We're Moving (and this time, only virtually!)

To the faithful few,

I've moved to a new blog address. This one is going into the archives. The new blog promises to be all that and MORE! How's that for no description at all? Please "follow" me over there! I have some surprises in store. I'm actually putting thought into it. Lots of love guys. It's been fun.

Hilary

OH YEAH. YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE IT IS.


hilarysutton.blogspot.com

yay for a little something new!!! it is spring after all. :)
Please stop by and tell me whatcha think!

Every day is a winding road...

(*I wrote this entry last Friday but am just now getting to post it...)

I’m on my way to New York.

But not to audition. Not to do my independent I DO WHAT I WANT! Lemme at those dreams thing.

Mainly…

To see a boy!

I really didn’t know anyone could be so sweet. Or…would be so sweet. It’s crazy yall. He’s so communicative. So available. So open. So not self-protecting. He’s real with me. He gets me—and if there’s any part of me that he doesn’t “get” he wants to. He cares. And on top of all of that, I look up to him.

I LOOK UP TO HIM.

I LOOK UP TO HIM!

Do you know how often that has happened in my life?

Especially with anyone who’s attempted to date me?

I admire him. I want to be more like him. It’s incredible.

I never knew it could really be like this. I wanted it to be like this. But disappointments and reality checks came as early as 16. So do you get why I’m a little in shock that this is happening when I’m knocking on 26’s door?

Feelin pretty undeserving and lucky.

Since I was 18 here’s how it’s gone:

Nashville>Lynchburg>Colorado Springs>Lynchburg>Pigeon Forge>Lynchburg>Orlando>Roanoke>Nashville>New York>Nashville>Lynchburg>Wytheville>New York>Lynchburg.

And all those twisty winding roads led me right here.

So.

Wonder what kind of surprise might pop up on your winding road when you’re not expecting it. Better keep your eyes open and chin up…or you could miss it.

To Life!!! L'Chaim

As some of you know I've jumped on the IN THE HEIGHTS bandwagon a little late but no less passionately than all the others. In November I finally saw the show that won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2008. I loved it so much I took my family to see it a month later. It has quickly become my favorite show. The creator and composer/lyricist Lin Manuel-Miranda grew up in Washington Heights (the part of Manhattan where I lived for 3 months this past fall/winter) and penned this beautiful musical about his beloved neighborhood. The story is particularly touching to me because it centers around an immigrant community and it hits close to home as my own maternal great-grandparents arrived on Ellis Island less than 100 years ago.

I found this video of Lin Manuel singing the song "To Life" from the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at his own wedding this past September. It delights me because not only do I think he is awesome and the video is just delightful, but also because it is a song from my own culture!

If you need a little refresher on the original here ya go! (And with subtitles I fully expect you to be singing along):

Amusing Ourselves to Death (my first reaction)

"No clearer example of the difference between earlier and modern forms of public discourse can be found than in the contrast between the theological arguments of Jonathan Edwards and those of, say, Jerry Falwell, or Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts. The formidable content to Edwards' theology must inevitably engage the intellect; if there is such a content to the theology of the television evangelicals, they have not yet made it known." -Neil Postman, 1985 Amusing Ourselves to Death

Zing! 

I am loving this fascinating read that I am (ironically?) working through in my Mass Media Theory class (at the very university Dr. Falwell founded in 1971). My professor is a sharp Northwestern grad that encourages balanced dialogue and critical thinking. Mr. Postman's criticism of the Age of TV is still relevant but must be considered differently in light of the changes that have occurred in media. No longer are we simply recipients of 1-way communication. Now not only are we are constantly selecting (even down to advertisements thanks to DVR and Hulu) the media we'll take in but we are also responding back to it. With Twitter, conversation between "regular people" and "celebrities" occurs instantaneously. (This happened to me with Tony-winner and star of ABC's 'Private Practice' Audra McDonald.)  With Youtube's comment section all voices are made equal. The question our professor has challenged us with as we are reading Postman's book is: Given that virtually all media have some form of consumer/end user input to the communication system; does this affect Postman's conclusions?

With the advent of new media, lectures have become conversations and mindless agreement has been replaced by brazen honesty. What are the next steps in this process of reshaping media? I don't have a prediction yet. However, I'm excited to continue reading a book for a class that absolutely relates to my life. And they said grad school was impractical. Pssh.

What I'm doing in grad school

When I first heard the words "face" and "book" paired together I was a sophomore in college. I was 19. 4 years after 9-11. Midway through the Bush years. Coldplay, The O.C., and Napoleon Dynamite were all quite culturally relevant. In those days Facebook was only available to college students. We used it to keep in touch over the summer, flirt, and entertain ourselves when we were supposed to be listening to lectures. It acted as an online presence representing the social experience that was happening in college towns across the country. We were wary at first but quickly decided Facebook was great and Myspace was obsolete.

That was 6 years ago.

Now I can count on my hands the number of people I know who don't have a Facebook account. It is a prime form of keeping in touch, self-expression, and the exchange of ideas. My uncle calls it "town square." My mom uses it to reconnect with people she hasn't seen in 30 years. My 13-year-old cousin uses it to display inside jokes with friends. My sister uses it to keep up with former classmates in the States while she lives abroad.

My question is: What is this platform of communication doing to us? Our psyche? Our attention span? Our manners? Our compassion? Our listening skills? Our ability to multitask? Our productivity? My guess is: a lot.

So I'm in grad school studying it. And when I figure it out, I'll let you know. :-)

Words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today.  We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.  In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time.  Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity.  The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood -- it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on.  Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, 'Too late.'"

-- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967

I'm starting grad school today! More later...

that (2010) and this (2011)

I’m blessed.

I’m blessed for a lot of reasons.

One reason is that I’ve only ever felt depressed once in life. And I’m pretty sure it was directly correlated to some medicine I was taking. Other than that unless I’m going through a breakup or some other really sad experience I wake up every day feeling glad to be awake. I know that some people don’t experience that. So I’m grateful that I’m generally happy.

I’m also blessed because I have options. I could stay in New York and pursue a career in acting. I could pursue a career in writing. I could go to grad school. I could return to Lynchburg where I’m within a 20-minute drive to a host of people I love. I could venture out to California or Austin or Seattle or Edinburgh or….

I’m blessed that God’s given me a variety of options and a constitution to be happy walking down a number of different paths. (Oh that yellow wood with its diverging courses…)

Sometimes it frustrates me that I don’t know exactly this one specific course I want in life. It makes me feel like a failure to not pursue one specific thing because then I don’t have a tangible accomplishment. But I’m reminded that the point of all this is the journey not the destination. And life is a marathon not a sprint.

I’m impulsive. I thrive on change. Ironically that thriving only occurs when I’m the catalyst and doesn’t when it wasn’t my idea. If it’s a matter I can’t control I don’t much care for it.

2010 brought some really high highs in my life. There were only a couple of really sucky points. There was way more good than bad. And a lot more exciting than dull. And a lot more meaningful than forgettable. There’s nothing more sad to me than when I look back on a season and can’t really remember what happened. It’s as if it never existed. 2010 was definitely not that. Tons of memories are etched in my mind's eye.

As the year changes over to the next I’m reminded of the brevity of it all…of what I actually hold dear…and who I want to be in 2011. I want to be someone who trusts God more, someone who holds on to faith when I feel forgotten. Someone who is more giving: in time, grace, love and sacrifice. I want to be someone who practices prudence and considers consequences.

I want to be someone who would inspire me.

Here’s to making it one better than the last.