last week one of you asked me an excellent question that i find imperative to answer.

“Hi Madi, first let me say you are awesome. Madz, I have a question for you. I was hungry the other day, and all I had was a giant watermelon. But I didn’t know how to eat it. Before I ask my question, I just want to reiterate how awesome you are. You are awesome. Now here is my question. What is the best way to eat a watermelon?”

great question with a very simple response.

Cut it in half.
Grab a spoon.
And chow down.

and a very complex response.

for the average Trinity student, the fun does not end there.
Please note that, with Trinity kids, anything and everything can be made into deeply profound metaphors. Example. The life metaphor: box of chocolates. Need I say more? Watch Forest Gump.

The companion metaphor: the lap desk. As you communicate with the world, record your thoughts in a digital format, or absorb the brilliance of this blog, eventually your laptop computer heats up to a point that it burns your lap.

Like a true friend, in those times of need, the lap desk will be the buffer between you and the unyielding heat of the world. Everyone needs a friend like a lap desk (as well as an actual lap desk) in his or her life.

The wise metaphor: the couch blanket. When it’s cold outside, and the cold seeps into the poorly insulated college apartment you find yourself living in during your senior year at Trinity University, it is necessary to have a blanket on the couch. Yes, on the couch. There is no need to get up and walk to you room, no need to blow all the breakers in the house by plugging in another space heater, no need to light a fire in the fake fireplace where you store your dvds. NO, you have a blanket on the couch.

Just wrap up in that little no-sew fleece blanket you keep on the couch for moments just like this. In cold times the couch blanket of understanding cloaks you in a relaxed warmth and allows you to focus and achieve greatness from the comfort of your couch.

And finally, back to the watermelon. The historical metaphor: the watermelon.

Recently, my housemates and I devoured a watermelon, and not just a watermelon. No, my friend, with this watermelon we constructed a miniature replica of the Berlin Wall for educational purposes. Yes, a Berlin Walltermelon if you will. Please prepare for an innocent, unoffensive, educational Trinity Nerd Moment…

Our Berlin Walltermelon was complete with guards (seeds) atop the wall and citizens (seeds and watermelon juices) in East Berlin who were trying to cross over to West Berlin. The citizens in East Berlin tunneled to West Berlin allowing the supply truck (a green grape) to transport essential provisions (grape juice) to the East Berlin citizens (seeds and juice). When West Germany discovered the tunneling, they created a blockade (a hunk of granola). But alas, on November 9, 1989 (March 26, 2009) crowds of citizens (seeds and juice) rushed the checkpoints (spoon dug holes in watermelon wall) and the guards (seeds atop watermelon wall) could not control the confusion. The citizens crossed the border and eventually tore down the concrete (watermelon) wall with their sledgehammers (spoons), thus uniting the country (fruit).

arial view of Walltermelon

Walltermelon pre-tunneling system

Walltermelon post-tunneling system

Yes, we took pictures. Trinity Nerds. But enlightening and brilliant nonetheless.

And that is the best way to eat a watermelon.

Well my friends, as I am typing these words, I sit upon my couch; the lap desk is out of reach next to the television; the couch blanket has fallen into the dark abyss that exists between the back cushions and the wall; and earlier today, my chocolate-loving housemate and I (the same one that suggested hooing outside my window, see blog history. Jan. 09: “plastic owls or hooing housemates”) took care of all the chocolate boxes we had in the apartment.

consequently, i find myself sitting here chocolateless, blanketless, and unable to handle the blazing heat radiating from the hunk of computing machine burning a hole in my lap. therefore my dear fans...

that is all.
madimelon

Posted by Maddy at 1:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

People have often pondered whether the chicken or the egg came first. This is a tough question. The movers and shakers of our world have posed many similar questions. The seed or the plant? The shoe or the sock?

Well, that last one is rather simple. If you’ve got socks, it is customary to put them on before the shoes.

And with the chicken or egg question, why doesn’t anyone ask, “Is the egg a chicken’s egg?” Be specific people!

That would be such an easy question if the egg was, say, that of a frog. Frogs are amphibians and amphibians came before chickens. Answer: the frog wins. Congratulations frogs.

Anywho, here’s the “chicken or egg” question I’d like to pose:

Did I make Trinity brilliant or did Trinity make me brilliant?

I will admit that when I first came to Trinity I was not as educated and remarkably hip as I am now, four years later. I was a confused little freshman, or “first year” as Trinity likes to call it. I went from an undeclared major to a communication/drama major to a business/drama major to a drama major to realizing how little you major matters as long as you’re learning, growing, and doing what makes you come alive.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
-Howard Thurman

Sorry moms and dads of Trinity students past, present, and future. I am encouraging your kids to follow their dreams.

But I digress. Back to the question at hand: did I make Trinity brilliant or did Trinity make me brilliant?

While I was not as “educated, and remarkably hip” as a freshman as I am today, that does not establish the order of brilliance. I could have made Trinity brilliant even in my lesser state of brilliance.

Despite the origin of this brilliance, the fact still remains that, yes, both me and Trinity are brilliant.

How does one define Trinity?

I am Trinity. Trinity students are Trinity. The faculty and staff, the grounds keepers, the grounds, the cats, the naked man statue on Rosemont are all Trinity. At this very moment, you are Trinity.

Do you feel the brilliance radiating from this webpage?
…that is Trinity.

Do I love Trinity?

Perhaps the better question is do I love myself? Yes, I do. And thus, transitively I love Trinity very much.

that is all.
madiponder

Posted by Maddy at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anytime you fly any place. You board a plane. Yes, you board a plane, and then, if you are flying Southwest, you choose your seat. With other carriers, you find your assigned row and seat. When I went to U/RTA auditions five weekends ago, grad school auditions for Acting programs, I was flying American Airlines. I had an assigned seat. My fate was in the hands of the American Airlines seat assingers. Well, the fate of my happiness on this flight to New York City. You can be completely win-the-lottery lucky with a window seat, sorta-kinda lucky with an aisle seat, or go-ahead-and-jump-out-of-the-plane-while-it’s-still-sitting-on-the-ground unlucky with a middle seat.

So, let’s go back to the beginning. Anytime you fly any place…on a plane, you sit in a seat. Yes, and that seat is one of three types of luckiness and that seat is also either on the lucky side or the unlucky side. If you have a win-the-lottery lucky seat on the lucky side of the plane…well you, my friend, are a double lucky flier, and that’s a whole lot of lucky.

When I went to U/RTA auditions, I happen to be a double lucky flier. As we were landing in La Guardia airport in New York City, I sat window seat to one of the best spectacles the US has to offer. The New York City skyline! It was beautiful.

For those interested, when flying into La Guardia from the South, the lucky side of the plane is the left side. That’s what I like to call a little VIPI: very important piece of information.

YOU: Thank you, I will remember that VIPI.
ME: You’re very welcome you. I’ve got plenty of little gems where that came from.
YOU: Please, please, grace Us with your knowledge.

(enter US)

US: Speak for yourself You. I think Me is a stuck up know-it-all.
ME: Excuse me!?
YOU: No, I didn’t mean grace Us with your brilliance. I meant the reading audience and myself!

(enter MYSELF)

MYSELF: Don’t bring me into this!
ME: What? Who the heck are all of you? Us? Myself?
US: I’m Us.
MYSELF: And I’m just Myself.
ME: Yeah, I see that. But where did you both come from?
US: Same place You did.

(confusing pause)

YOU: I am so sorry, Me. Us, you’re so disrespectful, just get out of here.
US: You don’t have to ask me twice.
YOU: Myself, you can stay if you want.
MYSELF: I’d rather not.

(US and MYSELF exit)

ME: Wow, okay…I’ve never met Us or Myself… they appear cynical, close-minded, and ugly.
YOU: Yes, I agree. Thank goodness they’re gone. Let’s get back to your brilliance.
ME: Let’s do.

The auditions went swimmingly well. I was passed through prelim auditions to the final auditions, out of which I got interviews with several grad schools. Trinity helped pay for a lot of my expenses: the flight, the hotel, and a little change left over.

Here's a few pics of yours truly in NYC. Hang tight, I promise it won't be as bad as your Great Aunt Margie's slide show from her trip to Lubbock.

Times Square!

It just so happens that 80 degree weather in January is actually a Texas thing. In case you didn't know, NYC gets cold during the winter. Imagine that.

Yep, I got to see the Late Show!

The weekend after that was spent in Houston, auditioning for an independent film being shot in Houston this summer. Then, the two weekends after that I got to go to California and audition for two more grad schools. I haven’t heard back from any of the schools yet. But I’ll keep You updated, as well as you my reading audience…and Myself…and Us.

US: No need.
ME: Right.
US: Sorry, you’re just kinda lame.
ME: I’ll work on it…?
US: Good idea. You do that.

Anyway, I do have great news on the independent film front: I am cast. So, this Summer I will be acting and living in Houston for about a month and a half. Yay-hooray!

I want to close with a parting VIPI.
Lucky side of the plane, leaving Las Vegas, heading toward Burbank California: the right side; the right side of the plane gets a beautiful view of the Las Vegas strip. Low angle, at night…it was lovely. Yes, I was a double lucky flier again. That’s like a quadruple lucky flier.

Now for a popular segment that you'll find in past blog entries - Reflections of greatness: people i’ve influenced
This time I would like to salute the American Airlines seat assinger, who made me a double lucky flier, twice, thus making me a quadruple lucky flier. Thanks, American Airlines seat assigner person. You have achieved greatness.

that is all
madair

Posted by Maddy at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)