Out of the castle and into the polar vortex

(pt. 1)

HELLO. TODAY'S BLOG COMES TO YOU IN TWO PARTS.

Yelling because I'm now posting a great distance away from where I last posted.  As some of you know now, I'm home; or rather, back in the house that I grew up.  I've learned through the last 7 years of my life that home isn't a place, it's a feeling.  So when I say I'm home I could mean the house I grew up in, a weathered (possibly crummy) old auditorium, a magnificent cathedral across the pond, the rehearsal hall in my alma mater's music building, or Disney World.

It's weird not waking up to Florida weather everyday.  I'm cold...all of the time.  I make a lot of grumpy cat faces about it.  What's worse by far is not waking up to my Disney family back in Orlando.  I've loved coming home to familiar faces, but there are quite a few friends that I left behind.  But this isn't the end, it's the beginning.  And that's what I keep telling myself.

But what now? I ask myself the same question every day.  I know what my goals are and what I hope to do, but I'm still hammering out the how to get there.  In the meantime, I'm going to heal (because I've been terribly congested since I got back; also my feet [per the second/third opinion of the podiatrist it's plantar faciitis and calcific bursitis in both feet.) while I look for a big girl job.  Once I can walk without looking like Carl Fredricksen from Up, I'm going to try and find a temporary job until a forever job happens.  And in THAT meantime, I'm reading a lot. I should really call it studying.  For those of you who may not know, I am a recent Writing grad from the University of Mount Union and I stand by the fact that you need to read just as much you write.  Frequently I read literature that I'm not typically interested in, but rather because there might be some skill or knowledge I can gain from it.  Now I feel like I'm writing my senior project all over again. ;)


Essentially, I'm going to turn this blog into something a little more general.  Let's call it a Disney Girl's commentary on the world around her.  Or something. Something that doesn't suck. Or sucks less. Pixie Dust for a Modern World? For a modern writer? Who knows. I certainly don't.  If you have ideas you're welcome to comment below, but I hope you've gotten the jist of it.  I've realized while reading non-fiction and history books, that cataloging and documenting the world worked so much differently back before computers existed.  In today's generation, the world's next greatest writers, doctors, artists, athletes, etc. are going to have statuses, tweets---a whole realm of social media for historians to refer to and analyze.  I have this odd picture in my head of reading a biography of someone when I'm 80 and the biographer has inserted a screenshot of their Facebook page.  Weird. So I'm going to write.  I've always wanted to be good about journal-ing or keeping a diary so I'm less likely to forget things when I'm older so now...there'll be this. There will still be pictures and things.  And I really will upload the rest of my Disney pictures when I've got a great internet connection, but until then...


(pt. 2)

Right now I'm doing lots of research.  Some of my research is Disney based because I need my daily dose of pixie dust to keep me going.  That makes me sound like an addict.  Well...it's not wrong.  Now that I'm older I can appreciate the animation and art in Disney (or in many movies) much better than I ever could before and I've developed a whole new kind of love for them.  And I've noticed that I'm better at remembering U.S. or World History if I compare it back to what was happening in the Disney world at the time.  Weird, maybe, but useful.  Maybe it'll help me on Jeopardy one day.  Who knows. :)

But I've also been doing a lot of creative writing (as that was the direction I headed in school) and Disney is fantastic at storytelling and I think there's a lot to be learned from studying the films and the way they were made.  (Also it's just fun.)  And I could go into detail about how much I identify with Disney's ideals and ethos, but you all know that already! Thank goodness.


So at the moment I'm going to be posting about the things I'm learning.  Though most(/all) don't(/won't) come out of a writer's handbook, might be even more telling! I can hear old professors chanting "Show, don't tell!" in my ears as I type.  (Sidebar: I don't find writer's handbooks helpful.)

SO FOR INSTANCE, Let me kick off this new adventure with what I've learned from the book I just finished The Art of Toy Story 3 by Charles Solomon.

When talking about creating villians and how the Pixar team created Lotso:

"In recent years, many animated features have suffered from having superficial, cliche villains.  The hero defeats one of these sneering bad guys and gets nothing to show for his trouble beyond a scar or two.  When asked about the complex villains in Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki replied, 'If you portray someone who's evil, then you off him, what's the point? It's easy to create a villain who's a maniacal real estate developer, then kill him and have a happy ending.  But what if a really good person becomes a real estate developer?'"

I've learned that I'm not good at creating real, believable villains.  And reading this articulated something that I very much needed to hear.  There are lots of great tidbits and takeaways about building characters in this book that is incredibly helpful.  And incredibly inspiring.

So I'm going to watch some movies.  Including Studio Ghibli now.  I watched (and loved) My Neighbor, Totoro as a kid, but I know the takeaway for any of Miyazki's films is going to be much different now that I'm older.  And I'm going to keep reading.  And commentating...? I'll keep you posted! :)



As usual, but with no less enthusiasm:
FAITH TRUST AND PIXIE DUST, LOVELIES.
-Steph


P.S.
"Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!!" (Phineas, Phineas and Ferb)

Ferb, I know what I'm going to do today! ;)

An open letter to Princess Tiana

Dear Tiana,

Today I got to meet you for the first time.  I’m a longtime Disney fan and I’ve loved Princess and the Frog and its soundtrack ever since it came out.  All day today I took a scarf around the park with me to get everyone I could to sign it, even the mayor!  I explained to everyone that I was moving back to my home in Ohio and that it was very cold there and that I wanted to have some Disney magic to keep me warm!  Throughout the day I got a variety of responses, most lovely, but none as heartwarming as the words I heard from you.  It was in the middle of the afternoon, sometime between 2:30-3:00 and I was tired and ready for a break that would come while watching the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade.  You asked why I had to leave and I explained that I had been on an internship and the program was over in January.  You first offered me a job in your restaurant, which don’t get me wrong, I very much appreciated (especially as a writing major, even if that meant I was writing the descriptions for your beignets/menu ;)), but that wasn’t what got to me.  You told me that this was always going to be my home even though I was moving away.  You thanked me for the long hours and all the work that I’ve done on my internship.  I don’t think I’ve been thanked like that since I’ve been down here.  Tiana, everyone knows and remembers you’re a princess, but honey, you are the QUEEN of working hard.  I sing your songs all the time to keep me going, especially “Almost There,” and hearing those words from you meant the WORLD to me.  Reminding me that this was still my home, even though I was leaving indefinitely, brought me to tears.  So Tiana, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

With love,

Stephanie Ann Porten

Mom, Halloween, and character fun!

Yes. It's been awhile.

I didn't forget. This time I'm going to blame it on the "What job am I going to have and where will I live in January stress" because well that's a real thing. I have a couple more solidified options now than I did two months ago. I did not get the copywriter job like I had hoped, but I also haven't heard back about the Guest Relations Internship I applied for either...

I also applied for something even bigger...but there are important people in my life that don't know about that yet so you'll have to wait blog readers. I also haven't heard whether or not I've been accepted yet and so I'm hesitant to tell anyone anything...if I get it...well you'll know. Let's just say I want it really badly and I can't imagine being happy with the next transition phase of my life if I don't get it. But, that being said, if I do get denied, it *has* to mean there's an even bigger opportunity right around the corner. PIXIE DUST PEOPLE!

For awhile after I got down here I felt a lot like Rapunzel in Tangled (my long hair aside) after she had seen the lights...she reached her dream...and Flynn tells her that that's the fun part, she gets to go find a new one.

(Meanwhile as I type this, I'm listening to the music from WDW's "Dream Along With Mickey" which is all sorts of ironic (or coincidental if you're not like Alanis Morissette) Look it up. It's adorable. It's actually the reason why Donald (Duck) has grown on me so much since I've been down here.)

But I kind of felt a little lost-ish once I got settled down here. Sure, there are things that I want to do with my life that I haven't yet, but what was going to be the next one I started actively pursuing since I already accomplished working down in Orlando? Essentially that's what I applied for. Something I completely qualify for that works out more than perfectly in terms of timing and other things I want to do and it's just all-around magnificent. I do have a plan in case I don't get it, but it's really not an option I consider to be an option.

ANYWAYS NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY I can catch you up on the last two months!


And per usual I'm doing a picture narration. My roomies and I visited our other roomies at Port Orleans. I took this picture because it reminded me of the first trip we took to Disney as a family in 1998 and stayed at Port. 

Monsters U parade in Hollywood Studios! I'm still a bad cast member and haven't seen it. Oops. 

And then the rest of our day at DHS!

Toy Story Mania queue line with roomie. 

Then my favorite part of the park :))

And this view never gets old (into toy story mania)

Also I have Buzz Lightyear problems

Halloween Magic Kingdom and GO

Mickey in the Move it! Shake it! Parade

And here we go into some of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! 

Hellooooo Minnie!

HalloWishes from the back of the castle...

The stepsisters harassing Lotso!

Meeting Mickey and Minnie in their Halloween finery with my coworker Angie. Yes. I went as a Green Lantern. (I also had a fantastic moment quoting the pledge with a fellow lantern during the evening)

Pre-parade and Boo to You Parade pictures (round two)

BULLSEYE!

So pretty! :)

And moving on two more firsts I've had down here...

For example I saw Lights, Motors, Action for the first time! It's a stunt show. I got some cool pictures:

And one night as we left Hollywood Studios, it was fairly empty and I got some fun pictures. 

Went character meet and greeting with a coworker, Megan...

Then the best part...when we met Minnie, the character attendant came up to us afterwards and apologized because Pluto photobombed in one of our photos. Needless to say we told her it TOTALLY wasn't a problem. It's now one of my favorite pictures ever. Also makes me love Pluto even more!

Purple castle. GO PURPLE RAIDERS! ;)

Here are fun pictures of details in the queue line for Minnie's new meet and greet area in Hollywood Studios that made me happy. 

THEN EVENTUALLY I HAD A SPECIAL VISITOR. We stayed at Caribbean Beach and happened to have a Finding Nemo room!!! (The special visitor is Mom by the way :)))

And then we went putt-putt golfing at Fantasia Gardens. It was even more fun because we could hear Fantasmic playing from Hollywood Studios across the street. The theming in FG was fabulous and so cute and I took lots of pictures because I loved the way they incorporated the music and story of Fantasia. Aaaand these are just the highlights!

I made her pose and smile :)

Surprise projection on a hole...Chernabog!

Okay so this next picture is really just for my dad. There's a picture of a little me in Disney in 1998 where I'm playing in a water play area where water randomly shoots out at you. I got surprised by it and there's a great picture of me as it happens...well there was a hole with the same theme so of course I had to semi-reenact!...to a certain mild extent hehe ;)

Another water spraying area with even more fun theming...I had mom trigger it---it ran on a motion sensor. Don't worry! No one was doused during this photo shoot!

And then the castle day show, Dream Along with Mickey, I told you about before!

And a pretty view of Beast's castle from across Fantasyland!

Me, Mom, and Mickey!! 

Animal Kingdom tiiiime!

Kilimanjaro Safaris...

Animal butts! But they were butts close to our van so that makes it better. 

RAWWRRRRRRRR...

Ostrich butt and eggs! ANIMAL BUTTS. EMBRACE THEM. no. not literally. 

 Dug and Russell were so so so fun to meet!!!

First Dug was comparing our ears...

So happy and excited!!!

The beginning of Dug trying to keep me. Russell tries to distract me (not intentionally but he did :D)

Trying to figure out what was going on...

Then the character attendant elaborated and said he couldn't. I said I was totally okay with that as Mom laughs :))))

One of my favorite character meet and greets by far!!

We also met Pooh and Tigger but the photo pass pictures are better. Those will come later. 

For now, we got some awesome pictures of the Indiana Jones stunt show because of a friend that now works over in the area!! We were super grateful for the view!!

Then we did Animation Academy...the cast member joked that it would change our lives and that we should take a before picture of ourselves...so we took it as an excuse to take a selfie. We forgot to take an after but I still really like it. 

That was pretty much the end of our trip/my staycation. 

Later...

Minnie signed my drawing of her

Pictures of the evening flag ceremony in Magic Kingdom

And then finally a picture that isn't a picture of the stage that contains Smash Mouth for Epcot's Food and Wine Festival concert series "Eat to the Beat" The band was fantastic! Not that you can hear from the picture...hehe oops. 

And that wraps up the pictures I have up through now! And probably a pretty accurate summary of the kind of things I've been up to in the last two months!

In work news I now am trained for "Where's the Fire?" which is ALL SORTS OF FUN. It's definitely my new favorite! It's an interactive game where you find and correct fire hazards in a home. 

Finding the pixie dust is sometimes a challenge on certain days but it's coming around. My bad days are absolutely terrible but it's only because my good days are absolutely fabtastic. 

With faith, trust, and pixie dust my loves,

Stephanie