Please Please Please come and see the 10th Anniversary of Fresh Dance! A Kids’ show tomorrow at 2 pm and regular performance at 8 pm. Then a show on Sunday at two check it out!!!!!!!!!!

http://rimlightdesign.com/CAS/dining.html

Hey!

So the past few weeks, New Paltz has been participating in a nationwide competition, RecycleMania! Basically, schools from all over the United States are competing to see who can recycle the most! And on campus, we have our own mini RecycleMania between all the halls! Scudder has been doing AWESOME — we have been in the top 3 since it has started and we have recycled close to 2 pounds of recycling per person! Isn’t that phenomenal?! All the halls have been doing so well, and New Paltz has been able to recycle so much! RecycleMania has been an incredible opportunity for everyone to learn more about recycling and how to do it well.

I was really inspired by all this, so this month, I decided to create a little challenge in my hallway! Since saving energy ties into recycling and being sustainable, I decided to apply this idea to my bathroom! There is really no need to have the lights on when no one is in there, or when the sun is shining, and lately, the sinks have been dripping. So, I have proposed the following to my girls: every time I go into the bathroom and see the lights off when no one is in there and no sinks or showers dripping, they will get a point. For a certain number of points that they accumulate, I will bake them something! Remember that Foodgawker website I was talking about? Well, I set up an account for my floor so they can have yummy recipes for me to choose from! I am so excited to see them make a conscious effort to save energy on our floor!

This is a picture of my board that I am using to keep track! (Look! They already have a point!)

I’ll keep you posted as to how it works! Hopefully I’ll be baking a lot!

Christina

Not one but two snow days!!!!!!! Nora from A Doll House speaks of the Miracle of Miracles and perhaps a double snow day is indeed that!!!!!!

I had class in the morning, so I hung out in the library for a little bit before coming back to my apartment. The library has these grand floor to ceiling windows with study cubbies/ chairs by them. Its one of my favorite things to do on snow days to go and sit in one of those study cubbies/ chairs and read. I pick a book on a whim and sit there and read the whole book and enjoy the snow. I’ve been into reading art books for some reason recently. I read a book on Marc Chagall. His work is just so whimsical  and tender  really inspiring. It takes me twelve minutes when the weather is fair to walk from the library to my apartment in the heart of the village. I enjoyed the walk in the snow. Some students made an igloo!  Other students were snow boarding by the peace the park next to village hall. In the snow it took me a little longer to get back, but when I did my apartment was nice and cozy and my roomies and I bummed around because Fresh Dance tech was canceled. We watched movies, and cooked. Day one we watched The Spanish Apartment, Sunset Boulevard, and Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut. My roomie Kristin made cookies, and I made Potato soup. It was so nice to just be a bum, because normally my life is on fast forward.

It was still snowing when I went to bed and then it happened, what I thought was my alarm telling me to get up for class was actually the New Paltz weather alert system that both calls and texts you to alert you if classes have been canceled!!!!!!!! I hit not the snooze button but turn-off alarm button.  SNOW DAY PART TWO!!!!!

We bummed around for most of the morning, my friend Jackie who also dates one of my roomies, and I made French Toast together. French Toast is a very good snow day food. We watched the movie Roman Holiday. And then I began to get restless. The Loop bus which provides students with transportation around campus and town for free if you have a SUNY id was actually still running! Kristin and I decided to go grocery shopping ( down side to living off campus- no more free toilet paper) and we picked up some supplies to make Key Lime Pie. It was so pretty out I decided to take a walk around town for a while. I’ll post pictures some time this week.

Came back attempted to make key lime pie it came out okay- meringue is really hard to make. Must try it again some time! Brought the pie along with board games over to another friend’s apartment, where a bunch of my friends had gathered. We played board games for hours. And laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed till it stopped snowing.

Thanks for reading,

Gianna

hi there! [=

i hope you're all enjoying the wintry weather lately!  new paltz has certainly seen its share of snow over the past few weeks.  sometimes the cold and the inconvenience of snow gets in the way of activities and involvement and such, but there is certainly no stopping r.h.s.a.!  on friday, we hosted our annual winter formal with student activities and union services!  it was a huge hit on campus, and i think it's safe to say that all the efforts put in by brendan o'brien, saus's program assistant, janine harris, r.h.s.a.'s committee representative, and the formal's planning committee definitely showed and were well worth it.

one of the most talked about parts of this year's formal was the photobooth.  all attendees had the opportunity to take pictures in a photobooth that printed out 4 photographs in a matter of about 20 seconds.  it was an instant souvenir and great way to capture the memories and all the sharp outfits!  since it was candyland themed, we had a candy bar [where guests could fill a cup with an assortment of candy] and a cotton candy machine!  personally, i just like the excuse to dress up and have a great time on a dance floor with friends.  resident director of deyo hall val turco even made a guest appearance as one of the d.j.s for the night!

the executive board. <3

chris, jen, kristyn, kris, janine, myself, terri, kyle.

getting ready to start the night…

obviously showing off our sweet moves. [=

just two days later, we all traded in our high heels and shined shoes for some old school roller skates over in hyde park.  each semester, r.h.s.a. provides a reatreat opportunity for the associate council to develop leadership skills and get to know each other in a different light from our weekly meetings.  the a.c. comprises two or three representatives from each residence hall that serve as a liason between the executive board [who works closely with the administration] and their hall government, and thus essentially, the entire campus of residents.

this semester, we went roller skating at hyde park roller magic followed by a delightful lunch at the eveready diner.  roller skating, though a little nerve-wracking at first, turned out to be a whole lot of fun and a huge catalyst for lots of laughter and silly spills.  we rented the roller rink out for a private party so we had the whole place to ourselves!  the people who ran the rink, john & maryann, were so helpful and enthusiastic and really made the whole experience of booking the event and then experiencing it very smooth and such a pleasure!   after two hours and barely any energy left, we headed across the parking lot to the cutest little 50’s style diner with the. best. french fries. in the world!  oh my goodness gracious, i kid you not.  they are delicious.  unfortunately because of the design of the building, we weren’t all able to sit together, so we were split into groups, but regardless.  best french fries ever.  seriously.  try them.

with so much fun in one weekend, i’m really looking forward to all r.h.s.a. has planned for the rest of the semester.  we’re trying out some new programs and ideas and i absolutely can’t wait!

if you go to new paltz, look for our events and programs and get involved!  you’ll be seeing quite a bit come march and april…
title: letitsnow. -vaughnmonroe.

-kyleen!

This weekend was the opening and the closing of one of the two black box shows this semester.  The show was the Credeaux Canvas, and it was directed by my good friend Miles! The play is a wonderfully intimate story revolving around a pair of lover’s and their artist friend living in New York City, all are positively broke. Jamie is a New York native whose father was a well to art dealer dies.  After years of abusing Jamie (as portrayed by Matt Martino) he leaves him nothing in his will. In a series of happenstance events Jamie comes up with the harebrained scheme to have Winston ( this part was double cast with Bill Landon and Tony Curtis)  his friend and roommate mimic the style of forgotten but recently remembered French artist called Credeaux. He comes up with the flawed plan of having his girlfriend  a singer pose for the painting and selling it to one of his father’s eccentric old clients Tess Rose Anderson ( Lydia Nightingale).  During the painting process Amelia (Suzanna Bourne) falls in love with Winston and the complications of forgery and twisted love triangles, and the general failure to connect at the right moment ensue.

The play meanders fantastically through hard questions faced by any one who goes to the city after college to try and make it. When do you give up? How do you deal with that if you do? Why are we drawn as people to this place where we can’t even afford to have our own sink but instead put the dishes in the tub? And even deeper questions of love and belonging.  There are plenty of  plays written about the post grad school twenty somethings in their floating years, but none of them have the sort of poignancy and honesty that this play has take that Neil Labute,. there is something some what more universal and appealing about Keith Bunin’s play- or maybe I’m just biased cause I worked on it?

My friend Renee and I co-sound designed the show! It was an awesome, awesome, awesome experience. She is so sound savy and brilliant- I learned sooo much from her!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sound designing is sort of like making a mix tape but on crack-  it was a truly enjoyable experience that I wouldn’t be against doing again at all! And what’s more I was also the sound board operator for the show. Normally I am very wary of anything outside the realm of onstage and wardrobe, but Renee really pushed and encouraged me to do it. And I’m so happy I did! Technology is not as scary as you think it is. Plus I got to wear a really cool headset that made me feel really official and professional.

Congrats to the cast and crew of Credeaux!!!!!!

With that I leave you with one of the songs from the sound design

For Emma Forever Ago

Thanks for reading,

Gi

HEY!

So, I think I have mentioned before that I am a member of this awesome organization, the National Residence Hall Honorary (which I will refer to as NRHH for the rest of this blog!). But, let me tell you a little more! We have four main values in the organization: leadership, scholarship, community service, and my personal favorite — RECOGNITION! And last Tuesday, NRHH had a major program devoted to bringing recognition to our campus and spreading it everywhere!

Through NRHH, we constantly recognize students, staff, faculty, clubs, organizations, departments, and athletic teams! We have a whole slew of awards that we give out and decide on at our meetings. However, we wanted to go far beyond this. The reason many of us joined the organization was to give back to the community that has given us our start and has allowed us to become the leaders we are today, and we realized that many students have been similarly affected by the campus, another student, a parent, etc. And thus, Mission: Recognition was born!

At Mission: Recognition, we set up a bunch of tables with different forms of recognition. For example, we had one with our simple recognition notes, Out of the Blues, set up for people to send quick messages to others on campus. Also, we had a table with paper, envelopes, stickers, and other things set up for people to write letters to people not on campus, whether its a friend from home or a family member, thanking them for making a difference in their life. In addition to this, we had rocks and paint set up for people to create their own “you ROCK” (haha…get it?) for a You Rock garden that we are hoping to put on campus and maintain. In addition to all this, we had a ton of entertainment from students and even from a local band, Nuts in a Blender; a whole lot of food; and raffles donated by various places in town!

Overall, it was SUCH a success, and everyone really enjoyed recognizing others and sending them messages to make them smile. Even the shortest message, or a simple smiley face, can completely make someone’s day! Isn’t that incredible?

I wish I had pictures and videos to share, but unfortunately, I totally forgot to bring my camera! If you’re on Facebook, though, check out the video that made to help advertise for the program! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=244087295333&ref=mf#!/video/video.php?v=588025724850&ref=mf

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Christina

Hey this blog is for Morgan… who I’m not sure if my comments went through and you asked a lot of great questions so I figured I would just write my responses to her questions as a blog.  To see the original questions go to my pervious blog

Hey,

It’s no problem at all. My first question to you is are you a design/tech concentration or performance concentration?  People have gone on to do a great many number of things with a BA degree from New Paltz. Before I go into that though, its sort of important you understand is that this program is NOT a conservatory so if you are looking for something really intense and concentrated then honestly this isn’t the place for you. What I can say for New Paltz theatre program is you will get a great background in a little bit of everything and your output will match your input, there are plenty of opportunities to tailor the program to your needs a performer and make it more intensive. The Design Tech program here is amazing. Every student who applies to grad school in the design tech area from new paltz has gotten in and on scholarship. They have gone on to work backstage on Broadway to all the way out west, as well working in regional theaters across the country. Acting wise my favorite success story though is a group of students who formed their own theatre company and took it to off broadway on theatre row check them out at http://www.theclockworktheatre.org/

What I can tell you about internships is many of the Professors specifically in the design tech area are incredibly connected. One of my apartmentmates got a summer internship working for glimmerglass opera house, another one of my friends worked at the Adirondack theatre festival, another at Dorset Theatre in Vermont. One of the costume Professors Andrea Varga just designed costumes for a dance showing in NYC over winter break and took my apartmentmate and one of my friends as wardrobe crew with her.  There are plenty of opportunities for internships.

Its pretty easy to get into the city actually, there is a trailways bus station that is an easy walk from campus. I’m from Westchester and get myself home using something called the link bus which connects campus to the Poughkeepsie train station, which hosts the Hudson line which can take you into grand central. The bus is about an hour and 45 minutes to two hours depending on traffic.

In terms of the area itself small town rural is how I would  describe it. IT IS SMALL!!! So if you are looking for a city this is not the place for you. Honestly though, when I was applying for colleges I thought I only wanted to be in the city rural was the last thing I wanted, but I visited it and fell in love with the town and the people in the theatre department. It was like a family. New Paltz sits right under the   Shawangunk ridge, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawangunk_Ridge, and there are places I’ve been on it that are like some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. There are lots of apple farms too and in October they do an applefest. New Paltz is also home to the oldest street in America with the original houses still standing on it called Huguenot street which is pretty cool too! http://www.huguenotstreet.org/ Actually one of my friends works there as a reenacter/ tour guide. The town itself is a sort of a blast from the past circa 1968.

I’m a vegetarian and I have no problems eating here, in the dorms it was okay to pretty good, but town is very much Vegan friendly. Pretty much all the restaurants have Vegan options. And one of my favorite places to go eat is an organic  Vegan/ vegetarian Deli called Karma Road http://www.karmaroad.net/

It would be impossible for me to tell you what the people are like in New Paltz everyone is different, but what I can tell you about the Theatre Department is that it is like a big crazy family that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

If you ever want to come visit New Paltz and specifically the theatre department feel free to e-mail me gcioffi78@newpaltz.edu or set up an appointment with some one in the department.

I hope this helps!!!!!! Happy college searching

- Gianna

Oh hey!

This week was so weird for me! It started off with me being sick and in bed (for the third time since November with something involving a major sore throat…eeek!) and ended with a lot of activity and smiles, which is the part of my week I will be focusing on! Why tell you about the negative when there’s so much positive to talk about?!

This weekend, we had the North East Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (NEACURH) Regional Board of Directors come to New Paltz for their Summit Weekend! Rewind! Have I told you yet that New Paltz is hosting a huge leadership conference in about a month? Well, if I haven’t…New Paltz is hosting a huge leadership conference in a month! It’s through this organization called NEACURH, which encompasses every on-campus student government on college campuses throughout the northeast region! Three times a year, delegations from these schools meet at two regional conferences and one national conference to share ideas and programs, show off some school spirit, and network with other schools! These conferences have made up a big part of my undergraduate experience and I have had some of my best memories at them! It’s a pretty big deal to host one of these conferences, and our conference staff has been working hard for two years to make it happen!

Now that that has been explained, let me get back to the Summit Weekend! The Regional Board of Directors (RBD) came here to check out the campus and hotel for the conference, and we, as in the conference staff, got to have dinner with them and show them around this weekend. On Friday night, we had a delicious potluck dinner, where every person made a dish or dessert. And then on Saturday, the RBD took a tour of the campus and hotel that we’re staying at during the conference! (I don’t want to give too much away about the conference because I’m already planning to write a big huge blog about it in a few weeks when it happens!) To finish it off, here’s some pictures from the weekend!

hi everyone!! [=

i hope you all enjoyed your winter break festivities!  mine was relaxing, for the most part, and i enjoyed spending time with my friends and family.  i did a bit of snuggling on the couch with cookies & milk, catching up with friends, and preparing a lot for the rapidly approaching spring semester.

christmas with my family is always low-key and spent at home.  and for new year’s eve [one of my favorite holidays] i went to one of my sister and her husband’s annual party.  every year, they have a theme, and this year was “the best and worst of the decade” so i went as taylor swift.  this year, new year’s eve fell on a “blue moon,” which is when there are two full moons in one month.  i was really excited about it because I like fresh starts and i’m a big fan of change, and the fact that i was making a transition along with an event as unique as a blue moon was really fun for me.

before i knew it, i was saying good-bye to my family and closest friends and moving into a brand new room.  this semester, i became a resident assistant in shango/college hall, affectionately referred to as collango.  everyone on my staff was so welcoming and helpful and really made my new environment feel like home.

lavoisier, myself, jared, glenn, kevin, ariel, angela, jenesse, & kelly!

as soon as i moved almost my entire life into my room, it was like someone hit a switch because all of a sudden, everything started up full throttle.  the alarm was going off at 6am again, i was learning a whole bunch of policies and procedures, and trying to find my way around the maze of my building.  r.a. training was intense, but lots of fun at the same time.  we were all split up into colored teams.  i was placed on the royal blue team with an excellent group of very friendly and encouraging r.a.s, including npblogger chris!  the last day of training, we all participated in the “r.a. olympics,” which gave us an opportunity to apply what we learned in training to potential situations.

the royalty blue moon shoes. [=

one of the responsibilities of r.a.s is making doortags for all the residents in the wing, monthly bulletin boards, and boards that display who is on duty in the building that night.  in shango, i have one duty board, three monthly boards, and an info board.  i finished my first set of boards on friday morning and felt so accomplished.  as i was making my doortags for the residents in my wing, i couldn’t help but get excited about meeting all these new people!

welcome back board!

winter vacation mad-libs board!

spring semester duty board!

as if the week wasn’t already moving quickly enough, residents arrived the next morning at 10am!  later that night, my staff went out for our first outing together.  we went to sonic and then bowling.  we all spent the majority of the night laughing, and i’m pretty sure my abs got a little tighter in those few hours.

after an exciting first weekend and getting to meet a good amount of my residents, monday morning seemed to arrive more quickly than anticipated for just about everyone!  mondays have always been my busiest day of the week, but i plan it that way on purpose.  for me, it’s easier to get most of the work out of the way, and also, if the first day of the work week is really demanding, it motivates me for the rest of it.  on monday evening i had my first house meeting where i got to meet almost all of my residents and go through important information on policies and procedures for the semester.

immediately after that meeting, i headed over to scudder hall for rhsa’s first associate council meeting of the semester.  it was great to see everyone i missed from the break, and it was a nice start to a very exciting semester of events!  after the meeting, i ran upstairs to visit some friends, since i just moved from scudder into my new hall.  it was fantastic catching up and sharing stories about the first weekend and first day of classes.  every once in a while, i make sure i stop in to visit, since i don’t get to see them as often as last semester.

the first week of classes was interesting…  i really like the way my schedule worked out, but it all seemed to be happening so fast that i didn’t really have time to absorb  it all.  i’m really looking forward to observing middle school classrooms, and of course because i’m a nerd i’m excited about my two math classes: combinatorics and probability & statistics.  other than that, i’ll let you know when i have a better idea of what they entail.

it seems like someone shocked my life with electricity or something, because in a matter of what felt like seconds, i went from sleeping in and living in sweatpants to running around like a lunatic!  i’m pretty sure the next few weeks will be just as exciting, with all the programs and events i have planned!

title: onceinabluemoon. -vanmorrison.

-kyleen!