Dianna Agron as Magenta -

Chris Colfer as Riff Raff -

Cory Monteith as Brad -

John Stamos as Eddie -

And the new kid, Chord Overstreet (his real name, believe it or not) as Rocky

Too bad they will never, ever understand this.

"No interest.  And they all seem really bitchy on the commercials."

"You HAVE to watch!!  There are some very talented people on there and it's interesting to watch how they work.  Yes, there is some bitchiness, but it's not what the show is about."

And now I'm hooked.

This season, there is a contestant from Cleveland, Valerie Mayen.  She's made it very far.  I learned in our newspaper that she's been hosting "viewing parties" at different restaurants in Cleveland every Thursday night.  Last night's, however, was at a media relations firm, Liggett Stashower.  Very nice event, catered by three different restaurants (even free beer and wine).  The only thing I didn't like was the number of people who tried to dress like they were super style fashionistas.  They were a little ridiculous and over the top.  I mean, it was a viewing party, not a runway fashion show.  But other than that, it was fun, PLUS we got to talk to Valerie and ask some questions. 

Unfortunately, Valerie was eliminated last night.  But just as her exit on the show was so gracious, where she told every person all the positive things she thought about them, she was even more gracious last night - she actually said to everyone last night, "I'm sorry.  And I'm sorry I let Cleveland down."  Very genuine lady with a big heart!

Between rehearsals, my birthday, trip to Hocking Hills, and just trying to sleep, I don't find myself even wanting to pull pictures off my camera onto the computer.  But maybe that's also a product of being in front of a computer all day at work.

Anyway, I have no idea whether I already published these 6 years ago because that would have been about the same time I started this blog, so I'm going to publish them here since I just accidentally "re-found" them tonight.

When my old computer died, I was worried I'd lost a lot of stuff.  I had an external drive, but wasn't able to easily find things on there.  It wasn't until I got my old hard drive and put it into a USB canister and hooked it up to the new computer as well that old pictures started reappearing.  So here are pictures from a trip I made to NYC in August of 2004 to not only visit my brother, but my cousin and I wanted to see if we could find any info on our parents from when they were kids in Connecticut.

One thing I remember about this trip was that it was the first time I ever listened to the "Avenue Q" Original Broadway Cast Recording.  I unwrapped it in Laura's car and we were both listening to it at the same time.  We laughed so hard, she almost had to pull over to the side of the freeway at one point.  We also started to listen to the "Wicked" soundtrack for the first time, but decided it would give away the story of the musical, so we didn't listen to it.  I saw the show just a couple days later (thank you Andy for getting me a GREAT seat) and got to see Idina Menzel perform as Elphaba.  She was so good I cried at the end of Act I (what a mush-baby I am!).

I had to use the "Xanga Uploader", which means some of these were duplicated (that's also due to me finding the pictures in two different folders).  They were also not uploaded in the correct order in the photo blog, but I put them in as close to the correct order here as I could.

I'm going to post this now, so it has today's date, but I'm going to be adding descriptions/captions later.

Click on any photos to take you to the photo blog.  You can then click on them again to (hopefully) see the largest version.

I drove out there - left late after a rehearsal (I think) and drove as far as DuBois, PA, where I stopped at a motel.  I then took a roundabout way to NYC, heading north into the mountains/forests/hills of Pennsylvania and along lower upstate New York to head into the city.  This is in Clarion, PA.

From my brother's window in Brooklyn - that's the spire of the Empire State Building in between the trees branches.

My brother Andy and his partner Tom at the NYC Botanic Garden in the Bronx.

About to take the Jetboat around lower Manhattan.  This was a BLAST and I would love to do it again!  My brother Andy in the foreground, his friends Mike and Sarah in the background.

Flying around Manhattan in the jetboat.

Andy, Tom, our cousin Laura, Me and some lady holding up a torch.

This was from my brother's rooftop, looking west toward lower Manhattan.  I believe this was my first trip to NYC after 9/11.  That should have been where the World Trade Center would be.  The sky was amazing.  Kept waiting for a thunderstorm that never actually happened!

Looking a little more north - Empire State Building

Tried to lighten up the picture by turning the flash off, but that meant the shutter was open longer, so I had to try and hold it very still.  Didn't work.

As it got even darker.

Part of Manhattan from his window the next day.

My cousin Laura and I took her husband's Jaguar (which was brand new at the time) up to Connecticut and Rhode Island.  We were going to look for any records or locations where my Dad would have been born/spent time as a kid.  My cousin Laura's mom was my Dad's baby sister, Verna, whom I think was born in L.A. after the family moved there, but I could be wrong - she may have been born in CT.  I first wanted to see a couple things since it was my first time in CT, RI.  Wanted to see Mystic, CT (because I loved the movie "Mystic Pizza") and I'd always wanted to see Newport.  Plus, I wanted to try and go through a corner of Massachusetts, just so I could say I'd been there.

This bridge is featured in the movie "Mystic Pizza".  It was Julia Roberts' first or second movie and I told a friend of mine when we saw it, "You watch this girl, she's going to be a star!"

The harbor at Mystic.

The actual Mystic Pizza is on this street.  It is not the same building as they used in the movie, but the pizza was good and they had a lot of memorabilia from the movie.

From the bridge looking out towards the Atlantic (just a little ways off in the distance)

Laura enjoying the view.  She bought a really nice handmade piece of jewelry at the store just on the other side of the bridge.

Entering Rhode Island at the town of Westerly.  I think the Ghost Hunters boys are based here.  It's either here, or Warwick, RI.  One of those "W" towns.

I believe I was trying to take a picture of the doggie in the back window.

Heading over the Bridge to Newport (which is on an Island - the actual Rhode Island)

And the town of Newport - famous for its Millionaires' Row mansions along the ocean.

We had to sneak into a country club to get these pictures.  They were preparing for a wedding, so no one seemed to notice us.

Not sure why I don't have pictures of the mansions.  I thought I took some, but the camera was also fairly new to me, I think, so I may have missed some somehow.  This is the next morning headed toward Massachusetts.

While driving briefly through the state, we saw a sign for The Lizzie Borden Museum and B&B in Fall River - we were VERY tempted to stop!!  Heading back into Rhode Island toward Providence.

I am a freak for State Capitols.  I love to tour them and have been to quite a few.  The architecture, artwork and history inside is always amazing.

Again, I know I took more pics, but who knows what happened to them?  When we were in there, I had wanted to get some pictures of the artwork inside the State Supreme Court, but court was actually in session.  My cousin and I were hanging around outside the door, not sure if we were allowed in, even though there was a little alcove/waiting area just inside the door with views of the whole room.  A man came up to us and asked if he could help us.  We explained, he said, "Just a minute", asked the judge if it was all right - and we were allowed in!  Very nice!  He then gave us an impromptu tour of the capitol, which was great!  We stopped to use the restrooms and the man was nowhere to be found after that.  We wanted to thank him, so we went to the guard nearby to see if he knew the man, and she said, "Oh, you mean The First Lady's driver?  He's just down the hall!"  The limo driver for the Governor's wife was the one who'd given us the tour!  We went and thanked him.  Thought that was so great he did that for us.  We had to circle the all the way around the building because there was only one way in/out and when we got to the other side of the building, a voice from up above said, "Have a great time and hope you find something!"  It was the driver wishing us well (we had explained the family history info we were looking for).  Very nice!

Hartfort, CT.  Where my dad was born.  I believe his brother and older sisters were also born there.  He was born in 1919, if I remember correctly.

The Hartford Union Station - the same building where my grandmother stood on a platform with all her kids - all by herself because her husband had gone ahead to L.A. for work.  She was taking all the kids across country by train.  Seems to me I remember seeing "Baby Verna" on one of the census sheets were found at the State Library, so maybe Verna was born there.

Inside Union Station.  Laura is looking out toward the platform.  We were told the building had not changed since the 1920s, so we were looking out the same place our parents had gone.

The platform

In Hartford.

Inside the State Capitol

Found out we would have to go to the State Library to look for any census records.  This was taken from the library across the street from the Capitol.

The lot where my grandparents' house once stood.  The Union Station is off in the distance, but there's now a freeway between that lot and the Station.

We drove further west out to Torrington, CT.  The kids went to school here when they were younger.  Laura had gotten some street names and the school name from her mother.  This was the street where they used to play.

Part of Sacred Heart School on the left, where they went.

We think this was the house they were in.

Sacred Heart Church.

The school was boarded up. 

When we were taking pictures of the church, a woman drove up and parked.  Turned out she was the organist and was there to practice.  She let us in to take pictures. (I have to say, our timing on this trip was perfect for many things!)

We lit a candle for my Dad and my Aunt Marie, who had both already passed.  The woman was VERY kind - she had an extra book celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Church that she gave to us (see what I mean about the timing?)!!  It was beautiful and had pictures from all the years.  We ended up giving it to my Aunt Katie (who has since passed away) and she remembered a lot of it - and a lot of the people.  Unfortunately, her kids tossed the book along with many other things of Aunt Katy's after she passed.

I tried to get pictures of the NYC from the moving car on the way back.  Didn't work, but it gave me some groovy time-exposed photos, which I always love! 

I left to head back to Cleveland on a Sunday morning at 6am and I had seen this cemetery from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.  It was right on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, below a big bridge - the cemetery is HUGE.  Took a few back streets, but I finally got to it.  Got these pictures around 6 - 6:30am when no one was around.  Some people might find it morbid, but I find some cemeteries fascinating.

I found the juxtaposition of the grave markers with the skyscrapers in the background to be very interesting.

Note the next pic - all grave monuments except the one building off in the distance in the middle.

And that was the trip to New England.  We found several census pages which listed our parents.  Our grandparents were listed as Steve - "Worker" and Veronica - "Helper".  That along with that anniversary book made for a great trip!