Live and Learn '08

Wow... I think that this Live and Learn was perhaps the best of all of them. Of course, I remain biased about it with Nic by my side nearly 24-7 the entire time, but still. I found my balance while I was there... I went to a few talks (I was really upset that I missed Brenna's and Cameron's, but I was so exhausted that I needed to sleep in at least one of the days, especially if I was going to survive the masquerade) and I feel that I went to just enough funshops that I enjoyed myself, but I wasn't overwhelmed or overscheduled. The few that I went to were:

Gillain's friendship bracelet funshop, and that was a lot of fun. Gillain was marvelous at helping people from demonstrating/talking people through cutting the hemp, to weaving the knots, stringing the beads, and finishing. He was patient and modest with everyone he worked with! Though he tried to refuse many times (as I said, modest), he eventually accepted a bracelet that I had made for him, with his own help. Unfortunately I was incapable of going to the funshop its second time around, I was very grateful to have been there the first time.

Robyn's mask-making funshop was another. I love the mask I made, and I could feel the inspiration flowing through the room as everyone made theirs together. There were beads, paint, markers, plastic gems, feathers, lace and yarn. Kyra's was amazing! I loved the colors she put in it, and all of the detail she thought of. I was a bit simpler than that, but simple was what matched what I wore, so I was very satisfied.

Make-up with your friends. Wow. That was... an amazing and hilarious funshop. When I read about it, I was hanging out with most of my usual L&L friends (Nic, Alec, Roxy, Kimi, Chloe) so I asked that they all just come along. A lot of them said they'd tag along, but they didn't want me putting make-up on them... well, that just wouldn't do, so I spread the word, and managed to tug Logan along as well. I won't lie, I really made him into an A-Class slut. Ruby red lipstick, eyeliner, bright blue eyeshadow reaching up to his eyebrows, and thick mascara. I say, he would have made Mimi Carey proud. How patient he was with me really was incredible... I think I would have grown very irritated with myself. Ah, I'm spoiled by my friends! Nic was my second subject, who was also incredibly patient. After applying eyeliner and eyeshadow, he said that the only way he would allow me to put lipstick on him was to make him into a Joker. ...so I did.


I know I'm already extremely biased, but isn't he beautiful? ♥ Heehee!

There were way too many inside jokes to name, but I'll try a few anyway. Kimi's poisoned ice cream turning her hair blue, having a seizure, ripping the sunglasses off your face while you're outside and putting them on when you're inside, "Did you know the distance between here to here, is the same from here to here?", Moo-purr (though that wasn't really my inside joke to begin with), "Ahbbeii!", beautiful babies, The Chicken, and so many more. Y'know how awful it is when so much happened, and though it's all on the tip of your tongue (or... fingers, if you're blogging) but you just can't grab them and say/write it all? Egh. Yeah.

The talent show was a blast, as well (and as usual). The amount of the kids that were brave enough to participate the very first night was amazing to witness, and they were (though I hope they won't feel demeaned or offended that I say so) adorable. After being berated, reminded and begged by a few people (cough cough, Mindy and Alec) to play To Zanarkand at the talent show, I did. I was shaking from head to toes as I got up on that stage, but I did it! It was weird... I could have walked up to any of those people in the audience and had a conversation with them, no sweat. I am so confident in myself now, that I feel I could have done that... even talking to them up there, that was no problem, because I can just concentrate on those eyes that I know. But when I'm performing on a piano in front of everyone on a stage, and I know they all can hear my playing, I get a little shivery. I made more mistakes than I could have accounted for up there, but I still managed to get an applause that reassured me that I was exactly where I needed to be, and everyone agreed. I still have to thank Alec and Mindy excessively for getting me up there. It was great.

The masquerade was incredible, too... apparently Logan was so impressed by my makeup the first time I did it, he allowed me to put a little bit of eyeliner on him to match his costume! Nic did as well, and I was oh-so flattered. Nic looked sexy very handsome in his costume, which he and I had picked out at a thrift store sometime in the week before L&L. At first he wanted pirate, then we thought swashbuckler type shirt and dark pants, maybe he could just dress up instead of dressing up as something... then once we got it, it took us another week before we really realized that he looked just like Wesley from Princess Bride, dressed up as the Dread Pirate Roberts! So it turned out he got his pirate look after all. The ironic part about it, is Princess Bride is the first movie that he and I watched together... ♥ A little while later, it was apparent that my costume also resembled Princess Buttercup, so apparently we were dressed up as someone else after all!



(Thank you to Madeline for uploading these pictures for me to steal!)

The entire masquerade was fabulous. Unfortunately, it was so warm in there, I could only bear to wear my mask for about fifteen minutes before taking it off. Same went for nearly everyone else, in fact. I was a little disappointed with most of the music (preppy pop stuff like Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me, and My Humps) but when surrounded by all of your friends, it doesn't really matter what song it is you're jamming to. We all had a great time.

If only it could last. Nic went home near the end of the picnic, and I had a really hard time dealing with him not being there. I've mostly coped by now, but everyone else was really supportive and helpful. Ben, Christine, Mindy, Dagny, Kimi... they all had some advice and comfort that I was very grateful for. I love all of you guys, and I can't wait to see you sometime soon!

I'm sorry that I didn't have more pictures to put into this blog, but I'm on my laptop and the pictures are on the PC. I'm sure my mom will post them all sometime soon, so you can enjoy them over there! I'm sure I didn't do Live and Learn justice, but at least that slightly summed up my experience.