A Journey to the Pacific Northwest

Justin and I drove to Portland last week, and we fell in love with Oregon. This is my journal entry that I'm too lazy to format into past tense. :) 

October 8, 2016

 Today Justin and I had the perfect day in Portland. We made not plans beforehand, but somehow we pushed the right order of buttons that created a Felix Felicis-like effect where everything was completely lovely. We drove for fifteen hours to get here and it was really tiring but we made it! I’ve never gone somewhere just to go there, and especially not with somebody else. We kept saying, “We’re here!” We decided to pick up and take a trip, and here we are!

Today we woke up and then decided to go on the underground walking tour for Portland. We drove downtown and AHHH. They have so many old buildings and sidewalks and whatnot mixed in with the new. We drove across the Williamette River on this huge bridge, and then parked by the river. We walked several blocks and found the Merchant Hotel where the tour started. Our guide was Jake, who was sassy with pink hair. He enjoyed puns and I loved him. It would take so much energy to be a guide at such a place, where you have to be ready to deal with all the smart alecks. Jake was both peppy and prepared.

I loved the tour! We heard about crimping, the legend of the Shanghai tunnels, “seamstresses,” speak-easies (Portland unofficially introduced Prohibition three years earlier than the rest of the country to frame minorities :o), and other “underground” facts. There are some fascinating stories and characters in that city, which was built by loggers and sailors who kind of wanted to scare/disgust other people away. 

The tour ended with us going downstairs at the Merchant Hotel, where they used to keep people that they’d knocked out in their opium dens before impressing them into naval service. It was so small and crowded and OLD. We also saw where this old opera house used to be and this is so my jam. That was so much fun. I loved walking around the city and hearing the stories. I know that I’ll come back here again.

After the tour Justin said, “How about we go to the coast?” I googled ‘beaches near Portland’ and the first one that came up was the one that got plugged into the GPS, Cannon Beach. The drive was about an hour and half through BEAUTIFUL country. THERE ARE SO MANY TREES HERE. Sometimes we’d be driving along with the tall, thick trees lining both sides of the road and then there would be a break and you would see through to the valley and the trees are mostly green but tinged with yellow and AHHHHH. The rivers are great as well. Forest is my aesthetic; the fog rolling through the trees was out of control. So beautiful.

We got to the city of Cannon Beach and were like “pls help us locate the beach.” When we turned the corner that let us see the ocean I literally YELLED. So excited. The beaches here are not the beaches in California or Florida; they are not warm or welcoming, they are blustery and raw and STUNNING. The power of the ocean is overwhelming. 

It was cold and windy but when Justin and I finally found access to the beach (thanks, yahoo answers) we RAN onto it and towards the waves. I love all the shades of color you get in the ocean. There were birds calling and waves crashing and UGH LOVe. There was a HUGE rock about ten feet out that had to be thirty feet tall, like a small island. There were smaller rocks around it. It made me think of the eastern seaboard, though I’ve never been there. They were so impressive. 

I can’t describe how it felt. It was like a VIVID moment. I felt so carried away in the day—the trip was something I wanted to happen and we just showed up at the ocean and it was EVERYTHING. To be there, running down the beach, laughing with the giddiness of it all—I felt ALIVE. The rawness of the weather made the experience more valuable, somehow. Justin said the same. We would occasionally be hit by bursts of exuberance that caused us to yell or run or skip because we could. 

We trekked all the way down the beach to the great rock, and then turned around to find we had come much further than we realized. (Also we took pictures of the rock and selfies and Justin took pictures of me with my wild wind hair.) We ran slash walked slash struggled back towards our parking lot, stopping to pick up shell fragments and admire a paraglider and dogs and children. It was a long walk back but we made it.

We had parked at the lot of a restaurant named Mo’s. By the time we made it back we were starving and decided to eat there. It was SUCH A GOOD CHOICE. It was a homey place that serves fresh seafood and Justin and I were in love with it. We got shrimp and mashed potatoes and clam chowder and bread and hot chocolate with whipped cream on it. IT WAS ALL SO WONDERFUL. The clam chowder went straight to my soul and I was LIVING. Justin and I were just like AHHHH WHY IS OREGON SO ENCHANTING. We kind of both really want to move here now. The food was SO GOOD YUMMMM. And there was a view straight onto the beach so we could watch the waves turn from black to teal to white, the cashier loved my Drop Beats Not Bombs shirt and I LOVE IT HERE.

I can’t get over it. We just came here. Because we want to. And it was a perfect day. Just perfect. 

October 9, 2016

To finish up the Portland trip Justin insisted I get my trip to Powell’s City of Books. THIS STORE. It takes up a city block and has three levels and SO MANY ROOMS AND UNCOUNTABLE BOOKS. We had two hours and only saw about forty percent of it and that wasn’t thorough at all. I want to go back. I want to work there. I want to make a book list so long it unfurls like a comically long parchment in a cartoon. Powell’s, in other words, is life. Near the end I was freaking about because I had to choose a book and there were so many. I ended up going with The Heart of the Matter because Graham Greene.

After Powell’s (I’ll come back for you, my love) we drove up to Seattle. The drive through Washington was gorgeous with the fall leaves and the sharp mountain outlines. Justin was swayed and started to think he might want to live in Washington. I remained Team Oregon, but I would definitely do some outdoor exploring in Washington.

While the drive to Washington was beautiful, neither of us were as sold on Seattle as we were on Portland. Portland stole our hearts and refused to let go. Seattle’s parking garages were hell and we saw more hipsters in the half day we were there than in Portland total soooo.

We took the underground tour of Seattle, which was an excellent choice. Our tour guide, Keyon, was HYSTERICAL. The kind of person you want to hang out with for hours and just make each other laugh till you’re sick. Justin and I both adored him. “Now we’re standing right here next to this ghost. Seriously, what is that?” “It smelled almost as bad as Tacoma does today.” “I am telling you right now: I am not willing to die for this tour.”

The tour took us actually under the city, which was left after the major fire destroyed early Seattle. So cool to see that side of the city, and the ruins left behind. We were underneath the sidewalks and could hear people walk over us. 

The most #relatable moment with Keyon was when we were climbing the stairs out of one of the basements and congregating as a group in the alley. Keyon leaned his head in to yell, “Is anyone still down there?” and there were people still down there in fact he had yelled directly in their faces. Keyon stepped away from the door and covered his face with his jacket like DON’T LOOK AT ME I mean same bro. Justin and I were dying.

We didn't do much in Seattle as we were TIRED by the end of the day, but it was nice to be in a city I'd never visited before. Watching Criminal Minds in the hotel and eating Jack in the Box was a welcome relaxing end to the day. Although the fifteen hour drive back to Utah the next day was not the most fun in the entire world, we made it without incident. It was a delightful break from the daily routine, and I feel confident in saying that our first real vacation together was a complete success. I can't wait to go back.

Belated Comic Con Post (Plus Leslie Odom Jr!)

Hey friends! I meant to get this posted earlier, but it was not to be. Life has been busy with school starting up!

My friend Melinda had a free Thursday pass, so I brought my boyfriend with me to his first ever Comic Con. We went through all of Artist’s Alley because ORIGINAL ART IS SO COOL. I can't get over all the different styles, topics, and mashups. Mashups are my jam. I got really excited when I saw the Pop Culture Cats booth was back, as Jenny Parks has been absent from the last two cons here and I love her. We excited Artist's Alley with a Bioshock poster for me and  Cat! BB-8 poster for me. :) 

Next we wandered about through the endless rows of merchandise. Nerd bazaar. I’m glad we came on Thursday instead of Saturday when everything is crowded beyond all belief. While we didn't go to any panels on Thursday, we made the rounds through the stuff a couple times, although I never feel confident in saying that I've seen everything. Another walk through of Artist's Alley, hen we took trax back to Murray. Taking trax on the way to the convention was entertaining; it was the first day of Utah football and so everyone was either a mass of red or cosplaying. Truly, the ultimate clash of jocks and nerds. On the way back we finally got to sit (I forget how tiring being on your feet for long periods of time is) and were across from an adorable baby who kept being like :0 everytime the train moved. Then we got delicious Jamba Juice. I consider that a success.

Friday:

I was at the con from ten to six, as I had the day off of work. For the first time possibly ever I didn't have a rehearsal or performance on Friday night, so I was free to stay as late as I wished. The first panel I went to was Arthur Darvill. Rory is my second or third favorite Doctor Who companion, and Arthur was delightful. I love how British people say things like, “tax” instead of “taxes” and “rubbish.” He likes running in Utah because once a tumbleweed blew past him. “In London it’s just crisp wrappers.”

After that panel I had several hours to wander. I debated about getting autographs from some of the attending celebrities, but didn’t feel the same giddiness I’ve received from even the thought of meeting people like Carrie Fisher or Tom Felton. Instead I gave myself permission to spend that money on art. I bought eleven pieces from Ben Byrd, whose style is very cute and whimsical. He does Pokemon, Harry Potter, Disney, and assorted nerdom. I also got a Belle as Jedi one and two postcards that say, “Obi-Done Kenobi” with Obi-Wan sipping a margarita wearing sunglasses. I’m kind of obsessed with them.

After my art excursion, I went in to the last half of Henry Winkler’s panel. I’ll admit that I haven’t seen him in anything except Arrested Development, but he was hilarious. Bubbling with energy. The best was when someone asked about how the Fonz would snap his fingers and women would appear. Henry Winkler said, “I’m going to give you a tip. This is just for the men in the audience.” He paused, and then said, “DO NOT SNAP YOUR FINGERS AT WOMEN. It only works on television! If you dare do it in real life, they will break all of your fingers!” I will admit I was a little nervous when he started that answer, but my applause was real and vigorous. 

The next panel was Evanna Lynch. I’m actually in that minority who’s not hugely into Luna as a character (like she's fine, I just don't love her), but I still wanted to see her. Evanna is very Luna in real life, and obsessed with cats. She said that growing up her family had ten cats, which was her idea of heaven. "I think the acting is just to finance my cat habit." 

Later in the panel the cutest little girl asked Evanna, “My name is Ruby. How much cats do you have?” AHHHHHHH THE CUTENESS ALMOST KILLED ME HOW ARE KIDS SO CUTE. Evanna said, “Not enough, Ruby. Not enough.”

Kids cosplaying absolutely slay me—Justin and I saw an Emperor’s New Groove family on Thursday where the little boy was Kuzco and ahhh. I saw many little Captain Americas and Reys; I can’t wait to dress up my kids.

The family that Pikachus together stays together.

After that was the panel for Millie Bobby Brown. If you haven’t watched Stranger Things yet, stop whatever you're doing and go watch Stranger Things. It’s the kind of show you can’t stop watching; it's exactly the right mix of suspense, humor, and heartwarming. What was rather unusual for me is that I   very much enjoyed the performances of all the child actors. I'm not always a huge fan of child actors. There are four main kids (well, five, but one of them is on camera a lot less than the others), and they’re all very talented. Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven was especially powerful. Without giving any spoilers, her character is very intense and serious and I want her to be happy.

Millie Bobby Brown is a twelve year old girl from the UK who differs from her character by being bubbly and talkative and happy. It’s odd to see someone so young in the spotlight. I’ll be interested to see what projects she does next, and if she continues to have the same open persona she does now. She has the same reaction to adorable children as I do, which is to completely melt. One man told her she was “Meryl Streep good”, and then sat at the end of my row taking notes on everything she said. Facing that level of scrutiny from twelve—I just can't imagine it.

The next panel was my most anticipated of every convention: Twisted Toonz. Iconic voice actors reading a parody movie script as different characters is honestly one of the funniest things I have ever seen. One of the things I love about the Twisted Toonz guys is how much they LOVE Salt Lake City. They consistently tell us that we have the best convention in the world, and that they always look forward to coming to Salt Lake City to party with us. This year they read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Jess Harnell is the rock star of the bunch, and one of these days I am going to go talk to him at his table. Troy Baker was new to the panel this year; he was hilarious. We had a couple guest stars show up, and Troy was passive-aggressively like, “No, take my seat, it’s fine.” Favorite impressions this year: Johnny Depp, Ronald Reagan, Snoop Dog, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

After I walked out of the ballroom from Twisted Toonz I was in the convention hall for maybe two minutes when I realized I had forgotten my bag of art under my chair in the ballroom. I freaked out and immediately wormed my way back in by pushing my way against the crowd and was gratified to find my bag undisturbed. I picked up one more piece of art before leaving for the day. It was a long, full day and I loved it.

Jon Snow seeks to take his rightful place on the Iron Throne.

Saturday:

I woke up feeling exhausted. Conventions really take it out of me! I didn’t go in till about noon. With all my shopping completed (not for lack of want, but I need some money left over to live life with) I was content to wander around taking in the sights for another year. I saw so many great cosplayers: tumblr, Charizard, missionary Deadpool. (So many different Deadpools-- my favorite was Pirate Deadpool.)

I stopped in at the Hillywood show panel, although I’m more of a fan of their older stuff. The Harry Potter parody is hilarious and I still sing the Hunger Games one. It was fun to see them interact with their fans; they are tiny and good. Also Osric Chan from Supernatural showed up so that was cool.

I went to Ian Somerhalder’s panel mostly to get a rest, but became intrigued when what was scheduled to be a fifty minute panel was half an hour overdue. The host was trying to stall the crowd, and I wondered what the outcome would be. Would it come to the end of the appointed hour and Chris (the host) would just go, “Well, I guess he’s not coming, ummm sorry bye”? The hall was full of thousands of people, and I doubted all of them were as ambivalent to Ian as I was.

Apparently he had been overbooked for photos, and was still taking them with fans, but was on his way. They ended up shuffling the panels around so that he could be there for the full hour. Crisis averted, no mob justice was enacted.

He was an interesting guy; anti-violence to the point he feels slightly guilty for putting Vampire Diaries into the world, as it is extremely violent. A twelve-year-old boy asked him a question about whether he enjoyed playing good guys or bad guys more, and he gesticulated about the morals of today’s society before asking the kid if he was jaded to violence yet. I’m not one of his fans in regards to his film work, but he seems like the kind of person you want to sit down and have a conversation over dinner with.

One last lap around the convention hall, and then it was goodbye to Salt Lake Comic Con for another year. I was sad to miss the cosplay contest that ends off the con every year, but it was for a very worthy cause: LESLIE ODOM JR’S CONCERT IN PROVO

In case you’ve somehow missed my raving about it, I’m obsessed with the musical Hamilton. Leslie played Aaron Burr opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda as the title character. Among the eleven Tonys awarded to Hamilton, one had Leslie’s name on it for Best Actor. He is an incredible talent and I can’t believe that he came to Utah!

Last time I attended a concert at BYU it was 2011 when I came to see Brian Stokes Mitchell at the Marriott Center. The concert was incredible, but it took me two hours to find the right parking lot afterwards. This concert was in the Harris Fine Arts Center, which is much smaller, and spoiler alert: I found my car afterward.

That being said, the concert was INCREDIBLE. Leslie walked out onstage and all of us just lost it. He’s a beautiful human with a voice like melted chocolate over velvet and I never wanted him to stop singing. His band is incredibly talented as well—he sang several songs from his new jazz album and MMMMMMMMMMm. Then he said, “I was in a show called Hamilton” and it was like a wall of sound. We were all screaming. It was exactly like being at Comic Con. Hamil-Con, as my friend who was also there dubbed it. Leslie teased us by singing another jazz song (don’t get me wrong, it was drop dead gorgeous but he knew what we wanted). Then he said, “All right, so Hamilton.”

I never thought I would get to hear Leslie Odom Jr sing “Wait For It” or “Room Where It Happened” live, but I am happily wrong. I honestly wanted to clap until my hands fell off. HE WAS SO GOOD. He was so charming and smooth and TALENTED. While the pianist (who was incredible) was doing his jazz scat intermission things Leslie would turn to watch him and completely give him his attention. I loved him.

He also sang, “Dear Theodosia” and I almost cried. He told us how Lin offered him the part of Aaron Burr in an email with the subject line “Octo-Burr Fest.” Lin no you were supposed to be above these silly puns. After he finished “Wait For It” someone yelled, “Sing it again!” and the pianist started the introduction. Regrettably he didn’t sing it again, but it was such a wonderful, exhilarating experience.

He also said wise things. My favorite Leslie Odom Jr quotes:

“Singing is an oral tradition. It’s passed down from singer to singer.”

“Everything ends. You feel it in you when it’s time to let something go, even if people around you think there’s a little more left in the race.”

“Artists spend their whole lives trying to get back to the feeling of the first show that opened their hearts.”  --- This one is so true. For him it’s Rent, for me it was Into the Woods.

“When I first heard the music of Hamilton, something within me was rearranged.”

“No one likes ‘Cheer Up, Charlie’ because after Charlie leaves the mom just kind of sings it to the laundry. ‘Sit here, I’m going to sing you a song!’” (Okay, maybe that one's not quite as wise, but I love it anyway.) 

He sang, “Without You” from Rent and it was positively exquisite. Then he sang a couple more songs from the album and said goodnight. We gave him a standing ovation even before he finished the show. He was so good, and we needed to show him appreciation. He sang an acapella encore, and then said he would be in the lobby to say hello to people.

There was no way that I wasn’t going to wait in line for as long as they would let me. The line snaked around the lobby and initially moved at a snail’s pace. I was so afraid. The ushers told us the cutoff point was ten thirty, an hour and a half away. What if I didn’t make it? I was determined to wait until ten thirty and hope to goodness I was lucky. Eventually the ushers informed us Leslie would only be signing cds, but still taking pictures with people, and that sped things up considerably.

I couldn’t believe I might have the chance to have my picture taken with TONY AWARD WINNER LESLIE ODOM JR. The original Aaron Burr. A person who used to hang out with Lin-Manuel Miranda eight times a week. What. As I rounded the final corner towards him, there were fifteen minutes left on the countdown. It was going to be close. But as we edged closer, it became clear that I WAS GOING TO MEET HIM.

I shakily handed my phone and purse to an usher, who would take the picture. Leslie GAVE ME A HUG and then put his arm around me for the picture. I thanked him for coming to Utah and he said, “Hey, thanks for coming out.” I love him. There are now three pictures on my phone of me with Leslie Odom Jr, and I shook all the way home I was so excited.

It was the most beautiful way to end a day, a week, or a convention. That concert was honestly transcendent. His riffs speak to my heart. So I guess you could say September started out pretty okay. ;) 

I know that feel, Cinderella.

Belated Comic Con Post (Plus Leslie Odom Jr!)

Hey friends! I meant to get this posted earlier, but it was not to be. Life has been busy with school starting up!

My friend Melinda had a free Thursday pass, so I brought my boyfriend with me to his first ever Comic Con. We went through all of Artist’s Alley because ORIGINAL ART IS SO COOL. I can't get over all the different styles, topics, and mashups. Mashups are my jam. I got really excited when I saw the Pop Culture Cats booth was back, as Jenny Parks has been absent from the last two cons here and I love her. We excited Artist's Alley with a Bioshock poster for me and  Cat! BB-8 poster for me. :) 

Next we wandered about through the endless rows of merchandise. Nerd bazaar. I’m glad we came on Thursday instead of Saturday when everything is crowded beyond all belief. While we didn't go to any panels on Thursday, we made the rounds through the stuff a couple times, although I never feel confident in saying that I've seen everything. Another walk through of Artist's Alley, hen we took trax back to Murray. Taking trax on the way to the convention was entertaining; it was the first day of Utah football and so everyone was either a mass of red or cosplaying. Truly, the ultimate clash of jocks and nerds. On the way back we finally got to sit (I forget how tiring being on your feet for long periods of time is) and were across from an adorable baby who kept being like :0 everytime the train moved. Then we got delicious Jamba Juice. I consider that a success.

Friday:

I was at the con from ten to six, as I had the day off of work. For the first time possibly ever I didn't have a rehearsal or performance on Friday night, so I was free to stay as late as I wished. The first panel I went to was Arthur Darvill. Rory is my second or third favorite Doctor Who companion, and Arthur was delightful. I love how British people say things like, “tax” instead of “taxes” and “rubbish.” He likes running in Utah because once a tumbleweed blew past him. “In London it’s just crisp wrappers.”

After that panel I had several hours to wander. I debated about getting autographs from some of the attending celebrities, but didn’t feel the same giddiness I’ve received from even the thought of meeting people like Carrie Fisher or Tom Felton. Instead I gave myself permission to spend that money on art. I bought eleven pieces from Ben Byrd, whose style is very cute and whimsical. He does Pokemon, Harry Potter, Disney, and assorted nerdom. I also got a Belle as Jedi one and two postcards that say, “Obi-Done Kenobi” with Obi-Wan sipping a margarita wearing sunglasses. I’m kind of obsessed with them.

After my art excursion, I went in to the last half of Henry Winkler’s panel. I’ll admit that I haven’t seen him in anything except Arrested Development, but he was hilarious. Bubbling with energy. The best was when someone asked about how the Fonz would snap his fingers and women would appear. Henry Winkler said, “I’m going to give you a tip. This is just for the men in the audience.” He paused, and then said, “DO NOT SNAP YOUR FINGERS AT WOMEN. It only works on television! If you dare do it in real life, they will break all of your fingers!” I will admit I was a little nervous when he started that answer, but my applause was real and vigorous. 

The next panel was Evanna Lynch. I’m actually in that minority who’s not hugely into Luna as a character (like she's fine, I just don't love her), but I still wanted to see her. Evanna is very Luna in real life, and obsessed with cats. She said that growing up her family had ten cats, which was her idea of heaven. "I think the acting is just to finance my cat habit." 

Later in the panel the cutest little girl asked Evanna, “My name is Ruby. How much cats do you have?” AHHHHHHH THE CUTENESS ALMOST KILLED ME HOW ARE KIDS SO CUTE. Evanna said, “Not enough, Ruby. Not enough.”

Kids cosplaying absolutely slay me—Justin and I saw an Emperor’s New Groove family on Thursday where the little boy was Kuzco and ahhh. I saw many little Captain Americas and Reys; I can’t wait to dress up my kids.

The family that Pikachus together stays together.

After that was the panel for Millie Bobby Brown. If you haven’t watched Stranger Things yet, stop whatever you're doing and go watch Stranger Things. It’s the kind of show you can’t stop watching; it's exactly the right mix of suspense, humor, and heartwarming. What was rather unusual for me is that I   very much enjoyed the performances of all the child actors. I'm not always a huge fan of child actors. There are four main kids (well, five, but one of them is on camera a lot less than the others), and they’re all very talented. Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven was especially powerful. Without giving any spoilers, her character is very intense and serious and I want her to be happy.

Millie Bobby Brown is a twelve year old girl from the UK who differs from her character by being bubbly and talkative and happy. It’s odd to see someone so young in the spotlight. I’ll be interested to see what projects she does next, and if she continues to have the same open persona she does now. She has the same reaction to adorable children as I do, which is to completely melt. One man told her she was “Meryl Streep good”, and then sat at the end of my row taking notes on everything she said. Facing that level of scrutiny from twelve—I just can't imagine it.

The next panel was my most anticipated of every convention: Twisted Toonz. Iconic voice actors reading a parody movie script as different characters is honestly one of the funniest things I have ever seen. One of the things I love about the Twisted Toonz guys is how much they LOVE Salt Lake City. They consistently tell us that we have the best convention in the world, and that they always look forward to coming to Salt Lake City to party with us. This year they read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Jess Harnell is the rock star of the bunch, and one of these days I am going to go talk to him at his table. Troy Baker was new to the panel this year; he was hilarious. We had a couple guest stars show up, and Troy was passive-aggressively like, “No, take my seat, it’s fine.” Favorite impressions this year: Johnny Depp, Ronald Reagan, Snoop Dog, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

After I walked out of the ballroom from Twisted Toonz I was in the convention hall for maybe two minutes when I realized I had forgotten my bag of art under my chair in the ballroom. I freaked out and immediately wormed my way back in by pushing my way against the crowd and was gratified to find my bag undisturbed. I picked up one more piece of art before leaving for the day. It was a long, full day and I loved it.

Jon Snow seeks to take his rightful place on the Iron Throne.

Saturday:

I woke up feeling exhausted. Conventions really take it out of me! I didn’t go in till about noon. With all my shopping completed (not for lack of want, but I need some money left over to live life with) I was content to wander around taking in the sights for another year. I saw so many great cosplayers: tumblr, Charizard, missionary Deadpool. (So many different Deadpools-- my favorite was Pirate Deadpool.)

I stopped in at the Hillywood show panel, although I’m more of a fan of their older stuff. The Harry Potter parody is hilarious and I still sing the Hunger Games one. It was fun to see them interact with their fans; they are tiny and good. Also Osric Chan from Supernatural showed up so that was cool.

I went to Ian Somerhalder’s panel mostly to get a rest, but became intrigued when what was scheduled to be a fifty minute panel was half an hour overdue. The host was trying to stall the crowd, and I wondered what the outcome would be. Would it come to the end of the appointed hour and Chris (the host) would just go, “Well, I guess he’s not coming, ummm sorry bye”? The hall was full of thousands of people, and I doubted all of them were as ambivalent to Ian as I was.

Apparently he had been overbooked for photos, and was still taking them with fans, but was on his way. They ended up shuffling the panels around so that he could be there for the full hour. Crisis averted, no mob justice was enacted.

He was an interesting guy; anti-violence to the point he feels slightly guilty for putting Vampire Diaries into the world, as it is extremely violent. A twelve-year-old boy asked him a question about whether he enjoyed playing good guys or bad guys more, and he gesticulated about the morals of today’s society before asking the kid if he was jaded to violence yet. I’m not one of his fans in regards to his film work, but he seems like the kind of person you want to sit down and have a conversation over dinner with.

One last lap around the convention hall, and then it was goodbye to Salt Lake Comic Con for another year. I was sad to miss the cosplay contest that ends off the con every year, but it was for a very worthy cause: LESLIE ODOM JR’S CONCERT IN PROVO

In case you’ve somehow missed my raving about it, I’m obsessed with the musical Hamilton. Leslie played Aaron Burr opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda as the title character. Among the eleven Tonys awarded to Hamilton, one had Leslie’s name on it for Best Actor. He is an incredible talent and I can’t believe that he came to Utah!

Last time I attended a concert at BYU it was 2011 when I came to see Brian Stokes Mitchell at the Marriott Center. The concert was incredible, but it took me two hours to find the right parking lot afterwards. This concert was in the Harris Fine Arts Center, which is much smaller, and spoiler alert: I found my car afterward.

That being said, the concert was INCREDIBLE. Leslie walked out onstage and all of us just lost it. He’s a beautiful human with a voice like melted chocolate over velvet and I never wanted him to stop singing. His band is incredibly talented as well—he sang several songs from his new jazz album and MMMMMMMMMMm. Then he said, “I was in a show called Hamilton” and it was like a wall of sound. We were all screaming. It was exactly like being at Comic Con. Hamil-Con, as my friend who was also there dubbed it. Leslie teased us by singing another jazz song (don’t get me wrong, it was drop dead gorgeous but he knew what we wanted). Then he said, “All right, so Hamilton.”

I never thought I would get to hear Leslie Odom Jr sing “Wait For It” or “Room Where It Happened” live, but I am happily wrong. I honestly wanted to clap until my hands fell off. HE WAS SO GOOD. He was so charming and smooth and TALENTED. While the pianist (who was incredible) was doing his jazz scat intermission things Leslie would turn to watch him and completely give him his attention. I loved him.

He also sang, “Dear Theodosia” and I almost cried. He told us how Lin offered him the part of Aaron Burr in an email with the subject line “Octo-Burr Fest.” Lin no you were supposed to be above these silly puns. After he finished “Wait For It” someone yelled, “Sing it again!” and the pianist started the introduction. Regrettably he didn’t sing it again, but it was such a wonderful, exhilarating experience.

He also said wise things. My favorite Leslie Odom Jr quotes:

“Singing is an oral tradition. It’s passed down from singer to singer.”

“Everything ends. You feel it in you when it’s time to let something go, even if people around you think there’s a little more left in the race.”

“Artists spend their whole lives trying to get back to the feeling of the first show that opened their hearts.”  --- This one is so true. For him it’s Rent, for me it was Into the Woods.

“When I first heard the music of Hamilton, something within me was rearranged.”

“No one likes ‘Cheer Up, Charlie’ because after Charlie leaves the mom just kind of sings it to the laundry. ‘Sit here, I’m going to sing you a song!’” (Okay, maybe that one's not quite as wise, but I love it anyway.) 

He sang, “Without You” from Rent and it was positively exquisite. Then he sang a couple more songs from the album and said goodnight. We gave him a standing ovation even before he finished the show. He was so good, and we needed to show him appreciation. He sang an acapella encore, and then said he would be in the lobby to say hello to people.

There was no way that I wasn’t going to wait in line for as long as they would let me. The line snaked around the lobby and initially moved at a snail’s pace. I was so afraid. The ushers told us the cutoff point was ten thirty, an hour and a half away. What if I didn’t make it? I was determined to wait until ten thirty and hope to goodness I was lucky. Eventually the ushers informed us Leslie would only be signing cds, but still taking pictures with people, and that sped things up considerably.

I couldn’t believe I might have the chance to have my picture taken with TONY AWARD WINNER LESLIE ODOM JR. The original Aaron Burr. A person who used to hang out with Lin-Manuel Miranda eight times a week. What. As I rounded the final corner towards him, there were fifteen minutes left on the countdown. It was going to be close. But as we edged closer, it became clear that I WAS GOING TO MEET HIM.

I shakily handed my phone and purse to an usher, who would take the picture. Leslie GAVE ME A HUG and then put his arm around me for the picture. I thanked him for coming to Utah and he said, “Hey, thanks for coming out.” I love him. There are now three pictures on my phone of me with Leslie Odom Jr, and I shook all the way home I was so excited.

It was the most beautiful way to end a day, a week, or a convention. That concert was honestly transcendent. His riffs speak to my heart. So I guess you could say September started out pretty okay. ;) 

I know that feel, Cinderella.

Things Are Good :)

Friends. It is I, Rebecca, the long lost author of this blog. My last entry was in April, when I wrote about one of my deeply rooted insecurities. It did me a lot of good to put that out into the world. And then I stopped writing because things started going really well.

Turns out it's a lot more difficult to blog when you're happy. Tolstoy once wrote that all happy families are the same, while each unhappy family is different in their own way. Happiness has made me feel that I don't have much to say except, "Things are good. Really good. Better than they've been in a long time."

This summer has been head and shoulders above my last couple of summers. I've started dating my best friend, and I would highly recommend it. Relationships should make you feel better about yourself???? Plus he took me up to Snowbird and I got to ride a chairlift down a mountain and swim in a heated pool; I guess you could say that things are going very well. 

One of my main goals for the summer was to perform in a musical. With being back in school, summer is the only time I get to indulge that passion, so I was anxious not to "waste" my summer show. I was cast in Once Upon a Mattress at my home away from home, the Empress Theatre out in Magna. It was a party; that cast was my jam. Driving home from the theatre at night, windows down, radio blasting, knowing that I performed my best that night is one of my favorite feelings in the world. There is nothing like the rush of being in front of an audience again.

I was also involved with a staged concert version of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. What a blast. Gilbert and Sullivan are life. It was good to get another musical fix before I have to go back to school at the end of this month. 

I've been reading some incredible books lately. To throw out a few recommendations:

-The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt for non-fiction-- discusses the writing and rediscovery of Lucretius' ancient poem "On the Nature of Things." I unexpectedly loved it.

-Room by Emma Donoghue for adult fiction-- HOLY FREAK THIS BOOK IS INTENSE. Incredibly well written, narrated from the point of view of a five year old boy who has never been outside the room where his mother has been held prisoner for the last seven years. Emotional and honest; most likely going to be on my top ten list this year.

-A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (essay)-- This has been on my list for years, and I'm glad I got around to it. What I love about Woolf is that even though you can tell she is writing from a place of frustration, she injects wry humor into it.


Other miscellaneous things about life:
I got my hair cut. Finally.
I sent my sister Julia off on her mission to St George.
I'm supporting Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. (I'll vote for a third party candidate when one of the main ones isn't the embodiment of evil.)
My littlest brother, Aaron Grant, was born. He's the calmest, cutest baby.

Things aren't perfect, but they are very good.