoth the Raven - Nevermore!"

And the score stands........

Samantha - 8.9
Total - 18.5

Melanthe - 9.5
Total - 18.8

Rebecca - 10
Total - 19.9

To Be Continued Tomorrow...................

Lilyana - The pageant, part one - Talent

Here it is,  folks, the post you've all been waiting for.......well, posts, really. Ww decided to tell about the pageant in four separate posts; because we have so many pictures. And, of course, I am the one to talk about it, because I wasn't competing and am therefor impartial. In theory. But, well, why am I wasting time here? Let the pageant re-telling begin!

First up was Rebecca, who played 'Learn To Be Lonely' From Phantom Of The Opera on her guitar. 'Learn to be Lonely' is a really tragic, haunting, song, and it sounded superb on the guitar. She was wearing a long white dress, and her curly hair was loose. She looked really pretty under the muted spotlights, and the crowd went wild when she finished. Samantha, on the other hand, frowned, hoping that Rebecca would not pose to big of a competition.

"Child Of the wilderness, born into emptiness, learn to be lonely. Learn to find your way in darkness."

Melanthe was the next of our girls to go; taking the stage in a bed dress with ribbon at the throat and sleeves, and her red hair up in a dainty bun. Her song was on the flute, and as you know she played the song 'Perfect.' She played it almost flawlessly, the clear tones of the flute echoing through the dark theatre. She got a pretty good reception from the crowd to, and the judges looked pleased, from what I could see. 

Melanthe bows to the crowd after she finishes.

The last of us to go was Samantha. She, donned in a flattering black velvet gown with a full skirt and a low neckline, sang the song 'I'll Never Have That Chance.' The song was about a vampire trapped in eternal childhood, who wishes more then anything to become a woman. Personally, I think it is a rather touching song, and very, very sad. I feel bad for the little vampire girl, because it wasn't even her choice to become a vampire.  I also think Samantha made the right choice to wear black, because it is kind of a somber song. 

".......They look at me and what they see is one more painted china doll...."

"...Inside of me there is someone who could have been somebody's wife, who could have watched her children go, who could have had a normal life...."

 As Samantha reached the end of her song, the crowd went nuts! She bowed happily, and went backstage. There were still fifteen more people to go, but all of our girls were done, and changing for the next round.

And the score stands........

Samantha - 9.6
Total - 9.6

Melanthe - 9.3
Total - 9.3

Rebecca - 9.9
Total - 9.9

To Be Continued Tomorrow...................

Melanthe - Choosing dresses for the pageant!

Today we looked through all our dresses to find the perfect ones of the pageant. Since Lilyana backed out, she helped all of us, and settled any 'Friendly Disputes.'

Lilyana helped Rebecca decide between a flowery pink dress, and a shimmery yellow strapless. Rebecca looks surprisingly good in yellow, but that pink dress also fits her perfectly. 

Samantha and I hunt through the chest of drawers to unearth forgotten garments. I found a black velvet dress that I didn't even know we had. It's very pretty, but I'm not to fond of the idea of wearing black in the pageant. I'm not sure that thats what the judges are looking for. Samantha was looking at the ruffley pink dress that i wore at the last pageant. Well, she can use that one, I don't think the judges liked me in it all that much. 

Here it is! This is the other dress I wore last year. It's one of my favorites, but I'm worried that it looks to little-kiddish. You know, with the polka dots and the ribbon. I don't want to look to childish, but I really do like it. They say Redheads can't wear pink, but I like pink. I'm not afraid to wear it at all, not like some redheads I know. 

Ah! The multitudes of dresses to be had. 

Lilyana, searching in the back of the closet, found the red dress I wore on the Forth of July, and thought that it was perfect for Samantha. 

"I don't know..." Samantha said, reaching out to hesitantly take the dress. "I have another that I like better."

"Well, you can wear it when you sing." Lilyana said, smiling. "You need a separate dress for that, right?"

"Yeah, I do. Do you think a red dress is to bold, though?"

"I wouldn't wear it; but I guess thats why I'm not going. You'd look great. And anyway, I thought the judges liked bold."

"Good point." Samantha said, taking the dress.

We all were mystified be this random purple dress that, although pretty, was something that none of us remembered owning. We were all mystified as to who's it was, until I remembered that I'd borrowed it ages ago from Maddi and never bothered to give it back. Oh well, if one of us wants to wear it for the pageant, I'm sure she won't mind. She doesn't look good in purple, anyway. :) 

Two days until the pageant! 

Melanthe