Generally Speaking.,.....

Life in general has been going fantastic! School's going well. The academic aspect is picking up in gear with finals coming up in less than two months. Did I really just say less than two months? Holy moly, where has this semester gone to? I am already starting work on my finals because finals week is the week of the play i am going to be in and I don't want to be bogged down with a lot of work during when i have to run around to rehearsals. I am anxious to get the ball rolling on starting to rehearse..... whenever rehearsals are going to start. EXCITEMENT! The theatrical aspect is going well too. As I said I am anxious for rehearsals for the play I am going to be in to start.... so so so so so so (well you get the general idea) EXCITED to be in my first show ever at NEC. Early One Evening At The Rainbow Bar and Grille was absolutely fantastic. It was the funniest play I've seen put on here in awhile. They say laughter is the best medicine and I definitely laughed harder than I have in awhile and forgot about some personal issues i've been dealing with lately. Good Job to everyone in the show and the crew ( i give myself a pat on the back too) and congrats to Becky on her directorial debut as well! Brothers Menachmus opens in a few weeks and I am excited for that. It looks like that's going to be a really funny show.


I don't really think I've talked about how my classes have been going much in this blog. Or maybe I have what I talk about in these entries just meshes together. My course load this semester is moderate in the case of how much work I have to do. I've found that I have a much more easier time managing my time than I have since oh...let's say fall of sophomore year. Basically I am finishing up requirements for my communication major with one English elective and another elective which is my career development class. The three classes I am taking for my major are Meaning of The Moving Image, Interpersonal Communications (which I had to retake because I failed it last year) and Principles of Public Relations. Meaning of The Moving Image has been really challenging for me because analyzing things is.. . let's say not exactly my forte. I will be practically married to the movie American Beauty by the end of the semester because I have to watch it so much for that class. We have to pick the move apart bit by bit aspect by aspect and I don't do well with going into depth with things. When I first watched American Beauty I must admit I didn't really like it all that much but I guess now that I've had to watch it so much for that class I've grown to like it a bit better than I did originally. Interpersonal Communications is pretty interesting. I think the trouble I had with that class last year that there way too much terminology to handle. This time around there isn't really any terminology. Right now we are doing a movie analysis project where we have to watch a movie and analyze a movie and the methods of communications in it. We then have to pick two scenes from the movie and role play them... one example of good communication which we have to ruin in the role play and one example of poor communication which we have to fix in the role play. Right up my ally for someone who loves theater stuff as much as I do. Principles of Public Relations has been an interesting class. I took that class mainly because I did some PR work at the Barn Playhouse this summer and had fun doing it. I figured I would learn more about PR so I can determine I want to go into it for a career after graduation. Right now we are working on our final projects in which we have put together a media press kit for a ficticious company of our choice. I decided to do mine on children's literacy. The other two classes I am taking are Madness in Literature and Career Development. Madness in Literature is pretty interesting. We have been reading a variety of different books and comparing the main characters form of madness in each book. So far the book I liked the best is Catcher In The Rye. Career Development is the easiest class I have this semester. Basically this class perpares us for life after colllege in terms of writing resumes and preparing for job interviews.

Course selection for next semester ( MY FINAL SEMESTER AT NEC) starts in a couple of weeks. I have a general idea of what I want to take and what I still need to take for my major
Major classes:
~ Persuaison and Propaganda
~Sex and Power Roles in Film
~Advanced Public Speaking (if it is offered)
Electives
~Short Story Workshop
~Dramatic Criticism
~Theatre History II

I am actually scared to start looking for a job. Like reallly really scared. I have to start doing research for that over Christmas Break. I still have no idea what I want to do after I graduate. I actually kind of want to go back to the Barn Playhouse again this summer but we'll see what kind of jobs I find closer to where I live. My mother emailed me the other day and told me that a local theatre troupe in the next town over from me is putting on the play of her book Bravery Soup and I might end up assitant directing that so I don't know. ugghhh



well time to hit the sack... though technically speaking i can sleep as late as i want tomorrow bwcause I don;t have anythng to do til 5pm when I have to go to set strike.

Love
Sweet Janine
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RED SOX!

My Latest Poem

Rock Star Fantasy
It's hard to wake up from a good dream
but equally as easy to wake up
from a horrible nightmare
I didn't want to wake upwhen my alarm went off
because the dream was justtoo good
and as the song from Cabaret goes"Why should I wake up?... this dream is going so well"
Anyway I had another rockstar fantasy
much like the one that I had back in November
all though this time it was better thanThe Power of J
much more edgy this time
though we weren't afraid to beltout that angsty anthem by Alanis Morriestte
that is known by everyone as You Oughta Know
as a killer duet
Code Red Think Blue is our name
three guys and three girls with a mission
which is to rock your faces off obvi
Sweet Caroline is our lead off cover song though it was a tad funked out
we also did a few Beatles coversbecause the Beatles are awesome
who doesn't like a little Hey Judeor I Wanna Hold Your Hand?
Original songs included those of an invention that aids people
who have non-sticky saliva when it comes to licking envelopes
macaroni and cheese belligerancy while sober
and Harry Potter
Flaming pyrotechnics and multicolred hair
all part of our awesome act
that rocked the nation
Beep Beep Beep
is that a fire alarm?
No, just my alarm clockI don't want to wake up
if the sun wasn't so blinding
like the stage lights then itwouldn't be so hard
Darn this dream was going so well
monumentous on so many levels
I don't want it to end.

Members of the band in my dream Code Red Think Blue (don't ask me where I came up with that name there is no answer to that):
Janine Leffler, Cooper Bowman, Jennie Leonard, Will Porter, Maggie Politi, Miles Mandewelle

Deep Pensivitiy in Danforth

I am in the library right now because I am not in the mood to do the reading I have to do for lit class. I am not sure if we have to finish the book for tomorrow or not. So now it's time to be reflective for a mintue.

Back in August at the last brunch we had @ the Barn Playhouse at Wally and Bud's house I kind of joined in on a conversation that Bud was having with Will Paul and Nic a little too late to put in my own input. They were talking about the future and where they see themselves going with their degrees after the graduate and in general what their dreams are. I had a general idea of what I wanted to say at that particular moment but as I said I joined the conversation a little to late to insert my own input. Since my future and what i am going to do with the rest of my life is constantly on my mind here's my own insight.

I am 22 years old... about to graduate from college in May. The future is a complete and total blank slate because I have no idea at all what I want to do with rest of my life. Well, actually I take that back I do have a few ideas of what I want to do but nothing I've nailed down indefinitly. I'm a small town girl at heart and while I do love New York City quite a bit I can't picture myself living there at least not right away. That might be a long term goal,who knows? I do know however that I've lived the small town life for far too long and will be ready to move to someplace bigger, better and more... what's the best word to put here....Flamboyant? Exciting?? than Amherst NH the town where I curently reside. I guess it all depends on what kind of employment I find. I am a tech theatre guru at hard... fell in love with it in high school and have been in love with every aspect of it ever since. That explains the #1 reason why I loved my New London Barn Playhouse internship this summer and find myself missing it on a quite consistant basis. I just loved the energy I felt working with all the other interns and tech people on the shows... especially Annie Get Your Gun. Whenever I watch the DVD of that show I get teary eyed because I really miss being a part of that cast so much. Anyway let's stick to the main subject. Tech theatre or publicity work for a theatre could potientially be something I might consider for a carreer. After I graduate I might consider volunteering for the Milford Area Players which is a community theater troupe in the next town over from me as well as possibly doing publicity work for my town's PTA production next year maybe even voluenteering with my high school's and middle school's theatre department depending on if they need volunteers or not. Eventually I might want to break away from the small town community of Amherst. The top 5 local places I want to live are 1) Boston 2) Concord 3) Manchester 4) Portsmouth and 5) Portland Maine. It depends where I find the best jobs though which is why I need to start doing research. If anyone can help t hink of websites to look at that would be a great help. Besides technical theatre my other main passion is writing. Mostly poetry but unless I want to live in a box on a street corner for the rest of my life I don't think I can make much of career out of that. The concentration of my communuications major is Broadcast Journalism. I have been on my school's newspaper for four years and have really enjoyed working on it a lot. I write articles about the theatre shows on campus and have found my writing to improve a lot since I was freshmen. Maybe if I combine the forces of my two passions together I will end up finding a career in something that will make me get the best combination possible of theatre and writing.

Only time can tell where the future will lead me.

Love
Sweet Janine


PS THE RED SOX ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES HELL YA!!

LET'S GO RED SOX

Game 6 ALCS!!!
Red Sox 12
Indians 2

Let the madness end now for crying out loud! We've been winning since the top of the 3rd inning. The Red Sox have been dominating! I am so excited that game 7 is definitley in the cards. I have a feeling we're going to go all the way in the World Series.

Enough of the sports report!

Yeterday was my one month anniversay with my boyfriend. We went out to dinner at Daniel's and then we went to go see Good Luck Chuck. The movie has go to the be the funniest movie I have seen in awhile. I have never been so happy as I have been in this relationship. YAY!!

I am a hypocrite and here's why:

• I say i'm going to cut back on using facebook and myspace so much and when i have nothing else better to do with my time bada boom there's something to do
• I pretend like I don't miss my friends from the Barn Playhouse as much as I do.... but I do. Crazy nights of drunkn madness and intense Mafia session especially.
• I say I don't like High School Musical and yet one of my top rated songs on my Itunes is We're All In This Together
• I've been saying I'm going to delete my myspace for a year and a half and yet I haven't deleted my account yet.

I still feel guilty for the way I acted with the whole Will blocking me from facebook thing. I already apologized to him and he forgave me but after I apologized to him I should've just let it go but I still continued to worry about it and made him upset. I should probalby just forget about it.. but it's hard to when the guilt still lingers.

Today I had tech stuff for Early One Evening At The Rainbow Bar and Grille all day and i am so tired. The set looks sooooo fantastic and I getting so excited about opening night on Thursday. The show is going to be amazing. My roommate Jacci is the stage manager and she's been filling me in on how the rehearsals have been going. It's going to be hillarious!! Details for those who want to come

The show runs Thursday- Sunday October 25-28th Thurs-Sat shows at 7 and Sunday Matinee at 2. To reserve tickets call the box office at 603 428-2485.

Time for bed. I'm exhausted and plan on getting up early tomorrow so I can do some homework before I got to crew at 11:30

Love

Sweet Janine

My latest poem read/respond

Traveling Down A Path Marked Unknown (Senior Year Version)

Upon arrival in Henniker four years ago in late August
I was on a path marked unknown
Thinking " What am I doing here?""
What am I going to do with the rest of life?"
My path was undetermined
Now four years later
My major has been declared
and i'm ready to take on new challenges
I feel more than prepared
Graduation Day is May 10th
and quite honestly I'm scared
Many college seniors like me
feel the same way no doubt
So many questions that are unanswered
eventually i'll figure something out
Right now my main focusis getting through the rest of this semester's classes
I get more anxious for Christmas Breakwith everyday that passes
but it's still mid October yet
2 months left to go
gotta get through all the hardships of academia
and my first ever NEC show
The first timeI'll be gracing the NEC stage
will be the first week of December
my excitment for the show goes beyond this page
Many experiences I've had
both in and out of school
have giving me insight of whatthe future holds for
and it makes me all the more anxious
but I just have to keep my cool
Now that's it's time almostfor me to spread my wings and fly
I am led once again down a path marked unknown
and new things I am willling to try

Midsemester Break in one word.. glorious

Midsemester break is far too short... but in this case short is good just enough time for me to rejevuenate myself before starting the second half of the semester. The part of the semester that I am honestly looking the most foward to.
Yesterday was my dad's 50th birthday party. It was nice to see my family since I haven't seen them since Christmas. :) Before the party I relaxed and did my homework for public relations class which isn't due til Thursday. Today I spent all afternoon working on my Meaning of The Moving Image midterm paper. This is first time I actually sat down and wrote a paper without thinking about the page requirement when I was writing it. I got it to 3 pages single spaced and 5 and a half double spaced.. which is phenominal because it's supposed to be 4-6 pages. I feel very accomplished right now. Horrray!
The remaining homework I have to do is

• PR Type up case study ex 12 & 13; start research for final project
• Lit: Journal Entry: Reaction to poetry reading I went on Thursday... I might even impress Sylva by throwing in a poem of my own into the journal entry... yeah I'm that good :)

I did pretty good. I suprised myself actually. Now I need to get myself on a better system for buckling down and getting homework done at school. This might require going to the library and Sciecnce Building computer labs often because I find myself to be less distracted and able to get a lot more stuff done when I do homework in those places. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I bring my homework to work with me at the galley just to fend off getting too bored and also so the four hours while I am there waiting for the phone to ring isn't consistant of surfing myspace and facebook. Next week is going be the most hectic week of my life because it's tech week for Early One Evening At The Rainbow Bar And Grille. I have crew hours this weekend on Saturday and Sunday and then tech rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday, Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday and opening night on Thursday. I will post pics if I get time to take any during rehearsals, crew hours and backstage. I am so pumped for the show. It's going to be amazing!

I am still in awe that this semester is halfway over. Where did the time go? I have no idea. I am getting so close to graduting I can almost taste it. I'm getting anxious for May 10th to come quite honestly. For a person who loves school as much I do that statement might be shocking for you all to hear come out of my mouth. As much as I love school I am ready to take on the next chapter of my life.. although I am not quite sure which direction I am headed in. Over Christmas vacation I have to start thinking about where I want to apply for jobs next year. The thing that kills me is that I don't drive so I'm going to have to depend on public transportation to get me places. And that my friends is the number 1 reason why I need to get out of Amherst. I'm not saying I want to move to New York... that's a little extreme and I can't really see myself living in New York anyways... at least not right away... got to work myself up the ladder in the working world. The top five places where I could picture myself working are Boston, Manchester, Portland Maine, Concord and Portsmouth. I have many different experiences both inside and outside of school that have inttoduced me to various fields of commuincations.

Since freshmen year I have:

• Been involved with my school's radio station for three years as a DJ and have enjoyed doing that.
• Been involved with my school newspaper since freshmen year writing articles about the theatre shows and couple of sports articles here or there. I was never involved in journalism in high school but when I decided to join the NewEnglander freshmen year I thought to myself " Hey, I like writing, I like theatre so why combine my two passions there." Last year I was even theatre editor which was awesome.
• Been on the editorial staff for the school's literary magazine The Henniker Review. Hopefully I'll get a poem or two published in it this year.. that would be a good way to end my senior year with a bang but we'll see.
• Had an internship with the Milford Cabinet in Summer 2006. That was a good way to get my feet wet and see how a real newspaper is put together and published. It also introduced me to writing different types of articles I am not used to writing

and of coure this summer I had an internship @ New London Barn Playhouse. I can't say enough what an awesome experience it was and how much I miss it. Like writing articles for the NewEnglander working for the Barn Playhouse was a way for me to combine two of my passions writing (in the form of writing press releases and other forms of promotional material for the plays) and theater (in the form of doing backstage work, acting and assitant directing). So many awesome memories from this summer as I've already touched upon in previous entries.. miss everything and everyone sooooooooooo much.

So all of these various experiences have led me to get somewhat of a handle on general ideas for what I want to do for my future. There are many possible options that I could do. Doing PR work for a theatre could be a possibilty wheather it's the Barn Playhouse, The Palace Theatre or theatres in Boston or Portsmouth. I could do freelance writing for local newspapers for awhile or maybe see if I could write reviews on plays since I am such a theatre buff. There are so many options.. I honestly don't know where to begin with looking for jobs... like at all.

Well it's getting late and i have to get up early tomorrow because I have a drs appt @ 9:00

Peace Out

Love

Janine

It's just.... ya know

I hate when I can't come with good subject headings for these entries.. it kind of drives me nuts. This is probably going to be an entry that is filled with jumbled thoughts.... no scratch that it is an entry filled with jumbled thoughts.
Thought #1: Barnsick
You know how people get homesick? Well here's a new spin on it. I'm Barnsick. That's right Barnsick. As much as I am enjoying being back at school I miss everyone from the Barn Playhouse so much. I had such an amazing summer with them. It was the best summer of my life.. undeniably. I miss
*The 9:00 am -noon rehearsals for Bravery Soup and all the energy that went into those rehearsals. Whenever I listen to Thank God I"m A Country Boy I get teary inside... please don't laugh at me. 2007 JIS RULE FACE!! Acting... Genius!
* The intense games of Mafia .... enough said.
* The long rehearsals of Annie Get Your Gun that seemed to drag on forever but were worth it in the end because that show was THE MOST AMAZING SHOW I have ever been a part of. I miss Danielle's yummy intermission snacks too :P
*Getting yelled at by Nancy's neighbor on the 4th of July... that kind of scarred me and Will for a couple days.
(on a side note: I hope Maggie liked her birthday present)
Thought 2: Boringness and Longing For Excitment
The Only Henniker On Earth is the most boring place on the face of the planet... on ocasssion. I kind of wish I went to school in a place like Boston ... or NYC where there is more stuff to do.... on ocassion.
Thought 3: The longest weeks of my life are over!
Well I can't beleive how quick the first seven weeks of the semester have flown by. In thier own respects each week of the seven weeks has had it's own level of stress attached to it. Between freaking out because of a certain incident involving facebook and one of my friends from the Barn Playhouse that has resolved itself nicely (even though my friend Erin likes to joke with me that we fight like a married couple. ), having to switch my schedule around, dealing with the stress of being unsure if I should stay with my New England College Press internship and midterms I look foward to going home for midsemester break tomorrow.. relaxing, unwinding, curling up with my dvds from the Barn Playhouse, seeing my family and enjoying my mother's home cooking. I will be fully rejuevenated and look foward to the following when I return on Tuesday

• Spending time with my awesome friends and amazing boyfriend
• Open Mic night on Wednesday. Singing Somewhere That's Green.. most def!
• Doing tech stuff for Early One Evening At The Rainbow Bar and Grille The show is going to be amazing. I'm super pumped!
• Rehearsals for the show I am in starting. The show we're doing is still being determined at this time but I am looking foward to my first NEC acting experience. I'm getting anxious!!!

Gotta run! I have to be at Poetry reading at the Art Gallery that I have attend to write a paper on for lit clas in 10 minutes.

PEACE!

Sweet Janine