Day 1117: Textbooks

It's amazing what you can find in textbooks. 

If you're anything like my family, you tend to look through your textbooks the second you get your hands on them, and then again when your dad really wants to know what you're learning about in Earth Science or World Regional Geography. From there you can spend anywhere from 5 minute to 5 hours going through the book and other textbooks that he unearths from the depths of the basement and the storage room turned library that's filled to the brim with old books. 

Of course, you can find all kinds of references to things in such books, but one in particular has been spotted more than a few times, and maybe, if you've seen it in our own textbook, you can guess what it is. Or you could just look at the picture below. That would work too. 

For some reason, textbooks love Spaceship Earth. Most recently, it did indeed appear in my brother's Earth Science book, for a reason I don't entirely understand. Back during my time in high school, it appeared in a Geometry textbook, for more obvious reasons, and in fact, it was even part of an actual textbook homework assignment. Not that we did that specific assignment...

Either way, it's just another example of how Disney really does pop up in our everyday lives, even when we least expect it! Which puts the question out there for you: have you ever spotted something Disney in one of your textbooks? If so, what did you spot? Let me know in the comments below! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on January 25 due to travel).

Day 667: Through Association

You know, it really is a small world.

I learned in Sociology last year that everyone is connected through six degrees of separation. The theory is that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, through introduction, from any other person in the world, like a chain that is "A friend of a friend of a friend knows..." I know, for a fact, that I'm about three degrees away from Colin O'Donoghue, and I know someone who's actually a neighbor of Harrison Ford. It's a ridiculous chain, and I like to think that somehow, someway, that's how I'll get to meet some of my favorite people someday.

What's really funny is when people I do know find other people I know and they meet aside from me. Today that happened. My cousin met someone on the bus, whom happened to go to high school with me. Now, I'm not friends with everyone necessarily, but in a smaller high school you kind of get to know everyone, at least a little bit. At the very least you know of them.

So I get this text from my cousin today telling me she met this person on the bus, and then tweeted about how the person mentioned me and Disney. It's not surprising to any of us that that's what she associated me with. I mean, seriously, I am the Disney person. I'm not the only Disney person, but I'm definitely known for it. I'm perfectly alright with that because there are lot of worse things to be known for, and I'm super glad I stayed away from those things. But it's sort of funny at the same time, just to be known as the Disney person and have people meet my family outside of school and still associate that with me. Because let's be real, I probably look like I sit down and do this:

That seems like a fairly accurate statement. Turns out I bring Disney into the lives of people even when I'm no where to be found, and that seems like a pretty good accomplishment to me. 

Have a magical day!

Day 411: Legally Blonde

Yesterday, since I'm spending the rest of the weekend at college for Winter Band Fest (two concerts for us), I went back to my High School to see their production of Legally Blonde. If I did mention it before, I went to the high school of my best friend's roommate to see it when they had their own production of it. It was honestly pretty awesome getting to see it twice by two different schools. Plus, I really do like the musical, so that just made it that much better.

Seriously though, Legally Blonde is great...especially the song Ireland. I just absolutely LOVE that song...hmm I wonder why though. Actually, in general, I just love Paulette. Her character is great. Plus, her dog in my high school's version was my band director's dog, Bru...whom I remember as a puppy and is seriously like my favorite dog. I just never get to see him, so that was really exciting. I mean, seriously:

What does this have to do with Disney? Not much I suppose...although "Ireland" DOES basically relate to Once...I mean, it's pretty obvious. Colin IS Irish, and there's a line where it talks about sailors, one of them named Liam. The first time I saw this I literally had to keep myself from laughing. It was hard. 

Other than that, great job to everyone involved in the Seymour High School Production of "Legally Blonde!" Super proud of all you! 

And now time for a side story that DOES have to do with Disney! This weekend we have two high school students staying in our dorm room for Winter Band Fest, and one of them said they love Disney and was like "I've been to Walt Disney World 5 times!" and my roommate just laughed and was like "CAN I TELL THEM!?!" so she did and the High Schooler Guesses like 7 and my roommate is just like "higher" and they guessed again, with 10 or something, and my roommate goes "24!" Only I forgot to mention to her that I actually miscounted and it's 23, not 24. So then we had a discussion about that. Haha...don't worry though, by the end of the year it will be 25! 

Have a magical day!

Day 153: Graduation

I'm going to split this blog post into two...meaning that I'm going to write half of it now, save it, and then write half of it later. Why? Before and after graduation.

Right now, with about two and a half hours until the start of our graduation ceremony, it occurs to me that all along, for the last 13 years, this is the day I've been dreading. Unlike most graduates, I never saw the happiness in Graduation. It meant we leave. Yes, we get to go on to bigger and better things, and don't get me wrong: I'm excited for that too, but I leave so much behind. This past year has, without a doubt, been the absolute best year of life. I found myself in a position I was happy with. School didn't seem like work anymore because I loved what I was doing. Isn't that what they say? That work doesn't seem like work if you love what you're doing. Being the president and drum major of the Seymour High School Band was a TON of work...more than I think anyone could have possibly imagined, but I loved what I did. I would walk into band everyday with a smile on my face, and if I didn't, it wouldn't take long for one to appear. The band says they are extremely proud of everything that I have accomplished and they thank me for everything I have done, but honestly, they have made me who I am today, and I am the one who should be doing the thanking. I would not be Lizzie Tesch without them. I wouldn't be ready to go onto my own Adventure in the great wide world of Disney. It just wouldn't happen. Not to say that the rest of the wonderful people who surround me haven't made an impact as well...they have, but it's the band that gave me opportunities and responsibilities and made it possible for me to learn. I didn't think I'd like being Drum Major, but now I can't even imagine what my life will be like without it. I wouldn't of had that if it weren't for the band, and most certainly I wouldn't be going into music next year when I head to college.

As I said in my memoir post, If my life was a movie, I would be standing in that band room slowly turning while the world flew by around me. That's how it feels right now. It feels like the past 13 years have flown by. It's like it was just the other day when my kindergarten class would have nap time, or how in 1st grade we would watch the show "Oswald", which was about an octopus I think, during snack time. Or what about recess, or the end of third grade when I took pictures with all my friends. There was middle school, with the hours spent on projects and studying for tests. And in high school, there were the insane projects, one after another, some by myself, some as a group, but each one a masterpiece in it's own way. And then there was senior year, the beginning of the end, and how every single day I would think about June 2nd, Graduation, and how much I wanted to avoid it because I wasn't ready to leave. I'm still not ready to leave.

But most importantly, it feels like just the other day I played oboe for the first time, or that first time I played in the high school band. And now, here I am, about to play with that group, all of us together, for the last time. I am not ready to leave, but I am not afraid of the future either. It looms, like, as I said in my introduction for Brave at our final concert, like a big and ferocious bear. But if we pursue, everything will work out alright, and we will become everything we want to be.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Graduation is over now, but I think my only real comments on it are this:

I feel much better now that it's over. I honestly don't feel any different, other than the fact that my friends all still go to school while I stay at home...well, until I go in to do some work. Then I just get a visitors pass. That is weird though.

I am incredibly proud of my best friend, Megan, for her speech, but that will be tomorrow's post.

There is a lot of picture taking.

My solo went great, and the band played really well.

Other than that, I can't say that I feel any different or that anything is different. Time is still going too fast, but at the same time, for the moment it's seemed to slow down, although I have to say that today has gone by pretty quickly. I still have a lot of work I want to get done for band, but I enjoy that job, and if there's anything I can do to help, I'm going to do it. =)

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: Disneyland Resort celebrates the opening of The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure with a special ceremony at Disney California Adventure park. Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, performs "Part of Your World," one of the memorable songs from the film's Academy Award-winning score. The attraction opens to the general public June 3.

Have a magical day!

Day 56: Out on the Test Track

Continuing our current theme of sorts of Epcot Future World Attractions, I take you to Test Track.

No, not the new one that I refuse to look at until I head to Disney in July, but the old version...the one I grew up with. As excited as I am to try out Version 2.0, I'm certainly going to miss the old humor that came with the original Test Track, and the traditions my family always had riding it.

But the reason it's the part of the blog today is actually my Physics class. Today we watched a video on car crashes and the physics that go with them. It was a nice little video, but of course, I found that I had already either seen or knew most of what was in the video, and it explains why I understand Physics compared to other math I've taken throughout High School.

There was one part of the video that I almost laughed too. If you have walked through the queue for the previous version of Test Track sometime in your life, you would have seen something like this, or rather, this:

It's a test used to measure the impact of an object hitting the chest of a "human," in this case a test dummy. In today's video they used this same test to explain the different types of Energy, and everyone in my class was in awe of the impact on the test dummy. I of course just sat there and watched as I had previously, relishing in the connection to Disney. It turns out we do learn quite a bit just standing in line! 

Now I just have to wait until July to try out 2.0 for myself!

Here's Today's Disney History: 2012: Walt Disney Imagineering and cast members at Disney California Adventure bury a time capsule, containing items specific to the park, in Buena Vista Plaza. It is to be opened by Disneyland Resort cast members in 2037. 

Have a magical day!