As many of you may know, the Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for over $4 billion today from George Lucas and have announced plans to release a Star Wars Episode 7.
I am intimately connected to this event in 4 ways:
1. I am employed by the Walt Disney Company.
2. I happen to work full-time at Star Tours, the one and only Star Wars themed attraction at Disneyland.
3. I was born and raised in Modesto, CA, which is also George Lucas's hometown and where his first film, American Graffiti, was set, and
4. I am a huge Star Wars geek. Like, a "I own not one but TWO Star Wars shirts and I also know Star Wars Battlefront 2 inside and out because I played it all weekend every weekend in high school instead of going out" geek.
So I know my opinion doesn't count for literally anything, but I'm going to give it anyways. I don't mind the permanent marriage of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Disney, three things I love immensely. This is all well and good. But the announcement of an episode seven is highly diconcerting. The insisted continuation of a franchise we all know peaked in 1983 with The Return of the Jedi is, I feel, a mistake. Sure, the last three made were exciting for me as a kid. I still remember my father pulling me out of school early on the day of the release of Revenge of the Sith to go see it at the Brenden Theatres in downtown Modesto together. But one can only take so much cheesy Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen dialogue (love you guys, huge fan xoxo), and the amount of energy we had to put into pretending to like The Phantom Menace alone was frankly exhausting. The classic Star Wars is the Star Wars we all love, in all its primitive greenscreen glory and Harrison Ford sex appeal. We didn't really need episodes 1 through 3, and we definitely don't need episodes 7 through 9. I plead with you, Disney, for the love of all that is intergalactic and holy, let Star Wars rest in peace.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Home is where one starts from. (T.S. Eliot)
The two months of Halloween at Disneyland are almost over (and good thing too, because if I hear Grim Grinning Ghosts one more time I'm going to go postal). There is snow on the castle already, even though it was 93 degrees yesterday. After over a month of not having to get emotional while at work, it's starting all over again.
Last year, when my cousin Maddi did the college program at Walt Disney World, she sent our whole family a video she made as a Christmas gift, encouraging all of us to remember how lucky we were to have those we loved so near during that beautiful season. She spent her Christmas alone, all the way across the country, working. I remember imagining her loneliness and then reminding myself that I'd never have to spend a Christmas away from home until I am married and have my own little family. Now I face the semi-horrific realization that my fate will be the same as Maddi's. On Christmas, the one holiday that focuses the most on familial ties and the importance of love, I will be alone.
However, as much as my family IS the cornerstone in my life and can never be replaced, I have some other small families now that have nourished me and helped me to grow. I have neighbors who will wake up extra early on a day when I work two hours before anyone else does to make sure I get fresh pancakes and eggs before I leave. I have a roommate who makes me do only half-kidding "wrist checks" on days when she knows I'm depressed and pulls me off the couch to dance around the living room to One Direction songs. I have friends who will walk around downtown with me on a lazy fall night and wander into the nearby ice rink to watch a hockey game while wearing pajamas and flip flops. I have friends who will talk with me about God, about our futures, about love and about how I deserve much more than I'm settling for. I have friends who'd rather watch old Danny Phantom episodes or The Princess and the Frog or bake muffins and play guitar than go out and get drunk. I have people who know me and my needs more than I know myself.
I miss my family. Their significance in my life can never be exaggerated. But I am grateful for all the people who've stepped in to temporarily fill their places, to make sure I get fed and have a full tank of gas and don't sit home alone watching Family Guy every night. As hard as it is to face the Christmas season alone, it's almost even harder to imagine eventually losing all of the people I've become so close to in these last couple of months. I hope my whole life goes something like this. It's the most incredible feeling in the world to know that, even as I struggle, there is always someone who will bring me In N Out and make me laugh so hard, I forget about everything else. Most of them will never read this. But if you do, thank you.
Last year, when my cousin Maddi did the college program at Walt Disney World, she sent our whole family a video she made as a Christmas gift, encouraging all of us to remember how lucky we were to have those we loved so near during that beautiful season. She spent her Christmas alone, all the way across the country, working. I remember imagining her loneliness and then reminding myself that I'd never have to spend a Christmas away from home until I am married and have my own little family. Now I face the semi-horrific realization that my fate will be the same as Maddi's. On Christmas, the one holiday that focuses the most on familial ties and the importance of love, I will be alone.
However, as much as my family IS the cornerstone in my life and can never be replaced, I have some other small families now that have nourished me and helped me to grow. I have neighbors who will wake up extra early on a day when I work two hours before anyone else does to make sure I get fresh pancakes and eggs before I leave. I have a roommate who makes me do only half-kidding "wrist checks" on days when she knows I'm depressed and pulls me off the couch to dance around the living room to One Direction songs. I have friends who will walk around downtown with me on a lazy fall night and wander into the nearby ice rink to watch a hockey game while wearing pajamas and flip flops. I have friends who will talk with me about God, about our futures, about love and about how I deserve much more than I'm settling for. I have friends who'd rather watch old Danny Phantom episodes or The Princess and the Frog or bake muffins and play guitar than go out and get drunk. I have people who know me and my needs more than I know myself.
I miss my family. Their significance in my life can never be exaggerated. But I am grateful for all the people who've stepped in to temporarily fill their places, to make sure I get fed and have a full tank of gas and don't sit home alone watching Family Guy every night. As hard as it is to face the Christmas season alone, it's almost even harder to imagine eventually losing all of the people I've become so close to in these last couple of months. I hope my whole life goes something like this. It's the most incredible feeling in the world to know that, even as I struggle, there is always someone who will bring me In N Out and make me laugh so hard, I forget about everything else. Most of them will never read this. But if you do, thank you.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Things I Am Loving
- the obscene amount of Halloween candy in a bowl on my kitchen counter and it isn't even Halloween yet
- that FROLLO from the Hunchback of Notre Dame is making park appearances!!!!
- rainy weather that I can wear my cool Star Tours jacket in
- Haunted Mansion backstage tour. Mind: BLOWN
- roommates that bring me home Jack in the Box tacos "just because"
- a free screening of Frankenweenie, popcorn included (I highly recommend this movie)
- speaking face to face with Adam Sandler. This is still registering
- having nondenominational Jesus Time with friends and pizza and cupcakes Sunday night
- THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 3
- that my family is going to be here in FOUR DAYS
- getting hourly SF Giants updates from fellow fans on game days when I compliment their shirts or hats
- that I have a VOICE this week
- life, basically.
Happy Monday!
- that FROLLO from the Hunchback of Notre Dame is making park appearances!!!!
- rainy weather that I can wear my cool Star Tours jacket in
- Haunted Mansion backstage tour. Mind: BLOWN
- roommates that bring me home Jack in the Box tacos "just because"
- a free screening of Frankenweenie, popcorn included (I highly recommend this movie)
- speaking face to face with Adam Sandler. This is still registering
- having nondenominational Jesus Time with friends and pizza and cupcakes Sunday night
- THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 3
- that my family is going to be here in FOUR DAYS
- getting hourly SF Giants updates from fellow fans on game days when I compliment their shirts or hats
- that I have a VOICE this week
- life, basically.
Happy Monday!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
"I've never felt so lost. I've never felt so much at home."
I envy the kids who know what they're doing with their lives. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of indecision and uncertainty. I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket, but I have to admit, I kind of did this time.
I did a character audition for Disneyland Paris three weeks ago and it went splendidly. When the auditions started, there were 125 hopefuls. At the end of the final cut, there were only 18, and I was one of them. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. Who doesn't dream of being a Disney princess or Mickey Mouse? We were told we would be contacted mid-October after Paris took inventory of which characters they needed. I didn't expect to get another callback, and I didn't. While I wasn't hugely shocked or disappointed, this did blow my cop-out plan out of the water.
So here I am, wondering what to do next. I haven't even decided on a major. Do I go back to Modesto after my program is over? Do I stay with Disney for another six months and then go back to school? Do I transfer schools and stay in Southern California? Are any of these plans even halfway feasible?
All I know is that right now, I love where I am. I love my job. I love my family and I love all the good friends I'm making here. I wish I could stay here forever. I'll figure something out.
Besides, I don't speak French.
I did a character audition for Disneyland Paris three weeks ago and it went splendidly. When the auditions started, there were 125 hopefuls. At the end of the final cut, there were only 18, and I was one of them. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. Who doesn't dream of being a Disney princess or Mickey Mouse? We were told we would be contacted mid-October after Paris took inventory of which characters they needed. I didn't expect to get another callback, and I didn't. While I wasn't hugely shocked or disappointed, this did blow my cop-out plan out of the water.
So here I am, wondering what to do next. I haven't even decided on a major. Do I go back to Modesto after my program is over? Do I stay with Disney for another six months and then go back to school? Do I transfer schools and stay in Southern California? Are any of these plans even halfway feasible?
All I know is that right now, I love where I am. I love my job. I love my family and I love all the good friends I'm making here. I wish I could stay here forever. I'll figure something out.
Besides, I don't speak French.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Priorities
Here's a story about priorities:
My friend Tucker, who lives right across the hallway from me, called out sick for THREE consecutive days this week, which included skipping his class this morning, to grow a beard. He can't make rent this week, but he had to do it because, and I quote, "my face is breaking out."
Not that I'm much better. I refuse to buy groceries more than twice a month but I just spent $40 on a new foundation from Sephora. It's fascinating to observe how young adults handle their financial affairs in so many different ways. Things were different up at school; most people were unemployed and avoided spending money like the plague. I couldn't even get people to spend $7 to see The Phantom Menace in theatres with me. On top of it all, nobody drank alcohol. Here, the fact that we are all working 30 to 50 hours a week creates this false sense of wealthy independence. I've seen kids do everything from spend $30 on an Avengers 4-disc box set to blow $85 on a lavish dinner and a few too many glasses of wine at Blue Bayou. But what it comes down to is, we're all here for the experience. Few of us have had jobs that paid more than minimum wage for tending to fro yo machines. I think it's okay that, now that we are gainfully employed in one of the busiest and most entertaining counties in America, we spend a little too much money on experiences that we will never be able to have again in five or ten years, when we are all tied down with jobs, grad school or marriage.
Priorities are for those who have more to worry about than just which Halloween party they're going to next week. So pray for me and my frequent, drool-filled trips to the Fossil store in Downtown Disney. I'm going to need it.
My friend Tucker, who lives right across the hallway from me, called out sick for THREE consecutive days this week, which included skipping his class this morning, to grow a beard. He can't make rent this week, but he had to do it because, and I quote, "my face is breaking out."
Not that I'm much better. I refuse to buy groceries more than twice a month but I just spent $40 on a new foundation from Sephora. It's fascinating to observe how young adults handle their financial affairs in so many different ways. Things were different up at school; most people were unemployed and avoided spending money like the plague. I couldn't even get people to spend $7 to see The Phantom Menace in theatres with me. On top of it all, nobody drank alcohol. Here, the fact that we are all working 30 to 50 hours a week creates this false sense of wealthy independence. I've seen kids do everything from spend $30 on an Avengers 4-disc box set to blow $85 on a lavish dinner and a few too many glasses of wine at Blue Bayou. But what it comes down to is, we're all here for the experience. Few of us have had jobs that paid more than minimum wage for tending to fro yo machines. I think it's okay that, now that we are gainfully employed in one of the busiest and most entertaining counties in America, we spend a little too much money on experiences that we will never be able to have again in five or ten years, when we are all tied down with jobs, grad school or marriage.
Priorities are for those who have more to worry about than just which Halloween party they're going to next week. So pray for me and my frequent, drool-filled trips to the Fossil store in Downtown Disney. I'm going to need it.
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