fighting evil by moonlight at Animation celebration! (animation celebration part one)

I was very fortunate to attend Animation Celebration in Lewisville, Texas this weekend. Normally I just arrive and   search the isles looking for comics, toys. Not to mention, spending endless amounts of time waiting in autograph lines and panels and fawning over the hard work of the talented cosplayers I see. This weekend offered up an entirely new experience because I was fortunate to be on the other side of the convention as a volunteer.

the experience gave me an entirely new prospective on the super-secret workings behind the scenes. I was in charge of the green room one minute and filling my walker with snacks and beverages the next.  Today I felt like I ran a 5k over the weekend., every time someone needed something I happily got it for them, I mean how often do you get to assist amazing voice actors and comic book artists? As a con goer, I never really thought about the volunteers before but after this weekend I understand how a volunteer can make all the difference and make a very chaotic event run smoothly.  The troubleshooting staff was amazing and I feel as though I made some great new friends. So if you’ve ever volunteered at a con, thank you!

The highlight of my weekend was meeting Linda Valentine and Toby Proctor from Sailor moon.  When I met them,  felt like a twelve year old girl again and shared with them how the show had such a great impact on my life. I shared that when I was in middle school , Sailor moon was my gateway to make friends with the girls that worked with me on the school paper. Anyone who knows me in real life knows how introverted and shy I was in those days. I would always race home to watch it in the afternoons and then talk about it while typing up articles to be published. Although my time on the school newspaper didn’t last long, I credit show with helping me make the friendships that came out of it.

Linda Ballantyne was one of the most down to earth celebrities I’ve ever met. After  I  paid for my personal autographs (she was only charging 10 dollars can you believe it?) I told her that I was going to get her to sign something for the suicide prevention walk that my campus is hosting (see last post for more information) when I went to pay her for the things for the walk she refused to take my money and gave me the prints.  I cannot express how amazed I was by her generosity and hope to ruse them to raise money and awareness for our cause. It really touched me that she took the time to sign stuff for our school.  It always amazing when your favorite superheroes transition to real life role models. 

In part two of this post, I will be doing a write up on my favorite cosplayers at the con and talking about my "convention haul" so check back for that!

a bit of an update

I just wanted to take some time to give anyone that could be reading this a little update on my life. If you have read my first ever post you might have been privy to some juicy tidbits about me. I believe I mentioned that I am currently going to school to become a children's librarian because it is my dream to infect unsuspecting childerbeasts with a love of reading. I remember being a little girl and going to the library with my father. I remember him pushing me in my wheelchair through the big glass doors and entering the rows of books that comprised their children's section. It was like entering a magical land where I could be anything or anyone I wanted to be, I just had to open a book. I remember nightly readings that would transport me to the Hundred Acre woods or Fern and Wilbur's farm. 

As I grew older, I would spend more and more time in the library. I would befriend every librarian to the point that they began setting aside every R.L. Stine, King, or Rice book that came in. After spending some time in college and years of contemplating how I would leave my own special mark on the world, I decided I wanted to return the favor and pay it forward. I decided I wanted to become a librarian and reach out to others.

Last week, I became a volunteer for my local library. I am proud to say that I am now a volunteer that teaches low income or kids that are struggling with school better reading skills. the program I volunteer for is from ranges from Pre-k to second grade. I will say that upon volunteering for this program. there was a tiny shred of doubt if I *really* could work with kids. Last Thursday proved without a doubt that this is a field I am meant to be in. The little girl I work with went from reading one book on the first visit to enthusiastically reading six! I really enjoy seeing the sparkle in a kid's eye when you compliment them for finally mastering gerunds when they struggled with it the week before.  I'm really excited to impact her learning and am excitedly making flash cards from lists of second and first grade words. I meet with her once a week for an hour and we work on reading, pronunciation, and sentence structure.


In addition to my volunteer work at the library I've also been keeping busy organizing a walk to raise money for a suicide prevention walk. as a teen I spent several years battling depression so this walk is very close to my heart. I want to raise awareness and help others from experiencing such a dark mental place. If you are interested in learning just how I plan to help raise money, or make a donation please click the link below.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention!


There are also a lot of other things I've been up to. I had the pleasure of attending the Indiana Jones exhibit in Fort Worth last weekend and I am spending this weekend helping out friends at Louisville's Animation celebration. I should be updating tomorrow with plenty of exciting things including convention photos, stories and maybe even segments with my favorite local cosplayers. So stay tuned at the same bat time, on the same bat channel!

An Adventure Under The Sea

In 1989, Disney breathed new life into the classic The Little Mermaid. Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson story, The Disney adaptation told the tale of a young mermaid named Ariel that desires to be part of our world upon the surface. After saving the life of a sailor, that is later revealed to be a prince, Ariel makes a Faustian bargain with an evil sea witch in order to become human and be with the human she loves.   Now in 2014, Ariel, Eric, Ursula, and everyone’s favorite crustacean conductor have left the ocean again courtesy of Dallas Summer Musicals and Fair Park Music Hall. 

In the musical adaption of the film, Chelsea Morgan Stock’s singing voice rivals that of Jodi Benson, who gave voice to Ariel in Disney’s animated feature film.  In addition to the original songs from the film, the stage production offers new musical scores by Howard Ashman and Glen Slater that will become “Part of Your World” and just as beloved as the original soundtrack. The song “Beyond My Wildest Dreams,” is an original number that helps showcases Ariel’s childlike infatuation with the human world as she finally  finds herself on land and inside her true love’s palace.  Pleasantly, the Musical adaption also offers more insight into the villainous mind of the evil sea witch Ursula who is denied much of a backstory within the Disney film. Liz McCartney embodies Ursula in the stage production effortlessly and her performance of several original numbers details her previous deeds to include murdering her sisters in “I Want The Good Times Back.” 

Stock’s portrayal of the beloved Disney princess was made all the more believable thanks to the swimming sequences choreographed by Paul Rubin. The wire work featured within the stage adaption allowed for the clear separation between the underwater world and that of the surface. The seemingly effortless swimming acrobatics and the consistent rippling of cast members via subtle body movement as choreographed by Billy Spague showcased a great attention to detail. The precise movements by Stock and the rest of the cast encouraged the audience to believe they were partaking in an underwater adventure right along with Ariel. 

The costume coordination and design by Amy Clark and Mark Koss also deserves a bit more than an honorable mention within this critique. This is perhaps the most true when it comes to considering the use of LED lighting in  the costuming of  Ursula’s dubious henchmen, Flotsam and Jetsam. The timely use of the lighting allowed emphasis to Scott Leiendecker and Sean Patrick Doyle’s chilling performance of “Sweet Child” in which they coerce Ariel into meeting with her less than honorable aunt, Ursula.  Clark and Koss’ use of silks and other flowing fabrics made the transition for Triton, Ariel, and cast of the other Merfolk from screen to stage seem effortless as it allowed for movability within the several wirework sequences featured within the performance. 

Charlie Morison’s lighting was a valuable contribution to the stage adaption as well.  The ambiance of the lighting by using subtle blues and greens created a believable ambiance that embellished chirography the underwater sequences. This use of subtle lighting greatly contrasted the bright over the top lighting used to differentiate the surface world from Triton’s underwater Kingdom. 
Music Hall at Fair Park itself invited the attendees of The Little Mermaid musical to be submerged into a world under the sea, that for me, became much more than simply seeing a musical based on one of my all-time favorite Disney stories.   

As a venue, the music Hall showcased exuberance with its high ceilings and fanciful chandeliers. Also, If you were fortunate to partake in a meal before the performance you may have been delighted to see items like “Triton’s Tuna and White Bean Salad” and “ Scuttle’s Spinach and feta  stuffed Chicken breasts,” among other delectable gourmet dishes.  I felt that these names, although a tad morbid added to the experience as a whole.  I was also enchanted by the fact that you could purchase your very own Dingle-hopper hair brush at the merchandise booth because at some point every little girl attempts to comb their hair with a fork after seeing the film. 


I must admit that besides loving all things Disney, Especially the Little Mermaid, my main reason for attending this performance was due to the fact I am required to go to three art exhibits or performances for my art appreciation class. I am a college student after all! After giving us the assignment my teacher informed us about Student Rush Seats, which is when events offer low cost seats to students usually the day of the show. This is done in order to give students affordable access to the arts (usually at the cost of the lowest seating arrangement available. For example a last minute floor seat may cost a student the price of a nose-bleed balcony seat) and to fill the floor seats which may go for a price of 250 or more depending on the venue and performance. This news while making me super giddy, made me slightly upset because no one had told me this information previously. Had I have known I would have used it to my advantage. Hello, Wicked! I would have been defying Gravity right along with Elphaba instead of opting to miss out on one of my all-time musicals because as a student, I could not afford the 100-200 dollar asking price. I mean why isn’t this common knowledge? I believe that If more people could afford the arts than more people would support them. Right? 

I would also like to thank Fair Park Music Hall for having disability friendly seating available on the floor and offering it for the lowest ticket price available. Needless to say a lot of venues do not offer this. I remember seeing the off-Broadway version of Hairspray while living in Cleveland and having to pay a large amount (120 dollars for tickets) just so that I could sit in a seat that I could get to because the building was old and had very limited wheelchair access. I think it’s important to praise venues that offer options to handicap people and for this reason I will continue to go to their performance hall and support the arts.

Lastly, Here is a photo of me taken after the show because I loved my Ariel dress so much. Yay!