Woof.

Take a moment to laugh about this picture.

Moving on.

I work at at a dog bakery.

No we do not bake dogs, we bake FOR dogs.

Treats, cookies ect.

And all day as I sit behind my register I am forced to listen to and witness stupidity.

So since I'm trapped here I'm going to share with you the most common things I see and hear.

1. First of all: Lets just put a blanket statement over the entire store so you don't have to say it 30 times: "This is SO cute."


2. Listening to people walk into the store and exclaim with vigor and wonderment "Oh my God this store is for Dogs!?". Maybe all the dog pictures outside could have tipped you off.


3. Seeing fully grown dogs riding around the store in baby strollers.


4. Constantly reassuring people that there is in fact no real chocolate in our dog treats.


5. Hearing rolling laughter as a group of older women discover the "I bark for the hell of it" shirts.


6. Then as a result hear them remind each other "That is SO [insert name of said dog]! She totally does that. We should get her that shirt." They never do.


7. Yes sir, the treats do look good enough to eat, you're very clever to suggest that you would.


8. "Are dogs allowed in the store?" .............seriously?


9. "Will this shirt fit a beagle?" Thats like saying "Will this shirt fit my son?". I have no idea.


10. Yes, I have facial hair and a tattoo and I'm not smiling at you all the time. No, I'm not a criminal, I'm an art student trying to survive. So let me work and stop staring at me with your finger on the 911 speed dial.

Goosebumps

I'm not in this video, but it is a video of one of the shows I do at Walt Disney World called "The Festival of the Lion King".

I just wanted you all to hear what an AMAZING voice one of our singers has.

She honestly has one of the most incredible voices I have ever heard in person before.

Until I have time...

So right now I REALLY wanna post a bunch of stuff on here right now.

But alas I have to go to school.

So here's a cute picture to suffice till I can post.

It's me and my good friend Nina Diva in the Festival of the Lion King Show.

Cute right?

Player

This is what I have been dressed as for the past 2 weeks.

Cute. In a Jungle kind of way.

Dance till you're dead...

I did Block Party Bash at the Hollywood Studios today for the first time in a LONG time.

And I was reminded of how awful/hard it is.

I mean it's fun but geeze it makes me want to throw up and cry

simultaneously.

Anywho, on the way home from the Bash today a song came on my iPod that really explains how Block Party Feels.

So I wanted to share.

And here it is:

Heads Will Roll

By The Yeah Yeah Yeahs:

A Block Party Theme Song

Off with your head
Dance until you're dead

Heads will roll
Heads will roll
Heads will roll
Heads will roll

On the floor

Glitter on the wet streets
Silver over everything
The ribbon's all wet
You're all cold

Dripping with alchemy
Shiver stop shivering
The ribbon's all wet
You're all chrome

The men cry out
The Girls cry out
The men cry out

Oh no

Off with your head
Dance until you're dead
Heads will roll

Heads will roll
Heads will roll
Heads will roll
On the floor

Looking glass
Take the past
Shut your eyes
Mirror lies

Off with your head & Dance until you're dead

Fitting no?

Finally.

It's Finally Happened..

After five weeks of rehearsals Im approved in Celebrate the Season.

Our opening night is this Tuesday the 10th.

See you there?

FoLK/DAK Drams...

As many of you might know I work at Disney World in Florida. Loves it. Good times.

Anywho.

As you may also know I do the High School Musical show at the Disney Studios on a pretty consistent basis. I also talk about it a lot as you can see from all the blogs I have posted concerning it. It's all I do with my time, what else am I gonna talk about?

Well, what many of you may NOT know is that I also know some other shows on property. One of which I do on a weekly (on Thursdays (which are my global sub days (that may or may not mean anything to you)) basis.

Yes everything Thursday I leave my life at the Hollywood Studios, hang up my Wildcat hoodie and trek over the the Animal Kingdom to do a show called The Festival Of The Lion King or FoLK for short (everything is an acronym around her cause we are way to lazy to finish our sente

So I am a stilt walker at FoLK and if you know me personally you know that I am not the biggest fan of the show. Stilts hurt my knees, I have no friends, the hours suck, the end.

But that, my friend, is for another blog. No, this blog is in fact about the DAK (Disney's Animal Kingdom) cast parking. One of my least favorite things about going to DAK is the cast member parking lot! I swear there is sorcery afoot in those lands! Everyday, I try to park my car in the same spot, so I can remember where I left it at the end of the day. But alas, 5:30 (or 10:30 according to when they decide to let us free) rolls around, I make the half mile journey back to the lot and my car is no where in sight!

I try to retrace my steps, look at the land marks, count the rows, and everytime there is no trace of it! I swear that parking lot is like hogwarts from Harry Potter or something. Everytime you leave the lot, all the cars switch places just for kicks. I wander the lot for 20 minutes, and then, suddenly it is right behind me, even though I JUST passed the space in is currently residing in.

And it is not just me either! Everyday I see Disney security gaurds drving some poor soul from row to row, searching desperatly for their vehicle. As I walk our eyes meet and I give them that look that says:

"I know how it is. Keep going, it'll turn up eventually."

So, moral of the story, if you are planning on parking in the DAK cast lot, heed my warning, and take a picture of where you parked.

Lesson Learned: Problem Solving

After a lot of thought I decided on a series for this month's posts. It will be called "Lessons Learned" and it will be all about the daily lessons that I learn.

Today's lesson is all about problem solving!

For any of you who aren't familiar with the High School Musical breakroom at Disney's Hollywood Studios lemme explain the layout a little bit.

The space serves several purposes. First it serves as a break space, with a common area full of couches and a coffee table. There is also a fridge, microwave coffee maker ect. ect. There are two dressing rooms that extend from the common space for the dancers to change in. In the far corner there is an office for our manager and computer so we can check schedules and things. The largest area of our breakroom is costuming. It is where all of the costumes are kept in bulk and also shoes, boxes and two costumers.

Now, in the past, when we needed an extra shirt or a different size pant, we would walk into costuming and grab it off the rack. Apparently the costuming manager had an issue with that and wanted to keep us from doing it.

SO rather than asking the cast to stay out of the costuming area, they simply installed this:























It is one of those fold out doors like they used in the Titanic to keep the third class passengers in the basement. Now kids, lets talk about problem solving. If you want to keep people out of somewhere, here is my suggestion: tell them not to go there. But instead of solving the problem logically they installed the cage door. Here are some reasons that this doesn't make sense:

1) The door doesn't lock
2) The walls around the costuming area don't go all the way to the ceiling, therefore allowing anyone to easily climb over.
3) There are two other doors in the back that don't lock.
4) It is a fire hazzard
5) It reminds the costumers just how much like prison their job really is.

So there you go kids. Lesson learned.

Linda Skywalker...

I apologize for going a little YouTube crazy lately but don't you think videos are fun too!

This gem I found showcases our number one fan at the High School stage. Her name is Linda Amidala Skywalker Efron (for real) but we just call her Linda.

Anywho she loves our show and comes every Wednesday to see us. She brings us candy and gifts and holidays and she knows all our choreo. It is awesome and we love her.

So here she is in action!

I Want It All...

I know I have been talking about our new show at the studios a lot lately so I found some YouTube videos of it and I thought I would share it with ya'll.

I am the giant with the gay-ass white shirtsleeve hoodie and plaid shorts...I know

Fay Fay comes to Play....Play...

If you pay attention to the national weather news at all you may have noticed a little Hurricane named Fay is making her merry way towards the Florida mainland. I have lived here for 2 years and never have I been through a hurricane. I am kinda nervous I won't lie. However, it is only supposed to be a category two at the most which isn't that bad (according to everyone else. But a category two is worse than the category nothings we have in Utah).

Anywho. Disney World doesn't play when it comes to hurricanes. You better believe that the parks are in full on lock down mode. Lets just say windows are being boarded up and bushes are being secured. They might have to close early/open late depending on how bad that storm is. I am gathering that it is gonna be bad because my weather bug won't shut the hell up. chirp chirp chirp I get it, death and destruction is looming shut it!

Back to work. If they do close the parks it is our responsibility to call this number and ask if we have to come to work or not. Well they printed a bunch of these fliers and posted them around the break rooms with the number we are supposed to call. In our break room at High School someone ...(Dusty. Who is absolutely terrified of hurricanes and is literally camping in our living room "till this bitch is gone") took the liberty of illustrating the paper. Just so we could get an idea of what it will be like when Fay gives us a visit:















As you can see our float along with a cheerleader is being sucked up into a twister and the eye of the storm is actually a wildcat paw. Who knew?

Catching Our Zzzzz...

With the exhausting hours we are forced to under go at work, most of us spend our day in a delirious haze. With 65 hours a week, we can barely stand up in between shows. Ever since Block Party opened we have all become zombies and, even though we aren't suppose to, we usually all fall asleep at some point through out the day.

Now you must understand that our breakroom is about the size of a personal storage shed. Seriously, the common area of our break space has only enough room for like three couches. On top of the space restrictions, there are 27 people breaking there daily, all at one time. Needless to say, the sound in the break room can reach ridiculous levels. This, however, does not keep us from getting our beauty sleep. This week I have been putting together a presentation called "How to Effectively Sleep in the High School Musical Break Room" (or HTESITHSMBR for short, you can choose how to refer to it).

But before I present it to my peers at work I wanted to share it with all of you first. So here it is:

"How to Effectively Sleep in the High School Musical Break Room
(HTESITHSMBR)

This first method I call the mummy. It is a common practice during heavy traffic times of the day.






















This second method is ideal, if you have the space to accommodate it. Notice how he hides his face to keep it from being written on by others.

















The third option is not for begginers. It involves falling asleep, whilst sitting up in one of the arm chairs. This is perfect because it tricks those in authority positions.






















The last option is to utilize your break space. If the common areas are full, one can retreat to the changing areas, allowing one to stretch out and really relax.
*note: this method requires you to bring your own supplies (ie pillows, blankets ect.)

High School Musical 3...

So yesterday at work we got the news that our show (High School Musical 2: School's Out) will be closing on September 13th of this year to make way for a new show based on the third movie that comes to theaters October 24th. We are all pretty sad because we love the show we have now but after hearing this next little clip I am about to post, this third show is gonna be awesome. Tell me what you think.

The Trail of Tears...

I have never been so exhausted as I have been lately. I think it is a culmination of several things that is causing me to feel this way. Between work, my personal life, money stress and everything else that comes with being a twenty-something in this world, I have just felt so wiped out. I find it interesting though because I don't realize just how drained I am, probably because I am always running to a show, from a show, to the store, from a class then back again. It's like a take all my stress and anxiety and put it in this box to save it for later because I can't have it in the way when I am working, but then I forget its there and it fills to the top and starts to overflow. Then I have to deal with it. Yesterday was one of those days.

I woke up and was rushing to get to work on time, while still getting my dog situated before I left. I feel bad leaving her at home all day so I try to make her accommodations as comfortable as possible. Anywho I got to work and had to speed walk to the clock to clock in on time. It was SO hot & muggy that our first two High School shows were awful. It was one of those days where you already are drenched with sweat from the walk down to step off. I also received a text informing me that I owed $240 and that it was due the next day. Anyone who knows anything about Disney knows that I would have to work at least 40 hours to hit that and still have money to survive. Just another chunk of awesomeness to stash in that stress box. Later, in the afternoon, one of my closest friends (I call her my soulmate) came into town and was watching Block Party. despite the heat, I gave the first show stop my all because I wanted to show her what Block Party with Bry was all about. Needless to say, 16 minutes later I wanted to die, and I still had another show stop to go. That second show stop was rough. At one point I had to hide in the tweener (that is what the floats are called) to keep from passing out on the street. I wasn't the only one. There were several people that went down that day. Then again thats what it is always like at Block Party. We call it the trail of tears. Once we finished the last show stop I went to my post and began pushing the trampoline to step down. I was in so much pain and, because of my weakened physical state, could no longer hold back the box brimming with heaviness. I suddenly felt so overwhelmed with everything. It hit me all at once.

While still on parade route my unwilling eyes started spilling with tears. I couldn't stop it. There was so much inside me pushing itself out through my exhausted form that all I could do was hide my face from the guests in the park and cry. Once we were stepped down I just had to sit there and let it run it's course. I have never felt like that, so tired and weary that I couldn't help but sob. It wasn't that I was sad, I just couldn't keep anything inside me at that point. This job, though it is so incredibly gratifying and amazing, is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I have never sweat and shook as hard as I do in this profession. The other day peter gave me a quote that he heard on TV. I am not sure of the exact wording but in paraphrase it said something to the effect of:

"The only glamorous thing about dancing is the make up and the costumes. Everything else is blood, sweat and tears."

Nothing has proved more true than that statement. This is no cake walk, but it's a walk that I take every day, and I love every minute of it.

Not-So Present...

Publish Post
Today as I was making the hour long trek through the parking lot to leave work
I started going over the happenings of my day. I was, like always, at my usual High School/Block Party shift. As I thought about my day and the shows I did I came to a startling conclusion: I didn't remember a single guest that watched our show today. Now for any other show this may not really be a big deal but with High School/Block Party it so is. The reason being is this: there is more audience participation in those two shows than in an episode of The Price is Right. We go into the audience and interact with people like 80 times a show. That is like 200 times that I dove into a crowd of people today and spent an extended amount of time with them. Now do you see the problem with me not remembering them? If I am really that unconscious during our shows then something needs to change. One of my major goals in life is to become more conscious, like the amazing Eckhart Tolle. I am fairly sure that he remembers at least one person from every seminar he holds. Anywho, it was just a little reality check today reminding me to always try to be present in the moment and not off in la la land. So there's my story for the day. Good night.

Riley

Today I worked my usual High School Musical/Block Party Bash shift. It was mega hot in the bad humid way. The first two shows of High School were ok. Aparently there was a funk in the air because Matt, our manager, said it was the "whitest" show he had ever seen. He said it looked like none of us had any rhythm. The whole show he stood behind the float and clapped at an awkward beat other than the music.

Matt is our new manager and at first I thought he was a huge douche bag and I couldn't stand him. Now that I have gotten to know him I am found that he is still a huge douche bag but I like him. I trust him and I know he has my back and, with the people at High School lately, that is rare.

Block Party was probably the hardest parade I have ever done today. The heat isn't the bad thing about performing outside here, it is the humidity. Walking outside today was like walking into a warm pool with your clothes on. It was gross. Plus I was in track 2, the track I hate the most. Angy was my partner though and that is always a plus. She came in because Erin is suspended. That is a wholenother blog that will never be written cause it is a violation of company policy. Anyone at High School knows what I speak of.

Anywho. The last High School show was the what made my whole day worth it. As we arrived at the hat to do show we noticed the cutest little boy that has ever exsisted standing stage left. Lets make a list so I can properly illustrate his cute factor:

1. Full on HSM garb including a foam finger
2. Red Hair
3. Chubby Cheeks
4. Freckles
5. Bright Blue Eyes
6. BRITISH ACCENT!

So needless to say, the best thing ever. Behind him was his stout mom and father, all three looking uber excited to see the show. Well we did the show and obviously he was picked for every crowd participation.

Beri picked him for the brush dance.

I picked him for the limbo. (it was really sad, on the way out he tripped and lost his wittle croc shoe off of his foot. By the time I helped him up and we got his shoe on the limbo was over. A for effort though!)

Then Katie brought him up to teach him the wildcat break down.

He was so precious and the whole time his mom was filming him with the biggest smile on her face. As we finished the show we started assembling to leave I had the weirdest feeling like we should do a meet-and-greet with him and his family. It was, however, our last show and usually the policy is that we don't do m&g's after the last show cause everyone wants to leave. But I couldn't shake it so I asked our manager Nancy if we could do one with them.

She agreed and I am so glad that we did. He came back stage intimidated but extremely excited. He was very quiet and his mom told us that his name was Riley. We all gave him high fives and asked him what his favorite part of the show was. In his wittle british accent he said:

"My mum"

Then his mom informed us that he was autistic and that is why he didn't speak much. She started crying tears of gratitude as she explained that this would be the highlight of their "holiday". They we so grateful and sweet and it was so nice to be around such a pure energy like Riley's.

Moments like that really make me appreciate my job. At first glance High School Musical seems extremely vapid but in all honesty it really connects to those little kids. I am extremely grateful for the position that I am in and I am even more thankful that I got to meet Riley.